The Wasteland and The Nomads:
[Dozus] 3:34 am: Back at home, unpacking, watching the home team win the championship.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:34 am: Dozey! Can you whip up a character for me this weekend you think?
[Dozus] 3:34 am: Also writing new char for post-apoc game.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:34 am: Remember you guys need me to roll for your dark sides and special benefits!
[Ancient Gamer] 3:34 am:
[Ancient Gamer] 3:34 am:
[Dozus] 3:35 am: So as a nomad, what do I need to know about the world outside of Bleak Wood?
[Murometz] 3:36 am: I am confused to be perfectly blunt, on the tech level, and also, what exactly the world was like before Apoc
[Ancient Gamer] 3:36 am: Aha
[Ancient Gamer] 3:37 am: Questions !
[Murometz] 3:37 am: read SE's character. It reads liek a fantasy guy (though REAL good!). I said that to him, and he said,. yeah, I know what you mean
[Murometz] 3:37 am: he also didnt seem sure on tech
[Dozus] 3:38 am: And how long was the apoc? I mean, do people still remember the old world? Are there places called "Neue Köln," "New Chicago," etc.? Are
there any remnants of the old faiths? Are we even still talking about post-apoc Earth, or another post-apoc world?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:39 am: First for Dozus: The world outside Bleak Wood is.... Well, imagine great cities brought down by bombs and fiery rain. Then nature
reclaimed them, except in some areas where nature will never get back because of biological weapons, chemical weapons or nuclear weapons.
[The Citadel]: Dozus has left at 3:39 am
[The Citadel]: Dozus has entered at 3:39 am
[Dozus] 3:39 am: s**t, I'm getting the new Firefox.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:39 am: So around Bleak Wood there is the albino birch wood to the north. Then there is a huge wasteland to the south where the nomads do
not go.
[Dozus] 3:40 am: Hey, they turned off the filter.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:40 am: There are cities, sort of, with inhabitants in the range of 500-5000, with Bleak Wood being a town of some 1500 souls.
[Murometz] 3:40 am: hmm, this expose is helpoing me! go on
[Dozus] 3:41 am: So mid-sized town.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:41 am: Humanity has gone back to the feudal stage, with city states in which towns serve as fortifications in which the country dwellers
come to trade, or come for shelter during war and raider activity
[Ancient Gamer] 3:42 am: Well, that was bad wording, but you caught my drift, aye?
[Dozus] 3:42 am: So do we have lords, kings, vassals, etc.?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:42 am: The world before the war is little known. Not much is remembered anymore as the Great War was over four generations ago.
[Murometz] 3:42 am: I dont mean to oversimply, but are we talking Mad-Max-ish type tech level?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:43 am: There is the City of Light with the High Emperor King Cassula, a vast city numbering more than four thousand citizens.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:43 am: Yes
[Ancient Gamer] 3:43 am: Mad Max-ish
[Murometz] 3:43 am: excellent! now I FEEL it
[Ancient Gamer] 3:44 am: brb 2 min
[Dozus] 3:44 am: I like.
[Murometz] 3:44 am: Badblood Kiph will fit in nicely!
[Dozus] 3:44 am: What's your guy, Muro? A denizen of Bleak Wood?
[Murometz] 3:45 am: I was thinking thief, nomad type, but maybe not..maybe citizen
[Murometz] 3:45 am: I need another 24-48 hours.
[Murometz] 3:45 am: I have his "thing" down though
[Dozus] 3:46 am: I know the feeling.
[Dozus] 3:46 am: I'm making a nomad pathfinder.
[Dozus] 3:46 am: But I need more nomadic background.
[Murometz] 3:46 am: pathfinder. ok, I am sure you wil come in handy
[Ancient Gamer] 3:46 am: Okay, here goes
[Dozus] 3:46 am: I hope to be.
Dozus listens intently.
[Murometz] 3:46 am: me too
[Ancient Gamer] 3:47 am: There are other titles too... Some rulers name themselves Warden, or Mayor, or Captain Sheriff, or what have you... Basically the
survivors recreated what they could and strong individuals took titles as they saw fit
[Murometz] 3:48 am: makes sense
[Ancient Gamer] 3:49 am: So a journey could be through vast forests, sometimes with ruins of days bygone, sometimes just plain, natural woodlands. Or a
journey could be through the nuclear wastes, where the radiation levels will make you sick if you spend enough time in there, and where there is but sand and
infertile soil and rocks and ruin.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:50 am: Now for the nomads:
[kamina] 3:50 am: sorry to interupt.. but, would anyone in this room be put off or confused is the word equidistant was used in a sub
[Ancient Gamer] 3:50 am: Nope
[Ancient Gamer] 3:50 am: Not me
[Dozus] 3:50 am: I'm familiar with the term.
[Murometz] 3:50 am: no kamina, we all use big words all the time
[Murometz] 3:50 am:
[Dozus] 3:50 am: Frequently and incessantly, even.
[kamina] 3:51 am: lol.. just checking..
[kamina] 3:51 am:
[Murometz] 3:51 am: hmmm, you should read a few subs on the site. You'll see a mighty vocabulary
[Ancient Gamer] 3:52 am: The nomads are individuals that organize in clans and families. They have no stronghold, no state to call home, but they have the
honor of the families and they stick together. For the nomads the tradition of story telling is held high, and through stories they keep track of which individuals
have fallen from grace (in general betrayed other nomads), which has done great things and they recount the lore of yesterday.
[the Wanderer] 3:52 am: I thought it had something to do with horses.....
[Dozus] 3:53 am: So sort of African Bushman-esque.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:53 am: The nomads keep many secret caches throughout the lands, and they have secret hideouts where they can rest and find provisions,
but also where they put new provisions for others to use.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:54 am: No... More like... Gypsies and other nomads of europe
[Dozus] 3:54 am: Ah.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:55 am: Gypsis have some strong cliches to them, so I picture more people like our local "Tater" (You guys have probably never heard of
those nomadic groups)
[Murometz] 3:55 am: okay, I a nomad
[Dozus] 3:55 am: Tater?
[Murometz] 3:55 am: Romany, Tater, etc...ok
[the Wanderer] 3:55 am: Tarters maybe?
[Murometz] 3:55 am: different names for wanderers in different countries
[Ancient Gamer] 3:55 am: But in a fallen world, the nomads are hold the moral high ground.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:55 am: Yes
[Dozus] 3:55 am: Taters? What's taters, precious?
[Murometz] 3:56 am: that would be Tatar, or Tartar Wanderer
[Dozus] 3:56 am: Ah, gotcha.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:56 am: Yep
[the Wanderer] 3:56 am: That's it!
[Dozus] 3:56 am: Do they have religion, or are they more honor-based morals?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:56 am: They are highly religious and of moral high standards.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:57 am: But... Alas, their moral extends mostly to other nomads
[Ancient Gamer] 3:57 am: Hence the Fatebringers cannot kill other nomads
[Murometz] 3:57 am: so can a "wanderer" (escapee from a sickening torture/imprisonment) shack up with a travelling clan?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:57 am: But lesser men is a ok
[Dozus] 3:57 am: Xenophobic?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:57 am: Yes
[Ancient Gamer] 3:57 am: Hmmm
[Murometz] 3:57 am: good, Kiph will be a nomad
[Ancient Gamer] 3:58 am: Xenophobic?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:58 am: I guess...
[Ancient Gamer] 3:58 am: They are to a certain degree... But they are the merchants of the wastes, so too much Xenophobia would be detrimental to them.
[Dozus] 3:58 am: Like, being morally righteous, they look down upon corrupt citydwellers and avoid their ilk?
[Ancient Gamer] 3:58 am: Yep
[Dozus] 3:59 am: But they have to let some of it pass, 'cause they have to trade. Makes sense.
[Ancient Gamer] 3:59 am: "And since the cityfolk are the offspring of Babylon, they have not the rights of real humans"
[Ancient Gamer] 3:59 am: YEs
[Ancient Gamer] 3:59 am: Yes
[Ancient Gamer] 4:01 am: But in addition to this there are the Space Dwellers. Those are survivors of the cataclysm that escaped to off world space stations and
ships as humanity fell to its knees. These technologically advanced people come to the technological enclaves to trade tech for slaves and rare artifacts from the
wastelands
[Dozus] 4:02 am: Hm.
[Murometz] 4:02 am: whoaw
[Ancient Gamer] 4:02 am:
[Ancient Gamer] 4:03 am: Yep.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:03 am: They are rare and they only visit the advanced cities and towns, like Bleak Wood.
[Murometz] 4:03 am: gah, wife and baby, gotta go for 1/2 hour, brbr
[The Citadel]: Murometz has left at 4:04 am
[Dozus] 4:04 am: So Space Dwellers = opportunists and slavers.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:04 am: Yep
[Dozus] 4:05 am: I see.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:05 am: But to the survivors of the wastes they are traders in essential goods and equipment.
[Dozus] 4:05 am: Naturally.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:05 am: So. You got enough info?
[Ancient Gamer] 4:06 am: Can you play in this setting?
[Dozus] 4:06 am: Tell me a bit more about the religion of the nomads.
[Dozus] 4:06 am: Is there a united nomadic religion, or do they each follow their own gods and spirits?
[Ancient Gamer] 4:07 am: They believe in an ancient entity called Amarokh that lives imprisoned in an ancient oasis far to the south
[Ancient Gamer] 4:07 am: According to Nomad legends it was imprisoned by a greater evil that the Ancients released in the final days of the Great War
[Ancient Gamer] 4:08 am: Many are the nomads that have gone in search of that oasis. Some have returned empty handed, others have not returned at all.
[Dozus] 4:08 am: Fascinating.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:09 am: There are spiritmasters of the Nomads that devote their lives to Amarokh, but some nomads do some ancestor worship too, rubbing
clay figurines of mighy clansmen of the past as they pray for luck and good fortune..
[The Citadel]: Wulfhere has entered at 4:09 am
[Ancient Gamer] 4:10 am: Need any more info?
[Dozus] 4:10 am: Just a bit. Could I have a few examples of tech a nomad might have access to?
[Wulfhere] 4:11 am: Good Even!
[Dozus] 4:11 am: Grittings, Wulf!
[kamina] 4:11 am: Hello Wulf.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:12 am: Nomads do not trade with the space traders and their tech is mostly at (our) contemporary level. They mostly use horses, but
sometimes trucks. Each clan has access to shotguns and rifles and even some explosives. Sometimes they recover scientifically advanced weaponry and
technology, but these things are usually safeguarded for bartering purposes.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:12 am: Many nomads prefer the "old ways" however, and crossbows and spears are common among the nomads.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:13 am: Especially Fatebringers who specialize in "silent killing"
[Ancient Gamer] 4:13 am: Howdy Wulf!
[Wulfhere] 4:13 am: I'm still struggling with the computer, so if I vanish witout sayng "bye", please forgive me.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:13 am:
[Dozus] 4:13 am: Okay, I follow.
[Dozus] 4:14 am: Think I have enough to make a character.
[Ancient Gamer] 4:14 am: Though, of course, a submachinegun with a silencer would be great