[OOC] Underdogs [a core dnd game][4/4]
covaithe
Explorer
Setting generation questions. All brainstorming; feel free to say no, of course. 
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.
The current king is very old, more than 100 years old, some say, which is ancient for a human. He is still healthy and energetic, though, which has led some people to speculate in whispers that he may be prolonging his life unnaturally. He has several children who are themselves growing old, and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was well-liked in his youth, but has grown stricter in recent years, and less willing to listen to counsel.
2. Tell me something about Horak-krel or grell society in general.
Most races of Hella bury their dead. Humans have funerals and tombs as elaborate and ornate as their means permit, usually on holy ground. Whar prefer to be buried in deep caves or under massive stone cairns. Darinjhar deal with their dead in private, and no one can say for sure what they do with them, though lurid stories abound. Nikoba and Grell, though, who live mostly in the countryside far away from cities, always burn their dead. Some say it's to prevent disease and keep wild animals from gaining a taste for humanoid flesh, but there are older, darker stories, too, about what can happen to unburnt bodies. At Nikoba funerals, the mourners light a pyre at sunset, and feast and drink toasts to the deceased until the fire of their cremation is completely cold, and sometimes the mourners will throw extra logs on the fire if they wish to show their affection for the deceased. Grell funerals, in contrast, are conducted in complete silence. When the pyre is lit, those who were particularly close to the deceased sometimes express their grief by scarring themselves.
3. Tell me something about your character's Fall.
Assaq is from a poor fell, led by an old grell named Beteq. When Assaq was young, Beteq's fell endured a number of years of hard times. Despite help from other fells, debt, poor harvests and sickness sent some to an early pyre, and others to seek their fortune elsewhere in the world, both of which weakened the fell further. Among those who died were Assaq's parents. Now, Beteq's fell is doing better, thanks partly to Assaq's hunting and bowmaking, but mostly to the general improvements in the village's fortunes caused by the influence of the shamen.
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.
The current king is very old, more than 100 years old, some say, which is ancient for a human. He is still healthy and energetic, though, which has led some people to speculate in whispers that he may be prolonging his life unnaturally. He has several children who are themselves growing old, and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was well-liked in his youth, but has grown stricter in recent years, and less willing to listen to counsel.
2. Tell me something about Horak-krel or grell society in general.
Most races of Hella bury their dead. Humans have funerals and tombs as elaborate and ornate as their means permit, usually on holy ground. Whar prefer to be buried in deep caves or under massive stone cairns. Darinjhar deal with their dead in private, and no one can say for sure what they do with them, though lurid stories abound. Nikoba and Grell, though, who live mostly in the countryside far away from cities, always burn their dead. Some say it's to prevent disease and keep wild animals from gaining a taste for humanoid flesh, but there are older, darker stories, too, about what can happen to unburnt bodies. At Nikoba funerals, the mourners light a pyre at sunset, and feast and drink toasts to the deceased until the fire of their cremation is completely cold, and sometimes the mourners will throw extra logs on the fire if they wish to show their affection for the deceased. Grell funerals, in contrast, are conducted in complete silence. When the pyre is lit, those who were particularly close to the deceased sometimes express their grief by scarring themselves.
3. Tell me something about your character's Fall.
Assaq is from a poor fell, led by an old grell named Beteq. When Assaq was young, Beteq's fell endured a number of years of hard times. Despite help from other fells, debt, poor harvests and sickness sent some to an early pyre, and others to seek their fortune elsewhere in the world, both of which weakened the fell further. Among those who died were Assaq's parents. Now, Beteq's fell is doing better, thanks partly to Assaq's hunting and bowmaking, but mostly to the general improvements in the village's fortunes caused by the influence of the shamen.
doghead
thotd
covaithe Close with the bow, only out by a factor of 2. The +1 Flaming weapon costs the same as a +2 weapon, or 8,000 gp. With the weapon base cost of 600 gp for a masterwork +2 str bow (and enchanted weapons all have to be masterwork), that gives you 8,600 gp.
A +1 Composite longbow (+2 str) would cost 2,600.
As for mundane, I was tinking along the lines of backpacks, flasks of oil, blankets, flint and steel, waterskins, that sort of thing. The sort of thing that would probably be lying around the Fall somewhere, or the character could get their hands on easily enough,
I like the setting feedback. Nice. Thanks for taking the time to put down some ideas. Number 2 in particular dovetails perfectly with something I was thinking. Hopefully it will come up later in the game.
doghead
aka thotd
Edit: Favoured enemy. I knew that there was something else. I try and get a little description of the area and common foes up tomorrow night. That should give you some insight.
A +1 Composite longbow (+2 str) would cost 2,600.
As for mundane, I was tinking along the lines of backpacks, flasks of oil, blankets, flint and steel, waterskins, that sort of thing. The sort of thing that would probably be lying around the Fall somewhere, or the character could get their hands on easily enough,
I like the setting feedback. Nice. Thanks for taking the time to put down some ideas. Number 2 in particular dovetails perfectly with something I was thinking. Hopefully it will come up later in the game.
doghead
aka thotd
Edit: Favoured enemy. I knew that there was something else. I try and get a little description of the area and common foes up tomorrow night. That should give you some insight.
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doghead
thotd
Unfortunately, weapons with special abilities must have a minimum bonus of +1. But never fear, I don't really have any problem with characters upgrading items they already own. There were rules for something like this, heritage weapons or something. But its not core. Oh well, if we get that far we can work something out.
doghead
aka thotd
doghead
aka thotd
Lord_Raven88
First Post
This sounds like an interesting game. below is my character concept.
Sebastian Keth, Sorcerer 4
Appearance
Sebastian is thin for a Grell lacking the typical muscle mass common to most Grell's. Sebastian is a handsome Grell with refined features, smoky grey eyes and a look of intelligence and humour that usually sets others at ease.
Sebastian wears his long black hair tied back at the nape of his neck and dresses in fine well tailored clothing.
Background
Sebastian comes from a well respected and distinguished family that has a knack for leadership and a flair for finance. Sebastian father Gordon Keth is the current mayor of Horak-krel and they live in fine manor house built over the top of their ancestral fall.
As well as being the mayor of Horak-krel Gordon is also a wealthy merchant who owns a number of important businesses as well as having many lucrative shipping contracts between Horak-krel and the other nations. Gordon employs many of the local Grell to provide support and protection for the many caravans of merchandise which pass along the central trade route which runs thru Horak-krel.
Sebastian is the second son of Gordon and Lucia Grell. At a young age Sebastian showed the be possessed the two most important traits of the Keth's. Intelligence and Charm. When Sebastian began his teenage years he also showed a natural aptitude for arcane magic, Sebastian's father was excited by the possibilities that this rare gift could bring to the Keth name and fortune, so he encouraged Sebastian to pursue and develop this gift, even going as far as hiring a tutor to guide Sebastian development.
Sebastian has proven himself as an able negotiator and has developed a fondness for travel, usually while guarding important shipments with his arcane might.
Sebastian Keth, Sorcerer 4
Appearance
Sebastian is thin for a Grell lacking the typical muscle mass common to most Grell's. Sebastian is a handsome Grell with refined features, smoky grey eyes and a look of intelligence and humour that usually sets others at ease.
Sebastian wears his long black hair tied back at the nape of his neck and dresses in fine well tailored clothing.
Background
Sebastian comes from a well respected and distinguished family that has a knack for leadership and a flair for finance. Sebastian father Gordon Keth is the current mayor of Horak-krel and they live in fine manor house built over the top of their ancestral fall.
As well as being the mayor of Horak-krel Gordon is also a wealthy merchant who owns a number of important businesses as well as having many lucrative shipping contracts between Horak-krel and the other nations. Gordon employs many of the local Grell to provide support and protection for the many caravans of merchandise which pass along the central trade route which runs thru Horak-krel.
Sebastian is the second son of Gordon and Lucia Grell. At a young age Sebastian showed the be possessed the two most important traits of the Keth's. Intelligence and Charm. When Sebastian began his teenage years he also showed a natural aptitude for arcane magic, Sebastian's father was excited by the possibilities that this rare gift could bring to the Keth name and fortune, so he encouraged Sebastian to pursue and develop this gift, even going as far as hiring a tutor to guide Sebastian development.
Sebastian has proven himself as an able negotiator and has developed a fondness for travel, usually while guarding important shipments with his arcane might.
doghead
thotd
Welcome Lord Raven88: Against the odds, a grell sorcerer. That's the sort of thing I would try. I haven't played a lot of gng, but enough to know that some combat spells are affected - Magic Missile is somewhat limited, True Strike can be devastating. Keep it in mind during spell selection.
The son of a successful grell is fine. It's just the reach that bothers me. I tend to see the grell as a somewhat minority race - disenfranchised and marginalised. Good for hard, dirty and dangerous labour. Itinerant workers. Useful as as grist the the war-mill. But little else in the eyes of most humans.
Grell are probably prohibited from owning property in most cities and towns. Or at least, few would sell to them or want them as neighbours. There goes the neighbourhood! So ownership of property is restricted mostly to the settlements, which are almost all to be found in the most inhospitable, barren or dangerous parts of the kingdom. Ownership of businesses would be similarly difficult outside the settlements. Being a major provider of grell muscle for caravan guards to merchants, that works. Kind of like an agent. Being connected into the underworld of the major cities would also be feasible, given the nature of that business. Being a significant and successful merchant in the grell community would be fine. But being a player outside that would be more difficult.
Similarly with the major trade route. If one ran through the settlement, it would make the land too valuable to be left to the grell, at least in the eyes of the humans.
I don't really want to say no to anything. But have a think about the points above and let me know what you think.
Bugger off DrZ ... Oh, all right. You can play if you really want to. A blacksmith even. I need a description and background. But you had better get cracking.
covaithe: As the others seemed to have fallen a bit quiet, I was going to suggest kicking off the ic thread once Assaq was done (which basically he is - note to self, get RG thread started) and running it one on one until your companions got themselves sorted. However, I thought I might give Lord Raven, DrZ, and the others a couple more days to get their stuff together.
doghead
aka thotd
The son of a successful grell is fine. It's just the reach that bothers me. I tend to see the grell as a somewhat minority race - disenfranchised and marginalised. Good for hard, dirty and dangerous labour. Itinerant workers. Useful as as grist the the war-mill. But little else in the eyes of most humans.
Grell are probably prohibited from owning property in most cities and towns. Or at least, few would sell to them or want them as neighbours. There goes the neighbourhood! So ownership of property is restricted mostly to the settlements, which are almost all to be found in the most inhospitable, barren or dangerous parts of the kingdom. Ownership of businesses would be similarly difficult outside the settlements. Being a major provider of grell muscle for caravan guards to merchants, that works. Kind of like an agent. Being connected into the underworld of the major cities would also be feasible, given the nature of that business. Being a significant and successful merchant in the grell community would be fine. But being a player outside that would be more difficult.
Similarly with the major trade route. If one ran through the settlement, it would make the land too valuable to be left to the grell, at least in the eyes of the humans.
I don't really want to say no to anything. But have a think about the points above and let me know what you think.
Bugger off DrZ ... Oh, all right. You can play if you really want to. A blacksmith even. I need a description and background. But you had better get cracking.
covaithe: As the others seemed to have fallen a bit quiet, I was going to suggest kicking off the ic thread once Assaq was done (which basically he is - note to self, get RG thread started) and running it one on one until your companions got themselves sorted. However, I thought I might give Lord Raven, DrZ, and the others a couple more days to get their stuff together.
doghead
aka thotd
