Campaign Journal
by David TauriainenRavage Roast.. *cough* ...Savage Coast is where I like to DM, just because of the instability of the region, and the ready spaces for new baronies should my players choose such a path.
My original SC Campaign only had two players, one of whom really wanted to play an old-fashioned Samurai with a Clash-of-cultures theme; so a nomadic Rakasta wasn't the _best_ choice, although it would have been convenient. Instead, he played him as a Samurai from a small country on Skothar who was magically transported to the waters off of the Isla del Cayo. Takahashi Sumara was on a quest to find someone to reforge his father's broken katana, but he had to spend quite some time in the service of Renard de Real, a trader for the LB Trading Company, copying documents (Sumara had a great talent for calligraphy) while he learned Espan. Eventually Renard had a mission for Sumara: Travel north with the Magician and Ruby Inheritor novice Julia de Real (who named herself Archon), to deliver a chest full of Cinnabryl to an agent outside of Los Peregrinos, which was rebuilding, but had not enough priests. Archon's Natural Legacy had not yet surfaced (she was rather young), but her Legacy as an Inheritor was "proficiency," which turned out to be one of the most useful legacies ever; when she obtained her natural legacy, it was "craft", and by that time, she had enough experience to have another legacy of "senses". Then, the rules broke down. As an Inheritor, Archon could buy any amount of Red Steel she desired. Once she had a huge stockpile of Red Steel, she first used "proficiency" to have the "Trivia: Oriental Culture," "Weaponsmithing," and "Redsmithing" skills. Then, she used "craft" to make an Exceptional Red Steel Katana (exceptional weapon rules from 2e complete fighters handbook). She then used senses to check the blade for any flaws. In other words, Archon created, nearly in effect, a +1 redsteel katana in 4 rounds (5 if you add the double-check). The only thing it lacked compared to a real +1 weapon were the speed factor and saving throw bonuses (since it was redsteel it could strike magical monsters). Then she proceeded to make enough pieces for an oriental style set of Red Steel Full Plate for Sumara. After that, the pair did not lack for money. Takahashi Sumara never got his father's sword reforged; he wanted it reforged the old-fashioned way, by the same metalsmithing family that originally made the sword.
My second SC campaign only just started, with a Flame Inheritor (who also has fire-type legacies), a Swashbuckler, and an Enduk Fighter/Priest of Idu.
I ran many Classic D&D adventures in the Known World, before I knew the planet's name, but I did run one short-lived AD&D campaign in Karameikos:
A (PC) Bard from Darokin travelled to Threshold after hearing that the loggers were loose with their money, and he was playing one evening in a tavern when a (PC) thief got a bright idea... The thief started pickpocketing during the applause, and he would throw the money into the Bard's open mandolin case, just as the others threw their money in. Eventually "THIEF" was yelled, but no one could have been carrying that much money without having a large bag, so the thief had to have already fled the tavern.
The thief entered the Bard's room later that evening, explaining the larger tips, and a crime spree was born.