Random Event Fun

[Good Coyote]

Just something fun I was imagining and decided to try my hand at writing in an actual RE format. I'm probably missing a lot of considerations of what would actually be included as one, what are balanced rewards, etc, but it's fun to write and good practice. Even so, I'm still open to all kinds of feedback.

In that vein, I don't know whether it's even possible for NPCs to get benefits from Random Events, but I noticed in the Modtools, there's an Adventure Stage for tutoring Philippe that is supposed to result in him actually getting an expansion and I thought that was the neatest concept. So I went ham with it.

Also, asterisk denotes *italicized*. I leave it as asterisk in all my writing so I can copy-paste into anything and have my formatting stay the same, until I'm ready to final form it. 

Aaran (The Restricted Sequel) Requirements: study Mastery with Aaran in his Y1 RE, have a positive current relationship with him
 

Spoiler

The Venalicium is dark and very cold. It's easy to forget how much warmth, in this kind of weather, is just the result of slightly miscast personal heating spells, sending off ambient heat for everyone else to mooch off of. Now at night, when the library is empty, it's just you against the elements. You could cast your own spell of course, but the alarms are very sensitive to it. So fortunately, you remembered to bring your coat. As an added bonus, it makes you feel cozy, and it adds a nice layer of padding when you soundlessly round a corner and your shoulder is introduced to the very large, very solid, very *corner-y* book in Aaran's arms.

"[y/n]?" He sounds pleased to see you. "Are you back for the Mastery books too?"

-> [Diplomacy] No. You're reformed.
 

Spoiler

    [Success.] +1 relationship Aaran, +1 Character, +1 Roots
        Aaran actually looks surprised, but you make it clear that you still understand he has his reasons. It's just that you don't have yours anymore, and you do have reasons to keep your nose clean. Well... clean-ish. You're here for a certain Botany text, helpful to all sorts of medicinal studies but restricted for its chapters on Poison.
        He understands. He helps you find your book, and you loan him your coat. You even make plans to have breakfast together so he can return it.

    [Failure.] -1 relationship Aaran, +1 Character, +1 Stress
        Aaran gets +1 Stress
        You try to let the boy down gently. It's not him, it's you. You were just looking for a potion recipe. And anyway, it's a school night. It's hard to read his expression as you babble, but you think he might be... embarrassed. Embarrassed for you.
        Eventually, you just leave. But at least you didn't let something like friendship pressure you into anything you don't want to do.

 

-> [Bully.] You're reformed *and so should he be*.
 

Spoiler

    [Success.] -2 relationship Aaran, +1 Intimidation
        Aaran gets +1 Lie
    You talk slowly. You wear your serious face. You make this *very* simple.
    Mastery is *wrong*. You were a lowly, immature first year before, and you didn't understand what you were doing. But you know better now. And he needs to know better too.
    You promise never to turn him in for the past, but you don't ever want to hear about this from him again.
    When you finish, he's looking at his feet. There's a moment of silence, then suddenly he looks you in the face.
    "You're right," he says. "I understand."
    Satisfied, you turn to the Botany section and retrieve the text you came for. When you finish, Aaran is nowhere to be seen. He probably headed back to his dorm to consider the truth of what you said. And so shall you.

    [Failure.] -2 relationship Aaran, -2 Vitality, Reprimand
        Aaran gets -2 Vitality, Reprimand
    You talk slowly. You wear your serious face. You make this *very* simple.
    Mastery is *wrong*. You were a lowly, immature first year before, and you didn't understand what you were doing. But you know better now. And he needs to know better too.
    Aaran frowns. "But-"
    "No! No arguments!" 
    So maybe you were a bit too loud, but does that make it your fault when the book guardians spring to life? Is it your fault when Aaran jumps backward into the shelf and then that shelf falls into another shelf, and then a book flies out of nowhere and bloodies your nose, and then something falls from the ceiling and pins you both to the floor in the dark until a grouchy professor finally arrives?
    Isn't the nature of Luck such that nothing bad can be determined as your fault with absolute certainty, while Aaran is nearby? Isn't that his best quality?

 

-> [Master's Mark] You are so, *so* reformed.
 

Spoiler

        +1 Stress, +1 Roots, +1 relationship Aaran
        Aaran gets +1 Character Study
    The answer is no, and you can't even really explain why. But Aaran must see something on your face, so he doesn't make you try.
    He helps you find your Botany text, and you loan him your coat. You even make plans to have breakfast together so he can return it.

 

-> [no Secret Heritage, no Master's Mark] Oh, yeah! Slumber party in the Restricted Section: the Sequel.
-> [Secret Heritage, no Master's Mark] Well, you still summon Things on a regular basis, and you still want an edge if the Schohanwicht bindings ever fail you, so... yes.

Spoiler

    +2 relationship Aaran, Mastery Phemes, and another Mastery subskill step
    Aaran gets Mastery Phemes, and another Mastery subskill step
    Second verse, better than the first. You've both learned all the tricks. You've found the most comfortable corner to hunker down in. You're familiar with the normal creaks of the shelves, and you barely jump and mistake any of them for an approaching detention at all. 
    You make good progress in your understanding of the subject, and you also snort a little too loudly at a deadpan joke by Aaran that you can never repeat, because understanding the humor involved requires specific knowledge of the subtle differences between two similar but distinct and extremely banned phemes. 
    You're exhausted in your morning classes the next day, but it's a worthy trade.

 

-> [Secrets and Silence] "I still want to help you, Aaran. But the... the thing that I need to understand. I think it must have more to do with Gates."
 

Spoiler

    +2 relationship Aaran, a Mastery subskill step, a Gates subskill step
    Aaran gets a Mastery subskill step and a Composure skill step
    Aaran's expression changes. You *think* he's intrigued, but respectful of your boundaries. Or maybe that's just how you hope he feels. Or maybe that's just how you feel about him. "Okay." He nods. "Let's read these for a while. Then I will stand guard while you look in the Gates books." He holds up a finger. "But no summoning dragons. Okay?"
    That sounds reasonable to you. You make your way through several dense chapters of Aaran's Mastery pick, whispering questions back and forth, and reinforcing some basic concepts. You don't have any great revelations, and if Aaran does, he doesn't show it. But he seems satisfied when the time comes to switch over to the Gates shelves.
    Then he seems a little antsy for a while, like he thinks there's a chance you actually will make a dragon show up. Well, maybe it isn't that dramatic, but it seems like a lot in comparison to his usual demeanour. It's sort of funny. You're just reading. You aren't even casting any spells!
    He's calm by the time you're done. Maybe he's learned he can trust you.

 

 

[Metis]

NPC students can indeed get stuff out of REs and adventure stages, good or bad, in Y1, so I assume the same is true for Y2.

[Good Coyote]

Excellent! In that case I will never write anything where they don't. /j

[yurisama]

I think it was cool that on Cinzia's adventure you and her gain a stat point as a reward.

1 charm if you want to try to make her nicer or 1 intelligence if you go for the true end

[Rhialto]

51 minutes ago, yurisama said:

I think it was cool that on Cinzia's adventure you and her gain a stat point as a reward.

1 charm if you want to try to make her nicer or 1 intelligence if you go for the true end

Why do you define one of the endings as the true end?

[yurisama]

1 hour ago, Rhialto said:

Why do you define one of the endings as the true end?

It's part subjective and part meta

Every npc has a dominant attribute on the mod tools, Cinzia is marked as having Intelligence as her preference, meaning she will try to raise that attribute if possible

On the Charm exit it feels you are either trying to the seize the knowledge for yourself or change Cinzia to be nicer (if you look on a meta level how the characters might evolve)

The Intelligence exit felt more natural, you let her open the statue and have her moment

If i wanted a nice Avila girl there's Ana Flavia for that, i liked Cinzia for what she is.

And on the the topic of npc rewards, i remembered Noemia gain confidence skill steps on her adventure

[Rhialto]

1 hour ago, yurisama said:

And on the the topic of npc rewards, i remembered Noemia gain confidence skill steps on her adventure

The adventure with Durand on the Dance of Fools can grant to him and to the PC glory.

[Good Coyote]

All very cool examples, thanks!

I actually did know that about Durand and completely forgot, since my current focused characters avoid Glory like the plague. But I've never befriended Cinzia or Noemia.

Courtenay de Surval's personal adventure should really give him Glory too but according to the modtools, it doesn't.