schuetz@via.DEC (05/22/85)
One of our longest running groups just recently completed a war. It was very interesting, starting with figuring out who was on which side, and which side our group should support. There were five basic sides: us, the rebels, the elves (who left the country), the Uruk-hai (high-orcs), the neutral council of mages, and the invading foreign army. Things were complicated by lots of magic and intervention of high POWERS. The first part of the compaign was trying to find out who the enemy really was. The second part was convincing the neutral mages to join our (rebel) side, and the third part was the final conflict and battles, both mundane (1500 rebels vs. 6000 invaders) and magical. THere were several sub-plots involving our orc assassin squad, evil beings from other planes, ancient evil and good artifacts, even two appearances by a full demon. First of all, I want to thank the DM again, for all his effort in keeping this coordinated, in spite of our changing directions completely (with several sets of 100% rolled), and challenging. However, this campaign took us over three (3) calendar years to run !!! (11/81 to 12/84) and generated about 500 pages of chronicles. (No, I won't begin to post it.) The point is that large campaigns can quickly get out of hand, even with the best intentions. (The DM later told us that he expect it to last about 6 months). Battles are one thing, but wars and campaigns are another. You just don't have one battle without lots of other actions too. Of course, an on-going conflict between two opposing forces can be the primary basis for lots of sorties and sub-adventures. A final battle or truce could also be the reason for retiring one group of characters and starting all over again. Just wanted to let you know what you may be in for if you start planning a war or battle for your players. Our DM probably spent 24 hours a week working on the campaign. And things never happened as he thought they would. Anyone else keep chronicles of their campaigns? About a year ago, someone started posting one, but stopped after 3 episodes. Do others want to see chronicles posted to the net? YES? NO? /Chris
pop@bunkerb.UUCP (Paul Pederson) (05/24/85)
> Anyone else keep chronicles of their campaigns? About a year ago, someone > started posting one, but stopped after 3 episodes. Do others want to see > chronicles posted to the net? YES? NO? *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** Sure! Even though the traffic and load may increase because of the long messages, I'm all for it! The experiences of other players and DMs would make interesting reading, I am sure. Any volunteers?
ncg@ukc.UUCP (N.C.Gale) (05/26/85)
The art to politics in frps is, I think, to have it running in the background all the time, just flaring into people's attention every so often. I think I can talk with some authority on this, because I have done just this in Demondance, with some success. I here apologise for the following. I was provoked beyond endurance, and had to do something about it. This is the shortened version. I have spared you about 150 lines. It is a description of the complete political and military activity of my Campaign, Demondance, which is set in an Arthurian-like Britain in year 748-752AD. I have ommitted all the monster-killing and questing that the party have done. If this sort of thing doesn't interest you, type 'n' *now*. Don't say I didn't warn you. Most of the campaign takes place in Wessex (south-east England), ruled by good King Cuthbert, who is supposed to rule all England, but the power behind the throne is long gone. Instead, Britain is divided up into Principalities and Duchies, entirely independant of one another. Wessex, in fact, is more directly ruled by Cuthbert's son, Prince Caiphas, who is a CG good-for nothing, and leaves all the work to Papa (he later gets killed in a friendly joust). But Cuthbert's wife, queen Rachel, is not like her husband. While he is content to rule a fragment of England, she wants to be Queen of all England, as is her rightful position. She wants her children to be powerful Kings, not petty barons. And when Cuthbert looks into those beautiful violet eyes, well, how can he say no? So he sends a demand for tribute to King Toxicles the superb of Mercia. Toxicles sends a tactful refusal, suggesting further discussion. Cuthbert is almost swayed, but the Queen again changes his mind back. So it is war. The knights of Wessex are called to Winchester, and then they invade Mercia. King Cuthbert also calls upon the other Princes to aid him, their rightful Ruler. After eight battles (in some of which the party are involved, several distinguish themselves and go up social levels), there is only a long winter's seiging ahead. Away from his wife's influence, Cuthbert agrees to end hostilities in return for some minor concessions from Toxicles. Queen Rachel is naturally furious. Her spleen is made no less when it is discovered that, just before the Westsaxons (ie knights of Wessex) gave in, the army of Northumberland had invaded Mercia, and taken Lindum by storm - in response to King Cuthbert's request for help. Now Northumbria, under Prince Xebercines, was left at war with Mercia. (the party travel north for some time, and are involved in several battles on Northumbria's side.) Eventually, King Toxicles is slain in battle, and Mercia is soon afterwards completely conquered. Needless to say, Wessex gets none of the spoils. (the party, however, have distinguished themselves again, and receive lands from some of the slain Mercian noblemen) (the party go back south for several month's hack-and-slay adventuring in the perilous Forest of Arroy, in Wessex) In the mean time, Xebercines reduces the Duchy of Cumberland to vassal status, and conquers Northgales (North Wales). King Xebercines (the conquerer) now rules most of England. Several other Duchies are willing to ally with him against Wessex, and the remainder will probably stay neutral. Wessex has been severely weakened by the destruction wrought by an evil Sorceror, Demondance, (whom the party are busy trying to track down) and a great dragon, the Typhon, in and around the forest of Arroy. So Xebercines sends a messenger to Cuthbert's capital, Winchester, demanding recognition that Xebercines is a King in his own right, owing no allegiance to Cuthbert. To refuse would clearly mean war again. (the party arrives in Winchester, having slain the Typhon, and driven Demondance into hiding, hooray, and jolly well done, chaps, but I'm afraid the King has other things on his mind. sorry) The queen's influence wins again. But instead of attacking Xebercines immediately, Cuthbert sends emmissaries to him, to try and avert the war. In the mean time, however, Westsaxon emmissaries are also sent all over northern europe in search of allies. (One such emmissary is one of the party, a Frankish knight, who is sent to the King of the Franks, and takes the rest of the party with him. The Frankish Empire is, in fact, just about to attack the mountain kingdom of Styria, so the party go along for the fun of it. The Franks outnumber the Styrians by five to one - the party have never had odds in their favour before, a novel experiance. The Styrian army is utterly destroyed, but it is left up to the Party to go into the enormous castle at Ulmburg to kill the Giant Overlord, Gurten. One of the party, the Frank, has his left arm severed. For this bravery, the Frankish king gives him the fortified town of Calais. But no further help for Cuthbert. The party spend most of their money gathering knights and troops while they are in the Frankish Empire. They return with several hundred troops) Their return is delayed, by storms in the English channel. When they land in Winchester, the War has already begun. The Northumbrian army has invaded the North, taking London by storm, laying seige to six important castles, which are falling one by one. The Jutish army has invaded the east, destroying the Westsaxon navy and then laying seige to three important castles and the fortified city of Cantaburium (they didn't touch the University with a barge-pole, mind). The Cornish army has invaded the West, and even now faces a Westsaxon army at Stonebridge, just north of Winchester. All the ladies of the court have been evacuated to Essex, a neutral Principality, including Queen Rachel, and Princess Genevieve (Cuthbert's daughter by his late first wife). (the players force-march their troops northwards, and arrive just before the battle begins - the storms had prevented combat before. Now the sun has come out, the two armies clash together). King Ephistrihorne of Cornwall is killed in battle, while leading his knights in charge. The Cornish retreat northwards in disorder, and are rallied only with difficulty, some days later. There is no time for celebration, however, because all but one of the castles in North Wessex have fallen to the Northumbrians. Only Farnham remains between Xebercines and Winchester. And if the Jutes take Cantaburium, then they could threaten from the South. Five hundred troops are sent to reinforce Cantaburium (including the party), while Cuthbert himself leads several attempts to break the seige of Farnham, none of which succeed. The party march east towards Cantaburium, collecting the garrison from their castle along the way. But before they arrive, Cantaburium falls, and the Jutes (some 1200 strong) meet them at Uckbridge. The Westsaxon battle plan is to hold a barricade on the bridge with a hundred infantry, who will then break, allowing a small number of Jutes across, who will then be repeatedly charged by heavy armoured cavalry until they flee back over the bridge. (the party decides to fight with their infantry on the bridge) But the battle doesn't go that way. Time and time again, the Jutes attacked the infantry on the bridge, but never did they break through. Eventually, after hours of intermittant fighting, the King of the Jutes leads his best troops into the attack. This brings him the individual attention of the party, who by special effort, slay him, and once again the Jutes are driven back. Several attempts to ford the river are also defeated. By this time, the Westsaxon infantry on the bridge are severely tired. The Westsaxon knights, on the other hand, are completely fresh, and when they sweep across the bridge into the midst of the demoralised Jutes, the enemy at last break and are pursued from the field. With this cheering news, Cuthbert decides to take the offensive. His army will go along the Roman Road through the forest of Arroy, meeting the party's smaller (but very high morale) force at Rudgewick, from which they can attack the seige of Farnham from behind. As yet, Xebercines is completely undefeated in battle. (the party arrive at Rudgewick, but King Cuthbert's army is several hours late. A messenger sent to find out what's wrong, discovers that Xebercines entire army has met Cuthbert in the middle of the forest of Arroy. The two armies are now fighting in a clearing only a couple of hundred yards wide. the party immediately set off down the Roman road to take Xebercines in the rear. Their force consists of some four hundred footsoldiers and fifty knights.)Xebercines has four hundred knights, and eighteen thousand footsoldiers. Cuthbert has seven hundred knights, and ten thousand footsoldiers. As soon as the party's brigade comes into sight of the enemy, the knights break into a charge and slam into the rear of a unit of five hundred footsoldiers. The plan is that, once the surprise has worn off, the party and the other Westsaxon (and Frankish) knights, retreat to where the road is narrowest (ninety odd yards), and then the party sorceror Webs between the trees. But the Northumbrians don't break. The Frankish knights pull back, regroup, and charge again. Still the Northumbrians hold, but severe damage is being done to their morale. Seeing the crisis, Xebercines leads two hundred of his best knights to drive them away. This is where the party are supposed to flee back to where their infantry are waiting, but the oppurtunity to kill yet another King is too tempting, so they attack again. In the mean time, Cuthbert has realised the situation, and sees that the party's plight could become much worse (if they get just one bad battle- result, for instance), so he leads all his cavalry in a charge on the Northumbrian lines, and breaks through. The bulk of the Westsaxon infantry follows him into the gap. Several Northumbrian and Cornish Infantry brigades get in his way, and are put to rout. Xebercines disengages his cavalry from the party's, and leads them against Cuthbert in a desperate attempt to save the battle. For several long minutes, the two Kings fight, but then Cuthbert is pulled from his horse and slain. Yet the Westsaxons do not break. Rather, they fight all the more strongly to recover their King's body. Xebercines has pulled the crown from Cuthbert's head, and places it on his own. But he has been surrounded, and, although the Northumbrians fight fiercely to save him, a lucky blow from a thrown spear kills him before they arrive. At this news, the Jutes break, and flee back up the road. Gradually, panic sets in, and the entire Northumbrian army is put to rout. But the party's brigade has cut off their only retreat. So the Northumbrians surrender en masse. News arrives that the Queen has persuaded Prince Fleischmann of Essex to join the War on Wessex's side. His Eastsaxon army crushes the last sizable force of Northumbrians in London, and the war is over. The last few Northumbrian garrisons in Westsaxon castles surrender, and are escorted back to Northumbria. This does not please the party. Prince Fleischmann is known as the Tyrant of Essex, and the lives of the people of Essex are miserable. (the party is predominantly CG) Soon afterwards, the Prince announces his intention to marry Queen Rachel. She is not displeased. At last she will be in her rightful place, as Queen of all England, and her husband will be a good Strong ruler. Except for one little thing. Princess Genevieve (Cuthbert's daughter by his first wife, Eleanor) has a better claim to the throne. While Prince Fleischmann could rule as Prince Regent for six years, when Genevieve came of age, he would have to relinquish the throne to her. And Rachel's children would have nothing. Queen Rachel commands that Genevieve be sent from Essex back to Winchester. But on the way, a rebel knight, who has been fighting Fleischmann for years, and now suspects the Queen's motives, kidnaps Princess Genevieve for her own safety. (hooray, say the party) And he takes her into hiding in the Forest of Arroy. Meanwhile, Prince Fleischmann has called the Southsaxon Estates General - all the nobles of Sussex must go to Chichester, including the party. Then he demands an oath of allegiance from all the nobles present. (The party is not pleased,at all) (the party also begin to suspect that I planned it like this all along, because they were given an obscure vision of the future some time before, which might well have meant just this happening. Now, would I do such a thing? No, of course not.) (put hand up to face to conceal nose length) So that's it. Pester me no more. The party are at this moment locked in trying to decide whether to risk Fleischmann's wrath. It's a nasty dilemma, no question. Anyway, I hope that this demonstrates a suitably intricate politics - spread over about a year and a half. The players have been in battles that their side has won, and ones where they have lost. They seem to take more interest in the outcome of battles than they do of smaller melees. Also, most of the Kings and commanders in the battles, the characters had already met socially. It adds to the involvement in a battle when you recognise the names of the leading figures. You'll forgive me if I don't reveal what's going to happen next, or any of the specific rules, as some of my players will read this (or not, if they're sensible) yawn -Nige Gale (Demondance still lives)
ahby@meccts.UUCP (Shane P. McCarron) (05/27/85)
In article <508@bunkerb.UUCP> pop@bunkerb.UUCP (Paul Pederson) writes: >> Anyone else keep chronicles of their campaigns? About a year ago, someone >> started posting one, but stopped after 3 episodes. Do others want to see >> chronicles posted to the net? YES? NO? > >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** > >Sure! Even though the traffic and load may increase because of the long >messages, I'm all for it! The experiences of other players and DMs would >make interesting reading, I am sure. Any volunteers? My roommates (The Pigs) are fanatic D&D players, with a campaign that has been going on for over a year... Not only that, but they have a journal to go with it... I'm pretty sure that one of them would be more than happy to chronicle their adventures for the rest of us! -- Shane P. McCarron Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation - Technical Services UUCP circadia!meccts!ahby {ihnp4,mgnetp,uwvax}!dicomed!mecc!meccts!ahby
euren@ttds.UUCP (Leif Euren) (05/28/85)
Chris Schuetz writes: >Anyone else keep chronicles of their campaigns? Do others want to see >chronicles posted to the net? YES? NO? YES, but trimmed. There is not much fun in reading about every sword blow. Fights are the same in almost every uni-/multi-verse, so I would like to read about interesting encounters, mysterious puzzles and such stuff. Leif Euren euren@ttds (...mcvax!enea!ttds!euren)
steve@avsdS.UUCP (Steve Russell) (05/31/85)
> However, this campaign took us over three (3) calendar years to run !!! > (11/81 to 12/84) and generated about 500 pages of chronicles. > (No, I won't begin to post it.) > /Chris Come on, Chris!!! At least lets have the plot summary. steve AMPEX
req@warwick.UUCP (What is your full name (for news article signatures):) (06/03/85)
Flame-To: /dev/null Xpath: warwick snow snow ubu In article <2298@decwrl.UUCP> schuetz@via.DEC writes: >[...] >Anyone else keep chronicles of their campaigns? About a year ago, someone >started posting one, but stopped after 3 episodes. Do others want to see >chronicles posted to the net? YES? NO? > >/Chris Yes, we keep records of both a Rolemaster campaign that I'm running and of several other games run by other people. No, please don't start posting chronicles to the net. At least find someone to moderate/edit them first!!! No, I am sorry, I am not volunteering to do this, much as I'd like to. But some other people have been talking about this sort of thing, so... It would be useful for many GMs to have a ready source of Legends and Tales, too -- about the Ghods (other parties...), Mosters and places. My own version of the `Monster Manual' would have several pages for each, including ecology, legends and pictures.... - Russell -- ... mcvax!ukc!ubu!snow!req (req@warwick.UUCP) Striving to promote the interproduction of epimorphistic conformability ....