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An Official DUNGE ONS & DRAGONS ® Game Suppl ement

'Cl}e GRaNb Ducl}y Of I{aRaMeil<os by Aaron Allston

Table of Contents

INTROD UCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PART ONE: GAZETI'EER SECTION

Players' Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The History of Karameik os . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Politics of Karameiko s .................. . .............. .. ............................................. 16 Karameikos Society ... . . . .. . ... . ....... . . . ...... . .... .. . . . . . . . . .. . ... . .... . .......... . ................ . 19 The Karameikos Economy ... . ...................... . .................................................. 34 The Lay of the Land ... . ........ .. ........................................ . . . ............ . ........ . ... 35 The Commun iti es of Karameikos ..................... . ...... . ........... . .................. . ............ 36 Characters . .. .. ... . ... . . .. ......... . .. . ...... . .. . .. . ... . ............... . ................ .. .......... 42 Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

PART TWO: ADVENTURE SECTION

Adventure Themes ... . ........... . .. . ... . .. .. ... . .................... . .. . ........................ . ... 61 Basic Adventur es .................. . ................................. .. . . .......... . .............. . ... 62 Expen Adventure s ........... . .... . ... . .... . . . . . ........ . ........... .. ... . .......... ... .... . ... . ..... . 63 Companion Adven tures . . . . ................. . .... .. ............. . ........ . ... . ............. .. ......... 64 Masters Adventur es ..... . ........ . ............. . .......... . .. . ......... . ... .. . . ......... . .. . .. . .. . . . . . 64 Adventures in Print ...... . ... . .... . .... .. ............. . .................. . . .. ......................... 64

Credi ts:

Design : Aaron Allston Editing : Karen S. Manin , Jon Pickens, Aaron Allston Coordinators : Bruce Heard , Karen S. Martin Cover An ise: Clyde Caldwell Interio r Ani st : Stephen Fabian Graph ic Design : Denn is Kauth , Ron Kauth, Colleen

O 'Malley, David C. Sutherland III Canography : Denn is Kauth , David C. Sutherland III,

Ron Kauth Typograph y: Betty Elmore , Kim Lindau

c 1987 TSR, Inc. All Rights Resecved . Printed in U.S.A.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and D&D are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House , Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd . Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd.

This module is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reprodu ction or other unauthor ized use of the mater ial or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc.

~~ TSR UK Ltd.

TSA. Inc .

TSR Inc. POB 756 Lake Geneva, WI 53147 J>flODUCfl OP YOUII IMACMMATION ,.

The Mill , Rathmore Road Cambridge CB14AD

United Kingdom

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INtRobuctiON

The lands of fiction and fairy tale aren' t usu­ally created all at once- they accumulate. A set­ting will be inuoduced in one novel, and each subsequent novel in the series will add more to the setting until it's as detailed and important as the characters and events of the stories.

The same thing has happened to the D&D® game world . Staning with the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Expen Set , TSR introduced a game-world- little more than a few maps and a few pages of text on one patch of territory.

Subsequent adventure releases have often taken place in the specific locations in the D&D® game world. One adventure might take place in Specularum , capital of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos , or in a lost nonhem valley of the same duchy. A series of adventures might take place in the exciting mercantile world of the Minrothad Guilds or the inuiguing magoc.racy of the Principal ities of Glanui . One epic scenario might bring war to all the known countries of the continent . And with each release, more is revealed about these settings ... and the D&D® game audi­ence wants to know even more than that .

Because the D&D® game world has taken a life of its own, we're proud to present this series of Gazetteers about the nations and empires of the world. Each Gazetteer is a travelogue to one nation of the world, a guide to its people, places, politics, monsters and adventures.

This is The Grand Duchy of Karameikos. Those of you with the Expen Set will recall Karameikos , the home duchy of Threshold, the beginning characters ' campaign city. In the following pages , we'll show you Kara­meikos inside and out , so that you can set adventures within a Grand Duchy which is rich in detail and chock-full of characters, monsters and adventure opponuni ties.

Subsequent Gazetteers will include the Emirate of Ylaruam, the Principalities of Glantri , and many more sites. The timelines and histories of these sourcebooks are scrupu­lously checked against one another, and all Gazetteers are set at the same time-today , exactly one thousand years from the crowning of the first emperor of Thyatis-so that you can use all Gazetteers together and cross char­acters from one to another with ease.

USiN<, 'Cl}e GRaNO Ducl}y Of RanaMeikos

As Dungeon Master you' II find it easy to use The Grand Duchy of Karameikos in your campaign. Just follow these steps:

(1) Read the Gazetteer. Pay particular attention to these sections: "Players' Back­ground," "History of Karameikos," "Politics of Karameikos," and "The Communities of Karameikos." You can skim through the other sections initially. If you' re not experienced as a DM, also pay attention to "Adventure Themes."

(2) If you plan to have Karameikos be the center for your campaign, or plan for some of the player-characters to be from Karmeikos, then allow your players to read the "Players' Background" section and to create their char­acters using those guidelines.

(3) When you plan to run adventures in the Grand Duchy ofKarameikos, read the section of adventure ideas pertinent to their level of play. If they' re all Basic-level characters, stick to the "Basic Adventures" section; if they're mostly Expert-level characters, read the "Expen Adventures" section; and so on. Also, read the "Adventures Already In Print" section for recommendations and notes about

already published scenarios set in the Grand Duchy.

(4) Finally, using your knowledge of Kara­meikos and your preferences of adventure top­ics, put together some adventures and begin play.

While individual adventures set in distant and unrelated lands can be fun, it takes a con­sistent setting, with recurring allies, enemies , and other characters, to make a true cam­paign. That 's the way we like to play, and we think you will, too .

Ruoos Finally, I'd like to give thanks to the indi­

viduals whose materials already in print have added substantially to The Grand Duchy of Karameikos.

Thanks go to : Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris and Phil Gal­

lagher, for BlO, Night 's Dark Terror, which provided helpful materials on the origins of the Karameikos people and on the demihu­mans living within the Grand Duchy;

Dave Cook, for B6, The Veiled Society, for sights and sounds of everyday Specularum and elaborate commentary on the politics of that city;

Michael S. Dobson , for XlO, Red Arrow, Black Shield, which showcased the armies and political relationships of most of the nations of the D&D game world; and

Frank Mentzer, who provided helpful notes on Karameikos and Threshold in the Expen Set.

I hope you enjoy playing in the Grand Duchy as much as I've enjoyed writing about it.

- Aaron Allston

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