"Do you know what a hero is child?"

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The easiest way I have to give you a one-liner feel for this story is to say it will be “a Low Fantasy, Steampunk, Shadowrun spin off”. The group of characters will be a team of skilled "entrepreneurs" with slight to drastic criminal leanings, caught up in a series of events that are far more consequential to the city of Ramsgate than the characters expect.

The entire story will take place mostly in and at times around Ramsgate, the city pictured below.




If there is enough interest shown here I will put together more information into a thread in order to allow for a character submission and approval process. Below I have listed some of the major take away points that will hopefully answer most of your questions. If more are posed I will edit the answers in here, check back often if you have questions. I would like to keep this an interest check thread and if enough interest is shown I will create an OOC so we can talk in depth plot points, history, and background.



1. The party and or characters are not connected to the above vignette and do not have to be (can be if you want). That was just to give you a little taste of the world. There is a story in the works that does not have to directly involve the characters in those little pieces of fluff I wrote. Those were just to cast a line and see if I could hook anyone.

2. This is an apocalyptic world, wars, famine, poverty, sinister plots, and much more are common place. There is very little light at the end of the tunnel for the common person. Day to day grinding for a living is what is in store for most, a life of crime, guided by a patron or not is another alternative. The world is a mess and there will be more on that backstory if there is enough interest. Suffice it to say, as bad as things are in the lowest parts of Ironwood Hill and the Golgone slums they are far better than being outside the walls of a city like Ramsgate.

3. Power sources.

• a. Magic; without getting into the nitty gritty yet I can say it is a tightly controlled "commodity" held by the powerful only, in theory. In practice thriving black markets related to all things magical thrive and come into conflict with the powers that be.
• b. Technology, in the form of "steampunk"... brass, leather, tin, copper, gears, cogs, sprockets, chains, airships, goggles, and all things steampunk. Again without delving deep into the details the primary sources of power are steam and Aether. If you need a crash course Click Here
• c. Electro-elemental; in a world where a mage can call down the power of the elements into his or her hands it takes little time for an enterprising person to attempt to harness that power with the technology that exists. This is high-tech Marty McFly hover board level stuff. While 98% of technomancers, gadgeteers, tinkerers, and enginseers deal with traditional steam or Aether power sources and normal mechanical means, the other 2% work with mages, legitimately and illegitimately, to power their devices with bold and dangerous electro-elemental power.

4. All kinds of political, religious, racial, and philosophical groups exists. Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, beast-men, ogres, trolls, goblins, naga, avians and half breeds of all manner fill Ramsgate. Despite all of this, keep in mind I am keeping it lower fantasy; there should be no "supernatural" (you know what I mean) beings, I'll save those for some of the antagonists. While it is diverse racially, there is just as much tension and outright hate as there is reconciliation and partnership.

5. Politically and religiously the city is ruled from the Obsidian Halls on the High City Hill or Black Glass Manor. Despite this rule by Nobility numerous gangs, merchant lords, guilds, militias, theocratic movements, racial movement groups, councils, and fiefdoms all maneuver and power play constantly within the city. No matter how hard a character tries to stay out of the plays at hand there are just too many moving pieces to avoiding being caught up. As far as religions go, you name it and someone in Ramsgate probably worships it.

6. Computational analog engines are capable of doing amazing things in this world. They are also so massive, archaic, and immensely complex, that only the rich and powerful can afford to fund their meticulous care and use. Technology like airships, full replacement clockwork limbs, electro-elemental weapons (read: guns), airships, mechanical creatures, and automatons are all rare, powerful, and out of your grasp as characters for the moment. You'll have lower level versions... perhaps. Steampunk versions of "cyberware" (I told you this was a Shadowrun spin off, I make no apologies) called clickware or cogware are available at varying degrees of cost (money and spirit) and legality. Click Here if you need examples of what clickware or cogware can be, just keep in mind you will have to turn the items in the link from shiny cyberware into clockwork gizmos that fit this setting and pass my say so. The link is an idea primer, not canon.

7. The story will take place primarily in and sometimes around Ramsgate. I want to focus on the city and how events take place within it, there won't be a sojourn very far outside the city at all. The plot will center around the team of characters that are contracted out for various work (in somewhat episodic fashion). At first these jobs will seem unconnected but a larger plot will be reveled concerning a very nasty invasion force that is marching it's way North and conquering everything in its path. The missions the characters take and the ways in which they complete them will effect a final "scene" when the siege of Ramsgate takes place. The characters may end up being saviors or ravengers of the city and may not even be aware of which until it's too late.

8. You are free to go about everything as you wish as a character, that being said the main plot is centered on a group of characters that form a team of "criminals for hire" called Runners by those that approve of their work and Gutter Runners or just Rats by those that disapprove of the profession. So with that in mind, the story turns out better if everyone works within something at least resembling a loose confederation if not a tight-knit group. Going solo may work for awhile if you are good but chances are death will visit your character much more quickly than the others.

9. Typically a group of Runners is made of the dredges of society that, for whatever reason, do not or cannot be a part of the normal day-to-day life of Ramsgate. Criminals, debtors, those being hunted, the marginalized, discriminated against, poor, abandoned, or cast off are the type that turn to the Runner profession. These can be people with various skill sets and all different kinds of backgrounds, except the nobility in most cases. A normal Runner team consists of (but is not required to have) a charismatic leader, negotiator, and con-artist type serving as a groups "face". A face interacts directly with clients or their representatives with or without the input of the rest of the runners (really up to the group dynamic), they may have just enough street savvy, connections, or social graces that they can get by where their criminal brothers and sisters cannot. You can have all types of others in a Runner team; fighters, bruisers, tanks, enforcers, healers, mages, tinkerers, enginseers, occultists, warriors, scouts, infiltrators, assassins, gangers, alchemists, etc, etc or any combination there of, obviously within reasonable limits that create dynamic, flawed, diverse, and useful characters.

This team will be presented with numerous options for employment, taking an executing jobs as they see fit, living or dying by their choices, and overall becoming caught up in something much more important than any of the could have imagined. There is an overall plot that the characters will be swept up in eventually but it will be up to you all as to how you go about that and what direction your characters take. I am here to provide the left and right lateral limits of the plot, present you with the world and its options, and play a character or two.

Hmm...I'd be interested.

Slight Interest, will be waiting for updates.

Interesting, but what will the characters be doing?
I take it they'll be residents of Ramsgate, but what will be doing? Is there going to be some sort of plot they all fall into or is it more like everyone has their own stories and they interact in some way?

@FiroIV, Please see the recently added point number 7 in OP. Hope that will help, I am not trying to give too much up concerning plot elements yet.

@Heavy it helped very much. So all in all we are freelance agents.

You piqued my interest, so far.

@Spencer Glad it caught your attention, hope I can keep it.

@FiroIV Yes you are free to go about everything as you wish, that being said the main plot is centered on a group of characters that form a team of "criminals for hire" called Runners by those that approve of their work and Gutter Runners or just Rats by those that disapprove of the profession. So with that in mind, the story turns out better if everyone works within something at least resembling a loose confederation if not a tight-knit group. Typically a group of Runners is made of the dredges of society that, for whatever reason, do not or cannot be a part of the normal day-to-day life of Ramsgate. Criminals, debtors, those being hunted, the marginalized, discriminated against, poor, abandoned, or cast off are the type that turn to the Runner profession. These can be people with various skill sets and all different kinds of backgrounds, except the nobility in most cases.

A normal Runner team consists of (but is not required to have) a charismatic leader, negotiator, and con-artist type serving as a groups "face". A face interacts directly with clients or their representatives with or without the input of the rest of the runners (really up to the group dynamic), they may have just enough street savvy, connections, or social graces that they can get by where their criminal brothers and sisters cannot. You can have all types of others in a Runner team; fighters, bruisers, tanks, enforcers, healers, mages, tinkerers, enginseers, occultists, warriors, scouts, infiltrators, assassins, gangers, alchemists, etc, etc or any combination there of, obviously within reasonable limits that create dynamic, flawed, diverse, and useful characters.

This team will be presented with numerous options for employment, taking an executing jobs as they see fit, living or dying by their choices, and overall becoming caught up in something much more important than any of the could have imagined. There is an overall plot that the characters will be swept up in eventually but it will be up to you all as to how you go about that and what direction your characters take. I am here to provide the left and right lateral limits of the plot, present you with the world and its options, and play a character or two.

*As a note, most of this has now been copied and pasted as points number 8 and 9 in the OP.

@Sovi3t Happy you are interested any questions or input? There have been updates that may help, particularly numbers 7, 8, and 9 in the OP and the Ramsgate infograph.

@BantlingBee Anything you would like to see or not see? Thanks for stopping by.

Seeing as that we have 4 people (5-6 with the Character or two I will insert into the group) I feel as though I would be comfortable beginning a thread to carry the discussion further. If I can get a confirmation from those that may still be interested I'll start that up as soon as I can.

Would a magician/con-man/snake-oils salesman fit into this world? I'm familiar with Shadowrun and know that while it is very sci-fi you can do lots of powerful things with magic. While I'm interested either way, I'm asking what would be considered the very edge of what's feasible with magic? I don't ask out of trying to exploit or min-max but rather so I don't over-step.

@Arcanaut Good question. Short answer, yes he or she would fit in and could probably do well as a face for the group.

Long answer... Without going deep into the depths of magic in an interest check (if I can keep all of the interested parties so far I will create a thread with more info) I can tell you that magic in Ramsgate will be similar to magic in Shadowrun (like I said its a straight spin off) with some notable exceptions. All the concepts carry over, Sorcery, Arcana, Essence, Lodges, Drain, Ritual, and the Astral World, with the following exceptions.

Conjuring is a tightly controlled and restricted discipline, so much so that most people outside the High City Hill and the Obsidian Halls caught practicing it are legally killed on sight by mage and or spirit hunters. Even those within the upper echelons of society that practice without a writ from a sanctioning body will be punished severely. There is a deeply bred fear of spirits in this world, a nigh apocalyptic planer war involving spirits nearly obliterated all civilization (or so the powers that be say), so even in commoners and runners there is a deep unease about conjuring.

Like traditional Shadowrun manna flows less in rivers and steams and more like waves or currents, but in this age those tides are waning. In some places those currents are still strong and in those places the rich and powerful nobility ensconce themselves and turn what manna remains into a commodity, one that they control access to. There is still enough manna out there and the world is still "Awakened" enough that a disciplined gutter mage can still amass some serious power but as with all things power draws power and that attention is more often than not violent and unfriendly.

More will be explained in an upcoming Thread. I feel (if everyone decides to stick around) that this could launch.

TO ALL: The Ramsgate infograph picture was uploaded to the OP to give a little more location info about the city. More will come in the Thread, I hope to post it by Thursday/Friday time frame.

@Heavy I'm not familiar with Shadowrun so will it be necessary for me to know about it to participate in the RP?

Are you still accepting interest?

@Blue Demon Yes, appreciate you stopping by.

I am happy with the level of interest expressed so far, including you Blue Demon, as long as a majority of those previously mentioning interest stick around there should be enough to move things along. I will be working a thread for further OOC talk and character generation, I plan on that being up Thursday or Friday night (U.S. EST).

Once I have the bones of it all in place and a CS format I'll post the thread, that way you guys can get in there and start spit balling characters and ideas as I keep adding in the finer details to the bones.

@FiroIV No worries. It is all conceptual for the most part.

I won't be using any strict mechanics from the game, we wont be using build points to generate characters or anything like that. The big things like the magic system, tech system, etc. etc. I will explain in the thread OOC with enough detail that you won't have to brush up on Shadowrun, it will all be in the upcoming thread (which will take me some time to post). I'll also link to some Shadowrun stuff and fluff like I did in the OP so it can give you guys a primer for ideas to work with but not a strict "it must be this way" rigidity.

In short, though this is a Shadowrun spin off, no previous knowledge of Shadowrun is needed to enjoy.

And for tonight, I am done. Thanks again to everyone for showing interest, thread due Thursday or Friday... I'll link it here and in OP when it is done.

@Blue Demon, @FiroIV, @Arcanaut, @Spencer, @Sovi3t, @BantlingBee

I have posted the thread Here.

It is still a heavy WIP, the only thing that should be new to all of you will be the character sheet hider. In that hider you will all find the format for the character sheet submissions, feel free to brainstorm, create, or pose questions. Don't worry about posting a character sheet before I post all the reference info (shooting for Saturday or Sunday) you will be free to edit away if something doesn't fit.

I wanted to get this thread up because you were all kind enough to show interest and I did not want to leave anyone in the wind. Please feel free to jump into the OOC, bring up questions and suggestions, and put together character ideas.