A couple weeks ago, someone made an excellent time tracker on G+ and instead of saving it right there and then, I put it off. Needless to say, I can’t find it anywhere. I’ve searched for it but to no avail.
So, I made one of my own. It’s still a work in progress and I’m sure I’ll be tinkering with it yet. Here’s a copy of what I’ve got so far.
I was never really comfortable coming up with new names for months, and it didn’t feel right to use the common names for a fantasy world.
So, this is my compromise…not to have any names. What?!
Here’s what I’m going to try. Instead naming each month individually, I will use the seasons and adjectives to name specific times of the year.
March, April, and May will be early spring, mid spring, and late spring
June, July, and August will be early summer, mid summer, and late summer
September, October, and November will be early fall, mid fall, and late fall
December, January, and February will be early winter, mid winter, and late winter
So instead of a message from the king stating Sir Kevin must attend the council meeting on October 5th, it would read the 1st week of mid fall.
Here is an idea I am playing with. It is nothing new, but I want to use the Pits & Perils rules to focus it for my campaign.
Each kingdom has two abilities as advantages and one as a disadvantage. These characterize the nation.
Strength–military might, fighting prowess, well funded armies and/or navies Intelligence–higher learning, libraries, better technology Wisdom–strategic thinking, planning, good decision-making Dexterity–ability to mobilize quickly, nomadic people, quick to organize Constitution–hard to kill, quickly rebound from adversity, toughness Charisma–diplomatic, leadership roles in groups
Example…the dwarven kingdom of Irendall is led by a conservative king. They are a tough people but sometimes allow the lure of gold to take precedence over other matters. The kingdom is small in size but has strong defenses and are quick to respond to threats within its borders.
I will give the kingdom the advantages of constitution (tough people) and dexterity (quick to respond within their borders). They will have the disadvantage to wisdom (gold and nationalism get in the way of seeing the big picture at times).
So…The Dwarven Kingdom of Irendall will have these stats.
The Dwarven Kingdom of Irendall Dexterity and Constitution (+1 each), Wisdom (-1)
These stats will be useful in determining how each nation responds to events that will occur during the year…such as floods, famines, political unrest.
Saving throws and/or combat rolls can be made for events. The result will help me as DM to determine what will occur and how well the nation has responded to an event.
Perhaps each nation can be given hit points or even character classes and levels to reflect their strengths.
Needs quite a bit of work yet, but I wanted to see if anyone out there has some thoughts on the matter and how they might use something similar to this in their game.
When running an adventure, it is important for me to have some reference materials at hand. One thing I want is a list of names for people and places. These would be names for NPCs that I haven’t created beforehand. Putting a little time into this can make my time behind the screen easier. Pulling a name out of thin air can sometimes be hard to do and also may fit the flavor of the campaign world.
One of my favorite sites for name lists is Behind the Name. This site will work perfectly for naming npcs.
As a start, I will write down a couple dozen (some male, some female) for the start of my campaign.
For male names…Angus, Delroy, Gerard, Martin, Ogden, Rolf, and a bunch more. For female names…Adela, Doreen, Mallory, Ness, Rena, Val, and many others. Keeping this list nearby will help me come up with a suitable name for any Npc the adventurers meet.
Welcome to my site. New year, new beginnings, and with new beginnings come new goals. This site will be a repository of campaign material, thoughts, and writing about role-playing games, specifically geared towards Pits & Perils. But don’t be alarmed! The resources here will be easily adaptable towards your game too. I’ve seen about every iteration of DnD and played them–from Basic through 4th. And each time a new version came out, the game grew more complex. The 5th edition is an attempt to alter course and get an old school feel, but I’m quite happy with the OSR and strongly prefer simple rules.
I hope you can find something to use in your game. Please contact me if you have questions or comments. In many ways, much of this feels new to me. I’m not an expert or any kind of authority. I make no claims, nor do I profess to be anything other than what I am…a simple fellow with a love of pen and paper role-playing.
Damn Elf Press 