[4e Setting] No Age for Heroes

[Paka]

Well, as written it sounds like only very very bad things happen all the time and every victory is fleeting at best. Sort of 'ravenlofty' I suppose. So, wouldn't playing in a setting where everything sucks get sort of old rather quickly?

I see it more as a world right in the brink of total destruction with nowhere to go but up or annihilated.

We'll fight for it going up.

Another way to look at it is just on the Points of Light continuum. Bret liked the PoL philosophy but added the threat for two reasons:

1) It is a situation that will demand our adventuring in a very full-contact and proactive way.

2) He's imagining a world where the Monster Manual's contents have been unleashed and it ain't a pretty sight.

Indeed. Now, if only there were some heroes...

*points to his character sheet*

 

[helium3]

I see it more as a world right in the brink of total destruction with nowhere to go but up or annihilated.

Yeah. It comes off as very Dark Ages in play. Much more so than 3E.

I wasn't really trying to play up the PoL aspect during our first game today. None-the-less, their was this little bit where I explained that there were sections of Helen's Reach (My party's home base) that were abandoned because, on average, more people die every year than are born.

Just that little part got everyone into this "oh cr-p we're in the dark ages!!" sorta mood. It was even cooler when I effectively TPK'd them shortly after in the first encounter with the new system.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Bump!

 

[pukunui]

Just wanted to pop in and add my voice to the chorus shouting "Awesome!"

I'm not sure I want to make my setting this dark but I definitely want it to be darker than WotC's conceptualization (which is, imo, only superficially PoL to begin with ... I suppose in order to appeal to a broader - and younger - audience). I'm actually going for a Myth feel. I'm using some of the fluff from the computer games (I bought the GURPS book, although it doesn't go into as much detail as I was hoping), but I'm not basing my setting in that world.

I'm going to steal some of your DM's ideas for my setting as well. I particularly like the God-Empress and her Holy Daughters and the ruined dragonborn hatchlings and things like that. Nice little touches.

Anyway, back to the storyboarding for me!

Cheers,
Jonathan

 

[Baron Opal]

*points to his character sheet*

Indeed.

 

[Storn]

And this sketch was done 2 nights ago while playing 4th ed... the Beetle Matrons are tough, undead squad leaders we've fought a few times over the last few sessions. My GM, B., made these guys up as a test of how quickly a monster could be made on the fly during a session. Pretty fast, it turns out, and very, very cool mechanically to fight.

What was interesting about the session was no combat, just Skill Challenges... and it was tense, good fun.

These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5

 

[Xer0]

Wow Storn, very cool. Gave me the willies just looking at it. I like it a lot.

 

[Rechan]

We have two wednesday games without reports. I are sad.

Also, I'm curious - how did you fight the beetle matrons, if the entire session was skill challenges?

Cool drawing, btw.

 

[Paka]

We have two wednesday games without reports. I are sad.

Also, I'm curious - how did you fight the beetle matrons, if the entire session was skill challenges?

Cool drawing, btw.

I'm slowly working on a Story Hour post, first person POV from my paladin but it might take a while.

We fought the Beetle Matrons directly last week, took on two plus her undead children minions. Eek.

This week we just flat-out ran from 'em, as they were ten in the city here and there.

 

[Rechan]

I'm slowly working on a Story Hour post, first person POV from my paladin but it might take a while.

Coolnes.

We fought the Beetle Matrons directly last week, took on two plus her undead children minions. Eek.

I'm curious how your DM engineered their abilities. They sound like low-level versions of Lamia.

This week we just flat-out ran from 'em, as they were ten in the city here and there.

I presume you guys are still in the abandoned blue lich city?