Pick race and location. I'll try to update daily at least.
If you have some idea of a particular scenario you'd like to play, please tell and we might run with it.
>>6374456Dryad, Desert.
On the one hand, this image file should probably be banned at this point. On the other hand... Why not. >Undead >Desert >Scenario: this arid and forsaken desert was once a lush forest, but it was cursed by the goddess of death for the blasphemy of its ancient inhabitants seeking to live forever using forbidden magic. Their punishment is to now exist in a dead land, bereft of their own life for all time, and never knowing eternal rest until they have completed the task assigned to them by this dark goddess - to end the lives of one hundred immortals, and bury each of their heads beneath the dunes in the heart of this desert. Should they succeed, the skulls will become the seeds of a new forest, and the curse will be broken.
>>6374456Human Fighters Males like amazons but dudes.Mountains.
>>6374573Let's do this idea.
>>6374485>>6374573>>6374609>>6374654Cursed was the day when you listened to that goddamn witch.Having attained the peak of martial prowess in your continent, having bested armies and defeated monsters many would deem unslayable, in your fortress atop a mountain you turned towards the ultimate prize - never tasting death.The Witch is how she was called, plain and simply. She would foretell the future, hex enemies and make potions, for a small donation to her coven.When you inquired about immortality, she cackled."There are over a thousand ways to become immortal, warchief. None of them is pleasant. Most of them are only attainable by wizards or undeads. But I heard once, from a shaman who ate the wrong mushrooms: to consume the heart of the forest is to consume eternity.""What that means?""I don't know. All I know is that at the heart of the forest where he said that, live a tribe of dryads. Make of that what you will."On these words alone, you crossed an ocean with all the loyal followers that would throw everything away for a chance at forever.You took it too literally.You descended upon the dryads, devoured them over many days. When their children sprouted, you devoured them too. They tasted sweet, like fresh fruits and vegetables, and you felt invigorated.For this crime against nature, the goddess of the forest appeared to you and demanded you pay penitence.Thinking she was just another dryad, you killed and ate her heart.This monstrous crime drew the attention of the one being even the dryad goddess feared: Morta, the Bone Eyed Goddess.For the crime of disrupting the natural cycle, for the blasphemy of seeking eternal life through the murder of her beloved sylvan children and even her own sister, Morta did not just kill you and your Mountain-Thanes. She gave you all exactly what you wanted."You are now immortal.", she said, her voice piercing reality and making it real. She then vanished.You started to drink, but the drink quickly lost its taste. Within days your flesh started to rot, and your mind would hunger, but no matter how much food you tried to eat, the hunger would not be sated. The entire forest withered and died and soon there was only a desert there."Morta! MORTA! What did you do to my men? What did you do to me? MORTAAAAAA!!!"She didn't deign to explain, so you went back to the witch."I knew you'd come back! I just didn't expect you to be this... rotten.", she said."Explain to me this curse!""I'll perform a divination."
>>6374680The witch does her magic and Morta manifests in the room."Since you enjoy devouring immortal sentient beings so much, your only purpose is to find and end one hundred immortals. One hundred beings who, like you, cannot die by natural means. You must slay them, sever their still living heads and bury each skull in the heart of the desert where once the dryads lived.Only then will the curse break. Only then will the skulls of your victims take root and bloom into a new forest. Only then you'll be allowed the sweet release of death.Your old glories are now long forgotten. You became the Skull-Eaters, feared by all the immortals in the land, who quickly learned of your purpose and took measures against you.You sent your scouts all over the land, looking for clues and looting riches with which to bribe the Witch Coven for more divinations.After many years, you learned of the location of a few immortals.A phoenix lord, who bursts out into flames and revives each time he's slain.A fey touched troll, who can regenerate any kind of damage even fire and acid far faster than a regular troll.A vampire prince so powerful he no longer fears the sun.A sorcerer king who drinks everyday from a cup made of a single star-sapphire and never ages a day.You are the warchief of the Skull-Eaters, cursed mountain thanes in constant suffering who hunt immortals so they might find the solace of death one day.Resources:100 undead Mountain Thanes. Once the finest warriors in the land, now little more than bones held together by leather and spite. Some of them are very damaged, they tried to end their own unlives but that just increased their suffering.Witch Coven. Your magical allies of circumstance, they will cast spells for you - if you pay them. Threatening them is pointless, as they might just curse you instead of doing anything you ask. Besides, you have no other good use for riches.Dragon Boat. Your old rowship. You could just walk underwater, it wouldn't kill you. But sometimes it can be useful to have a ship.You're out of money currently.It is time to decide which immortal you will prey upon first!> The phoenix lord> The fey touched troll> The vampire prince> The sorcerer king> Get money to bribe the witch> Write in
>>6374682>The phoenix lord
>>6374682>> Get money to bribe the witch
>>6374682>> The phoenix lord
>>6374686>>6374712>>6374714>>6374725The first immortal you hunt is known as Caelus the dawn-born, the Phoenix Lord of Phoenixia, "the land of eternal dawn".His people worship a god they call Sol-Phoenix, the principle of rebirth through flame. They believe that suffering in this life guarantees a glorious station in the next. This doctrine justifies the existence of their entire economy: slavery. The Phoenixian faithful believe that if a slave labors and dies in bondage, their soul will be reborn as a free Phoenixian the next life. The slaves themselves are offered this "hope" as their only comfort.Caelus himself has led the nation for over seven hundred years. Every time he is slain, his body erupts in holy fire and he is reborn, fully formed three days later from a golden egg in the heart of his grand temple.You must ensure he stays dead long enough to sever his head. You might need magic for this, or at lease some flame deterrent.Your wretched scouts returned with a detailed report:The capital: Phoenix City, at the base of an active volcano they call "Sol Forge".The city defenses are built into the volcano slopes. His temple palace is at the summit, reachable only by a single heavily fortified path.Hundreds of "Ember Guards", fanatical soldiers who fight to the death, protect him.Caelus holds court one hour a day at dawn, visible to the masses from a high balconey. The rest of the time, he is within the temple palace. Occasionally he leads his armies outside the palace, but that is a rare event.Besides Phoenix City, there are two other large cities in his domain:Ashfall - a mining and smelting hub, with a massive slave population.New Dawn - a coastal city, their only port, where they import luxury goods, slaves and export Phoenix Steel, which is high quality. The slave market here is the largest on the coast.They sport also four military bases, each with hundreds of Ember Guards:First Claw: guards the mountain passes leading to Phoenix City. A fortress carved in the rock.Second Claw: protects the farms and villages surrounding Ashfall.Third Claw: patrols the coast near New Dawn.Fourth Claw: overlook the slave mines and the colossal construction projects.In the southern badlands, near the fourth claw, the slaves are building something immense - a statue of Caelus, meant to be a thousand feet tall. It's about a quarter of the way done, and the base alone has consumed the lives of hundreds of thousands of slaves. They are literally being worked to death to build a monument to the man who enslaves them.
Rolled 15, 88, 7 = 110 (3d100)>>6374840A man such as this wouldn't fail to have enemies:The shadow thread, a faction of escaped slaves turned ninjas, their goal is to liberate as many slaves as possible. Their base is somewhere to the north. They are few in number, but their intelligence is impeccable. Their leader is known only as the Weaver. No one knowns exactly where they hide, they probably have a large number of hideouts and keep changing location constantly.The horned compact. A bunch of minotaur and holstaurs pure bloods who were the original inhabitants of these plains before the Phoenix regime. Caelus didn't conquer them, he hunted them and constantly puts as many of them as they can catch into the slave mines. They have a massive walled city and are led by a gigantic warrior named Gore. They want to kill every phoenixian, burn every city and retake their ancestral lands, but haven't had much success, as the enemy capital is in elevated terrain that is hard for them to reach and their leader keeps reviving even when successfully assassinated. Their main city lies to the southwest of phoenixia.The swamp outlaws. When slaves escape, if they can survive the journey, they usually flee here. Over the centuries a desperate society formed in the muck. They hunt swamp lizards and plant swamp crops, and ambush any phoenixian patrol stupid enough to wander into the swamp. They are led by a council of the most veteran escapees and their descendants, hardened survivors whose lives are protecting their freedom. They could hide a huge army in the swamp - if they trusted you.The witches tell you what they can do for you, if you pay them 10,000 gold:A major divination - locate an immortal, reveal the weakness of one, uncover secrets, etc) orThree minor castings (obscuring your army from scrying, creating a poison, summoning a sandstorm, put a minor hex on a group of weak enemies, or a strong hex on a single enemy, "scry and fry" with a lightning bolt (counts as at least two castings), etc). It is kinda of a package deal, they usually charge 5,000 for a single minor casting.You currently can't pay the witches, as you ran out of money, but you could raise the money by many means - plundering enemy cities, robbing caravans, attacking merchant ships, etc.What will be your strategy? You can detail it as a write in.> Frontal Assault> Attack the Border Cities> Attack the Military Bases> Attack the Farms> Attack the Mines> Ally with the Ninjas > Ally with the Minotaurs > Ally with the Swampers > Have the Witch Cast Spells (Determine source of money also)> Write inAlso, please roll 3d100 with your choice to speed up things.
>>6374840QM... You ever play Kenshin, perchance? KEK This is very cool though! Great first antagonist.
>>6374841>Ally with the Swampers
Rolled 33, 57, 94 = 184 (3d100)>>6374852Derp.
Rolled 65, 11, 35 = 111 (3d100)>>6374841First, questions: >Do we convert those we slay into more undead as the OP image suggests? >What's the deal with the 'leader' mentioned in the OP image for us, with necromancy powers? Are the witches our version of that? >What is our desert's position relative to the Phoenix Lord's realm and the territories of these other factions? Who are we closest to or farthest from, and what direction from us is the volcano? >Are there any resources of value that can be gathered in the desert? Gold deposits or iron ore, etc? >Write-in 1) Send a message to the Minotaurs offering to help them defeat the PL for good, on the single condition that we are allowed to claim his head for our own purposes. Propose to them that we be allowed to convert their corpses to additional undead, and explain that if we get the PL's head and those of other immortals, we will eventually be able to break the curse, so it isn't necessarily a permanent damnation. Their sacrifice could free their people and reclaim their homeland. 2) We need to get our numbers up badly. No need for food and our home turf will be exceedingly difficult for enemies to pursue us into - if they are wearing heavy armor and shit it might just be impossible. So even if the minotaurs are willing to contribute cadavers, I think we should begin with hit-and-run raiding parties focusing on whatever settlements are closest to our borders and lightly defended, and while it would be best to convert trained fighters, it will be easiest to massacre lots of slaves quickly, giving us the numbers we need to then overwhelm better fighters. That should be our focus. 3) We should reach out to the Swampers and see what services we could provide in exchange for gold. Tending to their crops or repairing infrastructure? We can work nonstop with no need for rest and it costs us nothing because we need no food or water, so maybe we can set up a trade relationship even though I think they have little to offer us militarily. Sure they want the PL gone, but their focus seems to be keeping their safe space in one piece and surviving, whereas the minotaurs have a strong ideological drive to invade and fight to the last, and with a walled city and big monster fighters are just better suited to a campaign. I think at that point trying to ally with the shadows would spread us too thin, so let's just leave them be for now.
>>6374860Once we have stacked some cash and increased our labor pool, I think our next move should be to begin fortifying the desert with walls or traps - as simple as possible with the focus entirely being on delaying invaders as much as possible and being sturdy enough it can't just be torn down by men. Any decent sized stone wall would be fine, because siege engines can't handle the shifting sand, and it'd take mages to do demolition. A fortress in the heart of the desert, ideally one of those star shaped joints that is easy to defend from all sides. We shack up ten 'leaders' there, maybe invite the witch coven to shack up? Then even if our forces get hosed on the battlefield we will be able to (eventually) get our numbers back up.
>>6374860>Do we convert those we slay into more undeadYour BITE turns people into undead, but your mountain thanes fight with weapons, so they don't usually bite anyone. The converted undead are regular ghouls, not under your control, and they are not immortal.>What's the deal with the 'leader' mentioned in the OP image for us, with necromancy powers? Are the witches our version of that?Your scenario overrides the basic thing, but I wanted to give you some access to magic, so I put the witches there.>What is our desert's position relative to the Phoenix Lord's realm and the territories of these other factions? Who are we closest to or farthest from, and what direction from us is the volcano?Pic related>Are there any resources of value that can be gathered in the desert? Gold deposits or iron ore, etc?The desert is the site where once there was a vast and untouched ancestral forest, there are tons of resources around for sure, but you're a warrior not a prospector, you don't really know how to identify this sort of thing, and you were very busy suffering horrible pains to care about it.
>>6374885>Your BITE turns people into undead, but your mountain thanes fight with weapons, so they don't usually bite anyone. The converted undead are regular ghouls, not under your control, and they are not immortal.Ouch... That really, really complicated things. There are only 100 of us and we can't ever increase our numbers, and some portion of us are already badly damaged... I don't know if we can be much help to the minotaurs or ever take on the thousands of warriors under the Phoenix Lord. May need to recalculate a lot of my strategy. I don't think my initial pitch precluded one of our number having necromancy, which I figured was how new undead might be made, if it wasn't just passed on to anyone we killed that remained an intact enough corpse.
I really don't want to post beyond updates unless I absolutely have to, this captcha is maddening lol, so don't expect constant feedback.But right now there are a few things you might want to consider, so I'm posting them.You are WARRIORS. Fierce and ruthless. Suddenly starting to do menial labor for coin is a bit out of character for your people, specially considering that they are suffering constant pain.You were legendary in the old continent, though few would believe a bunch of undead are really those warriors of legend. You had a much larger army.Your undead mountain thanes are the best of the best, elite soldiers handpicked from amongst your legion. Think of all of them as something between revenants and death knights in dnd terms, though without all the fancy abilities and magic. They are technically immortal sentient ghouls, but they are far far stronger than your regular ghoul.You are a skilled commander. Under your orders and following your strategies, pretty much any creature will fight better. This synergizes with your already strong warriors for a core force that is very hard to beat. Think of it as a high level commander/general, who just happens to be an undead now.You can recruit other creatures for your army, but you gotta either pay them or find some other creative way to make them follow you. Other undeads, necromancers, regular evil monsters, they all might want to join you, depending on how you approach them. Money may not be that useless after all.The witch is also very powerful. The rest of her coven is significantly weaker, but they are all spellcasters of significant skill. Think of her as a diviner wizard with access to level 6 spells leading a bunch of hags and other low to mid level casters. She needs money for her own shenanigans (magic is expensive). She lives in the old continent. Though she doesn't have access to true teleport, she could use minor similar abilities (like teleportation circle). Still, she's primarily a diviner, with some utilities spells and lightning bolt for defense.I'm only using dnd for comparison, as it is a simple system for determining the power level of creatures. We won't be rolling d20s and damage here, because this captcha won't allow it. We'll probably resolve anything that needs dice with a single 3d100 roll, for efficiency sake.
Rolled 38, 59, 12 = 109 (3d100)You enter the swamp with your men. The air is thick, foul, buzzing with insects. Mud sucks at your feet. Behind you, your thanes move in silence, bones creaking, the constant pain of your curse hanging over all of you like a shroud.You're a mile in when the first crossbow bolt takes you in the chest.You look down at it. Then up at the tree line.More bolts. Arrows. They slam into your thanes, into you. One of your oldest warriors takes a shaft through the eye socket, reaches up, snaps it in half. Keeps walking.The swampers keep shooting.For a full minute, they pour fire into your company. Your thanes don't fall. Don't bleed. Don't react beyond the occasional twitch as another bolt finds purchase in dry flesh or empty ribcage.Then, slowly, the shooting stops.You see them now. Gaunt figures in the mist. Ragged clothes. Painted faces. Crossbows lowered, trembling. Eyes wide. No one speaks. No one moves.You pull the bolt from your chest. Hold it up. Let them look at it.Then you drop it in the mud."Gentlemen," you say. "I'm not here to attack you."Silence."We have an enemy in common. The Phoenix Lord. I'm here to propose an alliance."A long moment. Then, from somewhere in the fog, a voice:"Stop shooting."A figure emerges. Old. Leather skin. One leg ends in a wooden peg below the knee. He walks toward you slowly, deliberately, stops ten feet away. Studies you. Studies your thanes. Studies the bolts sticking out of them like pins in a cushion."If what you say is true," he says, "you'll speak to one of our leaders. Alone."He glances at your thanes."They stay here. You come with me."You agree. You follow him into the swamp.He leads you through paths you can't see, across log bridges that shouldn't hold your weight, past lookouts you only notice when their eyes track you. After a long walk, he stops at a small cabin tucked into the roots of a dead tree. He gestures."Inside."You enter.One man waits. Forty years old, maybe. Hard face. One eye missing, the other fixed on you with the kind of attention a snake gives a mouse. He doesn't offer you a seat. Doesn't offer you anything."I'm called Tanner," he says. "State your case."He pauses."Only curiosity is staying our hand. We never seen anything like you. But curiosity has limits."He lets that hang."So talk."> "The Phoenix Lord is immortal. I need his head. You want him dead. That's the whole case."> "I'm not here to ask for your fighters. I'm here to ask for your knowledge. Paths through this swamp. Patrol schedules. Places to hide. Let me do the dying."> "You've been hiding here for generations. Surviving. Never winning. I'm offering you a chance to actually win."> "I could lie to you. Tell you I care about your freedom, your suffering, your cause. I don't. I care about his head. But our goals align, and that's all that matters."> "You're curious about what I am. Ask your questions first. Then I'll make my offer."> Write in
>>6374927>>6374968What's our name? I wasn't aware until now that we had a commander, but that sounds dope. I think I am just confused because I was going by the image in the OP and the first post of the quest made it seem like we had a small, weak force, without a clear leader. >>6374968>"The Phoenix Lord is immortal. I need his head. You want him dead. That's the whole case."
>>6374968>> "You've been hiding here for generations. Surviving. Never winning. I'm offering you a chance to actually win."
Rolled 37, 13, 48 = 98 (3d100)"The Phoenix Lord is immortal. I need his head. You want him dead. That's the whole case. You've been hiding here for generations. Surviving. Never winning. I'm offering you a chance to actually win."Tanner studies you with that one good eye. Doesn't speak for a long moment. You can hear the swamp outside, distant bird calls, the buzz of insects, the slow movement of your thanes standing motionless in the muck."Immortal," he says finally. "That explains why none of our assassins ever succeeded. Figured we just weren't trying hard enough."He's quiet again. Thinking."You want his head. I want him dead. That's clean. I like clean."He scratches his jaw."And you're right. We've been hiding. Surviving. Never winning." A pause. "Maybe it's time for something different."He turns back to you."Three weeks ago, a ship from across the sea docked at New Dawn. Big ship. Heavily guarded. Offloaded something the Phoenixians don't produce themselves. Wouldn't tell us what, our people at the port couldn't get close, but whatever it was, they moved it to the Fourth Claw under heavy escort. Been sitting there since. Guarded day and night. More guards than the paymaster's tent gets."He leans forward."That shipment is important to them. Don't know why. Don't know what it is. But I know they're waiting on another one just like it, and if that first shipment got destroyed, or better yet, captured, it'd hurt. Bad. They'd have to wait months for a replacement. Maybe longer."> Accept> Accept but ask for something (guides, reinforcements, a safe place to hide your thanes, specify)> Decline How many troops will you take with you if you accept?> Just your best scouts. This is a stealthy mission. Go in, maybe kill a few guards, grab the shipment and rush out. (10 scouts, good chance of not being seen)> A small group of your strongest thanes, enough to kill your way out with the shipment in tow if things go south (30 thanes or so, very small chance of not being seen)> A large group, you're going to kill your way IN, check what is stored there, then decide what to do about it. (50 thanes, you'll be seen, might alarm the enemy)> Stealth be damned, bring everyone you got, the boys been itching for a fight. (all thanes, enemy will be alarmed) > Write inPlease roll 3d100 with your votes. The rolls will be used either for stealth or for combat, maybe for both.
Rolled 19, 34, 40 = 93 (3d100)>>6375390> A small group of your strongest thanes, enough to kill your way out with the shipment in tow if things go south> Accept but ask for somethingAsk for support of best warriors and spies who will help organize an ambush for the transport.
Rolled 6, 7, 86 = 99 (3d100)>>6375390Badass quest premise. I hope this endures.>>6375717I'll support this anon's idea. Some support will do us well.
>>6375717>>6375824"You want proof," you say. "I'll get you proof. But I need more than just directions."Tanner's good eye narrows."I need your best warriors to help with the ambush. And your spies. The ones who know when the watch changes, which guards are lazy, which paths are blind. I hit that shipment, I hit it right, or I don't hit it at all."He's quiet. You can see him weighing it, trust versus caution, hope versus survival."You're asking a lot," he says finally."I'm offering a lot."Another long silence. Then he nods, slow."Wait here."He leaves. You hear muffled voices outside, the creak of boards, footsteps moving away. For a long time, nothing happens. Then he's back, and behind him come three others.The first is a woman, thin as a rail, with quick eyes and no brand on her face. Born in the swamp, you guess. Never been a slave. She carries a knife and nothing else."This is Kestrel," Tanner says. "Knows the Fourth Claw better than anyone. Knows which guards sleep on duty, which ones take bribes, which ones beat slaves for fun. She'll get you in."The second is a mountain of a man, bald, scarred, both arms covered in old brand marks. He carries a massive axe wrapped in cloth."Garrick. Was a gladiator in Phoenix City before he escaped. Killed seventeen men in the pits. He'll handle the fighting."The third is younger. Nervous. Carries a bow."Lark. Best shot we got. Covers the others."Tanner looks at you."There's your support. Don't waste them."Three days later.You're in position.Kestrel was worth ten times her weight. She knew every guard rotation, every blind spot, every moment of darkness between torchlight. The shipment was moved at dusk, under heavy escort, forty soldiers, two officers, a wagon team of six.Garrick led the diversion. He and a dozen swampers hit a patrol a mile east, drew half the escort away with fire and screaming. Lark's arrows took out the two officers before they could give orders. Your thanes moved in from the west, silent as death.The fight lasted three minutes.The soldiers who didn't run died where they stood. The wagon team bolted. You lost two thanes to fire, one stepped in front of a torch, the other got doused in oil and lit up, but they'll reform eventually. Takes more than fire to kill a Skull-Eater. You make sure to retrieve their remains.You have the shipment.The swampers direct you deep into the marsh, past hidden channels and submerged paths, to a place you'd never find on your own. A warehouse, half-sunk into the mud, built from scavenged wood and hidden under a canopy of ancient trees. Inside, it's dry. Cramped. Lit by a single lantern.The crate sits in the center of the floor.Kestrel produces a crowbar. Looks at you. You nod.She cracks it open.
Rolled 91, 94, 28 = 213 (3d100)>>6375935Inside:Pieces of armor. Not Phoenixian make, foreign, ornate, covered in script you don't recognize. Gold inlay. Intricate patterns. Too fine for common soldiers. Maybe ceremonial.A massive red gem. Big as your fist. Pulses with faint light from within. Warm to the touch. Not a ruby, something else. Something that feels old.A dozen clay tablets. Covered in dense, tiny script. Language you've never seen.A stack of books. Leather-bound. Some newer, some ancient. More unknown script.And a stone casket.Heavy looking. Covered in script. A complicated looking lock that seems to require multiple people to open. What appears to be its keys are simply laying around, probably knocked down when you moved the shipment. There are six of the weird key objects. Tanner steps forward. Stares at it. Doesn't open it."This is above us," he says quietly. "Need time. Need to find someone who can read this. Could be days. Could be weeks."He looks at you."In the meantime. That port. New Dawn. If another shipment like this is coming, it'll come through there. Burn it. Burn their docks, their warehouses, their ships. Stop the next one before it starts."> Agree. Burn New Dawn. Hit them hard, hit them fast.> Ask what's in the casket first. Open it now.> Suggest you need more information before attacking a whole port city.> Ask what he's found so far, any of the script he recognizes?> Refuse. You came for the Phoenix Lord's head, not to fight their entire navy.> Write in.Resources:98 undead Mountain Thanes (2 regenerating slowly, will be available eventually; you could take their remains to the witch to speed up recovery, but she'll charge money)Witch Coven. One ocean away. Would take weeks to reach them. Require money.Dragon Boat. Hidden.Swamper Influence (3): you can recruit three soldiers from the swampers.Please roll 3d100 with your choices.
>>6375939Hmm... >Suggest you need more information before attacking a whole port city.Our men are strong but few. Best to use them with the utmost precision.
>>6375981Another factor here to consider is that we and our targets are both immortal. We lose nothing but momentum by waiting for information. If the situation turns out not to be to our advantage, we can just leave and hit another immortal.
