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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 8456801" data-attributes="member: 694">I'm running my "Shade Isle" Campaign, where the player characters are exiles abandoned on an island poenal colony by a tyrannical police-state with a horrific ulterior motive for disposing of its criminals and malcontents in such a fashion. I don't need to prep a lot of content week to week, because I finished mapping out the island and its several dungeons years ago; but the kingdom navy does keep dropping off a fresh load of prisoners every few weeks, and this provides a constant source of new PCs and NPCs into the ramshackle village that serves as the campaign's starting home base.This is the fourth time that I've run this particular campaign for a new group of players, and we're six sessions in. (Session seven commences this afternoon, 3 hours from now.) And so far, the party has managed to get a downright reputation-demolishing number of zero-level men-at-arms killed in the "training-wheels dungeon" nearest to the village. NPCs have not exactly been lining up to join the party on account of this, but fortunately for the group, another prison-ship will have dropped off some fresh exiles two days prior to when we pick things up again. (One week of game-time always passes between sessions, regardless of how many game-days go by during a session.)And so, my prep has really just involved rolling some dice to see if any unusual events have taken place elsewhere on the island. (As the PCs have only done six sessions of dungeon exploration so far, they haven't really disturbed any major players in the setting yet and haven't triggered the possibility of larger events.) Mostly it's just checks for random weather events or unexpected disasters (rare) and the usual checks to re-stock cleared parts of the dungeon between delves, to see what new kinds of monsters have moved in. (The PCs already cleared out the dungeon's original goblinoid inhabitants, and then drove off the human bandits that moved in to take their place, and now there's little there but the odd wandering wild beast.) And apart from that, all I've had to do this morning is stat up a list of potential NPC recruits, which I'm going to do right now so that I can print them off and have them handy:• Uldric & Unric, Normal Humans, HD 1 (hp 4 each), AC 3 (mail coats + round-shields), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (Uldric's bearded axe and javelins, Unric's arming sword and hunting bow). A pair of bloodthirsty brothers who love violence for its own sake and are eager to join a band of mercenaries for a handful of silvers.• Margax, NH, HD 1 (hp 4), AC 6 (boiled leathers + buckler), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (spear). A tall, pious (some would say superstitious) woman from the distant southlands, she's devoted to her mysterious but nameless deity.• Lerm, NH, HD 1 (hp 4), AC 5 (gambeson + heater shield), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (footman's mace). A scrawny, cowardly slip of a lad who also happens to be a gourmet-level chef.• Valca, NH, HD 1 (hp 4), AC 2 (mail coat + kite shield), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (spear) or 1d8 (war sword). A proud shield-maiden from a disgraced noble lineage, she always fights wearing an elaborate helm that hides her face behind a bronze mask.• Kaleel, NH, HD 1 (hp 4), AC 5 (mail coat), THAC0 19, DG 1d10 (halberd) or 1d6 (light crossbow). A cold-mannered, soft-spoken mercenary from the eastlands, he had aspired to become a merchant before getting transported to Shade Isle.• Carmac, NH, HD 1 (hp 4), AC 7 (gambeson), THAC0 19, DG 1d10 (zweihänder) or 1d5 (sling). A portly, jolly, and utterly reckless gloryhound whose only goal is to make a name for himself as a warrior.• Thisbe, Veteran (F1), S12 I15 W14 D8 C10 X7, hp 8, AC 2 (plate cuirass + buckler), THAC0 19 (20 with missiles), DG 1d6 (sabre or war bow). Formerly a devoted member of a now-dissolved mercenary company, Thisbe was the group's tactical mastermind. When one clever plan too many fell apart thanks to pure dumb luck, the mercs found themselves out of a job, and Thisbe found herself on the wrong side of the law.• Pogo, Hobbit Veteran (H1), S15 I10 W12 D13 C10 X10, hp 6, AC 5 (mail coat), THAC0 19 (17 with missiles), DG 1d6 (hunting bow) or 1d8 (war sword). An extremely cautious and fair-minded halfling lass, she was brought up from girlhood to serve in the "Bounders," the guardians who patrolled the border of her homeland. There is no clear reason as to why she got pinched by the kingdom police and sentenced to exile.• Thames, Rogue (T1), S11 I7 W9 D12 C8 X6, hp 4, AC 7 (gambeson), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (light crossbow) or 1d6/1d2 (arming sword & dagger), Thv 50%, Per 35%, Acr 85%. A boorish, tactless half-wit, Thames has only known a life of crime and misfortune. His upbringing has made him untrustworthy and a bully, but he's also never known real kindness or friendship.• Elsa, Dwarf Veteran (D1), S14 I10 W11 D15 C10 X7, hp 8, AC 1 (plate cuirass + heater shield), THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (double-bitted axe) or 1d4 (throwing hammers). A young dwarf warrior, somewhat naïve about the wider world, but stalwart and perceptive. She has a keen distaste for both mining and smithing, and she will not react calmly to anyone who tries to treat her as a dwarvish stereotype.• Damasquibbus, Medium (MU1), S6 I14 W13 D9 C6 X13, hp 4, AC 9, THAC0 19, DG 1d6 (staff) or 1d4 (dagger). An arrogant oddball, this mage speaks quickly and often unintelligibly, thanks to a penchant for sesquipedalian loquaciousness. He was brought up as an alchemist's apprentice and still carries with him many flasks of volatile substances, some of which he passes off as genuinely magical. First Level Grimoire: Detect Magic, Read Languages, Read Magic, Ventriloquism.</blockquote>

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