Page 1 of 2

Penumbra: The Shadow's Edge

Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:19 pm
by Heroglyph
Just seeing if there is any interest in this. It would be run via a wiki in my long-running (10years) superhero PBeM world called Meta-Earth.

It would be nice to have a few more players in involved who are familiar with BASH. We've used predominately Marvel SAGA and Mutants and masterminds in the past.
---
A low level "supers" campaign dealing with supernatural elements. Inspired by movies/books such as:

* Hellboy
* NightWatch/ DayWatch
* The Dresden Files (Novels by Jim Butcher)

and to a lesser extent

* The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (movie sucked, but comics were great--group could be similar to this, extraordinary individuals brought together to fight the darkness.
* Underworld
* Blade
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)
* Constantine (Never read the comics, but I hear good things)

This is NOT the World of Darkness, but rather a low powered street level "superhero" setting with supernatural background/ themes. Urban Fantasy might be the best way to describe it. No one will run around in tights and capes, but trenchcoats or latex bodysuits with corsets wouldn't be that odd on missions.

Characters will be extraordinarily talented individual called together to work as agents (known as Envoys) of the Penumbra Society. (Much like how the league of Extraordinary Gentleman was brought together).
---
The Penumbra Society is a shadowy organization (rumored to have been founded by Harry Houdini) based in Chicago, whose true purpose is defending the mundane world from the forces of supernatural darkness, as well as keeping them blissfully unaware of the things that go bump in the night. (such as in Hellboy movies, Nightwatch movie, and Buffy ). To the outside world it is a private social club

This campaign will be a darker corner of Meta-Earth with little to no, crossover. Almost entirely self contained, much the same way that DC Comics handles the DCU/ Vertigo dichotomy.
---
Characters could be

* normal humans with extraordinary talents/ skills
* normal human with training in mystic arts. If multiple people want to be trained in magic then it should be different kinds, so as to give them each a different feel. (voodoo, hermetic , druid, etc)
* Priests/ Holy Warriors/ Exorcists
* human with inherent mystical ability (superpower/ wild talent)
* psychics
* supernatural creatures (though they would be low powered. Must fight on the side of good)
* or even products of weird science gone awry (i.e. Hr. Hyde, Invisible Man)
* other ideas that fit within the genre are encouraged.

----

Anyone interested in becoming an Envoy of the Penumbra Society? If so, pitch me three different character concepts you'd be interested in playing and we can go from there.

Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:17 pm
by Boost
So would this be run on this site and kept track of on a wiki, or ran completely on another site? I'm sorta interested, have a few ideas:

1) A speedster, however rather than typical superspeed, this person has the inherent mystic ability to slow time around him instead of increasing his speed.

2) A "hunter" of demons, trained his whole life for the purpose of defeating the supernatural

3) Working on this one... mostly got half formed ideas floating around.

Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:47 pm
by Heroglyph
It would be run entirely on the wiki. Just looking for a few players here at the moment.

Though, I would likely post recaps here, for others to see.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:05 am
by Dustland
I'm very interested, but a couple of questions first...

1) What time period is the game set in?

2) Does the wiki support the dice rolls that BASH uses? If not, how will we handle them?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:57 am
by Nestor
Count me in as interested, too, although my familiarity with BASH is slight at the moment.

As for a character concept, I can dust off one from a previous similar campaign: Mack Williams, ex-NYPD officer who had a nasty encounter with things that go bump in the night and is all too willing to get a chance to bump right back. Fills the "normal with extraordinary skills" slot.

He wields the classic world-weary "seen it all before, and I wasn't impressed then" attitude, and a tendency to get the beat crapped out of him, but still keep going. Pretty much John McClane as played by Richard Roundtree. :)

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:40 am
by Protheuz
I'm also interested in this!

As a reader of most of Jim Butcher works, I can relate with the setting.

My character probably would be some kind of knight (from an ancient knight order) or a wizard.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:41 am
by Heroglyph
The time period is modern day.

While the wiki does not handle BASH dice, I recently found a google gadget that I can embed in the page that will make dice rolls that can be sent to the GM's email. I'd have to handle any sort of exploding dice and/or die modifiers and post the results.

We generally shoot for one turn a week, more if everyone posts quickly and my schedule allows for it.

So far, I have two confirmed characters from pre-existing players.
One is a pyrokinetic, the other is a sort of a modern day Sherlock Holmes type (inspired by the recent film) . From past experience, I know that I probably don't want more than 5 players max.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:43 am
by Boost
Might I suggest using Invisible Castle? Let's you link directly to a die roll inside of a post.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 12:27 pm
by Nestor
Heroglyph wrote:The time period is modern day.

While the wiki does not handle BASH dice, I recently found a google gadget that I can embed in the page that will make dice rolls that can be sent to the GM's email. I'd have to handle any sort of exploding dice and/or die modifiers and post the results.

We generally shoot for one turn a week, more if everyone posts quickly and my schedule allows for it.

So far, I have two confirmed characters from pre-existing players.
One is a pyrokinetic, the other is a sort of a modern day Sherlock Holmes type (inspired by the recent film) . From past experience, I know that I probably don't want more than 5 players max.
Cool. I'll cogitate a bit more to give you two more concepts other than Mack.

Is there an official submission process? Do I need to go to the wiki, for example?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:44 pm
by Heroglyph
I'd like to get all submissions in by next Friday. From these I'll pick 2-3 characters that I think will work well. As much as I'd like to include everyone, I know that a smaller group is better for these types of things.

This is sort of a new direction for the campaign, as it has been primarily four color superheroes up to this point, so no real knowledge of the campaign is necessary for the new supernatural campaign. I have the wiki set to private at the moment, but for anyone interested, here is a link to the original website (now sadly out of date)

http://eternalwarriors.freeservers.com/ ... index.html

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:51 pm
by Heroglyph
If anyone is still interested let me know. I am hoping to get the first adventure started this weekend.

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:15 am
by Nestor
Sorry. I had a small bout of Real Life(tm) to contend with.

Yes, I'm still interested if there's space and you see a spot for one of my concepts.

In addition to Mack, I humbly submit these alternates:
  • * A lackadaisical werewolf ("Chill, dude.")

    * An eager young sorcerer-in-training ("Hold on, I have a spell in my iPad that should do the trick!")
Let me if and who I can play.

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 5:53 pm
by Heroglyph
What about combining Mack background with the werewolf? In his encounter he contracted Lycanthropy perhaps.

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:07 pm
by Nestor
Hmm, a lycanthropic lawman... It would certainly be a change from the overdone vampire cop archetype. ;)

It reminds me of acharacter concept from another game (not one of mine) inspired by the Disney Gargoyles TV show: a police detective who turns into a gargoyle at night (sort of a mix between Det. Maza and Demona).

Yeah, yeah, I can see it now. Police detective gets cursed by a malicious wizard/witch/Fae/whatever, forced to transform into a gargoyle when the sun goes down. He quits the force because of it and turns to the private sector.

How's that? :)

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:14 pm
by Heroglyph
So is he a gargoyle or a werewolf? Either is fine really. Flesh out the background some more and we can take it from there.

It is a 20 point campaign. Hopefully that will be enough to build him.