Current Activity

As this is a new blog for me, I thought it would be logical for my first, non-introductory post to be a brief summary of what I’m currently up to with regards to dungeons and dragons, so here’s a few bullet points (fun!)

Active Stories

• Chronicle of Heroes – This is my first, my original, my baby. This campaign was started over a year ago as my first foray into both 4th edition dungeons and dragons (henceforth, simply 4e) and also my first experience dungeon mastering (henceforth, simply dm’ing), It’s a homebrewed module set in the Tallern Plains, a fairly diverse area of mainly farmland and forests found between the Suneater Mountains to the north and the Abratic Sea to the south. At some point I will post a map, and possibly some historical documents regarding the region. I am also planning on writing a series of fictionalised dramatisations of events of this campaign under the same name.
  The campaign is a full level 1 to 30 module with a complex story, plot twists and revelations, varied settings, antagonists, locations and characters. The players will travel not only the Tallern Plains, but much further afield, including, but not limited to, the Astral Sea, and beyond. Structurally, the campaign breaks down as follows. Several Parts make up a Chapter, where usually parts represent components or alternates paths within a Chapter. 3 to 6 Chapters make up a Volume, where a Chapter represents a distinct element of the overall story of that volume, with a beginning, middle and end Chapter, often the last being a climatic battle. Around 5 Volumes make up a Saga, with each Volume representing a self contained story within a distinct locations. This is not to say that there isn’t an overarching plot spanning many, if not all Volumes, it’s just that each Volume represents a reasonable amount of time to complete a story without any irritating cliff-hangers (unless for suitable dramatic effect). Players usually go up by 2 or 3 levels in one Volume, depending on the difficulty and their various success’ and failures. 3 Sagas make up the Epic, with each Saga spanning one tier; Heroic, Paragon and Epic. As such, from start to finish, the players will go up by 10 levels during a Saga. The three Sagas make up the Epic that is the overall history and life of the players characters.
  Currently my group is at Saga 1, Volume 2, Chapter 4, Part 3 of 4, with one Chapter remaining. Hopefully, once I’ve written the story of Volume 1 – The Clockwork Quest, I’ll be able to publish up the current Volume – Evil in the Dark.

In Development

• Chronicle of Heroes -  Due to the sheer size of this module, and the effect that players actions have on the world in general, this will very much always be an In Dev project until the day they reach level 30. At this moment, I’m currently working on Volume 3 of the current heroic saga, which is set within a dwarven underground city. I’m working very hard to create authentic feeling for this city as I really want to make my dwarf player feel right at home!
• Gladiators of Dark Sun – This is a very different animal. Set within the Dark Sun Campaign Setting (with a few tweaks), this is a more combat, rather than story based, campaign. The players take the roles of freed Gladiator-Slaves who decide to take the only skills they have and use them to pursue fame and fortune, and hopefully stave off death, a fate that lurks round every corner and under every rock on Athas. In this module the players travel from arena to arena, choosing events to fight in. Rather than the usual encounters, which are tailored to the party level to give just the right amount of challenge, this system allows the players to pick their encounter from a roster at each arena. Factor in other elements such as weapon and armour breakage, gambling on (or even against) yourself and the very nature of the Dark Sun setting, I’m hoping it will make for a very interesting game. I’m still looking for players, and also a venue, so this one may be on the burner for a while, at least until the end of the month, when the Dark Sun update is released for the character builder.
• The Modrons – This is a monster class/race that was mentioned in the last d&d podcast I listened to, where they were discussing how to use the new monster creation rules from a recent publications, to update an old monster. The monster of choice was the modron, a construct race devoted to order. It immediately grabbed my attention, so I fired up my Adventure Tools and begun working on the entire hierarchy. I can defiantly see myself posting these guys on here in the near future as part of my Creature Feature.

On Hold

• Thankfully nothing is currently on major hold at the moment, but once my girlfriend goes back to university, I can see Chronicles of Heroes going here until next summer, as she is a member of the gaming group that is playing that module. My philosophy is very much that the party that starts is the party that finishes, and as such I would much rather shut down a module than run it minus a player. This prevents not only out levelling, but the absent player from missing any key parts of the story.

Well, that’s very much everything. Don’t forget to check back or subscribe to get updates on what’s going on.