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Long ago, the orcish and goblinoid Peoples lived alongside the elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and humans. But the gods of these Others could not tolerate such coexistence, and bade their children drive the orcs and goblins from their green lands into the cold wastes at the edge of the world. The Peoples fought back, but whereas the Others were united, the People were divided by their petty rivalries and were defeated. The gods of the Peoples were shamed and turned their backs, and for many ages, the Peoples suffered and died while the Others grew powerful and decadent. But the gods had not completely abandoned their children. Unto their misery came Gothron, warchieftainess of the Stormfist orcs. Under her banner, her tribe conquered and united many of the Peoples in a great empire, and the gods were satisfied. For upon her conquest, they led the Peoples to great treasure hidden deep under the wastes, and Gothron's empire grew as rich and as powerful as any of those of the Others. But even with all her strength, Gothron could not live forever, and died in childbirth. Her empire was thrown into chaos as the Peoples squabbled to take the reins. Even today, five years after her death, the struggle continues, and the Others see an opportunity to once again steal the Peoples' land now that they have heard of its wealth. You are children of this chaos, and your actions may shape the future of Gothron's empire...or doom it to a forgotten memory.

Welcome to the End of the World! I will be running a 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game focusing on characters created using The Complete Book of Humanoids. We already have two players, and we would like to you to join us!

If you are interested, please speak up! You can find the character creation rules in the discussion thread, but to start you out, the basics are as follows:

Character races allowed will be orc, half-orc, goblin, hobgoblin, bugbear, kobold, ogre, half-ogre, and orog (the orog is treated as a half-ogre, rules-wise). Ability bonuses and penalties, minimum and maximum ability scores, and racial abilities are as per The Complete Book of Humanoids.

Racial class restrictions and level limits are expanded from The Complete Book of Humanoids. Although not all classes are available to a given race, every class from the 2e Player's Handbook is available to at least one race. (Yes, this includes paladins, mages, and the rest of the classes that might be considered atypical for a humanoid.)

Ability scores will be rolled old-school 3d6 in order, but you may roll five sets of scores and choose the one you like best. Furthermore, you may sacrifice points from one ability score to add points to another at a rate of 2:1, should you wish to adjust what you've rolled.

The setting of this campaign is a custom world, designed to make an all-humanoid campaign plausible. But don't feel like you can't take inspiration from other sources; if you like a god or a culture or whatever else from another setting, let me know and I'll give you a close approximation that fits in. For example, I can work with a request like "I want to play a a priestess of a Paladine-like god from a culture that resembles that of Icewind Dale".

I hope to see you soon!

Welcome to the out-of-character thread for the Tales from the End of the World! I'll post some of the things that you should know, after which you're welcome to create characters. If they look good, I'll approve them, and we can start the game!

The town of Zurogh (where you will be starting)

Zurogh is a town on the border of the Stormfist Empire. Situated at the confluence of the Falling River and the Great Serpentine. With its two rivers and close proximity to the passes through the mountainous Gates of Exile to the lands of the Others, Zurogh has long been a strategic location. As such, it was the first town in the region taken by the soldiers of the Stormfist Empire when they brought order to these lands.

Before the Empire's soldiers came to conquer, Zurogh and its surrounding lands belonged to the fractitious hobgoblin tribes, changing hands as often as one tribe became able to conquer the others. In recent years, the Fallling River Tribe has reigned unchallenged by the others. But despite their bitter resistance, they were unable to challenge the might of the Stormfist army.

These days, the Falling River hobgoblins keep a sullen peace under the rule of their conquerers, alarmed at the loss of their traditional way of life and the threat to their sacred forests. Some of their traditional rivals resist as well, but other tribes see the Empire as an opportunity to gain power and cooperate with the Empire.

The town of Zurogh is a filthy sprawl of tents and rickety wooden buildings, spreading further and further each day as more of the People come, seeking glory or fortune or any number of other things. The native hobgoblin tribes are joined by the soldiers and camp followers of the Empire, and the streets of Zurogh are filled with as great a diversity as any place outside of Narkuz, the captial of the empire itself. Vast fields surround the town itself, with hundreds of slaves coaxing the rocky ground to grow grain. But even these fields are small in comparison to the primeval forests of beech and conifer. Here, it is said, lurk things that were ancient even before the Others exiled the People to the End of the World.

Character Races (as per the Complete Book of Humanoids, except...)

Orc
level limits: fighter U, ranger 8, cleric 9, thief 11
multiclass combinations: fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, cleric/thief

Half-Orc
level limits: fighter U, mage 5, necromancer 5, cleric 9, thief 15
multiclass combinations: fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, cleric/thief

Goblin
level limits: fighter 10, ranger 10, mage 4, illusionist 4, cleric 9, thief U, bard 8
multiclass combinations: fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, cleric/thief

Hobgoblin
ability score range: maximum charisma 17
level limits: fighter 11, paladin 5, mage 8, conjurer 8, cleric U, druid 12, thief 12
multiclass combinations: fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, mage/cleric, cleric/thief

Bugbear
level limits: fighter 15, ranger 10, priest 12, thief 15
multiclass combinations: fighter/cleric, fighter/thief, cleric/thief, fighter/cleric/thief

Kobold
level limits: fighter 8, mage U, invoker U, transmuter U, cleric 9, thief 15
multiclass combinations: fighter/mage, mage/cleric, mage/thief

Ogre
no changes

Half-Ogre (and Orog, which uses the same rules)
level limits: fighter U, cleric 4, thief 4

Creating a Character

Ability scores will be rolled by method I (3d6 in the order of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). You may roll five sets of stats and pick which one you prefer. Take the underscores out of the following to roll each set:
[_dice]3d6[/dice], [_dice]3d6[/dice], [_dice]3d6[/dice], [_dice]3d6[/dice], [_dice]3d6[/dice], [_dice]3d6[/dice]

Weapon and non-weapon proficiencies will be used, so include those in your character creation process.

Think about the following questions regarding your character:

Why is your character in Zurogh?
What motivates your character?
Where is your character from (generalities such as "the city" or "born at sea" are fine considering that you, as players, are unfamiliar with the world unless you can read my mind)?
Does your character fit in with the culture that he or she was raised in?
Why might your character work with others?

Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll think of more questions. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.

Pre-game Connections

You are free to propose and discuss connections between your character and other characters amongst yourself. Creating shared backstory gives a better start to the game than "you all are in the tavern...". Of course, if you wish, you're welcome to claim that your character is brand new to town and doesn't know anyone, but if so, you should have a good reason to throw in with a bunch of strangers when the game starts.

Resources

Copyright law forbids me from posting a copy of The Complete Book of Humanoids, so if you don't have it, you'll have to find it yourself. I believe that it's recently become available at dndclassics.com, though. A free retro-clone of the core AD&D 2e rules, For Gold & Glory, is available should you need it.

Anything Else?

Since I just got home from five hours in the car, my brain is feeling pretty fried. The above is all I can think of for now; if I remember more advice upon waking up tomorrow, I'll post more. On the other hand, if you have questions, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as I can. I look forward to running this game; I hope you look forward to playing in it. Create away!

Hi all,

I am interested in running an 2nd Edition AD&D game set in a (region of a) world where the "goblinoid" races are dominant. As such, characters would be of the following races (from the Complete Book of Humanoids): orc, half-orc, goblin, hobgoblin, bugbear, kobold (the pre-3e, dog-like kind!), ogre, and half-ogre (also orog, using the same stats).

As none of these races are capable of becoming, say, mages, the class availability for these races will be expanded (all classes will be available, even if each race still has racial restrictions).

So, is anyone interested in playing in such a game? Also, let me know if you would like further information.