The cast of characters

Sorry that it has taken so long for me to get back on track here but hopefully I’ll be writing up the D&D campaign summary notes today. First I wanted to write a character background summary and post it. Some of the backgrounds are more fleshed out than others but hopefully that will change the more we play.

• Rochor (Played by John) - Rochor is a young goliath warden that has been forced out of his ancestral home by a large tribe of Giants, led by the infamous Troog Ironclub. This tribe killed or enslaved Rochor’s whole clan and made the goliath’s caverns their new lair. Rochor only escaped this fate because he was out hunting at the time of the invasion. When he returned from hunting he found that there was nothing he could do to save his home from the giants. He tried to rescue his enslaved clansmen but failed. The only item that he could even salvage from his home was the “Oath Stone”. This polished piece of marble was used by the goliath clan to seal every marriage, was sworn on at coming of age ceremony, and presided in a place of honor during funerals. The Oath Stone is Rochors most precious possession and he carries it in his backpack wherever he goes. After wondering aimlessly for several years the young goliath eventually settled down in the small village of Miners Haven. He was made a deputy by the town’s sheriff, Tolin Goldenhammer. The old dwarf had taken the youth under his wing and trained him to be his replacement. After a year Tolin felt that Rochor was ready, so the long beard left the mainly human village of Miners Haven for his clan’s home in the nearby mountains. Rochor is now the new sheriff of Miners Haven.
• Labya Vagee (played by Gil) - Labya Vagee is a deva cleric of Sehanine Moonbow. Like most of her kind she has lived and died many times before and this body is only her current form of existence. Labya has long worshiped the goddess Sehanine but it is only in her most recent incarnation that she decided to become a cleric. The memories of the many atrocities preformed during her most recent lives forced the “young” deva into a life of serving others and spreading joy. She traveled from town to town for several years ministering to the needy and spreading joy wherever she went. Eventually she met a young gruff goliath named Rachor that had lost everything that he had held dear. The two became fast friends and Labya settled down (at least for now) in the town that he was a deputy in. After Rochor became sheriff of the small village he convinced Labya to become one of his deputies and the two now serve as protectors of the small village of Miners Haven.
• Reva Tallfellow (played by Tim) - Reva Tallfellow is the closest thing that the small village of Miners Haven has to a criminal underground. For several generations his family has run a small time operation that buys and sells items that cannot be found in most lawful establishments. An old secondhand store serves as a thin cover for the operation. It is a very transparent cover because it is well known that Reva is the only fence within 200 or 300 miles. Unfortunately, the territory around the town is sparsely populated so Reve is often struggling to keep his operation in “business”. The halfling rogue does have an understanding however with the local law enforcement. He will not steal from the locals but the caravans and miners that come through town are free game as long as he does not get caught. If he his caught a jail cell awaits him until the traveler leaves town. In exchange for the sheriff’s leniency Reva has to help with any problems that arise where his particular skill set will help solve the problem.
• Rhyme Tallfellow ("Jack" John) - Rhyme Tallfellow is Reva’s cousin. Rhyme comes from a famous family of bards that have long been known as the muses of Vesta (Vesta is the largest city on the frontier). Young Rhyme never really fit in with the rest of the family because he had no interest in the arts or music. In truth, Rhyme actually hates music and he especially hates minstrels. He was almost kicked out of his home by his father when he first enrolled in the local magic school but his mother prevented this. Eventually Rhyme became a fully fledged wizard and he left Vesta on his own accord to live with Reva in Miners Haven. It seems that Reva isn’t particularly happy about his cousin living with him but family is family after all.

That's what I have right now. I still need more information from Nate and Ricky on their caracters to flesh them out. Nate is a Dwarf Shaman (old man of mountain) and Ricky is a dragonborn Warlord (the other deputy).

D&D campaign overview

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into getting ready to continue our local D&D campaign. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that this is really a “continuation” because our last session about five months ago ended with a total party kill. I’m considering it a continuation because the new story line is going to deal with the repercussions of the failed mission. I came up with the idea for this setting to make it easier to use the large miniature collection that I have without having to think out to much why something was there.

In my D&D world I’ve taken the concept of “many points of light. Fighting off the darkness” and of portals leading to different plains to a new level. This world contains many portals that lead to different worlds altogether. These portals can be opened from either side but only sealed shut from the side that the PCs inhabit. Many of the inhabitants of this world grew tired of their world serving as a cosmic battle ground for other worlds and as a result a great crusade was fought to destroy or close most of these portals result long ago. Unfortunately, since the fall of the great Dragonborn Empire over six hundred years ago there has been no organized effort making sure that these portals remain close. As a result many of these portals are becoming active once more.

In the last adventures one of the PCs were on a holy quest to make sure that one of these portals remain closed. On they way to close the portal the PCs encountered missionaries from Protectorate of Menoth (had come through a portal but the PCs didn’t know that), killed off a tribe of Kobolds, and rescued some badly needed supplies for a small village. Unfortunately once the group entered the Dungeon the real trouble began. The first two or three encounters were relatively easy but then the party decided to make camp in a room with only one way in and one way out. Then at night they were attacked by a mob of hobgoblins that wiped out all but two party members (that’s 4 dead characters). These two guys only survived because they made a run for it while the Paladin held off the hobgoblins for 5 or so rounds.

So these two guys go back to town and round up a new party (along with some NPC help). This group made it all the way to the portal room but the group was pretty beat up by the time they reached there (keep in mind the party knew that they were up against a time limit before the portal was opened). They tried to stop the ritual but the party was too beat up and did not have enough time to accomplish their goal. Once the ritual was complete, the portal opened and an army of rat-men (yes Skaven) marched through. As the last of the players died he was able to collapse the exit to the dungeon (slowing the rat-men down but not stopping them). So that was 6 more dead characters for a total of 12 over about 5 sessions (I had killed two earlier).

Now the new game is going to pick up a few weeks after the last one ended so Skaven will slowly start to show up in great numbers. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.