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DixieDevil
2015-10-06, 02:42 AM
Hey, guys, I just thought I would share my new setting with you and see if you had any suggestions.

The PC's are from a standard campaign setting type land where people meet at taverns to fight dragons in dungeons. Kingdoms, Dragons, Orcs, etc. This is the Old World.

Well, not long ago, a new continent (obviously dubbed the New World) was discovered. The PC's are among some of the first settlers.

A big part of this campaign is competing factions. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, and each group has it's goals. Some will work together, some will clash, so on and so forth. None of these factions are inherently the "bad guys", that just depends on the PCs actions


Beyond the first settlement lies a large swamp inhabited by Grippli and Lizardmen.

The Grippli are a nomadic people, staying in one area of the swamp until they've used up every bit of it's resources, then moving on to the next one. They are led by a much larger "mother" Grippli that acts as a shaman. They're initially friendly to the settlers, but will defend their traditions with their lives.

The Lizardmen live in more permanent settlements, which they claim are the ruins of an ancient Yuan Ti civilization. They're heavy practitioners of Necromancy and believe burying the dead to be a waste. Instead, when one of the clan passes on, the head priest reanimates the body and they put it to work. While they may be a bit more hostile to the settlers, they'll be more willing to accept change. As long as no one stands between them and their Necromantic plans! (whatever they may be. Probably something about the Yuan Ti, or maybe resurrecting dinosaurs)

To the West, in the forested hills, live the Gnolls. Known as the "Beastmen" by the Grippli. The Gnolls live in large nomadic hunting bands that have large territories covering just about everywhere outside the swamp. Most wars involving the Gnolls are between different tribes, but they've been known to butt heads with Lizardfolk that try to expand their territory beyond the swamp, and any Grippli tripe that wanders to far into the forest generally becomes lunch. Their first reaction to the settlers will be violence but peace can be made if they appeal to the Gnoll's greed.

A chain of mountains stretches far behind both the swamps in the East and the forests in the West. Almost seeming to form a wall of sorts. While nobody seems to live on the mountains, a hidden world lies deep within them. A complex system of interconnected caves under the mountains forms my setting's version of the Underdark. This is where the Mindflayers come in. When the settlers encounter the Mindflayers, it won't be on an adventure, it'll be in a business meeting! While the other natives seem reluctant to change, the mindflayers see it as an opportunity. The mindflayers will attempt to team up with any faction deemed profitable. They will attempt to enslave Grippli tribes and put them to work in the new factories and mines.


While there are many already existing factions in the New World, the Old World brings some of it's own.

The Hahphet company are the first on the scene. These guys serve as the first quest-givers. They know there's money to be made here, and they're gonna make it any way they can. They've hired the party to map out the surrounding area and essentially figure out the lay of the land.

The Church of Light is a new church that is a combination of all the Good Old World gods. They've come to the New World to convert the natives.

The Goblin Terrorists (don't have a real name yet) are tired of being trampled on in the Old World. The Goblin priests say that the discovery of the New World was prophesied and call it the "Promised Land".


Okay, so that's all I've got so far. Y'all got any suggestions? I'm lookin' for anything from new ideas for factions or new races of natives to plot hooks and cool NPC ideas. Gimme everything ya got! :smallbiggrin:

Rift_Wolf
2015-10-06, 08:03 AM
Which system are you using?

The biggest ask I can see is getting the PCs to treat Mind-flayers as non-evil. The lizardfolk might be in the lawful neutral side of necromancy (using it to further their civilisation) but Mind-flayers are so stereotypically kill-it-with-fire that even if they come in peace, the party will be immediately suspicious of them.

It sounds like you've got a decent set of factions; adding more could wait till one outlives it's usefulness or gets wiped out (goblins and grippli look very tenuous).

Idea for plot hooks:
1) A high ranking faction member visits the lizardfolk, but never returns. The PCs find his bodyguards working in the lizardfolk Citadel as zombies, still bearing Wounds from lizardfolk claws. The faction member, however, is still alive, hiding among the lizardfolk priests who saved his life; the bodyguards were employed by a rival faction to kill him and make it look like the lizardfolk had done it. The PCs now have to find out who ordered the hit before the faction member can return to the colony.

2) omething happens to shift power in the gripplis favour; Discovery of a lost artifact, rise of a powerful leader, ability to tame magical beasts. While this might make them more aggressive to their ancestral enemies, it makes them much more attractive allies to the Old World factions; it's easier to have one powerful ally than try to ally twenty bickering tribes. How the Grippli cope with this newfound power depends on if you want to shift them from passively neutral to aggressively good/evil; if it's a change for the worse, the PCs might look for ways to stop the threat (steal the artifact, depose the leader, kill the tamed beasts) before its too late.

DixieDevil
2015-10-06, 11:38 AM
Yeah, the Mindflayers are the only faction that started out in my mind as the "bad guys." They'll be joining up with the Hahphet companies, starting mines and factories under the name of the Human cooperation. All seems fine and dandy, until the PC's find out that the mines are full of Grippli slaves with their eyes sewed shut!

Have you ever played Oddworld? If so, imagine the Mindflayers as the Glukkon and the Grippli as the Mudoken.

Rift_Wolf
2015-10-06, 02:00 PM
Yeah, the Mindflayers are the only faction that started out in my mind as the "bad guys." They'll be joining up with the Hahphet companies, starting mines and factories under the name of the Human cooperation. All seems fine and dandy, until the PC's find out that the mines are full of Grippli slaves with their eyes sewed shut!

Have you ever played Oddworld? If so, imagine the Mindflayers as the Glukkon and the Grippli as the Mudoken.

Brew is made from our bones!

Are you making other changes to Mindflayers though? Evil corporate types are one thing. Brain eating squidlords who reproduce via parasitism? The Hahphet companies gonna look either really evil or gullible. If you want to keep the brainy parts of the Mindflayers, introduce them after the lizardfolk. Hell, they could have a deal with the lizardfolk already; zombies don't need brains, Mindflayers don't need corpses. It's a win-win!

MrZJunior
2015-10-07, 03:08 PM
You should introduce a rival team of adventurers who can compete against the party. Perhaps the company offers a bonus to whoever finds the most profitable things out in the wilderness.

You could also center a quest around gathering supplies for winter.

DixieDevil
2015-10-09, 10:43 PM
Those are brilliant ideas!

I would've never thought about an NPC party, but I think that's just the motivation they need!

DixieDevil
2015-10-10, 12:13 AM
One thing I've been worrying about is the language barrier between the PCs and the natives. How should I handle this?

Rift_Wolf
2015-10-10, 06:54 AM
One thing I've been worrying about is the language barrier between the PCs and the natives. How should I handle this?

Potions of Comprehend Languages to begin with. Having players roleplay their communication through gestures and sign language can be fun too. Hunting down a tribes Rosetta stone could be a plot hook which leads to unexpected revelations ('to serve man'; it's not a cook book, it's a battle rap!)

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2015-10-10, 09:14 AM
Hunt for a Rosetta Stone could be a nice variant of the "find-powerful-magical-item" thing. Delve into an ancient Yuan-ti ruin to find an old tablet. You can start playing of Indiana Jones tropes too.

DixieDevil
2015-10-10, 06:32 PM
Okay, so it turns out the PCs thought about it before it came up. The Wizard is gonna be the translator, he has spells for it. So problem solved. I still think I'm gonna use the Rosetta Stone idea, though.

Also, I've decided to trade the Grippli in for Bullywugs.

MrZJunior
2015-10-11, 04:40 PM
Okay, so it turns out the PCs thought about it before it came up. The Wizard is gonna be the translator, he has spells for it. So problem solved. I still think I'm gonna use the Rosetta Stone idea, though.

Also, I've decided to trade the Grippli in for Bullywugs.

Yeah, just because the party now knows the local language doesn't mean there isn't someone else who will appreciate it.

DixieDevil
2015-10-13, 01:12 AM
I've got another question, guys! Okay, so I'm thinking about adding in another race, maybe one a little more "human" but not one of the standard fantasy races. Any ideas?

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2015-10-13, 11:07 AM
My "New World" has Yuan-ti, Lizardfolk, Gith, Thri-Kreen, and Troglodytes, with the Yuan-ti being both the most monstrous and the most human.

Rift_Wolf
2015-10-13, 11:56 AM
I've got another question, guys! Okay, so I'm thinking about adding in another race, maybe one a little more "human" but not one of the standard fantasy races. Any ideas?

I once made a new world with a cabal of vegepygmy Druids whose stated goal was to awaken all plant life and overthrow the Cruel homogeny of the meatlings. The only thing slowing them down was manufacturing the oils, which were boiled out of zombified sahuagin that infested the northern coasts.

MrZJunior
2015-10-13, 12:49 PM
I've got another question, guys! Okay, so I'm thinking about adding in another race, maybe one a little more "human" but not one of the standard fantasy races. Any ideas?

How about some petting zoo people like catfolk?

DixieDevil
2015-10-13, 12:52 PM
How about some petting zoo people like catfolk?

My only problem with that is that most of my races seem to be anthropomorphic animals. Lizardfolk, Bullywugs, Gnolls. All anthro's.

MrZJunior
2015-10-13, 01:57 PM
My only problem with that is that most of my races seem to be anthropomorphic animals. Lizardfolk, Bullywugs, Gnolls. All anthro's.

That's a good point, I never thought about that.

What about some variety of elves?

DixieDevil
2015-10-13, 03:53 PM
I have an idea! Bigfoot! Bigfeet?

Anyways, I had an idea for a Bigfoot wandering the swamps as an encounter, but then I thought 'Hey, that'd be an interesting race!' I was thinking about making them related to the Fey and live in small nomadic tribes.

Perhaps they're great thinkers who philosophize about life's biggest questions. Maybe they worship an ancient god from a forgotten time.

Storm Bringer
2015-10-23, 04:04 AM
I've got another question, guys! Okay, so I'm thinking about adding in another race, maybe one a little more "human" but not one of the standard fantasy races. Any ideas?

why not just humans? or a "standard" race with a twist?

some distance to the north/south of the main Hahphet company colony, their is a rival Old world colony set up by tje Red Wyvern company. They are populated mainly by "greenskin" races (orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, etc), and are the main source of recruits for the "goblin terrorists" you mentioned (via runaways). they take a very hard line with the locals, making heavy demands of them and then launching brutal "punitive" expeditions if their is the slightest resistance to their demands. the horror stories of their exploits fliter down to the locals around the players base, and can stir up problems ("Trust you? The Green Fang tribe trusted your friends up north, and now those that are not dead are slaves!").


maybe a Dryad or other plant based race? they live in section of the forest, and, while willing to trade in a limited fashion (say, limited logging rights for clearing out some bandits), they are mainly a insular and isolationist group.

other options could be a Old world dispute spilling over onto the colonies (French and Indian Wars style), or the Church of Light sending a "crusade" to convert the locals (and stop that beastly necromancy!), or a refugee ship full of goblins fleeing to their promised land....being chased by their orc masters.