Kings of Tyranny: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:56, 3 July 2024

THE AIR SPLITS WITH A THUNDERING ROAR. The furious cry of the dinosaurs echoes throughout the savage jungles and deserts of Telgaia. The cry for violence echoes in the hearts of man: the world over, young nations flex their muscles and send eager warriors to test their strength on one another’s shields and spears.

Not all is wanton violence, however. In the burgeoning nations around the great gulf, international trade and commerce hold the promise of wealth for all. Grand cities are rising throughout the steamy jungles encasing the gulf, and brave sailors spread news, goods, and culture across the region.

Grandest among these nations is Gilgalon, the First Empire. Spanning hill, plain, jungle, and desert, the great Gilgalon boasts a massive populace and multiple grand cities that draw merchants like moths to a flame. While Gilgalon is the greatest exemplar of what civilization might become, most early kingdoms spreading along the great gulf look to the future with grand optimism.

And even so, it is understood that young folk, especially young men, must fight. So the borders between nations frequently become staging grounds for minor skirmishes as the foolhardy nature of youth, egged on with one’s bronze in their hand, bathes the dirt in blood.

But this petty warfare will soon turn dire. In the warmongering kingdom of Brazodir, Godking Assurgazzar sharpens his bronze swords and prepares his men to conquer. Small towns in Gilgalon’s orbit will soon taste Assurgazzar’s mad wrath…

This is playtest material. There will be mistakes and typos. When you find one, please report it to Nathan on MythCraft's official discord server in the #playtesting-lobby channel. Please be as specific as possible, citing specific pages and subsections on this wiki. Note that brackets [[]] and hashtags ## are not typos; they are placeholders that Nathan uses during the drafting process.

This book is only intended for the eyes of the MythCrafter (MC). At any point, if information should be made available to the players, this will be made clear to you as the MC.

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 But this petty warfare will soon turn dire. In the warmongering kingdom of Brazodir, [[Godking]] Assurgazzar sharpens his bronze swords and prepares his men to conquer. Small towns in Gilgalon’s orbit will soon taste Assurgazzar’s mad wrath…
+{| class="wikitable" style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"
-== Using this Book ==
+|'''This is playtest material.''' There will be mistakes and typos. When you find one, please report it to Nathan on <u>[https://discord.gg/mythcraft MythCraft's official discord server]</u> in the #playtesting-lobby channel. Please be as specific as possible, citing specific pages and subsections on this wiki. Note that brackets [[]] and hashtags ## are not typos; they are placeholders that Nathan uses during the drafting process.
-This book is designed exclusively for the MythCrafter (MC). Information that the players should know will be made clear for you as the MC to communicate to them. If you are a player, please close this book now. Assuming you are the MC, it is highly recommended that you read the book in its entirety before running it, so that you are familiar with all the plot points that your heroes might interact with. If you are pressed for time, read this preface in detail; skim the chapters; and only consult the appendices as relevant. Regardless of your familiarity with the story, we highly recommend that you give each relevant subchapter another read before running it at your table so that you are prepared to react to your players’ decisions or questions.
-''Kings of Tyranny'' is a MythCraft campaign module that spans character levels 1 through 15. It is intended for four to six players and a MC. You can play this campaign with fewer or more players, but this will require some additional work on the MC’s part to balance the challenges accordingly.
-{| class="wikitable"
-|Sometimes, information will be in a blue-gray sidebar for ease of reference.
-|}
-'''''Read Aloud:''''' ''Often, at the beginning of a new section detailing a location or a non-player character (NPC), there will be a bold “read aloud” cue followed by italic text. This text is to be read aloud or summarized to your players. The exact wording of this text is not important, but communicating this sensory information to the players will help them feel immersed in the world and contribute to the overall experience. Establishing the way certain towns feel or the way characters act is important to clue the players in on how they might want to act.''
-=== Reference Material ===
-This campaign frequently references the ''Core Rulebook'' (CRB), ''Creature Compendium'' (CC), and ''MythCrafter’s [[Guide]]'' (MCG). It also references ''[[Ancerra Before]]: The First Supereon'' (AB:tFS). If you do not have these books handy, you can find all the information in each of these books at mythcraftrpg.com. When this campaign specifically references an element in one of these books, the reference will be '''Capitalized and Bolded,''' followed by the book’s abbreviation and a page number reference. Any creature, talent, spell, [[poison]], or the like that is not in the CRB, CC, MCG, or AB:tFS can be found in this book’s appendices. An abbreviation of ''Kings of Tyranny'' (KoT) followed by a page number will direct you to the appropriate appendix.
-=== MCing the Campaign ===
-If you have facilitated a table-top role-playing game (TTRPG) campaign before, feel free to skip this section.
-If this is your first time MCing, gamemastering, or otherwise running a TTRPG, it might be a good idea to skim the first chapter of the MCG for information on running the game. The bare-bones information about running the game is provided below as well.
-==== '''What does the MC Do?''' ====
-As the MC, you have many responsibilities. You adjudicate the rules, play the main villains, portray a whole cast of supporting characters, and are in some ways the adventuring party’s number one fan. Understand that MCing does take more preparation than simply playing the game, and you have a few more responsibilities than your players do.
-==== '''MC Guidelines''' ====
-Here are a few rules of thumb to help you MC successfully. When you find that you stray from these principles, simply correct course and keep the story moving!
-'''Take Notes.''' Depending on your MC style, you may want to take notes during a session, or you may prefer to jot down a few notes after each session has concluded. Either way, taking notes is essential to keep track of what has happened and help you plan for your next session.
-'''Keep the Story Moving.''' You want to be sure the story progresses every session. If you don’t know a rule, make a decision that feels reasonable and make a note to look up the official ruling later on.
-'''You’re Not the Ally.''' In most cases, it’s better to roll your dice in the open. Sometimes, you will score terrible hits against your players, and that is okay. It’s part of the cycle of emotional highs and lows that make TTRPGs what they are.
-'''You’re Not the Enemy.''' While you aren’t on the players’ side, you also aren’t directly opposed to them. You aren’t in a competition with your players. You are often in an antagonistic role in a collaborative story that all of you should be invested in. Think about how individual monsters and villains would act when playing them, not how you might act in those creatures’ positions.
-'''Be Consistent.''' You may find that you develop house rules over the course of your campaign. Be consistent with these rules, and don’t change them session by session as doing so would cause great frustration for your players.
-'''Move the Spotlight Around.''' Put the spotlight on each character at least once in a given session, paying special attention to the quieter players to be sure they get a chance to shine. If you weren’t able to highlight every player, take note of the players you missed and pay extra attention to getting them into the spotlight during your next session.
-'''It’s Your Story.''' This campaign module can be played exactly as written, but there is also plenty of room for you to add your own ideas. As your players flesh out their characters and their backstories, it can be very rewarding to lean into plot hooks that you generate from their stories, rather than from the official notes in this module. By blending this module with your characters’ unique stories, you make this adventure truly your own unique tale.
-{| class="wikitable"
-|
-==== '''Heroes and Adventurers''' ====
-The terms “hero” and “adventurer” are used interchangeably in MythCraft campaigns. They refer to the characters played by the other players at your table - not the NPCs under the control of the MC.
 |}
+'''This book is only intended for the eyes of the MythCrafter (MC). At any point, if information should be made available to the players, this will be made clear to you as the MC.'''
-== Adventure Overview ==
+== Table of Contents ==
-''Kings of Tyranny'' is divided into three parts. It is a milestone-based campaign with cues for when to allow your players to level up. The following summary offers you the broad strokes of each plot point. Full details about each of these plot arcs are provided in subsequent chapters.
+[[Adventure Overview-KoT|Adventure Overview]]
-{| class="wikitable"
-|
-==== '''MAGIC HEROES AND CREATURES''' ====
-The lack of magic in pre-Tear Ancerra dramatically impacts some classes and talents. The [[Cleric]], [[Mage]], and [[Witch]] classes from the Core Rulebook are unplayable in this setting. You may play a [[Zealot]], but you do not gain [[Divine]] Power.
-Furthermore, you may not learn the [[Student]] of the [[Arcane]], Disciple of the Divine, Initiate of the [[Occult]], or Warden of the [[Primal]] talents, even if you would normally learn them through a class talent. If you play an [[Oracle]], for example, you must choose Adept of the [[Psionic]] instead of Warden of the Primal.
-The [[Fiendblood]] lineage is incompatible with this setting as Inferno has no consistent contact with Ancerra. Similarly, Golems are not created until after the Tear, with the exception of Psionic Golems. [[Undead]] exist in very rare circumstances, but cannot be created via any form of harnessable [[resurrection]] magic; instead, they seem to just be anomalies of nature. You may not select any options from any lineage that would give you access to magic, unless it is Psionic or Primal.
-Creatures that use Arcane, Divine, and Occult magic cannot be found on Ancerra during this time period. Creatures that use Primal or Psionic magic are unaffected.
+'''Part One: A Tyrant's Roar'''
-|}
-=== Part One: A Tyrant’s Roar ===
+[[Chapter 1: The Blood Sun Rises]]
-The adventure begins when a quiet little village in the northern stretch of Gilgalon is brutally attacked by the Brazodiran Godking Assurgazzar’s dinosaur infantry. In a cruel and chaotic world, heroes are not born; they are forged. They rise to the occasion through a combination of grit, skill, and dumb luck. The suggested beginning of this campaign reflects this philosophy as each player will play through several level 1 characters before one of their heroes finally survives the campaign’s first encounter.
-The survivors of the attack must [[travel]] to the capital of Gilgalon and warn the Godking what happened. The Godking responds with great fury and immediately begins preparing for war. His advisors may need a little more convincing, but it is not terribly difficult to bring everyone to agreement on what must now be done.
+[[Chapter 2: The Road to War]]
-=== Part Two: The First Alliance ===
+[[Chapter 3: Glory of the Godking]]
-Blessed by the Godking, the heroes must next approach neighboring nations and make diplomatic requests, assembling the first international wartime alliance. They will need to travel to the leaders of Lachonhet, Kozia, Unjaarn, and Nausa, and their success or failure to convince each leader to rally behind the Godking of Gilgalon will determine how difficult the coming war with the Godking of Brazodir will be.
-Each diplomatic mission to these neighboring kingdoms will involve battling threats like fearsome dinosaurs, [[bandit]] groups, and mythological beasts. Convincing the leaders of these nations to support Gilgalon will necessitate doing favors or side quests for the leaders, or offering good trade deals with Gilgalon in exchange for their military support. This is some of the first international wartime diplomacy to take place in written history, so the leaders of these kingdoms may make requests or demands that seem nonsensical or disjointed to the players.
+'''Part Two: The First Alliance''' ''(Playtesting in Process)''
-=== Part Three: The Dinosaur Wars ===
+[[Chapter 4: Mountains and Valleys]]
-Having assembled an international force to oppose Godking Assurgazzar and the might of the Brazodiran army, Gilgalon and its allies declare war on Brazodir. The heroes serve as generals and as an elite strike force, defending key locations or helping to conquer enemy strongholds.
-This campaign does not end the Dinosaur Wars, nor does it result in Assurgazzar’s defeat. One of his chief generals will serve as the main villain of this campaign, and the heroes will have a chance to defeat him. The events of this campaign also force Godking Assurazzar to withdraw from Gilgalon’s territory.
+[[Chapter 5: An Ocean Swell]]
-Eventually, the campaign module ''Gods of Tyranny'' will be released, which serves as a sequel to this campaign and takes adventurers from levels 16 to 30.
+'''Part Three: The Dinosaur Wars''' ''(Playtesting in Progress)''
-== MC Notepad ==
+[[Chapter 6: The Might of Gilgalon]]
-As the MC, it is always important to take notes during or after each session so that you can remind yourself of events that have transpired. You might implement these tips and tools while taking notes about your sessions of ''Kings of Tyranny''.
-=== Magic Items ===
+[[Chapter 7: Into the Maw]]
-This campaign has a higher concentration of magical items than most, allowing the heroes a slight edge against the numerous dangers of this world. Be sure to keep track of which heroes have magical items and what those items can do. Note that some items regain their magic over time. Keeping track of how many charges an item has at a given time is important to keep the game balanced.
-=== Goodwill ===
+'''Appendices'''
-[[Goodwill]] is not as significant in this campaign as it is in many others. The heroes’ reputations undoubtedly will grow, whether as celebrated heroes or notorious ones. Whether loved or hated, the heroes’ influence will be roughly the same. If you want to streamline your notetaking, just track a hero’s “Fame.” When they might gain or lose any amount of Goodwill, instead increase their Fame by 1. Fame is functionally the same as a positive score in Goodwill, so when heroes reach 15-20 Fame, they are recognized as international champions.
-If you would like for international relations to become more of a focus in your campaign, you may choose to track Goodwill using a more complicated system than the one proposed here.
+[[Appendix A: Major NPCs (KoT)]]
-== Session Zero ==
+[[Appendix B-KoT|Appendix B: Magic Items (KoT)]]
-When running this campaign, you may either skip ahead and begin with Chapter 2, or you can start at the beginning in Chapter 1. Chapter 1 contains a brutal, bloody encounter that will likely [[kill]] several heroes per player. During Session Zero, you will need to inform your players of this so that they can be mentally prepared and so that they can each come with several characters (six characters per player is recommended). If players do not want to come up with this many characters on their own, encourage them to use the [[Legends of MythCraft]] (excluding those whose magical abilities would violate the First Supereon restrictions). Players can also roll on one or more of the tables below to generate character ideas complete with unique mechanical builds.

Kings of Tyranny: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:56, 3 July 2024

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