The Maladon Campaign is based off of games like 'West Marches by Ben Robbins (and popularized by ItmeJP on Twitch). I am on +0 GMT/UTC and games will usually be at evenings or weekends, but there is no set game time. Games will typically last 3-5 hours. Only on weekends can longer sessions be contemplated. West Marches games are Open Game Tables; which means that there is a big player pool. Players form groups to adventure on the forum, post where they want to explore, and beg the GM to run a session. Sessions will take place as often as possible and not necessarily at set times. Note however I have a busy real life and so there will be limits. Get your group together and propose an expedition. Exploration is a valid goal in the absence of any other. Conceits of the Game Groups must start and end the session in some 'safe environment'. Initially there is only one; The City of Haven, because you have not found any others. Players can establish safe bases of operation to push further into the wilderness, but this must be done 'in game' and resources either provided or begged from your faction; typically as a 'downtime action' (see later|). Tents and caves are not valid safe zones; the safe zone must be fortified or well hidden and constantly manned. Groups are not static; I hope members will mix freely; this is the reason for the 'back to home base rule' to avoid situations where players want to play but have characters 'stuck in an adventure somewhere' and we can't get the original group back together to 'finish' the adventure. Hence any groups who do not return to base by session end will be automatically returned there by a rescue party from their faction and will lose renown in the process. This will be an unusual Roll20 game because I am running the same exact campaign face to face and some players (in Birmingham UK) will be both on and off-line participants. I am hoping that groups will become rivals and your actions in game will affect the other party. If I post a mission and the online group completes it, the offline group may not know and might set out only to discover that the reward has already been collected. Zones of Danger Maladon is a persistent environment that uses the idea of 'zones of danger' that often correspond to the prevailing magical aura (see setting info). Maladon does NOT scale for your character. If you walk into an area with an aura of 9, don't be surprised to meet Dragons and other terrible creatures, who will kill you if you act against their interests. Before you wander into a dangerous area, you will be given various warnings through the DM's descriptions (tracks, spoor, rumors) but if you ignore these warning signs, YOU WILL DIE! This is a game that will be run with NO fudging. The 'dice shall fall
where they may' and clever players will survive whilst poor, reckless players will die. Players are advised to plan ahead and act cautiously until they are sure of their ground. Prepare lines good lines of retreat and be ready to run if over-matched. Any mage or magic user can sense the power of an aura with a DC15 Arcana check and an action.
Elves, Dragonborn and Tieflings also have an in-built ability to sense
auras; but for them it's a straight DC12 wisdom check. The stronger the aura, the easier it is to sense. Another way to sense the power of an aura is with a laen glass; this is a crystal flask that is nearly
unbreakable and filled with a strange fluid. The fluid glows when you
enter a magical aura and the colour also tells someone experienced the
nature of the aura (since some auras are divine etc). The laen glasses on
Maladon are almost all Sithi artifacts found during the Great War. If
you have enough renown you can beg one from your faction or you can buy
one for 50 gp. Exploration is a big part of the game; as are politics and religions. More XP will be allocated for roleplaying, exploration and cleverness than for killing monsters. Monsters that are bargained, intimidated or tricked will grant the same experience as those that are killed. How the Game is Run behind the Curtain Maladon is not 'balanced' like normal D&D. The encounters are set at
a certain CR that has nothing to do with the level of the party
exploring an area. I set the CR when I first post the
mission on the job board without knowing who will go on the mission nor
when they will go. One of the 'behind the scenes' rules for Maladon is
that I never make an encounter easier just because a bunch of 1st
levellers take it on. That is the essence of West Marches. The encounter
difficultly is set in stone and though I don't do much advance prep
before someone decides to go on an adventure, I have a shorthand to tell
me about difficulty that I don't just alter on a whim. Let me show you an example 'stat block' for a mission for Maladon: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lord Rufus of the Black Lions
hearby offers a reward of 100 gp for any willing to go to Gatesgarth and
investigate rumours of Lord Gategarth’s disppearance (job dated 1st Havis 984) The
tomb of an ancient Vampire is sited under Gatesgarth Tower. The
Vampire's body is ash but the spirit lingers. On the festival of Sorth
983, the Lord of Gatesgarth sleep-walks and opens the hidden crypt under
the infuence of a siren spell cast by the Vampire spirit. Life energy
is drawn from him. Each full moon the spirit summons him and draws off
more life force. The Vampire starts off very weak but by the 1st of
Havis 984, the spirit possesses Lord Gatesgarth and he becomes a Vampire
spawn and vanishes. PCs invesigating may find the tomb; any spawn will
be present in the tomb in the daytime. At night they will be prowling
Gatesgarth. Start Date: (1st Havis 984) Starting Difficulty: CR 2 (1 modified Vampire Spawn: see notes). Progression:
Each month after the start date (1st Havis 984) roll 1d6: on a 1-3 the
CR of the Lord increases by 1; on a 4 the number of CR 1 spawn increases
by 1d4, on a 4 the CR of one spawn increases by 1, on a 6 there is no
change. Progression Cap: Vampire Lord
progression cap is CR 13; Spawn progression cap is CR 5. Maximum number
of spawn is equal to 3d6. The spawn cannot grow to higher level than the
Lord-1. Encounter Tables: Modify encounter
tables in Bonewood/Gatesgarth; add 5% chance of Vampire encounter per
month this threat is left unchecked to a maximum of 20%. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The
whole of Maladon is set up like this. Why have I done it this way?
Because I want the game to be 'impartial! I don't want to decide as a DM
that 'tonight it's time to kill some characters'. If I don't do this
kind of prep before the mission is discussed, then
there's a chance that knowledge of who is going on the mission will
start to sway me into being lenient or harsh. This method takes the
'burden' of running the world out of my hands and the thing basically
runs itself. It is a powerful GMIng technique that I developed years ago
and have been refining ever since. I have simplified the example above
to make a point, but you hopefully get the idea. For further discussion on this 'behind the curtain' type of mechanics see here. House Rules: The following Rules are changed from standard 5th edition D&D: 1) Flanking now grants a +2 bonus to both combatants without spending an action. You need to be opposite your flanking partner for the bonus to apply. The aid bonus stacks with this flanking bonus. 2) Half XP for killing or interacting with monsters. 3) Extra XP for roleplaying, exploration, completing missions and forming alliances. 4) Social interaction is handled as follows; all NPCs/monsters have a starting disposition that is a function of your (players') race/class and standing in the area or organization that the NPC or monster is a part of, and there is also a component that is determined by your Charisma. How they treat you is also based upon your past actions in the form of Fellowship and Renown . Fellowship is awarded to players and can be 'spent' to gain favours from individuals. Renown works the same way for organizations or factions. The way that actions affect NPCs/monster is complex; e.g. if you are too nice to an NPC orc, it will lower his respect for you, since orcs respect strength and posturing. 5) Most PCs do not spend all of their time adventuring because of the needs of the colony. Time passes quickly in Maladon; based on the Campaign Calendar here . Game time is tracked constantly and death from old age is a possibility before the campaign ends. 6) An important interaction is with the factions ; the most obvious are the Ten Companies, though you cannot formally join as a 'Freeman' of any of the Companies until your Renown is at least 5 with that faction. Before that you are just an associate. Whilst an associate you are not barred from working for or rising in standing with other Companies; but once you join one Company as a Freeman you are tied to them and your Renown with the other Companies is frozen at its current level. The point of joining factions is that certain benefits are only available to Freeman. Other factions do exist but must be unlocked through exploring Haven and elsewhere, In order to gain access to certain goods, services and equipment, you need to rise in standing with your faction. Your standing is measured by your Renown for that faction. Renown rises when you complete tasks, donate money or interact with Company Sargeants and The Captain. It also rises if you find resources for your Company, such a mines, minerals, plants, dungeons and locations that can be fortified or settled safely, It drops when you fail to return to Haven at the end of each session (since the Company sends out someone to find you and bring you back to Haven, and this wastes resources). Renown is also lost by failing missions or bringing your Company trouble or making them enemies. If you complete a mission that is in the interests of one Company but discomforts another you can both gain Renown for one faction and lose it for another. 7) The game uses the concept of virtual rolls as championed by Ben Robbins. The concept is simple and is designed to stop the following happening; the players come up with a brilliant speech to convince a monster to leave an area. The speech is wonderfully crafted and convincing. The DM asks for a diplomacy check and a 1 comes up........and so the whole thing fails and falls flat. This not only penalizes creative play, it also turns the game into mindless dice rolling. The virtual roll system works as follows; the player tells the DM what they will do in detail. If it's a speech, they speak in character, if setting camp, the player describes setting the fire deeply into the ground with an air tunnel at a 45 degree angle so that the the chimney effect makes the fire smokeless and virtually impossible to see. The DM then assigns a number to activity the player just described, from 1-20, based on how good the description or roleplaying was. That number becomes the virtual d20 roll the player applies to their check. Players then add ability mods, proficiency bonus etc to this and the DM compares the total to the DC to determine success. The differences is, no roll is ever made. This mechanic is primarily for social situations but can be used anywhere except in combat (though I will even allow combat exceptions for clever play). If a player actively role-plays in a social situation they will be awarded a minimum of 10 on the check. Active roleplaying is speaking in character. 8) This game will use active role-playing as it's preferred mode. As DM I will not say 'the NPC says......' I will use a voice and actually say what is said to you in character. I expect and encourage players to do the same. 9) At the end of every session, PCs are automatically returned to the safe zone in Haven (unless they have been captured) if they have not returned by themselves. This return mechanism is in the form of a 'rescue' by the Rising Sun patrols and causes a loss of renown to every party member that affects prices, access to services and advancement within their Company. 10) At the end of every session, one player must write a brief expedition log and post it in the campaign forum. This log should note important places or locations discovered. PCs earn NO XP and receive no payment for missions until this is done. 11) At 4th, 8th and 12th levels, the only option is to train attributes. Feats cannnot be gained from levelling up in Maladon; instead they are purchased by a homebrew 'XP spend' mechanism detailed below. Learning a Feat requires 1 Maladonian month of training and you must find someone who knows the feat to train you (see here
for a list of trainers). You must also expend XP equal to 0.5 x
(minimum XP for next level - minimum XP for current level). This XP is
'lost' and does not contribute to gaining levels. You cannot spend XP
such that you would lose a level. You can adventure in the middle of
training but days on adventure are lost and do not count towards the
month of training. See here for a list of new feats (note that only one's marked 'active' are currently allowed).
