Chronicles of Prydain - Has anyone ever based a campaign on it?

[Taneel BrightBlade]

I've considered introducing something like the Huntsmen into past campaigns. Meanwhile, the Black Cauldron and Sword of Dyrnwyn would make interesting artifacts.

you mean the Black Crochan

 

[Phaedrus]

I used to have a map of Prydain that I found in the public library in a "Maps of Fantasy" atlas or such. Don't know what happened to it. It had Narnia, Middle Earth, Earthsea...

I echo the sentiment above... I loved those books. I still have the original paperbacks I read in 3rd grade ($1.95... remember that?!)

 

[ecliptic]

Yeah I had Undead Rangers (Huntsmen) in a whole lot of my games during my teens inspired of course by adventures of Taran et al.

But Huntsmen aren't undead.

 

[Tonguez]

and I said inspired

 

[Taneel BrightBlade]

I'd call huntsman Barbarian/Ranger/Frenzied Berserker and cauldron born=deathknight Fighters with 500/Dyrnwyn DR

 

[Kalendraf]

I'd call huntsman Barbarian/Ranger/Frenzied Berserker

I think it would likely require a template to properly handle them. Though they have some similarities to both Barbarians and Rangers, they would seem to require a special ability, one that I don't think exists yet, to model their ability to draw strength from their fallen brothers. Basically, this is similar to the Highlander ability ("There Can Be Only One!"), but instead of the Huntsmen taking power from the one they kill, the survivors would each gain power as their brothers die. In D&D terms, that power could be HD, HP, Strength or something else. Might be a bit tricky to balance that ability, but I'm sure it could be done.

cauldron born=deathknight Fighters with 500/Dyrnwyn DR

Could be DR, but another option would be regeneration, with only artifact weapons, or Dyrnwyn specifically, being able to deal damage that can't be regened.

There's no doubt that the Cauldron Born would be very powerful in a campaign. Characters would have to find other ways to defeat them, like trapping them or something. If just one was allowed to roam freely, it could be quite devestating.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I had a group of Planescape PCs run into Annwyn at one point - so I gave them Huntsmen and Cauldron-Born. The PCs completely freaked when they discovered they couldn't hurt the "zombies" they were fighting.

 

[aledt]

Never based a game or setting on it, but I've thought about doing so.

It's funny, all these licenses going around--Black Company, Conan, this and that--Prydain is one of the few I'd jump on and grab with both hands if the opportunity to work on it came up.

I'm running a Prydain campagin at the moment - and to some degree thinking I might have bitton off more than I can chew. This is the first campaign I've DMed. We're about a year in and I only started playing a year before that...

I do however love the books (I'm Welsh myself) and I'm loving the RP aspect of this - so are the PCs.

-Aled.

 

[aledt]

Never based a campaign on the series per se, but I have done one based on Welsh myth, and so much of that (wonderful) series is inspired by/based on the same material. It was easily my most successful campaign since leaving high school

Ooh, details?

If you need resource material, let me know and I'll point you towards a few good sources.

Yes, please! I found this template for the Cauldron Born which I'm using:

CAULDRON-BORN

Messengers of death. Army of the dead. Deathless warriors. These names all describe the Cauldron-born - undead creatures created by the evil artefact Black Cauldron and under the thrall of the Cauldron's owner, whoever he or she is. These soldiers of undeath do not know pain, fear, mercy, pity - or any human emotions at all, except for hatred. Even their memories of their former lives have been totally extinguished by the Cauldron's dark magic’s and for some unknown reason, the Cauldron-born cannot speak at all. They are totally obedient and loyal to their master, the owner of the Cauldron, and there are only a few things that can stop them from fulfilling their master's bidding.
The Cauldron-born appear as they did in life, but something sinister and cold lurks in their dead eyes - their eyes are hollow, emotionless things, as cold as the coldest winter night and as frightening as a banshee's moaning. They also tend to rot over time, but this process is so slow that it can take hundreds of years before a Cauldron-born resembles a zombie in appearance. The Cauldron-born usually wear armour and use many weapons - they especially love to use weapons that inflict great pain upon their enemies and prisoners.

"Cauldron-born" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (dead or undead, see the description of the Black Cauldron) which is first thrown into the Black Cauldron (an artefact of great evil) (referred hereafter as the base creature). The creature's type changes to "undead", if it isn't already so. Do not recalculate base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.
The Cauldron-born uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Hit Dice: all the base creature's HD (current and future) become d12s.
Speed: same as the base creature.
AC: the Cauldron-born has +5 natural armour bonus, or the base creature's natural armour bonus, whichever is greater.
Special Attacks: A Cauldron-born retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains the following special attacks (save DC, unless noted otherwise, is 10 + 1/2 Cauldron-born's HD + Cauldron-born's Charisma modifier):
Aura of fear (Su): A Cauldron-born is surrounded by an aura of dread and unnatural feeling. All creatures with 5 HD or fewer must succeed at a Will save or flee in terror, as per fear spell.
Special qualities: a Cauldron-born has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.
Cauldron-bound (Ex): so long as the Black Cauldron, the evil artefact that gave unlife to this loathsome warriors of decay, exists, the Cauldron-born are indestructible - even if reduced to 0 hit points, they will simply rise again after 1d4 days with full hit points. The Cauldron-born are also totally obedient to anyone who owns the Cauldron and will do everything what the owner commands them to do.
The Cauldron-born also face an unfortunate (in the owner's point of view) restriction: they cannot go too far away from the Cauldron, or they will just collapse into a heap of bones and ash, until even a tiny bit of them is carried within range. This "range" is very vague and should be campaign-specific; in any case, the Cauldron-born know when they are too close to the limit of their mobility refuse to go over the limit, unless directly ordered by the owner of the Cauldron, or unless in unbelievable frenzy.
Children of the Cauldron (Ex): the Cauldron-born are infused with the evil strength of the Black Cauldron and thus they receive maximum hit points.
Damage Reduction (Su): the Cauldron-born's skin is unnaturally tough and resistant to blows, except for those inflicted by magical weapons, giving them damage reduction 10/magic (if using 3rd Edition: 10/+1).
Darkvision (Ex): as all undead, the Cauldron-born gains darkvision with 60-foot radius.
Immunities (Ex): the Cauldron-born have immunity to cold, polymorph (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-influencing effects.
Turn immunity (Ex): The Cauldron-born cannot be turned, rebuked, or commanded.
Voiceless (Ex): upon becoming a Cauldron-born, a creature loses its ability to speak or make any similar noise. This is especially harmful to spellcasters, who MUST have Silent Spell feat, if they want to continue to cast spells; however, the Silent Spell does not raise the spell's level for them. The owner of the Cauldron can, at any time, prevent one spellcasting Cauldron-born or all of them, even using spells in this manner, if the owner so desires.
Cauldron’s health (Su): The Cauldron-born can, once per day, call upon the evil magic that created them to restore their wounds that they have obtained in battle. This is the undead equivalent of a single casting of Regenerate.
Abilities: increase from the base creature as follows: Str +4, Wis +2. Being an undead, a Cauldron-born has no Constitution score.
Skills: Cauldron-born have +2 racial modifier to Intimidate, Listen, Move Silently, Search, and Spot checks.
Organisation: solitary, a scout party (2-4 Cauldron-born), a company (10-30 Cauldron-born), or a battalion (50+ Cauldron-born).
Challenge Rating: same as the base creature +2.
Treasure: standard coins: 50% goods; 50% items
Alignment: same as the Cauldron's owner (always evil)
Level adjustment: -

 

[Kahuna Burger]

One part of the books I often find myself remembering in D&D discussions is when Taren (sp?) gets a necklace which makes him wiser and more insightful. It has a profound impact on him, and when he has to give it up he is depressed at the loss. The casual adding and removing pluses from stat boosting items never lived up to that first exposure to a periapt of wisdom. :\ (That part, Flowers for Algernon and the feeling you get when you walk around after playing in a pool for a long time pretty much define my expectations for what it should feel like to gain and lose stat enhancements.)