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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
I've been running a Ptolus campaign since 2006. Here's what I've done with the setting.
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<blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 7942602" data-attributes="member: 11760"><p>While the crew remaining behind in Maidensbridge took on the task of purging the evil that had taken root in Maidensbridge Abbey, the fugitives ran south, discovering that the imperial presence frayed the closer it got to Kem.</p><p></p><p>In Blackberry Ridge, on the border, they encountered a magistrate who was secretly a cleric of Kran, one of Prust's old gods that predate Lothian and are not enthusiastic about being eclipsed by him. The crew exposed and defeated him, earning the support of villagers there, before heading down into Kem. They also picked up a ninth player character, the ranger Lyadak Greensward.</p><p></p><p>Rival mage clans destroyed the region during the Wars of Fire thousands of years ago, leaving a blasted landscape with "a wizard did it" monsters roaming around, along with scattered ruins and settlements clinging to dreams of ancient glories despite it all.</p><p></p><p>To me, that sounded like Marvel's classic Conan comics and, in lieu of a giant gila monster, immediately had the fugitives chased by a bullette when they ventured into the wasteland, presumably beyond the reach of Imperial law.</p><p></p><p>They stumbled across a gigantic mage tower, inhabited by an eldritch giant (who I'll probably make a storm giant spellcaster in 5E) before stumbling into ruins inhabited by debased Kemites. I had intended it to be "Red Nails," but it ended up being more Scooby Doo, with the fugitives almost immediately bringing the entire ruined city into armed civil war and running screaming through the place, trying to avoid getting killed by the various gangs.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, they broke free -- with the help of the eldritch giant -- headed toward the west coast of Kem, where they hoped to secure passage across the Southern Sea to Freeport. The Southern Sea has pirates and Imperial cities that both sponsor their own privateers and decry the "piracy" of other nations' privateers. I dropped Goodman Games' Freeport in the middle of all of this, as the least law-abiding of Sea Kingdoms, where they hoped they could hole up and disappear.</p><p></p><p>They headed north along the coast, hoping to outrun the news of their crime on the semaphore tower system. The Tarsisian Empire has technology, but is falling into a dark age. So if the DM wants to, for instance, players can have access to guns and pocketwatches and such. But the knowledge of how to even maintain such things is dying out, and so groups that don't want technology available in D&D don't have to have it. I'm pro-tech, but only when it doesn't trivialize things. So player characters can't rely on traveling cross-country in a dirigible, but they do have to worry about not always being able to outrun information.</p><p></p><p>The fugitives' flight is slowed by their arrival in a very creepy seaside village with a very unhealthy attachment to the sea. Ptolus has Lovecraftian elements woven into it, especially into its deep worldbuilding lore, but unlike Freeport, where the Lovecraft Mythos are used without even having any names filed off, Cook has his own take on things. I wanted to start hinting at this aspect of the setting, especially since I knew the fugitives would be running through the Freeport Trilogy if/when they made it to that city eventually.</p><p></p><p><em>(If you like this recap, and would like to help me get my Ptolus character -- Baeril Underhill, gnome illusionist-turned-detective -- illustrated in the new 5E and Cypher editions, click <a href="https://gleam.io/b0PST-jJSfMdCUSb" target="_blank">here</a> and complete at least one of the promotional activities.)</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Whizbang Dustyboots, post: 7942602, member: 11760"] While the crew remaining behind in Maidensbridge took on the task of purging the evil that had taken root in Maidensbridge Abbey, the fugitives ran south, discovering that the imperial presence frayed the closer it got to Kem. In Blackberry Ridge, on the border, they encountered a magistrate who was secretly a cleric of Kran, one of Prust's old gods that predate Lothian and are not enthusiastic about being eclipsed by him. The crew exposed and defeated him, earning the support of villagers there, before heading down into Kem. They also picked up a ninth player character, the ranger Lyadak Greensward. Rival mage clans destroyed the region during the Wars of Fire thousands of years ago, leaving a blasted landscape with "a wizard did it" monsters roaming around, along with scattered ruins and settlements clinging to dreams of ancient glories despite it all. To me, that sounded like Marvel's classic Conan comics and, in lieu of a giant gila monster, immediately had the fugitives chased by a bullette when they ventured into the wasteland, presumably beyond the reach of Imperial law. They stumbled across a gigantic mage tower, inhabited by an eldritch giant (who I'll probably make a storm giant spellcaster in 5E) before stumbling into ruins inhabited by debased Kemites. I had intended it to be "Red Nails," but it ended up being more Scooby Doo, with the fugitives almost immediately bringing the entire ruined city into armed civil war and running screaming through the place, trying to avoid getting killed by the various gangs. Eventually, they broke free -- with the help of the eldritch giant -- headed toward the west coast of Kem, where they hoped to secure passage across the Southern Sea to Freeport. The Southern Sea has pirates and Imperial cities that both sponsor their own privateers and decry the "piracy" of other nations' privateers. I dropped Goodman Games' Freeport in the middle of all of this, as the least law-abiding of Sea Kingdoms, where they hoped they could hole up and disappear. They headed north along the coast, hoping to outrun the news of their crime on the semaphore tower system. The Tarsisian Empire has technology, but is falling into a dark age. So if the DM wants to, for instance, players can have access to guns and pocketwatches and such. But the knowledge of how to even maintain such things is dying out, and so groups that don't want technology available in D&D don't have to have it. I'm pro-tech, but only when it doesn't trivialize things. So player characters can't rely on traveling cross-country in a dirigible, but they do have to worry about not always being able to outrun information. The fugitives' flight is slowed by their arrival in a very creepy seaside village with a very unhealthy attachment to the sea. Ptolus has Lovecraftian elements woven into it, especially into its deep worldbuilding lore, but unlike Freeport, where the Lovecraft Mythos are used without even having any names filed off, Cook has his own take on things. I wanted to start hinting at this aspect of the setting, especially since I knew the fugitives would be running through the Freeport Trilogy if/when they made it to that city eventually. [I](If you like this recap, and would like to help me get my Ptolus character -- Baeril Underhill, gnome illusionist-turned-detective -- illustrated in the new 5E and Cypher editions, click [URL='https://gleam.io/b0PST-jJSfMdCUSb']here[/URL] and complete at least one of the promotional activities.)[/I] [/QUOTE]
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I've been running a Ptolus campaign since 2006. Here's what I've done with the setting.
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