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[Interest Check][Retroclone PBP] Murderous Monastery of the Miser Monks of Morn
zenpotato
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Before anything else, read this PDF: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/quick-primer-for-old-school-gaming/3019374
Interested in playing an old school D&D retroclone?
The Primer describes how I'm going to run this game. If those concepts don't interest you, this game probably won't either. But if they do, then let's experiment with some old school gaming.
Posting: This is going to be a normal play by post game. I expect people to be able to post once a day or so. It's no big deal if you miss a day, especially if you post according to some guidelines I'll set out later when it comes to things like combat. I'm a grown-up with a day job too, so as long as you're willing to cut me some slack if I miss the occasional day, I'm willing to do the same for you. If I'm going to be gone or unavailable for a few days or the odd weekend here and there, I'll be sure to let everyone know.
Dicerolling: I don't really care what you use for dicerolling. In this game, single rolls can often mean the life or death of your character. Still, I'm just going to trust the players and ask they do the same for me. If we can't trust each other to stick to the rules, as far as I'm concerned we shouldn't be playing together. If I think this is getting abused, I may switch to Invisible Castle or something. Let's just skip that and make it easier on everyone though, okay? Honesty makes your successes so much sweeter, and your defeats not your fault.
Rules: The game will be played using the Sword and Wizardry Core Rules, produced by Mythmere Games ( http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/ ) available as a free (legal) PDF here: http://www.lulu.com/content/6374501
Roll your stats (6 3d6, your stats in order, as described in the rulebook), then choose a class. If your stats suck, that's okay.
We'll be using the Ascending Armor Class (AAC) option described in the rules, since it actually makes sense.
I don't really like it, but we'll go with the Elf as written for this game.
No other rules clarifications/adjustments pop to mind, but I'm sure they'll come along. Refereeing in this game will be about rulings, not rules, so I'll handle things as they come up.
This is a sandbox game. That means there isn't a story your characters are involved in (unless you want to make one). You do stuff wherever you feel like doing stuff. That said, I'm starting you out right in front of a dungeon in a vaguely defined region known as the Crooked Coast. Explore/conquer/pillage the region however you like.
That said, try not to split up too much. Keeping track of time in these old school games is kind of a pain in the ass, but I plan on doing it. If half the party wants to travel a week to the nearest large city, and the other half keeps exploring the dungeon, that means that I need to work out a way to sync things up again. And that is boring and sucky and not very easy to do in a PBP game. So, it's not against the rules or anything, just be consciensious of your fellow players (and suffering DM) when you decide to do solo/split party stuff.
Applications: This is a bit of a departure for me too, so let's try this out and see what the grognards are always going on about. Who's interested? If there are enough people, I'll post an application of sorts to help me pick the grognardiest amongst you.
The Setting
The monastery at Morn, home of the once legendary, now forgotten, Miser Monks of Morn and their rumored treasure hordes, and after them, bands of holy knights of the Third Crusade against the monotheists of the Southlands, now stands in ruins atop the cliffsides of the Crooked Coast.
The old Crusader's Road, once a paved highway that brought divine justice to the heretical rantings of the Southlander infidels, is now a rocky dirt path used by the occasional brave merchant and hapless peasant. Trade is conducted primarily by sea ever since the pirates of Trusk were smashed by the dying gasps of the Seventh, and most recent, Crusade. In the intervening century, the road has become a shadow of its former glory, just like the monastery at Morn.
The gods to which the monastery and its inhabitants have been consecrated to are many, some lost to legend, others remembered by rumor. One thing upon which all legends agree is that the monastery was a repository for wealth. First by the legendary Miser Monks, who worshiped the divine by hording earthly goods. Later, the monastery served as a safehouse and storage place for the vast amounts of treasures pillaged from the Southlands by various orders of crusader knights.
You, along with your fellow adventurers, can see what remains of it as you stop at the long unused road that leads to its entrance. Where the ancient path splits away from the Crusader's Road, a small toppled shrine sits, marking the way for pilgrims. The high walls of the abbey, and its imposing gatehouse, are all that can be seen from your vantage point. Rumors about what might be contained within those ruins have brought you and your fellows together. Tales of treasure, and danger, beckon.
You have traveled a week from the small city-state of Pleck, northwest along the now untraveled Crusader's Road. Two days further down this path lies the town of Gillard, one of the few outposts of civilization to survive the drought of crusader's plundered coins. There you might find solace, allies, and a place of rest and recovery.
And so begins the adventure of the Murderous Monastery of the Miser Monks of Morn!
Interested in playing an old school D&D retroclone?
The Primer describes how I'm going to run this game. If those concepts don't interest you, this game probably won't either. But if they do, then let's experiment with some old school gaming.
Posting: This is going to be a normal play by post game. I expect people to be able to post once a day or so. It's no big deal if you miss a day, especially if you post according to some guidelines I'll set out later when it comes to things like combat. I'm a grown-up with a day job too, so as long as you're willing to cut me some slack if I miss the occasional day, I'm willing to do the same for you. If I'm going to be gone or unavailable for a few days or the odd weekend here and there, I'll be sure to let everyone know.
Dicerolling: I don't really care what you use for dicerolling. In this game, single rolls can often mean the life or death of your character. Still, I'm just going to trust the players and ask they do the same for me. If we can't trust each other to stick to the rules, as far as I'm concerned we shouldn't be playing together. If I think this is getting abused, I may switch to Invisible Castle or something. Let's just skip that and make it easier on everyone though, okay? Honesty makes your successes so much sweeter, and your defeats not your fault.
Rules: The game will be played using the Sword and Wizardry Core Rules, produced by Mythmere Games ( http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/ ) available as a free (legal) PDF here: http://www.lulu.com/content/6374501
Roll your stats (6 3d6, your stats in order, as described in the rulebook), then choose a class. If your stats suck, that's okay.
We'll be using the Ascending Armor Class (AAC) option described in the rules, since it actually makes sense.
I don't really like it, but we'll go with the Elf as written for this game.
No other rules clarifications/adjustments pop to mind, but I'm sure they'll come along. Refereeing in this game will be about rulings, not rules, so I'll handle things as they come up.
This is a sandbox game. That means there isn't a story your characters are involved in (unless you want to make one). You do stuff wherever you feel like doing stuff. That said, I'm starting you out right in front of a dungeon in a vaguely defined region known as the Crooked Coast. Explore/conquer/pillage the region however you like.
That said, try not to split up too much. Keeping track of time in these old school games is kind of a pain in the ass, but I plan on doing it. If half the party wants to travel a week to the nearest large city, and the other half keeps exploring the dungeon, that means that I need to work out a way to sync things up again. And that is boring and sucky and not very easy to do in a PBP game. So, it's not against the rules or anything, just be consciensious of your fellow players (and suffering DM) when you decide to do solo/split party stuff.
Applications: This is a bit of a departure for me too, so let's try this out and see what the grognards are always going on about. Who's interested? If there are enough people, I'll post an application of sorts to help me pick the grognardiest amongst you.
The Setting
The monastery at Morn, home of the once legendary, now forgotten, Miser Monks of Morn and their rumored treasure hordes, and after them, bands of holy knights of the Third Crusade against the monotheists of the Southlands, now stands in ruins atop the cliffsides of the Crooked Coast.
The old Crusader's Road, once a paved highway that brought divine justice to the heretical rantings of the Southlander infidels, is now a rocky dirt path used by the occasional brave merchant and hapless peasant. Trade is conducted primarily by sea ever since the pirates of Trusk were smashed by the dying gasps of the Seventh, and most recent, Crusade. In the intervening century, the road has become a shadow of its former glory, just like the monastery at Morn.
The gods to which the monastery and its inhabitants have been consecrated to are many, some lost to legend, others remembered by rumor. One thing upon which all legends agree is that the monastery was a repository for wealth. First by the legendary Miser Monks, who worshiped the divine by hording earthly goods. Later, the monastery served as a safehouse and storage place for the vast amounts of treasures pillaged from the Southlands by various orders of crusader knights.
You, along with your fellow adventurers, can see what remains of it as you stop at the long unused road that leads to its entrance. Where the ancient path splits away from the Crusader's Road, a small toppled shrine sits, marking the way for pilgrims. The high walls of the abbey, and its imposing gatehouse, are all that can be seen from your vantage point. Rumors about what might be contained within those ruins have brought you and your fellows together. Tales of treasure, and danger, beckon.
You have traveled a week from the small city-state of Pleck, northwest along the now untraveled Crusader's Road. Two days further down this path lies the town of Gillard, one of the few outposts of civilization to survive the drought of crusader's plundered coins. There you might find solace, allies, and a place of rest and recovery.
And so begins the adventure of the Murderous Monastery of the Miser Monks of Morn!
zenpotato on
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I don't have much grognard experience, but I could easily learn and fake it.
On the one hand, being very careful and poking everything with a 10' pole is a hallmark of old school play. Players would be well advised to explore with such care in the Monastery. At the same time, waiting for a reply back from me after you poke everything with a stick or roll a marble down a hall would drag the game down immensely.
So, I'll ask that you make posts like so:
This one post, presumably from the group's "leader", eliminates the need for everyone to post and check in. Everyone is still welcome to, especially if they have something in particular they want to do, but by providing a bunch of conditions from one leader (who would naturally have to be selected by the group and communicate with everyone) really helps this style of play work well.
Naturally, whenever anything happens, control is immediately thrown back to players if there isn't a given condition to cover it.
A similar post style is useful in combat. Here's Carlos the dwarf, in combat with 2 goblins:
That's a pretty lame one, but you get the idea. If you can forecast your actions a round or two ahead, or give me some triggers for future actions, old school combats can move much quicker. Granted, this might take away from some of the freeform emergent gameplay. I'd encourage you to focus on being creative and fun first, forecasting second. Let's see what works best and is the most fun.
EDIT - Is there a reason why there is no listing for the Human race, and why there's not much info on the Halfling? It feels to me like some things are missing.