For a while now I’ve wanted to have a campaign, or at least a setting, which we could use on days when there weren’t enough of us present to run one of our ongoing games. I’ve tried a couple of things as “backup” games, but so far nothing’s really gelled. We had a couple of sessions of Basic D&D, but nobody but me really digs the rules (and I’m not 100% on them), plus things didn’t go so well in terms of tone for the party (“We suck!” Wendy shouts in the background).
So I had them roll up new characters for the system (D&D inspired but not quite D&D) and setting that I’m using for the kids Friday night adventures, and so far (fingers crossed) it’s a bit more promising.
Currently the party consists of
- Tomato, a Fairy Witch (Mage/Actor)
Str 5 Dex 5 Con 12 Int 17 Wis 8 Cha 22 Siz 2 Lk 20
HP 3 Stam 6 MP 12
Talents: Cute (+6), Acting (+6) - Hurlon, Dwarf Assassin (Thief/Fighter)
Str 14 Dex 12 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 13 Cha 8 Siz 6 Lk 13
HP 6 Stam 10
Talents: Thievery (+6), Dwarven Background (+3) - Poden Persas Human Priest of Maner, God of Scales
Str 11 Dex 11 Con 4 Int 11 Wis 15 Cha 5 Siz 12 Lk 10
HP 1 Stam 1
Talents: Herbalism (+5)
Poden starts the game with one Exotic Trait because of her crappy stats (though as I type it up I realize that she doesn’t quite qualify according to my original rules, because of the 15 in Wis, but whatever…not going to take it back now). She rolled well for that and got a Wish, which she chose to save for later so it will be interesting to see how that will play out.
Because we got a late start, after they rolled their characters, we didn’t have much time left…just enough for them to be shipwrecked and thanks to a judicious miracle from Maner find themselves beached on the shore of the Sea of Sky. They found a nearby settlement, Pontus, City of Bridges, persuaded the guard to let them in despite the gates being closed, and secured lodging at the Inn of the Bronze Calf.
I was tempted to start them in Arla, the same town that the kids are playing in, for a bit of West Marches style, but decided it would be simpler to keep things separate for now. Plus, I’m using Amityville Mike’s Stonehell as the local dungeon for the kids, but some of my regular players might actually be familiar with it from reading this blog if nothing else. One thing that I know is going to come back to bite me is that I used Mr S Island as the entrance to Stonehell, which is going to make it hard to work the “real” Mr S Island dungeon into the setting once I get it further along. One thing I’m considering (because the backstory for Mr S Island actually allows it) is that the entrance on the island can actually lead to different dungeons depending on circumstances… or maybe I’ll just live with the fact that there’s a disconnect between different versions more than just that Mr S is originally being statted for Tunnels & Trolls.
Tales of the Rambling Bumblers 