Second campaign: swindlers and thieves in Lankhmar

 "You know, it's so long since I RPGed - I'd like to play again." How can I say no to that, especially coming from one of the witnesses to our marriage? And so I started thinking about a three player campaign in addition to my Belswick run (the Bronze & Sand stuff petered out over summer, I'm afraid).

Rereading Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories gave me inspiration for a rogue campaign set in the decadent and criminal city of Lankhmar. We held session 0 and 1 this weekend, and I think it's going to be good fun. (By which I mean my wife and our two best friends bullshitting me and my NPCs every step of the way. Awesome!) First here's a setting overview, next up is a brief session log.

SETTING

Lankhmar is the center of civilization on the world of Nehwon - or the largest cesspool on its face, depending on who you ask.

The city grows fat on the grain trade across the river Hlal and the Inner Sea. Its many workshops fill the air with smoke and smog - rare is the night when one can see the stars. There is a guild for almost everything; pay an entry fee and monthly dues, and you too can set up a shop. The Guilds of Thieves, Slayers and Assassins especially do not take kindly to freelancers.

The city of half a million is ruled by the pleasure-seeking Overlord Glipkerio and his council of nobles and advisors. Lankhmar is equally corrupt, decadent and squalid. Luxuriate in the Grand Library or the Great Play House, then turn a corner and slum it in the Marshlight Theatre or opium den. Every appetite can be stilled here.

Plotting nobles and sly merchants rub shoulders with nefarious mages, weary actors, feuding guildsmen, ecstatic cults and conniving thieves. Among the masses one may even see travelers from the Eight Cities, the Cold North, buried Quarmall, decadent Evanmaransee and the Mingol Steppes. Visit the Plaza of Dark Delights after dark to mingle with dubious sages and peddlers of arcana; deal with the underworld in Pleasure Park, then stroll along the Hlal and find your favorite temple on the Street of the Gods to wash away your sins. Lankhmar awaits.

Home-made map of Lankhmar, based on the city map in AD&D 2137 Lankhmar: City of Adventure
Locations from that book, the DCC line of Lankhmar adventures, and a few from the blogosphere, like Vlinderkaai's (Semper)Vivarium

STORIES

I will be using the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser as inspiration, as well as the DCC adventures in Lankhmar and some reskinned adventures from OSR blogs.

SYSTEM AND HOUSERULES

5th edition D&D. Almost no house rules, which is a novelty. Here are the most important tweaks to vanilla D&D and to Lankhmar:

• D&D: spells above 3rd level are incredibly hard to find; beyond that level, casters don't gain spells automatically as the bleeding edge of the art is jealously guarded by isolated practitioners. Join the Sorceror's guild, or seek the patronage of shrouded mages.
• no focus on traditional alignment. I'm using word-pairs as described above.
• Lankhmar: the original books feature mostly humans and 1-2 offshoot races like the invisible people of Mount Stardock or the Ghouls with their translucent flesh. I'll allow all D&D races - Lankhmar is a center of the world, and even rare races have a chance of popping up here.

ALIGNMENT

I can't remember who I stole this from, but I've swapped out aligment with a set of 5 word pairs; to be used as descriptors, not as straightjackets. For session zero, the players just picked the one word that resonated with them the most. The Half-Orc druid is SUPERSTITIOUS, the Gnome warlock is CAREFREE, and the Half-Drow rogue is TOLERANT.

• responsible - carefree
• superstitious - skeptical
• romantic - cynic
• traditional - radical
• tolerant - intolerant

STARTING TROPHY

Each character got to roll at the start of the session to get a special item. These aren't directly useful, but may drive stories further down the road. From Against the Wicked City's 20 things your trickster might have 'acquired' and not be quite sure what to do with.

I'm undecided as to whether I'll incorporate the famous two rogues in the campaign. Since none of the players have read the stories (I think), I might just leave them out or have them as off-screen NPCs. Image by Mike Mignola