clocktowers | (WIP) (Quest) The Caverns Expedition

Now that Ozpin's combat academy and Hunters' guild is set up, it features a quest board: Ozpin is sending adventurers into known ~~dungeons~~ challenging areas of Trench. Their goal is to recover artifacts which can lessen Blood Pollution. (Ozpin takes no cut of your loot, but he encourages donating it to a Sleeper establishment like the Farm, Sanctuary, or Outpost.)

Once again, this miniquest uses dice rolls, like an informal D&D one-shot! This quest will be posted on the network and at the Academy. There is no player cap; many small groups can undertake this task.

THE BASICS

In June, caverns under Trench became accessible. They can still be reached from an entrance in the forest. But the cursed items from a past player plot have done some damage...

All curse durations are player's choice. It could be an hour, a day, a week, etc. You can have more than one curse at a time.

This quest is available from November 10 - indefinitely, 2022.

HOW TO PLAY

This part is optional. You can always ignore the rolls and just use the log like a normal log. But, imo, the dice can provide great inspiration for your toplevel and tags.

Each character gets three stats:
Might (ability to withstand physical damage)
Speed (ability to dodge hazards)
Stability (ability to resist Corruption)
If your character is average in a stat, +0.
If they're very skilled, +2.
If they're godlike at it, +4.
If they suck at something, -2.
If you're just being mean, -4.
At each step of the miniquest, I will post a prompt with dice challenges. You roll a d20, add your character's stat bonus, then use your total to fail or succeed at the task.

Why and how your character fails or succeeds is for you to write. I am not the dice police and won't mind if you disregard this mechanic, but personally I enjoy the extra sense of risk!

PROMPTS

Below are the six sections which will be posted in the log. Use as many or as few as you want.

(1/6) The Tunnels

The tunnels are pitch black, so Sleepers will need to bring their own illumination. Down here, it is cold and quiet. Everything is still flooded with a few inches of brackish water, and some tunnels may be completely submerged.

These tunnels form a labyrinth under all of Trench, and it's very easy to get lost.

[ Roll Stability 10 or risk losing all sense of direction, which will gradually worsen Corruption. ]

(2/6) The Web Trap (cw: spiders)

This dark hallway is crisscrossed with thin strands of dark, nearly invisible spidersilk. If you walk through the silk, it will draw the attention of large Beast-spiders, which pour from deep gaps in the ceiling and walls. They each move in jerky, irregular ways, like puppets on strings.

[ Roll Speed 10 or prepare to fight some spiders! ]

Those who touch the spidersilk may suffer a curse of obedience.

[ Roll Stability 12 or suffer the Minor Effect: you experience a sense of peace and rightness when you follow orders or instructions. This may gradually worsen Corruption. If your Corruption is high, this may progress to the Major Effect: you take no significant action unless ordered to, and will look to the nearest person for orders. ]

(3/6) The Rubble Room (cw: buried alive)

This low-ceilinged room is muddy and claustrophobic. The moment you step inside, the ceiling collapses: tons of mud and stone can crush a character alive. The earth feels somehow hungry.

[ Roll Might 10 to avoid becoming trapped. ]

Those who are buried in the rubble may suffer a curse of quicksand.

[ Roll Speed 12 or take the Minor Effect: the stone floor sucks at your feet like heavy mud, which will slow you down unless someone can carry you. At player's discretion, this may progress to the Major Effect: stone and dirt is like quicksand for you. Time to play The Floor Is Lava. ]

(4/6) The Vast Cavern (cw: falling)

The path opens to a huge, yawning subterranean cavern which extends downwards into the darkness. An odd breeze wafts up from below. As you approach the lip of the cavern, the floor falls out from under your feet. It's a long way down to the bottom— a character could be severely injured in the fall. To climb back up will be exhausting and perilous, and something urges you to just let go...

[ Roll Speed 10 to avoid the fall. ]

Those who fall may suffer a curse of gravity.

[ Roll Might 12 or suffer the Minor Effect: you are weakened as though everything is very heavy to you, possibly including your own weapons and supplies. At player's discretion, this may progress to the Major Effect: your gravity is reversed and you start falling up. This will be a problem aboveground... ]

(5/6) The Rot Room (cw: bugs, holes in body)

This room crowds you in close to the center: it's small, round, and uncomfortably warm and moist. A round pressure plate on the floor will click beneath a Sleeper's weight, and will open a stone panel in the ceiling. Out pour hundreds of dark, buzzing, biting flies. They can be frightened away with magic or fire, but they're vicious on the unprepared.

[ Roll Speed 10 to avoid triggering the bug trap. ]

Those who are bitten will have itchy welts to deal with, and they may suffer a curse of rot.

[ Roll Might 12 or suffer the Minor Effect: a persistent restless itch which is relieved only by physical contact with another person. At player's discretion, this may progress to the Major Effect: holes appear in your flesh, as clean or gross as you prefer. They heal only when cared for by someone important to the character. ]

(6/6) The Hall of Eyes (cw: eye imagery)

You have reached a deep, still place with perfectly smooth stone walls. All along this hallway, eyes are carved into every surface, each a perfect duplicate of the others. They watch from the ceiling and floor and walls. You feel a hostile pressure upon your mind.

[ Roll Stability 12 or suffer an increase in Corruption. ]

The pressure worsens as you continue down this dark hall. Those who continue may suffer a curse of fear.

[ Roll Stability 14 or take the Minor Effect: you feel a persistent sense of paranoia, and may grow fearful of people around you. This could provoke conflict between CR on the final threshold. If your Corruption is high, this may progress to the Major Effect: words and symbols associated with your traumas and secrets begin to appear on your skin like tattoos or brands. ]

At the end of the hall, the eyes stop abruptly and the tunnel resumes its usual rough-stone texture. A glowing white orb sits on a pedestal, one for each Sleeper who has come this far. The orb's presence alleviates Corruption and eases Blood Pollution in the soil. This is the artifact you came for!

PLOTTING

Make your rolls, tell us how your character will fare, and find thread partners to play out the consequences! All prompts are optional.

Character Name: Might: Speed: Stability: The Tunnels: The Web Trap: The Rubble Room: The Vast Cavern: The Rot Room: The Hall of Eyes:

(WIP) (Quest) The Caverns Expedition

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