Brink Of War

[ghost-angel]

So, after about a decade of not GMing, I'm about to hop back into that saddle. And now I've got to go about this whole world creation bit.

 

Mostly, because I don't actually like Turakian Age all that much. Well, I like it, I just don't want to GM it. The supber-basic premise is two nations in a balance, mostly friendlish, but you know, there's always someone causing trouble. So they seemingly stand at the brink of war. Naturally I'm gonna get the PCs stuck in the middle of it all

 

But first! I need some magic. I've decided that I want two kinds of magic High Magic and Hedge Magic (or Low Magic). High Magic is the classic wizard bit, fireballs, etc etc. Towers, books, blah blah. Familiar gamer stuff. Hedge Magic is passed on mostly word of mouth from teacher to apprentice. I'm sure a few have written down some bits. But this magic isn't flashy, just practical.

 

Mechanics. I've always liked the simplicity of Multipower Pools for Magic, and that's what I'm going with for High Magic. Buy a Pool, buy Spells as Slots (Flexible Slots for the most part). All High Magic will need some common modifiers - not yet in stone but Incantations, Gestures, Side Effects, Focus and Skill Rolls are all likely to be involved to some extent.

 

But I wanted to try something a little different for Hedge Magic. Just not sure what. Thoughts are using a divisor system, just stealing Draicht from Tuala Morn, making it time intensive, the essential part is low powered, low cost, accessible to Standard and Skilled Normals from a Mechanical POV. For the most part. Something that if the PCs pick it up the point expenditure isn't all that heavy. As compared to High Magic which I want to be an investment but not bank breaking.

 

And, since I'm thought bashing into a playable campaign I'll be putting more notes into this thread for reading and commenting. From a World Building POV I'm only starting with the two nations, I'll slowly (if I need to) add more to the world but the early plot lines I have in mind shouldn't leave a small area. This reduces overhead, so we can play soon.

[Shadowsoul]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Interesting campaign. Have you thought about how High and Low Magic are viewed? The 'magic' of the Renaissance Europe might be a good inspiration; these were people who considered themselves to be good and often god-fearing men, scholars and philosophers although that didn't necessarily make them popular. Witches, cunning men and the like had a much worse reputation amongst the upper classes and the Church although the rural population often seemed to believe in good and bad witches.

 

Perhaps Hedge Magic could simply involve more legwork and is more often linked to single-use charms and rituals that require certain ingredients.

 

So a Wizard might cast a spell to protect himself against fire while a Hedge Witch would gather wood-ash from a hearth that has been allowed to go cold, wrap it in clean cloth and draw a picture of a flame on it while saying certain words, thus creating a charm which will protect the wearer from flame three times.

[Spence]

Re: Brink Of War

 

To add on a bit to Shadowsoul's thoughts.

 

Have you thought of a world where magic is completly decoupled from religion/good/evil? Magic is viewed as a specialty skill just like blacksmithing, writing and weapon skills. Not inherently good or bad.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

I like the idea of Magic being another profession/skill.

 

I haven't really gotten to far in my thinking of Society. But, I think I'm going to against grain - Gods do not grant Spells, Clerics are clergymen not Holy Spellcasters. In fact - I think I'm going to go with the idea that Gods aren't actually Proven To Be There. By the same token, Miracles may just be the work of Religious Wizards. Wizardry will not be the "science metaphor" and be separate from the idea of worship. In fact, I'd imagine some high ranking religious people would be powerful Mages who "Do Magic In Gods Name."

 

And Shadowsoul - Thanks! I've got how I want to separate High and Hedge Magic. Mechanically the same underneath, but Hedge Magic has more Limitations. Theoretically a Hedge Mage could cast just as powerful a spell as a High Mage, but it would take more (time, materials, etc).

 

Now I've got two flavors of magic, should be fun for societies views, and Players can have access to magic at two investment levels, but essentially can do the same things.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Monsters And Races.

 

This being Fantasy I only really have to give a nod towards this "reality" thing. So that's about all I'm gonna give it.

 

Races.

Primarily Human, starting with two human kingdoms. Organized by the classic faux-feudal system. Again - familiar so I have less explaining to do.

Goblin - to the north is a small Goblin Kingdom, organized by extended clan structures that superficially appear similar to the human system. Humans get it, but there are weird society quirks they don't. Goblins are not "evil green people" - actually these Goblins have a sort of ruddy skin color (dark browns and some almost reds).

Elves - there's an Elven Kingdom far to the south somewhere. Elves make it up to the area in enough numbers that in large towns they're just Foreigners. In small villages they're an oddity (Weird Foreigners, as opposed to those unweird Foreign Goblins and People from that Other Kingdom).

Dwarves - none. gone, long dead race.

Halflings/Hobbits/Kender/ShortRace - none. nada. zip.

Orcs - scattered Barbarian tribes way off somewhere. Bards tell stories of them. Every now and then one appears.

 

Others - completely undecided, but I may just keep it low for now. Creating interesting cultures and races is not really in the scope of this campaign. Perhaps I'll keep a few on the back burner just in case.

 

Monsters.

The whole idea of lots of monsters, so many they all have ecologies isn't something I think will work in this campaign. Monsters are one offs - sometimes I'll have an explanation for why a (for example) Manticore exists. Sometimes not. I want each encounter to be interesting and memorable. In fact, beasts will likely get named for Where they appear, not What they are (unless some over ambitious Bard names the bloody thing).

 

Scope.

The PCs will be able to affect the world, but the world also doesn't rotate around their actions. I'll have a few hooks out there, and the events won't just hang around waiting for the PCs to "show up" - if they go North to deal with Problem A instead of South to deal with Problem B that will have an affect. It will also allow me to introduce "Other Groups" for the PCs to be rivals with, allies of, and similar - perhaps another group of plucky adventurers did deal with Problem B. . .

 

(like I said, thought bashing and keeping some notes in this thread. For comment, my players to add to, or just to amuse you - the reader )

[Vulcan]

Re: Brink Of War

 

I like the idea of Magic being another profession/skill.

 

I haven't really gotten to far in my thinking of Society. But, I think I'm going to against grain - Gods do not grant Spells, Clerics are clergymen not Holy Spellcasters. In fact - I think I'm going to go with the idea that Gods aren't actually Proven To Be There. By the same token, Miracles may just be the work of Religious Wizards. Wizardry will not be the "science metaphor" and be separate from the idea of worship. In fact, I'd imagine some high ranking religious people would be powerful Mages who "Do Magic In Gods Name."

 

And Shadowsoul - Thanks! I've got how I want to separate High and Hedge Magic. Mechanically the same underneath, but Hedge Magic has more Limitations. Theoretically a Hedge Mage could cast just as powerful a spell as a High Mage, but it would take more (time, materials, etc).

 

Now I've got two flavors of magic, should be fun for societies views, and Players can have access to magic at two investment levels, but essentially can do the same things.

 

Sorta like the difference between David Lo Pan and Egg Shen...

[Spence]

Re: Brink Of War

 

GA- Do you intend the PC's to all be human at first?

[Vulcan]

Re: Brink Of War

 

There have been two things I have found necessary for good running a good campaign.

 

First, that the players have a choice of what to do, and when to do it. Even in my 'Legends Reborn' game with a strict time limit (the reason they were summoned in the first place was to combat a great evil being reborn one year to the day from campaign start...) they have the ability to choose between investigating one or more 'plot hooks' (even if they tend to wind up in the same place )... or even just stay at home and let the wizard make some magic items. Although if they stay home, someone else takes the hook and runs with it, getting the benefit, and they may not be friendly to the PC's...

 

But still, the choice - or at the absolute very least, the illusion of choice - should be there.

 

The second - and this one may be even more important than the first - is having a nemesis for the party. This could be a Big Bad Evil Powerhouse (like Sauron or Dr. Destroyer), a Massively Corrupt Political Figure (Cardinal Richelieu or Senator Palpatine) or it could just be an arrogant rival, but it should be someone the party just cannot easily defeat, and who they cannot ignore. It gives them something to strive against, someone whose defeat marks the very climax of the whole campaign!

 

(On the other hand, the party should not face this nemesis directly in the first episode, either, because nothing squenches some player's interest in a game like getting stomped into the ground first thing. Let the PC's face threats they can deal - like minions - with while the nemasis kills their mentor/family/pet cat. Then they can hate him wholeheartedly without feeling 'stepped on' early in the game.)

[Spence]

Re: Brink Of War

 

 

The second - and this one may be even more important than the first - is having a nemesis for the party. This could be a Big Bad Evil Powerhouse (like Sauron or Dr. Destroyer), a Massively Corrupt Political Figure (Cardinal Richelieu or Senator Palpatine) or it could just be an arrogant rival, but it should be someone the party just cannot easily defeat, and who they cannot ignore. It gives them something to strive against, someone whose defeat marks the very climax of the whole campaign!

 

(On the other hand, the party should not face this nemesis directly in the first episode, either, because nothing squenches some player's interest in a game like getting stomped into the ground first thing. Let the PC's face threats they can deal - like minions - with while the nemasis kills their mentor/family/pet cat. Then they can hate him wholeheartedly without feeling 'stepped on' early in the game.)

 

On the other other hand

 

Sometimes it can be a great plot driver for the PC's to run into the "Big Bad" right off the bat. I played a GREAT game where the EVIL Prime Minister seized power. We were sons/daughters of the "loyal" retainers of the royal house that attempted to oppose him. We lost. Bad. But while the PC's older relatives were executed, our characters were sold off as galley slaves.

 

The game arc entailed the trials of survival on the ships, our escape, the return journey and the eventual overthrow of the Prime Minister. Felt like we were in an old adventure book

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

GA- Do you intend the PC's to all be human at first?

 

Not at all. I want to provide some choices both Culturally and Racially for the Players to work with. On the other hand - I don't have tons of free time dedicated to creating a massive overhead of Stuff for the Campaign. I'm going for a balance between Players Get Choice and GM Has Sanity.

 

To give some Answers to Vulcan's advice - the basic premise that the Players are stepping into is a precarious situation between two nations. One of the "Big Bads" is all out warfare.

 

Beyond that I want to get some Player input to get more of an idea of what kind of game they want, what I can deliver, and who they're playing. But first I need to give them a framework to start with.

 

I started with the Magic System on this because Mechanically they can be a real pain - I want one I can handle easily as a GM, works smoothly and quickly from both GM and Player POV, and that the Players can easily contribute to and I don't have to spend tons of time vetting Spells for.

 

One tactic I use was that the PCs meet the nemesis really quickly - but the PCs being either unknowns, low level or relatively powerless mean the Nemesis doesn't count the threat, and the PCs generally haven't got enough of the picture to know they've actually met the BBEG. Worked well in my last Cyberpunk game.

 

One of the reasons I don't want to GM Turakian Age is actually the presence of the "obviously evil big bad guy with hordes at his command" like Sauron (or Kal-Turak). I don't like GMing recreations of Lord Of The Rings. It's just not a style of game I've any desire to run at any level.

[sinanju]

Re: Brink Of War

 

I like the idea of Magic being another profession/skill.

 

I haven't really gotten to far in my thinking of Society. But, I think I'm going to against grain - Gods do not grant Spells, Clerics are clergymen not Holy Spellcasters. In fact - I think I'm going to go with the idea that Gods aren't actually Proven To Be There. By the same token, Miracles may just be the work of Religious Wizards. Wizardry will not be the "science metaphor" and be separate from the idea of worship. In fact, I'd imagine some high ranking religious people would be powerful Mages who "Do Magic In Gods Name."

 

Consider this: most wizards are clerics for the same reason that often clerics were the only (or almost the only) literate folk around. It requires years of effort to learn high magic. It also requires the leisure to be able to attend the classes and practice the results, leisure which most people simply lack. If you're poor, you're too busy eking out a living. If you're an eldest son of a noble family, your family probably has more important things for you to do--like learn to rule, then rule (and bear an heir and a spare while you're at it).

 

If you're the SECOND son, well...magic may be your only alternative since your elder brother will inherit the family fortune/lands. (Plus, having a mage in the family can't hurt, and it'll give you some leverage in negotiations.)

 

Whether or not magic is innately linked to religion or the gods, the church--as the reservoir from which most wizards are drawn--will certainly try to impose that view to reinforce their monopoly if they can.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Consider this: most wizards are clerics for the same reason that often clerics were the only (or almost the only) literate folk around. It requires years of effort to learn high magic. It also requires the leisure to be able to attend the classes and practice the results, leisure which most people simply lack. If you're poor, you're too busy eking out a living. If you're an eldest son of a noble family, your family probably has more important things for you to do--like learn to rule, then rule (and bear an heir and a spare while you're at it).

 

If you're the SECOND son, well...magic may be your only alternative since your elder brother will inherit the family fortune/lands. (Plus, having a mage in the family can't hurt, and it'll give you some leverage in negotiations.)

 

Whether or not magic is innately linked to religion or the gods, the church--as the reservoir from which most wizards are drawn--will certainly try to impose that view to reinforce their monopoly if they can.

 

While I don't like the monopoly aspect - I do like the idea that some, or even many, High Wizards are drawn to the church. Another little wedge between High and Hedge Magics.

 

One thing I don't want, because I absolutely hate it so much in real life and this is a Fantasy after all - is the Religion to have anywhere near the kind of absolute power it gained in Real Life. It will be important - but God Sanctioned Kings and Wizards can go in someone else's game.

 

I'd say maybe half the High Wizards are also linked to the Church.

[Tandem Esk]

Re: Brink Of War

 

But first! I need some magic. I've decided that I want two kinds of magic High Magic and Hedge Magic (or Low Magic). High Magic is the classic wizard bit, fireballs, etc etc. Towers, books, blah blah. Familiar gamer stuff. Hedge Magic is passed on mostly word of mouth from teacher to apprentice. I'm sure a few have written down some bits. But this magic isn't flashy, just practical.

 

Try out the Garrett Files series of books. They got something like this.

[sinanju]

Re: Brink Of War

 

While I don't like the monopoly aspect - I do like the idea that some, or even many, High Wizards are drawn to the church. Another little wedge between High and Hedge Magics.

 

One thing I don't want, because I absolutely hate it so much in real life and this is a Fantasy after all - is the Religion to have anywhere near the kind of absolute power it gained in Real Life. It will be important - but God Sanctioned Kings and Wizards can go in someone else's game.

 

I'd say maybe half the High Wizards are also linked to the Church.

 

Or fewer. Second sons gravitated toward the church because, well, what else was there? They weren't going to dirty their hands with...commerce. And peasants worked the land.

 

But in a world with real magic, Universities might take the place of the clergy. No (or at least little) religious claptrap, but still organizations which would attract men (and possibly women?) who could afford the time and effort necessary to learn high magic. And there could be more than one university, so there's no monopoly--they'd have to compete with one another for promising students.

[Starwolf]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Hmm...

 

Ok this sounds great so far. I have ideas percolating away already.

 

I think Terrie is leaning towards a wandering elven warrior with some VERY basic hedge spells. If I am getting the gist it seems that hedge spells would be more natural as opposed to the cerebral High mages. And natural would be more in line with elven nature.

 

I am thinking something of a wandering fortune seeker. One who sells his sword to the highest bidder, but with morals. Perhaps the son of a noble that lost his family and holdings due to a border skrimish between the two kingdoms. The young orphan was taken in by an old weaponsmith, who raised and trained him. Jo-dan dreams of the day he can "repay" those that destroyed his family, and now works hard to hone the skills that will enable him to achive that goal and restore his families, name and honor.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Kingdoms And Religions

 

Moraine and Tellan are the two Human Kingdoms, Chadak is the Goblin Kingdom. Chadak roughly translates are Alliance in their language, while the Human Kingdoms have taken to calling the Goblin Kingdom that the Goblins still hold a (cursory) view that the alliance is really temporary. While the economy and culture of Chadak could never actually allow itself to break up the Lords like remind the Goblin King they can break off the alliance at any time. Posturing empty threats at best. The Human Kingdoms were named after their first Great Kings. Moraine it's founding King and Tellan after a usurper took over and conquered a good bit of Tellan some three hundred years ago (most of the land was subsequently retaken) and renamed the Kingdom.

 

Quick layout, gotta draw a map.

Moraine is west of Tellan. Chadak is north of both, mostly over Moraine giving to Barbarian Lands (Human, Orc, Goblins) east of that (north of Tellan) though some northern border is shared with Tellan. Water to the east and south. Also south is an area of great plains, desert and some steppe with Nomad Tribes (not unlike the Barbarians but renamed Nomads so I can easily differentiate which I mean) of Orcs and Humans. Further south are Elven Kingdoms and a large Human Empire. Elves aren't tree huggers (well, some are) but they tend to have better planned cities that certainly look more natural. To the west is a giant range of mountains, presumably there are more people across them but crossing is for adventurers only.

 

Religions.

Moraine and Tellan mostly worship the same pantheon, the humans in the area share a common language and cultures. Only slight variances of which God is more important vary.

 

The Goblins worship a different pantheon of Gods, smaller and evenly split between Gods and Goddesses. Religion to the Goblin Kingdom is a small part of society, they view many of the worship practices as superstitions held over from their Nomad Barbarian Days.

 

Barbarian Goblins worship the same pantheon, but include a healthy dose of spirits, guides, rituals and other trappings. Their Shamans (Hedge Mages) are more central to their society - they believe their "civilized" brethren have fallen off the path.

Barbarian Orcs worship a seemingly endless host of Gods, Spirits, Ghosts, Dead Shamans, Land and the occasional odd rock formation. Each Clan has a slightly different take on it all.

Barbarian Humans are pretty much like the Orcs, some tribes who travel closest to Tellan have adopted those Gods. But mostly it's the same as the Orcs with all the labels switched. They like to fight each other over which Gods looks Human or Orc. They like to raid Tellan more though.

 

Southern Tribes, actually have a comparatively unified set of Pantheons compared to the Northern Barbarians. Each Tribe usually has one Deity they worship foremost, and this represents their Tribe. Only occasionally do they go to war over which God is better.

 

Elves have yet another pantheon (go figure) they worship. These Gods are more benevolent, except the Forest Gods are unforgiving and the Sea Gods are kind if temperamental. Little is know in the North about it (note: Player wants elf, come up with some names.)

 

The Human Empire is monotheistic, apparently. No one in the North has really talked to them and so far the Empire is content not coming up this way. In fact the whole state of the "Empire" is in question - if reports are correct it's about to collapse under it's own weight.

 

To the south east is a series of tiny island nations - they worship yet more Gods.

 

The Church In Moraine and Tellan

Important, large towns and the sparse few "cities" have major temples. Villages have a shrine, or if a Priest came a church itself. The importance depends on how powerful they've become locally. A village may be under the sway of the local branch, cities treat them a lot like Guilds. Worship tends to be done every evening, with shorter prayers in the morning or mid morning for all Humans.

[Vulcan]

Re: Brink Of War

 

On the other other hand

 

Sometimes it can be a great plot driver for the PC's to run into the "Big Bad" right off the bat. I played a GREAT game where the EVIL Prime Minister seized power. We were sons/daughters of the "loyal" retainers of the royal house that attempted to oppose him. We lost. Bad. But while the PC's older relatives were executed, our characters were sold off as galley slaves.

 

The game arc entailed the trials of survival on the ships, our escape, the return journey and the eventual overthrow of the Prime Minister. Felt like we were in an old adventure book

 

Now you see, that's the difference between us. I see that as background material, because I'm not at all interested in playing out a scene where the outcome is totally predetermined. Tell me to write it into my background and then start the game when I (the player) am actually relavent to what's going on.

[Vulcan]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Not at all. I want to provide some choices both Culturally and Racially for the Players to work with. On the other hand - I don't have tons of free time dedicated to creating a massive overhead of Stuff for the Campaign. I'm going for a balance between Players Get Choice and GM Has Sanity.

 

Asking the players what sorta cultures/races they might want to play could be useful. Heck, co-opt them and have them design some of the basics of the new races/cultures!

 

Then apply GM perogative to balance them and fit them into the world.

 

To give some Answers to Vulcan's advice - the basic premise that the Players are stepping into is a precarious situation between two nations. One of the "Big Bads" is all out warfare.

 

So the Big Bad Guy could be someone pushing for the war to happen? Or someone who would profit froma war if it happens? All sorts of possibilities exist...

 

Duh, you've probably thought of that already!

 

One tactic I use was that the PCs meet the nemesis really quickly - but the PCs being either unknowns, low level or relatively powerless mean the Nemesis doesn't count the threat, and the PCs generally haven't got enough of the picture to know they've actually met the BBEG. Worked well in my last Cyberpunk game.

 

Well done! It's always amusing when the players go "DOH! That was the bad guy!" too late to change things. They had the choice to do something, but no reason...

 

I just hate being railroaded (The plot WILL GO THIS WAY regardless of what you want!), especially by being in direct confrontation with an opponent I have exactly NO chance of beating, or even running from.

[Vulcan]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Kingdoms And Religions

 

Moraine and Tellan are the two Human Kingdoms, Chadak is the Goblin Kingdom. Chadak roughly translates are Alliance in their language, while the Human Kingdoms have taken to calling the Goblin Kingdom that the Goblins still hold a (cursory) view that the alliance is really temporary. While the economy and culture of Chadak could never actually allow itself to break up the Lords like remind the Goblin King they can break off the alliance at any time. Posturing empty threats at best. The Human Kingdoms were named after their first Great Kings. Moraine it's founding King and Tellan after a usurper took over and conquered a good bit of Tellan some three hundred years ago (most of the land was subsequently retaken) and renamed the Kingdom.

 

Quick layout, gotta draw a map.

Moraine is west of Tellan. Chadak is north of both, mostly over Moraine giving to Barbarian Lands (Human, Orc, Goblins) east of that (north of Tellan) though some northern border is shared with Tellan. Water to the east and south. Also south is an area of great plains, desert and some steppe with Nomad Tribes (not unlike the Barbarians but renamed Nomads so I can easily differentiate which I mean) of Orcs and Humans. Further south are Elven Kingdoms and a large Human Empire. Elves aren't tree huggers (well, some are) but they tend to have better planned cities that certainly look more natural. To the west is a giant range of mountains, presumably there are more people across them but crossing is for adventurers only.

 

Religions.

Moraine and Tellan mostly worship the same pantheon, the humans in the area share a common language and cultures. Only slight variances of which God is more important vary.

 

The Goblins worship a different pantheon of Gods, smaller and evenly split between Gods and Goddesses. Religion to the Goblin Kingdom is a small part of society, they view many of the worship practices as superstitions held over from their Nomad Barbarian Days.

 

Barbarian Goblins worship the same pantheon, but include a healthy dose of spirits, guides, rituals and other trappings. Their Shamans (Hedge Mages) are more central to their society - they believe their "civilized" brethren have fallen off the path.

Barbarian Orcs worship a seemingly endless host of Gods, Spirits, Ghosts, Dead Shamans, Land and the occasional odd rock formation. Each Clan has a slightly different take on it all.

Barbarian Humans are pretty much like the Orcs, some tribes who travel closest to Tellan have adopted those Gods. But mostly it's the same as the Orcs with all the labels switched. They like to fight each other over which Gods looks Human or Orc. They like to raid Tellan more though.

 

Southern Tribes, actually have a comparatively unified set of Pantheons compared to the Northern Barbarians. Each Tribe usually has one Deity they worship foremost, and this represents their Tribe. Only occasionally do they go to war over which God is better.

 

Elves have yet another pantheon (go figure) they worship. These Gods are more benevolent, except the Forest Gods are unforgiving and the Sea Gods are kind if temperamental. Little is know in the North about it (note: Player wants elf, come up with some names.)

 

The Human Empire is monotheistic, apparently. No one in the North has really talked to them and so far the Empire is content not coming up this way. In fact the whole state of the "Empire" is in question - if reports are correct it's about to collapse under it's own weight.

 

To the south east is a series of tiny island nations - they worship yet more Gods.

 

The Church In Moraine and Tellan

Important, large towns and the sparse few "cities" have major temples. Villages have a shrine, or if a Priest came a church itself. The importance depends on how powerful they've become locally. A village may be under the sway of the local branch, cities treat them a lot like Guilds. Worship tends to be done every evening, with shorter prayers in the morning or mid morning for all Humans.

 

That's a lot of gods to make up. Have you considered combining the human pantheons into one, and jut making the different cultures interpret them differently?

 

For example, the human gods are worshipped pretty much the same in both human kindoms. The human barbarians either ignore them (in favor of spirit/ancestor worship) or dedicate themselves to the war god... The nomads as a whole are polytheistic, but each individual tribe is monotheistic and worshiping another god while in that tribe is sacrelige (I know I spelled that wrong...). And then the islanders just worship the sea gods, maybe with lip service to the others...

 

For that matter, perhaps the elves worship the same gods, bu differet aspects - where humans worship a god of agriculture, the elves worship a god of 'benevolent nature providing for us...'

 

Just a thought.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

It's just a lot of names to make up. How many Gods Of Battle, Forestry, etc etc exist in this world? 90% of the time you're giving the same concept a makeover, add a personality based on local culture - boom. New God just like that Other God.

 

What I plan on doing is getting some Player input and just making up what needs to be done at the start - if no one is playing a Barbarian they're just "people with strange worship practices" and I don't need to do anything until it becomes important.

[Starwolf]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Hmm... Sea Gods, Kind yet temperamental... Salinas Tempus (from the words saline or salt water, and tempest or storm), perhaps many common human words come from Elven root words, in a fashion similar to how many common english words come from greek and old latin roots. In image the elves believe her to have the appearance of an elven mermaid. she has the lower body of a dolphin and the upper body of a beautiful elven woman, but with blue green skin and stormy eyes.

 

More on the forest god to come... Terrie and I are vacatioing in a hotel out of town right now, so I can only get to this in spurts. We will be home on Monday.

[mavsfan77]

Re: Brink Of War

 

I was thinking of making a character based around Thrall of the Warcraft universe. An orc with that's 3/4 fighter 1/4 caster... and Hedge magic seems more his fare. However.. I would like to keep a lightning-nature theme to the spells. Any thoughts GA?

 

If this idea is even okay.. I will need tremendous help on Power Pools and overall character creation.. being the Hero nub that I am.

[solron915]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Well in the spirit of the new world forming from G-A thoughts . I 'm thinking of a Human Mage. Qliian Seriantep, born 3rd son of a minor noble, An given a quest by his father to become a high priest of the high church. He has a passion for history and lanuages and has an adept skill for magic. Though passion led him away from his studies at the high church to the real world outside. So begins his journey.......

[ghost-angel]

Re: Brink Of War

 

Hmm... Sea Gods, Kind yet temperamental... Salinas Tempus (from the words saline or salt water, and tempest or storm), perhaps many common human words come from Elven root words, in a fashion similar to how many common english words come from greek and old latin roots. In image the elves believe her to have the appearance of an elven mermaid. she has the lower body of a dolphin and the upper body of a beautiful elven woman, but with blue green skin and stormy eyes.

 

More on the forest god to come... Terrie and I are vacatioing in a hotel out of town right now, so I can only get to this in spurts. We will be home on Monday.

 

Interesting. Kind of cool. I won't give Elves enough credit to have the root of the Human Language, but I like the Sea Goddess idea. At least for one of them. I see many Sea Deities for the Elves.

 

I was thinking of making a character based around Thrall of the Warcraft universe. An orc with that's 3/4 fighter 1/4 caster... and Hedge magic seems more his fare. However.. I would like to keep a lightning-nature theme to the spells. Any thoughts GA?

 

If this idea is even okay.. I will need tremendous help on Power Pools and overall character creation.. being the Hero nub that I am.

 

Since the only Orcs I've accounted for are Barbarians - unless you've got an objection to being one I'll not worry about that. It'd be easy to have the concept, and lightning-nature spells would be fitting for that culture, probably worships a bunch of Storm Deities and Spirits. . .

 

Well in the spirit of the new world forming from G-A thoughts . I 'm thinking of a Human Mage. Qliian Seriantep' date=' born 3rd son of a minor noble, An given a quest by his father to become a high priest of the high church. He has a passion for history and lanuages and has an adept skill for magic. Though passion led him away from his studies at the high church to the real world outside. So begins his journey.......[/quote']

 

I like that, easily done and fairly straight forward.

 

 

That leaves one player left to hear from. . .

I'm taking notes here on what parts of the world to build a little more detail into before play - there will be some aspects I'm just going to leave blank until I think they're needed.

[Starwolf]

Re: Brink Of War

 

So are we waiting on Chad and/or Nol? or do you have a new player?

 

Are there any character guidelines percolating yet (point values, NCM, things you don't want to see, disadvantages you would like us to not use, etc)? Are standard packages from FH, ok?

 

Assuming mavsfan77 is who I think it is, if he wants my help with his hedge magic mp, I am willing.