I’m DMing a new campaign at work and I thought folks might be interested to follow along. I really love Matt Colville’s campaign diaries, where he walks through his prep for each session and then summarizes how things actually went at the table.
I’m planning to split these into two categories:
Adventure prep
These will be analytical/instructional posts meant for DMs who want to see how someone else does things. I’ll lay out everything I prepared before the session and explain why I made certain decisions. After each session I’ll talk about what worked and what didn’t. This will be a behind-the-scenes look at the world, with lots of spoilers for the campaign.
Stories
These will (hopefully) be entertaining posts intended for those who want to follow along with the campaign like a story and therefore don’t want any spoilers. These posts will share lore and adventure summaries, sticking to what players of the campaign would know.
This post is going to be a story post – it’s the campaign intro I shared with my players before our first session in a couple of weeks.
The kingdom of Galifar was a place of wonder. Stretching from coast to coast on the continent of Khorvaire, the kingdom united a diverse set of subjects. A flourishing culture of knowledge and trade developed, leading to great wealth and magically-powered technological progress. Lightning rail lines connected major cities and even the smallest town had ever bright lanterns. The helpful augmentations of magic could be found almost anywhere.
But when King Jarot ir’Wynarn died, the great kingdom of Galifar died with him. His heirs, each a ruler of one of the Five Nations, refused to accept the line of succession and declared their own bid for the throne. This began the Last War, a 100 year battle between the kingdoms of Aundair, Karrnath, Cyre, Breland, and Thrane.
As the war raged and the nations weakened, powerful warlords, wizards, and monsters alike seized on the opportunity and declared their independence. The Five Nations quickly became 12 warring states.
Just when it seemed that the Last War might rage on indefinitely, grinding away all of the wonders developed by the kingdom of Galifar, the Day of Mourning came. A massive, arcane cataclysm of unknown origin struck the nation of Cyre, wiping it off the map in an instant. Now all of Cyre is a blighted waste called the Mournland.
The Day of Mourning broke the fighting spirit of the various leaders. Kaius III, ruler of Karrnath, seized on this opportunity and implored each nation to put an end to the hostilities. The Treaty of Thronehold was eventually signed, recognizing 12 independent nations on the continent of Khorvaire.
After a century of war, Khorvaire knew peace once more. Mostly.
The Dragon Marked Houses are a group of 12 powerful merchant-Barron families. Each family line draws its strength from a different dragon mark, arcane tattoos that mysteriously appeared on the families’ forebears 3000 years ago and bestowed upon them unique magical gifts.
In the 2 years following the Treaty of Thronehold, the Dragon Marked Houses have worked to return the continent of Khorvaire to its former prosperity – and their former profits. The houses, which remained neutral from any kingdom during the Last War, established outposts across the land and reopened trade routes between kingdoms.
In much of the land, people’s lives have resumed some normalcy. But the kingdoms have still not grown used to their newly drawn borders. On the surface, peace reigns. But every kingdom still plots and skirmishes, engaging in covert activities to weaken the other kingdoms or find magical artifacts to increase their power. Many still harbor ambitions of conquest.
The loss of central authority has also allowed the monsters of the realm to carve their own realms: the Demon Wastes and Droaam house powerful demons, ogres, and other evil creatures that harass the neighboring kingdoms. Darguun, the newly recognized kingdom of the goblins holds only a tenuous grip on its violent, unruly citizens.
In this new era of intrigue and monsters, powerful forces find themselves without champions. Many of the greatest heroes and adventurers died in the Last War.
Whether infiltrating rival kingdoms, exploring the mysterious island of Xen’drik for lost relics of power, recovering ancient artifacts for the Library of Korranberg, or protecting the interests of a Dragon Marked House, there is great opportunity for a new wave of adventurers who can make a name for themselves.
