Campaign Chronicles

A few months ago, my girlfriend took her sister, youngest brother, and our dogs hiking at Bean and Bear Lakes .  When she told me, I thought she said “Demon Bear Lake” and that that was one of the Most Metal Names for a Lake Ever.  It also got me to thinking that based on its name alone, Demon Bear Lake should exist in pretty much every campaign setting from now until the end of time. For your consideration, I present the following options should you decide to incorporate Demon Bear Lake into your campaign. The Stormriver Dwarf Clan mines iron from the low granite ridges surrounding their outpost of Iron Bay on the shores of Lake Grimjaw.  One-hundred eighty-eight dwarves toil in the earth to harvest, smelt, and refine the ore before shipping it back to their parent stronghold Khoraldrum.  This settlement is young, with nearly all of its structures located on the surface since the mines have not been excavated enough to move everyone underground yet. There are ...

“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups; the city watch who investigates crimes and the magistrates who determine innocence or guilt.   These are their stories.”   A campaign like this would work best if based in a large fantasy city like Waterdeep, Greyhawk, or Palanthas.   The player characters, all serving as members of the City Watch, investigate robberies, burglaries, murders, and so on.   In the days before forensic testing, most of the scientific aspects would be handled by wizards or priests using divination magic or psions using psychometry (object reading).   Most of the actual “on the street” legwork would be handled by Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, and even Bards using a combination of skills like Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Search, and Sense Motive. Early adventures would revolve around walking a beat, breaking up fights, catching pickpockets, or ...