A New Scarred Lands Convert

[Nightfall]

Re: scarred lands

I'm not using that series in my campaing because my players are in the wrong are and will too powerfull by the time that they could get there.

Keep us posted as to how it goes, it looks like it is prety well written.

Perhaps in time, the childern of my present players will try to take quest of the Amphora. In any case I enjoy the fact I got the dedication in the first module. Very nice.

 

[Sanackranib]

Re: Re: scarred lands

You know next time I make a comment to you San, I'm quoting it.

I was referring your comment about "needing money 1st"

Ok now I understand! Man that post make a WHOLE lot more sence to me NOW! Doh!

 

[teitan]

haven't posted to a scarn thread in a bit, immersed in a Realms campaign until prolly March or so, then Scarn using Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. My notes have Tharizdun as a forgotten titan who wanted to destroy the universe and imprisoned by his brethren and sitren, maybe even the Titan's father. Heh.

Jason

 

[Duncan Haldane]

Hi,

Well, Paul, I think that most of your questions have been answered - I'm a bit late

But, on the idea of selling/buying magic items, one thing to remember when trying to sell an item is whether you can find someone with enough money - ie, the farmer with his grandfather's ring might have trouble finding anyone near him who can pay more than 100gp for it.

I know when I read Secrets & Societies I was stunned to see the 18k crossbow that each of the black dragoons has. All 666 of them.

San - the book is called "Wilderness & Wasteland".

To add to the Epic level question - someone else mentioned it - the Epic Level book is not in an SRD. If you want to play at epic levels you should increase some of the NPCs to that range.


As for introducing SL to the players. IMO most of the Ghelspad Gazeteer seems pretty good for knowledgable characters, but I've been handling it a different way. Before each session I've written about a page of prose talking about events - the things that the PCs will be dealing with in the session (eg, talking about the divine war, titanspawn, etc). Each time they get a little more detail. It's been working pretty well so far (about 5 sessions - game is on hold atm). It also was a very good way to introduce the session for me - they knew when I started reading we were starting, so it was time to settle down and play - great for focus.

Also, Paul - there are a number of SL resources around. You can join the two SL mailing lists on Yahoo Groups, and Nighty manages about 20 different forums it seems (I seems to find another one every time I look ;-), and of course there is S&SS' homepage. Check out the thread that San mentioned for more details.

Good Luck,

Duncan

 

[Graf]

I know when I read Secrets & Societies I was stunned to see the 18k crossbow that each of the black dragoons has. All 666 of them.

I don't own the book (its the only one I'm missing, mostly because I don't want to own all of them, its a prinicipal thing -- I can stop whenever I want to....).
This sounds unfortunate though...

To add to the Epic level question - someone else mentioned it - the Epic Level book is not in an SRD. If you want to play at epic levels you should increase some of the NPCs to that range.

You're probably right in principle... its best if people have worthy opponets,
but yuck!
Who needs a world where every dick, tom and Virduk is 30th level?

Before each session I've written about a page of prose talking about events - the things that the PCs will be dealing with in the session (eg, talking about the divine war, titanspawn, etc).

I'm feeling some DM inferiority coming on.... I'm lucky if I have all the basic stats for the monsters ready.

You wouldn't, ahem, consider sharing this boundy of SL prose with the community, would you?

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I'm feeling some DM inferiority coming on.... I'm lucky if I have all the basic stats for the monsters ready.

You wouldn't, ahem, consider sharing this boundy of SL prose with the community, would you?

well, I've just spent a year unemployed (started a new job last week), and I've been single for two years, so I've had a lot of time on my hands. And no money to go out (don't ask how I could afford all the SL products... one kidney will be ok ;-)

I wrote these as session intros to my group. And I specifically set out to include repetition. They are designed to be read out rather than on paper, so it might be best to print them out and read "out loud" ;-)

Although my writing is reasonable, I don't consider this to be the best I've done - most were written within an hour each, and I know when I read them out to my group I found some errors, but I haven't read over them to fix them properly. I hope they don't cause you too much pain to read ;-) Below is three separate intros. - Duncan
-----

It is known that the Titanswar reformed the world. Whether the Titanswar lasted years, decades or centuries is unknown. The world changed when the gods fought and destroyed their parents, the Titans. Denev, the Earth Mother, sided with the Gods and against the other Titans. The Gods were forced into war with their parents because of the actions of the Titans. The Titans treated the world as their playgrounds, disregarding the effects they had on the world around them. The Titans would move mountains, destroy cities and devour forests on a whim. The Gods could not sit by and watch this destruction. The only thing they could do to stop the rampages of the Titans was to destroy them.

The war changed the world so much that time was not the same in all regions. For some places, the Titanswar lasted years, for most decades, but for others centuries passed while the battle destroyed or changed everything, including the moon, the stars, the sun and even the seasons. Mountains were flattened, rivers fouled and continents moved, and Denev wept to see such harm brought to the land she loved.

It is known that more than a century and a half since the last Titan was defeated, and the gods started setting the world right. Since the earth mother, the last Titan, settled into her healing slumber within the earth, for the war had sorely wounded her.

The gods relit the stars, reordered the seasons, set the sun and moons back on their paths, and restarted the sands of time. The great howling storms were settled, and the winds resumed regular patterns.

It is know that many Titanspawn still live in the world, spreading disease, perversity and violence. Many of the Divine races live in squalor, with hunger, illness and violence ruling them. Petty, insecure leaders rule by might, and destroy any that stand against them. Others try to stand against their enemies, but find themselves beset on all sides. Enemies of the Divine races come in all forms, and more than just monsters destroy lives. In some places, it seemed that the land itself is at war with those simply trying to live their lives. But the world is not well.

The damage of the Titans is still in effect in this world. In the blood seas, where ichors still leaks from Kadum’s form, poisoning the waters; In the mourning marshes where the diseased one, Chern, found his final resting place; And perhaps the worst – the forsaking of the elves, leaving them childless, distraught and prone to madness.

It is known that there are bastions of relative safety, where the Gods’ powers manifest themselves in ways that are more tangible. Places such as Mithril, where Corean’s Paladins have shown the people how to worship, and respect; In Calastia, where Chardun, the Great General, has shown them techniques of combat and war; and in the Drifting Isle, where Erias, the demigod of Dreams, has brought dreams to life.

This land is at war. With itself. As some try to find peace and build themselves a home offering safety, compassion and love, others work to restore the Titans, and destroy anything that the children of the Gods dare to build.

The world once known as Scarn has been so warped, transformed and damaged by the Titanswar is now known as The Scarred Lands.

---------------

It is known to have been over a century and a half since the end of the Titanswar. It was during that war that the gods, the children of the Titans, worked together to overthrow their parents. By using the strengths of each of the gods together they faced off against the Titans one by one, using the weaknesses of the Titans, and destroyed them.

Since the end of the war the divine races have been in a process of rebuilding. They have built cities, churches and organisations to fight the ravages of war, disease and famine. They have brought structure to the chaos, law to the uncivilised, healing to the wounded.

It is known that the gods put aside their differences during the Titanswar. They overcame their natural inclinations to disagree, they found common cause and common purpose, and together they were stronger than the individual Titans.

Since the end of the war the Gods have not needed to work together. They have each determined what is important to them, and to their worshippers. They work to help their followers, and mortals choose which god to follow by which best demonstrates their own personal philosophies.

It is known that the gods have animosities between each other. Corean, the Avenger, finds that Chardun, the Great General, is often his most prominent Nemesis; Madriel, Goddess of the Sun is offended by the affronts of her sister, Belsameth, Goddess of Darkness; And Vangal, God of destruction, plagues Tanil, Goddess of Forestry.

But Titanspawn threaten all of the Divine Races, disregarding their allegiances. Seventy years ago Druids raised an army of Titanspawn and marched against Vera-Tre, destroying Amalthea along the way. Forty years ago a storm blew in from the Blood seas, where the body of Kardum poisons the waters. The Blood Monsoon, as it was known, raged for twelve years, destroying many villages, towns and even cities.

It is known that the Titanswar ended over one hundred and fifty years ago, as the last of the Titans was destroyed. But the destruction of the Titans did not bring an end to all Titanspawn. And while the Divine Races have gotten stronger since the end of the war, no one in their right mind would claim that this is a safe world.

What was once called Scarn is now known as the Scarred Lands. Scars take a long time to heal, and disease can exploit any weakness.

----------

It is known that the Titans created many creatures. Each Titan tried to improve on previous attempts and to outdo each other. Some created creatures for sport. Some as slaves. Some for fun. And during the Titanswar thousands of creatures were created to fight.

The Gods started the war to defend their children, the divine races, and the face of Scarn. The Titans treated the world as their own, destroying and changing parts they didn’t like, regardless of the creatures living there. But the Titans didn’t realise, when they creature their playthings, the Titanspawn, that the Gods would take offence as such ministrations, or that the Gods would grow to love, care for, and even need many of these creatures to survive, and bloom.

It is known that the Gods went to war with the Titans in an act of defiance. The Gods took war to their own parents, claiming that they knew what was better for the world than the Titans themselves. The Gods created armies from the people of Scarn, and took them to war against the Titans. The Titans made armies of Titanspawn, creating new creatures and breeding old, to battle against the Gods.

The blood of Titans fell across the face of Scarn as one by one they were defeated by their own children. The Titans fell, staining the land with Blood, Flesh and Ichor, further tainting the land, destroying plants, animals, even the land itself, as if in a last act of defiance against their own destruction.

It is known that more Titanspawn were created with the spilling of this blood. Creatures fed on the fetid remains and were changed, mutating into new, hideous forms.

As the last of the Titans fell the Gods withdrew from Scarn to their own homes. But new Titanspawn were appearing to make war about the survivors of greatest conflict Scarn has ever seen.

It is known that the Ratmen were not seen during the war; that they have appeared in the time since. It is believed that they are perversions of rats, caused by consuming the flesh of Titans. There are claims that there are different types of Slitheren, that they manifest differing powers from the Titans.

Stories persist of the Ratmen appearing in outrageous numbers. Tales of cities created by Ratmen persist, and some claim that these cities rival the greatest cities of Ghelspad in size.

It is known that the greatest concentration of Slitherin is in the Eastern Ghelspad, in the Mourning marshes. These marshes are the resting place of the Titan Chern, the diseased one. There they gather like flies on a body, growing in numbers, ready to pour out of the marshes and throw themselves against the divine races.

Slitheren are one of the curses left by the Titans, one which the divine races must fight against everywhere. They are a reminder of why the world is now known as the Scarred Lands.

 

[Nightfall]

Also, Paul - there are a number of SL resources around. You can join the two SL mailing lists on Yahoo Groups, and Nighty manages about 20 different forums it seems (I seems to find another one every time I look ;-), and of course there is S&SS' homepage. Check out the thread that San mentioned for more details.

Good Luck,

Duncan

Thanks Duncan. And yeah Paul we have a fairly large ongoing thread of NPCs, towns and locales that San, Graf and myself have made for use in many Scarred Lands situations.

Here's the link: Scarred Lands Thread

 

[Thaumaturge]

Serpent Amorpha and Serpent in the Fold

The Serpent Amorpha leaves us in the Blood Steppes. Where does Serpent in the Fold begin? In Vesh or the Blood Steppes?
Thanks

Thaumaturge.

 

[SSS-Druid]

Re: Serpent Amorpha and Serpent in the Fold

The Serpent Amorpha leaves us in the Blood Steppes. Where does Serpent in the Fold begin? In Vesh or the Blood Steppes?

In Vesh.

"Getting there is half the fun."

 

[Nightfall]

LOL! I think that should be a Vigil motto. "Getting there is half the fun, but twice the danger. "