Pavis and Prax are the first major areas covered in detail in Glorantha. We had the Pavis and Big Rubble packs which were absolutely superb. We had the Borderlands, Cults of Prax, River of Cradles, Sun County and Strangers in Prax and Shadows on the Borderlands supplements. Several fanzines produced extra material for Prax. Then we had a gap of many years with nothing being produced for Pavis or Prax. With the advent of Hero Wars and HeroQuest, we had a reprint of the Pavis and Big Rubble packs in a single volume of Gloranthan Classics. Then Ian Thomson did something wonderful. He produced a series of Pavis and Big Rubble Companions which expanded the story of Pavis. However, with the new books came a problem. There are now so many scenarios, cult writeups and descriptions of characters and organizations that it is very difficult to keep track of them. So, here I am trying to put them together to make a single campaign of all the information.

I initially wanted to write this as a story arc of Pavis and the Big Rubble, but I have expanded this to include Prax. This is simply because there is a lot of material for Prax which links into the Pavis scenarios quite nicely.

At the moment, I am concentrating on those supplements that I own, have owned or have seen. There are more supplements that I have never seen and so have not included. In particular, this article does not include the Timeline or scenarios from the French language supplements produced by Multism. If I can get these then I will include them. If someone can scan the relevant sections (Table of Contents, Timeline, Scenario Summaries) and email them to me then I would be very grateful.

See also the website of the P&BR Companion Homepage for more information and goodies.

Table of Contents

Pavic Supplements

• Pavis and Big Rubble (P&BR)
• Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion I (P&BRC1)
• Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion II (P&BRC2)
• Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion III (P&BRC3)
• Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion IV (P&BRC4)
• Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion V (P&BRC5)
• Strangers in Prax (SiP)
• Rough Guide to Pavis City (RGPC)
• Tradetalk 8 P&BR I (TTP&BR1)
• Tradetalk 9 P&BR II (TTP&BR2)
• Moonrites (MR)
• The Thieves' Arm (TA)
• HeroQuest Pavis (HQP)

• Borderlands and Beyond (BaB)
• River of Cradles (RoC)
• Sun County (SC)
• Shadows on the Borderlands (SoB)
• RQ Adventures 3 (RQA3)
• Tales of the Reaching Moon 14 (ToTRM14)
• Tales of the Reaching Moon 15 (ToTRM15)
• Masters of Luck and Death (MoLD)

• Praxian Web Pages

• Pavic Web Pages

Scenarios

• Including the Griselda Stories
• Possible Timeline For Scenarios
• Scenario Themes

Summary

Pavic Supplements

Pavis and Big Rubble (P&BR)

Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion I (P&BRC1)

Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion II (P&BRC2)

Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion III (P&BRC3)

Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion IV (P&BRC4)

Pavis and Rig Rubble Companion V (P&BRC5)

Strangers in Prax (SiP)

Rough Guide to Pavis City (RGPC)

Tradetalk 8 P&BR I (TTP&BR1)

Tradetalk 9 P&BR II (TTP&BR2)

Moonrites (MR)

The Thieves' Arm (TA)

HeroQuest Pavis (HQP)

Praxian Supplements

Borderlands and Beyond (RoC)

River of Cradles (RoC)

Sun County (SC)

Shadows on the Borderlands (SoB)

RQ Adventures 3 (RQA3)

Tales of the Reaching Moon 14 (ToTRM14)

Tales of the Reaching Moon 15 (ToTRM15)

Masters of Luck and Death (MoLD)

Websites

When I have time to go through the list of Pavic and Praxian pages, detailing and categorising them, I will be adding the links here. As with all link pages, the contents have nothing to do with me and I can't speak for their contents.
 

Praxian Web Pages

Pavic Web Pages

Scenarios

Number of Scenarios

Scenario Types

Linked Scenarios

• Balastor's Barracks, Magician's Hill, The Legacy of Ghost Fort, The Fifth Element, The Kaggroka Contests
• The Riot, A Home Away From Home, Black Magic, The Grey Company
• Introducing the Grey Company, Suspicious Lunars, The Tomb of Yurmnis, Friends and Enemies, The Old Mint, Magician's Hill, The Next Generation, The Legacy of Ghost Fort
• The Grey Company, The Grey Company Rides Again, A New Governor
• Jezra's Rescue, Return to the Stone Tower, A Trip to Pavis, A Loaf of Bread A Jug of Wine and Thou
• Guamata's Vision, Muriah's Revenge, Dyskund Caverns, A Tale to Tell
• Troubled Waters, Temple at Feroda, The Puzzle Canal, The Cradle
• Ever Burning Torches, River Rafting, The Vomitor

Dated Scenarios

Griselda

There is a Timeline given in the HeroWars version of The Complete Griselda which puts exact dates to most of the Griselda stories and relates them in approximately chronological order. I have based the following table on this Timeline. This is the Actual Griselda Timeline.

However, this puts the Griselda stories far earlier than the rest of the Pavis Arc, so they are all in the past. There are three ways around this. The first is to say "Ah, well" and leave the stories in the past. The second is to change the dates of the Griselda stories so they are contemporary with some of the other scenarios. The third is to expand the Pavis Arc backwards to include the Griselda stories. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

1. Method 1
• It is simple and does not change the current Timeline
• The PCs do not have the chance to interact with the Grisedla stories
2. Method 2
• The PCs can interact with Griselda and her stories
• The GM can use the stories as the basis for extra scenarios
• The scenarios in Borderlands can be adapted so they fit in with Griselda's arrival
• The final scenarios in the Sun County section can be adapted to meet Roderick as he travels to Pavis, checking out the Sun County Hazia farmers as he goes
• The Smugglers scenario can fit in with Griselda's family activities in Pavis
• The stories are moved so they are not in their historical sequence
3. Method 3
• The real Griselda Timeline is preserved
• The campaign is further extended by a couple of years
• The PCs have more reasons to go to Pavis
• The Sun County scenarios can be put back so that Rabbit Hat Farm is at its correct time
• There are very few other scenarios to play
• There is a 1 year gap between the final Sun County and first Borderlands scenario

1617 is a bit sparse, having Griselda stories and, perhaps, A Year in Sun County. Perhaps the PCs have finished their year-long punishment duty and can travel more, perhaps to Pavis.

 On the whole, I prefer Method 2 as it keeps the Timeline reasonable, it not entirely accurate or according to the published facts. In any case, YGMV (a phrase which I hate but is relevant here). Also, there is scope to introduce Roderick to the party as he travels to Pavis by a circuitous route through Sun County. While there, he can be scouting out the Hazia farmers as part of his family's smugling operations. The PCs can help Roderick while he is there and he can help them by tipping them off about a Hazia farmer who is not willing to deal with him. After he dies, Griselda can trace his route, asking the PCs for information. If they help her then she will act favourably to them later on. It also gives them a reason to travel to Pavis more often.

PossibleTimeline For Scenarios

I have tried to keep these scenarios in some sort of logical order. Where a scenario is dated exactly, I have kept the scenario in the correct place. Where a scenario is given an approximate or suggested date, I have put it in the most reasonable place. The only exception is that Rabbit Hat Farm is dated as being after a nomad attack in 1616, but that would put the Sun County scenarios in 1616, which is far too early for the rest of the arc. So, I have moved it up a couple of years as I couldn't see any compelling reason to keep it so early. Perhaps there are some subsequent scenarios that are set in a particular year, but I am not aware of them. As a general guide, all the scenarios from Sun County are in 1618, those from Borderlands are in 1619, those from P&BR are in 1620/1621, those from SiP are 1621/1622, those from the P&BRCs are in 1622. It says in Sun County that the campaign happens about 10 years after the fall of Pavis (1610), so 1618 is not unreasonable, but 1616 seems too early.

I have included some of the scenarios from SiP that are not well described (e.g. The Ever-Burning Torches) or are set away from Pavis (e.g. River Rafting) as they could be used in a Pavis Campaign. I have also included the suggested dates for Argrath's actions and Duke Raus' replacement. As certain events elsewhere may impact on a Pavis Campaign, I have included those dates as well, but they are in brackets.

There are some seasons that are particularly crowded, for instance 1621/Sea, but these are fixed by having scenarios with specific dates. The scenarios of 1622/Sea/Fire are also crowded, but these are linked scenarios that follow one another as one large scenario.

If you do not want to run the Sun County and Borderlands scenarios, then make Welcome to the City and Burglary at Raus' House happen in 1620 after Troubled Waters and before Temple at Feroda.

When the Borderlands issue of Gloranthan Classics comes out then I will be able to date those scenarios more accurately, by season rather than by year.

I have moved the Timelines to take up less space in this page. There are two Timelines,  Using Actual Dates for Griselda/Sun County and  Using Amended Dates for Griselda/Sun County.

Looking at the Timeline, we see that there is a one year gap between the events in the P&BR Companions and the events of the Hero Wars, when Argrath liberates Prax and Pavis. Hopefully, with the forthcoming Sartar Rising supplements, we will see more of the gaps filled in. Perhaps, Ian Thomson could be persuaded to fill in the rest of the gaps and take us well into the Hero Wars. There are some questions still to be answered, not least what happened to the marriage of Pavis and the Red Goddess?

I originally thought that the events of the Shipraising scenarios mean that the Wolf Pirates are grounded, so Argrath ends up in Corflu and messes about in Prax. However, on reading the scenario this is not the case. In fact, very little is written about what Argrath does at this time. His first major action on his return is to liberate Corflu. I don't hold with the notion of a Pavic Argrath as being different to the main Argrath, I like the idea of one hero doing a lot of things during the Hero Wars.

If the PCs are exiled from Pavis as part of the A New Governor scenario then they can enter Duke Raus' service again. Alternatively, they can go to Sartar and help with Kallyr's rebellion, the Shipbuiding and the start of the Hero Wars. They can use their local knowledge to help Argrath liberate Corflu and Pavis.

Scenario Themes

One of the main themes is the interaction between the PCs and Duke Raus. If the GM follows the classic scenarios then the PCs steal a Lunar Artefact from Duke Raus, then end up in his employ during the Borderlands campaign. Later on, Duke Raus becomes Governor of Pavis and Prax, so the PCs can choose to help him as his trusted mercenaries. This might cause some conflict between loyalty to Duke Raus and opposition to the Empire.

Gim Gim the Grim is a useful adversary. A good way of introducing him is to make him the cause of the PCs being arrested and sent to the Sun County punishment militia for a couple of seasons. Someone I know used Gim Gim to try and unite the Pavic Street Gangs and the PCs became involved in a gang fight resulting in the murder of a high-ranking Yelmalian youth. Gim Gim could be used as a thorn in the PCs' side, being behind many of the plots and problems in the Pavis campaign.

Assuming the PCs complete the Troubled Waters scenario, they will be River Voices and will be able to call on the forces of the Zola Fel as allies. However, this also means they can be called on by the Zola Fel to do its dirty work. This is a good entry to the Cradle scenario, so the PCs could be helping Zola Fel carry the Cradle to the Sea as well as helping Garreth Sharpsword (Argrath) in helping the giants. Being River Voices will help them on the Baran Monsterslayer scenarios, especially the River Rafting scenario, and will give them an easy way in.

Helping Arlaten the Mage will give the PCs a few linked scenarios and will spawn a few more scenarios as well.

If the PCs turn out to be good chaos fighters, then they will be in demand to kill chaos in the Big Rubble and perhaps even further afield. The Lunars do not like the chaos presence in the Rubble, even though their theology permits it. This will also link in to the RQ Adventures scenarios based around the Block.

If the PCs perform the Krang's Table, Black Magic and Ever Burning Torches scenarios then they will be perceived as being good against Trolls. This will draw trolls against them and should make for some interesting scenarios, especially if they then do the Fifth Element and Kaggroka Contests.

Once the PCs help the Pavic Priests and prove that they can be useful, they will be drawn in to the world of Pavic Politics. The players may not want to be too involved or they might want to get very involved. In any case, they can be used as pawns in the scheming of Pavic Politics.

If the PCs are Orlanthi then they may get involved in the rebel movement in Pavis. They could befriend Garreth Sharpsword as well as the other leaders of the rebels which could lead to the Cradle and One High Priest Too Many scenarios.

As the PCs explore the Rubble and become experienced adventurers, they will be called on more and more often to investigate strange areas and clear out enemy camps.
 

Summary

Hopefully, this will give the basis for a Pavis and Praxian Campaign for a party starting at very low level and reaching very high level. It covers 4 or 5 game years and has enough game play for at least a year of real time, assuming one session per week and at least one session per scenario. If the GM wants to include extra scenarios based on scenario hooks, party interaction, extra events and so on, this could be stretched to two or three years of gaming.

One of the advantages that we have is the ability to plan a campaign in advance, rather than waiting for new supplements to come out. So, we know what is going to happen in the next few years and we have scenarios covering a considerable period of time. If events are changed by new supplements, for instance the Fimbulwinter stopping Orlanthi Magic from working, then they can be inserted and worked around.

As new supplements come out, I will add any Praxian or Pavic references. As the Barbarian Adventures series concludes, I will fill in the blanks in the Timeline. I will try and get some more information from Ian Thomson to see what he has for the period of the start of the Hero Wars and the liberation of Prax and Pavis.

Pavis and Prax are the only areas covered in Glorantha that have published scenarios that can be used fairly easily and cover such a long period of time. This makes Pavis and Prax the prime adventuring setting for a Gloranthan Campaign. If I had my time over again, I could be persuaded to set my main campaign in Pavis. I may never even need to go to Balazar or Dorastor or even to Sartar.

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