This has been brewing in my head for a while. A world that previously made it iron-age technology levels, but has now regressed because of an ice age caused by an asteroid impact.
Please let me know if you would be interested in such a setting. If there is interest, I will set out character creation guidelines etc.
And, as it is a homebrew, please forgive the long, scene-setting post
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It began with an arrowhead.
It was an orcish arrowhead, buried deep in the shoulder of the warrior who had staggered back to camp almost delirious with pain and fever from the wound. The healer there gave him poppy-seed tea for the pain, and willow bark for the fever, and placed a thick strip of reindeer leather between the man’s teeth as he cut the broken shaft of the arrow out of the swollen shoulder. Afterwards, he cleaned the wound, smeared it with rendered bear fat, and wrapped it in strips of soft rabbit fur. Only then did he turn to inspect the object he had retrieved.
The shaman to whom the trembling healer brought the object turned it this way and that in the palm of his hand, before washing it in clean water to get a better look. He sniffed it, tasted it, and finally drew it along the side of his gnarled staff, watching with interest as the sharp edge scored deeply into the wood. And then he called a meeting of the tribal council.
In the chieftain’s tent, made of heavy seal furs hung on a lattice of mammoth bones, the elders examined the object, while having the skald recite the relevant Stories. Passing it between their gnarled hands, they wondered at it, comparing its dull gleam and sharp edge to the words of the Stories, an object out of legend. But in the end there was no doubt.
It was iron.
The Stories, passed down through the generations since the time of the Worldbreaking, told them that iron had once been plentiful, how every hunter might have a blade of the grey metal on his belt, or on the tip of his spear. Pieces of iron had been stitched onto leather vests, deflecting axe-blows and shattering flint arrows. It was worked into tools that could hew through rock, and forged into mighty hammers that could shatter bone. Their ancestors had worked great wonders with it in their service.
But iron had a flaw. The cold and the wet ate at it, making it brittle and the colour of blood. Slowly, inevitably, the years would eat it away, as the glacier grinds against the mountain. It could not survive the climate that had engulfed the land after the Worldbreaking, the freezing winters, the cold, rainy summers, the endless damp chill. Over time, the belt-knives corroded into dust, the armour-plates into red stains, the great hammers into piles of red flakes. Iron passed from knowledge into the Stories.
Perhaps the dwarves still had iron, scraping it in traces from the walls of their exhausted mine cities. But if they did, they did not share it. The taciturn folk would happily trade coal, gold and dark, shimmering gems at the annual trademeets in the smokey shadows of the burning mountains, but all the wheat beer and smoked meats, arrayed temptingly on woolen blankets, could not entice them to talk of iron.
There was still bronze, of course, although only in tiny quantities, as few tribes were willing to pay the terrible price that the troglodytes demanded for the metal. In past generations, a few of the more unscrupulous, or desperate, tribes had launched raids, or full scale assaults, to obtain the captives necessary for such desperate trade. The troglodytes accepted such payment with cold, hungry eyes, leading the wretches into the dark mouths of their steaming caves, and provided the agreed price in bronze knives, spearblades and axes in return, but refused all alternative offers of payments.
But no-one had iron.
And now the orcs had it. And they had enough that they could use it on something as disposable and easily lost as an arrow-head.
All that summer, while the people of the tribes worked to hunt, and trap, and gather, hoping that they would be able to store enough food against the coming months of darkness, the chieftains met in the great hall of the Overchief, in the great cave said to have been cracked open in the earth by the Worldbreaking itself, warmed by the river of fiery lava, the world’s blood, that ran through it.
While they argued, and posed, and bickered, more reports came in, both from human hunters and, at second hand, from the nomadic elven tribes who followed the caribou herds through the northern Mistwoods. Reports of orc parties pushing further south than they had for generations, and far more organised. The leaders of such groups more often than not bore blades or spears of grey-black iron. One hunt-leader, veteran of a dozen hunts, swore that he had lost half his party to a great hulking brute who had wielded a great double-bladed axe with blades that glinted in the wan sunlight. And a wild tale, whispered fearfully around campfires, even told of a huge orcish warlord clad in plates of iron, like the great lobsters that the halfling fishers, in their walrus-skin kayaks, pulled from the icy depths of the frozen sea.
Long the chieftains argued, while the meat was smoked and salted, the berries dried, and the roots pounded to paste. And as the first powdery snows swept down on icy north winds, they emerged from their council, and the Overchief spoke.
The world was changing, he announced. In generations past, the tribes had united to repel orc hordes, but these had been sporadic, unorganised incursions. Now the orcs were more organised, and they bore weapons out of legend, iron weapons that could shatter flint, break stone and blunt bronze. The tribes would not wait to be overrun. During the dark and cold of the winter, each tribe should prepare, and when the melting came, and the snows retreated, they should all send scouting parties north, across the Burning Rivers. The parties should seek out the source of the orcs, determine who, or what, was organising them, and above all, find the source of the iron.
No person, resource, or ally should be spared in this search, for if the tribes did not succeed, they would surely fall beneath the inevitable orc horde. They needed luck. They needed iron. And above all, they needed heroes.
I'm interested too. I assume from the description that we'll have humans, elves and halflings as racial choices?
Sounds attractive, especially if it is a low-magic setting, as Philantropist suggested...
This was a pitch for the angels. Dot.
I'm keen not to be too prescriptive, as the world is only vaguely formed in my head, and I look forward to exploring it with the players. So if you can find a way to create any character that fits the background, I'll consider it.
That said, it should be pretty obvious that some things won't fit. And while I won't specifically discriminate against magic, the "Christmas Tree Effect" is unlikely to be problem.
There is plenty of room for low level magic though - potions are easily replaced with fetish sticks, scrolls with knotted strings, alchemy things with herbal brews etc.
Very well - I am gratified by the interest.
Please give me a background and description of a 1st-level character you would like to submit. 20 point buy, with two traits, and max starting wealth. No iron items, obviously (with the possible exception of dwarves, and I'll need a really good backstory), and no more than one bronze item per character. Bronze items cost triple what they otherwise would, unless you're a troglodyte.
Please limit yourselves to Paizo sources.
Ultimate Combat has some useful resources on Bronze and Stone Age equipment, as well as rules for stone, bone and bronze items. You can also find this information in the SRD under Equipment - Special Materials.
Paizo doesn't seem to have done a good treatment of Trogs as PCs. Has anyone else? We certainly need to remove the Stench, but I'm worried about the +6 natural armour bonus in a world where no-one else has armour to speak of. Anyway, I'll wait to see if anyone actually wants to play one.
Feel free to ask anything.
Dot.
Maybe Ranger or Barbarian.
I'm maxed out for games currently, but wanted to pop in to say it's a cool idea.
Hope the game runs well. Good luck to the applicants. :)
Basic idea, still have to select gears and make fluff.
XP 400
Male Human Ranger 1
N Medium humanoid (Human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +5
DEFENSE:
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1 (+2 vs Fear)
Defensive Abilities:
OFFENSE:
Speed 30 ft.
Melee:
Ranged:
Special: favored enemy (humanoids [Orc] +2)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats: Improved Initiative, Fast Learner
traits: Courageous, World Traveler (Knowledge Local)
Skills: Climb (str) +6, Craft (stone Weapon) (Int) +5, Heal (Wis) +5, Knowledge (Local) (Int) +6, Perception (Wis) +5, Profession (Fortune Teller) (wis) +5, Stealth (Dex) +6, Suvival (Wis) +5, Swim (Str) +6
Languages: Common,
SQ track +1, wild empathy +2
Gear:
Wow, this is really intriguing.
I'm thinking oracle, probably with the flame mystery.
On further review: the ancestor mystery is even better.
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Arctic rabbits with a love of scavenging bronze? Is that the best you can do? What about stoats who go beachcombing, or ptarmigans who collect Franklin Mint commemorative plates? Try, man!
Arctic rabbits with a love of scavenging bronze? Is that the best you can do? What about stoats who go beachcombing, or ptarmigans who collect Franklin Mint commemorative plates? Try, man!
Little (Tiny) Fey who cut manhood?
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I would be interested in this idea...
How do you feel about Half-orcs. My idea is for a barbarian/witch. If you would allow it to apply the Orc racial archetype for the scarred witch docter that would be perfect. I will pitch a rough backstory tonight when I have access to the character. The idea was for a homebrew that never got off the ground that was set in Galorian.
Basic idea is that he is an outcast but has survived through his strength. He decided that he would unite the Orc tribes under his banner no matter who got in his way. His plan was to become the alpha in order to court Kring? The beautiful. Chieftess of the Orc tribes. Together they would be unstoppable.
Note on character: plan is to take the orcish bloodline through the eldritch heritage feats.
Here are the crunchy bits.
Male human oracle (ancestor mystery)
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init: +2; Senses:
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DEFENSE
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AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
hp 10
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +3
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OFFENSE
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee
* Greatclub +2 (1d10+3, 20/x2)
* Dagger +2 (1d4+2, 19-20/x2)
Ranged
* Sling +2 (1d4+2, 20/x2, 50 ft.)
* Dagger +2 (1d4+2, 19-20/x2, 10 ft.)
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STATISTICS
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Str 14 | Dex 14 | Con 13 | Int 10 | Wis 10 | Cha 17
Base Attck: +0; CMB: +2; CMD: 14
Feats: Extra Revelation,
Skills:
Traits: Auspicious Tattoo, Heirloom Weapon
Languages: Common
Gear: Bone greatclub, sling, bronze dagger, hide armor, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, waterskin, cold-weather outfit, 10 sling stones
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Trait
Auspicious Tattoo: +1 trait bonus to Will saving throws
Heirloom Weapon: Gain proficiency with greatclub.
Class
Blood of Heroes (Su): As a move action, you can call upon your ancestors to grant you extra bravery in battle. You gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and Will saves against fear for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma bonus. At 7th level, this bonus increases to +2, and at 14th level this bonus increases to +3. You can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day at 5th level, and every five levels thereafter.
Oracle's Curse: Malevolent spirits follow you wherever you go, causing minor mishaps and strange occurrences (such as unexpected breezes, small objects moving on their own, and faint noises). Retrieving any stored item from your gear requires a standard action, unless it would normally take longer. Any item you drop lands 10 feet away from you in a random direction. Add mage hand and ghost sound to your list of spells known. At 5th level, add levitate and minor image to your list of spells known. At 10th level, add telekinesis to your list of spells known. At 15th level, add reverse gravity to your list of spells known.
Voice of the Grave (Su): You can speak with the dead, as per the spell, for a number of rounds per day equal to your oracle level. These rounds do not need to be consecutive. At 5th level, and every five levels thereafter, the dead creature you question takes a cumulative –2 penalty on its Will save to resist this effect.
Spells:
* 0-level: create water, ghost sound, guidance, mage hand, purify food and drink, spark
* 1st-level: cure light wounds, divine favor, remove fear
I've got a rough idea of his background forming.
Liking the idea, thinking human Invulnerable Rager
This sounds fun. Are there any limitations on available classes or archetypes besides "use common sense and don't pick things that don't fit the setting"? Do half-elves exist?
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Druaggh did not have an easy life. Born into the harshness of the world different than those around him lead to multiple beatings that took him within inches of his life, sometimes literally. The problem came when his mother was revealed to be the child of a hag, and he a product of rape. Though unbeknownst to him his father seed would give him great strength in the form of the orcish taint that now infested him.
His mother was taken and burned, and he was tossed at a young age out into the streets. Fortunately for him orcs, even half blooded ones matured faster than those around him. So he prospered due to the great size and strength the laid in his veins. He would not be taken lightly. This gave him a grim reputation, as a leg breaker or worse. This however ensured that there would always be work, which meant that there would be life. So he embraced his reputation.
Word spread, of the half-blood, and a group of orcs came to the village and demanded Druaggh, as he is their blood. The villagers complied, Druaggh did not. Many were slaughtered. In the wake of the aftermath Druaggh declared himself leader giving himself the title of Chieftan.
He learned history from his “citizens” and he fashioned a grim fetish mask, comprised of hair scalped from the humans and orcs, wolf fangs, stained blood, and a necklace of ears. This mask brought him an unexpected benefit. The mask brought him a connection to his ancestors, and because he used both human and orc, the connection was established on both sides. This gave him strange power. The first thing he was told was to brand a scar in his flesh that would give his foes dread. This gave him the power of fear over his subject.
Through his talks, he learned of a great orc woman, Kring the Beautiful, who controlled the largest known orc tribe, though she refused to take any orc as mate unless he was worthy of her. So far every orc that has attempted to be courted has been deemed unworthy and beheaded. Druaggh would have Kring through her compliance or not, he would be King and she his Queen.
Sorry for the rough background. If chosen I will flesh it out to your desire. He is designed to be a Half-Orc Scarred Witch Doctor. Alignment would be True Neutral. I will make an alias if selected. Working on updating him according to your parameters.
Halfelves are fine.
Halforcs would need a really good background to explain why they are not killed on sight, as orcs are the big bad of this world.
Bronze-collecting rabbits - no.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32
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This is a great pitch. It would make an excellent setting if you ever feel like exploring it and writing it up. Kobold Press' Northlands might be an excellent resource to explore.
As for this, a human ranger (shapeshifter) would be fun. Moklik is not like the other hunters. The other hunters seek to kill the animals, but Moklik seeks to be an animal. He feels the call of the wolves in the night, longs to walk as the white bears walk. His senses are heightened, his needs are deeper. He makes the reindeer nervous with his smell and the dogs cow at his coming. While he shares his kills as is required, and does not boast, the other hunters will not hunt with him. He is not outcast, but he is close. Still, if the tribe needs help, he wishes to help, for he dearly wants to be accepted, to be known as a great hunter and a valued member of the community. So he will volunteer for this great honor. He will go into the darkness and he will do this for his people, in the hopes that this will finally gain him acceptance.
I love the idea of this game.
Probably too busy to join but can't wait to see how it unfolds.
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Kurgh of Murggas is no hunter, he was taken from the clan cave young so that everyone could get some sleep. His nightmares and piercing screams had caused too much trouble for his family, but the shaman, Broken Eyes, took the chilling wails as a sign that the spirits were talking to Kurgh.
The next painful years of training as an acolyte under Murggas, he didn't learn much except the basic rituals. However he did learn to control those night terrors and regain some sleep.
Like all the other adepts, Kurgh took the same Test of Manhood as the rest of the warriors. But those shaman that survived and prospered were those that helped the young braves with their minor magicks and healing poultices. Not a fighter, nevertheless Kurgh did luckily slay a wolf during a pack raid on him and his two fighters. That was the night that Kurgh discovered he had courage.
Now Kurgh has completed his training. He is a superstitious priest of nature and hopes to learn more of healing and herbs, potions and minor magicks from the spirits of the Land and Night.
Kurgh is a shaman based on an Oracle of Nature but using some of the flavour from other shamanic works (such as the Genius Guide to the Shaman)
Notes
I intend to keep his magic and spells down to a minimum using poultices and runesticks. And taking revelations that add to the mystic and dark nature of his upbringing.
GM WMS let me know if this is acceptable and I'll spend the next day or so completing the crunch.
Cheers
French Wolf, that sounds fine.
Have the orcs attacked the halflings yet? I'm trying to find a reason for a halfling bard/Angakkuq to join up with the Overchief's heroic band of Men.
Inspirational and amazing scene setting. By the end I had about four character concepts!
Is writing a lost art? You mentioned the knotted strings. I was wondering if it could be a secret art from before the Worldbreaking.
RE Troglodytes, remember these are savage feral troglodytes, not the civilised troglodytes of old (or again?). Quite possibly civilised troglodytes would have less armour, no stench, less str, better int.
This is Stratos from earlier under the new avatar. I posted my story in the spoiler below - let me know what you think. If you find it suitable, I will worry about crunch afterwards.
Others can feel free to look (and proofread!) as well, but beware!.. it's a long read.
Wheatbeard story:
No ripples appeared though, for the lake was frozen. A short man waddled out onto the ice, his low center of gravity and shuffling stride keeping balance. Wheatbeard had heard of the Overchief's concerns, and they echoed of his past.
When he was a boy in his clan's city beneath the earth, life was easy - much moreso than now. So simple it was, his people squabbled about the petty. Eventually, this bickering grew more severe, and minor issues wedged Dwarves apart, schisms forming. One year, two families vying for a bride from a third could not resolve their differences by words, so they chose weapons. The ensuing civil war left their city a mere husk of what it was. Among rare few opting out of the conflict entirely, the adolescent (by Dwarf standards) abandoned the clans. A few he knew left with him, but over the weeks, they went their own ways.
As he approached a crude lean-to over a hole in the ice, he wondered if he would need to trade for some new leathers; the ragged strips forming the covers of the rickety structure wouldn't do for much longer. Given the stars, it had been about a month since he'd make his last exchange with the human tribes, but it felt longer. It could be the overcast skies most days, or perhaps it was the omens of battle the Overchief proclaimed. Shaking his head as his grabbed his angling pole, Wheatbeard thought the man to be wise, though emotional at heart. He meant well, but no head-on assault would work against the Orcs. This he knew well; his closest clansman, Sordan, was slain by one of the brutes. They were hungry and cold soon after their exodus, and – new to the surface – they kept their fire going through the night for warmth. This beacon only seemed to attract the monstrous race, four in total. Fighting for their lives, Sordan rendered a valiant defense with his axe – iron – in his armor – studded with it. The blades of the marauders were sharp though, and their arms strong. Not as skilled in combat as his friend, Wheatbeard only had a bone spear, so he fled after seeing Sordan felled. If honor and bravery ran in his family, he was every ounce the bastard they claimed.
His cave near the lake had some fungus and moss within which the fish found appetizing. Fashioning it to the end of a wolf’s claw on the end of his twine, he wrapped the string around his hand twice, then lowered the bait into the freezing water. It was cold today – much colder than when Sordan died. As Wheatbeard fled, the Orcs chased him across the lake. The short man’s legs were a curse, but the warmth that day was a blessing. Heavy his pursuers were, and thin was the ice. Even as Wheatbeard’s muscles burned as he sprinted, he heard a crack beneath him as his foot fell particularly hard, him sliding and losing his balance. Not quite falling over, he wobbled around to steady himself and renew his run – but he saw there was no need; behind him, the Orcs accelerated the breakage with their massive forms, falling into the water below. As the ice broke, what seemed to at first be a burst of ... smoke ... arose from the water. Initially, he knew not what to make of it and was distracted by his enemies, but the puff coalesced into an image. A ghostly human woman's face stared back at him, smiling in an off-putting way. The face began to slowly blow, but the breath was no image - a gale force blast buffeted him. Wheatbeard even slid back slowly on the ice, so powerful was the gust. Then he inhaled.
For a moment, it was as if a knife had cut into him, but this dagger was made of ice, digging into his lungs. The pain may have been caused by cold, but it was white hot in his body. Whitebeard, in agony, toppled onto the ice, his head smacking against the frozen lake's top. In a daze, he gazed over at the woman's face - once again smiling. He would have been ready to take a thrust of his spear at the wench were he not near-paralyzed on the ground!
Her face was soon eclipsed by a much uglier image though; an Orc had grabbed onto the edge of the ice and was managing to pull himself out. As he made himself prone to pull his legs out in full, the woman again made a blowing motion, but softer, and repeatedly. No air came, and the Orc - fully on the ice now - hefted his axe for the kill. Swinging down with brute force, the fallen Dwarf figured he would at least mock the woman which gave him this death sentence - so he blew. Though not nearly as strong as the woman's gust, a jet of air and cold did shoot towards the Orc, causing his strike to err; the blade of his axe caused yet another rift in the ice, and he fell in once more. The Dwarf rolled away from the edge, almost in disbelief of his good fortune.
The Orc hands continued to grasp for the edges, but they could not find a hold; what ice their palms did grasp came into the water with them. Their axes proved useless, the blades slicing away at the beasts’ last hope. Wheatbeard couldn’t understand the curses uttered at him, but he tepidly smiled; they were finished. A few minutes passed, and they stopped treading water, motionless at the sides. One had his torso slumped over the side, but the cold did its work and took him to slumber.
A snag on the line and a pull of his hand rendered a flopping fish on the icy surface of the lake. The Orc didn’t flop that day though. Something shining caught his eye – Wheatbeard snatched the charm off the raider’s neck. That bright metallic luster was worth many days in meals, he knew. After putting the fish out of its misery, he skewered his trophy. This would only be one meal, but it came at much less of a cost. Many years later, the quiet Dwarf missed his friend, but the rusty bauble hanging from his neck was a swift reminder. For the lack of speed his legs provided, the little man was quite sharp of mind. Wandering into a human camp one day, he recollected enough common from the trademeets to explain himself, and he took advantage of the humans' awe of the necklace - they assumed he had done away with the Orcs. In a way, he had ... but he kept those details to himself. He did not need to be ostracized as a coward or an abomination. There was a wise woman in the tribe though, and her eyes seemed to see right through him. She had a different face from the apparition, yet the eyes were somehow the same. The crone never said anything, but somehow, he knew she knew.
Thus began the relationship with Wheatbeard and the humans. This Overchief he had heard before, but his new course of action was dangerous. As he took his fish back to the cave, waddling steadily back across the ice, he steeled his resolve to speak with the woman. Perhaps her weirding ways could shed some light to avert the coming storm...
What kind of Posting Regularity do you want?
1/Day, 1/Week?
Dropping in a place holder. will Level her down to 1 and bronze age her equipment.
Interested! Trying to decide between a cleric of a sun deity and an arctic druid.
Placeholder now that I have a suitable avatar for Kurgh.
My submision.
His background and a link to his Myth-Weaver Character Sheet is on his profile.
Caedmon, Son of Faol & Brina the Twin Fangs.
After his parents disappeared he searched for them. He was found by a Small group of Druids. He was raised and trained by the Druids. On his 13th Winter he was given the choice between following the Druid's Path, the Bard's Path, or the Ranger's Path. Of course being the hunter he was and still is he followed the Ranger's Path.
He has heard of the Orcs becoming more Aggressive and has decided that instead of just providing Meat, Bone, and Wood for villages he would help them build up their defenses for the inevitable assault by the Horde.
@Bearded Ben - It depends what Angakkuq thinks will happen if the orcs overrun the human lands. Will they stop on the halfling borders and set up peaceful trading posts?
@Harakani - I think knotted strings are a real-world secret language, aren't they? They must have been suggested as an alternative to scrolls somewhere before - I'm sure I didn't just make that up.
@Wheatbeard - I like. Please stat him up
@Azaelas - I will seek a consensus among the players, but at least 3/week.
Caedmon has a small statblock up. I just need to finish breaking him down further.
Really the only other thing he needs is his Ranger's Kit broke down.
- Can we trade in our 2 traits for a single feat?
- Is there anything you want that I missed on him?
- How many slots do you have available & what is the Deadline?
And I am able to post everyday now so that doesn't matter.
I'm not too keen on the use of obsidian as a 'get out clause' to allow characters to have large bladed weapons like longswords. Remember, this isn't a "standard tech but weird materials" setting - this is a stone age setting, with a tiny smear of bronze age, so swords should not really be larger than a short sword, if that.
One of the main story points is that access to iron gives the orcs a HUGE advantage, mainly because it lets them have things like swords, battleaxes, armour etc. That wouldn't be the case if everyone was running around with things like obsidian longswords and bone scalemail etc.
You're probably better off not trading in your two traits for a feat, as in a low-tech/magic setting, having a wider range of skills is probably a benefit. However, if your heart is set on it, go ahead.
This recruitment thread will remain open until Wednesday next week (23rd Jan). I am looking for around 5 players, depending on party balance. We seem to have mostly oracles at the moment.
Just seen this and love it,
hows this
Race - Catfolk (why? becouse in the brakes some races can love in the wilds,
Class: Druid (why? Because the barking was part of mother-cats earths will, the lovers of tools had sort to rape mother-cat earth of all that was good so mother cat earth punished them with the braking.)
Who are you?: I am cat, I am Birran fast and smart, slink and claw, wise in the ways of mothercat earth.
What do you want?: To find my family, lost to me by lovers of tools.
What is Magic?: Magic is the will of mothercat earth, she lets you make water, mend things and make well the sick, mothercat gives is this.
Who is sister cat?: Sister cat is like be one of mothercats children but she dos not talk, that us all she came to me in the woods and now we travel she on 4 legs me on 2.
She was fast, has had always been fast and when her mother told her to run she would, but this time it was not the same, this time the tone in her mothers voice was harsh, "RUN BIRRAN, RUN!" she did she ran as fast as she could into the dark, all the time keeping low and out of sight. She found a place and hid, holding her breath it did not take long for someone to come looking for her. But something was wrong, they did not smell like family. She was scarred, she wanted to get up and run to her mother but her mother has said "No matter what stay put, keep still and ill come find you" So she hold still and they passed. Hours later when the light came she headed back to the camp site. Now was there, but she could see blood, lots of blood. Her mother, sisters and the males where gone, she looked for two says, seeing tacks but not knowing how to read them, she smelled death and thats what made her cry. At last she knew she had to move on, time was late and the cold would come soon. She needed to get down form the hills down onto the planes and to the dark woods. She had skills and her mother showed her the way of the mother cat. She would call for help in the woods and she know tribes there.
She would see if she could find a place, a new home and look, she know deep in her heart they where not dead, she know that, all she needed to do was find them or find some one who may know what did this. She called what little was left and started to walk out of the hills. Someone in the tribes would know.
Birran, is small for a Catfolk but shes smart and fast.
If you like her I will make up and alt.
Spugly
Oh, and while I'm spamming my own thread, I just wanted to say don't worry that your characters will be stuck hitting the orcs with rocks forever. There's bronze, and then iron, as well as more exotic things like darkwood, adamantine, other skymetals, chitine, dragonbone weapons, dragonhide armour etc. You'll still be able to scale up - I just want to do it in a low-magic setting.
Harakani here.
@waynemarkstubbs
Absolutely knotted strings have been used as a form of writing. I was hoping for carved writing to still exist from before the Breaking, but almost no-one knows about it. In fact I was sort of hoping to build a character around it.
I'm intrigued by the ice-age idea, but also by the post apocolyptic nature of it. I've put together a guy based around the idea of a group of travelling hermit/shamans I've named Bonewrights (literally worker of bones) who wander around trying to collect enough knowledge to restart a civilisation they don't really understand. Their big, secret advantage is the ability to store information by carving it into bone (and to a lesser extent other materials). They are hindered in their work by the fact that they don't share knowledge with 'outsiders', and hide most of their work in mysticism, tricks and myths to the extent they themselves start to believe it.
Mechanically it's a wizard, using carved bone for spellbooks, scrolls and journals. This is a pretty boring way of stating it, but if you check out the profile I'm posting this on there's some of the flavour I want to get across.
While it isn't low-magic I guess (being a Wizard and therefore full spellcasting), I was looking to move away from a lot of the things that would render iron less useful. IE I'd like to suggest all Bonewrights have Evocation as a banned school. Probably also enchantment as a single Charm Person could make one a king in a world of small, isolated tribes.
Anyway, have a look at the profile please :)
Tupilek was a character for another game with a very similar setting for the Burning Wheel RPG. That game didn't work out, but I'd like to bring him back here as a cavalier going for the mammoth rider prestige class. I've removed his burning wheel stats and tweaked the background. Crunch will follow as I finish it.
Edit:Okay, I want to do an Order of the Land Beast Rider Cavalier who uses a giant mammoth tusk as an improvised great club. I have a question though. The beast rider archetype says "Medium beast riders can choose a camel or horse mount at 1st level. At 4th level, a Medium beast rider can also choose an allosaurus, ankylosaurus, arsinoitherium, aurochs, bison, brachiosaurus, elephant....."
But when you go to the elephant/mastodon it still shows the elephant as being medium until you reach 7th level and thus too small to carry a human rider. What's up with that? Do you just apply the rules for making a companion large in the Beast Rider archetype to the 4th level version, then get the rest at 7th level? Any chance that I could use the medium version starting from 1st level and just call it large for carrying purposes only (ie A teenage mastodon)?
I'm interested in pitching a Dwarf Monk (of the Four Winds). I'll flesh him out tonight.
@Tupilek - you'll have to wait until 7th level for your mammoth mount. There are quite a few animal companions that a beast rider can get at 4th level that aren't actually big enough to ride at that point (lion, tiger, some of the dinosaurs etc.) The key rule is in the text of the Exotic Mount ability:
"The animal chosen as a mount must be large enough to carry the beast rider (Medium or Large for a Small character; Large or Huge for a Medium character)."
I suppose the reason for giving access to elephants, tigers etc. at 4th level is in the case where you have other class levels that stack for animal companion purposes. So a Druid 3/Beast Rider 4 CAN ride their elephant, because their "druid level" is 7, and their companion will be 7th level, and therefore large.