Prolog

Red steel is a magical metal, a metal of legends. Red steel is rareand coverted by all who know of it, coveted and cursed. Red steel comes from only one place in the entire world, the Savage Coast. Fare away from those lands called civilized, the savage coast is a war-torn frontier land that stretches for nearly 2000 miles. The coast is home to a dozen diverse and intelligent races like the human of the Baronies, the dog-like Lupins, the feline Rakastas of the central cost, the mysterious arenas of Herath and the savage lizard men of Yalu bay.

With The Red Steel came the Red Curse, and with the Red Curse there came a blessing. It granted its victims wonderousmagical powers called legacies, but at a prize the Red Curse also twisted them, deforming them into hideous parodies of their former self. Only one thing was known to protect from the side effects of the curse: an amulet of Cynabryll.

Cynabryll is an enchanted metal which was once commonly found in deposits along the outskirts of the Savage Coast. The wearer of a Cynabryll amulet could enjoy the blessings granted by the curse without suffering its hideous side effects. Unfortunately Cynabryll has to be hunted constantly because time fades its magic like the bloom of a flower. And that is not all, for as Cynabryll loses its powers it transforms into Red Steel.

The flow of Cynabryll was controlled by The Inheritors, an organization spit into three orders. The Crimson order wanted to make the best of the curse, using its advantages to help there people. The Ruby order wanted to find a way to prevent the curse from spreading or if possible cure it completely. The Flame order liked the curse for the power it gave them, and was blind to the effect of the curse on the weak and poor.


Previously

20 years ago, 1012 After Crowning, a mad wizard of Herath named Zoron had found a ritual that would make him gain all the powers of the legacies and in the process deplete all the deposits of Cynabryll, leaving only red steel and the curse. But to complete the ritual Zoron needed to find the 5 artifacts of the Wallaran.

The inheritors arranged an emergency conclave, and all orders decided that the artifacts had to be found and destroyed.

We did not want to spread panic over the coast; therfor I, Baron Mendez Calinties, suggested to the conclave that we should send a small party to go looking for the artifacts. And I knew of just the inheritor to lead such a recon mission. My pupil inheritor Chavez e La Vega, had recently been admitted in to the Crimson Order, and we saw great potential in the young man.

Not many weeks had passed when lo and behold de La Vega had located two of the artifacts, with a little help from my good friend don Luis de Manzanas. There the flame inheritor Balazar had fallen in to affliction, and blamed Manzanas for his dismay. He was desperate for revenge and Chavez and his group had no choice but to kill Balazar in the process of protecting a fellow inheritor and a good man.

The Barrier Mask and the Bracers of Forbiddance seemed only to be the first to pieces of a complete set of armor. The artifacts in themselves were of greater power then anyone had ever imagined.

By the time the third artifact was found, lord Medusa of the ruby order came to me and told me of their progress in the study of the artifacts potential. It seemed that the artifacts used with a different ritual could eradicate the curse itself, taking with it its benefits and side effects.

This was good news, but I still knew in my heart that there was probably a dozen ways to dispel the curse, and the chance of the artifacts falling in to Zoron’s hands was a great risk to take. So to my disagreement, the destruction of the artifacts was now not only hard, but forbidden.

Over a course of time Chavez and his friends met many interesting characters. Like Killian the swashbuckling sailor, who sailed them to the island where the Armor of Immortal Skin was hidden. The man always stayed away just long enough not to get infected by the curse.

They also met the little man, Plancheras Pestillo. Who was at that time working on the iron horse that ran on steam, which he thought would revolutionize transport over the coast. Unfortunately he did not think of the Yasak riders.

The group was followed and watched by the orders, only to realize to late that Medusa was after all corrupted, working for Zoron to save his own life.

In the end Zoron took all the five artifacts from Chavez, and for a time all seemed lost. Then a wise Tortle named Sesudo Brujo, came to them and gave them a scroll which had been in his possession for hundreds of year. The scroll was almost identical to the scroll that Zoron was to use in his ritual, but one sentence was different. He also gave Chaves and his tree friends four rings of time, very powerful artifacts which he really did not want to part with. Should all life leave theirbodies while the ring was on their fingers, they would be transported back to the place when the ring was last perforated, and the ring would evaporate.

Luckily they did not need this function, and the rings were left unused. They tricked Zoron to use the wrong script, which led him to remove the curse with a wave of silver flowing from his center. It moved like a wall of silvery fog along the coasts entire length. The red sands, red steel and Cynabryll all turned to dust and crude steel. All afflicted who came in contact with the wave became healed from their deformity, and all tyrants relying on the powers of legacies became powerless.

Zoron was destroyed and the coast was now a little bit safer.


The time between

For a few years there were joyful and prosperous times, yet not for all. The inheritors lost a lot of their powers when the curse and Cynabryll disappeared. But luckily they did not loose all of their respect, so they turned to other resources to help there people.

The ruby order had the least of worries. Taking a lot of undeserved credit for the disappearance of the curse, gave them great political power across the east coast.

The order of Crimson more or less dissolved naturally. There was no point in a “curse police” now that the curse was gone. So they lay down their arrangements and went each to their own, finding new ways to help there people.

The Flame inheritors where probably more bitter then the others, promising revenge on the ones who had taken away their power. Since they now no longer could control their people by fear they now had to turn to darker methods to obtain powers. The order turned underground and is suspected for a wide ranger of coastal code breaks. Smuggling, tyranny, fraud, murder and any thing else you could imagine, including trying to reclaim the powers of the Red Curse.

The people of the coast turned to solve other problems. Like keeping the Yazak out of civilized areas, mining and farming trade goods, getting the water clean from pirates, resolving some kind of general costal law, building peace treaties between states.

But there biggest concern is that the curse will return, therefore the people of the coast does not look kindly on magic users. They do not se magic, they see legacies, and will go to extreme measures to make sure that they will not get reinfected.

Now sitting here alone on my vine farm in Baronia de Gargoña, I think back at the time 20 years that has passed and wonder where Chavez is now. I have not seen Chavez de La Vega since he went into hiding from the flame order a long time ago.

Will we meet again? Will I ever have purpose again? I don’t know. All I can do I write down what I remember, before my old age catchesup with me.

Senior Mendez Calinties
1022 AC

The major changes to suite my needs

Everything you find in the original campaign about the "Red Curse" and "Inheritors" is history now. But I'm not saying that it wont have any effect on the story, or that is wont return.

I will go to drastic measures to take away all association to Forgotten Realms and Lord of the Rings etc. Therefore Elfs, Halfelfs, Halflings, Gnomes, Dwarfs and Half Orcs dos not exist in my spin of version. I like to think that this was the general idea of the first version of Red Steal, and that TSR pressed these standard (unoriginal) races in to the game. Well not in my game.

I will also take some creative choices to give the story a more believable feeling. The theme of magic will be more discreet. And i will try to accentuate the tropical, swashbuckling, wheel-lock wielding, honor bound feel of the game.

I will convert the system to 3ed edition.

Kits don't belong in 3ed edition. Instead Inheritor turns in to a prestige class. The rest of the kits will be more of a profession or maybe even classes of there own.

So wish us luck, and stay tunes for the adventure.

To english reader, what is this?

This is a fan based none profitable project to honor original TSR Red Steel - Savage coast campaign. The game was first published in 1992 and again in 1996 and is created by Tim Beach and Bruce Heard.

Me and my players played this campaign, and the story became an epic adventure we will never forget. "Unfortunately" the story turned to a happy ending, removing the Red Curse from the coast itself.

Whats so "Unfortunate" with that you ask? Well the original campaign relayed allot of its conflicts on the curse. When the curse was gone, the main core of the campaign sort of disappeared as well.

But then one night 6 years after finishing the campaign i took out my old box set adventure version and started reading it over. It was then i realized that this world is much more complex than i first assumed. I started imaging what would happen to the inheritors after the curse was gone? What would happen in the cultures of the coast itself? And if the curse was gone, was there a chance of it returning? And if that threat came, how fare would people go to prevent it, and how fare would other go to make it so?

The world in which the red curse flowed, was after all a weary interesting and dangerous place in it self. So now using the world created by Tim Beach and Bruce Heard as a backbone, I will attempt to create an adventure BACED ON Red Steal, with is placed about 20 years after the curse mysteriously vanished.

This blog will contain the log of the main NPC Captain Henry De'la Morgan. The player will be his crew onbord the freight ship Dragonfly. Here you will find the records of there journeys and adventures.

Most of the post now are in Norwegian because they are practical notes for the players। But when the adventure begins i will turned to English to reach a bigger audience.

I'm not sure yet but this might also become a PodCast adventure. But first i have to make sure that the original creators are ok with that. :P

En kort innføring i modelen og dens endringer.

Dersom dere har spilt den offisielle Red Steel modulen før; må jeg nok meddele at jeg har endret endel ting til å tilpasse til mitt eget behov.

Men grunn figuren bak land og historie er den sammen, så vist dere er interrisert i å lære mer er hele 2nd edition versjonen offisielt ”publik domain” av Wizards of the Coast og TSR.

Dere kan laste ned den offisielle modulen fra Wizards hjemmeside. Men dette er strengt talt ikke nødvendig etter som jeg kommer til å forklare de viktigste elementer i denne bloggen.

Vi benytter regel systemet fra D&D 3ed. Offisielt kjent som d20.

Generelt om kysten. Denne verdens kultur er basert på en miks av 1400 tals kolonisering av USA, pirater i caribien, Portugal under 1400 tallet, ville westen og det gamle Kina... ja, en sær blanding jeg vet...

Etter som denne Campaign ble justert for å appellere til det konversielle ”hige fantasy” krav, har jeg bestemt meg for å gjøre det motsatte. Jeg vil prøve å ta vekk de fleste assosiasjoner til Ringenes Herre eller Forgotten Realms.

DVS. Rasene Elf, dwarf, halflings, halfelfs, halforc og gnomes finnes ikke i min versjon. Du kan gjerne spille et menneske med samme kroppsbyggning som en dverg eller hobbit, du vil til og med få størrelses fordelen. Men du er da litterært en dverg eller en veldig kortvokst og staut man/kvinne. Du vil ikke leve mer en 90 år, og du vil ha ingen magiske overnaturlige egenskaper som ”night visjon” o.l.

Til tross for at noen raser forsvinner, beholder jeg alle de originale Savage Cosast rasene. Her er en kort oppsummering. Du finner mer info om dem under utdrag fra den originale modulen.

Rakastra. Et ærefult og grasiøst kattefolk fra det mektige emperiet av Bellayne. Få slår dette agile folkeslaget i hand til hand kampsport. Deres tenner og klør gir rakastraen fordelen av å ha et våpen som er umulig å desarmere. Heldigvis er deres ære og hjerte stort.

Inspirasjonen bak rasen er hentet fra oldtidens asia

Lupin. Opprinnelig en del av de innfødte hundefolket av kysten. Men etter 200 år har folkeslaget mer og mer vendt seg til menneskenes kultur. Men fortsatt finnes enkelte stammer som holder på det gamle. Lupins er loyale, og meget oppmerksome. Det skal gått gjøres å skule noe fra dens neste og keene 6. sans.

Inspirasjonen bak rasen er hentet fra de innfødte av Amerika


Tortle. Dette fredfulle folkeslaget er kanskje den minst sannsynlige helten av alle. De lever for det meste av naturen og forholder seg utenfor kontinentene av kysten. De ønsker ikke annet en å leve i fred, og unngår konflikt der de kan. Men rasen er både visere og smartere en de fleste andre raser, mange kommer til dem for råd.


Inspirasjonen bak rasen er hentet fra en form for maya indianere, eller Tibet munker.


Arena. Ved første øyekast virker arenaen som et menneske. Men i sannhet ligger det en lang historie bak denne rasen. De er en miks av edderkopp og menneske. Selv om de fysisk har to armer, ben og øyne. Har de muligheten til å kontrollere magi og produsere edderkopp nett.

Inspirasjonen bak denne rasen er original. Kanskje litt spiderman?


Tillegg til dette finnes også noen extra ordinære raser som de mystiske og ville Kaldblodige øglestammene av Yale bay, og de farlige trollmenn fra Herath.

Konseptet magi er også litt spesielt i min modul. Magi er ikke noe ”vanlig”. Jeg vil selvfølgelig bruke magi i historien, noen av dere vil sikkert også spille magikere, men de fleste vil reagere med vantro på slike egenskaper. De fleste kjenner magi gjennom den røde forbandelsen legasies, så etter som forbannelsen er borte vil kanskje magiske egenskaper starte rykter om at forbannelsen er tilbake. Kanskje til og med drive korstog mot folk med slike egenskaper i frykt for at forbannelsen skal komme tilbake.

Den type magi man kanskje lettest kommer over i Savage Coast er Voodoo magi (Mage) og Lupin spirit magi (Druid / Ranger). Noen tyr seg også til sjarm (Bards). Noen henter magien sin fra gudene (Cleric). Men alle prøver å skule sin makt fra den vanlige man. Bortsett fra tyranner av trollmenn som ønsker å styre sitt folk med frykt.

Historien Fortsetter

Historien Fortsetter

Det er nå 6 år siden vi avsluttet det episke eventyret bak Red Steel og ”The Artifacts of Humulies”. Etter som jeg hadde en så utrolig morsom opplevelse med denne Campaignen har jeg bestemt meg for å fortsette historien. 2 av spillerne som deltok i forrige kapittel vil også være med denne gangen. Men kun en karakter fra dette eventyr vil returnere. Derfor blir denne omgangen mer en spinnof enn en oppfølger. Som en TV serie basert på en film...

Chaves del’a vega, en Crimson Inheritor og hans lag av eventyrere overvant den psykopatiske arena trollmannen Zaron fra å ødelegge alt håp for å overvinne den røde forbannelse. I den forbindelse klarte de å overvinde forbannelsen selv og folket ble fri for alle dens fordeler og ulemper.

Dette er nå 20 år siden, De fleste innbyggerne av Savage Coast lever i god tro om at forbannelsen er borte for godt. Men andre like utfordrende trusler står for tur. Savage coast kysten er fortsatt i tidlig stadie av kolonisering, og mange landområder blir fortsatt kjempet om. Det er langt fra fred langs kysten.

Innheritorene mistet mye av sin makt nå de mistet Cynabryll fordelen, men mange av innheritorene tok seg til andre virksomheter.

Ruby ordenen frydes nok best av alt. Etter som de tok æren for å ha fjernet forbannelsen, fikk de mye ufortjent ære fra folket. Dette gir dem stor politisk makt, spesielt langs østkysten.

Crimson Ordene gikk mer eller mindre i oppløsning etter at forbannelsen forsvant. Nå som den var borte følte flere av medlemmene at det ikke lenger var behov for deres innvirking, og de gikk videre til andre virksomheter for å hjelpe sine folk videre til en mer sivilisert hverdag.

Flame Ordene var de mest bitre av alle inheritorene og lovet hevn over dem som hadde ødelagt deres makt. Etter som de ikke lenger kunne styre sitt folk med frykt for forbannelsen var de tvunget til å fortsette sitt regime på andre mer mørke måter. Men mesteparten av deres tid går til å finne et håp for å få makten bak den røde forbannelse tilbake.

Søker manskap

The Savage Coast

Dette er en offisielt invitasjon til å bli med på et episk eventyr gjennom en fantastisk flott men farlig kyst kjent som The Savage Coast.

Dette nye landområdet er hjem til flere varierte og intelligente raser. Som de koloniserende menneskene av ”Savage baronies”. De noble og ærefulle katefolket, Rakastra av Bellayne,. De vise men voldelige hundefolket av Renardy, Lupins. De mystiske og ville Kaldblodige øglestammene av Yale bay, og de farlige trollmenn fra Herath.

Jeg er Captein Henry Del’a Morgan. Jeg søker mannskap ombord mitt frakteskipet SS Dragonfly. Selv om våre hovedoppgaver vil omhandle frakt av varer mellom kontinentene langs kysten, lover jeg en variert arbeidstilværelse med mange unike utfordringer.

Nå som den røde forbandene har vært sporløst forsvunnet i over 20 år har vi endelig sjansen til å utforske kysten fritt uten å være avhengige av inheritorenes overprisede Cynabrill.

Mine krav til mitt mannskap er ikke store, men jobben er ikke for de med svakt hjerte. Jeg har stor toleranse til alle kulturer, og ønsker et mannskap med varierte egenskaper. Du må kunne stå oppreist, og kunne takle fysisk arbeid. Etter som store deler av kysten forsatt usivilisert og farlig, med tanke på Yasak riderene og pirater, er det er fordel å kunne bistå i kamp.

Dersom du føler deg kvalifisert til jobben kan du sende en beskrivelse av deg og dine egenskaper til avsenderadressen. Så vil jeg ta kontakt når Dragonfly ankommer din nærmeste havneby

Med ytterst vennlig hilsen
Captein Henry Del’a Morgan

Interresert i å delta?

Flere folk har vist stor interresse for å være med på rollespillet. Noe jeg syntes er veldig morsomt.

Dessverre er det vanskelig å skape et spennende og inkluderene rollespill med mer enn 6 spillere. Derfor må jeg begrense antall spilllere, pr.gang.

Dersom du har fått en invitasjon kan du sende meg en beskivelse av din karakter på minst 1 a4 side. Du trenger ikke å være historisk korrekt så vær kreativ, men karakterene må passe inn i verden så tenk på en blandingmellom pirater i caribien, Portugal under 1400 tallet, ville westen og det gamle Kina... ja, en sær blanding jeg vet ... Se kort om campaignen.

Inspirasjonskilder kan hentes fra: Firefly, Hero, Once opon a time in the west, Pirates of the Caribien, Snikende tiger - skjult drage, New world, Conquest paradise. o.l. :)

Prøv også å lese de fleste postene i denne bloggen. Når vi har kommet igang vil jeg bruke denne bloggen som logg for hva som har skjedd i eventyret våres.

Send meg en mail på tfosseli@gmail.com

Geography and Overview

(text copied from the original champaign)

As mentioned, the Savage Coast is a frontier area, home to many colonies. Some of the colonies have existed for many years, long enough to be establishing their own satellite colonies. Some of the nations and cities have populations in the thousands. Other villages are new, while some have risen, fallen, and now lie in ruins.

At the region's far eastern end lies the city of Slagovich,often considered the gateway to the Savage Coast. Slagovich is a city of political intrigue. While not actually within the cursed region itself, Slagovich serves as a clearing point for goods moving to and from the Savage Coast.

To the north of Slagovich lies the country of Hule, an empire ruled by a hagiarchy. Most of Hule is also free of the Red Curse, extending far into the borderlands, and its government has recently decreed that its people must stay away from the Savage Coast and its curse.

West of Hule, and still north of the cursed lands, are the Yazak Steppes. This area is home to goblins and other humanoids, who occasionally raid the settled lands to the south.

Many humanoids live in other nearby places free of the curse: the Great Northway Lands (west of the Yazak Steppes) and the Arm of the Immortals (a short distance across the sea to the west of the Savage Coast), inhabit the jungles of the Orc's Head Peninsula at the western end of the Savage Coast; most of these areas lie well within the Haze.

In the main cursed lands themselves, which cover almost 2,000 miles of coastline, dozens of petty nobles have appeared, each ruling a small area. Thus, the Savage Coast holds numerous duchies, counties, and earldoms, as well as a few places audacious enough to call themselves kingdoms. Humans rule most of the eastern Savage Coast, while nonhuman nations cover most of the west.

Savage Coast Nations and States

( Slagovich is one of several city-states on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Hule. The City-Statesas they are collectively known) are inhabited mostly by humans. Mostly self-absorbed, thesesovereign states band together only temporarily, and only in the face of great danger.

On the western coast of the Gulf of Hule, a number of small states and baronies, collectivelyknown as the Savage Baronies, were set up by explorers and conquerors who adventured in thearea and then settled there. These baronies (like many other nations of the Savage Coast) oncecovered more area, but they expanded too fast, and the recent wars that swept the coast setthem back. This has left both ruins for the player characters to explore and lands to take forthemselves.

West of the Savage Baronies are tribal lands belonging to the turtlelike humanoids (tortles) and to various goblin, orc, and gnoll tribes. Past those are the "kingdoms" of Robrenn and Eusdria, both formerly barbaric societies that have recently evolved a semifeudal form of government. Robrenn is a forested land dominated by druids and followers of the druidic way. Eusdria is home to warriors who have been known to go raiding in longships, creating stories remembered in epic poems by their skalds.

The most important nonhuman countries of the Savage Coast include Renardy, home to the canine lupins, and Bellayne, home to the feline rakastas. Lupins and rakastas are both descended from nomads who roamed the steppes to the north. Eventually, they settled and adopted a feudal style of government. Renardy has close ties to the Savage Baronies, both economic and cultural. Bellayne still counts several nomadic rakasta tribes as part of its population. Its government comprises a strange mix of feudalism, warrior codes, and mysticism.
Farther west lies the nation of Herath. Known as a land of mages, this was once home to the mysterious araneas, a race of arachnid spellcasters. Herath is traditionally isolationist, but the nation has become more friendly with its neighbors in the wake of a recent war that nearly destroyed them all.

Above Herath, on the eastern shore of Trident Bay, is an area known as the Bayou. This great marsh and the surrounding regions are home to three races of lizard kin: the shazaks, much like the lizard men described in the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome; the more barbaric gurrash, also called "gator" men; and the diminutive caymas. Each race of lizard kin has its own nation. To the south and west of the Bayou, two regions are home to loose confederacies of tribes. On the southern shore of Trident Bay the wallaras make their home; also known as chameleon men, this race of humanoids is distantly related to dragons. South of the wallaras live the phanatons, a race of monkeylike humanoids who glide from tree to tree in their forest homes.

The phanatons and wallaras live in the northern part of the Orc's Head peninsula. In the midwestern part of the peninsula lies the nation of Nimmur. Once home to winged minotaurs known as enduks, Nimmur is now a nation of manscorpions. Recently, enduks and their allies, flying elves known as ee'aar, have retaken a small part of Nimmur and established a small, independent state. The southern part of the peninsula is home to many tribes of savage orcs.

Classes

Thanks to the 3.5 system the use of kit rules are no longer necessary to create an interesting character. With the use of right skills and feat on can create any of the kits from the previews system. But please use the kits as guideline to create the personalities of the coast, think of them more as professions.

Yet if you'd like to use an alternative class you think will fit in to champaign, just suggest it and we'll consider it.

Base classes.

• Barbarian (Lizard and Lupin only) - Tribal brutes
  
• Bard (all ) historians, musicians and journalists
  
• Cleric (all) Priests, shamans and holymen
  
• Druid (all) Native tribal medicine men and scientists
  
• Fighter (all) Swashbucklers, cowboys, soldiors etc.
  

• Monk (Rakastra and humans) martial arts experts
  
• Paladin (all) Lawmen/women, officers etc.
  
• Ranger (all) Lone gunmen etc.
  
• Rogue (all) Pirate, burglar, scouts, bandits
  

• Sorcerer (only if DM allows) nickname legacy adapt
  
• Wizard (only if DM allows) Voodoo like magicians
  

Custom classes (From the D&D wiki)
Here's some classes that could fit the campaign. I have not checked the balance yet but they seem OK at first glance.

• Ki Master (DnD Prestige Class) for mostly Rakastra
  
• Duelist (Prestige Class) This is a kit in Savage Coast
  
• Diplomat (DnD Prestige Class) Noble was a kit i Savage Coast
  
• Pirate (DnD Class) a Rouge Swashbuckler
  
• Swashbuckler (Class) This is a kit in Savage Coast
  

Savage coast kits (specks coming soon)
Some of these kits could become prestige classes.

• Inheritor - The curse polise
• Wokan - Voodoo like mages
• Beast rider (Rakastra only) - Rakastra rideing lionhorses called feliquines
• Gaucho - Cowbow, western inspired.
• Honorbound - (Rakastra most common) Samurai or fighting monks with moral
• Myrmidon - Soldier colonizers
• Webmaster - (arena only) web spells and spider summon expert
• Herald - Bard historian

The original creators of the campaign

Design: Tim Beach and Bruce Heard
Additional Design: David Gross, Cindi M. Rice, and Ed Stark
Editing: Cindi M. Rice
Editorial Assistance: Tony Bryant, Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, and Lester Smith
Project Coordination: Karen S. Boomgarden
Art Coordination: Bob Galica
Cover Painting: Paul Jaquays
Cartography: John Knecht and Diesel
Graphic Design: Heather Le May
The origonal music score : Domenic Messenger

Based in part on the "Princess Ark" series by Bruce Heard and partially derived from the work of Merle and Jackie Rasmussen।

History the Savage Coast Campaign.

In 1992, I was asked to work on a product that eventually became known as the RED STEEL® campaign. I would take some excellent material that Bruce Heard had been publishing in DRAGON® Magazine, and I would turn it into an accessory for the AD&D® game. As originally envisioned, it would be a sort of mini-setting, accompanied by an audio CD with background music. I began writing in 1993, and the original boxed set was published in late 1994. In early 1995, the supplement, Savage Baronies, was released.

By that time, the RED STEEL campaign had received a lot of support and gotten some very favorable reviews. So we decided to do a relaunch, offering the lands of the Savage Coast as a full line of products. You hold the results of that decision in your hands, a book that combines all the material from the original RED STEEL campaign set and the Savage Baronies supplement, along with some new material. More supplements will follow.

I offer my sincere thanks to the readers and players who made this experiment a success, allowing the RED STEEL campaign to continue. I have gathered comments and criticisms from many of you and from playtests and tournaments, and I have tried to incorporate much of your advice into the setting. To those of you who have just discovered the setting, thanks for giving it a try.

I hope you all enjoy The SAVAGE COAST™ Campaign as much as I enjoyed writing it.

- Tim Beach 1996

The entire original campaign can be downloaded from wizards of the coasts homepage.