Campaign Synopsis: 10th Level Stats

[Koch (D. Koch)]

I just completed my second 1st through 10th level campaign and wanted to share some stats. I didn’t keep good records on my first campaign, but this one was all online, so I could go back through all the Roll20 logs.

The campaign was set in the Middarmark and spanned from Stortmarke to the Tusks in the south to Rimholm in the east to Svarttårn in the west, and from the Middarmark to the Aether Realm to the Dream Realm to Nidavellir and back when we were done. The main theme revolved around fate/destiny and explored civilization’s futile attempts at immortality through legacy (i.e., immortality is a curse).

• It took 6 years of IRL time (although we paused for 6 months to playtest 2e).
• 6 years of in-game passed
• Mostly two sessions a month
• We started in 1e and finished in 2e.
• The campaign was split from levels 1 - 5 in 1e and 6 - 10 in 2e.
• 507.7 total hours of gaming
• 129 total sessions
• 66 sessions for Levels 1-5, 2.5 years IRL
• 63 sessions for Levels 6 - 10, 3 years IRL
• 14 Adventures
• 20 town phases
• 49 camp phases
• 3 base camps, although only one was developed fully with workshops and crew
• Levels 1-5 had 4 players
• Level 6 - 10 had 3 players for most of it
• 2 warfare conflicts
• 1 character death (paid the Terrible Price)
• Levels 1 - 5 dice rolls: 997 rolls of the dice (for tests, rerolls, GM rolls, loot, all dice throwing)
• Levels 6 - 10 dice rolls: 842 rolls of the dice (for tests, rerolls, GM rolls, loot, all dice throwing)

After the 2e release, two new players joined to replace players who left. The new players rolled up characters using Advance and Vanquish. Those two characters hit 10th level before the player who played from 1st level, but I think this was mostly about rewards and playstyle.

For me, it was most satisfying to see how the characters changed over the course of the campaign.

Elf Ranger

The Elf Ranger was the character that was involved throughout the entire campaign. He left home and everything behind to follow a dream vision that the folk of the Middarmark needed his help. For most of the campaign, the character was Skittish from his deer fylgja. However, in the last adventure, the player learned that his spirit guide was actually Vafrudnir, who had been playing a cruel trick on him the entire time. Through elf song, ritual, and the completion of his ultimate campaign goal, the ranger was able to follow in his father’s and brother’s steps to accept that his true spirit companion was actually a Nattmara. Ultimately, to heal those who were affected by the curse, the elf decided to bear the burden of the past grief by hiding in the ruins of First People so that he could keep all the accumulated regalia, cursed artifacts, and various bound demons away from the folk until the end of time.

We converted the 1e elf to 2e with minimal disruption.

10th Level

Fate: 109 spent

Persona: 108 spent

Will 5

Health 6

Nature 6 (Singing, Remembering (Grief), Hiding)

Resources 3

Circles 4

Precedence 1

Might 4

Skills: Alchemist 5, Dungeoneer 3, Fighter 4, Healer 5, Hunter 3, Lore Master 4, Pathfinder 4, Persuader 2, Ritualist 3, Scavenger 2, Scholar 4, Scout 5, Survivalist 4

Traits: First Born, Dreamwalker, Malicious (from a Nattmara fylgja), Insightful (Level 2)

Wises: Road-wise, Portents-wise, Elven Craft-wise, Path-wise

Original Belief: I shall wander this land bringing balm to those who suffer with these gifts of the Alfar. I will be bent in service of this heartsick land and its folk.

Final Belief: While death and misery stalk us and the Twilight grows near, I will not sequester myself like the rest of my kin. Instead, I shall ply the gifts of the Alfar to bring balm to this heartsick land and its people.

Creed: The healing hand cares not who needs it.

Level Benefits:

2. Born Under Silver Stars

3. Song of Soothing

4. Athelas

5. Master of Dreams

6. Grief

7. Elven Steed

8. Son of Arda

9. Voice of Ages

10. Dream Vision

Changeling Mage

The Changeling Mage was raised by the Grælings but left his home in the mountains to find work in Rimholm. Later, he learned the trolls swapped him out for a human baby to break the long bloodline of one of the descendants from the First People all as a part of Vafrudnir’s grand scheme to punish the humans and to teach them a lesson. At first, the Changeling never really fit into human or troll clans. He fought against the determinism and fatalism of destiny to become a master enchanter. In the end, he earned a place as a Guild Master, a breaker of chains, and a uniter of the folk and the trolls. His belief changed subtly from adventure to adventure. He was instrumental in the formation of the Lith, and it was one of his troll spirits that became their vættir, which was no small effort to bring a troll into a cult of monster slayers. But that just speaks to his sheer force of will to break down walls and build bridges between warring factions.

10th Level

Fate: 108 spent

Persona: 95 spent

Will 6

Health 5

Nature 6 (Tricking, Slaughtering, Creating)

Resources 3

Circles 3

Precedence 4

Might 6

Skills: Alchemist 3, Arcanist 6, Cartographer 3, Commander 3, Criminal 2, Laborer 4, Lore Master 5, Persuader 3, Sapper 3, Scholar 3, Enchanter 5, Steward 3, Strategist 2

Traits: Aggressive, Wizard’s Sight (Level 2), Quickwitted, Champion (Lady Sigrun)

Wises: Troll haunt-wise, Folklore-wise, Magic Creation-wise, Combat Magic-wise

Original Belief: I will not bare the weight of my forebearers, and will break the yoke that binds me.

Final Belief: I am the needle that guides and knots the thread. Fate is mine to change.

Creed: If we are beasts, we are not beasts of burden. If we are wolves, why be oxen?

Level Benefits:

2. Gifted

3. Sorcerer

4. Mage Light

5. Adept

6. Unbridled Power

7. True Nature

8. Transformed

9. Heroic: Enchanter

10. Ageless

Shaman

The Shaman’s journey was a rollercoaster of devotion to the Immortal Lords and a refusal of their gifts. He began as a willing agent of Vali, after fleeing from his Sakki/Skyrnir village after slaying his brother. When Vali took his Uncle in battle, the shaman began to question his unquestioning dedication to the Ancient Jotnar. For a while, he almost rejected his power and tried to drown out the voices in his head from the Lords. He then made a vow and a deal with the Queen of the Dead, and his belief changed to embrace her wholeheartedly. That is until he learned that Halja knew of his cursed bloodline, and he felt as though the Immortals were just using him once again as a blunt instrument without any control over his life. After fulfilling his vow to Halja, he then renounced her. He struggled with fate and choice and his purpose for a great while. Ultimately, he came to terms with the various complex relationships with the Immortal Lords. He later accepted Freydis’ war banner and led the dwarves to battle against the trolls, and viewed that relationship as one that was congruent with his belief in freedom, breaking curses, and being free from the constraints of Fate. Finally, he put his friends first and helped to form a Lith of the Dragonslayers. He came to understand that he could only control certain things and that if it were somehow possible to break one’s fate, then one should act freely regardless.

10th Level

Fate: 110 spent

Persona: 118 spent

Will 6

Health 6

Nature 6

Resources 3

Circles 5

Precedence 1

Might 4

Skills: Arcanist 3, Fighter 3, Healer 2, Laborer 5, Lore Master 2, Persuader 3, Rider 4, Ritualist 6, Scavenger 2, Theologian 6

Traits: Between Two Worlds, Wise, Steadfast, Secretive

Wises: Sakki Witch-wise, Sakki-wise, Landvættir-wise, Prayer-wise

Original Beliefs (in order):

• The Lords’ wills are mortals’ fates. Vali has willed that I will serve him, and so I am his instrument.

• The power I wield comes at a price I am not willing to pay. I will not allow myself to be a pawn of the Immortal Lords.

• Wielding the powers of the Lords comes at a price I am not willing to pay. I will only invoke their aid when all other options have been exhausted.

• Freedom is inherently good. I will always act to increase the freedom of mortals.

• I must always act in the interest of The Queen of the Dead

Final Belief

• The gods are capricious, but my friends are devoted. I’ll put my faith in my friends first.

Creed: Shamans stand for the freedom of mortals to live as they will.

Level Benefits:

2. Fever Dreams

3. Acolyte

4. Vow to the Mother of Beasts

5. Adept

6. Vow to the Lord of Endings

7. Völva

8. Transformed

9. Heroic: Theologian

10. Spirit Nature

[luke (Luke Wheel)]

Thank you for this.

Am I reading it right that you had one player stick with the campaign from beginning to end while others rotated in and out?

[Thor]

Amazing! Thanks. How did this campaign feel compared with the first one that went 1-10? What changed for you (or didn’t)?

[Koch (D. Koch)]

Yup, one player throughout the whole thing.

I like those timeline graphs of “who was in the band” and made one for fun

So the group was mostly stable.

[Koch (D. Koch)]

The “first group” to complete level 10 really took off at the beginning of the Pandemic, so we had a lot of time for gaming. We finished before the second group because we had a stable of five players, and would hop into a Google Meet whenever we had three players—any time, every day or night. It was a good escape during a crazy, crazy time.

We would sometimes play using Tabletop Simulator, which was a really nice experience to roll virtual dice and to see different color helping dice on the virtual table. As a side tangent, maybe BWHQ would consider creating an Alchemy instance for TB. Alchemy is a newish VTT for online play, but it is more theater of the mind compared to Roll20, which has all the baggage of wargaming (grids, light radius, top-down maps, etc).

This first group was all new to RPGs, and they were eager to learn the system. Compared to the second group, which had all veteran players interested in advancing in the game to various (and sometimes conflicting) levels of mastery.

In the first group, I coached them a little bit, which is not something that I usually do. So they had solid beliefs that they could easily play against to rack up Persona. They picked up the game surprisingly fast, and Darkest Dungeon was their point of reference in terms of expectation setting for teamwork and hardcore gameplay. So they came primed to the game in ways they could relate to.

This first group was much more informal and less serious. Many players had silly objectives like convincing the goblins to become friends or lofty aims like starting a business. Most of those things did not work out in the end for predictable reasons but they had fun trying

The players appreciated the collaborative worldbuilding we did. One player had a novel he had written, and he wanted to incorporate some details into the adventures. Any time someone ‘has a novel’ that is a big red flag for me, but it wasn’t an issue because the player knew this was something different.

For me, I was surprised that there were no deaths. For new players, I have found, that there is usually a death early on before the group learns that to risk taking a life is to put your life on the line. This group had tremendous luck which then became skill as they started to analyze their successes (one player is a spreadsheet number-cruncher type of analyst guy). They also learned that it is not always wise to keep all your food and water in just one backpack, and then they learned that they really don’t need backpacks if they use sacks and camps. So that part was all pretty remarkable with how quickly they picked all that stuff up.