Dark Ages

Game Master Stormchaser

Hello all,

I am looking for one player to complete a group of four for an Epic 6 PbP using my own homebrew variations on Pathfinder.

The year is 598 AD - the final years of the 6th Century and the start of the Augustinian Mission. The campaign is broadly historical and will take place in real world Europe in that time. However, I am expanding on the setting to my own taste.

The presence of Christianity on the British isles is downplayed and instead the pagan Celtic, Norse and Hellenic religions have a greater presence than they historically did in post-Roman Britain at this time. The mythology of those three religious groups can be assumed to be basically real and true, although the average person has little to do with the fantasy side of this world.

Fantastic races such as Elves and Dwarves exist, but only in the context of their respective mythologies. For example, Dwarves will be more prevalent in Scandinavia. These races could be played, but would have to be able to pass as human in the world at large. Arcane magic is similarly real, but an open practitioner is in real danger of being hunted and burned as a witch. The campaign's mythology is also largely drawn from Arthurian tales, which would have occurred around this period in real life. Fey and druids will play important roles in the fantastical side of the setting.

The campaign world is my own variation on what is sometimes described as "Epic 6". A quote from this article explains this very well:

We'll be using Pathfinder for the basis of our e6 system, but will not be strictly sticking to the rules of character levelling and much will be my own homebrewed rulings. Feat heavy builds will do well in this setting, as feats will be earnable external to levelling.

This will be a gritty and dangerous world. Much like the early middle ages in reality. The game will begin in the Breton kingdom of Dumnonia in south-west Britain. The party is recruited by agents of the current king for a job.

Due to the low magic, low fantasy nature of the setting the automatic bonus progression system will be used. We'll also be using the background skills system and "wounds and vigour". I will be avoiding mapping out encounters altogether and things will mostly be handled in the narrative. If we do need a map, I will likely take it to Roll20. Much of our live chat happens over facebook, so a player willing to connect with us that way would do better in this group, although it isn't a necessity.

All questions are welcome. Especially those about the setting/my homebrew style and rules. Finally, as you might imagine, this setting does not allow for the use of any gunpowder based classes or equipment.

I look forward to your responses!

I am pretty interested at the moment. How often do you expect people to post? I generally can once a day during the week and once on the weekend.

Also, what are your build rules?

Well, count me interested good sir.
In fact, the whole deal is to my liking. From the period to the grittiness, E6 ruleset and frequent chat included.

I will wait for the 'build rules' for now, but be warned that I have the basis of a concept for now:
A peasant inspired by one of Arthur's knights -possibly Lancelot or Gallahad as those are my favourites- and as such didn't flinched when his time to step forward and risk his life for others arrived. Wielding a hand-and-a-half-sword and wooden shield to mimic the chivalric knights, he fights with a greater deal of courage than skill... but perhaps if the Gods favour him and his luck doesn't run out his name will be remembered in the legends

@Rostam: Every second day, or three to four times a week. We all have jobs and this is supposed to run alongside them.

With regards to build rules, we are using the elite array as a stat line - 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Characters to be built as level 1 as per normal pathfinder rules.

I'm more interested in picking a concept than a stat line. Rules exceptions we can discuss more once I've chosen a player.

@EmissaryOfTheNorth: See above for the stat line. Note, that historically, while there is no firm historical evidence for Arthur's existence, he is theorised to have been a Roman-Briton who fought off the Saxon invaders. That probably went on around a hundred years prior to our game. Here, there are no knights in shining armour and indeed he wouldn't have had any either. We're a few centuries early for that. Nevertheless, plenty of mounted warriors and swordsman. Just not so much the traditional image of the armoured knight.

My character concept is

an Icenic worshipper of Andraste. He would be a wandering mercenary, taking what work they can to help provide for himself. He worships Andraste of old as she has always looked over his people and kept them alive even when the Romans invaded and oppressed them after they became allies.

I am not sure if it would be a purely martial character or one with a connection to the divine. They will most likely fight with an ax and a shield.

How is divine magic viewed in the world?

Nevertheless, plenty of mounted warriors and swordsman. Just not so much the traditional image of the armoured knight.

So, more Diarmuid or one of the Fianna and less Gawain clad in steel riding a trusty steed.

What're the players who've already been picked playing?

@Rostam Divine magic is considered... a blessing, provided a mob doesn't decide it's actually just witchcraft after all. Sanctioned circles like official druids and priesthoods enjoy high status and their magic is considered to be wondrous. (99% of it is level 1 spells though.)

Iceni is a tad early for this period. There are some remnants, but a character based on them would have to reflect that they have all but died out.

@EmissaryOfTheNorth Yep, that is much more the direction of the setting.

@All I want to wait at least a few days before I make any decisions. However, one more important piece of information is that the rest of the group is all based in Europe and we'd prefer somebody with a similar timezone if possible.

@Ierox That's still in flux, but atm it looks like a front line fighter type Slayer and some kind of cutthroat Rogue (unchained). The third player is leaning towards a druid or cleric, but was also considering a tanky barb.

Hi all,

Existing player here, just thought I would post my concept so you can see what is already in the party.

Magan is a Saxon mercenary, and as such is a bit of a foreigner in Dumnonia. He is an accomplished warrior, whose combat style betrays formal training. His social skills and education are far above what one would expect of a common mercenary, and his ownership of a well trained horse and collection of weapons that could stock a small militia armory suggest a very successful life. Even at his young age, he is beginning to earn a reputation for being equally at home in the wild, or in the presence of his betters.

@GM Stormchaser - Yes I was going to play it as 'the last of my kind' style idea. One of the few remaining families that can tie their bloodline back but one of the last few people to truly go along with the culture and worship.

Hi all,

I am one of the other existing player, here's my concept.

Name: Felix
Race: Aasimar
Alignment: True Neutral
Region: South Saxon
Class: Rogue
Background: Bastard son of a wealthy baroness and her (celestial) lover, abandoned by his mother out of shame and left to die when he was still a baby. He was found by a pair of childless locals and raised as their own, who unfortunately died during a bandit raid some years later. Abducted and sold as a child slave, Felix had to quickly learn to adapt to the harsh realities of life through the means of petty thieving. In his teens Felix was caught stealing from a travelling band of performers, but instead of being sent to gallows to have his hand removed, the leader of the band Drensel saw some potential in Felix. Be that his quick fingers and affinity with daggers or his unexplained charisma for a street urchin. Felix was taken in and trained as a knife juggler/part time thief for the group and as such this has being the way of life for Felix since then. When Felix was 25, he finally saved up enough to buy his freedom from Drensel, however this idea did not sit well with Drensel, who tried to have him silenced instead. Thanks to his years of training, Felix dealt with thugs that Drensel sent rather deftly and disappeared into the night. Throughout his life, Felix has always made peace with himself over his actions, reasoning them as necessities, however when the life finally left his attackers, he did not feel joy or sadness, just indifference. ‘What have I become…’

@Rostam What's your timezone?

I'm sure a welcome edition might be an Aasimar Shield maiden. Or a Dwarven shield maiden. I'mma play a Shield maiden if you will have me. I most likely will either go brawler, or a fighter. If you go with the Aasimar side I think a paladin would work best, maybe a skald

@fatmanspencer Tell us more about yourself as a player! A shield maiden is a nice concept and could fit well in this group. Funnily, we have a friend called Spencer who's not taking part, but would otherwise have been the fourth player.

@All Please give us as much information as possible about yourselves as players and your expectations of the game.

I do have a quick question. the live chat, what do you mean by that?

I'm fairly big in rp, playing mostly FtF, but I do also do text rps some times. Mostly I am hoping to try out this gaming style you have going on, and to also just rp more. I've played pathfinder since about '12, so i can say i remember some of the earlier works and APs and old stuff. I love it all though.

I literally just mean instant messaging for discussion. We have a messenger group in facebook for it, that's all.

Three of us used to FtF together at uni, but we've all kind of moved apart since then. We've been playing Pathfinder since it came out and 3.5 before then, as well as a lot of other systems.

Awesome. Hopefully you get someone who is a good fit for the game. Maybe it'll be me! Its good to have a core group of friends to play with, makes some of the funnier fails happen

Yeah, god the stories I could tell... anyway, do stick around! I want to leave the thread open a bit longer on general principle before I make any decisions. There are already some nice ideas here though. :)

I am GMT-5, Center of Canada.

As a player I am fairly detail oriented, know the rules well, and enjoy roleplaying. I am also very interested in roman and dark ages history, with the transition between the two eras being my favorite part.

I also try to be team oriented and supporting, as its a group game.

I also prefer dark/gritty settings over high fantasy, as I prefer a difficult game experience with a higher reliance on planning and preparation as compared to using magic.

Hello, I have both run and played pathfinder for years, but have never played E6 and am interested. How about a druid
WYNFORD DEY

@Rostam we have gone the entire spectrum of low to high fantasy, high danger is something we all like. Stormchaser is very good at putting us at risk ;). We also have a tendency to come up with detailed strategies and make unusual use of our surroundings.

@fatmanspencer what kind of background are you thinking for your shield maiden concept? I played a female paladin in the first campaign we played in as a group, it was a bit more of a knightly setting than this campaign though.

I was thinking she could be a companion to either someone who fell in battle and she ended up stuck (or came along with another character who is in the group as a shield maiden to them), she came alone with a raiding party and stayed, or she was sent on a mission to ensure that the souls of all who fell did not stay lost but could find their way home, with her to guide them, like a valkyrie. I am favoring the idea of her being some sorta of valkyrie, hence her being an Aasimar. However, if someone wishes to take me up on the companion idea, I'm happy with it as well

It's funny, just yesterday we were discussing how Aasimar fit in this setting and somebody was focused on them having judeochristian angel blood, when I pointed out the Valkyries are also a form of celestial.

Spencer, what is your timezone?

My third player has now settled on the druid I mentioned above.

@spencer how about a mission to save England from the Christian conversion so that warrior should can continue to go to valhalla? You have to love a paladin on a crusade.

@Rostam, did you think any more about the class you would pick for your Iceni nomad?

Okay, that's my merry concept. On the matter of being a Half-Elf, my idea was to use the race as a template of sorts for a man with fae blood like all those that appear in british and irish legends. Things like being able keep his senses keen even when the light is dim or having innate resistances to some magical effects simply round out the idea quite nice.
That said, the part about him having fae blood can become a simple bavkstory thing and his race could be changed to human without too much of an effect. Or as you have discussed, an Aasimar because the Tuathà Dé Danann are as much folk deities as nature fae and spirits.

About me, I am Spanish so GMT+1 is my timeframe. I am a former IT student that's going to start a Translation degree in early September, love me some mythos and legends and while I am used to 1 post/day games, having a more relaxed posting rate means I can put more time into longer or "worthier" posts, which suits me just fine.

I'm EST, but I work near a computer most days so i could do most of the time more than 1 post a day.

As for the backstory any of them are fine with me really, because itll all be about her bring righteous justice and safe guard the souls for the final resting place.

Okay, the group and I have made a decision. We're opening the group up a little to a total of five players and would like to have both Rostam and fatmanspencer join us.

Thank you EmissaryOfTheNorth and Kertuffle for your interest and your proposed characters. At the end of the day the characters we chose just gelled best with the existing party in fluff and crunch.

Wish you all the best of lucks on your journey. Remember to brush your teeth, eat your veggies and never ever turn your back to the vikings.

Discussion thread here for those taking part.

Thank you for the consideration and Good Luck!

Theored was born the eldest son of the King of Sussex. He never knew his mother, seeing as she died giving birth to him. The King never let Theored forget this, constantly insulting him and belittling him for something he had no control over.

During his time as a boy, he quietly developed a friendship with a young man and the son of a knight, Eorl. As the years went by, their friendship turned from a simple friendship to a romantic one, and the couple quietly promised themselves to each other in a grove near the keep. Now, Theored is simply trying to find a wife he can be with in public, even though he would rather have Eorl by his side.