Tales of the Dragonate

[fairytalejedi]

Welcome to my fantasy thread, in which I plan to share some stuff from my nascent BASH! Fantasy game. Click on the links below for more info.

General Background
Design Notes

Player Characters:
Grimlor the Magician
Sir Darcy of Roval
Karn Bloodwalker
Sheila Surefoot

Rise of the Dragon:
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4

[fairytalejedi]

Solas was the first of the gods to awaken, bringing light to the eternal darkness. (Solas literally means "light" in the old tongue, in this case Irish. ) Soon other gods awoke and their power spread across the virgin world, bringing all manner of plants and animals, and intelligent races, to whom Solas had granted his light of wisdom. Last of all, the gods created dragons, mighty beings who were to watch over the world and protect it.

But the dragons wanted the world for themselves. They betrayed the gods, establishing their own kingdom — the Dragonate — and breeding foul creatures (goblis, orcs, etc) to make war on the gods and their followers.

Though the cost was great, the dragon hordes were eventually defeated, and peace reigned for an age. In time, life returned to the scorched lands of the Dragonate. Plants and animals repopulated the wilderness, and civilization began to encroach on the once dark kingdom.

Now rumors are spreading that not all the dragons were destroyed in the Great War, that some of them escaped and hid deep in the mountains beyond the sight of the gods; that their fell servants are multiplying once more, preparing for a new war of conquest.

The mystic Order of Solas has dispatched agents to the frontiers to uncover the truth…

[fairytalejedi]

Grimlor
An old wizard who has come to the borderlands at the behest of his order, seeking new recruits to help him investigate the growing darkness of the Dragonate.

B1, A2, M4 ; 80 hits, damage threshold 10
Advantages: Grimoire, Magic, Membership (Order of Solas)
Disadvantages: Age (old), Duty (Order of Solas), Oath (never own more than he can carry)
Powers: Mind Shield 1 (x6 Mental Defense), Spells 6 pts
• Yakim's Light: Summon Light [limitation: focus] 2 pts
• Yakim's Mighty Shield: Deflect 3 [limitation: focus] 2 pts
• Magic Missile: Special Attack 2 (range 10) [limitation: focus] 1 pt
• Sense Magic [limitation: casting] 1 pt
Skills: Craftsmanship/Wood Carving & Calligraphy, Humanities/Languages, Occultism/Channeling, Physician/First Aid, Riding/Galloping, Society/Rhetoric
Equipment: staff (x4 stun dmg, 2-handed), dagger (x2 dmg), vial of holy water, middle class clothes, boots, cloak, belt & belt pouch, water skin, grimoire, 6 Marks
XP: 2, XP Spent: 3

[fairytalejedi]

Sir Darcy of Roval
Young knight errant who has been drawn to the borderlands by a desire to fight evil. Recently chosen to become a paladin of Annir, a maiden warrior goddess.

B3, A3, M2 ; 100 hits, damage threshold 30
Advantage: Magic
Disadvantage: Honor Bound
Powers: Armor Familiarity 2, Rank 1, Shield Deflect 1, Weapon Technique 1 (1-handed sword +1 hit)
Skills: Athletics/Climbing, Craftsmanship/Armor & Weapon Smithing, Military +1/Command, Riding/Galloping
Equipment: Shield of Reflection (x4 Defense, x3 stun dmg, reflection of magic and gaze attacks), chain armor (20 soak), 1-handed sword (x4 hit, x5 dmg), middle class clothes, boots, belt & belt pouch, water skin, 2 Marks
XP: 2, XP Spent: 3

[fairytalejedi]

Karn Bloodwalker
A laconic Wolfkin ranger whose mate and pups were killed by Wild Men (descendants of human slaves who now roam the Dragonate as violent savages).

B2, A3, M2 ; 100 hits, damage threshold 20
Advantage: Shrewd
Disadvantage: Obsession (hatred of Wild Men)
Powers: Danger Sense (dodge +2x3), Fleet of Foot, Keen Senses (smell), Mind Shield 1 (x4 Mental Defense), Rapid Reloader (bow), Weapon Technique 1 (bow +1 hit)
Skills: Athletics/Running, Craftsmanship/Weapon Smithing, Outdoor/Tracking, Physician/Herbalism, Stealth/Shadowing
Equipment: leather armor (10 soak), bow (range 30, x4 hit, x4 dmg, fire twice/panel EC1), arrows (10), 1-handed axe (x4 dmg), dagger (x3 dmg), middle class clothes, boots, cloak, belt & belt pouch, water skin
XP: 5

---------------------

Reimagined version of the character. He was originally kind of in between a brick and a scout, now he's all scout.

[fairytalejedi]

Sheila Surefoot
Hafling and self-styled "professional adventuress" (i.e. unreprentant thief). Like most Halflings, she's not a very good swimmer — currents can easily sweep away her small body — and as a result she's terrified of water. But otherwise she's always game for excitement and profit, though not necessarily in that order.

B1, A4, M2 ; 100 hits, damage threshold 10
Advantages: Dumb Luck, Membership (Thieves' Guild)
Disadvantages: Phobia (water), Small
Powers: Armor Familiarity 1, Attack Weak Point, Charisma 1, Feint, Footwork, Skillful
Skills: Athletics/Acrobatics, Deception/Detect Deception, Escapology/Ropes, Performing Arts/Juggling, Security +1/Picking Locks, Stealth/Hiding, Streetwise/Gut
Equipment: silver-plated dagger "Striker" (+1x4 hit, x2-5 dmg), sling (range 20, +1x4 hit, x3-5 dmg), bullets (10), middle class clothes, high quality boots, cloak, belt & belt pouch, thieves' tools, holy symbol*, water skin, old map of Stormfire Castle
* silver medallion of Logdi, god of fortune, worth 5 Marks
XP: 5

[fairytalejedi]

The player characters were the very first things created for this setting, which helped shaped the enviornment itself to an extent, such as with what races were or were not used. So there are Wolfkin and Halflings in this world becuase there are Wolfkin and Halfling player characters, not the other way around. (These halflings, by the way, are more like Dragonlance kender in appearance rather than Tolkien hobbits.)

I don't know yet if Elves and Dwarves exist in the setting. It might be interesting to not include them in a kind of basic FRPG setting where you would normally expect them. Maybe all the demihuman races (except halflings) are man-animal combos. That is yet to be determined, as is the map of the Dragonate itself, which will probably be filled in as the player characters explore it.

Eventually some big plot might take shape (a new war against the dragons and their minions perhaps) but at the start it's probably going to be good old fashioned wilderness trek/dungeon delve stuff.

Haven't done the first adventure yet, but stay tuned.

[fairytalejedi]

Issue #1 of Rise of the Dragon…

We open in the small village of Maravan, where our band of heroes were passing through, and which is now under attack by goblin raiders. Trying to protect as many villagers as possible, the heroes manage to fight off the goblins. But not before the raiders kidnap the local priestess and steal a holy relic, the Lance of Annir.

Tradition holds that the virgin goddess Annir used the enchanted lance to slay dragons in the Great War and trap their souls in the shadow lands. Now a captured goblin reveals that his leader, "Jagash the All-Seeing" plans to use the lance to sacrifice the priestess at the next full moon, in order to free a dragon spirit from the shadow lands.

The heroes plan to let their captive escape and follow him back to the goblin camp, to foil the evil plot…

————————————

This was a big battle with about 25 total participants on a village grid map, and it ran very smoothly. There were just a couple of instances of looking up rules in the first part of the encounter. Although we're still new to BASH, it was easy to do this scene, and make it feel bigger and more visual than with other systems we've played for years.

Also dice rolling was actually fun. I think a lot of rpg systems can lead to polyhedral fatigue, constantly switching between different types of dice, different numbers of dice, different combinations of die types when a special effect is in play, etc. With BASH we use two white dice for the base roll, and a handful of red dice on hand when you get to roll another die. So it's a really fun mechanic. It's not a chore to roll dice and figure out what result means. You look forward to rolling and describing something cool when it's your panel.

[capmarvel]

With Fairytalejedi's kind permission, I posted these to the Google Site...our first ever BASH Fantasy posts!

[MrJupiter]

Cool hook for a quick background setting. Can't wait to see it develop over your sessions. It's a great idea that you left the setting loose enough to incorporate ideas from the other players. I look forward to hearing more!

[fairytalejedi]

Thanks goes out to Cap for adding me to the distinguished list of BASH builds contributors. I love that site. And of course to Mr Jupiter for the kind words. And now without further ado…

Issue #2 of Rise of the Dragon…

The heroes trail their "escapee" through the night, Karn's excellent sense of smell aided by a potion Grimlor brewed up and slipped into the goblin's food earlier, causing him to sweat excessively.

Around dawn, the group comes upon a small band of goblin stragglers who have captured a local trapper named Bertram. The heroes kill all but one of the goblins, but the last one stabs Bertram and flees into the Dunwode forest.

The heroes think Bertram is mortally wounded, but Sir Darcy sees a vision of lady surrounded by light laying hands on Bertram, and after she disappears, his wound is completely healed.

Meanwhile Karn's biggest concern is the escaped goblin, who could catch up with the main party and warn them that they're being followed. Darcy puts the strange vision out of his mind for the moment and helps Karn track the goblin in the forest. They come upon signs of a fight and goblin blood - it seems something else is lurking in the Dunwode. But the heroes have no choice but to brave the dangerous forest if they want to find the goblins' main camp…

[fairytalejedi]

Issue#3 of Rise of the Dragon…

Knowing that they have to brave the unknown dangers of the Dunwode, the heroes help Grimlor collect herbs to brew up an invisibility potion. He found the recipe in his grimoire, but he doesn't get the mixture quite right…

They begin their trek through the forest, with much complaining from Sheila about being tired and hungry. But it's agreed they have to push on. Tomorrow night is the full moon, and besides that, they want to get through the Dunwode before nightfall.

Having sent Bertram back to Maravan with their borrowed horse, the heroes are lugging all their supplies on their backs, but still only stop for a short breather and a snack. Finally as the forest begins to thin out, Karn picks up a scent he knows only too well - Wild Men. They've been tracking the heroes through the forest.

They all drink some of the invisibility potion in an attempt to hide from the Wild Men, which works at first. But Karn's hatred of the savages gets the better of him, and he attacks the lead Wild Men scouts, becoming visible in the process. The rest of the party starts to become visible too, the potion wearing off sooner than expected. They make a break toward the edge of the wood as a whole mob of Wild Men pursue them. Three of them make it out but Darcy is caught and dragged back into the forest, where it seems certain he will be killed. But a bright light appears, frightening off the superstitious Wild Men, and Darcy is able to escape.

Now safely beyond the borders of the Dunwode, the exhausted heroes set up camp and hope to get a little rest at last, realizing to their dismay that both their supply bags were left behind in the forest…

[fairytalejedi]

And now the thrilling conclusion!

Issue #4 of Rise of the Dragon…

In the wee hours of the morning, Darcy is awakened by another vision of the white lady, who leads him across the dark countryside toward an ancient stone circle. The rest of the party follow him. When they are all in the circle, Darcy snaps out of his trance, but the group is suddenly surrounded by dozens of angry ghosts! But the ghosts change their tune when they learn of the party's mission to recover the Lance of Annir. The ghosts were victims of ancient rites, and their spirits have been trapped between worlds. But the power of the holy lance could free their spirits to journey into the afterlife. They agree to let the party pass without harm if the heroes agree to return with the lance and free them.

The ghosts vanish into the night, and the heroes fall into a magical restful sleep. When they awake, it's daylight of the last day before the full moon. They discover a shimmering silver and gold shield inscribed with a runic letter A.

Darcy takes up the shield, and after a scrying spell cast by Grimlor, they learn the location of the goblin camp - the site of an old watchtower a day's travel to the northeast.

They approach the tower near nightfall, kill a goblin scout, and Sheila reluctantly agrees to disguise herself in the goblin's armor and get past the guards at the tower entrance.

The captive priestess Emilan is found, but the alarm has been raised, and goblins from the surrounding camp are already converging. Darcy joins in the fight along with Karn, Darcy using his shield to good effect when a goblin acolyte tosses lightning bolts his way (it's a magical shield of reflecting). But the fight ultimately comes down to a wizards' duel between Grimlor and Jagash, the hobgoblin leader of the raiders.

The two wizards sling fire spells at each other, but Grimlor is still nursing wounds from the raid on the village several days ago, and the advantage finally shifts toward Jagash. The heroes are taken prisoner, destined to be sacrificed along with Emilan… all except Sheila, who managed to sneak away while everyone's attention was on the dueling wizards.

Sheila finds the Lance of Annir in Jagash's tent. She's sniffed out by a worg but drives it off after wounding it with the lance. She then dons a hooded red robe of the goblin acolytes as the rest of the party are bound and prepared for sacrifice. Masquerading as a goblin sorcerer, she goes along with the ritual, but when Jagash calls for the lance to sacrifice Emilan, Sheila fatally stabs Jagash with it instead.

The ceremony goes out of control as the summoned dragon spirit takes shape. Sheila frees the others as the dragon lashes out at the goblin mages who dared to try and control its power. The dragon trashes the goblin camp and flies up under the light of the full moon, vanishing back into the shadow world.

The heroes and Emilan make their way back west, and Emilan conducts a ceremony with the spear to free the ghosts of the stone circle. The party then rests before a long journey, taking the long way around the Dunwode to avoid another encounter with Wild Men. After being gone almost two weeks and given up for dead by many, the heroes return to Maravan with the kidnapped priestess and the holy lance…

--------------------------------

A long final session, and in retrospect, it was a little weird to start off the issue with the ghosts, which I think seemed a bit out of left field. But once the party got to the goblin camp, things picked up, though not exactly following the script.

The dragon summoning rite was always planned using the "Dark Fantasy" rules for summoning. Given Jagash's skill and the number of assistants he was supposed to have, plus the one sacrifice, he had a small chance of actually succeeding (10+) which should be enough to make the players sweat, but it should also be reasonably easy for them to successfully sabotage the ritual. Having three of the party captured to add to the sacrifice list was not part of the plan!

But it worked out in the end. Grimlor barely survived, so it was a good thing it was all over but the hand waived parts. Also, I didn't realize until the end of the last issue that we'd been handling Sheila's Attack Weak Point power wrong. We were adding the to-hit bonus from Weapon Technique (in fact, that's the main reason she got Weapon Technique, to help trigger Attack Weak Point more often). So Sheila is getting retconned a bit. New stats will be shown on this thread, though you can still find the original stats at the builds site. And Grimlor has sworn off fire powers for the time being, so there will be some spell shuffling for him.

As a final note, if you haven't guessed yet, the goddess Annir was Darcy's "unknown ally". His background was that he distrusted the gods (when his mother had been deathly ill, Darcy prayed ceaselessly, but the gods didn't save her). But over the course of the adventure, Annir would appear to him, and gradually he would accept his destiny of being a paladin of Annir, trading in Unknown Ally for the Magic advantage.

Well, that's all for the moment. Stay tuned for future adventures in the ever dangerous Dragonate!

[MrJupiter]

It would be neat to give some thought as to these ghosts and how it was that the ancient rites that barred their souls from the afterlife were tied to the lance.

Here’s a quick idea: Maybe they were a group trying to protect the Lance of Annir from dragon supporters – buying time while the lance was being crafted. They fought valiantly but were overwhelmed by the enemy’s greater numbers. In their fury, the dragon supporters had their sorcerer cast the soul-binding as a punishment so that their spirits would lie in eternal torment. The ritual with the lance not only broke the spell but validated their sacrifice.

You know, not all the bound souls need to pass on to the afterlife. You should find a way to incorporate some of these guys back in a later story. Maybe one of them has been summoned by an evil sorcerer in league with those trying to restore the dragon. He could be using arcane tortures to force the dead soul to reveal information about the heroes (know your enemy)!

Anyways, cool tales! Please update us with further adventures.

[fairytalejedi]

I like your ideas about the ghosts. In hindsight, I definitely should have put some more thought into them, maybe that would have made things a little less confusing.

But summoning one the ghosts back for information actually works nicely for another idea I'm workin on. Thanks for the suggestion!