[OOC] Underdogs [a core dnd game][4/4]

--- CONTENTS ---

Post #1 - Prologue
Post #2 - Character Generation
Post #3 - The Setting -

--- PROLOGUE ---

-- Meta-view --

This will be a simple game. Mechanically simple. Core (SRD) material only. With one exception (see below), I'm going to try and restrain my desire to tinker with the rules. And conceptually simple. While the setting is a home-brew, it is fairly conventional; your standard vanilla medieval fantasy world. The first few episodes will be more like one shots. From there we will see how we are travelling.

The characters are all grell (half-orcs) from the settlement of Horak-krel. With a little luck, they these should be 'interesting times'. There are 4 slots available. Further details about the setting and character generation can be found below.

-- The GM --

I tend to play a little fast and loose with the rules. Rules are important, they keep the world consistent. But they should remain in the background. For me, the story, the adventure is the main thing. I don't want to get bogged down with mechanical minutiae. Its fine for miniature gaming. But this is a role play game, a theatre of the mind.

Ideally I am looking for players interested in contributing to the development of the setting. The setting is still very much just a rough outline, there are plenty of gaps. Some people are naturally talented at creating settings, I am not one of them. I work best when I have a whole bunch of ideas thrown at me. The end product, I have found, is both more diverse and dynamic.

-- The Players --

covaithe playing Assaq, male grell Ranger 4.
DEFCON1 playing Mogro, male grell Fighter 4.
Autumn playing Ershe, male grell Druid 4
* NPC from Oct. 2007 as Autumn is taking breather
Voda Vosa playing Adokul, male grell Rogue 4
* Created by Zadam who went MIA July 2007

[as at 31 July 2007]

-- The Exception --

The d20 combat rules drive me nuts. I find it all so counter intuitive. Instead we will be using Ken Hood's Grim and Gritty Revised Combat Rules. They just make more sense. And they are more interesting. Here is a copy of the GnG rules. It's about 3 pages. You don't need to be intimately familier with the rules, but it is probably a good idea if you read them over at least once.

doghead
aka thotd

--- CHARACTER GENERATION ---

Underdogs is a half-orc (called grell in this setting) game. The initial characters are all grell from Horak-krel. As a rough guide, and in military terms, I peg new recruits at 1st, ordinary soldiers at about third, veterans at about 6th. Soldiers starting to gain legendary status would be about 9th level.

Classes in rough order of suitability:
* fighter, ranger, barbarian, druid, rogue.
* bard, monk.
* cleric, wizard, sorcerer.
* paladin
Its not that grell can't be clerics, its just that few chose to. Even fewer chose to practice the arcane arts. As for paladins, they are usually the product of the human religions. More often than not they are the sons of the elite, third children who tradition has forced to join the church but who have no taste for a clerical life. Monks will not be the traditional eastern monk, although the mechanics will be the same. The one exception will be the 'monks weapons', which will be discarded in favour of something more setting appropriate. So none of the lower ranked classes are outside the bounds of possibility. They will just require a little more discussion to make happen.

There are four slots in the game. Acceptance is based on completed characters rather than expressions of interest.

To start, I would like to see a concept, the usual stuff - background, description and personality. A paragraph or three will be enough. Once we have that, then we can move on to the mechanics.

-- Mechanics --

Level 4, 32 point buy.
Starting wealth of about 5000 gold in goods. Pick something snazzy. Don't worry too much about mundane gear unless your character wants their own personal item or set. Your characters will have access to the resources of their Fall and Krel depending on the circumstances.

One thing, plate armour is the province of the nobility.

-- Skills --
I'm not that fussed about class/x-class distinction. If it fits your character's background, take the skill.

Spot and Listen are combined into Perception, Hide and MS are combined into Stealth.

Characters can take an extra 2 skill points per level. That means 8 points at first, and 2 points per level thereafter. You will need them. Keep reading.

I would like the characters to have some means of contributing to the Fall or earning a living when away from it besides 'adventuring'. A Craft or Profession skill, Handle Animal - whatever you think could be used to earn a few coin. Unskilled labouring is an option, but the wages are terrible.

- Languages -

The dominant tongue in Hella is Dornish. It is also the native tongue of a couple of neighbouring kingdoms. The grell have their own language, called Grell. There is no Common as such. If there is a common tongue, it would be Trader, a blend of the vocabulary and syntax from a number of languages. Jiddian, the language of the mighty Jidda Empire, is the common language of art, learning and diplomacy. The nobility speak it almost exclusively across most of the land.

All characters start with Speak Grell. They may take Write Grell for one point. Speak Dornish and Speak Trader can be taken for one point each. There is no written from of Trader. Otherwise, languages cost 2 points, with Speak and Write separate skills.

--- PLAYER INPUT ---

As part of the character generation process, I'm asking players for their input. Here are the first three 'questions':

1) Tell me something about the Kingdom - the royal family, the capitol city, the treatment of the minorities, the architecture. Something like that. Whatever takes your fancy.
2) Tell me something about Horak-krel or grell society in general.
3) Tell me something about your character's Fall.

Click to expand...

OK. Gramatically, they are not questions. You don't have to write an essay, although you can if you really really feel like it. I'll take what you post and work it into the setting information above.

Here are the second three questions:

1) What sort of adventures (for want of a better term) would you like to have?
2) What does your character dream of doing with his life?
3) Describe the 'perfect death' for your character.

Click to expand...

doghead
aka thotd

--- CHARACTER GENERATION ---

Underdogs is a half-orc (called grell in this setting) game. The initial characters are all grell from Horak-krel. As a rough guide, and in military terms, I peg new recruits at 1st, ordinary soldiers at about third, veterans at about 6th. Soldiers starting to gain legendary status would be about 9th level.

Classes in rough order of suitability:
* fighter, ranger, barbarian, druid, rogue.
* bard, monk.
* cleric, wizard, sorcerer.
* paladin
Its not that grell can't be clerics, its just that few chose to. Even fewer chose to practice the arcane arts. As for paladins, they are usually the product of the human religions. More often than not they are the sons of the elite, third children who tradition has forced to join the church but who have no taste for a clerical life. Monks will not be the traditional eastern monk, although the mechanics will be the same. The one exception will be the 'monks weapons', which will be discarded in favour of something more setting appropriate. So none of the lower ranked classes are outside the bounds of possibility. They will just require a little more discussion to make happen.

There are four slots in the game. Acceptance is based on completed characters rather than expressions of interest.

To start, I would like to see a concept, the usual stuff - background, description and personality. A paragraph or three will be enough. Once we have that, then we can move on to the mechanics.

-- Mechanics --

Level 4, 32 point buy.
Starting wealth of about 5000 gold in goods. Pick something snazzy. Don't worry too much about mundane gear unless your character wants their own personal item or set. Your characters will have access to the resources of their Fall and Krel depending on the circumstances.

One thing, plate armour is the province of the nobility.

- Skills -

I'm not that fussed about class/x-class distinction. If it fits your character's background, take the skill.

Spot and Listen are combined into Perception, Hide and MS are combined into Stealth.

Characters can take an extra 2 skill points per level. That means 8 points at first, and 2 points per level thereafter. You will need them. Keep reading.

I would like the characters to have some means of contributing to the Fall or earning a living when away from it besides 'adventuring'. A Craft or Profession skill, Handle Animal - whatever you think could be used to earn a few coin. Unskilled labouring is an option, but the wages are terrible.

- Languages -

The dominant tongue in Hella is Dornish. It is also the native tongue of a couple of neighbouring kingdoms. The grell have their own language, called Grell. There is no Common as such. If there is a common tongue, it would be Trader, a blend of the vocabulary and syntax from a number of languages. Jiddian, the language of the mighty Jidda Empire, is the common language of art, learning and diplomacy. The nobility speak it almost exclusively across most of the land.

All characters start with Speak Grell. They may take Write Grell for one point. Speak Dornish and Speak Trader can be taken for one point each. There is no written from of Trader. Otherwise, languages cost 2 points, with Speak and Write separate skills.

-- Player Input --

As part of the character generation process, I'm asking players for their input. Here are the first three 'questions':

1) Tell me something about the Kingdom - the royal family, the capitol city, the treatment of the minorities, the architecture. Something like that. Whatever takes your fancy.
2) Tell me something about Horak-krel or grell society in general.
3) Tell me something about your character's Fall.

Click to expand...

OK. Gramatically, they are not questions. You don't have to write an essay, although you can if you really really feel like it. I'll take what you post and work it into the setting information above.

Here are the second three questions:

1) What sort of adventures (for want of a better term) would you like to have?
2) What does your character dream of doing with his life?
3) Describe the 'perfect death' for your character.

Click to expand...

doghead
aka thotd

Interesting. I'm not familiar with GnG, but after reading over the attachment I suppose I'd be willing to give it a try. Intriguing that BAB gives you defense as well as offense.

I'm thinking about a ranger. Here's some brainstorming on background:

Assaq was a quiet child, more likely to spend hours sitting motionless observing birds and animals than to play with other children. The elders of Horak-krel [1], taking notice of this, apprenticed him early to the clan's hunters. He quickly showed talent at shooting small game, and came to take pride in providing a valuable service to the village. When he grew to full size, he began to train with martial weapons, and was soon invited to accompany the senior hunters on expeditions to clear away dangerous vermin from the surrounding countryside and, on rare occasions, to raid nearby settlements.

Now Assaq is a trusted member of the clan's hunters, but still leads a fairly solitary life. He often volunteers for patrols that take him deep into the surrounding wilderness alone. He speaks little, preferring patient observation and swift action. He has great respect for the clan elders, and is perfectly comfortable taking any means necessary in carrying out their instructions. (LN, I think, though there is an argument to be made for LE. Assaq can be quite ruthless.)


[1] Elders? Clan-chiefs? Shaman? Whatever the relevant authority figures are.

Welcome Covaithe.

I'm glad you took the time to read the GnG material. I hope that we go with it, but I'm not going to push it on people.

Nice concept, it fits in well with the setting. Elders will do nicely for the clan leaders. There is still some work to do on the setting. I'll get back to that later.

LN would defiinately be preferable. I don't see being ruthless as evil. Evil, as I see it involves the sheer delight in inflicting pain suffering and misery on others.

Which brings me to something I didn't mention. I have difficulty with the idea of playing evil characters. Or perhaps, it would be better to say the game will probably run more easily if the characters have a more altruistic nature.

doghead
aka thotd

Yeah, I definitely don't see Assaq as taking delight in torture or anything like that. It's more a matter of being perfectly comfortable with kill-or-be-killed, without attaching any moral significance to the killing. I mentioned LE because some people interpret selfishness as evil. E.g., lawyers are sometimes considered LE because they work within the rules for selfish gain, even if the rules are immoral. I kind of like this definition of evil, because it lets evil alignments be much more common in a setting. But it ain't my setting, so never mind.

I'm always a fan of simple games, because to me it's the writing of roleplays that is the main interest in a game, not the pages of math needed for character design and combat.

As far as Grim & Gritty... if you are running combat yourself I don't care in the slighest how you go about doing it. Using G&G, or standard d20, or even just flipping a coin to determine if a character hits... they are all fine with me. I'll write my flavor text and you can crunch the numbers in the background in whatever way is best for you.

Here's my halfork concept that I've used previously. Fighter class - low intelligence & charisma. Good-hearted but slow.

MOGRO BARDICAN – Grell Fighter

Appearance: Mogro is actually rather short for a half-orc, only 5'8". However, whatever he loses in height he more than makes up for in girth. Weighing in at 265lbs, the thickness of his chest, arms and legs makes him look almost like a bulldog walking upright. His skin is pale peach tinted with just a hint of green, his long, black hair covers his entire body, and his pronounced canines have been capped with attractive gold bands. If you look straight at him you will notice his lazy right eye, and coupled with his less-than-perfect speech, the overall effect is that he is a man made for fighting and not for diplomacy. However, with the large smile he tends to always wear, Mogro does not necessarily seem the fighting type.

History: It is unknown how many generations back the Bardican line has lived in Horak-krel. All Mogro knows is that his family has been a respected member of the community since he can remember. His father, Malco Bardican, was a soldier in one of the kingdom's mercenary companies, the Flying Serpents. He spent his days traveling to and from the various hamlets throughout the Hella kingdom, protecting them from the overt and covert threats. His mother, Terga, was the quintessential solder's wife. While Malco would be gone for weeks at a time, she would be at home in Horak-krel raising the family's three children (of which Mogro was second oldest and the only boy). What might be surprising is that despite her husband having left the settlement to earn his keep away from home, Terga was a respected and beloved member of the community. And because of the positive way Terga was regarded in the town and the way she passed this regard onto her children, Mogro learned early on to respect the differences in all people. The Bardicans were well-liked, took an active hand in the settlement's actions, and were always willing to help their fellow grell.

Following in his father's footsteps was always the plan for Mogro. Despite his lack of height, he took to a work ethic that produced a strong, healthy young man. And although he was not as bright as his two sisters, he nonetheless earned the respect of the folks in Horak-krel and the neighboring town due to his feats of physicality. When Mogro reached his majority, Malco had hopes of bringing his son into the Flying Serpents with him, however Mogro's perceived lack of mental acuity made an immediate move into the Serpents an impossibility. Father and son both decided that the best way for Mogro to prove his mettle was to gain experience first as part of the settlement's defenses. Mogro and Malco both hope that with a couple years of hard work defending Horak-krel and learning the basics of a military life, advancement into Serpents will not be far down the road.

I'm always up for an interesting game, consider my hat tossed in. I have read the GnG rules several times and am familiar with them, so a brief re-aquaintence should be fine.

Let me ponder a concept for a bit and I'll pitch it out there.

I always wanted to try a half-orc rogue please count me in. As for the rules I will go with wath the group decides is better.

How do special attacks such as Grappling work in GnG?