Eighty percent of the reason I do Lore Collage is because it helps me keep track of what I’m reading and discovering about my passions. The other twenty percent is so that I share it with you.
Not much of a surprise to find out that the Realms are the focus. D&D is it’s most fun when settings are explored, and why not feature the one with more novels, comic books, and official products than any other.
The second week of May always packs in a lot of festivals (there are four family birthdays plus Mothers’ Day all within a six day stretch), then I piled on the opening two games of the Tacoma Defiance broadcast season (with D&D references, because that’s who I am). Now, back to blogging.
Whether PC, or current edition of the XBox, Microsoft fans will get Dark Alliance on day one. The co-op action RPG with hard rock vibes is not part of an early access, it’s just going to launch. As an old, I’m a fan of that.
D&D x Magic: The Gathering crossover preview
The Summer of Legend is coming. Thinking all the way back to when I started playing Magic up on the hills of Renton and Kent I expected the two games would have a crossover. That was back in 1993. Now, in the year of our lord 2021 it is finally happening.
The guest list doesn’t include anyone from Wizards specifically, but the presence of an eOne executive promises at least a tiny chance at some D&D movie or TV news.
The Font of Two Paths, the Two-Headed Spring, Pool of Life, Lake of Wonder — the Everflow. This supernatural gift from Quar is the result of the last action of gods who turned their backs on Kin. The Lake of Wonder has two exits, a thing that shouldn’t ever, ever happen when making maps. This wasn’t because of Quar, but instead due to the people who wanted to spread these waters as far as possible. The Font of Two Paths is as much a study of Quar as it is of the ingenuity of his church.
Telse and its immediate surroundings. Map developed using the beta of Hex All Things by Fantastic Maps
In the land of Kin the time of creation of the Everflow started one of the popular calendars. This day is known, only due to the Church of Quar (in actuality it is the date when the first Bishop took the Church from religion to merchant guild and non-national power).
The modern era, 21-26 Post Awakening (PA), the Everflow has a few mechanical benefits. This is true in a world where common magic is merely cantrips and the kinship between beasts. A vial of Everflow, attainable in many markets in Telse and through the rest of Kin only at the Church of Quar, works as three uses of a Potion of Healing. In this world it takes only a Bonus Action to consume a use. Taking all three at once is an Action, and also removes a level of Exhaustion. Again, magic is quite rare, so this healing power has created the potency and power of the Church, which profits off of controlling the Source.
Make up new items or stat up those from myth, describe places where lost items can be found or quests set by the gods for those who wish to “borrow” item for an important task, what artifacts would your campaign villain seek? What is the craftsman of the gods working on?
When the Western Wildes were controlled by the Empire of Sheljar the Church’s influence was so strong that Telse remained a mostly-independent city, though the defenses of Telse and Upper Telse were provided by Sheljar as the mighty empire controlled all lands around the lake town.
This power dynamic shifted at the Fall of Sheljar. As the Necromancer took power in the bog city the other cities in the west earned their freedoms, for the most part.
Telse, Mira, Qin and the other cities near the Everflow and its two rivers.
Sheljar then sat empty as people fled the Tunneling Nightmares and the Night Peoples.
Mira is a port city in the north, with some influence over Fort Ooshar.
Qin is the city of guilds in the south.
The Ferments are a region of hot springs, alcohol, homesteads, and vibrant independence.
Bell’an’aur is the community of mines and glass blowing.
But Telse and Upper Telse remain influential. Bishop Ollium maintains power through the wealth of the church — both in the masses of gold and the healing powers of the Everflow. His church-shops are scattered in all kingdoms (Crinth, Azsel, Kirtin, Daoud, and even Mehmd in the dry east). Though smaller than Qin and Mira, Telse’s gift from the gods, an everflowing fountain of healing water that fills a lake with large locks controlling outflow towards both Mira and Qin.
This gift changed the world. Due to the corruption inherent in the People of Love (humans, halflings, goliaths — the Kin) a gift of healing created a church more powerful than nations, able to control who lives and dies, able to topple dynasties.
In times legendary, Quar expected his gift to be a lasting connection created through generous health, as the Font never runs dry everyone would benefit. The flawed god of life did not expect the flaws of man to control this ability.
Other worlds may have mighty boons from the divine that shake the land, or summon kaiju, or protect cities. In the World of the Everflow the minor gift of healing created a non-national empire, a form of currency, and a town that now has a large refugee populace fleeing the Fall of Sheljar or the cursed magicks now entering the Western Wildes — and dragons.
No matter how large or small an artifact of the gods is it will change your world. The Waters of the Everflow did so much more than a god intended.
Oppressive governments are a staple of genre fiction. From Robin Hood to the Vlad Taltos series, from Thay to any place ruled by a Sorcerer-King in Athas – the tales of tyranny that must be overcome are common.
An uprising is nearly impossible against these powers though. They have access to magics and personnel that make hiding difficult. Identifying who is in rebellion within a society that has the fantastic equivalent of an NSA, CIA, KGB, etc at the surface level seems easy. Yet, in our modern world with facial recognition and AI-infused communication monitoring there are still those who rise up against injustice.
The following are how you make certain that a rebellion that starts like this
Everything starts here, really. From something as simple as Disguise Self to the potent Seeming and Mislead the usages are obvious. They must still be stated and reviewed, lest we overlook the obvious.
These go hand-in-hand with Illusion. Getting past the guard who recognizes you is key. Having a huge crowd be under Sympathy can turn the entire tide of the movement.
Rogues and Bards
These two classes are natural fits for revolution. A College of Whispers Bard can sneak into a castle or manor and learn the secrets of the realm. A College of Glamour will work the nobles The College of Lore will know the History of the peoples, helping define and refine the message of the group, as can Eloquence. The Colleges of Swords and Valor fight among a crowd quite well.
Every Rogue fits. Every. They’re probably the baseline for your rebellion. Assassins, Tricksters, Masterminds, Inquisitives, Thieves, Swashbucklers, Scouts – the list of rogues involved in uprising reads like a casting call for Hunger Games or Divergent.
All Classes Can Fit
Artificers can build the defenses needed.
Barbarians are those enraged by injustice.
Clerics are more than the needed healers, but the ministers pushing for the rights of their flock.
Fighters can be the thug guarding a raid, or the armored noble who joins the cause.
Monks need not be confined to the outsider from another land, but the brethren who know the ancient ways of the nation.
Paladins who take their oath to the betterment of the commoner over the ruling class join your uprising.
Sorcerers exist in uprising literature often as the targets of a realm that do not like those born to authority.
Warlocks may join their pact to gain powers to help their peoples.
Wizards are masters of the spells most important to helping the revolution.
Druids and Rangers probably take the most work to have them fit the story, but difficulties are not impossibilities.
There are gaps within the common D&D classes, and these won’t be filled by Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. The literature and other fictions around resistance feature some tropes that are currently difficult to build in the base rules.
Each of the following subclasses is a work in progress. Some are more finished than others.
Society of Veil and Shadow: Rogue
The Society of Veil and Shadows are a group of rogues dedicated to obscuring and protecting their guild from spies — both arcane and mundane. While able to contribute to the uprising’s success via sneak attacks and other clandestine abilities their true power is their ability to cast a few spells, most of which help keep the rebellion secret.
The Way of the Frayed Knot is a Monk subclass that attempts to feature some Western fantasy tropes. The most common of these is Friar Tuck from Robin Hood, but there are other studious, religious types that fought alongside rogues and pirates.
The Way of Mercy in Tasha’s may be close enough that my own version gets retired.
Conscript: Fighter
An old-timer who retreated from the life of adventure and war, but who for some reason gets called back into it. They’ve done their best to avoid violence. Instead violence seeks them out. The Fighter: Conscript (final name TBD) has seen things. Things no one else should see.
When they get the call to return to their former life they are no longer concerned with having the best weapon and the best armor. Their wits and experience taught them that any tool can be used for any job.
You rose from the underbelly of empire to demand a better life for all. Your pamphlets and speeches can inspire hope, or fear. Whether from the soapbox or via pamphlet your proclamations turn the tides of rebellion.
They come from the urchins and gangs, getting to know the vermin of civilization. Simultaneously they serve the people and the animals that run the streets of a city. Able to help feed and heal those in need, the Sewers Druid is equally at home within a gang of thieves as they are a swarm of rats.
How would you run a D&D campaign that focuses on rebelling against a power much mightier than the player-characters? What tools would you use to rise against The White Witch, or The Union, or the Burgue?
Full Moon Storytelling 