Lets get Rolling on Semester Two

[Warhammer Exec (Dane)]

So: I had this idea (which I'm not sure Nygil is on board with, but which I will flesh out here.) that there should be four-ish houses, and ten-ish nations.

I don't want to keep track of nations in an influence way - influence would be applied to the houses, and I intend to write up what happens at each influence level for each house. The reason I am thinking this way is that it means we can have something that spans the nations. Our seperate nations can be insular, as they end up being anyways, and the houses will still exercise some sort of power over each. Also, we need an actual big-bad this game, or some sort of uniting plot. I could be down for writing a plot, but I'd have to know what others want out of it. So, any input would be cool.

I was actually thinking of 1) assigning Cavalier orders to each house, under which a member of the house will function. 2) or using the houses from the book series divergent.

Divergent houses:
The Selfless: divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Abnegation
The Peaceful: divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Amity
The Honest: divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Candor
The Brave: divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Dauntless
The Intelligent: divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Erudite

Obviously we can tweak these, but they are already pretty much laid out for DnD, with dress codes, houses they interact with favorably or not, and traits should be simple and demanding of the characters: punishment for The Honest if they lie - I was thinking, if we are going with dystopic, that we could completely flip these traits, ie. The Cowardly, The Self-serving, The Warring, The Decietful, The Cowardly, The Conniving. Idk. Mostly thinking out loud.

Alternatively, pick 5 skills, say; Stealth, Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Heal/ what ever, and base a house each around that skill. Though I wouldn't maybe use all the social interaction abilities for that one.

Basically, if you let me run with this house thing I am gonna just have fun with it, and we should end up with a system for influence which works a lot more smoothly.

The only nation I'm thinking of dealing with currently is the Great Tree colloquially known as steam-punk Yggdrasil. I would also like each nation to have a goal - a goal which brings it into direct conflict with another nation, power, or house.

Anyways - those're my thoughts, come at me bros.

[Warhammer Exec (Dane)]

Okay - here is what I came up with.

Each House will have: A trait, an insignia, an item which proves you are part of that house and functions in the same manner as the ring. There will be a varying presence of each house in each nation, but this is up to the person running that nation. Each PC will be a house operative receiving their orders "The Bureau," an organization that each House serves equally - it should be made clear that in the past such alliances between houses were unknown, thus the Bureau exerting such control is rather exceptional. Despite this, those working for the Bureau, and thus giving the quests, still have allegiances outside of the guild itself - so side quests coming from each quest giver might be house-aligned, rather than neutral. Ideally each nation will favor a house, and each mission we run will favor a house/ interact with a house meaningfully.


The Peacemakers:
Story: I was thinking that these are the result of the zombie guards in the dwarf nation, the rise of the undead - they use undead as shock troops, and the optional signing away of you body when you die has become mandatory. All peacemakers become undead when they die, and thus the PCs will be able either to fix this, or not, depending.
Divisions: Loyal or Corrupt.
Skills: Bluff or Diplomacy.
Trait: Law Enforcer: Citizens respond to the peacemakers as they would guards or police officers.
Item: Badge
Insignia: Skull and Hammer
Description: Cops, and dirty cops. They are given authority to apprehend criminals, but because we are running a dystopia, they are like to abuse this as not.

The Keepers:
Story: These are a combination Historian/Arcanist. They emerged as a result of a need to maintain and restore the barrier which surrounds New Hope, and the cannons which ensure its defense - of all the houses, this is the only one trusted with knowledge of the cannons which are concealed from the general populous with strong magics. Though the barrier is near impregnable, Carebetter put in place an order which is devoted to keeping it that way - obviously, in the years since her death the shield has been weakening. Secular deal with the guns, Arcane deal with the shield, and the concealment spells on the guns.
Divisions: Secular of Arcane
Skills: Knowledge (Pick One) or Linguistics (+bonus language)
Trait: Venerable: Citizens respond to the peacemakers as they would a respected grand-parent. Weapons are often overlooked and the Keeper is often seen as non-violent.
Item: Ring
Insignia: Scroll
Description: Historians and Professors, men of learning with a desire to uncover the past as well as preserve the history of our world. Some seek arcane knowledge, some mechanical or engineering knowledge.

The Seekers
Story: The seekers are on a quest to find something that was lost long ago, something even the Keepers don't remember. Some believe it is an item, some believe a person or a God. Whichever, they pursue their goal with a religious zealotry breaking into libraries, or going on long journeys to retrieve a scrap of historical document. Documents they find unnecessary they donate to the Keepers, which is the only reason the Keepers tolerate their brash methods in other aspects of society. Mercantile see the seeker movement as a way to extort money or a clever front for a shady business. Ressurectionists believe that a soul has been lost to the void and must be reclaimed, though not as obviously corrupt, this division can be equally ruthless. The Seekers guard the location of the gate which lies at the center of New Hope. Their headquarters has been built around it, and its presence has been lost to the other houses by the trials of time, though there may be records of this gate held by the Keepers. The Seekers are the only house which welcomed the Drow after they ascended from the underdark.
Divisions: Mercantile or Ressurectionists
Skills: Disable Device or Sleight of Hand
Trait: Zealots and Thieves: Reactions to the Seeker movement can very from extremely positive, to extremely negative, and rarely fall one side or the other. Some share their views and will assist them, others see them as exploitative and a menace.
Item: Neck Chain from which hangs a cold iron Dagger.
Insignia: A Drow's face.
Description: Priests or Thieves or both.

The Preservers
Story: Founded by Littlevoice before her death the Preservers are meant to be a force of tranquility and restoration for a world which is quickly going to hell. They help in any way they can, and many of their tenets are druidic in nature - they try not to interfere except in positive ways, or they seek not to interfere at all. The Neutral line has influenced the development of this group, pushing it further towards true neutral and the removal of strong emotion. Where littlevoice envisioned a force for good, the neutral line has caused a large division of the Preservers to search for the beacon, a weapon which would erase strong emotions from the world.
Divisions: The Passionate or The Neutral
Skills: Handle Animal or Heal
Trait: Healer: Preservers are revered for their ability to heal wounds and stop conflict, but are also considered strange. In times of need they are often welcomed, but are otherwise ostracized.
Item: Tattoo along the length of one arm.
Insignia: The Staff and Siren
Description: Zealots who want to wipe the minds and passions of an entire world, or healers who want to help in any little way they can.

The Exterminators, sometimes known as the Fifth House
Story: The evolution of Q's exterminators, these now accept all races, but their goal is largely the same. In the years following the rise of New Hope, and the fall of the other civilizations, the exterminators became increasingly concerned with the emergence of the lower races. Unable to make their concerns heard and lacking the power to actively battle these emerging forces they began a campaign of assassinations meant to destabilize these creatures. After a long enough time though, this passion faded in some sects who came to see the newly emerged races as people too. This divided the exterminators, and expanded their goals as a house. Still unwilling to hold open power, they work in the shadows attempting to maintain balance between the nations, and between the houses. It is largely believed that the Bureau is a creation of the exterminators, but none can confirm this.
Divisions: The Old Path or The New Path
Skills: Disguise or Stealth
Trait: Assassin or Diplomat: The exterminators have an infamous penchant for violence, but are also known to resolve matters with words. Reactions may vary from intimidated, to openly helpful.
Item: Badge
Insignia: The Dome of New Hope in White on Black.
Description: Racists or Peacekeeps, depending on who you ask.

[Nygil, Nickolie]

tdlr

I will get around to it. I am just pleased someone is looking in to this.

[Nygil, Nickolie]

Awww, man and after all that I don't really like what you did with it.

[Warhammer Exec (Dane)]

Man, you suck Nygil - but that was just a rough idea anyways. Suggestions?

[Warhammer Exec (Dane)]

We could also just scrap it and run nations again - or people of import like we did last time. I would however like a definite thing that goes along with a certain ammount of influence points, ie. invades another nation, conjures a demon, controls the world's water supply.

[illios]

I like the idea. I don't plan on DM much but this system seems fun.

[Rofusco]

Seems like a decent idea. I like the notion of tying the cavalier orders to each house. It could give players some cool roleplaying opportunities and give some context for their orders within the world. Also I think we should place emphasis on player character groups which the house system could offer. Groups such the Lucha Bros and the EGA allowed players to really get involved in the roleplaying and form their own little stories and bonds. Basically I think we should focus on and allow players to form their own organizations within the world. I'd also like to continue using the provinces we created.

We should set a date for a DM meeting sometime soon. Also we need the new DM's involved in this. Someone with admin powers needs to make jeremie and carreraa8/alejandro official DM's on the forum so they can get involved.

[q]

Love it, that is the whole dynamic of my 'exterminators' guild do we kill this incredibly confused and dangerous creatures, or do we try to coexist?
They also manage the 'shadow' treaties with these creatures, like getting illithids in a prison guards, so people they don't like can die, and the illithadra can feed.

and while traditionally abborant of the undead... they're starting to tolerate the presence in there ranks Queue power struggles etc. I have two story arcs 1: a mystery attack force is approaching where the guild is located taking their time, looting but evading armies in way the local defense forces cannot handle, and 2 shadowmancers are trying to destroy all light evil cult fights evil on our side (kinda) monsters...

And just to add, the 5th guild is a combination of the Exterminators guild and the old Altruistic adventures guild so they should all have this weird optimistic pessimism but just a thought.

[brent]

How does everyone feel about a DM meeting Wednesday during normal D&D time? We should have lots of time to sort everything out then, and we can aim for game 1 sunday.

[Rofusco]

Jan 7, 2013 15:16:07 GMT -5 brent said:

How does everyone feel about a DM meeting Wednesday during normal D&D time? We should have lots of time to sort everything out then, and we can aim for game 1 sunday.

Sounds good.

[Nygil, Nickolie]

Maybe a bit rushed hoping for sunday, but that aside it sounds like a good idea.

[illios]

oh... i didnt read this until now. Meh I don't really plan on dming much anyway. I'd still like to know anything you guys decided on so I can put together the odd gauntlet or two.