[Play Report] Well-met by Moonlight

With outside temperatures struggling to get out of single digits this morning, it was of course a perfect time to go skiing. Once we had thawed out and dad had stolen a quick nap, it was time to brew up a pot of tea, bake some cookies, and start our new campaign -- just me, mum, and the kid.

If play reports don't bore you to tears, read on...

That's Why The Lady is a Bard

I didn't paint this.

My offspring is gearing up for a new campaign. She has decided to retire Rosima the elf sorceress and wants to play an elven bard, based on this Reaper mini. "Her name is Palemoon and she's a moon elf with straight black hair. What can bards do?"
This is great, actually, because I haven't done a bard role for DungeonTeller. What's essential about bards?

1. They use song as a medium for magic.
2. They are lore masters.
3. They are persuasive speakers.

In my ruleset, your race and role are inseparable, so "elf bard" is distinct from "human bard". Here's some flavor text to start with:

Elf bards are priestesses of the elven moon goddess Kaguya. Their songs can heal, give hope to those in need, and drive away evil. Moonlight being a vehicle of dreams, these bards can create phantoms from song and shadow to beguile or confuse. They often accompany themselves on lutes with silver strings. On completion of a bard's first important quest, the moon goddess grants her a rabbit companion that serves as a guide and sentinel. 


Stats:
Battle 1
Magic 3
Make 1 (+4 bonus dice when making or fixing musical instruments)
Notice 5 (+1 bonus die when in presence of rabbit companion)
Resist 3
Shoot 3
Sneak 2
Stunt 2
Talk 5 (+1 when playing lute)


They have some of the powers of other elf roles: cloak and starlight.
They also grab some wizard and paladin powers, with the difference that they roll their Talk dice rather than their Magic or Resist dice to cast them:
counterspell
drive away undead
hand of healing
inspire
phantom
will o' the wisp

They also possess the rogue power voice trick.

Let's make up a new power for them on the spot:


Beguile
Your words can hold an audience spellbound. Costs 2 Luck. Bard starting power.
Roll your Talk dice. One or more successes means that your enemies lose their next turn, listening raptly to your song. If your friends make a Battle or Shoot roll against a beguiled enemy, it will not lose its next turn. Each enemy may roll its Resist dice to take away any successes you made. This power is best used before a fight begins. If you use this power after you or your friends have made Battle or Shoot rolls against your enemies, each enemy will get a bonus Resist die against your beguile for the rest of the action scene.



Anyone catch Colbert's "half-orc bard" reference on The Report the other night?

[Flavah Menu] Elf my Elf

As I'm developing my blue box, I'm thinking about what resources I'd include for worldbuilding. When you work within a framework of generic high fantasy, you can bet there will be elves, for example. But whose elves? Use this handy menu to elf your elfin' elves to your heart's content. Pick one or more options from each section:


Origins: Elves are:

• An elder race, superior to humans in many ways, but less ambitious and impulsive.
• Very minor deities entrusted with protecting and sustaining the natural world.
• Refugees from a divine realm adjacent to our own that has since fallen into evil.
• Transhumans who represent a physical and spiritual evolution beyond humankind.
• Descendants of the neutral angels who sided neither with god nor the devil.

Relations with Humans: Elves find humans:

• A loutish, inferior brood worthy of contempt.
• Fascinatingly unpredictable.
• Well-meaning but ultimately destructive, wasteful, and foolish.
• The enemy.
• Pitiable for their brief lives and lack of mindfulness.

Banes: Elves can't abide:

• Iron.
• Fire.
• Sunlight.
• Domesticated animals, especially dogs and cats.

Temptations: Elves can't resist:

• Music.
• The urge to complete a rhyme.
• Silver.
• The sight of the sea.

Future: Elves believe they are destined to: 

• Dwindle and fade as the younger races flourish.
• Perish in a final conflict with humans.
• Gradually interbreed with humans until they are absorbed.
• Return to a promised land across the sea/in the sky/beneath the earth.
• Forever serve their current role in the world with little change.

[Illustration] Planning a New Adventure

Planning a new adventure. Brush-and-ink, 2011.