I dug the below up while rummaging through my files in search of text that I could use for a query letter for Alexis's database. Once upon awhile I gave the below to my players when they started the current campaign. I'd like to say that they read it anxiously and quickly, but even at a meager one page of 700 or so words it's more than they're generally wont to do at the table, being so preoccupied with Doritos, smoked gouda, chimay and whatever film we all last saw. So while it would be great to say this is something you should do for your players, in truth just having to try and introduce the locale in an interesting manner on one page does great benefit to you regardless of who reads it. The setting itself is pretty standard fare as far as DnD settings go, so most of you should feel somewhat at home. Despite this, I've always found that just putting the first day of the campaign in some context of space and time is helpful.
Welcome to Brookmere!
You are currently staying at the Green Goose Inn in the town of Brookmere. Your room and board are paid up through today. You have joined in a companionship with like-minded individuals to seek your fortunes out here upon the wild frontiers of the Free Marches. Yesterday was the festival of Imbolc, a time of cleansing and rebirth. Last night the common room of the inn was full to capacity, in celebration of new beginnings and the coming of spring. But today is a typical late winter’s morning. The air outside is crisp and cold and snow still lies about in the shadows and creases of the land. Inside, the embers of the massive hearth burn low but keep the common room warm enough. You are alone aside from the handful of serving people. Before you sits a map of the area, the remainder of a simple but filling breakfast and half-empty flagons of once warm, spiced wine. Today you decide upon the course of your adventures.
Brookmere sits upon a broad, flat hill behind a strong palisade at the crux of two rivers, the Kis and the Sweetwater. There is no lord here; the people are the mixed descendants of refugees and war-weary soldiers who fled the Free Marches a generation ago amidst the great strife of the Century War. The town’s motto, “No man shall rule and so none shall be ruled” has been carved upon the ancient standing stone that resides just beyond the Green Goose’s front entrance and across the confluence of two well-trodden streets. The folk of Brookmere are independent and somewhat wary of outsiders that have not come to trade or settle.
Just over 1,000 inhabitants live in relative safety behind the walls of Brookmere, with many times that number of farmers settled in the river valleys beyond in fortified villages and homesteads. They abide only a light-handed governing by a council of elected elders drawn from prominent merchants, guildsman and freeholders. A town watch and militia keep guard at the walls and secure the peace and order within, while a group of officially sanctioned “rangers” known as the Greencloaks maintains a watchful eye on the wilderness without. There is no standing army, but the Brookmere folk claim to have turned away two separate invasions from Free Marcher lords in the last twenty summers. In truth, these advances couldn’t have been very determined ones. The town exists because it has largely been forgotten by the more “civilized” lands to the south.
East beyond Brookmere lie the twisted trees of Hob Forest. Here the goblin tribes gather, pushed west by the vigilant elves of Llanoreth. The goblins are a dangerous nuisance to the outlying freeholds, so the Elder Council has a standing gold piece bounty on the heads of these creatures. Rewards are paid out by Captain Thoros of the Greencloaks.
To the west are the dark swamps of the Murkwater, said once to have been an ancient realm of the First Men of Avandar and now reputed to be haunted by the dead spirits of the same. Ancient and forgotten ruins are said to lie about, but few venture here for any purpose.
To the north are the Highwoods, rugged and forested hills reputed to hold many dark secrets. Among these are said to be magical sites that provide a means to pass through to worlds beyond this one. Further north, and looping around to the west to fill almost half of the horizon, loom the vast stone faces of the Thundertop Mountains. These were once the eastern border of the faded dwarven Empire of Gurnegren, but are now a wild and dangerous land sought out only by mad prospectors and bold explorers.
South, reachable by river and road, are the lands known as the Free Marches. A week’s travel on foot or slow cart, weather permitting, will bring you to Valinport, Duchy of Mubonc, the largest settlement within several hundred miles of Brookmere. Some of your party passed through these lands to get here.
Beneath all of this lies the realm of Underdark. It is a vast network of winding tunnels, damp caves and shadowy caverns where dark and unspeakable things are said to lurk. Here the lost treasure troves of dwarven clans, Derosian rebels, bandit lords, savage kings and humanoid raiders are locked away from casual interest in secret caves and tumbled-down ruins. Somewhere deep within this unlit realm is the crown jewel of all ruins: the lost dwarven city of Dor-Baldurn. Many have sought its forgotten and limitless riches, but none are known to have returned from such explorations. Perhaps, given some time and a little luck, your group will be the first…
Friday, September 17, 2010
PDF
One More Thing...
I have to say, if you're not reading the Pendragon solo campaign recaps over at RPG Corner (latest one here) you're missing out on a great read. I happen to eat up most game recaps I can find online as a way of getting the sense of how other referees or DMs run their games. Not so in this case. Rather, I'm just that wrapped up in the unfolding story. More than presenting an example or even a template for play, David at RPG Corner and his single player are telling a wonderful tale right alongside one of the more wonderful tales that I've enjoyed in my years. It even got me to break out my Malory and relive all of the slaying to the left and slaying to the right of knights covered head to foot in the gore of thirty-thousand foes. Ahhh, the gentle classics.
I'm Not Dead... I Only Wished Briefly That I Was
Children are like incubators. Their bodies must be ideal circumstance for the cultivating of malady. It seems to me that whatever virus enters them comes out sevenfold strong. Such was the case when a stomach virus that laid my oldest son low for a day and a half worked its evils upon me this week. One evening spent freezing, gibbering and howling into a toilet bowl... the next comatose... the next merely post-triathlon fatigued brings me to today, with just enough energy to put a courtesy call in at work and catch up on the low hanging fruit of my life's commitments. I had intended to post a table or two this week and maybe talk about the cosmology of my D&D world, but that must now wait. Oh, I'll also be working on a submission for this. Take care. See you next week, perhaps.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
My Campaign World in 25 More Words
Got another player's take on the world. These are interesting to me in that each person is obviously going to focus on something different, and the real or whole picture is some composite of them all. I like no alignment. This player likes big dice. That one meats, cheeses and breasts. We've got all but the breasts covered somewhere in the game, unless you count mine.
"Thrust~together misfits in search of fortune or family, bravery borne of ignorance, world borne of chaos, riches awaiting, death awaiting. . . a 30 sided die.
"Thrust~together misfits in search of fortune or family, bravery borne of ignorance, world borne of chaos, riches awaiting, death awaiting. . . a 30 sided die.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
My Campaign in 25 Words or Less, Take Your Pick
In reading Zak's blog I came upon his reference to this. I gave it a try and sent it to my players to see their reaction. It went as follows:
"Fallen Empire, dark ages, hinterlands, lost gods, decadence, grasping nobles, triumph and tragedy, thin veil between worlds, Faerie, orcs and elves are demons, no alignments"
Here's what I received back from one player:
"New players should provide high quality meats and cheeses. Constant threat of untimely death. mike loves star trek and apple computers. Titties!"
"Fallen Empire, dark ages, hinterlands, lost gods, decadence, grasping nobles, triumph and tragedy, thin veil between worlds, Faerie, orcs and elves are demons, no alignments"
Here's what I received back from one player:
"New players should provide high quality meats and cheeses. Constant threat of untimely death. mike loves star trek and apple computers. Titties!"
A Little More on the Gnome and Demihumans in General...
After re-reading the exposition on the gnome, I realize that I sort of glossed over one of the more important aspects of gnomes specifically and demi-humans in general as I've decided to present them. In short, demi-humans are generally weird and often in some way tragic... not just short, pointy-eared humans. The below passage:
"Gnome legend maintains that their people exchanged their natural immortality and place in the Realm of Faerie for knowledge, mead and life upon the Urth."
That's the story from the gnome point of view, but what race of people in their right mind and outside of a Tolkien tale would relinquish immortality en masse to live in a hole in the woods? In truth, the gnomes were cast out of Faerie for their bizarre practices. Namely: mathematics, science and engineering. They embarked upon the dark path of the materialist and were therefore cast from the Undying Lands. While still magical creatures possessing a natural spellcasting ability, over time they are losing these abilities and decreasing in numbers. Even their scientific knowledge is a fraction of its former sum. They are the Lost Ffolk. The Outcast. The Forgotten Ones.
To get a taste of what they're missing out on, a while back I lifted and modified an online description of Faerie for my use in the campaign. It basically said what I wanted to about the place better than I had been able to do so far. So... yoink. I may have lifted this from a fellow named Scott when his then blog featured a campaign inspired by Faerie Tales or I was perhaps directed from there to elsewhere. My apologies in advance to the author, wherever you are. If anybody can clue me in I'll give the appropriate credit:
Faerie is a world of dark enchantments, of captivating beauty, of enormous ugliness, of callous superficiality, of humor and mischief, of joy, of inspiration, of terror, of laughter and passion, of triumph and of tragedy. It is a realm where bizarre extremes are juxtaposed. Where emotion is outsized and logic diminished. Faerie is the darker, more wondrous and magic-infused twin to the world of the Urth, and the two places are inextricably entwined together.
"Gnome legend maintains that their people exchanged their natural immortality and place in the Realm of Faerie for knowledge, mead and life upon the Urth."
That's the story from the gnome point of view, but what race of people in their right mind and outside of a Tolkien tale would relinquish immortality en masse to live in a hole in the woods? In truth, the gnomes were cast out of Faerie for their bizarre practices. Namely: mathematics, science and engineering. They embarked upon the dark path of the materialist and were therefore cast from the Undying Lands. While still magical creatures possessing a natural spellcasting ability, over time they are losing these abilities and decreasing in numbers. Even their scientific knowledge is a fraction of its former sum. They are the Lost Ffolk. The Outcast. The Forgotten Ones.
To get a taste of what they're missing out on, a while back I lifted and modified an online description of Faerie for my use in the campaign. It basically said what I wanted to about the place better than I had been able to do so far. So... yoink. I may have lifted this from a fellow named Scott when his then blog featured a campaign inspired by Faerie Tales or I was perhaps directed from there to elsewhere. My apologies in advance to the author, wherever you are. If anybody can clue me in I'll give the appropriate credit:
Faerie is a world of dark enchantments, of captivating beauty, of enormous ugliness, of callous superficiality, of humor and mischief, of joy, of inspiration, of terror, of laughter and passion, of triumph and of tragedy. It is a realm where bizarre extremes are juxtaposed. Where emotion is outsized and logic diminished. Faerie is the darker, more wondrous and magic-infused twin to the world of the Urth, and the two places are inextricably entwined together.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
New Class: The Gnome
In asking my players to convert our current game from my home-brewed rules set to one based on BECMI D&D as described in the Rules Cyclopedia, I gave them a choice: keep your current character and accept my conversion or keep your current XP total and apply it to another character. This is not something I'd generally do, but since 1) the conversion is a rather unique circumstance, 2) it was my idea to convert, 3) the XP had all been fairly earned and 4) the characters in question were all still alive... it seemed like the only fair option to satisfy all parties.
In all cases but one, the conversion was rather direct and simple. A table I have recently devised for use in character generation provides the chance to earn special capabilities, some of which are analogous to current special abilities enjoyed by the characters under my old rules set. Without rolling for them, but assigning them, the 1/2-orc fighter Pognex was easily converted to the D&D Fighter class, with a special of orc-blooded. Same for the 1/2-elf rogue Trabor, now an elf-blooded Thief class. This table accounts for some of the specials or feats used in other editions of the game (and other games entirely) that I have over time adopted for our use. Ambidexterity, blind-fighting, wizard's apprentice, wilderness lore... all of these are now special, randomly determined circumstances or abilities that allow for a typical D&D class to have a unique ability without implementing a system for feats, such as that found in the 3rd Edition and following editions. I'll post the complete table and a description of the items there at some future point. For now, let's move on to the purpose of this post.
I said in all cases but one the conversion was relatively easy. This lone exception was Dulac the Wise, a gnome spellcaster whose spell list ran the gamut of available magic user and cleric spells under the BECMI rules. There was no existing gnome class... and neither Halfling nor Elf really captured the character. While the magic user class was a better fit than the cleric, it didn't really provide an analogous archetype for Dulac the Wise. The only reasonable solution for a conversion was to create a new class. The player in question has yet to decide, that will be this Sunday, but below would be his new class should he choose conversion:
AC vs. Large Opponents: Because they are so small, gnomes have a lower armor class (-2) when attacked by creatures greater than human sized.
Tinker: Gnomes have a base 15% chance plus 5% per level after 1st to determine the proper use and operation of mechanical devices. Within reason the player may repair or modify the same. The player of a gnome character should be encouraged to widely interpret the potential uses of this ability, even if it overlaps existing class abilities (such as a Thief's Open Locks) with the DM providing the appropriate discretion.
In all cases but one, the conversion was rather direct and simple. A table I have recently devised for use in character generation provides the chance to earn special capabilities, some of which are analogous to current special abilities enjoyed by the characters under my old rules set. Without rolling for them, but assigning them, the 1/2-orc fighter Pognex was easily converted to the D&D Fighter class, with a special of orc-blooded. Same for the 1/2-elf rogue Trabor, now an elf-blooded Thief class. This table accounts for some of the specials or feats used in other editions of the game (and other games entirely) that I have over time adopted for our use. Ambidexterity, blind-fighting, wizard's apprentice, wilderness lore... all of these are now special, randomly determined circumstances or abilities that allow for a typical D&D class to have a unique ability without implementing a system for feats, such as that found in the 3rd Edition and following editions. I'll post the complete table and a description of the items there at some future point. For now, let's move on to the purpose of this post.
I said in all cases but one the conversion was relatively easy. This lone exception was Dulac the Wise, a gnome spellcaster whose spell list ran the gamut of available magic user and cleric spells under the BECMI rules. There was no existing gnome class... and neither Halfling nor Elf really captured the character. While the magic user class was a better fit than the cleric, it didn't really provide an analogous archetype for Dulac the Wise. The only reasonable solution for a conversion was to create a new class. The player in question has yet to decide, that will be this Sunday, but below would be his new class should he choose conversion:
Gnome
Requirements: INT
Prime Requisite: DEX and INT
Hit Dice: 1d6
The ancestors of the gnomes were exiled to Urth from Faerie long, long ago. They are imbued with a talent for magic and tinkering, a love of lore and precious gems and clever senses of humor. Gnomes are shorter and slimmer of build than dwarves, but taller than halflings. They have large noses and long, pointed ears.
Experience
|
Level
|
Hit Dice (1d6)
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
4,000
|
2
|
2
|
8,000
|
3
|
3
|
16,000
|
4
|
4
|
32,000
|
5
|
5
|
64,000
|
6
|
6
|
128,000
|
7
|
7
|
200,000
|
8
|
8
|
400,000
|
9
|
9
|
600,000
|
10
|
+1hp only*
|
800,000
|
11
|
+2hp only*
|
1,000,000
|
12
|
+3hp only*
|
1,200,000
|
13
|
+4hp only*
|
1,400,000
|
14
|
+5hp only*
|
1,600,000
|
15
|
+6hp only*
|
1,800,000
|
16
|
+7hp only*
|
2,000,000
|
17
|
+8hp only*
|
2,200,000
|
18
|
+9hp only*
|
2,400,000
|
19
|
+10hp only*
|
2,600,000
|
20
|
+11hp only*
|
* Ignore Constitution bonus
Like dwarves, gnomes may not use large and two-handed weapons, but may use any other weapon and armor. They must have at least 13 in one or the other prime requisite in order to get the +5% to experience. They must have an INT and DEX of 13 to get the +10% bonus.
Hiding: In bushes or other outdoor cover, gnomes can hide with 90% ability. They can also hide in shadows or behind other forms of cover when underground or indoors on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6, but they must be silent and motionless.
AC vs. Large Opponents: Because they are so small, gnomes have a lower armor class (-2) when attacked by creatures greater than human sized.
Tinker: Gnomes have a base 15% chance plus 5% per level after 1st to determine the proper use and operation of mechanical devices. Within reason the player may repair or modify the same. The player of a gnome character should be encouraged to widely interpret the potential uses of this ability, even if it overlaps existing class abilities (such as a Thief's Open Locks) with the DM providing the appropriate discretion.
Level
|
Breath
|
Poison/ Death
|
Petrify/ Paralyze
|
Wands
|
Spells
|
1-3
|
15
|
12
|
13
|
13
|
15
|
4-6
|
13
|
10
|
11
|
11
|
13
|
7-9
|
9
|
8
|
9
|
9
|
11
|
10+
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
9
|
Spells: Gnomes use illusionist spells from the list in the AD&D Player’s Handbook (or LL Advanced Companion). They begin play with one spell that they are able to cast once per day. Gnomes do not require the use of a spellbook but likewise do not read magic nor use spell scrolls. Gnomes gain new spells as per the table below and may cast each spell that they know once per day.
Combat: Gnomes advance in fighting ability as halflings.
Combat: Gnomes advance in fighting ability as halflings.
Crafting Magical Items: At fifth level a gnome can brew potions. At 9th level he or she is able to craft magical items, armor and weapons. The referee will provide the rules and stipulations for creation.
Spell Level
| |||||||||
Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
11
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
16
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
17
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
18
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
19
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
20
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
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