The Northmarches (OOC)
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:15 pmby Ze Blitzkrieg
Premise
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
In its heyday, Andova stood mighty over the world. From the deserts of the far south to the icy peaks of the north, the deep seas of the east and the badlands of the west, its borders expanded as far as mankind ever knew, and perhaps farther than even some of the elder races knew. The Andovan Empire and its lockstep legions conquered, bartered and annexed neighboring states and established itself the greatest human civilization in history, the rival for any ancient elven hegemony or dwarven city-state. Andova is no longer in its heyday. Centuries of conquest and expansion weakened the empire like so much steel beaten thin, and under the weight of its massive territory and the ambitions of its aristocracy, it collapsed. Civil war consumed the lands, with lords and barons fighting increasingly costly wars to carve their own chunks from the dying behemoth of their fatherland. Only in decades recent has any semblance of Imperial control returned to the core territories of Andova, and entire provinces remain belligerent in their independence from their once overlords.
The Northmarches occupy a strangely stable state in this chaotic climate; far from the center of the empire, the frontier always lacked strong ties to the homeland. Sparsely populated, it has always been of relatively little interest to the nobility in the capital, and the barons and marcherlords always took care to pay whatever lip service was necessary to keep things that way. It is a land of isolated towns and villages far from the law, where homesteaders and refugees, adventurers and cutthroats all migrate to find peace or riches all. Esterwyn is one such town, a bastion of civilization at the throat of the untamed wilderness where lost souls and fortune-seekers gather.
In its heyday, Andova stood mighty over the world. From the deserts of the far south to the icy peaks of the north, the deep seas of the east and the badlands of the west, its borders expanded as far as mankind ever knew, and perhaps farther than even some of the elder races knew. The Andovan Empire and its lockstep legions conquered, bartered and annexed neighboring states and established itself the greatest human civilization in history, the rival for any ancient elven hegemony or dwarven city-state. Andova is no longer in its heyday. Centuries of conquest and expansion weakened the empire like so much steel beaten thin, and under the weight of its massive territory and the ambitions of its aristocracy, it collapsed. Civil war consumed the lands, with lords and barons fighting increasingly costly wars to carve their own chunks from the dying behemoth of their fatherland. Only in decades recent has any semblance of Imperial control returned to the core territories of Andova, and entire provinces remain belligerent in their independence from their once overlords.
The Northmarches occupy a strangely stable state in this chaotic climate; far from the center of the empire, the frontier always lacked strong ties to the homeland. Sparsely populated, it has always been of relatively little interest to the nobility in the capital, and the barons and marcherlords always took care to pay whatever lip service was necessary to keep things that way. It is a land of isolated towns and villages far from the law, where homesteaders and refugees, adventurers and cutthroats all migrate to find peace or riches all. Esterwyn is one such town, a bastion of civilization at the throat of the untamed wilderness where lost souls and fortune-seekers gather.
Introduction
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
A pretty straight forward West Marches-like game set in a fantasy world inspired by D&D without muddying the sexiness too much with higher mechanical ideas. The tone will probably skew towards the lighter end of things, smut being what it is, and the plot is largely dependent on smaller sub-stories focused on groups of players or individuals who inhabit Esterwyn, the town and sort of 'homebase' for the adventurers.
A pretty straight forward West Marches-like game set in a fantasy world inspired by D&D without muddying the sexiness too much with higher mechanical ideas. The tone will probably skew towards the lighter end of things, smut being what it is, and the plot is largely dependent on smaller sub-stories focused on groups of players or individuals who inhabit Esterwyn, the town and sort of 'homebase' for the adventurers.
Rules
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Most conflict scenes will be resolved with contested 1d20+modifier rolls of applicable nature. Damage numbers, when applicable, will be settled with a 1d6+modifiers roll. Talents and additional modifiers outside of character generation will be gained on a case-by-case basis in lieu of a more complicated advancement system.
Most conflict scenes will be resolved with contested 1d20+modifier rolls of applicable nature. Damage numbers, when applicable, will be settled with a 1d6+modifiers roll. Talents and additional modifiers outside of character generation will be gained on a case-by-case basis in lieu of a more complicated advancement system.
Sheet
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
- Code: Select All Code
[b]Name:[/b] (everyone has one)
[b]Age:[/b] (18+ for obvious reasons)
[b]Race:[/b] (Standard fantasy races that you would find in any D&D/Pathfinder/Dungeonworld type game)
[b]Gender:[/b] (male, female, intersex, ect)
[b]Appearance:[/b] (pictures welcome, although ideally you would also include a brief descriptor of build and the like)
[b]Personality:[/b] (a general outlook on the kind of person they are. don't need a whole psychological profile or anything like that.
[b]Biography:[/b] (the world is not super fleshed out, so I do not expect a novella. Simply describe their circumstances, why they're in Esterwyn, why they might have taken to adventure, and any other things of interest you can think of. Since the story is largely made up of sub-segments, writing plothooks into your biography that you might want to pursue is a plus.)
[b]Attributes:[/b]
(you've got six attributes in the typical D&D arrangement, assign +3, +2, +1, +1, 0, -1 to each of them. This will be your base modifier, added to any rolls which key off this attribute. Descriptors included.)
[u]Strength:[/u] (A general gauge for their physical strength and athleticism. Applied to anything where being physically fit would be necessary or advantageous)
[u]Dexterity:[/u] (A general gauge for how flexible or otherwise coordinated they are. Applied to tasks where good reflexes, physical coordination and finesse are required)
[u]Constitution:[/u] (How physically durable and robust they are. Applied to tasks to resist conditions, shrug off harm, or would require stamina. Used in Health calculation.)
[u]Wisdom:[/u] (A representation of attention span and self-discipline. Applied to tasks to notice details, read people, or ignore temptations. Used in Lust calculation.)
[u]Intelligent:[/u] (One's mental acuity and general sharpness. Used in tasks to recall knowledge, learn new things, or engage with the arcane.)
[u]Charisma:[/u] (A person's force of personality and general likeability. Used for most social facing challenges, such as haggling, seduction, or intimidation through words.)
[u]Health:[/u] Represents how healthy the character is at any given point. Taking damage through conventional means will cause this to lower, and reaching zero will incapacitate them. Base value is 10+(Con Modx3)
[u]Lust:[/u] Represents how horny/pent up a character is at any given point. Seduction attempts and general sexual situations that do not end with release increase this value. Reaching maximum lust will result in a soft-incapacitation where the character is too overwhelmed by their needs to focus on other things. Base value is 10+(Wis Modx3)
[b]Talents:[/b]
(Characters begin with 3 talents. Broadly speaking, a talent is simply a representation of a character's training or special traits, like being a trained warrior, or having special pheromones. Making a roll for which you have an applicable talent provides an additional 1d6 to the result of that roll. Talents can also stack if multiple talents would be applicable to a particular action. Additionally players may take a fourth talent if they take a flaw, which works the same as a trait would, only subtracting the result of a 1d6 from rolls it would impede them in.)
[b]Equipment:[/b] Select one-two weapons, a set of armor, and up to four other items of choice. These are narrative in nature, and provide circumstantial bonuses and detriments depending on the scenario. Wearing a hauberk of mail might give -2 to rolls to hit you, but if you're trying to wade through a river wearing it, it might also provide -2 to rolls to get across safely, or to roll out of the way of a fireball. Miscellaneous items might include maps, compasses, jugs of wine, lingerie and anything else fun you can think of.)
[b]Currency:[/b] (characters begin with 10 Andovan marks, the standard currency of the Empire)
[b]Kinks:[/b] (Very important. List the kinds of kinks you would like to see applied to your character. The more you can think of, the better, as it's unlikely that anything more hardcore than vanilla not listed here is likely to happen, just for the sake of both player and GM enjoyment)
[b]Turn-Offs:[/b] (Any hard no for you and your character. Things listed here will not happen/be brought up in your scenes/storyline.)
Races of Marches
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
As Andova evolved from chiefdom to kingdom to empire, its borders expanded to encompass ever more of the world. Lands distant and exotic found themselves added to the patchwork of the empire as the decades and centuries went on, and with those lands came a variety of other peoples and races, many of whom were integrated into greater Andovan society once their fealty was secured. Some of the following are among the more common races that populate the empire, and as a result, the Northmarches, which grow ever more diverse with the year as refugees from the heartland head north to find new homes away from the bickering of the nobility.
Humans: The most common race in Andova, humans outnumber the other inhabitants of the empire two-to-one. They are a diverse species, known for their adaptability and ingenuity, and so quantifying them in any particular manner is difficult. Heartlander Andovans are light skinned and dark haired and middling in height, while those native to the Northmarches tend to be larger and paler than their southern counterparts, with lighter shades of hair to match. Perhaps owing to their adaptable nature, humans tend to have a far easier time crossbreeding with other races, with the resulting offspring varying greatly depending on the race in question. Such half-breeds can expect face varying levels of acceptance or prejudice depending on what part of the empire they call home.
Elves: Elves are one of the oldest races in the known world; while the Andovans squabbled as petty chieftains, the long-lived elves reigned over much of the known world. A mixture of infighting, inflexibility and slow reproduction led to the downfall of many elven hegemonies, and their mighty civilizations were on the decline by the time the first Andovan warlords began to wander from the heartlands. The long history of the elves has led to a dizzying offering of cultures and subspecies, all with differing appearances, traits and ethos. The most common in Andova are the so called wood elves, shamanistic nomads who swore off the imperial ambitions they felt led to the decline of their people, and chose instead to return to their species' simpler, more naturalistic roots, and the high elves, who carry on the ancient traditions and teachings of their once great kingdoms. Elven reproduction is slow and arduous, undoubtedly due to their long lifespans, and they have difficulty conceiving with all but the most virile or adaptable races, such as humans, orcs or beastfolk.
Dwarves: Another ancient race with a long history, and unlike some elves, the memories to cling to that. Dwarves are the short, robust inhabitants of many of the world's mountain ranges, ruling over subterranean city-states that burrow deep into the stone. The dwarves are a stubborn and fiercely independent people, and among the most difficult races to integrate into the empire; to date, a dwarven city-state has never unwillingly submitted to Andovan rule, instead entering into diplomatic arrangements that ostensibly function more as partnerships than fealty. Dwarves are relatively rare in the more cosmopolitan heartlands, with the majority of their number who live outside their strongholds being among the hinterlands, like the Northmarches, where their ornery nature and self-sufficiency help their communities survive the frontier better than others. It is almost impossible for a dwarf to interbreed with non-dwarves.
Orcs: Proud and battle hungry, orcs have a tenuous history in Andova. The hulking greenskins can be found in nearly every corner of the world, their tribes a constant source of conflict for their neighbors. In the early days of Andova's supremacy, it was common for the forces to bloody themselves against minor chiefdoms in the ever outward expansion of the empire. As tribe after tribe fell, many chose to simply pick up and move, fleeing their ancestral lands for the ever expanding bordermarches where they could live as free and as savagely as they pleased. Others chose to accept the emperors of old as their rightful overlords, and incorporated themselves into the empire as soldiers and laborers as they would under any other chief. As such, orcs are distinctly divided between two extremes; the Andovan orcs, who descend from these tribes and consider themselves part of the empire, and the outlanders, whose warlike nature makes them the scourge of any frontier region. Orcs are prolific breeders, and their blood mixes relatively easily with more compatible races as a result; half-orcs can be found among humans, elves, beastkin and even stranger communities.
Halflings: Halflings are something of an oddity among Andovan society; while most non-humans can trace their origins back to specific kingdoms or regions, the spirited shortstacks have none to call their own. Instead, they merely take cues from whatever culture is most prominent around them and make it their own. They are friendly and adventurous to a fault, making them common sights all across the empire even if their numbers are relatively small. Despite their wanderlust, halflings have a strong sense of unity and family, and dedicate themselves almost entirely to whatever community they happen to decide to settle down into once they've gotten their share of excitement in life. Slightly longer lived than humans, halflings have an almost baffling difficulty interbreeding with other races. This, in combination with their explorative nature, has made them somewhat popular for certain industries.
Goblins: Goblins are something of a success story for the Andovans. Prior to the empire's first contact with the small, largely subterranean race, they had been considered little more than tribal savages by the dwarven cities that had ancestrally feuded with them for generations. In an effort to ease tensions with the notably temperamental dwarves, the Andovans agreed to settle several groups of goblins to the more hospitable surface. There, against all odds, they thrived. Goblins are cunning and ingenious, and quickly established themselves as merchants and inventors within just a few generations after settling, aided by the swiftness of their reproduction and the risk-taking encouraged by their shorter lifespans. Running counter to their fellow adventurous shortstacks, goblins are compatible with nearly every other race in Andova, though every child born of such a match ends up a true-blooded goblin.
Beastfolk: Beastfolk are less a singular race and more a broad classification for a variety of peoples across the empire. Their origins are as diverse as their features; some races are said to have always existed the same as any, while others are said to be the result of foul magics and curses affliction more tradition races, and others still claim descent from divine monsters and magical creatures. In the northern stretches of the empire, the Lupo, Minos, Draco and Ursi are most common, races of wolf, bull, dragon and bear men respectively, whose heritages allow them to brave the harsh conditions with greater ease. The compatibility of beastfolk widely varies both among themselves and those of the less bestial races; couplings between wolfmen and humans are known to result in hybridized offspring that bear the traits of both races as often as they do pure lupo or human, the minos and draco are known to almost always breed true and ursi have difficulty conceiving at all.
Fey-Bloods: The fey have always inhabited the primeval forests of the world, where the boundary between their realms and those of the mortal world grow thin. Strictly speaking, the fey are not considered inhabitants of the empire, and their capricious nature has made efforts to amend this nearly impossible. Their capricious nature has resulted in plenty of Andovans who call these fair folk from beyond a parent, however. Most common among the fey-bloods are the faun, the deer-like offspring of the always lustful satyrs and human or elven women, and changelings, the shapeshifting offspring of hags and human men. They are usually met with a deal more suspicion than half-breeds of other, more traditional races, and as such occupy the liminal space between their parents.
As Andova evolved from chiefdom to kingdom to empire, its borders expanded to encompass ever more of the world. Lands distant and exotic found themselves added to the patchwork of the empire as the decades and centuries went on, and with those lands came a variety of other peoples and races, many of whom were integrated into greater Andovan society once their fealty was secured. Some of the following are among the more common races that populate the empire, and as a result, the Northmarches, which grow ever more diverse with the year as refugees from the heartland head north to find new homes away from the bickering of the nobility.
Humans: The most common race in Andova, humans outnumber the other inhabitants of the empire two-to-one. They are a diverse species, known for their adaptability and ingenuity, and so quantifying them in any particular manner is difficult. Heartlander Andovans are light skinned and dark haired and middling in height, while those native to the Northmarches tend to be larger and paler than their southern counterparts, with lighter shades of hair to match. Perhaps owing to their adaptable nature, humans tend to have a far easier time crossbreeding with other races, with the resulting offspring varying greatly depending on the race in question. Such half-breeds can expect face varying levels of acceptance or prejudice depending on what part of the empire they call home.
Elves: Elves are one of the oldest races in the known world; while the Andovans squabbled as petty chieftains, the long-lived elves reigned over much of the known world. A mixture of infighting, inflexibility and slow reproduction led to the downfall of many elven hegemonies, and their mighty civilizations were on the decline by the time the first Andovan warlords began to wander from the heartlands. The long history of the elves has led to a dizzying offering of cultures and subspecies, all with differing appearances, traits and ethos. The most common in Andova are the so called wood elves, shamanistic nomads who swore off the imperial ambitions they felt led to the decline of their people, and chose instead to return to their species' simpler, more naturalistic roots, and the high elves, who carry on the ancient traditions and teachings of their once great kingdoms. Elven reproduction is slow and arduous, undoubtedly due to their long lifespans, and they have difficulty conceiving with all but the most virile or adaptable races, such as humans, orcs or beastfolk.
Dwarves: Another ancient race with a long history, and unlike some elves, the memories to cling to that. Dwarves are the short, robust inhabitants of many of the world's mountain ranges, ruling over subterranean city-states that burrow deep into the stone. The dwarves are a stubborn and fiercely independent people, and among the most difficult races to integrate into the empire; to date, a dwarven city-state has never unwillingly submitted to Andovan rule, instead entering into diplomatic arrangements that ostensibly function more as partnerships than fealty. Dwarves are relatively rare in the more cosmopolitan heartlands, with the majority of their number who live outside their strongholds being among the hinterlands, like the Northmarches, where their ornery nature and self-sufficiency help their communities survive the frontier better than others. It is almost impossible for a dwarf to interbreed with non-dwarves.
Orcs: Proud and battle hungry, orcs have a tenuous history in Andova. The hulking greenskins can be found in nearly every corner of the world, their tribes a constant source of conflict for their neighbors. In the early days of Andova's supremacy, it was common for the forces to bloody themselves against minor chiefdoms in the ever outward expansion of the empire. As tribe after tribe fell, many chose to simply pick up and move, fleeing their ancestral lands for the ever expanding bordermarches where they could live as free and as savagely as they pleased. Others chose to accept the emperors of old as their rightful overlords, and incorporated themselves into the empire as soldiers and laborers as they would under any other chief. As such, orcs are distinctly divided between two extremes; the Andovan orcs, who descend from these tribes and consider themselves part of the empire, and the outlanders, whose warlike nature makes them the scourge of any frontier region. Orcs are prolific breeders, and their blood mixes relatively easily with more compatible races as a result; half-orcs can be found among humans, elves, beastkin and even stranger communities.
Halflings: Halflings are something of an oddity among Andovan society; while most non-humans can trace their origins back to specific kingdoms or regions, the spirited shortstacks have none to call their own. Instead, they merely take cues from whatever culture is most prominent around them and make it their own. They are friendly and adventurous to a fault, making them common sights all across the empire even if their numbers are relatively small. Despite their wanderlust, halflings have a strong sense of unity and family, and dedicate themselves almost entirely to whatever community they happen to decide to settle down into once they've gotten their share of excitement in life. Slightly longer lived than humans, halflings have an almost baffling difficulty interbreeding with other races. This, in combination with their explorative nature, has made them somewhat popular for certain industries.
Goblins: Goblins are something of a success story for the Andovans. Prior to the empire's first contact with the small, largely subterranean race, they had been considered little more than tribal savages by the dwarven cities that had ancestrally feuded with them for generations. In an effort to ease tensions with the notably temperamental dwarves, the Andovans agreed to settle several groups of goblins to the more hospitable surface. There, against all odds, they thrived. Goblins are cunning and ingenious, and quickly established themselves as merchants and inventors within just a few generations after settling, aided by the swiftness of their reproduction and the risk-taking encouraged by their shorter lifespans. Running counter to their fellow adventurous shortstacks, goblins are compatible with nearly every other race in Andova, though every child born of such a match ends up a true-blooded goblin.
Beastfolk: Beastfolk are less a singular race and more a broad classification for a variety of peoples across the empire. Their origins are as diverse as their features; some races are said to have always existed the same as any, while others are said to be the result of foul magics and curses affliction more tradition races, and others still claim descent from divine monsters and magical creatures. In the northern stretches of the empire, the Lupo, Minos, Draco and Ursi are most common, races of wolf, bull, dragon and bear men respectively, whose heritages allow them to brave the harsh conditions with greater ease. The compatibility of beastfolk widely varies both among themselves and those of the less bestial races; couplings between wolfmen and humans are known to result in hybridized offspring that bear the traits of both races as often as they do pure lupo or human, the minos and draco are known to almost always breed true and ursi have difficulty conceiving at all.
Fey-Bloods: The fey have always inhabited the primeval forests of the world, where the boundary between their realms and those of the mortal world grow thin. Strictly speaking, the fey are not considered inhabitants of the empire, and their capricious nature has made efforts to amend this nearly impossible. Their capricious nature has resulted in plenty of Andovans who call these fair folk from beyond a parent, however. Most common among the fey-bloods are the faun, the deer-like offspring of the always lustful satyrs and human or elven women, and changelings, the shapeshifting offspring of hags and human men. They are usually met with a deal more suspicion than half-breeds of other, more traditional races, and as such occupy the liminal space between their parents.
Character List
Spoiler (click to show/hide):
)