Hello! I'll post some fun details on my campaign in this thread, I hope you enjoy.
I did the opening of my campaign very differently. I asked all my players to bring a roster of 2-4 characters and we would decide a party at our first session. The proposed characters were:
1. Dwarf metal oracle, Hobgoblin cavalier
2. Dwarf cleric of gorum, dwarf bard, ratfolk alchemist
3. Dwarf fighter, Elf rogue
4. Dwarf bard, Halfling bard, Fetchling Summoner
5. Dwarf bard, Elf druid
6. Dwarf druid, halfling rogue
You see that there are LOTS of dwarves submitted - I told the party that dwarves would likely be able to make some underground caverns for their kingdom...
The opening
I gave each player (there are 6! so many) a member of the Swordlord Council (stolen from Redcelt) and we actually roleplayed who we wanted to send out into the wilderness. It was a lot of fun! I even awarded the best RP with a new set of dice. The final party ended up being:
Dwarf metal oracle
Dwarf cleric of gorum
Elf rogue
Fetchling summoner
Dwarf bard
Dwarf druid
Very melee heavy, lots of divine (3 full!) Lots of dwarves. I like it.
An important note about the campaign is that I have removed all non-consumable magic items. Magic is insanely important here.
Creating characters this way ended up being a LOT of fun for all involved - I discouraged players from openly talking about their builds so that everybody would just bring a stable of characters they wanted to play without feeling pigeonholed. If I were to do it again, I would split up a bunch of roles (Martial, Divine, Arcane, Support, Skilled) and ask each person to list their main focus.. then share the list so people could keep track of what roles needed to be filled. Also discourage people from bringing mutiples of the same role (dont bring 3 melee focused characters!)
Will put up the gameplay notes from our first session later today :o
I like the way you started, but i am unsure about the total lack of magical items.
This will bring too much oompfh to the casters, and some crying to the non-casters.. I think.
Keep us posted!
The party:
Baelog Kundarak, Dwarf Metal Oracle 2
Baelog was raised in a small community within Brevoy on the border of the Rostland Plains. The townspeople thrived here by chopping lumber and digging ores from the Blackhearth Mine in the nearby mountain range. Baelog’s family had long lived in these regions, and it was his grandfather Urel whom began the construction of such a mine. Since then, this lone Dwarven family worked the mines and turned the materials within into armours and weapons to trade with Resten and New Stetson, while simultaneously arming the townsfolk in case of a bandit raid.
Baelog was a young dwarf when he started to dig in the Blackhearth Mine. Through what first seemed like luck, he managed to find a surprisingly large number of iron and gold veins. He had a connection to the metal so deep he could draw power from it. It was one day however, when the town had been on a dry spell and needed some gold desperately when he struck something interesting- he had found buried within the bedrock a strange gleaming stone. Awestruck by the thing of apparent magic, he rushed to dig it out and in his haste forgot to properly structure the shaft he was digging. A small quake caused the unsteady ceiling to collapse and a large rock to fall upon his head, leaving him dazed and trapped with only his pick and this enchanted rock he had found.
When he awoke, Baelog found the collapse had created a small tunnel that if it were dug out carefully, would lead to fresh air much sooner than the heap of rubble blocking the way he came. After a couple hours he emerged within the forest hungry and weary. He had barely found a stream to drink from when he collapsed from exhaustion. He was haunted in his dreams by images of angry fairies and a laughing hag. As he awoke to find himself surrounded by all sorts of fey, greedy for the gem he carried. The pixies and nixies and grigs swarmed him and clawed at his eyes and stomache, shouting for the gem. Baelog could not withstand the assault of so many creatures and the gem was taken from him- the one last hope he had to provide for his townsfolk the wealth they required to import much of the food they needed. He ran as fast as he could to the town bloody and battered, to find the townsfolk had already begun packing up to move away. They claimed the mineshaft was empty and there was no point sticking around if no gold could come in, and no one believed Baelog’s tale of being so close to riches.
With nothing left to stay for, he and his family packed up and left just like everyone else. Baelog began looking for work that would hopefully restore his own honour and the wealth of his family.
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=ALLIES=
Gonjar Kundarak Male Dwarf
Gonjar is Baelog’s father. It was he who taught Baelog how to honour tradition and to work hard to provide for your family and community. He was a man of morals and metal, able to craft the finest of armours with ease and guiding Baelog in his efforts to do the same. Gonjar always told him “Metal is for men” in regards to weapons and armour.
Tholia Kundarak Female Dwarf
Tholia is Baelog’s wife. They’ve been married three years and so far do not have children. Tholia works as a weaponsmith in New Stetven and Baelog plans to move her into the kingdom being founded once it is safe for her and their future children. She thinks of him as “quirky” and tries to look past the fact that he’s really nuts.
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=ACQUAINTANCES=
Garett Lightfoot Male Halfling
A travelling merchant, Garett made a decent living travelling in a caravan on the Rostland plains between all the towns and small communities. He often did business with the Kundarak family as their craftsmanship was some of the finest in the area. In trade for their armour and weapons, Garett would often give them large quantities of mead and silver.
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=ENEMIES=
Witherwandrayu
Ever since that unfateful day, Baelog hasn’t been able to rid the feeling of something watching him. Sometimes he swears he can hear giggling behind a tree, or the flutter of wings in the night time. Whatever it is that won’t leave him alone, he plans to find a way to escape from it, or destroy if given the chance.
Pietro Cannis Male Human
Pietro worked as a miner within the Blackhearth Mine, and he was always extremely jealous of Baelog with his lucky finds of ore. Baelog received praise by the other miners for this, and Pietro never once found anything more than small veins of iron. Jealousy grew into contempt and when it came time to pack up and leave, Pietro was the first to blame the dwarves, claiming they had taken all the wealth for themselves.
Giovanni Phairlan Male Elf
As far as keeping traditions goes, Giovanni and Baelog are doing a fine job. In their community, the Phairlans were lumberjacks and struggled to provide for the community as much as the Kundaraks. However they insisted woodcutting would be a more reliable business, which was the case. Growing up together Baelog and Giovanni were raised with animosity towards eachother, and even now they would deliberately go out of their way to at least mock the other.
Dolgrin "The Brown" Acanthus, Dwarf Druid 2
Dolgrin Acanthus, being part of the kings army (and a little claustrophobic), rarely spent time in caves and took a liking to adventuring. Most of his adventures consisted of making deliveries to different parts of the world. He hadn’t really settled down much until he got word that his parents were deathly ill and should return home immediately.
With all haste, he travelled from Clawpoint to Brunderton. Upon his arrival his parents had died. Dolgrin was devastated that his adventuring was more important, never to realize his parents were getting old and fragile. He started wondering how old he was, and how much adventuring put strain on him. His parents were laid to rest and Dolgrin now had the keys to his parents shop. His parents were pawnbrokers, handing out loans to people and collecting the debt they needed to pay back. Most of their business was with other shop owners consisting of blacksmiths and armories.
It was all Dolgrin’s now. He didn’t even know how to run a shop, but he figured he might as well try. Dolgrin’s uncle Geri (ENEMY, dwarf, bard) had wanted to get his hands on his parents shop ever since they became sick. Though Dolgrin struggled he never up. His family’s motto was “Endurance overcomes all”, so Dolgrin figured that if he endured running his parents shop he would overcome how difficult it actually was.
Dolgrin realized that running the shop meant no more adventuring. Grunyar Stolback (ally, dwarf, fighter) one of his second in command, was sad to see him go. “I’ll always come to your aid my friend.” Dolgrin remember’s him saying. Grunyar Stolback always had Dolgrin’s back, and Dolgrin his. Now Dolgrin would be alone, working in a shop.
Dolgrin was now in charge of Agna and Harsk’s PawnTrorium. Business was going well for him; his parents had left him a very large number of great clients made payments every so often. One halfing in particular, always hung around hoping to get out of his payment for the month. “But I have a family.” Yamyra (Halfling, bard, acquaintence) would always say. Dolgrin would always let him pass once or twice because he would always have a great idea for blacksmithing. Yamyra had owned a well-known blacksmithing company.
Another well-known client was Lini (gnome, monk), she was a childhood friend of Dolgrin. She was now the owner of her parents armory, unfortunately Lini’s parents had not finished paying off their loan. They handed it off to her as soon as she was old enough so she was stuck paying it off. Her parents were explorers, but Lini was more of a peaceful. She had studied at Irori shrine.
One day, early morning, Dolgrin got a letter in the mall inviting him to a meeting of all the world’s most wealthiest Pawnbrokers in Chesed. They were to have a competition in a tournament to see who was the best Pawnbroker. Dolgrin got ready as quick as he could, putting his uncle in charge and set out. On his way there, a group of bandits ambushed him. They tipped his wagon causing the horse to escape and sending him flying off the road. He was lying in the ditch when he heard the leader of the group talking in elvian. Dolgrin didn’t know a whole lot of Elvian, he did, however, have enough wits about him to stay where he was.
Studying the bandits, he learned that Zordlon was the leader. As he gathered with the bandits, Dolgrin looked for an escape route. He knew that he would have to wait for the opportune moment to run or when the opportune moment was to strike. Unfortunately, Dolgrin had left his equipment in the wagon.
Zordlon spoke in his elvain tongue to the bandits, then he shouted “FARA TEN’ HO!” and they all dispersed. Some went in the opposite direction with Zordlon, the others were headed straight for Dolgrin. His heart racing, Dolgrin got up and started to sprint. He didn’t know how far he would manage to make it, but he knew he didn’t have any other option. He made a break for the forest, breaking tree branches and getting smacked in the face by twigs. He could hear the bandits getting closer and closer to him.
Dolgrin collapsed in a clear clearing where the bandits surrounded him. Laughing at the thought of a dwarf getting away from a couple of bandits was unthinkable. Dolgrin started to get up and was abruptly kicked to the ground. He didn’t know what he was doing anymore, he was done for.
Suddenly, there was a loud growl, like the sound of a tiger. Dolgrin didn’t want to look, he knew he was done for anyway, and the thought of trying to fight a tiger made him sick. The tiger mauled the bandits, clawing them to a bloody pulp. The tiger circled him and sniffed him. He wasn’t too sure about what Dolgrin was. Dolgrin sat up and stared at the tiger. “Down Kronos.” said a mysterious voice. Out of the woods, stepped a man dressed in matted clothes. The man introduced him as Godfred Higgens of the forest.
Godfred Higgens was part of the House of Medvyed, one of the noble families of Brevoy. His family never believed in houses, weapons, or armor. They believed that Earth was a sanctuary and that we as the dwellers of Earth should protect it. They lived in lean-to’s and rarely stayed in one area for more than a few days. The only time they would stay for an extended period of time was for celebrations.
Higgens brought Dolgrin to his “camp”. Higgens fixed Dolgrin up and sent him on his way in disgust. Dolgrin tried to understand what he did to upset this man who had just saved his life. “Excuse me sir, who or what are you?” he asked him.
“I am a druid of nature.” he answered.
“A what?”
“A druid. Something you probably never would have even encountered until now. Now leave!”
“But wait, the way you handled….that tiger, it was fascinating.”
“Yes, that’s what we do. We have a bond with nature. You disgust me, pathetic dwarf, NOW GO!” Higgens was getting impatient.
“Please, sir, I would like to know more of druids. Can you train me to become one?”
Higgens looked hesitant, though his families numbers were growing thin. He studied Dolgrin and then said, “Alright, first rule, throw away all your possessions. Armor, clothes, shoes, everything.”
Dolgrin did as he was told. Then, Higgen’s fixed him up in almost exactly the same outfit he was wearing…except for a dwarf, so slightly smaller than his.
Over the course of 20 years, Dolgrin trained under Higges to become a druid. During the first few years, Dolgrin became greatly acquainted with the Higgen’s family. He told them how he was the owner of a shop that his parents used to own. They had a celebration for the induction of Dolgrin into the house of Medvyed’s. At the celebration, Dolgrin got friendly with one of the Medvyed members, Chao a female ranger human. They were up into the early morning hours talking and reminiscing of the past. Dolgrin sharing his past, Chao sharing her family’s past.
In the morning Higgen’s family had given the boys a task. They were to find unclaimed land and form a new branch of the home of Medvyed. So they set out, exploring most of Old Iobaria, until they met another group of bandits. This time they had guns.
“Gunslingers.” whispered Higgens in shock.
They studied them closely, waiting until their numbers dwindled. When there were only about 5 of them, Higgens decided to send in Kronos.
Kronos managed to eliminated most of them. “Great job, Kronos! That will teach those bandits to mess around here.”
Then the sound of gunfire rifled through the air. Everyone was standing still, looking at each other. Kronos collapsed and a pool of blood started to form around him. Higgens caressed Kronos in his arms, there was no bringing him back. Silence filled the air, the gunman had never showed his face.
Then laughter rippled through piercing Higgens. Higgens got up and turned to the laughter. An Elvain man, who Dolgrin remembered as Zordlon. Zordlon clapped as he approached. As he inched closer and closer, Dolgrin felt something strange was happening inside of him. He was getting angry, which was unusual, he hadn’t felt anger in nearly a decade.
With eyes fixed on Zordlon, they weren’t able to see what was going on around them. Sweat started dripping down from Dolgrin’s face. Suddenly, Higgens started gasping for air. He collapsed holding his side. Dolgrin ran to his side to understand what was going on.
He let his hand run up his side where he found a dagger stabbed in him. He looked around to see who could have done it, but to avail. Higgens was dying, Dolgrin wasn’t able to help him in anyway. “What a pathetic human.” said a seductive voice.
A woman appeared by Zordlon’s side. She wasn’t fully Elf, nor was she fully Human. “Serves him right for sending that stupid beast after us.”
“Come now Maddela, don’t tease him. After all, this is the person I have been looking for all along. It takes a great deal of skill to evade me for this long,” said Zordlon. “What say you, would you like to join my clan? Become a bandit, and explore the world? I believe you have a certain set of skills, skills that I want!”
Dolgrin started to feel hot, his tears burned as they slid down his face, his anger burning inside him. He turned and glared at Zordlon who wasn’t laughing or clappping anymore. Fear flashed across his face. Dolgrin felt extremely hot now, his hands were made of flames as he reached and grabbed Zordlon and Maddela in a vortex. Zordlon and Madella were on fire, screaming. They batted out the fire and ran for their lives.
One of the bandits was coming to. She didn’t know what was going on. “You are defeated. Get up and leave this place, and never return.” warned Dolgrin.
The bandit got up and asked, “Why are you letting me go so easily?”
“You don’t have any back up, you would be defeated in a matter of minutes.” Dolgrin replied.
She went on to say she would be able to defeat him in a one-on-one combat, but she will go. Her name was Umie, and she would make sure the next time they met, she would be able to fight Dolgrin.
Kazz D'Avore, Kayal (Fetchling) Summoner 2
My name is Prince Kazz D’Avore, heir to Kayal kingdom of Invermere in the Shadow Plane. Not that such a claim means a great deal. Despite maintaining independence in name, Invermere has been ground firmly beneath the claws of the great Umbral Dragons that plague my people’s homeland. When the rulers of Invermere, the “great” Tammeran and Illyria D’Avore learned they were pregnant they decided that their son deserved a better birthright than to spend his life struggling under the influence of the shadow wyrms. I would grow up knowing the true pride and dignity possessed by my people. The resulting rebellion was notable for being both brutal and short. Centuries of subservience has robbed the Kayal of much of their innate strength and the fighting ended with total defeat mere days before my birth. The Umbral Dragons however, were not content with merely defeating my people. No, my parents had to be made to pay for daring to dream of true independence. Tammeran and Illyria would maintain their positions but be bound by such powerful magics so as to be nothing more than soulless puppets of the dragons. Their minds left just enough independent thought to properly despair as the D’Avore line was utterly broken. All the son’s and daughters of our line would be murdered and no others would ever survive to birth. Hoping to provide a better future for their descendants they would instead watch their line grow old and wither away, a mere mockery of it’s former self. It would seem that the defeat had not robbed the Kayal of their will entirely though. Upon my birth I was stolen away by a last ditch effort of the D’Avore’s supporters, to be hidden away on the material plane where I might have a chance of escaping the Umbral’s influence. Now I know not whether something went wrong during the transition between planes or if the combined might of my people had been so reduced that a protector could not be sent with me. All I know is that I arrived in the material plane helpless and alone on the streets of Silverhall. I accept the it is luck that saved me from merely being trampled but I was not much luck. My childhood was far from pleasant growing up as the lone “Fetchling” in a rundown orphanage within a city where few knew anything of my people beyond the racial slur itself. With no knowledge of my heritage or people, I scraped by with no purpose, no direction. However, it would seem that the shadow plane itself, which made my people whole so very long ago, still holds a fondness for even the most lost of it’s adopted children. As I came of age, I would see images of my past and the shadow realm itself. Eventually these dreams manifested themselves fully into my shadowy companion, Ammanas. It was he who became my mentor, teaching me all that I know of my past and how to channel the power within myself. My parents had fought to give me the birthright of a king but in the end all their power had been able to offer me no more birthright than life itself. As I listened to my shadowy mentor, I understood that Invermere was a destiny lost to me but found comfort in the knowledge that greatness was still within my grasp. I would simply have to claim it for myself. With Ammanas’ guidance I set out to forge connections and find notice among the Rostaland’s nobility. For one starting with nothing this proved to be a difficult process but slowly I began to make a name for myself as someone who could achieve results regardless of the task and even more gradually people of power began to take notice. When I heard of the call to reclaim and eventually settle the “Stolen Lands” I called upon the influence of all those I had served in order to be among those selected for the task. It seems my one chance to achieve a base from which I may grow my destiny.
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Lord Thurgood Lebeda (Ally): Human Male, LG. Former Field Martial for the forces of House Lebeda, now retired but still commanding of respect among the brevish nobility. Kazz offered his services to the Lord in dealing with a neighboring lord who was attempting to seize several of his holdings by funding bandit activity in the region and claim that Lord Thurgood was no longer capable of living up to his responsibilities Using his skills in espionage Kazz was able to expose the lord’s treachery and have him discredited among the other nobles.
Silvianna – (Ally): Fetchling Female, N. Another orphaned fetchling on the material plane. A dark and violent childhood taught Silvianna that she couldn’t count on anyone but herself. While not an especially evil person she has a habit of falling in with the wrong sort of crowd. Kazz met her on a trip to Issia and helped her escape from the group of thieves she had become tied to.
Verruk – (Ally): Dwarven Male, LN. Runs a profitable trading company with ties beyond Brevoy. A well respected merchant but known by some to trade in secrets as often as physical goods. He respected Kazz’s professionalism and found him to be a reliable agent. Kazz was forced to leave Verruk’s employ several years ago, after arousing the wrong kind sort of attention concerning his past on a mission. The two respect each other and remain in infrequent contact.
William Varrus (Acquaintance): Halfling Male, NG. The adopted son of Lord Thurgood Lebada, rescued from life as a chelish slave to settle a debt with the boy’s father. A good natured young man with a healthy dose of survivor’s guilt over. Kazz talked with him from time to time while visiting the boys father. He enjoyed listening to the halfling’s grandiose tales of ancient battles but ultimately finds him to be too soft-hearted.
Reld (Acquaintance): Dwarven Male, NG. The least disagreeable of Kazz’s fellow orphans from his childhood in Silverhall. As the only dwarf among the predominantly human children at the orphanage, Reld found a certain bond with the often ridiculed fetchling. He now co-owns a small in Silverhall that Kazz frequents on the few occasions he returns to the city.
Sevran (Acquaintance): Halfling Male, CN. Leader of a group of freedom fighters opposed to Chelish slaving traditions and based in Brevoy. Sevran has a reputation for overly aggressive tactics and collateral damage. Kazz has worked with his group several times, finding that their goals aligned but not relishing the experience in the least.
Swordlord Tyrell Tarson (Enemy): Human Male, LE. A scheming Aldori Swordlord who attained much of his rank and position through less than honorable means. Lord Tarson has lost much of his credibility lately when his plot to seize several holdings from Lord Thurgood was exposed in large part by Kazz. He has since devoted much of his time trying to track the “ash skinned, bastard” down and see him properly punished for so embarrassing the lord.
Therris – (Enemy): Fetchling Male, NE. Therris is a fetchling from the shadow plane and loyal to the Umbral Dragons. He works primarily as one of their contacts in the material plane. Therris became suspicious of Kazz’s identity after the prince inadvertently disrupted one of his operations several years ago and has been attempting to keep tabs on him ever since.
Iskarl (Enemy): Umbral Dragon Male, CE. The death of Iskarl’s brother was one of the Kayal’s few great victories during the rebellion. He blames the D’Avore’s personally as instigators of uprising and has devoted himself to punishing them. Iskarl harbors no greater desire than to locate the lost D’Avore child so that Tammeran and Illyria might watch him devour the boy’s beating heart.
Lirion, Elf Rogue 2
Lírion’s father Tirnel is a well known thief from Kyonin who used his skills to help those less fortunate than himself; He trained his son in the ways of the Brigands of Kyonin. However, unlike his father, Lírion took to theft as a way of advancing his own wealth and fame, disappointing his father and mother. At a young age Lírion met two fellow thief sons. The boys were Tithenion, and Glawarion. There families were rivals in the streets of Kyonin, and Glawarion family turned Glawarion against the two boys. Lírion and Tithenion became good friends, and occasionally had to fight against their old friend. As Lírion grew he became more greedy and cared less about the poor and more about himself. With his best friend at his side the two robbed their city, night after night. When Lírion’s father heard of his son’s actions, he banished him from the house and Kyonin. Lírion and Tithenion set off for Brevoy, as they were told that many rebellious elves travel there. The two left behind Kyonin and looted those along the way. While passing through the River Kingdom the two made friends with a chaotic rogue, who taught them stealth and the ways to use their charisma. With the new skills they robbed the bandits in the woods at night, until one night they were caught in the act by two bandits, named Andam and Varck. As the bandits chased the three night thieves, Lírion slashes both of their faces scarring Andam’s eye, and Varck’s cheek. The three continue their journey to Brevoy with haste as to escape any bandits in association with the two bandits they scarred.
After making it to Brevoy, the three settled in the Rostland plains to lie low for awhile. Lírion blended into the community for a few months, making friends with a Forlorn elf named Thendes, who is working as a beer wench at the local tavern. When Lírion found out that the Brevoy Kingdom was hiring people to explore and set up kingdoms in the Stolen Lands, Lírion jumped at the opportunity to make a new kingdom to call his own, and to rob people blind the legal way, through taxes.
Allies:
Tithenion: Male Elf, CN. A thief of Kyonin and a childhood friend of Lírion. The two have “explore” (ran through the River Kingdom stealing) from Kyonin to Brevoy. Tithenion is an average thief and relies on a good friendship to keep him alive and fed.
Dem: Male Human (rogue), CE. A former loner, he used to hang around in the woods of the Stolen Lands, robbing explores and bandits alike. Met Lírion and Tithenion in the River Kingdom woods while both parties were attempting to steal from the same bandits. Although Lírion and Tithenion consider Dem to be their friend and allie, his is a loose canon, and can be dangerous to be around to long.
Thendes: Female Forlorn Elf, LG. Her family was travelling through Brevoy, but were stopped due to the conflict on the border. Her and her family have resided in the Rostland plains for just over a year, and she has taken up a job as the local tavern’s beer wench. Met Lírion upon his arrival into the town, when he entered the tavern for a drink. Lírion has a crush on the maiden.
Acquaintances:
Tirnel: Male Elf, CG. The father of Lírion, and a well known thief of Kyonin. Although many do not approve of his actions, he is not actively sought as a criminal as he tends to rob from those more fortunate or unworthy of their riches, and gives it to the poor. Tirnel blames himself for how his son was raised, and has some regrets raising his son to steal at such a young age.
Thilert: Male Human, LN. The local tavern owner. His family has lived in the area for generations, and knows a lot about the conflicts of the land, however, he rarely discusses such topics, as bar flies are not the type of conversationists for history lessons. He has come to know Lírion, as Lírion is such a frequent visitor to the tavern (both to drink and talk to Thendes). Thilert knows Lírion’s favourite ale, and that he has a love interest Thendes, but not much more than that.
Hinus: Male Dwarf, LG. The local blacksmith, and town drunk. When Hinus isn’t making armour and swords, he is drinking, or more accurately when he isn’t drinking he is making armour and swords (with a heavy hangover). Met Lírion at the tavern, and the two became bar-friends, making loud conversations and debates, roughhousing, and singing together. Like more bar-friends however, they tend not to talk to one another again until the next night at the tavern.
Enemies:
Glawarion: Male Elf, CE. Raised as a thief at a young age, Glawarion was trained to steal and scam everyone around him. His family tended to feud with that of Lírion’s, as Lírion’s father didn’t like the way they used their skills in theft to rob everyone, including the poor. Although Glawarion, Tithenion, and Lírion were friends at a young, Glawarion was pressured by his parents to stop being their friends and even to hate them. Glawarion’s hatred for Lírion is greater than that of Tithenion, as Glawarion and Tithenion were best friends, and Lírion stole Tithenion from him.
Andam: Male Human, CE. A bandit working under the Stag Lord, with his brother Varck. Andam is the older of the two brothers, and raised his brother from a young age, after his parents died at the hand of an elf. Andam has since hated Elves and when he and his brother caught Lírion and his friends stealing from them, he went into a rage, as Lírion ran he slashed Andam and his brother across the face, scarring Andam’s eye. When he returned to his camp after chasing Lírion, he found that what was stolen was a amulet left to him by his parents.
Varck: Male Human, LE. A bandit under the control of the Stag Lord, but more so under the reign of his brother Andam. Varck was raised by his brother, and was trained to listen to his every word as to stay safe and fed. Varck never knew his parents and now he hates elfs for killing them, but more so because Andam told him he should. Varck’s lawful loyalty is to his brother and no one else. Because of this he hates Lírion and seeks to kill him alongside his brother.
Noreak Battlebeard, Dwarf Bard 2
From the river kingdoms, Noreak is no stranger to the hard life. Growing up as an orphan there he learned quickly how to manage himself in a fight: by having bigger people do it for him. At first he used it just to stay out of harms way, but as he became adept at getting help he began to become a bit of a bully. Never trying to be evil it was hard being good in the laissez faire world he was a part of.
Until one of his regular fights went poorly he never realized how much he liked boasting. While recovering and listening to the music of bards drifting through the tavern windows he realized what he should do with his life: Beat things bloody (Or have others do it) and boast about it, all the while getting gold!
Coming to his senses he quickly found a battle worn bard to teach him the ways of singing about awesome fights while being awesome. Finding purpose in his life he threw himself into this new world, studying all he could find about singing, storytelling and history. Maturing of the tutelage of his mentor he traveled around the river kingdoms and gained a reputation as being a smooth talking, quite the achievement for how boastful he is.
Keen to how much he had grown up since his days on the streets Battlebeard decided to strike out on his own. With aspirations of gaining fame as a bard, he planned to find a group of brave adventurers, get them into heroic fights and sing about how bloody and glorious it is. Hearing word about the Stolen Lands being settled for new kingdoms he quickly made his way to the swordlords to swear his loyalty and sign up for this heroic (and most likely bloody) task.
Allies:
Quotumal Battlefate
Male Human
LG Bard, Mentor, location unknown (Parted ways on good terms)
Xanmorn the Rogue
Male Halfling
NG Rogue, Childhood friend, Moved to New Stetven shortly before Battlebeard left with mentor.
Lady Martranna
Female Dwarf
LG Cleric, Childhood crush, Still good friends to this day.
Enemies:
Graward Tigersoul
Male Human
CN Fighter, Former ally (ended up switching sides halfway in a childhood battle, moved to Restov)
Darkain the Hunter
Female Half-Orc
CG Barbarian, Former ally, unpredictable and probably dead (I ended up abandoning the party when a fight seemed to be a losing battle)
Zinnastine Laughshield the Valet
Female Gnome
LN Bard, Personal Rival growing up, this guy makes me look soft spoken, looks funny and short (at restov I think)
Acquaintances:
Leoneiros Dragonsbane
Male Human
NN Barkeep, source of info and employment, still running same bar at Pitax
Pettiln Battleheart the Baker
Male Dwarf
CG fighter, guard of the tavern in Pitax, knew and talked to, sometimes got information from him
Horlamin Fletcher
Male Human
LN Guard, Never found evidence to convict me growing up, retired now, goes to that tavern in Pitax often now
Urist McAwesomedwarf, Dwarf Cleric of Gorum 2
Urist McAwesomedwarf
Age: young, aproaching middle
Cleric of Gorum
Born into a poor dwarfen community called Galena Urist spent most of his younger
years playing a dwarven game called Galena Ball. Where he lived had quite a
large drugar population and very little hammerdwarf influence. Soon many of his
neighbordwarfs were forced to avoid most of the main tunnels or have their possessions
stolen. Urist didn’t like this and stepped in to protect on of his dwarf friends from some
drugar who were up to no good. After one small tunnel skirmish Urist’s parentdwarfs
began to fear for the future of thier dwarfson. Urist’s father was a dwarfen soap maker
that had a strong connection to one of the human noble familiy. After some disscusion
Urist was sent to live and grow up with this new familiy.
The first fight also had another effect on young Urist. He gained a thirst for battle.
After moving in with his new ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ he spent his free time training for
combat. But it was about more then just hacking and slashing for Urist; he was
enthralled by the almost spiritual aspect of combat. His soon to be friend/mentor,
Ham, noticed Urists infatuation and began to train Urist in the ways of Gorum. After
many years of training Urist is adapt at both divine magic and the greatsword, Gorums
weapon of choise.
Urist has always seen himself as one to do what must be done, be it protecting those
weaker then him or letting his higher ups what he thinks of them. Urist finds nothing
wrong with killing or dying in honorable combat, but finds taking prisoners to be too
close to slavery. He would rather die with a sword in his had then serve anyone by
force.
Urist has not forgotten all of his dwaf heritage. His holy simbol of Gorum was made
from Galena, an ore of lead and silver that his home community was famous and named
for. To this day Urist is fond of lead and silver, prefering to use tools made from them
rather than other metals. Now, Urist is ready to prove himself, and his faith, by setting
out and starting a new mountianhome.
Friends:
Ham. CN, human cleric of Gorum. Urists friend and mentor that introduced Urist to the
ways of Gorum. Skilled with the Greatsword and divine magic given to him by his god.
‘Uncle’. LN, human noble and Urists adopted father. Even though Urist and Uncle
didn’t always see eye to eye about most issues ( in fact they dissagree on almost
everything ) Urist knows that Unlce will always be there when it counts. The divided
nature of their friendship helped Urist learn to be more forgiving with other peoples
views and greatly helped him channel his violent outbursts
Skeever. N. Urists main friend after leaving the mountainhome. A ratling. Suprisingly
the two bonded, perhaps due to both being viewed as outsiders, although the area was a
lot more friendly to dwarfs then ratlings. Skeever is quite adapt at working with potions
/ poisons, a nessesity when defending yourself from rathaters.
Aquantances:
Father. LN dwarf soap merchant. Although Urists parents did send him away quite
young Urist still sees them from time to time. Though their relationship cannot be
called warm they are still civil. Urists parentdwarfs were one of the groups that
reciently dissapeared, although they did so without informing thier dwarfson.
Sally Schneopolutiagon. CG. Gnomish inn keeper. Although Urist has a place to stay
with Uncle, he often spends his time near the inn next to the temple/training grounds of
Gorum. The Mechanics Floodgate always has clean(ish) beds and enough ale to satisfy
even Urist’s dwarfen thirsts. Sally Schneoploutiagon, the inn keeper and bartender
knows Urist well, and always remembers his favorite drink (Moar ale!)
Shell Libson. CN fighter/barbrian of Gorum. Urist’s favored sparring partner ( when
Ham is busy ) Shell Libson is always able to help Urist work up a sweat. Born to a
country far in the north Shell has dreams of returning to the woman he loves and freeing
his people from the tyrany of ‘longtooth’, a charismatic but brutal leader. One topic to
aviod with Shell is followers of Desna as well as most non-human races. He doesn’t
mind Urist, since he was raised by humans and doesn’t act like a ‘digger’.
Enemies:
Thugs, CE fighters. The thugs from Urists childhood still hold a grudge against Urist for
not ‘showing enough respect’. That Urist was sent a way is a sore spot for Urist, as he
hates to be thought of a coward. A lingering fear from his childhood still exist however,
perhaps this is the reason he hasn’t gone back and cleaned up his old neighborhood.
Evlen woodsman CG rangers. Once when travelilng through the nearby hills Urist
thought he saw a sneaky elf about to ambush him. It turned out to be a tree. A sacred
tree. The nearby camp of elves took more offence to the felling of their tree then they
would have the butchary of one of their own elves. Not every elf knows Urist’s name
or description, but a group of woodselves remember. If they were to find Urist, they
would not let him go before removing an arm in the way the tree was cut.
Birds. N. Animals. Urist and birds have never gotten along. Urist doesn’t know why.
(Urist has no idea of the following: The birds that tend to harass Urist are actually sent
by a druid name Rarric. A LN human druid that dislikes Urist. The reason why goes
back to when Urist had just moved in with Uncle. Urist didn’t fully realize all of the
human customs and unknowingly ate Rarric’s animal companion, a tiny chicken named
BWAK.)
If you can't tell from the above, a few of my players are super goofy while some are incredibly enthusiastic about the game. Today will be our third session! Here are the player journals from the last two sessions...
Player Journal 1
This marks the start of our kingdom, I don’t know what all the others want to name it, but I’m writing this stuff down, so it doesn’t matter.
Our glorious kingdom met its start when we rode into Oleg Leveton’s Trading post and learned of their problem with the bandits led by the obviously sissy Stag Lord. We stayed the night and staged a great ambush that ended in the deaths of 4 bandits and some horses with minor (practically non-existant) burns. We captured a 5th bandit and proceeded to interrogate him, learning the area that the bandits were working out of. After executing our captured fighter for banditry Oleg kicked us out the next morning.
Riding awesomely through the forest we found two trolls, lacking an army we decided as a group to run away bravely.
At the moment we are riding to the Stag Lords camp to have a bloody and awe inspiring battle that will be worthy of the songs I will sing.
- Noreak Battlebeard, the fearless bard
Player Journal 2
As we stumbled across the cabbage radish patch we found it was full of kids Kobolds, led by ‘Sir’ kyle, too small to provide an awesome battle we decided to coax talk out of them the location of Sutscale Caverns, the mines that were home to many more of their dragonish folk.
After a good rest after all that tiring talking we explored further south we found the bandit camp. Kazz D’Avore spotted 2 lookouts and LÍrion decided to scout the camp and start a religion based on degenerative elfish behavior. Finding Varq it was decided that a bloody ambush was in order.
Unfortunately fate decided that we should be ambushed first by 6 bandits. Many falling in the first blows of combat we managed to knock one unconscious. Attack the main camp immediately after that we found Kressle, the leader of this camp. A great bloody battle followed where LÍrion went down and Urist McAwesomedwarf probably fainted at the sight of his own blood. Four of their number ran away and I struck the killing blow on Varq.
In the aftermath of winning we discovered that LÍrion had previously stolen Varqs amulet, lets hope he can steal us a kingdom as easily. Forcing the captured bandit Gary “Mutton” McNpc into servitude we learned the password to the Stag Lords lair (By the bloody bones of the St. Gilgmorg) and the existence of the mysterious old man that is being held prisoner there.
Sleeping on that we discovered the more paranoid tendencies of Balog, who didn’t sleep.
After a long day of getting entangled and fabulous we slept some more.
Finding nothing this day, so we slept some more, and Balog woke us up, I think I’m going to start sleeping with radishes and beard cheese stuffed into my ears.
Finding some forest we were attacked by four wolves, Dolgrin did the druid thing and calmed them down. Tired from watching that, we slept some more, and by some great miracle Balog slept for once.
Getting back to Oleg Leveton‘s Post we found it busier with Keston Guress and his fighters finally showing up. Ms Leveton’s ring wasn’t recovered from the bandits, but we found out that is was in fact stolen by the mites from the bandit camp we attacked earlier. We also met Jhod, a priest of Erastil, who is looking for a lost forest temple to the south, that is guarded by a bear (how you know what is guarding a lost temple I’ll never know). Selling some gear and seeing LÍrion lose 10sp to Urist made my heart warm.
Sleeping with happy dreams of Dwarfs outwitting elves we woke up next day. We ventured to the Radish patch and went east to only get attacked by a cunning spider. LÍrion struck a mighty blow against it only to find to his horror that it hit back harder. He fainted or got poisoned by this knowledge. Urist put down the beast after we were done having fun fighting with it.
Setting up camp after that victory we did absolutely nothing for the next day and slept some more to celebrate.
Going east of Oleg’s we found a hut inhabited by Bokken the brewer of potions (and probably booze, we should ask him). He requires some fang berries which are located southwest of Olegs by about 55 miles. He has a brother named spit that cut off Bokkens finger and then hit their mother for some reason.
- Noreak Battlebeard
This session covered 9 days of game time, the current month is Septober.
Current tasks:
*Kill the batman Stag Lord
*Find the one ring of Ms Leveton
*Find the water forest temple of Erastil
*Talk to the kids Kobolds of Sutscale Caverns
*Retrieve Fang Berries for Bokken
This bard is awesome.
Player Journal 3
We left Oleg’s and went on our way to kill the mites. Only to be ambushed by 6 wolves during the first night. The Hippie failed to calm the beasts and got knocked out. After a bloody battle where Urist killed a few in one blow and I killed one in an awesome fashion we fell back to sleep.
Getting to the Sicamore tree we discovered a secret tunnel that lead to a set of underground tunnels. Climbing down carefully Urist made the tactical decision to get the jump on one of the mites, in no way falling down by mistake. Butchering them and their caltrops we went on our way down the rat tunnels. Lead by a rat, we ran across 6 mites torturing a noble kobold. Killing his captors and freeing him we learned that he was there to find a statue that the Kobolds held as sacred.
Next to the torture room there is a giant underground canyon that is home to a giant centipede. The elf struck the first blow while Dolgrin and Urist fell for it. Killing it we decided that the vines above the pit were the perfect place to stage our next battle against the mites. One riding a giant tick led four of them to fight us. After all but LÍrion fell in the pit we won the battle.
Finding our way outside we found Mikmek with 2 of his comrades. After leading us to the Sutscale caverns we met with their leader Chief Deekin Sootscale. Giving them the idol we recovered from the mites, Deekin proceeded to smash it. Learning that it belonged to a cult in the tribe of kobolds we helped Deekin kill the shaman of that blasphemous religion. We recovered the ring of Olegs wife on the body of the Shaman.
Sleeping in the caverns we set out the next day to explore. Killing a giant millipede I sang the song of my people to commemorate this glorious battle.
Deciding to sleep after that we woke up and explored the mite tree the next day.
Sleeping after a long hard day of exploring a area where we have already been we explored some more and found a Tatsel worm. After poisoning Kazz, Urist McAwesomedwarf struck a mighty blow against it and killed it. Finding a cave nearby we discovered GOLD in them hills.
After sleeping in the cave to guard it against other (all 5 of them) we headed back to Oleg Leveton’s Trading post. Keston Garess presented us with a charter to settle land in the green belt, Baelog Kundarak says somewhere without trees.
-Noreak Battlebeard
Current Tasks:
-Kill Stag Lord
-Find abandoned temple
-Get some fangberries for Bokken
-Settle the greenbelt
This session covered 6 days of game time.
It is the first of Rova
**This is where he finally started keeping track of in-game days.
Player Journal 4
Woke up to find out that Urist is a girl, was that actually beard cheese I was eating? I’d rather not think about it.
Baelog is staying behind for awhile to haggle decent prices out of Oleg.
Keston would like us to capture a man named Falgrin alive, in return we will get 4 masterwork weapons from him.
We found an old wooden bridge over troubled water, deciding that it was too weak to carry two people at once we went one at a time, and then sent some pack animals across that in no way weigh as much as two or three people. Much to our surprise a horse broke that bridge, stranding Kazz, Lirion and Urist on the other side. While Dolgrin and I provided morale support, Lirion had a rope tied around him and was thrown across the river. Kazz shimmied to the other side while Urist decided to swing to the other side.
While on watch that night I almost fell asleep. That morning we got entangled and bedazzaled again. Dolgrin apparently saw a fairy dragon. And the group found a empty animal den underneath a pine tree.
We decided to leave gifts for the fey that live in the forest, Lirion left stolen goods, Kazz left some booze and I left a heartfelt handmade gift that was excellent, and Urist left a tiny hat that was probably made of macaroni.
Finding an open pit in the middle of a clearing we did what all dwarfs do, look into it. We found dog thingy in it, Urist, Dolgrin and Lirion were so taken by it they jumped into the pit to pet fight it. Kazz appreciated it from a distance and decided not to fall into pit. Urist was so excited he accidentally cut the dog in half in the end.
That night Dolgrin and Urist were pranked by the pixies. Urist ‘found’ a fancy cake to leave them while Dolgrin left a shiny nail and a scrap of paper filled with crayon gibberish. Much to the partys surprise the fey thought it was a masterpiece.
The fairies revealed themselves to us and told us the location of the fangberries and the hidden temple. They also told us the existence of some hot springs and asked us to clear out some traps from some nearby forest.
We retrieved the Fangberries and killed some spiders (didn’t find any Ford anglia’s though), Bokken should be pleased enough to actually make potions for once.
The party spotted a hunter wandering around carrying pelts, only Kazz went to talk to him.
Party slept the whole night for once.
Dolgrin spotted the tracks of two Tatsel worms, we decided to let them be (I want some epic hunts to happen later involving a horde of the things).
More sleep, very nice!
Urist spotted a pack of elk with her elf dwarf eyes.
Found a pair of ruined stone buildings, they were inhabited by a Boggard named Garuum and his sabre-tooth frog Slurk. They were very nice and even let us stay the night.
The next morning we went to the hot springs and found that they smelled of sulfur and were home to some giant frogs, perfect for relaxing.
We went to the temple, found it was a giant elk carved into the boulder that was over 100ft tall.
A giant bear slept on the steps, not liking an advantage we woke it up.
Lirion decided to prove his mettle and ran up to fight, then decided to shoot it and jump into the lovely stagnant water beside him. I casted flare! Kazz summoned a giant ant that proceeded to get killed in one move from the bear. Eventually we killed the bear and it turned into a human, then a corpse, then a skeleton, then dust.
The Pool then turned into something resembling something you’d actually like to swim in.
Next morning I think we found the hunter making the traps that the fairies were complaining about. He was killed by his own work about a week ago. We got a good hatchet out of it though.
Kazz got attacked by a flaming skull thingy that night and we all woke up. Turns out it was a wil-o-wisp. Kazz summoned a floating rat thingy that did decently well. Lirion tried to shoot it and got downed hard (That’s what SHE said!). Urist beefed himself up and ended up smashing it in half. We slept in a bit later that morning.
We went back to Olegs and ended up finally selling that tatsel worm head.
It is the 10th of Rova right now.
Guest Player Journal 5
Recent events began as always at Oleg’s.
Having finished my business with him, I set out with Urist and the black guy. Meanwhile everyone else was busy talking to fairies, writing epics, and doing elf things.
After struggling with the maps left for us by Dolgrin, we started things off by delivering the Fengberries to Bokken. Though we received a modest discount from the brewer for an entire month, we decided we had little use for them currently and may return later.
We went back out exploring the plains, and luckily Gary was able to notice the only tree in sight. Burried beneath it was a secret cashe with a number of valuables including a silver ring. We did however manage to spot a group of totally-not-bandits and chased after them on horseback. Turns out they have a similar quest to our own and even have a defected bandit like us as well. We offered to them to stay at Oleg’s until we take care of the Staglord.
Nearby was a river crossing, and after ringing several bells to attract the attention of the ferry, we were approached by some sort of undead river gypsy who said a few things about the Staglord’s body needing to be dropped in the river and then he sort of walked away. On an unrelated note, Kazz hasn’t slept since that day and claims to be dreaming of the guy trying to drown him. I’m starting to sympathise for having people screaming in the middle of the night.
We encountered some sort of sauntering heap in a wooded area and dispatched it with ease. We also decided to sleep in a cave without light as Gary is the only one who needs it. The joke was on us however when we awoke to find him dragged hundreds of feet from the cave and quite bloodied up. Nothing that Urist or myself weren’t able to fix. It was also around this time we learned we could use magic to keep Kazz awake and hopefully from going insane.
After this we escorted Johd to the temple in the woods where he cleansed it, and then escorted him back which wasn’t actually that bad. Trying to find more places to explore we had to pass through the forest, where we were viciously assaulted by fairies. Hurling my axe several times to no avail, the onslaught continued until a clever scheme was concocted by Urist and Kazz where they tricked me into throwing previously-found silver ring at them and making it sound like I intended it as a gift. The fairies then both departed and we have not heard from them since.
Also we dug up a dead barbarian and found some sort of magic ring. Unsure of what it was, we let Urist take it for now.
It is currently the 19th of Rova.
The right honourable Dwarf,
Baelog Kundarak
As I stated before I'm using a home-made system to help balance out PC power level without the aid of magic items. So far it's been working well; their power level is a little bit above where it would be otherwise, but compared to a normal Kingmaker game where magic items run rampant after a kingdom is created I believe it will help curb power-gaming in the long run.
Primary Stat increase: At level 3, choose your primary stat. You gain +1 to that stat. At 5th level and every 2nd level after, you get another +1 increase to that stat.
Secondary Stat increase: At level 4, choose your secondary stat. (Optionally: if primary is physical, secondary must be mental and vice versa). You gain +1 to that stat. At 7th level and every 3 levels after you gain another +1 to that stat.
Weapon Training at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18.
AC: Advance at 4, and every even level after. Either Nat AC or Dodge, players choice.
Resist: Advance at 4th, and every 4 levels after.
I have it all in a nice tidy document if anybody is interested.