S01E00 - Introduction

Of the many and varied characters that inhabit the dark, smoky, dangerous streets of Lankhmar, most are distinguished less by their personality or deeds and more by the brevity of their existence. Life is colourful, noisy, exciting and often short in the City of the Black Toga, particularly for those interested in reaching beyond the mundane into the mighty city’s darker depths.

Olmet of Vane and Drennick the Thief (usually known as Drenn) have no intention of becoming members of the rather oversubscribed club who, if they could, would admit to dying on Lankhmar’s streets. They are survivors, each finding his own solution to the problem of staying alive.

Olmet of Vane is 53, handsome in a rather obvious way, his hair streaked with silver; he once fought a rather short and unpleasant duel with a fellow who dared to suggest that the silver might, in fact, be plain grey. Flamboyant but never gaudy, he wears flowing, expansive red, blue and purple robes which lend a confident and spectacular air to his appearance. Olmet adheres strongly to the belief that everyone else in the world secretly wants only one thing; to gaze in adoration at Olmet of Vane. He indulges this belief wholeheartedly, using many words when fewer would do and highlighting his own considerable achievements (as he describes them) at every opportunity. His high opinion of himself is not without cause; Olmet is a skilled sorcerer and dangerous adversary. His knowledge is broad and deep, his abilities significant and when roused sufficiently to a cause, he may even end up doing “the right thing”.

Drennick on the other hand is rarely seen to do the right thing. This is due, not to inaction, but to the fact that when Drenn acts, he is rarely seen at all. Having grown up on the streets of Lankhmar, Drenn is well aware of its various faults and foibles. Now, at 36 years of age, Drenn is a consummate knife fighter, a skill which many an opponent has come to fully appreciate rather too late for their own continued health. He is short, wiry and quick, with a wonderful economy of movement which gives the impression of a preternatural ability to read an adversary’s intentions. His hood is usually pulled up, hiding his shoulder-length black hair and shadowing the stubble that habitually adorns his cheeks. His eyes, dark brown, are never still, glittering as they notice everything. Drenn’s mentor Machias drilled into him the importance of brevity: “If you’re going to kill, then kill - don’t talk”. Drenn found this a useful maxim in his line of work but it also cemented a solitary tendency that left him without the close friendships that others might enjoy. Olmet is Drenn’s first genuine friend.

Together, Olmet and Drenn are quite formidable. Unaffiliated with but known by many of the guilds in Lankhmar, they are freelancers, willing to take on most (but not all) contracts. Over time they have developed a mutual trust, a recognition that there are common lines that neither of them will cross. Olmet’s flamboyance is matched by Drenn’s dry realism, his charming overconfidence tempered by Drenn’s cautious stealth. Although neither would admit it out loud, one would be hard pressed to work a Lankhmarese silver Smerduk between them, so well do they fit together.

Setting

The city of Lankhmar was created in the 1930s by Fritz Leiber and Harry Otto Fischer. Initially the setting for a board game, Leiber subsequently used it in his books about “Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser”. A dark and dangerous place, opulent, stinking and filled with adventure, it is ruled by a corrupt nobility. The Thieves’ Guild holds sway in a rich and thriving criminal underworld. Every dark alley, every decaying temple, every flooded cellar holds the promise of adventure, danger and hopefully, some hard cash!

Lankhmar has been quite extensively used as a setting for RPGs. TSR Inc, then Pinnacle Entertainment Group, then Goodman Games (DCC publishers) all produced setting material. For me, it has always held a fascinating attraction - the archetypal RPG city.

Mechanics

I’ve decided to use the Forbidden Lands (FL) rules for this campaign. I recently began reading the books and ran a couple of quick one-shot adventures using the core ruleset. I’m a big fan of Year Zero Engine games and the FL rules really appeal to me. They’re straightforward, they retain the deadly feel of OSR games like Old School Essentials but they give the players more options and provide a richer set of skills. They are detailed enough to satisfy those times when you’d like a bit more crunch but flexible enough that you don’t lose speed. They also seemed to me to be a perfect fit for the dark, dangerous, exciting city of Lankhmar.

Those who have played much Forbidden Lands know that it is a game centred around exploration, encounters and strongholds. The journey system is designed to support rich hex crawling with interesting and detailed events along the way. I’m hoping to transpose some of that into Lankhmar’s urban setting - certainly there is no problem with finding interesting encounters in the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes. Quite how the journey mechanics will translate is to be decided!

One other thing worth mentioning - I’m going to be playing a pretty vanilla version of the game, rather than using the solo rules from the Book of Beasts. I’ve created a few random tables to use for inspiration - my main aim is to discover and enjoy the emergent story which, I hope, will arise out of Lankhmar’s smog-filled streets.

Characters

Here’s a quick overview of the two characters. I’ve not yet filled in their Pride or Dark Secret - I’m going to leave that until something suggests itself to me. I’d rather like their Dark Secret to be shared in some way.