House Rules for Campaigns

I like 2nd Edition AD&D because it is what I grew up with and what I'm familiar with. I like the Player's Option material. I like the splat books. I like the campaign settings. I like the world building. If you don't like that stuff, that is totally a'okay!

That being said, just because I like 2nd Edition doesn't mean that I don't house rule. House ruling is, in my mind, the divine right of DMs. I don't think I've ever actually met a DM that doesn't house rule. Even DMs who will go on about RAW will make a house rule in the heat of the moment - and there is nothing wrong with that! So when I find something I like from any source, I'll make a house rule to incorporate it into my game. So I thought I would share some of my house rules here, and everything here is filtered under: "In my not so humble opinion."

• Removing Class Restrictions: This one is probably one of my earliest changes. Class restrictions and level restrictions seemed stupid. The underlying assumption that it is necessary for a human-centric world is also wrong - population limitations on Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings would work fine. If, in 100 years you have x6 human population growth, and x0.01 elf population growth, for every elf who chooses to become a wizard you'll have probably have ten or more humans making the same choice. Further, larger communities - even if outcasts - would provide for a greater pool of cooperation, debate, research and fresh perspectives meaning that human magic would probably advance faster then elven magic.
   
• Human Modifications/Dual Class Removal: The above works for the world, but for players who want to play humans and not feel like they're not getting anything, I usually provide a few boosts. For example, human characters can start the game with proficiency and a +1 to hit bonus with any one weapon of their choice. If part of a campaign setting, I usually make this cultural ("The Kingdom of Irilka has long insisted that all citizens must fight, and starting at the age of 12 under the local Guildmaster or Lord, the people train on the green or other public place in the skills of the longbow."), and provide a few options ("House Irilka's insistence on a strong yeomanry is due to the constant raiding of the Danor, their brutal lifestyle and association with orc tribes has led their people to train constantly with the battle axe as it is key to their festivals, celebrations and warfare. Only the network of fortifications keep the Kingdom safe.").
  
  Moving back to regional changes, I also worked out specific non-weapon proficiencies based on terrain types. Humans from certain terrains could choose one as a bonus non-weapon proficiency based on how humans are quick learners and can pick up a wide variety of skills. Water environments, such as ocean shores, lakes, and rivers would have fishing, seamanship or rope use. Urban environments would include heraldry, a modern language, or etiquette. These might be adjusted by social standing of course, but the idea is that the player gets an option of three NWP to choose from that are a cost of 1 and come from the General table.
  
  In most fantasy settings humans cities are often describe in typical medieval fashion compared to elven or dwarven cities: dirty, squalid, and packed to the parapet. These conditions have one natural outcome: disease. Disease often rips through human cities and kills the weak. Those left multiply and grow, having stronger resistance. Humans thus gain resistance to non-magical disease similar to how halflings and dwarves have resistance to poison and magic. They gain a +1 to their saves for every 3.5 points of constitution. The save type depends on the special attack used by the creature. Rats, for example, use the Save vs. Poison chart. If no save is allowed or outlined (i.e. rabies from a large bat) the character can make a Save vs. Poison without their bonus.
  
  Finally, I grant human intuition. Due to the constant infighting humans engage in, many humans develop an intuition about who can be trusted and who cannot be. When encountering other humans, the DM rolls a 1d6. On a roll of 1 or 2, the character will know if the person can be trusted or not. Alignment is not at question, only the actual actions of the NPC towards the PC. A chaotic evil bandit, who is more concerned with getting drunk then harming the PC will not register as a threat. A neutral good Lord who is planning to undermine the PC in front of the King will register as a potential threat.
  
  In addition, dual classing is completely removed and humans are allowed to multiclass.
   
• Unified Experience: One thing that we did do back in the late 90s was create unified experience tables. We settled on the cleric's experience table and let everyone advance using that. This was due to our feeling that though classes might have strengths and weaknesses, everyone was better off at the same level - and in general we believed in supportive play styles and didn't mind the wizard blasting everything away. It was part of the fun. Over the years I've expanded it. Using these rules:

• Rogue = Fast. For characters who meet the bonus XP requirement for their class.

• Cleric = Average. In general what all characters use.

• Fighter = Slow. If you are multiclassing, each class uses the slow table. Experience is split.

• Wizard = Very Slow. This is for characters who do not meet the class requirements but still want to be in the class.

As a final note on unified experience, another advantage for humans would be to let them use average for all classes, and demihumans can use average for any class they can go over 10 levels in normally (10+), and slow for all other classes.

What home rules do you use? How did you develop them?

"Helpful" Magical Items

The path to hell is paved in good intentions...

Magical items, in general, are helpful by definition. They actively support you in a number of ways and most players want some kind of magical item. The obvious exception are cursed items, which are intended to hurt you. The following are not cursed - they just want to help more!

The Long Arm of the Law
Generally, a +1 weapon, this is a heavy crossbow or longbow that is intended to help keep the user safe from being labeled a criminal. The magic of the weapon comes into effect when in any jurisdiction that has bans on murder.  In order to keep the wielder on the right side of the law, the weapon will not allow itself to be used to murder any sentient creature. When in such a jurisdiction, if fired at a goblin, orc, human, elf or any other sentient creature, the long arm of the law will transmute the arrow or bolt into a burst of flower pedals (50%), butterflies (25%) or a white dove that will fly away (25%). This change is permanent.

XP: 1,500

The Savers Pouch
Often made of silk and stitched with gold or silver thread, this small belt pouch is very rare. When worn, the magic of the pouch comes into effect, and 15% (gold stitching) or 10% (silver stitching) of the full value of all treasure that the character is carrying or near (that is their share) will disappear. Additionally, any coins, gems, or other monetary instruments put into the bag will also disappear. The money is completely safe from being stolen, or lost. In the event that the bag is stolen, it will return to the person who first put money into it within 2d4 days.

Withdrawing money, on the other hand, is not possible. Only when the player character reaches "venerable age" (see Player's Handbook) will the pouch suddenly burst with coins, gems, and other valuable items. In general, the player will see a compound interest of 1d4% (calculated yearly).

1% of bags include a command word, which is "Trust" followed by a person's name. The character can use this command word to target another individual as the person able to open and use the pouches contents. The character can also include conditions such as "Complete Wizard School" or "Adventure for 5 years."

There is a 5% chance that such an item is cursed, and is known as a Hedge Pouch. These pouches can have money pulled out from whenever, and by anyone who knows the command word: Distribute. Anytime the command word is said, there is a percentage gain or loss of 1d10%. Roll 1d10 and a 1d6. Even numbers are positive, odd numbers are negative. If negative, the bag will not distribute money and will instead permanently destroy  that percentage of the wealth in the bag. If the bag gets to zero, roll 1d10, and that is the percentage of the starting value of the bag that is now owed to the bag. Failure to pay will result in the bag destroying items of value before the character can touch them until the debt is paid. Then the pouch will disappear.

XP: 5,000 (Gold), 3,000 (Silver), -- (Hedge)

The Helm of Happiness
This helmet is generally made out of steel or bronze and is often carved with an eagle, kingfisher, or other large hunting bird. Two large wings of bronze and gold extend from the side offering ear protection. The helmet has powerful abjuration charms woven into it, and grants a bonus of 1 to the wearers AC. However, when the character encounters something threatening that could - potentially - make them unhappy, the true power of the helmet comes into effect. The wings flip forward covering the eyes of the wearer, and the head and neck of the bird animate and lift off the helmet. The bird begins to sing happy and cheerful tunes, modulating it's volume to exceed the volume of any growling, shouting, roaring or other unpleasant and unhappy sounds. This stays in effect until all threats are gone.

XP: 500

Starting an Adventure: Religion!

Gods & Faith for your Players

When I first started designing my adventure, I didn't really think about gods. The player came to me and said that he wanted to play a priest and that he chose the Agriculture mythoi. I responded that the priest would come from a small monastery, and they have apple orchards and blackberry bushes. Interestingly, one of his weapon choices was the bill-guisarme, which made sense with the type of agriculture the priests practiced. Growing up out in a very rural part of New England, the garage at my house had a lot of old style agriculture tools including a billhook and an actual scythe - so I loved having that be a focus.

Beyond just wanting the polearm, the player and I conferred about what this religion would look like using just the PHB. First, we decided that the god was a minor god, focused primarily on the agriculture of trees: fruit and nut trees being the most obvious, but I also had the neat idea that the priests made a fuel out of pine resin and their pine pitch candles were a special trade item:

Candle, Pine Pitch (1sp): A pine pitch candles are mixtures of pine pitch, wax, and charcoal. Each candle is a dark black color, and is shaped as a small three inch rod. These rods are then dipped into regular wax until they create a votive candle. They can then be put into small stone or glass containers and lit. Unlike wick candles, pine pitch candles take longer to light - the priests also make special matches consisting of a long bronze arm with a pitch soaked twine match (2sp, can be used ten times) - but burn brighter and longer then regular candles. They will burn for 20 minutes per inch, and shed light in a 15' radius. 

Now just using the PHB, I decided to throw together the religion for the character by going through each step. At the time, I did not have the Complete Priest Handbook, but the PHB chapter on priests is detailed enough to allow the DM some amazing discretion when it comes to designing a faith. This post will walk you through those steps and how I approached them.

Requirements

In addition to requiring a wisdom of 9, a specific religion might have other requirements for the player as well. I decided that a minor agricultural god would expect a certain level of health and intelligence and made the requirements be a Strength of 12 and an Intelligence of 10. Why? I assumed farmers would have to be fairly strong, and intelligence was the relevant ability score for the agriculture NWP. The priests work their own orchards, and using heavy tools for hours on end would be exhausting work.

I generally expected that the members of this church would be of a neutral good alignment. Generally supportive, but separated from the core of civilization.

Weapons & Armor

The god we developed was a minor agricultural deity, primarily worshiped in the northern areas. A big emphasis was on harvesting and maintaining trees. We decided that the weapon selection, however, would be pretty basic and focused primarily on weapons converted from agricultural use or that farmers might have available: club, flail, hand/throwing axe, bill-guisarme, fauchard, quarterstaff, and sickle. We felt that this made sense as the weapons were basically all modifications of tools that they would normally use or were very simple and commonly available like the club and quarterstaff.

We didn't touch armor selection, and left the priests of this deity with full access to all armor available. I did make a note that the priesthood is generally not in favor of out of control fire, so throwing burning oil on a goblin in the woods would be seen as a bad thing.

Spells

I felt that being a priest of an agricultural god meant - especially a minor one - meant that the priest would not necessarily have access to all spells and spheres. This was essentially the same approach used by the specialist wizard. I banned necromancy, combat, and astral out of hand - far beyond the scope of this god. I also got rid of creation, since it creates something from nothing while the whole point of this God is to grow and nurture. You don't just create food, you grow it and earn it. I felt that the sphere's description didn't match what I saw the religion being about.

For major access, plant, weather, sun and healing were right at the top. I felt that all three made sense and provided the "key focus" of what the god was, and what it was hoping to do in the world. You'll also see that I choose to ban four spheres and make four schools major access. My thought was that for each major access you had to ban an "opposed" sphere. Although there are no real oppositions, I felt that was a good way to show specialization.

Everything else defaulted to minor access.

Powers

Granted powers, such as turning undead are where the priest class could truly shine. For my agricultural priest, I decided that they could turn undead, but they also able to turn vermin such as rodents and insects, and had immunity to any plant based poison. The turning abilities I felt could both be used once per encounter - so you can turn undead in one round, and then turn a beetle in the next round. I told the player that vermin were only those rodents and insects that attempted to destroy trees or eat crops, and thus something like bees or dragonflies wouldn't count, but that insect swarms (See Monster Manual, pg 206 would count). Rats would count, while weasels wouldn't count. The purpose of the power was to protect agriculture.

The poison ability was something I thought would make sense. A deity focused on plant life would probably have a strong understanding of plant poisons and provide protection to their followers. How embarrassing would it be if you start a fight with the god of disease, and his followers poison yours using the very plants you represent? Note, this also gave me another deity - a chaotic evil disease god that the cleric's character was sworn to fight against.

Ethos

In defining the ethos, the player and I had a full discussion. We defined seven primary beliefs of the religion that we felt made sense from the perspective we had developed above:

1. Support and encourage farmers. 
2. Defend against urbanization.
3. Teach the best methods for tending orchards and using the resources of the trees.
4. Encourage the growth of orchards where possible.
5. Defend against disease and fire, and the spread of disease carrying vermin.
6. Encourage peace, protect the innocent, and face challenges with bravery.
7. Develop the knowledge of agriculture, and discourage the use of wild forests.

The player felt that the religion would strongly encourage the development of orchards and tree farms for pretty much everything. Examples we developed:

• Special ships are built only using timber grown by this priesthood. 
• Wooden weapons such as long bows and quarterstaffs made by this priesthood are easier to enchant. 
• Fruit and nuts raised by this priesthood are healthier and last longer

Titles

Since the religion is primarily built around monasteries, all the members are Brothers or Sisters, and leaders are Abbots or Abbess. Men and women would work side by side, so defining their buildings as a convent or monastery would be meaningless, and we defaulted to monastery to emphasize that it was isolated and often remote.

Conclusion

Religion is one of those things that a lot of world designers sweat on. Yet, it isn't that hard. As you can see from the above, just using the Player's Handbook it is possible to design an entire priesthood quickly and easily. Everything you need to start building your world is right there - and you don't even need the priest's handbook to do it!

Catching up after Moving!

Moving: Why it seems so much easier in RPGs!

One thing I will say about RPGs: they make moving and packing look easy. Sure you can ransack that ancient castle with 100 rooms - let's just say you make off with 10,000gp and all the loot. In reality, a two bedroom apartment takes 16 hours and the weather gods decide that - despite the fall month - you will also have to deal with a temperature of 106F. Isn't that great? Obviously my sacrifices and prayers were in vain.

Le sigh!

But let's talk for a minute about encumbrance. As that's what I've been spending the past few weeks thinking about!

Encumbrance and Transportation

This is very much an optional set of rules, and one that is often not focused on in the game - which is a shame, because this is the kind of rule that would address those concerns of fighters and thieves that magic users are overpowered. Even if you are playing a high magic game with tons of magical options to transport things, you do hit a cap - and nothing helps clear out a dungeon like the follower table for the fighter. But that will be addressed later.

For now, let's focus on encumbrance itself. I would say that out of every ten readers, only one will have used encumbrance (Please feel free to comment below if you are that one person - I'd love to know your experience with the rules). Encumbrance adds an additional layer of complexity to the rules that many players and DMs do not like. They don't want to record gold coin weights, nor do they want to stop being able to seed the dungeon with useful items.

And that's fair. There is nothing wrong with saying "we're going to hand wave our way around this." This is a game after all, and though I couldn't hand wave myself through my wife's closet (seriously: four hours in and of itself), I can understand the desire to do so.

So why do I do it?

Because it is fun to go back to old adventures with new rules becoming the focus of the fun! When I include these rules, the goal is to make the characters think about their equipment and about their environment. If you find a room with two full treasure chests, how are you going to get them out? Say you have a fighter (Str: 15) and a thief (Str: 12). Between the two of them they can carry 100 lbs unencumbered. But the fighter has chain mail and the thief has leather armor: 55 lbs of their weight is taken just in their armor. This is unencumbered of course, If they are carrying weapons and some gear we might get from encumbered to lightly encumbered. 

So the large chest weighs 100 lbs (maxed out capacity based on Table 50 in the PHB, page 105). So let's just say that our characters are sharing the load and we'll assume the chest is evenly packed. That means each character is lifting 50 lbs. So for our fighter, we'll say that puts him at moderate encumbrance, and our thief is now at heavy encumbrance. Both are humans, and now the fighter has a movement rate of 6, but the thief has a movement rate of 4. When moving did you ever hear someone say: "You're going to fast!"

Well due to the shared load, the fighter is now at the same speed as the thief - four. If the fighter tries to go faster, then the thief is going to fall down, or lose his hold, etc etc. Now you're party is moving this chest through a dungeon at a movement rate of 4. How many random encounters will they have? Did they clear the dungeon first? Are they sure? How long will it take to get it outside? Is outside even safe? There is another chest too - so now you have to repeat this!

Now you've added an additional layer onto the dungeon for the PCs. Not only do they have to concern themselves with the monsters, but they also have to think strategically. This leads to four major areas for additional role playing opportunities:

1. Making Camp

The first is the base camp. Many adventures start in an inn, jump to the dungeon, and end with the players partying it up back in town. Again, there is nothing wrong with this style of play. However, encumbrance means you have to have a place to leave your gear and it needs to be secured. Making camp then, requires actually working through the outside of the dungeon area. The players need to think about:

• Concealment - is it hard to see where they want to make camp?
• Accessibility - can it be easily accessed when carrying a heavy load?
• Safety - can it be easily defended if necessary?

As a DM you can either have the players talk through this: "I look for a small cave, more a crack in the rock which we can conceal with freshly cut branches." Or you can have the players use non-weapon proficiency, such as survival or camping:

Camping (General/Fighter)

 # of Slots: 1 | Relevant Ability: Intelligence | Check Modifier: 0 

You know the basics of setting up a camp in the wilderness, such as creating a safe fire pit, and the best location for a refuse pit. Most people know that you can pitch a tent and set up a fire, but when they make camp randomly, they might end up sick if they put their refuse pit to close to the spring or they might start a forest fire if they didn't properly set up a place for cooking. You can avoid those mishaps easily. Without an ability check and with proper equipment such as tents, a shovel, flint and steel, and tinder, you can set up a camp for 4 people for each hour you spend working.  

With an ability check, you are able to set up shelters if you have none, for the same time frame. Each hour requires an ability check, and you gain a bonus of +2 to your ability role if you have the survival skill. You are able to scour the local site for what you need. This assumes ideal conditions, and problems such as inclement weather could impose penalties.

When taken by a fighter as a fighter skill, the fighter can make additional skill checks to conceal the camp, or set up a camp as a siege camp. When concealing a camp, the character imposes a penalty equal to difference between their target, and what they rolled. For example, Arwin the Halfling Fighter is attempting to conceal a camp in the mountains. His intelligence is an 11. He has chosen a good site, and had all the necessary gear to get the camp set up. He begins the process of concealment and rolls a 9. The orcs that have been tracking them end up having to take an additional -2 penalty to their tracking score or they lose the party and move on.

If you use additional skill points on this skill, you are mastering camping skills in specific terrains, such as mountains or temperate forests. You gain that additional skill point bonus when in that specific terrain, and that terrain only. You can use more then one additional skill point for one terrain type, for example, a fighter with three skill points spent on camping would have general, and then could either declare a +2 bonus for camping in mountains, or a +1 bonus for camping in mountains and a +1 bonus for camping in temperate forests. Non-fighters can spend a skill point to gain the fighter abilities above.

The DM might allow you to also purchase specially designed camouflage supplies. These would add an additional bonus to the concealment check. Of course, if you have animals in your camp concealing it could be difficult. You might need to hire guards. Especially when you start carting out treasure.

2. Carting Equipment Around

So the party wants to make their way into the mountains. They know of a good camping site near the ancient tomb of Xylocan the Terrible, but they want to be absolutely sure they are ready for what they encounter. They want to bring tents, supplies for a few days, and some spare weapons. They also know that the last time they went exploring, that they had found some items that were to large to carry out easily, so they want to bring block and tackle and some hand carts.. wait! Hand carts? What?

First, making an expedition out into the wilderness requires bringing along everything you are going to need - or making it as you go. Hunting and fishing, for example, can maintain food supplies, as does foraging. However, having ready made food is easier as you do not have to spend all your time just focused on survival. The same is true for weapons - you're better off with prepared weapons versus making your own. So you decide you need:

• Tents
• Bedrolls
• Rope (lots and lots of rope)
• Poles
• Lanterns/Torches (and oil for lanterns)
• Block and tackle
• Grappling hooks
• Extra ammo and weapons
• Food and water (jugs or barrels are probably the best approach)

How do you get all of this up into the mountains? A wagon makes the most sense, pulled by a mule or ox. I've always ruled that a horse, mule, ox, or other pack animal with a cart harness is able to pull 150% of their stated weight on the encumbrance table. They can pull more then moderate encumbrance if the character passes an animal handling check with a -2 penalty for each level above moderate (or for each movement penalty point if using the optional encumbrance rules). However, wagons don't fit into most dungeons easily (there are obviously exceptions!).

So what about inside a dungeon? Well, the characters can use a block and tackle to load up a small cart. There are three types: Hand Carts, Miners Carts, and Wheel Carts. When using a cart to transport, the weight is considered to be 50% of the total weight if pulled, and 80% of the total weight if pushed.

Hand Cart (10 gp): A handcart is essentially a chest on wheels. It can carry up to 100 lbs, and is 3' long by 2' wide by 2' deep. A cart might come with an optional closure on the top which can be locked and secured (+2 gp), or it could just be open. If open, ignore depth - though putting a tall statue in the cart could cause it to tip over. 

Miner's Cart (30gp): A miner's cart is larger then a hand cart, being 5' long, by 3' wide, and 4' in depth. Miners carts can carry 200 lbs. Miners carts sit on two axles and four wheels. They are often pulled by mules or pushed by the miners and are well constructed for that purpose. As they are designed for use underground, most make sure to include a place to hang a lantern, torch or candle from the front. Fancier carts will include a small mirror of highly polished silver to help improve the visibility of a miner's candle (+10 gp, miner's candles burn even in poor air quality, and brightly - they cast light out in a 10' radius and last for 20 minutes per inch. The polished silver mirror extends the light out to a 20' cone, which is 10' wide at the end. Miner's candles cost 5cp each).  

Wheel Cart (5gp): A wheel cart is usually nothing more then a single axle with a small base that is 2' wide and 0.5' long. A single rope is included that can be tied around objects laid on the platform, allowing them to be pulled along. Wheel carts are most frequently used by foresters who down a tree and put one end on the cart, and the other end of the tree is harnessed to a mule or pony to be carried back to their mill. Wheel carts cannot carry a large number of items, but can only carry one item that is secured via the rope. 

With these options the players are able to cart more equipment, and now have an additional reason to set up a camp. Remember, if they're using mules or ponies to pull their gear they will also need feed for them as well!

3. Making Shields and Armor Actually Worthwhile

Additionally, I have made shields and armor more worthwhile. I allow fighters to gain a bonus of -1 to their AC in any kind of armor (i.e. leather armor goes from -2 to -3) by using a weapon proficiency. Further, for all classes shields are better:

Buckler/Target: Improves AC by 2 against one attack, or 3 if used against a missile attack.
Small: Improves AC by 2 against two frontal melee attacks. or 4 against missile attacks.
Medium: Improves AC by 3 against all melee frontal and flank attacks, or 6 against missile attacks.
Body: Improves AC by 4 against melee frontal and flank attacks, or 8 against missile attacks.

Halflings and gnomes cannot use body shields, however they, and other Small sized creatures, treat their shield as one size larger. For example, Arwin the Halfling Fighter has come back to town. During his latest foray into a dungeon, he was attacked from behind and had to drop his short bow and fight with his short sword. He got hurt badly, and has decided he needs a shield. He goes to the shop, and finds a human armorer who has created a small round shield with a bronze leaf pattern. He loves it and purchases it. In his next encounter, he will have an AC bonus of 3 against all frontal and flank attacks: 2 for the shield, and 1 for using a weapon proficiency.

This allows weight to be saved on armor, and also is slightly more in line with history - where shields were key to a soldier's defense. 

4. Hirelings as more then Torch Bearers

Porters, carters, and camp guards all become necessary if encumbrance is going to be a serious concern. The players will need to balance, however, the cost of a team against the potential reward. And this also means that they have to think long term: should we quickly scout a place out and determine what we'll need ahead of time? If we have to leave and come back, what could happen? 

Perhaps the main treasure of the adventure isn't even monetary. An ancient evil has overtaken a temple far in the mountains. The church wishes the PCs to go into the temple and recover important relics: statues of their goddess. These statues are made of marble and are fragile, each double the size of a regular human. In exchange, the PCs will be well rewarded - but not with gold, but access to restoration and healing spells. To recover those statues the PCs will need to clear the dungeon, evaluate the safety of the route, and then bring in a team to get each statue safely out of the dungeon and into wagons or onto wheel carts, and then back to the temple. All of those people will need to be paid, and all that equipment secured or rented. A team of teamsters going all that way will be a handsome sum. Add in laborers and you have a large team of people heading into the mountains. What will that attract? Is the route truly safe? The PCs will have a very difficult time... and that's what makes it so much fun!

And also note: you aren't going to double up here. Guards aren't going to do the job of porters and porters make terrible guards. Maybe if the guards are getting some of the action they'll help load - after all, the more treasure that comes out, the larger their share - but do the players want to share?

Starting an Adventure: Populating your Campaign World

Starting an Adventure

The basic idea for this adventure came to me very quickly: a small gem stone operation has been interrupted when a rock slide opened up a cave system, and a bunch of giant rats came out to attack the miners. The miners were gnomes because gnomes loved gems according to the Player's Handbook. My logic was infallible.

You can read more about getting started on this campaign here.

While I sketched out the map, the two players I had started out with their character development. One wanted to be a fighter, the other a cleric. So I quickly added both a monastery to my notes and a fort where a local Baron ruled. Both characters decided to be humans so right now I only have the rock gnome miners, and a bunch of humans running around. But this was a wealthy town (gem stones and metals) and so I wanted to figure out what it looked like. Being the good DM that I am, I immediately turned to the Monster Manual and decided to roll everything out. This is how it was described the area according to my notes:

Village of Highfall and the North March Barony

The Village of Highfall is a quiet village surrounded by farmland, and under the shadow of the Frost Wall Mountains. Four large peaks, former volcanoes, tower above the sky and watch the activity in the valley below. Before the arrival of the barony, local tribes worshiped these mountains, associating them with the seat of their gods. The village is close to Forest Watch Keep, the seat of the North March Barony. 

From the Keep, Baron Eberhart and his soldiers, guard the land from the constant incursion of barbarian raiders, goblin tribes and the never ending supply of bandits from the Staghaunt Woods. The Baron is a kind, but hard, man and is well liked by his men. He is considered fair and just, and has done much for the local population.  

At the edge of the Staghaunt Woods, a small monastery was established. The order of priests raises blackberries and apples that they turn into wine and hard cider, which they sell to fund their order. Less well known is their library, a small collection of holy works that they continue to expand upon. 

After writing out the above, I used the Monster Manual to actually determine what the Barony looked like. The results are below:

North March Barony & Village of Highfall

• Baron Waren Eberhart (6th Level Human Fighter, Lawful Good)
• 10 Gentry (17 Guards, 46 Servants)
• 3 Knights
• 44 Soldiers (Including 1 2nd Level Lieutentant, and 12 1st level Sergeants/Corporals)
• 22 Mercenaries
• 16 Farmers
• 81 Peasants
• 9 Craftsmen
• 7 Priests
• 9 Rock Gnome Miners

So now we have a very general idea of what is out here in the woods. Later I would add a wizard tower and two wizards and three apprentices so that another character could play a wizard. The wizards had six servants, and eight guards at their tower. The head of the tower is 5th level, and is often consulted by Baron Eberhart on things magical. Additionally we expanded our map to a lake at the end of the valley and this is where the small village of Dawnfields was added - being primarily a halfling village under the protection of the Barony. This also marks the full range of the Barony.

Village of Dawnfields

• Master Warden Collyn Longwood (3rd Level Halfling Fighter, Lawful Good)
• 6 Wardens of Dawnfields (2nd Level Halfling Fighters, Lawful Good)
• Master Priest Reya Merryberry (3rd Level Halfling Priest, Lawful Good)
• 91 Halflings
• 8 Human Craftsmen
• 10 Human Sailors

At this point we know what our happy Barony looks like - but what makes it unhappy? Barbarians, bandits, and goblins! Because random encounters are so important, I decided to put together a random encounter table, and decided that it made sense to roll on that table every five miles that the players traveled - which we estimated to be about two hours of game time. To save time I decided to re-purpose the monster summoning table from the Monster Manual. I made it focused on what it was I was trying to accomplish for the feel - plus keep it balanced for the number of adventurers I had. Roll 1d12:

1. Wolf
2. Bat, huge
3. Orc (1d2)
4. Barbarian (2d4)
5. Goblins (1d4)
6. Bandits (1d4)
7. Rat, giant (3d4)
8. Kobold (3d4)
9. Wolf
10. Bandits (1d4)
11. Bat, huge
12. Rat, giant (3d4)

So now we have our overall environment: towns, the land, encounters, and more. At this point I felt ready to begin the adventure. But first - here is the updated map!

I recreated the map in Hexographer, something I will review at a later date - but have no financial interest in or relationship with beyond me using it to make maps. This is fairly basic, and each hex represents 5 miles.

So the adventure begins! My starting characters were a Human Fighter and a Human Cleric. The fighter was a former soldier of the baron who had finished his service and was looking forward to adventure. The cleric was a trainee at the monastery ready to go out into the world. They now had a place to explore and people to interact with.

Next post I'll actually put up the adventure!