The Demon Verge: Session 1

After I straightened out some scheduling conflicts, I was able to run the first session of the Demon Verge campaign this past Monday on Google+.

Our heroes were:

Aelaran the Resilient (male cleric), played by Bret
Cadie Stone-Spar (female dwarf), played by Jaime
Garen-Gen (male halfling), played by Dan
Magda the Witch (female magic-user), played by Chris
Ondola the Blunt (female fighter), played by my brother (also named Chris)
plus their retainers, Wart, Otto, and Bardoon

The characters are part of a larger force sent to the Demon Verge to pacify the war-torn and chaos-stricken borderlands. They started out in the Duchy of D'Ansor, collected a few rumors, and decided to investigate reports of orcs, ogres and the like -- presumably deserters from the war between the Demon province of Nisshar and the Hosarite alliance -- preying upon the farming villages to the northwest of town. They were able to track them to an ancient dwarven ruin set into a hillside, and with some clever reconnaissance and liberal use of flaming oil, managed to lure out and slay several of its inhabitants (orcs, goblins, and giant toads) before entering its partially waterlogged interior.

So, as you can see, it was a pretty basic setup (evil humanoids in a dungeon) but I had a lot of fun running it. I really enjoy playing hirelings, goblins, and other "bottom of the barrel"-type characters, and the Meatshields! hireling & henchman generator does an excellent job of instantly creating memorable goons. I also learned some lessons about flaming oil that I had forgotten (namely, that it is incredibly powerful). The players made some very smart choices in tackling the ruins and their inhabitants, got a ton of lucky rolls (no wandering monsters!) and as a result, have managed to acquire quite a nice heap of treasure with no loss of life or limb... yet.

This session was a big improvement over my previous attempts to run a game on Google+, at least in terms of my own confidence and enjoyment. That's due in no small part to the fact that this time, I'm running a relatively small dungeon that I stocked myself, rather than a giant megadungeon that requires hours of study and preparation. So far I haven't gotten the feeling that I'm "screwing up" -- justified or not -- that I often get when running others' material.

I got very valuable feedback from my players, including that they want more opportunities for roleplaying, which was a lovely thing to hear. So, a success, I think.

Domains of the Demon Verge

Here's a (sort of) brief summary of what I've established about the Demon Verge setting, some of it extrapolated from Demonlord, and some of it made up whole cloth. This represents knowledge that player characters, who are not native to the region, would already know (or be able to glean with little effort).

The Kingdom of Altacia
Often referred to simply as "the Old Kingdom", Altacia is the largest human nation on the continent of Narth. It was once the preeminent power in the region, but is now in decline, challenged by its neighbors, the realm of Ekkesh (to the south) and the Demon Provinces (to the east).

The Duchy of D'Ansor
A realm whose people have as much in common with the cragsmen of Altu'han as they do with the Altacian people, D'Ansor only recently bent the knee to the Old Kingdom. Its capital is home to the only magical college in the region. The villages of the Duchy are terrorized by brigands, deserters from both sides of the recent war.

The Principality of Timur
The largest city in the region, save Nisshar, Timur is the eastern trade hub of the Old Kingdom, now wracked by banditry. Once the stronghold of the Hosar faith, it was here that the High Priest was slain in battle, and Hosar's influence here is now as diminished as the spirits of those who were once its adherents.

The Barony of Barthek
A swampy land regarded as a cultural backwater in the Old Kingdom. Since the death of its Baron, Barthek is torn by internal strife between the Altacian nobles that have inherited it, and its people, whose traditions are closer to those of Ekkesh, a southern nation with a long history of conflict with the Old Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Ula
Until one year ago, the Dwarves of Ula toiled under the eye of the abomination known as the Balron and the Trolls that served it. Freed when the wizard Rabat slew the Balron, the Dwarves aided the alliance of Hosar in driving back the forces of Nisshar. Though freedom has come to the Dwarves, untold numbers of slaves yet toil in their mines, and it is said that slavers in Ula's employ still bring travelers to their mountains in chains.

The Duchy of Altu'han
The "mountain realm of the cragsmen", Altu'han is a northern domain ruled from a fortress city. Much of what is now the Duchy of D'Ansor was once the cragsmen's territory. Altu'han was briefly conquered by the Altacians, but its people have proven untamable, and for over a century the Duchy has been a part of the Old Kingdom in name only.

The Principality of Lyung
"Realm of the Sorcerer Cloud Prince", Lyung is an enigma even to its neighbors. What is known is that its capital is impregnable, and that none have been granted an audience with the Cloud Prince in generations. Legends say that the warriors of Lyung ride great dragons into battle, and indeed, some assert that they have seen the figures of men on winged creatures crossing the central plains.

The Great Woods
Home of wild warrior tribes, known worshippers of beast gods and forest spirits. Reputed to be not entirely human, the Great Woods barbarians are unpredictable, allying with Demons or men (or neither) according to their whims, and since the last war, the barbarians' raids against the eastern villages of Timur and Barthek have only grown bolder.

The Land of the Ancients
A nearly forgotten race, the Ancients ruled the hills and plains of the entire region in ages past, and their prehistoric ruins dot the landscape. It is said that the last remnants of the Ancients dwell in a crumbling temple to the north of Nisshar, and that the Demons give a wide berth to this land.

The Province of Nisshar
Westernmost province of the Demon Emperor's domain, Nisshar consists of several sprawling city-states and fortresses in a largely barren expanse of steppe, desert, and badlands. Each of these city-states is ruled by a Demonlord that swears fealty to the Imperial capital, Tor'zem, far to the east. The cities of Nisshar, Erush, and Taegul are places of despair, where men, demi-men, goblins, orcs and all manner of other beings live in common fear of the lash of their accursed masters.

Wizard Needs Answers Badly

Random Wizard recently asked for people to answer ten questions about "Your Game". So, here goes.

(1). Race (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) as a class? Yes or no?
Yes. I've really come around to this approach of late. I think it encourages people to play humans, while still giving them the option of doing something else if they really want to. I like the idea of non-human characters being mechanically distinct from human ones. (I also like Adventurer Conqueror King's approach, where each non-human race has a couple of unique classes to choose from, even though I don't always like the classes they came up with.)

(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
I don't know. Does anybody have them? I'm assuming this is really asking if Raise Dead and similar spells work on elves. They don't in AD&D, but I'm not playing that, so sure, why not?

(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
I'm not picky. If I ever get the chance to run it, I will be going with descending AC for the Demon Verge campaign, since it's B/X D&D and that's how that game does it.

(4). Demi-human level limits?
Sure. I usually dislike this idea, but I'll be using them in the Demon Verge, partly because that's how the rulebook says it goes, and partly because it doesn't really matter that much in practice. Nobody is likely to reach that level cap anyway. I might change the maximum level for halflings, though, because limiting them to 8th level seems inconsistent with their class abilities.

(5). Should thief be a class?
I think you can make an argument that anybody should be able to use "thief skills". That having been said, I like having thieves as a distinct class. (It makes as much sense as "fighter" being a class, to me.) The problem is that the thief in B/X D&D, as written, is a pretty puny class. I have beefed them up a bit in my house rules. (I also let other classes attempt some thief skills at a lower level of success.)

(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
No, but I have considered adding something like "secondary skills" or character backgrounds, where you could say "my character was a hunter before she started clearing dungeons for a living" and that would give her some kind of advantage when doing hunter-y things. Still mulling this over.

(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Hell if I know. I will say that higher level magic-users seem pretty impressive when they have a team backing them up. They can still get into trouble real fast without others to protect them.

(8). Do you use alignment languages?
Yep! But alignment is interpreted differently in my campaign. It's an allegiance with a cosmic force, not a description of your character's moral outlook. (See the sections on languages and alignment in my house rules.)

(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
XP for gold, by the B/X book. But you can also get XP from blowing money on stuff like philanthropy, carousing, research, etc.

(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
Most of them have something going for them. Some are more to my taste than others. I am using Moldvay, Cook, and Marsh's B/X D&D rules this time out because I find them to be concise, well-written, and fun for the DM as well as the players.

Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
Individual. There are some pretty big disparities in raw power from class to class, and I don't have the time or the inclination to rewrite them, so I'm going with the tables provided in the rules. I have tweaked a few classes slightly, though.

Demon Verge House Rules

I have a long-running tendency to over-prepare for campaigns, to the point where I burn out creatively shortly after starting them, or (more often) before they even begin. This time is different. I've made a concerted effort to keep things simple in order to get things going sooner rather than later. That doesn't mean I'm going ahead with running a game, unfortunately.

It's not that I'm unprepared. I've been working on the Demon Verge campaign for a couple of months now, and it is more or less ready to go. I was hoping to start running it on Google+ in the very near future, but unfortunately, my work schedule is not cooperating with my attempts to do so. (My participation in gaming with my local friends is likewise suffering from my late work hours.)

I did manage to put together some house rules for the campaign, which it seems may or may not actually happen at this point. I figured it wouldn't hurt to share them anyway. It's nothing terribly revolutionary, but if you'd like to see what additions I've made to the B/X D&D rules, you can view the Google Drive document below:

Demon Verge House Rules

Credit where it is due: chunks of these house rules are lifted (sometimes with very little modification) from Adventurer Conqueror King and Akratic Wizardry.

Cults of the Demon Verge

Here's the player primer I've written for clerics in my Demon Verge campaign. Again, I didn't want to dump too much information on anybody. I could have written three times as much, but this still might be more than a new player would realistically need to know.

CULTS OF THE DEMON VERGE

Axiom. The official religion of the Old Kingdom, centuries old. The Creed of Axiom venerates a single female deity called the Iconess, an embodiment of Law, who works to impose order upon the chaos which was the universe’s original state in a process that will eventually perfect all creation. Until very recently, the Creed was the only religion whose followers could work clerical magic, which in the minds of many supported the assertion that theirs was the one true faith. Many Axiomites are deeply suspicious of followers of Hosar, especially in light of reawakened tensions between the Old Kingdom and their southern neighbors, the Ekkesh Empire, and seek to regain a foothold in the eastern borderland of the Verge.

Axiomite clerics are members of an ancient and militaristic order, and drape themselves in various shades of blue, often trimmed in gold. Their holy symbols are the Eye of Providence (a triangle with an eye inscribed within) or a feminine face (uniformly depicted according to exacting mathematical specifications). They can use daggers as well as those weapons normally allowed to clerics.


Hosar. A young faith, Hosar has its origins as a syncretistic cult that combined some obscure elements of Creed theology (now largely considered heretical) with the beliefs of the southern Ekkesh people, equating their sun-god with an aspect of the Iconess as a bringer of light out of darkness. Hosar belief speaks of a great struggle between light and darkness more often than law and chaos, and an impending apocalyptic conflict between the two forces as opposed to the Axiom’s ongoing gradual process of perfection. One year ago, this belief led to an “alliance of Hosar” that united the border states of D’Ansor, Timur and Barthek and drove them to war with the neighboring Demon-controlled province of Nisshar -- a conflict which nearly led to the destruction of all involved. Many Hosarites are humbled in the face of this mutual defeat, but are nonetheless defiant against the attempts to reassert Axiomite influence in the Demon Verge.

Hosarite clerics, a warrior sect that only manifested magical powers within the past two generations, wear raiments of white, red and orange. Their holy symbols are the sun disc and the bull (or ram). In addition to the weapons normally allowed to clerics, they may wield torches in battle.


Other cults. Numerous patron saints, godlings, and devils are invoked by the common folk to aid in various tasks. Since the power of the Old Kingdom is on the wane, and in the wake of the alliance of Hosar’s disastrous military campaign, new cults have begun to form -- sometimes around these old petty gods, and sometimes around young deities previously unknown. So far those that call themselves priests of these powers have displayed none of the clerics’ powers, but there are rumors that say otherwise.

The Demon Verge Pitch

Here's the "pitch" I wrote for my Demon Verge campaign. My goal was to come up with something that was evocative and also gave players enough information to have a rough idea of the setting and the style of play:

THE DEMON VERGE

a classic Dungeons & Dragons campaign 

inspired by Arnold Hendrick’s wargame Demonlord

There is trouble in the Verge. This is nothing new; the region borders upon Nisshar, the frontier of the Demon Emperor’s domain. The lords of the Verge, a collection of petty princes, minor dukes and barons, have a long tradition of conflict with their neighbors -- and each other. But one year ago, they allied under the common banner of Hosar, the sun-god cult, and swore to end the depredations of Lord Nish and his dark hordes once and for all. The dark masters of the Demon provinces, in kind, made a blood-oath to snuff out the alliance of Hosar forever. One year ago, the forces of light and darkness met upon the battlefield to meet their final victory, or death.

Both failed.

Neither force can claim victory. Not when High Priests and Demons alike were laid low in the battle, villages and cities put to the torch, shrines and temples shattered. The ones that both sides had hoped to court as allies -- the Dwarves of Ula, the cragmen of Altu’han, the Sorcerer Cloud Prince of Lyung, the barbarians of the Great Forest, and the mysterious Ancients -- refused to aid either of them. Perhaps they sensed the folly in this supposed final conflict. Perhaps they were simply weary of generations of war. 

Whatever their reasons, the result is that an already lawless region has plunged into near-chaos. With its failure to convincingly defeat the infernal powers of the southeastern steppe, the religion of Hosar has lost much of its sway over the people, and cults both old and new, wondrous and terrible, are re-emerging. Brigands and bandits rise up in the place of lords disgraced or slain during the war. Monsters and vile warlocks once pressed into the Demonlord's service are now unleashed to do as they will.

Once, the Crown would have sent its legions to restore order. But Altacia is not called “the Old Kingdom” only because it has ruled so much of the continent of Narth for so long. Altacia is in its dotage now, and its rivals sense the weakening of its grip. Embattled and impoverished, forced to fend off threats from within and without, the Crown can only spare a small band of young warriors -- little more than mercenaries -- drawn from across the Kingdom and its colonies to send to its imperiled eastern border. 

With your royal charter, you have traveled to this borderland, the so-called Demon Verge, with a vague directive to bring things under control. But the Throne City lies leagues away, and here in the Verge, the Old Kingdom’s power has faded. Will you help restore that power, or will you establish your own?

The Demon Verge Map

Here is the map I've created (using the free version of Hexographer) for my campaign inspired by Demonlord.

It's been stocked and keyed according to the guidelines laid out in Sine Nomine Publishing's An Echo, Resounding, a Labyrinth Lord-compatible resource that I've found extremely useful. It's a relatively simple take on the D&D "endgame" of domain management and warfare that tells GMs how to create a sandbox in easily digestible "baby steps", which is more my speed than Adventurer Conqueror King, an excellent game that packs in more economic detail than I will likely need, and which I honestly don't feel smart enough to run. After trying and failing to run a big megadungeon-based campaign, baby steps are what I need right now.

The western side of the map -- the now-weakened Duchy of D'Ansor, the Principality of Timur, and the Barony of Barthek -- is where the players will start the campaign, which is why there's a lot more detail there. (I'm calling this area "the Demon Verge", as it represents the far eastern reaches of human civilization, bordering on the Demons' empire.) If the players end up deciding to travel to the more hostile central regions, or even the Demon-ruled province of Nisshar, I will have to generate some lairs, ruins, and resources for those areas as well.