Isles of the Saharan Sea: Thoughts on the First Adventure...

Good Afternoon, All:

Now that the old house is almost ready to be put on the market, and I've moved into a new place, I feel like I can start to focus on my writing once again. Most of my gaming collection should be going on eBay with the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to post info here once it's up and running.

I could resume the Isles of the Saharan Sea campaign setting development, but I'm almost done with it, at least at this point. I think I have enough to get started with a campaign, between the work I've posted and some work I've done at home. Well, almost enough. I probably could use a "First Adventure" to kick things off, just to make it easier.

So, what should be in a "First Adventure" for such a setting? I'd likely want to introduce the main antagonist of the setting, and make allusions to the two other major villains. I'd want to explore the concept of a hollow earth setting, and I'd want to make that integral to the entire adventure, if I could figure out a way. I'd want to introduce the concept that all non-perishable magic items are non-standard and unique. And I'd want the adventure to end with the players having their own ship, so that they could travel around the setting of their own accord.

So that first adventure should have ninjas, a gorilla-man naval patrol, some pilgrims seeking Mavarasha, an issue where perpetual daylight is either the cause of the problem or the solution to one, one permanent magic item and someone to introduce the concept of unique items, and a small sailing ship capable of piracy, should the mood take the party after the adventure is said and done.

Hmmm, how about this? A merchant, a recent survivor of one of Mavarasha's attacks, approaches the party, asking them to strike against some pirates that have captured one of his ships and stolen a magic item. He explains the rarity of such, introducing the concept of unique weapons, and offers them a small ship from his merchant fleet if they can retrieve the item. (That's how rare these items are, or how bad off the ship is.) The problem: they can't approach the island where the ship is moored without being seen, because of the perpetual daylight and the concave nature of the surface of the World Within. The merchant mentions that he tried to hire the Black Rose to fetch it, but they wouldn't accept his payment. The party encounters a gorilla-men naval patrol en route to the island. The party will have to find a way to get past the patrol, and either negotiate with the pirates or overcome them (hehehe, yeah, right) to get the item and save the day. The pirates do have some slaves, including pilgrims of Thanatos seeking out Mavarasha to join his crusade. (If the merchant finds out the party helped the pilgrims, he may be sorely upset, given his previous encounter with Mavarasha.)

Well, it's rough, but in a sandbox campaign, sometimes rough is okay. I'm sure more ideas will come to me over the course of the next few months. Of course, the guys may simply change their minds and go with something akin to Odyssey Prime, a cross-genre romp through gates to visit worlds of fantasy, sci-fi, pulp and horror in a quest to save humanity from an impending apocalypse. Players can be a fickle bunch at times, but either way, I feel I'm up for the challenge.

More Later,
Flynn

Isles of the Saharan Sea: Port Denjados...

Good Afternoon, All:

Now that I have my roster of regional villains, or my Hall of Infamy, in place, I want to get back to outlining the major ports of the Isles of the Saharan Sea setting I'm creating for my next major campaign. These ports are: Aljis, Denjados, Devil's Cove (Kelshandan), Jetan, Kimojan, Libertad, Ortugos, Provada, Sanmari and Tarth. Today, I'm writing up some basic details for Denjados.

Denjados
Location Name: Great Denjados, or The Shipwright's Bay
Ambiance: Home to the greatest shipwrights of the region, Denjados is noteworthy for the great number of docks and shipyards about the bay. The primary city-state of the diminutive Denjani people, most of the buildings outside the port districts are small enough to be uncomfortable for humans and larger races. This gradual reduction in size creates the illusion of a very expansive city on the bay. The city itself honors craftsmen and artisans. Great Denjados is ostensibly controlled under the military rule of the great Zegoth Warlord Tal-Kash. However, the native Denjani owe most of their loyalty to their guild, who are loosely organized under an unofficial Council of Guilds in the wake of the Serpentfolks' disappearance.
History: Around seven human generations ago, the Serpentfolk started to use Denjados as a launching point for their efforts to control the raiders and pirates of the region. The sporadic crusades of the Serpentfolk and their privateers since then has colored the attitudes of many pirates to the port itself.
Encounters: Zegoth patrols and well-sponsored privateers are frequently encountered in the port of Denjados. Occasionally, dinosaurs and other reptilian beasts venture out of the nearby marshes and into the outskirts of the city.
Treasures: Among the treasures of Denjados, adventurers will find the superior sailing vessels of the Denjani shipwrights, as well as the well-crafted goods and objects of art created by the masterful artisans of the Shipwright's Bay.
Hooks and Hotspots: Much of the low-lying land around the city of Denjados is comprised of swampland known as the White Hag Glades by the populace. The Shrine of the Sapphire Scales, a temple devoted to an unworshiped snake goddess, serves as the primary stronghold of Warlord Tal-Kash. The catacombs and underground tombs of the temple remain untouched, the result of generations of fear.

Enjoy,
Flynn

Isles of the Saharan Sea: Hall of Infamy, Part 1...

Good Evening:

I've really enjoyed reading through Sine Nomine Publishing's An Echo Resounding: Lordship and War in Untamed Lands by Kevin Crawford. Like Red Tide before it, there's a ton of great sandbox advice. One of my favorite concepts, simply due to its sheer simplicity, is the concept of the Hall of Infamy. Briefly, the "Hall of Infamy" is a simple process of creating a short, manageable list of major villains that will help shape regional events over the course of a campaign. These villains aren't instruments of railroading; instead, these could be considered background material that becomes powerful NPCs who could be enemies, rivals, or more rarely contacts or even allies. These are the forces behind the more powerful changes that take place in the setting over time.

To build a Hall of Infamy, you will identify seven bad guys. You start at the top with the Supreme Bad Guy of the setting, then you choose two "Name" level Bad Guys. Finally, you choose four Significant "mid-level" villains. These constitute your regional Hall of Infamy. All other lairs and villains are likely local affairs, so you don't have to worry about why the PCs haven't heard about them from their early years of adventuring. (And if seven regional villains aren't enough for you, you can always repeat the exercise again and you'll have fourteen to work with.)

For the Isles of the Saharan Sea, I thought I'd create a "Hall of Infamy," just to explore the concept and see how it works out for me. First, I started with the Supreme Bad Guy:

Mavarasha, Light Upon the Throne Triumphant
The Vanaran known as Mavarasha, Light Upon the Throne Triumphant, is a devoted priest of Thanatos, the Flame Lord. Conquest is a sacred responsibility to Thanatos, and the Light Upon the Throne Triumphant is no stranger to war and battle. He has conquered many of the Smoking Isles, and has set his sights on the islands closer to the mainland of Mediterranea. Mavarasha wears the Flamegold Warmask into battle, whether on land or see, as a sign of his devotion to the Flame Lord.

As you can see, I chose to follow a mystical path for the Supreme Bad Guy, and a priest of a war god seemed like a nice change of pace from a necromancer or a diabolist. Continuing on, I decided to create two "name" level Bad Guys, one based on a powerful warrior and the other on a powerful rogue.

Peleon Nightshade, Expatriated Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of the Black Rose
Master Peleon was once the Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of the Black Rose, a specially trained group of spies and mercenaries specialized in espionage, sabotage, infiltration and assassination (aka ninjas). He is a master of the unorthodox warfare and unarmed combat techniques employed by the Black Rose (i.e. ninja master). When internal strife led to the eviction of Master Peleon and his loyal followers from the Brotherhood, the former Grandmaster set up shop elsewhere and is now using his band's talents to infiltrate and manipulate foreign courts, seizing political control without direct confrontation. Because of the techniques used, attacks by Master Peleon's Black Rose Rogues are often blamed on the Black Rose proper. This is causing considerable friction between the Brotherhood and some of their clients, much to Master Peleon's personal delight.

Warlord Tal-kash, Zegoth General
When the serpentfolk mysteriously disappeared without warning or reason, many servitors of the "master race" panicked. One of the more competent and knowledgeable tacticians among the gorilla-men, Warlord Tal-kash quickly seized the opportunity to gain control of the zegoth warriors under his command. With an army and an armada under his command, Warlord Tal-kash has established a small empire from which he sends his demands for tribute from nearby islands. When someone stands up to the zegoth general, he raids and harangues his foes until he has conquered them and thus brought new subject lands under his control.

Tomorrow, I'll complete my "Hall of Infamy" with four significant "mid-level" regional villains. These should include a society of evil sword-mages, a Tarthani pirate Commodore, and two other interesting foes.

Enjoy,
Flynn