The Role Playing Public Radio Forums
Play by Post Arena => Play by Post => Recruitment Board => : iceemaker August 18, 2010, 04:28:09 PM
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Game Title: Beneath the Red Sun
System: Dungeons and Dragons, 4th Edition
Players Wanted: Four to six
Posting Rate: Once every other day
Special Rules: (wall 'o' text ahead)
1. No divine characters. Athas is a world of barbarism and tyranny, where every day is a fight to survive (except if you're a sorcerer-king or one of their cronies, of course). The gods either abandoned the world or were wiped out eons ago. Regardless, there is no way to draw power from the divine.
2. Weapon breakage. If you roll a natural 1, your weapon breaks. Weapons are made out of whatever materials one can find, as metal is extremely scarce on Athas. Bone, stone, chitin; you name it, it has probably been used to construct a weapon. As such, one errant sweep of your weapon is enough to shatter it. To compensate for this, the following rule will also be utilized:
3. Fixed enhancement bonuses: In addition to any typical bonuses you gain from leveling up, you occassionally gain fixed enhancement bonuses (p. 209, Dark Sun Campaign Setting). This is to both offset the fact that you will be using sub-par weapons and reflect the rarity of both metal and magic items on Athas. You do the best with what you have.
4. Non-psionic characters may gain a Wild Talent, but I roll for it. Psychic power permeates the entire world of Athas, perhaps an evolutionary adaptation to the harsh environment. As such, it manifests in practically every being in one manner or another. But how it manifests is almost always unpredictable.
5. All themes listed in the Dark Sun Campaign Setting are permitted. Your character may begin with any theme listed in the campaign guide, as well as any others that may be released by Wizards in the future. In fact, it is highly recommended you do so, as you will need every advantage you can get!
6. You, as players, must determine a unifying theme in your party, a reason you are all together. It could be anything: trade cartel, thri-kreen tribe, templar agents, whatever interests you guys. I am extremely flexible and will happily work with whatever you guys devise. Given the nature of the setting and the medium we are playing with, it seems to me that determining (at least the basics) background ahead of time is imperative.
Advancement Rules: At the conclusion of a major plot point or every other combat encounter. Basically, Ross-esque "whenever it seems appropriate" leveling.
This will be an open-ended game, with you players serving as catalysts for change. Will you liberate the oppressed peoples of Athas from the tyranny of the sorcerer-kings? Become the dominant mercantile power in Athas? Scour the world clean of civilization and return it to the primal spirits? Maintain the status quo and live a life of decadence on the backs of the enslaved? Or does it even matter? In the end, you are just individuals - the march of fate is seemingly inescapable.
Prophecies tell of a reckoning, a time in which all of Athas will be consumed by a massive cataclysm. Will a new world arise in its place? Will the gods be reborn and usher in a new golden age of peace and prosperity? Or will everything be simply wiped out, leaving utter, pure, total, absolute nothingness? Only time will tell. You may only be a small group of people, against a harsh environment and an equally harsh populace. Sometimes, however, it requires only the fewest of people to enact the greatest of change...
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I'll play.
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I'm in.
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Im in
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I'd love to play
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I'm thinking Striker, leaning towards rogue, since avengers are out. Maybe a defender if it comes down to no one else wanting to play one. I have a bugbear, but it looks like they and half-orcs are out so maybe halfling? Although I'm open to suggestions if we want to do a race theme group.
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Hmm, I'm leaning toward leader. Bard, if no one has any objections.
Also, I like the idea of a trade caravan as a unifying theme. Traveling across the hostile desert wasteland, just trying to make a buck, (or the D&D equivalent) that sounds cool.
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Okay, four people so far. Excellent. I will keep this thread open for one more day, then I will ask Arje to create a campaign forum. Try to think about your characters and a unifying theme until then.
The wrinkle with Bard is that you utilize arcane power, which draws directly from the life force of plants and animals on Athas. Unless you're endorsed by a sorcerer-king (IE, a templar), you have to disguise your powers or risk getting lynched by a mob of townspeople. Of course, if you play as members of a trade caravan that won't be TOO much of an issue ;) . And you can just opt to not defile.
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I'm in.
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I was kind of thinking about druid and being more of striker than controller, but I'm also interested in defender (I've never played one), so I would have to look at them and see what there is as far as they go. I think caravan would be kind of cool, but I think we should find some type of "unique" quirk for it. Don't know what, but something to not just be a random trade thing...
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I can take any slot that needs to be filled, I tend to lean more towards the martial classes though I might try something else that catches my attention.
Normally, trade caravans in Athas bring water, food, weapons, slaves etc. Elven caravans are notorious for having stolen merchandise from merchants and travelers they have raided, but they usually sell at a low price and in Athas, not many are too picky when it means extra copper on their purse.
A rare resource in Athas is metal, as well as magic weapons and anything that might come from an age before the world became the wasteland it is now. Of course, that also means Sorcerer-Kings won't be happy to receive traders who might remind people of an era before they ruled.
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I'm definitely going to play up the whole Orwellian, 1984-esque rule of the sorcerer-kings. Especially the cultivation of ignorance through the systematic destruction of historical records and outlawing of literacy. If the people don't know that there was once a brighter, more prosperous Athas, what motivation do they have to rise against their oppressors?
The sorcerer-kings can do their damndest to rewrite history, but it is a cycle that will inevitably repeat itself - one that even beings as powerful as them cannot hope to stop.
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I like the idea of a the party being part of a traveling caravan. I think I am going to play a rogue or a ranger. I have not decided as of yet.
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I'm not against a traveling caravan, but it seems a little bland. Don't get me wrong, the concept works on a number of levels, different people coming together, adventure on the open road, access to cities and towns, etc. I'd just like to see some/all of us be more than passengers, guards, what-have-you on this "stage coach". ie a hidden agenda. Like raiders traveling with the caravan with plans to attack from within when the ambush happens or some working for dragonking while others oppose them yet something happens that forces them all to work together for the survival, etc.
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I'm not against a traveling caravan, but it seems a little bland. Don't get me wrong, the concept works on a number of levels, different people coming together, adventure on the open road, access to cities and towns, etc. I'd just like to see some/all of us be more than passengers, guards, what-have-you on this "stage coach". ie a hidden agenda. Like raiders traveling with the caravan with plans to attack from within when the ambush happens or some working for dragonking while others oppose them yet something happens that forces them all to work together for the survival, etc.
How about we're a cult? Dedicated to preserving the memory and relics of gods that have long since abandoned the world? Or perhaps the Gods never existed at all, and we're so desperate to believe in something, anything, that we don't look to hard at the lie. (there wouldn't be any practical benefits to worship, we'd just believe) Either way, we have to move from place to place so the Sorcerer Kings don't suspect anything.
I don't know if that works in Dark Sun, or if it fits with the type of game the DM wants to run. Thoughts?
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I'm not against a traveling caravan, but it seems a little bland. Don't get me wrong, the concept works on a number of levels, different people coming together, adventure on the open road, access to cities and towns, etc. I'd just like to see some/all of us be more than passengers, guards, what-have-you on this "stage coach". ie a hidden agenda. Like raiders traveling with the caravan with plans to attack from within when the ambush happens or some working for dragonking while others oppose them yet something happens that forces them all to work together for the survival, etc.
My thoughts exactly, I don't have a problem, but would like some interesting "gimmick" per se. Cult idea or something like that could be fun...
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I was thinking of something more brutal than art collectors. ;)
The only thing about the idea is that this is one setting in which gods don't exist, so why bring them in even if in faith only? I'd suggest spirit/elemental worship that is a religion that people in this world follow.
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Oh man. We should play con-men or classy bandits or something...
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I LOVE the Classy Bandits idea.
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Classy bandits? What's that?
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Sounds interesting. Maybe robbing the nobles and templars, to give to the common masses in a Robin Hood-esque action. Or simply rob everything and hightail it to the next town.
I'm liking the idea of playing a Thri-Kreen. Probably can play defender if needed.
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You know, bandits, but...classy. ;)
What I think Mckma's talking about is kind of a caravan of ne'er do wells and con men. Not above stealing, but not downright evil either. They do what it takes to survive, and if that means robbing the sorcerer kings, then so be it.
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Should we bring theme's into it or be like the an A-team where we are different themes but have similar goals, because there is a noble (for robin hood types).
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You know, bandits, but...classy. ;)
What I think Mckma's talking about is kind of a caravan of ne'er do wells and con men. Not above stealing, but not downright evil either. They do what it takes to survive, and if that means robbing the sorcerer kings, then so be it.
Yeah, but they do it with style. Smash and grab is too base for them, and sometimes it's more a matter of pride and "art" than just getting stuff (i.e. if life wasn't so rough, they would break into a noble's house to steal a coffee table book just to show they could)...
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Should we bring theme's into it or be like the an A-team where we are different themes but have similar goals, because there is a noble (for robin hood types).
I'm thinking A-Team, different themes but similar goals. Although the temptation to play a Thri-Kreen Mr. T might be a bit too strong.
You know, bandits, but...classy. ;)
What I think Mckma's talking about is kind of a caravan of ne'er do wells and con men. Not above stealing, but not downright evil either. They do what it takes to survive, and if that means robbing the sorcerer kings, then so be it.
Yeah, but they do it with style. Smash and grab is too base for them, and sometimes it's more a matter of pride and "art" than just getting stuff (i.e. if life wasn't so rough, they would break into a noble's house to steal a coffee table book just to show they could)...
Exactly.
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Dark Sun meets Ocean's Eleven. ;)
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Sorry about the delay. Typing on a Kindle SUCKS.
Classy bandits... cult... A-Team. I like it.
The only issue is that most Athasians are barely scraping by on a daily basis, completely unaware of the concept of a god. Either that, or the sorcerer-king that dominates the region erects a religion around him/herself and demands worship. So I would be really cautious with the whole cult angle. Of course there is primal spirit worship, but that seems like more of a symbiotic relationship than a religion. That, and most people are not even aware of the spirits' existence.
I really want to emphasize the idea that the vast majority of Athasians know of nothing beyond daily survival, that they lack the will to better their situation. Which is hardly their fault, of course.
While you guys contemplate the specifics, I will get everything set up with Arrrrrje.
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Okay how about this:
For whatever reason we all found each other and formed a trade caravan to try and scrape by. We quickly realized that being legit it is really hard to get by and thus decided to pursue potentially less honorable/legal means of survival. For whatever reason we've decided that just raiding and pillaging is not very classy, and it just makes everyone pissed off. So we still run our caravan, but steal when necessary or take particularly profitable jobs if we feel like it (and someone offers it). Realizing that just stealing from anyone and everyone is a good way to get killed if you aren't careful, we attempt to strike a balance between legitimate and illegitimate work, and hope to build a positive reputation with upper middle level nobles (if there are such a thing), who might pay well to have things done (as any more powerful than that they can probably just do whatever the hell they want and not worry about doing things quietly)...
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Okay how about this:
For whatever reason we all found each other and formed a trade caravan to try and scrape by. We quickly realized that being legit it is really hard to get by and thus decided to pursue potentially less honorable/legal means of survival. For whatever reason we've decided that just raiding and pillaging is not very classy, and it just makes everyone pissed off. So we still run our caravan, but steal when necessary or take particularly profitable jobs if we feel like it (and someone offers it). Realizing that just stealing from anyone and everyone is a good way to get killed if you aren't careful, we attempt to strike a balance between legitimate and illegitimate work, and hope to build a positive reputation with upper middle level nobles (if there are such a thing), who might pay well to have things done (as any more powerful than that they can probably just do whatever the hell they want and not worry about doing things quietly)...
I like this. I'm good to go with it unless anyone has any major objections.
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Obviously you guys would need to work out the specifics for your characters (how you met each other, why you began raiding, etc.), but that is a great place to start. It's a great setup, as you guys can basically play whatever the hell you want.
Don't forget that there is always a demand for skilled and easily deniable mercenaries. Even the wealthiest of individuals cannot simply do as they please - the templars are entrenched EVERYWHERE. You can run the caravan at the behest of a noble family or trade cartel (the Dune Trader is an obvious theme one or two of you can take) and take some "special" tasks to supplement your income.
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Obviously you guys would need to work out the specifics for your characters (how you met each other, why you began raiding, etc.), but that is a great place to start. It's a great setup, as you guys can basically play whatever the hell you want.
Don't forget that there is always a demand for skilled and easily deniable mercenaries. Even the wealthiest of individuals cannot simply do as they please - the templars are entrenched EVERYWHERE. You can run the caravan at the behest of a noble family or trade cartel (the Dune Trader is an obvious theme one or two of you can take) and take some "special" tasks to supplement your income.
Yeah, I don't know much about the themes as I haven't gotten my hands on the campaign setting yet.
What are people thinking of playing (role-wise)? Has anyone else wanted to play a leader yet? If not, I'll take that, otherwise I'm kind of thinking it might be fun to play a defender a bit inspired by B.A. Baracus...
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It sounds a lot like a Shadowrun crew. We get ourselves a Mr Fixit and then do whatever jobs come down the pike, most likely wearing masks or the like. Our "normal" job is to run a caravan, which gets us access to places for our illegal work.
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Oh no! Does that mean you can't play if I start a Dark Sun game on the NB Forums?
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People participating in this game should feel free to play whatever they wish, wherever. I am hardly the end-all, be-all GM that demands undying fealty from his players.
Hell, Neil, if you start a Dark Sun game on the NB forums I will gladly participate.
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I will also play. Such is my love of the game setting. :P One engine and dark sun would be my ideal heh
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http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php?board=26.0 (http://slangdesign.com/forums/index.php?board=26.0)
Enjoy kids! Gets to getting.