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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 4, 2020 18:51:37 GMT -12
I'm writing a full DARK SUN campaign and I've started up an Obsidian Portal page to run a playtest of it as a play-by-post on the forums there. I need two more people and Bob said I could poach players from here.
If you're interested, lemme know your Obsidian Portal account name. (It's free.)
General conceit is: You're out in the deserts of the southern wastes. Maybe you fled from slavery. Maybe you're wanted for crimes. Maybe you got lost in a sandstorm. All you know is, you and about two dozen other people are currently standing around next to a large pile of small rocks, and endless dunes stretch off all around you, and if you don't find something to eat and drink soon you're all going to die. Better hitch up your belt and go find something.
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Post by DM Bob on Oct 5, 2020 2:32:46 GMT -12
I will be playing K'iken'ak the thri-kreen ranger to start and have an elven fighter/preserver/fire cleric (Jal’Culluh) on the tree. Very excited.
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Post by AthasianLaborer on Oct 5, 2020 4:02:18 GMT -12
I want to volunteer but I am not sure if I should or not.
I almost volunteered for the north tablelands game too. I've gotten distracted from the Trader kits (though haven't stopped thinking about them) by work (so many hours) and the south tablelands game (which I adore) and an idea for a Merchants calculator and market tracker thing I've had in my head for a while (which causes me to ask things like "How many Trained Kank can the market in Nibenay absorb without killing demand?").
I do have an idea for an Aarockra Fighter Dart Bomber though....
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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 5, 2020 4:42:11 GMT -12
I reeeeeaally want to try to get some useful feedback out of this playtest so I do need people but only those who can participate regularly.
Remember the 16th-level dart specialist rule (in Combat & Tactics) and the fact that if you move in a round you halve your rate of fire with missile weapons.
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Post by AthasianLaborer on Oct 5, 2020 8:43:47 GMT -12
I reeeeeaally want to try to get some useful feedback out of this playtest so I do need people but only those who can participate regularly. Remember the 16th-level dart specialist rule (in Combat & Tactics) and the fact that if you move in a round you halve your rate of fire with missile weapons. You're talking a post a day right? Or more than that? Could it work with a single character or would a tree be necessary? I can throw together another character for sure, I mean, I can't stop thinking about Thrasher Corax, the Destroyer Kite! Another plus is that it is play by post. By useful feedback, you're talking like challenge level and fun factor right? Or are you talking new mechanics? |
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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 5, 2020 10:02:09 GMT -12
This is probably a post a day. Maybe every other day if I'm super-busy. Feedback is primarily about the challenges and story elements. There are a few new mechanics but they are very light - basically a very abstract system for making a settlement out of nothing, turning your little spot in the desert into a village. This generally takes the form of "when you have acquired these components, you can build this thing as a project, and it levels up your village." I recommend two characters because the system encourages downtime - PCs need to do things like oversee village improvement construction. This also means that it builds in some time for stuff like psionic meditation and spell research.
Also remember that aarakocra are maneuverability class C, so you can't hover - you must move forward each round that you're flying. That in turn means you use your darts or other missile attacks at half the usual attack rate.
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Post by DM Bob on Oct 5, 2020 12:07:48 GMT -12
I've played in one of Jesse's PbP games. He tries to post often (don't expect the same type of game you get from a hyperactive stay at home parent). It's a bit slower on the weekends - he's busy writing for his real work then. His posts are more elegant and thought out than mine. His games seem to have more structure, while I'm improv/freeform. He adapts well though. Not one of the old school DMs that will be completely thrown off track with a bit of creativity/outside-of-the-box roleplay.
The idea of leveling up a settlement makes me think that he's got a 5E expansion in mind that deals entirely with this concept and he's using 2E to structure it out since he's more familiar or comfortable with the system.
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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 5, 2020 14:09:49 GMT -12
It's actually designed for me to release in its 2e format - just like the mini-adventures that I sometimes release. I did a poll a while back and folks on the DARK SUN Facebook group voted that I should do an entire campaign, so I wrote (am writing) a full West Marches-style DARK SUN campaign. It all takes place in the endless sand dunes and silt sea of the southern wastes (with a touch of the Dead Lands). It starts as a survival-oriented game, but like the text says, the further south you go, the more strange things you find. The settlement-building is a tiny add-on to give you incentives early in the game: At first you just want to find enough food and water to survive a couple days, but as you parlay your travels into successes, you want to build up your home base so that you can survive more easily, and eventually make outposts in other parts of the desert. Also, having a built-up home base grants you access to things. At first, each time you start an expedition, you have no food or water and have to get what you can in the midst of your journey. Later as you build infrastructure you can stock supplies for your trips and you can mitigate bad events that sometimes happen to your settlement.
If I do a 5e version it'll be because WotC finally released DARK SUN 5e and I can throw something on the Guild at long last.
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Post by AthasianLaborer on Oct 6, 2020 3:28:32 GMT -12
It's actually designed for me to release in its 2e format - just like the mini-adventures that I sometimes release. I did a poll a while back and folks on the DARK SUN Facebook group voted that I should do an entire campaign, so I wrote (am writing) a full West Marches-style DARK SUN campaign. It all takes place in the endless sand dunes and silt sea of the southern wastes (with a touch of the Dead Lands). It starts as a survival-oriented game, but like the text says, the further south you go, the more strange things you find. The settlement-building is a tiny add-on to give you incentives early in the game: At first you just want to find enough food and water to survive a couple days, but as you parlay your travels into successes, you want to build up your home base so that you can survive more easily, and eventually make outposts in other parts of the desert. Also, having a built-up home base grants you access to things. At first, each time you start an expedition, you have no food or water and have to get what you can in the midst of your journey. Later as you build infrastructure you can stock supplies for your trips and you can mitigate bad events that sometimes happen to your settlement.
If I do a 5e version it'll be because WotC finally released DARK SUN 5e and I can throw something on the Guild at long last.
Please sign me up, I'll give the best feedback I can. Depending on rolls, I'm thinking Thrasher Corax, a Dwarf Water Cleric/Civil Engineer Slave escaped from Tyr, an Elf outcast Psionicist (thinking leaning Psychokinesis or Psychometabolism) and I haven't decided on a fourth yet. Player's Options or just PHB? |
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Post by DM Bob on Oct 6, 2020 3:39:55 GMT -12
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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 6, 2020 6:04:19 GMT -12
Please sign me up, I'll give the best feedback I can. Depending on rolls, I'm thinking Thrasher Corax, a Dwarf Water Cleric/Civil Engineer Slave escaped from Tyr, an Elf outcast Psionicist (thinking leaning Psychokinesis or Psychometabolism) and I haven't decided on a fourth yet. Player's Options or just PHB? Just drop me your Obsidian Portal username and I'll send you an invite.
There's a Wiki page with all the creation sources and rules that are in use. Not using Skills & Powers; using certain pieces of Combat & Tactics (no crits or knockdown dice).
You only need to make two characters to start, unless you really really want to make an entire tree. You are not required to match alignments on your tree.
If you roll a character and you just don't like the rolls you get you can scrap it and start over. I'm not super-strict about forcing people to play characters that they aren't invested in.
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Post by DM Bob on Oct 6, 2020 6:17:30 GMT -12
AthasianLaborer
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Post by AthasianLaborer on Oct 6, 2020 7:20:19 GMT -12
Please sign me up, I'll give the best feedback I can. Depending on rolls, I'm thinking Thrasher Corax, a Dwarf Water Cleric/Civil Engineer Slave escaped from Tyr, an Elf outcast Psionicist (thinking leaning Psychokinesis or Psychometabolism) and I haven't decided on a fourth yet. Player's Options or just PHB? Just drop me your Obsidian Portal username and I'll send you an invite.
There's a Wiki page with all the creation sources and rules that are in use. Not using _Skills & Powers_; using certain pieces of _Combat & Tactics_ (no crits or knockdown dice).
You only need to make two characters to start, unless you really really want to make an entire tree. You are not required to match alignments on your tree.
If you roll a character and you just don't like the rolls you get you can scrap it and start over. I'm not super-strict about forcing people to play characters that they aren't invested in.
I am thinking that I will focus on Thrasher Corax the CG Aarockra Fighter/Thief and Neurodivergent Irrigation Engineer the NG Dwarf Psychometabolist/Water Bender(please?) |
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Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Oct 6, 2020 8:02:55 GMT -12
Yeah, the cleric and bard kits that I wrote are legal!
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Post by AthasianLaborer on Oct 6, 2020 8:55:20 GMT -12
Yeah, the cleric and bard kits that I wrote are legal! Cawsqurawk -- Rusty Magpie of an Aarockra Freedom Fighter Male Fighter2/Thief2 Strength 16 Dexterity 19 Constitution 18 Intelligence 16 Wisdom 12 Charisma 15 Aqaphinia -- Liberated Laser Focused Dwarf Water Spreader Female Water Bender2/Psychometabolist2 Strength 15 Dexterity 12 Constitution 17 Intelligence 17 Wisdom 18 Charisma 8 |
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