Character Creation and Setting

[electricblue109]

Alright, round two!

Despite the problems with the last RPG I ran, I am going to remain undaunted and try again, this time in a more open format.

So, I hereby invite those of you reading this to my humble little game, kindly hosted by Messer's Coleman and Crow, The resplendent, amazing, incredible, fascinating, astonishing, and any other synonyms for 'brilliant' that I can Nick off thesaurus.com....Codex Honorari!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to answer the question that you are all no doubt asking, what the hell is Codex?

Welp, I have decided to try my hand at a proper fantasy again, due to many factors. First is the fact that my idea for a dark urban fantasy is currently being done by the lovely miss Emily (yes, please do check out the other games on this site), coupled with the fact that despite my love of Sci-Fi, fantasy is where I really enjoy Gm-ing, as it allows me to create an utterly new world with which my players can have fun. on that subject, I have very much left the setting of this world un-described, as it is my opinion that I should not constrain a good player in their choice of character. Thus, I have only come up with the bare basics of a world, particularly the current politics (in the locale it is set) and a few other things. Please see the attachment entitled 'house rules' for more info. When it come to character, story or action, I really would enjoy your input, as it enriches the game and makes it more enjoyable for everyone. so do not be afraid to talk to me about pretty much anything in the setting, if you want anything included, please say! also, don't be afraid to converse with other players, as two minds are far better than one, and if you are stuck on any facet of character creation, or even upon what action to take next, please ask them, as I am sure they will be happy to help you.

Well, Rant over, mostly. this setting is a mid-level fantasy, please just have fun coming up with a character, as with the system we are using (modified Dresden Files RPG, I really should have mentioned that earlier) it is less about number crunching or maxing a stat out than having fun playing a character. just come up with ideas and then post them in this section, if you are stuck, ask us.
With that, please direct any further question to your truly, and let's get some characters sorted!

[tarkara]

I'm not seeing this "House Rules" attachment anywhere so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume I found this early.

Still working on my power...

[electricblue109]

As to the attachment, im working on it at the moment.

As to your character, im going for a more fantasy setting, so you guys have a lot more space to come up with an origninal character concept, so im afraid that its not the dark urban fantasy that I have previously said id be running.

[Bal]

For the people among us who are still interested in the idea of the dark urban fantasy, I'm sure Rufus wouldn't mind if people wanted to check out the main Darkening Nights game itself alongside First Casualty. Emily and I are more than happy to discuss with people. More RP is better than less, after all ^_^

[tarkara]

The powers I've been working on don't have to be in a dark urban setting anyway, none of them required, say, modern guns or anythings.

[electricblue109]

FATE System changes

Skills
All skills function as normal save for a few that have been changed for the purposes of setting.

Driving
Now Riding, trappings function in exactly the same way.

Guns
Now Archery, trappings function the same way.

Fists
Now Martial Arts, trappings function the same way, although new trapping allows identification of fighting styles.


Sailing- New Skills, trappings as follows.
Chases- Used to close distance between a ship and a target, for longer chases see rules for extended contests (DF-YS page 193).
Navigation- Used to navigate at sea, and can be used to gain information about locations from a nautical perspective, such as sea routes, allegiance, coastal/oceanic terrain etc.
Weather prediction- Highly important in navigation, more successes gives you a longer-range weather forecast or more accurate information.
Sea Knowledge- General nautical knowledge to do with the sea, such as wildlife, phenomena, seagoing culture and such.

Command- New Skill, trappings as follows
Pulling Rank- Command can be used as a social attack, and can be defended with a verity of skills according to the situation, it should be noted that you can only use command on people that you have authority/seniority over (or people who think that you do).
Tactics- Organising small groups (Usually up to platoon/regiment size) and giving them orders, as well as ability to get order carried out under difficult circumstances.
Strategy- Ability to organize, deploy and manoeuvre large forces, normally on regimental or army level.
Military knowledge- Used as part of research, or on the spot on subjects pertaining to battles, military units, training, fortifications or the like.

Moshu-
Magic Stress Track- Moshu is used to generate a magic stress track, used for soaking damage done from casting spells. Please not that this is not one of the main stress tracks, and therefore your character is not knocked out of combat one this has been filled, it just prevents them from utilising any further magic based abilities.

Stress track calculation

Mediocre (+1) 2x Boxes
Average (+2), Fair (+3) 3x Boxes
Good (+4), Great (+5) 4x Boxes
Superb+ (+5>) 4x boxes and an additional mild consequence slot for each two full levels above good (+4)

Magic Detection- Used to detect the presence of magical activity in an object, person, or item. Either rolled or uses as static value when employed passively.
Sixth sense- This is used as a static defence for the PC to know that something is happening beyond their own ability to sense, such as a friend in trouble, an imminent attack via thaumaturgy, or that an important moment has just happened. Unlike awareness, it does not give you insight as to what is actually wrong, just a vague notion and a blind feeling of discomfort.
Artifice- Used when constructing a magical item (or an item magically), with shifts indicating levels of success in creating a magical item, be it a charged item, focus item or potion. Rules for artifice forthcoming please occasionally poke your Gm to remind him.

Rules Changes

Spellcasting- Power (Page 255 DF-YS)
Instead of conviction being used to determine the amount of power a spell caster can generate, Moshu is used instead. You can generate a number of shifts of power equal to your level of Moshu for only one point of stress; however each shift of power over your level of Moshu equates to one extra point of stress.

Spell casting- Magic Stress Track (Page 255 DF-YS)
Spell casting no longer uses the mental stress track when the power drain of spell casting results in stress or consequences, instead a new stress track is

Armour (Page 202 DF-YS)
Armor acts as it is described in the rulebook, it reduces physical stress from an injury at a rate of one shift for every point of armor. However, this can also act as a penalty in certain situations, for example during stealth situations, endurance or even social events, to a degree equal to the rating of the armour.
Examples of Armour:1- Toughened hides, leather buff coats, anything above regular clothing really.
Armour:2- Laminar armour, Mail (In all varieties), Brigandine, most basic armours specifically designed for everyday military use.
Armour:3- Mail and Plate, Lighter plate armours O-Yoroi armour, Scale armour anything that is meant for heavier usage.
Armour:4- Battle Plate, heavy armours, anything that is basically designed to last a long time on a battlefield with serious weight and protection to it.

[electricblue109]

Basic setup is 8 Refresh, 30 skill points

[electricblue109]

Setting

Thematics over mechanics
The idea with this setting is that it will be a more dramatic based game than others, focus being upon individuals and their deeds rather than total gritty realism. Although I am trying to steer clear of sheer high fantasy, I am also trying to avoid the easily done dark fantasy, instead coming up with an acceptable middle ground that doesn’t feel like a total compromise to either side of the scale.

Races
Anything goes really, as I have said above you are free to make things up, and I’ll be including some staple fantasy races, (dwarves, elves, orks, just using different names) but if those don’t interest you, please make something up, just tell me about it beforehand, and don’t be afraid to make an entire civilisation up, just make sure that your character is interesting on their own, not just because they are the ‘kooky foreigner from a weird place’.

Setting
The main setting is the city of Duplikest, one of the founding members of the Free Trade League, a collection of city states that have banded together to defend themselves from the invasions of several empires and monstrous hordes that have attempted to take them by conquest. Despite the military union of the city states, they are still commercial rivals, and skirmishes and subterfuge between them is highly common. The greatest current threat is the Chagatay Empire, led by the charismatic and tyrannical emperor. After a string of minor victories on the eastern frontiers of the league, the Chagatay have stalled in their advance, thus giving the league valuable breathing room.

Leading the league is the free trade city of Dreiberg, a centre of political machinations, cutthroat deals and semi-legal wholesale. There are few things that are illegal to sell in Dreiburg, and even then, it is probably still available to someone with the right connections and/or resources.

Katray is the southern bulwark against many invasions that have threatened the league at one time or another, and its militaristic society has managed to fend of countless attacks and still maintain its position as the single most impregnable fortress on the continent.

Duplikest and its surrounding territories are the setting for this current campaign. The River City of Duplikest is still a fairly modular city at the minute, and I’m using it as a starting point for you guys. Basically, if you would prefer a wilderness/dungeoneering game, there is more than enough stuff that I can use, the same with a political style or urban fantasy, or any such style, especially a combination if that what you guys will enjoy.


Also, I have deliberately left this list of league members incomplete, so please feel free to make up your own if you desire, as it can make for an interesting back-story for a character.

Culturally, the league is a cross between the Hanseatic Trading League and Han era-China. Names are typical fantasy stock, and but due to the mass up of societies that the league represents people and cities can be based on pretty much any real world example. A wide range of gods are worshiped, some more exclusively than others, and there is a general acceptance (however grudging) of different races and nationalities. Martial arts are prevalent; either as an occupation or pastime, medicine is basic, although there is an understanding of germs and their effects. Much of society is based around the acquisition of wealth, and luck in various forms is highly prised as a commodity.

People from League cities have a habit of preferring nicknames to their own given ones, generally as these names are often earned through action rather than just being given at birth, thus in the local mindset having more value to them. Many of these nicknames have double meanings, for example, a man called Rake could be named so because he is very slender, or because he is liable to break your nose if you try to step on him.

[electricblue109]

Ok so trigg is making a martial arts/ Investigator, so im coming up with a few peices of plot. any other suggestions?

[tarkara]

I started another topic where I can freely write some back story down for my character, and I all ready have a name, a first for me.

[electricblue109]

Awesome, if anyone else wants to do that feel free. Also, im thinking of inviting danni to this, could anyone tell that she more than welcolme to join.

[tarkara]

Done.

[electricblue109]

Ok, although I can run a game with two people, I would much prefer it if there were some more. Bal, have you any ideas for a charcter? we could certainly brainstorm them with you. Also trigg, is your brother still interested?