Than Greyhawk

From AJS.COM

Than Greyhawk is the name of a monthly Dungeons & Dragons game, run by Aaron Sherman from 2004 – May of 2006. Shackled City was the next campaign set in the same world.

1 World
2 Than
3 Cast of characters
- 3.1 Notable NPCs
4 Chapter 1: Mothers, Fathers, Friends and Brothers
5 External links

World

Than Greyhawk is, as the name suggests, set in the world of Greyhawk, one of D&D's oldest settings. The game takes place in the Flanaess, centered around the city of Verbobonc. Than Greyhawk is not a Living Greyhawk sanctioned campaign, though others may use the materials here to run their own games if they wish. See the Than Greyhawk: Usage Policies for more information.

Guidelines for Than Greyhawk character creation are also available.

Than

Than Mason is a private investigator who brought our heroes together as mercenaries, but has since offered them a partnership in the running of his company, Than Investigations.

Than was recently stranded in the plane of Mechanus, and had asked the rest of the group to take ownership of Than Investigations since he was unlikely to be able to return.

Cast of characters

The player characters were first brought together as mercenaries, hired by Than Investigations. They are:

Cheadle Shroomgarden - A halfling paladin who favors the sun-god, Pelor.
Colis - A half-orcish cleric of Pelor and friend of Cheadle.
Grin Strider'son ("Grin") - A human, talented in getting in and getting out safely.
Gylfi - A steadfast, half-orcish warrior.
Joshua Trueshot - A half-elven ranger / bowman.
Thorgrim - An imposing human warrior from the frigid north.

Notable NPCs

Besides Than, recurring NPCs include:

Cynthia Mason - Than's sister, a Gnarly Ranger and assistant at Than Investigations.
Fróðleikr - A human who specializes in the sorcerous art of summoning. Was a member of Than's team, but has since gone missing.
Lugai Cabbageleaf - An old acquaintance of Cheadle's who was training to become a paladin, but has fallen.
Patsy - A goblin friend, distant cousin and henchman of Gylfi.
Red Shade - A thief who works in Verbobonc, stealing from the wealthy.
Ref - The manservant and companion of Thorgim.
Rondil - An associate of Joshua's father, Marduke has been manipulating some of the group's encounters.
Sa'n - A very young blue dragon that claims to be "good".
Wilchop Darkflagon - A pious dwarven fighter.

Chapter 1: Mothers, Fathers, Friends and Brothers

Chapter 1 began with Than bringing the party together as mercenaries. They took several jobs together and Than's business boomed as a result of the word of mouth that resulted. In the process of following up on one of the missions, two of the party members found out that they were half-brothers, and their father (or what is left of him) is out to rule the world by conquest. Barely thwarting his plans, they return to Verbobonc to discover an ancient relic of Pelor which is entrusted to the care of the party's cleric.

Detailed summaries by session follow. A session is a loosely defined period of time in this game, which begins and ends a logical story thread. Many GMs would call this an adventure or scenario.

Session 1: Molé's Basement

For the full account, see Molé's Basement

Molé Pembroke, a local merchant of Verbobonc, sent the party on a quest which ended in the discovery of a local cult of Malhugh and the release of a devil who killed Molé before leaving the Prime Material plane.

This adventure took place during the month of Coldeven in CY (Common Year) 595.

Session 2: The Dragon's Bargain

For the full account, see The Dragon's Bargain.

The party leaves for a small village in Furyondy named Nukford to help the town deal with raids by a very young blue dragon. After numerous encounters on the road, they arrive and establish the situation with the local population. Heading east, they deal with the ruined, undead-infested neighbor city of Zerind.

Finding the dragon's cave, the party discovered that it was the dragon who had hired the party, not the citizens of Nukford. The dragon in question is a very young (perhaps wyrmling) dragon, recenly out of the service of Iuz which escaped the party. They returned to Nukford with the town's stolen treasures and the dragon's (questionable) promise that it would not attack again. They then returned to Verbobonc, discovering on the way that some sort of strange time-related magic was affecting them, causing them to have visions of the future.

This adventure took place during the festival week of Growfest, CY 595.

Session 3: The Red Shade

For the full account, see First encounter with the Red Shade.

The Red Shade is a thief who is stealing from the rich in Verbobonc, and Than Investigations has been charged with finding his identity, which the party does not manage to do, but they do have a close encounter with the nimble, rooftop-leaping thief. Cheadle and Fróðleikr are absent and a new job to the south may portent a climax to the party's mysterious time-related problems.

Sesssion 4: Fortunes

For the full account, see Than Greyhawk: Fortunes

Than was approached by both the Principality of Ulek and the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj, asking for the party to go to Danube in the Pomarj and investigate two groups of missing scouts. Because of conflict of interest, and the potential for violent reprecussions, Than chose to take the Orcish job (seeing as how two of the party are half-orcs).

Eventually, the cause of both dissapearances was revealed to be the wizard Rondil, and his ongoing plot to exploit a gateway to the plane of Mechanus in order to sieze power in the Pomarj and eventually across the Flanaess. His plans were thwarted by the party, and he fled. However, Than remained in Mechanus to destroy the gate, and may be lost forever!

Session 5: Home

This session is still ongoing, and will be summarized at Than Greyhawk: Home

After returning home, the party officially breaks for a few weeks as their members accomplish their own tasks. A new member of Than Investigations is hired by Cynthia, Wilchop Darkflagon—a dwarf with significant skill with a greatsword. A new job leads them to the Better Light brothel in the High Quarter where the party get involved in the machinations of the gods!