This post serves as the general introduction to all the roleplay related content on the blog, and will likely be linked back to in the first few. I’ll do this in Frequently Asked Questions format.

For a list of writings regarding the RPs check out the Roleplay category!

What is “RP”

When I say RP what I mean is tabletop RolePlay. I’m sure you’ve seen Dungeons and Dragons played in some television shows, or heard about some geek friend that plays it themselves. Maybe I’ve even drawn in some specifically Dungeons and Dragons players to my blog! Cool!

So how RP works is like a mix between collaborative storytelling, and a board game. It’s like being able to play a story that someone at the table has made up, with problems and fights being resolved with dice rolls. I personally love this form of narrative, as many people can experience and interact with a story told in the oldest form possible, around the fireplace.

What will you be writing about?

Well, I recognize that hearing someone recount their Roleplay adventures is possibly one of the most boring things you can do, so I’m not doing that. Instead I’ll likely write it as a narrative from a few npc’s point of view, or maybe from an omnipresent third person perspective. Either way, I weave plot into my campaigns, and I feel like I can take advantage of that to provide content.

What is Dawngale?

Dawngale is the temporary name for the setting of most of my literature as well as all of my RP campaigns. It’s a word that is new, and vastly unexplored. Unlike most D&D worlds, there is very little “lost ancient civilizations” to discover, and all the ones that do exist were not technologically advanced, just like our lost civilizations. One was more wise though.

Dawngale is assisted by spirits know as “Servants” because that’s what they do. The Servant of Death helps death happen through disease, hate, and war. The Servant of Birth helps the various races of Dawngale interbreed, as well as increasing the abysmal child mortality rate. I’ll likely make a post about the Servants of Dawngale and link it here.

The major kingdoms are will follow

• The Solune Kingdom is the oldest known living kingdom on the Overside. It was founded and is still run by “The Solune King” whose true name was long forgotten. The Solune hail from here, a tall race of light skinned people who are both industrious and intelligent. They focus on creating simple machines and studying history, law, and government.
• The Djeb is the largest city on the Overside, containing primarily Djeben people, but also many Lussa immigrants and a few Plainkind, Solune and South Metch. They recently overthrew a corrupt Emperor, and a young guardsman, Hannah ended up ruling by default. Shortly after, an election was done and she got voted in officially. Building rooftops have public access, along with external bridges and staircases. This allows for multilayer shopping as well as rooftop parks among other things.
• The Lussa City competes with The Djeb for the title of largest city. Since the Lussa city doesn’t keep any birth records, it’s impossible to know for sure. The Lussa city’s King was murdered, and they are currently looking for the heir to the throne, who went off to be a mercenary. Nearly all of the buildings in the city are made of metal, as it’s more common than stone in the surrounding desert. The Lussa are known for shoddy metal craftsmanship and their extensive legal system.
• The East Metch Kingdom is the closest thing I have to a true medieval kingdom. It has many stone buildings and two castles. The people of the East Metch Kingdom are not very adventurous, but those that are almost always join the Knights. From the East the Servant of Death keeps an ever flowing stream of demons, The East Metch don’t know why, and as they are not adventurous they don’t care to find out. They simply defend, fighting an everwar. When the spark of inspiration does hit an East Metch mind, it often draws them towards the Sciences of Physics and Chemistry.
• The North Metch Plains are full of plainfolk called the N’Tarial that technically live under anarchy. They have no established governments or leaders, instead they respect the voices of Tacticians. Unusual in such a primal place, for the strong to willingly follow the intelligent. The N’Tarial are also in an everwar against Etzers, a race of short bipedal reptilian creatures. They fight over the river, the only source of flowing water around. Often they don’t fight to kill, just for temporary control of the resource.
• The Plainkind Lands are a crop of calm desert surrounded by mountains, windstormed deserts, and glass deserts. On the east side of them is the Solune wall. The Plainkind are a race of fearsome people, often with two to three times the muscle mass of any normal race. They have very thick skin, tanned from the desert sun. They live simple lives hunting, surface mining, cold forging, and preparing for the rain that comes once every two years.
• A list of undeveloped areas:
  • The Sol-Metch State is an highly industrious area full of radiation, to which the residents are immune. They’re credited with inventions such as the motorcycle, the quadruped adaptive kit, and more. This place we settled recently (a few hundred years ago) by East Metch and Solune, who interbred to become the Sol-Metch.
  • The Dead City is a lawless city full of outlaws. It’s been destroyed by fire and ravaged by strange beasts many times. The only building that consistently survives all attacks is the Prince’s Castle.
  • The Elken Jungle is home to unfriendly and territorial people known as the Elken. Their speech incorporates low whistles (think a train whistle) created using vocal pockets that no other race has. Thus, it has been nearly impossible to communicate with them effectively.
  • The Innerside is the third part of the planned, deep underground. I haven’t explored it much but it seems very interesting.

Why don’t you call it D&D?

I don’t play Dungeons and Dragons for the D&D system, I play it for the roleplaying. There are a LOT of things I don’t like about Dungeons and Dragons, both 3e and 5e. I’ve yet to find a roleplaying system where all player options are equally viable and impactful, and all creatures run on the same system.

3rd Edition (not 3.5, but very similar) has huge balance issues, and everyone is aware of it. The fighter has no class features, and the casters outscale the non magic fighters exponentially. Despite this, I like bookkeeping, and this edition lets you do a lot of that.

5th Edition is hailed as the best edition of Dungeons and Dragons ever, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s so simple to play, and you feel so powerful. However, there are still a few glaring balance issues. They may seem small, but in practice they make players feel weak, or parties feel useless. Fifth edition is also an edition founded on limits. Bounded accuracy, limited attacks, limits on skills and ability scores, and also very few weapons, less player options!

Dungeons and Dragons as a whole has a few vital flaws that I intend to exploit. In every edition the Dungeon Master’s Guide is not a guide, it’s a book of reference tables and magic items. As the Game Master (not Dungeon Master 😛 ) I only use two pages, to make custom bosses. I’ll write a post on  the flaws of D&D that I intend to improve one later, and link it here.

If you know of any Tabletop Roleplaying games that are fun, balanced, and maybe even have conversation mechanics, feel free to tell me with a comment or direct message.

In the end, 5e lets me do nearly everything I want to, so I plan to use it until I develop and copyright my own RP system that improves on it and focuses on narrative more than battle. Or maybe equally. Either way, despite the “3 pillars” that 5e uses, combat is what takes the longest, is the most fleshed out, and my players enjoy the most.