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Heroic Knight
 
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Last Login: Saturday, October 04, 2008 5:20 PM
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Principles of Character creation and ability
Player’s characters will have two positive attributes that help define what abilities they have that the average character does not. They also have one negative attribute which gives the character some disadvantage. Note that a characters attributes also help define what a character cannot do. For example a character with no attributes relating to literacy cannot read or write. Note also that every character knows the basic background as written in the player guide and every character can use a knife or staff weapon as these are common weapons in a dangerous world.
Here is a sample character: Hector of the village of Woodbridge
1) Was born and raised as a pig farmer in these parts
2) Served as a soldier under the Earl of Wessex
3) Has a gammy leg that wont heal
Principles of Combat
In combat, player’s characters do not have Hit Points or Wounds or any other statistics to govern their health. When a character is hit their player can decide how badly their wounds affect them if at all, they can even ignore the wound altogether. They should always react when hit (flinching back in pain, grasping the struck location etc), however the long term effect, if any, is decided by the character’s player. Note that crew characters will be wounded by hits whenever they are struck, because they are not the story’s protagonists.
Eg: Hector is confronted by mercenaries working for the Earl of Gloucester, after a short exchange they draw their swords and attack him. Hector is hit a couple of times but David, his player, decides that these are minor wounds and Hector carries on fighting. Eventually he defeats one but the other keeps fighting. David decides that Hector is knocked unconscious. The surviving mercenary begins ransacking the character’s camp.
Principles of Knowledge (warning: this is mental!)
Rather than using Lore-sheets or briefs the knowledge the characters have will be governed by their players, when a character says something related to their attribute they must tell a ref. The ref will then pass it on to the plot team to be incorporated into the plot (either partly or completely). If the character says something which is unworkable or conflicts with some other already established fact the plot team will disregard it. The plot team will keep a whiteboard of ‘established facts’ about the area.
Eg: Agnes finds a dead body at a crossroads. She was the local wise woman in her old village and she knows the signs of all kinds of maladies or illnesses. After examining the body she turns to her companions “This man was poisoned, but I don’t know what with”. The ref makes a note of this and passes it to the plot team who begin building a plot around it.
Principles of Magic, Religion and Belief
There are several types of magic but they can only be carried out by those with the appropriate attributes.
Curses: When someone is cursed either the caster will tell the ref (if they perform the curse in secret) or the target can tell the ref if they see it happen. If it happens in the presence of the target they can also choose to react immediately as well as telling a ref at a later point.
Agnes, angry at being sold out to a group of witch-hunters points at her accuser and says “You who spoke out against me, I curse you; I’ll take your tongue to hell with me!” The player takes this to mean his character can no longer speak, he also tells the ref about the curse in case the plot team want to add something else to the curse as well.
Rituals: Rather than being a kind of ‘wish magic’ carried out by characters in the hope of a good result Rituals invoke one of the ‘powers’ watching over the area at that time. When a ritual is used the ref is informed of which power has been invoked and the influence of that power will increase while others decrease. Christians invoke “St Michael and St George” but in every case the effect will only take place if the invoked power is watching over the area at that time.
One of the powers in an area is a water spirit called Sh’drrath’ub, and it has been active in a nearby river; drowning people and sinking river boats. Bartleby, the priest finds out the name of a different power, ‘Hollow’, that is currently watching the area and decides to invoke it in an attempt to weaken the water spirit. He carries out the ritual and the ref makes a note of Sh’drrath’ub’s weakened state and the increase in power of ‘Hollow’. The plot team decide that the river will no longer drown people as it once did but the trees and plants in this area will slowly start to rot and decay as Hollow’s malignant power increases.
Charms: These simply make the character holding them luckier than they would be. It’s up to the player to roleplay the effect of these on their character and remember that their effects will not last forever.
Agnes, having somehow escaped the burning she was due, makes a charm for the thief that helped her escape, which he wears around his neck. When he is later cursed by a sorcerer his player tells the ref about the curse and the charm, the thief hopes that the charm will have protected him, but he’ll have to wait and see what happens to him.
With this system of principles it’s up to the players to draw the scenario out by not having their characters work through it too quickly or too easily. Players should remember that they have a much greater control over their characters and the game world. The difficulty of a task or quest is largely defined by them. As such it is up to them to create situations and develop plots rather than simply relying on the crew or making it too easy for themselves.
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"Stick around!"
-Governor of California throwing a hunting knife into a man's chest
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Live roleplaying's greatest cheerleader...
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Yep well I like all that Smitt, same sort of thing I was thinkin of honest! 
Magic....now maybe I should outline how I envisaged magic as it's a major part of the game it seems.
So magic in a medieval world. Traditionally in LRP we’ve gone for magic being based on spells and effects. In a bit of a point and By my powers thing, sometimes games have moved onto wizards/shamens/witches performing rituals then the ref telling the target that their leg has fallen off or they feel dodgy or burst into flame. It might be best if we look at what magic meant in the medieval world, how the people then saw the supernatural world? Then work our way up from there.....
Lets say with our 21st century minds that we think magic never existed, but to the dark age peasant it did. People believed in the existence of demons and wee folk. Of hopping devils, werewolves, witches and possession by evil spirits. How did all this work? By belief. I’d prefer it if players don’t have magical powers as they start the game. They can learn things as they go along...maybe. Any magical powers will depend on players persuading the others in the game that their powers work. They’ll be a twist were real ‘psychic’ magic works but that I’ll go into on a need to know basis.
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RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
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Prodigal
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Just been pointed here and I must say... I really like the idea and am definitely intrigued!
Furthering Shelford's idea, perhaps the old wise woman CAN perform magic in a "powers of suggestion" kind of way. The curse might work simply because Agnes' target actually believes she's a witch. Also, she might empower people because she uses the "magical" ability to get folks to envision them to perform tasks and succeed. The magical power of suggestion directed at believing folk I reckon would have a huge effect as opposed to our 21st century sceptical minds.
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PD:- Dr/Cpt Heinrich Bellamorto - Pickled Surgeon
- "Shoot him in the eye, the face is for ruffians and amateurs."
- "I'm holding a pistol and I have a pocket that cries PARTY! We are NOT having a quiet one!"
- "Lovable in a Hitler kind of way" - Sass
EOS:- Jarn - Psychotic Runty Orc Beserker
- "Hello my Pretty Pretty...fancy some muddy cuddles?"
- "If we are what we eat, I could be you tomorrow..."
RL:- Pete Bridges - IT Mercenary and RA (special) Agent for Suffolk Mental Health Partnership
- "[LARP], it's not like drugs although it's probably just as expensive"
- "Yes, I snorted the Everclear and the Strawberry stuff with pips in"
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Live roleplaying's greatest cheerleader...
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Today @ 5:34 AM
Posts: 1,240,
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Pete Bridges (7/10/2008)
Furthering Shelford's idea, perhaps the old wise woman CAN perform magic in a "powers of suggestion" kind of way. The curse might work simply because Agnes' target actually believes she's a witch. Also, she might empower people because she uses the "magical" ability to get folks to envision them to perform tasks and succeed. The magical power of suggestion directed at believing folk I reckon would have a huge effect as opposed to our 21st century sceptical minds.
Yep what he said...that's exactly what I'm getting at.
_____________________________________________________
RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
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Prodigal
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Thursday, November 27, 2008 2:16 AM
Posts: 589,
Visits: 1,121
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Shelford (7/10/2008)
Pete Bridges (7/10/2008)
Furthering Shelford's idea, perhaps the old wise woman CAN perform magic in a "powers of suggestion" kind of way. The curse might work simply because Agnes' target actually believes she's a witch. Also, she might empower people because she uses the "magical" ability to get folks to envision them to perform tasks and succeed. The magical power of suggestion directed at believing folk I reckon would have a huge effect as opposed to our 21st century sceptical minds.
Yep what he said...that's exactly what I'm getting at.
Great minds, and all
___________________________________________________
PD:- Dr/Cpt Heinrich Bellamorto - Pickled Surgeon
- "Shoot him in the eye, the face is for ruffians and amateurs."
- "I'm holding a pistol and I have a pocket that cries PARTY! We are NOT having a quiet one!"
- "Lovable in a Hitler kind of way" - Sass
EOS:- Jarn - Psychotic Runty Orc Beserker
- "Hello my Pretty Pretty...fancy some muddy cuddles?"
- "If we are what we eat, I could be you tomorrow..."
RL:- Pete Bridges - IT Mercenary and RA (special) Agent for Suffolk Mental Health Partnership
- "[LARP], it's not like drugs although it's probably just as expensive"
- "Yes, I snorted the Everclear and the Strawberry stuff with pips in"
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Heroic Knight
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Saturday, October 04, 2008 5:20 PM
Posts: 132,
Visits: 254
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So magic would be more like combat or knowledge. Its a case by case basis? That should work as long as people realise there will be little precident. I mean, a group of players could try to say "we all believe the priest when he says he can summon angels", so we'll still need a get-out clause. But the whole "I think I'm cursed so I'm cursed" angle works for me.
Is the Black Death itself magical in any way? Are there really walking dead? Are there really werewolves? Surely if things are based on belief (kinda like Conspiracy-X or Esoterrorists?) then these things already exist because characters other than the PCs (the peasents that live in England) already believe in them?
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"Stick around!"
-Governor of California throwing a hunting knife into a man's chest
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Live roleplaying's greatest cheerleader...
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Today @ 5:34 AM
Posts: 1,240,
Visits: 10,600
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Smitt (7/10/2008)
So magic would be more like combat or knowledge. Its a case by case basis? That should work as long as people realise there will be little precident. I mean, a group of players could try to say "we all believe the priest when he says he can summon angels", so we'll still need a get-out clause. But the whole "I think I'm cursed so I'm cursed" angle works for me.
I wouldn't see it as organised as the players all getting together and believing hard in something so that it suddenly exists. Magic relies on folks RPing enough that others believe in it. So with the summon angels example, if the priest is convincing enough then something may happen in a consensual imagined reality. Say the characters have been chased down by bag headed cannibal villagers. It's a rainy bleak night, you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. Many are wounded and some are shouting that the wounded should be left behind......suddenly there is a blinding light and silence. Then darkeness again, the cannibals villagers are gone. Either dragged down to hell or just fled....was it and angel?
Is the Black Death itself magical in any way? Are there really walking dead? Are there really werewolves? Surely if things are based on belief (kinda like Conspiracy-X or Esoterrorists?) then these things already exist because characters other than the PCs (the peasents that live in England) already believe in them?
Well folks in the past certainly thought the plague was magical, maybe a curse from god. So in a way it was.
Just to give a hint I've suddenly realised that the way magic and the supernatural run in the game in my head is very much like 'Lost' (love it or loathe it). Things can happen.
_____________________________________________________
RL: Mr Sofar
Curved core weaponry and bespoke stuff.
ShelfordFX
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