The Future of LGG5

[Dmitri]

World Overview

Same as before, what a human of Logres would know.

* * * * *

Celyddon: Celyddon is located in the northern portion of the Alba, beginning with the Wall and extending into the unknown north. It is the ancestral home of the Races of the Wild, the halflings and elves. The eastern portion is fertile forest and hilly plains, while the western area is mountainous.

Directly above the eastern Wall is the Celyddon Forest, from whence the region derives its name. Located in the forest is the city of Goddeu, a settlement mixed with elves and halflings, and to a lesser extent humans and a few gnomes and dwarves. On the eastern coast there are several towns/ports/villages. They are Inverness in the far north, Addlyn a little south of Inverness, and Eboracum just north of the Celyddon Woods. Another city is said to exist in the mountainous west, called Alclydd.

Another notable thing about Celyddon is the Isle of Skye, off the western coast, supposedly home to a powerful school of warrior of all stripes that is run by a woman named Scatha. She is said to be a warrior of tremendous renown and unsurpassed skill at arms. She is said to be a brutal teacher as well, with many tales of her students dying in training. However, all of this is hearsay and unsubstiated rumour.

The Far North: Little is known of the northern part of Celyddon, though it is rumoured to be the racial home of many of the monstrous humanoids. It is a cold area, rumored to have periods of perpetual night. It is also rumoured to be the home of the Queen of Air and Darkness, a feared and legendary "bogeywoman" of myth that is said to rule the area. These rumours are very garbled, as she is also associated with Eru to the west of Alba, and Llyonesse to the southwest of Logres. In any case, this is a mythical land of fear and evil.

Llyonesse: Llyonesse lies to the southwest of Logres, and is another region of mystery. It is bordered by Tintagel, and is said to be a realm of nightmare. The odd thing is that when one tries to sail around the horn of Llyonesse, Tintagel is located on a promontory, at the top of a cliff. But when one stands at the gate of Tintagel, Llyonesse lays visible to the southwest, stretching on seemingly endless in its expanse. This is another area that the Queen of Air and Darkness is said to reside (see above).

Eru: Little is known of Eru, for until recently there was no Alban outpost on its shores. 2 decades ago Belnar was founded on the northeastern coastline as a military garrison to explore the region. Reports back have been confused, ranging from Eru being an unihabited island of grasslands and hills, with a mountainous south, to Eru being a hellish nightmare of evil demons that masquarade as men and women and drink blood, to it being the real ancestral home of the Races of Stone and Races of the Wild, with powerful tribes and examples of all of these peoples. The truth is unknown at this time.

[Tomas]

dmitri,

A few questions to help with character selection and development

What is the state of arcane magic? How widespread is its use? Are "normal" people exposed to it regularly? etc...

What is the theology of the human region? As a people are the human strongly attached to their religion, ie is "everything" attributed to the gods?

Please expound as you see fit. I can always ask more questions.

Tom

[Dmitri]

Alright, here goes - again, this is for Logres, if you need other areas or races, let me know.

Arcane Magic: Arcane magic is fairly common in Alba, though not in extremely flashy ways. Cities are often lit by continual flame lamps (at least in the decent parts), even some towns have these devices. Most warbands have at least one arcane caster in them, for support fire and protective magics. Generally the only branches of magic that are frowned upon strongly are necromancy and divination. Necromancy obviously is seen as a perversion of nature, and divination is just taboo to many (though not all), and this is more true in the rural areas than in the urban ones. Same with necromancy, though that is almost universally disliked. Enchantment sometimes gets a bad rap, as it is often associated with various mythical creatures from legend that would control people mentally.

Normal people are more accustomed to adepts than they are to full fledged wizards, sorcerers, warmages, warlocks and the like. Many adepts are refered to as "hedge wizards", though its not a hard and fast title. Magical power is not looked at as evil for the most part, especially if it requires study - the sorcerer and warlock are generally looked at with a little wariness, though not hostility. The Races of Men tend to judge other men on their actions - how power is used, not the source of the power. THis also is not a hard and fast rule, but a generality.

There are actually several universities in Alba, one of which is in Lindisfane, a sort of temple/monestary/university complex that houses the Unseen University, a branch of the complex that deals with arcane magic. The other major place to study magic would be in Caer Lindon, at the Mage's Guild-run college, the Emrys Academy.

Divine Magic and Divinity: Religion is an important part of the life of people the common and rural folk of Alba. It becomes less crucial in the larger towns and cities, though lip service is still paid to the gods.

Example gods:
Gofannon, Lord of the Forge
Manawydon ap Llyr of the Sea
Arianhrod (Rhiannon)of the Headlands
Nudd of the Night
Lludd Llaw Eraint (Llew of the Long Hand, ie Sun)
Arawn (Afterlife)
Cernunnos, the Horned One, sometimes called the King Stag
Ceridwen, Lady of the Sky (moon goddess)
the Morrigan, the Battle Crow (goddess of war)
and others... (gods of the DnD pantheons will be replaced, PM with portfolio for a suitable name, or give me a suggestion)

"Everything" is attributed to the gods, to a point. A typical blacksmith will offer a quick thanks and drink offering )splash of ale) to Gofannon every morning when he begins work and every evening as he finishes. But this is more of a "good-luck charm" than anything else. There are no sabbath days to speak of, and a few religious festivals and holy days throughout the year. The prominent ones are as follows:

Imbolc (Feb1) - fire and weather prediction
Beltaine (May1) - life and fertility
Lughnasadh (Aug1) - harvest and first-fruits
Samhain (Nov1) - New Year, death and end of harvest

Each solstice and equinox is celebrated as well, though these are more cultural/secular festivals and less of a religious holiday.

It is important to note - all of the gods have priests, though not all priests are not clerics. Many priests have other jobs as well, since their is not really a concept of an organized congregation. Most clerics are some type crusader or evangelist, and many of them are actually employed directly by the King to care for the religious needs of the realm. Thus many clerics travel frequently, and make good adventurers.

No organized druid college is known. They haven't been common or seen in anyones memory. What few people do know of are generally hermits living well away from civilization, as druids are subject to restrictive legislation from the King.

"Bards" are common in Alba, but not the Bard of the PHB. Most of the "bards" that the people are familiar with are actually nothing more than experts or adepts who are able to sing and tell stories. The trained bard of the PHB is in a similar situation as the Druid above, restricted by the government.

These restrictions are old - they have existed for enough generations that people take them for granted and don't really find the prohibition odd. Anyone playing either class PM me for more details that you would know specific to your character.

[Tomas]

Thanks dmitri. That is a lot of help.

Tomas

[Olrac]

flase peace bond
Transmutation - assasin1, blackguard1, wiz/sorc1, bard1

Functions exactly like peacebond, except that at the time of casting you designate one person, yourself or someone else, who can draw the weapon freely. If the weapon is replaced during the duration after being draawn, the spell effect is not renewed.

THIS SPELL IS AN ILLUSION, sorry that really bugged me. my favorite school is illusion, and that fit the bill. i am guessing rincewind also notice this as well.

well till we get a sub board i wanna say that i plan to play a rouge who specializes in traps, making and disabling. if you played with me you should know how good my chars end up being in combat.

soo if anyone else wants to play a rogue go for it, i have released you form having to search and disable traps. there are tons of other kinda of rouges ya can play. maybe even compitant rouge.


1. What is the motivation of your character?
Discovery, money for traps

2. What is one thing you'd most like to do in this campaign?
make the craft skill usefull.

3. Put the following things into order for how important you rate them...

see how many times WE can make Dimiti's head hit the desk.
problem solving
role playing ( see how long that last)
advancing classes
combat

4. What role do you see your character filling in the group?
*chukle* Carlo make a useful char, LOL

5. If you could have any rule enforced, from spell components to encumbrance to terrain features, what would it be? Same question, but the flip side... If you could throw out any one rule, what would it be?

well there is rules lawering vs time. saying every night i am working on something, saying every night i am working on something , saying every night i am working on something

. or i got find bats to get there dung play with it and make little balls out of them. . .

[Olrac]

sine i haven't posted in a while here we go. and came we have a sub board to post chars then.

Lint Dryer a young 17 year old, was raised in a family of craftsmen. His father an carpenter, uncle a wagon maker, cousin a black smith. so on so on. young lint loved to make things every since he was young. He would help his dad bang nail at the age of 5 and loved every moment. when he was 15 he ran away to the big city to put his talent to use when he found him self with a shady bunch of people who train to be a even better tradesmen, and found this love of his life, taps. Persuaded by his friend he unknowing started doing burglary(break into houses and rob) runs with his new friends.

A year past when he started to realize what he was really doing was wrong, he decided to stop and go back home on his last burglary. Unfortunately the cop where tipped and they where all caught. A month past till they where released, their leader had money tucked away encase of an event like this he later found out.

After that scare he went back home, to see his family again. spending close to a year in his little village, he once again craved to go into the Big city again. (hmm the rest is still in the air but this is what i got at the moment) He hear new that someone form his Clan was going to the city he under and convinced (nick char) to let lint follow (nick's char).

[grond]

I only just caught the bit about the scimitar. A rapier does not benefit from power attack, at all. The scimitar can. Therefore, a scimitar has a critical threat rating and can benefit from an additional modifier (also multiplied in the critical). The rapier can be effectively wielded by a high dex character, and has a good chance for the crit. That's the real difference. So, mechanically, no it shouldn't be given finesse. Power attack weapons and finesse weapons have almost none in common.

Logic wise, a scimitar is a heavier slashing blade, most finesse weapons can be managed almost solely with the wrist. The scimitar, like a lot of straight swords, requires a little bit of muscle to control it well, while a rapier is a reasonable sturdy flexible spin. A much higher percentage of its weight is in the handle, meaning controlling requires much more precision and much less force, thus dex, instead of strength.

Character- Brand Dryer, lint's more serious older cousin, maybe.
1. What is the motivation of your character? To restore honor and greatness to his family's name, I think.
2. What is one thing you'd most like to do in this campaign? Explore and discover, whatever trouble that may put us in.
3. Put the following things into order for how important you rate them...

3-4 Role playing and NPC interaction
5 Puzzle Solving
1 Character Advancement (both with XP, wealth,and character importance within the world)
3-4 Combat
2 Unraveling the mystery/plot development/storytelling
(note, all have their places and are enjoyable, sorting was not easy)
4. What role do you see your character filling in the group? Brand is a warrior, he will be a mainline fighter (big weapon, big armor) with marginal social skills

5. If you could have any rule enforced, from spell components to encumbrance to terrain features, what would it be? Same question, but the flip side... If you could throw out any one rule, what would it be? Enforce traveling impediments of terrain features (plus half damage on weapons, even though we can't find it in the books).

[grond]

Brand Dryer is a hearty young man with a noble spirit and a vision of greatness. Born in more than common circumstances, he grew up hearing his grand father jabbering about how great the old Dryer clan used to be, before it turned into a bunch of petty laborers. Not skilled in crafts as his cousins were, Brand learned battle instead . . . Rest pending discussion with DM.

[Rincewind]

Well, I'm going to post some more complete info on Professor Freeze here. I've already messaged Dmitri a skeleton outline, but I've been fleshing him out more this morning on the long drive.

Jonathon Frizz was born into a small, struggling family in Lindisfane. His father prized knowledge, and he began to study the rudiments of magic at an early age. His favorite season was always the winter, and he enjoyed learning about cold magics. His studies earned him admission to Unseen University at a young age on a partial scholarship, so he was generally working part-time jobs during school to pay for tuition. One day while he was working at the school library, he received news that there had been a fire at his house. When he returned home, he found that his parents and only sibling, his sister, had died in the blaze. The cause of the fire was and is unknown.

This caused a small, cold blue flame to burn in his heart, a spark of hatred towards fires and heat. He continued his studies with renewed vigor and eventually managed to graduate three years early, despite working even harder out of the classroom to pay for tuition. He became a student teacher while working on his master's, and then doctorate, degrees in Magical Theory and Application.

He is currently 31 years old, and his hair and goatee have turned prematurely white. He is the Unseen University's teacher for higher-level classes in cold magics and extraplanar theory- his favorite class is Sub-Freezing Magical Theory and Pan-Planar Application. However, he is only truly a good teacher if a student is intelligent, studious, and interested in the subject- to those student, he freely gives of his own time to help them understand the classes, most of which are taught with books he laboriously wrote "because all the others are rubbish." He generally speaks with an upper class educated accent, although in times of stress can revert to his original lower class one. Mentioning this is generally considered unwise.

He is generally known to his students as "Professor Freeze," due to his subject matter of choice. He has a weasel familiar which, true to form, he has never bothered to name. Students have taken to referring to it as "Wheezy" because of the wheezing laugh it makes after he disciplines bad students. His teaching style would be remarked by any cross-dimensional observers as similar to that of Severus Snape- although he is quite intelligent, actually imparting that knowledge to any but the brightest and careful students tends to be difficult.

To more careless, inattentive students he is generally regarded as the worst possible teacher. He has a reputation for playing tricks on students who fall asleep in class, are tardy, or forget their homework. Most recently, he lost his temper at a chronically sleeping student, Anthony "Goldilocks" Baldwin, and froze his head to the desk by his hair. John woke immediately and tried to pull his head free, which was partly successful- he pulled his head away, but left his hair on the desk. "Baldy" Baldwin's parents complained to the school, and Professor Frizz has been put on extended sabbatical.

Dr. Freeze is currently on a worldwide quest for knowledge and power, mastery of the arcane arts and experience with planar boundaries and creatures. He has accidentally met the Dryers and has some respect for their skill in areas in which he is lacking.

[Dmitri]

Just to clarify something here, False Peacebond is a Transmutation spell and not Illusion, because it DOES actually peacebond the weapon in question, but it leaves one person of the casters choosing who can retrieve it. There is no illusion - if you are not the chosen one, you can't draw the weapon.

[Rincewind]

Hopefully the roads'll be clear by a bit before 4 on Saturday- we'll see, I guess! It looks like they might be a bit snowy by the weather report, but not too bad. Like I said, we'll see.

[Dmitri]

And I will try to get everyone a copy of the World Overview that is posted here in hardcopy on Saturday assuming it doesnt snow like all hell...

[Tomas]

Once there is a character thread has been created and the characters have met each other I will post more.

Paden Heardwulf is a warrior cleric of Llew Llaw Gyffes. He is leading a small pilgrimage to Aquae Sulis

Tom

[grond]

OK, correction, the rapier, by core rules, can benefit from power attack, but cannot be wielded 2 handed, that is why it is finessable, while the scimitar is not. The scimitar can be used 2 handed adding 1.5 x strength modifier to the damage roll and doubling all power attack bonuses. Just needed to correct my false observations.