Age of Heroes: JADE's Second Spin Off Campaign

Since my recent move I have started to get together with a couple of old friends who still live in the area. And while they all wanted to play Warhammer 40,000, they also all wanted to start a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign.

To make my life as the Dungeon Master a little easier, I decided to set the campaign in my larger Arachnophobia World. That way I didn't have to make anything up from scratch. I even decided I'd set the campaign in an area that the Arachnophobia party would eventually be heading. That way I would be mapping out future areas while I played with the new group. So at the end of the last chapter, the players learned that they needed to head south across the Mortal Sea towards the Hellensitic Isles, and specifically to the Kingdom of Delphi.

The Hellenisitc Isles are a Ancient Greco-Roman themed area that uses the 2nd Ed AD&D green historic campaign setting books. For this area we will be using the Rome, and Age of Heroes, however right now I am limiting the players to only Greek characters. I want to start in Delphi, and I want everyone to be part of that culture. If/when this first round of Greeks meets their fate then they can bring in new characters and I will open up the entire world for them to choose from.

The first spin off campaign in the Arachnophobia World (still thought of a planet name yet) was Thomas's Time Travel Adventures. Thomas the Chronomancer was a member of the Arachnophobia Campaign Party who decided to set out on his own adventure at the beginning of Game 25. During this course, he semi-unintentionally stranded the party back in time at the beginning of the campaign: hundreds of miles from their objective in the Hellenisitic Isles, let alone a seaside Harbour. Thomas' Spin Off Campaign had huge game changing effects on the Arachnophobia Party, however our Age of Heroes campaign will be a little different as none of the characters are associated with the Arachnophobia Campaign and it takes place over 1000 miles away. So as it stands, our Age of Heroes campaign has nothing to do with our Arachnophobia Campaign, with only two exceptions:

1) It takes place in the same world around the same time period. 

2)Tthe Hellenistic Isles are no strangers to giant spiders. Though not as numerous by any means as the invading hordes, a species of Giant Spider has lived around the islands since the dawn of time.

Do the Greeks or Romans know something about the giant spiders that the rest of the world doesn't? Certainly the Library of Athens has records going back further then any civilization except perhaps the elves. Maybe there is something there.

I am quite excited as a DM to host this adventure for the group, as it lets me prepare an area that my Arachnophobia party will be eventually heading and flesh out an area of the world that I have had planned since the beginning. The Ancient Greek setting should also be a refreshing break from our typical medieval fantasy setting. 

We haven't actually had a full game of this yet, as we are still making characters, which given our massive six page character sheets takes some time. I ahve asked the four new players to create level one "heroes" and fit them into the small fishing/farming village of Playos on the
Island of Delphi. Like in most AD&D games at level one your class is more of an aspiration then what you actually are. I have found that it takes until around level 3 before you start feeling like a fighter for example. So Rangers are aspiring hunters in the village, Thieves are known ne're-do-wells, a Fighter's armour has been passed down from generation to generation in the family. It is a hard in AD&D, but it make victory all the sweeter.

The Age of Heroes Book, states many limitations on the Class and Character Kits that each player allowed to take. A paladin for example doesn't exactly have a role in traditional ancient Greek society, and thus you are not allowed to play one. There are equal limitations on most character kits, and even on magic-users, forcing them to be specialists.

It wasn't an easy choice for anyone figuring out what they want to be, and we honestly still haven't finished these characters. But here is our spread so far: Connor has decided to play as a Ranger, who is an apprentice of the Hunter in the village, Casey has chosen an aspiring Priest of Aphrodite, Mike has chosen a Fighter who's father has long gone, leaving his equipment behind, our fourth player Dan unfortunately couldn't make it for the character building session so we shall see what he chooses, and I have recently learned that we will be joined Joe next game bringing our party a total of five: a solid number to start an adventure with.

The Current Arachnophobia Party

At this point this I wouldn't even say that this campaign is off the ground yet, so the plans are still quite loose. Whether or not I will have these guys cross over with the Arachnophobia Party is still undecided. As a DM I don't really like to force that sort of thing and prefer to let the game roll and see what happens. There are a lot of moving pieces so while it would be interesting to have the two groups cross paths it is likely it will never happen. But we will see.

Our first proper game of the Age of Heroes Campaign will be at then end of next week. It will be every player's first time playing 2nd Ed AD&D, and it should make for an interesting game! So look out for more art and stories to come around JADE's Age of Heroes Campaign.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Image Sources
Roman d20: https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?491643-Ancient-Greek-D208

Age of Heroes book: https://picclick.co.uk/Age-of-Heroes-Campaign-Sourcebook-ADD-2nd-Edition-323262870479.html