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Vapourware Play-by-post: Anomalous Subsurface Environment (DCC RPG)

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
“Now Hiring” said the sign, Looking for able-bodied, adventurous souls willing to dig in and get their hands dirty. Become an independent contractor for Torg & Sons Salvage Co. Opportunities abound! Profit sharing! Camaraderie! Excitement! Free snacks!”

You remember thinking you’d do anything to get out of that overpriced, rat-infested, tenement in Denethix. So you put your mark on that piece of paper, somebody put a shovel in your hands and you were packed tighter than sardines into a rumble wagon with a score of other hapless dupes just like you. The driver shouted something over the whining turbines about that bumpkin-filled, shit-hole Chelmsfordshire. "Electric Jesus, what a dump!"

Four hours later you all exit the cramped wagon and stretch. The driver barks at you to report for duty at the Muddy Cup with some 'arche-o-logimist' or other, called Harvinius.
”This better be worth it,” you mutter to no-one in particular.

Welcome to The Land of One Thousand Towers.
A Play-by-Post, science-fantasy, gonzo, dungeoncrawl using Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Patrick Wetmore’s Anomalous Subsurface Environment -- Think Thundarr the Barbarian mixed with Zardoz and a dash of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth.

Bring out your level-0s and prepare to die.


Can I play?
There's currently six people, but a couple more couldn't hurt. Send me a private message.

How do I play?

If you’re completely new to DCC RPG read the player’s guide - at least the first section on creating 0-level characters. If you are familiar with the d20 sytem, then some things will be familiar, like ascending Armor Class and successes happening on high dice rolls, etc. DCC RPG is different in several ways though: Spellcasters roll spell checks instead of having a set number of spells per day, magic is wild and unpredictable, and you can burn off ability scores to affect dice rolls.

The game uses the dice roller at www.unseenservant.com. Use campaign ID:397 for your rolls (create a character attached to this game, but don’t bother filling-out a character sheet, chances are characters are going to be dying and you'll be running up to 4 characters to start with, just use your rpgcodex.net username). My advice would be to take full advantage of macros.

Oh my God! That player's guide is hundreds of pages long!?
Yeah, but the vast majority of that is just spell result tables; the game adds complexity as you play it. If you need some quick reference sheets, try some of these fan-made resources made by the DCC RPG community.

How often do I need to post?
I’ll do my best to post once per day. If you take a really long time to declare your character’s actions then the game will move on without you; temporarily becoming some other player’s henchman in effect. You get full control when you come back.

How do I create characters?

Easy. use the 0-level character generator here at www.purplesorcerer.com. Pick Anamolous Subsurface (Wetmore) from the Occupation Source and leave everything else alone. When you have your pdf, take a screen capture or turn it into an image file somehow and post it into the game thread below. Be sure to give each of your jabronies a name and post them as a simple stat-block for easy reference in this format: Name; Class; Initiative; Attack(s) (to-hit and damage); AC; HP; Move; Saves (Fort, Ref, Will); Alignment. Once you get through the character funnel, use this form-fillable character sheet to keep track of your character (whenever anything significant changes, just pm me and I'll update my character tracking spreadsheet).

You might get some wacky results for race and/or occupation like "insect-man nomad" just ignore it and pick whatever you like or roll another occupation randomly from the player's guide pdf. Also if you roll a Moktar, you might have to do some manual editing to get Strength and Agility scores in-line with the class write-up (pm me if you have questions).

What if I really want to play a [fill-in-the-blank-race-class-whatever]
Honestly? Hit refresh and create four new zero-level peons until you get a set of four characters you like. For one, I can’t verify whether or not you reroll a bunch of times anyway. Secondly, stats aren’t the be-all, end-all in DCC RPG. Finally, while I believe randomly generated characters with crappy scores and underwhelming stats can add a lot of flavor and personality, I realize not everyone is like me; do what makes you happy.

Where can I learn more about the setting?
The campaign website on Obsidian Portal is a good start. It will be getting a steady stream of updates as play progresses. The site www.henchmanabuse.blogspot.com is the setting creator’s blog and has tons of session reports and stuff related to ASE.

How do you handle marching order?
If you tell me specifically, I’ll make a note of it and factor that into play. Otherwise, I’ll just pick on the character with the lowest Luck score.

What about replacement characters:
Replacements must be generated randomly like your other 0-level characters. The only difference now is that when you generate four random meatbags you get to pick one of the four to play. This replacement character inherits half of your previous character’s XP.

Are there any House Rules I need to know about?
Just a few, mostly setting-specific stuff like new classes, rules for firearms, and ASE occupations. They are all in the no-art DCC-ASE player’s guide I hacked together, but for quick reference you can check this page.

Aren't you running another PbP game already?
Yeah. Call me a glutton for punishment.
 
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nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
Still Kicking:
ERYFKRAD:

"Borric" the Caravan Guard; Init: 1d20; Short sword +2 Atk (1d6+1); AC:10; HP:5/0; Ref:0, Fort:+1, Will: 0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Born on the battlefiled (Damage rolls -1)
"Borric" the Alchemist; Init: 1d20; Staff -2 Atk (1d4-2); AC:10; HP:4/0; Ref:0, Fort:+1, Will:+1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Survived the Plague (Magical Healing 0)
"Borric" the Barber; Init: 1d20+1; Razor +2 Atk (1d4+2); AC:11; HP:2/0; Ref:+1, Fort:0, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Unholy House (Corruption rolls -1)
"Borric" the Gunsmith; Init: 1d20; Large Pistol +0 Atk (1d6*); AC:10; HP:4/0; Ref:0, Fort:0, Will:-2; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Righteous Hearth (Turn unholy checks 0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Helly:
"Celestin" the Student
; Init: 1d20-1; Fountain pen (as dart) -1 Atk (1d4+1); AC: 9; HP: 1/0; Ref:-1, Fort:0, Will:-1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Birdsong (Number of languages 0)
"Prodigius The Great" the Homesteader; Init: 1d20+1; Hoe (as axe) +0 Atk (1d6); AC: 11; HP: 2/0; Ref:+1, Fort:-1, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: The Broken Star (Fumbles 0)
"Conrad" the Turnip Farmer; Init:1d20+1; Pitchfork (as spear) +0 Atk (1d8); AC:11; HP:2/0; Ref:+1, Fort:0, Will:-1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Lucky Sign (Saving Throws 0)
"Mighty Pete" the Slave; Init: 1d20; Club -2 Atk (1d4-2); AC:10; HP:3/0; Ref:0, Fort:0, Will:-1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Raised by wolves (unarmed attack rolls +1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L'ennui:
"Burt" the Grave Digger; Init: 1d20+1; Shovel (as club) +1 Atk (1d4+1); AC: 11; HP:4/0; Ref:+1, Fort:0, Will:+1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Guardian Angel (Saving throws to escape traps +1)
"Bartholomew Calio" the Halfling Chef; Init: 1d20-1; Cleaver (as axe) +0 Atk (1d6); AC:9, HP:3/0; Ref:-1, Fort:0, Will:-1; MV: 20; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Fortunate Date (missile attack rolls -1)
"Vigo the Younger" the Scribe; Init: 1d20; Dart +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10, HP:2/0; Ref:0, Fort:0, Will:0; MV: 30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Path of the Bear (Melee damage rolls 0)
"Stinky Pete" the Drunkard; Init: 1d20; Dagger +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10, HP:1/0; Ref:0, Fort:-2, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: The Broken Star (Fumbles +1 bonus)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
"Corin Gratien" the Butcher; Init: 1d20-1; Cleaver (as axe) +0 Atk (1d6); AC:9; HP:4/0; Ref:-1, Fort:0, Will:+1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Hawkeye (missile fire damage rolls 0)
"Renard Adalbert" the Smuggler; Init: 1d20; Sling +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10; HP:3/0; Ref:-1, Fort:-1, Will:-1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Lucky Sign (Saving Throws -1)
"Dyrak Mudak" the Moktar Shaman; Init: 1d20; Club +2 (1d4+2); AC:14; HP:10/0; Ref:+1, Fort:+2, Will:0; MV:40, Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Bountiful Harvest (Hit Points at each level)
"Horace Gabin" the Student; Init: 1d20; Fountain Pen (as dart) +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10; HP:2/0; Ref:0, Fort:0, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: The Raging Storm (Spell damage 0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tindrli:
"Tally" the Prostitute; Init: 1d20+1; Dagger +1 Atk (1d4+1); AC:11; HP:4/0; Ref:+1, Fort:+1, Will:+3; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: The Broken Star (Fumbles 0)
"Vrac" the Moktar Shaman; Init: 1d20; Club +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10; HP:10/0; Ref:0, Fort:+1, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign Righteous heart (Turn unholy checks 0)
"Jebac" the Cooper; Init: 1d20; Crowbar (as club) +0 Atk (1d4); AC:10; HP:2/0' Ref:0, Fort:0, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Guardian Angel (Saving throws to escape traps +1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grimgravy:
"Harrah Toppenish" the Radish Farmer; Init:1d20; Pitchfork +1 Atk (1d8+1); AC:10; HP:2/0; Ref:0, Fort:-1, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Harsh Winter (All Attack rolls 0)
"Meycar Oser" the Butcher; Init:1d20-1; Cleaver (as axe) Atk -2 (1d6-2); AC:9; HP:3/0; Ref:-1, Fort:-1, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Liveed through famine (Fortitude Saving Throws (0))
"Kraft" the Cheesmaker; Init:1d20-1; Cudgel +1 (1d4+1); AC:9; HP:3/0; Ref:-1, Fort:+1, Will:-1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Pack Hunter (Attack and damage rolls with cudgel +1)
"Baroda Metamore" the Wizard's Apprentice; Init:1d20; Dagger +0 Atk (1d4); AC:12, HP:3/0; Ref:+1, Fort:+1, Will:+1; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky Sign: Charmed House (Armor Class +1)

Pushing up Daisies:
"Tindrli" the Radish Farmer; Init: 1d20+2; Pitchfork (as spear) -1 Atk (1d8-2); AC: 12; HP:2/0; Ref:+2, Fort:-1, Will:0; MV:30; Alignment: Neutral; Lucky sign: Path of the bear (melee damage rolls -1)

"Bravely did Tindrli the radish farmer charge into the darkened tunnel . . . and right on to a deviously disguised false-floor and the pit below it."
 
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nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
Bits of Lore:
Religion and the gods:

Gods come in every shape size and variety you can imagine in the Land of 1,000 Towers. If you can dream it up it probably exists somewhere here. If you can't dream it up, then I humbly recommend you look at the free "Petty Gods" sourcebook (It is the de facto pantheon for the campaign, but is by no means the last word on gods and patrons).

Orbital Gods:
Otherwise known as the Gods of the Fast Stars or the Sky Gods. These are a pantheistic collection of hundreds of disparate deities who routinely manifest themselves in the “God’s Eyes”

Most of the Sky Gods seem selfish and capricious; their motives inscrutable to the minds of men. Thank goodness then for their faithful servants the priests and clerics to help properly interpret their dictates and decrees.


Church of Science!:
They believe in Science as a literal god, one who performs miracles through normal physical processes. The beggar in the street who lost his arm has been healed through the grace of Science, granted a mechanical substitute. He is now better than human, his arm a symbol of the might of Science, and he proselytizes without end to all who will listen. Those who don’t, are pronounced “Very Unscientific”, and meet the business end of his mechanical arm.

The priests and acolytes of Science wear long white coats as their normal dress, with black gloves covering their hands. Their bodies are covered with intricately patterned tattoos, depicting double-helices, elliptical orbits, and other designs of scientific import. During the rituals of Science, the head priest will stand on stilts, elevating his height to 12 or more feet, hiding the stilts under a ridiculously long white lab coat. He will have his ceremonial safety goggles on as he chants the liturgies: “Dihydrogen monoxide!” and “A squared plus B
squared equals C squared!”
or “Pyridine-3-carboxylic acid!”

Like The Church of Starry Wisdom, the Temple of Science! does not have clerics or priests with divinely granted magic. Instead they dogmatically practice their robotics and seek to perfect human frailties through surgeries and mechanical augmentation.

Church of Starry Wisdom:
Servants of the Crawling Chaos, personified by the soul and messenger of the Outer Gods Nyarlathotep. This cult keeps a low profile in Denethix but does maintain a presence on Temple Street. The Church does not have priests or clerics per se. Instead its devotees seek power through arcane knowledge and count many powerful sorcerers amongst their numbers.

God's Eyes:
Flat panels of translucent glass ranging from the size of a dinner plate in the poorest shrines, to monstrosities, dozens of yards across in the Great Temple. These devices are where the Orbital Gods of the world appear to occasionally dispense their wisdom and directives to the faithful. Typically, manifestations are preceded by priests collecting tithes and the conducting the rite of, "Passing of the gold terces into the slot of sacrifice."

 
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ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,190
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
'ere we go:
DCCset1.png

They'll get a name if they live.
 
Joined
Jul 21, 2015
Messages
751
I rolled my four, but I haven't given them names yet. I'll post their sheet when I get back from work tonight as they need names.
 

tindrli

Arcane
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
4,461
Location
Dragodol
I would like to try it as well. It's a first time ewar for me but anyway I'm in if you all Bros agree.

I will REROLL to death ... dont know why . but still will reroll

I will give names as soon as I get on laptop coz tablets sux

ok, my sheet
rlssRq.png


what else i need to do?

Ok, My 4 misfortuned
Serif "Tindrli" Konjevic
eLT7d8.jpg


Zubejda "Tally" Jahic
FKYZr9.jpg


Rukija "Vrač" Pipal
6JLx2B.jpg


Emir "Jebač" Mesak

7s0v82.jpg
 
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Helly

Translating for brofists
Patron
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
2,176
Location
変態の地獄、Rance様と
Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
BFRkJnY.jpg


Celestin's Journal - First day!

Oh boy! I was reading poems in the house this morning when the master came by and said, smiling and laughing as he always do, that "We'd better be going, right now". I knew it! We're finally taking the holidays I wanted! We were so excited we left in a hurry and forgot many things - the master only took a backpack, some money and his beloved triceratops Crom! I did take my pen collection and my diary, but the master took them away and gave me a hoe instead, saying that he had enough problems with hoes today. Are there many kind of hoes? I'll have to ask him! Still, I'm glad I did manage to hide a pencil!
I wish Conrad and his filthy goat Florette didn't have to come, though. I've always wondered why the master kept him by his side. I mean, he does look quite hardy and gruff, but he isn't THAT strong, and his manners are totally lacking. You know, I saw him and master run away from a misled lawman once: despite being a small man with some embonpoint, the master ran as fast as him!
On the other hand, I'm so glad Pete came ; he is the kindest of man, and I wish the master would remove the old man's manacles sometimes but he told me that he endured way worst and didn't care, and that he had to keep them for his own good so I guess it's fine!
Anyway, Master just told me we're going to the city and we're going to take a wagon! Maybe it will take us to the beach? Wish us luck, journal!
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
*snip*

what else i need to do?

When I get everybody's character sheets, I'll fill in everybody's stat blocks in the "Character" post above. After everybody is good to go, I'll post the introductory scene, then I leave it up to you all to post in-character what your are doing and where you want to go and I tell you what happens afterward. Sometimes I'll ask for dice rolls, but generally that only happens under two conditions: 1. There is a significant chance of failure or 2. The task is relatively routine, but failure would have significant consequences; e.g. walking along a narrow 3 feet wide log bridge crossing a 500 feet deep chasm might be "easy" (like a DC: 3 Agility roll), but if you fuck it up, the consequences will be dire.

I roll attacks and damage "in the open" and only roll secretly for things like random monster checks, listen, search, hide, etc.
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
They'll get a name if they live.
For simplicity's sake they're all named Borric the Guard, Borric the Gunsmith, Borric the Alchemist and Borric the Barber ... presumably they are all brothers born to semi-retarded parents who could only think of one name to give each of them?
;)
 
Joined
Jul 21, 2015
Messages
751
OK, here is my sheet-O-cannon fodder.

Dyrak is a Moktar Shaman, who performed a shamanic ritual in order to garner favor from the sun god during the dead of winter (actually he was playing with matches next to a bale of hay). He quickly decided he would set out on a pilgrimage to learn more about the outside world, at the urge of hundreds of screaming, armed Moktar. He quickly left the village heading towards the nearest human city. While he was looking for some food in his new home, he walked into a cool building with hanging meat. He decided to start eating everything he could, but was stopped by being hit on the head by his own club. When Dyrak awoke, Corin the butcher was standing over him and informed him he would have to work for him for a while to pay for all of the meat he ate without paying. Dyrak worked for a few days for Corin, which turned into weeks and now months. Because Corin wants the best cuts he uses his contact, Renard the smuggler, to "acquire" the best cuts of meat he can use to undersell the competition. Renard usually doesn't have to go far to "acquire" these high quality meats as he can pay street urchins to grab and go at Corin's competition. Horace is a student who is studying foreign cultures. He found Durak while shopping for meat and has decided to interview him about his culture and his beliefs. Horace hasn't been able to gain much insight into the Moktar due to the language barrier and his inability to understand Dyrak.

g0Z4oQF.jpg
 

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Here are my mooks.

Harrah Toppenish: Times are hard. Radishes just don't sell that well. Getting a goose to pull a plow is a right old bitch. Screw this noise! Hmm. Profit sharing sounds good. Sign me up?
Meycar Oser: Times are hard. Sides of beef just aren't intellectually stimulating. Ham hocks are only slightly better. Cutting up animals is too hard and takes too long. Screw this noise! Camaraderie and excitement sound good. Sign me up!
Kraft: Free snacks!
Baroda Metamore: Times are hard. That blowhard is just holding me back. Screw this noise! Opportunites abound, eh? I'll be running this place. And look at these mooks. I bet I can get them to do all the work. Sign me up!

First%20Death.png
 
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ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
28,190
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
They'll get a name if they live.
For simplicity's sake they're all named Borric the Guard, Borric the Gunsmith, Borric the Alchemist and Borric the Barber ... presumably they are all brothers born to semi-retarded parents who could only think of one name to give each of them?
;)
Could I change that later once I have the backstories all fleshed out?
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090

tindrli

Arcane
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
4,461
Location
Dragodol
ok i think im ready... aaand as usual when you expect to have a time something happens.. so tomorrow i will be on business trip for like whole day and will get home around 9 P.M UTC/GMT +1
 

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