[Pathfinder] Remember us with songs

[BlackDouglas]

Game Name Remember us with songs

Game System Pathfinder

Theme Adventure and intrigue

Flavour Cursed Middle Ages

Plot Summary It didn't look like a war torn town. I suppose most people don't know what to expect a war torn town to look like. It appeared as peaceful as any agricultural idyll. There wasn't smoke wafting above the village, you couldn't smell burning or death. It was just crops, and manure, and a watermill. The sorts of things you expect. Okay, maybe there weren't quite as many people as you'd think, maybe there was an air of wary resignation among the folk. Perhaps a few more fresh mounds in the chapel yard than usual, and you're not sure a town this far from anything would have poor knights wandering aimlessly in the street, or resting by the porch. But then again, that is why you have come. It's not an accident you're all the way out...wherever this is, although you suspect you'll be glad enough when you're done, and you can be back home, with decent food and a real bed. ************************************************** **** This campaign is set in a homebrew world, similar to middle ages europe/standard fantasy. It will focus on your characters exploring and investigating (and possibly killing) interesting things. There are some minor restrictions on class and race to suit the theme of the setting, to be detailed further. Gear/Magic items will be minimal I expect to be able to post weekly, primarily on weekends, with possibly multiple posts over a weekend. (I work the other five days).

UPDATE:

Loschenar If there was a great empire that covered the world centuries ago, Loschenar would be what is left. Of course, that is not necessarily a good thing, whilst civilisation and culture have formed and flourished in the independent kingdoms that now separate the land, Loschenar is little more than feuding lords. Anyone with enough wealth for swords and men to follow them has tried to carve out a piece of this land for themselves, building feeble timber forts on top of the crumbling ruins of forgotten cities. They hold onto stories of memories of a time long past. Some would think the place easily conquerable, but it takes a stubborn lord to live in these places, and the lands central location between the three larger powers, the Empire to the north, the western Duchy, and the southern kingdom. Loschenar has no defined boundaries, and balloons or contracts as the interests and efforts of the surrounding kingdoms wax and wane. As long as at least one Lord of Loschenar can maintain their glorified bands of thugs, the other powers are kept in check. Loschenar folk are an independent folk. Though they may be loyal to their lord, whom they likely know personally and may even be kin, due to the smaller lands each one commands, the idea of looking after ones own runs deep culturally, and this is reflected in their behaviours and beliefs. If something needs doing, the men and women of Loschenar expect to have to do it themselves. They have never had the support of a strong government, or strong infrastructure and development, in truth, few Loschenar can read or write, though their oral tradition is strong. This in turn has led to a continued belief in the Old powers of the world (much to the Southern Kingdom of Gallean's disgust). The Loschenar know that spirits are real, and can be pleased or angered by ones actions. They do not take the other worldly lightly, but they are also a pragmatic people, and do not give unnecessary effort to the unknown unless it is immediately apparent such things are required. It is of course, in the town of Atterton, on what is more or less the current western border of Loschenar, that you now find yourself.

Atterton A seemingly minor town, on the Southeastern border of the Duchy, Atterton holds surprising strategic import. Built along a river, on an intersection of one of the ancient roads, with a view to the north of the mountains that separate the Empire's forces from the Duchess' realm. It itself has little of value, but control of the region grants possible profit in taxation, or banditry, of the merchants and travelers that will often pass through. That reason, or perhaps another, is likely why it has recently found itself the target of some Loschenar Lord or another who has taken it upon themselves to begin raiding the area, and why the Duchess has seen fit to dispatch one of her own lords to investigate and secure the lands. The homesteads and fields to the east of Atterton are for the most part abandoned due to the military actions, but the town itself stands unaffected. The most notable features are two large inns, a smaller tavern, a mill built of stone, the reeves manor, and a chapel that appears to be in the process of upkeep with timber stacked in its yards. There is a small smith and a number of general stores, but it appears the merchants prefer to take their goods to larger towns for sale, and only the barest essentials are available.

Solin Empire The Counts of the Solin Empire have turned bureaucracy into an art form, everything they do from the simplest conversations to the administration of their lands is built on seemingly bizarre ceremony and ritual. An outsider is immediately identified if they fail to meet the expected protocol - whether it is how to greet a person of higher social standing, to how to correctly hold a drinking mug, or how to tie ribbons on a wheat sheaf in order to identify which county it came from. Such things are tolerated in visitors, after all, how can you expect the boorish savages from other lands to understand true culture? however natives who fail to behave appropriately, be members of the guilds for their trade, pay appropriate levies and show the expected loyalty find themselves exiled, flogged, or executed for their crime. Solin is ruled by its Emperor, although the actual management is left to the Counts that hold title to it's lands. Ostensibly these Counts descend from the Tribal Chiefs that allied together centuries ago, but with enough paperwork, bribes, selective assassinations, and gilded carriages to look the part, it is possible over time power drifted from true hereditary passage to whomever desired it most. For all their process and pageantry, The Solin Empire has none the less built a sophisticated civilisation, with numerous universities and guilds, though they are often locked into tradition and too much innovation for innovations sake is frowned upon. The Solin Empire does not shun magic, though those that dabble in the field are expected to follow the same formal protocols as all others, and display appropriate loyalty to the Emperor and his Counts, placing themselves at the Empire's disposal as required for agriculture and war. The primary Religion of the Solin Empire is to their Pantheon of Gods, made up of mystical figures adopted from their tribal forebears. They build grand temples and hold seasonal ceremonies to these deities, though whether this is for the sake of customs and tradition, or because the Gods hold any real influence is hard to tell. Dwarves are relatively common in the lands of Solin, presumably due to the relative closeness of the Empire to the Dwarven mountains in the north - though none hold any titles, they are free to become citizens and those that understand the customs can become influential merchants or leaders of industry. They can also serve in the militaries of the Counts, most dwarves are likely to be second or third generation and consider themselves members of the Empire first and dwarves second.

Gallean Kingdom The Gallean kingdom is large and lush, which unfortunately can not be said of it's culture, which promotes joyless labour, service, and sacrifice. At some point, Gallean had a single god, Gallean, the spirit of light and love, beloved by all, and at some point, that god died, however the Galleans continue to serve him, fierce in their belief that once all the world is part of a single, unified kingdom under the sun, then their god will be resurrected, unfortunately, until that day, they refuse to devote a single moment to simply enjoying the life they are given. This of course, is the position of the Gallean King and his retainers and vassals. The further one travels from the great city, the less sure people are that their god will return, and the more inclined they are to enjoy outlawed beverages or engage in frivolous pleasures. To counter this, the Gallean King employs legions of emissaries, who in addition to ensuring that the king's people are adhering to the Gallean Laws, are also charged with rooting out and cleansing any instances of heresy. Heresy in this instance being the conduct of magic, congress with otherworldy forces or spirits, or being non-human. Their King takes the name Gallean, as does the kingdom itself, after their lost god, so to make an oath "for Gallean" is to simultaneous swear to the God, the King, and Kingdom itself. Their dead god is unable to provide any direct influence or power, but the Galleans make up for this with remarkable progress in the fields of science and engineering. The young men and women of the kingdom are expected to provide military service or study in the great research libraries, before moving on to support the agriculture and industry of the kingdom (and give birth to as many more future soldiers and workers as possible) Everything is done in the name of conquering the world in order to save their doomed god. Not unexpectedly, non-human races, magic users and priests are not welcome in Gallean lands, and the closer they get to the Great City the more likely they are to be "detained" by the king's emissaries, in order to be questioned, and invariably cleansed.

Arcane Magic Other than Gallean, the various kingdoms have access to some level of Arcane Magic, the Jade Tower specialises in the "softer" magics, such as Divination and Abjuration, the Solinian schools prefer the more "visible" Transmuation and Evocation, anyone who learns from the Elves will prefer powerful Illusions and Enchantments. The lack of established training in Loschenar means any arcane users are more likely to be Sorcerers or Witches.

CharGen Rules Field not longer looks like a real word Races Races Classes Classes stats Stats items Items background Background - Most players should come from one of the four detailed lands, there are other lands I have not detailed (as they are most likely out of common knowledge) to the north of the Solin Empire is a more savage land, it survives well enough, and it sometimes treated with by the Solin Empire for trade or mercenaries, but the land and people are considered too harsh and useless to bother conquering (The Galleans would like to conquer them, on principle, if they ever got that far north) North of that again is the mountains and home of the Dwarves. To the East of Loschenar is Ulveland, a rich fertile land of forests and river deltas. Both the Solin empire or the Gallean kingdom would benefit from controlling the wealth of that place, but as neither have been able to take Loschenar, and doing so would open a flank to the other party (and the Duchess), so are unlikely to do so any time soon. Ulveland is people with primitive folk, shepherded by druids. To the West of the Duchy is Olamere. Olamere has a amicable relationship with the Duchess, and provides the duchy with many exotic fruits and merchandise via trade. Elves are even more common in Olamere than they are in the Duchy as their almost mythical island homeland is far to the west off the coast of Olamere)

EDIT: Not sure if it is a good idea or not, but quick map attached to orientate you.

[BlackDouglas]

Hello, this game is still pending approval, so please be patient. If approved I will post a few flavour posts in the game explaining the local situation, factions, deities and so on.

A note on Races:

Humans are the primary race of the campaign, and come in all the flavours you'd expect. Humans not from the immediately surrounding kingdoms are more or less tolerated, but considered "exotic" (but there are always racists/nationalists who might try to kill you anyway)

Elves and Dwarves are broadly mistrusted (elves especially.) but can get by in Human lands by being respectful, keeping their heads down, and being generous with coin.

Pretty much all other sentient races are considered evil or cursed and are likely to find themselves cleansed with fire or hung up by the ankles at the earliest opportunity.

A note on classes: Basic classes are available, however Arcane magic is a direct relationship with the other planes, whether by blood (sorcerer) or bargaining (wizard). Few people will meet an arcane user, and will mostly know of them from stories.

Divine magic is considered more benign, and wise women, soothsayers, and druids are generally welcomed.

"Gods" are real, but are more like powerful creatures. Deals with them tend to be a bit more pragmatic than prayers-for-magic.

[MrD]

Posting interest as I am from Europe (at least for now) and I am currently living in the Middle Ages.

[Runetide]

Huh. Neat. Interested

[MurderInParidise]

I told 'ja that I am iNdEcIsIvE.

Should we make sheets?
What level would we be starting at? Even if we do not need to make sheets, I like knowing.
Can I use a third party oracle curse?

 

Child [3PP]
Source Oracle’s Curse, copyright 2014 by RJ Grady, published by Tripod Machine.
You became an oracle early in life, and your body has remained that of a child.
Effect
You take a -4 penalty to your Strength modifier for the purpose of Strength checks and your maneuver bonus, and gain a +2 bonus to Escape Artist and Stealth checks. Your age cannot be magically altered. NPCs may become friendly or unfriendly ( GM’s choice) depending on your behavior and the situation. Non-magical armor must be tailor-made for your, otherwise it can only be donned hastily, if it can be worn at all.
At 5th level, your Strength penalty is reduced to -2.
At 10th level, you gain a bonus revelation.
At 15 level, add either holy aura or unholy aura (your choice) to your spells known.

Tandid Krumlin Name: Tandid Krumlin. Class: Oracle (child curse, apocalypse mystery.) Age: 19. Race: Human. Background: Tandid was a perfectly normal child, growing up with many brothers and sisters in the north of Gallean, until his 8th birthday. He never did get his growth spurt, but he didn't really care. His only hobby was scrapping with the other little boys, but as the years went by, he didn't grow as they did. Soon he was no longer the toughest kid in the schoolyard, he was the shortest, cutest, and weakest. He tried without result to grow and get stronger, but nothing happened. This was around when his divine powers manifested. Now that he is 19, he is much the same as he was before. He commonly behaves like a child, partially because he doesn't want anyone to think he is a halfling, and partially because he still has the maturity level of one. Tandid doesn't mind his appearance much, although he gets very angry when anyone mistakes him for a little girl. Just because he likes fancy clothes doesn't mean he is a girl! Tandid's only real problem in life is that he knows he'll never find love.

[Humble Athena]

This intrigues me. Will watch for more detail. Specifically on the restrictions- thinking of trying out Feyspeaker Druid Elf if allowed.

[BlackDouglas]

Hey all, thanks for the interest so far. Still waiting on approval.

Hopefully it comes through by Friday, as I have time then to type up the key info you'll need to understand the world and make a character.

I'll be looking for three to four players. I think more than that would become unwieldy in play by post.

[InterrogatesCats]

Consider me interested, thinking about a Sylph, potentially a rogue or a wizard.

[Mrjoegangles]

Would there be an issue if I was interested in playing a human raised by one of these cursed races (using Racial Heritage Feat), someone who can pass in society as a normal human but doesn’t have the prejudices towards non-humans and is forced to hide it?

[Inem]

Originally Posted by BlackDouglas

Still waiting on approval.

Hopefully it comes through by Friday, as I have time then to type up the key info you'll need to understand the world and make a character.

Just to clarify how things work here on RPGX: You're game won't be approved by us moderators until we see a decent amount of serious interest (typically in the form of at least mostly complete applications), because approving the game request leads to your game forum being created, and we want to avoid cluttering our site with a lot of games that never get off the ground.

I'd say you're off to a decent start, people seem interested in your general premise. My recommendation would be to to now go ahead and type up that key info people need to make a character that you mentioned, and edit into your first and second post. That way, people can apply to your game in earnest, and we can then approve your game, at which point you can just copy and paste the info you want to keep over to your game forum. Best of luck and happy gaming

[BlackDouglas]

Thanks for that Inem, I will start populating the top post with additional info.

Any interested players please keep an eye on it for updates!

I am happy to clarify any details that I have not fully explained (no knowledge rolls required!)

[BlackDouglas]

Just a bump to let prospective players know that I have updated with some general world info.

Please let me know what sort of characters you are interested in (Mostly Class and Origin, so I can focus on info that is relevant to you - A mage from Gallean is going to have a different story to a Sorcerer loyal to the Duchess - and I don't want to spend time writing up about the Duchess' Jade Tower of Magic if it is going to have nothing to do with anything and no one is going to be from there)

I am used to PnP, so I have a note book full of info, but I only really expand on it when it becomes relevant to the game.

I am happy to work with you on any character ideas, and why they have ended up in Atterton. There is a bit more to the town than I've stated so far, but it'd be silly of me to write out the whole plot of the campaign in the introduction, so please post or PM me your ideas or questions.

[BlackDouglas]

Originally Posted by Mrjoegangles

Would there be an issue if I was interested in playing a human raised by one of these cursed races (using Racial Heritage Feat), someone who can pass in society as a normal human but doesn’t have the prejudices towards non-humans and is forced to hide it?

What were you thinking?

A human from Olamere raised by elves, or from the lands north of the Solin Empire raised by dwarves is very plausible,
could potentially also have someone of Orc heritage come from their wild storm swept islands in the east, perhaps a Solinian ship went exploring and came back with an unusual bounty, or somehow a small tribe of orcs managed to cross the seas and end up in the marshes of Ulveland.

There's no record of any of the more monstrous races ever forming a civilisation or culture.
If you were thinking something more exotic still (fey or plane touched) there is always some nutter somewhere trying to cut through the walls of reality and make deals with the devil, and both the clans north the Empire, and the tribes of Ulveland have stronger ties to the other world (in different ways) - but be cautious of the repercussions. Someone, somewhere will probably object to your existence, and life is hard enough for adventurers without witch hunters, emissaries, and rangers coming for your heart.

[Mrjoegangles]

I was just asking 50% cause I had some ideas, 50% was just genuinely interested in the answer. Are halfings a thing in this homebrew? What land would they be from? Kinda like the idea of a human raised by halflings: Super friendly, big appetites, used to being the biggest so likes to look after and protect people.

[Humble Athena]

The character I'm thinking of is an nomadic elf who travels through human lands to learn what the humans are up to, and then reports back to her people. Is that something that would work here? And how do you feel about class archtypes?