This is a sprawling sandbox, always open to new players, with multiple DMs managing sub-zones. Marullus started it and is the overall DM, but the game has grown and updated over the four years it has been running.
Here's what you need and the easiest ways to get started. What is a sandbox? It is player-driven. Your characters drives and actions will decide what expeditions happen, where they go, and what ends up discovered. You have the ability to change the game world - building new strongholds, businesses, temples, or memoriams. As a DM, the gameworld evolves constantly based on what you as a player does. This isn't a stock adventure and the expanded settlements and opportunities in the game are due to past player actions.
Quick Start...
1) Send a PM to Marullus to get added to the game. He'll add you, then you can make posts. He'll also set up a private forum for you where your conversations will be kept going forward (to avoid drowning in PMs).
2) Make a Character. Go to the Character Creation thread. This steps through making a character for this forum (all house rules included). We are using Labrinth Lord Basic as the main rulebook. (Download that as a free PDF here.) Make sure you take some time and read through the Deities thread. Deities shape much about the world and they offer distinct pathways for their followers (i.e. some conversion of advanced classes are found here.)
3) Send a PM to Marullus with your character for approval. Once approved, you're good to go to play with any of the sub-DMs in the game.
4) Join in the town freeplay. You can roleplay freely in town and each town area has a central tavern designed for character interactions. You can exist in town and interact any time you're not on an Expedition. In general, experience points are not earned in town, but roleplay, intrigue, and character development are all fair game.
- Gaul - The Golden Tooth Tavern. Default starting point, main tavern in the central human city.
- Beith's Watch - The Winged Hind Tavern. A minimalist community in the northwest founded by those observant to Beith, the goddess of nature, and now ruled by the Wizard, Lord Earc. It is home to druids, rangers, and wood-witches who all serve the Goddess of the Wilds and those who want to get away from the bustle of the city and the Archduke's ever-spreading civilization.
- Pinewood Vale - The Ogre's Two Heads (Coach House & Tavern). A bustling town built to the northeast of Gaul around the lumberjack trade, this palisaded fort seeks to subjugate and make the most of the virgin woodlands that surround it. It is a place of adventure, thrust into the sylvan woodlands at the river's fork, where many creature's territories come together. It was founded by the lumberjack entrepreneur Amistad, but is now the grant of Lady Halfpint, the halfling adventurer, by the word of the ArchDuke.
- The White Tower - The Golden Scales Tavern. East of the river and yet further northeast of Gaul, Lord Commander Bremen has revitalized an ancient tower of divine power and turned it into a stronghold. He declared a theocracy for the Knights of Baudhil and those who flocked to his banners provide for their security in this far wilderness. He is allied with the ArchDuke, but claims his own authority by divine right, not derived through the Archduke from the Southron Kings.
- Dwarven Halls - The Dwarrodelf Tavern and Inn. The Halls of the Dwarf King have been populated by an influx of dwarf clans from the south, now establishing a full dwarven civilization and a competing claim to "all of the north." King Drunil was elevated and rules here over the lands, completing the conquest of goblins and rivalling the ArchDuke of Gaul.
The first post of every town thread contains the description, NPCs, offerings and items for sale, etc. Always read the first post (which will be updated whenever needed) before skipping to the most recent posts at the end.
Always put the date at the top of your town posts. Look at the Game Clock thread for the current date and just add it when you act in town. We keep the town moving forward and expeditions catch up when they get back. You have the authority to advance the game clock when you move from town to town or do other actions that make time progress (like taking a week to research a spell, or time to build new buildings, etc.).
5) Make a crew, join an Expedition. Ultimately, adventure (and experience points), treasure, and opportunity lie in getting out into the wilds. You can explore the unknown, conquer lost ruins, found new settlements. The best way is to make friends IC in a tavern and decide to go do something - there's usually plothooks around. There's also an OOC thread for players to plan and discuss, which is also fine.
All current expeditions are run in individual threads on the main front page (not in sub-forums) grouped in the announcements section at the top and with the word "Expedition." You can read these as fellow players (its fun!) but the information is OOC until your characters can learn it. The history of the game is in these Completed Expeditions.
The game also mechanically encourages capturing and spreading tales of exploits. As a new character you can freely have IC knowledge of anything in the Songs of Gaul by which tales reach the southlands, and Memorials and Tributes which you can learn by walking IC around the town. Everything in Backgrounds: Places of the Southern Landsis free IC knowledge, too, and gives a way for people to interlink their backstories from outside the game itself. Finally the Maps thread is all IC knowledge found on the Adventurer's Table at the Golden Tooth Tavern in Gaul. As a character, you can go there to learn and also you can post hooks there for other characters to pursue.
Learning More: You can read the fundamental game focus and concept here. It also provides the index to the house rules, which cover the ways we've decided to grow and deviate beyond our main rulebook, Labrinth Lord Basic. (Download that as a free PDF here.)
The Sub-DM Model
Marullus is the main DM and has no player characters. He coordinates across the game and also runs certain expeditions that go into unknown portions of the world.
The Sub-DMs are all DM of a known portion of the world and in charge of the fun and exploration that happens there. Each zone has a distinct flavor and is overseen by that sub-DM. The Sub-DMs all have player character that they run in other zones. They can't join expeditions and earn XP in their own zones. This creates a method by which players take turn DMing and playing, and everyone gets to enjoy the shared world.
The Zones and Sub-DMs are (from east to west):
- The Yoldessi Plains. (DM: Stirling) The vast plains across the river east from Gaul, once home to the cities of the Horselords before they fell to the Dreadlord Nystoreath, both many centuries ago. The White Tower of Lord Commander Bremen is here, an outpost in the wilds, with pilgrims escorted through the wilderness to and from his stronghold by his knights.
- Frogmorton Ford. (DM: Marullus) A suburb of Gaul, this is the major crossroads for all traffic across the river to the Yoldessi Plains. The ford is named for the Frogmorton family, who minded it originally, though now a fine stone bridge crosses and Garrett's Abbey minds the far side. It is better known now as a place of magic and sorcery (which makes many of Gaul uneasy) - the Wizards Pierpont and Earc each have towers here in the countryside, as well as the Wizard's Guild and University funded by the ArchDuke.
- The City of Gaul. (DM: Marullus) The original settlement which began the northward exploration just a few years ago, it has grown to considerable size as it is built on the remains of an earlier fortification and settlement. It is the lifeline to all kingdoms back through the mountain pass in the Southlands, and the place that all things can be bought, traded, or sold.
- The Dark Forests. (DM: Spearmint) Covering the horizon north of Gaul is a great and imposing forest full of all manner of wild and sylvan creatures. It is a place of mystery and adventure, waiting to be conquered by the hands of men. The Town of Pinewood Vale is nestled here, cut into the heart of the forest along the river's bank, the road to it patrolled by ogres who ensure safe passage.
- The Morlock Woods and City of Zhint. (DM: Alethan) Northwest of Gaul, the dark forest begins to change character - strange hybrid creatures filling its boughs and skittering Morlocks snatching the unwary in the night to make more foul beasts. The town of Beith's Watch has grown here, standing between the lands of men and the twisted abberations against nature which thrive in the woods. On the horizon to the west are also the ruins of the city of Zhint, named for a ptoent necromancer and filled with his undead creations and those creatures potent enough to not fear them.
- The Dwarf Quarries of Idmi d’dum. (DM: Enoch) The original settlement of dwarves in the north, it is still worked as a stone quarry to fuel the rebuilding of both human and dwarf civilization in the north. It is quiet and closed-up, most dwarves having moved on to the King's Halls, which suits well the Wizard Hagaseth and his apprentices who built their tower here. Rumors speak of Hagaseth as an ancient wizard recently released from form of imprisonment, but he had close friendship with the ancient dwarves and has pledged loyalty to the new dwarven king as well.
- King Drunil's Realm. (DM: Enoch) With the death of the Goblin King and the great red wyrm, Scatha, the Mines of Verdun have been reclaimed and established as the Halls of the Dwarven King. Whole clans of dwarves poured north through the mountain pass to re-establish a dwarven kingdom in the northlands under the young King Drunil, tipping the balance of power and making a rival of equal power to the Archduke of Gaul. The King's Halls are a place for dwarves unbeholden to men, but for now an uneasy peace exists between the realms. This land is still pocked with goblin holds and hidden caves throughout its rolling hills and it stands as a bulwark against anything coming down from the great mountains to the south... there are many adventures to be had still as the dwarves assert dominion.
- Gehl Pinnacle. (DM: Zhym) To the north of Gaul beyond the dark forests stand a massive, solitary mountain. Named Gehl Pinnacle by the Archduke of Gaul's scribes, it reaches above the clouds which always shroud its top, steam and an eerie reddish glow eminating constantly therein. Recent explorations have discovered this mountain to be occupied by three orcish tribes as well as stone giants, wyverns, and other concerns. Ancient discoveries have revealed that a great dwarven kingdom lies lost beneath it as well, providing the orc with superior steel goods. Opportunities abound as humans and dwarves alike turn their greedy eyes north towards the orc threat and the treasures beneath it.
- The Western Blight. (DM: Rusty Tincanne) Explorations westward beyond the City of Zhint have found a blighted land where an infernal gate poisons the land. The Templars of Eruanna, eager to stand as a bullwark for the lands of Men, plan to strike forth and establish a bastion here to wage a holy war, find the gate, and close it. (On hold - DM is on a IRL Hiaitus.)
Building the World
What does an adventurer do with his time and piles of gold when not adventuring? Saving this announcement to help...
Marullus wrote:What do you do with downtime?
The game clock progresses ahead - characters often find themselves with several weeks of "downtime" to rest and catch up with when they arrive back in town. Also, Winter is Coming. The dark, freezing times of the Northlands can discourage above-ground expeditions and it is possible to weather it quickly with some town time as well.
First, pick a town and tavern or locale. You need to post in some IG location that you're staying there. Use an OOC tag to note the length of time paid for and show you subtracted the coin.
Second, decide how well you eat. You can have poor, fair, or good meals and this can offer a bonus to savings throws when you go out again. Make sure you note this bonus in your first post of your next expedition.
Roleplay. As with everything, engage and roleplay. Once you've decided where your guy is hanging out, interact with other people there. Feel free to interact with NPCs, too - I'll have them give helpful hints and story hooks when feasible. Remember, though, that the "town is not the adventure." Check the Expedition Planning Thread and also plan OOC for when your next expedition is going to set out.
Break ground! Construct a lasting structure in the world! What to do with all that heavy and immobile gold you hauled back from the dungeon? Use it to build something! Check these rules to make your own shops, strongholds, towers, or other holdings. Player creativity welcomed... this is how the gameworld expands and civilization grows in the Northlands.
Pick non-class skills and work an occupation. Each character knows a few things beyond their adventuring skills. Check these rules to pick them and add them to your character sheet on your private forum. If you have four weeks of downtime you can seek to work within your trade. You can pursue working for an NPC in the trade, establish your own shop competing with him, or move to an outlying town and build your own shop without competition. (Profits vary accordingly.)
Magic Users and Elves: Research magic items! Any PC willworker can use these rules (1 test per week) to study the properties of unknown magic items. A valuable service, for certain.
Magic Users and Elves: Create new Spells! House rules allow anyone to work on their own unique spellcraft, not just those of high levels. Use these rules to develop your own unique flavors in your magic. Be inspired by printed spells from other D&D books (share them to make approval easier), or invent your own.