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OOC: In the Mead-Hall of Hrothgar
- Thread starter Maerdwyn
- Start date
Maerdwyn
First Post
Religion is both ever present and yet also not very formal. There is a priesthood of sorts, and I'll put something together on that for you. We'll use an approximation of the Gothic pantheon (There isn't too much info on them easiy accessible, unfortunately, but the Anglo Saxon gods and goddesses are pretty close) - No one really worships only one god, but instead venerates the pantheon as a whole.
Wotan/Odin hasn't come into vogue yet - Tyz is the war god, and first among the gods. He has already lost his arm, though (hence the practice of cutting off the arms or otherwise mutilating those killed in battle and sacrifices, and Tyz's state is also probably the inspiration for Beowulf's method of choice in defeating Grendel - ripping off his arm.)
Don't worry too much about a few viking anachronisms, especially because actual information specifically on the sixth century instead of the ninth is going to be a little hard to come by.
Rhialto, Yup, we'll steer clear of the Byzantines for now.
Wotan/Odin hasn't come into vogue yet - Tyz is the war god, and first among the gods. He has already lost his arm, though (hence the practice of cutting off the arms or otherwise mutilating those killed in battle and sacrifices, and Tyz's state is also probably the inspiration for Beowulf's method of choice in defeating Grendel - ripping off his arm.)
Don't worry too much about a few viking anachronisms, especially because actual information specifically on the sixth century instead of the ninth is going to be a little hard to come by.
Rhialto, Yup, we'll steer clear of the Byzantines for now.
Maerdwyn
First Post
Here's a quick sketch of some of the gods, goddesses, etc. commonly worshipped in the area att his time.
You won't be able to cut and pase the link to the runes from the pdf, so here that is:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Old_Futhark_Runic_alphabet.png
Character's do not know how to read more than one or two runes unless they are trained in that.
You won't be able to cut and pase the link to the runes from the pdf, so here that is:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Old_Futhark_Runic_alphabet.png
Character's do not know how to read more than one or two runes unless they are trained in that.
Fenris
Adventurer
Here's my first shot:
Oljar Ravensblight, the Loremaster
Oljar is one of the priests of Tyz, officiating for the Geats. He has been serving the people for many years and is well respected for his advice. He performs the usual rituals, sacrificing prisioners to Tyz, tossing bones, casting runes, interpreting omens and helping to predict if the gods will favor the year's crops or a raiding voyage. he is also one of the repositories of the collective knowledge of the Geats, keeping and telling the oral histories, traditions, and rituals of the Geats.
As the Geats have grown, so has Oljar's role. He has come to be a valued advisor to the leaders of the Geats. His sage advice, deep knowledge, and his ability to divine the god's favor has kept in in the circles of the powerful for many years.
Oljar has a wife, Siga as well as two sons. His elder son, Olaf, has taken the warriors path and seeks to go raiding. His younger son, Gurnar, is following in his father footsteps and will join the priesthood when he reaches majority.
Maerdwyn: I was kind of envisioning a Gandalf type character, not as a wizard per se but as an advisor to the king, who helps guide the fortunes of the Geats. Whether he has or can do magic (or believes he can
) is a secondary issue that I will leave to you and we can hash out in stats. He could go either way really and I would be fine with it.
Oljar Ravensblight, the Loremaster
Oljar is one of the priests of Tyz, officiating for the Geats. He has been serving the people for many years and is well respected for his advice. He performs the usual rituals, sacrificing prisioners to Tyz, tossing bones, casting runes, interpreting omens and helping to predict if the gods will favor the year's crops or a raiding voyage. he is also one of the repositories of the collective knowledge of the Geats, keeping and telling the oral histories, traditions, and rituals of the Geats.
As the Geats have grown, so has Oljar's role. He has come to be a valued advisor to the leaders of the Geats. His sage advice, deep knowledge, and his ability to divine the god's favor has kept in in the circles of the powerful for many years.
Oljar has a wife, Siga as well as two sons. His elder son, Olaf, has taken the warriors path and seeks to go raiding. His younger son, Gurnar, is following in his father footsteps and will join the priesthood when he reaches majority.
Maerdwyn: I was kind of envisioning a Gandalf type character, not as a wizard per se but as an advisor to the king, who helps guide the fortunes of the Geats. Whether he has or can do magic (or believes he can
) is a secondary issue that I will leave to you and we can hash out in stats. He could go either way really and I would be fine with it.
Maerdwyn
First Post
Fenris - I have one main concern with a character who serves in that role. Such people would have been extremely valuable to their kings - I'm not sure that King Hygelac would have sent an aged repository of the kuni's (tribe's) knowledge across the sea on a monster hunt. He certainly would have used him to determine whether Beowulf was going to have success, etc, but wouldn't, I think, risk him unnecessarily. If you see that differently, I'm perfectly willing to be convinced.
Otherwise, here are a couple options:
If Oljar is a Dane, rather than a Geat, he could already be at Hrothgar's hall (Though that still leaves the question of whether Hrothgar would allow his most important advisor to do much adventuring).
If you recast him as a skald (warrior/bard/advisor) instead of a gothi (priest), it might work pretty well - he would need to be young enough to still be able in combat, but you get some Runic lore, a good deal of oral tradition, and respect of those around you, including Beowulf. Beowulf certainly would have brought a skald with him on the journey, if for no other reason than self promotion.
Let's keep talking - I do want you happy with your character.
Otherwise, here are a couple options:
If Oljar is a Dane, rather than a Geat, he could already be at Hrothgar's hall (Though that still leaves the question of whether Hrothgar would allow his most important advisor to do much adventuring).
If you recast him as a skald (warrior/bard/advisor) instead of a gothi (priest), it might work pretty well - he would need to be young enough to still be able in combat, but you get some Runic lore, a good deal of oral tradition, and respect of those around you, including Beowulf. Beowulf certainly would have brought a skald with him on the journey, if for no other reason than self promotion.
Let's keep talking - I do want you happy with your character.
Maerdwyn
First Post
Here is a link to a standard Cthulhu Dark Ages sheet:
http://www.chaosium.com/forms/CDA_InvSheet.pdf
And here is some information on Character Generation I blatantly swiped from Alea Jacta Est, my Cthulhu DA keeper over on the Groovy Gamers boards. (The basic system involved here is that to achieve a successful "roll", you must roll under your target number, i.e. INT*5, on d100. You gain experiece with successful rolls and thour story achievements - more experience per success with skills you aren't good at):
************************
1) Allocate stats. There are 8 stats - Appearance (App), Constitution (Con), Dexterity (Dex), Education (Edu), Intelligence (Int), Power (Pow), Size (Siz), Strength (Str). You will get 100 points to divide amongst those stats as you see fit (Although the minimum for most stats is 3 and the max for any stats, before age modifiers, is 18). There are offshoots of these characteristics that I'll detail later.
2) Choose occupation. Occupations available are:
Beggar
Gothi (Priest)
Craftsman
Farmer
Midwife
Merchant (You will meet merchants, but they aren't the best choice for this campaign)
Skald (Slightly anachronistic term here, but hey - A poet/advisor/warrior-type)
Mercenary/Brigand
Sailor
Small Trader
Warrior
Woodsman/Fisherman.
In mechanical terms what the careers do is determine your specific skill set, which you will then be able to allocate your skill points into.
3) Allocate skill points. You will get a number of skill points to spend on skills from your occupation based on your Edu stat, and a number of skill points to spend on any skill you like based on your Int stat.
For Attributes:
Appearance (App) (Minimum of 3)
This determines your relative attractiveness/friendliness. It doesn't represent Charisma (there are skills for that) so much as simply what one sees in the mirror.
Attraction roll: App x 5. Answers questions such as "Did he make a good first impression? Did he catch everyone's attention?"
Constitution (Con) (Minimum of 3)
Vigour, health, vitality. Resisting poisons, drowning, suffocation, sword blows, etc. If Con hits 0, you die.
Hit points are the average of Con and Siz.
Con is also used in resisting poisons, suffocation, drowning, etc.
Dexterity (Dex) (Minimum of 3)
Reflexes and nimbleness.
Dexterity roll: Dex x 5. Answers questions like: "Can he grab that vine before falling off the cliff?" "Can he pick that lock?" etc.
Education (Edu) (Minimum of 3)
Relative knowledge of character - not just learned knowledge, but also life experience. It measure information known, not intelligent use of the information.
Base chance for Own Language (i.e. before additional skill points are alloted) = Edu x 5.
Initial skill points you are given to allocate to skills based in your occupation = Edu x 20
Know roll = Edu x 5. Answers questions of fact, such as "Does he remember the geography of Wales?" "Does he know the number of legs a spider has?" "Can he recognise the symptoms of hoof-and-mouth disease?" For each ten years or part thereof the character is above the age of 15, the minimum and maximum for Edu both increase by 1.
Intelligence (Int) (Minimum of 8)
Represents how well the PC learns, remembers and analyses, how aware they are of their surroundings. Int x various multipliers is a common roll to help describe different circumstances.
Note the overlap between Int and Edu - high Edu and low Int represents someone like a pedantic teacher, knowing facts but not their meanings, whereas low Edu high Int means a sharp but ignorant character.
Initial skill points allowed for allocation to non-occupation skills = Int x 10.
Idea roll = Int x 5, the most common of the Int rolls. Helps in the understanding of situations and new facts, from learning spells to understanding a link between events or places. Also used for hunches and an ability to turn disparate evidence into something meaningful.
Power (Pow) (Minimum of 3)
Force of will. Aptitude for and resistance against magic. A very important characteristic for a number of reasons.
Luck roll = Pow x 5. "Does the plank the investigator stepped on hold, or does it snap?" "Is he standing on the trapdoor?" "Does the gribbly monster think he looks tasty?"
Maximum magic points are equal to power. Magic points are useful both in casting and resisting spells/mental attacks by unearthly creatures. Magic points regenerate fully in 24 hours if spent or lost, up to the value of Pow. An investigator with 0 MPs is unconscious until at least one is regained.
Maximum sanity = Pow x 5. This is also your starting sanity points. This is a very important number. For survival, an investigator needs to be able to roll equal to or under this number consistently. Whenever it fails (and sometimes even when it passes), sanity points drop, making the number harder to roll under. Losing large percentages of current sanity in short periods of time is a bad plan from a retirement prospect point of view. Dropping to 0 is an even worse plan.
Size (Siz) (Minimum of 8)
Averaging height and weight into one number. Used to see if an investigator can squeeze through a gap, or if an object is suitable to hide behind.
Hit points = average of Con and Siz
Damage Bonus (bonus to damage dealt by weapons in melee) is determined by Siz and Str.
Strength (Str) (Minimum of 3)
Muscle power. Ability to lift, push, pull, etc.
To work out damage bonus, add Str and Siz.
02+ = -D6
13+ = -D4
17+ = +0
25+ = +D4
33+ = +D6
**************************
As far as professions go, Areald looks like a Warrior to me, although craftman with a number of Warrior based skills could work, too. Oljar would be a Gothi in Fenris's original description.
I'll post the occupational skills for your chosen professions when I can - note that a couple skills, aren't practiced among the Germanic peoples of the day, except in very specific circumstnaces. Medicinal training is reserved for midwives, and it's use is only on pregnant women and newborns. Everyone is expected to get better on their own or with the gods' help, or else die on their own. Accounting is also an inappropriate skill choice in most cases.
Lastly, in a bout of bad timing, I may not be around to much in the next couple days , but I'll answer as many questions as I can. I'll try to get the IC thread going sometime next week. While I'm doing the planning, do you have any requests for the types of adventures you would like and/or those you like me to avoid?
http://www.chaosium.com/forms/CDA_InvSheet.pdf
And here is some information on Character Generation I blatantly swiped from Alea Jacta Est, my Cthulhu DA keeper over on the Groovy Gamers boards. (The basic system involved here is that to achieve a successful "roll", you must roll under your target number, i.e. INT*5, on d100. You gain experiece with successful rolls and thour story achievements - more experience per success with skills you aren't good at):
************************
1) Allocate stats. There are 8 stats - Appearance (App), Constitution (Con), Dexterity (Dex), Education (Edu), Intelligence (Int), Power (Pow), Size (Siz), Strength (Str). You will get 100 points to divide amongst those stats as you see fit (Although the minimum for most stats is 3 and the max for any stats, before age modifiers, is 18). There are offshoots of these characteristics that I'll detail later.
2) Choose occupation. Occupations available are:
Beggar
Gothi (Priest)
Craftsman
Farmer
Midwife
Merchant (You will meet merchants, but they aren't the best choice for this campaign)
Skald (Slightly anachronistic term here, but hey - A poet/advisor/warrior-type)
Mercenary/Brigand
Sailor
Small Trader
Warrior
Woodsman/Fisherman.
In mechanical terms what the careers do is determine your specific skill set, which you will then be able to allocate your skill points into.
3) Allocate skill points. You will get a number of skill points to spend on skills from your occupation based on your Edu stat, and a number of skill points to spend on any skill you like based on your Int stat.
For Attributes:
Appearance (App) (Minimum of 3)
This determines your relative attractiveness/friendliness. It doesn't represent Charisma (there are skills for that) so much as simply what one sees in the mirror.
Attraction roll: App x 5. Answers questions such as "Did he make a good first impression? Did he catch everyone's attention?"
Constitution (Con) (Minimum of 3)
Vigour, health, vitality. Resisting poisons, drowning, suffocation, sword blows, etc. If Con hits 0, you die.
Hit points are the average of Con and Siz.
Con is also used in resisting poisons, suffocation, drowning, etc.
Dexterity (Dex) (Minimum of 3)
Reflexes and nimbleness.
Dexterity roll: Dex x 5. Answers questions like: "Can he grab that vine before falling off the cliff?" "Can he pick that lock?" etc.
Education (Edu) (Minimum of 3)
Relative knowledge of character - not just learned knowledge, but also life experience. It measure information known, not intelligent use of the information.
Base chance for Own Language (i.e. before additional skill points are alloted) = Edu x 5.
Initial skill points you are given to allocate to skills based in your occupation = Edu x 20
Know roll = Edu x 5. Answers questions of fact, such as "Does he remember the geography of Wales?" "Does he know the number of legs a spider has?" "Can he recognise the symptoms of hoof-and-mouth disease?" For each ten years or part thereof the character is above the age of 15, the minimum and maximum for Edu both increase by 1.
Intelligence (Int) (Minimum of 8)
Represents how well the PC learns, remembers and analyses, how aware they are of their surroundings. Int x various multipliers is a common roll to help describe different circumstances.
Note the overlap between Int and Edu - high Edu and low Int represents someone like a pedantic teacher, knowing facts but not their meanings, whereas low Edu high Int means a sharp but ignorant character.
Initial skill points allowed for allocation to non-occupation skills = Int x 10.
Idea roll = Int x 5, the most common of the Int rolls. Helps in the understanding of situations and new facts, from learning spells to understanding a link between events or places. Also used for hunches and an ability to turn disparate evidence into something meaningful.
Power (Pow) (Minimum of 3)
Force of will. Aptitude for and resistance against magic. A very important characteristic for a number of reasons.
Luck roll = Pow x 5. "Does the plank the investigator stepped on hold, or does it snap?" "Is he standing on the trapdoor?" "Does the gribbly monster think he looks tasty?"
Maximum magic points are equal to power. Magic points are useful both in casting and resisting spells/mental attacks by unearthly creatures. Magic points regenerate fully in 24 hours if spent or lost, up to the value of Pow. An investigator with 0 MPs is unconscious until at least one is regained.
Maximum sanity = Pow x 5. This is also your starting sanity points. This is a very important number. For survival, an investigator needs to be able to roll equal to or under this number consistently. Whenever it fails (and sometimes even when it passes), sanity points drop, making the number harder to roll under. Losing large percentages of current sanity in short periods of time is a bad plan from a retirement prospect point of view. Dropping to 0 is an even worse plan.
Size (Siz) (Minimum of 8)
Averaging height and weight into one number. Used to see if an investigator can squeeze through a gap, or if an object is suitable to hide behind.
Hit points = average of Con and Siz
Damage Bonus (bonus to damage dealt by weapons in melee) is determined by Siz and Str.
Strength (Str) (Minimum of 3)
Muscle power. Ability to lift, push, pull, etc.
To work out damage bonus, add Str and Siz.
02+ = -D6
13+ = -D4
17+ = +0
25+ = +D4
33+ = +D6
**************************
As far as professions go, Areald looks like a Warrior to me, although craftman with a number of Warrior based skills could work, too. Oljar would be a Gothi in Fenris's original description.
I'll post the occupational skills for your chosen professions when I can - note that a couple skills, aren't practiced among the Germanic peoples of the day, except in very specific circumstnaces. Medicinal training is reserved for midwives, and it's use is only on pregnant women and newborns. Everyone is expected to get better on their own or with the gods' help, or else die on their own. Accounting is also an inappropriate skill choice in most cases.
Lastly, in a bout of bad timing, I may not be around to much in the next couple days , but I'll answer as many questions as I can. I'll try to get the IC thread going sometime next week. While I'm doing the planning, do you have any requests for the types of adventures you would like and/or those you like me to avoid?
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Fenris
Adventurer
"But Sire, you must let me accompany Beowulf on his jounrney, it is most imperitive that I accompany him"
"Nay, Oljar, you are too old to make the journey, and your wisdom is needed here at my side"
"As you command my jarl, will you then send my son in my stead? Olaf, while he does not have many raids under his young beard, is skilled with a sword. And though he is still young and has not yet learned all my teachings, he has the keen eye of the eagle, and the wisdom of the raven. He can cast runes nearly as well as I, and though his ties to the god's will are not as close as my own, his legs and arms are much younger and stronger than mine. He has much of me from when I was young. Perhaps he can attend to Beowulf as a skald? I would feel better would that the offspring of my wisdom accompanied this expedition of aid. And I know that he is eager to bring honor to his name and wishes to go with Beowulf."
Killed two birds there
How's that set-up Meardwyn? I think it works. I had considered going with a skald after your first post and this idea just popped in. The lineage and rationalization work as well I believe.
"Nay, Oljar, you are too old to make the journey, and your wisdom is needed here at my side"
"As you command my jarl, will you then send my son in my stead? Olaf, while he does not have many raids under his young beard, is skilled with a sword. And though he is still young and has not yet learned all my teachings, he has the keen eye of the eagle, and the wisdom of the raven. He can cast runes nearly as well as I, and though his ties to the god's will are not as close as my own, his legs and arms are much younger and stronger than mine. He has much of me from when I was young. Perhaps he can attend to Beowulf as a skald? I would feel better would that the offspring of my wisdom accompanied this expedition of aid. And I know that he is eager to bring honor to his name and wishes to go with Beowulf."
Killed two birds there
How's that set-up Meardwyn? I think it works. I had considered going with a skald after your first post and this idea just popped in. The lineage and rationalization work as well I believe.
Maerdwyn
First Post
That works, Fenris, and part of you lineage is set . Technically, Beowulf will choose the members of his band himself, but there's no reason he wouldn't choose Olaf, either on the king's recommendation or of his own accord.
Here are some of the occupations that I though might fit, and their associated occupational skills, to give you an idea of the differences between each.
Warrior
Choice of punch, head butt, kick, or grapple)
Natural World (like Wilderness Lore in d20)
Navigate (land and sea)
Track
Sneak
Throw
1 Weapon skill
1 Skill of your choice
Craftsman
Bargain
Craft (Shipbuilding)
Fast Talk
Insight
Natural World
Own Kingdom
Status
1 Skill of your choice
Sailor
Climb
Fast talk
Natural World
Navigate
Other Kingdoms
Pilot Boat
2 Skills of your choice
Skald - I assume this is what Olaf will be.
Fast Talk
Insight
Own Kingdom
Persuade
Runic Lore (this is the equivalent of a language skill, and does not grant actual magical powers- at least with the common applications of runes - though people of you culture definitely think they have power.)
Status
1 Weapon Skill
1 Skill of your choice
Would you guys like to assign you own ability scores (after which we can work out skills together), or would you like some help?
When we do get to skills, you havea pool of points for your occupational skills, and then a second, smaller pool for any other skills you want.
. Technically, Beowulf will choose the members of his band himself, but there's no reason he wouldn't choose Olaf, either on the king's recommendation or of his own accord.Here are some of the occupations that I though might fit, and their associated occupational skills, to give you an idea of the differences between each.
Warrior
Choice of punch, head butt, kick, or grapple)
Natural World (like Wilderness Lore in d20)
Navigate (land and sea)
Track
Sneak
Throw
1 Weapon skill
1 Skill of your choice
Craftsman
Bargain
Craft (Shipbuilding)
Fast Talk
Insight
Natural World
Own Kingdom
Status
1 Skill of your choice
Sailor
Climb
Fast talk
Natural World
Navigate
Other Kingdoms
Pilot Boat
2 Skills of your choice
Skald - I assume this is what Olaf will be.
Fast Talk
Insight
Own Kingdom
Persuade
Runic Lore (this is the equivalent of a language skill, and does not grant actual magical powers- at least with the common applications of runes - though people of you culture definitely think they have power.)
Status
1 Weapon Skill
1 Skill of your choice
Would you guys like to assign you own ability scores (after which we can work out skills together), or would you like some help?
When we do get to skills, you havea pool of points for your occupational skills, and then a second, smaller pool for any other skills you want.
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