Pilot RPG

[Airellian]

Pilot RPG

I suggested to David about a week ago that during the interim between arcs, I would DM my own one-shot adventure. This is so that there would be no pause between gaming while David prepares for the next arc. And if things go well, this could be something regularly done in between the next arcs. Think of the one shot as a pilot for a TV show, and if everyone enjoys it, a series is born.

Anyway, here's a rough sketch of a map.



The map has been drawn as if by a cartographer from region 1. Regions 1, 2, 3 are the most accurate, while while regions 4 and 5 are less so. Foreign explorers from the east named Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4 Tear after their first landfall on Region 2, noting the island's resemblance to a tear drop. Regions 1-4 were named Tear because they were seemingly controlled by a single political entity, called the Seven Kingdoms of Therrill (Regions 1-3). Long ago, they used to be seven, separate kingdoms, but they now form a confederacy or league, and are ruled ostensibly by a High King.

Region 4 was never conquered by the Seven Kingdoms and only entered a political alliance through marriage after many years of war.

The Seven Kingdoms tried to gain several footholds onto Region 5, but have only managed to establish a few trade routes. Although the peoples of Regions 1-4 are excellent mariners, they only have coastal ships, not sea-going vessels, and must rely on the archipelago at their southwest border to reach Region 5.

Anyway. More later.

[Airellian]

The Gold Book of Nobility records those lineages that can be traced back to mythic origins. Some lines have grown extinct, but all nine of the major houses across Therrill can be found in the Gold Book.

The Silver Book of Nobility records those families who were granted lands, and thus nobility, long after the founding of the kingdoms. Most likely, they cannot trace their line back to one of the gods, but they carry most of the benefits of the noble class anyway.

The geneaologies are kept by the Philosophers, a group of men who study history, the sciences, and other learned subjects. They often serve as advisors at noble courts. More on them later.

[Airellian]

Noble houses

Ruling house: The lord that holds the house's allegiance.
Banner houses: The nobles that hold allegiance to the house.
Coat of arms: The heraldric image of the house.
Seat: Where the house holds court, usually an ancestral castle.
Words: A motto that sums up the house.
Physical traits: The physical traits common to members of the house.
Ancestral names: Family members normally name their sons from famous ancestors of the line.
General Information: Information and history on the house.

A basic template for the noble houses.

[Airellian]

House Duret

Ruling house: None.
Banner houses: To be filled in later.
Coat of arms: A silver falcon soaring across a blue sky.
Seat: To be filled in later.
Words: "Fury from on high."
Physical traits: Black hair, blue eyes.
Ancestral names: Matthias
General Information: House Duret, once a small house of little consequence, has managed to grow into the most powerful house on Therrill. The line of High Kings springs from this House, and they have managed to consolidate their power over the centuries. As a result, no other noble house holds the title of King.

[Airellian]

So, I think I'll move away from the background from my campaign setting, since it's still not finished, and most of it will change anyway. Instead, I'll focus now on house rules.

I forgot to mention at the beginning that this setting contains no human magic-users. It's actually more specific than that, but it'll do for now. Anyway, since the only playable race will be humans, that means, no wizards, no priests, no paladins or rangers, and no bards. (There will, of course, be kits.)

Now, there are more than a few ramifications with this, which I'll try to address later. However, the main ramification is healing. No matter what happens in an adventure, player characters are going to lose hit points. No matter what. I hope to remedy this with a new house rule.

Now, this is not an original idea. I stole it from somewhere. That's not the point. It came from a system that also did not have magic-user classes, and thus, no healing. Anyway.

Reserve Points

Reserve points represent your resiliency, toughness, and willpower. Since hit point damage has no effect on characters until they reach zero, most effects that damage you cause no more than superficial bleeding, minor scrapes, and bruises. While these injuries can prove life threatening if you sustain many of them in a short period, you can rally your strength quickly if you have time to rest. Reserve points represent your capacity to recharge your energy and shrug off the effects of minor injuries.

You have reserve points equal to your maximum hit points. Whenever you engage in nonstrenuous activity, you may choose to convert 1 reserve point to heal 1 hit point per minute. During these minutes, you catch your breath, the pain from a twisted ankle fades, or a cut stops bleeding and slowly starts to heal. You do not gain reserve-point healing while engaged in combat or undertaking
other strenuous actions such as climbing a wall or running a long distance.

Replenishing Reserve Points

If you rest eight hours straight during a day, you regain reserve points equal to your Constitution score + your level. If you spend a full day doing nothing but resting, you regain reserve points equal to double your Constitution score + your level. You do not regain reserve points if your hit points are at or below zero.

Constitution Changes

If your Constitution score goes up or down, your reserve points go up or down just like your hit points. If your reserve points drop below zero, you suffer no additional effects or damage. You simply do not have any reserve points to spend on healing yourself.

Reserve Points in the Game

Reserve points make it possible for characters to soak up a fair amount of damage in combat without worrying about healing. Reserve points work too slowly to provide relief during a battle, making a character’s maximum hit points as important as ever. However, once a fight ends, injured characters can quickly restore themselves to maximum hit points. And even with this healing, a series of tough encounters can prove deadly. As a character’s reserve points drop to 0, he loses the ability to boost his hit points between fights. Players must pay careful attention to their reserve pools to avoid spending their strength before an important battle.

More importantly, reserve points have little effect on the lethality of a given encounter. They work too slowly to provide any relief during a battle. Instead, they make it possible to run three or four deadly fights in the course of a day without the action grinding to a halt as the PCs seek out healing. Reserve points don’t make the current fight any less lethal. Instead, they create a cushion that causes the current battle to have less of an impact on the party’s chances in the next fight.

I'm also thinking of using the Healing and Herbalism proficiencies to help replenish reserve points even faster.

[Daos]

So the only playable race is Human and the only playable classes are Fighter and Thief. It seems like there aren't a whole lot of choices available there.

[Airellian]

Well, there are only two potential players anway. There will be other player choices anyway. I'm not too worried about that. Besides, it's only a one-shot.

[Airellian]

air.vectorstar.net/php/index.php?n=ThreadsCampaignBible.Handout

I still need to do a lot of work, but what I have so far should be enough for character creation. Since David plans on ending the arc soon, that means there will be a few weeks of no gaming while he gets ready for the next arc. Before the arc ends, I want to have characters created and ready to go.

Anyway, have a look and tell me what you think.

[Daos]

Under House Caronth, there is a recommended NWP, Stewardship. I can't find any reference to this anywhere, including on your NWP list.

[Airellian]

It's in the Charlemagne's Paladins Campaign Sourcebook.

Stewardship

This proficiency provides the administrative knowledge and skills to run a large estate. Land is wealth, and proper management of land resources and the servants and freemen on that land is essential to a noble's well-being. The noble himself needs at least a rudimentary understanding of stewardship, but loyal subordinates are usually entrusted with the management of day-to-day affairs.

A character who has this proficiency understands not only the technical business of land and estate management, but the politics and personalities of the manor and palace. He is alert and sensitive to power and influence in families and retainers of a noble household. He knows where to seek information and how to apply pressure to achieve the objectives of his lord and his own personal ends. He recognizes strengths and weaknesses in a noble household, and he knows how to take advantage of them. He also understands quality and luxury, and he knows how to impress and influence others with hospitality.

This proficiency belongs to the General proficiencies group and costs one slot. INT 0.

[Airellian]

Also, regarding proficiencies, I don't think I made the rule very clear, even though I wrote it twice, and for that I apologize. Anyway, I'll just reiterate it here:

Each House has a list of recommended proficiencies. These cost one less slot than normal. If this would reduce the number of slots to zero, then the proficiency costs one slot.

[Daos]

Therillian is Common, right? Or the equivalent of? My character ain't too bright, so I don't want to accidentally pick a language that nobody else in the region speaks.

[Airellian]

That is correct.

[Airellian]

I want to try out a new rule regarding chatting for my one-shot game. One thing I've noticed is that players take an inordinate amount of time to type up novel-sized posts. Ideally, I would like the intervals between posts be somewhere between thirty seconds to one minute. While I know that sometimes that's just not possible, I will have make do with at the latest 2 minutes between posts.

So, to facilitate this, the Dungeon Master, when waiting for a reponse from a player character, will only wait for a certain amount of time before moving on. The Dungeon Master will just assume that they do nothing. For example:

Danny Ocean: "You're either in or you're out. Right now."
Linus: ..... [Silence as the player types a novel-size entry.]
Dungeon Master: ..... Okay, enough waiting.
Danny Ocean: "So, the answer's no, huh? You'll regret it."

Now, there are reasons I wish to do it this way. The Dungeon Master and the other players don't want to sit and wait for that one player to type out a huge post.

Also, it's unrealistic to think that the NPCs will sit and listen to some long monologe and not interrupt. What you're doing as a player is taking away the actions of the other players and the NPCs by subjecting them to your long speech.

Break up these monologues into short chunks. If you're given the option to continue with your little speech, then continue. If your post is going beyond the allocated textbox, then it's probably too long.

Now, will I as the Dungeon Master adhere to this as well? Certainly, I won't post long monologues. I abhore villain monologue. I'll try to adhere to my own guidelines, but if the players wish to learn anything of importance, then they'll have to listen to what NPCs have to say. Of course, they're free not to do so, if they wish.

[Airellian]

So, we have a week before the Pilot starts. I want the character sheets as soon as you can have them ready. Please, ask me whatever questions you have. If not on IM, then on this forum.