Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 13, 2004 13:27:29	Re-reading my Dungeon Master's guide, I was reminded of the NPC classes "The Adept", "Aristocrat", "The Commoner", "The Expert", and "The Warrior", and I started thinking that these classes would be great for Ravenloft. There is an alternative for the "low numbers" starting level player character, and one that doesn't overpower them like starting them off at a higher level (which then eliminates the challenge in many cool, should-be preliminary encounters). Does anybody else use these NPC classes for their PCs? Personally I think it'll keep the characters grounded in an almost realist sense, and from a creation point of view, it almost automatically guarantees a background...two key elements that are found in the Ravenloft brew. Give the characters as many levels as they have years in the workplace, roughly anyway, and things should start to pan out for a decent Ravenloft game. A game from the villager's point of view...something a little more unique. And if you want to use these classes as the beginning of a campaign, then once they max at 20, or start showing a little consistency with their skills and intentions, just have them switch over to the multitude of classes that are available for PCs. Calculate the skill points to half of their NPC value (with the new total being deemed "Life skills"), and the transition should be as smooth as driving from dirt to pavement. Any thoughts? I'm already in the process of creating a Warrior, an Expert, and two Adepts for my next story. The Gambler, the Thief, the Witch and the Freak...Hala's Lot. If all goes well, it will be posted on these boards in the coming months.
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 13, 2004 14:44:09	Lately I've ran a Ravenloft game session involving a mob. Two players controlled 10 peasants who tried to get rid of a vampire in her castle over their village. They were 8 commoners from various background: innkeep, stableboy, old crazy woman... And also 2 experts. It was actually quite fun and we look forward to pit the survivors against another monster. They can't wait to see them aquire more adventurous classes as their hunting skills increase.
#3 zombiegleemax Nov 14, 2004 0:32:39	Using the NPC classes is ideal for background and keeping the power realistic. The way we do it is, they stick with that class until they can attain a prestige class. It works great and really helps to direct the course of character development.
#4 zombiegleemax Nov 14, 2004 11:59:29	I use the Expert, Aristocrat,and Commoner classes. I tend to forget about the Warrior and Adept. I find it easier just to use Fighter and Wizard. They are very useful.
#5 zombiegleemax Nov 14, 2004 14:26:54	I use the Expert, Aristocrat,and Commoner classes. I tend to forget about the Warrior and Adept. I find it easier just to use Fighter and Wizard. They are very useful. Interesting. You don't think of the Warrior and Adept classes as those possessing rudimentary knowledge of the core classes Fighter and Wizard/Sorcerer/Cleric? I'm coming from the fact that I don't want my characters having a post-secondary knowledge, so to speak, of certain skills and abilities. I'm thinking more high school...a general, unrefined knowledge that in its own way represents the actual lack of years that in my mind a villager/peasant will have of professions such as that of adventurers. Remember, the characters professions are the everyday jobs that they do to put food on the table. More simply put, these characters just don't have the time to spend on specializing skills that don't immediately help their chosen professions. Not yet anyway. Things like food and rent are first and foremost on these peoples minds, and it is that mentality that separates them from those priorities that are generally placed with and on adventurers. And, speaking of which, anybody have any adventure hooks that will justify such a change of priorities? What is it that will make a man or woman get so fed up with things that they leave their jobs in a gamble that there is indeed "treasure at the end of the rainbow"? IE: Hope. It's a move that not many people will make, so what could be strong enough to cause them to make decisions at the flip of a coin? To quit their jobs (all sense of stability), to pack up and do something? Preternatural circumstances? Being rock-bottom for too long? Money? Constant, overwhelming feeling of wanderlust? War? Feeling ostracized from society? A blend of the above? What would make you leave your life as you know it? I can apply certain real-life circumstances and screw-ups that I have made to one character (only modified in the fantasy sense of course), but I really could use some other opinions. I have at least four characters to flesh out this way. I've been around, and at times it may feel like I've lived a couple of lifetimes, but I haven't been around that long. :D That, and I have a more pressing need to establish different personalities. I have the basics laid out, but I really could use some specifics. Hala's Lot is, essentially, about a group of strangers from different walks of life who, despite their feelings of loneliness, isolation and helplessness, find comfort and strength in and from those coming from similar but unique circumstances. It's a strength in numbers due to individualism "thing", if that makes any sense. Your help would be much appreciated, and I'll post what I have when I have the time. Yes, I decided to abandon the idea of writing my story out here on these boards, due to the fact that I've just now decided to present it in the hopes of it becoming some sort of shared, community-usable idea. Or something like that. So, with that said, I don't mind dropping "spoilers" (as I see the story unfolding anyway), if that's what you want to call it. Maybe we can knock off one character at a time, with all of our opinons combined making up the different fractions of personalities of the protagonists. Each character being "a tribe of one", outside of a tribe combined. In other words, each character is their own sort of mental case, trying to survive in a world that just gave them a glimpse of its darker side. I'll explain more when I come back.
#6 Morrigan Nov 15, 2004 5:56:15	I've not actually run anything like this, but I was working on something similar for a game I've had to put on hold. The players were to be members of a small town [Koskun] in Gundarak immediatly post the Grand Conjunction. At exactly the point where the Barovians invade. The players started with NPC classes, like Commoner and Warrior - mostly Commoner - but as soon as they hit lvl 2 they could choose a normal class, to represent their transition to "adventurers". The background to all this was the destruction of Koskun. As I had about eight players, they would have been roughly a quarter of the whole town, and I had encouraged them to create families, lovers, parents & children. The first game would have them working the furthest fields from the town when a plume of smoke rose in the distance. Returning home, they found the town torched and the inhabitants butchered. From there I had no direct plans, beyond an assumption of vengeance and slow revelation, but I rather liked it as a reason to get an "adventuring party" in Ravenloft. Morrigan
#7 zombiegleemax Nov 15, 2004 14:02:47	I changed "the Gambler" to "the Drifter" simply because of the fact that the concept is less social in nature. Now, here's the fun part: I'll start off the background of each character, and to whoever is reading this thread, you add in your own ideas. A couple of things to note: 1. In order to have these characters "adoptable", I'll suggest that we leave the characters' names nameless, along with their families. That way, any player or DM can easily pick up, customize, and play. The names of NPCs are fair game. 2. Don't worry about structure. We'll re-write each character's background when it's all said and done. 3. Serious entries only. 4. If there are no replies, then I will continue with the background notes that I have already written. I am cutting them off at irregular intervals in order to accommodate all other thoughts and ideas. The Drifter "He fought and killed his friends. He fought and killed his brothers. He fought and killed his father. He fought and killed all he ever knew..." The Drifter is a man whose past is as ravaged and haunted as a post-Dead Man's Campaign battlefield. Being the middle son of a high-ranking Falkovnian officer had one advantage, and one advantage only: there was always food on the table. But along with this right of birth came high expectations. Expectations that would have the young boy be the shadow of his father: a cruel, sadistic man who would eventually be the leader of men in the Kingfuhrer's next campaign of conquest. But, the boy was a boy, and such schemes of ambition were beyond him. Punishment came swift and hard when these expectations were not met, and as a result there were many, many beatings over the years. There was no saviour from this abuse: his mother had died during childbirth, and his brothers joined in whenever his father was away, so the boy learned to grow up very quickly. (certain memories still haunt the Drifter to this day; detail) At the age of ten his father pulled some strings and had him accepted into the Stangengrad Military Academy. This was to show off the martial skills that he had beat into his son (skills that the boy never really cared for, but learned out of fear of further beatings), but more importantly, to maintain his growing reputation. His two older boys had graduated top of their class, and showed promise of being great military leaders. ...
#8 zombiegleemax Nov 17, 2004 6:14:53	Ooo, I'm great at these! Let's see... I changed "the Gambler" to "the Drifter" simply because of the fact that the concept is less social in nature. The Drifter "He fought and killed his friends. He fought and killed his brothers. He fought and killed his father. He fought and killed all he ever knew..." The Drifter is a man whose past is as ravaged and haunted as a post-Dead Man's Campaign battlefield. Being the middle son of a high-ranking Falkovnian officer had one advantage, and one advantage only: there was always food on the table. But along with this right of birth came high expectations. Expectations that would have the young boy be the shadow of his father: a cruel, sadistic man who would eventually be the leader of men in the Kingfuhrer's next campaign of conquest. But, the boy was a boy, and such schemes of ambition were beyond him. Punishment came swift and hard when these expectations were not met, and as a result there were many, many beatings over the years. There was no saviour from this abuse: his mother had died during childbirth, and his brothers joined in whenever his father was away, so the boy learned to grow up very quickly. (certain memories still haunt the Drifter to this day; detail) At the age of ten his father pulled some strings and had him accepted into the Stangengrad Military Academy. This was to show off the martial skills that he had beat into his son (skills that the boy never really cared for, but learned out of fear of further beatings), but more importantly, to maintain his growing reputation. His two older boys had graduated top of their class, and showed promise of being great military leaders. ... Until the day when he was assigned to patrol the border between Falkovnia and Darkon with one of his brothers. It was a "practical" test, and several grunts were put under their command as they were ordered to find and intercept a suspected smuggler trying to move people (possibly nonhumans) across the border. His brother was put in charge and he was to be second-in-command. Throughout the patrol, his brother made sure he knew what was expected of him and that he'd best put his training to good use, or there'd be hell to pay. Perhaps it was this constant state of stress that led to what happened next. The wagon was located as it was less than two leagues from the border. The Falkovnians gave chase. The wagon had a driver, two men with firearms outside, and one outrider. The troops caught the outrider, ran him down as the wagon moved on at breakneck speed. His brother killed the man himself with his spear and rode on. Maybe it wasn't just stress, but bad luck. Azalin Rex has many eyes, so it is said, maybe he just happened to be looking that direction. Maybe they should have realized that, during the chase, they'd crossed the border into Darkon. Maybe he should have warned his brother when he heard hoofbeats coming from behind them. It was enough to distract the rest of the small force when the dead man rode up and grabbed onto his brother, taking them both to the ground. This distraction allowed the men on the wagon to fire into the group of pursuers, downing several. Maybe if his brother hadn't been so cruel for all those years he might have risked his own life for him. But he had been, and so he watched with a strange mixture of horror and fascination as the undead thing tore his brother's throat out with its teeth. The other surviving soldiers had fled, the wagon was almost out of sight, and nothing else seemed about to attack him. He looked back over the border, looked towards Darkon, and, in a state of near-shock - a fugue, he rode on. He had little in the way of money, he was wearing the colours of Falkovnia. He had to do something about that first. He ditched what he could that he didn't immediately need. Anything that identified him. He chanced upon a homestead further down the road and, in the dead of night, stole some rags from a shed. His cloak served as his blanket for many nights thereafter. He also began to realize the enourmity of what he'd just done. He also realized that he didn't care about his brother's fate beyond the fact that it's likely he'd be assumed to have shared it. When he didn't return. The only skills he had were martial, and coming into a town realized that they'd have to keep him alive. Fortunately, desperate men have a look about them that attracts...opportunists. Bare-knuckle brawling is a brutal sport, but he did well enough to get by - until the night he realized that the man who arranged his brawls was skimming a bit too much off the top. He hadn't figured a raggedy man like him would be fully literate and numerate. Treachery...he left the man alive, though brutalized, realizing that the only way to keep people away from him was to be harder, colder, more brutal. yet still, some vestige of sympathy still remained in him, for others who suffered the cruelties he had. He couldn't bring himself to go over fully to a life of crime, as that would mean becoming a sadistic bully. So instead, he decided to act as a sellsword. Bodyguard work was allright, he supposed, but he hated being around his clientele. They were either thieving scum, arrogant crimelords, or snotty merchants. Tiring of this, he decided to seek work as a mercenary proper. He wasn't too particular, but he didn't mind breaking a few legs when they belonged to other criminals, nor did he mind putting a blade between the ribs of killers when he had to. They chose their fate, after all, by getting in his way. He'd primarily been sticking to this sort of work when he was hired on to repel a small incursion into Nova Vaasa by Drakov's forces. Lo and behold, the fates had delivered unto him his other brother. Seeing little else, he found his way to the man and met him in battle. Amazingly, he won, though sorely wounded himself. He took the time to make sure word got back to his father...he'd finish his revenge...by all the gods above and below...he would... Now, I'd say we're probably looking at at least one failed Powers Check, if not two, and an alignment of Neutral Evil to Chaotic Neutral. You can't be a wandering sellsword, awash in violence, and keep a Good alignment for too long, after all unless you were very particular about your assignments. - Yulian "Either war is obsolete or men are." - R. Buckminster Fuller
#9 thanael Nov 17, 2004 12:31:10	Wow! This is great! Are you looking for some stats too? I`d say let them be NPC-classed to about level 5 or so. Certainly higher than 2. As for the first failed power check i`d give him +2 to intimidate, and for a curse some strange habit or -2 to some other skills. The Path of the Bully. (But not liek the path of the brute a bit more subtle) So he`s turning into what his father is/was.
#10 zombiegleemax Nov 18, 2004 20:45:43	Are you looking for some stats too? We should probably hold off on the stats until each character's background is complete. Otherwise, I think it might be a little too restricting. And as for alignment, I'd have to say the same thing. Each character might go through several alignment changes, as it all depends on what the posts make of their individual backgrounds. With the Drifter in particular, I had intended for him to be a sort of repentant character, so with that said, I really like what I see. Guilt is what drives the drifter to drift. It's his past that keeps him on the razor edge that is good and evil. He is trying to remain "neutral", to just do his thing, but circumstances keep haunting him. For no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape the martial skills that were beat into him by both his father and the Academy. He wants desperately to be a pacifist, to be himself, but as he wanders he knows that fighting is a part of what he is. It's the one thing that he knows he's good at. It's just the application of those skills that has thrown him for a loop. And it's that hesitation as to why he is a warrior and not a fighter. He doesn't fully give into his past. He fights only when he has to, not because he wants to. In essence (game mechanics), he is rejecting the fighter class. How can he use his skills for the better of mankind, if such a thing is even possible? How much blood must he spill before the world will leave him be? Why is the fight always brought to him? Why has Death befriended him? Initially, I intended the Drifter to be a (future) candidate for the Knight of the Shadows prestige class, but we'll see what the rest of you people have to say about that. Hint: The answers to his questions lies within the teachings of Hala. Or at least, that where I see them being...
#11 thanael Nov 20, 2004 8:05:27	Well with what i`m reading so far I`d think Avenger PrC. ...and of course a somewhat darker more cursed general outlook. That doesn`t mean he can still protect innocent little children when he sees them mistreated. I`ll have to read up on Hala´s teachings...