Moonshire - Introduction page
1.1 Foreword
What is a roleplaying game? This is a pen & paper game that is played around the table with a group of people who each play a person in a specific setting, like for example a strong warrior or intelligent wizard in a medieval world. In the game each player creates a character he wants to play and can really develop his character in the story, like learning new skills, information, find items, have encounters with other characters or monsters, and so on.
Picture this, you step into a world bursting with vibrant hues and boundless creativity, where you can be anyone and do anything. Whether you're a valiant knight clad in shimmering armor, a mischievous rogue with a penchant for pranks, or a wise wizard wielding arcane powers, the choice is yours! In this medieval fantasy roleplaying game, the only limit is your imagination. So gather your friends, roll the dice, and prepare to embark on an epic journey filled with daring quests, mythical creatures, and endless possibilities!
The game is hosted by a storyteller who coordinates the game by describing the medieval world the characters are in and lets them encounter new things. A good storyteller or game master encourages and inspires conversation among the different people, creates an interesting dynamical storyline and makes sure the players can make use of their chosen skills. There are no real 'winners', like in many board games, as this game is more about having fun by enjoying interactions together.
1.2 Introduction
Welcome to the Realms of the Moonshire!
The Moonshire project is a d20 Dungeons & Dragons game that takes place in a medieval setting. It is participating in a fantasy Roleplaying Game, also known as an ‘RPG’. The general rules we use for this campaign game are Dungeons and Dragons 3.5th edition.
In this fantasy world, many rulers strive for control and armies fight for existence or domination with many plots between them. It is a setting in which heroes venture through the lands who not only have to look out for dangerous people or beings they meet, but also for the plots that many lords have in their agendas. Even a clever adventurer may find himself getting into trouble sooner or later. Important is not only to think ahead, but also to be careful and not blindly rush into something. This offers great roleplaying opportunities that may go into deep thinking next to having combats against persons and monsters. Adventuring, combat and roleplaying are important elements in the game. These three items are all equally balanced.
Examples of stories can be as simple as: 'some brigands robbed the villagers, please do something about this', or as complex as 'In a bustling tavern three nobles of different clans have met to work in unison on a plot to overtake some of the trading guilds, in order to gain an unknown advantage against their competitors, which is also influencing the royal house. And in the meanwhile these 3 nobles may have different individual plans also against each other. Find out undercover what action to take and stay out of danger'.
1.3 Reasons for adventuring
There could be many reasons why one would take up to becoming an adventurer in the wide world. For example, - Boredom; too little experience in life/ wants to go outside
- Curiosity/ explore the outside world
- Debts to pay
- Desire for helping others
- Enemy somewhere, has to find someone, or is being pursued by someone
- Escape from society (parents, theft accused)
- Fame/ Honour
- Learning/ teaching/ character class
- Meeting new people and, or likeminded people
- Mercenary/ hireling/ jobs
- On the run, perhaps falsely accused, spread a wrong rumour, or did something wrong
- Problem (to help parents/ sick brother etc)
- Proving oneself (for community, parents, ancestors, group, organisation)
- Quest - to find back a (long) lost family member or item
- Religious Persuasion, spread the faith, find redemption
- Traveling - to see new places and parts of the world
- Vow/ Oath - promised to help out someone, or broke an important vow
- Wealth/ Treasure
1.4 Rulebooks
Dungeons and Dragons Rulebooks: In a medieval fantasy world you can roleplay a variety of imaginary characters. There are powerful fighters, righteous priests, stealthy thieves, wise mages and many other characters in the world. You can play many sorts of characters that you like. You have to use the Dungeons and Dragons d20 rulebook to create such a character.
There are different rulebooks on the market for setting up and creating new characters, amongst others the Dungeons & Dragons books. The choice can even be overwhelming for a beginning player, at least it is for me.
Each character has to be created with the Dungeons and Dragons rulebook with the option of adding one additional D20 sourcebook of choice. Each character has certain statistics that represent strong and weak points. Together these statistics form his personality. These are strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma.
Dragonlance Books: Some parts of the storyline in the game are also based on the Dragonlance fantasy novels, written by authors Weiss & Hickman. This setting has its roots based on the d20 Dragonlance campaign where 3 moons influence the tides of magic. Magic is an uncommon art in this world and mages are respected and sometimes feared, even as clerics are.
Right of Secrecy: characters are allowed to hide their class and details of their character to others. You are allowed to not tell, for example, that you are a ranger. They should find out in game. This promotes roleplaying. If people ask ‘what you are’, rather tell that you are an explorer, or a traveller, etc. It’s normal to tell your job or profession but not your class.
There are 4 important aspects in the game
• Roleplaying - acting out your character and interact with others or new situations, what would your character do, how would he behave in specific circumstances?
• Adventure - wandering through the countries, encountering new people, monsters, together with the rest of the group
• Quests - discovering plots, solving quests, riddles
• Combat - fighting opponents
Depending on these items, experience points are awarded to the party so that characters will become more exprienced
1.5 Type of Story The type of roleplaying game and storyline that I host are usually 'PG rated games', which means there is no roleplaying in detail of gross 18+ gore, violence or sexual assaults, which is in my opinion good for nothing, and certainly not good for the vibe. These things will not be magnified in the game. Some more 'dark storytellers' may like such plots, but I do not. However it is not impossible that such things are mentioned as part of player characters (PCs) or non-player characters (NPCs) background stories.
This campaign looks more with regards to the vibe to 'The A-Team', or some similar series.
1.6 Character Creation Procedure
1) Develop a character idea - think about a global image of the type of character you want to be; write some global ideas down2) Character details - Work out your character in details, his personality, strengths, weaknesses, and so on
3) Create a background story for your character - create a storyline for your character, how he grew up, why he wants to go on an adventure, what his motivations and goals are, what he wants to get out of it, etc.
4) Character Statistics - assign statistics or roll for them according to the D&D player's handbook
5) Skills & Feats - work out details by assigning skills, feats, powers, etc to your character as described in the player’s handbook
6) Equipment - buy some items with your starting gold, look for some fitting items for your character, also storyline wise
The better the storyline and personality of your character, the more likely you will get a bonus (or penalty) depending on how creative your storyline is.
Do not make over powered characters with perfect statistics and abilities for their character class. The Game Master aims to punish power players and reward serious roleplayers.
