D&D 5E The Light of Civilization - A 5e Renaissance Story [OOC]

Shayuri · Oct 10, 2016

Has anyone pitched the inevitable renegade sorceror fighting the power?

Jago · Oct 10, 2016

It does not seem this way, nyet

Shayuri · Oct 10, 2016

Well then. Consider it pitched.

pathfinderq1 · Oct 10, 2016

Various bits:
1. Definitely read some Guy Gavriel Kay, if you haven't. Particularly Tigana (rebellion against sorcerous repression in a setting very like the city-states of medieval Italy) and the Sarantine Mosaic duology (rise of art and culture, a mosaic artist traveling to basically Byzantium)

2. Do we want to consider a "Technology" or "Science' skill? 5e has few skills, but one more might be workable. Not sure it would be appropriate for any of the classes directly (maybe?), but could be a background choice, especially for Sage and the merchant/crafter types?

3. Do we want to have a word to replace 'Saint' for the church? Simply to avoid real-world religious baggage- not necessary, but might be worth a look.

4. Languages: do we want to add any, for foreign nations, since races seem to be mixed in and national lines might be more important? At least one or two might be good- like Latin or Greek for medieval scholars, but not sure about current foreign languages. If we add any, do we want to correspondingly add some extra language slots, especially for certain backgrounds- I don't think it would be terribly unbalancing.

Jago · Oct 10, 2016

pathfinderq1 said:
Various bits:
1. Definitely read some Guy Gavriel Kay, if you haven't. Particularly Tigana (rebellion against sorcerous repression in a setting very like the city-states of medieval Italy) and the Sarantine Mosaic duology (rise of art and culture, a mosaic artist traveling to basically Byzantium)

2. Do we want to consider a "Technology" or "Science' skill? 5e has few skills, but one more might be workable. Not sure it would be appropriate for any of the classes directly (maybe?), but could be a background choice, especially for Sage and the merchant/crafter types?

3. Do we want to have a word to replace 'Saint' for the church? Simply to avoid real-world religious baggage- not necessary, but might be worth a look.

4. Languages: do we want to add any, for foreign nations, since races seem to be mixed in and national lines might be more important? At least one or two might be good- like Latin or Greek for medieval scholars, but not sure about current foreign languages. If we add any, do we want to correspondingly add some extra language slots, especially for certain backgrounds- I don't think it would be terribly unbalancing.

1. I will certainly do this! Sounds up my alley.

2. Hm ... Possibly not a bad idea. I can see this either splitting the Arcana skill between "Science" and "Magic" (as in this world, Science was spawned from the study of the Arcane), or we literally just add "Science" as a skill. The Sage definitely makes sense, as does a Guild Artisan maybe switching Persuasion out if they wanted it. The Clan Crafter, Cloistered Scholar, and even Faction Agent are definitely applicable for a swap as well. Naturally, Bards with their "Any skill I want" and Knowledge Clerics would be great for this as well. Science itself, like all the other skills, would cover a wide array of intellectual pursuits: Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Biology, etc. The Natural Sciences + Mathematics, essentially.

As with the other skills though, Knowledge does not mean practicality. An Architect not proficient in like Mason's Tools is a great designer of blueprints, but is not physically proficient in shaping the stone herself. A Chemist may know everything about reagent reactions, but if he's not proficient in an Alchemist's Kit, every concoction is based solely on that knowledge, not the technical acumen.
Etcetera, Etcetera.

3. I am fine with changing this. Perhaps "Exemplar" of The Church as a replacement? Still keeping to the idea that these are people that the Church encourages emulating.

4. Also a good question and point. I'd imagine we still have racial languages, like Elvish and Gnomish, and since it's only been a little over a century since everyone has come together, I don't think these would disappear. But I am okay with the idea of additional, National Languages, thus furthering the idea that the City-States are culturally united since they share a Linguistic history.

To further the idea of this being an age of learning and enlightenment, I am okay with Everyone gets 1 Bonus Language to help foster the idea that though Common is, well, Common, there is still a lot of extra stuff going on. If someone wants to legitimately come up with a language and the nation/region it's from, I'm all for it and will help to incorporate it into the setting.

For Common, we can also break this up (the mention of Latin has hit inspiration). There would be Abituale which will be Common: everyone generally speaks this, it's the lingua franca if you will. Then we can have Magnanimo, which would be like "High Common": your Latin. The language of The Church, the learned, the nobility, etc. This is not so common, and so is generally the mark of either noble blood or education, a quick way to mark "I belong to High Society (or at least I appear to)".

Trogdor1992 · Oct 10, 2016

Okay, I'm developing some sort of assassin's guild/information network

Sent from my HUAWEI Y536A1 using Tapatalk

pathfinderq1 · Oct 10, 2016

Thoughts on the UA- Wizard (Artificer) or the new UA version of the Ranger?

Relevant concepts would be a dwarven cleric, MC to Artificer wizard, as a sort of rune-magic user. A historian who uncovered certain texts on rune magic (which had been declared as heresy after the cataclysm), but also evidence that such magics had been used (long ago) for good purposes and to much acclaim- he seeks to understand the truth, and maybe someday to present evidence of his findings.

For ranger, someone who was the retainer of a noble family on their remote farm/estate- the family had no real soldiers per se, and their huntsmen took most such assignments, so she was trained to fight. When the family's youngest daughter was sent into the city for an arranged marriage which would help rebuild the family name (and resources), she was sent along as a servant/bodyguard. And when that daughter disappeared ("taken" by a wizard, either as a tool or an apprentice), she could not return home and has stayed in the city, taking mercenary work while she tries to find her missing charge. (Human Outlander Ranger, mostly- and could work just as well with straight PH ranger)

Jago · Oct 10, 2016

pathfinderq1 said:
Relevant concepts would be a dwarven cleric, MC to Artificer wizard, as a sort of rune-magic user. A historian who uncovered certain texts on rune magic (which had been declared as heresy after the cataclysm), but also evidence that such magics had been used (long ago) for good purposes and to much acclaim- he seeks to understand the truth, and maybe someday to present evidence of his findings.

Having read through the Artificer, I'm definitely okay with this. The idea of a Wizard literally infusing magic into items is super cool for a setting like this. However, you mention Rune Magic: Did you mean the Prestige Class, the Rune Scribe? I am okay with this as well.

I like the character: Kind of a religious Indiana Jones thing going on there. Good stuff!

pathfinderq1 said:
For ranger, someone who was the retainer of a noble family on their remote farm/estate- the family had no real soldiers per se, and their huntsmen took most such assignments, so she was trained to fight. When the family's youngest daughter was sent into the city for an arranged marriage which would help rebuild the family name (and resources), she was sent along as a servant/bodyguard. And when that daughter disappeared ("taken" by a wizard, either as a tool or an apprentice), she could not return home and has stayed in the city, taking mercenary work while she tries to find her missing charge. (Human Outlander Ranger, mostly- and could work just as well with straight PH ranger)

I love the Revised Ranger, and if you want to use it I am all for you using it. I like the concept here as well: the idea of a missing charge with an air of mystery and magic is pretty awesome, especially considering the House Politics bent as well.

Shayuri · Oct 10, 2016

Ya know, there's room for a background tie here. I was thinking of a Noble character.

What if I'm the daughter who disappeared?

Jago · Oct 10, 2016

While that would be interesting, it would also require that, since you two are in the same party, that you found each other and have another, different reason for not wanting to go home or go through with the arranged marriage and what not.

Unless your Noble is like ... somehow in really, really good disguise, or ... something.