“Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Traps and Thraki!”
Vikalos wandered around the table, handing a small book and several sheets of paper to each of his five guests. He then circled around once more, gently placing a small, satin draw-strong bag in front of everyone.
“Today, I am your Trapmaster, and I shall be leading you through a mystical campaign of magic and mystery, as you solve puzzles and fight battles, to save the trapped princesses of Vorn and save the day. This is Session Zero, and we will be going through the basics of Traps and Thraki before starting our magical adventure.”
The Decay Lord eyed each of his guests in turn, judging them by their reactions. Seimeni appeared bemused and vaguely annoyed. Retvik and the Time Drake Kairos both seemed unsure what to think about what Vikalos had just said. But, much to Vikalos’s joy, Litvir and Arkadin were smiling, genuinely curious about what Vikalos was planning.
“Is this like dun-”
“Yes.” Vikalos interrupted, before Arkadin could finish his sentence. “This is a roleplaying adventure, one which I hope will strengthen your skills in both strategy and team work. While also having a little bit of fun in the process.”
“Why oh why do we have to do this nerd stuff again, Vikalos?” Seimeni grumbled, crossing her arms.
“We will be stuck in place until the vacuum storms outside pass. We need something to keep us occupied and distracted from the outside void, and we could also do with some teamwork training. This combines both worlds. The alternative is to sit in your room on your own and sulk, like the petulant life goddess you are.”
Seimeni shrunk in her seat, then sighed. “Fine. Are we making our own characters though? I find that so tedious…”
Vikalos shook his head as he laid a large, shimmering mat across the table. On it, a strange layout appeared, with five green circles and a multitude of red ones. “I have created a blank character template for you all, with basic stats and abilities already laid out. Your characters are currently blank slates otherwise, and you will need to build yourself a personality for your player character. We will go across the table, discussing what your character’s class and traits are, before running a brief training simulation. Then, in our next session, once you have designed your characters, we shall start properly on our adventure. Any questions, before we start?”
Again, Vikalos eyed each player in turn, watching how they reacted as they skimmed through their character sheets. Litvir was beaming, tapping his fingers together and already writing stuff down, struck by some sort of inspiration. Retvik was slowly reading through his sheets, steadily getting into the spirit of things. Arkadin was sketching something out on a sheet of paper.
“Yeah, I have one…” Kairos grumbled. “Why have you made me a fighter? In what way am I a fighter?”
“Because I did not want to pigeon-hole you into a mage role or something related to dragons. Plus, for our first adventure, I wanted a nice, rounded team. Plus, every single Time Drake I have ever played has requested that they play as a Raptor Bard.”
Kairos paused, then shrugged. “That… is totally fair…”
Vikalos clapped his hands together, then started with the being sitting to his left. “Retvik, let us start with you. Your character is a Paladin, a being of truth and honour, fuelled by the oath you made at a life-changing moment in your past. The Paladin that you have before you uses a sword and shield to dispense justice and right wrongs.”
“That sounds… pretty much perfect for me…” Retvik muttered. “Do I get to choose a backstory?”
“Yes, you all do. You will create a whole character…”
“Do I get to, uh, choose a species?”
“A race?” Vikalos smiled. “Yes, you can pick one of the many pre-existing races, or choose to be a half-breed if you wish.”
“Ah… I am beginning to understand.”
Vikalos moved on to the next few players. “Litvir, you are a Warlock, a forbidden warrior priest worshipping a forbidden deity. In return for your power, you promised your deity sacrifices and rituals in their honour. Being a creature of magic, you are armed with a simple dagger and a magical spell book that glows eerily with otherworldly energy.
“Arkadin, you will be playing as a Cleric, a holy healer determined to rid the lands of slavery and evil necromancy. You bless the meek and smite the wicked, driven by your desire to help others. A silver mace, a bottle of holy water and a large bag of wooden stakes are what separate you from your enemies.”
“Wow… that is accurate as fuck…” Arkadin whispered.
Vikalos smiled, then continued. “Seimeni, your character is a Bard, tired of pleasing drunkards, heading out on adventures, desperate for inspiration to fuel your stories. Your honeyed words and music mix with magic, giving you powerful spells. While you may not seem like a threat, you distract and taunt your enemies while you dance around them, whacking them with your bo-staff as you do so.
“And finally, Kairos, you are a powerful warrior fighter. Having proved yourself in the arenas of old, you wish to prove yourself as an adventurer as well, armed with a wide array of weapons and having the muscle power to use them all. While you carry arrows and a bow on your back, you are happiest when you swing your massive war sword, cleaving enemies in half.”
“Sounds cool enough!” Kairos beamed. “So, what’s the plan, boss?”
With a small tap on the table and a wave of his hand, the large, shimmering mat began to change shape. A dungeon appeared, with eight cells, five of which contained blank markers. A grid ran across the floor, and a stocky guard, clearly a bad guy and shaped like a stereotypical Voidborn, highlighted in grey, was marked in the corner.
“You all awaken in your cells, amnesia flooding your minds. This place is unnatural and vile, ridding you of your true senses. A guard wanders up and down, keeping an eye on you. Please take out the 20-sided die from your little pouches, and roll your dice…”