| Latest Posts | Return to Hammerholm
Setting
The fortified mine of Hammerholm sits high on a plateau of Mount Kh'elda, overlooking the the Gilderflow river and surrounding valley of Gilderford below. This once great mining outpost lies at the very edge of the Dwarven Empire. During 'The Long War', which began some 600 years ago, it was one of the first settlements to fall against the legion of Elvish Knights that took it. The Elves had no need for a mine, merely wishing to remove the threat of a fortified position so near to their borders. They struck swiftly, and slighted it before it could be properly be garrisoned. It so followed that the mine fell into disrepair for centuries with no Dwarf able to come near. The war had been cold for a decade already when The King of all Dwarves, reached the end of his one-hundred year appointment - as is the custom of the Dwarven Empire. It is a truly remarkable blend of monarchy and democracy that can be witnessed at the once-in-a-century event that is the Dwarfmoot. The royal Thain of each of the twelve clans come to meet and elect a new monarch. At the last Dwarfmoot, forty-tree years ago, the crown passed back to the hands of clan Alderstone and the new Queen of All Dwarves Theophania IV. The Queen, nearing the half-way point of her reign has already achieved so much. A long due peace has been negotiated with the elves, centuries of fighting are at last put to rest. A new border between the lands of elves and dwarves has been negotiated, and political prisoners and ancestral treasures have been returned on both sides. As part of the peace negotiations, it was agreed that the river of Gilderflow should serve as the new border of Dwarven and Elven nations. Hammerholm is now offically finally back in Dwarven territory. Which led to this recent declaration by the Queen. "Go ye, Dwarves of brave heart and strong back, to Hammerholm. For what you find there is yours to stake, lawfully as your own. Our history tells it is a land of good ore and sturdy walls. It was here our forefathers worked. The sweat of their brow made Hammerholm great, now yours can do the same. So go forth! Go forth and RETURN TO HAMMERHOLM"
Character Creation
Your player character must be a Dwarf. A dwarf can be male or female, but it is notoriously even for dwarves to tell the genders apart as regardless of gender, a dwarf is small, stocky and has a magnificent beard. Dwarves live on average for 300 years, no dwarf has ever lived 350 years or more. They are not considered fully adults by their kin until they are at least 30. Any Dwarf who is 75 years or older can remember a time of active war. If you are a from a military profession you may have fought in these wars. You begin with two traits. One from your clan and one from your profession. Players from the same clan are relatives - at least distant cousins. But Dwarven culture doesn't tend to distinguish between 1st, 2nd or 25th cousins. A member of your clan is a member of your family. Clans -->Mountain Folk ->Clan Alderstone Alderstone: 1 - physical resilience, mining, smithing, stonecraft -Begin the game with your choice of a pickaxe or hammer A very old clan who often feel that the old ways are the best ways. It is tradition that the Alderstones wear their beard in the same style as their father. This has led to a few familiar, well groomed styles of beard being recognisable trade marks of this clan. ->Clan Steelborne Steelborne: 1 - physical resilience, athletics, knowledge of military strategy/history -Begin the game with a longsword or iron shield A clan with a proud military history. Normally black or grey haired. Whilst no Dwarf would shave their beards, Steelbornes often shave their heads. They often have tattoos that boast of their deeds, or honours that of an ancestor. ->Clan Frostbeard Frostbeard: 1 - physical resilience, resist cold, climbing -Begin the game with a rope or an ice-pick The pale blue eyes and pale skin of his clan speaks to their heritage as those who once lived highest on the mountains. Those who do not have natural snow in their hair and beards will often decorate them in charms with snow and ice motifs. Many of the Frostbeards have thick bushy beards, which are rumoured to keep them better insulated. ->Clan Gearminder Gearminder: 1 - physical resilience, intelligence -begin the game with either 3 dyes of any colour(s) you choose or 3x cogs An intelligent eyed and intelligent minded clan of Dwarves. It is said that there is some Gnomish blood in their heritage. Like the Gnomes, they are fond of colourful dyes, which they produce and use to colour their beards into creative and unusual styles. --> Hill Folk ->Clan Fireblood Fireblood: 1 - Resist fear and pain, bonus to combat if you are at or below 50% of your maximum health -begin the game with a greataxe or 3x throwing axes A usually red haired clan known for their ferocity and short tempers. This clan famously seek foes much larger than themselves to slay. They often cut their hair into fearsome styles like mohawks or liberty spikes ->Clan Fullfield Fullfield: 1 - physical resilience, animal handling, knowledge of plants and animals -Begin the game with 3x carrot seeds or a pet mule A clan that owns the majority of the empire's agriculture, mild mannered Fullfields often work as farmers or similar professions. They are often tall for dwarves and many of them wear their beards pinned back over their shoulder, a tradition that stems from trying to keep it out of the way when tending to crops. Sandy brown or dirty blond are their most common hair and beard colourings ->Clan Axfel Axfel: 1 - physical resilience, climb trees, bonus to collecting or cutting wood. -Begin the game with a hatcher or with 3x wood The Axfels originally lived amongst the trees of the forested regions of the hills. They now own the lumber and carpentry guild of the Empire. The clan consists of a small number of 'civilised' guildsmen, and a much larger number of rugged, tanned, outsdoormen. All decorate their beard with twigs, leaves, flowers or moss in someway. ->Clan Balgor Balgor: 1 - resist poison / drunkeness, stealth, skill in cookery and brewing -begin the game with a set of cooking pots or a bottle of mead, ale, wine or whiskey This clan descended from interbreeding between halflings and dwarves, producing a lineage of even shorter legged dwarves with oversized feet. The clan is famous for its mastery chefs and brewers. They are stereotypically plump of build and rosy cheeked. -->Deep Folk ->Clan Deepenhew Deepenhew: 1 - physical resilience, keen senses, tunneling, stealth. This trait cannot be rolled if you are in direct sunlight -begin the game with a lantern or pickaxe A keen and large eared clan of ghostly pale, pink eyed and white haired dwarves. This albino clan avoid the sun and live in the deepest parts of the Empire. ->Clan Trogenharda Trogodenharda: 1 - natural armour (roll vs all attacks) stealth bonus when in caves or rocky terrain. You cannot move more than 5 spaces per turn during combat. -begin the game with a single gemstone of choice According to legend, this subrace of Dwarves were either blessed or cursed with skin like stone and eyes like gemstones. Their eye colour ranges from ruby red to emerald green. The Trogenharda are a patient, usually solitary people. Slow of both speech and movement. -->Far Folk ->Clan Farstrider Farstrider: 1 - physical resilience, resist heat, resist cold, Knowledge of geography and the customs of foreign lands -begin the game with a roll of silk, a pouch of spices or a tusk of ivory A dark haired and dark skinned clan of Dwarves. They are made up of several clans of nomadic trading caravans, as well as some who have settled in towns or cities, often working as merchants or brokers of goods. Farstriders decorate their beards and any armour they wear with trinkets, styles and symbols that come from far off places they may have visited. ->Clan Saltfist Saltfist: 1 - Resist disease, resist drunkeness, balance, sailing skills, maps / navigation -begin the game with a rope or with a cartographer's kit containing a pot of ink, quill and a blank map. A clan that originate on the shores of the empire, and first built boats to take Dwarven trades across the sea to the lands of men. A Salfist is often recognised by their long, black, storm-swept beard decorated with golden links and jewellery. --> The Clanless Clanless: 1 - physical resilience, street smarts, lock picking, pick pocketing. Roll with disadvantage on all speech / social rolls with other dwarves. -no bonus starting items A dwarf who has shamed or betrayed their clan has their beard shaved as a mark of permanent shame. When their facial hair regrows, it does so in a patchy and unkempt way that forever marks them. Those declared clanless are often hated in dwarf society. Profession Traits -->Military Professions: ->Soldier: 1 - melee weapons, athletics start the game with up to 3 weapons of choice, or 2 weapons and shield ->Watchman: 1 - ranged weapons, keen sight start the game with a lantern and a crossbow ->Champion: 1 - skilled in all weaponry, unarmed combat start the game with a weapon of choice and 3 gold ->Berserker: 1 - resist fear, bonus to melee combat if below full health. Double this trait bonus if at or below 25% of your maximum health start the game with a weapon of choice -->Workers ->Miner: 1 - mining / tunnelling, senses bonus when underground start the game with a pick-axe, 2 iron and 2 stone. ->Smith: 1 - forge and smith metal, skill with hammers in and out of combat. start the game with a hammer and 3 iron. ->Mason: 1 - sculpt stone, build walls and structures, knowledge of geology, identify stonework, read ancient runes start the game with a chisel, 5 stone and a simple weapon such as a dagger or club ->Lumberjack: 1 - skill with hatchets in and out of combat. Tree cutting, lumbercraft, carpentry. start the game with a hatchet and 5 wood ->Huntsman: 1 - combat vs animals, tracking, trap setting start the game with a bow and arrow, a knife, 1 leather, 1 food and your choice of simple trap (e.g. a bear trap or snare noose trap) ->Farmer: 1 - animal handling, knowledge of plants and animals start the game with a pitch-fork, a scythe and 3 food ->Merchant: 1 - speech/barter, identify and evaluate items and artefacts start the game with a simple weapon such as a dagger or club and a total of 5 resources, distributed as you wish. You cannot choose steel or mithril. ->Brewer: 1 - brew ale, resist poison / drunkenness start the game with 2 food, a skin of ale or wine and a simple weapon such as a dagger or club ->Engineer: 1 - operate, maintain and interact with machinery, build walls and structures. start the game with a spanner, 1 wood, 1 iron and 1 stone ->Labourer: 1 - lifting and carrying strength, fitness, athletics. start the game with a simple weapon such as a club or dagger and 5 of any ONE of the following: wood, food, stone. ->Butcher: 1 - butcher and cook meat. combat bonus if using a cleaver or knife against an enemy with flesh start the game with a meat-cleaver, 3 food and 1 leather. -->Magic Users ->Battle Shouter: 1 - battle shouts for combative magics, intimidation start the game with one weapon of choice ->Priest: 1 - holy magic for healing and support spells, religious knowledge start the game with a holy symbol and a simple weapon such as a dagger or club ->Runecarver: 1 - uses ancient rune stones for elemental or arcane effects, read ancient runes. start the game with your runestones, a chisel and 3 stone. -->Miscellaneous ->Noble: 1 - speech, etiquette, education / knowledge start the game with a longsword and 3 gold. ->Thief: 1 - stealth, lock picking, pick pocketing, acrobatics, balance, spot traps start the game with a dagger, set of lock-picks and 1 gold ->Scout: 1 - keen senses, stealth, climbing, balance start the game with a shortsword or shortbow and a rope ->Bard: 1 - play and perform music, distract enemies, knowledge of dwarven lore/history start the game with a musical instrument of choice and a simple weapon such as a dagger or a club Description and notes Description: please describe the physical appearance of your dwarf, including their hair and beard style / colour. Tell us a little about them and their background and why they have decided to come to Hammerholm - is it for glory and riches... or because they have nowhere else to go? Notes: Please use the following notes format: Inventory: (list any items you have) Resources: food: 0 wood: 0 stone: 0 coal: 0 leather: 0 iron: 0 steel: 0 gold: 0 mithril: 0
Important Mechanics:
Gathering resources: You gather a number of resources equal to 1 + number of stars rolled. (You will never waste a roll collecting 0 resources). You roll with disadvantage if you don't have the appropriate tool (e.g. trying to cut down a tree with a sword instead of a hatchet). You cannot attempt to gather resources at all if you have nothing that could even be an improvised tool (e.g. trying to mine stone with your bare hands). the game's main resources are; food wood stone coal leather iron steel gold mithril Building and Crafting: Crafting an item will take a certain amount of resources and a certain amount of stars needed on rolls. These rolls are cumulative with it being necessary for multiple people to make progress over longer periods of time for larger projects. As you roll to craft, each star rolled adds to the progress and consumes 1 of the remaining resources needed. A roll of 0 stars equates to bad craftsmanship, where 1 resource is wasted and no progress is made. The type of resource needed for a project will be stated by the GM. Some projects may need multiple types of resources (e.g. making a spear might require both wood for the shaft and iron for the spearhead) When a player states they want to begin a project, the GM will tell them the resource cost and the total number of stars they will need. The following acts as a 'rule of thumb' with many items and projects falling in between these size categories 'Small object' - an object roughly the size of your hand, such as a knife, a cog or an arrow shaft. Cost: 1 resource, stars needed: 1 'Large object' - an object roughly the size of a dwarf such as a suit of armour, medium sized statue or two-handed sword. Cost: 5 resources, stars needed: 5 'Small structure' - A single-storey building, or something of similar size such as a large gate or a siege weapon. Cost: 25 resources, stars needed: 25 'Large structure' - A large, multi-storey building or other large-scale project cost: 100 resources, stars needed: 100 Time: Gameplay can be roughly divided into: - 'work assignments', -'Soft RP' and -'Events' Each session will begin some soft RP during a morning meal / meeting. Here, players will have some time to role-play and plan together for the coming days. The game then progresses into a turn based structure with each round of turns representing one day. Each day/turn each player states what kind of work they wish to do and makes a roll for resource gathering or for crafting. Alternatively, a player may rest for a day and consume 1 food to heal 2 life. Events: Events include more traditional fantasy dungeon-crawls / adventures such as exploring deeper levels of the mine or the lands surrounding Hammerholm. They can also include visitors to the settlement or attacks on it! For real-world time efficiency, there cannot be multiple events happening at once. Players should agree when to go on their adventure at the beginning planning stage - if there are multiple competing desires for events, the GM will put it to a vote. (In other words - you cannot have half the party exploring the forest and half the party exploring the mine at the same time as it's too tricky to run two simultaneous dungeon crawls. Instead the players will agree or vote to do one or the other - they might also say 'let's do it in 3 days' instead of right away to have time to craft some new weapons and armour) Once an event is agreed, it is NOT mandatory for everyone to go on it, and those who don't wish to may perform a normal work assignment or rest instead. Life and Power: Life can only be restored by resting, or by magical means such as a priest's holy magic (healing at 1 life per star, which can be divided across multiple players) or by finding or making healing potions. Power is fully restored on days that are a multiple of 5. Power represents a pool of 'effort'. During events, it can be used for special stunts or to defend or use magic as per normal Fabletop mechanics. It can also be added to a work assignment roll to add an additional star. XP: 1 xp per hour 1 bonus xp for arriving at the session's start time and staying to the end with no lengthy AFK periods. 1 bonus xp when a project requiring 10 or more resources is completed to any dwarf who worked on the project or has gathered resources of the type used this week. 1-2 bonus xp per completed event, depending on its out-come and difficulty. 1xp for completing a play-by-forum for a missed session before the next session is hosted. Play By Forum: A player who is unable to attend a session may still contribute to Hammerholm via play-by-forum mechanics! They cannot take part in any events or role-play, but may retroactively tell us about their work assignments for the GM to resolve for them. Please use the following template in the 'play by forum' thread: {link to go here} ((Template to be re-done soon)) Please log in to add a comment. |
A.k.a. 'Realistic Dwarf Simulator 2025'
Return to Hammerholm is a near-core rules campaign featuring a fellowship of Dwarves rebuilding a town, delving for treasure in its abandoned mine, engaging in diplomacy, gathering resources, dungeon crawling, and just generally hanging out being Dwarves.