Dwarven Stronghold - a community effort

Okay, from my thread in the General RPG Discussion Forum, it seems there is sufficient interest in working on a community creation of a Dwarven Stronghold.

The first step, in my opinion is to do a bit of brainstorming about what we want to include in this work, once we hammer this down to a more refined shape, then we can divide up the work into parts and start building!

To get us started on our brainstorming, I though I would give my ideas on leadership of the stronghold. As one poster said in the other thread, Clan should be paramount. I agree with this to an extent, however, I think the clan leader should be the stronghold ruler, but that there is a council of guilds, who help govern the stronghold as well, and can also call a 'no confidence' vote if the Clan Ruler goes all wonky in the head or something...

I think this idea provides opportunity for intrigue and role-playing on a political level, yet doesn't completely debase the authority of the Clan Ruler...

What do you think?

Who's working on this?

I think right up front we 'ought to have a nice little list of who's doing what - sure, people can offer input, but let's not step on anyone's toes, huh? Anyway - I'll update this list as neccessary, but here's what we've got so far...

Governmental - BillyBeanbag, Terraism.
Organizations - Thorntangle, Acmite
Military - Wulf Ratbane, Eye Tyrant, Gilthanas_Galanodel, ThenHeCame
History - Pillar of Hercules
Cartography/Graphics - Terraism
Miscellany - Omokage, RogueJK, Archmage_2001, Captain America, Cold Beer, Emiricol, The Day Knight, Darraketh

More Specifically

• BillyBeanbag - Working on political organization and heading the 'Project Dwarf!
• Thorntangle - Manufacturing; specifically, brewing
• Wulf Ratbane - Dwarven scouts and rangers; outland defenders
• Pillars of Hercules - History of the Clan
• Acmite - Dwarven Druids and underground rangers
• Eye Tyrant - Rogue Dwarven 'special-ops'
• Gilthanas_Galanodel - Dwarven Military
• Omokage - Miscellany
• RogueJK - Miscellany
• Archmage_2001 - Miscellany
• Captain America - Miscellany
• Cold Beer - Miscellany
• Terraism - Cartography, layout, miscellany
• ThenHeCame - Organized Military

Pick me! Oh, pick meeee!

Sorry. Schrek DVD humor.

Anyway, I'll help out as time allows! This sounds like a lot of fun.

* Emiricol, misc

I can offer mostly miscelaneus advice and some mapping. I've got CC2 and The GIMP for some imaging needs...

BillyBeanbag said:

Okay, from my thread in the General RPG Discussion Forum, it seems there is sufficient interest in working on a community creation of a Dwarven Stronghold.

The first step, in my opinion is to do a bit of brainstorming about what we want to include in this work, once we hammer this down to a more refined shape, then we can divide up the work into parts and start building!

Click to expand...

I'm envisioning a dwarven citadel built into a mountain, with outskirt communities and strong loyalties. Perhaps several clans live in the mountain, vying for power via (established) methods, as well as guilds vocalizing their opinions. Maybe a 'missing king' theory as well - I think it's a cliche that dwarven kingdoms all have a long-gone king... I'd suggest detailing the main stronghold in the most detail, with some small bit on outlying areas - both outside and below the mountain. Having the lowest parts of the stronghold be a bit dangerous would add another element as well as more room to play around. I'd also suggest detailing power groups, etc...

You know, I think I'm going to work up a little list of what 'should' (IMO) be included...

• Introduction
• Overview
• History
• Power Groups/Organizations; specifically
  [*]Religions
  [*]Guilds
  [*]Military
  [*]Leadership
  [*]Other
• Important Individuals
• The Stronghold
• Outside the Hold
• Plot Hooks
• Crunchy Bits

How does this look? I think it'd give some specific direction... (Yes, I'm an organization freak.) Anyway... To move on...

BillyBeanbag said:

To get us started on our brainstorming, I though I would give my ideas on leadership of the stronghold.

As one poster said in the other thread, Clan should be paramount. I agree with this to an extent, however, I think the clan leader should be the stronghold ruler, but that there is a council of guilds, who help govern the stronghold as well, and can also call a 'no confidence' vote if the Clan Ruler goes all wonky in the head or something...

I think this idea provides opportunity for intrigue and role-playing on a political level, yet doesn't completely debase the authority of the Clan Ruler...

What do you think?

Click to expand...

I like the idea - I'd set it up somewhat differently though... Lesse...

• Clan Ruler(s)
• Guild Leaders
• Military Generals
• Religious Advisors

I'd say to perhaps say that each one of those group all work together, perhaps voting on 'matters of substance' with the vote of the clan leader worth more... anyone?

Dwarven Deviants

EYE would like to detail a Dwarven group within, or at least associated to the stronghold....

These guys will, in essence, be the stronghold's "family secret", a group of Rogue/Sorcerers that do all the stronghold's dirty work... When honorable Dwarve's refuse to partake in "cowardly" or perhaps even "criminal" tactics, these guys get called in... Kind of like a cross between a Rogue's guild and a spec-ops type of unit... Not the nicest bunch of Dwarve's but willing to do what it takes to get the job done...

Any EYE-deas or input??

Hi,
If Wulf needs any help with the defenders, then I'm right here. And is anyone doing anything for the defence of the Stronghold itself, such as Siege defences or Stronghold Watch.
Cya

Some Questions

How big is the settlement we are considering here?

What is the Population of the place?

Are there any non-Dwarven residents, and if so who are they and what role do they play in a Dwarven socieity?

Are there any unique plants, animals, or monsters that share the environment of the Dwarven stronghold with its primary residents?

Stronghold 101

I'm thinking Mountain Stronghold, for certain. But which kind?

A) The Mountain Gate: Fully underground complex, with a single, massive, gate to the surface world, guarded by epic weight, machinery, and a small legion of warriors.

B) Hall of the Mountain King: Fully underground complex, with several passages, including a Grand Entrance, to the surfaceworld, each guarded by posts, but not sealed.

C) City in a Mountain: Mostly underground, but with several homes above ground, built into the walls of the mountain, with walls and guard towers around them for additional defense.

The layout and such determines a few things, such as level of socializing, relations with the surface world, and so forth.

Skipping this vital point for now, I'd suggest the following:

Council of Elders. The primary leadership method of the Dwarves would be *extremely* organized. Certainly, there's a King, or a regent if you go for the 'Missing King' method, which might be one family's traditional post, or, it might be elected, or it might fall to whomever can pull an Axe free from an anvil ... whatever method you prefer. Just below him, however, is the Council of Elders.

These would be the heads of each Clan, who get together to pass laws, and run the things below the King's radar ... common tax bills, settling squabbles within their own families, and so forth. There's obviously going to be some ststus inplications with how close you sit to the table, the size, wealth, and prestiege of your clan's history, and so forth. Just because they're Lawful Good, don't think that they can't indulge in some *wicked* political infighting.

Nine and Thirteen are the traditional numbers for this sort of thing, but, feel free to angle a different route, for the different culture. Perhaps the Dwarves see Eight as a lucky number, or maybe there used to be twenty families, but due to war, there are now only fifteen (but twenty chairs ... five are left empty) ... Pick a number, give a reason, and then we can establish the Big Names. Personally, I was always fond of Clan Axegrinder, for the double intendre, but, I'm just into wordplay.

Next would be the Kingdom's age. Not in exact years, but 'Ancient', 'Middle aged' or 'Young' ... This determines what sort of ancesteral enemies there might be, if there are any, a few, or several Dead Clans, if there are LOTS of old forgotten tunnels, if it's still being expanded, stagnant, or shrinking, and so on. In general, older tends to be smaller in population due to attrition, larger in abandoned areas, and more cloistered against the surface world.

Lastly, for now, se if there's any primary import or export of the kingdom. Perhaps they have the best Axe forge in all the known world, or have a history of gemcutters, who showcase their work in a Tunnel of Brilliance. That sort of thing. A 'Hook' to give a bit of flavor. Sounds like it might be legendary for it's beer, currently.

Anyway, that's the first lil' tossoff from the Capper. Let me know what y'all think!

-- Cap!

I like the idea of having part of the stronghold, or at least some small communities associated with the stronghold on the outside of the mountain, maybe the outside growth is new (new to Dwarves ) because they couldn't expand any deeper due to some mysterious threat from below...

This would also be a way for the Dwarves to have a trading presence with outsiders and they wouldn't get to the old city unless they were really special visitors...

So many books that have described the Dwarven cities are all in ruin or failing population wise, I'd like to have this be a fairly successful city... if it's not thriving, the decline has just begun...

Any more ideas?