The Campaign Builder's Guild

We must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most. And that is the indifference of good men.

The There is a war going on between the north and south. The North Earling empire, working together with South Earling, are trying to destroy the holy empires of Jusaman, for reasons their unknown Their biggest target: the country of Hesamia. Meanwhile Bergis, the industrial capital of the world, is trying to push its way into Thasia to rape it of it's natural resources and take over their land to build it's earth-sucking factories. Meanwhile Wayland battles Kalest at sea and shore, looking to enslave their towns and colonies in an attempt to take them under their economic control and to also build new colonies to further expand their commercial empires in the East. And the only thing stopping all this from happening: The Forgotten Ones, a merciless band of saints who carry with them all the ancient secrets and values of old, and who want nothing more than to destroy the Evil North Earling empire and restore order and ballance throughout the rest of the world. Although, that hasn't exactly happened yet.

Most people have a knack for wasting their life.
They live in a small-enclosed world full of strife.
Boring and repetitive, till death takes it's toll.
Closed of mind, with a broken soul.
Completely sheltered, and far from the sun.
That is why you are the Forgotten Ones.

You remember the times from long ago.
Strong and pure, like an Elven bow.
It's what you so long for, the feeling freedom brings,
But it seems like today everything has to have it's own King.
What happened to those real days when mankind was truly free?
When people wrote their own destiny and were as happy as could be?
This so-called revolution has brought nothing but shame.
It's turned this once godfull free world into a commercialismâ,¬,,¢s game.

People are dying, no one is crying, no one is trying,
they all just keep denying
untill it hits them in the face but by then it is too late,
any hope that had existed had already been devoured by the hate.
Self-destructive people selling out their own souls
Working only to benefit their own selfish goals.

Lining the streets are whores for hire.
Mankind is crumbling, making these matters dire.
It rips your deepest of vein's desire,
Awakening within you that old passionate fire,
To put a Stop to all this madness, for a much higher cause.
And to restore that old peaceful balance that has been for so long put on pause.

Go to rid the world of this darkness once more,
and destroy all that renders freedom impure.
For the free soul is happy, strong and true.
And that's why you are the wise, forgotten few...

Jusaman, the birth mother to the Paladin, four holy empires that are the driving economic force in the Southern hemisphere of the world, and where the crusade starts. You have been summoned here by the high council of Hesamia to a tall stone building in it's capital, Rothaford. To be summoned by the council alone is a great honor, especially in a time of need such as this one. But, what could they possibly want you for? No one else in your family had ever been summoned before.

There are several others in the room with you. Their classes range anywhere from Thasian monks to local Paladins. They don't seem to know much more about why they're here than you do, but they all definitely look like they're from the south as well. During your travels here you picked up very little, only that Hesamia's west port had been attacked, and that Rothaford was holding a tournament. You do not know why you were summoned here, perhaps they know something about you you do not. Only time will tell...

As a plot hook, it's a solid 6 or 7, assuming your PC's are the "summoned to work for a powerful organization" types (some PCs resent being bossed around by an organization if that group doesn't specifically tie in to their character backgrounds).

As for the campaign itself, it's hard to tell based on the description given. Outside of geographical trends, there's no real indication of who the specific villains will be, what plots the PCs will become involved in, what rewards they will earn, or how the actions of the PCs will change the world around them.

This is actually already a game I am currently running, I gave a world map that I didn't think to show here. As for the villains, that part was explained after the game started and they had a choice to either accept the quest or not. How about this one, it has more detail and is  what got this site mentioned to me:

Campaign name: Deep forest.
DM: Cid.
Version: 3.5. All players use the 3.5 PHB, the srd, crystalkeep, or The Complete Warrior. Please no psions.
Level: 6
Classes: As a massive forest-based campaign, I am wanting in particual Monks, Rangers and Druids, though I'll accept any class from the 3.5 Player's Hand Book and cw.
Attributes: The standard 32 point-buy, don't add any extra attribute points from your level. See bottom.
Background: There are six towns to be from in a known alliance. These towns are described at the bottom. You may also be from a made-up hidden cult or have grown up by yourself away or near the mentioned towns and colonies.
Allignment: Any non-evil.

Story:
The whole world is covered in a thick, deep forest. People have learned to clear trees and use the wood to build houses, though there are no large cities or anything much larger than small comunities throughout the forest to be from. Paths connect all known towns, in a sort of alliance. Monster attacks are sometimes common, and neighboring comunities help out after or sometimes during such an attack. There are always small hidden cultist societies deep in the forest, but no paths go to them and the central alliance has no connection with them. The alliance's total population is roughly over 1,000, this is as many people as has ever been known to exist. Whether the world is round and the trees ever end no one knows, the forest is all that anyone has ever known for as far as they have explored. No real social structures are in place yet.You do not travel deep into the forest, for viciouse monsters lurk in the thick underbrush, exotic monsters you only hear in the darkest of nights and in the most horrid of nightmares. Eat you they will, tear your skin from your bone for trespassing on their turf.
Other than this, life has been fine up until now. The forest stretches as far as anyone has explored, some small lakes exist, as well as rivers and some cliffs, and it is uncertain if there are any other comunities far off in the world, beyond anyone's exploration, but it is doubtfull.

As you have been traveling from town to town, you have been hearing something evil. Something horrible. Something that can only be described as a "Dark movement of the monsters toward the North." Lately people have been spotting monsters, huge monsters that, as a rule, usually kept in the forest and did not come out onto the open path save during an outward attack and even then only if they were hungry and could not find food elsewhere; attacking people was risky and not always 100% sucessfull.
They have been seeing beasts of all forms migrating northward, crossing paths and going through any object in their way just short of trees, they titanic zombies or like they were sleepwalking. They have been seen going farther North than the Northern-most known town.

No one has seen these dark gatherings where the monsters are gong, all we know is that monsters have been for some reason migrating Northward. As if they are going there to plot the final downfall of man. This is just speculations however, but what many have come to believe. If they truly are planning a war against mankind, and are smart enough to be grouping together, then all hope for humanity is surely lost. We know one thing for sure however: anyone who travels far north do not return safely, even if they stick scrictly to the paths and travel in groups. No one ever hears from them again.

We now start our adventure in a large (for this world), 2-story cottage where we are staying the night. We are in the main room eating breakfast, talking about the strange happenings that have been reported. What are the monsters of the world planning, or could they just be migrating there for an omniouse reason other than a war against mankind? What do they know that we don't? And could this possibly have anything to do with the opening of Pandora's Box, all those many years ago?


To Join:
Make a charcter sheet for lv.6 complete with a background. Pick from one of the towns described below, or feel free to be from a lone cottage like this on, living on your own, living off a garden or hunting, or be from one of the comunities/settlements listed below, or maybe some sort of cult consisting of only your race. Maybe you are a bard traveling from town to town making a living performing for different comunities each time, assorbing different cultures and ways of life.

Also for this game I am introducing a new element: Karma. This will be measured in points and the number will go up and down throughout the adventure depending on your actions, and your diety you pray to. It will determine what kind of luck you have throughout the adventure as well as measure how good or evil you are. Your starting Karma relies mostly upon your staring allignment, background, and diety.

There's one final major element: your diety. All emotions are considered their own magic force, and thus have a dragon guardian over it (like a god). There is a guardian of greed, guardian of hate, guardian of hope, guradian of luck, guardian of indifference, etc. Pick any one guardian to have as your diety. Despite your class, you need a diety as it will come into play throughout the game. You do not have to pick an emotion though it is recomended. Also different comunities may worship different guardians, mostly good. This may help determine your diety, the town you are from. If you cannot come up with a background, one will be provided for you. You can have either one or two characters to start, they can be related and know each other or not.

Remember that the whole world is one huge forest, so the air is unlike any here on Earth. It is the clearest air imaginable, and you have very clear thoughts and are generaly happy. Evil is generaly an unknown feeling amoung the majority people up until now. Only monsters and a few demons were thought to be truly evil, as well as the guardians of the evil emotions, which are never practiced (worshiped).



Major Towns
Choose one of the following settlements for your background. Listed under each one is a description, the races and classes that town consists of, and the typical dieties that town does but is not limited to worshiping. Remember you can always be from an unknown cult or have grown up deep in the forest near but outside one of these towns. Also no matter what town/cult you are from, one of these dieties may always be chosen: Hope, Obad-Hai, and Edlonna. Remember to pick a diety despite your class.

Killay
Population: 250
Race: Strictly Human with a few Half-Elf and Halfling outcasts.
Class: Monk.
Allignment: Lawful Good.
Diety: Only the following: Trust, Karma/Morale, Honor, Loyalty, Integrity, Victory, Ehlonna, Obad-Hai, and Passion (Note: not love, but the drive to live and put everything you have into everything you do).

The monks of Killay are of the old way. They live by a code of lawfulness and loyalty, to their deaths they pledge their lives to those they trust. So therefore trust is the basics of the ancient Killaian Monks. In order for one to be teachable in the ways of a killaian Monk, they must first learn that trust must be understood, many exercises are performed in their training that deals with trust of the one that teaches, as to know that what they are learning is the right and moral way.
They have 6 concepts of qualities, Trust being the foremost and foundation of their training. Most who come to the monks, know not of the character quality trust. They come because of hardships and death. These outsiders are what make up the small population of Half-Elves and Halflings. Trust is as foreign to them as a different shore of some far away land. They were either handed off because their families could not raise them due to poverty or even dire circumstances such as their families were killed by attacking monsters for gain of their land or meat. Mostly they were murdered due to pure hate which has always existed in the monsters of the deep forest. But in the ancient times they were only in the far reaches of the world.
The code of training has six points; Trust, Honor, Goodness, Loyalty, Integrity and Victory.

1.Trust lays the ground work for one to become teachable.
2.Goodness teaches the morals by which they must live.
3.Honor is to show the respect of what they have learned.
4.Loyalty to serve those who they have learned to trust and honor.
5.Integrity reflects to those they meet they way of their code.
6.Victory is the use of all the above qualities to preserver[/ooc]


Jortaga
Population: 800
Race: Human, Half-elf, Halfling, Gnome, and a few Elves and Dwarves.
Class: Mostly Bards, Fighters, Rogues, and Swashbucklers all call this place home, but there are also a few Sorcerers and Hexblades.
Allignment: Any except evil, but it tends to be toward the more Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Neutral side.
Typical Dieties: Luck, Hope, Vecna, Fharlanghn, Olidammara, and Ehlonna.

Jortaga is one of the center-most towns of all the known settlements. It is a city of trade, with paths going to it from almost every town. It is home to the world's only hard-core theives, and survives by trading with the other towns and colonies around it. It is one of the largest towns and well-known by all the others. Many pass it when traveling from town to town or move to it when they want to start their life over again.

Jusaman
Population: 450
Race: Human, Elf, Half-elf.
Class: Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Ranger, Wizard, Rogue.
Allignment: Lawfull Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good.
Typical Dieties: Perlor, Heironeous, Karma/Morale, Loyalty, Righteouseness, and Honesty.

Jusaman is the only of the towns that actually has a wall around it's entire town. It is a kingdom that beleives in what is right, and survives mostly by trading it's well-known well-crafted armor, weapons, and magic items and components that can't be found anywhere else. It is one of the fastest growing towns, along with Jortaga.

Wayland
Population: Roughly 300.
Race: Primarily Hafling and Gnome, with a few humans and half-elves on it's edges.
Class: Sorcerer, Ranger, Druid, Barbarian, with a few rogues.
Allignment: Any good or neutral, but typically Chaotic Good, Neutral Good, and Neutral Neutral.
Typical Dieties: Yondalla, Garl Flittergold, Honesty, Trust, Peace.

Wayland is a massive farming comunity. It provides the majority of the aliance's food supply, surviving by trading a variety of foods and the wood it clears to others who do not have so much land and wish not to clear the forest and upset the monsters. Wayland has had to defend it's crops from monster attacks wanting their land back or the food that they grow, so Wayland has developed a defense primarily of Rangers and their own exotic arcane arts. They are the southern-most town in the alliance.

Dalben
Population: Roughly 400
Race: Elven, with a few Half-Elves. This includes Primary Wood Elf and High Elf, with a few Grey elves.
Class: Bowman (fighter), Ranger, Druid, Bard, Barbarian, Samurai, sorcerer, wizard, Swashbuckler.
Allignment: Any good.
Typical Dieties: Typically Loyalty, as well as Corellon Larenthian, Boccob, Kord, Trust, and ocassionally St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas.

Dalben is an all Elven comunity, it's strongest allies are Jusaman and Wayland. Where it lacks in walls, Dalben has around it's borders several hidden keeps which harbor the majority of their militar: their skilled and feared Bowman. The rest of their military is made up primarily of their Samurai, and a few bards. They survive by trading magic items and spell components and their masterworked bows for food, armor, and other suplies.

Crestia
Population: 500
Race: Almost completely dwarven, with a few halfling and gnome outcasts or traders.
Class: Fighter, Wizard, Barbarian, Samurai, Druid, Ranger, Monk, and some Clerics and neutral Hexblades.
Allignment: Any good or neutral.
Typical Dieties: Kord, Moradin, Boccob, Independance, Integrity, and Drive.

Crestia is a mining colony, and mines most of the alliance's metal and stone, especially for Dalben and Jusaman as well as Jortaga. They value their role and consider themselves to be the leader in the alliance's economy.

Ability Score................Point Cost (from 32).
9................................................. ......1
10................................................ ......2
11................................................ ......3
12................................................ ......4
13................................................ ......5
14................................................ ......6
15................................................ ......8
16................................................ ......10
17................................................ ......13
18................................................ ......16

Game wil start as soon as we have a good ballance of characters. Unless there is a last post saying game is closed, there is always room for one more. I would like for anyone who is aplying to be interested and able to post at least once everyday, preferably two. Cheers!

It seems that the polls still aren't working right, so I'll just respond with a post: after reading the more detailed description of the campaign, I'd say it's an 8.

The absence of recognizable evil as a PC option limits players somewhat, but it makes up for this by reinforcing the optimistic flavor of the region where characters begin play. The addition of the guardians as additional deities adds something new, but tying them to easily recognized emotions makes them easy to remember. The code of the Killaian monk was succinct but interesting.

Also, I've toyed with rules for Karma now and again (mine effected the results of reincarnate spells) and found them to be enjoyable.

All in all, I'd say what you have does a good job of capturing a spirit of well-meaning and optimistic adveture; I'd liken it to one of the Legend of Zelda video games in flavor, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Alright thanks. Is there a place on this site where you actually host/play in games, or is it discussion only?

Quote from: RenegadeAlright thanks. Is there a place on this site where you actually host/play in games, or is it discussion only?

HERE (http://www.thecbg.org./e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewforum.php?14)