The Temple of Thul-Gaal

So, last week I had a dream. No, seriously, it was a real dream of GMing an RPG. The rules were a bit fast and light, and there weren't any dice rolls... more of an interactive cinematic sort of thing. But that's beside the point. I have, in the course of the last week or so, come up with the beginnings of a one-shot. Or some-shot. A short campaign.

When I first started writing it all down, I was pretty excited - this would fit into the current campaign, and be a lot of fun. For me. Because I would kill everyone. I realized that maybe, just maybe... that wouldn't be fun for everyone else. So, I took a step back, and decided that I would tweak a few things so it would become a one-shot, where people wouldn't care if their characters get absolutely slaughtered.

Now, I still have some tweaks left, and a few puzzles to work through, which is perfect, because you guys have some work to do, too. You need to make up some characters.

Your character must follow these guidelines:

• Roll up character stats
  • Roll 3d6, five times, to make a column of stats; repeat to make 5 total columns
  • Choose a column; you may use the chosen stat column in any order
  • You may trade 2 points from a non-primary stat to add 1 to a primary stat
• Choose a character - any character class from the original list
• Your character starts with:
  • 620,000 XP
  • 815,000 gp
• You may trade gold for:
  • Normal equipment, mounts, etc.
  • Any magical item, at its base price
  • A chance for random magical items
    • Trade 1,000gp for a 15% chance of two magic items of a random type.
    • Trade 3,000gp for a 25% chance for a weapon or armor, a 25% chance for a potion, and a 10% chance for a miscellaneous magic item.
    • Trade 10,000gp for a 50% chance for four randomly determined magic items, one random potion, and one random scroll.
    • Trade 30,000gp for 1d4 random potions, 1d4 random scrolls, and a 50% chance for six randomly determined magic items.
    • Trade 100,000gp for 2d4 random potions, 2d4 random scrolls, and a 75% chance for each of the following: 1d3 swords, 1d3 armor, 1d3 miscellaneous weapons, 1d3 wands/staffs/rods, 1d3 rings, and 1d3 miscellaneous magic items.
    • Note: You may trade a (random) scroll or potion for two (random) recipes.
    • If you have the core rulebook, you can roll up your own magical items; however, I have a spreadsheet that does it instantly, so if you want to trade for magic items, let me know and I can do it automatically. If you want to trade scrolls/potions for recipes, tell me before hand, so I can roll recipes instead.
  • As many henchmen as you'd like
    • Roll up each henchman as a character
    • Trade 1 gp for 1 XP (a henchman with 100,000 XP costs 100,000 gp)
    • While henchmen can have henchmen, you cannot exceed the number of henchman your character is allowed in total (4, plus Charisma bonus, plus any proficiency bonus)
  • Creating magical items, new spells, ritual spells, constructs, etc.
    • To create a magical item (etc.), you must:
      • Purchase a library
      • Spend the money for the item/scroll/potion
      • Make any rolls required for research, etc.
      • Note: failed rolls still use money!
• Mages and other studious casters begin with 50% of their spell list generated randomly, and the rest chosen.
  • Researched spells (see above) count as a chosen spell
  • If you want to replace a randomly chosen spell, it costs 1,000 gp per spell level to replace; you may choose any spell you have as a scroll or recipe.
  • If you do not have the spell as a scroll, it costs an additional 500 gp per spell level to buy the spell. Only spells in the spell list may be purchased; spells not on the spell list must be researched (see above).
• Wishes will be neutered for this one-shot. They are allowed to be cast as any spell, or the reverse of any spell, instantly; they also allow a character to be resurrected, returned from another dimension, or cured of an affliction (insanity, possessed hand, etc.), but they cannot be used as an open-ended "true wish".

Whew! What a list! If you have any questions, let me know. I'll wait to run the one-shot until everyone has a character rolled up, spells and all. Also, if you want to roll up any number of backup characters, that would be awesome. I'll have some upper-level characters created, probably, so nobody is left out, but if you want to make your own backups, go for it.

Long ago, in a land far away, an ancient temple was built in the wastelands...

The temple belonged to an ancient race, the Thrassians, cruel, dark creatures, with scaly skin and terrible claws, with great leathery wings and horrible sharp teeth. These Thrassians ruled the land with iron fists, but like all terrible rulers, they were vanquished, and their ways were lost to history.

These days, the Thrassians of old are but legends; stories told by old soldiers to frighten the new recruits, and told by parents to get their children to bed or to eat their vegetables.

Nonetheless, the stories (at least most of them) are true. And, deep in the Desert of the Dead, our heroes gather to face the greatest threat these ancient monsters ever built: the Temple of Thul-Gaal. Undead - and worse - prowl its dark hallways, and magical traps pervert the very earth on which the temple stands. The tower is hidden behind a ridge of mountains; inside is an ancient volcanic desert, devoid of life. During the day, wind blows through the desert and shifts the sands, obscuring the path to the temple, but never burying the temple itself; that site juts out of the landscape like the hellish claw of an enormous demon...

Few have returned from the voyage; the dizzying heat, the blinding dust, and the unforgiving rocks have claimed countless lives. Only those who turn back from the temple's gates have survived, and even those have faced staggering casualties. No one who has entered the temple has returned to tell the tale.

Even so... stories persist of a treasure in the temple, unimaginable wealth. For ages, adventurers lost their lives in pursuit of that treasure; soldiers, mages, clerics, and thieves left and never returned. And yet, they must; as the adventurers stop coming, the undead grow restless. Like a cat sharpening its claws, if there are no adventurers to lay them to rest, the undead creep forth, raiding villages and destroying lives and livelihoods. It has come to the point that those nearest the temple feel they must step in and destroy the temple, or die in the attempt...

One-Shot: Ancient History: The Dwarves

The first in what may well be a series of glimpses into the past; a reliving of the origin of Dwarves.

Prologue: A Book Is Found

In the hidden city of the gnomes, while the others were off digging up a great scale, Llarm decided to take a look in the library. The gnomish library is, in fact, one of the greatest libraries in Mor-Thir, provided you have a Stack Guide. Llarm poked about, and with his innate Librarian skills, discovered a small secret area. Inside, he found an ancient book - not even a book, but a carefully carved slab of stone, covered in runes. Bound to it with a strap of leather was a scroll, written in Mountain Dwarf. With the help of Groin, Llarm deciphered the scroll. On it was written the following tale:

End of the the Prequel

Thus far, the stories, maps, timelines and histories have been a prequel of sorts. I've taken you, my readers, on a journey of discovery, wandering through time and geography on the continent of Mor-Thir. When I started, I had a pretty good idea of what was going on in the kingdom of Mareten, and what the map looked like, and so on. But I didn't know the whole story; often, you learned at the same time I did. Who knew that the Wall of Mareten was that big? Not me! In fact, I didn't even know how magical the towers were until I set fingers to keyboard.

Improv Generators

In any situation (not just RPGs, or even games in general, but Real Life (tm) too), being able to think on your feet is a very important ability to have. Ever watch an improv show and wonder how those people could come up with so many funny gags in such a short time - often with only a split second of preparation? Here's a hint: they had more than a split second of preparation.

"Gasp!" You say. "They cheated! It was camera cuts! It's all scripted, like wrestling and elections! I knew it!"

Whoa there, buddy! Not so fast. There are no camera cuts, or scripts (or shouldn't be, if it's a good show). No, what I mean is that they took time to think up all sorts of funny stuff, and when it fit, they just repeated it from memory. That's the key - improv prep. It sounds oxymoronic, but nonetheless, it's incredibly important.

Designing a world

Framing

The first thing on the list is creating the framework for the world. Is it a modern film-noire place, filled with dark cities and gritty drama? Or is it a high fantasy world, with fairies and dragons and magical resurrection? Maybe it's a hard science post-apocalyptic world, where mutations are deadly and food and water are at a premium.

The framework sets the basis of the world, and thus the adventures played in it. Not that any genre rules out any style of game - but be aware of how much work it will be. A horror game in a dark, gritty setting is a lot easier to pull off than one set in a happy-go-lucky post-scarcity science fiction world of high society. It's possible to make those kinds of games work, and I've seen it happen... but it's a lot harder to do, and it takes considerable effort from the players, as well as from the GM. If you have lazy (or new) players, you might want to tailor your world to them, at least a little bit.

The Seven Scales

Long, long ago, before the First Age, when the great wyrm called Mor-Thir his home, there was a great battle, and Alehim smote the wyrm; in the end, the great wyrm was defeated. But during the battle, it shed seven scales, which were blown far and wide. As the scales were found, they were forged by the dwarves into items of power, and of war.

The first scale was found by a group of mechanics and tinkers; they wrought the great scale into an artifact of power, directing its power into a colossus to protect their cities. The scale became its great eye, through which the golem watched over the dwarves. During the dark days of the Age of the Beastmen, the giant golem was the only thing to stand between the dwarves and their doom; at the conclusion of the many wars with the beastmen, only the golem was left standing. It's eye resembles a great emerald, the size of a man; there are many rumors of the powers of the great eye, but there are few alive today who have seen the golem in battle.

The Age of Dragons

From his seat at the edge of the bazaar, an old man beckons you over, waving his long pipe. Expecting another beggar grasping for coins, you step towards him. The warm brick walls and the rug-seller's wares deaden the noise; in this tiny corner, the market is almost quiet.

"The stories're wrong, y'know," he chortles, smoke puffing from his mouth with each word. "The first age weren't th' age of th' elves, bless 'em. Oh, sure, they were th' first ones to write it all down, but who knows what happened before then, eh?" He wheezes an approximation of a laugh. "I'll tell ye - me!"

Populations and Trade

This is not a story. This is, most likely, Math. If you're interested in the nitty-gritty details of building cities, then by all means, keep reading! If, however, you are only here to read stories and look and cool maps, you might want to give this a skip. Don't say I didn't warn you!

The Adventurer, Conqueror, King System has very straight-forward rules about empires, kingdoms, all the way down to itty-bitty villages. That said, it can get quite complicated quite quickly; I'm not entirely sure how someone could create an entire world with fully-populated urban areas without that being their full-time job. That said, I took some shortcuts. Short-ish, anyway.

The Great Wall of Mareten

The Mareten Wall is a staggering feat of engineering. During the Second Age, the Seer-King Brennus Aedan began it as his life's work - his life, and the lives of his children. From the First Age, the mountains reached past Wallace to the edge of the forest itself, where they continued as a long ridge of craggy foothills, through Annhoradwy Woods, all the way to the mountains in the south, against the sea. Under the direction of King Brennus, countless laborers carved stone from the mountains and moved it to fill gaps in the hills. At its conclusion, the wall was 25 feet tall and 100 feet thick, made of solid stone carved from the mountains. Earth was dug away to lay the stones on bedrock, and each stone was crafted to fit seamlessly against the others. Though the first wall was completed in his lifetime, King Brennus knew it would not be enough to stop the coming cataclysm. On his deathbed, he begged his children to strengthen the wall.

How Mor-Thir Was Formed

At the beginning of the world, before time, the continent of Mor-Thir was born of ice and fire. On it lived a great snake, an evil, chaotic being. It saw that Mor-Thir was barren and desolate, and smiled. It twisted in the dust as it prowled the land, god of its domain. However, the great god Alehim was saddened by the desolation, and spoke with the wyrm: "I will give you soft moss upon which to tread, and gentle birds to sing you to sleep."