Iron Heroes - Legends of Mitterion OOC thread

IC Thread
Rogue's Gallery


Hi this is my first time GMing a pbp game and since I will be running Iron Heroes in RL soon I thought I would trying setting up a game here.

I have my 4 players and my 2 alts.

The world is one of my own creation which steals a lot of ideas from "Conan's world".
There is very little magic and no standard fantasy races like dwarves, elves or orcs etc.

Starting Level is Level 3. We will be using all of the official errata, The alternative Masterwork system as well as the unofficial Draft Armor Ability Revisions (Direct Link To PDF).

One Exception to the Draft Armor PDF is that: "An Armiger will gain a token whenever your armour absorbs 5 points of damage at once or an attack does not hit you, but would have hit if you hadn't gained an AC bonus from a shield or your active bonus to defense."

Example 1: Bob has an Active Defense Bonus +3 and a total AC of 10+3. A Bandit attacks him and rolls a 12. Bob gets an Armour token.

Example 2: The same bandit again attacks Bob and rolls an 8. Bob does not get an armour token because the attack would not have hit if Bob had lost his active defense.

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Character Creation:

- Standard Ability Score Generation as per the Iron Heroes Rule Book.

- Errata will be used as noted above, also Weapon Masters may declare a group of enemies as the target of their Weapon Pool if they have similar weapons and or tactics. (i.e. a group of 4 bandits all carrying short swords but not 2 bandits with swords and 2 with longbows.)

- Starting Level is 3.

- Speak Language works a bit differently. Basically you can invest up to 4 Skill Points into one Language (Nearly every kingdom or tribe has it's own language). You can also invest points into this skill but not immediately assign them, so as to show you are a quick learner of new languages.
- 1 Point means you can speak and understand the language on a basic level but you have a strong accent and complictaed matters cannot be discussed or understood at all.
- 2 Points means you can discuss pretty much any topic of discussion though very complicated matters might be difficult to understood and you still have a distinct accent.
- 3 Points means you are on the level of a native speaker.
- 4 Points you have an academic understanding of the language and know something about the history of the language itself.
(If the adventure requires a new language I will give you one free point in said language.
Also I will list all of the languages in my second post).

- No Levels in Arcanist or Thief. (Arcanists simply don't exist in my world and I'd rather just not have any Thief PCs. But if you're really desperate about playing a thief ask.)

- All players get 300 gold to buy starting equipment. No piece of equipment may be above Masterwork Level 1.

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Your character does not have to be a goody two shoes LG Character but he should do the "right thing" more often than not and not be a homicidal maniac who kills every innocent person that crosses his path.

I will post more about the background of this world in my next post including a map.

This is a world where people return from the wilds with sacks of gold, telling fantastic stories of strange and deadly creatures and forgotten ruins hidden beneath the earth. Then they blow all of their newly earned riches on women and wine in a single night only to ride out again the next day into the open wild to seek fortune and glory again uncertain if this time they might find their death.

Pirates roam the coasts and strike terror into the hearts of men, while mercenaries sell their swordsd to the kingdom willing to part with the most coins.

The players will play adventurers in this harsh world. People who can never seem to stay in one place too long, those that must travel as much as they must eat or drink. Perhaps they lust for battle and it's deadly dance of steel, it's song of blood and the glory it brings. Others seek great riches and or fame and tell tales of their greatest achievements to whoever will listen.

There will be strange creatures such as giant Ape Men and deadly and gigantic Sand Worms as well as evil sorcerers who must be thwarted but often enough plain old ordinary humans will be your main adversaries.



The adventures will mainly take place on the main continent of Mitterion.
From a standpoint of technology and culture it resembles the late periods of ancient greece and the roman empire in most parts. While in the southwest the desert kingdoms resemble a mix of ancient arabian and indian cultures.
The northern kingdoms of Vanhenia and Istram resemble those of the vikings. While barbarian an nomad tribes roam the Allermerick Highlands, Catum, Simmeria and the Namerian Land in the west.
Stygia is best described as a religious nation ruled by priests and sorcerers. The believe themselves to be the oldest and greatest nation on Mitterion and as such are exceptionally full of themselves.
Ancient Tribes of "Savages" live in the Black Wilds, on the Southern Islands as well as to the far east beyond Simmeria and Catum.

List of Languages and the places where they are spoken:

Common Languages:

Allermerick (West Allermerick Highlands)
Aquilonien (Aquilonia, Nemedia)*
Belatise (Belat)
Bettet (Behirem, Irs)
Brythunien (Brythunia)
Catis (Catum and nothern parts of Simmeria)
Hesterian (Hestra, Matter, Lasat)*
Khat (Khatar)
Namerian (Namerian Lands)
Normenic (Istram, Vanhenia)*
Ostanic (Leitania, Ertomir, Opirem)*
Phyrata (Atria, Kaldomes, Tristra)
Sanquet (East Allermerick Highlands)
Shemit (Shemit)
Simm (Simmeria)
Stygian (Stygia)
Zamorrin (Zamorra)

*Each country has it's own dialect choose one when gaining levels in this language. i.e. Normenic(Istram). Learning to speak a new dialect costs 1 Skill point. You can always understand other dialects.

Uncommon and rare languages:

In order to be able to buy ranks in these languages you must have some background explanation (Frequent Travels or an Academic interest for example) and you must speak at least 3 languages at Level 3 or 2 at Level 4. Each Level in these languages costs 2 skill points.

Khemet (Ancient Language often found in the ruins around Khatar and Shemit)
Omerster (Ancient Language found all over the continent in ancient texts)
Stymian (Ancient version of Stygian with it's own alphabet which is still used by many sorcerers and priests of Stygia)
Netus (Ancient Language found in texts in ruins around Aquilonia, Nemedia and Brythunia)
Ancient Pyratha (Ancient Version of Phyrata found in texts on the Isle Of Phyratus and Irs)*
Loktai (Spoken by the Loktai tribe in the Black Wilds)**
Pathes (Spoken by the Pathes people of the eastern Southern Islands)**
Pioux (Spoken by the Pioux people of the western Southern Islands)**

*If you speak Pyratha at level 4 then each level in Ancient Pyratha costs only 1 skill point instead of 2.

**No written version is known.

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Religion and Gods:

Phanteon of the Isle of Phyratus (Atria, Kaldomes and Tristra):

The main god of the Phyrata Phantheon is Phoitos the god of the sun. He is said to carry a sword made of pure sunlight and a shield in the shape of the moon. He is the god of Justice and the slayer of the evil giants who used to roam Phyratus.
His wife is Hesmelia the goddess of life and fertility. It is said she can take the form of any creature or plant on Aertha.
Politis is Phoitos brother. He is the god of war and destruction and he must be kept in check by his brother lest he destroy the world. He carries a gigantic club that shoots fire with every blow and soldiers and mercenaries often ask him for strength before a great battle.
Other gods of importance include Menithuas the god of thieves, luck and love. Seromen the god of the sea and the winds. And Xeras the god of the underworld who is imagined to be a gigantic floating skull with eyes burning with green flames.
Those who did good in their life will spend eternity in a peaceful paradise which is hidden on an island far to the south. Legends tell of Lexas a great warrior who journeyed their during his lifetime and returned to Phyratus to tell the people about it.
Those who do evil in their life are cursed to live at the center of Aertha of all eternity together with the evil giants Phoitos banished there.

People show their respect to the gods by paying tribute with fruits or vegetables.

Phanteon of the Desert Kingdoms (Khatar, Behirem, Irs, Zamorra, Shemit):

Metra is the main god of the people of the desert kingdoms. He is said to be the creator of all life and also the god of death. People commonly say that the people who have died have been taken by Metra and those that are newly born are given by him. He is portraied as a gigantic man with pure white skin when he is giving life and with black skin when he is taking it.

Kitras is the god of war. He is portraited as a man with four faces and 4 arms. He is said to grant warriors strength and to have given the people the ability to create weapons so he is often also worshipped by blacksmiths especially those that focus on weapon creation.

Lorrimas is the goddess of love and protection and also fertility. She is portraited as a beautiful women shining with light. It is said she blesses women with pregnancy after Metra has decided to create life.

Jesad is the god of thieves. He seldom worshipped in the open and often thieves will spill a little wine in his name while they are celebrating or planning a robbery.

Kumikra is an evil goddess who rules over all creatures with poison such as spiders, scorpions and snakes. Her worship is forbidden as she is the mortal enemy of Metra though in Stygia she is openly worshipped, though there her name is Sitas. Worshippers of Kumikra tend to be trained in the use of poison and often work as assasins. Kumikra demands human sacrifices and often the victims are innocent girls kidnapped from the streets.

Phantheon of Heratus (worshipped in Aquilonia, Nemedia, Brythunia and Belat):

Heratus is the god of war and justice he is portarited as an old man in heavy armour with long flowing white hair. His sword is made from a thunderbolt and his shield is made of wind. Heratus is said to have created Mitterion after killing his evil brother in battle. His brother's name is never spoken and there are no written accounts of it. The scales are his holy symbol and it adornes every courthouse where he is worshipped.

Pelimma is his sister and the goddess of fertility, life and nature.

Quantus is the god of harvest and wine. His symbol is an amphorae filled with fruit and it is often displayed in taverns and the homes of farmers.

Centum is a mischevious trickster and the god of luck. He is often worshipped by thieves and gamblers though all people who worship Heratus thank him if they have a bout of extraordinary luck.

Krom, Bear god of Catum and Simmeria:

Krom is a god who is half man half bear. He said to have given the people of Catum and Simmeria the greatest strength in all of Mitterion. He is not worshipped directly as he despises weakness and ignores all who pray for something from him but he will accept spilled wine and sacrifices of vegetables as gifts.

Yemma is a goddess who takes the form of a beautiful woman and various other forest animals. She is the goddess of fertility and nature but also of war as women in Catum and Simmeria are expected to defend their homes should the men be away.

The Phantheon of Ohdinn the Wolf God (Istram and Vanhenia):

Odhinn is a man of great strength with the head of a wolf. It is said the wolf head can spew forth a jet of ice cold wind that freezes anything it touches. Odhinn grows extremely hungry during the winter and will devour the sun and moon. His son Heimdall creates new ones at the start of spring. (The winters in Vanhenia and Istram are so cold and dark that the sun and moon cannot be seen for months at a time thus giving birth to this legend. They believe that the countries outside of Vanhenia and Istram have their own suns which explains why the sun can be seen in those countries during the winter time.)

Heimdall is the son Odhinn and the god of craft and the earth. His head is that of an Ice Lion (A form of large cat native to the northern mountains) and he is worshipped by blacksmiths and miners.

Fulla is Odhinns wife. She is as tall as her husband though she is completely human and has no animalistic features. She is the goddess of the weather and the winds.

Phanteon of the Coastal Kingdoms (Leitania, Opirem, Ertomir and Hestra):
To come.

Excellent! I've been waiting with baited breath for someone to post a game with Iron Heroes!

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be wanting to submit, but will definitively get something to you before the 30th.

Hi Barak look forward to your submission.
By the way if anyone has any question regarding the world don't hesitate to ask. This thing is a work in progress so any suggestion and ideas are also welcome.

About Character Background:

Your Character should have some reason for joining a caravan going from Aquilonia to the city of Alqat in the north of Shemit.

Good Reasons:

-You have been hired as a mercenary to guard the caravan from Bandit attacks. Perhaps you wanted to return to Shemit or one of it's neighbours for one reason or another or you are simply broke and in desperate need of some gold.

-You have commited a crime in or around Aquilonia and quickly wanted to get away until things blow over.

-You have heard of the frequent pirate attacks that have hit the coastal towns in the southeast of Khatar and Lord Bari Asad in charge of the area is seeking to hire mercenaries to attack thier hide outs on the islands to the south.

Iron Captain said:

Hi Barak look forward to your submission.
By the way if anyone has any question regarding the world don't hesitate to ask. This thing is a work in progress so any suggestion and ideas are also welcome.

About Character Background:

Click to expand...

Oh captain my captain. I've been wanting to join in an IH game for a long time

One question about the Thief: Is your issue with the class or having a shady background?

The main problem I have with the Thief is that the class is usually a very social class that works best in a city setting. But since i wanted to do more exploration of ancient ruins type of style game I just think the Thief would feel a little left out. I actually think the Thief is very cool class but I don't know if it would be right for this game.

As I said if someone really has their heart set on playing one, then I probably won't stop them, but I would limit it to one for the group.

Iron Captain said:

The main problem I have with the Thief is that the class is usually a very social class that works best in a city setting. But since i wanted to do more exploration of ancient ruins type of style game I just think the Thief would feel a little left out. I actually think the Thief is very cool class but I don't know if it would be right for this game.

Click to expand...

Well. I already have a concept for my character, but would appreciate some input for his background. Basically, I have an idea for a kid that grew up in the mean streets of (Insert City Name). Started as a pickpocket, graduated to con-man and slowly has become a gambler. He was caught cheating against the wrong people (Noble son of X, captain of the guard, or soemthing) and had to get out of Dodge, quickly. He's picked up some extra languages along the way from the markets and taverns of (Insert City Name).

With respect to languages, How many language points does someone with a 14 Int start with? 2 or 3?

You gain 3 Language Points in your native tongue and an additional number of points equal to your INT bonus x 2. So someone with an Intelligence of 14 would get an additional 4 Language points. (You can never have negative Language points.)

You can always spend skill points in Speak Language in the regular fashion.

As regards to the City your character might have grown up, Mesentia in Zamorra is also unofficialy called the City of Thieves. So he might have gotten into trouble with one the wealthy merchant's sons and fled to Aquilonia. Now some years have passed and he feels he wants to return to the desert kingdoms maybe even after having gotten into trouble in a big city in Aquilonia such as Aratus which is pretty smack dab in the middle of Aquilonia and one of the most improtant trading cities of the area.

Also for aliases some form of Merchant is probably going to be pretty good fit.

Kemal the Sly

Here's the preliminary stat block for Kemal. I'll be adding a backstory later.



STATBLOCK
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BACKGROUND:
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Unlike many Mesentian beggars, Kemal actually did know his father. The bastard son a fat merchant named Khet, his early years were spent in the relative confort and shelter provided for the merchant’s mistress Afet. A gambler as well as an adulterer, Khet found in his natural son an apt pupil willing to learn the lessons of a life spent in debauchery.
Tragedy struck young Kemal’s life when his father died of a stroke. Not much time after loosing his father, an embittered wife soon had both mistress and 10 year old child begging on the streets. Afet, a sheltered girl for most of her life, died soon after.
Left to survive on the streets of the City of Thieves, young Kemal soon learned the ways of the pickpocket. Possessed of an uncanny speed and natural talent, the young boy soon made a name for himself among the underside of Mesentia. Although quick-witted, Kemal also possessed a reckless streak, which led him to take increasing chances in picking targets. Instead of sticking to foreign traders and local craftsmen, young Khemet began to target other thieves as well. The thrill of stealing from other thieves proved too enticing for him.
As was to be expected, his constant risk taking led him to steal from one thief too many. Caught pilfering from a fence named Bokhut, things soon became too hot in Zamora for the 16 year old lad. Forced to leave the city, he joined a trading caravan traveling to Aquilonia as a cook. Befriending several of the guards, Kemal soon learned the intricacies of knife fighting, especially knife-throwing. Along the way he also perfected his gambling, a skill first learnt at his father’s knee.
Aquilonia proved profitable for a more experienced Kemal. Although skilled as a gambler, a dissolute lifestyle and his reckless streak soon led to cheating at the tables to nudge the odds in his favor. Forced to leave town after town one step ahead of the law, Kemal finally arrived at Aratus. Promising himself to act with more restraint, the pickpocket turned gambler was able to make a name as a good high stakes gambler. Surprisingly, Kemal was able to remain in Aratus for a couple of years.
Alas, his self restraint lasted until one fateful night, in which he found himself playing for the highest stakes in his life. For hours he played against a group of young Aquilonian noblemen. Although not possessed of many scruples, Kemal had developed protectiveness for young women. When one of the fop’s began abusing one of the wenches, a foolish Kemal struck the nobleman. Infuriated by this affront to his dignity, the drunken lout drew steel against the Zamoran. A knifethrow later, Kemal found himself over a dead body while resounding shouts of murder rang through the night. Once again, the gambler was forced to flee, although this time with a bounty over his head.
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APPEARANCE:

Dark of eye and hair, Kemal has a rakish air about him. Posessed of a lithe build, he moves with uncanny grace and quickness. With a bandolier of knives across his chest, it is clear what weapon this lad favors. Although not the tallest or strongest, it seems that he is quite capable of taking care of himself.


A note about names: I went with turkish names for Zamora. If you would rather I went with something else I have no problem changing it.

EDIT: Removed the quarterstaff and added a light x-bow. I also changed the Deadeye Shot to Armor Piercing Shot.

Hmm. Just a quick question.

I'm sorta considering an armiger, at this point. If I do, would I be able to consider having crafted my own armor, reducing the cost in consequence?