Ah makes sense. This is my first time using the tools and I may have made a mistake. In other news, voting is now open!
Guards? Guards! -- Altdorf City Watch
- Thread starter DrearyBear
- Start date
iggyfan
Verified Man-Thing
- Location
- Kentucky
[X] Building Up and Training Up
-[X][Watch] Raise Morale of the Watch
-[X][Watch] Refurbish the Watch House
-[X][Watch] No Casualty Necromancer Attack
-[X][Trust] No: you trust them as much as you trust the skewers of "real rat meat" currently being served outside
-[X][Personal] Become Watch Major
-[X][Action] Recruit Army Colleagues
-[X][Action] Collect the Money
-[X][Action] Aquire/Collate a Map
-[X][Manage] Plotting
-[X][Diety] Ulric
-[X][Watch] Raise Morale of the Watch
-[X][Watch] Refurbish the Watch House
-[X][Watch] No Casualty Necromancer Attack
-[X][Trust] No: you trust them as much as you trust the skewers of "real rat meat" currently being served outside
-[X][Personal] Become Watch Major
-[X][Action] Recruit Army Colleagues
-[X][Action] Collect the Money
-[X][Action] Aquire/Collate a Map
-[X][Manage] Plotting
-[X][Diety] Ulric
[X] Plan: Mercy is privilage of the strong
You definitely need to become a practicing Morrite to become a member of the Black Guard. However, starting as another faith is not necessarily a blocker. One of the necessary intermediary steps would just be conversion, and demonstrating the strength of your newfound faith.
Vote closed
Oh my vote didn't count
Considering the votes appeared to be exactly tied, I think yours might be the deciding vote? Does that sound fair? Or should we have a runoff? Next part is pretty much ready to go once this is confirmed, and I make a couple of alterations based on these results
Maybe make a run-off between the two with small preview of what you think of both plans
Okay, Votes appear to be 100% tied between "Building Up and Training Up" and "Mercy is a Privilege of the Strong" so we are going to do a very quick runoff. I think both of these are pretty solid plans, Building Up is straightforward and should work, while Mercy is shaping a slightly more unique character having not seen too many Shaylla quests before.
Because both options are strong, I am going to hold voting open for just an hour and then close it.
P.S. I am lurking rn to answer any questions
Because both options are strong, I am going to hold voting open for just an hour and then close it.
P.S. I am lurking rn to answer any questions
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- Pronouns
- He
[X] Building Up and Training Up
Vote closed
Character Creation: Boons and Banes
[] Building Up and Training Up
-[][Watch] Raise Morale of the Watch
-[][Watch] Refurbish the Watch House
-[][Watch] No Casualty Necromancer Attack
-[][Trust] No: you trust them as much as you trust the skewers of "real rat meat" currently being served outside
-[][Personal] Become Watch Major
-[][Action] Recruit Army Colleagues
-[][Action] Collect the Money
-[][Action] Aquire/Collate a Map
-[][Manage] Plotting
-[][Diety] Ulric
-[][Watch] Raise Morale of the Watch
-[][Watch] Refurbish the Watch House
-[][Watch] No Casualty Necromancer Attack
-[][Trust] No: you trust them as much as you trust the skewers of "real rat meat" currently being served outside
-[][Personal] Become Watch Major
-[][Action] Recruit Army Colleagues
-[][Action] Collect the Money
-[][Action] Aquire/Collate a Map
-[][Manage] Plotting
-[][Diety] Ulric
Boons and Banes
Introduction:
After that razor-close vote, it's our last step on the character creation journey and time for you to really make the character your own. In this section, you will have a budget to spend on boons. Unlike the rest of the phases, this will not have the framing device surrounding it; there were just too many options available for me to weave some sort of quantum ogre narrative around your choices.
Here you will start with a budget of four shineys that can be spent on either boons for your character or your Watch command. Of course, looking at the lists of boons, you may want to take more than three points worth. If so, you can take a bane, each of which will give you back some shineys, but expect them to be a serious impediment to your character or your watch command. With that out of the way here you go!
Personal Boons
Physical:
You were blessed with above-average physical traits:
- Beautiful (1 Shiny): You were blessed with incredible looks, and over time have learned to use them to your benefit. (+10 Fellowship, unlocks options in certain circumstances)
- Healthy (2 Shinys): You were the child who always followed the advice of your parents to not stick things in your mouth, and as a result encountered far fewer childhood parasites and diseases than your counterparts. Now you are a strapping man, that's never sick, and can take a lot more damage than other people you know (+10 toughness)
- Tall (2 Shinys): Your parents were always a little cagey about the family history, simply saying that you come from "up north". Over time you have come to suspect that you may have a bit of Norscan Blood in you, considering the fact that you stand a comfortable half a head over the rest of your soldiers (+10 Strength)
- Dextrous (1 Shiny): During your time in the army you became an expert whittler to pass the time. Now you're significantly more precise with your movements than the average person and can be trusted to have the steadiest hands around (+10 Dexterity)
- Quick (2 Shinys): You rose quickly within the army not because you were necessarily the best with the blade, but how good you were at understanding exactly what your commanders wanted. Combined with some shrewd decisions about who to trust, you rapidly rose through the ranks of the army (+10 Intelligence)
- FREE Either +10 to Weapon Skill or Ballistics Skill: Depending on what your role was in the army, you will get a natural boost to your fighting style of choice.
Over the course of your life you have managed to attract the attention and loyalty of an especially skilled follower. You get to name the character if you choose any of these options:
- Norscan Bodyguard (2 Shinys): Norscans are an outlier in human society. Most are abnormally tall, all are heavily muscled, and the majority have an unfortunate tendency to worship the Chaos gods. You somehow manage to attract the loyalty of one, made sure he wasn't tainted by the Archenemy, and now employ him as very effective muscle
- Halfling Cook (2 Shinys): Even the most bigoted members of the Empire will begrudgingly admit the food of halflings is exemplary. Having one on staff will allow you to be a better host to prominent members of society, as well as improve the morale of your men. They're also pretty good about sniffing out poison.
- Journeyman Wizard (3 Shinys): Somehow you have managed to attract the attention of a young journeyman Amethyst Wizard who is striking out on their own for the first time. They creep you to no end, to be honest, but you have to believe their experience with the dead will be invaluable for your current role.
- Disgraced Manservant/Maid (1 Shineys): You were able to offer a cot and a pot for a now-disgraced Manservant/Maid for a Noble house within the city. They had served the house their entire life but were unceremoniously fired to cover up for a social faux pas from one of the house's scions.
In addition to retainers, you may have a number of contacts
- Friendly ?? Witchhunter x2: Johann is one of the most ostensibly grim people you've ever met. Covered in scars, missing an eye, four fingers, one foot, and most of his nose his true imitation factor becomes apparent when you talk to him revealing a burning faith in Sigmar and hatred of his enemies. It's someone to run to when things go bump in the night, but there's a good chance that if the problem is real he'll eliminate you as collateral damage in the cleanup. Still, he seems to be as generally fond of you as one of his kind will allow themselves to be.
- Perpetual Apprentice x1: One of your good friends from childhood, Gunter, took a very different path in life from you and ended up as one of the perpetual apprentices of the University. Too useful to get rid of, but none of the connections needed to advance he still is an invaluable connection to understand who has real expertise in any given field.
- Old Sewer Jack x3: The father of one of your former soldiers is an old sewer jack who's now reduced to doing old jobs around the city as his mind has largely gone. He spends his whole day ranting about the "rats in the dark" and how you are all DOOMED. He's pretty harmless as far as you can tell, but you try to take care of him In respect for your fallen soldier (A lead into the Conspiracy of Silence)
- Poor Merchant House x2: Over your time in the army you forged a connection with a small merchant house that was significantly more honest with their wares than their competitors. The Saurlanders, as a result, are also significantly poorer than their fellows, but can be trusted to act in good faith, and will reward any favors sent their way.
- Idiot Noble x1: Herta is one of the dumbest Nobles you've ever met. She is obsessed with sneaking out and "being amongst the real people", completely missing the small squad of none-too-inconspicuous soldiers her father sends after her as guards. You met her in the middle of a bar fight in a particularly seedy East-Side bar and quickly became reluctant friends. Still, the gossip she freely shares about her family and noble social circles is an invaluable peek into uppercrust society.
- Spell Scrubber x1: The Colleges of Magic are a relatively new addition to the Empire and still viewed with a modicum of suspicion and fear. What's less known is how many people they employ to cleanup after their spell practices and experiments. No haughty mage is cleaning up the dead pigs they used to test their new spells on after all. Arda is one of those spell scrubbers and occasionally has some interesting info about what's going on inside the Colleges, in particular the Celestial Order.
- Gate Guard x1: Another of your former colleagues -- Ebbo — recently took up employment as one of the guards at the northern gate of the city. He's a jovial drunk, and more than happy to help you out by passing on any rumors or observations he comes across.
You also have some unique skills that define easy categorization:
- Gambler x1: You spent your free time playing games of chance against your fellow soldiers, and found you had a real knack for assessing odds and judging your opponent's intentions. Most importantly you learned how to balance your wins with minor losses to ensure people will continue playing with you. You will have a large advantage anytime you gamble with cards or dice, and are able to find games of chance much easier.
- Skilled Briber x1: Small favors and bribes grease the wheels of the Empire's army, and you have become very good at playing these games (-33% reduction in bribe cost, more bribe opportunities available)
- Paranoid Bastard x1: You watched far too many good — and bad — men lose their heads in greenskin ambushes to ever fully let go of your rightful paranoia. Sure, you've punched more than a few friends in the face but obviously that's a small price to pay to make sure you are never surprised. (Much much harder to ambush)
- Craftsman x1: Being a soldier is surprisingly boring. Very little time is spent actually fighting, and far more is spent drilling, keeping care of camp, and doing various chores. Over time you gravitated to doing a certain type of task and gradually learned the trade. It was always your dream to retire from the army and set up shop as a (Merchant, Brewer, Carpenter, Blacksmith, Stoneworker, Tailor)
- Superstitious x1: Most members of the Empire are at least moderately -stitious, but you are truly superstitious. There is not a single superstition you've encountered that you haven't picked up, and your day-to-day life is filled with seemingly strange behavior as you try and fend off the Empire's many terrors. Advantage to resist entrapment by vampires, skaven, witches, and chaos cultists. Cannot be taken with wizard retainer and will make your character come across as quite eccentric.
- Terrifying x1: You are a large, well-trained man of war and you move like one. Your every move screams violence, and your high-quality but heavily worn armor shows you aren't afraid to use it. +1 Fear Rating the you choose to use it
- Touched by Your God x2: You have an innate connection to your god and are instantly able to know when you have entered one of their holy places. You may receive visions from them, but expect the visions to be fragmented, symbolic, and frequently misleading.
- Iron Jaw x1: You've taken so many blows to the head in training and war, that you've developed an impressive resistance to being stunned. Not much surprises you, and you'll keep fighting until you go down for good
- Cunning Linguist x1: You always seemed to be the one in charge of speaking to the backward peasant villages that spoke in a dialect so strong you could hardly call it Riekspiel, or to the Bretonnians that raised across the border. You are preternaturally gifted at learning languages and can pick up the basics in a month, and be fully conversational within six with minimal instruction.
- Natural Schemer x1: You didn't just get by in the army because of your skill with the sword, you discovered during your time there you have a natural talent for understanding political situations and maneuvering. Once per turn you can boost one political scheme's target rolls by +10, or ask a question to the QM about how your actions will be perceived
- Sharp Shot x1: You are a natural marksman and can easily hit a target regardless of range. No penalties for long-range shooting, and +5 to your blackpowder weapon's skills
- Unshakable x1: You've seen so much in your time in the army that few things manage to surprise you at this point. You are incredibly hard to shake, and skilled at acting as a beacon of stability in the face of chaotic situations. Significant bonuses on keeping your cool, and inspiring courage in others
- Write in: Always welcome!
- Viciously Ugly (+1 shiny): You have a vicious scar across your face from your time in the army, severely disfiguring you and making you incredibly unpleasant to look at (-10 Fellowship)
- Sickly (+2 shiny): You were never the healthiest man, and an outbreak of the plague within your army camp permanently weakened you. Now you have a persistent cough that produces blood on occasion (-10 Toughness)
- Short (+1 shiny): You are abnormally short for a human, and occasionally confused for a halfling. As a result, while you are plenty fast, you simply lack the strength of your bigger compatriots (-10 Strength)
- Slow (+1 shiny): You're tough, you're loyal, and you're damn good with a blade in your hand. However, you never were the quickest to grasp new concepts, and there's a reason your parents didn't try harder to get you a formal education. (-10 intelligence)
- Clumsy (+1 shiny): You always seem to have an assortment of odd injuries. Cuts on your hands from slipping with your blade. A twisted ankle. A black eye from falling in the night. Simply put you are one clumsy man. ( -10 Dexterity)
- Divided Loyalties (+2 shiny): You are not completely your own man, you owe a powerful figure a huge debt for managing to get you out of the scrap with the missing noble, and they will have demands on you to repay them for their services. You aren't entirely sure who the figure is — they have always interacted with you through untraceable intermediaries — but you suspect them to be a high-placed noble within Altdorf.
- Price on your Head (+2 shiny): The Noble that you rescued would prefer for the entire affair to be forgotten, and is in the process of cleaning up any loose ends. They have put out a price on your head, and intend for it to be collected.
- DOOMED (+2 Shinys): (QM Note: I'll randomly generate a dooming, and from then on if you are making a check that could theoretically meet the conditions of the dooming, you will have -15 applied to the target of your rolls.)
- Strict Ulrican (+1 Shiny): You rigidly adhere to the scriptures of Ulric and disdain ranged weapons. You will not use them and you will not let your soldiers use them either.
- Honest (+1 Shiny): You were raised by parents that were unusually devoted to Verona, and were incredibly strict about always telling the truth. This persisted into adulthood and you now find it very hard to consciously lie. To lie you must pass a difficult willpower test. Cannot be taken with Compulsive Liar
- Compulsive Liar (+1 Shiny): You were raised by Randalite parents who taught you the value of white lies and partial truths. You took their lessons to heart a little too strongly, and now find it difficult to speak entirely truthfully. To be fully open requires passing a difficult willpower test. Cannot be taken with Honest
- Write in: Always welcome!
Group Boons
- Friends x1: The men of your watch have become a unit over time, fiercely resisting outside influence, with incredible loyalty to each other. They know each other's families, spend their free time together, and are fiercely protective of each other. It will be hard to earn their trust, but once you do you will have a remarkably cohesive group in your corner.
- Sincere Morrites x1: Toteninsel is a pretty shit posting. You are constantly surrounded by dead bodies and their grieving families. As a result, the people who stick around tend to end up being pretty devout Morrites. They are still corrupt as all get out, but they do earnestly respect the God of the Dead and his followers.
- Anatomists x1: The men of your command have seen so many dead bodies that they have become some of the most knowledgeable people in the whole Empire about the human anatomy. Unlocks the anatomy skill, increased chance to notice anatomy-based clues.
- Docks x1: Toteninsel is where a plurality of the city's dead ends up, and the watch maintains a small set of docks here to transfer bodies found elsewhere in the city. You have access to a small vessel here and can use it to traverse the city much quicker than by foot. Also opens up some opportunities for river-based actions.
- Smithy x1: This is one of the few Watch Houses with a fully dedicated smithy. It has a forge, anvil, bellows, and even a primitive drop hammer powered by a decaying waterwheel on the river. This will unlock basic production capabilities. Well, once you find a competent blacksmith and replace all the tools that have conveniently disappeared.
- Cold Room x2: So many bodies go into your Watch House that the Empire House invested in installing a cold room here, using some enchantment out of the Colleges. Now it's primarily used to keep Noble corpses fresh for funerals and burials, but it could be easily repurposed to be used for investigations.
- Write in: Always welcome!
- Bad Rumor (+1 Shinys): A persistent rumor has taken hold within the watchmen that you let your command be killed to advance your career. You are puzzled about how this information ever became known: you're sure the Noble involved was eager to sweep it all under the rug. Regardless, while this rumor persists you will find it incredibly hard to gain your subordinates' trust.
- In Debt (+1 Shinys): So technically the Temple of Moor owns nearly 95% of the land on the island of Toteninsel, including the land your Watch House is built on. As one of the soldiers helpfully informs you, they haven't been paid for several years, and while they aren't currently coming to collect, they will start asking pointed questions if you make significant purchases before paying them.
- Haunted (+2 Shinys): Your men report being woken up every night in terror and something keeps destroying every mirror in the building. There's no question that something is haunting the grounds, but it's definitely outside of your specialty, and an expert will need to be brought in to address the issue, which won't be cheap.
- Cursed (+3 Shinys): You are pretty sure that something has cursed the entirety of the watch-house. Even in the brief time, you have been here you've seen someone trip over the absolute smallest rock possible, someone accidentally light their beard on fire while trying to light their pipe, and inexplicably a man slice open his arm with a suddenly sharp spoon while trying to eat a bowl of soup. (This will be a very rough start, and something will be actively working against any improvements immediately)
- Write in: Always welcome!
Conclusion
Alright, I think that's it! Manfred Hartman is increasingly becoming a real character, and based on your choices here I will have a pretty good idea of where the quest will be starting => going in the immediate time frame.
!!!Voting Moratorium for the next 12 hours, then the vote will be open for the following 24. !!!
I'm going to take a day or two to get the character sheet created and shared, as well as make sure I've got a solid idea of all the relevant dramatis personae, but expect the first real quest post to come before the end of the week!
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Okay quick thing, is it possible to get stuff from the group boons later on? Aka the smithy, anatomy stuff, etc.? If so I say we should probably focus on making our guy scary as shit to start off and work our way up the ladder with our actual guard with time.
Also there isn't a cost listed for a lot of the options available.
So most of the group boons are acquirable later on, but would be significant investments of time and resources even in the medium term. Remember you have a free Shiny to use specifically on these, so you can feel free to spend the majority on your character.
Anything not explicitly listed should cost one, but I'll make a quick edit to make this more explicit
[X] Plan Fuck It, We Ball!!!
[X] Beautiful
[X] Healthy
[X] Tall
[X] Dextrous
[X] Quick
[X] Melee Skill
[X] Norscan Bodyguard
[X] Friendly ?? Witchhunter
[X] Unbreakable
[X] Smithy
[X] Price on your Head
[X] Honest
[X] Bad Rumor
[X] Haunted
[X] Cursed
Honestly I figure, we're on a fucking undead infested hellscape of an island, with a noble who's embarrassed he got caught in our backstory, and we legit are said to be somewhat honest already. Plus I also want our man to be an absolute Chad, and with the extra fellowship and a witch hunter liking us it'll probably be not ass painful to get rid of the rumor.
[X] Beautiful
[X] Healthy
[X] Tall
[X] Dextrous
[X] Quick
[X] Melee Skill
[X] Norscan Bodyguard
[X] Friendly ?? Witchhunter
[X] Unbreakable
[X] Smithy
[X] Price on your Head
[X] Honest
[X] Bad Rumor
[X] Haunted
[X] Cursed
Honestly I figure, we're on a fucking undead infested hellscape of an island, with a noble who's embarrassed he got caught in our backstory, and we legit are said to be somewhat honest already. Plus I also want our man to be an absolute Chad, and with the extra fellowship and a witch hunter liking us it'll probably be not ass painful to get rid of the rumor.
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