I would like to run an ACKS Troupe-style Play-by-Post game here on the site.
If you don't know what I mean by ACKS Troupe-style Play, please see http://www.autarch.co/forums/house-rules/hr-acks-troupe-style-play
If you are interested, please respond in this thread and begin discussion with your fellow players on the nature of your troupe.
I intend to shape the campaign based on the nature of your troupe, so don't ask me about the campaign just yet.
Rules will be ACKS core (of course), as well as classes from the Player's Companion and most classes from my web site http://www.bythisaxe.co
Assuming interest, I am targeting beginning in January, but we might begin sooner if the troupe and characters are sorted out more quickly.
Thank you for your consideration!
jordan Release Dates
I am intrigued.
The answer is, "Yes!"
Welcome!!
That's 2. I hope to begin with 5-8 players.
You there, step forward and speak up ...
I'll throw in.
That's a neat idea. It seems like it'd enable a slightly more...organized? sort of playstyle when there's ancillary staff included as a core conciet; perhaps a more directed expeditionary style of play. I keep imagining a fantastical 1800s-style hunting lodge/club for whatever reason. Allan Quatermain sort of style.
I would be interested.
That's 4! Enough to begin discussion on the nature of your troupe.
Merely as food for thought, from my original post:
o Sorcerers in a walled townhouse estate, with laboratory and library
o Guardians in an old watch tower
o Ruffians in a dilapidated moathouse
o Explorers in a large sailing ship
o Venturers in a merchant caravan
I suggest each player make a proposal or three, and perhaps see where your interests intersect.
Have fun with it!
Hi Charles,
What do you imagine a troupe would look like, on a day to day basis? Are we going to switch from one character to another with different adventures, or simultaneously playing 5 different characters? I'm definitely interested, I just don't want to bite off too big a commitment.
Personally, I'd like to do something like a Silk Road campaign, in a caravan, trading our own accounts, or maybe like the Black Company, our own mercenary band at the platoon level.
This may vary depending upon your troupe selection and the need to keep the PbP moving, but ...
The key point is you will manage one character "on screen" at a time. Any "entourage" characters also present will be managed as NPCs, albeit favorably disposed NPCs.
In the beginning of the campaign, there may be more structure spotlighting different elements of the entourage, but longer term you, the players, will allocate the resources of your troupe to the tasks you choose.
That looks right.
Yes, now you can swap the positions of any 2, and remove any 1, or vice versa. You are not required to swap, but obviously you must drop 1.
The order of your rolls is as presented in ACKS:
Str
Int
Wis
Dex
Con
Cha
I needs me some rolls to decide this sort of thing...
Okay, so I've gone with the ACKS "roll 5 sets, keep 3" method of rolling attributes. Let me know if you want me to go with something else (e.g., just the first set).
I hope you won't be disappointed in my obvious softness in allowing you to use the rolling method from Dragon #39 for your primary "Adventurer" character:
“Roll 4d6 seven times. Record the sum of the three highest six-sided dice. If that sum is six or less, reroll at once. The sums must be recorded in order. The player is allowed two chances to alter the numbers as recorded. She may switch the positions of two of the numbers and she may discard one number – not necessarily the lowest one.”
You may not combine this with the ACKS core raising of a prime requisite ability or abilities by sacrificing points in other abilities.
I very much like “organic” characters, and I especially do not like frequently occurring characters with an 18 in their prime requisite.
You can use the other rolls above for your entourage characters (similarly without raising/sacrificing).
Hmm...having trouble getting the dice roller to do 4d6, drop the lowest. I'll have to test a bit...
edit: Interesting. The documentation claims this should work, but it did not.
(Sadly I'm not signing up to play, I just don't have the brainspace for another game.)
Fixed now.
Update: when I actually type the syntax in right, it's fixed....
Rolling
Main Character's ability scores!
Unless I'm missing something, you get a 7th roll, then choose one to drop, etc.
Does the 7th roll swap with a roll of your choice? Or do you drop a roll, and all the others shift up one? I'm guessing it's the former...
Are there any restricted Classes?
Actually, it's the latter, drop and shift. Referring to the original description of the method, you can drop, shift, then swap, or swap first, then drop and shift, or just drop and shift (the swap is optional).
I hesitate to say, um, no. Not sure what you have in mind -- your fellow players might be more concerned than me. As long as the class meets the rules, I'm probably good.
Interested!
Especially a ruffians troupe sounds good.
But I could also imagine someting along the domain game could work, like the denizens of a small keep (on the borderlands?)
Those sound like great ideas. I'll throw out a few more.
A circus troupe that puts on performances as a cover for larceny/espionage.
Decadent sons and daughters of aristocrats looking for adventures to relieve their boredom.
Heretics of the state religion one step ahead of the religious authorities.
Guardians of a sacred artifact trying to protect it from the many groups that want it.
Frontier style game, perhaps - either a "New World" (lost world?) sort of thing, or more Western-style, new frontier or gold rush sort of situation. As businessmen, prospectors, land-grant-holders...all of the above.
Yes, and possibly, depending on the troupe and how you see your character "fitting in".
First, you need to agree on the nature of your troupe: the reason your Adventurers find yourselves in the company of one another, likely the motivation for the activities you will pursue together, and perhaps influencing how you interact with the campaign world.
The suggestions you've made so far are (in physical order of posting):
o A Silk Road campaign, in a caravan, trading our own accounts
o Like the Black Company, our own mercenary band at the platoon level
o A ruffians troupe
o The denizens of a small keep (on the borderlands?)
o A circus troupe that puts on performances as a cover for larceny/espionage.
o Decadent sons and daughters of aristocrats looking for adventures to relieve their boredom.
o Heretics of the state religion one step ahead of the religious authorities.
o Guardians of a sacred artifact trying to protect it from the many groups that want it.
o A frontier style game, either a "New World" (lost world?) sort of thing, or a more Western-style, new frontier or gold rush sort of situation.
You can continue to make suggestions to one another, or highlight the opportunities you see for a particular troupe concept.
Then, perhaps you can each list your first three preferences, so we can look for intersections of interests and make a selection.
Oh, the danger of putting the inmates in charge :)
I was looking at the suggestions, and trying to come up with a way to blend a few...
How about something combining these concepts? We're the leaders of a troupe of ruffians trying to establish/hold onto a small fortress on the edge of the frontier.
Some military stuff, some finance stuff (can we trade with the natives or is it all war?) Maybe there are rumors of the equivalent to the fountain of youth (or whatever) to go questing after, too.
A fortress, somewhat dilapidated, reclaimed from a previously failed attempt at settlement (war, winter, drought, disease...) on a new shore; the sunset lands beyond said to be chock full of the ruins of an unknown empire, full of indescribable treasures, now ruled by beasts and beastmen; the children of that empire lost in disparate and desperate tribes.
Interest again begins to stir in the known kingdoms; can a small group of like-minded mercenaries make their fortunes before the old crowns set anchor to lay their claims and their taxes?
Wait, didn't you just describe standard ACKS?
Yea..well..erm...standard ACKS is just that good it subsumes and supplants all thematic elements of a campaign.
....wanders off muttering....
Of all those ideas, I like the keep idea the best.
Maybe it could be on the borderlands!
To summarize the latest discussion, your troupe is an expeditionary group of opportunistic adventurers seeking a base from which to expand your operations, ideally a keep (on the borderlands).
If this is your choice, the final step in discussing your troupe is considering any initial purchases of a "household". Excerpted from my original post:
"... each player may contribute as much of her starting budget as desired to the Company, or the reason that brings the players’ troupes together. This combined budget may be used for a one-time initial purchase of the Company "household" at half the normal price."
Your desired household would seem to be a "keep" or similar. I see two obvious possibilities:
1. One or more of you price out a "keep" (dilapidated/incomplete or otherwise) you can afford with contributions from each Adventurer's budget.
2. Your troupe's first adventure will be to secure a keep, an expedition likely requiring your troupe's full complement.
I'd vote for securing the keep for our first adventure. It would mean more if we had to pay the iron price to get it.
Nice. I always liked that phrase.
That's an interesting dichotomy - on one hand, you're spending your money on an already owned keep, and you can stat up the rest of the troupe as a group ready to begin operations - exploration, diplomacy, trade.
On the other, you may be spending that starting money on troops and creating a troupe that is more fixed towards the initial goal of taking a stronghold, which I think may skew the party composition away from the softer skills & spells. (not discounting the possibility of taking the keep via diplomacy, but, worst case)
I dunno...once you take the keep, you're gonna need and/or want all that other soft stuff.
Off the cuff, excuse mathematicals...
So, if we're shooting for a keep that can secure at least a 6-mile hex, we're looking at a value between 22500-30000 GP, depending on if we're in a borderlands or wilderness hex - or we're looking for a keep that's fallen beind on upkeep, and has a remaining value of at least that.
Obvs. the keep can be valued much higher than that.
I think we can combine the "have a keep" idea with the "silk road" idea with judicious keep placement by the Judge and an interest in providing the specialists needed to find/collect resources by the troupe - there could be some set of the troupe doing the work of the mercantile ventures back to civilization at the same time another part is exploring the area around the keep.
Or if the keep is in the wilderness betwixt two civilized areas, we can be a stop on the silk road as well, and trade in both directions.
The above keep sizes are sitting around a unit capacity of 1 to 1.6 (or less, depending on state), or, at platoon scale perhaps, 4 to 6.4 platoon units. Depending on the actual state of the keep and it's defensive posture, and how much of the wages for units we'd need to prepay, if we can gather enough troops at the start and maybe a catapult for laughs that may be an initially cheaper option at the cost of putting more into the keep at the start - 2 platoons of heavies, a platoon of lights and bowmen would be...1170 on the month?
I kind of like that idea though - there's a keep that would be a great stopping point for various caravans, and would stand to profit itself from trade, but it's currently held by some sort of raubritter who needs eviction.
I speak German, and I had to look up "Raubritter."
I expect the group may post lightly through the New Year. At your convenience, let's take a roll call to see who's still in, and please vote "Gold" or "Iron" for the Company's keep. Then, I'll request forums be set-up for our game!
With a Gold vote, you begin with a keep you can afford. There will be dangers around the keep, but it's yours, home sweet home.
With an Iron vote, you begin by acquiring a keep. As Adventurers, I see this as an adventure to clear squatters from "your" keep. However, I'm all ears if you have a plan to Conquer an occupied keep, or use Kingly diplomacy to convince someone to give you a nice keep.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
I'm still in, and I vote iron. We do not sew! (Or something like that)
I'm still learning the forum die roller -- is 4d6L1 the same as the 4d6.takeHighest(3) the others are using?
If you want to keep this character, that's fine. But if you want to re-roll using 4d6.takeHighest(3), remember we are not exchanging non-Primes for Primes. Work with the rolls you receive, dropping and or swapping as mentioned above.
New Try:
One thing is certain: Letting people pick classes from your blog makes it difficult to decide on a class.
So many choices...
Question: How do the troupe rules work in regards to animals as henchmen and mercenaries in regards to buying levels and HD limits?
I may be answering more than you're asking, but just to start from the beginning...
Be sure to read “Playing with Advanced Characters” on p. 253 of ACKS, as my ACKS Troupe Style Play builds upon those rules. Then, you should fill out the Adventurer, Henchman, Specialist, Mercenary and Servant roles of your troupe. You could have more than these, but the Henchman, Specialist, Mercenary and Servant receive the two loyalty bonuses toward your Adventurer.
Animal henchmen are possible through Beast Mastery (or similar), not on the open market. Use your troupe budget to “purchase” the animal (it may have been “treasure” from an encounter) and XP to advance it. (There are posts on the forum clarifying animal henchmen I can reference, if you have questions.)
I assume you could conceivably have animals in multiple roles in your troupe, although I haven't personally thought through the possibilities.
Not to spoil things, and not to assume Charles will be doing anything in particular for his game, but L&E will be telling you that man-sized animals can get up to 9 HD, Large to 13 HD, Huge to 17 HD.
XP for advanced animals doubles each HD/level at 3000XP for 2HD, so, fair warning, it's horrifically expensive to do so.
Ah, I was wondering more about a rule like the one for henchmen: "When they are hired, potential henchmen should be of lower level than their employer."
Does a Beast Friendship "henchmen" has to have lower HD then the "employer" has levels?
Its only 3000 XP as base for animals now? I remembered 5000 so I am pleasantly surprised! :)
(same disclaimer as earlier, but) Yes, they have to be lower than your own HD; same as regular henchmen. So Marc Singer from Beastmaster was at least 7th level, since he had a tiger at 6HD (base)....wonder if that actually holds up in practice, I'd have to find that movie to watch again. Not sure I've seen it since the 80s.
Would make sense and considering my character I should watch that one again as well. :D
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