Hail and Greetings once again! I have some more location concepts for my Mage Knight campaign. It's still very much flying by the seat of my pants, but at least its something.
Serena, City of Mercenaries: A wretched hive of scum and villainy. The Land has been embroiled in war for one reason or another, one area or another, since time immemorial. As much as proud Khamsin would like to think themselves different for making the mercenary an accepted tradesman, there are others where such attitudes are commonplace and even respected, venerable traditions. Serena, an otherwise unremarkable city not quite under the thumb of Atlantis or the other powers, is a haven for sell-swords, freelancers, and recently, hired guns. The city leaders allow many warbands to use Serena as a place to rest, rearm, and hunt new contracts. While this makes for a boisterous place, things are generally kept under control by virtue of the town being under a permanent and strictly enforced flag of truce. You can brawl with the whoresons in the next barracks over, but steel and spell will see you and probably your outfit dumped outside the city gates, with your gear going to the city's coffers for their troubles.
One notable thing about Serena is the city marketplace. This market is home a dizzying variety of goods and services of all kinds, from magical trinkets and technological gadgetry, to rare and wondrous devices of great power. Whether its because of the cosmopolitan nature of the city's transient clients, or those same clients bringing loot and plunder from far and wide back to sale here, it no longer matters. Need some potions, a new gun, or a staff that can summon a dragon to fry things that you don't like with mighty lightning bolts?
Crunch: This really isn't so much a place for special combat rules or scenarios than a place to park a warband for a bit for some bennies. Ideas include getting reinforcements (something like 2d6 x 10 points) for every complete turn an army stays at this location, plus gaining an item or relic (valued at d6x10 points) for every two turns an army stays. Multiple players can have an army here, but the permanent truce means no big battles but maybe something like a 100 point bar brawl with no items or uniques might be fun.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Fluffy, But Crunchy pt. 1
Hail and Greetings!
It is finally time to start throwing out the ideas for my Mage Knight group's campaign. It's supposed to be a "your dudes" focused side-canon sort of affair. The idea is intended to both allow players to do their own thing without a lot of the main canon's baggage, and return Mage Knight to its original roots as a game of individual warlords and petty monarchs duking it out without having to adhere too closely to mono-faction forces. It's your army, there are many like but this one is yours.
There are still some nut-and-bolts crunch details for the overall structure, but I at least have the concept for the storyline itself and some individual scenario ideas ready to go. So, without further ado:
Fallen Empires
It's happened. The Apocalypse Dragon has awakened, and spearheaded a wave of darkness and destructed across the Land. Desperate alliances, mighty heroes, and more arose to fight off the ravenous beast and the dread powers it serves before all was lost. A climactic showdown near the shining, soaring capitol of Atlantis finally stopped the Tu'raj in their tracks, and the Dragon itself was seemingly slain. This came at great cost, as much of the city itself has returned to earth, and the people and power it commanded now fractured, possibly beyond all hope of repair.
As ever, there is opportunity in chaos. With the Empire on its deathbed, and many of its rival powers also grievously damaged in the Apocalypse's wake, many leaders, from kings to wizards to bandit chiefs, are staking their claims and gathering their forces in bids for power and freedom. Alliances, betrayals, pacts, and feuds now run across the Land in shifting tides of wildness and war.
These are but a handful of the places that have become battlegrounds. These are but a few of the groups and their leaders vying for control. Their motivations are many, from noble ideals of protection and service, to greed and aspirations of power, to simple lusting for blood and base pleasures.
But not all is as it seems, and what was fallen may well rise once more...
TL; DR: In the grim darkness of the clicky game, there is only war.
Regions: These are the places where players actually play (not sure if deep or stupid). Each region has a high concept, and ideas like what sort of terrain or buildings are ideal, and special rules to work with. The crunchy parts are fairly free and easy, since this is supposed to be a "fun" campaign and there's going to be some making it up as we go along. We're not going to be using the tiered campaign structure from Mage Knight Conquest or restricted campaign armies. Their is some final gave-and-take on whether or not there will be some sort of map and if and when an eventual victor would be declared (constantly conflicting work schedules are not fun). For now, I''m writing up the basics on two, a "home base" region designed for a particular player and his favored factions, and a "neutral" region designed to do an interesting gimmick.
The Shrouded Manse (2Spooky4U): Once a fortified estate for a prosperous lord, it fell long ago to the honeyed whispers of the Sect. Now a Necropolis in miniature (ha!), it has become a grim place and serves as a hub and staging area for the Dark Crusade. Warbands sally forth intent on making a name for themselves in bloody sacraments of death and violence, in the hopes of pleasing their dark masters and gaining ever more power. Worse still, there is hushed voices on the wind that within this cursed place is a harbor for the agents of the Tur'aj, and there may well be a resurgence in the making...
Graveyards, desecrated tombs, and dark altars are the order of the day for games here. The "Darkness" and "Smoke and Fog" would do well to add to the idea of pitched battles amidst the gloom here. Lots of small, broken scatter terrain to impede coordination and movement for the unwary.
The Forted Ruins (Cityfight, Mage Knight style): As can be expected in a realm were peace only rested fitfully between long and destructive conflict, there are many cities now lying in ruins. This is such place, different only in its great age. Its name and builders long lost in the mists of time, it is valued only as a strategic strongpoint and a ready supply of building stone. Its once orderly streets and building have become a labyrinth of half-built fortresses, fieldworks, and killing grounds. However, many armies and adventurers have come to and dwelt here, and there may well be a cache of ready arms or even artifacts of great power hidden away amidst the time-worn stones.
Wrecked buildings, all the wrecked buildings! Throw out the usual terrain rules and just cover the board in stuff. It would be best if terrain features are kept 2 inches apart or so, unless you're making one big building or fortress out of many small parts. Make sure everybody is aware and agree on what each terrain piece does. Keep games small (500 points max) to keep things from bogging down too much, until and unless you think you're ready for absolutely insane melees. Consider having each starting zone include a building, and use agreed-on terrain features as objectives instead of the standard tokens, and maybe both sides setting traps using Dungeons chests.
Well, that's it for now! Expect more to follow, and if you have your own ideas, don't be afraid to share them. All your clicky base are belong to us!
It is finally time to start throwing out the ideas for my Mage Knight group's campaign. It's supposed to be a "your dudes" focused side-canon sort of affair. The idea is intended to both allow players to do their own thing without a lot of the main canon's baggage, and return Mage Knight to its original roots as a game of individual warlords and petty monarchs duking it out without having to adhere too closely to mono-faction forces. It's your army, there are many like but this one is yours.
There are still some nut-and-bolts crunch details for the overall structure, but I at least have the concept for the storyline itself and some individual scenario ideas ready to go. So, without further ado:
Fallen Empires
It's happened. The Apocalypse Dragon has awakened, and spearheaded a wave of darkness and destructed across the Land. Desperate alliances, mighty heroes, and more arose to fight off the ravenous beast and the dread powers it serves before all was lost. A climactic showdown near the shining, soaring capitol of Atlantis finally stopped the Tu'raj in their tracks, and the Dragon itself was seemingly slain. This came at great cost, as much of the city itself has returned to earth, and the people and power it commanded now fractured, possibly beyond all hope of repair.
As ever, there is opportunity in chaos. With the Empire on its deathbed, and many of its rival powers also grievously damaged in the Apocalypse's wake, many leaders, from kings to wizards to bandit chiefs, are staking their claims and gathering their forces in bids for power and freedom. Alliances, betrayals, pacts, and feuds now run across the Land in shifting tides of wildness and war.
These are but a handful of the places that have become battlegrounds. These are but a few of the groups and their leaders vying for control. Their motivations are many, from noble ideals of protection and service, to greed and aspirations of power, to simple lusting for blood and base pleasures.
But not all is as it seems, and what was fallen may well rise once more...
TL; DR: In the grim darkness of the clicky game, there is only war.
Regions: These are the places where players actually play (not sure if deep or stupid). Each region has a high concept, and ideas like what sort of terrain or buildings are ideal, and special rules to work with. The crunchy parts are fairly free and easy, since this is supposed to be a "fun" campaign and there's going to be some making it up as we go along. We're not going to be using the tiered campaign structure from Mage Knight Conquest or restricted campaign armies. Their is some final gave-and-take on whether or not there will be some sort of map and if and when an eventual victor would be declared (constantly conflicting work schedules are not fun). For now, I''m writing up the basics on two, a "home base" region designed for a particular player and his favored factions, and a "neutral" region designed to do an interesting gimmick.
The Shrouded Manse (2Spooky4U): Once a fortified estate for a prosperous lord, it fell long ago to the honeyed whispers of the Sect. Now a Necropolis in miniature (ha!), it has become a grim place and serves as a hub and staging area for the Dark Crusade. Warbands sally forth intent on making a name for themselves in bloody sacraments of death and violence, in the hopes of pleasing their dark masters and gaining ever more power. Worse still, there is hushed voices on the wind that within this cursed place is a harbor for the agents of the Tur'aj, and there may well be a resurgence in the making...
Graveyards, desecrated tombs, and dark altars are the order of the day for games here. The "Darkness" and "Smoke and Fog" would do well to add to the idea of pitched battles amidst the gloom here. Lots of small, broken scatter terrain to impede coordination and movement for the unwary.
The Forted Ruins (Cityfight, Mage Knight style): As can be expected in a realm were peace only rested fitfully between long and destructive conflict, there are many cities now lying in ruins. This is such place, different only in its great age. Its name and builders long lost in the mists of time, it is valued only as a strategic strongpoint and a ready supply of building stone. Its once orderly streets and building have become a labyrinth of half-built fortresses, fieldworks, and killing grounds. However, many armies and adventurers have come to and dwelt here, and there may well be a cache of ready arms or even artifacts of great power hidden away amidst the time-worn stones.
Wrecked buildings, all the wrecked buildings! Throw out the usual terrain rules and just cover the board in stuff. It would be best if terrain features are kept 2 inches apart or so, unless you're making one big building or fortress out of many small parts. Make sure everybody is aware and agree on what each terrain piece does. Keep games small (500 points max) to keep things from bogging down too much, until and unless you think you're ready for absolutely insane melees. Consider having each starting zone include a building, and use agreed-on terrain features as objectives instead of the standard tokens, and maybe both sides setting traps using Dungeons chests.
Well, that's it for now! Expect more to follow, and if you have your own ideas, don't be afraid to share them. All your clicky base are belong to us!
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