Genetic Make Up Full Lives: Your clan is made up primarily of genetically pure and untainted humans. Certainly a rare sight in this day and age, you’ll draw more attention than you’d think. A temporary genetic fluke or something more permanent?(6)
Cultural Meta-Group Raiders: An unfortunate truth of the wastes is the prevalence of raider gangs. Savage and violent, they typically take more than they make but there are exceptions. Most don’t settle down in any place for too long, and tend to use up what they have quickly. Many treat the apocalypse as a sort of hedonistic paradise, murdering for fun, using homemade narcotics, and generally raping to their hearts content. (45)
Leadership Democracy/Consensus: A relative rarity in the post-apocalypse, the group has decided that no one individual holds all the power, but generally makes decisions based on everyones input. (74)
Cultural Quirks Death Cult: Unsurprisingly among the blighted folk of the wastes, some have taken to worshipping death, or the idea of a “Good death”. Perhaps it’s a mythical afterlife, a desire to see the world well and truly die, or simply a nihilistic belief that death is an inevitable constant in life, for whatever reason this group worships death itself.
X Distinctive Icon: A motif or symbol runs throughout the groups structures, clothes, and vehicles. Maybe it’s a specific animal or object, or maybe it’s something less specific like bullets or flames. (1) (70) (Rerolled due to RNGesus fuckery)
Distinctive Appearance Leathers: Never ride without your distinctive leather jackets and other assorted biker gear. Never.
Gas Masks: Never seen without their masks, they might have a single distinctive style or just whatever they find. In either case, it certainly makes for an imposing appearance in most situations. Maybe they only do it for that intimidation factor, maybe it’s because they live in a particularly nasty patch.
Jewelry: Somehow the group has gotten a hold of a sizeable amount of bling. Maybe it’s hand-made from scrap, or maybe it’s actual treasures from the old world. The group takes great pride in it. (68, 41, 77)
Unique/Exclusive Resource Guzzolene: Black gold. Everyone needs it, and it isn’t too rare to come by but not too many have the means to refine it. This group does, and it can be extremely lucrative. (1)
Equipment Quality Ramshackle: Armor is cobbled together, guns are hand tooled, and houses/clothes are generally not in the best state. Pretty standard for most people, unfortunately.(17)
Motor-Pool General Make Up Classics: Muscle Cars, roadsters, and trucks. The standard rides for most in the wasteland. Tough, reliable, and intimidating.(67)
Special Vehicle Shit Shiny and Chrome: The group takes exceptional care to polish their vehicles to a brilliant chrome shine. Blind your foes with your swag and the shiny paint seemingly correlates with higher skill among drivers. Choose to re-roll this or Black on Black if you get both.
Extra Armor: YExtra armor bolted onto the vehicles. No matter the type, they gain extra protection with minimal speed penalties. (2, 88)
Flagship Vehicle Destruction Vehicle: A huge construction vehicle re-outfitted for combat. Maybe a huge excavator, an armoured bulldozer, or a mini-Bagger 288.(14)
Remember, you can reroll a single roll if you want to. I can also help come up with ideas on how all of the rolls fit, same extension to you too @Lauder.
Now, I think I'll roll my own NS pretty soon but what do you two think on numbers of players? Would you be okay with just the three of us or would you like to wait a little?
Throw those characters up in the Character tab. As I flesh out the Scarred King, it might be good to work out how our characters are related. Ashgan, it is likely Serilda is close with the King, since they are similarly ruthless and are both from Varyon/the Godsfang mtns.
Not sure on the posting speed yet- probably once every week to ten days.
Left with no choice but to join the Scarred King, they fight against their former subjects, hoping that one day, they might see their land restored to normal. Despite their good intentions, the magics unleashed by Dagon's pact have transformed them into vampiric beings, possessed of powerful abilities, but in a constant struggle to remain in control of their bestial urges. On top of this, they are ostracized by most of their new allies, being a product of the magic that they fight against.
Sounds awesome to me.
This looks interesting - I noticed that it was intended for a small group and there were a fair few respondents in the Interest Check. Might I be able to join or was I a little late to the party/fellowship?
Nope, welcome aboard!
This seems interesting. I love world building after all, since this is low fantasy IC wise what are your limits for a wyvern rider or a human with dragon's blood?
As I've had an idea for a dragon-centered culture and society, for my character to hail from.
Either of those would likely be fine.
My character concept is a man from a tribe of steppe nomads, inspired by such peoples as the Mongols, Turks, Cossacks, etc. You know, horse and bow and all. Spruce it up with a touch of shamanism and tribal magic involving hallucinogens and ritual self-mutilation to channel the power of terrible things (unspecified) that lurk at the precipice between life and death, at the potential cost of the channeler's sanity.
I have an idea for my religious beliefs where it's thought that if a person is murdered, their spirit cannot find rest until they're avenged (some tie-in here with my shamanistic magic is quite possible here, I reckon), and it falls upon kin and tribesmen to carry out vengeance. Debts and especially revenge will be important in my people's culture.
I want to work this into my character's motivations for fighting Dagon somehow, but I'm not sure yet how I'll connect all of this. I've thought of my tribe having a kind of vassal relationship with the kingdom of Varyon, or maybe they're just rubbing up against Dagon's border enough to warrant his wrath. (These kinds of peoples are famed for being a menace to societies that border them, after all...)
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
@Ashgan & @vietmyke- will review the CSes shortly and get back to you!
Hey @Flagg, I'm curious. What exactly is the status of Archeos in the Drathan Union? It doesn't have the same naming scheme as the other cities, and it doesn't look like it has a Magister either.
Well, all of the cities of the Union are fairly autonomous, but Archeos more so, and it isn't ruled by the Dratha. But it has been closely allied with the Union on and off and would be known to the Singing Hive folks as a haunted and particularly dangerous and mysterious place. It is known widely as the Silent City and is ruled by an entity known as the Silent King, who is alternately rumored to be a demon or red god, a powerful sorcerer or necromancer, or something worse. Qux Many Eyed, introduced in gorgenmast's post, is his envoy to the Union. It would be safe to assume that Archeos has destroyed at least one Nyr'Kiin hive, and is more closely allied with Archmagister Khalul than with the Union as a whole. Not sure how much of that the Hive would know.
All right, just chiming in here to let you know I'm still on board and making progress with my character draft. I've written up some paragraphs for religion, appearance, personality and equipment, and tomorrow most likely I'll finish up personal story (if I decide to spell it out at all - most of it is already stated or implied in other categories, or better left to mystery/interpretation) and skills, as well as some words on a side character I'm introducing along with my main.
Occupation: Rightful heir to the throne of Varyon & leader of the Fangs, the most powerful rebel group opposed to Dagon, which operates in the wilderness of Varyon, amid the vast forests and vales of the Godsfang Mountains.
Religion: A nominal worshipper of the Little Sisters, the trio of goddesses whose cult was widely followed in Varyon before the coming of Dagon. They were taken to be patrons of the Varyonite Monarchy.
yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible
- Milton, Paradise Lost
Ten years ago Dagon IV, Emperor of Aldebaran, covetous of the lands he did not rule and fearing his own mortality, enacted a heinous rite with the help of his closest lieutenants. What they did, exactly, is the source of constant speculation: some say they sacrificed the children of Aldebaran's capital, Kuranes, to the spider-god Nyarlthos in exchange for a share in the deity's power. Others that he consumed the souls of the city's populace, increasing his might immensely, though at the price of being dependent on continual human sacrifice to survive. Others still maintain that Dagon found an ancient artifact of immense power and so ascended to become a demigod.
Whatever the Emperor and his circle of followers did, it caused the sun to shine an angry, dull red for ten full days, with no moon at night, only strange and sinister constellations. From the Red Night, which ruined crops and plunged the world into panicked chaos, the Emperor emerged as a being of immense power, whose armies swept over the other nations of Geryon. His circle of acolytes too had become something more than human, wielding powerful and dark magics, and in time became known as the Perfecti, his most fearsome servants.
The powerful kingdom of Varyon, neighbor and ancient rival to Aldebaran, was the first to be destroyed, crushed by Dagon's unexpected onslaught. After the shocking defeat and enslavement of Varyon, some nations bent the knee, others actively collaborated with the new god-emperor, but most were enslaved and destroyed in their turn.
Aldebaran, once a rich and fertile riverland, slowly became a twisted, haunted place filled with the husks of once proud cities, now sinking into poisonous bogs and fens and haunted by monsters and demons. Where once was a thriving culture and economy, now there is only slavery amid ruins, and the omnipresent totems and shrines of the Cult of Dagon. The citizens of Aldebaran are changed too.The Emperor's dreaded Legions are made up of horrible mutants and abhumans, with bulging, vaguely insectoid eyes and sharpening mouthparts and claws.
Now Dagon IV is now nearly master of all, ruling with the aid of his Perfecti. They enforce a strict caste system in the lands they control directly, and demand tribute in the form of children, woman and blood-slaves from the nations they've subjugated. Human sacrifice is offered to the god-emperor night and day in his haunted capital of Kuranes, and the nights grow longer and darker as the world itself begins to sicken. Strange, unpleasant plants and fungus have begun to spread beyond the borders of Aldebaran, and wildlife is becoming increasingly strange and violent.
Some, however, resist still. The Scarred King, the brother to the late King of Varyon Theophilius II, has continued to inflict defeats on the Legions, and is a legendary figure of hope to the masses chafing under Dagon's yoke. The situation of the rebels is growing desperate, but it is rumored the King has learned of an ancient weapon capable of changing the course of this war. Risking all, he has assembled a fellowship of allies and friends to undertake a perilous mission to secure what may be the last hope of defeating Dagon.
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Welcome!
This is a fantasy RP that takes place after the victory of the sinister God-Emperor Dagon over the fantasy world of Geryon. Players will write as characters who have been recruited by the Scarred King into the rebellion.
The setting is what I call "High Fantasy OOC/Low Fantasy IC", meaning that the world would have as many fantastic elements as we like, but there would be limited magic "on camera" in the IC, as both an aesthetic choice to keep magic... magical and mysterious, as well as to put a limit on IC power levels while allowing for maximum creativity and freedom OOCly. There will be no magic system and no 'canon' cosmology for this RP, so competing and mutually incompatible understandings of the world, gods, and magic are fine.
-It is (grim)dark fantasy RP set in a harsh and unforgiving fantasy world slowly succumbing to a mysterious darkness. -I'd like this to be an exercise in collaborative world building. That means that we want characters that feel like they inhabit a shared world. Players should collaborate heavily on designing their characters and the setting. -It is low-medium fantasy: magic exists. It is powerful, dangerous, and rare. Rare.
A note on Magic: I am not a big fan on fixed magic rules or magic systems. I do want to stress that this is low(ish) fantasy. That means no armies of reanimated dead or golems, no legions of fireball casters, balrogs, etc. We're going to err on the side of how the LotR handled magic rather than say, D&D. Meaning, it is present and powerful, but mysterious and often indirect.
This is what I call the Tolkien/GRR Martin approach to magic and religion. Magic is real, mysterious, and powerful, but for the most part takes place 'off-screen', and is for aesthetic purposes somewhat subdued or indirect. Likewise, the RP will take the GRR Martin approach to religion: there are as many religions as we can come up with here, but we will leave it an open question as to whether any of them are true. Conflicting mythos and cosmologies and visions of god(s) are encouraged.
-It is vaguely 1600 AD tech. Gunpowder, muskets, cannon, etc all exist, though they are not used by the Empire of Aldebarran. -original fantasy races are enouraged -Inspired by Tolkien, Warhammer fantasy and 40K, Lovecraft, Morrowind, Song of Ice and Fire...looking forward to seeing what others bring to the table. - Advanced writing standards.
Players can create characters from player-created nations that were conquered or are being conquered by Dagon, or ones which are still resisting Dagon's advance (though I will limit the latter category). Characters need not have heroic motives- mafias, pirate gangs, brigands, cults, etc, etc may all have in interest in defeating Dagon. Likewise, characters may be all manner of fantasy archetypes (including magic users) and races (preferably creative twists on or something different than the bog-standard human/dwarf/orc/gnome/elf lineup). World building will be a big part of this RP.
Some details on Geryon
Aldebaran A once-fertile riverland that has quickly turned into a dark and twisted place, more and more populated by abhumans and strange plants and beasts. Once great cities are now husks of themselves; many are being dismantled for metals and stones needed by the Legions. Dagon's capital of Kuranes is a center of economic activity, however, as slaves are marched in from all across Geryon either to serve as sacrifices or labor on the immense temple-palace the Emperor is constructing. The Empire has reorganized its caste system along the following lines:
The Perfecti: the nobility of the Empire, serving as priests, commanders, elite troops and administrators of conquered territories. Known for their cruelty, cannibalism and decadence, many sport horrifying mutations. They are stronger and faster than an average human, and many are skilled blood-mages.
Aldebaran Legions: abhuman soldiers in service to Dagon, they are disciplined and brutal, fanatically devoted to their God-Emperor. Infamous for their ravenous, cannibalistic tendencies.
Slaves: the rest of the population is made up of various levels of slaves, many of whom are slowly mutating into servile, mindless beastmen as Aldebaran continues to decay.
Varyon Large, human kingdom located amid the fertile valleys of the Godsfang Mountains, Varyon resisted Aldebaran expansionism for centuries, but was quickly crushed by the transformed Dagon. It is now ruled by brutality and fear, its cities burned, its farmlands collectivized to feed the soldiers and slaves of Aldebaran. It's population is harvested regularly for slaves and sacrifices to send to Kuranes. A collaborationist puppet regime 'rules' Varyon from its decimated capital of Valens. King Odyssion V and his circle of nobles (known as the Marked for the brands they bear on their faces that denote them as servants of Dagon) ensure that quotas of feed, flesh and metals are met. In exchange for their service, they or their children can be raised to the status of a Perfecti.
The mountains and pine forests of Varyon are haunted by brutal rebels serving the Scarred King, who continues to elude capture by the Legions and has been a consistent thorn in the side of the pretender-king Odyssion.
Being adjacent to Aldebarren, Varyon's forests and fields are beginning to twist and sicken as the blight that plagues Dagon's lands spreads beyond its borders.
