Jdvn1
Hanging in there. Better than the alternative.
IC Thread
RG Thread
[smallcaps]Introductory Stuff[/smallcaps][sblock]
The dry hilltops danced with fire.
Throughout the heart of the wild badlands the humans called the Wyrmsmokes, great bonfires had been kindled atop the ridges overlooking Elsir Vale. There thousands of warriors had gathered -- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But tonight . . . tonight they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead.
"We are the Kulkor Zhul!" they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. "We are the People of the Dragon! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!"
One by one the tribes fell silent. Armor creaked as thousands turned to look up to the Place of Speaking. There, a single champion emerged from the assemblage and slowly climbed the ancient stone stair cut into the side of the hill. A hundred bright yellow banners stood beneath him like a phalanx of spears, each marked with a great red hand. The warpriests holding the banners chanted battle-prayers in low voices as the champion ascended.
On the hundredth step he stopped and turned to face the waiting warriors. He was tall and strong, one of the hobgoblin chieftains, but dull blue scales gleamed along his shoulders, and jutting horns swept back from his head. "I am Azarr Kul, Son of the Dragon!" he cried. "Hear me, warriors of the Kulkor Zhul! Tomorrow we march to war!"
The warriors roared their approval, stamping their feet and clashing spear to shield. Azarr Kul waited, holding his hands aloft until they quieted again. "The warpriests of the Doom Hand have shown us the way! They have taught us honor, discipline, obedience -- and strength! No more will we waste our blood fighting each other. We will take the lands of the elf, the dwarf, and the human, and make them ours! Under the banner of the Red Hand of Doom we march to victory and conquest! Remember that you stood here this night, warriors of Kulkor Zhul! For a hundred generations your sons and your sons' sons will sing of the blood spilled by your swords and the glory you win in the nights to come! Now, my brothers -- to WAR!"
The burning hills were too small to hold the shout the Kulkor Zhul gave in answer to their warlord's call.
War is gathering in the dry brown hills known as the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. As midsummer settles over the land, smothering everything in heat and dust, the fierce warriors of the Kulkor Zhul -- "People of the Dragon" in the hobgoblin tongue -- gather beneath the dreaded Red Hand banner, ready to sweep down out of the Wyrmsmokes and conquer the human lands below. Your player characters face an onslaught of fire and steel the likes of which few have ever seen.
I am starting a Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 game using the new WOTC campaign Red Hand of Doom.
I will require 4 players to run characters which you can built using the Core Books plus any or all of the Complete rule books from WOTC. Your character will start with 10,000 experience points which should let you build 5th level characters. You have 9,000 gold pieces to purchase equipement. You cannot purchase a single item that costs more than 4,500 gold pieces. I will have the right to veto any magic item purchased by the players.
You have 28 points to use to generate your ability scores using the Standard Point Buy Costs (pg 169, DMG). Deities used are the standard ones from the PHB and from Complete Divine.
------
Experience for the Hobgoblin Attack on the road.
Everyone gets 1520 experience points.[/sblock]
[smallcaps]"The Red Hand of Doom" Gazeteer[/smallcaps][sblock]
Player Map
Setting: Elsir Vale, a thinly populated human and demi-human frontier region, comprised of a vale (250 miles east-west, 70 miles north-south) bounded by mountains, forests, and the Elsir River. Your party has just crossed the vale, passing through Dennovar at the east, moving along the Dawn Way and past the city of Brindol and the towns of Talar, Nimon Gap, and Terrelton. You are nearing the town of Drellin's Ferry when the campaign starts. See larger map of Elsir Vale for locations of these and other features.
Time of Year & Climate: The adventure begins in early Flamerule (July), during an unusually warm and dry summer. It is generally hot during the day and warm at night.
Movement: Default overland movement rate is 24 miles per day by foot, or 32 miles per day on horseback. This can be cut if you wander off trails and roads.
Natural Features
Elsir River - a broad, slow-moving river fed by a number of tributaries. It is generally 200-400 yards wide. A bridge crosses it at Brindol, and ferries operate at Drellin's Ferry and Talar.
Rhestwash River - Joins lake Rhestin with the Elsir River.
Lake Rhestin - a shallow, marshy lake almost 100 miles long north to south. Its shores are dotted with the ruins of abandoned villages and manors.
The Witchwood - a lush, wet woodland interspersed with swampy stretches. Said to be haunted by restless spirits of ancient druids.
Wyvernwatch Mountains - A forbidding range of high, steep mountains that separates Elsir Vale from more civilized lands to the south.
Giantshield Mountains - a low range of arid, well-weathered peaks with a number of mining and farming settlements in its foothills.
Wyrmsmoke Mountains - A rugged range of hills and low mountains featuring several active volcanoes. Plumes of ash and smoke can be seen arising from the region's interior. Home to a number of goblin, hobgoblin and bugbear tribes.
The Thornwaste - a vast barren land featuring mazes of broken hills, briar-choked ravines, and dry, dusty scrubland giving way to true desert terrain deeper in. Home to savage man-eating lions, sphinxes and other hungry monsters.
Towns & Cities
Drellin's Ferry - This small town is the western gateway to Elsir Vale. See link for map and more details.
Terrelton - A small town that gets by on livestock and leather trades; boasts foul-smelling tanneries.
Nimon Gap - This tiny hamlet is home to those who tend orchards and flocks of sheep and goats.
Talar - A small town west of Brindol.
Brindol - The second largest settlement in the vale, a prosperous farming community and caravan stopover for trade along the Dawn Way. It is the home of Lord Kerden Jarmaath, and his small keep and the city's walls are the only fortifications of note this side of Dennovar. As you passed through, you recall seeing many well-armed guards, the so-called Lions of Brindol; a great Cathedral to Pelor; and a very busy paved open-air market square.
Dennovar - The largest city of and the eastern gateway to Elsir Vale.
Vraath Keep - A ruined keep said to stand in the bit of the Witchwood that lies west of the Elsir River. Supposedly the stout folk who once lived there were driven off by marauding forest giants long ago.
Roads and Trails
The Dawn Way - the vital trade road of Elsir Vale, a sturdy road made of flagstones built by an ancient dwarf kingdom over a thousand years ago.[/sblock]
[smallcaps]Stuff From 1st Encounter[/smallcaps][sblock=Hobgoblin Ambush]Two +1 Short Swords
13 Potions of Cure Light Wounds
+1 Banded Mail
355 gold pieces
Holy Symbol of Tiamat
Current Experience Point totals for each character: 11520 exp[/sblock]
RG Thread
[smallcaps]Introductory Stuff[/smallcaps][sblock]
The dry hilltops danced with fire.
Throughout the heart of the wild badlands the humans called the Wyrmsmokes, great bonfires had been kindled atop the ridges overlooking Elsir Vale. There thousands of warriors had gathered -- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But tonight . . . tonight they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead.
"We are the Kulkor Zhul!" they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. "We are the People of the Dragon! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!"
One by one the tribes fell silent. Armor creaked as thousands turned to look up to the Place of Speaking. There, a single champion emerged from the assemblage and slowly climbed the ancient stone stair cut into the side of the hill. A hundred bright yellow banners stood beneath him like a phalanx of spears, each marked with a great red hand. The warpriests holding the banners chanted battle-prayers in low voices as the champion ascended.
On the hundredth step he stopped and turned to face the waiting warriors. He was tall and strong, one of the hobgoblin chieftains, but dull blue scales gleamed along his shoulders, and jutting horns swept back from his head. "I am Azarr Kul, Son of the Dragon!" he cried. "Hear me, warriors of the Kulkor Zhul! Tomorrow we march to war!"
The warriors roared their approval, stamping their feet and clashing spear to shield. Azarr Kul waited, holding his hands aloft until they quieted again. "The warpriests of the Doom Hand have shown us the way! They have taught us honor, discipline, obedience -- and strength! No more will we waste our blood fighting each other. We will take the lands of the elf, the dwarf, and the human, and make them ours! Under the banner of the Red Hand of Doom we march to victory and conquest! Remember that you stood here this night, warriors of Kulkor Zhul! For a hundred generations your sons and your sons' sons will sing of the blood spilled by your swords and the glory you win in the nights to come! Now, my brothers -- to WAR!"
The burning hills were too small to hold the shout the Kulkor Zhul gave in answer to their warlord's call.
War is gathering in the dry brown hills known as the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. As midsummer settles over the land, smothering everything in heat and dust, the fierce warriors of the Kulkor Zhul -- "People of the Dragon" in the hobgoblin tongue -- gather beneath the dreaded Red Hand banner, ready to sweep down out of the Wyrmsmokes and conquer the human lands below. Your player characters face an onslaught of fire and steel the likes of which few have ever seen.
I am starting a Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 game using the new WOTC campaign Red Hand of Doom.
I will require 4 players to run characters which you can built using the Core Books plus any or all of the Complete rule books from WOTC. Your character will start with 10,000 experience points which should let you build 5th level characters. You have 9,000 gold pieces to purchase equipement. You cannot purchase a single item that costs more than 4,500 gold pieces. I will have the right to veto any magic item purchased by the players.
You have 28 points to use to generate your ability scores using the Standard Point Buy Costs (pg 169, DMG). Deities used are the standard ones from the PHB and from Complete Divine.
------
Experience for the Hobgoblin Attack on the road.
Everyone gets 1520 experience points.[/sblock]
[smallcaps]"The Red Hand of Doom" Gazeteer[/smallcaps][sblock]
Player Map
Setting: Elsir Vale, a thinly populated human and demi-human frontier region, comprised of a vale (250 miles east-west, 70 miles north-south) bounded by mountains, forests, and the Elsir River. Your party has just crossed the vale, passing through Dennovar at the east, moving along the Dawn Way and past the city of Brindol and the towns of Talar, Nimon Gap, and Terrelton. You are nearing the town of Drellin's Ferry when the campaign starts. See larger map of Elsir Vale for locations of these and other features.
Time of Year & Climate: The adventure begins in early Flamerule (July), during an unusually warm and dry summer. It is generally hot during the day and warm at night.
Movement: Default overland movement rate is 24 miles per day by foot, or 32 miles per day on horseback. This can be cut if you wander off trails and roads.
Natural Features
Elsir River - a broad, slow-moving river fed by a number of tributaries. It is generally 200-400 yards wide. A bridge crosses it at Brindol, and ferries operate at Drellin's Ferry and Talar.
Rhestwash River - Joins lake Rhestin with the Elsir River.
Lake Rhestin - a shallow, marshy lake almost 100 miles long north to south. Its shores are dotted with the ruins of abandoned villages and manors.
The Witchwood - a lush, wet woodland interspersed with swampy stretches. Said to be haunted by restless spirits of ancient druids.
Wyvernwatch Mountains - A forbidding range of high, steep mountains that separates Elsir Vale from more civilized lands to the south.
Giantshield Mountains - a low range of arid, well-weathered peaks with a number of mining and farming settlements in its foothills.
Wyrmsmoke Mountains - A rugged range of hills and low mountains featuring several active volcanoes. Plumes of ash and smoke can be seen arising from the region's interior. Home to a number of goblin, hobgoblin and bugbear tribes.
The Thornwaste - a vast barren land featuring mazes of broken hills, briar-choked ravines, and dry, dusty scrubland giving way to true desert terrain deeper in. Home to savage man-eating lions, sphinxes and other hungry monsters.
Towns & Cities
Drellin's Ferry - This small town is the western gateway to Elsir Vale. See link for map and more details.
Terrelton - A small town that gets by on livestock and leather trades; boasts foul-smelling tanneries.
Nimon Gap - This tiny hamlet is home to those who tend orchards and flocks of sheep and goats.
Talar - A small town west of Brindol.
Brindol - The second largest settlement in the vale, a prosperous farming community and caravan stopover for trade along the Dawn Way. It is the home of Lord Kerden Jarmaath, and his small keep and the city's walls are the only fortifications of note this side of Dennovar. As you passed through, you recall seeing many well-armed guards, the so-called Lions of Brindol; a great Cathedral to Pelor; and a very busy paved open-air market square.
Dennovar - The largest city of and the eastern gateway to Elsir Vale.
Vraath Keep - A ruined keep said to stand in the bit of the Witchwood that lies west of the Elsir River. Supposedly the stout folk who once lived there were driven off by marauding forest giants long ago.
Roads and Trails
The Dawn Way - the vital trade road of Elsir Vale, a sturdy road made of flagstones built by an ancient dwarf kingdom over a thousand years ago.[/sblock]
[smallcaps]Stuff From 1st Encounter[/smallcaps][sblock=Hobgoblin Ambush]Two +1 Short Swords
13 Potions of Cure Light Wounds
+1 Banded Mail
355 gold pieces
Holy Symbol of Tiamat
Current Experience Point totals for each character: 11520 exp[/sblock]
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