Campaign Guide (Kembra)

Background

Tough times for the Kingdom of Kembra are coming. King Rhys ap Moridic has taken ill suddenly. Orc and hobgoblin raiding parties are harassing the northeast. Rumor has it that the neighboring nation of Katoria to the east is readying its army. Rumor has it that the barrier around the Demonlands to the north are going to fail soon. Rumor has it that there is a new magelord and that a new Magelord Empire may be ascending.

You are a new squad of foresters in Kembra's Royal Army. You are skirmishers, scouts, troubleshooters, and what we would today call "special ops". You get to delve dungeons, solve crimes, chase bandits, slay goblins, and, in general, solve any problems that require finesse or expertise.

System

This game will use the Pathfinder RPG core rulebook. It will also allow the following from the Advanced Players Guide:

• Additional Classes: Alchemist, Inquisitor, Summoner, Witch
• Additional Familiars: All but octopus.
• Additional Sorcerer Bloodlines: All
• Class Archetypes: All
• Feats: All
• Equipment: All
• Spells: All
• Prestige Classes: All but Master Chymist and Rage Prophet
• Magic Items: All
• Combat Manuevers: All

Character Creation

• Attributes: Point buy system described in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, 20 points. No attribute may be lower than 8. Constitution may not be lower than 10.
• Alignment: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, or Lawful Neutral only.
• Race: Only human.
• Level: You start at second level. You may choose to split your levels between two different classes or put them both into the same class given the class restrictions below.
• Class: Barbarian and monk are disallowed. Maximum level for wizard, sorcerer, and witch is one. Octopi and vipers are disallowed for wizard familiars. Clerics, paladins, and other divinely-influenced characters should look at the list of gods.
• Skills: The primary sources of these are: Your character's life before conscription, your character's interests, and your past few years in the army. Perception and Stealth are both suggested.
• Equipment: Characters will be assigned masterwork armor but no more expensive than banded mail, a masterwork shield if the character is proficient with them (excluding tower shields), one melee weapon they are proficient in (or two if they are adept at two weapon combat), one ranged weapon they are proficient in, including 20 arrows/bolts if applicable, a dagger, and two potions of cure light wounds. Any class requiring a toolkit for their abilities will have one provided. Characters will have another 100g to spend (or keep) in any manner they choose.
• Background: Players should answer the fifteen questions to help flesh out their character and provide information to the other players and the GM.

House Rules

Terms

• Adventure: If you think of the campaign as a series of pulp novels, then each novel would be an adventure. (If you're not familiar with pulp novels, then think of the campaign as a series of short stories. This idea does not translate well into chapters for stories.)
• Downtime: The period of time between adventures. During this time, characters will be allowed to rest and run errands. Most of the time (but not all of the time), downtime will be long enough to train up to the next level if characters are eligible.

Leveling

Leveling up requires a non-trivial amount of activity, be it training, learning, communing with nature, taking lessons from the squirrels, etc. As a result, characters may only gain additional levels during downtime.

XP Awards

XP awards will be given at the end of an adventure. As leveling will only occur between adventures, this should not be an issue.

XP is gained based on completion of an adventure's goals and the difficulty of the adventure. Seeking out a group of goblins just to beat them up for XP is not going to work (and, if I find a way, I'll make it bite you later).

Setting

The Cursed Isle

The Cursed Isle is a continent roughly in the middle of the world. It is vaguely rhomboid in shape with the southeastern corner entering tropical climes and the northwestern covered in tundra.

Millenia ago, it was believed to be where the gods first started making the world and raising the land from the sea. For that reason, it was called the First Land, the Holy Land, or the Promised Land.

A year after the War of Freedom, a plague swept across the land and killed 95% of the population of the continent. It would flare up a few more times in the next ten years but would not claim the lives of any natives. However, those not native to the continent are not immune and many who come within sight of land die within a few days. It came to be known as the Cursed Isle.

Humans make up the vast majority of the civilized population of the Cursed Isle. There are some dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings but they primarily keep to themselves after the Magelord Empire. A few choice nations have ambassadors from the dwarves and elves and the gnomes have been settling in human lands.

The Cursed Isle is host to many nations and cultures. Only once has most of the Cursed Isle been united under a single banner: The Magelord Empire

The Magelord Empire

Sick of the political infighting and wars (which they kept being commanded to take part in), a cabal of wizards and sorcerers met to find a way to achieve peace among the nations of the First Land. They discussed and discussed and eventually came to the conclusion that the existing geopolitical state would never result in something resembling peace or even cold war.

Some more reluctantly than others, they decided that the only way to bring about peace in their time was to replace the current order with one of their making. Grimly determined, they started planning the conquest of the continent.

They started in the east. Within fifty years, all of the human nations were under their rule. The age of the Magelord Empire had begun.

They divided the continent into thirty provinces, naming each after their capital city. A viceroy was appointed to govern over each province.

Over the next few centuries, the magelords use their magic to make life better for their people. Dimensional portals are set up to allow faster trade of goods between cities. Weather control magic thaws the tundra and allows the people to farm where they couldn't before.

Once they exhausted the public works they could focus on, the ruling mages returned to their studies and gradually came became self-centered and uncaring towards their citizens.

A few centuries after they had united the human nations, the ruling mages made exorbitant demands of the elven nations. Disgusted, half of the elven nations elected to sail from the continent, cursing their forests before they left. Realizing they had gone to far, the mages tried to make amends with the remaining elven nations but they and the other non-human nations shut their borders and dealt with the humans as little as possible.

After about half a millenia, the mages started making demands of their own citizens as they started researching apotheosis. These demands included higher taxes on income and goods and forcing citizens to work on mining or gathering dangerous materials or to craft arcane substances that were hazardous to the health. The magelords also started seizing citizens for experimentation and sacrifice. It only took a few decades for unrest to spread among the people. Towns would go into revolt but would be quickly quelled by the military.

A revolt started in the province of Pobrezhia. First one town, then another, then three more, and then the entire province was in revolt. The viceroy was publicly hanged. While refugees started fleeing south to the province of Iwerdon, the magelords started making their own plans. They withdrew their military from the province, making the rebels think they were winning.

However, the magelords then sealed off the entire province. Into the province, the magelords summoned demons who then proceeded to lay waste to the province. Pobrezhia became known as the Demonlands. And it became the battle cry in the War of Freedom.

The War of Freedom

Emissaries from rebel groups all over the continent met in a small town named Zhentret in the northern province of Norsiden. They spend months discussing and debating how to overthrow the magelords. Finally settling on a daring plan (and the only one they thought could work), the emissaries return home to start work on their individual parts of the plan.

The first move in what would be called the War of Freedom happened when a group of rebels assaulted the tower of Jendrich Goldenhair in north Iwerdon. Despite losing most of their band, they slay the magelord and use his tower to create a protective barrier around Iwerdon, negating the amgelords' magic. Rebel groups slowly move into Iwerdon and start to form an actual army.

After about three decades of fighting, the last remaining magelord was slain and rulership was returned to the people. However, quickly they fell to squabbling and the continent once again splintered into separate lands.

The Plague

In the absence of the magelords, the magical public works started failing. The portals no longer worked. Snow buried plains of wheat. Famine was widespread and affected everyone, from High King to serf.

Just when things couldn't seem to get worse, a plague broke out in a city in the east. Quickly, the plague spread across the continent, leaving vast death in its wake. Then, almost as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

As the survivors tried to cope with the world, they banded together, abandoning lands that wilderness quickly reclaimed. As the wilderness spreads, so would the scourges of orc and goblinkind which the magelords never completely extinguished.

Kembra

The Kingdom of Kembra dates back to the fall of the Magelord Empire. It consists of most of the province of Iwerdon that had not been surrendered to the wilderness. It comprises the southwest "corner" of the continent. Off of the corner is a large island where the new capital of Kembra, Inysmon, resides.

Kembra is bordered on the north by the Demonlands, the northeast by untamed wilderness, the east by Katoria, the southeast by Ichelsi, and the south and west by sea.

The land is predominantly hilly. Mountains in the northeast give way to hills and several rivers flow from their peaks down to the sea. The only flat terrain is found in the river and coastal plains. Even the islands have hills inland.

Kembra has seven cities:

• Inysmon
• Albain
• Drusanca
• Iwerdon
• Kernev-Veur
• Vritaan
• Mannow

Each city is the capital of a March, ruled by a marcher lord. In the case of Inysmon, the reigning monarch serves as the marcher lord.

Who's in charge?

The current reigning monarch is King Rhys ap Moridic. Since he has taken ill, his wife, Queen Nathalia Angelica Jeanne dea Katoria rules in his stead. Several marcher lords are unhappy with this, given the deteriorating relations with Katoria, but the king has asked them to show her fealty.

It is traditional for Kembran kings to be paladins but succession does not require it.

Kembran noble succession customarily goes to the oldest child, male or female. An heir may refuse succession and those who do refuse are greatly respected for it.

The Demonlands

The aspect of the kingdom that influences people and policy the most is the border with the Demonlands. Everyone knows that the barrier requires a large amount of magical expertise and expenditure and that they could fail at almost any time.

Everyone also knows that fiends can cross the barrier if they are invited. The Royal Army keeps close watch on who approaches the barrier.

Classes

Kembra is very much like a stereotypical fantasy kingdom. Slavery and serfdom are both forbidden by the crown.

The people are divided into three classes: Commoners, aristocracy, and nobility. The nobility are the king, the marcher lords, and their families. The aristocracy are the wealthy and those given honorary noble titles (i.e. knights) in recognition of their service tot he kingdom. There is some contention between the two groups of aristocrats.

Commoners tend to be farmers, miners, craftsmen, and the like. Aristocrats, if they work, tend to be merchants. Nobles customarily are soldiers or craftsmen when they are not fulfilling their responsibilities to the people or to the crown.

Culture

Kembrans are happy, joyful folk because of the Demonlands. (There's no point in being dour and such if this is your last day alive.) Alcohol also flows more freely than in other lands but public drunkenness is poorly regarded.

Kembrans dislike the selfish. Even the aristocracy make sure that a decent portion of their wealth is contributed back to the kingdom. The kingdom as a whole holds a special dislike for independent adventurers, and especially foreign adventurers.

Education

Kembran literacy is extremely high. Even the smallest village has a priest that is responsible for teaching the children. From an early age, learning includes reading, writing, wrestling, weapons training, strategy, tactics, navigation, surveying, and history.

At the age of ten, children become apprentices to adults in the community. Those who have arcane ability are apprenticed to the Arcane Guild. Those who hear a god's calling undertake a pilgrimage to a church and start an apprenticeship there. Even while they are apprentices, their basic education continues.

The Royal Army

Kembra maintains a comparatively large standing army. The army acts as the first line of defense against the Demonlands and neighboring countries. They also act as the police force and are the primary responders to disasters.

The Royal Army also handles requests from citizens and exploration of abandoned dungeons and structures. Most of these requests are handled by the Foresters, the "special ops" force.

Military conscription is mandatory for all citizens once they turn sixteen. Military service lasts for at least two years. After citizens leave the service, they are expected to attend training exercises every three months as long as they are able. It is not uncommon for citizens to travel armed but weapons are usually peace-bound in the cities.

The Kembran military promotes solely based on merit. The King is the overall commander of the army but military matters are usually deferred to the field marshals.

The Arcane Guild

The Kembran people are more tolerant of wizards and sorcerers than in other kingdoms on the Cursed Isle. Pragmatism trumps the lingering hatred of the Magelord Empire since wizards and sorcerers are necessary to maintain the Demonlands barrier and to fight the demons should the barrier fall.

The wizards and sorcerers of the land are members of the Arcane Guild. To ensure that all those with arcane talent are properly trained, any citizen found to have arcane ability during their youth is inducted into the Arcane Guild.

Religion

The Kembran people are religious and believe in the standard pantheon. They are tolerant: You may pray to any gods expect for The Destroyer and The Darkness. Worship of other evil gods and the chaotic neutral gods is normally frowned upon but is not outright forbidden.

The large temples throughout the kingdom are predominantly to The King, The Queen, The Knight, The Warrior, The Shining Moon, The Maker, and The Farmer. Smaller temples to The Dreaming Moon, The Keeper, The All-Mother, The Sun, The Judge, and The Ferryman may be found in the larger cities. Shrines to The Woodsman are likely to be found in villages that export lumber or are on the frontier. There are small shrines to The Reveler in the large cities and hidden shrines to The Tyrant, The Temptress, The Schemer, The Scoundrel, The Thief, The Reaver, and The Madman may be found by those who search for them.

Crime

Kembra experiences an average amount of crime. Violent crime is rare but still unfortunately happens.

The Royal Army is responsible for policing and the Royal Academy turns out lawyers and judges. In towns where there is no standing judge, an army officer is allowed to make a preliminary ruling which will stand until a traveling judge can hear the case properly.

Punishments are meted out in relation to the crime. Death is a punishment reserved for the most severe crimes. If the criminal is of more use to the kingdom alive (although perhaps without rights and part of a chain gang), they will be kept alive.

The exception to the punishment rule is: Any Royal Army soldier or member of the Arcane Guild found guilty of a crime will be put to death. To ensure that this is only done to the guilty, priests are responsible for magically determining guilt or innocence in trials involving these people.

All punishments may be waived if there are extenuating circumstances, e.g. self-defense.

Economy and Trade

Kembra is self-sufficient, although the raids will affect that if they don't stop. Exports include lumber, weapons, mead, wine, and various trade goods. Imports include goods that don't grow in Kembra's climate, e.g. incense, some dyes, and some spices.

Kembra is considered across the continent among the best sources of mead and wine.

Almost all trade occurs via the sea. Some trade occurs with the neighboring nations over roads.

Names

Kembran citizens tend to have names that are Breton, Brithenig, Cornish, Irish, Manx, Scottish, and Welsh in origin. Citizens from Drusanca or descended from Drusancan families may also have Czech and Slovak names. However, with the dispersal of people and the easier travel during the Magelord Empire, names of any European or Middle Eastern culture are not uncommon.

Cities

Inysmon

Inysmon is the capital of Kembra. It is a coastal town located on the large island. The island relies on food imports from Iwerdon to feed all of the people. Underground foodstores would be able to feed the inhabitants for a month.

Inysmon is constructed within two concentric walls broken only by the shore. The area inside the first wall, called the Inner City, contains the royal castle and the older buildings. Before the War of Freedom, Inysmon was a fishing village and grew significantly after it was made the capital. This chaos can be seen within the Inner City.

The area between the first and second walls is called the Outer City and was planned from the beginning. As a result, the streets are orderly with a focus on making troop movements easy within the city.

Albain

Albain is the highest city in the kingdom, located in the foothills of the mountains. The city is notorious for being somewhat smoky due to the presence of smelters handling ore coming in from the mining towns up the mountains. Some metals are crafted into weapons and tools within the city and the remainder are sent down the river to Kernev-Veur and beyond. Foodstuffs are sent back up the river.

The marcher lord's castle is a subdued affair but is more defensible than it looks. As a result, the largest and most notable building is the temple to The Maker.

Drusanca

Drusanca was initially formed by refugees from the neighboring province of Pobrezhia. The Pobrezhian influence is still present but has decreased on the outskirts of the city as the culture becomes more in line with the rest of Kembra.

The most notable features of the older buildings is that they have more windows but are narrower than a man's body. The doorways also tend to be pointed arches rather than rectangles or smooth arches.

The marcher lord's castle is a strange mixture of Pobrezhian and Kembran architecture. This makes it one of the most unique and recognizable buildings in the whole of the kingdom.

The greatest remaining example of Pobrezhian architecture is the temple to The Knight. The citizens hold The Knight in great esteem as Drusanca is the closest city to the Demonlands.

Drusanca stands astride the Padareky river. However, as there are rapids further down the river that interfere with boating, most supplies come through the Drusanca Canal which connects the Padareky river to the coast at Mannow.

Iwerdon

Iwerdon is a town at the mouth of the largest river. It is the largest city in Kembra and is the primary trading hub.

Docks line the coast and the river's mouth. Just inland of the docks is the largest open market in Kembra where almost anything can be bought, depending on the day's shipments.

Most of the supply of illegal drugs comes in through Iwerdon but the Royal Army has not been successful in making a significant dent in this.

Kernev-Veur

Kernev-Veur is a city at the juncture of two rivers and is downstream of Albain and upstream of Iwerdon. It was originally two towns on different sides of the river that grew together over time. The town has, for the last millenium, successfully prevented the loss of its hyphen.

The largest building on the Kernev side of the river is the marcher lord's castle. The largest building on the Veur side of the river is the temple to The Shining Moon.

Ferries carry people from one part of the city to the other as the river is too wide to build a bridge.

Mannow

Mannow is a port city on the western coast of Kembra. It is one terminus of the Drusanca Canal, the largest canal in Kembra. Most goods heading to Drusanca pass through Kembra.

The city is fortified in such a way that the canal can only be taken if both sides of the city are taken. This was intended to ensure that supplies to Drusanca would not be interrupted should Mannow come under attack. As a result, Mannow has the nickname "The Walled Port."

Vritaan

Vritaan is a port on the southern coast of Kembra and is the easternmost city in the kingdom. Many ships stop here on their way to Iwerdon.

The most notable building in the city is the temple to The Queen. Queen Nathalia reinstated an old tradition of Kembran queens to take an annual pilgrimage to the temple. She gained a lot of respect among the people when she insisted on carrying out her pilgrimage when she was pregnant with her son.

Foreign Relations

Kembra has only two neighboring nations: Katoria and Ichelsi.

Katoria

Katoria is a kingdom slightly larger than Kembra. The Katorian king is old but still in good health. Queen Nathalia is his granddaughter.

Recently, relations with Katoria have soured. The Katorian king has demanded tribute and King Rhys has declined.

The Katorian people are more easygoing than the Kembrans but also more proud. To them, the Demonlands are a distant threat.

The primary export of Katoria to Kembra is cheese.

Katorian names are based roughly on French and Spanish.

Ichelsi

Ichelsi is a small theocracy nestled on the southern coast of the Cursed Isle.

Kembra's primary imports from Ichelsi are incense and books. There is a joke that a third import is religious pamphlets.

Ichelsi names are based roughly on Italian and Latin.

Race Relations

Kembra receives ambassadors and envoys from the dwarven and elven nations. Kembran royalty has been trying to work out trade agreements for the last century, especially with the dwarves, but have made little progress.

Inysmon plays host to an enclave of gnomes. They tinker and invent. For the past two centuries, their services have been monopolized by the crown to try to minimize any collateral damage.

Life as a Forester

Foresters serve as a sort of "special ops" force for the Kembran Royal Army. They get assigned any responsibilities that the rank and file won't be able to deal with. Foresters deal with anything from finding out the source of poisoned crops to solving murders to fighting off goblins to investigating old structures to fighting off rogue dragons.

If Foresters sound a lot like adventurers, they should. They are the kingdom-endorsed equivalent within Kembra.

Becoming a Forester

Conscripts who are selected as candidates for Forester training are put through some special tests during training. Those who pass are then given the choice to join the Foresters.

As there is a significant investment put into the Foresters by the kingdom, only those who are likely to make sure their efforts benefit the kingdom are selected for training.

Forester Teams

Foresters are organized into groups of four to six soldiers called teams although occasionally called parties in recognition of their role as kingdom-backed adventurers. Teams are allowed to devise their own method of organization so they can find how to work best together.

Each team is given a name when it is organized by the Forester Academy. A team may select its own name if they find one they prefer more and the Forester Academy instructors are amenable to the new name.

During early training, Forester cadets are organized into teams. They are then reorganized every three or four weeks as the instructors observe who seem to work the best together. By the end of the first year, almost all teams are in their final and optimal membership.

After graduation from the Forester Academy, a team is assigned to a corps and reports to the corps' Forester Major's office.

Foresters and Assignments

Foresters typically get their assignments either directly assigned to them by the Forester Major's office or from picking from a set of assignments posted in the office.

Each assignment is given a difficulty rating. Rewards for these assignments are provided in accordance with the difficulty rating. The Forester Major's office may decline to allow a team to select a particular assignment if they believe the assignment is too difficult or too easy.

Foresters and Treasure

Foresters are expected to turn over all treasure found during the course of their assignments to the Forester Major's office. The Forester Major's office will then catalog it and add it to the team's permanent file. All monetary gains are added to an account within the Forester Major's office that can be used to purchase items through the office, including magical items. If needed, teams may also make withdrawals on the account if approved by the Forester Major's office.

Most of the time, magical items found during assignments are returned to the team for their use. For any magical items that are kept by the Forester Major's office, a corresponding amount of coin is added to the account.

Teams may also sell items to the Forester Major's office. Foresters are expected to sell magic items only to the Forester Major's office and selling to outside merchants is heavily discouraged, although not forbidden.

Foresters and the Army

Foresters are soldiers within the Royal Army. However, they tend to operate outside of the standard military structure. All Foresters are attached to a corps of the Royal Army and report directly to the corps' Forester Major's office, comprised of the Forester Major and their staff.

Foresters reside outside of the standard rank progression. Only the Forester Majors, their superior officers, or their staff may give orders to Foresters. (However, unless Foresters are in the middle of something, they are expected to assist other soldiers when requested.) When a Forester team disbands or when a particular Forester decides to retire back into the main army, they are given a place in accordance with their abilities, usually as a Forester Major or a staff member. Forester Majors' offices are staffed entirely of former or inactive Foresters.

Foresters and the Law

As soldiers in the Royal Army, Foresters are able to act as police forces. However, as soldiers in the Royal Army, any Forester who breaks the law will be sentenced to death, barring extenuating circumstances.

Foresters and War

During times of war, many Foresters are diverted from their "normal" duties to serve as skirmishers and scouts for the army.

---