Game details[edit]
Rules and System[edit]
This game will be played using Torchbearer.
Campaign Background[edit]
The game is set on the Dimniyi Frontier of the Tsardom of the Sun, East of the Sea of Kalmius, on the shoulders of the Dimniyi Mountains. The Tsardom is recently founded and expanding rapidly, but focused away from the East.
The characters are bogatyrs, persons who seek out a life of adventure and hardship on the frontiers of the Tsardom. Part medieval knight-errant, part Old West frontiersman, part scoundrel and ne'er do well, bogatyrs are admired by the locals when there is danger threatening, resented and feared in times of peace, and always distrusted as outsiders and wanderers.
The entire region of the Dimniyi Frontier was once, centuries ago, part of the ancient Khorafan Empire. However, that empire was shattered in what is now called the Deep War, a legendary genocidal conflict of great magics with the Nichtnysia (Night Elves). This war was so cataclysmic, it changed the geography and climate of this region and many other parts of the world. These days scholars debate who, if anyone, won the Deep War, as the traces of both the Nichtnysia and the Khorafani are often deeply buried, shattered, or well guarded.
Linguistic Touchpoints[edit]
With respect to thinking of names, consider the following cultural touchpoints.
- Humans = Ukrainian/Russian
- Dwarves = Hungarian
- Elves = Finnish/Estonian
- Halflings = Georgian (e.g. the country, not the state)
The Map[edit]
Characters and Denizens[edit]
A blank character sheet is available
Player characters[edit]
- Lyuba the Killer - File:Lyuba001.pdf
- Avgust Ruslan - File:Avgust001.pdf
- Józef - File:Jozef001.pdf
- Narbo - File:Narbo001.pdf
- Alexei the Monk - File:Alexei001.pdf
Nonplayer characters[edit]
- Maniki the "Cook" - a hireling, can provide +1D to cooking, scavenging, and laborer, but will not fight. Sent along by Oleksandr Thrice-Wise to keep tabs on things.
- Volodomyr One-Nostril - a Koschei bandit with a price on his head
- Canute - Brother to Narbo, sold Narbo into slavery, last seen in Narbo's distant land with a traitor's gold in his hands, laughing
- Lilya the Steward - a friend to Lyuba, handles business affairs in Nova Uzharod for a Melitopolan patrician
- Uryk the Criminal - Mentor to Lyuba, lives in Melitopol but you never know where he might turn up
- Eekuheikkimerithahti - a Star Elf who once lived in Kukallinen Koti, last seen swearing vengeance on Lubya for the murder of her family
- Oleksandr Thrice-Wise - mentor to Avgust Ruslan, a Cartographer of great repute as well as other skills
- Izabella and Aron - parents of Jozef, Stonemasons in Vörös Kő Csarnokok
- Brigitta - Armorer in Vörös Kő Csarnokok and friend to Jozef
- Oleksandr Thrice-Wise - a famed Cartographer and Scholar of Brovary, Mentor to Avgust Ruslan
- Lore-Master Vsevolod - friend to Avgust Ruslan, currently living in Brovary
- Valentyn - rival cartographer to Avgust Ruslan
- Oleg the Survivalist - a mentor to Alexei the Monk, lives at Zhovti Vody
- Symon the Cartographer - a friend to Alexei the Monk, lives at Zhovti Vody
Organizations[edit]
- Alexei's Order - AS YET UNNAMED
- The Rational Sodality of Thaumaturgists - the licensing board/guild for sorcerers, magicians, wizards, and other practitioners of magic in the Tsardom of the Sun, with a direct commission from the Tsarina herself.
Peoples[edit]
Elves[edit]
Elves live in a far distant land called the West. The wise are not completely sure that this is a literal land, it may rather be a metaphor for a different plane of existence. What is known is that there are places where this Elvish world "intrudes" onto the normal world, where magic comes more easily, and that these places are the villages, towns, and other settled sites of the Elves. They come in four varieties that are known...
- Sun Elves (Sontsenytsia) - in ancient times, the Sun Elves worshipped Law, and since then have become almost incomprehensible to normal folk. They live regimented, bizarre lives of ritual and ceremony that no one else can understand. They are only rarely seen outside of an intrusion.
- Moon Elves (Mysyatsnytsia) - the Moon Elves are the ones most commonly seen. Really not all that different from normal folk, except for very long lives, a taste for magic, and more refined artistic taste.
- Star Elves (Zirhkynytsia) - less commonly seen among normal folk, the Star Elves are more solitary in nature and prone to melancholy and violence.
- Night Elves (Nichtnytsia) - as the Sun Elves long ago worshipped Law, the Night Elves worshipped Chaos. They became might and carved out a vast empire under the earth, with great magics and powerful weapons. Five hundred years ago they exploded from the depths, and did battle with the Khorofan Empire for supremacy over the surface. The war demolished civilization as it then flourished, but the forces of Law were ultimately triumphant, and the Night Elves were destroyed by powerful spells. Since that time, they have been heard of only in rumour, and as tales to terrify in the night.
Spawn of Chaos[edit]
Vorozhneki[edit]
Vorozhneki are races of intelligent creatures, maybe once humans, dwarves, halflings or elves, who have given themselves over to chaos for a very long time. They are often warped in strange ways from their original forms, and worship strange beings of violence and cruelty.
- Koschei - large and dangerous, averaging over 2 meters tall, with massive round heads and huge noses. They are well known as bandits and slavers. Their bands are more commonly seen north of the Frontier, but the wealth of the Frontier has attracted them.
- Likho - diminutive beings that look like little old men with one eye. Bloodthirsty and cruel, like intelligent piranhas. They often ride sure-footed carnivorous ponies. Found in nests or hives in the mountains, often near the tree line.
Monsters[edit]
The Dimniyi frontier has its share of monsters, creatures that don't abide by the laws of nature and seem to exist only to spread foulness, evil, pain, and death.
- Chuheister - massive bestial creatures, covered in a warty hide and built like 3 to 4 meter gorillas. They seem to appear out of nowhere and cause havoc, eating all the livestock and people they can get their hands on. After a week or so they will often disappear, to no one knows where. When killed (which is rarely), they will rot with a day to little more than a crumbling skeleton.
The story so far[edit]
Links[edit]
Pinterest Board[edit]
See the visual ideas board. Ask Hans if you want permission to pin to it.
Templates specific to this campaign[edit]
See also Category: campaign templates
Forms specific to this campaign[edit]
See also Category: campaign forms
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