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Ashfar

Page history last edited by Bill Clark 15 years ago
Ashfar

The World


Click on map to see a larger versionThe world is known as Ashfar. The following is general information that most people know (or suspect) about the world. Not all of this is absolutely known by all PC's, but it will not break the game for you to know stuff your character doesn't know. Some of this stuff is NOT true.

 

 

Boskenland


The humans who live here have made their home in about as cold and forbidding a place as could be imagined, yet they seem to like it. Boskenland is all birch woods, bleak hills and blue rocky outcrops. The original human settlers were from Jehannum and have retained their burly, robust approach to life.

 

Brith's Folly


This craggy, featureless stretch of land is where the god Brith is said to have severed his malformed left hand, which then grew into the spider-goddess She that the Drow worship. A crack in the ground supposedly leads to the kingdom of the Drow.

 

Caldraza


A long-established monarchy, Caldraza is one of the wealthier and more refined human nations. The country recently converted officially to the Marianist religion, sweeping away the old Pagan pantheon still worshipped in Chillhame, Ghael and Jehannum. King Titus lost his son and heir a year ago in a murderous attack by a clan of Ghael, leading him to declare war on the entire nation. Troops are gathering on the river border but hostilities have not broken out fully as yet.

 

Caldraza supplies most of the world with fine glass products, having plentiful supplies of the necessary raw materials and generations of experts to work with it. The royal palace at Beacon City is walled on the outside with black glass panels.

 

Cendra


The land bridge between the northern and southern continents is a sprawling rain forest, many hundreds of miles from end to end. While the colonists to the north were able to cope with the more temperate climes there, even if they had to wrest the land from monsters, the humidity and sheer danger of Cendra's jungles were too much for them. The jungles are thickly infested with kobolds on the outer edges and reptilian life forms in the unexplored heart.

 

There are travelers' tales of human tribes living in the jungle, who speak no known language, though these have never been verified. Expeditions have, however, brought golden ornaments and utensils out of deepest Cendra; whether these are the work of humanoids or some skilled non-humanoid race remains a mystery.

 

Chillhame


This small island is notable only for being the place where a massive Drow army was defeated at least one thousand years ago. It is independent, though the kingdom of Caldraza has long considered it a part of itself and is keen to recover it. The capital of Chillhame is Saragost, a walled city that boasts a fortified harbor.

 

Corona


Corona, otherwise called the 'Crown of the World', is a series of gigantic ice peaks that rise out of the sea, strangely regular and artificial-looking. The peaks form an insurmountable barrier, concealing whatever lies beyond them from the eyes of the world. Although creatures with the power of flight could theoretically fly over the mountains to see what secrets Corona hides, none is known to have done so successfully. Wild theories nonetheless abound, with some tale-tellers insisting that beyond the peaks there is a titanic hole leading to the interior of the world and others describing a bizarre city built by a race older even than the elves.

 

Whatever is beyond the peaks of Corona, one thing is known: it occasionally sets the northern sky on fire with rainbows of light, chasing each other in arcs and ripples. These lights can be seen from the Waste and from the northern mountains of Caldraza.

 

The Eagle Nations


This huge country was originally entirely wild and was referred to as the Scarred Land. Monstrous humanoids, giants and dire animals made up its population; the only humanoids to live there were small bands of wood elves, which were tough and resilient enough to cope. Some six hundred years ago, a group of decommissioned Caldrazan warriors decided that it was better to live as rulers in a new land than servants in an old one. They set off for the Scarred Land, determined to carve themselves out a place in the world.

 

The fighting was hard, but they cleared out an area large enough to support a village and kept it fortified. This village grew into a town and eventually a small city. The elves of Xoth Sarandi, impressed by the humans' bravery and tenacity, constructed a sea-portal to help them bring in supplies and colonists.

 

Over the last five centuries, colonists have been shipping out to the Scarred Land, with the same dream as the original warriors. Every country in the world, with the exception of the elven nations, has had people leave for a better life in the colonies. The elves retained their attitude of quiet observation, though they continued to give assistance and a second sea-portal was constructed on the western coast a hundred years after the first. The frontier has been steadily pushed back from both sides, so that all that remains of the original wilderness is a broad patch in the centre, which is crammed full of monsters forced out of their original habitat. This patch is still called the Scarred Land.

 

The settlers organized themselves into regional states, some feudal, some democratic according to the citizens' preference. This collective of sub-kingdoms was termed the Eagle Nations, as it represented liberty and freedom from the chains of the past. For a brief period, the Eagle Nations were united by common treaty and were the most powerful country on the planet. Unfortunately, strife between the different kingdoms has caused the Eagle Nations to collapse on itself, turning a league of allied powers into a country of feuding principalities.

 

Ghael


Tribal humans, organized into clans, populate this wild hilly country. Their culture is similar to that of historical Scotland. The clans are constantly feuding with one another, with no one clan holding dominance for long. Caldraza has recently declared war on Ghael, which is prompting the clans to set aside their differences and unite against a common enemy.

 

The border between Ghael and Caldraza is the river Schlass, which is too broad to be fordable in its lower reaches and runs through the monster-infested Forest of Meere in the upper. The Caldrazans have built a chain of forts along their side of the Schlass, to watch for hostile forces. The Ghaels in turn have established camps along their side but lack the organization to build permanent defenses.

 

The Horned Reaches


This vast area of desolate prairie is named for the herds of horned animals (buffalo, ibex, antelope, feral cattle and the like) that roam across it, migrating from one feeding ground to the next. It has never been settled, as there is no easy way to transport materials and supplies out into the deep wilderness. Besides, the land is more suited to wild herds than to people. Some wild tribes of elves live here, the descendants of exiles who were driven from Shallenoi centuries ago and who have adapted to living in the inhospitable wild land.

 

The Horned Reaches form a natural barrier around Shallenoi. Few people would bother crossing the seemingly endless prairie to reach the elven lands, which is one reason why they have lain undisturbed for so long. The sea-gate between Xoth Sarandi and Shallenoi is open only to the elves and to those who they invite. It is not open to tourists or casual visitors.

 

Jehannum


This militaristic human country is home to a proud breed of humans, who are convinced of their own superiority and invulnerability. The dwarves of Svarth have been trading with the humans of Jehannum for centuries, exchanging dwarven metalwork for human meat, beer and cereals, with the result that Jehannum is now the most strongly armed and armored country in the world. The Iron Dukes rule the country from Burgenstoch Castle, a steel-plated fortress in the capital, Crom Calamar.

 

The Drow were once tolerated and sheltered in Jehannum. Following the defeat of their armies in Chillhame, the humans showed compassion for the survivors (mostly females and children) and assigned them land that they could cultivate, on the understanding that they caused no trouble. Much to the surprise of all concerned, the Drow proved able to cohabit peacefully, establishing settlements and even trading their knowledge of magic and alchemy with their human protectors. This arrangement came to a bitter, bloody end when the elves of Xoth Sarandi offered Jehannum a massive sum in tribute to cancel the protection, quietly promising a bounty for the head of any Drow collected in addition to this. The humans gave vent to their hatred and forced the Drow out of the region.

 

Kahoor


This hot country, blessed with mineral wealth and huge tracts of fertile land, has a rigid caste system, developed when the elves first made contact and entrenched by them over the years. The nobility are so far removed from the peasantry that they are essentially a different species.

 

The King of Kahoor, Parhav the Thirty-First, is a boy of fourteen. Despite his age, he is not sentimental and has overseen quite draconian punishments for his subjects. The law in Kahoor is rigid and ignorance of it is not an excuse. Furthermore, the upper classes can commit certain offences with impunity, while a serf would be stoned to death for the same thing. There literally is one law for the rich and another for the poor.

 

Kahoor s principal dependency, Shumil, is much more relaxed. Many of Kahoor's people migrate to Shumil in the hope of finding a more tolerant society, though the work there is no less hard.

 

On the border of Kahoor and Urmish lies the Wall of Grand Iora, a spectacular structure of white stone, consisting of a single unbroken wall with guard towers at half-mile intervals. The Wall has defended Kahoor against the monstrous humanoids of Urmish for generations.

 

Kandang


The southern tip of the continent is a marshy place of river deltas and rice fields, where the houses of common folk are built on stilts. This part of Kandang has whole families of boat people, who live their lives migrating from island to island. Further north, one finds ancient cities and lonely towers on hillsides, along with curious ruins from an age where dragons walked among men in human form.

 

A hereditary line of sorcerers forms the monarchy of Kandang. The usual claims of dragon blood apply. Specifically, the ruling King claims descent from the golden dragons who lived in the area when humans were still living in caves.

 

To be a sorcerer in Kandang is a great honor, as it proves that one is related (however distantly) to the royal ones of old, the Dragon-Kings of Kandang. However, it does make for some strange customs that are repellent to foreigners.

 

The best-known custom is that of blood preservation. In order to preserve the royal blood in its full strength, interbreeding among the royal family is not only common but required by law. Brothers are married to sisters and parents to children. The result of this is that several members of the dynasty are both physically and mentally unusual. Those with the strongest concentration of dragon blood sometimes have draconian characteristics, such as hourglass-shaped pupils, forked tongues or scaly-looking skin.

 

Lost Athul


This island was once home to the Myrrik, a species of sentient tentacled bipeds that have now died out, who worshipped a vast sea-beast as an incarnate deity.

 

Although the Myrrik never allowed visitors further inland than their ports, leading to speculation that they were carrying out horrible rites in their lopsided temples, they were still willing to trade. They supplied Xoth Sarandi with pearls, whale oil and fish in such quantities that a sea-portal was built by the harbor in order to deal with the volume of shipping.

 

Athul was lost in a titanic cataclysm that submerged the island completely. The Myrrik appear to have been wiped out entirely; the trading ships that came found thousands of floating dead bodies. The sea-portal is still standing.

 

Murduk Râm


This country of high mountains and eternal snow is under the control of a wise, benign monarch, King Kallimon, who remains neutral to the conflicts of his neighbors and has occasionally been able to broker diplomatic solutions to their differences. Nobody has ever been able to invade this country, as even the peasants seem to be schooled in martial arts.

 

There is an abundance of monasteries in Murduk Râm, which draw seekers from all the nations of the world. Those who would learn the fighting arts of the monk are well advised to pack light and travel to the mountains.

 

Qual


This region is thickly forested, with great rolling swathes of green land between the wooded regions. It is widely believed to be the most beautiful country in Ashfar of all the settled lands; it is certainly the least built upon. Qual is home to several thousand families of wood elves, who came here via the sea-portals from Xoth Sarandi and preferred life in the wild to the unending dream of Shallenoi.

 

There is also a huge half-elf population in Qual. This goes back to the time when the dragon Scalliandrax and the armies that were allied with him laid waste to the kingdom of Kandang, sending the populations of entire towns fleeing into the forests of Qual for shelter. They had previously had a superstitious fear of the forests and the elves that dwelt there, but the horror that was tearing their land apart was worse. The elves realized that the humans were unfit for life in the deep forest and would die without their help. They chose to shelter them, even going so far as to adopt some of them into their own families.

 

One thousand years after these events, there are very few pureblooded humans left in the forests of Qual. Almost the entire population is elven or half-elven.

 

Shallenoi


This was the original elven homeland, before Xoth Sarandi was discovered and colonized. It is the oldest continuous civilization in the world. Only that of the now-destroyed Myrrik was older. Many of the glorious temples, palaces and towers of Shallenoi have stood for three thousand years and are expected to stand for three thousand more. Nothing important has changed in all that time; the inhabitants seem almost as if they are living in a perfect dream. Shallenoi is a flawed paradise, a place simultaneously beautiful and stagnant, stifled under the weight of its own history.

 

There is more magic worked in Shallenoi than anywhere else in Ashfar. The country seems to run on it. At times it is as if the occupants would rather cast a spell than exert themselves in any other way, even for something so simple as to open or close a door, or lift a book from a shelf. The place is, as human wizards have been known to say, 'drunk on magic'.

 

The Shard


This island, once a small human prison colony, has been completely taken over by pirates. They prey on ships whose owners are too poor (or too mean) to pay to use the sea-portals and take the long overseas route to the Eagle Nations. The pirates of the Shard are not the only group of freebooters in the Incarnadine Ocean; there is at least one other major group, the sea-harriers, whose home is as yet undiscovered.

 

The Shard was really a self-created problem for Jehannum, Caldraza and Kahoor. When the Eagle Nations were still in their infancy, these countries used the Shard as a dumping ground for their undesirables, sending them there to live in exile as a preferable fate to execution. The criminals of the Shard soon organized themselves into an efficient force, making weapons from wood and using what limited magic they had to help shape metal. They were able to overpower a ship that came to deliver the next load of convicts, setting the prisoners free and using the ship to harass the colonists who were coming to the Eagle Nations to start a new life.

 

Reports tell of a Pirate Queen who rules the Shard, supposedly a former noble of Kahoor. The Shard has not been a prison colony for many years; new arrivals are born rather than brought in on ships. A child born in the Shard is raised to be one thing only: a rogue. The rogues trained up on the Shard sometimes make their way to other lands, where they put their skills to good use.

 

The Desert of Sharn


This bleak, sandy zone of dead land effectively seals off Jehannum and the northwestern countries from the remainder of the eastern continent. It is all but uninhabitable; only monsters, madmen and hard-bitten desert nomads live here.

 

As if the heat and lack of landmarks were not enough, large lodestone deposits cause magnetic compasses to behave erratically, making magic the only means of navigating the desert. There are legends of demon-haunted rock plateaus in the desert s centre, though these have never been confirmed.

 

Shumil


Whereas the colonization of the Eagle Nations was an every-man-for-himself affair, with warriors claiming whatever regions of the Scarred Land they could take, the colonization of Shumil was far more orderly.

 

Shumil was originally almost as inhospitable as the rest of the Horned Reaches. However, when colonists from Kahoor first arrived, they brought their distinctive irrigation and plateau cultivation methods with them, which quickly brought flourishing crops to the region. Shumil remains a satellite of the Kingdom of Kahoor, supplying that country with exotic spices and silks.

 

Its culture is much like that of Kahoor but without so much of the old world hierarchy. Shumil is a land of merchants, laborers and tradesmen, not of lords and serfs. Natives of Shumil are usually humorous, sarcastic and enterprising, quick to see the potential profit in any undertaking.

 

The Spine


Jagged mountains, known collectively as the Spine, encircle the southernmost landmass of Ashfar. These are not the immense ice peaks of Corona, but a series of broken crooked masses inhabited by frost giants and other monstrous creatures. The land around the South Pole is taboo; none of the residents of the outer mountains will go there. This is because it is a frozen battlefield. It preserves the ice-stiffened bodies of hundreds of dead frost giants and their warriors, a grim memorial of a time when the various giant clans waged war upon each other.

 

Svarth


This mountainous region is home to more dwarves than any other part of Ashfar. The rock is rich with precious mineral deposits and good iron ore, and the dwarves have tunneled deep to extract it. The dwarves of Svarth are on good terms with the humans of Jehannum, whose gritty, unsentimental, militaristic ways appeal to them. They have fought alongside them more than once, most notably in the Battle of the Azoic Sea.

 

The mountains to the northeast of Svarth are not populated by humanoids at all. They are one of the last places in Ashfar to be haunted by dragons. So long as the dragons are left alone, they are willing to leave the dwarves and humans alone. They pursue their own long-smoldering feuds and bitter territorial disputes.

 

The Topaz Dominions


This mighty kingdom of pyramids and sand dunes is ruled by a Sun King, who his people believe to be the earthly incarnation of a God. Its people are sun-browned and brawny, raised with a respect for wizardly magic, since human wizards are often in charge of the cities here. The Sun King s special infantry forces, the Phoenix Legions, are also priests of his faith, giving them the power to wield divine magic while in the fray.

 

The lands of the Topaz Dominions are strikingly different from the northern countries, in that buildings are made from clay and stone rather than bricks and mortar, and some of the finer items that one would expect to find are rare or missing altogether (such as sophisticated locks, full plate amour and rapiers). The people are content to live in a more technologically backward land, as the prevalence of magic makes many devices redundant.

 

Urmish


To the northeast of Visk are the hills, woods and low mountains of Urmish, which is the closest thing to a goblinoid nation anywhere on Ashfar. As with so many countries, the border with Visk is a river, in this case the river Blute.

 

Urmish contains massed tribes of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, ogres and bugbears, without any humanoid settlements at all. Only the jungles of Cendra are less civilized. The Wall of Grand Iora prevents the creatures of Urmish from moving south, while the river Blute and the tough natives of Visk keep them from moving further westwards. It is worth noting that 'Urmish' is the human name for this region; the population themselves do not have a name for it, nor do they even recognize it as a country. It is simply the place where they live.

 

Valjinn


The predominantly human Republic of Valjinn is a prosperous and stable country. With murky, damp Kandang to the south and the cryptic, bleak mountains of Murduk Râm to the north, Valjinn is a realm of stability between two extremes. The rulers, a council of elected representatives headed by a president referred to as the Falcon Elect, are based in the city of Sephardia.

 

There is considerable hostility between Kandang and Valjinn. Kandang once occupied the entire region south of Murduk Râm, including the forests of Qual and most of the southern portion of Kahoor. Under the benign (if autocratic) rule of the Dragon-Kings, the entire region was renowned for its wealth, magical prowess and the wisdom of its rulers.

 

Approximately a thousand years ago, many of the family of the Dragon-Kings were destroyed, along with their patron golden dragons. At the head of this massacre was the black dragon Scalliandrax, who had recently fought and overcome the silver dragon Aristeele above the mountains of Svarth and was now convinced of his own invulnerability. The rule of the golden ones in Kandang had been an annoyance to Scalliandrax for many years; he tore into their civilization without mercy. Many of the humans fled into the eastern forests (the land that is now Qual) for refuge, where groups of elves took pity on them and helped to shelter them.

 

In the chaos that followed, the remnants of the Dragon-Kings attempted to re-establish their rule over southern Kandang, while a group of ordinary humans were simultaneously rallying the survivors in the north. Without their dragon patrons to guide them, the Dragon-Kings rapidly became mere tyrants, demanding subjection and obeisance. This merely hardened the resolve of the rebels, who declared that Valjinn was to be an independent republic.

 

Vella


The hills of Vella are where the gnomes live. They have kept goodwill with their halfling neighbors in Verd for many years, though they are far more curious and eager to explore the world. The academies of Vella are acknowledged to be the best in the world where mechanical sciences and handcrafting are concerned and as a result, gnome artisans are in high demand. Trainee artisans spend a 'journeyman year' traveling the world, working wherever they are required, usually as jewelers, stonemasons or metal smiths.

 

The capital city of Vella is Quinazzi, the 'pale snow jewel', a city of canals, walkways and intricate stone fascias.

 

Verd


This green and peaceful country is the home of Ashfar's halflings. They live here as they have always lived, content and isolated from the world. The dangers here are very few; there are no monsters any more and even strangers from other races are uncommon. The elves of Xoth Sarandi intended to build a sea-portal by Verd but the halflings petitioned them not to, as they did not want their home opened up to the world. Their request was honored and Verd was left in peace.

 

Occasionally, a halfling born in Verd will find the peace and quiet unbearable and go adventuring, taking a ship to Jehannum, Caldraza or the Eagle Nations. Many halfling adventurers hail from Verd and have a strange mixture of homesickness and resentment for the place.

 

Visk


The Empire of Visk covers more ground than any other single dominion of Ashfar, ranging from the temperate eastern zones to the flat northern tundra where only the nomads and shamans go. The people of Visk were nomadic for many generations before they settled and are still most comfortable in the saddle, ranging from town to town. The horsemen of Visk are the finest in the world, whether they are the cavalry of the royal guard or the raiders who prey on the border towns.

 

The Emperor of Visk is Caranacus, who is sixty years old and looks forty, and rules his empire with the confidence of an unconquerable tyrant. He is known to have escaped death countless times, walking away from assassination attempts that left those around him torn to shreds.

 

Some say that Caranacus is no longer human, that he is some sort of vampire or incarnate ghost. Others claim that he is one and the same person as the historical conqueror Uzbal Jin, who subjugated the lands of western Visk eight hundred years ago and set an entire city to the torch when they did not capitulate quickly enough. Whatever he may truly be, his people all fear him, even those who adore him and would gladly die in his name.

 

There is an uneasy peace between Visk and Jehannum, though the nations have been at war more than once in the past. The Desert of Sharn forms a natural shield, though its northern coast is less harsh than its central region and invading armies can be (and have been) sent through it. The most celebrated failed invasion of Jehannum came three hundred years ago in the Battle of the Azoic Sea, when a massive force of troop ships from Visk attempted to land on the eastern coast of Jehannum and were repelled by the dwarves and humans of that land fighting together. The superior siege weaponry on the Jehannum side smashed dozens of the ships of Visk to splinters before they could make landfall.

 

The Waste


Beyond the limits of Boskenland and the Eagle Nations lies a zone of barren tundra that ultimately becomes an arctic wasteland. No humanoids have ever settled here, for though there is enough hunting to support life, the area is home to dreadful monsters that shun the warmer climes of the south. There are local tales of a snow warlock or ice queen (the legends vary) who has a frosty citadel in the depths of the Waste, but this has never been seen by human eyes.

 

The nearest settlement to the Waste is Ommersdale, a thriving town built upon the fur trade.

 

Xoth Sarandi


The island of Xoth Sarandi, home of the elven archmages, is the undisputed centre of the world. Around the island are titanic stone archways, the sea-portals, which connect to similar archways in far-off parts of the globe. This feat of magic has enabled the elves to colonize the various continents and keep their colonies supplied and defended, without having to risk the hazards of the open sea. Later, when the portals were made available to other races, they grew wealthy beyond measure from the fees they were able to charge from the use of their transport system.

 

Xoth Sarandi is the crossroads of the world. Almost all ocean-going traffic travels to its destination via this magical island. It is almost entirely urbanized, with two tiers to the city. The outer districts are those in which the other races live, along with those elves who are involved with shipping or trade. These districts are essentially a huge mass of dockland, with buildings ranging from salubrious structures of marble where ships with peacock sails lie in harbor all the way down to filthy warehouses and wharves where the worst excesses of the decadent can be indulged.

 

The inner districts are restricted to the elves and their few honored guests alone. They are, politically and magically, the most important regions in all of Ashfar, as they are the points from where the portal network is controlled. This system is the source of the ruling houses immense wealth and the enduring dominance of the elves, even though they no longer have colonies across the world and the sun has finally set on their empire.

 

The Gods


There are two distinct pantheons of deities to choose from. Most people/races worship the Avillon pantheon. Most elves worship the Callistan pantheon. Feel free to read both pantheons, but your character will likely only know scant information about each deity of his/her own pantheon of deities and full details of his/her own patron deity. Knowledge (religion) checks can give the full details below for either pantheon.

 

Avillon Pantheon


Aranu


Aranu is the high God of the pantheon, a personification of the Sun who bears a spear of golden fire. He is the Lawmaker of the Gods, setting limits on what even the divine beings may do. Aranu is the special patron deity of kings and tribal chiefs.

 

 

Domains: Sun, Law, War, Protection

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Favored Weapon: Spear

 

Blediwesse


Blediwesse is the flower-maiden of spring rain. She is the special patron goddess of unmarried maidens. She brings life to the earth after the ravages of winter, blessing the earth with the waters that cause plants to ripen. She is also a goddess of wells and rivers, who sends the waters of the natural springs for the good of men. Priestesses of Blediwesse must be virginal and often go crowned with flowers as part of their regalia.

 

 

Domains: Good, Healing, Earth, Water

Alignment: Neutral Good

Favored Weapon: Sickle

 

Firinna


Scarlet-haired Firinna is the quick-tempered goddess of the hearth and of battle. She is compared to the sudden spark that shoots from the fire and burns down your house when you are not looking. She represents the stubborn, selfish side of humanity and is a goddess of envy, resentment and grudges, though she is also the fiery spirit that inspires you to fight to your last breath.

 

 

Domains: Fire, War, Chaos, Trickery

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Favored Weapon: Longsword

 

Gahaira


Gahaira is the goddess of the north wind, the goddess of hunger, leanness, want and desolation. She is portrayed as an old woman with a lean face and straggly hair. She is mostly propitiated rather than worshipped, with offerings left for her as the evenings begin to grow dark, so that she will not blow too fiercely in the winter months. Men do not like to speak of her by name and refer to her instead by her title ‘the witch of November’.

 

 

Domains: Air, Evil, Destruction, Death

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Favored Weapon: Flail

 

Hernun


Hernun is the god of the hunt, who is eternally locked in the chase to bring down his brother Wohoon. Sometimes one brother will win, sometimes the other, but the hunt always begins afresh. Hernun represents man at his most basic, contending with the wild. Druids often revere him, though the more chaotic ones favor Wohoon. He is represented as a powerfully built man with antlers atop his head in honor of the beasts he hunts.

 

 

Domains: Animal, Protection, Travel, Strength

Alignment: Neutral

Favored Weapon: Bow

 

Old Heakun


This god is also called ‘the walker of the plains’. He is muddy brown in color and is the grandfather of the gods. Unlike them, he did not stay in the heavens and instead chose to wander the earth continually, examining this strange creation that he had made. It is said that Heakun placed megaliths along his path to mark where he had been, giving rise to the legend of invisible lines of force that crisscross the countryside.

 

 

Domains: Travel, Earth, Magic, Protection

Alignment: Neutral

Favored Weapon: Club

 

Hombel


Hombel is the innkeeper, the storesman, the god of preserving things. He is the one who gives you your due; as such, he is a god of justice, especially of the kind that is often called ‘karma’ in which you get what you give out. He is represented as a fat, jolly man with a sack over his shoulder. In the abstract, he is symbolized by a set of scales.

 

 

Domains: Good, Law, Protection, Strength

Alignment: Lawful Good

Favored Weapon: Mace

 

Merrithrawn


The bearded Merrithrawn is the God of bards, sometimes called the charm-singer. In legends, he is so persuasive that he can change the very machinery of the universe to suit himself, simply by talking it around. Rogues often favor Merrithrawn, as he embodies the charm and panache that lets you talk your way out of a sticky situation.

 

 

Domains: Knowledge, Luck, Magic, Trickery

Alignment: Neutral Good

Favored Weapon: Short sword

 

Wandul


Wandul is the holly-crowned god of the winter months, the god of the cold and the dark. He comes when the darkness begins to grow greater than the light. As with many of the darker gods of the pantheon, the only time when he is worshipped is when people want him to stay away. Worshippers of Wandul are few and are usually fighters or barbarians who revere him as a challenging, grim deity of strength. Some humans believe that Wandul was originally a god of the giants, left behind from an earlier time.

 

 

Domains: Death, Destruction, Plant, Strength

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Favored Weapon: Heavy mace

 

Wohoon


Wohoon is the god of the wild things, brother to Hernun. He is not fully human and has the ears and teeth of a wolf. There is nothing of civilization about him at all. The only worshippers of Wohoon are druids and those who live their lives in the outdoors. Everyone else is content to honor him for what he is – the wild, animal nature that they have left behind.

 

 

Domains: Animal, Trickery, Chaos, Strength

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Favored Weapon: Greatclub

 

Yosa


Yosa charm-weaver is the Goddess of all crafters and makers, from the blacksmith and woodcarver to the seamstress and even the stonemason. She is depicted as a statuesque woman with long scarlet hair, bearing the wheel that is her sacred symbol. The wheel represents all crafts, being simultaneously the potter’s wheel, the spinner’s treadle and the waggoner’s cartwheel. Hers is the knowledge that is passed down within the home; not just the simple business of managing a house but the crafter’s art, vitally important in a cottage industry in which each home is also a place of business.

 

 

As the Goddess who manipulates matter into new patterns, she is also a Goddess of magic and of weaving the threads of invisible force. Clerics of Yosa favor the magic of the hearth and home above the more convoluted rituals of high magic. Images of Yosa in clay are often kept above the hearth beside those of Hombul, to protect the house.

 

Alignment: Lawful Good

Domains: Law, Magic, Knowledge, Protection

Favored Weapon: Sling

 

Callistan Pantheon


Arosi


Arosi is the pale Goddess of intoxication. As such, she is honored and feared by elven society; honored for the rapture her gifts bring and feared for the dangerous rage that can result. Her image is placed upon chalices and drinking vessels in order to secure her blessing and remind her that she is not forgotten. Among the elves, it is customary (when drinking at a formal occasion) to pour at least one bottle of wine on the ground in honor of fair Arosi, as a libation.

 

 

Her patronage extends to all things that appear enticing and yet conceal peril for the unwise, such as flowers that are beautiful but secrete poisons. She is not evil, but she is dangerous. She takes the form of a beautiful, slender elven woman with ice-blonde hair and a deceptively innocent smile.

 

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Dominions: Chaos, Luck, Plant, Trickery

Favored Weapon: Dagger

 

Brith


When the star goddess Nuith first attempted to create a light for her children on earth to see by, she gave birth to the goddess Lumiya, the moon. Although the elves saw well enough by the silver light of Lumiya, it was too changeable and faint for the other creatures and so Nuith focused her will and created the brilliant light of Brith, the sun.

 

 

Brith is the sun god of the Callistan pantheon and the chief deity of all. With the exception of the insane god Jubb, the other gods acknowledge his authority and obey his commands.

 

He appears as a powerfully built male elf, armored with golden chainmail and bearing a double-handed sword that shines like the sun. In place of his original left hand is a mechanical one made from mithral.

 

Brith is worshipped by all, but especially by warriors and nobles.

 

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Dominions: Good, Law, Fire, Sun

Favored Weapon: Greatsword

 

Jubb


The fearsome Jubb is pale as a corpse and has eyes of dull red. He is utterly insane. To the elves, he symbolizes the battle-madness that can take over a warrior’s mind. He was the first male child of Nuith but was found unfit to rule, because of his madness. He represents the wildness that the civilized elves are proud to have outgrown. Wild elves often revere Jubb, seeing in his madness a spontaneity and joy in life that is to be emulated.

 

 

Jubb dresses in spiked amour whose pieces seem to have come from several different sources. It is chaotic and ill matched, covered with chains and hooks, decorated with checkerboard patterns in one place and grinning demon faces in other.

 

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Dominions: Animal, Chaos, Destruction, War

Favored Weapon: The dire flail; the many spikes of the head representing the star of chaos.

 

Kyros Threadcutter


Kyros is the elven god of law, reason and exactitude. He clears away illusion and reveals truth. Those who ensure that the Law is kept, such as city officials, lawyers and guardsmen, worship him. Despite his intellectual prowess, he is a very popular God among warriors, as he also stands for honesty and plain speaking.

 

 

In a party of adventurers, a priest of Kyros will insist on action over debate.

 

Kyros is depicted as a grave young man in dark clothing, wearing ornaments of office and carrying a lamp. His symbolic weapon is the rapier, adopted by the priests because of its piercing directness.

 

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Domains: Law, Knowledge, Strength, Sun

Favored Weapon: Rapier

 

Lumiya


Lumiya is the elven goddess of the moon. She rules the night as Brith rules the day. She was the first of the gods to emerge from the starry body of Nuith and carries more of her mother’s wisdom than any of the other children. She is the goddess of those who prophesy the future and has a special dominion over the hours of rest, when elves enter trance. This means she is also goddess of dreams, which often bring visions of what is to come and of healing, which is greatly aided by sleep.

 

 

The light of Lumiya is also that by which night creatures hunt. She is both the protector of animals and the patroness of hunting. If an animal escapes the chase, then it is said that Lumiya has blessed it; if the hunting party brings home meat, then thanks are given to Lumiya. Finally, as the changing moon, she is patroness of the tides of the sea.

 

Alignment: Neutral Good

Domains: Animal, Healing, Knowledge, Water

Favored Weapon: The sickle, representative of the crescent moon.

 

Melmoth


Gaunt, saturnine Melmoth, sometimes called ‘the king of shreds and patches’, takes the form of a male elf with black hair in straggly tangles. His features are hollow, as if he had gone hungry for many days. His clothes are tattered and torn and he wears a long, hooded cloak.

 

 

Melmoth never rests, moving on from place to place eternally. As a God who exemplifies both magic and ceaseless wandering, he is thus the God of all those elven mages who take their magic from town to town, looking for employment. He personifies the need that many elves feel for solitude and distance from the claustrophobic nature of cities, as well as the wanderlust that draws so many of them to roam far from their homes. Followers of Melmoth generally enjoy good relations with druids, as they share their respect for wild spaces. Many bards also worship him, because of their wandering ways.

 

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Domains: Chaos, Magic, Knowledge, Travel

Favored Weapon: The quarterstaff, which is both the staff of the traveler and the characteristic weapon of the wizard.

 

Nuith


The goddess Nuith is more of a primal force than a deity. She is the starry heaven itself, from which all else emerged. The elves believe her to be the mother of all earthly life, whether evil or good. That which is ‘of Nuith’ is necessary to existence. Alien forces, magical aberrations or demons from other planes, are not ‘of Nuith’. They are to be feared and guarded against.

 

 

Nuith does not have clerics. She is too distant and universal to be worshipped at all.

 

Domains: Nuith does not have domains, as she is not worshipped and has no priesthood.

 

Valkazz


Valkazz the Childfree is the goddess of warrior women. She is called ‘the Childfree’ not because she is virginal, but because she stands for a way of life that does not involve bringing up the young. In the elven religions, women who choose a path other than that of child-rearing and home-making are respected for it. Although males may enter her service, her clerics are always female. Priestesses of Valkazz often worship her with riotous celebration that would put any men’s feast to shame.

 

 

While a cleric of Valkazz is engaged in active temple service, she may take as many husbands as she wishes, but may not become a mother. Should she become pregnant, she must retire from temple service until the child is born, in which event it is either given over to be adopted or the priestess retires altogether, a much rarer event.

 

Valkazz is depicted as a female elf dressed in leather amour, with broad shoulders and braided waist-length hair. In addition to being a goddess of war, she is also a bringer of favorable winds, so it is customary for an image of Valkazz to be placed at the prow of a ship.

 

Alignment: Neutral

Domains: Air, Destruction, Strength, War

Favored Weapon: Battleaxe

 

Vendyss


The voluptuous Vendyss is the Goddess of the volcano’s heart. In the Callistan pantheon, she has presidency over all things of fire, metal and searing heat. She is depicted as a woman wreathed in fire, with hair the color of metals in a forge. Legends relate that when she lay down to rest in the aftermath of creation, her flaming hair spread through the cooling mantle of the earth, in strands of silver and gold and glimmering copper. These then became the filigree threads of ore that trail through the rock and can be restored back to metal once again with the application of her own fire.

 

 

Clerics of Vendyss are typically weapon smiths, armor smiths and jewelers. Those who make their living working with metal rely on her blessings to prosper at their trade. As she is the Goddess of precious metals and of fortunes found under the earth, she is also considered to be the Goddess of wealth itself, bringing good luck at the time when it is most needed. Her weapon is the trident, which resembles a flaming torch cast in metal. Clerics of Vendyss have a great respect for non-evil dragons, will always assist them if they are in need and will never assault one except in self-defense.

 

Alignment: Neutral Good

Dominions: Earth, Good, Fire, Luck

Favored Weapon: Warhammer

 

Patron Star Benefits


One (and only one) of the benefits can be invoked once per game session. As the benefit is a manifestation of fate, it takes the form of a luck bonus to the stated check. A result of ‘automatic success’ gives the minimum result necessary to indicate success, no more. The ability can only be used when the skill check DC is 20 or less.

 

Appendix 1: Signature Weapons


Each Starborn has a weapon (or a set of armour or a shield) that is his by right. It belonged to his predecessor and now belongs to him. However, he does not start the game with it. If he wants to reclaim it, he must go searching for it. The first of these items, the sword of Starkweather John, is relatively easy to find and is intended to introduce the Player Characters to the concept of signature items.

 

All signature items have the following features in common:

  • Their special features cannot be accessed by anyone other than the Starborn to whom they belong. Only the relevant enhancement bonus is available. For example, a +3 flaming burst weapon in the hands of anyone but the Starborn whose weapon it is can only ever function as a +3 weapon.
  • As signature items are closely linked to individual people, their powers are not fixed. Each Starborn who bears the item in his time can express different powers through it. The powers of signature items are directly linked to the experience level of the character. As the character’s level increases, he may add augmentations to the weapon. These choices, once made, cannot easily be revoked. Only when the character gains a new level of experience can he reconfigure the item’s powers.
  • All signature items begin as ordinary +1 versions of the item. When a Starborn character first claims an item that belongs to him (defined as the moment when he picks it up) he may configure it as described below.

 

Assigning powers to a signature item works like building a magic item from scratch. There are a certain number of points to assign, determined by the character’s overall level. These can be translated into a simple enhancement bonus or into an ability of an equivalent bonus value. See DMG for these.

 

The character’s level also determines the maximum enhancement bonus that may be incorporated into the weapon. Even if you have four bonus points to allocate, you cannot give a weapon a +4 enhancement bonus until you reach 10th level.

Character Level Item Bonus Points Maximum Enhancement Bonus
1 +1 +1
2 +1 +1
3 +2 +1
4 +2 +2
5 +3 +2
6 +3 +2
7 +4 +3
8 +4 +3
9 +5 +3
10 +5 +4
11 +6 +4
12 +6 +4
13 +7 +5
14 +7 +5
15 +8 +5
16 +8 +5
17 +9 +5
18 +9 +5
19 +10 +5
20 +10 +5

 

Examples of Signature Items


The Starborn hero Roderick, a fighter, discovers the Sword of Starkweather John in the village of Bronce. He is first level, so the sword is the equivalent of an ordinary +1 longsword for him. Upon reaching third level, Roderick has an additional bonus point to use. He cannot simply make the sword into a +2 longsword, because its maximum enhancement bonus is still +1 for now. If he wants to alter the weapon, he must therefore add a special ability that is the equivalent of a +1 bonus. Consulting the lists in DMG, Roderick’s Player opts to make the weapon a +1 flaming longsword.

 

When Roderick reaches his fourth level of experience, he may reconfigure the item if he wishes. As the item’s maximum enhancement bonus is now +2, he now has the option to make it a +2 longsword without the flaming special ability, or to replace the flaming special ability with a different special ability that is worth a +1 bonus. He chooses to increase the enhancement bonus, so the sword is now a +2 flaming longsword.

 

A second hero, the wizard Alcofribias, claims the Staff of Niasmah from its resting place. Alcofribias is ninth level. He may immediately configure the staff’s powers. He has five bonus points to allocate, with a maximum enhancement bonus of +3. He opts to make the item into a +1 staff with the brilliant energy special ability.

 

Level Loss and Signature Items


When characters lose experience levels, their signature items are also affected if their lowered level would result in fewer bonus points for the item. Maximum enhancement bonus does not apply in the case of lowered levels. The appropriate number of bonus points is ‘frozen’ and cannot be used, which will result in the temporary loss of a special ability or an enhancement bonus.

 

The character must choose how this affects the item. Suspending even one point from a special ability cancels that ability completely. The character cannot reconfigure the item until he regains the experience level he had when he last modified it. No item can have its enhancement bonus reduced to less than +1 by level loss.

 

Example 1: Roderick is hit by a wight and unfortunately loses an experience level the next day as a result. As he still has the same number of bonus points available at third level as he did at fourth, his sword is not affected. He cannot, however, reconfigure the item until he reaches fourth level once more.

 

Example 2: Alcofribias is slain in combat and has his soul returned to his body. He loses a level of experience and is returned to life. He must now suspend an aspect of his staff until he returns to ninth level. He cannot reduce the enhancement bonus, as it is already at its lowest permissible level of +1, so he has to suspend the brilliant energy special ability. The staff now functions for him as a +1 staff.

 

Appendix 2: Mass Battles


The following rules are intended to simulate Player Character involvement in a large-scale battle. If the Games Master wants to play out any of the battles in these books as a wargame scale event, then a system such as the Open Mass Combat System from The Book of Strongholds and Dynasties (Mongoose Publishing) can be used.

 

What These Rules Are For


The point of this section is not to provide war game rules for d20. It is meant to make huge battles enjoyable for the Player Characters and give them a chance to take part in a meaningful way. Usually, when a large battle takes place, the Games Master can either run the Player Characters through dozens of combat encounters (which takes far too long) or shift the Player Characters to the background and use war game rules to resolve the battle, which does not give the Players a sense of participation unless they are lucky enough to have a command position.

 

If the Games Master wants, he can just use the battle encounter rules below and forget about the rules for resolving the battle’s outcome. When an epic scale battle takes place in an adventure, the Games Master usually knows beforehand which side is most likely to win. The important thing is for the Players to feel like they can make a difference.

 

Command, Combat or Uninvolved?


The first decision to make is what part the character will play in the coming battle. Will he be directing the movement of troops from a safe vantage point, taking part in the actual fighting as a member of either army, or choosing his own course with the battle as a backdrop?

 

Command


Only one character on each side in the battle can have a command position. In very large battles, this character will usually be a general, giving orders from a secure station. In smaller ones, the character may well be fighting on the field along with the other warriors. Other officers contribute to the general’s battle checks but do not directly influence the battle’s outcome.

 

The battle checks made by the generals decide the battle. The characters at the troop level occasionally have a chance to influence the outcome by achieving tactical objectives but for the most part, their role is simply to fight and to stay alive.

 

Inexperienced Player Characters are very unlikely to be placed in command of a whole force. A Player Character will not be given command until he is at least sixth level (and capable of gaining the Leadership feat) so a Non-Player Character will almost always take the command position.

 

A good example of a Player Character in a position of command is a paladin, praying for divine guidance and directing the defence of a city.

 

Combat


Player Characters with this position are in the battle as combatants and expected to fight. They are given orders, deployed into the field and lined up against the combatants on the other side. This position is the most dangerous one that a Player Character can take. It places you right in the thick of the action, offering plenty of opportunities to get at the enemy and make a real difference.

 

Combatants are always identifiable as such, as the forces engaging in combat need to know who is friend and who is foe. To this end, they usually wear uniforms or sashes, carry standards or wear a given device on their shield.

 

A good example of a Player Character in a combat position is a fighter, armoured in full plate, carving his way through the enemy ranks.

 

Uninvolved


Player Characters with this position are not considered to be part of the battle, though it can still affect them and they can affect it. Uninvolved Player Characters are almost always characters who would not fit in to a typical army unit, such as rogues, druids or wizards. The general on their side does not consider them to be subordinates, though he may ask them to carry out special assignments. Unlike Player Characters in combat positions, uninvolved Player Characters are not given encounters every battle round, so long as they remain uninvolved. Their participation is handled as if it were ordinary narrative gaming, with the battle as backdrop.

 

Uninvolved Player Characters are only considered uninvolved so long as they stay out of the area where the battle is going on. They are thus in a perfect position to carry out tactical assignments, such as sniping at extreme range, espionage on the enemy position, use of spells to confuse the enemy forces and so on.

 

While they remain uninvolved, the encounters they face are entirely up to the Games Master. However, if they become directly involved in the combat (such as by being noticed by a sentry, or targeted by the enemy general) then they take on the Combat position by default, with the Games Master deciding the level of risk as appropriate to the circumstances under which they became involved in the fighting.

 

Keeping Track of the Action


The Games Master should be able to tell the Player Characters what the opposing sides are doing and where they are, more to help them visualise the action and their part in it than because it makes a difference to the battle’s outcome. The only time at which the whereabouts of troops becomes relevant is when the generals are deciding upon tactical objectives. For example, you cannot charge the gates if there are no troops in range.

 

The Battle Round and Battle Check


A battle round is a five minute period. Every battle round, the generals of the opposing sides each make battle checks. A battle check is always an opposed check, whether the battle involves a simple combat of force against force, or more complicated objectives.

 

The winner of the battle check has ‘the tide of battle’ in his favour. The amount by which he beat his opponent may bring additional advantages.

 

The Battle Check


A battle check is made as follows:

 

1d20 + command bonus + troop strength bonus

 

Command Bonus


Seasoned commanders are more effective in the field and can direct troops more efficiently. Strategic skill derives from a combination of combat experience and native intelligence.

 

A general’s command bonus is derived from his command rating, as shown in the table below. To calculate a general’s command rating, add together his fighter levels, half his levels in other classes and his Intelligence modifier. If he has levels as a warrior instead, then add his warrior levels minus one. Other factors, such as the Leadership feat, increase a general’s command rating as follows:

 

Leadership feat: +4 to command rating.

 

Skill ranks in military command Profession: Add half the total skill ranks to the command rating.

 

Capable officers: Generals benefit from having capable officers on the field. Each such officer adds half his fighter or warrior levels (and one-quarter of his levels in other classes) to the general’s command rating. However, the total benefit from officers cannot exceed the general’s total number of fighter or warrior levels. In addition, when these officers are killed, their benefit is lost.

 

Command Rating Command Bonus
1-5 +0
6-10 +1
11-15 +2
16-20 +3
21-25 +4
26-30 +5

 

If the general in command of an army is killed, incapacitated or otherwise prevented from giving orders, then his designated replacement must assume command, if he has one. An army that has no commander suffers a –2 penalty to all battle checks and has the target number for all tactical objectives increased by +2, since achieving tactical objectives depends on co-ordination and leadership.

 

Troop Strength Bonus


Troop strengths are decided by comparing the size and might of the two contending armies. Assign the stronger army a troop strength bonus, depending upon the amount by which it outnumbers the opposition, the superiority of its weapons, the quality of its armour, any special attacks and so on. This can be any figure from +1 to +50. It is decided only by the constraints of the story.

 

Troop strength is the factor that, more than any other, represents a reduction of the many complexities of the d20 system into a single raw statistic. In blunt terms, it represents who is most likely to win and how quickly it will happen.

 

As this is a story concern rather than a function of the rules mechanics, do not worry too much about translating monsters and the like into troop strength numbers. Just decide, as Games Master, which side is the strongest. What kind of a battle is it? Are the Player Characters leading a surprise assault on an unsuspecting enemy stronghold, holding out while hoping desperately for reinforcements, or waiting to meet an honourable

foe on the field?

 

The detail of the armies’ clash, in which the nature of the creatures making up the army becomes relevant, is played out through the Player Character involvement. The battle checks are just to decide the general flow of the battle and the achievement of tactical goals.

 

Modifiers


Various factors beyond the strength of the troops and the efficiency of the generals influence the outcome of the battle and determine its progress.

 

Who Is On The Offensive?


The first question to answer in each battle round is which side is on the offensive. In almost all situations, one side will mostly be attacking and the other side defending. Even when two forces clash on an open plain, the battle usually begins with one side charging at the other.

 

If the offensive force has the tide of battle on its side after the battle check, then it inflicts more casualties. If the defensive force has the tide, then it suffers fewer.

 

If, as a result of the battle check beating the opponents’ by five or more, the offensive side earns bonus consequences, then it inflicts higher casualties and suffers fewer; vice versa for the defensive. Thus, an offensive force with good tactical command can massacre opponents without suffering many losses, while a defensive force that is expertly deployed can repel or rout attackers without itself taking much damage.

 

Some forces receive bonuses when they are on the offensive, others when they are on the defensive. For example, a force that includes large numbers of barbarian warriors excels at offence, while a phalanx of armoured dwarves excels at defence. The shape of the battlefield and the initial deployment of the forces will usually determine which side is attacking and which is defending. This usually stays the same for the duration of the battle.

 

Going on the Offensive or Defensive


A general who was previously on the offensive can choose to go on the defensive. If the other side does not immediately answer this by taking up the offensive role, then the general has withdrawn from the field and conceded the battle. For example, a horde of hobgoblins that had swept down from the woods and encountered unexpectedly heavy resistance in a town could begin to retreat back to the woods.

 

A general who was on the defensive can switch to the offensive, though he may only do so in response to the other side’s decision to go on the defensive. If he does so, he forfeits any bonuses to his battle check that defensive factors had given him. For example, a force might ride out from a castle to pursue a fleeing enemy, or charge down a hill towards an enemy force that was beating a retreat.

 

It is worth noting that some generals will go on the defensive purely in order to trick their opponents into giving up their welldefended positions.

 

Battle Check Outcomes

Result Offensive Defensive
Wins by less than 5 Inflicts 1 Inflicts 0*
Wins by 5-10 Inflicts 2 Inflicts 1
Wins by 11-15 Inflicts 3 Inflicts 2
Wins by 16-20 Inflicts 5 Inflicts 3
Wins by 21-25 Inflicts 8 Inflicts 5
Wins by 26-30 Inflicts 12 Inflicts 8

*If the offensive side was trying to achieve a tactical objective,

then the defensive side inflicts one casualty.

 

Terrain Modifiers


Terrain almost always benefits the defender. The following set of examples shows the kind of bonus to the defender’s battle check that should be applied.

 

Defender’s Position Battle Check Bonus
On a low hill +2
On a high hill +3
In a wood +4
Surrounded by a berm +5
On battlements* +10

*Defenders cannot take casualties unless the attackers have ranged weapons.

 

Tactical Objectives


A tactical objective is a goal to be achieved by one side or the other. Put simply, when you achieve a tactical objective, your forces gain access to a part of the battlefield from that they previously could not reach.

 

Almost all tactical objectives involve destroying, breaking through or taking control of a defensive feature. Invading a keep, breaking a wall of pikes and pushing through defenders into a cavern are all examples of tactical objectives.

 

Battle Check DCs for Given Objectives


The Games Master must assign battle check target numbers to any tactical objectives that the generals choose to aim for. To achieve the objective, the general’s battle check must beat his opponent’s by at least the stated amount.

 

This is mainly a narrative feature, giving meaning and structure to battles by allowing Player Characters to keep up with significant developments: the orcs are kept from the walls, the bridge is destroyed, the messenger escapes the field and so on.

 

Achievement of objectives may, at the Games Master’s discretion, have an impact on the whole battle. See under ‘Major Changes to the Battle’ below. The easy way to judge these changes is to interpret them as cancellations (or adoptions) of bonuses that the other side had, or assignment of new bonuses due to a better deployment. For example, if the defensive side was benefiting from the shelter of a stockade that was then destroyed, simply cancel the bonus. If the offensive side was able to deploy archers on a high hill, award them a suitable bonus.

 

Objective Battle Check Target
Take a low hill defended by human warriors +2
Break a shield wall +4
Storm over a berm +6
Break a dwarven shield wall +6
Get a siege tower in position +8
Smash down a fortified castle gate +10

 

Note that some features, such as major defensive emplacements, both provide a bonus to the defender’s battle check and increase the difficulty of taking them over. This is because attacking such a target is difficult but taking it over is more difficult still.

 

Casualties


When the battle check result indicates so, significant casualties are inflicted. During battle, casualties are always being taken, sometimes heavy, sometimes light.

 

Taking Losses


This system does not keep track of troop numbers. Instead, losses are expressed as a cumulative troop loss penalty to the generals’ battle checks. Assume that losses are always taking place. The system only records those losses that are significant; that is, the instances when one side suffers many more casualties than the other.

 

Troop loss is measured as a penalty. Do not deduct troop loss from any troop strength bonus that a side may have. Troop strength is a measure of how inherently powerful a side is and how much it outnumbers the other side by.

 

Rout


Rout is what happens when one side inflicts heavy losses on the other and their morale begins to crack. When a side begins to rout, troops may either flee the field in panic, or be cut off from support and slaughtered.

 

When a given side in battle has suffered troop loss that exceeds the enemy’s troop loss by three or more, it is in danger of rout. At the beginning of each round of battle, the commander must make a single battle check and consult the table below. If, following the round, the troop loss figures return to within three of each other, then the check does not need to be made next round.

 

Special Modifiers: This battle check benefits from a +2 circumstance bonus if the side is on the offensive. The commander may also add his Charisma ability score modifier to the check.

 

Rout Check

Battle Check Result Consequence Result
Below 5 Total rout Side disperses or is massacred, battle lost
6-10 Many troops flee or are trapped 1d4 troop loss
11-15 Some troops flee or are trapped 1 troop loss
16+ Side holds firm None

 

 

Reckless Attacking


A general may order a reckless attack at any time. In a reckless attack, troops are sent in without concern for their safety. For example, rushing at a charging foe or running uphill to attack archers are both reckless attacks. This tactic adds a bonus to the general’s battle check result for that round, from +1 to +5, at the cost of an equivalent troop loss penalty on later rounds. Reckless attacks are most commonly made to achieve difficult tactical objectives.

 

Player Involvement


This section covers how battles affect Player Characters individually.

 

Deciding Risk Level


Each Player Character involved in the battle must decide his risk level. This is either Low, Medium or High. The risk level reflects a combination of factors including how close to the front line the Player Character is, what sort of targets he is going after and how likely he is to leave himself without support from the rest of the army.

 

The more risk to which a Player Character exposes himself, the more likely it is that his efforts will have an impact on the whole battle. This impact can be in the nature of a boost to morale, such as when a Player Character captures an enemy standard; it can be a change to the other side’s military strength, such as when a Player Character topples an enemy siege tower; it can even involve crippling the other side’s tactical competence, such as when a Player Character is able to kill one of the other side’s commanders.

 

Only Players Character can make these differences deliberately. Non-Player Character warriors are suited to take on opponents of a similar stature to themselves, while Players Character tend to seek out enemy champions, or try to take on key targets like war elephants or siege engines.

 

No Risk: Uninvolved characters are not at risk. However, sometimes characters who are involved in an especially large battle are not at risk simply because there are so many troops or fortifications between them and the enemy. The option to choose a risk level of ‘None’ may only be taken if the Games Master allows it. It represents the Player’s Character keeping himself in a secure location, such as a command tent or inner keep. As the battle progresses, the option may disappear altogether.

 

Major Changes to The Battle


A peal of thunder rolls across the battlefield and it begins to rain; soon the cavalry is mired in thick mud. The drow sneak an explosive device to the city gates and blow them wide open, allowing the army outside to flood in. After many hours of battle, night falls. A sapper successfully collapses a tunnel under the castle walls, bringing down a whole corner of the building. The heroes destroy the evil artefact they were seeking and a massive blast tears through the enemy citadel. Do these occurrences make a difference? Indeed they do.

 

Since the battles unfold as part of a story, it is not only possible but likely that unforeseen events will influence what happens. Furthermore, the Player Characters are the most likely people to create these events. Independent Player Characters have more freedom and individuality than any other agent on the field. To them, the battle is the backdrop for the heroic deeds they do. When an event takes place that gives either side either an advantage or a disadvantage, the Games Master must assess the scale and apply the result by fiat. For example, the arrival of reinforcements cancels penalties from troop loss. Adverse weather conditions, such as rain or fog, usually benefit the defending side.

 

If the event helps with the possible achievement of a tactical objective, then lower the battle check target accordingly. For example, if a Player Character personally fells five of the guards who were standing fast on a berm, then drop the check target from +5 to +4.

 

However, if the event actually achieves the objective at a stroke, then use the event as the guide to what happens, not the battle check result. For example, if a Player Character destroys a castle gate with a disintegrate spell, then the battle check target does not apply.

 

Battle Encounter


All Player Characters in the Combat position are assigned encounters with each battle round. This represents the number and strength of enemy warriors that they must face. It also gives them the opportunity to challenge key figures on the battlefield or assist with the achievement of tactical objectives.

 

Roll 1d100 and consult the table below to determine battle encounters. Where there is an ‘or’ option, the Player Character can choose which challenge to face.

 

Battle Encounters

1d100 Low Risk Medium Risk High Risk
01-10 No encounter No encounter No encounter
11-25 No encounter No encounter 1d4 opponents
26-50 No encounter 1 opponent Minor Hero OR 1d6 opponents
51-65 1 opponent 1d4 opponents Minor Officer and 1d4 opponents
66-90 1d4 opponents Minor Hero OR 1d6 opponents Major Hero and 1d4 opponents OR 2d4 opponents
91-95 Minor Hero OR 1d6 opponents Minor Officer and 1d4 opponents Major Officer and 2d4 opponents or Minor Hero
96-00 Major Hero OR 2d4 opponents Major Hero OR 2d4 opponents Major Officer and Major Hero or 3d6 opponents

 

 

Opponents


Where opponents are referred to, this means an encounter with the type of creature that makes up the rank and file of the army. In the majority of battles, these will be ordinary 1st level warriors.

 

Minor Heroes


A minor hero is not in a position of command but is still bigger, tougher or more frightening than the rest of the enemies around him. A typical minor hero is the ‘most vicious guy in the platoon’ – he is not the commander but is still looked up to by the rest of the warriors. Minor heroes are typically two to three levels above the rank and file. They are usually warriors, though a few can be spellcasters. An easy way to generate a minor hero is to take an ordinary warrior, use the elite array for his ability scores and add two more warrior levels.

 

Minor heroes have the same quality of equipment that their comrades-in-arms do.

 

Major Heroes


Major heroes are Non-Player Characters in their own right. They have a special role to play on the battlefield, usually that of dealing massive amounts of damage or providing some specialist service such as healing or spellcasting. They are five to six levels above the rank and file. Major heroes in monstrous armies are almost always giants or similar large creatures. They could also be war elephants, constructs or even dragons.

 

Having major heroes on the field is a great way to add excitement and interest to a battle. Player Characters tend to make a beeline for them, especially if they are large monsters.

 

Non-living battle engines, such as siege machines also count as major heroes. If the battle contains siege machines, the Games Master can substitute one for a major hero; in this case, the opponents encountered along with it are its operating crew.

 

Minor Officers


These officers are in command of small units. In troops of humans and similar races, they are usually fighters or aristocrats as opposed to warriors. An officer’s role is to direct the fighting, not to be the first to join in with it. Among monstrous humanoids and goblinoids, minor officers can also be adepts or sorcerers. Officers are never encountered unaccompanied.

 

A minor officer is usually two to three levels above the rank and file. Their equipment is always of superior quality to that of the bulk of the warriors, especially their armour. Most minor officers take the Leadership feat if they are eligible. Officers typically have some insignia to identify them as such, such as a sash, tabard or a design upon their shield, so that the troops know where to find them in the heat of battle.

 

Major Officers


Major officers are in command of multiple units. The general of each side is a major officer. They contribute directly to the general’s command rating. Hence, killing or incapacitating a major officer is a serious blow to the army. For this reason, major officers will always be accompanied by a hero or by multiple warriors.

 

Major officers are at least six levels above the rank and file. They should be created as Non-Player Characters, with names and abilities filled out. Officers’ reputations are widely known; the soldiers on each side will point them out to one another. This way, when the Player Characters encounter them, they will know who they are dealing with.

 

Major officers have superior equipment and may also have magic items. As a rule of thumb, equip them as if their total wealth was 150% of that given for Non-Player Character gear value in DMG, as the items they have are not always their own personal property but are sometimes given to them by their generals to use on the field.

 

Prior Wounding


The enemies that the Player Characters encounter on the battlefield will not always be at full hit points. Like the Player Characters themselves, they will have fought with other opponents before. The more troop losses the side has suffered, the more likely it is that individual warriors will be injured. In the closing stages of a battle, it is relatively easy for Player Characters to find opponents who are already weary and bloodied and finish them off. Commanders are the exception, as they usually refrain from entering into combat.

 

When a Player Character encounters any enemy except for a non-combatant commander, roll 1d20 and subtract the side’s total troop loss penalty. The table below shows what proportion of their original hit points the enemies have. Apply the same result to all enemies encountered in a group.

Prior Wounding

Check Result Hit Point Total
5 or less 25%
6-10 50%
11-15 75%
16-20 Full hit points

 

Combat During Battle


Combat in the course of a battle is played out just as any other fight would be. The only difference is that there are hundreds of other fights going on all around. Even if the Player Character in question has dozens of allies to either side, they are not considered to be included in the fight, as they have their own fights to worry about. The Player Character’s battle encounters represent the foes that he, personally, must face.

 

The exception to this is when two or more Player Characters have chosen to be in the same place on the field. When this happens, roll a single battle encounter and apply the result for all. For example, an attack by a single enemy becomes an attack by one enemy per character. In the event of multiple enemies, roll separately for each character present.

 

The encounter table given is for generic battle. Using this table as a guide, the Games Master can create suitable encounter tables for other battles, to reflect the likely challenges that Player Characters can encounter.

 

Morale Boost


A Player Character who successfully defeats a significant opponent (minor hero, major hero, minor officer or major officer) may attempt to boost the morale of the troops around him by drawing attention to his victory. He makes an immediate Charisma ability score check (DC 20). Any troop loss penalties sustained so far by his side are added as a circumstance penalty to this check, while any troop loss penalties sustained by the other side are added as a circumstance bonus. In addition, slaying a major hero or major officer adds a +2 circumstance bonus to this check, while slaying the general adds a +4 circumstance bonus.

 

If the Charisma check is successful, then the Player Character’s side gains a +1 morale bonus to all battle checks made in the next battle round.

 

Trying To Reach a Given Opponent


Sometimes, a Player Character will be able to see a given opponent from far off and will do his best to reach him. For example, a hill giant might be hurling rocks, or a ballista firing deadly javelins into the ranks. In this case, the Player Character is trying to direct the action rather than waiting to see what the Battle Encounters table brings up for him.

 

In this event, simply identify the Player Character’s chosen objective from among the possible battle encounters. If his battle encounter roll comes up with that type of objective, then he has reached his target. For example, if a Player Character wanted to reach a hill giant on the enemy side, that would count as a major hero. He would therefore encounter the hill giant (as opposed to any other major hero on the field) as soon as the Games Master rolled a result between 66 and 90 on the Battle Encounters table.

 

Surprise


There is a flat one in six chance that a Player Character’s opponent(s) will be distracted, busy with another fight or otherwise occupied when the Player Character encounters them. The Player Character thus has a surprise round to act in.

 

Ranged Battle Encounters


Not all combat situations in a battle will involve face-to-face tussling and the clash of weapons. When one side is fighting from a defensive position such as a keep or wood, or when one or both of the sides has a large number of projectile weapon wielders, the combat may begin at range.

 

Ranged battle encounters work slightly differently to close combat ones. There is no assumed trading of blows. Just because you shoot at someone, he will not shoot right back at you. Furthermore, in the confusion of battle, it is not always possible to tell who has shot at you. Ranged combat for Player Characters is opportunistic; it is about taking advantage of a chance to take a shot at an important target. Conversely, enemy combatants will sometimes pick a Player Character as their target.

 

To resolve a ranged encounter, roll once on the Battle Encounters table to determine the best target that the Player Character can hit. He can choose to attack that target if he chooses, or a target further down the list. Next, roll secretly on the Battle Encounters table to determine who has chosen the Player Character as a target. After the first round of ranged combat, the Player Character can either stick with the target he has chosen or attempt to find out who just shot at him. This will usually require a Spot check (DC 15).

 

A ranged combat encounter lasts until all participants on one side are dead or until 1d4+1 rounds have passed, whichever is sooner. The assumption here is that the chaos of battle makes it unlikely that a Player Character will be able to maintain fire against a given target or set of targets for very long.

 

Duration of Combat


Combat in battle continues until either the character or his opponents are slain, or until one side retreats. In some situations, such as when a character is fighting on the front line of an army, retreat is impossible.

 

The Territory


The kind of ‘battle map’ appropriate for any given battle encounter depends on the intensity of the fighting where the Player Character is. As a general rule, high risk Player Characters tend to find themselves with close quarter maps, medium risk Player Characters with skirmish maps and low risk players with open maps.

 

Close Quarter


The enemy ranks are pressed up against your own. Fighting in a pitched battle like this is usually a matter of facing your opponent and hitting him until he dies. There is little room to manoeuvre.

 

All the squares behind the Player Character and to either side should be filled with warriors on his side, while the row facing him and the squares behind it should be filled with enemy warriors.

 

Skirmish


Skirmish maps represent parts of the battlefield where the fighting is between clustered groups rather than ranks. Skirmishing takes place in the centre of the field where organised battle lines have been broken through or on the periphery of the battle, where the troops are not massed together. Some smaller battles begin as skirmishes.

 

In a skirmish map, there is room for groups to move about, though the groups are still close together. To simulate this, use clusters of two to five opponents, with no more than 40 feet between any one creature. After a battle has been raging for some time, so that many of the warriors have been cut down, skirmish maps become the default even for high-risk Player Characters.

 

Open


Open maps represent areas where the battle has either finished or has not yet begun.

 

In an open map, the only participants present are the Player Character and the creatures he encounters. Any other creatures on the battlefield are too far away to have an impact on the combat.

 

Battlefield Hazards


The types of special terrain found on battlefields are described in DMG. Two additional terrain types are described below.

 

Bodies: When combat has raged for many rounds, the bodies of the dead begin to pile up around you and it is hard to manoeuvre. Regions that are strewn with the bodies of the dead should be treated as zones of light rubble. Treat regions where the fighting has been especially intense or where Large or larger creatures have been slain (such as the mounts of cavalry) as if they were filled with dense rubble.

 

Mud: When battles take place in heavy rain, the ground is quickly churned up into a muddy morass. This is perilous for heavily armoured characters or those who are trying to ride mounts. It costs two squares of movement to enter a square filled with churned mud and the DC of Balance and Tumble checks there increases by three. A Balance check (DC 10) is required to run or charge across mud, or to stand up from prone when in a muddy square. Guiding a mount through slippery mud requires a Ride check (DC 15).

 

Ending the Battle


If either side flees the field, such as from a disastrous rout check, then the battle is definitely over unless the other side decides to pursue them. If the rout check result indicates that the vanquished side attempts to flee but the terrain does not allow for retreat, then the Games Master can assume that the army has been massacred to a man.

 

Some battles will involve more complicated victory conditions. In these cases, the Games Master may set criteria to determine when the battle is considered over, according to the demands of the story. These can be flexible but will usually include the achievement of a given tactical objective (the horde breaks into the keep), the death of a particular character (the lich-lord is destroyed) or some similar story-based goal (the artefact is thrown into the volcano).

 

If there is an obvious way to win the battle other than by routing the enemy, then the Player Characters should always be told what it is. For example, if a battle is being fought against a gigantic horde of undead that are dependent upon an artefact to remain animated, then the Player Characters should not be expected to wade through zombies all day.

 

Unlike conflicts in the real world, fantasy battles often hinge upon some kind of dramatic single combat. This is much more use than muddy realism, as it allows the Player Characters a chance to be heroes. The trick as a Games Master is not to give these opportunities away too readily. The system here obliges the Player Characters to take risks and endanger themselves if they want a shot at the Witch-King or the siege mammoth. They can attempt to fight their way through to them but they cannot simply stroll up and attack.

 

Example of Mass Combat


A force of two thousand orcs is advancing on the village of Dunport. The Player Characters are Jassipus, a half-orc barbarian, Hethlic, a human fighter and Cuffy, a halfling rogue. The villagers place Hethlic in command of the village’s defences. He thus assumes the Command position. Jassipus joins the village warriors on the front rank, taking a Combat position. Cuffy elects to be Independent, knowing that there will be plenty of bodies to loot.

 

Dunport’s defences are practically nonexistent. Fortunately, Hethlic ordered the construction of a simple berm several weeks ago and the villagers got to work. It is not much, but it is better than nothing. The Games Master rules that the shoddy berm is a defensive emplacement worth +4 to battle checks when defending. If the orcs want to try to take it – as they almost certainly will – they will have to hit a target number of +6, which will not be easy.

 

The Games Master assesses troop strengths. The orcs definitely have the advantage. There are more of them and they are well armed. He assigns the orcs a troop strength bonus of +2. The orcs are obviously on the offensive and the humans on the defensive.

 

The army is on the horizon. The Player Characters must now choose their risk levels. Hethlic will command from the field, so he chooses Low. Jassipus is eager for glory and chooses High. Cuffy decides that he will wait out the fighting in the village tavern and chooses to be uninvolved. The Games Master allows this, as the tavern is at the centre of the village and far from the fighting.

 

The battle begins. Before any battle checks are made, the combatants begin to fight. The Games Master rolls the encounters for Jassipus and Hethlic. Jassipus faces three orcs, who he slashes to mincemeat with his axe. Hethlic has a javelin thrown at him, which causes him a minor injury.

 

It is time to make the first battle checks. The orcs’ general is Black Tongue. He is a competent warrior but he is not a tactical genius. Hethlic, on the other hand, has served in many campaigns and has a good grasp of tactics. Hethlic has a command modifier of +2. Rather than whittling down the enemy from afar, the orcs decide to storm the berm right away. They will need to beat Hethlic’s result by more than five to take the berm. Black Tongue, being an orc, decides on a reckless attack, gaining a +3 bonus to his battle check, at the cost of a –3 troop loss penalty on later rounds. He decides that it is worth it. He may lose troops, but the troop loss penalty is slightly less than the benefit that the berm is giving the humans.

 

Hethlic rolls an 8. Adding +2 for his command bonus and +4 for the berm yields a result of 14. Black Tongue rolls a 16. Adding +2 for his troop strength bonus and +3 for his reckless attack gives a final result of 21. This beats Hethlic by six, more than the five that Black Tongue needed to accomplish his objective.

 

With a roar, the orcs rush over the berm, driving the beleaguered humans back, though dozens of them are killed in the charge.

 

The result on the battle check outcome table is ‘inflicts 2’, so the defenders of Dunport are now suffering a –2 troop loss penalty to their battle check.

 

It is now time to roll for battle encounters. Jassipus is right in the thick of it as the orcs make their bloody charge. The encounter result gives him the option to strike at a crucial target (a major officer or a minor hero). He takes the major officer option. Since the orcs only have one major officer, who is commanding the whole side, Jassipus finds himself facing Black Tongue, the enemy general! There are three orc warriors along with him, too. It is time for Jassipus to start cleaving.

 

In the fight that ensues, Jassipus kills Black Tongue, though he is sorely wounded in the fight. The orcs are over the berm but they have lost their commander. They will be subject to a –2 penalty to their battle checks from here on.

 

Jassipus decides to make the most of his victory by attempting a morale boost. He holds the head of Black Tongue high where the human troops can see it and roars as only a barbarian can. The morale boost is resolved as a Charisma ability score check (DC 20). Jassipus rolls 15. This is modified to 20 (-1 for his poor Charisma ability score modifier, +4 because he has killed the enemy leader, -2 for the defenders’ troop loss, +4 for the orcs’ troop loss) which is just enough to boost the morale of the men around him. The defenders of Dunport will receive a +1 morale bonus to their battle check next round.

 

On the next battle round, the Games Master rules that since the orcs are now in the village, nowhere is entirely safe. Cuffy is therefore given a Low risk rating instead of a rating of None. Battle checks are rolled again. Hethlic scores 10. With modifiers (+2 for his command bonus, +1 for the morale boost that Jassipus provided and –2 for troop loss) this becomes a result of 11. The leaderless orcs score 14, modified to 10 (+2 troop strength, -2 for being leaderless, -4 troop losses). The defenders have the tide of battle, but it is not sufficient to make a significant difference. The humans stand their ground.

 

In the battle encounters phase, Jassipus encounters three more orcs, hungry for revenge. His wounds from his heavy fight earlier on prove too much and the orcs defeat him. He is left to bleed to death in the mud. Hethlic escapes encounters, while Cuffy finds himself confronted by a marauding orc; one sneak attack later, the orc is dead.

 

The third battle check is made. Hethlic rolls 17 and the orcs score 13. Modifiers adjust these scores to 18 and nine. The defenders, rallied by Hethlic, are starting to inflict significant casualties. The table reads that the attackers suffer troop loss (-1).

 

The Games Master rolls for encounters for each remaining participant. Hethlic has to fight off two orcs, while Cuffy meets none. He slips out and begins searching the bodies of fallen orcs.

 

At the start of the next battle round, the humans are now on a total troop loss penalty of –2 and the orcs on a penalty of –5. This means that the orcs must make a rout check next round. The orcs roll eight for their rout check, modified to six (+2 troop strength, +2 for being on the offensive, -2 for being leaderless, -4 troop losses). The initial rush of their charge has worn off and the humans’ superior organisation is beginning to tell on them. They suffer 1d3 troop loss; the Games Master rolls a three. Dozens of individual orcs are picked off and looters break away from the army. The orcs now have a total troop loss penalty of –8.

 

Each side now makes its battle check. The humans roll 15, the orcs 12. These are modified to 16 and four. A further troop loss penalty is inflicted on the orcs (-2). The Games Master decides that the orcs have had enough. They choose to go on the defensive, falling back from the town.

 

Hethlic now has the option of pursuing them. He decides not to. If the orcs retreat all the way to their camp in the woods, then they will have bonuses to their defence. The humans are in no mood to continue fighting. They have managed to survive and that is enough for now.

 

The battle is over. Both sides have taken heavy casualties. Even on the rounds when the humans suffered no troop loss penalty, they were still losing warriors. The weary task of clearing up the bodies and repairing the damage now begins.


 

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