Go to Campaign Status Documents

Another element that you can keep track of using your campaign status documents is literally just the miscellaneous continuity of the campaign.

Obviously, there are lots of ways that you can (and will) use to record the continuity of your campaign. A detailed campaign journal, for example. Or an updated set of scenario notes. Or a restocked dungeon. Or notes scribbled in the margins of an NPC’s briefing sheet.

But sometimes you just need a quick reference to help you keep the events of the campaign organized in your mind and consistent at the table, or there may be miscellaneous stuff you need to keep track of, but which you just don’t have any clear place in your notes to write down.

It turns out that the last page of your campaign status document is the perfect place for that.

EXAMPLE: NPC EXPEDITIONS

During my Ptolus campaign, the PCs were exploring a vast dungeon known as the Banewarrens. At the same time they were doing this, however, there were several other factions who were also sending NPC adventuring groups into the Banewarrens pursuing a wide variety of agendas.

So I needed to not only keep track of what the PCs were doing in the Banewarrens, I also needed to keep track of these various NPC expeditions and the changes they were making to the dungeon. (So if I determined that, for example, the Pactlords of the Quaan found the body of a fallen comrade and removed it from the dungeon, I would need to update the dungeon key to reflect that the body was no longer there.)

I quickly realized, however, that there were some significant problems with this approach: If I needed to figure out what, exactly, the Pactlords had been doing – for example, if the PCs captured a Pactlord agent and interrogated them – then I would end up sifting through the updated room keys like a detective trying to reconstruct events that I had worked out weeks or months earlier. (And some of these clues would have been obliterated from the record by subsequent changes to the key.)

I concluded that what I needed, in addition to the updated room keys, was a literal log of the NPC expeditions. For example:

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NAVANNA – FIRST TRIP
10/06/790 – 5 AM

• Inspects door to purple wraiths, but does not open.
• Passes through Area 10.
• Heads down to the creature vaults. (Will remove the body of the pain devil and take it to the NOD4 apartment complex.)
• Goes to warding generator.
• Enters Outer Vaults. Passes through Area 12/13 and spots new construction in Area 10. Places a clairvoyant mark on the wall for Aliaster. (This doesn’t work, since you can’t scry into the BW, but she doesn’t know that yet.)
• Goes to the warding generator in Area 6.
• Gets caught in the trap in Area 5 and is badly wounded.
• Leaves the Banewarrens.

GOAL FOR NEXT VISIT: Break through into the weapons vault.

---

(The “Goal for Next Visit” was basically just a way of encoding the line of my thought for Future Justin. It remains important, of course, not to prep so far in advance that you end up throwing out a bunch of stuff that gets contradicted by play.)

This format also let me start pre-running these expeditions, which meant I could also seamlessly trigger this NPC expeditions in the middle of a session. Which, in turn, resulted in more dynamic play as the PCs could react to the expeditions in real time.

If the expeditions were modified during play, I could just note that in my campaign status document. Either way, these expedition “logs” were then archived in the campaign status document for future reference as needed.

EXAMPLE: SESSION SUMMARIES

I don’t always keep detailed campaign journals. (In fact, I usually don’t.) But it can still be useful to tie a little figurative string around your fingers to remind yourself of what you’ve done before.

I’ve found this to be particularly true for open table campaigns, where a long-absent player will often ask me what their previous expeditions were or if they know another PC at the table (i.e., have they gone on an adventure together?).

(Yes, it would be nice if they kept their own notes for this type of stuff – and many players do – but the whole point of having an open table is to encourage more casual play in the first place.)

So what I’ll do is write short summaries of each session, limiting myself to no more than two or three quick sentences. For example, the session summaries for my Castle Blackmoor open table look like this:

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Session 10: Drake, Tolliver, Gio, Tana, Havel. Journey through Tanglefuck. Fight a flying machine. Gio strips down to swim under the Pool.

Session 11: Drake, Eilidh, Gio, Tana, Tolliver. Return to Level 3. Recover +2 plate of giant strength. Baron Fant revealed as vampire. Eilidh turned by Fant. Eilidh’s sister Rue joins the rest of the group to search for her sister.

Session 12: Towby, Wazoo, Walton. Three W’s make plans for the church. Particularly making plans for the re-consecration of the Church.

Session 13: Anutar, Tana, Tolliver, Drake. Extensive mapping on Level 2. Enter the dark dwarf forge, kill most of them, and emerge with the elven mithril crown bound in taurum.

Session 14: Anutar, Drake, Hublin Mandrill, Tana, Tolliver. Drake met Hublin on caravan back from Great Kingdoms. Finish clearing out dark dwarf forge. Kill men working for the balrog Ascutiel.

Session 15: Hublin, Johnny, Lana, Ashton, Rue. Hobbit children are now vampires; rescue three out of six hobbits who had been sent after the kids. Ashton and Lana die.

Session 16: Tolliver, Sid, Johnny, Lunara. Followed Sid’s maps down to Level 4. Chased by bandits, werelions, and Baron Fant back upstairs. Attacked by hobbit child vampire; Tolliver turned it. Removed corpses from the cages.

Session 17: Gio, Tana, Zaxxon, Illenya, Sid. Find obsidian charm that grants sight of gasoline-slick alternate version of dungeon. Kill werelion.

---

But I’ll often find this useful for campaigns run with dedicated tables, too. For example, this list of previous scores from a Blades in the Dark campaign:

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Score #1: Steal shipment of ekrosi from the Gaddoc Rail Station impound warehouses for the Fog Hounds.

Score #2: Lady Sharrah has them meet with Maw of the Void cultists in the Lost District to receive delivery of the Flayed Skin of Sevraxis in exchange for an Iruvian dusk candle.

Score #3: Raided the Midnight Gold for evidence against the proprietor, Drav. Killed him, released his ex-wife’s hussy-obssessed ghost.

Score #4: Broke Vestine Vale (Roland’s banker) out of Charterhall jail. Mission goes badly pear-shaped; failed to do side job for Gray Cloaks (stealing ethereal railgun). Attracted interest of Roethe.

Score #5: Delivery of ekrosi to Rubbo’s Boys at Kellis Tower goes awry when Grey Coats ambush the couriers. Managed to deliver drugs without Grey Coats identifying them, but with several deaths.

---

These particular campaigns took place years ago, and only the dimmest memories are stirred by these quick references. But at the time, they were just enough of a reminder to refresh our collective memories.

KNOWN FACTS

I love improvising new lore and setting details during a session. It’s fun, it’s rewarding, and it’s a great way to flesh out a world.

Some of the stuff you improvise is just ephemera – it has its moment in the sun and then drifts away. Other stuff will have a clear place in your notes where it can/should be recorded. But sometimes it’s a detail just random enough that it has no place to live, but is still compelling enough to be preserved and reincorporated into the campaign.

For that stuff, there’s the “Known Facts” section of my campaign status document. This is literally just a bullet-pointed list of stuff

(This can also be a repository for stuff that probably could be added to my notes somewhere else, but it’s just convenient to store it here until I’ve accumulated enough material to make updating stuff worthwhile.)

For example, here are the Known Facts from that same Blades in the Dark campaign:

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Rat ‘n Crown. Bar in Crow’s Foot where Nissan and Marlene intimidated drivers from 1^st score.

Kites, a hawker crew in Crow’s Foot. Cyrene spread rumors they were responsible for the 1^st score.

Red Mark Bounty is 6 Coin.

Big Lock vs. Fishing Lock.

Iruvian Dusk Candle. Suppresses the ghost field.

Blood Wine.

Triplicate of the final letter in your name is the “hip” thing kids are doing.

Lady Sharrah. Mansion in Six Towers. A fief-witch of the Dimmer Sisters. Multiple spirits in her body.

Lost District: Echoes. The Big One. Faceless market.

Physickers: Wear bandoliers filled with unguents, etc. Different orders marked by different colors.

• Fungal treatments. Including mushroom cocoons.
• Nightshade ears. A fungal replacement for damaged ears.

Charterhall Jail: 3 tiers (padded cuffs, overnight cells, and the literal shithole in the basement with leaking sewage). Under the domed roof is the armory and interrogation rooms. Cupola on top of the dome.

---

You can see here that, for example, I don’t actually know what “blood wine” is yet. I’ve just mentioned it, and it felt like something that might be drunk in a future scene (or perhaps casks of it stolen for the black market).

In some cases, a Known Fact (or collection of facts) will accumulate enough details and/or additional lore to forge some dedicated place in my notes. For example, perhaps I end up with enough novel foods and drinks that adding a Duskvol Menu to my setting notes will be worthwhile.

In other cases, I’ve had the Known Facts section of my campaign status document grow large enough that it became unwieldy to use. In those cases, I have found that separating it into separate categories can be helpful. For example, here’s a selection of the Known Facts from my Castle Blackmoor campaign:

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GREAT KINGDOM

• King Robert rules from palatial estates on the Inner Sea of the Royal Demesne.
• 750 miles from Blackmoor along the coast to the river of the Royal Demesne.

DWARVES

• Northern Dwarves.
  • Hold of Iron Hand. Vast lowland kingdom carved out by the dwarven king Iron Hand.
• Southern Dwarves. Technically found in the Mountains west of Blackmoor. Tonisborg is apparently home to many of them. Speak with Massachusetts accents.
• Clan Crowns. Clan crowns can’t be replaced, even if lost/destroyed.
• Elder Metal. Electrum adulterated with copper. Various small artifacts passed down form the Elder Dwarves; their purpose now lost.

ELVES

• Elves. Wake up amnesiac, with no memory of how they entered this world.
• Elven Crown. Allows access to Elven spaceship through Elf Stump (and similar sites). Bound in taurum by dark dwarves prevents that function and inflicts amnesia on elves. [Possibly use Metamorphosis Alpha?]

VAMPIRES

• The vampires of the First Coven drank of Baldr’s blood, hoping to gain his eternal youth and vigor. The goddess Hel twisted the gift.
• Vampires can be killed with: Stakes of mistletoe through the heart (Baldr’s weakness), rays of sunlight, fire (like the pyre of the Ringhorn), or by being submerged in the waters of the ocean.

EQUIPMENT

• Dragon’s Milk. Flash-burn oil. 2d6 (take highest) damage; 2d6 (take lowest) duration. Costs 10gp. (Havel has alchemical instructions from the Great Kingdom.)
• Graysilk. Material woven by dark dwarves. Very difficult to see in normal light (2 in 6).
• Giant Weapons: Cost x10 normal weapons. Deal 2d6 damage. (Usable with giant strength effect.)
• Silvered Weapons. Light +25gp, One-Handed or Ammo +75gp, Two-Handed +150gp.
• Wine skins. Have 12 drinks in them.
• Gorget. Same price as helmet. +1 to AC vs. vampires.
• Lodestone: 10 gp.

OTHER

• Language of the Ancients. “Ocun” means forbidden or in error or rejected.
• Deera. Hugh’s sister is missing somewhere in the dungeon.
• Pixie Scars. Glow blue. Barbarians who use captive pixies for scarification.
• Troll Ash: Can be sold for 1d6 gp per dead troll. Used for rejuvenating face cream; possibly snorted as a mood-altering substance (makes you act like a troll?).

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The equipment listed here is a good example of where this material comes from in actual play. Almost all of these items, or details, were the result of players asking specific questions or seeking specific equipment. (With the exception of graysilk, which was something I improvised when describing a random encounter with dark dwarves.)

Similar equipment sections have, in the past, eventually been transferred to the equipment list that players use while creating their characters. (And it’s likely that this one would have been similarly transferred, if COVID-19 hadn’t killed this particular open table.) You could similarly imagine me either improvising enough vocabulary from the Language of the Ancients, or perhaps sitting down one day and deliberately fleshing that material out, that it would make sense to create a dedicated document for it.

Next: Supporting Cast

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The Vladaams maintain a fleet of trade ships which are active throughout the Whitewind Sea. They are notable for their dull grey sails. The current Fleet of the Iron Sails consists of eighteen ships.

Note that all ship captains of the Fleet of Iron Sails are members of the Brotherhood of Yrkyth. (See Part 14: Guild – Surveyor’s Headquarters.)

FLEET OF IRON SAILS

1. Dragon’s Wake – Admiral Vorray
2. Shark’s Tail – Captain Radgha
3. Island’s Barnacle – Captain Sycol
4. Pride of Morrain – Captain Boastia*
5. Gods’ Pearl – Captain Hinmos
6. League of the East – Captain Rilundi
7. Joyful Mermaid – Captain Chever
8. Prince’s Servant – Captain Therech
9. Eye of the East – Captain Morsul*
10. Honest Sailor – Captain Perot
11. Navigator’s Hope – Captain Kuish
12. Rhapsody – Captain Kelhin
13. Sarathyn’s Sail – Captain Croitka*
14. Southern Majesty – Captain Nisshin
15. Southern Jewel – Captain Woryss
16. Teeth’s Trust – Captain Erdrae
17. Thunder’s Wave – Captain Louzab
18. Storm’s Blessing – Captain Ennia

CREW

These ships have a captain, 2d8 x 3 sailors, 1d6-2 Vladaam Guards, and a 25% chance of 1d2 Vladaam Advanced Guards (possibly serving as first mate).

Particularly valuable cargos may have a special platoon consisting of Advanced Guards and a Vladaam Mage.

Sailors: Use commoner stats, MM p. 345. Proficiency in Athletics, Perception, Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water).

Vladaam Guards: Use guard stats, MM p. 347, with AC 17. (Equipment: breastplate, shield, longsword, longbow, arrows x20, potion of healing, Vladaam deot ring.)

Advanced Vladaam Guards: Use knight stats, MM p. 347.

SCHEDULE

At any given time, 1d6-3 of these ships will be docked at Ptolus. (Determine which ships randomly.)

Most of the Fleet engages primarily in honest trade, while only occasionally carrying a cargo of smuggled goods or drugs.

CARGO: Each ship generally carries 2d4 loads of goods. There is a 10% chance that 1d3 loads are Illicit Goods. For all other loads, roll on the Trade Goods table below.

*SLAVE SHIPS: The Pride of Morrain, Eye of the East, and Sarathyn’s Sail are regularly used to transport slaves for the Ennin, collecting them from islands in the Whitewind Sea and delivering them to the Ennin Headquarters (Ptolus, p. 168). These ships have a 50% chance of carrying a cargo of slaves. Otherwise, they’re currently carrying normal goods. (See Part 16: Slave Trade.)

TRADE GOODS

d30	Trade Good
1	Beer
2	Wine
3	Textiles (linen, wool, hides, furs, leathers)
4	Clothing
5	Smoked Meat
6	Dried Fruit
7	Grain (rice, wheat, barley, oats)
8	Salt
9	Exotic Spices (cinnamon, ginger, pepper)
10	Wickerwork
11	Common Metals (iron, copper)
12	Precious Metals (silver, gold)
13	Very Precious Metals (platinum)
14	Perfume
15	Bronzework
16	Quality Stone
17	Glass
18	Incense
19	Dye
20	Tobacco
21	Timber
22	Oil
23	Ivory/Ivoryworks
24	Tools
25	Weapons/Armor
26	Pottery
27	Livestock (pigs, sheep, goats, cows)
28	Furniture
29	Silk
30	Magic Items

ILLICIT GOODS

d6	Illicit Good
1-2	Snakeweed / Abyss Dust (from Freeport, see Part 18: Drug Running)
3	Alchemical Supplies (shipping to random alchemy lab, see Part 7)
4	Magic Items
5	Wildlife (possibly shipping to Korben Trollone)
6	Normal Trade Good (avoiding the tariff)

Go to Part 10: Guild – Dreadwood Grove

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Staff	Location
Vladaam Guard	Area 1
1d3 Hostesses + Bartender	Area 2/3
Peacock (Vladaam Advanced Guard)	Area 3
Cook	Area 4
Vladaam Advanced Guard	Area 6
Vladaam Advanced Guard	Area 9
1d4 Hostesses	Area 10
2 Hostesses	Area 11
Vladaam Mage + Journeyman Alchemist	Area 14 (75%)
Den Master Corellius1	Area 14 (75%)
1d3 Hostesses	Each room on 2nd Floor
2 Vladaam Guards	Patrolling 2nd Floor

¹ Carries key for the safe in Area 14.

Curse Den – Rivergate
Outer Ring Row – E2

AREA 1 – ENTRANCE

Stairs of blue marble lead through doors ornately carved in a yin-yang composition of a dragon and unicorn pursuing each other.

AREA 2 – SALOON

A cluttering of chairs around a handful of low tables. The warm, dark glow of polished mahogany gleaming from every surface.

TO AREA 10: A bouncer stand guard at the archway leading to the short hall past Area 9: The Main Stairs or into Area 10: Snakeweed Lounge.  Passing requires approval and the payment of a 10 gp cover. (Or no approval and a large bribe.)

AREA 3 – BAR

A well-stocked bar, mostly focused on ales.

THE PEACOCK: A pet peacock roosts on the bar here. It spreads its tail in a beautiful display whenever someone tips.

The peacock is actually a Vladaam agent who has been polymorphed. In this form, the agent can eavesdrop surreptitiously on conversations, gleaning potentially valuable intel from bar chatter.

AREA 4 – KITCHEN

A well-stocked kitchen.

AREA 5 – FOOD & LIQUOR STORAGE

Pretty much what it says on the tin.

AREA 6 – REAR ENTRANCE

The rear entrance is primarily used by those interested in the more exclusive upstairs lounges. It also allows access to the curse den “after hours.” It requires a password or a 100 gp fee.

AREA 7 – DRUG STORAGE

REINFORCED DOOR: AC 19, 300 hp, DC 25 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

Neatly organized in small wooden boxes on shelves:

• 15,000 doses of snakeweed
• 5,000 doses of shivvel
• 75 doses of agony

AREA 8 – REAR STAIRS

These stairs go up to Area 12. They’re used by staff and the “rear entrance” clientele (see Area 6).

AREA 9 – MAIN STAIRS

The walls of the main stairs have a marvelous set of Ascent of Dragons murals. (Similar to the “Ascent of Man,” but showing a red dragon progressing from a wyrmling to an ancient dragon atop his treasure horde.) The final image of the treasure horde is on the wall opposite the top of the stairs in Area 17.

DC 18 INTELLIGENCE (INVESTIGATION): There are a pair of small amethysts set into the stairs about halfway up. These are the focal points for a pair of alarm spells that are activated after hours. (Audible alarm. Cast at a higher level in order to increase its volume.)

AREA 10 – THE SNAKEWEED LOUNGE

Filled with snakeweed smoke. A number of magical, ceramic sculptures resembling slowly writhing masses of tentacles also a serve as standing hookahs from which anyone can take a hit of snakeweed smoke.

SKULLRATTLE: The tables in the northern chamber are set up with several low-stake skullrattle games using a variety of young dragon skulls.

BETRANT TABLES: The tables in the southern chamber host low-stakes bertrant games.

SECRET DOOR: DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation). A simple secret door spins around to grant access to the high-stakes bertrant tables. (Any observation of the chamber during business hours will notice hostesses and high-roller coming and going through this door.)

AREA 11 – HIGH-STAKES BERTRANT

These are all high-stakes bertrant games. Minimum bets at most tables are 100 gp, but there’s also a 1,000 gp bet table.

AGONY HOSTESSES: Agony is available for sale in this room. Hostesses carry 1d6 doses each.

AREA 12 – STAIN-GLASSED WINDOW

The window at the top of the rear stairs is a beautiful piece of stained glass depicting a black dragon. A plaque beneath the window reads, “THE WYRM ORACTHON.”

AREA 13 – SHIVVEL LOUNGE

A number of comfortable chairs where shivvel smokers congregate.

AREA 14 – CURSE JEWEL WORKSHOP

DOOR: Oak-veneer over iron core. AC 19, 300 hp, DC 24 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

WINDOW: The window is made of diamond crystal. AC 19, 300 hp.

A desk of dark-stained oak is positioned near the center of the room with a chair angled to look out the window. A workshop for creating magical items is arrayed around the perimeter of the room.

DESK: Includes Report on the Debts of Dilar. (The “CS” referred to in the letter is Celadore Silverwood of Dark Leaf. The Runshallot warehouse is the Vladaam’s slave trade warehouse, see Part 16: Slave Trade.

WORKSHOP: Includes Instructions for Creating Curse Jewels and a set of jeweler’s tools.

• DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana): Provide players with the properties of a curse jewel.

HIDDEN SAFE: Located in the floor. DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation), DC 30 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools).

• 15d10 x 10 platinum pieces, mostly in gold and silver coins.
• IOU from Korben Trollone.

IRON COFFER (10% chance): If present, contains 500 gp, 40,000 sp, and 50,000 cp with instructions to have the Ithildin couriers ship it to the Red Company of Goldsmiths on Gold Street.

AREA 15 – CURSE JEWEL LOUNGE

A richly-accoutered lounge, with rounded divans of red velvet circling a central area raised in a dais. A bulging aumbry with dragon’s claw feet stands against one wall.

AUMBRY: Contains 10 doses of agony, 40 doses of abyss dust, and 4 curse jewels.

SECRET DOOR: DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation).

DAIS: DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) to discover a secret compartment in the dais. Pushing a concealed button causes a panel to slide aside and a curse globe to rise into view.

DM Background: This room is rented by individuals or small groups. Slaves are led in from Area 16 and curse jewels are used on them.

AREA 16 – SLAVE CHAMBERS

This room has a permanent silence spell cast on it. It contains 1d4+1 slaves, usually beautiful young women.

SLAVES: These slaves were originally brought to Ptolus aboard the Sarathyn’s Sail (see Part 9: Fleet of Iron Sails) and then sold through the Ennin slave market (Ptolus, p. 399).

AREA 17 – DRAGONSCALES TABLE

Three tables, each set up with a set of dragonscales tiles.

DRAGONSCALES: All three tables have gold dragonscales sets. A trained eye can price two of the sets at 1,500 gp each. At a casual glance, the third set is just as nice, but is actually slightly cheaper in its craftsmanship (and is only worth 250 gp).

• The cheaper dragonscales set has the word “Yarrow” carved into the edge of its board.
• DM Background: A dragonscales set was stolen from this curse den several months ago. It was replaced with a set from the Oldtown curse den (on Yarrow Street) until a permanent replacement set is procured.

DM Background: This chamber is rarely used, but very exclusive.

AREA 18 – HIGH-STAKES SKULLRATTLE

This table has the skull of an ancient red dragon accoutered for skullrattle. It’s a high-stakes game requiring 500 gp minimum bets. The entire room is under the effects of an antimagic field to prevent magical cheating.

AREA 19 – SNUFF CHAMBER

The mahogany table in the center of this room is equipped with large manacles designed to bind someone firmly to its surface.

AUMBRY: Contains 20 doses of agony, 100 doses of abyss dust, and 12 curse jewels.

TABLE – DC 20 INTELLIGENCE (INVESTIGATION): The table has a hidden compartment where a slave manacled to its surface can be quickly dropped out of sight. (The compartment has a permanent silence spell cast on it.)

DM Background: Groups (or, more rarely, individuals) will employ his room to use curse jewels on a single slave bound to the surface of the table. This often results in the death of the slave and the groups pay extra for their murderous delights. The “ritual” is often accompanied with doses of agony.

This particular snuff chamber is rarely used. Those looking for this sort of “entertainment” are more likely to use the curse den in Oldtown, but the relative privacy and exclusivity attracts a very particular type of client.

HANDOUTS

REPORT ON THE DEBTS OF DILAR

Den Master Corellius—

I understand your concern, but Dilar’s affiliation with the Dark Leaf doesn’t offer him immunity. These debts you’re describing from the Oldtown Curse Den are disturbing and simply cannot be tolerated. In fact, this only contributes to a pattern of irregular behavior which is particularly alarming in light of his duty to provide security at the warehouse on Runshallot.

If you deem it wise, set spies upon him. It’s possible his loyalties have become divided and this matter may give us fair excuse to investigate without raising any possible alarm if other eyes have been placed on him.

In any case, if the matter of the debt is not resolved, you should feel empowered to contact CS directly and resolve it permanently.

                                                                                                Godfred V.

IOU FROM KORBEN TROLLONE

Go to Part 9: Fleet of Iron Sails