OOC: Our Last Best Hope - The Mask of Death

[Ravenloft]

I would like to start a light mechanics role playing story using the mechanics from an indy storytelling game called Our Last Best Hope.

You can obtain a pdf copy here: Our Last Best Hope

The setting and general storyline will be from the Dead Gentlemen indie movie, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

You can watch the entire movie, in 11 parts, on youtube, here: The Gamers: Dorkness Rising

The following is my own write up using the OLBH rules set for the basic structure of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising's story line. (Note, I will fill in the basic rules mechanics as needed, if I can actually get people to play.)

OLBH

Mission

The Mask of Death

The Quest for the Mask of Death begins in the city of Whitetower. Despite the occasional goblin incursion, the lands around Whitetower have known peace and prosperity under the reign of King Erasmus the Randomly Biased. This relative calm is shattered by the news of a powerful artifact falling into the hands of a wicked necromancer named Mort Kemnon. Kemnon swears to bring low the king and transform the land into a twisted reflection of his own evil god, Death himself. Increasing reports of undead sigtings and attacks serve to fan the flames of rumor. Exacerbating matters is the mysterious silence of Therin, goddess of the Light. Whitetower is the seat of her faith and home to her Grand

Hierophant, Rhaimhin the Fifth. Her radiance continues to shine in and around the Great Cathedral but is unreliable beyond a few miles for all but the strongest of her faithful.

Limit

Whitetower is the largest bastion of civilization for hundreds of miles in any given direction. If it should fall to Mort Kemnon, he will stand unchecked in his quest to rule Fartherall. Several clerical scholars theorize that Therin’s absence and Mort Kemnon’s acquisition of the Mask of Death are related.
Without Therin’s presence, thousands across Fartherall will be affected. Our party of five adventurers are the only ones brave or stupid enough to have stepped up and accepted this quest.


The characters


Brother Silence
Not an elf, Monk

Sane - Sir Osric
Crazy - Daphne
Fear - Being mind control
Secret - Not really an elf

At the begining of a scene may chose to function as either a soldier or a scientist.

Stunning fist: If Brother Silence takes the threat and choses to function as a soldier, he may remove the highest black die from each threat roll.

Sage advice: If Brother Silence takes the threat and choses to function as a scientist, he may reroll one white die and take its result instead, even if it is worse, if it is worse, lose a story point.


Daphne
Human Speardancer

Sane - Sir Osric
Crazy - Luster
Fear - Failing to stop Mort Kemnon
Secret - Hates sexism

Functions as a soldier.

Speardance: When she takes a threat, she may reroll white 6's, keeping the 6, while adding the reroll to the results.


Flynn the Fine
Human bard

Sane - Luster
Crazy - Sir Osric
Fear - The undead
Secret - Sex addict

At the begining of a scene may chose to function as either an engineer or a scientist.

Fifty bards: Flynn can choose to die horribly during each round of any threat, taking the lowest black die roll with him. Discribe the demise for a story point. If any other player acknowledges his impending death before he dies, they gain a story point. "Oh great, goblins, yeah, you're gonna die Flynn." Once Flynn has used this ability 50 times, he is well and truly dead.

Mound of dead bards: If Flynn takes the threat and functions as an engineer, once he dies at least five times during the threat, remove the highest black die from each roll.

Bardic knowledge!: If Flynn takes the threat and functions as a scientist, he may increase one white die roll by one. If you allude to sex in character, another player may give you one of their story points.


Luster
Human wild mage

Sane - Flynn
Crazy - Sir Osric
Fear - Boredom
Secret - Bisexual

Wild magic: If Luster takes a threat, roll a D4, otherwise she may pick a class.
On a 1 Luster functions as a soldier for the threat.
On 2 she acts as an engineer.
On a 3 she acts as a scientist
On a 4 she acts as a doctor

Chaotic gender: At the begining of each scene, flip a coin. Heads, you are percieved as a man by npc's. tails, you are percieved as a woman by npc's. You may switch genders at any time for a story point.

Flaming hand of Fiery Doom: If Luster takes a threat envolving a demonic creature, she may add a white die for the cost of a story point.


Sir Osric, The Chaste
Human Paladin

Sane - Daphne
Crazy - Brother Silence, Flynn and especially Luster "The Troublesome Trollop"
Fear - Failing the goddess Therin
Secret - Willing to turn a blind eye to unnessisary violence.

At the begining of a scene, may chose to function as a soldier or a doctor.

Spread the buttery justice of Therin light across the crispy toast of evil's malfescense!: If Osric takes a thread as a soldier and makes a humorous declaration in the name of Therin, add a white die and take a story point.

Healing touch: If you take a threat as a doctor and spend a story point, you may permanently reduce another character's wounds by one. Does not work on Flynn, he dies too quickly.



Act I: The Quest


Threats

Ninja servants of death sent by Mort Kemnon

Offended goblin tribes lead by a goblin queen

Wandering land sharks in the earth

Ogres ambush the party, throwing rocks

Falling stones and loose gravel pits

Demonic attack with telekinesis

Ma and Pa, hillbilly ogres.

Hangman tree, an undead treant

Juju zombie wyvern

Deathswarm, fiendish undead insect swarm

Mort Agrippa and his Zinja's! Apprentice necromancer and zombie ninja's.

Drazuul and his zombies. Drazuul is an undead demon.

Fiendish black pudding and ectoplasmic assassin vines.

The entire room is a mimic!!!

Kemnon's elite, zombies with martial training

Undead clones of your party




Assets

Magic arms and armor x5 (One for each character)

Bag of holding

10' pole

Camping gear

Ring of x-ray vision

Masterwork Mandolin

Rare cologne

Hatchet

Grappling hook

50' of hemp rope

Boots of the winterland

Staff of resurrection (ONLY 10 uses)





Act I finale

Facing Mort Kemnon himself, a necromantic monk!



Act II: The Betrayal


Additional Threats

Undead roasted turkey

The Lord High Inquisitor and his corrupt paladins


Additional Assets

Daggie's Blunderbuss

Tankard of Excellent Ale

Doom Coin

Screaming Codpiece

Armageddon Pastry

Nectar's Nectar

Duct Tape of Healing

Sword of Ogre Decapitation

Psionic Spiritblade


Act I finale

The Grand Hierophant, Rhaimhim The Fifth, who has gone mad with the power the Mask of Death has bestowed upon him!​

 

[Ravenloft]

Here are the bare bones of the rules mechanics:

Taking Threats

- One character must "take the Threat." Once that decision is made, the character must
continue rolling against the threat until it is resolved or he/she dies.

- Threats in Act 1 start at three black dice; threats in Act 2 start at five.

- All characters start with one white die; they can add more through Role Abilities and
Assets.

- Additional characters can support the character who took the threat, adding their dice to
the roll. The first character to help does so for free; additional supporters must pay a Story
Point each.

- For each point of harm the main character has, add one black die to the roll.

- Once all the dice have been collected, roll them. Add up the black and white totals.
Whichever is bigger becomes the effect. For each five above or below zero, add an additional
effect. If any black sixes come up during Act I, move one to the Event Pool and pay the player
two Story Points. Players can purchase white sixes by paying three Story Points.

- White effects reduce the size of the threat. Black effects add Harm to all characters who
participated in the roll. If the total is exactly equal, roll the Event Pool and add a new Threat
equal to any black effects.

- When Act 1 ends, take all the dice in the Event Pool and roll them. Consult the
Consequences table to see what the effects of The Choice are on the Mission.

Engineer – A common team member on technically complex missions, an Engineer is
crucial for keeping the technology working and the mission on track.

Role ability: Spend a Story Point to add one white die when facing technical Threats.

Soldier – Not all Threats can be countered with science alone. Guns help too.

Role Ability: Spend a Story Point to add one white die when trying to inflict Harm.

Doctor – Needing medical science assistance, many teams have doctors to ensure the
psychological and physiological health of the team or to defeat biological Threats.

Role Ability: Spend a Story Point to allow a player (including yourself) to ignore their
Harm dice for one roll.

Scientist – Many of the Crises that Humanity faces require bold and risky plans that have
been dreamed up by our best and brightest minds. Sometimes they come along for the
Mission.

Role Ability: Spend a Story Point to remove one black die from a Threat roll.

Sane / Crazy Cards

To activate the Sane and Crazy cards, your character must be involved in an interaction
with the named character that fits the description of the card. If you have selected them for
your Sane card, you can play the card when the character is doing something that helps you
keep yourself together; if you have selected them for your Crazy card, you can play the card
when the character is driving you up the wall.

Most of these interactions will happen during scenes—in fact, one of the major reasons to
have a scene with another character is to maneuver them into “making you crazy” or “keeping
you sane”—but there is no limit to when the Sane/Crazy cards can be played. You can play
them when another character agrees to tackle a Threat (inspiring you to believe in Humanity
or getting in your way again) or when they come up with an interesting idea (proving their
worth or reminding you how frustrating their constant chatter can be). The only exception is
when your character dies. At that point, you can’t play any more Story Cards at all.
Once the card is played, it is used up and cannot be used again. Give the card to the
Supply Officer to get your Story Points. It is a great idea to build on the relationship you have
established through the card in future scenes, but those interactions carry no mechanical
benefit or outcome.

In short, play the card when they are “keeping you sane” or “making you crazy,” hand the
card to the Supply Officer, and collect your two Story Points.

Secret Cards

You can play Secret cards in one of two ways: either play the card before a scene starts to
force the character to reveal the Secret during the next scene (“Let’s have evidence of your
betrayal come to light.”) or have your character do a dramatic reveal during the scene using
the secret (“I know you slept with my ex-wife!”). Either way gets you two Story Points from
the Supply Officer.

It’s up to you if you know the Secret you have been handed or remain in the dark about it.
Given the close quarters in which most Missions take place, it is completely reasonable to
imagine how characters might learn uncomfortable things about each other, from overhearing
conversations to reading sensitive materials left out in the ship.

Fear Cards

Unlike the other Story Cards, you may only use the Fear card when the targeted character
is part of a roll to defeat a Threat: play the card to introduce the Fear into the scene (“The
lights go out! And you're afraid of the dark!”) and add a black die to the roll. Playing the
card gets you two Story Points from the Supply Officer, but makes it a bit harder for the
players rolling dice to resolve the Threat.