In this example of play, three player characters (Rackor, Vian, and Oneida) have been following Romind, hoping to obtain the scroll he is carrying. They have been careful to maintain their distance and, as a result, have discovered they are not the only ones shadowing Romind. The other stalker is Nutop, a man the PCs recognize as a hired assassin in the employ of their competitor. The players have expressed their intent to keep a close eye on both Romind and Nutop, but without getting so close as to alert either NPC to their presence. The GM responds by continuing the story with this post.
From: GM
To: All PCs
07/01/97 7:03pmStill un-noticed by his prey, Nutop takes advantage of the distraction caused by the commotion at the overturned apple cart to move in close. Nutop grabs the ivory scroll case from Romind's hand as he slams the stilleto hilt-deep into the small of his back. A faint gasp is the only sound Romind makes, but it is enough to convince Nutop to strike another blow before turning away to melt into the crowd.
Romind stumbles and falls to the ground, eliciting a shriek from the woman on whose feet he lands. The flow of blood is heavy; it runs rapidly across the paving stones and into the gutter where the butcher was this morning slaughtering swine. A small crowd is already gathering around, but all are careful to avoid the widening pool of blood.
Senator Sildad turns from the apple cart to face this new disturbance. His commanding height allows him to look over the heads of the mob and he quickly spots the wailing woman, now on her knees beside Romind. In only a few quick strides, he moves to her side, his great bulk easily brushing aside those that stand in his path. "Give him some room!"
Following on the Senator's heels, the guardsman shifts his spear into both hands, holding it horizontally to form a barrier at waist level. "You 'eard 'im, you lot! Back up and give 'im some room!" He steps backward, taking those trapped behind his spear with him as he goes. With his back to the party, he doesn't see Rackor standing close behind him and practically bowls him over as he takes several more large steps backwards.
Senator Sildad looks up from Romind into the faces of those standing nearest. "This man's been stabbed! Who saw it happen?"
While two of the PCs lost Nutop in the crowd, the GM's die-rolling determined that Oneida was a bit more observant. The GM sends a second post, but only to Mary, who is playing Oneida. It looks like this.
From: GM
To: Oneida
07/01/97 7:07pmHi Mary,
Here is some supplemental info for you.
>...A faint gasp is the only sound Romind makes,
>but it is enough to convince Nutop to strike another
>blow before turning away to melt into the crowd.
>Oneida watches Nutop as he makes his way into the crowd. He takes only a few steps before stopping to turn back in the direction whence he came.
>Romind stumbles and falls to the ground, eliciting
>a shriek from the woman on whose feet he lands...... Nutop becomes one with the crowd of onlookers. His face bears the same expression of horrified curiosity as those around him.
>Senator Sildad turns from the apple cart...
Mary is playing Oneida, a pickpocket of some reknown. Mary is the first player to check her mail - she sees only the two posts she has received from the GM. She reads both of them through, then decides Oneida will ignore the spectacle gathering around Romind and will instead focus on Nutop. She cuts-and-pastes bits of the GM's two posts together to form her reply. When she is finished, she sends it out to the GM and all PCs. It looks like this.
From: Oneida
To: GM, all PCs
07/01/97 9:32pm>>...A faint gasp is the only sound Romind makes,
>>but it is enough to convince Nutop to strike another
>>blow before turning away to melt into the crowd.
>>>Oneida watches Nutop as he makes his way into the crowd.
>He takes only a few steps before stopping to turn back
>in the direction whence he came.>>Romind stumbles and falls to the ground, eliciting
>>a shriek from the woman on whose feet he lands...... >Nutop becomes one with the crowd of onlookers. His
>face bears the same expression of horrified curiosity
>as those around him.Oneida quietly wends her way through the crowd, working herself into a position behind Romind. With her careful eye, she searches Nutop for some sign of where he has hidden the scroll.
[O-O-C: is the scroll visible? Does he have it in his hand? If it looks possible, Oneida may try to steal the scroll herself.]
While Mary is still writing her reply, John checks his e-mail - he finds only the one post that was sent from the GM to all PCs. John is playing Rackor. He has been trying to portray Rackor as an irascable, fiesty young man with a disregard of authority and, to this end, decides to have Rackor object to being trod upon by the guardsman. He clicks on the "reply all" button then moves through the text of the GM's original message, editing it until it reads:
>Following on the Senator's heels, the guardsman shifts
>his spear into both hands, holding it horizontally to
>form a barrier at waist level. "You 'eard 'im, you lot!
>Back up and give 'im some room!" He steps backward, taking
>those trapped behind his spear with him as he goes.
>With his back to the party, he doesn't see Rackor standing
>close behind him and practically bowls him over as he takes
>several more large steps backwards.Rackor shoves against the guard's back. "Hey! Ya big oaf, watch where yer steppin'!"
>Senator Sildad looks up from Romind into the faces of
>those standing nearest. "This man's been stabbed!
>Who saw it happen?"
Rackor's outburst adds nothing to the plot, but it helps develop the character and adds some color to the story. Next, John considers how Rackor will respond to the Senator's question. He decides Rackor will want to allow Nutop to escape so that the party can later track him down on their own. John decides Rackor will go so far as to try to misdirect the authorities in their investigation. When John is finished with his reply to the GM's post, he sends it out to the GM and all the other players. It looks like this.
From: Rackor
To: GM, all PCs
07/01/97 9:47pm>Following on the Senator's heels, the guardsman shifts
>his spear into both hands, holding it horizontally to
>form a barrier at waist level. "You 'eard 'im, you lot!
>Back up and give 'im some room!" He steps backward, taking
>those trapped behind his spear with him as he goes.
>With his back to the party, he doesn't see Rackor standing
>close behind him and practically bowls him over as he takes
>several more large steps backwards.Rackor shoves against the guard's back. "Hey! Ya big oaf, watch where yer steppin'!"
>Senator Sildad looks up from Romind into the faces of
>those standing nearest. "This man's been stabbed!
>Who saw it happen?"Rackor does his best to become an anonymous voice from the crowd as he calls out, "He was with a bearded man when it happened."
When the GM next checks her e-mail, she finds the replies sent by John and Mary. She reads them through and then does some die-rolling and decision-making. She decides the guard, normally a very confrontational NPC, will this time ignore Rackor's shove and not be goaded into a fight in front of the Senator and in the middle of a crisis. She also decides that Rackor will be unable to remain anonymous but decides to delay her response on that subject and focuses instead on the more immediate actions of Oneida. She sends to Mary an e-mail that looks like this.
From: GM
To: Oneida
07/02/97 6:17pmHi Mary,
Nutop's attention is focused on the Senator. Oneida's approach goes un-noticed. With some difficultly, she finally spies the scroll tube - the tip of it barely protrudes from the folds where Nutop's tunic overlaps and is tucked into his belt. Beneath the tunic, it probably rests against Nutop's bare skin; it will be difficult to pull it out without him noticing.
When Mary next checks her e-mail, she has the one John sent describing Rackor's actions, as well as the one the GM sent giving her the result's of Oneida's efforts to locate the scroll. She decides Oneida will take advantage of the distraction Rackor might create and attempt to snatch the scroll. She does some more cutting-and-pasting and sends a post that looks like this.
From: Oneida
To: GM, all PCs
07/02/97 7:53pm>>Senator Sildad looks up from Romind into the faces of
>>those standing nearest. "This man's been stabbed!
>>Who saw it happen?">Rackor does his best to become an anonymous voice
>from the crowd as he calls out, "He was with a bearded
>man when it happened."In the hubbub that follows, Oneida reaches out to grab the scroll from Nutop's tunic. Before Nutop can react, Oneida turns and hurries through the crowd and beyond his grasp.
Before the GM has a chance to respond to Mary's post, Sam, who is playing Vian, checks his e-mail and finds the post sent from the GM to all PCs, as well as those sent by John and Mary. After reading them through, Sam takes a moment to separate what Vian would know as a character from what he has learned as a PC. He decides Vian is unaware of Nutop's continued presence in the crowd, and of Oneida's attempt to snatch the scroll; he ignores that information when deciding on Vian's response to Romind's stabbing. Since Vian has some skill as a physician, Sam decides to have him rush to offer assistance to the injured man. His reply to the GM's post looks like this.
From: Vian
To: GM, all PCs
07/02/97 8:12pm>...
...Romind stumbles and falls to the ground,
>eliciting a shriek from the woman on whose feet he lands.
>The flow of blood is heavy; it runs rapidly across the
>paving stones and into the gutter where the butcher was
>this morning slaughtering swine. A small crowd is already
>gathering around, but all are careful to avoid the widening
>pool of blood.Vian pushes his way through the throng to kneel at the wounded man's side. He quickly checks the wound then leans close to Romind's ear to whisper, "What was on the scroll?"
He leans closer, placing his ear near the wounded man's lips, waiting for a response while tearing strips from Romind's tunic and pushing them into the wound to staunch the flow of blood.
>Senator Sildad turns from the apple cart to face this
>new disturbance....
The GM reads through the posts from Mary and Sam, decides how to handle Rackor's shout from the crowd, does some more die-rolling, and then drafts the next scene-setting post. It looks like this.
From: GM
To: All PCs
07/03/97 6:32pmHi Guys,
Here is the next round:
Even as Romind slips to the ground, Vian pushes his way through the throng to kneel at the wounded man's side. He quickly checks the wound then leans close to Romind's ear to whisper, "What was on the scroll?" The noise of the crowd keeps even those nearby from hearing.
Vian leans closer, placing his ear near the wounded man's lips, waiting for a response while tearing strips from Romind's tunic and pushing them into the wound to staunch the flow of blood. But there is no response - Romind is unconscious, and Vian's skilled hands can find no pulse. Romind will soon die if the flow of blood cannot be stopped.
With the attention of all on Romind, Nutop has no trouble becoming invisible in the crowd. Invisible to all but Oneida, that is. She wends her way through the crowd, working herself into a position behind Romind. With her careful eye, she soon spots the scroll where Nutop has shoved it inside the fold of his tunic. She bites her lip and waits for a distraction.
Unwittingly, the Senator, with Rackor's help, gives her an opening, "This man's been stabbed! Who saw it happen?"
Rackor cries out in response, "He was with a bearded man when it happened."
The guardsman turns to confront the voice, "A bearded man? There's more than one of them in the city, lad; you'll have to do better than that!" The guard raises his voice above the muttering of the crowd, "Who else saw him?" He keeps a suspicious eye on Rackor while several in the crowd correct his claim.
In the hubbub that follows, Oneida reaches out to grab the scroll from Nutop's tunic. Perhaps he saw her there, perhaps he felt her hand slide across his waist; in any case, it is Nutop that surprises Oneida. Before she can get a grip on the scroll, he has a grip on her wrist. Just as quickly, he releases her; but not before thrusting into her hand the stilleto with which he wounded Romind. Nutop steps back, pushing Oneida away and pointing, "No! It was a woman; there she is!" He points directly at Oneida. "There she is! Don't let her escape."
As those nearest to her jump on Oneida and wrestle her to the ground, Nutop again melts into the crowd and is quickly lost from sight.
And play continues from there.