Okay.


What is it?

inb4kharn

First off, the characters. For those who wanted to adapt the campaign, obviously you don't need your players to be anything remotely like mine, but just for the sake of making this story easier to tell, I'll introduce the 6-person party we had.

Feel free to skip this part.

Fowler was an aspiring linguist, architect, and alchemist. Your basic absent-minded and often socially-clueless intellectual type. He was good at puzzles, not so good at combat.
Ket-Ghoum was the asshole of the group, constantly giving people shit for no reason. Did not work well with others. If it wasn't for the fact he was a good fighter I don't think they would have tolerated him.
Notan was impulsive, brash, and had a dim view of the world. In the previous campaign arc, he'd found out he was basically a reanimated corpse.
Hadalo was a real upstanding sort of hero. His intentions were always as pure as possible and he was considered sort of the leader of the party.
Kiyo was Hadalo's open-relationship girlfriend and she was loyal but unpredictable. A good lateral thinker. A pragmatist, not an idealist.
Ramutaph was my DMPC, and while I know those have a stigma of abuse, I tried to keep 'Taph as far out of the picture as possible to provide plot triggers when needed, but not solve puzzles or win battles for the group.

The campaign picks up one year after the six group members worked together to ward off an evil god, free an imprisoned benevolent god, and defeat an evil necromancer who had killed and resurrected a legendary hero who turned out to be Notan. Standard hero stuff.

The campaign begins, and they meet up again for something of a reunion, when Ramutaph arrives with a proposal. He's trying to found a church to spread his faith (God of Destruction) but he needs capital to get started. Luckily, he knows of a very old acquaintance of his who kicked the bucket some years ago and left a vast treasure sealed away somewhere in the vast underground world. (A massive sprawling subterranean system of caverns and tunnels housed perhaps a third of the world's inhabitants, but for the sake of conversion it could just as easily be almost any other setting). Of course, he's offering a large share for each of the others if they're willing to help him find and recover it. So with treasure in their eyes, the group sets off into the underground to find the tomb of Sister Soulboom.

Things go well until, arriving in one of the first cavern towns along the way, the group runs into a gang of six half-breed criminals roughing some guy up for not paying up. They tell the party to mind their own business but Hadalo is too upstanding to let them go unchallenged. So the bad guys slit the man's throat and make their exit while the party trips over themselves trying to react.
The six gangsters are part of a gang called Nel Am Ro, and they're all very uncommon half-breeds, a kind that shouldn't normally exist. One of them is a giant, one of them is a pygmy, the others are all very formidable for their size.

The underground guards are all part of a large sort of guild, a mercenary army called Hoplites who are essentially rented out to various towns lacking their own guards as protection. Hoplites are all over the underground, keeping the peace.
The group learns from the guards the story on Nel Am Ro: They've been terrorizing local underground cities and extorting money for months now. The gang members are all half-boneman, a sort of savage sub-race comparable with standard fantasy goblins or the like. The members of Nel Am Ro born as a result of a raiding party of bonemen attacking a peaceful farming village of more civilized races, killing off the men, and raping the women, who later gave birth to these monstrosities.

Strange species.

(Christ, the board's really acting up on me.)
Another day or two of travel later, and the group again runs into Nel Am Ro. This time they're interested in the party -- they know who they are and what they're looking for. Throughout the campaign, the six members of the gang are all unnervingly proper, very dapper sort of villains. They invite the group to a very uncomfortable and intense dinner.

Over dinner, Ingenia, the leader of the gang, tells the group that the local rumor is half-true. It was actually a group of adventurers of who raided a peaceful village of bonemen, killed the men, and raped the women. The aggressors and monsters of the incident were the heroic, respectable major races, while the culturally-shunned sub-race were the victims. But it's the victors who write the history books, and the "adventurers" went down in local legend as noble crusaders.

>>3102242
Hello.
My surname is Fowler, and I'm a linguistics major, an I almost went in to study mechanics. I'm a little unfit, but I like to think I have a decent problem solving ability.

Thankyou for including me in your campaign.

Your races are fascinatingly different and cartoony.

The big motif of the campaign was moral uncertainty. Nothing is ever as clear-cut as it seems to be.
To simultaneously impress their suffering and their malice (as well as their mental instability), Nel Am Ro related calmly the stories of their lives. When they were children, the six of them -- and a few others, none of whom lived -- were all captured and sold as slaves.
Ingenia, "The Master", was kept by a wealthy socialite who kept him locked in the cellar. He didn't want people knowing he kept a slave, as it would reflect badly on him. The jovial, polite man used him to release his aggressions, routinely going down in his free time to beat the living shit out of Ingenia and torture him as a means of venting. One day, he went to town, and Ingenia broke free. He slaughtered the man's wife and children as they slept, and in their blood, wrote "At last we see ourselves as we truly are: true beings of darkness to whom the light of truth is death". Because no one but the man knew about Ingenia, the socialite had no one to blame, and he was lynched by an angry mob who assumed he'd done it.
Saskia, "The Brute" was the only female of the group. She had a generally-abusive master, who made the mistake of trying to take her to bed. She ripped his throat out with his teeth.
Gemmon, "The Diplomat", had a master who tried to act much like a father figure. He was a righteous, religious man, always telling Gemmon "God is watching you". One day he was found with his eyes gouged into his skull. Gemmon claimed to be out of town when it happened, but before any proceedings could be held, he escaped from custody and disappeared.

Awesome. Thanks for posting this like I and others requested.

Horas, "The Cadaver", had a viciously cruel master who broke him down on a physical and psychological level. He once poured boiling oil on Horas, scarring him with horrible burns for his life. He set Horas to chop wood one night, and the normally-meek slave snapped and hacked him to pieces.
Bayez, "The Behemoth", had a fair, hardworking farmer as his master. But the farmer's daughter took every opportunity to make his life miserable, constantly telling him how he would never find love, or friendship, or meaning in his life. He found her alone one night and bashed her skull in with his bare hands. The farmer walked in during the act and Bayez threw a wooden stake through his master's spine.
Torriq, "The Sadist", had a master who died of natural causes shortly after buying him. Ownership passed to the man's niece, who was against slavery, and set Torriq free. Instead of running off, he returned to court her. They became lovers (he was her first). One day, he took her to a quiet, beautiful spot in a meadow, by a river, kissed her goodbye, and beat her to death with a rock.

>>3102649

>One day, he took her to a quiet, beautiful spot in a meadow, by a river, kissed her goodbye, and beat her to death with a rock.

... Holy shit.

I suggest we archive this.

We really need to. This should go on suptg or something.

>>3102649
>>3102633
This reminds me of a character concept I've been batting around recently, for a gang leader named Smiling Jack Whitechapel. Not related, but an interesting coincidence.

>>3102649
What's with the Sadist guy? I can see the others, but he's pretty unexplainable.

em ay oh ar

I suggest we sage it. It is made of fail and aids.

>>3102674
All beauty must die.

I suggest we archive this.

We really need to. This should go on suptg or something.

>>3102627
I choose to take this as a compliment.

Anyway, on with the plot. Sister Soulboom was an old artificer who created many powerful and mysterious creations, and left behind a vast fortune. Much of both are probably buried with her.
Nel Am Ro gets to the point and insists to know where Sister Soulboom's tomb is. Seeing that giving the gangsters access to powerful artifacts is clearly a bad idea, they simply lie and give incorrect directions to the tomb. Nel Am Ro is pleased to accept, but since they're not stupid, they insist on taking Ramutaph with them, as insurance that the directions are valid. He has no choice but to accept, splitting off from the rest of the group. Nel Am Ro essentially takes him captive and off they go, leaving the group behind.

LUCKILY Fowler was smart enough to make a map from 'Taph's directions, and so the party races to make it to the tomb as quickly as possible. They cut through some half-flooded water caverns to get there. The caverns are completely dark save the torchlight, and the only way through the pitch-black water is the occasional stone walkway or natural stepping stones. None of them can swim, and there's no telling how deep the dark water is. Things go fairly well until something really big starts moving in the water. The caverns are completely silent, so just the slightest disturbance near the surface of the water, the quietest sound of movement, makes for a creepy moment.
The more they hurry, the louder the sound gets, until the unseen water monster(s) of unknown size are tearing up the water chasing after them as they run in a panic to the opposite bank. These scenes are great for making your players feel completely terrified and helpless. I had a lot of fun with them.

Awesome, I like the unique setting. I recall this from the other day in that one thread.

Also dapper gang is dapper.

>>3102701

Yeah! Screw original content! We need moar 40K and such!

Yeah, no, failtroll.

This thread is nice.

i like your story and characters. have you ever read Rumo?

This thread proves again the /tg/ is the best board on all of 4chan. God bless you anon.

Can someone keep this thread alive until tomorrow evening? It must live on.

PS: Somebody archived it, but a wee bit too early if you ask me.

>>3102695
>What's with the Sadist guy? ...he's pretty unexplainable.
That's intentional. Torriq is by far the most unhinged, and his barely-contained insanity is never really explained. Nel Am Ro often comment on their own monstrous nature, remarking that "there are some things in this world that should not be borne". It's also possible he's just batshit insane and that's all there is to it.
To make it even creepier, through the course of his storytelling, it's implied he really did love the girl.

Anyway: After their narrow escape in the water tunnels, the party arrives at the Drowned City. Ages ago it was a prosperous place, but the underground is hedged on all sides with water (since it's below sea level), and that can lead to accidents. Legend holds that the underground began to flood when the wall to the ocean was breached, and the God of the Waterways was able to stem the tide of the torrents, but had to sacrifice the city to do so, and the torrent came so rapidly there was no time to react. Everyone in the city was drowned. Because he was the patron of the city, and the power of gods in this world are all basically empowered by their followers, the God died with the city.
So the party stands at the raised outer ridge of a massive flooded cavern. The tower of a chapel can be seen standing above the water line. The opposite bank has a tunnel that should lead right to the tomb. But if crossing a big, dark body of water was creepy already, crossing an even larger one with an ENTIRE CITY buried beneath the surface is even worse. Luckily, there's a rowboat at the dock of the ridge.

But of course, no sooner do two of the party members hop in the untied rowboat than it drifts out towards the middle of the lake, without oars. Already unnerved, they freak the fuck out when rotting, bloated, waterlogged and half-skeletal arms begin clawing up at the rowboat from the inky blackness of the water.

>>3102702
<3

Things look bleak but the hands recede, instead replaced by a monstrous, gigantic form rising straight out of the inky lake, dark waters pouring off of it in streams. It looks something like a big, hideous, water-warped fetus. The being reveals itself in a warped, watery voice as Noché, the drowned God. It still has some limited power after all, and the drowned villagers are obviously not entirely at rest. He tells the party that his "congregation" and his city can only be kept here safely if they are whole, and something has been taken from the city. He would retrieve it himself, but he has no power outside the waterways, so if the players will do the Drowned God a favor, he'll repay them. He tells them the missing piece can be found in a sack in the belly of a monster called The Buncrumb, which has been sighted along the water caverns.
So it's off to confront their fears, and into the heart of a nearby water cavern they go. The creature, which looks like a Lovecraftian plecostomus, breaches the water and a good boss fight ensues. The mutated (and obviously diseased) fish-monster spews acid, tries to drag them into the depths, but eventually falls. Its skin sizzles and melts away, and inside is a well-preserved cloth sack with a ribbon. All they have to do is bring it back and commit it to the waters.

"And whatever you do, don't look inside."

Something in the sack moves as they carry it.

Keeping thread alive.

Unable to resist their curiosity, they peek inside the sack -- and find a small child. She's barely alive, scared and confused.
They return the way they came (it was a dead end, so they had no choice) and arrive at the banks. Noché insists the 'child' is really a spirit of the city that tried to escape, and must be returned to find peace, or it will cause unrest in all the other lost souls. The child, of course, is terrified, and clutches to the party members, begging them not to throw her into the dark waters.
The party has an interesting debate. Ket and Notan insist the "child" should be returned. Hadalo can't even believe they would consider the option. Kiyo is softened by the child's helplessness and pleas for mercy. Fowler racks his brain for a solution.

Honestly, what would you do?

In the middle of the debate, Notan becomes impatient. He suddenly grabs the terrified child and unceremoniously throws her into the dark lake. The illusion fades and the swirling, shadowy spirit screeches as clawed hands reach up and clutch at its nebulous form, dragging it below the surface. Noché had been telling the truth. He is grateful and the waters go quiet as the undead go back to just being dead. He moves the group gently over the still waters in the rowboat. At last they've reached the opposite bank and race through the last of the tunnels until they come upon a large chamber with a stone structure built into one of the walls. The tomb of Sister Soulboom.

>>3102829

>"And whatever you do, don't look inside."

>Something in the sack moves as they carry it.

Oh. Shit.

>>3102781
I like that. Five people who have genuine social and psychological reasons to be gangsters, and one dude who's just completely fucked in the head for no apparent reason. Also:

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes.
T'would have been strange, even in a dream,
To have seen those dead men rise.

The group approaches the massive stone tomb, which is built into two major sections -- a large inner sanctum and an outbuilding connected to it. As the party stands trying to figure out how to get inside the old Pereki woman's tomb, a massive slab on the outbuilding suddenly slides open, and out steps a black-skinned figure. In a calm and warm voice, she introduces herself as Sister Soulboom, and invites the group in for tea and a well-deserved explanation.

Soulboom explains that she faked her death and sealed herself away from civilization here some years ago because of unwelcome attention forming around some of her more powerful artifacts, and for fear they would fall into the wrong hands. Apparently, Ramutaph had known Soulboom was still alive, and used the "free treasure" story for two reasons: One, to make sure the party (especially Ket) would want to come along, and two, so that in case the wrong people were to overhear or intervene (which they did), the group wouldn't have the information to give away. They were kept in the dark to make sure no one else would find out. Mixed reactions here. Ket feels lied to, while Hadalo understands the need for secrecy even within their own party.
Unfortunately, Soulboom continues, despite her best efforts one of her grandest inventions has been stolen: The Aughra-Mal, or "World Eater". A massive machine of mysterious power that stands stories tall and could, in the wrong hands, destroy the entire underground. Because of its size it was kept in another area of the underground, rather than in the tomb itself. Now it's missing.

The party has a pretty good idea of who took it.

>>3102895
Someone's played Boombots, I see.

Fuck, that's a catchy tune.

(Sorry this is taking so long, for some reason it takes like 10 fucking minutes between hitting submit and having the thing actually get posted)

Sister Soulboom gives the group what artifacts she still has to spare, most notable among them an explosive handcannon of her own design. She instructs them to be careful. Do not attempt to rush in and save the day. One thing at a time: if they find the Aughra-Mal, come right back, report it, and Soulboom will know what to do.
So they head out into the caverns, illuminated by eerily glowing clusters of crystals, and after a few large, dangerous caverns, curving tunnels, and of course, more monsters, the party fails some serious skill checks and find themselves knocked out by a rather cunning trap. (For transitional purposes, a direct confrontation can happen here instead).

They regain consciousness in a stone-hewn barracks, held prisoner by a very displeased Nel Am Ro. Ramutaph is nowhere to be seen. Ingenia introduces Horas (who has thus far been so quiet the others had to tell his story for him) as a skilled torturer. They found out 'Taph's directions were shit and are now out of patience, demanding the location of Soulboom's tomb. Hadalo defiantly exclaims that they can torture him all they like, he'll NEVER tell them!
Ingenia smiles calmly, knowingly, and tells Hadalo they're not going to torture him at all. They're going to torture Kiyo. Horas backhands her once and Hadalo breaks instantly, spilling the beans. Bayez, the giant, stays behind to keep an eye on the group while the rest of Nel Am Ro departs to visit the rather nearby tomb.

>>3102938
I play thematic music over shoutcast during our gaming sessions. Epic-scale music for battle sequences, Silent Hill music for the water caverns, that kind of thing. Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" was the unofficial theme song for Nel Am Ro, and I actually played the song of the same name for when they arrived at Sister Soulboom's tomb. It was pretty awesome.

Anyway, some sort of muffled commotion comes from outside the prison and the rest of the gang calls Bayez to help. Apparently, a group of Hoplites have arrived, ready to make war on Nel Am Ro. This provides the group a chance to escape, and the limber Kiyo easily slips out of her ropes and unties the others. Everyone is pissed off at Hadalo for spilling the beans on the tomb's location.
Apparently Horas had been speaking to Kiyo in a whisper, telling her that he wouldn't actually hurt her, just pretend to. But he warned her that if they didn't give Ingenia what he wanted soon, the leader would turn the interrogation over to Torriq, who would not play nice. Apparently Kiyo's acting convinced not only Ingenia, but also Hadalo.

In a nearby room they find Ramutaph, with hundreds of metallic needles pierced all through her skin in a very painful manner. She's dazed and weakened, but alive. She spits blood and proudly tells them that she never cracked, never told them where the tomb was.
Hadalo tells her he gave up the information in about five seconds and she nearly rips his head off.
But time is of the essence, so she promises she'll kick his ass for it later. They escape from the prison and come face-to-face with Nel Am Ro, who've just fought off a small group of Hoplites.
THIS MEANS CONFRONTATION!

This is cool, I like it.

>>3103026
Ooh, fight scene! *munch munch*

>>3103026
Uh. About the change of gender pronouns for Ramutaph: his/her species is hermaphromorphic, able to change at will between male/female/neuter if given a few hours. It wasn't really a huge plot point but that's why 'Taph's suddenly a she.

So, massive battle ensues. Bayez the giant and Ramutaph the Thrott pair off and leave the rest of the battle to the PCs. It probably won't be a fight to the death, because the players see some glimmer of humanity in Nel Am Ro (some members more than others).
SUDDENLY! A conveniently-timed earthquake! The large underground chamber rifts in half and a huge crevasse opens up.
Torriq, growling and snarling, falls backwards into the dark pit, and on his way, tries to drag Kiyo down with him.
Gemmon and Bayez disappear over the ridge.
Horas tries to run from the widening chasm, but a huge stonefall blocks his way. Trapped on a crumbling cliffside, he gives the group a sad but knowing look through his bandaged face and tumbles into the pit.
Ingenia is left stranded on an unsteady standing pillar, separate from either side. The players try to call to him. He turns, smiles calmly, and taps his cane hard on the ground, crumbling the soil beneath him as he plunges into darkness.

Most of the party is safe, but Ramutaph clings to the edge of the chasm precariously (she only has one arm) and Saskia is clinging to her back, trying to scramble up to safety. Ramutaph shouts out some instructions: go find the man called Dipswitch. He knows the password to Soulboom's inner sanctum if anything were to happen, and the party will need all the help and as many powerful artifacts as they can get. Ramutaph's grip weakens and she plummets -- along with Saskia -- out of sight.

Bayez, the giant, managed to catch himself and climb back up. Apparently, he and Saskia were lovers. The party is no match for him in their weakened state, but he doesn't fight. He stares blankly off the edge, then throws himself over the cliff.

Ramutaph had said specifically that they should seek out Dipswitch if they find that the Aughra-Mal is manned. If it's unprotected, they won't need to, but if it's guarded, Dipswitch is like their ace in the hole.
So they head on out of the chamber towards a nearby city to get their bearings, and find it completely decimated. Craters and charred remains are scattered everywhere. Hoplites have gathered here to survey the carnage. Something passed through and completely destroyed this town.
A tall Asogan man steps out and introduces himself as the famous Captain Latrass, leader of the Hoplites. His mood is grim. Whatever destroyed this town broke through the walls of solid rock, killed and destroyed everything in its path, and broke a hole through the wall on the opposite side of the cavern. He explains the mass of the Hoplite forces have been summoned from around the underground and within a few days a veritable army of trained mercenaries will be ready to proceed. The party realizes the Aughra-Mal is on the move, and they may not HAVE a few days, but the Hoplites all think it's some giant monster, so they've forbidden entrance to the tunnel it carved leading out. Latrass recites the Hoplite motto, "Protect the citizenry at all costs" and explains he can't let them through.
They manage to sneak/talk/force their way through eventually once Captain Latrass and most of the guards have left on an emergency call to another nearby town.

Following the bored tunnel a long ways, they finally come upon the Aughra Mal. It's a massive, rusty behemoth on treads, like a giant drilling machine. Guards around it are dressed in all white (as was Nel Am Ro) wearing white cloth facemasks. Kiyo expertly sneaks around the outskirts of the cavern and find to her surprise Sister Soulboom is being held captive! She tells Kiyo to go to the Inner Sanctum of her 'tomb' and come back with the big guns. Of course, for this, they'll need Dipswitch.

The group backtracks to the main town they were at earlier -- the one from which they had departed into the water caverns. It was closer now because of the various shortcuts and side routes, but it was a one-way trip. They found Dipswitch, an Id with severe mental disabilities and the disposition of a child. Nonetheless, Ramutaph had trusted him for this purpose. Apparently they'd met when Ramutaph had told him about the church.
They run back to the water caverns, and the echoing voice of Noché suddenly comes from all around them. He offers to take them straight to where they're going and cut lots of time off their travel, if they'll jump in the water. Reluctantly, but with so much at stake, they oblige, and sure enough they're swept through the void and deposited on the bank of the Drowned City, right near the tomb. So off they run with Dipswitch tagging along, to the tomb. He utters the magic password to open the sealed chamber. ("HEY, OPEN UP!")

The immense stone doors slide open and the group goes inside to find a number of important-looking artifacts, including a metallic cube with something slowly pulsing light inside.
They also find Sister Soulboom lying on a slab in the middle of the room. She's very dead.
Sister Soulboom -- the one they were talking to only a few hours ago -- appears at the doorway, telling them hurriedly to hand over the box. In panic and confusion, they do so. Hoplite guards appear at the entrance, and among them, Captain Latrass. The truth slowly comes out.

Whoot. Is it much left?

So here was the sum of it:
The Hoplites, led by Latrass, have set this entire thing up as a means to get into the tomb. Soulboom HAD faked her death years ago, but recently had died for real. Looking up her potential contacts, the Hoplites found Ramutaph, spread rumors, planted a fake Soulboom, and of course, exploited Nel Am Ro as scapegoats at every turn. The truth was the Hoplites knew where the tomb and the Aughra-Mal were, but didn't have the power source, and without it, the machine was as useful as a pile of scrap metal.
So the party has been led this entire way just to open the tomb for Latrass and his men, who now plan to use the Aughra-Mal to basically bulldoze The Hollow. The Hollow is a leviathan cavern where almost all the Throtts live. Throtts are considered a violent, barbaric race (orcs comparable, and Ramutaph is one) and Latrass earnestly believes genociding them will uphold his motto of "Protect the citizenry, no matter the cost".
He had to make a few sacrifices, sure, but it was all for the greater good.

So with the glowing cube in hand -- the power source for the Aughra Mal -- Latrass leaves with some of his men. Over a dozen stay behind to kill the party, to tie up the last of the loose ends. They have with them two gigantic mechanized drills which look more like siege weapons. They're not taking any chances. The fake Soulboom wields the handcannon, which she'd stolen from Fowler. Things look bleak.

Dipswitch, who so far has been nothing more than a comical annoyance, tells the group that Ramutaph had told him this might happen. She'd asked a lot of questions about Soulboom back at Nel Am Ro's prison, and evidently she suspected from the start Soulboom might really be dead, so Dipswitch was her contingency plan. He grabs his backpack, hugs it to his chest, charges straight for the soldiers, and promptly blows the fuck up. The remaining forces are still formidable, but not impossible, so a fun battle ensues with the skilled mercenaries.

>>3103318
Wait, wait. If they didn't have the World Eater power module, how did they make it run earlier?

Things look good, party wins. But fake Soulboom is still left and in a panic threatens to blow them away with the handcannon, when she suddenly gets a throwing axe to the back of her head. Yes, it's Ramutaph, who somehow survived the fall into the chasm. Apparently she fell into water, and the party realizes Noché must have saved her. This means Nel Am Ro might still be alive too.

So things have taken a turn for the worse. The Hoplites have the Aughra Mal and they intend to wipe out the single largest city of the underground, genociding an entire race. They've got the power source but it will take a few days for it to properly 'charge up' and get the machine in working order. With most of the artifacts remaining useless or depleted, the group needs something legendary on their side if they want a victory. There are a number of godlike artifacts in the world, so the party decides on tracking down the Storyteller's Brush from the land of creation. It's a versatile and powerful tool that will give them the opportunity, not only the raw power, to stop the Hoplites.


Taking a quick break here. Will resume shortly.
I know this story's really long, but keep in mind this campaign ran for an entire year. I'd recommend anyone adopting it trim down the necessary sections as per their own preferences, because it's definitely quite a sizable arc.

>>3103335
>Wait, wait. If they didn't have the World Eater power module, how did they make it run earlier?
They didn't. The cavern the party found it in was where it had always been stored. The nearby destruction was an act by the corrupt Hoplite guard, as a means of furthering the illusion, guiding the party in the right direction, and increasing the urgency of the situation. It was also implied the Hoplites had other corrupt dealings, and as such there's any number of things that might have provoked this as well. Perhaps the Hoplites already wanted to destroy this particular town, and when one needed to be sacrificed, it made the perfect choice.
Plus, it was primarily a Thrott settlement.

This would make an awesome movie or show.

"I have a bad leg on my left leg. And also on my right leg. And I'm tired."

"Okay. But I don't want to run. It's too fast. Fast things are scary. If I run, I'll scare myself."

"I like sitting in water and looking at the sky. Especially when the sky is dirt."

Dipswitch was a fun character to DM for.

Your art style blows me away with how alien and stylish it is. It's simple, but has such a cool feel to it. I love your race designs, and would gladly describe to your newsletter, and purchase your campaign setting.

Amazing story, too. I really love the flavour of moral ambiguity. Very cool.

>>3103397
Better yet, a cartoon miniseries.

How good are you with Flash, OP?

Okay, seriously gotta go for a bit. Give me a few hours to get some rest, I'm falling asleep at my desk here and my pinky hurts from holding the shift key.
If this thread's still here when I get back I'll post the rest. We're more than halfway, at least. That's good, right?

I'll be sure to write a one-post tl;dr at the end for all this.

Before I go, have some Kiyo ass.

I bet OP could find SOMEONE who would make this into a flash miniseries.

Newgrounds would suck their cocks for eternity if the animation was good.

>>3103444

If you're goin to bed, so am I cause it's 1AM here and I need my sleep.

Okay, for real this time.
Just realized it may be hard keeping track of all the made-up races and shit, so use this in conjunction with >>3102895
The brief blurbs are by no means universal for that race (they're individuals after all, no race has a hive mentality or homogeneous society), and further they're specifically written about the race with consideration specifically to their adventuring skills.
I made this when we first started, to help my players figure out which race they wanted to play as.

Okay.
Ciao, /tg/. Thanks for listening, I'll be back to wrap this up in a few hours.

Whenever I see one of these threads, I think of that comic where the girl with the mask will suck the fantasy-alien's dick to shave money off the purchase of cookery.

>>3103491
WHAAAAAT‽

>>3103491
>I think of that comic where the girl with the mask will suck the fantasy-alien's dick to shave money off the purchase of cookery.
This is undoubtedly the same campaign, or at the very least, the same gameworld. The shopkeeper is a Lomite.

>>3103504
I don't have it saved, but it's pretty funny.

Anyway, "open relationships" apparently allow for impromptu discounts.

>>3103476
Shit, I don't know about you guys but I'd be a fucking Dwerm.
Shit looks SO cash.

>>3103515

I know some people interpret this as showcasing the girl as a bad player but really if everything she said is accurate she's not only justified, she's completely in-character.

>>3103528

fuck your shit I'm rolling petrod

>>3103476

I'd go for either Lomite or Pereki. Both are not only interesting in description, but very cool looking. I'd venture cute, particularly for the Lomites.

Are these races statistically different, too? Or is it just flavour and asthetics? I can't help but be curious.

>>3103580
Is this stuff archived anywhere? Searching 'Lomite' does not pull up anything earlier in this thread.

>>3103536
Sometimes comics aren't out to portray anyone as right or wrong. Sometimes it's just funny, interesting, or just strange situations or events, real or hypothetical.

>>3103536
>I know some people interpret this as showcasing the girl as a bad player but really if everything she said is accurate she's not only justified, she's completely in-character.

What's more interesting/strange is the fact that she doesn't do it for some mega-weapon or item, but an iron cooking pot.

The fact that the situation is more realistic (considering how many, many whores one could obtain for the price of a magic item) makes it less detestable.

Though... what kind of party really needs cookwares that badly?

OP
This story has made me smile all the way through...
It reminds me of an old school 90s disney cartoon.
I'd applause this.

>>3103622

Bro, look up a few posts.
>>3103476 is your destination.

>>3103476
Very cool and creative, it's interesting how the fantasy genre is revitalized to such a degree by using original elements instead of stock ones.

This series remind me, very slightly, of the French "Donjon" comic series.

>>3103476
Prefer: Dev. Just for the head, although common traits suit me fine.

Pereki would be fun. I'd grab a wide brim and pointed yellow straw hat, staff, and blue cloak.

I don't believe OP ran this with real people. There is way too much fluff imo and way too many situations that take things out of the PC's control.

No party I have ever played with would not try their damnedest to kill Nel Am Ro at every juncture including the very first dinner. The only part was convincing was the part where the party argues about child in the bag before someone just takes matter into their own hands and throws it in the water.

Not saying it's not a good read, because it is, but seriously, if actual people did play this campaign it seems more like they were listening to the OP tell a story, not roleplaying.

Id and Pereki are my faves.

It would be great playing a neutral good Id with Int as a dump stat. a la >>3103415, I suppose

I'm fond of the Olympians, Lomites, Id, and Pireki. Yaga sound cool, too.

>>3103891
Actually, I'm fairly certain it's in GURPS. No INT.

>>3103515
Yeah, that's a 3d6 reaction roll.

BAMPAN

Interestingly enough, my favourite characters from both the player characters and the Nel Am Ro by appearances alone remain my favourites in practise.

Torriq's appearance is by far the coolest from the rest of the half-bonemen Nel Am Ro. Plus, he's a psychopath. Awesome.

Ket-Ghoum, on the other hand, looks like a badass. Putting aside his already interesting name, he's also a Lawful Neutral prick, which is the best kind of Lawful Neutral and the best alignment to be, period. Fuck year!

WAITAN

>>3103645
>The fact that the situation is more realistic (considering how many, many whores one could obtain for the price of a magic item) makes it less detestable.

"He waddled out into the lower bailey; his stunted legs complained of the steps. The sun was well up now, and the castle was stirring. Guardsmen walked the walls, and knights and men-at-arms were training with blunted weapons. Nearby, Bronn sat on the lip of a well. A pair of comely serving girls sauntered past carrying a wicker basket of rushes between them, but the sellsword never looked. “Bronn, I despair of you.” Tyrion gestured at the wenches. “With sweet sights like that before you, all you see is a gaggle of louts raising a clangor.”

“There are a hundred whorehouses in this city where a clipped copper will buy me all the cunt I want,” Bronn answered, “but one day my life may hang on how close I’ve watched your louts.” He stood. “Who’s the boy in the checkered blue surcoat with the three eyes on his shield?”

“Some hedge knight. Tallad, he names himself. Why?”

Bronn pushed a fall of hair from his eyes. “He’s the best of them. But watch him, he falls into a rhythm, delivering the same strokes in the same order each time he attacks.” He grinned. “That will be the death of him, the day he faces me.”"

>>3104241
wut

I've been waiting for this. Thanks.

>>3104241
FUCK YEAH TYRION!

>>3104406
DID SOMEONE SAY THERION!?!?!

I still say the Asoga look like Vorticons.

>>3104491

It's been like, 6 hours. Where is this guy?

I need sleep. Can sombody else keep the thread afloat? Maybe even archive it to suptg when he comes back. It's certainly already worth it. Can someone do it when he's done, though?

Bump for keeping win alive

>>3104657
It's already archived on suptg. The bot keeps refreshing and saves the latest version. You can go sleep.

And I'm back. First, some Q&A time before I dive into the story's continuation.

>>3103580
>Are these races statistically different?
Yes. It ran on a GURPS system, so what would happen is each race would get bonus/penalty stats and some free advantage/disadvantage/attribute.
For example, Asogas have a code of honor by default, which includes: Never take unfair advantage of an opponent, always avenge an insult against a lady or one's self, always keep your word once given. To make up for this penalty, they generally have much higher respect and recognition. Things like that.

>>3103645
>what kind of party really needs cookwares that badly?
This really did happen, in the same gameworld, but not in the same campaign. It was a short-lived spinoff campaign with new characters (that's not Kiyo, and the actual character was a Yaga, not an Antaure). She really did have xenophilia and was something of a sex-hound, so for her it was probably as much an excuse to get some freaky interspecies sex as it was to seal the deal.

>>3103821
>Prefer: Dev. Just for the head
The Dev yin-yang face is actually a mask. All Dev wear masks as part of an ancient religious tradition tying back to their Creation Myth. Unlike Dwerms and their facial veils, they never take them off, not even in privacy, save once every few months in a ritualistic ceremony. The masks are intricate and hand-crafted, each representing an individual's profession and status.

>>3104146
>Ket-Ghoum
He was frustrating to GM for and he never seemed moved, scared, impressed, or fazed by anything I threw at him. He wasn't stoic, he was just BLANK. Nothing on his actual character sheet justified this kind of action either.
Sadly, Ket-Ghoum and Fowler's players had to leave at the end of this campaign, so now we're down to a much smaller playing group. On the bright side, it means finding time to get together to play is much easier, since the remainder of us are all in the same country.

>>3103881
>I don't believe OP ran this with real people. There is way too much fluff imo and way too many situations that take things out of the PC's control.
My campaigns revolve around plot points and encounters that are intentionally planned to be flexible. Given situations can occur in different locations as needed, and because of the pace of the campaign I have time to plan things out if they take the action in a different direction than I'd initially expected. I had to make a sort of flowchart for this story just to get everything coherently placed together, and it changed as the players went in different ways.
I take a lot of notes.

I try to never railroad outright, and you're right -- I do intend my campaigns to be as much of a 'storytelling' experience as possible, by focusing on the game world and actions within it diegetically and keeping the hard stats and rolls on GM-side. The players figure out what they want to do in the world, and I figure out how to make it work in the game world. Reduces rules-lawyering, min/maxing shit, and abuses or unfair expectations through other metagaming.
It's very much a storytelling experience, but I try to keep the focus on my players as the stars, not merely side characters. It may not be all that apparent here but they were the agents in all these actions, moving the story forward of their own volition.

I can guarantee this story really did happen, and I have hundreds of pages of logs to prove it.

>>3104901
Write a book.

Seriously. Make this into a novel or something.

>>3103881
Lastly, a few details to the scenes in question:
In several of the Nel Am Ro encounters, the local Hoplites were being bribed by the gang, and so any action taken against them would incur the wrath of the mercenary guards.
The party was generally upstanding morally and would need severe provocation to outright kill other sapient individuals. They'd fight back, but most of the time, wouldn't initiate a fight unless they had a really, really good reason.
The stories of their histories painted a morally confusing message over dinner. The group came in almost ready to fight, but after their strange pasts things became less clear-cut. Especially when it became obvious Nel Am Ro hated themselves and what they were. There was some pity there, especially from Hadalo and Kiyo.

It's a fine line sometimes, but balancing a careful mediation was one of the bigger tasks throughout the campaign.

SO! On with the story!

The universe this campaign is set in is comprised of three main areas or "Spheres": the surface world, the underground, and the dream world. The dream world isn't LITERALLY a dream world, it's all very much tied up in ancient legends and stuff, but it's much harder to travel to and from the third sphere than it is the others. To get above or below ground, you merely follow a tunnel/mine to or from the surface. To get to the Dream World, there are only specific windows at which travel can be made.
So the group sets out to the Land of Creation which is located somewhere in the Dream World. To get there, they decide to take the nearest window, the Dream Tunnels (which you can see here: >>3102732 )
So they're on their way there, traveling at a rapid pace, and spend the night not far from the tunnels. Ramutaph volunteers to scout ahead while the party rests and recuperates. As they're bedding down, Horas approaches the party. Some move to attack, but Kiyo stops them, seeing Horas as the most tragic and most human of Nel Am Ro.
His whole-body bandages are now wrapped over his eye on one face, soaked in blood. Apparently, he and the others survived the fall with only some injuries, but he lost his eye. Saskia, he tells them, is in critical condition and may not live. Her lover, Bayez, the giant, is beside himself.
Horas explains that he sneaked ahead of the group to warn them that they were again on their trail, and with less forgiving attitudes. Knowing the gang has no power outside their sphere of influence in the underground, the party thanks Horas, rushes ahead, and decides to cross to the Dream World that night. They meet up with Ramutaph at the entrance to the Dream Tunnels.

The Dream Tunnels are a creepy place. A few claustrophobic, parallel-running tunnels half-filled with a strange, luminescent blue/green water. Kropians (traditionally, the keepers of the windows between the worlds) act as ferrymen standing in small boats to bring travelers from one sphere to the next. The group boards, and the Kropian gives them the warning:
To cross the Dream Tunnels, you must sleep. Horrible dreams will visit you, and the fears of your visions pose a real threat to you -- they are more than simply dreams. But as horrible as they are, they are a far better fate than having to stay awake through the Dream Tunnels. Whatever the reason for that, Kropians are immune to its effects.

The tunnels themselves have the effect of a sort of sensory deprivation chamber. They're placeless and timeless, and the dreams that come are thus anchored in other places in space and time. Thus there is a kind of prophetic quality to them: they show you either something you have already seen, or something you have yet to see.

The group, wary of their situation, downs the mixture the ferryman presents them, which includes a dose of the glowing water. They swiftly pass into sleep, and a very creepy shared dream.

Kiyo and Hadalo 'wake up' in a tiny room with a grand bed and a metal grating up on the wall, as if for a vent. A bloodstain is spreading slowly from the center of the bed. Some hideous form appears behind the small grate, dozens of fingers poking out between the squares in the grating and clawing the air as several terrified eyes appear behind them in the shadows. They escape from the room as bloody footprints follow from the bed towards them, and closing the door behind them, a crashing sound erupts from the room, and a scream.

>>3105001

You die in the dream, you die for real.

The dream continues in a disjointed sort of way, evidently taking place in some large, old house. As Kiyo and Hadalo continue, they run into and join up with the others of the group.
Things catch fire, hatches in the floor buckle and seep, screams echo, unfettered shadows grow from the fireplace like claws, windows shatter and glass dances through the air. At one point, Notan opens a door to see himself standing on the other side, holding a door open, like a mirror. In the reflection, a large, haggard figure climbs through the broken window and approaches behind Notan. The group look behind them -- no such figure on their side. He stands behind mirror-Notan, and raises a large claw hammer. Real-Notan realizes what's going on and dives out of the way, while mirror Notan gets the back of his head caved in. Door slams shut, wraps itself in chains.
Group finally 'escapes' the dream as they outrun a raging inferno down a wooden hall which is tearing itself apart. They come to on a white shore in the Dream World. They prepare to continue on. First, however, Ramutaph punches Hadalo in the face for spilling the beans to Nel Am Ro earlier.

They're still a ways from their destination, so they catch a few local ferries over the open water (unusual, since most of the world doesn't know how to swim and fear the seas), hitch a ride on a caravan north, and pass a few brief sidequests. Along the way, they run into a group of Hesh, a sub-race with latent divination abilities, who agree to ferry them along the coast to their last destination. Unfortunately, the ferryman ditches them and runs at the first chance, apparently scared out of his wits by something he saw in the group, shouting about some curse of death which lingers around them.
The group decides this is Notan's fault, since he's practically undead, having been killed and resurrected by a vengeful Necromancer in the previous campaign.

Arbiter, I've got to say that I love this stuff. I've only glanced through the thread because I'm (supposed to be) busy, but I've always loved hearing how you got all this stuff to work.

I would like to know how well you did with getting the players to know all the fluff. I've got the problem of not wanting to drop a whole ton of crap onto my players, but on the other hand there's a whole bunch of stuff I get asked. It's hard figuring out what a player's character would know. Since I gave the option of human, most of them just stuck with that, anyway. I suppose that does give them a reason to be unknowing of the other races for their intros, though.

What I've decided to do recently was just add in a Navi type NPC to explain things in character. That wasn't the reason I created her (which was just to be the person to bring them into the first quest), but I decided that because she was a faerie that I might as well.
She lives in the breastplate of a giant hammer wielding school girl.

Nearing their destination, the group finds the way blocked at a mountain pass that the local nobility has ordered blocked off. They need to get through -- no time to go all the way around the range. So they investigate the mountainside Asogan town.
They discover a strange sort of connection between the local Lord and a unique local production called Novahad Charcoals. (Novahad being a God of the Hearth, the charcoals were said to be particularly fine and even have mystical properties).
So they bluff their way through as delivery men, and bring the Lord some charcoals from the local high-end shops. The Lord, Leloro, invites them in to his home, the great Carnovasch Manor, they present their case to move north, and he presents his case.

Many years ago there was a tragedy in the house of Carnovasch. The Lord and Lady Carnovasch had a plethora of servants and three children. The Lord was losing his fortune (and his mind) after bad investments and attempted to call upon dark forces to save himself and his family. His wife, no more mentally stable than he, found out about his attempted rituals, and snapped. Lady Carnovasch killed her own children rather than have them live under the darkness their father might usher in, then slaughtered her servants. The Lord confronted her and tried to kill her, but she killed him, then herself.

Leloro was one of the three children, and he was away when this happened, so he was spared. He returned home to find his family dead. The Manor was also very haunted, so he sealed off the wings and lived by himself in a very small portion of the manner.
He tells them that he is not brave enough to re-open the wings and investigate, but he believes if the one unrecovered body -- that of his little brother, Hinisell -- can finally be found and put to rest, the hauntings may stop.

The group agrees, and it's off into the haunted mansion they go.

>>3105049

HAVERSHAM!! DO YOU LIKE MY NEW BODY?!

We need more threads like this one.

So they're not long into the wings when shit immediately starts going to shit. I do my best to keep this a creeping horror. No ghosts jumping out at them, but phantom whispers, moving lights at the end of the hall, blocked doors, scratching sounds, dusty, dead rooms, bloodstained walls and mutilated corpses. For maximum effect, I play tracks from Silent Hill throughout this campaign. Everyone is thoroughly creeped out. They discover notes, excerpts from diaries that reveal the Lady Carnovasch was losing her mind from isolation and felt like a prisoner in her own house, and didn't exactly have motherly feelings for most of her children.
At one point they find the servant's quarters, and one of the beds has a big lump in it. They pull back the covers to find a rotting corpse, and quickly replace the covers. They come back through later, in a hurry, and one of them suddenly realizes the beds are all now empty.

In the master bedroom, they find a grate in the wall and a bloodstained bed. Hadalo examines the grate and finds fingernails in the vent behind it. This all seems uncomfortably familiar, I tell him, and he realizes it's the house from their dream tunnel dreams, which evidently glimpsed the future. This is where Lady Carnovasch killed herself after slaughtering the rest of the Manor.

As the hauntings reach their peak, the group finds the children's bedrooms, and passing through the servant's access hatches, finally reach young Hinisell's room. His skeletal body lies on his bed.

The group solemnly takes the body and brings it downstairs to the cellar, where most of the house is buried. Things have calmed, and a feeling of peace finally fills the air. An old shovel stands by some marked graves and they prepare to inter Hinisell, when Leloro appears on the stairs behind them.

Leloro explains, in a pained speech, that he had lied to them. He was not away from the Manor when this happened.
The mournful Asoga tells the story of the confused, frightened child who was hidden in the vent by one of the maids. She sacrificed herself, but Lady Carnovasch never found the child, and he was spared. For two days and two nights he was trapped in the vent, trying to claw his way out, until at last a steward found and released him, whereupon the poor child fled the land in terror. He tried to forget what had happened, blacked out his past, told himself he wasn't a victim, didn't belong here. But after all this, something drew him back here.
Tears stream down Leloro's pained face. Hadalo looks at him knowingly.

L: "You know of whom I speak."
Hadalo, nods quietly.
H: "Leloro."
Leloro puts a hand on Hadalo's shoulder, his eyes sorrowful.
L: "No, my brother. It was you."

Hadalo staggers backwards in shock and trips over a tombstone marked "Leloro Carnovasch".
Hadalo's character story turned out to be a fabrication of his shattered mental state. He was the only survivor of the Carnovasch massacre, trapped in the vent -- which is why it seemed so odiously familiar when he inspected it. I dropped hints here and there: never mentioned the third child's name, told Hadalo specifically the vent felt uncomfortably familiar the middle child's room upstairs had toys in keeping with Hadalo's interests, and so on.

It turns out the Dream Tunnels had been reflecting a memory after all.

Hadalo, whose world is crumbling around him, attempts to shove Leloro out of the way. Of course, his hands pass right through the specter.

Hadalo and the others flee in terror, but as they reach the main hall, a huge, shadowy specter wearing a tattered black cloak and a frightening demon mask bursts from the door to the dark tower. The ghost of Hadalo's father, Lord Carnovasch, comes out chanting horribly and beckoning with clawed hands. All the creeping horror of the Manor becomes suddenly visceral.

I play "Come to Daddy" over shoutcast for added effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0

As they begin to retreat in fear, the even larger and even scarier ghost of Lady Carnovasch descends from the immense stairway and with a swing of her axe, cleaves the Lord's skull in half. She approaches menacingly, chanting horrible things.

Fumbling for answers, a dazed Hadalo opens the puzzlebox he found in his own room, and inside is a single piece of smoothed charcoal. He heaves it with a curse into the fireplace and ethereal flames erupt, engulfing the room and the specters. The front doors burst open and the group dives out to safety as the flames shoot into the night. Recovering from the blast, they turn to see nothing is left of the Manor but a pile of smoldering rubble. It burnt down years ago -- and the town around them stands empty and deserted in the night.
Hadalo, still reeling, uneasily follows the others through the long-abandoned town to the north, through the open, rotting gate to the pass.

As a final note, "Novahad Charcoals" is an anagram for "Hadalo Carnovasch".

>>3102649
>The Sadist
Why am I so Kylie Minogue - Where the wild roses grow like in appearance?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-GG1Z9jk2Y

>>3105049
HOLY FUCK FLASH BACK TO REAL GHOSTBUSTERS

>>3105107
Yes, that was certainly the inspiration from the character and basis for his story. If you look at the illustration for his story, it's the same as the cover art for the single.

So, traveling north under the shimmering starlight, the group arrives at a massive clearing near the northern shore, whereupon Ramutaph finally uses the old amulet she's been carrying since they met her in the first campaign and summons a doorway in the center of the meadow. Just a door, standing on its own.
The group passes through, and find themselves in the Land of Creation, Havaroska. Inspired by the real-world legend of Pygmalion, the story goes that a lonely woman built herself a man of cloth to stand as a scarecrow for her garden, and fashioned it with great care over many months. She fell in love with the scarecrow and couldn't bear to put him outside in the fields, so she kept him inside. The Gods of Creation and Love were so moved by her devotion they brought the Patchwork Man to life. Such was the power of their act that the entire area became enchanted, and ANYTHING created with devotion and care was made animate. Eventually it became too much, and the people of the settlement started moving away or dying out, and soon all that was left were their creations, and Havaroska was sealed off to mortals.

Arriving in the lost land is a departure from the creeping dark of the last quest, and everything is almost uncomfortably friendly. They quickly run into a plethora of animate inanimates, including a small child's animal totem that won't shut the fuck up, a creepy scarecrow, a blacksmith's armor stand that acts as a blacksmith (they walk in on it repairing its own hands), and a stained-glass window that comes to life and steps out of its frame.

The group finally runs into the Patchwork Man, a somber and quiet individual who still misses his mortal love who died ages ago.
They perform a task for him within the Lost Land and in a surprisingly easy turn of events, finally get their hands on the artifact called the Storyteller's Brush, which has the ability to paint reality itself. Bidding their chattering object companions farewell, Fowler paints a quick drawing of an underground cavern in thin air, complete with Aughra-Mal in the background, and they jump through the portal to find themselves instantly all the way back at the World Eater's cave. Hoplite elite guards swarm the area, and Captain Latrass himself stands atop the massive machine. Things look dire, and the machine can be heard powering up. They're almost out of time.
Fowler paints them all disguises, which of course act as perfect illusions, even making the giant Ramutaph appear a properly-proportioned Hoplite warrior. They start to approach, looking for an opening, and wondering how to disable the machine without calling attention.

At just that moment, an explosion rocks the cavern and Nel Am Ro makes a sudden appearance. Alongside the other gangsters, the giant Bayez bursts from the new hole in the cavern wall roaring like a beast and spear-wielding Hoplites swarm over him like bugs, but he simply shrugs them off, throwing them across the cavern and slaughtering them en masse. He's in a fury, and the group notices Saskia missing in the charge -- they'd later find out she had succumbed to her injuries, which is why Bayez, with nothing left to lose, decided to front this suicidal charge.
The distraction is all the party needed. They move in close, face off with a few lingering (and very elite) guards who haven't been drawn away from the machine, and Fowler paints a hole in the side of the machine, easily gaining access through half a foot of solid metal. The brush has accomplished its purpose.

>>3105130
In case you missed it, Arb, I was wondering how you got all the folks involved informed about the world. >>3105046

>>3105146
I'll get to that after the main story's done.

The party climbs into its huge guts and Ket unloads the Handcannon right into the core of the machine. It begins to buckle and roar, and the party makes a quick escape, retreating to a nearby ledge to survey their handiwork. The World Eater is shaking and roaring, and while the Hoplites are in disarray fighting off the gang, Ingenia acrobatically makes his way to the top of the machine to confront Latrass.
Nel Am Ro saw the Hoplites as a challenge to their power, and the Hoplites saw Nel Am Ro as a threat to their scheme of domination.

Ingenia confronts Captain Latrass with an uncommon passion in his normally-placid manner. Latrass wears ancient legendary armor that is said to be invulnerable, and shows no fear. As the two duel atop the buckling machine, Latrass taunts that it's too late to stop what he's started. His noble past and glorious legacy will live on.
Ingenia retorts that he IS Latrass's legacy.
"This is for what you did to my mother."

Surprise -- Latrass is Ingenia's rapist father! Ingenia tackles him and the two tumble off the front of the machine towards the smoking, spinning interlocked drills that adorn the Aughra-Mal's burrowing face. Ingenia vaults off Latrass's chest to safety, sending the captain into the grinding mass of metal. His armor stays in one piece but it crushes him alive, as it bends from the impossible force instead of breaking, and the Captain becomes a mass of gore wedged in the machinery. The core finally ruptures completely, the drills fall apart, and the machine is reduced to scrap metal.

>>3105170
Wow, you actually made a "I'M YOUR FATHER" work.

Rispek knuckles

Nel Am Ro makes their escape, and the party has made their victory, but Bayez was killed in his suicide charge.
To the chagrin of the players, the Hoplite Elite guards still alive rally together, demanding that though their captain is dead, his plans must be carried to fruition. They'll siege The Hollow and kill off the Throtts the old-fashioned way if they have to, without the Aughra Mal.

Though the Throtts are a powerful race, the Hoplites are numerous, proficiently-trained and well-equipped, and have preparation on their side. If the Throtts are caught unaware, they may indeed be wiped out. The party must make their way to The Hollow and warn the Throtts while there's still time.

Cut ahead some time to their journey through the underground, and at last the six of them arrive at The Hollow. It is an impossibly-huge cavern full of standing cliffs, subterranean hills and plateaus, and lit by glowing clusters of crystal and distant basket-torches. The home of the Throtts lies before them. The final showdown with the Hoplites is approaching.

Why not use the Storyteller's Brush to wipe out the hoplites

And/or other godly things

>>3105206
>Why not use the Storyteller's Brush to wipe out the hoplites
For one, it's not quite as easy as that. It's more like Harold's Purple Crayon than something that just outright grants wishes.
Plus, it had limited paint.

Nel Am Ro comes upon the party before they set into the city itself, and to the group's relief, they come in peace. Torriq is obviously none too pleased with the decision, as he harbors a deep grudge against the group, but Ingenia tells them that the remaining four gang members are willing to join forces with the players to fend off the Hoplites. For spite of Latrass and his legacy, hatred of the corrupt guard, and perhaps even some buried desire to do some good before the end. Who knows!

They descend into the xenophobic and hostile depths of the Hollow and are confronted by local guards. Ramutaph, a high priest, holds some clout here, and manages to convince the citizens to at least hear them out. Unsure whether to believe the outsiders and prepare the entire city for war, they agree only the King is capable of making a decision like this.

The "King" is Arkos, a fallen god.
He was a child of the Creation God, but when he tried to rise against him he was struck down and cursed. He'd been mentioned before, so walking into the sealed cave and confronting the horrible figure that had been welded to its own throne was something like coming face to face with the bogeyman.

>>3105196
I am confused as to the drowned god noche's reasons for saving Nel Am Ro, the PCs helped him, Nel Am Ro are d-bags.
I'm surprised he didn't help the PCs kill some mofos. it would have been neat for a ton of Hoplites to get drowned when getting places in the Underground.

After an unsettling confrontation, Arkos commands the city to mobilize and prepare for war. The Throtts celebrate the coming bloodshed. They have only three days to prepare.
Nel Am Ro is true to their word and stay, preparing for the battle. Armor and weapons are churned out, sparring happens on a rigorous basis, throughout the day (underground means no sunrise/sunset, just eternal torchlight).
The day of battle arrives, and the players are decked out in the best equipment the city can afford, for free. Sure enough, the Hoplites come and the battle is on.

What followed was the biggest, most chaotic and violent battle I've ever run. Fowler ran into battle with the Storyteller's Brush, renewed with some paint he'd been able to produce, waving red lines and cleaving soldiers neatly in half. Ket charged with the handcannon, blowing massive holes in the opposition. Hadalo and Notan were encased in massive armored suits and carrying equally-massive weaponry, plowing through enemies like a bulldozer. Kiyo was a flurry of blades and throwing daggers, turning Hoplites into pincushions. Ramutaph charged in with an axe and her claws, RIPPING AND TEARING. Nel Am Ro and the Thrott forces joined them in clashing with what was essentially the ENTIRE guard of the underground, well-trained and well-armed. It was a vicious, bloody battle, but in the end, the Throtts were the victors. The Hoplites were broken and defeated, and would never recover from the victory. It marked the end of the corrupt guards.
But again, it was not a black-and-white victory: the Throtts WERE a violently-disposed society, and though the Hoplites were corrupt, they acted as guards and peacekeepers for numerous settlements. But given everything that had happened, the party believed they had made the right choice.

>>3105239
Cool idea, I had the idea of having Undead lich type nobles in buried forts sitting in thrones that allow them to control/create undead within the forts, but they are just fragile bones unable to defend themselves or even move. Sort of like a Super AI computer deal. Maybe they sacrificed themselves underground to defend a certain patch of ground above them, their consciousness projected through any dead beings.
Like the idea, wonder where the immobile, vast power/consciousness thing came from.

>>3105100
Holy shit, fucking ace Terranigma ghost town reference!

Three of the four members of Nel Am Ro confront the heavily-wounded party on the battlefield when the fighting ends. Gemmon had been lost during the fray.
Ingenia says his goodbye to the group -- their business has concluded. Torriq, on the other hand, is incredulous. He wants blood. He demands satisfaction. But Ingenia will not have it, for there is no profit in revenge.
Torriq snaps. Ingenia holds up his hand to stop him from proceeding, and in a flash, Torriq cuts it off at the forearm. Horas stands silently behind them, watching this unfold. Torriq demands Ingenia is weak, and he should have usurped him long ago. Ingenia calls Torriq an insolent pup. Torriq has speed on his side, slashes Ingenia up a bit, and Ingenia draws his greatsword. He catches Torriq's blade in the bone of his half-severed arm, and fighting off the excruciating pain, uses the opening to give Torriq one powerful blow, chopping through his neck and into his chest in a gout of blood. Both of them die.

One-eyed Horas is bleeding through the bandages of his face. He opens his cloak to reveal two arrows buried in his chest. He bids the group a quiet farewell, and thanks them for showing him there is a kind of beauty in the world, even for a monster like him. He turns, takes a few steps, then kneels slowly and slumps into the dust.

Tears were shed by characters and players. I know it may sound a bit heavy-handed now, but at the time we were seriously attached to those characters and had come to see the humanity in some of them, especially Horas.

The theme for this scene was "How it Ends".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbZM6ZSlvvY

>>3105310

The guys may not be a world-class artist, but he sounds like a world-class DM.

And go tell /co/ that cartoonish art shouldn't be used to tell a serious story.

So, with the Hoplites vanquished and Nel Am Ro all dead, this chapter of their story comes to a close. A massive several-day celebration is held in honor of the heroes, much savage but enjoyable revelry is had, and the players are all presented with the highest honors of Thrott society. A choir of Thrott children sing, the sound of drums fills The Hollow, and everyone gets incredibly fucking drunk.

Ramutaph, who was heavily injured in the battle, is on her way to a full recovery. campaign finally winds down and closure is given.
Ket, with an "I'm too old for this shit" smile can't wait to get back to his home village and just go back to a normal life.
Kiyo and Hadalo have come to realize they love adventure too much to settle down and will go seek out more of what life has to offer. Their place will always be with each other.
Notan is flush with accomplishment but still seeks to find himself (understandable, given his history), and considers wandering the spheres to search for meaning.
Ramutaph has decided after much deliberation to stay in The Hollow with her people. She tears up for the first time in almost two years (real time) and says she loves them and will miss them all terribly. Bear hugs ensue.
Fowler -- who has realized over the course of the campaign that he's in love with Ramutaph (I didn't plan or force this, I swear, he just fell for the giant snake-slug lady), makes up his mind as well: he's staying with her in The Hollow so they can be together.

They share a toast.
To life.
To adventure.
To fate.
To everything they've been through.
And to everything life still has to offer them.

~The End~

Nice ride

>>3105310
>that art just not cutting it.
The art I've been posting was drawn either by me, or by my players -- they've all contributed to the pieces you see in this thread.
Since the story is all text, art isn't a huge impact on it. Essentially, it was just fanart we'd do of our own campaign to illustrate particular characters or scenes.
The character designs not being grimdark enough certainly didn't detract from the mood of the game, and we had a blast whether any given scene was intense and serious or lighthearted and silly.
Besides, I really don't think most of this art is all that bad, I mean save for some of the quick sketches.

>>3105046
>I would like to know how well you did with getting the players to know all the fluff.
Honestly, my players impressed me at every turn. Between sessions I'd talk about the lore of the world and they'd ask questions or ask for stories, so it was great to know they liked it as much as I did. For their credit, they picked up on everything incredibly well. They memorized names and terms and connotations, recognized racial and social trends, played into the world's setting, and even ended up using the various sayings and slang I'd added to the world in their character's casual conversation. I couldn't have done this without my players, and while this all seems like one big GM story, it's really thanks to my dedicated and admirable players this story went anywhere. I owe any success to them.

Phew. Took a while.
I want to thank everyone for their encouragement and patience, and just for having the ability to sit and read through all this. You've really made me smile. Thanks, /tg/. You're awesome.

I'm going to go make myself some breakfast. If anyone has any questions or things they want to hear -- about this campaign arc (or others), the world itself, any of the characters, the art, the players, whatever. I'd be glad to answer any and all questions.

Though if you'll indulge me, I'd like to ask some questions for anyone who managed to read through it all. If you have a favorite part, NPC, PC, race, or really anything at all like that, I'd like to hear what it is. Just for curiosity's sake.

Thanks again for bearing with me, /tg/. Hope it was worth the wait.

>>3105381
I'd certainly love to hear more about the world. Not the big cosmology stuff, more like locations, cultures and so on.

It'd be great if you made an article on 1d4chan about it.

>>3105310
Well, come on now. Seeing as how it's a homebrew setting, it's not like you have professional artists and paid illustrators to fill in the visual details like you do with worldbooks and established settings. Just a couple guys with photoshop doing what they can between sessions.

>>3103528

I'd say Asogan or Antaure for myself. I like fightan and sneakan races.

Also;
>>3105300

Manly tears.

A favorite part...maybe when the indestructible armor just bent and the man inside, the rapist father Knight-Templar Latrass, got turned into creamed corn.
That was pretty badass.

I would say one of my least favorite parts was the dream rivers or w/e. That is only because I generally dislike it when unconsciousness is forced on a group to move them to another setting or whatever.

Is OP asleep now? I wouldn't begrudge it, but more is in order.

Motherfucking bump.

>>3105509

SORCE.

>>3105513
Batman R.I.P.

Morrison's entire run is pretty much like that.

brb, Bat-Radia transmission.

Still awake, still here. Just had to get breakfast.

>>3105389
Okay. Seeing as how this world's been about three years in the making, and that it's quicker to think this stuff up than play it out, there's shitloads of stuff to go through. Anything in particular you'd like to hear about?

Also, since I've posted the other two, here's the map of the third sphere, the surface world.

>>3105583
Uhm, just tell us a myth from your world. Or maybe give us some more info on one of the races.

lol spore

Racial creation myths, then:

The Antaure were created by the Gods of Mischief and Madness, completely by accident. As a result, they've never had anything given to them, and had to struggle to survive. They're notorious as brigands and thieves, but have a fierce sense of loyalty and determination, and will do whatever it takes to survive as a whole.

The Yaga were tested as a race when the very first Yaga completed a rite of passage designed by the gods themselves, a physical test of endurance, dexterity, and power that would determine whether or not the race would be allowed to exist. As a result, Yaga were once focused on strength and physical prowess, but many claim they have forgotten their way and have become a society more focused on social, emotional, and philosophical interaction -- life-loving bohemians who look down on their old ways as somewhat barbaric.

The Dev were born from the goddess of nature, and as such hold her in the highest reverence. They have a deep respect for the natural world and are closely bound to its workings. They are highly spiritual warriors, druids, shamans and hunters who live off the land and worship its wonders.

Olympians were spawned from Perogra, one of the three Fallen Gods -- children of the Creation God who turned away from Him and were thereafter cast down. They live primarily around and across the gargantuan mountain Mons, the peak of which is said to hold Perogra herself. They follow her teachings of intellectual challenge and devote themselves as scientists, alchemists, philosophers, and writers. They have some of the foremost technology in the world, and defend their God's fall from grace as unjust, claiming her only sin was the pursuit of knowledge.

Dwerms were created by Arkos when he was still in full power, but eventually forsook him when he planned against the god of creation and tried to lead them as an army against Him. Legend holds that they are responsible for the majority of the underground's creation, carving out tunnels and caves in which to build cities, mines, and workshops. They are looked down on by other races as base, but they hold a strong sense of brotherhood and never betray a friend.

Throtts were not created by a god, but are said to have spawned from the murky waters of the underground itself. They are vicious and violent, delighting in the simple pleasures of combat and eschewing morality and charity as foolish and dangerous artificial values. They have since taken a surrogate leader in Arkos, who rules from his ruined throne at the center of The Hollow, which the Throtts have made their home.

Legend holds that Lomites were once a singular, almost godlike being, the Loei. But as other gods became jealous of its power and fearful that it may one day usurp the heavens, it was struck by divine force and split into thousands of pieces. Lomites are viewed by many as suspicious, unintelligent, and untrustworthy, but their philosophies hold love as the single greatest achievement man can attain -- symbolic of a desire to 'reunite' a whole, perhaps.

Petrods were created by the gods as a countermeasure against a veritable army of monstrous beings, and their victory permitted them to exist and flourish as a race. They worship the human form and the power of the individual, believing things like philosophy and science only bring man further away from harmony with nature and draw him into a world of the abnormal and abhorrent, and that the way to true greatness is through the struggle for individual perfection.

The Id were created by the third Fallen God, Barrude, whose sin was hedonism, abusing and overindulging in the physical pleasures of the world, devouring it while giving nothing in return. They're an incredibly simple people who are surprisingly physically formidable despite a very underdeveloped mind. Some Id are said to have strange mental powers despite their apparent idiocy. They band together in clans and take a simple philosophy of survival.

Pereki are said to be the manifested forms of lost spirits, having been manifested suddenly and spontaneously into existence on their own. Lost and alone, most Pereki inevitably embrace their lack of bonds to the world and set across the lands as adventurers, hunters, and explorers. In the old days, a great nomadic band of Pereki are said to have come across the Fallen God Barrude, and in a world in which they found themselves alone and lost, Barrude's apparent love of life gave them guidance as a race.

The Asoga were created by the god of Creation himself, highly telling of their current status as the most respected and admired race in the world. They are holy warriors, esteemed scholars, and men of faith. Many Asoga study weapon tactics alongside theology, and hold themselves as a sort of moral compass for the world, committed to rooting out evil and corruption in whatever forms it may take.

The Kropians are easily the most mysterious and misunderstood of the races, highly secretive and suspicious of the other races of the world. They develop bizarre technology superior to even the Olympians and will protect their racial secrets to the death. Legends hold they have existed as long as the world itself, and in ways are suspected to be the workers who maintain existence itself behind the scenes, the clockwork keepers of the ticking hands of reality.

>>3105760
>image

You made smut of your worldgen?

Fuck yes, I was hoping you'd post this.

Christ there's a lot

Might as well start reading now.

>>3106088
Not enough, obviously.

>>3106088
It's a tasteful nude. I don't think it really qualifies as smut.

>>3104901
>I can guarantee this story really did happen, and I have hundreds of pages of logs to prove it.

Would it be possible to get my hands on these? I find this campaign to be incredibly fascinating, and would love to take the logs and retype them as a singular story.

I certainly understand your refusing me, but I would highly appreciate it if you'd consider.

>>3106194
While I appreciate that you're interested enough to want countless pages of jumbled, unorganized logs which undoubtedly have parts missing, they also contain personal information and references I'd rather not go throwing around. Besides, if they were ever to be cleaned up, organized, and/or written out as a coherent story, I'd rather be the one to do it myself.
I might be able to grab some excerpts here and there, but the entire collection is so impossibly huge I can barely even search through it for references, and I had to do some wading through the logs just to get the retelling of this campaign accurate.

>>3106088
>You made smut of your worldgen?
Hell yes I have. And I'm not the only one.
There's dozens upon dozens of page of writefaggotry, which unfortunately for reposting purposes was written in the style the game was actually played in (that is, IRC).
Plus, a handful of images. Including the ever-popular Lomite on Asoga action.

>>3106274
It took me a second to realize that's a FEMALE asoga.

>>3105381
Favourit part... The dinner with Nel Am Ro. Horas or Ingenia is my favourite NPC, but I'd have loved to hear more about Gemmon. He didn't get much attention in the story.
I also loved the Havaroska part.

I'd like to know more about the Id, if you have anything. Somehow it feels like there's more to them than just being strong simpletons. Something to do with their rumoured mental powers.

>>3106335
>I'd have loved to hear more about Gemmon.
He was the calm, tactful member who often stepped up to speak for the others, even Ingenia. He had a way with words. During the big cavern fight against the players, at one point he surrendered, then slipped throwing knives down his sleeves and rejoined the fray.

Extra bonus: It later turned up (in the current campaign arc we're playing) that Gemmon IS STILL ALIVE. He escaped the final war, discretion being the better part of valor. They later found him running a somewhat-honest and very successful merchant's post. It was a very awkward reunion. Notan was unmoved, Kiyo almost hugged him just to see him alive, and Hadalo looked like he wanted to punch his face in. He hadn't changed much. But now he was alone.

As for the Id... most of them have some kind of bizarre mental defect which is often reflected in their speech patterns or behavior but ultimately doesn't keep them from functioning mostly-normal on a day-to-day basis.
On the other hand, their defects also have strange side effects. Various Id encountered through the campaigns have demonstrated some capacity in various abilities like lie detection and empathy, puzzle solving, and even some forms of divination.
They're often like a fantasy version of an idiot savant.

>>3106402
Thanks. I'd have loved to take part in this or other campaigns in this setting, it all really seemed to come to life in this story. You've created something great, and it shows, both in your players enthusiasm and in this thread.

bumpan for awesome thread

How about some mythos on how the spheres were created?

Did anyone else think the OP's pic was a pile of crap on top of a book with a drink umbrella sticking out of it?

Sage for off topic.

>>3106574
One creation myth, coming up.
This only details the creation of the surface world and the dream world. The creation of the third sphere, the underground (of the surface world), is covered in >>3105752

And there you have it.

>>3106714
>>3106708
>>3106700
>>3106668
Nice. Now how about some info about the other gods?
I really like this setting.

>>3106714
Wait wait wait, so this world has red stars? And the stars are GOD BLOOD? I AM HARD-PRESSED TO THINK OF ANYTHING MORE HARDCORE

Arbiter:

Go here http://conworlds.info/cwbb/index.php and repost this shit. There are people who do your exact same thing but without RPGan, who would be absolutely fascinated by your world

Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned I was making a game out of this world.

Well technically two games. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Needs more lomites.

>>3106956
>>3106980
Oh fuck. You're a pretty awesome guy, guy.

>>3107131
>Needs more lomites.
okay

>>3107190
Awesome, that's the pic I was hoping someone would post.

>>3106980
>>3106956
TELL US EVERYTHING FOREVER

>>3103427

it looks very...oh what the hells the guys name. the guy that did Invader Zim and Johnny the Homocidal maniac. Love it.

>>3107389
The first one is a sidescrolling action-RPG based on items/XP/exploration, colloquially a "Metroidvania" game. Unlike most in its style, it has towns, NPCs, shops, quests, etc. You play as an Antaure striking out on adventure. In addition to basic sidescrolling hack and slash, it's got extra features like crafting, a bestiary, collections, and so on. Trying to make things distinct by having a lot of variety in items, weapons, and enemies. Death animations a must.

The second one is more freeform, a 2D island-survival game. You play as a Celban, a sub-race of the world (comparable to kobolds maybe). Involves lots of crafting, struggling to survive, and praying to old gods with burnt sacrifices at bone altars.

>>3107409
You're thinking of Vasquez.

>>3107467
What's the name of the game?

First, fucking awesome setting and campaign.

Second, be sure to let /tg/ know when you finish either game. We'll fund it.

>>3107467

Do all Antaure have that bandit mask or what? I don't think I've seen one without it.

>>3107467
Your graphics are so deliciously mspaint.exe.

>>3107502
>What's the name of the game?
It is currently unnamed.

>>3107601
>Your graphics are so deliciously mspaint.exe.
Thank you, that's intentional. In fact, the world was originally designed around the pixellated sprite graphics you see in some of the race charts and so on. If the designs seem cartoonish, it's because they were designed with a sort of SNES aesthetic in mind.

>>3107598
>Do all Antaure have that bandit mask or what?
At the age of 9, all Antaure go through the ritual of Gana Hatsuri, a very secretive and painful initiation into adulthood. Little is known about the ritual to other races, but it involves searing wraps, special extracts, and hot metal plates. The ritual imprints the characteristic black band around the eyes.

It's not a mask.

Where do I get this game?

The name is "Currently Unnamed"? That's an awesome name!

>>3107803
>>It's not a mask.

Oh.

Well, that's incredibly fucking bad ass.

So are Antaure the closest thing to a human in the setting?

So your setting is based after Hero Man? It seems awfully like it.

>>3107814
>Where do I get this game?
Uh. You can't?

>>3107834
YOU SO FUNNY

>>3107814
If you meant the video game, he said it's not done yet. If you meant the gameworld... you haven't been paying attention.

>>3107834

FUCK YES! Thread's still around and the second half of the campaign is posted. Reading now.

>>3107918
Is TheArbiter Richard Callahan in disguise?

>>3107918
>>3108184
I'd really rather you didn't bring in associations outside this thread, if you could.
I'd appreciate it.

>>3108207
hokay.

b - a - m - p - u

>>3108240
Are you expecting something?

>>3108207
anyone else think TITS when they saw this picture?
really looks like a pair of tits on teh right and a single giant tit on the left.

I'm not expecting anything, but this needs to be bumped for anybody just coming in. I wish I was playing in that campaign, it's so wonderful.

I can't help but wonder what this campaign would have been like if it had instead been played by the kind of shitheel furries, munchkins, and assholes we regularly get amusing stories about in "shitty player" threads.
Seriously, I'm imagining how it would have played out differently. And it amuses me.

>>3108284
http://conworlds.info/cwbb/index.php

One of us, one of us, one of us

>>3108417
I took a look. From skimming the threads, the board appears intensely competitive and aggressive, hypercritical, and designed for the sole purpose of one-upsmanship. Everyone's at each other's throats and every thread becomes "anything you can do I can do better" instead of an actual discussion on the ideas presented. That's not really all that appealing to me.

>>3108430
Yeah /tg/ is a lot like that but we have fu... Hey wait you weren't talking about /tg/?

bumpin gaems

I'd really like to see more threads like this.

The game looks graphically similar to Knytt. Cool.

I really liked this, OP.

Personally, my favourite bit was Dipswitch. The lines you posted that he said are great.

I also liked the idea of the Nel Am Ro. They remind me of those two assassins from the Neil Gaiman book... of course I can't remember it now.

Be sure to give us more info/stories/updates on your stuff! It's really cool and unique.

Don't really like being a total dicksucker over the net, but just wanted to say thanks OP for sharing this overview of your campaign. It was a great read and has inspired me to call up a few of my old friends and see if we can't get a tabletop game going again, something I've wanted to do for years but just never felt up to.

>>3108430
A lot of that has to do with newbs and some of the moderation. Most newbies are fucking retarded, and there are several retarded mods. However, once you get past the idiocy, there's quite a few interesting subjects on there.

This was a great read. I was one of the ones who asked you to post it the other day; glad I caught it before it slipped off the board.
A few questions, though. You said this was only one of the arcs you played in this campaign or setting. How many have you played altogether? Are you playing one now? Can you tell us anything about the current campaign, who the BBEG is, that sort of thing?
Also, from the brief synopsis and the art, Fowler is my favorite character. He's totally adorable.