Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
Character Concepts and Questions to: waygateplot@gmail.com
Waygate is an independent trade city which will begin the campaign by electing to ally itself with the Kingdom of Exiles as a vassal state. It has its own laws and civic structure, its own pantheon of deities who are more powerful locally than other deities and, of course, its own problems.
The Kingdom is happy to assist its new ally (given the lovely new taxes) by sending a Defender force to deal with local military threats and instituting the patrol system as an addition to the local Militia. The primary objective is to ensure the city population, and those living nearby who effectively owe their allegiance to Waygate, become and stay happy, tax paying members of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom Guilds are also actively moving into the area, particularly as the city lacks organised guilds in most areas not trade related, so there is something of a talent race on to gain a foothold and gather in the best and brightest.
At the beginning of the campaign, the Patrol system, a success throughout the Kingdom, will be instituted as a new arm of the Militia Guild of the city. This won’t make the PC a Militia member, however the patrols will be presented to the people as needing the same respect as the Militia.
Initially all characters attending the city for the patrols will be given an escort to the hall set aside for patrol members to meet and store equipment, which is next to the Militia headquarters. The laws of the city prevent characters carrying multiple weapons or wearing heavy armour in public, so these will be stored here unless the character decides to do otherwise or obtains the permission to take it with them (by sponsorship from a noble house).
Whilst in Time In, all characters will be offered the support of House Menhir, the noble house whose head currently rules the city. This can be withdrawn if characters abuse it and it is not required that characters accept this – that’s an IC situation to be resolved IC.
All standard race/class/guild combinations from the Player Rules are available, however before deciding there’s a few things to note.
Skill Training
Training availability will have some limitations within the area, with characters needing to encourage an appropriate Kingdom Guild, be part of a barbarian tribe/etc who have their own training available, or find the training within the local area.
Divine alignments
The Local pantheon is a group of 9 deities, each of whom apart from Rest (Balance) are aligned to two of the alignments and support casters from those alignments (so for example Mercy is an advocate of Justice and Life).
Any character that casts Miracles within the area will attract the attention of the Local pantheon and this will affect roleplay.
Someone out there is already thinking “I can play Anarchy!”. Seriously, no. If you survive the year with the divine tasks we will set you, then you will have disrupted the rest of the PCs immensely, probably not in fun ways, and then the Character Refs have confirmed they will kill your character. So, no.
Death and Chaos are potentially present as playable alignments, however are gently discouraged. If you want to play them, sit down with us and discuss it. Again, characters of these alignments can expect the attention they receive from the local pantheon to make their lives uncomfortable and if not handled well, possibly unplayable.
Background
Characters can come from the Kingdom (with the most local part being the Barony of Van Heusen), from the Local area, or can be Wanderers from further afield.
We encourage Kingdom characters to be representatives of a Guild, though this isn’t required, and guild based characters who are moderately successful will comfortably overcome skill training restrictions most of the time. Kingdom characters will be briefed with what the Kingdom know of the city of Waygate before arrival.
Wanderer characters include Barbarians, Druids, Amazons and similar classes/persons. Many of these come with their own support for training. Wanderers will have a gossip based knowledge of Waygate, word of which has spread reasonably far as it is a centre of trade.
Local characters will receive a much more extensive briefing on the setting, and will be playing a juggling act with the campaign refs on local knowledge. We will be prepared to answer questions in game on things your character would know, however may be just too busy to do so.
Local characters will only have immediate access to training as members of the Local Militia and Champions (Gladiators) guilds, or as Defenders, who are actively recruiting and already present in numbers.
EDIT Following discussion, the Paladins are also available to Local characters, however such characters must be a Paladin of one of the Local Pantheon.
Choosing Kingdom/Local/Wanderer – basically, there’s fun to be had in being the Local “guide” character and fun to be had in discovering the setting from scratch. To counter balance the advantage of local knowledge and connections, we will make Local characters lives a bit harder in terms of learning skills.
Send us an email, to waygateplot@gmail.com, with the basic character concept, and we’ll go from there.
A minimal example might be:
I’m going to play a Half Orc Might Priest called Krunk. He’ll be a member of the Temple of Might, will revere the Mightiness of the Kingdom more than a specific deity, and will believe in strength through cooperative effort, with the Kingdom being the best example of that.
He won’t be too bright and will cause problems if he doesn’t know who he’s taking orders from and who he’s ordering around.
None of his friends or family will be in the campaign area.
End of Summary
The rest of this is more detail on the setting, which we feel may be relevant to character creation, and the full Rules definitions for skill learning, Local/Kingdom/Wanderer character types and full Guild definitions for Militia/Champions.
Waygate is placed two weeks travel from the nearest town on the south east edge of the Van Heusen barony, Campton, and a couple of days north of the farthest north eastern edge of the druidic realm of Arboria, and three weeks travel south west of the realm of the Hassani Eagles.
The city itself has a standing population of 6000 people, with generally about 2000 travellers at any one time, though the population can almost double for occasional festivals.
The city is surrounded by an immediate number of farm villages, several friendly local populations within a few days travel, and at least one hostile tribe of goblins, all of which will be briefed in more detail or need to be discovered in time in.
The city itself is almost two cities – the inner city is an architectural masterpiece, laid out in neat streets and market squares divided up by intricate series of arches. The whole of the inner city is made from marble that shades through the blues, surrounded by a high defensive wall of the same blue marble and a single main gate of oak and iron and bronze.
Surrounding this is a sprawl of houses that have sprung up around the outside of more conventional structure. Those outside of the current city walls tend to be small fortified towers as much as houses, whilst as new areas are walled into the city, smaller houses have filled in the gaps around the towers now inside the walls, creating a mess of streets, towers and market places.
Flowing past north to south about half a mile away on the west side of the city is a lazy old river, on which a series of docks and harbour buildings have been built as the farthest extension of the city itself. Still separate enough to be a village in its own right, Dockside has a constant flow of traffic between it and Waygate.
Waygate has a base 10 coinage.
1 Plate = 5 Stell
At start of campaign, 1 Groat = 2 Plate.
Average currency is the Gil, a wooden bead based currency which can pay for minor items. Any character which earns Stell (ie PCs) has enough Gil to get by and afford items – having beads with you to phys rep purchasing things would be good.
The average farmer will earn a Gil or two in a week (as final profit).
Characters start at rank 2.0 with 20 Stell, and 1 Stell per Character point gained by Monster Points, plus anything earnt from games (see debriefs).
Characters are one of these three and they are for the most part self explanatory. However just to be explicit:
Training
All characters have access to the standard Kingdom skills training, with the following exceptions:
What does it mean to play a Local Character?
Local characters are buried in the setting – they know local history and politics, know about the local pantheon and have access to local talent through lifetime networks. There are restrictions on divine roleplay of the characters.
Drawbacks:
Bonuses:
What does it mean to play a Kingdom of Exiles Citizen?
Kingdom Citizens have little initial knowledge about the city and area. They are mainly representatives of a Guild, charged with forwarding that Guild’s and the Kingdom’s aims in the city, and will be known as representatives of the new order, or are Non Guild Aligned yet have grown up within and consider themselves part of the Kingdom.
Requirements/Drawbacks:
Bonuses:
What does it mean to play a Wanderer Character?
Wanderers are characters drawn from other areas than the Kingdom. These include Barbarians, Druids, Amazons and Gypsys, and if wished conventional class/race sets without a Guild.
Requirements/Drawbacks:
Bonuses:
These are alternatives to being a Kingdom Guild member, not additions to.
The Militia
Soldiers working to keep the peace within the city walls (though the guild does not require its members to be warrior class).
Requirements: Keep the peace; Maintain Law and Order; Bring offenders to a Magistrate for sentencing; Aid any of the city of Waygate in need of it.
Bonuses: May use the title “Lawkeeper” (often just “Keeper”); Whenever a level of skill is learnt with a weapon, a level of Subdue skill is correspondingly learnt with that weapon for free.
Example: a PC learns Club Proficiency and immediately gains Club Subdue Proficiency for free; a late joining Lawkeeper learns just after joining the guild Greatsword Mastery and immediately gains Greatsword Subdue Proficiency for free.
The Champions
As the Gladiators Guild, however whilst guild requirements are the same, the guild is focused on training anyone seeking the skills necessary to fight a duel, as per the City Statutes.
The Defenders of the Kingdom
The Defenders are taking recruits from the Local area immediately and are present in full Guild strength.
These are the laws of the city, and are accepted throughout the local area, though once outside of villages directly run by the city there may be other local rules or exceptions.
Please note, all characters, as members of the new Patrol system, will at first be offered the heraldic support of the civic leader of the city, Lord Menhir, as a gesture of goodwill, however this will be dependent on the PCs actions as part of the patrol, which may cause that to be withdrawn.
Right to bear a single weapon
Citizens are entitled to bear a single weapon for self defense. This weapon must be small enough to be wielded in one hand, or in the case of staves, not carry any offensive adornment. The possession of a more significant weapon of war is allowed at the rate of one per household, however transportation must be by sealed chest or bundle except where authorised by a Lord of the City and where their emblem is clearly worn.
Right to wear armour not suited for war
Any citizen is entitled to carry and wear items of clothing that would qualify as armour, including leathers reinforced with metal pieces. The wearing of armour constructed solely for war is allowed only with the authorisation of a Lord of the City and where their emblem is clearly worn. This includes such armours as Banded, Chainmail and Plate.
Right to free worship
The Lords of the City do not see it their place to legislate the divine. Any citizen is entitled to worship the divinity of their choice. Any citizen is responsible for the consequences of openly worshipping a divine entity or path.
Avatars of divine beings are encouraged to consider that any significant conflict will doubtless slay worshippers of their own as well as those of other divinities, and are advised that where such conflict occurs, other divine powers may see fit to step in to protect their worshippers.
Respect for Heredity
In matters of law, all things being equal, those whose unbroken hereditary line (established by place of birth) can be traced the furthest back within the city walls will hold precedence. In addition, the officially recognised Hereditary Houses of Waygate have the right to empower any person. That person must wear their symbol openly and is then entitled to:
Bear arms and armour suitable for war.
Engage in civil business of the house, such as collection of taxes.
Abuse of a houses’ heraldry is punishable at the discretion of the house (usually a painful death). The lord of the house is responsible for those bearing their heraldry unless they can show due record of those they have empowered and that the persons involved were not so empowered.
Respect for Value
All citizens are expected to respect the value of objects, persons and ideas. All citizens are responsible for the consequences of disregarding this value to its owner(s).
Respect for the Militia
The Militia act to protect all citizens within the city from the breakdown of the City Statutes. Militia members are to be considered to speak with the voice of the Lords of the City, and are responsible to the Lords of the City for any misuse of this responsibility.
Right to Duel
Each citizen has the right to demand satisfaction by duel for any slight witnessed by a 3rd party, to be held before sundown on the next day. The challenged party has the right to set the Measure of the Duel – to demand a Duel to the Hand, Arm or Heart, hereby defined as to first strike (or agreement between combatants of who holds the highest skill); to yielding by one party (or inability to continue); or to death. The exception is where the slight is done by a physical blow, in which case the struck party can claim a duel and name the measure of the duel.
Right to Champion
Each citizen has the right to name a willing Champion to stand for themselves in any duel, as long as that Champion can attend within a reasonable time, or to make an open request for a Champion to stand forth for them. If no Champion is forthcoming, the citizen must stand to their own duel. A reasonable time is defined as any agreed period between the parties, or 24 hours, whichever is longer.
Breaches of these statutes are dealt with by the Militia, unless the involved can resolve it themselves to their satisfaction (which most commonly means an agreement as to what the loser of a duel will do to resolve it).
There are no individual deity temples within the city. Worship of the pantheon is done at the pantheon temples and within household shrines. Pantheon temples have places for offerings to each deity and it is common for offerings to be made to the nastier deities to stave off their attention, as much as they are to more benign ones to have their aid.
Mercy (Justice/Life/Light)
Mercy is the belief that there is always hope we will grow into a better person and to judge another as beyond hope is to betray that which is fundamentally true.
Joy (Life/Freedom/Air)
Joy is the belief that living is a wondrous thing and should be experienced to the full in all its glorious ways. The primary hold back on that is that you should not take your joy at the expense of others, but instead help them to share in your joy of life.
Wisdom (Freedom/Chaos/Fire)
Wisdom is the belief that we must learn about the world and grow through knowledge and understanding of the world around us. It is the pursuit of personal change through experience and the observation of the experiences of others.
Suffering (Chaos/Anarchy/Dark)
Suffering is the belief that we are changed and grow through the experience of suffering. If we do not suffer then we cannot improve. If we do not cause suffering in others, then they are cast upon the whim of fate as to whether they will ever become all they could be.
Despair (Anarchy/Death/Demonology)
Despair is the belief that all is lost, that ultimately everything is futile. The inevitability of death makes any attempt to draw anything out of life pointless and the argument that there are moral codes one should live by completely irrelevant. Why live in any particular way? Why have any rules at all? The only fundamental truth of the world is that life ends.
Vengeance (Might/Death/Earth)
Vengeance is simply the belief that any act against someone or something should be met with karmic retribution and that if you can take the retribution you earn you are entirely entitled to take what you want.
Strife (Order/Might/Necromancy)
Strife is the belief that we only grow through mastering obstacles and tests. We will be everything we can be when we have overcome all the obstacles which can almost break us, and then we must strive to master those which would normally break us. Ultimately we seek to master the ultimate test, Death itself.
Judgement (Order/Justice/Water)
Judgement is the belief that we are all bound together and must get along. To do so requires an organised approach to cooperatively survive and anyone who disrupts that must be considered in terms of their other merits and dealt with appropriately.
Rest (Balance/General)
Rest is the belief that at the core of the world, there is peace. The pursuit of peace is the ultimate goal and only by a deep understanding of the balances of the world can it be attained. Or by dying.