New pages in the Avernos Campaign Setting Wiki are:
Bastion, City: Bastion is the largest human settlement in Avernos, a city of spires that hides an ancient secret.
Bastion, The Kingdom of: The northern human kingdom of Bastion is the largest territory to fall under a single ruler, namely the King of Bastion and self titled King of Avernos.
There’s more Avernos content on the way, so stay tuned. I’ve also finished editing the Campaign Primer for Kamen, Land of Masks, which will go out in August.
Inspired in part by another post and the work I’ve done on my own solo campaign, Sentinels Watching, I decided to run a little free style solo campaign and share it with you to inspire your own adventures. I’ll walk you through the process and share some insights along the way so that you can play out your own campaign.
Choosing A System
The system you choose should reflect the type of game and genre you want to play. It’s no use starting out with the Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game if you want to play something set in the future, but it is a great system if that future involves mice who fight with swords and shields to save themselves from snakes and foxes. A great tip that also makes a load of sense is “play what you know.” It’s no fun if you get bogged down trying to find rules the whole time. That said, solo play is a great method for learning a game, which is one reason why I’m going with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, particularly the rules from the Beginner Box. I recently bought the set and I love that it’s a lighter version of the game but still works with the Core Book. I don’t have a load of time and so the games need to be quick and action packed. Also, I love fantasy so Pathfinder fills all of my requirements.
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing, LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.
Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
This content produced in terms of the Open Game License, a copy of which is available here.
This is the final instalment in our four part series, which started with chapter one, continued with chapter two and chapter three last week, and now comes to its climactic end. Be sure to read those posts before you continue with this one.
If you captured Lazar you can now pump him for information. Make an intimidate check of DC 10. If you succeed read the block below.
“Agh! Stop! stop!” Lazar squeals, his good eye wide with terror. “I’ll tell you everything.” He squirms uncomfortably, trying to inch away from you, but ready to talk. He details to you how he and his men were hired by a group known as the Sentinels, a secret organisation who offered a good reward in gold to bring Rotham to them. Lazar never actually met with anyone from the group, but he was to take Rotham under cover of darkness to the Sentinel Inn, where he supposes the organisation gets their name. He suggests that if you want more answers you’ll need to go poke around there.
If you get nothing from Lazar you can head out of the sewer, meeting up again with Rotham if you left him behind. Rothams own investigations have lead him to suspect something going on at the Sentinel Inn, and he’ll want to strike there now. You have an hour to rest up before heading out again. Any prisoners are locked up near the exit to the sewers.
The Sentinel Inn
The Sentinel Inn is a nondescript building within the main walls of the city. It is old but reasonably kept, possibly one of the oldest buildings in South Fort.
The adventure plays out like a mini dungeon map. There are three possible entrances into the inn, and these are listed below. You can try any and all entrances until you get in, then follow the numbered map below.
Breaking and Entering
You can try getting in through the front door, the stable doors or through the chimney, since there’s no fire rising from it. The Sentinel Inn is a two story building but all the windows are too small to fit through, even for small characters.
The Front Door
This is a double good wooden door, and is currently locked. Through a small window you can see an empty hallway beyond the doors. A Disable Device DC of 21 is required to get through the lock. Getting through the door brings you to room 2.
The Stable Doors
The stable has double doors on both sides of it, except that the Northern doors are blocked on the outside by a pile of crates, barrels and other discarded items. You can make a stealth check (DC 8 ) and a perception check (DC 14) to find a small hole through the crates which any small character can sneak through. If you fail the stealth check the crates clatter to the ground, possibly alerting occupants of the inn, but you can still use the hole if you find it, leading to room 1. The Southern door is a simple door with a lock (Disable Device DC 20). You can attempt to break down the door with your shoulder (DC 15 Strength Check). However, you can hear the sound of horses on the inside of the stables. Getting through the door brings you to room 1.
The Chimney
The chimney is large enough for a person to climb through, except that reaching it will be difficult. To climb up to the roof requires a DC 10 Climb check and you must make a second check of DC 15 to climb down on the inside of the chimney. If you have any rope you can reduce the DC to 10. If you fail you take D6 wounds from the fall (we’ll assume you fall from half way up of the 20 foot climb. Success brings you to room 2.
Inside the Inn
Refer to this map and read each room description given below once you enter it. If at any point you wish to leave the inn you can go to entry 7 below.
Room 1 – The Stables
The room is dark but you can see that two horses are stabled here. If you made a noise coming in they are stamping, snorting and generally making a noise. You can make a Handle Animal check, DC 10, to silence both animals (roll once). Otherwise, after three rounds two men come to see what’s happening and you’ll have to fight them, whether or not your still in the stables.
You can search the room (DC 10) to find 30′ of rope. A door leads from this room into room 2.
Room 2 – The Passage
This room is quiet. If you came in through the chimney or search the chimney make a DC 12 Perception check. If you’re successful you find a roll of papers in a leather tube. The papers are blank way-bills similar to the one found in the bandits lair.
Doors from this room lead into rooms 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You can also leave via the main doors or through the chimney if you wish. The stairs lead up to the second story which is a series of empty guest rooms, all completely bare except for bed racks.
Room 3 – The Book Cook
The door to this room is locked (DC 20). It’s a good wooden door. You cannot see anything through the key hole, something is covering it, but you can hear someone moving about inside. If you manage to bash the door down in one round or pick the lock you get a surprise round against the occupant of the room. If not, or if you broke down the main doors to the inn, you find him standing ready for you. Otherwise this grey haired, portly man, is sitting at his desk, writing in a journal. You can attack him or threaten him. If you fight him, use the stats for Dominic Gladstone below, he attempts to run, but will fight if you have him cornered. If you wish to threaten him make an intimidate check at DC 10. If you fail he calls out and a henchman arrives in 3 rounds. If you succeed he hands you a journal, explaining that he wants only to live and this book contains all the evidence you will need to put the sentinels away for a long time.
If you search the room you find 100 gold pieces in a locked strong box. The lock is DC 25 and the hardness of the box is 8 with 60 hit points and a break DC of 25. The key is around Dominic’s neck.
From this room you can go back to room 2.
Room 4 – Guard Room
The door to this room is open and you can see movement inside. If you pass a stealth check (DC 10) and didn’t alert the horses in room 1, you can take a surprise round against the occupants of this room. There are 3 henchmen in this room, – 1 for everyone you have already faced.
Searching the room turns up some fine clothing worth 12 gold pieces.
From this room you can go back to room 2.
Room 5 – Master Mind
This door is open and ajar. You cannot see anyone from where you stand but you can tell that the room bends around out of sight.
If you’ve had no combat in the inn so far, and if you didn’t make any noise entering you get a surprise round on the occupant of this room, who is working at his desk with his back to you. Otherwise he is hiding on his bed in the darkness, make a perception check (DC 12) or he surprises you. He makes a single attack and then flees through the window and onto the roof. You can follow him with a DC 10 climb check.
Once on the roof go to the final showdown below.
Room 6 – We Paid To Be Left Alone
The door to this room is locked. It’s a simple wooden door with a lock DC of 19. Looking through the key hole you can the dim light of candles and you can hear giggles coming from within. If you get inside read the passage that follows.
A fat man with a thinning hair line and rosy cheeks is tickling a woman with elaborately styled hair, who squirms around and then freezes when she sees you, letting out a loud scream. “What’s the meaning of this?” the man shouts, “we paid to be left alone!”
It’s obvious these two will not be getting in your way, so you make your apologies and close the door as best as you can when you leave.
This room leads back to 2.
The Final Showdown
It has started to rain outside and as you climb up onto the roof Cedric turns to Rotham and spits out in loathing “So Rotham, you found me. Well done, but now what? You won’t get any medals for this.”
“I’m not after medals Wolfheart, I’m after rats like you!” Rotham draws his sword and aims it at Cedric. “I think it’s time you came clean.”
The rain has made the steep slate roof slippery and treacherous. If anyone is hit make a reflex save to avoid falling (DC 10). If you fall make a further DC 10 save to grab onto the gutter or take 2d6 damage from the fall. Cedric aims to knock you or Rotham off the roof, switching his attacks between the two of you. Once you have played three rounds of combat read the block below.
There is a flash of light and your night vision is robbed from you. You blink to clear your vision, the rain driving into your eyes making it no easier. When you finally clear your vision you see that Cedric has disappeared, leaving behind a burn mark on the roof and smoke that drifts up into the rain filled sky.
If you manage to defeat Cedric before he escapes, well done. You have completed the mission successfully. If not, if he managed to escape, well then that is an adventure for another day. You’ve still uncovered major goings on in South Fort, and helped Rotham in no small way. Well done adventurer. If you were defeated then hopefully some other hero will be along shortly to avenge you, perhaps another character played by you!
Inventory: Blue Coat, MWK Long sword, Leather Armour, Light Crossbow (15 bolts), 15 gold pieces.
Tactics: Cedric tries to surprise attack anyone who enters his room, then flees through the window, climbing up to the roof (DC 10 climb check).
THE END
Well, that’s the end of the solo campaign, for now. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment. Keep an eye open for the PDF version coming soon that will include higher quality maps, more adventure option and the final battle with Wolfheart and his magic wielding accomplice.
Well, it’s just about 2012 as I write this, but never fear, I’m about to get into the spirit of New Years Eve. I can’t believe a whole year has flown past. Anyway, I’ll leave that for another post. For now, the next installment of our exciting solo campaign. Enjoy.
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing, LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.
Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
This content produced in terms of the Open Game License, a copy of which is available here.
Sentinels Watching is a mini solo campaign using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game for a level one (1) character. Everything is provided here so you can jump straight in, or, if you want to run this game for a player, there’s enough here to get you started.
This is the third instalment in our exciting adventure in the city of South Fort. If you haven’t already played through the first scene, please head there now. The second chapter can be found here, and you’ll need to play that for this post to make any sense.
Chapter 3 – The Bandits Lair
You arrive at a dimly lit tunnel, with candles burning on the tops of crates that are obviously from old plunder. They appear empty and some have rotted through from the damp air. There is no guard posted at the entrance of what must be the bandits lair, and you have time to organize a surprise attack. should you wish. Make a stealth check at DC 9. If you succeed you get a surprise round in your favor when the combat begins.
The lair is a simple affair, set up in a dry stone cistern of the sewers. A small fire burns in a pit, warming the contents of a battered pot and providing a flickering light in the room. A table made from tressels and planks of rotting wood takes up the center of the room. On top of the table are spilt the contents of a broken chest, a mass of gold pieces, a necklace of pearls on a silver chain and some crumpled papers. Six chairs sit on either side of the table, two of which are occupied by dirty, travel stained men, the others are empty. On the far side of the table, on a ledge of stone, sits a gaudy throne of yellow painted wood, in which an ugly, angry man sits arguing with those below him, spittle flying from his lips. An ugly scar covers the left side of his face and his ruined eye, while his good eye seems ready to pop out with rage.
You may attack at now, or if you have passed the stealth check, you can listen in. If you are listen to the conversation read the block below.
“I don’t care Dungie, things are bad enough, we lose that bloody Blue Coat and now you rob someone under the protection of the bloody Sentinels. They’ll skin us alive they will. Tell me, Dungie, who employs us?”
A shorter man with a leather skull cap and nervous sweat dripping down his forehead answers “The… the… the Sentinals do, but I…”
The man on the throne cuts him off. “Really Dungie, you’re not as stupid as you look. Let’s just hope we can fix this mess before it gets any worse. Where are all the others?”
At this point something catches the man on the thrones ear and he holds up a hand for silence. Now’s the time to fight.
Play the encounter out as a normal combat encounter, using the map below. You get to roll for the bandits and Rotham as well, use the listings in posts one and post two of this campaign. There are two bandits and their leader, each who start on a section of the map with a chair. The bandits react to your attack by getting between you and their leader, and if you are with Rotham they divide their attack between the two of you. Their leader, Lazar, shouts directions to his men and every second turn throws various objects at you or Rotham (Roll to decide who he targets). They fight until they can all safely escape, or if the two bandits fall Lazar will give up, pleading for his life, so that you or Rotham can manacle him. If anyone escapes you can continue the chase into the sewers as you see fit.
The Merchants Treasure
The loot on the table belonged to a merchant, who you now suppose has new use for his treasure for the amount of blood on the broken chest. There are 40 gold pieces and the silver and pearl necklace is worth 100 gp. The papers contain letters and cargo manifests, mostly detailing cargo of linens and silks from the Southern Pirate Ports. One letter stands out though and is reproduced below, it is dated from some two days ago.
Tactics: Lazar throws his dagger when he’s sure he’ll get a kill, otherwise he picks up bottles littering the table and the area around his throne.
The quest isn’t over just yet. Continue the fight for justice in Chapter 4, the final scene. For more information on Avernos, the setting of Sentinels Watching, head over here.
Merry Christmas everybody! I’m currently enjoying a ride through Naha, Okinawa, with my wife Julia and have a quick moment to post the next instalment of the adventure. I hope you’re enjoying it, leave a comment and let me know.
Legal
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing, LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.
Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
This content produced in terms of the Open Game License, a copy of which is available here.
Rules
Sentinels Watching is a mini solo campaign using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game for a level one (1) character. Everything is provided here so you can jump straight in, or, if you want to run this game for a player, there’s enough here to get you started.
This is the second instalment in our exciting adventure in the city of South Fort. If you haven’t already played through the first scene, please see last weeks post.
Scene 2 – Smells Like Rat
Once the brawl is over you can get aquainted with Rotham. If you were defeated you awake with a throbbing skull and a swollen eye one hour later, with Rotham dumping cold water over you to revive you. You heal 2 hit points of non-lethal damage per character level for the 2 hours of rest you get before things move on again.
Rotham is glad to see you again, and even happier that you responded so quickly to his message. He explains that he has discovered the hideout of some bandits. Their lair is in the sewers. Furthermore, he suspects they have ties to a larger crime syndicate within the town and may have some corrupt Blue Coats in their pay. “You see,” he continues, “they were on to me. The bandits captured me and took me to their lair. I was lucky to escape and I want to hit back before they have too much time to recover. So that’s why I need your help, I need someone I can trust. I should be able to find them again easily enough, but I need more hands if I’m going to bring them in. Their leader, Lazar, should be worth a fair reward.”
You know Rotham rather well. He’s an old friend that you met through a master of yours and he’s been very good to you in the past. Rotham offers you 25 gold coins for each criminal you help bring to justice. He will also supply you with extra gear for the task ahead.
You can decide to leave Rotham behind, and if you do read the section marked Lone Blade, otherwise read the section headed Lawmakers below.
Lone Blade
Rotham has marked out the route on a piece of cloth for you?It is not a very good map, but it will help. At this point Rotham leaves and you’re on your own.
Lawmakers
Rotham hands you a lantern with enough oil for two hours. He also offers you the following items, take what you want you wish.
A long sword
A dagger
A sling and 15 pellets
50’ of hemp rope
3 Sacks
A pair of manacles
He also gives you a potion of Cure Light Wounds, telling you to save it for an emergency. If you get into combat, play Rotham as you would your own character. He acts on his own initiative round and follows your orders.
Navigating the Sewer
The tunnels are pitch black and it is a dark, moonless night outside, so you’ll have to use a source of light to see, see the “Vision and Light” section in the Additional Rules of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Download the tiles from the Lunatic Labyrinth and print them out, preferably on card stock, or laminate the sheet and cut out each tile. Lay them out randomly in front of you with the start and end tiles on opposite corners of the map. Use a counter to mark your position (if Rotham is with you he stays with you, so only one token is enough).
You move through the maze one tile at a time, spending “rotations” to navigate the mass of tunnels and pipes in that section. Each rotation lets you rotate a map tile by a quarter turn left or right. The actual sewer is not moving, this is just an abstraction to make solo play more interesting.
You gain the following number of free rotations:
If Rotham is with you +4
On a successful Knowledge Dungeoneering check of DC 16 +3
Having Rothams map +2
Magical sight +2
Using a pet or familiar that is small, tiny or fine to scout for you, assuming it can, then +2
You must subtract the following penalties:
Being blind or without a light source -4
Total up and use any free rotations whenever you wish, while any negative rotations must be played out on the start tile.
Time spent in the sewer brings a chance of encountering bandits or other inhabitants of the sewer: on each rotation and each move to a new tile, roll a d100 and consult the table below. Free rotations don’t require a roll, as a result of good navigation.
(d100) Sewer Encounter Table
1-90: Nothing but you and the sewer rats.
91: You find some barrels, roll on the treasure table.
92-94: You hear claws scraping on the sewer floor and turn to see a dire rat scrambling after you.
95: You find some open crates, roll on the treasure table.
96-98: You hear a shout and someone comes running at you from the darkness brandishing a club. It’s a bandit.
99: You find some sacks, obviously loot gathered by the bandits, roll on the treasure table.
100: See Old Tom below. *
(d10) Bandits Loot Table
5 coppers worth of goods.
A map of this section of the sewer, +2 rotations.
3 pieces of quartz, worth 3d6 silver each.
A tarnished dagger, still good but only worth 2 silver.
5 arrows.
10 silver pieces
3 gold worth of linens.
5 gp worth of trade goods.
10 gp worth of art items.
10 gp and 2 more rolls
Old Tom
Old Tom can only be found once. An old beggar who lives in the sewer near a drain from the richer part of town. Tom lives on a platform where the rats can’t reach him and has been ignored by the bandits. Make a Diplomacy check when you meet him, DC 12. If you pass he explains the way through the next section of the sewers, giving you +3 rotations. If you wish to attack Tom you must make a DC 15 climb check to get onto his platform as he tries to beat you down with his gnarled walking stick.
Once you’ve made it through the maze of the sewers you arrive at a dimly lit tunnel, with candles burning on the tops of crates of old plunder, the crates appear empty and some have rotted through from the damp air. You can hear the sound of arguing up ahead…
Head over to the next post for an exciting encounter with the bandit chief and a whole new map.
Skills: Stealth +1, Knowledge Local +1, Perception +1.
Feats: Dodge
Inventory: Scale mail, club, torch, 1d6gp.
Tactics: Flees after receiving 5 or more wounds.
Dire Rat
See the Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game Bestiary™.
Tactics: Flees after receiving 3 or more wounds.
The quest isn’t over just yet. Continue the fight for justice in Chapter 3. For more information on Avernos, the setting of Sentinels Watching, head over here.
It has been a busy month writing wise, it’s National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short and I’ve been plugging away at my first novel. The reason I’m telling you this is because I’m learning loads about writing that I think will extend to preparing good sessions for your players.
Make Notes
I have a tendency to put words down without thinking about what I’m actually saying. It’s not a good plan. Make notes and plan out everything, even if the planning is where you leave things. And let’s face it, planning is all you need. Good GM’s have a good outline, even if that’s all kept in their heads.
Keep it all
Don’t throw your ideas away, you can often rework something to use later. Some of my favorite scenes so far have been from my own noted that I reworked as dialogue into the text.
Cut the boring stuff
Don’t force the characters to work through boring stuff.
Keep on keeping on
You might have a lot of prep to do and a load of things waiting. Do what you can when you can.
Have fun
If you’re not enjoying it then your players probably won’t. Take a break or change things up to keep it fun.
Follow our Pathfinder campaign as we face monsters, dungeons and the insanity of the Wednesday night gaming group. See the first part of the series here.
The First Session
Funnily enough, our first session was scrapped as far as its placement in the whole campaign. I can’t actually remember why, but I think we spent some time going over the town and campaign setting, as well as introducing our characters. The result was that what actual story developed was insubstantial and easily discarded. So, without any further ado, we’ll have a look at the characters and a little about the players too.
The Setting
We are using the Dungeons and Dragons town of Fallcrest (3D Model), a town with a river running through it and a series of caves beneath it. Some of the characters have lived in the town or in the area for some time, while others are new arrivals.
Thorn Ravengrin
A tiefling rogue with red skin who likes to show off his white tattoos by wearing only leather pants and a cape. He carries a longsword into battle, which he wields in his right hand, since his left hand was lost in a dungeon trap, where he had to cut it off to escape. His infernal heritage is interesting, as Thorn’s father, Yawldaw Ravengrin, was a Half-Fiend with babau ancestry.
As the campaign has progressed, Thorn has shown an obsession for anatomy and wishes to re-construct the hand he lost. To this end, he has collected several hands from dead foes and studies them in intricate detail.
Thorn is played by Little Johan, who recently became a father and thus owns his very own hobbit.
Rapid Wind
An Elven monk wearing peasant clothing and carrying a long spear and sling. Because he’s mute, Rapid Wind keeps a chalk board around his neck (a nifty little prop to role-play with). It is apparent that something terrible happened in Rapid Winds past, which is why he can’t speak. Rapid Wind practices an elven form of unarmed combat known in the common tongue as Leaping Foot, a bastardised description derived from the elvish name for a style that looks more like a dance than a fighting form.
As the campaign has progressed, Rapid Wind has become very fast, reaching a speed of 55′ at level 3 (at level 4 he can use his ki to move at 75′). He has an old horse companion, Gunthar, that he has saved several times from near disaster during our sessions.
Rapid Wind is played by me, and is probably the most difficult character I’ve ever played. I’ve never played an elf before, except as a GM, and found it challenging to think like an elf, but luckily there’s the Lord of the Rings trilogy to help out. Also, as an introvert, playing a character who can’t speak means that I say very little at the table. Still, it’s been fun playing Rapid Wind, and not being able to speak is worth a load of laughs.
Stander Vrok
A half-giant cleric of the church of Torm. Raised by dwarves, Stander was the first character to have his own theme song, which was “Stander Struck” to the tune of “Thunder Struck” by AC/DC. So far the church of Torm has been an important element in the story, even though Fallcrest has only a small congregation.
Stander has had recurring visions and his focus on his quest is unswerving. Despite his size, Stander is not very strong and has often found himself in need of healing, even though he is the party cleric.
Stander is played by Willem, recently married, at who’s wedding reception we all sang along to “Stander Struck” like there was no tomorrow. I’ll also mention that he and his lovely wife walked in to the Darth Vader theme song, so you have to give him props for that! Willem was the GM for the first few sessions.
Densharr Tailchaser
Densharr is a Catfolk who loves to sing (practically all the time). Our party bard, and composer of the epic ballads “Stunder Struck” and “You can’t stop the rod”. Densharr comes from nobility within his clan and is rather well off, and thus supports most of the party. He is often seen taking notes which he hopes to use in composing a major saga.
Densharr has often exhibited the cunning of his kin, and although he seldom gets directly involved in fighting, he has directly influenced the course of many battles and bolstered the resolve of the rest of the team.
Densharr is enthusiastically played by Francois, who I hope will be releasing a sound track of the campaign near the end of the year. Francois keeps track of our wealth and maps out any locations that need mapping, thanks to the power of grid paper!
Gimp
The Blue wizard, this little goblin kin is small for his race, making him quite hard to spot. He focuses his magical skills on support magic rather than combat spells and creates many of the items the party uses.
Gimp is the most learned member of the party, and often knows something on any given subject. He has recently been spotted talking to something over his shoulder.
Gimp is played by Big Johan, who is also the current GM at the time of writing. Johan also GM’s another campaign that Francois and I play in, a D&D 4th Edition game, which is why let Johan get away with more than any GM really should.
Serisia
Serisia is also a tiefling and an assassin in the making. She is the only female in the group, and possibly one of the most level headed. Not much else is know about her, but that’s what you get when dealing with these shady types.
Serisia loves her sneaking about, and her acquisition of a magical ring of invisibility means she’s pretty good at it.
Serisia is played by Andries, the local mathamagician. The force is strong with this one, or else he just knows a lot about Star Wars.
Conclusion
Other players brought their characters into the game at different times, I’ll introduce them during the relevant parts of the story.
In this series I’ll be taking you through our bi-monthly Pathfinder campaign that began at the start of 2011. Mostly I’ll just focus on the story, but will also point out some of the lessons we learnt and fun ideas that came up. Unfortunately, it looks like I will be missing the last half of the campaign, but I’ll see if I can organise someone else to continue the story where I left off.
In this post I want to focus on how we got started and all the ground work that was laid before we started playing, which I hope will give you some ideas for your own game.
Picking The Team
The biggest question when we set out, and in most RPG groups, is who is playing. There are always people with different levels of commitment or difficult schedules and finding a time that suits everyone is a bit of a logistics nightmare, especially when everyone is working and has a family. I missed the 2010 campaign because of my busy schedule which left me with only Wednesdays and Fridays open during the week, and Thursdays nights were more convenient for the rest of the guys.
So, we set up a meeting for all interested parties to discuss times. Some of us have played together since meeting on-line, (www.rpg.co.za for South African players), others were relatives or friends of other players, and so on. We drew up a grid of each day and who would be available when. We decided that we would choose one week day and play every two weeks, which would also mean that the impact on our weeks would not be too unmanageable. Wednesday was chosen and we keep our game days to that, although busy schedules and wierd holidays have meant that we’ve played less that twice a month, it does mean that people try and keep Wednesday open.
A number of potential players have not yet pitched for a game and some players have only played a single session, but our core of six players has remained pretty solid. Instead of choosing one person to be the GM, we are taking turns that span a few sessions. This method worked well for the guys in their last campaign, and lead to some interesting results, including a multitude of villains that had it in for the party, each villain the brain child of a different GM.
Picking The Rules
Our next decision was picking a games system. In the 2010 campaign the guys used Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, but there were many other possible available now with our collections of books growing as they have. In the end we chose Pathfinder because it is 3.5 and lets us use all the 3.5 stuff we have.
Picking Pathfinder meant that we didn’t need to learn new rules. This is worth mentioning because, although it is 3.5 compatible, Pathfinder does make some changes. The key though is that when we look up a rule, we look it up in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, and we haven’t really needed to invest much time learning.
For interest sake, some of the other games that were listed as possibles included Mouseguard the RPG, Call of Cuthullu, World of Darkness, Warhammer Fantasy Role-play and Dungeons and Dragons 4, which at least 3 of us are currently involved in a campaign of.
House Rules
At this point, let me just mention that if you do have a session like this to plan your campaign, be sure to order pizza. In fact, if you remember nothing else from this post,remember the pizza. Good friends and good food makes all the admin seem like fun.
With the rule set chosen we defined a number of house rules, some more bizarre than others:
We use a critical fumble table for 1’s rolled in combat. If you fumble, not only do you miss, but now bad things happens to you, such as loosing your weapon and so on.
Each play must bring a white board marker, since we use a glass pane over a grid map to mark out encounter locations. If each player brings one, we always have a choice of markers and it’s not an issue if someone forgets. You could easily do the same thing with bringing map tiles or maps.
Halflings have hairy feet. This was an odd one, and I brought it up, because I’m a Tolkien nut. Discussing the world makes it more immersive, in my opinion. If you imagine the same things, you share the experience more deeply.
Keep the beer lids. We are keeping beer lids to make into a suit of scale mail. The Yaya Sisterhood have their jeans, we have our scale mail.
Story points. Players can accrue story points both in game and out of game that they can then use to affect the game in a way not normally available to players in Pathfinder, such as to get a re-roll on a dice, changing something in the story or bring in an NPC. You may only ever have 3 story points and you can spend 1, 2 or 3 points to get various effects:
One story point: Re-roll a dice, make an acrobatic move you could not normally make or get extra information from someone.
Two story points: An extra attack, an automatic crit or convince an NPC of something.
Three story points: Avoid death, invent an NPC or change the story.
Character Creation
We decided that any Humanoid character was legal, resulting in a party consisting of a Catfolk, two Tieflings, a Giant, an Elf and a Blue. We discussed the party make-up to try and get a balanced party, and ended up with a multi classed rogue wizard, a wizard, a bard, a monk, a ranger and a paladin. I’ll be introducing the characters in the next Campaign Journal post.
Many other aspect of character creation were decided after the meeting. In fact, nothing was actually decided regarding characters on the day, but the first GM requested that each player send him an email with class, race, name, a short description and a backup character class. We could then go ahead and create a level one character.
In Summary
I think the planning session was very valuable, and our games would probably not have gone as smoothly as it has without the planning meeting. It surely saved us a great deal of email. It was also fun, and we got to shared many war stories and got to meet other role-players, have some great pizza and just laugh about our adventures.
Have you had a similar planning meeting for your campaign or group, please tell us about your experience.