Saturday, September 29, 2018

Walker's Hold WIP 1.3

So Walker's Hold is coming along rather well. I've made several changes, though I may make a few more I think I'm done for now and the place is pretty much ready to go as the base. I don't want to get too into detail and derail my attention to the setting as a whole.



The most important add (to me anyway) is that I've added area 51 ( I couldn't help it, I had to!).

The place is a huge secret to the townsfolk because it is a massive tree with a Wizard living in it...but he is never seen. He rarely takes apprentices, and traffics with elves as well.

I also added an Orchard that the townsfolk use as a sort of park. It has huge apple trees that are used by the town to make a strong cider out of that is offered to the gods in mid-winter.

Over all I think the place is pretty much done as I said. I'll add a few more tweaks (such as making an updated key with names of owners for the 51 locations).

Next I'm moving on to finish up work on Waddle Manor...

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Walker's Hold WIP 1.2

So I'm up to the rough draft version of Walker's Hold 1.2 now. It's coming along pretty well and I think I have enough done for now for when Kyre the Veteran (played by my 12 year old son) goes shopping in town.

Here we are at this point:


1) Lord's Keep: originally described as having round towers, those will be implemented in version 1.3
2) Council Keep: not so much a true keep, this all stone building is only a single story tall, but does have battlements atop it. It serves also as a jail.
3) Chandler/Grocer: this is where Kyre will likely buy his rope. Run by the elderly human named Callem.
4) Butcher
5) Alchemist
6) Armorer
7) Tailor
8) Furrier
9) Chandler/Grocer
10) Baker
11) Weaponsmith
12) Stonemason
13) Blacksmith
14) Tavern/Inn/Stable (sometimes sells horses)
15) Brewer
16) Weaver
17) Cooper/Cartwright/Carpenter (an entire family dedicated to woodwork)
18) Silversmith (also works in gold rarely)
19) Cobbler (son of the Cordwainer in #20)
20) Cordwainer (shoemaker, not a cobbler)
21) Draper (deals in bolts of cloth, not clothes making)
22) Tavern/Hiring Hall (Handlers, Bearers & Porters)
23) Blacksmith
24) Chandler/Grocer
25) Baker (Halfling that focuses on sweets)
26) Limner
27) Tavern/Hiring Hall (frequented by guards)
28) Gemcutter (gnome)
29) Silversmith (gnome, same family as #28)
30) Tailor
31) Armorer (Halfling, focuses only on small people armor and shields for anyone)
32) Miner's "House" (where miners can be hired, but also sappers)
33) Engineer-Architect (Dwarf)
34) Shrine of the Gods and Ancestors
35) Temple of Odin (placeholder god at this time, it is a Horse Temple that trains horses and keeps an extensive stable and sells all types of horses)
36) Inn
37) Husbandman (sells large animals, no horses)
38) Tannery/Leatherworker & Butcher
39) Inn & Stable (sells horses rarely, usually only old riding horses)
40) Husbandman (sells medium animals such as sheep and goats mostly)
41) Husbandman (sells large animals, mostly oxen for farming and wagon pulling)
42) "The Caravansary" owned by the Council for the town; sees to the needs of caravans in general; has a small tavern and will even supply tents and travel gear too at modest prices.
43) Teamster's "House" serves as a Tavern and Hiring hall for teamsters
44) Cartwright; repairs only
45) Blacksmith
46) Brewer (creates only in liquors)
47) Temple of Bragi (holding place god) & Bardic "school"
48) Inn
49) Apothecary (Poison Maker)
50) Dwarf Sage: Demi-Human Kind (History, Legends & Folklore, Theology & Myth, Politics & Geneology) with minor interests in Supernatural & Unusual as well as Physical Universe

I'll be expanding things a bit over time (especially names of owners and such) as well as start populating the town a bit. I haven't detailed the major NPCs yet because they aren't likely to come up; though I have a few fall back names I can drop if someone asks.

Over all I think I'm ready for our game this weekend!

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Drilling in...

So my son came to me and said: "Hey Dad, what is the name of the shop where I have to go to buy some good rope to get down into Goblin Gully?"

Uh-oh!

"Well buddy, I haven't got to that part yet."

He grinned and said, "I bet you will by this weekend."

So here I am scrambling to get Walker's Hold "Done" before the weekend.

I know I don't have much time, so I've gone to whatever resources I can find. Find One is a cool random mapper. A quick click of a couple buttons and I came up with a Medium Sized "town" with no walls and no castle. A quick download and then I moved over to paint and here is what my current progress is:


Walker's Hold is FOR SURE going to be a town and not a village. I've got a few good ideas for why it is quite so big; but the basics are that it is a seasonal caravan town. Caravans visit it for trade fairs. One with the dwarves, another for elves, and yet another for trade with the "other" dwarves and gnomes to the north in Rocky Gap. Also, I've decided that a major product of the Walker's Hold area is livestock; so I'm going to be adding cattle/sheep pens and such into the mix. Some of those really big buildings will be smoke houses, warehouses and so on...but there isn't likely a single two-story building in the entire place that isn't along the walls of the place (as you can see, just getting started on the walls).

So in the center of town will be a statue (in the middle of the square there) of a prominent something...not sure what yet; but that leaves lots and lots of room around it for shops and such for my boy to buy his thrice damned rope and solid grappling hook!

All this for 50' of rope!

I'll keep you posted on how things turn out.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Off to Goblin Gully

Kind of late getting to the post after this past weekend's "game"...much of this will be a rambling "stream of thought" post I'm afraid; so hang on.

Only the player of Kyre did any "work" this weekend; and all of his adventure happened within or immediately around Walker's Hold.

Kyre is already well known within Walker's Hold...it is hard for a 7 foot tall human to go without notice in such a small place after all.

Walker's Hold is a settlement of only a few hundred people, and so as the massive highland freeholder walked down the street toting along his massive two-handed sword he was noticed by a mother with a missing son. She informed him that he left town yesterday with two friends who returned to town that day without him and they claim to not know where he is. She was able to pull from them that the three had dared go to a dangerous spot: Goblin Gully.

I had decided that since he was the only player, I could send him on a simple adventure. There is this fella with a great deal of work that I find invaluable (his main page is HERE). The adventure I decided to use was "Goblin Gully" which is almost perfect for a solo adventure! I say almost because I had to make a couple modifications; but it worked out well. I can't republish the adventure here though; but I can tell you what happened in "story mode" at least.

I placed Goblin Gully only a couple miles from Walker's Hold here:

1 Hex = 1 Mile

After agreeing to see what he could find, young Kyre (who remembered playing around Goblin Gully when he was a kid too) set off on the "short trip" to see if he could find the boy.

Going to the gully he was attacked by a nasty goblin lookout and nearly caught an arrow in the eye; but Kyre rushed the tree the goblin was in and hurled his spear taking the nasty fellow out. Knowing that goblins never run alone (and wondering how the stinkers got past the patrols from Bastian and Walker's Hold) Kyre carefully looked around. He didn't find the hidden entrance in the tree that leads down into the gully; but he did note the bridge going across the gully that for sure hadn't been there when he was a boy! That is when the SECOND goblin attacked. It snuck up behind Kyre and tried to push him into the gully...fortunately it failed. Kyre whirled on it and split the little mongrel in half with his two-handed sword.



Unable to find the hidden entrance, and not having any rope with him, Kyre decided to loot the two goblins (slim pickings indeed!) and return to Walker's Hold for better supplies and to maybe pick up an adventurer or two that wanted to return with him.

When he returned to town, lo and behold...the boy had turned up. I'm not heartless...I try not to kill children (even in fiction). lol

Yep, that was the end of the adventure for the weekend!

It was actually pretty fun even though very short...and now we also have a good reason for Kyre to find other adventurers to go back to Goblin Gully and look around.

ADVENTURE NOTE:

Goblin Gully will tie in really well with the mega-dungeon I'm going to be using that Dyson created. I'm placing his Mega-Delve just to the north under The Dwarf King monument. The goblins present at Goblin Gully are going to be spies from the goblins that I have in that adventure; not looking to conquer Walker's Hold (they don't have the numbers) but instead looking for easy raiding targets. They are "Amonite" goblins (meaning they worship the Devil Amon) and their leader is a Charmed "thrall" of none other than an Amonite Cultist named Sayerl the Wizard. Sayerl will come into play when the party goes to Waddle Manor (see blog post "...& the Ugly"). Waddle Manor is evolving into a bigger place for 1st level adventurers.




Friday, September 14, 2018

The "Silver Edition" of Dungeons and Dragons

Almost every game of Dungeons and Dragons has Gold at the center of gaining riches AND experience points...but not my games

I love having a system based on silver. For the longest time I simply converted all the coins "up one" so that silver (not Electrum) became the standard coin in my games. Prices on the list became silver coin prices instead of gold and gold (and platinum) became MUCH more valuable. Where copper had been, I usually placed brass, bronze or some other metal coin (even steel pieces once).



All that changed when I found Dragonsfoot though. There I found a really cool magazine called "Footprints" that changed a lot of things for my at home gaming...but specifically within Footprints 15 I found an article by a fella named Joe Maccarrone titled "Historically Resonant" Coinage for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

And from that day on I've been using his system ever since. I don't always use the Aerdy Pound that he outlines...I usually call it something else.

Well, for the Homeland: The Old Realm Campaign I'll be using that same system.

In my new home game, instead of the Aerdy Pound will be the Royal. Long ago the "Trade Bar" (originally established by Dwarf merchants) which used to be a single large Silver Trade Bar of the same weight as 250 silver coins was an accepted standard by all.



Each of these bars weighed 13 ounces of silver. Unfortunately, few, if any of them, exist as they were when made. Especially among the Vhirians and surrounding human kingdoms the trade bars became "hack silver" most often after the collapse of the Old Realm. Very rarely an old Gold Royal will be found in a collection or among the treasury of a noble. These coins were five times the size of a standard gold coin and also worth a full silver Trade Bar. The "Royal" has become synonymous with the trade bar weight and so the coinage system in my campaign is the Royal Coin.

Most trade is done in silver coins still (gold being somewhat rare on the edges of civilization); but some gems are used as well. The breakdown of the new system is:


Old System to New System
10gp to 1 gp
1pp to .5gp
1gp to 5sp = .1gp
1ep to 2.5sp = .05gp
1sp to .25sp
1cp to .25cp

Smoothed out for the new system:

2500 c.p. = 250 s.p. = 5 g.p. = 1R (Royal)

AND

500 c.p. = 50 s.p. = 1 g.p.

Player Character Starting Money:

Cleric: 180-900 s.p. (3d6 x 50)
Fighter: 250-1000 s.p. (5d4 x 50)
Magic-User: 100-400 s.p. (2d4 x 50)
Thief: 100-600 s.p. (2d6 x 50)

Experience Point Values:

50 c.p. = 1 experience point
5 s.p. = 1 experience point
1 g.p. = 10 experience points

The major shift here is simply changing everything to pounds of weight instead of coins; but really that is easy division of tens. What this does is makes it so much easier for the party to carry their wealth with them; which I'm sure Rangers are fond of...

16 ounces now equals 300 copper pieces, 300 silver pieces or 100 gold pieces.

From that you get that each copper and silver coin weighs only 0.053 ounces and each gold coin weighs .16 ounces (while the Gold Royal would weigh in at .8 ounces...still less than the old D&D coins).



On What Dwarfs and Gnomes Mine...



Looking at the geological survey of Bland County Virginia I found that some of the following items were in sufficient quantity to be mined from the land if someone was so inclined:

Anthracite: good old fashioned coal mined by the dwarves only from deep shafts...anthracite is a "hard burning" coal and can even be used in the home as a heating element.

Arsenopyrite: used to produce arsenic and tiny amounts of gold. The arsenic is used by dwarves to treat the small amounts of lumber they use in their mines (only as temporary joists and such) as well as pesticides (to kill off dangerous underground vermin like giant centipedes and so on) and for use in their creation of fine brass. The "Golden Halls" of the dwarf princes are actually richly gold looking due to the addition of arsenic into the brass sheets the dwarves decorate with.

Baryte: as a white dye for paint

Building Stone: granite, syenite, gneiss, sandstone and limestone in plenty all over

Calcite: aka Rock Crystal; semi-precious stones (50 g.p. base)

Chalcopyrite: extraction of copper used for minting coins and creation of copper and brass pottery and utensils.

Cryptomelane: extraction of manganese (called "lesser iron" by the dwarves, they use it to make fine grade steel in their iron alloys)

Dolomite: construction and smelting (used for furnaces, dolomite is a high temperature bearing stone that won't crack under heat stress like other stones might)

Fluorite: ornamental stone (10 g.p. base)

Galena: lead and silver production; the dwarves gain most of their wealth from this silver bearing "stone" and it is the cornerstone of their wealth; although the lead is actually a valuable trade item as well for everything from white dye/paint to using as sling bullets. The walls of Walker's Hold are actually white-washed from using lead based paint!

Malachite: ornamental stones (10 g.p. base)

Manganite: the primary source of manganese (aka Lesser Iron) this ore is valued by the dwarves for the creation of their strong armor and weapons which are highly resistant to rust

Niter: used to make soaps

Psilomelane: another "stone" used for the extraction of manganese

Pyrite: used by some dwarves and gnomes to make cheap jewelry, but also for dying leather, making ink & cleaning

Pyrolusite: another "stone" used for the  extraction of manganese

Pyrrhotite: the primary ore for the  extraction of iron (at high temperatures it becomes Magnetite). Currently only the dwarves of Clan Arnar and Clan Birnir have iron mines in the area; the humans aren't experienced enough with deep mining and there are no appreciable deposits of surface iron for humanity to use.

Quartz: the gnomes of Clan Jasper pull a great deal of quartz from their mines and from that is produced both Agate and Jasper in plenty.
= Agate ornamental stones (10 g.p. base)
= Jasper semi-precious stones (50 g.p. base)
=Amethyst fancy stones (100 g.p. base); this stone is currently "unknown" in the area; but there exists an Amethyst mine within the dungeons of The Dwarf King

Sphalerite: the dwarves use this for the extraction of zinc (and some small amounts of iron). The dwarves use it with copper to make brassware that they sell abroad and use at home as well. The Brass of Clan Arnar is especially prized.

Talc: used in the creation of pottery  making (a strong pottery trade exists in Walker's Hold) and as powder for workmen and farmers both

Wavellite:  ornamental stones liked by druids (10 g.p. base)

There are other minerals in the area as well; but I thought these would be more than sufficient to establish trade and an economy for the areas dwarves, gnomes, elves and humans. While humans in the area don't mine much at all (their lives are focused more on hunting, trapping and farming), this did help me to see why dwarves and gnomes would even be inclined to be in the area at all.

I fudged on a couple of things to make the campaign work:

The coal doesn't actually run in the mountains of either dwarf clan's holdings; but instead runs along the Brushy/Round Mountain areas (where the dungeon of The Dwarf King rests actually!). I figured since I'm having goblins and dragons running around Bland County though, I can make there be more coal too.

I'm also adding Amethyst gemstones into the dungeon mines of The Dwarf King; although they haven't been noted in the area in the real world, it is a fantasy game and I thought that such gems would be a good addition to a "lost mine of the dwarves" for the campaign...specifically because there is a gem mine in the Dyson Mega-Delve.

I'm not concerned about the bad qualities of lead in the environment. I'm running a fantasy campaign; not going to get into lead poisoning most likely.

A MAJOR difference in my Advanced Dungeons and Dragons campaigns is that I use a monetary system based on Silver instead of Gold. So the silver produced by the dwarves is a great deal of wealth indeed! Gold is a rare thing to be had in my campaigns, but silver hoards are vitally important. In fact, a Silver Weapon is pretty much akin to a minor magical item!

Well, that's all for now...not sure what I'll put up next; but it may be something along the lines of the Silver Monetary System I use.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

... & the Ugly

Every single Dungeons and Dragons campaign is built around adventure. You can build all the setting you want, but if there is not a place for adventurers to gain loot and magic...you are just writing poor fiction.

I've got several adventure locations planned in The Old Realm campaign. Some are just in the bare bones beginning work stages; others (like the mega-dungeon I'm going to use) are already mapped out and only needing to be "stocked" for the looting to begin!

1 Hex = 1 Mile

Adventure Locations are:

Bluespires (Level 4-6) will be an “elven ruin” that the party can go to. I have in mind that Elf King Rhannoch may hire them to go here to recover something he feels was not taken by the dragon Tazar or the Gharkal Gnolls. I haven’t decided yet what I will make the item; but it will be something the King thinks will enable him to strengthen his people and possibly force out the dragon Tazar.

Burkswood (Level 2-4) is going to be an elven “ruin” as well; but it will have more active creatures living there (probably gnolls, ogres and such; as well as creepy crawlers like spiders and so on). I plan to make this one a “Kill the baddies and take their stuff” adventure instead of anything “big” plot wise. I always liked the feel of characters being able to establish their own strongholds in later levels; and Burkswood would be a nice place for any character to do that later on…so I may have to “re-use” this location at higher levels after the party sacks the place at low level.

Darkhold (Level 11-14+) is going to be a nasty dungeon. Where this place sits in our world rests the Bland County Corrections Facility, a Virginia State Prison. So I’m going to be be making Darkhold a prison of sorts too. Held by an evil wizard called “The Keeper” it is going to be composed of several areas of different “habitats” that the vile wizard (likely going to be pretty high level) keeps stocked with creatures that can’t escape. A sort of Monster Menagerie, I think this will make for a cool dungeon. People usually stay away from Darkhold, because The Keeper sometimes sends out his Hunters to capture anyone that comes too close (within 3 miles or so). I haven’t decided yet what these Hunters are; but I’m actually leaning toward Cambions and/or other Demons he has summoned from the Abyss. There will also be a Portal to the Abyss within Darkhold for further adventures.

The other intention I had for placing Darkhold here is that it makes a good “choke point” for keeping the party from going too far away from the center of action. It isn’t intended to keep them in the area, so much as hold their eyes on it and make them aspire to kill The Keeper and take his stuff. lol

The Dwarf King (Level 1+) is my “big dungeon” that nobody knows about until I let the party know that beneath the statue of the Dwarf King is an ancient dwarf hold that even the dwarves thought was much further north. With this, I’m going to be using a cool Mega-Dungeon created by “Dyson Logos” that you can look at here:



Originally I was going to create a module called “The Goblin King” with this mega-dungeon; but I think I will have a great deal more fun with my family if I put it here. I’ve got a cool list of baddies that will be living here; including for a higher level group (level 4+) an area ruled by an Ogre Magi. I’ll be replacing the “Harpy Tower” with the gigantic statue of “The Dwarf King” which none know goes down into the mountain. There are other entrances that I’m going to be working in too:

The Mushroom Cave will be in the valley below the Dwarf Road that goes over the mountain. It will be “known” to locals from Bastian and Walker’s Hold, but I’m going to make the entrances that go deeper a bit harder to find.

The Great Cave entrance will be known as well, but here the locals have shunned the place as haunted. Common folk wouldn’t want to go there surely, and even brave sorts aren’t necessarily adventurers wanting to go into a cave that is haunted! A recent sink-hole though has made some folk curious…

The “Giant Gates” I’m going to make hidden by an ancient rock fall I think. Literally cover them up with bolders that ancient dwarves intended to cover those entrances.

The only other “big entrance” is the The Necropolis of Bryn Mynnyd; which will be sitting VERY near to Bastian. The outlying area (the “abandoned” old buildings) are claimed by members of the Cult that front as simple farmers and herders. I’m going to place a couple of families here that are totally subsumed by the cult generation after generation. This particular cult, by the way, is not an “undead” death cult; but is where the assassins in my campaign are from! They WILL have clerics; but they are not lovers of undead at all.

As can be seen, this dungeon will be the centerpiece of my entire campaign! It can even take the party into the Underdark and so will be a rather dangerous place. I think that if the party does well here, my youngest son will want to claim the place; but the dwarves will probably be after it if it becomes known to them.

Gallows (Level 5-7) is where I plan to take my kids on an adventure they have never even heard about (I don’t think): I6 Ravenloft. I’m going to be modifying the area a bit; but the backstory (not GOING to Ravenloft the Demi-Plane) will be that the village has always been surrounded by “the fog” and they can’t escape until Strahd is defeated; though this makes the villagers come from a very narrow gene pool! The place was there some time ago when an early civilization of humans reached up the Lower Wolf Creek and Strahd’s family established the castle there to trade with the ancient Dwarf Kingdom now called the Old Realm. When Strahd “fell” that avenue to the area was cut. While goblins once ruled the area around Strahd’s castle, of late other undead horrors have crept out into the land; and so now the Gallowoods aren’t even safe for Goblins not in numbers. A small tweak of the map of the surrounding area and I’ll be able to plop Castle Ravenloft right into my home campaign.

If the party does really well, they may want to “claim” the castle, so I’ve prepared for this by planning for goblin incursions once the undead are dealt with. While the party may be able to handle the Black Wolf goblins, there are other stronger clans in the east to the north of the Kingdom of Vhir; so the party will probably have to come back later and clear goblins from Castle Ravenloft when the party is higher level…and if they want to claim the castle for themselves.

Oldcamp (Level 1-2) is intended to be a minor dungeon adventure for the group to establish good relations with Clan Arnar north of Rocky Gap. I’m thinking of making this their second adventure when Prince Baran hears “through the grapevine” (meaning his gnome spies) that the party has returned with wealth and an increase in fame from clearing Waddle Manor. He really only wants them to recover an old chest of items from the place (nothing even magical); but many of the items are of sentimental value since they belonged to his father. Prince Baran knows it is inhabited by remaining orcs and other critters; but was looted by the Bone Eaters some time ago. The chest is in a hidden location and it has to be returned to him, but anything else the party finds is theirs for the taking. Another early “kill them and take their stuff” adventure really.

Stonespires (Level 1+) is actually a Portal controlled by the Druid Rhuidach. It can lead to wherever I want it to lead…but the exits will always be other Standing Stones. My kids (all of them) are “instant gratification junkies” and so whenever things stall in the game, I’ll likely have word brought to them that “The Druid” needs their help “again”. The first time I send them through (perhaps right after Waddle Manor) I’ll be sending them to a simple dungeon near an old ruined henge to recover something for the Druid Rhuidach. Once the group learns that this henge “goes” somewhere, they may become interested in going on adventures in other lands “real quick” but it won’t be open to them just any time…more directly under my control when I come up with an idea.

Waddle Manor (Level 1) will be an introductory adventure to the setting. It is an old Manor that was constructed by dwarven masons long ago for a wealthy human lord from the lands now known as the County of Wythe. The place is of stone, and has several different buildings outside within the stone walls of the place. It has long been “abandoned” by civilized folk after being sacked by raiding ogres of the Korg Clan. Trees grow even in the courtyard and all around; so a great deal of the place will be “tumbled” in ruin; but since it is of dwarf construction it still mostly stands.

It is going to have minor undead in one area (skeletons for sure), large spiders & centipedes in the woods around, feral wild dogs, bandits in the place (a small group of orcs and half-orcs that has formed recently, led by the “boss” who is going to be a 2nd level orc fighter), a puny ogrillon “henchman” of the bandit boss, giant rats, and perhaps a rival party of “evil” adventurers from the Kingdom of Vhir.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

"...the Bad..."

Every setting needs foes for the adventurers to strive against, and I wanted to make sure there was a good supply in the Homeland Campaign set within what is slowly coming to be called "The Old Realm" by me in my writing. I wanted to give a reason for encounters in the area; but also background to how these various humanoids might act and react in certain situations. I'm going to be making several dungeons (outlined in the next part "...and the Ugly.") and I needed to know first what monsters and humanoids might be found in them from the surrounding area.

So, here are some of the groups in and around The Old Realm that the family is going to be interacting with...probably at the end of a blade or spell.

1 Hex = 1 Mile

Humanoid/Monster Camps:

Every campaign needs bad guys: orcs, goblins, evil wizards and of course dragons! In the area of the Homeland Campaign (called “the Old Realm” by many) there are plenty to go around.

The Black Wolves are a nasty lot of goblins who are between a rock and a hard place. They would love nothing more than to swarm into Walker’s Hold every single day and kill and plunder; but the druids of Hollybrook are in their way in no small manner. The Chief of the Black Wolves is also beset from within by his own sons who want him dead so that they can fight over the scraps he leaves behind. When the goblins first came to the area, pushed south by the swarming horde of orcs that shattered the Dwarf Kingdom, they were a rather strong group. Today, after several humiliating defeats, they number only about 250 warriors. The “rock” they struggle against is the emergence of the undead within Gallowoods; which used to be theirs. Now they are forced to hunt in higher ranges where the game is not as plentiful or else go into the lands east of Darkhold and contend with other goblins there who have greater numbers. They dare not go into the lower valley near Hollybrook unless in force and game can’t be well hunted in such a manner. For now, Chief Harbel sends some few too eager warriors south to Darkhold to pay The Keeper there for right of passage to raid into the eastern bounds of Walker’s Hold when pressure to raid becomes too great for him to constrain. Other times, he sends warriors against the Kara, but this is essentially fruitless as the Sylvan Elves have too many arrows and too few coins that can be taken. Harbel has forced his goblins to dig deep into the mountains and hopes this will keep them busy enough for him to gather significant numbers. Whispers reaching the Druid Rhuidach say that if Harbel amasses just a few dozen more warriors he may try to push past Hollybrook and attempt to settle in the eastern reaches of Walker’s Hold in alliance with the Iksal Hobgoblins.

The Bone Eaters Orcs are a vile lot who have nearly despoiled their clan lands completely in the past two decades. The starving Orcs, unable to defeat the Gharkal Gnolls to their west, unable to withstand the haunted Gallowoods, fearful of the magical might of the High Elves and outnumbered by stronger clans of orcs to their north, must instead repeatedly slam their bodies against the defenses of the Arnar Dwarves to their south in either direct assaults on North Gate (very rarely worth the death toll) or raid over the top of the mountains into the area of Rocky Gap with their backs to the dwarves then which can lead to disaster. They have turned to a Witch Doctor to lead them in their desperation, and this horrid monster of an orc called Dek has turned them to the worship of an unnamed fiend. He uses undead skeletons now to supplement the ranks of the Bone Eaters who have sworn off their old clan name. Once called the Iron Tusks, they were strong but broke on the defenses of North Gate over a century ago. Even other orc clans now call them the Bone Eaters; but what was intended as a derogatory snub has turned into a name of fear because the Bone Eaters will even eat other orcs they capture. If they gain much more strength, they will likely challenge nearby orcs, the Gharkal or even swarm over the mountains and take new lands.

The Gharkal gnolls have lived in these lands perhaps as long as the elves. They once lived in Tazar’s Valley long before the elves established their dominion and pushed them further and further north. That changed several centuries ago when the Orcs broke the “Old Realm” and at once the Gharkal returned and laid siege to the High Elf settlement of Bluespires. It was at last destroyed, but the Gharkal paid heavily for reclaiming a large part of the Blue Forest. Now they have grown strong again. They raid in all directions save south, not wishing to disturb the dragon called Tazar that once allied with them to sack Bluespires. Their hunting parties have been seen skirting the lands of Clan Arnar and even spotted near Rocky Gap however; but these groups, so far from their main camp, rarely attempt to engage in combat…unless they heavily outnumber a foe. They are perhaps the reason some individuals and small groups go missing. Primarily their Chief keeps them within the bounds of the Blue Forest and well north of the Buckhorn and Rich mountains. Disturbing news from Bastian, however, has reported some gnolls with the Korg Ogres; and further, the Vhirian Highland Rangers have reported to Walker’s Hold and Ceres that they even spotted gnolls in the area of Burkswood. It is unknown if these gnolls are from the Gharkal or some other group infiltrated from the west.

Iksal Hold is the dangerous realm of the Iksal Forest Hobgoblin “King” named Karntax “the Bowel Ripper” for his fascination of slow torturous treatment of captured enemies: he slowly feeds the still connected entrails to worg pups. The Iksal Hobgoblins have existed in these lands since before the dwarves established South Gate and have tunnels so deep that humans dare not follow. It is for this reason that they can’t be dislodged. When attacked in force, they retreat deep into the earth. When the army leaves and humans try to settle, the hobgoblins slowly creep out and slaughter individual homesteads. If the Vhirians send another army, the process simply repeats. Instead, the newer (relatively speaking) Vhirian Kings decided a different tactic: they hire Hobgoblin mercenaries at times to make war against the Kingdoms of Myarland or Karolin. This has created a pressure release for preventing Hobgoblin raids into the counties of Wythe and Highland; but unfortunately it hasn’t completely eliminated such problems and has made the Hobgoblin King quite wealthy besides. Now the Hobgoblins of Iksal Hold have established a fortified above ground complex of earth and timber that would take a considerable army or copious amounts of magic to breach. While King Karntax doesn’t “allow” raiding into the Kingdom of Vhir, his warriors do sometimes “hunt” in areas known to be frequented by Clan Birnir and across the Big Walker Mountains where they come into conflict with the Holders of Walker’s Hold.

The Korg ogres are few in numbers these days; but their alliance with groups of orcs and gnolls which frequent their camp has increased their threat. Forays against the Korg by the High Elves of Grapefields and by humans from Bastian over the many years have greatly reduced their number and so they tend to avoid going too near these places. They do range into the Brushy Mountains and are sometimes noted in the area of Burkswood; but primarily they favor Hunting Camp Creek for their hunting. Unlike the Kurg ogres, the Korg are quite dumb in general; though land-wise they are cunning; never has an Ogre-Mage risen from the Korg.

The Kurg ogres can be very dangerous. They tend to hunt as individuals or youthful pairs; but avoid going west of their mountains, the Ogreback Mountains. What makes the Kurg dangerous is that they seem to often be led by Ogre-Magi. Whether such individuals are born of unusual circumstances or come here from somewhere else isn’t really known. The Kurg don’t like to mix with other races; so they have never been part of any horde or any such that threatens nearby settlements; but instead their Magi have often been individually cruel and are known to steal children or even blatantly disguise themselves with magic and infiltrate settlements and use their magic on others for their gain. Only five years ago a trio of young girls, enamored of some new stranger, ended up leaving Walker’s Hold with the man only to be found days later mostly eaten by an Ogre-Mage who battled the patrol that found them but it escaped.

Tazar’s Lair is of course the lair of the dragon named Tazar. Once this lair held a powerful green dragon as its master; but after the sacking of Bluespires by the Gharkal Gnolls with the help of Tazar, the great red beast attacked and took the lair and the life of the green dragon. The elves of Grapefields once tried to assault the dragon’s lair, but the powerful heroes they sent never returned and undoubtedly their magic now rests within Tazar’s hoard. Tazar rarely leaves its (none yet know if it is male or female) except to hunt. It has not yet attempted to pass the boundaries of King Rhannoch’s realm; but it is a sure bet that the elves are keeping a vigilant eye on the huge dragon. The Dwarf Prince of Clan Arnar tried to also slay the dragon about seventy years ago; but his son now sits upon his throne after his failure and death. Clan Arnar holds a deep hatred for Tazar and has sworn an oath of vengeance on the foul monster that threw the half eaten body of their former Prince upon the road outside South Gate. Elven legend has it that deep within the caves claimed by Tazar is an entrance to deep grottoes that their people once dwelt within. The legends claim that this place was where the Sylvan Elves once held court before their people were fractured.

Last up in this three part mini-outline is "...and the Ugly." where I outline some of the ruins and dungeons of the areas that the party will be adventuring in!


Re-working of Walker's Hold

So I really enjoy looking at archaeology reports and sketches...just one of my "things" I guess. I just love history. I happened on this picture though:


It made me realize that Walker's Hold might look something like this. Multiple layers of earthwork defenses atop a hill with the village scattered within the rings. Then, that made me think of this awesome piece from the World of Greyhawk:


I think I'm going to re-work the wording of how I describe Walker's Hold and put a little more emphasis on making it similar to what you see above.

My reasoning is that brick (white washed, for which there is plenty white wash to be had in the area of Walker's Hold due to the prevalence of lead from galena in the area) would be a sound item to build with. Large earthwork walls surmounted by white stone towers and brick walls topped by timber watch towers seems more to the "tech level" of what I'm trying to portray.

So instead of the old description of Walker's Hold, we now get:

"Walker’s Hold

Today, Walker’s Hold is a large village that would be called a town if it were more organized. Several “neighborhoods” within it are instead groups of homes owned by the same extended family groups and these radiate out from a central area where a large market and trade buildings are located. Around this entire affair is an extensive earthwork wall topped by a white washed rampart of brick with several towers of square stone, also white washed. A dry moat also surrounds this wall, and outside it is another raised earthen wall intended to impede the progress of siege towers; but laid at such an angle as to allow no cover from archers firing from the main wall. A narrow gap exists between the wall and moat of about three paces and this is fifteen feet below the top of the wall while the depth of the dry moat is on average another five feet below. At the north gate (there is a gate at each cardinal direction on the wall) rests the only fortification in the place if not counting watch towers that ring the wall. Built of dolomite stone brought from the depths of South Gate, this high towered keep is dwarven made; but of newer design than that of Bastian. Built less than fifty years ago by dwarven engineers hired from Clan Birnir, it is a strong round keep with two tall round towers on the wall facing north. In the eastern tower resides the Warden of Walker’s Hold who is elected “Lord” of the land; while upon the top of the western tower rests a great bronze cauldron filled with oil which is to be lit if word comes that Bastian has fallen…which is supposed to bring the aid of the Clan Birnir to Walker’s Hold..."

Well, back to our regular plan of "...the Bad..."



Monday, September 10, 2018

The Good...

The Homeland Campaign has several settlements that players can have their characters come from. It is essential to a "local" campaign to make sure that there are several things to choose from as far as where characters might hail from.

Below the recently updated map are listed several such places:

Scale: 1 mile per Hex

Bastian is a strong dwarf made tower of large size originally garrisoned by dwarves, led by a Dwarven Thane alongside his human vassals, intended to be a stop over for caravans from the dwarf kingdom that once existed in the north. It is now inhabited solely by humans and a small village has sprouted up about it that is now surrounded by an earthen wall topped by a wooden stockade. Several steadings are nearby as well, but all locals stay within a short run of the walls due to the nearby presence of the Kurg Ogre Clan as well as the more distant Korg Ogres who have mixed with orcs. The folk of Bastian are kin of the rest of the Walker’s Hold folk; but see themselves as the more hardy cousins of an already tough people. Regular “Holders” often are sent by the various family elders to serve a period of time in the “Thane’s Guard” within Bastian and spend time patrolling and of course fighting humanoids and ogres. The Thane obviously no longer rules in Bastian, but the Thane’s Guard is the only standing military the Holders have known and so tradition lives on.

Ceres is a rather small logging camp. Used also by adventurous sorts from the County of Smyth to hunt and trap it is a rugged frontier settlement. The camp is supported in a limited sense by the Count of Smyth in hopes that silver not already claimed by the Birnir Clan might be found and exploited; and it wouldn’t hurt, in his thinking, if he manages to prevent the Count of Wythe from gaining a toehold in the area. Despite its small size, Ceres has a motte and bailey at its center constructed at the order of the Count and has a blacksmith and other services not normally found in such a small camp. Of more concern to the trappers and prospectors is the tavern where good drink can be found. Travel from Ceres to Walker’s Hold is uncommon, but not unheard of. Unfortunately, conflicts with the Birnir Clan have happened when humans trek into their clan hunting lands uninvited. In turn, several “log jams” have occurred on the shallow North Fork Creek when bears push trees over into the creek and block the travel of pruned trees down the creek. The Camp Boss has had to send many more men down creek on a regular basis to cut out these jams and profits are slipping from the wasted man hours.

Grapefields is the home of the High Elven treespires ruled by King Rhannoch. Once part of a much larger elf realm that stretched north into the Blue Forest and south across Burkswood, King Rhannoch rules over a much smaller realm than his father once held hundreds of years ago. It is common knowledge that humans are not allowed within the realm of King Rhannoch, and so all avoid his forested valley and even the mountain crests surrounding it where his people patrol with Sylvan Elf scouts. At its heart Grapefields (known as Goldspires to the Elves) is an enchanted realm where the great treespires of the elves reach hundreds of feet into the air. The King’s own tree-tower is said to have bark like alabaster and leaves of silver and gold; and at its crown sits his throne of living wood that connects him via the roots of trees to all the domain he rules. The King does allow trade between his people and others, but they only travel from his realm to Bastian once each spring. Anyone attempting to enter his realm are first warned away by Sylvan Elf arrows; but if this does not work, then intruders die upon silver tipped lances as the Elf-King’s elite warriors are mounted upon white horses that pass unseen and silently through the woodlands.

Kara, Naya & Rana are semi-mobile Sylvan Elf encampments. Of the three, only Kara is ever visited by non-elves; and then only safely by the friends they have made among the inhabitants of Hollybrook and Rocky Gap. The Naya once lived along the banks of what is now called Big Walker Creek; but decades of conflict with pioneer humans from the Kingdom of Vhir to the south resulted in their numbers dwindling and deciding to move across the Round Mountains into the valley beyond. The Rana are also now under the rule of King Rhannoch; but were always allied with the High Elves even in the days of the dwarves pushing south to trade with the humans. The Kara are much more aggressive in dealing with others intruding on their valley and proactively hunt down anyone venturing into what they consider as their territory. Each of the three clans are in fact closely related and intermarried deeply; and so a runner arriving from any of these camps can quickly summon the others (and likely the Elf King Rhannoch) to bring aid. When major incursions occur (especially against the Kara from the Black Wolf Goblins) the elves simply melt away into the wilderness and vanish until the threat is passed…though they are more than capable of hit and run “retreats” that inflict horrible casualties on intruders.

Hollybrook is a somewhat unique human settlement. It is a camp of Druids and their allies; primarily ranger folk and other woodsmen. Many half-elven folk come to visit Hollybrook; but these fair folk are few and rare as most live within the realm of King Rhannoch. There are few goods to be found in Hollybrook, but those from as far away as the Kingdom of Vhir pilgrimage here before going to ceremonies at the Stones nearby. Others come to obtain druidic healing magic, traded only rarely for items needed by the druids such as weapons (rarely), gemstones (for their magic) or herbs from far places (also for their magic). The Druids of Hollybrook are a powerful force in the area; felt as far away as the Kingdom of Vhir where they often visit and tend to faithful there. Even the Black Wolf Goblins rarely try to directly attack either Hollybrook or the Stones due to the power of the Druid Rhuidach. One of nine powerful Druids within the Kingdom of Vhir and surrounding lands, he is also the great nephew of none other than King Rhannoch of the High Elves. Rhuidach is a half-elf; the result of King Rhannoch’s own niece falling in love with a human ranger and giving birth to Rhuidach. Rhuidach’s mother still lives within the court of King Rhannoch, though his human father long ago passed from the world of the living. Over six decades ago the Black Wolves attempted to sack Hollybrook; and their bones still lay scattered in the meadows surrounding the camp, a result of Rhuidach’s magic and his alone.

Krenning is a woodsman’s village with a Lord owing fealty to the Count of Wythe. Some few dwarves of Clan Birnir can be found periodically in the place, but none dwell here permanently. Krenning serves as a meeting point for trappers and hunters of northern Wythe who are often allowed to travel the lands of Clan Birnir with the understanding that no bears are to be trapped or hunted and that meat or furs they obtain are to be offered first to the dwarves for a fair price. Merchants headed north or south also often make stop in Krenning to trade some few wares before moving either to South Gate to pay for passage into Walker’s Hold to trade there (and further north) or are returning from such a journey already. Once a year the Prince of the Birnir sends his own people to do trade within Krenning with humans there; but merchants are never allowed within the true halls of South Gate and instead are only allowed to traverse the many gated tunnel through the mountains for a toll. The Dwarf Fair is often visited by merchants from several counties from within the Kingdom of Vhir and so the little village becomes rather busy for a week each year.

North Gate is the larger of the two dwarf holds ruled by the descendants of the Dwarf Kings of old; but sadly it has the smaller population of the two holds. Clan Arnar is often in skirmishes with the Bone Eater Orcs who have nearly despoiled their own orc lands completely in the past two decades. Clan Arnar lost what is now called Oldcamp to a crushing attack by the Bone Eaters over a decade ago, and now Prince Baran has pulled his warriors back as close to home as Clan Arnar’s pride will allow. Clan Arnar almost never hunts as they used to do, and instead they trade with the humans and gnomes of Rocky Gap for foodstuffs with payment in silver and weapons. The Giant Eagles that are allied with Clan Arnar are dwindling in number as their nests are often the target of orc raids when eggs are laid. To prevent their extinction all together, Prince Baran has ordered the construction of several towers near the southern gates of his clanhold that can serve as nesting peaks that will be defended by his people. Unlike their cousins to the south, no merchant wishes to pay tolls to pass through North Gate into the orc infested lands to the north. Rumor has it that Clan Arnar has fewer than one hundred warriors remaining and their ancient treasures are nearly depleted. As the Arnar dwarves allow nobody into their halls, it is unknown how true this might be; but no more than fifty dwarves are ever seen working on the towers for the giant eagles. The Arnar keep great silver coated wolves as war-wolves and companions as well. Any dwarf merchant that visits Rocky Gap will always be escorted by at least one, if not two, of these faithful creatures.

Rocky Gap is a free hold as Walker’s Hold to the south; but with no elected leader other than a War Captain that leads defense and patrols. A Council leads here, composed of the Gnome Chief and three human elders (the group varies year to year depending on human mortality) and the village High Priest. Unlike Walker’s Hold, the village has a stout stone wall, crenelated towers and all its buildings are composed of stone as well. Only outlying farming steads are built of wood, as well as shepherd’s cottages in the surrounding hills and mountainsides. The narrow gap to the north of the village is the old “Rocky Gap” but it now has a smooth dwarf-built road running through it; though only a dirt side track leaves that road and goes to the only gate of Rocky Gap where Laural Creek flows by to join Wolf Creek. There are many gnomes, all of the Clan Jasper (their gnomish name is best left not attempted) that live within the village; but most instead live in the ancient stone quarry to the southeast that the gnomes have turned into their own warrens and deep mines where they extract jasper, agate and other quartz. Other than the gem trade that comes seasonally when the mountains are clear of snow, the village is rather poor. Trappers and hunters come here and so there is some trade in that; but surprisingly the only other “trade item” the place has is in lore from lost ages. The Ardent Tower, home of the High Priest (who guards the place with his devoted warriors), has a great library where tomes that were once held within halls further afield now rest. Many are said to be magical; and so many students of magic come even from distant lands of Vhir to study here, but pay heavily to do so. Local families do make a decent living dealing with the dwarves of North Gate and their annual visit to the fair field outside Rocky Gap however; as well as year round supplying goods to Clan Arnar.

South Gate is held proudly by Prince Kaland and the Clan Birnir. One hundred dwarf warriors escort the clan’s merchants to the yearly fair at Walker’s Hold and also to Krenning for that village’s yearly dwarf fair; and it is said two to three times that number hold their halls for them while the merchants are gone. Birnir hunting parties (read patrols) also wander through their land and are quite stealthy as far as dwarves go. Merchants pay good coin to use the South Gate road through the mountain; but are never allowed within the halls proper. Each wagon enters a gate which is then closed behind them before being allowed through the next gate. There are twelve such gates between the massive outer gates, for a total of thirteen choke points within that it would take perhaps the combined army of the Kingdom of Vhir to penetrate and hope to gain the inner halls. None know at which point within the tunnel the true gates are even located, so well hidden that none have ever seen them. Even the dwarves of Clan Birnir exit their holding from small High Gates above the tunnel on either end and not from any point within. In ancient times the road was much used and Clan Birnir were simply guardians for a distant Dwarf King; but with the collapse of that realm in the north, Clan Birnir is now the strongest known dwarf clan to the humans of the Kingdom of Vhir. Clan Birnir supplies solid armor and weapons to the humans around; but not in great quantity. They don’t waste their iron on lesser implements either. They deal in some few items of silver jewelry of masterful design; but again in only small quantity and usually in return for items the dwarves desire that aren’t to be found naturally within their halls: grain and gold.

Stonecamp is a fortified hunting lodge belonging to Clan Birnir. It has some few outlying buildings not part of the underhall proper; but these are usually for visiting human hunters and rangers. The Vhirian Highland Rangers are welcome in numbers no greater than three to Stonecamp on their “patrols” in the area. While the Highland Rangers most often raid into the Iksal Forest to skirmish against the Hogboblins and their ilk there, they often visit this camp to deal with the dwarves in trade between the yearly fairs of Krenning. Dwarf crafted arrowheads are greatly prized by archers everywhere, and a master smith lives at Stonecamp year round producing them for trade with hunters and rangers alike. Of late, the rangers have also been moving across the Big Walker Mountains into the area of Ceres in winter to ward off infrequently ranging hunters from Korg; but this is deep irony as dwarven “hunters” from Stonecamp are responsible for the felling of trees to clog up North Fork Creek which causes problems of another sort for the loggers of Ceres. The rangers know about this action by the dwarves; but since it has never proven hostile, there is an understanding between the Highland Rangers and the dwarves. The rangers feel they need the area of Stonecamp to work from and supply out of more than the loggers need to have less work to make profit cutting trees. Humans not with or allied to the rangers are warned away harshly from intruding into the lands of Clan Birnir in this area and told that they may only enter Birnir territory along the roads “built just for that!” by their ancestors.

Walker’s Hold is the primary settlement of “Freemen” in the area of the Old Realm (as it is called by locals, perhaps referring to the old Dwarf Kingdom). Walker’s Hold has residents of nearly all the “goodly” people: Humans, Halflings, Gnomes, Dwarves and even Elves and Half-Elves too. All but Halflings are rare however; and the Hairfeet of Walker’s Hold number only near 10% of the population if they are honest about their numbers; though many more live in the outlying farming lands. Even when humans in the area were vassals of the Dwarf King, they usually settled only in areas where dwarves chose to settle; but with the collapse of the Dwarf Kingdom and the weakening of the nearby realm of the elves too, humans began to push into the area from what were then the scattered clans of the Vhir. Over time these groups pushed the Sylvan Elves from the valley now known as Walker’s Hold and a permanent fortified settlement (also called Walker’s Hold) was made. When the Kingdom of Vhir was founded, many more humans came seeking freedom and so they became “Walkers” too. As “Walkers” were what pioneers were called by the Vhir, they named the mountains to the north that they were unable to claim for the people that went there to settle outside the kingdom proper.

Today, Walker’s Hold is a large village that would be called a town if it were more organized. Several “neighborhoods” within it are instead groups of homes owned by the same extended family groups and these radiate out from a central area where a large market and trade buildings are located. Around this entire affair is an extensive earthwork wall topped by a wooden rampart. Unique regarding this wall is that it is a “green” wall with heavy foliage growing on the outside; but this area is in a deep dry moat and filled with prickly briars and brambles that accompany berry bushes and roses. A narrow gap exists between the wall and moat of about three paces and this is fifteen feet below the top of the wall while the depth of the dry moat is on average another five feet below. At the north gate (there is a gate at each cardinal direction on the wall) rests the only fortification in the place if not counting watch towers that ring the wall. Built of stone, this high towered keep is dwarven made; but of newer design than that of Bastian. Built less than fifty years ago by dwarven engineers hired from Clan Birnir, it is a strong round keep with two tall round towers on the wall facing north. In the eastern tower resides the Warden of Walker’s Hold who is elected “Lord” of the land; while upon the top of the western tower rests a great bronze cauldron filled with oil which is to be lit if word comes that Bastian has fallen…which is supposed to bring the aid of the Clan Birnir to Walker’s Hold.

Lord Ansen, nearing 50 years of age, will soon retire and a new Lord be elected by the Great Council. This governing body, consisting of all retired Lords and leaders of Old Families, elects a “Warlord” whenever the old Lord dies or reaches the age of 50 summers. There is no hereditary rule in this land so as to prevent tyrannical rulers from emerging from bad blood. Retiring at age 50 is a tradition born of ensuring that the Warlord is hale and able to fight alongside those he leads instead of commanding them from the rear. Once a Warlord is elected, he rules the land with little guidance however; but only in matters of realm defense, trade and diplomatic relations. The day to day affairs of the people (including dispensing justice upon criminals) is handled by the Great Council who elect from their number or by appointment from the Freeholders various positions such as judges, magistrates, and a sheriff who sees to rounding up criminals (though the sheriff answers most often to the Lord since it will be the Lord’s men he uses to enforce law). The Great Council is added to whenever a family (meaning more than 20 adult individuals) has established residency for no less than 40 years or when a Lord retires who was not originally from the Old Families. There has in fact been a Halfling Warlord in the past!

NEXT UP: "...The Bad..."