3.5 E Forum Based Game

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I know there have been quite a few RPs started resently, so most people are probably occupied. This is a campaign I've had in planning for a fair while now and I'm looking for four to six players willing to be involved for a fair while. I've been tossing up between running in via IRC or OpenRPG or such, or through the forums, but this ended up winning just because it is easier to organise timezone wise.

We're looking at quite a long campaign, fully DMed, with a fairly open game, allowing the PCs to follow what direction they wish. It's based in a custom, low magic, world, fairly inspired by the roman republic.

Anyway, enough of that unordered rambling. Below are some more details, in a slightly more ordered form.

Robes of Stone
Rule Base: DnD 3.5E
Setting: Custom - The Empire of Parcus
Character Level: Starting at 1 (hope to be progressing quite far)
Description: The city of Parcus, the centre of the modern world, where it is said even a mere slave can rise to great stations. It is the place where the great philosphers argue over the deep and meaningful; where brilliant politicans battle it out in the courts; and where the masterful generals plan their wars.

Growing up in a town on the far extremities of the empire, even you have heard of these awe-inspiring stories circling around this godlike city. But now is no time to dream of visiting Parcus. Rumours have begun to speak of a new trouble emerging in the empire. Pirates, in numbers never seen before have swarmed the Great Sea, raising villages, taking slaves and evening attacking the great Parcian navy! Now more than ever Parcian has need of a great hero, like those out of the legends from the past!

Just a few points to note:
-> The campaign will not be heavily combat oreintated. I prefer PCs to be able to think their way around encounters
-> There will be pleanty of room for characters to explore their own goals, once the campaign is under way. There will be chances to earn titles and land, rule your own towns, control your own pirate fleets - what ever your characters deem important. Of course, you will have to earn these!
-> Make sure you put some points into those RP Skills, not just combat ones! These WILL come in handy!

Character Creation and House Rules:

• All characters will start at level 1, using the following guidelines:
  • Human Race Only
  • Abilities are found by a 25 Point Buy system
  • Any Alignment Allowed
  • Hitpoints for the first three levels are maxed. From there on they are rolled normally, by me.
  • No starting gold - all this will be explained IG.
  • Redblade 3.5 Character Generator is a great, quick way to make PCs for both those new to DnD and experts alike.
  • See further down for a layout of a character sheet which you can use for the forums.
• All rolls will be made by the DM, me.
• Combat will be turn based (obviously), with each action been sent via PM to me and the results of each round then been posted at once, to try and simulate a more flowing environment.
• All DnD books can be used, but if it's outside of the core ones (PHB, DMG and MM), please check with me first.
• D20 System Reference Document are a great source of rules for those without the books.
• Spell components are generally needed. There are going to be very few exceptions, but I'll cover them as (well, before) they come up.
• Don't worry about food. Where here to RP, not to micromanage. There may be situations when finding food will become a main focus, but I'll make those clear. Otherwise, I'm going to assume you all have easy access to food.
• If during combat, a critical threat is confirmed with a roll of a twenty, it's an instant kill
• Critical fumbles will apply, if you roll a 1
• Sailing (which there may be a lot of) will make use of three skills. Profession (Sailor), Knowledge (Geography) and Knowledge (Nature).

More rules may be added if and when I think of them.

Anyway, below I've got a short bit of information about the setting. I will post some more detailed information up once I know that the players are there.

• Gods
  There are nine gods in this world, each holding sway over a different alignment.
  • Vallo - The Protector. LG alignment. Has a fairly small following, mainly amoungst the Knight class.
  • Prosapia - The Healing Touch. NG alignment. Worshipped by many, as she is considered the god of healing, birth, family and so on.
  • Gaudium - The Jester. CG alignment. God of happiness and fun. Sacrafices are offered to her before the openings of all major games and celebrations.
  • Ordo - The Surprime Judge. LN alignment. Often worshipped by politicans and judges. Followers are in charge of all tax collection within the empire.
  • Gaia. TN alignment. The mother of the other eight, as well as the world and everything in it. Probably the most widely worshipped of the pantheon.
  • Traba - The Grand Captain. CN alignment. Most worshipped amoungst sailors, as god of sea and stars. A pray is always offered to Uruo before each sea voyage as a show of good faith.
  • Mortuus - Lord of the Dead. LE alignment. Major prescence in all cities, as caretaker of the dead. All souls go to the Lord of the Underworld upon death.
  • Carius - The Corrupt. NE alignment. Worship of Carrius is outlawed in most civilized areas of the empire. Those found worshipping Carius suffer hefty punishment, depending upon their station and the amount they are able to bribe the judges ruling over their case.
  • Alieno - The Forgotten One. After rising up against the other dieties, Alieno was struck down by Vallo. Very few can remember him these days and even fewer mention his name.
• Classes
  All classes are allowed. Below is a quick description of how each class is seen in the empire.
  • Bards - Bards are generally no different from standard DnD and quite common in the empire. Amoungst their ranks are bards, preformers, speakers, etc, etc.
  • Barberians - Barberians are very rare in the more central areas of the empire. Out in the outskirts however (particularly the frozen north and the far west), there are quite a few barberian tribes around. Within the empire they are usually looked down upon by most people.
  • Clerics - Clerics are known as priests. They exist throughout the empire of all major gods (except Alieno). They hold well respected positions in the community.
  • Druids - Similar to barberians, druids often lead these tribes. They have the ability to draw upon the powers of nature. Within the empire they are often feared and mistrusted.
  • Fighters - No different to standard DnD. Fighters are the most versitail group in the empire, and no real generalisations can be made.
  • Monks - Monks are scholars from the mountains to the far east, trained in martal arts. The average citizen has never heard of them, let alone met one.
  • Paladins - Holy warriors of Vallo, dedicated to protecting the empire. Paladins are highly repected in most communities and carry a word of authority. There is NO alignment restriction on them!
  • Rangers - Rangers, as fighters, play a range of roles throughout the empire. From simple hunters and woodsmen to scouts for the army. Rangers generally are outdoor people, but some do take an urban track and make great detectives and watchmen.
  • Rogue - Yet another common, versitile class. Rogues occupy a range of stations within the empire, from politicans to theives and pirates.
  • Sorcerers - Very rare throughout the empire. The art of sorcerery comes from the great desert, south of the empire, and is only spoken of in myth and legend, of both good and evil. No one can really say how citizens would react should they see a living legend.
  • Wizards - Also very rare, although the art of wizardy tends to hail from the eastern moutains of the empire. They are considered by some to be direct servants of the gods and by others to be devils themselves.

Anyway, I will add more and some more depth to what's already there at a later time. If you're interested in joining, please post below. I want to cap it at six players and probably won't run it without four.

If you've got any questions, fire away!

[ February 05, 2007, 08:32: Message edited by: Rotku ]

 

I want to join, but not if it's going to be a forum game. IRC is most preferred, cause otherwise it's gonna be real slow.

I would be a Bard, obviously, because Bards are the best.

 

I'd love to get in as a fighter (probably a wandering knight, LN or LE of course). If culturally appropriate, I think he'd be a two-bladed sword user.

 

I know what you mean, Register. I prefer IRC as well. But then timezones come into play. With me living on the opposite side of the world (12 hours ahead) from you, it does make things hard to coordinate.

 

I've been in six or seven different IRC RPGs(groups, not sessions) through my years, and every single one of them have been dominated by Euros. I think I could manage.

However, you would suffer the Curse of the Rutkowski.
http://www.acrmedia.com/wikiopolis/index.php?title=Register

 

Heh, but when you're the only euro, playing with a group of kiwi's and americans? But of course, if there is interest and we can get a time set up, I would prefer an IRC game - haven't used #sp_mm in years!

 

I'd like to join as well, not sure which class yet (i'll be guided by you) either one of the divine casters or an arcane class; with a Bard already included you may wish divine first. My preferred choice either Druid or Sorcerer.

 

Bah, go with whatever class you want. If you go arcane, I can just get myself some healing spells, and if you go divine I'll go all-out on the "battlefield control" thingie. That's the charm of bards.

That, and the fact that we go down in dungeons and sing. 8)

 

Fine Priest of Traba it is, a sea-faring cleric Arrr!!

 

Well, that's three, if Register is in for a forum game (or if we can work out a time for an IRC game). I think I may be able to drag in a forth, giving us the numbers I needed. If anyone else is interested, post away. Don't worry if you're new to DnD - everyone has to start somewhere!

I'll get some more info posted up this evening, if I can still walk after work.

[Edit] Oh, DarkStrider - don't worry about having more than one bard in the team! I'll work things to fit

[Edit II] We could always use IRC or OpenRPG or something just for the battles, if that suits you (and others) more, Register - while keeping the main story here.

 

I'm quite interested. Although it's some time since I roleplayed, if it can be even called that. It was very freeform and more or less DMless. And I doubt I can handle an IRC session well, just thought the fact worth mentioning.

Thought I'd try a rogue, CN or CG. In case you'd have me.

 

I'll like to be try to Rotku, however if is not a problem I will need to wait until I finish the quest I've on Rashemen. Once Kongol's part is over, he will be back to a support stage and I can follow yours as well.

As per IRC, I don't think I'll have a problem, but it will depend on the time, my work hours sometimes change, I could not promess anything.

If I can be in it, I would like to be Sorcerer. Let me know what you think

 

Okay, well we'll try to stick with the forums to start with, as that way we avoid the timezone headache and with changing schedules (including mine this next month) and eveyrhting making it difficult.

So so far we have:
Register (still onboard with the forums?) - Bard
Ilmater's Suffering - Fighter
DarkStrider - Priest
SaChaele - Rogue
Maurolava - Sorcerer

A fairly nicely balanced party

Over the enxt few days I'll be trying to type up (and make up, to fill in gaps) more information about the setting when ever I get time, so hopefully by the weekend you'll have enough details to get a good feel for the setting and make up a PC! There's going to be a fair bit of reading at first, sorry!

If you've got any specific questions at any stage, don't hessitate to yell out!

[ February 07, 2007, 10:41: Message edited by: Rotku ]

 

Class Structure:

Classes play a fairly large roll in the Empire. There is a fairly strict class structure. When I say strict structure, I don't mean like medievil europe where movement between the classes was a near impossbility. What I mean is that these classes are very clarely defined, both socially and legally. Each class carries certain rights and priviligies (and of course, responsbilities). Movement between the classes is certainly possible, and quite common.

Below I've outlined the main classes present in the empire, along with a breif description of the role they play and what rights they legally possess.

Slaves:
The lowest of the classes. Slaves are, legally, hardly considered human. They live, eat and die at their masters will. Slaves are very common, more so the closer one gets to the centire of the empire. Out in the further reaches, only the richest tend to have slaves - but closer to the centre, most freemen own a slave or two around their household, to help with everything from nursing the children, cleaning and cooking, to doing the household accounts and managing the libraries.

There are various ways to be released from slavery. First, a slaves master may free him at any time. Second, a slave may purchase their freedom from their master. Third, a slave may be released by the ruler of the province (who possesses imperium - the power to absolute authority to apply the law within the scope of his province or region). Finally, and most common, if a slave were to run away and not be 'claimed' within five years, they were considered free. Although the latter are looked down upon by most others, including other slaves, as dishonourable.

All slaves release by their owner automatically gain citizenship.

Foreigners
While free, foreigners possess very limited rights of a citizen. They are more or less second-class people. The rights they possess tend to vary from provence to provence, depending a lot on what treaty was arranged during the conquring of the said proveince.

Under rare circumstances, foreigners can be given citizenship - usually as a reward for explemplary service.

Citizens
Parcian citizens cover everyone else - although there are different ranks within the citizens. This section just refers to the standard citizen, who does not bare any other such rank.

Citizens are the core of the empire, or at least the centre of the empire, around Parcus. They have full voting rights in all elections (although many do not make the trip to Parcus to vote); the rights to make legal contracts; the rights to have a lawful marriage; the rights to stand for office; the rights to sue or be sued; the rights to appeal from the decisions of magistrates; the rights to have a proper trail; the rights not to be tortured or any other excessive violence against them (including in many cases execution); and finally, the immunity from some certain taxes and fines. To add to this, only a citizen could join the army (although often this is ignored, when in need of numbers).

Citizen ship is automatically given to most (non-slaves) in the area close by the capital, Purcus. Any child born to a legal marraige of two citizens would also recieve this right. For the very rich, citizenship could be purchased. Also, as mentioned above, citizenship was granted to all slaves released by their owners and to others for great service to the empire.

Equestrian
The middle class of citizens. These were wealthy citizens, usually living out in the proviences. Ranging from rich merchants, to ex-army officers, to falling old families, this class generally had the biggest control over the empire economy. As they are unable to obtain office, they are forced to invest heavily with their wealth in order to earn an income. They bare full citizen rights and in some elections their vote has more wieghting behind it. Of all the classes, this one is probably the least defined.

Entrance into this class is fairly open, judged purely on wealth. All members of this class are entitled to wear a golden band on their sleves, as a mark of class.

Patricians
The noble class of the empire. This class is purely a family class, with positions in it carried down through the eldest son (although often others as well). They held have generally been considered the leaders of the empire, throughout most of its history, having a massive political sway through the number of votes they control and the fact that they very often serve in public offices.

Entrance into this class is only through blood. All members of this class are allowed to wear a purple band on their sleves as a mark of class.

Monarch
Although now a redundent position, in anchient times there use to sit a King at the head of the empire. Although not a king in the sense that we know today, this king was elected by the patrician class to serve for life. This position disappeared during the first civil wars, although a few (quietly spoken) people support the reintroduction of it.

 

Ok I can see my character coming together now:

1. 4th son in a Patrician family all of whom have survived to adulthood. Thus really redundant to the family fortunes.
2. Spent his formative years with one of his uncles a sea Captain, where he started as a sailor before becoming an officer and learning Nav skills etc.
3. Was pushed into becoming a Priest by his family, who are a little upset by his choice of Traba as patron, they feel he is a common God. (He wanted to become a sea Captain like his uncle but the rest of the family felt one common touch was enough, after all he still sails his own ships!!!)
4. He has tried unsuccessfully to help his 2 sisters who are in loveless political marriages, one of these may join him later, which will be interesting as they are a little too close. (Hey when in Rome/Parcus...)

Any objections?

 

Yeah, if this is gonna be a PbP game, I'm out. Sorry.

 

Well, I don’t have any experience with DnD, but I’d like to try it out. I do have a couple of DnD books. My sister gave them to me last year as a birthday present, since them, they are collecting dust on my shelves.

If it’s ok with you Rotku, I’d like to be a barbarian. He’d be a quite man who lost much in the past and was exiled by his tribe for some cloudy reason. He used to be a light hearted man of good nature but his troubled past turned him bitter and he is more of a neutral alignment now.

So, what do you guys think?

 

Sounds good, DarkStrider. We'll be starting out in the far provinces, on the edge of civilization, so to speak.

And that's fine, Atmer. There's complete flexability with the barberian tribes, as there is such a large range of them throughout the edges of the empire (and sometimes further within). If you do need any help with making the PC, getting use to the rules or what ever, don't hessitate to give a yell - that's what the DM is here for

 

Ok, so here goes what I have so far. It's a very rough draft though:

It's a female character. Her father was a controversial orator and philosopher who had been made to leave the spotlight, when his theories stopped being politically correct. He invested his remaining wealth into a ship and started a fairly succesfull trading business.

Since her mother was dead by this time, she was mostly left to her own devices. This wasn't exactly convetional but her father didn't have the money to spend on finer education and he himself was either busy with his business or writing one of his boring books. Her education was therefore mostly handled by herself and their extensive library.

On her fifteenth birthday her betrothed was supposed to come for her but he had never shown up.

When a few years older, she quite often enjoyed wild excursions into the seedier parts of the city, with a band of friends. And many similar extracurricular ctivities. She was disguised as a boy while doing so (and remained undicovered?).

***

Well, that's it for now. I wasn't sure of the right class they should belong to. For a Patrician the falling from grace could be one juicy scandal. The rest of the family turning their backs on them and all that jazz.

Hovewer I have no idea how believable that is.

 

No longer relevant.

[ February 10, 2007, 18:28: Message edited by: Ilmater's Suffering ]