Hildagunn the Witch is related to Magnus, Aesa, Isgerd, Sigurd, Kara and Olaf. She was outlawed from Norgard in 1075 as a suspected witch and forced to leave her home where she practiced herbalism, medicine and midwifery. She has the gift of seid magic and can directly tap into the Bifrost bridge to make powerful spells. Most fear her, few take the time to understand her. Her kin protect her from the ignorant who would rather see her dead.
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Bergar the Bold. The cast was in bad shape. I messed up one of his eyes and it was impossible to properly paint his mouth. That is why he is so angry. This is a 30mm miniature so it is 3/4 the size of a pinkie finger.
My friend Brian had this artwork commissioned for his character Aesa the Lucky. Aesa is one of the featured characters in the Norgard Saga. She's only 5'6', light frame but very agile. She looks like a child next to Magnus Thorsen who is over seven feet tall, powerfully built with long blond hair and beard.
This is not my article, but I agree with most everything the author has to say. It is worth a share for those of you who have found your life's purpose due to role playing games. Follow link here.
This is the third of the lineage tables for my Midgard campaign. I thought I'd lost it when my hard drive crashed but I found a paper copy of it today. There were actually a wide range of characters to select from when the campaign started so my sheets provided for characters that were not selected as well. Magnus was a berserk and often lead with his axe unless convinced otherwise. Aesa the Lucky and Magnus were almost opposites but for some reason Aesa liked Magnus. Kara was also a berserk, yet very different from Magnus. She later wielded the Arm of Zeus and gave birth to a god.
Here are the combat rules I used in my 3.5 version D&D campaigns. Word file provided for anyone who finds it useful. These are house rules that vary from the standard guidelines. Most standard combat rules are fine, but to really capture the style New Combat Rules for both game campaigns: Quicken spell: Quicken spells will now work a little different: A quickened spell (0-3rd level) will go off quicker than your normal initiative modifier. You will gain a +1 to your initiative with a quickened spell for every two levels you have as a spellcaster (maximum 10). So a 20th level druid or wizard would cast a spell with a +10 on initiative die roll not counting other modifiers like dexterity or improved initiative. A quickened spell is always the lower level of the two spells you cast in that round. So if you are casting a 1st a 2nd level spell, the quickened spell is the 1st level spell. Combat now works as follows: 1. Declare spells: (declare dodge or other foe related declarations) 2. Repeat Spells go off: (a repeat spell cannot be a touch spell and will not go off if the target has moved more than 30’ from the initial blast) 3. Roll Initiative 4. Movement 5. Combat Action in order of initiative (including quicken spells which will go off faster than the spell caster’s normal attack but not necessarily first in relation to everyone else) 6. 2nd Attacks 7. 3rd Attacks 8. Partial Actions (applies only to Haste, there are no other partial actions) 9. Expert Tactician (only on declared foes (see step 1) 10. Final Movement (Anyone who has not moved and wants to move before the combat round ends).
These house rules were for my Midgard campaign and work best with 3.0 and 3.5 D&D systems. Feel free to borrow any ideas that are helpful for your own campaign. I am uncertain at this time if these are the final version we were using as the original electronic files died in combat against my failed hard drive. I am also including the form as a word doc included below this post for anyone who would like to use it. Midgard House Rules: Rule Books: The PH may only be consulted to look up your spells or your class features. You may not consult the PH for any other purpose during game play. The DMG and MM are off limits. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in a docking of 10% bonus XP per occurrence. DM May grant exceptions in extreme cases. Weapons: No crossbows, longbows, pole arms or exotic weapons without DM’s approval. Armor: No locked gauntlets, or armor better than banded mail without DM’s approval. Attacks of Opportunity: Attacks of opportunity occur only when a combatant tries to disengage himself from combat with another combatant. It does not matter what means are used to disengage from combat. Engaging an opponent who is fighting someone else or is not currently fighting does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Spellcasting does not automatically result in an attack of opportunity. While in melee, attempting to drink a potion, cast a spell, or pick up a weapon will result in an attack of opportunity. Other situations will be judged according to the circumstances. Initiative: Initiative is a group roll modified by dexterity. Actions must be declared before initiative is rolled. The DM may grant exceptions. Surprise: Surprise is a situation in which neither side is expecting the other. The DM determines when surprise occurs. No roll is necessary. When the DM determines surprise, he will have the effected players roll for a round of “surprise” combat. The winner(s) of the surprise combat roll will have caught the opponent flat-footed for the surprise round unless they cannot be caught flat-footed. Combat Round: A round is 6 seconds. Actions in a round include: attack & move, full attack, cast spell, use a skill, feat or ability (DM is final say on this). Example: Wrestle, grapple, psionics, climb, swim, dive, jump, pick up a weapon, draw a weapon and attack, drink something, use a magic item, bind wounds, throw an item to someone else/or catch an item thrown by someone else. You cannot throw an item at an enemy and catch it yourself unless approved by the DM. Critical Failure: A roll of 1 in combat results in a character dropping his/her weapon. This character may either spend a round picking up the dropped weapon (which may result in an attack of opportunity) or draw a new weapon and get one attack for the next round. A roll of 1 with a bow means the bowstring has snapped and a new strong must be strung (1-4 round action), bow experts (a person with at least one bow feat) requires only 1 round to restring a bow. Quick Draw Feat: The Quick Draw feat allows you to use weapons thrown to you, drawn by you or picked up by you AND get your normal full attack in the same round. This feat does not allow you to avoid an attack of opportunity if you go to pick up a weapon while in combat. Damage Reduction: After much consideration, damage reduction will be handled per PH/DMG. Druids: Godar/Godi: Godi have the same ability to convert spells to healing as clerics. Meta Magic Feats: Meta Magic feats no longer require extra slots be burned to use them. What’s the point of taking a feat if it has no real advantages? Skills: This new ruling is sure to mess up the master-tools software: All cross-class skills cost the 1 skill point just like class skills. A skill listed as “Trained” is still subject to the class restriction listed in the PH. Poison Rules: Use of poison on animals is acceptable in Norse society, use of poison on humans, Demi-humans and Pukje is considered cowardly. Poison Application: Requires a roll on a d20. On a roll of 1, you may have poisoned yourself. Roll a reflex save DC 15 as per PH/DMG to avoid the poison. If you fail, you must save verses poison. Application of poison is a normal action. Poison Doses: One dose will coat one melee weapons or 10 arrowheads. Natural poisons dry out and become weaker with time. Each day the poison is exposed to air, it loses effectiveness at a rate of -5 to its DC rating. Poison Fumble: If you fumble a weapon, you may poison yourself. Roll a reflex save at DC 15 as per PH/DMG to avoid the poison. If you fail, then you must save verse the poison. Combat Poison Use: The first hit with a poisoned weapon inflicts the poison on the defender at full strength. Each additional strike results in a cumulative +5 to the saving throw. After three hits, the poison is used up and needs to be reapplied. The poison on arrows is used up after a single hit. Creating Poison: Magical poisons require Brew Potion and ability to cast Poison or some other version of a Poison spell. Chemical poison requires Alchemy. Natural poisons require either extraction of venom sacs or apothecary skill. The DC of an apothecary or Alchemist’s poison can be no more powerful than the DC roll made in the attempt. Gathering alchemical materials for poison is very expensive. Apothecaries gather rare herbs at special seasons to make poisons and it is also very expensive for them. No poisons may be augmented beyond their natural potency. Ability Point Drain: Poisons often have the effect of ability point drain. The ability points are recovered at a rate of 1 point /day, or 2 points per day with full rest as per the DMG. Multi-Class Characters: Secondary classes attained by a character must be of a different type from the other classes a character has. For instance, a Godar cannot become a cleric but can become a rogue or fighter. A fighter can become a rogue or Godar but cannot become a ranger or barbarian. A character who does not begin play as a barbarian cannot become one. A character who does not begin play as a Sorcerer cannot become one unless special circumstances occur which the DM indicates have initiated the possibility of becoming one. Cohorts/Followers: No cohorts or followers can be gained until the leader has given generously to friends and kin in front of many witnesses. Only one cohort can be had per character. A cohort can be within one level of the character. Followers may not be over half the level of the character. Example a 6th level character equals a maximum 3rd level followers and 5th level cohort. All cohorts and followers gain half XP. Cohorts expect at least half shares of treasure and occasional magic items. Followers expect quarter shares of treasure. Giving followers magic items increases the character’s prestige. To give cohorts and followers less than normally expected and to not compensate them for putting themselves in extreme ganger will result in reduced loyalty and can quickly reduce the reputation of the character. In the Midgard campaign, being constantly on adventures will give you a +1 modifier to your leadership score, unless you have not visited your home base/stronghold in over a year. Fairness and generosity will result in a +3 to +6 modifier to your leadership score. Examples of fairness and generosity: The character is known to give silver bracelets, gold rings, weapons and armor, or other goods to his friends and followers without being asked to do so, and not just when new treasure is gained. The leader steps in to settle disputes when an argument occurs, offering to adjudicate the situation and his is willing to give compensation to those who feel wronged by his friends and followers. If a follower or cohort is landless it is expected that land is provided from his own estate. Aloof characters will have a -1 to -5 modifier to his leadership score. There is little worse than an apathetic Norseman!
The Permians were one of the first group of people encountered in my Midgard campaign. I think when the players met them they realized they were not in a typical game campaign. See attached file for some background on the Permians. Here is a typical chant the Permians sang in honor of Odin. “O Lord of Mead, Drinker of Poems, Flame-eyed One, Father of Battle. I offer Mead-life to Odin’s wife, (earth) Life-giver, Queen of the brooch-goddesses, (women) Make propitious our breath-taking, Give us the tree-crowned hart, Or the serpent-faced giant, So we may continue to offer Mead-life. And gladden the All-Father.”
Here is another example of a lineage chart used in my Midgard campaign to trace ancestry back to Thor.
In my Midgard campaign it was important that characters be able to trace their lineage back to Thor. For that purpose this chart was provided at the beginning of the campaign.
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