VisanidethDM
First Post
Hello!
Inspired by gideonpepys' most excellent thread, I've decided to use the boards to hold a chronicle of our recently started Zeitgeist game. I'm running the game for 4 players, and we're using the 4E ruleset. We roll for attributes.
I've made some modifications to the setting and story to try and intercept what I know are the main interests of my players, but for the most part we'll be running the adventures as written. I'll signal significant changes from how the modules are meant to play out in purple.
Let's kick this off by introducing our cast of characters.
Bruce "Ray" Gear III
Risuri Artificer, Technologist theme
Age: 37
Statistics:
The last in a long line of innovators and thinkerers, Bruce owes much of his scientific background to his grandfather, Bruce Ray I. Bruce I was an alchemist and an academic before the Third Yerasol War started, and as a fervant patriot and devoted servant of the crown, he didn't esitate to enlist in the army's genius. Having witnessed firsthand the marvels of Danoran's first forays in technological innovation, he was one of the first to suggest that Risur followed their example and accept that technology was the future of warfare.
In particular he was terrified by Danoran's use of chemicals and their effects on risuri footmen, and when King Aodan decided to start funding research on technological countermeasures, Bruce managed to persuade him to fund his project: a completely automated soldier, built from a chassis of wood and iron and controlled by a human operator from the safety of a ship or fort. Bruce's genius was enough to solve all problems tied to movement and sensorial input, but when it came to giving the automaton a reliable source of power, he was at loss for solutions. Steam power was a suitable solution to power the machine's various subsystems, but insufficient for the main functions, and impossible to mantain over a long period of time. The project had to be put on hold.
It was Bruce I's son, Bruce II, who kickstarted the process that would eventually lead to a solution. Less fervent in his devotion to the crown and less inclined to conceive technology as a tool in the hands of the military than his father but not less brilliant, Bruce II made several discoveries in a field that was (and still is) fundamentally undiscovered by the rest of the academic community: electricity and magnetism. Over time, Bruce II managed to develop a dynamo that could power up his father's automaton as long as it was connected to it with an insulated cable. Bruce's passion and his love for his father led him to work on the project for years, mostly in secret and using university funds rather than proper military support, and this led him to ultimately be unable to find a solution to the core problem that afflicted his father's desired military application: transporting a suitable source of power was impossible, and the automaton would still be tied to the length of the cable.
Bruce II's research was forcibly halted by the beginning of the Fourth Yerasol War: to please his aging father, he enlisted and left for the front. However, he forbid his own son, Bruce III, from doing the same. The war was a disaster for Risur, and Bruce II never returned. Ever since, Bruce III has been doing all he could to get some disclosure on his father's MIA status, but to no avail. Eventually his grandfather's ties with high rank military representatives allowed him to get the RHC to start an investigation on his father's fate. Over time, Bruce developed a bond of friendship with the constable charged with the investigation, one Allister Gerrant (NfA: another player character), who kept pursuing the goal even after the RHC called off the investigation. News were scarce and far between, despite Allister's best efforts, but a confirmation that Bruce II was alive came in the most unexpected way.
One morning, 5 years after the end of the war (NfA: 2 years before the start of the campaign) Bruce III received a misterious package: it contained a bizzare, irregular shaped crystal, opaque and purple, that was wrapped in several layers of papers covered in scribblings and technical drawings.
Bruce is certain that the object was sent by his father from Danor, mostly because the text details how to use the crystal as a capacitor to store electrical energy and fuel the automaton.
Even more brilliant than his precedessors, Bruce quickly realized there was no way he would manage to obtain the amount of electricity he needed from his father's prototype dynamo. However, he foundt an unconventional solution to the problem: while he shared the passion for technological research of his male ancestors, he also inherited his mother's devotion to Risuri religious traditions. He has a particular devotion to the Father of Thunder, and after several attempts, he managed to build a contraption that would capture one of the lighting bolts that frequently struck during the rites devoted to the fey titans and channel it into the automaton. In one particularly stormy night his plan succeeded, and the automaton came to life.
In fact, that played out quite more literally than Bruce expected, because he was quickly apparent that something in the process did more than simply energize the construct: be it the supernatural source of lighting energy (Bruce's favourite theory, as a man of faith) or the arcane nature of the crystal (what he actually suspects being the truth, as a man of science), the automaton wasn't just much more flexible and nimble than the design foresaw (as if the wooden structure had become muscle-like, capable of stretching and turning beyond what the crude joints of the creature would allow), but the "creature" quickly developed thoughts and a personality. The Caliban (NfA yet another player character) had been born, and Bruce life was changed.
Ever since, Bruce has been working on Caliban to perfect its design and fulfill his father and grandfather's dream. With the help of Allister, he enlisted to the RHC and as an agent of the crown he managed to submit Caliban for approval at court. The king decided the automaton shows promise but needs to be tested extensively, and this has ultimately led to it becoming the very first artificial RHC agent in the history of the country, working with Bruce and Allister until he's deemed ready for being deployed in military operations. Secretly Bruce harbors the wish of using his creature to follow his father's trail and rescue him from captivity.
(other party members to follow soon)
Inspired by gideonpepys' most excellent thread, I've decided to use the boards to hold a chronicle of our recently started Zeitgeist game. I'm running the game for 4 players, and we're using the 4E ruleset. We roll for attributes.
I've made some modifications to the setting and story to try and intercept what I know are the main interests of my players, but for the most part we'll be running the adventures as written. I'll signal significant changes from how the modules are meant to play out in purple.
Let's kick this off by introducing our cast of characters.
Bruce "Ray" Gear III
Risuri Artificer, Technologist theme
Age: 37
Statistics:
Str: 12
Cos: 14
Dex: 14
Int: 18
Wis: 15
Cha: 12
Cos: 14
Dex: 14
Int: 18
Wis: 15
Cha: 12
The last in a long line of innovators and thinkerers, Bruce owes much of his scientific background to his grandfather, Bruce Ray I. Bruce I was an alchemist and an academic before the Third Yerasol War started, and as a fervant patriot and devoted servant of the crown, he didn't esitate to enlist in the army's genius. Having witnessed firsthand the marvels of Danoran's first forays in technological innovation, he was one of the first to suggest that Risur followed their example and accept that technology was the future of warfare.
In particular he was terrified by Danoran's use of chemicals and their effects on risuri footmen, and when King Aodan decided to start funding research on technological countermeasures, Bruce managed to persuade him to fund his project: a completely automated soldier, built from a chassis of wood and iron and controlled by a human operator from the safety of a ship or fort. Bruce's genius was enough to solve all problems tied to movement and sensorial input, but when it came to giving the automaton a reliable source of power, he was at loss for solutions. Steam power was a suitable solution to power the machine's various subsystems, but insufficient for the main functions, and impossible to mantain over a long period of time. The project had to be put on hold.
It was Bruce I's son, Bruce II, who kickstarted the process that would eventually lead to a solution. Less fervent in his devotion to the crown and less inclined to conceive technology as a tool in the hands of the military than his father but not less brilliant, Bruce II made several discoveries in a field that was (and still is) fundamentally undiscovered by the rest of the academic community: electricity and magnetism. Over time, Bruce II managed to develop a dynamo that could power up his father's automaton as long as it was connected to it with an insulated cable. Bruce's passion and his love for his father led him to work on the project for years, mostly in secret and using university funds rather than proper military support, and this led him to ultimately be unable to find a solution to the core problem that afflicted his father's desired military application: transporting a suitable source of power was impossible, and the automaton would still be tied to the length of the cable.
Bruce II's research was forcibly halted by the beginning of the Fourth Yerasol War: to please his aging father, he enlisted and left for the front. However, he forbid his own son, Bruce III, from doing the same. The war was a disaster for Risur, and Bruce II never returned. Ever since, Bruce III has been doing all he could to get some disclosure on his father's MIA status, but to no avail. Eventually his grandfather's ties with high rank military representatives allowed him to get the RHC to start an investigation on his father's fate. Over time, Bruce developed a bond of friendship with the constable charged with the investigation, one Allister Gerrant (NfA: another player character), who kept pursuing the goal even after the RHC called off the investigation. News were scarce and far between, despite Allister's best efforts, but a confirmation that Bruce II was alive came in the most unexpected way.
One morning, 5 years after the end of the war (NfA: 2 years before the start of the campaign) Bruce III received a misterious package: it contained a bizzare, irregular shaped crystal, opaque and purple, that was wrapped in several layers of papers covered in scribblings and technical drawings.
Bruce is certain that the object was sent by his father from Danor, mostly because the text details how to use the crystal as a capacitor to store electrical energy and fuel the automaton.
Even more brilliant than his precedessors, Bruce quickly realized there was no way he would manage to obtain the amount of electricity he needed from his father's prototype dynamo. However, he foundt an unconventional solution to the problem: while he shared the passion for technological research of his male ancestors, he also inherited his mother's devotion to Risuri religious traditions. He has a particular devotion to the Father of Thunder, and after several attempts, he managed to build a contraption that would capture one of the lighting bolts that frequently struck during the rites devoted to the fey titans and channel it into the automaton. In one particularly stormy night his plan succeeded, and the automaton came to life.
In fact, that played out quite more literally than Bruce expected, because he was quickly apparent that something in the process did more than simply energize the construct: be it the supernatural source of lighting energy (Bruce's favourite theory, as a man of faith) or the arcane nature of the crystal (what he actually suspects being the truth, as a man of science), the automaton wasn't just much more flexible and nimble than the design foresaw (as if the wooden structure had become muscle-like, capable of stretching and turning beyond what the crude joints of the creature would allow), but the "creature" quickly developed thoughts and a personality. The Caliban (NfA yet another player character) had been born, and Bruce life was changed.
Ever since, Bruce has been working on Caliban to perfect its design and fulfill his father and grandfather's dream. With the help of Allister, he enlisted to the RHC and as an agent of the crown he managed to submit Caliban for approval at court. The king decided the automaton shows promise but needs to be tested extensively, and this has ultimately led to it becoming the very first artificial RHC agent in the history of the country, working with Bruce and Allister until he's deemed ready for being deployed in military operations. Secretly Bruce harbors the wish of using his creature to follow his father's trail and rescue him from captivity.
(other party members to follow soon)