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Importing 4e core assumptions into other settings? advice pls?
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<blockquote data-quote="D'karr" data-source="post: 6728465" data-attributes="member: 336"><p>The great thing about these core world assumptions is that they are in no way tied to specific rules/mechanics. Therefore the extension of a published core world with these assumptions is purely story details and location filler details. Which is much easier to absorb than having to make mechanical changes. However, story can be difficult to come up with, so I understand your situation.</p><p></p><p>I'm not familiar with all the Paizo AP's you mentioned so I can't give you specifics of how I would modify those, but I can provide generalized ways of doing this.</p><p></p><p>The Civilized Races Band Together - Select the specific races you want to use for your game and create story reasons for why they are not "weird/outsiders" from each other. In my campaign goblins, tieflings, minotaurs, and dragonborn were at one time united in war against the other races. The current campaign starts 120 years after the end of that war. After the war these "monster" races assimilated into normal society. Is there still prejudice? Of course, but these monster races are not uncommon within even the smallest settlements. Besides the "monster" races that are willing to help in the defense of a settlement are not monsters when compared to the threats outside the civilized lands.</p><p></p><p>The World is Mysterious, The World is a Fantastic Place and Monsters are Everywhere - these all fit into the same category for me. I have created a rather detailed map of the areas I'm going to use in my campaign, but the players only have a very localized map. Travel from one location to another is always a dangerous proposition, and even the most traveled and safest routes are only so if you are strong and capable. Bandits are everywhere, monsters are everywhere, and news don't travel fast. That town up north might be under siege by a troll band when the PCs finally get to visit it, and most of the population might have left or have been killed. </p><p></p><p>In addition, I use fantastic terrain in most any place. A frozen pond in the middle of a tropical forest. Floating mountains (think Hallelujah Mts from Avatar) can be encountered in some areas. A glass topped desert where the local nomads use air skiffs to travel, etc. The whole idea of something being mysterious or fantastic is that the PCs don't have all the information when they first encounter the phenomenon and they might never get all the answers. The floating mountains might be due to a cataclysmic event in the past or a vortex to the elemental chaos but they don't necessarily need to have the whole picture. The frozen pond might be because of an ice elemental, or a weird magical experiment, nobody knows for sure. The answers to some of these mysteries can easily become the source of quests that the PCs decide to pursue.</p><p></p><p>The World is Ancient - many things can play directly into this. From historical accounts of ancient civilizations, to weird tombs the PCs find, to lost civilizations nestled in remote areas of the world. All this takes a bit more work, as you will have to prepare things like this if you want to have the PCs explore them. But simple one sentence quotes are enough to create that backdrop without all the work. Also availability of magic items and strange magic items work better as showing that ancient civilizations were able to do something the new civilizations have not been able to reproduce. This will require making item crafting more rare, or certain items simply can't be crafted.</p><p></p><p>I hope these help.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="D'karr, post: 6728465, member: 336"] The great thing about these core world assumptions is that they are in no way tied to specific rules/mechanics. Therefore the extension of a published core world with these assumptions is purely story details and location filler details. Which is much easier to absorb than having to make mechanical changes. However, story can be difficult to come up with, so I understand your situation. I'm not familiar with all the Paizo AP's you mentioned so I can't give you specifics of how I would modify those, but I can provide generalized ways of doing this. The Civilized Races Band Together - Select the specific races you want to use for your game and create story reasons for why they are not "weird/outsiders" from each other. In my campaign goblins, tieflings, minotaurs, and dragonborn were at one time united in war against the other races. The current campaign starts 120 years after the end of that war. After the war these "monster" races assimilated into normal society. Is there still prejudice? Of course, but these monster races are not uncommon within even the smallest settlements. Besides the "monster" races that are willing to help in the defense of a settlement are not monsters when compared to the threats outside the civilized lands. The World is Mysterious, The World is a Fantastic Place and Monsters are Everywhere - these all fit into the same category for me. I have created a rather detailed map of the areas I'm going to use in my campaign, but the players only have a very localized map. Travel from one location to another is always a dangerous proposition, and even the most traveled and safest routes are only so if you are strong and capable. Bandits are everywhere, monsters are everywhere, and news don't travel fast. That town up north might be under siege by a troll band when the PCs finally get to visit it, and most of the population might have left or have been killed. In addition, I use fantastic terrain in most any place. A frozen pond in the middle of a tropical forest. Floating mountains (think Hallelujah Mts from Avatar) can be encountered in some areas. A glass topped desert where the local nomads use air skiffs to travel, etc. The whole idea of something being mysterious or fantastic is that the PCs don't have all the information when they first encounter the phenomenon and they might never get all the answers. The floating mountains might be due to a cataclysmic event in the past or a vortex to the elemental chaos but they don't necessarily need to have the whole picture. The frozen pond might be because of an ice elemental, or a weird magical experiment, nobody knows for sure. The answers to some of these mysteries can easily become the source of quests that the PCs decide to pursue. The World is Ancient - many things can play directly into this. From historical accounts of ancient civilizations, to weird tombs the PCs find, to lost civilizations nestled in remote areas of the world. All this takes a bit more work, as you will have to prepare things like this if you want to have the PCs explore them. But simple one sentence quotes are enough to create that backdrop without all the work. Also availability of magic items and strange magic items work better as showing that ancient civilizations were able to do something the new civilizations have not been able to reproduce. This will require making item crafting more rare, or certain items simply can't be crafted. I hope these help. [/QUOTE]
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Importing 4e core assumptions into other settings? advice pls?
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