Brave New World

To add to the draconic flavor of the world of Krarvell, I used the Three Dragon Ante deck from Wizards of the Coast to generate ability scores following the rules in a recent Dragon Magazine article. This option not only added draconic flavor but also allowed for semi-random, but balanced, generation of ability scores.

Despite the various number systems for choosing ability scores, many of my players like a degree of randomness in their scores. This method worked well for all of them.

The cards themselves depict all ten of the iconic metallic and chromatic D&D dragons along with a handful of humanoids including the fool, the druid, and the dragonhunter. Bahamut and Tiamat are part of the deck as well. I used the random drawings to give some flavor and possible background material to each PC.

I liked the way the scores turned out, as did my players. One comment I heard was than no one in our group would normally take an 8 or 9, but having a couple of characters with those scores made the PCs quite different from each other and more interesting.

The Player Characters

Here are the PCs created for the world of Krarvell:

Fiona, a female human cleric of Bahamut.
Caden "Streak" Underbough, a male halfling rogue.
Daex, a dragonborn (human) fighter.
Rinok the Bronze, a human bronze dragon shaman.
Vestorimin, a spellscale wizard.
A killorian druid and Warden of the Woods.
Frank, human rogue.
A stonehunter gnome (Dragon Magic) ranger.

The player of Caden had to leave the campaign as full-time player due to a new job. The player of Frank took his place. Another player also joined the campaign, playing a stonehunter gnome ranger.

Bahamut has a stronger influence in Krarvell than the core rules indicate. A dragonborn is a race transformed into a platinum humanoid dragon and follower of Bahamut. A dragon shaman respects dragons and gains power from them. A spellscale is a draconic humanoid race.

A killorian is a plant humanoid tied heavily into nature. Borrowed from Eberron, a Warden of the Woods serves a sect of druids called the Wardens and is dedicated to protecting the forests and plains and those dwelling therein from evil.

First Adventures Recap

The first adventure was completed by six players, while the second was finished by only three. Juggling the encounter difficulty was challenging, but worked out okay in the second adventure.

The first adventure was a straight kill-the-kobolds adventure, but it introduced many draconic themes including a dragonborn cleric of Bahamut and the green spawn of Tiamat (Monster Manual IV). The second adventure was heavily inspired by the book Imajica, by Clive Barker, that I'm currently reading.

I wanted to create an adventure heavily invested in roleplaying and skill use that took place in an otherworldly location. I decided to use the Plane of Radiance detailed in Dragon, since it is intriguing but not overly dangerous.

The adventure in the Plane of Radiance is the first in a long time that actually played out live the same way I envisioned it playing in my head. I wanted some real physical challenges, but I also wanted the PCs to direct their own actions and make their own choices.

The PCs traveled to the plane under the advice of Itzok, a dragon shaman of the Tribe of the Bronze. He believed that a lair of the Temple of Tiamat, now looted, might still contain some secrets sacred to Bahamut. The PCs agreed to go, but felt some fear knowing they would be taking a temporary portal to another plane and that they had no magic of their own to return to them to Krarvell.

A series of physical challenges in the Black Forest and some roleplaying allowed the PCs to make it to a shelf of rock upon which a rainbow would shine and open a portal for three days. They had befriended the glimmerfolk, outsiders originally dwelling in the plane and now native to the Black Forest, and one accompanied them on their adventure.

The Plane of Radiance

Crossing the Plane of Radiance is the Rainbow Bridge. Below are endless stars and above glow the lights of the aura borealis. Connecting to the bridge or just a jump across are islands of every kind and description.

The heroes visited Conil-Al-Ald, the City of Song. Met by a guardsphinx and glimmerfolk, the heroes received permission to enter a city with streets of opal and buildings of spun glass. A true wonder of the multiverse.

An audience with a song dragon provided the information they needed to complete their quest successfully and get home. They made it before the three day window closed.

I added the Plane of Radiance to the world of Krarvell at the last minute. It captured the otherworldly feel I was looking for and provided great physical challenges to the heroes.

Secrets Revealed

One of the secrets I planted in the Plane of Radiance that the PCs uncovered is that a permanent portal to that plane can be reached via Baha, the silvery sun of Krarvell. Not only will the PCs have to be able to fly to reach the portal thus delaying their possible for a few more levels, but also it gives me the option to lure them back to the Plane of Radiance with promises of more treasure or buried secrets.

The dark nature of the lair of Tiamat also hinted at dark experimentation by the spawn to forcibly graft dragon parts to humanoids. A more benign method of grafting (presented in Dragon Magic) was also uncovered.

The heroes also learned about wyrm wizards. A wyrm wizard is an arcane caster who learns not just from dusty scrolls and spellbooks but especially from dragons. A wizard taking this prestige class will roleplay directly with a dragon mentor and have access to some sorcerer only feats and spells. Wyrm wizards will have a large presence later in the campaign as well.

World Building So Far

The Wizards of the Coast book, Dragon Magic, has had a huge, positive impact on the world of Krarvell. From new races to new class features to new prestige classes, the draconic goodness of this supplement has really helped me to continue to flesh out my world.

I've sketched out ideas for adventures out to around level 10. I've already changed and revised those plans three times to accommodate the story the PCs are telling.

In addition, I've added the Plane of Radiance to the world building I'm doing on Krarvell. I've settled on the list of gods (I'm using the expanded core deities from Complete Divine). And I've started planting dragon lairs in various locations so I can watch them grow.

I'm going to ask some of my long distance gamers to consider taking the role of one of these dragons. I'll give them the dragon's stats and a purpose and then see what they might do to the surrounding lands. I'm sure they'll come up with much more terrible plots than I ever would.

Next Month

I'm introducing the stonehunter gnomes to Krarvell in a big way. And soon I'll need to start drawing the lands to the south of the Dragon Plains. Lands which include the kingdom of Naramis and the great capital city of Anbegriffon.

I haven't been this excited about a campaign and world since I ran my Dragonslayers campaign back in high school (way back in high school). I can't wait to return to Krarvell again.

May Bahamut guard your heart and hoard,
Charlie