TheRPGSite

Just knocking around some ideas for some campaign (which won't be happening for a while)

Premise:

-Take a standard D&D type world (though I'm considering using Arcana Evolved rules, but not races or setting)

-X number of years ago horrible magical storms started in the North and began spreading. The storms are violent manifestations of wild magical energy. They kill, warp things, open rifts to other places, and additional nastiness.

-All the nations/races of the world begin fleeing south, many are overtaken by the storms and destroyed or changed.

-The refugees keep fleeing the spreading storms until they reach the southernmost part of the continent. The storms keep encroaching and the refugees are pressed into a very small space. Suddenly the storms stop spreading.

-The storms continue outside the "safe" area for X years. Eventually dying down to a low, but still dangerous amount.

-The refugees are all concentrated in one large city on an ocean coast with outlying farms. The areas that were not touched by the storms and can still grow food or support fish are very small. The government of the area must be very harsh to protect these food supporting areas, and therefore allow everyone to live (limited resources)

-People are just starting to venture out into the storm ravaged lands. Everything is different. Landscapes have changed. Creatures have been warped. Holes to other planes/dimensions are everywhere along with creatures and beings from those places.



I'm approaching this as a combination of the Mournlands in Eberron and the RIFTS setting, where basically anything is possible (though I would stick to fantasy).

The last city would be modeled on the city in Perdido Street Station, but without the guns/technology. I like the government as enemy, but not really "evil." The forced mingling of all the refugees adds a lot of hooks.

This setting would allow for virtually any type of adventure. The geography can be as open or as limited as I want. I wouldn't have to create anything until the PCs find it, and then I could change it later if I wanted by having everything warped. I think the city could be as interesting a place as the Outside could be.

What do you think? Ideas? Suggestions? It's a very nebulous idea right now, so I'd appreciate any comments.

sounds like you should read mercedes lacky (and i'm not saying this derisivly). there was a similar setup for her big world involving mage storms and warped lands.

Magical storms, refugees, a city modeled after Perdido Street Station...sounds great.

I think you could start dipping into some J.M.Harrison  - The Pastel City etc. You could find some useful stuff in there - just take out the tech bits, or not.

Regards,
David R

[I like how he has to put a disclaimer on "You should read Mercedes Lackey", like that might be a mortal insult.  Or that comparing your idea to hers could be a mortal insult to you.  :p ]

That's an intriguing idea.  Obviously, a lot of people would have gotten killed or been lost along the way.  One thing I'd include is that some of those who were lost would have been changed by the storms.  Not Gamma World-stylez mutants, necessarily, but they could have been warped into something new.  
Some could have new, demonic-seeming bodies, while others could still look normal but be very alien mentally.

So is there anything specifically you'd like ideas on?  Anything you don't want?  You've already said no sci-fi; is there anything else you don't like the idea of?

Quote from: CyberzombieI like how he has to put a disclaimer on "You should read Mercedes Lackey", like that might be a mortal insult.  Or that comparing your idea to hers could be a mortal insult to you.  :p

considering teh hat of "romatic fantasy" ala blue rose i've seen spewed forth, the disclaimer was the right thing to do.

you never can tell who will be a retard or not.

You could work out a variety of different, but similar, "Stormtouched" templates. That could be fun.

There is a lot of potential for an adventuring party here. I imagine the city would be very interested in finding other potential survivors. Did the Dwarves of the Stone Mountains survive? Could the storm have penetrated their deep halls? If there are other pockets of survivors, they'd like to know, set up relations, trade, etc. But who to send off to discover such things? Adventurers of course!

Then there's the whole larger plot of why the storms came in the first place, why they stopped, etc.

Quote from: Cyberzombie.  
Some could have new, demonic-seeming bodies, while others could still look normal but be very alien mentally.

The casaulties might be very weird - more something to freak players out than be a serious combat thread.  Things like hordes of people with no heads mindlessly mobbing any people who come near them.  Animals that have been merged with plants or rocks.  

You could also have total new race born in the magic - something along the lines of the beetle headed girls (can't remember name) in Perdido Street Station.

How are those who got left behind going to feel towards returning refugees?  This could be a major aspect of the world.  Maybe the freaks decide that whoever ran away doesn't get anything back - creating a dichotomy between the overcrowded safe area and the ravaged area where land and supplies are plentiful.  

With some of the rifts still open, this could be the basis of a campaign- plane or world hopping as players explore this new system.  Some of them might lead to other rifts in other parts of the world, acting as teleportation devices.

Bottom line: people rarely take risks without potential rewards.  Why are people venturing out of the safe area? Possibilities:
Overcrowding - food prices have skyrocketed
PCs are all convicted criminals who have been exiled
There are pockets of magical precipitation on the ground that can power magic items.
Portals have been found to planes rich in metals or gems
legends of women transformed into superhot magic babes
The gov has determined that the city and surrounding areas are subsiding into the sea - they need to find new lands before it becomes public knowledge and sets off panic - the fishing fleet has come under military jurisdiction (subsidence is most obvious when you work right at the coast).

I'm interested in any ideas about creatures, places, anything really. I'm trying to spin this kernel of an idea into something bigger.  I'm also trying to think of some early plot hooks for first level types. I want a sort of introductory adventure to introduce the setting without having to use too much exposition. I think something in the city that involves both the government and several refugee "camps."

Cyberzombie: Yeah, I definitely want to have "warped" creatures. I think it might make it easier to use standard monsters but make them unrecognizable. Plus you could take "good" monsters and make them crazy. Attack of teh savage blink dogs! And I definitely want to use living spells from Eberron.

Hmm. I seem to be using a lot of words in "quotes."

Quote from: Nicephoruslegends of women transformed into superhot magic babes

With 3 breasts!!! And 6 mile wide erogenous zones!! And shitting dicknipples! No...wait...scratch that last one.

Quote from: Name LipsYou could work out a variety of different, but similar, "Stormtouched" templates. That could be fun.

I was thinking about using something like the taint rules from Heroes of Horror or Rokugan (which was another inspirations, with the wall and such). I think it might be too complicated, and make things too nasty. I don't really want the horror vibe. I also think the storms should be more chaos than evil, though not in the Warhammer chaos vein (which was another inspiration.)

Quote from: Berger KingI was thinking about using something like the taint rules from Heroes of Horror or Rokugan (which was another inspirations, with the wall and such). I think it might be too complicated, and make things too nasty. I don't really want the horror vibe. I also think the storms should be more chaos than evil, though not in the Warhammer chaos vein (which was another inspiration.)

I think that's a good choice, story-wise, because having it be an evil effect is too easy.  If it's not evil, you have to think more about what you're doing, so you'll come up with more interesting transformations.  :)

I think it would be useful for you to decide what caused the storms, what their nature was, and why they stopped, even if the players never find out.  You'll be able to keep the idea more consistant if you have that framework.  You don't even have to do a big backstory -- just a general idea of what is going on will be enough for you to start deciding exactly what the storms have done to the rest of the world.

One idea I just had was on the terrain.  Parts of the terrain could be transformed and then magically sustained -- maybe there's a pleasant lake in the burning desert, now.  Others could be transformed and *not* sustained -- there's also a glacier in the desert and it's starting to rapidly melt.

Quote from: CyberzombieI think it would be useful for you to decide what caused the storms, what their nature was, and why they stopped, even if the players never find out.  You'll be able to keep the idea more consistant if you have that framework.  You don't even have to do a big backstory -- just a general idea of what is going on will be enough for you to start deciding exactly what the storms have done to the rest of the world.

How about a race of superintelligent intergalactic frogs opened a gate at the north pole for some inscrutable reason? What, it's been done alread?

This is a good point. I'll have to think. I think I would leave the source of the storms as a mystery to the PC's, though.

Quote from: CyberzombieOne idea I just had was on the terrain.  Parts of the terrain could be transformed and then magically sustained -- maybe there's a pleasant lake in the burning desert, now.  Others could be transformed and *not* sustained --there's also a glacier in the desert and it's starting to rapidly melt.

I like this.

One thing I'm debating is the time frame. How long should the storms have been raging? How long ago did they begin tapering off? I can see story advantages to either choice. I think they should have lasted at least one generation so that most people don't remember how the world was, except maybe the very old folks (and elves and dwarves, I suppose) and maybe a few memories of the terrible fleeing from their childhood.

So what are some ideas on how a non-evil chaos taint would affect things, particularly pc's? I wouldn't want the mechanics for gaining taint to be too harsh for the players, unless they do something really stupid. What, you failed your every-10-rounds DC 35 Fort save? I'm sorry, you lose 3d6 Cha and grow a fourth testicle.

Perhaps there are humans/creatures who have survived the storm and are thriving in this new chaos- like landscape. Depending on how long ago the storm was these beings could have their own culture and magic. They could also know a lot about the storm and how it came to be. In other words, way cool, enigmatic people which strange rituals,customs and codes.

Regards,
David R

You can keep it sort of balanced, which still might screw their particular character build but not be crippling.

Ideas:
lose 2D3 from one randomly chosen ability, gain equal amount in another randomly chosen ability

lose one level from one class, randomly receive one of a handful of chaotic templates (the value of which is at least one character level)

Character begins budding - a growth forms, damaging it damages the character, reaction penalties due to grossness.  After a few months, the growth falls off and the character has a mini-me.  It functions as a familiar but with class abilities similar to the character's.  Imagine an NPC with an army of mini-me's.

You could also have temporary effects like switching ability scores, change what language someone speaks/understands, change gender, and such.

One thing that I've played with is that chaotic magic is roughly equivalent to radiation, but with some positives worked in - mutations, cancerous growths,  obvious visual changes to skin and hair, but a few positive mutations.

Good ideas. I want to maintain a sense that the areas outside of the safe area of the city are...uh...unsafe. These are places that the energy storms occasionally boil up and tear the shit out of everything. Plus, if I use a taint rule, these areas are tainted to one degree or another. I especially want to keep the civilized area squished into one place, so food grown or buildings built in these tainted areas become tainted and spread it to people. Given this, I think PC's should have some method for detecting how tainted a place is, a sort of geiger counter effect. Any suggestions?

Quote from: Berger KingGiven this, I think PC's should have some method for detecting how tainted a place is, a sort of geiger counter effect. Any suggestions?

There could be a specialed detect magic variant.

How about a variant of the canary in a coalmine?  A small animal of a species that is very susceptible to taint.  Keep a few in small cages where you can see them.  If the canary starts chanting a summoning spell or sprouts fins, you're in a hot zone.

Quote from: Berger KingGiven this, I think PC's should have some method for detecting how tainted a place is, a sort of geiger counter effect. Any suggestions?

Weird tech. Something really grungy looking. Preferbly which needs to be powered by crytals or something - which is always in short supply. It should look like a device straight out of a Tim Burton movie :D

Regards,
David R

Perhaps Chaos is the natural state of the world. The world could be a random bubble in the Plane of Chaos, and be warded by ancient beings of order to keep the Chaos at bay. But eventually, slowly, in spurts and fits, it has to revert to its natural state. Such is entropy, such is life.

Of course, the world could be saved if it could be transported entire to a new plane...

Quote from: Berger KingGood ideas. I want to maintain a sense that the areas outside of the safe area of the city are...uh...unsafe. These are places that the energy storms occasionally boil up and tear the shit out of everything. Plus, if I use a taint rule, these areas are tainted to one degree or another. I especially want to keep the civilized area squished into one place, so food grown or buildings built in these tainted areas become tainted and spread it to people. Given this, I think PC's should have some method for detecting how tainted a place is, a sort of geiger counter effect. Any suggestions?

Detect Taint 0/1 level spell
Gives a Taint rating of an area from 1 to 20 or some such.

Its a fantasy world.  If taint exists, people are going to try and use magic to detect/interact/fix/stop/encourage/defend against it.

Quote from: CyberzombieSo is there anything specifically you'd like ideas on?  Anything you don't want?  You've already said no sci-fi; is there anything else you don't like the idea of?

Getting back to this. I don't want alignments, which is one reason I'm considering the Arcana Evolved rules. I also like the how the religion in Perdido Street Station was kinda low key, and I think the AE classes might model that a little better than standard D&D.

I'd like to keep it lower level magic. I'd especially like to keep the government types as a challenge that can't be faced in straight up fighting. I don't want the PCs challenging the governor and fireballing the city guards, especially because there is only one city. Actually, the tone/level in Perdido Street Station was pretty good on the magic side (disregarding the technology type stuff), too, though I'd like it a lot more mystical and less academic/scientific.

I think the tone I'd like to achieve would lean towards a post-apocalypse movie like Mad Max or The Postman.

Quote from: Berger KingI'd like to keep it lower level magic. I'd especially like to keep the government types as a challenge that can't be faced in straight up fighting. I don't want the PCs challenging the governor and fireballing the city guards, especially because there is only one city. Actually, the tone/level in Perdido Street Station was pretty good on the magic side (disregarding the technology type stuff), too, though I'd like it a lot more mystical and less academic/scientific.

Perhaps you could restrict the kind of spells available in the game. Play up the more exotic classes like the monk, druid etc. You could make the really destructive magic more elemental in nature more in tune with the "enviromental" aspect of your setting.

The city could be riddled with cults all peddling their own brand of salvation and low level divine magic.

Magic use is strictly prohibited and the governor of the city ruthlessly (is there any other way ?) hunts down individuals who use magic or maybe just the ones he thinks are a threat to the city.

QuoteI think the tone I'd like to achieve would lean towards a post-apocalypse movie like Mad Max or The Postman.

Perhaps resources are limited and the City could be like Bartertown in Mad Max beyond Thunderdome. You can get everything in the city for a price. This includes more powerful spells, better weapons, gear for surviving in the "Outside" etc.

Regards,
David R