Rolemaster Season 1: The Seven Manuscripts of Gurkha
By Jay Young
Posted 2/2/2007
NOTES ON CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION
Since this is the first of a series of campaign synopses, allow me first to break down the theoretical components of a roleplaying game. The largest category of a roleplaying game is the game itself. I call this a system. Thus, Anthony’s game is a system, my old and new Star Wars games are each a system, as are the old and new Rolemaster games. Each of those is a system. Within a roleplaying system you have a set of campaigns which together tell the total story of a system, and typically each span in real time across anywhere from two to six months depending on the campaign’s complexity and the time everyone can devote to roleplaying. I have found through the years that a good system is usually made up of about ten campaigns, can see a Rolemaster character go from 1st to 15th level, and may take ten years or more to fully complete. Moving on, a campaign can be broken down into its component adventures, sometimes called a session or a mission, each adventure being one session or meeting of the roleplaying group. The session is the smallest piece in a roleplaying game. Sometimes, yet another possible component of a game is the mini-campaign. A mini-campaign will typically only be discernable as a separate grouping within a campaign if the larger campaign is organized according to various clearly identifiable stages—characters start off spending several sessions in city X, then travel to kingdom Y, then finally reach the climax of the campaign in city Z. Events at each place can involve their own subplots and cast of characters and can span the course of several adventures. Often, this is how I prefer to break down my campaigns. It is easier to build a complex story if there is a solid organizational foundation for the game. Bearing all of this in mind might give you some insight into how I structure each campaign synopsis. So with that, I present…
The Seven Manuscripts of Gurkha
(1) New Beginnings
Back in the summer of 2001, I started the new Rolemaster system. This system was supposed to follow along the same timeline as the old Rolemaster system, only it took place ten thousand years in the future—however, it strangely appeared as if nothing had changed. There were still swords and castles, Arnor and Gondor, Minis Tirith and Tharbad. Even the beloved Broken Oar Inn was still around. True a few changes had managed to promulgate themselves across Middle Earth, such as the major universities located in Tharbad, Annuminas, and Minis Tirith. But what happened in all that time? Well, that was one of the big mysteries of the new Rolemaster system—one which has yet to fully unravel. Obviously something happened, but glimpses into the foggy past were fleeting and brief. One thing all of the players knew for certain—magic had all but ceased to exist.
The first new Rolemaster campaign opened up with Velic North and Fleance Malcolm playing chess together in Fleance’s art gallery in Minis Tirith. Velic had to return back to the University at Tharbad where he had a job as an artifact-gatherer for the university. In addition, Velic was being mentored by Durrigan, an ancient Elven historian. Velic was also hopelessly in love with Laura, the daughter of a rich nobleman of Tharbad. The roleplaying group traveled to Tharbad during the first session where the campaign truly began. The characters were offered a job as security guards for an upcoming fair that was being held in Tharbad. In need of money, the PCs agreed. On the day of the big gathering, inside a massive tent in the Tharbad town square, a demonstration was held where a man claimed to be able to bring people back to life using the “Elixir of Life”. Standing on a stage in front of a large, skeptical mob of Tharbad citizens, the gruesome demonstration involved the real-life slaughtering of a local criminal. As blood dripped off the stage, the showman stooped next to the body and purported to administer the “Elixer of Life” to the unfortunate corpse. Suddenly, the corpse moved.
A shocked crowd erupted in mass terror, scrambling to exit the tent. The roleplayers struggled to maintain order, but it was no use. Eladin fought past the crowd towards the stage to get a better look. In all of the commotion, a thief assaulted the showman and stole the elixir. When it was all over, all but one of the players had been rounded up and arrested for playing a part in the “witchcraft”. They were tried and convicted by the Tharbad magistrate panel as warlocks and sentenced to death. Luckily, Eladin and Aleron had managed to escape the clutches of the guards and were able to free PCs before their sentence was carried out. Though the players didn’t know it at the time, this display of a lifegiving potion was their first sign that magic was returning to the world.
Afterwards, the group was approached by a disappointed showman who wanted to get his elixir back. He claimed that a wealthy lord named Graelin had stolen the elixir and was keeping it at his castle. Once again, the players agreed to help the poor man, leaving the next morning from the Broken Oar to find the missing potion. Journeying to the castle to the southwest of Tharbad, the adventurers stormed Graelin’s castle in the middle of a midnight downpour. Graelin, along with his henchmen, was the very first “boss” of the new Rolemaster system. He was 10th level. The PCs returned to Tharbad victorious. Along the way, however, Eladin was slain by a large mountain lion that had been stalking him ever since he rolled a 66 on a tracking maneuver. Luckily (and partly because I didn’t want to kill a player on the first adventure—who says GMs aren’t merciful?), Eldarin McConnel, a lone wandering adventurer, stepped in and saved Eladin. Eldarin proved to be of valuable assistance later in the campaign.
This episode led over a couple of sessions to the eventual hiring of the players by Velic’s mentor at the university as an artifact team, or A-Team. As members of an A-Team, it was their job to scour the Arnor countryside for relics untold and bring them back to the university for study. But the group was not without a competitor. Also hired as an A-Team was Velic’s arch-rival, Cephiad. who along with his band of ruffians constantly tried (and succeeded on a few occasions) to outwit the players. Their first assignment was to track down the Seven Manuscripts of Gurkha. The Headmaster of the University at Tharbad was keenly interested in obtaining these manuscripts for his own personal study. Of the seven manuscripts, only the location three were roughly known and a reward was offered to the first A-Team to bring back all seven manuscripts Obliged to have a few extra coins jingling in their pockets, the race was on.
(2) The Feuding Brothers
The first manuscript was believed by the headmaster to be located at a mansion a couple of days’ ride to the northeast of Tharbad. Luckily, the player characters reached the mansion first and stumbled upon a curious situation. Apparently, title to the mansion estate was currently in the midst of a hostile dispute between its two twin male heirs. The lord of the manor, the father of the two twin brothers, upon his deathbed and in the private observance of only the two men, disclosed who was to be his rightful heir. After announcing his successor, the lord of the manor died. When the boys left the room, each claimed to have been named as heir to the estate. Such a dispute could only be resolved through bloody conflict, and the two brothers quickly gathered loyal servants around the manor to fight for them. When the players happened upon the scene, one of the brothers was living in a secret camp in the forest outside the mansion planning his final attack on his twin. The players came to the mansion and were told by the brother currently holding up fort in the mansion that if they fought for him, he would gladly give them the manuscript. Agreeing, the players decided their best option was to seek out the brother hiding in the forest and attack his camp at nightfall. That night, when they crept into his camp, they were able to speak with the brother in charge of the camp. Somehow, this conversation convinced them that he was in fact the rightful heir to the estate, and not the twin held up inside the mansion. The characters quickly switched sides and stormed the mansion the next day. I don’t quite remember the details, but I believe the unfaithful brother who had tried to claim the mansion ended up fleeing in shame. When the rightful heir was reinstated, he let them have the first Manuscript of Gurkha.
(3) Annuminas
The second manuscript was believed to be located in the capital of Arnor—Annuminas. The roleplaying group traveled to the great beautiful city to see the sights, mingle with the crowds, and try to stay one step ahead of the competition. While visiting the city, the characters met with one of the great generals of Arnor, General Bornhauld (possibly believed to be one of the descendants of the mighty Hellgrin Bornhauld). General Bornhauld was quite hospitable, and invited all of the players to join him at a ball in the King’s palace. While at the party, not only did the players get to meet Midesin, King of Arnor, but they ran into a member of the Shadow Syndicate, a notorious secret Arnorian crime ring. It was discovered that the leader of the Shadow Syndicate might have one of the manuscripts. Indeed, it seemed as though he were searching for them as well… After this party, Velic ran into his sweetheart, Lora, who was visiting Annuminas as part of the Arnorian royal choir. Yet another party was scheduled at a mansion just on the outskirts of the city to honor the girls of the royal choir. As it turns out, this mansion was believed to be the location of the second Manuscript of Gurkha.
A day or two later, the group found themselves at this next social gathering. It was on this fateful night that Velic had the misfortune of running into Lora’s father who detested him. Lora’s father had always hoped that she would marry Cephiad instead of Velic. After a brief argument, Fleance somehow managed to step in, and for a reason I still have yet to figure out, challenged Lora’s father to a duel. The two met on the front lawn of the mansion and wielding their rapiers, proceeded to slash at each other. Fleance ended up mortally wounding Lora’s father, which didn’t do much to convince him to let Velic marry his daughter.
Meanwhile, Eladin, Aleron, Velic, and the others were all snooping around the upper levels of the mansion for the second manuscript. Also attending the ball that night was Cephiad. He too was searching for the manuscript. Sometime during the night, Fleance met back up with the group, and one of the players found the manuscript. Just as they had discovered the manuscript, the Shadow Syndicate crept into the open and ambushed the players inside the mansion. While the ball was going on below, the players fought for their lives in the attic of the mansion. Velic and Fleance made a miraculous escape out of a window in the attic (Fleance, if I remember correctly, rolled open-ended on his jumping check, and jumped 30 feet to the ground without getting injured). A horse-drawn open wagon, driven by Loarse and Aleron, was waiting for the characters below. During the flight from the mansion, Cephiad managed to steal the group’s only manuscript and escape. Now left with nothing, the players decided to track down the Shadow Syndicate in the vain hope that they might also find a manuscript of Gurkha. With Cephiad’s group leading them 2 to 0 in the search, it was all they could do.
After having a chance to study the first manuscript that had just been stolen, Velic became convinced that the manuscripts had magical powers, and that when all seven were gathered, some special power would be conveyed. Curious about why the Shadow Syndicate would also seek the manuscripts, it was at this point that there was discussion among the group about why the Headmaster of Tharbad would want to acquire these manuscripts. Some of the players began to question his motives…
(4) The Shadow Syndicate
Empty handed, the roleplayers traveled in search of clues that would lead them to the elusive Shadow Syndicate. This would not be an easy task. They eventually found themselves at a castle far to the southeast of Annuminas at the merging of two rivers. As I recall, the group was under the impression that the remaining manuscripts would be located in large, reputable places. By now everyone had figured out that Gurkha was an ancient Dunedain monk who had journeyed with his kinsmen over the Misty Mountains fleeing the wrath of King Sirion in Minas Tirith one thousand years ago. The manuscripts were supposedly a record of his travels. They were written in an unknown language and in an ink that would only show up in direct moonlight.
The players came to the Castle Rubemon, governed by Lord Amiens Rubemon, a powerful and influential nobleman of the Arnorian royal family. After staying in his castle for a couple of days, once again snooping around to see if they could find clues of the manuscripts or the Shadow Syndicate, the PCs came across a little girl named Arien in the service of Lord Rubemon who was somehow being abused by someone in the castle. She claimed to be able to talk to ghosts and was having strange visions. Although they didn’t know it, Arien was being visited by the ghost of a girl with enchanted abilities who had died in the castle at the hands of the same perpetrator now abusing little Arien. Arien’s father, a poor, overworked serf, was powerless to stop the abuse of his daughter, else he and his family be thrown out into the streets to starve. At some point Arien’s father saw Druiden’s face in the castle. As everyone knew, Druiden was being actively hunted by a Gondorian nobleman. One encounter had already transpired, and Druiden sought to keep his whereabouts a secret. Arien’s father was being sent by Lord Rubemon to deliver a message to the lord of Tharbad, the latter promising that should he complete this duty, he would release Arien from his service. To keep his identity hidden, Druiden intercepted the poor man while he was unmooring his boat on the riverfront. Without mercy and in cold blood, Druiden murdered him. This was our first indication that Druiden is a quite a neutral character.
The next day, while searching the castle, some of the PCs wandered into Lord Rubemon’s chamber where, to their horror, Rubemon and his chamberlain were in the process of raping a young boy. Arien was also present and had been abused. In a rage, the PCs stormed upon the unclothed lord and skewered both him and his chamberlain in a single round. Realizing that consequences would soon follow, the PCs quickly left the room, carrying the children to safety. But the guards were close behind. Rushing through the castle, the group managed to avoid capture and escaped with some valuable information.
Arien’s tips led them north into the forest surrounding the famous Weathertop. It was in the southern part of this forest they met a curious old woman living in a dilapidated shack on the edge of a neglected farm. Knowing the Shadow Syndicate was somewhere in the vicinity, and wishing to lay low, the PCs decided to stay with the hospitable old widow. While friendly, the woman had a strange gift—the ability to see the future. Her visions were revealed randomly by spontaneous digressions during conversation with the PCs. Spending the better part of the fall that year with the old woman, the characters spent their time fixing up her farm. Eladin and Velic repaired her cottage while Druiden used his scythe to harvest her fields. Druiden also spent time reflecting on the murder he committed at Lord Rubemon’s castle (and working off a few of his corruption points in the process).
Eventually, the PC’s decided it was time to depart and continue their search for the manuscripts. They managed to piece together the old woman’s ramblings and determine that their destination was the large swamp surrounding the ancient tower of Amon Sul, or Weathertop. After days of trudging through the dismal waist-deep swamp, fighting alligators, mosquitos and ghostly trees, the players found themselves standing before the ancient tower late at night. Held captive somewhere within the tower were Aleron and other political prisoners of the Shadow Syndicate. Important as these men were, the elusive Manuscripts of Gurkha took priority (or at least that was the impression I got at the time).
Only two entrances could be seen. The first, most obviously was the front door located at ground level. This was guarded by two cloaked members of the Shadow Syndicate. The other entrance was at the top of the tower, some fifty or sixty feet high. The closest tree branches were a good ten foot horizontal leap and were going to require a stiff jumping check. So, the plan was simply to climb the nearest tree, walk across the closest tree branch, jump over to the top of the tower, dispatch the archers on top, and then proceed within.
All but the best laid plans of mice and men. This was one of the most memorable adventures of the first campaign. Things immediately began to go wrong and required some fancy footwork by the PCs to keep from falling apart. First, while crawling up towards the tower, Druiden came crept up on a Shadow Syndicate scout who was likewise crawling through the undergrowth. The scout was about to give away his position when they both noticed a poisonous snake lying menacingly between the two of them. Druiden quickly got things under control and killed the snake and the scout in a single round.
The players eventually made it inside the tower, down a sort of medieval elevator shaft to the bowels of the ancient structure. At the bottom, they found a guarded dungeon. After fighting scouts outside the tower, archers on the roof, and the guards in the dungeon, the each of the players had one foot in the grave. It is worth noting, here, that at some point, possibly before entering the dungeon, the characters were able to witness a conversation between the leader of the Shadow Syndicate, and a cloaked figure who seemed to be agreeing to accomplish some deed in the far north. When the players managed to defeat the last of the guards at the bottom of the tower, they realized that they could use the elevator shaft to escape back to the top. Naturally, nobody gave much thought to how they were going to escape from the roof, and for a moment I feared that this might turn into a holocaust session.
My fears amounted to nothing, however, as the characters bravely fought there way to the top of the tower—Druiden in the meantime managing to get his scythe snapped in two pieces. Once at the top, the only way off the roof seemed to be the tree that they climbed up originally. Aleron, beaten and malnourished from his captivity, failed is jumping check and nearly killed himself from the fall. In the end, the players managed to free a couple of prisoners, retrieve two of the missing manuscripts, and pick up a clue to the whereabouts of the last manuscript—the tomb of Gurkha himself.
(5) Cabin Fever: Terror in the Mansion
The last manuscript was to be found in an obscure mansion owned by a rich lord in the farthest northern reaches of Arnor. The mansion was located just south of the mountains of Angmar. During this final segment of the campaign I decided to provide some foreshadowing for a campaign that would be two or three years in coming. This was also a very successful and interesting campaign segment, and perhaps my favorite in the campaign.
It was in the dead of winter by the time the players reached the Mansion Gustave. The blizzard while approaching the mansion raged so mercilessly that were it not for the help of Velic and his “True North” senses, the characters may have froze. Regardless, the mansion the players found was surprisingly full of people, hospitable, and best of all, warm. They quickly discovered from Lord Gustave that the mansion was playing host to an important diplomatic meeting that was taking place between the Royal Crown of Arnor and several tribes located throughout the eastern Arnorian region of Rhudaur. The barbarian woodsmen of these tribes were exceedingly hostile towards the King of Arnor and were not excited about the prospects of future trade. The principle representative of the Crown was supposed to be a well-respected Patriarch (one of seven noblemen directly beneath the King of Arnor). Unfortunately, the Patriarch and his army of soldiers were already a week late. Some wondered if the blizzard had not already taken its toll…
In the vacuum left in the absence of the patriarch, the negotiations took a sour turn—someone had murdered one of the barbarian representatives. Infuriated, the barbarians threatened war, and the players (Eladin most notably) found themselves doing some fast talking at the negotiation table to keep the Arnorians from being slaughtered—after all, they were outnumbered 2 to 1. It was not long before one of the Arnorian noblemen turned up dead. The players realized that whatever they were going to do at this mansion, they needed to do it fast before these peace talks turned into a gruesome bloodbath.
Every room of the mansion was filled with either barbarian woodsmen or Arnorian noblemen with a stake in the negotiations, which made it extremely difficult to do any searching for the last manuscript. For some reason, the players decided to search the bedroom of the most powerful and respected barbarian warlord, probably thinking he had something to do with the murders, or with the missing manuscript. While inside his bedchamber, however, they discovered the warlord had been murdered just minutes before they entered the room. In fact, the warlord’s blood was still seeping across the sheets when they found him. Naturally, a barbarian entered the room during all of this, forcing the PCs to act fast. They flung open the window and managed to escape onto the roof out in the dark snowy night.
The patriarch and his men were now three weeks overdue and were certain to have been lost in the blizzard. The barbarians and the Arnorians were on the verge of killing each other. In fact, some fights had already broken out. The PCs also ran into a slippery adversary for the second time—a 9th level ninja that had previously given Eladin and Fleance a run for their money, although given a few more rounds, Merk may have been able to take care of the ninja. At that point, however, things looked extremely bad.
Eventually, the players decided to search the outlying structures of the mansion for clues to the manuscript. Out back, there was a second living quarter and a large grain silo. While walking towards the living quarters, the characters could see the mountains of Angmar lying ominously behind the mansion. Flashing behind the mountains, high up in the clouds seemed to be a red lightning that made the PCs scratch their heads. Although of course no one could have realized it, this was the first sign the players had that all was about to break asunder in the world. Indeed, the red lightning the players saw that night was actually the presence of Shamsuk, the evil cleric that captured Theangel nearly three campaigns later.
A search of the grain silo turned up a secret passageway in the floor. Following the passage deep underground, the players were confronted by a man whom they had seen before—the cloaked figure speaking with the leader of the Shadow Syndicate at Amon Sul. He shouted to the characters that he was a great mage and was on the verge of a historic discovery, one that would change the world (yes, it was a monologue). The players prepared for the final duel of the campaign, the climax that had been building for months. These climactic battles are very few and are often deadly if not engaged carefully. As the mage raised his hands to cast a spell, the players rushed in and attacked. Upon scoring the first critical, the PCs found out that this guy was only third level. Years of roleplaying experience told them the players that he should be at least 15th, if not 20th level. I made this final adversary third level for a few reasons. First, I did it because I wanted to try to subtly change my GM-ing style slightly and be a bit more unpredictable. Like an old married couple, the players have probably not noticed much of a change in the past few years, but there have been a few differences, this instance marking one of them. Second, I also wanted to throw in a low-level mage to send the impression that magic was returning to the world—but not yet in full force. Third, I made the mage third level because it was my intent that the mage actually be a low-level apprentice of the Headmaster of Tharbad, working to maintain the appearance that the Headmaster was not involved. Naturally, had the mage been 20th level, the PCs would instantly come to the conclusion that this mage was the true evil that they were fighting against, and his death would signal final victory. But if he was only third level, then he couldn’t have been the true evil, and if he wasn’t the true evil, then who was…?
Of course, these were questions I intentionally wanted to stir up at the end of the campaign. This was an important adventure hook that would weave in elements of future campaigns, such as Eladin’s famous encounter in the third campaign with the Headmaster of Tharbad in the Headmaster’s carriage while on the road outside of Bree which silenced all questions about the nature of the strange Headmaster (for those outside of our circle, the Headmaster was a 50th level evil mentalist, and still lives to this day).
In the end, the players plowed over the mage like grass and soon found themselves standing in the tomb of the great Gurkha himself. Inside, of course, they found the manuscript, and a couple of weak magic items. Naturally, the Patriarch and his army showed up almost immediately thereafter, not in fact, lost in the blizzard. A quick resolution found the players back at the University at Tharbad with the manuscripts assembled for the Headmaster and off on their next adventure…
Season 1 Quest Map
