The Blackwood - A Folkloric "Mini" Setting (WIP, PEACH)

[Zap Dynamic]

A new story has been written! Have you ever been curious about what's up with the Elder King? Ever wondered where he came from, why he became a king, and what he does?

Well hopefully The Elder King will tantalize you enough to get your gears turning!

I haven't posted it in the OPs, because my project for today/tomorrow/however long it takes is to renovate the Tales section into its own post. Yeehaw!

[Zap Dynamic]

So I got a lot of stuff accomplished today. All five of the OPs have at least rough draft-level content in them, and the middle three are devoted to tales. There are quite a few placeholders on those posts right now, but I will fill them out as I have time. Next up will be "Dinner With the Elves," a tale hinting at a few of the different ways Elves manifest to the folk of Wood and River.

[unosarta]

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love the Elder King. That story is fantastically everything I associate with this setting; the Wuxia elements, the over-the-top way of the animals, the clear story-telling element. This is fantastic writing.

[Zap Dynamic]

Thanks! I have fun with it.

[Zap Dynamic]

All right! So I've posted another story. Dinner With the Elves can be found on my blog, and also in this post. Not all stories in the Blackwood have a happy ending.

I've also added some more material to the GMs Only section, but if you're interested in playing in the campaign I'm going to run then you really shouldn't read that.

Speaking of my campaign, the thread is not yet a final draft, but it's getting dangerously close! I may post in the recruitment thread as early as this weekend, so if you're interested in playing you should start brainstorming characters! The best characters will be 70% fairy tale, 20% wuxia, and 10% old-school RPG, and 100% awesome.

[The Anarresti]

hmm... I've got a retreat this weekend, where I may have limited access to the internet. I'm scared of loosing a spot on this brewing campaign. Can I please put together a character concept and reserve a spot if you like it?

[Zap Dynamic]

Originally Posted by The Anarresti

hmm... I've got a retreat this weekend, where I may have limited access to the internet. I'm scared of loosing a spot on this brewing campaign. Can I please put together a character concept and reserve a spot if you like it?

Sure! I've had my pitch all typed up and waiting in the wings for a week or so now. Check it out:

Spoiler

System: Warrior, Rogue, and Mage (WRM)
Player Count: 2-4
Style of Play: Sandbox/exploration adventuring, with a healthy dose of RP and a few dashes of combat.
Allowed Content:

• The Blackwood Campaign Setting

Character Creation: This is a world inspired by fairy tales a la the brothers Grimm, with a fair amount of influence from wuxia fiction. The best characters will weave both of these themes together.

• Backstory: You must have a description and a list of at least three people your character knows (including one family member). Info about how your character came to have the skills he/she does is highly recommended. You may add anything else you would like. The 10-Minute Background is pretty cool, and more than welcome. Skirt Method, please!
• WRM Stuff: Character creation is as per standard WRM rules: 10 points to distribute freely amongst abilities. See other WRM Variants below for more details.

Other Notes: For the first few adventures, this campaign will be an attempt for me to apply the sandbox/hexploration/random encounter goodness I’ve been reading about in the OSR world. Eventually, there will be an opportunity to begin a more structured campaign. Ideally, this first segment will allow players to become familiar with the world (and allow me to flesh it out a little more), and the second part will be a more carefully-crafted story. Either way, it will be awesome.

WRM Variants:

• No Dragon Pistols or Dragon Rifles.
• Average HP at Advancement
• Characters may start out with one 1st Circle spell if they have the necessary Mage ranks. Beyond this, spells must be discovered via questing. Please note that you are encouraged make this spell seem as mundane as possible. Magic is almost feared in this setting, after all.
• For the purposes of this campaign, "spellbook" is a very loose term for casters. You must have something into which you commit your spells, but it could be an actual book, knots and beads in your hair, your memory, or even something like wisps of smoke. I'm willing to consider anything that fulfills the "daily preparation" requirement of spellcasting.
• Please note that WRM has nothing resembling penalties for aging. If you want, you could play as a child or as a geezer!

Everyone else is free to submit character ideas here, too. I'll be refining a few things for the rest of the week, then I'll plan on posting the spoiler'd text above in the Recruitment section sometime Friday afternoon. We'll call this a Special Invitation to the Pre-Screening of the RPG Event of a Lifetime.

[unosarta]

For the single spell known (since I am also interested in making a character), do you need to cast it from a spellbook? I am wondering because my character might have learned a simple spell from a wandering magician, but there is no way she would actually have a spellbook.

[Zap Dynamic]

Originally Posted by unosarta

For the single spell known (since I am also interested in making a character), do you need to cast it from a spellbook? I am wondering because my character might have learned a simple spell from a wandering magician, but there is no way she would actually have a spellbook.

I like the requirement that you have to spend time embedding your spells somewhere, but I don't really like the spellbook thing. For the purposes of this campaign, "spellbook" is a very loose term for casters. You must have something into which you commit your spells, but it could be an actual book, knots and beads in your hair, your memory, or even something like wisps of smoke, in which case you would have to consult a fire every morning to gain your spells.

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

I like the requirement that you have to spend time embedding your spells somewhere, but I don't really like the spellbook thing. For the purposes of this campaign, "spellbook" is a very loose term for casters. You must have something into which you commit your spells, but it could be an actual book, knots and beads in your hair, your memory, or even something like wisps of smoke, in which case you would have to consult a fire every morning to gain your spells.

Ooooh, much more flavorful and awesome.

Is it common for most adventurers to know a few spells, or is that system specific?

[Zap Dynamic]

Originally Posted by unosarta

Is it common for most adventurers to know a few spells, or is that system specific?

Adventuring itself is uncommon, which is something to consider when we're talking about what's common among adventurers.

Here's sort of what I'm thinking. In Fellowship of the Ring, Strider treats Frodo's stab wound with kingsfoil. That could be a Heal skill check, or it could be Cure Minor Wounds. Granted, we're not using 3.5, but I figure those are universally understood terms.

Because of the nature of Warrior, Rogue, and Mage--where "Mage" is knowledge and magic, and a score of 1 allows you to cast spells--I can't justify granting spells only to a certain number of people. That said, unless your character concept explicitly involves the practice of magic, spellcasting, the arcane, whaddeva, then I'd prefer you to find a mundane way to describe whatever spell you have access to. Steer clear of clearly "magical" stuff; "magic light" could be always having a torch handy in mundane terms; "sense magic" could be the hairs raising on the back of your neck because of some previous experience with a Dreaded Spellcaster(tm).

Does that make sense? Essentially, even though they're "spells," I'd rather you not use "magic" unless your character concept is "magic user."

[The Anarresti]

Do Dragon Pistols and Dragon Rifles fit into the setting?

[Zap Dynamic]

Absolutely NOT. I forgot all about that.

Has anyone seen Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit? It's way too anime and not enough Grimm, but otherwise its a very cool example of what could be done in this setting. Very cool indeed.

[The Anarresti]

So, I have a character! I'm posting it now because, as I said before, I'm leaving for a retreat tomorrow. I won't be online from late Friday afternoon to late Sunday afternoon (EST), and I don't think I'll be on much Friday during the day because of stuff to do.
I apologize for the length of the description and backstory. I do have even more stuff about his background and so on in mind, but I neglected to put it because, you know, skirt length.
And yes, one of the reasons he is called Rabbit is as a nod to that classic trickster archetype.

Spoiler

Josef “Rabbit” of Grey Folly

Background and Concept elements:

Spoiler

1. He is a native of Grey Folly, having lived there for all of his 31 years, and is well established in the crime circles there.
2. Not that tall, about 5'7” with a scrawny, muscular body, pale skin, shaggy black hair and black eyes, and a crooked nose.
3. He loves bare-knuckled boxing, both as a spectator and participant, in official or unofficial fights.
4. He also enjoys running scams, and has lived most of his life swindling new merchants and unsuspecting woodfolk out of their money. He is linked to a thieves' syndicate in Grey Folly. Not quite the level of organization or brutality as a mafia, think more a very informal thieves' guild.
5. He is nicknamed Rabbit for his scrawny build, hyperactive personality and penchant to bounce on his feet during a fight. He got a tattoo of a rabbit on his left shoulder, to bring him luck and as a nod to his name.
6. He is a recovering alcoholic and gambler. Currently he is a teetotaler, but he still likes to gamble on occasion, especially on boxing.
7. He lives with his old mother, whom he dotes on. She taught him how to read, and he hides this fact from his buddies. However, her eyesight is going, and he reads to her whenever he can.

Goals:

Spoiler

1. Rabbit wants to earn enough money to set up his mother as an independent women, and make her proud.
2. I would like to see him develop a significant conscience and Robin Hood complex.

Secrets:

Spoiler

1. (One he knows) He killed a man when he was twenty and threw the body in the river, telling no one about it.
2. (One he does not know) His mother is not his biological mother. She found him as a baby, abandoned in a bush in the foothills of the Paganwall, wrapped in thick dark canvas. Unable to have kids of her own, she took him and raised him as her own son.

Persons tied to Rabbit.

Spoiler

1. He learned his trade from an older thief and martial artist, Two-tooth, (so called because he is missing both of his front teeth) when he was a boy. Two-tooth is now an old, blind man who retired out of Grey Folly because “I'm getting too old for these bloody witches.” He currently runs an inn (and safe house/dojo) in Three Rivers.
2. His aging mother, Gretchen, whom he left with his friend Ox in Grey Folly.
3. Ox, a massive guy, who is a close childhood friend of Rabbit and an occasional sparring partner. He owns a bar and fight club in Grey Folly.
4. Lars the Snake. A sociopathic robber whom Rabbit crossed one too many times, necessitating that Rabbit skip town (if we start outside Grey Folly. Otherwise, Lars is just a psychopath who has strained relations with Rabbit.)

Memories:

Spoiler

1. Before I got good at what I do, I used to earn my bread as a breaker. Breaking and entering. I wasn't half-bad, neither. But something happened that turned me off that, though I still can do it from time to time if I need to. I was robbing this one river baron's house, see, and just as I'm taking down a shiny (slang: expensive, gilded) sword from the wall, I hear a door open. I turn around and there's the greedy rat's butler, just standing there. He opens his mouth to shout but before I know what I'm doing I've slashed him across the throat. I dropped the sword, fell, and heaved my guts all over the floor. By the full moon, it was horrible. But what could I do? So I picked up the guy, all slimy with his own blood, dragged him out to the river and dumped him in. I ain't told no one to this day.

2. How'd I get this nose? I'll tell you. When I was thirteen, I wasn't the hulking behemoth you see before you now. I was a titchy little thing. Anyway, there was this big kid who liked to pick on younger kids, he must've been sixteen or so. We called him Fatty. Blow me down if I can remember what his real name was. Anyway, one time he had one of my mates cornered, and he was shoving him around, calling him a rat and all. So I said, don't you treat my mates like that. What'cha gonna do about it, he says, so I punch him in the gut. Anyway, we get into an all out brawl and I thrashed him soundly. He did break my nose, though, and that's why it's so pretty and all.

3. Damn witches. The first time I saw them I was ten years old, walking in the streets, and I saw the black, ragged shapes streaking across the sky. I drop my basket and start running, but one sees me and drops down from the sky, cackling. She follows me through the streets, twisting and turning as I do, until I'm run up against a wall and I turn to see her. There she was, floating a foot off the ground, staring me down with a pair of horrible, icy blue eyes. I remember that she was beautiful, with long black hair that went down to her feet, much prettier than I thought a witch had any business being. She stared at me, and I stared back. Then she just smiles, nods at me and flies off. I peed my pants in relief. To this day I have no idea why she let me go.

Stats:

Spoiler

Warrior: 4
Rogue: 5
Mage: 1

Talent: Lucky Devil
Skills: Unarmed, Thievery, Acrobatics

HP=10
Fate=5
Mana=2
Defense=8 (12 with armor)

Equipment:

Spoiler

Longbow (20 arrows)
Sword
Lamellar Armor
3 Daggers/Knives
10 yards rope
Lockpick
Adventurer's kit
Grappling Hook (I assumed same price as lockpick)
Riding Horse, saddlebags and bridle.
1 week's iron rations
Noble Clothing
Traveling Clothing
Normal Clothing
Deck of Cards
Dice
2 torches
65 Sp.

[Zap Dynamic]

Nice submission! While reading your character sheet, you reminded me that I haven't established any naming protocols for characters in this settings, beyond the 1-2 hints I've dropped in the OPs. Good news: you're dead on!

Essentially, I figure most of the people in the Blackwood have a medieval Germanic name (like this link for men and this link for women, but without any latinized endings). Many, many people also have a nickname, exactly like you've established. That particular habit I picked up both from wuxia fiction--where everyone seems to have their given name a "fighting name"--and A Song of Ice and Fire, where they go by all kinds of names.

[The Anarresti]

Thank you! I really like this character, and I'm excited for this campaign. Although I've been a devote of the Western fairy tales, I didn't know much about Wuxia fiction until I began researching it to understand this setting better, and I really liked what I found.

[Zap Dynamic]

It's a pretty cool world. My experiences with it are mostly restricted to movies, because I don't have the patience to read through an entire novel on the computer.

Update:

I've updated the very first post with a list of names to help inspire everyone. Like I said, The Anarresti has the idea well in hand, and I welcome all of you to give his character sheet a read to get an idea of what I'm going for.

[unosarta]

So, would this character make sense? I was trying to go more for the fairy-tale aspect, and then a little Wuxia/Martial Arts movies snuck in.

Spoiler

This is just part of her backstory. I am not going to put up the whole character until you have the recruitment thread, since that wouldn't be very fair.

Starchaser is a hermit who lived in the woods for many years, watching the animals of the forest and living among them. Her past from before her self-enforced hermitage is unknown to many, but it is suspected that she once lived as a human lady, the daughter of a lord. Her fiance, the wealthy son of a lord, was someone she desperately hated. He thought of her as nothing more than marriage-able cattle, and raped her on their marriage night. She made a deal with an elf, in that he would remove the lord from her life, in exchange for her newborn child and her beauty. She agreed to the elf’s deal, anything to gain a new life. The lord choked on a fishbone one night, and died almost instantly. She was released from her forced marriage, but was pregnant with child. When she gave birth, the elf came back to her, and told her she would need to give him her child. She reluctantly agreed to the exchange, but forgot about losing her beauty. She grew old and haggard, and looked like an ancient woman. When she awoke in her chambers, the maid screamed and threw her out of the keep that had been her childhood home. She wandered through the Wood, and found a small pool. In it, she saw her reflection, and realized what had happened to her. She sobbed for many hours, and realized that she could never go back to her old life. She went deep into the Woods, and became a hermit. She is said to be of a martial prowess that is not found anywhere else, and has learned some small knowledge of magic from the Elderfolk who sometimes wander past her hovel, but nothing more than the ability to recognize the magic of those folk.

[Zap Dynamic]

It looks good! At first I got caught up when you she was "once a human lady," because I thought you meant that she was no longer human. After reading a little further, I understand what you mean. I assume you're planning for an unarmed/magic build?

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

It looks good! At first I got caught up when you she was "once a human lady," because I thought you meant that she was no longer human. After reading a little further, I understand what you mean. I assume you're planning for an unarmed/magic build?

Yup! I already have the build filled out and stuff, and it's more unarmed and less magic, but it's essentially what you are saying.

[Zap Dynamic]

What's this? Another new story? Cottage in the Woods is a little teaser about a Woman of the Wood, and the strange powers she might court. It is also an homage to a certain genre of movies. Two for one fairy tales! You won't find a better deal!

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

What's this? Another new story? Cottage in the Woods is a little teaser about a Woman of the Wood, and the strange powers she might court. It is also an homage to a certain genre of movies. Two for one fairy tales! You won't find a better deal!

Wow, your writing style is just superb. I am really loving these tales.

One thing you might want to elaborate a bit on are the were-wolves. I know when I read the Cottage in the Wood, that was the first thing that I really hit up on. Presumably you have your tales mostly planned out, but I would love to see one that included a were-wolf or two, unless they are just creatures made up by the villagers to scare their children.

[Zap Dynamic]

Originally Posted by unosarta

Wow, your writing style is just superb. I am really loving these tales.

Thanks! This is a pretty serious departure from my usual writing style, which is a good deal more flowery. I've been really trying to capture the feel of folk tales with these, though, and I've been having a good time. I just try to imagine what a mother might tell her young son to get him to behave.

One thing you might want to elaborate a bit on are the were-wolves. I know when I read the Cottage in the Wood, that was the first thing that I really hit up on. Presumably you have your tales mostly planned out, but I would love to see one that included a were-wolf or two, unless they are just creatures made up by the villagers to scare their children.

Good! I'm glad your mind jumped to it, because it's something I'd like to incorporate. That said, I don't want to give too much away. Werewolves in this setting will not be anything super creative or anything... just run of the mill lycanthropes.

As far as the tales are concerned, I think I'm really going to throttle back on churning them out until the campaign has gotten underway. I'd like to incorporate them into the campaign itself, and doing that over the course of things seems to be natural.

"Oh," said the old farmer, scratching his beard. "So you want to learn about werewolves, do you? Well, my wife is familiar with the tale. She says it happened to a friend of her cousin's, who lived in a far off village. Go see her in the house if you'd like to hear it for yourself." [cue the story]

From here on out, I feel like that^ is going to be the ideal way to introduce new stories.

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

Thanks! This is a pretty serious departure from my usual writing style, which is a good deal more flowery. I've been really trying to capture the feel of folk tales with these, though, and I've been having a good time. I just try to imagine what a mother might tell her young son to get him to behave.

It definitely works. It makes it much easier to read, and makes it easy to understand the context of the story. It definitely works.

I noticed a bit about Johan the Piper in the stories post. Was that there before I started writing about Johan, because I am currently writing a story about Johan and the Bandit King, and if you want to take over Johan's story and take it as you will, feel free!

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

Good! I'm glad your mind jumped to it, because it's something I'd like to incorporate. That said, I don't want to give too much away. Werewolves in this setting will not be anything super creative or anything... just run of the mill lycanthropes.

As far as the tales are concerned, I think I'm really going to throttle back on churning them out until the campaign has gotten underway. I'd like to incorporate them into the campaign itself, and doing that over the course of things seems to be natural.

Still, learning the backstory of the lycanthropes, how they fit in the setting, it all makes them a very interesting element to add to the setting. Lycanthropes were always my favorite gothic horror concept.

Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic

From here on out, I feel like that^ is going to be the ideal way to introduce new stories.

Okay. I like the idea of the characters searching out tales and stories.

[Zap Dynamic]

I actually meant to say something whenever you posted the first Johan tale. I've already got a character named Johann the Fiddler, who could potentially be a pretty big deal in the setting. I'm not really worried about two characters with the same name (especially because "Johan" is the Germanic equivalent of "John"), but it's something to think about nonetheless. If you'd rather change your character's name that's fine, but it's no skin off my back either way.

[unosarta]

I think I'd like to keep it Johan, but it threw me off when I first saw it. What do other people think? I have no problem changing Johan's name...

And that was exactly the reason why I named him Johan. I wanted to focus more on the germanic fairy-tale aspect of the setting, so I decided to make his name German.

[Zap Dynamic]

By the way, I'm making my first-ever random tables for this setting, and I'm having a blast doing it. Sandbox-y goodness, away!

[Zap Dynamic]

The Recruitment Thread has been posted! I copy/pasted The Anarresti's character since he'll be gone this weekend. Unosarta, I'mma let you handle your character on your own, especially since you've only got a teaser up here now.

Let's see some submissions!

[unosarta]

Submitted my character. I was unsure what to do for extra people for my character to be associated with, and my friend gave me the idea of having a Little Red Riding Hood type come visit the character, which struck me as humorously ridiculous, the perfect thing.

[Zap Dynamic]

Not sure if anyone is subscribed to this anymore (since it's basically complete), but I figured I'd post to give an update.

First, for the campaign I'm running now I've been statting up a bunch of WRM monsters (I've got 19 so far!), and also building a few simplistic random tables for things like building villages and cities, wilderness areas, and even friendly/hostile encounters. I'm having a blast with it, and I can't wait to publish stuff here!

Second, I've begun thinking about what lies beyond the Blackwood. The campaign I'm running now will definitely stay within its bounds, but I've been toying around with the idea of elaborating the "wide world" since before I even posted anything here on the forums. So far I have a whopping four other realms:

• Koss: Roman military-meets-Swiss exclusionism and alpine/himalayan folklore
• Cerai: French folklore-meets-Abrahamic cosmology
• The Duchies of the Seafolk: Italian renaissance-meets-Greek myth-meets-Persian stuff
• The Petty Kingdoms of the North: Vikings-meet-Feudal Japan-meet-Catan

Right now, I've basically lot a short list of mythic elements from all of the involved cultures, and a large storm cell moving into the brainscape. I hate to tease everyone will all of these juicy details only to give you bad news, but if I expand on all this (which I will probably do), I'll tackle each one as a separate setting, much like the Blackwood. I have a pretty good idea which one I'm going to work on next, but does anyone have any requests?