Last week we finished session 42. At the beginning of session 45 you’ll be 10th Level! I’m committed to getting you to level 20, and we’re half way there. Since this is roughly the half-way mark of the campaign, I’d like to suggest the following changes in focus, some new add-on rules, and a new way of leveling. We will discuss this week and firm up how the second half of the campaign will work.

New Focus

Levels 1-10 had a big focus on ‘can I live through these adventures?’ and ‘can I acquire wealth, magic, and knowledge?’. At this point you’re all rich and hard to kill. Although there will be a continued chance of death, as we slide into the end game of levels 11-20, I think the focus will shift to ‘can I effect the people and places I want to impact?’ and ‘can I accomplish my goals to shape the world?’

Kingdom Building

Matt Colville’s ‘Strongholds & Streaming’ book won’t be out in hard copy till February of next year (possibly later if there are more delays). Only one player mentioned kingdom-building / stronghold rules as part of they want to do. I’m inclined to allow holdings to be a more narrative aspect of our game and not get into rules (although we could adapt the Adventures in Middle-earth rules for holdings in the Mirkwood Campaign if we did want formal rules). Next time we do a D&D campaign with a strongholds focus we can start with the strongholds rules at the beginning and then craft the campaign structures around those goals (which probably has you staying local with less globe-trotting and plane-hopping).

Mass Battles

I do foresee mass battles with 1,000’s of combatants being part of the future in our story, so look for rules on this to come. I’m thinking it’s something similar to my Traveller ship combat rules where characters have an abstracted impact on a game run with miniatures (or tokens), with the option to ‘zoom in’ and do character combat for an additional effect on the overall battle. Stay tuned for rules on this front!

Legacy Leveling

Finally, with all the above in mind, I suggest that once we hit Level 10 we shift to what I’ll call ‘Legacy Leveling’. This is inspired by Adventures in Middle-earth and would work like this:

• 3 sessions per level (but you advance during next Fellowship Phase): Starting at level 10, you earn the right to level up, but you don’t actually level up until you have your next Fellowship Phase (as declared by the GM). So if you started a dungeon the first session at Level 10 (session #45), and three games later (session #48) you’res still in the dungeon, you’d still be level 10, but with a pending advancement at the next Fellowship Phase. Then at session #50 you take a Fellowship Phase and finally level up. At session #51 you’d have earned another level, and if you took another Fellowship Phase after that session you’d level up again.
• Narrative Fellowship Phase events: During each Fellowship Phase we’d narrative declare (after some discussion and GM consent) events that took place during the months of the Fellowship Phase. You’ll also hear about news of events in the world that the GM introduces.
• Random events and loot in the Fellowship Phase: We wouldn’t use mechanics to govern the Fellowship Phase, with one exception. The GM will roll for some random events and magic items from some tables the GM will develop. You’ll get some magic items and have a brief story to tell of adventures that took place off-camera during the Fellowship Phase. If need be, we’ll roll play out a scene and adjudicate results (if for example, you get another ‘bag of holding’ that tries to devour its bearer!).

With this Legacy Leveling structure, at session 75 you’ll be at 20th Level. That puts our campaign coming to an end around the end of 2019, having run a total of about 3 calendar years of gaming.

Redmark Date: Third Age – April 20, 1331

The doorway exiting the room with the seaweed monstrosities led our heroes to a hallway that contained two paths – one that would lead to what will be forever known as the Spinning Prophylactic of Doom and another leading to an innocuous doorway. Fearless, the party choose the spinning cylinder and struck forth. Once Ivamel stumbled his way across this slippery, spinning tunnel of ick, he signaled for his companions to follow suit. Where Ivamel stood was a small landing area no larger than 15-20 feet wide and of similar length. One doorway sat ominously to the side and the party attempted to cross (slowly but surely). Quintos attempted to come across first, albeit without any semblance of grace to him. Ivemel noted a handful of times that some of the spaces between stones would move and then be replaced – as if someone were watching the group. Then, with superhuman reaction speed, Ivamel spotted an arrow with only the smallest piece sticking out of the stone wall, aiming at the group. Lunging forward he was able to use his shield to block the arrow and sever the tip at the wall. When Ghost Dancer was on his way across, the door opened suddenly and three combatants surprised our heroes and attacked without warning.

Ghost Dancer was struggling to get across, slipping and sliding across the confusing and ever-moving surface of the Condom of Ever Present Doom. A flaming arrow flew from the adjacent room and hit the greasy surface, setting it alight. Ghost Dancer made it across with little damage, while Ivamel and Quintos approached the new enemies. Lundie followed across the Flaming Condom of Doom with minimal damage but much effort, and Ghost’s axe beak sprinted across with relative ease. An enemy spellcaster flung spells and illusions, taking blows from the powerful warriors and, as a last ditch effort, turned herself into a werewolf. Now across, Lundie approached and began to waylay the evildoers (whose home was invaded…), joining Ivamel, Quintos, and Ghost Dancer in slaying the foes. Beyond the current room lay another smaller room with a chest inside. A few pricey baubles lay within, but most importantly was an ornately made bag. Deciding to investigate the bag further, Lundie peered inside and was abruptly swallowed up to his calves. Being the hero he is, Quintos sprung into action and quickly grabbed Lundie, then teleported some distance away, leaving the bag (named Steve) on the ground, looking for food. A short rest ensued as the party gathered their wits and headed back to the only path still available.

Beyond the other door in the hallway lay a stairwell that led downward into the ground. The party descended the steps, and at the base of the stairs the group continued on the only path available, watching the rock change from worm formed tunnels to finely worked stoneways. The hallways were dark, dank and warm. Turning a corner, our intrepid heroes (in the dark mind you) found themselves at an opening to a large room that expanded out in gradual fashion. Ivamel and Ghost Dancer were without the ability to see very far without some form of light in the pitch blackness of this room, but Lundie and Quintos noticed the widening of the room and the heightening of the ceiling immediately. The room was described as a dome of some sort but the walls seemed…off. Quintos’ amazing ability to see clearly in the dark allowed him to spot three rather large treasure chests at the opposite side of this enormous room. Suddenly three enormous crab-like creatures appeared and attempted to protect the chests from the invaders. Lundie struck enormous blows backed by the glory of Moradin and waded himself into battle with the gigantic crustaceans. Quintos took aim with his spells, his sword, and his phallic dragon wand of lightning – crippling the foes and providing the distraction needed for Ghost Dancer to fly above them. From his lofty perspective, he was able to throw spell after spell at the crabs, aiding those on the ground by distracting, disabling, and damaging the creatures. Ivamel sprung into action and advanced to the closest crab, wielding his fiery sword of death. The sound of metal on exoskeleton and the crackling of lightning filled the domed room to near deafening levels. The melee warriors focused their attacks on one enemy at a time and before long, the final blow was struck and our heroes were left to collect their bounty (Steven included). This is where we pick up our story.

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