I just started a freeform roleplay Startrek campaign, and have so far enjoyed the concept, and was reading up on some other freeform concepts -- so I'd be interested to know if anyone wants to try to do a freeform fantasy campaign.
Basically, we'd be using 3.5/PF esque lore and rules as narrative inspiration for things like the 'abilities' and 'profession' and 'weapons' categories below, but not be confined to the actual rule set.
I really enjoy just freewriting a lot of the time -- and I think this would be a great format just to indulge worldbuilding and creative flights of fancy.
The character submission would be in the format described below, and would consist, in some cases such as culture and descriptions of tools, of several paragraphs of information.
I imagine a complete submission would be at least 3-5 pages of writing (that's what I smashed out for my freeform Star Trek character, and that seemed a decent length to sort of flesh things out).
The only 'rules', if they're needed, will consist of dice pools of d10s against a difficulty number, trying to roll over a target number (usually 1-100). The dice pools and difficulty class are adjudicated by the creativeness and depth of description of the attempted action, combined with any relevant abilities or skills, as argued/negotiated by the player/DM.
For example, if a character wanted to pick a lock -- they would identify any relevant abilities and skills, such as they had a 'Very Good' Dexterity (88), and a 'Good' cunning (75) and that would impact their knowledge of how to pick a lock, as well as their ability to do so -- manual dexterity (there's not one 'right' answer here, it's the creativity of the player that counts), as well as an 'Excellent' (99) in the Streetwise skill. You'd write your description of your action against my description of the lock mechanism and design, and the creativity, detail, along with the argument about applicable abilities and skills, will give me a guestimate of how many d10s you get to roll against a target number.
Mostly this will work on 'rule of cool', as you'll be able to make another argument for a 'save' or a 'recover' with the same format if the first attempt doesn't work. It's supposed to be a bare-bones concept to motivate writing, not a fully-fleshed out system. Basically, almost anything is possible if you're willing to write enough to justify it narratively.
That said, here's my proposal for character submissions -- I'm open to further suggestions if something obvious seems to be missing. It's intended to be extremely detailed, but without any real mechanics as such. The only scale values are really to inform brainstorming more than provide an objective measure.
If there's enough interest, I'll write an official recruitment thread with a campaign outline and fluff, as well as make any adjustments that might emerge from discussion.
Character Submission Format:
Name (Given, Nickname): This would include any surnames, religious names, etc., as well as names in different languages, as well as any history about how the name was given, or contexts where the character uses particular names.
Age (Age Cohort): This includes both the numerical age in years, and perhaps an alternative value in a different counting system or two, as well as where this number places the character in their culture or species' age cohorts -- i.e., a youth, teenager, middle adult, etc.
Sex/Gender/Sexuality: This refers to any information on gender presentation, species gender (does the species have a biological or cultural 'third' (or fourth, fifth) gender?), and romantic or affinitive dispositions -- hetero/homo/bi/a-sexual etc.
Species (Subspecies): Example, Glasskrystal Kobold -- and explain what that means. Maybe they're kobolds with mind magic crystals embedded in their pink scales that contain the accumulated dreams of their ancestors?
Physiology/Physiognomy: Height, weight, musculature, body art -- piercings, tattoos, color of scales, hair, eyebrows, nails. A broken horn, etc. History of any injuries or outstanding features -- how did the character tear a wing, or gain a tattoo which signals a particular achievement in their culture.
Height,
body weight,
skin tone,
body hair,
moles,
freckles,
hair color and type,
eye color,
nose shape,
ears shape,
body shape,
body deformations,
mutilations and other variations such as amputations, scars, burns and wounds.
'Abilities'
This section includes the following abilities (i.e., Constitution, Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Nimbleness, Cunning, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Resolve) rated on a level of 1-100 within a category (i.e., Very Good (93)). You decide this for yourself, Give yourself a base 300-600 points if you feel you need a range. It can change over time or because of events.
Give me a quick note after each category the explains it -- i.e., Cunning Very Good (88) -- Sairla grew up in a gambling hall and learned, early in life, to combine her native predatory intuition with keen observation of the habits of competitive professional con-artists.
These are not as rigid as Dnd or PF -- they can change over time but are supposed to be a jumping off point for characterization, and give rough values for dice pools on simple checks.
Outstanding = 100+
Excellent = 90-99
Very good = 80-89
Good = 70-79
Above Average = 60-69
Average = 50-59
Below Average = 40-49
Low = 30-30
Weak = 20-29
Very Weak = 10-19
Extremely Weak = 0-9
Constitution - represents health, toughness, and survivability. Directly affects HP and saving throws vs poison, diseases, and exhaustion effects. Connected with Resolve and Strength.
Strength - represents physical power, muscle strength, and the weight of a punch. Directly affects damage, carrying capacity, and a minimum amount of it is required for properly using certain items, such as armor. Connected with Constitution and Agility.
Agility - represents speed, springiness, and flexibility. Directly affects movement speed, acrobatics, and dodging. Connected with Strength and Dexterity.
Dexterity - represents balance, coordination, and stability. Directly affects accuracy, checks to maintain balance, and elaborate maneuvers or skills, such as dual weilding. Connected with Agility and Nimbleness.
Nimbleness - represents quickness, sharp movement and manipulation of small objects. Directly affects checks to pick locks or disarm traps, reflex saving throws, and using certain items or weapons, such as crossbows. Connected with Dexterity and Cunning.
Cunning - represents quick thought, slipperiness, and general wit. Directly affects perception, saving throws against certain mind affecting spells, checks made to see through illusions, and smartass comebacks. Connected with Nimbleness and Intelligence.
Intelligence - represents memory, problem solving, and aptitude for learning. Directly affects knowledge checks, skills known or learned, and maximum amount of abilities known, such as spells or maneuvers. Connected with Cunning and Wisdom.
Wisdom - represents natural understanding, awareness, and spirituality. Directly affects insight, handling skills or equipment without proper proficiency, saving throws vs emotion altering effects, such as fear, and availability of abilities. Connected with Intelligence and Charisma.
Charisma - represents force of personality, and strength of character. Directly affects social skills, such as deception and persuasion, performance, and potency of spells. Connected with Wisdom and Resolve.
Resolve - represents mental toughness, and will. Directly affects HP, saving throws vs certain mind affecting abilities, and death saving throws. Connected with Charisma and Constitution.
Dress: What outfits do they usually wear -- what's their cultural basis, what do they reflect about the character? Detail a few common outfits they might don or want to acquire.
clothing, including headgear and footwear; some clothes alter or mold the shape of the body (e.g. corset, support pantyhose, bra). As for footwear, high heels make a person look taller.
style and colour of haircut (see also dreadlocks, braids, ponytail, wig, hairpin, facial hair, beard and moustache)
cosmetics, stage makeup, body paintings, permanent makeup
body modifications, such as body piercings and tattoos
plastic surgery
decorative objects (jewelry) such as a necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings
medical or body shape altering devices (e.g. tooth braces, bandages, casts, hearing aids, cervical collar, crutches, contact lenses of different colours, glasses, gold teeth)
Tools: Not martial equipment -- i.e., a handyman set handed down from a beloved relative, give some history to the individual items. Were they purchased, made, or given? How old are they? How well made are they?
jewelry
sunglasses
goggles
watch
headphones/handsfree phone headset
hair ornaments
hats and caps
Arms and Armor: Same kinds of details as with the 'tools' category -- come up with stories about each dagger and/or sword, where they were purchased, what they've been used for, etc.
Mannerisms: Any physical ticks, like always standing ram-rod straight, or thumb-twiddling?
Blushing,
crying,
fainting,
hiccup,
stuttering,
reddening of the skin due to increased blood flow due to exertion. Sweating,
shivering,
nose bleeding,
skin color changes due to sunshine or frost.
Culture (sub-culture): What is their culture and/or subculture -- i.e., a French Catholic (but equivalent fantasy concepts).
Personality: Surly? Friendly? Under what conditions (Surly to strangers, friendly to long time acquaintances?
Religion/Philosophy/Worldview: Any sort of ethical or meaning-making outlook, or combination of influences that motivates the character. Can be an organization or a perspective. Were they born into it, or acquired it? How stridently do they adhere to one or more of these affiliations?
Profession/avocation: What does the character do for a living or for hobbies -- how long have they done it? When and why did they acquire this interest?
Languages: What languages does the character speak, and how well (reading/writing/speaking level).
Skills:
Like with the abilities section, give a score on the same scale and a brief explanation if you give yourself a noteworthy value. Except for some character concepts like a bard/jack of all trades, you shouldn't expect to be omni-competant, so only give yourself meaningful values in the things that are narratively relevant count the others as a very low value with minimal explanation. You can also make up another one if I've missed something you think might be important.
Awareness,
Follow,
Track,
Watch,
Acrobatics,
Athletics,
Contortionist,
Riding,
Stealth,
Swimming,
Armour Training,
Close,
Order,
Evade,
Hand-to-Hand,
Marksmanship,
Melee,
Siege Artillery,
Skirmishing,
Etiquette,
Inquiry,
Intrigue,
Leadership,
Persuasion,
Seduction,
Streetwise,
Teaching,
Wardrobe & Style,
Acting,
Composition,
Dancing,
Disguise,
Musicianship,
Oratory,
Singing,
Sleight of Hand,
Storytelling,
Animal Training,
Artistry,
Blacksmithing,
Campaigning,
Craftwork,
Drawing,
Engineering,
Farmwork,
Fieldcraft,
Gambling & Gaming,
Healing Arts,
House Keeping,
Housework,
Midwifery,
Sailing,
Shepherding,
Writing,
Commerce,
Heraldry,
Language (each one a separate skill),
Alphabet/Runeset (each one a separate skill),
Letters,
Local Expert (one area),
Navigation,
Research,
Tactics,
Alchemical Lore,
Cult Lore,
Folk Lore,
Herbal Lore,
Hermetic Lore,
Occult Lore,
Star Lore
Special Abilities:
This is going to be the most detailed section -- think about 3-12 entries of special things the character can do. This can be a magic system, a set of divine boons, special martial artist abilities, etc. It can embrace a wide range between a feat and a whole magic system with a number of spells described.
The key here is detail -- if it's a special martial artist move -- where does it come from, how did the character learn it, and give some narrative details -- when it's used, does the whole vicinity go quiet? When a form of casting is used, does it make the character unable to speak for several minutes, and make the air smell like sulfur? The more detail the better.
Basically, you can be as skilled as you feel like detailing -- if you want to write up a narrative description of 60 spells your character can perform, how they learned them, what their effects are, when they've used them before, what the history of the incantation is, etc. -- go ahead, the more the better.
One special thing: Are they the only individual to speak a certain language? The last surviving member of a royal family?
One weakness/secret: Are they terrified of the color yellow?
I also found this systemless sheet which might be inspiring/useful to fill out for a character: System Agnostic Character Sheet
This is really interesting. I love writing, and the communal storytelling part of pbp. If there's enough interest, I would definitely make a character for consideration.
This is really interesting. I love writing, and the communal storytelling part of pbp. If there's enough interest, I would definitely make a character for consideration.
I was looking at/discovering the Fudge system after I made this post, which does most of the same things mechanically -- I might use that for the mechanics part (instead of 0-100, it's a -3, +7 scale, it's all open source). I still like the idea that narrative detail has mechanical effects, so you could just add a stipulation that description/justification can add +/-4 to any action/roll.
https://www.fudgerpg.com
https://fudgesrd.opengamingnetwork.com
https://www.fudgerpg.com/goodies/fudge-blogs/fudge-fantasy-101.html
It has rules for hex combat and other stuff -- the nice thing about it is you can easily translate any 3.5/PF ability into a gift or a supernormal power without having to do tons of calculations. You could make something very detailed without any number crunching and just spend time explaining, for example, how you learned a spell rather than what it does.
It's also game where you can dial up and down the crunch for individual encounters -- like use a more lightweight adjudication for a simpler combat, and more complex rules for a more significant one. Everyone could pick divergent abilities and skills without it being much of an issue too.
I actually found some even better lists of skills -- per the Fudge rules everyone can do skills in a different way, so I would give like a list of 200 and you'd pick 100 or so of the ones that made sense for the character (you assign points to abilities and skills based on how many you have, so one player could have 115, and another 132, and it wouldn't make any difference)
Hmmm... let me think about it.
Do you have any thoughts on what type of group or campaign it would be? I usually find that having some focus helps me think.
It's probably going to be a version of my homebrew world I was talking about that you were interested in -- it's too much to explain right now, but there's cosmology and time-travel issues where there are multiple versions of the same planet. It's a cross between Dark Sun and other sword and planet concepts and is almost a scifi anime with fantasy elements rather than straight up fantasy.
I have another homebrew world that's more classic fantasy and is inspired by Krynn and the art work of Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley. The story would involve the gathering of the notes of a celestial symphony to awaken the gods of light against the machinations of Nereza, the Queen of Darkness (basically undead Takhisis who appears as a black dragon with 6, 666, or 666,666 heads).
Actually, I have a third which is a far future version of the first one -- the seas are purple and the sands are white, and the story takes place in an isolated, police-state metropolis which uses dream bubbles evervesced by an amethyst mountain as a form of currency. This is more like Shadowrun or even Mass Effect than strictly fantasy per-se.
If there's enough interest, I'll work on the submission format a bit more to clean it up -- I found FUDGE after brainstorming that, and I think it provides a good framework for what I'm aiming for. I'll probably keep most of the questions and that system agnostic sheet, but add a FUDGE character sheet for attributes, skills, gifts, faults, and supernormal powers.
Honestly too, I think you can be pretty much assured if you make a character you'll get to play unless the submission is illiterate -- this is a very boutique idea that's somewhere between a multiple-authorship fantasy/scifi novel with audio-visual props, and I don't think I'm going to have tons of interested players banging at the door here. We've been in games together, so you know my walls of text style -- I'm trying to figure out a game format and approach and pitch that will best accommodate that approach.
I'm also possibly interested! Regarding settings, I would prefer either the 1st or second, leaning slightly towards the fantasy one.
However, if the group much prefered the far future setting, I would be fine with that too.
Here's some info on the for #2
I'll produce even more information when I draw up the recruitment (based on responses thus far, it looks like we're headed towards being able to have a game, I would even say 3 is workable).
The major artistic influences here, and that should shape your imagination and thinking, are as follows:
Larry Elmore
Jeff Easley
Michael Whelan
The literary influences you could think about are:
Tracy Hickman -- Dragonlance, Sovereign Stone, the Obsidian Trilogy
Tad Wililams -- Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Anne McCaffrey -- Dragonriders of Pern
Brian Jacques -- Redwall
Jim Henson -- The Dark Crystal
The setting is a classic 'Princess and Paladins' 80s/early 90s fantasy world of medieval chivalric adventure.
Some of the further-off areas to the east have some additional influences like Wuxia films (Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon, Hero, the Dog Warriors, Samurai Shamploo), and there are other continents similar to Taladas that are desertified and more sword and planet/conan, but that's not the primary adventure area.
The depiction of the Infero is based on Barlow's art Inferno -- and I'm taking some worldbuilding concepts from this art as well.
In the time before days, in the age before the Song, or of the Song without Sound, the darkness was deep, and there was quiet within the darkness. Some say that the darkness itself was the sleeping form of the High Goddess Zaraynezugheth the Eternal, who is also known as Esarla, and who is believed by the cantors of the Inspired Incantation to be the chief manifestation of the Song Itself. The Mother of Dragons and of Mortals stirred in the abyss and sang the first notes of the Music of the Spheres. The notes of the First Song resounded within the void. For a long age, the Music of the Spheres resounded within the void, clear, beautiful beyond words of any language, and solitary, without any partner.
Then, notes began to answer the First Song of the Mother of Dragons, and Her first children were called forth from the darkness. These were the First Clutch, and they were three --
Nereza, the Midnight Queen, Mistress of Evil Dragons
Tenshe-Senyan, The King with Five Faces, the Manalord, and Chief Minister of the Elemental Bureaucracy
Kheryth-Khatar, the Shinning Lord, the Father of the Dawn.
Unto each of the First Clutch were born a separate family of godlings as each sang their own song into the Void, joining each their strain unto that of the First Mother, Esarla, Queen of Dragons and of the Morning Light. From the song of each of the First Clutch was born another generation of godlings – the Second Clutch. The names of the Second Clutch are these:
Unto Nereza the Queen of the Night were born the dragon gods of the Dark Symphony,
Unto Tenshe-Senyan, the Master of the Nodes, were born the hierarchies of the Elemental Bureaucracy,
And unto the Lord of Light, Kheryth-Khatar, were born the choirs of the Celestial Orchestra.
As the powers of the Second Clutch came into being, they immediately opened a great battle between their forces. Darkness raged in the formless void of the early days of the world, until the High Mother Esarla, seeing the disunity of Her children and Her children’s children, silenced the battle with a great roar which interrupted the First Song. Chastened by their creator, the three powers of the First Clutch dispersed themselves – having returned balance to creation, the Mother of All began a slumber which would last many ages, the resonance of Her song a lullaby that would accompany Her divine sleep for millennia…
The dragon gods of these three agencies in the heavens divided themselves within the void and established the planes of Darkness, of Light, and the Elemental Strongholds – and so came to be the 7,777,777 Heavens of Paradise, the 666,666 Pits of the Inferno, and the 231 billion Departments of the Elemental Strongholds of the Elemental Bureaucracy
Or… that is one fashion in which the history of the War Before the Dawn is related.
Another account holds that the dragon brothers of the First Clutch -- Tenshe-Senyan and Kheryth-Khatar --, who some believe to be twins, awoke first of the Prime Mother’s children and, taking their places of honor, respectively, at Her left and right hand, sang the stars and spheres into existence, joining their strain to that of the Mother of Dragons. However, they doubted in the perfection of their own creation, and whether they had matched the inestimable beauty of the First Song in their own strains, and this doubt mingled in the darkness, and gave birth to Nereza, the Whispering Shadow, the Queen of Maleficence. When she had awakened within the void, the Dark Queen immediately took umbrage at the strain of the First Song and sought to silence its tones. Thus it was that Nereza stealthily approached the First Mother and struck Her with venom and darkness and hate, and then death, and thereby silenced the First Song. Upon hearing the death cries of their progenitor, Esarla’s two sons immediately closed battle with the shadow – the followers of both Tenshe-Senyan and Kheryth-Khatar hold that their patron deity delivered the fatal blow to the Dark Queen.
And so, by the hand of one or both sons of Esarla, the Dark Queen Nereza was cast into the most profound depths of the darkness, those forbidden reaches of the cosmos that should become the 666,666 Pits of the Inferno.
Note, however, that the scriptures of the Dark Symphony proclaim that Nereza was first born of the children of the First Clutch, but that she remained in silence as the two sons of Esarla commenced their song. However, they, jealous of the greater beauty of her song without sound, and spurred by the jealousy of their mother, who likewise resented the greater power and beauty of the noteless strain of Her first daughter, struck down the Queen of Midnight.
In any event, all scriptures agree that Nereza was cast into the darkness, a darkness which the priests of the Dark Symphony proclaim to have been the remnant of the world that existed prior to this age. The scriptures of the Celestial Orchestra and the Elemental Bureaucracy differ on this point – holding that there has been only one, and not several, cycles of time. The dark priests proclaim that the Midnight Queen and her children were surrounded by the remnants of the Time Before Our Time, and waged a great conflict to establish themselves in the 666,666 Pits of the Inferno.
The power of Nereza was extinguished by her brothers, and her soul migrated for an age to the Sea of Midnight Waters, which lies at the bottom of the lowest pit of the Inferno, and has never been glimpsed by aught but the chief ministers of the Midnight Queen since the earliest days of the cosmos until the present hour. But her children resurrected Nereza with a great and terrible magic and she arose, recreated in a more awesome and terrible form than that which she had previously held. When she arose again within the depths of the Inferno, the first war against the Songbearer races of the Lands of Light commenced…
In the absence of the Dark Queen, the Two Brothers, Tenshe-Senyan and Kheryth-Khatar commenced the creation of Esarlon, whether solely through their song, or upon the body of the First Mother, the tales differ on this point. Some traditions hold that the world was founded upon the body of another child of Zaraynezugheth the Eternal who was slain in the War Before the Dawn, a dragon goddess of dreams and fates known as Esairlaya of the Unblinking Eye.
And it came to pass that the divine children of Kheryth-Khatar and Tenshe-Senyan, the Second Clutch, themselves bore children – the varied races of dragons, and these established themselves in the First Age of the world – the Age of the Dragons of the Dawn. One portion of Esarlon was blessed by the light of the spheres which her creators had sung into existence, while another was covered in shadow. Each portion was divided, one from the other, by the unimaginable heights of the Mountains of Soorn. Still, to this day, at the farthest reaches of the Outer Seas, these heights divide the Lands of Light from the Lands of Darkness.
The Age of the Dragons of the Dawn saw the foundation of the many lands of the Four Founding Lands of Esarlon – Saradon, Eschalia, Tabaron, and Venshan. In Saradon, the scaled children of the Lord of Light and the Fivefold King established two great draconic empires, respectively, upon the western and eastern portions of the Lands of Light. The children of the Two Brothers joined together to sing, again, the Music of the Spheres, and bore the Third Clutch, the gods of the other races of mortals, known as the dragonchildren. In turn, the Third Generation took up the strains of the First Song and created the various races of the Songbearers – the wise elves, the courageous orcs, the ingenious gnomes, the diverse races of men, the clever kitsune, the just litorians, and many others.
The Age of the Dragons of the Dawn came to a close as the dragons ceded the rule of the Lands of Light to the younger Songbearer races in order to commence the Great Journey to rejoin the First Mother in the Highest and Purest Heaven. In their wake, the realms of the dragons divided into many domains – the kitsune departed the eastern lands for the Jimonzo-Mayaburian Isles, the orcs withdrew to the Steppes of Khazayburkhan, the elves withdrew to the Peninsula of Thiseas and the Islands of Ethfimios, and many others established their own homelands, no longer brought together by the rule of the draconic children of the Second Clutch.
For a long age, the Lands of Light were at peace.
First among the powers of the Lands of Light were the kingdoms of the elves and the realm of the titans. These grew to a formidable strength, and began to subjugate their fellows. In time, the elves and titans came to strive against each other, and their empires were both destroyed in the wake of the Elf-Titan War. The island homeland of the elven capital -Achitheira- was submerged in a magical cataclysm wrought by the greatest of the titan sorcerers, and the titans were cursed with a mishappen form and twisted soul by the greatest of the elven arch mages.
No longer the fairest of creation, the titans wandered within the deep earth, and eventually found their way to the Lands of Darkness, where they joined their hate and anger with those of the other children of the Dark Symphony.
In the wake of the decline of the elven and titan civilizations, the human mages of Arkantos, many of whom it is said had elven blood from the archmages of Achitheira, established a great empire that would rule the Lands of Light for a long age. The capital of Arkantos was the fabled city of Spiritheria, City of Topless Spires, and it lay within the innermost regions of the blighted wasteland now known as the Graven Steppes.
Just as in the Lands of Light, the Lands of Darkness were, in the First Age, ruled by the draconic children of the Second Clutch of the Dark Symphony. The Second Clutch of the Mother of Midnight, like those of the Two Brothers, in turn raised their own wordless strain and created godling slaves – the divine progenitors of the goblin peoples – the goblins, the bugbears, the hobgoblins, and others. For a long age, the dragons and their scaled children brutally ruled other peoples of the Lands of Darkness. They were the Scaled Tyrants, and their yoke was heavy upon their servants. For uncounted years, the goblins and their brother races toiled in agony to raise numberless monuments to the greatness of Nereza and her First Children among the Scaled Tyrants.
In the midst of this darkness, the deformed titans, the first of the ogres, emigrated from the Lands of Light, and found the Lands of Darkness. Joining the slaves of the Scaled Tyrants, they still retained old knowledge from their previous rule in the Lands of Light, and the ogre mages instructed the goblin warlocks in the spells by which they might throw off the Curse of Servitude which bound their peoples to the rule of the dragons. In the Great Revolt, the hero-god Torgash led the Third Clutch of Nereza against the Second Clutch, and thereby overthrew the rule of the Scaled Tyrants, who were then imprisoned beneath the titanic monuments of the Lands of Darkness. The kobolds and other children of the dragons were driven into the wastes and beneath the earth, and the goblins established a mighty empire which ruled virtually the entirety of the Lands of Darkness.
Even the Mother of Midnight, the Dark Queen Nereza, was laid low, her undead shade cast into the Outer Abyss beyond even the 666,666 Pits of the Inferno. But the great generals of the goblin lords were not satisfied. The reports of the ogre magi told them of bright lands of richness and health, and so they slowly began to dig the World Maw, a great tunnel by which they would pass from the Lands of Darkness to the Lands of Light. Their great beasts dug at the roots of the world for millennia until, on one dark day, they emerged from the midst of the topless towers of Spiritheria, capital of the magical realm of Arkantos. The realm of the Empermancers was quickly overthrown, and the once boundless riches of the imperial heartland devastated by the goblin war machine. The forces of the goblin generals seized all the western lands of Saradon, and were only held back by elemental fortifications quickly established by the orc emperor of the Ageless Empire of Aangang.
In the Age of Agony, for so was this time of darkness named, the majority of the Songbearer races suffered the oppression of the goblins and their allies, and prayed fervently for the departed dragons and dragon gods of the Second Clutch to deliver them from their ceaseless misery.
In time, the dragons and dragon gods of the Second Clutch returned from the Great Journey and, together with the beleaguered Gods of Light, dispatched saviors to the races of the Songbearers. After a long age, the hero children Sorin and Mystralia was born to slaves of the goblins, and led the forces of the Songbearers against the forces of darkness, driving them back into the depths of the World Maw, and closing the gap with the Great Seal.
However, in the wake of their victory the heroic pair fell into strife. Mystralia devoted herself to the veneration of the First Clutch and their returned children, while Sorin preached a new revelation – all gods were in fact representations of the One God, the First Song. The generals of Sorin established the realm of Palinsar and the apprentices of Mystralia established the sorcerous realm of Myrasthal. The two realms divided western Saradon amongst their powers, and guarded, together, the ruins of Spiritheria and the Great Seal. The emissaries of Palinsar were dispatched to the far corners of Saradon, where they established many new realms among the former colonies of Arkantos. However, most of the non-human races resisted the revelation of Sorin, and a new mistrust emerged between his followers and the polytheists of the other Songbearer races, as well as the dragon disciples of the sorcerers of Myrasthal.
However, the forces of darkness were only temporarily defeated. With the retreat of the goblin generals from their occupation of the Lands of Light, their hold over the Lands of Darkness was also imperiled. The cults of the Second Clutch arose, awoke their sleeping masters, and the Dark Queen herself was called forth to new life from the Outer Abyss. The dragon lords of the Dark Symphony, the Scaled Tyrants of the ancient Age of the Dragons of Dusk when the reptilian races ruled the Lands of Darkness, revived the ancient legions of the First Clutch and prepared to launch a final war against the enemies of the Midnight Queen.
And so the Scaled Tyrants and their legions ascended the World Maw and broke the Great Seal – the forces of the magi of Myrasthal and the paladins of Palinsar fought valiantly in the ruins of Spiritheria to hold the Great Seal, but their sacrifice was for naught. The seemingly endless legions of the Dark Symphony poured forth once again from the Great Seal and quickly overwhelmed the Graven Steppes.
The border lands of Palinsar formed the Crusader States of Celothia, Herment, Jehannette, Rykeld, Mighel, Seraphinus and Perchavel to hold the line against the legions of darkness, and a new age of conflict began between the forces of the Dark Queen and the Two Brothers.
The tide of conflict shifted over the course of several hundred years, but in the Battle of the Vorson Plateau, the Dark Symphony overcame the gods of the Celestial Orchestra, as well as many representatives of the Elemental Bureaucracy, and banished them from the lands of Esarlon. Since that day, the Songbearers of Western Saradon have slowly lost the war against the forces of the Dark Symphony – and now the legions of darkness are on the verge of breaking the Crusader States and pouring forth to dominate the entirety of the Lands of Light.
At this time, perhaps the greatest conflict in the battle is found in the Siege of Eboncross, great port of the Crusader State of Celothia. It is here, friends, that we begin our tale….
The City of Eboncross was founded by the barghest shadow mage Lassolk Iltur during the Age of Agony, when the goblin generals of the Third Clutch led their forces forth from the World Maw to conquer the Lands of Light, destroying the ancient magical empire of Arkantos. During this period, Eboncross served as one of the primary ports of Western Saradon, the continent of Esarlon where the invasion of the forces of the Dark Symphony commenced through the World Maw. The city is built on the western and eastern banks of the wide waters of the Hudter River. In the midst of the Hudter River is the Isle of Waljour, which contains the central district of Eboncross. The eastern portion consists of the remains of the city founded by Lassolk Iltur, and its haphazard street design reflects the influence of goblin city-planners, who designed the district to be a dense warren that was both difficult to navigate by attackers and easy to defend from their opponents among the crusaders of the Songbearer races. The western district of Eboncross is built of the ruins of the ancient city of Iyrirora, a center of magic learning in the former Kingdom of Vrulidor, a successor realm of the fabled Empermancers of Arkantos that survived for some period during the Age of Agony, resisting the forces of the goblin generals. Up until the beginning of the Age of Discordance, when the Dark Symphony conquered the gods of the Celestial Orchestra, Eboncross was a major city of the Crusader Kingdom of the Celothia Dynasty -- in the last years of the Age of Glory, during the decline of Celothia and the other Crusader States of the Graven Steppes in the face of assault by the forces of darkness streaming from the World Maw, Eboncross became partially independent along with the realm of its hereditary ruler, the Baron of Surea. And so it has remained the second great city of the Barony of Surea besides its capital at Vam-Osatin, which is located further in the hinterlands.
However, Eboncross has come under assault by the forces of the blue dragons known as the Azure Tyrants, servants of Amon-Xysyn, Goddess of the Ostracized and Negther-Nurdar, God of the Abyss, two prominent dragon deities of the Second Clutch of the Dark Symphony. The Azure Tyrant Zakorth-Imentairth the Sky Shearer, a vampire and priest of Amon-Xysyn and Negther-Nurdar, has gathered a vast host of goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, ogres, giants, kobolds, lizardfolk, troglodytes, and many others and laid siege to the great city. Already, the eastern districts of Eboncross have fallen to the attackers, and the forces of the Legion of Ash, the name given to the army of Zakorth-Imentarith, have occupied the eastern shores of the Hudter River. The seemingly endless pinpoints of their bonfires threaten the western districts of the imperiled city day and night. The valiant defenders have destroyed the bridge that once united the Isle of Waljour with the eastern districts, but it is feared that the forces of the Legion of Ash will soon build enough battle barges to renew their assault on the western districts of Eboncross.
Emissaries of all the Songbearer races have been summoned by the plaintive missives of Knight-Commander Batsuen of the White-Fire, Lord Commander of the Legion of the Dawn, an ancient order of templars dedicated to Telara-Niara, Dragon Goddess of Beauty, the Dawn, and the Flute. This ancient knightly sodality defends the city in an uneasy alliance with the crusaders of the Exalted Choir, one of the many legions of old Palinsar, representatives of the monotheistic faith of Sorin the Savior, the founder of the Church of the Exalted Incantation, which proclaims that all gods are representatives of the One Song. Duke Casthros of Surea, the hereditary ruler of the region, prepares the defense of Van-Osatin, which lies further north along the Hudter River. It will surely soon come under attack if Eboncross falls to the forces of the Legion of Ash.
Here's some info on the for #2
I'll produce even more information when I draw up the recruitment (based on responses thus far, it looks like we're headed towards being able to have a game, I would even say 3 is workable).
The major artistic influences here, and that should shape your imagination and thinking, are as follows:
Larry Elmore
Jeff Easley
Michael WhelanThe literary influences you could think about are:
Tracy Hickman -- Dragonlance, Sovereign Stone, the Obsidian Trilogy
Tad Wililams -- Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Anne McCaffrey -- Dragonriders of Pern
Brian Jacques -- Redwall
Jim Henson -- The Dark CrystalThe setting is a classic 'Princess and Paladins' 80s/early 90s fantasy world of medieval chivalric adventure.
Some of the further-off areas to the east have some additional influences like Wuxia films (Crouching Tiger/Hidden...
I'm going to go ahead and make an official recruitment with links and some explanation of the Fudge rules. Check in there if you're still interested.
I made an official recruitment thread if everyone would like to check in there.