Back in the 90s, when GURPS was my go-to system for, well, everything, I had an idea for a fantasy campaign that would include super-hero tropes, like superpowers and archvillains, a superfantasy (or superfan, as my friends called it). The characters would be heroic individuals with inborn spell abilities, knacks in GURPS parlance, that worked for a major kingdom.

I actually ran this campaign and my friends still have fond memories of it. So, based on this limited success, I decided to use my superfantasy as the theme of the third installment of Superseeds. As I said, I ran it with GURPS and will use some of its terms to illustrate stuff, but like in previous articles, will try to generalize things.

Pitch

Magically-empowered guardsmen fight mundane and supernatural threats to protect the kingdom.

Premise

Fifty years ago, in the 122th year of the New Age, the wizard Eniharmon approached Baron Nestor, ruler of Arlen, one of the many baronies that dotted the plains south of the Grey Mountains and north of the Blue sea. The wizened old man filled the baron's head with tales of the supernaturals, humans born with magical abilities more powerful than simple spells. So while Nestor ramped up his military investments, Eniharmon traveled the land recruiting these supernaturals.

Ten years later, Arlen launches an attack on the neighboring barony of Gilstran. While the massive arlenid army engages the gilstranite forces, the Royal Guard, a group composed solely of supernaturals, decimates the elite corps of knights protecting Gilstran's nobles and forces their capitulation. Nestor moves on to other domains, always with his cadre of mystically-powered agents providing the decisive factor in most of the engagements.

The only barony that Nestor gets without a fight is Raven Moors, where Baron Ethan, already knowing what the Royal Guard had accomplished elsewhere, surrenders in exchange for keeping his seat as ruler. After less than one year, Arlen has conquered all of the nearby baronies, uniting them in the new nation of Aldarin.

Today, Aldarin has consolidated its powers over most of the land. Its only rival, politically and economically, is the coastal trading city of Portia. The Royal Guard remains strong, now more than ever a symbol of the nation's supremacy, even though Portia has managed to acquire its own team of supernaturals. However, there are more pressing matters now: tensions are high with the elves of Argost and there are rumors that Atzo the Necromancer moves again in the Great Swamp. And unknown to all, a far sinister plan is afoot...

Who are the player characters?

In The Royal Guard (TRG), the PCs are the new members of Aldarin's Royal Guard. They have just been accepted into it, gaining status (at least a level, if you're using a system with advantages), if they are not nobles, and legal enforcement powers. They also swear an oath of loyalty to defend Aldarin against its many enemies.

TRG characters should be created as heroic individuals with access to mystical powers in the form of inborn spells. Just use the magical system of your system of choice. In my campaign, I used the knack rules from GURPS, but made it cheaper -- players had to pay only 1% (instead of 2%) of the cost of creating an item with that spell.

Not all PCs need to be supernaturals, you can have characters who wield magical objects. There are several enchanted items available in the setting, remains from a past magical age. These should be cheaper to buy than inborn power (in my campaign, their cost was 0.8%), occupying the position of gadgets in a regular supers campaign.

If you think these guidelines won't result in very powerful characters, you are correct. Remember that in a fantasy campaign, where there are no machine guns or tank armor, even low levels of things like super-strength and skin armor can be devastating, not to mention abilities like superspeed.

Where do these supernaturals come from?

Well, one thousand years before the campaign, during the Age of Mists, the world was a high mana place (bonuses for casting, energy is recovered faster etc.). Human civilization was heavily dependent on magic and the archmages were the elite of the world. Unfortunately, at some point the equally powerful egos of these superwizards couldn't contain themselves and they started the Magic Wars.

Civilization collapsed, many archmages (and regulars wizards) met their demise and the mana level took a steep dive until stabilizing at a normal level (no bonuses/penalties for casting, everything work as written). However, there were other long-term effects on humans that were going to first manifest themselves in the Age of Legends, more than a century later.

During this time, society rised again in the form of city-states and some of its inhabitants became larger-than-life heroes that could, once in a while, exceed the limits of what was humanly possible. These manifestations were not as regular as what the PCs have access, but were the first effect that the wild mystical energies of the Magic Wars had over humans.

The New Age started about 700 years after the beginning of the Age of Legends. That's when the first supernaturals were born. They were otherwise normal people who were capable of casting spells instantaneously without any kind of training. One hundred years into the New Age, supernaturals became more common and Eniharmon finally noticed them.

What makes them different from wizards?

As I said, supernaturals do not need training to cast their spell and can do so without having to talk, or waving their arms. Although more limited than a regular wizard in scope, they have the advantage in combat.

Besides that, some supernaturals are born with the ability to generate mystical energy, making their inborn spells cheaper to activate. Sometimes, this magical battery allows the supernatural to maintain the effects of their personal magic active without concentration or additional energy expenditure.

Supernaturals can also use powerstones (precious stones that can store mystical energy). In fact, every Royal Guard receives a ring with a 3-point powerstone (you might have to adjust the amount of energy based on the system you are using).

Also, supernaturals have surpassed, in proportion, the number of wizards in the land. The Magic Wars did a good job of wiping out large quantities of magic-users and they never really recovered from that. There are probably ten wizards or so in all of the land.

OK, but how large is the setting?

I tried to keep it small in order not to give the players the feeling that the world was too big to be affected by their action. The campaign was set in a terrain bound by the Grey Mountains to the north and west, the Blue Sea to the south, and Argost and the Great Swamp to the east. It's approximately 300 miles east-west and half that north-south.

This doesn't mean there are no other lands or people in the setting. There are. But I chose to concentrate the campaign in this area. Later adventures introduced the great plain of Rhovadam, northwest of the Grey Mountains, and the Arabian-like high mana land of Al-Feyrun, south of the Blue Sea.

You, of course, don't need to use those places and can people a far greater area with additional cultures, sources of dangers and even hike up the number of supernaturals. Go wild.

A good template for the main setting can be found in GURPS Fantasy: the country named Caithness. It is described in greater detail in the old Harkwood module. Caithness is a nation of kings, barons and knights. It's only 150 miles long, but you can fill the rest of the territory with independent cities, enemy baronates and such.

What's Argost, the Grey Mountains and the Great Swamp?

Argost is the great forest where the elves live. Aldarin is encroaching in its territory because the local baron, sanctioned by the king, needs land to expand and wood to build. This is enraging the elves, who were not great fans of the humans to begin with.

Although rumors of wars have begun to circulate and some skirmishes have occurred, King Nestor II, the current ruler of Aldarin (which ironically is an elvish name meaning Garden of Heaven), doesn't want to start a war with the elves, whom he sees as powerful and dangerous.

The elves have a deep knowledge of magic and Argost is a high mana area. Even though Aldarin's Royal Guard would also get a boost from the higher level of magic energy, the elvish experience in conducting warfare in these conditions would certainly result in a resounding defeat for the humans, or at least a pyrrhic victory.

The Grey Mountains are a natural barrier that isolates most of the area where Aldarin exists. Besides natural wildlife, they are also home to the dwarves, whom legend states are the cursed forms of the ancient and proud Nibelungen. The dwarves have a steady trade in ores with Aldarin.

The other inhabitants of the Grey Moutains are the trolls, savage creatures who attack the unwary travelers who venture too far from the roads. The trolls keep to the higher altitudes, but sometimes they go to the foot hills below. Usually, this happen when something more dangerous than themselves threatens them. Dwarves and trolls usually attack each other on sight.

The Great Swamp lies between Argost and the Blue Sea. It has its fair share of dangers, like monsters and wild animals. It's also a low mana region, except for a small patch in its center, which is high mana. If you were to venture that deep into the Great Swamp, you would find a tower -- the residence of Atzo the Necromancer.

The Necromancer

Atzo is one of the few surviving archmages. He spent several centuries in hibernation and awoke 50 years ago, as the Royal Guard and Arlen's ascension into Aldarin were happening. He quickly realized there would be no real opposition to him, if he decided to extend his power and conquer the region.

The two exceptions were Eniharmon and his supernaturals. Atzo believes that Aldarin's court wizard is also an archmage. He is not sure because Eniharmon protects himself with antiscrying spells and Atzo's forte is necromancy, obviously. But he considers the wizard a possible threat and is devising a plan to neutralize him.

The supernaturals intrigue the necromancer. In order to better understand them, he corrupted one of the Royal Guards, Danz, with promises of power. Danz went AWOL and headed to Atzo's tower, where the necromancer conducted several tests on the guard.

With the information gathered in these experiments, Atzo plans to engineer a magical plague keyed to supernaturals that will either kill them or scramble their abilities. With them out of the way, he can unleash his undead army and conquer the land. But until that time, he needs agents to sow the seeds of destruction.

The Renegades

This is a group put together by Atzo to conduct missions on his behalf. Its leader is Danz, who the necromancer turned into a vampire, adding considerably to the former guard's power of enhancing his own strength. The other members are:

Ackbold's Dragon: a flame-spewing, water-breathing, shapeshifting dragon created in the vats of the late archmage Ackbold. The dragon is under control of Sylvia and obeys her unquestionably.

Leilah: Atzo's apprentice and responsible for the magical support of the group. Leilah is a regular sorceress, but she has access to a vast amount of mystical knowledge thanks to the necromancer.

Sylvia: a supernatural woman with the power of establishing mental links with beasts. She is the handler of Ackbold's Dragon. In desperate occasions, she is able to channel one of the dragon's attribute, but this is more of a mystical fluke than a normal supernatural ability.

The Ogre: nobody knows where Atzo has found this creature, but it is another heavy hitter of the group: superstrong and tough.

Duke Lorne

Atzo is not the only big bad in the setting. Lorne, ruler of Raven Moors and one of the three dukes of Aldarin, is fed up with being an underling. He wants power, but not just the royal kind -- he craves godly power. To attain his goal, Lorne has made a secret pact with the dark god Lethart (read Sauron).

Lethart is unable to reach the material plane under his own power, he needs to be summoned. The process requires a complex ritual and a massive ring-like structure to be used as a gate. With the help of a minor demonic advisor sent by the dark god, the not-so-good duke is building the gate in an out of the way region of Raven Moors.

The operation is kept under wraps and when someone asks the duke what he is doing there -- like a flying character who happens to pass over the area -- Lorne informs that he is either building a new settlement or prospecting mining sites.

The elves have divined Lorne's intentions, but rather than inform the Aldarin ruler, whom they consider a warmonger and who may well be in league with the duke, they are plotting an assassination attempt that will probably happen in the middle of the campaign or later.

Portia

Finally, the last antagonist in the setting is far less sinister, but still a tough opposition. The trading city of Portia is located on the southern coast at the mouth of the Silver River, the main course of water in the region.

Portia had a sweet deal before the formation of Aldarin, able to cut deals with the individual baronies on its own terms. After the formation of the larger nation, business became more difficult. This forced the city to expand its search of new markets, resulting in new deals with Al-Feyrun and the nomads of the Rhovadam plain. Still, the major source of goods for Portia is Aldarin and its baronies.

Portia's ruling council is no slouch in the defense department and realized early on that supernaturals were a gamechanger. They wasted no time in recruiting their own team, the Portian Patrol. The group is commanded by Baltar, a normal human who has been equipped with all sorts of magical items, like armor, helmet, sword, shield etc. The other current members are:

Agali: a female supernatural with stealth abilities.

Garzo: a feral supernatural, able to enhance his agility, sprout claws and regenerate.

Maligo: can neutralize other supernatural's mystical abilities. He also wields a magical staff (no special abilities, just bonuses to combat).

Thram: a brutish man that can create two extra arms and enhance his own strength.

There is one other supernatural in Portia: Laiza. She is an Aldarin spy and can change her appearance to resemble anyone she has seen before. Laiza sends regular reports back to Nestor II's spymaster and provides logistical support for clandestine operations in the city.

Boiling down

So, you've got a government superteam, a rival supergroup, two master villains, a villain group, a conspiracy, two enemy states, independent supers and dark gods and demons. That seems like a good recipe for a supers/fantasy campaign.

When I ran it, I used Yeats' Second Coming poem as a kind of roadmap. The first adventures were not directly related to the main plots of Atzo and Lorne, but they did feature token appearances by a demonic-looking creature, half-remembered dream prophecies etc.

As the campaign progressed, the various plots became more active, especially Atzo's. By the end, there were problems everywhere: the PCs had to deal with the plague, the war with the elves, the discovery that Lorne (the father of one of the PCs) had a pact with a dark god. And they had to deal with everything at the same time.

The idea is really that things are falling apart and the center cannot hold. Eventually, the beast rears its ugly head and slouches towards Bethlem, or Raven Moors as the case may be. My campaign, or at least its first phase, ended with a massive battle at the portal built by Lorne, involving the PCs, elves, former Guard members and demons.

Some Royal Guard seeds

Winter is Coming: The PCs are sent to Huris, a village in the foot hills of the Grey Mountains to deal with recent troll attacks. They found out the monsters have descended from the peaks due to the unexpected cold temperatures (it's early Autumn) and something else, more terrible: an ancient portal to the ice giants dimension has reopened, freeing their leader, Utgard, to enter this world. He intends to find the Ark of Endless Winter and open it, releasing an eternal season of cold in the world and allowing the ice giants to return and conquer it once more. The PCs must prevent Utgard from finding the ark and seal the portal before ice giant reinforcements can arrive.

Moon over Lelac: Baron Raubert, ruler of Lelac, has disappeared. His son fears the sudden sightings of vampires in the nearby woods may be related. The PCs investigate and eventually head into the forest to confront the undead. After battling vampire brides, they found out Klesus, the First Vampire, is behind the kidnapping. They must elude (or vanquish) a 500-year-old undead, find the baron and escape the woods. Meanwhile, it would be nice to figure out why Klesus has resurfaced. Can he be in cahoots with Atzo? Did Raubert offend him personally? Does he want to rule Lelac? Is he planning to spread vampirism throughout Aldarin?

Save the Healer, Save the World: The plague is killing supernaturals left and right or screwing with their powers. The only chance at a cure is the Healer, a former Guard who can heal anything. The PCs are sent to Merville, a small coastal village where Yddwin, another former Guard lives. She is the only one who knows where to find the Healer. Once there, they are attacked by the Renegades who intend to find and kill the healing Guard. If Yddwin is killed, how are the PCs going to find the Healer? If the Renegades also discover the Guard's whereabouts, the PCs will have a race in their hands -- the first ones to find him seal his destiny.

Inspiration

Any fantasy or super-hero resource should provide, in the least, some adventure seeds. Inspiration sources that combine both are scarce however. I can remember four:

Avaatars: Covenant of the Shield: Marvel heroes done as a fantasy characters. Created by Len Kaminski & Oscar Jimenez, it's the closest thing to this campaign.

League of Justice: like Avaatars, but this time with DCheroes. However, this Elseworld, by Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano, is way over the top. I didn't really like it, but there might be something to salvage.

Kal: another Elseworld, this one (by Dave Gibbons & JosÈ Luis GarcÌa-LÛpez) describes baby Kal-el falling in an Arthurian England, where he becomes a blacksmith and eventually rises against the tyranny of Baron Luthor.

Battlechasers: not strictly supers, this incomplete comic series by Joe Madureira still has some tropes of the genre.

As always, share any comments, suggestion and criticisms on the forum. If you ever use the Royal Guard, let me know.