You don't really have need of such high INT. Druids don't get many bonuses from it; you might be best off pumping that into Dexterity or Strength instead. Dropping 6 stat points from Intelligence leaves you with 10, and gives you a whopping 8 stat points to play with. You could increase both Strength and Dexterity to 14 with that, or just one of them to 16. Increasing Strength to 14 would also mean you get a flat +2 extra on all damage and attack rolls, hooray!
Also, I'd still suggest taking Circle of the Moon instead, but that's completely up to you. I just like panthers.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Okay, let's recap our sparks and move on to the next few questions.
Step One: What Media Do You Want To Play?
Bastion
Diablo 2
Thief
Order of the Stick
Dungeon Crawl
Step Two: What Of This Work Inspires You?
The Fall of Caelondia
Frontier Everywhere
Beware Your Sins Will Find You Out
Dungeon Crawling
Unique Bosses
High Fantasy
Tons of Unique Shiny Artifacts
Lore
Many Godly Figures
Plot Twists
Conspiracies
Heists
Espionage
Steampunk
Character Interaction
Wide Variety of Threats
Step Three: How Big Should The Game Start?
Small, Province, Edge of a Town
Step Four: Establish Facts.
Everyone playing takes three Facts, represented by capital 'o's (OOO). I'll ask a few questions based on the inspirations, and by expending a Fact, you can answer that question. Anybody can help elaborate it, but the person who expended the Fact gets the last say.
An answer should be evocative, concise, and specific, and you're welcome to create some interesting names, event, or factions, but you're not obliged to explain them.
Everyone is also allowed to ask questions of their own, also related to the inspirations mentioned above.
There's a conspiracy set in motion to exact their terrible vengeance. Who was wronged?
This land has many legendary figures. There is one of note; what is their name and title?X
There is a dungeon somewhere near the city. What is in it?X
There was a mighty civilization that once stood here. What was its name?X
What is there worth stealing around here?
Who's the law around these parts?X
There are strange technologies emerging, powered by steam, propelled by explosive powder. Who is making the most use of it?X
The infamous gunman Hardin Booth Talbot killed somebody mighty important. What was their name?
The greatest rogue in recent history is a halfling by the name of Fitch. He's known, not for his assassinations, but for his overwhelming sense of charm and capability for deception. It's said that he can walk into a bank and, with a few words and gestures, have staff and patrons throwing money at his feet. He hasn't been seen in the last ten years, but most suspect that he's retired as one of his various false identities. Most rogues will refer to a particularly difficult act of thievery as a Fitch.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
A hundred years ago, the Caelondian Republic was built on these very stones. They were the champions of democracy, meritocracy, equality, and harmony. They're gone now.
Fitch is gone, but his legacy of smiles and charm is not. His disciples, known as the Smiling Men, continue to ply their trade, but their non-violent ways butt up against the morbid, deadly, and professional Night Shrikes.
Well, everyone in this thread seems to want something similar to Diablo, or a dungeon crawler-esque thing. As such, I'll try and set up some history that can help with that.
This land has many legendary figures. There is one of note; what is their name and title?
Belial is the name of an ancient, powerful demon. His exact status amongst the Lords of Hell is unknown, but his name is invoked in conjunction with even the mightiest of the demon lords.
Belial is known as the Deceiver. His silvered tongue whispers honeyed lies in the ears of great heroes, planting the seeds of doubt amongst even the most devout. He is famed for his ability to corrupt even the most devout of champions, turning them to the side of wickedness.
In the end, it was the angel Danel who fought and sealed Belial. To this day, the Church of the One Above, the church founded by Danel when he began his crusade upon those who followed the demons, keeps vigilant, watching for any signs of Belial's prison weakening. Little do they recognize the spread of corruption in their own ranks.
There is a dungeon somewhere near the city. What is in it?
The dungeon is the ruin of an old temple. The temple fell many thousands of years ago, corrupted and desecrated by an unknown force. The temple's defenders, once the spirit of mighty heroes bound to their bones so as to provide counsel to Kings and Queens, have found themselves corrupted alongside it, forced to watch as their bodies slaughter any hapless fools who seek to enter the temple.
Who's the law around these parts?
The Orcish Sheriff of this town, Urat Kurz. His word is law; both in a metaphorical sense, as he is Sheriff, and in a practical sense, as he'll probably knock you unconscious and haul you to jail if you break the law in his city. Unless, of course, you know the right people; he is deep in the local Thieves' Guild's pocket, and is willing to overlook anything the members of the Guild do, given appropriate compensation.
There are strange technologies emerging, powered by steam, propelled by explosive powder. Who is making the most use of it?
Gnomes.
Weak on their own, and bolstered only by their powers of innovation and illusion, gnomes have recently become a world power with the advent of steam power. They jealously guard their secrets, unwilling to trade anything that might lead to their new power being shared with the rest of the world- and thus relegating them to second-class citizens once again.
Everyone playing takes three Facts, represented by capital 'o's (OOO)
However, if Nova is good at two things, it's understanding D&D mechanics, and worldbuilding. And Nova is good at trying to help. Even when nobody asked Nova to help.
Don't tell her I said so, though.
One leads to the other, Nova.
And vice-versa.
Only in the broadest sense.
If you're looking for setting details, I might ask questions like "There are five major organisations in this world, but you only know much about one. What is it, and what is the purpose of the organisation?"
While if you're looking for adventuring details, I might ask questions like "There are bands of monsters roaming around the town. What type of enemies are they?"
However, if Nova is good at two things, it's understanding D&D mechanics, and worldbuilding. And Nova is good at trying to help. Even when nobody asked Nova to help.
Don't tell her I said so, though.
fair 'nuff.
I will give thought to these questions and answer them, though I do feel that we are taking away some of your agency as DM by doing so.
(also I still need to figure out a lot of things with my character)
made some modifications to Ludmila's character sheet including pasting her Patron Spirits list. I can add more if three of them is not enough. Will later add a list of things that pleases/displeases the individual spirits. Don't expect it to matter much but maybe it will if I get careless, idk.
I kind of like having a handle on how our world's going to be. A little bit of the landscape that we can point to and say 'yeah, that's ours'.
I am kind of...irked by the fact that my gnomes got co-opted. It makes perfect sense for the 5th edition gnomes, particularly the rock gnomes, but Zankas's background is based a bit more on earlier editions. That said, I can work with Nova's interpretation.
You don't really have need of such high INT. Druids don't get many bonuses from it; you might be best off pumping that into Dexterity or Strength instead. Dropping 6 stat points from Intelligence leaves you with 10, and gives you a whopping 8 stat points to play with. You could increase both Strength and Dexterity to 14 with that, or just one of them to 16. Increasing Strength to 14 would also mean you get a flat +2 extra on all damage and attack rolls, hooray!
Also, I'd still suggest taking Circle of the Moon instead, but that's completely up to you. I just like panthers.
The main reason why I gave her more int over str and dex was because of how she tends to avoid direct conflict and would rather really on her int to get things done sorta speak, but that would be something that would reflect more in the RP more then anything.
Ignore what I just said, I just realized that usage of tactic would be more of a wis thing then int, modifying the sheet accordingly. Also I just woke up and will try to answer those questions ASAP
There are strange technologies emerging, powered by steam, propelled by explosive powder. Who is making the most use of it?
The Dwarves jealous of the Gnomes technology advancement are working together with Elves to develops new kind of technology based on Elves magic and special wood and Dwarves new mineral found within their ever expending mine and their forging abilities. They are rumor that they are hiring mercenaries to reverse engineer Gnomes technologies but also working with some Gnomes willing to share their knowledge of tinkering to research those mystical resources.
Elven's finds
Wisp's wood is the latest species of wood found by the elves, it is characteristic by it unusual growing shapes but especially how it react to lightning strike as it has been observed to not only not catch on fire but also to emit a unique hue up to 1 week after being struck which looks like wisp travelling along the tree's bark hence it name.
Sorcerer's wish is actually a human discovery that ages a long time ago. This plant is known for it unique magical capacities which is now know to be conserved within it bulb. It has well renowned magical regenerative abilities, while it has an effect on it vicinity by allowing spellcaster to regain their magic faster, it bulb can be crush into an oil that can be apply to items to regain their full magical potential, it is however toxic, but elves are now working toward making a non-toxic derivative that would still give it magical properties.
Sprawling worm is an older tree species which special property was only discovered until recently, it has now been found to be a wood highly receptive to magical enchantment. However it is well known to be not only be rare but also growing in rock, mostly igneous rock making it harvesting hard but also sparse in the Elven's land where most of the ground is sedimentary.
Dwarven's finds
Aziru, a gem of deep purple hue that is extremely dense and have a globular crystal habit and is extremely hard but handle stress better then any gem ever found as a result it can't be shaped like most gem, but most be shaped by magic. It is use to make really strong(and expensive) armor.
Kazy is a slightly uncommon mineral that is often mixed with iron(Kazite ore) and mythril(Myruth ore) it was until now though to be a poor metal however it was recently found to be making extremely amazing alloys. While no one agree on the perfect mix yet, there is : blue brass (copper + kazy + tin) is denser and more water resistant then regular brass and padendium (platinum + kazy) is extremely dense and strong alloy that doesn't oxyde perfect for hammer
"There is a load of treasure being shipped down country by train. Where is it being shipped to, from where, and what's in it?"
There is a railroad crossing spawning from the multi-cultural metropolis ruled by gnomes known as Viehar'Tem, trading goods all over the realm and also exchanging resources with other realms, their unique goods sells for high prices, the city while being really rich is extremely corrupted and it is rumored that soldiers are being drugged by a new kind of drug, making them almost immune to pain and emotionless, some those who have left the army die not long after often by suicide preceded by depression, which led to some to believe that the drug is highly addictive. Information is very well controlled around the area, some say that the city have stealthy assassin that kill those who might break the silence, strange disappearance are not uncommon. Some think that the gnomes came up with a new kind of devices that could generate thunder and other think it might be some kind of revolutionary projectile weapons that could pierce through almost all armors but everyone agree that there was a trade between the Elves and the Gnomes and that Elves gave some of their new wood, but no one know what the Elves asked in return.
It is also said that the dwarf and the elves are working together to create a underground railway between the two realms to facilitate their new alliance
"The lands are wild and untamed. Who keeps the settlers safe?"
Viehar'Tem's realm, Gowuli, keep the settlers safe with their fearsome army while most other realms rely on druids that knows the land and wishes to protect them along with skilled hunters and those who served previously. Bandits are not a common issues in those secluded areas
"Black powder is a very strong explosive, but a relatively stable one. Who's making it?"
Dwarves are those who produce the black powder as a result they are able to control the Gnomes by the fact they depend on it and the Dwarves are aware of it. Dwarves often trade their black powder in exchange of Gnomes' technologies.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Hmm instead of the realm what about roving bands of mounted mercenaries, former soldiers of Gowuli's land-grab wars? It's basically a big extortion racket.
There was a mighty civilization that once stood here. What was its name?
Much of the plains used to be Orcish land. Several hundred years ago, under the great Warchief Logh-Hon Khon, the Orcs united and were able to subjugate the disparate Human and Dwarfish nations of the region. Logh-Hon's empire fell after his death, but his legacy lives on in the Orc tribes that maraud the region to this day.
This land has many legendary figures. There is one of note; what is their name and title?
Ura Baba Ingosi, whose own daughter is among our ranks and whose rise to power mirrors Logh-Hon's. Ura Baba established the Duchy of The Swamp eight decades ago in the swamplands to the east, bringing the wild lands under her control with her powerful sorceries. Many of her nine (now eight) daughters vie for her wooden throne in the swamp-city of Babagred, and while our own Ludmila is not among them, the power struggle in the swamps is well-known, and its implications wide-reaching.
I will write more later. These are....tentatively relevant to what we're doing at best, but the former was the best I could come up with atm and the latter is just an expansion of the backstory that was already extant.
like I appreciate that you're trying to make a nuanced world and also cater somewhat to everyone's individual needs as a player but on the other hand I kinda feel like we're never going to start at this rate.
I am kind of...irked by the fact that my gnomes got co-opted. It makes perfect sense for the 5th edition gnomes, particularly the rock gnomes, but Zankas's background is based a bit more on earlier editions. That said, I can work with Nova's interpretation.
If stuff I present gets in the way of what actual players want, feel free to ignore it. I'm just presenting stuff I think would have been cool.
If you don't like the idea of technological gnomes, I had ideas regarding giving this technology to orcs and goblins instead. Or just going back to cliches and having dwarves being the techno-geeks.
Look at Warhammer Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Warcraft's Ironforge Dwarves. It's a pretty common thing; because dwarves aren't all that magical a race, they supplement/replace magic with technology.
I feel like making the orcs/goblins/stereotypically evil race steamgeeks would be even more unnecessarily stereotypical than having Dwarves do it.
I'm okay with the gnomes being the steamgeeks. The irksome thing is that the gnomes are over-protective of it. I kind of interpret gnomes as being half-Dwarvish, half-Halfling, with an emphasis on the Halfling side, and that makes me think that they wouldn't be too overprotective of it. Like, they'd guard their important steam foundries and high-tech stuff and whatnot, and hide them under illusions, but they'd be okay with the average joe taking a look at your common steam thingamabob. They'd probably set it to blow up in his face if he steals it though.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
I don't want to make the orcs or goblins evil either. Just like, deposed natives who are very angry. A bit of Ghost Dance, a bit of Boxer Rebellion. That sort of thing.
I don't want to make the orcs or goblins evil either. Just like, deposed natives who are very angry. A bit of Ghost Dance, a bit of Boxer Rebellion. That sort of thing.
I'd like that.
Can goblins and orcs compose a sizable percentage of the population in the Swamplands?
Someone, or something, is watching from the shadows everything that transpires. There is a name for it in every language, spoken aloud only by the brave and foolhardy. Dwarvish, Gnomish, Elvish, Halfling, all names for it loosely translate into Falls From Stars. While descriptions vary among races, each race describing it as similar to itself, the common thread is that it has no physical form. Instead, it's body forms a hole in the world, leading to a starry void. As the legends (or rather, ghost stories) go, it appears when dangerous forces are afoot, especially those with an otherworldly bent. After a night or two of stalking his victim, it will confront them and ask questions with a strange voice that echoes in their head. If they refuse to answer questions, lie or otherwise try to stop him, it will 'consume' them, drawing them into the stars. If they answer everything right, he only might consume them.
Intellectuals across the plane (well, those who acknowledge that Falls From Stars isn't a children's boogeyman) presume that it is some sort of aberration from the Far Realms. Some even suggest that Falls From Stars started off as a starpact warlock who was granted an unusual gift from their eldritch overlords. In fact, as the few recorded instances of Falls appearing usually center around powerful demonic or devilish warlocks, the most common theory about Falls is that it is the a weapon of the Far Realms, used to keep fiends from gaining too much power. However, a sizeable portion of clerics believe that warlocks are only the most notable of its victims, and that many miscellaneous disappearances can be attributed to him. Indeed, a few researchers on Falls have themselves mysteriously disappeared.
I feel like making the orcs/goblins/stereotypically evil race steamgeeks would be even more unnecessarily stereotypical than having Dwarves do it.
Well, few people have done it outside of Warhammer 40k, so I don't know how fair it is to call that stereotypical.
You might argue that it's not cool, and that's probably a fair argument. I think it would be interesting to see the typically low-INT characters devising steam tech simply because they have limited access to magic and so many heads working on it, but that's just one thought as to what it could have been.
I'm okay with the gnomes being the steamgeeks. The irksome thing is that the gnomes are over-protective of it.
It seems to me that they wouldn't hide the devices. What they would hide is the method of powering them- the steam engines, and the like. That's what truly allows them to maintain their monopoly; without a method of powering the devices, people are forced to come up with some sort of cobbled-together magical engine, and they're not fit for mass production like steamtech is.
But, well, feel free to drop that angle if you'd like. I just thought it might be interesting to see the 'tech' faction unwilling to trade their steamtech for fear of losing a monopoly on it.
Someone, or something, is watching from the shadows everything that transpires. There is a name for it in every language, spoken aloud only by the brave and foolhardy. Dwarvish, Gnomish, Elvish, Halfling, all names for it loosely translate into Falls From Stars. While descriptions vary among races, each race describing it as similar to itself, the common thread is that it has no physical form. Instead, it's body forms a hole in the world, leading to a starry void. As the legends (or rather, ghost stories) go, it appears when dangerous forces are afoot, especially those with an otherworldly bent. After a night or two of stalking his victim, it will confront them and ask questions with a strange voice that echoes in their head. If they refuse to answer questions, lie or otherwise try to stop him, it will 'consume' them, drawing them into the stars. If they answer everything right, he only might consume them.
Intellectuals across the plane (well, those who acknowledge that Falls From Stars isn't a children's boogeyman) presume that it is some sort of aberration from the Far Realms. Some even suggest that Falls From Stars started off as a starpact warlock who was granted an unusual gift from their eldritch overlords. In fact, as the few recorded instances of Falls appearing usually center around powerful demonic or devilish warlocks, the most common theory about Falls is that it is the a weapon of the Far Realms, used to keep fiends from gaining too much power. However, a sizeable portion of clerics believe that warlocks are only the most notable of its victims, and that many miscellaneous disappearances can be attributed to him. Indeed, a few researchers on Falls have themselves mysteriously disappeared.
I kind of don't like vaguely powerful eldritch horrors in games like this.
They just seem kinda....I dunno, outside the scope of them.
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
(also I still need to figure out a lot of things with my character)
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
The Dwarves jealous of the Gnomes technology advancement are working together with Elves to develops new kind of technology based on Elves magic and special wood and Dwarves new mineral found within their ever expending mine and their forging abilities. They are rumor that they are hiring mercenaries to reverse engineer Gnomes technologies but also working with some Gnomes willing to share their knowledge of tinkering to research those mystical resources.
Dwarves are those who produce the black powder as a result they are able to control the Gnomes by the fact they depend on it and the Dwarves are aware of it. Dwarves often trade their black powder in exchange of Gnomes' technologies.
Much of the plains used to be Orcish land. Several hundred years ago, under the great Warchief Logh-Hon Khon, the Orcs united and were able to subjugate the disparate Human and Dwarfish nations of the region. Logh-Hon's empire fell after his death, but his legacy lives on in the Orc tribes that maraud the region to this day.
Ura Baba Ingosi, whose own daughter is among our ranks and whose rise to power mirrors Logh-Hon's. Ura Baba established the Duchy of The Swamp eight decades ago in the swamplands to the east, bringing the wild lands under her control with her powerful sorceries. Many of her nine (now eight) daughters vie for her wooden throne in the swamp-city of Babagred, and while our own Ludmila is not among them, the power struggle in the swamps is well-known, and its implications wide-reaching.
I will write more later. These are....tentatively relevant to what we're doing at best, but the former was the best I could come up with atm and the latter is just an expansion of the backstory that was already extant.
and Nova already answered the second, so, whee.
and I'm only good at worldbuilding when I have control over the entire thing anyway, so...can we be at the inn or w/e now.
The subject doesn't come up much and I think it's usually gnomes? Warcraft has them as gnomes.
I don't know what other D&D settings have, offhand, though.
what game & why
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Can goblins and orcs compose a sizable percentage of the population in the Swamplands?
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
They just seem kinda....I dunno, outside the scope of them.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead