Doomed Slayers - A campaign framework justifying roving bands of adventurers

[Stormonu]

Some Slayers will certainly go for something like that (and in D&D terms, this could be represented by feats or paragon paths), but I want to keep that optional. I want most of the classical adventuring careers and origin stories to work with this framework, and the farmer's lad who picks up an old sword to avenge his village after it was destroyed in a monster attack should be just as justified in calling himself a Slayer as someone who agreed to a lengthy magical ritual to establish his status.

As was I; it could be something as simple as the farmer stating "I swear this day before Pelor, I will avenge my village", and said Pelor agreeing with him, granting him the "Mark of the Slayer" - whether he turn out to be fighter, paladin, cleric, rogue, assassin or whatnot. The Mark essentially marks him as something more than the commoner that he once was so that all who see him would know he was a Slayer. Its the story mark that says "he's no longer a background expendable but a Main Character whose story we will follow"

 

[hopeless]

They can do that, but then they are not legally considered Slayers any more - with all the advantages (being allowed to own land and settle down, no longer needing to help out with monster problems) and disadvantages (taxation, being beholden to feudal overlords) that entails.

(Also, saying "I changed my mind!" frequently on this issue tends to be frowned upon, and might well be used to declare some of your privileges invalid in court...)



Here.

Thanks

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've just reached a word count of 15,000 - about 2,000 more, and I figure I will be finished with the first draft.

If all goes well, this should be published by the end of May...

 

[Mircoles]

I've always thought of the generic slaying of monstrous beasts as what the adventurers do between adventures to pay the bills.

 

[pawsplay]

Interesting idea, I would think that becoming a Slayer would be something best described as requiring a ritual, pact or other magical oath that openly and readily marks an individual as a Slayer.

Also, it might be something that is somehow only available to certain races, otherwise, the "monsters" might develop their own versions of Slayers. In fact, the pact or ritual might explain why only the common PC races exist - only elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, humans and half-human races were included in the pact/bargain/whatever.

(There could be additional side effects as well - perhaps Slayerrs are the only individuals who can be resurrected - called back from the dead to serve civilization once again. Other magics might only work for or against them as well)

Riffing on this idea, and the idea of oath-taking, perhaps resurrection is not restricted ONLY to slayers but the magic only works on those with "work unfinished," generally only the very vengeful (those would probably otherwise produce ghosts) and those who took a sufficient oath. For the magic to work, the oath might have to:

- Explicitly state the oath-taker's willingness to die in order to fulfill it
- Be spoken sincerely and without coercion
- State what the oath-taker must do or not do
- Must specify a price; a minimum sacrifice might be your birth name and your inheritence (this only qualifies if your community accepts this sacrifice as legally binding); this sacrifice is permanent.
- Specify what must be done to fulfill the oath; this can be any identifiable act. Some slayers might swear an oath "until I die, or lest I sleep fourteen days under the same roof without illness," while a Slayer who does plan on starting a family could specify that their oath ends when they get someone pregnant or become pregnant (which could be inconvenient, in that they can now be killed, for certain).

If you have a qualifying oath, you can be resurrected. Mostly, this would qualify Slayers, some monastics, and a few sworn protectors of the powerful, while generally excluding nobility themselves.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

UPDATE: I've recently finished a revised manuscript and sent it to a number of proofreaders/playtesters, but I could still use a few more. If you are interested in helping out and think you could send some feedback my way until the 12 of June (the date on which I would like to start working on the final manuscript, then please send an email to jhubert@gmx.de.

I can only offer compensation in the form of name credit and a free copy of the final PDF product for any feedback, though.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

The revised playtest manuscript is now available in the Files section of the newly-created Doomed Slayers Mailing List!

Hope to see some of you there.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well, it looks like it's finally nearing publication...

And here, a map:

 

[Piratecat]

Heh. I missed this the first time around, but this is almost precisely my campaign - including the "funeral when you enter" and "may not be barred politically." And let me tell you, it works wonderfully.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Heh. I missed this the first time around, but this is almost precisely my campaign - including the "funeral when you enter" and "may not be barred politically." And let me tell you, it works wonderfully.

Yeah, it pretty much gives all the justifications you need for adventurers to do what they do anyway - but this time, it gives them a proper social context to operate in.