Re: How to stage this scene?

From: Tim Ellis <tim_at_...>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:42:50 -0000

> Hi to all,
>
> I have a peculiar scene to stage on the next session
> of play (next saturday) and I'm going to ask before
> committing an undramatic approach.
>
> The scene is the following:
> the heroes are fleeing from an underground Krarshti
> temple: they have desecrated it and it starts to
> crumble.
>
> The minions of the Goddess (krarshtkids) await them
> and ambush them on their way to the surface.
>
> BUT
>
> I'd like to give them the impression that the real
> danger is the crumbling cave and tunnels, not the
> krarshtkids.
>

There are a number of ways to approach this (as always)

1. Make the escape through the tunnels a (predetermined) number of simple contests, where failure will cause the PC's to take penalties, reducing their chance of escaping next time, successes on the PC's part may give them a bonus on the next roll, or a bonus when they encounter the krashtkids, or just let them race ahead and skip the next roll (unless they choose to hang back with the rest of the party...).

eg Complete Defeat - buried by falling rocks

   Major Defeat - Injured -50% to future rolls    Minor Defeat - Hurt -1 to future rolls    Marginal Defeat - slip, -1 to next roll (only)    Tie - Narator decides
   Marginal success - player advances to next "station"    Minor success - player advances to next station, +1 on next roll    Major success - Player skips next roll (and is "ahead" of everyone else)

   Complete success - Player skips next 2 rolls (and is even further ahead!)

2) the "Pendragon hunt"approach
Draw a number of parallel lines on a piece of paper and put a marker for each PC on the middle line. Roll a series of simple contests if the player wins they move forwards,and if they lose they move backwards.If they get off the grid "forwards" they escape, if they move off backwards then they are still in the cave when it collapses. The Krashtkid attacks are treated as normal, but the Krashtkids can additionally trade AP's for moving you back down the table instead of wounds

3) The "One big Contest" approach. - Give the collapsing tunnel a huge No of AP's and then a number of different skills "Ominous rumble 12", "Loud Cracking noise 17", "Earth Tremour 1W", "Falling rocks 5W", Sudden Crevace 7W" "Krashtkid attack 12W", "Falling boulders 17W"or whatever. Players compete in an extended contest as normal (using movement, combat, or whatever other appropriate skills they can come up with) to escape, and can use the normal tools (augments, AP lending etc) to aid themselves or each other. Once they bring the tunnel down to 0 AP they are out safely, any who are reduced to 0AP are "out of the contest" (which may be trapped in the tunnel, captured by Krashtkids, or just collapsed and need carrying out by their friends). I'd pick a reasonably high AP total and not worry too much about justifying it in terms of the skills used. I'd also be tempted,contra the rules, to not reveal the total AP's the tunnel has left on the grounds that they do not necessarily know how close they are to escaping (at least until they can see daylight!

This approach has the advantage that it is easier to fudge - You can set a big threat on the character who has loads of AP's and go easier on the low AP character while still leaving both of them feeling threatened. You can also "fix" the AP total if lucky rolls mean the players will stroll out in a couple of rounds...