The Start of Trouble in Nibenay

Qajari relief in Tang-e Savashi: Photo contributed to Wikipedia by Zereshk.Maybe it was Chris Sims's game at Gen Con. Or perhaps the fact the campaign setting has the right mix of lore to mystery for me. Then again it could be the fact my players asked when they could revisit Dark Sun (I ran Chris Tulach's Free RPG Day adventure for them). Regardless of the reason, I'm sold and am preparing a Dark Sun mini-campaign for when Newhamshire ends.

I have to admit I'm a little intimidated. True, I'm not a complete newbie at this. I created my own campaign world last year, or at least a rather loose framework of a world with lots of borrowed material to fill it in. It was so easy then as I really didn't know any better. My introduction to DMing was a lot like unceremoniously dumping me in the middle of the lake and telling me to swim to shore. I cared a lot less about proper form and stroke and a lot more about keeping my head above water and moving forward.

But now I know so much more. I won't start this adventure in a tavern and I won't make my players go through hoops to get their first quest. Oh, and I should probably add more quests instead of taking the lazy way out and giving them just one at a time.

My plan is to get them involved early, filling in the loose framework given in the Dark Sun book with the types of characters and stories they want to explore. I want to facilitate them telling the stories, with me doing the hard work of tying it all together, filling in the adversary stats, etc.

To help with this, I'm working on a series of vignettes. I'd really prefer to set the campaign in the city of Nibenay, a city ruled by a reclusive sorcerer-king and his Templar-wives and a decadent noble class who owns the water. So far I have three vague ideas for the city, each highlighting a different aspect of what I imagine life must be like there.

• A newly captured slave who won't submit to her new "masters" after being sold in the slave market. Such a situation presents a bit of an issue for a city whose populace "expect[s] decorum in all things." For the lower classes, this means knowing one's place and for those in the higher classes it means remaining cool and indifferent.

  Someone who refuses to accept this, particularly in public, brings these issues to the forefront. How does this play out? Are the buyers there or did they send agents to perform the sale? Is she made to submit in public or do they drug her to create less of a scene? What do the PCs do when they see this? How do they feel about their actions or inactions?

• The official government, in the form of the Templars, is run by women. The sorcerer-king Nibenay is a recluse, although Kalak's assassination concerns him a bit. The Nibenese nobility, the descendants of the once powerful warlord caste, are very wealthy and decadent. From the little information available in the book, it feels like the noble families are run by men. It's also likely that the fortunes do not get divided equally amongst all children, or else the wealth would be too wide spread.

  If we go by these assumptions, what of the younger male children of the nobles? The inheritance goes to their older brothers and only their sisters have the chance of becoming Templars. Yet they probably have some wealth and prestige along with a burning desire to stay in the upper echelon of society.

• The tension between the nobles and Templars is obvious, but I wonder about the other people of the city. They live in a very wealthy city, one where the tales of the past surround them, carved into the walls of the buildings instead of squirreled away in books. Some are bound to be tired of seeing their friends and relatives used as playthings of the rich nobles while the Templar-wives, the keepers of order, do little more than watch or perhaps avert their eyes.

  One way to change this reality is to start secret schools hidden among the winding, narrow streets. Teach the children the evils of excess and give them basic skills to improve their situation. Find the children who have natural talents, whether psionic or arcane, and help them grow and learn or point them in the direction where they can get that assistance. Perhaps there is a Templar or two who is willing to sneak them some books from the royal compound. The schools could be part of the Veiled Alliance or not. They could work passively through education or decide to take a more active role bringing down the nobility.

Hopefully this start will encourage my players to think about what sorts of characters they want to play and help them build a connection to the city. I can't wait to start exploring.