[CLOSED] No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers (Torchbearer)

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C. Steven Ross
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[CLOSED] No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers (Torchbearer)

#1 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Update 03/01: Campaign back to full again.

HAIL AND WELL MET, ADVENTURERS!

I am brand spanking new to these Unseen Servant forums. I have been lured in here from search results one of my favorite RPG's I've ever played - Torchbearer. My aim here is to run an awesome game of Torchbearer for some of you folk; taking your scum-of-the-earth, novice murder-hobo "adventurers" and transforming them into crusty, old, cantankerous veteran murder-hobos. With the upcoming release (and previews!) of Advanced Torchbearer rules, allowing adventuring past level 5 and into the realm of commanding armies and managing fiefdoms, this is a very exciting time indeed!

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Please, reply to this thread if you would like to join up! But be forewarned....

* I am looking for 3 or 4 players. No more, no less.

* You need no experience with anything at all to play. I am very happy to teach as we go along and always do my best to explain not just how a thing works, but also the important choices and strategies involved in your decisions. Though if you could mention what experience you have with Torchbearer, if any, that would be great.

* You guys should make your own dice rolls (everything is just handfuls of d6's), so get familiar with the Unseen Servant dice roller.

* Expect to fail, and fail often. The first session, in particular, can be face-meltingly brutal. This is a game about failure, because your characters start off as medieval fantasy losers. You are the forgotten sons of history. If you let that failure get to you, if you play conservatively and timid, if you don't try new things, you will never grow into the hero you are destined to be.

* Since we are creating characters from scratch, I really can't tell you much about the adventure, it would be cheating. Suffice to say it will involve going into a terrible place that no one with a real job would ever consider to pry out a few old coins guarded by ferocious beasts. Caving is terrible, read about it here.

* Posting Frequency. I am not messing around here, folks.
Do not join this game if you are only half-interested and are going to peter out part way through.
Do not join this game if you want to sit back and watch the narrative unfold without you.
Do not join this game if you can't get internet access on the regular.
This game is for players who want to be active in the game and push their characters hard. I would like to see players chime in, even just to say "hello I am unsure of what to do and am thinking", at least once a day (weekends are considered a single day). If something comes up, if you are out on holiday, if you are away from the office for awhile, and you cannot keep this commitment, that is also cool just tell the group. There are solid mechanics already built-in for having players skip some time. But you need to say so. Communicate or leave. Your silence kills the momentum and excitement of the entire campaign.

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About Me
Though new to your forums, I have been involved with PBP for quite some time now, and have specific experience with Torchbearer. I've even run a session of Torchbearer ENTIRELY via emails, it was rad.
* Current Torchbearer PbP on my old blog, which is FULL of other PBP business - here
* Also this OTHER d&d blog with lots of PBP - here
* Also some brief Star Wars PbP - here

Beyond my gaming resume, I think that, compared to other PBP gamers, I tend to write with less flourish, more precision, and in a more natural tone. My typed words try to emulate how I would speak in a face-to-face setting, being the most nattural form of gaming for me. I'm not all about huge walls of text, though yes of course I want to describe the gaming world in an evocative way that gets the players jazzed up and hooked in.

I also place the 'game' at an equal level with the 'role-playing'. I want my games to be challenging to the players, for their in-game decisions and strategies to have an impact and matter. I want success to be uncertain and victory to be earned. I want every defeat to make the players wince and think "I could have won, if I had just done THIS differeently."
Yes, we are creating a shared story.
Yes, we are mentally escaping into a fantasy world.
Yes, this is a game and you can lose.
About Torchbearer
Adventurer is a dirty word. You’re a scoundrel, a villain, a wastrel, a vagabond, a criminal, a sword-for-hire, cutthroat. Respectable people belong to guilds, the church or are born into nobility. Or barring all that, they’re salt of the earth and till the land for the rest of us. Your problem is that you’re none of that. You’re a third child or worse. You can’t get into a guild—too many apprentices already. You’re sure as hell not nobility—even if you were, your older brothers and sisters have soaked up the inheritance. The churches—they’ll take you, but they have so many acolytes, they hand you kit and a holy sign and send you right out the door again: Get out there and preach the word and find something nice for mother church. And if you ever entertained romantic notions of farming, think again. You’d end up little more than a slave to a wealthy noble.

So there’s naught for us but to make our own way. There’s a certain freedom to it, but it’s a hard life. Cash flows out of our hands as easily as the blood from our wounds. But at least it’s our life. And if we’re lucky, smart and stubborn, we might come out on top. There’s a lot of lost loot out there for the finding. And salvage law is mercifully generous. We find it, it’s ours to spend, sell or keep.

What Is This Game About?
Torchbearer is a riff on the early model of fantasy roleplaying games. In it, you take on the role of a fortune-seeking adventurer. To earn that fortune, you must explore forlorn ruins, brave terrible monsters and retrieve forgotten treasures. However, this game is not about being a hero. It is not about fighting for what you believe. This game is about exploration and survival.

You may become a hero. You might have to fight for your ideals. But to do either of those things, you must prove yourself in the wilds.

Because there are no jobs, no inheritance, no other opportunities for deadbeat adventurers like you. This life is your only hope to survive this world.

Welcome to Your New Life
To play the game, one player takes the job of playing the antagonists, supporting characters, setting and scenery. This player is called the Game Master or GM. The other players take on the role of individual characters. They are the adventurers.

The GM’s job is to transform the players’ adventurer characters into heroes. How? By challenging the players with obstacles set in their path. It is only by overcoming difficult challenges and passing through the fire of conflict that the players’ characters can become heroes.

It’s a very tough job—the characters are the lowest, most desperate of sorts. Turning them into heroes is no mean feat.

What Kind of Game Is This?
Torchbearer is a roleplaying game. And it’s part of the brand of games Burning Wheel HQ has been producing for over ten years. It’s about making difficult choices, and it involves exploring the world and your character through the game rules and systems.

This is a hard game.

It’s not a simple game. There are many moving parts and it’s not possible to experience the whole game in one or even two sessions. If you prefer lighter games, there are many other excellent choices available for you. If you’re ready to sink your teeth into a good game that will reward you for mastering the system over 10 or 20 sessions, this is the game for you.

Want more? Say hello to THESE.
House Rules and Hacks
This is mostly just a few items, for those of you familiar with the already complicated rules, to clarify and smooth out the PBP format of this game.

* I try and always show a rough map of the current area (though never on how areas connect to each other unless actually mapped), and more generally I try and provide as many visual clues as I can. This is a little against the grain of the rules-as-written, but I think it goes a long way towards less frustrations in this medium.

* Helping.PBP games tend to see any given player with a spurt of creativity and availability, followed by a period of time where they simple can't post, or can't come up with anything particularly great. Let's accept this facet of the medium and roll with it.
For Help, the active player will look at everyone's character sheets and call out who in the party is providing assistance to the test, if any. We cannot wait for everyone to chime in on every single test. That way is madness.
Also, I am a little more loosy goosy with what skills help what other skills than rules-as-written. We'll get to that more in-game.

* Many mechanics of the game function on a "per session" basis. In my experience, each session sees, on average, about 13 Turns. So for this game, we will go through End of Session and then Beginning of Session procedures after 13 Turns have passed.
For example; you guys could adventure for 9 Turns, Camp, adventure 3 more, go back to Town, then have 1 more adventure phase Turn before we hit end of session.

* Prologue, done at the beginning of sessions, is a summary of events that must be no longer than 140 characters and, of course, entertaining. It will be tweeted publicly for the whole world to get a recap of your shenanigans.

* We will have custom made Towns. More details there later.

* Speaking of Character Generation, that will be done all together in an organic fashion. Doin't send me a character sheet, we will be building it as a team. I think Character Generation in this system is a fun little romp.
Last edited by C. Steven Ross on Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:16 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#2 Post by MrHemlocks »

Sounds like a blast so count me in. When I commit to playing a game I really commit to it...least one post per day. Takes less than one minute to do so. I will need to read more about the system and how it all plays out, but count me in! Looks deadly ;)

I am looking over the game now, at the website, but can tell me what really sets this game apart from D&D Classic and Advanced or the host of other retro-clones?

You ask for a long term commitment and I am in on that, but is there a campaign setting to support such a cause? I did not see one list on the main site.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#3 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Glad to have you on board!

For "long-term commitment", I really mean to say that when we get to a good stopping point (the completion of an adventure, heading to Town, etc.), that I would like people to play to these points and make a clean break if they are just not feeling the game. Don't keep the rest of us waiting on your slow responses if you no longer have anything to add!

There is a campaign setting of sorts. It is homebrewed, inspired by this.

Let me be abundantly clear: though Torchbearer shares the same tone, theme, and stylistic choices of old school, 1E era D&D games; the rules are RADICALLY DIFFERENT AND IN NO WAY SIMILAR. I'll have a quick primer on the bare bones of the game once the campaign thread is setup.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#4 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Here is a slightly better answer to the question of how Torchbearer works and is different from traditional d20-based games.

THE MOOD
Torchbearer is a game of exploration and survival, neither of which is easy. It’s less like Lord of the Rings and more like surviving Vietnam. There are treasures to be found, but they are going to be pried from the frozen grip of the dead. Your characters are desperate people with no respectable or promising opportunities. Your characters aren't heroes, but they can become heroes. Your adventurers have powerful ambition and poor judgment. They are foolishly optimistic opportunists.

While adventuring and during character creation, ask yourself the following questions:
What led you to this life?
What as the last thing you ate that didn't make you sick?
Who have you let down?
What was the job that was going to get you off the street? How did it fall apart?
Does anyone at home depend on you? How have you failed them?
Who in your new group besides you shows the most promise?
What about this adventure gives you hope?

BASIC MECHANICS
Describe what your character is doing. Live in the fiction. Ask questions, explore, look around, get as much out of the GM as you can before doing something tricky or hard.

When that happens, he'll tell you to stop and make a skill test of a certain Obstacle. You will roll d6's equal to the skill's rating on your sheet, +1d6 for each ally that can and wants to Help you (or is Wise in the subject), +1d6 if you use your Trait in a beneficial way, -1d6 if you use your Trait in a negative way to show the world what a scoundrel you are (this lets you Camp and Recover later on). 1-3 is nothing, 4-6 is a success. He will tell you how hard it will be, how many successes you need, once you've committed to the action so you can figure out how much effort you want to throw in. If you don't have the skill, use half of either Health or Will; or all of your Nature. It's better if your Nature descriptor matches what you're doing. Mark if you've passed or failed; otherwise known as "gain some XP".

If it's a skill you don't have, you gain Rank 2 when you have a number of attempts (either Pass or Fail) equal to your Nature. Else, increase your skill Rank when you have Passes equal to the current Rank and Fails equal to 1 less than that.

Look at your Beliefs. If acting on your Belief is the safe and sensible thing to do, you are not especially rewarded. When you fight for what you stand for in the face of adversity, or when you question your deeply held Beliefs and change the core of your soul, the game rewards you.
Try to attain your Goals, or at least make some progress.
Try and have an Instinct that will make everyone's lives a little better.

If you have and spend Persona: Add your Nature to a roll (sometimes risky!), or add +1D to a roll, or re-roll failed dice related to your Wise.

If you have and spend Fate: Explode a 6, or re-roll one failed die on something you are Wise in.

If you have and spend Checks: Camp and recover. Recovery heals Conditions, and Conditions are very bad indeed, so find good ways to rack up Checks. You can Recover at Camp with Checks, or at Town by running up a huge bill at the inn.

If you have and spend an unused Trait: once per "session", you can add +1D.

If you have Loot: head back to civilization and barter it away in return for a soft bed and a cold meal. Be thankful that you're still alive.

Think of smart things to do. If it's a really good idea, the GM will say "Good Idea!" and not pass any time or force you to make a Test.

Time passes whenever you make a Test. Time grinds you down, makes you hungry and exhausted and pissed off. Time makes torches burn out and leaves you in pitch black darkness a half mile under the earth.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#5 Post by thesniperknight1 »

I am extremely interested in this, the game sounds absolutely brilliant in every way, I even started thinking of the background of my character already and I have absolutely no problem with one post a day, I am a fast learner and a hard worker. I just have one concern, I am very new to the role-playing world, I literally started a couple of weeks ago and I had to learn four different core rules last week alone, my brain is starting to hurt a bit. Just how complex are the core rules for Torchbearer?
Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#6 Post by C. Steven Ross »

GREETING, SNIPERKNIGHT1!

That's always awesome to hear about new people being brought into the hobby. Your story warms teh cockles of my heart.

Torchbearer is a very complex game with many moving parts. THAT SAID the fact that you are new to RPGs might make the learning process easier as you won't have a lot of baggage to unlearn, as Torchbearer is very different in mechanics than typical RPGs.

IN ANY EVENT, I will be there to explain each and every step of the way. The main thing is to engage the environment, ask questions, be clever, tell me what your character is doing and how they are doing it.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#7 Post by drpete »

I would love a chance to get in on this. I've read the rules, but haven't played it at this point, so i'm sure there are things I don't understand, but I'll do my best to figure things out. As a teacher and father of a preschooler, there are times when my schedule becomes a little tight,but these times are somewhat predictable (or are becoming so).

I certainly think it would be cool to get grim and gritty with you, if there's room.
GM: Dwimmermount (ACKS)

Zim: 7/7 | Torgyr: 14/14 | U Tar: 3/3 | Nazares: 6/6| Emm: 9/9 |Quinn: 13/13
Ranulf: 10/10 | Solaine: 12/12 | Liam: 4/4 | X | Randolpho: 10/10 | Audi: 8/8

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#8 Post by thesniperknight1 »

Alright, I am in!!! I guess my brain will just have to withstand it, I can't wait, this game really sounds like the embodiment of role playing
Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#9 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Awesome!

We have my stated required minimum number of players: MrHemlocks, Sniper Knight, and Dr Pete. We have room for one more before I shut this thread down.

I've sent my request in to have a campaign thread started and will be in touch with you guys regarding that shortly.

Drpete: Did you read the adventure that is in the Torchbearer rulebook (House of Three Squires)? It's cool if you did, I just want to get a feel for how much I can steal from it. Same question with the one free adventurer Thor and Luke put out, Dread Crypt of Skogenby.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#10 Post by drpete »

I skimmed through the adventure in the back of the book to get a sense for how things are supposed to work, though I don't remember much beyond the opening room or two. I haven't seen the dread crypt of skogenby.
GM: Dwimmermount (ACKS)

Zim: 7/7 | Torgyr: 14/14 | U Tar: 3/3 | Nazares: 6/6| Emm: 9/9 |Quinn: 13/13
Ranulf: 10/10 | Solaine: 12/12 | Liam: 4/4 | X | Randolpho: 10/10 | Audi: 8/8

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#11 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Cool deal!

While we are waiting for the campaign forum to get created we can easily do a few steps on character creation.

What class/stock do you want to play as? I've listed them in order of what I feel is least to most complicated to play. Don't pick the same one as someone else.
- Dwarf Adventurer
- Halfling Burglar
- Human Warrior
- Human Thief
- Human Paladin
- Human Cleric
- Elf Ranger
- Human Magician

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#12 Post by thesniperknight1 »

I am gonna choose Human Thief, unless someone else wants that class. It works well with what I have in mind for the character background.
Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#13 Post by drpete »

I guess I usually play things closer to the bottom of that chart than the top, and had been considering dwarf or halfling, but that ordering of the classes feels like a dare... :)

I would consider wizard, though t's not my usual schtick. I worry that that wizard and thief leave us very little firepower or healing, though. Maybe elf...? I'm really open to anything, though, so let's see what our third player thinks...
GM: Dwimmermount (ACKS)

Zim: 7/7 | Torgyr: 14/14 | U Tar: 3/3 | Nazares: 6/6| Emm: 9/9 |Quinn: 13/13
Ranulf: 10/10 | Solaine: 12/12 | Liam: 4/4 | X | Randolpho: 10/10 | Audi: 8/8

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#14 Post by MrHemlocks »

Human Paladin or Dwarf Adventurer. Not sure which one because I can not read about their classes. If I like how the game plays out, I might buy the print edition for it seems very promising.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#15 Post by C. Steven Ross »

The full ten levels of benefits and general description of the eight classes can be found here: http://www.torchbearerrpg.com/wp-conten ... les_r5.pdf

I've listed the starting skills and traits for the classes you guys are unsure of below. We'll get into more detail as to what that means when the campaign forum is created.

drpete: Elves and Magicians have many similarities. Elves cast some spells, though not as many nor as well as Magicians, but also have some skills in fighting and some wilderness and survival type skills.

MrHemlocks: Dwarves and Paladins are both decent at killing things, though Dwarves start with more dungeon-centered skills and Paladins start with more skills to better rule the countryside and run roughshod over filthy peasants.

Elf Starting Skills: Will 4, Health 4, Fighter 3, Arcanist 3, Lore Master 3, Scholar 3, Scout 2, Survivalist 2. Trait: Firstborn

Magician Starting Skills: 8 points between Will and Health, Arcanist 4, Lore Master 3, Alchemist 2, Cartographer 2, Scholar 2; choose either Criminal, Haggler, Pathfinder, or Survivalist 3. Trait: Wizard's Sight

Dwarf Starting Skills: Will 3, Health 5, Fighter 4, Dungeoneer 3, Armorer 2, Laborer 2, Orator 2, Scout 2. Trait: Born of Earth & Stone

Paladin Starting Skills: 8 points between Will and Health, Health cannot be higher than Will; Fighter 3, Orator 3, Rider 3, Theologian 2, Ritualist 2; choose either Criminal, Haggler, Pathfinder, or Survivalist 3. Trait: Feared in Hell

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#16 Post by MrHemlocks »

Paladin it is...

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#17 Post by drpete »

Alright, then... I'll go with the Elf Ranger.
GM: Dwimmermount (ACKS)

Zim: 7/7 | Torgyr: 14/14 | U Tar: 3/3 | Nazares: 6/6| Emm: 9/9 |Quinn: 13/13
Ranulf: 10/10 | Solaine: 12/12 | Liam: 4/4 | X | Randolpho: 10/10 | Audi: 8/8

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#18 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Ok guys, I think I have the campaign set up with you three added.

viewforum.php?f=190

Please let me know if there's any trouble, this is my first foray onto the forums and there are quite a few hoops to jump through.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#19 Post by C. Steven Ross »

Ah, and go read the character generation thread and post your choices.

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Re: LFP Open - No Country for Deadbeat Adventurers [Torchbea

#20 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

If there is still room, I would love to join in. TB is the reason I joined this site.

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