Hey there, if you’re just joining us we’re creating a homebrew Western campaign using the published adventure Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. You can find our first essay and introduction here, now to step two!
Today we are looking at our fronts, or our villains and antagonists. The term front comes from Dungeon World, a D&D adjacent TTRPG that uses the Powered by the Apocalypse game design framework and focuses on narrative storytelling. Sly Flourish has a fantastic write-up on fronts that you can check out for a full breakdown, but the basic premise is that a front is a tool that we can use to track the motivations and movements of factions outside of our party. For our purposes, we’re going to track these fronts alongside our four major plot threads; let’s start with our first two.
(1) A looming industrial revolution threatens the current power structure…
Summary:
The Gerhardt Crime Syndicate have run the criminal underbelly of Ten-Towns from their roost in Dougan’s Hole for three generations. In just a few short decades the hobgoblin crime family has managed to clear out local competition, consolidate the goblin clans of Karkolohk under their thumb, and even entice the industrialist Alston Turen to move his considerable manufacturing operation to Easthaven.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Holt, a recently un-retired Zhentarim agent and the current Speaker of Targos, has been hard at work backchanneling a trade agreement between the dwarves of Kelvin’s Cairn and the city of Stagmond1. Holt had moved here to settle down, but found himself thumbing through the old rolodex after hearing rumors of chardalyn, a highly enchantable ore, having been struck beneath the Cairn.
Both the Gerhardts and Zhentarim know that Ten-Towns is poised to become a major trade hub, and neither wants to share in the spoils. The Zhents did make a generous offer to buy out the family’s operation, but whether by pride or pomposity, the Gerhardts turned them down, and killed the messenger to drive home the point; there will be no surrender.
Dangers:
- Gerhardt Crime Syndicate (Dougan’s Hole)
- Boss Floyd Gerhardt
- Lieutenant Dodd Gerhardt
- Lieutenant Bear Gerhardt
- Henchmen The goblins of Karkolohk
- Zhentarim (Targos)
- Boss Speaker Nathaniel Holt
- Lieutenant Mike Mulligan and the Kitchen Brothers
Grim Portents and Impending Doom:
- Bear Gerhardt sabotages the construction projects in Targos
- Speaker Nathaniel Holt puts a bounty on Bear Gerhardt’s head
- The Gerhardts attempt to assassinate Speaker Nathaniel Holt
- The Gerhardt compound at Dougan’s Hole is raided by the sheriff’s department
- The Zhentarim take over the Ten-Towns underbelly
(2) A fanatical religious order prepares for an awakening…
Summary:
The Children of Ahmon are a religious order relatively new to Ten-Towns, but have already secured a healthy flock of loyal followers. Led by the charismatic Prior Marcum Sala, the goals of the order seem to align with many older Ten-Towner’s beliefs. The Children preach that modern mechanical and arcane inventions, like those in Easthaven and Targos, threaten the lives of everyday folk and will no doubt invite the wrath of the Gods.
Instead, we must work together to bring back our great father, Ahmon. Only with his guidance can we reestablish our traditions, only through his power can we heal the scars of the arcane, only by following his example can we return as a people to a simpler life, a simpler time.
–Prior Marcum Sala
To this end, the Children of Ahmon have spent the past two years recruiting and ingratiating themselves into the community. They’ve refurbished a number of abandoned temples around Ten-Towns; they offer food, shelter, and schooling to those in need; and they’ve just completed construction on an orphanage in Bremen, which will be run under the watchful eye of Abbess Ethel McKee.
Sadly, the Prior’s plans for Ten-Towns don’t stop there. Marcum Sala and the rest of the Children of Ahmon’s leadership are secretly members of the Cult of Demogorgon, or rather, Ahmon is just another name for the so-called Prince of Demons. The Children believe that the Material Plane is well beyond saving, and that they must summon the Demogorgon to raze the land. Once his thirst for destruction is sated, his chosen will have the opportunity to start the world anew.
They, however, aren’t the only agents of the Lower Planes operating in Ten-Towns. Recently, the Archdevil Mephistopheles caught wind of the Children of Ahmon’s plan, thanks to his loyal servant Speaker Crannoc Siever, and sent his own delegation of devils and cultists to hamper the Children’s efforts. Operating under the name The Black Swords, they’ve taken up residence in the castle at Caer-Dineval and are looking to gain allies to their cause.
Dangers:
- Children of Ahmon
- Boss Prior Marcum Sala
- Lieutenant Abbess Ethel McKee
- Henchmen Acolytes
- The Demogorgon
- The Black Swords
- Boss Viren
- Lieutenant Syl the Profaned
- Henchmen Devils and Cultists
Grim Portents and Impending Doom
- The Children create spatial rifts around Ten-Towns to weaken the barrier between here and the Abyss
- The Black Swords are run out of town
- Bryn Shander is taken over by the Children of Ahmon
- Bryn Shander is sacrificed summon the Demagorgon
- The Demagorgon leads an army out of Ten-Towns
1. Stagmond is high-magic city in my setting
Crit While You're Ahead 