Roleplay someone else's character

[Patrick]

A point, which has turned up in our discussions in the guild leader forum was that while people do strive to improve in poetry or storytelling, as it is much easier to give advice there, it's not so much a case for roleplaying. As it was put, often people play characters they are familiar with, and feel comfortable playing, yet it would be really interesting to see how they played a character they are in no way familiar with.

 

Therefore I propose an activity. I'd create a roleplaying setting, those interested in taking part would sign up and create a character they'd normally feel comfortable playing, and then I'd take all of the characters created and redistribute them randomly (or not).

 

It's still too close to when I woke up for me to think up a setting, so I'll do that later, but feel free to already show interest in the activity.

[Katzaniel]

* interest *

 

Question, though... is this a long-term committment, or do you think we'll go for a few posts each and then try to end it? (Or just play it out and see how long interest lasts, I suppose...)

[Patrick]

I think that playing it until interest/free time lasts, or the story reaches a good conclusion would be the best.

[Appy]

*shows interest as well, but holds a "get out of jail for free"-card in her hands because there's no telling when her muse'll strike*

[Zadown]

Sounds ... intriguing. I'm not sure if I'm more interested in the idea of watching somebody else to try to play a character I've generated or my own posts, but either way count me in. It's about time I'd write something.

[Sweetcherrie]

I'm in

[Patrick]

Sorry for not having gotten this setting done earlier, but a friend is staying at my place, so I don't have much time during my nights, and I didn't manage to sneak in enough time at work the past few days. I might be doing this in several segments, all depending on how much I actually have to work today.

 

Geography

 

The island of Taneros had long been the cradle of civilisations. At first glance at a map, one could call the island shaped like a rough egg, but upon closer examination, the many inlets, peninsulas and small islands dotting the coast give the island a slighty different, much more detailed shape. Fourteen hundred miles across at its least and twenty three hundred at its most, Taneros is by far the largest landmass throughout the treacherous western seas.

 

Dominating the Tanerian landscape, and visible even hundreds of miles away in good weather are the southern mountains, named Draelian Mountains after the long dead Emperor, Hayan Drael. The lower slopes of the mountains are covered by vast woodlands, stretching dozens of miles after the foothills. Even the lowest peaks of the mountains are well covered by snow, and the highest peaks, measuring more than forty thousand feet in hight are, most of the time, covered in a shroud of cloud.

 

Aside from some smaller hills in the west of Taneros, the rest of the geography of the island was mostly shaped by its three great rivers, who cover the land with fertile soil each year when the snows melt. Two of the great rivers are born from the melting snow of the Draelian mountains, commencing as small streams, but rapidly growing into the fast flowing rivers they are in the foothills, and lazy, meandering on the vast plains. Jila, the longer of these two, springs from the ground in the eastern confines of the mountains and snakes northwest, cutting through the great southern forests. Weson is born from the melting tip of two joining glaciers in the center of the mountain range and cuts due west, before turning towards the north. It's in a shallow depression in the center of the island, that the two rivers meet, forming a large lake. Renamed Jison, the flow of water, which leaves the lake towards the east, snakes through many turns towards the east, before finally reaching the vast seas. The third river, and surprisingly the one with the most flow of water, due to having the most precipitation along its course is the Assi, commencing its long journey in the western hills and travelling almost due northeast.

[Gyrfalcon]

I'm also in.

 

One question - what sort of world is this? High fantasy? Victorian steampunk? modern day/alternate modern day?

[Patrick]

I'd say classic fantasy. So magic does exist, but isn't as commonplace as in some settings. The usual suspects (dwarves, orcs, elves, halflings, humans, etc...) exist, along with other fantasy beasts/monsters. The setting isn't an already existing one and I'm not one to define everything inside it, so if you have anything to suggest, a race/creature you think could/should exist, I'm open to suggestions.

 

History (part 1)

 

Centuries ago, the island of Taneros was still part of the Draelian Empire, but slowly, with the passing of time, and due to the great distance from the mainland, the Imperial rule got weaker and weaker, until the Empire reigned only in name. It was during the reign of Hayan Drael, close to four hundred years ago, that the Empire reasserted its control over the island bringing a flourishing economy and culture to the previously mostly military outposts on the island. The main city during these times was Nova Dralia, situated where the Weson reached the central lake. As the seat of the Imperial governor it was the city, which saw the most development during these years, bringing a life style very much like that on the mainland Imperial cities.

 

All changed after Hayan Drael death. His son, a weakhanded ruler, did not enjoy the respect and loyalty his father had commanded. It was during his rule, that Pirates, striking from small archipelagos along the shipping routes in the ocean between the mainland and Taneros swooped down on shipping convoys, and even attacked military ships. Cut off from the mainland, the Imperial influence on Taneros waned, and after two dozen years, the growing sentiment of independence from the distant Imperial Court gathered strength, and soon, Taneros declared its independence. The by then ruler of the Empire, Hayan Drael's grandson, though the Empire did not need Taneros, could not allow the island to gain its independence, for then other Imperial provinces could have gotten similar ideas.

 

The Imperial Army, plagued during the sea voyage by the ever strengthening pirates arrived greatly weakend on Taneros, but they still outmatched the independentists, both numerically and with their superior equipement. But they were on unfamiliar ground, and using the tactic of burning down the ground through which the Imperials had to travel, the rebels managed to slow their advance sufficiently, until they had enough military prowess to defeat them. The surrender of the Imperial forces effectively meant independence for Taneros. Nova Dralia was renamed to Novalia and new cities sprung up, the two most prominent being Askal, along the Assi, and Lostiron along the Jison. It was during this period that elves arrived from the north, settling in the woodland areas, and dwarves started appearing in the mountains.

 

OOC: I'll try finishing this in the afternoon, but I've got to work now...

[Mardrax]

I'll toss in my participation too

[Sweetcherrie]

are we expected to post characters already?

[Patrick]

Not yet.

 

I'm still working on the setting. History part 2 should be following tonight if all goes well, and then I'll do a bit about religion and culture.

[Patrick]

History (part 2)

 

With the influx of dwarves and elves, came other creatures. After the relaxation and then full abandon of the control of the coastlands by the Imperial Army, barbarian tribes, orcs and other foul creatures also started appearing on Taneros. At first, the different races coexisted peacefully, but then a war broke out between one of the barbarian tribes and the previously peaceful elves, and due to the indecision of the mostly human cities, of whom to support in the war, a great rift formed between the two people, and the vast majority of elves left the great human cities and founded a town (Leya) and settlements of their own in the forests along the Assi.

 

The dwarves, true to their nature, settled down inside the mountains where they delved wide and deep creating underground cities, mining rich mineral veins. Their greatest city, Dwimmerweld, once housed more than fifty thousand dwarves, but as the mines moved further and further away, the population slowly started to lessen, and nowadays barely numbers twenty thousand, leaving whole districts of the city empty.

 

For the humans and their mostly sea trade with the mainland, the pirates became an ever growing concern, until finally forty years ago, the three ruling families of the three great human cities allied together and through their combined military strength, managed to clear the coastline of pirate bases, though on the high seas the problem remained the same. Less defended while the war against the pirates lasted, some human settlements among the foothills of the southern mountains were pillaged by orcs, who in some cases left no survivors and burnt the villages down.

 

The fragile alliance between the three families still holds to this day, but tensions have been rising and if one were to believe the rumours circulating among the cities, a split between them might be close, which, along with the amassing of an orcish army among the mountains, and the relative passivity of the dwarves towards the humans, is a cause for concern among the population.

[Patrick]

Culture/Religion

 

The elves live in a mostly woodland culture, ruled by their king and queen. They don't have any organised religion, but almost all share a profound love for nature and all of its children.

 

The dwarves of Taneros have united under the belief in a single god, the god of mountains and fire, Montas. Each dwarven city has a lord of its own, and of these lords one is elected to head their council every twelve years.

 

The humans follow many different beliefs and generally the different religions do accept each other, though occasional flare-ups do happen. Three great families rule each one of the big human cities and control some settlements around them, but other than that the lands the humans inhabit are very fractured and not united under any single ruler. Another human city, which deserves mention is the eastern coastal port of Jara, which is, when ships do get through, the island's link with the outside world.

[Patrick]

I'll leave it at that with the information so far, don't want to overload anyone with it. If anything more is needed I can make it by request or the world can be filled in as it is played. Characters can already be made, but if anyone is still interested you can still sign up.

 

Sign upees so far:

 

Katzaniel

Appy

Zadown

Sweetcherrie

Gyrfalcon

Mardrax

[Patrick]

*bump*

Anyone actually still interested in this?

[Mardrax]

*hops up and down* yepyep

[Gyrfalcon]

Very interested, but I just came back from my trip. I'll start working on a character soon!

[Appy]

I might need some help with working on a character here.. might if I poke you in chat Patrick, now that you're back?

 

I work better when people tell me things, and not when I have to read up on it

[Sweetcherrie]

uhuh am still there as well for this one

[Zadown]

Just one question - what is the scenario going to be like?

[Patrick]

Arf...sorry for the delay...*mumbles about real life and its nasty surprises*

 

Now to get back to Z's question. I do not have much of the scenario worked out, I always felt better at letting my games run freely. Of course I have a beginning to the story mostly worked out and the general line along which I'd like to see events progress, but if due to the way characters act ingame the plot diverges I won't force it back onto track using DM powers.

 

Otherwise the scenario shall have both combat and character interaction in it, in what I've found to be a healthy mix in freeform games.

[Patrick]

In reply to Mardrax's question in IRC:

 

I'd like characters PM'd to me (so that details, which shouldn't be revealed in the beginning aren't), afterwards I shall distribute them, and information available to other players shall be posted about the characters.

[Savage Dragon]

**stumbles in late** interesting.... I'll give it a shot

 

**stumbles back out in search of character**