Ptolus: Midwood - "The Dark Waters of Moss Pond"

This is the discussion thread for the Ptolus: Midwood Story Hour. Please keep all discussion of the Story Hour in this thread. I'll be revealing a little information about creatures, spells, NPCs and adventures in here. But this is an ongoing campaign, so not every secret can be revealed.

Although set in the "current day" of Ptolus, this play by post campaign (which has been played daily since January 2006) is set at the other end of the empire, on the Prustan Peninsula, south of Grail Keep, near the border to Kem.

But although the adventures start off in the Barony of Midwood and the surrounding Tulgey Wood, soon enough, some of the adventurers end up on the road, heading into some of the more exotic locations of the world of Praemal.

And although they're a world away from City by the Spire, many familiar elements and names from Ptolus crop up (or are uncovered) in Midwood as time goes on ...

Into the Woods uses two maps from the excellent PDF publisher 0one Games:

Maidensbridge -- its name will be explained at a later date -- is a modified Wodfield, while the cairn Fibber directs the party to is the Ruined Cairn from 0one's Cairns set of maps.

The holidays the adventurers mention are from Top Fashion Games' excellent Fantasy Holidays series. To avoid stepping on their Intellectual Property too hard (the PDFs are all of $1 each!), I won't be explaining most of the holidays in detail. Blood Feast I explained to the extent that I did, because otherwise it would be an essentially incomprehensible reference.

All of the player characters are level 1. Emus Greymullet is a Grailwarden dwarf (see the Ptolus Big Book), so he's missing the anti-giant/goblinoid stuff that Stonelost dwarves get, and instead has a background with technological items. But he's a Grizzly Adams sort, so that's not likely to be obvious for a long time, if ever.

The Bergin gnomes are whisper gnomes and no one in the barony trusts them. Tosh's cousins show up in a later adventure and cause a lot of havoc just for the hell of it.

As you may have noticed, all of the player characters know each other. That was a conscious requirement on my part, as I thought it would promote harmony in the group. THAT didn't work out so well, but everyone's rich backgrounds have provided a lot of fodder for futher adventures, and some of their relatives get drawn into the fray as the campaign goes along, and more of them are in for it in the future.

I am absolutely loving your Storyhour Whizbang! I love it! This is the second storyhour thread I've subscribed to!

Whizbang Dustyboots said:

As you may have noticed, all of the player characters know each other. That was a conscious requirement on my part, as I thought it would promote harmony in the group.

Click to expand...

*snort*

a-heh. ha-ha! HA! BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

ahem.

It's the thought that counts, boss.

In point of fact, Tock robbed the bodies of the kobolds, taking a wand and other items. It's a wand of Wikanby's dragon bolt, which you can find in the Koboldnomicon from Bards & Sages Press. (Wikanby, his tribe, his spells and a few other spells are my contribution to that book.)

Is he going to use it later? Is he going to sell it? Is he going to "discover" it and give it to someone who can use it?

No ...

You will wince in horror when you see what happens to the first magical item encountered by the heroes of Midwood. (And it'll be the first time seeing it all happen for some of the players.)

Heheheheheh.

And, yes, folks, I'm Tock's player. Whether you end up loving or hating the scamp, I hope you enjoy him.

I so can't wait to see what the deal was with all that. I just knew Tock had taken something. I kept waiting for it to surface, but it never did...or so I thought!