Campaign created Thursday, April 22, 2010 03:40:34 AM by Kamarathin

Today you find yourself on the edge of the Westdeep, huddled with your friends inside the Griffins Wrath, a local beerhall in the border town of Lantern. A map, claiming to lead to a long lost tomb of a long lost priest of a long lost god is being passed between you. It seems like the real deal and it sure as hell could be your ticket to fame and fortune.

The last great kingdom has fallen. For some this happened through terrible wars and conflicts of unimaginable proportions. To others it was simply a realization that a local trade caravan hadn't come in some time.

Whether it happened with a roar or a whimper, the end still came. The known world shattered into warring factions, fragmenting into city-states and petty kingdoms ruled by tyrants, warlords and priests. In this we are no different than the Orc Country beyond the Stonehome Mountains or the terrible forests to our east. Many brave the Orc Country or teh Westdeep in search of the treasures from lost kingdoms. Many, too many, simply prey upon the weak.

The city of Overlook stands on the eastern slopes of the Stonehome Mountains, a hoary range of crumbling peaks as old as the world. The city?s founding lies sometime far back in the mists of time, at a point after the dwarves in this region threw off the shackles of slavery and chased the giants and orcs west across the mountains at the end of the Age of Chains. Overlook, and the fastness of Bordrin?s Watch, were raised to safeguard the liberated dwarf peoples and to be the first line of defense should their ancient enemies forget their defeat and seek to enslave the dwarves once more.

Since its founding, Overlook has never come under attack, though Bordrin?s Watch has time and again, at least once every century. Overlook supplies the mountain pass with soldiers, supplies, and needed resources, ensuring the Watch is never without the goods they need to live up to their ancient responsibility.

While doughty dwarf warriors hold the Watch, the city is far more cosmopolitan and includes peoples of nearly every race and culture known in this corner of the world. Dwarves are still the dominate group, but humans and halflings make up a close second, followed by nearly any race you can think of.

Overlook is largely a trading center, and people on both sides of the mountain come to the city to exchange goods, rumors, and information. The city?s numerous markets and bustling streets makes it the ideal place to do business, thus characters in search of a particular tool or device are more likely to find it here than anywhere for miles around. Supplementing its trade is a robust mining industry.

The mountains are rich in iron, silver, tin, and no few gemstones. Dwarf and human miners and prospectors set out from Overlook each day, some working in the blackness of the deep mines, while others scour the heights in search of treasures?some succeeding, others failing, and others still vanishing in the misty peaks never to be seen again. Although the city depends on Bordrin?s Watch to endure most of the attacks from the west, the city is not without its own defenses. The dwarves erected steep walls to protect themselves, but as the city outgrew its original protections, the inhabitants raised more walls to encircle the growing population. So far, this has happened four times, giving the city four sets of walls, one inside of the other. The shantytown, the unofficial ninth district, grows beyond the eastern walls and it?s just a matter of time before the Council decides to raise another wall and add those squatters to the rest of the city.

Piercing each wall, on both the western side and the eastern side, is a large gate flanked by two square stone towers. Most times, the gates stand open, even in the dead of night, but when trouble looms, such as now, the gates are closed at dusk, and the inner gates?the ones leading into High Hall?might close even earlier.

Scattered throughout Orc Country and the Westdeep are the ruins of past civilizations, giant statues buried to their necks or arms, shattered columns and rotting towers all dot the landscape. Many are just ruins with nothing of interest, while others contain the fortunes of kings and emperors and most of them are the new homes of monsters, bandits and those who are best left alone.

For you, that is all very far away. Today you find yourself on teh edge of teh Westdeep, huddled with your friends inside the Griffins Wrath, a local beerhall in the border town of Lantern. A map, claiming to lead to a long lost tomb of a long lost priest of a long lost god is being passed between you. It seems like the real deal and it sure as hell could be your ticket to fame and fortune.
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Big Prizes! Big Money! is a campaign setting that is a hodge-podge of resources from D20, D&D4E, Tolkien, Rolemaster and my own creations all cobbled together and using a version of Rolemaster that has been modified and house-ruled over the course of 15 years.

Player knowledge of Rolemaster is not necessary and I will provide a packet of the races/professions that are available and general information about the local setting.

In general, the campaign will be a D&D-esque high fantasy setting that won't concentrate on my traditional minutia focus, instead, focusing on the tropes of the genre which often boils down to:

1. Find Dungeon
2. Kick down door
3. Kill monster
4. Steal Treasure
5. Repeat as necessary

However, I can only tolerate that sort of campaign for so long before I have to start blending a cohesive world behind it. So expect a campaign and actual storyline to develop as the game progresses.