Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Everspark Part Three

Read my previous world building session here
You can purchase Everspark here

Everspark leans heavily into its narrative roleplay over simulationist fare. The first thing you notice is that your character sheet is all words, no numbers. You don’t add any modifiers when you roll Skill checks. Instead, Cezar Capacle presents us with the idea of Leverage and Drawbacks, representing potential risks and rewards. Most of the time, you will roll if the skill falls outside your character’s ABCs (Ancestry, Background, Career). 

A Thief doesn’t need to roll to sneak because he does that naturally. A Paladin in clattering armor definitely would because he’s not as stealthy. Capable sums it up with the SARC framework (Situation, Action, Roll, Consequence). If you enjoy crunchy, numbers-rich games, this may not be your thing, but for someone like me who wants to get into the story, it allows for a very smooth narrative style of play. Capacle also includes a table of Sigils to act as a looser interpretive oracle for questions about what is going on and the favorability of situations.

What allows this to be a fantastic solo game is the Sparks mechanic. Sparks is a method to track progress on literally anything in the game. On a post-it note, you label the top with whatever you want to track progress for. That could be a journey, a battle with an enemy, a crafting project, things happening in the background, anything. The Spark is advanced through narrative triggers, typically but not limited to your Skill checks.

You advance Sparks by drawing a ray. You will do this possibly up to 5 times, eventually drawing a Star. With each ray you draw, you roll a d6. If the result exceeds the number of rays drawn, it is unresolved. If the die is the same or lower than the rays present, you have closed the Spark. Capacle also adds that you can choose to track your Spark; however, it is most convenient for you, so because I am posting this online, I’ll track them with this format – 0/5.

Sparks are set up using another acronym, NACHOS, which stands for (Name, Advance, Check, Hit, Overturn, and Special). Items describe when you would add to your star, roll to see if you clear it, what happens if you clear it, what happens if you never do, and anything unique mechanically. I’ll share NACHOS with you as we play on some Sparks if they’re beyond the basic default mode.

I’m still learning them in full, and Capacle has sections in the book that separate types of Sparks into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. I’m sticking with Basic, but I may go beyond that the further we get into the mini-campaign.

Here’s a Spark I made for one of the large plot points

N – Qazid Icebreath’s Journey
A – Only when Cypress leaves Murkspire. Make a Fate Check at each third of the way, advancing on unfavorable results or with failed Skill Checks.
C – Only from the second ray forward.
H – Jump to a scene of Qazid wreaking havoc on Slumbering Bay on his way to the Whispering Mountains
O – Qazid is intercepted by the Imperial Navy and appears to sink to the bottom of the sea
S – None

Here’s one for The Blackrot Plague that threatens to break out in Murkspire

N – The Blackrot Plague
A – Each time Cypress comes in contact with sick goblins
C – After each advance.
H – Cypress must immediately flee Murkspire as the plague ravages the population
O – Cypress avoids catching the plague
S – None

Without further ado, let us begin:

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The noisy (and surprisingly smelly) revelry of the goblins of Murkspire. The huts & hovels made a ring around the base of the crumbling towers that reached into the night sky like a claw. Cypress Stonemark watched movements through his telescope, frustrated with how the darkness obscured his view. That, paired with the shoddily scrawled map, didn’t make him confident about their next move. He’d secured the flimsy piece of cloth from the Imperial Archive. It had been scribbled out by a captured goblin a few years ago and lacked the sort of detail Cypress preferred.

The Capybarian strategist was also unsure of the pair of adventurers the Guild had sent with him on this mission. Cypress lifted his eye from the telescope and glanced behind him. Hulde was cleaning her thunder musket, muttering everything she would do when she got into the heart of Murkspire. The gnome had been a soldier in the Gnome/Goblin Wars ten years back. It had done things to her, the most visible of which was her lip, scarred in a permanent grimace. 

Cypress’s other companion wasn’t inspiring much more confidence. Demis stood firmly rooted in rest, absorbing nutrients from the blasted land of the Shadowed Glen. There wasn’t much to be supped on, Cypress guessed. The Bloomwalker was a religious zealot devoted to The Blooming Creed, a cult focused on the Bloom & Wither cycle. Cypress had seen some of them standing at the gates of Kingshold over the years, offering seeds for passersby to plant. Demis was different, though; he was an acolyte who had devoted his life to being a slayer of colossal beasts. Demis seemed fierce and dangerous, unlike the other ‘Bloomers,’ as they were derisively referred to by non-believers. They scared Cypress a bit.

Cypress looks at the crudely drawn map and back through his telescope, attempting to spot the safest route inside Murkspire undetected. The Capybarian would prefer to avoid the Fangguard. 

Roll on Sigils: Water

Cypress notices the large sewer pipes emptying into the bay. The water glows green with goblin waste, and gods know what. It might not be the prettiest way to get into Murkspire, but it is a way in. 

Enter Murkspire – 0/5

Roll: 13

Hours later, Cypress and his allies trudge through the glowing green waters flowing in the opposite direction. He was smart enough ahead of time to tear up some cloth and use it as masks over his and Hulde’s mouths & noses. He wasn’t sure if Bloomwalkers could smell the same way but handed Demis a scrap of cloth anyway.

Enter Murkspire – 1/5

Spark Check: 2, not closed

Fate Check: Path

The path forward is blocked. The tunnels Cypress must get down to reach King Skragz’s vault are blocked with a disgusting mass of waste, goblin hair, bones, and other pieces of trash. Cypress finds the masks are struggling to protect their precious noses. Drawing attention with explosives is a no-go; it requires too much attention. Instead, Cypress pulls out some paper, a pencil, and his compass and starts taking measurements. After a moment, he instructs Demis and Hulde to put pressure on specific spots in this mass.

Roll: 2

The mass of waste comes loose and rolls down the waterway, smashing into the walls and causing the way back out to crumble. The water is still getting through in small crevices. Unnoticed by Cypress is the rat watching them from a crack in the wall. Its eyes glow with the indigo magic of a sorcerer. The group is being watched remotely by an unknown figure.

Enter Murkspire – 1/5 – No change

Fate Check: Spirit

A wail echoes through the sewer tunnels, sending a shiver down Cypress and making his fur stand on end. Demis grips their sun spear tighter, and Hulde readies her thunder gun. A specter emerges from the wall, the ghost of a young man in armor that was way too small for him at the time of his death. Crude goblin arrows stick out of various spots.

“Oooooh, weary adventurers, heed the warning of Sir Thorpe the Unknown,” the ghost cries.

Cypress has an encyclopedic knowledge of all the knights who have served the kingdom; he’s never heard of this guy.

“The Fangguard is on patrol. Their blades are thirsty for blood. Bewaaaaaare!”

Sir Thorpe’s ghost floats across the waterway and through the wall on the opposite side of the sewers.

Cypress stops the group momentarily as he attempts to use his senses to try and determine what a safe path forward could be. He’s not a tracker by nature but is trying to take note of sounds or footprints in the tunnels. Has Drawback – Increased Risk

Roll: 7 – Escalate Threat

Goblin shadows stretch across the sewer wall, illuminated by oil lanterns. The Fangguard is on patrol.

N – The Fangguard
A – After each successful action or favorable event
C – From the second ray onward
H – You defeat or evade the Fangguard
O – You become the prisoners of the Fangguard
S – Rolling a 1 on Skill Check immediately draws the attention of the Fangguard. If you clear Enter Murkspire before clearing the Fangguard, they are reset to zero and can reappear at another location.

Cypress has his comrades attempt to slip into the shadows so the Fangguard will pass them unnoticed. His Capybarian nature is to avoid conflict if at all possible.

Roll: 19

The Fangguard can’t smell the intruders due to the overwhelming stench of the sewer tunnels. They also appear to be bickering amongst each other about some slight. Cypress, Hulde, and Demis hold their breaths and end up completely safe.

The Fangguard – 1/5

Cypress leads the crew forward, searching for Fangguard footprints to determine the direction they came from. He asks Demis if they can spread their roots to help out and see how to get into the royal center of Murkspire.

Roll: 7 – Complication: Harm NPC

Rolled 18 on Story Chart – Blank Spot

Introduce New NPC: Welter | Goblin  |  Noble  |  Investigator

Enter Murkspire – 2/5 – no change

Cypress and his allies come around a corner, following Demis’s roots. They hear a sudden shout in their direction. A goblin hangs upside down in the clutches of a carnivorous vine that has sprung up in these toxic sewers. He shouts for them to please help him down. Cypress notices the goblins’ belongings spilled out on the ground from his bag, turning upside down. Magnifying glass, fingerprint dusting kit, notepad. He’d bet money that this is a goblin investigator and an authority figure. He’s unsure if they should kill the goblin, so he can’t talk.

Fate Check: Cypress’s companions think (6) opposite things. Demis wants the goblin’s life spared; he’s just a person, not the problem. Hulde expectedly intends to kill the bastard, snarling as she recalls her time in the wars and the things she saw the goblins do. Cypress is no killer…well, not of people wrapped up in monstrous vines. He cuts the goblin down, hoping he doesn’t immediately scream for help.

Quick Fate Check: 8, No.

The goblin grabs Cypress’s paw, shaking it furiously. “Dank you, dank you,” his phlegmy voice produces. “I daught dat vine was gonna gobble me urp. You’re a real pal, buddy!”

Cypress is uneasy but shakes the goblin’s hand. He quickly fakes a story about the three of them passing through on their way to The Forsaken Mines (add to Story Sheet). They were resupplying and accidentally wandered into the sewers. Cypress provides a forced smile, and Hulde glares behind him.

Roll: 17

Enter Murkspire – 3/5 – 2, complete

Welter leads the trio to an exit into the center of the city and bids them good luck as he returns to the trail of his ongoing case.

The Fangguard reset to 0

Read the next session here.