Open RPG Day: Feng Shui 2 One-Shot

This Saturday, I ran Feng Shui 2 on the Open RPG Day in Sofia. 

A warehouse full of Red Lotus thugs, led by a sorcerous "dailo" is processing cannibalistic magical ingredients.

A ninja named Kenji is watching from the beams under the roof, as a police car crashes inside. Cai Tao, a cop from the Occult Investigations department jumps out and offers them a surrender.

Just as this happens, the back door opens, and Granny Hu (pictured below on the right) enters, holding a mobile phone. "Sorry, young man, but do you know how to read that message I've received?"

That's how the game began. Soon after, the thugs realised that Granny Hu has an alternate form. The one on the left is still Granny Hu!

(The player sketched the pictures herself - just to show me what her Creature looks like. You can see her DeviantArt on the picture).

And now a better shot of Granny Hu. Hoping the player would ink the monster, too, at some point...

And then they defeated the sorcerer who was sacrificing the mooks to protect himself, found clues for the plans of the Red Lotus, and discovered they all have a grudge with Big/Red/Fat Chu, a Lotus sorcerer. Oh, and there was a portal to the Netherworld.

Things proceeded from there, in typical Feng Shui manner. In the Netherworld, they learned about the Chi War (by meeting exiles). Kenji got hired by the Lotus as a hitman. The name of his first target was...Cai Tao. The head was to be delivered to Big Chu.

Of course, they improvised a news story proving that Cai Tao has been kidnapped, and went to meet him.

Kenji got cursed with financial ruin, but they killed Chu, who was the focus of their melodramatic hooks. The killing blows - delivered in the same shot - were both suitably bloody for HK cinema (explosions on both attacks).

And then Kenji took out an MP5K and shot the whole clip into Chu's body, for good measure. After that, he reloaded.

Threatening Kenji with ruin brings out the worst in him, I can report.

Where I play wuxia

I'm planning to run a wuxia marathon soon-ish. And it seems we're going to start with Fate, namely Jadepunk... although I'm planning to borrow mechanics from each game to enrich the others as well, as well as from a few others.
But we're starting with Jadepunk, So here is a pre-generated character, built to specifications.

Sokol of the Ten Virtues
I follow the word of Ehal, and bring the Twelve Virtues to Kausao. For two of them, I've got to teach by word, but people say I'm keeping to the other ten. So they named me Sokol of the Ten Virtues.
Not at all bad even for a priest of Ehal, which I am. By Kausao standards, it makes me nearly a saint. Although that makes me a saint whose name means "falcon", or sometimes "hero", in his native language...
...Such saints might be what Kausao needs. Yet how could any saint stand the current rulers, when the people suffer daily to enrich them?

BTW, Sokol really means "falcon", I modelled him to a great degree on a real person, including the way his Techniques work! Well, except I made him a bit less disciplined than the original.
And here's the thing about the 10 virtues. Imagine the Twelve Virtues of Ehal rated 1-5 Exalted-style, with 2 being the norm.
The guy has 3 to 5 in all of them, making them Major Virtues to him... except Mercy and Chastity, where he's got 1 in each, the equivalent of disadvantage. Hence, Falcon of the Ten Virtues is both a laudable thing, and a reminder there is stuff he fails worse than the ordinary.
Sokol of the Ten Virtues
Aristocrat 3
Fighter 2
Scholar2
Scoundrel 1
Explorer 1
Engineer 0

Portrayal: Unordained priest of Ehal, weak in chastity and mercy
Background: Immigrant would-be priest from a country conquered by the Naramel
Inciting Incident: I had to kill that guard!
Belief: The Light Of Ehal Shall Guide Us
Trouble: People think I'm Naramel, Naramel know I'm not

Technique: We call that just "dancing" at home! (Keyed to Background) Refresh 2
Flexible: Allows to use Aristocrat instead of Scoundrel to Create advantage
Exceptional: When you use an Advantage you created with this technique, each invocation gives you +3 to the roll.
Demanding: requires a Fair Aristocrat roll to dance well enough, if you miss the roll, you've used up your action for the turn
Situational: Only to Create Advantage actions

Ancient fighting techniques (Technique, duh!) Refresh 1 (Keyed to Background aspect)
Exceptional: On a defence, deal shifts of damage equal to your MoS.
Focus, Situational 2: Gain +1 to Fighter rolls, but only to Defend in combat and only when using a free invocation on an aspect
Demanding: A Fair Fighter roll

Undying Valor of Ehal (Keyed to Belief, Refresh 2)
Faith protects the warrior from harm and scatters his enemies
Harmful 3
Demanding: Requires a Fair Aristocrat roll for total confidence in Ehal
Situational: Only with the Attack action
(Yes, it's funny. But then, think about it, Sokol of the Ten Virtues could easily deal damage on defence rolls - so it makes sense for this PC).

The Fire Tongue of Ehal (Keyed to Portrayal) Refresh 1
Focus3, Situational2: Roll Aristocrat with +3 to Create Advantage, but only when talking about the faith - preaching or using ethical arguments to impress your opponent in a dispute.

Refresh:1

Now, I'm not really sure why you couldn't have Troubling or Aspects on a Technique. Seems to me I could easily have a Focus Technique: +2 Fighter against people trained in Kaiyumi (or Naramelite, Tuyangian, Aerish, created in modern Kausao, the curriculum taught to the guards) combat techniques. Using them would make the Kaiyumi (or whoever) pay you special attention, logically speaking.
But that's easily fixable by taking the appropriate Aspects, which I did. Yes, I need to Create Advantage first, but that's logical.
Heh, I think it's time for a real Naramel. Or maybe the Kayumi. There are 5 PCs, so I've got a choice.

[OSR/Tianxia] One day in the year of the fox..

[I]Here's a Tianxia one-shot that I set in the Red Tide setting, in Xian. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Yeah, I know one of those is run an OSR setting, and the other uses the Fate Core system... well, let's say I don't see that as a bug!
Besides, Red Tide is a Southeast Asian setting with heavy Chinese influence. Tianxia would be a rather poor wuxia game if it couldn't represent that!

But why did I need to run that one-shot? Well, it was due to the GM of our Tianxia game (actually, everyone but me and another player) catching a case of absentium ininterruptus (i.e. needing to cancel in the last minute, see you next week, guys), I ran a Tianxia one-shot instead. I kinda ran it at short notice, but since we were there already, why miss the change to try something new? I have already a place in the Red Tide I'm used for a short story (no NPCs met here are from it, though).
The player chose to play an Iron Dragon stylist again, but I insisted on creating new characters, so it wouldn't intersect with the longer Tianxia campaign.

One change I introduced to the Red Tide setting: historically, people didn't make much of a difference between martial arts and magic (actually, supposed magic spells were part of the pre-battle preparation of some participants in the Boxer rebellion). So the PC was created according to the rules in Tianxia, and was an illiterate martial artist. Yet in the setting he was considered a magician, and could become daifu if he proved himself - although he would be of the kind that can't read (promoted for outstanding martial skill).
Here's a short outline, written by the other player.
 
Before we began, though, I set up a couple Campaign Aspects.
No, I'm not going to tell you what I compelled them for. But here they are, you can try to guess.

"One day, in the year of the fox..."
"When the strong young man of the rising sun heard the tolling of the great black bell..." 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IROA3AWXtA

Disclaimer:
I'm relatively well-known for utilising ambiguous Aspects. But, some people would say, which reading is the true one?

I allow all of them, by default. Yes, that includes the contradictory ones. Both people and settings are complicated and often-contradictory. Fate points take care of using "the right reading at the right time".


Wu Kuang was the second child of a farmer in the Xian protectorate. He was a stout and strong but simple man, having learned some Kung Fu from a passing master several years ago. He often took cattle and other produce from his father's lands to the nearby town of Banakampure and the events described here happened on one such trip. It was near sunset and Kuang was sitting in one of the local establishments know for its special services provided by the serving girls but also for the its cuisine, in which the young man was more interested. The girl that brought him dumplings leaned over while putting the dish in front of him in one clean motion and whispered slily if he'd like to help her play a flute in the back room. A surprised “I am not a musician” left her stunned. She thought he was joking but realized that he wasn't when she observed him burn his fingers several times while ravenously eating dumplings with his hands. A man burst through the window screaming “The Kueh! The Kueh want to kill me! I saw them, they chased me!”. The town bells were singing a dark song in the distance to warn of impending danger. The patrons and staff were greatly stirred by what the man said and the alarming cry of the bells. Within seconds the inn was completely empty. Everyone had ran as fast as they could towards their homes in fear and worry. Including our hero, who decided it was no business of his what some demon-worshippers might be doing. Although the only Kueh that might appear would be smugglers or pirates, as the Sultanate,(being founded by a converted Makerite who became Xianese daifu) didn't trade with them on religious grounds.
Soon after exiting town, Kuang saw, not very far from where he was standing, six men dressed in odd black clothes and carrying weapons... he tried to avoid them by running as fast as he could down a narrow path convenient for his escape. An arrow whirred past him and hit a tree slightly off to his left. Fortunately he outran them (keeping hidden between the trees) for now, but he knew they would eventually catch up to him when the path reached the river and where the archer in their group could have a clear shot, so he left the path and took through the forest.

He lost them. But now he sensed another presence, he saw it in the distance – not quite a human figure, moving through the crowns of the trees, jumping from one branch to another as agile as a cat. He couldn't outrun this foe. Kuang took a defensive position behind a tree hoping to avoid an attack from above by doing as a squirrel, moving around the trunk hiding from a clear line of attack. The black figure jumped straight at the tree, pulling out a sword and hacking into the tree trunk to alter its course, spinning round the side and dropping straight on Kuang. The young man tried to deflect, the figure in black spun in the air and delivered a cutting blow to his face. Kuang got a shallow cut, but it would definitely leave a scar. Strength was to his advantage so he grabbed the Kueh in a lock, the Kueh tried to push himself up the tree with his legs in order to slip out of Kuang's grasp- he failed and they both dropped on the ground for a struggle. His grasp tightened around the arms and neck of the killer.

A quick jerk by the Kueh allowed him to hit the cut on Kuang's face with the back of his head but the young man persevered. Another tightening of Kuang's lock made the Kueh lose consciousness. At this moment Kuang saw they were not alone, yet another figure lurked in the dark... he managed to make out the shape of a tiger. Now he was in real trouble. Quick thinking! He cut the Kueh's body in several places and ran hoping the tiger would be satisfied with him rather than Kuang. The plan worked. So far, so good.

Upon reaching his home he saw it burning, the cries of his parents and siblings coming from within. Only one way in – he burst through the burning door and started dragging them out. Singed by flames and choked by fumes he pulled the last of them his little brother and Little Sun Wukong, a 'mischievous macaque he took as a pet and grew fond of over the years. Three times he dove in, dragging two people each time, as the flames tried to choke him or engulf him.

The pirates outside were waiting for him. They had surrounded him and his family. One of the men in black said, “Put them back in, especially that one! Than lock the door from inside. You can leave her outside, though”, pointing to his little brother and his little sister, respectively.

Kuang went on the attack, the only thing left. He dashed a few stabs from the spears, grabbing them and knocking out the man in the middle with a kick. Kuang pushed the spears back to their owners' faces leaving them stunned and one of them losing grip. Kuang swung the loose spear and with a single swing took out both of them. He made it out with only a few scratches from the 2 archers that were now running scared.

Then it was time for the next two Aspects. However, due to scheduling issues, we didn't play long with them before switching. They were mostly a way to compel him, once.

"Fire in her stare, in the woods without a sound"

"Feel no sorrow, feel no pain, feel no hurt, there's nothing gained..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_pzbTGmKLc

A halfling appeared form the forest with a heavy breath....
“Looks like I missed the fun”, she said, “well I gotta catch up to them!”. She ran past Kuang and Little Wukong darted after her.
“Hey, who are you?”, Kuang yelled runnig after her and his little friend. She stopped.
“It doesn't matter. I have business with the Kueh. They're not going to strike only here. What are you gonna do now?”
“Are you going after them alone?!”
“Yes, so what are YOU gonna do??”, she replied with strange confidence.
“You're crazy! Come with me to town, there will be a militia!”
“Phah! You're way too scared for a man your size. I mean, look at me, I'm not scared!...Huh! I can't be wasting time with local cowards!”, she disappeared in the darkness among the trees.

(That's actually not what she said – she actually said “if those of you that are 2 meters tall are no good hiding, those 1.20 meters will do the job”. But that's how the player remembers it, and he wrote the AP. So I'm leaving both versions here).
I get a feeling he was going for more gongfupian feel, though, while I was going for the more typical wuxiapian. We should discuss this before next time.)
Kuang picked up LittleWukong and went back to his family. His parents and siblings stayed with relatives in Banakampure, while he joined the militia the next day. The militia was led by a strong and hardened dwarf - Gadril, a master of the underground Kung Fu. He led them from village to village, everywhere they went they saw carnage and burned buildings. What was peculiar is that there were a lot of Kueh corpses strewn in some places. Villagers, what little numbers survived, spoke of a female halfling saving them, sometimes in the last moment. They reached a village almost near the border with the Shou territory. A survivor told them that a halfling appeared and scared off the Kueh... but this time another being appeared, tiger-like yet somehow human. It snatched the brave halfling after an uneven fight and dragged her deep into the woods. The militia was at a loss, although Wu Kuang could confirm the tale of the weird halfling girl.

And it was time for the final confrontation, because the time was running short. This meant...new Aspects!

"Once a world of glittering hope, this world is not the world we knew..."

"I have died a thousand times watching all these angels fall"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL9zHivLBvw
Also see: disclaimer, again


“There's an old Shou temple nearby, no doubt it's from that cursed place, they used all kinds of black magic!”, Kuang told Gadril.
“We don't have any leads so this is probably our best guess”, the dwarf agreed,”But it's gonna be just me and you, it will be too dangerous for the others, you at least know some Kung Fu.”

Nobody lived at the temple because the magi that conquered the place used terrible weapons on it. Only the temple was left standing, legends said, while the jungle around was levelled with the ground.

Kuang could only conclude that this was a cursed place. Which it was in more than one way.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Hiroshima_Dome_1945.gif/384px-Hiroshima_Dome_1945.gif

They set straight for the temple while the rest were led back to Banakampur by a local girl who had weak Kung Fu but was one of the two other militia members to know any. After several hours the duo reached the old temple towering above the trees. It should have been crumbling, yet it was like new, and casting a grotesque shadow, nearly as grotesque as the spirelike building itself. They searched through it, starting by the undergrounds, and finally found a corridor leading to a room in the uppermost floors of the temple, the room was different, there was some sort of energy coming from it.
“You came back for more...this time you won't be so lucky as the time you left me to that tiger.”, said a creature that appeared as if from the slight gust of wind that suddenly shot from the room up ahead. Kuang and his companion saw a slender but sinewy figure that resembled both human and animal, it was definitely humanoid but had the fur, facial features and step of a tiger.
“How?!”, yelled Kuang,”... the tiger killed you!!”
“It did, and didn't. We joined.”
“Where's the halfling??”, asked Kuang.
“I ate her.”, said the tiger-like creature and it jumped to the low ceiling.
Gadril had fallen into an unexpected trans, and Kuang realised what was happening after it took him as well. He was following the smallest hints of the enemy's movements in order to set-up a devastating counterattack. But the man-tiger on the ceiling was doing the same... it was much like a fight, except nobody was fighting. Yet it was going to decide the outcome, he knew!
So Kuang had no choice but to join. He realised the tiger would jump aside – his Chi was strong that way, and he'd disappar in the shadows,he realised.
Instead of attacking, however, he whispered, “She was really tasty. You will be next...”.
Kuang sensed him right behind his back and turned sharply to deliver a blow. As he did, he realised it would have connected! A flurry of blows would follow. But it was just the murderous intent of the enemy he had sensed. At least now he could see him again.
The young man prepared mentally to get the tiger in a lock but his minds whispered his hands would slip - once, then a second time. And the enemy would use this to his advantage, using their attacks to load his "internal spring" and surge forward...
It was at this point Wu jumped forward. So did the dwarf. Yet they haven't read the enemy well, and he had managed to guess their tactics! As a result, they didn't expect him moving forward to intercept the closer one, and kicking ferociously into Kuang's chest, throwing him backwards. He struck his head in the wall, and things got kinda blurry. Did the man-tiger break Gadril's leg then, or later? He couldn't tell.
More blows followed – fully real this time – and then a kick to the face finished it. Kuang was done, the already dim corridor went completely dark, he lost consciousness and regained it again. Or was it that he realised he can't win now, although his ferocious training still kept him on his feet?
He half-remembered running, while there were crunching sounds behind him... maybe he just didn't want to remember details.
He “woke up” in the jungle. No trace of the tiger-like Kueh or Gadril, except maybe some tiny specks of blood on his clothes. He was alive... but as he headed back towards Banakampure, dizzy, he realised a few things.
That wasn't the last time they were going to meet! This enemy wasn't going to stop killing people, but Wu Kuang wasn't ready for him.
So he needed to learn more kung-fu if he was to survive it next time!

Yeah, I kinda left it open for continuation. Because you never know. And just because a player had conceded is no reason to discard a fully formed and already introduced archenemy!
I also belive he learned a thing or two on Tianxia tactics, seeing me deal with him with 1 Fate point per scene. And yes, Tianxia is a tactical game!

Dear RPG diary...

Dear RPG diary,
What happens when an afroamerican expert thief, a Mexican medium, a field biologist, and the dean of the city university - all of them interested in the occult - decide to shoot a porn movie with the help of female students? Well, of said students disappears, and they have to save the city from a demon that's trying to escape from an amulet it has been imprisoned in, that's what.
So far, perfectly normal. But what happens then if they destroy the demon-possessed man who was out for revenge, by using the murderous spirits of dead people, and go back to shooting the movie?
Well, for one thing, then you definitely know you're playing Unknown Armies!
Even if the system is FAE.

In other news: our new GM is great. Some of the players didn't even know it's her first attempt at GMing until the end.
Now we've only got to persuade her she's good enough.

Third Monthly Open RPG Day 2013 in Sofia: On Mighty Thews

So, I've written on this blog that we had decided to conduct an RPG event in my home city of Sofia. Now, we've decided to make it a monthly one.
We call it Open RPG Day, because it's like Free RPG Day, except you don't get a quickstart for participating. Instead, we give you the opportunity to try a new game.
The GM has to explain the rules before the game starts, and you're better off assuming the people have never seen your game.

This time, I ran On Mighty Thews. The above is the map we created before play began, as the game instructs you to do.
The game started with them running after the army they were in has been decimated by the Raiders.
It ended with the Mischievous Amazon becoming the ruler in King's Whore Store, along with the practical healer, the extreme guy dead by the hand of another PC, the ambitious thief running away with extremely valuable emeralds.


Also, the new Amazon regent and the healer decided that they don't need to change the castle's name (which I named in memory of King Robert, I must admit). "We're women, but it just means the whores will be male now."
I call this "gender equality in action"!

1st Open RPG Day for 2013: Little Boy Lost (In Dark Alleys)

On 22.06.20013 we had an Open RPG Day (like Free RPG Day, except you don't get hardcopies of the quickstarts) in Sofia. Of course, I was one of the organizers (helping to round up other GMs) and ran a game of In Dark Alleys.
The idea is to have more Open RPG Days, too.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

I assume you know the (free) adventure Little boy lost, as well.

So, I ran the game as presented. Only 4 players decided to join the horror game, so we played with those. The rest failed to show up in time.

They found the stuff in the boy's room, and while one of them liked the cold teddy bear, the chain positively creeped them out. The first channel was the valley of the dead souls, so they got the idea they should arm themselves when shades ran through them.

They got to see the Memory halls, and almost fought the Ego. The reason? "Behind closed doors, there's probably the things she hasn't seen yet!"

I think they actually got the idea of being wrong by meta-gaming, because I was cackling, much as I was trying to hide it.

The important part was, they found the memory of Mel watching the kid, and were able to see he was watching a particular channel. Then the group went ahead and passed without major incidents through everything but the Deserted city - didn't roll that one. They knew what they were looking for, though.

And then the group went on and found the idyllic landscape place. They went towards the music, brandishing knives, and one of them failed to resist the call. She put herself in the circle, while the rest of them had to deal with the toy-like monsters.

The psychology student got absorbed by a monster which was already mortally wounded. The rest of them killed another, but were shepharded towards sitting in the circle.

Meanwhile one of the monsters absorbed another. The boy was crying already.

Then one of the things went on and was trying to absorb the self-defence girl. As an answer, she stabbed it while it was saying "goo", stabbed it, then stabbed it again as an opposed attack, and managed to push it off herself.

A frantic fighting retreat ensued. Mel got eaten, as well, and not in the nice, sloppy way.

The managed to drop most of the other monsters, and fought them to a stand-still while they were trying to push themselves out of the TV. The programmer even ran back to grab the grey remote, which was dropped in the first fight. He came back successfully, and stabbed the last one in the back, while it was midway across the TV. It pulled back, and he jumped into the room. Then they managed to change the channel, and cut the last one across the middle.

"But Mel is still there!"

"No, she isn't, not any more."

"Oh..."

I even gave them some Minor Touched Abilities as "XP". Then the rest of them arrived late (I handled the pre-gens to the players who had lost a PC).

One of them found it funny and decided to explore more. They freed the monk, who told them whatever he had found.

Then they went to the Land of the Dead. And the new guy went in the wrong direction.

The bat-like monster swooped the newly-touched self-defence expert and dropped her, dead.

For some reason, he decided to keep going in the same direction. The same happened to him.

The others turned off the TV for good, put the boy to sleep, and told the mother Mel had an early period, which in her case was rather painful. "We took care of the boy and kept the house, miss, no problems!"

She bought it and they went away, knowing more about what is real and what isn't than before. They're now suitable to become 1st level characters, if I ever run the game.

/SPOILERS

All in all, the players enjoyed the game. All of them are coming for more RPGs on the 2nd Open RPG Day 2013 this week. Some are going to bring friends as well, so I call that a success.

After the one-shots of the decades: Old-school or New School?

The new guy in the group is going to run a game today. It's the homebrew setting of one of his classmates (she's written a novel with a wizarding school). The game will be run via FU the RPG.
So, we're just taking a system that's light enough, beating it into shape to fit the setting, and using the setting that has inspired the GM. Which leaves me wondering: Is that the old-school or the new-school approach?
Yes, it doesn't matter, I'm just curious.


Oh, BTW, quick advice based on the events of the session:
If you're playing in a setting based on a book, before the events unfolded (it can apply to, say, Star Wars) - kill a main character as fast as you can. Fun is bound to follow!
When in a school for delinquent wizards, don't, and I repeat, DON'T play them against each other to make them feel jealous, unless you've checked their files FIRST. You could even get laid, but the risk someone might die as a result is unacceptable!