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[pbp] A land of Shadow and Madness (Dungeon World)
Neaden
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Eleusis, the island of Shadow and Madness; where wolves speak in the voices of men and the undead haunt the woods. It is a dangerous land, where magic infuses the very air, a path is never guaranteed to take you to the same destination twice, and the towns and villages need strong walls to protect them during the long nights. The length of the seasons, and even the length of the day is unpredictable there and it is said that the land’s corrupt nobility make deals with the Devils for long life and power. And it is the land where you find yourselves now, on the road to the capital city of Kore and about to arrive in the village of Elefsina.
Recruitment: I’m looking for 4(ish) players for a pbp Dungeon World dark fantasy/gothic/horror focused game. If you are not familiar with Dungeon World that is ok, the rules can be found at http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/. Any of the basic classes are acceptable; any classes from supplements have to be OKed on a case by case basis.
Setting: Eleusis is a harsh and unforgiving place. But it is also across the sea from the Empire of Gold and their Book of The Thousand Righteous Laws. It is a land where you can still seek your fortune, study magic without a license, worship the god of your choice, or evade an arrest warrant.
Eleusis is inspired by Ravenloft and the Shadowfell from D&D. Unlike them, it is a place in the physical world, an island about the size of Ireland north of the main continent in the setting. Like Ravenloft and the Shadowfell it is otherworldly, distance and time don’t always work like they should. It draws on the horror traditions, but is still a place of adventure where a hero can make a difference while trying to strike it rich. Just make sure to lock your doors at night and watch out for vampires!
Recruitment: I’m looking for 4(ish) players for a pbp Dungeon World dark fantasy/gothic/horror focused game. If you are not familiar with Dungeon World that is ok, the rules can be found at http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/. Any of the basic classes are acceptable; any classes from supplements have to be OKed on a case by case basis.
Setting: Eleusis is a harsh and unforgiving place. But it is also across the sea from the Empire of Gold and their Book of The Thousand Righteous Laws. It is a land where you can still seek your fortune, study magic without a license, worship the god of your choice, or evade an arrest warrant.
Eleusis is inspired by Ravenloft and the Shadowfell from D&D. Unlike them, it is a place in the physical world, an island about the size of Ireland north of the main continent in the setting. Like Ravenloft and the Shadowfell it is otherworldly, distance and time don’t always work like they should. It draws on the horror traditions, but is still a place of adventure where a hero can make a difference while trying to strike it rich. Just make sure to lock your doors at night and watch out for vampires!
+1
Posts
PSN: TheBrayster_92
One question before I do anything though, there are various points in the guide where it specifically states that you need to pick one specific option from a list.
That's fine mechanics wise, but what about flavor stuff, like Character Name? It says pick one from the list, but I assume they should be examples and we can name ourselves anything?
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Also I think this guide is pretty handy at explaining some of the things DW does differently than most rpgs. http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=4996.0
Haunted Eyes, Styled Hair, Worn Robes, Thin Body
Stats
09 STR (+0)
13 DEX (+1)
12 CON (+0)
16 INT (+2)
15 WIS (+1)
08 CHA (-1)
Damage d4 | Armor 0 | HP 16/16
Level 1 [3/8 XP]
Alignment: Neutral - Discover something about a magical mystery.
Race: Human - Choose one cleric spell. You can cast it as if it was a wizard spell. (Speak With The Dead)
Bonds
Rurik will play an important role in the events to come. I have foreseen it!
Obelin is keeping an important secret from me.
Freya is woefully misinformed about the world; I will teach them all that I can.
Prepared Spells
Cantrips: Light / Unseen Servant / Prestidigitation
Level 1: Magic Missile / Speak With The Dead
Moves
You have mastered several spells and inscribed them in your spellbook. You start out with three first level spells
in your spellbook as well as the cantrips. Whenever you gain a level, you add a new spell of your level or lower to
your spellbook. You spellbook is 1 weight.
Cantrips: Light, Unseen Servant, Prestidigitation
Level 1: Charm Person, Magic Missile, Alarm, Speak With The Dead
Prepare Spells
When you spend uninterrupted time (an hour or so) in quiet contemplation of your spellbook, you:
Lose any spells you already have prepared
Prepare new spells of your choice from your spellbook whose total levels don’t exceed your own level+1.
Prepare your cantrips which never count against your limit.
Cast a Spell (Int)
When you release a spell you’ve prepared, roll+Int.
✴On a 10+, the spell is successfully cast and you do not forget the spell—you may cast it again later.
✴On a 7-9, the spell is cast, but choose one:
You draw unwelcome attention or put yourself in a spot. The GM will tell you how.
The spell disturbs the fabric of reality as it is cast—take -1 ongoing to cast a spell until the next time you Prepare Spells.
After it is cast, the spell is forgotten. You cannot cast the spell again until you prepare spells.
Note that maintaining spells with ongoing effects will sometimes cause a penalty to your roll to cast a spell.
Spell Defense
You may end any ongoing spell immediately and use the energy of its dissipation to deflect an oncoming attack. The spell
ends and you subtract its level from the damage done to you.
Ritual
When you draw on a place of power to create a magical effect, tell the GM what you’re trying to achieve. Ritual effects
are always possible, but the GM will give you one to four of the following conditions:
It’s going to take days/weeks/months
First you must ____
You’ll need help from ____
It will require a lot of money
The best you can do is a lesser version, unreliable and limited
You and your allies will risk danger from ____
You’ll have to disenchant ____ to do it
Gear [Load 5/7]
spellbook (1 weight)
dagger (hand, 1 weight)
dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight)
bag of books (3 uses, 2 weight)
3 healing potions (0 weight)
3 antitoxins (0 weight)
1 coins
sapphire (~80 coins)
Background
to answer for the sins of
apostasy [ch.1:76], dereliction of duty [ch.4:95], practice of unlicensed spell-craft [ch.9:19],
and theft of ritual knowledge granted by the Seventeen Nameless Divines [ch.10:1]
Ovis Hale, renounced Low Acolyte of the Lady of Final Measure
Empire of Gold, Aurous City, the Temple of Debts and Death,
in the Year 559 of Harvest, as writ by the Book of The Thousand Righteous Laws
Name: Rurik Dunkeld
Class: Warrior
Race: Dwarf
Background: House Dunkeld was once a prominent family in the Ancient Dwarven City-State of Halmarr, with several notable ancestors serving notable positions in the military, stopping the surge of elementals from below the depths, spreading to the surface. This changed many years ago, House Dunkeld is exiled to the surface, and Rurik is the only known remaining member of the House.
Rurik has spent most of his known life travelling place to place, taking up contracts with various mercenary companies and city guardsmanships, with his trusty great-axe Sofia at his side.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Race: Dwarf
Hard eyes, Battered Helm, Scarred Skin, Built body.
NEUTRAL - Defeat a worthy enemy.
Image and Background
House Dunkeld was once a prominent family in the Ancient Dwarven City-State of Halmarr, with several notable ancestors serving notable positions in the military, stopping the surge of elementals from below the depths, spreading to the surface. This changed many years ago, House Dunkeld is exiled to the surface, and Rurik is the only known remaining member of the House.
Rurik has spent most of his known life travelling place to place, taking up contracts with various mercenary companies and city guardsmanships, with his trusty great-axe Sofia at his side.
Stats:
Strength: 16 (+2)
Dexterity: 12 (+0)
Constitution: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 9 (+0)
Wisdom: 8 (-1)
Charisma: 13 (+1)
Max HP: 25
Armor: 2
Base damage: d10
Moves:
Bend Bars, Lift Gates
When you use pure strength to destroy an inanimate obstacle, roll+Str.
✴ On a 10+, choose 3.
✴ On a 7-9 choose 2.
• It doesn’t take a very long time
• Nothing of value is damaged
• It doesn’t make an inordinate amount of noise
• You can fix the thing again without a lot of effort
Armored
You ignore the clumsy tag on armor you wear
Signature Weapon:
"Sofia" - Axe (+2 Weight)
Range: Close
Enhancements:
Sharp (+ 2 Piercing)
Glows in the presence of Elementals.
Look: Ornate
Gear:
"Sofia" - (+2 weight)
Dungeon rations (5/5, + 1 Weight)
Scale Armor (2 Armor, +3 weight)
2 Healing Potions
22 coins.
Overall Weight (6/14)
Bonds
Fill in the name of one of your companions in at least one:
Rook owes me their life, whether they admit it or not.
I have sworn to protect Freya
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Wild Eyes, Messy Hair, Weathered Hides
Tell: Wolf's Yellow Eyes
Human
Base Stats
STR: 13 (+1)
DEX: 9 (+0)
CON: 15 (+1)
INT: 12 (+0)
WIS: 16 (+2)
CHA: 8 (-1)
Your maximum HP is 6+Constitution.
HP: 19/21
Armor: 1
XP: 1
Your base damage is d6.
Moves
As your people learned to bind animals to field and farm, so too are you bound to them. You may always take the shape of any domesticated animal, in addition to your normal options.
Born of the Soil
You learned your magic in a place whose spirits are strong and ancient and they’ve marked you as one of their own. No matter where you go, they live within you and allow you to take their shape. Choose one of the following. It is the land to which you are attuned—when shapeshifting you may take the shape of any animal who might live in your Land.
The Great Forests
Chose a tell—a physical attribute that marks you as born of the soil—that reflects the spirit of your land. It may be an animal feature like antlers or leopard’s spots or something more general: hair like leaves or eyes of glittering crystal. Your tell remains no matter what shape you take.
By Nature Sustained
You don’t need to eat or drink. If a move tells you to mark off a ration just ignore it.
Spirit Tongue
The grunts, barks, chirps, and calls of the creatures of the wild are as language to you. You can understand any animal native to your land or akin to one whose essence you have studied.
Shapeshifter
When you call upon the spirits to change your shape, roll+Wis.
✴ On a 10+ hold 3.
✴ On a 7–9 hold 2.
✴ On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.
You may take on the physical form of any species whose essence you have studied or who lives in your land: you and your possessions meld into a perfect copy of the species’ form. You have any innate abilities and weaknesses of the form: claws, wings, gills, breathing water instead of air. You still use your normal stats but some moves may be harder to trigger—a housecat will find it hard to do battle with an ogre. The GM will also tell you one or more moves associated with your new form. Spend 1 hold to make that move. Once you’re out of hold, you return to your natural form. At any time, you may spend all your hold and revert to your natural form.
Studied Essence
When you spend time in contemplation of an animal spirit, you may add its species to those you can assume using shapeshifting.
Choose an alignment:
Neutral
Eliminate an unnatural menace.
Gear
Your load is 6+Str. You carry some token of your land, describe it.
A necklace of braided vines.
Choose your defenses:
Hide armor (1 armor, 1 weight)
Choose your armament:
Staff (close, two-handed, 1 weight)
Choose one:
Poultices and herbs (2 uses, 1 weight)
Bonds
Fill in the name of one of your companions in at least one:
Ovis smells more like prey than a hunter.
The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Rurik.
I have showed ________________ a secret rite of the Land.
___________ has tasted my blood and I theirs. We are bound by it.
Inventory:
Great Forest Necklace
Hide armor
Staff
Poultices and herbs
PSN: Boozer_777
Kind Eyes, Strange Hair, Habit, Thin Body
Image & Background
The Sign of the Anvil
Stats
15 STR (+1)
12 DEX (+0)
13 CON (+1)
08 INT (-1)
16 WIS (+2)
09 CHA (+0)
Damage d6 | Armor 1 | HP 21/21
Level 1 [6/8 XP]
Alignment: Good - Endanger yourself to heal another.
Race: Dwarf - You are one with stone. When you commune you are also granted a special version of Words of the Unspeaking as a rote which only works on stone.
Deity: The Forge - Healing and Restoration. Your religion preaches the sanctity of suffering, add Petition: Suffering.
Bonds
Ovis has insulted my deity; I do not trust them.
Obelin is a good and faithful person; I trust them implicitly.
Rook is in constant danger, I will keep them safe.
I am working on converting Rurik to my faith.
Rotes: Words of the Unspeaking (stone), Light, Sanctify, Guidance
Prepared Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Bless
Gear [Load 4/11]
Coin: 3
Anvil Talisman (0 weight)
Dungeon rations (5 uses, 1 weight)
Shield (+1 armor, 2 weight)
Warhammer (close, 1 weight)
Healing Potion (0 weight)
Moves
Turn Undead - When you hold your holy symbol aloft and call on your deity for protection, roll+Wis.
✴On a 7+, so long as you continue to pray and brandish your holy symbol, no undead may come within reach of you.
✴On a 10+, you also momentarily daze intelligent undead and cause mindless undead to flee. Aggression breaks the effects and they are able to act as normal. Intelligent undead may still find ways to harry you from afar. They’re clever like that.
Commune - When you spend uninterrupted time (an hour or so) in quiet communion with your deity, you:
Lose any spells already granted to you.
Are granted new spells of your choice whose total levels don’t exceed your own level+1, and none of which is a higher level than your own level.
Prepare all of your rotes, which never count against your limit.
Cast a Spell - When you unleash a spell granted to you by your deity, roll+Wis.
✴On a 10+, the spell is successfully cast and your deity does not revoke the spell, so you may cast it again.
✴On a 7–9, the spell is cast, but choose one:
You draw unwelcome attention or put yourself in a spot. The GM will tell you how.
Your casting distances you from your deity—take -1 ongoing to cast a spell until the next time you commune.
After you cast it, the spell is revoked by your deity. You cannot cast the spell again until you commune and have it granted to you.
Note that maintaining spells with ongoing effects will sometimes cause a penalty to your roll to cast a spell.
PSN: Boozer_777
That being said, @Boozer , I guess if Freya has a Bond with Rurik in the form of trying to convert him, than I guess it would make sense to make one of my bonds 'I have sworn to protect Freya'
Freya is both a fellow Dwarf and a Devotee of Dwarven gods to boot. It is practically an unwritten code of honor for Rurik to swear for her protection outright, even if he himself isn't particularly pious.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
edit - added a short background to my char post
PSN: Boozer_777
With that I'm also going to say 5 players is enough and close recruitment.
In terms of background feel free to write as much or little as you wish. In my experience DW handles low background characters well since you can declare detail during play.
I'll go ahead and write something up in a few hours once I'm home from work.
I know I personally like to get a good grip beforehand.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Image and Background
Class- Thief
Race- Halfling
Look- Shifty Eyes, Messy Hair, Dark Clothes, Lithe Body
Abilities:
Strength- 8
Dexterity- 16
Constitution- 9
Intelligence- 12
Wisdom- 13
Charisma- 15
HP- 15
Damage- 1d8
Starting Moves:
Halfling- +2 Damage with Ranged Weapons
Trap Expert
Tricks of the Trade
Backstab
Flexible Morals
Poisoner
Alignment- Neutral
Gear (Load- 17):
Dungeon Rations- 5 Uses, 1 Weight
Leather Armor- 1 Armor, 1 Weight
Goldenroot- 3 Uses
Rapier- Close, Precise, 1 Weight
3 Throwing Daggers- 0 Weight
Adventuring Gear- 1 Weight
10 Coins
Bonds:
I stole something from Freya.
Rurik has my back when things go wrong.
Ovis and I have a con running.
Oh sorry about that! Background is cool, but I know that some people don't really like writing it so it is not required. I think an advantage of Dungeon World is that it works well both with incorporating peoples background in play, or writing your background as the game happens.
The Dungeon World Bundle looks good, but just so you guys know I might be using some elements from the Ghostwood Haunts adventure, so try to resist reading that one if you buy it.
Finally a question for you guys. Would you want to continue to use this thread, or for me to create a separate IC thread and use this one as the OOC thread? I'm fine with combining the two and using spoiler boxes but don't care strongly either way.
Rook owes me their life, whether they admit it or not.
I have sworn to protect Freya
The other two bonds provided for the Fighter, I'm not entirely sure how I can make them make sense so I guess I'll just roll with the two bonds for now and establish others later.
I am a fan of simply sticking OOC chat in spoilers, but I'm not necessarily against the idea of a separate thread either.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
PSN: Boozer_777
Edit- I updated my sheet with a little backstory. Kept things minimalist, but we'll find out more in game, I'm sure.
I ended up picking this up, so much to delicious pdf to read. :biggrin:
PSN: Boozer_777
Toolbooths are a common site near village in Eleusius. This one, like most, is staffed by men wearing the uniform of some local lord. Unlike the majority of the tollbooths you have seen however, the 4 men staffing this one are distinctly dead, each of them has has a distinctly fatal somewhere on their body and their uniforms are dirty and ragged. Unfortunately their weapons look sharp enough.
There are four of them, two have a sword and shield, a third holds a spear and a forth grabs a bow. One of the two with a sword and shield, barks out a quick command. "Kill them all, make sure not to damage the human's bodies too much, they'll make fine recruits."
"Hold up boys, how about we talk to each other before we do something we might regreat".
Ruriks voice turns to more of a growl.
"Otherwise give me your names, the Rite of the Dead is still important even for the lowest of beings"
PSN: TheBrayster_92
"Ironbeard, I don't think those fellas are looking for conversation..."
Rook then steps slightly behind Rurik and draws one of his throwing daggers.
Her free hand drawing the Sign of the Anvil in the air, the Cleric raises her voice in prayer. “Forge, sharpen this warrior's axe, that we may send these soulless mockeries back to the Anvil!”
The Sister then draws her warhammer, in preparation for the battle to come.
Geth roll 2d6+2 for casting Bless on Rurik
edit - yeesh, well I guess marking xp is nice
PSN: Boozer_777
The wizard's eyes flit up from a tattered copy of Fischer's Malady Reference: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncommon Diseases, Poisons, Curses, and Ailments to observe the advancing guardsmen. With a heavy sigh at the sheer inconvenience, Ovis returns his attention to the tome, finishing up the last of a paragraph (typical symptoms of mycological petrification) before slipping a silk ribbon bookmark into place and stowing the book away.
Ovis stood a good yard or two behind the group, keeping the armored dwarves and their weapons between he and the advancing undead. Freya's divine plea earns a hearty eye-roll and click of the tongue from the reformed acolyte -- faith or no, verbal incantations were always less subtle than practiced somatic spellcraft. His fingers twirl in measured rhythm, hand held low at side. When the arcane current grows strong enough, Ovis takes aim and launches a luminescent missile at the undead archer.
PSN: Boozer_777
"Something I said?" she quips.
PSN: Boozer_777