Fogs of Alderburg [5e Recruitment]

Main Points
•Adventure in Gothic fantasy fog-laden Mitteleurope. Hints of Castlevania, Grimm’s fairytales but mostly Hammer gothic horror. Enemies are witches, werewolves and vampires rather than goblins and dragons. Characters are vampire hunters, priests, hard-bitten mercs and werewolf-wise foresters.
•D&D 5e levels 1-7.
•Regular posts, every other day. Some house rules to keep things going
•Setting is a fantasy alt version of a tiny Mittel European state with some indirect references to far off cities like Berlin, Frankfurt or Roma.
•It’s a zero to hero adventure where characters start off as youthful prodigies, setting off from their hamlet, burgh or neck of the forest. Then develop into significant local presences. The characters’ mission is to help their old Count deal with local menaces such as lesser vampires, ghouls and a witches’ coven. Gradually they realise that the little Dukedom is beset with more serious threats and an ancient evil!
•Character Lineages are humans, halblings (a small fantasy concession), demi-werewolves, (perhaps also Grimm’s style dwarves?).
•Black Powder. To support a Hammer type setting, we’ll include black powder weapons (using the Age of Flintlock rules). Bows and crossbows are still used alongside these weapons. They can be wielded by any class.
-Pistol, three actions reload*, 1d10 piercing damage, range 30/120, costs 70 kreutzers
-Musket, four actions reload*, 2d6 piercing damage, range 100/400, costs 250 kreutzers
*Shooter can roll sleight each round as a free action to perform one of these reload actions
•Armor. We’ll replace standard armor with more setting appropriate gear:
-Gothic setting light armor: +2 (stout jerkin, strong boots, hat or hood, good cloak or equivalent; costs 10 kreuzers )
-Gothic setting medium armor: +4 (adding studded leather, heavy cloak, sturdy belts/girdle, or equivalent, costs 30 kreuzers)
-Gothic setting heavy armor: +6 (adding helmet, cuirass, leather gauntlets, or equivalent, costs 70 kreuzers)

Setting


--Count von Alderburg has a seat in the Hoftag, an assembly which includes nobility of neighbouring regions. The count is elderly, benevolent, slightly mad, sponsoring grand projects such as a mechanical clocktower and astronomical observations . His several children vary between kindness and cruelty. The Count’s own ancestors include some saints and heroes, but also vampires and a notorious mad scientist.

--The region is adjacent to small but bustling Silber Stadt, a cathedral and university city, and has a number of small towns with guildhalls, elected burgher meisters, beer halls and other Mitteleuropean stuff ging on! Although comfortable, the region is rather too remote to have prospered and its guilds grumble that they cannot grow rich. More prosperous Silber Stadt is autonomous from the Grafschaft, ruled by a council of prominent burghers.

--The region’s remoteness makes an island for dark, strange survivors of its darker age. Too often the dead rise as shuffling vampires, and wolves (and werewolves) roam the mountainsides. In the remote, foggy woods, hags and ghosts haunt the villages. The Count has a tiny standing army, but much of the regiment is now deployed to protect the lands of a neighbouring ally.

--Religion is Mitteleuropean Christianity with saints, the Devil and such. A crucifix blessed by a bishop would be a strong weapon against a vampire. Holy water can be drawn from a church font. Enlightenment ideas are creeping only gradually into the region. Witch trials are no longer held, but many wish for their return. Numerous saints. including some local favourites, are prayed to. Even characters with pagan patrons do not disbelieve in an all-powerful God and may mix Christian prayers into their spells. Those dealing with the pure occult dabble with powers that locals will consider dubious at best.

Making a Character

1) Please post your character ideas in this thread first, before making an actual build. Make a new character for this campaign rather than import and convert an existing one. Read about the setting and try to reflect some setting features in your concept.
2) Pick a German language name
3) Consider the information about backgrounds, below
4) Create a character concept, considering the following suggestions, or even better coming up with something of your own.


Setting Stalwarts (we can include more than one of each).
• Soldier (fighter)
• Woodsman/Jaegar (ranger)
• Bounty hunter
Special characters (one/party)
• Priest, monk or nun (cleric)
• Vampire hunter (cleric, fighter or paladin)
• (Ex-?) highwayman (rogue or fighter)
• Witch, sworn to a pagan deity, Old Mother Frost or such (Warlock or sorcerer)
• Wise(wo)man (druid)
• Magic fiddler, storyteller or hurdy-gurdy man (bard)
• Tinker/vagrant (rogue/bard)
• Magic clockmaker or toymaker (artificer)
• Occultist (dubious wizard)
• Bare knuckle prize fighter (re-skinned monk with Chuzpe for Chi)
• Demi-werewolf (barbarian, selecting wolf-themed features on advancement.

Common Backgrounds
A three-estate society operates with nobility (princes and high clergy), knights (Ritter), and burghers. Peasants are not consulted in the region’s government.
A local noble (noble ) is likely related to the region’s Count and can carry the title of von Alderburg.
Ritter (knight) families are treated with respect (referred to as Herr or Frau) though they often have little more wealth than the commonfolk. Ritter and Nobility gain advantage on social rolls when dealing honourably with those of lower estate.
Burghers (guild artisan, guild merchant) are tradesfolk and merchants who have grown wealthy from business. Jewellery and silversmithing are significant local trades.
The small city of Silber Stadt homes many wealthy burgher families (guild artisan, guild merchant again), but some hail from meaner slums (criminal, urchin, entertainer). Its small University nurtures many scholars (sage).
Those who live in the region’s foggy forests and rugged mountains often live in remote communities where strangers are seldom seen. These might include hunters, foresters, high country goatherds and poachers (adjust outlander).
Holy folk might hail from the Cathedral in Silber Stadt or its remote mountain monastery (hermit, adept).
The river serves as the highway linking the local towns. Many are born on its banks and work it as water-wise boatmen or fisherfolk (sailor).
The Count maintains a tiny local regiment of soldiers. Some locals have wandered from the region in search of adventure as soldiers (soldier).
Local wandering communities have long lived in the region, working as tinkers, pedlars and itinerant workers (charlatan, entertainer)

Sounds interesting. I'd like to apply when you're ready.

Thanks Griel. Please ignore my (deleted) instruction to post elsewhere—I’ll deal with applications in this thread as per normal. What idea do you have for a character?

I'm always interested in gothic adventures. Is this using the old 5e rules or will you be using the new 5.5e rules?

I haven’t looked at 5.5 so safer with plain ol’ 5e this time.

I'm interested in a (vampire?) hunter type of character, brash and hard-as-nails type. Elric (Steinhardt?) is a bastard son of a Count. He has a chip on his shoulder, detests the nobility, and driven to make a name for himself through deeds. With no acknowledgement of who he is, he's had to survive on his own. I was thinking he'd be an ex-soldier of some sort that became a bounty hunter, but if the campaign starts young, then I'll think up of something else. He relishes the idea of one day hunting down his family line's ancestors (vampires and the like) and publicizing it.

Mechanically, he'd likely be a Ranger, or if you'd allow it, the Blood Hunter class seems very appropriate here.

Ah! Well, the idea I liked best is the witch. A wise woman who spends her time mostly in the woods. She deals in hard to find herbs, mushrooms and what not mostly, but many in the towns also seek her out for advice, talismans, and totems meant to ward off spirits, or attract good fortunes. The local clergy probably don't like her that much, but she's never been credibly accused of doing anything untoward. They also whisper behind her back and tell their children that if they misbehave, Cäcilie Heck will snatch them up in the dead of night and turned into toads or crows that she puts in her stew pot.

The truth is not far off. She is a warlock dedicated to a local Baba Yaga type pagan diety. She doesn't take children, rather those that are truly a threat to society, murderers or unrepentant theives for example.Cäcilie identifies them and lures them out into the open so Baba Yaga can deal with them. As long as she serves in this way, the Baba Yaga won't go after more innocent people. The undead are threats as well. The Baba Yaga will not sully her hands with an individual monster, but if Cäcilie can identify a central cause, perhaps that would entice her patron to act.

Mechanically I'm looking at an Undead patron Warlock. The fear based powers fit really well I think.

Don't know if this is just because I'm Dutch, but your setting sounds fantastisch! I' d be interested in this game, and am thinking about a character based on a aged little red riding hood. A Jaegar Outlander called Eva. Clever, though a bit naive, cares non stop about the ones she loves, but ruthless to those who've wronged her.

This is a really cool gothic character concept. But looking at the blood hunter class it is surprisingly dark in tone, where I’m expecting our heroes to combat nastiness such as blood ritual. His hatred of aristos will also be tricky given the premise that the party is helping out a benevolent old local count.

I’m sure there’s a work around but I have to try to anticipate mismatches with the setting. And just to reiterate, it would be a great concept for a darker Gothic campaign.

Yes this sounds good. Baba Yaga is the right balance between a terrifying force of darkness and a kindly old crone. Oddly enough I thought exactly of this patron and came up with Old Mother Frost as the Germanic equivalent. A more middle European but still Slavic name — Ježibaba, say-- would fit the setting, which could have Slavic as well as German elements.

Still fussing over the name, wikipedia says that a related being, Perchta or Berchta ('Bertha'), was a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and also Austrian and Slovenian regions of the Alps. Maybe that’s a good fit?

As for the character, presumably she’d be a good egg opposed to evil despite her non-conformist practices. I’d also prefer characters to be young at the adventure start, so she might be starting off as a newly minted witch, trained by a grandmother or such?

I really like this! Characters start off as youthful naïfs, so she might still remember her youthful encounter with the wicked wolf or equivalent (it can be ambiguous as to whether she is LRRH, or a local analogue). She could live in the large forest in the south of the map.

I’m not a German speaker, so I’m probably murdering the German language even in the map. Which you’ll (possibly?)pick up on more than most!

Great! I'm thinking of basing her more on character traits, and a backstory with the feel of the story, than on the actual story of LRRH. Maybe some close relative got devoured by (were)wolves, or some other kind of monster, but I'm definitely open to workshop on that with you!
Haha, I'm not a native German speaker either, just enough to enjoy a holiday in Germany. But I don't care about a perfect German languages, it's fiction, and to me it feels like you created this the right way. So I won't correct you on your own language, even if I could!

Yes, that sounds ideal. I think we are thinking on v similar lines!

This sounds interesting! I also would love to apply!

tho i do have a question what is implied under the Demi-werewolf race? or is it a class? I currently am a bit confused....

Here's my character:

Hi Bubbles. Demi-werewolf is really more of a concept, though I described it as a ‘race’ as you could argue that somebody with werewolf attributes is not fully human. The player could explain how they came to be so. Perhaps they were bitten by a werewolf but managed to fend off the disease of lycanthropy. Or are the child of an actual werewolf. Or have lycanthropy as an ancestral curse. A suggestion—only— is that they come from a high mountain village where many have werewolf ancestry, after centuries of battle against true werewolves. It doesn’t have to make perfect sense, but some kind of nod to their origins would bring the idea to life.

My idea is to use the mechanics of the barbarian class to emulate low-level werewolf powers like fast movement and reckless attack. In rulebook terms, they are humans otherwise.

I’m always happy to workshop character ideas from a mechanical perspective. To go further in modelling a character’s lycanthropy, we also could use the mechanical template of the half-orc class to give them more wolfey features like dark vision and relentless endurance. Combined with barbarian class features we’d get a pretty good feel for someone with werewolf ancestry or powers.

Or have lycanthropy as an ancestral curse. - I like this option, let's say that Vulf family is a family of supernatural/monster hunters hailing from somewhere in the mountains (Althaus?) and the curse has been like part of that bloodline for a good while.

Ludvigs mom, probably with the small lad in tow, moved to another settlement due to not wanting to deal with being a part of sushi a dangerous family, for example, because she detests cruelty and aggression.

Let's say that Ludwig has faint memory of his father's family and where they live. He's his father's splitting image (a younger version ofc.). He doesn't know what they do, but Ma' quotes them as 'heartless monsters' probably due to strict family traditions and whatnot.

About the werewolf race/concept, but your suggestion about the half-orc sounds really good. I like it.

Yeah, we are on the same page. She's a good person, just doesn't conform to the current way of things. She doesn't mind being ostracized to much. She serves a patron that has a scary side, and she uses that power to help protect people, sometimes in a "scared straight' kind of way. I'm good with whatever name you want to give the patron, as long as the concept works.

That's fine, I didn't really have a specific class in mind, the ranger and blood hunter were just the two "hunter" types that immediately came to mind. As a ranger, he would see the undead as unnatural abominations, which seems to fit in well.

His hatred of the nobility is more out obsessive envy than outright hatred, and given that he's a bounty hunter type, he's not going to bite the hand that feeds him. It stems from him not being acknowledged as a bastard son, which gives him an excuse to pile on the hate, thinking they could do more with their money to help combat the supernatural, that kind of thing.

The tone I was going for was along the lines of Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, if you're familiar with it. I'm also a huge fan of the gothic Byronic hero archetype, the flawed hero trying to not succumb to his flaws.

@Bubbles @Greel @grifter730

Ok, sounds like we are on board. I’m looking for characters who are essentially supportive of the old Count and his benign rule. Who are promising youngsters just setting out , able to pick up experience quickly.

I’ll hold out to see whether there are more interested candidates and pick five that will work well as a party. If there’s anything more you want to tell me about your concept—either in terms of story or mechanics- feel free to post further.

Some questions that I’d like to ask:

Do you think your character will be a flintlock user?
What might their immediate motives be as they start off?
If they were played by an actor in a film or to show, who might the actor be?

Just to give me an idea of your play style, really....

If you still have room, I might be willing to break my own rule about 5e (I normally avoid it) because the setting sounds so interesting. I'm considering Jana Schönbaum, a local wise woman (druid). She was taught the Craft by her mother, who was also a wise woman. She would not be a flintlock user, and her immediate motivation is to help the villagers as much as possible. I envision her being played by Ingrid Pitt, though with a decidedly less evil bent.

Answers to questions above:

Do you think your character will be a flintlock user?
No, despite being very showy, Elric is all about stealth and shadows, and a loud bang would make him cringe. He'll be a crossbow user. (Obviously won't shoot this many bolts, and won't use some weird wrist bow like that, but still, the visuals here are cool)

What might their immediate motives be as they start off?
Elric hunts down abominations (even without rewards involved), so if it starts with a mission to investigate/kill undeads or the like, he's naturally motivated. That said, he's a practical man, and a man needs to eat to survive, so he's more than happy to take someone's money for his expertise, but his drive to keep the lands clean (of undead) and safe motivates him more than anything else. If this Count is benevolent and has a track history of being good to his people, Elric would be even more motivated to help out.

If they were played by an actor in a film or to show, who might the actor be?
Tough call, gotta think on this one a bit. All I know is he'll have a scruffy light beard.

@WhtKnt Yay!

My goodness what an excellent choice of actress ! Pure Hammer.


Yes the wise woman role would be a handy one. Good name, too. My understanding is that wise women in Western Europe were accepted practitioners of low level magic, good at healing, midwifery, charms. They were not seen as enemies of the Church and used bits of Christian prayers in their folk magic. The Inquisition cast them unfairly as devil worshippers. I am not after historical accuracy, since this an alt/ fantasy setting, but it would be cool if we could get some of that vibe.

I just caught up reading everyone else's character ideas. I'm gonna need to tweak Elric's background so he's not all hateful against undead, given that we have a warlock with an undead patron lol. I'll be going Gloomstalker ranger, if that matters. I love all the background stuff so far!

Seems like we got 2 wise women (one warlock, one druid), a beast barbarian who's some sort of werewolfy type, and a jaeger (another ranger?)

@grifter730. Like the answers to the three questions. Actor doesn’t have to be a Hammer guy (though I do appreciate that), could be anyone including a modern name.

I like the idea of the gloomstalker ranger. Spent so long in the woodland twilight and fog that he gains dark vision.

Yes the party has got a bit of overlap perhaps….

If there's still room I'd like to throw my own hat in the ring:

I'm still thinking of a name, but I'd like to play a young catholic priest, a Light Domain Cleric in practice. He was apprenticed to an older priest that recently passed away, and therefore is still coming into his own as the head of the local church. A good lad, but overly superstitious, with an unbending trust in his faith/god.

Do you think your character will be a flintlock user?
No, I''m not even sure if he'd carry any weapons, except maybe a club/torch? He'd mostly rely on a cross which he'd use to channel his faith/magic.

What might their immediate motives be as they start off?
Mostly to protect his flock from the unholy forces of darkness, since, as a priest, he considers this part of his duty in the name of god.

If they were played by an actor in a film or to show, who might the actor be?
Probably Leonardo DiCaprio, but younger like he looked in Titanic.

Flintlock user?
Depends on availability to people in her economic class. She would be interested in the technology, but would she be able to get one? Maybe as payment for a talisman or something? Then she'd practice with it alone in the woods.

Immediate Motives?
The obvious one is finding someone to fulfill her patrons demands. After that she might need to help a local, finding the herbs or special ingredients for the protection charm they want. If rumors of undead walking around are prominent she would also be looking out for signs of that because her Patron is supposed to be the thing that goes bump in the night, not some necromancer.

Celebrity?
I think Jennifer Carpenter would be good. She's skinny, has a long face and larger ears. Early appearances on Dexter she's a bit gangly and angular. I could see her being a reclusive witch.

Do you think your character will be a flintlock user?
I say, yes, because it's a decent choice for a long range weapon in Ludwig's case, first you shoot them in the foot, then beat them into pulp.

What might their immediate motives be as they start off?
It will be his already good lasting employee-employer relationship with someone of a lower standing that is associated with the count trough which he has done a couple of odd little jobs before, but I won't lie, he would have a major interests in leaving a couple of dents in the global threat's sides. Basically he knows that he can trust them and that they will keep their end of the deal as long as he keeps his.

If they were played by an actor in a film or to show, who might the actor be?
I say that would be Groot if he was played by Chris Evans (Captain America), ofc the constant one- sentence part replaced by social awkwardness. (I'm unfortunately not that big into movies 😔)

Do you think your character will be a flintlock user?
Yes, if the chance arose, she'd definitely tried to get a musket because of the range, but most likely would've settled for a pistol. I don't think she'll use it as a main weapon, but when in danger, the damage and the extreme loudness of firing a gun would scare of beasts if she found herself surrounded or stuck in a corner.

What might their immediate motives be as they start off?
I imagine the monsters that creat danger for the count, were the same that murdered her family members. As she wants to create a save environment for the ones she loves, this aligns perfectly with the needs of the count. So the moment she got word of the count searching for brave souls to fight against monsters, she would have leaped with a vengeance to assist.

If they were played by an actor in a film or to show, who might the actor be?
I'm thinking of a young Uma Thurman, with characteristics of her as Beatrix in Kill Bill. A bit naive, but smart enough to fulfill her goals. Not aiming for violence, but she won't shy away from it either.

I think she'll eventually become a Monster Slayer, as I feel it aligns with her determination to hunt the monsters that have invaded the lands.

Concept
Young noble-blood attending (or recently graduated) Silber Stadt's university.
Name: Anke von Alderburg
Niece of the count (or at least related)
Class: Artificer
Background: Noble


Flintlock user?
Yes.

Immediate Motives?
Use her knowledge of the dark things in the woods and the advances of technology to fight and keep the land safe. Think of her as a Q type with a fascination for the supernatural and the unexpected.

Celebrity?
A young Mia Goth

Thanks everybody for the excellent responses, including RageRed’s. I had to look up Jennifer Carpenter.



@RageRed, what would you character do as an artificier? I was thinking of a clockmaker or toy maker, which is perhaps a bit twee but might work if we consider clockwork to appears as kind of new magi science to people at the time. But that was just my idea.

Could you say a bit more about what you were imagining?

I think we might still get one or two applications so I’ll hold on for a day or two longer.

@Orange Tree,

I am imagining Anke to be somewhat like the character, Friar Carl, from the movie, Van Helsing. Though, without the involvement of the church. (well-educated, talented engineer, scientist and weaponry master who studies well and remembers what she learns, able to deduce plans and situations in matters of seconds but is initially somewhat awkward out in the field. Because of her studies she is very knowledgeable on what is the best method to slay monsters...or at least what texts say kills them.)

Friar Carl

She could very well be into clockworks or 'animated' toys as a hobby or day job.

Perhaps she is the daughter of the Count's relative in charge of overseeing his Mechanized Clocktower project?

I've updated it and put it all here so everything is in one place:

Thanks grifter that’s really handy. Glad to see that he might moderate his attitude to aristos as long as they are not obvious scoundrels. I think Joel Edgerton is great, btw.

@AnonGL can you tell me a bit more about your priest? Other posters have had space to say a bit more. Since he is modelled mechanically on a cleric , he can pack a punch and wear the setting equivalent of decent armour. Are you ok for him to go into battle against monsters when needed? He won’t be as effective as a ranger, say, but can look after himself with his gnarled club or whatever. A bit of aFriar Tuck type?

I've decided Gunther Kantor (Which I think means lower priest) as a Name, and he's definitely OK with going into battle up close to the horrors Mitteleurope, but he'd sooner trust the power of faith/god/magic than any strength of arms, meaning he'd likely wield his cross and cast magic even in those situations (He only gets simple weapons so magic is usually better anyway), although you're right that I'd be better for him to carry a club just in case.
As for the friar tuck thing, I'm thinking more like a younger more serious version of friar tuck. Someone who's just started out and will eventually learn to laugh in the face of the monstrosities that plague the land, but for now just tries too keep moving forward and do his duty as a servant of God.
He does not feel strongly about the Count, but seeing he's almost certainly a believer of the faith, and the old priest who was his teacher likely told him good things about the Count, he has overall positive opinion of him.

Zouch! Just doing some work on these now. I can see that my choice of five characters is going to be more about party balance and dynamics than the quality of individual applications.

Still thinking.

On reflection (and a request), I think that I would like to swap my character idea to a vampire hunter paladin ritter: same name (Jana Schönbaum) and actress, Ingrid Pitt. This young Frau comes from a local noble family and has pledged service to the count. She is proficient with and carries a flintlock, but prefers her heavy crossbow when it comes to matters of her chosen profession. Her father was unjustly accused of being a vampire and his body was desecrated upon his (natural) demise. She intends to see that this doesn't happen to anyone else, and if she can eliminate a few of the bloodsucking undead in the bargain, so much the better. She would also be most interested in finding out who planted the suspicion that her father was a vampire.

Great concept! I think paladin will work well as the class ‘skin’.

Glad we have a Ritter class person to show a bit of class ;)

Ok, made my picks. Please don’t be bummed out if not accepted. I based selection on party dynamic.

I am also interested but I have been utterly incapacitated with COVID for the past 5 days. Thursday I slept from 4am till 8am friday. I got up long enough to drink some soup and use the bathroom.

Let me drop a quick character concept before my lungs betray me once more. FYI I’ll be about, prolly to sick to work tomorrow and I have a memorial to plan for my dad on Wednesday, I have yet to coalesce a thought about that either.

Magdalene Vogt
Witch - Sorceress - Descendant of Verðandi the Norn of the present, the weaver of that which is happening right now.
Either a Noble or a Ritter but on the edges of the family, the strange cousin people snicker and tell jokes about behind her back.
Who would play her? Carole Lombard of course, or maybe Marlene Dietrich.

Flintlock - Doubtful but in a pinch a flash and a bang are an excellent distraction. (You could make a matchlock with a delayed action to make a fuss where you’re not.)

Why? - As the daughter of the fate / Norn who weaves the present she can can feel the threads of the world being rewoven in ways they were not meant to and she needs to undo that.

Oh Scheiße … Except I now see we have a Witch. Allow me to reponder tonight as I’ll likely have issues sleeping again.

Okie dokie ... how about a bard?

Magdalene (Lene) Vogt d'Amberville
Bard from the College of Blades

Background - Faceless
Being who you are, you could never be a hero. Whether due to your class, your people, your family, or your sins, something about you prevents you from effectively pursuing the path you’ve chosen. Even so, that doesn’t stop you. You’ve left your old face behind, taking on a new persona, becoming something more.

Characters with the faceless background don a disguise — literally or otherwise — as they adventure. This persona might be dramatic or subtle. In a way, though, many characters have such larger than life personalities. Therefore, this background largely focuses on detailing the hero behind the mask.

Lene moves around a lot, she works as a pit fighter mostly to excise her anger but she's mostly trying to avoid her past. There is something unsavoury behind her and she has cultivated a life to hide it.

Flintlocks - Almost certainly though she despises the noise at the smoke.

Who would play her? Carole Lombard or Marlene Dietrich still.

Why - Lene is trying to keep hidden but a terrible thing happened to her family a long time ago and she seeks revenge.

Sorry Ember we’re full.

No worries. Ya'll have fun.