Welcome to the Coming of the Zioth campaign setting, based the 3.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game!
If you're reading this page, it's probably because you've read one or more of the game turnsplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Story So Far
The Coming of the Zioth is a D&D campaign which started in May of 1996. Each game turn is composed of a bunch of back and forth emails compiled by the DM into a prose narrative. A typical game turn is around 14 printed pages, so we have over three thousand pages of material here! The early turns weren't very well written, so over the course of a bunch of years starting in 2000, I rewrote them into the and are interested in joining. If you haven't read any, you should. They will give you a good idea of how the game works, so you can decide whether this campaign is right for you. Once you've read a couple of turns and explored the web site a bit, you'll be ready to create a character and submit it via email. At that point, I can help you fill in missing details, or make adjustments where things don't fit into the game world.
When I accept your character, I'll start keeping an eye out for places to insert him or her. I'm not one for the old “you're walking through the forest and happen upon Mr. Player Character, who you then, despite the suspicious circumstances, readily accept into your party and henceforth trust with your life” routine, so it might take some time. The game is played over email, which can make it take even longer. Don't be surprised if you have to wait several months before you actually get to play. To make up for the long wait, I'm sometimes willing to let new players play an NPC for a while, or play out the days before joining the party as a solo adventure.
It's possible that, as a player, you just won't fit into this campaign. If it seems to me that you won't fit in, I'll try to tell you as soon as possible, but chances are, you'll know whether you're likely to fit in before I tell you – probably even before you finish reading this page.
Before you create your character, you should read up on the campaign. You should start by exploring this web site, to get some background into the game world, and reading the house rulesplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigHouse Rules
The Coming of the Zioth is based on the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 role-playing game. Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions, or if you disagree with the implementation of any rules in this document.
Communication
Many players are shy about telling me things. There's no reason to be. Whether you have suggestions, criticism, comments on game-play or whatever, I'm always listening. You're not going to insult me by saying something bad about my game. At worst, I'll d…. If you have never played D&D before, you can read up on the rules at the free Hypertext SRD, or download them from the official Wizards of the Coast site. Unfortunately, D&D 3.5 is out of print, so it's difficult to find the actual books.
That's right. This game is played over the internet. That means no twelve hour power-sessions, no pewter miniatures or battle grids, no potato chips or pizza. So how does it work?
The game is structured as a series of turns. I usually send out some piece of writing to get the turn started, then players respond in a chaotic fashion, sending posts this way and that (but always sending copies to me), and producing a roughly linear time-flow. I respond with bits of description and NPC dialogue, which the players then further respond to. Eventually, there is a break in the action, or a good cliffhanger, and I decide the turn is over. I then put all the posts together, edit them and reformat them (although I almost never edit a PC's dialogue except for spelling and typeos), assign experience point rewards, and produce a complete turn. The action never stops. Even while I'm putting one turn together, the next turn has already begun.
The main drawback of an email game is the speed. Occasionally, a player might neglect to post anything for a while, due to work or family or whatever. If that player has a character who's central to the current scene, and the current scene is important enough, the game just stops. As an entering player, you should be flexible. Sometimes, players post multiple times a day. Other times, there are lulls. If you do not post often enough, the action may proceed without you, or, eventually, you may be asked to leave the game.
If you've played a lot of role-playing games in the past, you might know the basic scales they're judged by. Since this will help you decide whether this is the game for you, here's a summary:
As you might have guessed by now, we're much more interested in telling a story and developing characters than in how many dice of damage your character can deal. Playing a low-powered character will not decrease your chances of survival, and good writing is rewarded far more than good rolls.
This is a game of cooperative story-telling. The average turn is about 3500 words long, the equivalent of 14 printed pages, and at least half of that is from the players. Long, well-thought-out posts are fun to read and create complex interactions between characters and their environment. I don't expect all posts to be long, but a nice block of description, dialogue or introspection here and there really makes the turn worth reading. This game will be most comfortable for players who enjoy writing and telling a story.
D&D 3.5, with a few house rulesplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigHouse Rules
The Coming of the Zioth is based on the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 role-playing game. Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions, or if you disagree with the implementation of any rules in this document.
Communication
Many players are shy about telling me things. There's no reason to be. Whether you have suggestions, criticism, comments on game-play or whatever, I'm always listening. You're not going to insult me by saying something bad about my game. At worst, I'll d…. Nothing too game-changing. I'm occasionally loose with the rules in favor of story-telling. For example, I'm not going to give you some huge penalty if you try to do something unusual in combat. I encourage players to be creative, so don't feel bound by the rules. I roll all the dice secretly, and sometimes display important rolls to players. You should know, though, that I do roll those dice. I don't just make everything up arbitrarily.
You can expect to gain about 100 XP times the average party level per turn, meaning you'll go up in level roughly every ten turns. A turn takes anywhere from a few days to a few months to produce, and consists of a series of interactions. The amount of XP gained depends on the level and quality of participation. There are also various ways to gain bonus XP discussed in the house rulesplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigHouse Rules
The Coming of the Zioth is based on the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 role-playing game. Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions, or if you disagree with the implementation of any rules in this document.
Communication
Many players are shy about telling me things. There's no reason to be. Whether you have suggestions, criticism, comments on game-play or whatever, I'm always listening. You're not going to insult me by saying something bad about my game. At worst, I'll d….
The game is very low-magic. Magic is considered a myth, though as the characters increase in level, it's becoming somewhat more common. The game is also very low-wealth. Since the world is mostly mundane, there aren't a lot of magic items around. Those that exist are hidden, lost, or their powers are unknown. Magic items that have appeared so far are unique to this campaign, so if you like to plan out character advancement early, don't assume you'll ever have that Belt of Giant Strength or Amulet of Natural Armor.
Combat is uncommon, happening maybe once a real-time year on average. The game is mainly mysteries, puzzle solving and political intrigue, though the last is slowly being replaced by magical mysteries. The world is supposed to be “destroyed and rebuilt” about nineteen years from now, but no one really knows for sure what that means. That's the central mystery of the game.
While this campaign doesn't include sexually explicit scenes described in detail, it does occasionally have mature content. Players should be able to handle a wide variety of situations. However, the goal is to have fun, so if anything in the campaign makes you uncomfortable, please talk with me about it before it gets out of hand.
All game turns are published on the web, as well as information about your character, at my discretion. Personal, real-life information is kept private. I do occasionally put first names in the notes at the bottoms of the turns, but that can be kept private as well on request. The emails we send in this game have their original senders obscured – other players won't know your email address unless you want them to.
Socially, the game world bears a resemblance to medieval Europe. Non-humans and magic-users are myths. Like in the real world, racism and sexism exist, but this game is not my outlet for personal prejudices, and I will not specifically target your character for humiliation. Female characters aren't going to be raped or abused, or mistreated in any significant way. This is a relatively mature game, but “mature” does not mean, “make players uncomfortable.”
Role-playing is the key to this game, and I attribute a lot of importance to character creation. If your character is well-thought-out, explained within the context of the game world, and you're willing to put some work into it, you can play almost anything you want.
Enough trying to scare you off. If you've gotten this far, you're ready to create a character, so here's a nice little list of things you should include.
Name, age, class, gender, alignment.
Eye color; hair color, length and style; skin tone; height, weight and build; and any unusual features. Clothing, jewelry and adornments. Also include things like mannerisms and how the character carries himself. Basically, give people reading your description a good picture of what your character looks like. This part should be at least three or four lines long, but write more if you like.
This part is key, and verbosity is rewarded. A typical character history runs one to five full pages. If you don't like writing long histories, you probably won't like a writing-intensive game like this one. History is important for several reasons. It shows that you can write, and that you care about your character. It gives you some background information for role-playing, so that you know *why* your character acts the way he does. It also forms a basis for your character's personality. Finally, it allows me to work elements of your character's history into the game.
Anything that's not self-evident from the history should be included here (and maybe even things that are self-evident). I know this is a hard one, and I naturally expect many elements of the character's personality to come out in game-play; you don't need to send me a complete psychological profile (if you want to, there are some great character questionnaires on the Role-playing Resources page). Still, you should give it a try. Start from the history, and work your way out from there. A few basic personality traits and maybe a quirk or two will be enough. A couple paragraphs will be even better. You should also answer a few basic questions about your character's relationship with the world:
If your character has a religion, explain his relationship to that religion. You can pick a religionplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigReligions
Unlike in many D&D games, there is no overarching, polytheistic religion that is agreed upon by every race and culture in the world. Gods are not clearly in evidence. There is no confirmed destination of the soul after death. Religions in this campaign more closely resemble those of Earth.religion index from this web site, but if you don't like those, you're welcome to create your own (if you like, you can use these religion creation tipsplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigCreating a Religion
Here is a rough outline of some things to think about when creating a religion in a fantasy world. It includes a lot of things that people often forget.
This page is copyright 2000-2014 by . You're welcome to make changes, as long as you email them to me (so I can add them myself if I want), and as long as you keep this copyright notice (although you may add your own). Let me know if this helped you any! on the Role-playing Resources page as a guide). Most of the religions currently available were created by players. There are some religions that exist, but about which even I know very little. Before you submit a fresh religion, give me a brief outline so I can compare it to what's already around. If you don't care about religion, just make your character a follower of Andrithaplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAndrithanism
Based on original ideas from Karl Schinke (Ardith). Symbols for aspects other than the Mother, along with the artwork, were contributed by Myron Wyles (Halaren).
Andrithanism and its variants are the dominant religion in Rang and the surrounding kingdoms. Within the boundaries of, the dominant religion in Rangplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Kingdom of Rang
Overview
Rang is a huge kingdom, covering more than a million square miles, and extending from the Great Sea to the Ice Sea. It dominates the area politically, militarily and religiously. Rang is a monarchy, led by King Diure LXIV, but its immense size weakens the central government. Most feudal lords manage their lands independently, and only answer to the king in the loosest sense. The king does have several pockets of power, such as in Huerten, which allow him to maintai…. Most characters should be Andrithanplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAndrithanism
Based on original ideas from Karl Schinke (Ardith). Symbols for aspects other than the Mother, along with the artwork, were contributed by Myron Wyles (Halaren).
Andrithanism and its variants are the dominant religion in Rang and the surrounding kingdoms. Within the boundaries of.
There are two ways to generate attributes. If you opt for the first, I'll roll you six 3d6s and send you the numbers. You can arrange the numbers any way you like, and then you may distribute four extra points among your stats. None of the extra points can be used to raise a score above the normal maximum starting values. The second method is to make up your own attributes. If you chose this method, the combined total cannot be higher than 66 without my permission.
As for hit points, I'll just roll those based on your class. For first level HP, I'll re-roll any number less than half the maximum for your class. After that, it's whatever the dice show.
Your level will probably be one lower than the average character level, so use the most recent turn as a guideline. If it has to be adjusted, I'll let you know.
You can start with whatever equipment you think is appropriate. If you don't know what's appropriate, ask. Most characters will not start with any magic items, as they are exceedingly rare. This also means that the wealth of most characters will be be considerably lower than in most D&D games.
If you're a magic-user, you have spells. You can start with two and a half spells per character level, rounded up, plus five cantrips. All characters have skills and feats. For those, pay close attention to the notes in the house rulesplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigHouse Rules
The Coming of the Zioth is based on the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 role-playing game. Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions, or if you disagree with the implementation of any rules in this document.
Communication
Many players are shy about telling me things. There's no reason to be. Whether you have suggestions, criticism, comments on game-play or whatever, I'm always listening. You're not going to insult me by saying something bad about my game. At worst, I'll d…. Your character also knows at least one language. It's unlikely that he knows any non-human languages, but he might have picked up the languages of other nations (there's no “Common” language spoken by everyone), or he might know Sarnamplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigLanguage
Rouch
Rouch is the vernacular, or common tongue, spoken throughout Rang. Because of Rang's influence, it's also a trade language in the surrounding kingdoms.
Sarnam
Sarnam is the “old tongue,” spoken by the priests of Andritha. Most of the nobly-born are familiar with the language. (the old tongue – language of clerics of Andrithaplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigAndrithanism
Based on original ideas from Karl Schinke (Ardith). Symbols for aspects other than the Mother, along with the artwork, were contributed by Myron Wyles (Halaren).
Andrithanism and its variants are the dominant religion in Rang and the surrounding kingdoms. Within the boundaries of and Rangplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Kingdom of Rang
Overview
Rang is a huge kingdom, covering more than a million square miles, and extending from the Great Sea to the Ice Sea. It dominates the area politically, militarily and religiously. Rang is a monarchy, led by King Diure LXIV, but its immense size weakens the central government. Most feudal lords manage their lands independently, and only answer to the king in the loosest sense. The king does have several pockets of power, such as in Huerten, which allow him to maintai… nobility). Can he read? Can he write? Neither of these is assumed in a medieval setting. Whatever you chose for skills, make them suit your character.
You should also send me some information about yourself. Other than your name, this information will not be given to other players or posted on the web site. Your name can be hidden from them as well, on request, though being allowed to use your first name would be convenient.
If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or criticism, don't hold back. If you don't like something I'm doing, I want to know, and I'm almost always willing to have a discussion about any aspect of the game. I am extremely difficult to offend, and I always take criticism in the best possible way.
If you think I made a mistake with the rules, tell me, but be aware that I'm sometimes a bit flexible for the sake of telling a good story.
If you're going to drop out, let me know. It's never fun when players leave, but it's much worse when they disappear mysteriously, leaving me, the players and the story hanging.
Replying right away would be great, but a taking a day or two is fine, especially for longer posts. If you're going to take longer than that, please let me know in advance. Be aware that however long you take to respond, that's how long you're making everyone else wait. I'd appreciate it you were extra quick on things like dialogue, because if we have to wait a week for each one-line response, a conversation will take months.
If you're going to lose email access for more than a day or two, let me know as early as possible, so I can work around it.
I do understand that real life gets in the way sometimes – I know it has for me. If you're going to be away for a while, or you know that you'll have light participation, just let me know, and your character can temporarily recede into the background.
Be respectful of other players. Inter-party conflict is fine, but don't take it personally, and don't turn it into an out-of-character conflict. If something is making you uncomfortable, bring it up with the offending player or with me, and we'll work it out.
You should have some knowledge of medieval conditions. Your character is living in a world resembling medieval Europe, so the more you know, the better you can role-play. Don't worry about this too much though, since I'm not the greatest expert myself.
If you need help creating your character, feel free to ask me. There are also a number of good character questionnaires on the web, and my own Role-playing Resources page has a few useful tidbits.
Well, if I haven't scared you off yet, I look forward to reading your character!
- The DM