The Bretonnia Tales, my Warhammer Fantasy campaign, ended recently. I wasn't sure what the group wanted to play next, or even if they wanted to continue playing, so I chatted with them about it and asked them their opinions.
I was surprised and delighted that they wanted to play Dungeon ADVENTURE! , a game made by yours truly!
I also noticed that we were having a bit of campaign fatigue after playing Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and the Bretonnia Tales. The second campaign contributed to that feeling a lot more than the first, because it was very railroady and very focused. This design made sense, because Tales centered on the players going to a destination and stumbling upon encounters along the way. Unfortunately, because of that, the players didn't get a chance to explore much in the way of their own interests, or develop relationships with any NPCs apart from the ones they traveled with.
So, in an attempt to shake things up, I decided that my Dungeon ADVENTURE! campaign would not have an overarching story. I gave my players a mostly blank map, had them made characters, and had them role-play for a bit. Based on this initial interaction, I learned something about who they were and what they wanted, and made an adventure centered on something that interested them the most.
Those of you who are old hands at this sort of thing already know that this is based on the Westmarch style of campaign. The players get to do whatever they want, adventures tend to be short (time permitting), and the only overarching narrative consists of the players facing the consequences of their own actions.
About Dungeon ADVENTURE!
This game is my fantasy heartbreaker and my answer to D&D and Pathfinder. I've been developing it on and off for about 25 years. I think it mostly works! I have taken a lot of pains to keep the rules as simple and as straightforward as possible. Those of you interested in the technical specs can have some, in the form of a bulleted list:
- It is level-based. Players go up in level after completing a set number of adventures. Players do not have to "win" the adventure to level, nor do they have to kill things or find treasure. That's a longer way of saying it's got Milestones.
- It is d20-based. You add your stat + skill + modifiers and roll equal to or less than that on a d20.
- Your skills are not explicitly tied to your stats (though some pairings of stat + skill just make sense).
- There are no spell lists. Casters create spells on the fly based on their spell schools and skill ranks.
The setting for the game is something that I like to call "cozy fantasy." The reason for this is that I based large parts of the setting on tabletop RPGs and LARPs I have played over the years, including elements that I particularly enjoy, or that give me fond memories. It also helps that I have liberally salted the setting with my friend's LARP characters.
It is set many years after a Cataclysm (because there's always a Cataclysm), and after the rise and fall of a Roman-like empire (because there's always a Roman-like empire). The game takes place in the relatively young Kingdom of Severni, which is your basic kitchen sink, right-justified, European fantasy world in which there is both high magic and powerful ancient technology (finish your drink).
The "official" setting, written about in the game books, is Silverton County. Since I know a lot about this place, and since I wanted my players to have as free a rein as possible, I decided to move them slightly eastward to Hookberm County. All I know about Hookberm County is that it is to the east of Silverton County and to the west of the Frontier, across which monsters sometimes raid. The armies of Severni have fought a protracted border war for many years, ostensibly to protect the citizenry from harm.
Unfortunately, the constant fighting, the movement of soldiers, and the expense of continuing the war effort has caused a decline in the county's stability, prosperity, and quality of life. Just the sort of thing to breed a new crop of adventurers!
The New Party
Listed below, in no particular order, are the current crop of characters looking to make their mark in Hookberm County.
Ulfast
A Human Wanderer (think ranger/druid). She possesses a sword, a bow, and some rather...atypical...magical powers. She is accompanied by a large, white tiger.
"Severnay" Marion
A Grun (think goblin) Warrior, playwright, actor, and former circus owner.
He wears glasses without lenses to look more intellectual.
Talia
A Sylvan (think elves, but with anime hair and antlers) Adept (think F/M-U).
Quiet, aloof, and a skilled Cognimancer. She follows Yin'Isstil,
the Lord of the Great Maze, a god shunned by Severni's state religion.
Aries
A Sylvani Commoner. A charming himbo with a big personality and
considerable skill in the healing arts. Very friendly. Very pretty.
Thavick Ghorson
A Dwernun (think dwarf, but human-sized, with lots of clan tattoos) Artificer.
He has recently been tasked by his Guild mentor and contact to deal with
certain incidents in Hookberm.
Tegwin Yale
A Human Warrior, and former bodyguard. He had been hired to protect
the daughter of a nobleman, but was summarily fired when
he was found in a, closet canoodling with a maid.
Phinneas Botch
A Human Warrior and butcher. He decided to take up
adventuring in his later years. He was recently on an expedition to
a haunted, mist-shrouded ruin somewhere in the northeast.
Tune in Next Time...
To find our players well-met in the town of Weir, where they have drinks and appetizers at Ye Appel and Apis (literally fantasy Applebee's) before going of in pursuit of a rogue artificer.
