Good Setup, Bad DM

[kroot]

So I'm running a homebrew game based around Spelljammer in which each race is from a different star system. I'm super lost at where to go with my current plot setup.
So in the backstory i wrote, a long time ago there was a big war and a period of imperial expansion for all races that eventually ended in overreach & resource exhaustion, forcing the Empires to abandon their colonies and stay in their home star systems rebuilding their respective economies. The colonies were also left with no spelljammers or helms, making the abandoned inhabitants stuck.
Now 4,000 years later, Elves, Dwarves, & Humans have gotten together and decided to re-explore these lost colonies that no one has heard from in all that time. Each of the 3 PCs is playing a representative of one of the races, and I pitched the campaign as a Star-Trek esque exploration game.

Here's the problem: I have no idea what to do with these lost planets. Especially the first few the PCs discover. Should I make them post apocalyptic? Thriving? How do I make planets that are interesting without being completely alien, and also concrete/conflict filled enough to build an adventure around?

[sktarq]

Work backwards.

Think about conflicts/themes/moods that you want to play with. It could between members of the NPC culture/cultures on the planet, between issues of the PC's culture and the colonial culture whatever.

Sketch/brainstorm a few ideas for what an adventure dealing with that question may look like-be very general

Build a planetary situation that supports the adventure. This is the last step not the first.


Example of pre-adventure writing: Theme of what do the colonies feel like they owe their homeworld in terms of aliegence and identity?

Perhaps build an adventure based not on solving a major threat to a colony (which the PC's could do via their tech) but about getting enough factions of the colony to let them help. Various groups who feel that the homeworlders are devils, that don't want to be in debt to the homeworld, those who want to use the continuing problem for their own gain, those who want access to the homeworld connections to do horrible things to other colonists, those who who feel that their political or cultural hold will be threatened by homeworld contact and by accepting the PC's help they would opening such contact...all would be interesting players for the PC's to deal with

[kroot]

Thank you! That was really helpful! Just one more thing though. How would I filter combat encounters into scenarios like that? Should I just let them develop organically as a result of pc actions? Should I plant hostile factions?

[Cyclopean]

Creating hostile factions seems like a good idea in general. I'd recommend planting conflicts rather than combats. Now, they might turn into combats, and if you want you can design them so that they have to, but your players will notice if you always know the motivations of the enemies they encounter.

[Mechalich]

One thing I'd worry about is your time gap. 4,000 years is an impossibly long time for humans (160 generations, 4,000 years ago on Earth a mere handful of early civilizations even existed), a really darn long time for dwarves (between 45-50 generations, which in human terms amounts to 1250 years putting you in the very early middle ages), and a decently long time even for elves (~25 generations, so 625 years in human terms, dumping you back into the late middle ages).

As a result, in this scenario your colonies will be almost totally divorced from any memory of their initial colonization, since with the exception of the elves - for whom it will be ancient history - it will be an event in the mythic past. If these colonies still existed they will have long since used up any material left behind by the initial colonization groups and been forced to acquire new means of survival. the exception, of course, would be anyone who managed to achieve immortality and still lingers on, perhaps obsessed with the spelljamming past they cannot reclaim - this is a good scenario for some really, really bitter liches.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, over 4,000 years, the natives will have expanded massively. While the initial colonies might well have been small, these planets may well be fully settled now and have millions or even billions of inhabitants (depending on how fantasy you figure fantasy growth rates to be). Planets are big - exploring a planet is a tall order even for characters who can fly around on a spelljamming ship. As a result, if you want them to explore multiple planets you probably need some specific hook as to why they should move from one planet to the next on a regular basis.

[sktarq]

One option that comes up with the above. Give them a "star cluster" and an assignment to explore it and reconnect. Say a 6-12 stars with 1-6 settled planets/moons/etc per star (joy of spelljammmer habitable zones). Even a single planet could have a dozen good stories as various land masses and groups are delt with.

But yeah a quick overview could be good to keep people moving. Also being able to load up on exotic goods for a run home to pay off their backers as a running timer would also work.

[kroot]

Yikes that's a really good point about the timeline. I imagined the colonies as sort of vaguely remembering their homeworld, some even hoping that one day they will come back. Kind of how I imagine folks in the early middle ages might've felt about the Western Roman Empire.
I think I should probably do some timeline adjustment. 1,000 years maybe? I feel like that's long enough for new cultures to develop without being completely different from their parent cultures.

Something that will probably come into place when making contact with new planets is PC motivations. The Elves are looking for conquest, the Dwarves are looking for settlement, and the Humans are looking for trade and allies. I think the party will create enough motivation to keep moving along, though i do love the idea of building a trade network using alien goods.

[Mechalich]

1,000 years is probably more manageable. Broadly, D&D style fantasy has a weird thing with massive lifespan variance, which means different races deal with the passage of large blocks of time very differently.

Human generation time is 20-25 years, but dwarf generation time is 75-90 years, and elf generation time is 125-175 years, and that's just in the core. There are super short-lived species like Thri-Kreen with a generation time of 5 years and super long-lived species like dragons that have a generation time measurable in centuries. And that's without counting outright immortals. So events can be both incredibly distant in the past for the common people and yet still within living memory of the dragon who lives high in the mountains. LotR is actually the type example of this - with Elrond talking about stuff that happened thousands of years ago that he personally witnessed to a bunch of hobbits who are barely aware of the events of the previous century. So there's a balancing act to be conducted.

[kroot]

Right, I definitely figured there would be some incredibly venerable Elven npcs who were alive during Imperial times but too senile to make much use of their knowledge. I'd liken them more to Yagrum Bagarn than Elrond though.

So with the 1000 year interregnum I suppose the Elven colonies will sort of see their homeworld empire as we see the late industrial revolution/enlightenment in a way? A height of scientific (magical) progress that slowly gave way to mundanity.
On the other hand I should probably frame surviving human colonies more like the Byzantines of the middle ages looking back on Rome; sort of a, "Curse the loss of our great empire!" attitude while clinging to some parts of their culture while developing new trends and attitudes based on their planet. Maybe even devolving from a centralized Empire into feudal tribes?

[sktarq]

One way to play the Elves that were alive is to time it that they were but little elflings. They remember images from their childhood but didn't understand the hows and why's.

There would however be lots of adult elves who had heard clear and repeated stories. They wouldn't be legends they would be like stories of WW2.

[Thinker]

Exploration is cool and can be fun. It's always interesting to find out what problems can be encountered with new and different civilizations, but there's more to it than that. I'm presuming that your PC's all come from the same federation or empire. What other factions exist from there? Star Wars famously had the Rebellion and the Empire; Star Trek had Section 34, Star Fleet, and the interests of every member civilization to balance (Vulcan, Earth, etc.); Battlestar Galactica had various factions just on their ships that they had to struggle with; Stargate SG-1 had the Air Force, the UN, and shadowy government organizations. And then all of these had existential threats - Jedi, Sith, and Hutts; Klingons and Cardassians; Cylons (and other, different Cylons); Goa'uld, Ancients, and Asgards. Your setting needs factions.

Let's go through these considerations:

Who are the major powers in your setting? Is it just your Human-Dwarven-Elven alliance (called the Alliance from now on because retyping that a bunch of times is a hassle)? Is there an antagonist faction like Orcs, Goblins, Mindflayers?
What about minor powers (like the Hutts in Star Wars)?
Are there any factions within the Alliance? Think shady government organizations, corporations/guilds that seek profit, rival explorers, friendly explorers, meddling bureaucrats, ambitious politicians, etc.
What does each power/faction think about the lost colonies (if they're even aware of them)?
Are any of the colonies within another power's territory (whether they know it or not)?
What is each power/faction doing about the lost colonies?
Do any of the other powers/factions have lost colonies of their own (a secret colony by a long-lasting CIA-like faction!)?
What are they doing about the lost colonies?
Have any of the other powers conquered some of them?
Are their lost colonies of their own (a whole world of Mindflayers who have drifted to another form of survival without sentient hosts available)?
How do they feel about the Alliance and its exploration?
Have any of the lost colonies developed their own methods for space travel?
Have any of the lost colonies developed their own faction worthy of comment?


I'd recommend coming up with no more than 5 powers/factions at the start of play - you can always add more later, but just make sure that the ones that you create are relevant to your players at the beginning of your game. Based on your setup, it sounds like you don't want to involve an external power/faction right away so save that for later. Now, make a reason for your players to care about them. Have each player decide that they're either a member of one faction or that they're indebted with lesser debts to multiple factions or a major debt to another faction. That makes it so you can nudge the players toward something if you need to - the debt is called in or they get instructions from a higher up. The players don't have to go along with it, but their lives will be more difficult if they don't, which isn't a bad thing since it can create more to play with on its own.

Let membership with a faction be a two-way street. The players need a new tractor beam because their old one broke? Well, it's a good thing one of them is a member of the Dell Starship Corporation and they can get us outfitted with a new one! It would be impossible to list all of the ways a faction could be beneficial to a player so let that be a little bit fluid. If it makes sense for a faction to be able to help, let them at least ask about it. They can even get help from factions they're not a member of - in return for a favor. They need the coordinates of a lost outpost, the Alliance Navy might have it, but will want something from them in the future. You can also let debts owe favors to the players. That time the party rescued the sheriff's deputy from a bunch of criminals that had him pinned down on a lost colony will certainly pay off at some point in the future!

[kroot]

Wow big response! I tried my best to answer all the questions.
* Each of the 3 generic races has a sovereign nation. The Alliance is like the UN. The Dwarves have a tribal union, the Elves have a Qin Dynasty esque Empire, and the Humans are a young republic.
* There are antagonist factions though I placed them in the outer rim of space while the colonies are toward the core. There are Drow who run a chatel slavery empire, Ilithids have a small nation primarily concerned with infighting and battling the Drow. Closer to the mid rim where the alliance is there's a dying world of Orc with a raiding civilization. (As I type this I'm realizing that maybe I should reorder the galaxy with the alliance toward the core, colonies in the middle rim, and antagonists in the outer rim. Maybe there could be a sort of space race to conquer the mid worlds? Opinions?)
* There are many minor factions. Demes within the human senate, small groups within the alliance officials with specific goals.
* The Elves want to reconquer their lost colonies, the Dwarves recently were driven from their honeworld by Duergar and now want somewhere to settle, the Humans just want to reconnect with them and make alliances. The Drow are probably keen on enslaving some of the worlds, I imagine the mind flayers are too.
* I never thought about a colony in other powers territory other than native aliens maybe. I imagine that intrusion on another empire's territory followed by abandonment of the planet would lead to the colony's destruction.
* I didn't plan any other faction colonies. With the factions I have now they'd probably just be slave worlds. Though some could revolt and maybe I could develop some gith civilizations.
* I don't think the other powers have conquered any though I think i want to retcon that because i feel like ilithids and Drow would jump at the opportunity to conquer weak planets.
* I imagine the drow+ Ilithids are pretty opposed to alliance expansion because it threatens them.
* No. All of the colonies completely lost spelljamming technology. Building helms is a pretty close guarded secret.
* While the colonies might develop strong governments or armies I don't see them being significant on a galactic stage.

I think remapping the galaxy is definitely in my best interests.

[PapaQuackers]

I'm sure you have, but if not I would go rewatch pretty much every Star Trek show and cyphon some great ideas from them. The reason is Star Trek is just D&D in space anyway. Vulcans and Romulans? That's actually the exact dynamic between Elves and Drow. Distantly related, separated for thousands of years until they became separate and distinct entities that despise each other. Exploration is always a huge attraction to people in that show because they have a desire to know what's out there. Are resources really an issue in societies that are comfortable traveling into the stars and inhabiting new planets? Who knows?!

[Thinker]

Wow big response! I tried my best to answer all the questions.
* Each of the 3 generic races has a sovereign nation. The Alliance is like the UN. The Dwarves have a tribal union, the Elves have a Qin Dynasty esque Empire, and the Humans are a young republic.
That sounds cool. What is their organization's mandate? The UN's is to prevent global conflict as in WW2 and to facilitate diplomacy between nations. NATO exists as a mutual defense force, assuring military response if one is attacked by another party. The European Union's goal is to create a common market and regulation over its member states. Is it more like any of the other organizations?


* There are antagonist factions though I placed them in the outer rim of space while the colonies are toward the core. There are Drow who run a chatel slavery empire, Ilithids have a small nation primarily concerned with infighting and battling the Drow. Closer to the mid rim where the alliance is there's a dying world of Orc with a raiding civilization. (As I type this I'm realizing that maybe I should reorder the galaxy with the alliance toward the core, colonies in the middle rim, and antagonists in the outer rim. Maybe there could be a sort of space race to conquer the mid worlds? Opinions?)
With those on the outer rim, it makes it more likely that they won't come up in play for a while. That's a good thing because it means you don't have to plan them out very much right now and that you can pick them up and use them if you need a bad guy later and it leaves them vague enough that you can do whatever you want with them. A space race might be fun, but you probably only want to limit that to one antagonist faction for now. Using multiple factions to do the same thing is just going to make them feel samey.


* There are many minor factions. Demes within the human senate, small groups within the alliance officials with specific goals.
I suggest thinking out a few of your minor factions since it sounds like there is a heavy focus on the places the characters are from. Maybe one minor faction from each of the three primary worlds that are important now. You can always create more later.

* The Elves want to reconquer their lost colonies, the Dwarves recently were driven from their honeworld by Duergar and now want somewhere to settle, the Humans just want to reconnect with them and make alliances. The Drow are probably keen on enslaving some of the worlds, I imagine the mind flayers are too.
How did the Duergar get there? Did they share the planet? What were the repercussions for the alliance when the Dwarves were defeated? Are the Drow or Mind Flayers in a standoff with the Alliance? Is it like a Cold War scenario or are they just threats in the background that might never come up?


* I never thought about a colony in other powers territory other than native aliens maybe. I imagine that intrusion on another empire's territory followed by abandonment of the planet would lead to the colony's destruction.
Cool!


* I didn't plan any other faction colonies. With the factions I have now they'd probably just be slave worlds. Though some could revolt and maybe I could develop some gith civilizations.
If the Alliance powers could have retreated long ago, why not the other powers? It might not be a major thing, but it could give you some interesting sessions later on if the players discover something unexpected. If you never do it, that's cool, too. Just food for thought.

* I don't think the other powers have conquered any though I think i want to retcon that because i feel like ilithids and Drow would jump at the opportunity to conquer weak planets.
Maybe they would - there could be a whole resistance angle with a planet at some point or another world that was conquered by the Drow and then abandoned by them, too and now has a society of Drow and Dwarves or some such thing. Opens up a lot of interesting scenarios.


* I imagine the drow+ Ilithids are pretty opposed to alliance expansion because it threatens them.
Are the Drow and Ilithids in cahoots? Are there any factions within the Alliance that might oppose expansion?

* No. All of the colonies completely lost spelljamming technology. Building helms is a pretty close guarded secret
* While the colonies might develop strong governments or armies I don't see them being significant on a galactic stage.
Cool.


I think remapping the galaxy is definitely in my best interests.
A galaxy is a pretty big place. Hundreds of billions of stars. You can have them as close together or as far apart as you like. If your game isn't really about antagonist factions, just leave them out of it altogether unless and until you need them. Your setting is just for you and your group so it can work however you want it. I ask a lot of questions because that's how I build worlds - asking questions and then figuring out the answers. You've got a pretty cool campaign being built.

[kroot]

That sounds cool. What is their organization's mandate? The UN's is to prevent global conflict as in WW2 and to facilitate diplomacy between nations. NATO exists as a mutual defense force, assuring military response if one is attacked by another party. The European Union's goal is to create a common market and regulation over its member states. Is it more like any of the other organizations?
It's honestly kind of a combo of the three. The Dwarves need it for NATO-esque reasons. Humans want markets and diplomacy, and Elves want it all.


With those on the outer rim, it makes it more likely that they won't come up in play for a while. That's a good thing because it means you don't have to plan them out very much right now and that you can pick them up and use them if you need a bad guy later and it leaves them vague enough that you can do whatever you want with them. A space race might be fun, but you probably only want to limit that to one antagonist faction for now. Using multiple factions to do the same thing is just going to make them feel samey.
I feel like the Drow would be the space-race faction. I might bring in Ilithids later as behind-the-scenes manipulators, ruling planets indirectly rather than conquering outright like Drow.


I suggest thinking out a few of your minor factions since it sounds like there is a heavy focus on the places the characters are from. Maybe one minor faction from each of the three primary worlds that are important now. You can always create more later.
I actually do have them pretty well figured out. I don't feel like typing it all out but basically I've devised 5 different political parties for the humans all based on characters from Plato's Republic. I've figured out several Dwarven clans based around different crafts. And I've thought up a sort of Shogunate vs Imperial family faction dynamic within the Elven Empire. There's also Gnomish inventors and Mage's Guilds, etc. I got that bit covered.


How did the Duergar get there? Did they share the planet? What were the repercussions for the alliance when the Dwarves were defeated? Are the Drow or Mind Flayers in a standoff with the Alliance? Is it like a Cold War scenario or are they just threats in the background that might never come up?
The Duergar were Dwarves that stayed beneath the surface of their homeworld then eventually grew resentful of their surfacer cousins. A year ago in-game they managed to overwhelm the Dwarves due to their own infighting and push them out from the inside. Only about 4,000 Dwarves managed to escape. The rest were killed or enslaved. The Dwarves only joined the alliance after this event, needing protection and somewhere to park their citadels. Nah the Drow & Ilithids just have a hard time reaching them without organizing huge campaigns. The Drow usually get stopped in their tracks by the Elven fleet and I always kinda figured the Gith raids kept Ilithids in check.



Maybe they would - there could be a whole resistance angle with a planet at some point or another world that was conquered by the Drow and then abandoned by them, too and now has a society of Drow and Dwarves or some such thing. Opens up a lot of interesting scenarios.
That actually sounds fantastic.


Are the Drow and Ilithids in cahoots? Are there any factions within the Alliance that might oppose expansion?
Nooo they kinda hate each other. My Drow worship devils and practice undeath pretty regularly which really unnerves the Ilithids since they have no control over the undead. Nah the Alliance is pretty much universally on board with Expansion save for a few conservative Elves.



A galaxy is a pretty big place. Hundreds of billions of stars. You can have them as close together or as far apart as you like. If your game isn't really about antagonist factions, just leave them out of it altogether unless and until you need them. Your setting is just for you and your group so it can work however you want it. I ask a lot of questions because that's how I build worlds - asking questions and then figuring out the answers. You've got a pretty cool campaign being built.
Yeah I guess so. I figure a galaxy is a good model to use tho because I can have as many stars as I have ideas or as few as i feel like making because hey...magic. I think I want the antagonist factions to be a mid-late game threat. Once the PCs have their bearings and a power base they'll start skirmishing with real evils, not just political squabbles. No I don't mind! I love the questions, it's actually helping get my creative juices flow a ton. Thank you!

[kroot]

So here is my current map.
http://puu.sh/qq63M/be70a05562.png

Stars & Stuff Explained:
The Warp=My take on the phlogiston basically. It's a river of wild magic that allows FTL travel without exceptional magical talent.
Maerys=Elven (also Gnomes and some psychic monkey homebrew races) Homestar. 5 inhabited worlds. Prosperous and powerful. Hungry for Empire.Unnamed stars to the galactic north are former colonies.
Cog Station=Outpost of the Tinker Gnomes. Research station free from Elven legal limits.
Unis=Human (also halflings and hill giant) Homestar. Also hosts five inhabited worlds, plus a inhabited moon! All small however, population slowly reaching it's height, threat of resource exhaustion looms. Connected stars are former colonies.
Azgald=Former Dwarven homestar. Only one inhabited world, conquered by Duergar from below ground. Currently being raided by Orcs & Drow.
Skonas=Merchant republic star and the home of the Vishkanya. Fairly minor role in galactic politics though it has a major role in trade.
Ortan=Orcish Home-star. Slowly dying due to natural disasters. Rich in Iron. Generally revolves around tribal raiding culture.
Drozaran=Home of exiled Elves, became Drow homestar.
Formicarius= Unsettling hive world, homestar of the Ilithids.
Eldest= barely living star, planets shrouded in darkness. Homestar of the Aboleth.