Need help devising threats for my homebrew

AFGNCAAP · May 29, 2007

ENWorld has proven to be a great place for brainstorming, so I'd figure I'd ask y'alls help with a project I'm working on.

I'm working on developing villainous threats/organizations for my homebrew campaign setting. So far, here's what I have:

Various savage orc tribes in the uncharted northern lands under the not-so-perfect rulership of an ettin "god-king."
A (yet-to-be-revealed) massive goblinoid army, commanded by the world's 1st lich (who's also the world's 1st warlock).
An evil city-state on a volcanic island (which is the only place that openly worships the major Evil religion of the setting).
An insane death slaad who harasses adventurers for reasons that make sense only to him.
A pirate city-state (not totally villainous, but some residents can be antagonists from time to time--it's more along the lines of a wretched-hive-of-scum-and-villainy sort of place).
A hive of aberrations and oozes just outside of an isolationist psionics-heavy city-state.
Various nomadic xvart tribes.

So far, I've got quite a few monster-oriented threats in the game. However, I was looking to develop some things that are more organization-based (akin to the Zhents, Emerald Claw, Scarlet Brotherhood, etc.).

I'd like any ideas/suggestions you may have. There's just a few campaign-based rules to keep in mind:

No such thing as drow, duergar, etc. in the setting. Those races have died out and been replaced by the derogar.
No such thing as kobolds, troglodytes, or kuo-toa: they all have been merged/reworked/renamed into one amphibian-like race that worships slaads.
Religions aren't based on deities, but philosophies: the Path of Light, the Path of Darkness, the Path of Nature, and the Path of Knowledge. These are the only religions with divine spellcasters; there are other smaller religions/cults in the setting, but no follower can be a member and have divine spellcasting ability. This is world-wide, and not just a feature of the main realm.
Other than well-established/defined city-states, there is only one major nation in the known/mapped area. There's an OA-style massive empire to the (unmapped) south, and barbarian & orc tribes in the (unmapped) north. What lies beyond the western and eastern seas is unknown.

I'd appreciate any ideas/feedback you could provide.

Nyaricus · May 30, 2007

hmmm, interesting take on things (I'd totally play it

). Here's a couple bits from my campaign setting Ascension: Paths of Power you're free to incorporate as ye wish:

The Induskian Horsebrothers: A vast expanse of plains can be found to the south and east of the Craggy Peak Range, a formidable range of mountains which start out far to the south and head almost due north before turning east for a long stretch. In the lee of this range lies the vast nomadic empire of the Induskians - a people I've based mainly off the Huns and Mongols of earth's history. These men are an extension of their saddle, and live rough-and-tumble lives on their verdant plains and rugged steppes. But now a great warlord (a Khan if you care to get cliched like me

) has banded together these disparate tribes and now wishes to expand a broken empire into a world-dominating force. These canny horse warriors have now begun to scout the southern expanses of Amneron (my Europe-analogue) and the people in these south areas feel the whispers of war heading their way. Thus far, however, nothing has come of it - but the fear is growing. Can the PCs help defend the southern borders against the combined forces of the Indusk?

The Lyonsgate Crisis: Lyonsgate is a northern city of Tûllan's (a Scandinavian analogue) which is quite settled and civilised compared to their Skav brethren who raid the southern cities - their have a sewer system in place, wide avenues and very well-kept cities. Recently though [last half-year], there has been a heart-wrenching and terrible outbreak of undead; babes are being stolen from their cribs, are killed and then risen up as abominations - only to be replaced in their sleeping quaters. These flesh-eating tots kill and kill until killed themselves, and their undead nature can be spread if a victim survives an attack. Mandatory curfews have been set in place by the Mayor, and the Night Watch has increased greatly in number. The once robust city now is bent under an aura of fear and trade has been slowly decreasing, leaving the city even more vulnerable then before. Can the PCs find who (or what) is behind these baby-killers and necromancers, as it seems to be?

I'll post more as I think of it.

cheers,
--N

AFGNCAAP · May 30, 2007

Cool...

Actually, I don't really have any heavily-horse-oriented cultures running around. I think I need to change that.

The undead idea's cool, too. I have a side quest idea (still pending in-game) where the PCs would find themselves dealing with a twisted clan of mongrelfolk (ala the Sawyers/Hewitts or the Fireflys), and the "death throes" of one of the clan would be placing a curse on a nearby village, raising the recently deceased into zombies or ghouls (hadn't decided which yet). It would be Texas Chainsaw Massacre that switched to Night of the Living Dead shortly afterward, thematically.

I actually considered having cremation instead of burial be standard practice for funerary rights. I wonder if I should go with that, & then show the PCs why it was necessary as a standard practice.

Warren Okuma · May 30, 2007

Actually an insane death slaad doesn't need to understand why he's harassing the PC's.

Need a Path of Life and Death.

Need a Path of Money. I mean who does merchants, and cobblers and the like worship?

City of Mages would be a nice addition.

And you need a psycho druid woods.

AFGNCAAP · May 30, 2007

Warren Okuma said:
Actually an insane death slaad doesn't need to understand why he's harassing the PC's.
Very true. He's doing just to do it, but there's something in particular about the PCs that he's focusing on them specifically, rather than just any old PCs.

Warren Okuma said:

Need a Path of Life and Death.

Click to expand...

Already exists as part of the view within the Path of Nature--part of the natural cycle of things. Death isn't seen as negative; undeath is, however. Same goes for the Path of Light and the Path of Knowledge. The Path fo Darkness sees death of others as OK, but death of oneself as bad (natural for the evil-oriented religion); undeath is a means to cheat death and maintain power.

Warren Okuma said:

Need a Path of Money. I mean who does merchants, and cobblers and the like worship?

Click to expand...

Any of the 4 paths. It's more of a dominating philosophy rather than specific aspects/deities/pantheons. It's a far step from the "focused polytheism" of a lot of typical D&D settings. Typically, the Path of Knowledge is preferred by the educated; the Path of Nature is favored by rural folk and savages; and the Path of Light is favored by the majority of folk (including educated and rural folk). The Path of Darkness is favored by the more sinister elements/individuals of society.

Warren Okuma said:

City of Mages would be a nice addition.

Click to expand...

Don't really have a City of Mages, per se. More like a nationwide guild, prominent in the large cities. The closest thing to a City of Mages would be the elven capital.

Warren Okuma said:

And you need a psycho druid woods.

Click to expand...

True--I'm thinking of having that be off the current continent, though. The existing power structure would've responded to that threat long ago. Perhaps on a nearby, uncharted island...

Plane Sailing · May 30, 2007

This will probably get more views and advice (and stick around on the front page longer) in the Plots and Places forum, so I'll just whiz it over there.

Cheers

AFGNCAAP · May 30, 2007

Plane Sailing said:
This will probably get more views and advice (and stick around on the front page longer) in the Plots and Places forum, so I'll just whiz it over there.

Cheers

Cool... thanks!

Piratecat · May 30, 2007

AFGNCAAP said:
Actually, I don't really have any heavily-horse-oriented cultures running around. I think I need to change that.

After reading a good book about mongols, I had millions of mongol orcs invade from the far west. They wiped out several countries completely; the PCs were on a mission at the time, and took extreme efforts to maneuver around the army after a 30-horse patrol almost killed them. The tactics of "shoot and ride back, staying out of range" was brutally effective.

Of course, later I had to figure out a way to get rid of them. But they were great fun while they were around.

You could do something similar from the north, as barbarian hordes ride south on polar bear and elk. This tends to make cool things happen across the world, even in the south, because displaced people from the northern realms move south, sparking tensions and fights. Trade is disrupted, too.

Plane Sailing · May 30, 2007

Piratecat said:
You could do something similar from the north, as barbarian hordes ride south on polar bear and elk.

Or if you've read 'the golden compass' maybe the barbarian hordes *are* the polar bear people - they would be a wicked threat for anyone who came across them!