Interest Check: 5th Edition Game set in Merry Old England


Recruitment


Well, kind of.

Using the Ars Magica book Heirs to Merlin, AD&D Historical Reference: the Crusades, and the Pendragon 4th Edition books as references, I'd like to have my first run at a 5th Edition Game set in not-so-merry Old England. This is a darker Norman England.

Set during the Reign of Richard Plantagent, I'd like to do a campaign around Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. However, the Superstition is turned up. There are werewolves lurking in the night, goblins that mess up things, and elves and fairies hidden in forgotten glens. Wizards are looked at with awe, and Warlocks are hunted down for casting black magic. And the Picts that live in Scotland look barbaric and brutish.

Druids still exist, but they are regarded as pagans. The Roman Church holds sway, and beyond the lands of England there be dragons (Loch Ness, in particular, is a lair for some sort of Sea Serpent).

Character Creation Guidelines:
You roll 3d6, six times, arranged to taste.

You may choose any race out of the PHB to create a character. Including Dragonborn, Gnomes, Half-elves, and Half-orcs, and Tieflings (be careful, the superstition is turned up). Humans are divided by their Ethnicity: If you play a human, you may choose to be a Saxon (and speak English), a Dane from the Northeastern Shires (and speak Danish English), a Scotsman (and speak Scots Gaelic), an Irishman (and speak Irish Gaelic), and a Norman (and speak French). English is considered the Lingua Franca in England, though.

You may choose any class. Including Warlocks. Although Fighters and Paladins would have an advantage since the campaign is based around the story of the Saxon knight _Sir_ Ivanhoe.

Background: You may choose any background, but most likely you have returned from the Third Crusade as a soldier or Folk Hero. Check HR3 -- The Crusades -- for an in game overview. Please, use the Background RAW in making your character's background.

Level: 1, please.

Characters you will meet:
Robin Goodfellow -- i.e. Robin Hood. He is a Saxon that leads a bunch of commoners and Yeomen against Prince John. No, you can't join his band of merry men.

Prince John: Prince John Plantagent (my Grandpa) is going to be portrayed as an ineffectual Regent. How he acts in this campaign isn't going to be consistent with his protrayals in various movies. Although you're not going to get Richard yelling, "Please, no bloodshed!" Well, maybe.

King Richard, the First: Richard Plantagent loves war more than he loves, well, love. Richard Plantagent is being portrayed as beloved by all of his Countrymen. You will meet him by campaign's end.

Sir Ivanhoe: You are allied with Sir Ivanhoe. Player Characters are expected to be English types (that includes Dragonborn and Tieflings), allied with the Saxon knight.

---------------------

This is a chance to playtest the 5th Edition Player's Handbook. Characters are easy to make, and I'll be referencing monsters out of the Bestiary.


I'd be interested. I might play a Paladin if selected for this game, as I'm playing a fighter in another 5e game and want a chance to try out all the classes. I have ordered the PHB and it's on its way.


Just curious so far, but I always enjoy doing this

3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 5) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 6) = 13
3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 6) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2) = 4
3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 4) = 15
3d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1) = 7

Edit: ....yikes

You sure you didn't mean 4d6? ;)


Dotting for interest--I've done a bit of 5e, and I loved Ivanhoe as a kid. I'm waiting to hear back on a couple recruitments right now, but might have time for another game if I don't make it into a few of those.


3d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 3) = 13
3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 1) = 5
3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 4) = 15
3d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 2) = 8
3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2) = 13
3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3) = 15

Ouch, 5.


Dotting for interest


3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 6) = 16
3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5) = 12
3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 5) = 16
3d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 5) = 12
3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6) = 13
3d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2) = 4

Just gonna save that there, because two sixteens seems pretty rare, and no idea how to RP a 4 in anything (although with 5E, putting it in Str or Wis might not be the end of the world).

Also, roll3d6 is a great way to ensure that every player has wildly different power levels, which I guess is kind of true for the characters in Ivanhoe.

Sczarni

I think 4D6 drop the lowest would be for the better. Other than that, sounds awesome.


Gambit wrote:

Just curious so far, but I always enjoy doing this

3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6

Edit: ....yikes

You sure you didn't mean 4d6? ;)

I'll allow you to reroll. :)


Wondering_Monster wrote:
I think 4D6 drop the lowest would be for the better. Other than that, sounds awesome.

Think about it. 5e humans get +2 in one stat, and +1 in all the others. 3d6 is perfect! (there are no minus stats in 5e, that's why my Pathfinder conversion of the 4e Dragonborn stats stands).


I can see trying to play a young Druid


The druid class is different from the Pathfinder/3.x version, but it's fun.


I am supposed to get my PHB tomorrow, and I will take a look at the whole thing

A little about me. I'm 50, been playing D&D for 38 years, run eight games here in the forums, and play in one other. This game would be my second on these forums as a player.

What is your expected Posting Rate? I am not a high frequency poster, so if you are looking for that, I probably won't be able to keep up.

3d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 6) = 13
3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 5) = 8
3d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 2) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 1) = 10
3d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 3) = 14
3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 1) = 8

Sczarni

1: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 3) = 12
2: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 4) = 8
3: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 2) = 8
4: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 3) = 13
5: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 1) = 9
6: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 5) = 8


Artegallio "The Gardener" wrote:

I am supposed to get my PHB tomorrow, and I will take a look at the whole thing

A little about me. I'm 50, been playing D&D for 38 years, run eight games here in the forums, and play in one other. This game would be my second on these forums as a player.

What is your expected Posting Rate? I am not a high frequency poster, so if you are looking for that, I probably won't be able to keep up.

3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6
3d6

I work a lot too. Although I expect a quick posting rate the first three days, so as the introduction is not spoiled. I'll have traveled around Helios 40 times by mid-October, so I'm honored to have met you as a player.


If you're not full up yet, I would like to Brian Mac Lugh, Crusading Irishman and kin to Brian Boro, the emperor of Ireland (2nd cousin twice removed). Brian would be a monk who operates as a travelling roustabout and bullyboy. A devout member of the roman catholic church, Brian is a bit of a local legend in his native country for knocking out a horse with his bare hands during the siege of Jerusalem and then breaking the nose the dragonborn commander who was riding it with a headbutt, Brian was heard to say "he should have been wearing a helmet!" (regardless of the fact that Brian himself was not).

Appearance wise, Brian is a tall, powerfully-built man who wears no armor and prefers to fight with his bare hands, but will use a stout cudgel if he has to. Given that his bare hands can break bones, most commanders to which he finds himself assigned are willing to give him leeway to fight as he sees fit.


Brian MacLugh of Dublin? You are the first to come up with more than a concept. And also the first foreigner. Being as Irish as Sir Tristan, are you friends with Ivanhoe and an enemy to the Knight Templar Sir Brian de Bois-Gilbert (pronounced "dey Brau-Gilbear")?

Just making light. Guys, remember, that although Sir Brian de Bois-Gilbert, Sir Reginald Front-de-Boeuf, and Sir Maurice de Bracy are cast as villains does not mean that they are one dimensional. I'll try to portray them as 3 dimensional. (of the trio, though, de Bracy was the most honorable). :)

If I want, you might run into the Sheriff of Nottingham (William de Wendenal) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne, which were real personalities in 1196 A.D. (at least the first is confirmed to be real).


I read a really interesting historical novel about Brian Boro a few years back that clicked with the campaign concept you presented. He was an....interesting man, to say the least.

As far a the characters from Ivanhoe go, it's been more than 2 decades since I read that book, so I'm gonna have to do a little brushing up (might give it a read this weekend if I get the time).

Sczarni

EltonJ wrote:
Wondering_Monster wrote:
I think 4D6 drop the lowest would be for the better. Other than that, sounds awesome.
Think about it. 5e humans get +2 in one stat, and +1 in all the others. 3d6 is perfect! (there are no minus stats in 5e, that's why my Pathfinder conversion of the 4e Dragonborn stats stands).

Actually I was just reviewing the races. Humans get either 2 ability scores bumped by +1 to one stat OR + 1 to all. Not both. So not sure where you are getting a +2.

Any way I have an idea for a Traveling Bard theif who sells his sole to the devil (takes some warlock levels) and his now trying to find a way to break that pact.


Wondering_Monster wrote:
EltonJ wrote:
Wondering_Monster wrote:
I think 4D6 drop the lowest would be for the better. Other than that, sounds awesome.
Think about it. 5e humans get +2 in one stat, and +1 in all the others. 3d6 is perfect! (there are no minus stats in 5e, that's why my Pathfinder conversion of the 4e Dragonborn stats stands).

Actually I was just reviewing the races. Humans get either 2 ability scores bumped by +1 to one stat OR + 1 to all. Not both. So not sure where you are getting a +2.

Any way I have an idea for a Traveling Bard theif who sells his sole to the devil (takes some warlock levels) and his now trying to find a way to break that pact.

Oh, you're right. I see them.

Two different abilities are raised by 1 + a skill of your choice + a feat of your choice.


Okay, I thought about it, and I thought about you coming back from the Crusades. You need something to reflect all that crusader experience, yes?

Unlike Ivanhoe and King Richard Plantagenet; you guys still start at level 1. However, to reflect your experience in the Crusades, you may choose a feat. You guys are not as skilled veterans, but your veterans non-the-less.


Artegallio Dalfrydd Gwylogson would be the seventeen year old son of Rhodric Gwylogson and Sylvia (ne Sarah Abram ).

He is from the eastern Welsh Kingdom of Powys. His father (of Welsh and Irish descent) married a Jewish woman, much to their parent’s dismay, and moved from Ceredigion to live away from the angry in-laws. The family survives on the skill of Artegallio’s father at Pottery, and his mother’s renowned baking skills and mysterious recipes.

Artegallio grew up with a love for growing things, and a curiosity in the strange “mounds” found in wild places. At the age of sixteen he met a woman who lived alone in a glade surrounded by larch trees, and fell in love with her (though she was a widow fifteen years older than he was). She began teaching him the ways of the “wild folk” and introduced him to a small community of people living under the guidance of a trio of Druids.

One day, when going out to visit the widow, who he only knew by the name “Brianna Tythr” he was met on the road by the three Druids of Cnrid upon Fadog, who told him that Brianna had fled her home and journeyed to London. The druids told Artegallio that Brianna was seeking to claim the lands and title of her husband, who had never returned from the Crusades. It turned out that the Uncle of Brianna’s departed husband had claimed the man’s lands as his own and had declared her dead, and also taken custody of Brianna’s young daughter, who Brianna had sent to live in a convent in London for her own protection. Now Brianna had been given a letter, brought to her by a knight, written by her husband from a cell in the holy lands, claiming that his love for her would live forever, even if he perished, and that all that he owned should pass to her and his young daughter.
Desperate to find a way to be of some service to his lady, Artegallio sets out for London

I have Artegallio's mother written now as a woman of Jewish descent, but might change that to Elven, if you will allow this. And if so, Brianna would become an Elven woman as well


You can play a half-elf with a elven mother if you so desire. :)

Sczarni

So is this just to check interest or an actual recruitment thread? Because I am really looking forward to this.


I'll start up an actual recruitment thread. :)


After doing some quick lunchtime study, Brian Boru live almost 100 years before the 3rd crusade (he died in 1014, and the third crusade started in 1189), I would have to be both an ui Briain (O'Brien) and would probably be descended from his grandson (or his brother's). Overall though, he would still be an irish knight, although the british knights would probably sneer at him for his lack of armor and ability at the "knightly" arts of jousting and swordplay.

I haven't had the chance to peruse a 5th edition book yet (I quickly flipped through one at my flgs) but i'll probably pick one up come Saturday. In the meantime, can you tell me about the monk class so that I can get started on my character? Thanks,


As long as he was knighted by either an Irish King or by Richard himself. You can take the Knight background package if you wish.


3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 3) = 6
3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 5) = 10
3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 4) = 12
3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7
3d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 4) = 9
3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 2) = 10

good god that's bad.

mind if I reroll?


it would have most likely been Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (who was high king until 1198). As far as languages go, I'm assuming that latin is still on the table as a spoken language? I know that most of the religious sorts use it.


Yes. It is. But the proper pronunciation is dead.


The stats I rolled are excellent, and perfect for a paladin/fighter, but I'm not sure if I want to play one (vs. something more SAD); if we do run this game, I'd be happy to trade stats with someone.

Meanwhile, Ivanhoe is an awesome setting when you consider that Sir Ivanhoe literally kills his enemy at the end of the story with the force of his insults (or it's a heart attack, or he is unjust in the eyes of god, but I prefer the insults explanation). This would be a cool setting for social combat, and the way I see it, the most sensical classes would probably be Fighter, Paladin, Rogue, Bard, and Cleric of Catholicism. I guess Rangers work too.

Druids might do fine as long as they covered up their Celtic traditions under a guise of religious modernity, and Monks could well be the most devout of the templar/pilgrims.

EltonJ wrote:
Think about it. 5e humans get +2 in one stat, and +1 in all the others. 3d6 is perfect! (there are no minus stats in 5e, that's why my Pathfinder conversion of the 4e Dragonborn stats stands).

The 5e handbook does specifically call for 4d6-rolled stats, assuming a specific power level (and making characters across the party more equal in terms of stats) so if you want to roll 3d6, that's fine, but the game will be tougher and less balanced for the players. (There's also a 5e-suggested 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 array for first-timers)


Yes, I read that part.

I'd like to have some variation in the characters' abilities this time around, however. 3d6 offers up average characters, so why not?

I understand your feelings about it -- "Making characters across the party more equal in terms of stats" -- and yes, the game will be tougher. But people could have a missing limb (dex 6 or less), a missing eye, or can play afflicted with post traumatic syndrome (wis 6 or less).


I like the 3d6 for stats. Makes the world feel gritty and more realistic. Reminds me of Game of Thrones. :P


Didn't realize this was happening now.

Recruitment Link?


Yes.


Score 1: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 6) = 9
Score 2: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 6) = 10
Score 3: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 4) = 13
Score 4: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 4) = 7
Score 5: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 4) = 13
Score 6: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 2) = 8


Sacraz, move to the recruitment link, above. :)

Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Recruitment / Interest Check: 5th Edition Game set in Merry Old England All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.