| #1lostanddamnedAug 14, 2015 5:23:41 | I first encountered Dungeons and Dragons when I was very young, around 4 or 5 if my memory serves me right, finding in our flat a coverless copy of D3 Vault of the Drow, I remember being fascinated by the pictures, and even though I couldn't understand most of it, I looked through it often.
Of course now a days I realise that module really shouldn't have been left laying around for a 4 or 5yo to pick up, having some topless Drow artwork in it, still it was quite cartoon like and in B&W, not very realistic and what was I to know back then.
But what got me was the Original Greyhawk Folio that my Dad also had, it was so pretty with those maps, they were one of the few things I ever did get from my dad in later years.
As a 8yo my parents worked at a market in Greenwich and one day we came across a second hand Mentzer Rod Box Basic Set and Expert Set, which I think my mum brought for me as the seller didn't want much for them.
When I started attending Boarding school at age 9 for those with learning difficulties in 1989, I took them with me, along with a few old UK modules, UK2 The Sentinel; UK3 The Gauntlet; UK4 When a Star Falls ; UK7 Dark Clouds Gather ; WG7 Castle Greyhawk and OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes That my parents had also got for me second hand, needless to say by then, my love for fantasy had firmly took hold, those early encounters with D&D had helped me improve my reading no end.
I tried for 3 years to get a group together to play the game, but sadly everyone always wanted to play Hero Quest or Space Crusade instead, most likely because it had miniatures while D&D had nothing but paper and funny sided dice.
That school closed down in 1993 and I was moved to another boarding school half way across the country, where I was introduced to Advanced Hero Quest and Warhammer 4th edition, sadly again, no one wanted them so at the local RPG and Wargaming store I traded them all in for Warhammer stuff (today I wish I hadn't but what did a 14yo know about the future prices of that stuff?)
Still my love for D&D has never died, and now in the Internet age, it is easier then ever to find a game, so my interest has grown again, and now with the rules available for free download, there is no excuse for not trying to play the game at least once in a while.
Needless to say my mind has been overactive with ideas for a world to play in, and I just have to get them down, so I thought the blog might be a good place to start, since I'm having problems with my figure painting, this might help alleviate the block I'm having, so lets start with the creation of this fantasy world......
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| #2lostanddamnedAug 14, 2015 5:32:04 | D&D Homebrew: The Creation of the Races
In the time before Language, before history, before time itself, the first Dwarf's took their first steps within the mountain's caves.
They learnt how to find the juiciest grubs and beetles which would not make them ill.
They found which fungi they could eat safely without harm.
They found which waters within the mountains they could drink from.
They found flint with which they forged the first fires.
They found the first sounds with which to spread their new found knowledge.
They then found the soft metals with which they first could smelt.
They found the tools with which to carve and mine their caves.
They found the use of stone with which they built their first homes upon the mountain sides.
They found the stones which sparkled so bright with which to refine their craft work with.
They found the harder metals with which to build their empires upon.
And all the while the Humans watched, listened and waited.
*****
In the time before Language, before history, before time itself, the first Elves took their first steps within the Forests.
They found which berries would not make them ill.
They found out which fruits which were at their best and worst.
They found which animals they could kill for food and materials.
They found which beasts to beware of and to be kind to.
They found which tree's whose wood would make fine tools from.
They found the sounds which would pass this knowledge on with.
They found the secrets of paper which the trees yielded unto them in time.
They found the power hidden in words of writing.
They found the means of shaping the tree's them self.
They found the magic with which to grow their empires with.
And all the while the Humans watched, listened and waited.
*****
In the time before Language, before history, before time itself, the first Halflings took their first steps upon the sandy shores.
They found the best movement with which to move in water.
They found the stones with which to make the first spears.
They found the fish with which to spear for food.
They found the best logs with which to float upon the crashing tides.
They found the sticks with which they formed the first paddles and oars.
They found the first uses of the big animal carcasses which washed upon the shores.
They found the words with which to spread this knowledge.
They found the leathers which made the best sails.
They found the stars which never moved with which to never get lost again.
They found the skills to sail the seas and roam their empire upon the oceans vast.
And all the while the Humans watched, listened and waited.
*****
In the time before Language, before history, before time itself, the first Gnomes took their first steps upon the grassy plains.
They found the first seeds with which to grow grain with.
They found the stones which ground the grain best.
They found the best beasts with which they could tame for their burdens.
They found the wood which would plow the fields straight.
They found the fibres with which to make the first ropes.
They found the first words with which to pass this knowledge on with.
They found the skills to divert the rivers would make the land grow.
They found the means to turn the wind into power.
They found the balance between beast and plant.
They found the life cycle of the very land they lived upon.
And all the while the Humans watched, listened and waited.
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| #3lostanddamnedAug 14, 2015 5:34:44 | As the other races of the world took their first steps and learnt their first skills, the Humans watched them, and mimicked them, but the Humans were shorter of life then the other races, and so they were the first to develop language with which to pass on their fledgling skills to their children.
Within two generations the Humans found the need to spread out and find fresh blood, and so they were the first to learn the arts of travel.
Within four generations, these Humans had spread the knowledge they had learnt from each of the races with each other.
Within six generations they had learnt how to blend the different skills to create wondrous new items.
Within ten generations the Humans could speak the other races language in a broken form and so the Humans had entered their first true phase of existence, that of the Trader....
*****
As the other races expanded their lands they entered into conflict, all in the name of expansion...
So the Humans watched the Dwarfs fight the Elves, who in turn fought the Gnomes, who came into conflict with the Halflings, and so violence entered their language for the first time, but they themselves waited.
As those other races fought Humanity stepped in.
They countered the Dwarfs tactics and brought them low.
They out manoeuvred the Elves and brought them low.
They outsmarted the Gnomes and brought them low.
They created new weapons and brought the Halflings low.
And yet, they did not kill unless they had to.
They took the races defeated and held the prisoner.
They talked to them, in their broken forms of the race's language.
Then they let them go and return to their peoples, with a message.
And so the Second Phase of Man began, that of the Diplomat......
*****
And so they gathered the wisest of the races, and formed a council.
They paved the first language common to all.
They paved the first laws to govern them all.
The formed the first guard watches to protect them all.
They built the first city to council all the lands.
They built the first roads to join all the nations.
And when the time came, they lead into combat the races united in purpose, for out of the north came races so dark of purpose all were in peril.
And so Humanity entered it's third phase, that of the General........
*****
And so, they fought for their very survival, leading the best soldiers from all the races into battle, and many legends were born, some of which are still sung of to this very day......
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