After a two-year hiatus, I finally restarted my “Greyhawk Classics” campaign earlier this month. There are only two players (“MK” and “JC”). Both are friends from my undergraduate days at the University of Toronto. Each is playing two characters. We started playing online in fall 2019 (I was in Milwaukee at the time, MK in Toronto, and JC in Montreal). After we completed a couple of adventures, the world fell apart thanks to the pandemic. I relocated and moved my work online. Because my workload exploded, I suspended the campaign. I thought we’d be back at it after few months, but alas it took much longer…
It feels good to get this game going again. It’s my first campaign running “proper” 5e D&D, and I’m curious to see how it plays over the long haul. (I’ve run a few “one shots” of 5e and completed an Adventures in Middle-earth campaign [AiME is based on 5e but replaces many core elements, e.g., the entire magic system]. But I haven't run a campaign using the “core” 5e rules yet.) I hope to run some classic adventures that have been converted to 5e by Goodman Games and WotC: The Temple of Elemental Evil, White Plume Mountain, and perhaps Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (maybe even more if we somehow manage to keep things going).
I think that the characters are all pretty interesting (yes, I’m biased). In case anyone might enjoy reading about them, I’ve posted their basic information and backgrounds below. (They all recently reached level 3.)
ALTHAEA
Female – High Elf – Wizard (Abjurer) – Level 3
Str 10 / Dex 14 / Con 15 / Int 18 / Wis 11 / Cha 11
Background: Sage
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Faith: Corellon Larethian
Personality Traits
Althaea is obsessed with learning everything she can from others, and she loves to share her knowledge with anyone who might use it to promote freedom and protect life.
Ideals
Knowledge is the path to improving oneself—and the world.
Bonds
When a good person dies, a priceless library is destroyed: hence the need to defend all good beings against harm. The wizard School of Abjuration aids one in this task of protection and preservation.
Flaws
Althaea is inquisitive to the point of excessive nosiness. This trait can annoy and even anger others, especially those who distrust elves. Althaea enjoys using her magic to vex and embarrass the self-satisfied and the proud.
Backstory
From her home in the city of Tringlee (capital of the Duchy of Ulek), Althaea spent the first century of her life obsessively learning everything she could. She was the assistant to the librarian of her high elven community, and pestered all the elven and human elders, and every traveller she encountered, with endless questions. She learned the basics of magic by becoming a first-level wizard. For an elf, Althaea took an unusual interest in the history, language, and lore of the dwarves. She cultivated good relations with the small number of dwarves who lived or passed through Tringlee, and she became proficient in the dwarvish tongue (she speaks it with a pronounced elvish accent that dwarves find hilariously odd, but her Dwarvish is nonetheless comprehensible and highly fluent).
Having exhausted most of the major sources of learning within her home city, Althaea has decided to acquire more knowledge by heading into the wider world. If she can also do some good and live through memorable adventures during her time abroad, so much the better!
Althaea's full name is Althaea Amastacia (her family name means "Starflower" in Elvish)
Other information
Althaea's great-grandfather is the legendary 'Sapphire Wizard' of Tringlee. Ancient even for an elf (800+ years old), the Sapphire Wizard has dwelt in his mysterious blue tower in the city for as long as anyone can remember. In living memory, the wizard has let no one enter the tower. He does venture out occasionally, however, mainly for rare family events or scholarly talks at the city's College of Arcane Arts. Althaea has met him a few times; the wizard was aloof but not unfriendly towards her. Much to her surprise, shortly before she left on her current journey, she received a package from the Sapphire Wizard. It contained a blank page of vellum. Attached to it was a small note with the following message in Elvish: "Please keep this page with you, dear granddaughter. Look at it on occasion. Someday it may contain an important message for you!"
Althaea has a letter from a now-deceased human sage of Niole Dra named Urlik. The sage had visited Tringlee many times and had got along well with Althaea. Among Ulrik's areas of expertise was Elvish history and lore. But one branch of the Elves of Oerth remained a mystery to him: the Olvenfolk of the Valley of the Mage, the people known as the "Valley Elves." In his letter to Althaea, Urlik asks whether she knows anything about the folk of the Valley: are they High or Sylvan Elves (or perhaps Wild Elves)? Or are they an entirely separate branch of Elvenkind? Why do they dwell separate from the other Elves of the world—indeed, why are they hostile to all outsiders? And why do they follow the human wizard who claims dominion over the vale? Much to her surprise, none of the scholars or sages of Tringlee knew the answers to these questions. Since the letter has piqued her curiosity, Althaea has travelled west to learn more of the mysterious Valley Elves. However, the Valley of the Mage is famous for being a dangerous place, from which few if any have returned. So, Althaea is reluctant to journey there until she acquires much more magical lore and power.
At the Shrine of Istus near Fort Endurance, Althaea asked the following question: “Why do the Valley Elves follow the human wizard who claims dominion over the Vale?” She received the following answer from the holy altar: “The Wizard of the Vale is neither human, elf, nor half-elf, and the elves of the Vale follow him because he gave them succour in their exile.”
ERIK
Male – Mountain Dwarf – Fighter (Battle Master) – Level 3
Str 17 / Dex 13 / Con 16 / Int 10 / Wis 06 / Cha 12
Background: Entertainer (gladiatorial wrestler)
Alignment: Chaotic good
Faith: Hanseath (dwarven god of war, booze, carousing, chaos, strength, and travel)
Personality Traits
Erik enjoys showing off his strength and entertaining others through his fighting skills. When not wildly drunk, he is a pleasant companion, fond of merriment, friendship, tall tales, plentiful ale, and good cheer.
Ideals
We should always be loyal to friends, but in other respects it's best not to take life too seriously. The world needs more fun, laughter, rough-housing, and drink!
Bonds
I'll lay down my life for my buddies.
Flaws
My erratic nature, lack of wisdom, and intense passion for alcohol get me into frequent trouble.
Backstory
Because of his frequent drunken binges and his refusal to conform to the serious and disciplined norms of dwarven folk, Erik was recently sentenced to a twenty-year exile from his dwarven clan (the Ironfists) in the Lortmil Mountains. Some of the clan elders favoured stripping him of his clan name and sentencing him to perpetual exile, but Erik's rough charm, his popularity as a show fighter, and the influence of his father and grandfather saved him from this draconian penalty.
Before his exile, Erik largely made his living as a showman/prizefighter. He also gained some experience in the craft of brewing (his father, grandfather, and uncle are respected brewers of fine-quality ales, whose fame has spread across the dwarven clans of the Lortmil Mountains).
Other
Given his difficulties with drink, Erik has sought information concerning the location of a legendary "Helm of Sobriety." These helms immediately clear minds of fogginess and dismiss all effects of alcohol and other poisons. A dozen such helms were said to have been created by the great mountain dwarf smith Laga Vulin in ages past. At the holy altar of the Shrine of Istus near Fort Endurance, Erik was told that "an unclaimed Helm of Laga Vulin lies magically hidden and locked within the Tomb of Serten, champion of St. Cuthbert, who fell in the battle of Emridy Meadows."
When performing in front of dwarfs, Erik's show name is "The Inebriated Ironfist." When performing in front of non-dwarves, Erik likes to get cheap laughs by calling himself "The Drunken Dwarf." When entering a fighting pit or stage, Erik dons a flashy red cape with a symbol of a mailed fist smashing a tankard of ale into an enemy's face. When performing, Erik's fighting style includes numerous bombastic moves in which he feigns extreme drunkenness and keeps his foes off guard before he suddenly overwhelms them with his great strength and skillful grappling techniques.
When fighting, Erik will sing war chants and will hurl various colourful insults at his adversaries (in a chaotic mishmash of dwarvish and the common tongue).
CEDRIC
Male – Human – Cleric (War) – Level 3
Str 17 / Dex 13 / Con 15 / Int 13 / Wis 17 / Cha 14
Background: Acolyte
Alignment: Lawful Good
Faith: St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel
Personality Traits
Cedric is determined to forge his own path in life, without trading upon his family name.
He wants to follow in the footsteps of one of the great heroes of the Church of St. Cuthbert: Emrich Bogg, the Demonslayer.
Ideals
Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost.
Bonds
I would die to recover an ancient relic of my faith that was lost long ago.
Flaws
My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god.
Backstory
Cedric is the minutes-older twin brother of Godric, respectively the 7th and 8th sons of the Knight Commander Exegius, loyal vassal of the Baron of Shiboleth. Their mother died in the process of giving birth to them, and their father always has been resentful towards them as a result. Without any possibility of inheriting their father’s land and position within the March’s military hierarchy (both of which will go to their oldest brother), and with military service within the March unattractive (as that was the path pursued by their other brothers), the twins decided to make their own fortune and—upon reaching adulthood—headed away from the barony towards the wilder borderlands. Cedric entered the service of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel.
The twins fondly recall visits from their uncle, Sir Gustaf ‘the Falcon’. A hunter and wanderer, the Falcon told many stories to the brothers when they were children. It has been over five years since the Flacon last visited Knight Commander Exegius. Since then, he has kept to his famous hunting lodge in the Dim Forest, north of the city Hochoch. Travellers say that the Falcon earns decent coin from the rulers of Hochoch by helping to keep the woodland’s orc population down, as well as occasionally hosting nobles from that city and other regions of the Gran March and the Grand Duchy of Geoff.
Cedric travelled to Fort Endurance in the Dim Forest because he read that the ruins of a shrine to Istus lay near it. According to legend, the shrine’s altar would answer correctly one question asked of it. Only one question could be asked of the altar in a person’s lifetime. Cedric had been having dreams of a dark force – an ancient enemy of St. Cuthbert – rising again. These dreams tormented him for almost a year. Learning more about this dark force was his reason for travelling to Fort Endurance and seeking the shrine of Istus.
At the shrine Cedric asked: “Where should I seek the rising dark force of Chaos and Evil that plagues my dreams?” The altar of Istus answered: “Travel to Hommlet, near the city of Verbobonc; those who follow St. Cuthbert there will aid you in your efforts.”
GODRIC
Male – Human – Rogue (Arcane Trickster) – Level 3
Str 13 / Dex 17 / Con 14 / Int 17 / Wis 13 / Cha 15
Background: Charlatan
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Faith: ?
Personality Traits
The lesson Godric has learned from his childhood is to take what you can get, because you cannot rely upon others. That said, though he is selfish he is not malicious; he generally avoids causing any real harm.
Ideals
Godric has a long-standing fascination with magic, including the stories of the roguish mage Quesse the Quick.
Bonds
Godric is devotedly loyal to his minutes-older twin brother, even though he finds his devotion to Saint Cuthbert grating.
Flaws
Godric is sure no one can be as clever as he is and may overestimate his own position.
Character Backstory
Godric is the minutes-younger twin brother of Godric, respectively the 8th and 7th sons of the Knight Commander Exegius, loyal vassal of the Baron of Shiboleth. Their mother died in the process of giving birth to them, and their father always has been resentful towards them as a result. Without any possibility of inheriting their father’s land and position within the March’s military hierarchy (both of which will go to their oldest brother), and with military service within the March unattractive (as that was the path pursued by their other brothers), the twins decided to make their own fortune and—upon reaching adulthood—headed away from the barony towards the wilder borderlands. While Cedric entered the service of St. Cuthbert, Godric lived a seemingly idle life supported by gambling and vague "business" pursuits.
The twins fondly recall visits from their uncle, Sir Gustaf ‘the Falcon’. A hunter and wanderer, the Falcon told many stories to the brothers when they were children. It has been over five years since the Flacon last visited Knight Commander Exegius. Since then, he has kept to his famous hunting lodge in the Dim Forest, north of the city Hochoch. Travellers say that the Falcon earns decent coin from the rulers of Hochoch by helping to keep the woodland’s orc population down, as well as occasionally hosting nobles from that city and other regions of the Gran March and the Grand Duchy of Geoff.
Godric recalls the Falcon’s tales concerning a half-elven magic-using burglar named ‘Quesse the Quick’ in particular. (Apparently Quesse was related to Godric’s family through her human father.) Quesse eventually retired two centuries ago to a hidden manse. Godric hopes to someday find Quesse’s hidden Manse, which he assumes is now abandoned, and perhaps recover some helpful magic items.
Although Godric did not choose to try to find the Shrine of Istus (that was his brother Cedric’s idea), he decided to take advantage of the opportunity to ask about Quesse. So, unsurprisingly, he asked: “Where is the Manse of Quesse?” The answer: “Quesse’s home lies within the Gnarley Forest; the woodsy elves there know the way.”
