Warriors of Legend
Have you ever read a book of myths and wished you could be one of the heroes in those ancient stories? Well, here's your chance! Find out how to create an adventure in the lands of legend that you've dreamed about, as well as information on running the adventure, and creating heroes, monsters, weapons and magical devices of legend.
The young ronin has been waiting patiently for the man responsible for his parents' death to pass by. Finally, his patience is rewarded. The crime lord is approaching down the road, but he's not alone! His two bodyguards accompany him. Twins, they specialize in coordinated destruction.
With a piercing yell, the ronin somersaults out from the bushes and drives his foot squarely into the jaw of the first bodyguard, landing directly in the path of the second! With a spinning, tornado-like attack, he slams his fist into the belly of the second bodyguard, flinging him into a large rock next to the well-traveled road. Without warning, the ronin drops to a crouching position, hearing the Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! of shuriken sinking themselves into the tree behind him.
Lifting one hand, the young ronin motions to the bodyguard. Bring it on...
Introduction
This is your chance to play the larger-than-life heroes that we can only read and dream about. You could be a Greek hero fighting against the wrath of the gods, the legendary ninja out to avenge an offense to his honor, the stealthy thief who's fighting against the injustices of the evil Prince. There are so many possibilities! Only this time, you get to write the legends instead of read about them... Legends! Adventure of heroic proportions! It's time to spend an evening in far off lands, fighting for honor and justice, as well as lots of gold. Welcome to the lands of myths and legends!
The setting for an adventure like this is the historical lands of legend. These lands could be just about any country. Your heroes can adventure in remote locations such as China, Greece, Rome, and India. Characters can travel all over the world, righting wrongs and righteously smiting evil. The remote locations will help give the adventure an exotic feel.
So, How Do I Do This?
How does a gamemaster go about setting up something like this? You'll find it's very similar to any other standard adventure, but you'll have to keep some things in mind when designing this kind of adventure:
Don't take the setting too seriously. It's meant to be a night (or more) of adventure and fun. Legends are going to be written this night! There should be a cinematic feel to the actions as well as the stories. Let the adventure have a relatively simple story and keep the action flowing. Don't let the adventure get caught up in too many details. Be loose with the rules and let the players show off a bit. Excitement is the name of this game!
In Fudge terms, you can use a rules-light system. Combat especially should be very action oriented. One of the best choices for this would be the Story Element style of combat, with the players describing in detail what they are going to do. Character creation can involve only a few basic attributes. (You may even want to consider using all skills instead of attributes!) Be sure that you have the skills players will need to run a heroic adventure. You may want to use some detail with the skill listings. Five Point Fudge will also work with this type of setting.
While the characters will have fantastic abilities, be sure not to make them invincible. Character balance is still important. Now's a good time to try some of those Gifts and Faults that you may not usually use. Maybe you have a fighter but he's clumsy. Perhaps a hero in the party can't ride a horse, or animals don't like him. Maybe your mage is obese. Try out some different possibilities and give them a try. You'll get some interesting characters to play around with. It will only add to the fun of the adventure.
Every adventurer needs to have a place to adventure in! Legendary heroes will sometimes have their adventures in far-away, exotic lands. But, what are these lands like? You're not going to be doing strict historical roleplaying. You have the freedom to embellish the setting to provide a rich adventure for your players. This is roleplaying in the lands we read about in adventure stories, myths, and legends. These lands could be just about any country, such as China, Greece, Rome, or India. Characters can travel all over the world, righting wrongs and also dealing with the various evils found in the world. Don't feel bound by "official" history. Use the setting as a backdrop for the adventure. Use it to give flavor to the adventure. You're not trying to exactly recreate an ancient society and don't be afraid to let some of the finer details of the setting slip so you can run a good story. Even if something is historically inaccurate, if you want it in the adventure then just let it go!
Related to this is the use of comedy during the adventure. If your gaming party is having fun, they may start making wisecracks during the adventure. If it's fitting to their characters, then let them make all the puns and jokes they need. In this kind of setting, you can combine comedy and legendary adventure with little trouble.
Feel free to use some of the adventuring cliches that we've all heard about. Go ahead and start the adventure with a good old-fashioned bar fight! Have the heroes get their information from a shadowy figure in a hooded cloak. Let the heroes pull off a last minute rescue. This can also work against the heroes. The bad guys always had a tendency to pull off those last-minute escapes....
If you're having difficulty coming up with ideas for adventures, take some from popular movies and books. Just put them into the adventure setting and let the characters run with it. Break the movie into basic story plots and put them into your adventure. Action-adventure types of stories such as Indiana Jones, Zorro, The Mask, Remo Williams, and various superhero stories make good basic plots.
Sample Characters
You can reasonably use any fantasy setting for a campaign like this, but you still need characters. Your characters should have a few amazing skills. This kind of adventure will be similar to fairy tales and mythological tales. The heroes of those stories were all larger-than-life, with abilities that easily set them apart from normal people.
Here is a listing of some example characters for you to use. They will be pretty powerful characters and your referee may only want to use them as Non-Player Characters. They should help give an example of the kinds of characters that can be used in a setting like this.
*Note:* I have used a lot of attributes to describe the characters, but I wouldn't recommend using them all in a game. They are only included to give a better over-all description of the types of characters I'm talking about. Please modify them to fit your own campaign. The attributes used in my examples are:
- Strength - physical strength of the character
- Agility - overall character agility
- Dexterity - manual dexterity of the character
- Balance - how well they can balance on things like tightropes, etc.
- Speed - how fast the character is
- Health - the character's overall health
- Intelligence - raw intelligence
- Knowledge - learned information and wisdom
- Willpower - strength of will
- Appearance - their overall appearance
- Charisma - how charismatic they can be in dealing with other people
The Silent Ninja - This master of the night is used when a covert warrior is needed. Swift as the wind and deadly as the cobra, this fighter can get to places most people cannot. Rumor has it that they possess mystical powers to help them accomplish their tasks!
| Attributes | Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Fair | Bow | Fair |
| Agility | Great | Ninja Sword | Great |
| Dexterity | Fair | Shuriken | Good |
| Balance | Great | Thrown Weapons | Good |
| Speed | Good | Acrobatics | Good |
| Health | Good | Move Quietly | Great |
| Intelligence | Fair | Climbing | Fair |
| Knowledge | Good | Detect/Disarm Traps | Fair |
| Willpower | Fair | Pick Locks | Good |
| Appearance | Fair | Poisons | Good |
| Charisma | Mediocre | Botany | Fair |
| Hide Traces | Great | ||
| Observation | Fair | ||
| Gifts | Quick Reflexes, Keen Senses, Night Vision | ||
| Faults | Secret Identity (nobody can know they are a ninja), Vow, Obsession | ||
| (any other professional skills that will help maintain public identity) | |||
The Heroic Princess - This is a female fighter who is one of the best of her tribe. Maybe she left her home to seek adventure in the world. She is an accomplished fighter but is far from being "lady-like," especially in her own culture.
| Attributes | Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Good | Sword | Great |
| Agility | Great | Whip | Fair |
| Dexterity | Good | Knife | Good |
| Balance | Superb | Brawling | Great |
| Speed | Great | Pressure Points | Great |
| Health | Good | Acrobatics | Great |
| Intelligence | Fair | Jumping | Good |
| Knowledge | Good | Tactics | Good |
| Willpower | Good | Fishing | Fair |
| Appearance | Great | Swimming | Fair |
| Charisma | Good | Survival | Fair |
| --------------------- | First Aid | Good | |
| Navigation | Good | Riding | Good |
| Seduction | Good | Disguise | Fair |
| Intimidate | Great | Dancing | Fair |
| Seamanship | Fair | Stealth | Good |
| Geography | Great | ||
| Gifts | Contacts, Combat Reflexes, Leadership | ||
| Faults | Reputation, Enemy (other warlords, Ares, etc.), Quick Tempered, Tactless | ||
The Powerful God of War - In many mythology stories, the gods and goddesses of that land would interact with characters, especially heroes. If your adventure's pantheon does this, then you may need to provide stats for the gods as well as the heroes. The gods are not infallible, they can be beaten...just not easily!
| Attributes | Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Great | Sword | Superb |
| Agility | Good | Edged Weapons | Superb |
| Dexterity | Good | Blunt Weapons | Superb |
| Balance | Great | Acrobatics | Great |
| Speed | Fair | Ambush | Good |
| Health | Superb | Quick Draw | Good |
| Intelligence | Good | Stealth | Fair |
| Knowledge | Great | Tactics | Great |
| Willpower | Superb | Cultures | Good |
| Appearance | Great | Geography | Superb |
| Charisma | Great | Seduction | Fair |
| --------------------- | Bluff | Fair | |
| Intimidate | Great | Flattery | Good |
| Persuade | Good | ||
| Gifts | Combat Reflexes, Immortal, Many people owe favors, Rapid Healing, Reputation, Strong Will | ||
| Faults | Ambitious, Blunt and Tactless, Enemies (various "good guys"), Obsession (ruling Olympus, Asgard, etc.), Overconfident, Quick Tempered | ||
The King of Thieves - Here is the swashbuckling hero that seems to fill these sorts of adventures. This guy (or girl) is the best there is...and they know it! Cocky and arrogant, they will never pass up an opportunity to show off or proclaim their skills. If someone tries to prove they are the best thief, he will spend almost every waking moment trying to do it one better. A lovable rogue with a heart of gold.
| Attributes | Skills | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Fair | Brawling | Great |
| Agility | Great | Sword | Fair |
| Dexterity | Superb | Knife | Good |
| Balance | Great | Lockpicking | Superb |
| Speed | Good | Acrobatics | Great |
| Health | Good | Climbing | Fair |
| Intelligence | Good | Acting | Good |
| Knowledge | Good | Detecting Traps | Great |
| Willpower | Fair | Disarming Traps | Great |
| Appearance | Good | Disguise | Fair |
| Charisma | Great | Pickpocketing | Superb |
| --------------------- | Slight of Hand | Good | |
| Bluff | Great | Tactics | Good |
| Lying | Good | Escape | Great |
| Persuade | Great | Appraisal | Good |
| Disguise | Good | Seduction | Good |
| Gifts | Ambidextrous, Danger Sense, Keen Senses, Perfect Timing, Quick Reflexes | ||
| Faults | Ambitious, Full of Bluff, Greedy, Outlaw, Reputation | ||
What's He Carrying?
You can also apply this idea of legends to weapons and magical artifacts. In a game of myth and legends, they usually are very basic items, but powerful. They are also difficult to find. The hero should consider a quest of some kind to find these weapons of legend.
- The Sword of Hades: magical longsword
- Flame Blast: Great, 20 ft. range
- can melt other swords on contact if the player rolls a natural +4
- Gem of Monster Summoning: magical artifact
- Summoning: Good
- monster appears within 10 feet of the mage, will follow one basic command given by holder of the gem, can only be used once in 24 hours
- Ring of Flying: magical jewelry
- Flying: Superb
- user can fly with the speed of an eagle, can fly to the limit of the clouds, can take off from a standing position
The Final Chapter
The main thing about an adventure such as this is to have fun! Let the characters rescue the damsel in distress, save the kingdom, and make the world safe for everyone. These are the stories that bards will tell for centuries. Gather the hearty band of warriors, give them an exciting adventure and sit back to watch the fun. Their exploits will live on in legends forever!
