Betrayal Session 5

[idolpro]

Who: You lot
When: To be inserted into the timeline after completion
What: Betrayal at the House on the Game Tower

[ The game starts with you in elevators, the doors jammed shut. You can keep an eye on the city further and further below you, but there's no introduction to today's game.

It's just as well. Those of you who recognize it need no introduction to it. Those of you who don't couldn't be prepared by any host's opening spiel, anyway.

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 a room.

Hopefully, with not too much time missing. ]

Comments

RULES

[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 unit 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 their battle of wills against the House. All their personal morals and concerns are overridden. If it helps, think of it as similar to being possessed by a vengeful spirit. Those who have turned traitor do not get points for exploring rooms and do not trigger events or items. 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 5 LINKS

[idolpro]

How to play: Betrayal at the House on the Game Tower
Stat cards 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]

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

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. ]

EVENT: WHAT THE...?

[idolpro]

As you look back the way you came, you see. . . nothing. Just empty fog and mist where a room used to be.

The room moves to somewhere else on the same floor, shifted so it attaches to only one room on one side. The previous area it was located is now an empty hallway.

DRAWING ROOM

[idolpro]

[ You enter the drawing room. Withdrawn far into the house, it doesn't seem like many guests could have ever been entertained here. Nonetheless, it's ready for the occasion. Most any occasion, actually. A large dining table, with a black mirrored surface stands at the center of the room, surrounded by tufted couches in black fabric with an oil-slick sheen. A roll-top desk stands by a bookshelf stands by a display case stands by an easel stands by a coat-rack. But that said, the room is occupied by strange silhouettes-- not the shadows of the damned, animate and three-dimensional. These have been painted onto various pieces of furniture, people that aren't reclining atop couches, sitting for their supper, as if to keep company someone locked away deprived of it.

There is an exit to the north, and to the east.

There is also, upon searching, a dumb-waiter in this room. ]

ITEM: LOCKET

[idolpro]

A memento of love on a thin gold chain.

Gain one sanity. Anytime you take mental damage, take one less point of damage. If you lose this locket, lose one sanity.

STOREROOM

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Storeroom - although for a storeroom, it's surprisingly barren. Inside are three tall metal shelves in a row, some rolled-up rugs shoved up against one wall, an extra champagne cube with one ottoman missing, and really not much else. It might have been emptied out for the latest party, or else maybe the people in this house just left all their shit strewn around whatever room it happened to end up in and barely used this place because of it.

There are exits to the north and south. ]

ITEM: TEAPOT

[idolpro]

A porcelain teapot with a motif of delicate pink flowers. It grants wishes, at a price.

Once in each room, when someone in the room you're in (including yourself) takes physical damage, you may draw an item card.

If you become a traitor, you cannot hold or use this item. Leave it where you found it, or drop it if you were already holding it.

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.

There are exits to the north, east, and south. ]

EVENT: 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.

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 three entrances: one to the north, one to the east and one to the west. ]

EVENT: 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.

SERVANT'S QUARTERS

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Servant's Quarters. Beds are crammed in close together, stacked in two-tall bunks set into cabinets-- capsule hotel-like. The spaces between rows are narrow and hard to navigate, labyrinthine with corners that are designed so you can't see who's coming around the next hall. It affords privacy, at those cost of peace of mind-- you can hear footsteps but now know how close they are, you know surely there must be an exit close but be unable to find it easily through the maze.

You may go North, East, South, or West. ]

EVENT: WHAT THE...?

[idolpro]

As you look back the way you came, you see. . . nothing. Just empty fog and mist where a room used to be.

The room moves to somewhere else on the same floor, shifted so it attaches to only one room on one side. The previous area it was located is now an empty hallway.

CREAKY HALLWAY

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Creaky Hallway. The door behind you squeaks so loud when you close it, and the floorboards protest beneath your weight. You would surely hear if someone were to approach you here.

The room is a cross-shaped intersection, doors in each of the cardinal directions.

The room itself offers no particular dangers or advantages. ]

Re: CREAKY HALLWAY

[stakesthesame]

[ hhhhhh WHY CAN'T I FLOAT

q-quickly continues north ]

ATTIC

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Attic. The air is thick with dust, as if no one's been here for a long, long time: underneath the lush shag rug, the floorboards creak under your feet as if ready to give way at any point. In fact, there may very well be holes that you can't see, indents in the rug too difficult to see past the the gaudy design, especially in the dim light. There is no light source in this room, but you can vaguely make out the contents: there's the shape of a bed with similarly gaudy design as the rug, with boxes and boxes of miscellaneous items, including creepy little porcelain dolls if you decide to open them. And this thing. If you thought the junk room was bad, well - it's honestly still pretty bad. This place looks like it was actually used for storage intentionally; even so, it's still pretty cluttered. Pull the curtains off several of the tall-standing objects in the room and you'll find full length mirrors or vanities or both, with boxes wherever there possibly can be. It looks like someone did use this room at some point for something entirely different, though - in the corner between the bed and the wall is a stack of pillows, empty alcohol bottles, and a broken lamp.

There are exits to the west and south.

To tread back to the entrance, you'll have to make a Speed roll of 3+. If you fail, you'll lose 1 Might from getting your foot stuck in one of the broken floorboards hidden underneath the shitty rug, although it is easy to get out from. ]

EVENT: SECRET PASSAGE

[idolpro]

A section of the wall slides away. Behind it a mouldering tunnel awaits.

There is a secret passage in this room. Roll 3 dice to find where it ends:
6: Any discovered room.
4-5: Any discovered upper floor rooms
2-3: Any existing ground floor room.
0-1: Any existing basement room.
You can then use the secret passage at any time, from either end.

LAUNDRY

[idolpro]

[ You enter the laundry room. The slightly warm, fresh smell of clean laundry covers an undertone of mildew from somewhere. Though it's clean, the lighting is low, and flickers from time to time overhead, abruptly throwing the room into darkness for moments at a time.

A corner of the room has been used for storage—cardboard boxes full of out-of-season decorations, knick-knacks, costumes gone out of fashion and all manner of disused theater props.

There is an exit to the north, and to the west.

If you end your turn here, you may discard your item to draw an item from the discard pile. There is a dumbwaiter here. ]

ITEM: CHALK

[idolpro]

A simple drawing stick made of ground bone and wax.

You may roll Knowledge instead of Might on defense rolls.

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. ]

EVENT: CREEPY PUPPET

[idolpro]

You see one of those dolls that give you the creeps. It jumps at you with a tiny spear.

Roll a Might 4 attack for the Creepy Puppet. Defend against this attack as normal, by rolling dice equal to your Might.
If you take any damage from this attack, the unit with the Spear gains 2 might (unless you have the spear).

GALLERY

[idolpro]

[ You enter the gallery. A wide brassy-railed mezzanine, it encircles the ballroom below like the spectator seats of some grand coliseum. Statues engaged in obscene and immoral acts are ensconced in recessed archways behind pulled back sequin curtains, all of them seeming like they could be party-goers caught at their absolute worst, and petrified— literally— by discovery.

There is an entrance to the north, east, and the south.

You may also choose to jump to the ballroom below . . . It'll hurt if you do. Take 1 die of physical damage if you choose to do this. ]

EVENT: 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.

ROOF LANDING

[idolpro]

[ You arrive on the top floor landing. There are exits to the north, west, and south.

Some of the wallpaper on the wall to the east looks slightly loose, indicating a door hidden behind it. ]

Re: ROOF LANDING

[antidoting]

[ Hiyori is here to run down the stairs without a second thought about which way they should go. Clearly the answer is down. ]

Yes, yes! Follow me, this way!

STUDY

[idolpro]

[ You enter the study. To one side of the room sits a desk of dark wood, upon which rests a writing blotter, several sheets of blank paper, and a half-full inkwell with quill. The walls are lined with high bookshelves; the topics range from religion and philosophy to war and strategy. For some reason there's music theory and a big coffee table book on musical theater? There's a plush chair for reading in tucked into one corner, appointed in soft red velvet.

Near the desk there is a door set into the wall for a dumbwaiter.

There are exits to the south and to the west.

Once per game, you may gain one point in a mental trait here. ]

EVENT: 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 recieve another event card in the new connecting room.

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 exit to the west or to the east. ]

EVENT: THE WALLS HAVE EYES

[idolpro]

A series of faded portraits hang on the wall. Their eyes seem to follow you. Is it just a painter's trick. No, the silent, dead faces are trying to tell you something.

You must attempt a sanity roll:
0-2: lose one sanity
3: gain one Knowledge
4+: Gain an item. If the Arsenal has been discovered, you are immediately moved to the Arsenal. If the Arsenal has not yet been found, ping a runner to be moved there and have it added to the map.

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. ]

Re: BASEMENT LANDING

[backstory]

[ Covering his mouth... it's unpleasant and difficult to breathe in here, and so... he'll keep going in the same direction and head WEST, ]

ARSENAL

[idolpro]

[ You enter the arsenal. Display cases full of hunting rifles, likely too old to be meant for use are on some walls, but others display weapons exotic and unusual, likely never used for anything but ceremony. Anything you could hope to find to do damage to a human body from centuries past lies entombed in this room, but the question is if they lie in a condition still usable. You're just as likely to dig up something rusty and dull as something still meant for the field.

There is an exit to the north.

When entering this room for the first time, you get two items-- choose one to keep. Discard the other as useless. There is also a dumbwaiter in this room. ]

ITEM: ARMOR

[idolpro]

It's just prop armor from a Renaissance fair, but it's still metal.

Any time you take physical damage, take 1 less point of physical damage.

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 take the stairs down a floor or up a floor.

The room itself offers no particular dangers or advantages. ]

Re: UPPER LANDING

[wonderlandgirl]

U-um... do you know which way you went from here, Eve-kun?

LOCKED ROOM

[idolpro]

[ As you enter the locked room, it lives up to its name. There is a click of lock snapping shut behind you, and not just in that direction— all the doors are now sporting handsome padlocks, old-fashioned and inviting you to pick them. It's like this is a game— you have been locked in, but surely you can get out, can't you? Come, try your luck. Step right up. What have you to lose? But, more to the point: you can't stay here, surely. The room is near empty, full of chests already pilfered and emptied of their wares. With nothing left to keep, perhaps the room is trying to keep you to refill its lonely chamber.

There is an exit to the north, the way you came. This room is a dead-end. ]

EVENT: 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.

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. ]

EVENT: CREEPY PUPPET

[idolpro]

You see one of those dolls that give you the creeps. It jumps at you with a tiny spear.

Roll a Might 4 attack for the Creepy Puppet. Defend against this attack as normal, by rolling dice equal to your Might.
If you take any damage from this attack, the unit with the Spear gains 2 might (unless you have the spear).

OPERATING LABORATORY

[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, East, and to the South. ]

EVENT: 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.

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 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. ]

[fromantequity]

...Hm. Alright, so the front door isn't the way after all. That WOULD have been too easy.

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. ]

EVENT: FLYTRAP

[idolpro]

An enormous exotic plant stands beneath an elaborate rig of lights and plumbing. Its leaves are brown and withered, its giant glower pod stands partially open, waiting for sustenance. It needs water. It needs to be fed your blood.

Take one die of physical damage. The plant will remain in this room. If any person enters this room, the person who fed it their blood may attempt a might 7 attack against that person.