Commencing with the Starting Scene for solo playthrough of Troika!, using Mythic GM Emulator 2nd Edition. Following on from the RPG Intro and Char Gen.
Troika solo - intro | start | partway | finish
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate
Starting Scene
I'm using Mythic GM Emulator 2nd Edition as my main tool, and it has a section on The First Scene and different strategies for creating them.
I already knew I would be using the starting adventure in the Troika book, the Blancmange and Thistle as my premise. So looking at the adventure it starts with characters meeting in the hotel and being told the only room is up on the 6th floor where there is also a party.
This gave a plot thread for going to the party on the 6th floor (not as easy as it should be in this hotel). And the staff of the hotel as an entry on the character list.
Also, from char gen Clementine is an assassin apprentice (Journeyman of the Guild of Sharp Edges), here to kill his first target. So the plot thread "Kill Someone in the Hotel".
Starting Threads and Character List
For Clementine's starting Plot Threads I had
- Kill Someone in the Hotel and dispose of the body (as just killing them would be too easy!)
- Get to Party on 6th Floor
And the Character List only
- Staff of the Blancmange and Thistle
Replicating an Adventure with a Random Table
I wanted to use the adventure included in Troika! as a setting, not actually play through it. So I looked at ways of capturing its essence using random table(s).
The adventure consists of different encounters to get to the party on the 6th floor, each introducing eccentric characters and creatures, showcasing some of the flavour of Troika.
So I looked through these and made them into a table of characters that could be encountered, using a two column table of Adjective and Creature(s). Each entry had a default and an optional entry, giving 4 possible results from rolls on the two Columns. A roll of (3) on Adjectives and (7) on Creatures(s) could be an angry porter, an egg-shaped porter, an angry tiger trainer or an egg-shaped tiger trainer. All quite different!
In the making of the table I learned that a mandrill is a type of baboon.
Encounters Table of the Blancmange and Thistle
| 1d10 | Adjective | Creature(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | neon or spiteful | mandrill or maw |
| 2 | mysterious or enormous | conciergeor slug |
| 3 | angry or egg-shaped | old lady/man or hotel manager |
| 4 | sweet or royal | tigers or cloud of gas |
| 5 | inquisitive or demon | wall merchant or friend |
| 6 | fully-armoured or green | owls or herald |
| 7 | bejeweled or distracted | porter or tiger trainer |
| 8 | aggressive or alien | guests or goblins |
| 9 | intoxicated or brightly-coloured | maid or wizard |
| 10 | tiny or anguish-causing | stranger(s) or chaos champion |
Adventures of Clementine
Scene 1 - Entering the Hotel (Chaos Factor 5)
Our nervous assassin entered the hotel to find his target right in front of him, a concierge in full armour was trying to clear green owls from the lobby. (Mythic 2e gave given an extreme yes to whether his target was in the lobby). Clementine is given a silver key to his room on the 6th floor and angrily directed a bar in the basement.
Deciding to find out more on his target, Clementine hid in a cupboard (shockingly making a roll of 5 or less on 2d6). An enormous maid came in and helped to drive off the owls. Then followed a conversation between Maud (the maid) and Joanne (the concierge) about a strike of the hotel staff. Joanne wants help smashing the strikers when he ends his shift, but Mud angrily argues with him as she supports the strikers.
Clementine sneaks toward the bar when Maud storms off. And starts plotting assassination attempts. (Chaos Factor down to 4 as Clementine made progress on threads and actually succeeded on only check).
Plot Threads and Character List
Updated lists to be Plot Threads of
1) Kill Joanne the Concierge and Dispose of the Body
2) Get to Party on 6th Floor
3) Find out more about the staff strike and where they are
And the Character List was expanded. By Mythic 2e, the "Staff" entry should have been marked as occurring more often, but I adapted this by expanding the list with two staff members of the hotel.
1) Staff of the Blancmange and Thistle
2) Joanne the Concierge. Fully armoured, former knight. Angry at strikers. Loyal to work.
3) Maud the Maid. Enormous, going to join the strikers.
Finishing Up
Only change for Clementine was gaining a silver key and a tick to the Sneak skill.
Next up will be me working out Mythic 2e and taking Clementine into the intrigue and madness of the Troika! hotel adventure...
