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Mrc.
2014-02-17, 01:52 PM
I've been tasked with running a campaign, and I have several months planning. With that in mind I thought it best to ask for your thoughts on how best to do this idea I've had. Bear in mind it might be atrocious but I'd like to run it by you guys anyway. Due mainly to my players preferences, a clear emphasis is on role-playing over roll-playing. Political intrigue are referenced a lot as well.

At the moment, this is setting neutral. I can run D&D 3.5, 4E and probably Pathfinder. If anyone else wants to suggest any other systems that would work feel free. Spoilered due to text wall:

The setting is based on two sides of what is known as the 'Pinnacle', a mighty structure that rises out of the sea. To the East is a typical Medieval-style setting, with the adventure starting out in the last days of the Legatus families rule. Having held power collectively for over two centuries, recent decadence and a political shift from military might to more peaceful shows of power have hit the Legatus family hard. Within the city of Wolfsmere (one of the PCs last characters was killed by wolves and it has since become an in-joke) they still hold power, but recent moves by the immensely powerful guilds, established by 'Sparrow', an obese and wealthy merchant with a deep hatred of the Legatus family, have threatened to break even this.

Wolfsmere is loosely divided into four districts and each is ruled over by an appointed lord. The party are likely to have most contact with the young-ish Lord Marshall, a Julio Scoundrel-esque character who once stole a kiss from Fate herself, if rumours are to be believed. Scratch the surface, however, and there is far more to him than meets the eye. The other lords are content to gain as much as possible from the downfall of the ruling family whilst at the same time engineering said downfall. Initially at least, the party are unlikely to be able to contact them, though it isn't impossible to do so.

Situated in the centre of Wolfsmere is the stately home of the Legatus, ruled over by the current head, Marcus Leagatus. Aged almost sixty, Marcus is reaching the twilight of his life, but nevertheless there are few more capable of navigating the petty politics of the city. A stern face and a shrewd mind have made him an incredible foe at the negotiating table. Whilst the Leagtus manor is in Wolfsmere, most of the family are in Sol Henjol far to the South. Thus, Marcus guards his name and his city with only the comfort of Maxima, his youngest daughter and Octavia his wife.

To the South of Wolfsmere lies the Merchants Highway, perhaps the only safe route that exists in the world these days. Guarded and patrolled routinely by various groups of beings dedicated to keeping it safe. Many of these are mercenaries hired by the merchants that use the road but many powerful creatures call this strip of land their home. Following the Merchants Highway to the South will bring you to a series of cities and towns that follow the outline of what was once a mighty lake. These are all named Sol X after the fearsome heat which scorches this area. I have plans and settings for these but this is already a huge wall of text so I didn't want to make it even larger. I can produce these on request.

North and East of Wolfsmere lie various prairie lands which no nation feels the need to assert claim to. Mainly this is due to significant seismic activity which many feel is due to something sinister. They might be right, because legends speak of a sunken city.

To the East of the city of Wolfsmere lies the final resting place of the worlds greatest hero. After almost one hundred years of adventuring, Tovar was struck down in a great battle. With solemn remembrance his body was carried back to Immoren, a great elven citadel where he spent most of his last days. Here it remained for nigh on millennia, until dark powers, long conspiring against the elves, destroyed the city in a siege. Fortunately, a handful of those with a talent for reading the threads of the future foresaw this and stole many treasures of their peoples, including the coffin within which Tovar lay. With these artefacts they escaped Immoren scant days before its doom closed in.

Lost for a place to go, the elves sought help wherever they could, from astral deities to Dwarven stonemasons but none would answer. In desperation, they turned to even darker creatures than those they fled from, who promised them a safe haven for them and their treasures. Thus the city of Alvar was formed upon the mortal plane, its twin watchtowers guarding the elves for eternity it seemed and for a while, peace prospered.

Soon, things started to change. Beasts went mad during the night before dying of exhaustion when the sun rose. The relatively peaceful period, murders started to occur, few to start with but more and more as time wore on. And after a few years the elves finally realised the true extent of the horrors they had unleashed upon themselves. One by one they succumbed to a terrible curse, their skin fracturing and breaking, their minds twisted with madness, their bodies wracked with pain. And under a sickening moon they howled to the sky as creatures of darkness so terrible the earth mutated at their presence.

This did not go unnoticed by the Gods. Judging it time to intervene, they sent an angel down to cleanse the city. Whispering one of the words formed at the start of creation, the angel saw the earth swallow Alvar and destroy it utterly. Great fissures opened up to send towers plummeting downwards, landslides crushed the elegant buildings and structures, peals of lightning illuminated the sky before igniting the filth that existed. Within minutes the city was no more and the earth formed over it, creating an imposing hill. Its work done, the angel returned to the heavens and once again the world was silent.


That isn't to say that people don't live in this region, but it is rare for any structure to last for more than a few years before the great heavings of the earth shake it apart. Even magically enhanced buildings have fallen this way, and few dare make the trek to the centre of the 'Badlands' to investigate the true source of this destruction.

West of Wolfsmere is the pass known as Stormvale. Imposing mountains line this valley and the towns and cities along here are constantly aware of their dangerous predicament; any invading army from the sea has no choice but to go through the pass. However, the trade benefits garnered from all the merchants arriving from the sea are seen by many as more than worth it. Officially, the people of Stormvale don't acknowledge the rule of the Legatus family, but recently moves have been made to reinforce the relationship between Wolfsmere and themselves. The reasoning is that perhaps the next ruler of Wolfsmere might be more willing to open trade relations.

East of the Pinnacle lies the land of {insert name when I can think of a good one} which is currently in the middle of colonisation. Depending on system, some form of physically superior race has discovered the land and a handful of powerful diplomats and some troops have landed. Currently, they appear to be willing to discuss things peacefully, but military might looks likely to be involved. This is basically a direct copy of the British colonisation of India, with all the atrocities that were involved. If anyone has a way of presenting this without it being too obvious I would be especially interested in hearing. I haven't done too many notes on this part of the world yet because all the references I'll ever need are in any one of many books on the subject.


That's basically it! Like I said, this is still in the development phase, and anything can change. Also, advice on good settings would be appreciated.

Mrc. out.

Thomar_of_Uointer
2014-02-17, 03:38 PM
The setting seems fairly well established. But it's not enough information to answer the question of which system to use.

What kind of gameplay is going to be emphasized in this campaign?

Mrc.
2014-02-17, 04:04 PM
As of now, that depends on what players from my regular group I can get to join. Realistically, there will be at least a few people who just want to kill stuff, but I can accommodate for that if need be. Likely, the party leader (read: the guy who's house we use) and his cousin will bet very involved in the intrigue, but I want to be able to do encounters at a rate greater than one per four sessions or so.

Group wise there should be about 6-8 but this isn't going to be started until after exams (June here in the UK) and people have many things on between now and then.

Thanks for the feedback though!

Thomar_of_Uointer
2014-02-17, 04:06 PM
Pathfinder will probably be easiest for various reasons:


All the rules you need are online.
All character classes have access to one social skill or another and players who don't like combat can spend favored class bonuses on skills. (You may want to insist that everybody in the party have one to encourge role-playing).
You can use traits to flesh out RP and background stuff for your characters. Maybe give everyone a bonus feat which they must pick from one of the "+2 to two skill" feats to encourage more RP.
You can use the hero points system to give a tangible combat bonus for RP.

Yora
2014-02-17, 04:23 PM
From what I know about 4th Edition, it doesn't really cover social interaction.
But then, neither did AD&D, which is actually my game of choice for high story and interaction campaigns.

I'm a bit suprised to ever say that, but maybe you're better served with 4th Edition. Reportedly it plays a lot smother and faster than 3rd/PF and I think the most important factor when chosing a game for a campaign with lots of interaction is that things do not get slowed down by too many rules. There's a lot of problems I have with 4th Edition, but if you want fast and fun action that does not get in the way of the story, it seems like the better choice.

Edit: When is 5th Edition due? That one might actually be a better choice than these two.

veti
2014-02-17, 04:27 PM
Regarding the 'sunken city' story: it seems to imply that the gods of Good are supreme in this world, and Evil can only corrupt and undermine their efforts, but in the end Good always has the option to put its foot down and say "enough". This is a perfectly feasible cosmic setup, but it's not the 'default' for D&D, so make sure you've thought through the implications.

Regarding the British colonisation of India: read up on it and check the timeline carefully. I think board rules don't allow me to try to argue about the history of it here, but make sure you check multiple sources, and remember that both British and Indian sources will be biased, and not necessarily in the direction you'd expect.

Mrc.
2014-02-17, 04:45 PM
Regarding the 'sunken city' story: it seems to imply that the gods of Good are supreme in this world, and Evil can only corrupt and undermine their efforts, but in the end Good always has the option to put its foot down and say "enough". This is a perfectly feasible cosmic setup, but it's not the 'default' for D&D, so make sure you've thought through the implications.

Regarding the British colonisation of India: read up on it and check the timeline carefully. I think board rules don't allow me to try to argue about the history of it here, but make sure you check multiple sources, and remember that both British and Indian sources will be biased, and not necessarily in the direction you'd expect.

The way Gods will likely work in this campaign is more of a distant one: Gods do exist, but most people wouldn't ever even think it possible of contacting them. Of course, which system I run will determine if/when the characters can and how but it shouldn't be something trivial.

Regarding your second point, thanks for the heads up. I have based several campaigns of various events in history but the animosity between the different factions coupled with the sheer number and variety of factions makes it a special case. Do you have any sources you could suggest?

@everyone else. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll look into ways of incorporating these in. What I'm likely to do if I can find the time (see: exams) is do a version of this for each system, at least the basics. Then, depending on which seems the best fit I'll make the call last minute.

@Yora. I believe the most Wizards have said is 'summer' but if I hear anything new I'll let you know.

EDIT: Mentioned above by veti but a large part of this campaign drifts into real life, and a thorny part at that. Please try and avoid going into this as board rules are very clear. If you feel that a certain point may infringe these rules, PM me instead. Thanks in advance!