Dungeon Master's Guide
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times of day. And some holy days are local, observed by<br />
dle fa ithful of a specific temple.<br />
Give some thought to how priests and common folk<br />
-elebrate holy days. Going into a temple, sitting in a<br />
pew, and listening to a sermon is a mode of worship<br />
"oreign to most fantasy religions. More commonly,<br />
celebrants offer sacrifices to their gods. The faithful<br />
bring animals to the temple to be slaughtered or<br />
urn incense as an offering. The wealthiest citizens<br />
oring the largest animals, to flaunt their wealth and<br />
emonstrate their piety. People pour out libations at the<br />
graves of their ancestors. They spend all-night vigils in<br />
darkened shrines or enjoy splendid feasts celebrating a<br />
god's bounty.<br />
C IVIC OBSERVANCES<br />
Holy days provide the majority of the special<br />
celebrations in most calendars, but local or national<br />
:estivals account for many others. The birthday of a<br />
:nonarch, the anniversary of a great victory in a war,<br />
craft festivals, market days, and similar events all<br />
;>rovide excuses for local celebrations.<br />
f ANTASTIC EVENTS<br />
-ince your setting is a fantasy world and not a mundane<br />
::nedieval society, add in a few events of an obviously<br />
magical nature. For example, perhaps a ghostly castle<br />
appears on a certain hill on the winter solstice every<br />
_·ea r, or every third full moon fills lycanthropes with a<br />
particularly strong bloodlust. Also, the thirteenth night<br />
of every month could mark the ghostly wanderings of a<br />
ong-forgotten nomadic tribe.<br />
Extraordinary events, such as the approach of a comet<br />
or a lunar eclipse, make good adventure elements, and<br />
:ou can drop them in your calendar wherever you want.<br />
Your calendar can tell you when there's a full moon for<br />
a lunar eclipse, but you can always fudge the date for a<br />
articular effect.<br />
ENDING A CAMPAIGN<br />
A campaign's ending should tie up all the threads of<br />
beginning and middle, but you don't have to take a<br />
campaign all the way to 20th level for it to be satisfying.<br />
.\'rap up the campaign whenever your story reaches its<br />
atural conclusion.<br />
:Make sure you allow space and time near the end<br />
of your campaign for the characters to finish up any<br />
personal goals. Their own stories need to end in<br />
a atisfying way, just as the campaign story does.<br />
deally, some of the characters' individual goals will be<br />
:ulfilled by the ultimate goal of the final adventure. Give<br />
haracters with unfinished goals a chance to finish them<br />
before the very end.<br />
Once the campaign has ended, a new one can begin.<br />
f you intend to run a new campaign for the same group<br />
of players, using their previous characters' actions as<br />
r.he basis of legends gives them immediate investment in<br />
dle new setting. Let the new characters experience how<br />
me world has changed because of their old characters.<br />
n the end, though, the new campaign is a new story<br />
·ith new protagonists. They shouldn't have to share the<br />
-potlight with the heroes of days gone by.<br />
The world of the Forgotten Realms uses the Calendar of<br />
Harptos, named after the long-dead wizard who invented<br />
it. Each year of 365 days is divided into twelve months of<br />
thirty days each, which roughly correspond to months in the<br />
real-world Gregorian calendar. Each month is di vided into<br />
three tendays. Five special holidays fall between the months<br />
and mark the seasons. Another special holiday, Shieldmeet,<br />
is inserted into the calendar after Midwinter every four years,<br />
much like leap yea rs in the modern Gregorian calendar.<br />
Month Name Common Name<br />
Hammer Deepwinter<br />
Annual holiday: Midwinter<br />
Quadrennial holiday: Shield meet<br />
2 Alturiak The Claw of Winter<br />
3 Ches The Claw of the Sunsets<br />
4 Tarsakh The Claw of the Storms<br />
Annual holiday: Greengrass<br />
5 Mirtul The Melting<br />
6 Kythorn The Time of Flowers<br />
7 Flamerule Summertide<br />
Annual holiday: Midsummer<br />
8 Eleasias Highsun<br />
9 Eleint The Fading<br />
Annual holiday: Highharvesttide<br />
10 Marpenoth Leaffall<br />
11 Uktar The Rotting<br />
Annual holiday: The Feast of the Moon<br />
12 Nightal The Drawing Down<br />
CHAPTER l I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN<br />
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