Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dog_O_War 07-13-07, 08:42 PM	Phenn - my campaign setting and name of my version of the prime material plane - is a world (or right now one continent without a name) of valiant knights, oppressive and powerful religions, and of hunted wizards hated and villified by superstition and propaganda. History of the modern creation of Phenn Phenn is a world cut off from direct contact with the gods nearly 16,000 years ago when man and his deities walk the lands side by side. It was in this time that one such mortal, betrayed by his god and shunned by the other divine powers, would rise up to stike dead any deity and their armies in an attempt to reclaim what was taken from him and to seek vengeance against his betrayer. A mortal man ascended to godhood during this time, and it was this man that threatened to bring about the fall of all the gods that ruled over Phenn. When he had killed his own deity, the one who had betrayed him, on the infinite stairs to the heavens, the other gods trapped him on a demi-plane never to escape, and to always be alone. Before his prison was finally sealed though, he asked if he might pluck out his own heart and cast it away to better live out all of time isolated from the one person who was stolen from him out of greed; his true love. when he threw his heart away though, he laughed as it began to burn with fiery rage all the way back to Phenn, solidifying a "ring" around it on the border between the realm of mortals and the realm of gods as a final act to spite his jailers. This is known as the godring and can be seen from the ground on a clear night as a thin orange line in the sky. This "godring" had one of two terrible effects; it cut off mortals from their gods, weakening the bond they once shared throwing the world into chaos. It also denied powerful servants of the gods the ability to traverse to and from the material plane - infact the ring was so mighty that no living mortal worshipper could pass by the ring. Those who tried instead became part of it. Many angels and devils were trapped on Phenn, forced to live an eternity apart from their masters and their homes. Finally a shuffle of faiths came about as many races and factions were now godless; the bodies of their makers dead at their feet and their essence trapped and destroyed by the ring. In the outer realms many deities grew in power as they took on new followers, and some new and unexpected entities were 'born' in the madness. Now in present time on Phenn religious and historic scolars know this; "a full 27 different, known divine powers exist on Phenn and among them 30 seperate pathes are followed. This leaves some races on Phenn godless, and for good reason. In the time when man and god walked the same path great battles and wars were fought, with new gods emerging and old gods dying. When the godring formed many followers of the various deities were cut off from there divine power. In the scramble of faith this lead many to convert - empowering other divine entities to greater heights and all but killing the weakest of the lesser gods. This is also the appearent reason for the lack of demi-gods. It is said though that across the great oceans, other gods and peoples exist..." The above information in quotations is something that the players would know, as when they make characters they will most likely chose a god/religion to follow and will need a list. I used the word god alot as a general term for the three types of divine entities that are worshipped on Phenn; Gods(singular beings of immense divine power), religions(faiths brought about during the turmoil, creating powerful entities out of symbolism), and spirits(single domains given divine spark; these forces operate on raw elemental instincts). It should be noted that spirits are almost always the power focus for non-clerical spellcasters(such as druids, rangers, or bards) without a god or religion. Finally the creation myth. Some historians and even religious followers of the various gods know that the beings they worship today are not the first gods and that they did not create Phenn, and that they are not sure how Phenn came to be. Still others - zealots and fanatics will claim that it was their religion or god who brought about the creation of the world. No one though can be certain of the truth (that and I hate trying to come up with one that differs from my friends' gaming worlds). That is alot of information on just backstory so next I will detail some of the different quirks and game effects about my setting.
Elemental_Elf 07-15-07, 12:58 AM	:clap: Wow! This looks really good! I have a question that will probably be answered later as you post more: Did the Demons and Angels trapped on Phenn (Cool name by the way) lead quiet lives away from the mortals, or did they try to usurp Religious leaders and claim they were closer to their God than Man?
Dog_O_War 07-16-07, 01:45 PM	I'm very glad someone asked this question; After the time of the Gods, the world was thrown into chaos, with mortals battling the immortals for control of the realm. Because of the religious upset with the gods appearently "leaving" the faithful behind, many of their minions most closely associated with them (angels and devils) were slain. Some sought refuge in communities accepting of their nature, while others have gone into hiding or have, over the years, inserted them selves as rulers of communties, or in one case an entire country. This has lead to a number of aasimars and tieflings being born. The country of Tearamane has a high number of aasimars (compared to other countries; still a small number) while the country of Bermia has a high number of tieflings in it's population (again, compared to other countries; still a small number). Both countries accept and revere these people as good omens, but in the case of Bermia - their "immortal Emperor" as he is called, is appearently a tiefling himself and grants all tieflings an order of prestige, as if they were born noble which elevates them above the common folk. One thing to note about Bermia though, I have set up Bermia and it's emperor as a disguised Hellfire Wyrm who has been manipulating the country and it's people sinse the fall of the gods, recently becoming the supposed "Immortal Emperor" as he calls himself in the last 500 years. This is for a great many plot options as he now controls one of the largest, abiet secluded countries on the continent. Bermia and Tearamane are not in direct conflict and share no borders (infact they are more than 2000 miles apart). Because of the manipulation of this Wyrm, he has turned the country into open worshippers of an evil god (lord Kross [he goes by his true name of Dreshlack across the ocean on another continent; he is also the devil lord and ruler of hell who has stolen divine power]). If the people ever found out that their "god" was actually a devil, their would be an uprising, but as it stands the players have been nowhere near the country and don't know a thing about this god. This is but one of the many major players in an upcoming global war, which will be a campaign I will run as soon as I finish the other three I've been writing.
Elemental_Elf 07-16-07, 09:20 PM	Cool, I like the sound of Bermia! The country sounds like it would be a hot bed for political and religious intrigue... Hmm, I really want to read more about Bermia, as well as your world as a whole. So this Global War, what triggers it and how many sides will be fighting in it?
Dog_O_War 07-17-07, 08:24 PM	Religions and gods on Phenn most always divided by country, as people with similar faiths have banded together to stay strong and avoid destruction from other religions; Tearamane and the goddess Tempest are one (I had chosen the name for the goddess before I had even read the Faerun campaign setting. They are two different deities), dwarves and their god Tine is another, and for Bermia it is Kross who dominates the region. There are other gods though that people thank/curse or worship steadily during certain times of their lives though. Deneb (nod to Ogre Battle) the goddess of love and fertility is one married couples trying to have a child often pray to, or Ardemarx, the lord of chance is one gamblers often find themselves in association with. As for Bremia; their society is a lawful-evil one, but the country is still an enticing one for the people. The average citizen, even the lowliest farmer or street sweeper gets a say when it comes to community and civil matters, providing a personal freedom most other peasants in other countries don't have. Second, despite the manditory worship of the "god" of the Immortal Emperor, the religion is seemingly not that restrictive; you can gamble, visit houses of ill repute (I really don't elaborate on this kind of thing in game, but I list it here as an example of the types of freedoms these people have), and death sports amoung slaves, prisoners, and even willing participants is common place and accepted. Every town has an arena, even if it is a small one. In case your wondering I have modelled Bermia off of ancient Rome slightly (including the architecture style). Because of Bermias' rather large area and relatively concentrated population centers, rebellion is common for the good folk of the country who live in smaller communities. Bermia is also a military minded country (as is the will of the emperor) and has a large army spead out amoung the various regions and cities. Bermia is also one of the few countries openly accepting of wizards (the peasantry still view them with suspicion) and is the first and currently only region of the world that trains warmages, a potent weapon for the Emperors' grand battle strategy. Bermians are very xenophobic and hate elves and orcs with great conviction. They also dislike other humans, but find them more tolerable than the former. The only peoples they don't treat poorly or just kill are dwarves; an alliance long ago has held the dwarven people in high regard with Bermia. The dwarves trade working metals with the Bermians, as most of Bermia has only soft metals, or inferior* iron and steel. Powerful dwarven nobles have also been sending their sons and daughters to Bermia for warmage training, as it is a potent mark of prestige to have such unique abilities amoung the dwarves. (*Bermian iron is "infected" with another mineral that even the dwarves are unable to refine out of the ore. Thus they call it fever iron [again an unintentional similarity to Faerun]. Weapons made from fever iron have a hardness of 9 and 27 hitpoints per inch of thickness; when struck by weapons made of fever iron you must make a fortitude save [DC 13] or be sickened for 1d3 rounds [treat this as a poison]. This is not cumulative for multiple hits. Armour made from fever iron is not recomended) As for the trigger to this global war, In one of the campaigns I am going to run (this is not a spoiler as my friends don't read the wizards sites thankfully) the PC's come at odds with the Lothoden empire, a collection of countries (thanks to recent wars) ruled with the firm but even hand of clerics of Lothodar. Lothodar is a religion with frightening power, as their clerics are more powerful than clerics of other religions (rough in the works but divine casters are at a -1 caster level [effective "0" at first for druids and clerics; I have been giving them a bit of bonus staring funds or rank 1 affiliation with an organisation for free. Has been working ok so far. Clerics of lord Kross have no caster level penalty but are only allowed to choose one domain. Clerics of Lothodar have no penalties). They have been taking over other countries by means of conversion or all out war over the last 30 years; it has been ten years since an actual war was fought. One thing about the Lothoden empire though is their religious zeal for the destruction of arcane spell-casters. This is a horrifying witch-hunt that now spans half of the continent. As the PC's progress, the country they are in slowly converts to Lothodism, clearly defined when a ten year "break" is called after the death of a friend. They find themselves foreigners in there own home (a country called Celia; also the origin of the most common tongue on Phenn, Celian), but this is the least of there concerns as they come across a prophesy indicating that an ancient evil from the far realms will "burst" through a mysterious and powerful gate to the abyss (quick note on the planes; I have a different planar cosmology, but a few planes remain the same - the abyss and the plane of mirrors are two). This news of a powerful gate soon comes to the attention of the leaders of Lothoden (powerful clerics turned lich) who wish to commandeer the gate and use it to reach their god. One way or another the leaders of the Lothoden Empire and the Lothodar religion reach the gate and disappear, an opportunity too great to resist for the major factions of the world. Their disappearance is the catalyst of the great war and the beginning of the end of life as the people of Phenn know it. Three great evils rise up to devour the continent; from the dark lands of Adakyr, dark towers arise along the borders of the Lothoden Empire, Tearamane, and Northrend, and into Northrend flow the hordes of gnolls and demons carving a path of carnage and terror for a powerful demon prince. The Lothoden Empire is in chaos during this, as a few countries and factions see an opening for freedom. Bermia finally has it's opening and begins to march through the desert of Darakan north towards Lothoden, but unfortunately this is where the second great evil, minions of Baine (god of the dead), begin to march on Bermia from a wasteland within Bermia itself, known as the Desert of Nyr. Finally the third great evil arrives on near every easternly and southernly stretch of coastline as invaders from across the ocean stage multiple beachheads; minotaur sailors (nod to Dragonlance) raid the Key mountains and the Meteor Isles, and attempt forays into Tormwood (a land south of Bermia; home of the wild elves) and Bonesands (a large island formerly part of the mainland south of Tormwood; a 50 mile wide canyon now seperates the two. Bonesands is the home of the Black Orcs [nod to warhammer]). Meanwhile elven sailors with black skin known as the Vaerdi land on the coasts of the Vale (two elven nations west of Tearamane; known collectively as the vale they are Moon Tir [home of the Moon Elves] and Fensire [home of the Sun Elves]), Shorom (a "country" south of Tearamane; around 500 years ago the evil barons of the south part of Tearamane went rogue and broke off connections with Tearamane. They are known collectively as the renegade baronies), and Darunelles (a country allied with the Lothoden Empire, west of Shorom). I will continue to post information as often as I can, responding to any questions first, then laying out information about various mechanical quirks and changes as I go. PS thanks for being interested - it helps to invigorate me in creating a better more dynamic world.
Dog_O_War 07-19-07, 02:57 PM	Okay, now I will talk about the various races and where they live on Phenn. *note* that all information is as the PHB unless otherwise stated. Starting with Humans Northerners - are tall men from the country of Northrend. They have fair skin and a variety of hair and eye colours. They are taller than most other humans (base height of 5'0" for males and 4'8" for females; height modifier is 2d12). Northerners of the Ice Dragon clan tend to have more pale to white skin and pronounced fangs. Northerners live a simple life; outsiders often refer to them as barbarians, but quite to the contrary they are very civilized, though somewhat nomadic. Every ten years great games are held between the 7 clans (which is where outsiders get their misjudgements from) with the winning clan declared leader of Northrend and controller of the holy city. Game statistic changes for Northerners: Forsaken those born with northerner blood are shunned and despised by the other gods because of past transgressions. Northerners cannot be clerics of other gods (other than Griezhiem that is) or of the religion of Blaise as these entities have permanently turned their collective backs on these people. If they recieve healing from a cleric opposed to their god (Griezhiem) it is at caster level zero (the heal spell is a special case; it is cast at the minimum caster level always); any other beneficial spells with variable effects (like restoration) will always be as if minimum was rolled, other beneficial spells work as if caster level one. On the other hand all harmful spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities given to an opponent by one of these gods or religions are easier to resist; Northerners gain a +2 racial bonus to resist these effects. Spells that do not give a save instead may be resisted with a successful save (of a type determined by the DM) for half effect. Cold Protection Because of the harsh region Northerners live in, Griezhiem has granted his people level one cold protection (as per Frostburn). Starting Language: Hallishan. Bonus Languages: Tearamic, High Elven, Draconic, Giant, Gnollish, Dwarven, and Celian. Tearians - are good men who live in the feudal kingdom of Tearamane. They have fair to dark skin and a variety of hair colours and eye colours (including silver and gold!). Tearians live in a feudal land of noble knights, lords, and a wise and generous king and queen. Tearians live good lives with hopes that their sons and daughters may someday join one of the many prestigious knighthoods, with the Tearamic Knights (nod to Dragonlance) being the top choice of these orders. Starting Language: Tearamic. Bonus Languages: Hallishan, High Elven, Goblin, Dwarven, Gnollish, Giant, Celian, Celestial, Draconic, and Ganfcanter. Shorom - is a group of dutchies on the southern border of Tearamane that was once apart of Tearamane. The people here are still identified as Tearians, but they now live wicked, selfish lives in fear and under tyranny. Remove Hallishan from Bonus Languages and add Sylvan, Abyssal, and Infernal. Darakanians - are men from both the country of Darunelles and the Deserts of Darakan. They have tanned to dark skin and dark hair and eyes. In contrast Darakanians from Darunelles live stationary lives in large trade cities, seeing business and politics, as well as trade and commerce the way of life (with as heavy dose of gambling in between). On the flip side, Darakanians from the desert are nomadic raiders and horsemen, valuing water, honor, and good friends above all else (though like there estranged cousins gambling is a most welcome pastime). Starting Language: Drakesh. Bonus Languages: Celian, Goblin, Orcish, Bermanese, Draconic, High Elven, Dwarven, Halfling, Gnome, and Ganfcanter. Creminians - are men who live in a most harsh mountainous area ruled (formerly and now in secret) by cruel sorceresses. Creminians have fair to tanned skin and a variety of hair and eye colours. Cremin is a country of toil and hard work for the common class and of extreme luxury for the nobility. Starting Language: Celian. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnollish, Goblin, Giant, Dwarven, Celestial, Abyssal, and Infernal. Celians - are a once proud people, noble and gracious like Tearians. Recently they submitted to the Lothoden Empire (against the wishes of the people) and a new king was placed on the throne. Darker days are ahead of Celia, which does not bode well for Celians. Celians have fair or dark skin, and have a variety of hair and eye colour. Starting Language: Celian. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Goblin, Giant, Dwarven, Halfling, Gnome, High Elven, Sylvan, and Celestial. Lotharens - are what the people of the collective countries directly under Lothoden's rule are called. They have a neutral outlook on life as Lothodism has been both kind and cruel to the people now worshipping its doctrine. Lotharens have fair, tanned, or dark skin with a varying range of eye and hair colour dependent on region. Starting Language: Celian. Bonus Languages: Any except Bermanese and Old Elven. Elisians - If you are familiar with the Red Hand of Doom adventure then you will know of the place called Elsir Vale; this is a country I have inserted into my game. The people are called Elisians. Incase you aren't, they are as generic a people as they come. Starting Language: Celian. Bonus Languages: Any. Bermians - are a militaristic, yet democratic peoples ruled by a "man" dubbed the Immortal Emperor in Bermia. Bermians are shorter than most other humans (base height is unchanged, but the modifiers for both men and women are 2d8). Bermians have olive-toned to tanned skin with a variety of hair and eye colours. Starting Language: Bermanese. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Old Elven, Drakesh, Abyssal, and Infernal. There are three other races of humans on this continent, but they are under developed as they either have a name but little to no background and culture (like the Islanders) or have a background and culture, but no names to suit them, like the other two. These other two are more asian flavored with backgrounds of martial prowess and mystical might but I just can't find a name for them that rolls off the tongue and suits both the peoples and the regions, let alone my game (one of the working names right now is Soathens, but I hate the over-all sound of it). This covers the many humans of Phenn. A preview of what is to come: Dwarves; Cold Dwarves, Hill Dwarves, Mountain Dwarves, and Deep Dwarves. Elves; Moon Elves, Sun Elves, and Wood Elves. Halflings; Wonderfoot Halflings and Strongheart Halflings. Gnomes; Forest Gnomes and Rock Gnomes. Averians; a new race I have developed (before talk of races of the wild was even about. This is an idea I had conjured back during 3.0) Orcs; Wyld Orcs, Black Orcs, and Outcast Orcs. Goblins; Goblins and Hobgoblins. Darfellan; from Stormwrack. This is one of the few races from the terrain books I quite enjoyed. Half-Breeds; Half-Elf and Half-Orc. Plane-Touched; Aasimar and Tiefling.
Kelmourne 07-19-07, 05:41 PM	Great Detail. Love the idea of spirits. You should make a post where all the info is formatted better though. Currently It's all over the place.
Dog_O_War 07-20-07, 12:48 AM	Yeah, I get on tangents and just sort of go with them. The posts actually resemble my own campaign notes (sorta; they're scattered bits of information very roughly sorted).
Kelmourne 07-20-07, 02:46 PM	You should come up with a better name for your northern area than northerend. You are almost definety aware that it is in warcraft. If you are going to take a name from another scource, you should pick obscure ones.
Forfeit 07-20-07, 03:38 PM	I didnt understood one thing: The guy battled with the Gods, killed some of them and then used his heart to create a ring around Phenn. But what hapened latter? New gods were created inside Phenn? Or the same ones managed to get inside? Or the gods were only prohibited from coming inside, and their influence inside it become smaller? Also, this guy should have a name. Even if he doesnt have an exact name, he should have some kind of title that somewhat explains what hapened.
Dog_O_War 07-20-07, 09:45 PM	I didn't really go into detail about it but what happened was as the supposed final battle between man and his god was taking place, the other gods were returning back to their realms on the outer planes in order to prepare a trap for him, should he succeed - which seemed likely. His' battle against the gods had left some dead gods on the prime itself to rot away infront of their followers. In my game when a god dies a small portion of his essence is absorbed unto the slayer(s) while the rest goes back to the outer planes, which is where some of the new gods got their powers, and how the spirits and religions were formed. This type of divinity has only been gained in the backstory; many campaigns from now my players may get a chance to battle a god and take his essence.
Dog_O_War 07-26-07, 01:14 PM	Thanks for reminding me of the name, Kelmourne. I liked the name but it had this inkling of familiarity that bothered me about it. It's been about 4 years since I played warcraft 3 and the moment you mentioned it, I remembered where it came from. Okay, Northrend is no longer; it will be referred to as (for now) just "the North". Also the continent has a name now; Eyrunia.
Dog_O_War 07-26-07, 03:16 PM	Race fluff seems kind of boring as a stand alone text block, so instead I will attempt to lay down the information abit differently - going by country - to include races from that country, the classes available and their modifications in that country, abit of politics, and finally a descriptive paragraph of what the countries' terrain features are. But here is the rub; you will choose the country first for description - that is first reply on what country you'd like to hear about using the following list. I am laying them out geographically from most north and west "the North" - a land of frozen tudras, barbarians, and fierce monsters. The Vale Durathay - a forest realm of elves, magic, and ancient mysteries. (this was Moon Tir, but I changed the name) Sunaephia - the land of golden fields, magnificent cities, and strong-willed elves. (this was Fensire, but I am using that name as the capitol city now) Tearamane - land of heroic men, prestigious knighthoods, and the orders of good. Shorom - renagade duchies turned wicked and cruel by dark magic and disception. Adakyr - the horde lands of the gnoll, the demon, and the dead. the Lothoden Empire - an empire comprised of many countries, all brought to their knees by Lothodism. The Wonderlands - a heavily forested land full of halflings, gnomes, and fey. Darunelles - a country of opportunists willing to trade with anyone, criminal and hero alike. The Key Mountains - an island of mammoth proportions, this rocky land is host to the gnomish kingdom. the Meteor Isles - a string of colonies, where pirates, cultists and havoc are abound. Cremin - a land of bleak mountains, powerful sorcery, rebels, and tyrants. Celia - a most liberal and advanced kingdom now in downfall. "asian-esque lands(2)" - empirates of petty warlords, cruel beasts, and courageous swordsmen. The Grenwyld - the lands of orcs, dragons, and goblins. The Vault - the mountain fortresses of the many dwarven greatclans, and their mightiest king. Elsir Vale - (as per the Red Hand of Doom adventure) the Deserts of Darakan - home of nomadic horse raiders, mystical swordsmen, and the hot, endless sun. Bermia - mighty realm of the immortal emperor, home of evil men and powerful infernal beings. The Desert of Nyr - forbidding wasteland of Bermia, this was the place of an ancient kingdom of magic now befouled. Tormwood - home of simple elves, beautiful cliffs, and wise creatures. The Bonesands - cut off from Tormwood is now an island of white sand, black ash, a ring of volcanoes, and grim, dark-skinned orcs. Most of the countries I have a fairly good understanding of what lives there, what goes on there. who there foes are and who there allies are, but I recently had some of my notes ruined (along with my map; it was on two poster-sized papers) so now I have to kindof start again with some stuff. I am also going to include in this post my planar cosmology and information on the calendar of Phenn. The Planes of Phenn Phenn has a non-standard planar cosmology, as well the outer planes have an extremely restrictive traversablity (from the inner planes) so information on them will be limited. Also I haven't done alot of work on them (a smigin at most). The outer Planes There are ten outer planes in the Phenn cosmology, including the three realms of good, collectively known as heaven, the three realms of evil, collectively known as hell, the chaotic realm of the swirling void, and the infinate construct of law. Also included in the outer planes are the plane of mirrors and the primal plane, where all things come together, all things part, all things were created, and all things will be destroyed. The Inner planes and the Godring The inner planes include the elemental planes, and the negative and positive energy planes. It is here that the Godring runs through, cutting a portion of each plane off from itself, leaving a larger area of the elemental planes closer to Phenn, while the positive an negative energy planes are more towards the outside of the ring, away from Phenn. These planes are pretty standard from the books otherwise. The Transistive planes and the Material plane The transistive planes (ethereal, astral, and shadow) are in nearly all respects the same, except for (of course) the Godring. The material plane of Phenn is unique in that it's inhabitants cannot travel to the outer planes and the gods cannot send avatars to the material plane, though inner plane travel is possible. The calendar of Phenn There are a few things I'd like to say about using dates and calendars in the d&d game. I feel that the calendar of a game is a very important tool for the DM to have, as it helps create a timeline in your games, allows you to keep track of the seasons, makes aging a part of the game (and I know you guys out there never keep track of this; I bet all your players still have the first age they have written down when they made the character, despite being level 20), and I find it allows the players to feel a bit of versimilitude (I hope that is the right word; means the feeling of reality) as they play. Phenn has two calendars; the monthly calendar and the lunar calendar. The monthly calendar is named after the great dragons of Phenn, those who battled the wizards of Nyr for control of Eyrunia during the time of the old kingdoms more than 3000 years ago. There are 13 months in this calendar, one for each of the dragons, with the days in each being relative to the dragons' power. Also in this calendar are the 4 days of the lunar reset, a time when the moons swap positions - this is also an important event in the lunar calendar as this is the lunar newyear. there are 364 days in a year on Phenn, with a standard week consisting of seven days, and each day having 24 hours. In the lunar calendar there are 15 months, with the holy time of the reset as a 4 day marker between the first and the 15th month. A lunar month consists of 24 days, the time on Phenn it takes the showing moon to fully cycle (from new to full). A lunar week has six days, each named after the elven mages who founded Durathay after the fall of the old kingdoms about 3000 years ago. I am still in the process of adding holy days into the calendar, and of establishing a complete timeline to present day Phenn (which for the moment has taken to the back burner). Please post what you think of the calendar and of what country you would like to hear about in detail first.
Seraphine_Harmonium 07-28-07, 11:51 AM	valiant knights, oppressive and powerful religions, and of hunted wizards hated and villified by superstition and propaganda. Cool, sounds a bit like my world. Except with more knights. History of the modern creation of Phenn Very intriguing title. The modern creation of Phenn. Ok, I like him dueling and killing a god on the infinite stairs. (The Infinite Stairs is just such a cool name to begin with.) I like him ripping out his heart and casting it back towards the earth. I like that it was a trick on the other gods. I don’t mind what you are doing with the godring, but I don’t see how the godring would work. If it’s a ring in the sky on the border between the material world and the world of the gods, a ring doesn’t make sense as a way to cut off contact. If it were a sphere around the world, perhaps, but a ring does not make sense to me. For something along these lines, I would say that this man as a last act of vengeance flung his sword, severing the link between the two worlds, and they began to drift apart. That's what I would do, but you, of course, are free to do what you'd like. In any case, I like it so far. ~Seraph
Dog_O_War 07-28-07, 02:55 PM	Cool, sounds a bit like my world. Except with more knights. Yeah, I LOVE the idealism in a knighthood as sort of a band of brothers dedicated to a cause, not to metion just about every other aspect applicable to a knight or order of knights. Very intriguing title. The modern creation of Phenn. Yes this was very intentional, though I am using creation in a different context than "something that wasn't there before is there now". It means that the world of Phenn has existed before even the current gods, and that the 'creation' known as Phenn is a definition of its political, social, and even geographical landscapes. Phenn during the time of the gods looked different than during the dragon-mage war, or even during the time of the old empires (all of which unfortunately only have a moctum of reality concerning what they are in my head). Ok, I like him dueling and killing a god on the infinite stairs. (The Infinite Stairs is just such a cool name to begin with.) I like him ripping out his heart and casting it back towards the earth. I like that it was a trick on the other gods. I don’t mind what you are doing with the godring, but I don’t see how the godring would work. If it’s a ring in the sky on the border between the material world and the world of the gods, a ring doesn’t make sense as a way to cut off contact. If it were a sphere around the world, perhaps, but a ring does not make sense to me. For something along these lines, I would say that this man as a last act of vengeance flung his sword, severing the link between the two worlds, and they began to drift apart. That's what I would do, but you, of course, are free to do what you'd like. In any case, I like it so far. ~Seraph Though Phenn is infact round, the 'ring' appears as a line in the sky only visible at night; as far as planar travel is concerned, try not to think of entering a plane as invading a three dimentional object. Instead - as in Phenns' case - picture planar travel similar to wormhole theory; you fold two points in space/time together and hop through. The Godring sits on this line preventing travel in the physical sense for all creatures on all planes of existence. It is infact a physical object in/on the inner planes. It defies reason in that despite being able to see an edge to it at the cusp of your vision, you will always be unable to reach it and go around. Finally, no matter where you are on Phenn the ring is always visible at night (weather permitting) directly above where you look - indicating unexplainable astral phenomena. I didn't really want to get into the technical aspects of the ring, but as a third party viewer I am more than happy to answer your questions about it (though if you were one of my players I would have said, "Go and examine it your self."). Also, thanks for taking an interest.
Seraphine_Harmonium 07-28-07, 03:30 PM	I get the wormhole theory thing, but a ring still does not seem a viable way to prevent travel between the various planes. Is it like an anti-gate? It looks like a circular gateway along the wormholish thing constituting the boundary between the planes, but infact it is the opposite of a gate, and rather than allowing passage, prevents it?
Dog_O_War 07-28-07, 03:53 PM	I will explain a little more about Phenn; It is currently a fairly low magic game (or at least that is what I tell myself) as far as numbers of casters and magic items are concerned. This is in part due to the severe damage Mages have inflicted on the world in the past, the reduced power clerics seem to have because of the god situation, and finally because of the zealous crusade the Empire of Lothoden is running. All of these are the major factors in why Phenn (and my unfortunate players) has a lack of magic items lying around (that and I hate Faerun style loot). I don't believe in simply denying my players though as far as wealth for level goes (fortunately for them). So what then is the medium between mundane items that can only be so valuble/useful, and magic items? special materials. I like special materials, mechanic-altering crafts (look in Complete Warrior pg.136 for Susalian Chainweave or in the Draconomicon pg.116 for Dragoncraft Items as examples), and the idea of, "if I get an extremely high result on my weaponsmithing roll, like 40, it means something other than how fast I can pound out a longsword". I have been toying with this idea for some time now; introducing a smithing "style" craftsmen can adopt in order to alter weapons and armour during there creation. I single out these two craft skills because they are the most important and iconic to the game. Something along the lines of, "serrated edges are worked into the blade, adding an additional +1 damage, but lowering the weapons' hit points by one. This is +5 to the craft DC (both regular and masterwork checks)." This is just one example of a modification to the skill I have been working on. Maybe this topic should have its own thread, or maybe it already has one that I am not aware of, but feedback on this would be cool.
Dog_O_War 07-28-07, 03:57 PM	Yes, it is like an anti-gate. The wormhole thing was that the ring sits on the the entry way, infact contains it, allowing only mortal souls to pass through.
Seraphine_Harmonium 07-28-07, 04:32 PM	I like that you use both a monthly and a lunar calendar. I find that to my own campaign tastes as well. In games I will admit, though, that I do not tend to keep track of things like time (or even food) very well. One minor thing though: Perhaps I am mistaken, but is a full lunar cycle not the time it takes to go from new to full and back to new? Don't you have to both wax and wane? I only mention it because it would affect your calendar and your division of weeks and months.
Dog_O_War 07-28-07, 05:15 PM	...Er yeah, from full and back or whatever a 'full' cycle is - I've got it written down on my calendar. Thankfully I only named the weeks, I figured the months for the lunar calendar were unimportant. I also don't keep track of food directly. For now I just make my players pay the upkeep variant in the DMG, with special allotments for longer excurtions away from civilization. When I get food related prices and such down, it'll go to book-keeping. I hate that the copper and silver piece too often get pushed to the background.
Dog_O_War 07-29-07, 12:21 AM	I just put up the basics of Avereans for my campaign setting in the race section of the boards. The link is here http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=895436
Dog_O_War 08-01-07, 02:35 AM	I have posted some history on Avereans in the races section, which you can find using the above link.
Dog_O_War 08-28-07, 03:29 AM	I am just posting this here so you guys can get a feel for what one of the 'villains' of Phenn is like. He is not so much the villian as he is the antagonist Richard Prodice the III CN male human prodigy(intelligence) Diviner X (equal to party level) STR: 8 -1 DEX: 11 -- CON: 13 +1 INT: 20 +5 (all bonus stat points are to intelligence) WIS: 12 +1 CHA: 15 +2 A disenfranchised noble, Richard comes into frequent conflict with the party, as his goals often butt heads with theirs, and he knows it. On his 18th birthday, the day he was to inherit his fathers' fortune (a considerable sum; the Prodice family owned two mines and dozens of businesses) his younger sister, famous for her prophetic readings, gave Richard one of dire consequence; he would bring ruin to all of Celia. Completely embarrased as this was given to him in the middle of his party (of over 100 guests), he fled out of the room. Later that night, he killed his sister in a fit of rage and fled the country. For years he wandered distant lands, until three years to the day, on his 21st birthday, he was captured in the desert of Darakan by a band of hobogoblin raiders. They took him as a prisoner to their encampment, where he was brought before their shaman. The shaman was a seer of great power, and a wily one at that. He gave Richard a different vision, one that said if he could leave this world for another and stand before the gods, that he could change what would happen to his country. With this knowledge and the shamans' blessing, he was granted a special gift by the tribe; he would be allowed to go free, and would be given a body guard to ensure his vision would come true. Unfortunately the wise shaman lied to Richard; this was a false vision that would not help him, but rather the tribe of hobogoblins. And he knew that the moment he left the encampment. He never let on to his bodyguard, a hobogoblin named Rogosh that he knew, and instead befriended the young warrior. With that he set back to Celia, in search of an old wizard who might have information on how to break the planar barrier that surrounds Phenn. Why you ask? Richard is a talented Diviner himself, and had his own vision; one that lead him to the conclusion that if he were to reach the outer planes he could gain untold power. Power to rule Celia, and to right the murder he commited in his insane state three years ago. During this time however, Celia had just surrendered to the Lothoden Empire; this meant that arcane magic users were outlawed and that the towers of high magic would be destroyed and the grandmasters of them beheaded. He knew this was coming as he nearly met his end travelling through the Empire during his flight from Celia. Instead he moved up through the warlord provinces, fuedal lands of martial warriors. It is here that he would meet his final companion; an ogre rogue named Purgo. The ogre had waylaid him and Rogosh on the road one day, looking to gain some coin. Purgo was an outcast from his tribe because he did not lust for killing. Instead he enjoyed human things like conversation, was fascinated by magic, and had a weakness for the 'softer' races' women. When Richards' first move was to talk his way out of this potencial conflict, the deal was sealed. The three would travel to Celia, an will play a pivotal role in bringing about an end to the Empire of Lothoden, Celia, and possibly the world. Long time since anything has been posted here, eh?
atomisk9455 10-08-07, 06:42 PM	:BUMP:
Dog_O_War 10-16-07, 02:24 PM	Well, after months of false hope and ill-fated starts, I finally have a time-slot and a group for my campaign world. We play every other sunday, with last sunday being the first session. Unfortunately I was mind-fogged for the starting half, as well as the two weeks leading up to the game. It felt like I was driving a cheap mexican tour bus through the rockies during the winter... I know I can do better than that, but hind-sight is 20/20. The second half of the session went alot smoother as I began to warm up. I am going to turn this thread into a recap and a projection of what will happen during the game. First off, the players and their characters. My players are a fairly eccentric bunch, having played under a DM that is magic crazy (he is now one of the players). These people are used to seeing really powerful spells at very low levels (the most recient I can recall was a prismatic spray at 1st level). I tend towards standard stuff, like right-from-the-book challenges, as well as alternate "challenges" like weather and the environment. Hopefully this is a nice change of pace for them. So far we have Nolin Splintershield, a hill dwarf rogue1/monk1 with a slight gambling problem. Next is Dagda Sharpshield, a hill dwarf fighter2 of the same clan (but not family) as Nolin. These two have travelled far from their homes and the Shieldhorn clanhold to the country of Celia, on a quest to bring Dagda's deceased father back home for a proper burial. To do this they must travel to the small city of Bolwyn; a city that has only recently grown from a town. On there way they have encountered goblins, which by rumor have been growing in number and hostility since the Lothoden Empire took over. Many places like bolwyn, which are close to the capitol have had their priests recalled for conversion. This is Lothoden's plan. Here they discover that Dagda's younger brother hasn't been at home for the last two days, which has concerned her since he is only 35. Meanwhile Nolin, somewhat of an opportunist, has been checking out the now abandoned church for "clues" and such as to why... well as the DM, I'm not sure what he was looking for, probably just loot to steal (he's not a very lawful monk, which might come to haunt him in the near future). Also, frequenting a scumy tavern in the poorer side of town, the "Ogre's Knife" he has negotiated for a map to the location of some wizards' tower, as well for a meeting with the local thieves' guild. This is where the session ended; other characters are scheduled for their intros to the party, but the players couldn't make the first game due to previous obligations. Their characters are... "Gnash" a young Wyld Orc Barbarian1/Druid1. We worked together on this; he has the shifter variant from the PHBII; he'll have a strength of about 30 when raging (I think). the other player is going to play a tiefling Warlock, but we haven't really had the time to hammer out any details. The session was kinda short due to me forgetting alot of my notes (DO NOT DO THIS EVER) and the whole mind-fog thing going on (damned video games melted my brain!). Next session I will be introducing the key antagonist, the wizard and his crew mentioned in the above post. Also to be met will be their first ally, a tiefling fighter/wizard. This is where they will probably go and find the tower.
Dog_O_War 10-29-07, 01:02 PM	Well we didn't get nearly as far as I had thought, which was a good thing because we finished all that I planned. Ardemarx has cast good fortune on me, as this session went quite smoothly. Though the antagonist and their new ally have not yet been revealed, the party is nearly complete. Dagda and Nolin (under Nolin's subtle 'hints') went off to explore this wizard's tower. On the first day while making the journey the weather slowly turned bad, until late in the date it became a full-blown thunderstorm. Seeking shelter in a large tor (a hilltop monument for some long-dead hero - I was running the web adventure a Dark and Stormy Knight incase you're wondering), the dwarf pair came across two other travellers that had sought refuge from the storm. Under the informal treatise of stormpeace, these four sat and coversed; One of the travellers is an Aasimar - a race of celestial heritage, and not afraid to bare the markings of such (he is bald and has a slightly luminesent glow about him). He introduced himself as Solarion. The other traveller, preferring anonymity, travels in the guise of an elf; he is actually one of the hunted - a tiefling with (quite a few) obvious traits to denote his demonic heritage. He has given the name of Marteth. When a particularally close lightning bolt struck the tomb, the thundering cacauphony broke open the three stone doors that lead deeper into the heroes' grave. Rats! came streaming out of the north passage and asailed the group in a panic-striken frenzy. Fighting of these tiny foes, the pair of planes-touched moved down the hallway into the next room. there they were confronted by a pair of hobgoblin tomb-raiders; Solarion fled back down the hallway to where the dwarven pair were still loitering, leaving <Marteth> to fend off the raiders alone. Using his demonic powers Marteth struck down the two before the dwarves (followed closely by Solarion) could arrive. The others saw <Marteth> was a capable warrior, despite some rather sadistic tendancies (giving the them a very negatively slanted view of elves). Further into the tomb they travelled, before being confronted by a rather large spider; one that had dealt a bad wound to Solarion in suprise. Dagda and <Marteth> quickly finished off the eight-legged fiend, and continued on to the most central burial chamber - the 'heroes' chamber. A melee ensued with Dagda and the dark knight trading vicious blows, in the end though the killing blow was struck by Nolin with a decisive strike to the spine. This is where Sol was to reveal his skill as a very capable healer; a wielder of the divine. Checking the various rooms, they 'liberated' the treasure here before moving back to the main chamber and checking the other off-shooting hallways. Here some ingenuitive thinking helped Nolin bypass an old dart-trap in one of the rooms, which contained a stone chest - as well as a bit of swag. Moving into the other chamber, they were confronted with a beast of the abyss - a vargule. Belching forth a horrific shriek, Nolin stood frozen in fear; but the feeling soon passed as Dagda ended the fight before it could turn bad. Inside the sarcophagus which the vargule was using as a nest, <Marteth> discovered a simple golden ring - its magical properties quickly revealed themselves however when Nolin made an off-handed comment to Dagda in dwarven - a language he did not otherwise know, but for some (immediately appearent) reason could understand. The next day Nolin convinced <Marteth> and Sol to accompany them to the tower; this proved advantageous as during another soggy day of travel they were assualted by a hungry trio of wolves; they had dealt some bad wounds to Dagda and <Marteth>, but thankfully Sol was there to close them. This is where the session ended. The player of 'Gnash' is still in the process of moving, but he will show up (I hope). The new guys are... Diero (Marteth), a tiefling warlock1, a sly and chaotic wanderer. Then we have Solarion (Sol) an Archivist1, highly intellectual seeker of knowledge - both divine and corrupt. Next session (which may not run on the scheduled time) will put them in the wizards' tower, as well as in the midst of new enemies and allies.
Dog_O_War 11-27-07, 01:26 PM	Okay, because we missed a game due to the long weekend two weeks+ ago, we finally played again on this past sunday. I had many weeks to prepare, but just like every well intentioned plan, it got way-layed (I think that's how it's spelled), and my wizards' tower was without the top two levels. Also, I had forgotten to actually write down the description of all the wonderous and fancy rooms - though I will add that I did a good job on-the-fly. For those of you ACTUALLY reading this campaign world-turned-campaign journal, it is also a cataloging of my first trials as DM (I have done some one-off stuff, as well as a slight mini-campaign which had sooo much promise, but was cut short due to a universal group-schedule conflict). Okay, still no Gnash, and I spent many a night UNwriting in the character I already wrote in. Finally they reached the tower; a very tall structure of mortar-fitted stone on the top of a small rise. When the group approached, they came across a sign leading up to the tower; a sign that read, "Malcor Malhaven". This was an alarm, which they didn't realize they had set off (inside of the tower were several NPC's, the re-acurring antagonists. This alarm got them aware of the PC's). When they reached the sign though, they heard the sounds of a man struggling against some silent attacker - an assassin vine! Moving in swiftly, they attempted to assualt the plant-creature, but to Diero's dismay, this creature had a long "arm", one he quickly fell to. The dwarven cousins closed as quickly as they could, with Sol reacting to his travel-mate's fate as quickly as he could. Running up, he got ready to cast a cure spell on him. Meanwhile the other traveller was slowly being crushed by the vine, very close to losing conciousness. With Diero in the negatives, Dagda rushed head-first into the leafy assailant. Nolin, opting for a more cautious approach had readied a crossbow on his way up to the fight - firing for little effect once he got there. The assassin swept it's thick vines in an attempt to capture Dagda, but she proved too well protected for it. Sol laid out a spell to heal Diero, who began an attack with his eldrich blast. That is when the plantlife around the party began to come alive, ensnaring all but Sol and Nolin. Dagda fought hard, and the other traveller, with the luck of the gods broke free of the assassin. Dagda and the traveller quickly put to the axe this malignant bush, with Dagda chopping it in half. This is when a few revelations were brought to light. This "traveller" was also a Tiefling like Diero, but openly displayed his heritage. Tall, with a pink tinge to his skin, he has completely black eyes, as well as red viens (instead of the standard blue) and blackened nails. The scent of brimstone was heavy in the air around him. He knew what Diero was, but wouldn't out and out say it. Numerous comments of Diero's strange "habits" were always abound, but he continued to insist he was an elf; Goazer, as the other tiefling introduced himself, stated that Diero, or "Marteth" as the group knows him, was infact not. Goazer is himself a wanderer, from a very distant land - Bermia. "I seek to escape my destiny, my fate" he told the group. "This is why I have travelled so far, to this tower." It is here they learn abit of who Malcor Malhaven is, or rather was. He was a human wizard famous for his evocations over 100 years ago. the thing about it is no one could confirm his death; he just disappeared about 70 years ago. This was rumored to be because of his second passion; summoning and the planes. As rumors often get exadurated and blown up over time, this quickly turned into legend. He must have crossed the planar barrier, the Godring. The tower's door did not prove much of a challenge for the group; they battered down the strong oaken door with brute force. Entering the dark mud room, they spent a few hours exploring the lower levels, which included a trapped dining chair (it gets hot whenever someone sits apon it), and a moldy library of a vast nature, and of general knowledge. Diero made his way into the cellar, where he scored a couple of bottles of old elven wine. After the appearent "failure" the Goazer felt this library was, they began to explore the upper levels. The next level proved to be more rewarding; a clear indicator that Malcor did alot of research on the subject of summoning, and thus planar travel. This was a summoning room, with an actual specimen of outlandish nature; a dretch. Though this was a relatively weak demon, it still proved that the barrier was able to be crossed. The creature though spoke in dark whispers to Goazer, and he was forced to flee the room. The battle that ensued was rather one-sided; the creature trapped in the summoning circle for who knows how long, quickly fell to Diero's spear. On the floor here was a riddle (thanks, Heros_Backpack), one they pondered for quite awhile before ascending to the next floor. Here they encountered three statues; one of a rogue, one of a wizard, and one of a fighter. A wrong decision nearly cost Dagda her life, as a missinterpretation of the riddle caused two suits of armour to spring alive with hostile intentions. Defeating the Dread Guards (that's what the armoured suits were), they proceeded to choose the correct statue - the wizard - which sprun to life a stairway that decended from the ceiling. Here then tumbled down an ogre! A quick skirmish and some "lucky" thinking on Sol's part sent the stairs, and the ogre back into the ceiling. Sol had pressed the rogue statue, which closed the stairway, and unfortunately for Sol, teleported him into the pond outside:weep: . In the upper levels were the three antagonists; a human wizard, a hobgoblin warrior, and an ogre rogue. These three quickly made their escape out the top of the tower, with many of the books on the planes in hand. This is where the session ended. They all now have enough experience points to bring them to third level. Goazer is (or will be once some RPing can occur) an NPC ally of the group, as well as my personal plot device. He is a fighter1/wizard(transmuter)1 tiefling. He is not likely to glean much from the spellbook he found in the wizard's tower, as evocation is one of his barred schools. Dagda has found a magical longsword (+1) which they have yet to identify. With a few weeks of training ahead, they will have the chance to identify these items, as well as the others from the previous adventure (which they had discovered from a detect magic spell cast be Sol). The antagonists are detailed a few posts up; Richard Prodice the Third, and his unlikely companions. They learned of the tower by fate. See, Richard and Rogosh were in the same tavern as Nolin, who was more interested in what a crazy old man had to say, rather than who else was interested in what that crazy old man was saying. The next session will involve training to level, as well as gaining new contacts, the where-abouts of Dagda's young brother, and the (new) fate of Dagda's father. If I get enough time through all of this, I will run the web adventure, "A Quiet Night of Cards". Alittle watered down though, as I want to limit exp. to smaller increments (as well as magical loot. Don't wanna be a hypocrite in my own game!). This session has fallen the same fate as my first one (I forgot some of my notes) but went marketedly better than that one. Live and learn.
Kelmourne 11-28-07, 07:07 PM	Holy crap PHENN is still alive? I mean I stopped going on the forums for two months and I come back and this campaign setting is still alive. GJ. And remarkably still on page 1 after, what has it been, 3 months?
Dog_O_War 11-29-07, 12:15 AM	Holy crap PHENN is still alive? I mean I stopped going on the forums for two months and I come back and this campaign setting is still alive. GJ. And remarkably still on page 1 after, what has it been, 3 months? :) Thanks. Yes Phenn is still alive and kicking; the setting is far more than I ever posted here. I just lack a cohesive writing style for my notes. I also lack a complete set of notes (they've been twice destroyed by rain:mad: ), but like every single piece of memory I posses, it sticks if it has no real-world relevence. Basically I've memorized my own campaign setting, down to the stats and set-up of every NPC and organization. Recalling it when needed is an entirely different matter. One day though, I'll re-write what is here and post more on my brain-child.
Kelmourne 11-29-07, 01:42 AM	I read the post on Richard's story and it sounds very in-depth. Please keep this topic updated I am very interested in knowing what will happen. Also I just started reposting my own campaign setting of Aistura if you want to give it a check.
Dog_O_War 12-14-07, 02:38 PM	I should've updated 4 days ago, but I was embroiled in a heated debate over whether or not a particular grouping of fictional classes are over-powered or not in a fictional setting run by vanilla people. :monk: :gel: Not that anyone is actually reading this ;) Last session was really a utility one; we never even really got to RP training or anything; it ended up as one big logistical sna-fu. Sol, Diero, and Goazer opted to stay in the tower while Dagda and Nolin (or Wen as he's going by now) went back to Bolwyn to resupply the weary and malnourished Goazer. During this, The three outsiders (pun intended) trained and practiced at the tower, hoping to glean additional information to better power their classes (they trained). Dagda and "Wen" discovered that Dagda's brother had returned; he had been preparing a funeral pyre for their father. Dagda was extremely upset at this, hoping to gain some measure of honor for herself and her clan. After a night of remorseful drinking, Daklinn (Dagda's young brother) set off with some friends to find a place that he may call "home" (it doesn't look like the player of Gnash will be joining the group, so he's now just a background character for Daklinn). "Wen" went and found one of the small warrior schools to train at the next morning for Dagda and himself. Dagda found out that the taxes on the little forge had been accumulating in the past 4 months (since her father's death), and that to aleviate the pressure, Daklinn had sold the forge to Magnus next door (yeah, it's a blantant plot device, but it worked). Returning with the supplies, they (the dwarves) encountered a merchant caravan heading towards Celes (the Capitol); they traded for pearls from them, and eventually agreed to a fair price for some of the books they had collected from the tower. Arriving bck at the tower unmolested, Goazer was quite happy to recieve much needed supplies. With the pearls he identified their various magical items, and offered them some insights as to why the planes are so guarded, and to why penetrating the barrier is such an impossible feat. With this, the group parted ways (for now) from their demonic aquaintence; back to Bolwyn. Here The group finished their training, and celebrated in the Black Dragon Inn. (this is where I ran the web adventure, "A quiet night of cards"). Here, after dispatching the rogues they found out that Sirius (the NPC of the adventure) had totally, and utterly used them, and fleeced a couple of them of their coins (I cannot help it if I'm actually good at 3-dragon ante). He gets away by riding into the "sunset" (so to speak) as well, thanks to some timely guards called by the housing staff. There were other reasons as to why I ran this adventure though, but you'll have to stay tuned :) That was the end of the session; They were supposed to gain a couple more contacts and such, and maybe a couple of them would even join an organization, but I guess this just serves to better prepare me for next session; a second chance for Nolin to join a thieves' guild, as well as the lead into the real story here; the Goblin King. I know now that this idea has been used many times before. BUT at the time of development I had been completely unaware. I will be using a Greater Barghest as a goblin tribe's leader; one whom they worship as a god. This tribe has plagued the area for quite some time, but has now been hammering the town of Meregrim; a town that doesn't know what evils it sits apon... EDIT: if I mention names that I otherwise don't give reference to, they are usually filler NPC's; ones that serve to make the world more believeable; they could come alive at any time, which is why I mention them at all. The one(s) here were Magnus (the Ironsmith next to the Sharpshield forge) and Sirius (the group gave him life by seeing what he did as extra scum-baggy, and have vowed a half-hearted revenge; good enough to re-use the guy). Also, the characters; Nolin, "Wen" Splintershield, Dwarven Rogue1 / Monk2; LG, but leaning towards an alignment shift of NG due to loose morals. Dagda Sharpshield, Dwarven fighter3; NG, gonna try and get this player to step it up in the leader role. Solarion, "Sol", Aasimar Archivist2; N, and remains a fairly contributive non-combatant. Actually, it was he who brought down the lead rogue in this last adventure with a very lucky 20 while swinging a mace; I think it was his first attack roll sinse we began playing actually. Diero, Tiefling Warlock2; CN, and most true to his alignment. Plays a (morally) conflicted person quite well; his own inner chaos is the thing that keeps him neutral.
Kelmourne 12-14-07, 06:22 PM	woot finally page 2
Dog_O_War 01-08-08, 02:15 PM	It seems that this game may come to its conclusion far quicker than I had hoped for. Maybe. The player of Sol has a job change in the works, as well as a sister come home from being abroad for several months so his future in the group looks dim. No Gnash, and now no Sol. This change was handled rather well though, as they had only just completed battling the rogues when we ended last session. So the story goes that he went back to the tower with more supplies for Goazer, and will remain there doing his own brand of research. Also, one of my players has found out that he might have some medical complications; both possibly serious, but for now he is okay. All this bad news... ,,,,Needs some good news to follow. Word of possibly 2-3 new players may join sinse the development of Sol's player leaving (he wasn't even here for this session), so we'll see how this turns out (please god, let them not be n00bs, in the l33test of senses). Anyways, onto the session. After the battle with the rogues, and being duped by Sirius, they decided to pursue some past leads; goblins attacking the area around the near-by town of Meregrim, and that of the three robbers of the tower who had escaped them with a large collection of books. Before they left though, the boy who had attempted to pick-pocket Nolin approached them. He told them that Tesir, the guild's head, wanted to see them. Abit of fear ran through the ranks here, as those were guild-rogues that they had killed. They went anyways, knowing that if they fled, it would be for their lifetimes. To their suprise however, those rogues had acted outside of guild orders, and the lead perpetrator had been sowing discontention amoungst the ranks for awhile now. Nolin, catching the ire of Tesir in a previous encounter had made him re-think What the bald dwarf was capable of. Offering the group membership, it became quickly apparent that only Nolin would be of any use to the guild. The others declined, but Nolin accepted the mark of the guild rogue; a black owl (this is to be both "treasure" and a plot device for him in the future). Back on the road after selling the renegade rogue's equipment back to the guild, they headed for Meregrim. On the way however they were waylaid by a goblin band, right on the road! Having the rumors confirmed they made the approach to the town with greater caution, stopping only at a roadside in for the night on the way there. When they got to Meregrim, it was already getting dark despite the early time of the day. It has been doing this quite often recently (pretty out of the ordinary for the region), and with the seasons changing, it only compounded the depressing mood the town appeared to be in. They went to an inn for accomidations, and as Dagda had put it, "beer, bath, and bed in that order please". In the morning they had made there way to the sheriffs' office to say they were here to lend a hand. This was basically the end of the session, though I had them "patrol" about for awhile and ran them into another encounter with goblins. What I haven't told him yet (Nolin's player) is about the guild's organization. This is quite in-depth, with this guild, the Watching Owl as a small part of a larger organization of theives, known as the Guild of Uncaged Birds. Most members of the smaller branches will be unaware of this fact though. More in two weeks (I hope, last two months it's been one session per month:weep: ).
Dog_O_War 01-31-08, 03:53 PM	Sorry about the late update (not that anyone is reading this to complain!) was tied up with real-life distractions like sleep and hockey (go Flames). This session was SHORT, as we ended up joking around for most of it (that and I forgot important notes of NPC's..... I need an assistant or something:whatsthis ). Because my players can and do get bored without combat, I am often forced to find creative ways of inserting a battle here and there (coveniently "random" encounters work well). Anyways, enough of my problems and on to this slim cut of meat I call a story. The trio took it apon themselves to find out exactly where this goblin camp could be; after a skirmish with some goblins and worgs, a wounded worg and goblin fled from the battle - which they attempted to track back to the camp. Several hours stumbling around in the bushes brought to them the realization that they needed a tracker, and that Meregrim's sheriff Kilik was the man for this job. They followed the goblin's tracks late into the night, until a storm had wiped the trail away. After packing it in for the night, they headed back to the Fightin' Tabby Inn to get an early start again tomorrow. The next day they were roaming around the area where they had lost the tracks, and happened apon a goblin war patrol; this was a good indicator that they were near the camp, but a bad omen as they were severly out-numbered. The fight though went in their favor; Nolin proved daft at dodging goblin weapons, and Dagda's quick thinking in grappling their shaman proved to be what won the day. Diero struggled with a goblin sergeant, but bested him in single combat. Afterwards, they went back to Meregrim to report their findings and seek much needed rest, as well as jail a prisoner. That night though proved to be a bad end to what was a good day, as a woman ran to the innkeeper of the Fightin' Tabby (who proved to be more than he seemed) for help; her father had been kidnapped by the goblins! The whys were left unanswered, but the reasons to rescue needed no logical response; the band must set out to save a man because that is something all good people should do! Seeking the aid of the expert tracker/sheriff Kilik, they found him badly wounded in the jail-house and their goblin inmate and out-mate. With a bit of aid in the form of a potion, the sheriff would recover and be able to assist the trio in tracking down these goblin-nappers. This is where our session ended (I will mention now that they have precise knowledge that the goblins haven't reached their encampment yet; the innkeeper Argus Gerrald revealed to Nolin that he was a wizard, and scried on the man kidnapped to see him bound to a pole and being carried towards their supposed encampment). Next session should bring to bare a supposed "goblin king", but he is false. It will also reveal part of why the weather is so dark and harsh as of late, and the secret(s) of the town of Meregrim itself. More coming soon.
Dog_O_War 03-06-08, 04:19 PM	...And by soon I meant over a month... Life is busy (for my players apparently) so we ended up bailing twice on our by-weekly session. ANYWAYS..... back to the game. Though injured, Kilik offered the group his help to guide them to the goblin kidnappers, who's trail would surely wash out in the rainy storm that was a constant annoyance to the days of Meregrim. They found themselves on the trail of their quarry, but in a turn of events, they had past the goblins in the rain, and found themselves victims of an ambush! Fighting long and hard, the heroes felled the goblins, but not before on could escape. They went to the old man (who only had on leg) and freed him. Back in town they questioned him, and contemplated on why a goblin tribe would want an old, one-legged man alive. Here they found out that this human was an adventurer of minor rapport, career cut short by an unlucky run-in with a Bullette. After retiring, he set himself up with a small farm and was content to live out his days in peace. The next day also proved to ill-weathered to venture out and attempt to find this encampment, which allowed for their abyssal comrade from the tower to deliver some disturbing news. He had a vision whilst examining the former owners' various items, in particular a seeing ball designed for remote viewing. Here he told the band that this town sat apon a great evil, but he could not pin-point exactly where. They speculated that perhaps this is what was driving the goblins to such brazen encounters. That night, some of the goblins decided to find their way into town! the rain had slowed, but the wind was still high, and after a quiet day in the tavern, Dagda noticed what appeared to be the setting of the sun from a crack in her window shutters - this was actually the glow of fire from several burning buildings from across the street. They spilled out onto the street, seeing several groups of goblins running through the stone roads of Meregrim. Here one group of goblins riding worgs spotted them and turned for a charge. Battle ensued; it was long, gritty, and tough, but the dwarven cousins and their planar friends won the battle - only to see more goblins approach; they had a dire wolf on a chain, and one of them was dressed in an elaborate tribal outfit. Crossed pieces of wood adorned with skulls and feathers and other fetishes was slung on his back, while a tall leather cap weighed to the front by a spiky plant of some sort sat apon his head. They dove back into the tavern, followed by an angry dire wolf nipping at their heels. The goblins handling the large wolf quickly followed; meanwhile a boom of thunder was heard just outside the tavern. As this new battle raged, the rythmic booming of lightning-strikes was heard outside. Diero hurried up stairs to a window where he could see the goblin with the omen boards - here he witnessed him directing the lightning strikes onto the statue in the center of town. He fired a blast of eldrich energy at the goblin shaman, only to suffer the goblins' powerful rebuttal. Defeating the wolf and its goblin handlers, the group went to check on the square; Nolin going up stairs to find an unconcious and charred body of diero, badly hurt but stable lying infront of a window. Here the group witnessed the statue of Meregrim, the center-point of the town crumble under repeated lighning assualts; this seemed to be the goblin shamans' goal, but it was to be a hollow victory as groups of militia slowly encroached on the (now) routed goblins. We ended the session with the goblins fleeing the town on foot and on worg. I didn't use any sheets or references for this one - I had 2 months of prep. stored in my brain for these events here. Things to note - players gained a level (training will be covered next session). - This goblin shaman will become a prevailant villain until the real King is revealed. He's a 5th level druid. - The statue was sitting over an old mine - there were some rumors about "the mines of Meregrim", but the area (and previous adventurers explorations) turned up nothing. This is to be one of a few possible adventure spots. It is also why the sky darkens - a stone of supernatural evil rests down in the mine. Also, the characters; Nolin, "Wen" Splintershield, Dwarven Rogue2 / Monk2; LG. Dagda Sharpshield, Dwarven fighter4; NG. Got her to take some ranks in knowledge: History so she has atleast a chance to discover the legacy weapon in her possession. Solarion, "Sol", Aasimar Archivist2; N, and remains a fairly contributive non-combatant. Actually, it was he who brought down the lead rogue in this last adventure with a very lucky 20 while swinging a mace; I think it was his first attack roll sinse we began playing actually. - abandoned (NPC that now resides in the old wizards' tower). Diero, Tiefling Warlock3; CN. Has played D&D for a while, but hates to optimize, so he never knows what to take. I offered the bind vestige feats from ToM, and he seems to like them alot. Adds versitility without a huge level of complexity. Next session will offer training, and then a delve into the mines of Meregrim! Just a note here; these mines are rife with undead, corrupted elementals, and other nasty things.