Mikeavelli
2011-09-26, 09:30 PM
Starting up a new campaign in an old world, the PC's had made it to Epic levels and made some fairly dramatic changes to the world. The ending adventure was actually a race/confrontation between them and every other faction they'd had dealings with for nothing less than the power to change the rules of the game.
Which they did. Including a climactic battle right at the end where multiple antagonists were fighting each other just as the PC's showed up, followed by a point and a shout, "Gods no, Anyone but them!" - Referring to the PC's. No-one was surprised when people who would otherwise be mortal enemies joined together to oppose the PC's.
Regardless, they won. Among other things, they decided: There is no longer any such thing as an innately aligned creature born on this world (they were only able to change this particular prime, outsiders are unaffected) - so, for example, a half-fiend is no longer influenced by it's fiendish heritage at all, alignment-wise.
One of the largest effects this is going to have is that you can no longer tell whether a Dragon is okay to kill based on the color of it's scales. I figure this is a great time to sweep up the PC's in a grand game of Xorvintaal; the Draconic Chess game.
I'm looking for inspiration. Here's the setting as it stands:
- This is a very high-magic world. Multiple high and epic level NPC's exist, usually as national leaders or such. The very first person to discover the Lichdom process still exists, lives on the Moon, and has converted it into a Death Star for fighting off Eldritch Abominations from the outer spheres. The PC's decided to bar him from ever entering the Atmosphere of the world ever again, because they hate him.
- Most of those NPC's don't actively interfere in the world because they're too busy performing administrative duties.
- One of the NPC's killed off in the campaign-ending adventure was a Great Wyrm Gold Dragon whose horde was the combined savings of the Imperial Bank of the largest Empire on the planet. Branches existed worldwide, with specialized magic developed for record-keeping that enabled them to function similar to modern-day banks, hosting branches even in nations that were otherwise hostile to each other.
After that NPC's death, Dragons worldwide pounced on the opportunity to seize control of its assets. As a result, branches are nominally in cooperation with each other, but are individually administered by individual dragons, many of whom oppose or outright hate each other. Thus, Xorvintaal.
- Younger dragons without access to Polymorph spells and wilder dragons who loath human society continue to follow the old school mountain horde model, but many continue to play the game.
- Most humanoid leaders who are aware of this actually prefer it this way, because Xorvintaal keeps fighting minimized by its very nature. Nevertheless, some leaders have tried to oust draconic leadership from their economic system, and some fewer have even succeeded. These people inevitably begin to play the game themselves or die, and at least one human player has the rest of them convinced that he's a dragon too.
Which they did. Including a climactic battle right at the end where multiple antagonists were fighting each other just as the PC's showed up, followed by a point and a shout, "Gods no, Anyone but them!" - Referring to the PC's. No-one was surprised when people who would otherwise be mortal enemies joined together to oppose the PC's.
Regardless, they won. Among other things, they decided: There is no longer any such thing as an innately aligned creature born on this world (they were only able to change this particular prime, outsiders are unaffected) - so, for example, a half-fiend is no longer influenced by it's fiendish heritage at all, alignment-wise.
One of the largest effects this is going to have is that you can no longer tell whether a Dragon is okay to kill based on the color of it's scales. I figure this is a great time to sweep up the PC's in a grand game of Xorvintaal; the Draconic Chess game.
I'm looking for inspiration. Here's the setting as it stands:
- This is a very high-magic world. Multiple high and epic level NPC's exist, usually as national leaders or such. The very first person to discover the Lichdom process still exists, lives on the Moon, and has converted it into a Death Star for fighting off Eldritch Abominations from the outer spheres. The PC's decided to bar him from ever entering the Atmosphere of the world ever again, because they hate him.
- Most of those NPC's don't actively interfere in the world because they're too busy performing administrative duties.
- One of the NPC's killed off in the campaign-ending adventure was a Great Wyrm Gold Dragon whose horde was the combined savings of the Imperial Bank of the largest Empire on the planet. Branches existed worldwide, with specialized magic developed for record-keeping that enabled them to function similar to modern-day banks, hosting branches even in nations that were otherwise hostile to each other.
After that NPC's death, Dragons worldwide pounced on the opportunity to seize control of its assets. As a result, branches are nominally in cooperation with each other, but are individually administered by individual dragons, many of whom oppose or outright hate each other. Thus, Xorvintaal.
- Younger dragons without access to Polymorph spells and wilder dragons who loath human society continue to follow the old school mountain horde model, but many continue to play the game.
- Most humanoid leaders who are aware of this actually prefer it this way, because Xorvintaal keeps fighting minimized by its very nature. Nevertheless, some leaders have tried to oust draconic leadership from their economic system, and some fewer have even succeeded. These people inevitably begin to play the game themselves or die, and at least one human player has the rest of them convinced that he's a dragon too.