What is this crazy shit?It is the sequel to
Halfling Paladin. This game is a rougelike, so any characters you get killed are likely going to stay dead, and to make things even better, the characters will know when you are plotting to kill them because there is no fourth wall once the game starts! The story telling will likely contain both dark and lighthearted elements, so have some lulz with ur tears!
What are the rules?Awww man... we have to have rules? Shoot.
This is standard suggestion game fare. You, the players, tell the dudes and dudettes under your control what to do, and I the GM make said character perform the most popular or hilarious actions to the best of his or her ability.
I have some d20 system inspired rules. Characters have an HP Score an an AC. Opposing characters make modified d20 rolls against their foe's AC to reduce their HP. Magic always works unless it is canceled out by a spell of similar function and power, or is somehow resisted.
All actions not listed above are subjected to a d20 roll with a modifier and target of my choice.
There is also a chemistry system between players and playable characters, so once the game starts feel free to RP with the ones you like or torment the ones you despise! You may get personal boons and powers relating to individual characters if you can talk em into trusting a crazy b12er such as yourself!
Good things might also happen to you if you submit fanart! Cause I can't draw, but I want this to be a propper ISG, and I'm shameless enough to ape visual resources from anywhere.
Aaaaaand without further ado, the game!---
You are an Antman, or Formicid if you want to use the technical term. Your upbringing was easy, as you were a drone. The one purpose of your existence was to fly the great caverns for a few weeks and screw any potential future queen you came across, and to ensure you lived long enough to do just that you were excused from all physical labor and forced to remain in your room for the duration of your youth. You devoted all that free time to the
magical art of summoning!Just yesterday you returned from completing your life's work. The past few weeks were
awesome, but now you have a crisis on your hands; You have served your purpose, and the colony already has a bunch of summoners on royal retainer. The colony does not like feeding the worthless, so you suspect you will receive a
formal summons for execution in the near future.
To avoid this fate you have decided to
wander the earth and make a living off your magic. You heard things are pretty fucked up in the
surface world right now, as the
Demon Viceroy has kidnapped the leaders off all the surface civilizations for some nefarious purpose or another. There should be plenty of work for mercenary mages up there.
You inform the queen that you would rather face exile than death, and she graciously agrees to let you use the colonies'
teleportation chamber! She is also kind enough to give you a few days to prepare for your travels...
You Begin Making your Preparations:First off you fill out the standard exile request form at the colony DMV. It is a long and boring document that goes into much more depth than is necessary, but you guess processing it gives the DMV workers something to do as the automobile hasn't been invented yet.
What name do you sign on the form?Next you visit the colony library. Tradition dictates that mages facing exile may take a single spellbook with them. You find three that are suitable for a summoner of your level and spend some time considering which one to take...
Choose a book, nerd:-The Basic Book of Bugs is the standard fare for antmen summoners. A contains a fair number of simple summoning spells for combat and utility purposes.
-The Tome of Planar Summons contains spells to summon holy and unholy creatures. The creatures summoned by this book tend to be a bit stronger than the bugs, but may offend party members with strong religious views down the road, and may be disloyal to you if you ever become too good or too evil.
-Wizard's Guidebook is a generalist beginner's spellbook with some summoning spells included. Non-summoning spells are more complicated for you to cast.
The market is your next destination, and you bring your meager life savings. Dried Aphids are useless as currency on the surface, so you might as well spend everything here. You already have basic robes and a knife, and antmen are not picky eaters, so you can survive off of garbage and slain foes without having to waste money on rations. Since the basics are taken care of, you might as well get something cool.
Buy one of these thing, you damn capitalist pig:-The necklace of summoning allows you to cast three extra summoning spells a day
-Antmen have four strong and agile arms, so unlike most mages you can use large weapons like this greatsword while still being able to cast
-The wand of fireball can carry your weak spellcaster ass until it runs out of charges
-The robe of the sky increases the power of your wings to allow for true flight
-The bracelet of protection magically wards away the first melee attack to successfully hit you in a given dungeon
-The Big Bottle of Healz has enough potion inside to recover 1d6+5 HP on 6 separate occasions
-The Offering in a Bottle will allow you or a party member to join a religion or take a divine class at an appropriate altar
-The Surplus Antman Larva will grow into a useful adult antman if you can survive 3-5 battles
When you finish your shopping, you still have some time left to kill before your appointment with the teleporter. Might as well spend it productively...
Choose how you want to waste your time:-You round up and barter away your remaining worldly possessions so that you can afford more stuff at the market... (Pick one additional item from the shopping list)
-You spend the afternoon trying to find a friend loyal and crazy enough to accompany you on your adventure. (Start with a random party member. The GM rolls a d10, higher results mean a better ally. A 1 is likely a lazy teenager with no skills, seven is somebody at about your level, and 10 is somebody who is about one and a half times as effective as you are)
-Spend time in the library, researching old Antmen treasure maps. (You start knowing the location of a treasure trove near your starting point)
At long last it is time to bid farewell to you home forever. You enter the
teleportation chamber, and the technician asks you where you wish to be sent. He hands you a brochure with a list of options. It seems the teleport can reach
settlements within each of the surface nations.
Choose the town you wish to die/start your adventure in!-The City of Pyoko is a human settlement located in the east of the surface world. Humans are a fairly tall race with pink or brown skin. They are known for their honor, ingenuity, and racism.
-Camp Fracture is an Orcish Settlement located in the east of the surface world. Orcs are huge creatures with skin that can come in many shades of green, brown, and grey. Orcs are known to be mobile nomadic raiders.
-Starlight Circle is a fey settlement located in the north of the surface world. The Fey consist of several races, but most are small and beautiful. The Fey are famous for living in harmony with nature and enjoying all sorts of worldly pleasures without restraint.
-Grimdark Barracks is a goblin settlement located in the north of the surface world. Goblins come in several shapes and sizes, but most have tough green skin. Goblins are known to be organized, militaristic, and rather wicked.
-The City of Atemshire is an elven settlement located in the west of the surface world. Elves are tall with skin and hair that ranges from pale to ghostly white. Elves are academic by nature, and wont think twice to perform immoral acts in the pursuit of new knowledge.
-Fort Nordic is a dwarven settlement located in the west of the surface world. Dwarves are short and stout, with skin that is pale from lack of exposure to the sun. Dwarves are always itching for a fight, and most would love nothing more than to die in battle.
-The Town of Southbrook is a halfling settlement located in the south of the surface world. Halflings are short and agile and usually well tanned to boot. Halflings are good and virtuous people who like to focus of faith, philosophy, and agriculture.
-The Rancid Pit is a kobold settlement located in the south of the surface world. The Kobolds are actually several racial tribes that descend from powerful beings such as elephants and dragons. Kobolds are sneaky, conniving, ruthless, and often rather adorable.