NEW Fantasy Ideas?

[Kajaro]

Has anyone out there ever craved to run or play in a HERO Fantasy campaign that is completely different from the stereotypical - dwarves, humans, elves we meet in a bar and hack an orc in two - type game?

 

I'm curious to here if there are completely different campaign worlds out there and what they are like.

[logomancer]

God Yes!

 

I'm so tired of D&D3E rehashes...I mean, I know it's archetypical, but I hate it when people do nothing with the Hero System but recreate "how they did it D&D3E." To me, that just misses the point.

 

I've seen other fantasy systems are are "off archetype." Talislanta comes to mind. But the danger with them is getting so far off archetype that you become unrecognizable. When I played a Talislanta game, I honestly couldn't keep up with the racial/class vocabulary enough to enjoy it.

 

The best possibility is to somehow retreat the archetypes so that they are recognizable enough for you to "get" them quickly, but which are nonetheless different enough in execution to be interesting.

 

And that's no small feat.

[austenandrews]

I was conscious of the fact that my world's strange magic setup might take some getting used to for the players. That's why in the beginning I've tried to make the world very accessible - standard medieval, northern European setup; no races; Welsh, Celtic and Saxon naming schemes; unusual fantasy elements given familiar fantasy names (like "elf" and "troll"); discernable but not unusual effects of magic on the world (few diseases, no rampaging monsters through the village, a smattering of enchanted objects). Slowly I'm leading the campaign into more meaty directions, but I'm unfolding the weirdness rather than dropping the players in the middle of it.

 

Just to answer your second question, the basic idea is that there are six types of magicians in the world. In essence they represent the six "pillars" of magic, around which almost every fantasy element in the world is based. The types are:

 

- Quickeners, who are healers and "greenmen" that "quicken" the natural world to serve their purposes

- Archers, who use the Spirit Winds to guide their paths and their arrows

- Avatars, whose magic empowers their own bodies with great might and unusual abilities

- Sentinels, who walk the parallel world of Shadow, through which all magic occurs

- Eldwrights, who control the numerous ores of the world that are naturally enchanted

- Summoners, who control the world's strange "gargoyles" of enchanted stone

 

-AA

[dugfromthearth]

my world is has familiar races just because a big strong dumb guy is a stock race, light agile people are a stock race. They aren't elves, ogres and dwarves as such.

 

a couple of unusual features to my world are:

 

there are no seasons, the north pole is always dark, the southern hemisphere is always light. The middle does have a day/night cycle but it is alwaysthe same. This is because the world is a struggle of the god of light to take over the world.

 

primals - soul and body are at odds. The spiritually pure (according to the sun god) have little to do with their physical form, concentrating on their minds. But others bind their souls to those of animals and take on half-human half-animal forms (they cannot change form) to aquire much more physical power. There are even "heretical" races of primals such as the wolfen, raven, and vermen (half-rat).

[keithcurtis]

Savage Earth in a nutshell:

 

Campaign Background

The Savage Earth is a sword and sorcery campaign set on a post-apocalyptic world of fabulous lost technology living alongside high magic and barbaric splendor.

 

In the distant future, some great catastrophe has tipped the planet on its side, throwing the world into ecological chaos from which only now are small pockets of civilization re-appearing. All records were lost in the time of the Demon-Kings, when the world was ruled by mysterious beings of vast power and cruelty. The Demon-Kings are gone now, banished by the Prometheans (humans who had mastered their art), but their technology lives on. As a fallout of the war, much of the plant and animal life of earth was mutated. Random mutations still occur on a regular basis.

 

The campaign area is the Arctic Ocean area, which now lies on the equator.

 

Magic System

The magic system is based on the idea that everything possesses spirits which define their characteristics. Certain random individuals (Adepts) can alter these spirits and therefore enhance or alter the objects. They can make clothe as hard as steel or change a human into an alligator for instance.

The major drawback is that the changes fade rapidly with time and distance. In the immediate presence of the adept, they are permanent. Travel a few miles and the enhancements fade in a matter of hours or minutes. This concentrates civilization into tiny pockets isolated by vast tracts of wilderness.

 

 

Races

Humans: The majority of the population of the Savage earth. Some are city-dwellers, living in the comfort afforded by adepts, others are barbarians, spurning the softness that civilization creates.

 

Adepts: Humans who have learned the arts of the Demon-Kings well enough to alter the fabric of reality on a small scale.

 

Beasts: The Demon-Kings gave speech and thought to animals, who are slowly becoming more human-like.

 

Animates: Adepts have learned how to transfer the living spirits into inanimate objects, creating living manikins. (similar to the Scarecrow or the Tin Woodman of Oz)

 

Mutants: Small kinships of mutated humans or beasts. Often mistrusted.

 

Riven: The most feared and hated people on the Savage Earth. Monstrous mutations of people and animals, they are the outcasts of society.

 

 

Check out the sourcebook link in my sig for more info

 

Keith "No elves or dwarves need apply" Curtis

[Agent Escafarc]

My campaign world isn't what I would call original or strange but: No non-humans, no magic items, no pre-constructed spells they have to be re-invented each time magic is used, no Charges/Focus/gestures/Incantations limitations on spells and they must cost End and are in a VPP.

[Reln]

"The Legend of Nightfall"

 

I'm just getting ready to start a game based on a book by Mickey Zucker Reichert called “The Legend of Nightfallâ€. It’s a Northern European like world/society there is not fantasy races, only humans. No “monsters†orks, trolls, dragons, etc.

 

However there is magic, very little and very limited. One in one thousand people are born with a “giftâ€. Some magical ability that is completely innate and natural to that person. Then there are sorcerers who hunt down, kill, and enslave the soul of the “gifted†to gain access to their power.

 

All of the Players will be playing a “giftedâ€.

[AnotherSkip]

i swiped the Star Frontiers Races for my fantasy campaign.

 

Is that strange enough?

[OddHat]

Mythic China, Mythic Japan, Mythic Europe, historical mixes including any of the above, modern fantasy along the lines of Unknown Armies, anything lifted from Zelazny or Julian May or Frankowski or Strasheff or...

 

There are an unlimited number of non AD&D fantasy settings out there.

[Guest joen00b]

I'm currently in the works of writing up an apocolyptic fantasy genre. End of the world kind of thing where Undead have taken over the world in the final age, insert doomy prophecy here, etc. It's going to be a dark campaign, for sure, and the end result... well, I haven't written that far, though I am toying with some ideas here and there. I got the idea after reading Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.

 

If it comes off like I hope, it should be good fun for everyone. Elves are dead, being creatures of life, they fell really fast to the undead hordes. The humans have forgotten about petty border wars and racial indifferences to unite under one banner of man, dwarves are deep in their mountains doing the same, Hobbits never played a big role (aside from the end of the world starting in one of their villages) and are dead. The chance that some subraces have survived are still being left in the open, in case I need to broaden the game up for the players, one thing I learned long ago is adaptability is the key to success.

 

I'm trying to streamline the races and playstyle because I am going to be adding in alot more in the combat system, all of which the players will have advance knowledge of. This should all be finished within 3 months if I keep on top of it, which will be perfect for the players. More details to come later.

[BlackCobra]

I've mentioned my campaign world before, so some of this may be a repeat for those who saw it.

 

Anyway, in a previous campaign, I ran Primal Order where the players played gods. The setup was that they were very minor gods in a modern world, and they fought against the Big Guys who were THIS close to screwing up or ending their world. Anyway, they save the World and find out that the minor blacksmith god was really the Creator, and he's making a new world next door. The minor gods get to help create their own world.

 

So, the players each get to choose a mortal race they want to enter the world. The world has a Moon corresponding to each of the gods, and acts as their celestial realm (read: Home Plane). It also has three Worlds, the Above (a sky-plane with floating islands), the Between (regular world) and the Below (kind of like the Underdark, only bigger).

 

So now I'm working on creating a fantasy world based on their initial decisions. I've advanced time 10,000 years or so, and I'm adding a lot of spin to what they setup.

 

Races are a mix of odd and standard. Dragons, the first race and the most magical, are also the most powerful (racial package came to about 200 points). Alvioli are feather-winged humanoids (kinda elves) and are also fairly magical (which translates to an END reserve to power magic). Dwarves, mostly standard, but since they are the favorites (proposed by) the Music/Trickster Goddess, that makes them the most common bards and the most fun. Humans (more about them later). Troglodytes, which are kind of like the intelligent morlocks in Time Machine (the movie version). They're largely an underground race, and basically a human variant with a Dark Elf kind of feel. Fey are the final race, and they're a little odd. There are five variations on the forms of the fey, corresponding to each of the other races, only small and odd. The player wanted them to be a helper race. So for the dragons, there's the faerie dragon (small dragon with butterfly wings); for the humans, there are brownies. The fun part for me is that one of the players gave the race "ambition" when it came time to hand out gifts, and that's just a truckload of GM helpfulness.

 

One thing that I did to distinguish them from the norm is that at the race's creation, each of the "gods" (players) gave them a special gift (like Fairie God Mothers, only less well thought out in some cases). This means I ended up with some odd special abilities. For instance, dwarves were given "her love, always" by the Music/Trickster god, so I gave them the special ability: 3d6 Luck, only when making music or playing pranks. The Death god gave the dwarves "the ability to make things that will last", so they have 1d6 Aid to Body, fade rate 1/century, only for items they create (takes a full extra day on top of item creation). So, even where they are standard races, they have something a little different.

 

Those are the races. I'll post more aobut Magic later.

[tkdguy]

My campaign is what I said it would be a while back. It's based on 17th-century Europe, with a few Asian influences. There is no supernatural element in this game: no magic, monsters, or non-human races.

 

What is there, then? Lots of swordplay and martial arts. But combat isn't the only thing there is. There's also political intrigue, mercantilism and religion. Religion is based on Christianity, with a few elements of Buddhism and Hinduism.

 

BTW, the players got full XP for meeting the challenges I set out for them last weekend without combat.

[badger3k]

Tekumel - the Empire of the Petal Throne.

 

An old (28+years) game/world made by Professor MAR Barker. Features strange races and a distinctly non-European flavor.

 

http://www.weirdrealm.com/tekumel/

http://www.tekumel.com/

 

Two links that lead to others. Someone had done a translation a while back, but I don't know if its valid for 5e. I have a few of the games and may try to convert it, if I can get my group interested in it.

[Storn]

My 6 on an off campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms. About as cliched as you can get.

 

However, I love tweaking and overturning cliches. Magic isn't going away, its coming back. Elves and dwarves are not dying out, they have larger numbers of birth than ever in their history. The printing press has already been invented. As has gunpowder. The Drow aren't evil, or blue, or live underground... in fact, they saved the human race. Wars sometimes can be avoided because of diplomacy.

 

And almost never run a "dungeon hack". And if I do, it is because it makes sense to the storyline and environment.

 

It ain't the Dark or Middle ages, it is the cusp of the Reneissance... with magic thrown in.

 

I have the occasional magic sword. The occasional monster... but my game is mostly about nation building politics... and the players get caught up between huge tectonic shifts in geopolitical reality.

[Galadorn]

I HATE alternative fantasy scenerios. Dinosaur characters, feline characters, distant moon environments - Booooooooring!

 

I love the old standard Tolkeinish system, but with a twist. I think what Tolkein did right is to inculturate the reader into a whole new world. I think what Tolkein did wrong, is to be too long-winded. But his generally nordic and celtic mythology works in my book.

 

I would love to see an Asian style fantasy campaign, but I haven't seen any I like, or that's done right. O.k. maybe its my anglo background. LOL

 

What I have learned to love, as coined by "Parched Sea in the Harpers Series of the Forgotten Realms Books Series, is Arabian-style fantasy. I think far beyond Aladdin and His Lamp, or Ali-Baba and the Fourty Thieves, this book "The Parched Sea" open up something new for Arabian Fantasy. The book itself is probably only two stars out of four stars, but some of the concepts for fantasy are terrific. Too bad the D&D 2nd Edition magic system had to ruin the magic.

 

In short, Arabian Fantasy is about the only alternative of medieval type fantasy I like. You can keep all other sub-genres of Fantasy including - modern, cyberpunk and whatever else they dream up next month.

[Theron]

For nearly the last year I've been brainstorming and writing setting material for a fairy tale England/France analog (not for the HERO System, it's destined for publication in a new RPG). I so can't wait to be able to seriously think about other flavors of fantasy.

[Vanguard00]

I take the familiar fantasy standards and alter them to taste. For example:

 

The elves of my world aren't the willowy Tolkeinesque ones. They're an empire building race, strong and tall and possessing innate magical abilities. Many other traits are familiar, however.

 

Same with dwarves. They're not sturdy warriors--they're actually more halfling -like than anything else. They're just good miners. Reluctant warriors at best, but quite capable in their own way.

 

No halflings.

 

Orcs are semi-civilized, no better or worse than any other race.

 

I don't believe that twisting the fantasy genre into something completely unrecognizable is the key. It's making the familiar seem interesting again. I like the "usual" features of a fantasy world, and in general I hold with them. Too far from center is too far from fun for me.

[Eclectic Wave]

I am trying to do a conversion of Wargods of Aegpytus from a minatures game to a RPG using HF. It is of course based in Egypt with much more primative weapons/equipment, about 10 different races, but based off cat people, anubis, horis, ect.

 

I'm trying for a vastly different feel then a standered fantasy game.

[Liberator]

I'm in the process of converting my old DnD campaign over to Fantasy Hero....

 

It's a Norse campaign setting, and now that I'm switching to Hero, I'm cleaning it up a bit. I'm getting rid of the Gnomes...and adding Half-Trolls. Trolls are a big deal in Norse mythology so they'll be the primary bad guys.

 

But I've also been thinking of doind some kind of campaign world loosely based on the world of Samurai Jack. I think my players would get a kick out of it.

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Galadorn

I HATE alternative fantasy scenerios. Dinosaur characters, feline characters, distant moon environments - Booooooooring!

 

I love the old standard Tolkeinish system, but with a twist. I think what Tolkein did right is to inculturate the reader into a whole new world. I think what Tolkein did wrong, is to be too long-winded. But his generally nordic and celtic mythology works in my book.

 

...

In short, Arabian Fantasy is about the only alternative of medieval type fantasy I like. You can keep all other sub-genres of Fantasy including - modern, cyberpunk and whatever else they dream up next month.

 

While I agree with your right to have whatever preferences toward the game you would like to play (and would be willing to die to defend them;) ), I'm not sure if "alternative" is the right name for what your describing.

What makes the "Tolkeinish system" standard? The vast overwhelming bulk of world fantasy narrative does not follow this model. There are countless fantasy scenarios that have nothing to do with Tolkein.

Conan, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Narnia, Oz, Elric, Thomas Covenant, or the Chronicles of Prydain just to name a few. I think that all fantasy is by its very definition "alternative". It's the essence of fantasy.

"Whatever else they dream up next month" is just as valid as whatever anyone dreamed up fifty or a hundred or a thousand years ago. Fantasy is the literature of the imagination.

 

Keith "be creative" Curtis

[Stephen Mann]

My old super-fantasy game

 

My "fantasy" world had tall skinny elves, short stout and strong dwarves, despised gnomes and halflings, and medium-height ugly and strong evil orcs.

 

The twist was the elves were descended from light-worlders and dwarves descended from heavy-worlders. They and the humans were passengers and crew on an interstellar ship that mutinied against bridge crew and other officers. The orcs were the humans engineered to use recently-discovered alien battlesuits, and were used as Marines and Security. The gnomes and halflings were short human engineers (necessary for the alien-derived power plant and engine) that tried to sit out the mutiny and so were despised by both sides.

 

Leaving out the details, the survivors were stranded on a nearby habital world and degenerated. The reversion was helped by the core mutineers since they preserved their tech better than the rest. They destroyed the tech bases of the other survivors, and encouraged the adoption of a spurious history that made them gods in subsequent generations.

 

The orcs are descendants of the Marines, and have created a society structured like an army base with childhood resembling boot camp. They know they are The Good Guys, warriors of the Side of Light and Authority, tasked to bring the legions of evil (the mutineer's descendants) to justice. Their legends are the closest to the Truth, but who listens to an orc?

 

This world later had magic introduced, and a stranded team of American superheroes from another dimension. The basic plot came from Mutineer's Moon by David Weber.

[tkdguy]

With a few modifications, you can use the Warhammer 40K universe for your game. Just an idea, although I like your concept just fine.

 

How did magic get introduced to the world?

[Greatwyrm]

Originally posted by keithcurtis

What makes the "Tolkeinish system" standard? The vast overwhelming bulk of world fantasy narrative does not follow this model. There are countless fantasy scenarios that have nothing to do with Tolkein.

 

Keith "be creative" Curtis

 

I think the Tolkein model is "standard" for gaming largely because of D&D. As the first fantasy rpg, it has had a lot of influence on fantasy gaming as a whole. Since it was based mainly on Tolkein (notably excepting the Vance inspired magic), I think D&D is responsible for the prevalence of the Tolkein races, cultures, etc.

 

Whether that's a good or a bad thing is entirely a matter of taste. However, I think if D&D had been based on the works of Peirs Anthony, Anne McAfferty, or Raymond Feist, fantasy gaming in general would be different.

[Chuk]

Originally posted by Liberator

But I've also been thinking of doind some kind of campaign world loosely based on the world of Samurai Jack. I think my players would get a kick out of it.

 

That'd be pretty cool, and Fantasy Hero (which I'm not done reading yet) looks like it'd be an awesome resource for it.

[bcholmes]

Re: NEW Fantasy Ideas?

 

Originally posted by Kajaro

I'm curious to here if there are completely different campaign worlds out there and what they are like.

 

I haven't personally played the game, but I find Nyambe really inspiring.

 

Other than that, my interest in fantasy is primarily oriented toward Urban Fantasy settings like Unknown Armies and the like.