NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadow at the Edge" data-source="post: 2758493" data-attributes="member: 19487">So, are we all ready to commit to a new story hour? The long nights waiting for the next post...the suspence as the blasted author leaves the heroes hanging from a clifftop by one arm covered in 'dust of itching'....Maybe you would like to know more about the story you have been plunged into by Fiasco.Let me introduce myself. I am the creator of Anka-Seth, and run the game. I have some amazing players, and some chaotic ones. Without them the story I seek to build wouldn't be possible. The world and story was built from the beginning to take the players and plot right from being young, snotty-nosed kids all the way through to epic levels.The world began with about 20 detailed cities, weather systems, over 40 religious orders, 6 countries, and more plot lines and layers than I can remember, even with 3D charts and post it notes to help me.This is both good and bad. The good is that hopefully the world feels more realistic (if an imaginary world can be realistic), and it offers the players many plots to follow, at their whim. I didn't want to railroad the characters into any particular sequence of events. The history of the world would progress irrespective of whether the players interfere or not. The bad side of a complex world is the characters (and readers?) sometimes don't remember which way is up!Two players were motivated enough to write their version of events as a story, which impresses me greatly. The world is politically fractured, each country having it's own solution to the impending doom reaching towards it. This gave the characters huge scope for how they wanted to play. Did they want to be Evil, and help the oncoming hoards? Did they want to shine light in dark places and lead the forces of good against near certain doom? Nope! dead neutral is what they wanted to be as a group...none gave a flying toss about the fate of the world, either way.This was the greatest headache i have ever had as a GM. What plots and motivation can i provide for a group who simply doesn't care? I think in chapter one you can see some strong indications of what i came up with. Fame, and possibly fortune.Certainly in a world where great events are all around you, and everyone has an opinion, the characters were going to be influenced to take a side in the political scheme of things eventually, but I really left all the choices to the players (at least i attempted to). What really baffled them when initially exploring my world is that most groups and religions they met defied easy categorisation.Let me ask you about one issue that has come up in furious debate over some time.In the ancient past, one faith (Gerech) overcame all others. (I will post the saga of how this occured some time). Gerech is the God of Justice and Retribution. Gerechians consider themselves to be lawful and good.They organised a theocracy, which spanned the world. They ran it flawlessly. Roads were maintained, wild beasts were controlled, disease was cured in all...Nirvana?Depends.If you fell on the wrong side of the clergy, by blaspheming, worshipping other gods, using arcane magic, or commiting any typical crime, the punishment was somewhat 'harsh'.'Criminals' were granted the 'gift' of being able to contemplate their crimes for eternity. The Clergy effectively made the criminal into an undead version of themselves then locked them underground in huge barrows with thousands of their fellow criminals, without light, food or water (not that they needed food or water, but they did crave it). When a barrow filled, they sealed it and began on another.Is this good? Is it the ultimate evil?I consider this faith can still be called 'good' in that the punishment is harsh, but is only imposed for serious breaches of what are quite fair and just laws.My various players don't necessarily agree....Sometimes this 'good' god is hated more by the players than some of the evil ones  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> What do you think?</blockquote>

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