Help building a Himalayan themed campaign

[walfulninja]

Hello fellow playgrounders! I need some help with building a campaign with a Himalayan settings. I have a skeleton consept of the story. Basicly, tribes high in the mountains require help slaying a colony of dragons at the very top that are slaying entire tribes. I want the campaign to start from level one, with the adventurers starting at the bottom of the mountain and being high enough level to slay the dragons by the time they reach the top. What kind of encounters should I have? What classes, races etc fit culturally? I have access to the oriental adventures book that seems like it will help but I'd like some ideas from you guys/gals.

[Telonius]

Frostburn would have some good source material for you, for cold hazards. You might get some mileage out of a Cloud Anchorite settlement. From other books, Goliaths would be a natural fit; Raptorans would probably work as well.

This setup is just begging to have a Yak Folk encounter.

[Vaz]

To create some atmosphere, perhaps include some sort of Artifact which prevents Magical Flight from working around the Dragons areas.

Makes Climb, Balance, Jump, Use Rope etc useable/required past Level 7. The problem is, flight completely bypasses that restriction. It makes things more dangerous for the party (no featherfall either!), and gives them some sort of secondary goal which would allow the players easier ability to fighting the dragons in their natural territory.

Have a look at the Sapphire Dragon within the MM2 for a pretty cool encounter on icy terrain (IIRC), and being different than just 'white dragon'. Alternatively, their may be planar dragons (a Battle Dragon might make itself at home here; finding a way to get it back home might result in some Asgardian allies to help the final dragon) to create a new feeling.

[Warlocknthewind]

+1 for Yall Folk

Hammer and Piton is thematically appropriate, if not entirely effective. Ice climbing kobolds, "We climb YOU!!"- Pick Pick. I think if there's enough of them, their weight knocks you prone.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Telonius
This setup is just begging to have a Yak Folk encounter.

You beat me to it. :smallbiggrin:



More seriously, I'd recommend looking through Unapproachable East for some mountain-themed creatures, in particular the taers, who are essentially abominable snowmen, and not the kind that make you snow cones. Ice trolls from the same book would also be appropriate.

I would avoid Oriental Adventures, since the setting is mainly compiled from pop-culture visions of mythical Japan, with a few quasi-historical allusions thrown in. Instead, for a more authentic Himalayan feel, I would recommend you look into the cultures of Bhutan, Nepal, and premodern Tibet.

Also, for a better understanding of the high-altitude environment of the Himalayas, I'd suggest you watch two excellent programs. The first is The Himalayas (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-himalayas/introduction/6338/), from PBS Nature, which is about as close as you can get without booking tickets for Kathmandu. The second is from the BBC series Planet Earth, episode 4, "Mountains," which covers a variety of high-mountain habitats. I guarantee you'll get ideas from both of these.

I would also suggest swtiching to some other high-level threat than dragons, simply because even dragons seem tiny and unremarkable when set against the immensity of the Himalayas. Perhaps an ancient wind elemental is running wild across the highest mountaintops, requiring heroes to scale the utmost peaks to control or placate it. I'd follow up on Vaz's suggestion to dampen out magical flight so that mountain-climbing remains a challenge at higher levels.

As for other mid-level encounters along the way, frost giants might be a good thematic fit, and Monster Manual V has the Thrym Hound, which is a kind of cold-adapted dire wolf, some of which "serve the frost giants as fearsome steeds, [while] others run in feral packs through the polar wastes." They have Ice Storm as a 3/day SLA and some other cold-related abilities which would be ideal.

[gorfnab]

Yetis are in Frostburn.