An experimental adventure, in a custom settings.
in Role Playing
I'm planning on a short adventure for my friends, but I hope to gather more results from different ethic groups. So you guys are my guinea pigs. Details as below.
Geography settings:
Fellcrest: A self-sufficient city in the country Eisenhearth. It is a very secluded small city lying along the south of the coast, it sits just by the River Kedlrin and on the ridge of Mt. Thor. The city itself consists of no more than 1300 civilians, with enforcers of around 30 individuals.
The air in the region is humid, constant formation of fogs make travel and adventuring dangerous. gnolls had been sighted deep in the forest just west of the city, though rarely appear hostile to the local hunters, it is not adviced to venture too deep without urgent business.
How people view fantasy creatures: Elves, halflings, dwarves etc, exist, but none in Fellcrest. The citizens of Fellcrest never seen these creatures before and will most likely look at them with fear or consider them as bad omen.
Legends around the region:
-The city wouldn't sit on the river mouth due to a strange rock formation that cuts the embankments with hundred-feet tall cliffsides, extending inland to where Fellcrest currently is. Rumor tells the tale of a siren claiming lives who ventured there on foot, luring them to jump off the cliffs. Sailors who passed that area have to leave some kind of tokens as toll of passage. Sea trade is therefore left to only two merchants who know what tolls to pay for safe voyage.
-There is a hunter at night who will help those in distress and rid evil off dangerous alleys and dirty corners, but he takes vacations a lot.
-Baron Duran, ruler of the city, though married with two children, likes men.
Context:
You had fell prone to magic of some unknown necromancer, whoever this individual is, he had left you all to your own demise. You remember having boarded this caravan to run away from the castle Thunderrift deep within the mountain ridge. Due to an unknown disease killing almost everyone in that small village surrounding the castle, your only choice was to leave for Fellcrest, the only civilized settlement closest to Thunderrift, before your caravan was ambushed by unknown dark power...
After knowing you had just feasted on the caravan passengers involunterily, you found yourself lacking a bit of mercy and humanity on every bloody smell you had. Damn, you never thought they could be so tasty!
You've made your fill, now your only path to more tasty cuisines is the way to Fellcrest. But becareful, if the human finds out, the weak will run off and warn the others, then the strong will come for you, putting you to eternal rest.
FAQ:
Q:Where's my stats?
A:There is no stats, roleplay your character just like the way you preceive. With common sense and common knowledge in media you can think of, be creative.
Q:How do I roll my skills?
A:There is no rolling, results are determined by common sense and how well your present the actions. The more details (within reasonable word counts) you describe your actions, the more likely it could success in extraordinary way. Again, be creative.
Q:How does combat work? Say in the scenarios of pvp or even pve?
A:You have one attack and one defense each "turn" (within one or two posts), I will decide what you can anticipate during the beginning of each turn.
Q:How do I know how strong and weak I am, if there's no ruleset to bound me?
A:Within reasonable context, all undeads can have many advantages and disadvantages, be creative but consider the "core" to be the strongest of your merits and flaws.
Q:How do I make my character?
A:Pick one of the undead listed and be wary of the undead traits as below. Make up your own background story, be creative. You can be a current noble, a beggar before death, just mind you, too many powerful figures in the same group brings only annoyance to yourself. It will be reflected in the game.
Q:How often will the DM updates?
A:I will update the thread once a day or two, may take longer if some individuals are too busy to post. I will try to wait for everyone's response, but I can't left everyone waiting just for you. Should a player appeared dominating the whole scene, be expected to be left out for others to regain their participation later on. If you found yourself left out, pm me and I'll arrange, but if you spam me, I'll send Boo to your house eating everything in your fridge.
How long will it last?
I'm running it story by story, and a story will end eventually. I'll make up another story when this one ended.
Character creation:
All undeads:
-Immune to disease, poison, unless specified.
-Suceptible to true "Holy" powers, which is particular rare in the realm
-Can regenerates from losing body parts or wounds that could kill mortals, but it takes time
-Can appear as pale human. No ability or weakness during this masquerade. But always display some sort of weirdness associated with the choosen type
-To mask as human, an undead must spend 5 minutes doing nothing to let the masquerade manifest. Undonning this disguise takes only a mere second.
1. A zombie
Core Ability: Detached body parts remain functional
Core weakness: Very slow movement speed
Weirdness: Grunts a lot, partial speech impediment
2. A skeleton
Core ability: Detached body parts remain functional
Core weakness: Cracks easy
Weirdness: Scratches a lot (not used to having flesh on the bones)
3. A mummy
Core ability: Able to spread diseases by touch, one at a time (you name it)
Core weakness: Need to replenish bandage every day
Weirdness: Smells pretty bad
4. A vampire
Core ability: Makes mortals do things your way, one at a time at close range, requires drinking at least 1 litre of blood within last 24 hours
Core weakness: Just an ordinary dead corpse at day time
Weirdness: Easily carried away by beautiful things (subjective, so you have to tell me beforehand).
5. A ghost
Core ability: Passes through objects
Core weakness: Cannot interact with material objects
Weirdness: Fond of touching things, every THINGS.
PS: More powers will manifest as you progress in certain story milestones.
Yes only 5, I can only handle 5 players top at a time, sorry.
Please post your character in following format:
A what: (eg.: A mummy)
Name:
Physical description:
Tweaks or accents, something that defines your character:
Geography settings:
Fellcrest: A self-sufficient city in the country Eisenhearth. It is a very secluded small city lying along the south of the coast, it sits just by the River Kedlrin and on the ridge of Mt. Thor. The city itself consists of no more than 1300 civilians, with enforcers of around 30 individuals.
The air in the region is humid, constant formation of fogs make travel and adventuring dangerous. gnolls had been sighted deep in the forest just west of the city, though rarely appear hostile to the local hunters, it is not adviced to venture too deep without urgent business.
How people view fantasy creatures: Elves, halflings, dwarves etc, exist, but none in Fellcrest. The citizens of Fellcrest never seen these creatures before and will most likely look at them with fear or consider them as bad omen.
Legends around the region:
-The city wouldn't sit on the river mouth due to a strange rock formation that cuts the embankments with hundred-feet tall cliffsides, extending inland to where Fellcrest currently is. Rumor tells the tale of a siren claiming lives who ventured there on foot, luring them to jump off the cliffs. Sailors who passed that area have to leave some kind of tokens as toll of passage. Sea trade is therefore left to only two merchants who know what tolls to pay for safe voyage.
-There is a hunter at night who will help those in distress and rid evil off dangerous alleys and dirty corners, but he takes vacations a lot.
-Baron Duran, ruler of the city, though married with two children, likes men.
Context:
You had fell prone to magic of some unknown necromancer, whoever this individual is, he had left you all to your own demise. You remember having boarded this caravan to run away from the castle Thunderrift deep within the mountain ridge. Due to an unknown disease killing almost everyone in that small village surrounding the castle, your only choice was to leave for Fellcrest, the only civilized settlement closest to Thunderrift, before your caravan was ambushed by unknown dark power...
After knowing you had just feasted on the caravan passengers involunterily, you found yourself lacking a bit of mercy and humanity on every bloody smell you had. Damn, you never thought they could be so tasty!
You've made your fill, now your only path to more tasty cuisines is the way to Fellcrest. But becareful, if the human finds out, the weak will run off and warn the others, then the strong will come for you, putting you to eternal rest.
FAQ:
Q:Where's my stats?
A:There is no stats, roleplay your character just like the way you preceive. With common sense and common knowledge in media you can think of, be creative.
Q:How do I roll my skills?
A:There is no rolling, results are determined by common sense and how well your present the actions. The more details (within reasonable word counts) you describe your actions, the more likely it could success in extraordinary way. Again, be creative.
Q:How does combat work? Say in the scenarios of pvp or even pve?
A:You have one attack and one defense each "turn" (within one or two posts), I will decide what you can anticipate during the beginning of each turn.
Q:How do I know how strong and weak I am, if there's no ruleset to bound me?
A:Within reasonable context, all undeads can have many advantages and disadvantages, be creative but consider the "core" to be the strongest of your merits and flaws.
Q:How do I make my character?
A:Pick one of the undead listed and be wary of the undead traits as below. Make up your own background story, be creative. You can be a current noble, a beggar before death, just mind you, too many powerful figures in the same group brings only annoyance to yourself. It will be reflected in the game.
Q:How often will the DM updates?
A:I will update the thread once a day or two, may take longer if some individuals are too busy to post. I will try to wait for everyone's response, but I can't left everyone waiting just for you. Should a player appeared dominating the whole scene, be expected to be left out for others to regain their participation later on. If you found yourself left out, pm me and I'll arrange, but if you spam me, I'll send Boo to your house eating everything in your fridge.
How long will it last?
I'm running it story by story, and a story will end eventually. I'll make up another story when this one ended.
Character creation:
All undeads:
-Immune to disease, poison, unless specified.
-Suceptible to true "Holy" powers, which is particular rare in the realm
-Can regenerates from losing body parts or wounds that could kill mortals, but it takes time
-Can appear as pale human. No ability or weakness during this masquerade. But always display some sort of weirdness associated with the choosen type
-To mask as human, an undead must spend 5 minutes doing nothing to let the masquerade manifest. Undonning this disguise takes only a mere second.
1. A zombie
Core Ability: Detached body parts remain functional
Core weakness: Very slow movement speed
Weirdness: Grunts a lot, partial speech impediment
2. A skeleton
Core ability: Detached body parts remain functional
Core weakness: Cracks easy
Weirdness: Scratches a lot (not used to having flesh on the bones)
3. A mummy
Core ability: Able to spread diseases by touch, one at a time (you name it)
Core weakness: Need to replenish bandage every day
Weirdness: Smells pretty bad
4. A vampire
Core ability: Makes mortals do things your way, one at a time at close range, requires drinking at least 1 litre of blood within last 24 hours
Core weakness: Just an ordinary dead corpse at day time
Weirdness: Easily carried away by beautiful things (subjective, so you have to tell me beforehand).
5. A ghost
Core ability: Passes through objects
Core weakness: Cannot interact with material objects
Weirdness: Fond of touching things, every THINGS.
PS: More powers will manifest as you progress in certain story milestones.
Yes only 5, I can only handle 5 players top at a time, sorry.
Please post your character in following format:
A what: (eg.: A mummy)
Name:
Physical description:
Tweaks or accents, something that defines your character:
0
Comments
What: A Skeleton
Name: Stall Foesenhand
Description: Human skeleton of course. Wearing large robes and a hood, keeping to the shadows mostly, with gloves and large boots. As you said in an ability, a mask with a face.
Unique: Let's give him a phobia of fire and make him a helmite.
History: My house burned down as a child and I was taken in by a paladin of Helm. I was a squire training for paladinhood under my adoptive father before the transformation. Unable to bare myself before my Deity or my family after my violent assault upon an innocent caravan... there was no looking back.
Name: Lucas Mirion
Description: Bandages all around. Atop of them expensive merchant clothes and a hat with a feather.While looking like a human,dark brown hair and green eyes,pale skin, always with a smile on the face.
History: Raised on the road as a son of a merchant and a bard, I followed on my parents' steps.As tragedy struck us, I could not easily bear the fact of being an undead so I run to the closest settlement seeking help... or that's what I first thought,until the hunger hit again...
The sun had set, the city gate is close. For those unfortunate individuals who failed to make it to the city in time, there is a large tavern just outside the entrance. The tavern has 1 story, a rather decent stable and a large common room at the back. Obviously the design was meant to be for traveling merchants, but since road trading is rare, the stable looks unoccupied and unused from the look of it. As for how this tavern of such size managed to survive, you really can't tell. A large sign hanging at the front door "Wench and Whore". Perhaps this is how.
Straight up ahead the road, is the entrance to the walled city Fellcrest. The city wall stands about ten meters tall, apparently not meant for major defense, nor was it necessary other than preventive measurement for the potential threat, the gnolls, who are primitive and unorganized in military strength. One soldier can be seen casually patrolling the battlement, with a longbow loosely strapped in the back. A small guard post stands a the northern gate, the guard is absence.
The inside of the tavern is dimmly lit. It has a rather large receiving room for a rarely visited place like the backdoor of Fellcrest. The barkeep is snoring at the counter, a bald human male at around the age of 40ish. A small sign on the counter lists the price of service:
3 copa a night clin rom
10 copa a night derty rom
Slip in stable 1 copa
common room 2 copa 14 more with a whore
ale 2 copa
elven pis 5 copa
dwarven spit 10 copa
pis with a whore 1 silva
No keys could be seen behind the barkeep or anywhere within direct sight.
There are two hooded figures taking a table near a far corner of the room away from the barkeep. A piece of wrapped object in the shape of a 5 feet long stick placed on their table. Both of them seem cleanly shaved, but you cannot make out their appearance under such dim light. They are whispering to each other, occasionally sipping on a whineskin.
To the right there is an aisle leading to the back of the tavern, you suspect it leads to common room and other guest suites. Moonlight cracks through the wooden windows, liting up a clear path into the corridor.
I blend in with the crowd and try to listen in for rumors, keeping to the shadows.
Weak wails of the wind begins to pick up from the outside, it was uneasy and a bit abnormal, since there's not enough buildings around to produce such sounds. Perhaps there are cracks in the premise a bit here and there? You do not know, but they do sound coming from the outside.
The two figures appeared to have noticed. One of them removed the object on the table and beginning unwrapping it, it was a bow of some sort from the glimpse of it. The other picked up something under the table. The barkeep... well you wonder which one's more alarming, his snores or the winds.
Then the door opened. One city guard, a man of middle age, made a sweeping look to the room and stepped in casually. He headed to the bar, and knocked on the table with thundering sound. "Barkeep! Giv'me an ale! And a good whore down my sword! I have good money tonight!" He slammed down a few gold coins with strange greenish glint on the table.
The barkeep jumped at the loud noise. Startled by the proud city guard. "Eeh...aaae ale right away." He quickly pocketed the gold and stumbled around behind the counter to fetch him the ale. "Daisy! You have a customer!" He added after pouring the drink, then moved himself in a corner grinning at the shinny eerie coins.
The guard grunted, did not bother with the few people around him, leaned back with a stupid smirk in the face. He faced the room while waited.
A comely girl, dressed in stained barmaid outfit strolled out lazily into the corridor from one of the rooms at the back.
The guard noticed Lucas's approach. As Lucas hurried away, he made a silent swear in his back, then turned to glance at the two figures. "Where's my wench!"
"I'm here, I'm here. I should be the one screaming not you honey." The whore covers her nose while passing Lucas, she make only a quick glance with a disgusted look. She strolls down the bar yawning, eventually setting herself on the guard's laps. "You still owe me twenty silvers for the last time Karl. But you seem to be quite capable to pay up. What happened? The baron made you captain of the guards?"
"Just picked up a job here and there, you know. Honest job pays in honest golds." The grin on his face is particularly dirty, and longing. His hands moving over her body, his eyes staring at her breasts.
As Lucas enters the corridor to the back rooms, he can see through the wooden window, that a fog had picked up outside. This is rather unusual, there should be little to no fog this time of the year.
Nothing seemed to happen after a while, so Lucas returned to his room.
There was a soft commotion in the room close to Lucas, he could hear a faint thump to a hard object, it could be the couple, but then it was quiet.
The night was silent, until Lucas was waken by the chill. Mist had started crawling into the room, and the whore was standing just outside the window. She leaned over and placed her arms crossed on the window frame, supporting her top as she poked over. Her face was pale and her hair was white as snow, her eyes glint with bright blue as she smiled at him.
"Hello fellow deader. Given the kind of smell you give out, I don't suppose you are a ghoul? Or zombie?" Her voice was echoing, not through the air, but through the mind. There was no vibration in the air, only sounds in the skull. "I'm Ophelia." Still smiling.
---
What: Ghost
Name: Shadow
Description: When she was still alive, she looked mostly human, however a willowy build (neither tall nor short), subtly almond-shaped brown eyes, and a slight tapering to the ears hinted at some exotic pairing somewhere in her lineage.
History: Growing up on the mean streets of Fellcrest, Shadow learned to survive as best she could: she started with begging as a child, moved up to pick-pocketing as an adolescent, and graduated to cat burglary as an adult. She views herself as an "honorable thief," and her skills and charisma are such that she's never been caught, and, prior to being turned undead, has never killed anyone. Her name is an affectation: an identity she created for herself over the years. She guards her real name and the details of her past zealously.
Primary skills as a human: Pick-pocketing, lock-picking, stealth, proficient with a grappling hook. Relies on stealth and charisma rather than skill with a weapon to get out of tricky situations.
(Can ghosts can interact with objects when wearing their human masks? Otherwise, giving my character money would be kinda useless, since she wouldn't be able to hold it.)
---
Shadow is feeling really off-kilter by her actions on the caravan, and the last place she wants to stay tonight is at this tavern: let's just say she has some familiarity with the barkeep there. He may or may not remember her, but he has tried to recruit her as a whore when she was younger, and she turned him down. She has standards, you know.
As such, she chooses to try to sneaking into the city rather than going to the bar. Because she lost her trusty grappling hook on the caravan, she will attempt to enter past the empty guard post, gliding across the land with an almost unnatural silence. It doesn't occur to her to use her ghost abilities to pass straight through the walls, as she hasn't been a ghost long enough to figure that out. If the patrolling guard should notice her, she will attempt to talk her way past him, presenting the image of a young forlorn woman just trying to make her way home to the city.
IC:
Shadow knew the city guard patrolling the wall, she overheard his name as Simon. Simon had attempted to catch her in the past, but the man was simply too dumb to even recognise some simple details to the burglary, perhaps that's why he was sent to guard the wall.
Simon glanced pass the entrance, but Shadow had long anticipated the move, it was a very casual attempt for her to get pass undetected. Again, just before she entered the city, she could notice a mist picking up by the tavern. That stupid guard probably won't realise that either.
To her front, the street was quiet, no sign of human activity could be found in this time of the night. Perhaps at far end of street, where a glimpse of candlelight wavered, someone was still awake.
To her right, a climbing ramp meandered outward to the upper part of the city, where a few houses were two stories high. She knew this is where the merchants live, where it eventually leads to the Baron's keep.
To her left, a narrow stony stairway leads down to the rundown area of the city.
She could still remember Rendal, whose gang raped and murdered one of her friends at the bottom of that staircase a year ago. The scene of the crime seemed to have lived up and flashed across her mind. Three masked men pinning Jessie, face down on the dirt, they impaled her with a sharpened wood after they had their ways on the poor soul. There was nothing Shadow could do, Rendal was armed to the teeth while overseeing the process. She might have met the same fate if she ever showed herself.
The smell... the smell of grief, lust, anger, desperation, it seeped through the rocks, and she could see it. Why... how could this happen? Then she was alarmed by another flow of sorrow seeping through under the wall, the mist. It passed through the wall. Something is terribly wrong.