Gauging Interest in a Dwimmermount adventure.

[Shayuri]

Yar. An elf would be a fun addition.

It's not the concept reversal...I actually do that fairly often.

It's the lack of...stuff. Class. Gear. Beyond those categories, nothing else exists to distinguish one character from another mechanically. I guess magic users can pick a spell. Wee.

I like a few more toys in the toybox.

Argh, but now it feels like I'm peeing on your parade. My apologies. I mostly wanted to comment on how cool I thought the game background was, and now I'm doing edition wars.

 

[Imperialus]

Argh, but now it feels like I'm peeing on your parade. My apologies. I mostly wanted to comment on how cool I thought the game background was, and now I'm doing edition wars.

It's all good. I'm fully aware that my preferred style of sitting around a table pretending to be an elf is pretty far removed from the norm.

 

[Imperialus]

Interresting.... Completely counter-productive AND suicidal on the face of it, but then... Would this fit within the setting?

Yes, indeed it would.

Dwimmermount is revered by all dwarves because it was home to the Makers who created their race. Dwimmermount contains the cemeteries of the most venerated dwarven ancestors. For centuries, dwarves have been the custodians of Dwimmermount. A few dwarves in each generation have volunteered to join the custodians by climbing a path on Dwimmermount’s windward face visible only to those who can sense hidden construction and passable only by those created by the Makers. The work of the custodians is too sacred to be spoken of, but recent disquiet among the elders suggests that something has gone wrong inside the mountain.

Now this hidden path is known only to dwarves, open only to dwarves (it was even open when Dwimmermount was otherwise closed) and a one way trip. What if your father was one of the custodians who entered the mountain some years ago. Now that it is open you are eager to follow him and discover what he may have learned.

I'll toss up the racial knowledge for both humans and elves too.

Humans:

Dwimmermount was created by the Great Ancients, the ancestors of men and the founders of the world’s first civilization. Centuries ago, Dwimmermount became the foothold by which Eld from the Red Planet, Areon, subjugated the natives of Telluria. The gods inspired the Thulians, barbaric men from an island far to the north, to overthrow the Eldritch Empire and replace it with one of their own. Dwimmermount is a sacred place to the Great Church, the institutional faith of the Thulian Empire, and contains many of its most important temples. A man entered Dwimmermount and became a god. This was Turms Turmax, who was arrested and imprisoned by the Thulians for denying the Great Church’s ban on magic-users and preaching the pursuit of immortality. After his apotheosis, Turms Termax became the most-worshipped god in the Thulian Empire. Typhonians are followers of Typhon, mightiest of the Gods of the Great Church, who led the rebellion against Turms’ usurpation of the Thulian Empire and work to keep his dark secrets imprisoned in Dwimmermount. They are opposed by Termaxian cultists who seek to restore Turm’s empire and gain the secret of his apotheosis.

The one thing that annoys me about this setting is the number of names that start with T.

Elves:

The origins of Elves and ephemerals alike are somehow tied up with Dwimmermount, but it would be gauche to inquire further. Ephemerals envious of the secret of Elven longevity persist in searching for it within Dwimmermount. Dwimmermount is at the center of an enormous astrological observatory, from which one may sight along the other peaks of the Wintertop range to mark important heavenly transits and predict conjunctions. The most important of these is the Triple Conjunction of Kythirea, Areon, and Ioun, which occurs only once every 58 years. The most recent Triple Conjunction occurred two months ago. All right-thinking Elves claim descent from those Eld who joined men in fighting against the tasteless excesses of the Eldritch Empire, which included consorting with demons. Many of those who seek to enter Dwimmermount nowadays are motivated by the attempt to free a demon prince held within its prison, whether they are aware of this or not.

Elves and the Eld are very much inspired by Melnibone.

 

[Binder Fred]

Dwimmermount contains the cemeteries of the most venerated dwarven ancestors.

What does a dwarven cemetary look like? I mean, if they turn to stone and can then be brought back, are these basically storage places for when a flesh-to-stone spell becomes available? Are these dwarves that *chose* to rest, awaiting the Resolution? Dwarves whose statues have been so badly damage they can no longer be brought back? Something else?

 

[Imperialus]

What does a dwarven cemetary look like? I mean, if they turn to stone and can then be brought back, are these basically storage places for when a flesh-to-stone spell becomes available? Are these dwarves that *chose* to rest, awaiting the Resolution? Dwarves whose statues have been so badly damage they can no longer be brought back? Something else?

It's never expressly detailed, but I figure it looks kinda like a medusa's lair who has a particular taste for dwarves, except better cared for with decorations, pillars, and plaques around the various statues. I mean don't forget there are no dwarven clerics, and stone to flesh is a pretty high level spell (gotta be level 8 iirc) so unless someone wants to toss dear old dad in the back of a cart and trundle off into a major city with a giant sack of gold to hand over to a bunch of humans...

There are also dwarves who are 'stillborn' (as in do not animate) in the graveyards, dwarves who's manner of death left them damaged, or their statue was subsequently damaged, as well as dwarves who become so old they return to the stone they were made from.

 

[Imperialus]

Oh, and Shayuri's post about liking more toys in the toybox reminded me to make a few comments about my DMing style with old school stuff. There are two DM's on ENworld that I have a huge amount of respect for, and have learned a lot from. Piratecat and Diaglo. Both of them have a philosophy that I've adopted which is basically to never say no to things a player might want to do. One of the beautiful things IMO about the older editions of D&D (particularly BX) is that because there are so few rules it is very easy to adapt things to suit individual players. Generally speaking if there is something you want to try and do, just do it and I'll narrate the outcome. I might call for an attribute check, or percentage roll, or something else but I won't stop you from trying. If you want to fight with two weapons, or wear armour as a wizard, or fart around with poison as a thief just let me know and we'll figure something out.

 

[Binder Fred]

stone to flesh is a pretty high level spell (gotta be level 8 iirc)

6th level Magic-User spell in Labyrinth Lord, and isn't that what Gnomes are for?

I mean you'd think producing (and stock-piling) Stones to Flesh would be a high racial priority in this context. If they're in dreadfully short supply, I could see entire expeditions built around getting one of those to the statue of a particularly important dwarven leader (possibly resting in a certain dwarven cemetary? ).


EDIT= So is the game on? Should we begin building our charas?

 

[Imperialus]

6th level Magic-User spell in Labyrinth Lord, and isn't that what Gnomes are for?

I mean you'd think producing (and stock-piling) Stones to Flesh would be a high racial priority in this context. If they're in dreadfully short supply, I could see entire expeditions built around getting one of those to the statue of a particularly important dwarven leader (possibly resting in a certain dwarven cemetary? ).


EDIT= So is the game on? Should we begin building our charas?

Yeah, go for it. A few more players would be nice but we can always use hirelings.

Also as an FYI remember, you can arrange your stats to taste.

Oops, my bad, I forgot Stone to Flesh is an MU spell. Either way though the point stands. You need to be 11th level before you can cast it, and there are not that many high level MU's kicking around.

*edit*Oh, and should anyone wish to play a gnome: You use an elf's experience table, hit die, attack matrix, and spellcasting ability. You loose the secret doors bonus, and immunity to paralysis bonus' but you do use the dwarf saving throw table. You would also be extremely unusual, as in quite possibly the only gnomish adventurer in the world, and something of a fugitive as dwarven society would absolutely not be OK with you running off to get killed.

 

[Leif]

Human Thief Stats -- Klyman Siller

Looks like I've fallen behind, so:

STR: 9
DEX: 12
CON: 10
INT: 7
WIS: 6
CHA: 9

 

[Jimmy Disco T]

Sounds interesting. My old school knowledge is limited but old school "Dwarf = character class" means fighter with bells on, right? So the Group could maybe use a spellcaster to go with a thief and two warriors?

I have this vague notion that party balance is imperative in old school D&D...