I've been having trouble breaking into PbP games here, so I figured: what the heck, I'll just start my own. It will give me the chance to try a setting that I've been kicking around for a while, and maybe even try to run an E6 game, which I can't seem to get started in person.
I have worked out most of the fluff that I want want to see, but the specific classes for them are not set in stone. I know that wizard and cleric are right out, and I think that the Book of Nine Swords and Oriental Adventures should figure prominently. Strangely enough, most of the Eberron stuff seems to fit as well (even though I've never played with it!). The races from Eberron and OA are (mostly) welcome to be used, but the only PHB race to be included is Human. Races:
[sblock]Eastern (former) Empire
Human (oriental) -- priests are Shugenjas
Spirit Folk (from OA) -- blend in with the easterners
The 'Native Races':
Human (arabic) -- traders and nomads from the far western wastes
Shifter (from Eberron CS) -- usually live in the wastes, reviled as demon-spawn
Changeling (from Eberron CS) -- prevalent in the big cities, reviled as demon-spawn
Korobokuru (use stats for a dwarf, only small, no darkvision, and Favored Class = Barbarian) -- live in the wastes
Goliath (from Races of Stone) -- frequent the mountains that separate East from West
These peoples are native to the western lands; so rarely are they trained as martial adepts, that for one to even be seen with a katana is probably going to cause a fight. They are never members of Houses. The Empire treated them much like the Native Americans: tribes with various languages, ancestry and religious beliefs, and now after many years they have sort of blended their religious traditions to the point that Shamans will serve any of them.[/sblock]Stats will be from a 32-pt point buy, with costs as per the DMG.
The normal Alignment system just doesn't seem appropriate, so I want to use a variant like Honor and Taint, from Unearthed Arcana. I will formalize something later.
Just because one of the core setting-roles below shares a name with a class doesn't necessarily mean that I have that in mind. And lastly, some of the campaign description comes from other posters on the boards, garbled up so terribly in a word document that I lost the posters for each quote. I'd be glad to give anyone credit who claims that one of these ideas is theirs!
The premise of the campaign is as follows:
[sblock]With the death of the Last Emperor long ago, the world fell into ruin. Fertile lands became dry wastes, and the once mighty empire has been reduced to a series of independent cities. Traditional Sword and Sorcery is blended with swordplay and mysticism set against a background of blasted desert, personal honor, and rough justice. The setting is a desert wasteland with mighty citadels of cities; meddling Wu Jen; crafty, backwater shujengas; monasteries in the high mountain passes filled with sohei and monks; ninjas and rogues form mighty guilds in the dark underworlds of the cities; swords-for-hire fight bandits and barbarians in the dust bowls and ruins between these cities; and there's a huge rush for gold all the while, forcing alliances and hiring swords. The cities are run by the decendants of the old empire, but desert traders and natives from the wilds also fill out the setting.
The groups that define the setting’s politics all cling to the honor-bound ways of the forgotten past, but in very different ways. They are the only ones who can wield the Katana and Wakizashi (bastard sword and short sword) without being hunted down.
The Advocates are secret orders of gentlemen assassins that work within the Houses. They train in the secret arts of ninjitsu, valuing stealth and subtle political manuevering. Their identities and traditions are closely guarded secrets. They enforce the will of the Houses.
The Oathblades are bound by their word, and often swear to serve wealthy Houses as swordarms. They have strict ritualized dueling ceremonies, but will always work together to strike those that have broken their contracts, or those outside this brotherhood who deign to wield their sacred weapons. They sometimes can be found hired out to militant Houses, as leaders of mercenary/bandit groups, and some have made the leap and claimed the title of Shogun (warlord).
Artificer: These mages are driven by curiosity about the wonders of the past, especially the Old Ones’ binding of elementals, and the workings of Tetsujin (strange metal men found in ruins). Only recently have they been able to wake up these constructs, and most of their secrets still remain. They generally find politics to be beneath them.
Shaman: Native seers into a hidden world, they divide spirits into three realms: the natural, the dead, and the daemons. They seek to gain boons from the first, knowledge from the second, and drive out the third, all the while trying to help their native people. They are not usually found in the company of the Houses.
Wu Jen/Warlock: These mages gain power through deals with the powers of Chaos. They do their best to bend these daemons to their will . . . but often find out too late that they are the servants, not the masters. Many of them are too power-hungry, and not “honorable” enough to be employed (publicly) by the Houses. A House member would always keep a bargain with Chaos as the strictest secret.[/sblock]
1) I plan on running recruiting through Thanksgiving weekend and starting shortly after that. I am hoping to take around 6 players, plus alternates if necessary.
2) I am planning on the pacing to be about a post a day. I won't expect a post each day, but hopefully it will average out to that.
3) We will be using E6 rules. The campaign will begin at second level.
Thanks!
I have worked out most of the fluff that I want want to see, but the specific classes for them are not set in stone. I know that wizard and cleric are right out, and I think that the Book of Nine Swords and Oriental Adventures should figure prominently. Strangely enough, most of the Eberron stuff seems to fit as well (even though I've never played with it!). The races from Eberron and OA are (mostly) welcome to be used, but the only PHB race to be included is Human. Races:
[sblock]Eastern (former) Empire
Human (oriental) -- priests are Shugenjas
Spirit Folk (from OA) -- blend in with the easterners
The 'Native Races':
Human (arabic) -- traders and nomads from the far western wastes
Shifter (from Eberron CS) -- usually live in the wastes, reviled as demon-spawn
Changeling (from Eberron CS) -- prevalent in the big cities, reviled as demon-spawn
Korobokuru (use stats for a dwarf, only small, no darkvision, and Favored Class = Barbarian) -- live in the wastes
Goliath (from Races of Stone) -- frequent the mountains that separate East from West
These peoples are native to the western lands; so rarely are they trained as martial adepts, that for one to even be seen with a katana is probably going to cause a fight. They are never members of Houses. The Empire treated them much like the Native Americans: tribes with various languages, ancestry and religious beliefs, and now after many years they have sort of blended their religious traditions to the point that Shamans will serve any of them.[/sblock]Stats will be from a 32-pt point buy, with costs as per the DMG.
The normal Alignment system just doesn't seem appropriate, so I want to use a variant like Honor and Taint, from Unearthed Arcana. I will formalize something later.
Just because one of the core setting-roles below shares a name with a class doesn't necessarily mean that I have that in mind. And lastly, some of the campaign description comes from other posters on the boards, garbled up so terribly in a word document that I lost the posters for each quote. I'd be glad to give anyone credit who claims that one of these ideas is theirs!
The premise of the campaign is as follows:
[sblock]With the death of the Last Emperor long ago, the world fell into ruin. Fertile lands became dry wastes, and the once mighty empire has been reduced to a series of independent cities. Traditional Sword and Sorcery is blended with swordplay and mysticism set against a background of blasted desert, personal honor, and rough justice. The setting is a desert wasteland with mighty citadels of cities; meddling Wu Jen; crafty, backwater shujengas; monasteries in the high mountain passes filled with sohei and monks; ninjas and rogues form mighty guilds in the dark underworlds of the cities; swords-for-hire fight bandits and barbarians in the dust bowls and ruins between these cities; and there's a huge rush for gold all the while, forcing alliances and hiring swords. The cities are run by the decendants of the old empire, but desert traders and natives from the wilds also fill out the setting.
The groups that define the setting’s politics all cling to the honor-bound ways of the forgotten past, but in very different ways. They are the only ones who can wield the Katana and Wakizashi (bastard sword and short sword) without being hunted down.
The Advocates are secret orders of gentlemen assassins that work within the Houses. They train in the secret arts of ninjitsu, valuing stealth and subtle political manuevering. Their identities and traditions are closely guarded secrets. They enforce the will of the Houses.
The Oathblades are bound by their word, and often swear to serve wealthy Houses as swordarms. They have strict ritualized dueling ceremonies, but will always work together to strike those that have broken their contracts, or those outside this brotherhood who deign to wield their sacred weapons. They sometimes can be found hired out to militant Houses, as leaders of mercenary/bandit groups, and some have made the leap and claimed the title of Shogun (warlord).
Artificer: These mages are driven by curiosity about the wonders of the past, especially the Old Ones’ binding of elementals, and the workings of Tetsujin (strange metal men found in ruins). Only recently have they been able to wake up these constructs, and most of their secrets still remain. They generally find politics to be beneath them.
Shaman: Native seers into a hidden world, they divide spirits into three realms: the natural, the dead, and the daemons. They seek to gain boons from the first, knowledge from the second, and drive out the third, all the while trying to help their native people. They are not usually found in the company of the Houses.
Wu Jen/Warlock: These mages gain power through deals with the powers of Chaos. They do their best to bend these daemons to their will . . . but often find out too late that they are the servants, not the masters. Many of them are too power-hungry, and not “honorable” enough to be employed (publicly) by the Houses. A House member would always keep a bargain with Chaos as the strictest secret.[/sblock]
1) I plan on running recruiting through Thanksgiving weekend and starting shortly after that. I am hoping to take around 6 players, plus alternates if necessary.
2) I am planning on the pacing to be about a post a day. I won't expect a post each day, but hopefully it will average out to that.
3) We will be using E6 rules. The campaign will begin at second level.
Thanks!
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