I missed the April A-Z Blog Challenge this year, so I'm doing my own...in June. This year, I will be posting one post per day discussing my AD&D campaign, for the curious. Since 2020, this is the ONLY campaign I run. Enjoy!
F is for Forestry and Forests, something the Pac Northwest has in abundance. All apologies to Davy Crockett, the Evergreen State is "the greenest State in the land of the free;" fight me!
Ha! Actually, when one compares forest cover to square mileage, Washington ranks only 25th at 52..74%, behind Tennessee (52.83% and 23rd) and well behind Maine's #1 position (89.46%!). Blame Eastern Washington with its vast stretches of farmland (or "vast stretches of nothing" as I used to call it). But we do have thick, dense forests from the Pacific coast to the eastern foothills of the Cascades, all (or mostly) evergreen. You can see why a native Seattleite like myself would operate under the illusion that we're all lumber jacks 'round these here parts.
Just my side of the mountains (at least till you get out to Okanogan and the northeast part of the State).
Still, it's a D&D campaign and forested wilderness is a necessity...after all, I need some place to stash all the rangers and druids. And for me, these guys are squarely over on my side of the state's political border (i.e. the Cascades), though you'll find them poking around the Inland Empire on occasion.
I've described my rangers before, and I haven't stopped loving them since I made the mental transition from floofy Aragorn to Jeremiah Johnson. These guys are rough, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest that PC rangers use charisma as a "dump stat:" it doesn't affect their ability to gain (animal) followers at high level and it's reflective of long periods of time spent living in the woods and not talking to folks. Or only talking to them with an axe.
If you know what I mean.
; )
Taciturn. Yep, that's the word of the day for rangers. These guys prowl the forested slopes of the Cascades and Olympics making the land safer for the settlements of human woodsmen living on the edge of the wilds. Any half-elf ranger grew up on the peninsula, more likely than not, and their human parent was probably a ranger, too. They are the avenging protectors of humankind (whether they get along with and are appreciated by their fellow humans or not). Gosh, they're a great archetype.
Then we have the druids.
We do have druids on the east side of the Cascades, but they're still in the shadow of the mountains where there's still plenty of forest. I set N2: The Forest Oracle in Thorp, and the Village of Hommlet (with its "Old Religion" druid cult) is set in Twisp. But that latter town is about the farthest east you'll find druids...the wood elves of Colville hold no great love for druid types and do not encourage their sect in the northeastern forests. As with rangers, if your half-elf is a druid, you probably grew up on the Olympic Peninsula (almost certainly the west side of the Cascades) and your human parent was probably a druid, too.
Druids are an interesting bunch. I've mentioned the inspiration my campaign has taken from Bob Pepper's artwork, specifically his DragonMasters card game. Well, one of the "suits" of those cards are the Druids, and one might well wonder if my druids bear any resemblance to Pepper's. The short answer is: no, but there is a little more to it than that. See, Pepper's druids DO make an appearance in my setting...as the (human) Atlantean refugee types that were part of the campaign when originally conceived as South American. Those guys? The shipwrecked Numenoreans that every fantasy campaign needs? They're the folks populating the greater Seattle area.
Yeah, Atlanteans as the Denny Party. Welcome to Hollywood, people.
We'll leave Tacoma for a later post, too. There's a reason why there's no "Emerald Empire." Not yet.
Anyhoo...foresters. The sea and the woods have long been the lifeblood of the western Washington economy, but my setting doesn't have the maritime economy of the real world (because there isn't anything beyond the west coast...just endless ocean). As such, it is the forests that are of prime importance, and much of the shipping that does occur (along the coast, down to the mouth of the Columbia) includes a substantial amount of timber. In a D&D world full of monsters, deep dark forests would be especially perilous to "puny humans," if it wasn't for the work of the rangers and druids. Not that they aren't dangerous individuals themselves, but they act as a balancing 'check' against hostile forces that would quickly overwhelm small communities of ship-building woodsmen. The unicorns of my world aren't very nice.
Where are these great illustrations from? Is this a deck of cards?
ReplyDeleteYes, they’re from an old card game called “DragonMasters.” The artist is Bob Pepper…he did the color plates in the original (electronic) Dark Tower board game, as well as numerous novel and album covers over the years. His fantasy work is probably my all-time favorite…I find it tremendously inspirational.
DeleteHaven't seen that one in many a year. Thankfully there are online sources for all the images - but yes, underappreciated and evocative artist.
DeleteOn the day I left you last year, and we drove from Seattle to Spokane, an auto accident on the eastern side of the Cascades ensured that we "prowled" the forests you speak of at a speed of 2 miles an hour for two and a half hours. That's "perilous" for you. Thank you, I'd rather see less forest there and more of it in Alberta.
ReplyDeleteUgh…that sounds miserable. At least it wasn’t YOUR auto that had the accident!
DeleteLiver-Eating Johnson is a fascinating choice as a model for the ranger class. I'd say it puts an emphasis on the chaotic end of that axis, rather than the good end of the other axis. You're not playing with alignment, I know, so not a relevant concern in your game.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read, "Rangers are a sub-class of fighter who are adept at woodcraft, tracking, scouting, and infiltration and spying," I think of them more as military intelligence. They have the martial background, but are adept at forward observation and escape & evasion. I can't see my way clear to rangers exercising domain at name level (I mean, how many serfs can a ranger really carry?), but it's an excellent henchman or secondary character who can serve in the assassin's role for a good-aligned liege.