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[Open Recruitment] Dungeon World: Seeking Delvers of the Menank
Erin The Red
The Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered User regular
The Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered User regular
Backstory
The middle of a craggy desert is no place to make a living. Not usually, anyway. The travelers who founded Argent Springs did so because of a…special feature the area had. There was a seemingly infinite source of water pouring out of a strange spire poking up through the earth like a roughly snapped bone.
The life-sustaining silver-gray liquid is enough to quench the throats of those living in the town and there is enough left over for some farming to be done. That is not the only thing that the spire, called Menanki by the settlers, offers. A solitary entrance sits 10 feet above the ground and through that entrance is a vast catacomb of twisting halls, eerie sounds, unnatural lights, and the promise of unfathomable wealth.
Adventuring companies spring up around Menanki, bringing new blood from all over the continent to this growing town. Argent Springs slowly expands and begins to depend on Menanki for more and more. Crops aren't plentiful enough for this many people. Slain monsters are brought back for meat. Unneeded relics are traded away for staple materials.
Some of those willing to delve into the unknown come back with stories of misshapen beasts and unknown devices. A few find valuable materials or secrets. Fewer still come back with artifacts of unknown purpose but palpable power. A great number never do come back.
Which will you be?
The World
*This town basically survives thanks to adventurers. they bring back valuable shit out of the Menanki, and bring back food in the form of dead critters. Not much farmland out here. Not enough water to support too much farm AND keep people from dying of thirst.*A lot of businesses in town are sort of like… not oriented directly to adventurer folks but some definitely have that kind of tilt to them. they set up near the entrance to the dungeon to sell weapons and rations, appraisers for relics and such. If a business becomes the official X of the Y company, that’s a big thing for them. That could like… change their lives in a big way.
*There are already three big adventuring companies in town. they have relatively low turnover and do not often seek to bring in new blood, unless said new blood has proven themselves capable in some big way to make them worth bringing into the fold
*There are a handful or so of smaller companies that manage to eke out a living, but are more… meat-grindery? you guys are one of the smaller ones. One of the smallest ones, actually.
*The Menank is a dead area as far as pesky things like laws go. If you encounter a party of adventurers from another company, there's nothing stopping either of you from killing the other, save for the thought that you may lose down there. And the knowledge that if you strike first and one of them lives to tell the tale, times will get rough for you.
Operational Ideas
*Instead of using character bonds we will be using character FLAGS. Basically it is something that other people can do when interacting with your character that lets you show a bit of their personality. For example, I made a bard and she is new to the game and enthusiastic but still rough around the edges. Her flags are
. Triggering someone's flags gets you xp at the end of a session, so you are encouraged to interact with other characters and learn a bit about their backstory and such. Please don't try and powergame things and get the max amount of xp every session by sitting at a table and trying to tick off every box. That's lame. Don't do that.Self-conscious--Give me a chance to play my music for you so that you can judge it later
Young, Scrappy, and Hungry--Convince me to partake in a dangerous plan under promise of fame and possible riches
*There will be a job board system on the obsidian portal. Before a session begins (hopefully a day or two before, so I have time to plan at least a LITTLE of this stuff) you all will pick what you want to do that session. You can take a job off the job board, choose to explore the Menank, or venture out in the vast and unforgiving desert without rhyme or reason! It'll probably be great.
*As far as map making goes, if you are on a quest I will have some basic map for you. Usually VERY basic. If you're wandering, keeping up with where you went is up to you all. (I'll either pop you down on a populated map or a blank one where you guys can collaborate and fill things in as you please.) Remember, you may be re-using these maps for future delves! So it is important to make good notes of obstacles and things you can't get to just yet.
*There will be a sort of company expedition journal that will go up on the Obsidian Portal page. What happens is after a session, folks who took notes on what happened that session can submit them on the forum for the campaign, also located on the obsidian portal page. The people who went on said expedition can vote on which one they like the best and that one gets entered into the company expedition log. If someone wasn't on that expedition, this is basically the only info they will get about the area you guys went to. They can watch the streams of course, but I'm hoping we can keep player knowledge and character knowledge a bit separate on this one.
All are welcome to attend. Not mandatory to make every session by any means. Looking to get parties to mix and match a bit to keep things fresh
Our first sessions are 2/28 and 3/2. We'd love for folks to come aboard and sign up!
Links below:
Roll20 Campaign link: Need this to be able to actually join the game on session nights: Click hereObsidian Portal link: Need this to be able to RSVP for sessions and discuss/read about things: Click here
Discord link is here
I know GG put out a similar thing with 13th Age recently. I promise neither of us is trying to chomp on each other's flavor and if you are interested in both campaigns I encourage you to sign up for both.
If you have any questions at all, please let me know!
Video will be streamed here:
Archive video will be here:
www.youtube.com/ThatDnDPodcast
Audio ripped from said video will be here:
http://www.thatdndpodcast.com
Erin The Red on
+10
Posts
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Totally new everything
Welcome aboard! Can never have too many healers.
Also a note to all reading, we are limited to the base classes at the moment but if certain quests are done and certain boxes are checked, there is very much the possibility of more classes opening up in the future!
"Good news everyone, we just got back from the spire and we found this cool book on OHGODWHYISEVERYONE ON FIRE".
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
There are some who remember the Jarl as a lovable fighter. He was always the guy who threw the first punch in a bar fight, and normally the guy who threw the last. And afterwards, he'd buy people a drink. Fighting was his love, his passion. Many people would challenge him to contest of strength and might, and Jarl wouldn't back down...
Then one day, a day that most drunks in Argent Springs still talk about today, someone called Jarl out to fight. But instead of his normal grin and cheerful acceptance for a fight, Jarl just knocked the guy out in a single punch, dropped a few coins, then walked out of the bar, not saying a single word. Then, according to those who followed him, he walked straight into the dungeon, alone, and wasn't heard from for years. Those who braved the dungeons would find rooms filled with different beasts and creatures, ripped apart and mutilated, piled high in different rooms. Closer looks revealed that the kneecaps of the creatures were missing. Then one group found Jarl deep iin a room fighting a Hydra. Instead of killing the beast outright, he did what no one would ever suggest one do, he keep ripping off the beast's heads. There were nearly a hundred heads floating around when the group stepped in and killed the Hydra. They nearly got killed themselves with Jarl attacked them. Thankfully, Jarl was tired and wasn't able to press his attack hard. The group took him down and out of the dungeon. It seemed that Jarl had lost his mind, and was fighting the monsters of the dungeon bare-handed. When asked why, he only replied "Because it's what I do. I fight. Nothing more, nothing less."
Jarl looks like a madman, which he is. His eyes, once soft with joy, are now harden with some sort of dark realization that seems to haunt him. His hair had always been a bit unkept but now it's wild, and gray where it once was black. His body looks built for combat, but covered in scars from those fights. His hands are nearly talons, with long black nails and stained in blood. His outfit, for lack of better words, is bones, more importantly, kneecaps. No one is sure why he has started collecting kneecaps and no one has ever questioned it expecting a logical answer.
Yes.
We can teach you! Also dungeon world is rather newbie friendly, I think. All you do is tell me what you want to do and we figure out what roll applies. Everything is 2d6+a modifier, save for weapon damage. That one is anywhere from d4 to d10
But in all seriousness, super excited to see where these games go and how the company develops over time.
Edit: or I think i did anyway. not sure if just being a "fan" is enough? Also tossed a char sheet up on the google drive. Sorry for the delay, was out of town.
Yup.
We'll be gentle.
The other big non-intuitive thing I've seen from D&D/other rpg players is with tags. If a weapon is "fiery, dangerous" that does not mean it rolls extra damage or does double to trees or something defined, it's more about narrative positioning. A DM probably will let it be better against wood/flammable things. It probably also is a lot of trouble in a fight around objects you'd rather not burn up.
Also I'd be down to run a session sometime after we get rolling a bit, unless you wanted to do them all (which is also fine!)
It's HELL YES
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Nah man no worries! Just didn't want you to miss out due to lack of RSVP or whatever.
Doing standard classes for now but if you want an alternate race I can propose a move/perk related to that race and you can see if you want that?
I think I sent you an invite just recently. Marking yourself as a fan lets me know to invite you at least
Season one of FatT will definitely get you on the right track. Austin is good at the things. But yes as stated above its more tell me narratively WHAT you want to do and we can figure out what roll sounds best to see if you pull it off.
I am totally down for letting other folks run at some point. I figure I'll dm the first x amount so we can get a feel for the world and try and get a flow going and then once people settle into the rules and stuff I'm fine swapping out with folks. I already made a bard and she is ready to go and prove her worth!
When you say standard classes does that include Immolator, Barbarian and Arcane Duelist?
edit: I think I'll go ranger with crows? get on some Odin shit
PM me your email for an invite or favorite the obsidian portal campaign thing and i'll invite you that way!
Also the immolator etc aren't available yet. Just the stuff that came with the original DW printing. Those 3 i think were FROM the same folks but came out later so those are the first... stretch goal?
Now to figure out chargen.
I'm not sure what to do with the flags though.
I think I signed up for this obsidian portal thing correctly and favorited it, profile there should be the same name as on here.
Fill out that first page for wizard and then pick 2 level 1 spells to have alongside your cantrips
PM me if you need any help!
Flags are things that your other party members can trigger that sort of emphasize aspects of your character. Like for my bard:
Self-conscious--Give me a chance to play my music for you so that you can judge it later
Young, Scrappy, and Hungry--Convince me to partake in a dangerous plan under promise of fame and possible riches
Basically it's a little roleplaying prompt that encourages other folks to engage with you. There's a better explanation on the campaign forums if that helps any?
Grizzled -
Stupid like a fox-
Vain -
What do I need to do to get on the Obsidian Portal page and such?
make an OP account, and then click the link on the top post and favorite the campaign and i'll toss you an invite
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
We would be playing via the website roll20
It's got the virtual tabletop and webcam/mic stuff built in. Dice rolls and chat and all are built in so that part is covered. I have PDFs of materials that you'll have access to when/if you decide to join
Character introductions and planning and RSVPing will be done via obsidian portal
We currently have like 20 people? And will pick up to six of them per session to come on an adventure of their choosing from a job board that I will be adding to.
Does that answer things? If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer!
I accidentally created Emma from The Last Remnant.
Oh well.
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
When you have time with a willing or helpless subject you can craft an ethereal tether with them. You perceive what they perceive and can discern realities about someone tethered to you or their surroundings no matter the distance. Someone willingly tethered to you can communicate with you over the tether as if you were in the room with them.
Basically the wizard would have live video feeds for all/some of the people, but everyone else would just have radio contact with the Wizard? (Trust would be a big issue here, who wants to let Big Brother see everything they see?)
At low levels, provides information on if the mission is going sideways, so as to get a rescue mission/body retrieval team sent out right away rather than days later.
Combine it with the 7th level spell Shadow Walk for instant travel to the mission group with backup/body bags.
or with the 9th level spell Perfect Summons to pull one person from the mission group out of danger, or someone not on the mission into it.
But I'm struggling to figure out a backstory and good Flags. I tend to have trouble figuring out character personalities until boots have hit the ground.
For that ethereal tether thing I would probably Houserule it if it wasn't that way already that it would act similarly to an ongoing spell where you could have one tether going at a time. Or maybe establishing others would be increasingly difficult rolls or something. But that's a later level advanced move so we have time to figure that out
The lack of stated limit kinda let my imagination run wild.
In the cold light of day, I'd dare say the second someone became indispensable in a non-combat position such as the envisioned Big Brother, there would be pressure to avoid doing risky things like dungeon delve.
It's probably more of an NPC role than a PC one.