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    Canonfire :: View topic - Looking for ideas for my Shield Lands Campaign
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    Looking for ideas for my Shield Lands Campaign
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    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Mar 17, 2006
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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:49 am  
    Looking for ideas for my Shield Lands Campaign

    Hi there,

    I´m currently DMing a Shield Lands campaign, which started in early summer 576 CY. After a few sessions, I´m now at early fall 576 CY.

    My PCs are in the County of Stahzer, and had some frontier clashes with bandits and hobgoblins. In winter, Earl Holmer will pay a visit to Stahzer, and will recieve a message in which Redhand inquires if he can use the Chalice of the Shield Lands in preparation for his campaign in the coming spring.
    Of course, this is bogus, as he plans his betrayal in 577 (I set it in spring).

    Now, the PCs get the honorable task of bringing the Chalice to Alhaster, which means that they have to travel across the Shield Lands, ship to Admundfort, and then take a ship to Alhaster.

    While on the ship to Alhaster, they will be beset by sea monsters and pirates. The pirates are hired by Redhand (indirectly, of course) who gets the information about the PCs ship from his official emissary at Admundfort. Redhand reasons that if the pirates get the Chalice, he can maintain his ruse a little longer, and it deals a blow to the shield lands confidence if it disappears. If the PCs defeat the pirates, he gets it delivered to his doors, with some unsuspecting victims/sacrifices on top of it.

    That is what I´ve got until now. I´m looking for ideas
    1. for the journey through the Shield Lands
    2. for Alhaster and Redhands´ treachery
    3. for everything else I could use

    I will of course continue to work, but if you have any ideas, please share them.

    For the sake of completeness and FYI, I play D&D 3.5 with very few houserules. I have a knight, a priest of Pelor, and a Ranger/Fighter (archer), all at level 3 at present. I plan on having them at level 5 or 6 at the end of the Redhand episode.

    Stefan
    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Dec 01, 2005
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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:13 am  

    I wish I could help, but I don't know much about the Shield Lands, west of the Ritensa. Most of my stuff is to the east, in that box formed by the Ritensa and Artonsamay, the Nyr Dyv and the Rift/Tangles.

    If you want an alternate, land route... I could help there. I've set a couple adventures in the White Plume hinterlands, especially around Ringland.
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:45 am  

    Well, I am interested in your ideas - suddenly, an idea sprang to my mind: The PCs have to escape from Redhand, and surely they won´t be able to use a ship, so they will have to get away from Redhand by land.

    Stefan

    ephealy wrote:
    I wish I could help, but I don't know much about the Shield Lands, west of the Ritensa. Most of my stuff is to the east, in that box formed by the Ritensa and Artonsamay, the Nyr Dyv and the Rift/Tangles.

    If you want an alternate, land route... I could help there. I've set a couple adventures in the White Plume hinterlands, especially around Ringland.
    Journeyman Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:27 am  
    Ringland

    OK, you asked for it....

    I haven't tried to put my notes into your time-frame, so you'll have to adjust as you see fit. Let me know if you want any more.

    - - - - -

    Ringland (Village): Nonstandard; AL LG; Population 518; 200 gp limit; Assets 25,900 gp; Mixed (80% human (Osf), 9% halfling, 5% elf, 2% dwarf, 2% gnome, 1% half-elf, 1% half-orc).


    Area Map (Crop)
    Eric Anondson

    Ringland is a fortified village of trappers and hunters, though a few frontier farmers and merchants make their homes here as well. A 10-foot-tall log palisade surrounds the main settlement; outside the walls, sheep, goats, and other livestock graze freely. Actual stonework reinforces important sections of the palisade, including its two guard towers. Five guards (called regulars) tend the main gate, which is the sole means of entry. The warriors stationed here can depend on backup from the entire village in case of particularly aggressive visitors. Intermittent bandit raids throughout the region have made Ringlanders somewhat leery about new faces, but they treat newcomers civilly. After all, even bandits need a place to spend their ill-gotten gains.

    Ringland’s populace consists of about one hundred noncombatants (children and elders), fifty 1st-level fighters, thirty 2nd-level fighters and sixteen 3rd-level fighters (the regulars). Most of the villagers spend their time hunting, trapping, shearing sheep, spinning wool, maintaining homes, repairing breaks in the palisade, and otherwise pursuing their daily lives. Areas of interest here include the Ringland Inn (proprietor: Sebastian Fauke), the Hunters Guild (where PCs can hire a guide), and the tower of the local hedge wizard/sage, Monaric.

    Ringland History
    Before the Greyhawk Wars, Ringland was a small estate of some 60 square miles, demarcated by a ring of small stone towers. A powerful, area-affecting version of the antipathy spell had been placed here, so that creatures of evil alignment found it difficult to enter these lands. Further, a very subtle form of the forget spell affected such creatures, so that upon their return from Ringland, even if they have not entered it, but simply attempted to do so, their memories of what happened there changed in subtle and strange ways. Thus, a priest of Iuz affected by this magical influence might "remember" that food supplies from Ringland to the local garrison were good, with the farmers of Ringland being enslaved. Thus, he would not have to bother himself with Ringland in the future.

    Protected by this magic, cast by a long-dead mage whose name the inhabitants themselves cannot remember, Ringland's 800 humans continued to farm the land and survive undisturbed. The most important warriors here, led by two Knights of Holy Shielding, knew this cannot continue indefinitely. An intrusion by two fiends whose magic resistance negated the protections of Ringland brought this home to all who lived here. The paladin Sir Janszen Reyneld favored an attempted breakout to Urnst. However, the ranger Sir Harmenn Deleven favored escape to Furyondy. Five young priests of Rao in Ringland wanted more time to use divination magic to estimate the best course of action, but since none was higher than fifth level, they could not command powerful divinatory magics and the people of Ringland grew tired with their caution. Since these priests preserved important Shield Land archives in their temple, they were very anxious that any move made should be the right one.

    Harmenn and Janszen were the leaders of the community at Ringland, which included some forty warrior-types among its people and five Rao priests of levels 1-5. Both were Knights of Holy Shielding, who realized all too well the stark fate of their land. They planned carefully for escape, but could not agree on the best strategy. The two of them mounted careful watch over the margins of Ringland, seeking any further escapees from Iuz's clutches who might tell them of events in the outside world. Their great anxiety, obviously, was the 750 or so souls who were not fighters within Ringland and how they may somehow be saved is a breakout could be devised.

    2e Rules
    Ringland regulars, male and female humans F3 (5): AC 4 (chain mail and shield); MV 12 (unencumbered); hp 21; THACO 18 (17 with longsword and specialization); #AT 3/2 (longsword); Dmg ld8+2; SZ M (6’ tall); ML average (9); Int average (9); AL N; XP 120.

    Information about White Plume Mountain
    The villagers know little about White Plume Mountain, even though the volcano and its periodic plume are clearly visible from the eastern section of the palisade. However, they are happy to provide the following information in response to appropriate questions:

    - "We stay clear of White Plume; don‘t you know the stories? Monsters are always wandering the slopes of the volcano. Worse, some crazy sorcerer went and locked himself inside! He’s been there since before my great-grandfather was born."

    - "The closest anyone in this town has ever been to the mountain is Dead Gnoll’s Eyesocket, about thirteen miles east of here. That’s one or two miles past the mountain’s base, but it’s the easiest approach to the slope."

    - "Sometimes you can see a face in the plume. Lately, some people say they can see a lot of faces there, but they’re all the same person."

    If the PCs are on the trail of a missing friend or relative, the villagers readily admit to having seen the individual a few months back. The damn fool headed toward the Plume despite all their warnings and hasn’t been seen since.

    REFERNCES
    - Greyhawk Adventures: Iuz the Evil (WGR5); 1993
    - Return to White Plume Mountain; 1999


    Last edited by ephealy on Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:41 am; edited 1 time in total
    Journeyman Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:33 am  
    Yellowflow River

    The Yellowflow River originates in the heated geysers and burbling hot springs of White Plume Mountain. While most of the volcano's sulfurous water flows into the Great Swamp to the northwest, a portion of it forms a river running south. Because of the water's high sulfer content, river life is sparse. With proper distillation, however, water from the river is drinkable.

    Note: The water should be "drinkable" north of the area around Plague Fields. However, once it passes the cursed land around the ruined keep, the water should be diseased. Anyone drinking said water should have a chance of contracting a disease.

    REFERENCES
    - Return to White Plume Mountain; 1999
    Journeyman Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:39 am  
    Balmund

    Along with Sarresh, Balmund is one of Reyhu's two traditional strongholds. After the wars, the village was strengthened and walled. It is an important outpost supporting the keep at Sheerwatch to the north which stands guard over the southern margins of the Rift Canyon barrens and Sarresh to the east. Balmund is ruled by four mid-level priests of Iuz who command the 300 Urzun orcs who rotate between here and Sheerwatch, with 200 goblins in support. These priests are all deeply suspicious of each other and are continually plotting each other's downfall. What's more, none of them has formal command of any other, so they compete by trying to give more orders than their fellows, so as to appear to be the one in charge.

    Obviously, this means that the garrisons here are very poorly organized. Worse still, there is no coordination with the forces of Iuz in Riftcrag so that attempts to hunt the bandits of the Rift Canyon are generally ineffective despite the presence here of well-trained tracking tyrgs and some of Iuz's very rare cavalry. The human warriors at Balmund have little but contempt for the priests and operate almost independently of them, raiding or hunting bandits as they please.

    Zeech, "Prince" of Redhand, is supposed to report to the Balmund's priestly rulers, which in turn report to either Riftcrag or Stoink (their orders are often confused on this point).

    Population: 1,300 (591 CY)

    Balmund Garrison: (250 orc, 50 elite orc, 200 goblin, 25 orog, 50 other humanoids, 9 ogre, 2 hill giant, 2 troll, 250 warrior, 14 priest, 4 shaman, 7 wizard, 130 skeleton, 40 zombie, 45 greater undead, few fiends). In additioin, Balmund shares a force of 300 orcs with Sheerwatch.

    REFERNCES
    - Greyhawk Adventures: Iuz the Evil (WGR5); 1993
    - Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 2000
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jul 13, 2002
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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:45 pm  

    I have no real suggestions on how things should go on your campaign. What I wanted to note is that I think that this is one of the coolest things of GH and its history that has developed. Your characters are taking part in "history," and with the background info, you can make it feel this way. They aren't powerful enough to change history yet... but they will be! I love Greyhawk!
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:52 pm  

    Anced, that one of the points of my campaign. My players don´t know anything about Greyhawk, but I set the campaign so that they will be part of the history and only witness it at first, but be able to change it later - I´m planning to use the "official" storyline, with the wars and all, and portray the Shield Lands as a beautiful and proud homeland. The loss of their home should be felt all the sharper for it, and they will be eager to regain it. At the point where the slow "reconquista" starts, they should be around 15th level or so, and will make a difference.

    Stefan
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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:53 pm  

    ephealy, thanks for all the info! I will have to sort it out and fit it to my timeline and story, but it saves me a tremendous amount of work to have it all in one place.

    Stefan
    Journeyman Greytalker

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    Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:17 pm  

    If you have an area / geographic feature in particular you want to know more about, just ask and I'll see what I can do.
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