MURDER MOST FOUL GAMEPLAY THREAD

Jun 17, 2026 3:22 am

Vorza, on that dirty 20, you seem to remember talking to someone on a transporter about high and low places. You only remember part of the conversation as you were bedazzled by the amount of very expensive looking rings found on every finger of both of the persons hands. You remember thinking, 'Hmmm! Thumb rings? On both hands?? OK!???'

They said, 'Magenta? Ok, picture this then ... High rollers and thrill seekers shackled to the wheels, tables, and arcades of this massive amusement complex test their luck at all hours of the day and night as the neon casino glide over Striving. Sleek VIP shuttles and bulky hoverbuses ferrying patrons up to a docking platform, where grand archways open into a wonderland of thrills and material excess. Yep! Thats Magenta!'

Jun 17, 2026 6:43 am

OOC:

And what about Jae question about Zirem?

Jun 17, 2026 7:13 am

ToDream Inactive for 1 months

Jaedana, Eruco remembers the Prelurian professor but admits they never learned much about him—only that Tierny spent time with him off campus. There aren’t any records of Zirem or a visiting professor from Preluria at Polytechnica,

Nitpick

Jun 17, 2026 12:47 pm

MinMin Inactive for 2 months

"Who should we give our request for access to? I would hate to have it go to the wrong place."

Nitpick is hoping to get official access, but knowing a name would tell him who to hack/forge permission from as well.

Old-Growth Wildfire

Jun 17, 2026 11:39 pm

Old-Growth also asks Eruco if he can tell us more about this stalker or why the Prof though they were being followed.

Jun 18, 2026 2:20 am

Nitpick, Eruco informs you that it could take some time however, you are encouraged to submit your request, either that or visit the Basement levels.

Old-Growth, Eruco informs you that is all that he knows about the 'stalker'.

Jun 18, 2026 6:36 am

"So the basement levels are generally available and we could find our way there... of corse to the unrestricted areas... I mean? What is the way to get there?" - Jae winked toward her friends in the way that is should be unnoticeable to Eruco and meaningful enough: that it may be worth a try to find their "own way" in the basement levels towards their destination.

Jun 18, 2026 7:16 am

Stalker05 Inactive for 1 months

Eruco informs you that you may well get to the Basement levels, however getting in is another matter. As I have said, the security is very, very tight.

Vorza Moonshot

Jun 18, 2026 3:38 pm

Vorza listened and then said, "So I can see two ways here. We can petition for access to 404 and check out the Magenta gambling nightclub for Vazylyza or go down to the basement and try to break into 404. I am fine going either way."

Jun 19, 2026 7:40 am

"Petition takes time... so maybe lets fill whatever the form we have to... and then head towards Magenta and this Vazylyza? Breaking in - as much as exciting it sounds for me too... maybe let's not get bad standing with local authorities... just yet, shell we?" - Jae answered, but wanted to hear others opinion too.

Jun 19, 2026 10:37 pm

MinMin Inactive for 2 months

Layers of bureaucracy and red tape appear to stand between you and permission to enter Archive 404.

OOC:

Gaining permission to visit the archive requires a total of four successes using any of the following checks made in preparation. Each check represents a day of effort; a critical success only takes a few hours, allowing that PC to attempt a second check the same day if they wish. PCs may Aid another’s check, but doing so means they can’t attempt their own check that day.

The PCs might: search for loopholes or leverage knowledge of academic bureaucracy (DC 14 Academia Lore or Perception); Gather Information (DC 13 Computers or Diplomacy); fill out paperwork (DC 13 Computers or Perception); forge documents (DC 15 Computers or Society); call in favors or charm officials (DC 14 Diplomacy); con officials (DC 15 Deception); or strongarm their way in (DC 14 Intimidation DC).

So who is rolling? Make your rolls please!

Old-Growth Wildfire

Jun 20, 2026 12:17 am

Old-Growth is not much for paperwork and the officials lack the language for him to speak with them effectively, so he decides to leave that to the others and do what research he can on how the academy bureaucracy works and who has that ability to grant access to 404.

OOC:

I'll retcon this if the party decides they want to abandon the attempt and head for the Magenta

Rolls

Day of Research (Perception) - (1d20+5)

(19) + 5 = 24

Jun 20, 2026 1:17 am

MinMin Inactive for 2 months

OOC:

CRITICAL SUCCESS
On that Critical Success it only takes you a couple of hours to complete this first of four successes. Therefore you are afforded another roll.

Old-Growth, you decide to search for loopholes or leverage knowledge of academic bureaucracy. On that roll of 24, your gaze drifts past the dense, glowing text of the Archive 404 charter and settles on the margin—the bureaucratic whitespace. Where others saw a labyrinth of administrative dead ends, your razor-sharp observation skill allows you to spot a glaring loophole buried within Section 402, Subsection B of the Codex.

Your eyes narrow. The text stated that administrative requests submitted directly to the Provost must be resolved within 48 hours. However, a heavily crossed-out footnote regarding "emergency exemptions" permitted a petitioner to bypass standard queue processing if their research was categorized under a "threat to institutional continuity."

With a shrewd smirk, you mentally formulated a plan. By utilizing your smarts, you recognise exactly which administrative filing codes to pair with this obscure clause. If you simply refiled the pending research petition as an Emergency Resource Arbitration, you could legally force the Facilitator to greenlight your access without waiting on the standard six-month committee review. The red tape wasn't an obstacle—it was a weapon to be used against itself.

Instead of a day, this discovery only takes a matter of a couple of hours.

Old-Growth Wildfire

Jun 21, 2026 10:11 pm

Old-Growth will share his findings with the others and focus on crafting a request directly to the Provost centering around the potential threat to the institutional continuity as a result of the professor's unexpected demise.

Rolls

Day of Research (Perception) - (1d20+5) - (1d20+5)

(8) + 5 = 13

Jun 22, 2026 4:58 am

ToDream Inactive for 1 months

OOC:

SUCCESS
On that Success it takes you the rest of the day to complete this, the second of four successes.

The PCs might: search for loopholes or leverage knowledge of academic bureaucracy (DC 14 Academia Lore or Perception); Gather Information (DC 13 Computers or Diplomacy); fill out paperwork (DC 13 Computers or Perception); forge documents (DC 15 Computers or Society); call in favors or charm officials (DC 14 Diplomacy); con officials (DC 15 Deception); or strongarm their way in (DC 14 Intimidation DC)

The line at 404's Archive Intake stretched into an agonising sprawl of frustrated spacers and sweating bureaucrats. Though of few words, Old-Growth, few paper filling skills and even fewer ethical qualms, you don't really have the standard three weeks it takes to clear Level-4 security. You stand at the front of the queue, sliding a thick datapad loaded with intake forms toward the bored vesk clerk. You weren't just submitting forms; you was reading the room. Your eyes flicker, narrowing in on the clerk’s rapid, mechanical data-entry habits.

You noticed the clerk auto-rejecting any application without the specific blue encryption stamp from the Overseer’s office. However, you also observed a tiny, pulsing red light on the clerk's terminal. A system bypass used by facility managers when the main stamp servers went down. Casually leaning on the counter, you subtly shift your weight, pressing the datapad down at the exact angle where your insect like palm mirrored the red light's rhythm. A localised data-spoof, easily within your reflex.

The clerk routinely glanced at the security guard's patrol schedule to the left of the booth before verifying any identity. It was a rhythmic, lazy check. While the clerk’s eyes darted left toward the guard, your fingers blurred, dragging the forged approval signatures onto the primary file. You hide the movement behind a perfectly timed, dramatic buzz of annoyance, drawing the clerk’s focus strictly to your physical expressions of impatience rather than the doctored digital logs.

The system pinged a low-level audio alert that you were missing a supervisor's ocular scan, a glaring error that would normally trigger a localised lockdown. You smoothly tap your own optic eye against the datapad’s biometric scanner, feeding a looping, pre-recorded security override you lifted from the system just moments prior.

The console beeps a soft, green affirmative. The vesk clerk, entirely oblivious to the micro-heist of data occurring right under his nose, stamps the datapad and slides an entry key across the plexiglass."Approved," the clerk droned. You grab the pass, offering a polite, practiced nod, and look into the darkened corridors of 404, your Perception sharper than ever. Now, just a couple more steps and then we are IN!

Nitpick

Jun 23, 2026 12:07 am

Stalker05 Inactive for 1 months

"Really hate bureaucracy."

Last edited June 23, 2026 12:09 am

Rolls

Gather information (Computers) - (1d20+7)

(11) + 7 = 18

Vorza Moonshot

Jun 23, 2026 9:49 am

Vorza looked at the work already done by others and then said, "Looks like we are progressing alright. I am not that good at information gathering and computers. However, if you need me to intimidate some clerk, I am up for it."

Jun 23, 2026 11:02 am

OOC:

As Jae don't want to forge documents, no other thing left she is good at from the provided choices. And I'm fine with it:) But... as "look into the darkened corridors of 404, your Perception sharper than ever. Now, just a couple more steps and then we are IN!" I think Jae could TRY to scout ahead and see what is before us unnoticed... so we will be better prepared? I will try to roll for that, if it's not valid - just ignore my roll and Jae will wait for others actions.

"Wait a moment friends... it's better to be prepared and know what is ahead of us... let me check it first." - Jaedana whispered before disappearing in dark corridor's corners.

Rolls

Stealth - (d20+7)

(3) + 7 = 10

Jun 24, 2026 4:10 am