Ok then-- Thanks to you all who have expressed confidence, and I'll work this together and kick us off for in-character interaction to begin this weekend.
Hum, I was wondering same thing Tevan was; whether or not slots are still accepting or have now been limited.
Drake, Tevan-- for now, go ahead and send me your concept. But bear in mind that big groups can be too cumbersome for pbp so I might have to split up the group-- I'll decide that later.
I hope it's not terribly disappointing for you guys if I don't have an elaborate history planned out, but I'll try to summarize the setting for you briefly at this point, then elaborate later on.
The world will be pseudo-medieval, with primary industries being agriculture, herding, mining, and fishing. Technological breakthroughs like steampower have been made and are starting to spread, but efforts to implement them on a wider scale frequently encounter inexplicable setbacks. Gunpowder exists, but its forumlation is so secretly kept that, NO, you can't get some and probably won't see any. There are some cities with up to 20,000 inhabitants.
The tavern where you meet is in a small, but rural, city called Kavitzdon-- existing at the crossroads of a trade route, this city is a trading node for the entire region and, while small by comparison to the capitol cities and port cities, it has a militia, a jail, a city council, and hosts a major festival for the region every summer in honor of... er, some goddess or something. Haven't gotten that far.
The region of the world where we'll be located to start is going to be geographically much like the agrarian areas of the Shenandoah or Catskill mountain regions... good for farming and ranching, with rolling hills, moderate climate but subject to some difficult winters and the occasional summer heatwave. Lakes, rivers, quarries, salt and iron and copper mines, etc. Lush, deep forests. Some swamps.
Magic exists in about 1% of the population; there are some natural casters who need no tutelage and some "learned" casters, who display the potential but can only learn through careful study. Clerics are considered casters, but their talents are focused through a relationship with a deity. 60% of mages, sorcerors, etc. are never powerful enough to be of significant harm. So, in a town of 1,000 people, only 4 will have the potential to be a truly dangerous caster-- some will live their entire life without learning it.
There are monsters and gods in the world; this is an accepted fact for most of society. What most DON'T know is how much is folklore or myth, and how much is reality. The world's faiths are diverse, and most deities are perceived in a rather Roman or Egyptian sense that they're imperfect, exceptionally powerful, and they dick around in human's lives all the time. There are still some who don't believe in the most gods, some gods, or all gods... but they're rare. The monsters most people have seen are rare, dangerous, and stupid creatures that threaten livestock. Other species of "mythical" origin-- good and evil-- in OUR world are believed to exist somewhere in this fictional world, but it's difficult to separate fact from fiction because of regional isolation and ignorance.
What I'll need from those of you participating is a brief character summary that we can use for quick-reference and that I can use to help me shape events.
Please PM me these details... sorry if some of it's redundant from your earlier posts, but it will help me to have this consolidated.
FYI: People in this pseudo-medieval era are somehow comparable in stature to most of the western world in 2009. Amazing, isn't it? So tall for a guy is 6' or 2m and up, etc. There are region-specific languages, but we'll have one 'common' tongue for the sake of argument (for now). And I'll ask you questions that, yes, may seem like they make me dirty-minded, I guess, but I rather expect aspects of story to somehow involve sex at some point and by god, it'd best be done well enough to be enjoyable.
Oh, and on that note-- unless it's central to the plot, such things might get relegated to a side-thread. We'll all still WATCH of course, but we'll keep the plot rolling too.
Also, you may notice the "2 exceptional things" part... For example, choose "is of secretly noble birth", "is sexy as hell", "posesses a '6th sense' of sorts", "is hard as hell to kill or wear out". One should be related to combat.
CHARACTER NAME:
AGE, EYE/HAIR COLOR, SKIN TONE:
HEIGHT/WEIGHT, BUILD:
MANNER OF DRESS:
TALENTS AND SKILLS:
2 EXCEPTIONAL THINGS:
PERSONALITY:
WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT: note- I'm not the kind of GM who'll dick you over because you don't have a flint and steel or a fishing hook on your equipment list. Just list the exceptional stuff here. If I say "you don't have that item" it's for the sake of the story, okay? :)
PLACE S/HE CALLS "HOME":
WEAKNESSES/FLAWS:
STRONGEST DESIRE/DESTINY:
SEXUAL DESIRES/FETISHES: Please just be frank here, from a player's perspective. I CANNOT PROMISE ANYTHING, but I'll try to work something in for everyone.
Ok. If I think of something more, I'll let you know. Hope this isn't too overwhelming-- thanks for your interest :)
