Adventuring on Iourn

The inaugral Iourn game was set on the first day of Summer in the year 204 LE (Lunar Era). After five years of continual play the fourth campaign will begin on the first day of winter. This is not quite the example of decompressed story-telling it first seems. The world of Iourn turns more slowly than Earth. Each season lasts the equivalent of one year here on Earth so, the passage of Summer and Autumn is the equivalent of two years to us.

As mentioned in the Experience section in the Rules portion of this site, the games I run are heavy on the roleplaying. Combat exists, and is factored into adventures where it is appropriate, but it is roleplaying and the interaction between PCs and NPCs that are at the heart of the game. I can't guarantee a fight every session and if you're looking for one then I may not be your first choice as a GM. It's the gaming sessions where no-one rolls any dice, and no-one notices that they haven't rolled any dice, that I am most proud of.

So what sort of adventures can you expect? The overview of Iourn paints the world in the broadest possible terms. There is an epic battle between the forces and good and evil to be fought on the world of Iourn. It may not transpire in quite the way everyone thinks, but at some point (unless the players manage to prevent it) there is going to be a no-holds-barred, knock-out slugfest that will radically alter the face of the world. It may even destroy it. That is one story. It is by no means the only story.

I devised the world of Iourn to be a melting pot, a place where any race, class or ability from any published D&D source could be used. In fact Iourn is such a generic fantasy world for that very reason. The games I run are usually low level, PCs are predominantly human and adventures tend toward investigation and interaction rather than exploration and combat.

In practice the campaigns I run normally begin in the country of Norandor (one of the sovereign states of the Urovan continent). Norandor is a feudal society and the only country in all Urova that is unified under one king. Norandor is ruled by humans who live side-by-side with hobbits. Dwarves live in the mountains to the north, but there has only been contact between dwarves and men for thirty years. The dwarves represent a distinct kingdom, and they have not integrated with the human lands. More information on Norandor can be found in the Gazetteer.

Demographics and Experience Levels

The third edition game is skewed towards getting characters up experience levels as quickly as possible. Characters are expected to go from level one to twenty in sixty-four sessions, which is plainly ridiculous. The matter of advancement is dealt with in the section on Experience Awards, here I intend to look at the demographics of Iourn, and underline how many people of a certain experience level actually exist beneath the six moons.

Before we continue, I would like to lay a few demons to rest. Yes, a level-based experience system isn't very realistic and yes, I have thought about changing it. I haven't done such a thing because classes and levels are at the heart of D&D, and to take them out would simply recreate Runequest. Classes and levels require you to suspend your disbelief in the game, but then so does the presence of elves and dragons. Take breath, lower your expectations slightly, and join me for a useful trawl through the world of Iourn.

High level characters are rare. According to the extremely handy High-Level Campaigns book for the second edition game, only one in a million people ever reach eighteenth level. This is a fair statistic. However, I believe that the actual number of first level characters is going to be a great deal less than D&D suggests. Most characters (whether adventuring or non-adventuring) will rise a few levels over the course of their lifetime. The eighteen year old farm labourer might be a first level commoner, but will he still be first level after doing the same job for thirty years?

Below, I look in more detail at different levels of experience, and how common they are in this campaign setting. Four factors exist to modifty the information below, and it is wise to point them out before you read on.

• Firstly, experience level refers to total character level. A Fighter 10/Wizard 3/Spellsword 3 is a sixteenth level character in all respects.
• Secondly, the following only really works for standard races with no racial hit dice. It can be seen as accurate for humans, orcs and hobbits but not for more powerful races such as trolls or dragons.
• Thirdly, the life expectancy of the race must be taken into account. Elves, for example, are immortal so the average elf is probably going to be a much higher level than the average huamn because they have so much more time to grow and experience things.
• Fourthly, and most important, player characters are always exceptions!

1st - 2nd Level Characters

These levels are the most common found in society. Around a third the population will be of levels one and two. Characters at these levels are just starting out in their careers, they are usually young, naïve and with little real experience of the world. Most serfs, labourers and apprentice merchants are of these levels. A large proportion of the adventuring classes will also not get further than second level, although this is mainly due to death rather than inactivity. Members of local militia, or green conscripts will be drawn from these levels.

3rd - 5th Level Characters

Most adventurers who don't die will reach these levels eventually, although few will progress any higher. It would be even more unusual to find commoners of greater than fifth level, as they don't do anything to earn sufficient experience points. These levels represent the achievement of competence. Characters of these levels are no longer amateurs, they know what they're doing and they can command some respect from their peers and from society. They are not exceptionally powerful, but they have significantly more power than a first or second level bod. These individuals may remain anonymous in a large city, but in a small town and village their notoriety would precede them. Professional or career soldiers are from these levels, so bear this in mind: that rampaging horde of orcs are not one hit dice monsters, they're all fourth level barbarians.

6th - 8th Level Character

Characters that reach sixth level are exceptional. Players can be safe in the knowledge that a minority of society ever gets to this level. Characters of these levels are considered masters of what they do. Fighters have acquired an extra attack per round, spell-casters have mastered the casting of fourth level spells. Individuals of this experience level can only remain anonymous with a conscious effort. They will be known, perhaps not nationally, but word will get around. Many teachers and mentors are drawn from these levels. Moon clerics of these levels will be put in charge of parishes - the high priest of the Church of Life in Northmeet is only a sixth level character.

9th - 12th Level Characters

Now things begin to get silly. These levels represent the upper end of advancement for well over 99% of those who reached eighth level. Characters of this level are stunningly powerful, and may rise to positions of power and authority within society because of their skills. It is likely that such characters have great renown, that songs are sung about them and their exploits fiercely debated in taverns across the land.

13th - 15th Level Characters

By these levels, a character has found himself firmly within the ruling elite. When individuals of this power and experience speak, everyone listens. Many of the highest priests of most of the moon faiths fall into this bracket. Characters of these levels cannot be anonymous. To low level characters their abilities seem god-like. One wizard of this level could lay waste to a small army without breaking a sweat.

16th - 20th Level Characters

Only a handful of humans and hobbits in each generation reach these degrees of proficiency. The highest priests of most religions (but not all) are probably at this level. The greatest heroes, such as Sir Garnir of the Order of the Hawk, have reached this proficiency.

21st Level and Beyond

Characters who reach 21st level are epic characters. However, the same principles that govern the other levels hold true here. Age and experiences are the key to progressing to these incredible degrees of proficiency. Humans may never be able to manage it, but incredibly long-lived races such as dragons or elves can and do progress this high. Don't be surprised if the greatest wizard the elves have ever seen is pushing fortieth level. Demons and their ilk are immortal beings, so they could feasibly be of any experience level. Life is harsh. Fortunately, even amongst such long-lived creatures this degree of proficiency is rare. Most (if not all) members of Karatath's Thirty are of this level, as are many members of The Twelve. Even Narramac managed to barely squeeze himself into this bracket.

Money and Magic

Forget what it says in the Player's Handbook, forget the asinine amount of wealth characters are supposed to be carting around, forget the crass and short-sighted proliferation of magical items - Iourn is not like that. Every magic item has a reason for existing and they not common. Most adventurers don't see more than one or two enchanted items in their lifetime, and even less manage to hang on to them. The great and the good might have more, but they do not flaunt them. Magic items (of any description) are far too precious to sell. The monetary value placed on magic items in the rulebooks is a nonsense. Armourers do not sell magical chain mail, cobblers don't sell magic boots and jewellers have not got an exclusive line on rings of protection. All these things are items of power, not toys to be bought or sold.

Magic items are either devices and weapons that have been lost by a great ancient culture (such as the Hadradans) or they have been created by the relatively few individuals capable of doing so today. Very few individuals are born sorcerers, and of those that are, even less have the application and the desire to spend vast amounts of time in one place creating a magical device. Wizards are certainly more common, but there are not many who rise to an experience level sufficiently high to create these marvels.

The fact is as plain as a nineteenth century governess: there simply aren't very many individuals who have experience, the power or the skills to create magical artefacts. In plain rulespeak, the Item Creation feats listed in the PHB require a spellcaster to be of a certain experience level. As already stated, the item creation feats are unlikely to be known by sorcerers, meaning that only wizards (and to a lesser extent) clerics have the time and patience to develop these talents. Any spellcaster can take the Scribe Scroll feat, and even relatively low-level casters (3rd level) can attempt to brew a potion. 3rd level wizards also are able to select the Craft Wondrous Item feat, but they are unlikely to have the skill, the resources or the experience points to create anything more impressive than a pair of self-cleaning socks. After this, wizards cannot attempt to create magic wands, arms and amour until 5th level; rods until 9th and they have to wait until 12th level before they can try their hand at staffs or rings. How many wizards get to these experience levels? To give you a clue - Gaston, archwizard of the Norandon court, is thirteenth level and he is considered the most powerful wizard in the land (after Narramac).

Now pause to think about the possibility of buying spells. Read again the list of how many spellcasters of certain experience levels actually exist. Of all the churches, the Church of Life, the Church of Fortune's Favour and the Arcanum Incognita are the organisations that are most likely to cast spells for money. Most other faiths will consider it. The Church of Fire will resurrect for money, but the number of clerics of ninth level or higher is so small that they are often unavailable or have better things to do with their time. Thanks to the Watchers almost everyone looks on resurrection suspiciously and wouldn't want it. Most high priests of a parish will be sixth level. This means that the highest level priest of Vítaeous in a given area will probably not have access to a restoration spell. The Arcanum Incognita will sell arcane as well as divine magic, but their reputation is such that no-one wants to be in debt to them. Finding a wizard to cast a spell such as identify is easy enough, but finding one to cast analyse dweomer is practically impossible. A wizard would have to be eleventh level, and any character who has got that far really doesn't need the money. Thanks to the Arcanum Incognita there are no longer any guilds of wizardry. In short: don't count on being able to buy magic spells when you need them. They aren't that common either.

Technology

The availability of different types of technology varies from country to country. For the most part, Urova is gripped in the equivalent of Europe's dark age. That means that parties shouldn't expect anything too advanced littering the side of major thoroughfares. Anything that takes a great deal of skill to make will be either rare or non-existent. Therefore, two-handed swords, full plate armour and other comparable items are should not be readily available to players. The major exception to this rule is the Kingdom of Norandor. Where everyone else is the in the dark ages, civilised Norandor has dragged itself up into the twelfth century. They are a little more advanced in regard to what they are capable of making and producing. Anything listed in the Player's Handbook is available in Norandor's major cities (except magic items of course).

To the best of anyone's knowledge, nowhere on Norandor has developed black-powder weapons or firearms of any sort. This is not to say that some parts of the world aren't technologically advanced enough to have done it, but weapons are created from a need and with the presence of magic, there has simply been no need to create these things. At its best a musket is a slightly more powerful crossbow, and it really has nothing on a magic missile spell. Plus, even if someone had dreamed up smoke powder, guns could not be mass-produced in sufficient quantities to make an enormous impact on warfare.

The Pits of Walhoon is the most technologically advanced country, by several hundred years. Those gnomes do love to tinker. They have developed marvels such as the steam engine, airships, monorails and various other gizmos. The gnomes have been in the grip of an industrial revolution for some time. Occasionally, gnomish devices are found outside the Pits, but this is very rare. In fact, gnomes are particularly fastidious when it comes to keeping their technology to themselves. Some have enough speculated that covert teams of highly trained gnomes are occasionally sent from the Pits to retrieve any items of stolen technology and destroy any evidence that the tech existed in the first place. The gnomes of the Pits don't even share their creations with their brothers in the Five Colour Kingdom.