Alright, after discussing a bit about my project of a setting on the Arabian Nights thread, I guess it's time for me to post a little bit more about my ideas so far.

I'm going to repost some material here I've been brainstorming elsewhere, so indulge me while I lay out some of the ideas I've had so far.

It's an idea that has been in my mind for quite some time. My megadungeon, the Black Abbey of St. Yessid, which is itself based off the Mount St. Michel in France, always was linked to these ideas of mine. It's something I grew up with, back in France, when I spent my childhood between Normandy and the French Ardennes. It's during that time that, as a very young child, I came to love castles, and chivalry, and the life in the countryside, all these things which would one day collide with the D&D game and send sparks flying within my head for many years afterwards!

I'm actually planning on running an OD&D game, and will be using a homebrew setting loosely based on medieval France during the Hundred Years War, but here's the catch: History as we know it is not canon, and D&D tropes (including magic-users, dungeons, fantastic creatures, demi-humans, goblinoids and giants, etc etc) are as much part of this Fantasy France as other, more historical, influences would be. Some things have been altered: there is an inner sea between the rivers of Meuse and the Rhine cutting off Germany from Northern France, for instance. The sickness of Charles VI of France, the Beloved, which gradually will change him into a mad man, takes its toll much more quickly than it did in our world. Goblins, hobgoblins and giants serve as mercenary troops during the conflicts of this age. And so on, so forth.

It all started with some ideas I had for a sandbox based on Normandy some time ago (and a similar Fantasy England for Iron Heroes, prior to it), but in this particular instance, for this Summer's game, I decided to flesh out the area of Bar-le-Duc, in Eastern France, instead, which is the place where the actual, RL game is probably going to take place. So we'll have some people playing in BLD in reality, and at the same time in a Fantasy, medieval version of Bar-le-Duc and its surrounding area, in the actual game.

I went back to the XVIIth century Cassini maps of France, selected the area of Bar-le-Duc, edited it to include the edge of the sea I was mentioning earlier, modified the colors, etc, and added two layers of Hexes on them. The scales are, for small hexes, 1 hex = 1 mile, roughly, while 1 large numbered hex = 3 miles.

Map without hexes.
Map with small hexes only.
Map with small and large hexes overlaid.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this yet, and I sure will need to work some more on the maps (to make the locations' names clearer, add scales, orientation etc), but I thought this might be cool to discuss, and could inspire others out there so... here it is.

Context: England and France are at war. They have been battling over the future of the French Crown and its associated territories for decades (and employ a variety of humanoids, including and not limited to goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and giants, to act as mercenary forces within their armies' ranks). Peace is negotiated between the two warring sides from time to time, more out of weariness than a true dedication to a lasting resolution of the conflict between the House of Valois and the House of the Plantagenêt. Nobody truly believes that any common ground may be found on the long term. The Kingdom is torn apart, in shambles. The Warring states are at a stalemate. The Church itself has two popes, Clement VII of Avignon and Urban VI of Rome.

Charles V of France died in 1380 and left the Kingdom to an infant, Charles VI, the Beloved. His uncles, all gifted magic users, collectively known as the Marmousets, are ruling in his stead. It is the news of the day that the young Charles has finally decided to fully assume his charge as King of France and releave his regents from their administration of the lands. The King's youth and inexperience, as well as rumors of his failing mental health, all add to the insecurities of his subjects.

Le Franc Barrois (i.e. The Free Barrois): The Region around Bar-le-Duc is not under the control of the French Crown, but instead an independant Duchy operating as a hub of exchanges on an East-West axis between the French Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire, and on a North-South axis between the Kingdoms of England, Denmark (which is still very much alive and independent, due to the existence of the straight separating it from the Holy Roman Empire), Holland, Flanders, the Papacies and the various Italian dominions. The Seafaring Duchy of Luxemburg facilitates these exchanges and, though it is closely associated the Holy Roman Empire by blood, supports the Duke of Bar in maintaining his independance on his side of the Germanic Sea.


Magical Medieval Europe, around 1300 AD
Showing the Germanic Sea separating the French Kingdom from the Holy Roman Empire (work in progress)

Reposting stuff from the Arabian Nights thread:

Quote from: Benoist;381680Basically France is still very much at war with England, but the hostilities lost considerable steam with time, just like they did in the real world. Normandy is still allied to England, and Charles the Evil is still alive. Charles VI of France is about to take the Crown out of his spellcasting uncles, the Marmouset, but his insanity is already at work in his mind, much earlier than it did in the real world. The armies of Europe use goblinoids and giants in their armies, with all we can imagine of tensions in communities that come from either armies living at a stand still nearby, or bands of mercenaries without current employers.

The main geographic difference between our world and this Magical Medieval Europe is the existence of a Germanic Sea between the Holy Roman Empire and Northern France, with the Duchy of Luxemburg acting as a precocious Seafaring power of the time, Denmark retaining strong ties to its Viking past, since it is separated from the Germanic lands to the South, and so on, so forth.


North-Western Magical Medieval Europe (Work in progress; Click for higher resolution)

I still don't know how the Germanic Sea appeared. I know it's related to a battle and a huge backlash of extremely powerful magic used at the time, but I don't know yet what battle I am talking about, or when. I'd like it to be relatively recent for the setting to not be too far apart from its real world inspiration, and yet, sufficiently far in time for the existence of the Sea to be perfectly normal, an accepted fact of life, in 1388 AD. I was thinking it might have had something to do with Charlemagne's death and conflicts between the Heirs of his Empire. Maybe.

It still very much in flux, as you can see.

Quote from: Benoist;381701Maybe Lothair's the one who decided to use some Roman Apocryphal rituals and basically self-destructed in the feuds that followed Charlemagne's death?


Burgundy in this setting could actually gain a lot of strength, since it would have access to the Sea via Chalon-sur-Saône (the Saône, the river itself, having been rerouted by the cataclysmic events that created the Germanic Sea). Of course, the Duchy of Luxemburg would stand in its way...

Le Franc Barrois, indicated on the map, is where I am going to run the first game using this setting. It's actually where the game is going to be run in the real world also. It is a buffer zone, a free duchy between Luxemburg, the Holy Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Duchy of Burgundy and the Kingdom of Denmark. All the actors of these times are basically plotting to control the area, and the mastery of Sea that comes with it.

Quote from: Benoist;381709Conflict is drama!

Now add to this that there's the Hundred Years' War running in the background, maybe conflicts between various orders of Chivalry, a Church that currently has two different Popes opposed to one another (Clement VII in Avignon and Urban VI in Rome) and you have like... zillions of conflicts going on at the same time, and a Kingdom that is basically falling apart from without AND within!

OK. I really need to post a new thread about this now.

Quote from: Benoist;381713Peace is negotiated between the two warring sides from time to time, more out of weariness than a true dedication to a lasting resolution of the conflict between the House of Valois and the House of the Plantagenêt.

So 200 hundred years before the campaign starts, was Richard Coeur de Lion an actual werelion?

Quote from: Premier;381727So 200 hundred years before the campaign starts, was Richard Coeur de Lion an actual werelion?

LOL That'd be interesting. This whole project actually started a long time ago when I was thinking of Ironheart, an Iron Heroes Fantasy version of England under John's rule. An idea that is still part of the bigger picture, as it relates to this particular project. Robin Hood meets HP Lovecraft meets D&D, basically. The concept then evolved with the Citadel of Chaos, where the idea of a Normandy during the Hundred Years War came up (which is part of this project also). Le Franc Barrois is an extension of that setting, as is my megadungeon, the Black Abbey of St. Yessid.

That Cassini map is just amazingly cool, isn't it?

Here's something else you may want to check out: Folkloric - Gallia, Land of Chivalry and Intrigue.

Quote from: The Shaman;381776That Cassini map is just amazingly cool, isn't it?

You bet! You're the one who linked it on the forum. I don't know how I wasn't aware of it in the first place, now that I know the story behind it, but hey, I didn't. So thanks for bringing it up!

Quote from: The Shaman;381776Here's something else you may want to check out: Folkloric - Gallia, Land of Chivalry and Intrigue.

Ooh. That looks interesting. How usable is it with older editions of the game, or as a general resource?

Quote from: Benoist;381779That looks interesting. How usable is it with older editions of the game, or as a general resource?

It's in my cart, but I haven't picked it up yet. Once I throw down for it, I'll shoot you a mini-review.

Quote from: The Shaman;381805It's in my cart, but I haven't picked it up yet. Once I throw down for it, I'll shoot you a mini-review.

Awesome, M. Greatly appreciated.

Awesome!

Quote from: BenoistI still don't know how the Germanic Sea appeared. I know it's related to a battle and a huge backlash of extremely powerful magic used at the time, but I don't know yet what battle I am talking about, or when.

Is it necessary that it has appeared? Why can't it be a regular feature of the geography of your setting?

How about this? The idea of creating the sea was first conceived by none other than Gaius Julius Caesar - an accomplished sorcerer as well as Pontifex Maximus and Flamen Dialis -, when he saw that conquering both Gaul and Germania would prove too much for Rome, and decided that a new "natural" barrier would solve the problem? Of course, no single man could accomplish something of that magnitude, so he manipulated Roman society into deifying him and all future Emperors, with the new-fangled deities pouring their divine power into a cataclysmic earthquake circa the time of Marcus Aurelius, creating the sea.

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;381907Awesome!



Is it necessary that it has appeared? Why can't it be a regular feature of the geography of your setting?

I like the Lothair Got Boned scenario, personally.

-clash

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;381907Awesome!

Thanks!

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;381907Is it necessary that it has appeared? Why can't it be a regular feature of the geography of your setting?

Yes, it's kind of necessary for my suspension of disbelief. The issue is that if you've had such a Sea as a feature of the setting since the beginning of times, the European nations would have evolved in radically different ways compared to our world. Take the example of Charlemagne's rule, and how his Empire evolved. It would not have looked the same way at all. As a result, the nations of the Carolingians would not have looked the same either. The whole map of Europe would look different.

Now, obviously, no matter what I decide in the end, it's a stretch of imagination to think that the historical situation of 1388 AD, the nations, forces in presence, even the ruling people would even be remotely the same than in our world. But still. There's a stretch, and then, there's a streeeetch, if you see what I mean.

I had thought of the Roman origins of the Sea at the beginning, and indeed, I still have some ideas on how I could use the Republic, then Empire, then the religious conflicts that devoured the Empire from within, for the setting's benefits. But there's still the question of Charlemagne's rule later on. It seems that the event would be too far in time, to me, for Europe to be remotely recognizable as compared to the authentic, real Europe of the Middle-ages.

Quote from: Premier;381910How about this? The idea of creating the sea was first conceived by none other than Gaius Julius Caesar - an accomplished sorcerer as well as Pontifex Maximus and Flamen Dialis -, when he saw that conquering both Gaul and Germania would prove too much for Rome, and decided that a new "natural" barrier would solve the problem? Of course, no single man could accomplish something of that magnitude, so he manipulated Roman society into deifying him and all future Emperors, with the new-fangled deities pouring their divine power into a cataclysmic earthquake circa the time of Marcus Aurelius, creating the sea.

That's very cool. I know I want the Roman Empire to have something to do with pacts with unholy beings (think Cthulhu Mythos, here), with the conversion of Constantine to have something to do with it. Maybe the Church was the force opposing some of the corruption of the Empire, Constantine thought it would solve the problem... or Constantine was corrupt himself and corrupted the Church in return, rendering its efforts moot by giving it Power. Hmm...

I too like the Lothair scenario though. That's probably what's going to be linked to the Germanic Sea, specifically.

So the christian church will be the primary source of priestly magic.  Gotcha.
What's the source of non-priestly magic?  
Would a Mithras cult be wizardly, or something else?

And do you assume both Popes to be high-pwer clerics, or are you avoiding the assumption of high levels going with high political power?