Scarred Lands: Best Books?

[Knightfall]

Well, I got Hollowfaust today.

The FLGS I visited also has Burok Torn: City Under Siege; Hornsaw: Forest of Blood; The Wise & The Wicked; and Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen.

I'll be going back for Burok Torn, at some point, but I have something else on order at another store that is likely going to come in this week.

 

[ruemere]

Good starting point.

Several observations and campaign notes:

Hollowfaust is famous for its festival of the dead. My personal take on this was to borrow heavily from Día de los Muertos and mix it with Greek debauchery.

Hollowfaust society is stratified. While the laws are supposed to apply equally to everyone, always remember that there are regular, hard working citizens and then there are these cloaked guys in wide-brimmed hats.
Oh, and one's body is property of the city.

Difficult healing, hot climate (no armors) and arcane spells resulting in overheating - remember to apply these.
Scarred Lands arcane spellcasters produce a lot of heat - in cold climate this is something similar to Endure Elements lasting one round per spell level. In Hollowfaust, you must be careful not to get heat stroke as it is located at the edge of vast and hot desert wasteland.

The ruins, undead and excavations - and all within city limits (in ruined quarters).

All legal undead wear masks (PR stunt by necromancers - being in the presence of deceased kin would be very uncomfortable). Most legal undead are a bit more intelligent than zombies (i.e. they can be trained to work as servants). There are no hard rules given for that - you need to come up with your own solution.

Magic items in Scarred Lands are scarce. The rough guidelines are: anything with charges (like scrolls) costs as normal up to 10000 GP. Permanent items cost three times as normal up to 10000 GP (i.e. up to 3333 GP normal price).
Items beyond that cost are too expensive for most people to afford or produce.
Also, there is relatively high chance of creating cursed or nonfunctional items (it's a guideline in a book, not a hard rule, again, you need to come up with your own specifics). This makes campaigning beyond certain level deadly, as most of items considered standard in vanilla d20, are not available.
My players range from 11th to 13th level, and they seem happy that +1 items are still viable and desired commodities at their level. In order to avoid inconveniencing them, I am generous with special story awards (like permanent special stat increases, minor artifacts, blessings).

Remember, that in Scarred Lands each character is expected to pray, and that prayers bring often tangible benefits (+1 to +3 to single roll for a devout follower, for example), while abstaining from at least calling deity's name during important acts is often punished with minor calamities.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[Knightfall]

Good starting point.

I also got the Mithril book today (only $10.50 CAN). (Along with a copy of Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra that I was able to special order roughly a month ago. I got it for $13.)

 

[ruemere]

I also got the Mithril book today (only $10.50 CAN). (Along with a copy of Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra that I was able to special order roughly a month ago. I got it for $13.)

Mithril was my preferred campaign starting point, too. I have run Banewarrens (and several other adventures) there.

Some related notes from my campaign:

Paladins of Mithril become paladins via True Ritual (in addition to just being called or being special), that means that some aspects of paladin code may become open to interpretation (and subsequently, to allow a lot of variation).

My take on common paladin vices in Mithril:
- belief in stern justice - self-righteousness often results in punishments being unnecessarily harsh (as in: "you're a thief" leads to "we can verify that" leads to "lose a hand or work for public good for a year in one of our prison mines/forges")
- punishment through permanent mutilation, death or prison labor camp sentences - Corean is a god who cherishes hard work. The prison in Mithril is mostly empty, the prisoners are out there working to atone for their sins or they are dealt quickly.
- exile is not common. Exiled people can spread evil elsewhere. The people are to be either taught to behave (hence labor sentences) or permanently prevented from commiting crimes (mutilation) or, in case of serious offences, sentenced to death.
- siege mentality. Mithril is a sole bastion of civilization with forces spread along Cordrada corridor and patrols throughout towns and villages. There is simply not enough resources to cover such a large area. Because of this, there are various martial laws imposed. Also, civilians who are publicly flaunting wealth may be requested to support city with their resources (not necessarily forced to, however when living in Mithril one would not want to fall out of favor with paladins).

Benefits not found in other cities:
- free military training for commoners
- orphanages
- social care and free meals for the poor
- free or cheap healing services
- employment easy to find (city forges, mines, fields, fishing boats)
(the last three resulted in high immigration rates and all associated racial and social issues)

Common factors:
- constant risk of exposure to Kadum taint, risk especially high to those who earn their living fishing
- cold and windy weather, dangerous storms (see weather forts)
- pirates, Titanspawn and things which come from the sea
- lots and lots of merchants (Cordrada Corridor) from Vesh, Hedrad and Mullins town

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[Hussar]

Hey Ruemere, I know you're a humungous SL fan. What was your reaction to the 4e take on SL? Is it out yet? I haven't been paying attention.

 

[Set]

I also got the Mithril book today (only $10.50 CAN). (Along with a copy of Egyptian Adventures: Hamunaptra that I was able to special order roughly a month ago. I got it for $13.)

[tangent] Hamunaptra is all sorts of coolness. [/tangent]

 

[Set]

Slightly off-topic, but:

Does anyone know where I can find the "lost-text" to Book 2 in the Serpent Amphora trilogy? It used to be located on Sword & Sorcery's webpage, but alas, no longer. (The missing text is basically the entire adventure briefing for the PCs.)

Is this an adventure or one of the novels? In either case, knowing the approximate release date would make it easier to find on the Wayback Machine.

'Cause I looked, but didn't see it, and the load times were so outrageous that I gave up randomly opening archived pages...

 

[Voadam]

Is this an adventure or one of the novels? In either case, knowing the approximate release date would make it easier to find on the Wayback Machine.

'Cause I looked, but didn't see it, and the load times were so outrageous that I gave up randomly opening archived pages...

The module.

Serpent and Scepter

The pdf preview doesn't give the copyright but gives a special thanks to attendees at Gencon 2002. So I would guess it came out in 2002 or 2003.

 

[catsclaw227]

Slightly off-topic, but:

Does anyone know where I can find the "lost-text" to Book 2 in the Serpent Amphora trilogy? It used to be located on Sword & Sorcery's webpage, but alas, no longer. (The missing text is basically the entire adventure briefing for the PCs.)

If it's not even on the internet anymore, does anyone have the text they could send me or post here?

I found it! I can't believe that I actually saved that web-page locally...

[sblock]
During the creation of The Serpent and the Scepter, the 2nd part of the Serpent Amphora Cycle series, the following text was accidentally omitted from the bottom of page 7:

In either case, he continues as follows.

"We've managed to translate a portion of the tome found in Chardun's tomb, and the information we've discovered isn't good. It confirms that, with the proper rituals, the servants of the Serpent Queen could access and use the power contained within the Amphora! This is the power and the blood of a titan, my friends. It's a hideous, twisted relic that cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to fall back into the wrong hands. "Unfortunately, the book doesn't tell us how to destroy the damned thing. It does, however, allude to the possibility that Chardun's priesthood might hold that secret, even if they didn't put it down in writing. Several times, it mentions a ritual powerful enough to destroy even a Titan-created artifact.

"And that," he says with a rueful grin, "is where you come in."

Kelemis gestures to a map, spread out across an oaken table in the center of the room. "Someone has to speak with a man named Fiarun, Archfiend of Chardun's temple at Castle Durm in Lageni. No safe or easy route exists. The best you'll manage is probably a trip down the Eni River, and then overland straight to Durm. A long journey through hostile territory, yes, but Fiarun is by far the closest man who might have the answers we require. After the-incident-with my former aide, I cannot trust many of my own people enough to send them, and those who can be trusted are needed here at home. You've served us well so far, however, and so I'm afraid I must ask you to serve again." At this point, he offers the party a token with his heraldry on it, like the one carried by his messenger. "You'll need this along the way," he tells them, assuming they'll eventually agree to help.

(Alternatively, if the party hasn't served him before, he should explain how he's heard good things about them from those few whom he still trusts.)

He then discusses potential rewards, ranging from training among the Vigilants to money. If they turn up nothing, he will compensate them up to 400 gp each for their troubles. If, however, they do discover information, the rewards will certainly be greater, from fine equipment (though not necessarily magical) to training to grants of land or money. Alternately, if the PCs have other goals, he may be willing to assist them in completing these goals.
[/sblock]

 

[Knightfall]

[tangent] Hamunaptra is all sorts of coolness. [/tangent]

I've been trying to get it for years. It's really great. I'm going to combine it with GG's Necropolis to be the basis of my fantasy Egyptian region on World of Kulan.