Sam: When last we left our intrepid adventurers...
John (ooc): We were about to get our asses kicked by demons.
Sam (smiling): Maybe. Initiative.
Ed (ooc): Wits + Alertness, dif 4?
Bill (ooc): Yep.
All roll
Bill: One.
John: Five.
Nate: Four.
Ed: One.
John (ooc): One, Ed? How big's your initiative pool?
Ed (ooc): Seven dice. I rolled two 1s.
John (ooc): So much for ambushing the demons.
Bill (ooc): You'd better HOPE they're not demons, kids. Remember our little scuffle with the vampire a couple weeks
back? I dropped XP into Willpower, not Melee...
Sam: Clara, you arrive looking upon this scene. Go ahead and roll initiative.
Mary: (rolls) Seven.
John (ooc): What?! Seven? Good Wits and rolls, I take it.
Mary nods.
Sam: Since you're ambushing, Allan and Homer get a free first attack. Homer.
John: Throwing knives at one of the fan-wavers. (rolls) Two successes.
Sam: Damage.
John (ooc): Damn. No successes.
Sam: The knife slices through his sleeve as he turns, wielding his fan like a staff. Allan.
Ed: Throwing a knife at the wine-pourer. (rolls) Four successes.
Sam: You remembered that thrown weapons are Dex + Athletics, right?
Ed: They are? I thought it would count as Melee.
Bill opens his disintegrating book and points to the pertinent passage.
Ed: Oh. (rolls) One success, then.
Sam: Damage?
Ed: Three successes.
Sam: The knife sinks into his shoulder, and he drops the wine pitcher, spraying the immediate vicinity with red wine and
blood. Clara.
Mary: I don't know these people, so I'm going to watch in an effort to see which ones are Sir William's allies. I will
spend this turn starting fiddling with my experimental electromagnetic shield belt in an effort to get it to work. Forces 2,
Matter 1, Entropy 2 - Makes it subtly more difficult to hit a target. Coincidental, right?
Sam: Probably, especially if John's knife-throwing skills are any indication.
John (ooc): Hey! It was the knife's fault. I will punish it later.
Sam: Dif 5.
Mary (rolls): Taking two turns to do it. Two successes this turn.
Sam: Okay. The two men with trays of food drop them. One of them begins speaking in a gutteral language unfamiliar to
any of you. The other one draws a knife from a pocket and cuts himself with it. (rolls) Walter.
Nate: Walter prays for divine justice and blasts the one with the knife with a Prime bolt. Dif 4. Two successes. Agg
4.
Sam: (rolls) Armor fails. White flame bursts from the ground, engulfing him. Another man drops his bundle of grapes
pulls out a knife, which he waves in arcane motions. (rolls) The other fan-wielder takes a swipe at Allan, wielding the fan
like a quarterstaff. (rolls) Two successes. Soak Bashing 2.
Ed: (rolls) One success.
Sam: Allan is now Bruised. The wine-pourer waves his hands at Walter. (rolls) An invisible force grabs the Chorister
and slams him against the ceiling. Soak Bashing 2. "You will pray to new masters before we are done with you," he growls.
Nate: Meep. (rolls) One success.
Sam: The other fan-carrier takes a swing at Allan. (rolls) Two successes. (rolls) He accidentally hits you with the fan
side, which breaks off without causing any damage. Draw.
Bill: While they're occupied with beating up the heavy fighters, I'm going to chug a small flask of whiskey. Life 2 to
increase physical stats. Coincidental considering the known effects of alcohol on drunks, right?
Sam: That would require Life 3.
Bill: Damn. Could I use Correspondence 2 and Time 2 look into the immediate future and guess where each of these people
will be standing next turn, thus increasing my effective Brawl and Dodge?
Everyone else (ooc): What?
Bill: Nevermind. How about if I just tackle Mister New Prayer? dif 8 (rolls) Triple botch!
Sam (chuckling evily): Draw tries to pounce on the mage throwing Walter, but slips on the wine and bangs his head on the
floor. Soak Bashing 2.
Bill: (rolls) One success. Draw mutters, "Well, that didn't turn out the way I expected."
Sam: Clara.
Mary: Still fiddling with the shield belt. (rolls) Up to four successes, now. Clara slaps the device, which begins to
hum. Two successes into duration, so it will last for a day. Two successes into effect. I'm going for a kinetic energy
deflection effect that eliminates successes on attack rolls. How do you want to adjudicate this, Sam? And will I be able to turn it on
and off during that time, or will it disappear if I try that?
Sam: It will give you an automatic four Dodge dice on a difficulty of 6 even when you do other things. You can't turn it
on and off unless you have Prime 2. Every time it completely prevents a hit, the difficulty of that Dodge rises by 1. Sound
fair?
Mary: Sure. By the way, Clara isn't too keen on the whole "pray to new masters" guy.
Sam: I expect not. Homer.
John: I pull another knife and take a slice at the more competant of Christabel's two fanboys. (rolls) Five successes!
Nate: Nice.
Sam: Damage?
John: (rolls) All those successes, and only three damage.
Sam: (rolls) No soak. Homer's knife plunges into the fanboy's guts and comes out red. Tray Jack number one keeps
chanting (rolls) The scorched one with the knife runs toward Christabel, who has regained her senses. Would you like to
roll initiative, Fanny?
Fanny (ooc): My turn? What do I roll?
John looks at her character sheet and hands her the correct number of dice.
Fanny: (rolls) Christabel makes him surrender.
Sam: Not yet. You'll get a chance to act next turn. How many successes did you get on your initiative check?
Fanny: I don't know. (counts) I got 48.
Bill: No. Take each one by itself. The difficulty of ...
John (ooc)(looks at her dice): Six successes.
Nate (ooc): Nice roll, Fanny.
Fanny (ooc): Hold on a minute. How did you figure that out?
Everything comes to a screeching halt for a few minutes as Sam, Bill, and John explain how to read dice rolls in Mage.
Sam: Okay. Walter.
Nate: I'm rapidly running out of Quintessence. I'm going to mumble a prayer, begging for protection from this evildoer.
Life 3, raising Walter's Stamina. Dif 6?
Sam: You're floating through the air and being slammed against a ceiling. Dif 8.
John (ooc): Ouch.
Nate: Spending WP. (rolls) Two successes total. One to duration, the other to effect.
Sam: You raise your Stamina by one for the rest of the scene. Mister Grapes takes a slice at Homer with his knife.
(rolls) A muscle twitch causes him to drop the knife, however. Fanboy number one takes a swing at Allan. (rolls) Two
successes. (rolls) Soak Bashing 1. My rolls are sucking tonight. He burned Willpower for that!
Ed: (rolls) Did it.
Sam: The wine taster waves his hands some more. (rolls) Ouch! Walter, soak Bashing 6.
Nate: What is this - kill the cleric night? (rolls) One success. One step away from Incapacitated...
Sam: Fanboy number two takes a wild swing at Homer (rolls) Two successes. (rolls) Soak Bashing 1. What is up with all
these 1s tonight!?
John: (rolls) Managed.
Sam: Allan, roll five dice, dif 4.
Ed: Uh, okay... (rolls) 2 successes, why?
Sam: Just checking something. It's your turn, now.
Ed: Chanting in Enochian as I smite Fanboy number one with an electricity-charged knife. Dif 6?
Sam: Yes, but you get one less die for the spell and two less for the attack.
Ed: What do I have to lose, really? (rolls) Botch on the spell. (rolls) One success on the attack.
Sam (smiling slightly): Four more points of Paradox. Roll damage.
Ed: One success.
Sam: Somehow, as you're attacking, the knife slips in your hand and cuts it. Take Lethal 1.
John (ooc): No soak?
Sam shakes his head.
Nate (ooc): What the?
Bill (ooc): Paradox backlash?
Sam (smiling): Maybe... Draw, go.
Bill: Draw spots the wine on the floor. "Dionysis has betrayed me," he murmurs, and breaks into a drinking song. Vulgar
Time 3 Effect. Burning one Quint and a Willpower. Dif 5 with specialty focus. (rolls) Three successes. One into
duration. The other two to double my speed. One point of Paradox.
Sam: Okay. Clara.
Mary: Tackling the mage who is slamming the guy against the ceiling. (rolls) One success.
Sam: Got him. Roll damage, and give me a Dex + Athletics, dif 7.
Mary: (rolls) One damage. (rolls) Got it.
Sam: (rolls) So does he, but he's unbalanced next turn. Christabel.
Fanny: I'm going to make him surrender.
Sam: How?
Fanny: With magic, of course. Do I have to roll something?
Sam (glancing at her character sheet): With Mind 2, you can strike his mind with a surge of emotion, inflicting Bashing
damage. The difficulty is 5.
Fanny: (rolls) Four successes.
Bill (ooc): What's your Arete?
Fanny (ooc): My what? I don't see that on my sheet anywhere.
John points.
Fanny (ooc): Oh, you mean my uh-REET? Three.
John (ooc): It's pronounced as in the Greek.
Fanny (ooc): Okay.
Sam: Whenever you want to use magic, you roll dice equal to your Arete.
Fanny: Okay. (rolls) Three successes.
Sam: Now, you have to spend one success to affect another person, but the rest count as two damage per success, which
means you deal eight points of Bashing damage to him.
Fanny: Okay.
Sam: (rolls) He drops his knife and clutches his head, screaming. Homer.
Homer: Stabby stabby. (rolls) Four successes. (rolls) Two successes.
Sam: (rolls) Your blade slices open his left shoulder. Tray Jack draws a knife and attacks Homer with it. (rolls) One
success. (rolls) And two successes. Soak Lethal... (rolls) nothing. And soak Lethal... (rolls) 4.
John: This could suck. (rolls) What little armor I have does me no good.
Sam: The half-melted, screaming man who had a knife a moment ago screams and fires bolt of pure darkness at Christabel.
(rolls) Strike that. TRIES to fire a bolt of pure darkness at Christabel, but curls up in a sobbing ball, instead. Walter.
Nate: I empathize with the Nephandi curled up in a ball and sobbing. Burning a point of WP to ignore the pain, healing
myself with Life 2, laying on hands.
Sam: Vulgar and distracted. Dif 7. Gain a Paradox.
Nate: (rolls) Wow. Two 10s.
Sam: Gain back four Health levels. Mr. Grapes picks up his knife (rolls) and promptly drops it again. Fanboy number
one swings at Allan. (rolls) One success. (rolls) Soak Bashing 2.
Ed: (rolls) Got it.
Sam: Wine guy stands up and takes a wild swing at Clara with his knife. (rolls) 2 successes. Shield dodge.
Fanny: (rolls) Two successes.
Sam: The mage stumbles backward slightly as he swings, and the blade misses her by inches. Increase difficulty to 7.
Nate (ooc) Does this mean I'm not getting pummeled this turn?
Sam: Not this turn. You're still floating, though. Fanboy number two takes a swing at Allan. (rolls) One success.
(rolls) The quarterfan glances off the vampire hunter's shoulder. Allan.
Ed: Electric knife, again. (rolls) Yes! Two successes! (rolls) Only one success on the attack, though.
Sam: The knife cuts you, instead. Soak Lethal 6.
John (ooc): What the hell are you doing to him, Sam?
Ed: (rolls) Soaked one.
Sam: Electricity surges through your body, severely injuring you. Give me a Perception + Awareness, dif 8.
Ed: Dice loss?
Sam: I'll let it slide this time.
Ed: Thanks. Wouldn't be able to do it, otherwise. (rolls) Two successes.
Sam: Allan, you realize there is some kind of magic making it impossible to use physical weapons without harming
yourself, instead.
Ed (ooc): Now you tell me.
Sam: Draw.
Bill: Blind-siding the one who just stabbed Homer. +2 combat dice. Kicking him twice. (rolls) Two successes on the
first attack, and one success on the second. (rolls) Soak Bashing 2 and Bashing 3.
Sam: (rolls) Soaked one and two. Draw seems to move at an incredible speed, kicking the knife-wielding tray Jack twice
in the back. Clara.
Mary: Clara whips a small, flat device with a notch out of her tool belt. Using it to destroy his knife with a Matter 3
Effect. Coincidental?
Sam: Sure. Dif 6.
Mary: 5 with specialty focus. (rolls) Three successes. The young woman deftly slips the notch of the steel bar over
the blade of the knife and twists, snapping the weapon's blade.
Sam: Christabel.
Fanny: I bash him with Mind, again. (rolls) One success.
John: Sorry, dear. You got a 1, that cancels one of your successes.
A more detailed explanation of the rules of One and Ten ensues...
Fanny: I see. There are a lot of rules to remember. Can I still kick him in the head, instead?
Sam: Not until next turn. Homer.
John: Let's see. I'm facing a guy with a blade and two fanboys. Time for some serious mayhem. I'm going to convert the
telekinetic forces holding Walter in the air into heat and blast the guy with the knife into oblivion. Willpower to ignore
damage penalties, three Quintessence to lower difficulty, and I'm using my specialty focus. Vulgar, yes, but dif 3. (rolls)
Three successes, plus one extra for Forces. Three into damage. Let's see him soak Lethal 6. "Make your peace with whatever
gods you might have, mortal, for ye have been marked for death!"
Sam: (rolls) His skin bursts apart as the blood in his veins vaporizes, showering the room in a mist of blood.
John (ooc): Hell yeah!
Bill (ooc): One down, five to go...
John (ooc): Hush, you.
Sam: The screaming tray Jack stops screaming for a moment and attempts to stab Christabel. (rolls) One success.
(rolls) No damage, though. Walter, you fall from the ceiling as the force that was suspending you ceases to exist. You
suffer a +1 to difficulties this turn. Your turn.
Nate: Thanks, John, I think... I'm going to run over and lay hands on Allan. Life 3, dif 7, right?
Sam: Yes.
Nate: Burning Willpower. (rolls) Three successes.
Sam: Allan feels a surge of strength and renewed life as all his injuries are healed.
Ed (ooc): Thank you.
Sam: Fanboy number one takes a step back and mutters some words under his breath. (rolls) Some of his injuries heal.
Wine guy tosses aside his broken knife and attempts to punch Clara. (rolls) And whiffs. Fanboy number two takes a swing at
Walter. (rolls) And manages to clock his fellow fanboy in the head. (rolls) Inflicting two levels of bashing damage.
(rolls) Which his buddy soaks. Allan.
Ed: Well, I can't use magical attacks, so I'll just blast the first Fanboy with a bolt of lightning. Dif 6 with
specialized focus. (rolls) No successes, one point of Paradox. I'm up to ten, now.
Sam: Draw.
Bill: Kicking Fanboy number one in the ass some more. (rolls) Three successes and three. (rolls) Two damage and
three.
Sam: (rolls) No soak and soak two. He is not looking at all well. Clara.
Mary: Leg sweep on the the same guy. (rolls) Two successes for (rolls) no damage. Is a takedown still possible?
Sam: Sure. (rolls) You take him down.
Mary: Cool.
Sam: Christabel.
Fanny: Mind blast. (rolls) Is this what you meant by a Botch?
John: Yes.
Sam: Gain two Paradox. Homer.
John: Stabbing Fanboy number one again. (rolls) Three successes. (rolls) Two damage.
Sam: (rolls) No soak. Fanboy number one drops.
John (ooc): It's about frickin' time!
Sam: Screaming, pained dude curls up into a fetal position and doesn't move. Walter.
Nate (ooc): Who else looks hurt?
John raises his hand.
Nate: Laying hands on Homer to heal him. (rolls) One success. Extended action next turn.
Sam: Okay. Wine-handler chants and makes arcane gestures at Clara. (rolls) A wave of force throws her backward. Soak
Lethal 2.
Clara: (rolls) No luck.
Sam: Fanboy number two takes a swipe at Homer. (rolls) He misses, but the wild swing hits Allan hard. Soak Bashing 5,
but your Paradox is gone.
Ed: (rolls) Resisted two of it.
Sam: Roll four dice against a difficulty of 5.
Ed: Alright. (rolls) Three successes. Why?
Sam: Nevermind. Your eyesight suddenly fails.
Ed (ooc): What?!
John (ooc): Probably a Paradox flaw.
Sam: Your turn, Allan.
Ed: Well, I can't fight, use magic, or see. Allan is stepping away from combat.
Sam: Okay. Draw.
Bill: Kicking Fanboy number one in the back. (rolls) One success and two. (rolls) Two damage and one.
Sam: (rolls) No soak on either. Clara.
Mary: Now I'm mad. Kick him while he's down. (rolls) One success. (rolls) One damage.
Sam: (rolls) He soaks. Christabel.
Fanny: Mind attack on the one beating up Mary. (rolls) Two successes.
Sam: (rolls) He resists the attack.
Fanny (ooc): How? I'm attacking his mind.
Sam: People with strong Willpowers are harder to control.
Fanny (ooc): Oh. Okay.
Sam: Homer.
John: Stabbing the man with the pointy. (rolls) *snort* Botch.
Sam: Your blade accidentally hit the fan, instead, and your knife falls to the ground. Walter.
Nate: Continuing to heal John. (rolls) No successes. Giving up.
Sam: Grape man stabs Homer. (rolls) Misses. Wine man tries to hurl another wall of force at Clara. (rolls) Soak Lethal
4. (rolls) Wine man's head collapses.
Bill (ooc): See, Ed. That's why Vulgar magic is bad!
Nate (ooc): Isn't playing with time Vulgar, Bill.
Bill (ooc): Shush, Nate...
Sam: Fanboy number two takes a swipe at Homer. (rolls) Two successes. (rolls) Soak Bashing 2.
John: (rolls) No successes. Guess that means I'm crippled.
Sam: Allan.
Ed: Can I see?
Sam: No.
Ed: I'm going to stay where I am, then.
Sam: Draw.
Bill: Kicking Fanboy number two a couple more times. (rolls) Two successes and four successes. (rolls) Two damage and
no damage.
Sam: (rolls) No soak.
Bill (ooc): Note to self - Purchase weapons that inflict Lethal.
John points at his knives.
Bill (ooc): Yes, I know. Had to stick with the character, though, you know.
John (ooc): I remember something about you buying flowers before the magic show. Maybe bouquets inflict agg on
Nephandi...
Bill (ooc): If I had Prime 3, I could inflict agg with a bunch of flowers.
Mary (ooc): FTD - Floral Touch Destroyer!
Sam: Clara.
Mary (ooc): I need to put some knife blades in the toes of my boots or something. My kicks just get soaked.
Mary: Leg sweeping the guy with the knife. (rolls) One success. (rolls) For one damage.
Sam: (rolls) Soaks it and stays on his feet. Christabel.
Fanny: Mind blast on the guy with the knife. (rolls) Three successes.
John (ooc): Nice.
Sam: (rolls) Soaks it all.
Fanny (ooc): This battle is so long! You should start letting us cause more damage.
Sam: Sorry. I'll try to avoid these kinds of things in the future. Homer.
John: Let's see. I have a five-die penalty to everything, but I'm the only one left who still has Lethal-inflicting
weapons. Let's give it one last try. (rolls) Not bad. Two successes. (rolls) Botched the damage, though.
Sam: Your knife falls from your shaking hands and the blade breaks.
Nate (ooc): Now I know why you bought all those knives, John, at the rate you drop, break, and lose them...
John (ooc): Your turn, medic. Try to get a few successes on your Life Effects, this time...
Sam: Not quite, Nate. The knife-wielder takes a stab at Clara. (rolls) One success. (rolls) Soak Lethal 1.
Mary: What about my shield?
Sam: Sorry. I forgot. Four dice, dif 7.
Mary: (rolls) One success. Difficulty increases to 8.
Sam: Walter.
Nate: Life 2. Healing myself.
Sam: Vulgar. Dif 6.
Nate: Dif 5 with specialized focus? (rolls) One success. Heals my injuries.
Sam: One Paradox. Allan. Oh wait! I'm sorry. You're in no position to do much of ANYTHING, this turn...
Ed: Very funny, Sam. Bill, go.
Bill: And a one, and a two... (rolls) Five successes. (rolls) Dice are finally behaving a little bit. Bashing 3.
Sam: (rolls) They like me, too. See? He soaks all but one of it. Clara.
Mary: Burning Will to ignore penalties. Using that sharp edge of that blade breaker as a weapon. Flipping down the
ether goggles and using Entropy 2 and Forces 2 to give me a bonus to attack, and Matter 2 to sharpen the device for the same
reason.
Sam: Dif 6 and Vulgar. One bonus success on attack per success on Arete. Don't forget die penalties.
Mary: Right. Dif 5 with specialized foci. (rolls) Two successes on Arete. Both going into effect. (rolls) Four
successes. (rolls) A whopping two health levels.
Sam: On the bright side, it's Lethal. (rolls) Fails to soak.
Mary (ooc): Thank God!
Sam: The Nephandi slips into a coma. Christabel.
Fanny: Mind blast the last one. I can use Willpower to get a free success, right?
Sam: Yes.
Fanny: (rolls) Four successes.
John (ooc): Soak this, you son of a bitch!
Sam: That would be six levels of damage. (rolls) Soaks five of it.
John (ooc): Will someone kill this idiot?
Sam: It's your turn.
John: I'm rapidly running out of Willpower. Forces 3. Willpower to ignore penalties, last point of Quint, specialty
focus, Vulgar. (rolls) And I Botched!
Sam: Walter.
Nate: Smiting him with holy fire. Prime 2, special focus, last 2 Quint, Willpower, Vulgar. (rolls) The only reason I
didn't Botch was because of Willpower.
Sam: Fanboy drops his staff.
Ed: Allan does nothing.
Bill: Draw beats the hell out of him. (rolls) One success. (rolls) Three damage.
Sam: (rolls) Soak completely fails.
Everyone: It's about time!
Sam: Azreal arrives from the direction you came from. "You get lost? We must hurry before William goes through the
Caul."
John: "Sorry. We got a bit side-tracked."
John (ooc): Clara's Wounded. Homer's Crippled. Allan's Injured and blind.
Sam: Actually, his sight has returned, now. Paradox Backlash.
John (ooc): Right. Half of us are in serious pain. We're low on Quintessence, high on Paradox, and have spent several
Willpower points between us. Whose brilliant idea was it to attack these guys, anyway?
Everyone Else (ooc): Yours!
ST (Sam) - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Clara (Mary) - Mary Shelley
Christabel (Fanny) - Fanny Brawne
Draw (Bill) - William Blake
Homer (John) - John Keats
Walter (Nate) - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Allan (Ed) - Edgar Allan Poe