Flipside: Sundereth (An Introduction)

Community Game ideas
#21

[size=150]Character Importation to Game World[/size]

Although Sundereth itself will be a closed game world, there is still room for people to import a character into the setting.
Character concept & general flavour would be recreated for the system although any other game specific abilities would be lost.
Basically a black mage can be a black mage in Sundereth too, subject to the realms rule set.
Dependent on other GM’s, experience gained in Sundereth may also be gained for the parallel character in another system & vice versa.
Unfortuneately only concept will cross over… physical items such will not transfer.
The cross over ability is to allow players to play their favorite character in Sundereth & be rewarded fairly without imbalancing either system.

#22

seeing as Jared hasn’t done it yet…

Sundereth has changed. If I said “dramatically”, it would be needly impolite.

In the interests of character moveability (and the fact we smell potential as if it were a drunk dutchmans bo), core mechanics of the game have been altered to fall in line with those used by Mordavia, with the kind permission of Ryan Paddy (I think, Jared may need to correct me on this).

Let me state though that we are not attempting to fully rewrite the existing system. More we are trying to expand on some of the existing concepts and add some new elements to bring more flavours to the game, while retaining its beautiful simplicity and ease of play.

It’s also going to be a shameless hook to get more Aucklanders down for games by presenting a somewhat familiar ruleset for their gaming pleasure.

Watch this space :stuck_out_tongue:

#23

You are quite correct Dave.
Character advantages expanded & improved, new races, magic lists doubled if not more, item creation increased… theres so much… basically it is an attempt to expand to a game world potential plus a Quest like hit system to allow dynamic swordplay.
Many of the important flavour of Mordavia is to be retained & will alow seemless integration of many character types, from warriors to mages, merchants & traders sages & visionaries. From swordsman to innkeeper, Sundereth will provide you with a structure to play concepts in a broad or focused way.
Some small hints for players:
Mages - Spell books, spells in 4 ranks from Novice to Grand Master, wands of magic & staves of power.
Warriors - Archers, Cut throats, Foresters & Barbarians
Priests - Light & Dark

Stay tuned for the re-release of Sundereth, coming soon.

#24

Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder, Sunder
I was caught in the middle of a switchback track
Sunder
I looked round and I knew there was no turning back Sunder
My mind raced, and I thought what could I do
Sunder
And I knew there was no help, no help from you
Sunder

Sound of the drums, beating in my heart
The Sundering of the world, tore me apart
You’ve been, Sunderethed

Rode down the highway, broke the limit, we hit the town
Went through to Rivershire, yeah Rivershire, and we had some fun
We met some people, some Larpers who had a good time
Broke all the rules, played all the fools
Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew our minds

And I was shaking at the knees
Could I come again please
Yeah the people were too kind
You’ve been, Sunderethed
Sundereth,yeah yeah yeah, Sundereth, uuh, Sundereth, yeah
I was shaking at knees
Could I come again please

Sundereth, Sundereth, yeah yeah yeah,
Sundereth

Yeah, it’s alright, we’re doin’ fine
Yeah, it’s alright, we’re doin’ fine, fine, fine
Sundereth, yeah, yeah, yeah
Sundereth, Sunder-Sunder
Sundereth, baby, baby
Sundereth, you’ve been Sunderethed
Sundereth, Sundereth
You’ve been Sunderethed

#25

[quote=“Jared”][size=150]Character Importation to Game World[/size]

Although Sundereth itself will be a closed game world, there is still room for people to import a character into the setting.
Character concept & general flavour would be recreated for the system although any other game specific abilities would be lost.
Basically a black mage can be a black mage in Sundereth too, subject to the realms rule set.
Dependent on other GM’s, experience gained in Sundereth may also be gained for the parallel character in another system & vice versa.
Unfortuneately only concept will cross over… physical items such will not transfer.
The cross over ability is to allow players to play their favorite character in Sundereth & be rewarded fairly without imbalancing either system.[/quote]

So the Grey Mage could live once again!

#26

Yes. It certainly could.

#27

if the grey mage lives i’ll bring back Creed :smiling_imp:

#28

You know Jared, if this trend keeps up, Sundereth is going to turn into the Mordavia afterlife.

#29

Hmm if that’s what makes it work then that’s ok. To work it needs players, whathever they may be.

#30

I was kidding about creed, i have …other plans :smiling_imp:

#31

When I explain somthing, I always try to build on existing knowledge and not bombard people with unfamiliar terms. It looks to me like Skor = Orcs (backwards), Stonekith = dwarves, Iltherin = elf and Skkari = vampire / ghouls.

Why change the names? I’ve already forgotten the work for elf and I just typed it in the last sentance.

People are familiar with the normal names and I can see no advantage to changing from the familiar and understood, to the unfamiliar. To me, it doesn’t add “flavour” so much as fog meaning.

Likewise, hit points and armour points have been renamed to “soak”. The game mechanic is still the same (running out of them is bad and you fall down) so why hide a familiar, popular and well understood concept behind a different word?

This reads to me like a “management white paper” and I tend to try and avoid that type of document. :smiley: Some people may prefer it. I’ve spent many years as a software developer reading thousands of pages of stuff that has no content, so I tend to look for the tables and rules to get my comprehension and just quickly scan this type of document looking for “hard facts”.

I see this type of rule a lot in larp rule books so you’re not alone here, but I’ve never really seen it used:

"Global effects are “Timeout” & “Fire” Fire is the same as Timeout except all players must suspend play & go to the aid of the those yelling “fire”. This is a health & safety effect & halts game play. "

Everyone knows about “timeout” but I think “fire” is redundant and actually a word that will happen normally in game. (You’re setting an ambush, the party wanders past and someone yells “fire” to the archers … suddenly everyone is lining up with buckets of water)

I think that at a game if something goes wrong in real life, it would be best to just stand on something and yell “Hey, everyone, we’re having a timeout. Someone has broken into some cars and I want everyone to head down to the car park to see if they’re affected…”

People are clever, they recognize out of character calls in an instant. Nobody is going to be sitting there under a bush thinking "WTF is the elf talking about, what is a ‘car’?

Anyway. Umm, liked the “lingering wound” rule :smiley:

#32

Quest has used the “Fire” call for years. It is if you are in a real and serious situation with non-players. I.e. drunk yobos that are trying to attack you and you need real help now. If you shout help, players will think that orcs after you. real research in the area of self defence has shown that yelling “Fire” is much more effective at attracting aid. If one of our players is confronted by three drunk yobos waving a baseball bat while sneaking alone done a path, I think it is much more effective to run like hell yelling “Fire” than to stand there going “excuse me every one, i am currently being attacked by three slightly drunk people and I would like assistance”

as for the “Time out”, we have used it once in 18 yesrs.

#33

[quote=“Derek”]
Everyone knows about “timeout” but I think “fire” is redundant and actually a word that will happen normally in game. (You’re setting an ambush, the party wanders past and someone yells “fire” to the archers … suddenly everyone is lining up with buckets of water)[/quote]

I think context will do a lot to help with the “Fire” call. Remember at Nightmare Circle, the rule was to call “Flames” if it was an in character fire and “Fire” if it was an OOC fire. When you tackled Jack and pinned him to the ground, one of you kicked the table and several lighted candles fell to the ground, with me and AJ shouting “Flames!” and “Fire!” interchangably until you and Jack both froze, I put out the candles, and it was time in again.

Point of the anecdote is, I agree with Derek, if there’s a fire or a serious danger of fire (like burning candles falling off tables) then bollocks to the game, break character to deal with it swiftly.

#34

I havnt had any problemwith Morquendi and Quendi in quest nor Trollkin. And havn’t even read a Tolkien Novel except the Hobbit (Dont all gasp in Horror) So Elves vs Quendi no difference to me.

Conversely do you think Orcs is the term used in every part of the universe where “ORC’s” live

If you start expecting the story to use concept’s that everyone knows why not use experience and Hitpints and Levels… Everyone knows how that works. Were you not arguing against that before?

I like the flavour and think it adds to it rather than detract.

#35

Different strokes for different folks I guess. In the SCA we use “HOLD!” and everyone stops fighting, repeats the cry of “HOLD!”, kneels and raises their weapon above their head. At that point we find whoever initiated the call and see what the problem is. Usually it’s because armour has broken or someone has traveled out of (or in to) the designated combat area.

I suppose drunk yobbos are more likely to attack you with sticks if they see you hitting each other. I’ve had several experiences with them wanting to join in SCA combat (without armour, 'cause they’re really good…) and if my initial “please get out of the way, we’re training” doesn’t work I just call the police. They’re paid to deal with drunk yobbos, I’m not. I used to try and reason with them and placate their drunken egos but I no longer bother. No threats, no warnings, just call 111 on your mobile (it’s free).

But I see all the hold / fire and timeout calls as being way down the list of rules. I think game mechanics and character creation rank a little higher in my list of interests…

#36

Soak was a concept Jared had for his original musings when the system was completely started from scratch. I’m not sure if he’ll be keeping it.

Renaming the races will actually serve a purpose - as we are borrowing from Mordavia we didn’t want there to be a situation where you get say, Mordavia Elves vs Sundereth Elves. The races will have some definite similarities ie Skor will be big, burly, and have green skin and tusks - just like Orcs, but we are trying to create different player races. Jared has me working on this at the moment. And he hasn’t given me enough peanuts today…

I remember for Quest the calls used to be “Hold” or “Timeout” if it was something immediate, like the guy you’re fighting has just fallen over backwards down a bank, and “Fire” if it was an emergency and you needed people to come to you.
Al’s bit about the research was spot on - it was a study about deterring rape attacks and what women should be yelling.

#37

Soak is redundant, the reason as noted by yourself Derek.
And no at 0 you didn’t flake out, it represented the point at which you had taken as many cuts scratches & bruises before causing you to fall down injured. At 1 HP your pulse increases, sweat starts to bead & you know you are in trouble, this is a roleplaying thing. At 0 you can still crawl around & call for help but can’t do much else except avoid blows. The intention was that at -1 you were conscious but severely injured, able only to call out in pain & -2 or below you are unconscious. Problem is, in combat you often go from positive to negative numbers in a split second, so one second people are standing, the next you’re on the ground.
It is really hard to make people role play & to be honest, in combat, with bugger all HP, it really makes little difference. I know even if it doesn’t show, that just before 0 HP my heart is in my throat, I sweat & I fight very defensively.
Next.
It is debatable what use giving races new names is but my elves are not Quest elves or Mordavia elves but still have a familiar flavour of elves, though they are more than D&D elves & less than Tolkien elves. So they are Iltherin or Children of the Aether in another more ancient tongue.
Stonekin are not dwarves, they are Giant Dwarves.
Skor are Orks because I couldn’t think of a beter not Ork name & it was amusing in my head when I did it, it’s kind of a in joke in my own head, like some sort of historical scribes dyslexic moment, where he/she meant to write down Orks but wrote Skor instead (not an affront to dyslexics however).
However, regardless of the name I give them, the following will happen… players will figure out what they are & role play them accordingly.
I like new names because I’m trying to make something novel, maybe I will put common usages (orks etc.) beside the name so people who don’t get it can figure it out. Has anyone got better names? Tell me what they are & maybe I’ll use them.
Is there anything you do like? I’m glad you liked the lingering wound rule, it is a favorite.
As for calls for “danger”, well I used FIRE for discussed reasons.
HOLD or STOP or TIMEOUT is used for in game situations such as damaged equipment or dangerous fighting ground.
What would anyone else suggest a victim of OOC assault in game shout if they are in OOC real danger? Bloodcurdling screams are pretty normal for larp. They ARE important but only because they MAY be required to keep someone safe.
Character generation is infact the highest priority in Sundereth in terms of rules, though I’m only really trying to provide a set of hangers from which people can build their characters on.

ALL DISCUSSED ASIDE
Sundereth is a few weeks/months away from re-release, so a lot of what I have put in this thread is irrelevant to what will appear then.

#38

In Mordavia, when you reached 0 HP (effectively, -2 in your rules) you were incapacitated. You were conscious, but could not do anything except moan and groan and drink a healing potion if someone fed it to you.

Ryan’s rationale is that playing unconscious meant that when something important happened nearby you know what happened OOC but not know IC.

So, I’d recommend incapacitated instead of unconscious.

I’m not fussed about your names, and I think they add distinction and flavour to your setting. Won’t take me long to learn them.

#39

Thanks Mike, those were valid points. Cheers

#40

I find the racial names okay, but am not sure what the purpose of “Flipside” is (is it the name of the rules system?) and “Sundereth” sounds silly to me. Sorry, it just sounds like “Sunder” with some mock-old-English on the end.

“Giant dwarves” is a pretty odd description, when you look at it.

But most importantly, I’m not clear on what sort of thing player characters will do in the setting. Is it assumed that they will be “adventuring” at events? Will the nature of these adventures be decided by GMs? The setting doesn’t seem to imply any particualr sort of action or interactions, although maybe it does and I’ve missed it.

This isn’t intended as criticism of your ideas, I’m just feeding back because you wanted feedback.