Living Locations – Hot Spot #1 – Village of Rumbleford

September 15, 2020 Trevor Pope Ask a GM 0

And finally, I can return to the keyboard following the rigors of life and the distractions of vacation!

Moving forward, I am going to be doing what I have termed “Hot Spots.” These will be locations that you can drop into your game. I am going to use Genesys RPG mechanics for the effects as that’s my personal choice for systems. It’s also easy to convert that to Shadowrun, 5e, Pathfinder, or whatever your heart desires.

For review, here is my last effort: Link.

For the first hot spot, I am going to demonstrate another way to use the Core Element Framework (CEF from here on). I will use the CEF to create a small village, suitable for the humble beginnings of an adventuring party. In the following Hot Spots, I will create new places of interest using the same CEF format. In the end, it should provide a nice, little village for the players to interact with. Just to cover all the bases, this village can be easily transported to any fantasy game setting with little effort. Basically, you can change the Place element of the CEF and any setting specific details that are included in the CEF.

The Village of Rumbleford

  • Time – 1850, Age of Courage
  • Place – Rumbleford, Pelgate Barony, Terrinoth, Menara 
  • Mood – Mistrusting of Strangers, Proud, Honest
  • Context – The Village is the starting location for a band of adventurers as they begin their latest adventure. Or perhaps, this is the group’s base of operations having been assigned here by the Baroness of Pelgate.
  • Cast of Characters –
    • Mayor Osin Marsk – Mayor Marsk was elected mayor five summers ago, having been narrowly chosen over his rival Cerni Kersk. Marsk was able to win the nomination through his past deeds as a traveling merchant. The Rumbleford council is eager to see its trade prosper, believing him to be the best choice to advance that agenda. It’s unclear why Marsk retired to Rumbleford following his life as a merchant, but he is friendly and charming. Marsk’s Mercantile is the general store of Rumbleford.
    • Cerni Kersk – Councilor Kersk was born and raised in Rumbleford. For many years, Cerni was a caravan guard, traveling the lands of Terrinoth. Having made enough gold to buy her smithy, she returned to the village and began work as a weaponsmith. Her wares are good if unremarkable in terms of artistry. From the moment he arrived in Rumbleford, Cerni and Mayor Marsk have been at odds. No one is sure what caused the two to be at odds, but Osin being elected Mayor has only increased their dislike for each other.
    • Constable Amarion Hale – Constable Hale was recently given the post by Mayor Marsk. Up until then, he was a local guide and hunter. Amarion would supply the Inn with venison and other game. He knows the lands around Rumbleford better than anyone else. Amarion is not a people person, preferring the solitude of the wilderness to the companionship of the village residents. This fact alone makes his appointment seem strange to the locals. Amarion is polite though curt with outsiders unless they cause trouble. For those visitors, he’s quick to throw them into the cell in the back of the Meeting Hall.
    • Apothecary Somer Ramsey – Somer is the village physician and apothecary, being the only one skilled in the usage of herbs, and healing techniques. Somer came to Rumbleford when he was a young man. He had left Greyhaven when he was unable to continue his studies as a Maester. At least that is the story that followed him to Rumbleford when Somer arrived. Somer has never shared much about his past with the other villagers, even after all these years. He set up an apothecary shop during his first year in Rumbleford, and that was 20 years ago. Somer can often be found roving the hills and forests around Rumbleford in search of his herbs and other medicinal gatherings.
    • Frinian Galmor – Frinian is the Inn Keeper of the Half-Full Tankard. She is also a Forge Dwarf making her a bit of a novelty in Rumbleford. Frinian bought the Inn 30 years ago and has become a fixture of the village. While she doesn’t sit on the council, she has great influence and interaction with the village leaders. Frinian is warm and welcoming to all, feeling like an old friend after a few moments in her company. She is the “peacekeeper” among the townsfolk, often mediating over a tankard or two of ale when the people of Rumbleford have a disagreement that can’t be settled. She sings softly in Dwarven as she goes about her work.
  • Effects
      • All social checks with the residents suffer two setback dice. This represents the locals’ mistrust of strangers.
        • By spending 2 advantages, the locals begin to warm to the character. Remove a setback die.
      • Kersk is a skilled smith but is devoid of artistry. Any weapon purchased from Kersk’s Smithy has the Superior item quality.
      • Talking to Amarion Hale before a journey into the wilderness grants a boost dice to Survival check

Welcome to Rumbleford, at the village (macro) level. The next 3 or 4 articles will detail the various places of interest. Each time I will use the CEF method to give the location further life. By the end of the “series,” the village of Rumbleford should be a living, breathing setting that can be used out of the box for a Terrinoth campaign. If you’re not playing Genesys RPG and/or in the Realms of Terrinoth (you probably should be as the system is awesome!), you can bring the village of Rumbleford into your game with a few tweaks and minor changes.

Next time around, I will focus on the Rumbleford Mercantile as I flush out the rest of the Village. Until then, good gaming!

The following two tabs change content below.

Trevor Pope

I have been gaming since the mid 80’s having started with 2nd AD&D and GMing since the late 80’s. I’ve run everything from the Indiana Jones RPG to the FFG Star Wars RPG. In college, I worked at a comic and gaming store where I ran many an introductory sessions. I have developed a real passion for the narrative dice system found in the Star Wars and Genesys rpgs that I want to pass on to others beyond my gaming group.

Latest posts by Trevor Pope (see all)