Overlooking the Plains of Ruin and the Weeping River sits the Fortress of Zulma Kal and the Red Hands. Devoted to the Ancestors, Beloved of the Wind, Protector of Secrets, and Keeper of the Way, Zulma Kal rules the wide-ranging steppe all the way to the Peaks of Dawn. Behind towering sandstone walls built on the bones of slaves sits Zulma Kal surrounded by decadent and debauched sycophants. Protected by the 100 Companions of the Wind, and advised by enigmatic sorcerers with tattooed red hands, Zulma Kal knows no rival and demands tribute from all.

For awhile now, I’ve been running a bi-weekly online B/X D&D game with friends and family. Since I did not have much time for game prep, the game began as a rather straightforward mega-dungeon crawl using Greg Gillespie’s Barrowmaze as the foundation. However, it did not take long for the players to branch out from the dungeon and explore the surrounding region since I tend to encourage a sandbox style of play. Right now, the players are nowhere near the moors. Instead, they’re deep in the Moon Peaks investigating demonic and Chaos-related disturbances near a mysterious dwarven stronghold.

While certainly fun, I’m getting that itch to run a campaign where I’m not constantly trying to harmonize someone else’s material with my own ideas in a way, I hope, that makes some sense. I’m also wanting to run a campaign that has more of a sword & sorcery atmosphere. Therefore, I’ve decided to start devoting some posts to this future campaign setting. I’m not expecting any of the ideas that emerge to be groundbreaking, and I fully intend to draw upon a host of tropes that will be easily recognizable to any fan of sword & sorcery literature. My only real goal is to provide a new setting that feels unique and fresh for my players, even if many of the themes and aspects of the genre are recognizable. With that said, here are the foundational guidelines I will be considering as the new campaign setting develops.

  1. Atmosphere will draw upon the subgenre of fantasy literature often referred to as sword & sorcery. I will be focusing on the following elements:
    1. The world is characterized by declining, and often corrupt, civilizations. These civilizations have arisen from, or been built on, the foundations of former collapsed civilizations. Overall, there is a less positive outlook concerning civilization in this genre.
    2. Stories tend to be focused on protagonists concerned with personal gain often related to the acquisition of wealth, rather than stories with high-powered heroes caught up in world-saving adventures. The world does not have some universally agreed upon great evil that needs to be overcome by the forces of good. When individuals do band together, it is still often out of self-serving needs.
    3. Sorcery is not glamorous or risk free, but rather dark, mysterious, unpredictable, and often concerned with power and domination. Arcane lore is sought after and jealousy guarded.
  2. The setting will primarily be human-centric.
  3. The setting will also have a post-apocalyptical vibe connected with the concept of collapsed civilizations. In connection with this will be an emphasis on scavenging and looting as the primary means of getting ahead in the world. This, of course, is intimately tied to my next point about the mechanics of the game.
  4. Mechanically, I am creating the setting to be played using original Dungeons & Dragons (the three original booklets, not the supplements). I hope this prompts me to revise my OD&D house rules. Also, I feel that OD&D is better suited for sword & sorcery play since even B/X powers up characters in various ways that I feel are unnecessary in a sword & sorcery setting (cf. Ability Score bonuses). Because of this decision, the game will focus on the acquisition of wealth (e.g., primarily gold and other forms of loot) as a way of survival in a harsh and corrupt world, and as the primary means to gain any station and stability in life.

Ok, that should be enough of a setup for what’s to come. In upcoming posts, I will be highlighting the area around the Fortress of Zulma Kal since this is where I plan to start the campaign. More to come soon!!