calimport ooc

@vagueGM,@Chalrytharendir,@Dhakhan hi.

Hey everyone!

Looking forward to playing with you all. I know vagueGM a little from the community forums and helping to test GP development, but I don't think I've played with any of you before. So, hello 👋. My username is a bit long so feel free to call me Chal for short.

Does anyone have any ideas for characters yet?

One idea for my character is a Fire Djinn who's trapped in their human form. They've lost most of their magic and memories from before getting trapped in their human form. I was thinking of using the mage class but with Presence instead of Reason because that feels more like what Djinn magic would be associated with. Also might reskin a few other things, e.g. instead of a spell book, they carry their lamp with them, which grants them their magical powers. Perhaps over time they will remember more about their past and their magical abilities, but I'm happy to stay mostly human for the entirety of the game. Without much of a past or connections they are just trying to survive at the moment so recently joined the party as there's more chance of survival with a group.

Maybe something like this:Just an idea so far. I'm open to feedback or adjusting to fit with the group, or trying a completely different idea if no one likes this idea or feels it won't work with the game.

Ciao!!

I'm very new to this site, so haven't played with of this party yet. I have been hanging around Tavern keeper for a while if any of you played there.

I've haven't had a look at the ruleset yet, or really about a specific character concept though thoughts of a steotypical "Aladdin" did spring to mind as soon as I read the word Calimport. Or maybe an ex-guard seeking to balance some shame with acts of valor and daring do. Or a pirate! I remember the old open shirt, high boots and scimitar thing from those old Sinbad movies with fondness. Will have to mull things over once I get a clearer idea of what the setup is... :)

Likewise. :)
Your diligent help has been much appreciated.
No, we haven't. I remember when you first joined that I did think about offering a Dungeon World game if there was enough interest in your Welcome thread (also thought about turning that into Fellowship (or, later, Chasing Adventure) since the DW rules are a little clunky and outdated, but I am finding myself tending more and more towards simpler rules (like 2400)).

As always: I can play anything, so I will let the others choose characters first and then fill in any gaps.

Anyone is welcome to make suggestions if they want me to play anything specific (possibly as a foil to their gem).

I am least inclined towards Warrior in 2400 Legends, but can easily make something interesting of one if it comes to that.
I had exactly the same thought, possible because that is about all I recall about Calimport, that it was a Djinn-founded city? And the humans were slaves? Is that right?

I was thinking Air Genasi (Djinn are specifically Air not fire, but that is semantics), and Genasi are 'humanish' descendants of genies. I was thinking Magical for (free/permanent) Levitate. But this was just a thought, I can do something else since I don't suppose we want two Mages in our group.
I was also thinking about a Cleric, which sorta amounts to a 'Mage that casts with Presence'. Sorta along the line of the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch (excellent books for examples of both Thief and Cleric, and how they can combine).

Might the Cleric, with Theurgy rather than the Mage with reworked Wizardry not suit you better? Casting with personal power rather than intellect seems to fit the 'Hindered and need sleep' more than the 'your spells misfire and hurt your friends' kind of consequences. Just a thought.
I was also thinking about hiding my Genasi nature, I don't know what the current political climate is like in Calimport, but I was thinking people (humans) might not like the Djinn all that much, so such a heritage could be a source of tensions.

Maybe we share some connection in this regard?

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We should discuss if we know each other from before this job, or if we are working together for the first time, possibly because we have a shared interest in freeing our mutual associate.

Maybe we were rivals before and are forced to work together on this job, but we do need to consider (and possibly play out reasons) why we stay together afterwards.

We can work on the details when we know more about the characters.

I am sure we will be kind... :)
Do you have the rules? They are very simple... which can make them difficult. Feel free to ask lots of questions.

All you should need is the 3 pages of Legends, but I did find Emergency Rules to be a useful read to get an idea of how things are intended to play. The fighting rules in Battle Moon could also be interesting as an example, but I don't tend towards fighting much.
Aren't we criminals? Would you not be 'an ex-guard seeking to balance your acts of valour with something shameful'? :)

It's a nice quick read. A lot is left for the GM/table to decide themselves with a focus on rulings/guidelines rather than rules, which leaves lots of room for creativity, but also miscommunications if we aren't careful. But as Vague said, we should all just ask lots of questions to make sure we're all on the same page and be open to edit if we need to.
Maybe your character found my lamp and released me but somehow accidentally trapped me in my human form??
Given that we are starting as petty criminals, this could work well. Maybe you lost your ship recently and are having to start from scratch.
Thanks! It's felt good to help out and give back to the site that I've gotten so much enjoyment from.
I wish you had because the DW game I did get in got ghosted quickly XD. I liked DW, but I'm also finding myself drawn to lighter rulesets now. I checked in on your World of Dungeons game a few times (I was too busy to join myself then, but looked fun), it seems like a nice simplified version.
Ooh, that's interesting! I didn't know that. I mentioned in the recruitment thread that I don't really know much about Calimport, but I've just given the FR wiki a quick browse today and you're right, it was founded by a Djinn with human slaves, but is now 90% human, so yeah, could be some cool tension playing with a Djinn background.
I didn't know this either ... I'd better brush up on my Djinn lore! So my character idea would fit a Fire Genasi?
Haven't read it but sounds cool. I'll have to check it out.
I would be fine having two mages or two clerics as long as we don't step on each others toes in terms of types of spells. I think two Genasi might make for an interesting party. It would imply a shared bond, but also if we are different elements (Air/Fire), then we might have lots to argue about as well (in a good in-game way, not ooc arguments).
I was wondering about this too, but I thought the lack of control/misfiring might play into the fact I had lost my powers and was trying to remember them, but not very well yet. But definitely not 100% sure about this yet. Straight cleric might make more sense.
Agreed, that could be great tension in the game. Maybe your character recognized that I was a Genasi and recruited me to the party because I seemed lost and alone and likely to get myself killed without a little help.
I like the idea that we're fairly new companions, but have been together for a few jobs now, with Ginseng as our other member. Although, starting as rivals could be interesting depending on how our characters and backgrounds shape up. I'm open to both ideas or other possibilities too.

World of Dungeons does away with all the defined complexity of Dungeon World, leaving it up to the GM and the group to make up everything. It is basically only the Defy Danger Move (but then that move (along with Ritual) really is all PbtA:).

I feel weird, for the first time in three years that game is inactive.
We might want to check how long it has been since the Djinn ruled, though our group can, presumably, define that ourselves if we want to. If we want there to be tension with our race choice we can have that.
The terms are often used interchangeably. It does not matter much and I am sure we will get it wrong repeatedly. :)
Well, I was thinking Genasi, but you might be an Efreet (checking the wiki you mentioned... yes, Efreet are fire genies, and apparently we should say Genie rather than Djinn as the general term?:) trapped in human form.

Genasi are mostly 'human', born of humans with some genie in their blood from long ago. They are the 'playable race' version in DnD. But we are not DnD.

I really like how 2400 can model the 'races' by adding an innate magic ability, Levitate for a Air Elemental, or maybe Transfiguration for a Changeling. We might want to rework it that those 'spells' only work on 'self' since a Changeling being able to Transform others seems weird (though they could learn that later).
That could be interesting. If you are not Genasi there would still be something similar enough that I might be drawn to it. If there is stigma to be being genie-related, maybe I don't admit I am Genasi, or don't even know it, but this comes out as we deal with each other?
I don't believe we get to 'choose spells' as we 'level up'. We need to find 'spell texts' (which we 'learn with Wizardry or Theurgy') in the random Treasures table. So our characters might squabble over who gets to learn a spell we find, but that will mean we don't have much overlap. Sounds like fun. :)
"Yes. Because your element is stupid!" :)

Air and Fire work well together, once we get over our disagreements. Could lead to interesting effects later as I learn to stoke your fire with Boon, or similar.
Using your lamp instead of a spell book also seems more 'holy symbol' like. I am sure you can negotiate with the GM what the risk is for each roll, especially if you are tossing around fire magic. As you gain more control it might fall back to 'tiring'?

My concerns is how the 'praying' would fit in. That does quite seem to fit what you described, but a simple re-flavoring might solve that?

Having one of us casting with intellect/intelligence/reason and the other casting with passion/presence could also be an interesting tension. This works with your suggestion that I recognise you and your nature due to my more studied approach.
Let's see what our third party member is. Maybe I am a mother hen type who adopts you all for your own good?
Cool. This connection might be different for each of the characters.
Maybe not 'starting as', but 'previously'? That does not work much with your character idea, but could be something to think about for Dhakhan's?

Ah! I wasn't sure if we'd settled on one of he three starting points yet, but I am leaning towards a Sinbad-y type.

Had look over the rules and the blog post about combat in 24XX in lieu of the Battle Moon game rules. Think I have a better idea how things should work. Still a bit hazy on character creation with a well defined framework, but will poke around some more.

The GM implied the first one [ref]

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I am not all that familiar with the Sinbad tropes, I mainly know him from Scheherazade's stories.

Are you thinking of a fightery type character? In that case take a look at the Warrior options, raise your Strength to a d8 and pick one of the Talents on the list (maybe Martial Arts from my memory of Sinbad? But don't feel bound to what came before). Sinbad could also be a Rogue —though that seems a bit less obvious.

Character Creation is also simple, you pick a Class, follow the instructions for that class (usually raise a predefined Skillset (Strength, Reason, Speed, or Presence), and pick a Talent (the Mage does not get to pick and must take Wizardry); then you either raise any Skillset, or pick two Characteristics to define your 'race' or ancestry. Feel free to ask if anything is unclear or you need help.

Wow, that's epic. I bet that's a werid feeling. Hopefully, we can fill that hole in your gaming a little bit.
Yeah, it sounds like Calimport has a long history. We should figure out roughly when we are playing in it or if we are handwaving that history and using a generic Calimport-like city filling in our own history as needed. @tibbius any thoughts?
Just read up on the links you included and yes, I think Efreet trapped in a human body seems like what I was going for.

Yes, this is a cool concept, although my initial thought was that 2 characteristics seems overpowered. But I think legends (and FR too) are higher magic than what I've been playing recently, so I might just be me.
Yes, any of these options, just being Genie-adjacent is probably enough for our characters to have this type of "bond".
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Although, I'm happy for these sorts of character growth to be more diegetic.
Pfft, who needs air??? ;) Seriously though, I agree, there could be some epic combos!
I wonder if meditating with the lamp helps bring back my memories a bit after I lose touch with my powers. Could be a good standing for "praying."
Yeah, just brainstorming, we'll see how it develops.
I'm not super familiar with Sinbad either, but I think it's a good fit, lots of room to make him your own since we don't have too many preconceived notions.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn't read that yet. It's a good read and has some great explanations and examples.

@tibbius Anything you want us to know or consider before we finalize our character ideas?

I had the same thought. I had a hard time picking a second one, and, as I suggested above, also wanted to limit how Magical Spells should be used (limit to self unless pushing, for instance).

I have steered hard away from darkvision. That is both so powerful (as a night hiker- and mountain-biker, I have an appreciation for the dark, but many underestimate what a big deal it is); but also makes things boring, needing to struggle to cope when out of our element is a large part of RPGs and taking away the whole light problem has never sat well with me. I always tended to frame these as 'good night vision'.
True.
Oops. Must have blocked that out. Somehow I am disappointed. :)

We will chat when it comes up and avoid stepping on each other's toes. I foresaw myself being interested trying to learn Bolt from you, but finding that you use something different with your Flame. We can roleplay this sort of thing.
It actually feels like we have moved from the realm of speculating about a character pairing to having that decided. :)
I am liking what we have so far, let's nail it down.

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Do you know that you are/were a being of elemental power before being trapped in this form? Do you have 'memories' of a human life or do you 'have amnesia'?

Based your answer, I need to think if I know I am Genasi (yet). I am thinking 'probably', it seems more interesting for me to assume you are also Genasi and find you are something different, than to learn about my heritage as we play. (Maybe my perfectly-ordinary parents admitted to me that 'this happens every few generations, we have Djinn in our bloodline, but it is a secret, obviously.')

To be honest, I'm not that familiar at all. I'm going off of memories of the old 1970's stop-motion movies. :D They were a bit actiony but I seem to remember them only fighting after someone screwed something up or they pissed someone off, which was pretty much every time. ....forshadowing, perhap? :P

That is very in line with 2400 philosophy: Fighting can be lethal (one roll can kill you!), so avoid it if you can. :)

Are you thinking more of a Rogue? They have more options to avoid a fight, but may be less able to survive one.

Often —especially with simple systems like this— I build both options and see which I like most. This also gives some practice in making characters. :)

Heh. I don't have time for 1001 nights worth of stories but I might have a look at this for flavour. Never realized this included Sinbad. Heard of it of course but never cracked the cover!

Thanks, re Char creation!

He was added later, not part of the original stories.
I read some of them, it is a bit of a slog, to be honest. :(
Feel free to tell me to 'butt out' as well. Happy to help as much as you need ... or as little.

I have submitted a first draft of a character idea based on what we have discussed. It should be visible if you guys want to take a look. [character sheet]

Talk of my Helping fuel the fire of Chalrytharendir lead me to the Boon spell.

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@tibbius: Questions about how the Boon Spell works, especially as an 'always on' 'Characteristic' ability:
• I assume it is just a d6 and does not scale with my Reason? I am not actually 'Helping' with all that entails (though I am more than happy to accept some of the consequences when things go wrong for people it affects:).
• When this applies to my character, I still want to be able to use clever tactics and planning, and elements of the scene to my advantage, so if you would rule that this normal d6 does not stack with this 'Lucky' Boon then I will not take it, as only the 'always on' is boring compared to finding cleaver ways to get a bonus. Similar with letting my Luck affect others and also actively Helping with my own actions.

I would rule that the Boon spell would scale with Reason or Presence but I would have it *replace* rather than *help* as intervention by magic or divinity might equally interfere as aid.

@vagueGM anemone looks fun and has a good hook for a petty criminal.

If casting it as a Spell, sure. But that seems a bit strong for something that is always on and does not need a roll.

In the situation I am describing it would serve more like the Help from having an advantageous position (being lucky) and not as being Helped by another player.
What about the situation where I am not rolling to 'cast' it, so there is no risk of interfering? As per the Magical Characteristic: "... Cast without risk of side effects, ..."
In that case I will skip it as that sorta cuts out the whole need to look for ways to gain that Help from "advantageous position or careful preparation", or prevents the possibility of casting it on someone for the duration of a scene and then also pitching in and Helping in some other way.

Are you imposing a limit on how many Help dice are allowed on one roll?