Gods of Dakar for 5th edition

I find it useful to focus on the religions rather than the deities themselves. I consider religion to be the culture that surrounds the worship of a deity or deities. Because it is a culture it is useful for defining the motivations and personalities of NPCs that the players come into contact with as their characters.

And given the various demands on our day it helps to have some worked out examples to use as a starting point.

Gods of Dakar

Daysha, Fate, Destiny, Female
Hydeth, Physical and Mental Mastery, Male
Sho Dae, Twilight, Shadows, and Stealth, Female
Astrel, Lakes, Rivers, and Wells, Female

Daysha
The Dakarian religion teaches that no man may escape his fate. Many Dakarian are fatalistic about life. Many travelers will attest that most common phrase among Dakarians is, "It is the will of Daysha". This fatalism often causes the Dakar to take more risks and to be more militant than the other cultures in the World of Eastgate.

Daysha, the spider goddess of destiny and fate, personifies fate for the Dakar. The Demon Wars left the Dakarian people struggling some of the world’s most inhospitable deserts. This struggle caused many Dakarians to embrace Daysha.

Many Dakarians do not actively pursue worship or service with Daysha. They view her as a cruel and uncaring goddess. To outsiders this makes the Dakar appear not as religious. However anyone born in Dakarian culture is always concerned with his fate and will work to ensure his fortune. To one born in Dakar, no one escapes the will of Daysha.

The scholarly arts flourish in Dakarian society due to Daysha’s influence. The scholars are in great demand by those who desire to change or evade what fate has set before them.

Daysha does have clerics and 80% of these are female. Society in Dakarian lands is traditionally male dominated. Women are regulated to a lower social class than their male counterparts and are given fewer rights legally and socially. Daysha would accept any into her service and many women joined. Service to Daysha became even more popular among women when it was discovered that Daysha treated all who served her equally. Men feared Daysha for her power over their fates and followed the dictates of her clergy even if they were women.

5th Edition Notes:
The temples of Daysha are dominated by Clerics with the Knowledge Domain.

Hydeth
Daysha is not the only power worshipped in Dakarian society, others arose when people seek to regain control over their fates. Hydeth is a god who teaches that if one controls his body and mind with absolute discipline, and then one will have control over their fate.

The followers of Hydeth are called the Followers of the Way. The Followers of the Way made their appearance about 200 years ago in Dakarian Society. They developed methods and techniques that lead to the development of the unarmed martial arts. The Followers of the Way have established monasteries to study the martial arts and control of the mind and body.

Along with the development of the martial arts, many of the Followers of the Way developed the mind to the point of that they are able to affect the world and others with the power of their mind alone. Many come to study the esoteric science of Psionics.

5th Edition Notes:
The shrine of Hydeth are dominated by Monk following the Way of the Open Hand, along with one or two Clerics with the Knowledge Domain.

Sho Dae
Sho Dae revealed herself over one thousand years ago. The followers of Sho Dae believe that while all men are predestined by fate the only way to deal with the situation is to laugh and take as much of life as one can. Sho Dae is the patron of thieves throughout Dakar. Followers of Sho Dae tend to be the adventurers, and rogues of Dakarian society.

5th Edition Notes:
The shrines to Sho Dae are dominated by Clerics with the Trickery Domain, there is also usually a group of Arcane Trickster associated with the shrine.

Astrel
Astrel is the most powerful of a group of demi-gods associated with places and elemental forces in Dakar. When the First City fell to the Demons, these demi-gods fled into the wilderness of Dakar and prepared safe havens for the survivors.

Astrel is the patron of Lakes, Rivers, and Wells. Her clerics protect oasis, wells, local lakes, and rivers from those who wish to despoil or pollute them. Astrel continued to be worshiped because much of southern Dakar is desert where there is very little water. Astrel’s priests have established shrines throughout the region to protect oasis and other water sources. Because of this, Dakarian caravan masters and the nomads give thanks to Astrel when they travel.

5th Edition Notes:
The camps devoted to Astrel are dominated by Clerics with the nature domain, along with Paladins who have sworn the Oath of the Ancient to protect water sources. There is a faction, who lives in the deep desert, dominated by Druids of the Circle of the Moon, and Rangers who are Beast Masters.This faction is far more fanatical about protecting water sources viewing any regular use by tribes or caravans as a source of pollution.

The Nomads of Dakar
Among nomads of Dakar, their shamans worship the old demi-gods of the elements and places and have formed pacts with them. The shaman acts as a intermediary between the tribe and the one of the local gods. The shaman will lead the tribe in the ceremonies and sacrifices that maintain the good-will of the demi-god.

5th Edition Notes:
The temples of Dannus are dominated by Warlocks with a pact similar to the Pact of the Archfey. In place of the Archfey, the warlock deals with a demi-god. The referee should modify the spell list to reflect the focus and personality of the demi-god.

NOTE:
Before I secured a license from Judges Guild to publish the Majestic Wilderlands I was working on a version of the setting that used a new map and all the Judges Guild specifics striped out. I took some of what I wrote for the Greyhawk Gods and adapted to this setting.

Some 5th edition NPCs for a Feudal Setting

The NPCs templates found in the back of the 5e Basic Dungeon Master’s Guide and the 5e Monster Manual are a great resource for a campaign. However they don’t cover the range of military types that would be found in a feudal setting.

In the rules there are the Guard and Knight templates with little to choose from in between. The following are a basic set of templates to use in a setting inspired by Medieval Europe during the middle ages.

NPCs for a Feudal Setting

Some belated Swords & Wizardry stuff

Along with my other projects and mapping jobs, I been working on my own retro-clone. I don't want to compete with Swords and Wizardry but I really want a complete book that I can just print and sell when I need it. It hard to sell supplements locally when the core books are hard to get.

My retro-clone is largely going to be a merge of Swords and Wizardry Core plus the Majestic Wilderlands supplement and the rules I developed since 2008. It will function as a 2nd edition Majestic Wilderlands supplement  as well. Think of it as Swords & Wizardry tailored for a specific campaign. When I do get it done (probably still be a while) I will promote as a super-supplement.

The main thing that needs work on are the monster lists and the spell lists. It not sufficient for this project just to copy and paste from the Swords and Wizardry reference document. I want to present how I used or will be using that spell in my campaign. For some spells there are little differences, for example Magic Missile

Magic Missile
Magic-User, 1st Level, Range: 150 feet, Duration: Immediate

With a gesture one or more glowing missiles of magical force erupt from the caster’s hands. The caster is able to hurl one missile starting at 1st level, three missiles at 5th level, and five missiles at 10th level. Each missile may hit the same or different targets at the caster’s choice. 

The caster must pick one of the following two options at the time of casting.
• Roll to hit the target(s) at a +1 bonus and have each missile deal 1d6+1 damage.
• Automatically hit the target(s) and have each missile deal 1d4+1 damage.

Other spells I rewrote to reflect how I handle things in the Majestic Wilderlands. For example I have no Astral Plane. The various homes of the Gods are connected to the Wilderlands and to each other through a system of wolds.

Astral Spell
Magic-User, 9th Level, Range: 100 miles, 100 yards (underground), Duration: 2 hours.

The caster projects his astral form outside of the mortal realm of existence. While in astral form he can see or hear anything that occurs in the mortal realm. Various colors appear to be washed out. Other astral forms can be see within line of sight as version of their mortal body except colored all white and luminous. Elves also appear the same way even if they are in mortal form.

The flow of mana can be seen and appears as thin brightly colored strands intertwined with creatures and objects. Likewise wolds are visible if they are within normal line of sight. They appear as globe anchored by a thick stalk to the ground with strands of brightly color mana surrounding it like a net. 

He cannot be seen except by those who are also in astral form. He can travel at speeds up to 100 miles per hour per character level above 18th. If the caster's mortal body is moved more than 100 miles from the location from where the Astral spell was cast the link to the astral form is broken and the caster dies.
If underground the top speed is limited to 120 feet per 10 minutes. Also if underground and the caster mortal body is moved more than 100 feet, the link to the astral form is severed and the caster dies.

Caster can cast spells and perform rituals in the immediate vicinity of his astral form. Any spell or ritual components on the physical body of the caster is carried along in astral form and is consumed when used as part of a spell or ritual. The caster must roll a 1d20 and subtracts the level of the spell. If the caster does not roll a 1 or higher than the spell fails and is lost.

After every casting attempt, successful or not, another d20 is rolled, subtract -1 for every two spell levels starting at -1 for a first level spell. If the caster doesn't roll a 1 or higher than the caster astral form is immediately pulled back into his mortal body and the Astral spell ends.

Still a long way to go. I am in the B's on the monster list and in the A's on the spell list. I was hung up on the Astral spell for a while until the inspiration for the above came. One thing is that I am adding Harvest notes to all the monsters. Tim gets a kick out of harvesting monster parts and I figure it will make for a cool addition to the game to have formal notes.

Ant, Giant (Queen), AC 3[16], HD 10; HP 31; ATK 1; HTB +10; DMG 1d6 (bite); MV 30’; Save 5; Special: None; Harvest: Small Mandibles [2] 10d, Chitin Pieces [10d], Ant Queen Fluid [100d/10 gallons]; CL/XP 8/800; 

Harn, Google Map style.

Still working on the Feudalism PDF. Here is a useful Harn aide, a google maps style view of the island of Harn. Also useful for folks who don't know much about the setting and want to get a sense of it.

Of Overlords, Kings and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part 15

Continuing a series of posts detailing how I developed the feudal system of the City-State in my Majestic Wilderlands campaign.

The Royal Guard

The head of the Royal Guard is the MARSHAL OF THE ROYAL GUARDS. The Marshal is responsible for the personal protection of the Overlord.

The personal bodyguards of the Overlord. The spiritual descendants of the original Tharian housecarls who were men personally loyal to the chief of the clan.

The Royal Guards also organize the Overlord's Hunts, and his personal herd of horses.

The most important division of the Royal Guard are the Regulators. They are in essence a group of high level adventurers personally loyal to the Overlord and his family. They were established by Lucius the Great in his war against the Tyrant mage Salm-Lorin. Since then the Regulators have hand-picked their successor to maintain their tradition of personal loyalty.

They are headquartered in the dungeon levels underneath the Cryptic Citadel. There they maintain the true magical treasures of the Overlord and undertake missions that no other group can deal with.

This of course leads the question, why if the Overlord has such a powerful group they don't just literally blow up all the enemies of the Overlord. They do deal with some threats in that way, the reality is that other sovereigns have similar groups of their own. These disparate high level groups of adventurer types are basically the nuclear option of the Majestic Wilderlands except that because of the personal nature of most magic they can't wipe out whole realms. Groups of individuals and small area, sure thing.

For all their power, these groups are not particularly effective against the divine powers and are vulnerable to corruption by demons. It is known that extensive use of magic and supernatural powers seems to give the deities more leeway for intervention including liberal use of miraculous resurrection from the dead.

One Regulator after she was initiated remarked, "You mean we have all this and we can't use it to win?! Sometimes I feel I did more when I was just starting out and smashing up skeletons just inside the entrance of the dungeon."

One useful tool to handle this as a referee is to look at how things are handled in the world of comic book superheroes. Writers of Superhero stories have come up with a number of clever ways of integrating super powered being into otherwise normal world.

Under the Marshal of the Royal Guard are:
Captain of the High Guard
5 Companies
Captain of the Low Guard
20 Companies
Master of the Squires
Master of the Hunt
Falconer Royal
Master of the Hounds
Royal Weaponcrafter
Weaponcrafters
Royal Ostler
Ostlers
Captain of the Regulators
Regulators

With this post we conclude this series of posts. I am working on integrating all of this into a PDF that I will release. There will be two releases, the first a 'as is' compilation of all the posts. The second a Bat in the Attic Product that will have a similar setup but in a more polished form with some extras.

Of Overlords, Kings and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part 14

Continuing a series of posts detailing how I developed the feudal system of the City-State in my Majestic Wilderlands campaign.

The Chamber of the Overlord

The Head of the Chamber of the Overlord is the LORD HIGH CHAMBERLAIN. The Lord High Chamberlain's responsibilities are to ensure the personal health and well-being of the Overlord and maintain the Overlord's quarters and dwellings.

Under the Chamberlain is the Lord Master Herald known as the Moonlight King of Arms due the fact their main offices are housed in the Silverlight Palace in City-State. The heralds act as diplomats and official messengers especially to foreign realms. They also keep track of social hierarchy of Overlord's territories by recording Coats of Arms and other insignia in their record books. The wearing of a Coat of Arm isn't as rigorously regulated as in our own history. In-game, I justify this by using the fact that has to deal with three separate traditions, Tharian, Elessarian, and Ghinorians. Out of game it is because of the legacy of starting with 1st Edition ADnD. So I came up with something that supported the tendency of PCs to come up with group names and insignias.

The Astrology Royal is the official diviner of the Overlord. In all of the RPGs I used to run the Majestic Wilderlands there are divination spells. Nobles would hire as part of their household a mage capable of casting these spell.

The Master of the Esoteric Arts is the position granted to the court wizard. Who advises the Overlord on all things magical and maintains the magic items owned by the Overlord and his family.

At the time of the MW Supplement, the Master of the Esoteric Arts held by Lewellyn the Blue who is an independent wizard and not a member of the dominant Order of Thoth. As of 4436, Lewellyn has been in the position for nearly five decades and is granted the Wizards Keep in the Southeast corner of City-State as his personal residence.

The Astrologer Royal as of 4436 BCCC, is Parnswarn the Red who also the Guildmaster of the Guild of Arcane Lore the local conclave of the Order of Thoth. As part of his office he was granted the use of the Southern Keep as his residence.

Parnswarn and the Guild of Arcane Lore are not very happy with Lewellyn as Master of the Esoteric Arts. However the Overlord's family consider Lewellyn to be a personal friend so his position unassailable. This is helped by Lewellyn's disinterest in politics.

In my campaign present of 4460 BCCC, Lewellyn is still the Master of Esoteric Arts leading some to speculate that he is a Half-Elf. Lewellyn doesn't talk about his upbringing much and seems to enjoy the mystery he creates. It is rumored that he had a chat with Duke Divolic making it clear that the new Overlord and his family are under his personal protection.

The 4460 BCCC Astrologer Royal is Master Crassius of the Guild of Arcane Lore. He is not the guildmaster but an experienced mage in the arts of divination.

The Overlord's Fool and the Chief Harper are collectively in charge of the entertainment of the Overlord's court.

The Overlord has three palaces he resides in. Castle Bulwark which is the traditional home of his clan, the Silverlight Palace in City-State, and the Summer Palace in the foothills of the Majestic Mountains near the dwarves of Thunderhold. Each has a Chamberlain in charge of a large staff.


Under the Lord High Chamberlain are:
Chief Clerk of the Chambers
Chamber Clerks
Lord Master Herald "Moonlight King of Arms"
Royal Heralds
Enclave of the Silver Orb
Clerks of the Heralds
Astrologer Royal
Master of the Esoteric Arts
Alchemist Royal
The Overlord's Fool
Chief Harper of the Chamber
Chamber Harpers
Chamberlain of the Palaces
Seneschal of the Silverlight Palace
Royal Chef
The Overlord's Food Taster
Master of the Palace's Cellar
Ostler of the Palace's Stables
Chief Metalcrafter
Chamber Servants
Seneschal of the Summer Palace
Royal Chef
The Overlord's Food Taster
Master of the Palace's Cellar
Ostler of the Palace's Stables
Chief Metalcrafter
Chamber Servants
Seneschal of Castle Bulwark
Royal Chef
The Overlord's Food Taster
Master of the Palace's Cellar
Ostler of the Palace's Stables
Chief Metalcrafter
Chamber Servants


Clan Bulwark

The Head of Clan Bulwark is the OVERLORD. Since the Overlord has many other responsibilities, he grants the HIGH BAILIFF OF CLAN BERNOST the authority to oversee Clan Bernost's affairs and lands. Clan Bernost is the Overlord's family and it's holdings.

Large Tharian clans are divided into septs each governed by a chief. Septs roughly correspond to a manorial estate with a focus on livestock, and horse raising. Each Sept is governed by a Chief with the entire clans ruled by a High Chief.

The old titles of High Chief and Chief are now only used in certain ceremonies. Most of the Bulwark Chief have granted titles of knighthood or baronies to use as well.

The clan has grown so wealthy and powerful is there is little opposition to the Overlord immediate family. This is one of the main factor behind the accession of Overlord's underage grandson. In 4460 BCCC, the ongoing civil war may change this.

Under the High Bailiff of Clan Bernost are:
Treasurer of Bernost
Chiefs of Bernost Septs.
Marshal of Bernost
Captains of Bernost

Next up is the last post in the series and concluding thoughts.

Of Overlords, Kings and Barons, Building a Feudal Setting Part 13

Continuing a series of posts detailing how I developed the feudal system of the City-State in my Majestic Wilderlands campaign.

Ministry of War
The GRAND MARSHAL OF THE CITY-STATE heads the Ministry of War. The Grand Marshal is responsible for the high level command and maintenance of the Overlord's Troops. Usually the Grand Marshal position is unfilled except in war time due to the powerful nature of the office.

The Legion is main standing army of the Overlord. It is comprised of 5000 men divided into 8 VastThrongs (infantry) and 2 EquiThrongs (cavalry).  The individual VastThrongs and EquiThrongs are distributed across the various provinces and marches ruled by the Overlords and only brought together in times of war. The Legion is augmented by the noble levies who owe service to the Overlord as part of their obligations as members of the Confederation. In all out out war the Overlord can muster anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000 troops depending on how much of the peasant militia he wishes to call out.

The core Legion is a standing army and serves year around. The remaining forces can serve only one or two season before they have to be dismissed in order attend to planting or the harvest. Typically the Overlord staggers the levies over the years so to have additional troops ready all year long. Fifty percent of the levies serve during the summer season, twenty percent during the spring and fall, and remaining ten percent during the winter season. In times of invasion or all-out war everybody is called up. When this happens the Overlord has at best a season or maybe two to win the campaign before famine is certain.

Wars and conflicts are normally fought with hired troops, either a standing army or mercenaries. Exhaustion in these wars results usually from being unable to borrow any more money to pay troops. In our own history, the expense of fighting wars is what led to the centralization of power by the European Kings and their government. This same process is at work in the City-State and is one of the main source of political tension between the clans/noble houses and the Overlord.

Under the Grand Marshal are:
Lord Marshal of the Legion
(in peacetime only 1 is active)
(see Military)
Lord Marshal of the Troops
Marshal of the Provincial/Marcher Troops
Chief Ostler
Royal Ostlers
Chief Weaponcrafter
Royal Weaponcrafters
Chief Provisioners
Royal Provisioners.
Marshal of the Overlord's Stores
Lord Marshal of the Castles
Marshal of the Province/March Castles
Royal Masons
Inspector General of the Overlord
Inspector General of the Province/March
Royal Inspectors
Lord Marshals commanding the VastThrongs(8)
Lord Marshals commanding the EquiThrongs(2)

The Exchequer

The head of the Exchequer is EXCHEQUER ROYAL OF THE CITY-STATE. The Exchequer Royal is responsible for collecting and accounting for all the revenues of the Overlord. The Overlord has two main sources of revenue. Income from the Shield Dues, and income from his personal holdings.

The Shield Dues are a fee levied against each noble house and clan that are members of the Confederation. It is a result of an agreement between the Senate and the Overlord every five years. The levy is traditionally called a Shield Due and it is apportioned on the basis of the census. This is why there is a separate Ministry of the Census and why reports both to the Overlord and the Senate.

The personal income of the Overlord consists of revenue generated by the estates he personally owns, the feudal dues owned by the subordinated barons and knights for the fiefs they have been granted, and the traditional incomes granted to a Tharian Clan Chief as the Overlord is also the High Chief of Clan Bulwark.

Lucius the Great always made sure that the Shield Dues were set to be little less than the cost of running his government. He would make it publicly known that he would cover the deficit from his own personal income. In the reign of Lucius' successors this continued. However the revenus generated from the City-State itself and later the Marches proved so lucrative that the Senate never had the leverage to use their power over the Shield Dues to keep the Overlord in check. In this respect the political development of the City-State and the Confederation is more like medieval France than medieval England.

The Exchequer Royal is also in charge of minting of the Overlord coins. The Overlord mints a silver penny at 250 coins to a pound of silver. Nominally a pound of pure silver would yield 240 pure silver pennies however the need to improve wear and to stretch the supply of silver, the Overlord has traditionally added enough impurities to strike 250 coins out of a pound of silver. The Overlord also mints a gold crown at 16 coins to a pound of gold. As silver trades 20 to 1 to gold this makes each gold crown worth 320 silver pennies. Since gold needs very little impurities to use it as a coin, a pound of gold yields 16 coins. It is also used as a unit of accounting for large sums.

The Royal Mason under the Lord Architect are the responsibility of teh Exchequer Royal. Since castles, keeps, and public works are among the most expensive projects undertaken by the Overlord it was felt that direct supervision by the Exchequer was necessary.

Last is the Inspector General of the Tolls. There are several important roads in the Overlord's territory, the Rorystone Road northward to Thunderhold, and the South Road to Zothay and Halkmenan. Both are maintained by tolls paid by the people using the roads.

Under the Exchequer Royal are:
Treasurer of the Exchequer
Governor of the Royal Mint
Royal Engravers
Royal Assayists
Collector General of the Exchequer
Collectors of the Exchequer
Chief Clerk of the Exchequer
Clerks of the Exchequer
Lord Architect
Royal Masons
Inspector General of the Tolls
Tolls Clerks