Rise of Drekis: Final assets and developments

Rise of Drekis starts next week, and it sure has been a nail biter to get everything done in time.

Above you'll find the intro video, which I'm super psyched about. You'll see at the end it has a "Chapter I" segment, which will be swapped out for "Chapter II" etc. as we go through the campaign. We'll also have unique overlays for each chapter, but first let's talk about the intro video.

Intro Video

This is the story of the Rise of Drekis, as told from the POV of the Drekissian empire. If you're a fan of the history I think you'll appreciate the perspective offered here. If you've watched through the campaigns that have led up to this one, you'll see some differences between how and why things played out the way they did and how things are presented in this short video. Is this Drekissian propaganda, or is it just a matter of trying to tell a big story in a compressed time frame? I really enjoyed making this little historical lesson specifically because it was an exercise in the age old tradition of "history is written by the victors" or "history is a set of lies agreed upon". The story told in this video isn't a lie, but it is the rosiest version of the events. It's the perspective that will be written down in the short histories and spread wherever the empire goes.

Now, if you're a super dork like me, you can take a look at real world history with an understanding that we tell the stories of our past in a similar way. What are the great and glorious deeds of world powers (past and present) that might be told through the rosiest of lenses? 

Overlays

In our chapter 1 overlays we're trying something new out. The overlays have left a lot of open realestate to show off some character art along with blocks of text that talk about the campaign. Right now there are 5 blocks:

• Character Stats
• Character Gear
• Mission Objectives
• Enemy Information
• Island Information

If I get the chance, I'd like to add some more blocks that provide more details or more context. The idea behind this approach is to see if we can't get more value out of screen real estate and provide the viewers with key information that might otherwise be difficult to get out in game, or easy to forget. Our heroine has a very specific mission that involves some nuance and investigation. 

Specifically, chapter 1 deals with a band of deserters of the Drekissian Army who have ended up on Arrow Island - one of the Talens in the South Arcadian Sea. Our heroine is sent, with 3 spears of soldiers, to investigate what happened, punish the wicked, rescue the innocent, and return the bodies and belongings of the dead knights... but our heroine is on their own with no oversight, and whatever she reports will be accepted by the powers that be. What our heroine does here is going to be a reflection on the empire as a whole.

Does she show up, kick ass, chew bubble gum, take the loot for herself and report back that "They were all deserters so I put them all down?" Does she try to judge these people's actions for herself, sparing the lives of some while doing away with the others? Does she try to take as many captive as possible? Does she learn their motives and infiltrate the group under the guise of joining with them to learn more about what's going on? Does she destroy their ability to survive and escape, and then head home leaving them all to die? How many of her own soldiers does she risk? 

The goals of her mission are vague and open ended enough that this story could go many ways and will help set the tone of the empire as a whole. 

The Character: Elaine Pentalin

The half elf child born to a family of deep and ancient nobility. This is super awkward since both her mother and her father are humans. The nature of how she came to be was never discussed, and remains unknown to her. She was sent off to foreign lands [Redport in Eridon] for her education, which isn't uncommon but wasn't the case for her siblings. She was brought home when danger came.

While Kel Elaine Pentalin is a low ranking knight (only 3rd level!), her family connections and the shortage of good officers has put her in a rather advanced position. Normally a mission like this would be commanded by a 5th level knight who has a few 4th level knights working under her. This means that Kel Pentalin is being given a real test of her character and abilities. If she does well, she may rise through the ranks at an accelerated pace. She may bring honor to her family. Her deeds may outshine the social awkwardness of her birth. On the other hand, should she fail or do poorly, this may be the end of her career. She may bring shame on her family. She might find herself stationed somewhere distant and out of the way where she can do no harm and nobody needs to see her. 

The Kingdom of Drekis

Part of our story, the part that we're not talking about too directly in the campaign but that we're giving a little bit of time to here, is that the Empire of Drekis is facing some difficulties. The War for Arcadia was long and bloody. Drekis has depleted their supply of dedicated warriors - the knights that form the backbone of the army. The deserters, known as The 7th Mixed Infantry Company, are a mix of Drekissian soldiers and foreign mercenaries. Our heroine is well below the rank and ability that this mission typically calls for. She has no other knights under her. She has no mages, clerics, or scouts. 

What is happening behind the scenes here is that the Kingdom of Drekis has grown from 32,000 miles² to 86,000 miles² all while taking significant losses. To hold these new lands and keep the peace while rebuilding from the devastation takes a lot of manpower. There are strong leaders in place, but the day to day tasks need to be entrusted to loyal servants of the empire, and that means using Drekissian troops. Our empire may be wealthy, may have some stacked top tier warriors, but is running out of boots on the ground. It is for these reasons that we see units like The 7th Mixed Infantry Company incorporating foreign mercenaries, and soldiers of low rank but good families being given positions typically well beyond their station. 

Are these problems growing pains? Stretch marks? Cracks in the empire? This particular mission is rather small and of little importance to the overall growth of Drekis, but it showcases some very fundamental issues facing our fledgling empire.

Game Times

Scheduling is the bane of D&D. 

While we would like to have a regular date and time for this game, we're going to have to do a little bit of shuffling to get a frequent schedule. Our first game is on Thursday the 24th, our 2nd is on Wednesday the 30th, and our 3rd isn't scheduled yet but will likely be on Thursday the following week. After that we'll hopefully settle into a Friday time slot for the remainder of the first chapter. That said, I'm only expecting ~5 sessions for this chapter, so we might not see anything resembling a regular schedule.

Since our player lives in CET, our games will be in the evening for Europe and the late morning / early afternoon for US time zones.

Chapter 2 and beyond

If Kel Elaine Pentalin does well, and scheduling works out with our player, we may see her in a subsequent chapter with an additional player or two. We may also see Chapters 2 and 3 being played in parallel - depending on development cycles, scheduling, and other campaigns that may or may not crop up.

Some of these chapters will see familiar faces, but I'm hoping to get some new blood in the history of Arcadia too.