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[DnD 4e Recruitment] The Seven Siberys
Goumindong
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Where were you when the world shook?
People still ask strangers that, as if to asses their worth. I was preparing for a long march. The warforged, those who were to be the first of the officer core, were striking camp. We had 20 miles to cover that day, our horses were tired, and we were still 15 days out.
It came as a slow tremor, and then a foul smell; not rancid, not stomach turning, but wrong. It was like smelling the concept of wrongness. The earth showing its disgust at what man had wrought. Then there was a crack, like a club striking stone. You know what I am talking about, you heard it too. The same sound, the same volume everywhere.
We got word mid-day. A little bird told me a note "destination no longer exists, wait further instructions". The war stoped for a full two weeks. No battles, no skirmishes, no movement. Not even the undead stirred. When the war did start again only the warforged and skeletons fought with any zeal, it was just not the same
And nothing has been the same since. The war is over but peace has not brought bounty, the empire cannot protect the countryside. Men who have been hardened by war have no war to fight and no practice to keep them busy. And no one does anything about it, they're too tired. The age is tired. And I too am tired.
When i related the news to the troop the warforged didn't react. I asked my lieutenant, a warforged I had known since his birth in my forged how he could be unmoved. He told me "it was just like any other day, it is only the numbers that are different". It is only now I realize I did that to him. I did that to all of them.
I have but one request to whomever reads this. Tell them I am sorry. Tell them all that I am sorry.
Bandits roam the land. Food is scarce, jobs more so. The war is over but the struggle continues. Members of the Great Houses have been left to fend for themselves. The war produced many many marked men and women and they wander the streets looking for a job or trouble. You are one of those and this is the story of you and your comrades, the land, and the people who live on it. The people who are never going to get an apology.
Our story begins in Sharn as three peasants pull themselves through the gates, a large sack of flour strapped to the largest man.
What is it?
DnD 4e: Eberron(modified) : Role Play Heavy
Level 1: Standard Point Buy: You choose your magic items: +nWoD Merits
7 Players(oh me oh my!): In Character Recruitment
Character Creation information: Read before you post!
PM me your character and then post in character in this thread you will be chosen in character.
DnD 4e : PHB 1 + 2 + Eberron
Level 1: Standard Point Buy: 7 dots of Merits[you may not choose resources or status] from nWoD
Free level 1 item; Aside from that anything you don't spend at character creation you don't have. Sorry, you are broke but for the clothes on your back and the weapon at your side.
Free Dragonmark: You must have a dragonmark of some kind and the first feat is free.(just like heroin)
You get Expertise in everything
You get a free special feat "badass" defenders/strikers attack unarmed at "full weapon attack bonus", leaders -1, controllers -2.
Wait, did you say merits from nWoD?
Required Background Information
1) A memory from your youth. Attach a strong emotion to this memory.
2) An item from your past: It must mean a lot to you : You must have a reason
3) The name of a loved one and the relation: They must be alive : You should probably have a reason why you are not with them
4) Your greatest failing. This can be an event or a personal attribute/whatever
5) Your greatest fear
6) A hobby: be creative
7) The thing that keeps you going every day
8) A dominant archetype [either literary or personality] relating to how your character acts, and a dominant archetype that your character believes he is in the "story of life". [For instance you could be a "hero of small deeds" that believes his story is the guy "doomed to suffer but endure"]. At the very least you should have some idea of a literary parallel between for each concept.
If you want to go full on Jungian Archetype and define a self (recognized self), shadow (qualities possessed but not known to the self), anima(the feminine image), animus(the masculine image), and persona(The mask presented to the world protecting the self) that is awesome but not necessary.
Nothing else is required but it is probably best if you fought in the last war in some capacity. I don't really want a story, that can come out later and you can then define it however you want. I want a person. Sometimes the less we know the more interesting it is. Listing off things she did or who she was born to doesn't tell us who the character is. I think these things above can help.
You should also have your character in Sharn, or this probably won't go anywhere
PM me your character and then post in character in this thread. Characters will be chosen in character.
DnD 4e : PHB 1 + 2 + Eberron
Level 1: Standard Point Buy: 7 dots of Merits[you may not choose resources or status] from nWoD
Free level 1 item; Aside from that anything you don't spend at character creation you don't have. Sorry, you are broke but for the clothes on your back and the weapon at your side.
Free Dragonmark: You must have a dragonmark of some kind and the first feat is free.(just like heroin)
You get Expertise in everything
You get a free special feat "badass" defenders/strikers attack unarmed at "full weapon attack bonus", leaders -1, controllers -2.
Wait, did you say merits from nWoD?
Yes. You can't take combat merits that obviously we can't make a mechanic for, but you can take other merits besides resources. For most they will just operate as they say (unless it requires a roll based on dots that are not merits. I see this mainly as knowledge and social merits. Harder to do physical merits since physical bonuses are differently important in 4e.
The reason for doing this is so that players have more personalized characters with different resources than are simply defined in your character sheet. It also gives a way to have peoples backgrounds matter, lets them tie the story in more and all in all makes them seem like real people without having the problem of "oh, he is a better character because he wrote more stuff into his background"
The reason for doing this is so that players have more personalized characters with different resources than are simply defined in your character sheet. It also gives a way to have peoples backgrounds matter, lets them tie the story in more and all in all makes them seem like real people without having the problem of "oh, he is a better character because he wrote more stuff into his background"
Required Background Information
1) A memory from your youth. Attach a strong emotion to this memory.
2) An item from your past: It must mean a lot to you : You must have a reason
3) The name of a loved one and the relation: They must be alive : You should probably have a reason why you are not with them
4) Your greatest failing. This can be an event or a personal attribute/whatever
5) Your greatest fear
6) A hobby: be creative
7) The thing that keeps you going every day
8) A dominant archetype [either literary or personality] relating to how your character acts, and a dominant archetype that your character believes he is in the "story of life". [For instance you could be a "hero of small deeds" that believes his story is the guy "doomed to suffer but endure"]. At the very least you should have some idea of a literary parallel between for each concept.
If you want to go full on Jungian Archetype and define a self (recognized self), shadow (qualities possessed but not known to the self), anima(the feminine image), animus(the masculine image), and persona(The mask presented to the world protecting the self) that is awesome but not necessary.
Nothing else is required but it is probably best if you fought in the last war in some capacity. I don't really want a story, that can come out later and you can then define it however you want. I want a person. Sometimes the less we know the more interesting it is. Listing off things she did or who she was born to doesn't tell us who the character is. I think these things above can help.
You should also have your character in Sharn, or this probably won't go anywhere
PM me your character and then post in character in this thread. Characters will be chosen in character.
Tips for writing
Show. Don't tell. DnD is a game of interaction and i know how you want to write about what your character is thinking and how super important it is. No one cares, if they care, they will ask, then you get to determine if you want to share or not.
How combat will be done
Combat will be simultaneous post/combat orders. Initiative will be rolled for each round and kept unknown from the players. If you want to have an immediate reaction trigger, you can set a condition on which it will trigger. This way no one has to wait for the next person to post what they are going to do(should make combat faster). I will be doing the same for monsters.
If you give an order that can't be completed then it will fail.
Readied actions will carry over from the last round and will not end effect until your turn comes up in the initiative order.
Delayed actions and readied actions that go off in a round WILL reset your init for the next round based on your readied action. So if ready an action to charge an enemy when he charges it will go off when he charges and the next round you will always act immediately before him
I will make a post describing the round once everyone has posted
If you give an order that can't be completed then it will fail.
Readied actions will carry over from the last round and will not end effect until your turn comes up in the initiative order.
Delayed actions and readied actions that go off in a round WILL reset your init for the next round based on your readied action. So if ready an action to charge an enemy when he charges it will go off when he charges and the next round you will always act immediately before him
I will make a post describing the round once everyone has posted
Other things i should have mentioned but didn't
No other software needed. Unless we decide to make this a maptools game. But we will only do that if it feels right
1 post/day seems like a reasonable requirement. This also means we should get through a combat round/day
You don't need perfect knowledge of the system. I won't be worrying about your sheets all that much and content is quite limited. Players are free to help each other create characters for crunch.
Please do not discuss social merits chosen or your backgrounds of your characters [basics/outward appearance/obvious outward appearance/social status etc all the stuff you would pick up by looking at them/knowing them as an acquaintance is fine]
1 post/day seems like a reasonable requirement. This also means we should get through a combat round/day
You don't need perfect knowledge of the system. I won't be worrying about your sheets all that much and content is quite limited. Players are free to help each other create characters for crunch.
Please do not discuss social merits chosen or your backgrounds of your characters [basics/outward appearance/obvious outward appearance/social status etc all the stuff you would pick up by looking at them/knowing them as an acquaintance is fine]
Feel free to ask any questions
Goumindong on
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Whatever affiliation you want [or don't want].
The mark is there more to show that you are not of the "common class" but of either the "warrior class" or "adventurer class". So long as you have one, you're golden.
That is fine. Except that the Revenant is not in PHB 1, 2 or the Eberron book, so you will have to find another race. I do this for a few reasons.
1) I don't like tonnes of variation it tends to kill some of the "humanity" of characters. So we are only going with the basics ( i should probably disallow Deva from PHB2, but eh) that tend to fit
2) Part of the "feel" I am going for requires that there be a relation between the player characters and the rest of the world. Revenants are too far outsiders in ways that I think are thematically important. Things like that show up as NPC's. Its kinda like how it doesn't make any sense to be able to play the "wizened old sage" because the sage is a plot piece that directs the protagonists on their journey and while an important aspect, doesn't work as well as the focus of heroics.
Hope you understand and still would like to play.
To answer them preemptively if anyone else has them. I don't need a character background for you for short story. I just want to know what you're doing in Sharn. This is so that I/we have a starting point with which to generate interaction.
Not at all. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.
Try and stick with only the "WoD" ones since that is the only book I have
http://wodindex.wikispaces.com/Merits
Interesting. Thanks!
“Fal,” the nickname was repeated again. Less affectionately. This time, more urgent. But still, in his sweet, sing-song way of talking.
“Falaran!” the third time, the name exploded from Aluhaen’s lips, bursting onto Falaran’s mind like a tidal wave breaking onto a cliff. It was tinged with fear and desperation. Falaran turned to see Aluhaen, sprinting across the fields of Cyre as the sky opened and fire rained down around them. Fal ran to him, sprinting as fast as he could to close the distance, his hand outstretched. The ground opened between them and a great chasm began to grow, increasing the distance between the two by the second.
The gulf grew. Fire fell from the sky. Mist rolled out of the earth.
“FALARAN!!!”
Falaran bolted upright in the bed. Soft moonlight steamed in through the window and painted the room in various shades of grey. His pale blue skin was coated with a glistening sweat and his sheets were soaked in the same. The hustle and bustle of Sharn’s lower reaches echoed outside of his window. Someone rapped on his door. Falaran made a non-committal grunt of acknowledgment and the door swung open, letting the torchlight from the hallway pour into the room.
A woman stood there, young and attractive with a bosom that spilled out of her clothes. She was well dressed, obviously wealthy. Falaran spied the ring on her finger. Of course. He was accustomed to these visitors. Women who had married into a family of wealth and power, frequently with men far older than themselves, who could no longer satiate their feminine desires and had likely never loved them. And so they sought to satisfy their carnal urges elsewhere. Like here – in the lower reaches of Sharn where word of the ravishing and talented elf from the frozen north had spread throughout the city.
“Hello Master Elf. I hope you’ve been resting for me,” she said it seductively, trying to start a playful banter before they got to the playful romp she was expecting. She started to move into the room but Falaran stopped her with a word.
“Stop,” his voice was harsh, still tinged with the horror of his nightmare.
“Oh worry not Master Elf – I’m sure you’re perfectly equipped to handle me,” she still had that fake sugary grin plastered on her face as she slipped one of her fingers into her mouth suggestively. She thought he was playing.
“Leave,” he said it as a command, not as a suggestion, and she picked up on his real meaning. She was offended.
“Now wait just a minute, I’ve paid Madame Mejaris good money for the likes of you and I’m not going to let some irate whore turn me away! Do you know who I am!?” she was noticeably upset. Falaran was noticeably unconcerned.
“Get out!” he shouted at her this time, letting the rage that burned in his heart add inflection to his voice.
She started to open her mouth to say something else but Falaran’s reflexes were faster than her mouth. In one motion he reached past his pillow, drew a knife from the headboard of the bed and flung it at the woman. The knife sailed past her head and imbedded itself in the wall of the hallway, taking some of her hair with it as it sailed past. Her mouth clamped shut and she stared at him, eyes wide.
He dropped his voice to a ragged whisper, “I said leave.”
The woman turned on her heels and flew from the door.
Falaran sighed and collapsed back onto his pillow, looking up at the ceiling as the light from the hallway flickered over his naked form. His mouth formed the name but his voice gave it no force as it escaped past his lips, “Alu…”
The markets in the middle city are a bustling hive. Thousands of people in each intersection, going about their business, looking for items, looking for livestock, looking for people. The air is crisp and fresh. It makes your lungs feel vibrant.
Despite the bustle, a duo of raggard peasants catch your eye. Begging is not an uncommon sight, especially after the war, but these two seem to be groveling. Just then, a tall half-orc dressed as an inquisitive steps in front of you, holding a letter in his hand. "Farin, I presume?". He looks at your arm and smiles disarmingly "forgotten how that things works have you?"
The letter reads:
It is good you have made it to Sharn. I would have hoped you'd tracked me down by now. Anyway, my address is 15, West Moorlan, Lower Northedge. Come see me when you have the chance
Uncle Harlis
When the IC thread starts we can forgo that (though i will use it to draw attention to DM posts, might make the game easier to structure)
"OUT! OUT you lousy no good rotten Elf. Do you know how much that cost me?!". The Madam was standing over your bed while her hired help was busy throwing your clothes onto the floor. "This is the last time!". By the time you realize what is happening you've been shuffled outside next to a pile of your clothes as "..and i'm going to blacklist you" comes sailing out of what used to be your room along with a pair of pants you could have sworn you had lost.
As you're gathering your things, a timid voice speaks up behind you. "uh, sir? Sir? If uhh. you have the chance, we uhh.. I see that you have a mark and.. well..". The man is short, poorly dressed and dirty. He does not look well fed, his ribs are clearly visible behind his raggard shirt, and his hands are worn from labor. His head is bowed and he can barely stand to look at you. "I.. i can't pay. We only have flour for bread." He pauses, anticipating a firm rejection "but, but if you help us you can have all that you want for as long as you stay, just hear me out"
Eventually the throng spilled out into an open area like a stream into a lake, and d’Arcy looked up to find himself in a marketplace. The size of the place staggered him. So many people. The only place he had ever seen so many people was on a battlefield, and he had to restrain the impulse to draw his sword to clear a space. The volume of sound was the same, too, though its quality was different. Cajoling instead of rage, seduction instead of fear. There was a note of desperation underneath it all, though. That was the same.
A marketplace. And why not? He was a merchant, after all. Since the war ended, there were a lot of people selling what he sold. A real buyer’s market. But there were always people in need of his wares. There are always people willing to pay for violence.
Legate looks down at the small spring-loaded trap it is constructing with disinterest. Of course, a warforged's face often appears disinterested, but there was an impression of boredom and lack of care in its expression now, rather than the usual simple neutrality. Its dexterous fingers quickly assemble the simple mechanism and lay it carefully next to a dozen others. It has been repeating this remedial task for some time now. This basic, mind-numbing task and others like it are all that the smiths and artificers of Sharn appear to trust it with.
The warforged pauses for a moment, staring at its own hands in what might be a contemplative, even regretful fashion. It exhales, perhaps just an escape of gas from one of its inner workings, or perhaps the heartfelt sigh of a woeful soul, neither its face nor its hands give a clue as to which. Its countenance returns to smooth non-expression, and its hands return to their repetitive construction. It does not look up at the workshop interior, it does not gaze from the window. It works.
IC
The half-orc smiles to himself and shakes his head "man, you really are green... Northedge is on the north side of the city, go north and you'll see markets. Lower wards means you should go down. The edge is divided by broadway so you're on the west side of that. Just look for the street signs and you'll find your way".
By the time you make it to the address it is getting late, or at least the sun was low in the sky; the summer days did not last as long as they did in the north. The house you're looking for seems to be a small place over a butcher, though the tower rises for quite a ways before the street above it cuts it off. There is a stairway on the side of the building that leads to the second floor entrance and with the name "Harlis Velderan" in a plaque stamped into the stucco railing.
When you are preparing to knock, the door opens and a short, fat man dressed in clean and simple commoners clothes greets you, "Why, the last time I saw you, you were not this tall!". His hand hovers above the landing a good three feet above the ground. He is smiling, but its difficult to see through his thick (but not long) beard. He invites you in and bids that you sit in the sparsely decorated apartment. "So what are you doing in Sharn, I thought you would be off finding your destiny or some such nonsense!"
The ceiling is lower than it seems like it should be from the outside and you don't see a door to a second floor. The residents of Sharn are not keen on wasting space
I will get to the rest of you some time tonight or tomorrow. Probably tonight
I had planned that there would be roughly a 7 day period in August where I was going to be unable to post, but it looks like this will be increased to about half the month.
So if you don't mind i am going to postpone the game until late September (at which point i will know what my schedule looks like for the rest of the year). I really wanted this game to get off the ground and it just doesn't look like fate wants me to
PM me when the game is back on. Hope you feel better. Hope your computer feels better, too.