Gaming in Tamriel?

[Nomadic]

It's fun running a dashing duo game, you get a special sort of interaction that you don't get in larger groups provided it's done right. So here's what I was thinking for my character. Obviously alot depends on what specific year you are setting this in but my thoughts were that I'd play a Nord first generation Bruman. Ended up in Anvil after his father told him that he wouldn't see his son "sit around and grow fat, never to have a sense of the greater world". Basically got kicked out the door and told to not come back until he had a story worth telling. Took on with some merchants in Anvil as a heavy labor on the boats. Taken up a bit of heavy drinking. This being partially because being a sailor with fellow sailors, honor demands it, and being a sailor with long hours of boredom on the sea, sanity demands it.

Would like to hear Steerpike's take on his character so that we can work out a way to have them meet and partner up before the start of the session.

[Steerpike]

If I went with the Altmer I was planning on making him an ex-Psijic who was cast out of the order following an irresponsible use of magic that nearly killed a fellow monk.  Enraged and bitter, he was recruited by the band of anarchists/aesthetes called the Beautiful who've sprung up on Summerset Isle, a band of revolutionaries who want to vandalize historic monuments and reshape High Elf society.  He could be sent to another part of Tamriel to perform an assassination, retrieve some eldritch weapon, or some similar mission.  I'm envisioning him as a kind of High Elf punk, a pyromaniac wrapped up in rebellion.  He'd be a daedra-worshipper, particularly revering Sheogorath, Boethiah, Azura, and even those aspects of Mehrunes Dagon associated with Change and Revolution.  He'd be fairly dark, but more chaotic and troubled than outright villainous; he'd might have trouble harming innocents, for example.

If that goes against the spirit of the particular game, I could easily make a more generic adventurer character.

[Cheomesh]

That's a pretty deep character.  Where's that pyromania come in though?  Just a mental condition?  Also, I've not read much about the Psijic - I'll have to check them out.

M.

[Nomadic]

I love it... He's an easygoing nord sailor with more alcohol than blood in his body. He's a religious revolutionary altmer with a serious thing for fire. They fight crime!

Nice contrast between conservative traditions and revolutionary counter-culture. I was thinking then that a possible way that we met was at one of the ports. Me with a little too much alcohol in my system after a drinking contest out on the docks and you out and about for some fresh air before catching the next ship on your journey. A chance slip puts a certain nord in the drink and you without thinking dragging my sorry backside out and sobering me up a bit. As a very traditionalist nord I feel honor bound to aid you in your quest. Leaves cheo free to drop us wherever and you and me with an interesting relationship. Your beliefs and habits could cause some friction with people but my honor doesn't permit me to leave you hanging because you screwed up. On the other end outside of sailing life and my nordic heritage I'm totally clueless and you're left to keep me from getting over my head because I unintentionally broke a rule I didn't know existed. What are your thoughts, any ideas of your own?

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Cancerous Che]Where's that pyromania come in though? Just a mental condition? [/blockquote]The idea with the pyromania is that it's connected to the character's political philosophy: the Beautiful want to tear down the monuments and destroy history, irrevocably transforming Altmer society and ensuring that it can never return to its currently stagnant form.  Fire destroys, but it's also the element of change; wood burned to ash can never be turned back into wood.  The whole anarchist thing seems to fit well with fire magic.

I like your scenario, Nomadic.  Other thoughts: I hire you as the muscle in the aid of some crazy mission or as a bodyguard (this might not be as good, since it would potentially unbalance the relationship between our two characters); or, I rescue you from a burning building (I don't tell you who started the fire - whether it was intentional or accidental depends on the building) and as above you owe me some kind of blood-debt; you rescue me from some kind of shipwreck on my way to the mainland from Summerset (or to one of the Isles if Che sets the adventure on the Summerset Isles); or, in true Elder Scrolls fashion, we end up as cell-mates somewhere and get released/escape for some reason.  Perhaps, on the lamb, we hop the border of Cyrodiil into Elsweyr, Hammerfall, Valenwood, or wherever Che decides.  I like your idea fine, though.

Though it's never actually spelled out in the back-story and may never have been thought of by the designers themselves (the Beautiful have only been mentioned a couple of times) I sort of wonder whether the long-term goal of the Beautiful might be to destroy the Elder Scrolls.  As a guide to past and future and as Aedric artefacts the Scrolls are the ultimate symbols of Order.  With the scrolls destroyed, Tamriel might fall into anarchy.  Maybe that might be the character's ultimate goal???

[Nomadic]

Alot of good ideas. Cheo any thoughts on where you want to set this. Will help us work out our backstory.

[Cheomesh]

A high elf and his retainer.

You will begin on a ship, traveling from the Morrowind province around the north to a port in High Rock, and then onto Cyrodil.  You guys decide the reason and the original point of departure / arrival.  It's the long way around, but it's a merchant vessel and it's cheap.

Steerpike, pyromania is involuntary; you have to make self control rolls whenever you're around anything flammable (like a ship).  If it's ideological, it could be a code of honor or something similar.

M.

[Steerpike]

Ahaha... didn't realize GURPS actually had rules for pyromania.  If I fail the self control roll, can I do something like periodically light a match or a piece of parchment and throw it into the ocean as opposed to gleefully lighting the ship on fire?  Otherwise I may have to change the character, since I doubt the character'd make it more than a day or two at sea.

EDIT: Just to brainstorm possible reasons we might be stopping over in High Rock, maybe the Beautiful have done some kind of deal with the Orc revolutionaries of Orsinium?  We could be meeting clandestinely at Wayrest; maybe we're bringing back some kind of weapon sacred to Malacath to help the Orcs in their ongoing struggle for independence (possibly the Daedric Scourge, which was last seen in Morrowind - specifically in Tel Fyr) or something, and getting something else in exchange?  Admittedly this back-story probably features my character more than Nomadic's, though, which might not be a good thing...

[Nomadic]

Ahaha... didn't realize GURPS actually had rules for pyromania.  If I fail the self control roll, can I do something like periodically light a match or a piece of parchment and throw it into the ocean as opposed to gleefully lighting the ship on fire?  Otherwise I may have to change the character, since I doubt the character'd make it more than a day or two at sea.

EDIT: Just to brainstorm possible reasons we might be stopping over in High Rock, maybe the Beautiful have done some kind of deal with the Orc revolutionaries of Orsinium?  We could be meeting clandestinely at Wayrest; maybe we're bringing back some kind of weapon sacred to Malacath to help the Orcs in their ongoing struggle for independence (possibly the Daedric Scourge, which was last seen in Morrowind - specifically in Tel Fyr) or something, and getting something else in exchange?  Admittedly this back-story probably features my character more than Nomadic's, though, which might not be a good thing...

My character isn't about backstory. Yours has a long history but the point behind my guy is that he's set out to see the world, it's new to him while you've been around. So chances are you will have more people you know/people who want to kill you/etc. Personally I plan to make a point of his ignorance of things like politics and religion outside Bruma/Skyrim tied with his strong sense of honor.

[Steerpike]

Here's a picture of how I'm vaguely envisioning the character at this point:

[spoiler] [/spoiler]

[Cheomesh]

Well, you're not specifically stopping in high rock unless you want to.  It's a merchant ship that's making various stops for various reasons (supplies, etc).  The trip officially ends in Cyrodil.

M.

[Steerpike]

Ah, that makes more sense.  We'll have to think up something else, then...

[Steerpike]

Are we playing before or after the events of Oblivion?  I was reading up on the lore and noticed that apparently most of Vvardenfell has basically become a volcanic waste after Vivec (rendered mortal at the end of Morrowind) died/disappeared, causing the Ministry of Truth to crash into Vivec City and the Red Mountain to erupt.

I'm not sure if this is addressed anywhere in the canon, but my guess would be that there'd be a massive influx of Dunmer refugees flooding the other provinces and southern Morrowind as a result of the cataclysm.  Kind of the opposite end of the world from where we'll be playing, though.

[Cheomesh]

I was initially thinking Pre or concurrent with Morrowind.

M.

[Steerpike]

Cool.

Here's my character, a bit more fleshed out:

[ic=Selyrion 'Molagkynd' Vanduril]Selyrion Vanduril is a young Altmer male, born in the city of Lillandril in the Summerset Isles, under the sign of the Mage.  He is, in fact, not a pure High Elf, being one-sixteenth Dark Elf: his half-Dunmer great-grandfather was born outside of the Isles, evading the customary eugenic cleansing first instigated by the Aldmeri Dominion (officially banned by the Empire, but unofficially practised anyway even after the Dominion's collapse), and his descendents were able to pass as full Altmer.  A promising pupil in the wizardly arts even for one of his birthsign, he was inducted into the Psijic Order on Artaeum as a youth '" part of the influx of young Altmer admitted into the Order in recent years.  It was during this time that he earned his nickname of Molagkynd '" 'Firechild' in the Tamrielic tongue '" for his affinity with the pyromantic arts, and for his quick temper.  He progressed admirably through the Order, but before his graduation to full Psijic status his tainted heritage was discovered by a handful of his fellow pupils.  While the dogma of the Psijic Order permits non-Altmer to become Psijics, Selyrion's fellows held his 'impure blood' against him.  During a training exercise one of his classmates '" a cruel youth named Occaril the Cunning '" provoked the young Selyrion, taunting him as a 'Moriche.'  Seething with anger, Selyrion blindly lashed out with a swiftly-conjured ball of flame.  Though the spell did little more than singe his colleague's clothes, Selyrion was expelled for the offence.  His gray cloak '" symbol of his Psijic status '" was burned before him, and he was cast out of the Order.  Watching the cloak burn, a red rage kindled behind the young Altmer's eyes, and at that moment he renounced his previously heartfelt belief in the Old Ways.

Following his expulsion from the Psijic Order Selyrion was recruited by the shadowy group called the Beautiful, a clandestine band of anarchists and aesthetes intent on casting down the old order of the Summerset Isles and propelling Altmer society into a modern era '" forcibly, if necessary.  Revolutionary by nature, the Beautiful did not hold Selyrion's Dunmer heritage against him but praised him for his passion and dedication.  With a group of comrades Selyrion threw the ancient statue of Syrabane that stood overlooking the bay at Artaeum into the sea, and managed to set fire to one of the Psijic libraries; many works of history and ritual were consumed by the flames before the conflagration was magically dowsed.  With each act of defiance the fire within Selyrion seemed to grow brighter and hotter.  Having earned the trust of the Beautiful Selyrion was let in on their master-scheme '" the planned destruction of the Crystal Tower itself.

Turning away from the Old Ways, Selyrion now shuns the gods and ancestors traditionally revered by the Altmer.  Introduced to daedra-worship by one of his comrades amongst the Beautiful, he has become a devotee of Boethiah, in recognition not only for the Daedric Prince's revolutionary spirit but for his role as progenitor of the Dunmer; Selyrion also commonly prays to Azura and Malacath, and less frequently to aspects of Sheogorath and Mehrunes Dagon.  As a daedra-worshipper he has become an adept of daedric magic, combining its principles with those he studied while training as a Psijic.  Physically, Selyrion is unimposing, being slender of build and shorter than average for an Altmer; along with a few flecks of red in his turquoise eyes, his height is the only physical vestige of his Dunmer blood, as he otherwise looks to be fully High Elf, with light gold skin and hair and aristocratic features.[/ic]
[ic=Statistics] [ooc]Still need to fill in some details and take care of possessions, but here's the character so far - if there are any errors let me know, I'm new to the system!  To replicate the Altmer racial bonuses I used the Advantages Mana Enhancer and Resistant (Disease) and Vulnerabilities to Shock, Frost, and Fire.  Che, if you'd rather I simply drop the Vulnerabilities to a single Vulnerability ("Elemental Magic") I can do that - I'd just drop Mana Enhancer and add an extra level of Magery or something instead.[/ooc]
Selyrion 'Molagkynd' Vanduril

Points: 150

Height: 5'11''

Weight: 110 lb

ST 9 [-10]
DX 10
IQ 14 [80]
HT 11 [10]

HP 10 [2]
Will 14
Per 14
FP 11

Languages
Tamrielic (Native)

Ayleid: Spoken (Broken) [1]/Written (Native) [3]

Cultural Familiarities
Altmer
Imperial [1]

Advantages and Perks
Extended Lifespan (1) [2]
Magery (4) [45]
Mana Enhancer [50]
Resistant (Disease) [10]

Disadvantages and Quirks
Bad Temper (12 or less) [-10]
Fanaticism (Anarchy) [-15]
Pyromania (14 or less) [-2]
Skinny [-5]
Proud [-1]
Vulnerability (Fire x2) [-20]
Vulnerability (Frost x2) [-20]
Vulnerability (Shock x2) [-20]

Skills
Armor (16) [1]
Counterspell (16) [1]
Create Fire (18) [4]
Detect Magic (16) [1]
Ignite Fire (18) [4]
Fireball (18) [4]
Minor Healing (16) [1]
Occultism (15) [4]
Ritual Magic (13) [8]
Shape Fire (18) [4]
Shield (16) [1]
Staff (12) [8]
Thaumatology (18) [8][/ic]