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Downtime in Dreamhaven Part 1

For the first time in three years, I found myself in the gratifying position of writing content for the setting of issue 1 of Planar Compass: the island of Dreamhaven. Much time has passed since Sarah and I wrote those first pages of the zine (then titled Dreamhaven). Much has happened in the last three years to all of us. My tastes have changed, and my experience is trifold. It's in this state that I have recently thought again of the island of Dreamhaven more and more. I am still in love with that original idea, the spark of inspiration that Sarah and I had when creating it. But what could we do now with our skills, knowledge, and connections? This is the tempting trap that so many creators have found themselves lured into in the past. It rarely turns out well for them. And so, when I found myself with the opportunity to run Planar Compass for a new group of people, all of which were new to Old-School gaming, my mind raced with possibilities for Dreamhaven. THE SETUP The campaign started with three friends I had been promising to run D&D for several months now. My friend Magnus had asked me to run Planar Compass for him for almost a year. I insisted that he have a proper medieval fantasy dungeon experience before we tackle the cosmic acid science fantasy of Planar Compass. He had never played a TTRPG before and I wanted for him to have a baseline. Finally, with the new year, I committed to running a game for him and two other friends. With the hopes of it perhaps one day turning into a Planar Compass campaign, I chose Old-School Essentials [https://necroticgnome.com/collections/rules] as the system. I've been wishing to run a Dolmenwood campaign for several years now. I leapt at the opportunity and chose Winter's Daughter [https://necroticgnome.com/products/dolmenwood-winters-daughter?_pos=1&_psq=winters&_ss=e&_v=1.0] as the starting adventure. Magnus rolled up a Cleric. Our two other friends, Eldric and Citra rolled up a Magic-user and Fighter, respectively. They made it through the dungeon with only two deaths and had a proper Necrotic Gnome experience. By the end I found myself with an even greater itch to run Planar Compass and asked the three if they would be interested in segueing into it. They agreed and so we made our preparations to head to the island of Dreamhaven. THE PREP I asked the three what they would like to pursue when they were in town. Eldric wanted to learn new spells and create magic scrolls. Citra wanted to learn blacksmithing. And Magnus wanted to gain an astral ship and start a business. Taking these answers, I worked with Ben Lawrence's Downtime in Zyan [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/417937/Downtime-in-Zyan] to create three areas of play in which they could pursue these goals. For Magnus I would use the section on Building an Institution. For Citra I would use Learning a Skill. Eldric would require a little more on my part (more on that later). I then wrote up a quick little notebook that I could print out and use at the table to run the island. I put in random NPCs, a spot to record merchants, a spot to record mercenaries and an example, and a spot to record quest givers and an example. Of note, the quest giver would reward the players with the Conjure Familiar Spirit spell which I have been working on for issue 4. Always important to find organic ways of play-testing recent work where possible. GETTING TO DREAMHAVEN I printed out spreads of the navigation hexes from issue 2, one for each player. Eldric received Travel and Encounters. Citra received Weather. And Magnus received Nearby Planes. I determined it would take four apertures of sailing to get to Dreamhaven. All three rolled for the first aperture of astral sailing. Eldric rolled a Benign Encounter. Citra rolled Cloudy with a Fresh Breeze. Magnus rolled the Plane of Elemental Fire for Nearby Plane. They passed quietly by a barren volcanic island. On the shores of the island several canoes were moored. Gathering flames from pits of fire, a group of Neanderthal worked with focus. For the second aperture, Eldric rolled Trouble on Board, Citra rolled a gentle breeze with light rain, and Magnus rolled the Plane of Fire. Burning embers and ash fell from the dark clouds above. Beneath, the psychic waves the deep nebulas burned a violent orange. The party and crew dashed around the ship to put out the micro fires that burst forth where the embers landed. On the third aperture Eldric rolled a distant Dangerous Encounter, Citra rolled a Fresh Breeze, and Magnus rolled the Plane of Elemental Fire. The crew gathered round to observe the bizarre figure in the distance. Soaring across the astral sea, an Efreeti passed the ship quietly. They obviously chose not to draw attention to themselves. Finally, the fourth aperture arrived, and the three got to work again. Magnus rolled the Astral Sea. Eldric rolled a nearby Kear encounter. Citra rolled a psychic storm. It was the holy trinity of party killers. Dark clouds rolled in as rainbow lightning streaked the sky. Spirit winds slammed the ship, and all aboard felt waves of memories, emotions, and ideas flow over them. Suddenly, the water beside the ship exploded in a cacophony of madness as a gargantuan leviathan worm burst out of the water and arced over the vessel. It was the Kear Imago, the ship eater. Inside it crawled the masses of Kear Pupae ready to devour any intelligent beings in their path. If the Kear Imago were to swallow the ship, it would mean Game Over given that the party was all level 2 and 3. It was time to see how they faired with the psychic storm. If it left the party paralyzed for even just 1 round, they would be totally helpless to the Imago. I had Citra roll a d20 to determine the strength of the storm. He rolled a 20. All aboard must save vs paralysis or be paralyzed for 4d4 TURNS (what was I thinking when I wrote that?). Somehow luck prevailed, and all three passed their saves. Disaster averted so far. The gale winds slammed the ship sending it hurtling across the surface of the astral sea. Time and again the Kear Imago burst forth next to the ship, always seeming to just barely miss its mark. It was clear that the ship was moving too fast for the monster to snatch its target. Luck prevailed again. As the sects of the aperture ticked on, the attacks from the Imago became less and less frequent. With time they stopped all together. They were alive but paid for it with a dangerous inconvenience. They had been blown off course from Dreamhaven by four more apertures. To be continued... D M Wilson