pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
I've had this campaign idea simmering in the back of my head for a while now, and I feel like it's now time to put my thoughts on some digital paper and share what I've got.
The basic premise is that there's a land similar in terrain and climate to Afghanistan where the orcs once had a flourishing civilization. At some point in the past, they were conquered by an invading force of humans led by a ruling class of aasimar. The orcs were either subjugated as a lesser caste or driven into the hills/mountains to live in tribes competing for meager resources. The standard view of the orcish gods as "evil" is primarily propaganda spread by the invaders. Yes, they're a bit rougher than the human/aasimar gods but they're potentially not as evil as they're usually portrayed.
The PCs would all be members of a single free orc tribe, and the arc of the campaign would see them unite the free tribes and spark an uprising among their subjugated kin in order to overthrow the invaders and drive them out so the orcs can reclaim their land.
I envision the PCs starting off by going through some sort of "proving" thing to get them to 3rd level maybe. Then they'd spend some quests uniting the tribes -- this could entail diplomacy for some tribes, besting the chieftains/champions of other tribes, perhaps even going on quests for some (like delving into ancient orcish ruins or infiltrating the human civilization to recover lost relics). Once they have a coalition of tribes large enough to face the human/aasimar army, they can go to war and also foment rebellion. Regarding the latter, there will undoubtedly be existing pockets of orcish resistance with whom the PCs can link up but they'll also need to put some effort into overcoming the reluctance of the general subjugated populace to rise up against their oppressors. They may also need to deal with betrayal, challenges to their leadership, and so on along the way.
So here's the thing: I've created homebrew settings before, but I've always adapted pre-written adventures to run in them. I've never run a campaign entirely from scratch before, and it's pretty intimidating. I know I don't need to / shouldn't think of everything at once. I can start small and build up and out. I also know I shouldn't prep a plot. So it'll be more: here's the situation, here are some options, what would you like to do? I'll try and keep it fairly sandboxy.
All that being said, I realize this is also very much a long term project. This isn't something I'll be starting any time soon.
If anyone likes the idea and would like to offer some suggestions on how to make it work, feel free to comment below!
I've had this campaign idea simmering in the back of my head for a while now, and I feel like it's now time to put my thoughts on some digital paper and share what I've got.
The basic premise is that there's a land similar in terrain and climate to Afghanistan where the orcs once had a flourishing civilization. At some point in the past, they were conquered by an invading force of humans led by a ruling class of aasimar. The orcs were either subjugated as a lesser caste or driven into the hills/mountains to live in tribes competing for meager resources. The standard view of the orcish gods as "evil" is primarily propaganda spread by the invaders. Yes, they're a bit rougher than the human/aasimar gods but they're potentially not as evil as they're usually portrayed.
The PCs would all be members of a single free orc tribe, and the arc of the campaign would see them unite the free tribes and spark an uprising among their subjugated kin in order to overthrow the invaders and drive them out so the orcs can reclaim their land.
I envision the PCs starting off by going through some sort of "proving" thing to get them to 3rd level maybe. Then they'd spend some quests uniting the tribes -- this could entail diplomacy for some tribes, besting the chieftains/champions of other tribes, perhaps even going on quests for some (like delving into ancient orcish ruins or infiltrating the human civilization to recover lost relics). Once they have a coalition of tribes large enough to face the human/aasimar army, they can go to war and also foment rebellion. Regarding the latter, there will undoubtedly be existing pockets of orcish resistance with whom the PCs can link up but they'll also need to put some effort into overcoming the reluctance of the general subjugated populace to rise up against their oppressors. They may also need to deal with betrayal, challenges to their leadership, and so on along the way.
So here's the thing: I've created homebrew settings before, but I've always adapted pre-written adventures to run in them. I've never run a campaign entirely from scratch before, and it's pretty intimidating. I know I don't need to / shouldn't think of everything at once. I can start small and build up and out. I also know I shouldn't prep a plot. So it'll be more: here's the situation, here are some options, what would you like to do? I'll try and keep it fairly sandboxy.
All that being said, I realize this is also very much a long term project. This isn't something I'll be starting any time soon.
If anyone likes the idea and would like to offer some suggestions on how to make it work, feel free to comment below!
