One Thousand and One Nights and One Night
a role-playing game campaign design ’zine
“Get down! Shut up!”
October 6th
was a sad day for us.
Our cat Dan died. He was 13 years
old and a long-haired orange tabby.
I liked to call him Lt. Dan (after
Forest Gump). He was definitely
my gf’s cat and sweet to her, and as
often filled with quite the spleen
towards everyone else, which he
vented in his box (usually). But he
was a good cat, nonetheless. He
snuggled up next to me on some
occasions, including when I was writing this
’zine. He will be greatly missed even though he
often thought of me as a monkey-boy (at least
by his frequent “whatever” expression).
Lt. Dan (June 1994 – October 6, 2007) sitting
on his buttercup bed while I write one of the
September issues of 1001+1 Nights.
New D20 Campaign Part 2 of 2:
The Thin Corvis Line
Last issue I covered some info
on the Corvis Watch. Here’s
some more as well as the nuts
and bolts of the game. I realize
that this info may be contrary
to canon material of the Watch
as presented in the Witchfire
Trilogy (Privateer Press) but
this is how I want to run it!
(continued on Second Column)
Content © Wooden Leg Named Smith Productions 2007
Website: 1001nightsand1night.110mb.com
Vol.: 1, Issue: 15, October 15, 2007
Red-Headed Stepchild
I’ve decided that the Watch and the regular
Army are not friends. The Cygnar Army in
Corvis only allows humans to join, while the
Watch allows any and all races and professions
to join, and the Army regularly sweeps through
the Watch’s rank–and–file and “appropriates”
any likely (experienced) watchman into the
Army (which will be important later for the
PCs). As a result of this press-ganging, there is
a lot of animosity between the two. The Watch
and the Army each have their own taverns that
they frequent and it is common to have brawls
if ever the ‘twain shall meet.
Rules, Rules, Rules
Since this is going to be
a D20 (WotC) game, I
decided to have level 3
as the maximum a PC
can attain. I normally
have a group of about
4-5 players, which fits
well with the party as
members in a patrol
squad. Having them at
a variety of experience
levels supports the genre conventions that I
want. The initial squad would have two to three
1st level PCs (0–50 XP), one 2nd level PC (1200–
1500 XP) and one 2nd level PC (2500–2700 XP)
as the most senior man on the squad. I plan to
have any PC over 3rd level “moved on,” either
by transferring to another watch station or
inducted into the Army or some other reason.
This creates the troupe–style I want. A young
watch soldier turns into the grizzled veteran as
the game progresses and each player will get to
run 2-3 characters over the course of the game,
not counting any fatalities that may occur. And,
yes, there are going to be fatalities. It fits the
tone I want and the players will be aware of it. I
believe that I can get my group to buy into this
set up. I also plan to have some of the veterans
return for an all-stars cast show when Corvis
fights against the deposed king Raelthorn from
(continued on Page 2, First Column)
published in association with the Corvis Babbage Cliological Society
’zine art is either open source or through fair use of copyrighted works
One Thousand and One Nights and One Night
a role-playing game campaign design ’zine Vol.: 1, Issue: 15, October 15, 2007
New Design: D20 Campaign, Part
2 of 2 (cont.)
The Legion of Lost Souls (Privateer Press).
Character is what you do when …
The Watch allows anyone to join (within certain
limits), so the players will be able to make any
PC they want. I am going to let each PC make a
gestalt character at first level, so that they can
have some range in
their abilities, but
only for first level.
Each following level
will not be gestalt.
Most members of
the Watch will be
Fighters, Rangers and Clerics, of course, but
Rogues, Bards and Mages can also be a good
choice. Since Sorcerers are hunted in this
setting, an undercover Sorcerer would be an
interesting play, and knowing how law
enforcement works would be invaluable when
they eventually get denounced! I want the PCs
to be average, not super-heroic, so I’ve set the
minimum/maximum attributes for each PC in
Strength, Constitution and Dexterity at 10/14
(9+d5 for rolls), while the rest are 9/14 (8+d6).
These guys aren’t adventurers, they’re average
Joes with a job to do that have adventures
thrust upon them. Maximum hit points at first
level, as normal. Each PC will also get the City
Watch Feat, which is a combination of feats
including simple weapon proficiency (spear,
club, dagger, crossbow), martial weapon
proficiency (sword, axe, light shield, bow),
exotic weapon proficiency (small arms), light
and medium armor proficiency, and shield
proficiency, and Profession (city watch) as a
class skill with 4 points in it. If the PC already
has these abilities, then they get another free
feat. I’m going to use the Cantrip rules I
developed in Issue #5, so each PC also gets the
Cantrip Dabbler Feat. It worked well in the last
game I ran and my players enjoyed it. It also
gives the average watchman a lot of useful
minor magic spells at low level.
Content © Wooden Leg Named Smith Productions 2007
Website: 1001nightsand1night.110mb.com
Page 2
Standard Gear
The Watch issues each PC with three uniforms,
two pairs of sturdy boots, one suit of leather
armor, a helmet, a light shield, a spear, a baton
(club), a dagger, a short sword (long sword for
officers and NCOs), and a crossbow. Firearms
are only issued to active duty watchmen. Each
watchman also has a crescent-shaped bronze
“badge” inscribed with the symbols of Corvis to
wear on duty. All watch equipment is well
marked as City of Corvis property, so PCs who
try to sell their issued equipment won’t have an
easy time of it. Each watchman is responsible
for the storage and upkeep of his equipment as
well, even if he doesn’t use it (or can’t because
of class restrictions), and must return it all if or
when they muster out. When in parade all
watchmen must wear regulation equipment
including armor (even for mages), but while on
standard patrol the minimum required is a
uniform, badge and spear, baton (club) and
dagger. Personal touches to uniforms are very
much frowned upon but a chain shirt is allowed
(paid for by the PC, of course). Remember, the
Watch is trying to be taken seriously, so they
behave seriously, often to extremes.
Patrol Layout
Most patrols contain 4–5 watchmen. The most
experienced is the Watch Leader (usually the
highest level PC). One member who carries the
lantern at night is called the Lantern Man. One
member is the Musketeer. He is issued a
musket and 5 shots and he has to account for
each shot fired. Pre-loading the musket is
against the rules because powder is expensive.
The rest of the members are Watchmen.
Adventures
I plan to use a lot of standard cop–show tropes:
an accused PC episode, street gang episode, an
Assault on Pricinct 13 (Rogue Pictures)
episode, the patrol is forced to wear dress blues
(including armor) and a crime occurs – what’s
the mage to do? episode. I also will introduce
organized crime and colorful street NPCs, too.
published in association with the Corvis Babbage Cliological Society
’zine art is either open source or through fair use of copyrighted works