RECRUITMENT: The Burning Sands [OPEN]

PITCH
In the Dawn of Civilization, a time when faith and superstition exceed science and technology, the bulk of the populace is expected to stay "in line and pick grain like everyone else." - A Bug’s Life. Characters will be the brave and talented souls who posses the heroic potential that is needed to solve a mystery and complete the necessary task that has the attention of a benevolent power. Of course, having the attention of a benevolent power will also draw the attention of a malevolent one.

This game is intended to provoke characters to react to supernatural involvement in society, whether resolutely or resistingly, earning respect and innate power. The known world may be a desert but it is far from the barrenness it appears to be. Adventure awaits!

SYSTEM
The Untamed Wilds 3eCONTENT
This game will push some comfort boundaries, as it is set in a Paleolithic period when monsters walked as men. Trigger warnings can include violence, cannibalism, cultists, drug use, headhunters, kidnappings, etc. I will not include or imply sexual violence of any kind. As there are 3 species and 9 tribes of people, bais exists among the populace but is generally absent in characters and not a factor of the game. There should not be conflict within the party of characters.

TIMING
I am "retired" and can post as often as I am functional and do not lose electricity. I do not expect such frequency from players; but hopefully, everyone can post at least once a week.

CHARACTERS
Initially, players should choose among the 3 archetypes of Combatant, Internalist, and Intellectual, though the combatant is not particularly suited to a lack of technology. The other two are both proficient with magic, but the prefered use is different. Further details are contained in the actual game.

APPLICATIONS
Anyone who can relate to the age of technology and the setting are welcome to join on a first come first serve basis. No previous knowledge of the gaming system is need, as it was designed specifically for play-by-post and easy to learn.

Setting:
The setting of The Burning Sands is designed to push into and possibly beyond heroics akin to the great legends of old as presented in the works like "The Odyssey" or "Beowulf" or even "The Devil and Dr. Faust." It is set in a rather early nomadic period, with a tangible interaction between gods and men, for powers far greater than those possessed by the bulk of society are pitted against each other for the control of everything. Some people are chosen out of dedication. Some choose themselves out a sense of defiance. While some influence may be as obvious as a spewing geyser, some, especially those of a nefarious nature, are hidden and subtle, delving into occult concepts that create mysteries to be solved like presented in "Angel Heart" or "The serpent and the Rainbow."

"Hush little baby. Don’t say word,
and never mind that noise you heard.
It’s just the beast under your bed,
in your closet, in your head." - Metallica.

I'm tentatively curious/interested, but I also think I do not have sufficient understanding of the setting and campaign premise to say something more confident than that so far.

Is there any material that is still available to become familiar with it?

I'm interested, the literary drops sound interesting, though I'm a little hazy on what the premise is, too. It sounds like epic heroes battling against supernatural forces that conspire to steal away their power, if I'm reading into it correctly.

ĺ'm completely unfamiliar with the system, so I'd have to be guided the whole way.

I have already copied quite a bit of information into the game thread. Writing and hosting is no problem, but I am still not very familiar with this site, but I think that you can click on the "game details" then click "character creation" toward the bottom of that page. This should take you to the thread I already set up.

The character creation link redirects to the main page of GP. Presumably it points to the forum that is configured as private.

My intention was to show the "hook" rather than the premise. Basically, The Oracle speaks the words of the gods, these will be cryptic and must be deciphered to stage a mission to solve a crisis. This information is in the actual game. I do not yet know how to send an invite. I am quite new to this site.

Yes.

Looks like I figured out how to manually send an invite. Let me know if everything is visible to you.

I accepted it, though it's probably a bit hasty because I only now will have access to and get acquainted with the campaign information.

When people decide whether to play in a game the most important pieces of information are the tone, the setting and the premise. The premise is especially important because it tells the players, at least to some extent, what kind of gameplay/roleplay they can expect. Now although only giving the hook is very appealing from a storytelling/vibes perspective. If it doesn't actually tell the players the information they need; it is little more than a dramatic set-piece. They cant decide wether to play in the game or not. As they do not know what the game is.

Now your hook and subsequent post establishes a setting and two tones. An epic god meets god heroic fantasy tale, and hints of horror. Which is very confusing, as those two tones are incompatible with each other. Your post, as others have mentioned, also fails to establish a premise. And even if the premise is explained in the game forum, that is very out of the way. You can't really expect people to search through the game forums every time they're interested in a game, even if we assume it would be available without an invite.

I highly recommend editing your thread description or first post to include the premise, and clarify the hints of a horror tone.

All things said it does sound really interesting. Interpreting the gods words an taking actions accordingly sounds really fun.

Okay, I added a premise, and my original use of the term "Horror" is really a misrepresentation of my intentions. I have replaced this with "supernatural," which I think will be more accurate.

After reading the additions posted so far, I'm still unsure of what the campaign will be like (e.g. what's the core activity loop like), nor of what the system is like. As a result, I'm still unsure whether I'm ready to commit to this project. I also see that I'm the only one who accepted the invitation to look into the forum, so it seems I am not alone in my sentiment.

I'm intrigued, first because I lack information, which doesn't seem to pose a problem, second because the tone meets my interests.

So, count me in.

I don't really know much of what or why we are doing things. But I'm a simple girl, I see cool metal band and a new system I've never heard of. So I'm interested

Super Cool. I sent you an invite. This will get you into all the other threads.

Things come to me while I am writing that I feel fit the mode of the plot, so will often try to reference them, like the quote from "Enter Sandman." I love Metallica. I saw them in 1988.

I sent you an invite.

After some consideration I have decided that I am interested in playing. If you'll have me of course.

I think that it would be really interesting and helpful to entertain players of a variety of backgrounds and personas. Invite Sent.

Speaking as someone who has been with TUW since pre-beta, and played through version 1 of the rules with multiple characters, allow me to assure you that this system is easy to learn, and the setting (at least to me) feels like Conan The Barbarian meets The 13th Warrior. There are a lot of "horrifying" monsters to battle and defeat, as well as supernatural entities, but the real danger is often the evil that dwells in the heart of mankind itself. In this game, the courage to face one's fears is often the true "power"...


"It's just a man... It's just a man..."

"Relax, little brother... there are MORE!"


So... count me in. 🙂

Love the quote from the 13th Warrior. I had forgotten that dialogue. Invite sent.

If you throw in "Beastmaster" and "Clash of the Titans" you have most all of the ideology covered.