Round 08

[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 8 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.

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

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: Rabbit's Foot

[idolpro]

Not so lucky for the rabbit.

Once during your turn, you can reroll 1 die. You must keep the second roll.

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: 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.

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, East, and to the South. ]

Event: Drip... Drip... Drip...

[idolpro]

A rhymthmic sound that needles at your brain.

There is a drip in this room. All characters roll 1 fewer die (min. 1) on all trait rolls while in this room.

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. ]

Re: Ballroom

[resonantblue]

[yes, yes, this scene—heading East!]

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: 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.

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. ]

Re: Underground Lake

[420blazeit]

[ ... ]

[ she didn't need to stop here. ]

[ there wasn't really a point to stopping here,
however, she walks to the water's edge and stoops down... reaching out to gently bap the water. ]

I told you I'd come to visit you, Kohime~

[ and, with that, she gets up and goes back to the servent's quarters. ]

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: Smoke

[idolpro]

Smoke billows around you. You cough, wiping away tears.

The Smoke in this room blocks line of sight from adjacent rooms. A character rolls 2 fewer dice (minimum 1 die) on all trait rolls in this room.

Statutory 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 three entrances, one to the East, one to the South, and one to the West. ]

Event: Something Slimy

[idolpro]

What's that around your ankle? A bug? A tentacle? A dead hand clawing?

You must attempt a speed roll:
4+ You break free. Gain 1 speed.
1-3: Lose 1 might.
0: Lose 1 might and 1 speed.

Conservatory

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Conservatory. It's been designed like a birdcage with art nouveau bars sleek and too thin to pass through even if you were to break the glass. The plants here are gorgeous, boughs of potted trees and vines weighted down fruit-- recognizable pomegranates, others more strange and unfamiliar. The flowers are all in full bloom despite the dead of night, perfuming the air thickly.

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

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.

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. ]

Re: Study

[resonantblue]

[ah, yes, books on strategy and philosophy, fun

SOUTH IT IS]

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 exits to this room are to the south and to the west. ]

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.

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

[420blazeit]

[ she considers taking some coal, but she'll leave it. she has no use for it. she continues moving south. she's almost there. one more room, and then she can head upstairs and start looking for mars. this fucken house and it's stupid teleporting. she can't believe this. WHAT LUCK. ]

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

[rollyourluck]

[ the pretty girls says south again so ]

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. ]

Re: Charred Room

[resonantblue]

[silence and duality sure disliked this room... fun!

GOING SOUTH]

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 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 6+ sanity. If you fail, you can continue to the next room, but you lose 1 point of sanity to the overwhelming creepiness of the catacombs, and the general spooky vibe to the entire place. ]

Re: Catacombs

[420blazeit]

[ and she has no intentions of going back! she's pushing forward. the catacombs do kind of creep her out... so she does freeze up as she makes her way through. the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she heads toward the next room. almost there. so close. come. on. she stops through, because... the skulls and the bones. she wants them. she wants to take them alone with her. she looks around, laughing like a god damn lunatic. ]

[ 1 ]

[ she feels herself become a bit more unhinged and there's a part of her that knows she should just push forward, because getting the fuck out of here is the RIGHT thing to do, but she wants to take them and bring them along. real people suck, they just disappoint you and they don't help and they're bad and terrible and they all. deserve. to DIE. but these guys. these guys and gals... maybe they can help. ]

[ d.va wants to rip some of these bones and skulls out of the wall, so should i roll another sanity check or can i just, like take some along? since i already failed so miserably? also... GOING EAST. ]

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

[resonantblue]

[RUNNING WEST, AWAY FROM ZRAEL, CRAZY BASTARDS!!]

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? (Once per round, if you train here, gain 1 speed.) ]

Event: The Image in the Mirror

[idolpro]

There is an old mirror in this room. Your frightened reflection moves on its own. You realize it is you from another time. You need to help your reflection, so you write on the mirror: THIS WILL HELP
You then hand an item through the mirror.

If you don't have any item card, this event affects the nearest explorer with an item card.

Choose one of your item cards, and discard. Gain 1 Knowledge.

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: Lightning Strikes

[idolpro]

You count the seconds from when you see the flash. Second.

All characters on the roof or in an outside room must attempt a MIght roll.
0: Take 2 points of physical damage.
1-3: Take 1 point of physical damage.
4+: Nothing happens

Vault

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Vault. A blockade of reflective steel rises to meet you, stretching to the ceiling and blocking off all future progress. Set into this is a large circular bank vault, riddled with indents that look like they're from bullets-- that did not prevail. They sunk in or ricocheted, but the vault looks none the weakened for all that. Nearby there is a numerical keypad and fingerprint lock.

There is only one entrance, to the West.

Once per person, you may try to enter in a passcode and put your finger on the lock. Attempt a knowledge roll of 6+ to empty the vault. ]

Re: Vault

[420blazeit]

...

[ n- no. no no no no no no NO. there's a passcode. there's a passcode on the vault. she stares at it for a good FIFTEEN MINUTES before she steps up to the lock. ]

[ she's going to roll the dark dice to see if she can't get a boost... [4] so plus one to might. damn. ] ...ok, here goes nothing. [ she's going to attempt to open the lock. ]

[ 6!!! ]

Menagerie

[idolpro]

[ You enter the menagerie. Though it is a large room, it is not a large menagerie. There are few beasts within. A powerful black lion, a species that… by all accounts should be mythical (though maybe hell is not the place to quibble about that) lounges in the center of the room. There are no cage bars to hold it back, apparently given full run of the place. Rocky outcrops of stone throughout the room, a few brush species of plants in containers, and twinkling lights set into the ceiling above. You are lucky, and the lion is sleeping soundly, undisturbed by your noise as birds trill songs and cover the sound of your footsteps about the room.

There is an exit to the east.

After the first time you enter the room, you feel more confident for having been in proximity to such a mighty beast without waking it-- gain a physical trait in either strength or speed ]

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.

Game Room

[idolpro]

[ You enter the Game Room. Globules of lights string the ceiling, dripping pools of light to illuminate a billiards table, a roulette wheel, a craps table. Someone's game of 52 pick-up scatters the floor near an overturned table crouching in the corner, one of its legs yanked out from beneath it. Throwing darts pincushion the line of target on the back wall— and the nearby taxidermied game. An Elk's head stuck with five darts dead center between the eyes stares straight at you.

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

Event: 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.

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: Puzzle Box

[idolpro]

There must be a way to open it.

Once in each room, you can attempt a Knowledge roll to open the box:
6+: You open the box. Draw 2 item cards and discard the Puzzle Box.
0-5: You just can't get it open.