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    Canonfire :: View topic - Moon Circle's Druid
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    Moon Circle's Druid
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    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Sat May 11, 2013 1:43 am  
    Moon Circle's Druid

    So my 11th year niece joind our D&D Next Greyhawk game. I need help with making some kind of good quest back story for her. She choose the Wood Elven Druid, looking for shapeshifting powers, so we make her a member of Moon Circle subclass. Here is description from playtests files:

    D&D Next wrote:
    Whether showing its full face or just a sly sickle, the changeable moon caresses the world with tides and light. It’s also the conduit for your magic. The moon’s influence over all things watery,furry, and leafy waxes and wanes.

    As an initiate of the moon, your magic focuses on animals and shapechanging. You delight in learning new and more dangerous creature shapes to change into.

    The moon initiate is most often chaotic, but can have any alignment.


    We choose her Sahanie Moonbow as patron diety, cause of her connection to moon and travel. Character comes from the Hornwood.

    What I need is some good reason for her to join adventures/mercenaries group in Sterich that travels near Crystalmists Mountains. For now I made quick assumption that her Circle's High Druid send her to Caves of Chaos because he had vision that it's somehow connected to survivor of their people ( Wood Elves from Hornwood ). I think I can easily make some changes to this quest talking to the niece about it. And one last info - tomorow session will be last on Caves of Chaos. Later players plan to go to Istivin in Sterich to make supplies, so I cook some little city adventure there about Scarlet Brotherhood and Tharizdun. Wink


    Last edited by wyrdhamster on Tue May 14, 2013 4:39 pm; edited 2 times in total
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    Sat May 11, 2013 9:18 am  
    Re: Moon Circle's Druid

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    So my 11th year niece joind our D&D Next Greyhawk game. I need help with making some kind of good quest back story for her. She choose the Wood Elven Druid, looking for shapeshifting powers, so we make her a member of Moon Circle subclass...


    1) What year is it?

    2) Where is she from?

    3) What level is she? It doesn't sound like she's starting at first level...

    EDIT: WYRDHAMSTER, for most amusing avatar... Laughing
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Sat May 11, 2013 9:28 pm  
    Re: Moon Circle's Druid

    jamesdglick wrote:
    1) What year is it?


    591 CY, as in Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. The time is 16th of Flocktime. action take place in Stark Mounds and Sterich.

    jamesdglick wrote:
    2) Where is she from?


    She comes from Hornwood, closest elven enclave to game action.

    jamesdglick wrote:
    3) What level is she? It doesn't sound like she's starting at first level...


    She is 3rd level Druid, but only because rest of party has this level. They all are just starting adventurers, almost succeding in they first dungeon.
    Cool

    jamesdglick wrote:
    EDIT: WYRDHAMSTER, for most amusing avatar... Laughing


    Space Hamsters for the win!!! Evil Grin


    Last edited by wyrdhamster on Tue May 14, 2013 4:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Mon May 13, 2013 11:17 am  
    Re: Moon Circle's Druid

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    So my 11th year niece joind our D&D Next Greyhawk game. I need help with making some kind of good quest back story for her. She choose the Wood Elven Druid, looking for shapeshifting powers, so we make her a member of Moon Circle subclass. Here is description from playtests files:

    D&D Next wrote:
    Whether showing its full face or just a sly sickle, the changeable moon caresses the world with tides and light. It’s also the conduit for your magic. The moon’s influence over all things watery,furry, and leafy waxes and wanes.

    As an initiate of the moon, your magic focuses on animals and shapechanging. You delight in learning new and more dangerous creature shapes to change into.

    The moon initiate is most often chaotic, but can have any alignment.


    We choose her Sahanie Moonbow as patron diety, cause of her connection to moon and travel. Character comes from the Thornwood.

    What I need is some good reason for her to join adventures/mercenaries group in Sterich that travels near Crystalmists Mountains. For now I made quick assumption that her Circle's High Druid send her to Caves of Chaos because he had vision that it's somehow connected to survivor of their people ( Wood Elves from Thornwood ). I think I can easily make some changes to this quest talking to the niece about it. And one last info - tomorow session will be last on Caves of Chaos. Later players plan to go to Istivin in Sterich to make supplies, so I cook some little city adventure there about Scarlet Brotherhood and Tharizdun. Wink


    -Duh. You had the info' up front. I must have been in a hurry...

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    ...For now I made quick assumption that her Circle's High Druid send her to Caves of Chaos because he had vision that it's somehow connected to survivor of their people ( Wood Elves from Thornwood ). I think I can easily make some changes to this quest talking to the niece about it. And one last info - tomorow session will be last on Caves of Chaos. Later players plan to go to Istivin in Sterich to make supplies, so I cook some little city adventure there about Scarlet Brotherhood and Tharizdun. Wink



    1) If the PC is young (i.e., just a few years after her starting age for druid), then she probably did some serious adventuring (i.e., killing stuff). Then you have to figure out who or what she was up against. I don't know who the local baddies might be, since I don't remember where the Thornwood is: Veluna? I think that's the Ironwood; the Thornward? BisselI? 'll have to go home and find the Thornwood. Greywiki is not helping... Ouch! So much for my Grey Fu!

    Anyway. if she's 30 or 40 years after her starting adventuring age, then she proably got her XPs through daily caretaking, i.e., she was either a pastor to a community or the assistant to a community pastor. Or maybe she was doing some sort of academic study. You could probably determine which based on her proficiencies (lost of knowledge type skills = academic; diplomatic, healing skills = community caretaker).

    It could be a combination of the two.

    Maybe I should have asked the PC's age, and which edition, since each edition uses a different age spread!

    2) When in doubt, "visions from the boss" is a little Deus ex Machina, but it'll do. It could also be that the local Sehnine/Seldarine are overwelmed, and sent through the system for help, and it just so happens that the High Druid's vision coincides with the request, so he sent her.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Tue May 14, 2013 3:47 pm  

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    ...She comes from Thornwood, closest elven enclave to game action...


    -Are you sure you don't mean Hornwood? That makes sense geographically.

    If so, I'd add that the High Druid 's vision would have to be pretty convincing to him, since the Hornwood has problem of its own in CY 591. On the other hand, maybe he feels he can spare her.

    You might also have to explain how she was able to get through safely. Maybe she had an escort, who then immediately returned to the Hornwood to carry out their normal duites. Again, the vision would have to be very convincing fort them to leave their duties.
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    Tue May 14, 2013 4:59 pm  

    jamesdglick wrote:
    -Are you sure you don't mean Hornwood? That makes sense geographically.


    Yes, I wrongly readed english map.

    jamesdglick wrote:
    If so, I'd add that the High Druid 's vision would have to be pretty convincing to him, since the Hornwood has problem of its own in CY 591. On the other hand, maybe he feels he can spare her.


    What kind of problems are in 591 CY in this region?

    jamesdglick wrote:
    You might also have to explain how she was able to get through safely. Maybe she had an escort, who then immediately returned to the Hornwood to carry out their normal duites. Again, the vision would have to be very convincing fort them to leave their duties.


    Was thinking more on "you were sent alone to make quick scout".
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Wed May 15, 2013 12:28 pm  

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    ...What kind of problems are in 591 CY in this region? ....


    -I don't have the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer with me, but in CY 591, Sterich is still pushing back the Giant invasions (I don't know if there's a canonical "forward line of troops", or if it's up to the DM). Geoff is still largely under Giant occupation, and the Hornwood is largely under siege. I'm thinking that it really isn't a good time for the inhabitants of the Hornwood to send their people elsewhere, unless it's really important, since they obviously have troubles of their own.

    wyrdhamster wrote:
    ...Was thinking more on "you were sent alone to make quick scout".


    1) Would she (a 3rd level Druid) have had the ability to avoid hostile contact over all those miles, or failing that, eliminate any threat quickly (so as to avoid compromise)? Perhaps she was sent by Teleport spell. A High Druid might have access to a wizard who could use one. Then, she'd be limited to whatever weight limit it has (again, I don't have the PHG on me).

    Of course, you could decide that, In Your Campaign, that these conditions do not exist.

    2) This is the realist speaking, but sending anyone on a mission by themselves is problematic, because no matter how good you are, "you gotta sleep sometime." Wink OK, eleves don't sleep (in some DM's rules, anyway), but they still have to trance, which is pretty much the same thing. It also helps if you have at least two people with complimentary skill sets (an old D&D standby, anyway). So, although two people are somewhat more likley to be detected than one, the fact that you can have "One man on, one man off"; that you have twice as many guys to fight (and twice as many who have to be eliminated for the mission to fail), and the combination of skills makes two heads a lot better than twice as good as one head. FWIW.
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Wed May 15, 2013 1:31 pm  

    jamesdglick wrote:
    -I don't have the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer with me, but in CY 591, Sterich is still pushing back the Giant invasions (I don't know if there's a canonical "forward line of troops", or if it's up to the DM). Geoff is still largely under Giant occupation, and the Hornwood is largely under siege. I'm thinking that it really isn't a good time for the inhabitants of the Hornwood to send their people elsewhere, unless it's really important, since they obviously have troubles of their own.


    For now I used Giants invasion as background thing, but you are right - now this is time to show that Sterich and Geoff are in trouble by them. Hornwood people are in time of real war and this is precisely why Archdruid send only one of his students - the quest must be completed, but they can't send no one else. For me, it sounds legit. Cool

    jamesdglick wrote:
    1) Would she (a 3rd level Druid) have had the ability to avoid hostile contact over all those miles, or failing that, eliminate any threat quickly (so as to avoid compromise)?


    She has Wild Shapes of Rodents and Big Cats, 3 times a Day, so I think she could make a good self-scounting party. Wink

    jamesdglick wrote:
    2) This is the realist speaking, but sending anyone on a mission by themselves is problematic, because no matter how good you are, "you gotta sleep sometime." Wink OK, eleves don't sleep (in some DM's rules, anyway), but they still have to trance, which is pretty much the same thing. It also helps if you have at least two people with complimentary skill sets (an old D&D standby, anyway). So, although two people are somewhat more likley to be detected than one, the fact that you can have "One man on, one man off"; that you have twice as many guys to fight (and twice as many who have to be eliminated for the mission to fail), and the combination of skills makes two heads a lot better than twice as good as one head. FWIW.


    Maybe I would think about contact/bodyguard she left behind some time ago, but also I don't want to make it too traumatic. It is first game for my niece, and as I see it - it is believable she would come this far, all alone, if she would be needed.

    To end, now I need good reason for her to stick with PCs party, rather to come back to Hornwood, hmmmm....
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    Sat May 25, 2013 2:49 pm  

    Here are some notes from LG Geoff - some of the LG stuff has stuck with the flavour of 1e when wood elves were reclusive xenophobes so being a wood elf comes with a lot more baggage if you prefer that to high elf.

    Hornwood
    Second largest of the woodlands of Geoff, Asgwrn Coed (ahs-goorn coid, tr. Hornwood) takes its name from its most prominent species, the hornwood tree. Tall and straight, black-barked, with narrow, spearhead shaped leaves, this wood is rated the best for weapon construction, especially bows. However finding bow-quality wood, curing it and working it is a tedious process. The village of Hornwood, nestled in the hills between the forest and the Stark Mounds, and Pwyst's Rhyd in (pweest's reed, tr. Pest's Crossing), located just inside the wood on the Blue Oyt River, are largely devoted to the production of the famous Geoff longbow for the forces of the Brenin.
    The forest is not as dense or dark as the Dim Forest; thus there is greater undergrowth. Combining this with increasingly steep foothills approaching the mountains makes travel through the wood difficult. As a result there are numerous game tracks following paths of least resistance as well as several better-defined man- or elf-made tracks. The only road, as such in Hornwood, leads from Pwyst's Rhyd east and immediately out of the forest.
    Several thousand high elves make these forested foothills their home. They owe their first fealty to a high king (who reportedly also claims the loyalty of the wood elves of the Dim Forest and the gray elves of Oytwood) but they have no towns to speak of. They mainly dwell, like many Gyri, in extended family settlements similar to the crofts on the heath. Some few live in Hornwood or Pwyst's Rhyd.
    Fairly large communities of druids devoted to Obad-Hai and Ehlonna also make their homes in the Hornwood. I'm not sure why they favor this place, perhaps because of its wild nature and rough beauty, or vice versa. The druids don't confide in me, and they are not prone to answering my questions either.
    Despite this calm picture I've painted, most Gyri avoid the Hornwood. Its proximity to the Crystalmists alone makes it a place of danger, for it is often the first place raided by the giants of the mountains. Ferocious beasts and humanoids also come down out of the mountains to lurk in the wood. While the elves try to keep these under control and prevent the humanoids from making permanent settlements here, it is still a place of danger. Despite this (or more probably because of it) Hornwood has long been the favored hunting preserve of the Brenin.
    The most impressive waterfall I have ever seen in Geoff (a land of many lovely falls) is here in Hornwood. The cascade, Rhaeadr gan Aran-ac-aur (rye--ader gahn ahr-ran-ahc-ouwer, tr. Falls of silver and gold), occurs on the Blue Oyt shortly after takes its turn to the south in the upper Hornwood. Dropping over a precipice the Blue Oyt falls several hundred feet in three stages. The river at this point is nearly 20 yards wide and at full flood in spring the falls can be heard for over a mile. The most impressive effects are visual however and occur twice a year, one in spring and once during autumn. In late spring, millions of pristine white hornwood flowers drop into the river above the falls. They back up in the deep pool immediately before the precipice until they are forced over the edge. For several days the falls appear to be flowing with molten silver, especially at sunrise. The same effect is repeated in late autumn when the hornwoods drop their leaves. The leaves turn a vivid yellow before they fall, and as they go over the waterfall it seems to be running with molten gold, again especially at sunrise.

    The giants came into Geoff through the Hornwood first. The dramatic battle at Pwyst's Crossing slowed but failed to stop them. The already scattered elves could not offer effective resistance, though many fell trying. Since those fatal days Hornwood has sheltered the remaining elves, the surviving druids, and several thousand human refugees, for the Hornwood has many hidden dells and secret ways, but it remains a dangerous place. The foremost danger is starvation, because even under the guidance of the druids and the elves, the forest doesn't provide enough forage for the newly expanded population and game is becoming scarce. The Olwythi have led out a number of refugees who were capable of travel, but those remaining are still at risk.
    The giants have apparently carved a road a hundred yards wide through the wood leading back to the Crystalmists. The width of this "road" hinders efforts by the elves to ambush the giants and their allies as they move back and forth between the mountains and Geoff. Even if the giants were to be vanquished and driven from all of Geoff tomorrow, that scar would take centuries to repair itself.
    There are some 1,800 nomadic wood elves and 2,000 high elves living in the Hornwood.


    Also many of the druids of Geoff worship the Old Faith - which includes Ehlonna rather than Sehanine so your PC is functioning outside the officially sanctioned druidic hierarchy. This could well give her more freedom but may also mean that she will lack wider influence.

    Sehanine Moonbow is the wife of Corellon Larethian. She is known as the Lady of Dreams and the Daughter of the Night Skies. Her domains include Good, Knowledge, Travel, and Trickery. Her teachings lead one on a path to transcendence and enlightenment. She is responsible for the unveiling of secrets and keeping the mysteries of the universe. Many elven diviners revere Sehanine. She is also known as a guardian to the dead, and her rituals help fallen elves travel to the afterlife. Sehanine’s clergy is responsible for many illusions and divinations in larger elven communities.

    Alternatively, if you decide to switch to worship Ehlonna as the embodiment of Spring, you end up being an agent of the Old Faith, trying to resurrect the spirit of the Green Man.

    There is also an air of mysery about the druids of the Old faith - here are some notes about their leader

    Gwenllian merch Lluth
    Gwenllian is the daughter of Lluth the Brenin, who is the father of Owen, the current Brenin. Gwenllian has not been seen in 35 years when she left with the Druids for the Isle of Rhun. When she was last seen, she was a young woman, just into her 20s with reddish-gold hair. She dressed well as befitted her station, and she was known to love to dance.
    Gwenllian was being raised for a life as an aristocrat and as a bride to cement an alliance with any number of powers in the Sheldomar Valley. After the death of her elder brother Elidyr, her life altered drastically. Owen was summoned from the Stark Mounds, and she was sent to the Isle of Rhun to study with the druids. She has never returned—not even for her own brother’s ascension to the Griffon Chair.

    Either way, it doesn't seem like a stretch to me that your pc might be sent abroad with the mission of finding lost elven magic that might help defend the Hornwood or Geoff & Sterich from its invaders.

    Have fun with it!
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