Let's Play: Challenge of the Magi: Mage1

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Well, bugger. I guessed wrong. He's probably healed up now, too. Ah, well.

Since we're here, cave? There's treasure in caves. And grizzly bears. But mainly treasure. I'll go with whatever you want to do, though.

Wait, could we teleport before that WAIT and catch him in the Caves of Perdition, potentially? Let's do that, if so.
Last edited by SlyJohnny on Tue Jan 17, 2017 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

The rules for when you can use lesser magic are a bit unclear, but from my reading you'd be able to do it. I was wondering if you'd try that.

Everything goes dark for a second and you find yourself in the cavernous chambers of the Caverns of Perdition. Your opponent is before you. (You may describe yourself to your opponent, exchange insults such as "They will thank me in the Rainbow Land for what I am about to do to you, orc-breath!") Then prepare for spell combat. You may only use black and red spells in this region.

The Amazing Rando isn't carrying anything and will go first again
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Post by Thaluikhain »

The Amazing Rando runs away again:

635
Your enemy is trying to flee! Read this out to him.

"You turn and try to get out of sight before Invoking the Portals, but, acting fast, I pick up a rock and hurl it at you with surprising accuracy. It smacks into one of your legs and you topple over, landing painfully on an outcrop of stone. Lose three Life Points but you have the presence of mind to Invoke the Portals. You can go to the Greenwood, the Silvered Spires or the House of Mausolus. But WAIT for me first."

You stand alone in the echoing cavern. You can either Invoke the Portals and go to the Greenwood, the Silvered Spires or the House of Mausolus. Alternatively you can explore the Caverns of Perdition.
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

let's pop a heal, even though it's a bit of a waste, then try the Silvered Spires. If he's not there, cast Teleport before the Wait, and go to the Greenwood. If he's not there, spend our last teleport before the wait to catch him in the Mausolus.

Edit: Actually, we can't cast Teleport from the Greenwood, so this plan is no longer that great. Shall we just check the Caves, then? I'm no longer that psyched about the Mausolus now I know it's definitely a creepy necromancer tomb, rather than a government building of some sort, but it might be worth checking it out, as there's only three choices and we got a bad/neutral option the first time.
Last edited by SlyJohnny on Tue Jan 17, 2017 6:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Check here first, then back to Mausolus if we don't find what we want.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

3
You step out of the portal. Hot, parched air hits you as if you'd walked into a wall. You find yourself in a large cavern, the rough cracked walls burning-hot to the touch. The rock around you is of strange reddish material inlaid with skeins of black onyx. The very air itself is alive with the distinctive resonance of black and red magic. Tow tunnels, a cave mouth and a large ironbound, grotesquely-carved door serve as exits.

If you have an Ambuscade and wish to set it off here, cross the from your list of lesser magics and record RED RUIN on your character sheet. Ahead of you a thin, barely passable tunnel leads to the left. You may go down it, straight ahead, through the door or into the cavemouth, out of which emanates a strong, musty animal smell. Alternatively, you could Invoke the Portals, step into the Nexus and travel to the Greenwood, the House of Mausolus or the Silvered Spire. You must WAIT before going anywhere.
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Cave mouth? I certainly don't like the sound of the "barely passable" narrow tunnel, anyway.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You step into the reeking cavern.

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A few gnawed bones and a pile of old rubbish litters the cavern, but at its centre stands a large wolf, its fur shining with a silvery sheen. It growls menacingly at you, baring a set of viciously sharp teeth. You recognise it from your Grimoire of Legendary Beasts. It is Silvermane, the ancient, supposedly-immortal wolf, reputed to have slain her one-time master, Ilexmanan, in his sleep.

You will have to fight her as she leaps tp the attack. Silvermane has 12 LPs with no additions to her combat dice. You may fight her hand-to-hand or, if you have these spells, you may cast the Blight of Desponde or Immolation and inflict a loss of 5 LPs on the wolf. As the effort needed to make these spells work against a creature that is not a mage is less than normal, these spells will cost you only 2 CP and 1 CP respectively. Other spells do not seem to affect the legendary wolf. The wolf is too fast to escape from so you must kill or be killed. If you manage to kill Silvermane, to your surprise the wolf's body simply fades away before your eyes. Record the codeword SILVER. Reality shifts and you find yourself at the Nexus, with three portals before you. You may travel to the Greenwood, the House of Mausolus, or the Silvered Spires. You must wait before you do so.
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Let's fight it until it has 5lp left, then see how we feel about casting Blight or tanking further.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Mage rolls 6, Wolf rolls 1. Hit for 3
Mage rolls 6, Wolf rolls 6. Draw
Mage rolls 6, Wolf rolls 3. Hit for 2
Mage rolls 1, Wolf rolls 5. mage hit for 2
Mage rolls 3, Wolf rolls 6. mage hit for 1
Mage rolls 2, Wolf rolls 2. Draw
Mage rolls 3, Wolf rolls 5. mage hit for 4
Mage rolls 1, Wolf rolls 5. mage hit for 1
Mage rolls 3, Wolf rolls 6. mage hit for 4

Ok, some pretty bad luck and Explosive Wand has 5 LP left, the wolf is on 7LP
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Christ. Hit it with Blight as soon as it drops to 5lp or less. Then let's head to the Silvered Spires, towards our stronghold.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Mage rolls 2, wolf rolls 6. Mage is hit for...6 and is killed.

That was not how I expected this to end.

There are rules for a rematch, where the victor uses the same character, but goes up a level. OTOH, their class and some (though not all) of their spells will already been known and they will face an unknown challenger. I'll post those in the combined thread, so don't read the other mage's thread if you are interested.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

I will keep the same character, but start in the Phoenix Crags. And avoid that asshole wolf, this time.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Ok, to the Phoenix Crags. There is a slight chance that your opponent will happen to choose the exact same starting realm...and this has happened.

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You are standing on a wide ledge in the Phoenix Crags. At the other end, stands your enemy. (You may describe yourself to your opponent, exchange insults such as 'I shall reduce you to you constituent organs, O hopeless mutation of a perfect creation.' In any case, you must tell him you class of mage and what you are carrying.) You can use red and blue spells here. Prepare for a battle of sorcery.

Your opponent is Mage, the redundant Magician.

You will go first (decided randomly)

You may try to escape by fleeing and Invoking the Portals
If you have no spells, you can charge forward, hope to withstand your enemy's spells and close for physical combat.

Or you can cast one of these spells:
Spirit of Flame Cost: 1 CP
Phantasm Cost: 2 CP
Feeblemind Cost: 1 CP
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Heh! Let's open with a Phantasm.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Cross of 2 CPs. You concentrate hard and decide to create the illusion of a rockfall from the Crags above. Read this out to your enemy:

"There is a rumbling sound above you. Looking up you see many large boulders falling from the towering crags right on top of you. You have not seen me cast any visible spell, so you guess this rockfall is the result of a Phantasm. Or is it/ Can you stand beneath it and really disbelieve, or will you try to dodge aside. Roll one die."

There's a 50/50 chance of it doing something useful, otherwise there's no effect. Luckily for you:

"You panic at the last moment and leap aside. A boulder clips you as it plunges into the chasm. Lose three Life Points."

(As an aside, I like the idea of the spell, but it seems very under-powered, though 2CP instead of 3CP for uncounterables.)
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Magician snarls out "I will erase your pathetic life from existence...later."

Your enemy is trying to flee. Read this out to them:

"You turn and try to get out of sight before Invoking the Portals but, acting fast, I pick up a rock and hurl it at you with surprising accuracy. It smacks into one of your legs and you topple over the ledge into the chasm. You crack your ribs painfully on a boulder and lose three Life Points but you have the presence of mind to Invoke the Portals in midair. You can go to the Scorched Sands of Akhneton, the Forest of Arden or the House of Mausolus, but WAIT for me first."

You stand alone at the Phoenix Crags. You can either Invoke the Portals and go to the Scorched Sands of Akhneton, the Forest of Arden or the House of Mausolus. Alternatively you can explore the Phoenix Crags. You can head for the hut on the slope, enter the cave mouth, climb the path of the Crag. WAIT until your opponent is ready before deciding.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Forest of Arden.

On the off chance he's there, my opening taunt will be "No. We finish this now."
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Post by Thaluikhain »

109
The portal disappears behind you and you find yourself surrounded by trees at the centre of a small clearing. The sun beats down but within the trees is a dark gloom. It is silent in the clearing and you feel alone, far from the security of your fellow men and their dwellings. Although you can hear nothing the Forest feels full of lie, full of unseen eyes spying on you. This is a place enchanted with green magic, a place where nature is untouched by man.

Suddenly everything goes dark around you and you find yourself standing in a clearing beneath ferns and tall elms. Just yards away from you is your opponent. A flock of pretty coloured songbirds take flight and leave you to settle your battle alone. You may describe your appearance to your opponent now, the colour of your robes and your class. You should also tell your opponent what artefacts you are carrying. You may exchange insults and epithets such as "Thy final hour is come, thou lily-livered puppy dog."

Your opponent hasn't changed in the last 30 seconds since they left the Phoenix Crags.

You will go first (decided randomly)

You may run at your opponent and engage in physical combat (braving whatever magics they may cast at you), or flee.
Last edited by Thaluikhain on Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Charge!
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Post by Thaluikhain »

49
Read the following out loud:
"I begin to charge forward, weapons at the ready, intent on hand-to-hand combat. You have the opportunity to hurl a spell at me."
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Post by Thaluikhain »

"Fine. Though you brought this on yourself."

"I speak the Ritual of Summoning and before you can do anything a dark mass of insects pours out of the grass and trees from all sides. Soldier ants, cockroaches, poisonous spiders and scimitar beetles crawl all over you within seconds."

However, you have the counterspell, and I'm going to assume you use it:

The appearance of the horde of maleficent insects does not terrify you. Read out the following:

"In answer to this spell I cast Fireskin. Rivulets of blue fire cascade from my body and the insects perish in the flames, but my skin is unharmed. I laugh at your lacklustre attempts to defeat me. You spell has been foiled."

Subtract 1 CP. Having a spell cast at you while charging means you don't get to attack in hand-to-hand combat just yet.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

"Let's not fight."

Your opponent has turned to flee and is even now Invoking the Portals. Read out the following:

"Aha, so you realise you cannot stand against my awesome might, worm. I take from my pack a phial of acid and hurl it towards your vanishing back. the vial smashes and the vitriol courses down your back as you step through the portal, burning you horribly.

When you emerge in the next land you find terrible burns and weals mar your skin. Roll one dice to find out how many Life Points you have lost."

You stand alone amongst the trees. You may explore the forest. Or you may Invoke the Portals, perhaps in the hope of catching up with your craven opponent, to the Citadel of the Skull, the Phoenix Crags, the Silvered Spires or the Rainbow Inn.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Phoenix Crags. If he's there and I win initiative, I'll lead with a spirit of flame.

If he's not, I'll explore the cave there. Because that worked out so well, the last time.
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Post by Thaluikhain »

You are at the Phoenix Crags. You step out onto a ledge at the side of a great mountain. You can sense the presence of magic here. Red and blue spells may be cast in this area. Below you a chasm yawns, a thin sliver of blue marking the distant river at the bottom. Up above tower magnificent, awe-inspiring crags, clawing at the yellow skies with gnarled fingers. It makes your head spin to look up or down.

A path leads from the ledge to an easily accessible mountain slop on which rests a hut. Another goat trail winds up a great crag directly above you. This crag is also accessible by a straight climb upward. Behind you, a cave mouth opens invitingly. You may cast an Ambuscade here if you have one.

You can investigate the hut, follow the goat track, climb directly upwards or enter the cave, but you must WAIT before you do so.
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