To Slay A Dragon in the Token System [Recruitment Ongoing]

[Rune]

Is anyone out there interested in playing a game that uses strategy and cinematic imagination instead of chance to drive it's tension?

If so, sign up here to play through EN Publishing's adventure, To Slay A Dragon, run with a revised version of the game system I entered into the 7-Day RPG contest a few months back. It's a simple and fast-moving system that should be well-suited to this format.

If you are interested, you can download the revised rules for the Token System here.

The game is in progress over here, but recruitment is ongoing, so feel free to join in any time!

 

[sehmerus]

I am in

I am in, Pre-mades or Character creation?

 

[Rune]

Create your own, but we'll be playing with a few minor adjustments for flavor and to better work with the play-by-post format.

• First, to feel a little more like starting at first level, characters will begin with only three attributes, one at Rank 2 and the others at Rank 1. Starting Tokens will therefore be 4. Don't worry; advancement will happen pretty quickly.
  
  
• Because there won't be "sessions" per se, I'll break up sessions for players to advance their attributes and refresh all Token Pools as feels natural according to the pace of the narrative.
  
  
• Speaking of advancement, we will be using a simpler version that accomplishes the same things without all the bookkeeping. At the end of any "session" in which a character has made a maximum bid with every attribute (not including temporary attributes, of course), that character may either advance an attribute by one to a maximum of Rank 5 or create a new attribute at Rank 1 (hello, multiclassing!).
  
  If a character did not max out all attributes, the player can choose a number of attributes equal to the number that didn't get maxed out (not necessarily the same ones) to designate as having been used with a maximum bid during the next "session" (whether or not they actually do get maxed during the next "session"). In this way, early advancements should happen once a "session" and later ones should happen at least once every two.
  
  
• Assuming we have multiple players, to keep things moving (and because there are neither turns, nor turn orders), I'll resolve multiple characters' actions concurrently, as long as they don't directly relate or interfere with each other. Indirectly doing so should be okay.
  
  Assisting each other by setting each other up with your own actions is another matter. Players will need to voice their intention to do so before I begin to bid in an exchange. Once I begin the process of resolving someone's action, I don't want to retcon to start an earlier one. That could get complicated.
  
  
• As the module I'll be adapting is designed for Pathfinder, the setting will be D&Dish Fantasy. Please make a character that fits.

 

[sehmerus]

Lord Gavin Darnathius "The Duke of Rogues"

 

[Rune]

Looks good sehmerus. Of course, the inventory list is optional, but having it could open up some temporary attributes somewhere down the line.

Speaking of which, temporary attributes used in a beneficial way will be able to be added into a bid without doubling the cost. Temporary attributes used against you will automatically double the bid cost AND will have to be included in any relevant action.

 

[doghead]

Ok. This looks interesting. I have been interested in playing something a little different, and this is a little different. It reminds me a little of Active Exploits, a dice-less system by Precise Intermedia Games. I like the idea of making resource management the central mechanism. It will be interesting to see how this plays with a conventional adventure.

To Slay a Dragon is a good choice. I have a copy, but haven't done any more than skim the introduction. I couldn't tell you what is involved other than ... um, there is a town with some stuff going on and a dungeon somewhere, possibly with a dragon in it?

I have had a quick look through the system. I haven't got as far as a character. I was thinking that that I would look at some sort of a companion for Lord Gavin.

Anyway, colour me interested.

thotd

 

[doghead]

So I started with one of my favourite concepts, the ranger.

Hunting 2
Archery 1
Survival 1

First Impressions: Character creation doesn't take very long. The slowest part was deciding the best terms for the Attributes - Hunting (includes both tracking and killing) or Tracking (narrower than hunting, but perhaps also applicable to runaways and bandits), Archery vs Fighting (to incorporate knife and axe).

Going by the attribute descriptions, not the most inspiring character - Mediocre as a Hunter, Barely Proficient at Archery and Survival. While I understand that the descriptions are just that, descriptions, the terms do have a impact on how the characters are viewed.

I wasn't sure if Archery and Survival should/could be incorporated into Hunting. In the end, I decided to keep them as separate Attributes as they are key concepts, and I figured it might help. Otherwise I would have added Animal Handler and Storyteller. Or perhaps Law.

thotd

 

[Rune]

Looks good, [MENTION=8243]doghead[/MENTION]. Don't worry about potential overlap of your attributes; that'll help when you want to combine them during action resolution. And you'll have plenty of opportunities to broaden the scope of your character as you advance.

If you both are more or less ready, we'll begin soonish. If anyone else wants to join in (even as the campaign progresses), please do! Just post in this thread.

 

[Rune]

Magnitude Clarifications

Here's a clarification of the Magnitude ratings that incorporates more variables than does the chart in the rules document. Hopefully this will eliminate potential confusion while also allowing for more flexibility in interpretation.

0: The results of this exchange might affect a single target for mere moments with effects that are annoying or of limited utility.

1: The results of this exchange might affect a handful of targets for hours with effects that are a hindrance or are noticeably useful.

2: The results of this exchange might affect a sizable group of targets for days with effects that present a significant obstacle or are in some way pivotal.

3: The results of this exchange might affect a multitude of targets for months with effects that are crippling or extraordinarily helpful.

4: The results of this exchange might affect a plethora of targets for years with effects that are devastating or game-changing.

 

[doghead]

Holdenshire is a peaceful county. Ruled by Lord Pemberton, the villages of Hengistbury and Thornbury exist in a friendly rivalry.

Winter is over, and Hengistbury is experiencing a warm, dry Spring. The summer county fair is already being organized, the Fair Committee headed as always by Lady Sybill Pemberton, and the village is its usual bustling, cheerful self.

All is not well, however. There have been problems of late! Children have been disappearing into the Weirwood; howls of an unearthly nature have been echoing across the Fogmoor; and Three-Fingered Jake, the county’s itinerant bard, has been speading rumors of treasure and hauntings in the ruins of Brockendale Castle. And that’s not to mention the lizardmen aggression or the bandits upriver!

All this aside, however, tonight is a warm, balmy evening. Many of the villagers are gathered in and outside the Bleeding Heart Tavern (originally called the Beaming Hearth, until some children vandalized the pub’s sign), and any troubles seem far away.

Well, except for that dragon in Skull Mountain.

Hector Weiss

Hunting the beasts 2
Killing at a distance 1
Surviving far from home 1

Description

Hector stands a shade under six feet and is still carrying the lankiness of youth. It will be a few more years before he grows into his skin. He has clear blue eyes, a pleasant enough face and mop of long dark hair tied back with a series of rags, strips of leather and other stuff.

At 19 years old, Hector is one of the youngest of the Rangers. And while he has learnt a great deal in the 18 months he has been a Warden, he has a long way to go before the old hands see him as more than a whelp. While not overly ambitious, this summer, Hector hopes to be finally allowed to patrol the wilderness solo. That been said, with all that has been going on lately, solo patrols are becoming less the norm than the exception even among the more experienced Rangers, especially when going up river.

Like most Rangers, Hector carries a bow, a hand axe and stout knife. The axe is handy if things get sticky. Its also good for chopping wood. If out for more than a day, he takes an swag - an oiled leather wrapped around a blanket itself wrapped around a few camping and trapping materials.​

I don't know if there are rangers, if not I can re-write. I know that you said Inventory lists are optional, but they help me get a feel for the character, and provide a bit of colour.

thotd