Adventure Hook

Adventure Hook


Episode 39: Crit Fail! The Orc Horde Invasion - Adventure Hook

February 16, 2020

Today’s Hook: (Critical Fail!) An army of orcs and goblins invade! Oh muh Gerd!!!

The Dice Gods must not be pleased with Aaron’s ten-in-a-row streak of winning initiative, for they punished him at the end of last show with Adventure Hook’s historic second Critical Fail episode..! Burdened with the tired trope of the invading humanoid army, the guys breathe new life into this been there, done that idea…

By setting the scenario in ancient Rome..?

Putting a fresh spin on this backbone for a classic campaign scenario, the Adventure Hook guys invite you to a magical fey-touched version of Romano-Britain, where the clashes of culture can get downright monstrous… literally as well as figuratively…

From imagining threatening tribes of blue-faced pixie Picts, goblin Caledonian wolf-riders, and even frost giant barbarians straight from Jötunheim… to the second generation half-orc soldiers stationed in defense of the Roman Empire against these mobs of Scot gobs… things are assuredly going to get terribly messy before the guys finish unpacking this particular setting.

And for the first time, the focus of this episode is really about developing a particular setting, as Aaron goes “all gazetteer” once again, and from books and research to his personal experiences visiting the site, gives the GM every detail one could possibly need to start building a campaign setting centered around the historic Hadrian’s Wall. From its construction in 122 AD all the way to its abandonment some three centuries later… Rise, Hegemony, and Fall; there is no end of historical sources (including otherhistoric walls) to inspire this setting… and which also could wind up providing some very challenging role-playing exercises indeed…

Like imagining soon-to-be Emperor Constantine as a half-orc Briton serving his 25 years as a Roman legionnaire for instance..!

If you’re reading the show notes before listening to this episode - trust us - that sentence will make total sense by the end… so long as you don’t wind up getting just as lost as the fabled 9th Legion along the way...

So keep a tight grip on your diploma if you think it’ll grant you safe passage, just know that in the Feywild, all roads lead awayfrom Rome…

Banter Topic: knowing what everyone was in for this episode, the Adventure Hook guys first spend some time discussing historically themed RPGs.
 From using history as just the kernel of inspiration for your own “Game of Thrones-style” fantasy setting, to attempting to keep a fastidious adherence to a real piece of historical fiction, there are all sorts of ways to think about using elements of history for gaming purposes… and the guys certainly share a few. Rob even reviews the concept of “Anachronistic Verisimilitude” as it relates to the exploration of the more historically challenging issues of class, race, and gender… as well conversely utilizing certain settings (like 5E Forgotten Realms) which allow for other (arguably much more progressive) societal behaviors in regards to what would traditionally be considered LGBTQ issues (in the real world anyway)…

And then later, Aaron gets really bent out of shape over arguments concerning “reality” in D&D in the first place, and treats the listener to some of the more Ptolemaic concepts which serve as the skeleton for the Spelljammer setting and are anything but grounded in our concepts of Reality…

LINKS

Adventure Hook (on Patreon)

Birdoswald Roman Fort

Picts (on Wikipedia)

Missing 9th Legion (on BBC.com)

Maus (on Amazon)