Lament of Severance#00
[Actual Play] Adventures of Kal & Atliss
Well hello hello hello. Welcome to another installment of the Ink n Bones Podletter? I think I might go with that since I enjoy the audio part quite a bit.
TGIGD (Thank God It's Game Day)
Today is a bit different. We aren't going to be taking a whole lot of time to look back at old campaigns or games. No today comrades we play!
I'm taking some queues from my buddy PTFO (Play to Findout) and will be running a Solo game. Hopefully it gets you just a excited as I am. If so, you can always drop a comment I may even start pinning some rolls on you guys 🤣. Can't say I killed the character if you roll the dice right?
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the game though. We've got to go over some things.
Play along
Here is the fun thing about all of this you can follow along and make your own character along side me. 😱 Putting them through the same paces. How will your story differ? Leave a comment with your character.
System(s)
What system(s) will I be using?
Tango
Tango will be our core system with some heavy hacks, modifications and changes. One of the main ones being there are no stats (strength, dexterity, wisdom, etc ) as in traditional tabletop games like DnD or Pathfinder.
We will be utilizing the step die mechanics of Tango however to represent skills, traits and Talents. Our ranges , movement and actions will be using Tango as our core system as well.
But 5e
Some of you may be perplexed by this choice coming from other tabletops such as DnD. I wanted a system that allowed me to showcase a more nuanced and diverse character. As well as one that more readily represents the homebrew world I have created.
That being said there are some things you may find familiar from DnD.
Mythic
We will not be using the entire mythic Rpg system but instead the Game Master Emulator, Mythic Variants and Variations II.
I will also from time to time pull from the Mythic Magazines as well.
Mythic is an incredibly powerful system all its own. It is somewhat crunchy though. Meaning there are many dials and knobs you can spin to make the game you want. Especially within the realms of character creation. I wanted to limit the crunch to world building as we will be discovering things as we go. The game master emulation tool it provides allows for just that.
Character Creation
We've got the overview out of the way. We are going to roll up a wholly new character and drop them into the world.
Classes
In Tango normally there are no need for class options. As your character simply has stats. However in our hack there are four base classes and seven extra classes. On a roll of 12 we reroll.
Our character is going to be a Druid?! Or rather an Aspiring Druid. We are starting our game at lvl-0. This means our character does not start the same way our lvl-1 character normally would. In Tango we start with six stats or attributes but as stated before we will be using skills instead.
Skills
At lvl-0 we roll a d4 this will determine how many skills we will start with, this is a jack of my design; Three
I don't play many druids. So this should be 🤔 interesting. Our skills for the purposes of our game are very broad. And are as follows; Acrobatics, Arts, Athletics, Awareness, Fast Talk, Scholar, Scrutinize, Wilderness
And to keep it interesting I'll roll for the skills as well; We got Athletics, Scholar, Athletics. We could interpret one of two ways.
Either as a doubling down on the skill. Or we can count Awareness in it's place. I am going to call it a doubling down own this skill, kinda like the idea of a strong person with a penchant for study.
This means our skills are a d4 Scholar and a d6 Athletics starting out at lvl-0. Pretty big deal if I say so myself.
Equipment
We are to start at lvl-1 with three pieces of equipment And normally have a limit of five. I like multiples of four so we are dropping this limit to four. Possibilities to expand this with items later but for now let's roll to see what we got; 2 items?! Well. Better than one.
This is supposed to include weapons, armor and any kits. So let's equip our Druid with a Spear, actually I'm liking something closer to the Tsukubō (Man Catcher). Yeah a hand-and-a-half Tsukubō. No armor as they are stronk 💪🏾
As a Druid you get access to Magic. This is where again Tango has no formalized system. So instead I'm going to be utilizing a homebrew system. We will build on it as we play. We will be rolling for the sphere of Arkane power and asking the oracle; our Mythic GM emulator whether or not our Druid has access to Magic starting out.
As an Aspiring Druid there is access to the forbidden Light and Nature spheres so we will be rolling a d12; which gives us War
Now that was not expected. The odds of this Druid starting out with their hands in the War sphere. I'm thinking this is pretty unlikely; yeah, No.
So Druid is starting with no magic which is ok. But we will make note of this as it is important. War is an affinity sphere for this Druid. Depending upon how the first session goes we may find ourselves with a bit of a rager? Upon leveling we'll be able to pick up a sphere anyway. Wanted to make sure we answered the magic thing as it is important to have a foci when casting spells. Otherwise all spells take an entire turn to cast. And if we had Magic a Foci would have been the next slot filled.
That being said I'll take up a Field Medics Kit to fill my other equipment slot. I won't worry about rolling for wealth here and just take the base wealth of 2. In Tango you normally start with 1 but bumping here to account for being alone.
I do think I should ask about a pet companion here as well.
An aspiring Druid seems likely that they would have a pet, I'd say even very likely; yes.
Animal companions are not in the Tango rules. So I'll use the Creature Crafter to determine my animal companion.
First let's see how strong it is.
Potency: More 😱 oh boy so they are a bit stronger than a normal companion.
Stronger than my highest skill? Unlikely; that's a No. So we'll say that they're rank will be a d6+2
Time to figure out how big they actually are.
Size: Humanoid is he strong enough to be my mount at this size? Somewhat likely; so Yes
What does our friend look like?
Description: Ugly, Reptilian,Furry, Tusk
🤔 This is a Sericum-Scalehound which we’ll learn more about later
Let's see if there is anything overly special about our Beasty
Going to roll once for each Reptilian, Furry, and Tusk.
Abilities: Fast Healing.
Pretty average but has the Fast Healing ability. Which for our purposes we need to ask is it Normal or Regenerative. Is it Normal? No with that as the case going to push the odds in the favor of regenerative power. Yes
So Fast Healing for us will operate as the heal wound roll but with no v. Roll. Instead roll a d6 on a 4+ it will be a success.
Atliss will be the name of our Scalehound.
Now to wrap up our main character with a personality, appearance and background.
Keeping in line with randomizing the character we'll generate a name, and appearance. Using a personal random generator. I’ll roll four times and choose with a d4 roll. Using mythic’s behavior table I'll roll 2d100 to generate something of a personality.
Parissaea
She/Her.
Neutral
They are a Goblin They are selfish and are initially Neutral.
They recently experienced a victory.
Oppose loving
Levaas
Xe/Xyr.
They are a Neutral/Neutral
They are a(n) Dragonborn
They are prudent and are initially Apprehensive.
They recently experienced a fool.
enthusiastic dominate.
Kalzussis
He/Him.
They are Neutral
They are a(n) Orc
They are morose and are initially Neutral.
They recently experienced a rite.
Important news
Edmure
Xe/Xyr.
They are Evil
They are a(n) Rabbitfolk.
They are incompetent and are initially Neutral.
Their goals are Power.
They recently experienced a reveal
inform mystery
We rolled Kalzussis for our main character!
Kalzussis
Last we’ll roll what the name of this campaign will be using Oldskull Adventure Generator
Lament
of Severance
Lament of Severance
Adventures of Kalzussis and Atliss
As part of this character creation I wanted to take the time out to play a scene with Atliss and Kal. That way we can learn a bit more about the Scalehound. We’re going to head to Mythic Variations 2 and roll Event Focus and Meaning. This Scene being the first time they met.
Event Focus; PC Negative Something bad happened to Kal?
What was the bad thing? overthrow, fears
This makes me think that Kal was stuck somewhere?
Let's roll once more with a Detail check; Disfavors the PC. So I'll take that as an answer of yes to our last question. And not only is Kal stuck but wounded as well.
Young Kalzussis, had wandered far past the trees of Cimdel and into the Withering Wood. He was no coward and no one dared mock him now, he thought as he strode into the gnarled wasteland of rotted trees.
Is Kal being hunted? Odds Very Likey (+4) CF 6(+2) let's roll our Fate Check.That is a Yes
What is he hunted by? Using Creature Crafter let's find out.
How many; Two
How big; Gigantic 😱😱😱😱 this is pretty scary.
Creature Class; Plant 😅😅 maybe not so bad?
Creature Description; tree like, vines/tentacles, roll on amorphous table, Thorny
Rolling on the Amorphous table; My Decision so going to say this thing has multiple eyes.
It is called an Eriealder an abomination caused by the blight of the Black Province.
The young Orc walked far past lil Dittra's stick. Even past the older boys Thawn and Merd’s sticks. He kept walking until he could barely see the tops of Cimdels' Trees. With a grunt he hefted his walking stick into the air in victory. He stood way past Old Man Worthy's forgotten sword. He'd chucked it a few years ago. The village never asked why. He found a patch of mostly flat stone and roots and sat down. He pulled his handkerchief from his waist pouch. Munched on a bit of dried jerky. This place wasn't all that scary, just rotted trees that and a but if fog he thought. As he sat pondering the Old man's sword from a distance and tied his hand kerchief to the end of his walking stick. He felt it long before he had time to notice the Eriealder. As he went from sitting to being launched twenty feet to his right.
His head was on fire and he couldn't feel anything below his shoulders. He blinked away blood and mud and tried to struggle to his feet. Only to get launched again this time he caught it out of the corner of his eye. The tree?!, He thought it was a tree he'd been sitting beside, it's eyes snapped open and stared at him.
He spat blood and stumbled to his feet. The massive beasts blocking his path back. He had no choice but to run deeper. He couldn't feel his legs pumping beneath him or think about how fast he was actually moving. He just needed to move; something was broken for sure and he could barely see out his left eye. He ran the Eriealder snapping at his heels. Deeper into the Withering Wood he went running until there was nothing but the sound of his labored breathing and the crunch of his feet against the ground.
Does Kal stumble into the Den of Atliss? Well I wasn't expecting this but it's a NO! And it's an Exceptional No with a Random Event!!!!
Event focus; move toward a thread this means it is still in line with Atliss and Kal meeting.
Meaning; Intolerance, Tactics
Detail check; just to get a bit more context here, Sadness
I’m going to interpret this as Kal running himself ragged and Atliss finding him. Atliss taking pity on a wounded child.
Kal ran til his legs gave out and be flopped to the ground in a heap. He couldn't remember how long it'd been but he could hear the buzzards singing over head and there was little light in the sky. Out of the shadows lumbered a creature it nudged him with a tusk. And sniffed his head. It's snout wet and cold.
This is it. This is how I die. Eaten by some scavenger?! The fury of his kind welled in him. He clinched his fist and swung with all his might, blindly from the ground. His fist landed against scales like a wet noodle, there was nothing let in his tank. How he was still breathing was beyond him. The creature trilled with what sounded like concern. He pushed again weakly against the beast. He’d die fighting damn it. Kal could feel something happening about him as the dirt and mud shifted. He tried to crawl away only to be dragged back slowly by the beast. He finally stopped when he felt the pressure of canines against his ankle.
The sounds of bones breaking and snapping he imagined to be his own as his eyes drifted shut. Funny it didn't hurt he thought.
Kal woke surrounded by a flock of buzzards, dead buzzards. Curled up about him this thick patch of leather and hide. He was bruised, hurt, but alive. Kal was met with a large set of canines as the creature before him yawned and greeted him with a nudge and lick.
He sat staring at the small tusk and almost pig like snout of the creature. The large swath of rough fur along it's back and shoulders. Contrasted by the deep brown scales tipped in amber. It's whip like tail tufted with the same beautiful black fur. This was a Scalehound, rumored to be nigh impossible to find, and even more so to tame. Normally solitary creatures they seek out companions of their own volition, with no regard for those they have chosen. Fiercely loyal but not blindly so, and it is said Scalehounds that have served families for generations will leave if they find a predecessor unworthy. What deems one worthy? Who is to say.
Kal reached out a hand his heart pounded in his chest. “Friends then?” He asked. The creatures tail slammed the ground and he nudged him once again.
“I suppose so then…”
And THAT is where we will end that Scene!
Hopefully you all enjoyed this as much as I have. The next installment we will be starting our journey in earnest. I thought I’d give you a taste of what to look forward to. What do you think of Atliss and does Kal sound like a troublemaker to you?
Don’t forget to share this with everyone you think might enjoy it. And remember you can play along just toss your character in the comments!
d12→[6]
Modeled after OSR funnels of old
d4 -> [3]
3d8 -> [6, 3, 3]
d4 -> [2]
d12 -> [9]
d100 -> [46]
d100 -> [88]
2d10 -> [4, 9]
CF5 3d10 -> [2, 5, 6]-2
d100 -> [55]
(+3) using the fate check far right is our chaos die and chaos factor (CF)5 3d10 -> [5, 5, 7] -> 13
4d100 -> [29, 71, 1, 54]
3d100 -> [22, 10, 92]
50/50 CF5 3d10 -> [1, 7, 7]
CF 5 3d10+4 -> [4, 3, 2]+4
2d100 -> [66, 74]
2d100 -> [33, 31]
2d100 -> [76, 51]
2d100 -> [52, 68]
d1000 -> [440]
d1000 -> [259]
d100 -> [58]
2d100 -> [98, 66]
As this is a PC Negative our Chaos Factor(CF) is 6, giving us a -2 to the roll. 2d10-2 -> [2, 8]-2
2d10+4+2 -> [1, 10]+4+2 d10 -> [4]
d100 -> [54]
d100 -> [96]
d100 -> [73]
4d100 -> [7, 4, 13, 25]
d100->[97]
I'm going to say this is probably Likely considering the circumstances. Our chaos factor is totally not in the favor of Kal so it's a 6.
2d10+2 -> [4, 4]+2
d10 -> [4] -> 4
d100 -> [45]
2d100 -> [79, 57]
2d10-2 -> [2, 5]-2