Many years have passed, and a new version of Alternity has been written by Sasquatch Game Studio. As is my usual modus operandi for learning a new system, I got a handle on most of the rules during character creation (or, in this case, something of a conversion) for last year's Alternity Game Day, cooking up versions of the four core heroes from Thorn's Chronicle.
This year, I took a closer look at the gameplay mechanics, running those heroes through a rough conversion of the opening encounter. I was pleasantly surprised by the flexibility of the newer ruleset, despite the fact that it is still missing any sort of fantasy or arcane expansion.
And, of course… the writer in me couldn’t resist translating those die rolls and notes scratched across several handfuls of index cards into something resembling a narrative. A “what if..?”… the Chronicle’s heroes had approached Threshold from the south, and seen the notices tacked up in the marketplace, and heard the town criers, over the ringing of their brass bells, entreating those of the adventurous sort to make haste to Tarnskeep, where the Baron offered reward for those brave enough to seek out the answers to the mysteries beneath Castle Mistamere, and in the dark beneath the caves in the Black Peaks….
“Wait!” Gilliam hissed, grabbing Varis’ shoulder as the man made to charge the rubble-filled gap in the ancient castle walls.
The bigger warrior tried to shake off the archer’s grip, but Gilliam held firm.
“They’re in there! You heard them!”
“I did,” the archer said, “and I also heard the yapping.”
“Kobolds?” Ana asked, beside me.
I nodded, though she hadn’t directed the question at me specifically. Though I knew the sound and shape of their words, I didn’t know the ways of their speech.
“Probably the only thing worse than a goblin,” Varis spat.
“And twice as paranoid,” Gilliam said. “Hold here, and let me scout out the situation. The last thing we want to do is go charging in blind. Remember Tucker’s Folly.”
The muscles along Varis’ jaw bunched, even as his face paled a bit. He made the Sign of the Three, and glanced upward, his lips moving in a silent prayer.
Gilliam peeked over the lip of the ridge, then hauled himself over the edge into the low scrub growing along the plateau on which Gygar’s castle was situated.
Gilliam doesn’t have the Stealth skill, which is unfortunate: the Survivor archetype grants a +1 step bonus to Environmental skills.
The low scrub provides some cover (not much, but combined with the archer’s mottled green and brown cloak, enough to grant a +1 step bonus.
Gilliam’s player rolls 1d20+1d4 for the check, needing 15 or better for an Average success.
His player rolls…. An 18 plus 3, totaling 21. This beats his untrained score by five, for an Excellent success!
The kobolds atop the wall, distracted as well as under daylight conditions, roll Failures on their Awareness checks.
If I hadn’t seen him moving, I certainly never would’ve heard Gilliam’s approach. He pressed his back to wall, and craned his neck to peer over the rubble pile that was nearly his height. I saw the man do a double-take, as if he did not believe what he saw, and as he shook his head, he gestured for us to approach, followed by a finger to his lips.
We cautiously made our way through the scrub, to Gilliam’s side. As we did, the sounds of activity grew clearer: the girls were there, all right: we could hear them shouting and… laughing? There came a high shriek, but it was edged with mirth, rather than fear.
“No fair!” one shouted. “He was ghoul-touched, but had another three counts before he rose! He shouldn’t have been able to tag me yet!”
This was followed by a yammering of voices, girlish as well as the piping guttural of kobold whelps.
“We’ll reset. Everybody back five paces, and we’ll play again! Agreed?”
There was disappointed grumbling mixed with chirps of agreement.
I saw Varis’ hand relax on his sword hilt as this exchange took place. A half hand taller than Gilliam, he could see over the rubble a bit easier, and his clouded expression melted from concern to one of puzzlement.
“Ghoul tag….” His voice was hardly more than a breath, as we all leaned close for a hushed conference. “Half a dozen girls, and as many whelps, and they’re playing Ghoul tag.”
Ana’s frown no doubt matched my own. What in the Hell of Stone were these vanished girls doing playing at tag with a pack of kobold young?
The players decide they need more information. Varis and Gilliam’s players declare they will survey the situation within the keep walls.
Doing so quietly makes it a bit more difficult than usual, and they can only catch a few glimpses or risk being discovered. The GM rules that they’ll be at a -3 step penalty to their checks. Varis’ player reminds the GM that kobolds are sensitive to sunlight. Grumbling, the GM reduces the penalty a step. Before Varis’ player can roll, though, Ana’s speaks up:
“You put all Varis’ skill points into his sword arm. Ana has points in Awareness. Let her take a look instead.”
The heroes shuffle positions by the gap in the wall, and Gilliam and Ana roll their respective Awareness checks, Gilliam at -1 step, and Ana at -2 steps: a 15 for Gilliam (getting an extra 1-step bonus due to his Survivor archetype, who needed 12 or better)… and… a -4 vs Ana’s 11+.
“What was that about Varis being oblivious?” Varis’ player quips.
“Two on the eastern wall, at least two above us, and probably two more on the west,” Gilliam whispered. “And… something shining from the keep’s doorway. Ana, did you…?”
She was still blinking, rubbing at her eyes. The clouds had drifted past just as she glanced in, flooding the courtyard in morning sunlight… which also streamed right into Ana’s ice-blue eyes.
“Now I know how those kobolds must feel,” she muttered.
“So how are we to go about rescuing them?” Varis asked.
“Do they even need rescuing?” Ana asked.
“What if we just knock on the gate, and ask if we can play, too?”
We all glanced at Gilliam, who shrugged.
Something wasn’t right. Granted, kobolds aren’t much of a threat, but they are vicious, cunning little dog-men. Did they know we were here, and set this as some elaborate trap for us..? How by the stars did they secure the girls’ cooperation, if that were the case?
Varis and Gilliam were both getting restless, and the furrow of Ana’s brow was only growing more pronounced as she chewed her lip in thought. I was about to suggest we give Gilliam’s jest of a suggestion serious thought, when a clear, sweet chime rang out, from within the courtyard.
All activity stopped, voices hushing in mid-sentence or laugh. The girls stood, motionless, arms slack at their sides, all looking in the direction of the keep’s doorway, from which a bright, clear light shone, illuminating a tall, bearded figure in black — or maybe brown — robes.
Glimmers of light at each of the girls’ throats answered that of the strange device the bearded figure held, and the girls began to move in unison, falling into line beside the kobold whelps, the two lines then walking slowly — eerily — across the courtyard, to the keep’s door.
“We need to move!” Varis hissed.
Again, Gilliam grabbed the warrior’s arm. “The sentries! What if they target the girls?”
“I’ll just make sure they see me as the bigger threat!” Varis shook off the archer’s grip, drew his sword, and clambered over the rubble.
“Flame take him!” Ana sighed. “Come on, he’s going to need us to keep from becoming a porcupine!”
The GM grins, and grabs a handful of dice. “Roll for initiative!”
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