Continuity

In a previous post of I have stated that that Portown is one of two port cities along a long coastline. This is due to the saltmarsh and instability of the soil along much of the coast. Most towns are several miles inland.

“Most” of course is not “all.” There are many fishing villages along the coast, built with the flimsiest of structures. In fact, there is a village that bears a similarity to Venice, in that there are a number of little marsh isles upon which homes are built, with fishing boats moored right along side. The channels are “streets.”

There is also an area about 25 - 75 miles west of Portown, called Montydo in Kemen. The area is similar to the Everglades, though smaller. Near the coast it is mangrove and saltmarsh, while further inland it eventually becomes freshwater swamp. It is here that the Temple of the Frog is located. If you do not have this module by Dave Arneson, you are missing out.

Those of you who have or have read the module know that there are some things to explain, and by this I mean “Saint Stephen.”

In Kemen, a common form of salutation is, “Greetings, traveller.” (For space and other considerations, I will not translate this into the local tongue.) However, there is another kind of traveller, and I make the distinction by spelling it Travellor. Travellors are beings that have found a way to cross into Kemen through means of n-dimensional travel. For those familiar with Robert Heinlein's The Number of the Beast, Saint Stephen is a Black Hat. Those who arrive via regular interstellar means are referred to as Visitors.

This explains the presence of certain other … beings … in Kemen. You do not need to know this. It is however an example of creating a sense of personal continuity. Some of the TSR modules mixed fantasy and sci-fi, in part as a deliberate attempt to spin off other games and make money. Often, there was no coherent or satisfactory explanation for the juxtaposition.

Personally, I don't like that. I think that it shatters the suspension of disbelief for these things to mix without a defined context, and I'll not have such things in my campaign to satisfy the marketing campaign of a now defunct company.

Further, in the rare cases that a plausible context is suggested, it is pretty thin. In response, I find that it is best to tailor my own context, to devise a backdrop that fits with the flavor of my campaign. In the spirit of Gygax's oft repeated mantra that the DM is the final arbiter of what occurs in his or her campaign, rulebooks notwithstanding – what I refer to as the DM Standard License – I encourage everyone to do the same. It's your world. Don't let someone else tell you how to run it. That includes me. The information that I offer on this blog is meant to inspire. It is not unalterable gospel -- unless you are on Kemen.