@NotEspi: Looking great! Really nailed the flavor of 'desperate citizen just trying to survive the apocalypse' I'm looking for. Will definitely want to hear your thoughts on what Eymur thinks is in the packages he delivers. Which corruption did you decide on, Amoral?
@Thurin: I can't really say which would fit better, honestly, as both could work depending on the angle you go for. Build the character you want and stick with it!
Work in Progress: Mara Devdvir (Qunnessaa) Elf vigilante (cabalist) 1 / VMC witch (Shadowbound)
Ideas:
Mightypion: human turned tielfing bloodrager (Demonic)
Veniir: ? alchemist (aboleth)
Critzible: Tengu Spiritualist (Lich)
DBH: some sort of doomsayer warpriest?
Let me know if anything here is wrong! Reminder that the recruitment ends this Saturday, February 28th. I will be making my decision Sunday, March 1st.
and he is convinced to work for the flame seekers and venture into the ruins outside the walls.
So the main mission of the Flame Seekers is actually to venture down into the ruins under the bastion. There are old crypts and catacombs and other dungeons that the Seekers search for relics and remains to feed the Pyre. They do sometimes form expeditions to head into the outside world, leaving the bastion behind, but these are exceedingly rare and dangerous. Only the Ember Council can approve those.
@Cyrus: the way religion works in this world is interesting (to me, at least). When the Scouring happened and the majority of the gods of the old world died, most of their worshippers and priests lost their magic. Those who tended towards venerating the gods more as 'concepts' rather than specific entities kept their magic.
So, for example, a religious character might worship 'The Flame', thanking it for keeping Cinderwake safe in these awful times. Or a farmer's wife might say a prayer every night to 'The Harvest', in an attempt to make sure the ashroots' next season is a plentiful one. Religion is very fluid and personal, and as long as you truly believe in the cause or concept you pay heed to, you'll get power from that source.
All this to say that if you have a specific weapon that you think fits your characters' preferred 'source' of spells, we can work with it. Same with the traits; if they fit the theme of a worshipped concept, then it's acceptable. Hope this helped explain it a bit!
I did a little bit of explanation here on how religion works in this world, Groteus doesn’t really exist anymore (if he ever did!). There’s definitely a lot of room in the Drowned Choir faction for a doomsayer, and you could pay reverence to something like ‘the End’ or the like.
I understand that the Omdura was written by some Paizo authors and is technically 2nd party as opposed to 3rd party. But, to stop any confusion or arguments, only classes found on Archives of Nethys are legal (minus the few I have hand-picked banned).
That leaves you almost 30 options for classes (not including unchained classes), which I think is plenty.
How would an oracle following the Dark Tapestry mystery fit the campaign?
I'm thinking someone who isn't all there, looks through people and listens to things others can't hear. Probably taking the Whisper network trait as well.
And looking at the corruptions either Hive or Possessed fit her theme.
Apologies for saying it was okay earlier, but full casters are banned, and Oracle is a full caster. I don't know why I didn't remember it was a full caster. 6th level casters and below only!
@Qunnessaa: You've got until next week, I'm ending the recruitment on Saturday the 28th and making my decision on Sunday. Should be plenty of time! As for the character idea, I very much like the idea of the cabalist, tons of interesting implications there. I will say ahead of time that you can't have two familiars, so the vigilante talent that grants you one doesn't stack with the witch VMC one. Honestly I don't really see the point of with VMC, but you are certainly welcome to do so!
@DBH: I think the Dark Tapestries probably exist in some form, though definitely not in the same form it does in Golarion. Regardless, I think that theme plays very well into what I have in mind for the game, and your character has a lot of potential for being weird, so carry on!
@Vash’ka: Looking great! I'll just link to that alias for when you finish her sheet there.
Ruin Delver You’ve ventured beyond the walls. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks, and a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks made in ruins.
So for clarity, the walls referenced are walls that separate from under the bastion?
Yep! That means you’ve delved at least once into a couple of the upper level floors of the ruins underneath the bastion. There’s a scattering of entrances to the ruins throughout the mountain, so you could’ve left from the Terrace or High Ember and headed down. The ‘walls’ in that trait are somewhat metaphorical, as the entrances to the ruins are just sealed off and separate from the walled in living spaces.
Most people don’t really leave the walls surrounding their particular location if they can help it, what with the mountain predators and other dangers like falling and such.
Absolutely! I view it sort of like some of the real world pantheons where just about everyone was religious to a certain point, saying prayers throughout the day to various 'powers above' just to bless whatever action they're taking.
Believing good things happen to you because of your concept is basically how the system works, except most of the concepts are demonstrably real to varying degrees.
and he is convinced to work for the flame seekers and venture into the ruins outside the walls.
So the main mission of the Flame Seekers is actually to venture down into the ruins under the bastion. There are old crypts and catacombs and other dungeons that the Seekers search for relics and remains to feed the Pyre. They do sometimes form expeditions to head into the outside world, leaving the bastion behind, but these are exceedingly rare and dangerous. Only the Ember Council can approve those.
@Cyrus: the way religion works in this world is interesting (to me, at least). When the Scouring happened and the majority of the gods of the old world died, most of their worshippers and priests lost their magic. Those who tended towards venerating the gods more as 'concepts' rather than specific entities kept their magic.
So, for example, a religious character might worship 'The Flame', thanking it for keeping Cinderwake safe in these awful times. Or a farmer's wife might say a prayer every night to 'The Harvest', in an attempt to make sure the ashroots' next season is a plentiful one. Religion is very fluid and personal, and as long as you truly believe in the cause or concept you pay heed to, you'll get power from that source.
All this to say that if you have a specific weapon that you think fits your characters' preferred 'source' of spells, we can work with it. Same with the traits; if they fit the theme of a worshipped concept, then it's acceptable. Hope this helped explain it a bit!
Definitely figure something out to do with them, with the guaranteed corrupted start I don't want to have every character die. Will it be bad to fail a lot of the saves? Yeah, probably. Insta-die/become NPC? Nah.
They're a fun way to get some bonuses/penalties and also some flavorful storytelling potential.
Something that also crossed my mind. The mentioned corruption - should that happen BEFORE the game? As in, in the backstory? Could be kind of important.
If not, is it a randomised thing to look forward to in the future?
I had imagined it having happened in backstory, yeah. If you want to start the game without the bonuses and penalties and then get it shortly after starting, that can be arranged.
It is very much not randomized, this is a story about existing in this horrible gritty world and surviving the specific ways it changes you. I may make suggestions as to which corruption you'll end up with, but it'll ultimately be us working together to choose.
@Veniir: Great question! I intentionally left alchemist in as a flavor-fitting 'caster' class, so if I have an alchemist player then I will accommodate them with appropriate resources for formulae and components and the like. It will be a challenge to get higher level ones, sure, but at the very least there is likely to be a small library with a single formulae book in it or something that you'll be able to earn as a reward, that kind of thing.
Aboleth corruption sounds very interesting, but I will say that obviously your character wouldn't know/remember that it was an aboleth. It might not even actually be an aboleth, that'll be something I figure out as we go if you're selected.
I am aiming to get to around level 12, as that's when I find even the more martial focused classes get a little bit ridiculous for a harsh survival setting.
@Thurin: Sounds good! Did you imagine the rock being an 'NPC' in that I have control over that knowledge it gives you? That's how I'd like to handle it, obviously.
@ElbowtotheFace: Another great question and another class I forgot. Gonna say no to gunslinger, sorry! So many things to think about when designing your own world, some things slip through the cracks.
@Thurin: Yeah, that’s all perfect for the vibes I’m going for here. The only slight reflavoring I might do is to have the ioun wyrd prefer to not use its fly speed, just to not have the magical stone flying around you at all times. But the idea of a lawful protector turning into something they don’t want to be and losing part of their protectiveness is perfection. Build away!
@Critzible: sounds good! Excited to see the final product. Be sure to justify why a tengu should be allowed, as it is outside the allowed races.
@Liliyashanina: both of those ideas sound great, the bloodrager corrupted by demons specifically has great potential. I will say, for the human, that the world ended somewhere around 200-300 years ago (it's unclear, really), so no one alive today outside of older elves would have any first hand knowledge of the World Before. And those older elves are certainly rare.
@ElbowtotheFace: Would need pretty extreme justification for that one, honestly. Not saying don't, but you'll have to wow me with a good story and why he's allowed.
@NotEspi: Names are fairly open, yeah. Just stay away from joke names or anything like that.
Not sure the specific angle of a noir PI works (it won't be a crime scene investigation game or anything), but a failed Tidewatch can work as someone who tried but didn't have the guts for it or something. Ending up as some other sort of necessary job.
Also, great question. Kineticist is considered a full caster and therefore banned. Forgot it existed! The rest of the psychic non-full caster classes are still available though.
@Slayde77: I actually have a 'regional' map of Cinderwake. The people of the bastion believe it's an island, yes, but in real world terms the bastion sits on the top of a small mountain about 16,000 feet above the former sea level. As you can tell, that is no longer the case.
As far as animal companions work, most of the food eaten in the bastion is sourced from easily renewable sources; fish farms, ashroot, sparse greens and mushrooms. Hunting really isn't that viable of a food source. Domesticated animals (mostly goats) do exist but are rare and would likely be a novel sight, but there are wild predators that live and prey on vermin and (rarely) people. So if you wanted something like a goat or a small cat or something, it'd make sense. There are birds, rats, snakes, the smaller options. Hope that helped!
@Liliyashanina: Thank you! I put a bit of work into the opening setup.
The fiends by all accounts are most certainly a bloodthirsty brutal horde and the new masters of this world. Not a lot is known about what exactly they are and what they specifically want, but most conversations on the topic center them squarely as adversaries. As with every population of individuals, there might be exceptions to the rule, but your viewpoint as a mortal in Cinderwake is absolutely "if I ever see one, I must be ready to fight for my life".
@Lady Onyx: the languages in this world are similar to the established Pathfinder ones. People in the bastion speak Common, and there’s Infernal and Abyssal and the like.
As for the sun, that kind of thing will be explored in game. Giving away any more info than I put in the setup would be spoilering! To that end, I just don’t know if your character as-written will work for this game. I don’t mind accommodating minor changes to the world (by adding in a single family of four or something to the ‘canon’), but an entire vampire clan springing up out of nothing and taking control of the government doesn’t really fit the general theme I’m looking for here. Dhampirs existing is another one of those unexplored mysteries we’ll get to in game, so feel free to keep the race part, just not gonna warp the setting around their backstory so much.
@everyone: As a general statement, my bias for picking characters for this game are characters that will have struggles in this post apocalyptic hellscape. As I said in the first post, you are not special heroes for this game, but rather ‘survivors and desperate adventurers’ fighting against the dying light of your world.
@Lapyd: It’s Pathfinder 1E, yeah. I don’t plan on using EitR or ABP this time, but VMC seems fine to me. Just be sure to keep to the theme of lower magic and all.
@Lady Onyx: sounds like a good start! Get her fleshed out a bit and we’ll see what we have.
The world is not ending, it already has. The sun hangs behind a pale curtain of ashes, remnants of the First Scouring. The fiends broke up through their realm into ours, and tore down the heavens. Slayed the gods and drowned the world in oceans of their blood. It wasn't the quick death of an apocalypse, but a slow cumbersome bleeding out.
And yet, some pockets still endure. Bastions of mortal hope, each with their own unique way of fending off the nightmares and fiends that prowl the dark. On jagged cliffs above the rolling tides, but a scant seven hundred souls fight the end of the world in a way only mortals can. They scrape by and do what they have to in order to have some form of life. This new world has been christened 'Mournfall' as long as any still living can remember, and it is quite obvious why.
Each of you, for some reason or another, has been given an invitation to the Emberwake, a once-a-year ceremony where the priests of High Ember re-sanctify the Pyre Below in a crucial ritual necessary for the bastion's survival.
Ashes Beneath the Tide is a dark, low-magic sandbox (with a general story in mind) set centuries after a slow apocalypse. The world did not end in glorious fire, instead slowly bleeding out. The sun dimmed, the seas rose, kingdoms drowned and burned. Humanity survives in scattered bastions carved into mountains and cliffs. Cinderwake is one of them: small, strained, and quietly fracturing.
This game will be darker than your usual Pathfinder game, and contain dark themes (within reason). You are not heroes in this world, you are survivors and desperate adventurers.
The World of Mournfall (what your character knows):
- The sea is not safe to drink, or even touch in some places.
- Demons, mutated sealife, and worse roam the drowned lands beyond the walls.
- The bastion survives because of a great Pyre that burns beneath it.
- The sun grows dimmer each year, behind the ever-present cloud of ash hanging over the land.
- Other bastions may yet remain...though few travelers return from their attempts.
- Food, water, and space are limited in the bastion, and every citizen needs to physically pull their weight. Not counting those in the High Ember Monastery above the city, of course.
Character Creation:
Level: 1st
Classes: all Paizo approved, except for the important clarification that no 9th level spell caster classes are allowed.
Wealth: standard by class
Races: all core, plus tieflings, ifrit, and dhampir allowed. Additional races available by request, but aasimars are completely banned.
Ability Scores: 20 point buy, nothing below an 8 after racial adjustments.
Alignment: against my usual tendencies, all alignments are allowed. If you bring an evil character and are a problem, then you will be removed.
Traits: two normally, can take a drawback for a third. One must be from the 'campaign traits' I have created for this game (see below).
Skills: we will be using the extra Background Skills rule.
Changes to Spells: any of the 'survival beating' spells (purify/create food and water, goodberry, etc.) are banned. This list is not all inclusive and I reserve the right to expand upon it should any spells become a problem.
Corruption: Each of you will be receiving the benefits and downsides of one Corruption, with a few alterations to fit the flavor to the worlds' lore. We can talk about the specific manifestations of each character's corruption during the character creation process and after selection.
Character Campaign Traits:
Order of the Last Dawn Traits Dawn-Vowed: Your oath to rekindle the sun steels your resolve. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves against fear effects. If the fear effect originates from an outsider with the evil subtype or undead, the bonus increases to +2.
Lightbearer’s Discipline: You were drilled to stand firm when others falter. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves. Once per day, when reduced below half your hit points, you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls for 1 round.
Sunfire Scholar: You study lost rites and ancient celestial lore. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (religion) and it becomes a class skill for you. When identifying abilities of outsiders or undead, you gain a +2 bonus instead.
Ashen Crusader: You have fought beyond the walls of the bastion. Gain a +1 trait bonus on weapon damage rolls against outsiders with the evil subtype. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks made in ash-choked or ruined environments.
The Drowned Choir Traits Penitent Voice: You speak with the weight of moral certainty. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks when influencing creatures who are frightened, guilty, or grieving. Diplomacy becomes a class skill for you.
Tide-Touched: You have spent long hours in red surf and storm. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against disease. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Swim checks, and Swim becomes a class skill.
Quiet Confessor: People unburden themselves to you. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks. If a creature has shared a secret with you, you gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks against that creature.
Herald of the Drowning: You believe destruction is inevitable and prepare accordingly. Gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against emotion effects. Once per day, when you fail a saving throw against a fear or compulsion effect, you may reroll it and take the second result.
Tidewatch Traits Watchridge Sentinel: You have stood long hours scanning the horizon. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks. Perception becomes a class skill for you.
Beacon Keeper: You were trained to respond quickly to threats. Gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks when within sight of a settlement or defensive structure.
Law of the Cliff: You enforce order in tight, vertical spaces. Gain a +1 trait bonus on combat maneuver checks to trip or reposition. Gain a +1 bonus on Acrobatics checks made on narrow or unstable surfaces.
Quiet Interrogator: You know how to extract truth without violence. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks. If you spend at least 1 minute questioning someone, gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks against them for the next hour.
Ember Council Traits Council Aide: You have access to minor records and procedures. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (local) and it becomes a class skill. Once per session, you may declare familiarity with a minor local official or bureaucratic procedure.
Whisper Network: You overhear more than you should. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks. Once per day, you may reroll a failed Bluff or Diplomacy check within Cinderwake.
Ledger-Keeper: You understand supply and scarcity. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise checks and Appraise becomes a class skill. You may determine the rough ration value of goods with a DC 10 check.
Court Survivor: You’ve learned how to avoid blame. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves. Once per day, when an ally within 10 feet fails a social skill check, you may attempt the same check as an immediate action to replace their roll(using your own modifiers).
Flame Seekers Traits Ruin Delver You’ve ventured beyond the walls. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks, and a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks made in ruins.
Relic Appraiser: You know the value of lost things. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Knowledge (history) checks. Appraise becomes a class skill.
Ash-Hardened: You’ve survived storms outside the bastion. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against environmental effects (cold, heat, ashstorms, inhaled toxins).
Tide Runner: You move confidently in dangerous terrain. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics checks. Ignore the penalty for the first 5 feet of movement through difficult terrain caused by rubble or uneven ground.
Saltcrusted Traits
Brine-Hardened Flesh: You’ve hauled nets and ropes soaked in poisoned seawater until your hands cracked like coral. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease. You gain a +1 trait bonus to CMD against grapple attempts. However, your skin is scarred and coarse — you take a –1 penalty on Diplomacy checks when dealing with nobles or officials.
Tide-Blooded: Saltwater flows through your veins; you’re almost adapted to it. Gain a +2 trait bonus on Swim checks, and Swim is always a class skill. You can hold your breath for twice the normal duration. Once per day, when submerged in water (or blood-water), you may reroll a failed Fortitude save against environmental hazards.
Dockrat Survivor: You grew up beneath the terraces where the Tidewatch never bothers to patrol. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves and on Acrobatics checks to move on narrow or unstable surfaces. Stealth becomes a class skill for you. Once per day, when reduced below 0 hit points, you remain conscious and staggered for 1 additional round.
Salt-Eaten Resilience: Your body metabolizes toxins poorly, but pain is familiar. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves vs. fatigue and exhaustion effects. Whenever you succeed on a Fortitude save against a disease, you heal 1 hit point. You suffer –1 on saves vs. dehydration or thirst (your body needs more water than most).
Ash Farmer Traits
Soot-Lunged: You’ve breathed ash storms since childhood. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against inhaled toxins, smoke, and suffocation. You can ignore the first round of the sickened condition caused by environmental smoke or foul air each day. However, your lungs are scarred — you take a –1 penalty on Constitution checks to run for extended periods.
Char-Tilled Hands: You know how to make dead soil live. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Profession (farmer) and Knowledge (nature) checks. Knowledge (nature) becomes a class skill. Once per day, you may treat poor or infertile soil as normal soil for the purposes of survival or long-term crop growth.
Emberwise: You understand controlled burns, kiln heat, and the fine line between warmth and disaster. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves against fire effects. You take –1 damage per die from nonmagical fire (minimum 1 per die). You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks made in arid, scorched, or burned terrain.
Terrace Runner: Ash farms climb the inner cliffs — falling means death. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks. Acrobatics becomes a class skill. You treat narrow ledges and sloped rooftops as one category less severe for movement penalties.
Bone-Mix Tender: You work soil blended with cremation ash. Death feeds life. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves against fear effects. Once per day, when within 30 feet of a recently deceased creature (within 1 minute), you gain a +1 morale bonus on your next attack roll or saving throw (you remember what feeds the soil). You take a –1 penalty on Diplomacy checks with those uncomfortable around death rites (many nobles, some Order members).
Background Questions: I'd like you to take a look at these 20 questions and answer them. This is meant to help both you and me understand who your character is.
20 Questions:
These questions are just meant to help me and you flesh out your character. You can answer any or all of them, but the more you have the better it is for me.
1. What is your character’s name?
2. How old is your character?
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
9. What is your character’s alignment?
10. What is your character’s moral code?
11. Does your character have goals?
12. Is your character religious?
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
15. Why does your character adventure?
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
18. How does your character get along with others?
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Most of the gods on all ends of the alignment spectrum either perished or departed this world entirely at the onset of the First Scouring. People in Mournfall (and therefore Cinderwake) draw power and pay reverence to more concentrated forces and concepts. The Tide, The Flame, and the Ash are the most common three, although no one questions if you pay service to a lesser force.
Classes that receive their divine powers from gods normally, instead receive them from 'concepts', like druids do. Just about any concept could fit, just make sure to mention it ahead of time.
Cinderwake Dossier:
Cinderwake is a coastal bastion built atop the bones of a drowned city. It stands on black basalt cliffs above a churning grey sea that rises a little higher each year. The sun is dimmer than the old records claim it once was. Winters bite longer. Crops strain. The waters creep upward. Other bastions once answered Watchridge’s beacon-fire. None have answered in years. Cinderwake endures.
Factions:
- Ember Council: ruling body at the center of Cinderwake, controls what is left of religion and what passes for the law in the bastion. Maintains the Pyre Below, keeping the city safe from supernatural threats outside and below. Classic noble caste, out of touch and sometimes overbearing in the name of enforcing peace and safety.
- Order of the Last Dawn: group of what paladins and holy men are left in Cinderwake, they believe (to varying degrees) that the secret to rekindling the sun and 'saving' the world is still out there. In the meantime, they protect the people of Cinderwake from threats outside (fiends and mutated monsters) and inside (criminals, undead attacks). Work with, but are not beholden to, the Ember Council.
- The Drowned Choir: so-called 'doomsayers' by those outside their ranks, the Choir is made up of people who believe the current state of the world is punishment for mortal sin. They seek to atone as much as possible (to a wide variety of successes) and implore the nonbelievers to repent. They are also devout believers in mortal strength and fortitude, however, and many are trained in the art of medicine.
- The Tidewatch: Cinderwake's city guard equivalent. They patrol the streets for criminals (who are usually harshly punished) and have the responsibility of maintaining Watchridge, the bastion's beacon and watchtower.
- Flame Seekers: archivist and explorer faction, usually employed by the Ember Council to find sacred prepared ashes and other relics (usually bones) to fuel the Pyre which maintains Cinderwake's protective force.
- The Saltcrusted: poor class of Cinderwake that have been exposed to the poisonous waters of Mournfall for too long. red salt crusts on their skin (hence the name) and they are usually outcasts outside of extreme circumstances.
- The Ash Farmers: These are the terrace growers, fungus-tenders, rooftop soil-mixers, and charcoal orchard keepers who coax life from cliffside earth and crematory ash. They feed the bastion, and breathe its death.
Districts:
Cinderwake itself is layered, physically and class-wise. There are five main 'districts' in the city:
- High Ember: the highest, safest point of the city. Nobles and ruling class. Holds the High Abbey of the Last Radiance, where the Order of the Last Dawn are stationed.
- Cliff Terraces: middle class tradesman housing, merchant families and the like. Cramped housing and hard work define the life here, but it most certainly could be worse.
- Watchridge: home of the Tidewatch. There's a beacon system for alerting other bastions, but none have signaled or replied for decades now.
- Low Docks: poor district. Homeless and those unable to pull their weight. Jobs down here are dangerous (usually involving some form of fishing) and usually result in the workers becoming saltcrusted.
- Ash Farms: most isolated district. you live here, you work here, you rarely see anything else. grows plants and raises 'safer' fish for the bastion, and then ships it up in baskets attached to rope pulleys to the Cliff Terraces above for processing and distribution.
Life in Cinderwake:
Life isn't easy in Cinderwake, even for those in High Ember who are comparatively well off. Food and water is scarce, and most people are too thin, with a few notable exceptions.
Food: Only a handful of options exist for food; Ashroot (a strange root topped with an even stranger grain) is used in the making of ashbread, and the roots are eaten as vegetables. Cliffleaf greens are anything but green, a blackish horrifying leafy food similar to spinach but tasting slight of dirt. Emberfungus is a mushroom grown in the caverns below the cliffs of Cinderwake, tended to by the ash farmers. The tidefish pens down in the Ash Farms is the only reliable source of meat in the bastion. Of course, rumors of more extravagant and rich quality foods being served in High Ember have always existed.
Water: Water is even more restricted than food, with your only option being the bastion's tightly-regulated wellspring or collecting water from the numerous rainfalls each week; assuming it isn't bloodrain that is.
Work & Labor: Everyone works, if not as laborers, then as servants, scribes, guards, or artisans. Physical work is harsh: climbing terraces, tending ash farms, hauling nets, or cleaning cisterns. Most jobs are routine but dangerous; injuries are common. Many roles are inherited (Saltcrusted become dockers, Ash Farmers tend terraces).
Housing & Shelter: Space is tight, even middle-class houses are small and shared. Saltcrusted live in crowded, low-lying terraces near the docks or Undertide access points. Ash Farmers live on terrace plots near the ash terraces and farms; dust and soot are constant. Nobles occupy sturdier stone buildings on the highest terraces in High Ember.
Health & Hygiene: Disease is common: brine, stagnant cisterns, ash, and overcrowding. Minor injuries often fester. Baths are rare luxuries — mostly for nobles. Saltcrusted and Ash Farmers have physical signs of exposure (cracked skin, lung scars, mineral residue).
Entertainment & Rituals: Public entertainments are rare — songs, chants, and small plays on rooftops. Religious or semi-religious rituals mark tide changes, Pyre cycles, or solar observances. Pleasure is fleeting: food, warmth, touch, storytelling, illicit gambling, or daring trips into ruins.
I know that's a lot, and if you got this far then thank you! I plan on keeping this recruitment running for two weeks, so it'll end and I'll make my decisions on February, Saturday the 28th.
Let me know if you have any questions!
The world may have ended, but your lives have not. Yet, anyway.
Unless we get a large influx of interest, I will most likely end the recruitment at the end of Friday and announce the party sometime Saturday. Should get everyone enough time to finish any details that may be lacking!
@everyone: could we try and keep large blocks of texts behind spoiler tags in the recruitment? Don’t wanna clog it up with a bunch of stuff that people have to scroll past is all. Thanks!
Do we have free rein in creating the tie-in with Farnwright? Within reason, of course.
I can work with just about anything. The goal here is a small connection that’s enough for him to remember you, but not enough for you to closely know him.
A single important meeting, a couple of interactions at a university event, seated next to him on a flight over the ocean to Europe, the like. He was a traveling archaeologist during his time outside teaching, so just about any region is plausible.
Here is a CofC character I played in the past. I'll just upgrade him to 7th edition if chosen and the game starts.
Be sure to update his backstory; how he came into contact with the professor, NYC instead of Arkham, his deep secret for me to play with, and his deepest fear.
@Wrong John Silver: fantastic! Don’t forget to include his connection to the professor, tenuous as it may be, and his deep secret in the final product.
Farnwright was a professor of archaeology, and it is currently 1925.
As far as professions go, I'm more than willing to put in some work to make the job make sense. The more exotic ones might not be the best fit, but I don't think I'll go so far as to outright ban any (subject to the usual may change rule etc).
Background:
This game will be more long-form focused than a lot of other CoC games and one-shots, and as such I do expect a significant (but not overly complicated/long) background that explains who your character is and what they are like.
To that end, I would like each character to have one specific fear that is above all others for them, as well as one deep secret. The fear can be nearly anything, but should be specifically tied to some event in their background, and also something reasonably encountered. Sorry, you shouldn’t be afraid of wiener dogs wearing clown wigs.
Luck
We will be using the alternate rule of allowing you to spend your luck to improve certain rolls, as I think it’s an excellent and fun mechanic, especially in a long form game where every point of Luck will matter.
Hello, and welcome to Modern Dreams in an Ancient Land, a Call of Cthulhu 7th edition recruitment set in the 1920's in New York City, America.
You didn’t expect to inherit anything from Professor Elias Farnwright. You barely knew the crazy old man, or if you did it was strictly a professional relationship with him through your time at Columbia University. Not a word. Not a warning. And certainly not under these circumstances.
The telegram simply reads: ‘You are invited to the memorial and estate reading of Professor Elias Farnwright. Attendance is requested. Details enclosed.’
A funeral. A will. A death that doesn’t quite make sense. The blossoming Empire City. And you, stuck in the middle of it.
How Much Experience Do I Need?
Absolutely none. We’ll all be learning this together! This is my first foray into the CoC system.
How Much Do I Need to Know About the Cthulhu Stories?
Nothing at all. While my world will share similar themes with the Cthulhu Mythos world, it will be a world of my own design, separated from the big names of the usual setting, though I'm sure fans of CoC will recognize the inspirations well enough.
What Kind of Horror Should I Expect?
The best kind! Serious answer, though, all sorts of the usual suspects with CoC: body horror, gore, death, violence, loss of both property and personal natures (up to and including your own character and any of their associates), etc.
Content Warning:
This game may have slight sexual themes such as scenes inside of a brothel or interactions with a prostitute or other sexual content. What this game will not have, however, is any sort of direct, on-screen sexual assault content. Not the place for that.
Character creation: Follow the standard character creation process in the core rulebook, rolling for stats and everything. You aren't supposed to be super powered heroes, these are every day people sucked into something beyond them!
End Date:
I plan for this to run for two weeks, in order for people to have a chance to get everything together. That means I'll be aiming for December 7th as the end date, but that is subject to change.
Let me know if I missed anything or if you have any questions at all!
Alright. So I know NOTHING about Magnus Archives. Should I read up on that a bit? Or can you give a brief rundown of what you are intending to do initial scenario-wise?
So that I can start looking into investigator options Or rather what should be avoided? For example, (picking a random occupation here) a Mountain Climber would make no sense in this setting.
When I put up the actual recruitment thread (which I expect to be tomorrow), I’ll include plenty of details about the setting and such.
The Magnus Archives is an audio drama/podcast, and I won’t mind if you have listened to it and know what’s up. But it’s also good that you haven’t, so don’t worry about that at all!
Interested, but there is a caveat. I may need a refresher on character creation .The last CoC game I was in was years ago, fairly brief, and I had a lot of help from our keeper creating the characters (I was new to TTRPGs at the time).
But if that's a hurdle you're willing to jump over, hell yeah let's go.
Reading the investigator's handbook as I write this.
Luckily for you, I know nothing about the system (yet)! I will be learning right alongside you, so newcomers are extremely welcome.
As a matter of fact I am! I have heard it is not fully supported yet, and it's an overall better decision and experience to use CoC for the vibe I'm going for. Thank you, though!
My assumption was the best to use would be 7th, which I think is the latest? That’s the one I have access to, anyway, though I do need to actually learn how to play it. That’s part of why I want to do this, I’ve heard great things about the system.
Recently discovered the Magnus Archives podcast and have been binging it excessively (not finished yet, so no spoilers!), and I just have to imagine a game using the CoC system in the MA universe would be incredibly fun and fitting.
Is there any interest in this?
You wouldn’t have to be intimately familiar with the Magnus Archives world (it would be preferable to have at least a couple players who aren’t, honestly), and I’m still working on the actual details of the plot and setting. It’s mostly just a floating collection of ideals at this point, rather than any concrete details.
Warning: this would deal with pretty heavy subjects and would absolutely be full on horror, as is tradition with CoC.
Hate to do this after all the work DeathQuaker put in for me, but I’m just not feeling the theme and I don’t have the time to learn the system to the full confidence I feel I need.
I’m gonna sit this one out, work on my understanding of the game and come back for the more Avenger style one you mentioned.
Thursday and Friday I'm not going to have much time to attend to evaluating builds, so feel free to take the weekend. I'll spend Sunday and Monday figuring out how to proceed. Whether to do a big group, two tables, or have to cut a couple folks, which I don't want to do.
If you want my unrequested opinion, I’d aim for two smaller tables over one large group. I find large groups to be worse for both sides (GM and players) in character development and combat terms.
Of course I’m not sure how this system handles the combat side quite yet, so that may be irrelevant.
Yeah basically a base to alter and customize with my own ideas. I think I’m sorta getting the hang of it, so I’ll work on getting a few of the basics done and what powers are the most critical and combine that with the base Deathquaker is working on for me.
I talked to them a bit about what’s important to the character idea so I’ll see what they come up with.
What sources are we allowed to use? I'm seeing there's the core book, then a few others I might want to use: Power Profiles, Gadget Guides, and Supernatural Handbook.
