Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

EEE---mmaaiiillaattGGrriiimmggrriiinn44448888@@aaooll...ccoomm ALL OF THE GAME MECHANIICS PRESENTED IIN THIIS DOCUMENT IIS CONSIIDERED ““OPEN GAME CONTENT”” UNDER THE OPEN GAME LIICENSE 1..0A OOzz dd2200 This is a conversion of the Oz series by Frank L. Baum to the d20 system. Each book will be described in chronological order and the major literary characters and location will be altered to d20 equivalents. My hope is that not only will people find this interesting, but will consider reading the books of the series beyond the “Wizard of Oz” which are true American classics. This campaign requires either “Eberron” D&D rules or the D20 Modern rule set. Geography The Land of Oz is a square nation of allied kingdoms bounded on all four sides with impassible sandy wastelands. The country is divided into four countries and a central ruling city-state; to the south lies Quadling Country, to the north is Gillikin Country, Munchkin Country is east, Winkie Country is west, and Emerald City lies in the center. Each country has a unique population and it own racial archetype. Quadling Country has the greatest population of people within Oz and numerous townships exist in this country. Quadlings are the most skilled in magic and art. The ruler of Quadling Country is Glenda the Good Witch who is the most powerful magic user within Oz. Red is the universal color of the Quadlings for their clothes and buildings as well as much of the flora and fauna of the country. Gillikin Country is infested with dangerous beasts so most people live in underground cities, mountain top villages, and forest tree houses. Their environment demands great strength and endurance from them. To survive and flourish in spite of the challenges of Gillikin Country, Gillikins prize hardiness more than agility or wisdom. Most of the people live within easily defended areas. Purple is the color of Gillikin Country. Animals, Plants, and Buildings are marked with purple. The population of Gillikin Country is so sporadic that each community has its own ruler. Munchkin Country is famous for its stability and regulated communities. Munchkins have a truly an ordered society and any travelers and adventurers among them are rare aberrations. Most munchkins are farmers or craftsmen who live simple lives and rarely practice magic or warfare. Munchkins love the color blue and they have planted tremendous fields of lilacs and blue poppies along the well maintained yellow brick roads within their country. Munchkins live in tight groups so large unpopulated areas exist in Munchkin Country in which predators may lurk undiscovered. The Ruler of Munchkin country was the Wicked Witch of the East until a house fell on her. Winkie Country is well known for mining and metal workers. It has the largest mines in the Land of Oz. Many Winkies work as blacksmiths, tinkers, and jewelers. Yellow is their favorite colors and huge fields of wheat and rye are considered both a cash crop and blank canvas. Crop circle competitions are the pride and joy of Winkie farmers. The ruler of the Winkies was the Witched Witch of the West, but was usurped by the Nickel Plated Emperor (a.k.a. Nick Chopper the Tin Woodsman). There are four deadly wastelands each bordering one side of the square shaped Land of Oz. The Great Sandy Waste borders the Quadling Country and it emits deadly gases that suffocate anyone that attempts to walk across it. The Impassible Desert lies north of Gillikin Country and radiates a heat so intense that only creatures immune to heat can walk upon its sands. The Shifting Sands is east of Munchkin Land and it is named for the constant sand storms that blow across it and quickly strip flesh from bone and wear away even the strongest metals. The final desert lies west of the Winkies and is named the Deadly Desert since any living object that touches it turns to sand. It is very likely that these four deserts were created sometime in the past to protect the Land of Oz from invasion from the surrounding kingdoms and island nations of the Nonestica continent. The Land of Oz is the largest nation on the continent of Nonestica (an oval magical continent surrounded by a cloud of satellite islands). It creates a geological bull’s-eye by being an oasis of verdant terrain surrounded by four deserts surrounded by a ring of numerous countries each with its own rulers, culture, and national interests. Nonestica is a magical continent and each region has a radically different ecosystem than those neighboring it. Instead of a unified dimensional constant, Nonestica is splintered into multiple planes of existence. Each of these patchwork dimensions has radically different laws of nature, temporal mechanics, and metaphysics. Some areas prevent the characters from aging, others are completely composed of odd materials, and some are deadly to all life. Some are only large enough for a single house while others can encompass hundreds of acres. A wide variety of life forms exist within this continent, but many are limited to the borders of their pocket dimension. Some believe that Oz is part of an undiscovered continent on Earth protected from the outside world by invisibility and abjurations. Others think that Oz lies in a pocket dimension that periodically links to our plane of existence. Dimensional rifts periodically open to capture individuals and small groups and bring them into the Land of Oz. The exact location of Oz is unknown. In the first book, Dorothy is transported to Oz by tornado. A massive earthquake in California swallows Dorothy and deposits her beneath Oz in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. A magical crossroads in California takes Dorothy and the Shaggy Man to Oz in Road to Oz. At the opening of Ozma of Oz, Dorothy Gale is sailing to Australia with her Uncle Henry when she is washed overboard and lands on the shore of Ev. The Wizard reached Oz by Hot Air Balloon. Trot and Captain Bill journeyed to Oz from the Pacific Coast of America by way of sea cave, ork, and giant bird. The flora and fauna of the continent of Nonestica is a variety of Earth animals and plants and a few that are unique to magical regions. Role-playing in Oz Themes As written, Oz is a place were good always triumphs over evil because people of courage and integrity battle to protect the nation from abuse. Success comes from solving the root problem of any crisis. Both Dorothy and Ozma discover that the ability to create friendship and generate loyalty in creatures radically different than themselves is necessary for any successful leader in Oz. One can not be blinded by appearances since beauty and ugliness are often deceiving. Working together people can achieve what they fail working apart. The common characteristic of most Oz villains is their greed and suspicious natures. Oz has also been reinterpreted in by many other authors and artist. Most of these versions take a fundamentally disparate view to Baum’s paradise. A few examples are: The Twisted Land of Oz: McFarlane’s Monsters Series Two. In this steampunk dystopian fantasy, Oz is a place of suffering, mutation, and madness. Dorothy is an embittered teenager that runs away only to be threatened with captivity in Oz. Vicious pygmy Munchkins attack the unwary. The Scarecrow is a spiritually possessed straw dummy with a lust for blood. The Tin Woodsman is a traumatized, metal, half golem. The Lion is an eviscerated, chemically fueled zombie. The Wizard experiments on human and animal subjects such as Toto the massive mutant canine. Though all of these horrors, Dorothy battles for her personal freedom and mental sanity. Twisted Oz Website Wicked, by Gregory Maguire, portrays a very different version of the Land of Oz. Maguire's Oz is not Baum's utopia, but a land troubled by political unrest and economic hardship. One political issue in Maguire's novels is the oppression of the Animals (Maguire distinguishes speaking Animals from non-speaking animals by the use of capital letters). There are many religious traditions in Maguire's Oz, including Lurlinism (which regards the Fairy Lurline as Oz's creator) and Unionism, which worships an Unnamed God. Maguire's presentation of Oz's geography is also politically tinged. A large political prison, Southstairs, exists in caverns below the Emerald City. Gillikin, home of Shiz University, has more industrial development than other parts of Oz. Munchkinland is Oz's breadbasket and at one point declares its independence from the rule of the Emerald City. Quadling Country is largely marshland, inhabited by the artistic and sexually free Quadlings. And the Vinkus (Maguire's name for Winkie Country) is largely open grassland, populated by semi-nomadic tribes. Wikipedia Reference: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West The Wiz: In the Wiz, the Land of Oz is no longer a pastoral nation, but is now a massive metropolis. Munchkins are street urchins skilled at blending invisibly into their urban environment. The Scarecrow is a spineless man stuffed with useless facts. The Tin Woodsmen is an abandoned relic from the past. The lion is bully that terrifying others to make himself feel brave. The Poppy Fields are a source of a deadly drug that will steal all your drive and willpower. The Wizard is a disgrace that keeps others blind to his political failures by distracting them with fashion trends and theatrics. The Wicked Witches rule sweat shops where their subjects are chained to their work benches. And let’s not forget the Flying Monkey motorcycle gang.

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