House Shadowcrest
A sleepy hollow, long thought dead and gone, seems to have reawakened. The old lands of House Shadowcrest had been dried up of metals and ore from centuries past. Rendered moot from an ancient scandal, it seems the old estate has been lit up in recent weeks. The area now smells of fermented grain mash. Caravans of questionable repute now clog the roads through Glenumbra and Rivenspire. Shadowcrest’s sigil is once again being seen branded across multiple flags, ships, and containers. Notably an influx of dwarven pipes and gearworks being shipped towards the manor. The sounds of machinery can be heard even down the road, but the reasoning behind it is much more mysterious.The closed estate now opens again for visitors, but most hold their steps upon their approach. Nobody is sure of the sudden influx of wealth flooding into the estate, and its master seems reclusive. Of course, rumors begin to spread without any public appearance to speak of. Some say it hosts a vampire, but others argue that such an assumption is far too obvious. Others assume daedra or cultists, but the authorities swear by the legitimacy. The underground criminal networks however, are much more familiar with the inner goings on but none dare spill the fraction of secrets they may have gleaned from dealing with the new Lady of Shadowcrest, lest their name crosses her path.The Past...
About two centuries ago, House Shadowcrest was a major force in northwestern Tamriel, as major weapons manufacturers. They once made their fame crafting the most ornate of blades. They worked on reverse engineering Dwemer technology and created automatic crossbows and other attempts at firearms (as many other dwemerologists have also worked on). They were typically sold to the rich, private owners and it helped fund their household. However they proved far too difficult to consistently replicate and mass produce so the house had to resort to other means.It wasn't the only source of funding. The lands were also rich in metals, and was host to a nearby dwarven ruin which they of course, blocked off and kept private. The riches within were so bountiful, they built their estate on top of it.It was not to last, of course. The matriarch of the household at the time had to leave on a major mercantile mission, partially diplomatic in nature to secure trade routes with other factions. She left a steward in charge for some months, and that steward was a fool. The woman wanted to make her own mark, and help lift the House's reputation to further heights. She developed an addictive drug named "Brainsaw". It hadn't gone through the proper testing and was dispersed throughout their shared territories, where it then killed hundreds of people.After that, it was as if a curse had taken hold of House Shadowcrest. Upon the matriarch's return, the steward was arrested and banished into daedric realms as punishment. Brainsaw was collected and disposed of, but the damage had been done. Contracts were cancelled, goods had been seized, and their underground connections were severed and revealed to the public. To make matters even worse, somehow it seems the mines within their territory seemed to completely dry of ore within months of the scandal, meaning their self-reliance had been threatened. By itself, it would not have been a problem but with everything else hitting them at once... Their entire workforce abandoned the lands. After a few decades, the name became not much more than a memory.
Nobody can really figure out where the Lady of Shadowcrest came from. By most accounts, the bloodline had died out if one could call it a bloodline at all. They were highly matriarchal and most 'family' members were adopted in, as very little childbirth happened. As it stands, nobody has been able to contest her claim.Still, she carries the air of nobility to her. Lady Kyna is an intensely practical woman, careful to not step too closely to the war nor bring attention to herself from any daedra. She is very aware of the fragile state of her home which has only just begun its recovery.Still, most seem unnerved by her presence. She speaks completely monotonously, betraying any concept of accent but the best guess one can muster is a faded Bretonnian, but her skin is as dark as a Redguard's.
She wears a practical suit of hardened ebony, immediately implying some riches and funding. She typically carries a bow and sword, and each piece of gear carries the House sigil upon her; a circular eye with three tendrils spreading from within.
Background by Chris Dien
The Guild
So that's a lot of background, but what is the guild actually?Mostly, it is my personal love letter to all things rogue. Personally, I adore criminal roleplay as I think it adds more flavor to the general tavern-goers of the world. There's so much intrigue in the underworld to utilize, and the guild's events will reflect that to a degree.In a way, you can think of the House as a cover for a fully fledged Thieves Guild. Lady Kyna works through an intermediary, Dibbe (my main) whom herself is a mid-level captain of the actual Thieves Guild within Tamriel. I've attempted to make a guild called "The Thieves Auxiliary" in the past but didn't put enough effort in it. However through House Shadowcrest, there is an actual narrative to push forward.To compare, you can think of Lady Kyna as the Maven Black-Briar to Dibbe's Brynjolf. That may give you an idea of the starting dynamic of the guild, but the end goals are very different. Even if the motives are similar.
Networking
Roleplay will come into two forms;
1) Crime
2) NetworkingCrime will be more active, taking the form of events. They can be more lowkey, like rerouting caravans or besmirching rival breweries. Other times, notably through Dibbe, it will be outright theft and crime.Networking is possibly more passive, as more characters join the Shadowcrest network they are encouraged to drop the name in their casual roleplay.We also utilize a stat-sheet and diceroll system to keep things lively. Without the spontaneity of rolls, one would think everything is just an automatic success and that wouldn't be very interesting. Who wants every debriefing to be a "Good job, well done". No drama, no life.The narrative here is mostly to bring fame to the Shadowcrest name once again. With that fame, brings funding. With funding, more options will arise.
Shadowcrest Rolling System
This idea has been borrowed (with permission) from @Arktos12 and the Highwreath Order’s guild on Elder Scrolls Online, of which the author here (Zydrate) is currently a part of. This will be trimmed a bit, and more complexities may be added over time.Players begin in the guild with four proficiency slots and ten proficiency points to be freely distributed in their chosen COMBAT skills. Players also begin with another ten proficiency points to be distributed into NON-COMBAT skills. YOU MAY ONLY PUT FOUR POINTS IN A GIVEN SKILL (BOTH COMBAT AND NON-COMBAT) UPON ARRIVAL TO THE GUILD.
Players must choose a minimum of three COMBAT skills, but are granted four upon entry into the guild. Players DO NOT have a limit on how many NON-COMBAT skills they allocate.
As a player increases in rank, they will be granted more skill points and proficiencies.
Available Proficiencies (*= Non-Combat)
Heavy Armor
Long Blade
Block
Blunt
Unarmed
Spear
First Aid **
Animal Handling* **
Scouting* *
Medium Armor
Marksman
Sleight of Hand
Acrobatics
Short Blade
Pickpocketing****
Lockpicking***
Stealth***
Forgery***
Survival***
Trapping***
Alchemy***
Tinkering**
Light Armor
Alteration
Conjuration
Destruction
Illusion
Mysticism
Restoration
Blood Magic
Shadow Magic
Necromancy
Lore *
Your character may also choose a single primary proficiency that may cover an array of things.Brawn
Guile
CharismaThis will essentially cover any specific skills not listed above as the needs arise that may be too nuanced. In Highwreath’s system, there was no ‘persuasion’ check. In general, it was up to the event leader to gauge if your attempt was successful or not. But here, I am introducing a potential numerical value. Some NPC’s may be more difficult to convince than others and I will need to see some kind of value. So that’s what the above is for.Once you pick one of the three, there will be an automatic +2 to those rolls specifically.Also in Highwreath’s system, they had a cap to skills based on guild rank. As of now I am abolishing this, however you must still adhere to the 10 point rule (until various promotions allow otherwise). If you really want to fully stack in one or two specific skills to get those super rolls on very specific things, be my guest. That’d be weird though.
Advantage and Disadvantage
Advantage: Roll twice, use the higher number.
Disadvantage: Roll twice, use the lower number.There may come a point in time where a straight roll with your bonus will not do. If you wear heavy armor, you will suffer a disadvantage at attempts to sneak around. If you are trying to make a long shot with a weapon, or trying to just wild-throw an axe across the room to hit a target, you will suffer disadvantage. But there will be plenty of opportunities for advantage as well, like using weapons against stunned or unaware individuals.This will be on the narrative fly, and it will just depend on the scenario.
Stealth
Those who are light on their feet and quick in stride would do well to know about what now affects their ability to stride in shadows.Sneaking: Sneaking is your ability to be unseen by enemies, but it comes with more benefits than merely that; sneaking now provides a free critical hit on instigating attacks. However, sneaking has also become much more difficult; your heavy armor, long blade, and spear now detract from your stealth proficiency by half (only applicable if currently using any of the three during stealth.).Destruction is loud! If you cast it in stealth, you do not gain the crit bonus, and your stealth is immediately broken.Short Blade provides the crit bonus regardless of roll as long as you are wearing medium armor or lighter.
Armor Class
Be it gothic plate, boiled leather, or woven silk, your armor matters and will offer passive perks.Heavy: Heavy armor, including plate, mail, and nearly all metallic armor give you a health boost for every 3 points of it you have (A person with 6 in heavy armor now has 5 health, opposed to the standard 3 health points.).Medium: Medium armor, including leathers, glass, and bonemold now give a bonus to the stealth skill. Half of your base medium armor skill can now be added to stealth (someone with 4 medium armor and 4 stealth will get to roll a d20+6).Light: Light armor, including cloth, and robes now provide a bonus to all magical defense rolls so long as they are used defensively, regardless of school. Half of your light armor skill is now a bonus for magical defense. (A person with 4 in light armor and 4 in alteration now rolls a d20+6). Applicable to defense only.Unarmored: Whether out of foolishness, arrogance, or comfort, you do not see the need to use conventional armor in combat. Clothing, dresses, formal attire, all give you the Sharp Dressed perk. People who are sharp dressers are more lucky and gain +1 to all rolls, but also lose 1 point of health, leaving them at a pathetic 2 points.
Items and Loot
Over the course of roleplay, through high rolls on clever investigations or looting corpses, you will eventually acquire gear that may give a variety of bonuses. They could be as simple as giving you baseline bonuses to rolls, or they give special effects like being immune to fall damage.
Vampirism and Lycanthropy
Vampires:
+2 to Blood Magic
-2 to all rolls when outside or in direct sunlight.
Ability to feed in combat.
Weakness to silver (auto-crits against them if the attack lands)Werewolves:
+2 to Unarmed (in and out of wolf form)
+5 to health (In wolf form only)
Weakness to silver and poison (Auto-crits, wolf form only)
Fatigue: Upon exiting wolf form, -2 to rolls for the remainder of the event.
Examples!
Here is a simplified variant with beginner statistics;Combat Skills
Sleight of Hand: 3
Pickpocketing: 3
Illusion: 1
Short Blade: 3Non Combat Skills
Stealth: 4
Medium Armor: 3
**Scouting: **3Over the course of roleplaying she's 'leveled up' and acquired gear through Highwreath's loot system, including added proficiency points. Because they have a cap to abilities, I had to 'respec' a couple points out of Stealth and spread it across other skills, making her stat sheet a bit more complex. It looks like this now:Combat Skills
Sleight of Hand: 4
Pickpocketing: 3
Illusion: 2
Short Blade: 3
Marksman: (3) (+2, due to weapon use, +1 Marksman’s Frock)
Acrobatics: (1) (+1 Marksman’s Frock)
Block: (-2) (-2 Marksman’s Frock)
Destruction: (-2) (-2 Marksman’s Frock)
Longblade: (-2) (-2 Marksman’s Frock)Non Combat Skills
Stealth: 2 (4) (1+ Medium armor, +1 Marksman’s Frock)
Medium Armor: 3
**Scouting: **3
Lockpicking: 1
Survival: (1) (+1 Marksman’s Frock)Remember while there is no cap (except the 10 points in each Combat/Non), it's not encouraged to just dump every skill point into just a couple of skills. Yea, +10 Destruction sounds nice but you will be at a heavy disadvantage to everything else.