Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

[tkdguy]

A few nights ago I had a dream about a fantasy world. It seemed like one of the books Burroughs or Howard could have written. There were gods of death, a beautiful but evil queen, and a brawny swordsman who explored secret underground passages and fought orcs.

 

Since that seems like an interesting campaign to develop, I decided to brainstorm and came up with a few ideas. Feel free to critique and add your ideas.

 

First, I need a city-state, the capital of a once-mighty empire. The empire's power is now waning, and the people have become corrupt and decadent. Cults dedicated to the gods of death have become the state religion (the emperor is also the high priest), and human sacrifice has become a common occurrence. I was thinking perhaps the emperor has been assassinated and secretly replaced with a lookalike, a doppelganger, perhaps.

 

Then there's an underground city inhabited by snake men. The snake men once ruled much of the world but were defeated and driven underground by the empire. Having plotted their revenge for centuries, they feel the time is right. The snake men are ruled by a queen who appears as a beautiful woman, but can turn into a serpent, something like the lamia of Greek mythology. The snake men often raid human settlements in order to enslave the humans.

 

There are legends of a mythical city, this world's version of Atlantis. However, this city was not swallowed by the sea, but buried in the desert. Rumors abound about lost treasure and magic (technology?) waiting to be rediscovered.

 

Much of the world is wilderness, where savages and strange creatures roam.

 

There are also stories of pirates with flying ships. They loot and pillage with impunity.

 

Anyway, that's what I cooked up so far. Sounds good? Too cliche? Let me know.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Cliche is as cliche does. So long as you have some original plots and characters to work with this setting seems fine to me. Perhaps it could be made more intricate by playing around with moral issues such as a group of 'good' snakemen or at least snakemen who can be favourably compared to the corrupt empire also are there any benevolent gods that the PC's are likely to have access to or will they be forced to bend the knee to one of the gods of death, perhaps getting involved in wars and intrigues between different cults or alternatively sticking with the standard sword and sorcery trope of distrusting all religions and killing priests practically on sight. Of course if a PC gets himself killed he might be resurrected by god of death ... in return for a few favours.

As to your city state. How does it work and what sets it apart? I would have thought the best way to decide that would be to work out what advantage allowed the creation of the empire. Discipline and tactics like the Romans? Some kind of military technology e.g. longbows, heavy cavalry, chariots, horse archers, pikes, siege engines or all of the above. Perhaps mighty sorcerers aided the city's armies and their legacy lives on, maybe they created hordes of monsters or altered soldiers possibly with dark secrets wrested from the defeated snakemen. Or the city could have started out as an aggressive warrior nation like Sparta but become rich, decadent and merchant riddled like a corrupt version of Athens. Of course there are plenty of other models for empires and their fall - Persia, the Ottoman Empire, the Aztecs or Incas (a good source of death gods) or even ancient Egypt.

Do your snakemen worship gods or is there queen enough for their adoration? Does she harbour divine ambitions or has she perhaps already achieved them?

As for other things which could be added to this setting.

Air pirate hunters.

If you have guilds you could say that over centuries they have absorbed each other like modern corporations and so there are now one or two monolithic corrupt and faction riddled super-guilds that run just about everything and may be more important than the official government.

Did the empire die of natural causes? Was there some power working through natural disasters like plagues and storms or twisting the minds of men with subtle whisperings in the dark. The Queen of Serpents would be the prime suspect I think.

Curious sects of monks who wield exotic weapons and follow inscrutable purposes.

Lost guardians from the dawn of empire. A lost army that suddenly turns up a few hundred years later; either lost in time or undead.

Perhaps there aren't that many actual barbarian tribes in this world, instead this role is filled by rough groups of semi-independent hunters and monster killers that 'orbit' their parent city states and are considered more or less kin by the cityfolk with whom they mingle comparatively freely.

A few wandering types might be fun. Air Roma/gypsies to go with the air pirates?

That's all for now but I might stop by with more thoughts later.

Thanks for the opportunity to brainstorm.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Interesting ideas, Shadowsoul! Thanks for sharing them.

 

I was definitely thinking of the different pre-Columbian cultures when I thought of the death gods. If you have the AD&D 1E Legends and Lore book, look for Mictlantecutli. The picture gives a perfect example of what I'm visualizing. The Gods of Lankhmar also provide a great example.

 

I'll probably mix and match elements from two or three cultures, so the setting will seem somewhat familiar, but not quite recognizable. I may use Rome as an example of the empire's rise and fall. Details on the world's history is forthcoming.

 

I'll probably base the idea of the snake-men on the yuan-ti instead of the lamia. They would probably have their own gods, although the queen may not necessarily be a priestess. I thought of her power as temporal rather than spiritual in nature.

 

I may add a few other touches. Years ago, I dreamt about a conclave of orc tribes deep underground. There was jockeying for position, of course, which led to hostilities. Nobody dared assail the high king, however, because he had three giants serving as his bodyguard. I could incorporate that into the campaign as well.

 

God, I have such weird dreams!

[assault]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

My only suggestion would be: scrap the Orcs. Orcs are too difficult to separate from Tolkien.

 

Use similar critters if you want. Just don't call them Orcs.

 

Don't use Elves or Dwarves either, for the same reason.

 

That's my opinion. YMMV.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

I think you're right on this one. I can always find another race (or a variation of humans) for that last idea.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

I was thinking of purchasing some miniatures from Bronze Age Miniatures. It has a great selection of Barsoom-type adventurers. I didn't link it here because many of the miniatures are NSFW.

[Mr_Yuck]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

A few nights ago I had a dream about a fantasy world. It seemed like one of the books Burroughs or Howard could have written. There were gods of death' date=' a beautiful but evil queen, and a brawny swordsman who explored secret underground passages and fought orcs.quote']

 

 

This sounds VERY much like the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs! Replace orcs with Tharks in the paragraph above and you'd have it exactly.

 

I've always thought it would be kinda neat to run an JCoM type campaign. I would only want just a couple players... Like 3 at most not including myself. I haven't been able to get any of my local group to bite at the idea yet.

 

Perhaps some day.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

The Tharks would actually work very well. And the snake men can be based on Howard's Kull stories.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

On the Dragonsfoot boards, someone suggested having the snake men be shapeshifters who live far below the capital city. Whenever a new emperor is crowned in the human capital, they quickly replace him with one of their own number, which is why the empire doesn't stop the snake men incursions.

 

FH has a Serpent Men Package Deal, to which I can add the Shapeshifter Package Deal from Star HERO. Maybe I'll add the poisonous bite option listed in FH; but I'm partial to keeping that ability restricted to a few select individuals.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Here are a few names of cities and deities for the campaign. Any input is appreciated.

 

Aquilar: The city-state of the human empire. I had planned to use this in another FH campaign, which didn't last long.

 

Ssilissith: City of the snake men. This is for now the "working title" of the city. I wanted a name with a "hissing" sound, and this is the best I've come up with so far.

 

Tallen: Another working title, inspired by Moorcock's Tanelorn.

 

 

Here's a partial list of the deities worshipped. Again, these were to be used in another campaign.

 

Maldor the Lawgiver: God of Justice

 

Dannor the Valiant: God of Just War

 

Lahna the Merciful: Goddess of Healing

 

Mordas the Terrible: God of Suffering and Death

 

Arkas the Storm Lord: God of Weather

 

 

Important people in the empire, both past and present:

 

Draco: The first emperor. A brave warrior, he was shrewd tactician both in warfare and politics.

 

Marek III: The current emperor. He fancies himself a great ruler, but he is nowhere as capable as he thinks he is.

 

Mintaka: The empress, chief consort to Marek III.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Here's another human culture for you. Since you've already got an empire on the verge of collapse, you really need barbarians at the gate.

 

The area of Welland is a land in the north, inhabited by a hardy people. Their culture is considered uncouth by Aquilar's standards. The empire once tried to colonize them, but the frequency of the northmen's uprisings made it impossible for the imperial legions to secure a permanent foothold there.

 

The northmen were never a threat to the empire when the empire was strong and the barbarians were disunited. But the power of Aquilar is waning, and the imperial legions are no longer the mighty war machine they once were. Now the men of Welland have united under the leadership of one Aethelflaed son of Ecgfrith, and they have been raiding the frontiers of the empire. Should they remain unchecked, they will set their eyes on Aquilar itself.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Notes on the campaign:

 

1. Most spellcasters are priests, and priestly magics are common. Wizards exist, but they are extremely rare.

 

2. Bards are more common than wizards. They can cast spells the way wizards do, but they can only cast minor magics, generally illusions or those that influence others.

 

3. A sect of monks, the Hand of Draco, is a secret society attempting to reform the empire. They are masters of unarmed combat.

 

4. Gladiatorial games are a popular form of entertainment in Aquilar. Aside from the usual swords and tridents, there are also wrestling, boxing, and pankration matches.

 

5. The Church of Mordas has become the official religion in the empire. Worship of the other gods is tolerated, but just barely.

 

 

Some options:

 

1. The serpent men can shapeshift, and they have infiltrated the empire in human guise.

 

2. A previous emperor married a woman who happened to be one of the serpent men in human form. All his descendants, including the current emperor, are serpent men. Variation: Marek III is human, but his chief consort, Mintaka, is one of the serpent folk. She was sent by the rulers of Ssilissith to marry the emperor and bear him children who will take after their mother. In this variant, Mintaka is the evil queen. She does not rule Ssilissith, but she exerts a great amount of influence on Marek III.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Here's a bit of astronomy for the world. I won't include the numbers, but I worked out much of it. It's far from complete, however, having found some notes about an unfinished project.

 

The campaign world's sun is a yellow star, slightly smaller and cooler than our sun. There are six planets orbiting the star. There is no asteroid belt between the planets.

 

The campaign world is the second planet. Located near the near the maximum range of the solar system's life zone, it is somewhat cooler than than the earth. The planet is a bit smaller than the earth, but it is denser, so its gravity is close to that of our world. Water and oxygen in the atmosphere are slightly less abundant there than on earth.

 

All the planets in the solar system except for the first have at least one satellite. The campaign world has two satellites, one much further from the world than the other. The more distant moon is somewhat larger than its counterpart.

 

It takes 433 days for the planet to complete one revolution around its sun. The year is divided into 13 months of 33 days each, with four intercalary days marking the beginning of each season.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

BTW, hope I don't sound pushy but if you were thinking of drawing inspiration from other sources aswell then here are one or two thoughts. There's a book out by Sara Douglass called 'The Serpent Bride' which might give you a few ideas if you see what I mean. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is brimming with material to do with dying empires. And 'Paragaea' by Chris Roberson is an interesting example of modern 'sword and planet' but that's by-the-by.

Also. Just out of interest. Are you going to stuff any more secrets into your world? Ancient technologies or civilisations lurking amongst the ruins of what once was? Cthulhoid monstrosities trundling about beneath the seas. Or perhaps alternate planes of reality that some foolish sorcerer has opened the way to?

Or are you going to stick with a 'pure' vision based on your original thoughts?

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

I can't actually consider my vision "pure" since I'll draw heavily on the works of Howard and Burroughs (and to a lesser extent, Leiber). I may stuff a few more secrets in the world, but I doubt I'll put anything resembling Cthulu. The Cult of Mordas comes a bit close, though.

 

Those books sound pretty interesting and I'll be on the lookout for them. Thanks for the recommendation.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Here's a rough timeline. I haven't made up any dates yet.

 

- Serpent men build their earliest settlements.

 

- Humans become civilized; Tallen is founded.

 

- Serpent men make war on humans and conquer them; Tallen is destroyed.

 

- Serpent men rule humanity for 1000 years.

 

- Draco overthrows the serpent men and drives them underground. Draco founds Aquilar and becomes its first emperor.

 

- Over time, Aquilar becomes a great empire and conquers many nations.

 

- Serpent men create a ritual that turns some of them into shapeshifters.

 

- Aquilar becomes corrupt and decadent; the worship of Mordas proliferates.

 

- Serpent men who can shapeshift infiltrate unsuspecting human cities, including Aquilar.

 

- Barbarian hordes from Welland unite and grow bold, raiding imperial territories.

 

- Present day.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

A few more deities in the campaign:

 

Pharon: god of the sun and the seasons

 

Doria: goddess of the moon and the tides

 

Hypatia: goddess of the earth

[Markdoc]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

If you're looking for ideas, you can also check my site out:

http://www.rpglibrary.org/settings/gothick_empires/

 

It also has the "shapeshifting reptile men from elder days trying to undermine human empires and restore their supremacy" meme, though in my case, it's never been the focus of a campaign - more a source of occasional bad guys and an excuse to "soup up" ordinary monsters - the serpent men in my game are not only shapeshifters, but also powerful enchanters (Possessors of eldritch sorceries from the days before the moon was green...). A favoured tactic is to enhance monsters or (through proxies) human villains to give human heroes trouble.

 

cheers, Mark

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Timeline looks fine. Although I'd say that barbarians don't have to be united to raid the empire, they could just be fleeing economic disaster or being driven out by a greater/more savage people, (the Hun effect).

[Bismark]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

For HERO stats for a the shapeshifting serpent-man race, check out the Silyssen from the Valdorian Age book - should save you some effort.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I owe you some rep.

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Here are a couple of Wikipedia links I found useful:

 

Serpent Men

 

Reptilian Humanoid And you gotta love the conspiracy theories in this article!

[Mister E]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Yeah...I dig serpentmen conspiracies/myths.

 

My favorite is based on the fact that there are actually 13 major constellations in the sidereal zodiac... the 13th being "The Serpent Bearer: Ophiuchus."... a fact NO ONE ever talks about...

 

...and prior to Cronos, the Golden Age of the universe was ruled by Ophion, the titan/serpent.

 

I looked through what I figured was the Bronze Age minis you were talkkng about. They're all really cool:

 

 

Have more dreams!

[tkdguy]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

I'm going to add a race of bird people. They were enemies of the serpent folk, and allied with the humans to overthrow them. However, the alliance was merely one of convenience. Once the serpents were overthrown, the bird people and the humans parted ways and have not interacted since. The heroes may need the help of the avians or accidentally stumble upon their eyries. In either case, the avians will view the humans with suspicion, if not hostility.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign

 

Bird People are always fun.

Here's a couple of links to descriptions of different types of birdmen and the wikipedia entry for an author who did 'winged folk' very well in her 'artefacts of power' series

 

http://www.worlddreambank.org/L/LYRICARI.HTM

 

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/birdmc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Furey

 

One more thought. If the snakemen and birdmen are racial enemies then perhaps the snakes have to fight the inclination to freeze in fear when they see a birdman hunting in the sky. Could make even a handful of birdmen a useful asset to an army.