Transient Souls: Solo Actual Play
As part of my playtesting for Transient Souls, I’ve been doing some solo play of the game. I figured I would release some of it as an example of play to give an idea of the feel of the game. Items in italics are in character descriptions, results of rolls have the number rolled listed at the front. Any discussion of game mechanics I try to keep indented slightly from the game itself.
Character Creation
To begin I rolled my character Traits.
For Soul-Linked Traits I rolled: 4-Observant, 3-Power is the ultimate resource, 4-Impulsive
For Physical Traits I rolled: 1-Extrasensory Perception, 1-Enchanted Ring, 6-Noble regalia and an ornate weapon
With these traits in mind I picked a name, Leith, and came up with a short description of the concept I had formed.
Leith is a young noble looking to prove herself by finding Death. An odd turn of genetics has allowed her family to see within the thermal range, thanks to a set of small antennas. She carries a heirloom ring (use to be determined later) and a dueling sword.
With that I was done with character creation and moved on to the first Arc of the game.
Arc 1: Discover Death
Mission: Leith must venture forth and discover the location and death, and reach it.
Challenge 1
Matrix: 6,6-Figures disappear into stone
These matrix rolls are simple, the first d6 chooses the table, and the second the entry on that table. Each arc has a set of 36 prompts and they are crossed off the list as they are rolled. Any repeats are rerolled.
This makes me think of creatures that tunnel through the stone, specifically in a canyon environment. So, Leith is traveling through a canyon and is set upon by tunneling mole creatures.
The challenge is to escape the ambush (trap) these creatures sprung on her.
(2,6-Ornaments and details and smells and sounds)
These descriptors are rolled off the descriptions table, but they can also just be chosen off the arc page.
Leith is walking along the sparse green banks of a river at the bottom of a canyon. She can smell something like freshly turned earth and she can hear rocks crumbling down the sides of the canyon where it narrows ahead. An abandoned raft is caught across the river ahead, creating a pool of deep water in the river. As she nears the space that the canyon narrows, the wall nearby erupts revealing a massive mole creature with a large chunk missing from its star shaped nose. Behind her another mole erupts from the river bank, sandwiching her between them.
Action 1
Oracle: Is it possible that Leith could jump over this thing or is it too big?
I feel too big is probably more likely. I’ll roll the oracle accordingly.
4-Its too big to jump over, Leith will have to do something else.
The oracle is the way to play without the guidance of the GM. The questions are yes or no questions. A likely choice is chosen on a 4 or lower while a result of 5 or 6 means the unlikely choice is picked. If I was of a mind, I could roll again and add the dice onto my result, however a 7 or higher results in a misfortune.
Leith will try and strike the mole with her sword in that weak spot on its nose, to try and get by the one in front of her.
4+3=7 Miss, I’ll mark vitality (1 of 3) and put Leith further in danger
This type of roll is the meat and potatoes of push systems.
A 7 or higher is a Miss, something goes wrong
A 5 or 6 is a Strong Hit. the character succeeds
A 4 or lower is a Weak Hit. I can choose to roll and add another 1d6 to my total, and compare again.
Here you can see I rolled a 4 first, and added a 3 onto it, resulting in a Miss. According to the Arc Page, I mark Vitality and then choose a bad outcome from a short list, in this case putting Leith in danger again.
Leith takes out her sword to try and take a swing at the mole’s nose but her sword barely pierces the scar tissue on the nose. The mole in front manages to get it’s claws into her thigh as she tries to get distance again. As she backs away, the bumps into the mole behind, the gap between adversaries shrinking.
Action 2
I set up that raft thanks to the details and ornaments and I’m going to try and use it. Leith is going to try and cross to the other bank and hoof it.
2+3=5 Strong Hit.
Leith rolls towards the abandoned raft, sprinting across the creaking wood to reach the other side of the river.
Oracle: (just because I want to know) Does the raft detach and move after she crosses?
I think its most likely that it does move.
1-It moves!
Oracle: Is the river enough to keep the moles at bay?
I don’t think a tunneling creature like a mole is going to cross a river so its likely they’re done.
5-They’re not done.
Action 3
Leith sprints a ways down river, the canyon growing quiet as she puts distance between her and the mole creatures. But as she crosses under a natural land bridge further on, the older mole, the one with the scars, bursts from the ground beneath her again, his friend is nowhere to be seen.
Going to try and swipe and run again.
5-Strong hit
This time without the distraction of his friend, and knowing to avoid the nose of the creature, Leith again lunges with her sword and finds purchase in the mole’s eye. Leith withdraws her sword and circles around the mole to put her back on the side she wanted.
Oracle: Animals don’t usually fight to the death, so I’m gonna try the oracle again, likely this old guy will run.
2-Hes done!
The mole shrieks in pain as it reels back towards the safety of it’s tunnel. Its body disappears back into the darkness as Leith quickly continues on her way down river.
One challenge for the first arc down, so I’ll mark a progress box. This doesn’t lead directly into another challenge so I’ll roll on the matrix again.
Challenge 2
Matrix: 5, 3-Clouds of light gather above
So, lightning strikes? Yea, lightning strikes. The canyon is suddenly beset by a freak lightning storm that lights the sky.
The challenge will be to get through the storm without being struck (endurance).
(2,1-Smells and sounds and 5,1-Materials and texture)
As Leith continues down the canyon she feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Clouds quickly roll in covering the sky. The smell of ozone arrives as lightning begins to arc erratically from the clouds to the ground in great crashes.
Action 1
Leith is impulsive, so odds are she’d probably be more likely to run through the storm rather than hunker down and ride it out. She’s observant so she probably spotted a place she was heading to, lets say a cavern or something further on. So she just has to manage to get a bit further down river without being hit.
(I could roll on the oracle to decide if there is a cavern to dive into, but I’m choosing not to, its a canyon, it seems safe to have a cave or two to me)
4-Weak hit, so she makes progress, but I think the inconvenient truth of the water that goes with this thunder is gonna flood that river.
Leith sprints off towards the cavern opening she spotted earlier. Each crash of lighting makes her ears ring and blinds her for a split second as she runs. The ringing prevents her from hearing the rumbling of the rushing waters coming after her down the canyon. As she continues her boots begin to get sodden as the water quickly rises from its banks to cover the canyon bottom.
Oracle: Are we there yet?
Probably not it was a weak hit
2-Not yet.
Action 2
As the rains bring the water level up, Leith is going to try and ride the tide down and into the cave she spotted. This could go poorly, but I’ve been forgetting to ask myself if any traits would be helpful and you know, I think allowing the current to take you is a pretty impulsive plan. So I’m gonna take the 2d6 advantage.
5,6-Strong hit. Of course I remember and don’t even need it.
Leith lays back into the water as it grows higher, allowing the current to sweep her down stream. She manages to swim into the cave mouth just in time, her antenna allowing her to see within the darkness inside.
Oracle: Is the freak storm done?
It likely won’t continue to affect us in the cavern.
2-The storm passes
Second challenge down. Again, this doesn’t directly lead into another challenge so I’ll roll again.
Challenge 3
Matrix: 4,3-Old spires soar upwards
This makes me think Leith has stumbled into some ancient structures within a massive cavern. The materials of the spires and what exactly the challenge is, I’m not sure, but I’m going to try and push it outside the box so that I can hit that “venture into somewhere indescribable” goal on the agenda.
The challenge is going to be to negotiate her way through this underground civilization to get further into the caverns.
(5,6-Actions and movement, 1,2-colors and sights, 2,6-ornaments and details)
Why a third? I felt like it, thats all
The water washes Leith into a deep basin of stagnant water within the cavern. While she hasn’t lit her own light source yet, her antenna tell her that in the distance there are man-made structures. Twisted spires rise up from the cavern floor and reach to the ceiling. Hundreds of floors of construction are jumbled into towers and clusters at the center of the cavern. A glowing orange ball of energy swirls slowly in the center of the towers, its light giving the structures a strange red appearance.
As Leith watches she spots movement within the structures, something walking about, many hundreds of things walking about.
I’ve left the “things” vague to decide later on. I’m pretty sure towers of structures around a weird glowy ball is “indescribable” I’mma count it anyway. Goal get.
Oracle Series: I’m not sure what the things are though, they’re something to be negotiated with, lets start with a simple question. Do Leith and these things share a language?
I’m gonna say its likely they do.
1-They do.
A+ so we at least know these creatures speak the same language as Leith.
Are they monstrous?
I think it’s likely they are, they live within a cavern around a glowy ball.
5-They’re not monstrous
Are they like a star trek alien situation?
I think its likely they are seeing as they’re not monstrous.
5-They’re not.
Okay, okay were getting a lot of no’s so I’m going to make some decisions. I’m gonna say they’re some sort of energy based race and a collective at that. The ball at the center is compelled to construct things and the smaller things are offshoots of its energy that do its bidding. It likely speaks the same language as Leith because it has some form of telepathic communication.
Alright, one last description of the scene and then we’ll get to the actions.
Leith approaches the base of one of the outermost towers. There are several of the creatures she saw from afar working on the base of a new tower, laying stones and putting mortar down. They are primarily orange light, though eyes and appendages of small pebbles move about within their bodies.
As Leith gets close, one of the creatures turns, then the rest all at once, to face her. An ethereal voice in her head says, “Why do you tread on the grand construction?”
Action 1
Obviously, Leith just needs to convince these guys that she won’t destroy what they’ve made here, but she believes power is the ultimate resource so thats gonna be difficult for her to give up. She can’t act as though these creatures are better than her, they’re not.
“My destination is beyond your construction. I will be passing through.” Leith says continuing to walk forward towards the towers.
4+5=9 Miss, I’ll mark vitality (2 of 3) and escalate the situation, now these creatures are actively blocking her path and she’s harmed herself in some way
As she moved forward four of the creatures broke off from their endeavor to block her path. “There is no crossing of the exalted construction.” As Leith attempted to just move through the group of them, one stepped directly in her way, pushing her back and burning her arm in the process.
Action 2
Impulsive nature butting in again, why not just run around these guys and see what happens?
Leith makes a decision and darts around to the side, trying to out pace these creatures as she heads around the edge of the adjacent towers.
2+1+6=9 Miss, I’ll mark vitality (3 of 3) so, death, yay!
Wow Leith vs energy guys is just not going well. Lets get through death and see where we are.
Death
Okay so I clear vitality (so back to 0 of 3). I reroll my soul-linked Traits (6-Enthusiastic, 4-Promises must not be broken, 5-Insomniac). I mark Fate and take the Nudge ability, which will let me adjust a result by 1 either way once per session. Finally I mark Doom (1 of 6). I also describe the death.
As Leith circles around the side of the tower, she is greeted with a wall of these energy creatures that trap her and slowly smother her into the ground. As she is burned to unconsciousness, she realizes the folly of thinking these creatures ignorant and she wonders if her family will ever hear of these events.
I’ve made the choice that people know how this new version of death works. Leith isn’t worried that her family will hear of her death, just that she might get roasted for the manner of her death in the future. I’ve also made the choice that death doesn’t remove entire memories, it could be fun to do that with a group, but really breaks things solo, so we’ll let Leith keep her memories.
I don’t think that this death bypasses this challenge, nor does it cancel it. These creatures are likely just going to leave her there. But maybe I should ask the Oracle.
Oracle: Will the creatures leave Leith where she is?
Its likely they will.
1-They do.
Action 3
Awakening on the damp cavern floor, Leith realizes her mistakes and decides to try and sneak her way through this labyrinth of spires.
6-Strong Hit, look at Leith, learning from mistakes.
Leith gathers herself and picks her way slowly through the stone structures. Several times she hides in the darkened doorways as orange lights get close. Over the course of hours she manages to pick her way across the spires.
Oracle: Is Leith done here?
I don’t think its likely she gets this done in one sneak session.
5-Hey, shes done!
As Leith finds her way through the last few spires shes spots a path ahead.
Challenge 3 down. One more to go in this Arc.
Challenge 4
Matrix: 4, 1-Into the Bone Walks
This implies some type of catacombs or perhaps a bridge made of a massive spinal column or both. The temptation to have Leith fight some skeletons is high, but I’m going to try a puzzle instead.
Theres a blockage on Leith’s path forward and she must figure out how to open the path.
(6, 1-Materials and texture, 3,3-People and creatures, 3,5-Mood and atmosphere)
Cautiously heading down a staircase beyond the stone spires, Leith finds herself entering a complex of catacombs. The dirt beneath her boots crunches in the silence of the dead. Ahead a dull blue glow highlights a turn in the tunnels and casts long strange shadows on the bone lined walls.
At the corner she finds an open chamber, lined in stained bone mosaics depicting the cycle of life. A dark creature with a skull hanging over bright blue eyes is perched over a door. The door has two unlit braziers built into its jamb. The creature speaks in a distorted voice, “The fires must be lit, their power must be provided.” It then continues to stare out with its eyes.
Action 1
This puzzle is just going to be a “find the fires and light them” situation. So for the first fire lets ask the Oracle some questions.
Oracle: Is the first fire within the catacombs?
I think its likely that it is.
1-It is.
Is there a physical barrier to lighting it?
Again, its likely.
5-Theres not.
Is the barrier psychological? (Implication being if its not this then there’s no barrier)
I’m going to say this is likely, since the other was a no.
3-It is.
Okay so the fire is easy to find in the catacombs, but something psychological is going to block the way to light it. Since Leiths current belief is that “Promises must not be broken.” I think we’ll have something to do with a time she broke her word.
As Leith heads from the door chamber and further into the catacombs in search of these fires she continues to be shadowed by more of these shadow creatures wearing skull masks. Soon they start mimicking voices and sounds, eventually settling into voices she recognizes of those who died before death was broken.
Leith ignores the voices, finally spotting a large unlit brazier in the center of the room ahead. However as she opens her pack to find a tinder box she hears the voice of a friend saying, “Leith, you said you wouldn’t leave me.: The voice seemed to come from no where, then from the tinderbox itself, “You left me in the cold ground, Leith. In the ground to be forgotten!” Her friend died many years ago in an accident.
“What no, you’re dead. I didn’t leave you.” Leith yells into the void before gathering herself.
Lets see if Leith can pull it together.
1+1+1+1=4 Weak Hit, I’m gonna say that while she gets the fire lit, she manages to burn herself trying to do it quickly to leave the space and stop hearing her dead friend. I’ll mark vitality (1 of 3)
Leith tries to focus on the acts of lighting the brazier while the voices, now all her friend’s sing a chorus of her failures. And as the fire sparks and catches the oil on the brazier, the flames lick up her arm, burning her hand and arm badly.
Action 2
Oracle: Is it a physical barrier?
Again, its likely.
2-It is!
Is the barrier a spinal column bridge?
I want it to be.
5-of course its not.
Its a cliff then, with bones at the bottom that are somewhat like spikes. Leith is going to try and climb down and I think having thermal vision will help here, since she wont need a light source to climb down safely.
4-I’m going to Nudge that up to a 5 to be a Strong Hit.
Leith clambers down a steep bone wall and up a tiny plinth to reach the second brazier and carefully brings its fire to life, glad for the respite from the insistent voices above.
I don’t think I’m going to roll, we’re done with this challenge.
Leith returns to the door chamber, finding the skull masked creature gone and the door standing ajar.
And with that we’ve done the four challenges related to the first arc of the game. To continue I would pull out the second arc page and then continue play with that arc page. The second arc has a new matrix to roll on and requires more challenges to complete.
I would also take a moment between arcs to assess the agenda and take any new traits that the group should receive. In this case Leith would get one new trait. I would likely give her something related to the catacombs like “Magic Infused Bone” or something.
