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Threads of Fate - Episode 1, part 2

Ok.  So, Arielle has awoken from this strange dream and because this is an RPG, I have to put myself in her shoes. So, I think I should ask the Oracle a few questions about the significance of this dream.  Let’s start with,

Player: Would Arielle have reason to think that this dream is a premonition and not just a dream?

I don’t have any reason to think that this would be likely or unlikely, so we’ll just go with a flat roll with no modifier.

Oracle: 1d20 (20) – Yes, and…

Holy shit, that’s a nat 20.  Okay, so she’s not only certain this is a premonition, but it has additional significance.  Let’s ask for more context on the keyword table.

Oracle: 1d8 (7) – Hundreds range 700-799 Oracle: 1d100 (769) – “Silver”

Hmm.  Okay, this is a bit of a reach, but Silver could refer to a silver anniversary—25 years.  I did establish during character creation that Arielle’s eldest sister Georgina mysteriously disappeared a couple decades ago, what if this is in reference to that?  I feel like this is on the likely side so let’s go with a +5

Player: Is this the 25th anniversary of Georgina’s disappearance? Oracle: 1d20 (6+5) – 11: Yes, but…

So, it is the anniversary of her disappearance, but…  But what?

Oracle: 1d8 (8) – Hundreds range 0-99 Oracle: 1d100 (1) – “Undead”

I can NOT make this up.  Georgina apparently didn’t just disappear… She must have either been killed and brought back to life, or worse—she’s not Georgina anymore.  The thing is, though, I don’t think Arielle would have any way of knowing this, so we’ll have to put a pin in that for now.

Shaken by this terrifying dream, Arielle lays in bed, trembling.  Perhaps any other night she might have been able to shrug it off and chalk the experience up to some bad stew, but there’s no way that it was purely a coincidence that she would have this dream on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance.  No.  It was too real.  But was what she saw a vision of the past?  Of the present?  Or of events yet to come? Before much longer comes daybreak and she is finally able to collect herself from her feverish thoughts, so she begins to ready herself for the day.  She dresses herself, then proceeds to the mess hall where all the people from the various temples amidst the Divine Quarter share their meals.

I’m going to see if anyone here would know anything about it, and I’m not sure if it’s likely or not so let’s go with no modifier.

Oracle: 1d20 (3) – No.

Okay, fair enough.  Even if no one here has heard of this relic, though, surely they would know where we could find out more, so let’s ask with a +5 for likely this time.

Oracle: 1d20 (17+5) – Yes, and…

Ok, time for another keyword.

Oracle: 1d8 (8) – Hundreds range 0-99 Oracle: 1d100 (53) – “Patrol”

Interesting, ok.  This suggests to me that perhaps that someone in the city guard will know more.

First, let’s establish who at the she speaks with by generating an NPC.  I think we can assume they are a fellow cleric, but let’s find out more about them.

Oracle: 1d100 (57) – Human Oracle: 4d100 (01, 12, 28, 96) – Male, Lawful Good, Aged 28, Frivolous disposition

And I picked the name “Blaise Earle” from FantasyNameGenerators.

So, let’s go ahead and take what we have and set this scene:

Arielle prods at her breakfast but eats nothing.  She sits there staring off into empty space, while replaying the vision in her mind.  The figure snaps, the candles light, and then she is engulfed in flames.  Over and over. A hand suddenly appears in front of her face, snaps its fingers, and she hears, “Airy! Your food’s getting cold!” She jerks in surprise, snapping back to reality.  Grimacing, she blinks a couple times to adjust her vision, and then turns her gaze to find her colleague, Blaise, staring back at her with a concerned look on his face. “Whoa, hey.  I didn’t mean to spook you, what gives?  You look like someone died.” “Someone wha… I…” Arielle sputters, then pauses before collecting her thoughts before shooting back, “I mean, we do work at a temple dedicated to the goddess of fate, we just held a passing ceremony for someone yesterday.” Blaise scoffs.  “Pfft, you know what I mean.  Seriously, what’s going on with you?” Arielle lets out a long sigh, contemplating whether to tell him. “I’m not certain, but…  Tell me.  Do you believe Istus gifts anyone with prophetic dreams?” “Well,” he replies, “I guess so, sure, I mean if anyone knows what the future holds, it’s her…  What, you think you had one?” She tells Blaise about the vision, then adds, “I can’t help but feel it’s somehow connected to my sister’s disappearance, it’s 25 years to the day today, you know.” “Whaaaaat? No way,” he marvels, his mouth full of breakfast beans. “That,” he stops to chew and swallow, “That’s definitely a crazy coincidence, Airy.  But…  Well, we both know Istus doesn’t deal with coincidences." Arielle nods, “Exactly.” She thinks for a moment, then asks, “You haven’t heard anything about the candelabra from my vision, have you?” “Umm,” Blaise thinks, shoveling a piece of toast into his mouth, “No, I don’t fink so.” He chews a bit, swallows again, then continues, “I bet if you asked around the city guard, though, they might have heard something.” “Perhaps you’re right,” Arielle nods.  “I suppose that is what I will do, after our morning services.” Satisfied that she now has a course of action to pursue, she’s finally able to take a few bites of her own breakfast.

So that, I think, is where I’m going to pause for now.  Stay tuned for the next installment of It’s Dangerous to Go Alone!

[dangerous-to-go-alone]

Threads of Fate - Episode 1, Part 1

An adventure needs an adventurer.

And who better to embark on an adventure at the mercy of dice than a cleric of Istus, the goddess of fate? I present to you, dear readers, Arielle Underbough.

Arielle is a 40 year old Halfling, of stout lineage, born to Wella and Pirithin Underbough, humble farmers from a village outside Balarand, the capital city of Asheria. She is the second youngest of 5 siblings, most of whom tend to their family farm. Her eldest sister Georgina, however, was also a cleric of Istus, but disappeared mysteriously over twenty years ago.

Our hero has lived in Balarand for 9 years, serving as a priestess for the temple of Istus within the city's divine quarter. Aside from the disappearance of her sister, and her induction into the monastery of Istus, Arielle's life has been relatively uneventful. That is to say, it was uneventful until recently.

Now that we've introduced our protagonist, it's time to determine what sort of adventure she will be embarking upon. To do this, we ask the oracle how she first learns about her quest.

Player: What is the source of the first quest? Oracle: 1d100 (51) - Source: A dream

Late, during a night of unusually tumultuous sleep, Arielle receives a strange vision.

Now, we ask the oracle about what this quest entails, and what we are to do about it.

Player: What is the problem and the resultant quest? Oracle: 1d100 (55) - Problem: Nefarious / Dangerous Item Oracle: 1d100 (88) - Quest: Break

So it seems this quest will involve a dangerous or cursed item, and Arielle's goal will be to destroy it. Perhaps the oracle can tell us more about this item?

Player: What is this dangerous item called? Oracle: 3d100 (45, 37, 52, 38) - "The Elegant Candelabra of the Illuminating Demon"

Interesting. I think we have something we can work with.

In her dream, Arielle stands in a strange room, unidentifiable in its dreamlike vagueness, in front of a nondescript, round and wooden table. Upon this table in its center sits an exquisite, golden candelabra with three arms, each with one, unlit, white candle, set into its corresponding nozzle. A shadowy figure looming just out of sight on the far side of the table snaps its fingers and the candle on the right lights. As this candle begins to melt, instead of the same color white of the candle itself, the wax that drips down its side takes the color of blood red. The figure snaps its fingers once more, and the candle on the left flickers to life and drips its blood red wax onto the drip pan. This time it is accompanied by a cacophony of screams somewhere in the distance. As the figure snaps its fingers a third time and the center candle lights, its flame quickly grows to a blinding brightness, filling the room with intense heat. Just as Arielle would be consumed by the flames, she jolts awake, drenched in sweat.

This is an ill omen indeed, and perhaps Arielle is the only one who can stop this terrible demon of light from being summoned?

I think that will do for this introduction to our protagonist and a quick demonstration of how the Oracle works. Stay tuned for the next installment of It's Dangerous to Go Alone!

[dangerous-to-go-alone]

What is this?

As the description suggests, this is a solo D&D journaling project.

I'm sure you know by now what D&D is—not just A, but THE fantasy themed tabletop role playing RPG. But how, you might ask, can you play solo, without a dungeon master at the helm? Great question, normally you can't but with a robust set of rules you can approximate one with some dice rolls, tables, and a bit of creativity.

There are a few of these systems out there, but for this project I'm using Paul Bimler's "The Solo Adventurer's Toolkit" over on The Dungeon Master's Guild, as well as the expanded version he released later.

How does it work? I recommend checking out Ginny Di's review of these source books in her video over on YouTube:

I haven't nailed down exact plans for what this blog is going to look like, but essentially I'll be generating a world to play in with various random generation tools out there, and using Bimler's toolkit to generate quests and scenarios that my characters will encounter, I'm going to keep a record, and periodically I'll post journal entries that dramatize the events of the adventure. It's kind of like a serial novel, but heavily randomized and at the mercy of my dice!

Eventually I'd like to compile the adventure into a podcast or maybe video format, but I want to get my bearings with the system and what I can do with it first. :)

I'll make a separate post with more details, but our first adventurers are Arielle, the Halfling Cleric, and Riddle, the Tabaxi rogue! Until next time...

Threads of Fate

Episode 1, Part 1 Episode 1, Part 2