Buddha Bear's Dnd Campaign

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I've been DMing a continuous, Dungeons and Dragons (heavily modified) campaign set (roughly) in the World of Greyhawk for the last 20 years. When I started the world, most of the books and boxed sets hadn't been conceived yet, so my Oerth is a little different from TSR's "Official" version. Likewise, over the years, I've made a lot of changes to the rules. Some of these rules, to my surprise, have been incorporated into the game system (multiple proficiencies in weapons, secondary skills, etc) while others haven't (lots of UNIQUE character classes, diverse races, etc). The campaign is somewhere between the 1st and 2nd Edition rules, although the focus is on adding diversity and varients while keeping things simple. You'll find elements from other game systems, as well as the 3rd Edition, too!

A lot of people ask me "why Dnd?" and specifically, "why not the new d20 system?" I mean, clearly, the old system is full of flaws and I've gone to great lengths to patch it up (thank you, Elf!). Well, a couple of reasons:

Basically, my campaign is a very open, very connected story. I allow a wide variety of classes, races, settings, cultures and religions. To help new (and old) players keep all of this straight, there's a primer for the religions, cultures, languages, and worlds in the campaign. The players have the freedom to do pretty much whatever they want. In fact, I depend upon the players' motivations to give adventures meaning. I don't like to force a storyline on folks, although I will try and shape the direction in which a plot evolves. I think a good story line is forged with a combined effort from players and DM alike. Whatever their actions, however, the players affect the world they live in. If one group of heroes accidentally releases a demon into the campaign, other groups of adventurers may meet and battle this creature. The surviving villians and monsters from one adventure may return to plague not just their original adversaries, but others as well. Likewise, every few years I create an adventure which ties together different regions of the world into one game. During these games, heroes from far-flung parts of the world can come together, interact and work on common problems. The last such game was the Illithid Invasion. And, as the players are slowly discovering, the Seeds of Chaos, is the current über-story-arc.

Although the Illithid War ended several years ago, there are still several small enclaves of mind flayer on and above Oerth. Nautiloids still circle the planet (at a healthy distance) while small communities of illithid still dwell deep in the Underdark. They don't seem to be causing any new trouble, but the chaos they stirred up before still lingers. The mind flayer undermined the social network of the world and caused the War in the Highlands which ended after an on-and-off run of almost eight years. There are many PCs now living permanently in this pseudo-Celtic region and it may serve as the next "party craddle". Some of the other recent games include: the Saviors of Saltmarsh, Knights of the Wild March (where the group broke up a slavery ring), Battle for the Bright Desert (a multi-party, multi-pronged assault on Kahli, high-priestess of Tiamat), Assault on the DemonWeb (a foray into the Abyss to battle the forces of Lolth), the Tower of Illusion, the Vaults of Father Legate (part of an ever-expanding story of political corruption across the continent), Quest to Tartarus (to free magic stolen by the Elder Titans), Girl's Night Under (revolving around the next generation of heroes) and its sequel game-series Sailor Scouts (including a long-lost Spell Jammer!).

There is now a new party which has set up shop on the world of Torsh and is exploring a series of mysterious portals erected tens of thousands of years ago by an unknown race. Meanwhile, Arianna has gathered together the Greek worshippers of Oerth in order to accomplish a secret mission for Athena. A few years ago there was the Voyages of the Blessed Harmony, set in the waters of the Archipelico (Western Arabian). With the end of last year came the end of an epic adventure, the Quest for Ghaunadaur, an Underdark game. The repercussions of this adventure will be felt on Oerth for MANY years to come. Other ideas for up-coming games include various vignettes (ashone's "wolf-quest", the 30-somethings of Eon, etc). As you can see many of current and up-coming games are based on the outcomes of other games. Three years ago, we had the Oerth Fighter competition in Greyhawk. Last year, the rules changed and we had Mortal Kombat. What will be next? Some games I'd like to see take off include the new Voyages of the SeaWolf/FarSpear, Spell Jammer and an Asian campaign. For those interested, I've got a list of Past, Present and Future games available and a rough schedule of what nights are good and bad. And, this year, we're doing the FRoGgies online...

The tone of my campaign is low-powered and the flavor I shoot for is realistic and "gritty". I can't stand Monty Haul campaigns. You won't find platemail-wearing rock-climbers or folks throwing their swords across the battlefield. Nor do we have characters with more magical items than abilities. Most everyone in the world worked for and earned what they have. The world obeys the laws of physics, even in the Spell Jammer setting. I try to create a sense of continuity and believeability about the campaign; the cosmos obeys certain laws. Once a character (or player) gets a feel for these rules, it gives her an idea what to expect. It also makes problem-solving a little more fair, because the parameters of a character's reality have been a little better defined.

I place a real emphasis on the characters earning what they have, be it experience points, gold or magical items. I think heroes should earn their levels and should be defined by their abilities, not their magical items. I take offense to high level characters who aren't in touch with what they can do. Likewise, anyone can save the world if he's armed with a Staff of the Magi and Bracers of AC 2...!

On my Oerth, a +1 long sword is a worthy treasure. Only potions and scrolls can normally be bought and sold and even then only in a few cities on the continent. Rings of Invisibility are considered tremendous treasures. Enchanted armor is especially useful since in a realistic world not all warriors are willing to encased themselves in the 25 to 65 pounds of metal known as armor. Wands, staves and the like are very rare and can only be recharged by a handful of high-level wizards.

On my Oerth, a 4th level fighter is due some respect. A 6th level character is an accomplishment. And an 8th level adventurer is usually hailed as a hero of reknown. The mortality rate is high at lower levels (between 10% and 30% from 1st to 3rd). Raise Dead spells are rare (few clerics can do it and fewer are willing to argue with Fate/the Gods of Death/Whatever that this isn't the departed's time to shuffle off) and REQUIRE a quest to prove the worth of the individual raised. But I think all of this reinforces the uniqueness and specialness of each successful character.

There have been many generations of both players and characters in this world. High school, college (pre- and post- Europe) and professional life -- SkyHaven, the Fabulous Five, the Blade Seekers, the original and new Portown parties, the Ahlissans, the KZM Party, the new Knights of the Wild March, the Explorers of Torsh -- there've been literally hundreds of games with over a thousand characters run by dozens of players. And some of the best known NPCs were once PCs in their own right. The current group consists of about a half dozen active players and another half dozen occassional folks.

I've been running this world since November, 18th, 1983. In the campaign, almost 33 years have passed. In all that time the very highest level character is a 9th/14th level duo-classed human fighter/mage who was created the first week of the campaign; a character which has been active on and off ever since. I have a short list of the most powerful heroes who've ever lived. A character can only make the Hall of Heroes by reaching 7th level -- only about a dozen of characters on the list are 10th level or higher...

My campaign has been around a while. During this time, various people (mostly myself) have tried to capture different moments in "history". During the First Era of the world, the majority of the players went to high school together and played almost everyday after school. This was a time of few characters and long stretches of a single campaign-group, such as SkyHaven or the original Portown party. Keeping track of time was important, but not unduly so as there were only two or three parties of PCs on Oerth. During the Second Era, however (once I got back from Europe), there were more parties than players (the joys of a college schedule where no one wanted to be left out). Hence was born a very structured time-line known as Events. Finally, once my professional life really picked up, my free time became scarce. So, during the Third Era of my campaign, I started asking other people to also record the trials and misadventures of my Oerth.

I'll add more thoughts later. Time for me to get back to work. If you have any questions, comments or funny stories, please send me mail. We're always looking for new, stable players...

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