A Previously Unrevealed Region of Sylvaeon

click for larger image

This is an area in the western part of the continent where my Sylvaeon campaign primarily takes place. The city of Seahaven is situated on a bay in the South Western hex side of this regional map. Seahaven is not very old, in game terms. It is populated by mostly humans. It has existed in its present incarnation for about 500 years, but the land had been settled several times before in ancient times, the city being built upon the older ruins.

Seahaven is effectively a city state. It is ruled over by a regency and a bicameral parliament - one of the noblility and the other made up of civilian merchants and many political factions).

By the way, my players have never seen a population center larger than a village at this point... though they have been told that cities do exist!

This is only a draft map of the area, made with Hexographer, which I am still learning.

Sylvaeon as the Players Know It as of April 6, 2012

Spring in Sylvaeon: Passing of the Seasons

image from http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.292621848.jpg

In Sylvaeon the season has passed from Winter to Spring.

One character, Smyrynel, witnessed the rite of The Passing of the Seasons. This druidic rite occurs at the equinoxes and solstices. During these times, the most powerful druids of the Realm gather to pass the Staff of the Seasons from the keeper of the prior season to the druid that guards and guides the next.

The druid Mellion appeared to Smyrynel as she was tending the earth planting pine seeds at the end of her retreat to the cave shrine at the Shattered Cliff.  Mellion transported Smyrynel in spirit to the rounded pavilion set in a secret glade. The pavilion serves as the focal place of the ritual of The Passing of the Seasons and The Staff of the Seasons serves as the focal object.

When Smyrynel first saw Mellion, who had finally arisen from his period of Winter sleep, he held the staff. It had ice and snow upon it, but they were melting. At the top of the staff, amidst the ornate carving, were small unopened buds. Once they had arrived to the place of the ritual, Smyrynel saw the pavillion covered in snow. Around the pavilion were standing stones similar to what she had seen before. A snowshoe hare hopped in the snow beneath the pavilion. A cardinal sat in the bare branches of an oak tree. The scene was quiet and serene.

Eventually, druids robed in various colors marched in procession into the sacred grove, taking their places around the pavilion in a ring. Mellion ascended the steps to the pavilion and held up the staff, announcing that according to the ancient custom that he would now pass the Staff of Seasons to the one who would guide Spring. A woman garbed in a robe that shifted slowly across the color spectrum, which created scenes of Spring bloom and life upon it, ascended the pavilion with Mellion. Mellion held out the staff to her, which she took. Covering his head with his cowl, Mellion left the pavilion. The woman let the cowl of her robe drop, revealing that she was an elf. She held aloft the staff and it instantly began to bloom. The snow melted almost instantaneously from the pavilion as the tree budded fort and tender leaves came from the buds. Birds began to fly under the pavilion and chipmunks and other animals seemed to be foraging. The scent of earth wafted into the previously sterile environment. As a brief, gentle rain passed through the pavion, the smell of ozone filled the air.

Now, with the passing of the seasons, the woman left the pavilion and the druids turned to acknowledge Smyrynel with a short bow. They filed away as they had came. The simple but important ritual was complete.

Spring has come to Sylvaeon once again.

(In honor of Spring, I have also changed the blog theme from Winter, back to a Spring one.)

Map of Sylvaeon as the PCs know it

The two rivers in confluence towards the middle of the map are:
The Broken Arrow River (coming from the North)
and the Drake's Wash (coming from the West)

The last two sessions took place primarily at the Goblinoid Totem/Burial area & the Moon Well, both to the North.

Soon the PCs will be headed to the Outpost (except one who is going for a retreat to the Cliff cave shine) and then to the Wayfarer's Inn (which sits at the confluence of the two rivers)

The village at the Eastern edge of the map is Arrow's Mouth. The village population is approximately 500 people. 98 % are human, the rest being Elves and Gnomes.

Session #9 of The Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon part II

Having purified the Moon Well and the Nymph that dwells in it, the PCs were told by Gildaril, the Warden Master, that Sir Parcifal and the rest of the Warden Patrol were to accompany him back to the Outpost, shortly. The characters were also told that they would soon be given a period of leave, in which they could rest, train, research, etc. Smyrynel chose to go on retreat back at the river-side cliff cave shrine that the party had restored. Parcifal chose to attempt to rehabilitate the Goblinoids captured at the Moon Well. Kelvin has voiced interest in gathering components for his infamous flash bombs and researching the mysterious scroll that the shaman had in its possession. The Sword Sisters opted fro martial training. All of the characters will meet at the Wayfarer's Inn in a couple of weeks to look for the Loremaster so they can get some questions about the past history of Sylvaeon answered. A bit of relaxation at the Inn was discussed, too.

Before they PCs set out, they participated in a meal with the Nord-Landers and the Acolyte Druid. The spot was chosen by the Druid among ancient burial mounds from the time of the Great Wars, over 3000 years ago. In this area, Airdane, the Druid buried the unknown elf who had served as an unfortunate living sacrifice during the summoning of the Red Moon. There, atop the highest of the mounds, under the night sky, as the cleansed aurora danced overhead, the party had a solemn meal. Afterwards, Erel Jolfsen, the Nord-Lander leader, said that during the times of significant event the Runes of old were often sought among his people. While they cannot foretell the future, Erel said, they can aid in unlocking and understanding aspects of a person's Wyrd. All of the PCs drew from the Runes, but their significance is as yet unknown. The wizard kelvin was sternly warned by Erel that the study of the Runes has given great power to the one they call Loge the Despiser, known to the Folk as the Corrupter. Erel said that the twisting of the Rune lore was one of the things the Corrupter has done as he slipped ever deeper into the seduction for power. Leaving the party to return to their search for more Elves and Folk of the Realm, the Nord-Landers parted in peace.

The Paladin of the White Lady, who recently shows skill in the Way of the Balance, the ways of the Druids, was taken aside by the young Acolyte. He told her that the sacrificed elf's spirit may not be returning again to the Realm, which sorrowed him. He also spoke of how he marvelled that humans, who only come once into existence in the Realm should ever give their short lives to the cause of Sylvaeon. Smyrynel and Airdane exchanged gifts of fellowship amidst the burial mounds.

Now, with no charges or quests before them, the PCs will be finding themselves adrift in the Realm. Their Wyrd lies before them, such as they choose to make it...

Session #9 of the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon

Session #9 of The Eternal Realm of Sylvaeon

Last time, the PCs had just defeated the Goblinoid horde which was melting some sort of slag from a nearby mine. The two large large hulk-like goblinoids that the PCs killed were dumping it into a hole in the ice into the Moon Well. The tribe's shaman had summoned the Red Moon with power drawn from the Moon Well through an elaborate ritual involving a shine placed at the center of the Moon Well, the burnt sacrifice of an Elf (which the PCs were sadly unable to stop) and a desecrated standing stone devoted to the White Lady, which had a red moon crescent drawn on it with the elf's blood.

The first of the obstacles to the liberation and restoration of the Moon Well had been overcome; namely the defeat of the Goblinoids. Now the PCs set to disabling the red aurora and its pillar manifestation that emanated from the center of the Moon Well. The Sword Sister Airyka thought that the pillar might be some transport to the Red Moon and placed her hand inside of it. Whether it was a transport or not, she did not figure out, because she was violently thrown back and went skidding unconscious across 70 feet of the ice.

Some of the party began to chop the ice around the aurora pillar & the goblinoid shine at the heart of it with the aid of the newly arrived Nord-Lander Warden, Erel Jolfsen, and some of his fellow clansmen. After an hour's labor the shine fell into the lake with a steamy explosion that rocked the ice, sending Nord-Landers tumbling into the cold water of the Moon Well. These were rescued by the mighty aid of Brynn, a Sword Sister of such prowess that she almost effortlessly drew several of the large Nord-Landers from the waters.

Smyrynel dove into the water to rescue one Nord-Lander that had sunk. As she tied him off to a rope held by another Nord-Lander above and signaled that the rope be drawn up, she spied a water nymph struggling to break free from the slaggy muck that now polluted the bottom of the moon well heavily. The evil shrine that had sunk to the bottom was pulsing fading light and had illuminated this scene, so Smyrynel caught the Nymph's ethereal hand, which became tangible in her grasp and plucked her to the surface of the small lake. The Paladin of the WHite Lady, Smyrynel cleansed the nymph with the water that she had gotten from the magical stream in the druid's grove. When she saw this was effective, she swam back to the center of pollution at the bottom of the moon well and cleansed it by releasing the stream water into the heart of the moon well. This caused the pollution to scatter almost sentiently, but it did dissolve the pollution of the moon well in a brief period of time.

Kelvin the Curious wizard had searched the shaman's body and found he wore a carved bone ring that said "Me No Sleep" upon it. He deduced that it was probably the reason his sleep spell upon the shaman failed in the battle that had recently raged. Kelvin also found the scroll that the goblinoid shaman had used to perform his summoning ritual. The scroll contained lore and spells of the goblinoids that Kelvin decided to decipher better at a later time.

In the shelter structure near the moon well was found a druid acolyte that had previously been tasked by Mellion to seek out the forgotten moon well which now lay in goblinoid territory and to discover its plight.  The moon well had alerted the the great druid to its distress somehow, but Mellion was nearing his time of Winter hibernation and could not go himself. The acolyte was beater and cut, but was alive. Kelvin aided the young druid in removing the body of the burnt elf for burial.

Sir Parcifal helped Brynn, Airyka and the Nord-Landers to tie up the remaining living goblinoids that had either been entangled or had emerged from the mine in surrender. Gildaril, the Warden master and Lydia, the elf maiden that had been rescued from the sink hole, arrived on the scene around this time. Gildaril agreed that Parcifal could attempt to reform the prisoners at the Outpost and placed him in charge of this task. Lydia gave Parcifal a white scarf to carry in her name and told Parcifal that she wished it to bring him good fortune. Being gallant, Parcifal kissed the maiden's hand and the two set about calming and herding the very frightened goblinoids in preparation to take them to the Outpost. Parcifal did need to recapture one of the frightened creatures, which slipped its bonds and tried to run off.

Erel told Airyka that a couple of the Nord-Landers wanted to know if she was interested in marriage. She politely declined, but was given a Nord-Lander axe as a sign of respect for her battle prowess.

The Pcs finally managed to clean up the desecration of the Moon Well. The aura obove it is a now a faint white, but the smallish red moon still glows in the night sky…

(more to come)

More Recent Additions To The RPG Collection

I have had many issues purchasing from IPR which I will not go into detail about here, but I am happy that I FINALLY got my copy of A Dirty World. This Film Noir-type game has simple mechanics. I hope to play it soon! This is a 70pp,  about digest-sized printing and it really is a beauty.

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy purchase may come in handy with my Sylvaeon campaign in several ways.

Firstly, I love this Judges Guild wonder and I could easily use most of it straight up as an easy way to generate encounters when my brain goes dead. JG stuff is the goodness! I am very pleased with this purchase... besides some minor wear, the thing is in great shape and is as usable as the day it was printed!

Secondly, I am gathering resources and thoughts for creating more of my own wilderness terrain and encounter charts. I have gotten great advice from people and am scouring everything I can get the time to, but eventually I will have a way to practically let random hex generation & encounters blossom of their own accord! When i first started the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon campaign the Wilderlands of High Fantasy was one of the first things I thought of and having it in my grubby hands I remember why!

Players Hex Crawl Map of Sylvaeon

This is the world as the players know it after six sessions in the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon

The Use of Real World Biomes in a Hex Crawl Campaign Setting

Because of its location and how it was formed from inland sea to a glaciated region to the place it is today, Minnesota is a unique place containing many lakes and is the meeting place of four biomes.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/biomes/index.html

The starting point of my Sylvaeon campaign is partially based upon the land that I love  :)
I have populated the initial hex crawl with many of the native flora and fauna of Minnesota. The weather patterns mimic those occurring seasonally.

The flow and joining of the Drake's Wash & the Broken Arrow rivers in this starting area are based upon the real world confluence of the Minnesota & Mississippi rivers. The PCs have encountered these large rivers already. I used a riverside cliff cave in the last session based on those that are on the banks of these rivers. One encounter took place in a sink hole, like the ones that are present in various parts of the state.

Hex crawls and world building do not always entail reinventing the wheel. Using what is in the real world can ease the process greatly.

Remember the Giant Beaver in the Monster Manual? We had those things here.In fact, the most complete skeleton of a giant beaver was unearthed right here in Minnesota. The PDF linked below talks about some of the giant mamals of the past that roamed the state. I am itching to toss some megafauna at my players  ;)

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/volunteer/young_naturalists/giants_iceage/giants_iceage.pdf

Synopsis of Session #4 of the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon

it is a few days overdue, but here is the skinny on the continuing misadventures of my player's party:

After helping defend the Warden outpost from the goblinoid attack, the party set forth on New Years Day in the year 10,000. They decided to head to the southwest in order to find the missing Elf Warden, Lydia.

The rapid and rocky Broken Arrow River, which is impassable from any other direction that the PCs know, had to be forded. The ranger found the least dangerous place to cross it in the immediate area. Everyone made it across, but not before the mage and his horse were nearly swept down river! Continuing on, the party had to ford yet another river, the Drakes wash, which is a tributary that joins the Broken Arrow later on downstream. Thankfully the Drakes Wash is slower and more shallow, so it was not a difficult crossing.

Heading into the edge of the prairie lands, the party decided to camp for the night. They set up their six person tent and made a fire. Attracted by the fire was a wandering soul, Beldac the Mad Trapper, who explained that he had lost his mule recently to some trolls. Beldac sold a few skunk pelts and their scent glands to the party for some silver. Parcifal offered to share a meal with the trapper, who promptly ate the entire evening's rations. Setting in near the fire, Beldac slept and snored. This and the fire attracted something: the trolls!

Hunting the trapper down, the trolls finally had a clue as to his whereabouts and they approached the camp. Beldac ran off as the party gave combat. The mage was severely injured, but the PCs eventually slew the horrid towering creatures just as the trapper returned with a stick to help them fight the now dead trolls. Everyone was quite effective against them. Hard work does not go unrewarded! Inside pouches that the trolls carried was an uncut diamond, 2 dried bullfrogs and a few silver pieces! Parcifal also found a quivering green blob in one of the pouches, which Kelvin wanted to experiment upon, but Parcifal decide to keep to determine what it was and whether it was living or not. Some of the party affectionately named it the "troll booger".

in the morning, the mad trapper departed, heading towards the village of Arrowsmouth to procure another mule. The party broke camp and headed out on the trail of Lydia once more, eventually picking up a faint trail, because it had not snowed.

Following this disappearing then reappearing trail, the party reached the place where Lydia abruptly ended her journey to see Mellion the Druid - a sinkhole! Oban the ranger almost fell into it, too, as he came upon it. Leaving Parcifal and Oban to watch the horses, the rest of the party tied off a few ropes and defended into the sinkhole. It initially bottomed out at 60 feet, but had a slightly downward sloping part that continued from the floor of it. The carcass of the horse of the missing Warden was found at the bottom of the sinkhole.

As Airyka the sword sister, Kelvin the mage and Smyrynel the Paladin delved deeper into the darkness, a voice cried out. It demanded to know who and what the characters were, told them that nobody was here and to go away. Kelvin cried out a challenge in return and the voice from the shadows ceased.

Eventually the party came upon a creature dressed in patchwork rags, that one decried as a "dirty Gnome". In reality, unbeknownst to the party, this is a Brownie. The creature was seen in the light of the sword sister's lantern to be emptying a pouch into its hand. Not knowing what the diminutive being was doing, the party was fearful and attacked. What the thing was pouring out was Kelvin's pouch, which it had deftly stolen without being seen. I guess the Brownie was not impressed with Kelvin's unprovoked challenge ;)

There were some slapstick events:
 The mage grabbed it upon realizing just what it had in its hands. The Brownie placed the paladin in a stasis after she tried to continue past down the tunnel. It then blew sparks out of its mouth at Kelvin's eyes, so that the mage let go of the mischievous little thing. Running down the passage back into the darkness, the Brownie made a deal with the two mobile PCs in the sinkhole for the release of Smyrynel from its spell. Kelvin the Curious curiously decided to trade it one of his flash bombs for the release of the paladin! The being told them to back up and came and retrieved the bomb which was now in the darkness. The being emerged after a bit with the bomb in one hand and its dagger in the other! Keeping his word, the Brownie released Smyrynel from the enchantment, but she then launched upon the attack once more! Airyka also drew her sword, but hit the sinkhole wall, dropping her sword. The Brownie tossed the bomb at the mage, giving him a taste of his own medicine. The mage, recovering, tossed a net at the Brownie, but in the narrow passageway only managed to ensnare the sword sister. The Brownie, after doing a dance near the enraged Smyrynel, dodging her blows, finally ran off down the passage, which split into three other channels…

The World as the PCs Know It!

 

 

What the PCs know of the world so far

1. Village of Arrowmouth
2. Wayfarer's Inn
3. Warden Outpost

This is the Realm of Sylvaeon, as the PCs have seen it so far!

The village of Arrowmouth, on the Broken Arrow River, has a population of just over 500. It has a 90% Human population, made up of the Folk, the oldest race of human beings to initially come to Sylvaeon. The rest of its inhabitants are mostly Wood Elves and Gnomes. The village was re-established only about 50 years ago in the growing effort to reclaim areas that were inhabited during the time of the Great Wars. Fishing, farming and brewing are its main industries.

The Wayfarer's Inn sits at the junction where the tributary river, Drake's Wash joins the Broken Arrow River. It is frequented by the Wardens, trappers/hunters and the few other brave souls that try to make their living in the wilderlands. The place is very clean; the food good. Its ale is imported from Arrowmouth, which takes pride in the quality of the intoxicating beverage. The Old Road, which has fallen into disrepair more and more as it leaves the village, leads along the river to the Inn, but does not continue much beyond it.

The Broken Arrow River is a difficult one to navigate by boat, if not impossible at times. Filled with boulder, rapids and a strong stream, the river is a hazard to the unskilled. The Drake's Wash is more shallow and passable, but few even know what lies upriver.

The fortified Warden Outpost has been only recently been built. It serves as a boot camp for Warden recruits and as a vanguard against the dark forces which are encroaching once more from the wilderness. It seems the reintroduction of the Folk and their allies does not sit well with the foul denizens that have taken over the forest which lays near it. The outpost is used to send patrols out to hold such things at bay and to gather information as to what lies in the forgotten wilds.

Hex Boards as a Mapping Resource for the Hex Crawl

an Avalon Hill Advanced Squad Leader module box cover

I am experimenting with a few things in creating my hex crawl adventures for Sylvaeon.
The goal is to reuse, abuse and randomize my own material and other source material in the process. I have some ideas that I am milling around with in my experiment with the hex crawl and one of them is the creation of the hex crawl map itself.

This is an attempt to not over-think the creation of Sylvaeon - a trap I have often fallen into before when creating campaigns. I am not saying that my top-down world creation has not been useful and effective. It is one way of doing things and is valid. However, I want most of my current Sylvaeon campaign to grow from the bottom up in true hex crawl fashion.

I have chosen to alter a real world map of things as the overall meta-map, but for the filling in of the individual hexes, I want it to evolve on is own, as much as possible. To this end, I have been toying around with the idea of using old Avalon Hill hex boards that I have salvaged from my Squad Leader/Advanced Squad Leader modules.

I have always been fascinated with hex maps. My earliest experiences with them are from Judges Guild material, the World of Greyhawk and Avalon Hill games. I figure I can use the material I have to avoid creating hexes myself and derive many of them from hex boards, like some of these.

Besides Sylvaeon, Jack Ackerman and I have been talking about doing a shared Asian Fantasy world. The maps from the AH Code of Bushido could be an awesome starting point for me, because they include the type of terrain one would encounter, such as rice fields, jungles, lakes, swamps, etc.

I have other methods of generating hex terrain and such, but why reinvent the wheel if you can make a hex crawl easier? Taking portions of hex board like this, I can use them as-is or replicate them using a mapping program such as Hexographer.

I have seen a renewed interest in hex crawls across gaming blogs and articles recently. I am convinced that 2012 is going to be the Year of the Hex Crawl, in many ways. I am glad I decided to do a hex crawl and wonder at why I chose to do so at the same time as its allure has once again peaked in the OSR. It is certainly as worthy an endeavor as creating a mega-dungeon or running a city, but the hex crawl has slightly different challenges than those.

The PCs are off into the wilderness of Sylvaeon to see what is to be discovered and to find their Wyrd. Maybe I can find my own wyrd as it pertains to creating the hex crawl.

The Hex Crawl Adventure

As I try to finish the prep for my first session of my new Sylvaeon campaign, I am excited to be getting back into the DMs chair again. I haven't game mastered in about two years, because my old group broke up, but I have been playing a few face-to-face games. Also, the goodness that is Google+, ConstantCon & FLAILSNAILS games via Googleplus Hangouts has been a joy to engage in. I mentioned some of the games I have played in previously and I have tried a few more since. I have to say that the gamers on G+ are a great lot and I am thankful that they are so passionate about RPGs. This Sunday I will be running Sylvaeon. I hope the rust is shaken off of my DM'ing skills quickly ;)

I will eventually be running pick-up sessions for FLAILSNAILS characters, once I get into the groove of things. This first iteration of the game will be a modified version of OSRIC. I chose OSRIC because I think it does a good job with the numerics of an AD&D-like experience - I feel it is slightly more balanced in that respect.

However, I am going to be using a Hit Point system in this first campaign that is similar to the Arduin Revised HP System. I will use standard OSRIC hit points for the FLAILSNAILS sessions, but since I have played Arduin in the distant past and am enamored with its particular approach to this, I have decided to give it a shot in the 21st century!

Over the past couple of days, I have been working on an area of my world map for a wilderness hex crawl. I have found some article that have encouraged me; a few I will post links to below. When it comes to hex crawls, I feel they can be somewhat challenging, but I wish to make it as easy on myself and the players as possible.

I enjoy hex maps - they are a bit Old School and they make mapping fun to me. There are different methods of dealing with overland travel, but the hex map works for me. I believe it is essential when creating wilderness maps for a sandbox to not reinvent the wheel. Using such things as : Hexographer, paper and colored pencil or hexGIMP, I can make maps quickly and populate them as I see fit.

Taking advantage of what is already out there to make something that works for you is a great way to cut to the chase in hex crawls. I do not see anything wrong with doing it all by hand or from scratch with some sort of mapping software, but not all of us are cartographers. Just as in coding, in the game world, there are "libraries" to use to find things you need, without having to recreate what has already been done.

From the growing re-interest in the gaming blogosphere, I think 2012 may be the year of the Hex Crawl. I am happy to give it a shot again after so long.

I appreciated these articles for sandbox/hex crawls. There were more that I may post later, but these are an excellent start:

Robert Chandler  @ http://rwchandler.blogspot.com/2012/01/hexcrawling-and-its-fundamental-use-in.html

http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-fantasy-sandbox.html

http://inkwellideas.com/worldbuilding/worldbuilding-local-area-design-example-part-1/

http://trollsmyth.blogspot.com/search/label/Maps