Is it too late to sign up?
Nope. 
Wotcha got in mind for a character? See below for examples.
1 Like
Well, I got hold of a pdf of the Banestorm source book and I was pretty interested in the Ministry of Serendipity vs Underground Engineers conflict that’s running in the background of the setting.
Would this idea fit in with the campaign? - A soldier/spy from an Underground Engineer cell on the run after a partially successful, but ultimately disastrous, attempt to infiltrate the Ministry.
Possibly; let’s take this to PMs to avoid spoilers.
Introducing medieval spy extraordinaire, and industrial revolutionary, " Eoin (Owen) Reed"
“Eoin” grew up in [redacted], East Megalos the son of craftsmen, from a long line of craftsmen. His parents had a reputation as skilled makers in [redacted], but Eoin showed little aptitude for the family trade. He was the black sheep of his family. Widely seen as a restless trouble-maker that couldn’t just mind his own business when he saw something wrong, although he usually managed to get off lightly
Because where his parents and siblings could look at something and see how it worked and where the pieces fit, Eoin could do the same for people. He had a knack for figuring out what people wanted, and what to say or do to get a certain reaction.
(And some stuff I think is ok in the open thread, but I’m not 100% on that. So spoilers)
All his life, “aunts” and “uncles” of all races would occasionally pop in to visit his parents. At first he’d be shooed out with the other younger siblings, but as he got older they slowly included him in the discussions.
Most of the time they talked in technical detail Eoin couldn’t quite follow anyway. Other times they’d argue philosophy and intriguing, but dangerous, notions like “progress” and “democracy.”
Some visitors never returned, which was sometimes met with a shrug and more often with sombre expressions and hushed voices.
That’s how he first met [redacted], one of the visitors who introduced Eoin to a group of people who wanted those notions to be more than ideas discussed in secret. Who wanted to do something about their disappearing friends.
[redacted] taught Eoin how to fight, and got him started in a trade more suited to his aptitudes.
But that was another life, and many mistakes ago.
Questionnaire
-
Who is/was their closest friend?
-
Where do they hope to end up?
Somewhere were anyone is duly rewarded for their efforts and cared for according to their need, regardless of birth. Where people are free to explore new ideas and try to make life better.
And if that doesn’t exist? Well, he’ll settle for being a part of making it.
-
What is their general approach in a fight? Do they have a favourite move/tactic?
Eoin believes the best fight is one that never starts. He tends to try and use his words, his wits or an unseen blade to nip violent opposition in the bud, but if things kick off, Eoin will try to end it with brutal efficiency.
He’ll simply batter through and hack apart an unskilled enemy. But against skilled enemies, he throws out feints and distractions to create an opening for a decisive blow. -
Describe their physical appearance, including eye and hair colour, clothing style etc.
Slightly above average height and build, with a forgettably handsome face. Mid-length dark brown hair and light brown eyes. A crooked scar running almost parallel to his mouth is just visible on his chin behind a still-freshly grown beard.
His current clothing would suggest Eoin’s a reasonably well-off soldier or mercenary, and he appears to be in his mid to late 20s.
He looks like this…
Except the mantle/collar? is a cloak, and the belt is less ornate and more of a regular belt. -
What is their attitude to religion, native and foreign?
Eoin keeps up a front of orthodox Megalan Christianity, but he secretly despises the church which he sees as oppressive, greedy and hypocritical.
In reality, he believes God doesn’t need priests or organised religion as middle-men. Religon is a personal thing.
He’s not a huge fan of Islam, but at least it isn’t Catholicism, and he’s largely ignorant of non-human religions. -
What is their attitude towards magic?
Magic can be a wondrous thing of beauty, or a terrifying force plucked from your nightmares.
It all depends on who’s using it, and what they’re using it for. -
What is their attitude towards humans/non-humans?
People are people, everybody has the same basic wants and needs. Everyone has motives, goals, hopes, fears and a price. If you can figure those out, then you can move mountains.
That doesn’t extend to races most of civilisation puts in the “kill-on-sight” category, like orcs and lizard-men, he’s not that broad-minded. -
What is their attitude to money? How careful are they when spending?
Eoin is careful, and precise with his money. But if spending coin will save the lives, or further the cause of people he cares about he will spread the wealth like a drunken sailor.
2 Likes
Bare-headed in this case means living on the surface.
1 Like
So, is it just Sasha in the trees or are all the newcomers supposed to be around there somewhere?
I believe Thwip, Ranar, and Sasha are sitting in the shade and having second breakfast.
All you need is a little pipeweed and a halfling or two and you’d have a right old fellowship going.
2 Likes
Yup.
Hayu should arrive shortly; I haven’t worked out how I’ll introduce Eoin yet.
The dwarves will be their stunt doubles.
One of the better mechanics in It Came From the Late, Late, Late Show: as it was an RPG simulation of bad movies, whenever your character was about to be stomped by Godzilla or whatever you could call in your stunt double to take the damage for you. 
2 Likes
A Thwip note for new… and maybe old… players:
Stuff between the double dashes is his inner monologue. --My arm really hurts and this tea is making me want to pee.–
Anglish is the one with the missing letters and e and i switiching, “Tis is Kinny. He’s mi ken. Kin?”
Arabic is the stuff that looks like someone trying to do a German accent but keeps slipping into French. “Ziz iz zee best part off und story.”
Goblin is a mishmash of pidgen English with some Korean and Japanese tossed in. “Mi penga issda. Mi applega issda. Ugn. Applepengayo.”
Strong Accent is one of his quirks. And I’ve gotten a better handle at writing them since we’ve started but I still forget what I did previously for his language quirks so apologies if it gets confusing.
PS These are entirely based on my real world inability to do a half decent accent when I play an RPG.
2 Likes
Tredroy is a city on the Cardiel/al-Haz/al-Wazif border, jointly ruled by all three nations (Tres Droits, three laws). It’s where the campaign began.
You’re currently about halfway between Tredroy and Hadaton, just north of the river.
It was really hard to not use Darwin’s terminology here.
To clarify for the dwarves:
You’re seated on the western edge of a small grove (about 30m across) of trees. Thwip is indicating hoofbeats approaching from the east; you’d need to move through or around the grove to clearly see what they are.
Wotcha all doing?
Sasha is moving to a comfortable position and preparing to cast Terror with the expectation that he’ll panic the horses, if that fails he’ll then cast Blackout at the edge of the copse because charging into trees when you suddenly can’t see will cause them far more problems than it will him.
Keep in mind that the functional range of most of your spells is only a few yards; you get -1 to skill per yard of distance. A staff can reduce this penalty by two, but Sasha doesn’t have one. Even with the staff, most spells are short-ranged; you need effective skill of 11 or better to have less than a 50% chance of a fizzle.
Fireballs don’t have this problem, because you’re casting at zero range to create the fireball, then tossing it at the target. They get the same range modifiers as an archer would.
Terror is an area spell, so the listed fatigue cost is for a one-hex area of effect. For double cost, you get that hex plus all the surrounding hexes; a 3 yard diameter sphere, in real terms, as a “hex” is one yard across. Triple cost gets another ring of hexes for a 5 yard diameter, etc.
Unless they’re standing stirrup-to-stirrup, getting all three horses will take a fairly large area.
While I’m at it, to clarify how fireballs work:
On the first turn, you declare that you’re casting Fireball. Roll under skill and you immediately have a fireball in hand, of up to 3d6 damage potential.
Next turn, you either aim (same as you could with a bow), throw the fireball (same range modifiers as a bow), or enlarge the fireball by up to 3d again. You can only enlarge twice, so your maximum blast is 9d.
You can hold a Fireball ready in hand for as long as you like, but if you get hit there’s a chance you’ll drop it on yourself.
Okay, questions then
- how long until they reach us/the running person?
- are they converging on him, or are they going on each flank with the central rider running him down, or are they too far away to tell yet?
- If fear costs 1 point and I have it at 15 does that mean that I can cast it for free as long as it’s in a 1 hex area?
- what’s the casting time for a spell?
- Shape Earth has a duration of 1 minute and has a move of 2. Can I use this to create pits in front of me to cause the horses to stumble? Can I do this quick enough to be useful at the last minute to take them by surprise?