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Post by oversoul on Sept 26, 2006 17:09:21 GMT -5
This is somethign I have been toying with
Pygmy Adventures -Dice Chucker
Below are adventuring classes of pygmies. The stats given are typical among the tribes. However feel free to create your own character. Each character must be one of these four classes. All characters begin play with a Pool of 4 and 8 Attribute points. If a character takes the Magic attribute they must be a Bonehead and they must also take Spirit Lore. A Featherbrain can only have the Ostriche Handling attribute and must also take Spear Fighting. Only Meateaters can and must have Cleaver Fighting and Hunting. The same requirements apply to what weapon a pygmy can use. If tehy cannot take an Attribute for it they cannot have that weapon.
Other than those requirements pygmy characters may have any Attribute, Perk, or Quirk they wish.
Typical Pirueti Character Types:
Fruitmuncher CP:4 Attributes: Spear Fighting(3), Blowgun Shooting(2), Foraging(3) Perks 'n' Quirks: None Equipment: Spear/Trident or Blowgun
Meateater CP:4 Attributes: Cleaver Fighting(4), Hunting(4) Perks 'n' Quirks: None Equipment: Cleaver
Featherbrain CP:4 Attributes: Spear Fighting(3), Ostriche Handling(2), Searching(2) Perks 'n' Quirks: None Equipment: Ostriche, Spear
Bonehead CP:4 Attributes: Magic(2), Barehand Fighting(2), Spirit Lore(4) Perks 'n' Quirks: None Equipment: None
Attribute List:
Barehand Fighting- Fighting without a weapon or with simple weapons such as rocks and sticks. Boating- Used to operate canoes or rafts by paddle or sail. Blowgun Shooting- Fighting with a blowgun Cleaver Fighting- Fighting with a cleaver, can only be aquired by a meateater. Foraging- Finding food such as fruits and berries in the wild. Hunting- Tracking and killing animals for food, can only be aquired by a meateater. Ostriche Handling- Taming, training, and riding an ostriche, can only be aquired by a meateater. Pirueti Lore- Knowledge of the land and in habitants of the vast Pirueti Plains. Spear Fighting- Fighting with a spear or trident. Searching- Finding some object that is hidden. Spirit Lore- Knowledge of the various spirits and legends of the pygmies, can only be aquired by a Bonehead.
Weapons Name: DL: Range:
Blowgun 2 10/20/30 Cleaver 4 ------------ Rock 3 5/10/15 Stick 2 ------------ Spear/Trident 3 ------------
I have to say I am not sure how well this will work or even if it will. RPGS can normally convert to a wargame setting fairly easily but usually not the other way around. Why?
Well RPG settings usually are infinitely more detailed than a wargame. RPGs are personal games, where you play a character who can concievable interact with every other character and object in a world one or one. You are never that personal with a wargame. So such detail is never done. Wargames have no need for the antigonism of an rpg and that is utmost essential in an rpg, and that is what the pygmies lack the most.
This is not to say the game is great it is by all standards an excellent wargame, but the idea was not created to accomodate roleplaying. So to create a pygmy roleplaying game you are starting off with one hand tied behind your back.
So this maybe futile, I do not know, but I am still hopeful to create a limited rpg. It could be expanded but that would require alot of work from our pygmy visionary, PJ and I know he is swamped as it is.
So I open this up as a pygmy fan to all other pygmy fans to join in and give me a hand. As you have read above I have started. I thought Dice Chucker would fit the setting better than Quique so that is what I am going with. Here is what it still needs: More Attribute, not a tone but some more, Perks and Quirks, maybe some armor, Power Dice, Spells, and I would love to hear some game ideas I have one in mind I shall post next time.
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Post by oversoul on Oct 2, 2006 20:34:35 GMT -5
Here is my idea for a pygmy adventure.
A Pirueti tribe...we will call them the Oh'Vah'Sul Tribe awakes to a the shouts of their Bonerattler, who is very angry. It seems that during the night a particular arrogant Bonehead, stole a powerful spirit rattle and has ran off with it.
One of the tribes Featherbrain patrols comes in from the night watch and reports seeing a ghostly figure swiftly moving in the moonlight across the plains. It seemed to be heading for the Menogodhi Rocks, a strange and creepy ruined structure thought to be haunted, east of the village.
The Bonerattler has demanded of the boss to send warriors after the thief and retrieve his spirit rattle!
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Post by shaungamer on Oct 3, 2006 0:39:15 GMT -5
I meant to reply to this ages ago, and forgot about it. I think you are right that most wargames do not have enough detail or "fluff" to translate into an RPG (There are some exceptions!) but that gives you the opportunity to mould the setting to your own perceptions. It usually just means a little more work.
Your pygmy adventure sounds perfectly fine to me, and could progress in all sorts of directions . .
I just thought I might add some quirk ideas I have had for the Pygmies.
Ostrich Friendly - Treats ostriches as friends, will not eat them or their eggs. Makes sure they are comfortable and talks to them. May still use them for transport but will not harm them in any way!
Bone Wary - Distrusts magic, Bone rattlers and Bone heads. In extreme cases he tends to hide when Magic is performed
Aquaphobia - Is scared of water and will not enter it or travel by canoe or raft.
Flamboyant - Always needs to be garishly dressed, to the point where he is highly noticable.
Shy - Uncomfortable around women or children or both!!
Arrogant - Refuses to listen to anyone he thinks is lower than him and will go out of his way to do the opposite.
Early Riser - Always wakes up earlier than everyone else and expects them to wake up too!
Fire Dreamer - Fire will mesmerise him and he will do nothing but stare into the flames.
Allergic - He is allergic to a common item, grass, feathers, bamboo etc. that cause him to have different clothing or living habits!
Hopefully there are some good ideas in there.
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Post by shaungamer on Oct 3, 2006 0:41:12 GMT -5
I also forgot to mention that I think you have done fairly well already, the character types seem true to the game, as do the attributes and weapons.
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Post by brynbrenainn on Oct 3, 2006 3:09:01 GMT -5
I am starting to see the finishing line on my artwork for the upcoming Washafishy Rulebook.
So... I could perhaps come up with more fluff. In <short> stories and maybe more scenarios that could be expanded upon.
And I luuv the quirks and perks. They capture the spirit as I see the pygmies quite well. I feel for the poor pygmy with a bad case of grass allergy....
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Post by oversoul on Oct 3, 2006 4:33:53 GMT -5
Hey thanks guys! Believe me I understand the concept of short supplements it is what I preach around here! I believe what is need is not so much detailed fluff but something to give you more of a sense that a convert wargame world is more than just the battlefield. The reason I began seeing Pymgies as an RPG is because of the great campaign rules PJ has developed and is still developing (spoiler hint) to an almost ingenious tabletop SimPygmy.
Just little ideas and trinckets of info that the DM can run with. I mention a ruin in the game idea posted. Personally I would like to see more of this adding more of a fantasy element to the Pygmies. All the while keeping that sense of fun PJ has crafted.
I agree with PJ that your quirks fit well in both the theme of the Pygmies and DC for that matter.
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Post by shaungamer on Oct 3, 2006 20:04:17 GMT -5
I don't mind a little bit of a fantasy element being added in, but I would like to see it take a different direction than normal High Fantasy. Lose the elves, undead, vampires etc. and replace them with something more appropriate? Maybe different versions of the pygmies (DimDims??)
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Post by shaungamer on Oct 3, 2006 20:53:42 GMT -5
Actually, I just realised that some undead pygmies may not be a bad idea. These are just some ideas for the ruins mentioned in the scenario. - An evil bone rattler created the undead pygmies while trying to make his tribe immortal. Their once fertile land has been influenced by the dark magic and does not support life anymore. No trees grow, or animals forage. A desolate rocky landscape is all to be found. Although the undead are not hostile, they do protect their territory. They have used the rocks to create their habitats which act as markers for others to avoid. They are forever seeking ways to make their existance bearable.
- The Ancients had a marvelous civilisation, with towns and villages spread throughout the country. They knew how to work metal and stone. But a cataclysm came that almost wiped out the Ancients. Since that time the few remaining families keep to themselves staying in the ruins of their once great towns. Watching the savages around them and guarding their homes carefully, they plan to recreate their empire.
- The Reptiles migrate every hundred years. Moving with the tropical weather, they travel backwards and forwards across the land. This time they come from the north to rebuild there cities. Each cycle their number slowly decreases as more cannot survive the journey. Although they have their own magic, they seek more knowledge wherever they can find it. Hopefully to end the endless moving!
Oversoul, I don't know if this is following what you were thinking, but maybe it can help?
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Post by brynbrenainn on Oct 4, 2006 1:05:08 GMT -5
Yup, I agree. No 'High Fantasy'. No elves, dwarfs or orcs. But maybe... ...Crazy, tall white men with boomsticks walking around saying stuff like: 'Jolly good, chap.' 'I say, time for tea - wot?' 'Stiff upper lip, that's the trick!' 'For the Queen!' 'Paugh, that is only a flesh wound!' ...Albino gorillas that have a craving for meat. ...Those 'reptiles' of yours, they got great potential. Let us fluff them out to be unique, I do not want Lizardmen nock-offs. ...Natural hazards like lions, hyenas, hippos (Yup, hippos kill alot of people in the real world - they are not nice animals...) and so on. And yes, there are more pygmies besides the Pirueti tribes. You mentioned the tribes living in the Dim-Dims in the south, southwest. But there are the tribes at the shores of the lake Washafishy in the west, northwest. Up north, northeast the plains of Pirueti turns into a desert, both with sand dunes and rocky outcrops. In those arid lands there are tribes of nomads. What is in the east, southeast...? Only time will tell... There might be tribes and lands filled by 'normal sized' humans all around the different lands of the pygmies - and there might not... Only adventurous pygmies would find out.
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Post by brynbrenainn on Oct 4, 2006 1:10:03 GMT -5
And your take on undead pygmies is not half bad.
A Bonerattler fouling up an immortality spell would leave a bunch of sad, sorry creatures that you could pity. Not the splatter movie version, shambling around mumbling 'Braaaiiiinnnnn.....' while ripping living people apart all the time.
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Post by shaungamer on Oct 4, 2006 1:58:37 GMT -5
I like the albino gorilla idea! I had something similar in mind but remembered it being mentioned somewhere else (maybe quite a while ago!) so I didn't think I should infringe on your ideas.
My thoughts on the reptiles is more of a talking animal than an upright lizardman, which is why I didn't go into specifics. They could be four legged like lizards or crocodiles. Or even two legged like frill necks or dinosaurs. The last choice would have to be carefully thought out , but they could also be snakes, depending on how you want to handle them.
The only reason for them being reptiles is they need to migrate because of the weather. They needn't be as culturally advanced as the pygmies either.
My ideas for undead pygmies were more along the lines of vampires or thralls rather than zombies and skeletons. They are like normal pygmies, (maybe white skinned with black makeup . . voodoo??) but cannot die. They do not need to kill or have evil desires. I would rather see them as something to be pitied rather than evil denizens of the night, which is why I stated they weren't hostile (but defensive). I would prefer to keep them as an opposing force that you can encounter on adventures than make them friendly though!
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Post by oversoul on Oct 4, 2006 4:04:14 GMT -5
I had no intentions of high fantasy, yall hit it right on the mark. Pygmies already is a fantasy game, magic and ostriche riding are not the norm. All the ideas mentioned would work great, I was thinking directlyof the Ancients that Shaun mentioned though, lots of ruins that the pygmies know little about. I really like that you added in a few remenant families for future antagonism. I like the other ideas as well but do you have any thoughts on their antogonism? How would the pygmies be inspired to adventure because of them?
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Post by brynbrenainn on Oct 4, 2006 5:12:06 GMT -5
Well, the inspiration to go adventuring <could> be a cultural trait of the Pirueti Pygmies.
When a Fruitmuncher have come of age he must wander the plains for a while 'to prove himsef'. A bit like the young Masai warriors do in our real world. Even though I <think> the Masai are on a 'guard duty' we could let the young pygmies roam totally free of duties.
That wanderinglust could be expanded to the other character types by the way of being friends - or maybe a Bonehead mentor.
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Post by brynbrenainn on Oct 4, 2006 6:22:13 GMT -5
I like the albino gorilla idea! I had something similar in mind but remembered it being mentioned somewhere else (maybe quite a while ago!) so I didn't think I should infringe on your ideas.My thoughts on the reptiles is more of a talking animal than an upright lizardman, which is why I didn't go into specifics. They could be four legged like lizards or crocodiles. Or even two legged like frill necks or dinosaurs. The last choice would have to be carefully thought out , but they could also be snakes, depending on how you want to handle them.
The only reason for them being reptiles is they need to migrate because of the weather. They needn't be as culturally advanced as the pygmies either.My ideas for undead pygmies were more along the lines of vampires or thralls rather than zombies and skeletons. They are like normal pygmies, (maybe white skinned with black makeup . . voodoo??) but cannot die. They do not need to kill or have evil desires. I would rather see them as something to be pitied rather than evil denizens of the night, which is why I stated they weren't hostile (but defensive). I would prefer to keep them as an opposing force that you can encounter on adventures than make them friendly though!
The gorillas are quite frankly 'stolen' from a movie I do not remember the name of. Stolen? Nah, inspired by! Snakes! I love snakes! Great idea. I will have to think about that. ...They could have narrow shoulders, arms and three fingered hands... ...Or they could be bigger versions of 'common' snakes... ...Or maybe not bigger, there are some quite big snakes around... Especially the constrictors. They would be very dangerous for a pygmy - they are dangerous for a grown human! Intelligent, talking constrictors keeping their feeding habits is a scary thought... I like that. As for culture, hmmm, let me get back on that..... As for the looks of the undead pygmies.... I will think about it, and get back on that too. I like them not being offensive but deffensively protective of their territory.
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Post by ccreel67 on Oct 4, 2006 10:53:47 GMT -5
You guys are really going to town with this pygmy rpg idea and it looks great! I love all the ideas and I agree about the high fantasy comments. The pygmys seem too fun for High Fantasy. I think there's often no room for comedy in High Fantasy games. I wish I had a bit more free time and I'd try to develope some of this ideas myself. (Been busy writing a paper for school.)
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