Ivory Siege Tower

mobile construct built of thoughts and parentheses

Recruit's Manual

[2025-06-07]

devlog manual spire st_manticore ttrpg

So, you've discovered the Den, the revolutionary Cell safehouse. That means you are either our new recruit, or a spy for the aelfir. In the latter case you'd better run for your life. Or better, convert to the cause of Lombre, Our Hidden Mistress. The Revolution would appreciate your skills.

Those faithful and devoted, read ahead...

§ The Lobby

This is where you are likely to appear after you follow the secret link. You do have the link, don't you? If not, ask your Magister for it, and after a short registration - welcome on board! (Don't loose the password though, since the password restoration does not really work now.)

For our sessions we are using PlanarAlly Virtual Tabletop. It has its quirks, but our Higher Command is somehow sympathetically attached to it.

The documentation page is super useful, but it would be very optimistic to expect recruits to read the docs. The Codex has a reference page on the most useful aspects of the VTT.

At the moment, note the buttons on a bottom right, press Ctrl+0 to center your view, and start exploring.

§ Reference Section

Directly to the left from the center of the table lies the Reference Section.

On the top, there is a Codex token. Once selected, it shows a list of notes with general reference and useful templates, like a Spire character Stress Table. Hover over the note table or open them in a separate widget to read and/or copy.

PlanarAlly has a notes menu available via n key, where players can search for those notes (and make their own - this is advised!). The notes are aware of Markdown, but there is no direct way to interlink them yet. However, notes can (and should) be attached to shapes on the board, like tokens. That allows not only to make a lightweight reference, but also to manage a PC token in a clever way by attaching certain notes like known skills, domains and abilities to their portrait.

Speaking of those, they form a Rules Foundations row of Reference Stones below the statue. Each stone serves as an index for Skills, Domains, Equipment Tags and Abilities - the latter to be added in a rolling fashion later during play, because they are just too many.

§ Vault's Library

The Vermissian Vault's Library section serves as the connection to external resources. Attached to the blueprint token in the center are links to e.g. a shared drive with resources and handouts for players, to this very manual page, etc.

§ PC Headquarters

The aim of this section is to hold a diorama - actually two scenes - for the PC HQ in game. The top floor of the Manticore - the Casino - is a static scene, while the Den in the basement will have a minimalistic interior at start but that's about to change when the PCs upgrade their Safehouse.

More details can be found on a page dedicated to the Manticore Diorama.