The Battle of Ammon Marsh
General Summary
"Wars become history all too soon and are forgotten all too soon as well, before the lessons can be learned." - Michael Morpurgo
"Nothing feeds forgetfulness better than war." - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
There is nothing fun about war, nothing to laugh about, nothing to remember dearly, nothing to celebrate. War, in the end, is a battle of egos between men who are too proud to go to therapy, but too cowardly to fight for themselves. This war is no different, no war is different, no matter in which fantasy world you are, or who you think you'll be, there is no point sugarcoating this, "In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons."
You are members of the Sanctum faction fighting for the defense and honor of the Sacra Monarchia, an authoritarian government which defines itself in three words: ORDER, PROGRESS, CONTROL.
In this society, magic is as common as coal, and overreliance on it has made it so technological progress depends solely on the capacities of magic, not the intellect of humanoidkind.
You are fighting in the name of the King, In nomine regis, imperii, et minister sanctus. Amen. This monarchy is a theocracy that follows the doctrines of the Eye who Sees it All, no one can escape from the omnipresence and omniscience of the All-Mighty, which is why everyone just has to live with it.
This battle is just one of many, if you know you history, you already know the outcome of the Great War of Doomum, who lives, who dies, who "wins" and who loses, so lets get things straight. You are fighting for a value forgotten by the tides of Time, honor, you are fighting in the name of the Monarchy but also in the name of your House, knowing damn well that whatever battle you are going on, its not going to matter in the end. You are just cannon fodder, ready to give up your life to become an statistic, the value of your life is null and whatever you are trying to prove will just get forgotten in the end, as this whole battle, no one will remember its name... unless... you do something about it.
You are part of the Fifth Sanctum Regiment of Centralism, also known as the Copperguards, one of the lowest ranking forces of the Monarchy in the war. But I want you to remember this, your legacy will amount to nothing, unless you use the brief span of time that you have, and you make something worthy about it. No one, I repeat, no one gives value to our lives other than ourselves, if you take the opportunity and prove to yourself that you have value in this war-ridden war, and that you can teach something for those who come after, your legacy could very well be written in stone, forever to be remembered, forever to be praised.
You are not just soldiers, you are lessons, so I want you to define your character as someone able to give a lesson, someone who may or may not know its worth, but that it definitely has. Prove yourself and to the world that even in a situation as extreme as this, some value of your choosing could shine like the fleeting stars that migrate from time to time. Make your name resonate throughout the planes like a reverberating echo. Make your family, or yourself, or both, proud. Or... die trying, along with your legacy.
On another note, let's talk geography. Ammon Marsh is located adjacent to Lake Bhloom, a massive inland sea which harbors secrets that could put the entire continent in peril. You are defending the Indigo Keep, the Hold of The Ravenbrook House which is a prime strategic location to control The Central Plains and their access to the resources of the Lake, too valuable to be forgone.
You are under the orders of Michael Ironhand, a ruthless platoon commander with nothing to lose that will try everything on his power to make this team worthy of remembrance, treating you all as lessons, not soldiers. Under his command, you will have to prove your combat and philosophical expertise, or die trying. Protect the stronghold, protect your legacies, and try to make something out of this unforgiving war.
Michael Ironhand, breaking the 4th wall
"Nothing feeds forgetfulness better than war." - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
There is nothing fun about war, nothing to laugh about, nothing to remember dearly, nothing to celebrate. War, in the end, is a battle of egos between men who are too proud to go to therapy, but too cowardly to fight for themselves. This war is no different, no war is different, no matter in which fantasy world you are, or who you think you'll be, there is no point sugarcoating this, "In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons."
You are members of the Sanctum faction fighting for the defense and honor of the Sacra Monarchia, an authoritarian government which defines itself in three words: ORDER, PROGRESS, CONTROL.
In this society, magic is as common as coal, and overreliance on it has made it so technological progress depends solely on the capacities of magic, not the intellect of humanoidkind.
You are fighting in the name of the King, In nomine regis, imperii, et minister sanctus. Amen. This monarchy is a theocracy that follows the doctrines of the Eye who Sees it All, no one can escape from the omnipresence and omniscience of the All-Mighty, which is why everyone just has to live with it.
This battle is just one of many, if you know you history, you already know the outcome of the Great War of Doomum, who lives, who dies, who "wins" and who loses, so lets get things straight. You are fighting for a value forgotten by the tides of Time, honor, you are fighting in the name of the Monarchy but also in the name of your House, knowing damn well that whatever battle you are going on, its not going to matter in the end. You are just cannon fodder, ready to give up your life to become an statistic, the value of your life is null and whatever you are trying to prove will just get forgotten in the end, as this whole battle, no one will remember its name... unless... you do something about it.
You are part of the Fifth Sanctum Regiment of Centralism, also known as the Copperguards, one of the lowest ranking forces of the Monarchy in the war. But I want you to remember this, your legacy will amount to nothing, unless you use the brief span of time that you have, and you make something worthy about it. No one, I repeat, no one gives value to our lives other than ourselves, if you take the opportunity and prove to yourself that you have value in this war-ridden war, and that you can teach something for those who come after, your legacy could very well be written in stone, forever to be remembered, forever to be praised.
You are not just soldiers, you are lessons, so I want you to define your character as someone able to give a lesson, someone who may or may not know its worth, but that it definitely has. Prove yourself and to the world that even in a situation as extreme as this, some value of your choosing could shine like the fleeting stars that migrate from time to time. Make your name resonate throughout the planes like a reverberating echo. Make your family, or yourself, or both, proud. Or... die trying, along with your legacy.
On another note, let's talk geography. Ammon Marsh is located adjacent to Lake Bhloom, a massive inland sea which harbors secrets that could put the entire continent in peril. You are defending the Indigo Keep, the Hold of The Ravenbrook House which is a prime strategic location to control The Central Plains and their access to the resources of the Lake, too valuable to be forgone.
You are under the orders of Michael Ironhand, a ruthless platoon commander with nothing to lose that will try everything on his power to make this team worthy of remembrance, treating you all as lessons, not soldiers. Under his command, you will have to prove your combat and philosophical expertise, or die trying. Protect the stronghold, protect your legacies, and try to make something out of this unforgiving war.
PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION
The list of things you have to do is simple, follow along, soldier, lesson, meat shield, whatever. If you can't follow these simple orders, what good are you in my war?- Get your hold on the 2024 DnD Player's Handbook, or search the "interweb" or whatever to continue on, we use updated books here, not old pieces of forgotten memories.
- Choose your Species/Race, whatever you want to be, you can, Novarkan is a world of infinite magic, just try to choose a playable race, I don't want no Unicorn Gargoyles in my face.
- Choose your Class, if you are a newbie, I personally recommend the Artifex route, which means? A martial class, like a barbarian or a fighter or a monk, yes they are weak and deserve to be imprisoned, but what can I do? Can't feed you years of knowledge in 1 day can I? But if you are feeling daring, choose a Caster Elemedici, a Wizard, a Cleric or a Sorcerer or anything else, just don't go crying at me when you die in one blow alright? And let me remind you, YOU ARE ALL LEVEL 3 ON YOUR CLASS, NO MULTICLASS VIABLE
- You can choose any Subclass from the 2024 PHB, the ones made by the DnD influencer and game designer Pointy Hat, or those made by me! Which you can find in the Novarkan Subclasses Section of the NOVARKAN CRIMINAL'S HANDBOOK in the main page.
- Choose a Background, something that makes sense with your character, and something that comes with a feat that you like, balance drama with mechanics and you may very well do a great character.
- Make your character, choose a personality, a voice that you can act, an age, beliefs, bonds, flaws, weaknesses, strengths, and most IMPORTANTLY, the House which you represent, you can select any of the Houses in this article Doomum, The Great Houses EXCEPT the Frostfallen House, which is the one you are fighting against after all... If you want to win in the battle of philosophy, make an interesting character that could touch the hearts of the people on the table, make something worthy of remembrance if you have the time, even if they just last a couple of hours. If not, then welcome in cannon fodder!!!
- Finally, fill out your Character Sheet, you can find them online, choose the 2024 DND versions, you may even choose those that exist specific to your class, but don't need to go all out! 1 Page is enough.
- GET TO READING! DnD is a vocal and written storytelling mechanism, if you are afraid to read is alright, just skim through the pages or something until you find a funny word that interests you, and put it in your character. I'm just the commander, I don't decide who you are or who you want to be, I just command you around, like your boss, but prettier.
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