Okay, discussion thread is up. Apologies for the delays, I've been a bit under the weather.
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Homebrew. Although I do have the Midgard book, so a couple of things from it might creep in.
Anyway, I think I've gotten enough interest, so I'll set up a discussion thread in due course. It may turn out I've got too much interest after I drop a line to those parties who may not have noticed activity in the thread. I'll give it some thought after I see the final headcount.
Maiathreen, I'm pretty open in terms of races. I haven't nailed down which races existed on Midgard and the nine worlds to begin with, which leaves things open for people to nominate their own favoured races, and perhaps histories to go with them. Various races could be tied in with Norse mythology, or they could hail from other regions of Midgard, where different paradigms held sway. I think the only races which might present difficulties are those which hail from alien worlds or have a sci-fi feel to them, and even then they might be able to be reskinned or have backgrounds tweaked. Ragnarok may also provide an excuse for interesting races. Just on the topic of races, I'm declaring that kobolds get -2 STR, +2 DEX and +2 CHA, simply because I don't think I should declare they're a common race and then penalise anyone who decides to play one with bad stats.
A couple of thoughts for you, Min. In terms of cosmology, I'd been intending to use the nine worlds of Norse mythology, rather than alien worlds per se. At least in terms of worlds connected to Midgard. That said, the nine worlds are very much open to interpretation, source material on them being rather limited. So, if you wanted to reskin the Triaxians to be a race with variant morphologies depending on which world they were born on (say, for instance, Niflheim versus Muspelheim), with perhaps a history of migration across the worlds, that might work quite well. Alternatively, a case might be made for one of the worlds having a variable climate, or an entire region oscillating between worlds. Whether the same connections held sway in other regions on Midgard, or whether different cosmologies were found depending on the culture or pantheons of a region is a question I'll be leaving ambiguous for now. Or perhaps the cultures and pantheons themselves were shaped by a region's connections to other worlds. On the topic of dragonriders, I'll give it some thought. My inclination is, if and when dragons do turn up in the campaign, they'll be a very different kettle of fish to your standard D&D dragon, but that isn't an insurmountable difficulty. Indeed, I already have some thoughts as to how to work one in. I come from a very freestyle background when it comes to character creation, so my instinct is to do a bit of tweaking to allow concepts, rather than vetoing them because they clash with my vision. I'll drop you a PM at some point outlining my thoughts.
Okay, so. A fair while ago now, I threatened to run a campaign. Having been reminded and prodded by a couple of interested friends, that time has come. I’ll be adopting a sandbox approach to the campaign, both in terms of picking out interesting plot hooks and of suggesting or actively pursuing characters’ own personal goals. I figure I’ll set things out here to begin with, see if I get any interest, and set up a proper discussion thread if so. So, without any further ado, the pitch: Essentially, I’ve gone post-apocalyptic. Or rather, post-ragnarok. The Twilight of the Gods has been and gone. A wolf devoured the sun, armies of the dead set sail on ships of fingernails, and a lot more besides. Fimbulwinter descended and Midgard perished in a cold and endless night. Thankfully, Midgard was not the only world. Some few mortal survivors were able to traverse the chaos and destruction of Ragnarok and find refuge upon the Rainbow Bridge. Some five years have passed since then. Though the scars of Ragnarok still linger, the people are prospering in their new home, and are doing their best to rebuild their fallen civilisation, salvaging or reassembling whatever scraps of knowledge they can. There’s considerable scope for adventurous types to chart the limits of the Bifrost, or to become involved in politics as old divisions, set aside in the name of survival, reassert themselves. The Bifrost is a tropical realm of eternal sunlight and indeterminate size, rich in plants, animals and natural resources, but seemingly devoid of intelligent life. People have begun to modify the terrain around the settlement of Ragnfeld, establishing dwellings and agriculture, but the Bridge is sparsely populated and explorations have been limited to date. Thus far, mineral resources are scarce, providing an impetus for exploration. Ragnfeld itself, originally a small frontier outpost, is rapidly becoming a sizable town, with some thirty thousand people living there or scattered across the surrounding countryside. Its population consists primarily of humans and kobolds, with other races represented to greater or lesser extents. Some of Midgard’s common races are not represented at all, having failed to escape Ragnarok. The demographics are also a tad shot, being skewed towards women and the young, such people having been more likely to be sent through the portal to the Bridge, rather than fighting to defend it. Culturally, the people are primarily Ascomi, a fantasy analogue of the Norse, and sharing the Norse pantheon. Other cultures and pantheons held sway in different regions of Midgard, and there is a certain resentment among survivors of those cultures that the Ascomi gods took the rest of the world down with them. Quite aside from the push to gather knowledge and resources to rebuild, there are some decidedly ambitious people around, determined to make their mark upon the new world, whether as leaders or explorers. Others are more focused upon teaching or training the younger generation, or seeing to the readiness of a militia. Ragnarok is, after all, a recent memory, and being ready to fight and survive never goes amiss. ------------------------------ Character Creation: I’ll be going with a high fantasy points buy (ie 20 points), with a starting level of 3. I’m open to most character classes, so long as I have access to them, and may well be willing to discuss tweaking depending on character concepts. Starting wealth is equivalent to 4,000 gp. In terms of backgrounds, you’re wide open. You might be Ascomi, or a traveller from elsewhere on fallen Midgard. You might be one of the initial explorers of the Rainbow Bridge, or a refugee from Ragnarok. You might be of a common race, a small remnant, or the last of your kind. Although the gods have been silent since Ragnarok, clerics still have access to divine spells and powers, though it’s a mystery where they’re drawing that power from. People are free to select their own pantheons. On the topic of wealth, it’s worth noting that Ragnfeld is not a gold-heavy economy, running more on barter, favours and social credit. There are also a few artifacts from Midgard available for general use, the most notable being the Changestone, a statue able to transmute people into mer-kin (or mer-kobolds, as the case may be). Very handy for exploring the ocean. Any questions, or anything you think I’ve missed, feel free to ask.
I really ought to make sure I read all there was to read in the other threads, just in case they do quietly vanish one of these days. That or archive the lot on general principle.
I recall threatening people with a new campaign a while back. I shall have to dust off my notes and make my pitch.
Just what we'll find when we pull off the Baron's goofy mask is something I couldn't possibly comment on.
I was just going to inquire whether it would fit in somebody's pack myself. Nobody had indicated they were picking it up at the time.
Kelne's eyes narrowed at the sight of the foot interposed with the helm. It didn't really take much insight to suspect where Nasmarra might be. "A moment," he said, striding back to the cage room. A short glance did indeed reveal Nasmarra struggling to lift the chunk of metal with murderous intent. "Well, that's not going to work," he told her, "Not without a good deal more strength than you can bring to bear, at least. I appreciate that you feel strongly about this, but I don't appreciate that you're going behind our backs. Until now, I'd thought I only had to worry about Jorzan doing this kind of thing. So. What say we return to the urgent business at hand, and talk it all out later. There must be a solution that doesn't involve a choice between killing the thing or letting it free to run amok on our world."
It was, perhaps, the perfect setup line, and Kelne decided to take advantage of it, strolling casually out into the corridor, hand on his sword hilt, "Today, at least, we really are out to get you," he informed the guards, giving them a decidedly worrying smile, "Fancy surrendering?"
Kelne ducked into the same room as Justahl, finding a spot to put the vanaran down before they became embroiled in a fight.
"Agreed," Kelne said, plainly not happy at the prospect of turning his back on the situation, but unable, or perhaps unwilling, to argue against Justahl's reasoning. Pushing the issue towards an immediate resolution plainly bore a distinct risk of somebody doing something stupid. Which, considering the hostile territory they were in, would end badly for them all. Nor did a swift resolution of their differences on the subject seem likely. "If somebody wouldn't mind stowing away that chunk of metal though? Just in case it turns out we need it," he said, indicating the piece of itself the Mothermind had shed. It would be dreadfully embarrassing to return to find somebody had made off with it while their backs were turned. With that, he fell in with Justahl, signalling his own support for pressing onwards.
"I'm not a fan of walking away from important matters with the intention of coming back to them later," Kelne noted, "That supposes we won't be distracted, cut off or otherwise prevented from returning." Indeed, they'd already been through one such experience. "I'm leaning towards setting the Mothermind free, myself," he went on, "There are risks, yes, but sending a message back to the others of its kind represents a chance to alter the prevailing status quo of war with the Metallum Aeternum. Not an opportunity to be lightly cast aside, I would think."
"I appreciate the show of trust," Kelne said seriously, "I do think you ought to understand why this conflict exists though. Otherwise, you'll be doomed to repeat it in other times and places. Put simply, there's a clash over resources. While we don't eat metals directly, they are very useful to us for making tools which we can use to help grow our own food, and for a multitude of other uses which improve our lives. Your actions directly impact upon our wellbeing, particularly as time goes by and you consume ever-greater amounts. As a result, people will try to cut short your expansion at the earliest possible stage, before you have a chance to do major damage." "My suggestion would be that, collectively, you take a step back. Reconsider this path of expansion which is leading you into conflict with other races. Perhaps you might be more choosy about which worlds you expand to, or curtail your expansion. You might even be able to come to some mutually beneficial arrangement with other races through negotiation. That is the kind of message I would have you take back to the others, rather than simply having them avoid this one world."
Or I could go with the "let's try to convince the threat to all of existence of the error of its ways" approach. That ought to be fun.
As it turned out, there was one final issue to address before proceeding. Namely, what to do with the apparently intelligent creature in the cage. A couple of quick queries gave Kelne at least some of the background on the Metallum Aeturnum. Enough to know that he didn't particularly like the options on the table. "Alright. We either kill it or free something insanely dangerous. Neither option exactly fills me with joy. So, let's have a little chat, you and I, Mothermind. It seems you've managed to make enemies of the entirety of the planet's population and of the Gods themselves. Not something likely to work out well for you, I would think. How do you think you might go about changing the situation?"
As I understand it, we lack the appropriate weaponry to kill it in any case. Still, I think this probably warrants an IC discussion, so I'll kick one off.
"He's a bit out of it, I'm afraid, Hurin, so he's not going to be much help. Hopefully there'll be somebody amongst the prisoners we can get to look after him, since I doubt hauling him along into fights would work out well." "As to you lot," he went on, turning his attention briefly to the guards, "I'll tell you the same thing I told your friends. I doubt staying here and pleading ignorance will work out well for you if we manage to overthrow the people in charge. Not sure the higher-ups will be happy with you if they do come out on top, for that matter. I suggest you quietly slip away and find something else to do with your lives." With that, he was ready to descend into the mines.
Please, all that is behind me now. It had better be. Or so help me, I will turn this adventuring party right around... Somewhat belatedly, sorry to see you go, Gray.
"Right. Some advice," Kelne told the guards, "I don't think staying here and pleading ignorance is going to work out well for you. If nothing else, there's a very real chance my friends and I will be overthrowing the established order. And I very much doubt the prisoners will be happy with your part in all this. So. My advice is that you quietly slip away and find yourselves alternative employment." With that, he turned his back on them and joined the others, ready for the descent into the mines. A few quick questions saw him reasonably up to speed on what they'd discovered.
"I see," Kelne said with deceptive mildness, "And where might I find those people who haven't tried to escape?" Rescuing said people from their situation had definitely become a priority.
"Wise decision," Kelne said, "I don't suppose one of you would care to explain why I found this poor soul getting his legs gnawed off in that room?" "We are getting a bit of ice build-up in that room, incidentally," he informed Hurin, picking up the vanaran once more, "So I'm sure we'll be meeting her soon enough."
Kelne let out a long-suffering sigh at the interruption, "I'll tell you what," he said, carefully setting the vanaran down, "You have a look through that door," he nodded towards the far door, "And then you can decide whether you want to surrender."
"Well, that looks ominous," Kelne said, half to himself, perusing the far wall, "Can't very well leave you here if that ice is going to spread. I don't suppose that ring you're wearing affords you any protection from the cold?" As he spoke, he picked up the vanaran, walking through to join the others and plan out their next move. They were going to have to get somebody to watch over the poor soul, since he didn't seem entirely alert or capable of fending for himself just yet. Even discounting the missing legs. "Prisoners, I see," he observed on entering, "That's one possible solution to a problem, I suppose." Whether he was entirely prepared to trust the vanaran's care to people who had, after all, left him to be eaten by a bullette wasn't exactly a given, but if they could be convinced it was in their best interests to cooperate, it might be a viable plan.
"Yes, well, I'm afraid there's bad news on the legs," Kelne told the vanaran, not really seeing any way to broach the topic delicately, "Unfortunately, you've lost them. On the plus side, you are still alive, and we should be able to get you out of here as soon as our business here is done." He gave the vanaran a few moments to take this information in. The large, dead bullette next to them ought to provide some context.
"That shouldn't be a problem," Kelne agreed, studying the bullette and working out the quickest, surest way to kill it now that it was incapacitated. In the end, he decided on a brute-force approach, using his warhammer to cave in the creature's skull. With the danger eliminated, he turned his attention to the victim in all of this. "I suppose we'd better wake him up," he remarked, leaning over to give the vanaran a gentle shake. This was a going to be a decidedly good-news bad-news scenario for the poor sod.
Well, he had its attention now, at least, Kelne reflected, trading blows with the bullette whilst waiting for Nasmarra to finish whatever spell she was casting. The creature was proving annoyingly resilient, but hopefully whatever she had up her sleeve would put paid to that. Or she'd fix up the vanaran and they could retreat, leaving the bullette to its own devices. He was pretty sure it wouldn't fit through the door. Actually, not all that sure the door would hold it, come to think of it.
"Over here, you dratted creature!" Kelne told the bullette irritably, shifting further away from the door and directing a series of powerful blows at it. Distracting it from Nasmarra so she could help the vanaran was the order of the day, but it didn't seem to be taking the bait. Two of the blows skipped off the creature's armoured hide, but one bit into it, drawing more blood.
Kelne burst into the room and promptly attacked, intent upon distracting the hell out of the bullette, if not killing it outright. He certainly managed to skewer the creature through a joint in its plating, but wearing it down would take time.
Kelne is taking Nasmarra along. Have to have somebody to heal the victim, after all. Of course, he may be outmatched. That's a risk I take when I make a decision without looking up the monster's CR. We'll see soon enough though.
Well, assuming the info from the shadow's been relayed, that kind of sets things in motion. Kelne's not going to delay saving the vanaran while they come up with a plan better than what they've got. I think the plan's basically sound in any case. No refinements to add beyond what's been said.
"Jorzan's plan seems sound," Kelne said, "You three go ahead and enact it. Nasmarra, you're with me. It sounds as if we'll need some healing. Astar, you're in reserve. If those card players decide to bother us, discourage them. I doubt we're going to finish this without stirring up an alarm, but there's no sense delaying." He nodded to Jorzan to make his move, gave him a couple of seconds, then swung open his own door, intent on dealing with the bullette quickly. They hadn't spent much time on the planning, but he begrudged even that, in light of what Jorzan's shadow had reported.
Kelne began by listening at the right hand door, intending to save them a bit of time. As it turned out, he wound up listening for a short while, before turning an exasperated look on Justahl at his willingness to give the doors a clean bill of health. Having decided that he was going to have to check the other doors himself, he listened at each in turn before rendering his verdict: "Justahl, a good person you may be, but you might like to let other people listen at doors in future," he said, keeping his voice down in deference to the lurkers on the other side of said doors. "We have some decidedly hungry noises here, mixed with whimpering," he waved a hand at the right hand door, "Two people playing cards to the left, and people discussing some kind of guard beast in an exotic cage behind door number three." "Now, I think our best plan of attack is to incapacitate the people behind the centre door before they have a chance to sound the alarm or release whatever-it-is. Meanwhile, I'm investigating the right hand door. The whimpering might not be there if we wait until later on." Sword now in hand, he waited by the right hand door for the others to get into whatever positions they saw fit. He very much doubted they were going to get any further without an alarm being sounded.
Kelne nodded. He had, at least, prompted a decision to be made, rather than sticking around discussing the matter at length. He fell in towards the rear of the group, keeping an eye out behind. It wouldn't do for somebody to sneak up behind them from one of the other passages, after all.
"Somehow, I suspect a confrontation with this 'Her' person will stir up trouble," Kelne remarked quietly, keeping his voice soft enough that the rock-creatures would have trouble hearing, "Unless there's some reason to see Her first, I say we start by freeing Nouhves, quietly if we can, then visit Her before we leave." "I also say we move before those two guards decide we're up to no good. Cassandra gets veto, but otherwise, all in favour of my plan?" Kelne awaited a brief show of hands.
Since he didn't speak the language, Kelne's only means of assessing how Nasmarra was doing, or what he might do in her support, was the fact hat the conversation was continuing and things had yet to degenerate into bloodshed. With so little to go on, and unable to chime in without knowing if he might be contradicting what Nasmarra was saying, he settled for being a grim, foreboding presence.
Having overheard Pripoo's self-assessment of his own abilities, Kelne made very sure to check, before they left, whether he was really sure he wanted to accompany them. To the point of being downright discouraging, in fact. They were, he pointed out, people who were typically engaged in dangerous business, of which dead bodies scattered about were a comparatively minor example, and he was sure he could prevail upon the elves to let him join them, under the circumstances. As far as the prisoner went, he wasn't particularly bothered. By the time the man got back to civilisation, any information he'd overheard ought to be obsolete and useless to anybody who might question him. There might be repercussions to today's events, but he'd deal with any ill will from the man's mercenary band if and when it eventuated. As far as the contents of the caravan went, they'd have to work their way through it when they had the time.
Technically truthful or not, Kelne didn't trust the demon in the least, and it wasn't as if they'd asked it to lead them somewhere safe in any case. Accordingly, he approached the cave with caution, keeping a sharp eye out and ready for a fight at a moment's notice.
Okay, going with the ranger levels. Will have to give the feats some thought, but otherwise I think I've gotten everything.
I'm contemplating the choice between fighter and ranger levels myself. The favoured terrain option and extra skill points tempt me. Weighed against that is advancement so that various high-level fighter-only feats are available. I'm also considering the merits of Leadership. In your case, I think you're better off advancing in an existing class unless you've got a particular favoured enemy in mind for that first ranger level. Better to open up access to some of the higher level stuff in an existing class, I think. I see a second rage power on the barbarian track, if that appeals, plus you'd get extra rounds of rage. Alternatively, there's access to those advanced fighter feats, plus the bonus feat.
"Oh, I'm sure we can tie you into a saddle," Kelne said with a marked lack of sympathy before turning his attention to the others, "We've got a storm coming in," he informed them, "We can stay ahead of it for a while, but we're not going to reach our destination before it hits. Best to keep an eye out for any likely spots to hole up as we go."
"I imagine some portion of the demon's strength has gone into the bindings," Kelne observed, "Not a fatal loss apparently, but not good for quality of life, either." So freeing Nouhves would seem to be in the demon's self-interest. Not that this would make it any less treacherous. Let there be some opportunity for greater gain, and it would no doubt betray them in a heartbeat.
Kelne wasn't entirely sure these were distinguishing features when it came to celestial horses. Though, as he thought on it, he hadn't seen any other celestial horses to compare Nouhves with. Perhaps they did vary in their colouration just as mortal horses did. Of course, considering Cassandra's pronouncement, there didn't seem to be any doubt it was Nouhves, but there were proprieties to be observed. No sense in letting the demon know they had any special insights, and especially no sense in drawing its attention towards Cassandra. For the moment, he confined himself to keeping an eye on the demon, leaving Justahl to ask the questions. If the demon did try anything, it would go badly for it.
Kelne regarded the demon with a distinctly suspicious air. Oh, sure, it looked small, frail and starved, but he was fairly sure demons weren't necessarily quite so restricted by their apparent physical forms as mortals were. He kept his own hammer held casually in hand, "You might want to try that again in the common tongue," he told the demon mildly.
"Just so we're clear that the demon doing these things doesn't necessarily mean it's friendly. Be on your guard," Kelne said, checking everybody was well clear of the third gem before adding his efforts to Justahl's.
"As a rule, I'm against leaving people locked up in a tyrant's prison on the grounds that they might possibly be evil," Kelne said, punctuating the statement with a blow to one of the gems from his hammer, "They get the benefit of the doubt, barring some pretty conclusive evidence." Hurin hadn't been present for the previous iteration of the argument about whether or when to release the prisoners, but Kelne was definitely not going to get bogged down in discussion and delay freeing them again. That hadn't worked out well the last time. As a result, he was carrying right on with breaking open the gems in question as he talked.
With no objections forthcoming, Kelne set about shattering the gems containing the elf and the Vanaran.
Kelne inclined his own head to the elves, "We've had dealings of our own with Ormir," he said, "Always a pleasure to thwart his designs. Shall we set the prisoners free before anything else?" he asked, hefting his hammer, "Demons excepted, of course." The question was decidedly rhetorical. Kelne had no intention of allowing another opportunity to free the prisoners to slip through his grasp. Indeed, barring any interference, he would proceed directly to shattering the gems of anybody who didn't seem immediately threatening.
Greetings. Good to see you about again.
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