52 Fates game play example

This is something that will be in the next update for 52 Fates, but I thought it might be a good idea to also have this available for free, as it helps illustrate how the game and its features work. So here you go!

Adventure

A device that allows anyone to read and understand any written language has been stolen from Alaanet, the principal advisor that serves under Baroness Cath at the city of Gwenhir. The device has been stolen by a local hermit (rumored to be a mage) that lives in an abandoned tower about two miles away from the city. After unsuccessful attempts to find the device, the Baroness has put out a reward in gold coins (upscale value) to whoever finds this device and returns it safely back to her.

Player characters

These are the player characters that will star in these “adventures”. All these players are XT 1 for simplicity’s sake, so they all have 4 hit points.

Rolfward

A gruff, burly guy with a thick red explosion for a beard, he’s practical and blunt, something that gets him in trouble more often than not!

Ancestry	Human
Class	Fighter
Gender	Male
Outstanding attribute	Strength
Background	Survivalist
Wealth	Upscale
Weapons	Hammer, two daggers
Armor	Chain mail

Lariana

Intellligent and cautious, Lariana acts as the common sense of the group, and in that sense is almost the opposite of Rolfward.

Artanak

Streetwise and clever, with a shady past, Artanak is as versatile fighting an opponents as she is sneaking past them.

Ancestry	Hobgoblin
Class	Fighter
Gender	Female
Outstanding attribute	Agility
Background	Burglar
Wealth	Average
Weapons	Short sword, dagger
Armor	Leather

Gameplay

For playing card notation, we are using the following convention: [♣Q] The first character is the card suit, and the second is the card played. These are presented within square brackets by every entry where a player (including the Fate Dealer) plays a card from their hand.

In-character dialog is shown in quotes (“”), while notes and comments regarding gameplay are presented in italics.

FD	You arrive at the base of the tower. The area around it seems empty and forlorn, the tower itself in decrepit condition, with thin vine-like plants crawling up its sides. Open windows look down at the adventurers like empty eye sockets in a skull. At the bottom of the tower is the entrance to it, a strange door with levers on it. There are two inquiry points to discover: 5: The levers can be moved independently up or down. 15: Find the right combination of lever positions to open the door.
Artanak	I will examine the door, check if it’s closed and what kind of locks it has, if any.
FD	It certainly is closed. Upon closer examination, you see that the door seems newer than the rest of the tower. It has four metal levers, one beside the other horizontally, right in the middle of the door.
Artanak	I will perform an inquiry on the lever system, try to figure out how it works.
FD	Are you going to manipulate the levers, or just look at them?
Artanak	Hmm… I’ll just look at the levers closely.
Rolfward	I’ll stand back just in case, I’m also watching the area around the tower, too.
Lariana	I’ll move back a bit and try to see if there’s any movement upstairs through the windows.
FD	Okay, Artanak, go for it. Lariana, do you want to play a check too as you look at the tower windows?
Lariana	Yes.
Artanak	[♦6] What can I deduct?
FD	The first inquiry point was 5, so playing a 6 allows the FD to check off the first inquiry point. You study the base of the levers, without touching them, and figure out they move in two directions: the first and third move up and down, and the second  and fourth do so sideways.
Lariana	[♠8] Do I see anything?
FD	Considering the tower is dark and the windows are rather high, a TS 15 was set for this task by the FD. Lariana, it seems like there’s no one inside, you don’t see any movement or lights.
Rolfward	[♣9] This will be easy. I’ll perform an inquiry to figure out the movement!
FD	Checks against the next IQ of 15, thus the inquiry fails. Nope, you wiggle the levers in different directions but can’t get it to open.
Artanak	[♠10 + ♥7] “Move over, Rolfward, let an expert do this job! At least it seems the door is not trapped; thanks for checking on that! I have a feeling this won’t be easy”. Artanak is able to use two cards due to their background as a burglar.
FD	Checks 10 + 7 = 17 is higher than the second IQ point of 15, so it is discovered. You listen carefully as you move every lever, putting your ear against the door as you do so. You hear the satisfying clicks of the locking mechanism working inside the heavy door. As you move to the next lever, and the next one, you hear the lock system working until you finally hear the satisfying sound of a heavy door bolt sliding into the door itself. The door smoothly opens an inch or two.
Artanak	“Ha! Told ya an expert was needed for this.”
FD	For future reference, the combination is, from left to right: down, left, down, and right. You might want to write that down!
Artanak	Gotcha.
Lariana	“I think we’re making too much noise!”
Rolfward	“True. Let’s go inside this accursed place and find that stupid device once and for all! I want my money, and I want it soon.”
FD	Sure. What’s the marching order?
Lariana	Rolfward, myself, and Artanak. Sounds good?
FD	Yup. Rolfward, you open the door just enough for you to enter the room, which seems to be lit by a single, lone oil lamp… As soon as you open the door you hear quick rustling sounds moving across the room.
Rolfward	I pull out my hammer!
FD	Are you moving into the doorway?
Rolfward	Yes! I move into the room but stop just to leave enough space for the others to come in.
Lariana	“You’re nuts.”
Rolfward	“I know!”
FD	Rolfward, as you step into the room, you see two lizardfolk that seem to be here acting as guards! As soon as they see you, they growl menacingly and say a few words to each other in their language while drawing their longswords. They are wearing intricate, fancy metal armor over their muscular, scaled bodies, and do not seem intimidated by you at all.
Artanak	“Dammit!”
FD	[♥4] Let’s draw initiative! Hmm… This is not good. Let’s see your cards!
Players	[♣3] Rolfward, [♥6] Lariana, [♣2] Artanak.
FD	Since Lariana played a 6, this means the player group wins intitiative. Well, well… You all start combat! What will you do?
Rolfward	The players discuss among themselves. [♦J] Okay, since I’m already in, I’ll move quickly into the room to free the entrance and will try to perform a disarm move on the nearest lizardfolk; I’ll hit their sword hard!
FD	[♥3] Rolfward, your deftly move in towards the nearest lizardfolk, swinging your hammer at the raised sword, and with a loud clang, the weapon flies away from the surprised guard! He curses in the guttural language of lizardfolk. Since the defense play from the guard was lower than the card played by Rolfward, the disarm move is successful.
Lariana	[♦9] I sweep my hands in front of me, making a circular, swirling movement, then clench my right fist tight in front of my face as I cast hold on the other lizardfolk! For Star of Motion mages, the diamond card suit represents the hold spell, which will keep the target immobile. Since it was played with a number card, the effect lasts 1 combat round.
FD	[♠5] The lizardman opens his eyes wide, as he sees the spectral, blurry energy of the spell hit him and suddenly realizing his world just stopped. He is now immobile like a statue. The lizardfolk’s defense against magic was lower than Lariana’s spell attack, so the hold spell succeeds.
Artanak	Excellent! I will take advantage of this by barging in, dropping the frozen lizardfolk to the ground, and putting my short sword against his throat.
FD	You are able to quickly do as you’ve stated, and now the lizardman is lying on the ground in a very awkward position, sword drawn, on their back, facing the ceiling. [♦9] The lizardman guard that is fighting Rolfward, who got disarmed, bares his fangs in anger, and swings a couple of punches at him, bare-handed!.
Rolfward	[♣Q] I will riposte, and hit back at him, hard! I’ll swing for his head.
FD	The lizardman hits you many times, punching hard, using his claws, making your nose bleed. Blinded by his rage, he fails to notice as you swing your hammer wide and solidly connect against his mandible. He groggily steps back away from you, although he’s still within melee distance. You lost one HP, Rolfward, so discard one of your cards. A player’s card hand also represents their hit points, so Rolfward must get rid of one of his cards, as he lost 1 HP in the lizardfolk’s strike. All unarmed attacks do 1 HP damage. Rolward has the freedom to choose which card to discard.
Rolfward	Does he look hurt?
FD	Yeah, but not mortally so, these guys are pretty hardy. Okay, top of the round!
Artanak	I’ll hold my move until the frozen lizardfolk moves again.
Lariana	[♠6] I cast slow on the fighting lizardfolk. That should make this way easier! The slow spell is represented by the spades suit.
FD	[♣7] You cast the spell and a bolt of magical energy flows from you in the direction of the lizardfolk guard… And it dissipates into thin air! The defending lizardfolk’s play of 7 is higher than Lariana’s 6, so the spell fails.
Lariana	No!
Rolfward	[♦10] This will be rough! But he’s still disarmed, so I strike at him with my hammer once more!
FD	The lizardfolk realizes he will be dead in no time if he doesn’t have his weapon, so he doesn’t defend, and as he dashes away to pick his weapon, you hit him hard in the back, causing him to growl in pain! However, he manages to reach and grab his longsword, quickly turning towards you. The attack by Rolfward, with a number card, causes 1 HP of damage to the lizardfolk. The FD writes it down. Since you’re waiting for the lizardfolk to start moving, Artanak, I will start the lizardfolks’ turn exactly that way. The one that was being kept by the hold spell suddenly starts moving, the unexpected position he’s in causing his sword arm to fall to the side, still gripping the sword though. His yellow eyes quickly dart around then focus on you, Artanak.
Artanak	“Do. Not. Move. Or I’ll slice your neck even before you manage to exhale! Let go of your blade.” [♥J] I intend to threaten and persuade him to give up.
FD	[♣4] The lizardman guard quickly realizes the position he’s in right now. With a sigh, he releases his blade, closing his eyes in frustration. The other lizardman looks undecided, shifting his gaze between his companion and Rolfward.
Lariana	“If you care the slightest bit about your friend, you should drop that damned sword too,” Lariana says as she starts pulling the energy required for another spell, moving her hands about her.
FD	The standing lizardfolk guard realizes it’s useless, lowering his own blade. “You have no idea what you’re getting into,” he says to Lariana in a raspy, deep voice, and a wicked grin crosses his face. In one quick, swift movement, he swings his blade high and throws it at a lever on the side of the room opposite from the door you all came through, about ten feet away from him. The FD determines that hitting that lever with certain accuracy requires a high TS, so it is set to 20. [♥K] The blade hits the intended target with a loud clanging noise, causing the lever to move down. As the guard’s blade rattles on the floor, a previously hidden door by the lever opens with a deep rumble. The lamp light reveals a 15 ft. wide passage that goes sharply down. By playing the K, which has a value of 25, the FD ensured that the lizardfolk hit the lever successfully. A deep, beastly growl can be heard coming from the passageway, becoming louder every second!
Artanak	“Are we being paid enough for this?”