CM 1 Test of the Warlords and other Companion modules

[Evilhalfling]

I really enjoyed CM1 and CM2
CM2 in particular had a great breakdown of a barons dominion expenses and staff that filled some holes in the rules. CM3 I remember as just dungeon crawls, with a few hooks or side notes on how it effected the dominion's owner.

I actually ran a Galantri campaign that started with players getting a land grant and stole liberally from CM1 for ideas and CM2 for rules. Lasted about 6 months but was remembered for years.

 

[Jack Daniel]

The players in my OD&D campaign just passed 15th level not too long ago, and I've been running them through CM2 and CM1 (in that order, since I had to drop clues in Twolakes Barony as an incentive for the PCs to travel to Norwold). Instead of Mystara, though, I set these modules in my own campaign world, which is Victorian gaslight. The Alphatians got replaced by my setting's version of the British Empire, while the Thyatians were replaced by a Spanish Habsburg/Holy Roman sort of empire. I just dropped Twolakes Barony (the setting for CM2: Death's Ride) inside the borders of the second empire, let things run their course, and by the time the players had taken out the gate to the Sphere of Death, they were 17th level, and itching for the voyage to Norwold! Last session, they finished the land-grab for dominions, recieved their titles from King Ericall, and started attracting settlers. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out--especially since the player characters are a tinker gnome and a raptorian.

 

[S'mon]

CM2 - I don't have this, sounds like I better go looking on Ebay.

Those of you running or prepping CM1, please keep me posted here! I acquired CM1 a few weeks ago and I'm considering running it in 3.5e rules with PCs around 10th level. I've been running a 3.5e campaign since July, currently the PCs are only 2nd-3rd level, and my current campaign is planned to run to around 9th (using old Basic and Expert modules BTW, plus some C&C ones!), concluding with X5 Temple of Death. So CM1 is potentially an excellent follow-on and I've sketched in how it fits into my new campaign world.

I agree strongly about the Mystara 'excessively big numbers' problem. Thyatis for instance had an island with a couple hundred 36th level Magic-Users. Meanwhile a couple hundred miles from Thyatis city (pop 600,000) lies the unexplored wilderness of the Dymrak forest to the west, and the sparsely populated Alasiyan desert. I GM'd Mystara for a good few years to ca 1045 AC and it ended with a golden age ruled by a unified Empire of Thyatis-Alphatia; Thincol's daughter married to Eriadna's son. Now I'd much rather use CM1 in a different, more rugged and lower-powered setting, where there's no 1,000 36th level Magic-Users just over the horizon.

My ideas for using CM1 - I am setting Norwold to the north of the current campaign area. My setting resembles early medieval Europe, with Norwold taking the place of Scandinavia. The major powers are:

1. "France" (Arda) - the France area resembles France pre-Battle of Tours/Poitier; wild and disunited, with several minor kingdoms. The current campaign area is a large valley north of the 'Pyrenees'. This area could become unified into a strong power.

2. "Russia" - currently off-stage, the Grand Kingdom of the Rus is a new, rapidly expanding power in the east.

3. The Church of Baphomet - the bad guys, a Satanic religion which dominates large swathes of the world, including 'Spain' (Kalara) and 'Britain' (Alba).

I have basically two possibilities. Either:

1. The PCs unify 'France' in my current campaign and go on to settle Norwold, in which case the rival 'Thyatis' empire could be either the Rus, the 'British' Alban Baphomites, or both.

2. 'France' remains weak and disunited, or is conquered by the Baphomites, in which case the Rus are the good-guy settlers of Norwold, and the British/Alban/Ardan Baphomites are the villains.

 

[phindar]

This is weird, but I'm also prepping "Test of the Warlords" for my 3.5 game. I'm going to start the PC's out at about 6th level and run it up to 10th, adjusting the rest of the module accordingly. (So I probably won't be using all 2000 frost giants.)

What sort of dominion rules are you thinking about using, if at all? I'm hoping to make the dominion running be a fairly large part of the game, even if we handle the bulk of it in downtime. I picked up Classic Play: Strongholds and Dynasties, and the Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe and Silk Road, and the old D&D Companion Set (although the pdf of that was only $4) and hope to boil those down to something usable. (My group has been playing a lot of Settlers of Catan, so that has had an influence on us as well.)

I haven't really thought about it, but it seems like you can justify almost any number of frost giants in Frosthaven based around fishing and whaling. Being Cold subtypes, they can dive into the frigid seas and hunt with spears. This is separate from any sort of crop that can grow in arctic conditions (being a fantasy game, we can add ice-pears and ice-apples, or edible lichen) as well as the higher-fantasy idea that certain subtypes can subsist on their elemental link; like a red dragon who lairs inside a volcano or a frost giant who resides in a glacier, they might require less sustenance due to their connection to the site. Food for thought, so to speak.

I am admittedly a bit of a wonk, but I'm hoping that the economics and management plays as much a part of the game as the adventuring. I haven't looked at any of the later modules in the series, but I might pick them up depending on how the game goes. One thing I haven't really looked at what sort of-- if any-- mass combat rules I'll be using. But I'm going to reserve the big combats for later in the game, so it's not something I have to look at right now.

 

[S'mon]

Dominion rules - In principle I like Mentzer's Companion Set dominion rules and War Machine mass battle rules a lot; because they support roleplaying rather than become a game in themselves (Fields of Blood, I'm looking at you). Mentzer's actual numbers for income seem way too high, though, except for very sparsely populated territories in a Calfornia Gold Rush type situation. The Rules Cyclopedia's recommendation of only 1 resource per family, and resources by hex, are a partial solution, as is eliminating the "10 gp worth of Service per family per month" rule.

Actually, for a real feudal feel I find the best approach is not to give the PC any money, or just a token amount with which to equip his personal guard. Real power comes from getting subordinate nobles to fight for you.

 

[S'mon]

This is separate from any sort of crop that can grow in arctic conditions (being a fantasy game, we can add ice-pears and ice-apples, or edible lichen)

I have trouble seeing frost giants farming their pear orchards or lichen fields, though. Something like the Lapps' reindeer herding, only with woolly mammoths, might be ok, though.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Dominion rules ... Mentzer's actual numbers for income seem way too high, though, except for very sparsely populated territories in a Calfornia Gold Rush type situation. The Rules Cyclopedia's recommendation of only 1 resource per family, and resources by hex, are a partial solution, as is eliminating the "10 gp worth of Service per family per month" rule.

I nver had a problem with domion income, mostly because so little of it is in cash, and so much money is needed for dominon improvements
i don't give pcs enough money to fund a country out of thier own pockets.
both my players for a dominion game cut taxes to increase immigration.

 

[crash_beedo]

Dominion rules - In principle I like Mentzer's Companion Set dominion rules and War Machine mass battle rules a lot; because they support roleplaying rather than become a game in themselves (Fields of Blood, I'm looking at you). Mentzer's actual numbers for income seem way too high, though, except for very sparsely populated territories in a Calfornia Gold Rush type situation. The Rules Cyclopedia's recommendation of only 1 resource per family, and resources by hex, are a partial solution, as is eliminating the "10 gp worth of Service per family per month" rule.

Actually, for a real feudal feel I find the best approach is not to give the PC any money, or just a token amount with which to equip his personal guard. Real power comes from getting subordinate nobles to fight for you.

There was an old column in Dragon called 'Known World Grimoire' that expanded Mystara's known world; some of the articles revised elements of BECMI and I know Dominion Economics was one of them - I think there are some posts over on Pandius.org as well.

Cool to see people still using the CM series - CM1 was revolutionary!

 

[Delta]

Dominion rules - In principle I like Mentzer's Companion Set dominion rules and War Machine mass battle rules a lot; because they support roleplaying rather than become a game in themselves (Fields of Blood, I'm looking at you). Mentzer's actual numbers for income seem way too high, though, except for very sparsely populated territories in a Calfornia Gold Rush type situation.

Strongly agree. Also, I couldn't deal with the War Machine because it's got lots of wonky effects that don't resemble how normal D&D opponents would match up.

Giants should herd any of the giant/dire animals that have appeared in D&D over time. I like giant goats.

 

[phindar]

But then what will the goats eat? (My vote is for the ice-pears.)

My only real beef with the "Test of the Warlords" module (aside from the fact that 90% of the NPCs are fighters, which is understandable since it's Basic D&D) is that I find it unsatisfyingly black and white. When it comes to the NPC lords and ladies, pretty much everyone who looks villainous is, and everyone who looks righteous is. So in addition to adjusting the levels and classes of everyone involved, I find myself wanting to flesh out the peoples and conflicts more as well.

Anyway, when I started poking around for information about Mystara, Norwold and the Known World, these were some of the links that were kindly provided to me:

Norwold Region

Norwold Locations

Monstrous Atlas- Norwold

Economica AC 1015

Collected Articles of Bruce Heard