Compulsory OOC section for chat, thoughts and general non-game stuff.

Hello everyone!

Evening - looking forward to getting things started.

Will be posting up a Wanted Players ad soon too.

Thanks for accepting me :D

Oh I got in, fun~ Here's to looking forward to a good time... for us at least, maybe not so much the characters.

For those that are in and looking at starting your characters, and if you haven't done so already, I need a character name. I'd also like a little background. It doesn't have to be a multi-thousand word essay, but something that we can play with and flesh out as the game progresses would be nice.

For inspiration, look at the history thread and see how much detail I've added there. Enough to get by with, but I haven't included names, dates or anything really detailed. I will be adding to it as the game progresses, and if people have ideas that they want to contribute (for example, the name of a dwarf hold that fell to the goblinoid incursion, or a great battle that was fought and created the name of a great hero, that sort of thing).

As I keep saying, this is as much your game as it is mine. If you feel something isn't working I'd rather a PM sooner than later so we can resolve it and get everyone back to enjoying the game.

Mikhail Medvedev. Wizard.

Mildred Rhythm, sorry I thought I had said it earlier.

Thanks for accepting me!

This message was deleted by the player at 12:36, Mon 19 July 2021.

Alchemist, Herbalist, Cook

In reply to Player6 (msg # 11):

Can we start with one masterwork weapon? starting gold what you have on the sheet anything else we want we have to buy from the starting money besides your equipment? Not buying anything until I know.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Mon 19 July 2021.

In reply to Player6 (msg # 12):

Spells picked. DM can check my sheet!

Oh, a spellcaster! Intelligent one, wise one or charismatic one?

Will do.

Also need to update the character generation page to include starting wealth and items.
And change a few people's names.
And answer PMs...

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 15):

A DM's job is never done!

In reply to Moria Galmenia (msg # 14):

Wise and intelligent.

I'm going to play a wise and intelligent one as well.

Slowly but surely getting the sheet filled.  Still waiting on a couple questions myself. :)

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 18):

Wizard/Cleric/Mystic Theurge maybe, you?

In reply to Player6 (msg # 20):

I want to run in a 20+ level campaign. Is this it? ;-)

If we're lucky, maybe!

In reply to Player2 (msg # 22):

The most I've had so far is 3 or 4 levels before the game fell apart, rpol lasting 20 levels would only take 15 years or so! ;-) I'm in a few games that have been running that long, I just wasn't in them in the beginning.

Forgot to say, posting rate expectations will be 2-3 per week as of September when I return to work. Before that it could easily be higher as new games start with a flurry of activity.

And with that I think I'm done with PMs and background stuff.

Will post up on known gods and describe where I'll be starting you all off as my next to-do.

Have I promised anything and not followed it up??

I should have my char up by this weekend.

Lovely.

I'm on a family holiday for 2 weeks as of Sunday, but will have internet availability at the campsite (at the very least) so mornings & evenings (BST) I'll be posting.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 27):

BST? British Summer Time?
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Wed 21 July 2021.

Yep. I'm a Brit.

Where are others from??

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 29):

Not sure, I'm the only one that has been here all day. They are either from around the world, or work for a living. I'm neither.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 29):

West coast US, here

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 31):

Hello Lief! You must work for a living!

Cleveland, OH

In reply to Cemre (msg # 33):

Another hard worker. I'm disabled so I'm here all day.

Wisconsin for me, i just have a really borked sleep schedule because my body doesn't know how to regulate and neither does my conscious mind.

Would never consider myself an insomniac, but manage 3-4 hours a night at best. Add to that I travel 1.5 hours to get to work, put in a minimum of 8 hours before driving back (another 1.5 hours) then have marking and planning most evenings...

Advantage is definitely the holidays..I'm free now till September and have (mostly) prepared for next year.

Since I teach Computer Science, I have an excuse to be online most days...

BI do have kids which means even my holidays I'm "working". Which means Xbox, PC and tablet gaming...

...when I'm not running RPGs or board games with them.

colorado.

I am attached to my phone and often check it when i should be working.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 34):

I'm trying to get on disabilities, Covid put a wrench in that, so for now I take what money I can until I can finally get that.

First reaction was "that makes you young" but I'm on my phone constantly too, and I'm old. Feel older than I am, but am still old.



That's a tough bind to be in. I can't see benefit payments being the easiest to live off at the best of times. But the last year and a half have been difficult for everyone and haven't made things easier.

*bones creak*

Posting should not be a problem, though come September, we're doing massive house renovations (as in, we'll be without a bathroom), so I'll be at my in-laws for a few weeks (will have phone & they're cool about us setting up our computers there).

I dont need much anyways, already live off of EBT half the time, on and off jobs, most the time they cant handle my 'invisible disability'. Should have sued half the people who fired me... one was a whistle blower violation and another was because I have a damaged nose (not obvious, thanks covid).

I'm also a veteran 10 years (talk about old) so when I finally get disabilities it will be kicked up by that too.

when building should i use the class equivalent (cleric) starting gold for my class Psychic Warrior of 250 gp ... or something closer to max wealth per level for 3rd lvl of 2700 gp?

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 42):

GM answered that in char creation thread.

thankyou, I missed that.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 44):

I might have to tweak my gear for things I forgot, otherwise I'm ready. Mikki is a Rusk from Moscva. He wears dark blue almost black robes and explorers outfit.

Gear tweaks we have time for.

I've relented. Traits and flaws are available - if they fit the character and game.

Run them past me and we'll see...

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 47):

I prefer not to complicate things, I'll pass on traits and flaws,

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 48):

You and me both...

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 49):

Sorry, i get complicated, taking all the traits and flaws... ALL the traits and flaws!!!! Muahahaha!

Are we actually using those? Because I didn't even think to ask.

It is not that I don't want them...I love using them.

But none of them fit the concept of the character I am building.

It is good to know the opportunity exists.

There's always one....




Only if you want to and it fits your concept. You can always play an effect without a trait if you wish... Want to hate goblinoids or fear skeletons?? Go for it...




Exactly.

I am self shaming, look at me everyone, I am being a min max loser up in here. everyone see me, the min maxing loser, look at me and see that I am shameful Y-Y

Good to know nonetheless. Also being fair, taking -every- trait and every flaw would mostly make the positives cancel out and leave you with mostly negatives XD So not very min-max.

Hehehe...

To be honest though, if the character concept works and you play the character well, the numbers should be guidelines only. So min-maxing (be it shamefully or shamelessly) can and should take second place to the game itself. After all, you're heroes in a grim and gritty world.

Most of the time for narrative purposes I'm happy to go with dice throws - it's easier, more convenient and helps my imagination create the descriptions for the story (how well they hot / miss, how powerful the blow was, etc). But I'll always reserve the right to go with what makes a better story, even if that means the occasional fudge here or ignoring of a rule or roll there.

Take the "suffer an additional -1 per round while you're not stable and on negative hit points" rule. I've had characters die in -1 and others were on -15 or so and were eventually saved.

My basic rule will be "narration > rules" in that the rules are there so we all have a basic framework to write our own stories with. If you do everything right but repeatedly fumble your saving throw then I'll speak to you and am more than happy for you to be knocked out and seriously hurt (and somewhat crispy round the edges) rather than just a pile of ash...

Consequently, if I repeatedly hint that it might not be a good idea rushing into a room naked armed only with a stick of celery and a carrot when other characters, both more experienced and more heavily armed and armoured than you have rushed in and been slaughtered...

...well, we'll discuss how you want the narration to go and you'll have an input in how heroic your death is.

So do something heroic, in character that is not obviously blindly stupid and we'll see what happens.. if you play a cowardly sneak thief who only fights when they have the advantage, and then only from behind... We'll, you'll just need to find a different way to be all shiney and heroic.

This too. Bit like what I said only TL;DR.

About powergaming...
Are dragon magazines available? How many flaws can we take?

What if you are a cowardly sneak thief who braves their own fears to be helpful despite that cowardice? Because I'm not -quite- there but I think I could hit it with a rock if I threw hard enough.

I'd limit them to the rule of "don't take the proverbial".

One or two, but no more - and only if they make sense. If you don't need them, or only want a bit of flavour, then stick with just adding colour to your character.




Being weak yet standing up to and facing down a physical threat.
Throwing a rock to distract an opponent.knowing it won't hurt the bad guy but will definitely draw their ire on you.
Throwing yourself into the trapped chest moments before it blows up.

Challange accepted, now to find a stick of celery and carrot for which to murder hobo a room with.

honestly though, I live on luck... and remember the conversations weve had in pm. One time in a battletech game, it was just me vs like 8 enemy mechs (I had a custom zeus with a single 20 lrm and some kind of ER laser weapon, either large or gauss r something, and then a few mid and short range laser weapons. Also, of course, lostech heatsinks. Replaced the fiberous plating for standard so I'd be able to repair the mech). they had foothills to hide behind but I had a thick patch of forest. I danced around that patch and slowly destroyed them all... took a lot of nicks along the way and almost had a core breach but believe you me... I destroyed all of them and my mech still walked me out of there. Just a fun story on how often I rely and and live by luck XD
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Thu 22 July 2021.

Is the plan to work and travel together?

If so ...

He is a lawful neutral monastery trained psychic warrior. Raised and trained high in the mountains to the east (Tibet and the hymalayan mountains) . Though his height indicates he is clearly not from there by birth.

As to what he has been doing for the last few months ... He has been traveling west into Europe... Seeking information on the spreading darkness and aid that he hopes to eventually bring back the monks and the monetary that are his family and home.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Thu 22 July 2021.

Characters will be in the same area of Western Europe when the end hits. After that, if they want to team they can. If they want to go it alone, they can.

Thanks for the speed guys - most are nearly done, or are there or there abouts.

So the fatal question - do any of you know each other, and would you already have worked together??

I'll leave the introductions to you so you can give as much (or as little) info on your characters as you want.

Suggestions such as what follows - narrative, descriptive and as truthful as you want it to be. Remember, it's about how people will view you as much as what you tell them...;


This message was last edited by the GM at 07:27, Fri 23 July 2021.

Wow, so much to read!

I will finnish this weekend too.

Hello!

I'd prefer to group up with people, if people wanted to team up with a half orc ice mage!

Thematically, he's terse but does enjoy conversation, although he won't get your jokes.  He acts as a wandering healer, and is also a competent tracker and survivalist, so we may have met up on one caravan or another?  He's pretty dang far away from home, since as a rule he's from 'yes, further north than that'.  He also introduces himself as a Winter Tengan or an Ice Tengan, or basically 'shaman'.

Mildred is somewhere between a huckster and an archaeologist, retrieving things for people, selling real and fake artifacts to people with more money than sense, and using both to document ancient ruins and tombs and whatnot for historical purposes.

She gets hurt a lot so anyone with healing may have met her before, as may have anyone who had to verify something historical.

Sort of "Indiana Jones without tenure" almost.

And remember that uneducated common folk will have a negative perception of this race but that player characters are heroic and different (and more worldly) so this negativity is not present.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 68):

Damn a lot to catch up. Curse of different times on line. 3rd level wizard who follows Boccob and Zagyg the Mad. Deciding on whether I want to be an exclusive wizard or a Mystic Theurge. I like parties so I will be with a group, self preservation.

For Cemre's survival, she'd probably prefer to group up with others...

In reply to Cemre (msg # 70):

Call me Mikki Cemre, we are hereby joined friends! I'm from Moscva, lands of the Rus. Joining us Millie?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Fri 23 July 2021.

Any that has traveled the silk road  to and from the far east is likely to have met Rorry.

If for example "budget Indiana Jones" had trespassed on a shrine or temple, they are likely to have met on less than hostile, but not entirely friendly terms.

Orcs and half Orks that lived near Rorry's home have one many occasions shown that they are capable of great honor and respect. Sorry would be honored to call one an ally.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 72):

Rorry joining the party too? ;-)  Merkit is! ;-) He's a party animal! Makes me think of Kermit Mindbender!

Where we starting DM? Vien?

We have enough players for a few parties and individuals that want to die alone.

An Adventuring Company? Like a guild?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:31, Fri 23 July 2021.

My plan was more mundane than that. Some will have finished whatever they were doing, others just passing through while others may have been there a while.

I have enough for three parties, but think it'll be more like two with a few solos... Once the usual player attrition takes place.

Plan was to start in Kaer Llundain, capital city of Albion (known as Londinium in Imperial tongue) but there's been suggestions from others that they'd like to start over to a larger, more classical civilisation - so am thinking one of the Iberian or Azzurian city states or even towards Byzantium itself. Only problem with this is that the two groups will be a full continent apart..

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 74):

Ahhh, I said Vien-na because it is in the middle, but London or Spain is fine

We'll see whose background puts them where.

I'm fine not knowing anyone to start and having connections develop organically.

So, Hi again.

My char is Lief Northwind, Elf, In many ways he seems like your typical ranger.

Highly independent and probably way to multi-focused. This is especially evident in that Lief has a spellbook.

Apparentness aside, Mildred has probably ran into this individual on more than one occasion in their hunt for bits and baubles. You to sell and him to study, the two of you may have brokered a deal once or twice as well, youd probably have set up permanent trade where hed get to study everything first but of the few times you may have been willing to try that... not all the items made their way back to you.

So, now it's probably more of a first-come sort of deal? If he gets ahold of it then there is a pretty good chance he will come back to you later to sell it real cheap so you can sell it less cheap.

Likely, it was you who got him to sell stuff to you and for so cheap. Though good-natured in general, he's pretty easy to convince and his general honesty tends to work against him.

However, He and Rorry probably met far less often. Perhaps they did meet once or twice in temple, Lief being there out of curiosity towards any occult practices of the religion, maybe you two even had some small debate or discussion. However, this elf isnt the most sociable so he probably didnt stick around very long if he did decide to go talk to people at temples.

It sounds like, as a healer, Djoch may have run into basically anybody!  Although sadly, he's not great at healing in combat (not that anyone is terribly good at that at this level, haha), but them's the breaks!

He also does stand out, with or without being thrown out of town.

Personality matches are harder to guesstimate without seeing people in play, of course, but connections are good things.

In reply to Merkit Djoch (msg # 79):

Nah, my char wouldnt use a healer.

Ah, heh, then that probably means Djoch and Lief aren't too likely to have interacted.  Djoch has not done much dungeon delving himself as of yet, and you noted he's not the most sociable, thus it'd most likely be happenstance if the two of them relevantly met beforehand?

That's okay, though - not /everyone/ has to have met everyone else ^_^

In reply to Merkit Djoch (msg # 81):

I'm a wonderful wizard, come work for with me! All the cute little rogues and big strong warriors and priests who don't mind turning a blind eye now and then! ;-) Just kidding, I prefer a party for survival.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Sat 24 July 2021.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 82):

Like what you're doing, ancient Earth with all of the demi-humans thrown in. I read your history, so we're fighting everybody it seems, a spot of light in the darkness trying to survive. State against state, city against city, everyone against the Mongol hordes of goblins! ;-)

Hi
Me I am an.
Elf with bow, longsword, backpack with spell book and plan black cloths.


GM this worlds Sandbox so are we open to create back stories as long as not over the top and then run them by you?

Yeah, that's fine.

Greetings everyone.

Gawin is a historian and aspiring dungeon delver. Although born in Galicia he's led a few expeditions across the western europe with some success. He has spent the last month working with local scholars in the Albion region to try and uncover ruins supposedly buried there.

I'll be looking to join a group, although preferably a small one, once the game gets going.

In reply to Gawin Genpand (msg # 86):

Moondale and Gawin, we may also have interacted once or twice if you guys wanted.

Well met!  Or, well, have we met?  Consider the following, and you tell me.

For the better part of a century, the reconstituted legions of Mediolanum have cast an iron blanket of order over Greater Lombardy.  Many a band of highway bandits have quailed, their livers trembling into water, at the sound of the forceful, synchronous crash of hobnailed sandals onto the unyielding surface of a well-maintained road, as a red-plumed patrol marched into view, with javelins ready in hand, and mercy an unfamiliar concept.

Perhaps you attached yourself to a caravan, seeking safety in numbers for a journey, but were nonetheless ambushed by robbers - spared a grim fate only by the timely arrival of a legionary patrol.  Perhaps, in the aftermath, you recall, the patrol's leader - a hulking soldier with a Norsk look to his features - displayed an efficient pragmatism, almost bordering on compassion, as he directed his squad to tend to the caravan's wounded, and escort you to the nearest way station.

The legions' remit is not limited to securing the towns and roads of Lombardy.  Mediolanum deploys its military forces across much of the neighboring southern, central and western parts of the continent, intervening in local disputes for political advantage or for outright payment (and, let us speak candidly, the line between the two is rarely well-marked).  Perhaps you wandered into a small town, only to find it under martial law, having been recently captured by the legions, or garrisoned by them against an expected attack.  Under such circumstances, travellers are detained as a matter of course; the rules are mainly aimed at curtailing espionage, but the military takes a dim view of contraband, and individuals carrying antiques or religious artefacts of dodgy provenance (yes, I'm looking at you) have been known to be summarily executed.

Perhaps, brought before the duty officer - the century's optio, since the centurion himself had more pressing claims on his time and accordingly left his second-in-command stuck dealing with civilians - you found yourself being interrogated with an unexpected civility, your scholarly credentials and bona fides probed by a series of incisive questions, and your release ordered with a brusque but good natured admonition to be more careful with your paperwork going forward.  You might have found the experience all the more memorable, as the optio in question was a giant of a man, whose brutish build had at first sight given you little hope of such fair treatment.

That man is no longer with the legions; he mustered out when his term of service ended, and chose to spend a few weeks in travel while he decided whether to re-enlist or try to carve out a path for himself in civilian life.

That man is Ranulf Ragnarsson.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 88):

Ranulf, perhaps in your time in the legion there was one who refused to submit. Maybe one day you are part of a battalion that put a city under martial law, they began inspecting it and questioning it. One person, average build but with their face hidden, refused to even acknowledge the orders of a legionnaire. Even as they threatened him... even kicked him... he simply ignored them. Infuriated, they drew on him.

And as they swung, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, only to reappear nearby as they dash up onto a roof. The Legion calls for their capture and just as it seems they are about to be felled by a swell of arrows or pinned down by an ambush of soldiers, again they slip past it as if to defy and mock time itself.

In moments, this person is outside of town. You and a few others give chase. There is a forest nearby and keeping to uneven ground your horses dont overtake him before he reaches it. In short order, your squad maneuvers and pins him down but he also has found a defensible position and keeps you all at bay with arrows...

You try to bait him, get a mage in position to flush him out, one moment you see him hurt but the next he is fully healed.
For hours, maybe a whole day, he holds out until it seems too much trouble for its worth. A few tried going but either died or lost a leg from traps... Or maybe you keep him pinned until you get more men... but just as they arrive, he's gone.

Maybe this isnt the first time, stories of this nuisance spreads around... talk of a phantom. Never hostile but always doing as he pleases, undermining the legions dominance.

And in the new world, stories fell away. Almost as if life was less interesting for the tricster. Like a true phantom, there one day and gone the next.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Sun 25 July 2021.

I don't know where Mikhail is now. He started in Moscva, moved to Vien from there, then south over the mountains into Lombardy and then west into the lands of the Moors and Spaniards.                                                                                                                           I was thinking of being a Timelord, maybe I'll do it as a regular wizard and take the time spells like Haste, Slow, Time Stop etc.

Cemre has probably not interacted with any of the other PCs yet.

And, because of that, no need to reveal stuff on her end.

In reply to Cemre (msg # 91):

I've got a secret! ;-) Makes you more alluring, forbidden fruit!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Sun 25 July 2021.

"Alluring" isn't gonna be used to describe Cemre in ANY stretch of the imagination.

Ah, secretly an evil cultist of whoever's making the bad stuff happen, got'cha. *Thumbs up*

In reply to Mildred Rythm (msg # 94):

Hi Millie! Mikki here, your favorite neighborhood wizard!

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 89):

If Lief had killed and maimed some of Ranulf's squadmates, I fear that would lay a poor foundation for subsequent collaboration... ;P

But it is unlikely it would have come to that.  Once Lief initially slipped through the town garrison's cordon, the centurion (Ranulf's superior) would have escalated the matter to the cohort headquarters, who could then choose to deploy the cohort's specialist contingents of mages and mage-killers.  (If the legion was laying in defenses around the local towns, though, they probably had better things to do than chasing phantoms.)  Ranulf and his mates, in any event, would not have been likely to be detached to assist in this endeavor.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 96):

I'd be fine with that :)

I'm also fine with first in game encounters being a little rocky (I have good abilities to help soften that by a lot... hence the whole phantom bits)

For those of you that it matters to.

My character is an Elan that has not yet entered middle age...so because they become Elan as adults.

There is around 199 years of history that COULD be shared with any number of fellow players.

But much of that history would likely center around the (Tibetan) temples he lived in for quite some time.  He only recently left the temples and monasteries to gather information and aid to assist in facing "the darkness"

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 98):

Miki needs to talk to you, Longevity and living a Loooooooonnnnnngggg time are on his mind. He doesn't want to be undead though, he wants to be alive!

The path to immortality with the elan is not without sacrifice.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 100):

A wizard/Psion! At least you're not a lich that everyone is out to kill! ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Sun 25 July 2021.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 101):

Liches are people too! or, at least humanoid? maybe?
Psychic liches are pretty fun.

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 102):

I don't like evil either, N, NG, LN is where I generally align. Using 3.5 is great, just keep raising my intelligence. After I become, . . . . . . _Elan

According to the lore and flavor text I have access to, and the GM can change that as they see fit...

The process cleanses the human of all it's experience...loose all class levels...loose all feats...loose all XP... start over with a lvl 1 character. The process takes 10 in-game months.

The transformation to elan is not something a lone elan can preform, it takes at least 6 elder elan's and a secret sacred site.


...so lots of role play fuel for a deep side quest.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:08, Sun 25 July 2021.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 104):

Shitt, that means I'd have to be a lich then!

Yes it would. Something to think about.

Oh, no doubt.  I'm copacetic with first encounters being either collaborative (fight together against the bandits) or more adversarial (question suspected contraband smugglers); or just neutral (no shortage of scenarios).  But having one player kill close associates of another player risks crossing the line into "irreconcilable differences"-type rancor, and that's not my cup of tea.  I've seen games that play up the PvP dynamics, and there's certainly something to be said for that style of play - but it isn't for me; I'll pass.

So, where do people want to begin, geographically?  Mikhail, you said you're off to the Iberian peninsula.  Gawin - Albion.  How about the rest of you?

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 104):

You could also just gain eternal life by performing the ritual, and giving up 1 level, to become a necropolitan. IIRC, they dont need to eat, breath, drink, they may need to sleep but maybe not, and no con score (so they dont get tired either).

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 107):

I'm wherever everyone else is! I'm a party animal!

Nope! No sleep for Necropolitans, same as any other undead. Honestly they're one of my favorite races because they retain the alignment they already had. I had a neutral-to-good necromancy based society in a super harsh climate that kept killing everyone in one of my settings. The player playing a lawful stupid paladin of Tyr almost got the party killed repeatedly there by being his usual self. (He was roommates with the guy whose house we played at, and thus couldn't exactly be excluded, second worst player I've ever played with)

Though I have given the GM a quick recent background to where Cemre is, I'm open to other (workable) locales.

I'm definitely loathe to PVP -- though I've had some players who've certainly pushed me to that edge in terms of Not Respecting Boundaries.

Hello dear people! Moria Galmenia here. Scion of impoverished nobility, servant of rich commoners, she has found a new famiglia who has accepted her rebellious ways.

Moria was supposed to marry the first rich man available to put some money in her family's chest. Sadly for them she wanted to be free. Her surname offered little protection to the young woman and so she had little loyalty for it.

Instead, she found what she wanted in a family of gnomes in the island of Sicaly. Adopting their name, she contributed to their protection business. Now with the eastern invasion coming, the famiglia is concerned about the so called "triads" they have been reading about from the records of the explorer Marcus Vollus. The Galmenias have decided to send her as an operative to deal with any triad that wants to get too close to Sicaly. Receiving the blessing of the Galmenia Patriarch, she begins her journey to protect her family's turf.

In reply to Moria Galmenia (msg # 112):

Welcome Moria!

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 113):

Where are you coming in at Rorry? That way I can be there too


Are most of us US based? I've played here with folks all around the world. I'm in Pennsylvania, Eastern Time zone
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Mon 26 July 2021.

So Moria is journeying out of Sicaly and heading up the Italian peninsula...

Hey, I know!  We all converge on Florentia (Firenze) - meet at the Piazza del Duomo, rent a couple of wagons, and head out to a villa in the countryside to weather the plague.  It'll be fun!  We'll sing songs, tell colorful stories, quite the regular Decameron.

Ranulf can regale everyone with recitations of Eddic poetry in the evenings - ply him with enough alcohol to get him inebriated and he might translate for you :P  Mikhail, I assume you'll take care of the Muscovite drinking songs?

By the way, Mikhail, are you intentionally using the non-Russian nickname Mikki with your non-Rusk-speaking friends?  I was wondering about that - Mikhail is usually shortened to Misha.

Mildred is actually returning from Sicily after a job so that's the region she'd be in as well, amusingly enough I thought of that thinking nobody else would be anywhere near there and she'd have to scramble to find helpers against death.

In reply to Mildred Rythm (msg # 116):

Florence is beautiful! Been there! Never went to Sicilia. Napoli was as far south as I got. Want to run with them Rorry? Got to have the Elan!

Call me Misha then, I like Miki but it doesn't matter!

I'm fine with us being acquaintances. Maybe we met at a ruin once and traded information about it before we went our separate ways?



Well I mainly picked Albion because the DM mentioned that was his idea for the starting location. I honestly don't mind where I start as long as the majority of the players are in the same area. If we're spread across Europe there is no way those of us interested in a party will ever be able to find each other.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 17:53, Mon 26 July 2021.

In reply to Gawin Genpand (msg # 119):

I'm the same way, if everyone wants to start in Florence, that's fine by me.

my plan for a starting area was (Rome Italy) or somewhere near the last known location of the library of Alexandria

Hello. I will play as an orphan that will avenge his father and protect his mother. His education denied by those who killed his father on the ground that he can be as dangerous as his father was, he had to hone his skills in other ways. And of course, he will prove the killers right.

Enlisted in the army to try to recover his country from the hands of the invaders from the south east, this poor man from Castilanos has been sent against the arabyks a couple of times in the battles of Recuperación. Now he will face what is coming from the east.

two things anyone who has interactions with my char, first is that my char sounds and kind of acts young. Their stature and build is disguised by all the cloths but they def seem young... Childish jokes, avoiding heavy things, acting more instinctual than intellectual despite being intelligent, a predisposition for general immaturity.

but, my char has been around for several generations (for anyone who also have longevity, and the legionnaire).

For anyone who see my character, they LOOK young.. like 14 or so young.

they also look like a half elf, if a half elf aged like an elf and not like a human (pretty much all half elves age like humans, there are no known half elves that age like elves).
This message was last edited by the player at 04:59, Tue 27 July 2021.

I also would like Djoch to be at least vaguely near where people are, heh. I know it's not a mandate, but I do like working with other people.  Granted, basically everywhere is 'weirdly south and weirdly hot' from his perspective, heh.

It definitely sounds like we have all sorts, though!  I'm not a big fan of pvp either, though, so hopefully I can extract myself from direct pvp situations or just have the DM narrate the situation more than odd else.
This message was added to by the player at 07:18, Tue 27 July 2021.

Rome, Florence, same general area. PvP is evil and ends all games it happens in. Avoid like the bubonic plague.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 125):

Speaking of the Plague, it's back! A 10 year old girl in CO died from the plague. It infested the fleas on the hogs she was raising for 4H.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 126):

I have already doubled down on flea treatment for my pets.

Speaking of insects carrying diseases. The mosquito that carries Malaria, is the only sub species that can carry it.

And is the exact same subspecies of mosquito indigenous to Alaska.

Given the amount of air travel that can happen all it would take is a single un vaccinated traveler and we would have a Malaria outbreak that would sweep the globe again.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 127):

At least they can treat malaria. After all this time, they still have nothing for plague.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 128):

Actually the plague is bacterial in nature, so regular ol' antibiotics work on it. It's more a matter of noticing it in time before the patient dies or suffers permanent damage to the body, which with how people avoid going to the hospital unless they're actively dying becomes a problem.

As for malaria, I remember as a kid/teen when Texas got the malaria mosquitos for a while, I dunno if they died out or were killed off actively, or if they're still there...
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Tue 27 July 2021.

In reply to Mildred Rythm (msg # 129):

Where you starting from Millie, Sicily? That is the Italian peninsula, who else is starting there? Mikki (Misha), Rorry, Millie, Gawin and Ranulf and Moria too.

Kalen is Spain fighting the Moors.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:58, Tue 27 July 2021.

Yeah the last place I had Mildred was in Sicily, where she's gone between then and the start of the game is up for discussion, it would seem the best place to put her would be in Italy-equivalent since it would put her close to other people.

So I thought I'd post this here. GM gave me this list when I asked him what the countries are called in his world.

Didn't think much of it at the time but when I copied the list I realized that Italy is called "Old Empire". If that's in reference to the xenophobic 'Empire of Man' my gnome character will probably not start there for obvious reasons.

In reply to Gawin Genpand (msg # 132):

Thanks Gawin, you won't have that problem with us though, but I understand.

I have idea for the lands of the elves but I got have time to work on it.
Check GM happy and talk to my fellow elves about it.

It's the GM's call of course, but it is almost six centuries after the collapse of the Empire of Man, and the fracturing of their territory.  Attitudes have likely changed - and if some of the Italian city-states can harness the skills and connections of demi-humans rather than expend effort on driving them out, well, there's competitive advantage to be gained there.  Seems like Sicily, at least, has become quite open to gnomes (given Moria's background story).  Why not Tuscany and Lombardy as well?  Not sure what's going on in Roma Vecchia itself, though.  Might still cling to its xenophobia while nursing fantasies about its former glories.

In reply to Moondale (msg # 134):

Where are the lands of the elves? The Dwarves would be Switzerland and Northern most Italy. Maybe Dwarves in the lands of the Norseman too.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 135):

Florence and Venice! The great Gnome tinker Leonardo Da Vinci. ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:31, Tue 27 July 2021.

Clearly Leonardo is a warforged who invented himself!

In reply to Cemre (msg # 138):

LOLOLOL!

We know Leonardo want a gnome,  as some of his inventions actually worked!
This message was last edited by the player at 18:02, Wed 28 July 2021.

I knew there was something about you that I liked.

The Empire of Man is also referred to as one of the Old Empires, but since it is the most recent when people say "The Old Empire" or "The Empire" they refer to the Empire of Man.

The Empire was xenophobic, but since they conquered a territory then used it's inhabitants to wage war on other, distant lands the people of the Empire weren't as xenophobic or genocidal as its leaders and the legions originally drafted from their home city states. As the legions suffered casualties they drafted from local, loyal replacements meaning the fanatical xenophobia of the first legions was watered down and softened. But they'd still have ardent zealots in their number and they generally rose to leadership roles meaning the majority of the legionnaires weren't committed to the Imperial cause, but followed orders to avoid punishment.

There were examples of demi-humans surviving racial slaughters with help from legionnaires, and some pro-demo-human legionnaires, but in general a "kill them or be killed" policy was in place.

However, demi-humans and other races were still widely used by the Empire as both primarily slaves and servants, but some did operate as agents, soldiers and other trades and crafts.


High Elves live in a few great cities with a suspicion of humans, especially those of Imperial lineage. Wood Elves live on the frontiers of human civilisation, or in the deep forests. Wild Elf tribes live much like the nomadic human tribes on the Steppes and plains of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Half elves exist wherever humans and elves have been in contact, and half-elves children are typically half-elves as elven blood remains strong.

Dwarves were able to better survive the Empire's scourge, and were able to resist as the legions didn't like fighting in forests, hills or mountains.
Gnome burrows were protected by illusory magic and their dwarven cousins' fighting prowess. This alliance of gnome and dwarf allowed many dwarf holds and gnome burrows to survive, only for them to fall prey to goblinoid incursion.

Halfings seemed to be the only race that the Empire ignored for the most part - but even then when there were no other non-humans to persecute halfings became targets and, as they didn't try to hide from the humans.

Half-orcs and goblinoids were obvious targets but living in tribes beyond the borders of the Empire allowed many of them to survive the purges. Mostly orcs were responsible for killing half-orcs as they viewed the blood as weak and impure - though this varied from tribe to tribe, and only became a problem when multiple tribes were called together in a moot.

It looks like some/most of us are converging on a meeting point in Italy.  For convenience, let me propose a specific scenario - it'll be easier for the GM, and you all, to react to something concrete.

A little less than a day's walk from Florentia northwards, on the road to Bononia (Bologna), there is a lake-side village called Cavallina.  Travellers often stop there on their way, and accordingly the village has a number of spacious inns.  Our group members have all, for their own individual reasons, stopped there in the late afternoon one day, and coincidentally ended up in the same establishment.  Maybe they are heading toward Florence and destinations further south, and are stopping to spend the night so they can reach Florence the next day before the city gates are shut.  Maybe they are heading north, after having set out that morning from Florence.  Maybe - especially the demi-humans - they are avoiding Florence altogether in their travels, for although the city is commercial-minded and not given to official purity doctrines, in an unfamiliar big city you never know when some zealot might inflame a mob - safer to travel through smaller towns and villages that aren't so swayed by the passions and whims of urban crowds.

If this setting appeals to us (and we can of course scrap it and start with something completely different if it does not), we can each individually decide whether we want our first in-character post to be our entry through the large wooden doors into the reception area, or whether our character is already settled in - perhaps enjoying some light fare in the common room.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 143):

Sounds good to me. You meet in a tavern is so drole! ;-)

It works for me! Florence in the rear view or in the windshield doesn't matter, We'll be looking to earn coin. Mikhail is in the shadows of his mentor Rorry, trying to learn the use of newly discovered powers.

That start location is good for me.

But as to mentoring Mikhail.
...I refer to for context the relationship between Geno's and Saitama...
Rorry has no problem being called Mikhail's mentor, but Rorry is not in this line of business for the fame and followers. He became a hero to protect his family, his friends, and his home. He loves to share his knowledge and experience with anyone that wants it. But he never sees himself as better then those he teaches, infact he tries to learn as much or more then he teaches. He is close to 200 years old, but has lived another hundred or so in another life, a life he fully remembers.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Wed 28 July 2021.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 145):

I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear, no, not a formal relationship, business/friendship. They have known each other for several years, and Rorry is helping him out. ;-)

In a few PMs I've expressed my distaste for the "meet in a pub" trope. It has its uses, but it's so over used.

That's why I'd prefer some characters to know each other and have a vested interest in staying and working together. And if there's a core group then others are more likely to want to be a part for the security they offer.

But I will do solo and pairs.

Thank you all for the conversations in OOC and by PM trying to organise who knows who and why.

My preference was Albion only because of my own level of comfort with British history. I'm not as comfortable with European history - and the further east you go the less the comfort - but there's nothing I can't read up on or make up to sound convincing.

So happy for a group to start in Florence, and others to be solo or paired in that area. There's enough characters if another group want to start further west and closer to my original idea of a western Europe setting.

For those from other areas (Norska / Russ / Araby) you only need a reason to have travelled and could theoretically be anywhere.

I was hoping to update the map but can only get signal on my phone so will need to do that when I'm home next weekend.

Is there anything anyone else needs??

I'm good, I'm looking for a medium sized party in Florence at the pub! ;-) Or the town north of Florence, it sounds even better. Cavallina.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Thu 29 July 2021.

I came across this article regarding Ancient Rome in my readings today...

https://crimereads.com/a-histo...of-the-roman-empire/

Oh, reading up on European history is fun :P  Though, I think you'll have to make up a fair bit anyway, unless you plan to impose a monotheistic Christianity-analog across the continent, which you hadn't mentioned in your world history posts.  We're roughly at the time of the crusades, I think?

Speaking of Albion - seems like it's around that time - has William the Bastard (a fellow viking, I'll remind you!) hopped the channel from Normandy (that's Norskman-dy) and flipped his sobriquet to "the Conqueror" yet?

Cemre - good article.  Thanks for sharing.

Merkit - how about you and Ranulf, travelling separately, independently stop at Cavallina at the same time - Ranulf spots Merkit, recognizes him, and insists on treating him to a meal and drinks at a local eatery?  They can catch up on what they've been doing since they last met (a chance for some IC exposition, if interested), and Ranulf will offer to pay for Merkit's room and board at the inn where Ranulf is planning to spend the night.

Mikhail - if you've encountered Ranulf on friendly terms before (perhaps his patrol helped you fight off bandits?), maybe you spot him and Merkit at the dining table (Ranulf is not hard to spot), and come over to introduce yourself.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 150):

Rorry too. Works for me. a party of 4. to start. Maybe more before all is over. I met you escorting a caravan didn't I?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Thu 29 July 2021.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 151):

Sure, you were escorting a caravan (so-so pay, but if you're going in that direction anyway, why not get paid, plus have the caravan-master worry about logistics?); the caravan got attacked on the road, but a legionary patrol came by in time and drove off the bandits.  Ranulf and his patrol squad helped with the wounded and escorted the remains of the caravan to the nearest safe way station.

You'll find that a lot of the gods will be represented in different cultures under different names.

I have no plan to embrace monotheism in.this game, although there may be done who worship a single divinity of one form or another rather than a pantheon.



That hasn't happened and probably won't.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 152):

He cast sleep on the enemy and dropped several of them to be prisoners.

Zagyg the Mad and Boccob are my gods, god of humor and of arcane magic.

I am not afraid of a fight.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:48, Thu 29 July 2021.

I am finally here!

Nazul Valerous Starr here, your faithful animal companion. Or better said, your faithful magical beast companion. Hailing from the forests of Germania, Nazul is a heir of the warriors that put a stop to the Empire of Man's legions, born and breed to keep Germania as wild as it has always been.

In reply to Nazul Valerous Starr (msg # 155):

Animal? What are you?

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 156):

Hmmmm, all of the games appear to be moving slowly this summer. Sad, I hope it picks up as I LOVE to play! ;-) Especially looking forward to being a Cerebremancer in 4 levels!

I run 7 games and am feeling the slow down as well, I am having trouble finding players for some of them as well

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 158):

Are you rez?

No but thank you for the flattering comparison.

Cerebremancer in 4 levels? How so?
You need 2nd level powers. The only way to get it in 3.5 is with Spell to Power Erudite 3 and then considering Magic Training and Precocious Apprentice to be considered Wizard 0 and add true spellcasting levels... Is the GM considering those two feats as Wizard 0?

Ardent can be considered, but it is WIS dependant.


Also, I am a totemist :D

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 160):

well, I wouldnt say its a flattering comparison but probably best to not get into that.

Didnt know there were others who ran gm'ed so many games.

The games I run tend to lean towards a higher power curve; higher risk, higher rewards.

LOLOLOLOL Flattering? LOLOLOLOLOL I got banned by Rez the first day I gamed with him for asking a question.

Same, but it was day 3 of the second game.

Yeesh, I didn't ask any questions but I politely found an excuse to bail when they had a DMPC that was a textbook edgelord/anti-social/I'm going-to-steal-from-the-party rogue.

Now I feel like I dodged a bullet.

I didnt want to get into all that XD but I guess everywhere I go... lol. it def goes to show though, theres a reasons hes always trying to recruit for so many damn games.

but back to the actual conversation, glad to hear you can manage all those games XD and sorry to hear theyve all slowed.

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 167):

Waiting for this one to take off and launch now! WOOOOOOOOTTT!

Who is in and or around Florence? Just 4 or 5 of us? Millie, you joining us further up the peninsula? Anyone else? Cemre?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:51, Sun 01 Aug 2021.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 168):

Mat Carver hasn't been here for several days and has yet to post. Is he IN I wonder?

Florance sounds good this time of year

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 170):

Good place for a Psionics school to be hiding! A secret enclave of Elan!

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 171):

The first rule of ..., is you don't talk about ...

The second rule of... is don't talk about ...

But if there is one near Florence, Rorry is not aware of it, his home is among the highest peaks of Tibet. He traveled west into the Mediterranean region 7-8 decades ago and that is why he is in the vicinity of Florence.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 172):

The rules of fight club. It doesn't exist and never happened! ;-)

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 173):

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 174):

Yes, exactly. And I'm foolish enough to want it!

Carver might just be waiting for the GM to officially start.  Not all players are prone to chit-chatting in OOC land.

In reply to Cemre (msg # 176):

You might be right. If you failed to notice, I'm a chatter bug, I'll try not to be too annoying.

I am still here. Almost 100km walked in 3 days with no reception... Trying to catch up on posts now I'm in a pub waiting on dinner...

...wow, there's a lot!!

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 178):

Sorry, most of it was me.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 179):

Yes... Yes it was.. I'm holding you personally responsible.

I've been slammed at work because one guy took vacation. I'll get the PC done this weekend.

That's fine. I'm in civilisation tomorrow so will try to get a starter post for those in Florence.

I... apparently /didn't/ respond?  Geez, I'd swear I did.



That sounds good to me, with the one hesitation that I'm not sure how the DM wanted the game to open, haha.  There may have been a particular introduction that was intended, after all!

If not, though, that sounds good. ^_^

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 180):

I've been a baaad, baaaad boy. Beat me, whip me, make it hurt so good! ;-)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:31, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 184):

I have my Raven Mythros with me. Have to remember that, I don't usually have a familiar because I never use them for anything.

Erm... No. Just no.

In all seriousness, I'm trying to write a lengthy post in drips and drabs when I have reception... Usually in pubs at mealtime, with my kids running round me...

Not helping the creative juices I must say.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 186):

RoFLMAO! Got to have a sense of humor!

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 186):

I want photos of these pubs! perhaps also of your kids but I'll understand if thats too weird. I'm more interested in seeing pubs.

I wanna visit the UK again one of these years.  I want to tipple proper gin.

I want to visit Scotland and stand on my 1 square foot i own on the grounds of a castle.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 190):

LOL, you paid into one of those, eh?

Hey have some respect,

 I am a landed (fancy title for a common peasant) and demand to be addressed with the honorific titles befitting my status.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 192):

Which would be?

Laird and or "your Lairdship"

This is all a joke. And I know how funny it is.

But I hope the money I spent actually helps preserve pieces of our history for generations to come.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 194):

You have a lair?

yup ... and I have begun filling it with traps and treasure, and have hired a dragon to protect it.

(the dragon in question)
https://www.clipartmax.com/png...-male-baby-spike.png
This message was last edited by the player at 22:59, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

this dragon


https://i.redd.it/3zxbqe39krp21.jpg
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

good thing for you, I can conjure up free traps. though, the dragon may end up becoming components... .sorry, not sorry.

Awww...what a wee timorous beastie! <3

Can you cut that image down by... like... half? please. if you dont know the scripts for how then I can provide.

I reduced mine to a link you can copy and paste

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 203):

A baby dragon!!! I missed a baby dragon all because I sleep! Damnit!

In reply to Cemre (msg # 201):

Watch out for thee breath weapon!

His breath weapon is a 6 inch line of flesh and currently only works on insects.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 206):

Hehehehe, what in the world is it? I know you're referring to his tongue, I mean what is the critter?

 I think it is CG²

Which stands for Chaotic Good Computer Generated.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 208):

Damn they've come a long way!

thanks, I can handle one giant image... but the same image twice in a row makes my readers brain scream.

What's a sense of humour?? And where can I buy one??



I'll see what I can do. Not sure if I'll be able to upload much till I'm home though.



Everyone seems to be brewing stuff in the UK these days. My mate does flavoured vodka and slo gins, another has a garage of potent and very thick beer (you could say it's full of flavour, but that makes it sound tasty when it's... Well, not...). The Queen does her own beer and gin. Balmoral Gin think it's called. Not sure of the beer.

Personally I'm fond of spiced, dark rum... And while I don't mind it, I prefer decent coffee over tea.



He's not the only one. I'm officially a laird too...

Now if I can get an English plot of land I can count as a true Lord, rather than a landed peasant!!


I read this as "lard"...

To be fair, that beer is, in fact, full of flavor. You never claimed it was a good flavor though.

I'm also now imagining the kind of person who would have to be referred to as "Your Lardship" and that is.... just the worst.

All depends on how bad your Scottish accent is - you'd be surprised how often the word lard is used!!

But yes, a lardship does conjure up an image of a somewhat chunky and greasy nobleman...
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:54, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 213):

So Rorry wants to be called a chunky and greasy person?

Noble. Chunky and greasy noble.

With a heavy, difficult to understand accent and a desire to wear long socks pulled up to their knees with thick, multicoloured woollen skirts and no underwear...

...and a bum-bag. Think you lot in the US call them fanny-packs??

ROFLMAO, He's a comic!

What's in yer sporran?!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/365213851005858685/

In reply to Cemre (msg # 217):

I love cats and kittens Cemre! Got 13 right now, have had up to 35 total at one time, 60 overall. I LOVE CATS I'm the crazy cat man!

Actually that is incorrect, nobility is not part of the title.

As I understand it, there are peasents who lived and worked all thier life and still had nothing.

A Laird is a peasent that still worked all thier lives. But that owned land, and possessed the deed of ownership of that land.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 219):

And voted!

I don't think voting was a thing that happened when the title was used. But I could be wrong.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 221):

Only land owners could vote for MP. Early on, like only land owners could vote in the Colonial US. Magna Carta was signed a LOOOOOONNNGGG time ago.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:59, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

Quite true. I mentioned a landed peasant on my earlier post, which was someone that owned their own land. That's what the title of Laird is - that you own land. It didn't confer nobolity as that was by birth. Even wealthy families were "new blood" and despised by the true bloods. You needed pedigree - noble blood.

And royalty was a step above that too.

I just don't tell the kids that. I tell them I'm a Scottish Laird and they laugh at me - Scotland is seen as a poor cousin to England. Beautiful country, but a poor cousin. They want to be English Lords.

Technically I am. I own my own house and land.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 223):

Bank owns mine, I make payments every month.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 223):

It's kind of amazing how rich people have re invented this whole dynamic

Yeah. I wish we were rich to say we had an influence - but we only got the house through a divorce settlement.

Still, means it's ours.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 226):

XD sad part is you probably dont even own the land the property is sitting on.

I can trace my lineage back to Welsh kings,
at least in the Mormon genealogy site. I blame the British for my lack of nobility!

In reply to Stylpius (msg # 228):

I have Scottish kings in my lineage, Clan McGregor and Clan Gunn.

We're lucky. We bought the house and land together. However, ownership of the house is for another 100years but land ownership is for 75.

Odd that the deeds are different. Apparently there were properties on the site before our house that were demolished to make way for the new estate.

However technically nobody owns any land in the UK but one person. If the Queen were to repeal some of our laws and take full control again (not likely, but our government rule only on Her Majesty's behalf) she could say that all land falls back to its original owner - which would be her.

Bit like if Scotland were to declare independence from the UK but the Queen were to refuse to acknowledge their wish, she could take back all Scottish land as hers and evict the trespassers...

...an interesting thought that keeps cropping up in the pub when we've had a few jars.

On another note, I doubt I'll be able to post IC till I'm home on Sunday.



We have to keep the savages in order!! But if Wales was twice the size of England (and had more longbowmen before us English pinched the idea) it would be a different situation.

Same with Scotland and Eire.



I've traced my ancestors back to Eire (Ireland), Scotland and England - but the descendents of where my English roots are were conquered by the Danes and Vikings... Who knows, Danish royalty??

According to my maternal grandfather, he claimed we could trace our linage all the way back to Charlemange.

At the very least, the three Scottish clans he said he was from were MacGregor, Smith (no, I don't know which Smith) and Murray of Atholl.

Sweet! We're all cousins, so it doesn't matter!

I traced my genealogy back to a 9th century viking.

In reply to Rorry Elcome (msg # 233):

I got back to 1400s Wurttemburg on my fathers side. I got a friend who got back to the time of William, his ancestor was in the Conquerors army.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

I'm a MacGregor to, Greer, Clan Gunn through the Wilsons, cousin. ;-)

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 230):

why the hell would there be a time limit on the ownership?

Old land lease laws for mortgages. You own the deed to the land and building, but need to renew it with the council after a time.

My parent's house was built in 1960s and has a 200year land lease.

Not something for me or my kids to worry about as we'll be dead and they'll have sold it by the time it comes around.

We were 2 months away from paying off our mortgage -- and then the hubby took out a loan for home improvement stuff (renovating SEVERAL rooms in the house, including our only bathroom)

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 237):

I dont like that at all, sounds like another way for the government to take shit away from the little guy.

It is what it is. I'm told the renewal process is quick and easy, but you're right. It sounds like a process where, at the end of the lease, the true owners can refuse a renewal so the land can be repurposed.

Most properties have a decent land lease (talking hundreds of years) but some older houses (especially old terraced workers cottages) don't seem to have much.

Its a case of the poor being screwed by the wealthy again.

Just don't pay your real estate taxes in the US and you'll find out damn quick who owns the property! When do we start Shadow?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:22, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

I'm home. Have a load of emails to answer, letters to read, two weeks of washing to deal with, a tent to dry, repair and respray, a load of gear to clean and put away...

As well as a map to create and upload and some sleep to find...

...a day or two??

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 242):

You're good! Over worked and over stressed, 'a day or two' having a time is all I need. Thanks for running a great game for us!

Don't forget the vacation for AFTER the vacation ;)

In reply to Cemre (msg # 244):

That's next week! ;-)

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 245):

How many places we starting at? Could be a lot of work. I want fast xp because I want to see levels roll by. Three years as a first level character sucks, had that happen, not much fun. Blink wrong and you died.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 243):

I mean, he was literally chronologing his journey, I dont get why you even asked him when we were starting.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Sun 08 Aug 2021.

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 247):

Sorry???

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 248):

Hmmmm, what gives? It got god awful quiet here!

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 249):

I think we are all ready and just waiting now.

I'm here. Returned home and collapsed into bed. And the fog descended. Woke up this morning and I'm finally aware of what my name is and what I'm doing.

Post later today. Am at my daughter's picnic party. The only male. Isolated. How do we cope??

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 251):

I'm great with kids, sorry... cant relate ;p

First rule of being a male.  When you are in the presents of females you must remember you are always in the wrong, you always a failure, and most of the time they are not happy with you over something you did a month ago you totally forgotten about and didn't think was that important anyway.

If you own this.  Except this.  Know there nothing you can do to change this.  Be at peace with yourself over this, you will do fine.

So am I, that's why I have so many of my own and work with kids for a living. Dealing with adults, in particular mothers, now that's the difficulty!! *grin*

Playground politics are just the worst...



These were the very words I said to my own daughter this morning when she was arguing with her mum.

"First thing to remember, your mum is always right. Especially when she's wrong..."

When she went to protest my partner said that our daughter was a woman too, and shouldn't that rule apply to her.

"Not till she has children of her own. But your rightness will always trump hers due to seniority."

Not sure what was said afterwards - I left before anyone else could say anything!! Call me a coward if you will, I see it as a tactical withdrawal from an advantageous position before I lost the advantage...

What's mine is hers, what's hers she keeps. Yes I defer to her in a lot of things (I don't like the earache and nagging if it's not done how she likes it whereas I personally don't mind how it's done) and yes she'll remind me of minor incidents that occurred years ago like they were yesterday and still raw and fresh - but that's life and to be expected.

Can't agree with the failure part though. We're always supportive of each other even when we feel like failures or argue (which is rare). And that feeling never lasts long - unlike our arguments which are passionate and brief, but the silence that comes afterwards can last a while...

We bicker and argue, come across as sarcastic and even childish or rude at times to each other - but pity the fool that comes between us or tries to attack one or the other!!

;-) Love!

mmm, no.




XD Almost had one of my own. Agreed, it's kind of humorous how more ridiculous adults can be than kids.

My mother was always kind of difficult for schools but awesome for me, but then the schools I went to were trying to be ridiculous too so I think they forced her to be. Not saying you guys are, just that this is my scope of experience. Then again I am also in america so its probably vastly different culture and problems out here.

Do you guys do key sight word reading or are you guys still doing phonetics? What about *cringe* core math?




I'd like to think I wouldnt teach my kid this, but then this also may be why im currently single and without a child ;p

I mean, I'm sure covid plays into it too, but still.



Honestly though, I kind of envy this dynamic. no ones stuck around long enough for me to get to this stage with them. Almost, a few times, but never quite there.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Fri 13 Aug 2021.

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 256):

Well, here's crossing fingers for you to meet that special someone, Lief - notwithstanding the impediments of Covid lockdown, which I'm sure are terrible for the dating scene.

(Mind, lockdowns are no picnic for those with Tiny- to Small-sized dependents, either, with schools shut down for in-person teaching.  But at least, for those with a gaggle of them, as appears to be our honorable GM's happy condition, there's the advantage that they have each other to punch/tease/bite/tattle/shove/boss/kick/socialize with. :P)

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 256):

I've been married almost 27 years, I was 33 when I tied the knot for the first and only time. Ups and downs but it has been a good ride, good luck!

Well if we going down this rabbit hole I may as well get this over with.

I been married twice (ish).  Managed to put my first wife in prison (and survived it).  The marriage is even part of a Wikipedia page (just checked to see if it still there).

Second marriage had issues and I got told off by a marriage councilor for coming up with a social experiment to understand my wife's issues from her child hood.

After leaving she ended up in the front room of the house over the first two months of lock-down as she had nowhere to go.  I got everything from hugs to I don't want see your face for 3 days from her.

I am now on my own (content) with house to myself.

So I claim no skill in relationships at all.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Fri 13 Aug 2021.

Full circle. Learn phonetics then spend the rest of your life reading the first three and last two letters of every word and ignoring the rest - or reading only every three in five words in any sentence.

As for core maths, well... I learned a technique that worked really well. We now have to teach weird-ass techniques to complete the same thing.

MPs and government should stay clear from dictating what should and shouldn't be taught in schools. They have a history of saying one thing needs to be taught, then six months later saying that it needs to be taught another way. Changing the curriculum every three or four years because you need to be seen to be tinkering and improving things... NO!! Don't. Get someone who actually understands what we're facing in schools these days, look at what kids need to know and then LET US TEACH IT. Don't tinker, don't change just to be seen to be doing something. It's the kids that suffer because they just don't know what they're doing.

//rant over

Sorry, it's the teacher in me.



My kids know us all better than that. We say this, but at the end of the day we're partners and equal. I'm just more equal than she is!! *grin*
I'm good at what I do, she's good at what she does and together we're great and have most things covered. She plans more, I get things done. So she's the officer whereas I'm the sergeant. She issues the order and I make sure that they're done correctly. I'm not saying she's not hands in, she is. But she definitely does more of the global planning whereas I micro-manage. We've swapped roles as well. I can't cook for toffee, but since her job took her away for weeks at a time I started cooking for the kids and have become a decent enough chef. Not creative, I stick to recipes, but decent enough and have never burned the kitchen or house down.

Add to that she's a powerful woman who is very pro-feminist. Not anti-male, she tries to empower our two girls to ensure that they stand up for themselves and that our two boys will look after the girls, and won't knock the girls just because they're female.



I'm sorry to hear that. I believe that there's somebody out there for everyone, and you've either met the right person but the circumstances weren't right for things to work - or you're yet to me them. When it happens though, it just happens. The dynamic isn't force, it just works. Have faith, life has a way of surprising us when we least expect it!!

So you're 21....

...with a bit more life experience??

Seconded.



It wasn't easy on anyone, but it helped that I was able to teach my classes from home whilst my kids were all online for their own classes. It worked, so they didn't miss much academically... Socially, yes, but they covered the work they would have if they'd been at school. With a little help and revision they should be able to catch up on what they've missed, and gain the understanding that they may have missed.

But we're lucky. I'm a teacher of 14 years, both special needs and secondary (11-19) ICT and Computer Science, and my partner is studying a PGCE to be a primary school teacher as we speak (she finishes in December this year). Between the two of us we were able to cover most subjects for all of our kids (youngest has just turned 7, the two boys are 12).

As for tease, punch and play with. My kids are best of friends / worst of enemies. There's 4 of them, and at any one time 2 of them hate each other. Which 2 changes all the time. It's great waking up in the morning to raised voices, trying to work out who has done what, to whom and why.

Quite the life, I must say!! I could update you all with my own history, but it's all just that - history. It's what makes us who we are, and is all a learning experience. It's what we do with it that matters.

I'll quote Alanis Morissette;
"Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out
When you think everything's gone wrong
And everything blows up in your face"

And yes, the only thing Ironic about all of that song was that there wasn't a single irony in any of her statements. But hey ho!!



I don't think anyone, even marriage counsellors, can claim this skill. They might be able to advise what you should do (or, listen to you and let you draw your own conclusions) but their own relationships might not be as great as they would claim.

What I do know is that my partner is not just my lover or the mother of my children (well, technically only 1 of our 4 kids is "ours", she has 2 from a previous marriage and I have 1 from a previous relationship... talk about disfunctional) but she's also my best friend. And I find that it's the friendship that has sustained us more than anything. We fight and argue, but we make up, we talk and we share everything. It's never been forced, and we've never sat down and said "this is how it's going to be." It just happened like that, and it works.

My 16th anniversary is next month.  Still can't believe it <3

Congratulations. That is quite impressive, and not an easy thing to do these days.

Anyway, writing first post. Could people summarise here where they are wanting to start?? So far I have an idea that some are in Florence, Italy when the troubles begin to arrive.

Yep, in the territory of the city-state of Florence, in a village called Cavallina, about a day's walk north of Firenze itself.

Quoting from post #143 above:
A little less than a day's walk from Florentia northwards, on the road to Bononia (Bologna), there is a lake-side village called Cavallina.  Travellers often stop there on their way, and accordingly the village has a number of spacious inns.  Our group members have all, for their own individual reasons, stopped there in the late afternoon one day, and coincidentally ended up in the same establishment.  Maybe they are heading toward Florence and destinations further south, and are stopping to spend the night so they can reach Florence the next day before the city gates are shut.  Maybe they are heading north, after having set out that morning from Florence.  Maybe - especially the demi-humans - they are avoiding Florence altogether in their travels, for although the city is commercial-minded and not given to official purity doctrines, in an unfamiliar big city you never know when some zealot might inflame a mob - safer to travel through smaller towns and villages that aren't so swayed by the passions and whims of urban crowds.

Ranulf was passing through, recognized Djoch and insisted on treating him to a plentiful dinner.  And I believe Mikhail was amenable to the idea that his character was passing by, recognized Ranulf and joined in for the food and company.  And Rorry is somehow in the picture as well - travelling with Mikhail maybe?

So we are not meeting in an inn, just having a friendly dinner together in some decent local eatery.

Don't I know it.  Every time they do this it just add another set of boxes to the 32 we already have on the question of quantification do you have.

Shadow.  I work for ONS.  So my job is to record the next great idea our MP's and government have !! :(
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Fri 13 Aug 2021.

Hahaha... We (my family and I) get regular, monthly visits from the ONS as we've been a part of the Covid track and testing program. Thought we'd do it anyway as it offered free covid tests in the early stages, but then I learned we would get paid for it. Now however you're asking me to give up some of my blood to be tested!! Kids shove the thingy-ma-jig up their nose and wiggle it in the back of their mouths (hopefully, not in that order) whereas I have to do that AND stab myself in the finger then squeeze out a small amount of blood.

And if anyone reading this has ever given blood they'll remember the first time they did it. Their body says "not a chance" and tries to prevent the blood from being lost. It takes my partner 2 pricks before she's squeezed enough blood. I'm lucky if I manage it with 3 pricks. Usually I have to prick and squeeze all 4 of my fingers on one hand, then threaten the thumb before I've donated enough blood for the cause.

Face Palm.

Covid track and testing program is a great example of why I love this country.

I did not get involved directly but some of my group did.  The stores they tell is just like what you said about education only squeezed into 2 months cycles instead of 5 years.

However the people on the ground.  The ones that did real work.  They cared about what they doing and this country and in-spite of the government handling of it.  They made track and test program work and the data very useful.

Also love the fact that the guy that sold the poor old lady of 93 years old a covid jab got 3 year in prison!   It may not seem long but he be regretting it for far longer than 3 years knowing our system.
And the reason for this.  Is nobody in this country has to play for jab directly and nobody can pay to jump the queue.

wait, im confused why is shadow seconding himself and as if i was the one who replied? what happened here.

Lief.  You are American not British right?

Have you done much traveling both in USA and outside?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:02, Sat 14 Aug 2021.

Because it was late I was enjoying a few jars and I was editing/deleting the quote sections. Must have deleted the wrong part.

Ah well.

Ranulf, Djoch, Mikhail and Rorry. Check.

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 267):

Just noting general agreement with Ranulf's post!

;-) 60

I'm honestly not sure about this myself. I was waiting till we were closer to starting the game to find out. Aside from the four already stated are others going to start in that tavern? I'm open to starting in another place if there are others interested.

In reply to Gawin Genpand (msg # 277):

Join us Gawin!

I have no problem in starting anywhere, really.

I finally get two weeks holiday so should be up and running.

Moondale could start anywhere.  He also could be solo, in small or large group.
Maybe I should just roll to see???

Last I had Milly was by Sicily, so she would probably be somewhere on the Italian mainland by the time the game starts. Whether that means she is near to others or not I'll leave up to the DM to decide, though with her personality she's definitely not going to reject a group, cooperation increases survival chances.

In reply to Mildred Rythm (msg # 281):

Come to Florence then Millie!

I would like to meet the Eastern menace right in the frontier... Eastern Europe for me. Romania? It would be interesting to work with a vampire lord who wants to protect his turf too, LOL.

I got sidetracked at work and I am not done with the character, but he is from south east Spain on the coast, and would be headed to, or in Rome.

I think it will be fun to help a vampire hold the rule of the land during the plague. Wallachia, then.

In reply to Moria Galmenia (msg # 285):

Black Plague?

Black plague, yellow plague, crown plague, zombie plague... bleh, the plague that comes from the east.

Stylpius - what god(s) are you a cleric of?  Or is that still not finalized?

In reply to Ranulf Ragnarsson (msg # 288):

What gods we using?

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 289):

Last I heard, that was still under development.  But maybe Stylpius is further along in that conversation with the GM, since his character is a cleric... ?

Subject to where the GM ultimately comes out on pantheons and such, I'm planning for Ranulf to be a worshipper of Thor, whom, in Italian terms, he equates with Mars.  (Italians with only superficial familiarity with the Norse pantheon tend to equate Thor with Jupiter, as the names of the days of the week attest, but this makes little sense.)

Stylpius of a follower of the Olympian Pantheon, the gods of the Empire of Man.

In reply to Mikhail Medvedev (msg # 289):

The setting is ancient europe, probably safe to assume real life pantheons and gods... like greece and rome and viking gods and such

In reply to Lief Northwind (msg # 292):

True, never thought about it.

Was working on the god list - and then found the website that I had been using years ago. Have copy-pasted most of the information from it.

Did have all of the Celtic Gods as well, but for some reason it has not transferred from the sheet to RPOL and I can't now find the source, so will have to write that out by hand again.

Am yet to do any of the demi-human gods, but that's on my to-do list.

Very nice chart!  But, it looks like there's a tabulation error in the Imperial gods section.

Mars, on line 3, has a portfolio of "Hunting, Wild Beasts, Childbirth, Dance"; domains of "Animal, Good, Plant, Sun" (and not War!); and a symbol of "Bow and arrow or Lunar disc".  All of these attributes seem like they properly belong to Diana, on line 4.  Meanwhile, Diana's attributes seem to belong to Minerva on line 5.  And so on down through Pluto (then, starting from Vulcan on down, the chart seems fine again).

Reminds me of the ol' "Deities & Demigods"/"Legends & Lore" book from 1st ed. (which is currently on my desk for an unrelated game elsewhere)

In reply to Cemre (msg # 296):

Me too, use it I guess! ???

I found this on Wiki for Arabic pre-Islamic deities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...amic_Arabian_deities

In reply to Cemre (msg # 298):

That is sweet Cemre! Nice find. I'll just worship Math, Celtic god of Magic. He found him in Vienna.

Yeah, input the data into Excel and added the tabs - then found the copy/paste has created errors. Will re-read and sort. Wanted to post something this morning...

Sort of what I was going for, but had my own stuff. Then since we've gone more historical I just said "ah, what the hell" and rolled with the pre-made stuff online.

Will make changes, and include cults and aspects of the deities...

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 300):

We're just glad the game is on! ;-) I am anyway.

I bought a first printing for $25.00 NM
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Wed 18 Aug 2021.

So am I!! Can't believe the exhaustion I felt in recent weeks. Talking with work colleagues apparently I'm not the only one - it's  taken a few weeks for quite a few of us to finally unwind and let go of the stress from the last 2 years...

Plus I'm back on my laptop at home planning and preparing for next term, so am now online more than I have been!!

I am not sure if it was accidental ommition, or intended accuracy. But I am happy to see Budda not being listed as a deity... even though he may be seen as one by outside observers.

I may be miss repetitive of the followers of Budda, but I am seeing him as a highly enlightened man, but still just a man.

And in my personal head cannon is the head of the elan enclave that Rorry is a member of...that is located high in the hymalayan mountains.

But which Buddha though? ;)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ood#Lists_of_Buddhas

Great question.

I am focusing my character research on Siddhārtha Gautama.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

In reply to Cemre (msg # 305):

THANK YOU! it drives me crazy when I see a damn golden buddha statue and then people talk about the founder buddha who was a rich guy who forsake'ed his wealth to help the sick and poor.

like, THAT buddha wouldnt have wanted a golden statue!

that gold could help people!

as long as it is not the ...{Secret to not The Shadow: spell plague}

I notice, as I post, that Rorry is /also/ using green!  And the darkgreen I was using earlier is a bit hard to see, haha.  Let me adjust to red and see if it's clear enough (But I'll edit that a bit later).

I wasn't seeing Djoch as being particularly religious, nor his tribe overall, although doubtless once the demihuman deities show up I'll be sure to note one or two shamans who are annoyed by this lack of religion, heh.

Introductions thus are are pretty fun! And soon from eating meat to the meat of game, haha. ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 03:05, Thu 19 Aug 2021.

In reply to Merkit Djoch (msg # 309):

oh, wait, have people started?

I've opened a group for a solo and a group of 4 so far.

Were you in a group Lief, or solo?? Tried to get through all the PMs and gave up!!

If you're in a group who was in it and I'll put you all in a group together then, as things develop, I'll merge and split characters.

My intent is to have a couple of groups with a small number of solo characters, but if I can get 2 groups and keep them I'll be happy!!

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 311):

thats up to you. I said I was ready a while ago though. outside of being ready, I never said where or who because i'm just starting wherever im put. you and I discussed a plan before you even made the game.

As always, plans never survive contact with the players so I've changed a bit to accommodate some if the others.

I'll post up your first post then.

So I'm going to request Gawin be on a wagon caravan travelling through Italy. My current thought was that it be heading towards Naples but if the DM or others who join have preferences the destination can change. The others not already in a group are free to join me or if no one is interested I'm cool running solo for now.

We have room in Florence if anyone wants to join us! Mildred? Lief? Stylpious? All are welcome! We have a world to conquer!

Wasn't it a continent to save?

Mildred and Stylpius - you're the only ones left outstanding. PM me if you wish, or post here. I have a thread for Albion and so far 2 in Florentia.

Moondale, you're in Albion though I understand you won't be posting till start of next week at the earliest. That's fine.

I was going to be near or in Florentia, based on the conversation that we had before. At this point I'm kind of confused where that went, and was just waiting on you.

OK, no worries - I'll drop you in with a trade caravan heading there. That way there are 2 other PCs in the group that you'll have the chance to get to know for a few days before arrival, then can choose to stay with them or do your own thing.

That works for me!

I've added in each character's languages a Private Language Groups. It is assumed that you are speaking in the trade language (Common) unless you select a language.

Cemre - I've edited your post to make use of the language feature

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 321):

Thanks!

Welcome to Florence Mildred!
This message was last edited by the player at 12:19, Tue 24 Aug 2021.

I am so sorry guys (and posting this here so everyone can see it).

I made a last minute decision to go to a LARP event this weekend and took my kids - but left my phone behind. So I've had a blissful few days without technology (meaning I have lots of work email stacked up which I'm dreading) but have not been able to post to any game on RPOL.

I've exhausted and will catch up tomorrow.

Again, so sorry.

In reply to The Shadow (msg # 323):

Glad you're still here, too many bad experiences on rpol of DMs dumping games they changed their minds about, I love the concept here and all is going well.

Well I hope you enjoyed the free time, but I'm also gonna leave a big ol [F] here for your impending work-alanche, and probably getting tasks heaped on you when work gets in touch once more.