Aveline: Steampunk Fantasy Pathfinder Interest Check

Started by eBadger, September 03, 2014, 04:45:22 PM

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eBadger

Please note: this is currently just an interest check, to make sure this is worth investing time to develop and to get some feedback and suggestions.


Aveline

History:  Long ago, the world was lush and rich and bounteous; the High Races flourished in vast cities and empires.  But in their hubris, they wanted more, always more: clockwork armies marched to expand the borders, but were inevitably left leaderless and mad; new weapons eradicated cities, but blackened and twisted what was left behind; great factories darkened the skies with ash until the sun was blotted out. A man known only as The Alchemist created the worst of the Weapons that ravaged the world, killing machines which used the souls of the slain to power themselves. Even as the empires crumbled, the Lords and Archmages fought over scraps like rabid dogs, until all was lost. 

The land was overrun with evil.  Dark races such as the drow – elves twisted by chemicals and magic – and worse things still not understood, things which move in the dark like death.   

As the ivory towers were brought low, those who survived the Wars found an unlikely savior: the Alchemist turned his necromantic machinations to the salvation of the High Races, designing massive engines to raise entire cities above the clouds of ash, chemicals and disease.  Floating cities such as Aveline have successfully preserved humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings for two centuries.  They served less well as redemption: once complete the people turned upon the Alchemist; he became the first soul of many to feed the new machines. 

The world: Aveline is a cramped, decaying Renaissance/industrial city floating above the world by necromantic power; below, an omnipresent layer of clouds has left the surface in perpetual dusk.  It is given over to mushroom forests, races twisted by magic and corruption and mad automatons bent on the slaughter of anything living.  The world has a strong steampunk fantasy element: it features clockworks creatures, airships, and the worst of mad science, but retains a basis in swords and sorcery.  Necromancy is also considered a necessary evil: the undead are less common than traffic in souls, which power nearly every form of machinery and many magical devices. 

The basics: the adventurers will form a mercenary ‘landing party’, a group which braves the dangers of the surface to protect miners, gather souls, explore ruins or any other purpose that brings coin and fame.  There is definitely potential for a long term campaign, but I’m planning on a couple very short and simple sessions to begin with. 

Despite the flavor, I'm not currently planning any major rules modifications.  An ogre might use the same stats, but be described as a steam driven relic warrior, for instance, and there shouldn't be need for stats on flying ships or the like. 

I haven't read every Paizo publication and I have no inclination to do so.  Beginning characters will be limited to Core races and Core and Base classes, although some flavor can be added.  I'll probably aim for Level 3 or so, point buy and so forth.  Early Firearms are Commonplace, no Advanced Firearms. 

Smut-o-meter: the adventure will be in the Extreme forum, mostly to cover all possibilities.  I'm not planning to have this become an orgy interspersed with monster stabbings, but I expect some fun along the way.  I'm open to more feedback on this, though.  It is E, after all. 

Newbies:  I'm after good role players, not rules gurus; that said, I'm not going to coach anyone through a system, either.  Players should be familiar with the basics of Pathfinder or D&D 3.5, or willing to do a lot of their own reading (the stuff is happily all online and free). 

Interdiction of words

Interest is here but you mentioned D&D 3.5 to which can I make a character in that since I am more versed in 3.5 over pathfinder
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TheGlyphstone

#2
Quote from: Interdiction of words on September 03, 2014, 06:47:21 PM
Interest is here but you mentioned D&D 3.5 to which can I make a character in that since I am more versed in 3.5 over pathfinder

They're almost exactly the same. Grappling and Skills are the only 'core' system elements you would need to 're-learn', and grappling sucks anyways. Pathfinder is, effectively, D&D 3.75 for all intents and purposes.



I'll flag as tentative interest, steampunk is always fun. Core Races, Core or Basic Classes. What about supplementaries like Feats, Spells, Archetypes, etc? Do you want to give a specific list of which Paizo-published books and/or 3rd-party material are on or off limits?

eBadger

Quote from: Interdiction of words on September 03, 2014, 06:47:21 PM
Interest is here but you mentioned D&D 3.5 to which can I make a character in that since I am more versed in 3.5 over pathfinder

As Glyphstone mentioned, Pathfinder is nearly identical to 3.5 (specifically, Pathfinder IS 3.5, with some minor modifications, after WotC introduced the horrendous disaster of D&D 4.0 and made 3.5 open source).  I'm sticking to Pathfinder because all the minor changes were improvements, and there's a lot more support for firearms (both with specific rules and the Gunslinger class), as I'd like to introduce some tech to the adventure. 

I suggest you take a look around this site to check out the rules and options. 

If I were to use another system, it would probably be Malifaux or IKRPG.  But I doubt many here would be interested in those. 

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on September 03, 2014, 07:22:37 PMI'll flag as tentative interest, steampunk is always fun. Core Races, Core or Basic Classes. What about supplementaries like Feats, Spells, Archetypes, etc? Do you want to give a specific list of which Paizo-published books and/or 3rd-party material are on or off limits?

Again, most of my own knowledge is from the open source stuff; I don't have any of the books in paper format.  I just prefer not to involve too many complications, when most things can be covered nicely by core rules (you're welcome to add some scales and horns to your human character and call them a dragonblood, I'm just not going to read through all the rules for everyone's esoteric race/class combos). 

For Feats and Spells, if it's listed in the main section of the site and is by Paizo I'm fine with it.  I'd prefer to avoid archetypes and 3rd party stuff. 

Again, I'm not trying to crush creativity, and if it's a general concern I'll revisit it - I'm just trying to keep the rules fairly simple. 

TheGlyphstone

Heck, I've never bought a paper PF book either, I only use the PfSRD myself.


...personally, I would love an Iron Kingdoms RPG game, far more than another D&D game. But finding people who are interested is almost impossible.

eBadger

I just got the Monsternomicon, too, which does make it tempting.  But the lack of any open source info kinda kills it on this site. 

Yandros

I am certainly interested in this as well.

I too have a few rules questions, such as will you allow the Advanced Class Guide?  Will you you be using only Pathfinder material, or select approved 3.5 material as well?

I have a few concepts running around in my head, but some of them involve Pathfinder Archetypes.  And if anyone is looking for things like rules or what not, here is a wonderful site:  http://www.d20pfsrd.com/
They fully mark what is core rules and what is 3rd Party, so it is easy to keep track which is which.

What level would you wish to start as?  Would it be mostly localized to one particular area?  Traveling a lot?

Interdiction of words

I am going to have to back out if it is not D&D 3.5, my pathfinder skills are very far and I don't like it as much
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Darn work and school is getting in the way. I will get posts out as fast as I can but it is going to be hard on me as for you.

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eBadger

Hmm.  I guess file it all under "...with GM approval, and requiring a very good basis in your back story that makes it necessary"?  3rd party stuff in particular gives me the scowly face, as there be dragons and unbalanced characters tend to ruin things for everyone else. 

Starting level would be 3-5, I think; past the one hit wonder levels, but with some room to grow before having to deal with high level crap. 

The current notion is to base everyone out of the floating city of Aveline, which is huge and varied and has lots of potential, but journeying to the Surface for specific adventures (again, planning to start with short and simple - stuff that a group would get through in a night or two of tabletop).  That way if people want to/are able to keep in it we can keep going, but if we lose people or stall a bit we can probably still make it through the adventure. 

In the long term, Aveline is huge, there are other cities as well, and I have a few ideas for surface ventures to very different areas. 

Yandros

Well, I tend to look at everything in the 'with GM approval' light.  I actually like some of the Archetypes for characters in Pathfinder, as they can really add flavor or change the way a class works.  Not all are balanced, no, but they can be a lot of fun.

I like the idea you have going there, so very much count me interested should you decide to start it up. 

What would you say the focus of the game will be on?  Social?  Politics?  Combat?  I know of course there will always be a mix, but I also know that each GM has a little area that they like the most.  So, what would yours be?

Jaded

I'd be interested, though not sure on a character yet.

Interdiction of words

Posts are currently: Medium
Darn work and school is getting in the way. I will get posts out as fast as I can but it is going to be hard on me as for you.

Oh my, I haven't posted on our thread? PM me or check out my A&A


eBadger

Awesome!  Hopefully we'll see some more interest as well. 

And good question.  I think a GM's primary role is to provide the crunchy bits, and that tends to relate more to combat than anything else (particularly with pathfinder).  That said, I like to place everything into a social context, so opponents tend to be more than just a statline (here's a recent sample).  And of course, NPCs give me a chance to play too!  I also hope to see a lot of interaction between players.  So...primary emphasis on social, secondary combat, with political pretty minimal. 

Edit: yay Jaded!

TheGlyphstone

#13
I think I'll stake my claim on playing a meatsack, I haven't gotten to play a pure melee in a while. Half-Orc Barbarian, with, if permitted, the Urban Barbarian and Invulnerable Rager archetypes. A rough-and-tumble savvy street brawler who fights with tooth and claw.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo---barbarian-archetypes/urban-barbarian
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo---barbarian-archetypes/invulnerable-rager

Interdiction of words

Posts are currently: Medium
Darn work and school is getting in the way. I will get posts out as fast as I can but it is going to be hard on me as for you.

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VonDoom

I thought this was an interest check, what's with all the claims?  :P

That said, interested. It's a shame you don't like archetypes, though, they offer a pretty nice range of different approaches to classes. Very fond of the Mysterious Stranger, for example.
Now this is the Law of the Jungle-
as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may  prosper,
but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

-Rudyard Kipling, "The Law of the Jungle"
O&O

TheGlyphstone

Quote from: VonDoom on September 04, 2014, 01:14:40 AM
I thought this was an interest check, what's with all the claims?  :P

That said, interested. It's a shame you don't like archetypes, though, they offer a pretty nice range of different approaches to classes. Very fond of the Mysterious Stranger, for example.

D&D players are like hungry piranhas when it comes to games on E.

And the nice thing about E-claims is that you can't stop people from jumping them. But knowing ahead of time what other people plan on making can be useful, since a diverse spread of classes/characters is healthy for a game.

eBadger

I haven't really dealt with them, is all.  They seem more accepted that I was thinking, though, so I'm open to them. 

And no staking claims.  Just an interest check at this point, having one a class is no reason to dissuade more, and when I open for characters it will not be on a first comer basis :)  Good to see what people are thinking of, though. 

Healthy spread is fun, but I've had some great asymmetric games, too. 

VonDoom

Yay! My dislike for first come first serve is like ... uh, something pretty intense but involving no burning suns since it's not hatred. Yes.

That said, I might go Gunslinger, they always looked pretty fun to me and the opportunities to play them aren't exactly plentiful.
Now this is the Law of the Jungle-
as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may  prosper,
but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

-Rudyard Kipling, "The Law of the Jungle"
O&O

Interdiction of words

Posts are currently: Medium
Darn work and school is getting in the way. I will get posts out as fast as I can but it is going to be hard on me as for you.

Oh my, I haven't posted on our thread? PM me or check out my A&A


TheGlyphstone

Quote from: eBadger on September 04, 2014, 01:26:34 AM
I haven't really dealt with them, is all.  They seem more accepted that I was thinking, though, so I'm open to them. 

And no staking claims.  Just an interest check at this point, having one a class is no reason to dissuade more, and when I open for characters it will not be on a first comer basis :)  Good to see what people are thinking of, though. 

Healthy spread is fun, but I've had some great asymmetric games, too.

You will always get interest for D&D games here. The ratio of GMs to players is quite disproportionate in E's D&D-playing community, and the unfortunate tendency of PBP games to die off quickly means a perpetual cycle of barely satisfied gaming hunger.

Kimmy

@shambles into the thread@
"Games! Gamesss!"
@noms on the house rules@

So, there's 10 people posting in this thread. Just how many do you need to transform an interest thread into a character audition? Has there been any research on that yet? If not, who do we have to sleep with to get some research done?

One consideration on rules alteration is that clockwork creations and mad science flair gives players a lot of flexibility in creating crazy (& sometimes effective) plans to deal with problems. Steam driven automatons might use the same stats of an Ogre but creative application chilling magic could/should lower its steam pressure and weaken it or slow it. What I'd like to know is if you support creative thinking when it comes to problems- the kind of thinking that might require the GM inventing new rules to handle various thoughts. For example, rules on freezing/chilling steam powered devices as a means of breaking or subduing them. Or what might happen when the player tries to turn the arm of a steam powered automaton into some kind of magical item... I'm not saying things should be complex, but I'd like to know if creativity will be encouraged. Because you offer clashing genres in a fun light. So there will be chances to have a lot of fun doing unexpected things and having no idea what might result :)

Another question is, are you ok with ideas drawn from the Advanced Race Guide? Because your world sounds like just the place to try it out some races built with race points, as presented here. Because I have a couple of odd ideas for races outside of the usual half a dozen and they might fit into this world concept.

So, color me interested? Or just color me in- but not with crayon. I prefer lipstick, pencils and paint ^_^
Posting rate: Moderate       Currently Chasing: Playful, Romance & Something Rough.
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TheGlyphstone

We had to convince him that Archetypes were a good idea to allow. I'd expect custom-designed races to be a significantly harder sell. :D Refluffing one of the Core races as whatever crazy mutants you can dream up will probably be fine, though it certainly doesn't hurt to ask.

VonDoom

Real shame I've never seen a Planescape game that just let people go crazy with the Advanced Race Guide rules so far. That said, Glyphstone probably has the right of it, though I wholly support the notion!

Also, love your 'greeting', Kimmy.  ;D 'Gaaaaaames!'
Now this is the Law of the Jungle-
as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may  prosper,
but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

-Rudyard Kipling, "The Law of the Jungle"
O&O

TheGlyphstone

Quote from: VonDoom on September 04, 2014, 02:38:03 PM
Real shame I've never seen a Planescape game that just let people go crazy with the Advanced Race Guide rules so far. That said, Glyphstone probably has the right of it, though I wholly support the notion!

Also, love your 'greeting', Kimmy.  ;D 'Gaaaaaames!'

I happen to be playing in one, as a matter of fact. ;D But that is there and not here.