ImpFireball
2008-07-07, 08:32 PM
Here's the pitch.
The players begin in the thriving wilderness of a world seperated by large continents.
Civilization exists, however it is so far off, that it is untouchable throughout most of the game.
The players begin with characters high enough to gain influence through leadership skills or charisma (any class, race).
Each region is dominated by a superior tribe that may or may not have laws, and that attempt to rule with their own bias/ideologies
Races exists in different regions, more or less due to the dominance of superior npc tribes
PC tribes are formed when players gain enough influence through there actions with there own followers, eventually they can shape the social landscape with their ruling
Choosing races to become followers depends on a lot of things such as region and how people view you (more than just charisma is taken into consideration; race, class and RP elements of which a backstory is necessary)
NPCs can be brought in as followers and become a part of your army not simply through diplomacy; they can be hired or assuaged (as in promised riches in the near future), etc. For various reasons, they can also turn on you and your budding tribe/nation can collapse very quickly beneath your feet
Dangerous zones exist; zones dominated by magic of a long forgotten past, deadly creatures, an insane tribe/tribe that simply hates you for political reasons, a necromancer and his undead leagues (though players may become a necromancer and rule in this way too), etc.
Creatures and treasure can apply to any region, though creatures are determined by region. For each region, whether patterns and living conditions should be drawn out.
All D20 3.5 rules apply and DM's can agree on the additional universe rules and restrictions upon beginning the RTS/RPG campaign
Training soldiers costs money, equipping soldiers costs money; there's always a certain chance brought through a mechanic that soldiers who join a player as followers will have PC classes (3.5 rules apply when determining NPC level of follower)
New mechanics may need to be drawn out to determine the flow of trade with player organisations/tribes, industry in certain regions (such as mining), and the various equipment deemed to be necessary in any given situation that followers must use, ie. Players may organise followers in any fashion or for any purpose. Money may be gained in any fashion. The world is constantly changing and shaped by followers.
Culture and bias of player tribes will be made known by players purely for RP purposes. However, this is important since RP may need to become the main motive for determining conflict, as their will be conflict among npc tribes too, between npcs (which provide players the chance to take advantage of).
Leaders are simply 3.5 characters made by players. Level will be determined later. Starting gold and treasure may be regular (assume that the player was an adventurer, ie., prior to this lifestyle.). New players may even join in to act as PC soldiers in a player's tribe.
Eventually, a player won't depend entirely on acquiring followers in order to gain soldiers. Occupying a region, they have the option of making an effort to make it attractive enough to lure travelling npcs to become civilians. In this way, the tribe might operate like a nation/manor in order to further supplement the army, however this is for later in the game (obviously, PCs with epic leadership as a feat would recover faster on a military scale than those without it, but PCs may not be epic upon beginning the game, depending on how fast flowing the GMs wish to make the game).
This is a long term game to be run by more than one DM
The game should take a while to organize; but that's my goal. It's my plan to continue pitching these ideas and allowing for 3.5 to evolve, even with the overwhelming dark presence of 4e in these times.
The players begin in the thriving wilderness of a world seperated by large continents.
Civilization exists, however it is so far off, that it is untouchable throughout most of the game.
The players begin with characters high enough to gain influence through leadership skills or charisma (any class, race).
Each region is dominated by a superior tribe that may or may not have laws, and that attempt to rule with their own bias/ideologies
Races exists in different regions, more or less due to the dominance of superior npc tribes
PC tribes are formed when players gain enough influence through there actions with there own followers, eventually they can shape the social landscape with their ruling
Choosing races to become followers depends on a lot of things such as region and how people view you (more than just charisma is taken into consideration; race, class and RP elements of which a backstory is necessary)
NPCs can be brought in as followers and become a part of your army not simply through diplomacy; they can be hired or assuaged (as in promised riches in the near future), etc. For various reasons, they can also turn on you and your budding tribe/nation can collapse very quickly beneath your feet
Dangerous zones exist; zones dominated by magic of a long forgotten past, deadly creatures, an insane tribe/tribe that simply hates you for political reasons, a necromancer and his undead leagues (though players may become a necromancer and rule in this way too), etc.
Creatures and treasure can apply to any region, though creatures are determined by region. For each region, whether patterns and living conditions should be drawn out.
All D20 3.5 rules apply and DM's can agree on the additional universe rules and restrictions upon beginning the RTS/RPG campaign
Training soldiers costs money, equipping soldiers costs money; there's always a certain chance brought through a mechanic that soldiers who join a player as followers will have PC classes (3.5 rules apply when determining NPC level of follower)
New mechanics may need to be drawn out to determine the flow of trade with player organisations/tribes, industry in certain regions (such as mining), and the various equipment deemed to be necessary in any given situation that followers must use, ie. Players may organise followers in any fashion or for any purpose. Money may be gained in any fashion. The world is constantly changing and shaped by followers.
Culture and bias of player tribes will be made known by players purely for RP purposes. However, this is important since RP may need to become the main motive for determining conflict, as their will be conflict among npc tribes too, between npcs (which provide players the chance to take advantage of).
Leaders are simply 3.5 characters made by players. Level will be determined later. Starting gold and treasure may be regular (assume that the player was an adventurer, ie., prior to this lifestyle.). New players may even join in to act as PC soldiers in a player's tribe.
Eventually, a player won't depend entirely on acquiring followers in order to gain soldiers. Occupying a region, they have the option of making an effort to make it attractive enough to lure travelling npcs to become civilians. In this way, the tribe might operate like a nation/manor in order to further supplement the army, however this is for later in the game (obviously, PCs with epic leadership as a feat would recover faster on a military scale than those without it, but PCs may not be epic upon beginning the game, depending on how fast flowing the GMs wish to make the game).
This is a long term game to be run by more than one DM
The game should take a while to organize; but that's my goal. It's my plan to continue pitching these ideas and allowing for 3.5 to evolve, even with the overwhelming dark presence of 4e in these times.