Per my previous post, I have had issues with World vs. Hero. Not because it is a bad game but because it feels too constrained. Per the game rules, I should have each player access each of the five cards, but what happens if you can resolve the scene with less? I could reaccess and use cards just to replay the same thing that already happened, or I could just cut it short. This is the option that I chose. There's a good game hidden somewhere beneath the mechanics. But, working with the rules as written, the game is lacking. It begs to be edited and tinkered with. Why five cards? Why must you use all five cards when three will suffice? I don't know. I enjoy the concept; I don't enjoy the execution.
Tarn wanders through the dirt packed streets of Narak. His feet draw him toward the bazaar, his mind plotting where to find the next handful of coins. Picking pockets worked to a small degree if one were willing to live day to day. He needed something more profitable.
The white stone buildings lining the alley gave way to the open air bazaar. A sea of people in cotton robes, linen clothes or, in rare instances, loin cloths and scaled scraps. Tents and kiosks were strewn about in a chaotic fashion. Shop owners and barkers shout at passers by in a raucous attempt at drawing in more customers. The shopping populace move from stall to stall, haggling for watever goods they seem interested in.
An insidious fog creeps along the ground, a silver mass with greens and blues mingling like oil and water...
[Cards drawn : 8S *AD KS +AS QH, World Player accesses AS and uses AD]
The scintillating mist begins to carpet the bazaar, the silver, green and blue hues list within with bead-like flashes of internal light. As the fog reaches the outer edge of the stalls, brushing across the feet of the shoppers, a surprised scream is abruptly cut off as one of them is pulled to the ground and jerked hastily into the fog.
The initial outcry sparks panic within the market. People run haphazard through the stalls, colliding with other people. Some fall and get snatched into the mists by invisible hands. Others shove their way to safety as they shout for everyone to run or stay back. A small crowd presses their way toward Tarn, intent on forcing him aside.
[Cards played : 8S+ *AD KS* +AS QH, Hero Player accesses KS and uses 8S]
Tarn steps back as the crowd makes its way toward his alley. His eyes glance from one escape route to another. The growing rush of bodies making escape more challenging to find. Tarn spies the window of a nearby stone building and the wooden supports extending from the roof above. He runs toward the wall.
Stepping onto the sill, Tarn leaps up and grabs hold of the wooden strut. Kicking up from the wall, he hoists himself on to the roof and watches the crowd funnel into the alley. More people are crushed and battered against the wall, the alley not wide enough to fit the fleeing masses. The shouts rise in intensity as several other people are taken by the roiling mist.
[Cards played : *8S+ *AD KS* +AS QH, World Player accesses 8S]
A lone figure strides out of the shimmering fog. Black trousers, dark hair carrying an iron mace in one hand. His scale armor is crafted from individual discs of polished horn. The mace sweeps in an arc and crushes the knee of a fleeing customer. Crawling and whimpering, the wounded man feebly tries to escape. An unseen hand grabs his leg, an abrupt yelp, and he is dragged into the mists.
[Cards played : *8S* *AD KS* +AS +QH, Hero Player accesses 8S and uses KS]
Tarn watches the carnage from his rooftop vantage point. The armored figure below was something that could be dealt with; the fog was immaterial, something he could not touch. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, taking him uncomfortably close to the mists creeping along the market below. An obsidian dagger comes away from its sheath. Tarn slows his breathing, calms his nerves and waits for the mace wielding man to step closer.
The mace comes down and cracks another fleeing woman across her back. Tarn seizes the moment and drops from the rooftop, stabbing the obsidian blade into the man’s neck, one of the few locations the scale armor does not protect. The mace flails wildly as the man screams at his assailant. Tarn’s dagger comes free, and he drops into a crouch, stabbing into the man’s leg.
Another pained shout, the mace swinging where Tarn had been. Tarn takes advantage of the opening the wide strike creates and stabs upward beneath the arm. The blade comes free and stabs beneath the other arm. The armored figure stiffens, stills; his wounds bleeding heavily. Tarn pulls the obsidian dagger away, their eyes locked.
[Cards played : *8S* *AD KS* +AS *QH, World Player accesses QH]
“I am Baraka,” the scaled figure proclaims, grabbing Tarn’s wrist and pulling him closer. “You may have beaten me, but can you defeat him?”
His eyes glance over Tarn’s shoulder even as the last of his breath escapes. His body slumps to the ground, kneeling and defeated. Behind Tarn, a floating specter of luminous bone emerges from the mists and grabs a passing customer. Its immaterial throat shrieks as bony claws draw the passerby into its cold grip and returns to the silvery mist.
Tarn, Human Rogue of The Architects
Tarn’s brown eyes hold a steely gaze; his umber hair cropped short. A lithe body wrapped in simple, common clothes. Tarn found himself on the streets of Narak, making a living amongst the stone and brick buildings. He was safe within the walls held by Amuneta the Liberator with her promise of keeping the wrongfully accused safe. It was that same liberty that introduced Tarn to The Architects, an organization that wants to depose the current regime of the seven demon lords.
Suit Abilities
Clubs [2] Knife in the Dark : Remarkable knife fighter
Spades [2] From the Shadows : Excellent thief
Hearts [1] Sixth Sense : Good intuition
Special FX
King of Diamonds Now You Don’t… Fade from view like dissipating ink.
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