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HELIODOR

You sit on the other side of the stage now, in an auditorium full of cracked and dusty stone chairs. It's cold and uncomfortable, but the stage before you still commands your attention, with the curtains now drawn back and shadows flickering upon it.

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You are one half of a story to be played out today: either a hero or a monster. You must invent a backstory, motivation, set of powers, and anything else necessary for your monster or hero to defeat its opponent. Both consistency and creativity will be factored into scoring; for best results, tie their powers into their archetype as well as the backstory and motivation you give them.

"A cruel Ogre is coming for revenge on the poor young Thief who took what he needed to survive from its hoard. Can he defend himself now?"

You will be designing The Thief. Tiger's Eye will be designing The Ogre.

Edited 2014-09-10 00:11 (UTC)

The poor young thief, is it.

If he is so desperate as to steal from an Ogre, then I doubt he has access to much beyond that— but what he took from the hoard may save his life, in that case.

The thief is poor and young, though perhaps youth overinflated his ego.

Indeed; though times of desperation might lead even the most intelligent man to unwise decisions. A thief must be quick and light on his feet. I wonder what he has stolen that was worth so much risk?

It's certainly curious. The question posed as well, defense. I would have imagined a thief would be more interested in evasion or possibly selling the item and passing the danger to another.

It may be that he is in danger regardless. The question is defense: it may be that the Ogre glimpsed his face, or that the thief is not close enough to any settlements that would allow him to pass off his stolen goods. But I believe we can agree that he would not have taken a heavy item: he has no mace or greatshield to weigh him down, and if he has stolen a weapon it would likely be more suited to one such as he.

Perhaps it was an item that could achieve what he could not. A theme of wishes or items like that wouldn't be out of place, here.

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The thief, as he has been described, is young and poor. He has gone after the Ogre's hoard not for what the hoard contains but for the promise of reward upon the Ogre's death given to him by those who would seek greater safety. Though he may have no resources that money would bring, he knows the land well. He is nimble and swift and light on his feet, for he must be so; and he has stolen from the Ogre's hoard a blade of quality, sharper than anything he might have owned previously.

His plan is thus: he shall lure the Ogre from its home and draw it out to a bridge which might otherwise be solid enough to support the Ogre's weight. The thief is swift and balances well and has much practice crossing this bridge; he shall do so with ease, at great speed, and when he reaches the end he will wait for the Ogre to cross. When the Ogre does so, the thief will cut the ropes with his new acquisition, swiftly and decisively, and the Ogre shall fall to its death with the surety granted by its size and the length of its fall.

The thief shall return triumphant and be well rewarded; but should his plan fail and the Ogre remain at a distance across the bridge, the thief shall not be harmed, for he is well out of reach and will remain this way.

The shadows on stage flicker and follow your cue...then fade for the time being.

A pot of tea and some cups appear for you to refresh yourselves with.

The players in this show have been created! Now it's time to plan your attack. You can see what your opponents designed; give an explanation of how your hero or monster attacks it.

The Ogre is a gentle ogre by nature and doesn't really want any trouble. Generally, he keeps to himself or interacts with other ogres. He had a hoard of stuff because that's normal behavior for ogres. They all have one.

He's angry when he realizes the Thief has stolen from him, like anyone would be. He wants his stuff back. For a moment, he even considers taking his club to confront the Thief and give him a piece of his mind. The Ogre is big and strong, after all, with abilities like Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Headbutt, and Iron Defense.

But then he decides that the smart thing to do is to make a report to the local village police. So his revenge is actually going to be him taking the police to find the Thief so that they can arrest him. That's his main power: the proper authorities accompanying him with a warrant for the Thief's arrest.

Edited 2014-09-10 01:30 (UTC)

[his laugh is a bit grim.]

I wonder what an Ogre would consider the proper authorities, then. It is of no matter; the thief is cunning and knows the area well enough.

[ . . . not as expected. ]

Do you think they're ogre police?

Perhaps; in which case the thief will simply need to cut the bridge early. And though I would not endorse it, a desperate man may do so. So long as there is the body of an ogre, he can doubtless claim his reward. If he is pursued, his reward should be sufficient to move him and anyone else to a safer location. If there is to be justice for what he has done, it shall be dealt elsewhere.

If there's a reward for one ogre, there may be reward for multiple ogres. If they come to arrest him I don't see a reason why the thief wouldn't kill them all.

Since an ogre's authorities are likely also ogres, it might be a . . . [ what's the word ] tragic misunderstanding, but some goals are meant to be achieved even at a cost.

Yes; but it may be that they will be wise enough to not all get on the bridge at once. It is no matter to our story, for he shall remain safe no matter what.

Very true. I think in the end the strategy is still sound. And if the thief cannot get his reward from killing the ogre he will at least have a nice sword.

Unless the sword is so nice it can cut down ogres with a single slice as well. Then he could just kill them.

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The thief's line of attack remains the same; if he is pursued by Ogre justice, he is still pursued by ogres, and he will cut the bridge regardless of which of them steps upon it. He has no fear of his own people, for his own people have placed a reward upon the Ogre's death and would not treat with him. The bridge is the only means of reaching the thief's side, and he has planned for such an event.

However, in the unlikely event that the Ogre and his band catch up with the thief, the thief shall simply surrender peacefully; he is small and not given strength. But when the Ogres fall into sleep, he shall steal back his sword with all the quiet stealth he has cultivated and kill them all. It is a daring feat, and unwise; but he is desperate, and desperate men may be driven to do many feats that they would not otherwise be able to accomplish.

The curtains roll away to reveal the Ring once more. You may proceed to endgame.

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