I'm thinking of starting a new campaign. Set in Nyrond, of course. :)
I was wondering if there was any beginner modules set in Nyrond. Or, if you have an opinion, where I can set a beginner module in Nyrond (like the Keep on the Borderlands). The campaign will use Rolemaster. I wanted to set the campaign in Nyrond at first, though. Then probably move on to the free city of Greyhawk.
Someone else set their Rolemaster campaign using the module Against the Cult of the Reptile God. I have a game running using that module already.
I haven’t ever played Rolemaster, but have significantly modified N1 to make it more Lovecraftian in tone:
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I adapted N1 to be a Lovecraft-oriented adventure, and placed Mythos-worshipping monks within the Temple of Merrika, all dedicated to bringing about the return of the Old Ones. Deep Ones replaced trogs in the dungeons, and the naga remained a mythos beasty, with a few attendants (a shoggoth or two IIRC). I modified the cultists' monk powers to make them a bit more non-euclidean in nature, and definitely made them CE.
… Turning Orlane into Dunwich would be the icing on the cake, but I didn't think of that BITD ;)
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For Nyrondal inspiration, I suggest you look at The Marklands and Ivid the Undying, as well as VonMolkew’s blog at https://nyrond.wordpress.com/
Some of my favorite starter modules include:
- the 1e DMG sample dungeon (see https://grodog.blogspot.com/2020/02/renovating-the-monastery-in-greyhawk-part-1.html which reminds me I really should write-up part 2 sometime!)
- L1 The Secret of Bone Hill
- B1 In Search of the Unknown, which was placed in Greyhawk in its first printing: “Note: In the mythical WORLD OF GREYHAWK (available from TSR) the stronghold can be considered within any one of the following lands---the Barony of Ratik, the Duchy of Tenh, or the Theocracy of the Pale" (page 6)
- d20/3.0 from Necromancer Games: Wizard’s Amulet + Crucible of Freya (with wilderness environs from their web enhancements)
Rob Kuntz’s Maze of Zayene modules are also ripe for Nyrondal-intervention-into-GK-politics meddling too! But they’re higher-level, so will need to wait a bit.
Be sure you check out the links to the left side of the page here on Canonfire! Specifically, check Postcards from the Flanaess and Adventures in Greyhawk. Both will provide some published adventures that take place in Nyrond.
- d20/3.0 from Necromancer Games: Wizard’s Amulet + Crucible of Freya (with wilderness environs from their web enhancements)
I second this adventure, as I have run it and have recommended it before. It is a classic style of adventure, and could easily be set in Nyrond. Change the gods in the adventure to suit Greyhawk. It is available at Frog God Games as "Stoneheart Valley" (Pathfinder Rules), a mini-campaign that includes The Wizard's Amulet, Crucible of Freya, and Tomb of Abysthor. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
I join others who recommended Wizard's Amulet and Crucible of Freya. (I think the latter was the first Necromancer Games module that I bought back in the heyday of 3e / d20.)
Although formally set in Furyondy on the northern front with the Greyhawk Wars / From the Ashes invasion by Iuz, WGM1 Border Watch is a 2e beginner module that I think you could easily adapt to the eastern border of Nyrond.
Let us know more about what you're imagining for your campaign, about your players, etc.
I do have the Crucible of Freya. It was the first module I bought that wasn't produced by Wizards of the Coast. I have it in print, actually. I don't have the Wizard's Amulet. I can adapt the Crucible to Greyhawk, easily.
On the converse, I am not a big fan of any of the LG Nyrond modules with the exception of a very small few. _________________ CN -- It makes firing into combat a whole lot more fun
I join others who recommended Wizard's Amulet and Crucible of Freya. (I think the latter was the first Necromancer Games module that I bought back in the heyday of 3e / d20.)
Although formally set in Furyondy on the northern front with the Greyhawk Wars / From the Ashes invasion by Iuz, WGM1 Border Watch is a 2e beginner module that I think you could easily adapt to the eastern border of Nyrond.
Let us know more about what you're imagining for your campaign, about your players, etc.
Okay. Two of my players are my cousins -- brother and sister (the brother goes by Soulcleave online). Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing an undead being. The sister likes 5th edition, but is willing to play any game I run. As for the other players -- well . . . I haven't asked them what they are willing to play yet. I think one of them is Keith Baker (yes, that Keith Baker).
I'll know more next month, I think, about my players.
I'm imagining a campaign where we are testing Greyhawk for Rolemaster. The campaign is one where the players will have some say in the adventures they take part in.
I'd go with Border Watch too, near the Almor border.
As for the undead character, maybe check the Ghostwalk campaign for 3.5. PCs are technically Ghost.
A zombie type character could also be a thing, keeping his intelligence and personality. It's immunity are low enough to permit at beginner's level. You could even have him dying in the first session without the others knowing it's supposed to happen. As for an explanation, depending on where and how it happens, maybe Death was unable to claim his soul? Some crazy **** went on in Almor with Duke Szefferin, an animus himself.
And itf it takes too much damage, have him become a skeleton.
It could also be a Raise Dead that didn't quite work out.
WG8 Fate of Istus has a city section on the capital of Nyrond, Rel Mord, and an adventure set there for 1st-2nd level characters entitled Swords for Hire.
Danger At Darkshelf Quarry is hands down the best introductory module ever written for Nyrond, outside Paizo and LG. Noobs should take it slow and you might want to run a warm-up session like Carl Sargent's Into the Mistmarsh (placed in the Gnatmarsh) for a few XP. After Darkshelf, you could keep things in Nyrond all the way to 4th or 5th level before resuming the A series across the Bay.
Not much else. Swords for Hire is meh, but Nyrond is a good place to drop other generics: the B series, The Shattered Circle, Haunted Halls of Eveningstar, Under Illefarn, etc. Some of the Challenge modules work well for 1st level groups: Wizard's 1, Thief's 1, Cheric's 1, Wizard's 2, Thief's 2.
Doom of Daggerdale could be adapted to the politics of Woodwych or Knurl.
The Shark Cult of Lankhmar (best TSR Lankhmar module ever and for 1st level) is perfect in Oldred as described in Marklands.
"Note: In the mythical WORLD OF GREYHAWK (available from TSR) the stronghold can be considered within any one of the following lands---the Barony of Ratik, the Duchy of Tenh, or the Theocracy of the Pale" (first printings, page 6).
Two of my players are my cousins -- brother and sister (the brother goes by Soulcleave online). Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing an undead being. The sister likes 5th edition, but is willing to play any game I run. As for the other players -- well . . . I haven't asked them what they are willing to play yet. I think one of them is Keith Baker (yes, that Keith Baker).
I'll know more next month, I think, about my players.
I'm imagining a campaign where we are testing Greyhawk for Rolemaster. The campaign is one where the players will have some say in the adventures they take part in.
Pathfinder 1e presented a half-living / half-undead character race, the dhampir, which might be generative for your game. Here's its description on the Archives of Nethys webpage, and here's one at the Pathfinder Wiki.
What made this character race challenging / difficult to play was its "Negative Energy Affinity" - dhampirs react to positive and negative energy as if they were undead; positive energy harms them, and negative energy heals them. At the same time, that feature could make them be formidable undead slayers (since they would be unaffected by negative energy drain effects).
I second Baldr's suggestion that you might justify / provide background for this kind of character in the terrible destruction of Almor under Duke Szefferin (assuming that you set your campaign after that From the Ashes - era event). Alternatively, if you're in the same era, you might make the character be some kind of lesser or proto-animus. Maybe an early experiment that barely survived rather than the powerful undead monsters that eventuated?
Or maybe the character is a previously unknown (to the Flanaess) monstrosity of the Horned Society (assuming that some of the Hierarchs venerate Nerull IYC)?
Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing an undead being.
I am unsure if it is still in print, but TPK Games published a product introducing five new undead-ish PC races for Pathfinder 1. You may find it online. It may be just the thing you and your player are looking for.
Pathfinder 1e presented a half-living / half-undead character race, the dhampir, which might be generative for your game. Here's its description on the Archives of Nethys webpage, and here's one at the Pathfinder Wiki.
What made this character race challenging / difficult to play was its "Negative Energy Affinity" - dhampirs react to positive and negative energy as if they were undead; positive energy harms them, and negative energy heals them. At the same time, that feature could make them be formidable undead slayers (since they would be unaffected by negative energy drain effects).
I second Baldr's suggestion that you might justify / provide background for this kind of character in the terrible destruction of Almor under Duke Szefferin (assuming that you set your campaign after that From the Ashes - era event). Alternatively, if you're in the same era, you might make the character be some kind of lesser or proto-animus. Maybe an early experiment that barely survived rather than the powerful undead monsters that eventuated?
Or maybe the character is a previously unknown (to the Flanaess) monstrosity of the Horned Society (assuming that some of the Hierarchs venerate Nerull IYC)?
He wants to play a Forsaken from World of Warcraft. But I'll ask him about a damphir, or Almor, or even being a creation of the horned society.
Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing an undead being.
I am unsure if it is still in print, but TPK Games published a product introducing five new undead-ish PC races for Pathfinder 1. You may find it online. It may be just the thing you and your player are looking for.
Trent Smith’s _Heroic Legendarium_ includes 4 new PC races (cat-blooded, dhampir, dragon-blooded, half-ogre), 5 new PC classes (mystic, hunter, savant, mountebank, jester), redone bard class that starts at level 1 but maintains the feel of the 1E version notes and revisions to other classes (cavalier, barbarian, acrobat, monk), and is on DriveThru at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/16955/Storm-Fetish-Productions
It’s quite good! I have a bard and savant in my current campaign!
He wants to play a Forsaken from World of Warcraft. But I'll ask him about a damphir, or Almor, or even being a creation of the horned society.
I read a bit about the Forsaken at The Gamer, which made me recall the "true ghouls" that Wolfgang Baur created in "The Ecology of the Ghoul," Dragon 252 and "The Kingdom of the Ghouls," Dungeon 70.
Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing an undead being.
I am unsure if it is still in print, but TPK Games published a product introducing five new undead-ish PC races for Pathfinder 1. You may find it online. It may be just the thing you and your player are looking for.
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