Apr 2, 2021 9:54 pm
Introduction
You look around at your companions and see something in their eyes that you’ve never seen before... fear.
A few hours ago the Warriors, along with representatives from every major criminal outfit in New Amsterdam, made their way to southern Manahatta for a meeting called for by Cyrus the Younger.
Cyrus, the Warlord of the legendary Gramercy Riffs, managed to convince everyone to leave their home turf without weapons or armor. He didn’t want any bad blood leading to trouble. This was too important. Cyrus was the only one capable of making everyone put aside their differences to unite against the oppressive rule of the Kingdom of Nassau.
The humans invaded from across the sea over two centuries ago. They quickly conquered the scattered and divided native tribes of orcs, goblins, gnolls, and other races that they considered "savage monsters." We have been reduced to living in slums and fighting over scraps to survive. Cyrus was going to put an end to the rule of the humans.
As he told us, it all came down to simple math.. There are only 20,000 of their City Watch, and over 60,000 of us. Somehow the silver tongue of Cyrus was making sworn enemies look at one another as brothers and sisters in arms. He would lead us to finally retake the city. Retake our home. At least that was the plan...
Cyrus is dead and we’ve been blamed. We all saw the real assassin. Luther; the cowardly sociopathic leader of the Rogues. The City Watch stormed the meeting shortly after Cyrus was struck down. In the chaos, Luther was able to convince the Riffs that it was the Warriors who killed Cyrus.
Our Warlord, Cleon, was captured. Maybe killed. Word is spreading fast that the Warriors are responsible for murdering Cyrus and ending any hopes of an organized rebellion.
You are leaderless, unarmed, and miles deep inside unfamiliar enemy territory. You’ve got one night to beat, bite, and bop your way back home.
Can you dig it? Can you dig it! CAAAANNNN YOU DIG IT?
This will be a 5e D&D one-shot inspired by the movie "The Warriors" which was based on the novel "The Warriors" which was based on the Ancient Greek book "Anabasis" which was based on actual historical events.
Post rate: 3 times a week should be good. Ideally, I plan to update every 2 or 3 days unless the PCs are engaged in ongoing planning/talking with each other.
Your characters are all members of a goblinoid street gang called the Warriors. The setting is a medieval fantasy version of New York City. Everyone in the city is hunting you. Your goal is to make it back across the river, through the streets of Breukelen (aka Brooklyn) and all the way back to the safety of your home turf on Coney Eiland.
You will be playing a level 3 bugbear, goblin, or hobgoblin. In accordance with the premise of playing oppressed street gang members, the available classes will be limited to the following:
Barbarian
Bard
Fighter
Monk
Rogue
Sorcerer
Other classes (or subclasses outside the PHB) can be suggested and will be approved on a case by case basis. If you suggest a class that doesn’t clearly fit the premise, you will have to explain how your character could obtain their abilities.
Casters should keep in mind that this entire one-shot is supposed to take place over one night. Manage your spell slots well or you might not live to see the light of day.
We will be playing with some additional combat options inspired by a great OSR game called ‘Fantastic Heroes and Witchery’. Everyone will select an unarmed fighting style (boxing, martial arts, or wrestling). This will aid your character until you manage to get your hands on some weapons and will help to emulate the fisticuffs seen in The Warriors movie.
Couple of things to keep in mind.
1)The possibility that your character will die is high. I won’t make it impossible for everyone to make it to Coney Eiland alive, but I also won’t be pulling any punches. It is possible there will be a TPK before you even manage to get into Breukelen. If you are not ok with the possibility that your character could die at any moment, this is not the game for you.
2)This game is inspired by a 70’s exploitation action film. I will selectively throw out the rules or use custom dice rolling scenarios as needed to recreate the same tone of the movie. This will be a combat heavy game, but I don’t want it to be all dice rolling. If you guys come up with a good plan to do something cool, I will look at your skill bonuses and decide whether or not you could reasonably pull it off. If the answer is yes, then we won’t roll dice and I’ll simply ask you to describe it happening. I don’t want to get bogged down with a ton of contested rolls to determine whether or not the group moves through an alleyway unseen. Story and "rule of cool" will take precedence over following the rules to the letter. If you are a rules lawyer, this is not the game for you.
Link to full list of House Rules.
3)This will be my first time DMing 5e. The last time I DMed D&D at all was way back in the 3e days. Between then and now, I have GMed Wushu, Feng Shui, and custom d6 built games. I am not new to GMing, but there will be some D&D rust to shake off.
If you are interested, please post here with your character name, race, class, and a one sentence concept. Once we land on who is playing, we’ll work together in the game forums to weave backstories together so it feels like the characters have known each other for years. With that in mind, it is probably a good idea to hold off on getting too attached to a detailed background, as you may need to adjust it in order to fit in with the group.
