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The first three sections provide a history of the dungeon. You can read these passages really closely and start to put together a detailed understanding of what I’m thinking, you can skim them once, or you can skip them. Hopefully they’re not too boring. I recommend looking at the maps and the history notes section at the same time that you read the narratives. History notes:
These notes are written with the intention that you skip back and forth between these history notes and the actual narratives. I have written two narratives, told from the perspectives of humans and dwarves. Neither represents the fundamental, objective truth, because that’s just not how history works. I would not expect that an individual character you create would hold either beliefs exactly, though who knows. These writings represent official narratives told by those in power. Everyday people may be only dimly aware of the doings of people in the distant past, and might have different internalizations of these narratives. Notably, there are many non-noble dwarves who did not live in Pyrsa castle but in the valley below, and were never involved in the final ritual. These non-noble dwarves generally do not suffer the same level of ant-dwarf racism, and are more integrated into human society. Dwarves are generally not confederated, meaning that they don’t think of themselves with an overarching racial identity (dwarves) but rather as members of specific clans. There is frequent animosity between these clans, even though from an outsider’s perspective they might seem very similar. I’m not sure how much I’m going to focus on developing this concept in this game, however. I expect you will mostly only interact with dwarves from one specific clan, and interacting with NPCs isn’t a huge gameplay focus for this game. In the context of this history, the lack of confederation does mean that the dwarves of Pyrsa could not expect help from other dwarves who lived on other portions of the same mountain range. I have the idea that dwarven identities of the leading clans are formed around (real or imagined) genealogies which can be traced back to legendary figures. A little bit like in the Bible, if you’re familiar with the book of Genesis. So in this case, the dwarves of the leading families around Pyrsa castle identify themselves as the descendants of Nain and Mahal. There might be specific cultural and phenotypic markers associated with this clan, such as beard length and style, skin color, family values, cuisine, etc, but these things are actually less important than the (real or imagined) genealogies. Drownstone ore is an antimagic ore. You are going to get to use it in various different forms during gameplay, and will learn more about its source and many uses. It is well known that large quantities of ore, kept in their natural state, can create substantial antimagic fields. That’s just like the powerful wizard spell antimagic field. It is not possible to carry around hundreds of pounds of natural ore in armor or weapons, so don’t get any funny ideas ;). It is generally used in fortifying solid walls and gates, not in the midst of battle. Again, not sure how much I’m going to develop some of these concepts during gameplay, just putting them out there now so you have some idea of what I’m thinking.
Dwarven narrative:
Pyrsa was a beacon against the darkness. Its light is fading. All northern dwarves know that the ice giants would never dare cross the Skirling pass so long as dwarven lords hold Pyrsa castle. So long as there is lit flame in the halls of that castle, the ice giants shall be kept at bay. The dwarves still whisper reverently of the mighty weapons, forged by the hands of Nain and Mahal in Pyrsa’s sky-forge, which were used to do battle with the ice giants in years of yore. But all the magic and might wrought by these fathers of the dwarves could not guard against the treachery of men. Drownstone ore, famed for its antimagic properties, drew armies up from the southern lands of Autokratoria. These armies circled Pyrsa like buzzards above a corpse. Cowardly and weak, this army of mostly humans never dared to assault the fortress directly. The dwarves endured. Summer after summer, they were besieged. When they should have been out in valley and field, tending to crops and cows, they were instead holed up in their mountain fastness, eating shoe leather and horses. They grew weak. Dwarven fields were burned, and the houses of their people cruelly destroyed. It is said that humans hate orcs, yet it is also said that in that time they hired marauding bands of orcs to harass the poor dwarves of the valley all winter long. Starve, or surrender the castle and watch it be burned by a violent southern army. Either way, Pyrsa castle would fall, the flame in its halls would be extinguished, and the frost giants would sweep in from the north. Faced with this dilemma, the noble dwarves turned to dark and terrible powers. The dwarves of Pyrsa sent their servants and children away, preparing for a ghastly ritual. They made an unthinkable pact with demons of fire. The dwarves of Pyrsa would guard against the frost giants forever, but not with their lives. Instead, as their unholy ritual ended, they felt the cold grip of death. Then they rose in the night, grim eyes unblinking, cold blue lips set with determination. What southern army could starve out a castle garrisoned by the dead? Their lives were a small price to pay to ensure the frost giants never crossed the Skirling pass. That was fifty years ago. The few noble dwarves who had not taken part in the demonic ritual were a scattered and broken people. The humans never left, instead settling the lands where once only dwarven folk had lived. They still persecute a war against the few noble dwarves who remain, no less cruel than the orcs their ancestors once hired. And some among these invaders whisper of the power they could have if they, like the dwarves before them, contacted the fire demons. Cultists stalk Nikias’ peak, probing Pyrsa castle for a way inside. They must be stopped. The few noble dwarves who remain, once great warriors, are now old and grey. They sing songs of old heroes in the hopes that new ones might one day liberate Pyrsa castle. That their comrades have not yet been laid to rest is the shame of their people. But while the sky-forge’s fire is ashen cold, its flame may still be awoken. It is said that old king Justin, who led the blasphemous ritual selflessly, still lives somewhere deep in the bowels of the castle. Lonely, kept alive by dark magic, he wanders the halls praying for a hero to kill him. Folk prophecize that if his crown can be reclaimed, Pyrsa castle will be garrisoned by the living again.
Human narrative:
Frost giants haven’t been seen in hundreds of years. But all humans know elves are evil. Their magical powers unmatched by any human wizards, the elves of the east, led by Naurmaethor the red, won a string of major victories nearly two hundred years ago. After that, their human servants led frequent raids on the eastern lands of Autokratoria, capturing countless souls to use in their terrible engines of magic. Any solid resistance was met with sorcery and destruction. Only with drownstone fortifications could they be stopped. The ore could be used in the construction of fortresses magic wouldn’t be able to destroy. A border of such fortresses would be permanent and difficult to raid past, since any raiders would always have to contend with foes behind them. But drownstone can only be found in one place, and that place was controlled by dwarves. Legendary greed does not do justice to the prices charged for the ore. It was said that there were vast storehouses of it kept in reserve, just to control the market and drive up the price. A lord might have lived in near starvation for ten years and still only afford enough drownstone to reinforce one gatehouse. There was only one solution. Few soldiers could be spared, but enough were sent north to besiege Pyrsa castle, where the ore was mined. Relentlessly, summer after summer, brave soldiers would march north. They couldn’t take the castle itself, high as it was in the mountain fastness, but they could starve the dwarves out. Only once the rivers froze could they withdraw, otherwise the dwarves would be able to bring in food with their tremendous wealth. Even then, the mountain roads could not always be kept secure, so food sometimes slipped through. So the conquering armies endured on heroically, summer after summer. In time, other southern peoples, ever industrious and steadfast, came to civilize that wild northern land, so that it became fruitful. Yet still the dwarves would not lower the price of drownstone by one copper. Nor would they trade it for food as they starved while men feasted in the valley below them. All they had to do was sell their drownstone, yet the dwarves acted in a most treacherous and blasphemous manner. With evil dripping from every word, they pled for anguish and prayed for despair. They made a pact with Asmodeus himself, the lord of the pit and prince of darkness, and with Urgathoa, the pallid princess. And yet these powers were not vile and evil enough for them. It is said that the dwarves hate orcs with a furious passion, yet on that day it is also said that the dwarves prayed with a fiery passion to the orcish god Brumash! Dancing madly and sacrificing their own children, they invoked a magic which has no place on the earth. For no purpose other than to hang onto their wealth greedily, beyond the span of their mortal years, they transformed themselves into undead. Since then, the bold peoples of Autokratoria have suffered regular raids from the elves and their human servants. Many have migrated north, to the lands beneath Pyrsa castle, where the dead still skulk by night. The few dwarves of Pyrsa castle who did not take part in that blasphemous ritual scattered about the land. Some live in towns here and there, and are known to have endless stores of money, which they sometimes bribe local officials with to prevent justice from being done. But the true wealth of the region, and the true threat to it, is in Pyrsa castle itself. It is said that some of the dwarves have corrupted men, and set them to probe the castle for a way inside. These cultists must be stopped. And many whisper of the crown of old king Justin, set atop his yellow, skeletal skull, which holds the key to the treasury vaults.
Maps:
Here is the first map I made, showing the region immediately around the dungeon in high resolution. Here is a map showing a larger area near Pyrsa. The Northeastern region of this map was historically under dwarven control. And here is a scribbling providing a general sense of the more continent wide area.
Motivations to explore the dungeon:
Here I’m going to distill seven possible motivations for exploring the dungeon from the above history. You could also think of these like character objectives. This is not an exhaustive list, it is totally possible to develop other motivations. 1) You want to stop the cultists who are investigating Pyrsa castle.
Gameplay notes: I don’t have a finished draft of every monster I wanted to make. But I do have a sketch of the enemy types for the monsters I will use: 6 undead (also affected by some things that affect the humanoid (dwarf) subtype such as Favored Enemy)
Most monsters are designed to be mixed with other monsters. They are intended to be used in different regions of the dungeon, such that in one area you might fight mostly undead, in the next mostly aberrations, etc. They employ a range of strategies, including spellcasting, melee, and ranged combat of various different styles. I will primarily use these monsters, although I may mix in some from the bestiary, who knows. Most battlefields will probably be relatively large and have some kind of terrain features, though I’m not going to design every battlefield in minute detail until it actually comes up in gameplay so no guarantees. It should generally be possible to bring a large animal companion almost everywhere. I have some areas that are definitely going to be trapped. It’s unclear to me whether there will be a substantial number of traps or just one or two here and there. My general philosophy is to not make it too difficult for the party to take a long rest whenever they want. Preventing you from doing so seems like it would remove a major decision that should be yours, and also seems like it might lead to more character death. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences for sitting around and doing nothing, or from trying to keep a 15 minute adventuring day. Given that this is a dungeon focused adventure, I am also going to let you know now that I am not planning to pull punches. If you die, you die. Sad story, make another character. Not quite the same philosophy as the last adventure I ran. If this is an issue for you, let me know.
Crackling logs on the hearth cast a red glow like the last light of a fading sun across the tavern. Soft shadows play on the walls, silent reflections of people who dance to the sound of an ancient, crumbling piano or lol off wooden tables as beer and spiced cider are poured into their open mouths with reckless abandon. These are simple, crude folk who have filled the cemetery near the town’s entrance for three generations. Although this place is not very welcoming to travelers, you and your companions can at least find a measure of warmth and safety within the sturdy, pine-planked walls. Outside, the wind howls. The storm could be felt coming from a long way off. Long dark clouds, eastern reaching wings of darkness, cast shadows on the hills and mountains. They tore across the landscape while the sun faded low and purple. The treeline, visible at the foot of the hill, became a line of grey, ominous shapes, like a crowd of strangers shouldering together around an open grave.. Now, the sole window in the tavern looks on inky blackness, broken by driving snowflakes that catch the firelight and twinkle like stars. There! In the darkness, a flickering light, about to go out. A man with a torch is outside, stumbling among the headstones. As he draws close, you realize he’s not a man at all but a boy. Then his flame gutters out. Slowly, quietly, the tavern door drifts open and then closed again. Like a shadow he slips along the wall, movements soft and steady, creeping slowly around the edge of the room towards the fire, which he watches the way a starving dog watches a rich man eat. Blue fingertips clutch a threadbare cloak tight around his lean, bony frame. Between edges of ragged wool, running up the skin of his bare, shaking neck, you catch a glimpse of something hideous. A black, writhing tattoo, five flecks of red shining brightly in the firelight, like the fingers of a demon wrapping around his throat. This poor soul is cursed. He is standing still now, not daring to come any closer. No one has seen him yet… Hello everyone, I am opening recruitment for a short PF1 adventure in which you must save a wretched, pitiable boy from certain death. I have never GMd for PBP before so, as so many have advised over the years, I’m starting small. This adventure should take between two and six months to complete, depending on player involvement and strategy. After that, I would be interested in running more games of similar length with the same group of players, but might decide to try to do something longer and open recruitment up again. It really depends on how this first foray feels. I will be selecting four PCs, because I think a smaller group is more conducive to faster play and because I think three would be too few, especially given the possibility that we lose someone due to attrition and decide not to re-recruit. Recruitment will be open for at least two weeks. About me:
I am a history teacher who hasn’t played a TTRPG in a couple years. I have significant experience with 3.5e as a player and PF1 as a GM. I decided I wanted to get into PBP early in 2020, but I wasn’t sure exactly what the best way to go about doing so was. Between now and then I’ve been trawling through old posts, looking for advice on the best ways to start and manage a PBP and reading successful games to figure out why they went well. My ultimate conclusion from this research is that games succeed or fail based on the reliability of the players and the energy and time commitment of the GM. I am creating this game partially as a way to build a reputation for reliability, partially to build a personal relationship with some players, partially to get a better sense of how PBP works compared to IRL gaming, and partially to have some fun. I prefer homebrewed adventures to published ones and established groups of players to organized play. I like to tinker with rules and find creative design to be extremely rewarding. I like gritty, low magic and low level games with horror subthemes, but for the right group of players I could be convinced to do anything. I have a strong background in academic writing and writing teaching, but limited experience writing creatively. Setting overview and Maps:
The northern wastes of Elithiel sits in the lee of the looming, snow-capped White Mountains. Less than a hundred years ago this was a prosperous region, dwarves worked their mines and forges deep within the mountains while humans collected timber and skins from the forests below. These goods were traded downriver to a large elven kingdom to the south in exchange for grain and textiles. But then orcs and goblins came from across the eastern dessert and began taking the mountains from the dwarves one at a time. Each summer, they pour out of the mountains and travel south to raid the more hospitable lands of the elves in the south. They also harry the travelers who come regularly across the western sea to visit the ancient Dwarven ruins or search for forgotten baubles. A few hard, proud people still live here part time, scratching a living out of an unforgiving landscape. They, too, are sometimes targets of raids, but more often they escape unnoticed. Too poor even to rob. It is in one of these towns that your journey begins. Built on a hill overlooking a river, with sturdy wooden walls, the people of Gringham make a living felling trees and building boats, which they rent or sell to dwarves and orcs alike. Perhaps you’ve been here before, perhaps you’ve even heard the tale of old Sandy Pisspants and the demon of White Marsh, some of which took place in the very tavern that still stands near the cemetery at the edge of town. Perhaps you hope to be a part of your own tale someday. Most adventurers spend the winter in the fortress of Khel Zhad, where dwarves have mined uninterrupted for over five hundred years. It has powerful spellcasters, a booming industry, and high walls that have stood up to nearly a dozen serious sieges. You were probably headed there yourself, but because of bad weather, monsters that needed slaying, or spouses that needed bedding you’ve been delayed, and are still two hundred miles away. There’s only one other town along the way, and very few villages. Even a seasoned adventurer like yourself dreads spending so many nights on the road. There are older and fouler things than orcs that prowl in the night. Expectations:
On a bad day I should be able to spend an hour to an hour and a half on this game. I think that roughly translates to one particularly complicated post or two or three simpler ones. On a good day I should be able to make long, complicated posts twice and shorter ones very frequently. I should also have additional time when I’m doing dishes, laundry, etc to think about this game, and for me that kind of time usually helps me substantially when I sit down to write. Of course, I don’t have any experience with PBP, so my expectations could be different from reality. As I said earlier, I have a strong background in academic writing. The adventure hook I wrote at the beginning of this post and the setting description are both writing samples that should give you an estimation of my creative writing skill. The hook has been edited substantially and reflects the high end of my writing, the setting description is a first draft written while tired and a tiny bit tipsy, and reflects the low end of my writing. I consider myself to be a pretty good but not exceptional adventure designer, and the shorter the adventure the better I do. I would say that I am above average at encounter design, and that I focus on rewarding good player tactics and providing opportunities for different kinds of player agency. I am very judicious with my time. I made the maps (see setting) for this in about twenty minutes. I wrote the setting description in about a half hour. I do not design stuff I’m not going to use. I use the extra time this gives me to make the stuff I’m sure I will use work better. Of my players, my number one most important expectation is that you are reliable. You need to be able to commit to posting every day. It may not happen, but that one day when you’re super busy might also be a day when everyone is waiting on you to move things along. So even on busy days you need to be able to post. I’m human, I get that you can’t foresee everything that happens. But being reliable also means logging in on super busy days for the five minutes it takes to say that you can’t post and need to be botted. I am extremely forgiving of people who tell me they can’t keep a commitment in advance. If you let me know on a Wednesday that you’re going to have trouble posting on Saturday, the other players and I can plan ahead and try to work around your absence. Games on these boards appear to run on momentum. If that momentum gets disrupted, it’s tough to get it back. Those with longer posting histories that demonstrate reliability will have a huge advantage compared to people who don’t, and if you have a history of ghosting games or lying about how often you can post don’t apply because I won’t select you. Another expectation is that you put some effort into your writing. Because this is a short game without a particularly developed setting and I’m not experienced in PBP, I don’t expect you to have a particularly developed, three dimensional character with a twenty page backstory. But I do hope that you spend time on your posts and write them in such a way that, if someone were to come along in a year and read our gameplay thread, they would be pulled into the story. When you post, I absolutely expect you to push the action and engage with the story and the other characters. I expect you to trust me if we have a rules dispute, if something needs to be retconned, or any other issue arises. I will do my best to communicate with you and figure out a solution that works for everyone.
Readings:
If you have not already read the following, please do so now: Here are a few successful long running games that are relatively recent, which are not required reading but may be helpful for you: https://paizo.com/campaigns/AllsWellThatEndsInAWell/gameplay&page=1\ https://paizo.com/campaigns/DMRahsStrangeAeons/gameplay&page=1\ https://paizo.com/campaigns/DungeonMasterSsGiantslayerAP/gameplay&page= 1 See also: https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u32d&page=2?PbPs-to-Lurk-On
Pregame:
If you are selected, please start by introducing yourself in the discussion thread. Before we start playing from where the adventure hook (above) ends, we’ll need to work out how your characters know one another. I’m flexible about this and am happy to just hand wave it. But we might want to RP this meeting before or at the beginning of play. Character creation:
Play starts at 4th level. 90% of people in this world are first or second level, and even large towns don’t always have anyone of 4th level living in them. Spellcasters are particularly rare. You should think of your character as a seasoned adventurer used to being the deadliest person in any given room, but who is also aware that there are much more powerful people and monsters out there. Disallowed classes are: Gunslinger (guns don’t exist), Chained Summoner (used the Unchained one instead), Vigilante, and any of the occult classes. Ability scores: 20 point buy or roll 4d6 in the recruitment thread and drop the lowest Max HP at first level, half at each other level, then add one (to account for the extra half point each level after first) Background skills are in use. Please take two per level. 6000 GP to buy items, no individual one of which can cost more than 2000 GP No evil alignments If your build looks out of line with the power level of other characters I select, I will work with you to balance things out.
How to apply:
Write a short background. You don’t need to go into great detail and you won’t get special consideration for writing more than a paragraph or so. Just focus on giving the reader some idea of how you became an adventurer and what your life has been like. You don’t have to have all the details of your character build worked out, but at least give me race and class. If you do put things together, please do so using the Herolabs link below. Optional: cite the three best posts you’ve made in a PBP using links. If you like, provide a one sentence description of why you think this post is strong. If you think it’s necessary, provide one sentence of context to help me understand why this is such a good post. I am looking for 1) engagement with the story and other players and 2) writing quality. I will be reading through your posts whether you do this or not, but this is your opportunity to draw my attention to your best work. If you don’t have a posting history, that’s ok. Instead, you can write a particularly vivid, interesting, or important memory your character has. Try to keep it under 300 words, but it’s ok if you go over that limit. You can also RP a meeting between your character and that of another applicant. One suggestion for this is that your characters meet in an abandoned village somewhere near the starting town. Feel free to describe the landscape and buildings.
Formatting:
I copy pasted the following from GM Rednal and then made some adjustments to reflect my preferences. Alias Formatting I use Hero Lab's output as my preferred formatting, and all players are expected to use the same. A fill-in-your-info version is available right here. --- Quick Reference Bars Organize your quick reference bar - the Gender/Race/Classes part of your alias (they display in that order if you need more room) - with the following format: Level(s)/Tier | HP: XX/XX | AC: XX / T: XX / FF: XX / DR: X, SR: X, Resist: X, Immune: X | Fort: +X, Ref: +X, Will: +X | M. Atk: +X, R. Atk: +X, M. Touch: +X, R. Touch: +X | CMB: +X, CMD: X | Init: +X, Perception: +X If there are things you don't use or don't have, such as any elemental resistances, ranged attacks, or non-touch attacks, remove those. CMB and CMD stay. Do not hide this information behind a spoiler tab - that defeats the purpose of a quick-reference bar. --- Post Formatting "Spoken text should have quotes and be bolded."
The primary content of your post should be in third-person, present tense writing. --- Resource Tracking Add all of your daily-use abilities to a spoiler near the top of your profile, after the Init/Senses bit and before the Defense section. This should be updated in your alias - and should be added - as a spoiler - to the bottom of your posts when you use abilities. This makes it MUCH easier to track how many uses of your abilities are left. --- Combat I will be using block initiative to speed things up. This means that most rounds of combat will involve all the players acting, then all the enemies. Please clearly format your dice rolls and label them with any temporary modifiers. Here is an example of what I mean. I will also commonly roll some other things, such as saving throws, knowledge checks, perception, etc in the interest of keeping the game moving. You are permitted to use rerolls and stuff even after the result has been revealed (whether or not this is normally allowed). I will have a spoiler at the bottom of each post which may contain dice rolls. If I decide to make a hidden roll it will be in that spoiler.
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