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Prologue: This Dim, Forgotten City
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Epigraph:
”Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die though, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa”
- Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow
Prologue Introduction:
This dim city had a strange, disturbing serenity to it. Peach-orange clouds hung stagnant in the enduring twilight. Black stars twinkled in an otherwise motionless sky. This forgotten city had a merciless silence, marred only by the sounds of footsteps.
Five men and women marched mutely over the cracked cobblestone streets that carved through buildings abandoned by all but time. None lead the march, all knew the way. They’d all been here before, they all swore it, yet walked aimless, allowing vague memories to return with each passing step.
First was a handsome man. He nervously spun a dagger in his fingers, a practiced motion. He looked at the others, though his gaze fell elsewhere when they tried to meet his eyes.
The second was a scrawny, ragged man with unpolished charm. He was Varisian, with tan skin and brown locks. He kept looking over his shoulders, avoiding eye contact, monitoring those that walked with him.
A strong woman walked rather triumphantly. She had dark skin, black hair, and gripped a Lucerne Hammer. The weapon seems well used, blade somewhat bent, hammer worn and dented. She wielded it with an unsettling comfort.
The second woman had pale skin and short, blonde hair. She seemed almost starved, yet maintained a frail beauty. Her left eye had a black tattoo over it, and she knew the others were staring at it.
Lastly, a brunette woman. The only among them who wasn't human. The Changeling had striking eyes, green and blue. She wrapped both arms around a starknife, as if it was all that held her together.
The two men attempted to speak, breaking the group’s silence. Despite their best efforts, Rivas and Ember couldn’t communicate. They’d forget what they were saying a word into their speech, and would trail off before attempting once more to say something they couldn’t remember. The three women were quiet, either mystified by this strange place, or seeing no value in a conversation they could not maintain.
The five of them walked together, and though paused at the same moment. Their hearts beat, quick and thunderous, tugged at by forces unknown. Their blood pounded, their hands trembled with each raging beat. Their minds ached with each deafening throb.
But the throbs were not just within their minds, as louder and louder, footsteps echoed the forgotten city. A fear, a choking fear, crawled up their throats, palpable and thick as the sickly yellow fog that curled into the alley.
The cloud tumbled through the street, swelling towards them, quickened as it was funneled by the towering, gray brick buildings. The footsteps grew louder, keeping pace with the careening, hungry wave.
Thinking about using Horror Adventure's Sanity Rules, tell me what you think of them.
Won't be starting for a little bit, my In Search of Sanity book isn't arriving until the 16th. Feel free to use this space to discuss what kind of characters you might want to play, the vague recollections of past memories you might have, what you'd like to see in this adventure.
Congratulations to everyone. As soon as we are ready, this will host the game. Make a post to add yourself to everything, and lets move the conversation to the Discussion Thread to talk about things. I am a first time PbP DM, so tell me any conventions, info to bring me + others up to speed! Lets get this noble-ball Roland (Rolling, I am sorry) !!!
Greetings travelers, and allow me to take you to the nation of Durendal, a place once home to proud warriors who conquered and claimed all they could. Four hundred and eighty three years ago (and soon to be 484!), heroes of the nation fell a great dragon, freeing the people of Durendal, allowing it to spread its borders over the next few hundred years. Unable to claim Tizona, a northern island nation, for its harsh environment and fickle magical dead zones, and unable to conquer The western Kingdom of Greater Galatine, for its wealth of sorcerers, Durendal has entered an age of peace and prosperity. For the last one hundred and fifty years, the denizens of the nations have focuses on creating grand cities, making its lands safe for travellers, and trying to maintain its relations with Galatine and Tizona.
But an entire nation is too big of a scale for this story. No, this story takes place in the city of Roland, where the only thing grander than the city itself are the dreams and ambitions of its denizens. A city whose main trade is politics, and oh boy does it trade. But who does this story star? Four, maybe five cutthroats, on their way to the top? Perhaps those with a promise to make the city a better place? Do they strive to keep peace, or do they see returning to war as the way to advancing their nation? Maybe of these sorts, or maybe something entirely different. What is certain is that this is a story about the rise, and perhaps the fall, of several aristocrats. A tale of men and women without heroics but dreams and a drive to see them to reality.
An adventurer’s battlefield is a place of honor and legend. Among combatants you risk your life with, among those that you trust. A sword in one hand, a spell in another. But for the civilized Aristocracy of Roland, the battlefield is something entirely different. Wars take place at the extravagant parties of “friends” and acquaintances, their silver tongues clash like steel. Holy altars are defiled with marriages built for wealth, lust and power. Favors are asked, but what you may have to do to repay the favor could topple everything you have worked for. Everyone has a secret that everyone else wants to know, and wants to exploit. A man with a sword can change a battle, but a noble of Roland can change the world.
Tales from Roland One:
“The carriage comes to a stop outside the city gates. Reyes looks worried, though partially in wonder. Augustine shoots him a glance and smiles. 'Everything is grand in Roland, you will love it, I promise.' Reyes sticks his head out of the carriage, looking at the wall that ascends hundreds of feet into the air, a scale unlike anything he has seen before. 'It is its own little world, your troubles won’t follow you. Though it is a bit more…,' Augustine thinks for a moment, giving a twist to his hair, 'civilized than what you are used to.' Reyes withdraws back into the carriage, puzzled.
'There are just more rules I suppose.' The carriage begins to roll once more, gently wobbling through the laid bricks, passing through the city gate. 'Don’t get me wrong, there is no shortage of savagery, it is just different. Conflict is fought with words here, no swords or sorcery.' Reyes remains silent. 'It’ll come off as a bit of a shock, how you’ll be living I mean. But its just like I said, everything is just grander in Roland, there is no other way to put it.' Light flickers through the veil of the carriage, dancing across Augustine. 'Just take a look out the window, you’ll know what I mean when you see it' Reyes opens the veil, and take a peek out. His eyes go wide, and a smile cracks. Before Reyes was silent, but now he is speechless.”
'Tales from Roland Two:
“'Everyone has a secret' Ariel starts, 'do you want to know mine?' Lambert seems annoyed. He lights a cigarette, coughs, and blows smoke into the air, off the pier, carried on the winter wind.
'You said this was important, damn it Ariel. I am tiring of your games, it is cold and late.' Lambert takes another drag, turning back towards Ariel. 'And can you stop your damn grinning?'
'One more time, just humor me,' Ariel tells him, trying to hold back a smile,and a chuckle.
Lambert sighs. 'Alright Ariel, what is your f~*!ing secret.'
'I,' he starts, whimsically tapping his chest with one of his fingers, 'collect other people’s secrets...' Ariel lets out the laugh he has been holding, '...and then,' another laugh, 'I blackmail them.' The laughter is cut, but the smile remains wide. Lambert doesn’t find it as funny, letting out a small curse. Ariel extends his hand, gesturing to the cigarette, and Lambert passes it to him, taking out a second one for himself. 'So Lamby, I think we both know where this is going next.' Ariel breathes in the cigarette, letting the smoke trickle out of his mouth as he returns to laughter.”
Themes of the Campaign:
As in the title, the main themes to the game are intrigue, aspirations and betrayal. Other themes include racism, classism, and social injustice. A previous incarnation of the game dealt with the dangers of magic to society, ideals of self vs. the world, and terrorism. The game may get into dark territory, but never overly so. PG-13, maybe rated R for language at times.
”Character Creation”:
Below are the basics for character creation, with more elaborate rules in the Design Document. The campaign is not battle focused.
A good background, hopefully grounded in the lore with stances on issues (Magic regulation, trades with Galatine, family history, supporting lower classes, war, et cetera).
15 point buy. Player’s power is more about wealth, contacts, and manipulation than their abilities.
Human race strongly encouraged. Half-elf, dwarf, or halfling allowed without DM consultation. Other core races or exotic races must have good background or reason and must be run with the DM. All players are Durendale, unless negotiated otherwise.
Any Alignment. I don’t really like the alignment system, and won’t enforce it, preferring your character act by what motivates them rather than a two-axis graph.
Almost any class, including Psionics, so long as it is justifiable. Arcane spellcaster should (by law) be registered with the Arcane Society. Necromancy, contact with Outsiders (Witch patrons are a temporary exception to the law), and compulsion spells on unwilling targets are illegal. Psionics is a strange case, in that they are not really known to the world, but events may change that in the future.
A single item, worth less than 15,000GP at GM’s approval. This should be an heirloom, or reflected in the character’s backstory.
Level 3 start.
About Me:
I am a DM of around 2-3 years now, having experience with managing parties anywhere from three to six people, however exclusively with in-person meetups.
This is my first voyage into Play-by-Post, and while I am excited, I am also a bit nervous as I am not 100% sure what to expect.
I want to try to make the promise to check daily, and update at least once per day at a minimum. I would like the players to have this much dedication to the game as well. I’ll give leeway to special days, weekends (though I would still like to update then), and time if prior notice is given.
Eastern Standard Timezone (NY Represent!)
Campaign Running Info:
Combat, while infrequent, will play out most likely on a google drawing, perhaps moving up to Roll20 or a better suited interface as I gain some experience or with the help of players.
I will track public loot by a google excel sheet. I will track NPC’s met with a google excel sheet. I will make a point to keep track of a lot of things using google, such as the player’s empires, and active side quests with GDocs.
I envision this ideally running for a while, but I also want it to be known it is a bit of an experiment with a PbP method. I intend to follow this too the end, which may take a while. Play
I have ran a campaign like this before, and to me, the hardest part is making sure the party has a reason to stay together. Help me out and lets see if we can start with a pact, or develop alliances and save the active cutthroating of each other for later in the game.
Have fun. This is the most important part, I am a roleplayer, though not too big on roll play. Respect other players and their comfort zones. If it comes to the rules disagreement, I am willing to work them out, though lets try to minimize the min/maxing.
I am willing to talk on gmail (chat or email), facebook or paizo forums about the campaign, pretty open to discussing concepts and ideas, especially ones that you don’t want others to know.
Please read the Design Document if you want to take this seriously. There is a bit to read, but it will help with easing into the world.
“The campaign is separated into two distinct sections, Sessions and Inter-sessions. Sessions play like a regular campaign, often a party, social gathering, mission or event that the team takes part in. During this time, players are encouraged to work together to achieve a goal and meet potential allies. Intersessions use homebrew downtime rules, designed to allow players to quickly amass wealth, power and allies and reflect the player’s time not spent with the party. During intersession, players act independently, often pursuing goals of their own choosing and serving their own interest. Players can make arrangements and alliances with each other or can remain secretive of their own actions. The DM will not formally reveal actions any one player, though other players may spend their time researching their colleagues for their own purposes.”
I am hoping to have the campaign start sometime in Early January, with preparation for it going on until then. Looking for 4 to 5 players, leave comments, message me with any questions or if you want in.
Does the Visionary Researcher Alchemist archetype's Experimental Mutagen give your buddies the bonuses of Feral Mutagens or Elemental mutagens, or just the ability score increase of the mutagen/greater if the alchemist has the discoveries?
Only reason I ask is that discoveries such as the Feral mutagen state when the alchemist imbibes the mutagen, and I am not sure if this is to exclude others, or just didn't include the visionary researcher's experimental mutagen ability as it is kind of a unique circumstance.
If so, does the damage of the extra attacks get halved? Not quite sure how to rule this one. Anyway, thank you kindly.