The Crowns of Kilbern

[The Main Man]

This is a campaign that takes place in the Turakian Age setting.

 

Basically, during those times the Crowns of Krim first emerged.

 

This campaign is about their good counterparts, the Crowns of Kilbern, who fought evil and disorder and righted wrongs all across Ambrethel.

 

 

Basically, the PC's utter Kilbern's name in the tradition of Captain Marvel or He-Man and they become powerful warriors.

 

The basic form at the beginning of the campaign adds 5 CP to each CHAR and each PC may add an additional 5 CP to a CHAR of their choice.

 

Every once in a while they also gain specific boosts of power that are geared towards either elemental or totemic power that are chosen in sets of 25 CP each.

 

There is a "hard" CHAR Maxima in which PC's may not surpass the limit (20 STR is the max, for example - no exceptions except...) unless they have a Racial or Environmental/Ancestral Template that modifies CHAR, in which the Maxima are raised by the like amount (if Elves get +2 DEX then they are limited to 22 DEX instead of 20, but if they lose -1 CON then they are limited to 19 CON instead of 20 CON.)

 

It will also use Knockdown and Hit Locations but not Impairment or Disabling.

 

 

Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions?

 

Have at it, HEROphiles!

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Crowns of Kilbern

 

Hmm... interesting premise. Keep in mind that based on their modern precedent the Crowns of Krim, especially the Iron Crown, grant their wearers abilities surpassing those of all but the most powerful spell casters; so one would expect the Crowns of Kilbern to be similarly powerful. If you don't want your PCs to start out at that level, IMO there should be some implication that they're on a quest to raise the power of the Crowns, perhaps to ultimately enable them to face the Crowns of Krim in battle. Hence some of the Experience the players gain should go to augmenting the Crowns, or there should be some other known method or mechanic by which the PCs can augment them during the campaign.

 

I suggest that to define the purpose behind the Crowns of Kilbern, you should consider the origin of the Crowns of Krim, which may require making some decisions about who and what Krim is. The answers to those questions might not only give your campaign direction, but might suggest a time and place for it to be set. For example, I decided for my own use of the Turakian Age that Krim is the king of demons in the Drakine religion, their "devil" if you will. He created the six Crowns as gifts for each of the six Drakine gods, who gave them to their most prominent worshippers; but Krim ultimately intended the Crowns to cause chaos and suffering. Following that premise, a campaign such as you describe could be set during the Drakine Wars, with the PCs as heroes of Iluria and Storvak fighting for the survival of the human kingdoms. The influence of the Crowns of Krim could even have been the cause of the Drakine attack.

 

Obviously this is just a suggestion, but I'm sure you get the idea.

[The Main Man]

Re: The Crowns of Kilbern

 

Nice.

 

 

Lessee here, considering how Turakian Age displays a sort of "pantheon equivalency" chart, what the Drakine may hold to be their Devil, others may as well.

 

 

In fact, Krim could be an ancient name for The Dragon!

 

 

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As far as the Crowns of Krim's power, I look at it like this: all but Bloodstone sold their souls IIRC, and they are all a tad stronger than him.

 

I could easily start the campaign with the Crowns of Krim still having their souls, and as they grow stronger and the Crowns of Kilbern grow to oppose them, the Crowns of Krim may sell their souls.

 

 

I've also thought of the Crowns of Krim all being different races: Ulronai, Black Orc, Nightscale Drakine, Dark Elf, Goblin, and Erqigdlit.

 

I'd also thought that I'd create various "elements" that the PC's can choose from like Lightning, Fire, Earth, etc and that they are part of the same spectrum as the Crowns of Krim, with the exception being that some are only good while others are only evil in that naturally High Fantasy parlance while others are simply neutral, like the aforementioned Fire, Earth, etc.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Crowns of Kilbern

 

Lessee here, considering how Turakian Age displays a sort of "pantheon equivalency" chart, what the Drakine may hold to be their Devil, others may as well.

 

 

In fact, Krim could be an ancient name for The Dragon!

 

That's exactly the way I would handle it, considering how many names/guises/avatars the Dragon has used among peoples around the world throughout history. The motif certainly jibes with Kal-Turak creating the Dragon Crown to control all the others. Other avatars of the Dragon during the Turakian Age could include S'taa'sha, patron god of Talarshand; and the Serpent-Men deity Shaa-tael.

 

As far as the Crowns of Krim's power, I look at it like this: all but Bloodstone sold their souls IIRC, and they are all a tad stronger than him.

 

I could easily start the campaign with the Crowns of Krim still having their souls, and as they grow stronger and the Crowns of Kilbern grow to oppose them, the Crowns of Krim may sell their souls.

 

Sounds like a reasonable justification. May I suggest a more gradual variation on this process, to make the two sets of Crowns more equivalent: as the wearers of the Crowns of Kilbern accumulate "positive karma" due to their noble deeds, they become more noble and godly, hence able to use more of the Crowns' power. Similarly, as the Crowns of Krim descend further into corruption through acts of evil, their own command of their Crowns' power grows. (See also below.)

 

I've also thought of the Crowns of Krim all being different races: Ulronai' date=' Black Orc, Nightscale Drakine, Dark Elf, Goblin, and Erqigdlit.[/quote']

 

The typical locations where these different races can be found can motivate the PCs to travel across Ambrethel, to confront Crown wearers holding sway over particular areas. (In my conceptualization, when the Drakine gods discovered the true nature of the Crowns of Krim they scattered them across the world to various hidden locations to prevent them being misused. That's why Kal-Turak had to look so long and hard for them.)

 

If only one or two Crowns of Krim operate in a particular region, that could have a bearing on their power level relative to the Crowns of Kilbern. The former might indeed be more powerful than the latter at first, but if all the heroes confront only one or two Krimites the encounter would be balanced. As the PCs grow stronger they could work their way up to more and/or more powerful Crowns, finally facing the wearer of the Iron Crown or even all the Crowns of Krim at once.

[The Main Man]

Re: The Crowns of Kilbern

 

Good ideas, thanks.

 

Come to think of it, I did conceive of the Crowns of Kilbern being created in response to the Crowns of Krim's evil deeds.

 

Krim being an evil and disorderly type makes an excellent opposite number for Kilbern who is good and orderly - which is actually how I arrived at the conclusion of using Kilbern in the first place.

 

And good points on giving a reason to travel - I hadn't even thought of that!