Nosos write-up

[KingCorn]

Company Man could work as a varient of Guild Member background, knowing the ins and outs of the company (both in production and how it cheats its workers), and gets a bonus of barter and survival (as you have to learn how to batter favors and script, as well as live on what you can find in a company town)

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

I played with the idea of one of the ways a person can move up is becoming a mistress (or gigolo if you're a man) since a number of the upper class finds it fashionable. ("It's not that the Nosians don't know what monogamy is, it's just that they find it boring.") The sad thing is the supply out numbers the demand, unless you're attractive, talented, and witty enough, your relationship will be a few years at best before you're replaced; there is little protection outside of leaving if your "client" is abusive, and if you're a mistress/gigolo because your client and their spouse can't conceive, the child/children are treated as the couple's, not yours. Thankfully, most clients are decent enough to let the mistress nurse her children or let the gigolo see his offspring.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

The magical effects in the civilized half of Nosos will remain the same (heal spells being weaker). For the druids' territory, it's different. All weapons created after the medieval times only do half damage (rounded down). While druid spells become stronger: an extra die of damage and target numbers for the caster are five points lower.

EDIT:
Thanks to the rumor that druids are mostly immune to gunpowder weapons, archery has made a comeback both as a hobby and for self-defense.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

This is my first attempt at writing stats using the 5e engine and they're for Sophia...

Sophia Sceleris (Lv 5 Ranger)
Str: 14
Dex: 17
Con: 12
Int: 13
Wis: 16
Cha: 12
Proficiency Bonus: +3, AC: 14, HP: 46
-Favored Enemy (Druids), Natural Explorer (Forests), Fighting Style (Archery), Primal Awareness, Horde Breaker
Spells: Cordon of Arrows, Find traps, Fog Cloud, Silence (Spell slots: 4/2)
Skills: Athletics, Insight, Perception
-Leather Armor, Morningstar, Long Bow

Appearance: A sensible-looking beauty with the same style of glasses her father wears, Sophia keeps her super-straight black hair a few inches past her shoulders. Even with her tomboy-ish streak, she is fine with being the proper lady Nosian society expects of her. This is shown by the ribbon she wears around her neck.

Combat: Sophia will have a team of 1d8 fellow rangers with her (from level 5 or lower) when she's out doing her rounds.

[Mistmaster]

Alignement?

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

Alignement?

I knew I was forgetting something. Neutral Good.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

NOTE: I decided to change The Old One's favored weapon to a greatclub.

Laia Darkmoon (Lv 10 Druid, Chaotic Evil)
STR: 14
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 17
WIS: 17
CHA: 13
Proficiency Bonus: +4, AC: 14, HP: 66
-Wild Shape, Druid Circle (Circle of the Land, forest), Natural Recovery, Nature's Ward, Land's Stride, *Gunpowder Immunity
Spell Slots: 5/4/3/3/3/2
Skills: Nature, Survival
-Hide, Greatclub, Sling, Dagger, Herbalism Kit

*This is due to a failed Dark Powers check where Laia doesn't take damage from gunpowder weapons. To compensate, she can no longer gain nourishment from anything (except water) that isn't from an animal.

Appearance: Appearing to look about 25 years old in human years, Laia is a beautiful, proud-looking High Elf with an athletic build. Her long blond hair is grown wild and occasionally put in a ponytail when she's in battle. Clad in animal hides, Laia enjoys using the blood of her kills (both animal and human) as war paint and to dye the tips of her hair.

Combat: Having a love of battle, Laia enjoys fighting in the front lines. If she sees a target with a gun, she will let them shoot her to unnerve them. If she can get close, all fairness is gone as she is not afraid to go for the eyes, spine, groin, or any vital organs to knock her prey down.

[KingCorn]

In terms of a map, I image the city takes up a good size of the domain, but not the majority. Around it is mostly a blasted wasteland of what was once a vibrant forest, now cleared for lumber and mining, and at the outer edges is the remaining forests, leading into the mists.
The City is a collection of factories, mills, lots, trash heaps, and manor houses. The streets are the image of filth and anarchy, worse than the worst Nova Vaasan city. There are a few pockets of safety, the manor houses and core trade embassies. In the wastelands is where you see the presence of company towns and coal mines, reaping the land for more and more resources.

Any one got any ideas for access to other domains? Cause in the Paridon netbook we got a mistway between Nosos and Paridon, and I had an idea of the mines/sewer system connecting to Richelumont. Anyone have any ideas?

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

In terms of a map, I image the city takes up a good size of the domain, but not the majority. Around it is mostly a blasted wasteland of what was once a vibrant forest, now cleared for lumber and mining, and at the outer edges is the remaining forests, leading into the mists.
The City is a collection of factories, mills, lots, trash heaps, and manor houses. The streets are the image of filth and anarchy, worse than the worst Nova Vaasan city. There are a few pockets of safety, the manor houses and core trade embassies. In the wastelands is where you see the presence of company towns and coal mines, reaping the land for more and more resources.

Any one got any ideas for access to other domains? Cause in the Paridon netbook we got a mistway between Nosos and Paridon, and I had an idea of the mines/sewer system connecting to Richelumont. Anyone have any ideas?

So how big would the forests be since they are a threat?

EDIT: I used part of the stats from 3.5's aristocrat class for Siemon's stats.

Siemon Sceleris (Neutral)
HP: 28, PB: +3, AC: 12
Str:14, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int 17, Wis: 17, Cha: 12
Skills: Insight, History, Perception
Gloves of Ruin, Rat Dancer
Sword Cane, Pistol

The problem is I don't know what to do about Malus other than his special abilities.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

I figured out how to do Malus' stats and decided to go with Artificer with the alchemist specialty.

Malus Sceleris (lv 10 Artificer)
STR: 13
Dex: 15
Con: 13
Int: 19
Wis: 15
Cha: 20
Proficiency Bonus: +4, AC: 12, HP: 49
-Magical tinkering, Infuse item, the right tool for the job, Tool expertise, Flash of genius, magical item adapt, Experimental elixir, Alchemical savant, Restorative reagents
-Infusions known: 8, Infused Items 4, spells 3/4/3/2
-Charm: The victim must make a save vs spell with a -4 penalty or become under Malus' thrall for 1d4 days. Though this causes him blinding headaches that last for hours, there is no limit to how often he can use it.
Disease: Works just like the clerical Cause Disease spell, but is five times more effective. The results can be triggered at any time and only be removed with a limited wish or wish spell.
Weapons: Light crossbow, +3 dagger

[Zettaijin]

Not only did I do a write-up of Rokushima Taiyoo back in the days, but I tried my hand at Nosos as well! It was silly and full of on-the-nose references to Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and their ilk.

Later, I did a small update to my original write-up for this place. I'm was never happy with it, but it was a lot more mature than my first attempt.

In a nutshell, Malus now becomes a self-made man who believes in ruthless individualism over all else. Forged in hardships, he's the old libertarian "rags to riches" myth come to life. He was abandoned as a youth by an aloof father. The man was the leader of a nature cult (rather than being a druid as per printed material) and his wife died due to his refusal to have her be seen by a physician in the city - it just wasn't "natural" and all that - instead relying on various herbal concoctions. Even then, he had little interest in her anyway and had plenty of other paramours in his cult. His main one had no desire to be with him as long as his son stayed, so he just cast him out.

He spent his formative years building a trade empire from a lowly start as a pickpocket and barely survives a plague or two along the way, developing a fear and respect of the powers of pestilence. He even finds ways to weaponize disease and begins a side-business of selling these bio-weapons to powerful men, causing untold suffering. But he is not heartless. In all cases he makes sure that these men are merely working to ensure a greater good and a more stable future. He wouldn't just sell some of his more potent weapons to some random greedy would-be conqueror who could not oversee a proper renewal in the wake of devastation.

Many would die, of course, but to establish a greater, more stable future where men could reach their full potential just as he did.

Returning by chance to his home town, he found himself involved in a conflict between the city and some local cult hiding in the woods. They were proving a nuisance and cost a number of lives with their guerilla tactics, not to mention reports of the woods themselves attacking the woodcutters and soldiers.

Of course, it had to be him. His father was still in the woods after all these years, his cult growing in size.

This was personal and Malus, remembering quite well the layout of his father's compound, infiltrated the place and used one of his bio-weapons to infest the camp. A simple exotic bug which needs quite a lot of care in order to survive in this climate but can live long enough to cause a deadly disease in those not immune.

Yes, a number of cultists would die, but think of all those in the city who could now benefit from the bounties of the woods! The gains outweighed the human loss. And the disease itself was rather swift and relatively painless. A night of high fever, some sores, but by the crack of dawn it would be over.

His father languished in agony for three days before dying, his various concoctions protecting him somewhat. In trying to heal himself, he only prolonged his suffering.

It was then that the Dark Powers noticed Malus.

As Darklord of the island, he must share the power with none other than the Spirit of the Green. The mysterious entity first manifested itself in front of Malus as a masquerade ball where it presented itself as a man cloaked in green and bearing a leaf-shaped mask made of bark. Finding the figure somewhat mocking given the past events, he forcefully removed the latter's mask revealing the twisted, blistered face of his dead father.

That night, Malus fell ill and spent a night filled with nightmares of odd, shambling men made entirely of weeds, leaves, and branches and held together with mud and tangled vines tearing at his diseased flesh.

He would wake up and overcome the disease, but feared a return visit of the Spirit of the Green, his father.

His father was fused with what could be best described as a semi-conscious entity that draws its power from the forest on the outskirts of the city. The forest and the city are at war with every excursion into the woods being a dangerous one. The deeper one goes into the woods, the more powerful the entity is and the more the woods becomes "alive".

The entity sustains itself by consuming living organisms - chiefly humans - which it periodically kidnaps from logging camps and even the city itself. Any plant of sufficient size can be turned against human life and provide a portal of sorts into the city for the Green.

This notion of the Green was first created before I had read the excellent Yanick Paquette run of Swamp Thing comics. Having read his version of "The Green", I feel it would work well as a perpetual thorn in the side of Malus.

Instead of a Captain Planet villain, Malus should be seen as an utilitarian who does believe that what he does has a greater purpose and will ultimately cause less suffering and inconvenience at some later date. He's a proper individualist and capitalist war-profiteer who funnels his wealth into social programs. Even his war on the Green is meant to save lives, in a way, as without citizens the city will die.

The Green is nearly mindless and simply concerned with its survival.

As an added bonus, I thought Nosos should be supplying weapons to the core. Possibly providing more advanced weapons such as firearms or gunpowder.

In my original version, inept and corrupt politicians were working with Malus. This power couple pf Reagan and Thatcher stand-ins were amusing and I feel that as icons of 80's capitalism, they should be given some kind of spot in any Nosos.

Furthermore, I thought of a mechanical golem/corrupt union leader figure based on Ultron of Marvel fame. The golem would pretend to be a wheelchair-bound man who suffered terrible wounds but survived to inspire others to rise up.

My revised version had various guilds controlling each sector of the economy and having their own little secret cabal to control Nosos from the shadows with Malus merely being a member of said cabal rather than an overt leader.

I guess that's the stuff I feel is worth of keeping. Well that and mutant rats. I truly want Rats: The Night of Terror to be referenced in Nosos.

[Mistmaster]

At this point I'd make Malus father a straight up hero, ala Swamp Thing.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

At this point I'd make Malus father a straight up hero, ala Swamp Thing.

Kind of the lightlord thing I've been hearing about in some of the Quoth the Raven issues. I want nature and industry to be on equal terms of good and bad aspects, but I'll give it some thought.

[Mistmaster]

At this point I'd make Malus father a straight up hero, ala Swamp Thing.

Kind of the lightlord thing I've been hearing about in some of the Quoth the Raven issues. I want nature and industry to be on equal terms of good and bad aspects, but I'll give it some thought.

Yes, exactly that, since I am the author of those articles .

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

At this point I'd make Malus father a straight up hero, ala Swamp Thing.

Kind of the lightlord thing I've been hearing about in some of the Quoth the Raven issues. I want nature and industry to be on equal terms of good and bad aspects, but I'll give it some thought.

Yes, exactly that, since I am the author of those articles .

Since I haven't read all of the QtR issues, how would you best describe the concept of a lightlord?