Background and Set-up for Westmarks Campaign

The Geoff/Sterich campaign.
setanta14
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Background and Set-up for Westmarks Campaign

Post by setanta14 »

First, this campaign is intended to be a sub-campaign as an extension of the A/B-Team Geoff adventures of early to mid 591. I titled this campaign the Westmarks because the majority of the action will take place in the countries that are the western marches of Keoland, specifically The Grand Duchy of Geoff and the Marchland of Sterich, and possibly Keoland itself, Gran March, Yeomanry, Bissell, etc.

The characters played in this campaign are intended to be the followers of those high level characters who participated in "The Night of Storms", "Zaund's Revenge", "Durengard" etc., and were granted land/title/favors from the new Grand Duke of Geoff, Owen III.

Everyone who wishes to participate shall make a 9th level character, using 30 points for initial stats, and the standard starting equipment guidelines for a character of that level with the following exception: you may give the character you create as a follower of your higher level PC any item you wish from the items possessed by said higher level PC, such as would be a badge of office, or payment for service etc.

Please post here if you intend to participate, and which of your higher level PC's you will be making a follower of. (since I won't be playing a character, Cory will have a PC to play from the selection process)

Once those who are interested have made their high level PC's follower, we will distribute these characters randomly at the first session. We will decide on the method later, but basically the intention is to not have anyone play a follower of one of their own PC's... unless you really have your heart set on it, but part of the intended fun is to play a character who is a follower of someone else's PC. Once characters have been distributed, that character will be under the player's control going forward, not its creator's.

Somewhere along the way in this sub-campaign I intend to run the adventure arc Istivin:City of Shadows from Dungeon magazine... so don't read those adventures!

Hopefully, this campaign will allow us to flesh out the holdings and feudal relationships between our higher level characters and the Grand Duke of Geoff, and also to play our retired A-Teamers from the role-playing standpoint as the newly created characters are given orders, directions, advice, etc. at the campaigns inception.

Below I have posted some memory refreshers of what I found regarding which PC's were granted estates in Geoff, where those estates are, how they got them, etc.

Hex map of Geoff and declared estate locations from our old Yahoo site:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/4JNmQ3ZE3V ... _geoff.png

Hex:
Aesop Not Declared

D'klar 0207

Ellington Not Declared (for saving the new Grand Duke, Owen III... see http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/gri ... sage/10446

Erilar 0310

Falgar 0307

Gideon 0407

Greggor 0309

Kalib Separate agreement with Grand Duke (see http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/gri ... sage/10350

Kannett Not Declared

K'sograh(Baldwin) 0812

Luc Not Declared

Malphas 0714

Moriam 0213

Ragnar 0714

Scrappy 0510

Tanevir Declined in favor of title only
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Jonkga
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Post by Jonkga »

I will certainly be participating, and I will be making a follower of Gideon.

--J
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

As I mentioned before, I'll be making a (non-barbarian :wink: ) follower of Ragnar.

The campaign will start in the town of Pest's Crossing, where the Geoff Blackrazor Guildhall is located. I imagine that Grand Duke Owen will have re-established his capitol at Gorna, having moved it from Hochoch (a growing settlement in eastern Geoff which had been all but annexed by Gran March before the liberation of Geoff due to some political entanglements and arrangements that the current Grand Duke's father had made with the Knights of the Watch and the Commandant of Gran March).

The nobilty of Geoff (that means your newly invested PC's) will be summoned by the Grand Duke to Gorna during Needfest (finally, CY 592!!!), reviving the old tradition of the annual Council of Peers. This is a convocation where members of the Grand Duke's government (such as the Chancellor, Commander of the Army, etc.), landed gentry, leading merchants and guildmasters, important clergy, and the mayors and burghers of the larger towns and villages meet to swear fealty to the Grand Duke (and by extension, the King of Keoland), as well as make plans for the coming year. Things such as the number of fighting men to be levied and/or supported by each noble, the amount of a region's tax burden, trade agreements, theological issues, etc. are decided.

Since Geoff is a recently liberated country, there is a lot to be accomplished (and a good deal of liberating still to be done in some areas). The country's interior has been made generally secure, but many western border areas are still being disputed with the giant/humanoid forces from the Crystalmist and Barrier Peak ranges.
EvilGenius

Post by EvilGenius »

I have a few questions, or issues that we should think about.

1) You've said that our "follower" characters are going to be played by someone else and that the player will "keep" that character. So how does that work, really? If I make a seneshel for Luc, and I give him personal magical items of Luc's, now they're the personal property of, say, Ken, if he ends up with that character. Right? Why exactly would I do that instead of making followers for Luc at the dwarven stronghold in the drachensgrabs and equiping them, knowing that I'll get to play them at some point, and that they're still "in the family"?

Simply put, are our main characters going to get anything back from their followers?

2) What happens to the main character if their "follower" does something to bring shame upon them? It's not so much of a concern with our current roster, but accidents always happen.

3) The nice thing about playing followers is the continuity from our old characters. However, for me that link is greatly weakened if someone else at the table has the link to MY character and I have a link to someone else's character. I may be alone in that. And there are characters in that group that I really like. But not as much as I like Kalib, or Luc. :(

4) if the followers keep any ties to the old PCs, doesn't that put players in a subserviant role to other players at the table? If the ATeam characters start ordering around the followers, how's that going to work at the table?
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Jonkga
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Post by Jonkga »

I don't know, Bob. I do seem to be thinking differently about this. I am looking forward to playing a character someone else created. Sure, I really enjoy some of the characters I've created over the years, but the challenge to build and put my stamp on a character whose generation was completely out of my hands is a challenge I look forward to as a change of pace from the character creation I'm used to. And, that's from someone who loves the art of character generation.

Also, I'm not thinking of the character I create as the foremost trusted aide and advisor of my ATeamer, Gideon. That person would really be too valuable to Gideon to be sent off on such missions as this grand undertaking. And, that person would probably handle much more of the running of Gideon's stronghold to be let go from it for so long. No, I rather see this character as a trusted friend, in service to Gideon, but not indespensible. So, this person may have been gifted an item from Gideon's stores for the mission (and probably to keep, Gid's got tons of items over the years that he won't ever be using), but it wouldn't be like he'd be getting Gid's Dwarven Adventure reward item or anything that powerful (ie, it'd be an item on Gid's character sheet that he's never used, and I've no place for with Gid or any already created character/follower -- I'm sure we've all ended up with items like that from time to time.) And, since everyone is creating like this, sure I lose that item as a player, but the new character I get has a similar item from his creating player, so it's really a wash.

As for subservient roles, I think of this as a way to build party dynamics in our group. Kind of like the Erilar-Ragnar relationship that has entertained us over the years at the table. Sure, Erilar had that thing where he was carrying Ragnar's golf bag of weapons, etc., but no one would say Erilar was at all subservient to Ragnar except by choice. And, things grow and develop over time; if the characters bring shame upon themselves or grow away from their original service to the particular ATeamer they started following, that can be played out and they can leave that service, but it's all about how the roles and stories play out -- another fun part of the role-playing to explore. And, another way for us to put our stamp on these characters. Basically, I see it as a tie to ground these characters in our setting, but in a different and novel way that we haven't used before.

Also, for the most part, we won't be playing these new characters right alongside the ATeamers in the same adventure, so it's not like we'll really have sessions where, for example, I'm trying to play a character and Damon is playing his ATeamer and ordering me around all night. Once these characters are off on the mission, sure, they may be following original orders from their starting ATeamer, but once the start traveling, their pretty much an autonomous group.

just a few of my thoughts in response... take them for simply that.

--J
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erilar
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Post by erilar »

Well, then there's the fact that the A-Teamers are all (current or former) Blackrazors. We don't really have a lot of respect, honor, or fame to lose in the first place, lol. Even a deliberate attempt to tarnish one of our character's sterling reputations could only bear but so much fruit... :)
"This enemy you cannot kill. You can only drive it back damaged into the depths, and teach your children to watch the waves for its return." - Quellcrist Falconer
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

EvilGenius wrote: 1) You've said that our "follower" characters are going to be played by someone else and that the player will "keep" that character. So how does that work, really? If I make a seneshel for Luc, and I give him personal magical items of Luc's, now they're the personal property of, say, Ken, if he ends up with that character. Right? Why exactly would I do that instead of making followers for Luc at the dwarven stronghold in the drachensgrabs and equiping them, knowing that I'll get to play them at some point, and that they're still "in the family"?

Simply put, are our main characters going to get anything back from their followers?
The intention is for the player of the character you create to have control of that character's development after it is handed off... and that player will essentially be playing a minion of your higher level PC. Your higher level PC can still issue directives, give advice, ask for things back, etc.

I figured that by doing things this way, it would be more realistic, since we always assume that our character's followers obey their orders to the letter and without question... but more likely, there is some negotiation involved, and that would only come about if two different people are playing the sides involved.


EvilGenius wrote:2) What happens to the main character if their "follower" does something to bring shame upon them? It's not so much of a concern with our current roster, but accidents always happen.
Then your higher level PC would take the appropriate actions... hopefully whomever plays the minion would make the attempt to play the character they inherited in the spirit of how its creator intended, which is why I would encourage each person to give as much detail as possible as to the character's background, their relationship with the higher level PC, etc.
EvilGenius wrote:3) The nice thing about playing followers is the continuity from our old characters. However, for me that link is greatly weakened if someone else at the table has the link to MY character and I have a link to someone else's character. I may be alone in that. And there are characters in that group that I really like. But not as much as I like Kalib, or Luc. :(
Understandable... but you don't have to make a character that is necessarily an important follower of your high level PC... plus our other campaigns offer the opportunity to play other followers.
EvilGenius wrote:4) if the followers keep any ties to the old PCs, doesn't that put players in a subserviant role to other players at the table? If the ATeam characters start ordering around the followers, how's that going to work at the table?
Yes, if you consider the followers of your higher level PC's to actually be totally subserviant :D Given the independent streak of the followers of Trithereon, I doubt this would be true for Kalib for example. Like I mentioned earlier, this gives us the chance to play out the give and take negotiation that would likely be the case in the actual PC/minion relationship. If you created a LN dwarven follower of Luc, who would likely look up to Luc as his elder and superior within the dwarven clan structure, then whomever plays that character should hopefully try to stay true to that relationship as close as possible... but even then, that minion wouldn't be a total automaton following orders to the letter regardless of the changes to the situation.
Last edited by setanta14 on Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

Jonkga wrote:Also, for the most part, we won't be playing these new characters right alongside the ATeamers in the same adventure, so it's not like we'll really have sessions where, for example, I'm trying to play a character and Damon is playing his ATeamer and ordering me around all night. Once these characters are off on the mission, sure, they may be following original orders from their starting ATeamer, but once the start traveling, their pretty much an autonomous group.

just a few of my thoughts in response... take them for simply that.

--J
Right, I imagined the direction that would come from the higher level PC as being played out offline via email, etc... or if contact is made in-game through spells, etc., then text messages would be ideal :D

If the interaction is face to face in game, then those two people could pass notes, or step aside from the table to have a short discussion if it was a private matter.
EvilGenius

Post by EvilGenius »

I still have some reservations about this whole process, but what the hell. I'm sure I'm only being my curmudgeonly self. :)

I'll prob make a seneshel for Luc/Sven. Kalib doesn't have a title or land in Geoff. Ellington is Kalib's primary henchman, and I'm not sure how it works to give him his own followers. It certainly makes sense in the feudal sense but not necessarily in the D&D sense.

So I'll work up something, prob a seneshel for Luc. I really can't see Sven having even a seneshel who's an actual adventuring class. He's just not Charismatic enough (8!).

Sven will most likely hire some men-at-arms and then make an arrangement with Luc's nearby followers to hel with the defense/administration.
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

Cool, just be sure to write-up a good character background in terms of how and why the character became a follower, how loyal they are, what differences of opinion they may have, what are Luc's standing orders, directives, etc. That way whomever gets that character will have more to go on.
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

Any more takers?
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Lars Porsenna
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Post by Lars Porsenna »

still trying to decide what character should be involved. If we get a deadline that'll motivate me more...

Damon.
setanta14
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Post by setanta14 »

Now
Lars Porsenna wrote:If we get a deadline that'll motivate me more...
Damon.
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erilar
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Post by erilar »

I'm cool with this process Nate. I'm actually working on trying to get in to the HeroForge 3.5 beta thingie, and as soon as I do, I'll make my character.
"This enemy you cannot kill. You can only drive it back damaged into the depths, and teach your children to watch the waves for its return." - Quellcrist Falconer
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Post by NukeHavoc »

D'klar doesn't really have any followers, though I suppose I could make up a dwarven assistant for him -- maybe a bard who would be his medieval PR guy. :)
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