The Beginning

The Hardest Part

So begins the journey of the New DM, down the rabbit hole of building out his own campaign. This first entry will merely be a self thought process and showcase some of the ACKS II Judges Journal recommendations as I go through the process of learning how to setup a game myself, being a player for only about 4 years. This may be a strange process as I run along the gamut of reasonings from my own views on how a DM ought act (based on some admittedly varied experiences with Dungeon Masters run things), how that changes as I progress and hopefully within the coming weeks, as I actually make contact with players. So bear with the scattershot for now, things will improve as we go along.

The Where

So to begin, the Where, which given the breadth of options is a bit of a intimidating question. I answered by going for something both familiar and new. For this adventure in DMing I have chosen to zoom in from the Auran Empire Primer to the Province of Krysea. This lets me forgo the first 4 steps of the ACKS II Judges Journal, using the already extant timelines, places and much of the themes inherent such as the fall from the great heights of the Empire in its Prime. Very convenient and easy to use.

In its entirety Krysea encompasses a 24 x 12 hex area of 24 mile hexes or about 143,683 square miles. This is three times that advised of the Judges Journal but I have some good reasons for this I will detail this in the Why section out of every possible region in the Auran Empire Setting. But for now let me explain the area.

Krysea is the Southeast province from the great city of Aura, a stark rugged country known for its stout archers and mercenaries. Now part of the Empire, Krysea resisted Auran dominance for centuries and the remnants of the old border forts of the occupation still dot the landscape. This history began with being inducted into the former Auran League, the Pre-Imperial predecessor of the Auran Empire, after relief first from the Zaharan Sorcerer Kings and then induction after liberation from a Beastman Warlord. This second liberation took 24 years to do after the Warlord himself was killed but it did gain the burgeoning empire Krysea and Nicea to the west. All was not well however and for centuries there was a remnant of Separatism until the 3rd Rebellion was put down brutally enough to end the idea of a independent Krysea for good.

Aside from its history, Krysea has a interesting variety of its handful of terrain types. On the Eastern side of the Middle Range, the Drakonir Mountains, the rain breaks upon the eastern side, giving a wet and vibrant environment from the valleys all the way up to the mountains. The Western side meanwhile being fairly dry, though better connected with the more urban areas of the empire via shorter distance to the seas, as well as a relatively short trade route to Nicea. The central valley meanwhile, is well connected to the absolute center of Civilization via the Petrivor river from the base of the Meniri mountains all the way to Ithos in Tirenea, a short trip from Aura itself. This area is also well fed with water, trade and material as the mountains on both sides feature both Auran and Dwarven held passes, mines, quarries and forests. In short, the Central valley is a booming and bustling area of tightly integrated urban and rural holdings.

The Why

Now, with the Where settled, the Why requires a bit of explanation as well as Krysea is not especially well suited as compared to the Borderlands to the ACKS II Judges Journal Process, other provinces or even compared to contemporaries in other game settings. But with all decisions there are reasons, and to detail them out it would be best to bring in one of the maps I have for things thus far. This is an early version that has since been updated extensively but I will show more maps in the next few articles.

Credit to Mender

As seen in the 24 Mile Hex Map, Krysea actually splits very nicely into 3 regions recommended by the Judges Journal and each region could be a campaign on its own. We’re ambitiously going for the entirety of Krysea overall but that point is good to have known for how to package all the work done later.

It is a very large region, and as compared to more popular regions of this setting such as Rorn, Opelenea and Kemesh, Krysea is relatively unassuming for evoking a style of play many seek out. It does not have evocative Arthurian allure of Rorn where some others have built systems of Lords and Ladies with great formations of plated knights. It is not the Greco-Egyptian atmosphere of Kemesh or Opelenea, or even further flung lands of the Auran Empire setting.

However since the setting was established there is a trope present in Krysea, and I see a good use of it for my favorite thing in ACKS, Wargaming. The trope I speak of is the Decline of the Dwarves, part of the fictional races DNA ever since Tolkien. Krysea making up a good chunk of the Meniri and the Drakonir Mountains there is plenty of room for dozens of scattered dwarven holds, redoubts and fortresses.

Of course those that know me, I find great fun as playing dwarves and have never been fully satisfied by any games I’ve played doing justice to the possibilities presented by these short stout folk. Combine this together, and Krysea is perfectly suited for what I would want to play and as a first time DM that seems the absolute best thing out of everything I could do. Why else would I want to run a game if not make what I consider the most fun setup to play in?

With this basic overview finish, I’ll start detailing out some more in coming articles, hope you enjoy the process along with me.