Dawn of the Orcs: Blue Mist Valley
Seven hundred and twenty-four years after the enlightenment brought on by the Great Sage Seer Vabatia, a land of great magical ability that has known no war and little strife finds itself preparing for invasion.
The people of the Blue Mist Valley are surrounded on three sides by high mountains, one being a dormant volcano, and on the last by a glittering sea coast with brilliant black sand and ink blue waters. Fertile lands cultivated and sustained by carefully managed volcanic soil and highly developed agriculture sorcery lends itself to a pleasant atmosphere and a life of plenty. Adventurous spirits have drifted away through trade convoys or into the mountains, finding no issues to resolve beyond the small disagreements common to small villages and family affairs.
Now, that peace lies before a cliff of ruin. From afar, a warlike people arrive with masses of troops, men and women who know little of peace and less of prosperity. Initially appeased by tributes of grain and serving as trading partners, the Madon have grown avaricious, casting their eyes upon the bounty of Blue Mist and seeking to make it their own- more fuel for an engine of war that seeks the ends of the earth.
The Madon are ruled by a warrior class, many of whom view merchants and farmers as beasts of burden, caring nothing for magic or the secrets of the cosmos. The closest they have to a kind of sorcery is a form of blood oath by which combat-focused servants known as orcs are held in thrall to their masters, known as warlocks. The benefits are reciprocal: In exchange for loyalty, orcs are empowered by the promises they swear, while warlocks obtain their strengthened service. Very often, warlocks are themselves orcs, committing service to a great region to obtain the incredible power that comes from such a broad duty. Those who swear many oaths are capable of impossible feats and often take on a form that seems less than- or perhaps more than- human. A sufficiently powerful Warlock can sweep aside mystic seals and barriers like so much dust, and they are numerous.
Utro, Warlord of the largest faction of Madon, is currently bound by a blood oath to prevent the invasion of the Blue Mist Valley, which grants him great strength and allows him to keep his minions in line- for the moment. However, espionage and movements in and out of court make it clear he is consolidating his power and that of his descendants. He obliterates his foes, devours their lands, and swells the ranks of his servants with the desperate and cruel. When he dies, he will open the floodgates of war, and he has many children, all of whom eye the Valley- a multi-faceted, shining sapphire to crown themselves a new and greater Warlord with.
As a result, Tuzeni, the current Blue Mist Seer, has called the greatest sages of the land to do for the land what the people cannot do for themselves- summon an army before Utro's death, which may be premature. It could take a whole generation for a sufficient number of valley-folk to learn the stomach for and skill of war. In the mean time, a Council of Sages must decide how to do the unthinkable- they must create orcs of their own. The alternative is facing the sword or the whip.
To this end, the Council is granted broad powers, trusted with the well-being of the land by the Seer herself. The farmers, artisans, scholars and wizards of the land will fulfill any task the Council asks of them- as long as it appears upright. In the background, a mysterious Imperator, perpetually concealed servant and counselor of the Seer, serves as a secret lash- keeping the Sages in line and executing desperate measures Tuzeni would never in her darkest hour consider.
System Details:
This system is Dawn of the Orcs by Lyme and Plasmophage.
It is licensed under Creative Commons 4.0 International License and can be found at https://lymetime.itch.io/dawnoftheorcs, but purchasing the system is not required to play. I own a physical copy of the system myself and can run it without anyone else needing to purchase it.
Note that the manual itself contains a degree of spoilers:
Quote"You may enjoy the game more if you do not read to the end before playing, but there is no great harm in doing so."
Dawn of the Orcs resolves in multiple stages using modifiers and resolves each Chapter with 1d6 checks using modifiers to reach or surpass a target number. The system is largely narrative, and the only modifiers that will be tracked belong to the collective qualities of the Orcs, rather than the player characters, known as Sages.
Sages will usually be presented with a situation, not all of which will be ideal or happen at opportune timing. They will be allowed a time of discussion to agree or vote upon a course of action, and/or select stratagems for each challenge that lies before their homeland. Sometimes Sages will be allowed to abstain from decisions, but other times they will have no choice and must select a minimum number of options. Some options, once selected, will be blocked from being used a second time, while others can be used at every opportunity the council is allowed to choose from them.
Such is the nature of war.
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