Tharda Cover

The City of Red Domes was a fantasy role-playing campaign that I ran from July of 2007 to July of 2008. It included 23 sessions. It probably could have gone 40-50 more, but my move from the Bay Area to Portland, Oregon required us to bring it to a speedier end.

The campaign was set in Coranan, the largest city in Hârn and capital of the Thardic Republic.

The player characters (PCs) were followers of the god Ilvir, who had come to Coranan from Kaldor to found a temple.

The group's spiritual leader was Brother Olrau, a charismatic priest of Ilvir with a gift for prophecy. The PCs, however, were key decision-makers on their own.

A key idea of this campaign was that the PCs were not to be not old-school fantasy “adventurers” who wander from place to place, looking for treasure. They were members of a small missionary community struggling to gain a foothold for their faith in a large, strange, and corrupt city.

There were certainly great challenges to overcome. Intrigues, fights, quests— and yes, magic and monsters— were part of the game. The PCs even come to play critical role in the great events taking place around them. Ultimately, however, the unifying story of the campaign was the advancement of their missionary community and their faith.

This was the first campaign I ever ran using the Burning Wheel rules. I personally thought they worked beautifully for the setting and the style of game I hoped for, although not all of the players were as enthusastic as I was.

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