I'm pulling together material for a Kingmaker game I'm starting in January. One of the items I'll be providing the party is a page of 'What Every Peasant Knows'. What I'm looking for is whether there are things that I absolutely need to add, or really should remove.
--------------------
Take 10 - What Every Peasant Knows
These facts represent common knowledge, the sort of things that anyone who does a Take 10 on an untrained Knowledge Check would be able to determine about Brevoy and the Stolen Lands.
Arcana
-The Tatzlwyrm is an abundant wingless dragon that, along with Owlbears, infests the Stolen Lands
Geography
-The Stolen Lands can be broken into 4 areas (from SE to NW): The Nomen Heights, The Greenbelt, The Slough and The Glenebon Uplands.
-The Nomen Heights are named after aggressive tribes of Nomen Centaurs that live there.
-The 'safest' part of The Stolen Lands, The Greenbelt is infested with bandits.
-The Slough is a swampy land that is home to Boggards and Lizardfolk
-The Glenebon Uplands is claimed by the Tiger Lords, Pitax, and Brevoy. The Forest of a Thousand Voices is the haunted by Fey.
History
-About Two Hundred Years Ago, Choral the Conqueror united Issia and Rostland and created Brevoy, founding the Royal House of Rogarvia
-About a dozen years ago, the entire Royal House of Rogarvia disappeared, exactly 200 years after Brevoy was founded.
-The Stolen Lands have been colonized a number of times, but it has never been successful
Local
-The folk of the River Kingdoms live by a set of strange rules called the Six Freedoms.
Nature
-The Fey have an unusually strong presence in the Stolen Lands, particularly in the west
Nobility
-There are 8 Noble Houses of Brevoy: Garess, Lebeda, Lodovka, Medvyed, Orlovsky, Rogarvia, and Surtova
-Lodovka, Orlovsky, Medvyed and Surtova are Issian Houses. Garess and Lebeda are Rostlandic Houses. Rogarvia was neither, and their lands are in dispute since the entire Rogarvia House disappeard.
-Since the disappearance of House Rogarvia, House Surtova has taken the throne, crowning King Noleski I.
-The City of Restov is not part of any House Domain, but is ruled by the Aldori Swordlords, who are non-hereditary nobility consisting exclusively those who have proved themselves in the Aldori Dueling Schools. The Swordlords are culturally Rostlandic.
Religion
-Abadar, Gorum and Pharasma are the most commonly worshipped dieties in Brevoy.
-Abadar is favored by merchants and tradesman, as well as a few nobles who are particularly interested in trade.
-Gorum is favored by many of the nobility.
-Pharasma is the divinity of the common people of Brevoy.
-In very rural areas, Erastil holds sway, and cults of Lamashtu have a tenacious ability to endure all manner of cleansing crusade.
This is part two of my startup materials, the opening scene of the game as I see it, where the party gets the charter before travelling to Oleg's. Any comments are appreciated. Note that there are some very mild spoilers involved.
-------------
Calistril 23rd – Cold and rainy, the party has arrived at the Hall of Law in Restov. Each has been informed that they are to be given the opportunity to aid Brevoy and make a name for themselves in the process.
As they enter, they see a well-equipped band leaving the stables, a banner showing a slate gray ghost-like figure against a red field flapping in the Wind (DC 15 Knowledge: Local to ID the Iron Wraiths)
Inside the doors, they are faced with a large marble hall. Several halflings approach, the best-dressed one addressing the party as the others clear the mud from their boots.
“Welcome to the Hall of Law. You are (still hunting down names) I presume? Of course. You are expected. Please follow me.”
They are led into a well appointed room and offered refreshments.
While waiting, a handsome man steps from one of the doorways, wheels, and bows towards the other room, “Of course, Lord Mayor, I shall not fail.”. He turns and looks down his nose at the party, “Hmph, you must be the Greenbelt crew. We’ll see how long you last.”
If the party makes any move towards the door, Hannis Drelev (DC15 Knowledge:Local to recognize the someday to be Baron Drelev) barks a short laugh, “Ha! Sit yourselves back down. That door is not for you. Your door is that one.” He points to a closed door. The halfling majordomo looks blankly ahead, but nods slightly to confirm if anyone looks to him. Assuming no further conversations, he stalks out of the waiting room.
Shortly thereafter, the other door opens, and a tall, slim man steps out, “Ah, you must be those who will be mapping the Greenbelt.” He bows, “Maegar Varn, at your service. I’ll be trying to deal with the centaur issue in the Nomen heights. Perhaps we will meet again.” (Again, DC15 Knowledge:Local, this time to recognize Varn as someone close to becoming a swordlord)
“I believe Jamandi will see you now”, he gestures towards the open door and the halfling stands, escorting the party into the room.
That’s where Jamandi Aldori makes her pitch, presenting the Charter as well as the Bandits and Sootscale quests.
-----------
I've set it up this way to begin giving the characters continuity when these characters pop up in later parts of the AP. I also plan on explicit contact (and aid) from Varnhold before contact stops.
Calistril 23rd – Cold and rainy, the party has arrived at the Hall of Law in Restov. Each has been informed that they are to be given the opportunity to aid Brevoy and make a name for themselves in the process.
As they enter, they see a well-equipped band leaving the stables, a banner showing a slate gray ghost-like figure against a red field flapping in the Wind (DC 15 Knowledge: Local to ID the Iron Wraiths)
Inside the doors, they are faced with a large marble hall. Several halflings approach, the best-dressed one addressing the party as the others clear the mud from their boots.“Welcome to the Hall of Law. You are (still hunting down names) I presume? Of course. You are expected. Please follow me.”
They are led into a well appointed room and offered refreshments.While waiting, a handsome man steps from one of the doorways, wheels, and bows towards the other room, “Of course, Lord Mayor, I shall not fail.”. He turns and looks down his nose at the party, “Hmph, you must be the Greenbelt crew. We’ll see how long you last.”
If the party makes any move towards the door, Hannis Drelev (DC15 Knowledge:Local to recognize the someday to be Baron Drelev) barks a short laugh, “Ha! Sit yourselves back down. That door is not for you. Your door is that one.” He points to a closed door. The halfling majordomo looks blankly ahead, but nods slightly to confirm if anyone looks to him. Assuming no further conversations, he stalks out of the waiting room.
Shortly thereafter, the other door opens, and a tall, slim man steps out, “Ah, you must be those who will be mapping the Greenbelt.” He bows, “Maegar Varn, at your service. I’ll be trying to deal with the centaur issue in the Nomen heights. Perhaps we will meet again.” (Again, DC15 Knowledge:Local, this time to recognize Varn as someone close to becoming a swordlord)
“I believe Jamandi will see you now”, he gestures towards the open door and the halfling stands, escorting the party into the room.
That’s where Jamandi Aldori makes her pitch, presenting the Charter as well as the Bandits and Sootscale quests.
Good stuff! I was in the process of writing a similar introduction for my crew, so you just saved me a ton of work :)
There's some good info to be found(on Brevoy, Pitax, and Legends and magic items in the Stolen lands) in the AP itself, but you might also want to check out the "Guide to the River Kingdoms" book. It has a section on the Stolen Lands that you can pull some info from to give to the players. (Like the fact that the East Sellen River, the major trade route from north to south, flows through the Hooktongue, and that the lake in that area is the largest in the Stolen lands.)
I've been bad, I really need to finish writing up such info to give to my players. Bad GM! No D20! ;)
I'd forgotten about the River Kingdoms; I'll have to grind through that for additional data.