The Gaming Den

It Ends in Darkness

To put things in perspective from the standpoint of modern Europeans and Americans, the action takes place just a bit north of El Ciudad de Mexico in a bit after the year 900 CE. Steel or even primitive iron is simply unknown. There are no horses, nor are there horse-related creatures of any kind. Wheels are used quite frequently as toys for children, but are in no way used for the purposes of hauling freight. This is one of the few places on earth where gem cutting is known (you impregnate a string with diamond dust). Concrete formulation is at or beyond the Roman level, which means that building construction technology is as good as it gets for over 900 years.in any direction.

Materials science is more advanced here than it is anywhere else in the world - except for the extremely notable exception of metalworking, which is nearly absent. Synthetic stone, wood hardening treatments, tanning, textiles, etc. are really advanced. The great capitol of Teotihuacan houses about a million people and Here's what it looks like 1000 years later:

At this time, however, it's all in one piece. Those streets are filled with people, the temples are in use every day, and the markets are heaped with produce from as far as the Andes.

Fantasy Elements:
Mayan and Aztec gods are real. If you die, you'll end up in Mictlan being tortured by the Demon Lord of Earthquakes for a period unless you are killed in battle, childbirth, or ritually sent to the gods by a priest.

There are exactly two playable races: humans and halflings.

...more later...

-Username17

Did either the Aztects or Mayas have enforced polygamy like the Incas did?

I'm not really familiar with Incan marriage rites, but the Aztecs and Mayans didn't exactly have polygamy at all. You have exactly one prearranged spouse who is chosen by your family some time after you turn 20. You are expected to have children with them, and they are the only person with whom you go to the numerous rituals with.

In addition, if you decide that you've fallen in love with someone, you are allowed to sleep with them, and those children are considered OK as well. So it's not that the society recognizes polygamy, it's that adultery is officially sanctioned and discussed openly.

-Username17

How much of that reflects only the upper tiers of society?

I ask because Western anthropologits have been notoriously bad at accurately describing sociological differences in caste systems. Beyond the obvious ones, that is.

Sorry if I'm getting too OT.

Are those halflings the standard PHB halflings?

MrWaeseL at [unixtime wrote:1119357235[/unixtime]]Are those halflings the standard PHB halflings?

Yes.

-Username17

How will we handle dice rolling?

What are the halflings like culturally? Just like the humans? Do they live in the same cities/areas? Do they have the same level of technology/deities/social rites/etc as the humans?

MrW wrote:How will we handle dice rolling?

With a dicebot that logs our rolls, I suppose.

Anyone knows of a good one? What about the dicebot used in LotXC?

Kirin_Corrigan at [unixtime wrote:1119567305[/unixtime]]

MrW wrote:How will we handle dice rolling?

With a dicebot that logs our rolls, I suppose.

Anyone knows of a good one? What about the dicebot used in LotXC?

Funny you should mention it. That site (http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/rolldata.asp) appears to be down for the moment.

www.invisiblecastle.com

Do halfling acid flasks deal 1d4 damage?

Am I allowed to use rogue bonus feat cheese?

Can I use the first halfling rogue racial substitution level from races of the wild? (You get +1d6 ranged SA and -1d6 melee SA)

MRWaesel wrote:Do halfling acid flasks deal 1d4 damage?

I hope not! The 3.5 weapon size rules were the worst piece of garbage ever put on paper by anyone who wasn't involved in the production of Fatal. But according to the 3.5 rules as written, Halflings still do full damage with acid flasks.

Technically an Acid Flask is not a weapon, it's a piece of non-weapon equipment which can be thrown as if it were a ranged weapon. Not a size-specific ranged weapon, just a generic one. That means that anyone who can lift an acid flask can throw it for the same damage at the same range without penalty.

MRW wrote:Am I allowed to use rogue bonus feat cheese?

Sure.

MRW wrote:Can I use the first halfling rogue racial substitution level from races of the wild? (You get +1d6 ranged SA and -1d6 melee SA)

Since the goal is to use 3.5 for some reason, I can't get myself worked up over stuff like that. Sure, go ahead and use the racial substitution level if you want. Other people seem to want to use obscure FR material for goodness sake.

The only advantage that 3.5 has ever brought is that there is an astoundingly large amount of material. It's lack of editting staff has allowed a new hardcover book to come out of the factory every two weeks. If something's in the rules and not in an infinite loop, I am probably going to allow it.

-Username17

I just got back from an emergency visit down south.

Anyway ... how are things going with the game planning? Is there still a common interest?

Frank and ??? = DM's?

DBB, Wrenfield, ???, ???, ???, and ??? = Players?

I am more than willing to help pick things up here. Pace-wise that is. "It Ends in Darkness" sounds like a lot of fun!

The character creation thread in over in In the Trenches.

Anyone know of a good resource (book/site) for 900's Mexico?

About the horses, has noone ever gated in a fiendish horse? Aren't there unicorns? And about the metal, can people not simply conjure that up?

MrWaeseL at [unixtime wrote:1120594412[/unixtime]]About the horses, has noone ever gated in a fiendish horse? Aren't there unicorns? And about the metal, can people not simply conjure that up?

That reminds me .... it looks like DBB's Druid and my Cleric will be using both SM and SNA spells.

So there may be a revised summons list to reflect Mexican culture stuff. When I get time, I'll fiddle with the SM spells to put more Celestial templated "Aztec/Incan/Mayan" type creatures in place of non-appropriate creatures.

No. There are no horses. There are no Unicorns, and no equines of any kind. The planes are a little bit funky, in that they are literally above and below the normal ones. So the only way you could get a fiendish horse is by going all the way to Africa and then planeshifting from there.

-Username17

So I was gone for a while. Can someone fill me in on what this is about?

"Why don't we play a game?" "Okay"

"Which setting?"

"What level?"

"Sure, we can play at that level, but there are some problems..."

"Yeah, I was thinking of playing a half-elf necromancer dwarf vampire with a really big sword. 's cool?"

Thanks, Mr. Weasel!

Sounds fun. Did it ever get started?

It's still underway.

So, what needs to happen to make this game a reality?

2 things:

1. People need to put the finishing touches on their characters. Since the finishing touches don't include equipment, this should be pretty easy.

2. Everyone needs to make their background knowledge checks. Remember, the knowledges we are using are:

Knowledge Arcana
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge Geography
Knowledge History

If everyone could give me a result on a sigle knowledge skill check for each of those four, I can start writing out the background materials that everybody knows.

3. Having seen everyone who is participating's background knowledge checks and character profile, I need to give everyone their equipment lists and put everyone in the city of Teotihuacan.

-Username17