Bay 12 Games Forum

YIP YIP YIP!

((GWG, i can assure you i will not be making any Mary Sues in this game. This is not the Forgotten Realms. This is a universe of my complete creation that i have been planning for the past 10 years (and writing multiple (unpublished) books in). What (i am hoping) this Drow will come up against will more often than not seem impossible.

I want creative thinking to extreme challenges. If this character had been one of the strongest sapient races, Dragon-kin Humanis, there would still have been a great challenge. As it happens, Drow can only really rely on their magic, agility and intelligence. Dont be thinking you can physically overpower a troll, ogre, dragon, archdemon or any other myriad creatures in this world, especially when you got chased down a road by a bear!

But i appreciate you telling me and giving criticism. And i am hoping people could give me advice on my writing style in the future as well)).


You find a nice sturdy tree. From your quick look at it you think it may be an iron oak. As the bear is hot on your heels, you scurry up into it and spend a good long time resting. From your vantage point, you can see some berry bushes in the forest near you and the bear bouncing about beneath you, trying and failing to climb up.

Taking the initiative, once you are sure the bear is gone which takes some time due to the enraged nature of the bear, you jump down and eat a few handfuls of berries, drinking the juice.

'That hits a spot' you mentally sigh. Surprisingly, they rejuvenate you better than expected. Smiling you return to the road and carry on your way.

Eventually, after at least an hour walking and with the sun now setting behind the horizon, you look up to see in the distance a large city wall. 'Well thank the Goddess for that! I was starting to think i was trapped in one of those Silfroudar forest mazes....'.

You jog the rest of the way.

As you grow closer to the city, your instincts seem to tell you to raise your cloak hood. You stop and fiddle with your hood, making sure it covered your features. Eventually, after much fiddling, you had it up and your features, you think, are completely covered, protecting them from prying eyes.

You continued on towards the large reinforced gates that straddles the road and the four guard patrols patrolling outside. You noticed other people, about ten of them all wearing black robes with their hoods up, five wearing intricately decorated robes. 'Mages? Strange, their robes haven't got their school sigil on them. Those five who have decorated robes only seem to have crimson and dark green designs on......' That seems to jog a memory, although you cannot quite remember it yet. Something about dark magic users and necromancers.

You are brought out of your brief reverie by arguing. One of the robed people, one with intricate robe designs, was arguing with a guard who looked very much like a captain, or other such officer, who was dressed in heavy steel armour.

“How many times do I have to tell you, you hairless ape! We are traders! Not thieves or murderers!” said a man who also had his hood up, in a desperate voice. However, there is one thing that is extracted from your memory, the fact that is a distinctly Drow accent.

“Sir, please keep your voice down and your language civil!” chided the guard, gruffly. There was something about his voice that indicated he didn’t like being called a hairless ape. 'Well, no human would...' You think passively.

The first man who spoke waved his hands about in apparent exasperation. “What do I have to do to get you to let me in? You have already searched my brethren..” He motioned to the nine other figures. “...and my wagons. What more do you want?”

“I want your trading papers. All Adavta, or Drow if you want it in layman's terms, traders in Yellow Banner territory need authorisation since the last war between our peoples.”

Whilst the two argued, you walk forward. You eventually come close to the rear most wagon in the wagon train, the last of five. You notice that the covering of the wagon is loose, and inside there is a pile of weaponry. A drow longbow with the initials AW carved into the area just above the hand guard, a quiver of arrows, two long knives who handles are obscured under a sheet and a beautiful longsword, with a series of runes on the base of the blade and a fantastically gleaming eagle hilt, which felt extraordinarily familiar......


What do you do? Do you grab the hilt of the strangely familiar sword? Do you ignore the impulses? Do you try and interrupt the argument between the suspicious traders and the rule abiding guard captain?

As you are running, you have an idea. Befriend the bear! It couldn't possibly go wrong! And even if it did, it might surprise the bear enough that it veers off and smacks into a tree.

You stop and turn, arms flung out wise. "Hello, Bear. Would you do me the pleasure of....." You are interrupted as the bear, surprised at your sudden turn around, veers off to your left, right into a mighty tree. It stumbles back, clearly stunned. Its face is covered in scratches and its nose is bleeding. Whilst you might not be one of those forest dwelling Silfroudar elves, this encounter went better than expected.

Unfortunately, the bear set its sights on you again, despite your best efforts and, with a ground shaking roar, charges at you. You roll to your left and spring into another sprint, trying to outrun the bear.

Your actions seem to have just angered the bear more. What do you do now?

Also, it's a pretty simplistic concept. Suggestion games of amnesiacs are pretty easy, and often considered a mark of low GM investment in a game. Also, you didn't give us any good hooks to go off of.
Also, people around here are a bit anti-elf on average, and drow have a particularly bad rap ever since Drizzit.

That said...well, only one choice, really. Follow the road, hope we don't die.

((I'm hurt, have you ever known me to not put effort into my work? I will try my best on this. Hell, the whole reason i started this was to both try something new and show that i am not slacking off in the games department.

Also, adding the work 'Amnesiac' to the thread title was a mistake of my tired-late-night brain. And i am ill, so that's a thing. If things go roughly the way i plan, Arin should get a fair amount of her memories back fairly soon.

To the Anti-Elf thing, I dont really get that feeling around here (at least, from most people anyway). I dont know anything about a Drizzit guy though.

Finally, before i get to writing, I would like to say that, if you think i dont give enough 'hooks' to go off, please give me advice on how to improve my writing and game starts. I am here to learn. I lean towards a more hands off, let-the-players-explore type GM. For example, instead of just heading down the road straight away, you could have looked around for any clues as to the reason for your predicament, but ho-hum. I tend to think games where the GM gives the only options of action tend to be restrictive and almost boring, unless there is an incredibly good dose of humour.)).


You walked for what seemed like hours, the scenery barely changing. Trees, shrubs and bushes as far as the eye could see except along the wide paved road. You wonder just how far away the next settlement was. It had even started to get dark, although that meant nothing as she didn’t know at what time she awoke.

She reached for her water skin, only to find that it was almost empty. She checked the other pouches for food. Not a single thing. Whatever had happened to her, it had left her with nothing.

‘Great. Lost in the woods with no food, water or tools. This could not get any worse...’. No sooner had you thought that, than you heard a rumbling roar. You stop stock still. As you turn slowly, scanning the area behind you for the source of the noise you realise the source was pretty hard to miss, making you wonder why you hadn't seen it well in advance.

   The largest bear you think you have ever seen was lumbering slowly out of the woods, focused right on you, its beady little eyes full of rage. It slowly lumbers towards you, its hide shaking with every step, like it has all the time in the world.

You back away, making sure to always keep eye contact whilst keeping as large a profile as possible. Despite her best efforts to stay calm, she let out a small whimper. ‘Oh god, why me?’ She wondered.

The Bear roared again, charging forward. You spin on your heel and bolt down the road, running as fast as your legs can carry you which, it turns out, is very fast indeed. Trees past by in a blur, but it seemed the grunting of the bear was still behind her, hot on her heels. 'By the gods, what has this bear been eating?' You wonder, both impressed and terrified of the bears speed.


What do you do? Do you run into the woods on either side of the road and try to lose it in there? Do you turn and fight, attempting to beat it in hand-to-paw combat? Do you try to hide up a tree? Continue down the road and hope your stamina hold out? Or do you decide to do something else the voices in your mind can think up?

**NOTE: This is not a game about a dumb Drizzt Clone. I am NOT writing about an over-powered kill-everything-easily angsty purple dude. This is a game set in my own universe (with heavy influences from elsewhere) with what i hope is a far more realistic and less cliche portrayal of the Drow (and other races in general).

Now, please give this game a go! I have a writing itch and i cant exercise it!**



Hi all! I've decided to do something a little different than my usual attempts at Sci Fi combat. I've been batting this idea around my head for the last few days and, as anyone who pays attention to forum avatrs will tell you, i am going through somewhat of a Drow Obsession at the moment.


A cool breeze ruffled the trees and played at the branches of shrubs lining the road, gradually building, until it was bending entire trees over at various angles. It whistled through the forest, eventually reaching the gorges and foothills that defined the beginnings of a mountain range in the north. Picking up speed, it tugs at everything it passes, seeming to want anything and everything to join it in its endless journey.
   Alone in the forest, lying in the centre of the road buffeted by wind, unconscious and helpless, was what at first would seem to be just a pile of dumped clothing and old leather armour. Yet this tattered, dirty pile was a young woman.
   She stirred, trying to brush her long, luscious dark locks out of her eyes. Shivering in the cold wind, she pulled her dirty, but undamaged fur lined cloak around her. She wore a mask of confusion, looking around questioningly at her surroundings through bleary eyes.
“W...Where am I?” she ask no one in particular. “Who am I?” She tensed, eyes rolling upwards. A vision comes to her.
Her eyes rolled forward again and refocused. Relaxing from her tensed position, she looks around, shaken and panicked. That was no vision, she was sure of it, it felt more like a memory. At least she had a name. Arin. Arin Winterlocks. 'Strong heritage? Interesting destiny? Who was that, my mother? Damn my head hurts...... All i remember is my mother and my goddess, Calithari....'.
   Curious, she examined herself. She played with her hair, seeing for what she believed to be the first time, the hair that she must be named after. Although her hair was of a dark colour, it had strands and highlights of natural crimson red, but the biggest defining feature was the thick locks of pure snow white hair, a lock of which intermingled with black to frame her face.
   Moving her hands further down, she felt her ears. Points that must measure two inches protruded from where she thought a normal human’s ear would have ended, whilst also angled outwards slightly.
   Using a small pocket mirror she felt in one of the pouches on her belt, she examined herself. She saw her piercing ice blue eyes, her dark bluish-purple skin (one of the two defining colours of her race, the other being dark grey), her looks and body that would have put goddesses to shame.
‘Right, now that little adventure has been completed, I think it’s time I tried to find out just where the hell I am’ Arin thought to herself, trying to get motivated for whatever comes next.
   Arin leant down and grabbed her cloak. She fastened the warm cloak around her shoulders using the steel lock and set off at a brisk walk, heading further into the forest, away from the gorge and mountains behind her.
   'I have one hell of a headache' Arin thinks to herself, rubbish a small-ish lump on the side of her head. 'Better take stock of what I have'. Arin decided to take stock of her current inventory. Apart from her cloak, she was wearing sturdy knee high boots, form fitting leggings that, she felt, also encompassed her lower legs and feet. She noted that the thigh area was protected by splinted armour.
   Around her waist was a belt, with a water skin, an empty scabbard on her left hip for what looked like a broad, long sword, and various large pouches as well as two smaller scabbards sitting crossed and nestled in her lower back, which she guessed were for some type of long knives.
   On her body was some sort of steel plated leather body armour over a light chain shirt, both of which covered her upper arms and shoulders as well, continuing on to a pair of sturdy looking vambraces. Finally, she had a pair of tough leather gloves, the right one of which looked worn slightly for extensive use of something in that hand........


You are Arin Winterlocks, a lost Calithari-worhipping drow in the middle of a forest. You are unarmed. You also have amnesia, for the moment, although you do seem to be having visions.

Your intuition seems to be telling you to follow the road, keeping the mountains, foothills and gorges behind you.

What do you do?

"Gold, it isn't like what i am saying will have any effect on the world around us. At least, i hope not."

"Tis but a scratch!"