In the Wake of the Last Game (Prelude to Hommund 99)

Quick copy-paste of the summary I wrote up of the aftermath of the Hommund, Year 74 campaign. This is the chronicle of the endeavors of those favored by Vessa, capitalizing on their respective wishes.
This will also serve as backdrop to the next campaign, picking up in the year 99, aptly titled the Hommund, Year 99 campaign.

So that my players are not shocked: older character attributes have been modified for age, info you didn't give me has been randomized or just made up, some events have been interpreted for the sake of a coherent game world.

So here it is:

Hommund 74 epilogue

75

·        Ferdinand Von Zeppelin sets out to raise a mercenary army.

·        Tommy Whiteskies pursues an education.

·        Michael Cunningham conquers the new settlement of Lockwood with his undead black dragon (lvl24).

·        Decanus returns to Halfhill.

·        Locke Nosc Rohan hunts down and kills Sebastian Eden, deliberately taking the curse of vampirism to gain eternal youth. He takes Eden’s seat in council, falsifying documents of succession.

77

·        Ferdinand Von Zeppelin leads his mercenary army to take Fort Obora. His assault is successful, and from this position begins a takeover of Halfhill.

·        Tommy Whiteskies returns to Halfhill to take the musical prodigy Neil under his wing. The two travel the valley as minstrels.

·        Michael Cunningham helps develop Lockwood. He journeys far to gather culture to the settlement.

·        Decanus seeks audience with Ferdinand.

·        Locke organizes a coup to gain control of the Council of Marshville.

78

·        Ferdinand Von Zeppelin has seized control of Halfhill. He agrees to grant nobility to friends of Decanus.

·        Decanus gains an audience with Ferdinand and requests the protection of his friends in Halfhill. His request in granted.

·        Alvaro, Emily, and Nymphadora flee Halfhill with Inigo, Leah, and Clause to the Mesa. Hearing word of their flight, Decanus too leaves Halfhill.

79

·        Ferdinand Von Zeppelin begins the expansion of Halfhill.

·        Tommy Whiteskies and Niel become renowned for their songs of adventure.

·        Michael Cunningham’s Lockwood expands.

·        Decanus reaches the Tsuran forest, only to find that the elves know of his choice with Vessa, and have banished him.

80

·        Locke appoints Tommy Whiteskies Minister of the Arts and Headmaster of the Bards’ College and discovers the Hexenshard School hiding in the Bards’ College. He takes control of the school in secret to train a troupe of Battle Mages.

·        Lockwood has grown too large for the tolerance of the giants who claim the valley as their territory. They are unable to resolve through negotiations, and begin to attack. Michael Cunningham and his feldragon defend the city, but cannot defeat the giants entirely.

·        Decanus comes to live as a shaman among the wild men of the Tsuran Plateau.

81

·        Ferdinand and Locke come to Michael’s aid in fending off the giants. In the end it is the first band of Battle Mages who are able to end the attacks. The damage to Lockwood has been severe.

82

·        Repairs begin in Lockwood

·        Fear fills the valley as word of the Battle Mages spreads. Locke takes advantage of this mass terror to overthrow the council and name himself Emperor of Hommund. Resistance is limited, as small spectacle victories by the Battle Mages create the illusion of a better trained force, and Locke trains true legions in secret.

84

·        Having crushed all resistance, Locke now rules as emperor with legions of Battle Mages under his control. Magic is still illegal in Hommund, unless practiced with a license granted only to Battle Mages. Locke drafts soldiers to expand the new Hommund military.

·        Halfhill begins industrialization.

·        An alliance allows Halfhill and Lockwood to be ruled by their respective lords under the supervision of the Emperor.

85

·        Military occupation of Riverton, Termine Bay, and Westenberg stamp out any rebellion over the next five years.

90

·        The valley under tight control, the Emperor focuses on new projects. He encourages experimentation with new magic and enchantment, and assembles an Explorers Corps, headed by Michael Cunningham, who ventures east with the Corps and soon becomes as a legend in Lockwood.

99

            Lord Ferdinand of Halfhill

·        51 years old

·        5’ 7’’

·        Brown Eyes, Brown-Grey Hair, Sinister mustache

·        Chaotic Evil

·        Lvl 9 Paladin of Rensol

·        57 HP

·        CON11 STR14 DEX13 INT7 WIS12 CHA14

·        Tommy Gun (10)

Headmaster Thomas Whiteskies

·        41 years old

·        6’ 2’’

·        Blue eyes, Blonde hair

·        Lawful Evil

·        Lvl 10 Bard

·        71 HP

·        CON9 STR11 DEX10 INT6 WIS12 CHA20

·        Shield of Magic Reflection, Dragon Bane short sword

·        +1 to healing, the Wall, +2 intimidate, fated that Phoebe the Cleric will be his downfall.

General Cunningham of the Explorers Corps

·        53 years old

·        6’ 2’’

·        Blue eyes, Grey hair (Formerly Blonde)

·        Lawful Evil

·        Lvl 8 Fighter

·        83 HP

·        CON15 STR8 DEX9 INT10 WIS15 CHA13

·        Lvl 24 Undead Black Dragon

Degus, Speaker for the Hawk

·        52 years old

·        4’ 6’’

·        Green eyes, Brown hair, wooden ear, full-body lightning scars

·        True Neutral

·        Lvl 10 Halfling Druid

·        52 HP

·        CON14 STR13 DEX18 INT15 WIS17 CHA7

·        Animal forms: Hawk, Tiger, Velociraptor

·        Cloak of Water Breathing

·        The Way, +2 persuade, +1 damage, bow proficiency

·        Speaks Hill Tongue, Hommunder, Vess, Bird, and Grunkleid Cant.

Emperor Rohan

·        Perpetually 29 (53 years old)

·        5’ 11’’

·        Brown eyes, Brown-blonde hair, Beard

·        Chaotic Evil

·        Lvl 10 Vampire Ranger

·        74 HP

·        CON16 STR17 DEX15 INT12 WIS13 CHA12

·        Preferred enemy: Humans

·        Enchanted Clay Legs (+3 to check once per week)

·        Oath Bow, Ring of Malaise, Wolf Mask of +3 intimidate

The Next Generation

            Adam Rohanson

·         -31 Years old
     -CON10 STR13 DEX10 INT10 WIS10 CHA7

Clause

·         -27 Years old

·         -Bugbear

·         -Brown Fur, Black eyes

·         -CON13 STR19 DEX12 INT4 WIS11 CHA13

Leah

·         -25 years old

·         -Half-Fey

·         -Brown-blonde hair, Brown eyes

·         -5’ 8’’, 135lbs

·         -CON10 STR11 DEX15 INT12 WIS11 CHA16

·         -Level 2 Druid

·         -Move Silently in Wilderness, Passive check to spot hidden doors and +1 when active.

Inigo Alvaron

·         -26 years old

·         -Half-Halfling (1/2 halfling, 3/8 human, 1/8 elf)

·         -Brown hair, grey eyes, hobbit feet, pointed ears, fine features

·         -4’ 9’’, 120lbs

·         -CON6 STR6 DEX14 INT13 WIS9 CHA12 
 -Propensity for magic

End Game Character Sheets

These are the party's character sheets from the final game of the Hommund, Year 74 campaign.

 First up, the deceased followers of Werdunn (and Rensol):
Here's Hector the Paladin, tragic hero, last of the side of good, felled by Locke's swift arrow.

 Here lies Castiel, the brave fish-knight, felled by Locke's swift arrow.

Next is Phoebe, cleric of Weirdunn, bound to die upon Castiel's death.

On the side of Vessa:

First up is Locke, the slayer of humans

The neutral Druid, scarred, burnt, and crippled, but never defeated, Decanus:

The illustrious and skinless grand bard Tommy Whiteskies:

And last but not least, the ambitious dark paladin, Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Sadly, the character sheet of the Knight of Dale, Michael Cunningham, was lost in the aftermath of the session.

What I've Been Up To Lately

Summer Space Odyssey

First of all, I should explain the situation in my own campaign:
With most people splitting off for college soon, we have come to the unanimous decision to end the campaign that I have currently been running for two years. We have one more game left. The content is written, and all that is left is scheduling. With everyone traveling here there and everywhere, arranging for the final game is difficult, but hopefully possible.

In the meantime, my friend has taken up GM duties in a Traveler campaign. The above link is to the blog devoted to the campaign, I play the aged ex-spy Halleck Stil (de facto captain), alongside the crew of my (stolen) ship Providence:
Doctor Zex Vespers, ship medic (Decanus the Halfling Druid in my campaign)
Jet Walters, ship mechanic (Tommy Whiteskies the Human Bard)
Dax Griffon, our heavy-armored soldier and pilot (Castiel the Human Cleric)
Kay, ship gunner (Tassadar the Dwarf Fighter)
Thatcher "the Badger", has illicit contacts, has been gone all summer (Locke the Human Ranger)
Kiki, pilot and demolitions expert (Human Cleric)
Kevo Bandolin, financier and psychopath (Human Paladin)

The campaign is GMed by our many-charactered fighter. (Willhelm, Hector, Tark, Tet, Frederick)

Its been a lot of fun. It took us less than one session to descend into total criminality. We are currently playing a group of drug producing and selling mercenaries who dabble in smuggling and our financier has recently amassed a small collection of improvised explosives. If we fall under investigation by space cops of some sort, I don't see it going well. Luckily our small fortune from a recent smuggling job will give us the opportunity to better secure and secret our crimes.

In other news
I've set into serious work on my Hommund setting project. The plan has long been to publish the setting I've been developing these past two years. This summer I've gone through some loosely organized work on old maps. The other day, though, I drafted up an outline of all the things I want to include and set to work.
Today I'm 20 pages in and going.
The plan is to compile a tome that includes all my maps, as well as tables and rules that have been helpful to me through my campaign. The philosophy is to create a book that contains everything I want or need to run my entire campaign, and hopefully what is helpful to me in running my game is also helpful to other people running old-style D&D-type RPGs.
So if all goes well, I can get the first draft done by the start of fall semester and continue to play test over the next year or so, get together some more dungeons and iron out the kinks in the setting and class system.

Doubles Potions

The don't know about anyone else, but this is the first table I've ever made inspired by song lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkBf6OEAlws

The idea is a set of potions which must be drunk by two people in order to have an effect. I picture two flasks fused together or a vial with two mouths. Who gets which effect should be random.

Each potion is labeled, but I will also number for randomization.

2-The Blood and the Bone-One takes 1d4 extra dmg from attacks; One takes 1d4dmg less.
3-The Sinner and the Saint-One becomes chaotic; the other lawful
4-The Bandage and the Blade-One gets +1 to healing; the other does 1 extra dmg
5-The Word and the Breath-When one speaks, he can choose to have the other say the same
6-The Heart and the Chest-If one dies, so does the other
7-The Bruise and the Blow-One feels he has been wronged by the other
8-Tha Fruit and the Fall-One is destined to be the downfall of the other
9-The Caress and the Claw-One gets +2 seduction; other gains +2 intimidate
10-The Glory and the Guilt-One will gain from his crimes while the other receives the blame.
11-Blossom and the Wilt-One gains a level, which the other loses
12-Right and Wrong-One becomes good; the other evil
13-The Sound and the Song-When both try persuade together, +2
14-The Tooth and the Tongue-One gains +2 unarmed; the other +2 persuade
15-The Target and the Gun-One compulsively attacks the other for 1d4 rounds
16-The Cruel and Kind-One becomes good, the other evil
17-The Wary and the Wild-One gets +2 search/hidden doors; other gets +2 atk/dmg whenever he initiates combat
18-Legions and Doubt-One gains +2 leadership; other is -2
19-The Whisper and the Shout-One gets +2 to spells with a verbal component; other has -2
20-Honest and Avail-One must tell the truth; the other will profit from this
21-The Hammer and the Nail-If one assists the attack of the other, double damage
22-The Blessing and the Curse-One gets +2 to checks for a day; the other has -2
23-The Way and the Wall-Enemies and allies can safely move through one in combat; the other can stop any enemies trying to move through adjacent space.
24-The Now and Then-One ages 10 years; the other youngens 10 years.

6, 8, 10, 20 can double as fortunes.
3, 12, 16 seem similar, so I repeated. If anyone has an idea for a third effect along these lines, please share.