Wild Wild West, Jim West, desperado, rough rider, no you don't want nada...

Ok, so I've given it some though, and I think I'm going to try and run a Wild West game. I'd set it most likely around the mid 1870's to early 80's. Now I need to know from all of you what you would find more interesting / exciting / whatever.

EDIT: Me and Kyle talked and brainstormed a new idea as well, so I'll throw that in at the end of this.

A.) Outlaws

1. Start with a clean slate, and you've known each other for awhile, working in X line of work (cowboys,Pinkerton Guards gone wrong, miners, etc.) who find that their line of work isn't appealing enough and decide to start some trouble. Or even just a group who all know each other and decide to form a gang. And then subsequently create a name for themselves and end up being wanted men.
   


2. Already are a gang of outlaws who have built a name for themselves, and we continue from then on out.

B.) Lawmen

1. Fresh recruits to the Texas Rangers who are thrown together in a group with a well-established leader. Who then do what rangers do... kill bandits, kill Indians, and track down outlaws.
2. Pinkerton Detective Agency recruits. Basically the same as the Rangers, except you'd function outside of Texas, and mainly just track down outlaws.
3. Already established members of either group above.
4. Hired guns guarding a train / stagecoach.

NEW IDEA

Ok, the other idea me and Kyle came up with was that the pc's are a group of freelance mercenaries that in general do the highest bidder's dirty work. Think sort of like the ICA organization from the Hitman games. But instead of just dealing in making hits, you would be doing all sorts of things, just so from a game perspective it would keep things fresh. One session you could be sent to Prague to assassinate some ambassador from X country. To prevent it from being complete run and gun it'd be easy to throw in requirments for the hits. And for another episode you could be required to head to some rich fogey's villa in south America to steal some information for blackmail, where you would be required to not get caught. I'm not exactly sure on time period here, I'm leaning toward modern day just because it would make variety easier. But I'm open to trying either this, or the Wild West game. This, as Kyle pointed out to me, might be easier to pull off seeing as each session would be like an episode, so I could have you guys do something akin to whatever your/my fancy is that week.


I'm just wondering what you guys would find most interesting, because the more you're into it, the more I'll be into it. If you couldn't tell, I'm trying to establish you all in the same group and with somewhat the same goals in all the options. I don't want to have to deal with PC1 hating PC2's guts, or any other commonly played out instance. But anyways, that's just a few rough ideas for you. So, lemme know what of the above you would prefer, and why. Also if you have any suggestions they're more than welcome.

On The Rim - Act 1

Important characters

Raquim al Sadher
Salu of the Wastes
Paola Peakeli
Hou Shan(?) and Yan Jiang(?)

The party floated their craft down the Eryes to the harbor town of Gangkou, to see the city in turmoil. After disembarking, the group fought off hazards that included the risen dead and rioters, until finally they came face to face with a powerful wielder, thought to be the legendary Hou Shan, Wiseman of Fire. Hou Shan had made quick work of the ships in harbor, cutting them in twain with a swipe of his hand. He turned toward the group and, seeing them poised to attack, moved to engage them.
With a motion, he ignited a wreath of flames to encircle the party, and hurled one of his many blades at Paola. After the party retaliated, Hou Shan leapt high into the air and came slicing down, cutting at Raquim and Salu. The battle continued unabated from then on.
Hou Shan, after disabling Raquim, tarried the assaults of Salu and Paola, and called his Mana Beast Yan Jiang to his side. Leaping on its back, Hou Shan fled for another part of the city.
After the fight, the Guilds' forces came in full force to repel Hou Shan. Once he left the vicinity, they went to work quelling rioters and the risen dead.
As thanks for their valiant efforts, the party was given reward in several forms, not the least of which is use of a ship and a place to stay.

Items in party's care. Bold indicates new items.

Smoldering Longsword. Flame attack. Not attuned.
Flameseal. Flame attack. Not attuned.
Sulfrite Bracer. Flame Resistance. Not attuned.
Yan Barb. Flame Resistance. Not attuned.
Blue Meteora Edge. Light attack. Attuned.
Manawood Rosary. Leaf Resistance. Attuned.
Collena Tome. Ranged Light attack. Attuned.
Two Lesser Fire Elemental cores.
One Lesser Earth Elemental core.
Various items, including 285 silver coins and one camel. Bandoleer of Regenerative Doses. Potted Plant.

Soapbox

I'll be coming home next week on Friday, February 15th, so we should decide on what we're playing soon.

Anything's fine with me, as you so well know by now. I'm easy, like Sunday morning.

Anyway, I'd like to run some things by you guys, in regard to the game I'm running here. The group is now fairly solidified in terms of size, so I can rightly gauge the level of complexity I bring to the games. I left things dangling, not hanging, off a cliff the last session, so I want to bring it "to the hoop" as they say. Or, at least, I'm told.

I'll upload the document I've prepared for the next game. There is a coherent setting, but I haven't finished the map yet... Otherwise, I'd up that too.

Here's the doc.

Kyle's Muses

Ok dig it man. The whole thing with the bandits is kinda going no where fast, so if you guys are down, meaning Josh and Alex, I have a good idea to go off of. Cody said he's cool with it but just hear me out and let me know what you cats think

Here's the premise:
It is the start of the trading season and as the characters are making their way back to their home town they find it has been destroyed everyone is dead. It would be up to the heroes to figure out what has happened and why. Then, they could deal with it as they see fit. That's the basic idea; there's a lot more to it but that's all side stuff cause this would be a long running game probably.

And here are the only major things to know for the character creation:
- 1st level (deal with it)
- no starting gear
( you will be getting stuff early on though so don't think you have to be a wizard or some class that doesn't require gear.)

And that's it. Like I said, this would be an extended campaign with any luck, and the "no gear" thing is due to the story; it's not to be a dick. So let me know what you think. Otherwise, we can just play Josh's or someone else can run something in my place. Outie

On the Rim - Act 1 Chapter 1

Preface: On The Rim is the title for this story arc. The title itself is a reference to the old saying "The wheel never stops turning, etc..."

On the Rim

Characters

Raquim al Sadher
Salu of the Wastes
Paola Peakeli


Three men with suitably similar talents establish a fraternal bond in the face of mortal terror, an event rather uncommon in the lonely ocean of sun-baked sand known as the Wastes. Embarking together for lands unknown to them, seeking fame and fortune along the way, these three individuals will hold within them the potential for change...

Their fates are rapidly gaining on them.

They leave the eastern city of Kopesh, after completing an exploration of the nearby ruins of the Ancient city of Mahde. Commandeering a fishing boat from the riverside docks, loading their worldly possessions, the three take leave of their usual mistrust and decide to chance their own destinies on the whim of the world.

Among their cargo:

Roughly 300 Sand Silver coins. Each one worth roughly 8 Bronze coins or about one fourth of a Gilded coin.
One Camel. Several crates of goods, including each person's personal belongings.
Unbound magic items: Manawood rosary, Collena Tome, broken Blue Meteora edge. Two Lesser Fire Elemental cores. One Lesser Earth elemental core.

Soapbox

So the new semester is upon me, and with that there will even less opportunity to convene with ample time to fiddle with dice.

I'll hopefully be coming right back for the first weekend, and if you dorks would be able to come to my house in that time, that'd be grand. Most likely, we'll be playing Kyle's game, to let me collect from the whirlwind of action that happened last time.

In the meantime, I'll be filling my week with actually finishing that damn post there in the archives, now on the second page, you know the one I mean. I'll think about posting info on some other stuff I've yet to find a home for...

SAME Information - Gaining Power

When characters in SAME gain power, they typically are either increasing a numeric trait like one of the SAME stats, or gaining a new ability like a spell. For the former, it is simply a matter of increasing one of your SAME scores using however many "build points" are given. A character increases those stats and any mechanic derived from them increases accordingly. So if you increase your Strength by 1, you increase your Endurance and Athletics by 1 as well. You can also divvy up the skill increases so either one gets both points.

Gaining spells or abilities is a little more complicated, but nothing too taxing. (As of this moment I'm still working on specific spells and abilities, but the general spell categories are done and can be found, along with qualities and guidelines for them, here.) Gaining a spell of your current "level" is a matter of simply writing down a new element you can fire all willy-nilly. A character with Fire Shard and Earth Shock can gain a new Shock or Shard spell anytime they gain power after an adventure. Getting a new utility spell means thinking up a neat trick and then writing it down on your sheet with appropriate tags attached (Mana ties and such.)

Attaining higher levels of spells requires a little more focus. To gain access to the next level of a particular spell class, you must have two spells of the previous level. For example, a character who wishes to get access to Bolt spells has to have two Shard spells already in their repertoire.

Abilities are like spells in that they are auxiliary to regular attacks, but they are special kinds of attacks or actions that serve a distinct tactical purpose. Higher tier abilities require instruction of the lower tiers first (at least two abilities from the lower tier.) I'm still working on abilities. They're like spells, but more "martial artsy" than "mystic artsy," and you can use them once per encounter and are kind of like augmentations to either regular attacks or spells.

1st Tier Abilities

Assault - A series of blows that Stuns your opponent.
Hamstring - A precision attack that Slows your opponent.
Headshot - Strike your opponent in the head to make them Forgetful!
Bodyblow - A brutal attack that causes an enemy to be Shaken.
Evasion - Negate the next attack against you.
Drain - Drain ambient mana of one type for the rest of the encounter.
Leverage - When any opponent next attacks you, resolve attacks and damage normally, but the opponent is now up to N distance away from his original position in any direction.
Press Your Luck - You may reroll any dice rolled this turn, even your opponent's. You must accept the outcome of the new rolls. You must declare your use of this ability before the first die is rolled.
Cunning Infusion - With this attack, choose a second elemental type. You may deal damage from that elemental type.
Precision - Your next attack is made at +4 to hit.
Ferocity - Your next attack deals +4 damage.
Tenacity - Remove wounds of one type, to reset to 0. However, you no longer resist any damage from that type.

2nd Tier Abilites

Crescendo - A weapon attack that makes a big whip-crack. Deal weapon damage +S and E.
Depraved Strike - A sinister attack that hits your opponent in the soft bits. Leave your opponent Depraved.
Surge - A brutal strike that overwhelms your opponent's senses and leaves them in a haze. Deal normal attack damage. The target is Forgetful and Shaken.
Bind - A deviously planned assault leaves the opponent wondering what the hell just happened. Deal normal attack damage. The target is Stunned and Slowed.

Conditions: The effects of the listed conditions are as follows:
Stunned- Cannot take actions and Strength is reduced by 2.
Shaken- Cannot take actions and Elan is reduced by 2.
Slowed- Cannot move and Agility is reduced by 2.
Forgetful- Cannot move and Moxie is reduced by 2.
Blind - Cannot take actions, and Agility is reduced by 4. Creatures who are naturally blind do not suffer from these effects.
Depraved - Cannot move, and Moxie is reduced by 4.

___

You guys got access to a new spell or ability from the last adventure. Think of how you want your character to develop, and get back to me with questions. I'll try to get the "abilities" posted, but I'm having trouble making sure they mean something by the time you can get the higher-power ones. I'll just put up the 1st Tier ones for now anyway...


Did more work on the creatures post (here.)