Episode 48

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Published on:

3rd Jul 2023

Lonely TTRPG EP 48 - Nexalis by Cezar Capacle

Nexalis is an otherworldly realm where islands drift amidst an endless cosmic ocean of magical plasma, the Nectar. The Nectar, pulsing with vibrant, ever-shifting colors, mirrors the celestial patterns that guide adventurers on their thrilling journeys. At the heart of this sea lies the Celestial Nexus, an entrancing vortex of astral energy that births islands and renews the world in a constant cycle of creation.

As you journey through the Starbound Isles and the shimmering Nectar ocean, you will encounter vibrant cultures, awe-inspiring landscapes, ancient relics, and enigmatic secrets. Guided by celestial constellations, you will brave untold challenges, learn valuable lessons, and forge lasting bonds with the people and places you encounter.

Thoughts: This is a beautiful game with a fun and engaging game loop. The exploration is well done and the way it handles challenges, contests, and combat is great.

You can back Nexalis at https://crowdfundr.com/nexalisrpg?ref=ab_29nxknFlwUO29nxknFlwUO

Find our merch at https://my-store-d24802.creator-spring.com/

Find our games here at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/20990/Black-Dragon-Dungeon-Company.php?affiliate_id=3362048

BDDC logo by https://www.instagram.com/craftyteapotfox/

You can find us on Twitter @bddc_pod or Tumblr @bddc-pod

You can support us on Patreon https://patreon.com/blackdragondungeoncompany for early releases and exclusive content.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Transcript
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Greetings, weary wanderer and welcome back to

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another edition of Lonely TTRPG..

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I am your host Steel Stash, and this week we are playing Nexalis by Cezar Capacle..

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Now this is exciting because I have been wanting to play one of Cezar's games for

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a while, and I have the opportunity to review this amazing looking game that

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is getting ready to go into Kickstarter.

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That's actually in a Kickstarter right now.

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So for a quick overview, we are the drifters, the explorers of

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Nexalis and we traverse the star bound isles guided by the celestial

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constellations on the nectar's surface.

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We chart a course through the unknown, seeking the wonders that lie hidden

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within this vast enigmatic world.

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So Nexalis is a exploration game where we are sailors traveling on

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the nectar, which is the lifeblood, connecting the small isolated islands

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and dealing with the various issues and problems that we find there.

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This is a game about exploration and growth in a mesmerizing

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and ever evolving world.

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As we journey through the star bound isles and the shimmery nectar ocean, we will

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encounter vibrant cultures, awe-inspiring landscapes, relics, and enigmatic secrets

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guided by celestial constellations.

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We will have braved untold challenges, learned valuable lessons, and

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forge lasting bonds with the players and places we encounter.

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Some of the inspirations for this game are c4, agon, iron

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sworn, and blades in the dark.

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So for a quick overview of how this is gonna work this game uses

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playbooks for the characters.

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You then customize your character based on some base information.

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Create our first island and mission, face challenges and trials on that island.

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Embark on our journey to the next island and reflect on our

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experiences as we recover in advance, and then start over all again

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to play.

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This is a one to six player game.

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So yes, this is a solo game.

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This has everything you need for solo, but it can be a group experience if

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for some reason you have friends.

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We don't have friends here, which is why we're playing solo.

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You're gonna need at least two six-sided dice a copy of your playbook

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for each player, access to the random tables, optionally, some maps for

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your islands, and something for note taking and writing down your quest.

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Now remember to play it safe.

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They recommend script change by Bo Jaar Sheldon.

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But feel free to use whatever you need in order to maintain

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safety for yourself and your crew

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for character creation, you have six options.

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You have the wild heart embodying the untamed spirit of nature.

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The blade sworn, which are the valiant champions of honor, the spell

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weaver, master of arcane secrets, the path strider, nimble and elusive.

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The night stalker, silent as a shadow and cunning as a fox and

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the thunder soul, unleashing a storm of fury and destruction.

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Four.

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Your playbooks.

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Your playbooks are broken up into six parts.

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First of all, you have your ways, which are your preferred approaches.

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These are equivalent to your stats.

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You have your goals, your talents, which are your abilities and moves,

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relics, which are weapons and artifacts that can upgrade your powers, and

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then health and energy points for the ways you have, the way of fire,

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the way of ice, the way of light, the way of shadow, the way of stone, the

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way of wind, and the way of ether.

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Now these all act pretty much as you think they would.

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Fire is passion and bravery used for intimidation and fighting.

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Ice is focus and precision.

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That's your willpower.

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Light is knowledge and reasoning.

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This is gonna be your thinking, planning, that sort of thing.

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Shadow is stealth and cunning.

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This is going to be your thievery, sneaking, that type stone strength

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and endurance, your physical power, wind, finesse, speed and agility.

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So your ability to leap and run and do all of that.

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And then ather is the essence of connection, empathy, and spirituality.

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And that's your sociability expression and magic.

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So, Each of your playbooks are gonna have certain ways that they attune to more.

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But when creating your character, you will have four additional points

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to divvy up however you see fit

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for your goals.

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Those represent your long-term aspirations or dreams.

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So what you're trying to get out of with this character

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talents are your unique abilities.

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Each playbook is gonna have its own collection of talents.

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Select three, and these talents are fueled by energy points.

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The standard energy point cost for each talent is indicated in

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parentheses following its name.

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If you wanna perform a weaker or stronger version of the talent, you can adjust the.

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Energy point, cost as needed.

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Be mindful not to overuse or become too focused on this.

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Option

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effects can range from those with clear mechanical impacts, such as

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granting a plus two bonus to a single roll to those that are purposefully

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left open to interpretation.

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The breadth of the effect, duration range, and potential bonuses for you and your

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allies might not be explicitly defined.

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The ambiguity is by design, inviting you to shape awe-inspiring

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moments within the narrative.

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What could heighten the drama or intensity of this scene is the proposed effect, a

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fair trade-off for its cost fitting within your collective version of the world.

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Trust your instincts.

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One in doubt.

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A plus two for a pertinent action is a reliable fallback.

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If you're feeling particularly audacious or random, by all means, ask the

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oracle about the scope of your talent.

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Again, relics are going to be your weapons in Army.

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All right?

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It's assumed your character has everything they need to go on a

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mission adventuring gear, provisions, money, even basic weapons in armor.

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However, each playbook has access to special equipment that can grant you

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an edge under specific circumstances.

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These are relics, and they can be weapons, armor, or other artifacts,

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and you will get to choose two from your playbook when you start out.

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Finally, you have health and energy points as your two essential resources

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that represent your vitality and power.

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Each playbook is going to have their own breakdown of that, so we're not

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gonna go too in depth on that here.

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Now for the basic rules, adversities represent all the

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difficult things that stand in your way to accomplish the mission.

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They serve as obstacles to test your skills wit and endurance.

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And there are three main types, challenges, contests and combats.

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Challenges can usually be solved in a single role and have a challenge

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rating from as low as four being.

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You can reasonably expect to beat those challenges in a single action

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up to 10 or more, which is when you're gonna have to spend more

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actions to overcome the challenges.

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Okay.

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Contests are gonna be things like chases, competitions, debates,

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non-lethal duals and negotiations.

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And the difficulty of the contest is going to be determined by

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your opponent's skill level.

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So a skill level zero is an easy opponent or an easier opponent.

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Plus two is standard plus four will be a worthy opponent, plus

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six, a formidable opponent.

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And of course, because we have a six point scale, if you're not sure, roll a D six.

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See what you get.

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Combat is when both sides are willing to inflict harm upon another.

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Combat Difficulty is defined by two factors, your enemy, skill

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level, and their health points.

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As with contest, skill levels typically range from zero to six with

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two being the most common, while HP generally falls between four and 14,

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with seven being the most common.

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In addition, enemies may possess unique powers that activate when

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they roll on a six on an attack.

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Powers do not need explicit mechanical effects.

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You can come up with descriptions and interpret and integrate it into your

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scene when it is activated, you can express the manifestation of their

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powers as bonuses and penalties for dye roles or as changes in HP and ep.

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But feel free to get creative with diverse narrative effect.

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So when you enter combat, you must first define the skill level,

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hit points and power of each of your enemies individually.

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If you prefer, you can roll dice to get random hip points with

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a one D six for weaker enemies, up to four D six for bosses.

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If you need inspiration to create adversities, you can check the Oracles

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for challenge contests and combat to provide ready-made entries that you can

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use as is or customized to your needs.

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A word I'm balancing when coming up with stats for an A, an adversity do not

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worry about balance or making it fair.

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You should decide the values based on how interested you are in overcoming them.

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So don't stress the balance.

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Just come up with something interesting and everything will work out from there.

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Now for your rolls, everything's gonna pretty much work out the same way.

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You are going to declare your action.

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You're going to decide the way that you're going to use, way a fire,

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ice, light, dark, , all of that, and then you're going to roll some

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dice and add your chosen way score.

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Then if you beat whatever the number is, you succeed on that thing.

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If not, then we're gonna talk about that a little bit.

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So for challenges, declare your action.

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Decide your way, roll one D six, and add your way score.

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If your role is equal to or higher than the challenge rating for the

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challenge you have, overcome it.

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Move on to the next challenge.

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If the score is lower, then you can either advance towards your goal by reducing

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the CR by one and narrating your progress.

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Change something about the scene, introducing a complication, cost

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and setback, and keep trying.

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Or if it doesn't make sense, narrate your failure and choose

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another action to go next.

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so for example, you are trying to pick a lock.

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The lock has a challenge rating of nine.

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You do not meet that challenge rating, so you decide, hey,

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I'm going to reduce it by one.

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But to add some tension, it triggered a trap.

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And now that there is gas pouring into the chamber that you're in, so

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you attempt to pick the lock once again and manage to succeed opening

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the door and escaping the gas.

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Now, for contest contests are a little bit different because with contests, you

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are opposing someone or something else.

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So first you need to set your contest score, all right?

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And your contest score is typically gonna start out at zero unless one

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side or another has the advantage.

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So if you have an advantage over the other side, then you would add like

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a plus one or a plus two, depending how strong your advantage is.

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If the opponent has the advantage, then you would have a minus one or

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minus two to your contest score.

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Now after you set your contest score, you need to know what your

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skill level of your opponent is.

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Again, this can be from zero to six.

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Now, like everything else, you are going to decide what you're

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gonna do and you're going to act.

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So you're going to declare your action.

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You're gonna choose what way you're using, and then you're gonna roll two D six.

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The first D six is gonna be your role, and you're going to

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add your weight score to that.

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The second D six is going to be whatever the opponent is, and you'll

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add their skill level to that.

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If you rolled higher than your opponent, take the difference

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and add it to the contest score.

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If you rolled lower than your opponent, take the difference and

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subtract it from the contest score.

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Whoever gets to six first wins the contest.

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So if you get to positive six first, then you win.

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If you get to negative six, then the opponent wins

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and you have whatever consequences there are for that.

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Now, combat is going to work very similar to a contest.

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Again, you are fighting against somebody else, but you're inflicting harm.

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So to start off with combat, you have your initiative, you're gonna roll two D six.

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The first one will be yours.

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The second one will be the enemies.

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Whoever rolled higher gets to attack first.

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Now attacking is gonna work very similar to contests.

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You need an enemy skill level.

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You're gonna roll two D six.

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Declare your action and way.

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Add your way.

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Score to the first D six.

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Add the skill level to the second D six.

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If your attack is higher than the enemy's defense, all right?

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If your die is higher than the enemy's die, subtract the difference from their

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hp, then choose an enemy to go next.

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If your attack is lower, then choose one of the following.

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Either the enemy dodges, Perry's, or ignores your attack and then they

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get to go next, or they avoid your attack and deal you a counter blow.

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Subtract the difference from your current hp, but you get to go next.

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So if you're attacking and you roll a four and they roll a five, you can say

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that you receive one point in damage as a counter blow, but you get to go again.

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You get to go next again.

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When defending, it's gonna work the same way.

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Okay.

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Declare a action for defense.

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Choose a way.

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Roll two D six one for you.

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One for the enemy.

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If your defense is lower than the enemy attack, subtract the

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difference from your HP and go next.

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If it is higher, you can either choose to ignore the attack in some way and

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go next, or you can deal a counter blow, but the enemy gets to go next.

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Now, if the enemy rolls a six, they also activate their power if they have one.

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And combat ends when either side reaches zero, hp.

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Now, if the player reaches zero HP, then they have to face death.

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So if your character drops a zero HP or lower, they have to face death.

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Your soul is transported to the spirit realm where you need to win

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a contest against death itself.

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First, you're gonna frame the scene describing how you envision the

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spirit realm, the personification of death, and the contrast.

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You'll have to win in order to get back to the living world.

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You'll play out this contest against death as per the contest

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roll rules with some minor tweaks.

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First of all, death skill level is equal to how many times

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you have faced death before.

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So if this is your first time, it's going to be plus zero.

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However, if it is your third time facing death, death skill level will

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be plus two and so on and so forth.

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And your initial contest score is gonna be equal to your current hp.

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So if you got hit for a whopping minus three to your hp, the contest score

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is going to start out at minus three.

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Now, one bright side is you are in the spirit world, so you don't have

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to worry about losing any more hp.

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However, your energy points will work as normal.

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But if you win your contest, you will jump back into the action

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with half your maximum hp.

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If you lose, you die, and your soul is taken

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in the place where your lifeless body.

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Once lay a relic from the spirit realm materializes, describe what it is.

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Your allies may keep it.

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Now a few final notes on rolls.

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All right, for the player, if you roll a six, you have the option of either

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keeping the six or splitting the six.

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And when you split the six, it's basically like exploding dye.

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So if you roll a six, you can say, I'm going to split that six,

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and then you roll two more D six.

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Now the thing is you have to keep whatever the sum of that roll is.

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So if you rolled a six, split it and got a two and a three, that total is five.

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That's now your new total.

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Your new total is five, but you could get a four and a three and now have seven.

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And if you roll a six again, you can split that six again and you can keep

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splitting as many times as you roll six.

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Also, for effort, before rolling any dye, you can spend energy

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points at a bonus to the result.

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And for each energy point spent at plus one to the result

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up to a maximum of three.

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So if you are in a really crucial role and you really wanna increase

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your odds, you can use your energy points to give you those be benefits.

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And of course, for other bonuses and penalties, you can assign

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those based on previous actions or due to specific circumstances.

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So at any point you can say, Hey, things have been going really well.

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I did this thing really well.

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I feel like I should get a plus one on this next role.

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Or, oh man, I really blew that.

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I should have a minus one.

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By all means do that, that is baked into the rules.

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Have fun.

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So now that we have the rules down, let's look at the basic gameplay loop.

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So the basic gameplay in next holles happens in a loop.

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You arrive at the island and you're greeted by the locals with

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a problem they need your help with.

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Embark on your mission, framing your first scene and first obstacle, perform your

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actions in order to overcome your trials.

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You, keep framing scenes and facing obstacles until you feel the

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mission is coming to a conclusion.

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At any point during that time, you can rest before continuing, then you

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end your mission and lead the island.

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You embark on a journey to the next island, and you have the chance to reflect

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on your experiences, bond with your colleagues as you recover and advance,

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at which point the loop starts over again as you arrive at a new island.

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So arriving at the island precisely what it sounds like.

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You arrive at the island, you're greeted, you're presented with a problem.

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Create your adversity by deciding what it is.

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Frame your scene, overcome your trials.

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Now, after a scene is over, you can choose to rest before

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framing your next scene.

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But resting carries a risk.

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So for every hour you decide to rest, you need to roll a D six.

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If you roll a three or above, you'll recover some level of HP and ep.

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However, if you roll a two, there's a looming threat on the horizon.

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Narrate a shortcut scene, foreshadowing the advances of the enemy.

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Now, if you've rolled a two before during this rest, the second

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two now is considered a one.

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And if you roll a one, a new threat appears.

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No more time to rest, create an adversity and get back into the action.

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But again, you can rest for as long as you don't roll a one or two twos.

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But after you've completed your mission, you move on to the seafaring phase,

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which starts out with your departure.

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Envision your scene and consider how did the mission unfold?

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In what ways did the islands inhabits express their gratitude?

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Did they share tales of other islands?

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Beseeching for aid in yearning for the arrival of heroes.

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Like you bid your farewells and make your way.

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Then you move on to recover and advance as your ship navigates through the nectar

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once again, you have the opportunity to reflect on your adventures, recover from

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challenges, and grow as a character.

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This unfolds in three steps.

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You start out with reflecting as you seek solitude on the ship,

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finding a quiet corner, and proceed on an introspective process

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to delve deeper into your character's thoughts and feelings.

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There is an oracle table to help consult this.

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However, once you have completed your reflection stage, you will

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regain all your health points.

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Next is bond where you have a chance to forge deeper connections with

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one another by sharing experiences.

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So for a multiplayer game, this is an excellent opportunity to

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get to know the characters of the other players.

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However, for the solo games, this is a great chance to build

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on those NPCs on your ship.

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Regardless, there is an oracle table to help you figure that out.

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And then after completing the bond, your energy points are fully restored.

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Finally, there's the dive where each character embarks on a solitary journey

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to deepen their connection with the nexus,

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Players.

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There is a table to help out with your dive scene, so go

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ahead and check that out.

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But once your dive is complete, choose one of the following upgrades.

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Either increase one of your way scores by one up to four.

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Pick one more talent, pick one more relic.

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Upgrade one relic.

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Add four to your hp or four to your ep.

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And that is the basic loop.

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After that are all the different Oracle tables they have available.

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For the yes no Oracle, you use two D six where the first die

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is going to be your yes option.

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The second die will be your no option.

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If you roll higher on the first die, then you get a yes answer.

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If you roll higher on the second die you get a no answer.

SteelStash:

But then you have all your other Oracle tables where you have

SteelStash:

many different options for island names, troubles, characters,

SteelStash:

scene framing, that sort of thing.

SteelStash:

But with all of that, we are gonna now transition into our gameplay.

SteelStash:

And first thing we need to do is we need to pick a.

SteelStash:

We need to pick a playbook and as usual, we will do that by rolling one

SteelStash:

D six and seeing what character we get.

SteelStash:

We got a two, which is the blade sworn outstanding.

SteelStash:

I,

SteelStash:

all right, so now that we have our character, we need to select

SteelStash:

four more points for our ways

SteelStash:

so,

SteelStash:

I think what we're gonna do is we're gonna go ahead and max out our fire.

SteelStash:

We'll add another point to stone,

SteelStash:

add another two two points to stone.

SteelStash:

And

SteelStash:

is that a point to wind?

SteelStash:

So that gives us four points in fire, two points in ice, zero for

SteelStash:

light and shadow, three for stone, one for wind, and zero for ather.

SteelStash:

Now we need to choose our goal, so we're just gonna roll

SteelStash:

one D four, see what we get.

SteelStash:

Train a promising recruit, ensuring the emergence of a new generation of warriors.

SteelStash:

Nifty.

SteelStash:

All right.

SteelStash:

I get three talents.

SteelStash:

So

SteelStash:

there are 10 talents available, so let's just roll 3d.

SteelStash:

10.

SteelStash:

And with that, I got relentless focus gaining plus three on my next

SteelStash:

role that relies on my fire score.

SteelStash:

And that costs two energy points.

SteelStash:

Knight's presence

SteelStash:

benefit from your noble aura and authority receiving a plus one

SteelStash:

on all persuasion and negotiation roles for the scene costing two.

SteelStash:

Energy and master tactician assess the situation, granting a plus one to

SteelStash:

roles in strategic or tactical actions for three turns costing three energy.

SteelStash:

And finally I get two out of my eight relics,

SteelStash:

so let's just roll two D eight to see what I get for that.

SteelStash:

And I got the oath keepers blade, a finally crafted sword that embodies

SteelStash:

the wealder's sworn oath plus one when defending an ally or a sworn cause.

SteelStash:

And the lion shield a shield adorned with fierce lion emblem that can unleash a

SteelStash:

fearsome roar plus one to intimidate foes.

SteelStash:

So some of the problem with doing random roles, I do have a very lovely

SteelStash:

image of what this character is, and unfortunately, I had an image of what

SteelStash:

I wanted to do for this gameplay and this doesn't quite match up with it.

SteelStash:

So now we're gonna have to do some more random stuff.

SteelStash:

The bright side is we have all these Oracle tables that we get to use for it.

SteelStash:

So first thing I think we need to do is I have a ward.

SteelStash:

I have a ward of somebody, not necessarily the state, but

SteelStash:

I have a young child, or I have a child who needs a name.

SteelStash:

So the name table is a two D six table.

SteelStash:

So three six is Lythorian

SteelStash:

and for the last name we've got two four.

SteelStash:

LightStep.

SteelStash:

Lythorian LightStep.

SteelStash:

All right, so I.

SteelStash:

As we sail aboard our vessel, the,

SteelStash:

the Lions, Mane let's go ahead and call it that.

SteelStash:

The Lions Mane as we sail aboard the Lions, Mane the,

SteelStash:

I look out upon the nexus across the nectar, my eyes scanning the

SteelStash:

horizon for any sign of shore.

SteelStash:

Now Young Master Lythorian, it is important to keep a good

SteelStash:

eye out when, one is at sea.

SteelStash:

Yes, sir.

SteelStash:

Master SteelStash, sir.

SteelStash:

Apparently I made this kid really young, but right as we're having that

SteelStash:

conversation, land is spotted and as we make our way towards it, what

SteelStash:

type of island do we see rolling?

SteelStash:

Two D six for our island descriptors.

SteelStash:

Sprawling.

SteelStash:

We see a sprawling island.

SteelStash:

Let's see if I can get some little more, a little more information on that.

SteelStash:

Sprawling and verdant.

SteelStash:

A sprawling verdant island.

SteelStash:

So.

SteelStash:

Yeah, we're gonna say that we come up across an island with a sprawling,

SteelStash:

a sprawling forest, a sprawling jungle.

SteelStash:

After all, this island looks large enough to support a jungle, and we are going to,

SteelStash:

we are going to make our way towards one of the beaches where

SteelStash:

we can explore this more fully now.

SteelStash:

Now, young Lythorian, it is important that we take these opportunities to explore

SteelStash:

for resupply as well as to see if there is anybody who can need any type of help.

SteelStash:

After all, as knight of the realm, it is our duty to help out those in need.

SteelStash:

Okay.

SteelStash:

And as we roll up on this island, we are greeted by, We're gonna roll

SteelStash:

our trouble first to see how many people actually run up to greet us.

SteelStash:

Let's see.

SteelStash:

We are greeted by a single ragged looking person who comes running across the

SteelStash:

beach towards us, trying to wave us off.

SteelStash:

Stay away.

SteelStash:

Stay away.

SteelStash:

Don't come any closer.

SteelStash:

No.

SteelStash:

Now, what's all this Surely there is something that we can do to help.

SteelStash:

No.

SteelStash:

The sirens.

SteelStash:

The sirens.

SteelStash:

If they've taken all the villagers, they, they, they will drive you insane.

SteelStash:

You'll be bent to their wills.

SteelStash:

So we have run across the song of the sirens, ethereal voices singing

SteelStash:

haunting melodies across the island, compelling inhabitants to follow the

SteelStash:

sound to a mysterious destination.

SteelStash:

We need to track the music to its source, unveil the nature of this

SteelStash:

alluring phenomenon, and learn what its presence means for the fate of

SteelStash:

those drawn to its echoing call.

SteelStash:

Well, this could be potentially bad for us as our willpower is only a plus two.

SteelStash:

So the first thing we need to do, the first thing we need to do

SteelStash:

is we need to determine whether or not we can hear the music.

SteelStash:

And I'm not quite sure what role that would be.

SteelStash:

It's either gonna be light or ather, which doesn't matter for me, it's a plus zero.

SteelStash:

I am going to give this a challenge rating of.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna give this a challenge rating of three.

SteelStash:

Really it's 50 it's 50 50.

SteelStash:

If we can hear the music from where we are at.

SteelStash:

Potentially not, because after all, we do have that person who has

SteelStash:

run up on us, so they seem to have been broken away from the spell.

SteelStash:

And I got a two, so no, we can't hear the music.

SteelStash:

It makes sense.

SteelStash:

It makes sense.

SteelStash:

So Steel Stash is going to ignore the protests and pleas of the person as they

SteelStash:

start swimming out towards the Lions Mane.

SteelStash:

But we are going to take Young Lythorian and bring him with us.

SteelStash:

Now, here's the question.

SteelStash:

I don't know much about magic.

SteelStash:

I don't know much about cunning.

SteelStash:

Would steel stash a think to

SteelStash:

have Lythorian plug his ears?

SteelStash:

And I'm not sure.

SteelStash:

So we're gonna use our yes.

SteelStash:

No Oracle.

SteelStash:

I'm really hoping for a yes here.

SteelStash:

Mm.

SteelStash:

And that is a tie,

SteelStash:

so not exactly.

SteelStash:

He wouldn't exactly think about it, which is a shame.

SteelStash:

So

SteelStash:

we're going to, we're going to follow where that villager came

SteelStash:

from and basically backtrack our way towards the village.

SteelStash:

So do we hear singing before we reach the village?

SteelStash:

Yes, we do.

SteelStash:

So then the next question is, who hears the singing and SteelStash

SteelStash:

will be one, Lythorian will be two.

SteelStash:

And we rolled a one in a three, which means Lythorian heard the singing.

SteelStash:

Now this is our ward.

SteelStash:

He doesn't have any stats.

SteelStash:

This is going to be another challenge.

SteelStash:

So Lythorian has a plus zero to their ice

SteelStash:

as they attempt to resist the sirens call

SteelStash:

and.

SteelStash:

You know, it makes sense why Steel Stash might not have heard it, because he

SteelStash:

has spent most of his time droning on.

SteelStash:

I just need to determine a challenge rating for this.

SteelStash:

We're gonna give this a,

SteelStash:

we're gonna give this a challenge rating of four.

SteelStash:

Oh man.

SteelStash:

And Lythorian managed to resist it.

SteelStash:

Apparently, apparently Lythorian just heard the singing

SteelStash:

underneath the many lessons that.

SteelStash:

Steel stash has been imparting on him.

SteelStash:

Now, Lythorian, it is important to remember when traveling in such climates

SteelStash:

to properly hydrate on a regular basis, after all, a knight is not effective.

SteelStash:

If they are dehydrated, we need to hydrate, not die-drate.

SteelStash:

So bring plenty of fresh water and drink plenty of fresh water.

SteelStash:

And if you look over here, you can see that there are many master steel stash.

SteelStash:

Master steel stash.

SteelStash:

Well, what is it?

SteelStash:

What is it?

SteelStash:

Boy, I I, I think I hear the singing.

SteelStash:

And at that, Lythorian is going to stuff his ears to help drown it out.

SteelStash:

Blah, blah.

SteelStash:

What?

SteelStash:

And SteelStash he is gonna cock his head to the side and he is going to attempt to.

SteelStash:

Hear it.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna say that he does, honestly, he does at this point because

SteelStash:

we want to engage with the next part of the system, which at this

SteelStash:

point is going to be a contest on whether or not he can resist this.

SteelStash:

And we're going to start everything at.

SteelStash:

I wanna start this contest at zero, cuz after all, I'm far

SteelStash:

enough away that it's faint.

SteelStash:

And for our skill level,

SteelStash:

we're gonna give 'em a plus.

SteelStash:

Two, we're gonna give the sirens a plus two to their skill level.

SteelStash:

So,

SteelStash:

Right up front, we're going to be attempting to use our will, our

SteelStash:

ice, to resist this as we steal ourselves, as we move closer towards

SteelStash:

the sound of the singing outstanding.

SteelStash:

That's a four versus a one.

SteelStash:

So we win quite well, quite handily, moving the contest up to plus three.

SteelStash:

And as we get, as we get closer and the sound and the song gets louder,

SteelStash:

I think we're going to, at this point, we're going to try and we're gonna ask.

SteelStash:

Would steel stash attempt to identify the magic involved?

SteelStash:

Yes, he would.

SteelStash:

Outstanding.

SteelStash:

So that means that we're going to that means that we're going to attempt

SteelStash:

to identify the magic going on here.

SteelStash:

So now we're gonna be rolling our contest again, but we're gonna

SteelStash:

be using our ather as we try to identify the magic in the song.

SteelStash:

So we rolled a five and they rolled a four, but they do have a

SteelStash:

plus, plus two, so they got a six.

SteelStash:

So they beat us by one,

SteelStash:

which brings our contest score down to two and.

SteelStash:

I think we're gonna go ice again as as we feel our resolve slip

SteelStash:

a little bit, we try to replace our mental barriers against this.

SteelStash:

So again, it's gonna be a straight roll.

SteelStash:

Mm we got a four.

SteelStash:

They got a six, so that's another two.

SteelStash:

As our bare, as our mental walls are not going up as fast

SteelStash:

as we want, as well as we want.

SteelStash:

And this is gonna make us mad.

SteelStash:

Steel stash is definitely feeling the anger.

SteelStash:

And as we press forward he's going to tap into that into that passion.

SteelStash:

And we're gonna use our way of fire.

SteelStash:

They rolled another six.

SteelStash:

We rolled a three, but we have a plus four to our fire.

SteelStash:

They do have their plus two, so they have an eight and we have a seven.

SteelStash:

Things are not looking good for the home team as our

SteelStash:

contest is now at negative one.

SteelStash:

Yeah, I think

SteelStash:

so.

SteelStash:

We're not, we're not too far gone yet.

SteelStash:

So I think we're going to continue to press forward with our anger.

SteelStash:

All right, and they got a four and we got a five.

SteelStash:

So that seems to be working as we an or as we angrily trudge along.

SteelStash:

We're gonna stick with our way of fire for right now.

SteelStash:

Reveling in that passion.

SteelStash:

They got a six and we got an eight, so that is a plus two.

SteelStash:

And as we feel ourselves start to, as we feel our minds start to clear

SteelStash:

up, knowing that the song is getting louder once again, we are going to

SteelStash:

roll ice to try to resert our willpower and put our mental defenses back up.

SteelStash:

And five and a four in our favor.

SteelStash:

Plus one, our contest is now at plus three.

SteelStash:

Things are looking up.

SteelStash:

Things are looking up.

SteelStash:

But our mentals are not as strong as we want, so let's move it up just a li let's

SteelStash:

try to move it up a little bit more.

SteelStash:

However, unfortunately

SteelStash:

as the song grows louder, it presses harder against our minds.

SteelStash:

So once again, we are going to turn towards our passion as that

SteelStash:

seems to be the only thing that has been effective at burning Away.

SteelStash:

Outstanding.

SteelStash:

We got a six and they got a one on the raw rolls.

SteelStash:

So that is a 10 for us and a three for them.

SteelStash:

So that is a plus seven.

SteelStash:

That is an automatic win.

SteelStash:

Our passion seems to have burned through any of ability for their

SteelStash:

song to captivate and hold us.

SteelStash:

And we are, we are well defended against them as we move forward.

SteelStash:

So we have successfully survived our confrontation.

SteelStash:

And we have found the we have found the cave with the sirens where the

SteelStash:

siren song seems to be emanating from.

SteelStash:

And what do we find guarding this cave?

SteelStash:

A storm touch, giant bat.

SteelStash:

So they have an HP of three D six,

SteelStash:

which we rolled at nine.

SteelStash:

We're gonna bump that up a little bit.

SteelStash:

We're gonna do, we're gonna keep the six, but we're gonna turn the,

SteelStash:

that one and two into a three.

SteelStash:

So six plus three plus three is 12.

SteelStash:

Our HP is 28, so I'm not super concerned about health.

SteelStash:

However, their skill level is four.

SteelStash:

All right, so we need to roll our initiative as we enter combat

SteelStash:

with this storm touch, giant bat.

SteelStash:

So rolling initiative.

SteelStash:

We got a four and they got a one.

SteelStash:

So we get to act first and we are going to take out our oath keepers, blade,

SteelStash:

and we are going to swing mightily at the bat with our way of fire.

SteelStash:

Now we have a plus four and they have a plus four.

SteelStash:

So this is just gonna be a straight roll.

SteelStash:

And of course my first one is a tie.

SteelStash:

So

SteelStash:

yeah, so as I swing, they move and nothing is able to connect as they kind

SteelStash:

of back as the bat kind of flutters back away before it comes screeching in.

SteelStash:

And now we are on the defensive.

SteelStash:

And I think we're gonna defend with stone.

SteelStash:

So that's a plus four versus a plus three.

SteelStash:

But I got an eight total and they got a six total.

SteelStash:

So now I have the option of dealing a counter blow.

SteelStash:

And honestly, SteelStash seems like the type he would deal, the counter blow.

SteelStash:

So we will once again defend against the giant bat as it gets to go again.

SteelStash:

We will once again defend with with stone.

SteelStash:

And they got a six and I got an eight.

SteelStash:

So that is another, that is another two points that we will counter attack

SteelStash:

once again using stone.

SteelStash:

Ah, doesn't work out for me this time as they get a nine and I get a seven,

SteelStash:

so my HP is going down to 26.

SteelStash:

Not super concerned,

SteelStash:

but that means that it's my turn and I'm going to attack with fire as I

SteelStash:

once again swing my oath keepers blade.

SteelStash:

And again, plus four and plus four, that is going to be an even role.

SteelStash:

So I got nine.

SteelStash:

They got eight.

SteelStash:

I successfully slash at them nipping their wing as this bat reels back

SteelStash:

before, once again charging at me.

SteelStash:

I will once again attempt to weather their attack as the stone weathers the wave,

SteelStash:

and that is an eight versus a six.

SteelStash:

So as they come screeching in, I'm going to counter attack slashing at their body.

SteelStash:

They're down to five hp, but they get to attack again.

SteelStash:

That is a eight versus a seven.

SteelStash:

I'm going to dodge this.

SteelStash:

I'm going to dodge this.

SteelStash:

I feel like I'm gonna get more.

SteelStash:

I feel like my attack is going to be better than a counter blow right now.

SteelStash:

So I'm going to step out of the way and I'm going to prepare to attack.

SteelStash:

Who, and I got a six.

SteelStash:

They got a three.

SteelStash:

I got a six.

SteelStash:

They got a three.

SteelStash:

So I'm gonna split that six.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna split that six.

SteelStash:

And I roll two threes for another six.

SteelStash:

Ah, that's fine.

SteelStash:

That's fine.

SteelStash:

I still succeed and I still deal three points of damage,

SteelStash:

bringing their HP down to two.

SteelStash:

But it is their turn to attack.

SteelStash:

I will once again be defending with stone.

SteelStash:

Ooh.

SteelStash:

And we both rolled sixes, so they get to activate their power of thundering

SteelStash:

screech, which electrocutes a target with a powerful jolt of energy.

SteelStash:

Now I'm gonna split my six.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna split my six again

SteelStash:

and see what I get.

SteelStash:

Once again, I roll two threes.

SteelStash:

So once again, splitting by six.

SteelStash:

I roll two threes.

SteelStash:

I think my electronic dice are messing with me today.

SteelStash:

So

SteelStash:

I feel like, I feel like they got their special power off.

SteelStash:

I definitely took that power.

SteelStash:

I'm going to take one.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna decide, I'm gonna take one D six minus,

SteelStash:

minus my stone, which is three

SteelStash:

for a minimum of one point.

SteelStash:

Well, they rolled a one, so I'm only gonna take one point of damage

SteelStash:

and.

SteelStash:

I get to attack again.

SteelStash:

So once again, fire versus fire four versus skill level four.

SteelStash:

Mm.

SteelStash:

And once again, they rolled another six, so their power goes off one more time.

SteelStash:

And yeah, this is gonna be, this is gonna be another counter blow, but this time

SteelStash:

I'm going to take four damage from it.

SteelStash:

But because they counter blowed, I get to attack again

SteelStash:

and I think I'm gonna activate my master tactician, which is

SteelStash:

gonna grant me plus one to roles in strategic or tactical actions.

SteelStash:

Nothing more tactical than a fight.

SteelStash:

For three turns, and this causes me three energy points.

SteelStash:

So my energy is gonna go down to nine,

SteelStash:

but now I'm rolling with a plus five versus their plus four.

SteelStash:

Eh, I got a two and they got a one.

SteelStash:

So I got a three.

SteelStash:

And they got a one.

SteelStash:

Damn, I got a three and they got a one.

SteelStash:

But that's okay because that is a two point difference.

SteelStash:

They only had two HP left.

SteelStash:

This screeching bat has been vanquished

SteelStash:

and I now get to move into the cavern where I'm confronted with the siren.

SteelStash:

And unfortunately I don't know what I wanna do here.

SteelStash:

Because I've succeeded in my challenge of.

SteelStash:

Resisting the siren song.

SteelStash:

I have defeated her.

SteelStash:

I've defeated her.

SteelStash:

Guardian.

SteelStash:

Does steel stash have the capability of

SteelStash:

killing the siren?

SteelStash:

That's a no.

SteelStash:

Yeah, that's a no.

SteelStash:

So does the siren.

SteelStash:

Is the siren song able to,

SteelStash:

is the siren able to focus her song to affect steel stash?

SteelStash:

That's yeah, that was a six for the Yes.

SteelStash:

So that's a hell yes.

SteelStash:

So I got a hell no.

SteelStash:

I'm, I'm unable to kill the siren and she is able to affect me with the song.

SteelStash:

So with that,

SteelStash:

let's go challenge rating six.

SteelStash:

I'm gonna attempt to use my ice to resist it.

SteelStash:

So that would be one D six plus two challenge rating six,

SteelStash:

and I rolled a six.

SteelStash:

I rolled exactly what I needed to do it.

SteelStash:

So

SteelStash:

and does the sirens attack on steel stash change his mind about

SteelStash:

his ability for dealing with her?

SteelStash:

Not exactly.

SteelStash:

Okay.

SteelStash:

So this is what we're gonna do.

SteelStash:

So after sl after slain the bat, we walk into the cave where we see the siren.

SteelStash:

And we hesitate unable to bring our sword down for the killing blow.

SteelStash:

But the siren turns and looks at us and focuses her song at us.

SteelStash:

And we feel our mind start to slip as it is assaulted anew.

SteelStash:

However, through some strange twist, we are able to push the siren out of

SteelStash:

our mind and we will bring the pommel of our sword down on top of her head,

SteelStash:

knocking her out, silencing her song.

SteelStash:

At this point we will bound and gag the siren and

SteelStash:

bring her back to the ship because we have nothing, we have no better

SteelStash:

idea of what to do with her.

SteelStash:

And now of course we don't know why she was doing this.

SteelStash:

We don't know what her.

SteelStash:

What her intent was.

SteelStash:

We don't know what she was trying to do with the villagers, but

SteelStash:

we also can't leave her here.

SteelStash:

So that's what we're gonna do and that's where we're gonna end our gameplay.

SteelStash:

So that's Nexalis.

SteelStash:

I was originally going to go through the recovery and the bond and the

SteelStash:

dive, but we've gone on for a bit.

SteelStash:

So no need to really, no need to really dig into that.

SteelStash:

Check out the tables if you want to see how that stuff works.

SteelStash:

But that's Nexalis.

SteelStash:

This is, this is a fun game.

SteelStash:

I like this very narrative forward.

SteelStash:

It feels very much like powered by the Apocalypse lite.

SteelStash:

You definitely get a sense of, you definitely get a sense of that powered

SteelStash:

by the apocalypse feel with the roles.

SteelStash:

But yeah, everything is, everything is very narrative forward in this.

SteelStash:

I like how there's a lot of opportunity for non-combat things.

SteelStash:

Like I didn't have to do a combat, I did because I wanted to highlight

SteelStash:

the system, but I didn't have to.

SteelStash:

I could have just, I could have done challenges and conflicts

SteelStash:

leading up to the resolution, but.

SteelStash:

A lot of great opportunities for smaller things, smaller scale things You don't

SteelStash:

have to default to combat, which a lot of these exploration games end up doing.

SteelStash:

But no, great time.

SteelStash:

Great time.

SteelStash:

I think one of my, I think one of my favorite mechanics

SteelStash:

is the facing death mechanic.

SteelStash:

Just doing a contest with death and your score, starting by how bad

SteelStash:

you died and death skill being, how many times you faced death before.

SteelStash:

I really, I really like that aspect.

SteelStash:

Cause a lot of games.

SteelStash:

A lot of games is just, if you have the ability to not die from reaching zero.

SteelStash:

Then a lot of games don't take into account how many other

SteelStash:

times you've died before.

SteelStash:

And the fact that this does is very intentional about it.

SteelStash:

I like, I really enjoy that.

SteelStash:

I kind of wish I was really tempted to go through that as well to have

SteelStash:

the to have the siren cause some type of insta kill on steel stash.

SteelStash:

But again, we were running long and that also just didn't feel like a narratively

SteelStash:

satisfying way to deal with this.

SteelStash:

But yeah, so now I have a siren on my ship, which I don't know what to do with.

SteelStash:

That's gonna be a lot of fun.

SteelStash:

Though if I do, if I do play this some more, that does give me

SteelStash:

something to do with my bonding time.

SteelStash:

I might have to bond with this siren to figure out how not to

SteelStash:

be driven insane on my own ship.

SteelStash:

I do like the intentionality of having things like bond and

SteelStash:

reflect as part of the downtime.

SteelStash:

And that's how you regain all of your, that's how you regain all of your hip

SteelStash:

points and all of your energy points.

SteelStash:

I enjoy that.

SteelStash:

It does, it does give a reason to do that stuff in game, which is

SteelStash:

very important because a lot of times we take that for granted.

SteelStash:

We just think, you know what, yeah, of course we talked about this.

SteelStash:

No, this is making you talk about that type of stuff.

SteelStash:

This is making you engage with that type of stuff and it adds that level of

SteelStash:

intentionality that I like and it adds that forced world building that I like.

SteelStash:

Now.

SteelStash:

Yes, of course, by all means, if you're playing solo and you don't

SteelStash:

wanna deal with this, skip it.

SteelStash:

It's fine.

SteelStash:

Just say yes, I reflected, yes, I worked on my bonds, but you know, when you end up

SteelStash:

in interesting situations like I do where I have a siren hanging out on my ship

SteelStash:

it gives you a reason to go through that stuff instead of just hand waving it away.

SteelStash:

But,

SteelStash:

but all in all, this is a beautiful game.

SteelStash:

This has a very nice, this has a very nice feel to it.

SteelStash:

I like the island hopping aspect.

SteelStash:

I like the going around and

SteelStash:

helping aspect.

SteelStash:

I like the fact that it's not grim dark as most of these games tend to be.

SteelStash:

This is a, this is, this is what the author calls a bright fantasy

SteelStash:

as opposed to a grim dark fantasy.

SteelStash:

So I like that.

SteelStash:

I like.

SteelStash:

I like all of the vibes about this.

SteelStash:

And if you like this, then you can currently go check out their crowdfunder.

SteelStash:

The link will be in the show notes, but go check 'em out.

SteelStash:

Go help back this project and get your opportunity to get the game.

SteelStash:

And if you do, make sure you tell 'em that Steel stash sent you.

SteelStash:

And remember, I mustashe y'all to stay.

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About the Podcast

Lonely TTRPG
A Solo Play Podcast
Lonely TTRPG is a show where I play and review solo TTRPGs.

Every other week, we play another solo TTRPG from across the indie community.

So join us as we roll, draw, and journal our way through some fantastic games.

About your host

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John Stum

Black Dragon Dungeon Company is a TTRPG podcast. We do weekly actual play podcasts and bi-weekly discussion podcasts where we talk about certain things about the TTRPG world.

You can reach us at blackdragondungeoncompany@gmail.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bddc_pod