Help with a Grim Survival DF Setting

[DAT]

My group decided they would like our next game to be in a bit darker setting. So I started thinking and looking around for a grim survival setting.

Gus over at Dungeons of Signs blog came up with an interesting take on the old “Underdark” setting (http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/s...abel/Underdark). The tone for this setting is dark (really dark) and grim, with no misunderstood emo drow elf rangers etc. I did some editing on his intro piece, ran it past my players as an idea for a future campaign, and got some positive feedback that they were interested in playing. Below is the short introduction synopsis I sent and for those who are interested, I’ll include the full intro piece in later posts.

So now I’m trying to fill out the details of the setting, and ready it to run some players through. I could use some help working out some of the details, and bounce some ideas off folks.
1) Equipment and Armor
Per the story, the players start with old cast off equipment.
- My initial thought was to develop random tables of the armor, weapons, and gear they are given. If it doesn’t fit, too bad; maybe they can trade it after they get to the underdark. I’d weight things with a 3d6, so that lower rolls give better stuff. The alternative is to give them basic armor (Leather Tunic and Skirt) and poor quality weapons of the type they are familiar with. Thoughts – random versus simple poor? Random is probably more representative of the setup, simple poor makes it easier for the PCs. For a grim setting I lean towards random. Am I being too harsh?
- If you didn’t read the Intro piece, as soon as they arrive at the bottom, they have one really ugly fight with a horde of tiger sized screw creatures (called White Tigers in the Intro piece; more on this below). Should I armor and arm them before they descend or after they arrive (try to grap weapons and armor as Tiger sized creatures drag your companions off into the dark)? Armor them above but arm them below? Reverse? Grim says neither. A small chance of survival say give them something: Having a high probability of dying in the first battle and having to do a new character, although fitting with grim, is very harsh. But is it too harsh? Thought?
2) The Descent
- Playing it harsh, I should give them a chance of falling to their death during the initial descent. ST/DX/Dodge rolls for hanging on, getting out of the way as others fall. But is that too harsh? I could only make them roll on an auto failure (17) or critical failure (18)? Thoughts?
- I started thinking that just have a chance to injure themselves and drop equipment, although harsh, is less brutal. Better?
3) The First Fight
When they arrive, the ill prepared company has a fight for their lives. I was initially targeting 40-80% casualties for the Redeemers (did I mention I was going for dark, grim, and brutal/harsh). But, I’d like to have the PC’s performance impact the causality rate. PC’s do good, casualty rate is lower; PCs do not so good, casualty rate is higher.
- Does GURPS Mass Combat seem like something to use here, or is that overkill?
- Should I just develop my own method, or do folks know of something already out there that would work for this?
- Other ideas?
4) Stacking the Deck/Adding Decks
One idea is to give the PCs some protection getting down and through the first fight, before letting the cards fall where they may. The NPCs around them will just get butchered to make the point of how dark grim and brutal/harsh the setting is. An alternative idea is to have the players make 3 or 4 characters, to ensure one of them survives.
- Thoughts?

Title: Exiles to the Underdark – Redeemers of The Light
Genre/Setting: A Dungeon Fantasy/Horror in a mythical underdark relm.
Introduction Synopsis:
You start as prisoners of war to a victorious army of fanatical fundamentalist theologians, the Faith of The Light (in D&D terms “LAWFUL Good”), who believe your only way to salvation is to die in service to their cause. Given three bad choices (death, slavery doing hard labor till you die, or become a janissary), you choose to become a “Redeemer of The Faith of The Light”, a janissary (slave soldier). Your company of Redeemers (~120 souls) is being sent into the Underdark to fight against the enemies of The Light. The enemies of The Light are pretty much everyone else left in the world (i.e., anyone who doesn’t believe exactly like the Brother Lords of The Light do). The Underdark is a vast underground wilderness filled with monsters and dangers, but also fabulous treasures. They expect you to die, so the arms, armor, and supplies they will send with you are old cast offs and junk. If you survive and send back treasure and or proof of killing enemies of The Light, they say they will send down better gear and food.

You are members of Redeemers Company number 42, about to be sent down into the Underdark. While waiting for the guards to get the supplies attached to the chain and loaded, you have gotten access to a piece of a journal with information of what you can expect (see the intro piece).

This starts as a grim survival setting. Where it goes from there, depends on the players choices.

Player Characters:
GURPS 4e 150 points plus up to 55 points from disadvantages and quirks.
Allowed Races –
- Human [0 pts]
- Dwarf [20 pts]
- Elf (Half, High, or Wood) [20pts]
- Gnome [20 pts]
- Halfling [0 pts]
- Half-Orcs [20 pts]
- Half-Ogres[20 pts]
Other races may be possible, but there are issues (The forces of the Faith of The Light will slay anything that looks like a monster, considering it an enemy of The Light, and not worthy of redemption).

Professions –
Choose a 125 pt Professional Temple from:
Agent (Bard or Thief (con-man) in training)
Apprentice (Demonologist, Elementalist, Necromancer, or Wizard in training)
Archer (Knight or Scout in training)
Brute (Assassin, Barbarian, Knight, or Unholy Warrior in training)
Cutpurse (Assassin or Thief in training)
Initiate (Cleric, Druid, or Shaman in training)
Killer (Assassin, Ninja, or Unholy Warrior in training)
Sage (Artificer or Scholar in training)
Skirmisher (Martial Artist, Ninja, or Swashbuckler in training)
Squire (Holy Warrior, Knight, or Unholy Warrior in training)

[DAT]

Here is the intro piece I gave to my players:

Part 1 of 2
Campaign: Exiles to the Underdark – Redeemers of The Light
Genre/Setting: A Dungeon Fantasy/Horror in a mythical underdark relm.
Introduction:
“The Brother Lords of the Faith of The Light are great, and through their will they brought the lands of man to The Light at the end of the Age of Awakening. All evil and corruption was cast down, all false idols toppled and all brought forward to bask in the sun. Those men and women that had served dark gods and false masters were given choice, all wise and all just, as the Brother Lords are great. Many the of the unbeliever were wroth with these generous choices, and had to be forced to kneel. The armies of The Light committed no wrongs though they were firm in leading the unbeliever from sin. The choices given were as always the righteous three: repent and be cleansed to rise again in The Light, take the mark of service and the mark of the unbeliever to rise again in The Light after a life of instruction and repentance, take up the arms of The Light to live and die in the Brother Lords service, finding repentance as a warrior against the evil. Because the soul of humanity shines with bravery and The Light, even that of the unbeliever, many chose the last, yet at the end of the age there were no dark empires remaining unhumbled in error, and the armies of The Light were swollen with glory.

The blessing of bravery and the gift of the Brother Lords was not wasted, so wise were the pontiffs, and so wise their decrees. Those newly grasping the arms of The Light were sent into the deepest darkness of the underworld to bring The Light there, so that the world could be cleansed from the heavens to the root. There was much struggle in the deeps and many were given to rise again in The Light.”
– From the Chronicle of the 356th child of The Light, a work of commentary on the scriptures of the Brother Lords.



“Our families, our homes, our cities and towns, and our countries and tribes all killed looted burned and destroyed. We fought, do not doubt that; professional soldiers, proud mages, and other great heroes, and we all lost. The Armies of the Faith of Light are supreme on the face of the known World now, with their twins triumphants – Retribution and Beneficence, though for the defeated such as we, only the first.

After our capture, we were stripped of our possessions, and then healed of our most serious injuries. At first we thought that the Light might have some measure of mercy for us defeated, encouraged by the earnest promises of the paladins of salvation to come. But then came the long march to the prisoner camps, and a long time spent in the disease wracked death crawling camps. A number tried to escape, but that just brought a painful death sooner. The Inquisitorial Guards knew how to keep prisoners secure.

It was when many had began to loose hope than a Brother Lord of the Faith of The Light made to offer us each three choices: 1) a quick painless death, 2) branding and a lifetime sentence of slavery to the Light, or 3) what at first appeared as a chance at life and maybe some shred of honor, become a Redeemer, a janissary in the armies of the Faith of The Light.

Most of us had lived the life of a soldier before, so to become a Redeemer was a natural choice. But we had forgotten that The Armies of the Faith of Light had no enemies left on the land. Some, like myself, thought that we would be sent across the sea to take The Light’s crusade to newly discovered lands. But the Brother Lords of the Faith of The Light had enemies for us to fight much closer than across the sea.

The Paladins formed us into a company of 120 and marched us, still unarmed, to the White Fortress in the Coulair Mountains, where we were given into the care of the Arbiters of the Inquisition and the Inquisition Guards. The Arbiters finally informed us of our fate. We would be sent down one of the legendary Wells to Oblivion, into the deepest darkness of the great underdark to fight the enemies of The Light. We would be given supplies to start, but would be expected to “earn” our keep by sending up proof of our slaying of the enemies of The Light and or treasures. The Arbiters made it clear that we are chum upon the abyss, and our current lives of no value, because after we suffer and perish in the black deeps, we shall be redeemed and reborn in the light. The cruel joke of calling us Redeemers was finally made clear.

..."

To Be Continuted

[DAT]

Part 2 of 2

Continued
"...
We were given no chance to change our minds concerning our fate as Redeemers. The phalanxes of Inquisitor Guards armed with halberds, clubs, and crossbow ensured we had no choice. Slaves passed among us giving water and small food, along with some information. Ours was the 34th company sent down to the underdark. None had ever returned. After an all too brief a rest we were marched down into the White Fortress and to the great chamber of the Well to Oblivion.

The legends say that the original builders of the White Fortress were Dwarfs. I believe the legends based on the stonework, metalwork, and engineering I saw while walking down into the dungeons of the White Fortress. The ancient orichalcum chain Dasniver,in the chamber of the Well to Oblivion is clearly one of their master works, as it is over 5 miles long and unbreakable. The artisans of The Light do not have such skills. The legends say before they were over run by the Armies of The Light, the Wells to Oblivion were used by the Dwarfs to trade with groups deep below.

Once in the great chamber with the Well, we waited as the supply pallet was slowly maneuvered over the whistling maw of the Well, hot air buffeting its considerable bulk. “Everything you Redeemers will need” one of the Inquisitor Guards laughed. Old armaments rusted, recovered from battlefields or the depleted armories of crushed empires, sacks of weevil ravaged flour, tuns of sour wine, sides of rancid meat, cheap picks, battered shovels and innumerable casks of lamp oil and bundles of poorly tarred rush torches were on the pallet. After the supplies descended out of sight on the end of the clanking chain, Inquisitorial Guards wheeled a rickety bridge out and attached a set of baskets for a crew of several trustees slaves and missionaries to mind them, to ride down in. As they boarded, a slave band started played hymns to The Light on ill repaired instruments, and two by two we Redeemers, thin from weeks of travel on poor rations, were marched to the dangling chain where each secured him or herself to an arm thick link with a crude metal hook. Those with foresight lashed themselves securely to the chain, and with the capstans above straining the chain continued its descent. Vanishing into the earth’s hot throat one saw the final circle of the sky’s light vanishing slowly above the next man’s rotted boots. The descent dragged slow and endless, hours down clutched to the rocking chain, the heat from below growing. After a few hours flaming bales of pitch soaked straw, heaved from above came down the shaft, comets designed to light our way at the bottom. Thrown from the shaft’s lip, most passed roaring in the darkness, but one bounced from the walls and exploded against the chain, burning one man and sending three more redeemers screaming down the shaft. They weren’t the first to go, as the hours holding to swaying took a toll. Fingers crushed by a sudden movement, a woman scream down into the blackness. Weak arms or badly healed wounds betray and another man plummeted. Some saw the sky vanish and the gloom welled up in them. With a cheery wave I saw a former boy cadet from the young kingdoms step free from the chain, his tattered red uniform orange and then grey as he seemed to float down into the reaching dark.

When we finally saw the bottom of the shaft the burning bundles shed a flickering light, and we had our first inkling of the real terrors that exile to the deeps entail. Pale beasts, muscled like bears, with wrinkled heads, bone breaking jaws and thin translucent skin covered in scars were already among the fallen dead, gorging themselves. They may have been startled by the light, but the bounty of meat we represented seemed to call more of the things from the dark by the minute. Afterwards I only remember snatching a rusted axe from the hands of a dying Redeemer who stumbled back with his belly torn open from a huge claw and fighting against the beasts. I remember the man who’s death saved me was from the North, a scarred tattooed savage a with cleanly shaved head and filthy beard tied in a great knot. In the end we killed two, and lost over half of our number to the pale tigers, as they became known.

We exhausted survivors, forty five in number, set up our first camp in a nearby hollow of an ancient stone structure, a square pier for trade from above and ate the tigers as a paltry revenge for our unknown fellows who had been dragged screaming into the darkness and devoured. After eating and resting, we started to get organized. We took stock of the survivors; foreigners, barbarians, sorcerers, and even non-human fey from the deep woods. From these we selected our leaders and officers.

We selected the Lady of Thorns as our leader, who claims she was once a younger sword wife of the high king of the Crags, a rude tribe of dirt clad Westerners, that even the most audacious of traders from civilized land would not try to sell trinkets to. The Lady is fierce in battle, she killed one of the White Tigers by herself thatfirst day, and lead/organized the group that killed the second and wounded several others. I am one of her officers, Gustof de Lastil. I was a guard captain for the merchant House of Glass in the great city of Xienna, and made the killing stroke on the second White Tiger. Beside myself, her other officers and principle supporters include: Nine of the Red Thirty, a warrior eunuch of the alabaster tomb; Madigan, once a gang boss of the Grey City, and Glorifial, a death haunted fey sword danger. Besides these captains there are others useful in battle or without. Tender the Green Skull, a necromancer nobleman scoured of magic by the adepts and maimed by the inquisitors, but still capable of mouthing a cantrip, Gom a Southern blacksmith, and Lazar, a skilled hunter from some nameless fen village. Only one of the Brother Martyrs remained alive, the feared but humble Chaplain, Brother Thom of the Distant Light. Although he was wounded and still unconscious at the time, it was recognized that he was our only healer and our only way of negotiating with the Inquisitor Guards above, so we knew we needed to keep him safe. The rest are dispirited and broken men – soldiers, rebels, savages and criminals - men who were tough enough in the camps, and thought themselves above the gullible Paladins of The Light. Before the vast, cruel shade here, below five or more miles of black stone, they are as children, begging for guidance, and I pity them, good and bad, for they have only us.

The Lady of Thorns decided we needed to find a more defensible camp. She had us arm and armor ourselves from the supplies, and then divided us into five groups. Four scouting parties were sent out, while one stayed in place with the wounded. The party who traveled east found a number of graves, and signs of a previous camp of Redeemers, as well as a passage trail that headed up. The party who traveled south found a road way to a stone bridge over an underground river. The party who travel west found a forest of fungi trees, some showing signs of being harvested. The party who travelled north found a village of sorts, the parts they surveyed abandoned and in partial ruin, but with decent fortifications.

By the time the scouting parties had returned, Brother Thom had regained consciousness, and healed himself and all the wounded. From the scouting party reports, The Lady of Thorns concluded the village to the north presented the best hope for safety. We knew the White Tigers would return soon after digesting our fallen brethren Redeemers, hungry for more, and having stout stone walls for protection seemed a good priority to all. We gathered our meager supplies and trekked toward the village.

We found a rune covered obelisk, a short distance from the village. Madigan said he could read the Dwarfish runes, and declared the name of the village is ‘Gloomlight Quay’. We entered the outskirts of Gloomlight Quay, and soon located some defensible ruins that may have been a mill or a factory. We setup camp, and sent out parties to retrieve the rest of our supplies from above. They returned with the supplies just moments before the White Tigers returned. We killed one more White Tiger, and drove the rest away, with no losses ourselves.

After some rest, we started to explore the ruins of Gloomlight Quay. Our mill camp was at the foot of the long stairs that make the cliff hanging village gates. The stairs are flanked by galleries for spear men and archers, and beyond a squat crenellated fortress looms. As we started to enter and explore the ruins, we encountered some vermin and other creatures, but no inhabitants or signs of serious danger, or treasure to pay for needed supplies. The village is abandoned, and there are only vague signs of why. The mill and lowest reaches of the village’s fortress are cracked and scarred by fire, but beyond there is no sign of violence except bones, covered in rust colored moss and laying in drifts in low spots. Despite these omens, the village is well protected, and the White Tigers, which proved such a menace on our initial arrival, are easy to keep at bay with the old fortresses’ narrow stairs and battered walls.

Just before we stopped to rest, we located a broken arch bridge, leading to a grand building barely visible in the gloom. After resting, a group of us plan to cross with a rope apparatus that Gom and Lazer have rigged. Brother Thom has voiced to us captains that he fears we will learn secrets on the other side of the arch that will bring many of us to The Light of redemption.”
– Excerpt from a Journal: Testimony of Fallen Redeemers Company No. 34

Thoughts?

[DAT]

For the random armor option, each Redeemer is given a bag with their armor. Here are the Random tables I was thinking of using:

Armor Types Present in Bag
Roll
18 Missing 4 Types
16-17 Missing 3 Types
14-15 Missing 2 Types
12-13 Missing 1 Types
8-11 All Types Present
6-7 Full suit
4-5 Full suit, fits well
3 Full suit, fits very well
Armor Types
1 Head Gear
2 Torso Armor
3 Limbs-Arms
4 Hands/Gloves
5 Limbs-Legs
6 Feet

Armor Tables
Head Gear
Roll Armor
18 Sturdy Hat
17 Woven Cloth Helm
16 Leather Helm
15 Woven Cloth Hood
14 Leather Hood
13 Heavy Woven Cloth Hood
12 Heavy Leather Hood
11 Bronze Skullcap
8 - 10 Iron Skullcap
7 Mail Coif
6 Bronze Legionary Helmet
5 Iron Legionary Helmet
4 Bronze Barrel Helmet
3 Iron Barrel Helmet

Torso Armor
Roll Armor
18 Fur Vest
17 Fur Tunic
16 Woven Cloth Jacket
15 Leather Jacket
14 Woven Cloth Jacket
13 Leather Jacket
12 Light Woven Cloth Armor
11 Light Leather Armor
10 Woven Cloth Armor
9 Leather Armor
8 Buff Coat
7 Hvy Woven Cloth Armor
6 Hvy Leather Armor
5 Light Scale Hauberk
4 Mail Hauberk
3 Scale Hauberk

Arm Limb Armor
Roll Armor
18 None
17 Fur Sleeves
16 Light Woven Cloth Sleeves arms
15 Light Leather Sleeves
14 Woven Cloth Sleeves
13 Leather Sleeves
12 Hvy Woven Cloth Sleeves
11 Hvy Leather Sleeves
10 X-Hvy Woven Cloth Sleeves
9 X-Hvy Leather Sleeves
8 Light Scale Sleeves
7 Mail Sleeves
6 Bronze Armbands
5 Iron Armbands
4 Scale Sleeves
3 Banded Iron Arms

Gloves
Roll Armor
18 None
17 Woven Cloth Gloves
16 Leather Gloves
15 Hvy Woven Cloth Gauntlets
14 Hvy Leather Gauntlets
13 Hvy Woven Cloth Mittens
10-12 Hvy Leather Mittens
9 Mail Gloves
8 Mail Gauntlets
7 Mail Mittens
6 Bronze Plate Gauntlets
5 Bronze Plate Mittens
4 Iron Plate Gauntlets
3 Iron Plate Mittens

Leg Limb Armor
Roll Armor
18 Thin Leather Leggings
17 Leather pants
16 Light Woven Cloth Leg
15 Light Leather Leggings
14 Woven Cloth Leggings
13 Leather Leggings
12 Hvy Woven Cloth Leggings
11 Hvy Leather Leggings
10 X-Hvy Woven Cloth Legs
9 X-Hvy Leather Leggings
8 Light Scale Leggings
7 Mail Leggings
6 Bronze Greaves
5 Iron Greaves
4 Scale Leggings
3 Banded Iron Leggings


Footwear
Roll Armor
15-18 Sandals
12-14 Shoes
10-11 Ankle Boots
7-9 Calf Boots
6 Bronze Sollerets
5 Iron Sollerets
4 Heavy Bronze Sollerets
3 Heavy Iron Sollerets

Shield
Present
Roll Type
1-4 Yes
5-6 No
Type
Roll Shield
17-18 Light Cloak
15-16 Light Shield
13-14 Light Buckler
11-12 Heavy Cloak
9-10 Small Shield
7-8 Small Buckler
5-6 Medium Shield
4 Small Shield, Iron
3 Medium Shield, Iron

[Culture20]

If you'd like to keep the random armor but still give them a better chance at getting something they want, you could have the equipment sent down in a pile and let them make a scrounging roll to find something they want before it's taken by an NPC. After that, every thing is random. If it's a "whatever you grab" situation, there might even be people with three pair of boots but no weapons.

[Peter Knutsen]

2-3 backup characters sounds excessive. It's also a load if you require each player to make at least 2 backup characters before the campaign begins. Why not start with 1 backup character, and then when a player's character dies, and his backup enters play, give him a time frame, of perhaps 2 weeks, to make a new backup?

[scc]

I wouldn't break the armor up like that, just use full suits

[DAT]

Originally Posted by Culture20

If you'd like to keep the random armor but still give them a better chance at getting something they want, you could have the equipment sent down in a pile and let them make a scrounging roll to find something they want before it's taken by an NPC. After that, every thing is random. If it's a "whatever you grab" situation, there might even be people with three pair of boots but no weapons.

For the random gear, I was thinking that they were each given a bag of armor (with a chance of various pieces/types missing), given a couple minutes to put it on, marched over to be given a random "peace bonded" weapon, and then marched to the well. The issue with sending the armor and weapons down with the other gear, is they will have a fight for their lives at the bottom.

I could change it around where, they start with basic cloth armor or no armor and a weapon, and the survivors of the fight get to go through the pile.

[DAT]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

2-3 backup characters sounds excessive. It's also a load if you require each player to make at least 2 backup characters before the campaign begins. Why not start with 1 backup character, and then when a player's character dies, and his backup enters play, give him a time frame, of perhaps 2 weeks, to make a new backup?

Agree, 2 backup characters would be a load.

But if I keep it harsh, unluck rolls can have them loose their first character before they make it down the Well. And the fight at the botton will be viscious, so loosing a second character is possible. That would leave them on their third character ...

Having a primary character and a plan for a backup character, while I remove the option of dying coming down the chain would work.

If their primary character dies in the first fight, then the Player's task is to finish fleshing out the backup character. Thoughts?
-Dan

[DAT]

Originally Posted by scc

I wouldn't break the armor up like that, just use full suits

Definitely easier, but less like they are getting battle salvage. Maybe I will add the option to find a complete suit to the table.