I have yet to post a comprehensive entry about my system and setting. In the meantime, let me answer some questions.
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| Klaus Pillon |
1) What class knows the most martial arts? Are they
real martial arts like kung fu, or made up ones like krav maga?
There are no classes in
Amongst the Ruins, but if you are keen on delivering devastating melee blows,
you should choose Brutality as your Nature and negotiate some cool potentials
to unlock with your DM. With time, you could even develop your own melee style!
2) Can I start out having already made a deal with the
devil or do I have to do that in game?
There is no devil to speak of,
but if you insist on surrendering your soul to a superior power, you can choose
Witchcraft as your Nature or Tendency and join the campaign as a Strega. Their
description reads as follows: "The soul of the world suffers beyond
comprehension. Wield its pain and preach its agony." As a Strega, you are
inextricably linked to the Nightmare. It will offer you power in many forms,
and it will use your body and soul to invade this world, eroding your sense of
self in the process. Accept its offer and the Ruin will consume you whole...
eventually. In the meantime, the world is your playground.
3) Do you want me to write an 8-page backstory? Can I
write an 8-page backstory, if I want to? If I write something down in it like
I'm the timelost princess of the brass city and the daughter of the sun and I
commanded legions in the Hell War but was betrayed by my father's vizier but I
don't know that, or that I'm elf conan and cooler than everyone else, will that
be true?
About the
backstory: by all means, go ahead, as long as it is supervised by me. I like
players that engage with the world and try to fit their characters in it. Your
questions and doubts will help me further develop the intricate relationships
between Gaúl and the Colonies, as well as better comprehend the dormant
mysteries of the Wild. If you want to be a timelost whatever, I think we can
make that work somehow, but you'll have to tone the epicness down a notch,
since the tone of the game is more on the gritty, survive-at-all-costs side.
You can have a blind, decrepit dog who never seems to get older as a companion,
though!
4) If I eat someone's heart, will I gain their powers?
What about their brain?
Many of a
Ferox's powers become increasingly more powerful and versatile as you devour
other creatures' hearts and flesh. Otherwise, simply treat yourself to a wondrous
feast and enjoy!
5) These classes are boring, can I be one from
somewhere else? What about from a different system entirely?
The six
initial options (Brutality, Discretion, Erudition, Hunt, Leadership and Witchcraft)
should offer plenty of room to develop (almost) any desired playstyle, so if
you have a character concept in mind, I can help you find your way. If your
suggestions are too tone-breaking, I'm afraid you'll have to find another game
that suits your needs :(
6) If I make a sword, which one of us gets to name it?
Probably me. Or maybe you.
Swords are a symbol of law and civilization. They can only be wielded by
members of La Castra, and their different sizes, shapes and types determine
your position within their ranks. A Lictor, for example, wields a hand-and-a-half
sword, while a Carnifex carries an executioner sword and a Iudex wears a
knightly sword and a war gavel. As a result, swordsmithing is highly supervised
and has a ritualistic and solemn air to it. If you ever merit the bestowal of a
sword, please be respectful of naming tradition (or not, break it and make
history!).
7) Am I allowed to kill the other player characters?
What would I have to do to be allowed to? Do I win if I kill them all?
Actually, how do I win in general?
No, you are not. If you want
to enact the murderous culmination of an emotional crescendo or a vaguely
foretold betrayal, everyone involved must agree to it and, above all, EVERYONE
involved must be at least ok with the possibility that a PC dies, including
theirs. I'm all for some good and intense roleplaying, but only as long as
everyone else is on board. About the winning... you win when you feel you are
winning. This isn't a videogame with a definite ending, so I'd say it depends
more on the short and long term goals that you set for yourself and those that
are derived from the campaign itself.
8) What language stands in for 'Common'? Or what are
we all talking to each other in? Like the party, mostly,
but also everyone else?
I'd say Gaulish, or Urban as mostly everyone
knows it. The language of the city is the most commonly known language and it
is the one used in the relationships between Gaúl and the colonies. Some
colonies have developed their own dialects, and some of them are so far removed
that they could even be considered languages in themselves, but unless you are
a scholar or a Lex, or chose Erudition as your Nature/Tendency, I don't think
it's going to make much of a difference.
Some trades an
occupations, however, have developed their own cants. The Inquisitorial Branch
of La Castra, highly diminished after the Castra Vencida Accords, speaks the
Luminous, a convoluted maze of circumlocutions in which no lies can be told and
no truth remains untold (or so they claim...). The Fishwives, on the other
hand, speak an utterly indecipherable mixture of fish names, price lists, water
types and fish parts to convey secret messages to their members in public (it
is an inside joke of theirs to simply speak gibberish to boggle down the minds
of those who listen).
9) How do I learn how to talk to rocks? No not once a
day just, like, normally?
I'm afraid
rocks are simply rocks in this setting, but if you are an Andanti you can learn
to read, smell or hear the psychic impressions left on a rock used as a murder
weapon or interrogate a rock in the middle of a clearing to see whether it
knows anything about the people you are chasing. In the first case, the rock
may demand more blood to answer your questions, but that is merely an echo of
the murderous impetus imprinted on the stone... or is it?
If you spend
enough time in the Wild or find an experienced Trailblazer willing to teach
you, you may be able to learn the Verdant Tongue, which allows you to interpret
the overwhelming stimuli of the forest and break it down into comprehensible
bits of information. This is abstracted as a conversation, an exchange between
the hunter and the Wild, but it is actually happening all in your head... or is
it?
10) Which kinds of wizards get to serve kings and live
in towers and shit and which ones are run out of town or stoned to death in the
streets? Can I be both? At the same time?
It all
depends on the when and where, really. If you have been born within a Hierarch
family and your powers prove to be useful, you may be treated as a necessary
evil, depending on the degree of your usefulness and the nature of your powers.
Andanti tend to enjoy a higher status than the rest, as they are capable of
experiencing and manipulating other people's emotions or even project their
own, and as such they make excellent negotiators and lie detectors. Given their
ability to shape and twist shadows and their dominion over the Veil, Umbra are
highly sought after when it comes to spying and infiltration. As a result of
their bestial nature and their enigmatic link with the Wild, Ferox born within
the walls of Gaúl usually end up as exiles in the Roots. There are rumours,
however, of communities beyond the walls led by Ferox that obey neither La
Castra nor the rule of man.
Regardless of the nature of your corruption, you can always join the
Trailblazers and live your life as a glorified courier running errands in the
Wilds for a city that neither knows nor cares about you. Your life will be
short and brutal, but at least no one will try to murder you in your sleep out
of fear or ignorance when, as a Cinis, you conjure up a pillar of flame or make
of the forest your offering to the Undying Fire.
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| Klaus Pillon |
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