phredd
09-27-2005, 09:39 PM
OK, I guess I'll let it fall to me to do a write up of our new BW campaign. This game came out of my desire for a weekly game that I started recruiting for over the summer via NerdNYC (http://www.nerdnyc.com/forum). We've currently got 4 players with one more waiting in the wings.
We first met two weeks ago to hash out what kind of game we wanted to play. I'd made a few suggestions as had Ozark1, but nothing had really grabbed us. So, we batted around ideas back and forth until something stuck. What we came up with was an amalgam of a lot of the ideas we'd come up with.
Our characters are nigh immortal Egyptians who are cursed with eternal life until they manage to collect all the sundered pieces of Osiris' body, stolen, presumably, by Alexander the Great, causing the ultimate downfall of the Egyptian nation that had spanned three thousand years. The game starts out in the late 16th Century somewhere on the North African coast (city as yet to be determined definitively), many years after our characters have split up and managed to forget their duty and their identity. Recalling our past will be a major portion of the game as it plays out. We all have a mystery trait that covers our immortal nature. We discussed how that would play out, but have left it to Ozark1, as game master, to define. A mortal wound won't kill any of us, but at this point we don't know what kind of condition it will leave us in. The only way for one of us to truly die (and be at peace) is to be properly mummified, and we are the only ones who can possibly perform such a ritual.
We also discussed some of the ramifications of chasing after the various pieces parts of Osiris. One interesting idea that I think we'll pursue is to allow whomever manages to first get their hands on a newly recovered portion to narrate a scene from our past. We may play flashback sessions as well, which are likely to be full of juicy PvP conflict. Part of the conceit of our current situation is that we had a massive falling out after some major failure or disaster.
Another conceit that should play a major role in the game is that we should discover clues that will lead us into Christian Europe in pursuit of Osiris' body parts. We will be doubly alien there, not just as undying Egyptians, but also as people of North Africa. Our contemporary languages and cultural competencies are all of Moorish North Africa. We'll be hard pressed to find our way safely through 16th Century Europe.
For character creation, we took up to four life paths. It's understood that as undying Egyptians, we had great skills and powers, but these have been forgotten as we all let ourselves fall into small lives, masquerading as mundane humans. Our ancient skills will slowly be renewed over the course of the game, but for most of that we'll simply use the normal skill advancement rules. We came up with four very different characters and I see a lot of potential for friction between them. Ozark1 asked us all to have one belief relating to a Mahdi (a type of holy man) who recently appeared at a bend in the river well outside of the city. I expect all our beliefs to change quickly as we learn more and more about our true past.
I'm playing the Sephardic Rabbi Ashur Pascual, a man with a hole in his mind. He remembers nothing before the time he spent living with his adoptive parents, members of the small Jewish community in the city where the game commences. He's a giant of a man, but is learned and respected in his community. He's also a secretly a eunuch and able to speak the low speech of cats. Both of these oddities he instinctively hides, never wondering at how either trait came to be. The Rabbi has no combat skills at all, but is very strong in a duel of wits, as he should be.
Rabbi Pascual's Beliefs:
- The Mahdi must respect all peoples of the Book, else he is no holy man at all.
- We [the Jewish People] are God's Chosen People
- Slavery is an abomination
Instincts:
- Never disrobe in company
- Use disguise to age appropriately
- Never harm a cat
Iskander is playing Sabil El Khazindar a surgeon with a creepy interest in anatomy. Before he'd taken up the healing (cutting!) arts, he'd been an apprentice butcher, but soon left the butcher who'd taken him in. Said butcher had been coming to suspect more and more that Sabil was a servant of Shaitan.
Sabil's Beliefs:
- The flesh has many secrets; the knife will reveal all.
- There is only one God, and Mohammad is His Prophet.
- The true Mahdi will be fair-complexioned, have a broad forehead and a pointed nose.
Instincts:
- Keep my scalpels, saws, and knives sharp.
- Never waste a good corpse.
- Denounce false prophets.
Stormsweeper is playing Tariq ibn Anwar, an accomplished navigator often working with Barbary pirates. Tariq is a man who respects and pursues learning. As our game began, he discovered that his recent crewmates had sold off their ship and gone inland to hear the word of the Mahdi.
Tariq's Beliefs:
- The stars will guide me through anything
- My home is everywhere and nowhere; I will not settle down.
- I will see what this Mahdi has to offer
Instincts:
- Never draw attention to myself
- Always have writing materials
- Always consult the stars before a long task or journey
Finally, we have G, who is playing Abd'al-Ghazi, a mamluk soldier/slave in service to the local Caliph. He is a man of great ambition and sees loyal service to his master as his means to advancement. I don't have his finished beliefs and instincts, but they are fairly close to what I list below.
Ghazi's Beliefs:
- Hardships have made me stronger - preparation for something
- Loyalty to the sheik is the way to advance
- [The Mahdi's] debt will be useful if well timed - be patient
Instincts:
- Don't make eye contact with superiors
- Never allow myself to be surrounded, esp. while riding, always leave an out
- Always use intimidation when insulted
We've had one game session so far, which played out very well. I'll try to detail that in a post soon. Hopefully everyone else will chime in on anything I've missed or gotten wrong. Our next session is Wednesday night. Things look to be getting very hot, considering where we left off. And once we start remembering more, there should be some excellent inner conflicts over our current beliefs.
We first met two weeks ago to hash out what kind of game we wanted to play. I'd made a few suggestions as had Ozark1, but nothing had really grabbed us. So, we batted around ideas back and forth until something stuck. What we came up with was an amalgam of a lot of the ideas we'd come up with.
Our characters are nigh immortal Egyptians who are cursed with eternal life until they manage to collect all the sundered pieces of Osiris' body, stolen, presumably, by Alexander the Great, causing the ultimate downfall of the Egyptian nation that had spanned three thousand years. The game starts out in the late 16th Century somewhere on the North African coast (city as yet to be determined definitively), many years after our characters have split up and managed to forget their duty and their identity. Recalling our past will be a major portion of the game as it plays out. We all have a mystery trait that covers our immortal nature. We discussed how that would play out, but have left it to Ozark1, as game master, to define. A mortal wound won't kill any of us, but at this point we don't know what kind of condition it will leave us in. The only way for one of us to truly die (and be at peace) is to be properly mummified, and we are the only ones who can possibly perform such a ritual.
We also discussed some of the ramifications of chasing after the various pieces parts of Osiris. One interesting idea that I think we'll pursue is to allow whomever manages to first get their hands on a newly recovered portion to narrate a scene from our past. We may play flashback sessions as well, which are likely to be full of juicy PvP conflict. Part of the conceit of our current situation is that we had a massive falling out after some major failure or disaster.
Another conceit that should play a major role in the game is that we should discover clues that will lead us into Christian Europe in pursuit of Osiris' body parts. We will be doubly alien there, not just as undying Egyptians, but also as people of North Africa. Our contemporary languages and cultural competencies are all of Moorish North Africa. We'll be hard pressed to find our way safely through 16th Century Europe.
For character creation, we took up to four life paths. It's understood that as undying Egyptians, we had great skills and powers, but these have been forgotten as we all let ourselves fall into small lives, masquerading as mundane humans. Our ancient skills will slowly be renewed over the course of the game, but for most of that we'll simply use the normal skill advancement rules. We came up with four very different characters and I see a lot of potential for friction between them. Ozark1 asked us all to have one belief relating to a Mahdi (a type of holy man) who recently appeared at a bend in the river well outside of the city. I expect all our beliefs to change quickly as we learn more and more about our true past.
I'm playing the Sephardic Rabbi Ashur Pascual, a man with a hole in his mind. He remembers nothing before the time he spent living with his adoptive parents, members of the small Jewish community in the city where the game commences. He's a giant of a man, but is learned and respected in his community. He's also a secretly a eunuch and able to speak the low speech of cats. Both of these oddities he instinctively hides, never wondering at how either trait came to be. The Rabbi has no combat skills at all, but is very strong in a duel of wits, as he should be.
Rabbi Pascual's Beliefs:
- The Mahdi must respect all peoples of the Book, else he is no holy man at all.
- We [the Jewish People] are God's Chosen People
- Slavery is an abomination
Instincts:
- Never disrobe in company
- Use disguise to age appropriately
- Never harm a cat
Iskander is playing Sabil El Khazindar a surgeon with a creepy interest in anatomy. Before he'd taken up the healing (cutting!) arts, he'd been an apprentice butcher, but soon left the butcher who'd taken him in. Said butcher had been coming to suspect more and more that Sabil was a servant of Shaitan.
Sabil's Beliefs:
- The flesh has many secrets; the knife will reveal all.
- There is only one God, and Mohammad is His Prophet.
- The true Mahdi will be fair-complexioned, have a broad forehead and a pointed nose.
Instincts:
- Keep my scalpels, saws, and knives sharp.
- Never waste a good corpse.
- Denounce false prophets.
Stormsweeper is playing Tariq ibn Anwar, an accomplished navigator often working with Barbary pirates. Tariq is a man who respects and pursues learning. As our game began, he discovered that his recent crewmates had sold off their ship and gone inland to hear the word of the Mahdi.
Tariq's Beliefs:
- The stars will guide me through anything
- My home is everywhere and nowhere; I will not settle down.
- I will see what this Mahdi has to offer
Instincts:
- Never draw attention to myself
- Always have writing materials
- Always consult the stars before a long task or journey
Finally, we have G, who is playing Abd'al-Ghazi, a mamluk soldier/slave in service to the local Caliph. He is a man of great ambition and sees loyal service to his master as his means to advancement. I don't have his finished beliefs and instincts, but they are fairly close to what I list below.
Ghazi's Beliefs:
- Hardships have made me stronger - preparation for something
- Loyalty to the sheik is the way to advance
- [The Mahdi's] debt will be useful if well timed - be patient
Instincts:
- Don't make eye contact with superiors
- Never allow myself to be surrounded, esp. while riding, always leave an out
- Always use intimidation when insulted
We've had one game session so far, which played out very well. I'll try to detail that in a post soon. Hopefully everyone else will chime in on anything I've missed or gotten wrong. Our next session is Wednesday night. Things look to be getting very hot, considering where we left off. And once we start remembering more, there should be some excellent inner conflicts over our current beliefs.