Latest / Story Games / Episode 13: The Librarian's Apprentice pt 2
Transcript
- Maggie Studio: And welcome back to Story Games, a podcast all about your favorite narrative-driven games. My name is Memo and I will be your host. Today I am bringing you episode two of the Librarian's Apprentice, a solo journaling game. I had so much fun playing it the first time, and I'm excited to actually get into the gameplay with you today. Anyway, enough from me, let's get right into the episode. Hello, Heart of the Dearnicorn friends. My name is Momo, and today we are playing more of the Librarian's Apprentice. This is a part two, so please go back and watch part one if you haven't already, because this is going to be a continuation of that. But yeah, welcome back. I hope you had fun watching the first episode. I hope you're excited for more. We're going to like actually play the game today, which is exciting. So I'm not going to give too much preamble. I just kinda want to jump on in and start playing. So I took a little time to go over the rules again because it's been a few days and I needed a bit of a refresher. So here's what we're gonna do. We are going to perform an action, which For our first action is going to be travel. And then when we travel to a new location, we are going to roll some dice on these tables here to determine what it is that we find and what we will journal about. So we've got some descriptions of the room itself, I'm assuming. And then we've got some events and secrets, what happens there. And then I think that's how I'm gonna do things. So first we must perform an action. To do that, we draw two cards from the deck, roll in sum 2d6, add the applicable skill bonus, and then compare the score of the value of each card. Okay. And then depending on that, we get light, shadow, or darkness. And we're going to do travel. So okay. for travel, let's see, that's navigation. We have a plus one. Okay, cool. So I am going to draw two cards from the deck. I pulled a seven and an ace. And let's see. Aces are worth one, okay? And then we're going to roll and sum our 2d6, which is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Okay, so the score is higher than both cards, which means I got light. So then I'm gonna go back to the actions. Light, add either card to the map and trade in the other. Ooh, does ace count as a face card? Hmm. Does ace I don't think so because it differentiates aces are worth one and face cards are worth 11. But I like aces, so we're going to add an ace. And since an ace is worth one, we're putting it below on the map. Okay, we're playing the game. We're doing it. We're doing it. Ooh, and then we trade in the other. I forgot about trading in. How do we trade in? What does that look like? ⁓ okay. So. For a heart or diamond, you can trade into clear one fatigue can be saved for later use. So I'm going to put that over there. Wonderful. So I'm going to journal a little bit. I'm going to write down that my location is now the ace of spades. So location. Number one. Ace of spades. Now I'm going to roll on this description. So I'm gonna roll three times. One for a descriptor, a feature, and a category. Okay. The first one is two and four, which is dusty is the descriptor. And then I'm gonna roll again for feature. Six and two, which is stairs. Ooh, we've got stairs. And then we've got a category. Two and three. Flying. Okay, interesting. And the category is for like what kind of documents are there? Category. We've got flying. So put that all together and let's journal about what actual room that we found first. I think that's the way I want to do this. So if I'm thinking a dusty with stairs and about flying. Maybe it's like an atrium. Ooh, okay, yeah, it's like a it's like an atrium. And it's dusty because it hasn't been used in a while, but there's this big spiral staircase. And as you go up the spiral staircase, the Bookshelves are hidden in the staircase. I like that. Okay, I'm gonna write about that. Alright, so I wrote about the room that I'm in. I wrote about the staircase and about it being dusty and about it having a sign that reads flying. It's about flying baby apparatuses or like the science of flying, all things flying. And now we're going to roll on the events and secrets table. We've got four and one. Another librarian's apprentice is here trying to complete their own task. Ooh, okay, this is fun. So if another librarian's apprentice is here, maybe we find camaraderie for a second. And maybe we try to help each other look for these documents, but maybe we can't find them. Because I didn't find any documents here, so that's not part of this event. ⁓ But maybe we have a little friendship going on in the meantime. Okay, I'm gonna write about that. So I'm actually going to do a slight mechanic thing here. So in the rules it says you can ask a question. And I think I'm going to ask the question on whether or not we find the documents for the other librarian. Because I don't know the answer to that. It could be yes or it could be no. So what we're going to do is we're going to take the action of asking, which we're going to again draw two cards from the deck. Four and another ace. So that's five. And then we're going to roll four, five, six, seven. We automatically get light. So the librarian does find their document. And then we discard those. And then I'm going to journal about what that looks like. So I ended up writing about. A page or so, like one full page, about this little encounter that I found with this apprentice librarian. And basically what I wrote is that ⁓ I walked toward the staircase and I spotted the other apprentice. ⁓ I startled myself, and then I startled them, which is kind of funny. And then ⁓ I introduced myself and then asked about their name. Their name is Warren, and then I asked or ⁓ said that we should help each other out. And they agreed, and then we looked together to find some of our documents. ⁓ I wrote that Warren. ⁓ or that I found the ⁓ document for Warren and it was actually their last document that they needed to become a librarian. So after I found it, they like hugged me and they said thank you and then they rushed out. and then unfortunately I couldn't find a document for myself. So that's where we're going to end the location number one and we're going to travel again. So we're going to take two cards. Ooei, a ten and a six. That is going to be probably impossible to beat, actually, with my dice. ⁓ no. Let's see. I got three, four, five, and then got plus one to navigation. Do do do do do do do. Yes. If the score is higher than one card, if the score is lower than or equal to both cards, we get darkness. ⁓ no. We get darkness. Okay, what happens? Okay. Darkness and travel. Add either card to the map, discard the other, and discover a complication at the new location. ⁓ no! Okay, so now we get to do the complication mechanic, which is exciting, so. There's that. ⁓ let's see. And then I'm going to take the 10. I'm gonna put the 10 above the ace, and I'm gonna travel to that. And then I'm gonna discard the six because I discard the other, right? Yes. And we're gonna discover a complication at the new location. So let's set up our journal. So we've got location number two, which is the ten of. B ⁓ that one's clubs. Okay, this is a thing about me. This is the thing about me. I always get clubs and spades reversed for some reason. So location number one was actually clubs, not spades. And this one is definitely clubs, I think. I don't know why it's so hard for me to remember which one is clubs and which one's spades. That's just a thing that I have. Okay, so now let's get our other tables. Okay, so let's set up the location first. So we're going to roll for a descriptor, and that is dilapidated. Ooh, okay. I misspelled dilapidated, but that's okay because it's my journal. Alright, and then we're gonna roll a feature. Five and one. Rugs. And then we're going to roll a category. Five and three. Smells. ⁓ okay. How can we put dilapidated rugs and smells all together? Ooh, okay, maybe this room was a room of smells. Okay, so I imagine this used to be a really nice room. Used to be a really nice room. Now it's completely dilapidated, and the rugs are just like threadbare. And there's rugs on the ground kind of overlapping each other. There's rugs like maybe hanging off banisters. Like there's just rugs hanging from the ceiling on beams. Like there's just threadbare rugs all over the place. And there used to be a lot of bottles that kind of like corresponded with the books about smells. ⁓ but those are all kind of like broken and shattered. Like this room has just been like absolutely destroyed for whatever reason. So I'm gonna write about that now. Okay, so I wrote that Came across this room, it's completely dilapidated, there's rugs everywhere, glass bottles shattered. What happened here? And now I'm going to roll on the complications table. I rolled a two. and a four. Okay, so for a two and a four I got a document is escaping its section. What does that mean? Okay, I'm gonna write down that complication so I remember it. So complication. And then I'm going to roll on the events and secrets table as well. Four and two. A patron is trying to steal something. Okay, so putting that all together, putting that all together, okay, let me cook for a second. So I'm going to say I come across this dilapidated room and I see a patron trying to steal a document. And this document is trying to actually escape the patron and escape the library as a whole. And the patron got kind of way in over their head about what they were trying to steal, and that was just chaos. It's pandemonium. So I'm going to write up until that point, and then we will resolve the conflict, the complication in a moment. But I'm gonna write a little bit about that first. I'm also actually going to roll in the document formats just so I can know what kind of document is trying to escape. I think that would help me kind of work things out in my brain. So I'm going to roll the die again. I got a two and a two, and that is drawings on. Four and a three. A skull. Ooh, wait, that's perfect. Drawings on a skull. Okay. ⁓ wait, that's so fun. That is so fun. Okay, cool. Okay, let me cook for a second. Okay, so here's what I wrote. I wrote that I heard a loud crash and then a weird chattering sound, and I pull back one of the hanging rugs and I find a person who looks to be wrestling with a skull. And the skull is this bone white skull with these inky black drawings covering every surface of the skull. And I said it would be beautiful, ⁓ or it would be beautiful if its teeth weren't currently latched onto this person's arm and if that person wasn't actively screaming at it. And then I said that that person yells, help me, and now we see what happens. Okay, to address a complication, we roll lore, which is the thing that I'm good at. So that's good. So we perform another action where we Take two cards, two and a six. And then we roll our die. Four, five, six, seven. Seven. So that means my score is higher than both cards. Six, seven, eight. Or is it just am I doing this wrong? Of each card. I think I did that wrong the first few times. I don't think it's those the cards put together. I think it's the die put together. Cause it says, yeah, it doesn't say to sum the cards. It just says to sum the dice. Okay. I think I did that wrong, but we're gonna do it correctly going forward. So that means I got light because five, six, seven, eight is bigger than both six and two. So light means add both cards to the complication stack. So we add these to the complication stack, which I'll put over there. If you if a card you add to the stack matches the suit of the card your token is on, it counts as two cards against the complication. Repeat this action until the number of cards in the complication stack is equal to or greater than the complication's difficulty. At that point the complication is addressed and the complication stack is discarded. Okay, got it. So the complication difficulty is four for this one that I rolled. So I'll write that down. And then we have two in our complication stack. So then I do another action. And that's one and two. That's gonna be easy. Boop. Okay. We got light, so we add those both to complication stack. So that's four. Okay, so then we address the complication and the complication stack is discarded. That one was pretty easy for me, probably because I've got lore as my special skill. but if we got like shadow, for example, I would have gotten fatigue there. ⁓ and I wouldn't have added to the complication stack. I just happened to get really lucky that time, so the complication wasn't that big of a deal. But if I didn't do so well, that would have gotten me fatigue. But I don't need to do that. Okay, so how do I actually address this complication now? Maybe I distract the skull with some jerky. Maybe skulls really love jerky. And maybe I distract the skull with jerky so that the patron can run away and I can appease the skull. ⁓ that at least appeases the document that's trying to run away. and then I guess the patron just like maybe gets lost in the library or something. Okay, I'm gonna write about that now. Okay, so I wrote about that. I wrote that ⁓ every librarian who knows what's what knows that skulls love jerky, obviously. So I distracted the skull with the jerky, gave it to him, put the skull back on his little home in his shelf, and the poor guy was just hungry. And that's why he was trying to eat the patron. ⁓ I also wrote the patron probably just ran off, ⁓ never to be seen again. Okay, I think we have time for one more location, so let's do one more. Location number three. Okay, so let us pull our cards. Queen, which is worth eleven and four. Okay. So, I can still beat this, but let's see. Six, seven, eight. I got an eight. So I got shadow. So not quite as bad as darkness, but not as good as light. What does that mean? Shadow, add either card to the map and discard the other. Ooh, but a queen. This means I get a document. This means I get a document, so that's really exciting. Ha ha ha ha ha. And then I discard the four. Yee! Okay, cool. Yay! So let us establish our location first. So we are going to roll for a descriptor. Which is one and six, which is cheerful. Yay. That's that that's good. That's better than dilapidated and dusty. So that we've got that going for us. And then we'll roll for feature, which is two and six. Which is glowing crystals. ⁓ that's fun. Feature is glowing crystals. And then our category is four and six. Which is religious scriptures. Ooh, okay. So obviously I'm imagining a cathedral, right? Like a beautiful cathedral with stained glass windows and maybe these like glowing crystals kind of hanging from the ceiling. That's what I'm that's what I'm ⁓ yes. I'm gonna write that down now. Alright, so I wrote about our beautiful cathedral that we've got going on. And now what is our event? One and two. Ooh, a headless suit of living armor kindly provides you directions. Plus two to your next travel roll. That's so exciting. That's so fun. Okay, I'm going to write plus two right here. Plus two to next travel roll. And then what document did we get? Gonna write that down as well. Document. Five and two, five and two. Five and two is the size of okay. The size of One and two, a butterfly. Ooh, the size of a butterfly. That is pretty nebulous. So I'm gonna try to narrow that down a little bit. I'm going to retcon it a little bit and just say that the document straight up is a butterfly. Because the size of a butterfly is a little too nebulous for me to wrap my head around. So maybe it is a butterfly that has some kind of information on its wings. Okay, so we're going to find the butterfly document, and we're also going to find a headless suit of armor that kindly provides directions. Maybe the armor tells us where to find the butterfly. And I'm gonna write about that now. Okay, so I wrote down that I gazed around the beautiful room, and then I heard a cheerful hello off to my side. And then a life-size suit of armor greeted me, but his head was missing. And then the suit of armor asks, Can you help me? Because something has made its way into my armor and I can't get it out. I'll help you in return. And I say, sure, and I look inside the armor, which is a weird experience, and then I find this beautiful golden butterfly. And on the butterfly is an age's worth of information is inscripted onto its wings. So I take a little net from my bag and I scoop the butterfly out and I put the butterfly in a little jar, and that is my first document. And then the suit of armor says, thank you for helping me. That was really bugging me. Get it? And then I said that I give the armor a pity laugh, and then he sends me on my way. So I think that is a good place to end our second episode of The Librarian's Apprentice. We did a lot today. We found a document, we found a complication. I feel like we're really kind of getting through the mechanics of this game. And this is really fun. I like the setup of like first you kind of like describe the room that you're in and then you describe what's happening in that room. I think that's a really fun way of doing it and it's a good way of kind of building this magical library that we're in. so I really, really like that. Yes. I really hope that we're able to find all of our documents. We're doing pretty good so far. We have one document and zero fatigue, which is pretty damn good. Alright, thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you did enjoy this. I hoped you enjoyed hanging out with me and listening to my little creative writing project. If you would like to get a copy of the Librarian's Apprentice for yourself, you can do so through our website. The link will be in the bio below. And I hope you'll join me for episode three, which will be releasing soon. So yeah, let me know what you think about this series. Alright, I'll see you next time. Bye friends! Alright, that was episode two of the Librarian's Apprentice. I hope you enjoyed watching me actually get into the gameplay a little bit today. I'm having so much fun with this series, and I really hope you are too. If you would like to get a copy of The Librarian's Apprentice for yourself, like I said, you can get it through our website, heart of the Deerinacorn.com. I will have that linked in the show notes down below. Also, feel free to follow us on social media. We are Heart of the Deer in a Quarn or just Deer in a Quarn on most social platforms. They will also be linked down below. I hope you're excited for more of the Librarian's Apprentice because I am finishing this game with you and I'm so hyped about it. Alright, see you next time.