Topic: A unique addition to Quellbourne / non-canon

[DragonReborn]

For those of you who like the far reaches of this northernmost region in Jaiman, there are some relatively new publications that offer a unique twist to the Quellbourne area.

For people who are more atuned to pc-gaming and unfamiliar with tabletop roleplaying I found it helpful to depict Quellbourne very similar to the environment found in the computer game TES V: Skyrim. It helped their imagination take their own first steps and then, after a short while, interact freely with the environment and its protagonists away from the boundaries of a monitor screen.

I have since kept an eye out for written "source-bookish" publications for this gaming world (like the big tome that was published for the legendary edition). Many dungeons, ruins and even small settlements can be placed in Quellbourne.

This weekend, I stumbled over a completely new breed of gaming material with the "Skyrim Library" print releases. Imho they greatly add to the local lore.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim_-_The_Skyrim_Library,_Vol._I:_The_Histories

You can integrate this with Quellbourne or use it as a backdrop to start a Rolemaster based Skyrim campaign alltogether.

[Majyk]

Very kewl idea.

I have been involved in Warhammer FB Campaigns that used the Construction set of PC strategy games to create a closer map view for moving armies a la Napolean Map Room style.

I, myself, used the NeverWinter Nights C-set from 5+ years back to map out Norek and environs(especially the Silver Mine quest) when switching from a strictly online text campaign using OpenRPG & mIRC to Shadow World/NWN itself!

PC games definitely help outlay atmospheric "this is what you see" stuff!


"We do not stop playing because we get older.
We get old because we've stopped playing!"
-Bernard Shaw

[RandalThor]

I am not sure what you are suggesting/offering here. Are talking about the physical look (imagery) of the Quellbourne region? Are you talking about culturally?

If you are talking about imagery, I used pictures of the Pacific NW, Nova Scotia and fjords of Norway and Sweden to depict the area and it looked pretty great. (You can see them at the following location, some are generic scenery, some are for more specific locations the PCs came across.) https://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=new_set For architectural imagery I can totally see using the Skyrim stuff, particularly the dwemer ruins, those are very cool.

Culturally, I just never thought much was up there (by the 6050's of the Third Era anyway), so really hadn't given it much thought. (Except for the Ice Krals, who I likened to a sort of hobgoblin only a bit less organized.) I did start that game prior to the release of Xa'ar, so I thought the only civilizations up there were the Krals, Kelfour's Landing, the Spider Goddess worshipers and the gnolls. I don't classify the Destroyers of Galtoth or the Temple of Shaaljin to be cultures per se, so they each were going to be handled individually. (I was using the Kachenjunga as the Shaaljin and Wendigo as the destroyers. Both are from the HARP monster book. I was going for a little more of a Flash Gordon/Mongo thing with more of the fringe cultures to not actually be human or elf or dwarf; basically not be one of the standard fantasy races.) If my current group heads up there, I will still be using it this way.

[DragonReborn]

I was aiming at adding content to the region because it appears very large and empty. This first appeared to me when my group started to travel alongside the shore due north east of Kelfour's Landing.

It took them days to get to the silver mine in the north. This is ok, if you want to have a bunch of random encounters and nothing else, but it was a little too empty for my taste.

Skyrim matches Quellbourne spot on with the large woods and snow covered mountains. So bringing some of the skyrim lore and dungeons into Quellbourne wouldn't hurt. This series of three (or six)  books from Bethesda resembles the closest to a Skyrim RPG Sourcebook as one can get.

Adapting the races will require a good look at any edition of monsters and treasures and you're up and running.

[RandalThor]

I was aiming at adding content to the region because it appears very large and empty. This first appeared to me when my group started to travel alongside the shore due north east of Kelfour's Landing.

It took them days to get to the silver mine in the north. This is ok, if you want to have a bunch of random encounters and nothing else, but it was a little too empty for my taste.

I like the fact that there isn't much of anything in the way of civilization up there; it is a nice change of pace from the other areas of Jaiman.

To break up the monotony of regular encounters, I just have them find small leftovers from the former inhabitants: an old, small bridge still spanning a small stream, pieces of a larger one more ruined, foundations of a building but no building, a random statue partially overgrown, and other stuff like that. Also I had a couple of navigation hazards – the ruined bridge not fully spanning the gorge anymore was one of them. I find that sprinkling in some events that are more realistic than just monster encounters, especially ones where they have to puzzle out a way around the situation, help make the trip more exciting.

The group was part of a larger group that got accidentally sucked to Kulthea and they had some NPC guards with them. One morning, they woke up and realized that there was no guard on duty because the 3rd one disappeared (leaving behind only his spear, helmet and the stuff he wasn’t wearing for guard duty) and never got the 4th (and last) guard up for their shift. They theorized that some large night bird – or other flying creature – swooped down and snatched him* because there were no tracks. From then on, they camped under the canopy of the forest.

During their 10-day trip from the ruins of Quellburn to Kelfour’s Landing they only had 3 combat encounters with only 2 of them being at all seriously dangerous. One was with a pair of mountain troll – in their lair – and the other was with giant crustaceans (crabs) while exploring a partially submerged tower a few hundred feet off shore; the terrain was as much of a problem as the crabs were.


*They were right, but it was still very scary to them. (I gotta remember to use this for my new group.)

[egdcltd]

I always got the feeling that the reason Quellbourne feels empty is simply because it is - there just isn't that much up there, bar ruins. Although there are quite a lot of ruins in Skyrim that could work well, even if the province is a damn site safer to walk through than Cyrodiil ever was.