Terrinoth #3 - The B Team

As mentioned in the first post in this series, one of the things I am trying out for this campaign is the "B Team". The idea is that on the days that not all four of my core "A Team" players can make a session, we play a "B Team" game with those who can, using their "B Team" characters, plus the characters of other non-regular players who can make that session.

As the B Team games will occur on an irregular basis, their adventures will all be concluded in a single session (of about 3 hours). The composition of the party for each session will also not be fixed, and will depend on who can attend that particular session.

What will make this different from a series of one-shot games is that the PCs will adventure in the same world and timeline as the A Team, and they will gain experience and level up. At the same time, there will be a continuous metaplot occurring in the game world. One way of describing this is that this is a closed Adventurers' League table, although the adventures I run will not be AL-legal.

If you are directed to this page from our WhatsApp group or Meetup, here are some information and guidelines:

The Rules

The rules we will be using are the D&D 5E rules. I will go more into character creation below.

The Setting

The setting is Terrinoth, the fantasy setting created by Fantasy Flight Game. You can find out more about the setting at this wikia, but do be aware that the information may not coincide 100% with my game world.

The Premise

To maximise playing time, we will start with the premise that the PCs are all adventurers responding to the call of a local lord to undertake a mission.

This will be primarily be for a cash reward, but if your character has other motivations for going on adventures, it will be even better. As I get to know your character better, I may work their motivations and back stories into the story line if possible. I want this campaign to have more continuity in terms of your character's story arc than in the typical AL game.

Creating Your Character

We will use only options from the Players Handbook. We will use the Standard Array for stats. The Race and Classes allowed are discussed below. We will use the standard Background rules.

Characters start at level 2. Advancement will be by Experience Points Award. I expect PCs to gain a level every two to five sessions.

Do also come up with a short-term goal and a long-term goal for your character, as well as an enemy from his/her past and also an ally from his/her past.

Character Race

The following races are open (Terrinoth race/D&D race equivalent: brief description):

• Human/Human: You may choose to be either of Terrinoth (generic fantasy medieval European, specifically German) origin, urban or rural, or from Isheim (fantasy Viking), Lorimor (fantasy medieval France), Torue Albes (fantasy England, with a maritime emphasis), or Al-Kalim (fantasy Arabian).

• Forge Dwarf/Hill Dwarf: Dwarves who live in the mixed human-dwarf city of Forge in Terrinoth.

• Dunwarr Dwarf/Mountain Dwarf: Dwarves who live in the dwarven kingdom of Dunwarr to the north of Terrinoth.

• Lowborn Elf/Wood Elf: Elves who are descended from the first generation (Highborn) elves who came to Terrinoth, and hail from the Aymhelim Forest to the south of Terrinoth.

• Free Cities Elf/Half-Elf: Elves who have taken up living in human cities, mostly in Dawnsmoor, near the Aymhelim Forest.

• Deep Elf/Drow: Once part of the Daewyl, a tribe of Elves that became corrupted by the Ynfernael powers, the Deep Elves seek to atone for their sins by destroying the remnants of the Daewyl and demons.

• Burrow Gnome/Lightfoot Halfling, Stout Halfling, Forest Gnome: Burrow Gnomes live in large matriarchal bands and have mostly abandoned interaction with the other races, but occasionally, some will still succumb to the lure of adventure.

• Wanderer Gnome/Rock Gnome: Wanderer Gnomes roam all over the world in communal caravans, making a living as traders, performers, and occasionally even as labourers or craftsmen in human communities.

• Broken Plains Orc, Stone-Dweller Orc/Half-Orc: Once viewed as enemies of Man, orcs have become accepted as one of the 'civilised' races since they switch sides and allied with Terrinoth during the Dragon Wars 800 years ago. Broken Plains Orcs live a nomadic lifestyle on the Broken Plains east of Terrinoth, while the Stone-Dweller Orcs have abandoned their traditional ways and live among humans in their cities.

• Dragon Hybrid/Dragonborn: Created by the dragons as foot soldiers during the Dragon Wars 800 years ago, these humanoid hybrids were left behind after the war ended abruptly. Once hunted mercilessly by the humans, they have in recent times become more tolerated. (NB: Red Dragon ancestry only; gain +1 CON instead of +1 CHA)

Character Classes

All Character Classes appropriate to your character's background can be taken, with the following caveats:

• Sorcerers, Warlocks: Open use of magic may be viewed as a sign of Ynfernael influence and result in persecution.

• Wizards: Wizards in the setting learn new spells by finding and studying Runebound crystal shards instead of copying them into their spellbooks. This makes it a very challenging class to play in the game.

Optional Rules in Play

I generally try not to kill PCs, but I want danger to be real, so the following rules are in play: 

• Wind and Wound: Hit Points are divided into two halves: Wind, and Wound. Wind represents things like luck, stamina, and alertness, while Wound represents actual damage. When a PC takes damage, it is first deducted off Wind, and when Wind drops to zero, the damage is applied to Wound. Wind is restored by spending Hit Dice, while Wound is restored by healing, whether via magic or potion, and by natural Healing, which happens at the rate of the PC's level + CON modifier per day

• Slow Natural Healing: PCs do not regain hit points at the end of a long rest.

• Experience Award: PCs who 'drop' during an encounter do not gain Experience Points for that encounter

• PCs who are reduced to zero Hit Points do not make Death Saves, but will 'bleed out' in one minute unless they are healed or stabilised with a Medicine roll. Afterwards, he will roll on the Injury Table (see below).

•  PCs who recover from being reduced to zero Hit Points may not act in the turn they recover are Stunned.

• Character "Death": If a PC "dies" from failing death saves (i.e. not sudden death or in a manner where the body cannot reasonably be recovered), he loses one level of Experience Points.

Injury Table

Roll            Effect

1              False hope. Character dies.

2              Lose 1 Strength. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

3              Lose 1 Dexterity. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

4              Lose 1 Constitution. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

5              Lose 1 Intelligence. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

6              Lose 1 Wisdom. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

7              Lose 1 Charisma. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

8 to 19     Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

20            Gain 1 Hit Dice of Hit Points. Gain 1 level of Exhaustion

Logistics

The games will be played on Mondays, from 7pm to 10pm or so, at my place in Bukit Batok. We typically meet at West Mall for dinner at 6pm, and then make our way to my place afterwards. You can meet the group at my place if you do not join us for dinner.

I will announce the session date on our WhatsApp chat, and players who can make that session can respond on the chat. I will try to post as early as I can so you can plan your schedules.

Generally, places will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis, but if a player has played in the last two consecutive sessions, I may give the spot to another player who has not.

I want to respect everybody's time and confirm the player list for each session as early as I can, so please only sign up for a session if you can make it.

Dice and stationery are provided. You may bring your own dice but if I think they are not balanced I will ask that you use mine instead.

Combat will be played on battle-maps with figurines. You may bring your own figurine if you wish to.

Bottled water and snacks are provided - we only allow plain water at the table for... historical reasons (don't ask).


That's all for now. Do feel free to post any question you may have on our WhatsApp group or in the comments. Hope to see you in Terrinoth soon!