Crimson Steam: Humes and Urd

Crimson steam is already a little different in that it has a Victorian steam punk era/wild west/fantasy thing going on.  When deciding what to populate the city with I waited until AFTER character creation was over.  This is of course an awesome luxury that only home-brew sandbox gaming can present.  Then we ran a few sessions and as I got into the groove of running the city I started to feel pretty confident about the types of races I would use the most often. So without further ado:

Humes:

A.k.a Humans, I love the term “Hume” which is used heavily in ff12 and the dark tower series by Stephan King.  It adds just a little bit more mystery and fantasy flavor to the most prominent, and dare I say redundant racial choice.  Humes are by no means the most dominant force on the planet, but they are arguable the most populous and prolific.  Their lack of global dominion is from no real lack of trying, Humes are clever, ambitions, and incredibly resilient.  Instead it stems from the youth of the Hume race.  The Dragonborn, Eladrin, and Dwarves have simply been around for so long, that they control the finest resources, trade routes, and political avenues through a series of hierarchical connections that very clearly prevent Hume inception.

Regardless Humes overflow the lower and middle class of most cities, originally slaves under the dragons the Humes of that age allied with unknown beings of magic said to reside in the stars, when the Reaving of Scale commenced the surviving Dragons and Humes forged an alliance of peace, though certainly modern Humes would argue, not one of equality. Humes excel at whatever task they are set to, they breed prolifically and are highly adaptable.  Humes favor names akin to a “real world” Victorian era setting such as: James, Steven, Jonathan, Sara, Margret, Samantha, etc.  Humes have all the standard variations of skin and hair color, height and weight.  No geographic explanation is needed, Humes and just that varied. Humes in general are huge proponents of science and magic, they have very little interest or compassion for the church, do to long-standing persecution and slavery at its hand.

Urd:

Way back in 2nd edition there was the flying kobold, the Urd. These guys were so cute and so cool, and in my opinion, they never got any action.  Now many people might flip out like a ninja over the idea of having a flying race in 4th edition.  But it ain’t that bad.  Urds can and do fly, however they are clumsy and weak fliers in general.  This can be augmented by racial feats later on, but generally you don’t have to worry about a level 1 Urd archer owning everything from high above the battlefield.

The Urd, like the Humes, are a former slave race of the dragons.  The Urd were once kobolds, but through magic and selective breeding, the Urd emerged as a more intelligent and more civilized species.  Kept by the dragons as sages, scribes, scholars, and accountants the Urd were indispensible during the golden ages of the Dragon Empire.  Their quiet demeanor and small size kept them far below the radar which proved a boon during the Reaving of Scales, during which time the Urd acted as spies and saboteurs, winning their independence.

The Urd love science, knowledge, and most of all secrets.  Urd believe secrets hold great power and make it a point to know as much about everything that they can, and certainly to know more than everyone else around them.  Personal information is their most closely guarded secret and as such all Urd keep their true names a secret.  Urd are at the forefront of engineering.  Their small size allows them to test pilot vehicle designs at a fraction of the cost, and their incredible knowledge allows them to come at theories and schematics from every angle.  Urd generally occupy the lower and middle class, but some Urd, retaining the skills of the bygone age, act as scribes, accountants, and tutors from affluent upper class families and nobility.

An Urd stands about 2’6″ to 3′ tall.  They are bipedal, have long necks and prehensile tails.  They have batlike wings, that are generally rather weak, with a wingspan equal to their height. Males sport tiny spiralling horns atop their heads, while female have multicolored crests and frills.  Urd dress for function rather than form, though many have a weakness for jewelry and gems.  The are the originators of the Draconic script, though they normally are versed in many other languages as well.  Urd tend to gravitate towards careers focusing on science, espionage, and scholarly pursuits.  They are excellent artificers.  Much like Humes they shy away from religious occupations because of bad blood.

MNF: Dust

There was once a little girl named Daedra.  She lived with her wealthy merchant parents in a coastal port city and was treated like a princess.  Life was simple and full of priveledge and wonder. One day her parents were lost at sea, having traveled abroad to an important merchantile landsmeet. Orphaned at a young age she was sent to live with her uncle in  a remote mining community in the titan spine mountains. The transition was difficult.  It was a hard life in a rural community, but over the years Daedra found happiness and as her uncle’s smithing apprentice, she also found purpose.  Her skill at crafting blades and weapons bordered on artistry, and in time her work became sought after by collector and warrior alike.  She trained with the weapons she forged, more to check their quality and function that out of any real desire to wield them in battle.  In this too, she was an artist.

But the end comes to all things, and so too did the end of this happy and simple life come to its close.  A death knight and her undead army had been amassing power far north in the peaks of the mountain range. When she decided the time had come to send forth her armies of death into the world, it was Daedra’s tiny hamlet that was hit first.  The carnage was absolute.  Buildings and crops razed, livestock slaughtered, children eaten, and everyone else raised as mindless undead foot soldiers in the ensueing plague.   As Daedra lay pinned beneath the burning wreckage of her smithy she watched through smoke burned eyes as her entire world was turned to dust.

A vision came to her then, of a tall robed man wearing a mask of bone, carrying a set of merchant scales.  He offered no assistance to the dying woman, and instead began producing, small weights from the pockets of his robes.  At last he spoke, “You have more work to do, continue on, but know that from now on your life is in the service of death.”  The woman that arose from the ashes of her former life was no longer the beautiful artisian known as Daedra.  The being who walked north into the mountains that night was Dust, and by her hand others would be put to the death that was far overdue.

====== Level 2 stat dump ======
Dust, level 2, Human, Avenger
Avenger’s Censure: Censure of Pursuit
Background: Wandering Duelist (Wandering Duelist Benefit)

Str 10, Con 10, Dex 17, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 9.

AC: 17 Fort: 13 Reflex: 16 Will: 17
HP: 30 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 7

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +8, Religion +6, Acrobatics +9, Athletics +6, Perception +10

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +1, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +5, Endurance +1, Heal +5, History +1, Insight +5, Nature +5, Stealth +4, Streetwise, Thievery +4

FEATS
Human: Closing Pledge
Level 1: Death Knell
Level 2: Avenging Resolution

POWERS
Avenger at-will 1: Bond of Pursuit
Avenger at-will 1: Avenging Shackles
Bonus At-Will Power: Radiant Vengeance
Avenger encounter 1: Angelic Alacrity
Avenger daily 1: Wings of Light
Avenger utility 2: Resonant Escape

ITEMS
Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Adventurer’s Kit, Holy Symbol, Master Artisan Training, 50′ of chain, Sickle, War Scythe

Crimson Steam: The Micro Sheet

The pace of the Friday night Crimson Steam game is starting to pick up. Despite a canceled game for tonight (big family event came up instead), we will be playing tommorrow night instead. Unfortunately one of the players will be unable to attend.  As a DM i belive that the game must go on, but i also hate running a game with one of the characters missing from the action.  The idea of evolving tactical combat is that the players rely on eachother and the various powers and abilities that are brought to the table.  Additionally, when i create the advenmture i create it with all characters in mind.

So what do we do about this?  Rather than have one player run two full sized characters, difficult, but doable, I went ahead and created a condensed stat block for each PC in the party.  When they are unavaible to play we simple activate this simplified, streamlined, “Micro” character sheet.  Any player at the table can take the actions of the missing character and its barely anything to keep track of.

Here is an example, anyone who owns a monster manual will find this eerily familiar…..

Crimson Steam: Rubicante

Crimson Steam is basically my homebrew world of Egoroth, with a steampunk twist.  When i was  deciding what technology would be available, and what would not, I also had to consider how it would all work.  The warcraft tabletop setting had a magical gas known as phlogiston, which is totally based on a real world alchemical substance from ancient Greece.  I liked the idea, and the mechanics behind it.  It created a system where magic was still important, necessary in fact, and would not be overshadowed by technology.  Egoroth is a world where crystals and minerals play a big part, so naturally I wanted the “key” ingredient for engineering to be some sort of crystal.  Eventually I settled on rubicante, which in Iron Hack, was a crystalline ore useful in making swords and armor with fire or flame properties.

Rubicante is a pretty awesome name.  It was originally from Dante’s Inferno, but I first encountered in playing Final Fantasy 2 on the Snes. (he was my favorite boss).  In any case, the name lends itself well to a fiery crystal substance.

Rubicante:

Rubicante is a rare crystalline ore, found in many of the hottest and more remote parts of the world.  Long ago master crystalsmiths were able to create a sturdy iron alloy using the crystals.  This rubicante alloy was a cloudy translucent marbled red color which imbued weapons and armor with properties related to fire and flame.  As such it was, and to a certain extent still is, considered a holy element by the kingdom of Kole and the followers of Pyral, dragon goddess of flame and conquest.  Despite all of this, its rarity and the difficult techniques needed to work with it kept most of the world interested in the other, more plentiful, mystic elements instead.

About 8 to 10 years ago, historians are still uncertain, a group of mages specializing in mystic element studies, hit upon a discovery that is very rapidly changing the entire world.  When combined with certain mundane elements, the right combination of heat and humidity, and an electric spark rubicante ore creates a powerful and astounding substance called “Crimson Steam.”   Crimson Steam contains a high concentration of magical energy.  This energy works in many different ways depending on how it is harnessed.  It can be used to levitate objects, gives life and sentience to constructs and other clockwork creations, provides light, illumination, and heat. The gas can be condensated into a liquid which then grants limited power over time and has allowed the creation of clocks, as well as incredibly accurate measuring devices. When this liquid form is dried into a powder it can then be used as an explosive, powering a new type of weapon the “Fire-arms.”

The Imperial Dragon Empire, having lost a centuries long battle to suppress and destroy magic, now faces an even dire threat.  The unification of arcane magics and rubicante alchemy is putting more and more power into the hands of those operating well outside of the church and the government’s grasp.  As such the practice or rubicante alchemy has been branded anathema, and is punishable by death.  Therefore, settlements existing far from the Empire’s influence, such as the frontier city of Rook’s Vigil, called the “City of Steam” or “The Red City” in certain circles, have become hot spots for technological discovery and advancement.  With the advent of the Steam Serpent,  a simple monorail system used to quickly link trade routes, even the Imperial Dragon Empire is starting to shift their very narrow-minded stance on Rubicante Alchemy.

Currently rubicante is the most valuable substance on Egoroth.  It’s rarity combined with the abundance of uses have created a gold rush mentality in the populace.  Murder, claim jumping, sabotage, and conspiracies are only scratching the surface of the social strife caused by this increased interest in the mystic element.  The largest and richest rubicante deposit are rumored to be in locals nearly impossible to reach, the hearts of active volcanoes, the lairs of demons, and caverns deep below the surface of the world.  The Guild has already set up numerous mining outposts and has dedicated an entire wing of their headquarters to engineering and alchemical studies.  Meanwhile the Followers of Pyral continue to kill and persecute anyone they find desecrating their holiest of elements.  Rumors abound that the faith of Pyral holds many of the largest rubicante mines, though these locations are a secret only the highest ranking members of the faith would be aware of.  Naturally, this has inspired many of the world’s greatest heroes and mercenaries to pick up sword and spell, and stake claim to these incalculable riches before anyone else.

To sum it up, Rubicante is:

• rare elemental crystal with properties similar to both crystal and metal
• can be combined with mundane elements and lightning to create gas, liquid, and powdered forms
• is the key ingredient in steam technology, and thus engineering and alchemy
• powers airships and other flying transports
• powers clocks and measuring devices, possibly can control time
• creates the explosive powder used to make bombs and fire-arms
• gives life and sentience to constructs and machines
• creates enough energy to light cities, heat homes, power large machines such as drilling machines, boats and trains

Rook’s Vigil: Stanly and Elizabeth

Working in the “Real Estate and Imperial Acquisitions” wing of Rook’s Vigil’s Civic Citadel are two very disgruntled, yet talented, scribes.

Elizabeth Ferrous; female human monk Granite Kingdom:

Elizabeth is a retied spymaster. The rigors and perils of the espionage life soured for her early on and she shifted her career focus to a more subdued, and safer, line of work.  This is a decision she is beginning to regret.  She has been known to injure miscreants and layabouts with well thrown ink quills.  Despite her comically bad mood and apparent loathing for both her job and her boss, Stanly, Elizabeth does her best to run the city of Rook’s Vigil’s zoning policies and economic budget, or at least prevent a total civic collapse.

Stanly Buptkiss, male human wizard Granite Kingdom:

Stanly dabbles in the magical arts, but mostly he dabbles in anything that involves snacks and naps.  As chief officer scribe in charge of “Real estate and imperial acquisitions” in Rook’s Vigil, it would be assumed he is a very busy man.  This is hardly the case.  Whatever work he cannot manage to foist upon his assistant Elizabeth or a lower ranking scribe; he simply files into the trash bin.  As such the city suffers from poor zoning, civic misspending, and general disorder.  An indulgent fool who eagerly abuses his position of power for bribes and favors, Stanly represents a very real danger to the safety of the city’s local government.

The party has made acquaintance with this pair on several occasions so far and the scribes have formed a liking for the party.  They represent a scribe and a government contact within the city.  Additionally Stanly is keeping an eye out for cheap real estate the party can purchase or rent to set up a permanent base of operations within the city.  This will inevitably lead to the asking and fulfilling of favors, he has no doubt.