Jump to content

Game of Thrones: A Cold Wind Blows - Game of Thrones D20


Recommended Posts

Hey everyone for people who haven't met me yet I am Malachite's husband Mike and I was wanting to put together a game to run on the boards.

Table of Contents

1. Overview of World

2. Overview of Game

3. Rules

4. Character Creation

5. Character Progression

1. Overview of World

A Game of Thrones is set in George R. R. Martin's world described in the book series A Song of Ice and Fire. It is a very medieval setting where there is distinct differences in the roles of each level of society and even in the roles of the sexes. Also unlike in our world seasons do not work the same way. Instead Seasons can last for years on their own. Summers can last for mere months to many years. However the Winters that follow them are always longer then the Summer before.

The history of the world takes place mostly on the continent of Westeros.

Westeros is divided in to several countries that all serve the Iron Throne. Long ago a race of smaller and mysterious humans known as the Children of the Forest ruled the land. It is said that they lived in cities of trees and were ruled by the powerful Greenseers. All through out Westeros they carved faces in to large trees known as Heartrees. Twelve thousand years ago the First Men came to Westeros and were almost immediately at war with the Children. Although they had numbers and magic the Children slowly lost ground to the First Men who met their wood armor and obsidian weapons with worked steel. After two thousand years a pact was forged that created peace between the Children and the First Men. This ended the time known as the Dawn Age.

In the Age of Heroes a winter came colder and darker than any before. During that time the Others came. Legend tells that the Others are creatures of ice and death that hate all warm living things. As they attacked the world from the land of always winter far to the north the Children of the Forest and the First Men rallies together to fight them. For nearly a hundred years the two sides fought with the Others slowly gaining ground. Finally all strength was gathered for one final fight. At the battle of the dawn it is said a hero rose up wielding a flaming sword to lead the living. The Others were cast out of Westeros. One of the great leaders of the First Man named Brandon Stark decided to work with the Children of the Forest and build a great wall to protect the lands from the evils in the north. He founded a great house and was named the king of the north.

After another two thousand years the Andals landed in Westeros. These people came with their own god known as the seven. Unlike the First Men they had no interest in dealing with the Children of the Forest and quickly moved through the lands burning the heartrees as they found them. In this time the Children of the forest disappeared. The Andals carved out their own nations in Westeros but left the nort to the First Men. So ended the Age of Heroes

Next followed the Age of Valyria. Across the sea the nation of Valyria rose up and started to conquer all the territories around it. Among these areas conquered was the area known as the Rhoyne. The people of the Rhoyne fled across the sea and settled in the southern desert area of Westeros and named it Dorne. For four and a half millennium Valyria ruled the east until a great catastrophe racked the land and destroyed the country. Lead by the noble house of Targaryen and their mighty dragons the Valaryians were brought across the sea to Westeros.

What followed was known as the age of dragons. Aegon Targaryen looked across Westeros and saw the constant fighting between the countries. He lead a great campaign and united all of Westeros under the Targaryen family and built the city of Kings Landing. For the next 360 years the Targaryens rule Westeros though many changes occur. The dragons slowly dwindle in number until the last one died some one hundred seventy years ago. People came to learn that Targaryens were usually great leaders, or very crazy people. The last Targaryen to rule was Aerys II. Named Aerys the Mad the king was far worst then the others. His constant love of dunking his enemies in Wildfire and declaring people traitors for no reason earned him many enemies. Fifteen years ago Robert Baratheon rose up in rebellion against Aerys. Joined by his closest friend Eddard Stark the two fought for five years against Aerys until finally he was slain. All the Targarayens except for a very small boy and a newborn girl were executed and the reign of Robert Baratheon began.

2. Overview of the Game

What I gave above will hopefully give you an idea of the type of world this is. Game of Thrones is a setting sometimes described as the safest place in the world is on the battlefield. For commoners life is always hard and often you are just trying to scrape enough by to survive for the next month. Though the nobility have wealth and power they quickly learn as they grow up that life has a whole new set of dangers waiting for them. In their own homes life is simple enough. But most nobles spend a good deal of their life at court. Here is a world far more dangerous then any battlefield as suddenly you must try to figure out what everyone else knows. You must try to judge who is your friend or enemy and which ones you will keep close to you. Most importantly of all you must wonder which meal being served to you will hold the poison meant for you, or did they skip poison and merely have someone in the shadows waiting with a knife.

For this game people will be allowed to make just about anything they want. I will run meta plots through out the game but also want these plots to slowly mold around the actions being taken by the PCs. To start out with characters will most be fairly no name like. Even if you are a member of one of the great houses it does not automatically mean that you are considered a great godly person. As the game progresses assuming your characters strive for greatness you will rise in fame and even have the opportunity to become the ones leading the world. (As a note this game is starting ten years before the books begin. I will follow the Canon of the books unless actions taken by PCs leads us away from them.)

One final note to the style of this game. If you have not read the song of ice and fire books let me make this quite clear. This is a harsh and unforgiving world where people die. Wars rise up often, winter is always around the corner, there is no magic left in the world. I am not saying that everyone will be rolling new characters constantly. However it is important to remember if you are a noble who decides to rise up in rebellion against your king then there is no trial, no second chance, you will most likely meet him on the battlefield and only one of you will walk away.

3. Rules

For now I will only allow one character per player. Later on I may lift this restriction.

In this game every thread should have a threat level 1-5. Explanation below.

1 - Death is highly unlikely but in this world always expect the possibility your character will get a wound that will take several months to heal.

2 - This is a kinda risky situation. You and twenty nights just went after a group of ten raiders. Most likely you will win without a scratch but with all fighting there is a chance for wound and death.

3 - Danger is around the corner. If you get involved with this thread either a fair amount of fighting is going to happen or there is enough at stake people will consider a possible solution is slitting your throat.

4 - This is the spot light. For what ever reason people are after you and its kill or be killed.

5 - Glory and Legend await the survivors of these stories, assuming...

Now I do not believe in having a kill "button" there will always be ways to survive every plot but if you are a knight do not think that you are meant to fight your way through the fifty surrounding you. If you are a commoner do not mouth off to the great lord who rules you and an executioner. Level 5 stories will be things like the great battle against the Others come again or you and three friends decide to kill a dragon if they return to the world. It is just very risky.

Thread lengths and time periods - Time is both very important and very unimportant. Often times for a straight week every day is filled with intrigue and excitement. Then you go on the road and are traveling for eight months. Also in a game where we may have travelers at the very same time as having people at court it can be difficult to keep pacing up. In light of this there will be imposed times for certain threads to end. These times will given as warning to allow people to try to wrap up what they are doing.

4. Character Creation

We will use the standard D20 Game of Thrones system for creating characters using 28 point by.

People will need to develop a concept and discuss it with me to determine their starting level. In GoT a first level character represents usually a five to eight year old child. Usually to start out fully grown means you are already third to fifth level. Also there is a level adjustment for being a part of a noble house or having a direct connection to people with power. For now I am putting the cap of a ECL of 6 on starting characters. So if you wanted to be a part of the royal family (ECL 4) the highest level your character could start as is 2. This probably means you are still 11-13 and not quite considered a man yet. But you are royal grin.

The one family you can not be a part of in any way is the Targaryens. Unless some very strange things happen in the game events are leading to that family line ending with little to be done to save it.

5. Character Progression

For the most part xp will be given out as time progresses. Small amounts of xp will awarded for higher end participation and possibly if there are huge leaps of time some amounts given out to help the younger catch up with the older. Unlike in other D20 systems level difference does not mean as much in Game of Thrones so do not worry if you are two or three levels behind others. Each character has their own strength and in their own arena they can stand up to people sometimes even ten levels higher then them.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For people who are thinking they want to be a member of one of the great houses as soon as we get a forum up and running I will put a thread listing the notable NPCs in each and possible areas of the house people can start in.

As I said above I want to start as close to canon as possible so I am not allowing people to be suddenly unmentioned children of the main leaders of the houses (except for a few houses where you could be a bastard child, anyone who has read the books knows Robert's reputation). Also when thinking of your concept remember that starting out you are a fairly unknown person so where as you could be a knight do not try to start as a knight who is the hero of major battles or has won a dozen tourneys yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For determining ECL's, is this right?

Royal (Barathean, I'm assuming, only. Or are there other 'royal' lines in the world that you're allowing?) : +4 to ECL

Major Houses (Stark, Martell, Greyjoy, etc...): +3 ECL

Minor Houses (Mormont, Bolton, etc...): +2 ECL

Knightly Houses (Clegane, Dalt, Glover, etc...): +1 ECL

Commoners: +0 ECL

Also, how do other countries factor in, with their different styles of leadership and whatnot? Do you just take the feats for it and have no ECL?

I know at least part of this is in the RPG book, but I'm at work and bored and want to play around now..... *whine whine whine* wink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok pulling up the book to answer question but to your "I'm at work and I'm whiny" I would like to remind you I am sitting bored at a con.

Alright you nearly got it right. +1 modifier is for being a house retainer. The defining difference between retainer and minor noble house is title. House Clegane is a retainer because it has no lord. Greger is Ser Gregor. Also being from a lesser merchant house (if you were say from the free cities) would be a +0 while a merchant house is +1 and a greater merchant house is +2.

For any of the other backgrounds we would have to work it out but if you wanted to be a high ranking Ko in a Dothraki band most likely that is going to be a +1 much like if you were a retainer. We will have to just draw lines of comparison where we can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first idea I had for a character is a younger sister or cousin of Ashara Dayne (who is the sister of the Sword of the Morning). Fairly young (14-16), of partial Braavosi descent, a wild beauty and tomboy who doesn't particularly want to be a baby factory.(think Arya Stark, only not quite as oblivious to social graces). She dislikes the Northmen, and despises Eddard Stark because 'character name' blames him for Ashara throwing herself to her death.

Naturally, since she is of marriageable age, and there is the need to reunite the Targaryen loyalists with the new royals, she is betrothed/married off to a Northman (or other Baratheon supporter - I have no problems changing details to help with character connections).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I'm in!!!

So far I'm still toying with the idea of a Water Dancer or a Faceless.. or I may play around with a noble. One way or another, I'm kind of in the mood to be sneaky, whether it's in politics or otherwise. So if I do play a royal, it'll probably be someone either Lannister or Baelish-like, though probably from a different house. So far that's all I've got, I'll probably mull it over a bit later w/Mala or something and get back to you. I also need to flip through the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've gotten my basic character concept approved (only sister and youngest sibling to the newly crowned Prince Doran of Dorne). She's currently in King's Landing and I'm more than open to character ties.

grin

Let the intrigues begin!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A quick note to everyone about chronology and continuity. It is not easy to keep up in AGoT. Events are happening everywhere and for some it may take us just as much time to go through one day as others go through one week. If it looks like one thread is progressing further than another I will make sure that at the very least by the end they come back to the same point, or if they should inter act in some way that they will match up before they do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Notes about Maesters, Septons, Lords, Ladies, and the like. In AGoT obviously combat happens often and people may wonder "what happens in my maester gets in a fight?". Well not to worry. First of all the order of maesters main duty is to serve. Most people would not do serious harm to a maester because the maester works for them as much as anyone else. As to nobles obviously a battle ground is a dangerous place but most of the time people do not look to kill nobles, unless they are nobles them selves. Most of the time it is preferred to take nobles captive or give them wounds that they will take time recover from rather than out right kill them. War is a major exception to this rule however. As to the members of the religious orders. Most likely if followers of your own god burst in the door there is a good chance you are safe. However if they follow other gods chances are you will be a target.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were eight of them mostly armored in light armor and carrying axes and cross bows. The main reason they did so much damage to your escort was you were not ready for a fight, fully armed and armored your group is more than a match of eight Iron Men. If that is all you fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Note on influence with other PCs. For the most part I am not going to tell you guys to spend your influence points on each other. However if you feel that you have a relationship with a pc that warrants influence points on them talk it out with them. Basically I am willing to allow up to 5 free influence between PC's per pc. For example if Maester Darrik feels that, like most lords, the new lord Rorx values his council and looks to him for support then Darrik can put 5 free influence with his character on Rorx, with Rorx's approval. If you all feel a tie has gone beyond that much influence and the relationship is stronger then that you can spend more with approval from my self.

If for what ever reason you feel roleplay has represented an amount of influence over someone but they are unwilling to grant that influence you may speak to me about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for the lack of postage guys, been a busy week. Chapter 1 is going to be coming to a close either today or tomorrow and Chapter 2 is going to be starting up.

Quick note on xp. Remember that your ECL adjustment determines your level for how much xp you need to level up. So even though many of you only have three character levels if you have a ECL of +1 that means that you are considered level 4 for how much you need to go up a level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Welcome back everyone, with luck we can get the story lines started up within a week or two. For now I wan to make sure everyone knows where they are, still have their character sheets, have new characters ready to go if needed. As it stands I don't think we have Krul but if he post otherwise that would be great.

Right now I believe everyone is keeping their current characters except for Ravi. I know Jer needs his character info sent to him. If anyone else needs anything let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A note on money for everyone. If the wealth rank of your character is 2 or higher you really don't need to bother keeping track of the money your character has on you. At a wealth rank of 2 you are considered to be able to purchase just about anything in the book without any trouble. As such for the nobles you have the wealth of your houses to call on. If a time comes where you get separated from your resources you still probably have a fair amount of cash on you and we will figure it out then if necessary.

If any of you have a wealth rank higher then 2 you really don't need to worry about money. Even cut off from your resources you still are most likely carrying enough gold to rent a town for a week and still can pay to stay at the nice inns. As to the people with wealth ranks of 1 or lower, keep track, if you are looking to buy anything please make note of the expenditures on your character sheet unless someone else is buying it for you.

The main reason for this is money is not easy to come by for the lower classes. If you get stuck out in the wilderness it may be for three years and soon it will become important if you have the money to buy your next meal. Remember to think of this like medieval Europe. A single gold piece could feed a family for months on end but many commoners have never even seen a gold in their life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
  • 2 months later...

I'm not going to hold your schedule against you, Dav. However, given the rate of activity I have seen, unless things are changing soon... I will pull out. The game has smelled dead for a while, to me.

This is not a Dear Dav post. I'm not leaving the game, but I am heavily considering doing so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the game is moving too slow for ya man I fully understand. I wish I could promise regular progression and all but right now I would just be lying if I said I could. For the moment at least I do not have classes so I will have some more time to decompress from work and get some writing done but once school is going again I just don't know.

If you want to pull out and see what happens, or wait and see what the pace is when I get back in to school that is ok.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...