Nevermore Design Diary #6: The Domains of Dreams and Nightmares
Nevermore Design Diary #6: The Domains of Dreams and Nightmares
Nevermore has five distinct domains to adventure in: the Heartlands, the Wyrd, the Dreadlands, the Hedge, and the Eye. Each of these domains is designed around unique moods and themes, which allow Narrators to set their campaigns in areas that fit the kind of game they want to run.
The Heartlands
If a tale has been told in the days of yore and involves fey, then it has its roots in the Heartlands. Although most of the beings and places mentioned in Nevermore are drawn from Celtic and Arthurian folklore Narrators should feel free to draw upon Norse, Greek, Russian, and other myths and legends to populate the Heartlands. Perhaps the Norse gods are powerful Seelie and Unseelie fey, the Greek heroes feast in the halls of Avalon, or the mythical firebird roosts within the forests of the southern Heartlands. The folklores of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia can also be used to introduce dune-dwelling aigamuxa, powerful genies, and devious rakshasa into the dreamlands. Last but not least, children stories are great sources of inspiration for Nevermore adventurers allowing you to draw upon everything from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to the Wizard of Oz.
The Wyrd
The is the land of the strange and unpredictable. It is the most surreal of all the domains, but also provides some of the most interesting possibilities for adventure. This land changes with the turning of each cycle and can be the setting for almost any genre a Narrator wants to use in his campaign from epic fantasy to modern day action-adventures to space operas. If its been in a story or someone's imagination, then it can appear in the Wyrd. When setting up adventures in the Wyrd one should keep in mind some of the classic episodes of the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and Amazing Stories as there is almost always something strange, unusual, or unexpected to be found here.
The Dreadlands
The Dreadlands are the darkest of all the domains of Nevermore in mood and theme. It is the birthplace of nightmares and other vile creatures. Narrators who want to run adventures and campaigns with a horror or suspense thriller atmosphere will find a welcome home in these terrible lands. This is a land where vengeful spirits, diabolical beasts (both fantastic and alien), and truly unspeakable horrors can be found stalking through twisted and terrible locales. This is a domain where ghost stories are real and nightmares wait in every shrouded corner. If it is in a horror book or movie it can be discovered in the Dreadlands, though whether any characters survive such an encounter is another matter.
The Hedge
The Hedge has a frontier feel to it. There are many places to be explored in the Hedge and many foes to be faced. This domains primary purpose is to protect the Eye from incursions by the darker elements of Nevermore and as such there is almost always an adventure to be had here whether it is to stop the evil schemes of the Unseelie fey or track down an agent of chaos and evil that is attempting to make its way into the Eye. These lands are extremely dangerous because of the pivotal role they play in maintaining the fragile peace that currently exists in Nevermore. This domain has some of the most dangerous and awe-inspiring natural areas in the world of Nevermore filled with unexplored wildernesses and hidden dangers.
The Eye
The Eye is the most settled and civilized of all the areas of Nevermore and even with the Hedge agents of chaos and evil often make there way into these lands to cause a great deal of trouble. This provides adventures with the perfect locales of urban adventures of intrigue, mystery, and suspense. There is always some nefarious plot going on in the Eye usually bent on causing as much harm to the people here as possible through a combination of the following: murder, corruption, deception, and the like. Adventures in the Eye often have the feel of classic crime films and novels mixed with traditional adventure themes.
I hope these short introductions to the various domains and themes present within the Nevermore campaign setting will help give you a starting point for plotting out your Nevermore adventurers. It should be noted here that each of these domains will be receiving its own product in the coming year that will provide even more information then that which is presented here or in the campaign introduction in the Worlds of Adventure book by Green Ronin. Stay tuned to this thread for a run down of the first product Expeditious Retreat is putting out for True20 and Nevermore entitled: Nevermore Design Diary #7: Liber Artefactorum.
