The Serpent Wars

Summary

A game wiki using Peril Planet's FU rpg (Freeform Universal roleplaying game) by Nathan Russell. This Wiki page is for storage and journaling of game material for “The Serpent Wars” campaign set in the Vilhon Reach area of the Forgotten Realms.

The recruitment thread is found here.

Map of the Vilhon Reach area found here.

Players

Phantom Grunweasel playing Anton de Mathesio

legopaidi playing The Forest Witch

Thane of Fife playing Iraedra, Paladin of Mystra

Madcat playing a bard

Sources

The campaign will draw upon very few setting sources, allowing for growth and the possibility to change canon. These include:

• TSR 1031, The Forgotten Realms Campaign Set
• TSR 9510, The Vilhon Reach

Player Characters

Anton de Mathesio

Concept: Dashing Amnish Swordsman, Disgraced Noble and Fledgling Wizard

Body: Lithe

Mind: Curious

Edge: Swashbuckling swordsmanship (flourishes, swinging from chandeliers, witty ripostes)

Flaw: Over-eager and impulsive

Gear:

• Family Sword
• Magical Charm (at least, the gnomish street peddler who sold it to him assured him it was magical, though it has yet to display any eerie sorcerous qualities) (note: whether this is anything other than a symbol of Anton's gullibility is up to the GM)

Description. House de Mathesio was a rising mercantile house in Amn, owning interests in the shipping trade to Maztica as well as various forests and mines in the country’s interior. However, the scion of the family, Anton, was something of a disappointment to his hardheaded parents. From his earliest years, he was fascinated by stories of magic and enchantment –even though, in magic-fearing Amn, these cautionary stories inevitably ended in tragedy for any who dared to dabble in the forbidden arts.

Anton was always far too wild and restless to learn anything at all of bookkeeping. He had enough natural talent to make a capable swordsman, and his parents were considering sending him to the army on strength of that, when disaster struck. Anton, it was discovered, had been paying a local hedge-witch for lessons in magic and alchemy. The superstitious old woman knew little of the greater arts, and the authorities had more or less turned a blind eye to her practises, but a member of the nobility learning from her was a different matter. Anton’s parents planned to ruin themselves bribing the correct magistrates to allow their son to go free, but Anton had other ideas. He simply slipped away from the family castle one night, planning to make his way to lands further east, where he could finally study magic at will.

Anton is a charming but impractical individual. Besides his passion for magic, he has a generally romantic view of the world, a boundless passion for poetry, and various chivalrous impulses. The truth is that his qualities are not at all suited to the slow and steady study of magic and most potential mentors would reject him out of hand -but perhaps he'll find a way to learn all the same.

Drive. To learn magic and become a wizard.

Hero Point Refresh. 2

Iraedra

Concept: Knightly paladin, devoted to the service of Mystra

Body: Imposing

Mind: Improvisational

Edge: Knowledge of Magic

Flaw: Easily Rattled

Gear:

• Trusty sword
• Treasured blue scarf (assuming blue doesn't count as an adjective - if it does, make it blue scarf)

Description. Iraedra does not know the circumstances of her birth. She was raised a slave in Thay, stolen from whomever her parents were when she was but an infant. Developing an understandable distaste for sorcerers while in that land, she eventually slew her owner when he came home drunk, strangling him. She fled justice and struggled to survive in the wild and among the common people of Thay, growing increasingly incensed at the oppression there. Eventually, she was caught by the authorities, and then rescued by a friendly sorceress from a neighboring realm.

Iraedra spent some time struggling with the idea of decent wizards, and on Midnight's ascension, Iraedra was one of the first to be called to service by the new goddess. She has spent the past ten years training and beginning her calling.

Iraedra is a woman who is still learning. She sees it as her duty to learn what it means to be a paladin even as her goddess is learning what it means to be divine. She is open to new ideas and tends to do her best thinking on her feet, but her uncertainty also leaves her a bit prone to being provoked or confused.

She always carries with her her Trusty Sword (Pinnace) and an old blue scarf gifted her by the sorceress who saved her life. She wears it at her hip, in the fashion of the women of Cormyr; but where they wear purple scarves to show they seek romance, Iraedra wears a blue one for her search for her goddess.

Drive. To seek understanding and faith: what is the place of magic in Faerun, and what can she do to serve Mystra?

Hero Point Refresh. 2

The Forest Witch

real name unknown even to her

Concept: Reclusive Druidess in the service of Eldath

Body: Animal-like Nimbleness

Mind: Pacifist

Edge: Archer

Flaw: Primitive

Gear:

• Wooden Bow
• Delusion-inducing Berries

Description. The Forest Witch's origins are a mystery even to her. She can only remember being raised on the woods by an equally mysterious old hermit that taught her to respect nature and initiated her to the teachings of Eldath. What little experience she has had with the civilized world mainly comes through some rather unfortunate encounters with the Emerald Enclave Druids. Their ruthless ways is what made the Witch stick to her beloved forest and peacefully avoid mingling with other people. She's quite honestly a savage not knowning proper etiquette but also because of her uncanny animal-like grace. While her skill with the bow is spectacular she's one to talk first and shoot later in true keeping with Eldath's pacifist ways.

Drive. To protect her forest and oppose the Emerald Enclave

Hero Point Refresh. 2

Rules Extras

Where I will store different mods and house rules.

Earning Hero Points

• Complication: either from rolling poorly or interpreting a fairly juicy complication, or having a Fate-based "compel" leveled at your relationships or backstory
• Roleplaying: especially wonderful role playing, truly memorable or remarkable dialogue or description (this area will be more of a rarity)
• feeding the plot (the GM really likes something you've made up)
• Taking a Hit: take a relevant negative Condition and instantly gain 1 Hero Point
• Suffering a Wound: (or other mental/social damage equivalent)

Spending Hero Points

• Up the Ante: chip in a Hero Point before a Beat the Odds roll to add another bonus die to the mix
• Re-roll: spend a point to re-roll a single die after a Beat the Odds roll (you cannot re-roll a re-roll)
• Declare a Stunt or Power: spend a point to declare a concept-related power or ability
• Use a Stunt or Power: spend a point to activate a previously declared concept-related power or ability
• Suffering a Wound: (or other mental/social damage equivalent) spend a point on a Beat the Odds roll you have made resulting in getting a Condition (such as Injured or Dying) and replace that Condition with a lesser, but specific Condition (broken arm, gash across the belly)
• Use a Prop: if you are in possession of a minor prop (not one of your two chosen pieces of Gear), spend a point to allow it to grant a bonus/penalty die for the remainder of the scene

Other Things

• Matching Die: Rolling doubles, triples or quadruples can make a success much better or a failure far worse. If your result die has a match the effects will be much more dramatic. You may add one “and...” statement for each matching die. If the action is failed this statement should make the situation worse. If the action is a success the additional statement(s) should make the situation even better.

Setting and Notes

NPCs

Baron Aldorn Thuragar “Foesmasher” of Sespech

No-nonsense Aldorn resides from his citadel in Ormpetarr (recently renamed “Foesmasher Keep”), he has been the ruler of Sespech for the past seven years, following many other unpopular governors of Chondathan descent for centuries. Throwing off the yoke of the empire has made him both immensely popular and unpopular. His defiant rule has attracted representatives of many nations hoping to develop (or destroy) new trade agreements. Tensions with neighboring Chondath and rival, Hlondeth (The City of Serpents), has bred numerous internal complications within the guilds, between merchants, and in court. He still holds regular commons court at regular intervals, hearing the complaints of his locals with as much patience as he can muster.

He is tall and once a well-built warrior with the strength of an ox. Now, his duties and sedentary life have sapped much of his former strength. He is still, nonetheless, imposing and commanding, yet with long vision for the growth of a new separatist state still with some energy. He is dark-haired with a sharp chin, and even sharper eyes. His temper is fierce when roused.

Descriptors: Imposing, Resolute, Wise Beyond His Years, Stooped

Gear: Blood-spattered Spiked Mace (“Skullcracker”)