General/Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: Monsters of the Borderlands – Scrabling

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

First up of the “common” Chaoskin are the Scrabling.

While not as brutal as the Grall or as cunning in battle as Sokurs, Scrablings are as vile and despised as any other Chaoskin. Slinking through caves, tunnels, and sewers and stalking through the deep darkness of the night, Scrablings are infestations that plague both travelers and settlements alike.

Hairless and dull grey in complexion, Scrablings have solid black eyes, bat-like features, and large pointed ears sticking out from their heads. Ears which turn and swivel to focus on nearby sounds. Few are taller than three to four feet high. Their small stature is further exaggerated by a hunched posture. Slight and slim in build, they are quite flexible–nearly pliable and rubbery–and can squeeze through openings that seem far too small for them to be able to pass through.

Scrablings use their fluidity to reach locations other simply cannot, establishing nests in hiddens nooks and crannies or accessing otherwise well-protected and secure rooms or chambers. Combined with their knack for stealth, Scrablings can appear in the most unexpected locations and establish large nests before anyone realizes that they are there. There are numerous tales of individuals waking in the middle of the night to watch–in horror–as a Scrabling silently squeezes through a crack barely large enough for a rat to only be followed by another and another and another…

There are many more untold tales of those individuals who never woke to such a sight and were found killed, even butchered, or simply missing in the morning.

General/Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: Monsters of the Borderlands – The Urzuvas

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

There are many different peoples who populate Panoply. While there have been and continue to be various conflicts between these peoples, they all have at least one thing in common…they were created in the image of the Shining Lords of Law. This is not the case with the Urzuvas.

The Urzuvas, or Chaoskin, are creatures created by the Princes of Chaos and are completely and thoroughly inimical to life. Chaos given a permanent shape and form, they are the tools of the Princes for whatever goals they may have. Even when the Urzuvas are allied with peoples of Panoply, such as the Empire of the Ostadrim, it is only to further the unfathomable interests of the Princes of Chaos.

As one might expect, the Urzuvas are quite varied in size, appearance, and abilities. Many are thoroughly unique creatures, with no other similar enough to be classified as being of the same type. Others are quite numerous and analogous to dwarves, elves, goblins, humans, orcs, and the like. Although these Chaoskin share a passing resemblance to these peoples in that they are at least (mostly) humanoid in shape, they are still thoroughly and completely creatures of chaos…utterly adverse to and destructive of civilization, life, and ultimately all of Panoply. The most common of these Urzuvas are the Scrabling, Grall, Sokur, Karnhank, Unge, and Krall.

While each bears a resemblance (often a rather strong resemblance) to how many D&D style humanoid “monsters” are portrayed, they are not goblins, orcs, or hobgoblins. And they are not people…they are monsters of Chaos and not just in the sense of alignment. They only seek…and can only seek…the same thing as the Princes of Chaos…conquering and subsuming Panoply into Maelstrom. There are no real moral quandaries when facing Urzuvas. They have no children, no families, no hope for redemption or reform…and they have no qualms of their own in harming or killing the peoples of Panoply.

Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: Monsters of the Borderlands – The Traudal and the Dusk

Posted on by daHeadRat / 1 Comment

After shifting gears with our Shadowdark games, I’ve started writing up more about the world and setting for this new campaign. Not much mind you, I’m not looking to fully develop a game world or even fully develop this Borderlands mini-setting. Rather just the things that come to mind and the words start to flow…for good or bad. A number of these little bits of writing are related to the monsters of the Borderlands (and the broader world). Below the break is some information about the Midnight Elves and their servants, the Dusk. This is relevant as the player characters have been exploring a location that one of them, Aja, has identified as an outpost of these creatures. The other characters know nothing of them.

Continue reading →
General/Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Borderlands Session 2

Posted on by daHeadRat / 1 Comment

In our prior session, the PCs clever plan to lure in either the brigands or the scrablings had worked…just not exactly how they had wanted. This led the PCs to a path that split with brigand traps leading in one direction and scrabling tracks in another. Reasoning that with scrablings being creatures of the night and it was daytime, that they would be at an advantage to pursue the scrablings now and the brigands later. This proved true. They caught many of the scrablings mostly unaware in Goblin Gully (based on the wonderful map from Dyson’s Dodecahedron) but not without harm to themselves. After regrouping (and some healing), the PCs started to head deeper into Goblin Gully.

RJ and Savannah were both missing. Rachel played Aja and Jen played Norfek. More below the break.

Continue reading →
General/Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Wider World of the Borderlands Setting

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

My intent with the Borderlands game is to largely develop the world as we play. The players are helping to name and develop stuff like major NPCs such as Harold at the Spider’s Bite Inn, the name of the Baroness (Fluvia), the name of the commander of The Keep (Lord Luca Blackwood), the name of the capital of the Kingdom of Darnesh (Fairchild). I also asked for input on the name of the world for the campaign. I got a few responses and one was Spyro. While the name didn’t really grab me, it did spark the thought of a world that was a spiral or a helix instead of a globe. Another suggestion was Panoply…which means a collection of things. While this campaign will be limited to the Borderlands, this name suggests a world with a LOT of cultures and peoples and kingdoms and so on…maybe even one that is nearly infinite in variety and breadth. Another was Norn and this sparked the thought of not simply fate or the shaping of destinies but the role of deities in the creation and life of the world. This soup of thoughts led to a relatively brief description of the World of Tahvel which is below (the break)..

Continue reading →
General/Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Borderlands Session 1

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

“What do you want?” That was the response from the priest as he realized that most (but not all) of the player characters had entered the church and were approaching him. And that’s where we picked up our next session (below the break). All of the characters had arrived in Bridgeford and had met in an inn during our Session 0. They began to gel as a group–if for no other reason than knowing that they are the player characters–and settled on following a lead which had brought Ellery to the Borderlands…a rumor that a ruined abbey, Valvur Abbey, might not be quite as empty of treasure as was as commonly believed. In the hopes of learning more about the location of these ruins, they had come to Bridgeford’s church to ask some questions.

All players participated this week.

Continue reading →
Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Borderlands Session 0

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

Our first session of the campaign was a “Session 0” for creating characters and to start to learn who they are. All four players attended and rolled up their characters. We have a half-elf bard, a human ranger, a human fighter, and a dwarven paladin. They all arrived in the Borderlands and the town of Bridgeport and they all met in a tavern. 😉

Details on the PCs and our first session below the break.

Continue reading →
Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Borderlands and Exploration

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

Fifth Edition enshrined in its player’s handbook the notion that there are three pillars of the game: combat, exploration, and social interaction. I don’t think this is correct, at least not for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen combat as a pillar of D&D and other role-playing games. It is, obviously, a part of the game but not a pillar. I also don’t see social interaction as a pillar of the game. Instead, both are supports for what I consider the pillar of RPGs…exploration. (This entire post, of course, is my opinion and perception of things…folks are free to have different opinions and perceptions. Similarly, the line between old and new/modern versions of D&D is something that is up for debate and it can be a blurry line.)

Continue reading →
Shadowdark/The Borderlands

Shadowdark: The Barony of Grenzant

Posted on by daHeadRat / 0 Comment

(Continuing from the prior post on the Borderlands, this post provides a little more information about the area in which the campaign will be set.)

The Borderlands are part of the Enduring Kingdom of Darnesh, a kingdom whose lands are to the west. The Borderlands or, as it is officially known, the Barony of Grenzant is the most easterly holding of the Kingdom. Fluvia Tidewater–Grenzant is the current Baroness. The only child of Baron Avial Tidewater-Grenzant, she was thrust into this position of leadership at the age of thirteen when both her father and mother succumbed to a strange illness that evaded all attempts to cure it.

Continue reading →