Regaining consciousness, the world was all the same for Clementine. The same graveyard. But now everything in his vision now had a faint violet glow. And there was a second presence in his head, which wasn't the normal state of things...
Finishing off the solo playthrough of Troika!, using Mythic GM Emulator 2nd Edition. Following on from Part 3, Troublesome Tigers.
Troika solo - intro | start | partway | finish
Final Thoughts on Troika
Troika is a great game, and waiting to see how my players react to it.
Flavourful. Quick. Strange.
Sometimes hard to create for in a solo context. Due to the genre, most things go, and usually that's great. But easy to get sidetracked with random goodness and follow random threads.
Keeping things grounded enough for longer term play could be a challenge, or just require practice.
I love the slot system for determining if you can find an object quickly. The random spells list on inside cover helps,
I've also been fine rolling for damage on charts (each weapon has a separate d6 table). Normally I'd hate rolling on a separate table for damage, but here I've physically got in on the inside table. As a player I'd simply write down the d6 table for my weapon.
So Axe would be - d6 (1-2: 4 dam; 3-4: 6 dam; 5: 8 dam; 6: 10 dam; 7+: 12 dam)
Final Thoughts on Solo
Mythic 2e is a great tool for solo play, which is easy to use once you've gone through a few scenes. I've never used 1e so don't really know what's different.
Having said that, for me it's a little too heavy to use all the time, and looking up percentages in the Fate Chart table was annoying. I mostly find myself using only a fewof the likelihoods and ignoring others.
Some of the meaning tables were hard to interpret (but that's more down to me I think) and I hated getting No's (as opposed to Yes or Extreme No). Although that is also a factor in other yes/no oracles.
I will use Mythic 2e some more, trying some of the variants. Especially around Chaos Factor.
What's Next
Warlock! goes to Firetop Mountain is next. Using the Warlock! rpg which borrowed heavily from Troika. And also the Warlock of Firetop Mountain, which I'll be breaking down into some random tables to emulate for solo play.
Adventures of Clementine
Continuing on from Previous Adventures.
Scene 8 - Tunnel Spy (Chaos Factor 4)
Promptly lost in the tunnels (deep inside the hotel), Clementine swore it was some kind of enchantment. With oil running low he found a shaft up to daylight and a large nest. Hearing raised voices he promptly climbed up to hide, with a large beaked head staring at him from the nest.
He listens to a conversation about dangers of someone finding the portal, then follows them. One is the cellar keeper and another a neon wizard called "Cider". As they come to the neon gate (large glowing doors), Clementine is spotted and see through his cunning disguise of being a half-robot.
Luckily a hooded figure comes through the neon door, demanding to be taken to "see the tigers". Mead (the cellar keeper) orders Cider through the neon gate, and then Clem after. Wanting to avoid confrontation, he goes on through after the wizard.
Scene 9 - In the Realm of Ultraviolet (Chaos Factor 5)
All manner of tombs, cairns and statues are limned with a violet light, with ultraviolet wisps flitting around. Cider confronts Clementine, thinking he is a spy of the hotel staff.
The journeyman flees into the graveyard, pursued by six ultraviolet spirits. Losing two of them, he is stopped by a wall of yellow stone. Here he tries to climb the wall, warding them off with his knife. A tiny figure from a nearby parked wagon tries to help Clem, but to no avail as he is overwhelmed by the spirits after a quick skirmish.
Drained of energy, Clementine awoke to find an ultraviolet spirit sharing his body. Cider the neon wizard is there, and has found out from sources in the Hotel that Clem is no normal spy, but a trained killer! He tasks the journeyman with tracking down and killing Raphaelina, his egg-shaped ally who was interfering with the strikes. She was somewhere in the hotel!
Scene 10 - The Great Egg Hunt (Chaos Factor 6)
A couple of days later, Clementine is now used to being possessed by an ultraviolet spirit. It's quite freeing in some ways. Always gripping his knife under it's control, the journeyman can see wisps of ultraviolet among a few other hotel staff. He'd also had some time to think, considering he'd like a job where people liked him, instead of trying to kill them.
In the cellar bar, Clem follows leads under the scrutiny of Mead, now a grudging ally. Her scars ooze with an organism of ultraviolet light that others can't see. Clementine befriends a few in the bar, but no-one recognises the particular egg-shaped woman he describes. However, he persuades a blue-braided woman to introduce him to the new hotel concierge. (a replacement for Joanne, tragically killed by tigers in Scene 6).
The concierge is a large green mandrill, who takes a dislike to Clem, possibly sensing his ultraviolet companion and chasing him away. But the journeyman hides in a lobby cupboard, going through the room keys and records when the concierge is away. He identifies the key he is after, stored in a box up high.
The green mandrill concierge returns along with two drunk guests, and a violet scramble occurs, as Clementine climbs for the key. One guest, a wizard, tries hindering Clem with magic, but promptly stopped by threats from the second guest. Bloodied, Clem flees with the key and the 2nd guest to the lifts. He's made an enemy of the concierge, but his new companion introduces herself as Lydia, a fan of his work who he vaguely recognises.
Scene 11 - Great Egg-sit (Chaos Factor 7)
Having taken a snack and rest in the lift, Clementine and Lydia get to the room. The door is open, and Raphaelina, his contact for the Guild of Sharp Corners, stands there. She greets Clem and Lydia both by name, then his new companion starts to choke. Probably poisoned while in the bar, Clementine surmises from Raphaelina's comments.
Trying to aid Lydia, Clem is overcome by his ultraviolet spirit to kill his target. His eyes glow purple, a crossbow bolt is fired, and Raphaelina staggers back through a window, to smash down among protesting staffers below. The ultraviolet spirit exults.
In a lucky flash, Clem remembers seeing a Symbol of the Machine God on Lydia. Grabbing it from her body, he drives forth the distracted ultraviolet spirit. With nowhere else to go, the spirit possesses the poisoned Lydia. Tying her up, Clementine leaves the room and his ties to the Guild of Sharp Corners...
End.
In the aftermath Clementine leads striking staff to seal up the portal to the Realm of Ultraviolet. The ex-journeyman then leads a peaceful life as a climbing instructor, alongside Lydia.
Clementine Updated
Not much changed for Clem, one skill went up in 6 rolls.
Skill 4, Stamina 23, Luck 7, Journeyman of the Guild of Sharp Corners (Retired)
Unsure of himself. Used to rejection. hotel lift attendant.
Advanced Skills - Awareness 4, Climb 2, Crossbow Fighting 2, Disguise 2, Knife Fighting 1, Locks 1, Poison 1, Sneak 2, Swim 1
Equipment - black clothes of the apprentice, crude red coat, garotte, curved sword, 3 vials of poison (2 x type 1), crossbow and three bolts, 5sp, knife, lantern, rucksack, 3 provisions.
Unifinished Threads and Extras
The remaining plot threads are...
1-2) Investigate tunnels of the hotel innards
3) Find out what tigers hooded figure from neon portal wants to see
4) Seal up neon portal to Realm of Ultraviolet
And the updated Character List.
1-2) Staff of the Blancmange and Thistle
3) Maud the Maid. Enormous, going to join the strikers.
4-6) Mead, Cellar Keeper. Old lady and bartender, many scars filled with alien icy organism from Realm of Ultraviolet. Authoritative
7) Champion of the Machine God. Mechanical parts chaos champion with symbols, serving machine at heart of Hotel. Mechanisms.
8) Chief Mandrill. Suspicious, jewelled bracelets and tiara
9-10) Hotel Guests
11) Thinking Machine Chef. Chef at top of Hotel. Tomatoes.
13-14) Monsters of the Hotel Innards
15-16) Cider. Neon wizard from Realm of Ultraviolet. Serves an ideal. Spells include ward, darksee, jolt
17) Ultraviolet Spirits. Possessing staff members
18) Large Green Mandrill. Concierge. Enemy of Clementine. Skill 7, Stamina 15
19) Lydia. Hotel guest, friend of Clem, wants to be a killer
Finishing Up
I'll let Clementine enjoy his new, peaceful life, and will return to Troika and Mythic 2e.
Then onto a newer British RPG, in one of the most iconic British RPG settings...
