Little Changes with Big Flavor

Rune · Apr 3, 2002

Now that I think of it, I am reminded of another thing that I tend to do in all of my games. Racial charactatures. Specifically, making fun of halflings. (My brother always plays halflings, anyway.) In The Dream, I get to carry it even further than I normally would. Halflings are always viewed by the other races, especially humans, as children playing at being grown up and given no credit, whatsoever. Moreso than in typical campaigns. In The Dream, however, it carries over into other traits as well; they have half the memory of the other races, for instance. They are smaller humans in every conceivable dimension!

Next campaign it will be different. The halflings will be the oppressors of the world (much like the gnomes are in Seas of Fire, since the campaign will be Sundered Sky).

Forrester · Apr 3, 2002

Joshua Dyal said:
So, Forrester, are you playing Orkworld by any chance?

I'm not, actually, but from what little I've seen of it, I like it a lot. The setting, not the rules system. I might pick up a copy just to help flesh out the orcish mythology; I just wish there were similar aids out there for goblins and kobolds.

The rules I'm using are pretty straight 3E, with some changes to keep powergaming under control. (I allow few splatbook feats/PrCs, and in fact I've made Haste a 4th level spell and Improved Invisibility a 5th level spell).

It should go without saying that the "bad guys" have PC classes, not NPC classes. Warrior shmorrior.

WSmith · Apr 3, 2002

I had a nice post that the board ate. So here it is again without all the butt kissing I did.

*eliminate all magic item creation feats, except for maybe scribe scroll and brew potion.

*Have no horses, or other animals that can be used for steads. Have wagons pulled by slaves.

*Eliminate all constructed armor, melee, or missile weapons. use only those crafted from wood, stone, bone, etc.

* Have dragons the rulers of the human lands

*use only dinosaurs, not monsters

Decamber · Apr 3, 2002

Rune said:
This gets better every time I read it.

Dito - nice work mmadsen!

Ace32 · Apr 3, 2002

Speakin' of all this folklore and such, I had been doing various searches into myths and lore, to try and track down some of the various things of D&D, when I stumbled upon this post. Where do some of our fantasy staples come from?

From my searches, I've found:

Elves - Norse fey

Dark Elves/Dwarves - Borse Evil elves, lived underground, turned to stone by sunlight

Gnomes - Greek elemental spirits, miners

Kobolds - Same as Gnomes

Orc - Sea beast (greek I think)

Giants - Norse barbarians and powerful conquerers

That's all I'm gonna list here. Anybody have any more accurate info for me? Or places to look? I know some things, like Halflings, are Tolkein created, but what of all our other fantasy creatures?

mmadsen · Apr 3, 2002

Where do some of our fantasy staples come from?

You should check out Victor Mordenheim's Superstitious Bunkum on the Kargatane (Ravenloft) site.

mmadsen · Apr 3, 2002

I have always wanted to do this. There are so many concepts that would work so much better if a group were to run this way. But alas, I can never sell my players on it. So they usually run a mission impossible style. Fighter, magic user healer and rogue. SOOOO BORING!!!

Perhaps you could tell them you want to run an adventure with a party of just, say, Rogues, but they're free to do whatever they want. Then you present them with a scenario best handled by...a party of Rogues -- no way from Point A to Point B without climbing, the enemy clearly overpowers them, so they need to remain stealthy, lots of intrigue (and Bluff checks), etc.

Or tell them you want to run an adventure for Fighters, and have them lead a troupe of spear-carriers with no opportunity for stealth, no traps to spring, no magical menace to overcome, etc.

If you dislike the everpresent clerical healer, use a Defense bonus (that stacks fine with armor) but fixed hit points (e.g. equal to Con). Characters will either get hurt or not, but they won't always be taking some damage that needs healing.

mmadsen · Apr 4, 2002

Re: Re: Rune's Story Hour (as written by one of Rune's players).

I like your list! It helps to quantify something that was sort of shapeless before (like the continents, but that's a different matter altogether )

Thank you very much, Rune!

Raining blood, by the way, would (will?) probably freak my players out, as my campaign is slowly spiraling into horror. Thanks for the idea!

You're so very welcome! Now I'm trying to find an excuse to use it myself.

One of the great things about a fantastic world is that you don't have to rely on questionable coincidences like dark and stormy weather when you want a dark mood. The world can literally react to what's happening. The clouds can rain blood (or fire!), the trees can grow leaves of gold and copper (literally), the earth can open up with a festering wound or spring of fresh water that turns to diamonds, etc.

RangerWickett · Apr 4, 2002

Change how you get magic. Don't pray for spells. Have priests recite ancient prayers saved in huge books. Or maybe they have to memorize them from birth, and all spells have been passed down through centuries (good explanation why sorcerers can only handle a few spells). Maybe you have to bond with a ghost (a la my own Savannah Knights storyhour), that provides a tap to the spirit world.

Or check out Wild Spellcraft and use some of the rules in there. If you don't want to ban the cleric class, but want faith in the gods to be uncertain, make clerics wild spellcasters, but everyone else stable. Or maybe have magic be sentient, so it doesn't respond well to spells that misuse it's powers.