Narf the Mouse Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 For a campaign I'm going to run at Church, I'm using a 'sandbox' setting - A frontier of a kingdom. Your starting point is a small town being financed in part by the king/nobility. Just a basic map to start with. Haven't figured out how to get text on the map, but it's apparently possible. Anyway, the town is in the middle. Things I've decided on: Town There's a Count Somebody in town with Royal Authority to negotiate with natives (But Politics). There's more stuff to buy than you'd expect, but everything not locally produced is expensive. Any support is weeks away across a mountain range. Goblins Beings of Faerie - Tricksy, sly and inhuman. And immortal. They cannot directly lie or break a bargain. They like to bargain - A lot. Known settlement in the mountains to the northwest of the town, ruled by a Goblin who knows the forgotten magic of 'Wizardry'. Leader wants the book of wizardry the cultists have, for X. Urak (Hobgoblins) Mortal, not faerie. Strong bent towards law, order and practicality, not so much morality or immorality. Encountered to the north. A few 'adventurous' souls went to attack them - Nothing heard since but rumours. Make slaves out of those who attack them. Crazed Cultists To the south, in an ancient, ruined, evil temple. Guarded by undead and trying to summon 'Something'. Mostly rumours known. Have a book of Wizardry. Ogre in a Cave (Or: Random Encounters) Well, obviously, an ogre in a cave. Bear. Wolves. Goblins out to cause (Faerie-style) mischief. Hobgoblin (Urak) patrol the players can (Mis-)handle. North Narrow opening to more land. East Long bay and more land. Some whispers of a dragon being sighted. South Sea; no-one knows what's on the other side. West Mountains and, across them, the kingdom. Magic Sorcery Memorize and cast spells; five minutes to re-memorize. You need to buy/research/find and have the spell written down to study. VPP with limitations and Sorcery skill. Is a type of science - You need to know what you're doing or at least be able to follow instructions exactly. Alchemy Skill and potions. Mostly requires time, ingredients and money. Is a type of science - Tried and true recipes based on 'Internal Alchemy' and equations, only working. For example, a 'Healing Potion' balances the body with the missing metaphysical elements, therefore resulting in cascade a restoration of what was lost (Actual in-game explanation) Cannot do outright 'mystical' things. Wizardry A 'lost' skill. Consists of knowledge of Words. String the Words together and something will happen. Know what the Words mean and you can do near anything. Not as powerful per application as Sorcery or Alchemy. Wizardry skill with Misfire and VPP (Can be changed as a zero-phase action) The players will have the opportunity to learn/about this in the game, depending on how they play things. Psionics Some vague thoughts of a psionics, vaguely eastern/mystic land to the east. So - Ideas, inspiration, filler, conflict...Basically, help me build this. Thanks for any and all help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting Mr Mouse, Is this a result of trade or was this city conquered. Is the population mix human faire and other? Is the feel you are trying to get like Xena, Hercules, LOTR or Kingdom of heaven with magic? what is your starting point for your group and what is base human 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 split. how commen are item of magic? Are the players adult,teens or mixed? Do your player role paly or just kill it or you do not know? How is this city fed. From the surrounding oasis is it brought in (really small city) is this city here do to water, moutain pass, minerals? and are u running 5ER or 6th hope to be more help Lord Ghee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting Mr Mouse, Is this a result of trade or was this city conquered. Is the population mix human faire and other? The town was settled there as an initial expansion into the region, involving grants of money to those willing to go. The kingdom is not particularly militaristic, but it is expansionist. Mixed. For races, I've got humans and hobgoblins. And...I think I'll make the judge in town hobgoblin. I'm trying to not go too 'My elves are different!'. A few differences, but more similarities. Hobgoblins not being a monster race would be one of those. Is the feel you are trying to get like Xena, Hercules, LOTR or Kingdom of heaven with magic? None of those - Diplomacy, exploration, building credit, working against (Or for) people who want to throw that credit away, dungeon-crawling - I'm not going to steer the plot. what is your starting point for your group and what is base human 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 split. Not sure what you're asking, but I'm going for Skilled Normal for starting PCs. how commen are item of magic? Since the 'known magics' are scientific, rather common. You could easily find a rich farmer chugging a minor Potion of Strength before pushing a heavy rock out of his irrigation ditch, or even a farm worker with a few Potions of Healing in his house. That same rich farmer could easily have a minor Sorcerously-enchanted sword with, say, extra damage against wolves. The town guard captain probably has a minor enchanted sword, armour and boosting item - Nothing that would make him near unbeatable, just an edge. A rich merchant with an inter-city business could afford some nifty stuff for his guards (And better for his guard captain) It's rather like in real life in some places, where someone could have AP rounds for their modded .45 Magnum with laser scope and some stimulants, in case the all-to-real barbarians do 'come over the hill'. And, there's high-end magic, too - But I do AP * RP as baseline for cost, so that can easily get pricey - Or even out of price, like a legendary 'Ring of Three Wishes' (200/200 VPP, NCC: Effects, Incantations and such), for which 'An empire may not suffice'. Are the players adult,teens or mixed? Do your player role paly or just kill it or you do not know? Likely adults and older teens. Don't know. How is this city fed. From the surrounding oasis is it brought in (really small city) There's surounding farms and regular shipments over the mountains - The kingdom (Read: King and/or nobles in support) want this to succeed, because there's not much room for expansion elsewhere (Read: Without costly war, in political, economic and biological terms) is this city here do to water, moutain pass, minerals? A pass was found through the mountains; expansion is the reason. The main (Current) backers are hoping to incorporate the natives into the kingdom through 'Various diplomatic incentives'. Of course, there's war-hawks looking for a piece of the pie - And not everyone who's been drawn to the 'Go there and get good stipends from rich people!' incentives is going to be...Ideal. and are u running 5ER or 6th 6th hope to be more help Lord Ghee Thanks, you've been a help already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothere Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting Well as it sounds like a frontier setting you'll need a trade route so Count somebody can get goods for the town. A fortified inn as folks will need a place to rest, and where there is a trade route and inn there is the bandit camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting I've always had trouble mixing medieval settings with frontier settings. You kinda have to do a big mangle job on both settings in order to have them conform enough to be together. I'd start by looking at infrastructure - what services would be need to make it work. Have they invented police yet? Are there regular patrols by elite guards? Do they have a sheriff (or Reeve) or other non-noble authority that can be called on for legal decisions? Presumably as a city, they have a lot of skilled craftsman that no town or farm has, which is how they are able to trade for enough food and water to live without being farmers - what are those crafts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted September 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting I've always had trouble mixing medieval settings with frontier settings. You kinda have to do a big mangle job on both settings in order to have them conform enough to be together. I'd start by looking at infrastructure - what services would be need to make it work. Have they invented police yet? Are there regular patrols by elite guards? Do they have a sheriff (or Reeve) or other non-noble authority that can be called on for legal decisions? Presumably as a city, they have a lot of skilled craftsman that no town or farm has, which is how they are able to trade for enough food and water to live without being farmers - what are those crafts? Royal Office of Land Survey and Mineral Wealth would be one. The sheriff of the town is appointed by the King and is given a stipend for hiring police. While the sheriff in theory has royal authority, in reality, local politics have a large say in how much actual authority he or she has. There is also a town judge, appointed by the king. The same caveats apply. The king hold the town in his own personal fiefdom. And yes, there's politics about all this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting Excellent - I like politics in fantasy settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapier Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Re: Help me build a fantasy setting You will be doing yourself a favour if you limit your non-human races. Add too many and you end up with too much overlap and then you run across things like no space for large predators (like dragons). Keep is simple! Oh, and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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