A Users Guide To Aversill

The Story Thus Far...

2009-09-17T13:00:00.002-04:00

Our intreped explorers have found themselves amnesiac and only recently come to their senses in the strange castle of some wizard with whom they are allowed no contact. For weeks, they have been his "guests" without thinking much of it until now. They find themselves suddenly aware of their lack of memory, their strange surroundings, and their immenent danger.

So they band together to take the wizard's laboratory only to find that the old mage has died in the middle of some horrible rituals. He lived long enough to summon dire creatures from the underworld, but not long enough (alas) to control them. After defeating the wraiths, the characters decided to flee the now ruined and burning old tower and make for the nearest human settlement, as they descended the hill, the rains began.

By the time they had reached the bottom what began as a heavy shower had become a deluge from the sky. Creekbeds, swelled into rivers, and the thin ravines which the charcters were travelling down because of muddy slopes were quickly threatening to become flooded. Atop a slope, one of the more perceptive in the party spied a figure out in the rain, and beyond it, a cave!

Having climbed the horrible slope with the strong arms of Thorin, the party discovered the figure to be a strange statue of some aztec looking deity. Seeking refuge inside the cave, they are quickly met with the sound of some poor sould crying for help as a revolving door of stone turned at the end of the tunnel. Solving the room's riddle, the party ventured onward through a forgotten temple to a primordial.

Adding monsters to the mythology

2009-07-04T12:14:00.003-04:00

I don't want to be a bummer, but there really was something about first edition AD and D that was intuitive for the D.M.. When the creatures walked into a room, you sort of knew what kind of monsters just ought to be in there based on the creatures that populated your fantastic visions as spawned by movies, myths and books. So, you know about goblins, you get fairies and giants and crap like Rumpelstiltskin.

While I love the new Dungeons and Dragons(s, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.), where the F are they getting these monsters? Are they Mangan or something? Who, while planning a dungeon, thinks 'this would be a great place for some faceless mountain lions?' The end result is kind of like old Jorune or Call of Cthulhu where the monsters are crazy but you have no idea what they are and no frame of reference to remember them on the fly. Plus, with Jorune or Call of Cthulhu, you really only need a couple of monsters for the adventure. In Dungeons and Dragons, I'm seriously getting to the point where I just open the book to a random page and that's whats hanging out waiting for everybody. What's their motive? What does their lair look like that makes it unique to that creature?

Let's try it this way, old Dungeons and Dragons--the characters enter a forbiddon glen in the middle of the forest, slowly they creep forward until--
a--they hear the sound of pan flute and see a man with goat legs run by
b--the sound of hoofbeats shows a herd of creatures half man, half horse. They raise their bows because you have tread on their domain.
c--a nearby tree whips you and says, "who dares disturb my slumber."
d--a horrible spirit rises out of a forgotten grave and floats towards you angrilly.

New Dungeons and Dragons
a--a horrible giant with lightening for skin, says, "who dares my...what the hell am I doing in the middle of a glen with lightening for skin. What the hell, is this street fighter?"
b--you see a bunch of clockwork bugs examining a map of the continent trying to figure out which kingdom to take out. Luckilly you've caught them at step one of their master plan: conquer this forgotten glen with no discernible value.
c--you see a half eagle half horse creature that is perpetually on fire waiting for Spring to end so that it can start a forest fire...because....um....because... Anyway, you see it a mile off because it's on fire so you avoid the glen.
d--you hear the creeking of gears. My lord is that an iron golem?! Or a guardian...or maybe a hommunculi...or, who the hell keeps making these things...maybe its warforged...or...why are there so many robots in this game...and do they really eat old peoples' medicine? And, hey, how did this thing get in the middle of the woods.

When you know what the monsters are, you don't need to spend hours trying to figure out what should be in the next room and why. When you don't know, you have only two options--either the encounters are just crazy random (evil thing at the middle of the dungeon seems to attract everything to it and charm them so that they're all friendly to one another) or overprescribed (everything in this dungeon is a goblin). Personally, I think Dungeons and Dragons aught to either get back to using monsters from real legends or write up a hell of a lot more description. Obviously, some of the monsters like Sahuagin, have become classics by now, but some of the other creatures really need some description of where they might be found and what sorts of lairs they inhabit.

Strangely though, the real answer seems to be to custom build monsters with abandon. After all, if you know that you want some kind of fungal monstrosity, you're unlikely to find the right fungal monstrosity in the monster manuals--they'll probably have fire for skin or have some kind of connection to mind flayers. Your best bet, I think, is probably just to make the crap up. And why not...afr all, you don't have to worry about making a creature that is somehow out of character with the other monsters in the game which are, by now, so damn random that they don't make much sense anyways.

4th edition and hit points

2009-06-24T10:12:00.002-04:00

Alright, after a long hiatus, I'm thinking of taking up fourth edition to see how the rules play out. My first feeling, and this comes from having played 4th at three game days, is that the monsters simply have too many hit points. The length of time that it takes to kill goblins is ultimately ridiculous.

So, in running the game, I have decided to halve the creatures hit points except in key encounters. I expect that this will affect the game in the following ways:

Encounter powers: Since each encounter is technically half an encounter, I'm only allowing characters to recuperate powers after every other encounter. They may still rest so as to use healing surges. This will mean that encounter powers will have to be used with some discretion. On the other hand, creatures will still have their encounter powers. This will, I think, make for more and more interesting encounters as their will be more creatures gone through in the same ammount of time, with the same number of cool effects.
Minions: minions are likely to become more powerful. After all, they won't lose half their hit points so they will remain the same power level while everything else goes down.
Strikers: Strikers who do 25 points of damage and etc., will be more effective at killing things in one shot, however, they're likely to find a lot of the damage they do going for nought. This takes striker's power down a step which in my opionion, makes them as attractive an option as all the other characters, who are kind of less worthwhile than strikers as they stand right now.
Controllers: Particularly wizards, are kind of a joke with effects that last until the end of their next turn on dailies. Who cares? One turn? Battles with creatures who have 120 hit points are going to go for too long for that one turn to really matter that much. However, if the creature has half as many hit points, controller effects will matter all the more.
Looks like AD and D: In my opinion, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was a great game with some problems. Subsequent additions have done a lot to fix those problems at the expense of taking away a lot of what made the game great. Dungeons have gone from forty rooms with a bunch of interesting stuff to five. By halving the hit points and experience, you are doubling the number of encounters the characters get between levels, the size of their adventures, and the number of encounters a party can get through in one session.

Last time--March 28th

2008-04-02T15:10:00.003-04:00

So, lots of stuff happened, most of which revolved around Geoffrey Flinthurst, the Fade expert from Kaydtch. Having rescued Flinthurst and a single guard from Kaydtch before the little town turned evil, it was only a matter of time before the guard alerted his superiors that you had Flinthurst under your protection. Only one way around it....

Give Flinthurst to the halflings.

Boaben Fee, leader of the halflings, was only too happy to supplement his new business of selling weapons to scared peasants with a little job of hiding Geoffrey from the powers that be. As the halflings are not allowed in the city, they have no love for Drodswell or his Defenders. In fact, as a sign of good faith, they decided to return all of the items stolen from one of their less scrupulous fellows whom Boaben assures you has been run out of town. Among the items (all of which could have only been taken off characters in town, was a wooden box with an ivory seal).

When Earthmoon returned from town, having been hassled by a guard who still wants revenge on Emord, she immediately recognized on the box the sign of the Southern Jungle Trading Company--basically the Belgian colonial government in Heart of Darkness who are notorious more mistreating their lizard man slave populations during expeditions into the jungle. What's more, inside the box was a medallion awarded to Virgil Breech for his years of solid service to the company.

AT this point the party decided to split. Grengulia decided to head back to the farmhouse to guard Geoffrey Flinthurst until nighfall when he could be moved. Earthmoon and Felden headed off to Hyberoan to watch Breech and Emord and Neri waited with the halflings, Neri all the while losing gold coins.

While watching Flinthurst, Grengulia spied a convoy of Defendeer guards headed off to burned out ruins into which they disapeared. She did not pursue but instead waited for Neri and Emord.

Meanwhile in the city, Felden spent the day hanging around defender HQ listening in on important business. She learned that Breech was kicking in farmdoors all around the surrounding area looking for clues to the Fade ruins, and that the prisoners were to be taken away the next day in a caravan. Later, when Virgil got off duty, she and Earthmoon followed Breech to the Foul Toad--discovering there the faint odor of hard drugs.

Neri, Emord, and Grengulia headed back to the halfling camp with Flinthurst in toe. Grengulia who was riding ahead was jumped by two Owlbears which she completely destroyed.

Earthmoon summoned a Thoqua to burrow out of the city walls, putting a large tunnel right in the center of the Kaydtch stockade and then out into the surrounding field. The party now re-united, hoped to convince the people held in the Kaydtch stockade to escape. The plan worked to lesser and greater degrees. Half of the people made it away, now to wonder the country side, where they will, in all likelihood, get picked up again. The other half were happy enough where they were (too afraid to flee). The guards who were knocked unconscious during the escape attempt will be able to easilly identify their attackers (there are only so many half orcs and dwarves in the area) so the characters are likely to be implicated in this escape. Earthmoon, of course, isn't happy because there is still half of the stockade left that needs to be rescued.

This means, of course, that on top of all other difficulties, the characters are now likely to be hunted by Drodswell's Defenders, who are themselves looking to play with powers cosmic and ancient.

Treasure list

2008-04-02T15:09:00.001-04:00

Here's what you all have:

MONEY
CP
SP
GP – 3202
PP – 171

POTIONS
Potion of Invisibility – Feldin (used)
3 Potions of Speak w/Animals – Earthmoon, Emord, Neri
Potion of Swimming – Feldin
Potion of Ventriloquism – Neri
Potion of Mirror Image – Grengulia
2 Potions of Levitate – Feldin (used), Emord
Potion of Charisma – Grengulia
4 Potions of CLW – Emord (used three, gave one to Neri)
3 Potions of Dark Vision – Earthmoon, Feldin, Neri
5 Potions of Neutralize Poison – 2 Emord, Earthmoon, Feldin, Neri

SCROLLS
Scroll w/Identify, Cat’s Grace, and Mount X3 – Feldin
Scroll w/Locate Object X3, Change Self, and Spider Climb – Neri (used spider climb, change self, and locate object)
Scroll of Fire Resistance
Scroll of Fire Shield Mass
Scroll of CMW (3rd level)

MAGIC ITEMS
Rod of Silent MetaMagic – Feldin
Ring of Electric Resistance – Grengulia
Horn of Blasting – Grengulia
Staff w/Runes (CMW) – Emord
Gem (creates telepathic link) – Grengulia
Cloak of Resistance (+1) – Feldin
Wand from Buonam’s Cript (Bulls Strength X10)-- Emord

WEAPONS & ARMOR
MW Mighty Composite Short Bow (+1) – Grengulia
20 MW Arrows – Grengulia
Rapier – Neri
MW Buckler – sold 45GP, added already to treasure GP total
Studded Leather – sold 13 GP, added already to treasure GP total

MISC.
3 gems – 600 GP (200/piece) – Earthmoon
Bag of Stones & Dust – Neri
2 Thief’s Tools - Feldin

What's Happened: sphinxes and other stuff: adventure 2

2008-03-28T14:59:00.004-04:00

The characters, sans Earthmoon, went to see Eugene. He had a book on the Fade that he had procured for a valuable customer. Unfortunately, he feared that the book might be a fake. The only Fade expert available was currently serving in the Kaydtch stockade and so he wanted to hire the characters to take the book to that expert for verification. He figured that the characters' status as soldiers would grant them the ability to get into the stockade.

Unfortunately, the guards had already taken the expert away in order to examine Fade ruins in the area. The characters tried to get more information, but nobody seemed to know where the expert had been taken. Eventually, someone mentioned that there were quite a few spots of Fade ruins in Kaydtch. Before they left, the characters tried to help Alicia escape, but got a lesson in peasant courage. The peasents of Kaydtch feared escaping the stockade and being rounded up by the Defenders.

The characters went to Kaydtch only to find the place deserted except for various apparitions running around. Emord detected evil from a manor house on the near by hill. While the characters attempted to figure out what to do next, they were attacked by a gigantic gargoyle that seemed to be made of rock and fungi. The gargoyle turned out to be a mean adversary and in defeating him, the characters lit another of Kaydtch's buildings on fire.

Meanwhile, Earthmoon was chased by hobgoblins away from her place of meditation and towards Kaydtch which had been set partially ablaze. Deciding that everyone needed to rest and recoup, the party decided to head off into the forest to set up camp. Unfortunately, they were set upon by a Wolf/Worg hunting party that was chasing down a herd of dire elk. The characters learned that they had met one of the worgs outside the temple of Boccob. Having slain most of the vile beasts, the party captured the last worg and charmed it into answering questions about the near by Fade ruins.

It then led them to those ruins which were set up in the center of the Kaydtch graveyard outside of town. Sitting atop one grave, which was covered with a chainmail blanket, was an insane sphinx waiting to ask riddles of passerbys. The sphinxes name was Hiromon and she claimed to have looked beyond time (thus the insanity).

The characters figured out how to move the chain blanket without revealing (too many) of the Symbol spells beneath. They were then able to trace a design which summoned up the spirit of a fade known as Buanhum the Hunter. Buahnhum traced a set of symbols on the Fade Ruins thus summoning Oash Koleesh, a remant of the monster Bokrug.

Oash Koleesh detailed that it could only be set free from the confines of Vargas if the characters traced the symbol of the fourth fade onto the fifth temple. The first fade was Buanhum. The second and third fade are up in the air (one is Vargas). The fourth fade is known as Ubbo Naphan.

Okay, so, four fade, each with a symbol. Somewhere is a fifth temple where a symbol needs to be drawn to release Bokrug from its eternal imprisonment with Vargas. Vargas is the reason for all the undead. Right.

According to Oash Koleesh, Ubbo Naphan is in his tomb where he is eaten by worms...whatever that means (wyrms?). The characters conversation with Oash was interrupted when a group of Drodswell's defenders came down the road with Geoffrey Flinthurst. He claimed to know nothing and that they brought him out to the ruins every day, but that he was no closer to figuring this out than before. The guards explained that Hiromon was always there and a royal pain with her never ending riddles, but that she, at least, kept the ghouls at bay.

The defenders assumed that the characters were there under order from Virgil Breech and so offerred the characters a safe place to sleep for the night. The characters went back with the defenders to the mansion they had taken over (the Old Pran place, same place that was glowing earlier). In the middle of the night, the Pran mansion came under attack by more gargoyle thingees and some spellstiched ghasts, no fun. Earthmoon nearly died. Emord learned that it takes a long time to put on armor and...yeah.

Feldon, turning invisible, made it to Geoffrey who was cowering in the corner and the party ran for it. Earthmoon turned into a dire badger in order to get everyone safely out of town but not before noticing that the sky was filled with green glowing fireflies (the gargoyles). Interogating Flinthurst revealed the legend of Bokrug in greater detail. The characters headed back to their room at Bruno Kielers where Blenbury has been kicking back like it was a bed and breakfast (which it kind of is).

What's happenned- hyberoan, still: adventure 2

2008-03-28T14:57:00.003-04:00

I almost forgot. Emord stepped in at a shop, keeping a defender from threatening some poor shop keep. The soldier left incensed.

Also, while waiting for the decision, Gringulia talked to an elf named Alicia Twain. She recognized the horse that the party was using (which they got from Blenbury) as her friends: a message courier between the frontier and the lands across The March.

What's Happened- adventure 2: Hyberoan

2008-03-27T12:41:00.002-04:00

A few points: first of all, the characters in Hyberoan figured out that just about every store was busting over with stuff. Clearly, the guards have been selling the possessions of the people they've arrested. So, basically, the guards in Hyberoan have sold all the belongings of Kaydtch to the stores, who have now doubled their stocks but who have no one to sell all this stuff to. The characters witnessed once a guard threatening a store owner if he refused to buy the guard's loot.

Second, the guards are all Redguard, a race of humans from outside of Sturmgort. They were brought in to Aversill as mercenaries under the leadership of Beinvan Drodswell, a local noble who did not go off to war but stayed behind to police the frontier against invasion. Groups like his have acted in the past as protectorates of the realm, but as there has been less and less for these groups to do, more an more accusations of treason to the baron have been made by the groups. Anyone who is convicted of this crime forfeits all land to the barony, and therefore, arresting as many people as possible for this crime is a great way to increasimg one's political standing. The accusation is made against anyone housing the enemy at a time of war. Benivan and his men (Drodswell's Defenders) have arrested the entire town of Kaydtch for this crime.

The characters learn from the guards at Hyberoan that they cannot simply pass through and onto to the city of Streckhorn because the intervening woods have become plagued with a vast number of ghouls. The defenders fearing the forces housed by the people in Kaydtch have relocaed the townsfolk to Hyberoan where they awaited a magistrate of the barony to hold trials. Of course, the dispossessed traitors serve as a great warning to the townsfolk of Hyberoan who are daily forced to cator to Benivan and his men.

The guards at the gate also alert the characters that they will not allow the halfling caravan into the city (they are allowed to set up north of the stockade but cannot expect the guard's protection) nor will they allow Gringulia into town as they perceive her as one of the enemy. After some discussion, the characters convince the guards to let them appeal to a higher authority--the Defender's second in command Virgil Kleetch.

Virgil is less than enthusiastic about the characters (they are after all, real soldiers, whereas his authority is more ceremonial than anything else). He does not want them interfering with Defender business and he refuses entrance to Gringulia. The audience is, however, interrupted by Benivan himself who is only too happy that the characters are there as it lends his operation some legitamacy. He attempted to talk turkey with the characters, allowed Gringulia entrance into the city, and offered them barrack in a local farm (which the characters took).

Gringulia, Emord, and Neri headed towards the farm to set up. Earthmoon and Feldon headed off to the woods on a hunch that the ghouls were a story made up to scare people into behaving. It turned out that this hunch was wrong. Feldon abandoned Earthmoon to her fate. Earthmoon turned into a bird and escaped the clutches of the fiends. She then headed off to commune with nature on what to do about this blight.

Meanwhile, the characters were approached by an agent of a local bookseller Eugene Pollipard, who had a task he hoped the charadcters could help him with...

What happened- adventure 2: the road to Hyberoan

2008-03-27T12:27:00.002-04:00

Adventure 2 is non-linear and probably encapsulates more than just a single adventure. But here goes.

Having left the temple of Boccob, the characters happened upon a caravan of halflings. Half their number had disapeared into a fog never to return. The halfling's were eager to pay the characters for protection until they could make it back to civilization. During their stay, the halflings proceeded to attempt to get the characters drunk so as to learn what they could about what was going on.

Feldon stayed off from the debauch only to learn that someone was watching the camp. Feldon discovered that this someone was a hobgoblin who she incapacitated and then killed. The Halfling's admitted to having conned a group of humanoids into believing that they had bought a piece of Aversill land, thereby making them citizens of the colony. The humanoids had figured out the con and now wanted their money back (and probably a bit of vengeance as well). Earthmoon decided to give the money back to the humanoids and made a deal to take them their gold. The humanoids were happy to have their money back and hoped to organize a defection to the Aversill forces. Earthmoon basically said no.

The halflings have since expressed some disdain for having lost the gold that they feel they earned fair and square (by halfling standards).

In any case, while travelling with the halflings, the party stopped by battlefields where the bodies of the fallen had basically just been left to rot. Nearby peasants were looting the bodies in some places. Later, the party passed through the abandoned village of Kaydtch, but sensing its eeriness they decided it was best not to stop.

The next stop was the walled village of Hyberoan, outside of which stood a makeshift stockade of prisoners who were awaiting trial for treason to the baron. The characters learned that this stockade represented the captured citizens of Kaydtch...

What happenned- Adventure 1

2008-03-27T11:58:00.004-04:00

Characters returned from across The March with orders to hit Streckhorn and report there for mustering out. On their way, they were to report to a temple of Baccob that a squad of Ogres were headed in that direction. The characters found the temple silent and showing signs that, not only had the ogres already arrived, but that they had taken over the temple. The characters attacked a Worg pen on the side of the temple (a recent construction) and then headed through a side entrance into the temple itself.

Most of the doors and mechanics of the Boccob temple were steam powered so that many of the traps in the place involved releasing large clouds of vapor. The characters learned later that the steam also acted as a deterrant to some of the temples less corporeal guardians.

Once inside the temple, the characters encountered zombie versions of the ogres they expected. Evidentally, before their arrival, the ogres had been defeated and re-animated, but there was no sign of the Boccobites themselves. The characters were then threatened by an army of Grieg who were attempting to rescue their princess from "the rat king".

The party was led to another room which seemed to be the last hold out of live ogres, whom the party killed and in doing so rescued the last member of the Boccobite temple: a gnome cleric of Boccob named Blenbury Knox. Blenbury claimed to be a graduate of Krimfolet--the gnome engineering university. He also claimed that the Boccobites had abandoned the temple because of some disaster they had foreseen, that it was his job as low man on the totem pole to summon the temple's guardain once everyone had left, and that he was in the process of this summoning when he was captured by the ogres. Thus, the guardian is in a volatile and unbound state. Thus, Blenbury urged the characters assistance and led them into the ground level of the temple (the characters had come in on the second floor).

Once down, the characters discovered that the front door was solidly shut and trapped. Detect Evil revealed strong emenations from beyond the door (outside). The characters then met a steam mephit that offerred to help the characters to open whatever doors to the temple that they so desired, provided they would shut down an interdimensional anchor and kill the other two mephits who shared in the responsibility of controlling the steam system of the temple. The players refused and Blenbury offerred that he thought he could take manual control of the steam system provided he had time.

The players left him to his duty only to find out that Blenbury was actually going to perform the mephit's will without the characters. Deciding to chase down Blenbury, the characters fought their way through a large chamber where, high above, Grieg fought against rat men in an epic battle. Blenbury set up creatures to fight the characters and then made it to the dimensional anchor just as the characters arrived. He shut the anchor down and disapeared allowing the mephit free reign over the doors. The mephit opened the doors allowing a fog of wraithlike spirits into the temple.

The Grieg offered to help the players by leading through steam tunnels to their destination (the guardian whom the characters still assumed was a danger). As it turned out, the steam pipes stopped the fog so that the characters were safe from the wraith beasties that were filling the temple. The characters learned that under the temple was a menagerie of very bad things which the rat men were setting free. The Grieg forces were battling the rats so as to stop everything in the undertemple from being let loose. The Grieg called upon the character to rescue their princess by stopping the summoning of a monster. Putting 2 and 2 together, the players realized that the monster was being summoned to kill the princess and set off with the help of a Grieg guide to save the day.

Along the way, they ran into a giant rat monster, were attacked by a chain monster, killed a mephit, and watched the last remaining mephit attack the rats with the help of four demons it had bound into service.

The characters found the summoning chamber only to find out that the princess had been keeping her attacker at bay through Ottiluke's irresistable dance. Anyone entering the room had to face off against it. Meanwhile, the summoner, Blenbury, waited invisibly inside a zone of silence for the princess to run out of endurance. The room was guarded by three zombie ogres.

The characters managed to kill the ogres and to pull back the lid of the princess's well-like cell only to see the monster below waiting just at the edge of the ethereal plane. Sensing that he lost the day, Blenbury jumped down to be taken to the ethereal by the beast, but the characters killed the monster while Blenbury was half way between the planes. Trapped thusly, he made his escape, not wholly in one world or the other.

The princess was saved, the Grieg celebrated, the characters rested. The Grieg explained that the wraith fog were the spirits of ancient Grieg ancestors angered by the kidnapping of the fey royalty. Her release appeased them and they dissapated. Later that night, the characters discovered another Blenbury who claimed to have been unconscious throughout the whole ordeal. He had a gem on his forehead that registered some kind of telepathic magic. Thus, the characters are led to ask, is this the real Blenbury, the same Blenbury, some clone, some dream version, etc.?

The characters left the temple of Boccob with the wraithstorm having become not but a thunderstorm and off they headed back to Streckhorn...

CR Value

2008-03-27T11:49:00.003-04:00

I'm sorry, but were the designers of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 high when they came up with CR? How is one 5th level character a challenge at all for 5 5th level characters to fight? Pretty much, they lay waste to these encounters one after another.

I think I'm used to first edition where you had to wade through hundreds of encounters to level up. Now, you can fight fleas and after 12 or so such battles, you're up to the next level. That's ridiculous. I assumed that when looking at these new rules, the whole thing would boil down to a kind of Champions or Vampire situation--lots of low level grunts who you could demolish easilly with a real battle at the end of the adventure with someone who's a real challenge--but no. The modules designed for Dungeons and Dragons are the same format as the old. But of course, CR doesn't seem to have anything to do with those encounters. They'll list an EL rating for an encounter that's actually lower than the CR for the monsters in it. What the hell? This is the experience system they're screwing with here. It's sort of the backbone for the game.

As a DM, I'm findidng that the only way to make the combat interesting is to aim for a CR a point or two above the characters. This is working, but only because they're fighting one encounter a night. What are people doing who play through four or five battles a night. What? Is everyone supposed to be level 20 by the end of the month?

I don't know what they're doing for version 4.0, but my suggestion is that on the top of the list should be a fix for this.

common role playing situations- Earthmoon

2007-12-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

I’m writing a kind of overview of some role playing situations that your characters are likely to encounter based on your race, alignment, and class.

So...Earthmoon.

First off, the dnosaur is probably not going to be accpeted except in the most "anything goes" parts of large cities (places where they might sell animals like dinosaurs). Everywhere else in a city, the animal is likely to be confiscated by the authorities. The dinosaur's recption in rural areas is likely to be more violent. Farmers will probably not appreciate the presence of a large carnivorous and poisonous lizard near their livestock. Needless to say, walking around with such a lizard marks you for suspicion.

On the other hand, you are exalted, you golow with goodness. You are a holy paragon of righteousness whose mere presence makes evil uncomfortable and whose touch causes a physical reaction to evil. Some people will turn to you as a prophet of divinity beyond a priest or church. They may seek your absolution. Celestials, devas, and archons will think of you as an ally. You are marked with goodness beyond the simple confines of virtue but manifest it, instead, as a quintessential force. Most evil people will avoid you, or deal with you through intermediaries. Your presence anywhere near agencies that they control will cause them to become either cautious or downright aggressive. Earthly authority will see the authority that you wield as a threat.

common role playing situations- Gringulia

2007-12-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

I’m writing a kind of overview of some role playing situations that your characters are likely to encounter based on your race, alignment, and class.

Gringulia will be persecuted in human society at the drop of a hat. Human civilization watches half-orcs waiting for them to do something that will justify rounding them up and killing them. That's always a danger for half orcs in Aversill. Larger cities are better but even there, in most large cities, there's a lawless ghetto where half orcs are expected to stay, and areas of the city where half orcs are refused admittance.

Gringulia, on her own, will be ostracized or even attacked. Her presence will sour reactions from humans against her friends and allies. Even the less civilized regions of human civilization will treat the half orc differently than they treat all other civilized races.

As a citizen, Gringulia can expect a certain elevation in respect especially in urban environments. She can own property. She is protected under Stumgort imperial law from aggressions by non-citizens, and is allowed to sue for imperial prosecution against those who break the law against her. How well such cases fair is another story of course, but at least, at that point, there's a possability of getting some kind of grudging justice.

Outside large urban areas, imperial citizenship carries less weight. In such cases, if the villagers are rounding up torches and pitch forks, it's time to move on.

common role playing situations- Emord

2007-12-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

I’m writing a kind of overview of some role playing situations that your characters are likely to encounter based on your race, alignment, and class.

Interestingly, the reace most like humans are dwarves. They’re obsessed with craftsmanship and gold. They believe in war and suffer from xenophobia…just like humans! Unfortunately, the xenophobia they share is also a force that drives them apart from other races. The dwarves see humans as a bumbling race content to leave on their leavings up at the surface. A human in a dwarf city is seen as a friendly diplomat from a country that could easily become an enemy. Dwarves living among humans often see human problems as trivial. They deign to deal with the surface dwellers only as needs be. Humans covet dwarves for their riches, for their secrets, and of course, for their military presence (the size of which is always an unknown factor for human governments). Human government desires military and trade pacts with dwarves. On occasion, such pacts are made, but never in perpetuity. Dwarves are shrewd.

On the other hand, the average human sees the average dwarf in the same way they’d see anyone else. They may expect more structural knowledge from a dwarf, but other than that, there isn’t a strong predetermined reaction. Humans have little problem accommodating dwarves living in their settlements. The reverse is not true except in extraordinarily rare circumstances, and even then there are stipulations.

For Nicki, the real role playing challenge will not be playing a dwarf but playing a lawful good cleric of Moradin. Moradin is the dwarven god of justice and war. He is devoted to finding the dark monstrosities of the world and ringing them out into the light where they can be dealt with. This is also the goal of his followers. That means that when Emord sees things amiss he MUST do something. That’s his religion. Plus, he’s lawful good which means that Emord must avoid deception and criminality as he attempt to help those around him/save the world.

This is not a “hey Emord, why don’t you leave the room for a second,” kind of situation. That’s just bad role playing. People who want to do sneaky stuff are going to have to be sneaky about it. Basically within the party, Emord’s going to have to be worked around lest the characters become adversarial towards each other. I repeat, if characters do stuff that is in opposition to Lawful Good, they should expect to have to deal with Emord. If he knows about what the characters are going to do before hand, he is likely to forbid them doing so. Asking Emord to give up his staunch ethics should be akin to asking Earthmoon to torture small animals for fun.
Emord may elicit a number of reactions from N.P.C.s. On one hand, he’s the cleric of a god of justice and war. On the other hand, it’s a dwarf god. Some humans will treat Emord as a roaming fighter of evil and professional do-gooder. For others, the prospect of a dwarf telling everybody what to do and claiming divine authority is intolerable. Keep in mind, humans worship Moradin as the father of the gods and as the god of craftsman. Humans have Kord for war, Pelor for Justice, and Heironeous for valor. They don’t understand Moradin as a god of these things and may not feel comfortable conceding to Emord on issues of orthodoxy (though some may…it depends heavily on the strength of the craft guilds and the proximity to dwarf kingdoms).

One advantage Emord has, as a dwarf and a cleric of Moradin, is that human authority will recognize Emord as an ambassador. He will, at the very least, be tolerated by human authority. They may be reticent to arrest or harass him (though his companions will probably not share this immunity).

common role playing situations- Neri and Feldon

2007-12-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

I’m writing a kind of overview of some role playing situations that your characters are likely to encounter based on your race, alignment and class.

Elves are pretty much considered friendly by humans in Aversill—mainly by human authority who’ve had their bacon saved many a time by nice elf armies who’ve shown up with powerful magic and well trained archers. Essentially tha’s when humans like elves best…when they show up to help and then, afterwards, leave. When they stay behind and move in, human reactions towards elves changes a bit.

First of all, elves are stand-offish and foreign. They worship different gods, they don’t sleep, and most of them can do magic. What elves reside in human society never really feel welcome or at home. The reaction isn’t the prejudice that half-orcs face, it’s more like suspicion and superstition. Most humans believe that elves are naturally wizards and that the presence of elves alone can cause arcane problems that the elves, themselves, cannot help but attract. Storms, draughts, strange occurrences—all will be blamed on elves by some portion of the human population. But this same portion is likely to commit any real acts against the elves—they’re afraid of retaliation by cosmic forces to which they see elves belonging (or at least attracting).

Human government sees elves as indicative of problems or concerns that they know nothing about. This ignorance puts them at risk of not knowing how to solve the problems that arise—thus making them look like they are not in control. No Baron wants to consult the elvish community to find out what’s going on.

So, Neri, you all by yourself will probably be treated by humans with awe and respect, but also fear and suspicion. Civil authority may question elves for their opinion on some difficulties and then think them secretive for not saying all that they know (or all that the human authorities assume they should know). People think elves know secrets about nature, magic, the universe, etc., especially elves that actually are wizards. They may ask. They may be afraid to ask.

As far as lawless elves go, there is nothing scarier to humans. If elves represent arcane power that humans cannot comprehend and against which only elves can protect, then a lawless invites danger from unknown sources and offers no guarantee of protection when that danger manifests. Whatever stories humans have heard about “dark elves” they associate with chaotic and evil elves they’ve met. A chaotic elf can expect to be under some kind of surveillance there entire stay within a lawful human society (and afforded a great deal of respect in the more lawless areas of human society).

A Quick Note

2007-12-27T16:22:00.000-05:00

A quick note.

Most of the entries that are on this blog are either Game Play, Or Game World. At the end of the post are labels (there's also game mechanics, but that's far less frequent) that will tell you which category the post fits into.

Game Play posts are me telling you all how role playing games are played, how to get the most enjoyment out of your play, etc.. These posts are good to read if you feel like you're trying to figure out what you can do as a player of a role playing game.

Game World entries are descriptions of some thing in Aversill. I write these from time to time. Sometimes, they're more for me than for you, but as they are stuff that your character would probably know, I put them up there. If you feel like you really could care less or if you just want the cliff notes version of these, just ask me. I will be happy to explain "The Fade" or "The Eternal Library" in the ten cent reader's digest version of the blog post. If you want to know more, feel free to read.

20 Questions

2007-12-27T16:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, here’s the difficulty: you are not your character. You don’t exist in the same world, you don’t have the same skills, understanding of ethics, etc.. For instance, you know, right now, how far away the nearest big city is. You would know to react to a guy walking down the street with an ax. You know what sorts of things you can reasonably expect to find in someone’s house when you go for a visit. You know where you are, who you are, how to act, how to react, what’s weird, what’s not, and in some senses you know what to do on a day to day basis.

On the other hand, you have no idea the etiquette behind the use of invisibility in city limits, you don’t know how to judge between Claymores in terms of quality, you don’t know how to make friends with the forest creatures, you don’t know whether it’s a toga or a robe that’s proper attire for a night at the theater in Starfell. In essence, you don’t really know much at all. At any point during our game play, you’d be at a loss to know how long your characters even been awake that day. See what I mean?

What’s worse is that this is fantasy which means that there really isn’t a frame of reference at all. Is the world like Camelot or Conan, Middle Earth or Xena, Warrior Princess. At least in a game set in ancient Egypt, there are books you can look up. There’s a wikipedia entry. In the Dungeons and Dragons world, there is no such wikipedia, nor any other reference material.

So, what do you do?

The solution to this problem is a kind of re-imagining of the game as to what it is you’re trying to do as a player. In some ways, your character sheet and the rules of the game give you a basic guideline of what you can do at any moment in time as far as game mechanics go. But keep in mind, the mechanics are just there to support a role-playing environment; they’re the game part of the role playing game. What I’m talking about is getting you to concentrate on the role playing part of the role playing game.

To do this, I want you to think of Dungeons and Dragons as a kind of grand esoteric version of twenty questions. I’m serious. The people who have the most fun playing Dungeons and Dragons are the people who ask the most questions. In the same way, the longer a person has played, the more questions they ask. Really, aside from trying to figure out what your character will do (and deeply related to that), asking questions is the quintessential part of playing a role playing game.

The best part is you can ask about anything. You can ask about customs (is that guy’s hat normal?), physical space, race relations, the normal attitude your character might have about something, backstory, history. I’m serious. You as a player can ask about anything. It’s the D.M.’s job to sort of immerse you in the game world, but the job is complimentary: you have to ask the questions for this to work.

Now, it never hurts to give the D.M. a bit of a background as to why you think you would know the answer to the things you’re asking. Some stuff is common knowledge, but if you’re asking something like, “does that guy’s hat have anything to do with the Thieves guilds of this city?” it’s always nice to remind the D.M. that your character’s been working with the city watch for ten years.

Sometimes the D.M. will relate your question to one of your character’s skills, and so, it’s always good to remind the D.M. if the question you’re asking is related to a high skill (say +5 or more). So, if you want to know what kinds of relics are likely to be found in the area, it’s good to mention that your asking as a person with a +6 in appraise, local knowledge, profession: historian, or profession: merchant, just so the D.M. knows where you’re coming from and how much you would know.

Gods-alphabetically

2007-12-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of gods present (in one way or another) in the Aversill campaign

Alobel Lorfiril (Chaotic Good)- Elvish demigod of hedonism, mirth, magic, and revelry
Altua (Lawful Good)- human goddess of honor and nobility
Avoreen (Lawful Good)- Halfling god of defence, war, vigilance, Halfling warriors, duty
Blibdoolpoolp (chaotic evil)- chief god of Kua Toa
Boccob (Neutral)- Human god of magic
Brandobaris (Neutral) Halfling god of stealth, thievery, adventuring, Halfling rogues
Callarduran Smoothhands (Neutral)- Gnome god of Svirfneblin, Secrecy
Carl Glittergood (Neutral Good)- Gnome god of gnomes, humor, wit, illusion, gemcutting, jewelry making. Carl Glittergood is the quintessential Gnome god.
Corellon Larethian (Chaotic Good)- Elvish god of elves, magic, music and arts
Cyrollalee (Lawful Good) Halfling goddess of friendship, trust, the hearth, hospitality, crafts.
Deep Sashelas (Chaotic Good)- Elvish god of oceans, aquatic elves, creation, and knowledge
Eadro (Neutral good)- chief god of Locathah and merfolk
Ehlonna (Neutral Good)- human goddess of nature
Elbrin Liothiel (Chaotic Good)- Elvish god of orchards, nature, gardens, and harvest
Erythnal (chaotic eivl)- Gnoll god of slaughter
Erythnul (chaotic evil)- human god of slaughter
Fharlanghn (neutral)- human god of roads and travel
Gelf Darkhearth (Chaotic Neutral)- Gnome god of entropy and revenge
Gruumsh (chaotic evil)- chief god of the orcs
Halmyr (Lawful neutral) human god of strategy and skill
Hanali Celanil (Chaotic Good)- Elvish god of love, romance, beauty, enchantments, magic item artistry, fine arts, and artists
Hanseath (Chaotic Neutral)- Dwarven god of war, carousing, and alcohol.
Heironeous (Lawful good)- human god of valor
Hextor (Lawful evil)- human god of tyranny, war, conflict, and destruction
Hinggek (Chaotic evil)- Bugbear chief god
Konkresh (chaotic neutral) human god of brute force
Kord (Chaotic Good)- human god of glorious combat
Kurtulmak (Lawful Evil)- Kobold god of kobolds, trapmaking, mining, and war
Laduguer (Lawful Evil)- Dwarven god (Duergar) of magic weapons, artisans, magic, duergar
Lolth (Chaotic evil)- Elvish goddess of Drow, spiders, darkness
Lyris (neutral)- human goddess of victory and fate
Merrshaulk (Lawful evil)- chief god of the Yuan Ti
Moglubiyet (neutral evil)- chief god of goblins and golinoids
Moradin (Lawful Good)- Dwarven god of creation, smithing, engineering, and war. Moradin is the dwarf all purpose God and is sometimes worshipped by humans.
Mya (Neutral Good)- Dwarven goddess of clan, family, and wisdom
Nadirech (chaotic evil)- human god of cowardice and trickery
Nerull (Neutral Evil)- human god of death
Obad Hai (neutral)- human god of nature
Olidammara (chaotic netural)- human god of thieves, beggars, and wine
Pelor (neutral good)- human god of the sun, good, and justice
Rill Cleverthrush (Lawful Neutral)- Gnome god invention, creation, and the sky.
Rocknar (Neutral Evil)- Dwarven god of greed, intrigue, lies and earth
Sehanine Moonbow (Chaotic Good)- Elvish goddess of mysticism, dreams, death, journeys, transcendence, the moon, the stars, the heavens
Sekolah (chaotic evil) chief shark god of the Sanhuagin
Shella Peryroyl (Neutral)- Halfling goddess of nature, agriculture, weather, song, dance, beauty, romantic love
Sheyanna Flaxenstrand (Chaotic Good)- Gnome goddess of love, beauty and passion
Skerrit (Chaotic good)- Centaur chief god
Smemwanya (Neutral)- chief god (goddess?) of lizardfolk
St. Cuthbert (Lawful Neutral)- human god of revenge and just punishment
Sulerain (neutral evil)- human goddess of slaughter
Syreth (Neutral Good)- human god of protection and community
Tharmekhul (Neutral)- Dwarf demi-god who tends the forge for Moradin
Thautum (Netural)- Dwarf god of magic and darkness
The Glutton (Chaotic Evil)- Gnome god of disaster and greed.
Typhos (Lawful Evil) human god of Tyranny
Urbanos (Neutral Good)- God of cities
Urogalan (Lawful Neutral)- Halfling god of the Earth, death, and protection of the dead
Valkar (Chaotic Good)- human god of courage
Valkauna (Lawful Neutral)- Dwarf god of oaths, death, and birth
Vandria Gilmadrith (Lawful Neutral)- Elvish god of war, guardianship, justice, grief, vigilience, and decision
Vecna (neutral evil)- human god of secrets, magic, undead
Wee Jas (Lawful Neutral)- human goddess of magic and death
Yondolla (Lawful Good)- Halfling goddess of Halflings and explorers
Zarus (Lawful Evil)- God of human superiority

What Would Neri Do?

2007-12-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

The real question here is what constitutes success in a role playing game. Is it killing a monster? Finding a trap? Making your Search roll? In some senses, yes. But that’s all quite mechanical.

I want you all to think in terms of a different kind of success: a success that is based around playing your character the way that character aught to be played, reacting to situations in a manner that you feel is appropriate for your character, and in general playing your character rather than playing the game. What does that mean?
Well, the truth of the matter is when you play your character, you may actually be doing things which are not solving the crisis. You may, in fact, be causing the crisis. By playing your character correctly, you may be making things complicated, you may be getting in the way, you may be doing things that you’re not supposed to do, or which, in the grand scheme of things, people don’t want you to do. When you’re playing the game, you’re every consideration about your character’s actions revolves around the health and success of the party, the ending of the adventure, and the gaining of treasure. In essence, you put who the character is on the backburner so as to consider these other factors. But this is a role playing game. Playing the character correctly in order to make him or her come alive is not only a hell of a lot more important, it’s also a lot more fun.

So, how is it done? Well, it's actually a lot less complicated than its made out to be. It involves asking the question that titles this bit of writing: what would your character do? Of every situation the character is in, ask yourself that: what would your character do? You’ve met a group of humanoid monsters that want to lay down the sword and join the human empire, what would your character do? How would your character feel about such a prospect? You’ve met up with a group of Halflings traveling through a war-torn land with children. What would your character do? The Halflings believe in casually thievery and taking people in confidence schemes. How does your character react to this? You find a town completely abandoned or you see people by the side of a battlefield looting fallen soldiers. These are not simply moments for you to listen to the story. This is not scenery. These are moments for you to add to the story line by playing your character.

In the end, Dungeons and Dragons isn’t really a story told by the D.M. to his or her players. There is a story, but when it is good, it is as much created by the players as it is by the Dungeon Master.

And that means you need to be prepared for your character to disagree with the other characters. That means that you need to be prepared to make your character do things that aren’t in the story line or to do hold on to information that they don’t think everyone in the party needs to know (or that they know will cause some members of the party to do the wrong thing). This goes for good characters and not so good characters. If it’s something that the cleric would do, then the cleric should spend the rest of the week attending to the sick, and if the Barbarian wants to move on, well, that’s just too bad. Same thing in reverse. Everybody wants to go to bed, but the thief wants to go robbing houses.

Now, I am not saying that you need to create nonstop tension in your party. Characters may be convinced to do something besides what it is there first inclination to do. The cleric might, for instance, be convinced that there are pressing matters at hand, but then that too is a place for you to play your character. What sorts of arguments will convince the cleric. What sorts of things has the cleric heard before.
Ultimately, you’re not playing the game to find the simplest path to some undisclosed finale. You’re playing the game to play your character.

Now, brass tacks. A lot of what you can use to determine what your character does revolves around your alignment, your class, and your character conception. Gringulia is a mercenary. She’s based her character on Jane from Firefly. Okay, good. Now, whenever she gets in a situation, she need only picture what it is that Jane would do and do that. She isn’t likely to stop to help people unless there’s a monetary reward. She isn’t likely to do things out of the kindness of her heart—that’s not her character conception.

As far as alignment goes, if you’re chaotic, then you don’t like rules that dictate yours or anyone else’s behavior. You don’t work well with people telling you what to do. This goes doubly for big structures. The chaotic neutral character isn’t necessarily an outlaw, but they don’t see the law as something that inherently should be allowed to rule people’s lives.

Lawful characters like order. They hold people to codes of behavior and decency and they don’t like it when things are amiss or out of the ordinary.
Neutral characters could care less really. They understand why there are laws but they also see why there are situations where people break them.

As for good and evil. Good people want the greatest good for the greatest number of people. They believe in the power of safety and what everyone to be healthy. Good characters are natural helpers.

Evil characters want power. So, good thinks of others. Evil thinks only of themselves, and neutral characters are willing to think of both.

The lawful good character wants to see the strongest parts of society rise up against tyranny and chaos to create peace and harmony. The neutral good character wants peace and harmony as well, but isn’t necessarily sure that it needs to be achieved by honoring arbitrary rules (though it might). A chaotic good character wants peace and harmony but feels that this can only be achieved if everyone is given their own ability to choose.

Which brings me finally, to class. If you’re a thief, you look at the world from a thief’s eyes. You want to steal stuff. You want to sneak around. You don’t want to be at the center of attention. If you’re a cleric of Moradin, then you pray to the god that sets the world to order. It stands to reason that you also must feel the need to bring order to the world. This isn’t a passive opinion that you share with others as you walk by scenes of human suffering and chaos; this is reason for you to get everyone else to stop. The Druid must be attuned to the balance of nature. If the Sentinel Plain has been swept by fey creatures from the positive material plain that have caused entire caravans to disappear, this is a good reason for an investigation by someone who seeks to maintain some kind of balance.

Lastly, the question has to come up: “Well, if we start playing our characters, wouldn’t we realistically just start heading off in random directions? Why would we even hang out together?” Good questions, but not yours to worry about. I will produce enough reasons to keep you working together as a team so as to keep you together even if you don’t always agree on the right course of action. But if it helps, let me forward this: you’re characters are returning from war to a world that is inherently alien (it’s human and you aren’t) and due to recent events quite corrupt. Your characters probably won’t know who to turn to except for each other. The way that the campaign is designed is that you will have to face off against disaster and, as you can’t trust others to do this for you, you will be forced to rely on one another to this purpose. This is something that you know as players, not something your characters necessarily know as of yet, but you will see it soon.

The Fade: an Introduction

2007-12-21T14:55:00.000-05:00

Though Aversill is the name of the current human colony on the continent of Phemerhon, it is clear that something once called this place their home as well. Throughout the entire colony and especially on the Sentinel Plain are scattered hints and remnants of a vast and powerful civilization that was, during one catastrophe or another, ground nearly to dust. That race, whatever they might have been, seems to have been swallowed from the face of the Earth. Now all that remains of their physical likeness are the statuary that occasionally survives whatever disaster that destroyed the race.
Antiquarians refer to these beings as Phemerhonians, but most other refers to these creatures as the faded ancestors or simply the fade. In appearance, they seem to be human in their build but in all statuary appear emaciated and often bent into positions which would be otherwise unnatural for humans. All figures in face statuary are lacking in hair. Because of the devastation of Fade civilization, it is impossible to tell the scale of the race. Fade architecture often seems gargantuan by human standards (for instance, the Denzibal Temple in Streckhorn or the Asternil Gate in Starfell) but other examples of the style suggest human proportions. Experts debate the proportions in relation to the Fade as some antiquarians suggest that the Fade may have had slave races—especially the Dwarves, Orcs, and Goblins who call Phemerhon their ancestral home. Thus the human sized architecture pertains to these races. Others disagree, seeing the Fade as ancestral to one (in not all three) of these races.
Unfortunately, so far at least, divination acts offer no help in discovering the true nature of the Fade. The last catastrophe seems to mark a stopping point beyond which no mortal eye can look. If the gods know the true nature of the Fade, they are silent on the subject. One source that is rumored to have achieved some success is the use of remnant magic. However, as such magic is dangerous, and opens one up to powers beyond the scope of sanity, few are willing to risk their lives or minds to pursue information on this subject. As such information is branded heretical and those who do return with secrets are often reticent to share. One of the rumors circulated throughout the Sentinal Plain (and believed as gospel truth in Streckhorn) is that Codphetomus, the Fade God represented by the Codphetumus Statue in Streckhorn can still be contacted through rituals known to only a select few.
Of all areas of human settlement, nowhere have Fade ruins been so well preserved as in Streckhorn. Indeed the great unnamed Fade city has for the most part simply been repopulated by the citizens of Aversill in order to found Streckhorn. Structures have been built only where old structures have completely decayed. Thus, the great tier and tower system is a remnant of the Fade as is the great statue of Codphetomus and the six gargantuan statues of unnamed Fade Gods that flank the central colossus. Streckhorn itself accounts for roughly a third of the above ground ancient city and none of its tunnel system which the Streckhorn government closes off, as a rule, through engineered collapses.
In addition to the tiers and statues, Streckhorn is also surrounded by what remains of a great wall radiating five miles out from the city center. Near its extremities, the wall still exists some 200 feet high where it is anchored to the mountain face. Most of the wall has been reduced to ruin or covered over with time. Streckhorn scholars believe that the “hill country” particular to the Streckhorn region of the Sentinel Plain is made up of stone from this gargantuan construction.

The Fade and Streckhorn

2007-12-21T14:54:00.000-05:00

Because of the strong tie to the ancient past, Streckhorn is considered by most of the frontier cities to be the spiritual center of Aversill—a reputation that is nearly unaniomously supported by its own citizenry. Tales abound of “hidden staircases” that lead to tiers that appear only on full moons and the like. There are numerous rumors of doorways that appear to the blessed (or cursed) and countless tales of people who’ve gone up the wrong staircase never to be heard from again. In fact, the most popular work of literature from all of Aversill, “The Market of Archeon” concerns a traveler who stumbles upon a phantom tier where devils and demons are holding a market for human souls. The man finds his wife’s soul there and wonders at how the devil (Necrabon—a local legend) has gained possession of her spirit. Numerous possibilities are given, but there is no closure in this haunting tale. Gilfan (the poem’s hero) trades his soul for his beloved’s (Annatruce) and is imprisoned in her stead for all eternity. Less popular outside of Aversill, but more popular on the Sentinel Plains are the works of Allistair Stark (Tales of the Unknown Stair, Words of Wisdom, and the non-fiction work The Tiers of the Gods). Stark works generally in shorter poetic form putting local legends and superstitions into verse structure. The Tiers of the Gods is considered to be the premier guide to understanding the architectural complexities of Streckhorn.
Numerous works of art have their origins in Streckhorn (both due to its architecture and mystique). The fresco adorning the colony capital building in Seacourt, “Denzibal at Dawn” is considered the greatest work of Aversill’s most gifted painter, Halu Pehmions. All of the most famous studies of the Sentinel Plain were taken from the tiers of Streckhorn, and of course, the artists Jean Kandelbrot and Strinton Sheetcooper both hail from Streckhorn (Sheetcooper considers his art non-fade).
The strongest work of art to originate from Streckhorn is the very play that superstition prevents being produced in the city: The Geas of Codphetumos. Rumor has it aht if the play is performed in Streckhorn, all who watch it will suffer from the Geas. Sources vary as to what this will actually mean. According to legend, the play was delivered to its anonymous playwright the year Streckhorn was founded by Octavious Streck. It was produced later that year causing a citywide disaster.
The play has been produced several times in other cities without ill effect, but Streckhorn civil law expressly forbids production of the Geas of Codphetumos within fifty miles of the statue.

Streckhorn and Sprituality

2007-12-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

Streckhorn is a city of superstition and for good reason. The magical ties that exist behind closed doors in other cities are plain for all to see in Streckhorn In battles against past enemies, the city has received aid from numerous sources without need of summons. A flight of Griffons, calling the wild Tiers above the city their home, routinely comes to the city in times of crisis as have, at different points in the city’s history, a flight of silver dragons, a Shedhu, and numerous other creatures both Earthly and other worldly. Tehr are routine sightings of glowing figures walking the streets of Streckhorn (not to mention the occasional report of a Fade sighting). Explorers of both Ysgard and Acheron have told tales of persistent portals that lead directly to Streckhonr.
Whenever possible, the leadership of Steckhorn has attempted to discover the nature of the responsibilities that these creatures feel towards keeping the city safte. Their success or failure in this endeavor is a secret to the public. The rumor about these pacts are that they originate with the fade and that humans were not meant to keep them. Some feel that these alliances represent a sign of corruption within the arcane and divine community of Streckhorn. Many whisper of dire consequences. Others make it their purpose to seek out the divine creatures and forces that occasionally materialize in Streckhorn.
Actual superstitions vary from person to person and Tier to Tier, many of which concern phantom passages and similar features. A phantom passage is a doorway that is only open at certain times or under certain conditions. These passages are said to open onto parts of the city that only exist in the world of spirits. Some say that phantom passages lead to different time. The commonality between all such legends is that those who make it into a phantom passage are almost never heard from again.
Similar to phantom passages, Streckhorn superstition includes “Haint Halls” which are buildings that are not always there. Strictly speaking, a Haint Hall is the ghost of a Fade building that has suffered ruin. Priscients, ghosts of the Fade, represent a similar kind of local legend. Often buildings will be abandoned due to rumor of prescient activity. There is little verification, however, of these phantom’s actual existence.
Some of the legends and superstitions common in Streckhorn are:
Never climb a spire alone: After all, you never know whether the passage you are in is real or phantom. Many legends concerning phantom passages hold that you cannot be spirited away unless you are alone. Others claim that the passages only show themselves to lone travelers.
Whistle a song as you climb a spire: This is a variation on the standard legend that if others can hear your song then you can’t be spirited away. Other versions of this superstition hold that if you hear someone whistling the same song, it’s you coming from the other direction and you must head back or meet yourself coming (a disaster in all cases). The simplest version of this superstition holds that whistling lets everyone know that someone else is in the spire.
The double jointed and contortionists are possessed by Priscients: Circus contortionists and all manner of tumblers and acrobats are frowned upon in Streckhorn.
Diseases that twist the bodies are considered curses of the Fade.
Anyone who enters a house left foot first is a Prescient. There are a wide variety of these kinds of superstitions. This is simply the most common. There are literally hundreds of ways to spot a Fade
Touching the statue of Codphetumos insures fertility.
One must conduct business with a bare head. This legend probably revolves around the number of tales where a Streckhorn citizen finds himself inside a bazaar of devils.
Codphetumos hears prayers for justice in Streckhorn. Though no one openly admits to worshipping the Fade gods and goddesses, there’s a lot of crossover in the pantheons of Streckhorn. The large statue of St. Cuthbert in front of his temple, for instance, has him posed in such a fashion as to hint at contortion. Art critics see in the statue a strong Fade influence. Stronger critics see the statue as a suggestion of heresy. In any case, quite a few words have crept into common parlance as far as oaths are concerned that are clearly drawn from the Fade. “Codsys,” for instance, is untranslatable, generally is used like “Wow,” and obviously sounds a lot like Cod sees (as in Codphetumos seees). The temple of St. Cuthbert is in a building that was clearly some kind of Fade temple before the catastrophe.
Cod’s Tribute: On the great lifts of the Tevermine Gate (the four giant lifts that run from the base of the mountain up to the Middle tier of Streckhonr), one is supposed to drop a coin to Codphetumos as an offer that the lift will not break.
“The gods are worshipped on one Tier; they live on another.” Less a superstition than a saying. Nonetheless, this phrase is indicative of Streckhorn religion. Worshippers are praying to and honoring beings that they feel are physically close and which may be met through phantom gates and such, during the lifetime of the faithful.

feat index

2007-10-13T10:37:00.001-04:00

Here is the complete index to feats. It's a bit daunting but I figure it's worth having a look.

Neri- as I understand it you still have a feat open. If so, may I suggest Alacritious Cogitation from The Complete Mage. It allows you to simply leave a spell slot open and fill it, at any time, with a spell of that level. So, basically, you don't have to prepare a spell in advance. The drawback is that the spell then takes a full round to cast, but for a lot of non-combat spells, that's not that big a deal. A round is 6 seconds long, by the way.

The Fey

2007-09-29T10:36:00.000-04:00

Fairies and nature spirits abound in the world of dungeons and dragons, but for the most part they are either go unnoticed, or are ignored. To get some idea of why the society of the characters is so reticent to accept fey in the way that they might accept a halfling or even an orc, one must realize that though the fey are not stupid, they are also not sane--not by human standards anyway. A conversation with a fey involves references to events and features of the world that simply do not exist to humans, humanoids, demi-humans, etc.. The fey, some argue, are more aware of the battles conducted in nature than are humans and elves. A human sees a tree, a fey sees an ancient citadel that has stood for centuries as a bulwark against the evil forces of some army of whose existence only the fey seem to know. At the same time, the events of the large world of human affairs often have little or no reference to the fey. What use is it to talk about the next town over to a Dryad that has never been more than fifty feet from her tree. At the same time, a human is unlikely to realize the drama that takes place in that area, and much less likely to see it in terms of political, social, and moral struggle. To the fey, plants, animals, the weather, and the elements are characters just as much as a merchant or a dragon is to a human being...or so they claim.

Investigations into the fey's "stories" are likely to turn up little in the way of corroboration. Perhaps the toad over there is, in fact, working for the dire tyrant tree the next glade over, but for all intents and purposes to humans, it's a toad: it acts like a toad and it never does anything peculiar to suggest allegiance to anything greater than its normal animal instincts.

What makes matters worse is that the fey seem to feel the same way about human affairs. Situated in the middle of a city, they are uncompelled to see the setting as a site of human drama. They may see it the way other people would see a tree. It's a tree, maybe it's nice to look out, but how long can you look at the same tree before it gets boring. For the fey, the question might be: how long can you look at the fight between the high ranking paladin and the evil power mad sorcerer before it gets dull.

Within the realm of normal society then, humans and humankind are likely to see fairies as no better than talking dragonflies prone to a world of intense make believe who may become hostile for reasons unknown but who normally ignore the presence of humans entirely.

There are a few points of contact that make this just a bit more complicated. Druids and fey share a similar world view, and as such, Druids tend to understand the fey way of looking at things a bit more than others. Even in these extreme circumstances, however, the druid understands only an inkling of the fey world. They are able to glimpse into its motivations and phenomena occasionally, normally through spells, and such, but they are always anchored in their comprehension of the normal world and also by their inability to fully immerse in the fey's. A druid probably wouldn't think that the fey are insane, but he or she wouldn't really understand what they're talking about, and probably knows that no amount of explaining is going to help.

Through interaction with the fey and the world of nature, druids commenly know that the fey divide the kingdom of the world up between the courts of the seelie and unseelie fairies. Where the seelie are insane and somewhat playful, the unseelie are insane and mischievous, if not downright psychotic. In the fairies stories, it is always the seelie court that plays the hero and the unseelie court that plays the villain. However, if this denotes a true battle between good and evil or whether this is just the way the fey play their games is inconclusive.

elven lands

2007-09-25T21:20:00.000-04:00

I'd like to know where in Aversill are the Elven lands/territories.
Also, I changed to full elf. So now Emily and I are both thief/wizard Elves. Emily, I'm interested in pursuing my thief streak more than the wizard, how 'bout you?
Anira

sharing skills/spells

2007-09-25T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hi,
I didn't know if I should list my skills/spells so that Emily and I won't overlap too much -- or is that necessary?
Anira

Getting a character conception

2007-09-24T13:59:00.000-04:00

First off, you should know that you don't need a character conception-- a character conception flourishes over time. Through adventure and off hand comments, what begins as a catch phrase will turn into a full fledged alternate personality within the game world. If you'll indulge me for a minute, think of the characters on "Friends." After many seasons on TV, they have become memorable characters complete with personalities, prejudices, attitudes, histories, and personal places within an incredibly complex group dynamic, but what did the writers know about these characters when the show began? Chandler's funny, Phoebe streetwise, and Monica can cook. As the show progressed, these characters gained life. The same is true for you and your character. This then is less about making a full fledged conception and more about getting a beginning.

All of these methods work, to one degree or another, on playing with stereotypes. This is not to pigeon hole you. By seeing a type as something that can be played with, you can use these easy steps to imagine an original character.

Method 1, Art: There's a lot out there to just plain look at. Pictures of fantasy characters are great because they give you a visual presentation of the the kind of character you want to play. Well, why not simply go the whole nine and base your of your character on a picture you've seen. This will give you not only some idea of what you look like, but also what kind of circumstances you hope to find yourself in.

Method 2, Cool thing in the Game: A lot of conception start this way. A players says, "I want to be a total expert at potions," or "I want to play someone who trains war dogs." In other words, the character is an expert at some uncommon skill or has some interesting characteristic and they are conceptualized around this. This is a great way to begin feeling your character out because it generally involves a history of interest and also a guiding principal for the numbers on your character sheet.

Method 3, based on another character: Ever wonder what Angela Lansbury's character in "Murder She Wrote" would be like if she were an elf in a fantasy setting. Well, base your character on her. Take what you like, leave the rest. This is an especially useful tactic in picking the character's personality. You needn't by the way pick Bruce Willis's character from Die Hard. There's all kinds of quirky characters walking around the Dungeons and Dragons world. With this kind of conception, you get a pretty good idea of how your character generally acts.

Method 4, fandom: Some people like to totally recreate another character in a fantasy setting. You needn't pick a fantasy character for this necessarily. Instead, just try to think of fantasy analogs to whatever elements already exist in that characters world. You like the idea of Buck Rogers? Okay, instead of being a guy from the past thrown into the future to fight Ming the merciless, how about you're from another dimension and you're trying to stop an evil tyrannical wizard.

Method 5, get a gimmick: The Thing from The Fantastic Four began as a guy made of rock who said, "it's clobbering time." It really doesn't take much to make your character memorable and to begin the process of gaining definition. Consider the power of phrases like, "I'm not allowed in a lot of towns anymore," or, "that dragon circling overhead may be looking for me," or even, "who's up for a drinking contest?" One you know the situations your character is likely to get in, or what kinds of things set your character apart from the rest, a conception will begin to reveal itself. You can't hunt a man with six fingers for long before someone asks why.

Method 6, Start answering questions: Still working it out? Try these...

Where are you from?
What makes you a good character for a fantasy novel?
Why is it that you willingly explore tombs of of monsters whose names are
unpronounceable?
Fight dragons or ride them?
Ever seen a demon?
Do you have a home?
What do people outside your adventuring buddies think of you?
If your in the capital city for a few days R and R, how do you spend the
fortune you've just liberated from the goblin king?
Is anybody likely to be hunting you?
Is there something out there that might come to your defense in case of
really bad trouble?
Any "strange" relatives?
Are you on a quest?"
Which of the characters do you fell closest to? Who furthest?
Ancient and forgotten temple of Elder god: "wonder what's in there"
or "wonder how we're going to kill it?"
Likely travelling companion: Elvin archer, Iron Golem, or Githyankian
Alienist from the infinite dooms of Limbo?
Excalibur, Tolkien, Conan, The Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, or M.C. Escher (or H.R. Geiger for that matter)?

How to post

2007-09-15T16:07:00.000-04:00

First of all, you can either post anonymously and just sign it or you can sign with your Google account if you have one. To get one go to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount. It's free, and then you can have a cool name like Monstro!

Alright, after you do that, simply press on the "comment" link under the post and it will take you to a screen that asks for your user name and password. There should be a box where you can enter your comment and a string of characters for you to re-enter (this is so that automated programs can't comment on the blog).

That's it. After you do this, your comment should appear. This allows for a kind of discussion between readers of the blog.

Q and A-9/15/07

2007-09-15T16:04:00.000-04:00

This is the Q and A for this week and next week.

Fumble-aya

2007-09-15T15:55:00.001-04:00

So, I've given this some thought. I think Slash was right that a fumble that ends up with you on the ground is pretty bad. So, here's what I've come up with. If you roll a fumble in melee combat, you have to make a balance roll to stay up on your feet. If you end up not on your feet, you can make a tumble roll to get up without provoking an attack of opportunity. This gives you two dexterity checks to avoid getting clobbered when you fumble.

If you fumble while using a ranged attack, you have to make a hit roll against a friendly unit in your arc of fire. If firing into hand to hand, the friendly combatent is automatically the target. In other words, if you fumble while using a ranged weapon and one of your friends is in front of you, there's a chance that you'll hit them.

Fumbes on skill checks are just automatic failures and carry no other ill effect.

Macabre Boccob

2007-09-15T14:58:00.000-04:00

Here's what you guys would all basically know about Boccob and his church, The Eternal Library.

Among the Pantheon, Boccob serves as the god of magic, but his nature seems to place him outside the realm of the other deities. Where Moradin or St. Cuthbert are active in the lives and affairs of mortals, Boccob's main selling point is that he simply doesn't care. He seems to be above the struggles of the world, and thus magic is a force that is a cast off of his own power. This has a number of effects in the legends of Stumgort and Aversill. As the argument goes, if Boccob was more responsible with magic then human power wouldn't continually have to be reigned in by the gods. If this is, in fact, the case, it wouldn't matter much. Boccob seems to care very little about who gets power or who doesn't. He is worshipped less as an attempt to gain favor and more as an exercise in the discipline that his followers see as necessary to use the powers that they uncover. As the myths go, if Boccob does actually notice you, his power is so great as to wipe you out of existence.

From a political standpoint, there are a number of organizations that deal with arcane secrets and lore, as well as numerous groups dedicated to the policing of magic use. The Eternal Library (church of Boccob) is generally at the forefront of the politics of magic in any civilized human area (Elves prefer Corellen Larethion). Wizard advisers to political authority are almost always appointed by The Eternal Library, and organizations for monitoring or policing magic use either begin as offshoots of the Eternal Library or are given authority by that group.

For this reason, figuring prominently in each major city is an Eternal Library. It's appearance depends on the city (Seacourt's is garish and polished; in Streckhorn it is a dark place uninviting and Gothic), but its general upkeep is pretty much the same. Most of the Library is off limits to non-church members (and even these areas are divided by one's status in the church), but it provides services such as the sale of magic items, instruction in magical skill and spells, numerous commercial casting services, professional services such as sages and scribes(though not Wayfairers), incarceration for magical beings, as well as the bureaucratic upkeep of magical licensing (it's as RMVish as it sounds).

Outside the city, the Eternal Library often operates temples for the collection of arcane secrets from the wilds and from prelapsarian ruins. In like manner, most of the Libraries less metropolitan plans are carried out in rural temples, such as magical laboratories, observatories, and academies.

Other major organizations that perform similar services to the Eternal Library are The Wayfairers Guild, The Pragnastic Assembly, The Hall of Secrets, and The Order. There are any number of smaller guilds, colleges, and schools for wizards, but none have the kind of political power wielded by the organizations listed above.

Slash's character, combat, etc.

2007-09-15T13:46:00.000-04:00

Hi all-

This post is about combat in general but it's really in answer to Slash's question on the Q and A post from last week.

To sum up,

Slash has determined that fighting with a weapon in each hand is not good.
Big weapons do a lot more damage, but even a long sword would be better.
The best way to go with this would be a half orc 1st level barbarian, 4th level fighter.
He's worried that the character would be too much like Lynn's.
He's hoping to hear all of your thoughts on the subject of what the party needs.

So...ahem, on point 4...YES. Two spell casters in the group is fine in that they have different spells and thus present a bit of variation of play. Not to mention that one of the wizards is doing double duty as a thief, but two 1/2 orc fighters armed almost exactly the same and with nearly the same feats is going to be redundant

But first let me say a few thing. First of all, combat in Dungeons and Dragons, even before dice are thrown, is an incredibly complex organism full of multiple variables. It is seemingly the most difficult part of dungeons and dragons to get a hold of and also elicits the greatest celebration when someone "gets it" (actual roleplaying is, I think harder, but also more rewarding). The problem is that their are different levels of getting it; combat in D and D is incredibly tactically complex. Take whatever you can imagine about simple swordplay (fencing is an Olympic sport after all), add to that all other martial weapons, and then just because it is isn't complex enough just yet, add in other variables, like magical attacks, magical augmentation, magical healing, and all other varieties of magical nastiness to boot. Oh yeah, and then stage the combat in strange locales like cramped dungeons, cliffsides, on the back of a Pegasus.

To reduce combat, then, to a "hit roll" and an "amount of damage," again even before dice are thrown, is extremely oversimplified. Problems are likely to come up, some already have. In thinking in terms of going toe to toe with the monster, you immediately put a strain on the cleric who has to use up the greater portion of their powers for healing. Giving up Monster Summoning for healing is a sign that something has gone wrong. Not horribly wrong, but wrong nonetheless. With this mentality in place, the wizard's list of spells becomes bottle necked. Why get anything that doesn't do direct damage? And continuing on in that thought process, why not just be a fighter? Who needs magic missile when you have a two handed sword?

But in this way of thinking, consider immediately your adversary. A group of fifth level characters can expect to meet 3 ogres. Last night, one such ogre nearly killed the barbarian. Bad rolls? Not particularly. If that ogre zombie had managed to survive one more round of fighting the entire party, you would have needed a raise dead spell. Imagine what would have happened if the two fighters, in attempting to chop down the ogre, had left two more ogres to go toe to toe with the two wizards and the cleric. Ogres hit for about 16 pts. of damage around...average.

And that was me playing the zombie ogre stupid (which it is). Imagine such a creature if it knows how to cleave, disarm, flank, or take advantage of attacks of opportunity.

Though every combat is, in essence, some variation of the "chop the monster down" tactic, relying solely on such a tactic is likely to become a bloodbath fairly quick--and for both sides. I think that's what happens when you make both "warrior characters" barbarians, or when you base all of your combat tactics on who can hit the hardest.

What do I recommend instead? Well, first of all, the wizards aught to notice that more than half of their spell list has combat applicability. By keeping a variety of spells, the wizard produces tactical situations for the party that might otherwise go overlooked (including avoiding combat altogether). At any given point from now on, the major battles will be won or lost by the wizards. If the wizards aim is to simply annoy while the fighters do their job, then you miss out on some of the truly heroic powers of magic. Personally, I like "web" with "fireball" at your level, but "monster summoning" plus "haste" is also nice." Play around a bit; I'm sure you'll find some nasty combination I haven't seen as of yet.

Second, though I think any "warrior character" aught to be able to hold their own in combat, I think that there are a number of ways to do this. You could be the hardest character to hit (using a variety of tactics to produce this affect such as super dodginess or big armor). You could have access to the greatest finesse; if you look at the combat section of the players handbook under Special Attacks, you'll see a variety of combat options of which a fighter, with their additional feats, is sort of designed to take advantage. You could master a kind of combat that forces your enemies to rethink their simple tactics by using an extremely long weapons, or by mastering ranged weapons. Lastly, you could work towards or take a prestige class to make your fighter more specialized and threatening. If the barbarian can rage, how about a character who can disarm or who can make enemies easier to hit when the barbarian rages. There's only so many bull's strength spells to go around.

And of course, I always recommend taking advantage of a good thief. A good thief can draw monsters into ambushes (yes, you can ambush the monsters too); a good thief can set traps to screw the monsters up; hell, thief...thieves steal things like weapons and magic items before the battle even begins.

Lastly, clerics are good because no matter what goes down, they can aid, and if their aid isn't needed, so much the better: monster summoning, arms and armor, cause light and moderate wounds. Plus, in the right circumstances, the cleric alone can stop the undead horde.

Here's what I'm saying in a nutshell. It's good to begin the game with an eye towards figuring out how to hit the monster and do damage, but you will eventually have to move into more complex ways of thinking about combat or the monsters who are better at this simple tactic will run you into the ground. I think a good way to prohibit yourself from this kind of thinking is to choose the simple route of big weapons that do big damage or obvious spells that always do damage (and which do nothing else).

And, of course, I'll say what I'm always going to say in this circumstance: what kind of character do you want to play? When the intrigue part of the game happens, where do you want to find yourself in it? What kind of character do you envision, because in the end, it isn't about combat at all but about having fun, and the more you like your character, the more fun you'll have.

Character Conception

2007-09-11T19:14:00.000-04:00

Your characters right now are made, but they are never really set in stone. I think it's good to tinker with the character as you get a better feel for who they are, what they do, their background, and their attitudes. As you get some idea of what you want, I encourage tinkering. Don't worry about the continuity of the story. We'll just assume that the character was like that all along.

Game Term Glossary

2007-09-11T18:58:00.000-04:00

Character Conception- This is the idea behind the character: your guiding principal about what the character is like, their place in the world, etc.. Strider’s character conception (from Lord of the Rings) might be: reluctant king who is shirking his responsibility and off wandering the planet. Conan’s might be: big guy who’d rather get drunk and kill then have a conversation. A character conception need not be totally formed (or formed at all) at the beginning of the game. Through the magic of revision, when you get one that you like, we simply rewrite what has come before a bit so that it seems like you’ve had your character conception in mind all along.
Crit: Short for Critical hit. A critical hit is scored, in general, by rolling a natural twenty on the twenty sided die to hit. Some weapons crit more often. When you roll a crit, all damage done by you on that blow is doubled. As a rule for this game, monsters cannot crit against players unless the monster has a class level (a fourth level Ogre barbarian can crit, for instance; a regular Ogre can not) or the encounter is at the same CR as the characters. “Crit”ing a skill or ability check means automatic success regardless of penalties or difficulties.
Fumble: A fumble is the result of rolling a natural 1. Fumbling is failure no matter what modifiers. Also, a fumble in combat may result in your falling down. It requires a Balance skill roll to stay on your feet.

Map of Aversill Colony

2007-09-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

Glossary of Place Names

2007-09-10T13:39:00.001-04:00

This is a list and brief description of places in the game world.

Ashforge- City underneath the Kriegroost mountains. Ashforge is the largest Dwarven city accessible to non-dwarves.
Aversill- continent discovered by humans 600 years ago and colonized by the kingdom of Sturmgort. Much of Aversill is still wild with large tracts of inhospitable, hostile, and treacherous areas. There is evidence that before its discovery, Aversill once had a thriving human population. What, however, became of those people is lost to time.

Asternil Gate- The gate in the center of Starfell where a meteor supposedly punched a hole through the world. It is a site of trade between the surface and the underworld.
Azriahulathein- Legendary island home of the elves. Incredibly insular. Non-elves are not welcome. Azriahulathein is at the very least three weeks sail from Aversill.

Bobbinford- Halfling city about three days ride back from the frontier and located down the Starfell River.
Codphetumos- The statue of the Fade god of the same name at the center of Streckhorn.

Daisgog- When Tyrgrim was first opened it was to flank the hobgoblin kingdom of Daisgog. Now, it is uncertain whether Tyrgrim isn’t the capital of this warlike goblinoid land.
Denzibal Temple- The great temple to the various gods of the human pantheon that crowns the statue of Codphetumos in Streckhorn.

Eastern Ocean- Ocean on the Western coast of Aversill (the ocean is East of Sturmgort and they’re the ones who named it).

Ergog- When left to fight amongst themselves the Ork kingdom of Ergog is one of the most powerful zones of the March. Historically, they have gathered their power from crusades into the Vasts. A common political saying is: “you have vasts in your scryers glass” which basically means imminent trouble from unknown sources.

Far Reef- The southern most human city on Aversill is actually located on an island off the coast of Grosh Gelios. Whereas, many of Aversill’s most notable cities are frontier town, few display the lawlessness of Far Reef. Were it not for the money the city brings back from its forays into the Grosh Gelios, its politics would not be tolerated by the Colonial Council in Seacourt.

Frontier, The- The frontier is the limit of habitable land occupied by human forces on Aversill. From the reaches of the Frontier to the Eastern Ocean is about a 10 day ride (assuming one uses a road and is moving at a fairly good pace on horseback). Human habitation of Aversill covers half of its western and southern coasts. Most frontier towns are considered somewhat backwards and lawless. In some cases, the reputation is well deserved.

Glanverry- A mountain city famous for its technological marvels, most of which are the work of the nearby gnomes of Krimfolet.

Kilbrae- Small coastal outpost at the Southwest corner of the continent where the Mauler river meets the East ocean.

Krickenheim- Name of a mountain chain beginning due south of Starfell. Also the name of the elusive Dwarven kingdom (or possibly kingdoms) for which the Krickenheim mountains are named.

Kriegroost Mountains- Volcanic mountain chain in Northern Aversill. Legend proports that the Kriegroost Mountains were the cradle of the tyrannical god Hextor.

Krimfolet- The great Gnome university of Krimfolet sits just west of the Krickenheim mountains and just north of the human city of Glanverry

Lands of the March- Less a political entity and more an expansive uncivilized region from which warlords sometimes arise. The March is the home of various humanoid races that ceaselessly fight one another until something bands them together against the invading human forces of Sturmgort. There have been four major Marches which have kept human power in Aversill well in check.

Lavenshoal- Elven encampment of long standing (Elves don’t really refer to something less than a millennia old as a city). The elves of Lavenshoal are the children and grandchildren of the elves that came over with the humans from Sturmgort.

March- Generally used to describe any area that is uncivilized.

Mauler river- One of three rivers fed by the Starfell river, It meats the East Ocean at the city of Kilbrae.

Mottentodd- The unguessably large metropolis capital of the Nimberfein kingdom. Here, and under normal circumstances, only here do the Nimberfein dwarves deal with humans, elves, and halflings. Part of the city is above ground. The upper city, as it is called, is partly controlled by Sturmgort forces in an advisory capacity.

Nimberfein- A kingdom underneath the Stormcrown mountains and the center of worship for Moradin. Nimberfein is less xenophobic than the kingdom of Krickenheim, but still fairly intolerant except at its capital city Motentodd.

Noeethia- The city of Noeethia is the most northern city of any reasonable size in the Aversill colony. It is located on the northern peninsula of the Bay of Swords at the edge of the Colthorn Forest. It’s wintry atmosphere, make it a place of hard living, whereas its position in the forest make its inhabitants a bit xenophobic about those who come to the city overland.
Phemerhon- Occasionally scholars will differentiate between the colony and the continent. In such cases, the continent is known as Phemerhon and Aversill is the colony that is founded upon it.

Seacourt- The city of Seacourt is on the landing spot of the original party from Sturmgort. It is the most influential city on the continent. Powerful in both intelligence and affluence, it seeks to present a cosmopolitan air to the colony of Aversill.

Starfell- Main city of the campaign. Starfell is the largest and most affluent of the cities on the frontier of “civilized” (human) Aversill. Starfell is located at the bottom of a crater caused by a meteor strike.

Starfell River- River starting from the pumping stations of Starfell and feeding out into the Eastern Ocean.

Stormcrown Mountains- Legendary home of the god Heironious. The Stormcrown mountains are the home of another dwarven kingdom of Nimberfein.

Streckhorn- City on the Frontier located within the peaks of the Krickinheim mountain chain.

Sturmgort- Human empire responsible for the discovery and colonization of Aversill. All Aversill human land owners are considered citizens of Sturmgort. Sturmgort is, at best, four weeks sail from Aversill.
Tevermine Gate- Entrance to Streckhorn through the lifts is through the Tevermine Gate.

The Bay of Swords- North up the coast from Seacourt bay, the Bay of Swords is divided in half on its coast by the Coldthorn forest. It is from the Bay of Swords that Aversill claims its hardiest sailors.

The Coldthorn Forest- At the northern edge of the kingdom and serving as a border between the Sturmgort colonies and Ulf Kontali is the Coldthorn Forest. The area is a subarctic forest stretching far to the north. Those who have made it past the forest speak of a frozen plain that is without life and seas awash with ice bergs.

The Gauvis River- The river between the Kriegroost and Stormcrown mountain ranges. The Gauvis River feeds into and joins up with the Starfell river.

The Glass Wastes- To the west of Sturmgort is a continent which has been known throughout the lores of both Sturmgort and Pyrhince as The lands of Geistschon. To most people, however, it is better known as the Glass Wastes. The continent is a formed out of a miles thick sheet of glass, beneath which can sometimes be made out shapes. Recently, some of the more affluent (and less superstitious) kingdoms have sent in expeditions to determine if there is anything of value on (or in) the Glass Wastes. Most people, however, stay clear; legend has it that this is the site of the First Catastrophe.

The Grosh Gelios- Dwarvish name for the southern jungle expanse located past the area known as the March. The Grosh Gelios has otherwise proven impervious to any serious exploration attempts and the coast of the Grosh Gelios is a threat to even the most veteran of sailors.

The Isigong Battlefield- Supposedly the site of the Second Catastophe (the battle between Corellan Larethian and Lolth), the Isigong Battlefield lies in the center of Azriahulathein and is separated from the rest of the world by the Hannoof Als Hoon (aka Seerwall).

Thulenglenn- Capital city of Aziahulathein. Thulenglenn is considered the mythical birthplace of the elf race, and is considered holy by elves, both above and below.
Tyrgrim- Kingdom to the East of the Kriegroost Mountains. Originally founded by members of Sturmgort during the first March to gain tactical advantage, it has since fallen away from its parent empire and operates as an independent city state within the wilds of the land of the March.

Ulf Kontali- Ulf Kontali is the elvish outpost on Aversill northeast of the lands claimed by Sturmgort. It owes its allegiance to the island kingdom of Azriahulathein and has been established on Aversill for far longer than Sturmgort. Despite its reputation as forbidden land, it is fairly underpopulated. Because of the great number of ancient ruined cities within Ulf Kontali, most people think the area is cursed by the gods and many wonder at the elves presence there.

Vasts, The- Beyond the limits of the March to the far east lie the Vasts. It is here that human exploration has ended, though those who have made it that far tell stories of giant ruins, floating cities, and incredible (and unspeakable horrors). Those who venture into the Grosh Gelios do not return, but those who venture into the Vasts do not remain.

Vazermell- At one time, the farthest Eastern province on the frontier. As the site of a great many battles in the battles against the March and Tyrgrim, Vazermell has been since plundered and razed. It is now nothing more than ruins acting as a reminder of the forces that also are loose on the continent.

Vebeltodd- The great gnomish city of Vebeltodd is in the foothills of the Stromcrown mountains. It is friendly to outsiders and considers itself an ally to the Sturmgort empire, all three dwarven kingdoms, and the Elvish lands of Ulf Kontali.

Glossary of Terms for parts of the game world

2007-09-10T13:34:00.000-04:00

This is for general terms in the world of Aversill.

Q and A

2007-09-10T13:32:00.000-04:00

Post here if you have any questions about the game or game world that you'd like answered.

Why The Wiki?

2007-09-10T12:43:00.000-04:00

Quick answer: Because a few of you have never played Dungeons and Dragons.

Quick answer, part 2: Because there is no book to read that will describe the world in which your characters live.

Quick answer, part 3: Because I'm making this up as I'm going along and so I'd kind of like to have some record of it. Call it a history of the world, or a guidebook to how things work in the game, I see an Aversill Wiki as an integral journal to what has made it so far into the game world.

What I think this Wiki will essentially cover are the geographical, political, racial, physical, and all other details of the game world. I want to have brief descriptions of what your characters would probably know by virtue of simply having lived lives in Aversill--information which you yourself most likely will not know.

Lastly, I want to make this a kind of record of what you all have accomplished. This is a world that is being built around five players as we play. The world is interesting, sure, but I think we would be remiss if we didn't offer the position of prominence to the character quests and actions that spring that world into existence.