CCamfield
First Post
This is what I was planning on giving my friends as an intro to the campaign I've been working on...
SCARP AND SPIRE
The Situation
The campaign takes place in the city-state of Almara and the area around it. Almara is a coastal city with a unique location, in the narrow strip of land between a bay and the Scarp, a huge cliff running for many miles to the east and west, and half a mile high. Almara is built precisely at the base of an ancient road cut into the cliff; the only known route for crossing the Scarp.
Almara’s current ruler, King Mansur, is highly ambitious, seeking to expand his lands and wealth. Almaran raiders have been attacking shipping and foreign coastal settlements for some time. The King and his city have greatly profited from the loot taken in these raids.
One of the cities most concerned about growing Almaran power is Sadra. The Island of Sadra has little itself to offer, so the Sadrans long ago turned to trade. The island’s location makes it an ideal stopping point for merchant vessels crossing the sea.
The Sadran ruling Council of Seven has decided that King Mansur must be stopped, and have forged several alliances with other cities. Together they have an impressive fleet, skilled sailors, and a reasonable number of militia - but few skilled soldiers. So they have signed contracts with several mercenary companies to provide a solid core for boarding action and beseiging the city.
The players are new members of one of these mercenary companies, or have been assigned to it by their commander. This particular company, Haskar’s Regiment, is led by three lieutenants. The lieutenants maintain that Haskar is still alive, and meet with him in his command tent daily to discuss strategy. But no one has seen him since he disappeared several years ago. The lieutenants claim that he was struck by a curse which rendered him permanently invisible; still, no one has heard him speak in that time either.
The Sadran force is strong enough that the Council - not to mention the mercenaries - believe that they will hold a strong edge in the conflict. But they may learn that taking a city in an unknown land is one thing; holding on to it is something else altogether.
Character Options
In this land, those directly touched by the divine - clerics, druids and paladins - are few and far between. The days when the gods directly intervened in the world or granted fantastic powers to their priests are long ago, recorded in religious tomes. Special permission would be required for players to create a member of one of these classes.
Several different strains of arcane power, however, are in practice. Book-bound wizards and wyrmblooded sorcerers exist, as well as astrologers (whose powers derive from the bodies in the heavens), elementalists (who record spells in books like wizards, but whose magic is oriented around one of the four elements), and myrmidons, who combine a specialized school of magic with warrior training.
The ranger class is replaced with the mercenary ranger. Also available is a similar class, the guerilla. Guerillas see the wilderness as an environment in which to fight and exploit, rather than one which should be protected or embraced.
Healing services are available in cities and smaller communities from arcane healers, who base their abilities on properties of the natural world and the balance of the four humours within their patients.
As a final note, many classes (wizards, sorcerers, guerillas, mercenary rangers, and arcane healers) have the option of studying herbalism to create both mundane and magical effects.
(The myrmidon, guerilla and mercenary ranger are from the AEG book Mercenaries; astrologers, elementalists, arcane healers and herbalism are from the Atlas Games book Occult Lore.)
The lands around Almara are home to some new races and cultures, but I’m not certain yet about allowing players to start with a character from those races - since that would reduce the element of exploration.
Adventures
The initial game situation is obviously military, which can be made to last a varying length of time depending on players’ interests. (It could be quite short or skipepd entirely if there is no interest!) Assuming the Sadrans take the city, the campaign will then broaden into a variety of action and exploration of the lands around Almara.
((The inland races and cultures could include the bael, lahryk, and makall from AEG's Mercenaries, as well as barbarian halflings of the hills, and nomadic desert dwarves - long ago expelled from their underground homes by ridge goblins - who use elephants as mounts.))
SCARP AND SPIRE
The Situation
The campaign takes place in the city-state of Almara and the area around it. Almara is a coastal city with a unique location, in the narrow strip of land between a bay and the Scarp, a huge cliff running for many miles to the east and west, and half a mile high. Almara is built precisely at the base of an ancient road cut into the cliff; the only known route for crossing the Scarp.
Almara’s current ruler, King Mansur, is highly ambitious, seeking to expand his lands and wealth. Almaran raiders have been attacking shipping and foreign coastal settlements for some time. The King and his city have greatly profited from the loot taken in these raids.
One of the cities most concerned about growing Almaran power is Sadra. The Island of Sadra has little itself to offer, so the Sadrans long ago turned to trade. The island’s location makes it an ideal stopping point for merchant vessels crossing the sea.
The Sadran ruling Council of Seven has decided that King Mansur must be stopped, and have forged several alliances with other cities. Together they have an impressive fleet, skilled sailors, and a reasonable number of militia - but few skilled soldiers. So they have signed contracts with several mercenary companies to provide a solid core for boarding action and beseiging the city.
The players are new members of one of these mercenary companies, or have been assigned to it by their commander. This particular company, Haskar’s Regiment, is led by three lieutenants. The lieutenants maintain that Haskar is still alive, and meet with him in his command tent daily to discuss strategy. But no one has seen him since he disappeared several years ago. The lieutenants claim that he was struck by a curse which rendered him permanently invisible; still, no one has heard him speak in that time either.
The Sadran force is strong enough that the Council - not to mention the mercenaries - believe that they will hold a strong edge in the conflict. But they may learn that taking a city in an unknown land is one thing; holding on to it is something else altogether.
Character Options
In this land, those directly touched by the divine - clerics, druids and paladins - are few and far between. The days when the gods directly intervened in the world or granted fantastic powers to their priests are long ago, recorded in religious tomes. Special permission would be required for players to create a member of one of these classes.
Several different strains of arcane power, however, are in practice. Book-bound wizards and wyrmblooded sorcerers exist, as well as astrologers (whose powers derive from the bodies in the heavens), elementalists (who record spells in books like wizards, but whose magic is oriented around one of the four elements), and myrmidons, who combine a specialized school of magic with warrior training.
The ranger class is replaced with the mercenary ranger. Also available is a similar class, the guerilla. Guerillas see the wilderness as an environment in which to fight and exploit, rather than one which should be protected or embraced.
Healing services are available in cities and smaller communities from arcane healers, who base their abilities on properties of the natural world and the balance of the four humours within their patients.
As a final note, many classes (wizards, sorcerers, guerillas, mercenary rangers, and arcane healers) have the option of studying herbalism to create both mundane and magical effects.
(The myrmidon, guerilla and mercenary ranger are from the AEG book Mercenaries; astrologers, elementalists, arcane healers and herbalism are from the Atlas Games book Occult Lore.)
The lands around Almara are home to some new races and cultures, but I’m not certain yet about allowing players to start with a character from those races - since that would reduce the element of exploration.
Adventures
The initial game situation is obviously military, which can be made to last a varying length of time depending on players’ interests. (It could be quite short or skipepd entirely if there is no interest!) Assuming the Sadrans take the city, the campaign will then broaden into a variety of action and exploration of the lands around Almara.
((The inland races and cultures could include the bael, lahryk, and makall from AEG's Mercenaries, as well as barbarian halflings of the hills, and nomadic desert dwarves - long ago expelled from their underground homes by ridge goblins - who use elephants as mounts.))
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I allow anyone with the herbalist skill to create healing potions that heal 1d6 damage. It's not much, but good enough to keep a character from dying, unless they take massive damage from a single hit. I also don't allow ressurection. You would think these restrictions would make my players somewhat circumspect, but so far it hasn't, really.
