>From: "L C" <lightcastle_at_...>
>
>So, Mike, if you are up for a challenge, how does the Indy contest
>look from a rules point of view?
Oh sure. Put me on the spot. I know that I've done this before (might even be the same example tomb), but I can't find it anywhere else so I'll do it again. Extended Contest examples are long to write...
OK, first thing is that I don't plan these things out much if at all. I see people often plan them out as though they were like heroquest stations or something. X will happen, and then Y. Not a bad idea to have a few ideas before hand, but I think most people can extemporaneously come up with the sort of things they need. Most importantly, remain loose. Because, remember, the character gets to direct the nature of the contest with his actions as well. So anything you "plan" may simply not end up being used.
I can't recall many of the details of the scene in question from Raiders off the top of my head. So I'm going to make up an example, which is, as I mentioned, one I've used before, based on a scenario I wrote for somebody else's game.
OK, so we have a character, a scholar who, pressured by a female associate who needs cash fast, has decided to penetrate a tomb in order to get the loot she needs. It's the tomb of an Esrolian family, and I imagine it on a tiny rocky island off the coast of Esrolia (you may proceed to inform me why this cannot be so in Glorantha). So we have an extended contest, the goal of the scholar to get in, get some loot, and get out alive with his hide as intact as possible, and nobldy being the wiser for his theft. The goal of the tomb's trap run is to stop as much of hat as possible.
The player, thinking ahead brings a book that contains some descriptions and hints about the tomb.
Round 1A - The character, having gotten himself to the island, now finds himself having to penetrate it's many defenses. The first is a door, a massive metal valve with a 10W2 resistance to opening it. That sets the Tomb with 50AP. The character counters with his "Enter Old Places" ability and with augments he's at 15W, for a 35 AP pool to start. The narrator sets the bid at 15 AP, and the player rolls a -2x Transfer! A disaster? The door nearly stops him cold! The narrator narrates how he tries to work at it all night, and how it's only after the clouds clear near morning that the moonlight reveals a secret catch that allows the door to be opened. He has little time left!
Scholar 5AP, Tomb 80 AP.
Round 1B - inside the first room there are three passages, each seeming to go deep into the rock of the island. The player decides to recal what he can about the place to figure out which way will lead to the loot most directly/safely. He pulls out the book and starts reading. He has a total TN of 5W2 (even though a youngster, he shines at this sort of thing), and the narrator sets the resistance at 5W. The bid is set at 5 AP - if he misses this, and goes the wrong way, he'll have to leave or surely be detected in his theft. But he rolls well, and gets a 2X transfer right back. Only for 10AP this time. The narrator says he finds an appropriate passage in the book that says that the passage on the right is the one to take.
Scholar AP 15, Tomb 70AP
Round 2A - as he traipses down the corridor, the narrator says that the steps in the floor drop down flat, creating a slide that sends the character plumeting towards the wall at the end. The player uses his "Think's Fast" and other augments with a slight improv penalty, and has a TN of 19, the trap has a 5W. The bid is 15 - this could injure him to the point where he doesn't have time to continue. He manages a marginal victory, and the tomb loses 8 AP. The narrator says that just as he gets to the bottom, he manages to put his pack in front of him, which absorbs the blow (but leaves the contents of the pack in disarray - penalty if he tries to use the book again). The good news is that the slide has actually moved him closer to his quarry rapidly.
Scholar 15AP, Tomb 63 AP.
Round 2B - the Scholar decides to try to examine the next corridor somewhat more carefully as he goes along, expecting something new. Using his perceptiveness and augmenting up, he has a 10W, and the trap that the narrator decides is there has a 5W to be detected. The narrator puts this at a 15 bid again, with the same reasoning as above, if the trap is undetected (Note: the narrator could decide that there's no trap, and rule a failure as him wasting time looking at features that aren't traps). He gets a 1x hit on the tomb. The narrator describes as the Scholar notes a trap to fill the room with sand if he steps on some plates.
Scholar 15 AP, Tomb 48 AP
Round 3A - the Narrator decides that the next problem is a room filled with a dozen demon rats with a TN of 8W. The Scholar employs a well developed ability to "Run Scared" from such beings. TN 12W. The bid is, yet again 15 - any of these threats could end his run for the loot. But the player rolls a 1x transfer! The narrator describes how, in avoiding the rats, he leaps on a ledge, and trips a lever that opens the door to the treasure chamber!
Scholar 30 AP, Tomb 33 AP
Round 3B - Inside the chamber the player has the character go for the chest there: he faces the obligatory trap on the chest, the old poison needle, at a 15W TN. The bid is 20 AP - a minor loss might not put him out of the race yet. Rolling, the player gets a -1/2 loss. The narrator describes him getting grazed by the needle as he manages to pry the chest open.
Scholar 20 AP, Tomb 33 AP
Round 4A - the rats have found a way into the treasure chamber! He's got to grab the treasure fast and run! Similar to the above, but using different abilities, he's only at a 8W TN. 20 AP bid - he's cornered here! Another "marginal defeat" means he manages to scoop up the treasure, but not before many of the rats get small nibbles on his ankles. Pain races through him, and he wonders if he'll get some plague.
Scholar 10 AP, Tomb 33 AP
Round 4B - he has to find a place to hide for a moment so he can deal with his injuries and get away from the rats. The narrator makes this 14 resistance (he's past the rats and they have tiny legs). Using his knowledge of places like this and his ability to run, he has TN 12W. The narrator puts the bid at 10 AP, if he stops now and they catch up, he's done for. But he manages to get a 1x, and finds a safe niche to hide in. For the moment.
Scholar 10 AP, Tomb 23 AP
Round 5A - the poison starts to take it's toll. TN 15 for now, against his TN of 12 (default 6 augmented with a couple of abilities). AP 10 bid - if the poison takes over, he's done for! He gets a marginal victory again, and the narrator says that the poison hasn't advanced appreiciably...yet. The Scholar is heartened - maybe he can make it!
Scholar 10 AP, Tomb 18 AP
Round 5B - the player takes an "unrelated action" to take care of the poison and rat bites so they don't become life threatening later. TN 5W, against his fairly good first aid and desperation for TN 8W. He manages to get a minor victory, and so he's ready to move on.
Scholar 10 AP, Tomb 18 AP
Round 6A - as he moves on he realizes he might be lost, and/or unable to go back the way he came. He rolls using his knowledge of such places and the book (at the penalty) augmenting, and he has TN 12W. The tomb is Confusing 5W. If he's lost, he'll never get out in time not to be caught...if at all... 15 AP bid. He gets a marginal defeat for -1/2 loss, leaving him with only 2AP! The narrator says he wanders for some time before finding his way back to the slide chamber.
Scholar 2 AP, Tomb 18 AP
Round 6B - the player thinks about looking for another way, but decides to try the climb instead. His TN here is only 18, but the resistance is just the uphil climb and slipperyness. Much less dangerous when not a surprise. 14 resistance. The narrator allows the player to bid a 15 AP - there might still be more even if he makes it. If he falls, that's it, he's out of time. The player rolls a 1x loss for the opponent. The narrator says he makes the climb on sheer grit.
Scholar 2AP, Tomb 3AP
Round 7A - but he's not out yet, the sun is coming up! He has to load everything on the boat, and get back before the fishermen can see him! This is for all the marbles, so the bid is 20 AP. The character has only a 18 again in this sort of thing, but the TN is only 2W. But the dice come up a 2x transfer...against the player! That puts him at -38, a complete defeat. The narrator describes how he rows to the shore certain he hasn't been detected, but when he gets to the top of the bluff, the local constabulary are there, catching him red-handed with the treasures from the tomb. The narrator decides that his defeat means that they permanently outlaw him, banishing him from the city on pain of death should he return. They confiscate the treasure, of course, and beat him badly for good measure and to prove that they're serious. Pictures of him are posted about Nochet so everybody knows that he's been outlawed.
Them's the breaks. What a scholar won't do for an Esrolian vixen. :-)
Mike
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