Fria Ligans forum

What year and season should the various Chronicles be set in? I am planning the campaign, and without reading through everything I would like to get an idea of how much space for homebrew in between the episodes I can put in. So what are the written places in the timeline? And what is more flexible?

I think, which would be the intention of the creators, that it doesn't matter. There is a date referenced in Wrath of Warden, The Darkest Star is set at the beginning of winter and Mother of Darkness takes of at the start of spring.

I think the only dramatically important point in time is when the expeditions start out in Mother of Darkness since it expalins way they arrive around the same time (as the depts of Davokar can't be traversed during winter).

I just calculated my timeline based off of the new Haunted Wastes pdf release, incorporating the Adventure Collection's recommended sequence of adventures and working my way backwards from there. When I run my Symbaroum campaign I will be following this template of events. I might adjust as story ideas crop up or based on the player's actions, but it serves as a good baseline for me.

month.year - Adventure
05.21 - The Promised Land *or* start this one on 07.21
08.21 - Mark of the Beast
09.21 - Green as Copper / The Blooming Vale
10.21 - Tomb of Dying Dreams
11.21 - Wrath of the Warden
12.21 - Fever Hunt
01.22 - The Bell Tolls for Kastor
02.22 - The Witch Hammer
05.22 - The Howling of Damned Gods
06.22 - *What's Bred in the Bone*
07.22 - *The Darkest Star*
09.22 - Mother of Darkness
01.23 - The Haunted Waste

Thematically, I will be playing with the idea that major excursions into Davokar happen only in the Spring, Summer and Fall months, between months 9 and 4 (remembering that the Ambrian calendar's 1st month of the year is the last month of summer).Thistlehold will have a grand send-off of all the treasure hunting parties at the start of month 9 as people speculate on the success of the fortune hunters and have a great celebration to wish them well and bid farewell. This could also lead to some interesting intrigue and back-alley dealings leading up to the opening of Treasure-Hunting Season, as different groups track down rumours of lucrative ruins, vie for expert guides, woo potential adventuring companions, and convince investors or patrons to fund their expedition.

• Playing The Promised Land first, my story hook will be that the group is trying to get to Thistlehold in time for the grand opening. In Mark of the Beast it is suggested that the adventure takes place 3 months after The Promised Land but I will play around with the timeline a little so that the party arrives right after the events, so that they can jump straight in to the adventure. You could explain that the group is arriving in Ambria either before the full force of winter closes the pass for the winter (month 5) or right as it is opening up (month 7) and they are caught in some residual weather, depending if you want to throw some more quests their way before Mark of the Beast .

• For each of the adventures I give about a month in-between each one, not just for down-time but also to help explain travel time between locations. It will give me flexibility for additional scenarios that happen through role-playing and character decisions. For example, I want to run Blight Night and Curse of the River Goddess right after The Promised Land as part of the journey to Thistlehold. They are pretty decent starting scenarios that will help introduce the game to the players.

• If agree to it, maybe Fever Hunt, The Bells Toll for Kastor & Witch Hammer happen a little later, in month 3 or 4, just before their Explorer Licenses expire) if we want to explore other options right after Wrath of the Warden. Perhaps we can explore some of the Goal-Oriented scenario ideas listed in the Game Master's Guide? But this will probably be more self directed by the group before the saga takes off again

• If not, there will be about 2-3 months in between The Witch Hammer and Howling of the Damned Gods that I'm not sure what to do with, but by that time we should have plenty of story ideas based off of what has happened to the players.

• Story-wise I might flip What's Bred in the Bone so that it takes place after The Darkest Star if that works better for the group's narrative, and the developing political situation in Ambria.

• The events of Mother of Darkness may end up with some of the group receiving titles and domains, so there could be an opportunity to play with the domain rules, if we haven't had the chance yet, before the next leg of the chronicle.

• Mother of Darkness will take at least 2 months of travel time for the party. One month (at least) to get to the ruined city and another to get back. Plus add in however long it takes the group to search the whole dang place and deal with all the competing factions. Having the timing of this great expedition to coincide with my earlier establishment of a grand send-off in month 9 will bring the campaign around in a circle and give the group another opportunity to engage in intrigue (this time with much greater stakes!)

By the end of Mother of Darkness the group should be returning to civilization somewhere between the middle of month 11 or the beginning of 12. This should give enough time for the political fallout to come to a head for the start of The Haunted Waste. And according to that book, the adventure should conclude somewhere around month 6 or 7 of year 23, kicking up again in 12.23 or 01.24 for the conclusion of The Throne of Thorns saga.

For those reading this thread now, maybe it will give you some ideas of your own on how to pace out the adventure utilizing the Ambrian calendar.

Happy hunting!

I just found the note in Wrath of the Warden that talks about a brawl that happened 8 days prior on the "24th day of the 2nd month of year 21", which is in a hand-out given to the players.

The only indication that this is from 8 days ago is in the Game Master notes, so you could fudge how long ago the report is from. Otherwise, that would mean that Wrath of the Warden takes place in the beginning of the 3rd month of year 21.

Wrath of the warden starts in the middle of summer, not in winter. Remember that the ambrian year starts with the queens birthday, which is in the middle of the summer. So the first month is in june.

Wrath of the warden starts in the middle of summer, not in winter. Remember that the ambrian year starts with the queens birthday, which is in the middle of the summer. So the first month is in june.

Doesn´t one (or more?) of the "flavor texts" in Wrath of the Warden speak of autumn? Rain and stuff.