Chapter Eight: Wild Cards

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Chapter Seven: All Her Cards on the Table

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Of Gods and Dragons: Meet the Characters - Brokk

After a long reprieve from DMing serious campaigns (at the time of this writing, it's been nearly three years since the end of the mystery campaign, in large party because I've been playing as Asp in a now-concluded campaign), I'm gearing up for another campaign. I'm calling this one "Of Gods and Dragons," as it heavily utilizes my homebrew setting's deities and dragon NPCs in what promises to be an exciting and world-exploring adventure that will punctuate a great deal of the overarching storylines of my major campaigns as a DM. 

One of the players in this campaign is a veteran of games with me. He played Beor in the aforementioned mystery campaign and Carric in the Eastweald campaign, not to mention being the fantastic DM who ran the campaign in which Asp, my last character, played. I'm excited to see how he handles the lore-heavy campaign I have planned, and I think that his character is going to really shake things up. So let's meet Brokk, the half-orc/half-demon warrior. 

Brokk, who towers at a massive 7'9", is the offspring of an orc and a demon, bred to be a deadly fighter who specializes in slaying elves. This plays on the opposition and hatred between elves and orcs that runs through classic D&D lore and which is consistent with my homebrew world's take, where orcs and elves hate each other despite having a great deal in common. Brokk has green skin like an orc and is covered in complex purple tattoos; he wears a black-and-purple leather coat with a hood. While Brokk is meant by his people to be a killing machine, he has done incredible work to overcome his violent nature, and is an even-keeled, thoughtful man who seeks peaceful resolutions to everything he encounters if possible. Brokk lives, interestingly enough, in the land of the elves, in a small town called Drumchapel, not far from the major city of Finiel, with his trusty dog, Dog. Drumchapel is a friendly, leepy little town surrounded by forest and pear groves. There, Brokk works as a fisherman with his closest friend Marq, the owner of a family salmon-fishing business. He also spends time with Hannah, the waitress at the town's cider bar, and Cali, a priestess of Ehlonna. Several locals, like the local guardsmen, farmers, and sailors rely on Brokk for help and advice. He's a highly-regarded member of the community despite his background, and he's carefully made a simple, quiet, decent life for himself. 

At least, until the campaign begins (evil DM smile). 

A while ago, we did an intro session for Brokk, which I've summarized below. I think it shows who he is as a character while also sticking a toe into the waters of the campaign. So here it is--Brokk's introduction to the gameworld I run and his adventures in it:

Brokk begins our adventure drinking a pear cider in Drumchapel. A sea captain and covert privateer who frequents town, Xurk, enters the bar and invites Brokk to sit on the docks with her. Xurk describes her anxieties about growing older and needing a protege in the odd field of privateering, suggesting that Brokk might be a worthy candidate, but Brokk deflects, remarking on how he's had several lifetimes to master sailing as a part-demon. Xurk asks for Brokk's help getting an impression of a crewmate who may be a future captain who will carry on Xurk's most private business--smuggling dissidents out of dangerous cities. She also asks, more urgently, for help sizing up a customer who wants help disappearing from the elven part of Evanoch. Brokk agrees and stays near Xurk's ship while she slips away to give him space to talk to the customer. 

The customer, a young elven man who later identifies himself as Xelin, approaches Brokk and complains that he's experiencing an unfair situation in life. Brokk gives him a hard time, suggesting that he's likely wronged someone to earn his unsavory position. Xelin says that he condemned the elven military (even as the son of an elven military official), which ruined his future in academics and even earned him death threats. When Brokk asks if he can sail, Xelin say he is a trained chef and is willing to earn his keep aboard Xurk's ship, so Brokk takes him to Xurk for introductions. Brokk vouches that Xelin has a strong sense of justice and can contribute, and Xurk agrees to take him aboard. But soon after, an elven mercenary shows up in town looking for Xelin. Brokk and Xurk help him to hide. The mercenary questions them about Xelin, but Brokk uses a friendly but intimidating tone to dissuade the mercenary from looking. When the mercenary persists, Brokk uses a magical power to take on the appearance of dreadful demon, and the mercenary quickly leaves the bar. Once he is gone, Brokk apologizes for being so forceful with the magical effect. 

Xelin asks Brokk about starting over--how to pick a new job, learn to answer to a new name, create a new life. Brokk says that the answers are surprisingly simple, and that the answers are inside you. Xelin asks to be called Lenix from now on, using an anagram of his name to honor his past. Lenix recites a poem about freedom that he wrote and drinks with Brokk and Xurk. Brokk chats with waitress Hannah while Lenix and Xurk discuss the details of the voyage, reminding her that Lenix has a right to start over. Xurk tells Brokk that Lenix is inspired by her mission to rescue dissidents and wants to learn to do what she does, and Lenix and Hannah flirt at the other end of the bar. Xurk announces that it's time to leave, and Hannah plants a kiss on Lenix before he goes. Brokk helps Hannah close the bar before leaving for the night. 

The following morning, the mercenary from the previous night returns with an intimidating elven warrior. The warrior opts for a more diplomatic approach to the situation before offering a bribe to be allowed onto Xurk's ship to search for Lenix. Brokk speaks intimidatingly to the warrior, telling her that Drumchapel is a simple town and that she should move on. The warrior mentions a geas, a spell that compels someone to do something until it is completed. Thinking she means she will cast the spell on one of them, Brokk casts "Suggestion" on the warrior, compelling her to leave, and calls Hannah to get the mayor of town. But in pain, the warrior explains that the mercenary has cast the geas on her, and Brokk dispels the geas from her. The warrior thanks Brokk for his help and recognizes that orcs are not the outright villains she has been trained to believe. 

The mayor arrives and asks Brokk what needs to be explained, quickly putting the mercenary in chains and escorting him to the town's small jail. There, Brokk describes the incident, lying that Lenix never showed up to Drumchapel. The mayor sentences the mercenary to over two years in jail for illegal attempt to search a ship and for attacking the warrior with a spell impairing her freedom of choice. Brokk heads to the docks and joins his boss and friend, Marq, to head out on a day's fishing expedition. They perform the day's work, and Marq points out to sea at a brewing storm that has been showing itself over the last week. He remarks that it seems always to be gathering, but never rolls in. He says that he hopes that the storm just breaks before it gets too bad, hoping to avoid a more devastating storm in the future. 

We ended the intro session there. As you can see, Brokk does indeed prefer to settle things not only without violence, but also without force of any kind. When faced by powerful people who wish to overwhelm him and force him to behave as they want, he thinks of ways to intimidate them into cooperating without actually forcing anything on anyone. You'll also notice that Brokk has access to some powerful magic, and he only uses it for things that are morally good, like protecting Lenix and freeing the warrior of being controlled. People can't seem to help but like Brokk once they get past his intimidating exterior, and his wisdom is trusted by just about everyone who knows him. Brokk is a formidable character, and having him in the mix for this campaign will be a real dream as a DM. I'm really looking forward to having a veteran roleplayer at the table with a character like this for what I have planned. 

Next time in our "meet the characters" series, we'll be meeting Aurora, a human girl with a mysterious past--mysterious even to her, for reasons that will become clear in our next edition. Aurora's player is someone new to my new games, and I'm excited to see what she does with her character. Later, we'll be meeting our third and final character, Lethanin, who will be played by the same person who played Ell in the Eastweald campaign and Ais in the mystery campaign. Then we'll get into our first session and really get things underway. 

Until next time, folks! As always, happy gaming!

Chapter Six: Playing Their Cards Right

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Homebrew Setting Clans: Daltoners

I've recently begun writing a novel based on a D&D campaign I was lucky enough to take part in over the last few years, and doing so has involved revisiting the worldbuilding of the DM who ran the campaign. One very rich element of his setting is that most civilizations, particularly the elves and orcs who were featured in the campaign, are very detailed in terms of leadership and clans. In the process of writing the (as of this article's writing) most recent chapter, I got to really dig into the orcish clans, their leaders, and how they are all specialized. It inspired me--I realized that despite the years of development I've put into my world, I've never really gotten into the specifics of how people organize themselves into factions. That seems like a sad oversight now, and so this will be the first in an eight-part series of guides to the major clans of each cultural group. Let us begin with one of my human groups: the Daltoners, sun-worshiping extremists who have always aimed to colonize Evanoch and spread their way of life. 

In this series of guides, the general organization will explain the overall role of the clans in the profile as well as the clans themselves--who runs them, their history, and how they function in the world. These will be partially constructed in order to give more life and detail to my world, but as always, the more important aim is to provide the world with jumping-off points. What I mean is this: should a group of Daltoners appear in a game I'm running, I'll have a reference point to do something detailed in the moment without having to improvise entire structures on the spot. Let's imagine that I'm DMing, and a group of Daltoners becomes a part of the story. Before this clan guide, I would be forced to generalize about the worldviews of Daltoners at large. But with this clan guide, I'll have a more rich and varied take on what makes Daltoners a broader but also diverse group, and I'll have this more detailed information to improvise based on in the moment, freeing me up to make stronger and more specific stories based on a foundation. This is, to me, the point of worldbuilding--to provide a framework for improvisation with details that can inspire further details as they impact the story. So without further ado, let's get started. 

Chapter Five: Growing Pains

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Chapter Four: Fresh Blood

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Chapter Three: Fresh Meat

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Chapter Two: Growth Opportunity

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Chapter One: A Fresh Start

This is a novelization of a campaign that Asp was designed to be a part of, beginning with this, her intro session.