{"id":1627,"date":"2013-05-15T08:51:02","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T15:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/?p=1627"},"modified":"2013-05-15T11:55:41","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T18:55:41","slug":"better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Better Angels&#8217; Example of Play: Felix, Kazoth, Shining Diamond, and the Axe-Hole"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This excerpt of<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=14&amp;products_id=53\">Better <\/a><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=14&amp;products_id=53\">Angels<\/a> is written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013, and used by permission, with commentary by Shane Ivey.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Remember <a title=\"\u2018Better Angels\u2019 Character Creation\" href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/?p=1606\">Tobey, Frank and Katie<\/a>, our intrepid players? Their villains are Luther Christian, Dr. Felix Barbarossa, and Wanda. They haven&#8217;t yet decided on proper supervillain names. Tobey is playing Luther Christian and also Terbat the Splendid, Wanda&#8217;s demon. Frank is playing Dr. Felix Barbarossa and\u00a0Murkeba\u00e4l, Luther&#8217;s demon. Katie is playing Wanda and Kazoth the Guttering Flame, Felix&#8217;s demon.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"33%\"><strong>PLAYER<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"33%\"><strong>CHARACTER<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"33%\"><strong>DEMON<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tobey<\/td>\n<td>Luther Christian<\/td>\n<td>Terbat (for Wanda)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Katie<\/td>\n<td>Wanda<\/td>\n<td>Kazoth (for Felix)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Frank<\/td>\n<td>Dr. Felix Barbarossa<\/td>\n<td>Murkeba\u00e4l (for Luther)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>It\u2019s time for their first session. Their GM, Sarah, has imposed a narrative contrivance on them. To wit, their demons are all pals from back during the War On Heaven and, while it\u2019s excessive to suggest that they trust or like one another, they hate and fear each other less than they might other people.<\/p>\n<p>Both Wanda (the blues musician with, so far, no last name) and Luther Christian have Virtuous Strategies that are lower than their Screwtapes\u2019 primary Strategies, so their demons (run by Tobey and Frank, respectively) can constantly spy on their mortals but not say anything. This means that both those demons have seen images of a display of ancient Incan statuary coming to the local museum, and they\u2019re aware that a fourth member of their little band has that statue as his amulet. But until called, they can\u2019t do anything.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah mentioned the statue to all three disparate hellbound, but only Felix Barbarossa has taken the bait. Therefore, he\u2019s on hand to see the museum director (with a somewhat dazed expression) making his way through the moderate crowd, two guards at his side, setting up velvet ropes to keep people ten feet back from the idol. Then the director gestures to a petite woman who has a strange effect on Dr. Barbarossa.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> As soon as you look at her, you rationally know that she\u2019s okay-looking, but nothing spectacular. Yet at the same time your emotions go crazy, spewing yearning-to-protect and affection verging on adoration all over your mental landscape.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> &#8230;huh. Okay, something weird\u2019s going on here, but I\u2019m just going to play it cool for a bit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You\u2019re not the only one affected. An awed hush falls over the crowd as she nears the case, and then people start babbling things at her\u2014\u201cI love you!\u201d \u201cPlease help me!\u201d \u201cTell me what you want!\u201d and so forth\u2014just as the museum director unlocks the case.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> \u201cHey, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> No one\u2019s paying attention. The museum director is grunting as he tries to pull out the statue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I\u2019m going to regret this but\u2026 \u201cKazoth? You there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Oh, that\u2019s me, right? Ahem. \u201cTremble, puny mortal, as dread Kazoth attends thy sniveling invocation!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> &#8230;yeah. So any idea what\u2019s going on there?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Now that you\u2019re active, Kazoth, you can tell that the woman reaching for your demonic friend\u2019s amulet is hosting a no-kidding angel. If you talk with her, you might be able to identify which one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> How tough are angels?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> They beat down your sorry asses in the war. What\u2019s that tell you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Do angels automatically recognize demons?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Nope. You can get the drop on her, maybe.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1628\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole\/better-angels-felix-accusing\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"384,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Better-Angels-Felix-accusing\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing.jpg\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1628\" alt=\"Better-Angels-Felix-accusing\" src=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing.jpg\" width=\"384\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing.jpg 384w, https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Felix-accusing-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Nah, I\u2019m going to shout out at her, \u201cHey, that\u2019s stealing! You\u2019re stealing that! Thou shalt not steal!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Okay, what are you trying to do here?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> A <strong>Devious<\/strong> <em>Nurture<\/em> attack, attempting to wear down her\u2026 um, let\u2019s go straight after her <em>Nurture<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Ooh, can I give him a Master Die to help with that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> It\u2019ll cost you a point of <em>Corruption<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><em>See the <a href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-Character-Sheet-v6-all.pdf\">Cheat Sheet<\/a> under &#8220;What a Screwtape Can Do.&#8221; \u00a0<\/em>The demon can transform one of the host&#8217;s dice to a Master Die, which guarantees success, but it slides a Sinister Tactic to its Virtuous opposite. To slide, the Sinister Tactic must be greater than zero.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH)<\/strong>: &#8230;which is zero. Okay, I guess I\u2019m restricted to cheerleading. \u201cYour temerity pleases Kazoth, mortal! Perhaps you shall prove a worthy host of my\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Yeah, yeah, did she hear me?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> She\u2019s trying to defend herself with <strong>Insightful<\/strong> <em>Nurture<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> So what bonuses do I get?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> What? I\u2019m taking her by surprise and I\u2019m telling the truth about her stealing! That\u2019s gotta be worth some Advantage!<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Normally, yes. But it doesn\u2019t work against her. Making an angel doubt itself is an uphill task at the best of times, and she\u2019s got a trick protecting her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> &#8230;oh. I\u2019m rolling 6d and I get\u2026 ooh, a pair of nines!<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Holy snap, Frank! Even with a Master Die she can\u2019t avoid the guilt trip from your pair of sixes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> They\u2019re nines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> They\u2019re sixes now. She falters for a second, then says, \u201cI realize this is irregular, but this statue is very dangerous. I have to dispose of it safely.\u201d The museum director is looking a little puzzled, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I\u2019m going to look at him and yell, \u201cAre you just going to let her steal and destroy it? Who is she anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH (AS THE MUSEUM DIRECTOR):<\/strong> \u201cUm, that\u2019s a good point\u2026 er, Miss, I don\u2019t think I caught your name\u2026 could you, maybe, go into a little more detail about what you\u2019re planning to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Okay, I\u2019m going to try and slip into the crowd so I\u2019m blended.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You\u2019re in the crowd already.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Yeah, but I don\u2019t want her, or anyone else, to realize that the same guy says the next thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Roll <strong>Sly<\/strong> <em>Cowardice<\/em> to sneak around and skulk. Any set will do it. You were towards the front so getting to the back is easy. Everyone\u2019s trying to get closer to the adorable woman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Kazoth, you want to help me skulk?<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> &#8230;no.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> &#8230;and I roll a pair of tens.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You\u2019ve skulked. What now?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> \u201cHe\u2019s trying to stop her! He must be evil! He\u2019s protecting the evil statue! Get him before he hurts her!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> What are you trying to accomplish with this?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I want the crowd to get riled up and mob the guards and director, or at least get mad at them so she has to deal with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Okay, roll <strong>Devious<\/strong> <em>Deceit<\/em> to create a misunderstanding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Have a Master Die. I can add one to this and oh, do I ever want to!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Kazoth can add a Master Die to Felix&#8217;s Deceit because it&#8217;s at 1 and so she can slide a point off it to Honesty.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Let\u2019s make that a pair of tens, shall we?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> The crowd starts shoving and shouting, and now the guards are bellying up to the velvet ropes and scowling, and suddenly instead of being a little woman with a beaded handbag and recycled flip-flops, she\u2019s a ten foot tall blazing statue made of diamonds with wings and a halo. People are openly falling down in worship. Kazoth, you do realize that if you don\u2019t do anything, your good friend\u2019s amulet is likely to get destroyed, confining her to the fiery furnace for the foreseeable future?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1629\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole\/better-angels-shining-diamond-rampant\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"640,427\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1629\" alt=\"Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant\" src=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg 640w, https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> All we need to do is get close enough and we can start teleporting the thing away from her. She\u2019s dealing with the crowd, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Felix would have to make an <strong>Open<\/strong> <em>Cowardice<\/em> roll to get through the people, who are now really clumping up around her. Difficulty 3. Frank, you going to try it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> She hasn\u2019t really identified me, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> There\u2019s a lot going on. How would you tell?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> All right, I\u2019ll push to the front of the crowd again. Six dice\u2026 and look at that pair of tens and pair of eights! Haw!<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You\u2019re right by the demon statue, but there\u2019s a guard in front of you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> The crowd\u2019s surging around, right? Can I make a Banish attack when I brush against him, without him noticing?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Um\u2026 you can try, but that\u2019s a multiple action between <strong>Devious<\/strong> <em>Deceit<\/em> and whatever you use to activate Banish.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Ooh. That would be four dice, trying to get two sets. Okay, I\u2019m just going to knock down one of the rope stanchions, flop forward and land on the doodad.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> That would be either <strong>Open<\/strong> or <strong>Sly<\/strong> <em>Cowardice<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I\u2019m stronger, that\u2019s six dice\u2026 pair of sixes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> She\u2019s looking at you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Is anyone else from the crowd rushing forward to touch and adore her?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> No, she\u2019s got them pretty well settled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Can I grab it, use Ghost Form, and phase through the floor with it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> If Kazoth opted to activate that Aspect, the statue would still be too heavy to take with you. But you can see a stairwell in the distance, going down. You could Banish it there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> All right, I\u2019m shoving my face down to hide it and sending the thing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> She\u2019s trying to grab you and yank you off it before you can do anything.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I get\u2026 no sets.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> And she gets a pair of tens to haul you off it. You\u2019re now dangling from her hand and she\u2019s staring at you balefully.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> \u201cKazoth, can we please phase out of this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> \u201cAnd now the mortal pleads for his mistress\u2019 favor. Very well, squealing one. But thou owest me greatly!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Next round, you\u2019re trying to use Ghost Form and she\u2019s trying to stop you from using Ghost Form. Both happen simultaneously, so\u2026 call the roll odds or evens?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Odds!<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Evens!<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Okay, Katie calls it\u2026 and it\u2019s odd. Slide your point of <strong>Devious<\/strong>\u00a0to activate the Ghost Form aspect. You start to go through her fingers when she cries \u201cDemon!\u201d and suddenly you\u2019re solid again. But hey, you might as well bring out the Wings, too, since your gig is already up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> She can just switch my powers off?!?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> That one, apparently.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Right, I\u2019ma Banish her hand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Hm\u2026 normally you\u2019d get a fat surprise bonus, but she\u2019s immune to bonuses\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> What, like, all of them?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> She\u2019s going to punch you real hard. How\u2019s your <em>Courage?<\/em> She\u2019s trying to take you straight out of the fight.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> <em>Courage<\/em> two. Maybe I\u2019ll just try to eel out of her grip before she hits me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> I\u2019ll give up a point of <em>Cowardice<\/em> for that!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>In other words, she&#8217;s adding a Master Die to it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Hm. You trying to avoid the blow or get away or make a multiple action for both?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Gah! I guess I have to avoid the punch\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Katie, are his wings out?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>&#8220;Wings&#8221; is an aspect that Felix has, which means it triggers a physical transformation of some kind. Since it&#8217;s an aspect and not a power, Kazoth has to be the one to activate it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Not yet. Hell, if he\u2019s going to get beat to death, he might as well die looking human.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Roll \u2018em.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Triple sevens, with that Master Die!<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Enough to beat her triple fives. You squirm out of the way and hear someone behind her shout, \u201cHey, face your real nemesis, you slutty slutface!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE:<\/strong> \u2018Slutty slutface?\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> That\u2019s what he says. Over her shoulder you see a guy dressed all in black, except for a narrow red triangle on his forehead and a thin red diamond in the center of his chest. Black cape, black boots, one black glove and one red, black mask.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Gimp or domino?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1630\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole\/better-angels-axe-hole\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"384,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Better-Angels-axe-hole\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole.jpg\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1630\" alt=\"Better-Angels-axe-hole\" src=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole.jpg\" width=\"384\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole.jpg 384w, https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-axe-hole-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a>SARAH:<\/strong> Gimp. The mouth\u2019s unzipped. He makes a gesture, and suddenly there\u2019s a burning axe in his red right hand. \u201cPrepare to face\u2026 THE AXE-HOLE!\u201d He\u2019s taking a swing at the diamond woman. She\u2019s going to fly up in the air with you to avoid him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I\u2019m going to try to get away from her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Roll your <strong>Sly<\/strong> <em>Cowardice<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> What about <strong>Open<\/strong> <em>Cowardice?<\/em> It\u2019s higher.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Fine. She swoops up just as he swings, and\u2026?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Pair of sixes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You slide out of her grip and sprawl on the floor. The crowd\u2019s fleeing, except for the guards, who are pulling out their nightsticks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Grab the statue and send it to the stairwell.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> You sure? You\u2019re actually the most Cunning person here, so you can wait and see what the Shining Diamond and Axe-Hole do first.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Oh. I\u2019ll do that, then.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Axe-Hole points at a guard and says, \u201cYou know what I like to do in a museum? Deface things.\u201d Shining Diamond swoops down at him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> &#8230;yeah, still thinking I\u2019ll send the statue to the steps. Two sevens, two fours! On four dice! Thank you very much!<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE:<\/strong> Your dice are hot today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> A red scrap of flesh appears in Axe-Hole\u2019s hand while a guard screams and clutches his now-bleeding head. Then the Diamond crashes into him and he gets flung back a good ten feet. You teleport the statue away just like you wanted while the crowd stampedes, the museum director flees, and one guard tries to help the other. Next round, Axe is going to start swinging wildly at the crowd, Diamond shouts \u201cI forbid you to harm these people!\u201d and Katie? You get the feeling that Ghost Form might just work now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Really? Oh, let\u2019s do that!<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Can I get through the floor?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Yep. Although\u2026 are you willing to let the crowd get mangled by that dude with the fire-axe?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> When the elephants struggle, it\u2019s the grass that gets trampled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Wow. Classy. If you just want to sneak away, you can easily do that with wings and\u2026 what, two more Ghost Form switches? If you just bugger off, that closes the scene. If you go after the statue, things continue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Either one of those guys could pulverize me with a single hit, right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> It\u2019ll take at least two. Or one from each, I suppose.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> Buggering off, ma\u2019am.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> \u201cWhat? Dost abandon my comrade in craven fear? Truly, thou art as weak in thy loyalty to me as thou art to thine Physician\u2019s Oath.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> \u201cPut a sock in it, Kazoth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>At this point everybody agrees the scene&#8217;s over. That means the Screwtape for each villain who was involved can argue to increase one of the villain&#8217;s Sinister Tactics to reflect deepening wickedness, and the villain&#8217;s player can argue to decrease a Sinister Tactic to reflect repentence and wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> All right, is there a Tactic you can raise, Katie?<\/p>\n<p><strong>KATIE (KAZOTH):<\/strong> Oh yeah! Let\u2019s see what Felix did\u2026 <em>Cowardice?<\/em> Humiliate someone. Humiliating yourself presumably doesn\u2019t count. So using <em>Cowardice<\/em> for what it says on the tin doesn\u2019t improve it? <em>Greed<\/em>\u2026 steal something useless, would the statue count? No? Crud\u2026 For <em>Cruelty<\/em> I need to kill someone. Didn\u2019t do that. <em>Espionage?<\/em> Need a victory gloat, which implies victory. Drat. Well, <em>Corruption<\/em> needs minions in service and I sure as hell don\u2019t have the open betrayal and mockery I need for <em>Deceit.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Sounds like a whole lotta nothing. Frank? Got anything to turn Sinister Tactics Virtuous?<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRANK (FELIX):<\/strong> I can\u2019t turn virtue back into sin?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SARAH:<\/strong> Nope. This is repentance we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>And as you can see from the Cheat Sheet, it&#8217;s a lot of nothing for Felix, too. He comes closest with &#8220;Learning something new and important,&#8221; which would slide\u00a0Espionage to Knowledge,\u00a0but his\u00a0Espionage is already at zero so it can&#8217;t slide anywhere.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Coming up tomorrow: How to prep an instant <em>Better Angels<\/em> game!<\/p>\n<p>Order <a href=\"http:\/\/rpg.drivethrustuff.com\/product\/114269\/Better-Angels&amp;affiliate_id=48458\"><em>Better Angels<\/em> in PDF<\/a> or in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=14&amp;products_id=53\">full-color hardback with a free PDF download<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcdream.com\/zencart\/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=14&amp;products_id=53\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1579\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-now-available-in-pdf\/better-angels-cover-v4-front-612px\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"612,787\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Better Angels cover\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Better Angels cover&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1579\" alt=\"Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px\" src=\"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px.jpg\" width=\"612\" height=\"787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px.jpg 612w, https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This excerpt of\u00a0Better Angels is written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013, and used by permission, with commentary by Shane Ivey. Remember Tobey,<\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a class=\"myButt \" href=\"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/05\/better-angels-example-of-play-felix-kazoth-shining-diamond-and-the-axe-hole\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[241,11],"class_list":["post-1627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-better-angels","tag-example","tag-greg-stolze"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Better-Angels-shining-diamond-rampant.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1wrNI-qf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1637,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627\/revisions\/1637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}