Tales of the Frost Queen
"It was the darkest winter Arkadia had ever known. Blood-Handed Ivan, the mad tzar, had been on the throne for ten years. No one, from the mightest boyar to the humblest serf, had escaped his terrible wrath. His son remained locked away in the heart of the tzar's fortress, a mystery to all. It seemed our suffering would never end.
In the depths of this bleakest winter, I was sent to Arkadia as a sacrifice - a bride from the distant West, an appeasement worth more than gold for the mad tzar's son. Or so my mother hoped.
I had no prayer of surviving a year in this harsh land. Not without the help of heroes. And in my hour of need, the Firebird provided. "
Introduction
Greetings! This will be my second PbP here on Myth Weavers; this setting has been rattling around in my head for too long, and absolutely refuses to leave me alone. It promises to be a brutal, yet exciting game - very different from my current one, but nonetheless great fun. Break out the vodka, neighbor. Come closer to the fire. Let us tell the tales of the Frost Queen, who brought us out of winter into the light once more...
Game Masters
I am the only Game Master. I expect to post once per day; when I cannot, I will let you know. Likewise, I expect all my players to post once per day.
Setting
Bitterly cold Arkadia, land of the everfrost, has entered into the depths of its darkest winter. The mad tzar Blood-Handed Ivan has killed hundreds as he claimed power with an iron fist, and hundreds more will die at his hands. At this bleak time, a princess has been brought to the kingdom, a bride for the tzar's mysterious son. It is up to our heroes to escort this princess to greatness, and hopefully bring the winter kingdom into the light.
Blood-Handed Ivan, however, is setting his own plans in motion...
This is a campaign meant to begin at 1st level and continue until it ends. Expect to see intrigue, exploration, and travels across the vast frosty wilderness. The setting is more or less set, but I'm open to new ideas; offer me a suggestion and I'm likely to say “yes”.
The campaign setting is one with a casual attitude towards sex and violence. Russia's history has enough gore to drown a hundred murderers, and lovers who embraced life passionately. I fully intend to tell its tale to the fullest.
Core Concept
The game is centered around a fantastical version of Medieval Russia, during the time of Ivan the Terrible (a man who richly earned his epithet). Calling Ivan "evil" doesn't do the man justice; the PCs will be in for a difficult fight. Much of the game will center around aiding and assisting a foreign born princess; fans of history may well guess who this woman is inspired by, but suffice to say she is destined for greatness (and yes, I'm jumping through time shamelessly). Most, if not all, of my posts as DM will be told in the first-person past tense, through her eyes.
Adding historical detail and texture earns you bonus points with DM, but is not necessary by any stretch – I'm engaging in some shameless hand-waving in the course of bringing this setting to life. I’m going to be firm on the basic campaign concept, but open to suggestions regarding classes and races. If you can convince me, I’ll allow it – but work to convince me. Cheese for its own sake will not fly; tell me a good story and I’m yours.
Books Allowed
The SRD, Tome of Battle, and Frostburn are all excellent resources. The Complete Spell Compendium may well be a help, as will the Complete Divine. Sandstorm, oddly enough, has some useful items as well.
All characters begin at 1st level with maximum starting gold at 1st level. Bear in mind that the environment is almost always cold or worse. I will be enforcing environmental penalties. No evil PCs, please.
Statistics are generated via a 32 point-buy system (DMG, p.169).
Perfrom is a class skill for any class that has Profession or Craft as a class skill.
PC's Needed: 6
Date due: 1/21/11
House Rules
I will be using a massive damage variant. Massive damage occurs when you take (Your Constitution score+(your levelx2)) in damage. When massive damage occurs, roll a DC 15 Fortitude save; failure reduces your hit points to -8. For the purposes of checking the massive damage threshold, all damage taken in a round is cumulative. Example: A 1st level warrior with a Constitution of 12 has a threshold of 14. If one wolf bites him for 7 points of damage, an orc hits him for 4, a second wolf bites for 4, he must make a DC 15 Fortitude save.
Hey, it's Russia. Wolfpack tactics ought to matter.
We will also be using the armor as DR variant. For convenience's sake, the permitted armor for this setting with DR and armor value are available here.
Some additional weapons and banned weapons are here.
We will be using this variation on the standard Diplomacy rules.
Perform is a class skill for any class with Profession or Craft on its class skill list.
Class Variants
A homebrew class, the highborn, is available here. Note that you will need access to the Tome of Battle for the class.
Wizards select their spells from the druid spell list as opposed to the wizard/sorcerer list. Spells from that list are still arcane in nature; it's just the spells that are different. Remove and divine focus requirements for any spell. Along the same lines, any other arcane class must pick from this list (which means that arcane classes such as the duskblade and beguiler will not be permitted). Arcane magic is referred to as "geomancy" in this setting.
Druids and monks will not be permitted.
Rangers will be using this variant: instead of a combat style, they may shapechange into any Small or Medium animal native to the area and gain fast movement as per a barbarian. Wolves, swans and bears are extremely popular choices in Arkadia, and such shape changers have their own "lodges" (and resources to share with their fellows). You may well get an opportunity to voluntarily limit your forms and gain other bonuses in play. The ranger spell list is unchanged, but it is considered arcane rather than divine (and uses Intelligence rather than Wisdom as the key stat).
Clerics have two deity choices: Mother Firebird, a good deity with Sun, Good, Fire, and Protection as potential domains; and the Grey Wolf, a stern goddess who grants the War, Winter, Animal, and Law domains. Generally, both deities are worshiped in conjunction. Exact details of worship haven't been fully spelled out, but are inspired by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Warblades and crusaders from the Tome of Battle are permitted. I'd love some help figuring out how a swordsage flourishes in a setting this harsh; impress me with the application if you've got this in mind.
There may well be other classes that are suitable for this setting; bear in mind the changes to arcane classes when you apply.
Barbarians and scouts look promising, but bear in mind that there is a significant amount of courtly intrigue in this game. "Bezerkers"? Certainly. Barbarians? Maybe not.
These classes strike me as being particularly suitable:
Highborn(house class)
Wizard(variant)
Cleric
Paladin
Ranger(variant)
Barbarian(buy literacy)
Scout
Warblade
Crusader
Preferred races
In addition to humans, three custom races are permitted: The birdlike biata, the sagely domovoi, and the savage ursa. They may be found here. Other racial choices will probably not be accepted.
Opening Scene
You have been summoned to the court of Blood-Handed Ivan - a potentially lethal situation. Who has called you? (Or, perhaps, who did you offend to get in this predicament?) Why did you come? What do you want from the mad tzar?
Character submission
Post the following information in the Application thread of this game:
Link to character sheet
Personality
Background
Reaction to opening scene
If I’ve omitted anything, remind me gently and I will amend. Thank you for your interest and submissions, and I’m looking forward to playing with you!
