Wepid, the city

To say Wepid is ancient is to make a grave understatement.

Wepid seems to never have not existed. Layer upon layer, building upon building, new parts of the city sprouting from the heaped upon ages of calamities, fires, meteors, rambunctious monsters, riots, ritual razing, magical mayhem, and ordinary decay.

Wepid scrambles back into the voids, gaps, and hollows like weeds in a burned over lot or water rushing tidally back and forth.

Wepid is sprawling. It drapes over the land - from the vast grounds of the palaces of the magnates upon the hills called the seven fingers - to the squalid mudflat shantytowns on the receding sea.

Obviously Wepid is my stale take on the Lankhmar/Vornheim/Bastion/London/Sprawl city fantastique. Here's my assumptions and flavor questions.

Influences and rules sets:

Based largely on little brown book original edition dungeons and dragons (lbb od&d) with the addition of stuff:

• The Specialist class and skills from James Raggi’s Lamentations of the Flame Princess (lotfp)
• Random level bonuses from zak s., jeff rients, and other folk of the interlands.
• Zak S.’ “alice” class
• Skerples’ Coins and Scrolls blog provided the meat of the various bestial races, also the eating them rules.
• The Dungeon Gourmand v0.2.0 by Historian — occultesque.com
• Trollsmyth’s “shields shall be splintered” and weapon house rules.
• Goblin Punch’s death, dismemberment and madness rules.
• AD&D's potion miscibility rules and some magic item values/ creation rules
• Patrick Stuart’s mutation tables
• Chris Kutalik’s Hill Cantons Domain Game, Eld and other concepts
• A lot of other things.

Assumptions

·         The setting is anthropocentric, that is, the most powerful characters are generally human.

·         Demi-humans are more than a little weird, prefer to keep to themselves, are spiritually "different" from humans, and their religious leaders don't go off adventuring.

·         There are at least some human religions that *do* allow for adventuring clerics.

·         Most pcs will be members of the four "main" classes – fighter, magic user, cleric, specialist. More rarely some humans or halflings can be an “alice” – idiot savant adventurers who often blunder through wild adventures with blind luck or favors from the gods.

·         Society allows for heavily armed "adventurers." if these adventurers amass enough personal power and wealth, they can ascend to positions of some temporal power.

·         Thieves and assassins join up in organized guilds.

·         Magic is a weird thing and exacts a personal toll on its user.

·         Magic-users and clerics manipulate the same mystic forces (magic), but clerics are taught differently by the church and have access to different spells, performed in a different manner.

·         There are many, many intelligent races.

·         Individuals have an "alignment." Tending towards law, neutrality, or chaos.

·         There are many, many planes of existence and extraplanar beings organized along "alignment" boundaries.

·         In ancient times, there were mighty heroes, horrible villains, insanely powerful artifacts and rituals, etc.

·         Death isn't *necessarily* permanent.

·         From the depths of time, large numbers of precious metal coins have been minted, and powerful men and monsters amass these in hordes that adventurers hope to find. Local govts. Rely on the taxing and re-minting of these coins for some of their revenue.

·         Silver pieces are the standard coin for most non-bartered transactions. Using a gold piece to buy anything less than a townhouse, fishing trawler, or iron golem would be like trying to buy a hamburger with a $1000 dollar bill. Also if people see you with a gold piece they will murder you for it, then murder each other in a gold-murder-frenzy.

·         There are mysterious underground complexes into which move whatever horrible monsters as can. Smart people avoid these.

·         Magic items can be made and sold but almost never bought. At some point in history, more were made than are currently.

·         Intelligent human, demi-human, and humanoid races have basically all at least heard of one another. In more cosmopolitan places, the non-evil types at least mingle and cohabit.

·         Dwarf women have beards. This assumes you can tell which sex is which.

·         Which god you worship says less about you than the alignment of your god(s).

·         Whenever possible, players should overcome challenges by simply describing what their characters do. [dice rolls] are only used to resolve risky situations that would be too time-consuming to describe, or involve immediate danger.  E.g. Disarming a trap doesn't involve immediate danger, so if it is fairly simple, you have to describe how you do it.  E.g. Picking a lock doesn't involve immediate danger, but describing the process would be tedious and hard to visualize, so you [roll].  E.g. Dodging dragon's breath is easy to describe, but it involves immediate danger, so a [roll] is required.

Jeff Rient’s 20 quick questions about your campaign setting

·         What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

o    The “mother church” of the Four Gods worships the Lady, the Lord, the Mage, and the Wolf. The Mage and the Wolf aren’t so much worshipped here as appeased and their worst aspects avoided. The Generic Religion of the Civilized Lands, unless otherwise chosen all humans, most beastmen are Church members and know the basics of scripture, ritual, holidays and observances. Inhuman races have about a 10% chance to be familiar.

o    Solitarism, a growing heretical splinter sect, the “four in one” preaches that there is but a single god with multiple aspects. Aside from the infighting between the mother church and the solitaries there’s not much difference. The sixtieth Grand Convocation outlawed the Solitarian Heresy, and it is actively persecuted. Choosing to be a Solitarist means being an outlaw in the eyes of the Church and open practice will result in unwanted arrest, torture, burning, and trampling by pigs.

o    Older sects devoted to the pre-syncretic gods do exist with Wolf and Mage cults being rather more common amongst do-badders. Oddly MOST of these are largely ignored by the capital C Church and Solitarists and are generally looked on with pity as backwards bumpkins or barbarians.

o    Tales of cults of the old ones have never died out. These ancient beings LOVE to CRAFT (wink, wink) secret cabals to bring about the chaos and destruction that their alien gods revel in, if you catch my *cough*CTHULHU*cough* drift. These guys are nothing to mess with and are super-illegal.

·         Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

o    The Grand Market Square of the New Old City or the caravanserai in the Wart Melting district. Beware though, wearing war-arms in town is illegal without the proper permits, get those in the Old City.

·         Where can we go to get platemail armor custom fitted for this ginormous monster I just befriended?

o    The New Old City. But yeah, get a permit first.

·         Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

o    Fabled Barzak the Learned of the council of Twenty and Five would say “No wizard who truly thirsts for knowledge stands over any other.” But yeah, it’s probably Barzak.

·         Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

o    The current arena champion is Zeshal the Wanderer with 332 wins.

·         Who is the richest person in the land?

o    The Grand Syndic of Wepid, Kor Ma Lorpus.

·         Where can we go to get some magical healing?

o    Members of the Church of the Four can apply as mendicants to the Chapel of the Lady at the Court of Rags. Members willing to make a donation to the orphans and elderly can seek treatment at the Temple of Oeld in the Old City.

o    Solitarians can seek out their own kind.

o    Healers both magical and not can also be found in the Occidental (Western) District

·         Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

o    See above but you better have deeeeeeep pockets or have an Archimandrite or Sacred Mother of the church that owes you bigtime.

·         Is there a magic guild my Magic User belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

o    As Barzak the Most Puissant once said: “Is not the entirety of the cosmos the most exquisite academy? Do we not learn and thrive merely absorbing the rays of the glorious sun? Are we not nourished by solitary thought?” In other words, get bent, you are on your own. When the council of Twenty and Five needs a Twenty-sixth they’ll let you know.

·         Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert non player character?

o    The Occidental District along the Street of the Half-Digested Apprentice is famed far and wide for Mummers, Magikers, Alchemicanists, Charlatans, Healers, Bugaboo-exorcists, Star-Starers, and Sages.

·         Where can I hire mercenaries?

o    The Guard Barracks in the Old City is the only legal place to hire bonded armsmen. Pssst… you might could find rough personages at loose ends in the inns around the Caravanserai at Wart Melting, Goblins in Scuzztowne, etc.

·         Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Most, if not all, weapons, armor, and obvious (visible, flashy) magic is illegal without a permit, unless you are from old money, then all bets are off.

The Carrying of Arms

Open carrying of arme blanche – weapons of war (anything other than smallswords, rapiers, knives, daggers, staves, quirts, stockwhips, etc.) Is prohibited. Registered liveried retainers are excepted. You may register as a retainer at the Civic Guard barracks with a refundable 100sp weregeld and a non-refundable 25sp “processing fee.” As always, the rich and powerful are exceptions as they usually hold commissions in the City Militia (old families), Civic Guard (merchants), or Imperial Auxilia (prominent non-humans and foreigners).

Common citizens are unused to bands of heavily armed wandering murderhobos outside of the organized and liveried norm or the civic guard but if you wear the purple and vermillion cockade of a liveried retainer you generally don’t get a second look… unless you are an ogre or are carting around half the dwarf king’s arsenal. Do, however, expect scrutiny from the guard, militia, or, auxiliaries – if only so they can compare status, make fun of you, or pick a fight.

Forging a cockade is simple (1 hour and 2sp of materials) and is punishable by being buried alive in the mud of the tidal flats.

When in doubt, keep things small and easily concealed. Most thugs in Wepid favor the “holebit’s kiss” six to eight lead sling bullets in a leather tube with a wrist strap. It can be used as a cosh (1d4 dmg (aim for the collarbones)) or as a holder for sling bullets as required. Some more well-heeled criminal types go in for filling theirs with golden suns but the overall effect is similar.

Those with a pretense to fashion or station wear small-swords or rapiers. The more elaborate gilding and jewelling (or fake versions thereof) are common amongst those who wish to impress, or get rolled in an alley.

Armor is also for war or pitched combat and not avoiding muckbuckets tossed from balconies while shopping for elfhide gloves or silken underpants. Wearing anything more than a padded jack or buffcoat in the street will make good folk pause and possibly raise the alarm. Ornate ceremonial armor is rarely worn for specific holidays and purposes, often it is impractical or made of papier-mache or gilded boiled leather rather than real iron or steel.

·         Which way to the nearest tavern?

Right over there: I hear the (animal name’s) (body part) has good (local dish) and (alcoholic beverage name). The bar servants are (lewd description) and willing to (lewder suggestion) for a (number of coins)!

·         What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

o    The Guard is paying a 2c bounty on Holebit feet scalps (false rumor)

·         Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

o    Check with the Guard in the old city. There’s always trouble with the Goblin Dukes to the south.

·         How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

o    Oh yes. The Dockyard scrum is held every two weeks in the Commercial Docks. The Spattered Lantern in Wart Melting is a pit that specializes in Monster fights (when available). While not an arena per se Coven Place is where most pit fighters congregate to train and practice. Masonswold Dome in the Low Wall is where young bravos duel for honor and cash.

·         Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas i could join and/or fight?

o    No. Psst yes there are. We can’t talk here, too many eyes and ears.

·         What is there to eat around here?

o    Try the grilled eel

·         Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

o    The Dwarves say a magical mithril anvil is lost in the catacombs nearby.

o    The Goblin Emperor Toothteeth V’s lost hoard has elven treasure lost when his “Gilded Fleet” foundered up the coast.

o    The Four and the Solitaries are always fighting over St. Cubbert’s toe-bones and the Prepuce of St. Wiggly and other nonsense.

• Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with type h treasure?






• The entire population of Dwarfing Station #731a was eaten by a Gorlab, that might be fun. Knock yourself out.