The Wolfen Empire of Palladium's fantasy setting are, quite blatantly, Furry Romans.  Roman armor, weapons, organization, etc. all done by wolfmen- as it is, it's all one big WTF of lazy worldbuilding unless you make a rather obvious move and ask this question: "Where did they get this utterly alien culture from?"

I think it would be fantastic to set up a campaign that involves a group of Terran natives that, in pursuit of some ancient mystery, get transported to the Palladium World's dimension and end up in the Wolfen Empire.  Play all that's in the written books straight (or, at the very least, as straight as possible) and let the campaign focus upon answering the aforementioned question.  (Doable, as the Wolfen Empire does have a Human state within it, without much in the way of issues.)

So, how would you folks go about setting up the answer to that question as well as the long-term investigation of it by the PCs?

The Wolfen culture could have been a holdover from a previous ancient human civilization.  Perhaps the Wolfen were originally the slaves of that past empire and lost their former identities.  When the human empire fell, evidence of its existence was actively purged by some opposing faction.  Except that the Wolfen, now free, assimilated a great deal of it.

So, in essence, the deeper the characters investigate the Wolfen culture, the more they learn about that mysterious lost human empire.  There are plenty of holes in this scenario to set up a pretty interesting conspiracy story.

If it were me, I think my "punchline" would have something to do with the Rifts and past visitations.  Maybe actual Terran Romans had somehow used a Rift.  Or at least one of their deities.  Not sure who or what would want to put a stop to them; maybe another deity or some extra-dimensional police force?

A "Lost Legion" from history is transported across the dimensions. They conquer the more-or-less barbaric Wolfen, and over time Romanize them as Romans have always done, down to the clothing, uniforms, and tactics. After all, it worked on Earth.

Pfft!

Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf, so obviously the Romans got their culture from the Wolfen rather than the other way around

....


A planet where men evolved from wolves?

What a twist!

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;392566Pfft!

Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf, so obviously the Romans got their culture from the Wolfen rather than the other way around

Giggity!

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;392566Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf, so obviously the Romans got their culture from the Wolfen rather than the other way around

Awesome!

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;392566Pfft!

Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf, so obviously the Romans got their culture from the Wolfen rather than the other way around

Ok, that right there is the post of the day.
:hatsoff:

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;392566Pfft!

Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf, so obviously the Romans got their culture from the Wolfen rather than the other way around

Quote from: Spinachcat;392577Awesome!

Quote from: CRKrueger;392589Ok, that right there is the post of the day.
:hatsoff:

I absolutely agree.

:cool:

No, I prefer it the other way around: a group of lost Romans meet the Wolfen, and because of their admiration for the wolf, they "Romanize" the Wolfen, who take to very readily (again, because the Romans admire them; and because Roman Civilization is one of the greatest inventions ever, and much better than shitting in the woods and trying to tear out your cousin's throat to see who gets to eat the half-rotting bit of meat you found).

Now, for step two: a group of Wolfen come through a RIFT to earth. They meet some PCs, have a funny little encounter, are stunned by horrific experiences of what things have degraded to on "Terra" and that Rome is all but forgotten, and head home.

Step three: Same group of PCs, later in the campaign. Its been weeks for them, but its been centuries or millennia for the Wolfen. They're now a powerful space-faring empire (I forget, are there Wolfen in Phase World?), and they've sent a huge fleet to "save Terra", to return the favour the ape-people had done for them all those untold aeons ago, and restore to them the light of true civilization, after conquering them of course, adding them as the latest province of the Empire of the Wolf.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;392967(I forget, are there Wolfen in Phase World?)

Yes.

Well there you are! That proves it!

RPGPundit

Pundit, that's quite the idea there.  I hope that you get to give it a go someday.

Well, I AM running a RIFTS campaign right now...

RPGPundit