A Mighty Fortress (2nd Edition Campaign setting)

[gainreduction]

TSR HR4. This goes from 1550 to 1650. Early colonial america, is this viable as a character concept?

[DM Ariadne]

The limit on the time Gothic Earth characters can be from is 1650. As long as it fits the time period, I do not see why not!

[gainreduction]

Oh thank you Ariadne!

From wikipedia:

The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in 1620. In both Virginia and Massachusetts, the colonists flourished with some assistance from Native Americans.

So Virginia

[Bluebomber4evr]

Yes, it is possible.

[McNastea]

Just remember, you won't be able to speak a common language with anyone at all to start, not even common.

[herkles]

Just remember, you won't be able to speak a common language with anyone at all to start, not even common.

Nor are real world languages = ravenloft languages

also if you are french and you run into a dementlieuse speaking high mordentish:
French: Bonjour
Dementlieuse: Bonjour
both: what in the world is that man saying. Can't understand a word of it.

[Kharak]

Just remember, you won't be able to speak a common language with anyone at all to start, not even common.

Can't you choose Common as a language if you are a descendant of someone who washed up in GE from another plane?

[Olywynn]

I think that only accounts for non-humans on Earth?  Not sure.

[Bluebomber4evr]

I think that only accounts for non-humans on Earth?  Not sure.

He's referring to Shadowkind, a concept introduced in D20 Modern (which is the 21st century version of the Gothic Earth), and can include humans:

Spoiler: show

The Tide of Shadow

The Plane of Shadow touches all Prime Material game worlds such as the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, as well as the Gothic Earth. Unlike traditional D&D worlds, however, the Shadow Plane washes up against the Gothic Earth like an ocean, ebbing and flowing in tides. These tides wash up Shadow Plane travelers from other D&D worlds like so much flotsam and jetsam. These beings, now trapped on the Gothic Earth, are known as the Shadowkind.

Shadowkind

Humans cling steadfastly to the reality that they wish to be true, resisting every piece of evidence that suggests that the world isn’t the way they believe it to be. Only a relative few make up the “aware minority,” those humans who have experienced a Shadow event and seen it for more or less what it was. The majority, the mundanes, find comfort in translating kobolds with swords into knife-wielding muggers and malicious spirits into tricks of the light. A magical effect might be fireworks or a weather peculiarity. Never underestimate the human mind’s power to deceive itself and maintain a level of comfort.

Those who subconsciously delude themselves do so for the sake of their fragile sanity. Those who know and understand at least some aspect of the Shadow tide maintain the secret to avoid ridicule or investigation, as well as to protect the public illusion of a sane, mundane world.

Most characters who are not native to the mundane world hail from a place beyond Shadow, and they are known to “mundanes” as Shadowkind.

You can also play characters native to Earth who are the offspring or descendants of Shadowkind.

Characters who enter the Gothic Earth through Shadow retain only a few hazy memories of the place from whence they came. Shadowkind refer to this phenomenon as "The Gift of Lethe," and it results in the dimming and outright elimination of memories. Close details are not forgotten -- name, relations, closely held beliefs, as well as personal experiences all remain. However, a great deal of education and raw information is expunged -- legends, tales, geography, politics and other bits of nonessential secondhand knowledge disappear forever.

As a result, an elf likely remembers her name, her family, her profession, the nature of elven life (traditions and customs she believed in, ancient enmities with orcs, and so on), and the existence of magic. She likely won't remember who her clan's leaders were (unless she was related to or worked closely with them), the geography of her homeland, the names of other kingdoms, or any other matters concerning her former life and world.

Many of the Shadowkind do not remember how they fell into Shadow in the first place. Some speak of passing through doorways, others of fog rising in the middle of the night. But most can do no more than acknowledge that suddenly appeared on the Gothic Earth with no memory of where they were or what they were doing mere moments earlier.

The loss of so much knowledge has different effects on different individuals. Some take the loss well and adapt quickly to their new environment. Others seek to rebuild their homeland, gathering together individuals of similar species, temperament and motivation. Still others spend their lives trying to find a way back home, away from the madness of this very different world. So far, the trip through Shadow is only one-way.

Known Shadowkind on the Gothic Earth are: elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs, drow, aasimar, tieflings, and even humans

Shadowkind characters share several traits, as noted below.

Shadowkind can see other Shadowkind for what they are; they have no need to deceive themselves as "mundanes" do.

Creatures brought to the Gothic Earth by Shadow are reclaimed by the tides of Shadow after they die. As a general rule, a creature of Shadow vanishes 1d4 rounds after it dies (drops to –10 hit points), leaving behind no trace of itself other than its clothing and equipment. Shadowkind heroes have stronger ties to our world than other creatures of Shadow; they fade away 1d4 hours after they die. Before they disappear, slain Shadowkind characters can be raised from the dead as easily as mundane characters can. Slain creatures of Shadow that are transformed into undead creatures remain on our world in their undead state and are not reclaimed by Shadow until they are destroyed.

Characters can be nonhuman natives of the Gothic Earth—the children of one or more Shadowkind parents, born and raised somewhere on Earth—or they can be new arrivals to the Gothic Earth, having recently come through Shadow. In the latter case, Shadowkind characters suffer the disadvantages of being “strangers in a strange land.” They are restricted to a handful of starting occupations at 1st level, they have no wealth to speak of, and they speak bizarre languages unknown to the majority of Earth’s population (though they also acquire the common language of the land they arrive in as a function of passing through Shadow).

Shadowkind that are brought by the Mists to the Demiplane of Dread lose all connection to Shadow and revert to their normal D&D race. They are not claimed by the Shadow tide when they die and can be seen for what they are by all inhabitants of the Land of Mists. They do not regain any of the memories lost by traveling through the Shadow plane.

A character who begins play as a newly arrived Shadowkind knows one or more languages, most of which are not spoken on Earth. Such languages include Celestial, Draconic, Elven, and Goblin. However, they all share a common language (called Common) that has striking parallels to the predominant language spoken in the area where they arrived. Shadowkind characters born and raised in our world gain languages as human characters do. In addition to one or more local languages, they may know one or more languages of Shadow (taught to them by their parents and elders).

Creatures who reach the Gothic Earth through Shadow gain an innate knowledge of English, Spanish, Russian, or whatever the predominant language happens to be in the area in which they arrive. To them, the language resembles Common, a language that was used in trade or other negotiations between different species in the world of their birth. Whether this is mere coincidence or part of some great design remains a mystery.

“Languages of Shadow” are languages brought to the Gothic Earth by creatures of Shadow. Like Earth languages, these languages can be grouped together in families. Languages that belong to a single family share the same root alphabet. However, knowing one language in a family doesn’t enable characters with the Smart hero’s linguist talent to automatically speak, write, and understand the other languages in that family.

Natives of the Gothic Earth—human and Shadowkind alike—can learn new Shadow languages only after they are exposed to them; they can’t master them spontaneously. To learn Draconic, for example, a character must spend time with creatures that speak Draconic or find someone with access to the written language (Draconic “books on tape” or ancient texts written using the Draconic alphabet, for example). Certain Shadowkind know languages commonly spoken among members of their species, and all characters may study and learn new Shadow languages, investing in the appropriate Read/Write Language and Speak Language skills as they advance in level.

[gainreduction]

I've decided to play either an English Colonial American or a French Colonialist. Keep in mind High Mordentish is not actually French. Dementlieu just has similarities to Revolutionary France, so yes, my character will have to learn language.

[Knas]

I thought it was acceptable to trade your common tounge for "common" in Ravenloft?

[Bluebomber4evr]

I thought it was acceptable to trade your common tounge for "common" in Ravenloft?

Gothic Earth does not have a common tongue.

[herkles]

I've decided to play either an English Colonial American or a French Colonialist. Keep in mind High Mordentish is not actually French. Dementlieu just has similarities to Revolutionary France, so yes, my character will have to learn language.

Actually Dementlieu has far more similarities with the Republic of Venice then it does with either Revolutionary France or Pre-revolutionary France IMO.

I thought it was acceptable to trade your common tounge for "common" in Ravenloft?

It does not have a common language. Unless there other gothic earth PCs, it is rather hard to communicate with others.

[gainreduction]

http://www.nwnravenloft.com/forum/index.php?topic=21210.35;wap2



Ruling: Just use tags.