Karameikos Campaign
From The Summoners
This was the game beginning in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, Original D&D Gazeteer Campaign setting run by Roger Mandeville.
It ran from approximately 1996-2000. <?>
Game Overview
The Karameikos campaign was the first game that Roger ran after leaving college. It used the D&D basic rules (red box) to great effect and lasted for almost four years. In time the game was converted to AD&D 2nd edition right before its demise. The basic rules present a simpler form of the game without sacrificing any of the adventure.
The Campaign was broken into chapters:
- The Formian Invasion (Fire in the Sky)
- Interlude
- Master of the Desert Nomads
- Red Arrow / Black Shield (The first World War)
- Rise of a New Nation
The game featured several elements that set it apart from any of Roger’s games before
Chapters: The game set shorter goals rather then over arching campaign long goals. Some were shorter then others and all the chapters were connected by several themes; they could stand alone as separate campaigns having a beginning and clearly defined end that satisfied any questions.
Hard Set Timeline: While the chapters were self contained stories that directly effected the players, the game incorporated an over arching world wide story that had a predefined timeline to occur. The DM kept meticulous track of time and as milestones would pass, events would take place. If the players were in the area, they could participate, and even affect, the event. Otherwise word of the event would eventually make its way to the group. To help the players understand the world scope of events, Roger kept a running timeline depicting events down to the month and year. By the time the game fell apart, the document was about twenty pages long.
Dependence on Published Materials: Neither a plus or negative; Roger used published settings and adventure almost exclusively for this campaign. He would plan out the overarching story by selecting several published modules and stringing them together into a plot. These adventures would be modified to suit the game and added to the episodic feel of the campaign. If the players headed in a different direction then what was planned for Roger would simply find an appropriate module or create a smallish adventure himself. The ratio of published material vs. DM designed was 80/20.
Player Characters
| PC | Class/Race | Epithets | Player | Campaigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Scott | Human Mage | High Magus of Dion | Mike Modee | Karameikos Campaign | Once Slew a Horde From a Wheelchair, but better now alive |
| Gaius Dionys | Human (Thyatis) Fighter | Baron of Dion | Jeff Gibson | Karameikos Campaign | Slept with A Witch, But still alive |
| Jonas Darkfall | Human Thief | Thieve's Guild Proprietor | Mike Blank | Karameikos Campaign | Hated Being a Girl, A Fish, and Old -Survives |
| Martel Dolmont | Human Cleric | High Priest | Luke Frangione | Karameikos Campaign, The Valley Campaign | Drained from Very High levels; still lives |
| Brother Xavier | Human Monk | Wandering hero | George Hirst | Karameikos Campaign, | Died to defeat the Master |
