Example Crawl Phase

A guild named the Steel-Clad Snakes has just descended into the Castle of Crossed Destinies, a dungeon level they’ve explored only briefly in the past.

The guild consists of Daria the shaman (orc, Path of Wands), Fergus Crowell the alchemist (human, Path of Cups), and Chirm the acrobat (wood elf, Path of Pentacles).

GM: OK, you follow the stairs down into room 201.

The GM looks at their notes for a description of 201. They then flip over a major arcana card to get an event from the Castle of Crossed Destinies Meatgrinder table. They get a Hierophant [V ]. The Meatgrinder entry is “Torches gutter.”

GM: This place is dark, and in your torchlight you can tell that it’s a large space—like a ballroom. Who has the light again?

Fergus: I have a lantern.

GM: And you’re in the middle of the marching order? OK, so, in the lantern light you all see a large space with high ceilings. It’s like an indoor garden or closed-in atrium. There are silvery bushes growing here in the middle of cobblestone paths. Interspersed among the bushes are black soapstone statues—nude, Greco-Roman style, in various positions. The room is so large that your lantern light doesn’t quite make it all the way to all four walls, but you can see exits in the north, east, and west walls. As you enter the room, your torches gutter.

Fergus: OK, that was my lantern’s last flicker. Can I keep the flame alight if I add in another bottle of oil?

GM: Of course.

Fergus’s player erases a flask of oil from his backpack and erases the previous flickers from his light tracker on his adventurer sheet.

Chirm: I want to take a closer look at one of the statues. I approach one and take a close look but don’t touch it.

GM: Well, with Fergus refilling his lantern you don’t have a light source until he catches up.

Fergus: I’m on my way! I’ll hold up the lantern for her.

GM: OK, Fergus holds up his lantern high so you can both look at the statue. It looks like the statue of the Dying Gaul—do you know that one? It’s like, a human who is sitting on the ground, twisted in pain.

Chirm: Do I see any veins or cracks in the statue that would indicate it could be opened?

GM: Good question. No, the black soapstone is seamless. But! As you lean in to get close to it, it suddenly shifts position and reaches out and grabs you.

Chirm: I jerk back!

GM: OK, you had said before you weren’t touching it, so you’re able to step back. The statue stops moving—it looks like it has always been in that position, half turning, reaching out.

Chirm: Nobody touch the statues, y’all!

Daria: Do we see anything else in this room besides the statues and the bushes?

GM: Nothing obvious, no.

Daria: Let’s move on, guys. All pain no gain here.

GM: Where do you want to go?

The guild looks over their map, planning out their route towards the middle of the dungeon level.

Daria: We’ll move to…203.

Chirm: And as we walk through the room, we’ll make sure we’re staying well out of the reach of the statues.

GM: Sure. You choose a safe path on the cobblestones and tiptoe past all the statues on your way to the door. The door is wooden with a brass Venetian door handle.

Daria: I listen at the door.

The GM checks their notes for room 203. The room is called “Pond of ferric fluid” in the GM’s notes, which is enough to remind them of the contents. The GM then flips over a major arcana card and reads the entry on the Castle of Crossed Destinies Meatgrinder table.

The GM pulls Temperance [XIV ]. The Meatgrinder entry reads: “[Discard] deconstruction imps have rigged up a heavy stone above the door to this room so that it will fall as soon as the door is opened. They are giggling in the corner, waiting to see their trick pay off.”

The GM looks at the top card of the minor arcana discard pile. It’s a V of Cups. The GM knows now that there is a trap and five imps hiding behind the door.

GM: Uh, yeah, you hear a muffled giggling from behind the door.

Daria: Like, a lot of giggling or a single giggler?

GM: A lot of giggling, and a lot of shushing.

Daria: Do they sound high pitched or low pitched?

GM: Uh, pretty high pitched.

Daria: Are they goblins?

GM: You can’t really tell. Well, wait, do you want to bid lore? Do you have a motif that would let you identify the giggling of goblins?

Daria: Nah, that’s okay. I say “Hey guys, I think there’s somebody in the next room. Get ready.” I’ll make sure that my stiletto and my shield are ready as I slowly push the door open.

GM: Your caution is warranted! As you push open the door, CRASH! An enormous stone block slams down from above you. Test Pentacles to see if you stepped back quickly enough or if part of the falling stone clipped you. You can test with favor because you were acting cautiously.

Play continues from there. After resolving the test of fate, the game possibly shifts to a Challenge Phase as the imps block the guild’s path into the room.