Twilit Overture

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Twilit Overture is the name of a role-playing campaign run by one Andre Von Gentleman (a near professional Nightmare Fetishist), recorded in various places. The setting is that of a World Half Empty; there is Black and Gray Morality at best, and it generally appears to be a pretty dangerous world to live in.

Twilit Overture takes place in an Alternate Universe to our Earth, where All Myths Are True and some of these myths have managed to overwhelm others. The two campaigns that have taken place so far have been set mostly in Europe and the Middle East, although the party in the first campaign took a brief trip to North America.

The canon of the campaign is divided into two sections: Twilit Overture 1.0 and Twilit Overture 2.0.

The PCs in the old campaign were as follows:

The (current)[when?] PCs in the new campaign are as follows:

This campaign now has a Character Sheet, a Quotes page, and a Wild Mass Guessing page.

Tropes used in Twilit Overture include:

Setting

  • Anachronism Stew : Justified. The existence of gods has scrambled technological and social development around the world.
  • Applied Phlebotinum : Almost everything strange or supernatural runs on Mana.
  • Bad Vibrations : Andre is quite a fan of this and other subtle hints that something big is about to kill the party.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies : The Antilon Queen in the desert surrounding Istanbul is huge. I mean HUGE. As in, after the party mistook its tongue for the actual Queen, which then reared up a good 50-60 feet into the air, Laika still couldn't see how large its body was under the sand despite having 60 ft. Blindsense.
  • Black and Gray Morality : Hoo boy. Moral ambiguity is a major theme of the setting. In fact, the setting would probably be under Grey and Gray Morality if it weren't for Obviously Evil organizations like The Inquisition or The Masquerade.
  • Break the Badass : Andre makes it a hobby to do this regularly. Often times it backfires.
  • Character Development : Oh, lots of it. There's more roleplaying moments in the campaign than there are combat moments.
  • City of Adventure : Not actually that common; most cities have too many safety measures against the things outside the city to allow free reign inside.
  • Crapsack World : If you don't have near-superhuman abilities, you're going to have a really rough time in this world.
  • Death Is Cheap : Aside from spells such as Raise Dead (This is Dungeons & Dragons, after all), any character has the opportunity to come back to life if they manage to pass a test. If the character succeeds, they somehow pick themselves up and gain a horror. If they fail, the player rolls a new character.
  • Horny Vikings : In northern Germany, and they worship the Moon. Quite likable, especially when they're saving your life.
  • Knight in Shining Armor : Relatively nonexistent. The people with big weapons saving you from being eaten alive tend to look rather shiny though.
    • Shine that comes from fresh blood on metal doesn't count.
  • Knight in Sour Armor : Anyone actually trying to do good has either died or become this.
  • Might Makes Right : The focus between the warring religions and organization.
  • Nothing Can Save Us Now : Frequently, and almost always followed by a Big Damn Heroes Deus Ex Machina.
  • Our Monsters Are Different : Andre takes pride in dishing up several new, horrific creatures which are only tangently based on some previous monster. Ugh...
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits : Both parties, with varying amounts of misfit and always large amounts of ragtag.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers! : A remarkably common justification.
  • World of Badass : Incredibly blatant. While it's fairly obvious that the majority of the world population is non-badass, it's not a very large majority.
  • Zombie Apocalypse : Happening in a few areas, although it is mostly kept in check by demons, supernatural beasts, religious extremists or people who are just really good at killing things.


Organizations

  • Anheim
    • Adventure Towns : The Anheim City is where the Letters and other Anheim members hang out when they aren't kicking ass.
    • Airborne Aircraft Carrier : The Anheim City (which flies above the world) frequently deploys and docks flying ships.
    • Asskicking Equals Authority : The more impossible things you've accomplished, the more you get tasked with.
    • Badass Army : They're either this or a...
    • Badass Crew : There are 26 27 "Letters." And every single one is a total badass.
    • Cool Airship : Several.
    • Dynamic Entry : Seems to be the favored method of entry by Anheim as a whole. In support of this theory, their air-to-ground transportation involves launching individual agents out of cannons from flying ships.
    • Floating Continent : The Anheim City (which goes by various names) floats high above the world, constantly in motion. Most members carry some sort of tracking device so they can stay aware of the city's location.
      • Artemis does this by flipping off the sky, a handy gesture he learned from his party members in his early stages.
    • God : Or at least a god. Serves as the leader of Anheim, and unlike some versions of god, he cares more about getting the job done then the methods employed by his organization.
    • Heroes-R-Us : Or at least the closest thing you'll get to it in this world.
    • Holier Than Thou : It's more of a passive elitism though. They don't need to tell you they're better; they simply demonstrate why.
    • Improbable Weapon User : Most Anheim letters.
      • Such as an old man who has to be upwards of sixty using a sword so sharp it's invisible.
    • Klingon Promotion : It is implied that it is possible to take a Letter's place by defeating him/her.
    • Limit Break : Anheim has developed "Ranked Abilities" which draw upon the soul of the user and take a form which mirrors the users soul. They go from Rank 1 (Weakest) to Rank 5 (Nuke).
    • Rival Science Teams : With Faustus.
    • Unobtainium : Anheim has several different kinds which it uses for its weapons.
    • You are Letter J : Anheim Letters are only known by their letter.
  • Faustus
    • Ancient Tomb : Used for data storage. Along with various corpses as a user interface.
    • Asskicking Equals Authority : See Hoist by His Own Petard below.
    • Beneath the Earth : Where their primary HQ is situated.
    • Bigger on the Inside : Every Gravedigger's coffin contains an extradimensional space. And a link to every other coffin nearby.
    • Fridge Horror : Most people who do freelance work for Faustus have a moment of this at some point in time. "Wait, did they just take all the scrap metal I've been gathering for them, melt it into a blade then melt it on the head of a horribly charred body?".
    • For Science! : The entire reason Faustus does most of what they do.
    • Gone Horribly Wrong : The results of most Faustus experiments. They consider this to be a good thing if the result is even more strange, disgusting or disfigured then they planned.
    • Hoist by His Own Petard : Faustus doctors have an unfortunate tendency of getting chopped up by their students.
      • Xivlan's initiation: Xivlan: "So, am I in for the meeting?" Fausteles: "Why, yes, just take a seat." Xivlan: "...There aren't any seats." Faustelese: "Then, take one, over there." *He points to a seat with a man in it* Xivlan: *Reads the plating on the chair* "Dr...Cesius?" Cesius: "Yes?" Xivlan: "I'll be taking your seat." Cesius: "Over my dead body!" Xivlan: "Gladly." *Player rolls a natural 20 on a decapitation check. Dr Cesius dies in one blow. The high doctors give him a round of applause as Xivlan sits in his chair, which raises about three feet off the ground because he's that awesome.*
    • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate : Any group that kills off entire populations, experiments on the bodies to make them effective reanimated killing machines then uses them to harvest bodies for the scientific creation of a god is morally ambiguous at minimum.
    • Rival Science Teams : With Anheim.
    • Scale of Scientific Sins : Faustus has broken all of these at some point in time.
    • They Called Me Mad : Just about everyone working for Faustus has said this at some point in time.
    • They Would Cut You Up : Rather goes without saying for a group that uses reanimated corpses with weapons attached as standard soldiers.
  • Synthetic Angels
    • Dark Messiah : Their leader, if Andre's hints are anything to go by, are one of these.
    • Our Angels Are Different : The organization is made up of individuals who believe themselves to be the descendants of angels and follow a messianic figure.
    • Smug Snake : In comparison to the various other organizations out there, the smug defiance shown by some of its agents is... hilariously misguided.
    • Witch Hunt : The Synthetic Angels modus operandi is to infilterate a community and use magic to create "miracles," before revealing themselves and claiming that their Messiah was responsible. Once the entire community is in their thrall, they turn it militant and move on. One of the only ways to stop them before they get to the intentional reveal stage is to hunt them down.


Classes

  • Witch Hunter
    • Burn the Witch : Or stab her. Or blow her up. Or slice her up. Or absorb her spells then use them against her. Or overclock her internal energy causing her to explode. Or fire ethereal blades at her. Alternatively, just shoot her.
    • The Hunter : of Witches.
  • Mortician
    • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate : Actually an extremely accurate description. They're capable of healing their allies by stitching them back together, applying anaesthetic, etc., but are also capable of using their knowledge of the body's weakpoints to kill enemies in one hit. And they can Animate Dead.
  • Chosen One
  • Servant of Dracula
  • Lunar Scythe
    • Sinister Scythe : Mostly averted, as the Lunar Scythes mostly use the scythe as a religious symbol, means of aerobic and exercise.
      • That doesn't reduce the remarkable amounts of carnage it can reap though.
    • Bad Powers, Good People : Just because they can cause massive lacerations, perform fatal curses and drive people insane with simple prayers doesn't mean they do.
  • Assassin
    • Back Stab : It wouldn't be an assassin without it.
    • Combat Pragmatist : Assassins have no idea why everyone else doesn't end the fight in a single strike like they do.
  • Myrmidon
    • Absurdly Sharp Blade : It's a class feature. By 20th level, a myrmidon's sword can cut through anything, including magic.
    • Ancestral Weapon : Another class feature.
    • Crippling Overspecialization : Myrmidons are so reliant on their Ancestral Weapon that being separated from it renders them next to useless.
    • Glass Cannon : A short-range version of this. They're ridiculously accurate and capable of annihilating entire hordes alone... as long as they don't get hit.
    • Implausible Fencing Powers : Gets steadily more implausible with each new level. By 20th level, a myrmidon always hits his target, and there's a better than even chance that he'll kill that target in one hit. And if he doesn't, he can attack them several more times. Even, no, especially when it isn't his turn.
  • Bloodkain
    • Blood Magic : Capable of, although they prefer using it directly.
    • The Power of Blood : The Bloodkain take this a step farther and even use it as a weapon.
  • Brawler
    • Ax Crazy : Consuming large amounts of alcohol and charging into combat with no weapons tends to make people rather brutal and unstable.
    • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown : The point of a Brawler's existance.
  • Warmage
    • Magic Knight : They're fairly bulky, almost tank-ish spellcasters.

Prestige Classes

  • Missionary
    • Improbable Weapon User : Missionaries use giant religious symbols equipped with various weapons (Such as a cross with attached flamethrower and chainsaws) as their primary equipment.
  • Blademaster
    • Flash Step : This is one of their class abilities.
    • Master Swordsman : To a certain degree; the class actually focuses more on maneuverability than using a sword itself, although maneuverability is arguably one of the most important parts of swordplay.
  • Gravedigger


Races

  • Humans
  • Orlock
    • Immortality : Being alive for so long has made them rather unhappy.
    • Our Elves Are Better : The equivalent of elves in Twilit Overture. They share the same beautiful grace and inhuman elitism. Their traits overlap with vampires, though.
    • Who Wants to Live Forever? : The Orlocks certainly don't.
  • Elder Vampires
    • Exclusively Evil : Assumed. Any Elder Vampires in the Masquerade certainly qualify.
  • Cursed Lycans
    • Blessed with Suck : When you consider how dangerous and intimidating it makes you, the drawbacks tend to outweigh the benefits.
    • Our Werewolves Are Different : They're capable of turning into a hybrid form even when the moon isn't full, but their ability to do so is affected by the moon's phases.
    • Alpha Lycans
  • Malphus
  • Winged Humanoid : All varieties of Malphai have wings and resemble birds to various degrees.
    • Tengu Malphus
    • Crow Malphus
    • Eagle Malphus
  • Dhampyr
    • Hellspawn Dhampyr
      • Half-Human Hybrid : The child of a vampire and a human. It generally isn't a happy life.
  • Golems
    • Fleshpound Golems
    • Clockwork Dolls
    • Homonculus Golems
  • Phenomena
    • Shisui
      • Our Demons Are Different : They have jet black hair, develop black flame-pattern marks all over their bodies, and have eyes that can rival most Fantastic Nukes. And they're not really demons, they're just an extremely rare genetic offshoot of humans.
    • Lehran
      • Our Angels Are Different : Their hair turns pure white around age five, their kiss acts as a Charm Person, they can sing songs with magical effects, and only a few of them gain wings. And they're not really angels, they're just an extremely rare genetic offshoot of humans- wait.
    • Ragamuffin
      • Our Ghosts Are Different : Although there is a bit of a confusion over what the heck Ragamuffins are even supposed to be, so they might not even BE ghosts.

Meta

The Players

  • Dreamaniac
    • Cross Player : He believes female characters are more interesting to play.
    • Keet : He seems to be physically incapable of sitting still, much to everyone else's annoyance.
    • Love Freak : Absolutely.
    • The Roleplayer : His primary motivation for playing the game is, well, roleplaying.
      • To even the extent that he often forgoes sitting down or acting calm because he's so "fired up".
    • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids : Something Pronto and Andre have played to a lot. Andre's introduction of Niccolo in the 2.0 campaign was one of the most obvious instances of this.
    • Well Intentioned Jerkass : He doesn't intentionally act like a jerk, but his attempts to admonish others, his sensitivity towards certain subjects, and his hyperactive behavior certainly make him seem like it.
    • What Has My Character Become : Upon hearing the description for 2.0 Niccolo, this was one of his reactions, along with a Jaw Drop, Heroic BSOD, and twitching.
  • Pronto
    • Bi the Way : Averted... Barely.
    • Deadpan Snarker : In a BIG way. Many of his comments are cynical and caustic in tone, but he seriously means well.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Is an asshole to everyone that deserves it. But is nice to the people that need someone to be nice to them.
    • Karma Houdini : Has never ever ever suffered any consequences for any of his antics in the campaign.
    • Shout-Out : His name is a reference to the archer(ist) from 12OzMouse.
    • Take That Me : Pronto is the only person to use the TV tropes wiki that ever makes jabs at his own expense.
  • XIVcaliber
    • Only Sane Man : Out of all the players, he's the only one who isn't 1.) A naive idealist 2.) a critic or 3.) hopeless.
      • Which is why there is immense irony in the fact that he played Xivlan.
    • The Short Guy with Glasses : This is oddly true. Not only is he the shortest and youngest of the group, he does indeed wear glasses. He also is one of the main strategists, alongside Pronto.
  • Cathen
    • New Meat : He's only participated for one session. Luckily, he's fairly good.
  • John VI Britania
    • Player X : He managed to astound the rest of the party with his playing skill, during his first session. He swears he had no exposure to the game beforehand.


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