Dice A Time of Monsters - OOC

[Random Word]

Grey Apologies I haven't cleaned up my character into a finished product. In trying to convert the outline into prose, I keep bouncing off things like not knowing what culture to belong to, how to choose a name (should we be germanic? I think the game is set in the fantasy HRE, so probably a germanic name? I also see a lot of french names thrown around, though), which city if any plays the role of Paris or Vienna (city of coffee houses, enlightenment, erudition), what minor noble family (I assume minor, because it doesn't seem we have a way to invest in major in character creation) my character should descend from.

Mechanically and in broad outline my character is, I think, complete. I can clean up the formatting to look pretty like Meredith, and I can convert the history to prose if I stay very vague about everything I don't know about the world.

 

[Grey]

Grey Apologies I haven't cleaned up my character into a finished product. In trying to convert the outline into prose, I keep bouncing off things like not knowing what culture to belong to, how to choose a name (should we be germanic? I think the game is set in the fantasy HRE, so probably a germanic name? I also see a lot of french names thrown around, though), which city if any plays the role of Paris or Vienna (city of coffee houses, enlightenment, erudition), what minor noble family (I assume minor, because it doesn't seem we have a way to invest in major in character creation) my character should descend from.

Mechanically and in broad outline my character is, I think, complete. I can clean up the formatting to look pretty like Meredith, and I can convert the history to prose if I stay very vague about everything I don't know about the world.

Specific questions will help me help you, so ask any you have. To help with what's here, though:

I'd suggest based on the outline going with a cadet house of Maerlyn, so a French-ish name. I'm open to them being from the main house, honestly.
Maerlyn have a long reputation for erudition and piety, juxtaposed with often being on the wrong side of the Church throughout their history. They control a hilly southern province with Gatewood on one side and the Sleeping Sea to the south, and Blackwood on their northwest border. Their land isn't great for farming so they've historically relied on fishing, learning, and highly specialised refined exports, and their paper mills. They fostered the inventor of the printing press.

The city of Illim, in the west, is one of the two most Paris/Vienna-like cities in the setting right now. It's near the mouth of the Erbor river, the main seaport of the Empire and the biggest trading hub as it sits at the perfect intersection of sea lanes, river travel, and controls the border with a valuable trading partner. It's also been the site of a generational conflict between two houses, Thiah and Videme, who have heavily invested in merchant guilds as a kind of proxy for direct conflict so the city has a bustling black market and surfeit of coffee houses (it's the first place any coffee entering the Empire lands).

 

[Random Word]

Perfect, thank you! Where does our game begin, and what relation does it have, if any to Illim? How far away is it? I presume the Stonecutters have a presence here, as Meredith's character is also assocaited with them.

 

[Grey]

I plan to start each person's pact scene in their last known location, and it looks like the game will start in and around Illim because Bone2Pick's character is from a closeby town, so if your character is in Illim Meredith's character might likewise be for convenience.

We'll likely rove around the country a lot pursuing various plans and evading authorities. Perhaps, after a point, some of the indirect consquences of your powers, too.

 

[Random Word]

Ah, one more question about languages. What are the languages of erudition? The world equivalents of French, Latin, Italian, Greek, whatever's in vogue for scholars of the day? I assume the native tongue of the Maerlyn is one of them.

 

[Grey]

You'll want Kelene for your native tongue, which is spoken through the Empire in various dialects.
Old Imperial is the equivalent to Latin, inherited from a long lost precusor Empire. Most existing writing is in this language.
High Hrothgaard would be a trendy foreign language to know. Kaeri would be very in-vogue for Humanists since a lot of Humanist philosophical terms don't yet have solid translations (think about how often there's some fuckery around translating German philosophers to English).

 

[Grey]

Thinking on Random Word 's helpful probability calculations, I should discuss my philosophy on mechanical engagement.

Assume your character has a Skill at Rank 3, they have all the time they need to complete a task, the proper tools, and no opposition.
We can generally say they just succeed. There's no interesting outcome to rolling here. necessarily.
Now let's say there's time pressure; you're picking a lock, and you know both that a patrolling guard is due in minutes and that others in the building are on less predictable schedules.
In this case I'd call for a roll, but what does failure mean? Making you fail and try again isn't interesting. So if you fail, you still pick the lock but you do so right as you're discovered.
Similarly failure in other situations might just mean you take a long time to complete the task, with knock-on consequences. Or you break a tool while you succeed. Or you leave evidence.

We might also want to roll where failure doesn't necessarily have ramifications on the plot, the flow of a scene, whether you need to find another route to a goal - maybe you'll want to explore why your character failed at something they're usually good. We've all been there, fucking up something we do regularly, and then stewing on what went wrong, what else is causing us stress to throw off our game, and maybe being shitty to people or ourselves about it.

If you've ever played Disco Elysium, one of the reasons I love that game so much is it's on the same wavelength as me in terms of using failure.
Also thematic and aesthetic sensibilities, but obviously it's better written the anything you'll get out of me.

 

[Random Word]

Grey I think everything is set if you want to give it a once-over. I could add more little details here and there, but I think it easy enough to expand on history in play. The flavour is there. Sorry about all the delays for such a small amount of work. I think the character's really been ready for ages. I hope we weren't holding off while I found time to write that little bit of prose.

 

[Grey]

All good, didn't realize you'd been making updates. I've just been swamped at work but I've got a couple of days off now so you and Mere will get into posts soon.
Do you have a preference for patron solidified? I can see a few that would apply.
I'd also appreciate some narrative context for the Familiarities just to make their use context clear but it's not a significant or pressing thing.

 

[Random Word]

Of course. The Nobility one falls out of the family name. The Knowledges are whatever one can get access to studying with lodges, mystery cults, and secret societies in Illim. The Stonecutters seemed a prime candidate, especially more esoteric lodges within their ranks. I don't really know the details of the secret societies, or how much a person can really learn of magic or alchemy if they're smart, reasonably well resourced, and get themselves involved with the right people, but I assumed it was sufficient for a Familiarity. I thought of Mathematics instead of Alchemy, that one was a toss-up.

 

[Random Word]

All good, didn't realize you'd been making updates. I've just been swamped at work but I've got a couple of days off now so you and Mere will get into posts soon.
Do you have a preference for patron solidified? I can see a few that would apply.
I'd also appreciate some narrative context for the Familiarities just to make their use context clear but it's not a significant or pressing thing.

I'm open to suggestions on patrons.

 

[Grey]

I'm open to suggestions on patrons.

Any of the Nightmares would take an especial interest. Margenta and Ebroad in particular, The Unspeakable for the nuclear option.
Tentham may see potential in him. I don't think any Scourges or Avengers would necesarily apply. Iorantus, whose purview includes lust for knowledge, would be a fun outlier.

 

[Random Word]

What do familiarities do mechanically? Can one have a social familiarity with a language skill? Would it do anything?

 

[Grey]

Mechanically, you choose a social context and tag three skills. When you use any of those skills in the relevant context, get a bonus die.
For example: Familiarity - Kelene Nobility with Mingling, Persuasion, and Subterfuge tagged would mean any time you use those skills in a social interaction with other nobles, you get a bonus die.
They're meant to reflect background and especially practised competencies.
I'm not sure how best a Language could be used there, since they're mostly passive. Maybe I'd rule a difficulty reduction to reflect especially deft use of language?

Other advantages work similarly. Training reflects fighting style, Knowledge is for education.
No one is required to take a Training and can have an extra Familiarity or Knowledge, if they're not inclined to martial pursuits.
You can also expand Advantages over time by adding Skills to them for 2XP each.

 

[Random Word]

Any of the Nightmares would take an especial interest. Margenta and Ebroad in particular, The Unspeakable for the nuclear option.
Tentham may see potential in him. I don't think any Scourges or Avengers would necesarily apply. Iorantus, whose purview includes lust for knowledge, would be a fun outlier.

I remember you had a detailed list of patrons somewhere, but I can't seem to find it in Lore or Characters. Where does it live?

I'm perfectly fine with you choosing the most appropriate.

He's a somewhat slow-witted but deep thinking gentle giant, but when roused has a terrible anger at perceived backwardness, willful ignorance, selfish deception, iniquity, and traditional privilege at the expense of the common good. French Revolution Gnostic Mystery Cult of Reason. Very 'The Truth will set us free', 'The chains of the ancien regime pale by comparison to the chain of lies by which the church blinds the citizen to the true nature of reality and their souls', and various other beliefs depending on what truths and 'truths' of the world the societies he has joined have uncovered. Maybe, "All citizens are not merely equal in the eyes of God, they are Gods themselves, and magic is their birthright." Depends on how this world works, and what its mystics think they've uncovered, and how correlated those are.

 

[Grey]

Hang on lemme put the patron master list in the Lore thread.
I'll cut the ones that are unlikely to choose anyone of our motley crew but might be backing eventual antagonists.

 

[Grey]

Alright, list updated. Still need to add the final six patrons, the Integrators, but they're unlikely to choose anyone in the party to patronize.

Would of course be curious to hear any speculations and interpretations of the patrons, in order to further refine the text.