GAME TRANSCRIPT: MY SWORD IS QUICK (one-player-and-GM, Park and Barb, The Beginning…)
One day, I saw a vintage paperback cover: a noir detective novel thing.
I said to myself, “I want that vibe in a fantasy rpg.”
I started playing around with adding noir and fantasy rpg concepts (by adding fantasy stuff to classic noir movie/book titles. The first one—the most important one, that really summed it up for me—was MY SWORD IS QUICK.
(Although I also tossed around things like DEATH STALKS THE WEST MARCHES and DEPART THIS REALM, MY LOVELY. Barb got in on the game too and soon we were tossing around MAGIC, MY SWEET and THE MASS SLEEP SPELL and THE THIN MAGE and THE CLERIC WORE BLACK.
And then I came up with, and wrote out:
THE ASSASSIN’S LITTLE SISTER — Elspeth was exactly the kind of damsel that should have been off-limits to Varnak– but her innocent charms made him risk the wrath of the head of the Assassins’ Guild…
Barb said… “Now I kind of want you to write that game.”
That was it. I started writing.
When I was done, Barb said she’d help me playtest it. We got on Google Chat and I installed a diceroller app for her (the dice mechanics are super simple—you roll 1d20 and try to roll a 12 or higher. If you’re good at something, you get to roll more than one 1d20 at once).
But Barb had never done anything like this before, so she was nervous at first. She’s still a bit nervous about it—but on the other hand, she’s the most imaginative human I’ve ever met, and a natural with words.
Here’s the start of our game so far:
Barb: The dice roller worked!
I’m excited and a little puzzled and a little scared about how to do this….
So, we play maybe one test game and then you get more beta testers???
Park: Yes. So do you wanna be human, or would you like to hear about the alternatives?
Barb: Human. I’m a newbie, so that’s easiest.
Park: Good point.
Pick three of the following:
- chalk
- ball of string or twine
- small box of matches and a couple of candles
- flask filled with water OR whatever kind of alcohol you want
- bandages
- a pair of ivory dice (honest, not rigged)
- rations: jerky/bread/cheese
- whetstone
- a combat knife with a sawblade on the back of it
- 20 feet of rope and a grappling hook
Barb: chalk, a combat knife, rations
Park: mages start with a dagger or staff, too. Which’ll you choose?
Barb: Wait, I didn’t know that, so I want water as part of my pick three. And I’ll take a dagger, since it’s easier to hide than a staff.
Park: no problem
Barb: Man, it’s a good list, though. I didn’t see bandages there at first, but I’m sticking with chalk, as I’m a Mage. If I were something else, I’d pick bandages. Chalk is something I’ll need to cast spells, I’m thinking….
Park: The chalk is more for helping mark your way (like they did in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH) or in leaving messages for others (DON’T OPEN THIS DOOR– MONSTER INSIDE)
or maybe HEY CITY GUARD: UNCONSCIOUS ARSONIST INSIDE: YOU’RE WELCOME
but honestly yes, I can see using it to strengthen a spell, like Ed and Alphonse from FULL METAL ALCHEMIST. So yes, when there’s time to do it that way, you WOULD get to roll an extra die for that
Barb: okay, if it isn’t for spelllcasting, I’m changing my third item to candles/matches….
Park: Sent new updated character sheet email– delete the old one.
Next: NAME YOUR CHARACTER
Barb: Uh… Magenta?
Park: Magenta, got it
Park the GM: You’re Magenta, an adventurer (mage), living in the city-state of the great walled city of Vierna.
Ten years ago, the barbarians invaded. Vierna drove them off, back to the northeast, back through the forest, and then counterattacked in retaliation. The counterattack mostly failed, because the fey of the forest joined the war, helping the barbarians.
The war ended five years ago, in a grudging truce, and Vierna got back to what it was doing before the war: making money, hoarding money, stealing money, killing for money. It was doing all those things during the war, too, but now there were, once again, fewer distractions from doing so…
It is down the mean streets of this city that an adventurer such as yourself must walk…
**********
Today, you return to Vierna from the northwest, a week ahead of schedule. You were teamed up with a fighter named Shan, who wielded a two-handed sword and no particular gender, but Shan got petrified into a statue by some sort of magical beast from the Feylands. The experts think they can change Shan back… eventually… but in the meantime, it left a sour taste in your mouth, so when they offered you the chance to go back early, you took them up on it. You didn’t get paid for the whole three weeks you thought you would be away, but you got paid a fair wage for the week you were here this time.
You were through Vierna’s West Gate at dawn (barely), and finally made it back to the apartment you rent in a building in the Shop Quarter, where a lot of the money gets made.
You trudged wearily down the main hall– there are upper floors, but your room is on the ground floor, last door on the right, next to the rear exit– unlocked your door, and walked in.
Everything was just as you left it–
–except for the dead man (whom you’ve never seen before) lying face-up on the rug in the center of the room.
The cause of death seems obvious, since he’s got a dagger hilt sticking out of his chest.
What do you do next/first?
Barb: I cast a spell to see if his ghost will talk to me, if I have that power. I’m not a necromancer, per se, but I’m sure he’d like to be avenged.
Or maybe I’d just hold a seance.
If I get the information I need, I’m going to turn into that guy and try and find out why he’s been killed in my room.
GM: Hun, you can’t speak to the dead. Your spells don’t cover that.
Barb: Okay, if I can’t talk to him, I’ll look in his pockets, get his ID, and head out as him, and see if anyone’s gonna follow me. And, before I do that, I’m going to look at (but not touch) the dagger to see if it can be ID’ed.
GM: Step One: Examine the body. No identification, a coin purse, but it’s empty. Belt looks like it’s had stuff hanging off of it (weapons?) but there’s nothing there now. Victim is roughly 30 years of age, human, straight black hair cut slightly shorter than average, well-kept beard and mustache, brown eyes. Shoes a bit worn out, clothing a bit worn out– in other words, he’s not from the Rich Quarter (nor even the Nice Quarter). Probably from the Work Quarter, class-wise. No special look on his face, just dead. Predominately black clothes… a rogue maybe? The dagger looks very standard… the hilt and maybe even the crossguard look nicked up, though, like it’s seen a lot of use. An expert could maybe tell you more… but that would involve removing the dagger from where it’s currently lodged. One more thing you notice: Blood has run down from the wound in his chest… but there’s zero blood on the rug underneath him. So… stabbed while he was standing up? And then moved here? (To try to use transmutation to make yourself look like the guy, roll a 20-sided die, twice. It’ll be hard to do a perfect imitation, but we’ll see what happens…)
Barb: Why would a poor man have a well kept beard and mustache? Those things cost money.
Does the dagger seem thrown from a distance?
Otherwise, someone he trusted could have killed him.
And, yes, he seems to have been moved here, but why move him to my room?
GM: As a mage, it’s hard for you to say. You can roll (another) 1d20 to try to analyze it, though…
The rest, you don’t have answers for yet…
Barb: Can’t analyze it, ‘cause I only got a 5….
GM: Okay– and the transmutation? (2 die 20s)
Barb: As to the transmutation spell, I only got a 13, so that’s not good enough.
GM: 13… total?
Barb: oops, right, you said TWO die twenties….be right back
GM: and also: 12 is the threshold for success! If you got ONE 13, you’re in business– but roll the other one anyway, just to see if you succeed extra—
Barb: The second die was a 20!
GM: OH SNAP
You turn into a spitting image of the guy on the floor (minus the bloody wound in the chest and the blood down his clothes). You feel like it’ll last until at least sundown– or until you specifically release the effects.
So, what’s your next move, lookalike?
Barb: Well, I’m packing up my essentials, mostly money, passport/papers and getting the hell out of here. But first, I’m going to the front desk and asking if anyone was asking about Magenta or going to her room for any reason.
GM: Mrs. Coffer is the concierge. (Mr. Coffer is an undertaker– his business is always booming, in Vierna.) She didn’t see Magenta come in this morning (it was pretty early, a bit before she usually comes downstairs), but she’s downstairs now, and she gives Dude In Black Clothing a slightly funny look at first. Then she apparently just decides that he must have come in through the back door of the building. “Hello, may I help you…?” she asks.
Barb: “Did anyone go into Magenta’s room today/tonight?”
GM: “Eh? No, she’s away on forest patrol for the military. I expect she’ll be gone for another couple of weeks… I wouldn’t go in her room unless she asked me to… why do you ask, sir…?”
Barb: “She owes me money. I don’t suppose you saw the person I was with…? I was supposed to meet that person and…well…”
GM: “No, who were you with? When was this?” Mrs. Coffer seems to be finding all this suspicious… “Is this… thieves’ guild stuff? Because Magenta’s a mage, I wouldn’t think she’d be owing you people anything…” Indeed, Mrs. Coffer is correct– you’ve never yet had any particular dealings with the thieves’ guild.
Barb: “Oh, no, ma’am. I’m just an honest business man who helped out someone in need. Thank you for your time.”
GM: “All… all right…” Mrs. Coffer has a look on her face as she watches you leave that says Well, I’m definitely telling Magenta about THIS next time I see her… …So, what next?
Barb: “Oh, and by the way, you may want to check in her room. When I went in there, someone was lying on the floor, dead. I believe someone has just tried to frame her. Please tell the police that she was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Have a nice day.”
Then, off I walk away.
GM: “What? That door should’ve been locked! I– I don’t–?!” Then she stands, and hurries down the hall to Magenta’s//your room…
Barb: Next, I’m going to check in on my old friend, James Borden, who is one of the only honest cops in this stinkhole of a city.”
NOTE: Barb just made this up, but I was going to give her a city guard NPC contact anyway, so I certainly don’t mind her naming him.
GM: Roll 1d20 to find James! (Not that he’s hard to find– Magenta knows the most likely places to look– it’s a matter of how quickly she finds him…)
Barb: Only an eight. He’s not at the all-night diner.
GM: Where next? The nearest city guard station? Or over toward the City Park entrance? He’s sure to be one of those places, this time of day…
Barb: City guard station. I know the secret way in.
GM: You head toward the nearest City Guard station… but just as you turn a corner and see it down the block… a couple of young men run up to you. “Roderick! Hey, Roderick!”
They practically skid to a stop when they reach you. “What the heck are you doing? Last month, you said you didn’t want to go anywhere near the City Guards for the rest of your life! Did you get hit in the head lately?” says the slightly taller boy, a very thin/underfed youth of maybe 17.
“Nah, he’s pullin’ an angle!” says the other boy, a homely lad of about the same age who’s an inch shorter in height. “What’re you gonna do, offer t’ sell ’em fake information?”
“Ooh, yeah, that must be it!” says the first boy. “Are ya on a mission from… y’know…?”
Magenta has never seen these boys before in her life, but her first guess is that they’re gang members with one of Vierna’s many gangs. Based on the color of their shirts, maybe the Red Dragons? Isn’t that the name of one of the street gangs…?
Barb: “I always have an angle.”
GM: The two youths seem a little skeptical. “…You sound kinda different, Roderick. Seriously… what’ve you been up to lately? You were pretty worried last week when I talked to ya. Are you in trouble now?”
The shorter boy interrupts: “You aren’t goin’ to the Guard to rat on somebody, are ya?”
But this is met with a swift punch in the arm by the underfed boy. “What’re you sayin’? Roderick would never rat on anybody!” He gives you a side-eye, though. “…Would ya…?”
Barb: “I’m no rat.”
GM: “Well… go on then… if you’re goin’…” They stand back a bit to see if “Roderick” is really going to just walk right into the lion’s den of a City Guard station…? (If you do, roll 1 die 20…)
Barb: “What, you want me to get arrested…you wound me, fellas, you really do.”
GM: “So… you’re not goin’ there?”
The taller boy punches the other again: “Dummy, he never said he was, did ‘e?!” He turns back to “Roderick.” “—All right, man, keep your secrets. When whatever caper you’re on is over, you gotta tell us all about it if you can, a’right? Will we see you tonight? At the Island?”
You know, whatever else happens, that this impersonation you’re doing won’t last until tonight…
Barb: “Any reason why I should?”
GM: Roll 1 die 20 please!
Barb: 19!
GM: “Well just… just ’cause… ’cause it’d be nice… cool. Cool to hang out again, like the old days,” says the punchy boy. “…And hey, maybe Vivian’ll show up, and you can ask ‘er that thing you wanted t’ask ‘er,” he adds.
Barb: “Guys, I’m gonna level with you. I’m pretty sure someone is out to get me. I can’t point to anything exactly, just a really bad feeling. Do you know anyone who’d want to, you know, get rid of me?”
GM: Roll 1 more die 20 please!
Barb: 13
GM: “Well… I mean… sure. Lots of people, I guess. I mean… there’s the guild, and the…” The taller boy’s eyes shift left and right, looking around. “…Should we even be talking about this out on the street like this?”
The slightly shorter boy speaks up again. “I think maybe he meant, like, a specific person, by name?”
The taller boy’s eyes go a bit wider. “Ohh. Right. Well no, I wouldn’t know. You mean like someone specific from the Assassin’s Guild? Gods, no, I haven’t heard anything about a bounty on you… But… I mean, we wouldn’t, would we?”
The homely boy interrupts: “I dunno, maybe it’s not so crazy. Red Dragons’ got spies, just like everyone else. I wouldn’t say it’s our specialty, but… Echo’s pretty good at spying…” (Magenta vaguely remembers James once mentioning that a lot of gang members have special names they give each other…) “We can ask around…? You want us to spread the word, see if anyone’s heard anything?”
Barb: “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m gonna be real honest with you. Someone…well, you know how magic can make a double of a person? Well, being cautious, I had a magician make one of me…and that double was killed. The police are investigating the double’s murder, thinking that it’s me. So, I was hanging around here, wondering if I should involve the police or stay away. You guys convinced me that I shouldn’t go to the cops. So, if you hear that I’m dead, well, the news of my death is greatly exaggerated. So, keep a clear head and keep your eyes and ears open.”
GM: “Whaaaat, that’s crazy…?!! Be careful, Roderick! C’mon, we’ll go find Echo! Whether we find anything out or not, we’ll be at the Island tonight, all right? See you there– if you feel like it’s safe to show up!” They start to run off…
Barb: Realizing that I can’t stay Roderick forever, I want to change back into Magenta…for now. I find a place in the shadows and wait for the spell to wear off. As I do, I think about all the clues I’ve amassed and what to do next. I realized that the boys would tell everyone that Rod wasn’t really dead…and that Rod had allies…and enemies. I have potential suspects…and a killer that might well wish to try again. My biggest question isn’t who killed a nasty piece of work, but rather, if the body was killed somewhere else, why pick my hotel room to stash the body? I suspect that someone is trying to frame me, but…why?
And who the hell is Vivian? I doubted that anyone would care too much if Rod was killed, but if he had a sister…or a girlfriend…or a wife…man, would she be sad…or just relieved that a bad man no longer exists?
GM: Magenta now fully looks like herself again… What will she do next?
Barb: I’m going to see if James is here…I need info.
GM: Roll 1 d 20!
Barb: Whoops, only ten.
GM: You walk into the city guard station and look around… No sign of James. But a city guard who isn’t James sees you near the front door, does a small double-take, and hops up from his desk where he was writing something– “Hey! Aren’t you the mage known as Magenta?!” He basically says it like it means Don’t move if you know what’s good for you—
Barb: I pull out my ID and say, “James Borden and I have an arrangement. I get to come and go freely here. If you don’t believe me, call him, wherever the hell he is.”
GM: “He’s on patrol over by the City Park– and all citizens get to come and go freely here, if they aren’t wanted for questioning or suspicion– we found a dead man in your apartment this morning!” This guy’s in his late 30s, short brown hair, a jaw like a plow, a face that would be decent-looking if his expression didn’t say if only someone would show up that I could take my frustration out on… The two other city guards in the room (both men) look at each other like is she going to try to run for it?
Barb: “What time this morning?”
GM: “What?!” He wasn’t expecting that question– he was expecting you to run, fight, or give up, not to start asking questions. “We just heard about it a little while ago– Why’d you ask that…?”
Barb: “Because, if you don’t have any proof that I was present, that I have any connection to whoever this person was, and so forth, you are this close to a false arrest report. Oh, James would just love to knock you down to a traffic warden instead of a cop. Now, who was this person that just happened to die in my apartment and why are the police involved?”
GM: The guy frowns. “We don’t know yet. You mean you don’t know…?” Another guard, younger, more rookie-looking, tries, hopefully: “You didn’t come here to turn yourself in…?”
Barb: “Fellows, my police record is clean. Take a look if you don’t believe me. I’m as in the dark as you are. Who’s dead? How’d this person die? What’s this person’s name? When did they die?”
GM: “–We don’t know any of that yet! We’re still waiting for the guard who got assigned to it to check it out to come back and report! Frankly, there’ve been a lot of murders lately!”
The rookie speaks up again: “…Though not in this part of the city…”
The irritable guard glares at him: “No, not in this part of of the city, but… that’s not the point! The point is that the city guards already have their hands full right now, and one more murder is not what we needed today!” He gets a sly look, then continues: “…So if you’d just come on in and sit down, citizen, we have some questions we’d like to ask you…”
Barb: “Wow, someone’s jumping the wand here. You know nothing about the crime, not the cause of death, not the time of death, not even the person’s name, and you want to ask me questions in an interigation room like I’m a criminal? Me, the mage with the clean record? Seriously?”
GM: “We’re not the ones with a dead guy in our apartment, lady,” says the hardball cop. Magenta does not like the way he put an emphasis on lady like that. (Roll TWO d 20s, please! (because he’s triggered The Dame’s You’re as good as anyone of any other gender (and usually more so))
Barb: 18 and 10…
GM: (One success! You can 1. verbally intimidate this guy, or 2. run for it. Either way, it’ll work (for now)…)
Barb: “I have a lawyer that’s a shark, both literally and figuratively speaking, and I’m sure that he’d love to take down this department for treating me like dirt, so I suggest that you find James Borden and tell him that I’m here and I’d love to chat with him or let me leave and find him myself. I’ve got your badge numbers and believe me, fellows, I know how to make a stink when I’m angry…and right now, I’m pretty annoyed. You’ve picked the wrong mage to mess with. Just because I’m a woman and a solo mage doesn’t mean I let anyone push me around. So what’s it gonna be, gentlemen?”
GM: The rookie looks at the other non-tough-guy guard in the room. “Literally a shark…?” he whispers loudly enough to be heard.
The other guard shrugs. “…Transmuter…?” he whispers back, as in with magic, I guess it’s possible…?
The hardball guard swallows hard and thinks about it. “…Menella!” he roars.
Based on rookie guard’s reaction, it’s his name. “Sir!” he says, snapping to attention.
“Go find Borden, and if he’s not actively stopping a crime in progress, get him here! Now!“
“SIR!” says the rookie, already heading for the door. The rookie (Officer Menella, it appears) gives you a little smile as he passes you– he liked you putting Officer Hardball in his place…
. . . . . . . . . He’s gone less than ten minutes when he comes back… with James Borden, whew. “Ran into him headed this way, sir,” Officer Menella says to Hardball.
“Magenta!” says James. “I’ve been out on patrol all morning– Menella told me they found a dead man in your apartment…?!”
Barb: “I want to hear about this, James. May we go somewhere private? I think I deserve to know about the body that was killed in my apartment while I was away…”
GM: “Sure…” He leads you back out onto the street. “We can go to your apartment, if you want? Menella told me the guard in charge of the investigation is a guy named Southmarsh, Merrick Southmarsh… he’s a decent guy, nothing like Rainson back there… or if you don’t want that just yet, we can go somewhere closer to talk…?”
Barb: “Anywhere but my apartment. Just make it close by and private. I have a lot of questions…and maybe a few answers…”
TO BE CONTINUED…