Eric's Homebrew

I'm anticipating spending the next several months preparing a homebrew campaign setting for the first time in living memory. I'll be posting my notes here as I come up with them. Not necessarily seeking commentary, more like a place to store my ideas from several locations. Of course comments are welcome!

Cool! I look forward to watching your construction process.

My first idea is that I want to make a couple of rules changes and that will have a big impact on what the setting is like.

#1 -- using Wheel of Time healing model -- specifically that healing magic turns HP damage in to subdual damage. Subdual damage, in turn, can be healed by rest, with possible accelleration from a skilled healer, alchemical or herbal remedies, and so forth.

#2 -- changing how resurrection works and why gods would want to do it. Not sure where I'm going here, but thinking along the lines of a "resurrection template" -- being brought back from the dead changes you somehow.

Regarding Gods

I'm anticipating few gods. Maybe one god of evil, and one god generally regarded as "good" though it may actually be lawful neutral. The "good" god would have worshippers divided in to orders or sects. Worshippers of the "good" god would be the only ones able to select the Healing Domain, which I would change to provide true healing. This would make this religion ultrapowerful in the world. The religion would support the establishment, the nobility, the wealthy, the powerful. There might be a sect that does charity healing but they probably wouldn't wield much power.

Other things besides gods could provide divine power. Forces (Nature) and philosophies (such as Fate, Charity, Knowledge, Freedom) would be very typical for clerics of this setting. These, though, would have the limited healing as described earlier.

Another thought re: healing is that maybe there is an old, forgotten god around somewhere. Are his shrines still about, providing true healing under certain conditions? Are they hidden, destroyed, well-guarded, trapped by followers of evil ways?

e-mails -- for storage

Original e-mail from me:

Hey guys,

I think I might start brainstorming on a homebrew campaign setting. Nothing fancy, but something that maybe has a couple of cool "hooks" (idea/theme/genre/mood hooks as well as some key "rules" hooks that might fundamentally change the shape/scope of adventuring). I plan to steal liberally from d20 and D&D stuff already out there and probably won't go to far from the core rules with a few exceptions. If you have thoughts on what you'd like to see in that, drop me a line.

Eric

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As far as new campaign, i'd be real interested to see what you come up with. Only thing I have to say now is that, looking back at both my most memorable campaigns w/you and the best "feeling" campaigns in general, the thing that really gets me going is the "fish out of water feel" as a player. I don't just mean having to learn a new world, but a world in which the characters are thrust in a situation they are unfamiliar with. Classic examples come to mind like being a clueless prime in Planescape, or a newly arrived victim into unimaginable horrors of Ravenloft. Theres something that makes a great story with that type of situation that just drags you in and makes it exciting.

Anyhow, thats what I'd have to say at the moment.

Matt

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Let me throw out some things I was considering...

1) Planar travel would be a biggie. Considering, though, a different type of planar cosmology arrangement. Maybe a Prime, Heaven, Hell, and some realms in between.

2) The major "rules" change I'm considering is using Wheel of Time rules for healing: healing magic doesn't heal hit points -- it turns hit point damage into subdual damage. That, in turn, can only be cured by rest, generally, though I think I would like to then introduce herbal/alchemical means of healing (probably to accelerate the rate of subdual recovery). There might be one and only one god that grants access to the Healing domain, which would be the only way to heal "real" hit points. This might then change the shape/scope of adventures. If PCs can only tolerate so much damage (say, four encounters with an EL equal to the party's level) then there will need to be lots more "local" adventuring, finding safe places to stay, and less traipsing off into dungeons with room after room after room of dangerous encounters. Adventures might have to be more "flower shaped" than "vine shaped" -- lots of little things to do/accomplish with chances to return to home base. To me this is somewhat appealing. Also makes higher level adventuring still fairly dangerous.

3) The other "rules" change I'm considering is related to healing -- specifically resurrection. I have some thoughts stewing in my brain about why gods would/wouldn't want mortals to die or return from death, and need to explore that. This might be THE hook of the setting, btw, and could tie in neatly with a simplified planar cosmology.

Fun to think about!

Eric

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Planar travel is always cool Hp rules sounds interesting as long as it doesn't make us feel too wimpy. We're a party full of clerics and we still have problems healing everyone ;-) Id say the one and only way to heal true damage via domain sounds dubious - all it does is make taking the Healing domain a requisite for clerics (as in, well, gotta take healing domain to be efficient, now what other domain can I take?). Unless...other domains were uberized a bit for clerics so the choice isn't so obvious. Something to consider. Anyhow, depending on how you envision planar travel, it can support the flower method very well with "quick trips" here and there and back again.

Matt

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I am fully expecting there to be a very big shift in the balance of power in this setting because of the healing situation. That church that provides "true healing" would be fantastically powerful and probably very much enmeshed with nobility, politics, and money. This might not even be a "good" religion -- it could be a LN religion that focuses on the nobility, inherent right to rule, stuff like that. I'm not so much worried about balance -- I am anticipating that there would be no PCs with that healing domain. If balance does come into it I might make the healing domain trade off with armor and shield proficiencies. Also, magic items created by clerics of the true healing domain would do "real" hp healing but would of course be more expensive and rare -- it would be much more common to find the lesser curatives that change hp damage to subdual damage.

Remember that subdual damage heals at a significantly faster rate. Also I am anticipating then that there would be a much bigger role for alchemical and herbal remedies to accelerate healing of subdual damage. I think that would be an interesting side to the society/world. When you're sick, don't go to a cleric - go to the snake oil salesman.

This would make adventuring quite different in many ways -- probably some that I can't even anticipate. That's kind of why I want to do it -- see what happens.

I am also considering that there might be special locations in the world -- shrines to some old, forgotten god of "good" that might provide some kinds of healing and other benefits. They might be hidden, outlawed, many might be destroyed by this powerful church, well guarded secrets, etc.

Eric

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think that all sounds very interesting. You may not like it, since if I
remember you don't like the setting, but certain elements of it sound
somewhat Dragonlance-ish ;-) But I like DL hehe, so it sounds all pretty
cool. Now that you explained it a bit I'd be very interested in testing it
out and seeing what happens. I think the alchemy role is pretty cool, too. A
no-pc healing domain would be pretty cool .. or maybe a high level option
and only if the character decided to follow a certain path/way of religion.

Any thoughts on how you involved you see the god(s) and religion in
day-to-day life?

And any changes to arcane magic?

Hehe, i know its just swimming around in your head, but I'm kinda
interested.

Matt

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>>Now that you explained it a bit I'd be very interested in testing it
out and seeing what happens. I think the alchemy role is pretty cool, too. A
no-pc healing domain would be pretty cool .. or maybe a high level option
and only if the character decided to follow a certain path/way of religion.

**That's an idea -- the "holy grail" of all alchemy, herbalism, and magic
could be to achieve what this one religion has -- true healing. Maybe
that's something that would develop over the course of several years or
decades in the campaign setting.

>>Any thoughts on how you involved you see the god(s) and religion in
day-to-day life?

**I think distant, remote. Also very few gods. Maybe only a couple of
"gods" (like a God and a Satan type thing), plus a vague divinity known as
Nature for the druids, and then philosophies that essentially act as gods
(Fate, Freedom, Knowledge, Charity, etc.). None of this is nailed down in
any way of course. I like the idea of person A saying "the gods exist
and I can prove it because of my divine spells" and person B saying "I don't
worship a god, and yet I can do most of the stuff you do."

I like the idea of one big god with a lot of different orders/sects. There
could very well be a charitable, good branch that does charity work, healing
the poor, etc. but they might not have very much political power. There
could be more martial orders, more avaricious orders, orders that serve only
nobility, etc.

>>And any changes to arcane magic?

** Haven't thought about this side yet. Might do psionics and arcane magic
but do the "psionics are different" or kind of different option. Psionics
might be an added complication that I might not want to get into though. I
see arcane casters allied with alchemists, and druids aligned with
herbalists.

>>Hehe, i know its just swimming around in your head, but I'm kinda
interested.

Cool!

Thinking a different direction -- what kind of geography/terrain would be
interesting to focus on at first? Islands? Gorges/canyons? Civilized
terrain? Big mix? I don't think I want to get stuck with something like
"Swamp World" or "Snow World" or something so limiting. But at first I'll
need to generate at least a small part of the world.

Eric

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I like the idea of alchemy, herbalism and magic system. I especially like
herbalism and alchemy as they are so often neglected. Lots of potential
there, especially dealing the the former two in detail. You could even toss
in suspicion as you mentioned between alchmists/herbalists and the clerics
with exactly that, "i can do what your god can do, too". Very neat.

If you remember when we talked about the WOTC contest I had similar ideas of
few gods (just a good, evil and neutral deity) with various "sects" and
"orders" in the way the serve them (as opposed to pantheistic system with
gods having domains). I think it sounds really cool. One thing that could be
a lot of fun is that if the gods are remote & distant, you could have a
bunch of orders who aren't really sure how exactly they need to serve their
god ... so they guess on philosophies and religious law and each develop a
degree of distrust between orders, each thinking theirs is the one true way
to serve their deity. I think if you did it though you'd have to be careful
not to take it too far but lots of possibility!

As for starting areas, I guess it depends a bit. I think for a homebrew
usually the best is a semi-rural area (terrain type is open to possibility)
with small town. Its cliche BUT this gives the PCs the chance to explore
ruins from old times and learn more about the history of the world...and
also gives them time to move up to a big city some day and explore and learn
even more. I see this especially the case if you have a large "high order"
religion. PCs in the rural area might have heard of it in that far off big
city, or tangentially been influenced by it from its missionaries, but there
remains a lot of mystery on how that "high order" religion really works or
even what it really stands for and it keeps a strong degree of awe for "true
healing" since it seems so foreign and far off. Maybe it is something that
few even believe in and dismiss as rumor ... unless they've seen it ...
first hand.

Matt

Don't know if this helps at all but.. your psionicists could be the 3rd leg of the lost god thingy. They would be persucuted<sp> and have "real" powers. I like your idea about coming back as being somehow different. Perhaps the power(s) that be could have the one thing that caused you to lose your life to be removed. For example you died fighting bravely in battle but fell to whatever. when you come back you can't seem to find that same c'est lie vie in combat. granted it would be hard to RP and I don't know your group but I think it would be a grand concept. And the power that bought them back could even place a geas upon that thing that they can no longer do. Once the pc overcomes or acknowledges it then the onerous can be lifted. Anyway some ramblin' from a newbie

I like where you're going with healing (conversion to subdual damage). Obviously, access to the Healing domain would be very much desirable to the characters. What I would suggest is to make the Healing domain a prestige domain, thereby denying it to low-level clerics...even in the church that has access to it. Only prestige classes could ever attain the ability of true healing.

I could see this working well with some of the DotF prestige classes or even a unique one for that church.

The advantage would be to make "true healing" even more rare and mystical. It would also allow pc's the option to start out in that church as low-level characters while still forcing them to deal with the issues of restricted healing.

hey eric!

i'm also interested in seeing how your homebrew develops.

i was wondering if you had thought more about your religon's orders. a friend of mine has a homebrew where the single 'good' god has sects divided by philosophy (and alignment) and each had access to different domains, accordingly. the lawful goods are a more militant sect (strength, war, etc.). the neutral goods were more altruistic (healing, protection, etc.) i don't remember the chaotics, sorry!

conversely, the lawful evils were more about legality (contracts!) and order (of course), and the chaotics, wanton destruction and raw power. (with domains to match)

hope you don't mind me chiming in

You might do something like this

I am also considering that there might be special locations in the world -- shrines to some old, forgotten god of "good" that might provide some kinds of healing and other benefits. They might be hidden, outlawed, many might be destroyed by this powerful church, well guarded secrets, etc.


In the Witch world by Andre Norton there are many strange places of power left over from an age of a great magical war these sites fall under the light and the dark side of the magical war.


Usually accompanied by runes of power these sites are or would seem to be A) Intricate magical traps, B) Strange and wonderous mysteries, C) Stasis boxes that hold the magicians of old until the day of there returning D) Vaults of ancient magical items E) Burial rooms of the Witches.

How you could incorporate these into your world is really up to you but your Idea above set me off on the subject, thes places of power tend to be good settings for short stories so perhaps they would make a good adventure site.

Thanks for all of the comments!