That's right, I need an artist for both the Evrenstride project on this blog and for Denizens.
Evrenstride I need race / creature concept art
for more info about Denizens go here:
http://denizensrealm.blogspot.com/
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
The Echker
The Echker are the most populated race of Evrenstride. They are goblin like in appearance, but for the most part share human skin tones. The average height of an adult Echker is 5'5". They have rounded noses and the earlobes are stretched pointing behind them. Within the bottom of the ear to the end of the pointed lobe is a hollow bone that picks up nearby vibrations. This aids them in being very aware of their surroundings. A great survival advantage as the Evrenstride holds a variety of hidden dangers.
The most unique thing about the Echker is that depending on their main diet in youth, their adult appearance is very different. "You are what you eat" is very true for them.
The general Echker is as described above. They had a variety of foods when young.
Echker that in youth ate only meat grow up with a craving for flesh and blood. Their teeth become long razors, their bodies thin and quick, geared for the hunt. Some even turn to cannibalism
Some Echker are born of darkness. They are known as Cave Mongers. Living underground, they only had insects and fungi to consume. As they grow, their vision fades, their nose grows to compensate lack of sight with a great sense of smell. Most are albino and more squat in appearance than the standard Echker.
The strangest Echker are those hungry for treasure. Ever see a child never hungry for normal food, but constantly putting random objects in their mouth? This what what these Echker children did. They no longer consume meat or plants, but eat coins, gems, and metal. Their jaws are wide with thick solid teeth for crushing. Crystals grow from their back, their skin is hardened and they move slower than most due to the added weight.
The Echker society is one similar to our own. They have families, build homes, and create full communities. Their government is under a loose monarchy.
The Echker's technology is not very advanced. They have no electricity and have not produced anything similar to gun powder.
For the most part their economy is a simple bartering system. The do have a currency in the form of coins stamped with a symbol related to their kingdom although it is not as widely used as we humans spend money.
There are three major kingdoms of Echker:
Hernald - Symbol: Alchemical bottle with a ribbon tied around the bottle's neck
Rich and prosperous kingdom run by Queen Titch Hernald. Their wealth came from trading medicines that others could not acquire or create. The queen is very protective of her people and the kingdom her family has built.
Rumstarn - Symbol: Face of a roaring beast
King Verst Rumstarn rules with an iron fist. This is a young, but quickly growing kingdom. Might is right in the kingdom and the majority of the population has been inducted into Rumstarn's military in some form or another.
Javiece - Symbol: Half moon with an eye filling the empty space
King Larn Javiece and his Queen Seris rule together. The smallest of the three kingdoms. They rule what is also known as the Roaming Kingdom. The main cities are on a floating island that moves slowly about the Evrenstride. It's rumored that at the center of the island hidden under a great tower is a travel way and a source of orange waters that bestow magic upon those that drink it.
The three kingdoms are constantly at odds with each other, Rumstarn being the main agitator wanting a quick expansion.
The most unique thing about the Echker is that depending on their main diet in youth, their adult appearance is very different. "You are what you eat" is very true for them.
The general Echker is as described above. They had a variety of foods when young.
Echker that in youth ate only meat grow up with a craving for flesh and blood. Their teeth become long razors, their bodies thin and quick, geared for the hunt. Some even turn to cannibalism
Some Echker are born of darkness. They are known as Cave Mongers. Living underground, they only had insects and fungi to consume. As they grow, their vision fades, their nose grows to compensate lack of sight with a great sense of smell. Most are albino and more squat in appearance than the standard Echker.
The strangest Echker are those hungry for treasure. Ever see a child never hungry for normal food, but constantly putting random objects in their mouth? This what what these Echker children did. They no longer consume meat or plants, but eat coins, gems, and metal. Their jaws are wide with thick solid teeth for crushing. Crystals grow from their back, their skin is hardened and they move slower than most due to the added weight.
The Echker society is one similar to our own. They have families, build homes, and create full communities. Their government is under a loose monarchy.
The Echker's technology is not very advanced. They have no electricity and have not produced anything similar to gun powder.
For the most part their economy is a simple bartering system. The do have a currency in the form of coins stamped with a symbol related to their kingdom although it is not as widely used as we humans spend money.
There are three major kingdoms of Echker:
Hernald - Symbol: Alchemical bottle with a ribbon tied around the bottle's neck
Rich and prosperous kingdom run by Queen Titch Hernald. Their wealth came from trading medicines that others could not acquire or create. The queen is very protective of her people and the kingdom her family has built.
Rumstarn - Symbol: Face of a roaring beast
King Verst Rumstarn rules with an iron fist. This is a young, but quickly growing kingdom. Might is right in the kingdom and the majority of the population has been inducted into Rumstarn's military in some form or another.
Javiece - Symbol: Half moon with an eye filling the empty space
King Larn Javiece and his Queen Seris rule together. The smallest of the three kingdoms. They rule what is also known as the Roaming Kingdom. The main cities are on a floating island that moves slowly about the Evrenstride. It's rumored that at the center of the island hidden under a great tower is a travel way and a source of orange waters that bestow magic upon those that drink it.
The three kingdoms are constantly at odds with each other, Rumstarn being the main agitator wanting a quick expansion.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Combat basics
Combat. A staple in any RPG. No matter how many eloquent words, deals, bribes, puzzle solving, and the like that can be used to get around a situation sometimes you just have to hack someone in the face to get things done.
My goal is to create a system where players and GMs don't have to pause a scene to go searching through the books to figure out one little thing (like how to grapple someone).
I've always wanted a simple, easy to jump into system. I haven't found it, so I hope to make it.
First, a little added bit with skill rolls I did not mention in a previous post.
Degrees of Success and Failure
Some rolls need more than just a "pass" or "fail". Knowledge based skills, opposing others, etc.. You just need to know HOW well or poorly you did.
However many your total is (dice roll +/- modifiers) above or below the target to beat is your degree of success of failure.
Say you were researching a cult of silent wizards, trying to find out more about them. You start asking around on the streets for info, which goes with the skill Inquiry. The difficulty to learn anything at all is a 10. You roll your D20, roll a 14, and add your Inquiry skill of 4. You now have an 18, 8 steps above your target!
If you had just made a 10, you would of gained very basic knowledge of how they present themselves to the townspeople.
Since you are 8 steps above, you get better info, maybe even hear some rumors of possible hide outs for the cults.
The other way, if you failed horribly, instead of not finding info, you may be given false info.
Ok, enough looking for that cult of magic mimes, back to glorious combat!
Attacks are made the same as opposed skill rolls. The attacker rolls 1d20 + their skill in the weapon type they are using (unarmed, melee, firearms, etc...). +/- any modifiers.
The victim of the attack then makes an appropriate skill roll to defend against the attack. This could be athletics to jump out the way, toughness to take the hit and shake it off, or using melee to parry an attack with a sword. These are just a few examples.
All abilities, special moves, magic spells, etc... are skill rolls. Shooting a fireball at someone? Roll sorcery skill for your attack value, defender rolls something apropriate to try and beat it to not get set ablaze.
It also allows the option for counter attacks, which in my opinion make combat go a bit quicker.
Ties go to the attacker (they must meet or beat the defenders roll). If the counter attack option is being used, ties mean both attacks hit (think of two boxers hitting each other at the same time).
You are successful with an attack, roll damage.
Now, something a little more meaty than the basics.
In addition to the standard damage attacks we all know and love, there are attacks that can give pentalties to the opponent depending on the situation.
Lets look at Grappling.
Say you want to grapple an opponent, one of those silent wizard cultists is getting a bit uppity with the fireballs and needs to hit the ground.
You make an attack using your unarmed skill, the wizard tries to use athletics to sidestep you but fails.
You have succeeded in grappling the wizard. What does this mean?
This means 2 things.
1) You have put the wizard at a disadvantage, whatever your degrees of success were in the attack, is now a negative modifier for the wizard to defend (until he gets out of the grapple)
2) Players must use common sense! (oh noes). That's right, things that would make sense for the situation are applied. GM has final say as always, but it's safe to say that in the example of the Grapple, the wizard is not going to be able to simply run away and must do something to get out of the Grapple.
Common sense is not a hard thing to use in obvious situations like this. When the situation is a bit more murky, the GM's word is law and everyone should move on.
People who want to sit and argue after the GM makes a call can be pummeled with empty soda cans, stale chips, or anything else around your gaming table.
My goal is to create a system where players and GMs don't have to pause a scene to go searching through the books to figure out one little thing (like how to grapple someone).
I've always wanted a simple, easy to jump into system. I haven't found it, so I hope to make it.
First, a little added bit with skill rolls I did not mention in a previous post.
Degrees of Success and Failure
Some rolls need more than just a "pass" or "fail". Knowledge based skills, opposing others, etc.. You just need to know HOW well or poorly you did.
However many your total is (dice roll +/- modifiers) above or below the target to beat is your degree of success of failure.
Say you were researching a cult of silent wizards, trying to find out more about them. You start asking around on the streets for info, which goes with the skill Inquiry. The difficulty to learn anything at all is a 10. You roll your D20, roll a 14, and add your Inquiry skill of 4. You now have an 18, 8 steps above your target!
If you had just made a 10, you would of gained very basic knowledge of how they present themselves to the townspeople.
Since you are 8 steps above, you get better info, maybe even hear some rumors of possible hide outs for the cults.
The other way, if you failed horribly, instead of not finding info, you may be given false info.
Ok, enough looking for that cult of magic mimes, back to glorious combat!
Attacks are made the same as opposed skill rolls. The attacker rolls 1d20 + their skill in the weapon type they are using (unarmed, melee, firearms, etc...). +/- any modifiers.
The victim of the attack then makes an appropriate skill roll to defend against the attack. This could be athletics to jump out the way, toughness to take the hit and shake it off, or using melee to parry an attack with a sword. These are just a few examples.
All abilities, special moves, magic spells, etc... are skill rolls. Shooting a fireball at someone? Roll sorcery skill for your attack value, defender rolls something apropriate to try and beat it to not get set ablaze.
It also allows the option for counter attacks, which in my opinion make combat go a bit quicker.
Ties go to the attacker (they must meet or beat the defenders roll). If the counter attack option is being used, ties mean both attacks hit (think of two boxers hitting each other at the same time).
You are successful with an attack, roll damage.
Now, something a little more meaty than the basics.
In addition to the standard damage attacks we all know and love, there are attacks that can give pentalties to the opponent depending on the situation.
Lets look at Grappling.
Say you want to grapple an opponent, one of those silent wizard cultists is getting a bit uppity with the fireballs and needs to hit the ground.
You make an attack using your unarmed skill, the wizard tries to use athletics to sidestep you but fails.
You have succeeded in grappling the wizard. What does this mean?
This means 2 things.
1) You have put the wizard at a disadvantage, whatever your degrees of success were in the attack, is now a negative modifier for the wizard to defend (until he gets out of the grapple)
2) Players must use common sense! (oh noes). That's right, things that would make sense for the situation are applied. GM has final say as always, but it's safe to say that in the example of the Grapple, the wizard is not going to be able to simply run away and must do something to get out of the Grapple.
Common sense is not a hard thing to use in obvious situations like this. When the situation is a bit more murky, the GM's word is law and everyone should move on.
People who want to sit and argue after the GM makes a call can be pummeled with empty soda cans, stale chips, or anything else around your gaming table.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Journal of Reginald Owen Part 2
This is the journal of Reginald Owen - Banker, Hunter, and now Grand Adventurer
October 8th, 1928
I still can't get over the fact that I ate a blue beast yesterday.
The reality of my situation did not set in until I awoke this morning. I don't know if it was shock, or if I thought it was a dream. Whatever the case for my denial, I truly have found myself in a different world.
Nerstom and I shared stories last night, too many to write about. The most interesting thing he spoke about was the travel ways. Apparently, all over Evrenstride are hidden spots that take you from point A to point B much quicker than any other way of travel. He said most can't tell where they are, but his people just seem to know when one is near. Some of the travel ways are connect to home, the human world and others like me have gotten lost here. To my dismay, Nerstom said that those are only a one way trip.
I was pleased that my Ajax would still start, even if there were too many trees around to actually drive it anywhere. I didn't want to leave my precious car, but if there were other people here, other humans, I had to find them. I made a makeshift bag out of my coat and some twine and packed up what few things I had in the car: some tools, a few notebooks and pens, a canteen, my hunting rifle and a half box of rounds.
More will come later little journal of mine. Nerstom is taking me to a river so we can follow it to his village. I hope the rest of his people are as kind as he.
October 8th, 1928
I still can't get over the fact that I ate a blue beast yesterday.
The reality of my situation did not set in until I awoke this morning. I don't know if it was shock, or if I thought it was a dream. Whatever the case for my denial, I truly have found myself in a different world.
Nerstom and I shared stories last night, too many to write about. The most interesting thing he spoke about was the travel ways. Apparently, all over Evrenstride are hidden spots that take you from point A to point B much quicker than any other way of travel. He said most can't tell where they are, but his people just seem to know when one is near. Some of the travel ways are connect to home, the human world and others like me have gotten lost here. To my dismay, Nerstom said that those are only a one way trip.
I was pleased that my Ajax would still start, even if there were too many trees around to actually drive it anywhere. I didn't want to leave my precious car, but if there were other people here, other humans, I had to find them. I made a makeshift bag out of my coat and some twine and packed up what few things I had in the car: some tools, a few notebooks and pens, a canteen, my hunting rifle and a half box of rounds.
More will come later little journal of mine. Nerstom is taking me to a river so we can follow it to his village. I hope the rest of his people are as kind as he.
Levels? We don't need to stinkin levels!
So, a little talk for the actual game system itself.
There will be no levels, no classes.
The things that define your character and what it can do are
Race - standard in many RPGs, what your actually are
Attributes - There are 3 - Body, Mind and Spirit. They also act as 3 separate set of health levels. Things can do damage to the Body (swords - stabbity), to the Mind (mind bullets, pew pew) and to the Spirit (evil corruption, fear, etc... spooky stuff)
Skills - This is a skill based system, so skill are most important. How good you are in given fields or tasks
Abilities - Attacks, powers, spiffy movement things. What you can do beyond normal skill use
Characteristics - Good and bad things. Can give skill bonus or minuses, or added abilities or things that make life a little more troublesome for your character. Wide range of things, simple good one would be Ambidexterous, able to use both hands without penalties. More in depth bad example would be Haunted - The GM can bring in a ghost from your character's past to muck things up a bit.
At the moment there are 5 character races. Each give you a base stat line of Attributes and a Characteristic.
Each race also has 4 varities. These varities alter the Attributes slightly, give some skill modifiers, and also 1 or 2 more characterisitcs. Either 1 positive, 1 negative, or a characterisitic that has both good and bad things about it.
I am going to go more in depth with the races later, each in their own post.
Instead of gaining experience to reach the next level, experience will be used to purchase new skills, abilities and characteristics. Also experience can be used to upgrade or expand your Focus Die pool (more on that later)
I'm trying to decide how best to go about describing aspects of the system in this blog. Any questions on the system or setting, just ask.
There will be no levels, no classes.
The things that define your character and what it can do are
Race - standard in many RPGs, what your actually are
Attributes - There are 3 - Body, Mind and Spirit. They also act as 3 separate set of health levels. Things can do damage to the Body (swords - stabbity), to the Mind (mind bullets, pew pew) and to the Spirit (evil corruption, fear, etc... spooky stuff)
Skills - This is a skill based system, so skill are most important. How good you are in given fields or tasks
Abilities - Attacks, powers, spiffy movement things. What you can do beyond normal skill use
Characteristics - Good and bad things. Can give skill bonus or minuses, or added abilities or things that make life a little more troublesome for your character. Wide range of things, simple good one would be Ambidexterous, able to use both hands without penalties. More in depth bad example would be Haunted - The GM can bring in a ghost from your character's past to muck things up a bit.
At the moment there are 5 character races. Each give you a base stat line of Attributes and a Characteristic.
Each race also has 4 varities. These varities alter the Attributes slightly, give some skill modifiers, and also 1 or 2 more characterisitcs. Either 1 positive, 1 negative, or a characterisitic that has both good and bad things about it.
I am going to go more in depth with the races later, each in their own post.
Instead of gaining experience to reach the next level, experience will be used to purchase new skills, abilities and characteristics. Also experience can be used to upgrade or expand your Focus Die pool (more on that later)
I'm trying to decide how best to go about describing aspects of the system in this blog. Any questions on the system or setting, just ask.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Journal of Reginald Owen Part 1
This is the journal of Reginald Owen - Banker, Hunter, and now Grand Adventurer
October 7th, 1928
I am writing this, in case I ever return home, or in a darker sense, if someone after my end needs the knowledge.
What a fantastical place the Evrenstride is. A world where humans are just visitors. At first glance it is a realm of fantasy. As you delve deeper into its workings, there is just so much more.
I am still not totally sure where exactly Evrenstride is located.
I was driving my 1925 Nash Ajax, through the country side taking in the butties of nature that surrounded the rough path. A few deer jumped from the treeline and into the road. I swerved to to avoid them and lost control. I plowed through the brush, branches scraping the sides of my car. I was too focused on not crashing into any trees, I didn't notice what was going on around me. Everything was a blur and I became lost. More lost than I could ever imagine.
I was still in the forest, but not any forest near home. The road was nowhere in sight. The trees were a bit off, the bark had a slight blue tint. I got out to assess the damage to my Ajax. That's when I heard a screaming followed by a snarling. Someone was being chased by some hungry animal. I checked my car, and luckily my hunting rifle was still in the back. Setting forth to help this poor person, I headed in the direction of the screams. Only, it wasn't a person at all!
The thing screaming, running towards me was something out of an old fairy tale. Gnomes, Elves, Goblins, whatever they were called. It was just a few inches shorter than a man with a rounded nose and pointed earlobes stretching behind it. It's clothes were held together crudely by large stitching. It seemed much more afraid of whatever was behind it than me. So, I took aim and waited for the pursuing beast to show itself.
From the sounds I expected a wild boar, but this was much larger. The monster stood shoulder height, it's fur the same blue tint as the bark of the forest. Horns twisted outward, mocking the branches of the trees. If it wasn't charging at such a great speed, it would of been a hard quarry to spot in these woods. It's jaw was wide and strong, giving a loud 'chomp' as it snapped at it's prey. I fired a shot and caught a shoulder. It was just enough to force the creature down as the weight of it's charge hit the leg and shot up to the shoulder wound. I took a few steps forward and fired again as it was returning to a stand.
I stood in awe looking over the beast, holding aim, just in case it was stalwart enough to withstand the shot. Luckily, the second shot was a killing blow.
The strange looking man hugged me, and to my surprise he could speak some English. It was very broken, but enough for a slight amount of conversation. His name was Nerstom, and his people were called the Echker. In return for saving me, he offered to clean and cook the beast for me. He also offered to be my guide in exchange for being able to eat some of it himself.
I was more than happy to take up the offer. The beast, which Nerstom called a 'Beslamut' actually tasted good, although it was a bit chewy.
Nerstom told me that this place is called the Evrenstride, and about his people the Echker. I shall write more tomorrow, there is so much to take in.
October 7th, 1928
I am writing this, in case I ever return home, or in a darker sense, if someone after my end needs the knowledge.
What a fantastical place the Evrenstride is. A world where humans are just visitors. At first glance it is a realm of fantasy. As you delve deeper into its workings, there is just so much more.
I am still not totally sure where exactly Evrenstride is located.
I was driving my 1925 Nash Ajax, through the country side taking in the butties of nature that surrounded the rough path. A few deer jumped from the treeline and into the road. I swerved to to avoid them and lost control. I plowed through the brush, branches scraping the sides of my car. I was too focused on not crashing into any trees, I didn't notice what was going on around me. Everything was a blur and I became lost. More lost than I could ever imagine.
I was still in the forest, but not any forest near home. The road was nowhere in sight. The trees were a bit off, the bark had a slight blue tint. I got out to assess the damage to my Ajax. That's when I heard a screaming followed by a snarling. Someone was being chased by some hungry animal. I checked my car, and luckily my hunting rifle was still in the back. Setting forth to help this poor person, I headed in the direction of the screams. Only, it wasn't a person at all!
The thing screaming, running towards me was something out of an old fairy tale. Gnomes, Elves, Goblins, whatever they were called. It was just a few inches shorter than a man with a rounded nose and pointed earlobes stretching behind it. It's clothes were held together crudely by large stitching. It seemed much more afraid of whatever was behind it than me. So, I took aim and waited for the pursuing beast to show itself.
From the sounds I expected a wild boar, but this was much larger. The monster stood shoulder height, it's fur the same blue tint as the bark of the forest. Horns twisted outward, mocking the branches of the trees. If it wasn't charging at such a great speed, it would of been a hard quarry to spot in these woods. It's jaw was wide and strong, giving a loud 'chomp' as it snapped at it's prey. I fired a shot and caught a shoulder. It was just enough to force the creature down as the weight of it's charge hit the leg and shot up to the shoulder wound. I took a few steps forward and fired again as it was returning to a stand.
I stood in awe looking over the beast, holding aim, just in case it was stalwart enough to withstand the shot. Luckily, the second shot was a killing blow.
The strange looking man hugged me, and to my surprise he could speak some English. It was very broken, but enough for a slight amount of conversation. His name was Nerstom, and his people were called the Echker. In return for saving me, he offered to clean and cook the beast for me. He also offered to be my guide in exchange for being able to eat some of it himself.
I was more than happy to take up the offer. The beast, which Nerstom called a 'Beslamut' actually tasted good, although it was a bit chewy.
Nerstom told me that this place is called the Evrenstride, and about his people the Echker. I shall write more tomorrow, there is so much to take in.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
First! and stuff
Hello one and all.
Adding another project to my list. This is for Evrenstride, a fantasy setting that I am creating to go with a tabletop rpg system I am writing.
The game system is leveless - skill based with a unique mechanic i'm currently just calling Focus Dice until I can think of something better (unless Focus Dice stick). With experience points you will be able to upgrade and expand a separate dice pool used to fuel and enhance abilities.
The setting is the Evrenstride. A world existing outside normal time and space, but is very close to the Earth that we know. Even though it is a Fantasy setting, the standard Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Kobolds, Dragons, etc... do not exist. I am creating new creatures to inhabit the world. I hope to give it a bit of a fairy tale feel, but keeping with some biology that actually makes some sense.
Keep watch to this blog for info about the setting and game system.
Adding another project to my list. This is for Evrenstride, a fantasy setting that I am creating to go with a tabletop rpg system I am writing.
The game system is leveless - skill based with a unique mechanic i'm currently just calling Focus Dice until I can think of something better (unless Focus Dice stick). With experience points you will be able to upgrade and expand a separate dice pool used to fuel and enhance abilities.
The setting is the Evrenstride. A world existing outside normal time and space, but is very close to the Earth that we know. Even though it is a Fantasy setting, the standard Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Kobolds, Dragons, etc... do not exist. I am creating new creatures to inhabit the world. I hope to give it a bit of a fairy tale feel, but keeping with some biology that actually makes some sense.
Keep watch to this blog for info about the setting and game system.
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