Sorcery! #0 - A New Campaign

Introduction

This week, we started a new campaign based on the old classic, Steve Jackson's Sorcery! gamebooks from the 80s, using Arion Games' Advanced Fighting Fantasy rules.

I have wanted to run this campaign for many years, and at one point was waiting for the now defunct Myriador to release the fourth and final module in their conversion of the campaign, but sadly that never happened. I got the Arion Games version of the campaign, which is a faithful reproduction of the plot of the original campaign, which means it had a rail-roady ending which I did not like. I let the whole project stew at the back of my mind for many years, until I decided to set aside a few months this year to finally make it happen.

I wanted to keep the basic plot of the campaign, but not necessarily all the details. This means that the party will be tasked to recover the Crown of Kings, will have to journey through the Shamutanti Hills, enter Khare, find the spells that will let them open the gate to the Baklands, race/defeat seven serpents as they cross the Baklands, then finally enter Mampang Fortress and defeat the Archmage. As long as I kept to this basic structure, I reckoned I could just find suitable modules and slot them into the appropriate places in the campaign.

I also wanted to add something to the campaign... a theme, which I think I have settled on, but which I will not reveal for now.

The Party

As befits the title, I wanted to have a sorcerer in the party. A lot of the fun in the original game was the spells with their funny names and the odd spell components which were required before the spells could be cast, which you found along the way, so I decided to use the AFF rules, which retained the original spells.

At the same time, I did not want a whole party of sorcerers. I decided that one other PC would be a fighter, an escort for the sorcerer. Once these two roles were taken, I asked the other two players what they wanted to play. One wanted to play an elven barbarian, and the other a rouge. Together, we worked out a reason for these characters to be included in the party.

So I present... the party!

Morgana Lefay, Sorceress

Trained in the Royal Academy of Sorcerers, Morgana was chosen to undertake the quest to recover the Crown of Kings and prevent a war that will destroy Analand and the other nations of the Femphrey Alliance.

Valerian the Victorius, Warrior

A sergeant in the Royal Guard, Valerian was hand-picked to accompany Morgana in the perilous quest.

Goncol, Rogue

A native of Khare, the cityport of traps, Goncol was recruited for his knowledge of the city and the spells which will allow the party to open the North Gate.

Glowulf Armstrong-Blackarm, Black Elf Barbarian

A black elf raised by barbarians of the Baklands, Glowulf was employed to guide the party through the wilderness beyond Khare and to their destination.


So there we have it: four characters, each with their reason to be in the party. Over the next few months I will post the adventures of our heroes as they travel towards their encounter with destiny. I hope you will join us on this journey.