Knights of Ash - Premise

Premise: Brave knights enter the burnt ruins of a dead city. They naively believe good will triumph over evil. Slowly they become jaded and succumb to despair. There is no glory here; only death.

Fifty years ago a mighty dragon swooped down into the city. It was the day of the princesses' wedding. The streets were packed with celebrating city folk. The dragon killed a thousand people in mere moments. As the city burned the dragon gorged itself and then, finally satiated, it tunnelled into the palace ruins and built a nest.

The dragon still sleeps to this day, periodically giving birth to monstrous offspring as it slumbers. The dragon's horrible spawn are lesser but still ferocious monsters: drakes, wyverns, manticores and chimera. These loathsome beasts have spread throughout the ruins and made their own lairs.

In places fire still burns. Dragon fire is magical, stone that is bathed in it may burn eternally. A huge cloud of ash hangs over the city and the sun has not been seen there at all for half a century. Periodically flashes of lightning arc through the clouds and deluges of oily black rain pour from the sky.

Ash coats every surface, staining everything grey and black. Great drifts of ash accumulate in alleyways and dark corners. Adventures cannot help but to breathe the ash into their lungs, causing a painful wracking cough. The ash gets into eyes, eventually causing blindness.

Knights and Heroes come from far and wide, each believing naively that they will be the one to finally slay the dragon and retake the kingdom. Their romantic dreams of heroism are crushed and their souls are tainted black, even as their bright heraldry is stained black by the falling ash.

Taste: Oily smoke on the air. A lungful of choking black ash. Tainted water. Stringy mouthful of crow meat.

Sound: Metal on stone. Swords clashing. Echoes of the past. Moans of despair. Chains clinking. Eerie stillness. The bellow of a monstrous beast. Rumble of far off thunder. Ash falling like snow.

Knights of Ash

After nearly a full year of not posting I'd like to get pack into it. We will see if I can stick with it though.

The Royal wedding.

The city celebrates.

The Princess beloved by all.

Her Prince dashing and true.

Gleaming knights stood at attention.

The crowd cheers

Suddenly something blocks the sun.

An errant cloud?

The blue sky is clear.

People turn.

The band falters.

A scream.

The quickest knights try to draw their blades.

An avalanche of molten fire rains onto the crowd.

The Princess and her Prince.

The loyal knights.

The cheering crowd.

All scorched to cinders in a singles breath.

The Dragon lands and begins to feed.

Gorging on the dying city.

Screams drowned out by crackling flames and crunching bones.

The Dragon tunnelled into the ruins of the palace and there made a nest.

It sleeps away the decades,

periodically giving birth to monstrous offspring.

In places fires still burn.

Knights come from far and wide, 

to challenge the Serpent and retake the kingdom.

All are buried under shifting tides of black ash.

Bones and steel.

Ash and rust. 

From a new project I'm working on - "Knights of Ash".

Random Events and Monthly Weather

I'm running my own version of the classic adventure 'B2: The Keep on the Border Lands'. One of the things I did to set up the game world is roll up weather and random events for the next 2 months of game time.

I want to share with you how I'm doing it.

Set yourself up a calendar page on a piece of paper. Leave lots of room for entries under each day. Next go here:  http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/weather/ and generate yourself a month or more of weather in advance (note: light wind is the default so you might want to ignore it).

Next we determine if any special events occur. Roll 1d8 for each day. On a roll of 1 something interesting has happened. 

Now roll 1d6;

On a 1-3 a personal PC event happens that day. Randomly determine which PC it will effect. Then go here: http://beyondtheblackgate.blogspot.ca/2010/01/random-chart-pc-events.html and roll on the correct table for that character's class.

On a 4-6 go here: http://poleandrope.blogspot.ca/2010/09/meanwhile-back-in-town.html and roll on the excellent town event tables.

You obviously have last say on what is happening in your world and in your game. I just find it is particularly comforting knowing when it is going to rain ahead of time in my world instead of just deciding on the fly mid-game. This is a simple way to give a world a semblance of it's own life - and to keep those pesky players on their toes!

Grim from Beyond the Black Gate has alot of excellent random PC event tables. He didn't cover a few of the classes that are available to my players though, so I am going to post tables for these classes to fill the gaps.

- Next time: PC Bard Events! Cheers!

Ogres in the maze

Ogres are large in stature, their fearsome appearance at odds with their usually gentle demeanor.  They often have shaggy coarse hair and large horns with tusk like teeth, although there is a large degree of variation in the species (as seems to be the case with most of the  races inhabiting the Labyrinth).

Ogres were generally a very peaceful people, living lonely lives in the desolate places of the world. Unfortunately they bore some of the worst treatment from the humans. The solitary and non-aggressive Ogres were hunted mercilessly by bands of eager knights. Never a numerous people to begin with the Ogres were nearly wiped out by a wave of human "chivalry".  

In the mythic past it fell to the Ogres to do the real work of building the Great Maze. Dwarfs were too hunched and Elves too slight, only the Ogres possessed strength enough to raise the endless stone walls of the Labyrinth. The vast amount of rock which must have been used in the construction is truly staggering to imagine, and yet if the ancient texts are to be believed the Ogres worked at an astonishing speed. 

Ogres have become very rare in the Great Maze, their dwindling numbers further reduced by the Maze War, The few remaining Ogres have a new and powerful ally in the Labyrinth however- the Labyrinth itself.  The magic which pervades the whole realm has seeped directly into the brick and rock of the Maze.

The rocks remember.

A bond of kinship has formed between the stone foundations of the Great Maze and those who laid them. It is said that the stones can whisper to the Ogres, and that if an Ogre is in peril the stones will come tumbling and rolling to their aid.

Then came the goblins...

Once the mythic world and the mundane world were one. Back in the Dark ages, when elves tricked farmers and knights battled dragons, magic was a part of daily life for the humans struggling to survive.

Slowly but surely though, the humans continued to prosper. Human villages spread across the lands, ancient and magical forests were felled, and trolls were slain. As human civilization spread the mythical forces of the world withered. It became apparent that the mythical races were set to become extinct.

In desperation the great mythical races came together and conceived a plan. They would fashion for themselves a new realm, a hidden dimension where they would be safe from the ravages of humanity. Their new sanctuary would be formed into a maze, a mighty labyrinth with neither beginning or end, the inhabitants would be trapped but safe.

The Mythics set out quickly on their appointed tasks. The Ogres were the builders, raising mighty walls of stone. The Dwarfs were the craftsmen, making elaborate adornments and devious traps throughout. The Elves were the enchanters, it was their magic which would seal off the maze. With their work nearly finished the Mythics were all set  to depart to a hidden paradise forever....

Then came the goblins...

The goblins were not invited to the great council and the Mythics had planned to leave them behind- let the goblins and the humans sort each other out. But the goblins had other plans, while the Mythics built the labyrinth the goblins gathered up all the evil creatures they could and formed a vast army. Just as the Mythics were about to depart a evil horde fell upon them. Dragons, trolls and goblins all fought their way into the maze just as the elves used their magics to seal it. 

The war in the labyrinth continues to this day, although it has stagnated considerably. These days the once mighty dragons slumber and the goblin hordes have fractured due to petty squabbles. The power of the elves and dwarfs has waned too, they are shadows of their former wisdom and glory.  Some say that the ages and the war have taken a toll on the labyrinth as well, small cracks in the ancient spells are allowing passage to the mundane world.

Somewhere amid the crumbling ruins of this magical world lies the keys to its salvation- or destruction.

The First Age

And then mighty IO saw that his newly created world needed inhabitants. He created all manner of beast to walk, swim and fly, and all manner of plant and flower to bloom and grow across his world. And then for each habitat he created a great race there to flourish. In the depths of the mountains IO made the first Dwarfs, the Oceans he gave to the Merfolk, the forests went to the Elves, he sky he gave to the Krocn, and in the burning deserts he made the Genii. Each of these races were to be immortal.

And then IO created his greatest work yet. A race to be cast from his own image, to rule the other races and to be the stewards of his world, the Titans he named them, and he granted each a small portion of himself, this gift was to become known as a soul.

IO raised a vast track of land and set it around the middle of his world like a belt. From this paradise the Titans would rule.

For a long time there was peace on Alkrin, and IO was happy with his children.

The Titans were a bold and prideful people however, and they began treating the lesser races with contempt. IO uttered a curse against his favored children, stripping the Titans of their immortality, to teach them humility.  Instead the Titans rose in anger and together with the dark hearted Genii tried to overthrow IO.

Instead of slaying IO the Titans merely succeeded in rousing his wrath.

IO bound the Genii in unbreakable chains and banished them from Alkrin. Then turning on the Titans he cursed them over and over. IO shattered Alkrin with his fiery condemnations, marring and scaring his once perfect world.  

Thus ended the First Age and thus begun the Age of Malediction.

When Warcraft was cool

Now I don't mean to upset anyone who is a Wow fan. It certainly seems like a pretty cool game and is obviously very successful. The Warcraft universe was alot cooler though, in my opinion, before it got all cartoony and steampunk and "awesome to the max" if you get my meaning.

Warcraft 1 Orcs and Humans came out in 1994. It was simple, it was in blocky DOS pixel animation, and it was beautiful.  The story was pretty interesting and the missions tied together well, the gameplay was very simple real time strategy stuff. The premise and game world, the whole aesthetic tying the thing together from the art work to the music to the sword clash sound effects is what really made the game in my opinion.

The scope of the game was very limited, its about two armies fighting over a fantasy kingdom, but they were able to do so much to bring that conflict and world to life. It is truly amazing the developers were able to do so much with so little.

The world is dark and gritty, lots of blood and fire. peasants chop wood out of the dark pine forests and green slimes thrive in the deep caves. Orc warlocks bind Daemons and human knights swing morning stars.

Damn I love this game.

Check out the mission briefing screens:

And the coolest looking map ever:

Yeah seriously, this game was pimp. This is definitely the sort of feel I want my B?X setting to have.












Check out the game manual if you still don't believe me:http://www.scribd.com/doc/3914674/Warcraft-Orcs-Humans-Manual 

There's a ton of D&D usable material in there.

Castlevania Inspiration

 So just posting a few pics from the internet that I'm looking at as inspiration for Losh Nekkar. Two of them are art from the resent Castlevania Lords of Shadow game, the tall castle is from an artist on deviant art (sorry not sure who, I think I got the image from one of  the posts on The Land of Nod). The last one is a really cool map from Simon's Quest, which was my first Castlevania game as a little kid.

 

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Nekkar Cross Section

This picture is really the meat of what I have so far. Its kinda a cross section of the castle, but the main purpose of the pic is to layout the various levels and sections- and show me how they relate to one another. I like how many of the levels are interconnected. It will eventually become possible to unlock direct paths between certain lvls.  For example the Inner Courtyard is initially inaccessible from the Lower Court, but after fighting through to the Upper Battlements the party will be able to lower a draw bridge to connect the two courtyards.

Also the Chapel deserves some mention. It is intended to be a safe zone so the party can withdraw from the dungeon and rest in relative safety without having to slog it all the way back to the town.

I'm planning for Losh Nekkar to start in a kind of dormant state a gradually "wake up" as the PCs explore it. The dungeon for example will be sealed off from the rest of the castle until the PCs blunder on down there, releasing various dungeon themed creatures. Gradually the dungeon creatures will start appearing in other places as they migrate around the castle.

And this is a very early sketch which was super heavily based on the stages from the Super Castlevania IV game, the names of boss creatures and things are scribbled all over the place. The game is a linear sidescroller so I was trying to figure out how the various locations would logically fit together in a "real" castle.


(Click for larger Pics)

More  later...

Nekkar Exterior

Ok, so here she is. my fairly rough diagram of Losh Nekkar and the surrounding area (click the picture for a much better view) . I'm pretty happy with the design of the Castle itself but the nearby village and stuff needs a little work, but most important elements are visible.  That's a bat's eye view of the castle in the lower right. Losh Nekkar is gonna be kinda of like a giant haunted house/fun house dungeon.  All the classic horror monsters will be lurking somewhere nearby if not in the castle directly.

  

The castle will certainly be the "tent pole" of the setting but there will be several other adventure sites located in the area.  Much like Ravenloft or any of the games though the action will be fairly restricted, there is a sort of contained sandbox around the castle and a well defined border keeping the PC's trapped in the Count's blighted domain.

More pictures and detail soon but feel free to ask questions or offer up ideas.

Dungeons & Gears

Setting

Dungeons & Gears takes place in the world of Sera. Sera was a peaceful and prosperous world until her wizards and scholars discovered a magical liquid which could be mined from Seras crust. This liquid which they named Imulsion had wondrous properties, greatly enhancing the abilities of practitioners of the magical arts. Imulsion it was said  could cure any disease, turn lead into gold, reverse the aging process and even confer immortality. Exposure to Imulsion would have negative effects on those who touched it however; blindness, madness and horrific mutations being some of the most commonly reported.

Despite the dangerous effects of Imulsion, the leaders of the Kingdoms of Sera saw it as the key to the future. Nearly a century of continuous bloody warfare ensued, each faction struggling to control this new and unstable resource. Finally after 79 years a wary peace settled over the lands, control of Imulsion was as uncertain as ever but the people of Sera had simply lost the will to fight. The long process of rebuilding had begun, or so they thought.

Suddenly the peace was shattered by a new and previously unknown threat. From deep within the earth of Sera vast hordes of inhuman monsters emerged, literally tunneling up into the heart of the human Kingdoms.  This enemy came to be known as the Locust because they came like a terrible plague to the surface of Sera.  There was slaughter on a massive scale, the human Kingdoms were tired and completely unprepared and the enemy accepted no surrender. One by one the armies of humanity fell until only isolated bastions remained.

Humanity teeters on the brink. The survivors struggle to understand their enemies, hoping that by doing so they will find a weakness.  The humans have nearly lost the war on the surface and a new stage of the conflict begins. The last defenders of humanity have begun venturing downward into a dark and unknown underworld, taking the fight to the Locust Horde.

Far Away Friday

Maybe I should rename this Far Away Saturday. I thought I would be posting more over reading week but instead I've been more busy than ever. Anyways:

Media

Media is the warmest province of the High Kingdom with a nearly tropical climate. Grape vineyards hug the rolling hills and produce the finest wines of the whole kingdom (although competition is fierce with the vineyards in Southern Aurellius).  Media runs along the coast of the balmy Shallow Sea and warm tropical winds blow further inland towards the hillside villas.
Media city (the largest city in the whole High Kingdom) sits on a spur of land which straddles the Shallow Sea and the Northern Ocean. The city is a great center of commerce and trade, people from all over the known world can be found here navigating the plazas and bridges spanning its famous canals.
Media maintains a massive Navy but no standing land forces, instead the province sponsors several large and independent mercenary academies. Each academy is well trained and well equipped - ready to fight for the right price. In the center of the city sits a sports arena of truly epic proportions. The arena is one of the technological wonders of the world, featuring many complex mechanisms to enhance the spectacle of the gladiatorial battles held within.  Over the centuries numerous additions have been built onto the arena giving rise to rumors of a lost labyrinth beneath the structure which is home to all manner of escaped slaves and beasts.

 Media is the only province of the High Kingdom in which it is still legal to own slaves, although this is slowly becoming less fashionable. Slaves are generally treated well and it is considered inappropriate to mistreat a slave (at least publicly). 

-(For Media I was thinking its a very Roman -Gladiator era type city mashed up with Venice and all the cannals and such.)-

Far Away Friday (kinda late)

Ilam (ilam)

Ilam is the breadbasket of the High Kingdom, a land of gently rolling hills, cool slow streams, and very sparse woodlands. The earth is extremely fertile and thus the entire province is given over to farmland. Many of the other provinces depend upon the agriculture of Ilam for their food each season.

The people of Ilam are used to hard work and generally have sandy hair and deep brown tans from their days spent in the fields. They have a reputation for being weak because of Ilams idyllic landscape, but nothing could be further from the truth especially since the destruction of Triam and sporadic raids from the west. The farm community is extremely close knit;  if one homestead is threatened a mob of angry neighbours will quickly gather to drive off marauders.  The farmers are used to hard labour and will fight viciously to defend their lands.

As a derogatory term the folk of Ilam are sometimes called "lambs" implying that they are weak and stupid, there is no surer way to goad an Ilamian into a brawl.  

 Ilam is divided into parcels of land, usually along the many small rivers which crisscross the landscape, each parcel and all the farms on it are governed by a local Elder. The Elders meet in a council occasionally to discuss politics and trade which effect the whole province.   

Far Away Friday

Alright so just taking a short break from my Legendary Creatures stuff. I`m struggling with it. Not really sure how to implement in rules what I feel so strongly conceptually is right.  Anyway I thought every friday I could have a little post on some of my main setting.  I actually have a game tomorrow, we are playing Pathfinder but its going to be in my setting. I can`t think of a name for my world, try as I might and Im getting pretty frustrated. Anyway:

The High Kingdom of Leor is made up of 12 provinces. The Provinces are mostly autonomous and independent, each with their own laws, government and military. On paper each province is loyal to the capital province Leorland, but in practice the Kingdom is fractured and undergoing a period of social unrest. Some of the provinces are even on the verge of seceding completely.

The High Kingdom is mostly temperate, colder in the northern provinces and higher elevations, nearing tropical in the south and along the coast of the Shallow Sea.

Leorland

The Capital province of the High Kingdom; Leorland, the standard to which all of the other provinces aspire. Leorland is predominately forested with light woodlands as well as lush fields and cool deep lakes. Peaceful cities and villages dot the landscape, guards in gleaming armor patrol the clean paved streets. Also dominating Leorland's landscape are massive statues and monuments to the heroes, victories, and tragedies of the long history of the High Kingdom.

Emissaries and dignitaries from far off lands can be found visiting Leorland and newsletters are distributed throughout the province. Thus even the most common people of Leor have a better idea of worldwide events and politics than most people from the other provinces.

Krone

So I recently saw this free rpg called Krone by Crayon Samurai. It is extremely simple, it has like 9 pages with very minimal rules, VERY minimal rules. Theres only 3 character classes included, the Noble, the Barbarian and the Sorcerer. Each character only gets 3 stats, well the Sorcerer gets a fourth to determine how well he can bind and control deamons.  The stats are Fighting, Surviving and Scheming, and the highst a stat can be is 4, everything relies on this very simple system with d10s relied on for making all the rolls, (I think I would use d6s however and modify the system just a little.) One of the strengths of Krone is its cool and uncluttered setting. This is pretty much the extent of the setting description right from the doc:

There’s this decadent Sword and Sorcery type city called Krone that’s situated in the middle of a vast swampland. It used to be the crown of civilization until something happened to the fertile plains surrounding it, turning the land into a subtly poisonous swamplands. Now the crops do strange things to people as does most of the drinking water found in Krone.
It has gradually begun to weaken the people’s minds, making them just a little off-balanced, and weakening their bodies just a little bit, making them a little more susceptible to disease.
But sometimes people are born with hideous deformities. They are either slain outright or abandoned/escape to the swamps. People don’t go into these swamps. There are demons living in
their murky waters and rumors are that sorcerers live out there as well, enslaving the foul demons to do their bidding. Rumors even say that the sorcerers are none other than the mutants themselves.
Several corrupt, decadent houses of nobility rule Krone in an uneasy alliance.
To the north the twisted swamps give way to purer lands and barbarians rove the steppes. They occasionally make trips to Krone in order to obtain weapons and medicines. The steppes are a barren land and resources are scarce.
But only the finest warriors are sent because of the dangers present not only in the swamps but the decaying city itself.

Its cool.  I really want to play this, there seems to be a limitless supply of cool oldschool style gaming in this rad system.  I'm hoping I can get my girlfriend to run this once or twice, she hasnt DMed before but I think this could be a good way for her to start.