session four-and-a-half!

here's the second half of our most recent ksbd rpg play session!

GM Claire: So. You guys head back to that other hallway that leads to the vault --
Msg: Hang on. You know, it seems kind of suspicious to me that there are all these hanging and impaled skeletons in the hallway to the torture chamber, but no prisoner cells or anything.
Ariel: There was the creepy whistling guy.
Msg: Yeah, but he was like, actively under the torturer's watch.
Sasha: Maybe all the skeletons and stuff are to scare people into behaving so the Palace of Night bosses don't have to lock them up and torture them.
Msg: Maybe, but I think I'm going to look carefully along this hallway for secret passages and stuff.
GM Claire: Well, don't even roll Pry Secrets, because either Sasha is right or they have cells somewhere else to keep prisoners in. Nothing but very dead skeletons here, and you're confident you search pretty well.
Msg: That's not very satisfying. I'm going to Query the Cosmos to see if I have any Knowledge about torture setups like this that would explain things. And I'm going to push the move.
Elle: Oh, now I understand. He just wants to make a roll and try to get a power die.
Msg: You're so cynical, Elle. Anyway, I just rolled a six, so that proves you wrong and Claire gets a break die.
GM Claire: Also ... (lemme look up that Knowledge move) ... doesn't list any specific downside to a miss. I'll just make a mental note that there will be fallout of some kind.
Sasha: Uh, like Angry Ag getting ticked over him standing around thinking and tapping his chin?
GM Claire: We'll see.
Ariel: Can we head back to that other hallway now? The one Matash Kachrang's ex ghost boss said what we're looking for is down?
Sasha: I think you mean "ghost ex boss."
GM Claire: Yes. When you reach the bend, you see that the hallway leads some distance down the way and ends in an archway, beyond which is a larger space.
Msg: Pry Secrets to try to figure out if the space beyond the archway is inhabited. Nine.
GM Claire: One question.
Msg: What seems to be the safest path forward?
GM Claire: Well, there's really no easy spot to hide in along this hallway, so if the place is inhabited, they'll probably see you coming. The safest thing would probably be to just walk right in as if you belong there.
Sasha: We do that. Or at least I do.
Ariel: If Ag is going, I guess we might as well keep up, Matash?
Msg: Not much other choice.
GM Claire: When you reach the open space, you find it's just a large empty chamber, maybe 20 feet on each side with a 15-foot ceiling. On the opposite wall, there are three doors. One is wooden, one is bronze, and one is stone. A face is carved into each door. Why don't you each describe one of the faces?
Elle: The one that's woody is a dude with a leering, thirsty expression on his --
GM Claire: Not you, just the people whose characters are there.
Ariel: I heard what you tried to do with the word "woody" there.
Sasha: I'm going to say the bronze one is a devil face, big and round and mean, with lots of broken teeth.
Msg: I think the stone one is a snake-face, with dark agates for eyes.
Ariel: Um ... so I'm stuck with the wood one?
Elle: Woody. Think "woody."
Ariel: No, I have to think of something on my own. Um ... it's like ... a tree face. A tree-trunk that has closed eyes and a nose and a mouth that's not really smiling or frowning.
GM Claire: Cool.
Sasha: So which one is the one we want?
Msg: I'm guessing it's not a puzzle to figure out based on the faces.
Ariel: Or maybe it is -- maybe Claire made up her mind to decide which one is the one based on our descriptions!
GM Claire: I'm not saying one way or another.
Sasha: I open the devil door.
Ariel: Wait, what?
GM Claire: When Ag pulls the handle of the devil-face door, the room trembles briefly, and then thick, black smoke begins to pour forth from the nostrils of the bronze face. It swirls rapidly into a whirlwind shape and then condenses into the massive form of a black-armored war devil, armed with an iron club. This guy is gigantic, and his armor looks like the iron walls of hell itself.  He speaks in a voice of sparks and ashes that hits you all in the pits of your stomachs. All he says is, "Password."
Sasha: I guess we need a password.
Ariel: Uh ... "tree-snake?"
GM Claire: The devil looks at you with eyes like blood and lava and says, "Incorrect. Password, or begone."
Sasha: It makes me angry the way this guy seems to think he's so big and tough.
Ariel: Well he obviously thinks that because he's right, so I hope you're not about to attack him!
Msg: Matash begins walking away and says, "Let's get out of here before Ag does something stupid, Grey-eyes. Ag, it's been nice knowing you."
Ariel: Yeah, I think I'll go with Matash.
Sasha: Oooh, you chickens are making me so furious with your chicken-poop chickeny-ness. I guess I go after them so I can yell at them about how angry they're making me.
GM Claire: As you leave the room, you hear a whoosh, and a smell of brimstone and a wash of heat blow past you.
Ariel: I look back to make sure he's not coming after us!
GM Claire: Nope. You just see him vanishing into plumes of heavy black smoke that get sucked back into the bronze devil-face.
Sasha: Well that was useless.
Msg: I think we either need to find out the password, or find Sin-Sing so we're at full strength to fight the guy. If we want to spend another hour in the uniform-and-thumbtack closet, I could Meditate to try to get the password from a higher power. Or if we take another respite, I could do a Geomancy ritual.
Sasha: More waiting around? No thank you!
Ariel: I think let's get some guard uniforms from the storeroom and pretend to be guards and go upstairs to find Sin-Sing.
Msg: That sounds like a good plan to me.
GM Claire: Okay. When you get to the storeroom, you find that none of the uniforms will fit Ag. He's seven feet tall, remember?
Msg: That's all right. There are manacles too, right? We can pretend he's our prisoner.
Ariel: Ooh, like in Star Wars!
Sasha: Who's going to carry my sword? I don't think they're going to buy me being a prisoner if I'm wearing my big-ass sword. And I actually don't think they'll buy you guys bringing it along with us. Why would you do that? This seems like a dumb plan to me.
Ariel: Fine, do you just want to wait here in the storeroom then?
Sasha: Why do all these plans involve waiting or doing stupid stuff? I should have just attacked that big demon.
Msg: You know what? Do whatever you want to, Ag. Wait here, follow along behind us, squeeze into a uniform that doesn't fit you and get us all caught -- Grey-eyes and I are putting on uniforms and going upstairs to find Sin-Sing.
Sasha: You just do that.
Msg: We will.
Ariel: Hey, is it cheating for us to bring along uniforms for Sin-Sing and Paghla?
GM Claire: Why would that be cheating?
Ariel: Because we heard Elle saying she wanted to get some?
GM Claire: Sure, but if your plan is for you and Matash to sneak around pretending to be guards on the way up, it only makes sense that you'd want all four of you to sneak around pretending to be guards on the way back.
Ariel: Oh, good. I do that, then.
GM Claire: So ... making your way upstairs while pretending to be guards has some risk involved, so I'll need you both to make Overcome rolls. I'll let you pick whether to use +mind or +heat.
Ariel: Mind!
Msg: Definitely Mind.
GM Claire: Okay, first off, as you climb up the stairs to that big dark hallway, you see that there are some guards stationed there. Two of them are flanking the stairway, and two more are flanking the hallway that leads to the accounting offices. And the hallway isn't dark now -- there's pretty good light coming from these glowing ovals in the ceiling. The guards spot you on your way up and say, "Hey, what are you doing down there?" Who answers?
Msg: I say, "We were delivering a prisoner to the torturer, and he made us help turn the cranks on the rack we put the guy on. It took forever getting them adjusted how he wanted them. Why, is something going on?" I get a nine total.
GM Claire: "Yeah, somebody apparently attacked the guards and the elevator crew and freed a bunch of slaves. We're on high alert. You'd better report to Yequen at the slave pens." He points down the hall in the opposite way from the way you came in.
Msg: Oh great.
Ariel: I thank them and start walking the way they pointed. Oh, and I tell them to stay alert!
GM Claire: They kind of look at you quizzically but don't say anything else.
Sasha: You mean like, "Duh, we're guards, what else are we gonna do?"
GM Claire: Sort of like that.
Ariel: Once we get a little ways away, I'm like, "What are we going to do, Matash?"
Msg: I say we go around a corner up here and just wait a while out of sight of these guys, then come back and say the Yequen person ordered us to go upstairs.
Ariel: Oh, that sounds good.
Elle: Sounds too easy to work, you mean.
Sasha: While they're climbing the stairs and walking toward the slave pens, I go back to the room with three doors.
Ariel: What!
Msg: I suspected Ag might do that.
GM Claire: The room is as it was when you first saw it, empty except for the three doors.
Sasha: This time, I'm going to try the door with the tree face on it. By which I mean, I'm not actually trying to open it, but, uh ... Pry Secrets on it.
GM Claire: Roll +Mind.
Ariel: This is so bad! Ag's +Mind is awful!
Sasha: I'm going to push it too. Oh well, 7 - 1 is 6.
GM Claire: Pry Secrets lets you ask a question even if you miss. But the answer may or may not be true.
Sasha: Hmm. What here could be useful to me?
GM Claire: It might be useful to try opening the wooden door. Also, thanks for giving me another Break Die. Now I have two ready to use.
Sasha: Argh. It's so infuriating that I don't know whether that's true. Okay, you know what, I'm going to Pry Secrets on the snake door now, and push that one too.
Ariel:Noooo, what are you doing???
Sasha: Yes! I roll 8 - 1 is 7! Success!
GM Claire: I spend the Break Die you just gave me. Mine is a 2, so instead of 8, you rolled a 7, and 7 - 1 is a failure. And since it's a failure, I get the Break Die back.
Sasha: Damn it! I guess I need to figure out what to ask.
Ariel: You're just going to get mad at the answer!
Sasha: What seems to be the safest path forward?
GM Claire: Going back to the storeroom and waiting for your companions.
Msg: Come on, Sash, she's obviously going easy on you with that answer. Just assume it's true.
Sasha: So what if it's true? Playing safe is for losers.
Ariel:Why did we leave Ag alone?
Sasha: You know what? I'm going to go back down the hall, then down the other hall to the torturer's place, and get that whistling guy from under the sheet and make him open the wood door for me.
Ariel: The creepy whistling guy! Why???
Sasha: Claire said he could be useful.
Ariel: To Matash, not to you!
Sasha: I'm assuming it's a general purpose kind of useful.
Ariel: You can't assume that.
Sasha: Funny, I just did. So is he still there when I get to the torture chamber, Claire?
GM Claire: Let's see what happens with Grey-eyes and Matash when they get to the slave pens.
Msg: I'm hoping we're not going all the way to the slave pens. Doesn't the hallway turn a corner or something where we could hide from those guards?
GM Claire: Nope, it's a big, wide hallway and the lights are on now, and it ends in a big double-door with a sign that says, "Slave Pens."
Msg: Damn. I guess we open it up and go in.
GM Claire: It doesn't look like there are handles. There's a pull cord hanging from the ceiling to one side of the doors.
Ariel: Do you think it's a doorbell?
Msg: Or maybe you're just supposed to knock, and the cord is a trick that opens up a pit if you pull it.
Ariel: Seriously?
Msg: Hey, if you'd seen the things I've seen, you'd be suspicious of everything too.
Ariel: Let's just pull the cord. I don't think I can stand it if you try to Pry Secrets and miss like Ag did.
Msg: Fine, but I'm letting you pull it.
Ariel: Well, I do. What happens, Claire?
GM Claire: You think you hear a little dingly bell sound from the other side.
Ariel: Oh, dang, I just realized, what if you're supposed to pull it a certain way to make the bell ring a pattern, or they'll know the people ringing it are fake? Matash is rubbing off on me!
Elle: I wish I was there to see that.
Ariel: Don't be gross, Elle.
GM Claire: A slot in the door opens, and you see a couple of eyes. They're beautiful, crystal blue eyes, and just by the eyes alone, you can tell whoever it is is just as good looking as all the employees here at the Palace seem to be. A voice says, "Yes?"
Msg: I say, "Parkhassian needs an especially beautiful and well-behaved slave brought upstairs. One of the contest winners requested a concubine as his prize."
GM Claire: The pretty blue eyes look surprised. "Is the second round already over? That seems really early!"
Msg: Dang, he's got me there.
Ariel: I say, "No, but the guy is so amazing Parkhassian thinks he's bound to win, and he's apparently been telling everybody that's what he wants for his prize, so Parkhassian wants to be ready."
GM Claire: So convincing this guy is going to be an Overcome roll, which is +Heat. Who's going to roll?
Msg: Grey-eyes gave the excuse, and her heat is better than mine anyway.
Ariel: Come on, dice, please please please ... oof. Four.
GM Claire: "That doesn't sound like anything Parkhassian would do. Hey! Your epaulets aren't even on right-side-up -- where are your shields and spears? You're not really Night Guards!"
Ariel: Oh, shit. I think we better run, Matash.
Msg: I use Dread Sorcery to shoot a bolt of red lighting through the window at Blue-Eyes before he can raise the alarm. That's a total of 8. It does three damage in an area, so hopefully it gets any other guards who are near the door too.
GM Claire: Okay, you crisp whoever's on the far side of the door. Now what?
Msg: Now we run back down the hall and hope those guards at the far end weren't watching close enough to see that the lightning came from me. I'm going to yell, "AAH! Something's blowing them up in the slave pens!"
Ariel: I run after Matash, acting scared too.
GM Claire: Both of you need a +Heat Overcome roll for them to believe you.
Msg: 7 - 1 is 6. Stupid +Heat rolls.
Ariel: It's an 8 for me. And I'll try outrunning Matash like I'm scared of him.
GM Claire: They believe you, but the complication is that you being scared of him makes them positive he's an enemy, and they all throw their spears at him. Three damage, Matash. Oh, and what was your downside for getting a 7-9 on your Dread Sorcery?
Msg: Another -1 on my Dread Sorcery rolls. Which sucks, because I'm about to roll it again. And I'm empowering it. Nine. Another 3 damage area attack, and another penalty. I guess I'll throw another -1 on the pile.
GM Claire: These guys are weak-o. You toast them all.
Msg: Has anybody opened the door behind us?
GM Claire: Not yet.
Msg: Okay, Lonely Girl -- back downstairs to Ag, go the other way to hide in the accounting offices, or try to keep running into the room where we got off the elevator?
Ariel: Keep going! If we can make it upstairs we might be able to lose ourselves in the crowd, since nobody who's seen our faces is still alive.
Msg: As we pass the bodies, I grab a shield and spear and try to spot which directions the damned epaulets are supposed to go.
Ariel: Oh, I grab those too. Hopefully one that's not too charred or covered in dead guard splatter.
GM Claire: Make an Overcome roll, +Reflex, to see if you can get shields loose, grab up spears, and make it through the door before someone from the slave pens peeks out. Ariel?
Ariel: Ooh, Reflex is my best one! Come on, you dumb dice ... 8!
GM Claire: Msg?
Msg: I get a 7.
GM Claire: Whew! You both make it, but with complications. Lonely Girl's spear is kind of scorched, and when Matash yanked at his guy's shield, part of a charred arm came loose with it.
Ariel: Ew!
Msg: What do we find in the elevator room?
GM Claire: It's you're lucky day ... the place is empty.
Msg: I close the doors behind us and shake the arm out of my shield. Then I say we hurry over to the stairs.
Ariel: Good with me!
GM Claire: The stairs wind up and up. They're stone, and very clean, but worn with the passage of many, many feet over the years. At the top, you find what appears to be a holding area. There are rings on the wall where it looks like manacles could be attached. A curtain hangs in a broad archway on the far end of the room.
Ariel: I tippy-toe over and peek through it. Do I need to roll Overcome to be sneaky?
GM Claire: Nope. There's no one on the other side of the curtain. It looks like an auction room, with a relatively small number of seats and a modest stage. Stairs lead up to the stage in front of you, then down on the far side toward another curtain. There's a door at the back of the room behind the chairs.
Msg: Hmm. Curtain or door?
Ariel: I don't know! I wish I had a Power Die so I could use my mantra ability and add a clue to Claire's description of the room.
Msg: I'm going to assume the slaves get taken out through the other curtain after they're purchased, so the door at the back is probably the way bidders come in, so I'm guessing that leads to the more public parts of the building.
Sasha: Is it going to be my turn again soon?
Elle: You? What about me? I've been waiting twice as long.
GM Claire: Hey, I'm not the one who split the party up. You could have all stuck together and then nobody would have to wait.
Msg: Hang on a minute ... I'm so dumb. Is my ritual link to Paghla still working?
GM Claire: Yes! I wondered when you were going to remember that. You think you sense her more in the direction of that door than the other curtain.
Msg: I tell Grey-Eyes and suggest we go that way.
Ariel: Okay!
GM Claire: Now let's go back to Angry Ag.
Elle: Seriously?
Sasha: Yes! What do I find when I get back to the torture room?
GM Claire: The whistling figure is still under the sheet, and the torturer is still dead on the floor.
Sasha: I go over and pull the sheet off!
GM Claire: Underneath is an emaciated figure -- a male of the servant race. You see that his lips have been stitched in place around a small flute.
Ariel: Gross. I'm so glad I'm not there.
Sasha: I tell him, "Okay, look, if I let you go will you come with me and do something I need help with?"
GM Claire: His eyes look wild with fear or maybe a hint of madness. He spots the torturer on the floor behind you and tweetles through his flute.
Sasha: Just nod yes or no, would you? Geez, can I do one of those Bend Will rolls on him with the promise of letting him go for my leverage?
GM Claire: Sure, +Heat.
Sasha: Damn it.
Ariel: Did you roll bad?
Sasha: No, look at that. Double sixes. If I roll double sixes in a fight, I get to spend a power die to brutally annihilate my foe instantly. Instead I just wasted it on this whistling bozo.
GM Claire: On the plus side, he's nodding and making an enthusiastic melody with his flute.
Sasha: Okay, that's something at least. Do I have to roll to find the keys?
GM Claire: No, they're on the torturer's belt. It's not difficult to figure out the right one. Unfortunately, when you unlock him, he half collapses and whistles a sad tune. Obviously, he hasn't eaten in quite a while.
Sasha: Oh, brother. Well, I've got rations in my pack. I guess I see if I can find something to cut those stitches so I can feed him.
Elle: What, are you going to nurse him back to health just so you can take him down to the doors and have him set off whatever trap is on the ones you haven't tried?
Sasha: Well I can't just turn back around, or this whole thing will be a waste of time, and wasting time makes me angry.
GM Claire: It will take a while for you to snip the stitches and feed him. Let's go back upstairs. Elle, you and Paghla are in the waiting area biding your time until either Gervender shows up or it's your turn to perform in the second round. Then when you look over at the door, you notice a pair of guards peering into the room past the registration desk. They have on masks like all the guards, but they're suspiciously similar in height and hair color to Matash and Grey-Eyes. Msg and Aers, once you made it out into the main complex, it was easy to follow Matash's magic link to Paghla.
Msg: I think I should hang back with the uniforms we're carrying while Lonely Girl goes in to get Sin-Sing. Her character's Heat score is better than mine, so she should be better at pulling off the guard act.
Ariel: Um, okay, I guess? Does the guy at the desk let me in?
GM Claire: Well, he does ask what you're doing in the contestants' room.
Ariel: Message for one of the contestants from ... um, an admiring member of the audience? Very important person type person.
GM Claire: He shrugs and lets you pass.
Ariel: Whew. I hustle over to Sin-Sing and tell her we've got guard uniforms and we need her to come with us and help fight a giant devil guard in the vault.
Elle: Do I look like I brought my sawed-off shotgun with me in this outfit?
Ariel: Well --
Elle: I've got a lot better plan going on already. I found that Gervender chick, and she's going to bring me and Paghla some uniforms so we can get in the kitchen, where I think there's an imposter pretending to be a chef in the part of the kitchen that makes food for the VIPs. If we can unmask the imposter, it could score us points with the palace, and then if I can talk to somebody high enough up, I might get the info we need to get into the vault.
Ariel: Well, that sounds like I guess it might be a pretty good plan, but Ag --
Elle: Do you think I really want to hear about Ag right now?
Ariel: I guess not. Only, we've already got some guard uniforms. Would those do for getting into the kitchen?
Elle: Hmm. Sure. Maybe even better than the waiter uniforms, since the guard ones have masks. Claire, how long is it until I'm supposed to meet Gervender?
GM Claire: Probably still another twenty minutes or so.
Elle: All right. Let's do this thing quick. Paghla and I go with Matash and Grey-Eyes. Is there someplace we can change?
GM Claire: It's a big place, and pretty busy, but I'll say you find someplace. A meeting room or something.
Ariel: Maybe Matash and I should stay outside and guard the door from people going in while you get dressed?
Elle: Sure.
GM Claire: You don't encounter any trouble. But you do realize you have four guards now and only two spears and shields.
Elle: Paghla and I will march along close behind you two -- no, better yet, give us the spears and shields and you two march along close behind us and hopefully nobody notices you don't have all the gear.
Msg: I'm fine with you being up front. The fewer people behind my back, the better.
Ariel: Sure.
Elle: When we get to the kitchen door, I tell the guard there to make way because we have word of an intruder masquerading as a cook in the kitchen, and if he doesn't let us pass, it'll be his fault if they poison somebody or something.
GM Claire: I'll treat that as leverage for a Bend Will move. Roll +Heat.
Elle: Nine.
GM Claire: Success, but with a complication. His eyes go wide and he lets you pass, but he says, "I'll go get more guards!"
Msg: Damn it.
Elle: Don't worry, we'll be fine. Claire, we burst into the kitchen and I look for that shrimpy blue devil. Is she still in the exclusive part of the kitchen?
GM Claire: Yes. You spot her -- but she noticed the noise and she also spots you spotting her. What do you do?
Elle: I yell, "There she is! Grab that cook!" and point at her. Then Paghla and I are going to throw our spears at her.
Ariel: Geez, kind of bloodthirsty considering you don't know who she is or why she's there, isn't it?
Elle: She's up to no good. I can tell. We're not proficient in spears, so this is a clumsy roll, and even if it wasn't, I have a zero on Reflex, so I might as well push the move.
Sasha: Because that's working out so well every time somebody tries it.
Elle: Oh, great, look what you did. You totally jinxed me and I rolled a 4. You just gave Claire a Break Die.
Sasha:I did?
GM Claire: I'm up to three of them. I guess I'd better start spending the things.
Ariel: Well ... don't spend one on me right now. I'm trying to do an Agility move and rush across the whole kitchen. And ... 7! Whew!
GM Claire: I spend a Break Die.
Ariel: But I just asked you not to!
GM Claire: Look, my roll tied one of your dice, so I wasted it. No effect. Describe your journey through the kitchen.
Ariel: Obviously, I am like a leaping gazelle, hurdling tables and carts and counters with complete grace.
GM Claire: You wind up right next to the devil. But since your roll was a 7-9, she gets to deal damage. She lashes out with a razor wire that was hidden up her sleeve -- you see that it's covered in a glistening green fluid. As it slashes across you, you feel a searing burn to the wound -- it's not going to heal normally. Three damage.
Ariel: Three? But ... I'm out of Stamina and I only have three wounds total.
GM Claire: Well, you have to make the Shattered roll, then. +Breath.
Ariel: That's my worst stat! Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, I'm going to die.
Sasha: Just roll already.
Ariel: Thank heavens! Nine!
GM Claire: So you heal one wound and I get to pick a thing from this list, or else you get to pick two things from the list.
Ariel: Where's the list?
GM Claire: Here.
Ariel: All my rolls are broken until we rest? I lose a chunk of my body or a limb? Oh, this one's better, lose my weapon or armor ... I guess my armor. I was out of armor anyway. I'll just buy more sometime later if we live.
GM Claire: And the second thing?
Ariel: I'll take the last one on the list -- gain a nasty scar.
GM Claire: Describe it.
Ariel: Well it almost killed me and it's poisoned or something, so -- an awful jagged line across my throat.
GM Claire: Okay, so next --
Ariel: Whoa, wait, wait, wait! I have this Vengeful Star move that says when I'm first wounded, I automatically do my damage to any target in range without rolling. My damage is 2. Does that kill her maybe?
GM Claire: No, she's tough. Matash?
Msg: I'm just going to spend the round getting closer. Seems like a better idea than trying to roll, especially since you're using those Break Dice now and almost killing people.
Ariel: Way to come to my aid, Matash!
Elle: Don't worry, Gazelle Girl. I've got your back. Sin-Sing calls out to her that she's obviously facing an evil predator, and that they can't possibly stand up to her righteous strength! That's a Bolster Move, which is +Heat. I'll even empower it. 10 + 2 is 12, so she gets back 2 Stamina.
Ariel: Do I? Claire said the wound won't heal normally.
Elle: I don't think Stamina is actually healing -- the rule book says it's like your energy and poise.
GM Claire: That's how I read it too.
Ariel: Okay, I feel a lot better then. Is it my turn yet?
GM Claire: Sure!
Ariel: I use my Gazelle Hoof Whirlwind on this predatory devil chef! And I roll 11, so I get to use my flourish, which is they're crippled. And 2 more damage, and it's Messy and Destructive, whatever those mean.
GM Claire: Your whirlwind kicks do an extra point of damage, which is enough to kill her, and your feet take big chunks out of the cooking counter she was standing next to. The whole kitchen is in an uproar now. Everybody in the exclusive cooking area is panicking and running from you.
Msg: Do I get there yet?
GM Claire: Yes.
Elle: Paghla and I head over there too.
Msg: I'm going to search the body. Hopefully I find some poison or something so Sin-Sing's plan works.
GM Claire: You do! Or at least, you find a thick glass vial full of a disturbing green liquid that roils and swirls inside the bottle.
Msg: Great. I don't actually pick it up -- I want to be able to show it to the real guards when they show up.
GM Claire: You think you hear them now. There's a rumble of boots from beyond the door that all the cooks ran out through.
Elle: I get ready to talk our way out of this bad situation and into a good one.
GM Claire: Sure, but I think that will wait until next session. This seems like a good place to break.
Sasha: What? No! All I've gotten to do is spoon-feed this flute-face guy!
GM Claire: Experience questions ...
Msg: Did we expose ourselves to harm?
Ariel: Duh!
Msg: Did we fail in some way?
Ariel: Also duh! I almost died? Plus that guard downstairs figured our disguises out and blew our cover.
Msg: Sounds like another two experience points, then.
Sasha: We sure are racking up the XP. If we ever get to train, we're probably going to skip right over second level all the way to third.
Ariel: Which obviously I need to do so I have more stamina or wounds or something!
Msg: Nice job running the game again, Claire.
GM Claire: Thank you!
Ariel: I'm really excited to see what happens next time!
Sasha: Me too. Maybe I'll even get to do something.
Elle: Oh, hush, Sash. If it helps any, I've got something you can do right now.
Sasha: Don't try to bribe me with your wiley ways! I'm still in Angry Ag mode. You can't get away with manipulating me into calming down that easy!
Elle: (whispering)
Sasha: Well. I might let you get away with that.
GM Claire: Hey, everybody clean up your pencils and character sheets!