Difference between revisions of "The Wilderlands of Absalom"

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(Player Characters)
(Player Characters)
Line 5: Line 5:
 
*[[P'zev the Perspicacious]], L2 Mage, HP 7  
 
*[[P'zev the Perspicacious]], L2 Mage, HP 7  
  
[[WoA_Qutai | Qutai]], Horse Shaman
+
[[WoA_Qutai | Qutai]], L5 Horse Shaman, HP 29/29 AC 5
*[[WoA_Jochi | Jochi]], Explorer
+
*[[WoA_Jochi | Jochi]], L4 Explorer, HP 18/18 AC 6
  
 
[[WoA_Xallijk | Xallijk]], L4 Nobiran Wonderworker, HP 17/17, AC xx
 
[[WoA_Xallijk | Xallijk]], L4 Nobiran Wonderworker, HP 17/17, AC xx

Revision as of 12:18, 1 September 2015

10Zcw4k.jpg

Player Characters

Karag Two-Blades, L5 Assassin, HP 23

Qutai, L5 Horse Shaman, HP 29/29 AC 5

  • Jochi, L4 Explorer, HP 18/18 AC 6

Xallijk, L4 Nobiran Wonderworker, HP 17/17, AC xx

Sir Harn, the Red Knight of Tisbury, L5 Fighter, HP 30/30, AC 8

Sample Character

Blank Character Sheet

Encumbrance Ape

  • Character A:
    • Equipment:
    • Treasure:
    • Total:
    • Movement:

Maps

Player's Map Note that we will create subpages for each hex.

Setting

After a century the forces of Chaos have begun to subside and weaken and the Realm of Man has begun to expand again, to retake territory lost in the past hundred years and even expand past its original borders. The Five Princes of the Inner Kingdoms have called for all able-bodied adventurers to venture into the outlands, to drive the barbarians and humanoids and abominations out and establish new domains for Law and Order. The adventurers have a charter from the Scarlet Prince, granting them ten year monopolies on any trade routes opened with friendly territories and the ability to draw upon the population of the Inner Principalities for labor, for skilled craftfolk, for soldiers and for settlers. Of course, the adventurers could also do it on their own and attempt to establish their own domains without owing fealty to anyone. They also have a map, a century out of date and likely inaccurate; the incursion of Chaos has warped the landscape in strange ways in addition to the more mundane monsters wreaking havoc on the towns and villages beyond the River Sarn.

Junction, Class IV

On border of Scarlet Principality

Rhea's Ford, Class II

Some distance east from Junction

Languages

  • Faery (elves, pixies, dryads, etc.)
  • Undertongue (dwarves, gnomes, kobolds)
  • Bestial (ogre, orc, gnoll)
  • Goblin (goblin, hobgoblin, bugbear)
  • Grog (common language of most primitive races)
  • Swampspeak (frogling, lizardman, troglodyte, etc.)
  • Giant
  • Draconic
  • Law (must be selected through Proficiency)
  • Chaos (must be selected through Proficiency)

Houserules

Bonus Proficiencies

PCs (not henchmen) get an additional general proficiency at 3rd and 6th level.

Riding Proficiency

All characters can ride horses, mules, etc. Those without the Ride Proficiency suffer a -2 to to melee attacks and a -4 to missile attacks*. If the horse moves during the round characters without Ride cannot cast spells or make missile attacks. Characters with the Ride proficiency gain the following:

  • Judge of horseflesh: On a throw of 14+ they can get a rough idea of how healthy a mount is.
  • Mounted combat. Can melee as normal, charge (p. 112), and use missile weapons while stationary without penalty. A -2 penalty is assigned if firing a missile weapon while moving, and spells can be cast while moving with a throw of 7+.
  • Control animal. The mount gains +1 to their morale score while being ridden by someone with the Ride skill.

Ride may be chosen again for the same type of animal with the following benefits.

  • Judge of horseflesh: On a throw of 7+ they can gain a rough idea of how healthy a mount is.
  • Mounted Combat: Can melee as normal, charge, use missile weapons or cast spells without penalty, regardless if they are moving or not.
  • Horse as shield: With a saddle, the character can hang over the side of a mount, keeping it between themselves and a foe. This grants them partial cover (+3 to AC) while allowing them to cast spells or use missile weapons with a -2 penalty (cast spells on a throw of 7+).
  • Control animal: Mount gains +2 to morale while being controlled.
  • Can use Animal Husbandry with -2 penalty to throws, *or* gains +2 bonus to Animal Husbandry throws if she has both Proficiencies.
  • Can use Animal Training with the type of mount, at a +1 week penalty *or* if she already has Animal Training as the time reduced by 1 week (minimum of 1 week).

Hexcrawling

I'll be using this post from the Autarch forum to determine how many lairs are within each hex. For a hex to be "cleared" all of the lairs need to be dealt with, either be killing the residents, convincing them to move on or making peace with them. Each hex will also have a number of "features", areas of interest ranging from the dead body of a solitary trapper, an abandoned gold mine, a dungeon, hardwood forest, etc. I'm not saying you have to, but proficiencies such as Naturalism, Knowledge and Craft will be more useful here then in other campaigns, specifically to help recognize features of value.

Hexes can, of course, be traveled through, but they can also be explored. Exploration of a hex isn't based so much on movement rate, since it assumes that such travel is relatively slow and cautious, so as to avoid missing anything. It will take anywhere from four to eight days to fully explore a single 6-mile hex. Unless otherwise stated, I will assume that travel through a hex takes the shortest possible distance.

Masterwork Items

  • Masterwork weapons gain one of the following qualities for a base cost of 500 gp: +1 to hit, +1 to damage, +20/40/80' (ranged weapons only), +2 to Saves (such as from Sundering or other applicable effects). Qualities can be stacked, but not in a linear cost. Each additional quality adds 250 gp to the cost. Therefore, a masterwork sword with a +1 to hit and +1 to damage would cost 1250 gp, as opposed to 1000.
  • Masterwork armor can be purchased with the following qualities, each at a cost of 750 gp: +1 to AC (note that this quality adds to the encumbrance of the suit), -1 to encumbrance (minimum 1 stone), +3 to Saves. As with masterwork weapons, qualities can be stacked, with an additional 500 gp added to the cost per quality. Therefore, a suit of plate that has a +1 to AC and a -1 to encumbrance would cost 2000 gp, and would be as encumbering as a normal suit of plate.

Mercenaries

As per Domains at War (p. 12), mercenaries may be veterans. They are classed characters (usually fighters or explorers) and inflict an extra +1 damage and gain a +1 bonus to their morale score. Their base pay is increased by 12 gp, however. Note that due to the dangerous nature of the expedition (venturing into the unknown) all mercenaries and specialists (such as animal trainers, healers, etc.) are going to charge double their base price, unless garrisoned in cleared hexes.

Shields Shall Be Splintered

You can negate a physical attack against you by having your shield take the force of the blow.

Money Matters

  • We are using standards of living (p. 39): 450 at 4th and 5th, 1225 at 6th. The adventurers begin with the 1st month already paid. Henchmen will use the table on p.51 for their monthly fee.
  • There are no banks. I like the idea of you guys hauling around chests full of gold and jewels and trying to figure out what to do with it. Please note that your factor will be able to keep money for you (like, I'm assuming he has a big saferoom in his office like Scrooge McDuck).

Important NPCs

Mr. Hand, our Factor

Rumor Mill

  • While the road to Rocky Peak has been little used and ill-maintained over the past century, the occasional bold merchant or brave adventurers made the treacherous journey between the two cities. A dozen or so years ago, however, a pride of manticores staked their territory western edge of the forest, effectively shutting down transit between Rocky Peak and Junction. Mr. Hand, the factor in the adventurer's employ, notes that Rocky Peak was for years a source of iron and gemstones, two commodities that Junction is sorely lacking.
  • Far to the west, at the base of an active volcano, sits the legendary city of Pesh. Even before the darkness fell the route to Pesh was long and circuitous, for there is only one road onto the plateau where it is built, and the causeway is -- or was, rather, controlled by a fierce band of lion-men who demand tribute to those who would pass. Pesh is noted, however, for its great libraries containing books and scrolls of esoteric nature and for the veritable army of brass-skinned smiths who forge puissant weapons in the heat of the looming volcano. Were one to open a road to Pesh it would certainly bring great wealth to the indomitable individual.
  • Gold ingots are also in high demand in Junction, and a wild-eyed man has been spreading tales of a gold mine he stumbled across in the hills south of the Principality, abandoned for nigh one hundred years but barely touched. He is willing to sell a map to the mine for 500 gold coins.
  • A band of river trolls has established themselves in the River Sarn, demanding heavy tribute for those wanting to reach the Silver Sea and the markets beyond. The Scarlet Prince has offered a reward of 5000 gold alcedes to those able to defeat the trolls and open the waterways south. They are rumored to lair where the verdant grasslands turn to hills, some fifty miles southwest of Junction.
  • All agree that the most fertile, prosperous land in Absalom is to be found almost due west of Junction. They say the ground is so fecund that one need only scatter seeds on the soil and wait for the most bountiful of harvests.