Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Dec 28, 2005 19:58:24	Hi folks. Okay, I'm currently in the progress of putting together the beginings of a DL Campaign set a little after the end of the War of The Souls. Being as most of my players are relativley new to the game and I've been out of the DM mixing bowl for quite a while and of course the timeline in the DL campaign setting book stops dead at the end of the war, I'd like some free advice on what to do and not do in the given situation below. One of my players wants to be a mage. Is it worth my while speeding things along and rectifying the Order and the Conclave? To be honest I'm not sure how best to handle the situation as I've never played in or ran a DL game set during a time where the old order no longer exists,(at this time), and the Tower of Wayreth is off doing it's disappearing act. I've a few ideas at hand but I'm not entirely happy with them. Any advice for an aging DM who's losing his marbles a bit, ( ;) ) would be much appreciated.
#2 clarkvalentine Dec 28, 2005 20:19:56	The Orders aren't as completely FUBAR as you think. In the module Key Of Destiny, which also takes place a few months to a year after the War of Souls, aspiring mages are given a chance to take the Test at the Lighthouse in Ak-Khurman, which is run by Zoe Left-Hand, a red robed wizard. So, improvise. Maybe the PCs actually go to Ak_Khurman to take the test from Zoe. Maybe there's some other wizard from before the Chaos War who's organizing Tests of High Sorcery somewhere else (conveniently where the PCs are adventuring).
#3 zombiegleemax Dec 28, 2005 20:38:29	Now I'll admit there's a few DL tales I've yet to get stuck into, (there's so many as you know!), but from perusing these very forums I've discovered that Jenna is now the head of the order, Dalamar the Black robes and some fella named Corin is head of the Whites, but what of the timelines? If I choose to go down the path of the Conclave, Towers of High Sorcery etc then what books should I get my teeth into? I could wing it but I'd much rather know where I'm heading, so to speak.
#4 cam_banks Dec 28, 2005 21:31:29	Now I'll admit there's a few DL tales I've yet to get stuck into, (there's so many as you know!), but from perusing these very forums I've discovered that Jenna is now the head of the order, Dalamar the Black robes and some fella named Corin is head of the Whites, but what of the timelines? If I choose to go down the path of the Conclave, Towers of High Sorcery etc then what books should I get my teeth into? I could wing it but I'd much rather know where I'm heading, so to speak. Coryn is a she. You'll want to pick up Wizard's Conclave for her story and the story of how the Tower of Wayreth is reclaimed. There are also a few surprises in Amber & Ashes, including some really significant new players in the ongoing sage of the Orders of High Sorcery. Cheers, Cam
#5 chuff80 Dec 28, 2005 23:32:39	The campaign that I am DMing right now is set about a year after the WoS. Mina is rising to power again with Chemosh and has planted a large undead cult within the capitol city of Ergoth, Gwynned. The party's main goal right now is to figure out how to stop the rapid spread of the cult. My take on the WoHS right now is that Jenna is head of Conclave, Dalamar head of black robes, a former player's former PC is the new White Robe head, and the Tower at Wayreth has been reclaimed by the Conclave. They are now Testing new Wizards, and there is a very strong debate going on as to whether sorcerors are renegades or not. The way it will probably head is that sorcerors are damaging the world with their undisciplined use the Primal Magic (the reason the Gods of Magic created the Orders in the first place - read supplement Towers of High Sorcery), and the Conclave will begin sending out renegade hunters to invite them to join the Orders, give up magic, or force the judgement of the Conclave. Of course, the different robes will handle it in different ways. The White Robes will probably handle it with Geas spells, charms, bindings or imprisonings, the Red by just keeping tabs on the most dangerous ones, and the Black Robes will probably pull the Join US or DIE card. As far as timelines go, the robes are just now meeting for the first new Conclave, one year after the end of the war of souls. My session this Saturday will include the debates about sorcerors as well as one of my PC's taking the Test. Magic has been gone for 30+ years, so there are going to be very few humans who are able to/interested in taking the test. There will also be some discussion of setting up new schools of magic to recruit talented young wizards across the land (as well as bases of operations for renegade hunters). PM me if you want to talk more about my ideas or campaign, or just post here again.
#6 zombiegleemax Dec 29, 2005 5:42:25	Coryn is a she. You'll want to pick up Wizard's Conclave for her story and the story of how the Tower of Wayreth is reclaimed. There are also a few surprises in Amber & Ashes, including some really significant new players in the ongoing sage of the Orders of High Sorcery. Cheers, Cam Thanks alot guys, I've to go into town today so I'll take the time to pop into my local book shop and find/order said books. Ahhh, so Coryn is a she! :D chuff80, sounds good; I'll most certainly keep in touch.
#7 zombiegleemax Dec 29, 2005 8:52:28	Well, just back back from town which was an absolute nightmare due to sales. Popped into my local book store and given that WotC books, novels etc are hard to come by here I got lucky and picked up Amber & Ashes Vol 1 and the most recent DL art book half price, (truly beautiful work, really inspiring for my D&D and my own art), happy chap allround. So, as I have a few days off I'll get stuck into that and continue writing my campaign. Once again, many thanks guys.
#8 zombiegleemax Jan 02, 2006 18:18:17	How did the debate within your conclave go?
#9 chuff80 Jan 03, 2006 14:57:04	The debate went well. the party pretty much convinced (or think that they convinced) the Conclave to take a wait and see attitude with sorcerors. The conclave originally wanted to brand all sorcerors as renegades and send out renegade hunter squads to bring them in/kill them/neutralize them. the bard in the party sat there sweating pretty profusely for a while :D . the group has undertaken a mission for the conclave, so when they finish that, there will be another discussion. I think that the whole renegade issue will not affect the party too much in the immediate future b/c there's so much other stuff going on right now with Mina and the cult of Chemosh, but if we keep playing this party, then the bard will probably be facing some tough decisions. back to the original point of this thread, I think that having the orders just beginning to re-establish themselves is a great RP opportunity. Your player(s) can actually influence a powerful organization, and gain some great allies (or enemies).
#10 true_blue Jan 03, 2006 15:37:42	That is pretty much what has happened with my brother's PC. He ended up taking the Black Robes and has been doing little missions for the Conclave because the way they are set up, he is pretty unique being 10th level. Most of the wizards who are around are either high level, the Conclave members, or very low level, their apprentices. There arent too many wizards who are "in between", at least in my campaign. As I said, this makes a PC pretty unique because most of the higher ups, which there are few of anyways, are busy doing really important work like trying to reestablish the orders, etc. And their apprentices and such are too low of level and such. This means a PC in the party would have plenty of opportunities to do missions for the Conclave.