This map seems quite neat

https://archaeologydataservice...iew/romangl/map.html


I didn't find a comprehensive summary of all sites but this has a fairly extensive list;

https://www.roman-britain.co.u...es-of-roman-britain/

And if you go to specific examples as well as the history there's a mini map showing nearby sites;

https://www.roman-britain.co.u...oniorum-exeter-town/

Thanks Carl :)

Any map doesn’t have to extravagant, distance and common places of game relevance will do fine.

So far we have a shy healer and a Toreador ghoul.  Any ideas about who your PCs would be, Carl and Brandon?

I like the idea of a household. I'm thinking of starting out a little more up north.

https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/roman-bathing-complex-0

Aquae Sulis sort of fits the parameters, it is a roman bathing complex with a temple to Sulis-Minerva. Sulis-Minerva was a goddess of healing which fits with Embie's character concept.

There could also have been a shrine to Mercury, patron deity of travellers, messengers and thieves, as the settlement was near the fosse Road. The Order of Mercury happens to be a forebear of the Order of Hermes in later centuries. Plenty of concepts to be had from that combination of traits.

Minerva was also the goddess of music and poetry so musicians wouldn't be out of place making it a good spot for Mari's character to hang around. Perhaps one of the buildings was a Taverna (inn) for travellers and pilgrims. Hospitality was a moral obligation for the romans.

Other possible character concepts, just to give some ideas:
*a druid who is seeking asylum. While the romans destroyed the power of the druids they still held respect among the local population. A shapeshifter, a blood mage, a weather controller. With the romans abandoning Albion he has to rethink his life.
*The bastard roman-Briton son of the roman Precept who used to oversee the settlement and who left his son in Britannia while he returned to Rome and his roman family. Maybe his magic is subtle, based on sacrifices to various deities. Luck favours the bold, an authoritive voice carries far and a blessing or a curse can turn the tide of battle. Maybe his father left him an ancient Wonder.
*An Oneiromancer half-fae with one foot in the Fae world. Dreams and oaths, a traveller of the Otherworld.

It was the religious settlement, rather than the road junction further north and the residential area now known as Walcot, which was given defensive stone walls, probably in the 3rd century. The area within - of approximately 23 acres - was largely open ground, but soon began to be filled in. There is some dispute as to whether these new buildings were private dwellings or were associated with servicing the pilgrims to the temple.
From the later 3rd century on, the Western Roman Empire and its urban life declined. However, while the great suite of baths fell into disrepair, some use of the hot springs continued. After the end of Roman rule in Britain around AD 410, some residents seem to have remained, but violence seems to have taken root.

So by the time our story begins the baths have fallen in disuse, the settlement is in ruins following an attack by Saxon raiders and only the temple settlement was saved to due to its defensive stone walls. The old guard has died or has left with the legions and travellers and pilgrims have have gone down.

For the Chantry I would suggest investing in:
*A Node. Maybe it's the sacred hot springs, maybe it's the gilt bronzed statue of Sulis-Minerva.
*A Library. A good sized library will have many benefits.
*A Sanctum: A ritual space that eases magic.

Other options: Cult, Retinue. Backup, Allies. Contacts. Wonder.

Random Thoughts:

* How long has it been since the Saxons destroyed the settlement?

* Maybe the Baths could have fallen into general disuse, but there are still ways to get into a room or two where water from the hot springs still pool and gather -- one that requires winding so far into the crumbling (and now maze-like) building complex that most folks haven't bothered finding it. I could see my character -- tentatively named Croía -- using such a room as a sanctum.

* She'd definitely have sympathy and respect for the druids and for the Fair Folk (she'd revere Brigid -- especially the healer), but living within Roman Brittania would mean that she definitely wouldn't be obvious about that, and could code-switch to stay out of trouble (she'd also revere Sulis-Minerva, as the Roman name of Brigid). So she might contribute to a Cult, depending on what it's teaching...

* Wouldn't be against supporting a Node (either in the statue or the springs), but in my experience Nodes tend to become targets.

* I'm guessing that she wouldn't be able to read -- how prevalent was that ability then? -- so she probably wouldn't contribute to a library.

* Would Avatar and/or Destiny be inappropriate?

* Leaning toward Life, Mind, Prime, and maybe Time for spheres. How are we tackling character creation?

No, I haven't latched onto an idea that has struck my mind as the one.

Without even bringing into the conversation what they might be mechanically probably the closest I've come to a concept is a merchant of some kind.

5 years ago



The baths still exist in modern days. You can find photos, a fair bit is still intact. They were only rediscovered in the Victorian era. In the era we're playing in they're probably largely intact. Just mostly, but not fully, abandoned by a population that didn't have the protection of the roman legions. Something to remember is that much of Britannia was covered by vast primeval forests. Most societies that are in decline tend to leave behind civilization for a more rural lifestyle. The bath and temple complex was protected by defensive walls, not so the settlement though which was wrecked in the attack. There could definitely be a secret underground section that acts as a Sanctum though.



Brigid is an Irish goddess and the Irish are invaders in this era, pirating the west coast of Britannia. So yea you'd have to be cautious about using that name in public. It isn't quite roman Britannia anymore, more like the left-behind remnants.



This is the problem with any power structure. On the one hand it gives you more power, and on the other it is coveted by others. which is also part of the reason why declining civilizations make way for a more pastural lifestyle.



The average person had little to no formal education. But given Sulis-Minerva (and brigid too) was also a goddess of poetry and wisdom it is likely the priesthood was taught in writing.



As personal backgrounds? Yes.



Sounds good. Could also consider Matter, what with the water connection.



Standard build rules. I might assign some extra points but have to think about it.

Yo look what the cat  dragged in.

Did i see a mention of Demon characters?

In reply to Carly (msg # 24):

"A demon, a ghoul, a Life Mage, and a Roman Centurion walk into a bar..."

[10 blank lines suppressed]

"You'd think one of them would have ducked."

btw in most games where we had vampires and others we simply pulled the game into the evening night a bit and only the real through the day stuff was skipped and we had vampires just play one of their ghouls with strict orders not neccecary the whole dominate path just a retainers 4 or 5 one that somehow always managed to debrief to its master in the 10 seconds it took for them to switch places. Maybe less 'true' but it allowed for the vampire player to enjoy a mixxed game to the max. But for us it was wolves and vampires not sure if thats a thing. We just said everyone has his dayjob and in the evening we 'play"

Welcome Carly :)

A demon is possible, within the post-roman setting they are either seen as servants of Satan (by Christians), nature spirits (by adherents of the celtic faiths), or gods or messenger spirits by roman-britons.
I must note that because the belief in demons and spirits is widespread, the presence of those familiar with the exorcism of such entities are likewise. Not just the church but the other religions too have their way of dealing with demons.
Having a mage friend who can re-summon you should you be sent back to the Abbys would be recommended if you choose to go this route.

Well I know from Sorcerer it takes one with Summoning/Binding/Warding at 5 to call up a Demon.  Just readying Mage spheres it looks like it would be somewhere around a Spirit 4 effect.  And of course knowing your true name, yipee!

But if it's a whole lot easier than that then I could certainly tweak my idea enough to allow such a connection.

I really have nothing solid right now. After a good year of prep therapy i just started PTSD therapy which is taking a lot of my focus and of coarse its also the moment my grandfather has decided to develop dementia and skin cancer which brings back the whole stress around my moms cancer trails just when i learned to break down my emotional walls to let my theraphy actually achieve something so i am here but just bobbing along right now. I for example missed the entire link to this game its why i took so long to return to the flock. No complaining but just letting you know why my mind isn't really in it right now.

Best wishes, Carly and no rush.  You can always catch us up.

As for myself I’ve tweaked my initial concept but am still a ghoul.  I’ll share more once I get some ST feedback.

Yea no rush, you're always welcome, Carly. Real life comes first.

Still chewing ideas, in the absence of an answer on the Crafts question I'm going to assume it's the Dark Ages revised which also adjusts some other Abilities. I'd considered an auxiliary who's made his way home as the Empire starts to go under (the Romans tended not to have their auxiliary forces serve in their home countries), a labourer who'd been part of the road constructions or similar artisan sort, aging teacher who wasn't deemed worthwhile taking home as the Romans left and a few others. Just debating what works best within the context of the other PCs.

I'm still working on the Ability set we'll be using.

Talents: Alertness. Athletics (also used to Dodge). Brawl. Expression. Intimidation. Leadership. Legerdemain. Subterfuge
Skills: Animal Ken. Archery. Etiquette. Commerce. Craft. Melee. Ride. Stealth. Herbalism. Survival.
Knowledges: Academics. Cosmology. Enigmas. Investigation. Law. Linguistics. Medicine. Politics. Theology.
Hearth Wisdom.

But this is not definitive yet.

What was your question about Crafts, Carl? May have missed it.

In reply to Storyteller (msg # 34):

Easily happens boss, here it is;

"are you planning to have Craft skills treated as separate skills? I believe across the various WoD stuff there's about three different ways they do those those;

Each Craft is an entirely different skill and has to be bought separately
Each Craft is a different expertise and you buy access to a new Craft as a new expertise
Craft is a catch all like Academia, Science etc. and you can focus via specialities"

Looking at Dark Ages in there it's different expertise for each type but at that same value as the ability. So you don't have to buy multiple different abilities but do have to have different expertise.
Academics is similar where there's a pair of expertises for it, you can buy both but most people will be an either or for the ability. Didn't get chance to do a full check of all of them.

Yea, these are some examples why I'm still looking at it. We can discuss it.

 My ghoul would be called Alena, is in service to a Roman Malkavian Scholar who (obsessively) collects books, and performs spy type duties on his behalf.  Alena prefers her friends to be unusual, exciting, or clever… I think most PCs will fit into those categories :). Her Malkavian master is a (mostly) benevolent fellow who wants to see the community survive the crumbling of Rome, while retaining its old influences and embracing new ones where needed.

The Dark Ages revised Vampire Academics mentions if you were embraced within 300 years of the standard start date Academics has the two distinct fields.  Older vampires obtain academics as a single skill.  With us starting in the 400’s we are well before that caveat so at least in academics it should be considered a single skill with no fields.

Commerce is the same as Crafts in having multiple potential fields but Commerce also doubles as a dark ages version of streetwise.

Mentioned it to a few people already but you get +10 freebie points to build your character.

Another question, I'm full of them.

M20 uses Avatar to denote quintessence that can't be taken from you, the 'strength' of your Avatar and how many quintessence you can spend in a round (0 spend at 0 and an increase of 1 for each dot).  Dark Ages: Mage uses Fount for quintessence spent in a round and maximum number of quintessence you can hold (at 0 you can still spend 2 quintessence a round and hold up to 10 with the dots increasing it to 12/14/16/18/20 total hold possible and expending 2/3/4/5/6).  Which are we using?

In reply to Brandon (msg # 40):

In a similar vein I believe Dark Ages Sanctum background functions differently to 20th

Bit indecisive about the ability set .. these are probably the abilities we want to use but then there is also the question of how we use it, which exact system.

Talents:

Alertness
Athletics (also used for Dodge)
Brawl
Empathy
Expression (poetry. singing. orator.
Intimidation
Leadership
Larceny (black market. sleight of hand. lockpicking. forge documents. misdirection)
Subterfuge

Skills:

Animal Ken
Crafts (smith. carpenter. architect. stonemason. potter)
Etiquette
Melee
Performance (instrument. singing. drama. comedy. ritual)
Ride
Stealth
Survival

Knowledges:

Academics (latin. theology/mythology. history. philosophy. mathematics)
Investigation
Law
Medicine (herbalism. poultices. humours. midwife. surgery)
Occult (metaphysics. cosmology. astrology. alchemy. divination)
Politics
Lore (vampires. magic cults. fae. garou. demonology)
Linguistics (each dot is an extra language)



We'll use modern systems where possible, simply because we're most familiar with it. So that goes for Avatar and Sanctum as well.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:06, Yesterday.