Simple Encounter Board

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a small encounter board for my D&D and other RPG games.  Most of my RPG encounters take place over a small area compared to the amount of space needed for a war game.  Most of the time I set up my RPG encounters on a 4x4 foot war game table or larger.  I wanted something smaller that I could place on my gaming table instead of off on another table.
 

I picked up a 33x50" Ready Grass Vinyl Mat from Woodland Scenics and a 20x30" poster frame from Walmart.  I think I spent about $20.00 U.S. on the project but I don't have the exact figures. 

 I laid the cardboard poster backing from the frame on the grass mat then traced the size.  After cutting the mat I was mostly done. 

I used some tacky glue to glue the mat down to the cardboard backing then placed some heavy books on and let it set for a couple hours.  I recommend against using a water based glue for this to prevent warping.  I did have some slight bubbling with this but that worked out okay because the board looked more natural with the slight rolling surface rather than if it was perfectly flat.   

Looks pretty good with terrain and figures on it.  Just exactly what I was hoping for.  The frame separates it nicely from the table and I think it might prevent dice from rolling onto the board so easily. 

I plan to make several more of this for different types of terrain including one with a flat black surface for laying down dungeon tiles.   

"Heroes of the Ghost Age" Book 1 The Reaving of Raven Hill: Chapter 1 To Catch a Rat. Part 1. A Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Campaign

Hero's of the Ghost Age

Book 1: The Reaving of Raven Hill

Chapter 1: To Catch a Rat
(Part 1)

It was already late September and just a few short weeks away from leiunium Cereris the fasting day honoring the goddess Ceres.  Tragedy had fallen the town of Raven Hill.  Not only was the town overrun by rats again but someone had stolen the idol of Ceres from her shrine.  

There was no doubt among the townspeople as to who was to blame.  During the spring Lord Roufus Ravenhill hired the rat catcher Gunther of Fellberg to rid the town of it's rat problem. In an amazingly short period of time Gunther had managed to rid the town of rats but when he went to Lord Ravenhill to receive his fee Lord Ravenhill tossed him a single coin and told him to get out of town.  Infuriated by this Gunther vowed that he would have his revenge on the town.

To make matters worse a particularly powerful goblin tribe had been southern farms under the protection of the town.  Lord Ravenhill and the town guard had been hard pressed to keep them at bay.  Melvin the Magnificent, a wizard who lived just outside the town, suggested that Lord Ravenhill entrust the recovery of the statue to his student and Lord Ravenhill's ward Lady Lydia Lydell and some other individuals from the town.  Melvin suggested; Efisio Battiatus a recently arrived paladin of Minerva, Flint Frostbeard the towns dwarven smith, the halfling Petunia Thistledown, and Falkrune a dwarf mercenary.  Lord Ravenhill was uncertain about Melvin's suggestions but he didn't have much of a choice.

    

The meeting was held at the town's keep.  The keep had one floor of stone but the remaining levels were constructed of wood.  Lord Ravenhill was suppose to complete the keep in stone but never had citing shortfalls of money though the townspeople largely agreed that this was just another example of Lord Ravenhill being a cheapskate.  

The individuals Melvin had suggested met with Lord Ravenhill around mid day at the keep.  Petunia had brought a pie along for the occasion. Lord Ravenhill, flanked by his two hounds, stood and said "A Tragedy has befallen us.  As you know the rat infestation has gotten out of hand.  No doubt the work of that no good rat catch Gunther of Fellberg.  He has been seen lurking around the town at night.  Some say he's been releasing the rats including some monstrously large specimens.  That however is not the worst of his crimes.  Last night the idol of Ceres was stolen from her shrine and eyewitness accounts point to Gunther as the perpetrator."  Lord Raven hill paused for a moment eyeing the assembled group with doubt.  He shook his head.  "Melvin the Magnificent suggested I gather you lot to deal with this problem.  I don't know why but I'm not one to argue with the wizard..... I'd do it myself of course but the town guard and I have been tied up chasing rats and dealing with the goblins who have been raiding the southern farms.  I need help and I suppose you will have to do."

Lord Ravenhill got up and moved towards the door calling his hounds to heel.  Before exiting though he picked up Petunia's pie inhaling the aroma "Ah still warm" he said with a slight smile.  Without another word he left.

Without much else to go on the party decided to visit the shrine of Ceres which was located outside of town in the farm lands.  There they found that the idol was indeed missing.  Some of the offerings seems to have been disturbed as well.  After searching about the structure for a little while Efisio found a set of boot tracks heading off into a field of grain.  

The followed the tracks across the field to the edge of the Raven Wood.  Just inside the forest the tracks came to a shallow stream but seemed to end abruptly.  On the opposite bank a single large rat track could be seen in the mud.  It was large enough to be a man's foot print.  The rest of the bank was too rocky to pick up the immediate trail.  After searching for some time they managed to pick up a trail of man sized foot tracks.  Strangely the tracks seemed to have been left by an individual walking on two legs instead of all fours.  It was getting late.  "This looks like a good place to camp" Flint said.  They set up a camp and divided watches.  Petunia climbed a large oak tree because she did not feel safe on the ground.  

  

"We're under attack!" shouted Efisio.  Three goblins had rushed out of the brush and attacked the paladin of Minerva while he was on guard.  Lydia, Flint, and Faulkrune awoke with goblins attacking them.  Flint took a nasty hit before he was able to get to his feet.  

The battle was hard fought especially since neither Flint nor Faulkrune had their armor on.  Efisio battled three of the goblins but he had help from Petunia who fired her short bow from the three she was in.  Eventually the goblins were dispatched and the party drug their corpses further from the camp.  During Lydia's watch the mage sent her owl familiar Luna to get a better view of the area.  What she saw disturbed her.  A large two headed dog was dragging a pair of goblin corpses away from the pile the party had made and headed off to the north with them.  

The party continued to follow the rat man trail to the north until they came to another stream with a very overgrown bridge.  Across the bridge was an overgrown paved road which continued north.  Though they couldn't find any more tracks the party continued to follow the road until they came upon some runes.

A man stepped out from a ruined door way.  He had a large sack over his shoulder that seemed to be writhing with a dozen or more small creatures.  The man spoke "Well I guess that cheap bastard Lord Ravenhill sent his finest to find me.  You can tell Lord Tightpants that he can have the statue back from a mere 200 gold coins."    

Efisio attempted to parlay with the man "Gunther, what if we could pay you what Lord Ravenhill promised you in the first place.  Will you return the statue and remove the rat infestation?".  "No deal!" shouted Gunther then he tossed the bag onto the ground.  Rats came swarming out of the bag.  

The paladin charge through the swarm and pinned Gunther to the ground.  The rest of the party came to Efisio's aid and they managed to kill the rats and capture Gunther. 

"We're taking you back to face some justice!" Efisio snarled.  Gunther just laughed.  As they were dragging Gunther back to town suddenly the rope went slack.  On the ground was nothing more than a pile of clothing.  "What's that!" Flint shouted.  A large rat scurried off into the underbrush carrying a small pouch in it's mouth.  Gunther had escaped.  

Uncertain about what Gunther was and concerned about the two headed dog the party decided to visit the home of Melvin the Magnificent, Lydia's instructor, to see if he could had any knowledge that could help them.  

Melvin lived in a small house just outside of town in the Raven wood.  Oddly his home seemed larger on the inside that the outside.  "I believe you are dealing with a Wererat" Melvin explained.  "What's a Wererat?" Falkrune asked.  "Well it's rather like a Werewolf but not quite so powerful.  A wererat is a human infected by a strain Lycanthropy that turns one into a rat man".  "How do we kill it?" Lydia asked.  "Well I'm afraid normal weapons will have no effect on such a creature.  You must use magic or enchanted weapons" the old wizard explained.  "Can't you come with us to help us catch Gunther?" Efisio asked.  "Oh no.  No, no, no.  I'm not much for adventures.  They make one late for tea" Melvin chuckled.  "Well do you know where we can get some enchanted weapons?" Falkrune asked.  "I do know of a tale.  There was a Knight named Balin who had a tower no far to the North.  He died more than fifty years ago.  He as said to have owned several enchanted weapons that he used to drive the undead from Raven Hill.  He was also said to have been buried in his tower.  It was frequently visited by pilgrims for some time until the undead returned to area.  No one has ventured there in some time." the wizard explained.  

Melvin turned and rummaged through a chest near the table he was sitting at.  " I do have this small dagger.  It's enchanted but not terribly powerful".  He placed it on the table "You may borrow it".  Petunia snatched the dagger off the table quicker that anyone could see.  "Oh it's beautiful!  Can I have it?" she asked.  The mage nodded "Very well".  Petunia drew the small blade and raised it above her head triumphantly.  "I shall call you Aculeus!" she said with glee.  

End Part 1

Notes:  This is the first part of my new Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition campaign "Heroes of the Ghost Age" set in my group's home brew setting of Tellus.  We've finished the first adventure and the party is almost third level but there were so many images I decided to split the report up into three parts to make it easier.  Also the game took three sessions to complete so this is roughly where the first session left off.  

     

The World of Tellus: The Augustian Empire

The Augustian Empire

When the gods brought their followers to Tellus none were more successful and prosperous than the followers of the Roman Gods.  These gods settled followers from different regions of the Roman Empire in regions of Tellus that were similar to their home regions.  However as the Roman Empire was diverse and cosmopolitan people of different ethnicities were spread across the new land.  

Eventually these peoples merged into a cohesive empire absorbing local non-humans into their system.   Emperor Augustus was the first emperor of the new empire.  He brought all the divergent lands together from his capitol of Castrum on Minervia.  At the height of his reign Emperor Augustus created a land bridge between Aegyptus and Parthia by building massive dykes that connected the Augustia Islands to the main lands.  He then built the great city of Augustopolis which became the new capitol of the empire and a center for knowledge and the arts.  During the Witch King’s plague the dykes broke and most of Augustopolis was swept into the ocean.  

Several other emperors followed Augustus’s reign though none achieved his greatness.  Still the empire thrived until the coming of the Witch King’s plague.  The devastation wrought by the plague broke the empire into a myriad of lesser kingdoms and city states that for the most part adopted a feudal system to survive.  Many ruined cities and towns dot the landscape and most are still overrun by undead and monstrous creatures.  The people hope that one day the glory of the empire will be restored but that dream seems impossible to most.  Much knowledge was lost during the plague and most rulers lack the power to govern more than a few hundred square miles of territory.     

The World of Tellus: A sandbox world for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition

Tellus: A sandbox world for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.

How things came to be......

The world of Tellus is connected to our own world through several hidden crossings.  It is a world where many of the the gods of Earth originated.  A world of fairies and monsters and magic.  It is also a desolate death world beset by undead abominations populated by the scattered remnants of broken empires.    

Humans, as we know them, are not native to Tellus.  Millennia ago humans were created on Tellus by the younger gods.  They lived a pampered life of plenty.  The younger gods doted on their children and the humans of Tellus grew decadent and lazy eventually dying out.  The elder gods banished the younger gods to Earth where they were told to try again at creating humanity in a land less fertile and comfortable.  

Having learned their lesson the younger gods set about to re-create the race of man on Earth.  Instead of pampering humanity they allowed their children to suffer or prosper largely by their own devices giving minor gifts only to those who sacrificed and prospered.  Civilizations rose and fell and for the most part the younger gods were content to observe from afar guiding these civilizations but never interceding on their behalf in a major way.  The younger gods eventually grew bored with their creations and completely negligent of humanity.

Realizing that their gods had abandoned them humans began to search for new paths to salvation and enlightenment.  New religions sprang up and took hold gaining followers by the thousands and millions.  Still the younger gods ignored mankind content to exist in their own demi plains and squabble among themselves.  That was until their powers started to diminish and they themselves began to die.

Turning their attention back to mankind they soon realized that they could not stop the spread of these new religions so they developed a plan.  Despite many centuries of neglect there were still a number of humans devoted to their worship.  The younger gods began to move their human worshipers back to their home world.  At first in secret but then openly.  Seeing that these humans were much stronger and more independent than than the original children of the younger gods the elder gods allowed this migration and even suggested lands where humanity could colonize and prosper.  The younger gods altered the memories of the humans making them believe they had lived on Tellus for their entire lives but allowing them to retain something of their own identity.  For over a thousand years the younger gods brought their followers from Earth to their homeland until very few of their followers remained on Earth.        

Humans settles Tellus and some of them became quite prosperous.  In particular the humans of the Roman Empire who created an empire of their own.  The Agustian Empire grew strong and their gods grew stronger along with them.  There was a problem however.  The elder gods had their own children who had lived on Tellus far longer than even the original humans.  Many of these “elder” races embraced the new humans and helped them prosper even allowing themselves to be absorbed into the human kingdoms and empires.  Others however resented the humans.  Of all the elder races that clashed with humanity none were as powerful nor malicious as the dark elves.  

The dark elves hated all the other races of Tellus but they hated humans most of all.  Eventually their Witch King decided that he could no longer ignore the human threat.  The exact date has been lost to time but approximately two centuries ago the Witch King developed a magical plague that would weaken all the other races of Tellus and allow the Darks Elves to dominate the world.  The Witch King gathered powerful members of every race to be sacrificed at a great volcano in the heart of the Dark Elf lands called “The Great Cauldron”.  As the Witch King was performing the sacrifices he approached the last sacrifice, a human priestess of Minerva known only as Laelia, he was surprised when she attacked him having broken free of her bonds during the ritual.  The two wrestles with their bare hands above the volcano.  Their struggle was brief and the they fell into the lava setting off the powerful magical energy of the ritual and causing a chain reaction.  The volcano erupted with such magnitude that nothing but a smoldering crater remained.  Tens of thousands of dark elves died on the spot and the ash from the eruption blacked out the skies.  A great darkness descended on the world as the Witch King’s plague spread.  For decades the combination of the Witch King’s plague and the great winter brought on by the volcanic ash devastated the world.  

Slowly however the lands and races of Tellus began to recover but the world is still plagued by wandering undead caused by the plague.  Civilizations are broken and scattered, trying to rebuild and recover lost knowledge.  This time has come to be called “The Ghost Age”.    

Notes: This is a "sandbox" world I am creating for my local gaming group. As we adventure my players will help me flesh out this world. Their actions will have direct impact on it's development. I will be posting game reports here as well as projects I am doing for my games.                 

Venturing back into Dungeons & Dragons

Like a lot of table top gaming nerds I started out playing Dungeons & Dragons.  I was 11 years old the first time I tried to run "The Keep on the Borderlands" using the basic D&D rules.  I was the DM and as what happens to most DMs I have been a DM/GM pretty much most of my gaming career.  Now 31 years later I am taking a much more experienced crew back to the Castellan's Keep on the Borderlands to explore the Caves of Chaos and the surrounding ares using the D&D 5E rules which seem to be the best set of rules since 2nd Edition AD&D.

I've already ran one session where my party ventured to the Borderlands and scouted out The Cave of the Unknown but were forced back to the Keep after being attacked by a Wolf pack at the cave entrance.

I've started working on a set of miniatures for the party.  Hopefully I'll have them ready to go for the next session.