Toranthar is a homebrewed Points of Light setting. World building is one of my favorite things to do as a DM, but I tend to have more ideas than I know what to do with and a campaign is ultimately about players. So this campaign I 'recruited' campaign ideas first by asking players what THEY wanted to see in a campaign so that I could build a world with elements informed by my players' interests.
Folks were interested in... ...an epic tale that encompasses exploration, battle and introspection. ...meaningful conflict between the PCs (not PvP, rather that the PCs aren't necessarily a homogenous will). ...Dragons! ...questions of identity and heritage that are integrated into the story. ...playing a goblin in a Sparky-DMed game.
Other elements mentioned... ...a big dungeon crawl (later, because the coolest critters are higher level) ...Warforged. ...Truly quick advancement to get the PCs up into the Pargon level relatively quickly. ...An adventure inside a ginormous creature. ...really exploring the other-ness of D&D's fantastic races, even the 'common' ones; including a character's role (Nature Priest) in a way that IS the story, rather than is relegated to simply being a class feature.
All of these things were considered as the world of Toranthar came together. I also recruited the players to pitch in as well where they were interested and had them make Mythic PCs (Paragon or Epic tiers) who were notable figures in the distant past and informed the events of history. The world that emerged is old. Dragons were its first inhabitants. And the servitor creatures they brought with them to Toranthar eventually rose to supremacy when the dragons fled the world or descended into a brutish animal existence. Some of D&D's core pantheon existed before Toranthar was created, others were born on Toranthar and ascended.
The adventures begin in a centuries-cloistered Dwarven city called Naedur...
IC Posting Guidelines Pretty standard stuff, some guidelines to keep the IC thread tidy and readable.
Speech - In quotes. Not a huge deal if you leave them off, but it makes a better contrast with thoughts.
Thoughts - In italics. If you choose to write your character's thoughts, they should be in italics.
Languages and OOC - In different colors per language. The default language at the campaign start is Dwarven which is rendered in Sienna. In the color dropdown in the posting interface, Sienna's 'coordinate' is row A, column 2 (to the right of Black). Both the color name and coordinate are listed (some are not default colors and will not have coordinates).
Players will submit two PCs and a campaign concept. Discussing a concept (PC or campaign) before submission is certainly welcome, and if you have questions - please ask them.
PC 1: A PC at the average level of the party (Level 1, currently). This is the PC you'll be playing.
PC 2: A Mythic PC of any level. This PC was a historical figure (sung or unsung) who impacted the world in a measurable way. Fully detailed and statted PCs are preferred, with particular attention paid to their gear and legend. NOTE: These Mythic PCs are part of world-building - they are not meant to be played, but the more detailed they are, the better.
Campaign Concept: This campaign is found on the question: What have you always wanted (or really miss) in a campaign world? There is a list in the OP of concepts that shaped the world.
Preferred races: Dwarf, Dragonborn, Human
Main PC Level: 1
Mythic PC Level: Unlimited
Starting Language: Dwarven (replaces Common)
Situation: The PCs are currently in the centuries-cloistered dwarven city of Naedur. The are participating in a harvest and the 'sun' has just crashed to the floor of the cavern they were working in.
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Good call, Shayuri. Dwarven is an uncommon language where Mask and Belleros come from. I don't mind if communication is difficult. I think it's interesting actually. It'll make some rituals important, or even an NPC translator. That said, if folks aren't interested in wrestling with communication, then we can say that Mask and Belleros learned dwarven in their 'adventures' together as a secret language... or as a form of rebellion... "Belleros Arkeion, you will learn Draconic! Of what possible use is Dwarven... guttural and rigid... suited only for instruction manuals... BAH!"
Hragh. Mask actually only speaks Common, since doppelgangers don't get any other languages. Blasted nonstandard races.
Um. Hm.
Comprehend Languages could help her understand, but it wouldn't help her talk to people.
I can get Linguist at level 2...and in fact, I probably WILL since it's no good shapeshifting to a dwarf if you can't speak dwarven...but until then I'm open to suggestions.
Well... I'd say Mask's standard language should be Elven given her background. Belleros actually does have Dwarven as a language, so maybe that can help... uhm... If we want to have fun with the language barrier thing, maybe he's a poor, poor speaker?
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Agreed on Elven being the standard languages for Mask and Belleros. Seriously, no languages choices for doppelgangers? Seems un-doppelganger-y. Let's give PC doppelgangers 'Common' +1. So Mask will speak Elven and 1 other language.
Sparky wanders off muttering. Single language for doppelgangers... seriously? Come on WotC...
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
In fairness to WotC, doppelgangers were just very briefly presented in the Monster Manual as a playable race. They're not developed as a full PC race though, and they weren't intended to be. I knew what I was getting into when I chose the species.
__________________ DM of Adventure Path Story Hour (now in Thunderspire Labyrinth!): Ryam Plays Dice - updated 8th June 09 (campaign on indefinite hiatus).
Player in Swordlands Story Hour: Interview with a Fey - updated 15th June 09. News just in - this campaign may be restarting in the near future! Watch this space!
I also have the singular honour of being Rouseketeer #20.
Soon! I'm writing up intros for each of you. Trying to introduce NPCs, the City, plots and additionally get you all plausibly to the same spot with minor (forgivable?) railroading... I'm thinking of off-loading information about the city and its NPCs to the wiki. It would make the now-quite-long intro post much shorter.
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Would Mask have had time to cast the Comprehend Languages ritual for dwarven? Then at least she could understand what's being said without poor Belleros having to translate everything to her.
What is the objective of the skill challenge? I assume it's to gather the appropriate resources from the cave, but I'm not sure what Diplomacy represents in that case.
![[OOC] Toranthar (Full)](http://www.enworld.org/forum/iconimages/talking-talk/ooc-toranthar-full_ltr.gif)
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