Parallel Anger
Greetings, fellow Myth Weaver.
When this game began at the start of 2019, I was a fairly new GM. I still am, really, but I feel as though the party and myself have grown considerably thanks to this game. The following is our current synopsis, in case new players find interest:
This world is one of magic and madness. To use magic, you must be afflicted by mental illness - the more power your mind has over your reality, the stronger your magic. Your illness manifests in the world, somewhere, as a "Spike" that you can sense vaguely. Spikes are stone monsters larger than normal humans that stalk the land, shrouded in mystery. If you manage to kill your Spike - or someone else does - your mental illness fades, but your power remains. If you die before it is killed, your affliction and your power find a new host.
There are well-known temples across the continent, eight of them, that are tied to the teachings of The Mana. Those who truly worship Her are few and far between, but all know of Her existence. Each temple represents a Path (a race or class of being), and a vice/virtue pair. Thus far, the party has cleared half of them, and has attained 12th level.
The party knows three great secrets of the land: the mysterious creature Zoh, and the Crater of Failure, a city of Spikes, and the living anatomists.
Zoh is elusive, and lives by stealing the hearts of mortals. With just a touch, one's heart is replaced with a stone that absorbs Mana from the host. The stronger the host, the stronger the stone. When the host stops growing stronger, Zoh returns to steal back the stone, killing the host in the process.
The Crater of Failure is replete with magic; it cannot be known to anyone who has not cleared a single temple. New to the party, one Cap'n Wa'jira is such a person, and does not remember even seeing the city with his own eyes.
Lastly, the anatomists are part of the world's history. The same Wa'jira is a dragon demi-human of the "Mud-Scale" tribe or breed. Demi-humans are races of people created by fusing humans with several animals and making adjustments to their physiology. Their cultures were once artificial, but generations later have become organic. Some anatomists yet live, over a thousand years later, using their powers to watch over their creations.
The game is still accepting new players, but with the first party full, a new one would have to be formed and play on a different day. We use Roll20 and Discord for our games, and a vast amount of Homebrew content (I improv almost everything).
Current party:
Morik, the only human. He is a monk from the northernmost temple, The Gallery of Earth. He has recently placed his old path, the Way of the Kensei, aside to follow the teachings of The Mana.
Farion, a wasp demi-human. Once a ranger for his hive, he was exiled for a cruel sort of prank on the royalty. Now he travels with the party to hunt down Zoh, prove mastery over Spikes, and live out his sentence.
Kayu, a third generation mazohk. His full name is Oto'kayu Kon'sa, descended from a clan that finds its homeland on the other side of the world. His innate magics, Spirit Chains, have helped define his elusive fighting style as a rogue.
Captain Wa'jira, the newest member, mentioned above. His tribe once followed his passions, discovered from books he traded for, of becoming the pirates of the eastern shore. When his heart was stolen by Zoh, his tribe-turned-crew threw him overboard for fear of a curse.
And Zelda Haali, an elf from the eastern clans. She has been afflicted by her Heartstone with the Path of The Wraith, vice of Greed or Gluttony. The many small scars on her body can open to be an eye or small mouth. If she does not eat a living creature every so often, she falls under the control of her hunger and attacks innocents.
If enough new players express interest, another date and time for a game can be decided. Thank you for reading!
Original post below:
Hello, everyone!
To start things off, and get you out of here, or interested, right off the bat:
I'm a new GM. I've done some one-shots to get my feet wet, but I've never run a full campaign before. In case it's not obvious, I've also never posted a game here before. I've done my reading - a lot of it - but that doesn't make for actual experience. I come from watching Pathfinder streams, then to playing 5e for over a year under two other GMs.
Now that THAT'S out of the way, what about the game itself? What's ok, what's not? Where are we? When are we?
In terms of characters, I'll get into races in a moment, but classes should be official or some expanded ones. If it's on DnDB under the classes, it should be fine. I'll speak with accepted players individually regarding everything.
The world is original. I just released a novel on Amazon that takes place in it, but our story takes place many years after. The shape of the continent is very much like a squashed Eurasia, and there's an equatorial Australia-size island across the ocean.
Now, our twist. In this world, only those affected by mental illness can use magic - as well as some paragons of physical prowess. When you create a character, you will either choose a mental illness you do not discuss with your fellow players (until you're in character), or I'll choose one for you. It WILL affect you, and the effects may change as the game goes on.
Visual hallucination? You'll have a tougher time with Perception checks, and no feat or class feature can keep you from being surprised.
ADHD? Your passive perception, investigation, and insight will be lowered.
Paranoia? Not only will you not be surprised, but allies that appear too suddenly will force an attack roll from you.
Just off the top of my head.
Your mental illness manifests in the world as a stone monster called a Spike. Thorns are slightly larger than humans, Lances are even bigger, getting into Huge size, and finally, Spires are cataclysmic and colossal.
If you find and kill your Spike, your mental illness is gone, but your power is unchanged. If you die, and your Spike lives, your mental illness, and a portion of your power, finds a new host.
I say ALL this to say: you are brought together to hunt a Thorn. Your reason for joining the hunt is your own. You can be any official or expanded race, except Dragonborn or Warforged... Or you can work with me and we'll make a demi-human race for you. In this world, long ago, mages fused humans and various animals to create new races and cultures - to watch over and care for the world.
As examples, your typical Tolkien elves are replaced with bee demi-humans. They trade with bear demi-humans, who are Canadian, not Russian! Wolves are the USA stand-in, and the only ones to use firearms (think old west). Our shark demi-humans are a former slave race that revolted and now control all seafaring vessels under a Commodore Queen.
And so on. If you've got something you want to play that I don't already have a race for, we'll make one together.
Do keep in mind, however, that the world you play in, and the characters you create with me, may appear in the novel Cleansing Anger when I write and release it. You'll receive a signed copy (not that I'm famous or ever will be) and a mention in the dedications page for your participation. If you can agree to the terms, you're more than welcome here!
We'll create a story as we go. I'm used to being a player in original worlds, watching my GMs expand the grid before me. They've done fantastic work weaving each party member into the tapestry of their world, and I intend to do the same. The more you give me to work with, the more I can do. Expect every member to receive a character arc of some kind, and probably a unique item or two.
Finally, we'll start level 1, and levels will be milestone, not EXP. Looking for a party from 3-5 people. We'll use Discord to talk, and Roll20 for our table (but I'm broke, so no neat maps and such. Imagination and the line tool will be our board).
Hopefully that wasn't a terrible thread! I look forward to hearing from you, no matter what that looks/sounds like!
Our game will start sometime after the beginning of January, and will take place Tuesdays starting at 9pm Eastern Time (UTC-5)!
