[Mephis: clothes were being worn by the characters at the start, everything else was in the trunk. Some characters only have one set of clothes; it'd be awkward if they weren't wearing them!]
[I'd also like to apologize for this update being a little late. Several interesting opportunities have arisen for me recently, and I've been trying to seize as many as I can. Things should hopefully revert to my aim of one update a day as I finish of RRQI stories.]
Kenku is having trouble posting comments, and for some reason I've been having a bit of trouble doing so too (strange, as it is my blog!); here is his last comment.
After quickly collecting his equipment from the trunk, William dons his heavy armor, and grips his sword. Anyone looking at him now would wonder if he had been warped from some sort of Medieval court with all the metal he was wearing.
"Unless someone is light of step and can grant us an early warning of things, I believe I would be best to be first in." He says as he fastens his gauntlets and test grips his sword.
The party continue to discuss who should go first, though there seems to be a general consensus that Sarah will not be going in first.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
On Origins
Cubist made another good point, to no surprise of mine! However, generally there's little effort put into why the parties in dungeon crawlers actually crawl through the dungeon; they just go off and fight the big bad. This is opposed to PnP RPGs, where the characters give their own backgrounds.
Well, Xandre and I have sorted out Sarah's origin story: a missing brother, blackmail, and a concerned sister.
We have Cubist's back story.
If Mephis and Kenku want to work on back stories that'll be fine.
However, I won't make it a necessity: the simple act of stopping a bad guy with a dungeon has proved sufficient motivation for rampaging through many a computer-generated dungeon!
Well, Xandre and I have sorted out Sarah's origin story: a missing brother, blackmail, and a concerned sister.
We have Cubist's back story.
If Mephis and Kenku want to work on back stories that'll be fine.
However, I won't make it a necessity: the simple act of stopping a bad guy with a dungeon has proved sufficient motivation for rampaging through many a computer-generated dungeon!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Morning, Day One - Part 2
[Yes, the clothes are still there. I just didn't mention them.]
The sun, hanging in a sky partially covered in collecting cloud glints off of Gauronne's golden colored hand as he, William, Sarah and Mephis start to hunt for a spare key, to save themselves the horror of dealing with the monstrous remains of the thing that swallowed them.
The search of the car proved fruitless: the external and internal nooks and crannies revealed nothing that would be of any use to the group, unless they were willing to abandon their quest and become taxi drivers. And that seems to be a rather risky profession these days...
Turning to the tattered remains of the clothes, Mephis uncovers a wallet in the pocket. Inside he finds $50 in various denominations, as well as a spare key from AAA.
[Everyone can thank Cubist for the spare-key-in-the-wallet idea. Not having a car, I had no idea.]
Glad to no longer have to deal with the malformed being's stomach contents, the party unlock the trunk and retrieve their backpacks with their equipment. Now their true challenge: the dungeon's narrow door beckons them with a murky darkness and odorous blackness.
[Can I also get a list of the order in which the characters enter the dungeon? I won't write a reply until you're all in agreement. I'll then take this as the usual sequence of entry for tight areas; obviously you can change this as we go along.]
The sun, hanging in a sky partially covered in collecting cloud glints off of Gauronne's golden colored hand as he, William, Sarah and Mephis start to hunt for a spare key, to save themselves the horror of dealing with the monstrous remains of the thing that swallowed them.
The search of the car proved fruitless: the external and internal nooks and crannies revealed nothing that would be of any use to the group, unless they were willing to abandon their quest and become taxi drivers. And that seems to be a rather risky profession these days...
Turning to the tattered remains of the clothes, Mephis uncovers a wallet in the pocket. Inside he finds $50 in various denominations, as well as a spare key from AAA.
[Everyone can thank Cubist for the spare-key-in-the-wallet idea. Not having a car, I had no idea.]
Glad to no longer have to deal with the malformed being's stomach contents, the party unlock the trunk and retrieve their backpacks with their equipment. Now their true challenge: the dungeon's narrow door beckons them with a murky darkness and odorous blackness.
[Can I also get a list of the order in which the characters enter the dungeon? I won't write a reply until you're all in agreement. I'll then take this as the usual sequence of entry for tight areas; obviously you can change this as we go along.]
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Morning, Day One
[Re Humanity: I'd rather have the characters start human, as everyone in the wider world of the game at least has the appearance of being human, and because the Attributes for non-humans will be slightly different than human. The chances are you'll stumble across something that will change you into what you want, Mephis, though it may take a while. On the other hand, if you really want to start off the game furry, you can always choose to sacrifice some points (how many I'll have to determine later) to have transformed your character beforehand. However, this will put you at a slight disadvantage in terms of the Attribute points and I didn't want to make the situation too hard for your character in comparison to the others.]
After a small discussion with Mephis on the financial benefits of having a "golden touch", Gauronne decides to try to reverse the current condition of his hand.
[Gauronne casts Dispel at a cost of 5 MP]
Gauronne feels a slow tingling reaching through his hand as the lifeblood slowly courses back into it. Eventually bone, sinew, muscle and skin return to normal. Well, almost normal. Gauronne's skin on that hand is now permanently golden.
They then turn to try to calm down Sarah, and to try to get access to their equipment, which is still locked in the trunk.
After a small discussion with Mephis on the financial benefits of having a "golden touch", Gauronne decides to try to reverse the current condition of his hand.
[Gauronne casts Dispel at a cost of 5 MP]
Gauronne feels a slow tingling reaching through his hand as the lifeblood slowly courses back into it. Eventually bone, sinew, muscle and skin return to normal. Well, almost normal. Gauronne's skin on that hand is now permanently golden.
They then turn to try to calm down Sarah, and to try to get access to their equipment, which is still locked in the trunk.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Early Morning, Day One - Part 5
Whilst Sarah screams and draws out her pepper spray, screaming various questions and hoping one of the others will be able to revive the now-dead monstrous ex-human, Mephis and Gauronne contemplate the latter's new golden appendage.
[Gauronne casts Healing of 5 HP at a cost of 10 MP]
After healing himself, and berating Mephis for jabbing at it, Gauronne continues to examine the taxi driver. There isn't anything more he finds out, however: upon his casting of the Alchemy spell, the curse had completed, and whatever force had taken over the man's mind had either been destroyed or had escaped; it had been this force which had caused the transformation to his hand. Whether it was the last stand of a doomed malevolence, or simply an irritated rebuffing by a sorceror, it is impossible to say now.
Gauronne turns his attention to his hand: Mephis' interactions and his own observations conclude that his fist is now essentially a golden lump, for he does not seem to be able to move any fingers or feel anything on that hand. It becomes apparent to him through his vast learnings that a simple Dispel should at least revitalize the hand [MP cost of 5] to mobility, although there may be a few residual effects.
After the party make a few introductions, Sarah brings up the question: how to get the trunk open?
[Remember: the taxi driver swallowed the key. Therefore, the key may now be trapped inside a large lump of gold...]
[Gauronne casts Healing of 5 HP at a cost of 10 MP]
After healing himself, and berating Mephis for jabbing at it, Gauronne continues to examine the taxi driver. There isn't anything more he finds out, however: upon his casting of the Alchemy spell, the curse had completed, and whatever force had taken over the man's mind had either been destroyed or had escaped; it had been this force which had caused the transformation to his hand. Whether it was the last stand of a doomed malevolence, or simply an irritated rebuffing by a sorceror, it is impossible to say now.
Gauronne turns his attention to his hand: Mephis' interactions and his own observations conclude that his fist is now essentially a golden lump, for he does not seem to be able to move any fingers or feel anything on that hand. It becomes apparent to him through his vast learnings that a simple Dispel should at least revitalize the hand [MP cost of 5] to mobility, although there may be a few residual effects.
After the party make a few introductions, Sarah brings up the question: how to get the trunk open?
[Remember: the taxi driver swallowed the key. Therefore, the key may now be trapped inside a large lump of gold...]
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Early Morning, Day One - Part 4
While Sarah pockets the strange coin she has found, Mephis searches the first aid kit. Along with the general contents of a First Aid Kit [Inventory item], there is a small scalpel.
As Sarah screams, William stumbles over towards Gauronne and the almost-completely transformed man. Fortunately, Gauronne's Slumber spell holds and spares William the necessity of having to defend off the creature, though he remains wary for the slightest hint the creature is regaining consciousness.
[Gauronne casts Alchemy at a cost of x MPs - How many did you want to spend?]
Upon discovering that the taxi driver is unfortunately beyond saving at this point, Gauronne begins an incantation. The monster begins to glow, a light which brightens until it is almost blinding. When the light subsides, the party is able to notice a few things.
The first is that the creature, now completely transformed into a quasi-bipedal boar-man, is dead; there is apparent even to those completely unskilled in either medicine or magic. Streaks of its flesh have turned golden, and gives the appearance of being metallic: could it be real?
Apparently this driver was worth his weight in gold.
The second is that the curse affecting the boar-man was not totally unprotected from counter-attack: Gauronne's maain hand has been transmuted into gold.
[Gauronne may use this as essentially a Golden Club for combat; however, it is one that gives a -1 penalty to Coordination, Nimbleness and Strength, and cannot be unequipped until the effect is reversed. The physical and mental shock also causes 5 HP of damage. The hand counts as an inventory item as well.]
[OOC Cubic: No, the characters don't know each other; the first time they met was when they were getting picked up in the taxi.]
As Sarah screams, William stumbles over towards Gauronne and the almost-completely transformed man. Fortunately, Gauronne's Slumber spell holds and spares William the necessity of having to defend off the creature, though he remains wary for the slightest hint the creature is regaining consciousness.
[Gauronne casts Alchemy at a cost of x MPs - How many did you want to spend?]
Upon discovering that the taxi driver is unfortunately beyond saving at this point, Gauronne begins an incantation. The monster begins to glow, a light which brightens until it is almost blinding. When the light subsides, the party is able to notice a few things.
The first is that the creature, now completely transformed into a quasi-bipedal boar-man, is dead; there is apparent even to those completely unskilled in either medicine or magic. Streaks of its flesh have turned golden, and gives the appearance of being metallic: could it be real?
Apparently this driver was worth his weight in gold.
The second is that the curse affecting the boar-man was not totally unprotected from counter-attack: Gauronne's maain hand has been transmuted into gold.
[Gauronne may use this as essentially a Golden Club for combat; however, it is one that gives a -1 penalty to Coordination, Nimbleness and Strength, and cannot be unequipped until the effect is reversed. The physical and mental shock also causes 5 HP of damage. The hand counts as an inventory item as well.]
[OOC Cubic: No, the characters don't know each other; the first time they met was when they were getting picked up in the taxi.]
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Early Morning, Day One - Part 3
[Gauronne casts Slumber]
As Gauronne finishes the spell, the violent thrashing of the ex-driver begin to slow, until the half-man, half-creature is no longer moving save for some rather heavy breathing.
[Gauronne casts Probe, at a cost of 5 MP]
Through his magical probing, Gauronne notes that he is dealing with a very complex magical curse: it acts as though it were a blend of Transmutation Beam and Mental Mutation, though the Mental Mutation part is due in part to the introduction of some kind of other entity. Gauronne also learns that, unfortunately, the once happy man who picked up him and his companions has had his mind utterly dominated by this thing, which has essentially destroyed all memory the man has: even if Gauronne were able to reverse the curse [at a cost of 70 MP], what remains would essentially be an empty shell of a man, and Gauronne would then have to deal with a rather angry entity which could attack him or anyone else in his party.
The radiance of hatred from this entity is so much it is almost physical in its presence: the thing controlling this transforming body will no doubt immediately want to go after anyone associated with the party which a rather fierce physical attack. Though not magical in any way, given the size and strength of the final form of the creature, it will be a rather hazardous encounter.
The creature's body is now mostly transformed: fat has converted to height and muscle, the resulting body is now almost eight feet tall and more than half-covered with the thick, pink, bristly hide that was sprouting on it earlier. The clothes tear under the pressure, revealing a thick finger of a tail that is surprisingly uncurly and ragged at the end. The legs and arms thicken with muscle, the neck broadens, and the face twists into an ugly boar-like visage: large ears, fierce tooth-filled snout and heavy brow. The hair on its head is now almost like the mane of the horse, running down the back of the neck to peter off between the shoulder blades; this hair is thick and bristly, like a brush.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Mephis begin a hurried search of the taxi for something to defend themselves or to gain access to the locked trunk. As Sarah states "...that poor man.", her eyes catch a glint of metal amongst the pieces of rubbish littering the floor of the car. Grabbing at it, she finds that it is an old foreign coin. Mephis spots a first aid kit under the other seat.
And William remains seated in stunned silence in the car.
As Gauronne finishes the spell, the violent thrashing of the ex-driver begin to slow, until the half-man, half-creature is no longer moving save for some rather heavy breathing.
[Gauronne casts Probe, at a cost of 5 MP]
Through his magical probing, Gauronne notes that he is dealing with a very complex magical curse: it acts as though it were a blend of Transmutation Beam and Mental Mutation, though the Mental Mutation part is due in part to the introduction of some kind of other entity. Gauronne also learns that, unfortunately, the once happy man who picked up him and his companions has had his mind utterly dominated by this thing, which has essentially destroyed all memory the man has: even if Gauronne were able to reverse the curse [at a cost of 70 MP], what remains would essentially be an empty shell of a man, and Gauronne would then have to deal with a rather angry entity which could attack him or anyone else in his party.
The radiance of hatred from this entity is so much it is almost physical in its presence: the thing controlling this transforming body will no doubt immediately want to go after anyone associated with the party which a rather fierce physical attack. Though not magical in any way, given the size and strength of the final form of the creature, it will be a rather hazardous encounter.
The creature's body is now mostly transformed: fat has converted to height and muscle, the resulting body is now almost eight feet tall and more than half-covered with the thick, pink, bristly hide that was sprouting on it earlier. The clothes tear under the pressure, revealing a thick finger of a tail that is surprisingly uncurly and ragged at the end. The legs and arms thicken with muscle, the neck broadens, and the face twists into an ugly boar-like visage: large ears, fierce tooth-filled snout and heavy brow. The hair on its head is now almost like the mane of the horse, running down the back of the neck to peter off between the shoulder blades; this hair is thick and bristly, like a brush.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Mephis begin a hurried search of the taxi for something to defend themselves or to gain access to the locked trunk. As Sarah states "...that poor man.", her eyes catch a glint of metal amongst the pieces of rubbish littering the floor of the car. Grabbing at it, she finds that it is an old foreign coin. Mephis spots a first aid kit under the other seat.
And William remains seated in stunned silence in the car.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
[Updated Files]
Both the Rulebook and the Price Guide have been changed again, mostly through the latest discussions with Cubist.
The character sheets are done, but as ugly as sin. I can try uploading them as-is, or waiting to upload them once they've been sufficiently prettied, which I probably won't be able to do for a while.
The character sheets are done, but as ugly as sin. I can try uploading them as-is, or waiting to upload them once they've been sufficiently prettied, which I probably won't be able to do for a while.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Early Morning, Day One - Part 2
While William sits stunned in the slightly damaged taxi, and Mephis and Sarah - after some physical prompting from Mephis - climb out struggle to open the trunk of the cab to get at their equipment*, Gauronne examines the taxi driver, currently writhing on the ground as his body begins to reshape in even more severe ways.
Limbs akimbo, the taxi driver flops around on the ground like a dying fish. Streaks of his skin begin to pale to a pinkish tone, before bristling with coarse white hairs; as time passes, these streaks begin to become interwoven. His nose widens, twisting so that his nostrils point outward, and screams - in a slightly bestial manner - as his tusked jaw begins to jut outward. Sweat glistens as his body heats, and he crudely struggles to remove his clothing with his hoofed hands in a vain attempt to cool himself down. The sweat intermingles with the blood that is trickling out of the tortured soul's wounds from his leap through the windscreen. His bulk quivers as he thrashes about. Loud snaps can be heard coming from inside the taxi driver's body, and occasionally a glimpse can be made of a leg slowly transforming into something not meant to be attached to a human being.
But the most disturbing transformation is to his eyes: red, they are, and angry. They seem to stare accusingly at nothing.
It becomes apparent to Gauronne that the unfortunate taxi driver is becoming transformed into something porcine; either some kind of wereboar, or a pigman, or possibly even something even more monstrous. A regular pig seems unlikely, given the changes to his eyes, though that might just be caused by burst blood vessels or an underlying condition exacerbated by the magical change.
* [Just wanted to make it clear that the taxi driver swallowed the key before his big leap through the front window, so you're going to either get the key out of his stomach somehow or find some other method of opening the trunk.]
[Update]
The new rulebook, with a hefty set of updates to the spell section, has been uploaded. There is also a change and addition to the Humanity attribute (and a smaller associated change to the Endurance attribute) that you should be aware of.
All the changes should hopefully be highlighted (as long as you use Word or a similarly advanced word processing package to view the file). If anyone has any problems, please let me know and I'll PM you a list of the changes.
Also, due to a traffic snafu I ended up being able to work on the character spreadsheet yesterday, and that will be all set once I get your equipment lists finalized.
Limbs akimbo, the taxi driver flops around on the ground like a dying fish. Streaks of his skin begin to pale to a pinkish tone, before bristling with coarse white hairs; as time passes, these streaks begin to become interwoven. His nose widens, twisting so that his nostrils point outward, and screams - in a slightly bestial manner - as his tusked jaw begins to jut outward. Sweat glistens as his body heats, and he crudely struggles to remove his clothing with his hoofed hands in a vain attempt to cool himself down. The sweat intermingles with the blood that is trickling out of the tortured soul's wounds from his leap through the windscreen. His bulk quivers as he thrashes about. Loud snaps can be heard coming from inside the taxi driver's body, and occasionally a glimpse can be made of a leg slowly transforming into something not meant to be attached to a human being.
But the most disturbing transformation is to his eyes: red, they are, and angry. They seem to stare accusingly at nothing.
It becomes apparent to Gauronne that the unfortunate taxi driver is becoming transformed into something porcine; either some kind of wereboar, or a pigman, or possibly even something even more monstrous. A regular pig seems unlikely, given the changes to his eyes, though that might just be caused by burst blood vessels or an underlying condition exacerbated by the magical change.
* [Just wanted to make it clear that the taxi driver swallowed the key before his big leap through the front window, so you're going to either get the key out of his stomach somehow or find some other method of opening the trunk.]
[Update]
The new rulebook, with a hefty set of updates to the spell section, has been uploaded. There is also a change and addition to the Humanity attribute (and a smaller associated change to the Endurance attribute) that you should be aware of.
All the changes should hopefully be highlighted (as long as you use Word or a similarly advanced word processing package to view the file). If anyone has any problems, please let me know and I'll PM you a list of the changes.
Also, due to a traffic snafu I ended up being able to work on the character spreadsheet yesterday, and that will be all set once I get your equipment lists finalized.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
[Miscellaneous Comments]
From now on, could you make any suggestions/comments for spells, equipment, etc. as a response to this post.
That way, I can access it during my lunch break at work, which I'd be unable to do otherwise.
That way, I can access it during my lunch break at work, which I'd be unable to do otherwise.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Early Morning, Day One
The first few rays of dawn peaked over the horizon as the taxi rolled to a stop in front of an open stone doorway fashioned into the side of the cliff.
Otherwise talkative, the jovial fat black cab driver had grown silent as his passengers had fallen asleep on their long voyage. He had been given an envelope - with instructions to pick up four people and rather obscure directions to follow - by his boss, who had been stressed enough to break into his native Chinese a couple of times during their brief meeting. There was a lot of money riding on this fare: given the distance he'd have to travel, he had hoped so; but it was a *lot* more, even for that long a ride. However, once he got a good look at the destination, fear prickled through him and he realized he should have refused.
The square, gray stone portal pressed into the side of the out-of-the-way cliff was well-known in the community: many people had gone in for various reasons - fame, fortune, the desire to do good or become a hero - and had never been seen again.
Then again, a lot of people had been disappearing lately...
The taxi driver shuddered, his massive bulk quivering. He was starting to feel a prickling sensation over his body, and he was getting hot...
He felt something climb up from somewhere inside, and slowly take control of his body. His mind started wandering, until eventually the magic curse on the money had taken effect.
The body of the taxi driver jammed harshly on the breaks, rattling the sleeping quartet awake. A dark hand then roughly grabs the key out of the ignition and forces it into the man's mouth. A loud gulping noise later, and the car key is swallowed.
"We're HEEEEEEEEEEARGH!", he screams, eyes completely white, before somehow tearing through his seat belt, still buckled about him, and leaping through the front window, causing small shards of bloodied glass to spray outwards like a hailstorm. A few pieces fly backwards into the car, thankfully avoiding causing any of the four remaining people in the car any major damage.
As the adventurers fully awaken, the body that was once the taxi driver begins to quiver and shake. Large tusks begin to sprout from the lower jaw, while its hands begin to reshape, the fingers merging into two fat digits while the nails darken and ooze around the ends, forming cloven hooves.
What a way to start a quest!
(Players Note: You do NOT have any of your equipment apart from your clothes with you for this encounter, but the taxi driver is going through a rather painful transformation and has just caused his body tremendous damage by jumping out of the taxi, so you can probably deal with him reasonably easily. Your stuff is locked up in the trunk/boot of the taxi.)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Introduction
Hello, automata here.
This blog is dedicated to the actions, interactions, and background information pertaining to the Transformation Dungeon Crawler (TFDC).
At its core, it is a rather strange RPG meta-roleplay, where I play the part of an old-school RPG called a dungeon crawler (see Might and Magic, Ultima, Wizardry and the like) and others play the "game" by generating characters and such. The core of the game is transformation: size, gender, species, etc; and this is reflected in the monsters, spells, traps and puzzles in the game world. Then I take the results of this every so often and turn it into a story, which I will post on FurAffinity, and possibly other appropriate websites.
I realize some people will be going "FurAffinity? What? WHAT?! FURRIES! Where's my gun?" Well, yeah, there will probably be furries in this game. But this is going to be a clean game. Not that I have a problem with the other, but that's not what this game is about.
If you're really that horrified, then I'm sure there's a whole bunch of other blogs you can be looking at, and I'm sure in a couple of weeks you'd have forgotten all about your traumatic web experience.
Anyway...
If you've stumbled upon this for some reason, and you find it intriguing and want to join in, that's good. As of the time of this writing three people have sent me characters, and I'd prefer somewhere between five and ten people involved aside from me to keep things going and hopefully get to the end. Otherwise I'll just go with whoever is interested, but maybe cut down on the dungeon size.
Here's a link to the rulebook a a link to the price list (which may undergo some alterations in the next few days). If you would like to play, then either send me a PM on FA with your character preference or an email.
If all goes well, I should be able to start this on June 17th, or thereabouts. I'm literally in the middle of moving to a different city, so things will be up in the air until I can get settled into my new routine.
This blog is dedicated to the actions, interactions, and background information pertaining to the Transformation Dungeon Crawler (TFDC).
At its core, it is a rather strange RPG meta-roleplay, where I play the part of an old-school RPG called a dungeon crawler (see Might and Magic, Ultima, Wizardry and the like) and others play the "game" by generating characters and such. The core of the game is transformation: size, gender, species, etc; and this is reflected in the monsters, spells, traps and puzzles in the game world. Then I take the results of this every so often and turn it into a story, which I will post on FurAffinity, and possibly other appropriate websites.
I realize some people will be going "FurAffinity? What? WHAT?! FURRIES! Where's my gun?" Well, yeah, there will probably be furries in this game. But this is going to be a clean game. Not that I have a problem with the other, but that's not what this game is about.
If you're really that horrified, then I'm sure there's a whole bunch of other blogs you can be looking at, and I'm sure in a couple of weeks you'd have forgotten all about your traumatic web experience.
Anyway...
If you've stumbled upon this for some reason, and you find it intriguing and want to join in, that's good. As of the time of this writing three people have sent me characters, and I'd prefer somewhere between five and ten people involved aside from me to keep things going and hopefully get to the end. Otherwise I'll just go with whoever is interested, but maybe cut down on the dungeon size.
Here's a link to the rulebook a a link to the price list (which may undergo some alterations in the next few days). If you would like to play, then either send me a PM on FA with your character preference or an email.
If all goes well, I should be able to start this on June 17th, or thereabouts. I'm literally in the middle of moving to a different city, so things will be up in the air until I can get settled into my new routine.
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