The campaign starts at a village on the border of the Imperium. The village has many visitors passing through so it has more services than standard for its size. There is a town about a day away.

The border has regularly repelled orc hordes every couple of decades. Last time, twenty three years ago, they were so positively routed that common belief is that they will not attack again. The border guard is relatively weak due to the war.

I would like to spend some time at least based at the village rather than moving to a larger area. If you have any other preferences could you let me know.

Religion

The main god in the campaign has become convinced that the world is flawed and wants to destroy it so he can create a new one. This led to a war among the gods in which many died. Out of the original 40 gods only 15 remain. Due to the loss of so many gods some gods have relatively unusual spheres of influence; the goddess of love also controls revenge [her lover was slain by the orc god] and agriculture.

The gods are now in two camps. The larger faction known as the Pantheon is worshipped by the Imperium. The other faction dedicated to destruction consists of a mere four powerful gods.

There are only three outer planes. The first is ruled by the Pantheon and the second is ruled by the evil gods. The third plane is the plane of the dead and is aligned with the Pantheon.

The Imperium worships the Pantheon as a group rather than individuals. Clerics worship the whole Pantheon, while priests worship a specific god. Most individuals will lean towards a specific 'patron' god, but still pay homage to the others when the need arises. Most temples in small areas have areas available for worshippers of other members of the Pantheon.

Like the Romans, the Imperium also absorbs foreign gods and worship them.

Player Characters

Generate character stats using 88 points divided between the six stats. Characters gain maximum hit points for the first two levels and generate hp randomly after that. With non weapon proficiencies, the extra proficiencies based on intelligence are allowed as long as they are non-physical skills. Every time a character goes up a level they gain a NW proficiency slot. If you want to gain proficiencies which require several slots assign slots as you gain them, you will develop a limited ability in the skill which improves until you have all of the slots. Observation is a general rather than thief proficiency.

No evil characters please. I have had some very bad experiences with evil characters. If you really want to play one, talk to me about it.

I am quite happy to discuss any non standard characters but would like a copy of any kits, etc, which are not in the main books.

I am quite happy to use the large group weapon proficiencies from the Fighters Handbook. If anyone wants to be ambidextrous, could they ensure the character has that ability at the start of the game.

I feel clerics should be able to cast any spell they have access to at that level rather than picking specific spells in the morning due to the source of their spells. Wizards, however, should learn specific spells.

Spellcasters can use spells from the Players Handbook and the Tome of Magic [except wild magic]. Spells from other books can be used if I have a chance to examine the spell and have a copy.

The Kit

Before we start the campaign I hope to complete a kit describing the world, including:

Important history: A history of the gods, description of the religions, rumours about the evil religions, a little information about other provinces in the Imperium and the local area.

I also have a map of the village and a list of the places where you can stay. Most of this information will be biased by local opinions.

Food for thought

Could you do some thinking about your character covering the following areas:

Family

Are your immediate family alive, nearby, on good terms with you, etc? Even if they are dead most people have a large extended family web. They don't have to be friendly and could even be enemies.

Birthday

Since I will keep track of time we might as well age characters on their birthday.

Motivation

Why did your character become an adventurer? It is not the easiest of careers. If I have an idea of the character's motivation adventures can be created in that area. Some characters could be on the run, or not be welcome in civilised area or like to travel or want to fight evil.

Goals

Does your character have any goals short or long term? Getting rich is a short term goal - to see the world is a long term goal. Goals can be finite or continuous, practical or pie in the sky. One adventurer might want to track down the villain who kidnapped his sister and has heard rumours that he is in this area. When this is achieved the goal is finished. Another adventurer might want to create the world's largest library - there is always one more book. Another might want to gain political power.

Enemies

Many books contain storys about rivalries which date back to childhood or even centuries before the characters were born. If you like the idea of an enemy, talk to me about it.

Allies

While many henchmen are picked up as you go along, I am quite happy for characters to suggest up to three people who might later act as allies. A brother who is studying magic, an old army buddy, etc.

On the subject of henchmen, if your character can not adventure for a while (eg. so you can create magic items), you can run a henchmen. You can use the option to award some of your experience to a henchman who was in the adventure as long as you remain a higher level than the henchmen.

Meetings

How did you meet the other adventurers. It would be nice if we had some sort of coherent story.

This is the way I am thinking of running the campaign if you want to add to or remove any of these suggestions could you let me know.

Nigel Wallis