Welcome to the Hinterlands, weary adventurer. Many brave souls have come before you to these strange lands, seeking fame, fortune, or power. Many of them found what they we're questing for, and paid the price all the same. Yet surely, surely you will be different. While adventuring guilds may not have the best reputations in the heartlands, here on the frontier they serve as the vanguard against the wild things which lurk beyond the high walls of our humble cities and castles. It is here you have journeyed, to join the ruffians, scholars, explorers, and other vagabonds in the eternal quest for fame and glory.Misadventurer's Guild is a light hearted forum game about managing quirky adventurer's as they begin their careers as professional heroes. You serve as one of the housemasters of this establishment, a hero in your own right, once upon a time. Now you have moved up in the world, cultivating the next generation towards greatness. Through your cunning strategy and rigorous instruction, the adventurer's under your employment will face terror and hardship as they search for justice, glory, or gold.
The AdventurersAdventurer is a catch-all term for those individuals who officially register with, and are admitted to, and Adventurer's Guild. They may be occasionally referred to as Avs for short. Adventurer's come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and abilities with each one having their own strengths and weaknesses. At the start of each turn, new adventurer's will submit applications to the guild outlining their abilities, traits, and cost to hire. As a housemaster, selecting adventurers is the first step in building a powerful questing team. Here is an example resume:
Name: Gene "Genericous" Smith
Skills:
Helm Splitter (M): Reduces an enemy's armor by 2 for subsequent attacks this turn. (2)
Wild Strike (M): 50% chance to hit. Deals an additional 75% damage. (1)
Traits:
Dragon Slayer: Deals double damage against dragons.
Sulker: Tends to avoid socialization.
Proficiencies:
2H Axes
Long Swords
Heavy Armor
Medium Armor
Shields
Stats:
Strength: 4
Speed: 2
Arcanum: 0
Health: 30
Mana: 10
Level: 1
Experience: 0
Equipment:
Main Hand: Basic Longsword (1d4+S)
Off Hand: Basic Shield (+1 Armor)
Head Slot: Basic Helm (+1 Armor)
Chest Slot: Basic Mail (+2 Armor, -1 Speed)
Leg Slot: Basic Grieves (+1 Armor)
Feet Slot: Basic Boots (+0 Armor)
Ring Slot 1: None
Ring Slot 2: None
Trinket: None
Orders:
Position: M
Target: Any M
Strategy: Aggressive
Skills are the abilities actively used by your avs while questing or during combat. Skills include almost anything that is done actively, whether this is the ability to identify wild herbs, or a powerful anime-style attack. Skills are organized by the range at which they can be used. The range scale begins at 0/M, which is the range required for most melee attacks. Units may move up to half their speed instead of attacking. Moving out of M range from a hostile unit will grant them a free attack of opportunity.
In our example character, Genericous, we can see that they possess two skills. Genericous has been ordered to be aggressive, see the Orders section for more info, but for the sake of explaining skills, this simply means he will use offensive skills as often as possible. During combat Genericous will automatically use these skills to the best of their ability until they run out of mana. Mana, which is used by all skills, only regenerates while camping or resting at the Adventurer's Guild.
TraitsTraits are passive abilities which are constantly active. These might include personality traits, ambient effects, or other such abilities that do not require activation and have no mana cost. In our example, our hero has a trait which passively increases their damage against dragon type enemies. They also posses the sulker trait, which leads to abrasiveness and other anti-social behavior. While this may not affect combat, it will affect how the unit interacts with other NPCs, and might make them a poor candidate for quests which involve social involvements or charisma.
ProficienciesProficiencies are simply a list of what kinds of equipment a unit can equip. Units cannot equip weapons or armor that they do not have the proficiency for. There are some equipment items that waive this requirement, such as training weapons, and others which have specific requirements such a minimum strength or arcanum.
Primary and Secondary Stats MAG uses a simple 3 part system for its primary unit stats: Strength, Speed, and Arcanum.
Strength refers to physical power and is used when determining damage done by melee attacks. Speed refers to how quickly a unit can move while travelling, as well as during combat units may move half their speed instead of attacking or using skills. Arcanum relates to magical abilities and guides both total number of spells equipped and damage done using magic. Mages use spellbooks and other foci to cast most magic, equipping these as a warrior might wield a sword. However, the more spells contained within the spellbook, the higher the arcanum cost to equip.
Units also have a selection of secondary statistics which are a bit more straight forward. Health/Hit Points represents the amount of damage you can take before dying, while mana is a consumable resource used to activate skills and spells. It regenerates while camping or while resting at the Adventurer's Guild. Experience and level go hand in hand. When completing a quest, units gain experience (quests tell you how much experience they are worth before you accept them). Units level up and gain some stat points when they gain enough experience. This amount increases by 100 per level. So to go from level 1 to level 2 requires 100 experience, but to go from level 2 to 3, requires 200 experience and so on.
Equipment Each unit has several equipment slots. Normally these slots are main hand, off hand, head, chest, legs, feet, rings, and trinket slots. By default units have one of each slot, plus an additional ring slot, but some units may have additional slots due to traits or other factors. Units can only equip equipment for which they have the corresponding proficiencies.
OrdersAs a housemaster, it is your role to instruct and advise, not to engage in combat yourself. As a result, before departing on a quest and while camping, you may adjust the orders given to your units. Position relates to the preferred position of your unit. In this case, Genericous has been ordered to enter melee range. Target refers to the enemy your unit will target for attacks and abilities, in this case, any unit in melee range. Finally, strategy refers to any additional commands you might want to give your units. Please keep these general, complex orders or orders requiring complex "if-then" logic will likely be forgotten during combat. Simple commands with a trigger event like "Drink a health potion when at 50% HP" are fine, as are commands like "Focus on low health enemies in melee range", but please try and keep these reasonable for my sake.
The CombatCombat is handled mostly behind the scenes now. This places a stronger emphasis on your strategy and equipment selections.
Combat in MAG is very straightforward.
Turn order is determined by the speed of units. On your unit's turn, they will either move, attack, or activate an ability or item. There is no accuracy roll, except where otherwise specified, and attacks always hit. Damage is then calculated using the weapon in question, as well as any additional effects for traits or abilities. For Gene, they are wielding a basic longsword, which deals 1d4 damage, plus Strength. So Gene can deal 1-4 damage + an additional 4.
This damage is then reduced by the armor value of the enemy they are attacking. So if Genericous rolled a 3 for their damage, they would add their strength value of 4, for a total of 7. If that attack was against an enemy with 5 armor, their total damage dealt to the enemy would be 2 damage.
Many abilities, as well as some weapons, will have a range indicator given in parenthesis after the name of the ability, but before the description. In the example, both Gene's abilities are 0 (Melee) range, however many abilities will require some distance between you and your target, and some abilities might be able to strike at various ranges. Resting Resting refers to spending a turn recuperating. Units may do so freely at the Adventurer's Guild at any time, which fully restores health and mana in a single turn. When resting outside of the Adventurer's Guild, this is referred to as "camping" which restores 50% of a unit's maximum health, and 100% of their mana. While resting is entirely safe, camping has a 10% chance to trigger an encounter, which must be defeated before the rest occurs.
Consumable Items Consumable items are very useful to the average adventurer. These are items such as health or mana potions, which are used to extend the efficacy of your units. They may be freely used (by your command) outside of combat, or during combat in accordance with any strategy you have set. However, use during combat uses the entire turn.
The WorldThe world of the Hinterlands is a sprawling place, full of danger and wonder alike. Your quests will carry your adventurers to interesting nooks and crannies of this world, whether that be a small fishing village under siege from roaming fishfolk, or an ancient ruin fostering dark forces, there is much to explore. As new locations are discovered, I'll add them to this list, but for now, here are a few examples.
Travelling Before one tackles a question, one must first travel to the quest location. In some cases, this may take several turns, depending on the distance travelled. Distance is included in the quest description for most quests. Parties may move across the world at the speed of their slowest member. Each turn spent travelling has a chance to trigger random events. Generally this phase of a quest is easier than the quest itself, and is generally filled with less danger as well. However, unlucky parties may find their resources running low before they even reach their destination, or ambushed on the way home while carrying packs filled with gold and loot.
The Major Locations and Factions The Capital CityLocated far to the south along the coast, the walled Capital City is a wonder in it's own right. Filled with the rushing hubbub of thousands, it has an energy to it that is difficult to come by. The various markets, specialty shops, and other curiosities make it a wonderful location for buyers and sellers alike. However, the King frowns on adventurer's and guilds are forbidden from acting within the city's walls without his blessing.
The XanxerwildsAn ancient and untamed forest too primal for even the elves to settle. This primordial forest is drenched in green tinged twilight filtering through the canopy hundreds of feet above. Thick giant trees dominate the area, choking out much of the undergrowth, which grows thick along the clearings and edges of the forest. Powerful beasts dominate the area, though some tribal civilization and reclusive mages may be found here.
The Glass WastesIn the west, a vast expanse of translucent sand covers the land, creating a hot desert of crystaline sand. This creates an ever shifting landscape which allows one to peer deep beneath the surface of the desert, whether this is through magic, luck, or other factors is still unknown. Yet in those fleeting glimpses, ruins of an ancient civilization can sometimes lead to archeological gold rushes, as ancient temples and structures are discovered. Yet on other occasions, one might look down to see a majestic giant sand whale gracefully swimming through the clear sand hundreds of feet beneath you, without disturbing surface at all.
The GuildAt the center of this tale is the Hinterlands Adventurers Guild. Once a proud and influential organization, the previous king grew paranoid of the growing power of adventurer guilds and outlawed them across the land. Many guilds shut down, as the Hinterlands Guild did, while others were incorporated into the Royal Guard, or began practicing in secret as vigilantes for hire. Yet this generation is less fearful, and all the more ambitious. Having set their eyes on increasing the kingdom's global influence, the laws surrounding Guilds have relaxed significantly. Still, much of the guild remains unused, sealed, or otherwise has fallen into disrepair. Perhaps in time you will restore it to its former glory.
Houses and Housemasters The Hinterland Guild is among one of the largest guild halls currently in existence, and slowly fell into financial ruin after guilds were outlawed. While other guilds were raided and disbanded by force, the distance from the capital combined with its once formidable might and defensible position, made it a low priority for the royal family. Yet in the end, the funds dried up, its assets and equipment were sold, and the doors closed regardless.
Yet now in the current age, the guild is set to reopen. While technically managed by the Guildmaster, who handles the acquisition of quests and the sale of loot, the guild itself is primarily composed of autonomous organizations called Houses, each under the control of a prestigious Housemaster. This is your position. As a housemaster, it is your duty to not only train and cultivate your young adventurers, but to manage your house's funds, equipment, and reputation. As you can see from the unit sheet, this will require a fair bit of book keeping. Players will be responsible for tracking their own inventories, subject to audit if cooking the books is suspected.
In addition, houses may also purchase facilities, such as training rooms, libraries, and other similar facilities. These tend to be very expensive investments, but provide permanent utility to the house and its units. More information on facilities will be added here as they become available.
The Applicant Board Each turn new adventurers will apply to join the guild. These applications are placed on the application board, where players may place bids on the adventurer. Whoever has the highest bid by the end of the turn will gain the adventurer as one of their units. Adventurers will start with a minimum price, and some may have a buyout price, which if paid, would allow you to hire the adventurer immediately and use them on the same turn. Some applicants will only accept offers once a house has met certain requirements, or has gained a set amount of renown.
The Quest Board Similar to the Applicant Board, the Quest Board is the central location in which quests are gathered. Each quest will provide a short description of the quest at hand, as well as any relevant information such as distance from the guild, important NPCs, or other information concerning the completion of the quest. Housemasters often coordinate their efforts on quests, leveraging their units in conjunction with other houses in order to form the most effective team possible for completing the mission at hand. When doing so, it is best to decide how to split the loot and address any contractual concerns prior to embarking on the quest. Completing quests also provides renown, a nebulous resource which may influence some NPC interactions, as well as influence the number and type of adventurers who apply to the guild.
The Shop Finally, the shop. If the Guild is the body, the housemasters the soul, and the adventurers the heart, then the shop is the stomach. Every turn new items become available from the shops rotating stock. It is here that housemasters purchase arms and armaments for their adventurers. From simple swords forged by local smiths, to strange curiosities from distant lands, the shop provides an endless flow of items as well as a place for you to exchange hard earned items into funds for whatever agenda you happen to be pursuing.
GM Notes, Character Sheet, and Whatnot Character Name: (This is for your housemaster, using your forum name is more than fine for this, or you can RP as someone else entirely).
Character Backstory: (What qualifies you to be a housemaster, as well as any additional backstory info).
Character Description: (What your character looks like).
House Name:
House Animal: (Each house has an animal that embodies its themes)
House Personality: (A bit of a blurb about the kind of house you run and the kind of adventurers who'd join)
House Aesthetic: (What your common room and other facilities look like. Purely cosmetic)
In general, I expect this game to have a lighter tone than many of my other games, there will be some silliness that is apparent to us OOC. However, for the characters IC, this may seem entirely mundane or even serious. So this is a minor warning as to that, and encouragement to go with the flow and have a good time! The same can be said about my GM style this time around. I don't plan on stressing over the small stuff as much, and may throw in random dice rolls, spontaneous subquests, and will be tweaking things (especially abilities) as we go along. That's all to say, I plan on having fun with it, and that might lead to the occasional nerf, buff or mechanics change as we go along.
Lastly, most of this game will run on a discord server (still setting it up at the time of posting). This will allow for faster turns, allows players to coordinate and discuss more easily, and gives me a lot more room to display the quest board, shop, and other information in an organized manner. This thread will generally be used for announcements, lore dumps, and other interesting, but non-critical information.
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Gkf76GyZ
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Topic: Misadventurer's Guild (MAG) (Read 581 times)