Links
Characters
All about creating a character for Obormot's Reign of Winter.
The World As You Know It
People, places, and things within the campaign world that are known to the player characters.
Player's Guide
Selected excerpts from the Reign of Winter Player's Guide, including cold weather rules.
Inspirations
Background information on the mythological inspirations for the campaign, and the mythical themes in it.
Rules
All about the game rules used for Obormot's Reign of Winter.
The Story So Far
A "campaign log" of events that have transpired in the campaign; major plot developments, etc.
Glossary
Definitions of terms that may be unfamiliar to players.
Obormot's Reign of Winter is very much like the D&D or Pathfinder games and campaigns you've been in before; but there are some major differences. (This page assumes that you've played D&D or Pathfinder before; if you haven't, ask your Dungeon Master to explain the basics.)
Characters
The origin of the player characters is one of the most unusual things about Obormot's Reign of Winter. In short: player characters are not native to the world in which the campaign takes place, but instead hail from other worlds — which may be profoundly different from the fantastic world in which the campaign takes place. What unites the PCs is that each of them has, for reasons of their own, set forth to seek out the legendary witch-crone Baba Yaga. (The Characters page has much more information about the origins of the PCs.)
In the world where the campaign takes place, the player characters are "fish out of water"; they find themselves in a strange, unfamiliar environment (and their travels will take them to ever stranger places). Though they have some limited knowledge of their new world, the player characters will almost certainly have to seek the help of the locals, make alliances, and use their heads at least as much as their swords and spells, if they're to have any chance of succeeding in their quest.
The Plot
Obormot's Reign of Winter is based on a published Adventure Path (Reign of Winter, from Paizo Publishing). Like almost all Adventure Paths, Reign of Winter is written as a linear story (at least in terms of the major plot arc; any particular part of the adventure often is usually designed with multiple options or paths which the player characters might take).
Reign of Winter allows the player characters a bit more freedom of choice and action than some other Adventure Paths do. And Obormot's Reign of Winter — the custom, modified campaign which is described on this site — expands that freedom a bit further still. Yet the campaign — the "story", as it were — is still essentially linear, especially in the broad strokes. In particular, little or no material is provided about what the player characters might encounter if (for example) they decide to abandon their quest and take a trip to the jungles of Garund, or do something else that has no relevance to the "main plot". It is assumed that the PCs have no reason to want to do so (an assumption which Obormot's Reign of Winter strengthens).
That being said, the PCs are not forbidden from "going off the rails", so to speak. Be assured that you won't "wreck the DM's plans", "mess up the plot", or otherwise ruin everything by doing something which doesn't seem to be "expected" or "part of the plan". You may often find that "the plan" is more flexible than it seems, and that both the DM and the story are well-prepared to accommodate your unexpected choices. (However, you might very well "annoy your fellow players", if you decide to "go apple shopping" while the rest of the party follows the obvious plot thread.)
In short: do what seems to make sense, and don't feel constrained by what you think your characters are "supposed" to do; but remember that in Obormot's Reign of Winter, the "rails" aren't there to keep you away from the fun; they're there to transport you toward the fun, at best possible speed.
The World
In Obormot's Reign of Winter, the world — that is, the "fictional world" of the story (as distinct from the literal, physical world or worlds on which the story takes place) — is a fantastic and wondrous place. It is a world of fairy tales, and legends, and magic at its most wondrous and strange. And it differs in some key respects from the "standard" world of a "normal" Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
In Obormot's Reign of Winter, player characters need not have an alignment. There are several reasons for this. A character may hail from a world where the concepts of good and evil, law and chaos, have very different meanings than in the world where the campaign takes place; in the world of a character's origin, the struggle between cosmic forces may be very different, or may have no relevance at all. And even in the world where the campaign takes places, where good and evil and law and chaos are more tangible concepts, grand struggles between cosmic forces (and between their earthly followers and representatives) are usually distant from the concerns of the PCs. Each player character's quest is a very personal journey. (Likewise, while many of the PCs' antagonists are quite evil, in the most classic sense of the word, many other creatures that the player characters will meet are neither good nor evil; their motives are strange and peculiar, and their behavior and their nature not easily categorized within the alignment system. Player characters are advised to consider each intelligent creature they meet on its own merits; understanding the mindset and motivations of the beings they encounter will often be the key to success.)
This doesn't mean that a player character's behavior and actions don't matter. People and creatures whom the player characters encounter — from the lowliest peasant to the highest of angels, demons, and dragons — will judge the PCs by a hero's virtues: courage, honesty, justice, mercy, cleverness, integrity, compassion, generosity, and others. How the beings they meet view the player characters will make a critical difference in the outcome of the PCs' plans. (And character classes that depend on divinely or externally granted powers — from the paladin to the witch — may find their powers failing them as punishment for reckless foolishness as easily as for selfishness or cruelty — although this varies from class to class, of course.) And, in turn, the way that the PCs treat the people they encounter will determine those people's actions toward them — and even someone seemingly unimportant may turn out to play an unexpected role in the story and in the PCs' plans.
The Game
Obormot's Reign of Winter, despite having a strong, central plot thread, is designed as an episodic game. New characters may join the campaign, and the party, at any point in the story, without disrupting the plot. Even more importantly, a character may be absent from a particular game session, without "breaking the plot"; it is assumed that the character pursues some personal errand, or stays behind while the rest of the party adventure, and "catches up" later. The "plateaued" leveling curve for a character in Obormot's Reign of Winter means that a character who misses a game session does not find themselves significantly "behind the curve" of combat effectiveness. (See Character Advancement and The E6 System for more information.) The details of the plot contrivances, assumptions, and game mechanics that accomplish this "episodic-ness" will be revealed as the campaign progresses.
The Rules
Obormot's Reign of Winter uses a custom set of game rules. This ruleset is a variant (at some remove) of the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons, so anyone familiar with that game, or any of its derivatives, will find the rules easy to learn. See the Rules page for more information.
