WindStruck Solo D.A.R.Y.L scenario

[jakarta]

GM reserve.



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WindStruck said:

3.5 is my preference.

Hm, so with 1/2 a hit die, I guess that that will make a grand total of 1 HP.

Try hard mode engaged!


Edit:. Just a distinction from DARYL: they won't be a robot. I just had extensive genetic engineering in mind. And we're probably looking at a child that's 6 years old, not even 10!


Double edit: or maybe from one perspective you could say they were made like a robot or with them. Still all 100% organic and probably almost impossible to tell from an ordinary human unless you analyze their DNA.

Now that I'm thinking about it more, the scientists were probably showcasing all the things the can modify. But let's not go crazy here. No one wants to buy a child with four arms and seven toes! We could say the child has green hair and some other outrageous eye color, like.... bright orange?

[jakarta]

Let's set the physical age/size to about 8-10. The chronological age is more of a question.

Cosmetics can be up to you. Like the skin can be light, dark, striped, camo pattern...

How do you want to handle gender? Boy, Girl, or genderless (apparently female in pre-pubescent state)? The sex of the character won't be important in the early stages of the scenario. It is really player preference.

At some points I will present a question in the form of a challenge. How the character attempts to handle the situation will determine an aspect of the character stats. Like how some computer games handle character creation.

[jakarta]

IC:

The green light has come on. That is odd. Usually it is the white light above you when you are awake.

But it is nice to have some light.

It seems like a long time since the lights came on. Since the big shake happened. It knocked you out of your bed.

You were waiting for the headache to pass so you could do your next test. That is usually just a short nap with the light on.

But when the big shake happened you fell to the floor in your room and the light went out.

No one came to take you to the test. No one has brought food.
The water still comes from the sink, but you are hungry. It feels like you have missed many meals.

You see your bunk with the blanket.

You see the sink and toilet. They still work. She cleaning shell works too (Demolition Man). Your hygiene kit is on the little shelf above the sink. The little drinking cup is there too.

You see the stool and small table where you eat. Your mess kit and water bottle are on the table.

You see the door. The little window in it is closed from the outside.

You feel like you need to leave.

In the dim green light you can see your designation on your arm. What is it? (the code they use for your name)

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Oops. IC went up as I was posting. Response to that incoming.

Probably in the tubes to the side you may see some bald ones that look male with camo patterned skin, or another one that appears female with an odd mix of facial features and strange skin tone like a Smurf. But this child is definitely female, and looks relatively normal, save for her green hair and orange irises. Otherwise she appears Caucasian.

Challenges to increase skills and stats sounds cool. Just try not to make it super obvious when that is the case!

By the way, I'm going to be trying to take this blank slate idea seriously, so don't be too harsh if I neglect objects like books, don't know what buttons/switches are, or ignore that exit sign and get into more danger.

But of course, the child is supposed to be super smart and observant. So she may eventually learn.

edit:

I see. So not waking up from some kind of vat matix style. We're living more like in a prison/confined environment, and it appears we have a bit of familiarity with some objects and practices. Ok.

[WindStruck]

The big shake was loud and scary. After it, I had to grope around in the darkness just to find my bed again. It was especially hard getting a drink of water or using the toilet, but slowly and very carefully, I managed without breaking anything or hurting myself. After all, I knew this room well.

When the green light came on I grew hopeful. Looking down, I noticed the strange marks on my wrist. It was like an anomalous discoloration in my skin with a distinctive pattern. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but it said SAGE.

(Super Accelerated Genetic Enhancement)

[jakarta]

OC: Add a number or alphanumeric to the SAGE, please. Your specimen number.

IC:

You remember the confusion of your birth. Being wet and cold. The warming towels. Not understanding anything, or knowing that you needed to understand.

Then they put something in your mouth, and your head hurt and you fell asleep. When you woke up you understood that you could eat and crawl. Still, you nearly died the first few times you tried to eat.

After some more glowing pills were fed to you, you learned to walk, use a mess kits, use the toilet, how to clean up when you throw up using the rag and bucket.

The larger pills made you stronger and more steady. You sleep for a long time after those.

Other pills make you know things for a little while. Long enough to do some test.
Some make you faster for a while.

You have seen your reflection sometimes.
You have seen others like you. Some floating in tubes. Some walking around. Sometimes they have one doing the the same test you are doing.

The tests are sometimes trying to arrange blocks in a pattern. Sometimes moving across a room with things in the way.

The bigger people either wear black, white, or green. The black ones just watch. The green ones do the tests where you have to move. The white ones watch the moving tests, and do the tests with the small blocks.

You were going to do a test soon. You took a pill. But the shake happened.

You feel like you should leave, but the door is closed. You have never opened it from the inside. They always open it.

How do you get out?

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Ok, let's make it....

SAGE (3d6-2)[11]

At first I just wait for a while, expecting someone to come in and get me. (She wouldn't know how long, but it was a good 20-30 minutes).

But after nothing happened, and there was still nothing but silence, the feeling that I should leave lingered, and grew. Maybe this was one of those tests?

I stand up, and slowly, I approach the door. I stare blankly at it for a while, my mind.. not registering much at all. Perhaps, it was trying to think, to come up with something to do on its own for the first time. Having never paid much attention to it before, I scrutinized the door, and did not seem to see anything out of the ordinary upon it, save for the small window and... (perhaps a handle?).

[jakarta]

There is a handle with a thumb button. There is a small gap on the side of the door with the handle. You can see the bolt.

The door opens outward from your room.

There is a square on the wall by the door with 3 buttons on it. You have never touched it. You have a memory that you shouldn't. Like the memory that you shouldn't put your head in the toilet.

[jakarta]

oc: The timing from the shake to the green lights coming on is more like 3 days.

[WindStruck]

Initially, I try experimentally pushing on the door a bit. After all, it was supposed to move that way, wasn't it?

Then I remember that lots of times, the men in green or white usually touched and manipulated the handle on doors like these. I try to twist the handle like they did.

I don't ever touch that square. I feel like something terrible will happen if I do.

[jakarta]

https://images.app.goo.gl/Twb5b9tQwW3gYKHw7

Like this, but more industrial looking.
It isn't a Jurassic Park type. Some of the other doors in the lab are like that though.

A gentle push does nothing.

The thumb button will go down slightly and spring back when released.

Are you going to try to force the door?

[WindStruck]

Are you going to try to force the door?

(Nope. In that case, if the handle looks like THAT...)

Still, I try imitating what the other men did. They placed their biggest finger, called the thumb, on the button and pressed down. At the same time, they pushed the door.

I try that, awkwardly, perhaps not realizing the timing needed. (But eventually Sage should get it right, assuming the door isn't actually locked).

[jakarta]

That doesn't seem to work. (She doesn't understand that it is locked, as she hasn't encountered the concept before)

[WindStruck]

The door wasn't opening... Why not? Something was different (obviously). I just didn't know what.

Remembering the window, which was another odd feature of the door, I try to take a closer look at it. Standing on my toes didn't really help much.

I look about my room and remember the stool. I had a memory, that I should not climb on it.. I could fall and hurt myself. But... I drag it over to the door, anyway. Taking hold of the door handle, I use it to help me get on top of the stool as carefully as I can. Shakily, I stand, a sense of dread slowly washing over me. I try to examine or look out the window while I still can.

(But it's closed and no way to open it from here, right?)

[jakarta]

Looking at the window you find one if those clear barriers. This one has a black diamond pattern of thin black lines. The lines seem to be in the barrier instead of on it. The surface is smooth.

The covering on the outside of the window is behind the clear stuff.

[jakarta]

https://images.app.goo.gl/Uj83jYKs21RjaHHC9

[WindStruck]

(Can Sage see anything outside the door? Edit: or maybe that's the covering you speak of, blocking sight through the window?)

[jakarta]

No. Just the cover panel over the window.

[WindStruck]

Having not learned anything new, I now had the task of getting off the stool before something bad happened to me. Carefully I bend my knees, lowering myself. Hanging onto the door handle for dear life, I manage to extend a leg out, a foot only a mere few inches away from the floor. I make the leap with much anxiety, but find myself unharmed.

(So the climb really shouldn't have been dangerous, I think the memory in her head just said it would be.)

After I get down, I am back where I started. It seemed the door will not open. What do I do now..?

Remembering that I have some dim light, I head over to the sink and use my grooming kit, at least. I wasn't able to properly use it for the longest time because I couldn't see. After that, I sit down on my bed for a bit.

I was so hungry, I didn't feel well. I was not sure if anyone would be coming, anymore. I still felt like I needed to leave, but... how??

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Well, with no knowledges, no skill ranks, and just about zero practical life skills, I think I'm stuck.

Of course, if I was trapped in such a room, I might consider taking small parts from the grooming kit and trying to fiddle with the bolt in the door... But I don't think this child is doing that yet. Maybe I could also consider attempting to break down the door, but she wouldn't. I think she's so small and weak, it's impossible anyway...

So I guess I'm stuck. Are there any other unnatural thoughts, planted in her mind, which may surface and be helpful? Or will something or someone eventually let her out?

[jakarta]

: DM face palm:

"At some points I will present a question in the form of a challenge. How the character attempts to handle the situation will determine an aspect of the character stats. Like how some computer games handle character creation."

Hint:

So...
Are you jimying the bolt with your nail file for the INT boost, or bashing the door for the STG boost, or....?

Ic,: After a while you start getting hungry and desperate enough to try again.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: ooc

Show

The issue I'm trying to express is that I wouldn't think either of those actions is in character. If she doesn't understand the concept of doors being locked, how would she get it into her mind that not only is this the reason that the door won't open, but the way to make it open is to fiddle around with some piece of metal she has never really seen or interacted with before - which I might add she can only see a sliver of through a crack - and use a nail file in a manner she has never used it for before?

Well, I'll try to make it work. I'll go with the nail file route. Sorry if I'm being so obtuse. I'm trying not to metagame. But.. for a genetically super-genius child, she should probably be able to figure things out, right?

Something was definitely wrong. No one was coming. What would happen if I could not have anything to eat? I... somehow knew that would be very bad.

I go back over to the door, desperate to make it open, seeing if there was some detail I missed. When experimenting with trying to pull or push it open, I noticed that the door seems to budge perhaps a millimeter either way before stopping. I go back and forth, over and over, looking it all over. Eventually I notice the bolt, which seems to move with the door. Only it stops too. The sound and vibrations seem to emanate from that bolt, as if that is the thing that is hitting against something. I'm not entirely sure, but I think this is why the door won't open.

I know just by looking at the crack that my fingers will not come close to fitting in there. But having just used my grooming kit, I was reminded that there was something very thin inside that might fit. Retrieving the nail file, I try sliding it in the crack and push it against the bolt in the door, this way and that. I hope this does something...

[jakarta]

After experimenting with the bolt for a few minutes...Click.

The door opens slightly ...

Ooc: I'm from Georgia and I stayed up late to see the news updates. Bed time now.

I'll give a description of the hallway tomorrow. Too sleepy to type now.
Maybe you should describe preparations for leaving the room?

Btw, you are wearing a pink t shirt and sweat pants.

[WindStruck]

When the door opens, I get a strange feeling. Later, upon thinking on it again, one might have describe those feelings as relief? And maybe accomplishment?

In terms of preparation, there was not much. I put the nail file back where it belongs out of habit, so it won't be lost, and I put my stool back near my table. Because where else would it belong? Then, I decide to open the door and see what lies beyond...

Spoiler: ooc

Show

For now kind of being stupid and not taking anything, but if/when it becomes apparent that no one's around, and that this isn't some "test", and if I have to go back to try getting something else I need, then it would probably be natural to think "hey, I should bring some of these objects with me".

At this rate the nail file looks like the most useful item. Not sure how much use a tooth brush or comb is going to be. Toothpaste as lubricant? Or to make a monster slip? Hmm...

[jakarta]

The odor that greets you is like burnt vomit.

The hallway is lit by the green lights.

When you step into the hall, with a klank-Click the white lights for 20 foot around your door come on.

The hall is 20 ft wide and 10 ft tall. Above your door is your number stenciled in black. Your room is on the East side of the hall.

You know there are 12 doors in the hall, 6 on each side. To the south is the bathing area. To the north is the rest of the complex.

On the floor are two large black splotches. Looking closer at them, around the edges are remnants of white cloth with black edges on the ...Inward side going into the black splotch.

[jakarta]

Book keeping: +1 lock picking, +1 CHA. Set HP to 6.
That last pill you took must have been a intelligence booster. Add + 1d12 to INT based checks.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I finally created a sheet.

If you don't mind, since the child's apparent age is more than I initially thought, I bumped the strength up by 2 points. We're still sitting at 5 str, so still pretty weak.

Added the bookkeeping work onto it. I should be able to take care of this from now on.

The smell is revolting, and makes me feel a bit worse, but I should really press on. At least it's not like I had anything in my stomach to throw up...

Looking around at the immediate environment outside, I notice the black splotches. If I had to guess, maybe that white cloth is the same kind of cloth the men in the white coats were wearing? Something tells me it's not an important question to answer right now, and investigating further, such as touching the splotches, was probably a bad idea. The worsening smell was a strong enough indicator of this.

Logic would say... whatever I'm seeking, such as food or another person will most likely be to the north, to the rest of the complex. So I head that direction.

[jakarta]

You start to head north.
After a step the next section of overhead lighting comes on white.

Roll 3 spot checks.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: rolls

Show

spot 1: (1d20+1)[12]
spot 2: (1d20+1)[21]
spot 3: (1d20+1)[7]

[jakarta]

The light comes on, and you notice another splotch. This one is also ringed in remnants of white cloth. You see something glittering from an intact pocket.

There is one of those things they are always scribbling on near the pocket.

[WindStruck]

If I don't have to actually touch the icky substance of whatever the black splotch is, I try picking up the glittery thing, and the scribbly thing they write on.

I peer around the area again, just in case someone came out of nowhere, observing me, scribbling as they always do or.. worse.

(Assuming no one's really there and nothing much happens) I take a closer look at these objects I just picked up, for the first time in my hands.