KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
In the year 2052, humans finally set foot on Mars.
Five years later, Earth was under siege by dragons and their slave and servitor races. Humanity was on the verge of extinction.
But, there were some among Earth's leaders that already knew this would happen...
In the time of Atlantis, humanity warred with the dragons once before and created gods to combat them. In retaliation, the dragons created a Crystal Prison that slowly and inevitably cut Earth off from magic. Creatures of myth either fled to other planes of existence or died off completely. The gods lost their power and died as the mortals they once were.
Only folklore and myth remained...and secret knowledge of the dragons, passed down through religious leaders through the millenniums. They knew the dragons would one day return and they prepared.
In 1947, scout ships from the Dragon Empire were captured and their means of teleporting across great distances in space through what they called the Astral Plane and we called hyperspace was studied in the hopes that we could eventually replicate it.
In 2052, all that preparation finally became necessary when the Mars mission inadvertently activated a beacon meant to alert the Dragon Empire that humanity was once again a threat to them.
With only about five years to determine a course of action, the world's governments prepared for an invasion. Meanwhile, several corporations secretly began building 100 Arks, each capable of carrying 10,000 people. These were to be evacuation ships, with the hope of settling on distant worlds.
Outfitted with experimental hyperdrives, the 100 Arks launched just as the invasion fleet arrived. 23 couldn't launch due to design flaws. 3 were destroyed by sabotage by religious extremists. 39 were attacked by the dragons during the initial invasion and destroyed. 5 exploded upon the activation of their hyperdrives. 30 of the Arks managed to escape.
You are aboard Ark 17. The hyperdrive has brought you and 10,000 of Earth's best and brightest - scientists, architects, poets, artists, priests, and more, along with the ship's crew and a contingent of United States military members - Air Force support staff and officers, soldiers, marines, and navy weapons experts - hundreds of light years from home.
Your mission is to find a new planet to call home. Some among the crew and passengers aren't happy with that mission. Some want to find a way to defeat the Dragon Empire and retake Earth.
Something strange is happening to you. Out here, beyond the reach of the Crystal Prison, you are more than what you were. Magic exists and it has empowered you.
This will be my last new play-by-post for a while. It is set in the same universe as my Everything D&D Ever campaign and tells the story of what's going on beyond Earth. We will be using D&D 5th Ediiton rules, but with a few twists and house rules.
All characters must be human, first and foremost. You may choose to use the Variant Human Traits or the regular human traits.
Characters do not start with a character class. At the beginning of the game, you have only your background. The available backgrounds are listed below. You will learn a class as we play. In comparison to regular humans, characters with levels in PC classes are almost like super heroes - gifted with amazing and unusual powers.
Every character will start with 4 hit points. Determine ability scores via the point-buy method. Equipment is limited to a few sets of clothes, an Ipad X (a mobile computer a few computer generations beyond what we currently have, including a holographic display and access to the ship's internal computer which has the entirety of the modern internet contained within it), and a few personal effects. Weapons are limited to military members and are locked up when not in use.
Backgrounds
Acolyte - You are a prominent member of one Earth's major religions.
Artisan - (As Guild Artisan) - You are a painter, sculptor, poet, or some other type of artist.
Entertainer - You are an actor, music artist, or other celebrity.
Politician - (As Noble) - You are one of the civilian leaders of the Ark 17's population.
Scientist - (As Sage) - You are one of many scientists of various fields. Replace the Specialties with the following.
-- 1. Chemist
-- 2. Astrophysicist
-- 3. Anthropologist
-- 4. Historian
-- 5. Professor
-- 6. Engineer
-- 7. Biologist
-- 8. Doctor
Marine - (As Sailor) - You are a trained member of the United States Marine Corps. Replace the Tool Proficiencies with Proficiency with Modern Weapons. Replace the Feature with Jarhead: You have 6 hit points to start and, upon acquiring a character class, gain 1 extra hit point per level.
Soldier - You are a trained member of the United States Army, Navy, or Air Force. Replace the Tool Proficiencies with Proficiency with Modern Weapons. Replace the Specialties with the following.
-- 1. Officer - Air Force
-- 2. Officer - Army
-- 3. Officer - Marine Corps
-- 4-7. Army Infantry
-- 8. Navy Weapons Specialist
-- 9. Medic (any branch)
-- 10. Logistics (any branch)
-- 11. Communications (any branch)
-- 12. Support (any branch)
Stow Away - (As Urchin) - You aren't even supposed to be here; somehow you managed to fake or bluff your way onto the ship and its too late to do anything about it now.
New Weapons
The ship has an armory containing a variety of handguns, rifles, and other weapons for use by military personnel. Modern Weapons are in their category, separate from simple and martial weapons. They otherwise use all the same rules as other weapons, except as noted below.
Automatic Pistol - 1d6 piercing, Ammunition (range 80/320), loading* *pistols use a cartridge that contains 15 rounds of ammunition. Characters can take their normal number of attacks, but must use a Standard Action to load a new cartridge once ammunition is used up. Loading a cartridge 2 rounds.
Automatic Rifle - 1d10 piercing damage, Ammunition (range 150/600), heavy, loading*, two-handed *as pistol above except 30 rounds of ammunition. Rifles can be set to fire multiple rounds of ammunition with one attack. Roll up to five attack rolls (expending a single round of ammunition with each roll), but all rolls used with this attack have Disadvantage.
Other weapons will be added as needed. Note that ammunition is limited to what was brought on board...once its gone, its gone.
Ark 17
The ship consists of two concentric rings with most of the living quarters in the outer ring. The inner ring contains most of the ship's operations and command areas. The two rings are connect by four passage ways. The space between the two rings can deploy a form of solar sail/energy collector that simultaneously provides power to the ship and moves it through space, though the ship also has normal thrusters and conventional engines for when it needs to travel more quickly. The ship is able to deploy a limited range of ship to ship weaponry including torpedoes and rail guns. Finally, the ship has four short range shuttles capable of landing and taking off from planetary surfaces. The shuttles do not have any weapons, however. The hyperdrive was a one-shot, one-way trip. The ship's scientists and engineers are working on getting it operational again but...they don't actually understand how it works because it operates via magic.
You're a long way from home. You could be in the middle of enemy territory, no one knows for sure. But, you're humanity's last hope for survival.
Five years later, Earth was under siege by dragons and their slave and servitor races. Humanity was on the verge of extinction.
But, there were some among Earth's leaders that already knew this would happen...
In the time of Atlantis, humanity warred with the dragons once before and created gods to combat them. In retaliation, the dragons created a Crystal Prison that slowly and inevitably cut Earth off from magic. Creatures of myth either fled to other planes of existence or died off completely. The gods lost their power and died as the mortals they once were.
Only folklore and myth remained...and secret knowledge of the dragons, passed down through religious leaders through the millenniums. They knew the dragons would one day return and they prepared.
In 1947, scout ships from the Dragon Empire were captured and their means of teleporting across great distances in space through what they called the Astral Plane and we called hyperspace was studied in the hopes that we could eventually replicate it.
In 2052, all that preparation finally became necessary when the Mars mission inadvertently activated a beacon meant to alert the Dragon Empire that humanity was once again a threat to them.
With only about five years to determine a course of action, the world's governments prepared for an invasion. Meanwhile, several corporations secretly began building 100 Arks, each capable of carrying 10,000 people. These were to be evacuation ships, with the hope of settling on distant worlds.
Outfitted with experimental hyperdrives, the 100 Arks launched just as the invasion fleet arrived. 23 couldn't launch due to design flaws. 3 were destroyed by sabotage by religious extremists. 39 were attacked by the dragons during the initial invasion and destroyed. 5 exploded upon the activation of their hyperdrives. 30 of the Arks managed to escape.
You are aboard Ark 17. The hyperdrive has brought you and 10,000 of Earth's best and brightest - scientists, architects, poets, artists, priests, and more, along with the ship's crew and a contingent of United States military members - Air Force support staff and officers, soldiers, marines, and navy weapons experts - hundreds of light years from home.
Your mission is to find a new planet to call home. Some among the crew and passengers aren't happy with that mission. Some want to find a way to defeat the Dragon Empire and retake Earth.
Something strange is happening to you. Out here, beyond the reach of the Crystal Prison, you are more than what you were. Magic exists and it has empowered you.
This will be my last new play-by-post for a while. It is set in the same universe as my Everything D&D Ever campaign and tells the story of what's going on beyond Earth. We will be using D&D 5th Ediiton rules, but with a few twists and house rules.
All characters must be human, first and foremost. You may choose to use the Variant Human Traits or the regular human traits.
Characters do not start with a character class. At the beginning of the game, you have only your background. The available backgrounds are listed below. You will learn a class as we play. In comparison to regular humans, characters with levels in PC classes are almost like super heroes - gifted with amazing and unusual powers.
Every character will start with 4 hit points. Determine ability scores via the point-buy method. Equipment is limited to a few sets of clothes, an Ipad X (a mobile computer a few computer generations beyond what we currently have, including a holographic display and access to the ship's internal computer which has the entirety of the modern internet contained within it), and a few personal effects. Weapons are limited to military members and are locked up when not in use.
Backgrounds
Acolyte - You are a prominent member of one Earth's major religions.
Artisan - (As Guild Artisan) - You are a painter, sculptor, poet, or some other type of artist.
Entertainer - You are an actor, music artist, or other celebrity.
Politician - (As Noble) - You are one of the civilian leaders of the Ark 17's population.
Scientist - (As Sage) - You are one of many scientists of various fields. Replace the Specialties with the following.
-- 1. Chemist
-- 2. Astrophysicist
-- 3. Anthropologist
-- 4. Historian
-- 5. Professor
-- 6. Engineer
-- 7. Biologist
-- 8. Doctor
Marine - (As Sailor) - You are a trained member of the United States Marine Corps. Replace the Tool Proficiencies with Proficiency with Modern Weapons. Replace the Feature with Jarhead: You have 6 hit points to start and, upon acquiring a character class, gain 1 extra hit point per level.
Soldier - You are a trained member of the United States Army, Navy, or Air Force. Replace the Tool Proficiencies with Proficiency with Modern Weapons. Replace the Specialties with the following.
-- 1. Officer - Air Force
-- 2. Officer - Army
-- 3. Officer - Marine Corps
-- 4-7. Army Infantry
-- 8. Navy Weapons Specialist
-- 9. Medic (any branch)
-- 10. Logistics (any branch)
-- 11. Communications (any branch)
-- 12. Support (any branch)
Stow Away - (As Urchin) - You aren't even supposed to be here; somehow you managed to fake or bluff your way onto the ship and its too late to do anything about it now.
New Weapons
The ship has an armory containing a variety of handguns, rifles, and other weapons for use by military personnel. Modern Weapons are in their category, separate from simple and martial weapons. They otherwise use all the same rules as other weapons, except as noted below.
Automatic Pistol - 1d6 piercing, Ammunition (range 80/320), loading* *pistols use a cartridge that contains 15 rounds of ammunition. Characters can take their normal number of attacks, but must use a Standard Action to load a new cartridge once ammunition is used up. Loading a cartridge 2 rounds.
Automatic Rifle - 1d10 piercing damage, Ammunition (range 150/600), heavy, loading*, two-handed *as pistol above except 30 rounds of ammunition. Rifles can be set to fire multiple rounds of ammunition with one attack. Roll up to five attack rolls (expending a single round of ammunition with each roll), but all rolls used with this attack have Disadvantage.
Other weapons will be added as needed. Note that ammunition is limited to what was brought on board...once its gone, its gone.
Ark 17
The ship consists of two concentric rings with most of the living quarters in the outer ring. The inner ring contains most of the ship's operations and command areas. The two rings are connect by four passage ways. The space between the two rings can deploy a form of solar sail/energy collector that simultaneously provides power to the ship and moves it through space, though the ship also has normal thrusters and conventional engines for when it needs to travel more quickly. The ship is able to deploy a limited range of ship to ship weaponry including torpedoes and rail guns. Finally, the ship has four short range shuttles capable of landing and taking off from planetary surfaces. The shuttles do not have any weapons, however. The hyperdrive was a one-shot, one-way trip. The ship's scientists and engineers are working on getting it operational again but...they don't actually understand how it works because it operates via magic.
You're a long way from home. You could be in the middle of enemy territory, no one knows for sure. But, you're humanity's last hope for survival.
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