Well, here you are. A talented individual, huddled in a shabby tavern in the pouring rain, trying to figure out how to get even further into the middle of nowhere while avoiding any patrols. Maybe you regret what you did, maybe you don't, but the fact remains that now you're being hunted like an animal and there's only one way out.
Well, several ways out. All amount to fleeing into the wilderness and hoping whoever they send isn't that good at their jobs, though. Maybe you feel that's justified, maybe it's ridiculous and excessive, but they intend to do it whatever you might think, so you'd best get ready.
At least you're not alone- apparently this is a popular spot for people trying to get the hell out before it's too late. Most are probably just victims of some latest crackdown, whether on murder or heresy, but several others look too interesting to be petty robbers or loud-mouthed dissidents. If anyone's going to help you get out of this alive, it just might be them.
But just leaving here isn't going to cut it- you're going to have to go very, very far if you want to escape your enemies' clutches, likely beyond any semblance of civilization. Which means relying on your personal talent to sustain you as a wanderer just isn't going to cut it- you're going to need a place to stay, a base of operations to keep you warm, well-fed, and fortified against whatever lunatics they send that deep into the middle of nowhere- or who just so happen to have been living there before you arrived.
You've got some choices there, but not many. According to the pirate captain you've acquired the services of, your main choices are serving some dark sorcerer-lord or carving a hole into the jungle or ground yourself. Seems you'll be doing a bit of management either way.
Play as a mage (or non-mage, if you really want to), learn and improve skills, combine them for even more effects, and most likely die to either your own berserk summon or healing attempt gone awry, or else starve to death or be eaten by carnivorous moose in the godforsaken jungle you've decided to call home. Oh, and don't forget you've got to manage food supplies, inventory, and defenses against inevitable intruders. If you do really well, you might even have to direct minions (as well as minions' food, pay, shelter, entertainment, etc) as well.
Non-opposed rolls generally use a d6 with standard RTD mechanics. Opposed rolls use a d10 instead, with the specific number being more or less irrelevant.
Various modifiers can also apply to rolls of any sort, applied by equipment, conditions, skill level, difficulty of desired action, or other factors.
| Roll | Experience | Effect |
| 6 | +2 | You succeeded better than expected. May have unfortunate side effects. |
| 5 | +2 | You succeeded perfectly, or at least as perfectly as you could given the circumstances. |
| 4 | +1 | You succeeded. Note that depending on the action, this might still not be quite what you wanted. |
| 3 | +1 | You succeeded somewhat. Usually this means less of an effect than you intended, or progress made but not completion. |
| 2 | +0 | You failed. Depending on the action, this might just mean nothing happened, or it could have negative consequences. |
| 1 | +0 | You failed miserably, making the situation worse. Good luck. |
Above 6 or below 1 are generally just more severe forms of their respective effects. Opposed rolls use their own experience chart (coming soon).
Skills are broad groupings of ability or intent, such as Fire Magic, Swords, or Carpentry. Using a skill may award experience towards that skill, depending on the modifiers and roll; when enough experience is accumulated, a new level in that skill is earned, granting a higher bonus.
Knowledge of one skill may be applied to another to achieve a more powerful or unusual effect than would otherwise be possible. As an example, an earth mage who was also a mason could probably use either skill to knock down a stone wall more effectively than someone with only one skill or the other.
At certain skill intervals, special abilities may be learned. These will usually be static bonuses to certain actions.
| Name | Bonus | Experience to Next Level | Total Experience to Attain |
| Inexperienced | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| Dabbling | +0 | 4 | 2 |
| Novice | +1 | 8 | 6 |
| Apprentice | +2 | 16 | 14 |
| Adept | +3 | 32 | 30 |
| Expert | +4 | 64 | 62 |
| Master | +5 | 128 | 126 |
Modifiers apply their inverses to the amount gained; for instance, a +2 on the roll imposes a -2 penalty to experience earned on it. In the case of opposed rolls, opponent modifiers are identical to inverted personal modifiers; an enemy with a -2 penalty has the same effects of experience gained as you having a +2 bonus, for instance. It is not possible to lose experience on a roll.
To sign up, you need a character sheet and a nemesis sheet. You do not need an individual nemesis, but you do require a group nemesis.
Your nemesis is essentially the driving force behind your exile, or at least one of the major ones. They represent a group that wants you dead or worse, and will not take no for an answer. Under most circumstances, nemesis groups cannot be reasoned with under any rational meaning of the word; buying them off is temporary and/or beyond exorbitant, making amends would be a truly herculean task, and so on.
Name:
Race: If you'd like modifiers for race, please include a general idea here. Races will generally be equal, meaning a bonus must be canceled out with a penalty
Physical Description:
Mental Description:
Infraction: The short version of how you ended up in this mess
Major Skill: One skill that starts off at Apprentice (+2)
Minor Skill: One skill that starts off at Novice (+1)
Inventory: One item of importance or significance to you, be it practical, symbolic, sentimental, or something else. May not be very powerful, but may be a reagent or damaged version that can be fashioned into something, repaired, used as a key, etc.
Additionally, all players are assumed to start with a traveling cloak, some rather worn and dirtied clothing that might have been any quality prior to your escape, and very basic provisions and currency. You may describe the nature or style of these if you wish, and doing so might even have very minor benefits.
Bio: General history or other descriptions that don't fit, or don't fit neatly, anywhere else.
Individual Name: The name of whatever individual you crossed, directed your exile, is especially devoted to your downfall, or would be especially interested in bringing you down, if any. This is optional, and needn't be someone especially important or influential within the group that wants you gone.
Individual Description: The description of whoever it is who especially wants you dead or worse, if any.
Faction Name: The name of whatever group wants you dead or worse. Must be fairly extensive and powerful, but may be just about any group besides, from a guild or criminal organization to a kingdom or alliance of empires.
Faction Description: The description of whatever group wants you dead or worse.
Members: What you can generally expect as far as standard-issue enforcers or similar. May include or even exclusively be individuals not expressly part of said group, such as mercenaries or those trying to ingratiate themselves.
Incident Details: What exactly you did to wind up on this group's bad side.
Additionally, players may, as part of signing up, detail other parts of the world, including other organizations, customs, items, creatures, etc. This information will be tweaked where needed, but will otherwise become part of the game world. Note that features added in this fashion are unlikely to become especially important, as the majority of the game will take place a considerable distance away, but might still become relevant in terms of merchant wares, travelers, ripple effect politics, and so on.
Magic is a powerful but unpredictable force; magic effects are usually stronger but far more severe than mundane attempts at the same general action.
Magic is divided into several schools. If you do not see a school you like, feel free to suggest your own. Note that while the school descriptions attempt to give a general idea of what a school is known for and capable of, there is no set spell list, and different magi may use the same schools with entirely different flavors and strategies.
Elemental Schools
Magic schools devoted to the manipulation of a specific element are collectively known as elemental schools. Because they are directly concerned with manipulating a given element, elemental schools are widely regarded as generally having some intrinsic utility value. They are thus regarded as fairly practical and flexible objects of study, and elemental magi are very common.
Elemental schools can generally affect related materials, such as earth magic affecting metal or water magic affecting ice, but with considerably more difficulty.
Earth Magic is a school of magic devoted to the manipulation of earth and stone. It is generally regarded as a defensive and utilitarian school, calling up walls of rock or letting the caster glide through a stone wall like water, but can also hurl stones, attack with rising pillars or rock, or command the very ground an enemy walks on.
Fire Magic is a school of magic devoted to the manipulation of heat and flames. It is generally regarded as a patently offensive school, applying myriad forms of fire to the same general purpose, but is also capable of creating walls or shields of flame, warming against the cold, or even creating smoke.
Water Magic is a school of magic devoted to the manipulation of water. It is generally regarded as a subtle school, conjuring obscuring mists and slippery floors, or letting the caster breathe under or walk atop the waves, but can also create grasping tentacles or forceful sprays to beat back adversaries and accomplish tasks.
Air Magic is a school of magic devoted to the manipulation of air. It is generally regarded as a very indirect school, creating whirlwind barriers to knock aside projectiles, hurling foes about, or allowing the caster to fly amongst the clouds, but can also enhance the caster's or impair an enemy's movements, fling projectiles, or batter with sudden gusts.
Principle Schools
Magic schools devoted to the manipulation of certain forces or principles are collectively known as principle schools. Principle schools are usually regarded as somewhat more specialized than elemental schools, but in some ways are even broader.
Metamagic is a school of magic devoted to the manipulation of raw magical forces. It directs energy as explosive bolts or shields, grants the caster the ability to levitate or see magical forces, and otherwise deals in raw arcane power. It is capable of a very wide range of spell effects because of this, but they tend to be of a fairly bland, technical nature- it cannot heal or animate corpses in the traditional sense, for instance, though it may mend or conceivably puppeteer things around.
Necromancy is a school of magic devoted to the unpleasant manipulation of life forces. It rots flesh, animates bones, and cripples vitality. It is capable of a very wide range of spell effects, but all within the bounds of unpleasantly manipulating life or related concepts, such as bodies and souls. It can sometimes cause pleasant conditions, but usually as or with side effects, such as draining the life of others to heal or increasing strength at the cost of the target's own life force.
Restoration is a school of magic devoted to the pleasant manipulation of life forces. It heals wounds, imbues strength, and removes afflictions. It is capable of a very wide range of spell effects, but all within the bounds of pleasantly manipulating life or related concepts. It can sometimes cause unpleasant conditions, but usually still of a very benign and potentially even beneficial nature, such as temporarily blinding, stunning, or inducing sleep.
Currently incomplete, notably magic schools and death and dying explanations.
Will take 6 players.
Author
Topic: Outcast Power RTD (Prologue: Waking Up And Not) (Read 72349 times)