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Other Games, Development, & Campaigns => Play by Post Games => Topic started by: VengerSatanis on September 29, 2022, 01:52:54 PM

Title: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on September 29, 2022, 01:52:54 PM

It's difficult for me to carve out time for gaming on the weekend, when the vast majority of gamers are available.  When I schedule games during the week, when I AM free, I'll occasionally get flakes, retards, and asshats (today's Roll20 session had all three!!!).  So, I decided to run a session or two (maybe even a campaign) on here.

Don't think I've ever taken this medium seriously (for roleplaying), so it'll be a learning experience.  Also, I'm throwing in a bunch of Encounter Critical III stuff that I'm playtesting.  Rather than post a bunch of rules ahead of time, I'd rather jump into character creation and then describe the setting, hook, and so forth.

The base rules default to Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 when I'm not workshopping something new and specific.  The FREE PDF is here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303380/Crimson-Dragon-Slayer-D20-Revised

I can accommodate up to 6 players.  Don't want to overload myself right out of the gate, especially since I'm not exactly sure what to expect.

What is Cha'alt (the campaign setting)?  It's eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalypse with humor, sleaze, and pop-culture references galore!

Who's in?

VS
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: lugnut on September 29, 2022, 02:45:30 PM
I am! (Buuut ... I will be traveling between Oct. 2-7, so that may be an issue.)
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on September 29, 2022, 06:10:22 PM
I can handle a slower-paced asynchronous game. 

Based on my past experience with play by post games, the GM should have free rein to put deeds and words in a character's mouth if they don't reply in a timely manner.  That's primarily to incentivize the players to check in regularly and to keep things flowing.  Of course, good communication is key just like in a face to face game.  If you know you're heading out on vacation, let the group know so we can take a break or work around a PC's absence.
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on September 30, 2022, 08:14:41 AM
Ok, this is what I need from players...

NAME, CLASS, RACE, SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY, LOOK, DRIVE, OBSESSION, FLAW, and RELATIONSHIP.  These don't have to be answered right away.  I'm fine with having some of them crop-up organically during play.  I'm interested in playtesting the WARLOCK class, so use that instead of SORCERER.

You'll be incentivized to roleplay during and between encounters with DIVINE FAVOR.  That's the game's meta-currency.  Spending that allows you to re-roll any die of yours.  Additionally, if your character has "died", you can roll a d20.  There's an x in 20 chance that you miraculously survived death, where "x" is how many points of Divine Favor your character has spent.  If you do end up surviving, the amount spent starts over.

Should I do all the dice rolling to keep things consistent?

Once we have a good starting number, 3 or 4 players, we'll start.  I'm probably forgetting important stuff, so I may edit this or just post a follow-up down thread.

VS
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: lugnut on September 30, 2022, 10:12:08 AM
A couple ideas (some have been played before), happy to share/modify as others chime in:

1. Name unknown (formerly abducted human [???] with Jason Bourne-style amnesia; concept origin (https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/11117554/proposed-character-concept-name-unknown-human-with-no-memory-and-unexpected-bionic-arm-replacement); not yet played)

Race/class: Human warrior, priest, or thief, depending on what is needed in party/setting.
Noteworthy: Woke up after having been abducted with a brand new bionic arm and no memory of his past or identity. Has mad (class-appropriate) skills, but is still (re)discovering them, often after reacting instinctually under stress. Has recurring nightmares of retrieving [MacGuffin] for his enigmatic, masked abductor. He doesn't yet remember that his parents were murdered years ago, but their killing is somehow linked to his abduction/memory loss.
Look/affect: Kind of an urban "gray man", but almost always has long sleeves and gloves to conceal his arm.
Drive: Recovering his memory, and (subconsciously) discovering the nature of his parents' murder, although he doesn't currently remember anything about them.
Obsession: Finding [MacGuffin] and bringing it to his masked abductor. He reluctantly admits that doing so will likely result in great suffering for himself and others, but he can barely think of anything else.
Flaw: He's not going to like himself very much once the world reveals who he is.
Relationship idea: Party found him shortly after he was "returned" from his abduction and took him in as a fellow misfit.

2. "Kid" (orphan prodigy nerd wizard, futuristic Harry Potter, but from Oliver Twist; played before)

Race/class: Human warlock.
Noteworthy: Wicked smaht adolescent escaped from a Bladerunner 2049-esque "orphanage" (child slavery ring on a remote planet). Has grown cynical and hardened beyond his years by constantly getting his ass kicked growing up. He has a real name, but no one in the party remembers it. They just call him "Kid".
Look/affect: Quiet, too articulate for his age.
Drive: Discovering what happened to his birth family.
Obsession/Flaw: Curiosity will kill this cat when it comes to magic or technology. Notices everything.
Relationship idea: Distrusts strangers, but befriended another party member shortly after his escape and has been glued to that being ever since.

3. Nadr'al Qox (amazonian bipedal Klingon lizard; concept origin (https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/11116363/proposed-character-concept-nadral-qox-hardened-reptillian-warrior-from-another-time-slash-place-slash-dimension); played before)

Race/class: Reptilian warrior.
Noteworthy: Magically transported away from her home world of Ok'raan defying her will and understanding by a rival reptilian race. She's the only one of her kind in this sector.
Look/affect: Bipedal reptilian with tail. Attempts to minimize her appearance in public by wearing a cloak. It won't fool anyone paying attention, but allows her to more easily blend in with the dull-eyed masses. She carries a blaster in a holster on her thigh (with weapon light), two mid-sized kukri (the closest thing she could find to her native weaponry), a water skin, and a small kit of stuff (flashlight, protein rich dried insect husks as rations, ranging monocular).
Drive: Returning to her home world and avenging the death of her family.
Obsession: Leveraging her training as an elite warrior of her tribe, she has developed a penchant for (and modest income from) gambling on fights.
Flaw: Hates the cold. Grows lethargic pretty quickly, if exposed. Distrusts magic, and is relatively ignorant of it, but knows it is likely the only way home for her.
Relationship idea: Befriended the party's magic user who helped her out of a jam. Alternatively, she was hired by another party member as muscle for something.

---

UPDATE: With @zircher as inspiration, I explored nightcafe.studio (https://nightcafe.studio/) with some "interesting" results. Not sure how long these will be around, but that's okay. I don't think any fit (although maybe that's a future image of amnesia guy?):

(https://images.nightcafe.studio/jobs/yQQuX8fKRGFjgelCfPXI/yQQuX8fKRGFjgelCfPXI--1--R1ZER.jpg?tr=w-200,c-at_min) (https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/yQQuX8fKRGFjgelCfPXI) (https://images.nightcafe.studio/jobs/NSrhtt1cUMpmysAXpQmx/NSrhtt1cUMpmysAXpQmx--1--MO5UK.jpg?tr=w-200,c-at_min) (https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/NSrhtt1cUMpmysAXpQmx) (https://images.nightcafe.studio/jobs/6medK3ze9hNDwDGAVfmz/6medK3ze9hNDwDGAVfmz--1--RQ99N.jpg?tr=w-200,c-at_min) (https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/6medK3ze9hNDwDGAVfmz)
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on September 30, 2022, 11:21:53 AM
A lot of this popped into my head in a dream this morning, hopefully that means the gods are smiling on him.

NAME:  Jaans Cederson
CLASS: fighter
RACE:  elf
SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY: Jaans (sounds like Hans) is a close combat specialist and dual wields two short swords
LOOK: Medium length straight platinum, pale, dark eyes.  Years ago he got a tattoo of a cute succubus on his left shoulder from a tattooist at a travelling show.  It's cursed and now his left arm is covered in demonic figures.  He always knows when a new tattoo appears since if literally feels like a thousand needles stabbing him.  Cutting, scaring, or trying to black out the tattoos does not work and they always come back.
DRIVE: Lawful, trained to fight in the goblin wars before his life got derailed, needs a remove curse or something.
OBSESSION: carnivals and festivals, searching for travelling shows
FLAW: The tattoos, if revealed, can impact reactions.  There might be some other hidden effects to be discovered.  He is terrified of what might happen if they cover his whole body.
RELATIONSHIP: Jaans needs money and powerful magic if he's going beat this curse, so he has joined the Company to make his fortune.

Just for giggles, I threw some keywords at nightcafe.studio and it did a pretty good job.  Messed up the swords, but it did offer a wicked club/maul/sword abomination.  Maybe its symbolic of Jaans's future?
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on October 02, 2022, 01:31:39 PM
Awesome start!  Really, I'm just commenting today so you know I'm still alive.  Weekends put me in Dad-mode pretty much the whole time, unless I'm spending time with my wife after the kids go to bed. And this was a 3-day weekend (they had Friday off)  So, I should be a lot more active during the week (before the kids get home from school).

For those casually scrolling through this thread, I'm going to start the session with an opening crawl, mentioning a few of the campaign setting's details and then describe a situation ripe with social interaction.  Expect that tomorrow.  So, if you want to start playing straight away, post your character concept below (if you haven't already).

VS
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on October 02, 2022, 04:31:56 PM
UPDATE: With @zircher as inspiration, I explored nightcafe.studio (https://nightcafe.studio/) with some "interesting" results. Not sure how long these will be around, but that's okay. I don't think any fit (although maybe that's a future image of amnesia guy?):
Reoccurring dreams featuring those images might be a good 'not backstory' way to integrate them as well.  Dream logic not being that reliable you really don't know who is friend or foe.   :o
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on October 04, 2022, 04:26:08 PM

The night sky is black and silent, only a single moon hangs amongst the stars (which seems weird to you).  The cream-colored interior walls of this room are decorated with balloons, streamers, and archaic weapons.  This massive chamber contains some sort of party or festival.  The occasion is a costume ball, but no one is quite sure who is hosting or what's being celebrated.  There's over a hundred people in attendance.  Waiters with hors d'oeuvres walk around, there's an open bar, and just a ways from the center of the party is a strange looking alien humanoid wearing ridiculously colored garments.  He has a female alien assistant with him.  The two of them hover above some type of machine, but you've never seen anything exactly like it before.

People are talking about nothing... the weather, economy, local uprisings, international squabbles, food, drink, immigration, etc.  You get the impression the festivities may be political in nature.

What are you doing?

Alright, start your post by describing the first few important details about your character (including name), and then tell me what you do, say, think, etc.  Since this is play-by-post and not an immediate feedback type session, it's ok to anticipate certain things and make various assumptions.  I'll rule on a case-by-case basis, as it should be.

CHA'ALT!!!

Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on October 04, 2022, 06:06:26 PM
Jaans is not much for costuming or partying, so he has the minimum, a mask on the end of a stick that he picked up from a vendor.  One side is 'comedy' and the other side is 'tragedy'.  With his comedy face showing, he's walking about the venue.  Of course, he's on the look out for tattoo artists and other travelling types.  His sleeves are down and gives that 'clown' and its machine a wary glance.

Is he allowed to keep his arms and armor or are they back in his room?  If the latter, a couple of daggers in the boots will suffice for personal defense.

He'll try for some small talk and avoid food or drink since that would tie up both his hands. Something along the lines of, "Any idea what that machine does?"
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on October 06, 2022, 11:08:31 AM

You expected someone to be at the door checking for weapons, but there was no one.  You are armed as usual.

Making the rounds, you notice a young woman tattoo artist.  Another masked celebrant, an older man (as you can see his brown beard streaked with gray) is just finishing up.  His tattoo is of an infinity loop, but with serpents.

You lean-in while passing the colorful man (who introduces himself as Galven the Great), his assistant, and their machine.  You gather it's like an electronic zoo inside the strange looking device.  Galven the Great projects a hologram just outside of the machine.  It looks as real as any virtual reality game you've ever played.  The world currently being shown is a steaming jungle with ruins in the distance.  You can make out a giant stone face covered on one side with vegetation.  In the foreground of the jungle being displayed are two humanoids, though they look different than what you're used to (forehead ridges, six fingered webbed hands, etc).
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on October 06, 2022, 12:32:31 PM
Okay, I'll bite.  Pointing at the hologram, "a distant world or some remote part of Cha'alt?  They seem well suited to jungle and swamp."
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: lugnut on October 09, 2022, 11:28:12 AM
Apologies for the late entry. I'm back from traveling. I'm going with identity unknown human [???] with the new bionic arm. Let's call him Braun. Maybe it's because his hair and eyes are brown, or maybe it's like Mr. Brown, like in Reservoir Dogs. Dunno. I'm happy to let the GM decide on Braun's class and reveal/let him discover it at some point, or I can pick one now.

Q: Do Braun and Jaans know each other already, or are they meeting here for the first time?

If this is their first meeting, I have to figure out how Braun gets "invited". Maybe this is shortly after he "discovers" himself nearly naked in the docking bay with his new bionic arm? Maybe he discovers a note in his bloody shroud with brief instructions to access some kind of minimal living quarters (like a really tiny motel room) where basic occasion-appropriate clothes (maybe a nice suit with a minimalist plain mask) and weapons have been laid out for him and additional instructions to clean up, get dressed, and be at this party? Maybe the instructions in the room are addressed to "Braun" or maybe there's a name tag, ID, or something?

Assuming that's acceptable, Braun shows up to the party in his new clothes/gear [happy to enumerate or leave that up to the GM]. After getting a drink from the bar, he notices and feels drawn to the tattoo artist and client. Maybe for some reason the infinity serpent seems familiar to him?

Are the tattoo artist and Galven the Great near each other (physically)? Does Braun hear Galven's introduction to Jaans?
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on October 11, 2022, 03:19:36 PM
They're far enough away so if you're checking-out one, you won't notice anything about the other.  The infinity serpent does seem familiar to you.  It's the logo of a company that works on virtual reality and deep simulation machines.

Galven replies, "The scope captures life on a variety of worlds... one of them just happens to be a planet named Cha'alt.  I'm surprised anyone in this star system has heard of the place.  It's a billion light-years from your world.  Would you like to see what Cha'alt is like this time of year?  Let's see..."

Galven fiddles with a switch and a new hologram appears.  Fuchsia sky, twin suns.  A human and some kind of elf (both male) running behind an alley way in some desert city.  They're out of breath.  One pulls out a vial of some glowing yellow-green liquid.  "They say a few drops of this will put hair on a man's chest."  Each of them takes several drops into their eye.  Moments later, their flesh turns green.  "Let's kill the first person who gets in our way," one says.  "And pop some pussy like a bottle of pills," the other responds. 

[I've been slacking, sorry.  Going to try to be more consistent]
 
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on October 11, 2022, 04:54:52 PM
[OOC: Derp, I thought we were on Cha'alt.  But let's run with that and say that I learned of Cha'alt from the tattooist that I am looking for.]

"Oh, well... that explains why I could not find it.  Can you search for... a specific individual?"  [I pull back part of my sleeve.]   "I'm looking for the man who did this."


Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: lugnut on October 11, 2022, 05:11:13 PM
I'm running with the following (subject to GM edits):

This is all shortly after my character discovers himself without any memory in a nearby docking bay nearly naked save a shroud covered in dried blood stains. Attached to the inside of the shroud is a note with some kind of address or directions that leads him to some nondescript rented living quarters (basically a very small motel room). Once there, he finds laid out for him a nice suit, a minimalist party mask, some easily concealable weapons (maybe a knife or two, and possibly a small firearm), an ID with his picture and the name "Braun Degor", and another note directing him to clean up and head to the party. He is still disoriented, but a shower does some good to reorient him to the present. As he dresses, he notices that he is completely comfortable with the weapons and suit, as if such things are generally familiar to him. He is adjusting quickly to his new(?) arm. He still has many questions, but is focused on the lead in front of him. He is mildly surprised upon realizing that he is relatively calm and not fearful.

[cut to party]

From a distance, Braun watches the young tattoo artist finish up with the man with the mask and beard. Once the man leaves, Braun walks over, deftly grabbing two drinks from a passing waiter on his way. As he approaches, he hands her one of the drinks, jerks his thumb at the departing customer, and says, "Beautiful work." Without breaking eye contact, in a hushed, but playful tone, he pulls up the sleeve a little on his suit jacket to expose part of his bionic forearm and asks, "What would you recommend that might draw attention away from this?"
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: VengerSatanis on October 27, 2022, 03:15:26 PM
Yeah, I'm calling it.  I realize now that without the forced attention of actually sitting together to game, albeit virtually, it's just not the same.  The motivation needed for me to GM properly just isn't there.  Sorry if this was a waste of time.  At least, now I know...

VS
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: zircher on October 27, 2022, 04:13:57 PM
No problem.  Play by post is one of things that either clicks for people or not.  Particularly social people (like you) do have a harder time making that transition to asynchronous play due to the lack of immediate feedback and interaction.  But, you don't know until you try.  Thanks for taking a stab it.
Title: Re: Cha'alt
Post by: lugnut on October 28, 2022, 07:15:40 PM
All good! If one doesn't try, one can't learn. I'm happy to participate the in the experiment!