The Worldgame is Afoot

I suppose I should have expected it--one should never underestimate my capacity for underestimation—but I am blown over by the number of eager participants who have ponied up for the domain-level experiment I threw out there yesterday.

Despite a little scrambling to accommodate the wave, I have been adopting a more the merrier outlook--perhaps something I will have to modify if the pace of volunteers continues. To date we have 15 players, with seven of them already laying out the realms they represent.

And what a bunch!

To preserve the mystery until the plot thickens through play in the coming two months I will keep mum, but man is it tough. Suffice it to say what a crazy imaginative crew has assembled to tame this brave new world. I think all will be surprised by what they will find around the corner.

More details of the worldgame for players and ring-side readers follow below.

Starting Equipment and Followers

Each player in the play-test game will start with 2,000-5,000 gold pieces worth of starting resources. Hiring of all followers is made for one month's salary in the Hiring Specialists and Mercenaries section of the LL book (p. 47-48). Equipment is purchased from the LL standard equipment list (p.15-16)

(Alternately you can let the GM make purchases for you.)

Odd rules to keep in mind:

1. Hiring of henchpeople (followers with class levels) costs 200 gp/level one-time purchase. They will appear with mundane gear appropriate to their station. Followers must be at least one level lower than the PC.
2. Soldiers will come with the arms and armor stated in the book. Additional gear must be purchased as above.
3. Portage of items from the motherland through wilderness and an extra-dimensional gate about a small wagon sized in width should be considered. (No large ships for instance.)
4. Laboring families (one potential club-armed combatant, four non-combatants) can be hired/indentured at the price of 4 gp/month.
5. Preserved foodstuffs can be bought in four-week batches at a cost of 10 gp per individual (100 for 10, 1,000 for 100).
6. Any item not appearing on either list desired should be checked with the GM who will be happy to pull a price out of his improvising rear.

Starting Position

Each player's band will pop through a gate bordered by a mysterious monolithic basalt obelisk into a narrow stretch of land explored by the advance party. Each player will thus be given a map marked off with five-mile hexes as pictured below.

Expanding that map (and the knowledge of what lies off the horizon) is up to the player...