Nevernever Locale: The Thousand Crossing Roads

[Sanctaphrax]

There are many roads and paths through the Nevernever, just as there are many roads and paths through the material world. The roads of the Nevernever are not like those of our world, though. They are not limited by the constaints of three-dimensional space. It is that peculiar fact that makes the existance of The Thousand Crossing Roads possible.

The Thousand Crossing Roads is exactly what it sounds like. One thousand (or perhaps more) roads, streets, and paths converge at a single point, overlapping and looping in ways that defy traditional geometry. Cars, chariots, airplanes, bicycles, and every other imaginable type of vehicle move over these paths in a no discernable pattern. Clearly, everyone here must be going somewhere. But nothing ever really changes, and it's hard to tell if anyone ever reaches their destination.

Some of the roads are of the familiar asphalt sort, while others are made of air or water or lightning. No matter how you travel, there's sure to be a road that suits your needs.

The Thousand Crossing Roads is a boon to any traveller in a hurry. No matter where you want to go, there's a road that leads somewhere close to it. But you had better be prepared for a tough journey, because the place is nearly impossible to navigate and the gridlock is terrible.

Many people who come to The Thousand Crossing Roads end up unable to leave. Their car (or boat, or helicopter, or whatever) gets trapped or runs out of fuel and they are forced to abandon it. These people are usually soon recruited by the one of the nomadic gangs that inhabits the area.

These gangs are made up almost entirely of pure mortals. They are generally led by a Driver who guides the others through The Thousand Crossing Roads and drives whatever vehicle the gang chooses to use as its headquarters. Ordinary members of these gangs are known as Passengers. They provide security for the Driver and, when necessary, stage raids upon passerby for food.

The best way to navigate The Thousand Crossing Roads is to hire one of these gangs to guide you. They can generally be trusted, because they know that their best chance for prosperity or escape is to cultivate a good relationship with someone from outside.

On an unrelated note, there are often vehicles left lying around in The Thousand Crossing Roads. Those with no other vehicle sometimes simply pick one of these and hope for the best.

[Sanctaphrax]

Game Information:

Navigating from The Thousand Crossing Roads to somewhere else requires a number of Driving rolls, each of which represents one hour of travel in an ordinary vehicle. The difficulty of these rolls is 3 if one is simply trying to leave and 5 if one has a destination in mind. After each roll, record the number of shifts that the character succeeded or failed by and add or subtract that number from the character's running total. Once that total reaches 10, one can leave. The total cannot be reduced below -5, because there's a limit to how lost you can get.

Occasionally, a road hazard will arise in The Thousand Crossing Roads. Make a Driving check or something bad happens to you. The details are up to the GM.

Finding a vehicle in The Thousand Crossing Roads requires a roll with Survival modified by Investigation or Investigation modified by Survival over a time of a few hours. A result of 1 will get you something terrible, like a car with no wheels.  A result of 3 will get you a vehicle of some sort that probably won't work very well. A result of 5 will get you something functional in more or less your choice of category. A result of 7 will get you whatever you want as long as you don't want something crazy. Remember that you can spend additional time to add to a roll like this.

PS: Most of the combat in The Thousand Crossing Roads will probably be vehicle combat. You can find a set of homebrew rules for that here: http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24744.msg1053776.html#msg1053776

[Sanctaphrax]

The Driver used to be an ordinary guy. Now he's the leader of a badass gang of nomads in a magical land. Sure, he could leave. He's learned this place so well, he can get almost anywhere within 5 hours. But he likes it here. Maybe he's a petty tyrant who rules over his gang with an iron fist, or maybe he's a hero who brings people safely home. Either way, he's a Driver: the unquestioned master of his gang.

Driver (Feet In The Water)

High Concept: The Driver
Other Aspects: I Like It Here, My Word Is Law, Excellent Guide
Skills:
Great: Driving
Good: Craftsmanship, Presence
Fair: Investigation, Survival, Alertness
Average: Endurance, Conviction, Intimidation, Athletics
Stunts:
Car Mechanic (Craftsmanship): +1 to repair personal vehicles, further +1 to repair cars.
Native To The Thousand Crossing Roads (Survival): +2 to Survival within The Thousand Crossing Roads.
Knowledge Born From Experience (Survival): Use Survival instead of Lore when concerning The Thousand Crossing Roads.
These Roads Are My Roads (Driving): +2 to Driving within The Thousand Crossing Roads.
Like The Back Of My Hand (Driving): +2 to Driving for navigation.
Total Refresh Cost:
-3 (Pure Mortal)
Refresh Total:
3

Unlike The Driver, The Passenger doesn't like it here. But he can't get anywhere without the The Driver's help, and so he does what he's told in order to survive and maybe go home one day. He's been here a while, though, and that's given him a pretty useful skillset. At least, that's the general rule. Exceptions exist.

Passenger (Hydrophobe)

High Concept: Nevernever Gang Member
Other Aspects: I Wanna Go Home, Reliant On The Driver, Surprisingly Well Adapted
Skills:
Fair: Guns, Driving, Survival
Average: Endurance, Fists, Alertness, Craftsmanship
Stunts:
Native To The Thousand Crossing Roads (Survival): +2 to Survival within The Thousand Crossing Roads.
Drive-By (Guns): +1 to Guns attacks from vehicles.
Car Mechanic (Craftsmanship): +1 to repair personal vehicles, further +1 to repair cars.
Total Refresh Cost:
-1 (Pure Mortal)
Refresh Total:
1

[devonapple]

And their theme music comes immediately to mind:

"Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He sees things from under glass
He looks through his window's eye
He sees the things he knows are his
He sees the bright and hollow sky
He sees the city asleep at night
He sees the stars are out tonight
And all of it is yours and mine
And all of it is yours and mine"

~ Iggy pop, "The Passenger"

[Sanctaphrax]

Never heard that one before.

Thanks for introducing me to it.

[Belial666]

Why would Driving be used for a supernatural path in the Nevernever? Wouldn't Lore be more appropriate or Survival? Both those skills mention something like this. Driving, if you are unfamiliar with a place, is always treated as Mediocre anyway.

Also, let's say that driving out of the maze is 5 hours of driving. Why wouldn't someone do it with 50 hours (5 days) of hiking instead? And what about Riding or flying?

[Sanctaphrax]

You can leave in a different amount of time if the speed of your vehicle is different. But you'd still use Driving unless you have a stunt moving navigation to some other skill. Other skills might be justifiable as modifiers.

I chose Driving because A) it's the skill that's used for navigation by default and B) it's the primary skill that you're supposed to need here.

And yes, you need to be at least minimally familiar with the place to get anywhere.

If you're worrying about how the group is going to get through here without a driver, don't. Other people will drive, you'll ride. Unless, of course, you have some kind of objection to that.

[Samael]

You plan to do any more of these Nevernever Locales?

[Belial666]

I was pointing out that Survival is used instead of Driving when you ride and that other skills can be used for Navigation in some circumstances.

[Sanctaphrax]

Eh. Point taken.

I plan to do one more of these in the next few days: The Gate To Muspelheim. That will be all for a while, but I'll probably come back and do more later.

Although I might change my mind if I hear a suggestion that really grabs me.

PS: If you want more of these, then take a look at the Travel Guide page of the wiki in my signature.

[Sanctaphrax]

And now this location is on the wiki too.

Link: http://dfrpg-resources.wikispaces.com/Nevernever+Location+The+Thousand+Crossing+Roads