Positively Desiccated

When The Wire, Oz, and The Soprano's first aired, I used to have to avoid people at work on Mondays. I couldn't afford HBO, so got tapes from my grandmother every Monday morning of that weekend's episodes. The same tapes she would record over the next weekend for me after I brought them back by Friday.

Anyone who went through a similar ritual will recall how those tapes degrade over time. Things would get grainy and dark with the occasional ghost images. Sometimes seconds would skip or audio would drag into weird contortions. The physical medium's limitations came close to adding a supernatural element to grounded, crime-driven dramas.

It is through that lens I see my Sunday night Torchbearer in Lankhmar game. Like the shows, we are exploring the nature of criminals in the context of the world they live. The game system itself provides the warp of the tape through the way Tests and Twists work.

For the uninitiated, in Torchbearer you only roll dice when there is something to roll for. In a simple example, you don't roll to search for traps unless there are traps to be found. You don't roll to manipulate someone unless they are going to resist your manipulations.

In practical terms, this means that when a test is called for, something is about to happen. In Wire terms, it is the tension point before you know Bodie and Pooh are going to gun down Wallace as he begs for his life.

Where things get interesting is in the failures. A failure in Torchbearer isn't "I failed to pick the lock and now I can't go through." When you fail a Test, you either succeed, but suffer a Condition or a Twist.

In practice, a Condition is a significant, compounding, detrimental effect on your character, the last being death. A Twist is new trouble, either immediate in nature or further down the road. Twists are where the narrative juice is.

McNulty gets the wire up, but now Rawls knows he went behind his back and has it out for him. Christopher and Pauly shoot the Russian in the Pine Barrens, but now they are lost. It's Wallace failing to convince everyone he is back in the game only to have Stringer send Bodie to off him.

It is your random encounter. It is the consequences of your actions unseen by the character, but known by the audience. It is important context to keep in mind when you read these actual play reports I write.

Session Three

We opened in old man Julm's secret basement office as he informs the terrible trio that Ulkahar probably has the tome they are looking for upstairs on the top floor. Ulkahar the undead wizard who possessed Julm's manservant to torture him. The summoner of the undead we ran from last time...

Just great...

Needing every advantage possible, Ishlum attempts to draw up a map of how to navigate the building up to the study. A barely literate thief with no previous cartography experience attempting to draw a coherent map from a recently tortured old man...

It is a miracle that he was successful.

That done, it is time to hot foot out before venturing up. They need to stash the old man someplace safe, get their work gear, and return all sneaky-like. Back through the tunnels, a left instead of a right, and they find themselves inside an empty warehouse building at the docks. It's night and they need to sneak the hell out.

Being a clever thief, Ishlum takes point, uses some rope, and silently gets everyone out the second story window down into an alley without notifying the guards. They slip out a secret door in a shed, and dressed in their disguises, saunter their way towards the Black Rose and safety.

Which is of course where the wheels start to come off.

Two dead men in chain bar the way and demand the return of Ole Man Julm. Murgon and Golgo step forward to distract and trick the dead men so Ishlum can sneak Julm a different way to safety.

"Friends! You sound parched. Positively desiccated. Let me buy you a drink!"

Murgon as the conflict captain tricks the undead into getting a drink, but suffer a minor compromise. He and Golgo succeed, but walk away with a Condition, Hungry & Thirsty.

They drink some wine to recover, drop off the old man for a bath with the ladies of the Black Rose, and collect their gear at Ishlum's fence. Gear in hand, they return through the dock tunnels to the mausoleum and make camp to prep for the caper.

While camping, Ishlum expands the map, but ruins Murgon's pen, paper, and ink (Twist). Murgon makes a Liquor of Courage using his instinct to make potions every camp, but is made Angry (Condition).

Camp is broken and the caper is on!

Using the map, the trio make their way through the tunnels and up to the door of the top floor with no difficulty. Ishlum listens at the door and notes that someone on the other side is whistling and banging pots (Test). They sneak in unnoticed, which sets the stage for a hot mess.

First, with Murgon's cloak in had, Golgo tries to use it to wrap up the Mingol man before he can raise the alarm (Test). They tie in their Fighter rolls and goes the Health test as tiebreaker. Success is had...

For a hot minute. Murgon attempts to intimidate the capture Mingol into talking (Test) and fails. Guards burst into the room and attempt to capture the team (Twist).

The fighting is desperate. Four on three. The disposition roll for our criminals is piss poor for the Conflict.

The first round is manageable, with both sides maneuvering for position. Then the second round occurs and Murgon and Ishlum are knocked out of the conflict. Golgo stands alone!

Somehow he survives to round two and in the first action, both sides are brought to zero (a major compromise). The trio is exhausted (Condition) and have barricaded themselves in the study with the tome they seek.

Will they find a way out with the tome?

Can they avoid the undead scourge of Ulkahar?

Is this the ghastly end of our terrible trio?

Answers next time...

Same Torchbearer time. Same Torchbearer channel.