The Great Crusade (game is running, always looking for more players)

[[OMENRPG]Ben]

Absolutely! That sounds pretty darn cool, if I say so myself.

So if that is the case, I think that we should all collaborate to help design the principle culture, nation, planet, and clans/houses we're from. This aspect I love gaming more than most people, so I'd love to invest a good chunk of time into it. Although, if we would rather do the exploration/gradually illusory approach, where the culture and history becomes more apparent the longer we play, that is fine with me as well.

Off of the top of my head, I think a culture that is highly religious would have very disciplined and principled knights or templars, warriors who would be proficient with every form of weapon, including martail arts, but would specialize in some kind of unique weapon that would serve not only as a symbol of their status but also as an excellent tool of warfare.

Now, Dr. Z, if you want the game to steer more along the lines of intrigue and deception and backstabbery, I think it would be more interesting if some (or all) of the party were not the actual sanctioned holy warrior templar knight monk things, but rather were the lesser warriors and servants and assassins that would work for one.

You mentioned that there would be seven houses that had sent an heir or their best, so I would assume that not every house would have the same level of dedication to the emperor, am I correct? Or at least, the same level of discipline to the religious principles.

If Nali wants to play a form of character that is extremely motivated / dedicated, he could be the "knight" and we could be his retinue, pursuing his specific motivation while we are on the way to our destination. But, as always, I'm very open to ideas.

 

[DrZombie]

I'd rather have you all play warriors, for my own reasons

 

[[OMENRPG]Ben]

Ok, so you would rather us all play the higher level "knights", not the mercs or people underneath them?

That is quite alright with me, it is fun coming from some kind of significance before the campaign even starts. What classes are going to be available, or that you would prefer us to have Doc? Just the more combative ones? As I said, I'm not super familiar with Dark Heresy system, other than you put points into your skills and use percentiles (at least I think that's how it works.)

I think we should discuss the culture first:

What is the geography like of where our nation comes from? One of abundant food and fresh water? Mountains? Islands? Desert? All of these things can easily change or skew the perception / teachings of a culture or religion. Or, if we are from a wide and varied area, like the Romans or Persians or Mongols, I suppose we could always choose.

I'm kind of liking the idea of blending the concepts of Muslim warriors under Saladin mixed with an almost monk-like dedication, comparable to the warrior monks of China or the Samurai.

Doc, do you want us to have some kind of significant animal or creature? Perhaps we all have a companion horse or wardog, or something like that (I'm not sure if that would be my first choice, but it could be interesting.)

 

[Scott DeWar]

it says no need to have knowledge of there system, but is there somewher to read up on it any way?

 

[DrZombie]

Hi guys. Had some sort of virus over the weekend, still feeling miserable as a dog.

[MENTION=28096]Ben[/MENTION]: You could figure the main city as Constantinople in the 10th-12th century during the crusades : a staging point where different cultures met and collided. At one point the honor guard of the Emperor were Erik the Red and his elite group of Vikings fighting alongside what remained of The Immortals, with camel mounted archers, and the city was filled with frankish knights, Teutons, Englishman, religious zealots, ambassadors from the Muslims, Jews, Somalian desert-fighters, Nubian slaves, gladiators,....
You can really pick what you want. Imagine it as a starting point for a planet wide crusade.

[MENTION=3565]Scott[/MENTION]: I've been looking at a lite version online, but failed to find any. The wiki is of little use due to copyright reasons I presume.
It's a simple system, nine stats from which all skills are derived, you roll a percentile dice to roll under the stat to succeed. You start with a limited set of skills and perks, and with your XP you can buy upgrades for stats and skills.
Combat is fast and brutal. Think of a character concept, and we'll just work from there. No worries, she'll be allright I need to adapt the classes to the setting anyway.

Classes to choose from :
Assassin
Thief (scum)
Warrior (guardsman)
Palladin (Arbites)
Cleric
Psycker

Starting backgrounds:
Feral world : a savage fighter from any culture
Imperial planet : educated human : the norm for the planet
Noble : upper ruling class, rich and charismatic.
Monastery (Schola Progenica) : religious zealots.

Unfortunately several criminals have put the Dark Heresy Handbook online for downloading via P2P networks, all I can say is that the books are, imho, very well made with beautiful artwork, and are easily adaptable for any setting with a bit of tweaking. Well worth the price and effort of going to your local gamestore and buying them.

 

[[OMENRPG]Ben]

Oh alright Doc, I get what you're getting at now. I love the concept of a mega-metro-melting pot for a medieval medley (alliteration only slightly intended.) So as a concept goes, I'm particularly fond of playing a Warrior, focusing on melee attacks.

I tend to steer toward more realistic characters, ones with believable motivations, so I think I like the idea of being someone who has a wife and family that he is leaving behind, even being some form of noble or well-respected individual in his community. Yet he feels obligated to leave in order to accomplish what he believes is right, but is torn by his duty and his duty to his family.

I'm thinking early middle age, perhaps early thirties, and someone who has become a leader not truly out of charismatic skill but by quiet logic and the measure of his skill. He commands respect but does not demand it, and while doing everything he thinks is necessary to accomplish the greater good, hates himself for breaking his moral code.

As far as his "theme" or culture goes, I'm thinking something along the lines of a desert / mountain people, like the Turks, and was sent off to train in his style at a young age but came home to settle a family. Now the crusade has started, and even though he set that life down, he has decided to pursue it.

For the build: I'd like him to have high skill with melee, both offensive and defensive, but well rounded enough to be capable of living unsupported in a fairly harsh environment. I'm not sure what kind of social skills there are, or their importance within this campaign (as in adherence to the rolls vs roleplay), but decent social skills would be nice as well.

Thoughts?

 

[DrZombie]

Looks allright.

I think you mean something like a mujahedeen (before the term was stolen by baby-killing lunatics).

There are two sides to a starting character : background and career.

If you come from a harsh climate and a semi-nomadic people I'd go for feral world background, as this deals with surviving in a hostile environment.. You'd be considered a barbarian by the so called 'civilised' city dwellers, but you'd think of them as weaklings.

As for career :

Warrior (guardsman) concentrates almost purely on fighting. Your character will have more wounds and better fighting skills. Social skills are harder to get by

A more all-rounder is a cleric. A bit of fighting skills, decent social kills, some scholarly skills. You can choose to invest points in fighting skills and talents and buy the odd social or scholarly skill.

Assassin is an athletic stealthy fighter. Where a warrior is a warhammer an assassin is a knife in the dark. It depends on how you play him. Social skills are as hard to get as a warrior. (The term assassin comes from the arabic hashashim (various ways to spell it) which were a mountain tribe of warrior-priest fanatics. Coincidentally, the word hashish (cannabis-resin) comes from them as well. Spaced-out killers from hell )

Thief (Scum) is more of a fast-talking rogue. Fairly good fighting and social skills, but maybe not really what you're looking for.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I love the concept of a mega-metro-melting pot for a massive missive of medieval medley (alliteration only slightly intended.)

Thoughts?

slightly eh? that is like me claiming "no pun intended"

How about a warrior of a minor noble family, who fought a 'lawful' duel and won. The opponent was of a higher noble family and still cried foul despite the fight being judged fair, and was jailed for murder. He has now been set free under the premise of doing battle in the name of the king-as his opponent was from a house that was an enemy of the crown.

 

[DrZombie]

Sounds great. Sounds like a Noble background and a warrior class to me at first glance. Could be a thief as well if he's spent enough time in jail, or an assassin, but still warrior seems most likely.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I was thinking warrior as you have mentioned in a post of yours that you were hoping for all warriors:

I'd rather have you all play warriors, for my own reasons