The Maiden Saga: Role Playing Game Page 4

  5

  6

  5

  Pride

  11 (6+7-2)

  4

  4

  Allure

  6 (2+5-1)

  8

  2

  Craft

  10 (6+6-2)

  5

  24 (3x8)

  Greed

  8 (6+4-2)

  3

  7

  Guile

  7 (6+2-1)

  7

  20 (2x10)

  Wealth

  6 (4+3-1)

  2

  1

  Wisdom

  36 (18x2)

  1

  10

  Total

  118

  100

  126

  Glory Points -

  Now calculate your Glory Points by adding up the scores of your Basic Attributes. Divide this total by ten and round up or down to the nearest whole number. Thus, from our examples; Irqual has 6+6+3+8=23, 23/10=2.3, 2.3 rounded down is 2. Irqual therefore has 2 Glory Points, Oily Jansen has 3, Kaea 0.

  A PCs Glory Points are the player’s Game Score.

  Play

  You now have a character. Next you need to learn how to play.

  At the start of the game the PCs find themselves somewhere in the world of the Maiden Saga. They may have a mutual goal, they may have individual goals, they may prefer to simply potter about and see what happens. In any case, the aim of each individual player is to maximise their Glory Points at the expense of the others. No, this is not one of those nice games in which you all work as a team. Everyone is out for themselves, and while you may prefer to play purely for honour and glory, it is recommended that players add a little spice to the game; perhaps by putting a set amount into a pot which goes to the winner at the end of the evening, or by giving Glory Points a pecunary value. Better still, if the company is sufficiently depraved, forfeits may be employed, in whatever manner players deem fit.

  It will help if players have read the books, but in practise reading these rules will do, especially the examples. Having decided where you are, and presumably more or less what you are doing, the GM should give a brief summary of the situation and of any NPCs who happen to be about. The player to the GMs left should then make the first move, their PC interacting with either an NPC or another PC, a Conflict. Most conflicts between characters involve persuasion rather than violence, at least at first.

  Basic play works as described in the Core Rules. Once the Conflict is complete it becomes the turn of the next player, and so on. Thus the situation develops, quickly taking on a life of its own, with PCs gaining Glory and improving their abilities as they go along.

  Simple Encounters

  “‘Where do I find these pushers?’ Sulitea demanded. ‘In the compound?’

  ‘You cannot go to the pushers!’ a slave exclaimed. ‘They will beat us for what we have done.’

  ‘I won’t tell them,’ Sulitea responded. ‘Now where are they?’

  None spoke, except to each other, a general murmur of dissatisfaction.

  ‘Tell me!’ Sulitea shouted. ‘Tell me, or I will have the big Ice Cannibal split your skulls for what little brain there is within!’” Innocent

  In a simple encounter your opponent will either be another player’s character, a fellow PC, or a character from the background scenario, an NPC, who will be controlled by the GM. When you come into conflict with a NPC you choose which Additional Attribute to play. When in conflict with a PC you roll a single die to determine who chooses, highest score wins. If you draw, roll again. The Additional Attribute chosen must make sense in the context of the game, which is a matter for the GM.

  The conflict now begins. If you are playing against a NPC, the GM always throw first. If you are playing against a PC, then whoever lost the initial throw of the single die throws first.

  If the Additional Attribute chosen is also your Primary Drive, then you can also make sixes by adding together the digits on the remaining dice. So, if you throw – 6,6,4,3,2,1 – you have scored 2 Hit Points, unless you are playing in your Primary Drive, in which case you can add the 4 and the 2 to make a third 6, thus scoring 3 Hit Points. No dice can be counted twice, so you cannot use your 3, 2 & 1 to make a fourth 6.

  For example -

  Irqual the Makean staggers out of an inn in Port Ergan. He has brought a cargo of nymphs north and sold them to Bormontal the Nymph Breeder at a good price, replenishing his stock with Hai glass and Ythan potions. These take up little room and he is wondering what else might conveniently fill up the hold when he sees somebody walking along the docks, looking lost. This individual is of moderate build, no obvious people and dressed in a mauve suit of extravagant cut. The Vendjomois might pay five or six imperials, perhaps for use as a clown, and after all, the hold needs filling. Irqual accosts the stranger.

  ‘Ho, you. You are now my property.’

  The stranger, Oily Jansen, steps back in alarm.

  ‘What is this!?’

  They are now in conflict. Both are PCs, so they roll a die. The score for Irqual is 3, for Oily Jansen, 4. Oily Jansen has won and chooses his Primary Drive, Guile. He has 20 Game Points against Irqual’s 7, a huge advantage.

  As Oily Jansen has chosen which Additional Attribute to use, Irqual throws first. He scores – 6,3,2,2,1,1 – and so gain a single Hit Point, reducing Oily Jansen’s total to 19.

  Oily Jansen throws. He scores – 6,6,6,5,2,1. Guile is his Primary Drive, so the 5 and 1 can be added together to make an additional six. That gives him has 4 Hit Points, reducing Irqual’s total from 7 to 3.

  Irqual throws. He scores – 6,6,5,5,5,3 – gaining two more Hit Points. Oily Jansen’s total is reduced to 17.

  Oily Jansen throws. He scores – 6,6,4,3,2,1 – gaining three Hit Points and reducing Irqual’s total to 0.

  Irqual is out of points and must concede defeat.

  Their conversation might have gone something like this, opened by Irqual with typical Makean subtelty.

  ‘I said you are now my property. Come with me to my ship, unless you wish to be kicked all the way.’

  Oily Jansen, the veteran of a thousand acrimonious discussions on a hundred planets, quickly counters.

  ‘One moment. You should know that I have an incurable and highly infectious disease.’

  Irqual ponders, scratching his chin.

  ‘A disease you say? You look healthy enough.’

  Dropping his trousers, Oily Jansen reveals a hideous pustule, carefully prepared for just such an eventuality. Irqual is convinced.

  Oily Jansen has won, and therefore gains Glory. Normally he would gain 1 point, but as Guile is his Primary Drive he gains 2 points. Had Guile also been Irqual’s Primary Drive, Oily Jansen would have gained 3 points. Had Guile been Irqual’s Primary Drive but not Oily Jansen’s, it would be 4 points. Oily Jansen had 3 points of Glory to begin with and so now has 5.

  Irqual has lost, but he has the choice of sacrificing a point of Glory in order to retaliate, this time on his choice of attribute. Annoyed, and faced with a weedy individual who is also diseased, he decides to kick Oily Jansen over the side of the dock. His choice is therefore power. Irqual has 12 Game Points, Oily Jansen 5.

  Oily Jansen real
ises Irqual’s intention and attempts to strike first.

  He scores – 6,6,4,4,2,2 – but as Power is not his Primary Drive he gains only 2 Hit Points.

  They begin to fight. Given their relative Game Points and that neither has Power as their Primary Drive, Irqual’s chances of winning are 12/17 (70%) and Oily Jansen’s 5/17 (30%). In this case Irqual wins, kicking out with all his strength to send Oily Jansen flying over the edge of the dock. A splash from the darkness below signals the end of the combat.

  Irqual has won and regains his point of Glory. Oily Jansen has lost and chooses not to continue the conflict. If nothing else happens, then all Game Points are reset to their original values, but Oily Jansen keeps the Glory Points he has gained. He can retain these or cash them in at a rate of 5 Game Points per Glory Point, which he can spread among his Basic Attributes and any Additional Attributes used in the conflict, to a maximum of five per attribute, thus gaining experience.

  However, something else might happen to prolong the scenario. In the fight between Irqual and Oily Jansen, the Makean has not come out unscathed. A punch on the nose and a well placed knee have reduced his Game Points from 12 to 8. Furious, he lashes out at a passing dwarf. The dwarf is a NPC, so Irqual has the right to choose Power, but the dwarf is no weakling and has 8 Game Points in Power. Irqual has expended 4 Game Points in Power without a chance to recover, neither has Power as a Primary Drive and so in the ensuing combat they are evenly matched. If the dwarf happened to be carrying an axe or a gun this would not be the case, but we will come to weapons presently.

  Power and Guile are easily played out and represent the two basic ways of resolving a conflict, force and negotiation. In role-play terms the remaining attributes can be considered as conflicts of one or the other; Craft relating to Force; Pride, Allure, Greed, Wealth and Wisdom relating to Negotiation. In practical terms all conflicts can be resolved by dice in the same manner.

  Interaction does not necessarily mean conflict, and definitely not immediately, but is an essential part of the game.

  For example -

  Kaea, waking from the mushroom induced haze in which she has finally learnt how to commune with spirits, finds the Princess Talithea Mund looking down on her from horseback. Kaea is in central Mund, the nearest place to get the right sort of mushroom, she has no Glory Points and very few resources. She would dearly like to get back to Hai, where she can recuperate and start on the long path to becoming an effective witch, but even in her addled state she knows that the Mund are not going to like the idea of a Hai witch. Kaea would like Talithea’s help, but her beauty is of little use to her so if she wins the initial role of the dice she chooses guile, in which she has 7 points against Talithea’s 10.

  Thus Kaea has a fair chance of winning, but if she doesn’t she is no worse off than she was before. Talithea is unlikely to want to expend a Glory Point in the circumstances, so she and her hunting party simply ride away. If Kaea does win, then she has gained herself 1 Glory Point, which she can either keep or use to improve her total score. By offering to take Kaea with her, Talithea has lost nothing.

  Had Talithea won the initial roll she might choose to ask Kaea what a Hai girl is doing in the middle of a Mund forest, half-naked and surrounded by bits of red agaric mushroom cap. Kaea would then have to defend herself as best she could, probably against Talithea’s overbearing Pride, at 18 points to 4. In the unlikely event of Kaea winning she will gain a full 4 Glory Points, but if she loses Talithea gains 2 and Kaea is obliged to tell the truth. Kaea has no Glory Points to expend and so is at Talithea’s mercy.

  Assuming Kaea wins and is taken back to Thieron, on the coast, she now has the task of crossing the sea. By using her Primary Drive, Allure, she has an excellent chance of persuading a ship’s captain to take her aboard. This will be hardest if he is a fellow Hai, but also safest, whereas it would be easy to seduce a Makean with her beauty but he is very unlikely to keep his word. Assuming that the shipmaster is a NPC and not another PC, it is up to the GM to decide how he will behave, keeping within the background and spirit of the game.

  More Complex Encounters

  In both the above examples the conflict is one against one, but this will not always be the case. It’s obviously harder to overcome two opponents than one, either by force or negotiation, and three is harder than two, but seldom two or three times as hard, while an inept companion can be more of a drawback than an asset. So, instead of simply adding up the Additional Attribute points, these should be added and then reduced by a percentage according to how many are involved – 20% for 2, 30% for 3, 40% for 4 and 50% for 5. The result should be rounded up or down to the nearest integer, and only if half or more of those involved are using their Primary Drive can they make sixes. It is assumed that no more than 5 people can take on a single opponent, either in combat or negotiation.

  This assumes that one PC is in conflict with between two and five NPCs. A group of up to five PCs can work together following the same rules but may prefer to function individually, in which case they must decide who takes on which opponent.

  Points lost from a pool must be subtracted from among those attributes used in the conflict, to the PCs choice. As usual, these refresh with the next sleep period.

  If a group of NPCs, however large, has a clear leader, that person alone needs to be persuaded unless the GM decides otherwise, although if combat kicks off the whole group will fight.

  For example -

  Bormontal the Nymph Breeder is determined to produce nymph/human crosses with the red-gold hair typical of Aegmund. His initial attempt involved the kidnap of Aisla, the daughter of a sergeant-at-arms in Korismund on the border between Mund and Aegmund and ended in disaster (see Maiden). Realising the advantages of employing a male Aeg and one or more female nymphs rather than the other way around, he has travelled north to Aegerion and there enlisted the services of one Dakar as guard. Dakar, a fletcher by trade, has no idea of Bormontal’s true motive, but is likely to accept the use of the nympharium as one of the perquisites of his job without fuss. Returning south, they touch land at Utan, a Dwarven city on the north coast of Apraya.

  Here they meet Raiklin N’Jokolana, the Aprinian scholar, who is intent on travelling to the city of Ap-Ythan in search of rare texts relating to the origin of humanity. Bormontal, always keen to keep his overheads down, persuades Raiklin to travel with them, sharing the costs of the journey and of Dakar’s employment as their mutual guard. Bormontal and Raiklin are PCs. Dakar is an NPC.

  Reaching the Ythan border, they encounter a customs point, where the officer in charge, Tordan, demands the payment of duty on the import of one slave, barbarian, male. Dakar, who is in the stern boat idly whetting the magnificent greatsword he purchased with the advance on his wages, does not hear this exchange. Bormontal and Raiklin decide to persuade Tordan that he has misinterpreted the law. Tordan is an NPC, so the two PCs choose which Additional Attribute to use, Wisdom. Bormontal has 12 Game Points in Wisdom, Raiklin an impressive 36, but as they have chosen to argue together their effective total is 38 ((12+36)x0.8) rather than 48. Tordan also has a fair bit of Wisdom, 10 Game Points, but is clearly at a disadvantage. However, noting that discussion is in progress and keen to earn his pay, Dakar now comes forward – the GM being responsible for this sort of decision. Dakar is a young man, with just 3 Game Points in Wisdom, but as he is determined to put his outsized boot into the discussion he must be included, unless Bormontal and Raiklin choose to argue with him first and risk reducing their own efficacy. With Dakar involved their pool of Game Points has actually been reduced to 36 ((12+36+3)x0.7). To further complicate matters, Tordan’s two juniors step forward, both young men with little more than their native Ythan ability in Wisdom, 7 Game Points each. The customs officers therefore have 17 ((10+7+7)x0.7) Game Points against the PCs 36.

  Losing Your Cool

  Dakar is a good humoured young man and has little or no understanding of
the concept of slavery, so is unlikely to realise the implications of the discussion. Even if he does, the idea of him being the slave of an Ythan is so absurd as to be laughable. Raiklin, however, is exceptionally sensitive to the issue, having recently had his daughter rescued from Makea, where she had been made a fighting slave for the amusement of the populace (see Innocent). There is a significant chance he will be unable to control his temper.

  This chance is expressed as the probability of four of the six dice showing the same score on any one roll. As the PCs are operating as a group this relates to the proudest member, the one most likely to take insult, which in this case means Raiklin. The result is that the conflict is immediately restarted in his Primary Drive. That is Wisdom so things continue as before in this instance, only now Raiklin has ceased to argue with cold, precise logic and instead is jabbing an extended forefinger into Tordan’s chest as he expiates on the abomination of slavery.

  The conflict has now escalated, and from now on if either group throws just three dice with the same score at once then the conflict restarts a second time but in Power, in this case when Raiklin loses his temper completely and headbutts Tordan. Dakar, who is not only keen to demonstrate his abilities as guard but has begun to take in the full implications of the conversation, gives a roar of fury and wades in with his greatsword.

  If you’re unsure how all this works it might be an idea to play the conflict out.