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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8716573" data-attributes="member: 467">Here is the first draft of my intitial design doc for the campaign I want to run.----------The Point    The purpose of this campaign is to play an old school exploration based campaign with a defined end point (slay the dragon, obvs). PCs will begin the adventure/campaign without the personal power or resources to take on the dragon and will have to spend their time acquiring that power and those resources. How they go about doing so is entirely up to them. There is no quest line. The only thing certain is that the dragon sleeps in its lair from the time the PCs arrive at the Autumn Equinox until the following Summer Solstice (9 months), when it wakes and gorges itself on flock and shepherd alike.The Land    The Barony of Falscorth is located in the hinterlands of the Kingdom of Hurdon. It is composed primarily of a river valley in the semi-arid highlands. The relatively flat land near the wide, shallow river is farmed and the rugged hillsides that border the valley are grazed. There are copses of dense, gnarled trees but no true forests The capital (called Falscorth) is located alongside a “lake” near the mouth (lower) end of the valley. Lake Falscorth is really little more than a slight widening and deepening of the river. Villages follow the river for a few leagues before the land becomes too rugged and there are a few herding settlements on the hillsides.    The most notable feature of the Barony is that is is littered with the barrows, cairns and tombs of a long dead and forgotten people. Certainly buried for millenia, these tombs housed kings, warriors, priests and sorcerers. Many are filled with grave goods. All are dangerous, haunted by fell spirits, strange monsters, or both. By decree, any such burial place that is found is property of the Lady Falscorth (along with its contents, of course). Most tombs re found by accident and not well explored when turned over to the Baroness, but a growing cottage industry of spelunkers and tomb robbers has begun to take root in Falscorth -- some of whom even report their findings to the Lady and her guards.The Dragon    The dragon Baskrorix arrived in Falscorth five years ago. The monstrous red wyrm descended from the peaks north of the valley and tore into a hillside, revealing a cavernous tomb. It did not merely loot the treasures within and flee, however, as the then still living Lord Falscorth assured his subjects that it would. Instead it made the cairn its lair and from there it sortied into the valley. It devoured both flock and shepherd and incinerated farm and farmer alike. It attacked again and again for a full month before seeming to lay itself to rest. Lord Falscorth -- carrying the blessings of teh Nine, charms from his sorcerous vizier, and bearing ancient weapons looted from area tombs -- led his small but loyal army to destroy the beast. Baskrorix allowed a squire and a shield maiden to survive so as to tell the rest of the dragon’s “subjects” its name, then went to sleep.It awoke on the following summer solstice and began its assault anew, as it has every year since. It attacks for a month, then slumbers again until the next year.In the meantime, Lady Falscorth has alternately tried to appease it with sacrifices, bribe it into leaving and kill it with guile (a flock with bellies full of poison). None of her tactics have worked and every summer her lands are again under the terror of fire and claw.Finally at a loss, Lady Falscorth has abandoned pride and put out the call: anyone, be it a single champion or an army of mercenaries, who kills or drives of Baskrorix will be granted all the wealth in the dragon’s lair and wherever among the victors is chosen to do so will wed her and become the new Lord Falscorth.The PCs    Player characters in the campaign will be among those who have come to Falscorth Barony to slay Baskrorix and claim the reward. That is the only requirement. The presumption is that they will engage in activities to prepare themselves to attempt the task. How they do so is entirely up to the players, but likely activities include exploring the local dungeons for experience and treasure, finding henchmen and other allies, and making contact with the Baroness and other powers in the valley. It is known that Baskrorix wakes on the Summer Solstice and the PCs arrive in Falscorth on the Autumn Equinox.  Player characters arrive in the Falscorth as 1st level adventurers. They are assumed to be members of a group that has agreed to try and take down Baskrorix together, and may want to put together a charter or group bylaws prior to beginning adventuring.The Rules    The campaign is played using Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy rules. No house rules are planned, and all the usual rules from OSE are intended to be used, including random encounters, exploration procedures, reaction rolls, morale checks for enemies, random treasure generation, and so on.</blockquote>

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