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View Full Version : whats a setting with out a little war eh, eh?



clockwork warrior
2008-02-08, 12:34 AM
passing thought of mine. after i jotted down some ideas for my own home brew setting, i realized i added a war in the history of the world. the more i pondered this, the more i thought " why is their always a super war either before, during, or in the very near future of a campaign setting?"

the more i thought about it, it makes sense as far as a game goes. it give the players enemy, background, ruins to discover, people to meet, and legends to live. but it seems so cliche that there always have to be a war. i dont know much about the existing d20 settings ( the game i prefer is monte cooks arcana unearthed which features a historical war, and while i dont like eberron i know it also features a large war.)

so im wondering, what other ways can one bring excitement and whatnots to a campaign world beyond ancient war style stuff. most if not all of it has been done to death, but still, a little bit of change would be nice.

Idea Man
2008-02-08, 12:45 AM
I think wars are so common, the designers put them in out of habit. :smallamused:

Other events of note would include catastrophies (plagues, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods, pestilences [bugs or blights on the plants], blizzards, tsunami, eruptions, etc.), divine miracles or events, social or artistic revolutions, unique occurrance (first appearance of magic, for example), assassinations/murders, rise/fall of any organization (kingdoms, merchant empire).

I'm sure I missed something, but that should be a half-way decent start.

clockwork warrior
2008-02-08, 12:51 AM
those actually sound good, and i feel dumbfounded by the fact that none of that came to my mind at all.

i really like the idea of the coming of magic. the setting im hoping to make is going to be for iron heroes ( im down with gritty low magic pulp, and i think this game will bring what i want.) and a cool way to exsplain the creation of magic would make for a very interesting game...

i think im going to be up all night brain storming now :smallsmile:

Hawriel
2008-02-08, 12:56 AM
I think wars are so common, the designers put them in out of habit. :smallamused:

Other events of note would include catastrophies (plagues, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods, pestilences [bugs or blights on the plants], blizzards, tsunami, eruptions, etc.), divine miracles or events, social or artistic revolutions, unique occurrance (first appearance of magic, for example), assassinations/murders, rise/fall of any organization (kingdoms, merchant empire).

I'm sure I missed something, but that should be a half-way decent start.

these are great ideas. However they all through out history in one way or another have sparked a war if not directly caused them.

Pronounceable
2008-02-08, 01:22 AM
"why is their always a super war either before, during, or in the very near future of a campaign setting?"


Because there are humans there. Greedy and bloodthirsty bastards that they are, no one expects them to live in peace.

Lemur
2008-02-08, 01:38 AM
Ordinary political machinations are usually ignored in favor of "save teh world" style plots. People striving to make their mark on the world can be done without major wars, and still engage the players.

Or, instead of having a "disaster" of some sort, try having something that appears to be a boon, but will surely result in conflict, such as a gold rush. Such an event need not result in a war, but would certainly cause a lot of small scale skirmishes and backstabbing as various factions and freelancers make their way towards the newly discovered valuable resource lode/ancient-yet-disturbingly-advanced technology/fountain of youth (or other strange transfiguration)/stylish hats.

Or you could do a Journey to the West/Hobbit/Mario setup, where the PCs have to go somewhere to do something (presumably important) but since they have to travel through strange lands, the bulk of the adventure is getting to the destination rather than the ultimate goal.

averagejoe
2008-02-08, 01:45 AM
Because there are humans there. Greedy and bloodthirsty bastards that they are, no one expects them to live in peace.

Yeah, and the peace loving goblins and orcs suffer the backlash, as well as being branded savages. Ah, well, it's the winners who write the histories, I guess. :smallannoyed: