OOC - From the Outside

If Doghead allows it into his game, the Changeling is sort of a mix of range-attack rogue (with climbing, disguises, fae bow plus throwing knives) and magic-user (with his Fables move: tales from the faery world so powerful they twist the world around them to make themselves true! (Think mostly bardic-type fascinate/slow/mute/sicken type stuff with a smattering of low level buffs and a few object-oriented utility fables)).

Binder Fred said:

Doghead: Both myself and Leif have a pretty good record of sticking with things, I think (and in Leif's case that's actually quite an understatement ).

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I don't think our gaming paths have crossed much, but I have seen you around enough to know you are both long term players. It was more just something that wanted said. So looking forward to having a chance to game with you both.

Splinter Changlings. Centaur quasi-rangers. So much for my plan to start simple and stick with the classes from the core rules. I have barely started getting my head around the rules!

However, the idea of a 'monster' themed party is pretty intriguing and offers some interesting possibilities. So if you are willing to accept me leaning into you a bit for rules support and, more importantly, the work of creating the world the characters occupy, then I am willing to paddle out a little deeper that planned. So, in short, Changling (complete with splinters) yes. Priest yes.

My next question is whether we are going to play in a world full of trolls and witches and pixies and ogres, or a world largely full of humans in which exist the the aforementioned? I usually play fairly conventional settings; worlds not that different from that which history records. Of course monsters exist, but for most people they are the stuff of stories and legends. So I am inclined to favour the latter. It gives me something more familiar to start with. And while I think that the rules are basically fairly straightforward, the devil is going to be in the implementation I think.

But I would like to know what you think.

• Who are the characters?
• Why are they working together?
• To whom do they owe loyalty or service?
• What does their world look like?

Binder Fred said:

(Don't know if you have access to that particular playbook. If not, let me know and we can work something out.)

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I only have the core rules. I am happy at the moment for you to tell me what I need to know. Down the track I might look at getting some playbooks once we know what we are doing. I do have a Barbarian class that came with the core rules bundle.

Leif said:

Or maybe I should make my second dude an unusual, quasi-monster-type, too? maybe a centaur quasi-ranger?

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Rangers I like. Centaurs may find it a little hard to be inconspicuous. Which may or may not be important, depending on the what we come up with.

thotd

Before I go ...

Found this while looking around to see what settings existed for the game:

The Inverse World – so named by outsiders, who came from beyond the world’s crust. Inside, they found a massive, windy void, with a glowing star shining in the center. A ring of islands orbits this star, and far above lies a ceiling of stone. The Inverse World is on the inside of a planet, and could even be inside of an already existing campaign world, if you dig deep enough.

The locals call it a different name, however: Invells. Invells is a mystical place, where an imprisoned god casts light and rain up to the top of the world, and then it all drains back down to the center. The great god Sola is trapped in the center of Invells, a massive burning star that created the light and rain from which all life in Invells was formed. Well, most life.

Invells is a bizarre world, filled with all manner of flying fish, strange monsters, wondrous machinery, and Sola’s children, the three spirit-blessed races. Airships, great chains, and winged angels bridge the open gaps between the floating islands. Shanty towns of wood and iron cling to the top of the world. Great cities of light and gold are hidden within the sea of clouds surrounding Sola’s cage, a molten sea of gold with a god trapped inside. There is much to see, and all of it is just out of reach.

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Kickstarter link
RPGNow link

OK, its a little odd. But it looks like it could be interesting. I particularly like the idea of emphasising exploration and discovery.

thotd

I was sort of imagining a semi-standard fantasy medieval world myself, maybe a bit darker even, but if you guys want to go high-fantasy I won't hold a grudge. That'll change a number of things re my backgrounds though, so let me know ASAP.

Before reading this I was actually thinking of proposing:

An unsavory bunch of hardened misfits who have banded together to survive the harsh world. Started out bandit-y but then forked towards adventuring (or maybe they fell under the "mentorship" of an ambitious... someone/something they tried to rob/swindle/burglurize?): more dangerous in many ways, sure, but also much more rewarding (<cling, cling>).

- Needles (AKA Brier, AKA Notch), bastard child of the Fae court, grew up a reviled outcast of human society, fed mystical, magical stories of the fae by his adopted grandfather and fellow outcast. For him the Fae court is a dreamed-of paradise, wanting to return yet doomed to crushing disappointment -- being as he is not full fae, and unseelie besides! Seeks brothers to his blood, knowledge of what he truly is and, most of all, ways to gate to that other world!

- Slice, giant armored man with a titanic sword of steel and sweat, bearer of a flashy golden signet ring that fit over the steel-plated fingers of his right hand, bitter remains of his glorious past. Only surviving member (to his knowledge) of a purged noble house, excised from history when he was young for worshipping foul slithering things from beyond -- or so their accusers said! Seeks vengeance, power over all men, and a truth he is probably not equipped to deal with.

Binder Fred said:

I was sort of imagining a semi-standard fantasy medieval world myself, maybe a bit darker even, but if you guys want to go high-fantasy I won't hold a grudge. That'll change a number of things re my backgrounds though, so let me know ASAP.

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I am more comfortable with a semi-standard medieval world. I just mentioned the high fantasy option in case that's what you guys were looking for.

Binder Fred said:

Before reading this I was actually thinking of proposing:<snip>

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I can definitely work with this.

BTW, have a look at the Barbarian if you have access to it. If not I can give you the details. Seems like a good fit in a number of the elements. Its about being an outsider, rather than a naked warrior who communicates in grunts. He wouldn't have to be from a tribe of barbarians. In short:

Outsider - You may be elf, dwarf, halfling, or human, but you and your people are not from around here (or no longer from around here). At the beginning of each session, the GM will ask you something about your homeland, why you left, or what you left behind. If you answer them, mark XP.

Chaotic - Eschew a convention of the civilized world.

Full Plate and Packing Steel - You ignore the clumsy tag on armor you wear.

Herculean Appetites - Others may content themselves with just a taste of wine, or dominion over a servant or two, but you want more. Choose two appetites. While pursuing one of your appetites if you would roll for a move, instead of rolling 2d6 you roll 1d6+1d8. If the d6 is the higher die of the pair, the GM will also introduce a complication or danger that comes about due to your heedless pursuits.

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[MENTION=48762]Leif[/MENTION], what are your thoughts?

thotd

Hey, all. I'm always up for trying a new game if you all are willing to put up with me while I'm learning the rules. Plus, I've gamed very little or not at all with you all and expanding the circle (so to speak) is a good thing. I'm interested in an elven druid. If we're running two I'm not sure what else I would come up with.

How About This?

FIRST: I've played in game(s) with GlassEye, and I'll vouch for him -- he's a good dude with a fertile imagination and sense of humor. I've also gone behind him and taken over a character or two that he abandoned, which actually worked out quite well for me. He is the third player we seek, so I say we should go for it. Welcome to the party, GE! (As if I had the authority to say that.)

SECOND: My Proposed Characters --

1. -- a Half-Elven Mage, or Magic-User/Thief (if such exists) that is a cousin (on the Elf/Fey side, of course) of Needles/Brier/Notch. He's basically okay, except that the whole concepts of personal property and boundaries are somewhat beyond his comfortable grasp.

2. -- a Human Cleric who is "Hell-bent" on converting every Faery/Fae/Elf/Gnome/What-Have-You that he runs across. Sort of a Viking, Norse-type priest who harps and sings with a broad smile on his face and a stein of ale in his hand while sending the heathen to Valhalla.

THIRD: I'm good with any/all of the setting ideas so far. But how about this twist -- the Half-Elf and the Fey are trying to get back to Invells, and the Cleric is just more or less following them around trying to convert them, and he's become a good friend of Slice. They probably like to arm wrestle frequently, or some such nonsense.

Hello [MENTION=40413]GlassEye[/MENTION] - More than happy to have you aboard. An elven Druid is good.

And then there were three. I'll edit the first post to reflect.

[MENTION=48762]Leif[/MENTION] - So I am not the only one who ghost hacks abandoned characters. Good to know. I don't know if there is a half-elf as such. But I don't think that there is any reason why he cannot have human blood in him from somewhere. The cleric makes me a bit nervous, mostly because he seems at odds with the others, and the would be resistant to working for someone of the monster kingdom. But i'll hold off deciding until things have had a chance to play out a bit. As for the Viking thing, hold that thought, I have an idea I want to look into.

Meanwhile, I won't have much time to post over the next few days, so I will leave you with some thoughts, and a question or two.

I will stick with an either/or for Inverse World. Its a bit early for me to feel up to blending two settings. I am thinking that I will go with an earlier idea - the characters are in the service of, or owe a debt to a reasonably power member of the 'monster kingdom'.

So who is this person; the Winter or the Summer Princes, Witching Troll, the Grandmaster of Flowers, or someone else entirely?

How did you come to owe this bond or service?

What is the monster kingdom like? Why is your character so keen to go there, or stay away?

thotd

Welcome, Glasseye. Very happy to know this game will be going forward!

No time for the rest right now, I'll be back! </schwarzenegger voice >

Ok, I don't intend to aggravate the DM's indigestion, so let me make some adjustments to my cleric:

My Proposed Characters --

1. -- a Half-Elven Mage, or Magic-User/Thief (if such exists) that is a cousin (on the Elf/Fey side, of course) of Needles/Brier/Notch. He's basically okay, except that the whole concepts of personal property and boundaries are somewhat beyond his comfortable grasp. I think it's safe to assume that the other party members keep him knocked around enough that he knows not to screw with their stuff.

2. -- a Human Cleric of Heimdall or Odin or Thor. (Wouldn't it be a kick in the head if the party is working for a Troll?!) Ix-nay on the 'missionary-to-the-non-humans' stuff. Just a regular old ale-guzzling, troll-smiting viking. (If he is forced to work for a troll, he'll probably have to compulsively bathe three or four times each day, trying to wash the stink off.)