This blog will recount the tales of my 1st edition AD&D campaign, from the very beginning to the recent adventures. The characters involved have remained fairly static throughout the campaign, mainly because the beginning levels were a learning curve. The players were coming from a heavily house-ruled version of Original D&D (the white box version) with supplemental info from the Player's Handbook. They had never played a by-the-book version of the AD&D rules before, even though they had the rulebooks in their possession for decades. When the old campaign faded away from lack of interest, I decided to take matters into my own hands and create a new AD&D campaign from scratch.
This campaign was to be set in the Known World of Mystara, a D&D campaign setting steeped in Old School goodness (and I wanted to use these supplements for a long time). I decided to start at the beginning with GAZ 1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, beginning the characters on the eve of the New Millennium celebration in Specularum. There, the characters were introduced to each other as they sat at a small table in an overcrowded inn with a number of other revelers pressing around.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
The original players will not be named here as I do not (yet) have their permission to do so. The characters created at the onset of the game included:
ERAERGON "ERIC" PATHENEY, male Neutral half-elf druid
Eric was born to a Thyatian father and a Calarii elf mother. He grew up in a prosperous villa north of Specularum off the main road but in the woods. He was schooled by the best tutors and raised with the druidic faith. Upon reaching adulthood he was inducted into the Order of the Holy Oak and was taught the role of the Aspirant. He was given leave to explore the world and spread the faith, but first he wished to celebrate the Millennium in Specularum.
CHOW-LIN, female Chaotic Good human (Ethengaran/Glantrian) magic-user
Chow-Lin was born and raised on the western edge of Ethengar by her father, an outcast hedge wizard of little talent. Her mother had died young and her father eventually fled into Glantri to avoid the Golden Khan's patrols. They took shelter in the court of the Ethengaran Prince of Glantri where Chow-Lin was promised to him as a bride when she came of age. She was raised in the Prince's court and taught the ways of magic. Once she had completed her apprenticeship she was betrothed to the Prince. However, Chow-Lin had fallen in love with a fellow apprentice and decided it would be best to flee Glantri than face the Prince's wrath. She used her magic sleep spell to escape the guards and hid among a caravan heading to Darokin. From there she followed the roads south and then east, coming to another caravan heading south from Selenica into Karameikos, and from there on to Specularum.
MARKUS ENTGULD, male Lawful Evil half-elf assassin
Born and raised in Luln, Markus was taken in by the local thieves guild and later apprenticed as an assassin. The guild was infiltrated early on and taken over by Baron von Hendricks' sympathizers. Markus was used to spy on the townsfolk and report back to the guild, information crucial to determining when and where to strike to take over the border town. Markus decided he had had enough of the criminal dealings of the Black Eagle Baron and left Luln eastward along the road. He came to Specularum where he was eking out a living on the streets. Unfamiliar with the intrigues in the city, he dared not practice his profession. Down on his luck, he encountered a couple of fellow adventurers like himself at an inn during the celebration and decided to join their ranks, if only to further his own needs.
From this humble beginning a long-running campaign was born. We have had some hiccups along the way, most notably with using the rules as written. I have instituted a number of house rules as a result, including various rules clarifications. Our play style has also changed somewhat over the past 15 years. We encountered a number of stumbling blocks when dealing with real life situations that seemed to conspire against the campaign ever seeing a conclusion. However, although we are currently on hiatus for an unknown length of time, I'm confident that the players will want to complete the current adventure before they retire for good.
