Marsui

[Judd]

If and when I get to run TROS:

In our ancestors’ days there was a fine pantheon.  They worshipped a fatherly Sun Deity, a mysterious Moon Goddess, a cunning Trickster, a wise scholar, who had helped name all things when time began.  There were others, of course: godly sons and daughters, Godlings and Demi-Gods depicting the primal embodiments of Love, Hate, Law, Chaos, Good, Evil, Peace, War, Earth, Sea, Wind and Fire.

No one knows exactly why the Party set out to kill them but kill them they did.  From the primal deep forests to the Gates of Heaven they hunted down every God and Goddess in every pantheon.  

These days we can puzzle out what the Gods and Goddesses represented but that is all.  No one can remember their names anymore as if a clumsy scribe spilled an inkblot across the minds of the world.  Now countless godlings are born when mortals find bits of olden Godspower buried in dreams, hidden in a riddle or covered by dirt in a cornfield.

The era of heroes taming Demons beneath mountains older than time and bringing Gods to mortal justice is over.  

Heads are crowned or put on a spike because of the blood spilled in dark alleys or word-hoards unleashed on bustling city squares.

In this age of steel and philosophy Queen Monille De L’Avigne made Marsui, the Golden Port, what it is today.  She wrested the city from its Siehe Lords and convened the Admiral Senate.  She proclaimed all religions legal within Marsui’s walls and founded the Faith Council to welcome and oversee religious refugees.  Cursed night beasts once plagued our streets but now they no longer hunt the slums because of her sly politicking.  When her proclamations, decorations and condemnations were finished she truly became our liege, she declared the next seven days Carnivale.  

Carnivale is the celebration of our freedom.  Every year at spring we make thorn and acorn banners for burning.  Shining Hosts and Unseelie Fiends inflated with hot air float over the streets so we may throw stones at them.  Her majesty gave us this celebration so that we would remember how hard-fought our liberation was.

The Queen is a local girl, daughter of the famous Captain Darius De L’Avigne.  Some argue that she has no right to the throne.  They say she has twisted this once proud city into a pit of demon worship and sinful pandering to undead beasts.  Most of us remember what life was under Siehe rule and welcome her choices.  As Mother Superior Augusta Kirklin aptly put it, “If our ancestors can crucify a Demi-God at the cross-roads than our Queen can damn well storm the Shining Keep with cold iron so that our children might eat.”

Now churches, temples and shrines surround the city with the philosophies and worship that are forbidden in all other parts of the world.  The religious call it the Wall of Faith, keeping Marsui safe from would-be invaders.  Cynics call it the Wall of Fools, arguing that it keeps Marsui’s streets full of outspoken zealots and madmen.

The street urchins in Cannon Alley often say, “If something is easy in Marsui than it is probably a trick.”  The Faith Council struggles to keep peace between the countless religions that worship every obscure godling and saint from here to the olde world.  The Admiral Senators keep their own mercenaries, knight’s orders and musketeers to enforce their agendas.  The Queen’s Hammers keep peace, ending brawls and seeing that the Queen’s taxes are paid in full.  

This century will be made and broken on cobblestone streets.  These days a hero's destiny is realized on rooftops and stories begin in dead ends.

[Shadeling]

This sounds pretty intriguing...can you expound on it more?

[Judd]

Expound?

Sure.  

I could edit some other things I have written about Marsui and the murdering of the Gods but first I kinda want to take an OOG moment and say what I was trying to do with Marsui.

I had bits and pieces of this world but it wasn't until reading through TROS and considering using Marsui with that system that it gelled for me.

I wanted Marsui to take place in a world during its Renaissance but rather than looking back fondly on the Classic Period of the Greeks and Romans, I wanted this culture to look back fondly on the culture and mythology of a junior high D&D world.

[Judd]

The Gates of Heaven were kicked down on the first day of spring.  Now it is tradition to leave all gates and doors open on Springsday.  We remember that any portal can be trespassed; any idea can be destroyed or changed.  It has become customary to visit your neighbors and air out all disputes on these days as the world shrugs off its white cloaks for greener linens.

Spring also has its flowers in bloom in the terraces of even the poorest of Marsui’s districts and their thick musk makes the air itself full of color.  Summer has its thick heat, Carnivale and hot-tempered duels.  Fall has the blossoms lining the streets so that the cobblestones look like a canvas, as the port grows busy with foreigners, sail and steam.  Winter is a quiet time with cool winds blowing through the lonely streets as all merchant ships are out to port, taking the sailors and their purses with them.    

Now the Moon is where the bodies of the Dead Gods are buried.  The Cult of the Moon destroys any paths, magicks or doorways that could lead to the Graveyard of the Gods.  Think on what would happen if a dead God were raised, in thrall to some necromantic fiend.  The Cult of the Moon works with fanaticism, diligence and precision.  Thank the Moon for that.

The stars have lost their shapes.  Seers who relied on the influence of the heavens have a difficult time seeing truth.  Astrologers say that the rules are now being re-written.  Ship’s navigators only shake their heads and say that these days, after all of that blood spilled in Heaven, it is more difficult to find one’s way.

[Shadeling]

Very cool.

[Judd]

Next week I get to run a TROS one-shot, O frabjous day! Callooh!  Callay!

I think the players will all meet at Dueling Bridge, where their characters will watch the nightly legal duels of honor.

I'll make up some quickie NPC's who they will each run through their duels, so they can get a handle on combat without risking their primary PC's.

Then once the duels are over the adventure will start based on the players linked SA's and Philosophies.

Can't wait...

[Judd]

I mailed the two members of my Sunday D&D game and the GM and a player from the Tuesday night Unknown Armies the following as my intro:


The Riddle of Steel is a gritty fantasy game with a brutal combat system.  A mook can (and will) kill you with one good shot.  REALLY!  A knife is a knife is a knife is a knife is bad.  Combat must be won through cunning, ambush, superior numbers and more cunning.

There is a magic system but I'd rather not mess with it right now, it is a bit cumbersome.

I am inviting Ben and my roommate Jim to game with us.  They are kick-ass gamers from the same school of role-playing that we all come from.  That'll be four people which is plenty.  I'd invite a few more people but 4 is a heavy table for this new system.

The way I'm setting up the game is your characters will be going to the Dueling Bridge at sundown but they're NOT going to duel.  They are just there to WATCH the duels.  That way you all will be able to duel with the pre-genned NPC's and get the hang of the combat system without risking your main characters.

I'd like all of your concepts to be linked, so please, let's begin e-mailing about character concepts and adventure directions.  Maybe you all just got off the game ship, maybe you are all mercenaries or an Admiral Senator's musketeers or Queen's Guard or from the same Temple...  

I want the passions of your characters to dictate the direction of the game.  In this game your character's passions will keep them alive...really...ok, on with the show...

Below are a few paragraphs on the world I think would work well for the system and while you read them please consider these two character questions concerning your character:

1 - What is your character's philosophy (in one sentence)?

Examples - Let no man make laws for me. - All for one and one for all. - All things are in the hands of the fates. - All things are in my own hands.

2 - What is your character willing to fight/die for?





As the WOTC Setting Contest would say, this is my Core Ethos Sentece:

Marsui is on a world during its Renaissance but rather than looking back fondly on the Classic Period of the Greeks and Romans, this culture looks back fondly on the culture and mythology of a junior high D&D world.

...and the rest you know as posted above...

[Jake Norwood]

I really like the Duelling bridge idea as a way to introduce players in-game to TROS combat.

Jake

[Jim DelRosso]

As one of the players, I am truly looking forward to Sunday. :-)

[Brian Leybourne]

As one of the players, I am truly looking forward to Sunday. :-)

Lucky bugger :-) I'm the almost perpetual GM, and when I am a player the other guys in my group who GM have their own favorite games they like to run, so I'll probably never get to actually play TROS...

Jake, I'll have to make it over to Utah one of these days so you can GM a game for me :-)

Brian.

[Jake Norwood]

Jake, I'll have to make it over to Utah one of these days so you can GM a game for me :-)

Brian.

Anytime, bro. ANy chance you'll be making GenCon this year?

Jake

[Brian Leybourne]

Jake, I'll have to make it over to Utah one of these days so you can GM a game for me :-)

Brian.

Anytime, bro. ANy chance you'll be making GenCon this year?

Jake

I'm trying to swing it, mate. A lot is going to depend on what Bush does, actually. We're booked to tour Istanbul-Cairo from 9 June - 16 July (going through Syria and Jordan). If you guys start bombing Iraq soon, it'll probably be over before then (the Gulf war only lasted 28 days, after all) and we'll still be going, but if the war is actually on when it's time to leave we may end up backing out.

Now, GenCon is only, like, a week after the tour finishes in Cairo, so it may be possible to fly over to the States after that. Not sure yet - money will be a concern after a week in Italy and 6 weeks in the Middle East. On the other hand, if the thing is cancelled, then I almost certainly will be going to GenCon, as the States are our alternate destination.

So, it's certainly a possibility. And if I don't make it this year, I will 100% certainly be there next year, unless someone in the Middle East thinks my white face means I'm an American and kills me.

Brian.

[Judd]

I get to run TROS this weekend with a blend of the Tuesday night Unknown Armies game and the Sunday D&D game.  Two of the five players have DMed quite a bit in the past which always helps, I think.

E-mailed the setting to them all at once, which might've been a mistake.  I have a feeling I overwhelmed the players with excessive text.

Anyway, I'll post the character creation (already begun) and play in Actual Play.  Rather than write one of my froofy story Actual Play's, I'll try to keep it short, to the point, talking about system stuff and what worked and what didn't.

I am not used to system heavy games, and good combats have been known to be my weak point in the past.  Hopefully the intro at the Duelling Bridge will help us all.

If anyone wants to make up one of the many, many gods, demi-gods or pseudo-gods or fake-ass gods whose flocks wander the streets of Marsui, please feel free.

Example:

The servants found an odd monolith in the garden days after the Goddess of Hearth and Home was murdered.  Realizing its power and significance they hid it in a hedge and went back about their duties thus becoming the Gods of Faithful Servants.  They are worshipped daily, receiving and responding to prayers while still attending to their mortal lord and lady.

Anyway, make up some gods if ya wanna...