Do you guys have any thoughts on type of game you want?

Exploration, Diplomacy, War, intrigue??

Thoughts on a story arc to give the GM some ideas?

The search for new lands, exploiting the lands of the primitives, great evil sorcerer gathering strength among the monsters??

Thoughts?

i like exploring or war the best for me with new system. then once understand it better the more complex arcs are nice.

I like the idea of exploring, but the map looks explored - unless there are areas too remote or cut off to know they're part of one of the nations.

I also like the idea of opposing a threat (such as a sorcerer). Maybe the threat's not yet widely known or recognized, which is why a disorganized bunch are investigating and opposing it rather than a more organized force.

In general, the only type of game I'm not so keen on is being part of an organized military unit.

I lean towards Waparitja or Kaginto.

Let's posit that we're still in the Age of Discovery as it was taught in the 1980's. There is always another archipelago or expanse of desert/drylands.

We could do a hex crawl (by ship or caravan) until we find a prime site for an outpost. We could be prospecting for Ginto gold or traveling on a pilgrimage for Mamanyaru.

Should we succeed in establishing an outpost, DM could get all Keep on the Borderlands with us. Anyway.

I am happy with a 'exploration' storyline,  or a 'base-building' game.
Or the former, that leads into the latter.


And I don't really care too much where we are in the world.

Hmm... Waparitja explorers looking for a new holy site, or Ginto explorers scouting out a new island for potential colonization (which very much opens up a "base building" option with a whole island colony).  Either one offers plenty of opportunity to interact with monsters, natural threats, and possible competition from other human nations.  I could certainly run with either.



I purposely left a lot of things unlabeled on the map so that we could fill it in with whatever fits the game that you all want to play.  None of the national borders are clearly defined (although some are implied more clearly than others), and there's a lot of land in between Armeia and Shubotai that isn't clearly committed to anything - plenty of wilderness and minor powers there.  Similarly, what is currently marked as ocean could easily contain islands that just haven't been officially discovered yet.  Plenty of options to go with.

BTW, I have one more player in the wings and I want to make sure they get a chance to give some input too before we commit to anything, but I do like where things are pointing in the meantime.

Awesome

I had an idea for a character and I floated pieces of it by the GM and he said I should talk to you guys and see if you want to put in the extra effort to maybe make it work.

Fact: The Shubotai conquer and assimilate making their warlike conquests a slow progress

Possible Fact: The most recent Shubotai conquest was within the last few years. They are still in the very early stages of assimilating their new subjects.

Concept: My character is one of the remaining members of the conquered people who have fled their homeland.  He serves as either the leader or representative of the leadership of the remnant and is searching for a new home for his people.  This leads to many, personal character options but could also give him a reason to be a part of any expeditions (have some ideas on this too)

What we would need to do: Create the minor culture that is being assimilated.  I already have a good amount of thoughts on this, but the GM said it would need to be addressed to all the players for input and/or creation

Initial culture thoughts:
Name: Still working on this
Small: 4-5 cities/chantries
Idea: Coteries or sorcerers gathered around different tenets but ruled by a council from each chantry.  Basically one chantry might focus on one or two types of sorcery and each of the others something different.  There would be a step beneath the full sorcerers which are the primary guards which are warriors with mysticism type abilities.  The common people made up the rest and operated the day-to-day food, trade, army type duties.  The armies would not be large or very well trained as the culture would be used to the magic and mystic warriors protecting them.  It did up until the Shubotai grew so large that they just took the losses to defeat them.

---------
As far as story plots go, I was thinking that an exploration for new lands, a la the finding of the Americas.  My original thought was it being sponsored by Nekhara as they are striving to become more relevant.  But, either the Freeholds or Dellavra could work as well.  Not sure if the GM wants to go that far out or stay on his map though.  It is possible to adapt this concept to exploring something closer.

If my character idea is not something you guys want to delve into and you would rather just explore the nations to the south, I can always adapt my concepts and play something else.

I like the idea of exploration and maybe base building around ginto islands. This doesn't mean everyone has to be ginto.

Player 1 could still be from the region above seeking to find a home for his people. Just off the shore between mainland and ginto islands.

Only culture might find it hard would be the desert one.

My concept for my guy is a ginto outrigger canoe boatsman, with martial and limited magical abilities.  Using folk and animalistic as a base. Thinking like an early hawaiian/ new Zealand culture.

Which sounded like what several others liked as well.

My concept would be a Dellavrian merchant-venturer. Good at Commerce and Navigation, OK with a blade.

So perhaps we are looking like:

P1 is a refuge looking for a new home for his people, displaced by the Shubotai.   His exploration, perhaps, ‘being sponsored by Nekhara as they are striving to become more relevant.  But, either the Freeholds or Dellavra could work as well’.

Maybe his people were from the region south of Shubotai, west of (and across the mountains from) the Republic of Dellavria.

His people have been given some small, temporary measure of assistance and protection by the Republic … and funding to explore south into the ‘unclaimed’ islands.
P3 (official Republican Physician) and P5 (Merchant) are Dellavrian’s who have  a/ been sent   or   b/ volunteered   to accompany the expedition.

And have hired the services of a Ginto ‘ocean guide’ to help them survive and explore … for a new home for these people.


Any thoughts?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Tue 23 Nov 2021.

This can work, but as currently written there is still some hostility between Kaginto and Dellavria.  There are exceptions of course, and any individual can feel however they want to feel regardless of what the broader culture is doing, but if you've got those two in particular working together then it's probably worth putting a little effort into establishing how that came to be.

Also, if anyone is being sponsored by an NPC group (government or merchant house or anyone else), what are the conditions of that sponsorship?  I don't think anyone is giving out money or supplies 100% for free...

Sorry for being a bit late to the party, all.

I'm still finding my feet in this world, but thus far the most intriguing origin for me would be a character from Shubotai. I'm not sure how that would fit into the proposed milieu.

The gist of what I'm getting from what you all have been talking about is that the game would center around the efforts of [People Recently Displaced by Shubotai Conquest] to find and establish a new homeland in or around the Kaginto Confederation. Is that right?

I guess I don't really understand what we're proposing to 'explore' or what we're going to do in the Kaginto Confederation. It sounds like the goal is to colonize occupied land. Am I missing something?

agreed as a ginto as written would have an issue with most from that culture. could make exception for a merchant who is interested in fair trade or has done so in the past. the other looks like a healer so might make one there too but wary if offical from the culture.

I like a suggestion from the game "7th Sea": no matter how hostile two PCs nations are, the PCs themselves have something of a 'present company excepted' rule and respect each other. (Or, similarly, Legolas and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings.)

In reply to Player 5 (msg # 33):

If it were a simple matter of "my kind and your kind don't get along," that'd be one thing, but any Ginto PC is effectively being asked to aid an invading force in this scenario, near as I can tell.

I suspect the relationship between Gimli and Legolas might have differed substantially if instead of returning the One Ring to Mordor, the Fellowship was trying to establish a dwarven colony in Elvenhome.

It is only an invading force because you want to explore your island...I don't.

EDIT: that sounds a bit harsher than intended. Just mean that I agree that the local people might not like outsiders with different magic on their land. It's why I didn't and don't support exploration of the islands.

But, there are still many things to work out before we start.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Tue 23 Nov 2021.

My understanding was that it's a new island, currently uninhabited (at least by humans), which is being explored as a potential home for a new Ginto tribe, group of refugees from Shubotai, or whoever else the PCs end up being.  Different folks might still have different opinions about how acceptable this is, but at the very least it would be something different from "Player A wants to take this land away from Player B's people who already maybe live there."  Hopefully that helps?

In reply to GM (msg # 36):

It does, but I'm personally just not connecting with the idea of colony-building on a jungle island, opposed or not. I've run Savage Tide five times now and I've had my fill of that stuff.

If that's the direction y'all are going in, that's cool, but it's not for me right now.

I can work with that as a concept.

Ginto as a guide, to keep out of existing tribal areas find uninhabited island that can be used for new home for the displaced people.

Representative of the displaced people.

Official healer of unnamed culture (spits)

Merchant of unnamed culture but semi respected

2 remaining unknowns

hoping to get a character sheet put in our areas so we can start to fill them out etc.

In reply to Player 6 (msg # 37):

If the base building happens, it most likely won't be right away.  We have to find the island, do basic exploration of the island to find a good spot, and then move mybpeople in. At that point, there will be more exploration and the base building will either be on me with GM support or the GM.

Base building can mean many things. Not just a home for my people...but perhaps one of the dellavrians wants to start their own merchant company/guild. Lots of options and, a player doesn't necessarily HAVE to partake in the logistics side of base building.

Please, do offer alternate ideas.
Discussing ideas is what we are doing.

I am even up for a mixture of the war and exploration.

We are trying to find a small rebel force from unnamed culture setting up on an island in Ginto lands. Once we clean them out, area is promised for refugee base for the other players people. This type of exploration and war could take awhile before any actual base building is to be done. Also like player 1 mentioned not all functions need to be done by the other players.

I am up for just about anything but desert area, really want to play a ginto out of the provided cultures.

No need to map out any of this in any definite form. Let there be the mystery of a sea hex crawl. The travelers can have myriad goals. I won't even think about it in more definite terms until I generate a character tomorrow or over Thanksgiving.

I was actually hoping to have some amount of definition before people start making characters so that everyone is making characters who already fit together in some way.  But if we're starting with a loose "everyone is on this chartered boat for their own reasons" then I guess we can work with that, and establish that chartered boats are a thing in the setting and don't worry about it.  Or however you all want to make this fit.

One other thought as character ideas are starting to come together - with all of us being new to the system, I want to keep starting characters at Starting Character level.  Some of you might be relatively high social status due to birth or marriage, but at this point none of you are already kings or guild masters or high priests.  I think the ideas we've talked about so far still fit pretty well with this, with maybe a little tweaking needed here or there but nothing drastic.  I just want to make sure we're on the same page about it.