Demidos
2017-07-01, 06:41 PM
The Isle of Luvasta:
A Family's Campaign Journal
https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.d20.io/images/35326713/H71LISMmqpD2AsaOfJEBdw/max.jpg?1498897346251
After the completion of a long-running campaign set in our favorite DM’s setting of Elysium (the Material Plane in his world, and a place that has contained all of our campaigns throughout its history), our DM announced that he would be running a short campaign in E10, meaning that levelling past level 10 would grant only bonus feats. All that he would tell us regarding the workings of the campaign were that we would be shipwrecked and attempting to escape an island, and the vibe of the campaign would generally be horror-themed. Teleportation, of course, was peremptorily banned, and we were informed that no other islands would be within easy reach of flight.
We were started at level 5, with 32 point buy and the information that 1) our wealth would likely remain largely static, and 2) certain prestige classes might be approved for use as base classes, pending DM approval. Based on this, and a healthy dose of inspiration from a particularly excellent campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?325177-Cattle-Driving-Necromancers-Bizarre-Campaign-Journal), I proposed a glorious plan to my party in secret. Having just finished playing a rotating cast from a mercenary company with few bonds and many deaths, the party was keen on the new direction. Mechanics were submitted weeks in advance for vetting, but backstories were kept back until the last possible moment, so as to keep our DM in suspense (a fact which he gamely went along with).
Given how much fun we've been having, and having been suffering recently from withdrawl from missing my usual weekly writing group, I have decided to challenge myself to write up this full campaign for the enjoyment of all. The following campaign journal is the culmination of where this plan led and the adventures of our intrepid band of…heroes.
Campaign Specific Information:
Your group for a variety of reasons has set forth to sail on the ship Iapetus setting off from the Southeastern port of Storm’s Edge, a popular port for travelers and merchants alike.
The Campaign Setting:
The world of Elysium is many many eons old. It was originally forged by ancient gods coming from a location beyond mortal knowledge to create a new home for themselves. These gods ruled the primitive civilizations that flourished in the new world. However, wars amongst the gods themselves began to break out and they saw fit to issue an unbreakable sanction amongst themselves. An oath of, limited, interference. Only through their followers could they act upon the mortal world and only through their followers could they gather strength. Eventually though, the mortals of the world figured out how to use the gifts of the gods on their own without the need of the gods permission.
It was only a matter of time after that, eventually one particular mortal eventually grew too powerful. With an ancient relic and a powerful ritual he wiped out the mortal civilizations on the planet and without their followers granting them strength the gods were soon to follow. The mortal now know only as the Overlord was a mage of mental manipulation, his followers were his slaves and they adored him. They adored him to such a degree he eventually ascended to godhood through their praise. However, the god’s previous sanction still held and he was thus locked from interfering except through his mentally controlled slaves.
Eons passed as the Overlord ruled through his slaves, establishing puppet kingdoms and had them war amongst themselves for his own amusement. However, a group of survivors from the Era of the Firstborn Gods had escaped and grew in strength in the farthest reaches of the planes. They hid, as they had no possible chance against the Overlord, they couldn’t reach the material plane and even as they grew in strength the Overlord grew further and faster.
Eventually, a moment of opportunity occurred. The Overlord found a ritual to break free of the Firstborn Gods’ pact but it weakened him tremendously. During ritual the rebels struck striking quickly and deadly and shattered the Overlord’s grip over his minions. His minions lost to madness at his death fled and scattered only to be hunted down by the rebels. Even with most of the world shattered by the energies unleashed by his death the rebels, now naming themselves the Ashen Pact, vowed to rebuild civilization from the former ashes. And thus they established a new nation of equality and grace.
It didn’t last. In either a last moment of spite or some other distant contingency the nation was struck by an apocalypse. A great beast of terror and unbelievable strength, bound to the late Overlord had gone mad and heralded its entrance to the world by destroying the entire nation in an instant. The burgeoning empire was burned to ashes and the remnants of their kingdom lies in the burning wastes in the center of Elysium. Hundreds of years later, their kingdom still lies there, burning, with horrible monstrosities wandering the wastes.
The beast, a terrible monstrosity of black flames left after destroying the Ashen Pact and the few survivors breathed a sigh of relief. They rebuilt smaller fractured civilizations, but the beast returned. Destroying civilization after civilization in its mad frenzy and rage. Any civilization that grew too fast or too large grew the beast’s ire and was destroyed. Numerous names for the beast started to circulate, but only one is universally known, the “Black Hawk”, for the beast appears to be a colossal bird of prey constantly surrounded by a haze of black smoke and fire. Thus begins the story of the 3rd Era of Elysium. The world finds itself in constant turmoil, city states trade and war and bicker with themselves as they slowly check over their shoulder to make sure they don’t draw the Black Hawk’s wrath. Through faith and hope minor nature gods and the like have begun appearing, but they are far too weak to strike against the Black Hawk and can’t interfere directly in the world themselves. Yet amongst this fear struck world individuals find their way to persevere and strive towards their goals.
Character Creation
• Starting at Level 5
o E10 (Max level 10 beyond that you get feats for leveling up).
• All D&D 3.5 Books are allowed, dragon magazine content must be specifically approved by me.
• 32 Point buy (Unless you have a level adjustment, see below)
• No Alignment restrictions but your character MUST be able to work together in a party.
• Level Adjustment works as in E6 (You get less point buy the higher your LA is)
o http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)/Rules#Races_with_a_Level_Adjustment
• Backstory:
o No need to make an incredibly in depth one if you don’t want to. However some details are necessary, you can do it bullet point style if need be.
• Ban List/House Rules: Most of these are completely irrelevant to a normal game but it’s just a list of rules that have come up in previous games so I just update it whenever something new comes to attention. If you are new to D&D 3.5 you can probably safely ignore this for now.
o https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nKaBEZZFaN4ileN0y9vfNGUF8e84Rk12vLOk01f5_60/edit?usp=drive_web
• Pathfinder/Homebrew content must be run by me first but I am generally easygoing regarding it as long as it isn’t unbalanced
o In particular both Pathfinder’s Paladin and Occultist (3rd Party by Radiance House) are classes I particularly like.
A Family's Campaign Journal
https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.d20.io/images/35326713/H71LISMmqpD2AsaOfJEBdw/max.jpg?1498897346251
After the completion of a long-running campaign set in our favorite DM’s setting of Elysium (the Material Plane in his world, and a place that has contained all of our campaigns throughout its history), our DM announced that he would be running a short campaign in E10, meaning that levelling past level 10 would grant only bonus feats. All that he would tell us regarding the workings of the campaign were that we would be shipwrecked and attempting to escape an island, and the vibe of the campaign would generally be horror-themed. Teleportation, of course, was peremptorily banned, and we were informed that no other islands would be within easy reach of flight.
We were started at level 5, with 32 point buy and the information that 1) our wealth would likely remain largely static, and 2) certain prestige classes might be approved for use as base classes, pending DM approval. Based on this, and a healthy dose of inspiration from a particularly excellent campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?325177-Cattle-Driving-Necromancers-Bizarre-Campaign-Journal), I proposed a glorious plan to my party in secret. Having just finished playing a rotating cast from a mercenary company with few bonds and many deaths, the party was keen on the new direction. Mechanics were submitted weeks in advance for vetting, but backstories were kept back until the last possible moment, so as to keep our DM in suspense (a fact which he gamely went along with).
Given how much fun we've been having, and having been suffering recently from withdrawl from missing my usual weekly writing group, I have decided to challenge myself to write up this full campaign for the enjoyment of all. The following campaign journal is the culmination of where this plan led and the adventures of our intrepid band of…heroes.
Campaign Specific Information:
Your group for a variety of reasons has set forth to sail on the ship Iapetus setting off from the Southeastern port of Storm’s Edge, a popular port for travelers and merchants alike.
The Campaign Setting:
The world of Elysium is many many eons old. It was originally forged by ancient gods coming from a location beyond mortal knowledge to create a new home for themselves. These gods ruled the primitive civilizations that flourished in the new world. However, wars amongst the gods themselves began to break out and they saw fit to issue an unbreakable sanction amongst themselves. An oath of, limited, interference. Only through their followers could they act upon the mortal world and only through their followers could they gather strength. Eventually though, the mortals of the world figured out how to use the gifts of the gods on their own without the need of the gods permission.
It was only a matter of time after that, eventually one particular mortal eventually grew too powerful. With an ancient relic and a powerful ritual he wiped out the mortal civilizations on the planet and without their followers granting them strength the gods were soon to follow. The mortal now know only as the Overlord was a mage of mental manipulation, his followers were his slaves and they adored him. They adored him to such a degree he eventually ascended to godhood through their praise. However, the god’s previous sanction still held and he was thus locked from interfering except through his mentally controlled slaves.
Eons passed as the Overlord ruled through his slaves, establishing puppet kingdoms and had them war amongst themselves for his own amusement. However, a group of survivors from the Era of the Firstborn Gods had escaped and grew in strength in the farthest reaches of the planes. They hid, as they had no possible chance against the Overlord, they couldn’t reach the material plane and even as they grew in strength the Overlord grew further and faster.
Eventually, a moment of opportunity occurred. The Overlord found a ritual to break free of the Firstborn Gods’ pact but it weakened him tremendously. During ritual the rebels struck striking quickly and deadly and shattered the Overlord’s grip over his minions. His minions lost to madness at his death fled and scattered only to be hunted down by the rebels. Even with most of the world shattered by the energies unleashed by his death the rebels, now naming themselves the Ashen Pact, vowed to rebuild civilization from the former ashes. And thus they established a new nation of equality and grace.
It didn’t last. In either a last moment of spite or some other distant contingency the nation was struck by an apocalypse. A great beast of terror and unbelievable strength, bound to the late Overlord had gone mad and heralded its entrance to the world by destroying the entire nation in an instant. The burgeoning empire was burned to ashes and the remnants of their kingdom lies in the burning wastes in the center of Elysium. Hundreds of years later, their kingdom still lies there, burning, with horrible monstrosities wandering the wastes.
The beast, a terrible monstrosity of black flames left after destroying the Ashen Pact and the few survivors breathed a sigh of relief. They rebuilt smaller fractured civilizations, but the beast returned. Destroying civilization after civilization in its mad frenzy and rage. Any civilization that grew too fast or too large grew the beast’s ire and was destroyed. Numerous names for the beast started to circulate, but only one is universally known, the “Black Hawk”, for the beast appears to be a colossal bird of prey constantly surrounded by a haze of black smoke and fire. Thus begins the story of the 3rd Era of Elysium. The world finds itself in constant turmoil, city states trade and war and bicker with themselves as they slowly check over their shoulder to make sure they don’t draw the Black Hawk’s wrath. Through faith and hope minor nature gods and the like have begun appearing, but they are far too weak to strike against the Black Hawk and can’t interfere directly in the world themselves. Yet amongst this fear struck world individuals find their way to persevere and strive towards their goals.
Character Creation
• Starting at Level 5
o E10 (Max level 10 beyond that you get feats for leveling up).
• All D&D 3.5 Books are allowed, dragon magazine content must be specifically approved by me.
• 32 Point buy (Unless you have a level adjustment, see below)
• No Alignment restrictions but your character MUST be able to work together in a party.
• Level Adjustment works as in E6 (You get less point buy the higher your LA is)
o http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)/Rules#Races_with_a_Level_Adjustment
• Backstory:
o No need to make an incredibly in depth one if you don’t want to. However some details are necessary, you can do it bullet point style if need be.
• Ban List/House Rules: Most of these are completely irrelevant to a normal game but it’s just a list of rules that have come up in previous games so I just update it whenever something new comes to attention. If you are new to D&D 3.5 you can probably safely ignore this for now.
o https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nKaBEZZFaN4ileN0y9vfNGUF8e84Rk12vLOk01f5_60/edit?usp=drive_web
• Pathfinder/Homebrew content must be run by me first but I am generally easygoing regarding it as long as it isn’t unbalanced
o In particular both Pathfinder’s Paladin and Occultist (3rd Party by Radiance House) are classes I particularly like.