Welcome to the Channel Cities and World of Ærnth web site. This site is intended as a publicly available location for information on one of the largest and most heavily detailed RPG settings in existence. Work started on this setting back in the summer of 1985, with additions being made and the setting growing just about every year for the past two and a half decades. There has been a wealth of campaigns run within this setting using a wide variety of RPG systems as detailed in the wiki (see the Channel Cities wiki link, also located to the right).
You will also find links to other game-related information on this site, such as Car Wars (link also available to the right), and eventually others such as my Shadows of Humanity setting (a dark fantasy version of our real world where many of the mythological beings of fairytales, folklore, and mythology roam in the shadows of our own world, just out of view of common mortals). There is still a lot of work to be done in order to get most of the details of the Channel Cities setting posted in the wiki portion of the site, however progress is slowly being made and as can be seen by looking around the wiki, many others have also contributed to the setting and this site. Currently the setting is comprised of nearly a dozen ring binders of varying sizes (the one for the Channel Cities details alone is a 4” ring binder that is pretty well packed with maps, details and floor plans, business details, adventure hooks, etc, while I have more than an entire index card box full of NPC’s).
I have always been a firm believer in providing extremely detailed and open-ended settings for RPG’s so that the players can truly decide what direction they want their characters to move in and what they want to accomplish. As such I tend to provide a wide array of story hooks and options so that players have the freedom to choose which ones they want to follow, or if they choose to strike out on their own in a totally new direction this can easily be accommodated as well. After all, in my opinion a good RPG is not so much a game as it is an interactive storytelling exercise, where the players choose the plot and direction of the story and with the GM’s job being to provide all the background details necessary to make the story and world in which it takes place interesting as well as to determine logical and reasonable outcomes for things that the character attempt to do.
Another advantage of this massive Channel Cities and World of Ærnth setting is the fact that while I have provided a global map and detailed some areas, there are a lot of areas that are not yet very detailed. If you have ideas for any of these areas and would like to contribute and help to expand the setting, let me know about your ideas and we may be able to get you set up as a contributor (and you will retain all copyrights to your contributions and thus retain commercial rights, but you need to agree to let others use your contributions for non-commercial use, and also recognize that the same rights remain with other contributors to this site).
If anyone reading this is interested in participating in an email based game then continue reading, as I hope to eventually be able to run some email based games (as has been successfully done in the past on a number of occasions). Or for that matter if you are reading this and are located close enough for occasional table-top games (located in Michigan), then this may be a possibility as well.
The first step of course is to develop a character concept, however to do this you need to have an understanding of the setting so that you can define your character’s niche or place within the World of Ærnth or more specifically, the Channel Cities. The Channel Cities is a very large medieval metropolitan area that is comprised of 5 separate and distinct cities; each with its own history, politics, economics, and social mores. Think of it as being similar to Rome during the time of the Roman Republic or Roman Empire, but with there being 5 separate cities each with their own governments, politics, economics, and laws; thus there is a lot of room for political and economic intrigue within this setting (much more so than nearly any other fantasy setting out there).
Due in part to the large population density and the wealth that is present within the cities, there is a very strong underworld presence. Be it mercenaries doing the dirty work of wealthy merchants, bounty-hunters tracking down those who someone is willing to pay for the apprehension of (be it slaves, criminals, or simply ones enemies), thieves and burglars to pilfer either to feed themselves or stealing items that they have been contracted to recover (after all, possession is 9/10ths of the law in such a medieval society). Or be it the political wrangling of guilds, governments, organizations, religions/cults, or the wealthy and power-hungry. With the Channel Cities actually being a collection of five different cities, all with their own governments and lands, the area is also rife with political and social intrigue. It is not only the most heavily populated metropolitan area but also the economic, trade, educational, transportation, religious, and political center of the World of Aernth and as such offers a wide range of opportunities for anyone who has ambitions.
Campaigns have been run in this setting (in one form or another) since the early 1980’s although; the setting has morphed several times, with each iteration becoming more detailed. I have experience running single-shot games as well as extended campaigns within this setting using a variety of game mechanics, including RM2, RMSS, FUDGE, AD&D, D&D 3E, Palladium, and Dominion Rules, and I’m looking at D&D 4E and the new version of Rune Quest as possibilities also. Note that racial details may need to be modified based off of the system being used (with the easiest being Fudge, which is simply the easiest, most flexible, and most adaptive gaming system I’ve ever seen or used and which focuses on role-playing over system mechanics). Note that this world-setting is very heavily detailed (even well beyond what most commercially available settings are, although this may not yet be obvious as very little as been uploaded yet, but I will continue to work on this in the future) and well-thought out and has thousands of hours of play-testing behind it as well as thousands of hours of thought that went into it prior to any play-testing.
I strongly recommend reading over the available material at least enough to get an idea of the setting and then think about what type of a character you would find interesting that would live in such a place. Once you have an idea, try to create a background and history for this character to explain why they are where they are and what they are doing with their life up till this point, as well as where they want to go with their life (their goals, dreams, etc.). After more than 30 years of RPGing experience, I’ve found that the most interesting characters in a story tend to be those who come from somewhat mundane backgrounds (but that have some minor special ability or quality that sets them apart from most other people), but that either have some grand goal or that when an opportunity is placed in front of them they set out to take advantage and accomplish something incredible. I will handle all the behind the scenes character generation details, so all characters will be somewhat average at the start (but may have one or two interesting qualities or unusual abilities), but will have the opportunity to grow into someone or something special. I also encourage players to develop some flaw, weakness, or some proverbial skeleton in the closet for their character, as battling against some inner demon or trying to overcome some flaw or weakness while striving towards greatness is a common component of nearly every good story, and after all Role-Playing Games are essentially an exercise in interactive/group story-telling. Note that while there will usually be a variety of paths to follow, that if you do not see one that interests you, then you will need to let me know what would interest you and I will do my best to present options that can lead in that direction for your personal story.
Once you have a character idea, we can discuss it via email (at channelcities@gmail.com) as we go through the character creation process, so that the character is one that you find interesting and enjoy playing the role of. Once characters are defined, then we can start with some simple Role-Playing, where the character gets to know their surroundings and gets to meet other characters and NPC’s (Non-Player Characters) and where various plot hooks or story lines are made available for the character to follow. One thing that I strongly believe in as a GM is to never force characters in a particular direction. Instead I like to present them with various options and let them choose their own path, to develop their own story. Initially I will contact many people who I suspect might be interested in taking part in these email-based games, but due to the way that I allow people to follow their own path, I will keep the identities of what player is playing the part of what character hidden from view of most players, as this usually helps to create a more immersive environment.
I will try to provide regular (and much shorter) postings regarding additions to this site as well as details on the progress of various email based games that I’m hoping to get started running from this site (within all of the settings mentioned above).