Ever since I picked the above Woodland Adventurers boxed set from Grenadier up, like a hundred years ago, I've thought it would be fun to run an all-forest campaign. A campaign where the entire campaign setting, or at least for the scope of the campaign, was forest.
It would be interesting to see characters like Rangers and Druids, who don't normally get to show off their abilities in a dungeon or urban setting, actually test out their abilities to the fullest.
There are some good maps available on the internets you could use for such a campaign, from the traditional, like this map of Sherwood, to the fantastic, like the wonderful Southern Mirkwood map by Daniel Cruger, which leaves lots of space for you to pencil in your own names and locations.
If you don't have them in your system of choice, the Ranger, Druid, all their woodsy spells and magic items, and an extensive list of Forest monsters is available for free in the OSRIC.
I like limiting campaigns to a particular theme or setting, gives them more focus. This would work well, obviously, for an all-elf game.
ReplyDeleteBy focusing the campaign in one area, it forces the GM to make the area interesting, diverse, and detailed. Tolkien's Mirkwood and the forests of Grimm's Fairy Tales define what one might think of as the "Mythic Forest", where nature itself has turned upon the adventurers.
ReplyDeleteDid that grenadier set come with a minature of one halfling standing on another halflings shoulders?
ReplyDelete@jd - sure did. I still have it too! It also has a gnome with a tree-stump throne.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment on my map of Mirkwood. If I recall correctly, the budget for the third version of Mirkwood (I think there were two before) didn't include a color map which is why they needed a black and white one drawn. That was one of the few large scale maps I got to draw for ICE (I mostly did close up stuff). I'm not sure if that was intended as a blank players map or not but the one posted on the blog doesn't include the pre-press type so its clean (it was scanned from the original). I posted those for people to use in their games so feel free to download and include them in your campaigns just don't try to make a buck off of them. I'll be posting some Shire maps soon in anticipation of the upcoming hobbit movies.
ReplyDeleteA. That set was awesome. The two halflings were awesome. I so wanted it, but never could afford it (I did get the Dungeon Denizens one, though, which was mostly awesome.)
ReplyDeleteB. I've been wanting to do a big, mysterious forest campaign for ages. A forest would make for an interesting twist onm the dungeon in that, theoretically, the PC's could go anywhere and not follow a path. I think of having ancient paths akin to dungeon tunnels and making going off the path super dangerous. That woudl make it a kind of high-level cheat option, which seems cool.
Great Post!!
ReplyDeletePower to Choose
Power to Choose