The Runic Diversion: Of Sound Mind in The Dream!

Last night, I ran another session in my Runic Storyhour: An Oriental Adventure in The Dream campaign. I ran Piratecat's excellent Of Sound Mind in it.

Because I am not changing much in the module, I have created this seperate thread to follow the adventures through the module. This will be updated as soon as the other thread is up to date (we still lack two sessions!). If you have not played Of Sound Mind, then I encourage you to either not read this thread or to plan on running it.

You need not read the original thread to follow along with this story. The two are related, but the two stories are seperate!

Before we launch into the game, however, some background information on my setting will be necessary.

• First of all, it is an Oriental Adventure, that is to say, I am using the rules set forth in the Oriental Adventures book and I have a flavor that is reminiscent of various Oriental cultures. However, unlike the rest of the campaign, the sessions chronicling this adventure will have a definite wuxia feel to them!
  
• Second, the game is set in a dream. The Dream. Below, I have reprinted the campaign information from the main thread.

The world: Ah yes, the world...

It is flat, but not really.

There is no sun; there are no stars, nor moons. Day and night do exist, however.

There is seasonal change (how could we have haiku without it?), but that change is sporadic.

Reality shifts are not uncommon, and even mortals within the world may trigger them.

And there is only one god(dess), but there are a great many interpretations of who and what (s)he is. This is, in part, because the alignment of the deity changes with some degree of regularity.

And since we speak of that deity, we shall now refer to that god(dess) by the name that all mortals know, The Dreamer; for all of existence is The Dream. And I mean that literally.

The Physics:
There is land, and above land, the sky; above the sky, the ocean. On a clear day, you can see the largest ships sailing for destinations unknown (upside down, of course) far above you. More oddities in the landscape later.

Physics are more or less normal, but certain things can happen to alter the state of reality, namely the...

Reality Shifts:
These are triggered at certain times within the REM cycle of The Dreamer, and, much more commonly, through the use of magicks, and psionic manifestations. Even more commonly, certain events trigger reality shifts, such as birth and death. More on this later in the campaign.

The Role of Society:
Understandably, I have decided to emphasize the importance of Family, Caste, and Honor in this campaign. So how do such lawful societies fit into such a chaotic world? War, how else? Does this mean that the game will be set in wartime? You bet.

Watch this space for additional campaign setting information!

First, a word about naming conventions:

The male name is constructed with an Adjective, followed by a Noun, and then a Verb. This puts the emphasis on who the person is.

The female name is a Noun, followed by an Adverb, and then a Verb, which emphasizes what the person does.

The Noun is the family name, passed on through the generations. These names stay within the gender. The daughter will get her family name from the mother and the son from the father. There are no family names that are shared between the genders.

The characters:

Swift Serpent Strikes (Rogue1/Fighter1) is a lower-caste human, who, although he despises nobility and all that it represents, is not such a fool to openly criticize it, or its members. He has so far been content not to attract too much attention. He may have good reasons for this, but, if so, they are his secrets to tell--or not to.

Fighting Man Dances (Monk1/Sorceror1) is one of the little folk, a halfling, whom humans view as miniature humans; children playing at being grown-up. Like all halflings, he is neither lower-caste, nor noble in the human world. In halfling society, however, he is a member of one of the higher social orders, (which are, in turn, modeled after the Societies of the humans; more on the societies later). It is not, however, a halfling's world, and he will always be looked down upon.

Intelligent Chameleon Survives (Rogue1/Sorceror1) is a human of the lower-caste who, unlike Swift, does not despise the noble caste. A bit of a megalomaniac, he, in fact, aspires to be one of the noble caste. Furthermore, he sees himself as an equal or better of most (all?) nobles. Despite such an eccentricity, or perhaps because of it, he is a natural leader on the battlefield and off of it. He is very likeable, and truly a tactical thinker.

Ocean Deeply Sleeps (Rogue1/Fighter1), the only female of the group, is a soft-spoken human (also of the lower-caste) so far content to observe her surroundings and stay in the background. It is not inconceivable, however, that she has grand ambitions and is biding her time, waiting for the time that destiny has chosen for her to act upon them.

Other People (in the order of their appearance):

Grinning Tiger Rules (Session 1) is a noble of one of the most prominent family lines. Not much is yet known about the noble, except that he is considered to be (by the party, at least) a tactical idiot on the battlefield. Too bad he's in charge...

Night Softly Calls (Session 3) is the commander of the guard in Silver City. Not much is known about her, but it is known that she wields a three-section-staff, and a great deal of authority within the city.

Mad Stone Tumbles (Session 3) was the Governor of Silver City until his untimely demise by what may have been assassins, or maybe something else. He was a very crazy man.

Laughing Monkey Rules (Session 3) is the current governor of the Silver City. He was a rival of Mad Stone Tumbles.

Dragon Silently Hunts (Session 3) is the matron of House Dragon. She is easily the most powerful individual in the city, barring, perhaps, the Governor and the head of one of the most powerful families in the Empire.

Exalted Temple Stands (Session 5) is the EMPEROR. He is roughly 10 years old when encountered in Session 5.

(shaking) coolest . . . campaign . . . ever. Just . . . bookmarked . . . thread . . .

(contact) said:

(shaking) coolest . . . campaign . . . ever. Just . . . bookmarked . . . thread . . .

Click to expand...

Coool. Your Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil was one of my earliest influences (which is why the death count is relatively high )

Please tell me that all my favorite characters aren't still 2nd level!

After the Speaker in Dreams they can't be, can they?
Or because of the nature of the dreams...and reality shifts they get docked some levels. Or did they all die and the Dream brought them back? I'm so confused (but I guess that's the idea, huh?)

your faithful reader,

Broccli_Head

Glad to see you're still around, Broccli!

In answer to your question, though...er, no. That list is painfully out of date. It lists the characters at the start of the campaign (and not even necessarily the characters that start Of Sound Mind!). By the way, I let the players start out at 2nd level if they researched and presented something on Oriental culture/mythology/history/art or some other aspect of the continent that was inspiring.

I included the list here only to provide examples of the naming conventions.

Actually, they have only just begun part II of a heavily modified Speaker in Dreams. They are around level 4/5 (edit--that may be 5/6. I know that the halfling just made 6th!) at the end of session 9, which, I know, is underpowered.

But I don't care. When has CR or EL ever concerned me, anyway?

Or, for that matter, James Wyatt (that ambush was EL12!)?

Er....I seem to remember being level 1 at the start of this latest adventure, so maybe you have the CR correct for once Rune!

I call Rune and ask "So should I make a new character or what?" and he says "Nah, I'm going to make you one, just show up." So I'm fine with that, and imagine my surprise when he hands me my character sheet and I look at the name "Swift Serpent Strikes" *sniffle* my old character *sniffle* He's back! During this latest adventure one of the NPC's eluded to the two deaths Swift has already experienced, *sigh* Rune is a Rat-Bastard, and Swift is the most unlucky character ever. I hope he posts the session soon, we had a great time playing it, and we were *cough* er...a little less serious than usual, but Rune never lost his temper with us once. He is just biding his time, until he gets another chance to kill me! Swift is going to become a running joke if he doesn't stop dying!
-RB Gnome