I want to run The Gardens of Ynn / The magnificent Joop van Ooms – the former is a procedural point crawl in a...
I want to run The Gardens of Ynn / The magnificent Joop van Ooms – the former is a procedural point crawl in a surreal fairy realm, the latter is a LofP setting in 17th century Amsterdam - for a two-shot with Whitehack. At some point during the first session the characters will transition from Amsterdam to The Gardens of Ynn. Because of the specific setup the groups options “species” and “affiliation” either make no sense (species, because they are none other than humans) or don’t have much of an impact (affiliation as soon as they enter the Gardens). My idea is to swap species with heritage e.g. “Disgraced Venetian Noble”, “Bohemian Ashkenazi Jew”, “expelled Iroquois” etc. and have it written next to one stat. Heritage is not an indication that your character is different from the majority (you could be from an old Amsterdam merchant family) but just another group that defines you. I am not sure what “expelled Iroquois” will mean or how it might be beneficial … but that’s up to the players to fill in.
The alternative would be to introduce non-human creatures like Skin-Walkers, Vampires or Marionettes (which I am not too fond of: I want the setting to form a mundane contrast to the wonders of the Gardens of Ynn) or to allow them to pick two volitions - otherwise their choices during character creation would be very limited. What do you think?
The alternative would be to introduce non-human creatures like Skin-Walkers, Vampires or Marionettes (which I am not too fond of: I want the setting to form a mundane contrast to the wonders of the Gardens of Ynn) or to allow them to pick two volitions - otherwise their choices during character creation would be very limited. What do you think?
Heritage should work fine as you describe it. I would maybe even have it apply to two stats like species does, particularly if you are planning on occasionally using these groups to disadvantage the players. I've had a player take "Street Orphan" as a species group and it worked fine.
ReplyDeleteAffiliation groups could come in handy for acquiring equipment or assistance before leaving Amsterdam, they could also come up when meeting strangers from Amsterdam in the Gardens.
Agreed on heritage, but I would also increase to two Abilities so that there is more potential to get some use out of it. If it is more meaningful in this context, you could also use profession since they will carry that across locales.
ReplyDeleteI will let them link heritage to two stats as you both suggested. I also like the idea of using affiliation for people they could meet in the Gardens (and to get information / items in Amsterdam). Thanks guys!
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteBut affiliation groups don’t become obsolete just because they aren’t around during a particular part of an adventure, and I don’t think you have to go so over the top with species—the examples of species that you mention are so different from humans that they would need a rare species-as-class option, imo.
The way I see the venetian noble thingy, ”House of Farnese” would be a great affiliation group. Once in the gardens of Ynn, the character could still make use of knowledge and maybe some skill (such as Etiquette) gotten through this affiliation. Maybe there is even some old deal made with previous members of the family and some creature in the gardens that the character can benefit from.
For species, I would open the possibility to play ”Old Blood” (folk with some fairy ancestry) and why not also ”Giants” (humans with traces of giant blood). Both these species can look just like humans to the untrained eye, maybe even to themselves. But deep down they are a bit different. Perhaps Old Blood have a knack for dealing with magic items, and perhaps Giants can grow a size or two when things get really rough, making them temporarily a bit taller, stronger and more resilient than a human. Drawbacks could be things like social awkwardness or angering easily. I really think a pinch of humanoid makes an otherwise all-human campaign better! It’s like salt.
Christian Mehrstam Fae ancestry is a great suggestion especially if the PCs don't really know that they have it - and only find out when the environment suddenly feels familiar. I think I have the affiliations down - there is not much time for collaborative worldbuilding in the two sessions so I will make playbook style pregens where they can choose from a selection of affiliations (and volitions, weapons, miracles etc.) and pick which one they think fits best. Thanks for chiming in!
ReplyDeleteCool—I love these historic excursions. There was a guy in the Whitehack 1e era that played a Grand Tour campaign. It would be fun to make player characters out of Lord Byron or Mary Shelley!
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