Low Fantasy-esque Monster Hunting?

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Onlysaneman

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Alright, first pitch on this site. So, I don't have a whole plot laid out (or even a character to play, for that matter) but I was thinking it might be interesting to do a low-magic, grim, monster-of-the-week sort of story.

The setting: The world is a dangerous place, filled with all sorts of demons and monsters. Some are intelligent, some are mindless beasts. Some are simply hunters who kill to survive, while others seem to enjoy human suffering. Some possess the body of animals, while others could pass for men in the wrong lighting. These monsters inhabit every nook and cranny of the world.

Mankind has never prospered in this place (see: monster infested), but small havens of civilization are able to survive. They grow just enough to feed themselves, and a small force of watchmen, along with palisade walls, are able to keep most monsters from attacking. From time to time, however, there is a threat that the local militia either can't or won't handle. For monsters too large or vicious to kill, or too fast or too clever to catch, Hunters are called in.

Hunters have no magic, no special training, nothing to distinguish themselves except the occasional bit of talent, luck, and a willingness to throw themselves at monsters no rational human being would tangle with. Those that survive more than a week are usually paid well (or at least given enough food to make it to the next town), wandering from place to place and offering their services wherever they can find a buyer.

What I'm looking for: Like I said, I don't have a ready plot to follow or anything. If I were to start this it would be a more: "throw a couple characters together and see what happens" thing at present. I was looking for 2-3 others. Characters would ideally be humans, with no special powers in particular (though I could bend a little on those, if people really wanted it. I just think it works better for the setting).

Anyway, if you've made it this far thanks for sticking through my rambling. Let me know if anybody is interested and/or has any suggestions.
 
Alright then. Think on the sort of character you'd like to make and we'll see if anybody else bites. I'm hoping for one or two more.
 
Are there any requirements as to what characters must have or what they can't have
 
Sounds interesting. What sort of tech level are we going for here?
 
Think dark ages technology. Heavy metal armor and weaponry would be rare, with most people using tools (like hatchets, scythes, etc.) rather than well made swords (which are allowed, just keep in mind they aren't common). Humans being unable to expand means limited resources, meaning not a whole lot of iron to work with. Most people barter food and other goods for whatever they need, with gold coins being used only rarely (incidentally, in this world gold wouldn't be considered particularly valuable thanks to limited usefulness, while copper, bronze, and silver would be considered too important to use in currency). Hunters like the players would be among the few who commonly use metal currency, as it is easier to carry from town to town than say, a bunch of sheep or piles of cloth.

As for character requirements: everybody should have some degree of competence with a weapon. Magic is allowed but not encouraged, and it should be kept mainly to limited utility/support (not much tension fighting demon-bears and such when you can just fireball all of them). With gear, just keep it semi-realistic. You shouldn't be swinging a sword twice your size around like it's a tiny knife, for instance. These are relatively normal people, not superhumans.
 
So we're more mercenaries and sellswords than we are set defenders? Also, could you give me some parameters for magic? Mainly is it something everyone can learn along with others skills, I suppose.
 
Yep. Well, your characters' motivations don't have to be mercenary, but the MO fits that sort of thing. Magic isn't particularly well understood, but it's sort of half inate talent, half trained skill. Either you have magic or you don't, but you can't really use it without a good deal of practice. It is a fairly common gift, but the vast majority of people never realize they have it (as you would have to accidentally use it in order to do so). Magic can range from fixing a broken sword, mending wounds (enough to keep somebody from dying of blood loss, not enough to get someone back in a fight), or creating minor illusions (a simple disguise, a small distraction/feint during a fight). Anything within that sort of magnitude is acceptable.
 
Alright, cool. When do we plan on getting an OOC thread up?
 
I'll probably set it up sometime later tonight.
 
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