[OOC] A Stranger Land

[Ulthar88]

The Stranger Land game has come to an end. But I hope to reboot it in the future in a new thread and with a new name. Many thanks to all who played.

The player roster so far -- currently not seeking players, but ya never know, ya know?

Lamech as Martel
Skullcrusher as Rorik
momothefiddler as Astrid
Poonbahbah as Lom Footwo
chronus as Kiernan Wynter

inactive:
jmurrell as John Kenner
Hemlock -- in reserve due to technical difficulties
zoncxs as Gale -- left at a tavern somewhere
Dragyn as Siri -- left at the guild doing something mysterious
Stix4armz as Artemis
Gemini as Marcus

A Stranger Land - - a semi-realistic (as in not-too-cinematic) swords & sorcery GURPS4 game wherein the adventure is to figure out the new universe you find yourselves in and, possibly, return home.

Here's the setup: your characters are an intrepid band of veteran adventurers doing the hero thing on a world of swords & sorcery (Banestorm if you wish, or perhaps just Generic Fantasy World #47/d). You have set out today to knock heads with yet another batch of baddies and take their stuff. But suddenly, an utterly preposterous plot contrivance hurtles you through time and space onto an exactly similar yet completely different world of swords & sorcery.
You will have to come to grips with not only different beasts, but different cultures, moralities, and even magicks as well (hint: social skills are unlikely to be wasted).

A note on how I run a game -- The events and features of this world are not there just for your benefit; I try to run living worlds in which NPCs live their lives and pursue their ambitions regardless of what the PCs may be doing. I do not do scenarios, I do not write plots; that is your job. I will railroad you into position on the new world, but after that, you're on your own. There is a way home to be found; it is not terribly secret, but neither is it common knowledge -- there will be no bread crumb trail to follow.

I don't want to give too many spoilers, but I do want to be fair enough so you have the information you need to make a character. First, this new world may be full of magic & mystery, but it is what some may call low-magic, or perhaps a low implementation of magic – magic is known to few and cannot substitute for technology. In short, any spell or object that even suggests words like "enchantment" or "permanent spell" or even "magic item" will not survive transition to the new reality.
Secondly, this new world is a part of a multiverse, but it is not the IW setting. My worlds share a multiverse that is based on literary inspirations that predate IW, and operates under different rules. Your characters may start out with some knowledge of a multiverse, but it will not aid them in finding a way to navigate this one.

[Ulthar88]

Character Building
My apologies, but I am limiting all characters to humans only. The published racial templates are incompatible with the much more extreme biological and sociological differences that separate the species on this new world.

As veteran characters who will have to rely on their own skills to survive, I propose a somewhat different character guide: you have 200 points to build with, but a minimum of 100 points must be spent on skills (for by-the-book wizards, this is negotiable). The Disad limit is 4 ...as in no more than four disadvantageous traits (unless you convince me that you need more to roleplay your character according to your vision). Disad limit does not include reductions to attributes/characteristics. Perks & Quirks are limited to the usual 5 each.

Considering the setup, social traits like Status, Allies, Dependents, and even Wealth are just null & void. Points spent on languages, however, may not be wasted; according to the rules of interdimensional transport, they may be morphed into the nearest local equivalents. Also, the new world is not so alien as to change the survival skills; those will still apply normally.
I'm not a stickler for backstory, but it might be helpful if you included enough of a background to define your motivations for returning home (or not).

As for starting gear, simply take whatever your character would reasonably be carrying on a reasonably dangerous outdoor expedition; this is all you'll start with. Characters with a weapons skill of 14 or better may start with one Fine quality weapon for one of those skills.
I will assume that you have some coins in pocket. They won't be legal tender where you're headed, of course, but at some point they could be assayed for their metal content and converted into the local currency -- what that amounts to is down to sheer luck. Also, this world has its own price list based on early medieval precedents; you will find it has a wider range than GURPS standard. For instance, things like clothing and food will be very much cheaper, but swords and horses will be a LOT more expensive.

About wizards... as for any fantasy adventure, magical help could certainly make some things easier. However, spell-casters face a few difficulties. To simplify things, I will allow almost any RAW system from Magic or Thaumatology, but there will be some subtle (or not so subtle) mutations to how things work in a new reality. Still, your magic may be seen by the natives to violate known laws of magic; this may create some unique challenges. If someone is up for the role, feel free to negotiate :)

[Skullcrusher]

SO you are limiting us 2 only 4 disadvantages not 4 points of disadvantages correct.

[zoncxs]

will post character soon, I was thinking of using imbuements (I love them) as a form of my magic. it would be called "Iron Dragon magic". Imbues his body with magic and turns it into metal to attack with (telescoping reinforced cutting strike is 3 imbuement skills combined that could be colored as a sword). even though it is magic he is a hand to hand fighter. or I can go Fire dragon style.

[ErhnamDJ]

Would that be TL 3?

[Ulthar88]

Yes, TL3 -- sorry for omitting that.

And yes, Skullcrusher, 4 distinct disad traits -- I was hoping that would provide more freedom and less temptation than a flat point limit.

To zoncxs:
hm... martial arts are good, but something a tad more subtle perhaps. Magic weapons popping out of your hands probably violates the not-too-cinematic guidelines :)
I do allow martial artists with chi power techniques -- stuff like iron fist, quivering palm, etc., and maybe even some of the subtler supernatural abilities (the sort of thing that doesn't frighten the livestock & gentry).

You could also pursue tai-chi wizardry stuff, but keep it to things that wouldn't require elaborate special fx. If your abilities focus on imbuements/advantages, we can negotiate on the "100-points for skills" guideline. Alternately, I can allow the movie-kung-fu skills without the TbaM prerequisite.

And a clarification for all -- the 100-point skill requirement comes from my own experience at creating characters that I think would work (in my games :P ). I have always favored skill-based systems and trained skills count for more with me than innate traits. You know, default-level swimming rolls are just tragic...

For further suggestions...
http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...8&postcount=21

[Dragyn]

Prepare Game, Effective skill 14, Energy 2 (x3), Time to cast, 10 seconds.

:)

[momothefiddler]

Originally Posted by Ulthar88

as if he had been smacked about with a hot frying pan.

Ow!

Sometimes I forget that my fantasy characters look at injury on a different scale than I do, but that sort of thing reminds me.

[Ulthar88]

Dragyn --
I finally got your info entered into GCA... I had to hand-crank some of the magic stuff; either I don't have the right gd4 or their version of Ritual spells is funky. Anyhow, after triple-checking everything, I come up with 106 points in skills & spells.... one of us is missing something somewhere...

[Dragyn]

Originally Posted by Ulthar88

Dragyn --
I finally got your info entered into GCA... I had to hand-crank some of the magic stuff; either I don't have the right gd4 or their version of Ritual spells is funky. Anyhow, after triple-checking everything, I come up with 106 points in skills & spells.... one of us is missing something somewhere...

Ok.. I'll double check again.