Help Starting A New Campaign

[Andrew D. Gable]

I'm starting a campaign using a modified version of Slaine. The game is set in my homebrew campaign world, in the distant past (at the time period when a King Arthur type is laying the groundwork of the kingdom that eventually will become Thane, the PC's home in most of my other campaigns), and with an option open to "graduate" the characters into epic level later. Anyway, I'm running into a bit of an obstacle at the same place I always do: the first adventure and "hook" into the main portion of the game.

I could go the route of them being recruited into the local militia, but that's a little hackneyed. Here's the characters:

• Maeve mac Cormac, a witch (as per Slaine)
• Lucan Oaksilver, an elven archer
• Kylie mac Dylan, a female fighter

Maeve's destiny is to serve as an "emissary" of her god, the Green Man. Kylie's, simply to rule a portion of the kingdom (likely founding one of the provinces).

(As an aside, did female Celts use "mac" in their names? I told the players they did)

See if anyone can come up with anything. I don't need this for 4-5 days.

 

[Snoweel]

It's cliched, but there are so many different ways of doing it - work out a way for the characters to end up working for a powerful individual.

Give them an opportunity to show their bravado (since at 1st level their skill isn't likely to impress anyone powerful) and have their efforts noticed by such individual.

Low level characters working for a powerful magic-user/lord/priest or underworld figure will have a lot more fun, as well as a greater opportunity to affect the gameworld, than if they're cleaning rats out of farmers' barns and so on.

 

[Mythmere]

One thing that can work in the Celtic/Gaelic flavor is the mind-boggling coincidence. You just have to make it big enough so that it is seen as a true plot device, not a DM trick. If you look at my thread the Mist and the Moon in the In Character Forum (sorry, I don't know how to link within the boards), you can see how I did it in that campaign; a cleric of the god of luck needs help, and the four characters arrive at the top of a hill from four directions simultaneously. The coincidence is so outrageous that it works. Especially in the case of a Gaelic campaign where the characters have big destinies, they could be following prophesies from witchwomen and all kinds of things to come together.
I like adventures where the low level players encounter the big nasty and keep seeing it showing up, while actually fighting only minions and learning more information with each successful adventure, all leading up to the battle with the nasty.

 

[gothwalk]

"Mac" means "son of", so no, Celtic women wouldn't have used it.

The word for daughter is "Inion", but in names, it's usually reduced to "Ni" - so you'd have Sile Ni Bhroin, say, and her brother Conn Mac Broin.

Family names - which were strictly a later invention than the Celts, are often O'Something, such as my own O'Siadhail (Shiel). You'll see things like O'Mhurchu (Murphy), and O'Suilamhain (O'Sullivan, or "One eye") in this area.

I'm in Ireland, and speak Irish, so drop me a line if you need a hand with names or words.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

[BI'm in Ireland, and speak Irish, so drop me a line if you need a hand with names or words. [/B]

I have a storyhour up for this campaign (link given below), can you check it out and see if my translations I've used are correct?