Interest Check - Dark, Heroic Medieval Fantasy AU

Time has not been kind to Equestria. It has been a thousand years since the creation of ponykind, since the Crystal Queen and her six Princesses tamed a dark, chaotic world and turned it into a paradise before establishing Equestria. But since the arrival of the arch-demons Malice and Hatred, things have only gotten worse for ponykind.

For 900 years now, demons have roamed the world, spreading misery and corrupting the world around them - to the point where now the demons are hardly the only threats in the world. Outside the relative safety of pony cities, wandering undead, magical beasts, and even evil ponies lurk, seeking to bring an end to Equestria. There are even entire nations utterly hostile to ponykind, such as the Nagapon - half-pony, half-snake monsters created by the arch-demon Hatred himself. Over 900 years, pony territory has slowly shrunk, with Equestria being less than half its original size. And, perhaps worst of all in the minds of ponykind, the seven divine rulers have dwindled. It started with the Crystal Queen, who bound herself along with Malice into the Crystal Heart of the long-lost Crystal Empire, until only Celestia remained. And with each lost ruler, a light went out in the hearts of ponykind, until only Celestia remained... only for her to be banished to the moon upon the arrival of Nightmare Moon.

And yet, when things seemed darkest, a miracle occurred. Six brave ponies harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony - unused since Nightmare Moon's first banishment - and not only saved Princess Celestia, but restored Princess Luna to her true self. For the irst time in centuries, ponies have gained hope instead of losing ground. And just as the Luna was restored to her throne, so too do ponies believe that they might reclaim what was lost.

To that end, the Princesses have begun plans for expansion, to reclaim the old pony lands overrun by monsters. But the Equestrian army alone is not enough for the task, and a call for skilled adventurers has gone out, to take on the most dangerous - and most rewarding - missions in the quest to restore Equestria.

- - -

So, for some years, I've been working on a medieval heroic fantasy AU of Equestria, based on the Buck: Legacy/ fanmade game. Like in Buck: Legacy, this version of Equestria is a world where monsters run rampant, and there are no shortage of heroic adventurers to take on the evil that threatens to engulf Equestria. Don't worry, friendship is still magic - but a good sword at your side never hurt either.

I could write a lot about this setting, but for now, to keep it brief, I've limited my explanation to the above. Meanwhile, there are two different scenarios I have in mind to have players explore this world:

a) Less than a generation ago, the Pransylvannian province was overrun by monsters, at the behest of a group of evil pony necromancers. With Equestria facing threats on all fronts, Celestia could do little but take in the refugees and seal off the easiest path to the region with a fortress. Now, however, the time has come to move into the region, eliminate the necromancer cult, and rebuild pony society.

This option gives quite a bit of freedom to explore the region, undertake side-quests, and interact with both fellow adventurers and survivor holdouts. However, it doesn't really have any connection to anything familiar to the show.

b) Within the Everfree Forest lies the Citadel of the Alicorns - a massive, majestic, and ancient structure that was once capital of Equestria, but had been abandoned since Nightmare Moon's banishment. Some say that a curse fell upon the Citadel and all around it, corrupting the surrounding area into the Everfree Forest. But now, Nightmare Moon is no more and the curse has been lifted - and the Citadel is in dire need of refurbishment. Though Nightmare Moon attempted to clean out the place upon her return, the gigantic structure is still infested with monsters of all sorts - and no doubt contains secrets centuries old. Using Ponyville as their base, a group of adventurers must go in and clean out the place, floor by floor.

This idea, since it's so close to Ponyville, is better I think for presenting this world to the players. I as a GM can show people just how different things are, by showing how Ponyville and its inhabitants have changed in this AU. However, I think the campaign itself will be more simplistic, with a heavier focus on combat - it's essentially a long dungeon crawl with short breaks.

I decided to ask you, the potential players, which you would prefer. In addition I'll also ask which system you prefer - both Pony Tales and Wanderlust have their merits, after all!

I'm interested. Put me down for Scenario A and Pony Tales (although I won't mind Wanderlust either)...

I'm happy with either, but put me down for Pony Tales as well.

Interested. Never got to see much of Wanderlust so I'd loke that, but PT works for me. Also good with either scenario.

We've got one more person incoming, once his account is approved by admins, and then we should have enough to begin. :3

Meanwhile, it appears that the most-desired scenario is A, and people are either ambivalent about the system or prefer Pony Tales. While I admit I liked the idea of Wanderlust, Pony Tales works too, and scenario A was the one I preferred doing as well... I just wanted to have a second option open since I felt setting something "closer to home" might be more desired. But, this works out, and I can begin planning...

Meanwhile, I wanted to write up a few lore differences in this world. As mentioned, this AU is based off Buck: Legacy (some notes on its setting can be found on its wiki), and there a few differences I felt would be fitting to carry over:

Loredump:

I'm sure there's other stuff but... I've done a lot of writing already, including after the page backed up and I lost all my progress, and I don't want to write any more right now. >.<

So what level are our characters starting at?

Hmm... let's try for level 2, with the knowledge that you're pretty close to level 3. Just high enough to get you guys thinking about how to advance your build...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vnemHHwph_eOdIQ6PEatibsAEv2NhmBoywcPtf7SGwE/edit?usp=sharing

Stormtuft the hippogriff

Question: Are any of the homebrew or unofficial talents and abilities available to be used, or strictly the stuff in the official docs?

A1C Bronymous wrote:Question: Are any of the homebrew or unofficial talents and abilities available to be used, or strictly the stuff in the official docs?

...Since I'm not sure what homebrew stuff exists, all told, I'll have to say "run it by me and I'll decide."

Meanwhile, I just remembered that there's a Revised Level-Up Table that I've been curious to try, but unfortunately that would have been nice to spring on you guys before you started making sheets, since you start with 21 Ability points in it...

Anyway, Stormtuft looks good. Setting notes - typically, an acolyte of divine magic must receive their powers "in person" from the source of their power... but based on this, perhaps minor divine powers arise spontaneously for reasons unknown. Kinda fits with the setting, in my opinion - one of the themes of canon MLP seems to be is that friendship may be magic, but it's a poorly-understood form of magic... especially in Equestria Girls.

Alternatively... does he still use the same sword he did when he fought the vampony?

this is gonna be a pbp?
also sounds interesting, but with school starting up idk if i have the time so put me down as a strong maybe

I was considering having him get a new pair of blades upon completing his training; Two curved swords that when you hold them together in a certain way form a sun. However, if it helps he can still have his old sword.

AleneShazam wrote:this is gonna be a pbp?
also sounds interesting, but with school starting up idk if i have the time so put me down as a strong maybe

Play-by-post, most likely. I've learned the hard way that gaming over voice chat is my least favorite form of gaming, unless there's some sort of visual representation like Tabletop Simulator or Roll20. In general, I prefer play-by-post as it's what I'm used to. However, I have been thinking of trying combat over Skype or Discord, to make things go faster, and seeing if that works out. This will primarily be play-by-post though.

Senshuken wrote:I was considering having him get a new pair of blades upon completing his training; Two curved swords that when you hold them together in a certain way form a sun. However, if it helps he can still have his old sword.

Well, one idea I had was that the sword he grabbed during the battle had some latent divine magic, that through willpower he was able to bring out. Doing so (along with the victory itself, of course) is perhaps what caught Celestia's eye.

Fair enough. Sounds good Dusk.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kVVRKdX5fjU-eIEI0qi_m3l22ERuHWJXZzOWyiz7orc/edit?usp=sharing
Tentatively, here's Skäralvee the Centaur.
I do need to ask how we might represent her ability of spreading diseases and inflicting curses. Espresso and I was working on an Afflictions Master destiny but that's not getting anywhere and I doubt it'd be legal anyway.

You know, it's kind of odd that we haven't seen centaurs in MLP proper, given there are minotaurs. They should work here, I just need to figure out whether they're a "natural" race, or one created through magic (some races were created at the same time ponies were, as a side-effect of the princesses infusing Harmony into the world... others were created by more diabolical means).

As for diseases and curses... hmm. There are a few long-term debuffs among Abilities, but probably not what you're looking for. What kind of effects were you looking to create?

Dusk Raven wrote:You know, it's kind of odd that we haven't seen centaurs in MLP proper, given there are minotaurs. They should work here, I just need to figure out whether they're a "natural" race, or one created through magic (some races were created at the same time ponies were, as a side-effect of the princesses infusing Harmony into the world... others were created by more diabolical means).

As for diseases and curses... hmm. There are a few long-term debuffs among Abilities, but probably not what you're looking for. What kind of effects were you looking to create?

mm well they're a confirmed race ala tirek and in his backstory comic there's a whole kingdom of them

but as for like the curse stuff like...

idk like fairy tale stuff, cursing someone with disease or injury, bad luck. I'm totally willing to make it very broad, and suit the plot, and only keep her curse eating and disease curing stuff as specifics. I already have dirty look and hex so I'm not sure what more I can take tbh.

I feel that, since there are only a handful of debuffing abilities, you can be liberal with the flavour of what causes them. Things worth pointing out are Howling Chains (a disease that causes sudden fatigue), Memory to Mist (memory loss is a common curse), and maybe stuff like Watching Like A Hawk, Zone of Truth, and Element of Honesty...

On a personal note, I was planning on playing a Shark Pony, which is a playable race in Buck: Legacy. Just making sure there's no issues with that, right? No problem if they are, it'll help me understand if the setting leans more towards canon or B:L...

It sounds like a lot of the stuff you want to do will have to be handled outside the context of abilities... which will require skill checks and you to word out the curse. Just like in fairy tales. Funny enough, my favorite D&D 3.5 has a section dealing with curses of that type, I shall be perusing it for guidance...

Paper Shadow wrote:On a personal note, I was planning on playing a Shark Pony, which is a playable race in Buck: Legacy. Just making sure there's no issues with that, right? No problem if they are, it'll help me understand if the setting leans more towards canon or B:L...

It's really a mix of both. I admit I wasn't sure whether to use sharkponies or more traditional (as in, G1) seaponies. After all, this generation's seaponies aren't really ponies. XD

I think I'll go ahead and have sharkponies (or maybe orcaponies?) since they're in Buck: Legacy and they're awesome. Of course, they won't be the only aquatic race... I'm thinking hippogriffs/hippocampi will exist in some fashion, though I'm not sure whether they're their own race distinct from pony-griffon hybrids... or if they are griffon-pony hybrids that can breed true.

Ah, worldbuilding...

...Question, do you play Buck: Legacy or did you read the wiki?

Dusk Raven wrote:...Question, do you play Buck: Legacy or did you read the wiki?

I read the wiki. Which only gives vague knowledge, so I only really know that they exist. But who'd turn down a chance to play as one?

Dusk Raven wrote:It sounds like a lot of the stuff you want to do will have to be handled outside the context of abilities... which will require skill checks and you to word out the curse. Just like in fairy tales. Funny enough, my favorite D&D 3.5 has a section dealing with curses of that type, I shall be perusing it for guidance...

that was essentially what I had in mind
depending on what i want to achieve I'll declare it and you tell me what i need to do/roll to complete the curse. What I have in mind ranges from incredibly petty like "I hex you to have an inconvenient rash on your armpit" to like super dramatic "A curse on your house and your lineage! May misfortune run in your blood, now and forever more!"

Though at this level I imagine Skara would only be able to reliably perform the former.

Because of this character though Espresso and I have restarted our work on the Afflictions Master destiny, so maybe eventually we can present that and see if it flies.

So, apparently I can't post links for the first 7 days because I'm new. Hrmm...

Well that sucks ass...

I could have Dusk post it, I suppose?

That's what I suggested. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kpIEpm-PTCOZP_XsSbtwf4kGnOaZjn60w5BIByX9dfE/edit?usp=drivesdk

I think there's still some work needed for backstory...?