The Vale of the Twelve Towers a D&D BECMI sandbox setting.

 

The Vale of the Twelve Towers Introduction

Around thirty years ago a dozen evil wizards escaped from Hirshberg Castle in the Kingdom of Bierwald where they were being imprisoned by the order of the Hexenjager.

After escaping they fled to a wooded valley that lay between the Kingdom of Bierwald to the East and the Kingdom of Fleur De Lys to the West.

The wizards made a pact to use their combined powers to destroy the Hexenjager of Hirshberg. To that end they went about enslaving the orc and goblinoid tribes of the valley to build their fortress towers and elaborate dungeon complexes. For the next decade they armed and trained their hordes for war while constantly perfecting their own arts.

The armies of the twelve wizards gathered and began their siege of Castle Hirshberg. The siege was short, lasting only three weeks. With their magics and their armies the Hexenjager were nearly wiped out and Hirshberg Castle reduced to a smoking ruin.

After destroying the Hexenjager the twelve wizards turned their attention to the Grand Duchy of Kriegswald and in particular the nobility all of whom supported the Hexenjager. Every castle and estate in the duchy was sacked including the Grand Duke’s fortress. Most of the nobles and their servants were either killed or enslaved and their fortunes were plundered. Although this devastated the economy of the duchy and plunged the region into a state of anarchy the people of Kriesgwald view the twelve wizards as liberating folk heroes. They have since violently resisted any attempts at outside rule.

Once the wizards were through with their vengeance fueled rampage they returned to their valley. Most of the wizards were getting old by this time and their interests had turned towards extending their lives through one manner or the other. Some wished to attain litchdom, others immortality, and a few just wanted to find a way to live longer in their human forms. They formalized a non aggression pact then set about their individual goals.

For another decade the wizards were content to follow their own paths and desires largely staying out of each other's way and rarely venturing from their towers. When they needed something from the outside world they simply sent their minions to take care of it. Then without warning at the stroke of midnight on the night of the Winter Solstice all twelve of the wizards died.

It took months for the news of their mysterious deaths to reach the outside world. Typically this news would come from one of the wizard’s slaves who had escaped their haunted keeps or from their agents or enemies. Alway when the rumors spread they came with tales of fabulous treasures guarded by horrible monsters and enchantments.

Many expeditions are under way to take advantage of the perceived power vacuum. Many fortunes may be made not only from the treasure but from the riches of the land itself. What will become of this mystery is yet to be discovered.

This is my work in progress sandbox setting for a future Dungeons and Dragons basic campaign. I'm currently running an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E campaign. Hopefully I will get a change to work on this setting as I run that campaign.

In Search of Adventure: Session 0, The Road to Threshold

 Dara the Lawbringer, Rosco, Benzy, and the halfling Putzstaff set out from the small logging town of Riverside in the Black Peak Mountains bound for the town of Threshold.  The Lawbringer outpost in Riverside had seen better days and the village was in decline so the group had decided to seek better opportunities.  

It was early in Spring and storms had ravaged the area leaving the roads muddy and difficult to traverse.  though they were less than 16 miles from Threshold the journey would be difficult.  On their first day out they came across a creek that was flooded out of it's banks with a fast current.  They managed to get across but Dara and Benzy were nearly swept away when the log they were using to ford the river snapped under their weight.  Fortunately they had tied off a rope between two trees to aide their crossing.  Soaked through from their crossing they managed to find shelter in a rocky overhang where they could build a fire.

They set out the next day in a heavy rain.  Rosco was getting sick from the weather and Dara wasn't looking too well either.  Fortunately they found an abandoned camp at the junction in the road near some old ruins.  No one was in camp but there were two empty tents and a smoldering fire.  The road to the ruin seemed to have been cleared and the abandoned camp seemed suspicious but they didn't have much choice.  Benzy and Putzstaff decided to split the watch while their companions slept.

About an hour before dawn Putzstaff was keeping watch the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.  He knew he was being watched.  Scanning the area he saw a pair of glowing red eyes watching the camp from a wood across the road.  He started waking his companions but the eyes had vanished.  

At the crack of dawn the goblin made their attack.  First a large force came down the road to the ruins and attacked the party then another charged up the road from the direction of Threshold.  Dara caved in one of the goblins skulls with a shot from her sling but within moments they were surrounded and fighting for their lives.  

Roso and Benzy killed several of the creatures who were having a hard time finding openings in their heavy armor.  Dara brought down another two with her sling but several of the archers shot her and she passed out.  Eventually two of the goblin archer got behind Rosco and stabbed him in the back with their crude knives.  Roso fell as the goblins continued to work their blades between the gaps in his plate.

Benzy and Putzstaff managed to drive off the goblins.  They revived Dara but Rosco was done for.  After performing the funeral rights of the Lawbringers Rosco was buried and the three remaining travelers pushed on to Threshold.

After getting settled in at the Rowdy Rottweiler Inn and discussing their options travelers met a mercenary named Dieter who was also looking for work.  During the evening meal the Baron and Patriarch Sherlane Halaran arrived at the tavern with a contingent of town guards.  He invited them to be healed and provisioned the next morning to discuss an expedition to investigate reports of a renegade cleric named Elwyn who was gathering a raiding party of Orcs to the East.  With no better prospects the companions agreed.  

My gaming group has been exploring older editions of Dungeons and Dragons lately.  Having played several 2nd Edition AD&D games I have decided to run our group through the "In Search of Adventure collection" B1-9 for the Basic Dungeons and Dragons rules.  I will be running these on again off again when my group has a chance to play them.  

  

"Beyond the Northgate Passage" my "West Marches" style AD&D 2E Campaign.

 

The current Player map for the campaign of the area around "Fort Venture"

A couple of months ago my role playing games group started a new Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition campaign in the "West Marches" style I named "Beyond the Northgate Passage".  This is actually the 4th West Marches style game I have run for my group in the last few years.  We've found the format good for the type of group that we have as we are often unable to make regular sessions with the same party members.  

Our previous West Marches games have all used the current 5th Edition of the Dungeons and Dragons campaign published by Wizards of the Coast but we have instead decided to go a bit more old school and use Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition.  We found 5th edition characters were too powerful for exploration games.  It's just too easy to rest up between fights and characters have few reasons to return to town or engage in diplomacy for that matter.   

The setting map.

One thing I have learned about running "West Marches" style games is that they require a fair amount of upfront preparation.  You don't have to work out every details of the setting you are using but as the game relies heavily on player driven exploration rather than guiding the party down an adventure path the DM needs to know what is going on in the areas that they Player Characters are exploring.  

I went a little aggressive at this stage of planning and tried to lay out most of the locations of things like monster lairs, dungeons, ruins, tribal camps, and other points of interest which resulted in a lot of information to work from.  I have started detailing those areas near the starting town first but just having the names and a little information about what kinds of things exist on the frontier has made it easier to get this campaign up and running.  

I've found it is good to have a lot of low level encounters and points of interest near the starting town in a West Marches game but it is also good to have some high level content.  This is important not only to provide some more interesting play for characters who have returned to town on business but also to add a sense of danger at all levels of play.  There needs to be some mystery for low level areas that will make players interested in coming back to explore areas after they have leveled up a bit. 

In a West Marches campaign it's best not to view the Player Characters as "Heroes" though they can engage in heroic acts.  In a previous campaign most of the player characters were involved in thwarting a demonic incursion which left many of them in positions of power and influence.  This is not however the typical goal for this kind of campaign.  Exploring new territory and gaining individual riches and power are the more typical motivators.  

Explorers investigate a crypt some dwarven miners accidently opened while excavating.  Though they gained some treasure they decided not to proceed further into the crypt due to the inexperience.  

    

In this campaign the Kingdom of Knottinglund has defeated the hobgoblin "Razor Rock Legion" who held "Razor Rock Keep" which guarded the Northern Wildlands.  Rumors of ancient riches and abundant land and natural resources have drawn dozens of treasure hunters and explorers to the region the player characters among them.  

The "Wildlands" are an extremely dangerous regions filled with aggressive tribes of humanoids and barbarians and broken civilizations of xenophobic elves and dwarves.  The land itself is dangerous and difficult to traverse but full of opportunity for those bold enough to seize it.  

A fine and often forgotten miniature battle rules set fully usable in an AD&D 2E campaign.

Another aspect of the "Wildlands" is that most of the factions are hostile and in order to truly take advantage of the opportunities presented them Player Characters won't be able to rely on personal heroics alone to save the day.  They will have to take command of armies as the kingdom expands settlements in the region.  I plan to employ TSRs brilliant "Battlesystem" miniature rules for the 2nd Edition into the campaign.  Player characters will have to recruit followers and hire mercenaries to help deal with large scale military threats.

At this point even the most experienced characters in the campaign are just reaching 2nd and 3rd levels but they are already getting invested in building up the region.  Due to an early windfall three of them have started building establishments of their own further into the region after being granted lands and permission by the local lord to do so.  No doubt they will have to defend their new holdings and build roads and bridges to increase the size of their little hamlet.  

Archers and Soldiers from "Tres De Aurum Legio" mercenary company who have recently establish a garrison at the former Hobgoblin stronghold of "Razor Rock Keep".

   

Although we are several sessions in we are still very much in the process of grinding through lower level content.  The goal for the moment for most of their player characters is to gain wealth and influence in the region before exploring the more interesting areas but that is to be expected.  The lower power 2E rules really play well into this as they limit the speed at which PCs  gain power and provide more reason for them to be more strategic in their actions.   

I don't plan to detail every single "adventure" in this campaign but I hope to keep frequent updates about the campaign progress over all.  I will be including some reports of the more interesting sessions as well as significant battles that take place in the campaign.   

Cavaliers and Roundheads Episode 5 Skirmish at the Old Mill Ford

November 8th, 1642.  Captain Hewitt had heard that not all the supplies had been recovered from the Royalist camp at Edgecote.  Of particular note were two large barrels of powder and several hundred lengths of match cord that had been stashed in a small barn.  He decided to dispatch Sargent Osbury and Mable banks with a few men to gather the supplies and bring them to Banbury Castle to add to the garrison's stock.  

The supplies were easy enough to find and after loading up the supplies on donkeys and an oxcart they headed back towards Banbury with the intention of crossing the river Cherwell at Cropredy Bridge. As they approached the town they saw a gentleman riding towards them at full gallop.  The man brought his horse to a stop and demanded to know who the Royalist were for.  Charles replied "For the King!"  "Then you should know that Cropredy Bridge is being held by at least 30 Parliamentary militia.  I've just barely escaped from there myself." replied the man.  At that the gentleman spurred his horse on and disappeared down the road.  

Mable spotted a wooded ravine about a hundred yards off the road so the Royalist party decided to hide there until they could decide what to do.  As they were discussing their options a farmer heading towards the town seemed to have spotted them so they decided to move south along the river to look for a fording.  

 

They found a ford about a half mile south of the bridge near an old ruin that looked to be some kind of mill.  Mable scouted ahead and didn't discover any problems so they decided to chance a river crossing.  Sargent Gryffon and three musketeers took up a position on a hill overlooking the ford while the rest crossed with the supplies.   

Things were going well until suddenly two troops of Parliamentary soldiers sprung from their hiding places. One group was hiding among the trees on the opposite bank and another among the ruin.  

 

One of Sargent Gryffon's musketeers was shot down in the first exchange as the Roundheads advanced on their position.  

Sargent Osbury, Plunket, and Towne were caught in the open crossing the river.  Towne was hit but only lightly wounded.  The Royalist returned fire but had little success against their enemies well covered positions.  

One of the Parliamentarians advancing up the hill was shot down by Gryffon's men but they still had an almost two to one advantage.  

 

Charles spurred his horse onto the bank and charged one of the Roundhead musketeers running him down with his charger.  He discharged his pistol and wounded another.  Two of the enemy retreated up the hill.  

Continuing his charge Charles cuts down another trooper but he is shot by his companion.  The wound is not serious however.  

Towne is able to reach the opposite bank and reload.  He then shoots another enemy trooper killing the man instantly.  

Mable Banks abandons the oxcart and moves to aid the musketeers holding the hill.  She fires her crossbow at one of the trooper hitting him but not seriously.  The trooper turns to fire at her but misses.  Sargent Gryffon makes a desperate charge down the hill wielding his partisan and wounding one of the enemy musketeers.  

  

After finishing off the Parliamentarians on the hill Sargent Osbury charges down the hill at the others.  Plunket makes it to the bank and both he and Towne take down another Roundhead.  Plunket is however shot down himself.  

After cutting down two foes Sargent Gryffon is knocked out of action by enemy musket fire. Things are looking bad for the Royalist on the hill.  

  

Mable Banks falls back as one of the Roundheads chases her wounding her lightly in an exchange.  Eventually he gives up the chase and returns to his fellows.  

The last three Parliamentary militia men manage to take up the rest of the Royalist musketeers on the hill but not before all three were wounded.  

Charles runs down the last of the Parliamentarians on his side of the river.  Towne manages to staunch Plunkets wounds saving his comrade.  After securing the Western bank Charles turned and charged back across the river on his horse.  Towne turned and drew a bead on of of the Parliamentarians who had retreated into the ruin.  Despite the cover and range he shot the man dead.    

 

Mable Banks and Sargent Osbury killed the trooper that had been chasing her the moved to engage the last of the enemy.  The man threw down his musket and surrendered.  

After tending to the wounded amazingly only one of the Royalist had been killed.  One of the other Parliamentarians had only been knocked unconscious so with their two prisoners they set off towards Banbury.  

When they arrived and told Captian Hewitt of the Parliamentarian forces at Cropredy Bridge the Captian was quite concerned.  "We'll have to deal with them soon of they will become a thorn in our supply lines" he said.  

Notes:  I've just received an order of Swashbucklers from Brigade Games which is good because I'm running out of ideas on how to keep using my small 17th century collection.  I have a much larger order in route from Warlord Games including their English Civil War starter army so I can do some much bigger skirmishes. Level progression in the campaign is going fairly slowly but that is fine by us.  D&D characters can get pretty powerful for historic games even when they don't have magic.  So far it's working fairly well though.    

Cavaliers and Roundheads Episode 4 How now King's Cow

November 5th, 1642.  Currently stationed at recently captured Banbury Castle Captain Hewitt has dispatched Sargent Charles Osbury and Mable banks with Plunket and Towne to travel to the market at Wardington to pick up a small herd of cattle from Edmund Bray which were to be used to provision the King's Lifeguard.  The cattle have been paid for but they must be driven back to the castle.  

Upon arrival in Wardington the Royalist party discovered that Edmund Bray had been killed by a troop of Parliamentarian militia and the King's cattle stolen.  Their trail was easy enough to pick up.  They were heading east into a stretch of wooded area.    

    

After tracking the cattle thieves for about an hour they came up on the rear of the Parliamentarian column.  The militia members were having a hard time controlling the herd as they traveled through the wood.  As the Royalist were planning their attack they heard someone shout out "Stop in the name of the Queen!"  It was the Sir Roberte and his party challenging the Roundhead men.  He was apparently still under the delusion that Queen Elizabeth had returned from the grave.     

Mable, Plunket, and Towne took up a position on a hill behind the Parliamentarians and took aim at two of the men trying to catch up to some wayward cows.  Charles waited just behind the hill on his charger ready to join the fight.  

 

Sir Roberte and his party began to argue with the enemy soldiers.  The Roundheads seem both confused and amused at his insistence that Queen Elizabeth was alive and trying to regain the throne.  At first they began laughing at his but when they realized he was serious they fell into formation and raised their muskets.  

  

As the shooting began the Royalists joined the fight picking off the stragglers of the Parliamentarian militia.  

Sir Roberte and his party defiantly charged the green coated soldiers leading the cattle, taking down several of their number.  

As Sargent Osbury charged past a thicket a Parliamentarian marksman hit him in the back, wounding him badly.  

Sir Roberte continued to create havoc among the enemy troops supported by his motley band.  The green coats continued to fall back under his charge trying to find cover.  Though old and addled Sir Roberte was still a fearsome combatant.    

  

Charles spun his horse around and charged the marksman that wounded him discharging his pistol at short range almost exactly as Plunket shot at the man.  Both shots struck the Roundhead and he fell among the scrub.  

The militia scattered in all directions confused as to who was attacking them and from what direction.  A young woman in Sir Roberte's party was shot, causing his squire and another woman to charge the shooter and cut him down in their rage.  

 

Mable Banks ran to help the wounded woman and although she was able to keep her from dying she was challenged by the Knight's followers so she withdrew.  

Sir Roberte charged Charles as he came around a hill giving him a buffet with the handle of his hammer despite that fact that Charles has just shot one of the green coats.  "Stay out of this King's man!" The knight shouted.   

After the last of the Roundheads had been dispatched the Royalists and Sir Roberte's party stood apart from each other once again.  The herd had begun to scatter in every direction during the skirmish and there was a real chance most the herd would be lost.  Charles asked for a temporary truce to prevent this from happening and Sir Roberte agreed.  

With both parties working the herd was once again gathered together.  Charles promised Sir Roberte that if they helped get the cattle back to Banbury castle he would try and find better lodging for the "Queen's" court.  Roberte agreed and the whole host set off together.  

Captain Hewitt was amused by Sir Roberte and his party.  As a reward for helping bring in the herd Hewitt granted the old knight a run down manor outside of Banbury for he and his "Queen" and promised him that he would set up an audience with King Charles to resolve the matter of the two rulers.  The Captain of course had no intention of actually approaching the King about the old man's Queen but Sir Roberte fell for the ruse and was quite pleased.  

Notes:  It's been almost two weeks since we played this game but I've been really busy and unable to Blog.  We've also had another session since that I will also need to get put up.  The details about this game are a bit fuzzy in my mind but this is a pretty fair representation of the events.  I hope to have Sir Roberte show up in the future to cause more mischief for the player characters.  Eventually he will likely go away if he doesn't get himself killed but we shall see what the future holds.    

Cavaliers and Roundheads Episode 3 Skirmish at the old Manor

 October 28th, 1642.   The Royalist army of King Charles I had just captured Banbury castle with a large stockpile of firearms as well as other provisions.  The problem was they didn't have enough pack animals to carry the goods or pull the carts.  A local loyalist farmer named Rafe Fowler had come to the camp with information useful to the Royalists.  Some Parliamentarians had rounded up several ponies that they were holding at the old ruined Bottomham Manor near Hanwell.  Captain Hewitt immediately dispatched Corporal Charles Osbury, Mable Banks and a small squad of musketeers to capture the ponies. 
 

 After scouting the camp from the North the party of Royalists decided to attack from the South.  Sargent Gryffon, Plunket, Towne, and three other musketeers took up a position on the hill overlooking the improvised corral.  Several Parliamentarians were engaged in target practice while only two guarded the ponies. 
 

Charles had been given a trained cavalry horse after the capture of Banbury and he charged over the hill, overwhelming one of the Roundhead guards. 

The musketeers finished off the other guard with a volley of musket fire.  Mable Banks crouched behind a tree near the musketeers. 

Charles Osbury turned the corner of the ruined manor and fired at the Roundhead musketeer in a green coat wounding him lightly.  The Royalist Musketeers finished the man off with another volley. 

The alarm went up among the Parliamentarians who moved to cover among the ruins.  A troop of Roundheads in red coats took up position near a supply depot while another group in green coats took cover behind a wall. 
   

 Corporal Osbury charged the redcoat position wounding one of them with his pistol.  Their Sargent scrambled over the ruins to engage him. 

Seeing the corporal's bold move the Royalist musketeers used his distraction to move off the hill shooting at the redcoats as they did.  

Mable Banks moved into the ruined foundation of the Manor and began an unusual exchange with the Roundheads in green coats.  Her crossbow shots were answered by volleys  of musket fire but the range and cover made for many missed shots. 

Charles slashed at the Roundhead Sargent with his sword then reared his horse up.  The creature's hooves caved the poor man's head in.
 

The King's musketeers moved up into some cover and brought down the man Corporal Osbury had wounded. 

Meanwhile Plunket and Towne moved over to help Mable with the other enemy unit.  For his trouble Towne was lightly wounded as he climbed over the wall. 

The red coated Roundheads, seeing their Sargent killed, fired on Charles at point blank range wounding him. 

The fight against the green coated Parliamentarians fired recklessly at the Royalists in the Manor ruins but continued to have little luck. 
 

Wounded, the good Corporal retreated to the cover of a crumbling wall under the covering fire of the Royalist musketeers. 

Still in the fight the two remaining red coated Roundheads brought down a Royalist musketeer while tenaciously defending their supply depot. 

Plunket and Towne took up a better position in the Manor ruin and the managed to wound one of the green coats. 

Charles Osbury charged the depot again and brought down another trooper with a pistol shot.  Only one Roundhead remained to guard the supplies but he fought on. 

Sargent Gryffon charged the final red coat with his two remaining musketeers.  The Royalist attacked with his partisan but only lightly injured his opponent. 

As the battle continued the ponies in the makeshift corral began to get spooked.  Mable, along with Plunket and Towne, continued to trade mostly ineffective fire with the green coats. 

 Hoping to end the stalemate the green coats ducked behind the wall they had been using for cover in an attempt to flank Mable's position.

Corporal Osbury noticed the maneuvering Roundheads and spurred his horse into pursuit.  He fired a pistol shot but missed.   

The final red coated soldier fought desperately against the King's men managing to wound Sargent Gryffon in the exchange and stubbornly refusing to surrender.  

 Miss Banks dashed across the open ground and through an opening in the green coats wall to dispatch the wounded soldier. 

The remaining green coats formed a line and fired a volley at Mable but she ducked into cover and all their shots missed again. 

At that point the spooked ponies broke through the weak reinforcement of the corral.  Towne shouted "Corporal the ponies are getting away!"

Charles charged on his horse and cut down and trampled the green coat Sargent.  The Royalists needed to end the fight soon in order to save their prize. 
 

After finally bringing down the last red coat Sargent Gryffon and his musketeers moved into the open and shot down another green coat.  

Mable moved to engage the Parliamentarians but both of the remaining men threw up their hands in surrender. 

Some of the ponies had already started to gallop away and the last four stumbled over the ruined wall in a bid for freedom.  

Corporal Osbury rushed to the aid of Plunket and Towne and the three managed to calm the animals.  Charles then headed off at full tilt after the five that had escaped.    

Fortunately for him they were in the next meadow over grazing.  Charles rounded them up and drove them back to the ruin. 

The supply depot consisted mostly of hard tack and salted pork.  The Royalist raiding party sacked up as much as they could then loaded up the ponies and returned to Banbury castle.  Captain Hewitt was extremely happy with their raid which resulted in only one Royalist casualty.  He promoted Charles to Sargent and increased Mable's pay.  The musketeers were given extra provisions and a better billet inside the castle. 

Notes:  This was much more of a straight up fight with little roleplaying.  I really wanted a more serious session than the last one with a more military campaign feel.  We have only been playing two hour sessions so I plan to alternate between sessions with more RP and sessions with more action.  Unfortunately I had to use cheap plastic horses as proxie ponies but you have to work with what you have.