(l-r) Meggan (Elf/Druid/Circle of the Moon), Cat o’the Shadows (Human/Rogue/Phantom), Rayche Summerisle (Human/Warlock/Fiend Patron, Pact of the Talisman), Captain Braddock (Half-elf/Paladin/Oath of the Watchers), Vagner (Tiefling/Bard/College of Swords)
IN THE REALMS
In an age long past, the eladrin wizard Necrom tried to seize power by projecting an ancient tower across all the many planes and spheres, anchoring and drawing upon the magical powers of the Weave. At the last moment, his apprentices rebelled when they saw their master’s evil purpose and defeated him. But the apprentices suspected that Necrom had become a lich and would return again one day.
One of the apprentices, the eladrin Marlyn waited for long years, manipulating events in the Realms from the feywild to anticipate his old master’s return. The key to his gambit was an adventuring party known as Caledfwlch, which he caused to be formed upon the Moonshaes.
Captain Braddock is Marlyn’s half-elven paladin, drawing power from the Tower-That Crosses-Planes to fuel his might. His elvish lover Meggan Puceanu gains her druidic power from the earth itself. They are joined by outlanders: Vagner, a tiefling bard; Cat o’the Shadows, a Phantom Rogue; and Rayche Summerisle, a Warlock who is bound to the mystical Phoenix. This party have many adventures across the planes, against many foes, all in preparation for their coming battle.
As the lich Necrom draws near, other adventurers join the crusade that Marlyn had not anticipated. Sherise Shiar, a Cleric of Mystra from far-off Halruua, foresaw the threat to the Weave that the lich represented. Ferron, a young and arrogant wizard, is a descendant of one of Necrom’s elvish apprentices and has sworn to seize the Pact of the Phoenix and destroy Necrom with it. Ro Maks is a Goliath Rune Knight with a Giant’s Might to bend towards protecting his home islands. The shifter ranger Kylun and his mystical swords might stand the best chance of hurting his hated foe, the lich who slew his wife.
Now this growing party must adventure across the Moonshaes and the Sword Coast to counter Necrom’s efforts, gather up magical artifacts, and face down the lich’s minions, including his own Phoenixpact Warlock. In the climax of their adventure the heroes of Caledfwlch must ultimately destroy the Tower-That-Crosses-Planes itself to lay this ancient evil to rest, and save both the Weave and the Realms entire. But to do so, they’ll have to shake off the manipulations of the archfey Marlyn…and chart their own destiny.
SOURCE MATERIAL
You guys, have you read Excalibur #42-50? It’s off the freaking hook.
And while written and drawn by Alan Davis, it draws upon and completes stories from the first forty-one issues by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis (and some filler issues by others that leave a lot to be desired). I’ve heard it called “Fanfic”, but that belies the fact that Alan Davis had a lot to do with the early issues and was just carrying on where he and Chris had left off. You should check out Jay and Miles Xplain the Xmen’s podcast about it here.
Get to Class
Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) is probably the most changed from Davis’ version, but he has had his share of amazing costumes to draw from. Paladin, Oath of the Watchers was a natural fit.
Meggan is a shapeshifter and draws her power from the earth. I’ve rarely seen a better fit for Druid.
Rachel Summers, here Rache Summerisle, is a Warlock with a homebrew patron, but given the Phoenix it probably works similarly to a Fiend with some of the fiery effects. Rachel originally bonded with the Phoenix by touching a Shiar orb, so that will work for the talisman. Her more recent costumes are pretty easy to turn into fantasy armour.
I was originally going to do just the core cast, but then I realized how perfectly Kylun and Ferron translated to D&D. Cerise was a bit of a stretch – I considered making her a Gith (since she’s an alien) – but the gems on her forehead reminded me of Dwalimor Omen in the Forgotten Realms comic from the 80s – one of my favourites. In the end it was nice to draw someone in full armour again – and to draw armour with very little connection to real world historical plate. A cleric of light is a good fit for her powers of solid light.
Micromax is one of the few goliaths I have drawn, and the Rune Knight path for Fighters (along with the Unarmed Fighting Style) includes powers that allow growth. (Later edit: Barbarian Path of the Giant works better but hadn’t yet been introduced.)
Campaign Notes
I think this campaign must start off pretty tight, with just the core players and their patron, the archfey Marlyn. Only once they are higher level can the DM start to introduce guest players and their PCs, perhaps each with their own revelation about how the master narrative fits together, the threat of Necrom, and the naked manipulations of Marlyn.
You could run the adventure with multiple groups and different sessions, bringing them together only for the climactic battles, but perhaps also mixing and matching the PCs for each session.
The Pop Culture Party Series follows a similar line to my Motley Crew series. Only while that nerdly rotogravure imagined sci-fi motley crews in Firefly’s ‘Verse, this will imagine various casts of adventure media as D&D characters.
HyperboreanComics 