Curse of the Crimson Throne - Mongoose Legend (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Parker

Gaedren Lamm. Three syllables to either give you a cold sweat or a white hot fury. This man has ruined many, many lives. He may have ruined your life, or the life of someone close to you. The Guard know all about him, of course, but good luck trying to get something done about him - he knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak. So when you receive an anonymous note offering information about where he might be...

So yeah, I'd like to run a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, but I'd like to do it in a different role playing system for two reasons: first, it's a cool system and I like introducing people to cool systems, and second, I'm just awkward like that. Anyway, no access to the rules is required (though if you want to pick them up, you can get the pdf for a dollar at drivethrurpg), as I will happily walk the up to six successful candidates through character generation. Instead, I'd just like to see a background and a character concept.

For those of you unfamiliar with Legend, it used to be Mongoose RuneQuest 2nd edition, which was based off of Chaosium's d100 system. Everything you roll is either an ability (strength, dexterity, constitution and so on) or a skill. There are no classes, so if you want a greatsword wielding, heavy armour wearing wizard, you're more than welcome to have one. HP is locational, it starts low and it stays low. But what's true for you is true for your enemies too. This makes fights short and brutal, and rewards picking your battles.

Sound fun? I'm running this recruitment until one of two things happens: I end up with so many good applications that I can't take any more, or until Christmas.

Okay, I'm in. xD

I will work a bit in background and concept and post it later.

I'm SO in.

[Edit]Background to follow today.[edit]

Looking forward to it.

I am interested, as well. I've never used this system. I have created a character for another recruitment for Curse of the Crimson Throne. Just look at the profile for this alias, read the background and disregard the stats. =D

I may be interested as well. Both because I've not yet played the campaign and also because the system sounds intriguing. :)

I will think up a character idea over the next day or so.

I'll throw my hat in as well. I've loved the old RuneQuest system for years, just never got to play it :) So here's my sort of chance :)

Nice, Jakthion. I notice the Pathfinder stats involve being a Ranger. Was that more for the Sable Company Marine feat, or because you actually want access to Ranger spells and the like?

It was for both and more. I like the skill set, the animal companion, the favored enemy/terrain and weapon styles. From what I have been told of the AP, the feat is likely to be more fluff than crunch and that's okay. I am interested to see what options are available in this system to build up a character and see how it compares.

Hmm. While there's no favoured enemy/terrain parallels in Legend, I'd be happy for a successful, relevant Lore roll to provide skill bonuses in other areas. It wouldn't be exactly the same, but then you'd have a relatively high success rate on most of the rolls those things affect anyway. As to damage, well, things die really quickly in Legend anyway. I mean, the most powerful enemy you ever face in this campaign will probably have around 20-30 hp at his toughest location.

As to spells, Common Magic covers a lot of things, and I could probably create a "cult" that contains some divine spells that would make sense for a druid/ranger type character.

Archery is pretty strong as it is, and later on you'll be able to pick up stuff to improve both that and your riding, while dual wielding only requires that one weapon be smaller than the other - unless they're both small already, like daggers.

The common magic concept is really cool. It's like even sword-and-boards can learn some cool tricks to supplement themselves.

It's because the assumed setting is one where quite literally everybody knows a spell or two. Golarion doesn't really work like that, so I'll be making Common Magic an advanced skill (basically, it has to be taught) instead of one that everybody can use. You can still take it in character creation, either from a profession (for example if you're a wizard or a priest in training) or by spending some your starting skill points on it, but it will require training to use.

sounds awesome! Going to get my hands on the books and come up with a concept.

How will we decide our stats? Rolling 3d6 on the boards? Still taking a look but I'll probably make a thief type character.

Rolling for stats is an option, if people prefer it, but I reckon that it's easier to make a character fit your original concept if I let you all use point buy instead. It also solves the problem of using different dice for different races (the elf gets 2d6+3 STR instead of 3d6, for example, while the dwarf gets 4d6).

Yeah I noticed the races have different attribute dice but it might be better to stick with rolling since there seven stats and you'd have to modify racial abilities as well. Also, I don't see anything on here about starting skills. Do we have a percentage of skills to divide amongst skills?

And I'm thinking of making an elven spellthief. So his source of instruction could be a thieves guild or something you could mold into the campaign. Still not up to date on the magic system but for RP purposes would only have spells related to illusion/stealth/thief stuff available to him.

You'd probably know a few Common Magic spells; things like Bandit's Cloak (+10% to Stealth per mp you spend on it), Abacus (useful for counting all that gold you're about to steal), Befuddle (confuses your opponent so they can't attack you - good way to escape if you get caught) and so on. There are quite a few that the Thieves' Guild would be able to teach you.

You get a bunch of bonuses from culture and profession, and then you get 250 points to spread between the skills as you see fit, with a maximum of 30 points to spend on each skill. Unlocking an advanced skill costs 10 points, and counts towards those thirty.

Edit: Also, I've converted the Traits to give some additional skill bonuses - these will be given before you spend your 250 points.

Got it. And my bad I was looking at the 2nd edition rules not Legend that's why there wasn't a build point system ;) Building him now.

So how do you plan on implementing races other than human?

Monsters of Legend has Elves, Dwarves and Halflings, while Pathfinder Half Elves and Half Orcs have the same stat array as humans anyway. That's why I said that you don't actually need to build the character immediately - that way, I can actually give everybody the character generation guidelines at once, and those who don't have the rules will actually understand what they mean.

I count six. Shall we start the character creation process?

I'm quite fond of MRQ2/Legend etc.

What sort of posting speed etc are you looking for?

Just wanted to confirm, but it sounds like you are planning on using Golarion as the setting rather than Glorantha.

In Glorantha I tend to favor Orlanthi highlanders so would like to do something a little different here but not too far from the tree.

I have not yet read the Curse of the Crimson Throne Player's guide but I think I would like to build a priest of Abadar.

OK. First of all, you get 80 points to split between Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity and Charisma. Each has a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 18. Mostly.

Dwarves have a minimum Strength of 8, and a maximum of 24; a minimum Constitution of 12 and a maximum of 24; a minimum size of 6 and a maximum of 12; and a minimum Dexterity of 4 and a maximum of 12.

Elves have a minimum Strength of 5 and a maximum of 15; a minimum Intelligence of 8 and a maximum of 24 and a minimum Dexterity of 8 and a maximum of 24.

Halflings have a minimum Strength of 4 and a maximum of 12; a minimum Constitution of 9 and a maximum of 21, a minimum Size of 5 and a maximum of 9 and a minimum Dexterity of 9 and a maximum of 21.

I would advise against dumping anything. Power is a good idea if you want to be good at magic. Charisma is pretty good for common magic, but is also useful for a few other skills (and also influences how many improvement rolls you get). Size is good for both damage and HP, while Strength and Constitution fill their typical roles. Dexterity and Intelligence both affect your initiative and how many actions per round you get, and Dexterity also affects all of your weapon skills. Intelligence is also useful for users of divine magic and sorcery, as well as being added to your improvement rolls to see how much your skills improve by.

Finally, most weapons have both a Strength and a Dexterity requirement to use effectively, with a -5% penalty to your attack rolls for every point lower you are. The longbow, for example, has a minimum Dexterity of 11 and a minimum Strength of 13.

Said a whole lot.

I trust your opinion and will place my character in your hands. Looking at your latest post, I do have a couple of questions.

Does the crossbow have minimum attribute requirements like the longbow?

You mentioned Common Magic covering most of a ranger's needs, but you also talked about creating a "cult" to cover the divine casting. Does this mean I need Charisma or Intelligence or both for my spellcasting?

There are seven attributes and I get 80 points to spend on them. Humans have a minimum 6 and a maximum 18. An even spread would result in having an 18 in four attributes and a 17 in the other three attributes. Why do I get the feeling that isn't correct?

You'll want Charisma, Intelligence and Power anyway; Intelligence and Power affect your divine casting, Charisma and Power affect your Common Magic, and Power determines how many MP you get for casting spells. Besides which, you'll no doubt want INT for Lore skills.

Crossbows have a Strength and Dexterity requirement, though the Strength requirement is lower than the Dexterity requirement. Strength is to handle the recoil. A heavy crossbow requires 7 Strength and 9 Dexterity, for example, and does 1d10 damage. A light crossbow requires 5 and 9 respectively, while an arbalest requires 10 and 9.

The minimums come out of those 80 too. So 6 in all seven attributes costs 42 points. An even spread would give you four at 11 and three at 12.

So a sword-n-board's gonna want, strength, con, size, dex, int?

Pretty much. All the stats are important important in some way. Building characters in this game doesn't come with the same assumptions that come with Pathfinder. Even a 14 in a stat is really rather good, and even a 9 puts you at the low end of average.

So, I am going to need Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Power and Charisma? Of course, it seems like Constitution would also be important. This character is a MAD nightmare.

That being said, they don't need to go as high as they do in pathfinder. Like he said, 14 is a damn good score to start with.

EDIT rolling for silver, civilized. Silver: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 6, 4) = 17

*75 is 1275.

Yeah. There are no dump stats here. There's no dumping charisma to 6 so you can pick up strength 18 and murderise everything. For one thing, extra damage is done in the form of an additional die to roll during damage, called your damage bonus. For characters specialising in melee, +1d2 is pretty decent, and that only requires a 13 each in strength and size. Dexterity of 13-14 is pretty good too, and like I said, there's nothing wrong with having a 9 in constitution if you've got a decent size - the size will make up for the constitution, and that gives you more points to play with.

Meanwhile, how are people's backgrounds coming along? Jakthion's works fine, but I haven't seen any others.

Anyway, in answer to Pirate Rob's questions (sorry if you felt like I was ignoring you): Yes, this is in Golarion, not Glorantha. A priest of Abadar works fine; I've already got a cult sorted out for him. Religious cults get access to all common magic spells, and will teach them to lay members for the usual fees. I'm looking for a moderate speed - 2-3 times a week should be fine.

Okay, I was having trouble conceptualizing all of this information, so I went ahead and purchased the rulebook from DriveThruRPG. Having read through the character creation, I have a much better understanding of the process. That coupled with some of your responses above, I think I know how I would spend my creation points. (I highly recommend everyone get the rules for a $1.)

I believe I would spend my points in this way:

STR 10
CON 10
SIZ 11
INT 13
POW 10
DEX 13
CHA 13

I also think that common magic would suffice for the character. I don't see him as having much magic. Just like a ranger in Pathfinder; it's to add to the character, not define him. Size is used to determine multiple combat actions and requisites. INT and CHA are for both used for skills and POW and CHA are used for common magic. Additionally, INT and DEX are used for number of combat actions, dual wielding and ranged combat.

Now I have a question for you.

Thoughts?

As I just told Jakthion, I'm willing to allow black powder weapons, but ammunition will be costly. Think along the lines of Emerging Firearms in Pathfinder.

I'm thinking a family man who's a member of the guard probably at a similar level of Jakthion's association with the Marines with two children, one being a recent addition to Lamm's little lambs.

I'm thinking

Str: 14
Con: 12
Siz: 12
Int 13
Pow 7
Dex 13
Cha 7.

I know Pow and Cha are quite low, but he's definitely going to be combat-focused and capitalizing on his many actions.

Hmm. They are rather low, but that's up to you.

Though I'd check in, RL got a bit busy so I haven't had the chance to make up a character, but this week's going to be better.

Are you still running this , Chris?
I'd be interested in your RORL (Legend) game as well.

I'm still planning to run this, depending on players. You're one of only three people to do more than say they're interested though. I hope I get at least four players, but I'm willing to run with three. That being said, I have a feeling that the fights will be somewhat more challenging if that happens - stealth will definitely be an asset in that case.

Cool beans. I'm still around.

I'm still here, too!

Okay. As I said. I'm interested.

I want to make a kinda armor-mage-sword-user if you get what I mean. Is possible to do something like that?

Yep. You'll want a relatively even mix of all seven abilities (STR and DEX for swordsmanship, SIZ and CON for being able to take a beating, INT and POW for your more powerful magic and CHA for some of your weaker magic). You won't be able to start with full plate (in fact you'll have trouble starting with better than a chain hauberk - good armour is pretty expensive in this system), but there'll be nothing stopping you wearing it once you can afford it.

Ain't that the truth.

Okay! I liked it. Can you give me some guidelines to create this char?

For backround, you can look at this profile. If you think I need to change something, tell me.

We're step-by-stepping it here for those who don't want to hit up drivethru rpg for the book. First is ability scores.

80 points. Start from zero. Add to each until you run out. No score can be less than six if you're a human. Other races see above.

Catcher: So what did Gaedren Lamm do to you? You have to have a personal reason to want the man dead. I'd suggest taking a look at the Player's Guide for CotCT, and picking one of the traits from that (you'll be given bonus skill points later).

For those of you who have done stats so far: It's time to pick a culture. If you're from one of the Shoanti tribes, then you're a Barbarian; if you're from the city of Korvosa, then you're civilised. These will give you some free skills. Each skill starts off as the total of two stats. You may use a common skill without training, but you must be trained in the use of an advanced skill before using it.

In addition to that, everybody gets +30 to Culture (own) and Lore (regional), and +50 to Language (Common) and your own racial/ethnic language. 50% or higher in a language represents conversational fluency.

Barbarians pick three combat styles to add +10 to, while civilised people pick one. These must be appropriate to your culture - barbarians don't typically use rapiers, for instance, while civilised people don't typically use blowguns.

Barbarians get +10 to Athletics and Resilience and +5 to Brawn, Perception, Ride and Stealth, while civilised people +20 to evaluate and Influence.

Barbarians start with the Survival advanced skill, and one of Craft (any), Lore (any), Play Instrument or Track, while civilised people start with Courtesy and any three of Art (any), Craft (any), Language (any), Mechanisms, Play Instrument or Streetwise.

Finally, a barbarian starts with 4d6*20 silver pieces, while a civilised person starts with 4d6*75. There are five lead bits to the copper penny, ten copper pennies to the silver piece and twenty silver pieces to the gold crown. Silver is the most common unit of currency, but I'm sure you'll find some gold somewhere down the line.

Once you've all picked a culture, I'll suggest a few professions, which will add a few more skills.

Okay, I'll read everything later. Just about Lamm, I was thinking that the bad guy in her background could be related to him or he was himself the one at fault. If that dont work, I will change the backgound a little, to adapt to player guide traits.

Civilized.

Civilized

Random Age: 1d4 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20

Starting Currency: 4d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6, 5) = 19 * 75 = 1,425 silver

Right, Jakthion, one of the things with weapon styles in Legend is that you can just use one of the weapons with that style (for example, sword and shield allows you to just use a single handed sword). So you can pick a different third combat style if you wish.

Next up, we've got professions. I'd suggest that both Balian and Jakthion take the Soldier profession, which gives +5% to Athletics, Brawn, Evade and Resilience, and +10% to two combat styles appropriate to your culture. It also opens up Lore (Tactics). For Catcher, I'd suggest Thief, which gives +10% to Evaluate, Perception, Sleight of Hand and Stealth, and opens up Streetwise, Disguise or Mechanisms (your choice).

Also, Jakthion may add +10% to Influence (since this is used for intimidation, so it makes the most sense), Balian may open up Streetwise, and Catcher either opens up Streetwise or, if she opened it up for the profession, add 10% to it.

Once that's all done, I'll list out all the skills, for those of you who don't have the rules, along with their default values, and you'll have 250 points to spread between them; spending no more than 30 on any one skill.

Yeah, Balian's definitely a soldier. Let's go with... Sword and Shield and Spear and Shield.

I have been dancing back and forth about joining this game and trying this engine.

What sort of characters are being built? I see discussions of two soldiers and a thief, so I'm guessing you've got two melee types and a traps guy lined up.

Still haven't made up my mind to go and get the core mechanics or not (though a buck is hard to resist even with me being a cheap old man).

Trying to get a feel for how the group looks, so I can think about a concept to fit, more.