Fractayle: The Collision of Worlds
Examples of Play
A scene from the "Deep Space Encounters"
Also see: Predesigned game beginnings for really lazy gamers
The Characters: There are three players--Karel, Leanne, and Alex--playing within a mixed sci-fi and fantasy campaign. Each player has created either a Far World or a Realms of Wonder character.
Karel has come up with an ancient Far Worlder called a "deep sleeper" that has slept through almost 300 years in cryogenic sleep aboard a starship to reach the edges of the known universe in an attempt to join to the Exiles. Because of his age and missing so many years the character--called Ronin Freemann by Jack--has low physical and low tech. He has no cybernetic or robotic parts on his body and a very primitive Conduit. But, all his experience has given him a high mental. Because Karel wishes Ronin to be a styled as a monk-like wanderer from a distant time and place with a great and inevitable destiny he has assigned a lot of points to Ronin's bardic attribute and decided that Ronin speaks in metaphors like zen-master.
Leanne has decided to create a Fae Templar of Aur that snuck through the Passage soon upon its opening. The character--called Lilian Chaquere--actually ended up through a secret Moriati Passage and quickly struck up a deal with them. Due to her characters magickal training in the Temple of Aur she has high magick and mental attributes, but due to little exercise she has a low physical score. She has decided to leave her bardic in the middle range of 5. For her elemental when allocating points to her magick attribute she decided that metal and water would do; all magick would manifest in some form of metal and/or water and/or involve some form of metal and/or water. See character creation: magick.
Alex has created a Far World hacker that has once made a successful deep run into the Deep Web and experience of being beyond the physical has changed him. Partly due to this and partly due to a misunderstanding over a couple of sizable uncertified transfers made from hacked government accounts into a floating account that was traced back to his Conduit he is on run from the Lunar Government. He plans to find the Exiles and negotiate his freedom with them in exchange for both his skills and a couple of strategic documents that somehow ended up in his Inbox. Due to his character's--called Deadbyte--details Alex feels that he should have a very high tech and mental, but low physical (mainly because he ran out of points). Deadbyte has no robotic body parts, but he does have a number of cybernetic extensions, technological augmentations to help him access the Web and runs a self-modified latest version of Linux and Moomle on his Conduit, and has nano-bots in his blood. Alex has also decided to keep his character's bardic below even that of Lilians, as he is a leaf in the wind at the mercy of the fates.
The Background: The Moriati are aware of Deadbyte's problems with the Government and have offered him safe passage with Lilian as a personal escort in return for him being both their emissary to the Exiles and their inside hacker sending information out about their capabilities. (In this latter regard they have given him a couple useful gadgets.) Lilian is to "help" him achieve his mission and provide proof to the Exiles about the Moriati constructed Passage (i.e. herself). The Moriati hired Ronin's starship to take the characters within range to make contact with the Exiles because he is one of the few traveling in that direction.
So, about 50 years ago all the characters entered cryogenic sleep on board the Valkyrie--Ronnin's starship--and began the light-speed journey towards the fringes of known space.
...and this is where the Fractayle begins...
The players each roll a ten sided dice and add their bardic to the number rolled. Karel get's the highest, thus he starts this scene--hence the game, as this is the first scene--as the Bard. Just prior to this the players had decided that Leanne would be the Black Booker and that everyone would start off with the most basic possessions and nothing special or unique.
Karel: We are all on the Valkyrie in cryogenic sleep while the auto-pilot flies us towards the Exiles.[thinking briefly and deciding that this will be a risky landscape] Everyone roll a mental check versus difficulty 15.
Ronin and Deadbyte succeed as their dice roll plus their mental score exceed 15, but unfortunately Lilian fails hers.
Karel: Ronin and Deadbyte are sprung from cryogenic sleep when the lights and autopilot alarms of the Valkyrie signal a warning. Lilian will be waking up in a few moments, but we both will get an action before she comes round. What is Deadbyte going to do, Alex?
Alex: The first thing Deadbyte does is he is going to scan his Inbox, connect to the Valkyrie's core system, and scan for any disturbances in the data-megaway...while running to the flight deck.
Karel: Whoa...that's at least three different actions! Which one first?
Alex: Well, I guess Deadbyte will do the most relevant one first...he'll connect to the ships core system and see what the alarm is while running to the flight deck.
Karel: OK. As this is not Deadbyte's ship, he is unfamiliar with its protocols, and he is still woozy from the false sleep make a mental check at difficulty 12.
Alex: My character's tech surely includes a standard ship hacking patch, this would add to my roll?
The players all agree that this is a decent interpretation of Dedbyte's tech attribute and, as Leanne is the Black Booker, she records the detail of what one of the things that Deadbyte's tech can specifically do.
Karel: Sure, well, then you can get a bonus of 3 to the roll.
Alex rolls and gets a 5. His tech is 8. Thus, he did not even need the bonus of 3 to beat the difficulty of 12 and Deadbyte easily succeeds hacking into the archaic ship mainframe.
Karel: The ship has detected an unidentified vessel that is ignoring normal hailing frequencies and has targeted the ship with short-range bluetooth tunnels.
Leanne: What do you mean by "bluetooth tunnels"?
Karel: Well...the Passage transports things between worlds and across vast spaces, but I recon that by now they would have developed a short-range version for transporting things between ships in space etc. Almost like an extension of bluetoothing objects between cellular phones, but now its between ships and its real people and stuff...? Cool?
Alex and Leanne like the idea (Leanne adds a note in the Black Book) and they continue to play...
Karel: So, the Valkyrie has been targeted with a bluetooth tunnel and is probably about to be boarded. That is how much Deadbyte can tell as he is pushes himself out of the icky cryogenic sleep vats and starts to run out of the room to the flight deck. Now, Ronin knows his ship, but he's also a smart old bugger...so when pulls himself from the sleep vats that he has known for last 300 years he is going to note what Deadbyte is doing and ask the ship himself (since he would have all the necessary passwords to his own ship). ...so: "Deadbyte, what's happening, what can you tell?"
Alex: Ronin, I believe that we are about to be boarded by an alien vessel!
Karel: Ronin actually knows a quicker route to the flight deck than the one that Deadbyte's trying to take, so he shouts out to him to follow him. What's Lilian's action, Leanne?
Leanne: I recon that Lilian would have heard Deadbyte's answer, so I am not going to ask the same question. What Lilian is going to do is use her magick to be able to see everything on the outside of the ship, which is metal...isn't it? [the players agree] OK, so I am going to touch the metal floor and make the outside of my ship an eye in my mind.
Karel: Hmmm...that sounds like a good use of your magick and I think something that uses technology as part of the magick would function well enough despite Fabric Shift. So, if everyone is in agreement with the concept of the spell [pause in which everyone nods] then I think it would be quite challenging...say, a difficulty of 15? Also, as this is a bit of complex spell don't fail the roll, Fabric Shift will make sure that there will be consequences...
Alex: No, I reckon that it should be closer to 20, as this is a complex spell and it is in the Far World.
Leanne: OK, so 20 it is.
Leanne has a natural magick of 10 and thus has to roll a 10 on a ten sided dice to succeed. As no one else has magick they cannot help her, so she must roll it unaided by anybody else's magick. She rolls the dice and gets...6!
Karel: Ouch! Lilian fails her attempt at casting the spell...so instead of the intended effect the metal on the floor where she placed her hands begins to warp and melt away...within moments there will be a hole in the ships exterior! All the characters are going to have to--
Leanne: Whoa!!! That's way too harsh, I only missed the roll by a couple points! I challenge that roll...Alex, are you going to agree with me?
Alex: [thinking about it for a moment] Yes, I am adding Deadbyte's bardic to Lilian's and we are going to challenge that decision.
Karel: [chuckling] Sure.
Alex and Leanne add their characters' bardic together and roll a dice, while Karel rolls a dice and adds his bardic to it. Fortunately or unfortunately, Karel's roll is too little to beat the combined rolls of Alex and Leanne, thus they win the bardic challenge.
Alex: Well, since we won I am happy with you remaining the Bard, Karel, but I think Leanne should come up with her own spell's failure effect.
Karel: Sure, fair enough.
Leanne: OK, then I think you have a good idea, but I am going to slow down/extend the time frame. The ships metal reacts badly to the magick and slowly begins to melt. At this rate the ship will have a critical hole in it within 30 minutes to an hour. So, Lilian (now alone in the sleep room) jumps up, swears in Fae, and rushes after the others to tell them how we must abandon ship!
Karel: Sure, and the others are just a little ahead of you, so you can easily follow them and should catch up with them as they enter the flight deck. As all of you enter the flight deck suddenly the gravity simulator in the ship shuts down. Alex, Deadbyte still has the initiative, what is his first action after reaching the flight deck?
Alex: Well, now that he is at the flight deck he is going to push himself off from the wall to float towards the external sensors and battle panels that link up to the shields and laser cannons...?
All the players agree that the Valkyrie would logically have some form of defense and attack fitted before going on such a long and risky journey and Leanne adds the details to the Black Book.
Karel: Just as Deadbyte pushes off from the wall and begins to float in zero gravity towards the flashing panels to turn on the external sensors a strangle lanky beings suddenly appears in your midst! The being is dressed in head to toe with a tight black almost wetsuit like clothe with circuitry, flashing lights--Deadbyte can see a very exotic looking Conduit implant poking out from its suit--and its limbs are slightly more elongated than normal humans with webbed fingers and toes and its head is taller and more oval than anything any of you have seen...and a long thin gun is held by its two hands and is pointing straight at Lilian and Ronin. Each of our characters will get an action first before this creature can do anything.
Alex: Is this an exile?
Karel: Deadbyte has never seen one, but per their description you would guess so.
Leanne: [to all the players] We came to made contact with them, why not talk here...not fight?
Alex: Well...we have been boarded forcefully and he is carrying a gun...I think he is going to shoot first and talk second. We should do the same before attempting to bargain.
Leanne: Wait! I have an idea: I am going to try to manipulate the water in his body to freeze...basically, I want to paralyze him, but not kill him.
Alex: My action first, though, and I want to try to swing around in mid-air (while floating past on the way to the control panel) and grapple the intruder/Exile. Hopefully even pull the gun out of his hands.
Karel: OK, roll Deadbyte's physical against difficulty 14 [moderately difficult].
Alex rolls and gets a ten on the dice! He passes easily, despite his low physical score.
Karel: You succeed in grabbing the Exile [Alex and Leanne smile to each other, as Karel has just given away that the being is an exile] by the shoulder and swing around to crunch your knee into his chest and send the both of you spinning towards where Lilian and Ronin. You did not beat the difficulty by enough to remove his gun, though, so he still has it and during the zero gravity wrestling match a silent streak of light shoots out from it straight into the control panel of the Valkyrie shattering screens and melting displays and controls.
Leanne: Damn! Our ship is about to melt and now our controls have been shot up!
Karel: What is Lilian going to do [leaving Ronin to act last]?
Leanne: I'm going to cast my paralyzing spell.
Karel: Alright, difficulty..hmmm...what do you guys think?
The players all agree that a difficulty of 17 is appropriate given the combat situation and the power of the effect of the spell. Leanne rolls her dice and gets a 7, which enough to take her above 17. She succeeds! She also adds the spell into the Black Book.
Karel: Suddenly the exile goes cold and rigid in Deabyte's arms, Alex...but suddenly three other similar forms materialize within the flight deck.
Alex and Leanne both swear, but they are enjoying the challenging scene, so they don't think to challenge Karel's bardic decision.
Karel: It's Ronin's turn to act and, as this is his ship, he knows that he has a primitive version of the bluetooth tunnels on it. I assume that Lilian would've told him about his ship melting from the backfired spell [Leanne nods her head]...so he is going to push off control panel in the corner that control short-range transport where he is planning to teleport us all into the secure exile ship.
Alex: What! But we'll get killed there for sure!
Karel: Or...imprisoned...which is better than remaining on a boarded, combat, melting starship...
Alex: OK, point taken, but Deadbyte no doubt sees your intentions so he is going to react to them by trying to hack into the paralyzed exile's Conduit in order to gain access to their ships communication channels. I am going to try to contact them and send a friendly message before we suddenly arrive!
Leanne: ...and Lilian has no clue what either of you are doing [she is still confused by this alien "magick" of the Far World]...so she is going try to paralyze all of the incoming exiles...
Karel: Sure, sure, guys...but Ronin still gets his action first. He is trying to do this very quickly, so--despite this being a simple task, the pressure makes it challenging--I am going to make him do a mental check at difficulty 13 to succeed in targeting all three of us as bluetooth packages and the exile ship as a target/destination.
Karel checks his mental and succeeds comfortably; Ronin has 300 years of experience that helps him function well in tight spots.
Karel: ...so...suddenly all the characters feel a sudden vertigo--Deadbyte's Conduit informs him that he has been tagged for bluetooth just as he hacks the exile's Conduit and begins to transmit a message through it--and all of the exiles swing their thin guns upon you, light suddenly flashes--Lilian becomes aware that her estimate of how quickly the ship's exterior was going to be breaches as the metal gave away was wrong and the vessel's hell is suddenly breached in the moment of their departure...just as her mass paralysis spell begins to form--and the scene fades as the character flash through the spiritual data-megaway to the nearby Exiles' starship...
The scene has just ended, Karel is removed from the process of assigning the new Bard for the next scene, and Alex and Leanne roll a dice and add their character's bardic to the rolls. Leanne wins, thus she takes over from Karel as the Bard and the tale rests in her hands: will the characters make it to the Exile ship in the bluetooth tunnel...what will come from this contact with the Exiles...what is the inside of an Exiles ship like...how come the Exiles are wearing Conduit's...how did the Exiles find them before they even reached Deep Space...and where will this tale take the three deep space adventurers...?