(Karen Idel start)
Designing games wasn't usually Karen's thing, but she needed a challenge and it was sort of fun to try and build her own scenario. The real trick was trying to make the game balanced enough so that either side could win. Given her position knowing all the rules of the game, it would hardly be fair of her to join in at once--the plan was to create a scenario that gave the other players control of nation-sized armies and then, after they were more familiar with the rules of her game, introduce a small mercenary team of her own devising, which she could use to disrupt the game. It would serve two purposes--prevent the others from stagnating during the game and allow her to test herself with small force that was difficult to replenish against larger enemies, which was an area she did not even get to play with in any sort of meaningful way.
She had left her posters around Elysium for some time, and hoped some of the better regulars would put in an appearance. For now, though, she was in the lower levels of the shop, sitting around the larger table used for such things. She needed to establish rules, first--what her game (admittedly heavily inspired by Erfworld) would be like, how it would work, conditions for victory. She hadn't quite sketched out the map in her head yet, anyways--she needed to know who would show, and the owner of Elysium had grudgingly allowed her to hold this meeting without paying the rental fee for the room.
So. Wait to see who would show. Wait to see who was interested.
Generals of Elysium
Generals of Elysium
Those Whose Time Has Come]
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Faria let her head bob up and down as she walked into her favorite card store, her earbud headphones blasting one of her new favorite songs that she had heard on the radio. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder, this time filled with card binders and deck boxes than the schoolbooks it normally held and she gave a slight wave and a "Hey" to the person manning the cashier. Taking a deep breath and turning off her MP3 player, she immediately bolted to the lines of boxes where all the Magic cards were organized, dropping her backpack to the ground before rifling through them. There really wasn't anything she needed, but it never hurt to take a second, or third, or fourth, or even fifth look. Just to make sure.
As she absentmindedly continued to look through the commons, a poster lying on the counter caught her eye. It wasn't like she hadn't seen it before in her previous trips to the hobby shop, but she never really paid it much attention. She decided to give it a peek, this time. Maybe the fifth look really didn't matter. It was an interesting little thing. Advertising some sort of high-player game with armies and fighting and all that fun stuff like that. Whether or not it was actually fun all depended on who was running it, but...
Faria pursed her lips, wondering if she should participate. She wasn't sure if her parents would approve of tacking on another strange hobby or activity like this, but at least it didn't seem like it'd cost any money. 'They'd probably be okay with that. More okay with this than me sinking more money into that Weiss something card game a friend told me about. I hope they don't find out.'
'I guess it can't hurt to take a look.' She sighed and picked up her backpack and shouldered it again before walking down the stairs to the lower levels of Elysium. Faria blinked as she saw the only occupant of the area, a pale, thin girl with brown hair that looked just a little bit eerie. She took her glasses off and rubbed at her eyes again, just to make sure she was seeing things correctly, and a slight frown crossed her face when she saw that nothing had changed. 'Just because she looks a bit weird doesn't mean she's a bad person. I'm sure she's a nice girl. Just malnourished. Maybe? I don't know. Well, whatever. Being judgmental isn't going to help me.'
She walked up to the table and set her backpack down, a weak smile on her face as she introduced herself. "Hey, my name's Faria. I've seen your posters around the store and I thought it wouldn't hurt to uh...you know, just drop by and see what it's all about. If you don't uh...mind, that is."
As she absentmindedly continued to look through the commons, a poster lying on the counter caught her eye. It wasn't like she hadn't seen it before in her previous trips to the hobby shop, but she never really paid it much attention. She decided to give it a peek, this time. Maybe the fifth look really didn't matter. It was an interesting little thing. Advertising some sort of high-player game with armies and fighting and all that fun stuff like that. Whether or not it was actually fun all depended on who was running it, but...
Faria pursed her lips, wondering if she should participate. She wasn't sure if her parents would approve of tacking on another strange hobby or activity like this, but at least it didn't seem like it'd cost any money. 'They'd probably be okay with that. More okay with this than me sinking more money into that Weiss something card game a friend told me about. I hope they don't find out.'
'I guess it can't hurt to take a look.' She sighed and picked up her backpack and shouldered it again before walking down the stairs to the lower levels of Elysium. Faria blinked as she saw the only occupant of the area, a pale, thin girl with brown hair that looked just a little bit eerie. She took her glasses off and rubbed at her eyes again, just to make sure she was seeing things correctly, and a slight frown crossed her face when she saw that nothing had changed. 'Just because she looks a bit weird doesn't mean she's a bad person. I'm sure she's a nice girl. Just malnourished. Maybe? I don't know. Well, whatever. Being judgmental isn't going to help me.'
She walked up to the table and set her backpack down, a weak smile on her face as she introduced herself. "Hey, my name's Faria. I've seen your posters around the store and I thought it wouldn't hurt to uh...you know, just drop by and see what it's all about. If you don't uh...mind, that is."
[Riley Moon ==> Commence]
Ah, the friendly local game store. Was there a more welcome sight on any horizon, or at least, any horizon that a regular-enough teenager that was into tabletop gaming could expect to see under normal circumstances? Obviously if she was on a desert island then some kind of search and rescue ship type affair would be a much more welcome sight to Riley, but she wasn't, so that line of thought was rendered moot. The point was, the good old FLGS was where she was headed, and after the walk down from what was more-or-less "the rest of town", arriving was a nice feeling. Time to stop walking and relax in one of those rare settings where nobody judges because, hey, are they really in any position to, given their choice of pastime?
The girl turned off her music before reaching the door. Two reasons for that, really, firstly that she had a slight complex about going into a room (or building, in this case) with headphones on - it always seemed really rude to her - and secondly that she had no interest in either getting out her old-as-the-hills MP3 player in plain sight of other people, nor being asked if she was listening to The Rasmus because "Finland is kind of like Sweden isn't it?" Ugh.
And so, the door opened with its customary little squeak, Riley Moon entered Elysium. The first few times she'd come to the place, she'd pondered on phrases like that. "Riley Moon entered Elysium". It sounded pretty cool to her, in an admittedly immensely nerdy kind of way. Like a description of a protagonist reaching their setting's final boss area kind of place. Ichigo Kurosaki entered Las Noches, Lucifer entered the Silver City, Riley Moon entered Elysium. Hell yes. Shame the place was so mundane after that brief moment of coolness surrounding the act of entering it. The store was nice enough, but that's the thing, it was just a store. There was a guy behind the counter, some regulars looking through the comics and the cards, someone she presumed to be new by the ever-so-slightly lost look on his face, the usual scene. Not quite Lex Luthor's lair after all. Oh well.
Our lime-haired not-actually-a-protagonist-after-all would have made her usual bee-line for the new Vertigo releases, but something caught her idly wandering eye. A poster. She'd seen it before, but never really seen it, so to speak, it had always just passed her by like so many other posters for things that weren't relevant to her interests. Like Magic the Gathering, she'd never been able to get into that, and yet apparently it was some really big thing amongst most of Elysium's regulars. But again, Riley's thoughts digressed. She'd never actually looked at the poster before now, might as well.
Whilst hardly slapdash, it had a certain handmade look to it, possibly the work of a student. Maybe an Aurora kid. But she should've heard about it, if that was the case, surely? Well, could be one of the ones she didn't talk to that often. Plenty of kids that didn't talk to Riley and for plenty of good reasons. Either way, it sounded pretty interesting. A sort of tabletop strategy kind of dealy? Assuming the forces in play had some character to them, it might as well be any other kind of roleplaying, so sure, why not? Riley Moon descended to the depths of Elysium, which continued to have nothing in common with the inner circles of Hell, besides relative elevation at least, and made her presence known.
Two girls already there, one she recognised by name, another just by appearance. Faria Young, who she'd lost at Yu-Gi-Oh to more times than she cared to remember, and a tiny, emaciated looking girl that Riley had seen around the FLGS plenty of times, but never spoken more than a few words to. "Hey, room for one more?" pause, "Well obviously there's room, I can see that, I mean, you mind me joining your game thingy too?" yeah, that's what she'd meant.
Ah, the friendly local game store. Was there a more welcome sight on any horizon, or at least, any horizon that a regular-enough teenager that was into tabletop gaming could expect to see under normal circumstances? Obviously if she was on a desert island then some kind of search and rescue ship type affair would be a much more welcome sight to Riley, but she wasn't, so that line of thought was rendered moot. The point was, the good old FLGS was where she was headed, and after the walk down from what was more-or-less "the rest of town", arriving was a nice feeling. Time to stop walking and relax in one of those rare settings where nobody judges because, hey, are they really in any position to, given their choice of pastime?
The girl turned off her music before reaching the door. Two reasons for that, really, firstly that she had a slight complex about going into a room (or building, in this case) with headphones on - it always seemed really rude to her - and secondly that she had no interest in either getting out her old-as-the-hills MP3 player in plain sight of other people, nor being asked if she was listening to The Rasmus because "Finland is kind of like Sweden isn't it?" Ugh.
And so, the door opened with its customary little squeak, Riley Moon entered Elysium. The first few times she'd come to the place, she'd pondered on phrases like that. "Riley Moon entered Elysium". It sounded pretty cool to her, in an admittedly immensely nerdy kind of way. Like a description of a protagonist reaching their setting's final boss area kind of place. Ichigo Kurosaki entered Las Noches, Lucifer entered the Silver City, Riley Moon entered Elysium. Hell yes. Shame the place was so mundane after that brief moment of coolness surrounding the act of entering it. The store was nice enough, but that's the thing, it was just a store. There was a guy behind the counter, some regulars looking through the comics and the cards, someone she presumed to be new by the ever-so-slightly lost look on his face, the usual scene. Not quite Lex Luthor's lair after all. Oh well.
Our lime-haired not-actually-a-protagonist-after-all would have made her usual bee-line for the new Vertigo releases, but something caught her idly wandering eye. A poster. She'd seen it before, but never really seen it, so to speak, it had always just passed her by like so many other posters for things that weren't relevant to her interests. Like Magic the Gathering, she'd never been able to get into that, and yet apparently it was some really big thing amongst most of Elysium's regulars. But again, Riley's thoughts digressed. She'd never actually looked at the poster before now, might as well.
Whilst hardly slapdash, it had a certain handmade look to it, possibly the work of a student. Maybe an Aurora kid. But she should've heard about it, if that was the case, surely? Well, could be one of the ones she didn't talk to that often. Plenty of kids that didn't talk to Riley and for plenty of good reasons. Either way, it sounded pretty interesting. A sort of tabletop strategy kind of dealy? Assuming the forces in play had some character to them, it might as well be any other kind of roleplaying, so sure, why not? Riley Moon descended to the depths of Elysium, which continued to have nothing in common with the inner circles of Hell, besides relative elevation at least, and made her presence known.
Two girls already there, one she recognised by name, another just by appearance. Faria Young, who she'd lost at Yu-Gi-Oh to more times than she cared to remember, and a tiny, emaciated looking girl that Riley had seen around the FLGS plenty of times, but never spoken more than a few words to. "Hey, room for one more?" pause, "Well obviously there's room, I can see that, I mean, you mind me joining your game thingy too?" yeah, that's what she'd meant.
The room was as-yet empty, save for the girl nervously chattering at her. Karen had a good memory for faces, in spite of the fact that she didn't really like to talk to people. She knew Faria, even if she knew nothing else about the girl except for her name. "I need players, don't I?" she replied. She gestured to one of the empty seats.
A new girl--Riley Moon? Ridiculous name. Still. "There's room, isn't there?" she said.
A moment's wait. She felt uncomfortable--hosting this game was a mistake, she should have played someone else's game, playing like this forced her to deal with people. But the other games weren't what she wanted. So.
"You guys do this kind of thing a lot?" she asked. "Strategy games? Like this?"
A new girl--Riley Moon? Ridiculous name. Still. "There's room, isn't there?" she said.
A moment's wait. She felt uncomfortable--hosting this game was a mistake, she should have played someone else's game, playing like this forced her to deal with people. But the other games weren't what she wanted. So.
"You guys do this kind of thing a lot?" she asked. "Strategy games? Like this?"
Those Whose Time Has Come]
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Faria turned her head when she heard someone else enter the lower level and she blinked a bit, adjusting her glasses as she tried to focus on the new girl who had walked in. She was familiar, definitely, and while it took a moment, she finally placed a name to that face. It was Riley Moon, another girl from Aurora High who she had played Yu-Gi-Oh against a couple of times. A slight smile worked its way on her face and she gave a brief nod to the other girl as she took a seat. It was odd that there were only girls here so far, though. She could have sworn that there would have been some guys in here, pulling out their Dungeons and Dragons handbooks or something like that.
The girl holding this event spoke up, making small talk about any previous experience they had with this sort of thing. Faria scratched her cheek, looking nervous as she fiddled with the zippers on her backpack. "Ah...well, no, not really. If I had to be honest. I was just curious, you know? It's a new thing. And it sounded fun so I mean...I just wanted to see. Um...I usually just play cards. That's kind of like strategy. Right?"
Faria smiled a little awkwardly, biting her lower lip as she unzipped her backpack and looked inside just to make sure everything was there. She wished she had her camera with her. Fiddling with that always calmed her down. She had her cards with her so she could just look through those, but doing that probably would be really rude. 'It would be rude, right? I can't just look through these cards. Even though I just got them yesterday and I still didn't memorize what the Japanese means. Rrgh...this was probably a bad idea.'
"A-Anyway." She cleared her throat and looked down at the table. "If that's fine, I mean, then...uh...I'd be glad to play. And stuff."
The girl holding this event spoke up, making small talk about any previous experience they had with this sort of thing. Faria scratched her cheek, looking nervous as she fiddled with the zippers on her backpack. "Ah...well, no, not really. If I had to be honest. I was just curious, you know? It's a new thing. And it sounded fun so I mean...I just wanted to see. Um...I usually just play cards. That's kind of like strategy. Right?"
Faria smiled a little awkwardly, biting her lower lip as she unzipped her backpack and looked inside just to make sure everything was there. She wished she had her camera with her. Fiddling with that always calmed her down. She had her cards with her so she could just look through those, but doing that probably would be really rude. 'It would be rude, right? I can't just look through these cards. Even though I just got them yesterday and I still didn't memorize what the Japanese means. Rrgh...this was probably a bad idea.'
"A-Anyway." She cleared her throat and looked down at the table. "If that's fine, I mean, then...uh...I'd be glad to play. And stuff."
((Timothy Abrams Start))
Timothy adjusted the straps of his backpack as walked toward Elysium. Even though he'd been going there for years, he still felt the need to mentally remark about the name. "That's a pretty interesting name for a hobby store. I wonder how tabletop gaming relates to the ancient Greek afterlife " The reference turned his thoughts to his favourite tabletop game. The tables for the historical wargames had been empty the last few times that he had gone. He was hoping to finally get a game this time.
He pushed open the door to the shop, smiling to himself as he heard the familiar squeak of the door. He walked over to the gaming tables, and saw only Warhammer and card games being played. He walked over to the counter to ask if the employee had seen anyone looking for a historical game, and was answered in the negative. Sighing, he decided to check out the books section. "Maybe it's time to look into finding a new game "
As he gave one last scan of the posters and flyers at the counter, something caught his eye. It was a poster, clearly handmade, unlike the glossy advertisements that mostly populated the poster board. The poster advertised a game of high strategy, which intrigued him.
"This could be fun. Anyway, it doesn't seem to cost anything, so there's no risk if I don't like it."
He strode quickly toward the stairs leading to the lower level of the store, hoping that it hadn't started already. As he approached the rentable game room, he looked in at the people inside. He had probably seen them in the halls at school, but he didn't remember any of their names. He walked over to the shortest girl, who was asking another student about their experience with strategy games. He waited for them to finish speaking, while he frowned inwardly at the other girl's answer. He had never played any of the card games sold by the store, but regarded them as wastes of money and time, requiring more luck than strategy to win.
He snapped out of this train of thought and went over to the third student in the room, a girl about his height, with brightly dyed hair.
"I'm not too late to join in, am I?"
Timothy adjusted the straps of his backpack as walked toward Elysium. Even though he'd been going there for years, he still felt the need to mentally remark about the name. "That's a pretty interesting name for a hobby store. I wonder how tabletop gaming relates to the ancient Greek afterlife " The reference turned his thoughts to his favourite tabletop game. The tables for the historical wargames had been empty the last few times that he had gone. He was hoping to finally get a game this time.
He pushed open the door to the shop, smiling to himself as he heard the familiar squeak of the door. He walked over to the gaming tables, and saw only Warhammer and card games being played. He walked over to the counter to ask if the employee had seen anyone looking for a historical game, and was answered in the negative. Sighing, he decided to check out the books section. "Maybe it's time to look into finding a new game "
As he gave one last scan of the posters and flyers at the counter, something caught his eye. It was a poster, clearly handmade, unlike the glossy advertisements that mostly populated the poster board. The poster advertised a game of high strategy, which intrigued him.
"This could be fun. Anyway, it doesn't seem to cost anything, so there's no risk if I don't like it."
He strode quickly toward the stairs leading to the lower level of the store, hoping that it hadn't started already. As he approached the rentable game room, he looked in at the people inside. He had probably seen them in the halls at school, but he didn't remember any of their names. He walked over to the shortest girl, who was asking another student about their experience with strategy games. He waited for them to finish speaking, while he frowned inwardly at the other girl's answer. He had never played any of the card games sold by the store, but regarded them as wastes of money and time, requiring more luck than strategy to win.
He snapped out of this train of thought and went over to the third student in the room, a girl about his height, with brightly dyed hair.
"I'm not too late to join in, am I?"
"You guys do this kind of thing a lot?"
Riley had meant to give an answer, but Faria spoke up first. Meh, fair enough, she'd arrived first, maybe it was fairer that way? Oh who knew, point was, Faria had started speaking before her, so there was no point in just casually interrupting to call attention to something that was essentially insignificant, in response to small talk. All she'd really have been able to mention would've been a few games of 40k with borrowed armies, anyway.
Waiting was rendered moot, anyway, as before the other girl could finish, another participant showed up. He was certainly a regular at Elysium, but his face was all Riley recognised; she hadn't any idea what name to put to it.
"I'm not too late to join in, am I?"
Simply put? "Nope." More elaborately, "Just the three of us yet," Riley tilted her head Karen-ward and, slightly louder, added "I guess we're waiting on a couple more, yeah?"
Answer or no, she wasn't actually really listening. She was more interested in when it was starting, not how long until that time would be. And surely it'd be pretty clear when everything was kicking off, so, with one hand absent-mindedly twisting a strand of - presently bright green - hair between its fingers, Riley looked back over to Timothy. Or that boy over there, to her mind. "You look damn familiar, should I remember your name, or, like, have we not spoken before?"
Riley had meant to give an answer, but Faria spoke up first. Meh, fair enough, she'd arrived first, maybe it was fairer that way? Oh who knew, point was, Faria had started speaking before her, so there was no point in just casually interrupting to call attention to something that was essentially insignificant, in response to small talk. All she'd really have been able to mention would've been a few games of 40k with borrowed armies, anyway.
Waiting was rendered moot, anyway, as before the other girl could finish, another participant showed up. He was certainly a regular at Elysium, but his face was all Riley recognised; she hadn't any idea what name to put to it.
"I'm not too late to join in, am I?"
Simply put? "Nope." More elaborately, "Just the three of us yet," Riley tilted her head Karen-ward and, slightly louder, added "I guess we're waiting on a couple more, yeah?"
Answer or no, she wasn't actually really listening. She was more interested in when it was starting, not how long until that time would be. And surely it'd be pretty clear when everything was kicking off, so, with one hand absent-mindedly twisting a strand of - presently bright green - hair between its fingers, Riley looked back over to Timothy. Or that boy over there, to her mind. "You look damn familiar, should I remember your name, or, like, have we not spoken before?"
A new person--Tim, she thought, and something that reminded her of Lost. Locke? Tim Locke was a ridiculous name. Lost was a ridiculous show. She'd stopped watching after the second season when she'd figured out they had no idea what the hell they were doing. Oddly strategic way to make a show, though. Respond to the audience (the enemy) while you play for time to figure out what the hell you're doing...
"Cards," she repeated, as she watched Timothy descend the stairs. "I guess. Not sure I like'em, though. So much depends on luck." Luck should always be a factor, of course--it was in real battles--but luck was manufactured in most card games she could think of to boost the core company's profits. Buy more cards so you can have better cards so you can not die quite so fast when you actually play your friends. Dumb. But then again, wasn't that how real war worked? By more soldiers so maybe some of them will be better so you can-
She frowned and gestured to one of the empty chairs. "I'd prefer more," Karen said. "But we can go with you three, if we need to."
"Cards," she repeated, as she watched Timothy descend the stairs. "I guess. Not sure I like'em, though. So much depends on luck." Luck should always be a factor, of course--it was in real battles--but luck was manufactured in most card games she could think of to boost the core company's profits. Buy more cards so you can have better cards so you can not die quite so fast when you actually play your friends. Dumb. But then again, wasn't that how real war worked? By more soldiers so maybe some of them will be better so you can-
She frowned and gestured to one of the empty chairs. "I'd prefer more," Karen said. "But we can go with you three, if we need to."
Those Whose Time Has Come]
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Faria fell silent after finishing her explanation, looking down at her hands and fidgeting a bit. 'Did I say too much? I hope I didn't make them angry or something like that. Ugh, talking to people who don't play cards is kind of annoying. I know it's a geeky hobby but still. Maybe I should just shut up from now on. But I mean...well, yeah I guess it does rely on luck a lot. For Yu-Gi-Oh definitely I mean, drawing the killer first hand kind of makes some matches moot but um...well, there is still some strategy but maybe I should stop thinking about this.'
She turned to look at the newcomer to their little party, this one an average-looking guy that Faria remembered seeing around school. The name was on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't absolutely sure, so she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to accidentally greet him with the wrong name and look like a big idiot in front of the people she would possibly be playing with. So she just turned her attention back to her backpack and unzipped it, pulling out a small notebook. She looked at their host briefly as she flipped it open to an empty page, beginning to scribble down the name of the game as well as the names of its participants.
'Is she asking us whether or not we're okay with only three people? Should I answer? Probably not, I mean, I've talked a lot already didn't I? Um...shutting up, I guess.'
She turned to look at the newcomer to their little party, this one an average-looking guy that Faria remembered seeing around school. The name was on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't absolutely sure, so she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to accidentally greet him with the wrong name and look like a big idiot in front of the people she would possibly be playing with. So she just turned her attention back to her backpack and unzipped it, pulling out a small notebook. She looked at their host briefly as she flipped it open to an empty page, beginning to scribble down the name of the game as well as the names of its participants.
'Is she asking us whether or not we're okay with only three people? Should I answer? Probably not, I mean, I've talked a lot already didn't I? Um...shutting up, I guess.'
Timothy sighed in relief as she affirmed that he wasn't late. He put his bag down and began looking for a chair to sit down in.
I might as well make myself comfortable while I'm waiting...
As he bent down, he heard the girl's voice from behind him.
"You look damn familiar, should I remember your name, or, like, have we not spoken before?"
Timothy winced at the profanity as he turned around. He studied the girl's face for a moment, trying to remember her name. He knew that he'd seen her before in the halls at school. It's hard not to notice somebody with bright green hair So, what was her name? He decided to be honest about it.
"I'm sorry. I've seen you before, but I don't think that we've ever spoken. My name's Timothy."
He offered his hand for her to shake. As he did, he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was the only male student in the room. He had always been uncomfortable around girls, and this only situation only exacerbated his anxiety. Hoping to hide his discomfort, he averted his gaze from her and turned his head to the shortest girl, who seemed to be the one in charge.
"So, um, what are the rules of this game anyway?"
I might as well make myself comfortable while I'm waiting...
As he bent down, he heard the girl's voice from behind him.
"You look damn familiar, should I remember your name, or, like, have we not spoken before?"
Timothy winced at the profanity as he turned around. He studied the girl's face for a moment, trying to remember her name. He knew that he'd seen her before in the halls at school. It's hard not to notice somebody with bright green hair So, what was her name? He decided to be honest about it.
"I'm sorry. I've seen you before, but I don't think that we've ever spoken. My name's Timothy."
He offered his hand for her to shake. As he did, he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was the only male student in the room. He had always been uncomfortable around girls, and this only situation only exacerbated his anxiety. Hoping to hide his discomfort, he averted his gaze from her and turned his head to the shortest girl, who seemed to be the one in charge.
"So, um, what are the rules of this game anyway?"
Other girls were talking about cards, didn't seem important. Boy's name was Timothy. Riley's brain instantly subtracted "-othy" and labelled him as Tim. Tim offered his hand to shake, odd kind of a way to introduce yourself, but sure, whatever, handshakes were kind of cool. Apparently they used to be a polite way of saying "look I'm not concealing any weapons in my sleeves" without actually saying so. And apparently that's why it was customary, back when that was true, for politicians and the like not to shake hands. Because they were meant to be honourable by default. Yeah fuckin' right, honour and politics, totally things that mix.
Anyhow, Riley wasn't hiding any assassination tools in the sleeves of her coat, so might as well oblige, no? She shook. "Riley. Y'mind if I call you Tim for short?" Not that he was listening that closely, or at least, closely enough to respond. The as-yet-not-quite-recognised Karen had spoken up, something directed at the whole group.
"I'd prefer more, but we can go with you three, if we need to."
Well that wasn't a helpful sentence at all. It seemed to be halfway between "do you want to start?" and "we should wait". "Need" was always such an iffy word these days, that was one of the first things Riley had needed to explain to her parents about the way native speakers speak English. It didn't just mean what it meant, like so many other words that had so many other colloquial meanings. Oh well.
"So, um, what are the rules of this game anyway?"
Ah yes, good question Timothy, divert attention away from the unanswerable statement - wait, weren't statements distinct from questions in that they didn't need answers? Well, whatever - and get to something they could discuss in nice, simple, definite terms, the crunch. Not that Riley wasn't a fan of fluff, but still, talking over the rules is a pretty good start, no point getting absorbed in a setting then realising that the system isn't representative at all, or is just generally awful. Like those ridiculous Smurfmarines, treated like badass gods of warfare made flesh in the books, not that much better than any other basic infantry on the tabletop. Hence Orks. Orks were fun. Anyway, the question was a good one. "Yeah, how's this play? Anything like Warhams? I've played a few 40k matches before, so yeah. Not that I couldn't learn, it'd just be convenient, is all, not done any other strategy type things so far."
It was around about that point that Riley should've realised she'd been waffling. It was a habit of hers. Bit of a problem, but not one she actually realised existed. Helpfully, she ran out of things to say, which lead to the same conclusion; she stopped waffling.
Anyhow, Riley wasn't hiding any assassination tools in the sleeves of her coat, so might as well oblige, no? She shook. "Riley. Y'mind if I call you Tim for short?" Not that he was listening that closely, or at least, closely enough to respond. The as-yet-not-quite-recognised Karen had spoken up, something directed at the whole group.
"I'd prefer more, but we can go with you three, if we need to."
Well that wasn't a helpful sentence at all. It seemed to be halfway between "do you want to start?" and "we should wait". "Need" was always such an iffy word these days, that was one of the first things Riley had needed to explain to her parents about the way native speakers speak English. It didn't just mean what it meant, like so many other words that had so many other colloquial meanings. Oh well.
"So, um, what are the rules of this game anyway?"
Ah yes, good question Timothy, divert attention away from the unanswerable statement - wait, weren't statements distinct from questions in that they didn't need answers? Well, whatever - and get to something they could discuss in nice, simple, definite terms, the crunch. Not that Riley wasn't a fan of fluff, but still, talking over the rules is a pretty good start, no point getting absorbed in a setting then realising that the system isn't representative at all, or is just generally awful. Like those ridiculous Smurfmarines, treated like badass gods of warfare made flesh in the books, not that much better than any other basic infantry on the tabletop. Hence Orks. Orks were fun. Anyway, the question was a good one. "Yeah, how's this play? Anything like Warhams? I've played a few 40k matches before, so yeah. Not that I couldn't learn, it'd just be convenient, is all, not done any other strategy type things so far."
It was around about that point that Riley should've realised she'd been waffling. It was a habit of hers. Bit of a problem, but not one she actually realised existed. Helpfully, she ran out of things to say, which lead to the same conclusion; she stopped waffling.
Riley, Faria, Timothy. Was this all she'd be getting? How frustrating. But then, she'd never designed a game before--it was possible this was the number of players she'd need.
She cleared her throat as Timothy asked his question. "I don't know if you guys have read Erfworld," she said. "But I kind of got the inspiration for this game form it, so..." She reached down to her bag and pulled out two things. The first was her notebook, in which she'd written everything she needed to know prior to the game. The second thing she pulled out was a folded piece of construction paper, which she quickly unfolded into a map, arranged in medium-size hexagonal sections, each of which had a letter on it--an M, an R, a W, an F, or a P. She also had a number of hexagonal pieces, labeled with Rs, and even larger hexagonal pieces, labeled with Cs.
"It combines RPG stuff with strategy, kinda like Fire Emblem," she went on. "You start out with 41 units and a capital city. Units come in five varieties--Basic, Elite, Heavy, Warlord, Specialist." She passed typed-up sheets around the table--she'd brought enough for 12, so she had more than enough for the table. "20 Basic Units, 10 Heavies, 9 Elites, 1 Specialist, 1 Warlord, for each of you."
"Any units in touching hexes can fight each other," she continued. "And at turn's end the units in the hex all gain the stats of the day's battle--if you took down three level 3 Basics, for instance, all units in that Hex, gain 9 EXP, which they can use to level up, gaining the bonuses on your sheets. It's up to you how involved you want to get in customizing your soldiers, since your the ones who have to keep track of it, but you do have to know the levels of all your troops." She had her own sheet out, and now pulled from her pocket a six-sided die. "Roll this to determine everything in battle," she said. "Both sides roll d6's at the start of a battle, and then its Attacker's Skill+d6 -- Defender's Skill+d6 A 6 is an automatic hit or an automatic dodge--if both sides get sixes, its considered a fruitless fight. Normally, damage is determined by both sides again rolling d6's, and then dealing damage based on Attack+d6 - Defense+d6, but if the attacker so chooses they can just roll a d6 and deal flat damage from that roll."
She kept looking over her notebook, making sure she covered everything. "You can only have 7 units per Hex, six on each side, one in the middle; if the unit guarding one side of your hex is skilled, the enemy can choose who they want to attack within the hex, although you can do the same to your enemy. Each piece of terrain has its own bonuses and penalties, which are on your sheets."
She thought everything else was obvious by the sheets, so she continued on to the last bit. "You can create units in cities--one turn per complexity of unit, so it costs 3 turns to make a Warlord or a Specialist, 2 Turns to make a Heavy or an Elite, and 1 Turn to make a Basic Unit. Cities have their own HP and Defense--no Skill, of course--which are determined by the cost to build. For instance, on the Mountain example on your sheet, that city would have 42 HP and 21 DEF. You can store your whole damn army in them if you want--they provide a +3 Bonus to all Stats--and units in the city can't be attacked until the wall falls. . They take up 7 Hexes. You can found new cities, if you want--your Warlord stays behind in the central hex, and you can found the new city over 7 Hexes under conditions listed on your sheets. If you found a new city, there is immediately a road connected to it and all cities under your control. Keep in mind that this can work against you if the enemy captures your city."
And now for what was her favorite part. "Warlords are basically just Elites that provide a bonus. Specialists, however, can provide wider bonuses--they can heal, they can resurrect enemy dead, they can have special high-damage attacks, build walls, expedite city-building, whatever. Since they're your Specialists, you can come up with the Specialty, subject to my approval--since this a beta test of the game, we can just mark down anything that's too ridiculous, but otherwise I'm looking for ideas."
She thought she'd covered everything, so she looked up at the kids. "Questions, concerns, comments?"
She cleared her throat as Timothy asked his question. "I don't know if you guys have read Erfworld," she said. "But I kind of got the inspiration for this game form it, so..." She reached down to her bag and pulled out two things. The first was her notebook, in which she'd written everything she needed to know prior to the game. The second thing she pulled out was a folded piece of construction paper, which she quickly unfolded into a map, arranged in medium-size hexagonal sections, each of which had a letter on it--an M, an R, a W, an F, or a P. She also had a number of hexagonal pieces, labeled with Rs, and even larger hexagonal pieces, labeled with Cs.
"It combines RPG stuff with strategy, kinda like Fire Emblem," she went on. "You start out with 41 units and a capital city. Units come in five varieties--Basic, Elite, Heavy, Warlord, Specialist." She passed typed-up sheets around the table--she'd brought enough for 12, so she had more than enough for the table. "20 Basic Units, 10 Heavies, 9 Elites, 1 Specialist, 1 Warlord, for each of you."
"Any units in touching hexes can fight each other," she continued. "And at turn's end the units in the hex all gain the stats of the day's battle--if you took down three level 3 Basics, for instance, all units in that Hex, gain 9 EXP, which they can use to level up, gaining the bonuses on your sheets. It's up to you how involved you want to get in customizing your soldiers, since your the ones who have to keep track of it, but you do have to know the levels of all your troops." She had her own sheet out, and now pulled from her pocket a six-sided die. "Roll this to determine everything in battle," she said. "Both sides roll d6's at the start of a battle, and then its Attacker's Skill+d6 -- Defender's Skill+d6 A 6 is an automatic hit or an automatic dodge--if both sides get sixes, its considered a fruitless fight. Normally, damage is determined by both sides again rolling d6's, and then dealing damage based on Attack+d6 - Defense+d6, but if the attacker so chooses they can just roll a d6 and deal flat damage from that roll."
She kept looking over her notebook, making sure she covered everything. "You can only have 7 units per Hex, six on each side, one in the middle; if the unit guarding one side of your hex is skilled, the enemy can choose who they want to attack within the hex, although you can do the same to your enemy. Each piece of terrain has its own bonuses and penalties, which are on your sheets."
She thought everything else was obvious by the sheets, so she continued on to the last bit. "You can create units in cities--one turn per complexity of unit, so it costs 3 turns to make a Warlord or a Specialist, 2 Turns to make a Heavy or an Elite, and 1 Turn to make a Basic Unit. Cities have their own HP and Defense--no Skill, of course--which are determined by the cost to build. For instance, on the Mountain example on your sheet, that city would have 42 HP and 21 DEF. You can store your whole damn army in them if you want--they provide a +3 Bonus to all Stats--and units in the city can't be attacked until the wall falls. . They take up 7 Hexes. You can found new cities, if you want--your Warlord stays behind in the central hex, and you can found the new city over 7 Hexes under conditions listed on your sheets. If you found a new city, there is immediately a road connected to it and all cities under your control. Keep in mind that this can work against you if the enemy captures your city."
And now for what was her favorite part. "Warlords are basically just Elites that provide a bonus. Specialists, however, can provide wider bonuses--they can heal, they can resurrect enemy dead, they can have special high-damage attacks, build walls, expedite city-building, whatever. Since they're your Specialists, you can come up with the Specialty, subject to my approval--since this a beta test of the game, we can just mark down anything that's too ridiculous, but otherwise I'm looking for ideas."
She thought she'd covered everything, so she looked up at the kids. "Questions, concerns, comments?"
stats
Strength=Damage Dealt
Skill=Hit/Dodge
Defense=Damage Negated
Move=Hexes this unit is able to cross
Units
Basic: HP=10, Stats=9, Level Up at 1 EXP x Current Level, Bonus +3 Stats, +2 HP, Move 4.
Heavy: HP=20, Stats=12, Level Up at 2 EXP x Current Level, Bonus +4 Stats at Even Levels, +5 at Odd Levels, +4 HP, Move 3
Elite: HP = 10, Stats=15, Level Up at 2 EXP x Current Level, Bonus +6 Stats. +2 HP, Move 6.
Warlord: HP=15, Stats=18, Level Up at 3 EXP x Current Level, Bonus +6 Stats, +3 HP, provides stat bonus to all units which gains a +1 at every odd level, staring at +1, Move 7.
Specialist: Basic stats, Basic Gains, special ability that grows as they become more powerful, Move 7.
Terrain
P=Plains, No Gain, No Penalty
R=Rough, -1 Move
F=Forest, -1 Move, +1 Skill, +1 Def
M=Mountain, -2 Move, +2 to Atk, Skl, Def
W=Water, -3 Move, -2 Def, -2 Skl
R=Road, x2 Move
C=City, Producer--requires 7+Move Penalties (i.e. if you're building on seven mountain tiles requires 21 turns to build), gains all benefits of terrain it's built on, immediately forms a road with all cities under its control, can only be founded by Warlord, has independent stats based on its construction.
Those Whose Time Has Come]
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Faria gave a start as Karen began explaining the game, accidentally dragging her pen across her notebook and ruining a portion of her notes. She looked at the mistake with an annoyed expression on her face and was contemplating just starting on a new page when their host, 'Was it even appropriate to call her a host? A GM, I guess. Yeah.', began handing out papers and sheets that would help them manage their units. Faria looked at the pages in bewilderment, wondering just how much effort she was going to have to put into this game. It was one thing to pour hours into perfecting a deck to play with, but it was completely different to try organizing so many units into a coherent fighting army.
Of course, the fact that everything was so customizable definitely was fun and Faria felt a spark of excitement in her chest as she flipped through the pages, dimly listening to the GM. It wouldn't be that hard to relate this sort of strategy to designing a deck, would it? You'd want the soldiers to work together and that specialist unit was definitely strong. It could probably even be considered the trump card. If the basic soldiers were basic 1/1 creatures, then that specialist could be a Planeswalker.
'Then again, that isn't...really the exact same thing, is it? This sort of layout is a little more difficult to manage.' Faria grumbled to herself softly as she put down her papers and began scribbling some brief notes on her page. Strategy notes, basic point layout for her soldiers. She wasn't sure what kind of style she wanted. When it came to card games, she preferred having ultimate firepower on her side. There was nothing better than trampling all over her enemies with overwhelming force and she contemplated forming her army in the same way.
Karen finally finished her introduction, finishing it by asking for any questions or comments. Faria quickly looked at the other two players before meekly raising her hand. "Um...this is going to sound ridiculous, but I was wondering if a specialist can um...have like a long-ranged damaging attack. Like an orbital cannon type of attack? I mean, as long as it's not too strong...right?"
She hoped it would be okay. 'Kill Sat, go.'
Of course, the fact that everything was so customizable definitely was fun and Faria felt a spark of excitement in her chest as she flipped through the pages, dimly listening to the GM. It wouldn't be that hard to relate this sort of strategy to designing a deck, would it? You'd want the soldiers to work together and that specialist unit was definitely strong. It could probably even be considered the trump card. If the basic soldiers were basic 1/1 creatures, then that specialist could be a Planeswalker.
'Then again, that isn't...really the exact same thing, is it? This sort of layout is a little more difficult to manage.' Faria grumbled to herself softly as she put down her papers and began scribbling some brief notes on her page. Strategy notes, basic point layout for her soldiers. She wasn't sure what kind of style she wanted. When it came to card games, she preferred having ultimate firepower on her side. There was nothing better than trampling all over her enemies with overwhelming force and she contemplated forming her army in the same way.
Karen finally finished her introduction, finishing it by asking for any questions or comments. Faria quickly looked at the other two players before meekly raising her hand. "Um...this is going to sound ridiculous, but I was wondering if a specialist can um...have like a long-ranged damaging attack. Like an orbital cannon type of attack? I mean, as long as it's not too strong...right?"
She hoped it would be okay. 'Kill Sat, go.'
Karen considered the question. "Could do a sniper," she agreed. "Maybe an artillery commander." She frowned. "Shouldn't be a problem," she agreed. "You can get two hexes range, which you can trade down for increased power, or increased accuracy, or..." It wasn't what she would have gone for--she preferred her specialist units to increase the strength of the whole--but it was an interesting idea.
"Shouldn't be a problem," she agreed. "And his range could increase by one hex every two levels."
"Shouldn't be a problem," she agreed. "And his range could increase by one hex every two levels."
Those Whose Time Has Come]
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...
Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.
Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”
((I'm really sorry about the lateness of this post. It won't happen again.))
Timothy pulled his notebook out of his bag and prepared to begin jotting down notes for the upcoming game. However he became distracted soon after she announced the theme of the game.
What's Erfworld?
Timothy racked his brain to think of if he had heard of that series before. It sounded vaguely familiar Was it about elves? Likely not, as there were no mention of them in the rules. He panicked for a moment as he realized that he was missing some of her explanation. He prepared himself to begin writing, but relaxed as he noticed that she was reading from a notebook.
Hopefully she'll let us refer to it during the game
As she got to the end of her speech, one sentence stuck in his head.
" since this a beta test of the game "
Timothy felt a twinge of concern for the possible lack of balance in the rules. He began to raise his hand to complain, but he thought better of it.
I guess that this is just what I get for choosing to play a game made by a student
Since he had already begun to raise his hand, he felt that he had might as well ask a question. He looked at his watch and raised his hand again.
"How long is this game going to last, approximately? It might be good to arrange a meeting place and time in the case that this lasts for multiple sessions."
Timothy pulled his notebook out of his bag and prepared to begin jotting down notes for the upcoming game. However he became distracted soon after she announced the theme of the game.
What's Erfworld?
Timothy racked his brain to think of if he had heard of that series before. It sounded vaguely familiar Was it about elves? Likely not, as there were no mention of them in the rules. He panicked for a moment as he realized that he was missing some of her explanation. He prepared himself to begin writing, but relaxed as he noticed that she was reading from a notebook.
Hopefully she'll let us refer to it during the game
As she got to the end of her speech, one sentence stuck in his head.
" since this a beta test of the game "
Timothy felt a twinge of concern for the possible lack of balance in the rules. He began to raise his hand to complain, but he thought better of it.
I guess that this is just what I get for choosing to play a game made by a student
Since he had already begun to raise his hand, he felt that he had might as well ask a question. He looked at his watch and raised his hand again.
"How long is this game going to last, approximately? It might be good to arrange a meeting place and time in the case that this lasts for multiple sessions."