New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance) [FULL]

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patransom
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New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance) [FULL]

Post by patransom »

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and there’s a game concept I’d like to try out as a PbP game here, if there’s enough interest. I figure if Shai can DM a dozen or so games, I can handle a third again.

Read the game details below and, if you’re interested, post here or PM me. I’ll want 6 players (no more, maybe less, if there are 4 or 5 people really, really interested). The game will be for active subscribers of TOS+ only and preference will be given to those not already in a PbP game here.

Character Creation:

The major departure from standard rules in this game is in character creation. I call the concept “Veil of Ignorance,” which is a reference to an idea put forward by the philosopher John Rawls. In this case, it means, like in real life, the circumstances of your birth are completely out of your control. Your race, gender, place of birth, and social status – and, for the most part, your ability scores – will all be determined randomly. What you do after that, and what you make of yourself, is entirely up to you. Even the name your parents gave you is not something you control, although in that case, you’re free to call yourself something else or use a nickname.

Mechanically, character creation will work like this:
  1. Each player will send me 15 rolls of D100.
  2. From those rolls, I’ll determine the things that are out of your control (birth name, race, gender, ability scores, and circumstances of birth). I’ll send you back a TOS+ sheet with those basics already entered.
  3. You’ll be able to switch two ability scores, if you want, representing your efforts to better something about yourself… although at the expense of something else (e.g., swap the CON I gave you for the INT, representing neglecting your physical fitness in order to become smarter).
  4. From there, you’re free to chose alignment, deity, class(es), and level up your character as normal.
I’ll also give you a very brief sketch of your early life. It will be something like: “You were born the child of a streetwalker in the dirty marketplace of Damkina. Your mother died in childbirth, but you were fortunate enough to be cared for by a kindly old uncle, Bob Smith, a ropemaker by trade.” Or it could be: “You are the third daughter of King Xerxeles III, raised among the nobility, with all the benefits and privileges that entails.” From there, you can flesh out your character background as you see fit, explaining, for example, how your half-orc born among the nomadic tribes of Barbarian Altanis became an educated and capable wizard.

Setting:

The setting will be the Judge’s Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with it. Average people in the setting don’t know very much about the world outside their local village or city, anyway. There are only a few setting-specific custom rules, and most of those will be dealt during character creation (i.e., I’ll let you know about the special racial attributes or options that affect your character, if any). I’ll post more info about setting-specific things like deities and classes if there’s enough interest in the game and the character creation process gets started.
Here’s an overview of the setting:
The Wilderlands setting details an area slightly smaller than the Mediterranean sea and surrounding lands. Unlike many current published settings where everything has been discovered and most of the world is known, the Wilderlands are largely unexplored and overland travel is dangerous. There are few “nations.” Instead, the lands are dominated by “city states,” principle among them being the City State of the Invincible Overlord and Viridistan, the City of Spices—also known as the City State of the World Emperor. The City State of the Invincible Overlord so dominates the Wilderlands, that many campaigns run in this setting are often called City State Campaigns.

Though the civilization of the Wilderlands centers mostly on the largest city states: Viridistan, the City State of the Invincible Overlord, Tarantis, Valon, Rallu and Tula, these locations are small in comparison to the vast forests, expansive plains, open seas, trackless deserts, imposing mountains and wild rivers. The light of civilization in the Wilderlands is a dim spark against the dark wilds. The Wilderlands is a setting in decline. Long ago empires covered the region. But great wars, with the gods themselves fighting alongside men, has reduced the splendor of those past civilizations, leaving them in ruins. The most recent such war was the War of the Pious and Philosophers, pitting the followers of magic against the followers of science. That war was some 6000 years ago (though that date is disputed). Cities that do exist today are generally built on the sites of ancient cities, some among the ruins themselves. Broken roads, crumbled walls, sunken buildings and half-ruined towers dot the landscape, a constant reminder of the faded past.

Life in the Wilderlands can be summed up for the average commoner as follows: Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. The average life expectancy is twenty years unless one lives in a walled city or town such as the City State, Viridistan, Thunderhold, Modron, Warwik or other large cities, in which it is only a little higher. Almost all Human families produce at least ten children, of whom two or three may live long enough to have children of their own. In the wilderness villages, wandering monsters and the raids of nomads, brigands and various humanoid species which are inherently evil are the bane of many. Rampant, unchecked disease is common to both walled city and wilderness village; so is infant mortality. The dangers of wandering monsters are lessened in a walled city or town, but the concentration of people in a small area leads to a high crime rate and poor sanitation; therefore, instead of being slain by a marauding dragon, a city dweller may have his throat slit for the contents of his purse. Few men manage to live past the ripe old age of thirty-five, and the fact that a man is fifty or sixty years old indicates great wisdom on his part (or an incredible run of luck).

Welcome to the Wilderlands, where life is cheap, travel is dangerous and a strong sword arm is worth more than a purse full of gold!
Starting Level and other things:

Starting level will either be 4th or 8th, to be decided by a vote of those participating. I’ve got scenarios ready for either. I’ll post more info about classes, starting hit points, equipment etc, etc, if the game gets going.
Last edited by patransom on Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by Phoenix512 »

I'm interested in playing. Sounds interesting.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by admin »

patransom wrote: I figure if Shai can DM a dozen or so games, I can handle a third again.
hehe Shai has been a bit busy lately, meaning that many PbP are not updated as regularly !! :D

Should I send this to the Mailing List ?

R
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by patransom »

Sure, send to the mailing list.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by Benji »

I'm very interested. Tried something similar (with respect to the completely random characters) before in a tabletop group and I'd like to play a character made like it instead of DMing for them.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by LinusMundane »

I am also interested, this sounds like a great concept for a game.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by rednetra »

I love this idea im so in
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by marine7312000 »

This sounds like it'll be fun. Sign me up.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by AlGromHerrit »

Sounds interesting count me in.
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by klakxor »

patransom wrote:I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and there’s a game concept I’d like to try out as a PbP game here, if there’s enough interest. I figure if Shai can DM a dozen or so games, I can handle a third again.
and why shouldn't you, I rather enjoy your games. I am always open to put in for the game if there is not enough interest (or even if there is and you just want me to play).
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Re: New PbP (The Veil of Ignorance)

Post by patransom »

We now have a forum section! Check there for further info...
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