DM Thoughts - Session 01
Hey there everone!
The campaign is officially underway, after sixteen long months of preparation.
However, for those of you who have already begun your own Savage Tide campaigns, it may not seem like the campaign you are familiar with. Indeed, it might seem as though it's not even connected at all, just yet.
The reason for that is simple - while we have indeed begun the larger "Savage Tide" campaign, what we have specifically started is actually a pre-campaign of my own creation, based on elements of the Savage Tide backstory which I felt would be fun to explore in greater depth.
The pre-campaign, tentatively scheduled to last only four weeks or so, takes us to the isle of Thanaclan (currently the Isle of Dread), back when it was in its prime, in the days leading up to the tragic events which saw the destruction of the city and nearly wiped out the Olman people. These important events, which are normally only explained through NPC description, midway through the standard Savage Tide campaign, seemed interesting enough to me, that I felt it would be a nice idea to have the players actually experience them through real characters involved in it, rather than just hear about it from someone else. This way, it would be more meaningful to them, and add a great deal of foreshadowing and intensity to the early stages of the campaign that it normally wouldn't have.
However, as you'll see once these weeks of the pre-campaign are over, that isn't the end of my alteration of the storyline. I've also decided to add a bonus chapter to the present-day core of the campaign, which serves largely to bridge the gap between the events of prior stories (Shackled City and Age of Worms) and Savage Tide itself. With the wedding of Lavinia Vanderboren and Anzak Guildenstern at its center, this bonus Chapter One will bring back characters from the past and introduce them to certain characters from the present and future. All of which is expected to pay off much later in the Savage Tide campaign, when its endgame (and adventures beyond even that) will likely see these various sets of heroes united for the first time, to fight a battle greater than anything imagined.
In a way, I feel as though this campaign, as written, is already great. But through these additions and changes - pre-campaign, wedding chapter, post-campaign chapters - I am seeking to make it into something even better. I guess that comes from having sixteen months to prepare for it - you're bound to find certain moments of clarity and inspiration along the way, which can spark ideas you feel could make everything so much better than it already is.
Thus, while those of you who follow these adventures of ours will recognize the real Savage Tide in chapters 2 through 13... I hope you will also come to appreciate and enjoy what we have to offer in the pre-campaign, chapter 1, and chapters 14, 15 and 16. Because while 2 to 13 represent the conclusion of the Shackled City / Age of Worms / Savage Tide trilogy, those extra chapters provide the links which also make it the conclusion of a far greater saga, which began all the way back in Dirge of the Forsaken (see here for details on that one).
In a way, this will be the campaign that reaches back in time and brings ALL of our previous campaigns together. The ending should be epic, gripping, and hopefully something we will never forget - quite likely changing the world of our future D&D games forever.
Do I sound excited about this campaign? You betcha. A pregnancy normally lasts nine months... I've been waiting sixteen for this baby of mine to be born :)
The campaign is officially underway, after sixteen long months of preparation.
However, for those of you who have already begun your own Savage Tide campaigns, it may not seem like the campaign you are familiar with. Indeed, it might seem as though it's not even connected at all, just yet.
The reason for that is simple - while we have indeed begun the larger "Savage Tide" campaign, what we have specifically started is actually a pre-campaign of my own creation, based on elements of the Savage Tide backstory which I felt would be fun to explore in greater depth.
The pre-campaign, tentatively scheduled to last only four weeks or so, takes us to the isle of Thanaclan (currently the Isle of Dread), back when it was in its prime, in the days leading up to the tragic events which saw the destruction of the city and nearly wiped out the Olman people. These important events, which are normally only explained through NPC description, midway through the standard Savage Tide campaign, seemed interesting enough to me, that I felt it would be a nice idea to have the players actually experience them through real characters involved in it, rather than just hear about it from someone else. This way, it would be more meaningful to them, and add a great deal of foreshadowing and intensity to the early stages of the campaign that it normally wouldn't have.
However, as you'll see once these weeks of the pre-campaign are over, that isn't the end of my alteration of the storyline. I've also decided to add a bonus chapter to the present-day core of the campaign, which serves largely to bridge the gap between the events of prior stories (Shackled City and Age of Worms) and Savage Tide itself. With the wedding of Lavinia Vanderboren and Anzak Guildenstern at its center, this bonus Chapter One will bring back characters from the past and introduce them to certain characters from the present and future. All of which is expected to pay off much later in the Savage Tide campaign, when its endgame (and adventures beyond even that) will likely see these various sets of heroes united for the first time, to fight a battle greater than anything imagined.
In a way, I feel as though this campaign, as written, is already great. But through these additions and changes - pre-campaign, wedding chapter, post-campaign chapters - I am seeking to make it into something even better. I guess that comes from having sixteen months to prepare for it - you're bound to find certain moments of clarity and inspiration along the way, which can spark ideas you feel could make everything so much better than it already is.
Thus, while those of you who follow these adventures of ours will recognize the real Savage Tide in chapters 2 through 13... I hope you will also come to appreciate and enjoy what we have to offer in the pre-campaign, chapter 1, and chapters 14, 15 and 16. Because while 2 to 13 represent the conclusion of the Shackled City / Age of Worms / Savage Tide trilogy, those extra chapters provide the links which also make it the conclusion of a far greater saga, which began all the way back in Dirge of the Forsaken (see here for details on that one).
In a way, this will be the campaign that reaches back in time and brings ALL of our previous campaigns together. The ending should be epic, gripping, and hopefully something we will never forget - quite likely changing the world of our future D&D games forever.
Do I sound excited about this campaign? You betcha. A pregnancy normally lasts nine months... I've been waiting sixteen for this baby of mine to be born :)
posted by Markus the Mad | 10:09 AM
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