Cyfandil's One-Page Campaign Document

This will change of course. Here is a screenshot of the document. It's not exactly the way I said it should be but it has all the information I want it to have. And it's a very readable single page. (Trust me. It looks good in hard copy lol.)

I will give this handout to the several players either before Session Zero or at the start of it.

Then we will talk about some of the finer points, such as how to make characters and what classes are available.

The Realm of Cyfandil

Cyfandil is a world of Men. Our little principality is called Lleannedd March. Our town is Cragstone, named for its founder, Thorsten Cragstone, the hero of times past. Demi-Men are rare upon these isles. Besides, there’s enough going on with Man’s tripartite lineage: Aluvian, G’harundim and Sho.

Cyfandil is a fairly standard medieval fantasy setting, something like Northern Europe in 1300, but with the opportunity to travel to different lands. It is low fantasy. The greatest monsters are rare and distant. Even the allied races of Mankind are only seldom seen in any great numbers.

Cyfandil’s primary purpose is the backdrop and sandbox for teaching the folkstyle D&D of yesteryear. Its secondary purpose is to backdrop teaching my particular folkstyle philosophy.

The nominal goal for the players when they start will be to collect enough money and power to conquer a hex, build a castle, and become a lord. Of course, that’s just the opening bid. Players can decide what each of their characters truly wants from life. In fact, we should all voice our dreams and desires about what we want to happen in our campaign story.

To that end, it is a most suitable realm for presenting the challenges of problem-solving, role-playing with reaction rolls, exploration overland and underground, and combat using surprise and morale checks that constitute D&D.

 

What Is New

 

We play face-up, toward each other, and speak in natural language.

The players, not the Referee, will push our story forward.

We will use gold for XP, roughly 80-20, with monsters filling in the difference.

Differentiation comes not from your character sheet, but from you. In folkstyle, class is an element of your character, but “build” is not. In terms of game mechanics, one fighter is about as good as another. Most clerics are almost identical. So, it is down the line (except for wizards and elves, who have more latitude due to spell selection.)

Henchmen and other hirelings are a big part of expanding your character’s power, so hire them and cultivate them. The difference between one fighter and another will largely be in his equipment, his henchmen, but super-especially, the player’s ingenuity.

We will observe strict timekeeping, light, rations, slow healing, etc.

Death is always nearby. Your paper man will die. Because of easy death and regular PC indispositions, be prepared to play three or four different characters at different sessions. “Next man up” as they say.

The seasons and even the years will matter. Characters will age. They will carouse, they will love and befriend, they will war, they will politick (at least personal politick) and of course they will adventure. In time, even the elves retire and leave the field of valor to their children. So will our paper men.

At least 60% of the PCs must be Human.

 

Common Knowledge:

Things Everyone Knows in Lleannedd March

·         Strange noises come from the accursed woods just outside town.

·         The Empire is shattered by civil war.

·         Roads are dangerous! Monsters and bandits prey on unsuspecting travelers. Stick together!

·         Locusts destroyed the crops last year in Glenden Wood.

·         Rithwic was hit by the plague. Some say it was G’harundim merchants who brought it there.

·         Most people say Druids are a myth.

Factions and Patrons

1.      Our ruler is Lord Alberz, First Marquis of Rithwic (L FM 9,) at Castle Rithwic, the seat of Lleannedd March. He has ruled for 35 years. He has a deep, booming voice and has turned several of the castle’s rooms into additional kitchens. He will always accept the help of up and comers, at least until he feels like they are a threat to his power. Lieutenant Kenneth is the captain of the militia and town guard in Cragstone. (N FM 4.) Kenneth is the Lord’s representative here. If you want to work for the Marquis, speak to Kenneth.

2.     Brodus Stoneriver is the master of the docks and minder of the traders. He is an elder of the Dwarven Sea Clans, and he has settled in our town. If you need mercenaries or need mercenary work, speak with him.

3.     An informal guild of curators, crafters, and natural philosophers haunt Cragstone. You can get in touch with them through Brienne, the barman’s daughter, at the Brass Dragon Pub. If you want to gather strange knowledge and artifacts, or get answers to strange questions, she’s the one who can put you on the right path.

4.     Outside of the towns there are roaming bowmen, weird cultists, Orcish men, mad Wizards, and maybe some Druids. Chaotic types might want to seek them out, but then again, they might not.

Lines and Veils

 

There are three distinct races of people, analogous to Nordic White, East Asian and North African.

We will track the months and years. The characters will have “real lives” away from the dungeon (but we don’t have to role-play them if we don’t want to.)

I would prefer to have only traditional boy-girl type romance. Half-humans are not a thing (although the several common races might intermarry if they please.)

Towns are safe. Dungeons, roads and wilderlands are not. A henchman or even a PC can face deadly situations at any time.

Don’t Invest in Your Character?

Yes you read that right. Don’t invest in your character. 

What does that mean? It simply means that you can enjoy playing just as much - or even more - if you don’t consider your own character to be the center of your game experience. Here, I’ll explain why and then I’ll give you some suggestions how. 

OSR, or folkstyle d&d, is about problem-solving, not narrative. The primary problem is something like: “there’s treasure underground and monsters and traps protect it. How are we gonna get it out?” This leads to numerous other fun problems that we call “the campaign.” In the campaign, there is narrative - but it comes from solving problems, not from acting in the story the Ref has scripted for you ahead of time. 

This implies that your own brain is your primary tool for success. And that your character - sometimes I’ll call it your figure - is how your brain manipulates the game world. Again, your character is your tool, much like a chess man is a tool for solving the problems your opponent presents to you in a chess match. 

Now, nobody invests too much emotion in a pawn or a knight in chess. And I’m not suggesting you should be so cavalier about your character in d&d. But there is a happy medium there where you feel comfortable risking the figure’s death without breaking down in tears if he meets his fitting end. 

There’s another force at work against investing in your figure, and that’s time. The old games kept strict time, sometimes on a 1 day = 1 day basis. Whether your Ref plays like that or time is less iron-bound to real time, characters each need to spend time training to gain their next level, to heal injuries, to make magic items or supervise their castle’s construction, or just to learn spells. 

You see, healing magic only works while on adventures. God doesn’t grant you miracles for any old reason. You have to heal up in the normal fashion once you head back to town. 

Similarly, in folkstyle D, it takes time to learn spells: a full night’s rest and then 15 minutes of preparation for each spell level. Easy at your first few levels, but to reload a master wizard, it will take a day or so of study. A spell scroll takes a week to write; a potion, a whole day. A permanent magic item can take weeks. 

Characters also have lives away from the dungeon. Much of a character’s might is derived from land, alliances and favors owed. Gaining these takes time in town or at Court. A boy character may take a mistress or wife; that wife may bear him a child. This may suggest new adventures or alliances. A girl character might have a baby. This will keep her out of the dungeon for 12 months or more. 

At my table, and yours may vary, adventurers are only free to delve for about 18 weeks a year. They are required to serve in their Lord’s wars, they must do labor, politics or religious service, and the weather is just too frightful to expedite for many winter months. 

All these time squeezes mean that “Your Character” might not be ready to delve when the time comes for it. 

So what do we do when “Your Character” is tied up? Run a different figure of course. 

In the old days, men would run three, four, five different figures. Not all at once (but sometimes two at a time.) If the wizard died? Oh well, he’s dead, let’s get on with the fighting-man. 

I’m toying with the idea of a chargen minigame that pops out seven characters all at once. Not sure what I will call the system, but I will share it when I have it set. Doing seven at once ensures your backup guys are ready to go when needed.