Difference between revisions of "GPRH Ministry of Careers New Hire Orientation"

Revision as of 19:24, 19 June 2015

Introduction

Today is a glorious day, comrade! Thanks to your decision to become a field agent in service to the People's Revolutionary Party, you are on your way to a career filled with excitement, danger, and numerous opportunities to serve the Greater Good and the people of Hagiv along with their servants, the Party.

Administrator: Just a quick note: the links in this document have been inserted by counterrevolutionary elements. Clicking on them will give you information that has not been cleared by the Party for public consumption. Already clicked on one? Excellent! You're probably a counterrevolutionary. (In real world terms, this means you'll get player knowledge different from what your characters know. It's up to you to keep them separate.)

Hagiv is a rich, diverse country with a history going back hundreds of years. Will you serve out of Szasz, the nation's proud capital where you might be able to serve the Revolutionary Council directly or even the Glorious Leader himself? Maybe you'll serve in Nagev’s Glory, the center of Hagiv's naval power, helping to ferret out retrograde royalists who want to roll back the Glorious People's Revolution.

You might end up in North Gavek, a center of wealth and trade, but also a city crawling with suspicious-looking foreigners or Tavoli Halasz, a den of smugglers and cutthroats who nonetheless serve the Greater Good by trading with the nations of Kaza Orok, Anover and Avari.

Wherever you end up, we're sure you'll serve the party faithfully and unstintingly. It's certainly in your best interest to do so.

Welcome to Hagiv

The Glorious People's Republic of Hagiv is a medium-sized island in the far north of a world called Tierra and part of a larger campaign called The Thalassan Sphere. Even though Hagiv is far to the north of the equator, it is still almost entirely a tropical or subtropical climate. The reason for this is that Tierra suffered a massive magical Cataclysm about 640 years ago that caused the seas to rise and the whole planet to heat up. Only a very small part of the world is even temperate and the frozen ice cap is less than one hundred miles across.

But your characters don't know any of this. Your characters were born on Hagiv. They've grown up being fed an official story by the People's Revolutionary Party that doesn't always mesh with what the history books say. That's why the Party has their own history books - so you don't get confused.

Part of your mission in the game might be to find out about the real history of Hagiv or to keep others from finding out that history. Or, it might be to leave Hagiv all together. The Hagiv campaigns use a special system called Goals that allow your characters to gain experience points and reputation for achieving special tasks set before you by various patrons. In the case of Hagiv, those patrons will generally be various elements of the Hagivi Government and Revolutionary Party and/or counterrevolutionary groups - frequently both.

The official history is this: For hundreds of years, Hagiv was run by foolish kings, greedy capitalists, and cruel overseers. Dwarves and humans were forced to toil in the fields and mines while the ruling class, bolstered by elven sorcerers, lived a life of idle luxury. One day, an honest, hardworking dwarf named Nagev was hurrying along the beach to fetch some wine shipped from overseas for his master's table and he tripped over a rock mostly buried in the sand. That rock gave off a strange glow and, when he gripped it, his mind filled with wondrous images and his body, crippled since birth, grew healthy and strong. Nagev had discovered the Sunstone and it gave him a vision of a Hagiv free of the pernicious influences of kings, capitalists, and elves. Nagev called on his fellow slaves to rise to do glorious battle against the Ferencz Monarchy. His owner's son Bertok Vass saw the wisdom of Nagev's cause and rallied the humans of Hagiv to join the Glorious People's Revolution.

After the Revolution was won, Nagev was made Glorious Leader by popular acclaim and appointed the Revolutionary Council. Between them, they seek to make a worker's paradise of Hagiv and have only failed to do so already because of counterrevolutionary elements.

Hagivi Society

Inspiration for Hagivi society is largely drawn from two sources: the ultraparanoid nations of the Cold War Eastern Bloc (particularly Hungary in the 1950s and 1960s) and the remarkable inefficiency of large organizations. Hagivi society is at turns absurd and terrifying. Someone in the Palace of the People was supposed to stay your execution, but accidentally wrapped his lunch in the form and now you're going to die.

There are three rules to remember when imagining Hagivi society: (1) The Council and the Party run everything, (2) everyone is spying on everybody else to see if they're a counterrevolutionary, and (3) everyone is a counterrevolutionary (nearly.)

If your character has any revolutionary goals, they probably involve spying on one or more members of your adventuring group. If your party has any revolutionary goals, they probably involve spying on you. It's not impossible to achieve party unity in Hagiv, but it's far from a given.

For examples of this, see the sample party at the end of this document.

Race and Standing on Hagiv

There are four player character races on Hagiv: Dwarf, Human, Orc, and Elf. Orcs play with half-orc statistics and elves can play with either elf or half-elf statistics as they choose, but culturally there's no "half" anything here. If you have any elf blood, you're an elf - the same with orcs.

Dwarves

Dwarves are the cornerstone of the revolution. The Glorious Leader is a dwarf. Half the Revolutionary Council are dwarves. It was dwarves who built Hagiv, dwarves who stood fast against the orcish hordes when all else fled, and dwarves who threw themselves on the barricades at Nagev's Glory. Dwarves have shouldered the responsibility for running many of the responsibilities that are the bedrock of Hagivi society. Noblest of all are the Blessed Dwarves, who suffer greatly for the Revolution.

Dwarven characters start out with a 50 reputation with the Hagivi Revolutionary Reputation Bloc and one revolutionary group from that bloc. If your DM allows it, players may also play Twisted Dwarves. The twisted dwarves are short-lived (42-80 year life span) and prone to confusion under stressful situations, but they can be incredibly strong and powerful. (In game terms, they can subtract 1-2 points from intelligence and/or dexterity and place those points in strength and/or constitution (up to 2 points for either stat.)

Humans

When dwarves rebelled against the Ferencz Monarchy, many humans stood shoulder to shoulder with them. But not all did. Some supported the King and his elvish sorcerers. Still, as a race, they are basically good. Half the Revolutionary Council are human. If they run fewer revolutionary institutions, that's just because they lack the constitution to support such burdens.

Human characters start out with a 30 reputation with the Hagivi Revolutionary Reputation Bloc and 50 reputation with one revolutionary group from that bloc. Additionally, they may choose one group from the list of counterrevolutionary groups with which to have 40 reputation. Choosing a counterrevolutionary group means you will have counterrevolutionary goals as well as revolutionary ones. This is very typical in Hagiv.

Orcs

Orcs and other goblins don't usually live in Hagivi cities, preferring to stay in the villages their people maintain in the interior. Unless they fall under a bad influence, they're a simple, honest hardworking people who lack the moral capacity for leadership or the intellectual wherewithal for duplicity. Because of their great strength, orcs can sometimes be called to service as warriors or bearers, but don't expect them to understand complex instructions or the motivations of others.

Orc characters start out with a 30 reputation with the Hagivi Revolutionary Reputation Bloc and a 20 reputation with one revolutionary and one counterrevolutionary group. Because of a particular blind spot in Hagivi history, they are frequently viewed with a very patrician attitude and excused for behavior other races wouldn't get away with. The general Hagivi attitude is that they're "noble savages."

Elves

Of all the races, none supported the Ferencz Monarchy like the foul, deceitful elves. Long after most of the humans had abandoned their king, elven sorcerers forced heavy casualties on the Glorious People's Revolution. Even though they knew their cause was lost, they reveled in the death and the bloodshed and the madness. Worse, some of them live forever and always look young. So, you can never tell if the elf you meet on the street didn't fight on the wrong side of the Revolution herself.

Elf characters start out with a 0 reputation with the Hagivi Revolutionary Reputation Bloc and choose two groups from the list of counterrevolutionary groups with which to start at 40 reputation. Elves can't own property, vote, or work for the government except as field agents. They can't join the Party. In most towns, they're only allowed to live in one small, proscribed neighborhood known as an Elven Quarter. But, they're certainly too untrustworthy to live outside the cities. Elves found living outside of Szasz. the Gaveks, Tavoli Halasz and Nagev's Glory will generally either be killed or forced to return to a city.

Character Classes in a Classless Society

Some character classes, particularly those associated with the wilderness, simply aren't found in Hagivi cities. Unless your dungeon master tells you specifically otherwise, there are no PC representatives of the Barbarian, Druid, or Ranger classes in Hagiv's cities. Many of the other classes have specific rules for play on Hagiv.

Bard

Bards are both a blessing and a curse to the Party. A bard who understands his place as a disseminator of the news helps the people get the Truth out where it belongs. Bards who feel the need to embellish or invent scurrilous details, make up whole stories, or confuse the people with tales from the world beyond are usually showing the first hints of a deeply counterrevolutionary mien.

In order to play a bard, a player must be registered with and licensed by the Ministry of Arts. They start out with an initial -15 penalty to their reputation with the Revolutionary Reputation Bloc. They can gain loyalty by sticking to the script - carrying and repeating the official news, singing patriotic music, and telling tales of the Revolution without embellishment. Any time a performance deviates from the script, the bard loses reputation.

Bards take one additional Counterrevolutionary Reputation Group at a starting score of 40.

Cleric

There are no gods on Hagiv.

All right. Strictly speaking, there are gods on Hagiv. But, it's considered counterrevolutionary to worship them or even know their names. Where were the gods when the dwarves were enslaved? They abandoned Hagiv.

A lot of people still have the old religions passed down to them, but those religions don't have clerics. The only recognized clerics on Hagiv are the Daughters of the Revolution. They worship the state and the Greater Good and are empowered through the Sunstone that Nagev is attuned to. They also serve the Glorious Leader directly. If he needs something done personally, he'll frequently call on the Daughters.

Daughters of the Revolution have a starting Reputation with their own order of 50 and a 20 point bonus with the Revolutionary reputation bloc. They are not required to take any counterrevolutionary goals at first level, even if another rule says they do.

They must be dwarves or humans.

Fighter

The GPRH maintains a large, standing army and about half of all dwarves and humans serve at least four years when they reach the age of majority. Fighters who have served remain members of the reserve army for life and start with a reputation of 30 with the Hagivi Army.

Fighters who have never served must take a reputation of 30 with at least one counterrevolutionary group. Fighters who *have* served are allowed to take one as well.

Monk

Paladin

Rogue

Sorcerer

Wizard