Homebrew tabletop game system thread the II

[Feralgnoll]

[And for a real challenge, communicate this to the rest of the party in wolf form.]

OOC: Bark! (whats that Rohal, Jimmy fell down a well?!)

IC: I will try to find a decent secluded place, facing away from the black web, and attempt to focus in on all the senses, trying to figure out the parties inner selves more, hoping my Lupine curiosity will overcome the shock and rage of transformation.

[Feralgnoll]

Also OOC: I really enjoyed the whole supernatural view of the world. It was very well written, and.... Ominous.

[Simon_Jester]

OOC:

These are ominous times, in Kuquan; the noosphere reflects that, naturally.

Also, assessing inner identities of PCs, that's gonna be an interesting exercise. I wonder what, or if, the DM will say...

[Kaelan]

William's inner character - show me the money!

I think larric could have told you that without magic though.

[Simon_Jester]

That's what he thinks, not who he is- the essential nature of the man is what's really in question.

Chiaela probably has a point there.

Hard for me to come up with a description of Larric, in those terms.

[Kaelan]

There's always the Cats answer (Red Dwarf) when he justifies his existence:

Cat: I have given pleasure to the world because I have such a beautiful ass.

Inquisitor: That's true.

Cat: Can I go now?

Inquisitor: That's your case?

Cat: You need more?!

[Simon_Jester]

Eh. To me it's a question of the philosophy of PCing. To quote the DM:

not so sure about the character idea, though. Someone determined to be a hero is likely to oversell him or her- self, take too much on and get killed; someone with an objective or a conscience, with a dream to chase or a principle to defend, is about right; not setting out for adventure, that's do-able- it can always come and get you; but a character who wants a quiet life and to not have strange and dangerous things happen to him... you can take the principle of "never voulnteer" too far.

At this point my usual take on a character who wants to dodge the plot (whatever it may turn out to be) is "Fine- assume you succeed, the character goes on to have a peaceful, happy retirement. Next idea?" The character needs to be more willing to come forwards than it sounds so far- an outlaw might work, there are possibilities to be had, but he has to be up for them.

If the only reason your character is along is because he happens to be, well, along, and if he really is just in it for the money, no ulterior motives, no "I need a huge pile of money to ransom my father from prison..." well, that might make a realistic person, but they don't make good PCs. Too much crudity, too much self-conscious roughness, too much refusal to go do something dangerous at the important moment.

For a good PC there has to be some real drive- an incentive to act on the heroic scale, because only heroic-scale individuals affect their surroundings the way PCs are supposed to. The PC's intentions may not be good: "I want to be the most powerful wizard in the world" or "I want revenge on everyone who ever insulted me" or "I want to tear down the kingdom" can all be unpleasant but plausible ambitions that work as well for a PC as they do for a campaign villain. This is why PCs stand out in a world full of NPCs who have greater or equal power: they're the ones who actually go out and slay the dragon, instead of lounging in a palace saying "yeah, that dragon had better not come here looking for trouble."

Alfred fights, at least to a certain extent, for honor- and, yes, because it's something he actually rather likes doing, probably enjoys the status that comes with being a noble and a warrior enough that he can't imagine quitting even though it's dangerous. His class explains his conduct.

Bryan- well. Whatever may be said about the player, the character was at heart a goodish man. He had things to fight for- his own self-image as a protector if nothing else.

Rohal fights, or this is my impression, because he's trying to prove he's not a monster, that he's not one of the things that the righteous man would want to see purged from the world. So he's driven by a perpetual, self-sustaining desire for atonement.

Larric's an odd case. What he really wants to do in life is something best done in a peaceful world where he can poke around in a lab for twenty years, but as I'm playing him, he's got a weird spark of heroic impulse- "you've got this power and this clear sense of what needs doing, so do it." Because otherwise he wouldn't even have shown up to the first adventure. The character, it turns out, has something to fight for- a sense of local loyalty to the county and barony he lives in and a dislike/distrust of the forces threatening it. How far up the scale that goes, how he reacts in a complicated political environment where there are no clear right answers, that's an open question, but one that can have interesting answers instead of just a boring "I'm not getting paid enough to worry about this."

If all William's got to fight for is his purse, why is he going to keep accompanying everyone else in the group? If there's nothing there under the surface, then maybe you should start over with someone else after we get Radulf into custody,

[Kaelan]

William fights because he's fed up of being used and abused by people higher up the political chain who don't give a real damn about anybody else under them. In his current limited (and Jaded) view of the world Money = power. Limited and not accurate - but when was the last time you saw a nobleman in rags (except Radulf).

As he travels and experiences more than petty corruption and general warfare his attitude will change. He happy to travel with this group as its the first time in his life that his technically social superors have spoken to him in a civilised manner, even if they do disagree with him. He's far more use to "you there, man. Take my horse. etc...."

If you told William there was an evil dragon terrorising the land, but it wasn't a direct threat to him his response would be 'meh'. Tell him said dragon was sitting on a pile of gold and he'll polish his axe and head out the door with a shine in his eyes.

If he becomes a 'hero' it will be on route to another goal, not the goal in and of itself. Once he has such a reputation maybe things will change but at this point in his life hero's are the ones who lead bodys of men to their deaths and get rewarded for it. As he spent a reasonable amount of time as one of those 'bodies of men' he's not to keen on Heros.

As for party unity, at this moment of time we're more unified by circumstance - taking Radulf to trial. Once we're arrive there is nothing truly holding us togeather, though I suspect that ECR has another plan\trial\Mcguffin that will lead us to another common goal togeather. I'm expecting that after several months togeather group unity will be more integrated.

I suspect playing the poltics will come more into the fore in the future, but at this point in time as far as william concerned the Baron is a man who takes his money, lives in a big house, and makes the occasional public appearance. Each one is as bad as the rest. If (when?) he rises up the social ladder I have no doubt that 'national' matters will become more important to him.

[Simon_Jester]

Put this way- if I have my geography straight, we are in the territory of Baron DeVerett, whose court wizard is a fairly typical mage with a hint of poseur, who likes to make his apprentice do the work and take all the credit. Not a particularly fine fellow.

Radulf comes from the lands of Baron Kardren, whose court wizard (or at least closest wizardly associate) is a necromancer described by reputation as "no-one who preferred the living to the dead really liked Hilarion, and neither did most of his undead friends..." Even less fine a fellow.

Currently, both barons are cowering in a bunker in a state of armed standoff and thus irrelevant, but their essential character has left an imprint on the lands they rule, at least to some extent.

If William doesn't perceive a difference, there's definitely opportunity for character growth there.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

I'm back, and it was an interesting and useful trip, worth doing, and I never want to do it again. There were eleven of us doing post- storm clearup, and I think eight of us had to go and buy new clothes at the end of the first day to stand a good enough chance of avoiding hypothermia on the second. It didn't snow. Snow would have been good, it would have acted as an insulator. Freezing rain, though, argh.


deVerett has the reputation of a trimmer, a man who likes to be in the middle, where the balance of power is, and is usually on closer inspection to be found with his thumb on it in one way or other. He's a more or less intelligent politician, and can occasionally be persuaded to do the decent thing, if there's somehting in it for him.

In theory the court wizard of Carfax' job is to police and suppress the dark effluvia left over from one of the Black Towers which was there, and was Spoiler

theoretically

destroyed, but the stain is still there, and still breeds evil things from time to time. Everyone suspects Hilarion of having probed too deeply and been seduced by them. Omphraye himself- by reputation, he is a man of cold anger, long bubbling hatreds, hard handed, and would like to be able to get away with being much more evil than he actually is.

With William's approach, I would suspect him of being from one of the dependent towns of Carfax, actually. That's the area where his jaundiced view is closest to being the truth.

Lucien deMarail, in charge at the moment, is- well, he looks on himself as the only sensible man in a family of would- be paladins, the only one with the sense to get down to doing the job of being in charge instead of swanning around in shining armour, and most of the rest look on him as an accountant's soul born into the wrong body.

plot post in a moment.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Finally, with only a few more tense moments, Qulan and civilisation; what of it is still standing. Qulan stands on the shore of a lake that is basically formed by runoff from the mountains, and two rivers flow out from it- one more or less natural, into the Chura, the other has had its' course changed to feed into the Moshar south of Sheldayne.

Qulan's business is the forest, wooden things- including the little ships of the river system- and timber; most of the town was wood, and thus an irresistible target.

As Njal can confirm, the Striking Phoenix were very rapidly carried away by their own success- not exactly out of command, but definitely enjoying what they could do; too many new ideas tried out at once, a lot of them worked too well, and several worked far too well in combination. They were a much heavier instrument than command bargained for, or anyone (except probably Colonel Calvern) expected. Did a lot of damage here, as everywhere.

If anywhere has the materials and craftsmen to rebuild quickly and well, though, it's here. There is a town centre built up around the castle mound, which is a large sprawling fortification, covering it's hill, rendered slightly less impressive by having part of the mound and the wall ripped down to form a ramp, and several of the buildings in the inner core charred and blackened.

A low stone town wall topped by a wooden pallisade, parts of which are still standing; the outer area of the town beyond the walls largely gone, most rebuilding inside the wall.

There's a gate, and a dozen or so on guard- bit much for a common watch post, With two injured people on the back of horses, there's no way they're not going to stop you. First reactions?

[Panzersharkcat]

Alfred hails the guards and asks where the nearest lodgings are.

[Simon_Jester]

Hmm. I don't know what the penalties look like; is Sir Alfred tracking well enough to field this one? Assuming he's in command of his faculties and is asking questions in a clear way, Larric stays quiet. If he tries to handle the situation, but starts grabbing at the air and talking about little angels instead, Larric will cut in to explain.

[Panzersharkcat]

(OOC: Well, let's hope he doesn't pass out or at least passes out before embarrassing the whole party.)

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

The penalties are still pretty severe at this point- Alfred can make an attempt to communicate, but can't really make himself understood; speaking with a mouthful of biscuits, basically. They look at him, look at Radulf, and shout for the commander of the watch almost instantly.

They turn out- this is happening by twilight and torchlight; there's some moon, and Rohal is not going to find it easy to transform. Two people look to be in charge, a yeoman archer and a woman in armour- I say that rather than female knight because she wears it badly, is obviously labouring under it, and has a black sash wrapped round her waist; probably a newly- made widow who inherited her dead husband's rank and duties.

She approaches the party, there's a visible moment when she thinks, how do I do this, the yeoman whispers to her- he's trying not to let it carry but fails, "you have to find out if they're dangerous or not."

A couple of the guards are rolling their eyes at this point, some are trying not to show disrespect but at least three would be openly mocking if they could. 'Who are you, and from where have you come? What happened to them?' meaning Alfred and Radulf.

[Simon_Jester]

Larric, seeing that Alfred isn't in good enough shape to answer coherently, steps in. He makes the appropriate gesture of respect (Bow? Nod? Tug forelock? He'd know, I don't, it doesn't matter anyway) to the woman in armor- she's trying, he respects trying.

"We're up from Coroghan, milady. This one-" he jerks his head toward Radulf, who's slung over the back of Bryan's horse, "was at the head of a band of southron marauders who came into town and tried to start some fires. The yeomanry put a stop to that, and got us to bring him up here- they thought some up here might be interested as to who sent them over the border, and why."

"As to Sir Alfred-" waving his hand toward Old Paint Bucket and the knight lashed upright in the saddle- "he's been wounded and healed, he's not quite himself right now. You've heard of what's been happening round Caer Edric? It turns out a pair of mad elves took it into their heads to try and lay siege to the place all by themselves. But they're dead now, and the road's clear- that's where Sir Alfred got his wounds."

[Feralgnoll]

Rohal will go hunting for deer. First trying to howl and bring wolves together. Then with any wolves He can scrounge up he will go hunting for food.

[Simon_Jester]

Er, I assume he told everyone he was splitting off from the group rather than going into the city? After last night, Larric is... understanding, maybe even very slightly sympathetic.

Also, is he in human form or wolf form- did he ever change back after his adventures earlier in the day?

I'm confused.

[Panzersharkcat]

Alfred continues to be dazed and confused, muttering things about swallows and bees.

(OOC: I have no idea if coconuts exist in this universe. I'm not even sure if swallows exist.)

[Feralgnoll]

Er, I assume he told everyone he was splitting off from the group rather than going into the city? After last night, Larric is... understanding, maybe even very slightly sympathetic.

Also, is he in human form or wolf form- did he ever change back after his adventures earlier in the day?

I'm confused.

OOC: I am too. I assumed I am still in wolf form. And as such I would not be able to communicate to anyone since I had previously ran off. Time for some If/then statements

If I am in wolf form with Hybrid mindset, I will be resisting utterly. Trying to stay away from people.

If I am in wolf form with Wolf mindset, I will be hunting, then moving back towards the party where I will masquerade as Larric's or Alfred's dog.

If I am Transformed back to human, I will be with the party probably making some arrows or collecting some herbs.

[Feralgnoll]

forgot to mention. If I stumble across Bryan's body, I will NOT eat it, but drag it back to town.

[Agent Sorchus]

I'm going to put forth that we need to get a discussion out of the way before turning Radulf over to the authorities. Mostly about the politics of his imprisonment and how we want our names to be attached to it. And importantly who we are going to be turning him over to.

[Simon_Jester]

Some of this conversation was probably had on the road- indeed, we could reasonably have it hashed out before we even reach Qulan, although Alfred's in no shape to participate effectively.

Larric's point of view, just to lay it out, is that the lords of Carfax are a nasty bunch of people. By reputation, they're hardhanded, prone to brutality, with precious little sense of justice or of the kind of moderate, traditional common-law that keeps a legal code from turning into something that cuts up the people. Violent, touchy, cruel- they might as well be Zarthani.

[Insert here some hints of a prejudice sort of like the one I imagine the English held against the Spanish in the Age of Sail against the stereotypical "dons"]

He doesn't like that they're getting grabby, and wants to see them taken down a peg. He definitely doesn't want the southern half of the barony driven into a state of yeomans' revolt because there's no other way to defend the place against raiders from Carfax.

Because of all this, Larric thinks that turning Radulf over to what law is left in the county is the best thing to do. How that's handled, he's willing to defer to other people on, if he thinks those people are being sensible.

Just dropping him on the doorstep of the castle isn't very sensible, someone has to go in and explain what's going on, and it's a great pity Sir Alfred isn't quite on top of things because he'd be the logical man to do it, him being a knight.

Larric's nervous about openly expressing alignment with Catarin and the Robin Hood types who freed her, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to give an accurate accounting of what they said.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

'Oh. Ah. hm.' she has to think about what to do, and her first reaction is to do what she would have done when she was still half of a couple, worry about things like hospitality and where to put you all up. She doesn't have a house any more either, and the situation's obviously more complex than that.

'You had best come with me- Rob, take over here.' she says to the yeoman, who nods and acknowledges. 'Milady Tamarin.' He looks grumpy, unhappy at seeing her go off without him- there's a bit of tension there.

'I'm lodging at the castle, you had best be there until I grasp who or what is appropriate to deal with this.' Half a dozen guards go with her, and she leads you there- the town smells of wood, of sawdust and resin, which actually makes it a wonderfully refreshing change from the dust and ash and death of most places.

Busy with people running after things, using what little of the light is left; crammed, there must have been many who fled when the Striking Phoenix arrived, escaped with their lives and returned to find their homes gone, and packed into whatever friend or relative's was still standing or nearly so.

Quite a lot of the new houses are basically a cellar with a roof, by the look of it- a pit, and there are traces of earthworks where all the soil is going, with only a small actual building above it. Larric's hometown has something of the sort- which was probably started in similar circumstances- and persisted out of tradition.

Tamarin says hello to a few people on your way through the streets, but doesn't really stop to talk; she leads you to the proper entrance- Qulan Castle is built on what looks like a camel's hump, a large potato- shaped hill, with sides artificially steepened and with a moat, and a smaller hill with a bastion- the only easy way into the castle is if the drawbridge between the castle and the bastion is lowered.

Things stop going smoothly at this point. The man in charge at the bastion is an older knight, in partial armour, salt and pepper, and he mutters something to her that she reacts angrily to- 'How dare you, and Merric barely cold in his grave.'

[Kaelan]

OOC,
Damn, hectic day & I missed the post! Still, time to catch up.

IC
Edgy from the very start about the politics of handing over Radulf to the law (william would have prefered to hand over a corpse who could't argue back - a habit from is old days of law keeping in the south). William will be keeping stum for the moment. He has the appearance of a Man at arms, more than a knight. As such he will try to hang back from the 'main' crowd. Once inside he will try to excuse himself to the servant quarters\barracks (handing over his axe and crossbow if requried, so long as a token is supplied for the return).

Once detached he will try to see what he can gather from the gossip in the castle - trading what he knows from his travels north for what is happening in the local area. If he can find out about this Merric even better.