The "Mysteries in Jarzon" Campaign

         This is a campaign concept based around a set of PCs within Jarzon. Jarzon is the grey country in the setting -- a theocracy dedicated to purity and fighting evil sorcery, but where magic is restricted to the priesthood as a measure against the dangers of sorcery, and rhy-animals and other non-humans are unwelcome as psychic corruptors.

         I created a combined set of players characters as a team of investigators who have tracked down many supernatural and mundane schemes within Jarzon. They are empowered by the theocracy, and thanks to Faridel and Dalfina's connections have had fairly free reign in their investigations. They are all young but exceptionally talented, which has caused more than one corrupt owner or official to underestimate them.

         The unusual bit about this is that there is a Rhy-wolf in the party, Scarba, but none of the others know him as that. He is actually a spy for Aldis, disguised as an exceptionally smart wolfhound and sold by a trader. Among the others, they attribute his actions to the exceptional animal handling of his handler Sergei. (I originally created these characters when after specifying an adventure in Jarzon, someone specifically requested a Rhy-wolf PC.) It makes for some amusing role-playing to have the dog be the smartest one in the party.

Faridel

A visionary priest of Aulora better at zeal than interpretation

Dalfina

A holy warrior-woman with mystic talent

Valmia

A rebellious but genius scholar

Sergei

A career Jarzoni soldier, talented but lax and fearful of the supernatural

Scarba

A Rhy-wolf disguised as an exceptional wolfhound

Meshien

A gaudy but taciturn horseman

I also created some associated characters as "guest stars", though only one is online.

Magda

Younger sister of Sergei, a local in the town

Adventures

         My concept was for the adventures to be about tracking down rumors of mystical problems within Jarzon. The Jarzoni church is extremely concerned about magical corruption, so any stories of monsters, ghosts, or magic call for quick investigation. So the adventures would be a series of investigations.

         This is a light-hearted game, playing up the misadventures and triumphs of the youthful PCs. Most of the rumors they investigate should turn out to not be grand plots. Some may be hoaxes and some misunderstandings, but there should also be room for a genuine evil sorceror at some point.

Related Links

         The astute readers may have noticed that the characters of the group match up closely with a popular cartoon show.

• The Scooby Gang Family Tree
• "Designing Your Team - the Scooby Way!" by Lise Mendel