#old campaign lore

[dinosaurana]

So awhile ago, before the game ended, I was set to run a guest arc of @tyrantisterror's Offbeat Melody, and I wanted to do something that was right up my alley: proper dinosaurs. Not necessarily monstrous ones, or ones affected by the Witching Hour. These were prehistoric animals brought to the present by another company that were aimed to be set loose in the town of Melody via train derailment. And while time travel is a weird thing to happen, these were more or less at the end of the day just animals. Time displaced animals that over time could be affected by the Witching Hour, sure. But the gimmick would be that not everything could be paused by stopping a Witching Hour, and that decisions and time were important on the scale of things when they'd still be running around. Never did get to run it, but I did get some sketches of some critters that I lined and colored for the whole thing! Figured it would be fun to post and share the ideas I had with it, with the vaguely chess theme explained with each one.

The largest and arguably most property damaging animal of the bunch was the Atlasaurus. The company (Whose name I no longer recall) was taking animals out from other times and putting them in the modern day, to see if they could adapt and if we in turn could potentially adapt to their worlds. The Atlasaurus was the king of the rail shipped animals, a single large unit that didn't move fast, but anything that challenged it would likely fall. Atlasaurus was a dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Morocco, and was known for overly sized forelimbs. We've had two specimens near complete of this animal, and while somewhat familiar, was the right kind of bizarre for Melody.

But what is a king without the much more deadly queen? Enter Gigantoraptor, the only other known from a single animal from the train wreck. While the Atlasaurus is scary because a large angry animal that can break buildings is spooky, the Gigantoraptor was the horror angle planned up for the whole thing. Luring people away into the woods with recreated vocal cries like a parrot, before crushing skulls with that beak, she was the closest to monster of the bunch I had planned.

Gigantoraptor was a titanic oviraptorid from Late Cretaceous China, standing over 26 feet in length, 11 feet in height at the hip, and up to 2 metric tons of weight. A true queen of adaptability, and just a spark of horror. I had not seen Weird Birds at the time of making it, nor am I sure that was around three-four years ago. But glad to see others used the idea well.

In the Bishop seat, I had an animal that always reminded me of a clergy member in the form of Corythosaurus. On paper, it seemed a sure case really. Hadrosaurs are/were the "weak" dinosaur, and having two running around would be the kind of thing that would make players de-priortize them or make them easy pickings. Neither of which are true for a 30 ft+ long reptile with a great sense of confusion and the attitude of geese. Corythosaurus is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur from North America, and has some of the earliest and best presreved dinosaur mummies around. But with such clarity, they've fallen in the shadow of Parasaurolophus and I think it's a damn shame. Hence their inclusion.

For the Knights, I had two individuals that feel like they should be paired more often in the form of Dilophosaurus and Ceratosaurus. These more moderately sized theropods are the kind of animals that would be selected as safer than an Allosaurus, only for us to find out that their smaller size means they consider human sized animals more likely for prey. Ceratosaurus was a Late Jurassic theropod from the Morrison Formation of North America. One of the actual dinosaurs to be discovered with scute like bone structures, I wanted to have a good red color to contrast with the greens that were predominating the higher echelons of ranked dinosaurs. Dilophosaurus was a massive predator for it's time of Early Jurassic North America. I swear I had a colored and lined version somewhere, but it was not in the folder with the rest and may be lost. The sketch at the very least does still exist.

With the Rook, I wanted to play a twisted on the usual suspects. Just because the majority would be Mesozoic animals (A crowd pleaser at the table), throwing in a prehistoric mammal or two would be fun. So two Arsinoitherium were added, both to give the species a little bit of shine and also switch things up from existing ideas. Made for a perfect proxy for the rook on a chess board. Arsinoitherium was a large mammal from Eocene of Egypt and North Africa. Despite the horn layout looking like a rhinoceros, this animal was an Afrothere, placing it into the family of elephants, hyraxes, manatees, aardvarks and tenrecs among others. It's almost made a cameo in several different films, but never quite made it out. Didn't make it to Melody either though so it is what it is.

And for the pawn, I wanted to do something that was different than just another dinosaur. So lo and behold, Kaprosuchus. These were the most plentiful, an animal that had succeeded not only in surviving in the modern day, but reproducing and creating generations that were being split up among facilities. I know still that the GM had a soft spot for crocs, so it made sense to add one. Kaprosuchus, also known as the boar croc, came from the upper Cretaceous of Niger. One of two known mahjungasucids, these crocs were thought to be nearly totally terrestrial hunters, although later studies showed that they were more amphibious than originally thought. With wicked heads though, these would've presented the problem of an adaptable animal finding purchase in a world that had no real competitors, and could overwhelm even a large group of PCs. This idea was inevitably scrapped, as at the time a main driving force was to do spookier and scarier dinosaurs than Jurassic World Dominion did. And while at pitch it was good, the energy would be limited, and was switched around in favor of something that felt more appropriate that also didn't run. It wasn't until early this week that I found everything stashed away neatly, not lost during the PC shenanigans of last year. With permission I share them, and I may tinker with something on using a few of the ideas for a future game or story.

[leafspiritz]

don’t leave, ok?

[mumblesplash]

i feel like the thing that's hardest to fully get across about the hgcz is that this monstrosity was NOT ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE A COHESIVE STORY. CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME. GUYS IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NORMAL ZINE WHAT IS GOING ON

[kata-kemi]

Vesper - Fire Genasi Rogue, a loyal member of The Black Backfire Company. My beloved dnd rogue, but also a nasty villain in my other DM's campaign! Her personality summed up is: "Feeling cute, might dig dirt on you later and blackmail you with it >:3c" while also glowing in the dark with her lava vein/scars.

[archeo-starwars]

Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

[faestorian]

yt reccomended kept giving me witcher analysis videos today, so after work i decided to doodle the grumpy old people for the first time in a good while.

i promise you, maiilys and roche usually are NOT this lovey dovey but. tonight, self-indulgent fluff won.

[nursemimosa]

from "what if I can never show my face to him ever again", to blabbing about the adventures she had during her most favorite past time (Dungeons and Druddigons) every night before bed.

[moreaujeans]

also i need to start adding more ocs to artfight bc why do i only have fawnpaw on there AGDJF

[pisshandkerchief]

I think we should re-do the old man yaoi tournament so bruce and clarence can finally beat those decrepit old muppets

[checkadii]

It’s 5pm and I’m halfway there to fucking imploding on the spot HOW AM I MEANT TO LAST ANOTHER MONTH TILL UNI STARTS WITHOUT DRAWING TO MY HEARTS DESIRE BRO 😭😭😭😭😭 IT HASNT EVEN BEEN 24 HOURS

[bucket-hat-benjamin]

Guess who just rebooted their first attempt at dming. A entirely homebrew campaign. It’s like I was trying to kill myself.

Funny thing is that immediately after starting it I really want to play a sci fi campaign or a super goofy campaign. Why must it be like this.

Also I’m starting in a pretty lore heavy area ???? I’m going to DIE trying to DM this. Literally did a sesh 1 earlier this year and stopped immediately bc of anxiety 😔😔. But we must seize the day!

[noctswife]

Thinking abt my gay and stupid chuuni half-elf. i want to play him again

[cptnbeefheart]

i think i gotta pl;ay fallout 4 ..

[ilovettrpgs]

I love star wars ttrpgs because it's like regular star wars but I can add as much legends and EU to it as I want and it still works

[ruby4111]

As promised, here's a write-up of Kimzu Luhire's current backstory!

(To anyone well-versed in DND lore, constructive critisim is accepted! I'd love to learn more about the subject)

---

Kimzu was born in a low-ranking Drow family, her mother passed away after she was born, so her dad married into a noble house so they could survive. 

The Matron of the house treated Kimzu more like a servant than a child. The Matron expected Kimzu to fend for herself, so most days she was alone. 

Growing up, Kimzu became a bit of a recluse, mostly doing house work & learning about Drow culture & history through the books in her room. She never liked Lolth from what she read about, but she knew better than to go against her. 

As the years went on, her father became more distant towards her, she was seen by most as a pathetic pushover, a bad example of what a Drow woman should be. 

The year she became the equivelant of 12 years old, her life was threatened by accidently getting involved in a bad fight between her father & the Matron, accusing him & his daughter of treason against Lolth. The Matron threatening to put down her father, Kimzu tried to stop her but was badly wounded from getting between them. Knowing no one would help her, that she would die if she did nothing, Kimzu ran away. She decided she was was going to the surface and staying there, far away from Lolth's domain. 

While navigating the Underdark, due to her own panicking & clumsiness, Kimzu tripped over herself & was spotted trying to escape the Underdark by a patrol of Drow soldiers, they must've been notified of her treason as they started chasing her immediately. Kimzu, trying to escape her pursuers & the dangers of the Underdark's wilderness, was further injured, but she could see moonlight in the distance, reaching the ends of the Upperdark, her pursuers lost her in the wilderness, never finding a body.

Kimzu was now in a strange forest of some sort, she kept running until her legs gave out. She was exhausted, not knowing what to do, but right at that moment, what looked like a small rabbit approached her, they told her that she could be saved, they asked if she wanted the power to protect herself, that she could if she joined them. Kimzu, not having much of a choice, refused to succumb to her wounds and, without being fully aware of it, formed a pact with an unknown Archfey Patron through who would become her lifelong companion. Kimzu felt rejuvenated, with her newfound power, she got back on her feet and started a new life, with her rabbit-like friend now named Oliver.

Now Kimzu has grown, she's the equivelant of 16 years old & wants to be a better & stronger person who could save lives like Oliver & her Patron did for her.

She has been taught many things by Oliver, such as how to forage for food & defend herself as a Warlock; she now resides in small remote caves near the surface, preparing for the day she can face Lolth, with Oliver by her side.

[unicorn-argent]

sometimes I forget that old dnd lore is sometimes really, really stupid