Swords of Lemuria

[Dr. Hercules]

Last saturday we started my comic book sword & sorcery pick-up game, for when not all of us can make it for the Defenders Congregate! game. This campaign is set in the ancient past of the Defenders universe on the continent of Lemuria.

Influenced by Savage Sword of Conan and The Warlord, I borrowed heavily from the Barbarians of Lemuria free PDF (which is based on the writings of Lin Carter), Pathfinder, Planet Algol website, etc.

We had a character building session and then played for a couple of hours.

 

I plan on using this thread to post our adventures and setting info (since the games are probably going to be infreqent).

 

First up is my Ground Rules Sheet which I handed out to my players:

 

General Description

This is a classic comic book Sword & Sorcery mini-campaign inspired by such books as Dc’s The Warlord and Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan. The PCs will be barbarians, warriors, thieves or any other profession that might fit. They will fight thieves, warriors, cults, and evil sorcerers. Sometimes they will fight monsters, supernatural and mundane.

 

Importance of the Player Characters

The Characters should be pretty “bada$$” in their own right but not necessarily important in the greater scheme of things. They might topple a king or dispose of high priest but these can be replaced without world shattering consequences. Even when they are facing very powerful enemies they will still rely on their wits, skills, and a good sword arm to allow them to survive.

 

Campaign Tone

Morality: Good verses evil might be clear cut, but the characters and their motivations will be “morally grey”

Realism: Romantic, i.e. suspension of realism in various situations

Outlook: Successes balanced by failures

Seriousness: Mostly serious but occasional light-hearted

Continuity: Episodic

 

Physical World Description

The campaign takes place in 35,000 BC on the lost continent of Lemuria, in a standard super hero universe. While most of the world is in the midst of the Stone Age, civilization in and around Lemuria resembles late bronze/ early iron age. Most cities are decadent and corrupt. Magic exists but most people don’t understand it and fear it. Though there are different types of magic the general populace usually lumps them all together as sorcery.

 

Character Building Guidelines (use High Powered Hero Template on Hero Designer)

Starting Points for Player Characters: 200*

Maximum Disadvantage Point: 150*

Maximum Points from 1 Disadvantage Category: 50

Characters Automatically have NCM Disadvantage at no cost: Yes

Characters can carry normal technology at no Cost: Yes

 

* Yes I know, 350pts. I got this by averaging all of surbrook's Sword & Sorcery builds here:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationsbook/bookchar.html

 

And I threw in John Carter as well and it came out to be 359pts. So i figured what the hell.

I also averaged their stats and came up with the table below. (Max by the way is Conan)

 

AVERAGE Min-Max

STR Range: 15 9----25

DEX Range: 19 14—23

CON Range: 17 11---25

BODY Range: 13 10---20

EGO Range: 17 12---21

PRE Range: 19 15---25

PD Range: 6 3---8

ED Range: 6 3---8

SPD Range: 4 3---4

REC Range: 7 4---10

END Range: 38 26---50

STUN Range: 32 21--46

CV Range: 6 5---8

 

Damage Classes: 5 3---7

----Martial Arts DC +1

Active Points: 5---25

Skill Rolls (Min/Max): 11-/15-

----Combat Skill Lvls: HTH/Ranged (All/or weapon) +4/+4 (+2/+2)

----Penalty Skill Lvls: Hit Location Mod/Ranged Mod +4/+4

Resistant Defenses: Special (Armor) 1-5

 

House Rules

Combat Luck (Recommended): whether you call it Nary A Scratch, Just a Loin Cloth, Lithe as a Cat, or Chainmail Bikini the maximum you can have is 3r, and it has to have limitation: Only in effect while not wearing armor greater or equal to your Combat Luck (-1/2)

 

Custom Talent (optional): Deadly Blow: + 1d6 (Any HTH Weapon or Any Ranged Weapon; Any Circumstance) 10pts (or limit: specific weapon, specific enemy [i.E. beasts only], or in a giving circumstance [enraged, berserk, etc])

 

Plot Points: Plot Points can be used to alter unfavorable dice rolls in a session. The Characters will start every adventure with 5 Plot points. No matter how many PPs a character spends in an adventure, at the beginning of a new adventure they will automatically be reset to 5 points. Characters do not receive any new plot points as they advance and they cannot be converted into XP.

 

Limited Pushing: A character may push his strength up to 5 points with a successful EGO roll. Also, he can Push 1 point more than 5 for every 1 point the EGO roll is made by. He expends 1 extra point of END for every 1 point the STR is pushed in addition to the normal END expenditure.

Now for the PC themselves.

Those Who sought Adventure....

Bendan Telgar: The alias for a Dhazzhi* minstrel who is on the lam. He is a superb archer as well as bard, who has the mutant power to influence people through song. He has some sorcery skills taken from a scroll he took from a Lemurian named Zoran. Strangely, for being a fugitive, he has befriended.....

Lothar: A Kherulhi* manhunter and mercenary. This former assassin has shadowy connections and a darker past.

"Unamed Barbarian" (the player is still working on that): A burly Dhazzhi* warrior whose clan was decimated when attacked by slavers. He was sold to the gladitoral pits. He was eventually freed by.....

Grangnar: A time tossed Drakine (dragon man) wizard from ancient days. He is skilled in the use of earth magic and wizardry. He wears a magical cloak which renders him "mundane" and allows him to be barely noticed walking the streets. For his own reasons he freed "Unamed Barbarian" and they have been adventuring in and around the Ul-Karg Jungle.

*Dhazzi are the ancestors of Armenians, Assyrians, Mediterranean, and Turkish peoples. Kherulhi are the ancestors of East Asian and South east asian peoples.

Both the terms Dhazzhi and Kherulhi I found here: Races of Algol

[薔薇語]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

Interesting. Looks like it would be a lot of fun. What happened in your pick up game; i.e., any highlights? Also, are you posting this in an effort to recruit people for an online game? I was confused by the purpose because you didn't talk much about the game you ran and quite a bit about character gen - but without ever explicitly saying you were looking for players.

 

Anyway,

I hope to hear about the game highlights if you are interested in sharing.

 

La Rose.

[Dr. Hercules]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

No, there isn't an online game. This is a table top game for when we are short players in our regular Champions game. I was planning to post session logs but first I thought I would post the campaign guide line, so everyone could have a look.

I just got too tired to post anymore last night.

Sorry about any confusion. I should be able to post the characters and our first adventure later.

 

 

Edit: I've edited my first post to hopefully make it a little more clear

Also added the PCs there at the end.

 

Next up: The first session "The Mother In the Ruin"

[Dr. Hercules]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

Okay, sorry about that. Been a while. Real Life has intruded again. its' kind of like gamer's kryptonite. ( I think I just found a new sig).

Anyway here's part ofthe first session in Swords of Lemuria.

Session I ‘The Mother in the Ruin”

Those who sought adventure…..

Bendan Telgar: Fugitive minstrel archer with some sorcery and the power to “touch you in song.”

Lothar: Manhunter and mercenary with a dark past.

“unnamed barbarian”: Last of his clan freed from the gladiatorial pits.

Grangnar: A time tossed Drakine wizard.

 

The Ul-Karg Jungle.

East of the Aslak Sea and West of The Great Plains of Klaar.

The thriving jungle sounds cascade through the dense foliage with bird songs, screeching monkeys, and howls of predators echoing off the trees. The sounds are interrupted as birds, monkeys and lemurs suddenly burst from the underbrush, flying or scurrying away in fright. Crashing through the jungle emerge two figures running at break neck speeds.

One is a burly Dhazzhi barbarian, his greatsword recklessly drawn as he runs.

The second is rather strange.

Keeping pace with the barbarian is a draconic humanoid dressed in robes. His reptilian head darting behind periodically as they run. In the jungle behind them can be heard human howls and cries in the distance. This is the sounds of their savage pursuers.

“Just couldn’t leave the female alone could you?” Gragnar the Drakine hissed between breaths as they ran.

The Dhazzhi barbarian’s thought shifted back momentarily to how Grangnar and he rescued three Hyperborean warriors from a massive river dragon. One of those warriors was the son of the Zulmec tribe’s chieftain. The grateful warriors invited the barbarian and his “pet” back to their village. There the chief and his people thankfully accepted him as friend (and reluctantly Grangnar). He also met the chiefs beautiful, and very flirtatious daughter. Turns out she was promised in marriage to another chief’s son of a rival tribe as sign of good will. Well, she would have been if he hadn’t been caught in the blankets of her tent later that evening.

“You were supposed to warn me if someone was coming, remember?” He said as they paused at the large trunk of a fallen jannibar tree. Catching his breath, he looked around. They needed to shift direction, maybe west, to shake their pursuers. “You were supposed to stand guard outside the tent. Where did you go anyway?”

“Even my kind has to relieve themselves once and awhi….” The sound of the spear piercing the trunk, its shaft vibrating between them, punctuated their predicament.

“Rest times over. We got to go.” The barbarian said as they turned and began sprinting west.

Meanwhile, in the Ul-Karg Jungle to the west, Lothar the Kherulhi couldn’t believe his run of bad luck. Bendan Telgar and he were running through the jungle being pursued by a very persistent company of the Prince’s Army of Shembis . Lothar thought that once they had gotten some distance from the city that the company would have given up. He was wrong. So both men decided to turn east into the Ul-Karg Jungle, in hopes of losing their pursuers there. But by All the Thieves of Sakaar, if the company just didn’t follow them right into the jungle. Curse the bones of this Dhazzhi minstrel. If Telgar hadn’t insulted the Prince of Shembis with one of his songs, in front of the Prince’s very nephew, he might be back swilling ale and counting the money from this job.

Of course, the job was to find a missing merchant from the city of Kathool. The trail led to a local noble’s house in the city of Shembis, who was having a banquet. Needing time to search the manor he had sent Telgar in as a distraction. Telgar sang a vulgar song about the Prince’s dalliance with his nephew. Who knew the nephew would be in attendance? Enraged the nephew ordered them apprehended. They were able to escape but with in a few hours the whole city was looking for them. When they fled they were being pursued by this unshakable company.

Worse, upon reaching the jungle they let their guard down and were almost set upon by the men from the company. So they found themselves fleeing through the jungle, swords at their backs.

“This could be worse you know,” Telgar said between breaths as they ran.

“How?” Lothar spat.

“We could already be in the belly of a Chala-lion”, Telgar said with a smile.

Despite himself Lothar laughed.

Lothar and Telgar suddenly found themselves bursting into a jungle clearing. At the same time directly across from them, was a greatsword wielding Dhazzhi and some sort of robed lizard man.

They were all obviously out of breath.

Both parties eyed each other for a few seconds then Telgar spoke.

“Who is chasing you?”

“People.” said the barbarian. “Who is chasing you?”

“Other people,” Telgar quipped.

“Look,” Lothar spoke up. “We have people chasing us. You have people chasing you. It seems to me that this clearing would be good place for both groups to suddenly clash. We should leave, but stick together in case we have to fight off any stragglers.”

“Agreed” Gragnar hissed.

The four strangers quickly found an overgrown path north of the clearing and took it. The path led down a slope, around a bend and ended at a ruined temple. The temple looked old, weathered worn, with large roots growing through parts of the crumbling steps. At the top of the steps was a darkened archway leading into the temple.

Back up in the clearing, shouts could be heard followed by the sounds of a skirmish.

“Sounds like our friends have found each other.” Lothar said looking towards the way they came.

“I say we go in here. It’s a good place to lay low till things settle down. Plus it is very defensible.” The barbarian said, pointing at the temple with his greatsword.

“Why not” said Telger.

The four began to ascend the steps of the ruined temple.

To be continued

[drunkonduty]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

Cool. A great start to adventure! I'll be keeping an eye on the thread for updates. :-)

[pinecone]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

I agree...very cool, and true to the media...

[Dr. Hercules]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

Okay, Still typing up the second half of "The Mother In The Ruin" (been a little sidetracked:o) Plus we played in the second adventure a little while back so I've got to get the first part of that one down as well. I have my notes I just have to get them on the computer.

While we are waiting, I can start posting stuff about the setting. Here are the common human player races:

 

Races of Lemuria

Almost all the known human races can be found in and around Lemuria. They can be broken down into six broad categories, which are also the names for the known languages.

 

 

Abyznians: These are the ancestors of the peoples of India. They are known for their turbaned warriors and their shaven-headed priests, who are masters of dark arts.

 

Angalla: These are the people who are the ancestors of the South & South West African people.

 

Barshi: These are the ancestors of several dark skinned people found in modern south East Asia, as well as aboriginal Australians, and some pygmy races.

 

Dhazzhi: This is a very broad group of people who are the ancestors of the peoples of the Caucasus region. These include Armenians, Assyrians, Mediterranean, and Turkish peoples.

 

Kherulhi:These people are the ancestors to the East Asian, South East Asian peoples.

 

Shuzakh: These people are the ancestors of the Central and southern African peoples.

[TheTemplar]

Re: Swords of Lemuria

 

Unnamed Barbarian did finally get named. His name is Karne, known in the Arenas of Shembis as The Black Beast, and known in Punjar Marketplaces as "that guy who you can usually get to pay triple for everything." This is a really fun campaign!