The timeline of the World of the Everflow is getting harder for me to track. There have been six campaigns with some overlap in both reality and at the table. In order for me to keep better track of events and so that the players and their characters have a better idea of events in the past prior to the campaign I started to build a timeline.
The desire is that these are basically small phrases containing history, not a book of common knowledge to study. I’ll be adding to this as the players remind me of events, create things from their own history or ask questions.
Red Oak burns, allowing red dragons to be born; Uprising & Rebellion 1; 7th Fleet of Daoud encamps to the south of Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Five years ago
Dragons and the Ken fly to Kirtin-on-the-Lake; Sheljar is freed from Necromancy and the Tunneling Nightmares; some Scholars (Diviner, Necromancer) are made public; Kin can learn magic
Six years ago
Goblin Queen’s Fleet lands near Sheljar; Discovery of the Lorebook of Divination; Children of Chorl created; Eruption of Dakan Thaeeb; Lorebook Hunters start their search
Twenty-seven years ago
Sheljar falls to the Necromancer
Twenty-eight years ago
Born Generation
Seventy years ago
Crinth Confederation re-structures to stop expansion of Azsel
One hundred and twenty-two years ago
Kirtin loses Kirtin-on-the-Lake again
Two hundred and twenty-four years ago
Kirtin retakes Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Four hundred and sixty-four years ago
Daoud takes Kirtin-on-the-Lake
Seventeen hundred years ago
Az and Sel establish the Bond, rising to godhood; other bondings besides dogs are discovered; the Goliath nation of Galinor disappears
Two thousand years ago
Church of Quar controls the Everflow and the Font of Two paths, becoming a continent wide faith; Mehmd closes off the empire with foreigners only allowed at Gate
Millenia ago
Quar and the gods create Habergeon, the Everflow and separate the Lands of the Six Kingdoms from the world of magic
In my Uprising & Rebellion Campaign Two the players decided to take on the Mayor’s forces in the open, rather than the dead of night or through obfuscation. In response the Mayor and his forces attacked their home base, the Rusty Clam. Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t do great for large battles.
A few tweaks I made to more represent the fiction of a rebellious militia and their allies defending their most significant resource were;
Have the minions represent half of a squad. The idea here was that the lesser trained guards would break morale when they lost half their group.
Allow the PCs to set up themselves up where they wanted. This is their territory. They know it best.
Added actions to represent the other rebels and commoners who side with the goals of the uprising. These Militia Actions operate similar to Lair Actions. That initial use has been modified here.
Militia Actions
For the session these operated as a Lair Action for each PC. They were taken on the initiative count 10 after their own initiative, which worked out as PC1, enemy1, Militia Action1. That part was a success.
Each Militia Action was tied to a saving throw by the NPCs. These were designed for Tier 2 play as that’s where the PCs in question are at this time, but since I used cantrips as a guideline they are easy to adjust.
Funnel – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause build a wall using objects or themselves to block a path. This wall is 5′ long per tier of play. A successful Strength save (DC 10/15/20/25 based on tier) enables the enemy to ignore the wall.
Falling or Thrown Objects – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause pick up objects nearby and throw them at the enemy. These objects do 1d8 damage per tier of play in a space that is 5×5/10x/10/15×15/20×20 by tier. A successful Dex save results in half damage (DC 10/15/20/25).
Overturn Stand or Cart – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause create an area of difficult terrain by using common objects to clutter the path. Any enemy passing through the area moves must use twice their movement through the 5×5/10x/10/15×15/20×20 space by tier. They may attempt to move at normal speed, and if using the Dash or Disengage actions, must succeed on a Con save (DC 10/15/20/25) or take 1d6 per tier damage and fall Prone.
(this one needs the most work)
Harass – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause harass and pester the enemies in such a way that limits their defenses. This can be done by word or by minor physical altercation. The next attack by that enemy NPC or intelligent monster is at disadvantage. A successful Int save (DC 10/15/20/25) results in no disadvantage.
Distract – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause harass and pester the enemies in such a way that limits their attacks. This can be done by word or by minor physical altercation. The next attack against that enemy NPC or intelligent monster is at advantage. A successful Int save (DC 10/15/20/25) results in no advantage.
Rally – the militia and/or commoners in support of your cause shouts in support of the PCs. The PCs are then granted 1d6 temporary hit points per tier of play. A successful Cha save (DC 10/15/20/25) by the leader of the enemy results in no temporary hit points being granted, this is to represent their ability to speak over or interrupt the rallying calls.
Changes for the future?
I may tie these to various skills or tools rather than saving throws. I had the players roll, and asking players to roll under for a success just didn’t make sense.
Finally, I think I would allow a summoned swarm from the Propagandist use these when the Propagandist commands them via a bonus action. This would help raise the power level of a subclass that lacks in combat, though in many campaigns this wouldn’t be enough.
Design Goals
The primary inspirations for these actions were to mimic some of the play of Assassin’s Creed, where the small crowd of neutrals and allies can support your violence. There are also scenes in Black Sails where the common people of Nassau join the fight against the British. The invasion of Tear and other conflicts in the Wheel of Time feature actions by commoners supporting the heroes too. Various Robin Hood tales, the rescue of The Shire, the movie Aladdin, and so many other tales have common peoples helping the heroes by impeding the enemy.
While highly urbanized campaigns aren’t common in D&D, they should be supported. The literature and other inspirations for the game do have these elements. Our game can include them in ways that are more than just background story.
The smogpunk land of goblins in the World of the Everflow was set apart from the Kingdom of Sheljar, Crinth, and other areas for a few millennia. Within this separation the goblins and hobgoblins changed from the standard tropes.
In the Everflow they answer to the Queen Mother. Everyone is organized around their family’s history of developing teknology for one of the various guilds. Inventiveness and cleverness are more important than fighting and viciousness.
To emphasize these differences, but still capture traditional goblinoid feelings there should be a some differences in language. This discovery of numerals from the 13th century feels proper for the gobkon of the world.
The Cistercian monks invented a numbering system in the 13th century which meant that any number from 1 to 9999 could be written using a single symbol pic.twitter.com/VRuEx4dkPF
— UCL Department of Mathematics (@MathematicsUCL) February 2, 2021
It works in a printing press, scribbled on paper or carved into wood.
Will it ever see the table? Probably not. Or maybe just one or two numbers in a handout for the players to demonstrate the differences between their lands with the languages of Telse (Common) and the rest of the Six Kingdoms.
If there was a campaign book for the World of the Everflow this could be a tiny sidebar for flavor, not a rule for use.
Since Dungeons & Dragons is anachronistic, most people, and basically every player character, know how to write. But what about those that know how to write and count better? The late middle ages were a time when there was a rapid need for more writers, more accountants. Guilds needed to track the money they were bringing in.
If your D&D world has many guilds it would have many clerks. Some of those clerks may get bored of quill and ink, or precisely measuring liquids, or whatever mundane task their employer has for them — so they head out on adventures, which is what happened in real life too. Lots of clerks got involved with murdering.
You are someone who counts fast, keeps precise notes, reads for others, writes for others. You are meticulous and detailed. When
Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Insight Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s Tools Languages: One language Equipment: Common clothes, tabard, abacus, merchant’s scale, jar (precisely 1 quart), pouch, signet ring, 10 gp
Feature: Measure Twice
You can rapidly and accurately account for large quantities of coins or other staples, assessing their value using just a single action. Clerks are also able to stretch large quantities of staples further than expected. If you need more than 50 of an item a Clerk needs 10% less of that item. For example, 900 ball bearings works just as well for a Clerk as 1000. Or if others would need 50′ of rope the Clerk can make do with 45′.
Alternate Background: Tax Collector
You are a representative of the government, collecting fees and taxes for the services they provide. Maybe you work at a toll bridge, a city gate, or you wander to various farms. Some pay in gold, most in silver or even copper. You’ll take barter too. The Barony needs the funds however it can get them.
A just collector may go easy on a family in years of struggle. An unjust may continually take. Your character’s behavior and history is up to you.
The Tax collector has the same skills, tools, and languages as the Clerk. The difference is in their Feature and in their role in society.
Feature: Forgotten Refund
Knowing the ways of governments you are able to assume the debts of a group that owe. You can also find a way to get a tax refund for yourself or others, or avoid paying the full amount. If normally the government takes 10% you would only pay 5%. If you are short gold, you may visit another tax collector, if one can be found, to get 5 times your proficiency bonus as a refund.
Design Goals
Clerks were so common in the late middle ages they killed a lot of people. Which sounds a lot like D&D adventurers, so why not have a Background based on them. Sure, they could be represented by Sages and Acolytes or other thinkers.
But, I’ve watched too many Clerks movies, and so needed to honor the OG clerks in a special way. Don’t be murdered by clerks, be the clerks that murder.
Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons
In my campaigns we use experience points rather than milestone levelling. But, we also spend time in the social and exploration pillars, where the game as designed provides little guidance towards the experience that should be rewarded for success overcoming obstacles beyond traps.
Rewarding the play I want to see, I have given out xp for solved plot points and discoveries. In the past these have been given out at the end of a session without the players knowing ahead of time what their character rewards would be.
I’m going to attempt to pull back that veil, listing out major plots and side quests with xp values. My goal is so that the player characters will be rewarded for developing their stories and the overall campaign.
Major plots
Daoud’s 7th Fleet vs Twilight and Shadow the Black Dragons vs the Mayor with the Blue Dragons vs assembling Kirtinish forces on the east shore – 10,000 xp
Kirtin-on-the-Lake is now torn between two of the Six Kingdoms and the separate appeals of two groups of Ken. Twilight and Shadow seem to thrive on misery, sucking up negative emotions from the war. The Mayor has gifted the Blue dragons significant territory and their co-operation requires unbonding from animal companions.
The 7th Fleet wants to take the city back to Daoud. It is actually a massive cavalry army with horses, riding dogs and warbirds. Kirtin’s forces sit, waiting for the three sides to destroy each other and sweep back into the city as welcomed heroes.
Our heroes haven’t picked a side, because they are all bad. In the past they’ve hoped for trade or normality looking to Sheljar for inspiration.
Our heroes have the Lorebook of Illusions and the Crate of Conjuration. They suspect there is another Lorebook locally and a fourth may be in The Ferments. They know not what power the Lorebooks provide, just that a group called the Scholars control them and the Proctors are a violent segment of Ken who are trying to acquire the various books. The world knows that the Folio of Necromancy and the Lorebook of Divination are in Sheljar.
Defending their books from other Proctors or Scholars is as important as finding more, probably.
Unseat the Mayor – 7,500 xp — COMPLETED
The Mayor has turned his back on Daoud and joined with the Blue Dragons and their Ken allies. Even if the heroes cannot yet sway the four-sided war, the group wants the Mayor eliminated via election, appointment or violence — he just needs to be gone.
Side quests
Where is Wilkie? – 2,500 xp — COMPELETED
One of their allies, Wilkie, former leader of the Dock District Guard fled. With their leader in hiding the Dock District has dissolved back to an ad hoc militia. The group of heroes had trusted Wilkie to defend their district.
Missing Printers – 2,500 xp — COMPLETED
The printing press and gobkon printers’ office burnt down in a dragon strike. No bodies were found. Once in hiding, then public, the Society of Veil and Shadow has again disappeared. Their pro-Sheljar message remains known, but there have been no broadsheets in three passings of Feylf.
Is the new flag of quill and sword related to their absence?
Bounties – 2,500 xp — COMPLETED
Each of the known heroes has a bounty of 2,500 gold on them. This is mostly because the Mayor hates them for the murder of the gnome during his festival. But also because they keep trying to inspire the people toward concepts like freedom and respect.
Character quests
Keldrass wants to repair the bonds broken by the black dragons and help protect the city from the Ken.
Gardar wants to increase the trade with Mehmd, earn respect outside of the caste system there and maybe have his own Goltoppa team.
Seymore wants to teach commoners magic, because even though he doesn’t trust it the people need the power. He’s done a bit of this by spreading Minor Illusion.
Req wants to maintain the independence of the Dock District.
In 5th edition D&D I create a lot of rogues. This is a change for me, for in my earlier forays into Dungeons & Dragons, I mostly played clerics, bards and paladins. Part of the appeal of the rogue in 5e, is that it has became the main skill-monkey class. Mostly mundane there are interesting stories to be told via the mastermind, the inquisitive, the scout and the propagandist.
One thing I find lacking for three of those options is the narrative around using a weapon that knocks opponents unconscious. While the rule set allows any weapon that does enough damage to kill to be declared a non-fatal blow, there’s something about an mastermind smacking a thief upside the head with a baton and knocking them out.
Common within the literatures that inspire our game are also tales about short staves that flip about stabbing with the point and smacking with the side — see various interpretations of Sherlock Holmes. My campaign needed one of these because a player in Uprising and Rebellion Campaign Two is a streetsweeper. Their broom handle makes sense as a weapon for them.
The baton is just a refined club so that you can play as Sticks from the Vlad Taltos Saga. The short stave (broom handle) is based on the rapier, the current best weapon for a rogue, but merely bludgeoning and cheap.
There’s nothing game breaking from these additions. There’s no power creep.
There is a whole lot more story. And that’s the whole point to Full Moon Storytelling — story creep.
As an active participant on ENWorld, I watched the Twilight Fables project grow from idea to concept through approach and playtest. As an already funded project, supporting it on Kickstarter means my readers will not be backing a failed project — it’s done. The books have had proofs printed. Rod Waibel has a different approach than typical for this Kickstarter.
So I invited him to share it with the readers of Full Moon Storytelling, because you might enjoy a few more monsters for your D&D game.
Note: The original folklore was dark with mature themes and may include triggering subjects. Think more Brothers Grimm and less modern fairy tales. Reader discretion is advised.
Twilight Fables is a sourcebook designed for 5e focusing on the original European folklore as it was told generations ago. More Brothers Grimm and much less Disney, if you will. When Dungeons & Dragons was created, most of the monsters were based, albeit loosely, on folklore. However, it was in the vision of those who were creating it, so creatures like drow, kobolds, goblins, etc. don’t resemble anything like the folklore that created them. 5e D&D has been out a while, and there has been a ton of content created for it, but I found this area lacking.
Wizards of the Coast recently came out with a fey-themed book, and while a great product in its own right, it was nothing like original folklore. I felt that those old stories, approached with the appropriate caution, could lend to exciting and interesting adventures of their own. I say “approach with caution” as no accident. For those unfamiliar, many of those stories were allegories of caution directed toward children. “Stay away from that creek, because there’s a terrible monster there that will eat you!” “Remain pure and chaste or you’ll turn into a terrible creature!” That sort of thing.
Since much of folklore was created during dark times (literally the Dark Ages), there are several instances of abuse and suffering. For example, the original story of Hansel and Gretel is even darker than most realize when you learn why they kept getting lost in the woods. Ableism, sexism, child abuse, and consent issues show up often in those stories. Therefore, I made it a point to address this right up front in the book, and put a disclaimer on the cover. People can skip right past those sections that deal with these issues easily by a displayed marker if they want to avoid any triggering event.
[Dave here: Rod and his team put a disclaimer on the individual creatures that are most likely to bring up the worst memories people have.]
You may be asking yourself, “Why bother creating something that has so many problematic themes?” Fair question. Quite frankly, it’s because outside of those few monsters, the lore is rich with great stories and potential. As long as we approach it with an informed perspective and have the agency to control which portions we use, there’s a ton of value in this book. And it’s good to have the option. I did my very best to minimize those problem areas and advise that such issues should not be included in the typical game. I stress how consent among all the players at your table is recommended before incorporating any potential problem areas.
Now that that’s out of the way, what exactly does Twilight Fables include?
There are more than 200 creatures, all with detailed page entries. Reference the included screenshots to see some of the changes that the core books did not have. These include but are not limited to quirks, lore, suggestions on incorporating them into your game, spell lists within the stat block have been removed and replaced with detailed spellcasting abilities, etc.
[Dave here: the expanded lore and quirks are a great addition to the game]
Dozen of magical artifacts pulled from mythology and lore
Crafting rules
Tons of player options, including warlock patrons, cleric and ranger subclasses, races, feats, and spells.
Lore of the Otherworld (Fey Realm) as it was explained in folklore, including living in the Fey Realm, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and becoming an Archfey yourself!
A plug-in-play campaign that can be used in your existing campaign to shake things up a bit.
Let’s say I want to get this, what do I get if I back the Kickstarter?
I’m taking a slightly different approach to running this Kickstarter from other companies. Most companies offer a PDF and a hard or soft copy. That’s great, because that’s what the majority will use. However, when I did Chromatic Dungeons last summer, I learned it’s just as important to listen to the minority, because they deserve to get what they want as well. So for Twilight Fables, the digital package includes a PDF like usual of the main book. But then it also includes a PDF with no background, for ease of reading and printing. And it includes an RTF version for those with visual impairments and for those who want to cut and paste information easily. Also included are tokens and markdown files for those who use VTT gaming. That’s all for LESS than most companies are asking for just a core PDF.
Beyond that is the actual hard copy option of the book. I’ve had the advance copies in my hand already, and I was pleased with the quality. I’d love to get the $50,000 stretch goal because that allows me to get offset printing with glossy pages, gilded pages, and ribbon bookmark. But if that doesn’t happen, it’s OK because the Print on Demand book is still of very good quality.
And that’s pretty much it! No crazy stretch goals that put the project at risk for delivery.
Let me close in saying how much I appreciate the support from everyone. From the great artists I got to work with, including the legendary Gerald Brom and Darlene the Artist, to all of the backers who support me!
Dungeons and Dragons is more popular than ever. That is undeniable. The game has grown and become a side channel to the mainstream, with its influence everywhere. But it is about to get a lot more popular. Tens of millions are going to watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
That’s going to attract a lot more neophytes to the game.
From Chris Pine saying every high school should have a D&D club to mainstream local soccer fundraisers like YachtCon playing the game (we’ll do something this year too) the game is spreading faster than ever before. After a season of not-really-D&D Stranger Things dipped back in with the Hellfire Club. Season five, the final will also be D&D themed.
There’s also D&D adjacent properties like Wheel of Time (season 2 of Origins is out in August and season 3 is already happening) and Rings of Power (season 1 in Fall). Witcher keeps going strong. Vox Machina got a season 2 and probably will get a third. List goes on, and on.
There’s no better time for fantasy TV and movies — none.
As experienced players and DM’s it is our responsibility and duty to welcome these new players to the game. One way to do that is through the classic Starter Set, the Stranger Things boxed set, the Essentials Kit, the new Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, Spelljammer Academy, etc, etc.
But you also have your home games with elaborate and thought-out original plots. These games are the most common way to play D&D, a majority do not play in the official worlds. There’s a danger in welcoming people to the game the first time in an original world. Those campaigns can have a lot of custom rules.
When the Lorebook Hunters first started in the World of the Everflow there were more than four pages of custom rules, heavily tweaking the game. Now there are just four sentences of rules not taken from the books – all able to integrate with DnDBeyond, excepting the custom subclasses. Players new to the game can create a character in 30-60 minutes rather than hours.
That helps first-time players pick up the game. There’s plenty of support online for the official rules — blogs, video, podcasts, social media. There’s only your table as a place to learn about custom rules. That can be intimidating. Plus they need to pick up custom lore. Another barrier to play.
Reducing both of those weights helps a first-time player become a perpetual player and eventual Dungeon Master.
Tips for types of rules to add
Optional rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide — they’re already official, in a book for others to read.
Rules that enable your story — the World of the Everflow has a key question as to why we love pets. It wouldn’t be the same without the bonus feat of Bonded Companion.
Changes that empower cinematic flavor — since many people new to the game will come from watching film give them that vibe.
Tweaks that don’t require technical knowledge — asking a first time player to learn a VTT rather than just video or theater of the mind can reduce their interest.
At the same point, if you have a massive world already, don’t retro those rules. Find ways for your table to welcome new people into your complex lore and ruleset. Use session zeroes frequently, both one-on-one and with the group. Tell a new player why you have those rules. House rules that help tell the communal storytelling are always better than house rules that add complexity, at least for the modern gamer coming at D&D as a storytelling game that empowers group tales of action and adventure.
Most of all, enjoy the new players and their new stories. They’re going to add to your table coming up with ideas and concepts you’ve never seen before. If you are doing it right you’ll have a more diverse group, telling more diverse tales — and you’ll be stronger both in real life and in the game.
There’s a lot of reasons to be worried that the next D&D movie wouldn’t be good. The last few were not. Fantasy as a genre struggles to have blockbusters. There were also reasons to think it would be good. John Francis Daley and Jonathon Goldstein (co-directors, co-writers) have great experiences making good movies. They are both Dungeons & Dragons nerds. Daley is a credited writer on Rime of the Frostmaiden. The actors are what a big budget film needs. ILM did the effects. The location shots were where you want medieval fantasy to be shot (England and Czechia are the current leaders).
But lots of people were cautious.
Today’s trailer was as good as you can expect from any massive movie.
The party, or cohort of actors, have a vibe. It’s strong. They enjoy each other. All of them but Hugh Grant speak about their new (Pine, Jean-Page) or old (Lillis, Rodriguez, Daley, Goldstein) love of the game. Chris Pine said that every group of actors should always play the game.
Rege Jean-Page said that every high school should have a D&D club. That’s when Sophia Lillis and Michelle Rodriguez both played.
That’s when I started.
I’m not worried about this movie. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves looks to be a fun romp by a diverse group that conquer evil together while getting into more trouble with each bit of success.
And there’s an owlbear and a gelatinous cube and two dragons, and bad planning — that’s D&D.
You know what else is D&D? A group with different skills, different pasts, different presents, different races, genders, everything — then they bond together towards a common goal and the sum of their parts is stronger. Because as Jeremy Crawford once said “a diverse group is a strong group.”
This campaign is set seven years after the Lorebook Hunters returned magic to the World of the Everflow. It is set in the Free City of Sheljar, and is centered on clearing portions of the bog-city from the return of undead and tunneling nightmares. Combat and exploration will be heavier than social play at the beginnnig. Every character is united in keeping residents of Sheljar safeand mostly unified in the ideals of Free Shejlar (all thinking peoples have value), but may have differing concepts about how to do so.
The bog-city of Sheljar sits in a lowland below a waterfall. The climate is cool and wet, think the lowlands of the upper Salish, the moors of Scotland with a boggy multi-island brackish lake similar to New Orleans.
Campaign Premise
The party is a group of guards that volunteered and is paid to help the Lorebook Hunters keep the people of Sheljar safe from skeletons, zombies, wights and other undead. Tunneling Nightmares may have returned to isles in the bog-city as well. They will start in the old neighborhood of Jherr as recent migrants have noticed a cavern with odd noises and smells.
Made using Perilous Shores, this is the neighborhood of Jherr, to the north and east of the core of Sheljar. The southeast corner is less brackish than most of the bog-city, almost an internal fresh water space.
Background
The Flag of the Free City of Sheljar features the moon Feylf in crescent, a white triangle entering a field of the sea and Boo, in his skeletal form.
Once upon a time, the Empire of Sheljar ruled all of the Western Wildes, from the Cliffs of Galinor to Mira to Qin. Then, the Born Generation of magically imbued teens (27 years ago) caused chaos and disruption, upending the old ways. One of the Born Generation, the Necromancer, thought he was doing good, keeping dying peoples and animals with their families, but these horrifying undead monstrosities were often rejected. As he raised more and more, people fled Sheljar, emptying it out, leaving the bog-city nearly abandoned to the Necromancer and his unliving nightmares. A misty stench then started to control the city and more people fled.
It was not until after the eruption of the volcano, the battle of Cortez and Chorl, and the Lorebook Hunters eventually slaying the Necromancer that Sheljar felt free again. Now, six years later the Free City of Sheljar welcomes all thinking peoples. Those that return to their former homes have their property back. Those without homes are granted plots and space with the promise of aid. Few ships dock at Sheljar, but that number increases every month.
Sheljar has several dozen gobkon, a few dozen Ken with no known dragons, but most of its 2,000 generally agrarian peoples are various Kin with their animal companions. The Gendarmes and the Lorebook Hunters are the only standing ‘army.’ Most of the residents are frontier peoples ready to defend their cottages but only have clubs and other utensils as weapons.
A map of the former Empire of Sheljar, now a series of independent city-states and free towns.
Grand Conflicts
At the start this is a simple island of the week adventure, where the Gendarmes are responsible for discovering and clearing pockets of undead.
Factions
Lorebook Hunters – this is the leadership of Sheljar.
Cult of Nak – these are the remnants of Chrol’s transformations.
Fort Ooshar is under control of the Fox and Crow, a gang that sees opportunity to raid the migrants heading to Sheljar
A death cult has taken over the lands west of Telse.
Rumors
The Folio of Necromancy may be missing. Saffron had held it prior to rising to part of the leadership council.
What is that stench out east? Tunneling Nightmares?
The Volcano of the Glass Tower is glowing.
Facets
Exploring the zero-to-hero tropes, friendship with animals, and who gets to control knowledge.
Sandbox play.
Player agency creates history.
Drop in/drop out, whatever. This is an episodic campaign.
Sessions are 60-90 minutes. Adventures are 1-3 sessions.
Variant Rules
Playable races are Human, Hin(what they call themselves)/Halfling, Goliath/Firbolg, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome (wood only), Goblin, Hobgoblin, Bugbear.
Use point buy or standard array for starting attributes. If you want something random, the redrick roller gives random point buy valid stats.
Start at 1st level because several are new to the game, let’s learn together.
The Gendarmes start with a small sailing boat (Crew:4 for rudder, sails, a repeating heavy crossbow, and a fire sling).
Long rests require 24 hours within sanctuary. This creates a pace of play more similar to novels than video games.
Practicum
Sessions will be on Wednesdays right after work, played over Meet with shared screen used to help set the scene. Theater of the Mind will be the most common form of combat, ideally using cinematic descriptions which will grant Inspiration. There is a campaign on DnDBeyond, used only by the participants rather than open to public.
Full Moon Storytelling 