| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| TheHermit |
Posted - 08 Apr 2013 : 03:32:14
So our group here in Orlando has drifted to the FATE RPG - http://www.evilhat.com/home/fate-core/ - as of late, including a new Realms campaign - https://sites.google.com/site/fateoftherealms/ - using that system. Has anyone else tried out FATE or a similar system for their Realms games? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| TheHermit |
Posted - 02 May 2013 : 02:57:43
Origin of the Company
From NO TRUER HEART: Being the Collected Memoirs of Quoendithas Huntinghawk (with Divers Comments from his Friends, Companions and Others)
…So, having told the tale of how I arrived in Westgate, and, in the role of scribe, I met Damar the Finesmith, beloved of Maera of the Fiery Tresses, an entertainer at the Purple Lady of some renowned beauty, who had been locked away from the world at that festhall.
You’ve read how I pledged my help as a cavalier of the Ladies of the Pool, and after only a few days as a regular patron of the club, I had not only made the acquaintance of Sarvyn, the master of hall (named after one of the old kings of Westgate, as he interminably told myself, and everyone else), but also that of Lullen, the house’s cleric and faceminder, responsible for enhancing the beauty of the Purple Lady’s…ladies.
That meeting was certainly the doing of the Ladies of the Evergold…
(Certainly that of the Sly One, he means – Lullen)
…for the gnome was my counterpart in the whole affair, for he had been tasked by Sarvyn to bend the mind of Maera in order for her to be wed to a Calishite Pasha, one Kilic Kara of Lubizond, and he, like I, was sworn to keep her from this fate.
Our time by then was short – the Pasha was to begin his return to his lands only two days hence, with his new wife in tow, and if Lullen would not use his magic, the Purple Lady’s keeper would find another spellcaster with not so many scruples to do the job (for Westgate did not lack for those). We had at our disposal the talents of an excitable hiresword named Corbin, who did this job and that for both the festhall and the cleric. The half-elf’s balance and bladework were skilled, but as a group, I considered that we still lacked the resources to see the lovers both reunited and safely away from Westgate.
The Pasha and his retinue remained ensconced in his suite of rooms, sending out his buyers to return with luxuries from town, and the lady in peril remained in her rooms, under guards of both the house and the Calishite.
I pondered these things after midday meal as I reviewed a copy of Longalar’s Five Fallen Thrones (a version edited for production in Arabel which had far too much slapstick for my taste) in the Purple Lady’s dining room. I was then that I spotted a wild-haired dwarf wearing the Pasha’s livery. I had seen him in and out of the stables, making repairs to the Calishite wagons and equipment. He passed by one of the uncleared tables and nicked a bit of cheese, and as stealthily as he might, one of the house’s sharp knives as well.
I looked over to Lullen, who was quietly discussing things at another table with Corbin. His sharp eyes had picked up the motion and he was on his feet already. We met at the doorway to the hall’s private quarters.
“There’s murder in that dwarf’s eye,” the gnome said, and I nodded my agreement.
“We’ll need to stop him before he reaches the guest quarters,” I muttered quietly to my companions. “Silence him if need be, and we’ll try and get him up the stairs and to your room, Lullen.”
We pushed through the curtain, where we almost tripped over the dwarf, who had slowed his steps to a snail’s pace. He slipped the knife from his sleeve and raised it menacingly, but made no sound.
“A moment of your time, friend, is all…”
That moment I was asking for was snatched away as Corbin surged forward to grab for the errant cutlery. Lullen lifted a finger and made a sound like air escaping a balloon, and everything went silent.
We struggled deafly with the dwarf (his name, we later learned, was Jammer), arms and legs atumble as we tried (and succeeded, for the most part) to force him up the stairs. Had it been just I or Corbin against him, I would not have wagered on our side, as he fought like an owlbear and was a strong as half a dozen men. Even after Corbin managed to disarm him, he still fought with hand and foot more skillfully than some men could with sword and shield.
(And teeth! You almost lost a finger, I recall – Corbin)
I managed to slip the “belt” of silken cord from around my waist and clumsily bind the dwarf long enough for Corbin and myself to lug him straining and struggling up the stairs to Lullen’s room, where we bound him more securely to one of the gnome’s chairs. Corbin had the task of gagging him, and then I motioned for the gnome to let his silence fall.
“Now, my friend,” I sat on the edge of a dresser as the world rushed back into my ears. “That moment I was asking for. Listen to what I have to say, and if you’ve no interest in it, I’ll happily send you right out that door.”
“You work for the Pasha below us, aye?” The dwarf’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought he would chew through the shirt Corbin had stuffed in his mouth.
“It goes further than that, I think.” Lullen stepped forward and tugged at the dwarf’s sleeve where it had separated from the shoulder. The movement fully exposed a twisted, ugly scar burnt into the flesh of his arm. “Slaver brand.”
Corbin made a gesture to where the dwarf’s hands were tied behind him. “Missing the tips of a couple of his fingers, too. They’ve maimed him for trying to escape…”
“What a town, this Westgate, where you can learn such bright and pleasant things,” I said, moving behind the chair and working at my own hastily tied knots. “All right, my friend. Know that we’re neither friends of the master of your house, or of this house. We’ve an obligation here, nothing more…”
I explained our duty to the young lovers as I worked at the ropes, and then stepped back to let him remove the gag himself.
He spat the cloth to the ground and rubbed his wrist. “So if I gut his Excellency, what’s to stop you three from walking out with the firehair?”
“The Pasha’s guards, for one, and Savryn’s, for another,” Corbin ticked off a list on his fingers. “The watch after that and the Night Masks after them.”
Lullen nodded. “Coin’s already crossed palms for her. The death of the fat man downstairs would simply mean she’d belong to whatever uncle or cousin inherits the estate.”
Jammer spat again. “I’ve sworn my revenge. I’ll not leave this place until I have it.”
“And I’d not take it from you, friend,” I agreed. “But sometimes the best revenge is a long life, which I’m certain you’ll not have if you take your current path. If I could give you the chance to twist his beard so hard, it would pinch his nose every morning hereafter, and everyone from the Satraps of Calimport to the Sorcerers of the Waterdeep would laugh to hear of it?”
The dwarf’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Tell me your plan, then.”
It was well that he’d waited til then to ask for a plan; because it was only a moment before that the skeleton dancing about in my head had gathered its flesh. I paced the room, laying out my scheme and the players’ parts in it. There was the occasional aside from Lullen, and a bit of excited jumping from Corbin, but the dwarf was silent throughout.
When it was all laid before them, Jammer was silent for a long time before he spoke.
“You’re a bit mad.”
I shrugged. “It’s been said.”
He nodded. “All right, then.”
With that, Lullen and I pooled what resources we had, and sent Corbin out with a shopping list.
“And once you get back, pack what things you can to travel light. Once the sun sets tomorrow, we’ll not come back to this town anytime soon.”
He paused on his way out the door, and tilted his head questioningly. “What if we’re not out of town by sunset?”
Lullen tapped the side of his nose. “Then we’ll probably never leave town again.”
*****************************
As Lullen told it, Savryn was more than a little shocked when the gnome finally gave in to his demands, directing him to have Maera brought to his room to work the mind-bending spells on her. It was no small feat on his part to convince both the Pasha and the Purple Lady’s master that he needed to be left alone for the magic, but in the end it was done, with all waiting outside the door for the deed to be done.
There was the sound of crying, and then there was the sound of Lullen’s voice chanting in prayer, and finally there was silence. A silence that lasted so long that all involved had stopped pounding on the door and were determined to rush it, when it swung open, revealing the red-tressed lady, dressed in the bridal gowns brought for her by the Calishite, and the tired looking gnome, his face somber.
“It is done,” he said as the girl stepped out into the hallway. “Your bride, Your Excellency.”
The Pasha was entranced, and simply waved his hand in Lullen’s direction. One of the Calishite’s vizier’s tossed a bag of coin which landed at the gnome’s feet. He nodded tiredly, and simply swung the door shut.
The Pasha, bright-eyed, led the girl downstairs to his room, nattering in a language I didn’t understand, but his man translated in a distracted monotone.
“His Excellency bids you welcome to your new life, and says you are the loveliest woman he has ever seen. You will be wed quietly, when we return to his Excellency’s room, and then in a grand ceremo-“
The vizier’s drone was cut short as the door to the Pasha’s rooms was opened. The fat Calshite shoved both his adviser and his bride to one side as he rushed forward, his eyes frantically surveying the ransacked rooms and the unconscious guards and priests therein.
I could understand all but the words of the panicked back and forth between the Pasha and his men as they searched the room, crying out over this stolen jewelry box and that stolen bag of gems. In just a few too-short moments, the cries died away, and the entirety of the conscious Calishite retinue turned with hard looks to Savryn, his men, and his new wife.
And it was at that moment that Lullen’s spell slipped away, and I was revealed as the tall figure who had been led from the gnome’s room, not the red-headed beauty that Killic had expected to take to wife.
*****************************
At this moment outside, Lullen and Corbin were seeing off a fine carriage and its occupants, a handsome young man in an ill-fitting driver’s livery, and a statuesque young woman who could not possibly be the fabled Maera of the Fiery Tresses, given her smooth bald head and the simple, yet vivid blue, tattoos that covered her scalp and face. She gave each of them a single kiss, and fairly leapt into the carriage and settled next to the bundles the two had presented her with – bundles containing enough of the Pasha’s gold and gems to see them safely out of the reach of both the Calishite and her former master, whether to Waterdeep or Cormyr or beyond. With that, the young driver who could not possibly be Damar the Finesmith pulled into the street and into Westgate’s hectic traffic.
By now my gentle reader, you’ve figured out the general bits of that morning, if not the particulars – when the call came from the gnome to have Maera brought to him, I was already hidden in his room. While we told the weeping girl our plan, Corbin and Jammer took care of their part, possibly the most difficult – entering the chambers of the Pasha and incapacitating his people (the ones who had not gone upstairs to stand expectantly outside the gnome’s room) and ransacking his rooms as they could, all without raising an alarm.
They managed it, and, as I requested, with no loss of life.
(Though one of those priests may be addled for life. But ye asked for no dead man... – Jammer)
Upstairs, though it meant freedom, the girl wept even harder as I applied the oil which allowed me to simply brush her famous tresses from her head as though I was dusting a shelf, then applied the azure dye to her skin with the tips of my fingers. Her crying ceased, and I received a kiss of my own, when I pressed a bottle of Embelder's Efficacious Divine Dew into her hands.
“We’re a patchwork of rescuers, my lady, no doubt, but I like to think we plan ahead as best we can. This thurdrix should bring your hair back as it was, but I’d not use it til you and your gentleman are three or four days out of Westgate.”
I had scarcely gotten my kiss when Corbin popped over the sill of the window. “Time to go, all.”
Corbin and the disguised Maera shimmied down his rope, and I took a quick moment to brush up the lady’s tresses and stuff them in a pouch, (Over the days that followed, I took the time to braid them into a cord. When chance presents itself, I will leave it in offering to the Ladies of Evergold.) Cullen began to chant, and I watched as the image of fiery tresses dropped down over my shoulders and down my arms.
*****************************
The cuff from the Pasha’s guard lifted me off my feet, with only the wall of the room and the thin tapestry covering it to stop my flight. I had planned on acting dazed, as though enspelled; this attack afforded some realism to my role.
I would like to say that I allowed the guards to pull me to my feet, but at that point, I really had no choice in the matter. In the few moments it took me to recover my wits, the Pasha, who was much stronger than I expected, had taken me by my shirt collar and had lifted me off my feet, shouting words I had no chance understanding (with breath that was much better than I had been expecting).
It seemed that everyone, in fact, was shouting, so I gave myself another moment before locking my eyes with Savryn’s and twisting my features with rage.
“Blackguard! Rogue!” I spat, not daring to look around the room at the other actors in this little drama. “What was in that wine? I’d not secure a sacrificial lamb for your scheme, so you’d put my head on the block?”
Whatever the hall’s master had expected, this had not been it. Savryn’s mouth worked soundlessly like a fish plucked from a pool, and he carried his guilt for all his schemes like a pouch around his neck, his face going white as he struggled for a moment to remember whether this actually was part of his machinations or not.
The reaction was all I could hope for and more, and as the Pasha’s grip went slack for a moment, I braced myself against the wall with my feet and pushed, tearing myself away and toward the object of my apparent rage. It was then that all Hells broke loose, with the Pasha’s Vizier (I assume) translating what I had said, and Savryn’s men falling to combat with the guards of his ex-client. My leap had brought me down just short of my target, and I found myself clinging to his boot heel as he attempted to scramble somewhere that sense could be made of the whole debacle.
His boot twisted free of Savryn’s foot, just in time that I could use it block the blow of one of his men’s sword blows. He was forced to turn back to battle the Calishite guard, and I made haste to follow the oddly-cantering Savryn through his hall.
He had almost made it through the dining hall, and thence to outside, but with a scramble across the tabletops and a swing on the room’s chandelier, I was able to come down on the master of the hall like the proverbial ton of stones.
“Now-“ I said. I’m sure that I had something witty up my sleeve then, but truth be told, it was snatched away from my tongue when I heard the first crash. Both Savryn and I turned our heads to look, and beheld the Pasha bearing directly down on us both, effortlessly flipping the heavy dining tables to one side of the room or the other. I wondered for a moment if the Calishite’s girth belied his strength, or just how much magic he wore in the rings that covered his fingers.
It hardly mattered, because in the time it took us to scramble to our feet, the Pasha was upon us, a heavy piece of oak I’d taken my mornfast at high above his head and ready to brain both Savryn and I. It was then that I heard the fluid words of gnomish behind me, and then heard Lullen speak with laughter in his voice. “Come now, we’re all friends here. Let us drink, and sing the day away…”
The Calishite and the Westhavian both stiffened for a moment then, laughing, each embraced the other like an old friend. I turned, and saw the rest of my partners standing in the doorway to the hall.
“You were supposed to be hurtling towards the docks right now,” I accused as I brushed myself off.
“Lucky for you we didn’t, ye great tangleweed” Jammer grumbled, “Else you’d be squashed flatter than a black bug by now, no mistake.”
I shrugged my assent, and then eyed our two charmed enemies. “How long before our bosom friends end their thoughts of wine and song?”
“A few hours, unless the fat man’s priests can-“
The gnome’s words were interrupted as the Pasha’s Vizier and one of the priests I’d seen so recently unconscious skidded to a halt in the doorway across the hall from us. The Vizier shouted a command, and the priest raised his staff; in a flash, Corbin pulled one of his many blades from his belt, sending it spinning through the rope that held the chandelier I’d so recently swung from.
The two were forced back as the fixture crashed to the ground. Savryn and the Pasha stopped their backslapping for just a moment, then laughed as though it was the funniest thing they had seen.
“So we should be going, then?” I said, not really waiting for an answer as I headed out the door.
“Indeed,” Lullen answered, scurrying along behind.
I don’t know how far we were pursued through town, or even if we were, but we certainly ran like every hiresword in Westgate was hot at our heels, leaping fences and cutting through courtyards in the most direct path to the docks where, Corbin assured us, a caravan awaited only our arrival before it shipped out across the Inner Sea towards the Dalelands.
While Jammer and Corbin collected out things from where they had been stored at the docks, Lullen and I went to see the caravan master, one Denclark.
“Your man said your company was quite experienced,” Denclark probed. “But he was stlarned vague on how long you’d been together.”
“Oh, some time,” I said, looking sideways to Lullen for help. “We’ve traveled from Cormanthor to Waterdeep, and places in-between.”
“Aye,” the gnome interjected with a grin. “And we’ve done work for the Pashas of Calimshan, as well.”
Denclark looked to me, and I nodded in agreement. There wasn’t much more I could say, really.
“Well enough, then,” the caravan master said after a moment’s deliberation. “We’ll be pushing off as soon everyone’s on board.”
I began to let a rush of air leave my lungs until he asked a final question. “What d’ye go by? Your company, that is.”
“Oh… We are…” Mind racing, I looked to the gnome, who simply shrugged back at me. “We are… the Company of… the Sacred Heart.”
Denclark mulled that over, and then nodded. “Aye. Seems I may have heard of you after all.”
As our new employer turned to go, Lullen cocked an eyebrow my way, but I was content in my choice. |
| Renin |
Posted - 29 Apr 2013 : 00:09:07
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I seriously think WotC should consider not even bothering with rules in 5e, and just produce quality setting material.... Pick something they (once) excel(led) at - settings - and run with it.
...Instead, embrace your enemy and become one with them - keep the setting material rules-neutral, and people dissatisfied (or bored) with Golarion will come a-running (because they WON'T give up on the rules... not yet, anyway. They've too much invested in them).
AH-greed.
I'm fully invested in PF rules, and books, so I'm not going to pick up another system.
However, I would definitely pick up source material and just use that. Anyone can convert/create stats. And I would do it again!
Even right now, I am using PF, using 3.0 OGL Ravenloft source books, and running AD&D adventures because, frankly, I loved the idea of RL, and have never run there.
And it's fun. That's all there is to this stuff! |
| Daviot |
Posted - 21 Apr 2013 : 20:02:47
quote:
Originally posted by TheHermit
So our group here in Orlando has drifted to the FATE RPG - http://www.evilhat.com/home/fate-core/ - as of late, including a new Realms campaign - https://sites.google.com/site/fateoftherealms/ - using that system. Has anyone else tried out FATE or a similar system for their Realms games?
I've read through the draft of the Fate Core that came with the Kickstarter bits, and it leans towards the rules-lite and cinematic. The only major hurdle I'd see for a Realms game is having to design and adjudicate a magic system since the Core version doesn't have one, and the few examples they give are rather brief.
It might be possible to cabbage and reverse engineer some things from the Dresden Files RPG, but I don't own a copy of it to say for sure. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 17 Apr 2013 : 16:26:30
From what I've seen of late, the few groups that are still playing in the Realms are using all sorts of rules. In fact, I am aware of less current D&D rules FR games then every other kind.
I seriously think WotC should consider not even bothering with rules in 5e, and just produce quality setting material. They'll never own the pie again, and there just isn't enough left of it to satisfy glutinous corporate appetites for profit. Pick something they (once) excel(led) at - settings - and run with it.
Don't try to beat Paizo; they are too good at what they do and its probably too late for that. You'll just waste valuable resources on another flop. Instead, embrace your enemy and become one with them - keep the setting material rules-neutral, and people dissatisfied (or bored) with Golarion will come a-running (because they WON'T give up on the rules... not yet, anyway. They've too much invested in them).
Ask yourselves, does anyone truly want or need yet-another rule-set? Setting material is another story... literally. People always want to learn more about interesting people & places (whether they game or not). And think how great The Realms will be if ALL of WotC's resources were focused on IT, instead of split between it, rules, and whatever else they are working on. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 17 Apr 2013 : 15:04:31
He should also be putting the wood to a baelnorn |
| TheHermit |
Posted - 17 Apr 2013 : 04:25:25
One of the parts of the process in making up your character in Spirit of the Century, a pulp-styled game using the Fate rules, is to come up with a back-cover blurb for a novel starring your character. It's really one of my favorite parts of character creation for that game, so I've adopted it for my character in this game. This is how Quoendithas Huntinghawk's introductory novel plays out:
A KNIGHT OF LOVE
The No Truer Heart Series, Book 1
Even among the elves remaining in Cormanthor, Quoendithas Huntinghawk stood out; a lover, a scoundrel, and a self-styled cavalier serving the goddesses of Love and Beauty. But even with his experience at evading jealous husbands and angry fathers, the bard has never faced a challenge like this one.
Among his current paramours – the daughter of the High Priest of Corellon Larethian , the wife of a protector of Myth Drannor, a lovely human druid, and the representative of a Halfling trading house from Amn – lurks a Zhentarim spy and saboteur! Can a knight of romance survive jealous swords and suspicious spells long enough to save his forest realm from the treachery of a false love? |
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