Altered Beasts OOC
Dec 17, 2014 18:47:04 GMT -8
Post by JW% on Dec 17, 2014 18:47:04 GMT -8
Maybe not the best video for this, but I like it.
I said that while I was going to try for a more classical sword and sorcery game with Elven Path, I was also going to do a far more fantastical story as well. In the same setting no less.
The night is split with the sound of thunder as your Archon, the great and powerful wizard, is killed. You witness the tower splitting and exploding as a massive thunderbolt strikes it and shatters it, raining burning stones down on your town. By morning you already feel his presence ebbing from the land, the magic he had cultivated and channeled like a benevolent farmer irrigating his lands to become fertile, is now leeching away. And now you, his servants, his slaves, are free... but free to do what? Free to flee? You've never been held against your will. Free to find their own lives? You've made your lives here, in the tower and the surrounding town, and they have been good lives until now. Or free to extract revenge against the forces of darkness that threaten your kingdom and have slain your king?
You are, after all, uniquely suited for going out into battle. The Archon had not taken you to be his servants for nothing. Each of you came from across the world, from the four civilized races of Human, Nilbog, Jotun, and Fey to live in his care, and each of you came for a reason. Part of the deal that now forever marks you as one of the Archons Altered is that you are now something less than what you were before, and something more. You are now part beast, and wield what powers come with this form with your natural instincts.
If once you were Human... now you may be Giant, Werewolf, Centaur, Angelic, or Merfolk
If once you were Nilbog... now you may be Orc, Gnoll, Satyr, Harpy, or Silkie
If once you were Jotun... now you may be Ogre, Minotaur, Sphinx, Gargoyle, or Cecaelia
If once you were Fey... now you may be Drow, Werecat, Drider, Fairy, or Naga
And while the Adept of Storms thinks they can now conquer you easily that your archon is dead, they are fools to think that cutting the head of a chimera will slay such a beast.
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Altered Form:[/b] (one of the 20 listed above)
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Reason for Serving:[/b] (Exchange for a service like saving your village/family,
cure you of the plague, honor, gain personal power or wealth, etc)
[b]Personality Sketch:[/b]
[b]Job skills and fighting style:[/b]
{Quick explaination of the races}So everyone is on the same page.
First of all, to make it easy to assume where your characters stand in comparison with one another, the SEARCH stats will be used. Strength, Endurance, Agility, Reason, Charisma, Heart(magic/willpower). STR, END, AGI, RSN, CHA, HRT.
In the fantasy world this takes place in there are five major intelligent species:
Humans, who we probably know and understand the best. 'Pursuit predators', they have high endurance and make good slaves.
Nilbog, or Goblins, or Kappa, or Tengu, or any number of names. Small, sharp toothed, floppy eared, agile and clever, if perhaps weak.
Jotun, or Trolls, or Caliban or Huldra, or any number of names. Large, big nosed, thick skinned and tusked. "Ambush Predators" they are strong and smart but clumsy.
Fey, or Elves, or Dwarfs, or Halflings, etc. Pointy ears and highly differential body types with different penalties and bonuses depending on if they're Elven or Dwarven(Halflings are the happy medium with just a bonus to Heart and no penalties).
And finally Draconics, which... probably don't need to be touched on at all. They are the "other" whom few of these rules apply and who will play the role of villains or not be included in this story at all.
NONE of those are going to be player characters. Player characters were born from one of the first four races, and were transmuted with one of five "curses". Dire, Zooanthropic, Tauric, Winged, and Aquatic.
Dire, the most common 'curse'(occurring naturally and often to animals as well as people), they grow to roughly twice the size. +4 STR, +4 END, -4 HRT.
Zooanthropic, or Beastial, the individual grows extra hair, natural defenses, and their skeleton reshapes for certain animalistic features depending on their species, often becoming more aggressive. +4 END, +4 AGI, -4 RSN.
Tauric, from the waist up entirely normal, from the waist down the body appears to be graphed onto the neck of a four legged animal. +8 END, -4 HRT
Winged, adapts to a method of winged flight. -2 STR, -2 END, +2 AGI, +2 RSN, +4 HRT
Aquatic, adapts to aquatic(or at least amphibious) life. -4 AGI(out of water), +4 AGI(in water), +4 HRT
A Giant is basically a eight to ten foot tall human. Ogres are about the same size, only with a more rock like hide. Orcs and Drow are usually more like seven foot tall. Basically they're all classic style of the monster, I just wanted to point out scale issues.
Werewolves, Gnolls, Minotaur, and Werecats all have tails and can shift their form slightly from running on four legs to walking on two. All furry, with claws or fangs or horns and have enhanced senses. Basically they're all classic style.
Centaur are your classic greek style centaur. Satyr, instead of being the classic style are centaur but with goat/deer lower bodies allowing for better agility but being smaller and more fragile(and also having small horns on their forehead). Sphinx are the Greek style, with a human waist coming out of the cats neck, but without the wings, and yes, they can have stone-like skin. Drider are the classic monster with webs and poison bite(traditionally milked out and applied to weapons rather than biting directly).
Angelic or Valkyrie are basically just humans with feathery wings. Harpy are Nilbog with their arms turned into wings(possibly with a claw) and their legs turned into grasping claws. Gargoyles are the classic monster, complete with the chance of having stone skin. Fairy have insect wings, antenna, and a vestigial stinger at the base of their spine(that they can harvest venom from).
Merfolk are half dolphin, not fish, and still breath air, though they have very good lung capacity. Silkie are seal-like humanoids. Cecealia have a lower body that is squid like, but thick enough skin that they can survive out of the water for their entire lives(they're just awkward pulling themselves along). Naga are Merfolk with a poison bite and the upper body of an elf instead of a human, with the lower body of a scaled serpent not a dolphin's tail.
First of all, to make it easy to assume where your characters stand in comparison with one another, the SEARCH stats will be used. Strength, Endurance, Agility, Reason, Charisma, Heart(magic/willpower). STR, END, AGI, RSN, CHA, HRT.
In the fantasy world this takes place in there are five major intelligent species:
Humans, who we probably know and understand the best. 'Pursuit predators', they have high endurance and make good slaves.
Nilbog, or Goblins, or Kappa, or Tengu, or any number of names. Small, sharp toothed, floppy eared, agile and clever, if perhaps weak.
Jotun, or Trolls, or Caliban or Huldra, or any number of names. Large, big nosed, thick skinned and tusked. "Ambush Predators" they are strong and smart but clumsy.
Fey, or Elves, or Dwarfs, or Halflings, etc. Pointy ears and highly differential body types with different penalties and bonuses depending on if they're Elven or Dwarven(Halflings are the happy medium with just a bonus to Heart and no penalties).
And finally Draconics, which... probably don't need to be touched on at all. They are the "other" whom few of these rules apply and who will play the role of villains or not be included in this story at all.
NONE of those are going to be player characters. Player characters were born from one of the first four races, and were transmuted with one of five "curses". Dire, Zooanthropic, Tauric, Winged, and Aquatic.
Dire, the most common 'curse'(occurring naturally and often to animals as well as people), they grow to roughly twice the size. +4 STR, +4 END, -4 HRT.
Zooanthropic, or Beastial, the individual grows extra hair, natural defenses, and their skeleton reshapes for certain animalistic features depending on their species, often becoming more aggressive. +4 END, +4 AGI, -4 RSN.
Tauric, from the waist up entirely normal, from the waist down the body appears to be graphed onto the neck of a four legged animal. +8 END, -4 HRT
Winged, adapts to a method of winged flight. -2 STR, -2 END, +2 AGI, +2 RSN, +4 HRT
Aquatic, adapts to aquatic(or at least amphibious) life. -4 AGI(out of water), +4 AGI(in water), +4 HRT
A Giant is basically a eight to ten foot tall human. Ogres are about the same size, only with a more rock like hide. Orcs and Drow are usually more like seven foot tall. Basically they're all classic style of the monster, I just wanted to point out scale issues.
Werewolves, Gnolls, Minotaur, and Werecats all have tails and can shift their form slightly from running on four legs to walking on two. All furry, with claws or fangs or horns and have enhanced senses. Basically they're all classic style.
Centaur are your classic greek style centaur. Satyr, instead of being the classic style are centaur but with goat/deer lower bodies allowing for better agility but being smaller and more fragile(and also having small horns on their forehead). Sphinx are the Greek style, with a human waist coming out of the cats neck, but without the wings, and yes, they can have stone-like skin. Drider are the classic monster with webs and poison bite(traditionally milked out and applied to weapons rather than biting directly).
Angelic or Valkyrie are basically just humans with feathery wings. Harpy are Nilbog with their arms turned into wings(possibly with a claw) and their legs turned into grasping claws. Gargoyles are the classic monster, complete with the chance of having stone skin. Fairy have insect wings, antenna, and a vestigial stinger at the base of their spine(that they can harvest venom from).
Merfolk are half dolphin, not fish, and still breath air, though they have very good lung capacity. Silkie are seal-like humanoids. Cecealia have a lower body that is squid like, but thick enough skin that they can survive out of the water for their entire lives(they're just awkward pulling themselves along). Naga are Merfolk with a poison bite and the upper body of an elf instead of a human, with the lower body of a scaled serpent not a dolphin's tail.