The 300 Year War - Session 2

Last session left off with the PC's in the Balding Dragon Inn resting and enjoying a hot meal after a long day of.... research?

BORING!

This session we start with the group (Silaqui, Silverliss, Miru, Zardoz and Durek) venturing out to the east side of the city to explore the ruins of the church that they heard about the other day. Upon inspecting the ruins they find that it was once a church of St. Cuthbert, Dureks' god. They also find that the whole area around the church has been more or less decimated. They can find no obvious means to get further into the church (the catacombs or whatever may lie below) and give up to go follow another lead. I thought that Durek would be more upset about his church being destroyed then he was, I have no doubt that St. Cuthbert did not favor his reaction, or lack thereof.

Next our PC's ventured to the estate of Alexis Kevilenko, the man that brought them here to fight in the war. The gate to the estate was locked which enough to stop pretty much all of them from entering at the momment. I say pretty much all of them because the LN and I stress LAWFUL monk jumped the fence and went exploring the parimeter anyway. Now then I also say at the momment because, well I'll get into that later. There were some good ideas. thrown about; like talking to the neighbors to find out some information about the people that owned the estate, then there was going to the local magistrate to find out some more information. But in the end our hero's just seemed a little distraught with the lack of progress for the day and went to the Balding Dragon to drown their sorrows. I would like to note that these people really need play with a little more patience. Also for me, as a DM, I'm finding it difficult to keep all 5 players constantly busy with something in the campaign.

Silaqui and Silverliss, however, had different plans for the estate. Once the rest of the group was busy with seeing double or just seeing the back of their eyelids the two Rogues headed off into the night. It was pretty effortless for them to get inside too. In a matter of 10-15 minutes these two had managed to steal a set of Platinum flat wear (value: 500gp) (don't ask I just roll the dice) and a candle holder. Silaqui also managed to set off a trap on a chest in the master bedroom, don't worry she only caused minor injuries to herself, she then opened the small chest (wait till you see what i rolled to be in this "small" chest) and recieved a set of Full Plate, a Suit of Banded Mail, an Ever Burning Torch, 500gp and I think there was something else but I can't remember. At this point the duo went back to the Inn with haste.

One hour after our dubious duo returned to the Inn and went to sleep the City Guard came a knockin' and then they just let themselves in. Now why waste time letting criminals get their berring right? They started yanking people out of bed and shackling them. At this point I would like to remind everyone that with the exception of the Rogues this party is all Lawful. Zardos casts obscuring mist in the room; Durek makes it out of the room followed one of the guard and then assults him, dislocating both knees and breaking an arm. Silaqui follows them out of the room and removed those bothersome shackles. Miru assults the two guards still in the room that had Silverliss quite subdued and those two get out of the room. Zardoz then casts hold portal and the five go downstairs to have a drink (they take with them the guard that they beat for interogation). Durek, in a drunken outrage, demands to know where the Captain of the guard is. He wants to lodge a formal complaint. The owner informs him that the captain had gone upstair with the other men. This is when the hold portal spell wears off and the two remaining guard along with the captain come downstairs.

Durek begins to attempt to interogate the captain who, at this point, is not in the mood to be harrassed by the drunk drawf who just assaulted and kidnapped one of his men, not to mention is bedding down with a team of known thives. The Captain informs Durek to hold his tongue, he rejects this "suggestion", the captain and his men draw weapons and attack. A brief fight ensues and Zardoz is forced to use magic in public for the first time since arriving on this plane. The reaction is not favorable and the Balding Dragon clears out. Our "Heros" have now captured the captain and his men.

Part 2 to come later.

The 300 Year War - Session 1 Part.2

After Durek went back to the battlefield and discovered that no one was left alive he piled the bodies and burned them, sending them all on their way to whatever gods they worshipped. He managed to recover numerous amounts of weapons and armor, though it was only about 1/3 of what I had placed for the PC's to find. Let it be known that all in all Durek spent almost 16 hours there piling bodies and searching for items of importance. Good little Cleric that he is.

These are all of the items that he could have possibly found, however no matter how hard he searched he just couldn't find everything. Much less carry it all out.
10 Long swords
5 Long bows
20 Clubs
10 Small shield
20 Short swords
20 Short bows
25 Daggers
15 Leather armor
10 Chain shirt

Master Work Items
2 Bastard sword
1 Dwarven war axe
1 Short sword

10 MW Long sword
10 MW Small Steel Shield

His search checks, even when taking 20, just weren't high enough to get one of these.
2 Rings of Protection +1 (Search DC 25) – If found they are on the bodies of the dead Lieutenant and Sergeant.

All party members have returned to Tamarack.

An old man approaches you and asks. "Are you all that are left? Has no one else returned alive? My sons, my sons were with you. Larin and Felmar, did you know them? Are they alive?"

Here there was some talking amongst the PC's about what to do. They barely gave me enough time to get the next part of the story going before they ran off to join back up with the army.
Inquiry: The "Inquiry" changed from information from the old man to information from another wounded soilder. He tells you of a rumor that he’s heard.
“After your changed to "our" defeat the army was seen moving west towards “The Dead Lake”. No doubt the arch mage Galime (Gah-leem) seeks reinforcements there. He will need them if he is to come back and continue his advance.” This next part was left out partly because it wasn't the old man speaking anymore and partly because I had thought up a new direction for the campaign. He begins to choke back tears for his fallen sons for a moment then speaks again. “There is an item that may be able to aid you on your quest. It is said that long ago there was a wizard’s tower built on this very spot that my beloved Tamarack now sits. I’m certain there must be something in there to help you.”

You hear a woman scream on the other side of town. The players were again discussing what to do at this point. I actually screamed so hard for this that my throat hurt, the cat jumped, the players had a look of shock and then I laughed.

Investigate: Hobgoblins (9)
Attack: +1 melee, +2 ranged
Damage:1d8 long sword, 1d6 javelin
AC: 15
HP: 5-9
Init: +1
After the battle with the hobgoblins: You are in no condition to run off on any adventure right now. The people of Tamarack have given you a small area behind the inn to call your own for a week as you and your companions heal. The townsfolk are happy to have you, it’s been a long time since they’ve seen real soldiers (yes they mean you, you’ve fought battles, you’re a soldier). While you’re resting you hear word that the war has finally ended. The group that you toiled with met up with a larger force at The Dead Lake. They went head to head with General Stone Beards troops and it turns out the combined forces of the dwarves and humans were more than they could handle. You hear rumors, mummers, of a dwarf that spewed fire from his hands; usually told with laughter.

You are all healed and rested up. The war is over which means that your term of service is now complete. You now have to decide what you want to do. The people of Tamarack could use a few people like you. They, like most other villages, have no protection.

Turns out, they really didn't get hurt at all by the Hobgoblins and therefor were in terrific condition to run off on an adventure, so that's what they did... ran off to The Dead Lake. Where I had them meet up with what was left of their army which was on it's way to Emuwir. The war was, now, over. I took the options away from the PC's here because they just decided to go with the army anyway in hopes of finding someone to send them all back home.
Options:
North – City of StoneFist (4 weeks by foot)
North More – The Mountain of Trials (10 days by foot)
South – The Sulfur Flats (11 days by foot)
East – Caves of Sorrow (2 days by foot)
East More – Emurwir (2 weeks by foot)
West – Dead Lake (4 days by foot)
Stay in Tamarack – There are ample job opportunities right here in Tamarack. Just ask around

Well we all know that this would be really boring if it was that easy. So, of course, the person that brought them here was killed in a battle a few months ago.
They players arrived in Emuwir and found a room at the "Balding Dragon Inn" (I would like to note that I found some decent Celtic Instrumental to play in the background whenever we enter an area that would logically have music). Once here they came up with a game plan and were very good at initiating it.
In less than one full day they learned that Tamarack was one the "City of Tamarack" and that the center of that city was small mages tower. They really want to check that out. They also learned that the man that brought them to this plane to fight in this damned war had a house in Emuwir and that as far as they know it's still here. Again they really want to check this out.
And then found that Alicaryn Harpsor of Blackspawn Raiders is someone of importance, although she doesn't deal in legally obtained goods. She has knowledge that others won't talk about or even admit to knowing. She also has some powerful items that may be helpful in thier search for answers.

I now have 3 very intruiging storylines that I have to prepare within the next 2 weeks because I foresee each of them being explored by the end of our next session.

As in Part 1 of session 1 please leave comments here about what you think, what you want to know and what you'd like to see!

The 300 Year War - Session 1 Part.1

This past friday was the begining of my campaign (which had a working title of "Chris's DnD Campaign '08" untill, well, now) it has just been names "The 300 Year War". I decided to the best way to do this would be to post the campaign notes that I have and and then toss in some italicized side notes to denote what the PC's did or what I had to change to fit certain situations.

I would love to get some feedback on this so feel free to tell me what you think, what you would have done differently if you created it, what you think the PC's should have done and/or what you would like to see in future sessions.

Now to the good stuff!

First: Lets meet the players:
Sara Silaqui - Elf/Rogue C/N
Chris N. Silverliss - Elf/Rogue C/G
Krista Miru - Human/Monk L/N
Howard Zardoz - Human/Wizard L/N
Keith Durek Ironfist - Dwarven/Cleric L/N
As far as I know the players didn't collaborate with each other on race, class or alignment.

The 300 Year War


Races Allowed: All standard.
Classes Allowed: All standard and prestige classes in DMG (if requirements are met).
Players: 3-6
Player Level: 2 (starting level) I made the players make their characters at level 1 like they would a standard character. I then made them go to level 2, told them the back story (see below) and gave them 400gp to buy non-magical items as they would if they were in a war. (Yes the army gives you equipment but we all know you want something better).

The Pc's were all taken from different planes. Each plane is very similar to each other with just a few subtle differences. In the 6 months that they have been fighting here they have learned that: elves are almost extinct, magic has been nearly eliminated and there isn't much in the way of things to buy when you're on a battlefield.


Prologue: (start with PC #1 at random Zardos– non-elf)

We begin in the Hamlet of Tamarack. As you approach this war torn Hamlet from the north there are many questions racing through your mind. The biggest question being, “where are my companions?” You are hurt, alone, exhausted and worst of all on the losing side of a long and bloody war.
As you enter Tamarack your vision begins to fade. And as you lose consciousness you think you can hear (PC #2 at random Miru’s non-elf) voice calling out to you.

Tamarack
Population: 304
Gold Piece Limit: 100; Ready Cash: 1,500
Isolated; Humans: 291; Halflings: 6

Guards: 3; Militia: 15
Sheriff: Warrior lvl-2
Cleric: 1 level-2; 2 level-1;
Fighter: 1 level-4; 2 level-2; 4 level-1;
Paladin: 1 level-1;
Noble: 11 level-1;
Warrior: 1 level-2; 1 level-1;
Commoner: 1 level-8; 2 level-4; 4 level-2; 242 level-1;

Flashback battle (All PCs plus 250 Human soldiers)

There are men screaming all around you and the sounds of a battle rage on. The smell of death permeates your nostrils and you have to fight back the urge to vomit with every breath you take. This is your first battle. You’ve been in other skirmishes before with the odd bandit group back at home but this, this is war and war is very different. The previous day your comrades, Larin and his brother Felmar, were killed right in front of you and the only thing you could do was attempt to move forward.

And yesterday was a good day. Now, today, you’re running for your lives as your companions get slaughtered.

Roll initiative and begin combat with 5 Ogres and 1 Troll. Note: The players didn't have to win or lose this battle to go on, in fact there really wasn't a way to win it. It was just enough to give them a feeling of what they've been dealing with for the past 6 months. It also helpped to quench that "I want to kill something" thirst that everyone gets when they haven't rolled the dice in a long time.

Their side:
Grey Render - 1 Pg. 112
Troll - 10 Pg. 180
Ogre - 200 Pg. 144

Your side:
40 – Mounted cavalry Light armored horse, long sword, short bow
50 – Archers Longbow, short sword, leather armor
160 – Infantry Long sword, dagger, chain shirt, small shield


After battle: First PC (Zardos) chosen wakes up in a makeshift cot surrounded by wounded.

"You awaken. You can smell rotting flesh and hear the groans of half dead men. You hurt, a lot, and have been bandaged up pretty well. Your friend (PC #2Miru) is talking to someone in the other room; you can just barely identify his voice but you can’t understand what’s being said."


All remaining PCs

This was a bad day, two of your companions were killed yesterday two more have gone missing.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this”, you think to yourselves. You’ve set up a camp in the woods about half an hours travel from where the battle took place. Not a one of you has said a single word in the hour that you’ve been here. What do you do now?

1. Go to Tamarack. You know it’s there just a half days travel from where you are. If there were any survivors that’s where they would have gone. That is if they could walk.
2. Head back to the battlefield, there must be people still alive there. Perhaps you could find your friends and get out of here or maybe you just want to pick though the wreckage like scavengers.

At this point Durek was the only one not on the brink of death so the two rogues (lucky it turned out that way) snuck back to Tamarack and Durek went to the battlefield to see if there were any survivors.

I will post the rest of this session a little later today. Feedback/comments are welcomed!

Tomorrow's the big day.

Tomorrow. No one dies. I will cheat the rolls if I have to but no one will die on the first day of this campaign.

I've made some big decisions about this one. I took the players off of Fearun and moved them to another plane. It's a very similar plane just a whole knew world. I like to start out fresh a lot, I like knowing that I can do whatever I want to do. So here it is:

This world has been in a war for hundreds of years. The players have fought a few battles in the war (this happened before we start) and therefore know each other quite well. The war ends just as the campaign starts which will leave a war-torn-world for the PC's to do what they wish with.

Points of interest:
Magic is rare. I mean REALLY rare. Mages were hunted down and killed during the war. Anyone that knows how to use magic is pretty quiet about it. (it was the easiest way to make sure your opponent didn't throw a fireball or chain lightning at you.
So that makes magic items very uncommon, not so much rare, just really hard to find. And very expensive.
Elves, they were a formidable foe, so logically they had to go. There are still some elves around but they hide... a lot.

I have some final preparations to make but I'm sure I have enough to get started tomorrow. I'll update sometime after the session concludes. Leave comments here about what you think, what you want to know and what you'd like to see!

NOoooooo!

Nothing new to write about just yet, I spent the weekend moving. Which I guess wasn't that big of a loss because I would have spent it working anyway. The big day is soon though. Six more days untill the little PC's start the new campaign, I really can't wait. Other than feeling a little under prepared I think it'll work out good.

Far out?

Has anyone ever heard of Dragonstar? It's a very fun mod to DnD. I was toying with the idea of this campaign taking place on one of the planets in the outter fringe. If so then around level 10 the players will learn about this when they either find some technology or encounter an "alien".
Fun stuff either way.

"On the pedistal in front of you is what appears to be a oddly craftedcrossbow. You can not figure out where to insert the bolts though. This itemis heavy, 20 lbs, and seems to be made out of a metal that you can'tidentify. Even the dwarf and gnome seemed stumped by this. The gnome howeverwants to touch it!"

Of course item would be a plasma rifle with around 20 shots left in the battery. I would then have to scatter more tech items around the world for them to find and eventually take them off world to expand the playing universe. Any thoughts on this approach?

It all looked so good in my head.

But the players don't get to see in my head so I decided it wasn't going to work out as well as I thought. Which, like anything sucessful, meant restructuring. So I wrote down the direction I wanted the main plotline to take, then I wrote down what I had and started to link them all together.
Now, admitidly, I've never done a campaign like this. I usually have a good starting point figured out and then just run with it from there. We also, as a group, NEVER have premade treasure which slows the action down so much.

I did decide that in the world this is all taking place magic is a grand and powerful thing, like most places. However, here, the bad guys have the resources to hunt down and kill any magic users that aren't on their side. Shhhh the Players don't know that, they aren't from this plane of existance. =D
I know, I'm evil.

THE sword

I have completed it, it took awhile and it's super over powered but it will add a huge twist to the campaign that I think will make everything much more interesting. I don't intend on allowing it to be found untill around level 7 or so.

At one point it begins to increase your AC, another it increases saving throws. That's all you get for hints untill after it's found. I wouldn't want anyone that plays to read about it ahead of time.

A Sword?

Yes. A sword. An amazingly evil sword that gets stronger everytime you kill someone with it. Well not every time but in incriments.

For example: After 10 kills it may get a +1 modifier. 25 kills, a +2 modifier. Maybe after 50 kills you get a +1 to strength while wielding it.

It's just a concept at the moment I have to lay everything out on paper to see how far apart the kill spread should be. I do know, however, that despite it being an evil sword anyone will be able to use it. They'll just become a little power hungry with every "enemy" felled in combat (or out of combat) and consequently a little more evil.
The sword may even hint that it doesn't like the wielders party members and thus grating more power if they're offed.

A little teaser

Once completed this campaign will run for around a year, meeting every other week. Places that the PCs will eventually have to travel:

The Sulfur Flats
The Dead Lake
The Mountain of Trials
The Caves of Sorrow
The Ruins of Tamarack

This is just a taste of things to come. I haven't yet decided what encounters will be in each place or which quests will lead them there. I have just created the areas.

I thought that it would be fun, and I'm evil, to make the players choose thier race and class BEFORE they roll their ability score. No more "I'm going to be a paladin", rolls lower than expected, "I think I'll be a cleric instead".
Any thoughts on that?

First!

My DnD group hasn't played in over a year which, to me, is unacceptable. So I decided to do something about it. I started a new campaign, not playing it but creating it. I've DM'd before but have never really sat down and created a whole campaign from begining to end. I'm also trying a new method of creation.

I'm going to write this entire campaign in a movie-esque style: Flashbacks, Jumps forward in time, separating the characters. I know that with a campaign with 5 people in it separating the action between them sounds like a horrible idea. My hope here is that each separation in stories will be entertaining enough for the other players to just sit back and enjoy the story.

I plan on giving each separate story line the same amount of XP as all they will be is a little development arc for each character. I may even do some of the story arcs based on what the PCs write as their backgrounds. So instead of just "this is what happened to me" the PCs can all live it.

Anyway I'm nowhere near completion on this and we have set a play date of February 29th. I'll update sporadically until then and then I'll post how the first campaign went. If anyone has any idea's I'd love to hear them. Also, once I'm done with the campaign I'll post the DMs notes so anyone can try it themselves.