Thread: TARAK TALES BACKGROUND THREAD - WORLD MATERIAL (no comments)

Example of Play Let's visit the scene of our hero, Dizzik, canoodling with a new ladyfriend on one of the balcony walkways ringing the River Shaft, enjoying each other's company as they idly watch some workers start to use a winch and pulley system to lift a harpsichord from the Shaft floor to one of the swanky lounges above, near the Sun Levels. Sure, they could have carted it around in the tunnels, probably gone all the way to the Spiral and then all the way back to the lounge, but the workers are paid by the hour, and this is much faster and not really more complex. They didn't spring for a Legless Scaffold or the like, but they could afford a winch motor powered by an Ever-Spinning Wheel. Suddenly, a gruff voice barks the woman's name from above they look up to see a burly man in outdoorsy clothes glaring down on them. He fixes Dizzik with a baleful eye, then charges toward the nearby staircase that leads to their level. My husband! the woman breathes. Your husband?!?! Dizzik repeats, alarmed. He gives her a deep kiss, then gazes into her eyes. It's... just not working out, he says as he slips out of her arms. Dizzik races for a tunnel, but since he delayed for goodbyes, the angry husband is right close. Dizzik needs to make a Running check to see if he makes an escape. Dizzik has no specific training in Running, so he defaults to his Dexterity, which is 3D1. The roll comes out 1, 3, 1. Since the first die is the Wild Die, the Wild Die rolled a 1, which the GM chooses as a complication. The rest of the roll is 31 4, 1 pip 5. Which... is not enough to outrace the husband. Plus, the complication is that as he rounds toward the tunnel, Dizzik sees the corridor full of a group of oncoming nuns. Technically it's the monthly social outing of the Order of Ra'an's Mercy, a sorority of Clerical healers, but the effect is the same. Dizzik decides that pushing through the nuns is just a bit too much for him today easier to go back the other way and get past the husband. So he turns and runs at the guy. The larger man tries to snatch Dizzik into a bear hug a Brawling attack, but all Dizzik wants to do is get past him to the other side which he decides is a full Dodge move, and the GM agrees. Husband's Strength is 3D, and his Brawling is 4D he's a farmer, but he gets in a lot of fights. Dizzik's Dodge is 5D he's usually getting into scrapes, so he's had to build it up. Husband rolls a 1, 2, 1, 4. 1 on the Wild Die, and this time for simplicity and because he can't think of an appropriate complication, the GM considers it a penalty, which means the Wild Die and the highest die the 4 are removed. The total Brawling roll is therefore 21 3. Dizzik had a full dodge, which means the Dodge roll is added to the base difficulty of 5. The minimum he could roll would be 3 if he rolled all 1s, and the Wild Die result was a penalty, and so his minimum roll would be an 8 he doesn't even bother to roll the dice, he just springs past the man's clumsy swing, ducking under his outstretched arm. His movement ends him right at the dude's back. The next round, he can't help but want to add a little insult to injury, so he spins around and goes to plant a foot upside the man's posterior and shove him forward into the nuns. The husband is just going to try and keep from getting shoved, but doesn't want to range away from his opponent, so a full Brawling Parry instead of a Dodge. Dizzik has a Strength of 2D2, a Brawling of 3D2, and the husband has no particular defensive skills, so the roll defaults to his Dexterity attribute, which is 2D, because he's a normal human. Dizzik rolls a 6, 5, 3. 6 on the Wild Die, and that means a re-roll, which comes up a 3. So the Brawling roll is 6533 17, 2 pips 19. The husband rolls a 4, 2. 42 6, and it's a full defense, which means the roll is added to the basic Brawling difficulty of 5, so 65 11. It's not enough, so despite the husband trying to whirl around, Dizzik gets his foot set and shoves. To resolve it, we do a damage check. Dizzik's Strength is 2D2, the husband's Strength is 3D. Dizzik rolls 6, 1, which is lucky, because of the 6 on the Wild Die. A re-roll of that die also gets a 6! And that re-roll is another 6! And then a 3. So Dizzik's damage roll is 61663 22, 2 pips 24. The husband rolls 2, 5, 3. 253 10. Dizzik beats the husband's roll by 14. If he were doing damage, that would move him into -2D stun range, at least and wounded if doing lethal damage, but since he's got a specific result in mind, the GM allows it. Dizzik shoves the angry husband forward, making him stumble, off-balance, into the mass of nuns now exiting the other tunnel. Sorry, ladies! he calls behind him as he scampers off to the next staircase down. At the last minute he sees there are some City Guard coming up. They don't know anything has been happening, but if he pushes past them, they're going to want to stop him on principle, just to be sure nothing is going on, and that would give the husband enough time to catch up. Over the edge of the balcony beyond, Dizzik spots the winch ropes, just past his former lady-love who is still staring at the scene, open-mouthed. He angles that way, and as he runs closer, he sees that the blocky cabinet of the harpsichord they were moving earlier is rising into view as he approaches, so he increases speed. Good luck with your marriage, he says to the woman as he leaps up to kick off the rail and leap across the open space of the shaft to the top of the instrument. Again, Dizzik's Strength is 2D2, but his ClimbingJumping skill is 4D, another result of all the scrapes he gets into. The GM determines it's a decent jump out, and the cabinet is rising steadily, and there's a little swinging, so it's a Moderately difficult jump. Dizzik rolls a 4, 6, 6, 5. His luck holds 4665 21, well above the Moderate difficulty which is usually 15 or so. Dizzik lands on the instrument, grabbing the rope to stop himself. As his impact makes the whole thing swing, it continues to rise, seeing as the workers at the winch below are too goggle-eyed at his stunt to stop the motor. So when the instrument swings back close to the wall, Dizzik is nearly at the level of the balcony railing for the walkway above where he started. He makes another jump... 2, 4, 3, 5 14. That falls into the or so region of the Moderate difficulty. Dizzik leaps to the top of the railing, lands with no momentum, teeters on the edge, windmilling his arms... and then finally gets himself to topple forward, dropping onto the walkway and running off into the depths of the Warrens. Perhaps he will choose his girlfriends more wisely next time... but it's unlikely.