BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE GAME TOWER - Session 3

[idolpro]

Who: Exael and the rest of you lot
When: To be inserted into the timeline after completion
What: Betrayal at the House on the Game Tower

[ The GAME ALERT and map show on the screen of your phones— idols, you know what to do!

The Game Tower elevator doors are open to receive, and close once they have you in their confines and the broadcast monitors click on. You can keep an eye on the city further and further below you, as watch with your host's introduction to today's game.

At the very least it's not Mukuro's face on the screen this time. Instead it's Exael again, pigtails bouncing as she hops up from a grand low bow— it looks like they cut part of her broadcast spiel for you guys. With a showman's flair, she twirls and splays her arms as the camera zooms out to focus on a grand mansion, more Hollywood glamor than anything belonging in Tokyo.

"Summer has come to Tokyo, and so has the season's specialty: The Trial of Courage! Step right up, and charge right in because waiting won't help you at all! Here is a place even angels fear to tread! Azzy's very own, The House of Mirth and Betrayal! This place has a sordid past that casts a shadow as long as the valley of death, and soon our Idols will be adding their own pages to the tale!"

The elevator stops atop the central tower of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and then lurches unpleasantly, wrenching itself out of where elevators ought to go. The sudden movement jolts you, and when the doors open you spill out into into a room.

Hopefully, with not too much time missing. ]

Comments

INSTRUCTIONS

[idolpro]

IC INSTRUCTIONS:

[ Still have your minds? Try to hold onto those, as long as you can! As long as you're safe and sane, the goal is to explore as many rooms of the house as you can-- first come, first serve! Only the first person to explore a room gets the points for it.

If you lose your mind, you'll turn traitor to those around you, and you won't be able to help but try to do what the house wants you to do. With the house pushing upon you, both physical and mental distress are a danger to your sanity. Take care.

And take heart, too, even if you do turn traitor! It's another goal, and if you're doing badly at the other, this is a way to win! You haven't lost it all yet! Especially since the traitor goals are worth more points with the audience. ]

OOC Instructions:

Each team will have their traitor goal provided in a locked post of their starting room. Do not share your goal OOC, though do pay attention to other players' Do Not Wants when violence does occur.

Each room will be described with one paragraph of flavor text, which you can use to interact with each other but does not mechanically do anything or have dice rolls. Following the flavor text, the exits/entrances to the room will be listed, with one additional paragraph listing any other effects the room may have attached. Interacting with specific aspects listed after the entrances may give you stat bonuses, or stat detriments. Be aware of that! Flavor text from the first paragraph has no stat stuff attached.

Ping the runner the first time you enter a room, so we can get the description up for you.

The first time a room is entered, the first post will be descriptive. The second comment beneath that will be an event/item, unless the room does not have one attached, which would be noted in the first comment. Please wait for the second comment before responding to top-levels if you are the first person in a room.

If you are not the first person to go through a room, you can just comment beneath the top-level, there will not be another event/item for it.

Make rolls in the Discord roll channel as necessary. Rolls are made with 3 sided dice, minus the number of dice you're rolling, so zero is possible. Use the command .roll Xd3-X in the #dicebot channel on Discord, with X being the number of dice you're rolling.

If your character loses all of one stat, they lose the battle of the wills to the House. All their personal morals and concerns are overridden. If it helps, think of it as being possessed by a vengeful spirit. Those who have turned traitor do not get points for exploring rooms. The possessed do not need to reveal their status OOC to other players, as many Traitor goals need to be performed in certain areas-- it is up to player preference if you are going to overpower another PC and drag them there, or trick them to going somewhere with you. All traitor characters know the whole map. The insanity effect is temporary, and lasts only as long as the game does. Characters turn traitor on an individual basis; if a character hits a sanity break, it will not also impact their unitmates.

Stat sheet changes and traitor status both carry over into a new session. If your character ended a session with +2 might and -1 speed from their starting positions, they will start their next session with +2 might and -1 speed from their starting positions. If they turn traitor, they will remain a traitor until endgame.

Any team that completes a traitor goal is automatically a winner. If less than half the units complete their traitor goals, then the remaining winning units will be those who explored the most rooms.

SESSION 3 LINKS

[idolpro]

Stat cards reference reference sheet
This session's stat card page - PLEASE DO THIS FIRST BEFORE YOU START PLAYING.
This session's map - to be updated as rooms are unlocked.

UNIT ROOMS

[idolpro]

sensitIV
Taisho Roman Revolution
BAD END=DEAD END
future is now
WILD CITY
☆ZRAEL
Heart Soldier Senshi
AlcheME!
avante en garde

ORGAN ROOM

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Organ Room. The eponymous pipe organ unfurls against two walls, a grand parabola of pipes and excess. It squats just short of scraping the ceiling, golden devils adorning the alcoves of the thing, standing proudly atop pipes with spears held aloft and scaling the sides with spears held in their teeth. A mural of defeated angels adorns the floor, with there little choice but to trod on their defeated number to cross the room, so numerous are their painted numbers.

There is an entrance to the south, and to the west. ]

It Is Meant To Be

[idolpro]

You collapse to the floor, visions of future events pouring through your head.

Roll 4 dice, and respond with the results. For one future die roll of your choice that you attempt, you can use that number instead of rolling. If that number is higher than the max possible result, use the max possible result instead.

Statuary Corridor

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Statuary Corridor. Marble statues of human, though all warped, figures form two lines down the hallway, unlabeled and unpainted. Compared to the rest of the house, this area is surprisingly clean and orderly; it might even be a nice space if the statues weren't all a little unsettling. This figure is so emaciated that she looks like barely more than a skeleton with skin stretched over it; that one has a second face on the back of his head; yet another has smooth, featureless eyes, and seems to be sprouting arrow shafts from various parts of her body. The line of them continues on in much the same vein, but one in particular might stick out as familiar: shorter-haired, rounder-cheeked, and given an uncharacteristically grim expression, while it may take a second look to place him, Mukuro's narrow eyes, immortalized in stone, stare unmistakably at the opposite wall.. The tension conveyed in the line of his mouth seems inappropriately solemn for the mess below his neck; what would otherwise be a very plain bust is made distinct by the gaping cavity carved out of his chest. The shape of his heart rests cradled in the pit; it's all functionally connected to the appropriate veins and arteries, but also messily and discernibly split into two separate halves.

There are two entrances, one to the East and one to the West. ]

A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

[idolpro]

A woman wearing a flapper dress beckons to you, a highball glass in hand. You fall into a trance.

You must attempt a Knowledge roll. If the result is 5 or more, you break out of the trance and gain 1 Knowledge. Otherwise, roll 3 dice to see where the Lost One leads you:
6: The entrance hall.
4-5: The upper landing.
2-3: Randomized room on the upper floor.
0-1: Randomized room in the basement.
Your character comes out of the trance with a bottle of booze held tight in one hand.

Furnace Room

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Furnace Room. Despite the rest of the mansion being rather lifeless, this room is still active, fires burning in the furnace so powerfully it's hard to believe it could possibly be tamed to be used for man's devices; the fires themselves seem to agree, since the flames keep shooting out of the furnace to spit out stray bits of soot and ash - it's not terribly harmful, but anything that hot is still going to burn. If this is your character's first time in this room for this session, take 1 point of physical damage.

You can hurry in two directions: South, or East. ]

Rotten

[idolpro]

The smell in this room, it's horrible. Smells like death, like blood. A slaughterhouse smell.

You must attempt a Sanity roll:
5+: Troubling odors, nothing more. Gain 1 Sanity.
2-4: Lose 1 might.
1: Lose 1 Might and 1 Speed.
0: You double over with nausea. Lose 1 Might, 1 Speed, 1 Knowledge, and 1 Sanity.

Ballroom

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Ballroom. In the center lies a marble slab dance floor meant for many bodies -- perhaps literally. Crime-scene outlines are traced in tape across the dance floor. Above, the avante garde scrap metal chandelier glimmers like knives, and the ballroom speakers pump a low thrum of bass into the room like a heartbeat you can feel in your ears, throat, and all through you.

There are entrances to the West, North, and East. ]

Creepy Crawlies

[idolpro]

A thousand bugs spill out on your skin, under your clothes, and in your hair.

You must attempt a sanity roll:
5+: You blink and they're gone. Gain 1 sanity.
1-4: Lose 1 sanity
0: Lose 2 sanity.

Upper Landing

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Upper Landing. An opulent staircase from the lower level curves an elegant line to the landing, to down below. The dark mahogany of the flooring almost hides the rust blotches and trail, where it looks like something bloody was dragged unwilling up them, leaving desperate scratches in the wood.

There is an entrance in all four cardinal directions: the north, east, south, and west, as well as the option to the take the stairs downstairs.

The room itself offers no particular dangers or advantages. ]

Re: Upper Landing

[eatsthecanary]

[ Whisky will be chilling, waiting to see someone at the upper landing ]

Catacombs

[idolpro]

[ You enter the catacombs. It is what it is: a massive underground graveyard, and a mass graveyard. Both! There are several offshoots that presumably lead to coffins, tight niches in the wall like drawers meant to shut away human corpses; but far more distracting is the wall of skulls directly in front of you. Countless skulls, all human in various stages of fossilization, some of them broken or cracked or split completely in half while others are intact, but regardless . . . . it's creepy. It's too creepy. Are the skulls following your gaze? No way. . . . there's no way. Skulls don't have eyes in those empty sockets. Just remember, there's no way.

You can go North or South. If you choose to go the direction you came from, you can leave freely; however, if you choose to go in the direction you were initially headed to, then you must roll for 6+ sanity. If you fail, you lose 1 point of sanity to the overwhelming creepiness of the catacombs, and the general spooky vibe to the entire place. ]

Webs

[idolpro]

Casually you reach up to brush some webs aside... but they won't brush away. They cling.

You must attempt a might roll:
4+ You break free. Gain 1 might.
0-3: You're stuck.
Stuck characters can either get someone else to try and free them (4+ for a success) or free themselves, at the cost of 2 speed.

Basement Landing

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Basement Landing. Aside from piles and piles of coal here in this room, there's not really much else . . . It's really just coal, soot and dust coating everything. Your footprints leave dark tracks as you walk through it, on ground in ashes. What on earth are they burning down here, to need this much coal? How large must the furnace be?

You may go North, East, South, or West. However, you may not climb up the Coal Chute. ]

Re: Basement Landing

[bevoted]

[ ... This Time he's going south. ]

Master Bedroom

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Master Bedroom. It's an exercise in decadence more than it is a room— the bed not immediately obvious for the clothes piled over it. Expensive clothes spill over the edge of it, drape off the back of every chair, drape over the couch, hang from the chandelier— dresses bedecked in jewels enough to weigh down a body like an anchor, black silk suit jackets, Italian and bespoke. Nothing in here could have been worn more than once, all of them torn in very exacting ways, the buttons all sliced from this shirt, the back of this dress split twain, seams splitting down to the waist. The wardrobe is empty save shoes, and the bedside chest of drawers has only knives and seam-rippers.

There are exits to the west and to the south.]

Shrieking Wind

[idolpro]

The wind picks up, a slow crescendo to a screeching howl.

Each character in the Gardens, Graveyard, Patio, Tower, and on the Balcony [or in a room with an outside facing window] must attempt a Might roll:
5+: You keep your footing
3-4: The wind knocks you down. Take 1 die of physical damage.
1-2: The wind chills your soul. Take 1 die of mental damage.
0: The wind knocks you down hard. Take 1 die of physical damage. Put one of your items (if you have any) in the Entrance Hall.

Gymnasium

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Gymnasium. A portion of the room is consumed by a vast swimming pool. Of what isn't, a third of this equipment is recognizably exercise equipment, a third is recognizably torture devices, and the remaining third could go either way. Or possibly that last third is bondage equiptment?

There are two entrances, one to the West and one to the North.

One of the treadmills has been left running, set to a training course. It… seems safe enough. Do you want to train? ]

The Walls

[idolpro]

This room is warm. Flesh-like walls pulse with a steady heartbeat. Your own heart beats with the rhythm of the house. You are drawn into the walls... and emerge somewhere else.

Your character is moved to a place of the runner's choosing.

Gardens

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Gardens. Wrought-iron gates divide it from the edge of the skyscraper, imposing points silhouetted against the dark sky, lit from beneath by motion activated lights in the soil that glow as you walk past them— announcing your presence to everyone out here. An apple tree dominates the center of the garden, roots buckling the paths and littering its fruit— all perfect, unblemished where it has fallen, all throughout the garden. Small sprouts spike from the ground, pale and strangled imitations of the central tree, none of them thriving.

There are two entrances: one to the east and one to the west. ]

Mist from the Walls

[idolpro]

Mists pour out from the walls. There are faces in the mist, human and. . . inhuman.

Each character in the basement must attempt a sanity roll:
4+: The faces are tricks of light and shadow. All is well.
1-3: Take 1 die of mental damage (and 1 additional die of damage if in the Underground Lake, the Crypt, or the Vault)
0: Take 1 die of mental damage (and 2 additional dice of damage if in the Underground Lake, the Crypt, or the Vault)

Library

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Library. Shelves form labyrinth corridors of books, between which are heaped precarious piles of paperbacks. Leather wing-back chairs provide privacy around the crackling fireplace at the back— if someone was sitting in one, you'd never be able to tell until you circled the full way around to the front to see. Expensive looking paintings line the walls, and you'd expect the shelves to be laden with rare editions. However, there's hardly any hardbacks at all, most everything is cheap spy novels and erotica. No accounting for taste, really.

There are entrances to the West and South.

There is one library shelf set apart from the others— a display case with a glass front and a thick book bound with tattooed hide inside. Cracks radiate outward, where it seems like someone smashed their fist through the glass to gain access. Do you want to read it? ]

Burning Man

[idolpro]

A man on fire runs through the room. His skin bubbles and cracks, falling away from him and leaving a fiery skull that clatters to the ground, bounces, rolls, and disappears.

You must attempt a sanity Roll:
4+ You feel a little hot under the collar, but otherwise fine. Gain 1 Sanity.
2-3: Out, out, you must get out. You run straight back to your starting room, without pause.
0-1: You burst into flames! Take 1 die of physical damage. Then take 1 die of mental damage as you put out the flames.

Chasm

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Chasm. As if an earthquake ran through the mansion years and years ago, the earth splits in two, pushed apart completely - if you want to cross, you'll have to jump. You could not cross, of course, but that means turning back and trying another way . . . If there is another way to go . . . !? Peeking over this cliff yields to seeing - nothing but darkness. That's really bad. Don't fall in-- who knows how deep in the Game Tower this goes.

You can go West or East. If you choose to go the direction you came from, you can leave freely; however, if you choose to go in the direction you were initially headed to, then you must roll for 3+ speed. If you fail, you will be able to get to the other side of the chasm, but you will lose 1 speed. ]

Jonah's Turn

[idolpro]

Two boys are playing with a wooden top. "Would you like a turn, Jonah?" one asks.
"No," says Jonah, "I want all the turns." Jonah takes the top and hits the other boy in the face. The boy falls. Jonah keeps hitting him as they fade from view.

If a character has the Puzzle Box, that character discards that item and draws a replacement item for it. If this happens, you gain 1 sanity; otherwise you take 1 die of mental damage.

Bedroom

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Bedroom. The decor reeks of sleaze— black floors polished to a mirror shine reflect you from below, the walls leather panelled, set with studs and mounted with sturdy rings. Leather straps and braided cord hangs from the coat hanger, and the bed is rumpled, unmade. An ornate side-table is topped off with expensive bottles of booze, more half-emptied than full. A dresser drawer is open, everything inside looking to be made entirely of black lace.

The only entrance to this room is to the west. It's a dead-end. ]

Hanged Men

[idolpro]

A breeze chills the room. Before you three men hang from grayed ropes. They stare at you with cold, dead eyes. The trio swing silently, then fade into dust that falls to the ground. You start to choke.

You must attempt a roll for each trait:
2+: That Trait is unaffected.
0-1: Lose 1 from that trait.
If you roll a 2+ on all 4 rolls, gain 1 additional point in a trait of your choice.

Junk Room

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Junk Room. It's difficult to wedge the door open to enter, so much are the multitudes of junk that have been heaped here. Among other things, suits ruined with cigarette burns, books with red wine staining and fusing the pages, half a motorcycle, and a pawn shop's worth of wrist-watches all in need of repair litter the floor. There's a stack of mirrors against the wall, so you can see how ridiculous you look as you pick your way through the mess, too. It's a trial and a half to wade through this room, and opening any of the doors promises to be equally arduous.

There are four entrances, one in each cardinal direction: to the north, east, south, and west.

To pull open a door you'll need to make a Might roll of 3+. If you fail, you'll lose one speed from tripping and hurting your ankle while yanking it open, but you'll still get out. ]

Groundskeeper

[idolpro]

You turn to see a man in groundskeeper clothing. He raises his shovel and charges. Inches from your face, he disappears, leaving muddy footprints, and nothing more.

You must attempt a knowledge roll. (A character in the gardens rolls 2 fewer dice on this roll)
4+ You find something in the mud. Draw an item card.
0-3: The groundskeeper reappears and strikes you in the face with the shovel. GM rolls a Might 4 attack for the Groundskeeper. You defend against this attack by rolling dice equal to your might.

Patio

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Patio. It stretches between the house and the gardens, an interstice between the two lit by the bright flicker of flames. What should be comfortable sunken seating area has a fire crackling in the firepit. It is made less comfortable by the stagnant pool that's formed at the bottom, at least three inches deep and smelling of a noxious mixture of booze, blood and motor oil. Besides it, there's a cooler of booze with bloody fingerprints on the latch sitting open, ice melting away in the summer night.

You can enter the house, or go to the gardens. ]

Hideous Shriek

[idolpro]

It starts like a whisper, but ends in a soul-rending shriek.

Each player must attempt a Sanity roll:
4+: You resist the sound.
1-3: Take 1 die of mental damage.
0: Take 2 dice of mental damage.

Charred Room

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Charred Room. It's near-impossible to tell what this room was before— the furniture had all been gathered to a bonfire pile in the center of the room, and it smells strongly of kerosene. There's a recognizable table-leg, a twisted metal lamp ruined by the blaze, melted plastic that once belonged to something electronic— a speaker system, you think. Somehow, the speakers still work, a low bass beat reverberating through the room and it still will not stop. Static cuts through every now and then, with voices you can almost recognize.

There are entrances to the North, East, and South. ]

Possession

[idolpro]

A shadow separates from the wall. As you stand in shock, the shadow surrounds you and chills you to the core.

You must choose any one trait and attempt a roll for that trait:
4+: You resist the shadow's corruption. Gain 1 in a trait of your choice.
0-3: The shadow drains your energy. The chosen trait drops to its lowest value above the skull. If that trait is already at its lowest value, lower a different trait to its lowest value.

Operating Lab

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Operating Laboratory. An operating room table reclines in the middle of it, the outline of a body visible underneath the sheet. An array of satellite lights spotlight the chair like a stage, and monitors all around it are ceaselessly reporting no activity. And on the walls— photographs. Of an arm, a pair of pretty eyes in someone's face, a slim pair of legs, dexterous pianist fingers, and more parts upon parts upon parts. Three guesses where they went, and the first two don't count.

There is an entrance to the North, and to the East. ]

The Beckoning

[idolpro]

Outside.

You must get Outside.

Fly to freedom!

Each character in the Gardens, Graveyard, Tower, on the Balcony, [or in a room with an outside-facing window] must attempt a Sanity Roll:
3+: You back away from the ledge.
0-2: You jump to the Patio. Put your character there and take 1 die of physical damage.

Kitchen

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Kitchen. It gleams, modern, chrome, and threatening. A kitchen needs no haunted house to twist to be threatening— a rack of knives tall as a child is set into a long countertop, pots and pans hang from above. There's stoves with gas and flame, a wood-fired oven and a modern one, a walk in freezer with a very prominent pad-locked— currently left open, but that could change. Inside the freezer, there is nothing but meat. Inside the refrigerator, cake. On the counter, a meat slicer guillotine and jars and jars of pickled ingredients-- hopefully ingredients.

There is one entrance, to the West. ]

Bloody Vision

[idolpro]

The walls of this room are damp with blood. The blood drips from the ceiling, down the walls, over the furniture, and onto your shoes. In a blink, it is gone.

You must attempt a Sanity roll:
4+: You steel yourself. Gain 1 Sanity.
2-3: Lose 1 Sanity.
0-1: If someone is in the same room as you or in a room adjacent, you must attack. Choose the person with the lowest might, if possible.

Entrance Hall

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Entrance Hall. High ceilings, marble floor, red carpet, imposing chandelier dripping black matte crystals and columns inscribed with strange glyphs lit with bright red LEDs that hurt your eyes to look at directly— it's the tackiest intersection between lifestyles of the rich and famous and haunted house you've ever seen.

There are entrances to the North, East, and West. To the South lies the front door— and a sheer drop off the skyscraper. Probably don't go that way.

The room itself offers no particular dangers or advantages. ]

Re: Entrance Hall

[filetofish]

Wow. Spooky and tacky.

[You're gonna be so shocked: He's going East.]

Research Lab

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Research Laboratory. The rest of the place is party, party, party but the laboratory is stark white: business. It almost glows off through sheer force of cleanliness alone, never mind the dim lighting. The only color comes from dye stains on sample slides and petri-dishes, little medical caps in orange prescription bottles. The labels are. . . not helpful. "Toxoplasma abomination bullshit", "Belhor's, do not return under any circumstances", "massive sleep dep in a bottle", and "ingest if feeling lucky". Probably don't take any.

The only way out is a door to the South, the same way this room is entered. It's a dead end. ]

A Moment of Hope

[idolpro]

Something feels strangely right about this room. Something is resisting the evil of the house and its owner.

This place is #Blessed.
Each character rolls 1 additional die (max 8) on all trait rolls in this room.

Dining Room

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Dining Room. A wall of incandescent lights burn against one wall, the other three nothing but mirrors set into steel frames like windows— all of them opening to reveal booze behind them. There's no banquet table, but smaller tables and champagne cube, each with leather chairs with leather cuffs and chains at the feet and wrists clustered around in groups of three to five. Red curtains drop down from the ceiling, ready to be pulled around to create a small intimate private setting. None of the tables are laid with food— at least, not much of it. This one has a spread that's more than half rocks and jewelry, a few pieces of chocolate scattered throughout, this one has a chunk of raw meat, three slices carefully carved, then the main mass stabbed through with nine knives and two forks.

There are two entrances, one to the North and one to the West. ]

Silence

[idolpro]

Underground, everything goes silent. Even the sound of breathing is gone.

Each character in the basement must attempt a sanity roll:
4+: You wait calmly for your hearing to return.
1-3: You scream a silent scream. Take 1 die of mental damage.
0: You freak out. Take 2 die of mental damage.

Underground Lake

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Underground Lake. Aren't you supposed to be in the Game Tower? What on earth is this lake doing here!? It looks like a slice of the ocean, trapped and with a deep pulling tide. You could be irresponsible and take a swim, and check where the current would drag you out to but that's certainly not the wise thing to do. There's a shovel nearby.

You can go West or North. ]

Secret Stairs

[idolpro]

A horrible creaking sound echoes around you. You've discovered a secret stairwell.

The Secret Stairs connect the room discovered to the nearest room on the map on another floor. If the character decides to follow the stairs, they receive another event card in the new connecting room.