FH Games/campaigns

[ShadowRaptor]

Now that this awesome tome of infinite fantasy knowledge has made its way into our grubby little hands and sparked our wild imaginations into the infinite abyss of gaming creativity, what kinds of campaigns are most of you going to be running?

 

Don't be shy, spill the beans...I need some good ideas to mine from.

[Victor]

Well, I'm working alternately on two of them, both set in the same world.

 

One is a borderline-historical swashbuckling Three Musketeers style campaign in the midst of several countries at war with each other. Lots of opportunity for flashy footwork and fabulous fencing (not to mention amazing alliteration!), political intrigue, cloak and dagger work, and use of the mass combat rules. Very little in the way of magic.

 

The other is a low-fantasy game set across the sea from all of this in a calmer, but more mysterious region. Refugees from the warring countries have founded a couple of small and distant colonies, which have largely been forgotten, due to their lack of proximity and lack of mineral wealth. There's very little metal at hand there that hasn't been recycled into necessities of farming or construction. Two other races are native to the area, that are almost (but not quite) human. Magic is stronger, but different. Very little combat emphasis, very low-point (average normal PC's), and poor equipment options (compared to 'standard' FH).

 

I recently had an idea for a modern/urban fantasy campaign, but haven't pursued it, nor pursued my long held desire to play or run a Napoleonic era fantasy game (which has had some influnece on the first setting mentioned above, but is quite different).

[BlackCobra]

I'm working on a campaign I expect to debut in a few months.

 

I started out the characters playing gods in a new world that they helped to shape, including choosing the races, deciding generally how magic worked and what religions they would promote. And some of the cosmology. I had expected that I would then run a fantasy campaign troupe-style with appearences by their deific characters, but that didn't work out.

 

So, I'm rolling time forward 10,000 years, coming up with some kingdoms, a cosmic threat and adding in a bunch of surprises.

 

This is a high fantasy campaign, lots of magic. In fact, so much magic that there's everyman-magic. I'm working up a small number of spells in the 5-10 active point range, which everyone (generally) has a skill to use it. This includes spells for: cleaning, lighting fires, cooling liquids, heating liquids, light, etc. Everyone can do basic things with these spells -- but a talented mage (one who takes a higher skill) can do much more with it.

 

One odd aspect of magic is that magical energy naturally pools in anything that forms a circle. Obviously, this is something that trained mages take advantage of -- create a chalk circle and wait for it to fill with magic. However, it has some interesting implications when you consider trees. I decided that this is the source of power often used for healing & nature magic. It also means that the use of wood goes way down.

 

I expect I'll be posting more about what I'm doing as I create more. Stayed tuned.

[Nevenall]

The Lands of Thale

 

Sounds really interesting BlackCobra.

 

I restarted my old fantasy campaign as soon as I got FRed.

None of the other players know much about the system, plus they are all mature role players so I have the luxury of giving them all 200 points (75+75+50 experience from the 4th ed version of the campaign) without worrying much about it.

I've re-done pretty much everything from my old version. The world was really cheesy, and the magic system, which was really Byzantine.

The campaign doesn’t have much of a focus yet, but every day the world gets a little richer.

Right now the characters live in a sort of dark age after the collapse of the last great empire in the world. This empire was the first to apply magic to really mundane tasks like building bridges and roads and to train mages in large numbers. The part of the bureaucracy responsible for magic users was call The Magus, from which comes the word mage.

Eventually The Magus started to dabble in demonic arts and basically opened the way for demons skilled in illusion to infiltrate the Empire. A demon prince replaced the Emperor, and turned The Magus into a tool to hunt down and eliminate everyone else who could use magic, or anyone else the demons wanted to get rid of.

Eventually there arose in the northern lands, a mighty hero who lead his army to the overthrow of the Empire. He granted to his faithful generals some of the former provinces and became, himself, the High King, for a little while.

He was killed, probably in battle, I don’t know yet, and the various little kingdoms started to go there own ways. After a few generations things settle in. There are lots of feuds and shaky kingdoms and the same kind of problems the Normans had ruling England. A great King Arthur-like body of stories has grown up around the conqueror and his army. The human mages from The Magus have dispersed among the world and formed lots of little groups with their own agendas. Some are like magic guilds, some are like cults, but all of them dabble in politics, trying to play one noble off another. Trying to place their students in important positions in court, and using the PCs to do their dirty work. Carving out their own little kingdoms.

Whew. That was a lot longer then I meant it to be.

[Captain Obvious]

Looks like Victor's been using his Telepathy skills against me.

 

Whenever my FH order comes in to my FLGS, I plan on seeing what I can glean from it for my colonies campaign. I have some ideas for some syncretic cultures that I plan on implementing, and a few American style monsters. Getting a variety of authentic magic styles seems to be my big stumbling block right now....

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by BlackCobra

One odd aspect of magic is that magical energy naturally pools in anything that forms a circle.

 

This just cries out for some loony wizard and his "Bucket of DOOM"....

[tiger]

I plan on using the Western Shores from the old FH, awesome background, and adding in a couple cities and sites I created when I was running my Forgotten realms world.

 

Basically I use Waterdeep & Undermountain and a old module called Freecity of Haven along with Ravensbluff. Then mix in a couple of othe sites and some NPCs and bamf, insta-campaign

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

This just cries out for some loony wizard and his "Bucket of DOOM"....

 

Or..."fear the power of my mystical hula hoop!"

[OddHat]

Originally posted by slaughterj

Or..."fear the power of my mystical hula hoop!"

 

This would also explain why wizards and witches in this world tend to be big fat people.

[Jeff]

Originally posted by OddHat

This would also explain why wizards and witches in this world tend to be big fat people.

 

Oooh! Oooh! If they violate the various codes of their magical societies, they may be forced to develop washboard abs, thereby losing natural mana collection talent. Personal trainers end up as part of the penal system.

[OddHat]

Originally posted by Jeff

Oooh! Oooh! If they violate the various codes of their magical societies, they may be forced to develop washboard abs, thereby losing natural mana collection talent. Personal trainers end up as part of the penal system.

 

Yes, it is a world where the magically inclined grow fat with power...

 

 

 

[PerennialRook]

Originally posted by BlackCobra

One odd aspect of magic is that magical energy naturally pools in anything that forms a circle.

 

For all the humor, the first thing I thought of when you said this was the tossing of coins (round) into wishing wells (round).

 

-Preston

[OddHat]

Originally posted by PerennialRook

For all the humor, the first thing I thought of when you said this was the tossing of coins (round) into wishing wells (round).

 

-Preston

 

The jokes are not meant as an attack on the idea. They're just jokes. Magic circles and shape / symbol based magic have been around forever. It's a good take on it.

 

And a good excuse for fat wizards.

 

"The sphere is nature's perfect shape, and we must seek perfection..."

-Archmagister Howard the Bald to the graduating class of 1103, shortly before his second heart attack.

[Jeff]

Originally posted by OddHat

The jokes are not meant as an attack on the idea. They're just jokes. Magic circles and shape / symbol based magic have been around forever. It's a good take on it.

 

And a good excuse for fat wizards.

 

"The sphere is nature's perfect shape, and we must seek perfection..."

-Archmagister Howard the Bald to the graduating class of 1103, shortly before his second heart attack.

 

If it's a set of implications one would rather avoid, it's not too hard. At the risk of seriousness, I don't think humans get anywhere near as round as trees do with normal obesity, and you might need to get the object very nearly perfectly circular before it makes a practical magical difference. And sheer health might make another difference in effective magical power. It's not easy being round.

[gewing]

Have you ever read "john the balladeer" by Manly Wade Wellman or the homage book "Old Nathan" by David Drake?

 

John the Balladeer is a musician wandering the appalachians in probably the 30s -50s, and encounters lots of old folk tales come to life. WONDERFUL stuff.

 

Old Nathan was an homage to Wellman by Drake, who was aquainted with him and liked and respected him highly.

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

Looks like Victor's been using his Telepathy skills against me.

 

Whenever my FH order comes in to my FLGS, I plan on seeing what I can glean from it for my colonies campaign. I have some ideas for some syncretic cultures that I plan on implementing, and a few American style monsters. Getting a variety of authentic magic styles seems to be my big stumbling block right now....

[gewing]

"I am in shape, ROund is a shape."

I first heard it from Jeff Skagen. He was probably quoting from someone else

 

I

Originally posted by OddHat

The jokes are not meant as an attack on the idea. They're just jokes. Magic circles and shape / symbol based magic have been around forever. It's a good take on it.

 

And a good excuse for fat wizards.

 

"The sphere is nature's perfect shape, and we must seek perfection..."

-Archmagister Howard the Bald to the graduating class of 1103, shortly before his second heart attack.

[Korvar]

....anyway....

 

Dragging this vaguely back on topic... I sort of intend (sort of, 'cos I often think about running, but never seem to get around to it) to run some Dark Sun under Hero. I actually ran a campaign for two years (!) without many proper conversion notes (Dark Sun is a very cool D&D setting), and would like to take a second stab at it.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by gewing

Have you ever read "john the balladeer" by Manly Wade Wellman or the homage book "Old Nathan" by David Drake?

 

 

Thanks for the heads-up, man. I'll have to look into these.

 

Edit: Holy crap! I did a little poking around on Wellman, and it looks like his books are a treasure trove for this sort of campaign. Thanks a million, gewing!

[PerennialRook]

I'm in the beggining stages of campaign creation with the Hero system.

 

There are no good or evil races in my campaign, though there most certainly are good and evil persons tied to gods or fiends. Instead there are great chasms of misunderstanding. A dwarf slays goblins because they are a pest and a plauge. A goblin thinks only of it's needs and wants, ad never of any sort of responsibility, so they wage war for food, rather than grow it, and have hundreds of children because they are carnal and have no self control, let alone any form of birth control.

 

Goblins:

 

The goblins are small creatures ('bout 3 feet tall) born black as night with all the pigment they will ever have (they do not have the glands to produce it after birth). Their gestation period is just short of a month and they are born in litters of 3-12 year round. 2/3 of which are female, as a female passes on 2 X chromosomes and a male passes on either of his 2 X's or his Y chromosome. They reach sexual maturity in just short of a year (if they live that long), and age slowly forever, with no upper limit. There are pure white goblin shamans who have been alive for thousands of years. A female goblin of sexual maturity (not a couple, because there is no familial structure among them) will continue to bare 36-144 children a year until she dies. It is rare, nearly unheard of, for a female goblin not to be pregnant.

 

Their immortality isn't common knowledge. None of the goblins never seem to notice that none of them die of old age. They do die of famine, war, disease, etc., all the natural population controls, which are a prevalent part of their society, as none of them produce food, they always need more room, and they are so crowded disease spreads quickly through their populous.

 

Wizards:

 

Able to control magic, which is in everything (pooling in anything round, I love that!), wizards are rare and powerful indeed. Continuing to age as their base race, they never cease to age, though never seem to die. So while old bearded wizards are very prevalent, there are also younger mages in training.

 

Elves:

 

Long eared friends of the wood, field, mountain, hill, valley, marsh, etc. This is the only race that doesn't age after reaching the physical equivelent of about somewhere between 14 and 40 (depending on it's subrace). They are the only immortals who do not age. Though you can see the age of their soul in their eyes and their wisdom. Elves are very powerful in my world, and people feel very strongly about them (hate/love/fear/respect). Most elves, some more often then others, get a case of wanderlust from time to time, and venture to see what is happening in the world, an ailment more prevalent in elven youth (under 200 years of age).

 

Gnomes:

 

There are a wide spectrum of gnomes, from the magicly tied ones, to gnomes that are more of a halfling or hobbit than anything else. Gnomes are a long lived race, with some noted to have lived to 800 years or more. This longevity, when reached, is usualy a case of their luck not having run out, for they are a very adventurous and curious race, often leaping into adventures and other mischief, sometimes saved merely by chance and natural luck.

 

Dwarves:

 

The noble race, antithesis of the goblin. Everything that the goblin is, they are not. The men are fond of beards, ale, gold, and women, though they are not cunsumed by it. They are a very respectful and solemn people. They keep unequaled records of their people and deeds, and it takes thousands of years for something to past over the thin line between knowledge and legend. They are constanlty waging war on goblins, keeping the hoards at bay. The women, though not fuly bearded, have side burns and other light facial hair. Like the gnomes, they too live to about 800 years, though more die of old age than any other race save perhaps humans.

 

Humans:

 

Normal humans. Not a new race, like prevalent in some fantasy worlds, but a forgetfull one. Things pass to story and legend very quickly. Nations rise and fall relatively quickly compared to other races were a few individuals have outlived entire civilizations of men. There is a saying among men, which is true of their race, "Adapt, improvise, and overcome." They are fighters and underdogs in this world, always carving out a new corner for themselves.

 

Questions or comments? I'd love to hear what other people think.

 

-Preston

[Mr. R]

I'll second an old DnD world, Al-Qadim. The Arabian Knights flavour just appeals to me. I would convert just to get the flavour, as a direct conversion would be too much of a headache. But high seas, deserts, shiars and flying carpets, oh my!! (esp the shiar)

 

Jerome

[gewing]

You are very welcome. I borrowed a copy of "Tohn the Balladeer" from Dean Schomshack years ago. It took me 3 years to find my own copy!!!!

There was no Amazon then.

 

For some other fairly interesting horror ideas see David Drakes "from the heart of Darkness." some great short stories.

 

 

 

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

Thanks for the heads-up, man. I'll have to look into these.

 

Edit: Holy crap! I did a little poking around on Wellman, and it looks like his books are a treasure trove for this sort of campaign. Thanks a million, gewing!

[BlackCobra]

Followup to my earlier post.

 

One of the last things I did before the gods campaign wound up was to have each of the god characters give a "gift" to each of the mortal races. This was intended to be a limited form of input on how the race would really work out, since they were all supposed to be involved in helping form them.

 

Anyway, it turned out a lot like the Fairy Godmothers in some Disney-crossed-with-Animaniacs way. Some people gave fairly serious gifts and one of the players handed out things like "loves the surf and hawaiin shirts" -- not exactly helpful in a fantasy campaign. This turned into something of a grudge match in the gifts given to some of the later races, who were starting to turn out a little comical, so one of the players decides to balance the goofiness with something sharp: "Ambition". How's that for a racial gift?

 

The one that turned out to create the most havoc for me, however, was "The freedom to love who they will." Pretty nice, huh? Certainly an appropriate gift for the Dragons from the Goddess of Love. However, when I really sat down to think about that gift, combined with the knowledge that the God of Dragons was planning on teaching his race shapeshifting, all I could think was how I now have 6 additional half-races (dragons & each of the other races). I'm just thankful she didn't decide to give that gift to all the other races. Phew!

 

And about the magic pooling and fat wizards? Did I mention that breaking or warping the circle releases all the pooled energy in an uncontrolled fashion? You'd have trouble just bumping into to someone or laying down! No fat wizards!

 

Once I have more of the Magic system writeup done, I'll post it. Stay tuned.

[PerennialRook]

Did I mention that breaking or warping the circle releases all the pooled energy in an uncontrolled fashion?

 

No wonder druids protect their forests so visiously.

 

I was just thinking that perhaps dryads are born of the long pooled energy of ancient oak trees.

 

Waterfalls form round pools and smooth stones into circles, this may be just the magic needed for a naiad to be born.

 

All sorts of possibilities for such a magic system.

 

-Preston

[OddHat]

Originally posted by PerennialRook

No wonder druids protect their forests so visiously.

 

I was just thinking that perhaps dryads are born of the long pooled energy of ancient oak trees.

 

Waterfalls form round pools and smooth stones into circles, this may be just the magic needed for a naiad to be born.

 

All sorts of possibilities for such a magic system.

 

-Preston

 

Best not to consider the relationship between flying monkeys and the human colon.

[ShadowRaptor]

Okay, I think I'm going to work on a floating continent world and air ships are standard transportation on most of the continents. It will have a few typical races, and some not so typical.

 

Now I'm just trying to come up with a logical reason as to how all the air ships are able to float through the air. I'm also debating how magic will work, but I am leaning towards the Force from Star Wars and just put that as the 'magic' of the world.