l-r: Colwyn (Half-elf/Fighter/Eldritch Knight); Kegan (Half-orc/Rogue /Thief); Torquil (Half-orc/Rogue/Scout); Rell (Goliath/Ranger/Hunter Conclave); Ergo the Magnificent (Human/Druid/Circle of the Moon).
IN THE REALMS
“A girl of ancient name that shall become queen, that she shall choose a king, and that together they shall rule their land, and that their son shall rule the world.”
The Western Heartlands of Faerun is in crisis. The return of a Netherese citadel, known now as the Black Fortress, from the Shadowfell has shattered the balance of power. Shadovar “slayers” have issued forth and spread terror and war across Faerun – all at the behest of the ancient Shadow Dragon that even Elminster fears. Men know it simply as “the beast.”
But hope springs eternal. Colwyn Obarskyr, the half-elf prince of Cormyr, has ridden through fire and shadow to reach the elven stronghold of Evereska. There, an elven princess with the ancient name of Lyssa, waits to welcome him as her new husband. The marriage alliance is meant to weld the strength of elves and men together and lead a new resurgence against the Beast – fulfilling the prophecy and freeing the Realms.
Before the marriage could take place, however, Shadovar stormed the castle, slaying all they found. But Colwyn has escaped…and sworn to rescue his bride from the Black Fortress. To do so he’ll need allies.
The boastful druid known as Ergo the Magnificent (“short in stature, tall in power, narrow of purpose, and wide of vision”) was the first to join his quest. Kegan and Torquil, two half-orc bandits, will also lend their axes (in return for a pardon). And Rell, a Goliath ranger, has also chosen to haunt their steps in his quest for revenge against the Beast.
On the advice of Elminster, Colwyn retrieves the ancient weapon known as the Glaive as the first part of their adventure. Then to the swamps to seek advice from the Emerald Seer, and to Kegan’s home village – with dire battles awaiting at each. Finally, the band of adventurers struggle to reach the “Widow of the Web” to gain the last piece of their puzzle – how to find their foe!
To finally reach the Black Fortress, they’ll need to capture steeds from a herd of Nightmares – and brave the Shadowfell itself!
If they fail, the whole Realms may fall…and Lyssa will be slain. But if they succeed, the Beast will be banished, the people will be freed, and their child will be King!
SOURCE MATERIAL & CAMPAIGN IDEAS
Krull is surprisingly relevant in the zeitgeist of the early 80s for such a terrible movie – but it also has undeniable charm. The appearance of early roles for Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane makes it an interesting bit of pop culture trivia – but I think it is mainly the coolness of the Glaive that makes such a lasting impact.
Early scripts of what was once called The Dragons of Krull, inspired me to change out the weird-ass reptilian Beast for a Shadow Dragon. And the mobile nature of the Black Fortress from the movie made me think of the Netherese citadels – in particular the Shadow Enclave that played a role in the Second Sundering.
Things began to fall into place after that. There is nothing in the Forgotten Realms that would fit the idea of a marriage that would result in ruling the “world” as in Krull. But Cormyr is one of the most powerful nations in Faerun, and Evereska is said to be the same for Elven cities outside Evermeet. And both have had conflicts with the City of Shadow during and around the Return of the Archwizards series.
Get to Class
The glaive returning to Colwyn’s hands could be chalked up to the power of the weapon itself, but that plus his fire powers from the end made me think Eldritch knight.
Kegan and Torquil have this awesome dual-axe thing going on. These might be the first half-orcs I’ve drawn. But bandits are easily made rogues and the party could use some backstabbing grit. Making one a thief and the other a scout brings a little variety.
The cyclops in Krull were tricked into giving up an eye for the ability to see the future – but only of their own death. I liked the idea of a Goliath PC who had sacrificed his eye in a manner reminiscent of Odin and the Well of Mimir. Maybe this would translate to the Lucky feat? Ranger otherwise fits his woods wisdom.
Ergo isn’t described as a druid in the source material, but I’ve rarely seen anyone who fits the class better. Through the course of the film he transforms into a duck and a tiger!
There are a lot of other characters muddying up this film: Torquil’s bandits; the Old Man; the little kid. These all make more sense as NPCs as they rarely have a major role to play.
Campaign Notes
This campaign would be an interesting take on D&D’s “multiverse” concept. That is, according to the book series mentioned above, the conflict with the City of Shadow happened a certain way – and certainly there was no mention of any King of Faerun! If you don’t want to create really intricate continuity, then you can ignore the events of those books and instead create your own campaign for countering the Shadovar. Keep the set-up, ditch the canon resolution.
Having one PC as the “chosen one” is always a bit weird – and one of the main differences between fantasy movies and fantasy RPGs. The DM would have to be sure that all the other players got their moments to shine in a team effort. Having recently played a game with mixed ages – I might recommend this as a nice way to let a younger player feel like the star.
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 character
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