Westeros Northernmost Regions, snow and ice

[Dave Syrinx]

As a member of the Black, you’d get your armour and a sword. Since this story is played outside of the Wall, you will be part in building the hold up at The Lake of Man.
The Lake of Man.

This hold is not much more than a tower with a couple of buildings on the peninsula dividing the Lake of Man. On the top landing of the tower is a fire pit used as a beacon that never dies. That’s the main task at The Farthest Tower. For generations the flame has been burning. If the flame should die, darkness and evil would engulf the tower. At least so the story goes. The ranks of the Crows at The Tower as the hold simply is called, are growing and thinning depending on the missions the Lord Commander of The Tower are frequent or more scarce.

The missions head in all directions to find more brothers or shield maidens. The land is unforgiving, though. And to venture south to where the snow ends – that’s plain wrong. No fate worthy man lies south. Lions feed on bairn of men. Dragons burn holds. Here, one thing is sure. The ice will hold your weight. Snow will protect you against cold and you can always see the enemy coming.
Just keep the flame alight. The current number of souls at The Tower is twenty seven. You are one of those. This morning, you’ll set out on a mission. Not sure where and what it’s about. Only that it’s your duty to fulfill the mission.

“Where blood is drawn, the Crow flies.”

Creation of a Crow

First things first: You need a role. In the starting post, I stated four choices. Maester (healer), ranger (scout), builder (craftsman), steward (cook) or shield maiden (female follower of the Crows).
Second, you need a name and a lineage. What’s your name and who were your parents?
Third, a character picture – preferably an actor or actress. Further, you need three words that describe your character.
Fourth – write a short paragraph on what your character is doing as morning breaks on day one of our little play.

I´m going with the game system of Call of Cthulhu as there´s not much magic in Westeros. So, roll up a character using ordinary CoC rules and tweak skills to suit medieval times. Let me hear from your crow, when he or she is ready.

On the game start we have two options. Either the crows have reached the tower at Lake of Man, or they are on their way there. What do you think?

[Mr. Handy]

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

Role: Builder
Name: Charles "The Hammer" Martell
Lineage: Charles is the oldest son of Lord Tyron Martell and Lady Krystyn Martell, Prince and Princess of Dorne. His older sister, Princess Amy Martell, is the heiress to the throne of Dorne, as this southern kingdom gives female children equal priority to male children when it comes to inheritance. Only the order of birth matters. Amy is a genius, not only in tactics and siegecraft, but also as an inventor of new technologies and even a budding alchemist. Her parents are rightfully proud of her, and they know that she will be an excellent successor. Charles looks up to his older sister, who has taught him much as they grew up together. While he cannot come close to her brilliance, he has learned much that serves him in good stead.

Charles met and fell in love with the beautiful Lady Rose Tyrell, bearer of the dagger Thorn, whom he met at a tourney, but Houses Tyrell and Martell have long had enmity between them. Charles hoped the pairing would mend the breach between the two great Houses, but his parents were more skeptical. Even so, they did not discourage the match. However, Lady Rose's parents were dead set against it. They arranged for her to marry a Lannister of Casterly Rock, and she felt compelled to obey her parents and end her relationship with Charles before it got properly started. Distraught and heartbroken, Charles vowed that he would never love another woman. With no chance at happiness with Lady Rose, he joined the Night's Watch in an effort to forget her and do some good with his life. However, he cannot get her out of his mind, nor does he really want to do so.



Description: Clever, determined, sorrowful

Paragraph: Charles Martell swings the axe again, biting into the wood of the sentinel tree. The bitter cold seeps through his furs and clothes and into his bones. He is about as far from Dorne as he could possibly get, and he has spent most of life in warm weather. Even in winter, the temperature did not get that low in Dorne. He hadn't anticipated just how much he would freeze when he had first come north. This early in the day, the sun has not yet risen. It would have back in Dorne, but for some reason not here. Amy had told him it would be so. She had known it somehow despite never having been north of the Neck. She had explained it to him once, something about the world being round and at an angle. Trying to understand it had made his head hurt, so he didn't think about it too much. She had even said that in the far north, in the depths of winter, the sun would not rise at all for months. He is not looking forward to that. He chops into the wood once more, and the tree falls at last. Then he set about stripping off the branches and carving up the fallen tree, the exertion helping to warm him up ever so slightly. Firewood doesn't chop itself, he thinks. As always, his thoughts drift to Rose: her smiling face, her lovely golden hair, that one time she had touched him on the shoulder. I'll probably never even see her again.

I think we should use the Call of Cthulhu Dark Ages character sheet. It's the closest thing to what we want. When we roll, do we get to distribute the rolls as we wish among the stats, or do we just take them as we roll them? I think we should start on our way to the Tower.

[Dave Syrinx]

Splendid backstory and beginning of The Hammer. Good work!

Investigator Name: Jonah Snow
Occupation: Guard
Colleges, Degrees:
Birthplace:
Mental Disorders:
Sex: M Age: 25

STR: 9 DEX: 3 INT: 10 Idea: 50
CON: 13 APP: 5 POW: 10 Luck: 50
SIZ: 14 SAN: 50 EDU: 19 Know: 95
99-Cthulhu Mythos: 99 Damage Bonus: none
Accounting 10% Bargain 5% Climb 12%
Conceal 10% Cthulhu Mythos 0% Dodge 6%
Drive Carriage 20% Fast Talk 5% First Aid 30%
Hide 10% Insight 5% Jump 25%
Library Use 25% Listen 25% Medicine 5%
Natural World 10% Navigate 10% Occult 5%
Persuade 15% Pilot Boat 1% Potions 1%
Repair/Devise 20% Ride Horse 5% Sneak 10%
Spot Hidden 25% Status 15% Swim 25%
Throw 25% Track 10% Shield 15%
Fist/Punch 50% Head Butt 10% Kick 25%
Grapple 25%




Call of Cthulhu is a registered trademark of Chaosium Inc.

I looked up the Dark Ages mod for Byakhee and it will work nicely. Is it much different than what you have seen?

You should let them stay in their places. Just pick the series with the least flaws. Any rolls in the range of a total adding to between 3-6 should be rerolled.

Then we start a bit on the way to the Lake of Man, in Thenn territory. I will provide some crows for Charles to travel with.

[Mr. Handy]

Thank you! I'm sure we'll get more players. I remember that DrPeterson, who has recently returned, had expressed interest in this game when you first mentioned it.

I haven't used Byakhee in a long time. It has a bug that by now is well-known where it rolls 3d6+6 for EDU instead of 3d6+3. Your own roll is an example of how skewed it can get, and once I noticed that it rolled higher than 21 for EDU. The skill list on the Dark Ages character sheet is: Accounting(10%), Art(05%), Bargain(05%), Climb(DEX+STR%), Conceal(15%),Craft(05%),Cthulhu Mythos(00%) [we're not using this, obviously], Dodge(DEX x 2%), Drive Horses(20%), Fast Talk(05%), First Aid(30%), Hide(10%), Insight(05%), Jump(25%), Library Use(EDU x 2%), Listen(25%), Medicine(05%), Natural World(10%), Navigate(10%), Occult(05%), Other Kingdoms(01%), Other Language(01%), Own Kingdom(20%), Own Language(EDU x 5%), Persaude(15%), Pilot Boat(01%), Potions(01%), Repair/Devise(20%), Ride Horse(05%), Science(01%), Sneak(10%), Spot Hidden(25%), Status(15%), Swim(25%), Throw(25%), Track(10%), Write Language(01%), and space for additional skills.

Art, Craft, Other Kingdoms, Other Languages, Science, and Write Language all have specializations. The Dark Ages skill list also has no History skill, but it could easily be added to the list. Insight is the equivalent of Psychology, and Status is similar to Credit Rating. Repair/Devise is like Mechanical Repair.

The unarmed combat skills are unchanged, and weapon skills have the following base levels: Ax(15%), Great Ax(15%), Club(25%), Flail(10%), Small Knife(25%), Large Knife(!5%), Lance(15%), Mace(25%), Scimitar(15%), Short Spear(15%), Long Spear(15%), Staff(25%), Short Sword(15%), Long Sword(20%). There are also Frankish weapons (usually axes and swords), which generally give +5 to your skill and have other benefits, but are very rare. In Westeros, the same rules would probably apply to weapons made of Valyrian steel.

Missile weapon skills don't use the Throw skill, except when throwing rocks. The throwing skill for hand weapons is: Ax(05%), Small Knife(10%), Short Spear(15%), Long Spear(10%). Other missile weapon skills are: Bow(10%), Crossbow(20%), and Sling(01%).

The Dark Ages book has stats for various weapons, armor, and shields.

Dark Ages also does character creation differently. Instead of rolling dice, you get 100 points to distribute among your characteristics. SIZ and INT must be from 8-18, and all others from 3-18.

What are the occupational skills for the various roles?

[Dave Syrinx]

Night´s Watch Roles

Maester: Prerequisites: Male gender, more than ten years of service as Steward. Receive a bonus in skill points when creating a new character as Maester. 1d10 x 10 points for years served as Steward. The book keepers of the Watch. Intelligence and Power at 30 added together, at least.
Maester specific skills: Rookery, star-gazing, healing, potion, posions, two knowledge skills at 85% minimum, mystery/lore (cthulhu mythos equivalent skill).


Ranger: Prerequisites: Male gender, two attack skills at 55% or higher. Dexterity at 16. Strength at 13-
Ranger specific skills: Hide, ride, spot hidden, track, Bow, sword, ranger survival (outdoorsmanship). The ranger is the point of the watch. The best trackers and deadliest shots.


Steward: Prerequisites: Male gender, two craft skills at 45% or higher. 1 attack skill at 75% minimum. Intelligence at 16, dexterity at 13.
Steward specific skills: Two craft skills at half skill cost. 1 point gives 2 points in generation of the character, due to aptitude to working with your hands.
Four knowledge skills at normal skill cost. One weapon skill at 55% minimum for hunting purposes. The steward is the backbone of the watch. He hunts, cooks and writes down the lives of his comrades and commanders.

Builder: Prerequisites: Either gender. Constitution at 13. Intelligence at 13.
Builder specific skills: Crafting, fours skills at half cost as per Steward skills. Logical aptitude (just knows how things works) mechanical and luck gets +10% added base skill.

[Dave Syrinx]

Ravens

Those crows who fail to meet any of the prerequisites will be Ravens of the watch. The Ravens support the Crows anyway the Crows tell them to. Most tasks are to carry and deliver goods to the different castles along the wall or nearby towers. They also do simple tasks for any of the Crow classes.

There are no prerequisites to be a Raven. But even one who starts at the bottom of the tree can reach the top of the highest branch.


Shield Maidens

A Shield maiden is a female Raven with particular skill in fighting. She must have 70% in one fighting skill nd have to crafted a shield on her own.
(Craft: smithing) Contrary to common belief, shield maidens are not social companions to the Watch. They are part of the watch and have the same duties.

[Mr. Handy]

Here is my initial set of rolls: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4740527/

That's not good enough to be a Builder, or indeed anything other than a Raven. You said "pick the series with the least flaws." Does that mean we get to roll multiple sets and choose between them? If so, how many do we get? Or do we get to spend 100 (or some other number of) points to get the stats we want, as in Dark Ages character creation. That's really the only way we can guarantee being a Ranger, Builder, or Steward. It would be especially hard to roll up a Ranger, as it's unlikely to get 16+ in Strength (even Intelligence only gets that high one time out of six).

[Dave Syrinx]

Yes, roll three sets and see if one of them fits to one category. Otherwise, your character will begin as a Raven and work his way up. The work at maintaining the wall will quickly add strength to young men. And the books of the Stewards will lend him intelligence. Pretty sure he´ll be a builder when he´s spent some time helping the Crows.

Alternatively you can roll until you get a set of rolls that fit the desired profile, 16+ in Str and Int, but going along with ant low score in other areas that may be present. A deal?

[Mr. Handy]

I got it with my third set of rolls: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4740552/

Here's my character sheet so far. I'll edit in the rest of the details later. What are the occupational skills for a Builder other than the ones you've listed? So far I've spent 200 occupational skill points (the Craft skills are at half cost), with 120 still left to spend, but I may pull some of those points back if I get additional occupational skills. Are the only ones we can spend those points on the four Craft skills, Logical Aptitude, and Repair/Devise, or are there others? If that's all there are, I'll probably have them all at an average of at least 90%. What is the base skill for Logical Aptitude (as well as the other new skills you've added)?

Player: Mr. Handy
Name: Charles "The Hammer" Martell
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Role: Builder
Birthplace: Sunspear, Dorne



Characteristics:
STR: 10
CON: 13
SIZ: 16
DEX: 16
APP: 11
INT: 13 (Idea - 65)
POW: 11 (Luck - 55) [+10 when repairing for Builder]
EDU: 16 (Know - 80)

Sanity: 55
Phobias/Mental Disorders: None
Maximum Sanity: 99
Hit Points: 15
Magic Points: 11
Damage Bonus: +1D4

Background: Charles is the oldest son of Lord Tyron Martell and Lady Krystyn Martell, Prince and Princess of Dorne. His older sister, Princess Amy Martell, is the heiress to the throne of Dorne, as this southern kingdom gives female children equal priority to male children when it comes to inheritance. Only the order of birth matters. Amy is a genius, not only in tactics and siegecraft, but also as an inventor of new technologies and even a budding alchemist. Her parents are rightfully proud of her, and they know that she will be an excellent successor. Charles looks up to his older sister, who has taught him much as they grew up together. While he cannot come close to her brilliance, he has learned much that serves him in good stead.

Charles met and fell in love with the beautiful Lady Rose Tyrell, bearer of the dagger Thorn, whom he met at a tourney, but Houses Tyrell and Martell have long had enmity between them. Charles hoped the pairing would mend the breach between the two great Houses, but his parents were more skeptical. Even so, they did not discourage the match. However, Lady Rose's parents were dead set against it. They arranged for her to marry a Lannister of Casterly Rock, and she felt compelled to obey her parents and end her relationship with Charles before it got properly started. Distraught and heartbroken, Charles vowed that he would never love another woman. With no chance at happiness with Lady Rose, he joined the Night's Watch in an effort to forget her and do some good with his life. However, he cannot get her out of his mind, nor does he really want to do so.

Skills: (Non-default skills BOLD, Professional Skills ITALICS, Hobbies preceded by a DOT. Checked skills followed by a *)
Accounting (10%):
Art (05%):
Bargain (05%):
Climb (DEX + STR%): 26%
Conceal (15%):
Craft(Carpentry) (05%): 80%
Craft(Siegecraft) (05%): 80%
Craft(Smithing) (05%): 80%
Craft(Stonemasonry) (05%): 80%
.Dodge (DEX x 2): 62%
Drive Horses (20%):
Fast Talk (05%):
First Aid (30%):
Hide (10%):
Insight (05%):
Jump (25%):
Library Use (EDU x 2%): 32%
Listen (25%):
Medicine (05%):
Mystery/Lore(00%):
Natural World (10%):
Navigate (10%):
Occult (05%):
Other Kingdom (01%):
Own Kingdom(Dorne) (20%):
Other Language (01%):
Own Language: Common Tongue (EDU x 5%): 80%
Persuade (15%):
Pilot Boat (01%):
Potions (01%):
Repair/Devise (30%): 80% [includes +10 for Builder]
.Ride Horse (05%): 50%
Science (01%):
.Shield (15%): 45%
Sneak (10%):
.Spot Hidden (25%): 55%
.Status (15%): 55%
Swim (25%):
Throw (25%):
Track (10%):
.Write Language(Common Tongue) (01%): 26%

Hand-to-Hand:
Fist/Punch (50%):
Grapple (25%):
Head Butt (10%):
Kick (25%):
Small Knife (25%):
.Long Sword (20%): 70%
Axe (15%):

Missile Weapons:
Bow (10%):

Equipment:

[Dave Syrinx]

I was thinking of letting all points be skill points and not specific for the role at the Night´s Watch. So, that would mean you get more points to spend as hobby skills. You do get a lot of time to train your skills when left to your own devices.

Logical aptitude was meant as a bonus. You get +10 to Luck when trying to mend something mechanical. It also gives the +10 to repair device.(as you noted on your sheet.)

So, spend the points as you see fit.

[Mr. Handy]

Thank you! I've finished editing my character sheet.

[Dave Syrinx]

Good job. I´ve added a couple of npc:s over at Obsidian.
The first post here will be up tonight.

[Dave Syrinx]

Snow and ice

Charles Martell swings the axe again, biting into the wood of the sentinel tree. The bitter cold seeps through his furs and clothes and into his bones. He is about as far from Dorne as he could possibly get, and he has spent most of life in warm weather. Even in winter, the temperature did not get that low in Dorne. He hadn't anticipated just how much he would freeze when he had first come north. This early in the day, the sun has not yet risen. It would have back in Dorne, but for some reason not here. Amy had told him it would be so. She had known it somehow despite never having been north of the Neck. She had explained it to him once, something about the world being round and at an angle. Trying to understand it had made his head hurt, so he didn't think about it too much. She had even said that in the far north, in the depths of winter, the sun would not rise at all for months. He is not looking forward to that. He chops into the wood once more, and the tree falls at last. Then he set about stripping off the branches and carving up the fallen tree, the exertion helping to warm him up ever so slightly. Firewood doesn't chop itself, he thinks. As always, his thoughts drift to Rose: her smiling face, her lovely golden hair, that one time she had touched him on the shoulder. I'll probably never even see her again.

They had all set out north, after a few weeks of preparations. All gear had to be packed along with rations to keep them from not starving for whatever time it would take to reach Lake of man. Besides Charles, there are eight brothers that have decided to do the trip. In part, the promise of enough food had been a major reason for at least half of them to head out. Rations at castle Black has been scarce this fall.

The brothers don´t talk much about who they are or where they come from. However, Charles knows three of them pretty well. Catzor, down from King´s Landing, used to be a bard. Now, he only tends his bow. He never starts talking, though. Must be why the brothers at the keep had been so happy when the party had set off north. Librik The Fair, is his opposite - with his quiet demeanor, he means what he says. And his words are more true than half what anyone else says. They are the two rangers of the party. One steward is accompanying us, Luxor Spades. He is one for games. He has a way of calm about him. If you get ill, he has a cure. He has implied that his gaming got him chased to the wall. Out of the five remaining crows are two builders like Charles. Noah, Oliber and Jax, the Steward.

One shield maiden crow, Sasona got with the party mostly as a punishment for tricking the Lord Commander Orvis to kill his Ravens. It had been something about a ring. The party of eight, that had gathered in the glade two hours ago, still is waiting for the last crow to arrive. Spending the night out in the glade is supposed to bring them closer together. That is needed, according to Orvis. The last member is due at morningtide. No explanation to this arrangement has been given.

The eight of them wear the black leathers of the Night´s Watch. Furs to protect against the cold has been laid on the two sleighs they had pulled to five hours stretch they had behind them. The wall is barely noticeable against the white sky and frozen ground. It all melts together to a white haze. Here, at the tree line, it feels safer than on the white plains.

From the instructions given, the travel in front of them would take a fortnight. Some landmarks were given. They were fairly easy to follow. Head through Ice Wraith Forest past Thenn hold. Keep the Frostfangs to the west and the Shivering Sea on the east. Where the lake that is two lakes stop your road, the beacon will welcome you.

The sun have been setting for the last fifteen minutes and supper has not been had yet. This is unreal. This short a day, never had faced Charles before this day.

[Dave Syrinx]

[Mr. Handy]

Charles trudges on, his boots crunching through ice and snow. Even with Amy's warning about the shortness of the days up north, he was still unprepared for the reailty of it. And how will it be when the days come where the sun rises not at all? he wondered. Navigation was never his strength, but the directions were simple enough to follow, and the other crows seemed to know where they were going. He recalled how Amy had once invented a device that would indicate which way was north. She had forged a needle out of a lodestone taken from a shooting star that had fallen from the sky. Then she had run a cork through with it and placed it in a bowl of water. Sure enough, the cork had turned until the needle pointed north. That wouldn't work here. The water would be frozen solid.

[Dave Syrinx]

OOC:   Trying to get my laptop to work properly. The current situation is unworkable. I´ll see if I can get to updating my games tonight.

[Dave Syrinx]

At this point Sasona stops and checks the surroundings, kicking a dead branch. "This´ll do nicely." She huddles down and starts setting a camp fire up. "Which of you sad sods is going to lead?"

Ahead, Librik halts and waits, watching ahead for movement.

Relieved about the opportunity to rest, Jax puts down his sack of supplies.

Charles and Noah bring up the after troop with the sleighs. Oliber, Luxor and Carzor are close by, unseen.

[Mr. Handy]

"Don't look at me," says Charles, carring some of the firewood he had chopped early this morning over to where Sasona is building the fire. "I'm about as stealthy as a mammoth."