Forbidden Lands - Trailblazers

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ClosedForbidden LandsPrivate5 / weekWarDomo
You are no hero. You don’t fight to protect the realm or to put the true king on the throne. You hunt through ancient ruins for treasure, you help those who help you, you make your own mark on the Forbidden Lands. Your fate isn’t determined for you by someone else. You choose your own path. You are an adventurer.

Forbidden Lands is a new take on classic fantasy roleplaying. In this sandbox survival roleplaying game, you’re not heroes sent on missions dictated by others – instead, you are raiders and rogues bent on making your own mark on a cursed world. You will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands, and if you live long enough, build your own stronghold to defend.


Apr 10, 2022 3:39 am
Trailblazers
A Forbidden Lands adventure for four or five intrepid adventurers

https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/banner_fbl-e1544103069633.png

Story & Pitch:
Once, Zygofer the Spellbinder was one of us, leading the passage through the mountains into the new land. But when faced by the savage orcs, he opened dark gates to seek the help of demons. That was his undoing. Zygofer turned on us and placed himself on the throne of the Ravenland, his daughter Therania by his side.

To keep their vile corruption from spreading, our wise king built a great wall across the mountain pass and forbade all to ever speak of what had happened. Since then, the Spellbinder’s domain is known as the Forbidden Lands.

To this day, the demon-king and his daughter still rule there. Using the feared Rust Brothers, and the demonic Blood Mist sucking the life out of anyone who dared stray too far from their hearth, Zygofer and Therania have kept the human folks who still live north of the wall under their heel.

Yet, not all is lost. For now, the Blood Mist has lifted and there are those who dare defy the demon-king and his daughter. Adventurers. Treasure hunters. Scoundrels. Not heroes, far from it, but men and women who dare travel the land as they choose and make their own mark on it, unbound by any fate or story set for them. They hunt for ancient treasures, they fight whomsoever gets in their way, they build a new world for themselves on the ruins of the old.

They are the raiders of the Forbidden Lands.

The Meta:
In Forbidden Lands, you are not heroes sent on missions dictated by others – instead, you are raiders and rogues bent on making your own mark on a cursed world. You will wander the wild lands, discover lost tombs, fight monsters, and, if you live long enough, build your own stronghold to defend. During your adventures, you will uncover the secrets of dark powers lurking in the shadows and, in the end, you can be the ones to decide the fate of the Forbidden Lands

This game is a hexcrawl, sandbox-style game with an emphasis on wilderness exploration. The players are free to make their way in this dangerous world as they see fit. There will be a lot of randomly generated content from which I hope to create an emergent story. We may also engage with some of the published adventure content as appropriate for the story.

The Game System and Rules Version:
This game uses the Forbidden Lands ruleset by Free League Publishing!

Adult Content or Controversial Themes:

Game includes violence, starvation, dehydration, environmental exposure, and other forms of death. There's also depictions of tobacco and alcohol use. The setting does have slavery as an element, but it is not integral to the setting and can be avoided.

I will respect any lines and veils brought to my attention by the players either ahead of time or as situations arise in game. Please bring things to my attention before they become a problem and I will try to move the story in a different direction.

Character Creation:

Players create their characters following Forbidden Lands rules as described in the Player's Handbook or in the Legends & Adventurer's Supplement. No homebrew. The group is also asked to participate in group planning pre-game.

I have created a custom character sheet and I strongly encourage you to use them.
About Me & Playstyle:

I'm WarDomo. I've played TTRPGs since the early 90s and been on GP since 2016. I prefer games that are narrative and drama driven particularly on PbP, but I'm very interested in this game and in figuring out how to run a hexcrawl on PbP. I plan to engage in all the elements of this game as close to RAW as possible and adjusting things only to translate it better to the PbP format.

I like to keep open communication between myself and the players, particularly regarding expectations and setting understanding. If anything is unclear, please ask.

I will be using a VTT for maps to keep track of player progress. Right now, I'm leaning towards Let's Role.
I will be trying to use a zoommap in the forum for tracking the map.

I will also be using Discord for notifications.

I expect players to check in and post at least once a day during the work week. I will take control of and roll for players that have not posted in over a week with out prior notification. After two weeks, the player's character will be lost in the wilderness or other wise be removed from play. If the player wants to return after that, they can roll a new character or we can work on reintegrating the lost character. This isn't intended to punish the player, just to keep the game going for the rest of the players.

How to Apply:
Make a post in this thread with the following:
1. Your intent to play
2. Previous experience with Forbidden Lands. This isn't required, but I'd like to know who has played previously.

If you have questions, post them here or find me on the GamersPlane discord. I'll leave this open to applications for a week or so. I'll send out game invitations with a link to the forum.
Last edited April 10, 2022 2:01 pm
Apr 10, 2022 4:19 am
I absolutely adore the Year Zero engine, and would love to throw my hat in the ring for this! I've been running a live game of Coriolis for a few months, and have also dabbled in Vaesen. I haven't played Forbidden Lands, but it seems right up my alley.

Len

Apr 10, 2022 4:46 am
Hey WarDomo! I am interested to join. The game really grabbed me a while ago with that sword and sorcery tagline, "Raiders and Rogues in a Cursed World." So evocative!

I am looking to learn how to play. I have purchased the game but haven't made time to play it. I've always had a yearning for hexcrawls and wilderness adventure, and I appreciate games that are not shy about killing characters. Eventually I'd like to run it on GP too!

If the game gets a lot of interest, feel free to take new players without games over me as my cup overfloweth.

KCC

Apr 10, 2022 4:54 am
I feel the same as Len. I would love to get a chance to play this. Though if you do have to cut someone out, I won’t take it personally! I did try to run this before, as I said, to little success! Look forward to seeing how it goes!
Apr 10, 2022 4:55 am
I have the physical book right here and I'm very tempted. Next time I'll join.
Have fun :)
Apr 10, 2022 5:13 am
https://media.giphy.com/media/3oKHWoSnGq7NOS0C6k/giphy.gif
[ +- ] This is...
Apr 10, 2022 8:00 am
I'd love to be the 5th! I even have 2 characters from previous FL games that have fallen apart lol.
Apr 10, 2022 9:19 am
I would like to join if there is room, or be added to a waitlist if not.

I have never played Forbidden Lands and my only experience with Free League has been with Tales from the Loop / Things from the Flood. I'm trying to push myself to try some new systems this year though, and this sounds right up my alley :)
Apr 10, 2022 11:43 am
I'd love to join, but I'm busy RL and already trying to cut down on GP games, so keep me as a last option or put me on a waiting list.
Apr 10, 2022 12:16 pm
I'd be happy to join the waiting list since you look full already. If you make it public I'll follow along if I can.
Apr 10, 2022 2:05 pm
Great to see all the responses. I mentioned on discord, but I'm considering running a second group in a different part of the map if there's enough interest. So feel free to throw your hat in alongside Harrigan's.

Also, rather than using a VTT, I'm going to try to just use the zoommap feature in a dedicated map thread for tracking progress. Simpler might be better, but if it's not working we can always switch.
Apr 10, 2022 2:09 pm
Ok that sounds great! Count me in then if you're running another.
Apr 10, 2022 5:16 pm
If you're running a second group, I'd like to throw my hat in for that one.
Apr 10, 2022 6:17 pm
Yeah, if I missed the cutoff for the 1st group and you do a 2nd, count me in
Apr 10, 2022 9:06 pm
I'd like to put a placeholder in for the 2nd round as well. Maybe third time is a charm and I'll actually get to play FL after two failed attempts.
Apr 11, 2022 9:14 am
I would happily join the second group if there are still spots available.
Apr 11, 2022 9:31 am
Late to the thread, but if there's room in the second group I'd be happy to play as well!
Apr 11, 2022 1:05 pm
Alright, so I'll be having the following players joining:

cowleyc
Len
KCC
Harrigan
nezzeraj
C1NDER
Squadfather44
RageRed
seifi
Aironfabio

Waiting List
DarK_RaideR
Windyridge

I haven't divided into groups yet. I thought we'd make characters and then decide what makes sense for group composition. For those on the waiting list, the game will be public if you want to keep an eye on what's going on.

If anyone else would like to be added to the waiting list, let me know.

Invites will go out soon!
Last edited April 11, 2022 1:10 pm
Apr 11, 2022 4:48 pm
Also, I've created a Peanut Gallery thread that allows public posting. Thought it could be fun.
Apr 13, 2022 6:25 pm
Bunch of my GP games ended up kicking the bucket, so if you wanna bump me up from the Waiting List to actual players, I'm game.
Apr 13, 2022 6:53 pm
Currently have ten players which is about my limit, but definitely noted if someone drops.

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