Heroic Stories - Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy

Heroic Stories. When you think of your favorite heroic story, it almost always follows a familiar formula. The hero begins his journey in his hometown, usually threatened by evil. He encounters a mentor figure who helps reveal what must be done to save his hometown (and often the rest of the world). In the end, he comes face to face with a villain that must be overcome. Don't believe me? Harry Potter fights to protect Hogwarts, is mentored by Dumbledore and must defeat Voldemort. Frodo begins his journey in the Shire, is recruited by Gandalf and must journey into the heart of Sauron's land of evil. Luke Skywalker leaves Tatooine to learn how to use the Force from Obi-Wan in order to defeat Darth Vader. While Dungeons & Dragons has always focused on the heroes, a great mentor, villain and hometown can make a campaign come alive. Mentors and Group Patron Rules Dungeons & Dragons has already provided rules on mentors with their excellent write ups on Group Patrons, so we use that term in this book. Hometowns Hometowns are where player characters begin the campaign. Hometowns are often a base of operations and the place where the group patron can be found. The campaign villain might also be based out of the hometown. Sometimes the campaign villain even threatens the very existence of the hometown. Bazaars, Fences and Shops One of the main uses of a hometown from a gameplay perspective is that it provides player characters with a place to spend gold (and other coin). Over the course of a campaign, player characters often accumulate vast quantities of gold with very few places to spend it. Hometowns give player characters access to bazaars, shops and NPCs that possess contacts for magic items, recipes or treasure maps. Not only does this give player characters a place to use their gold, but it also allows them to customize the kinds of magic items their character is able to obtain. Robbing or murdering a shop keep for their magic items is pointless as shops don't keep...