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PURPOSE
Ethshar is a weekly 1st/2nd Edition AD&D game and campaign that is held every
Saturday, 3pm-6pm EST (noon-3pm PST) using OpenRPG. Show up every week, once
a month or once in a blue moon: each session is a short but self-contained
adventure with treasure and experience points at the end. Weekly players will
enjoy a series of adventures with many role-playing opportunities, linked by a
larger campaign storyline, recurring NPCs and a unique campaign culture.
I usually DM. However, I do invite guest DMs from time to time (either using their own worlds or mine). Please let me know if you are interested in DMing. Since I can DM, the game is held each weekend, no matter what. Fortunately for me, a core of four players has consistently shown up since April 2001, making a lively and varied game every weekend.
I open the room at 2:30pm EST so players can test out their OpenRPG installation, chat and pick a pre-rolled character (if they don't have their own). The game officially starts at 3:00pm EST (on the dot). From 3:00pm to 6:00pm EST, I run the adventure. By 6:00pm EST, the party is back "in town", splitting treasure and experience points. The session ends officially at 6:00pm EST and most people leave. Later, during the week, campaign players discuss and role-play using the Yahoo! message board.
Three hours is a short D&D adventure by any standard. To meet this aggressive schedule, I speed the game along by using simplified rules, by pushing past mundane scenes (rather than role-playing them) and by guessing logical follow-up actions from your character's first action. But don't think that I skimp on description or role-playing to make the game move quickly. During combat, I provide a blow-by-blow description that (hopefully) makes the battle both cinematic and realistic. Similarly, NPCs show their quirks and opinions with a well-chosen sentence or two. Overall, I try to mix player actions, descriptive DMing and plot progression into a well-balanced whole. The effect is an action-packed session without sacrificing too much realism and role-playing. At least, I hope that is the effect.
I really recommend that you create your own character and bring him to the game. After you have created a PC, you will not be allowed to change PCs. If you do not bring a PC, you will have to choose one of my pre-made characters. Game time is for playing, not for rolling up characters. If you bring your own character, you can always play him as-is for the first session. If there is a problem with super-high ability scores or too many magic items, we will negotiate changes over e-mail before your second session.
Click here to see a transcript of a typical Ethshar game.
If you have questions before joining, send me an email.
If you want to join right away, sign up for the Ethshar Yahoo! message board and I'll send you the password.
ABOUT USING OPENRPG
To play, you will need to download and install the free OpenRPG program from
here. Read the instructions because you
may need to download the Python language and the wxPython libraries to get
OpenRPG to work.
We are now using OpenRPG 1.4.1.
If you like, download
an example OpenRPG .XML character sheet file or
the same thing in a .ZIP file.
ABOUT THE WORLD OF ETHSHAR
This section is optional. It is supplemental reading for campaign players and
interested one-shot players.
Click here to see the whole explanation about whether my game is one-shot or a campaign.
Click here for an introduction to the Holy Kingdom of Ethshar, the Northern Empire, shatra, Fallwell's Keep, the Green Dragon Inn and The Maze.
Click here to see an area map of the Far Western Domain of the Holy Kingdom of Ethshar and Skullport. (black & white version)
Click here to see a city map of Fallwell's Keep, in the Far Western Domain of the Holy Kingdom of Ethshar. (black & white version)
I also have House Rules (er, Guidelines), DM's Recommendations to New Players, Kits and Templates by Luther Hex, Random Spells by Zvi Berlin, Cash, DM's Commentary, Donblas, Arioch and Xiombarg and Miscellaneous D&D Links.
CONTACT
Send me some email to learn
more.
This page was last updated on 4/26/2002.
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