Selan- A SE Asian campaign (Critical rebuilding)
- Thread starter Sound of Azure
- Start date
Sound of Azure
Contemplative Soul
Thanks for the vote of confidence Aikuchi! 
However, I don't want it to always be immediately obvious what the players are facing, not every time.
I have more or less removed outsiders from the equation as they in regular D&D (maybe we should be on the House rules column now? hmmm). Some would be "fey spirits" instead, or some other primal force.
Certainly all variations on "spirits" deserve some attention here. One of the major benefits to a spirit of such a pact is to have an effect on the world through the Witchdoctor that they may not otherwise have, as Nyashet has given an example of. (might add that to the flavour text! )
However, I don't want it to always be immediately obvious what the players are facing, not every time.
I have more or less removed outsiders from the equation as they in regular D&D (maybe we should be on the House rules column now? hmmm). Some would be "fey spirits" instead, or some other primal force.
Certainly all variations on "spirits" deserve some attention here. One of the major benefits to a spirit of such a pact is to have an effect on the world through the Witchdoctor that they may not otherwise have, as Nyashet has given an example of. (might add that to the flavour text!
)
Sound of Azure
Contemplative Soul
Aikuchi
Agreed. Unfortunately, CD is one of the books currently on loan to a friend playing a Radiant Servant of Pelor (shiver), so no access for me at present.
Agreed. Unfortunately, CD is one of the books currently on loan to a friend playing a Radiant Servant of Pelor (shiver), so no access for me at present.
questing gm
First Post
Looks like all of you have been having fun discussing about this
*waves to Aikuchi*
*waves to Aikuchi*
Not quite the area you're looking for, but Expeditious Retreat Press has some great little PDF's on Tibet and India. They're also working on a Silk Road volume IIRC.
Heck, if you buy Joe a few beers, you might be able to talk him into covering Southeast Asia next!
Heck, if you buy Joe a few beers, you might be able to talk him into covering Southeast Asia next!
Sound of Azure
Contemplative Soul
Back on topic!
OK I've almost finished the first draft of the Witchdoctor class, and will post it in the next day or two in House Rules, once I prettify the tables and polish some of the descriptions up a bit.
This is mainly to keep on topic here.
Thanks for the suggestion Conaill. The PDFs in both series (and some for other countries and societies) look really cool! I'll have to get organised so I can download. I'll send some Foster's in the post to him
To further expand on why the Naga are behaving the way they are....
The Naga are a spiritual race, tied very deeply to their deity.
I had the idea that the deities Naga and Garuda (perhaps Ganesha too) are unwell, driven into madness, or otherwise incapacitated (perhaps by the Rakshasa's deity, or the another entity). The Garuda locked themselves away from the world, but the Naga had nowhere to go.
The present-day Naga are their decendents, living in the Old Ones' crumbling cities, desperately trying to reclaim what was once theirs. Their part divine nature gives them wondrous powers, but is also the source of their madness, and the imperitive to create more of themselves.
And the Garuda? Nobody knows what has happened to them since they were last seen, no where it is they have hidden. But surely there may be clues to be found in ruins of the Old Ones' temples and cities.
Anyhow, it was an idea I had. What does everyone think?
OK I've almost finished the first draft of the Witchdoctor class, and will post it in the next day or two in House Rules, once I prettify the tables and polish some of the descriptions up a bit.
This is mainly to keep on topic here.
Thanks for the suggestion Conaill. The PDFs in both series (and some for other countries and societies) look really cool! I'll have to get organised so I can download. I'll send some Foster's in the post to him
To further expand on why the Naga are behaving the way they are....
The Naga are a spiritual race, tied very deeply to their deity.
I had the idea that the deities Naga and Garuda (perhaps Ganesha too) are unwell, driven into madness, or otherwise incapacitated (perhaps by the Rakshasa's deity, or the another entity). The Garuda locked themselves away from the world, but the Naga had nowhere to go.
The present-day Naga are their decendents, living in the Old Ones' crumbling cities, desperately trying to reclaim what was once theirs. Their part divine nature gives them wondrous powers, but is also the source of their madness, and the imperitive to create more of themselves.
And the Garuda? Nobody knows what has happened to them since they were last seen, no where it is they have hidden. But surely there may be clues to be found in ruins of the Old Ones' temples and cities.
Anyhow, it was an idea I had. What does everyone think?
questing gm
First Post
Back again...
Finally i'm able to jump back into the thread and have been catching up with what you've have decided to do with your setting after a wild harvest festival that left my mind unable to comprehend anything for a few days.
I may have a few suggestions about the Witchdoctor but would save it for when you have posted the class and after i have looked through it once more.
The background of the Garuda and Naga seems ok but i've a few ideas that i would like to throw out for you so that you can use them to expand it a little further.
The Garuda and the Naga could be seen as mystical creatures by the humans that populated the setting much later. The Garuda and the Naga could be seen as the forces of 'good' and 'evil' in the world. The war between them is passed down as creation myths of the world. Anything that is associated with the Garuda is commonly accepted as blessings and fortune. E.g, a Garuda talisman that is said to bring protection upon those who wear them. On the other hand, the Naga could be seen as the 'devil' and only those that seek power would want to gain the favor of the Naga through sacrifices, pacts and rituals. Naturally this runs on the assumption that you're not going to allow both the Naga and Garuda to be playable races due to their slightly 'divine' status.
However, this allows the 'Scaletouched' (and maybe a new sub-race that is somehow related to the Garuda ?) to have some sort of society outlook and maybe how the humans looked upon them. All in all, maybe you can give some thought about the relationship of the Naga and the Garuda with the humans due to their background.
Since you are inclining that the Garuda and the Naga where much more ancient than the humans when it comes into history maybe their influence have remained on the regions where they were believed to have populated. This could mainly come in the form of religion. Maybe the religion is practiced by the natives of the said region until other humans (whether the Northerners or the traders from the seas) come and try to abolish their ancient religion with religion of their own. However, i would like to highligh that the first form of organized religion that began in southeast asian culture was Hinduism before Buddhism and Islam. So in your world it could be something like the humans started with the religion practiced by the Garuda and Naga (or worshipping them as gods themselves) then came the religion practiced by the northerns (which is where the Templar and the others come in as a class and have a place in the present setting).
Lastly, would you want the Naga and Garuda have any relationships with the shanmans and witchdoctors (e.g, the spirit that they speak/bind are actually manifestations of the bygone Garuda and Naga) ?
Just making my contribution back to this thread
Finally i'm able to jump back into the thread and have been catching up with what you've have decided to do with your setting after a wild harvest festival that left my mind unable to comprehend anything for a few days.
I may have a few suggestions about the Witchdoctor but would save it for when you have posted the class and after i have looked through it once more.
The background of the Garuda and Naga seems ok but i've a few ideas that i would like to throw out for you so that you can use them to expand it a little further.
The Garuda and the Naga could be seen as mystical creatures by the humans that populated the setting much later. The Garuda and the Naga could be seen as the forces of 'good' and 'evil' in the world. The war between them is passed down as creation myths of the world. Anything that is associated with the Garuda is commonly accepted as blessings and fortune. E.g, a Garuda talisman that is said to bring protection upon those who wear them. On the other hand, the Naga could be seen as the 'devil' and only those that seek power would want to gain the favor of the Naga through sacrifices, pacts and rituals. Naturally this runs on the assumption that you're not going to allow both the Naga and Garuda to be playable races due to their slightly 'divine' status.
However, this allows the 'Scaletouched' (and maybe a new sub-race that is somehow related to the Garuda ?) to have some sort of society outlook and maybe how the humans looked upon them. All in all, maybe you can give some thought about the relationship of the Naga and the Garuda with the humans due to their background.
Since you are inclining that the Garuda and the Naga where much more ancient than the humans when it comes into history maybe their influence have remained on the regions where they were believed to have populated. This could mainly come in the form of religion. Maybe the religion is practiced by the natives of the said region until other humans (whether the Northerners or the traders from the seas) come and try to abolish their ancient religion with religion of their own. However, i would like to highligh that the first form of organized religion that began in southeast asian culture was Hinduism before Buddhism and Islam. So in your world it could be something like the humans started with the religion practiced by the Garuda and Naga (or worshipping them as gods themselves) then came the religion practiced by the northerns (which is where the Templar and the others come in as a class and have a place in the present setting).
Lastly, would you want the Naga and Garuda have any relationships with the shanmans and witchdoctors (e.g, the spirit that they speak/bind are actually manifestations of the bygone Garuda and Naga) ?
Just making my contribution back to this thread
Sound of Azure
Contemplative Soul
Welcome back Questing!
...are you reading my mind? The context you have stated regarding the Naga and Garuda as the human's old religion...that's exactly what I've planned! Man alive, I'm gonna have to start wearing tin foil on my head....
I'm not sure who (or what) the tradrs from across the seas will be. I may not actually decide until after the campaign begins. I'm open to suggestions from any interested parties....
As far as the Naga being a divided race, I've come across some legends that mention an underwater (and very advanced) society of the snake people that emerged after the great sinking of the lands between Indonesia and Australia.
Naga and Garuda influence on Shamans and Witchdoctors? That I haven't decided. This would depend heavily on the final place each race has in the spirit world. They are certainly powerful... should the players have such a strong connection to the spirits with the most mystery and effect on the realm?
At the moment, both classes can see and interact with any spirit creature. The Shamans commune with Deva, and the Witchdoctors bind an Asura (not the traditional D&D ones). I see these forces as opposed but neither is good or evil... similar to the relationship between Seelie and Unseelie fae in Irish mythology. Could be wrong, though.
I like the idea of Garuda/Naga talisman. I've decided to implement a modified version of the 'taint' rules from OA, to reflect the Naga Curse that affects that race. Even those that make contact with their artifacts are adversely affected! Any ideas on what to use instead of Jade to conteract? I'm loathe to use Garuda artifacts as a replacement, as I want it to be unknown whether the Garuda have succumbed to the same fate as their ancient enemy.
Sorry if I'm being too vague. I have a lot of ideas floating around, and ordering them can be difficult at times.
...are you reading my mind? The context you have stated regarding the Naga and Garuda as the human's old religion...that's exactly what I've planned! Man alive, I'm gonna have to start wearing tin foil on my head....
I'm not sure who (or what) the tradrs from across the seas will be. I may not actually decide until after the campaign begins. I'm open to suggestions from any interested parties....
As far as the Naga being a divided race, I've come across some legends that mention an underwater (and very advanced) society of the snake people that emerged after the great sinking of the lands between Indonesia and Australia.
Naga and Garuda influence on Shamans and Witchdoctors? That I haven't decided. This would depend heavily on the final place each race has in the spirit world. They are certainly powerful... should the players have such a strong connection to the spirits with the most mystery and effect on the realm?
At the moment, both classes can see and interact with any spirit creature. The Shamans commune with Deva, and the Witchdoctors bind an Asura (not the traditional D&D ones). I see these forces as opposed but neither is good or evil... similar to the relationship between Seelie and Unseelie fae in Irish mythology. Could be wrong, though.
I like the idea of Garuda/Naga talisman. I've decided to implement a modified version of the 'taint' rules from OA, to reflect the Naga Curse that affects that race. Even those that make contact with their artifacts are adversely affected! Any ideas on what to use instead of Jade to conteract? I'm loathe to use Garuda artifacts as a replacement, as I want it to be unknown whether the Garuda have succumbed to the same fate as their ancient enemy.
Sorry if I'm being too vague. I have a lot of ideas floating around, and ordering them can be difficult at times.
