Introduction (CWS)

Campaign Option: Council of Wyrms Setting
==Introduction==
Feel the mighty muscles ripple beneath your armored flesh. Hear the wind rush by as each powerful flap of taut. scale-covered wings sends you hurtling forward. Taste the scent of prey as it wafts up from the ground below, rich with fear-soaked sweat. See your quarry through remarkably keen reptilian eyes that see everything and miss nothing. Touch your tongue to the sharp, daggerlike teeth that fill your crushing jaws as the volatile breath builds inside you. You are a dragon, and all living things shudder at your terrible approach!
This book provides everything you need to set up a campaign for dragon player characters. Yes, you read right: For the first time ever, ADND game dragons are available as player characters! However, the introduction of such powerful PCs into the game setting is not something to be handled lightly. It requires a lot of care and planning, but the material in this book provides the basics for how to deal with PCs of this magnitude.
In this book you'll find everything the Dungeon Master needs to get started. Here's an overview of the contents.
Section I: The Rules of Dragons sets forth all of the game material needed to create characters and run adventures in the Council of Wyrms setting. It is the book upon which the whole dragon campaign is hung. It details the dragon PC creation process (as well as the process for creating half-dragon and demihuman kindred Pes), defines these creatures as player characters, and presents dragon proficiencies suitable for this type of campaign.
Section II: A Dragon Campaign provides details on the Council of Wyrms setting, lists the important NPCs inhabiting it, and goes into depth about such topics as the culture and nature of dragons. It sets the stage for the world these new player character types wander. From the history of the island chain where dragons rule as lords, to locations of interest such as the Council Aerie, to notes on how to use Council of Wyrms on its own or as part of an existing campaign, this section fills in the story elements and helps you tailor the campaign.
Section III: Dragon Adventures gives you something to do with the rules and campaign material. This section provides adventures to challenge your players' newly created Council of Wyrms characters in a fashion best suited to their new talents and abilities. After all, what may seem significant to a human or demihuman PC may seem insignificant to a long-lived dragon PC with a vastly different view of the world and its place in it-and vice versa.
﻿==The Characters==
Three types of player characters are presented in this book. Each has been designed to operate in the Council of Wyrms setting. While it is not recommended that they be transported to another campaign world (with the exception of the half-dragon PC described below), there are suggestions for doing so in Section II for those who are so inclined. These new character types are as follows:
* Dragon PCs
* Half-dragon PCs
* Kindred demihuman PCs
Dragon player characters are the focus of this campaign option. Everything is geared toward creating a believable and playable setting for these powerful creatures. Every dragon PC (and NPC) has some connection, however tenuous, to the Council and its edicts.
Half-dragon PCs are created from the union of polymorphed dragons and their demihuman vassals. These characters are closer to the PCs of other campaigns and are the best suited for transfer into another AD&D game setting. They slowly begin to manifest dragon powers as they age and gain experience, but they never equal the strength or majesty of a full-blooded wyrm.
A kindred is a demihuman who is pledged to—and shares a special bond with-a specific dragon. The relationship is deeper than lord and vassal, as the two are connected by more than just tradition and allegiance. They share a psychic link that allows them to share memories and experiences, to at least a limited degree. In broad terms, what a kindred knows, his dragon lord knows. A bonded demihuman can't filter the information that passes through this psychic link, though the dragon can determine some of what flows back in the other direction. Thus, a kindred can keep no secrets from its dragon, while a dragon can keep most secrets from its kindred.
In a Council of Wyrms campaign, players create either a pair of PCs, consisting of a dragon and a kindred, or one half-dragon PC. Each choice has its advantages, disadvantages, challenges, and benefits for adventure and campaign play. For more information, see Section I.
==The Setting==
Council of Wyrms takes place on an island chain called Io's Blood Isles. Legends proclaim that lo, the Ninefold Dragon, bled droplets of his own precious, steaming lifeblood into the sea. When the drops of blood cooled, they formed a chain of islands-a paradise ideally suited to the needs and wants of lo's children, the dragons. The full history of the island chain is presented in Section II, but a quick summary here sets the stage for the rules material that follows.
The time is the distant past, the world an unnamed sphere much like Toril or Oerth yet subtly different. Only the isles matter, for that is where dragonkind holds sway. The dragons of the isles maintain an uneasy existence with each other, though the stronger wyrms have carved out independent domains to rule over. The Council of Wyrms, with representatives from each of the 15 branches of dragonkind, arbitrates major disagreements to keep minor skirmishes from developing into full-fledged dragon wars. While it is the Council's job to chart diplomatic courses through even the most turbulent waters of conflict, it also remains ever vigilant for signs of the dread human invaders who once almost destroyed the dragons of the isles. The player character dragons are born into this setting and must face the dangers and challenges of the isles and the seas around them.
Dragons rule the isles. They are the ultimate creatures, feared and respected because of their size, physical prowess, and magical abilities. They sit atop the food chain, barely acknowledging those beneath them. Still, the tests faced by the children of lo are legion, for no dragon hatches full grown and at the peak of its power. It must survive long enough to develop its strengths and abilities, to grow large, to gain the experience of passing centuries. For majesty, might and magic, the dragons reign supreme.
Kindred work in cooperation with dragonkind. These demihumans, while not as long-lived as their dragon masters, can at least survive through more than a single dragon life stage. Kindred are not slaves. They freely acknowledge the superiority and majesty of dragonkind, and readily offer their services in exchange for leadership and protection. Just as a medieval vassal swears allegiance to a liege lord, a demihuman bonds with a particular dragon of her liege clan. These demihumans handle the tasks their lords cannot or will not do. There are simply times, circumstances and locations where a small, bipedal being is better suited to a task than is a massive dragon. Kindred fill a specific and honorable station in draconic society.
Half-dragons strive to rise above the prejudices and limitations of their station. Some find acceptance (or at least a place to dwell) among the more tolerant clans. Others run from hostile clans that hate the half-breeds beyond all sense or reason. In most cases, half-dragons are outcasts who wander the isles in search of ways to prove their worth to the dragons they fear, respect, love, and hate.
﻿==Setting Started==
Dungeon Masters first need to familiarize themselves with the information contained in Section I. The rules governing the creation and play of dragon PCs, while built upon the foundation of the AD&D game, contain changes and additions to adapt those rules to this setting. Then read through Section II. It goes into greater detail about the world inhabited by dragon PCs. Once you feel comfortable with the material contained in these sections, find the blank character sheets, make copies, and gather your players so they can create PCs. When everyone is ready, look to Section III for adventures designed to challenge the new characters.