The trip up the Helskan Strait had been a subdued affair. The sailors paid little heed to the passengers who had booked fare aboard The Starling. They dutifully tended to their jobs – the only time things seemed amiss was after we entered Oceansend Bay and a cry of “See-yo-tun” wailed from the crow’s nest.
Every land has its wars, but as we came into Norwold … there’s an echo of something epic. Battles on which great civilizations rose and fall. The indigs have a fatalistic tale, which they share with the Northmen, called Ragnarok when even the gods fall to the sword. When you look at the maneuvers of the great empires of the world vying for this frozen stretch of ground – who’s to say the Norwolders don’t have it right? Something’s brewing in the air. Something good for business.
And don’t ever forget this is a business. You aren’t in it for the person. You’re not in it for their cause. You’re in it for the money. Old Captain Solomay taught me that, right along with his other two rules: one, no reward is worth dying over, and two, always remember the calculus of your employer: his arrows cost money, but your dead cost nothing.
-MacReeg, Captain of the Blackhearts
This is the ninth entry in a series of unofficial Gazetteer gaming aids for enthusiasts of the world of Mystara. This work covers the Kingdom of Oceansend and the underpopulated coastal Strand of Norwold.
“The Free City of Oceansend” provides descriptions of the history, settlements, races, and personalities of a land where men freely sell the strength of their swords to the competing interests of empires and would-be nobles. Oceansend stands out amid the turmoil – a hub of the military commerce, and a refusal to surrender its independence.
This product also provides guidelines for playing scout-rangers, conducting squad-based combat, and running a military company.
The gazetteer is here. Enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving
).
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
I'll try reading it in the w.e.
GP
Weredeer?
Actually, a were-elk could be pretty cool!
Weredeer?
actually, both deer and dog were-types are mentioned in PC4 as some of the early versions in Alphatia after the lycanthropy release.
Is Coiger a wizard or a cleric?
Coiger is indeed a cleric. Pieglle's description is incorrect when it says Coiger is a wizard.
So now that folks have had a week or two to digest it, what did you think of the gaz?
-OldDawg
So now that folks have had a week or two to digest it, what did you think of the gaz?
Nice work. The mercenary work part is very interesting.
Some details in the Ranger description:
- Saves and combat progressions are described twice.
- Camouflage is misspelled "Cameoflage" on page 2 of the players section.
- Use of armor: I'd think the rangers would be trained to use shields and chain mail, but would not be able to use their thieving skills when wearing anything but leather armor. This would make low-level Rangers more versatile on the battlefield.
- The class seems quite powerful, trading Set the Spear and a few weapon slots for four Thieving skills and many general skill slots. I'd either drop the HD to d6 or give an experience penalty.
Another detail: "Boltman" is generally used to mean an Alphatian marine armed with a lightning bolt wand; using the same term for crossbowmen may lead to confusion.
GP
I was wondering olddawg...do you have completed maps of the spaces in the mountian area? and the northern Isle of Dawn?
What program do you use and how do you get the hexes ?
I was wondering olddawg...do you have completed maps of the spaces in the mountian area? and the northern Isle of Dawn?
What program do you use and how do you get the hexes ?
In reverse order, I use Illustrator 8.0 to make the maps. I began with Thorf's original set of images and turned them into large, tileable patterns (a wee bit of trickery on that ;)). For a few icons, like volcanoes or settlements, I later went back and just used his original vector art. I've also invented some new hexes like the interdiction, crabbing and fishing areas on the Oceansend Map.
I lose a little bit of fine clarity from the patterning, but it makes the file management and design easier - I only need to anchor point the outline of a geographic zone beneath the hexgrid overlay.
To the first question, yes there is a mapping gap between Oceansend and Denagoth. As the rest of GazF winds up, you will see additional gaps in the Wyrmsteeth, the "Druid Valley" north of Oceansend, etc. The root cause of all this is that Norwold has a slanted shape and not everything within a given rectangle of interest properly belongs to the Gaz at hand. (Think of all the non-Darokin stuff in a Darokin map).
All of the gap areas are the hidden interior of Norwold. They won't be fully gaz'ed, but they will have an adventure path put out for them. I've been working on the Ransarn Valley Map (the gap of your original query) recently with a particular plot in mind.
Nice work. The mercenary work part is very interesting.
Some details in the Ranger description:
- Saves and combat progressions are described twice.
- Camouflage is misspelled "Cameoflage" on page 2 of the players section.
- Use of armor: I'd think the rangers would be trained to use shields and chain mail, but would not be able to use their thieving skills when wearing anything but leather armor. This would make low-level Rangers more versatile on the battlefield.
- The class seems quite powerful, trading Set the Spear and a few weapon slots for four Thieving skills and many general skill slots. I'd either drop the HD to d6 or give an experience penalty.
Thanks for the critique, GP.
Part of the reason for not permitting chain mail was to lower the ranger's profile as a stand up fighter. Some of the thief-skills have limited applicability (so a ranger couldn't find a trap on a lock, for instance). Where the ranger really suffers in regards to combat versus a regular fighter is if you use weapon mastery. Two of the initial four slots given to fighters must be on the dagger and a form of wrestling. additional slots are gained as a non-fighter.
If you still think the class is too much, then I'd recommend using dwarf XP (10% extra vs fighter) rather than dropping down to d6 hit dice.
Another detail: "Boltman" is generally used to mean an Alphatian marine armed with a lightning bolt wand; using the same term for crossbowmen may lead to confusion.
Actually "boltman" has been used as a term for soldiers armed with crossbows since the beginning of the game, and before that in the RW. Boltman = lightning slinger was BH's translation of the idea of shooters to the uber-magical Alphatian navy. Similar to my adaptation of bombadier and fusilier to refer to wizards throwing around area-effect or single target spells.
Similar to my adaptation of bombadier and fusilier to refer to wizards throwing around area-effect or single target spells.
Shouldn't that be "bombardier"?
Actually "boltman" has been used as a term for soldiers armed with crossbows since the beginning of the game, and before that in the RW.
I know. I just find it odd that the same name would apply to these fairly different types of soldiers.
GP