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West marches style game in a published 4E campaign setting?
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<blockquote data-quote="crash_beedo" data-source="post: 5085903" data-attributes="member: 18781"><p>Thanks for the opinions - that thread on the Loudwater area and hexmap for 4E FR is really good. It would need to be redone as smaller subhexes (5 miles per hex or so) but it's a great starting point to look at.</p><p></p><p>My basic idea came about from my frustration waiting for the 'Chaos Scar' series of delves to go anywhere (quickly). So I'm going to adapt my own version - The Valley of the Ancients, or some such similar name.</p><p></p><p>------------------</p><p>**Sandbox Background**</p><p></p><p>When Tharizdun was chained by the early deities, a corrupt piece of the evil deity sloughed off into the astral sea, eventually crashing into the mortal world as a meteor. This 'chunk of Tharizdun' held some of his divine essence, as well as being corrupted by the shard of pure evil he planted in the Abyss. In the times leading up to the Dawn War, the massive valley and crater carved out by the meteor was a frequent battleground as servants of the deities and primordials fought over pieces of the shard.</p><p></p><p>After the Dawn War, after the time when the Primal Spirits rose up and ejected the gods from the mortal world, the valley was sealed by the Primal Spirits to prevent immmortals and other extra-planar entities from escaping the valley. The walls between the planes are thin in places where Tharizdun's scattered essence rained down in the valley, allowing frequent incursions by creatures of the astral sea, the elemental chaos, and the reflections of the world.</p><p></p><p>The shards themselves are beacons to creatures of evil, they slink across the dismal wilds and take up residence in the valley, vying for lairs and searching for pieces of the rocks... the deeper into the valley one goes, the more powerful the creatures need to be to maintain their place in the whole. The shards are sought after for their divine spark, perhaps a source of demigod power or immortality; they can be fuel for artifacts or powerful magic items; servitors of the gods seek them out to learn about the shard of evil and the origin of the Abyss; perhaps the Elder Elemental Cult seeks a way to free the Chained God by reconstituting enough of his essence; finally, they can be mutagenic agents corrupting or transforming creatures.</p><p></p><p>Nowadays, the old empire has collapsed, and the borderlands fortresses and watch towers that kept watch on the valley have fallen into disrepair. Barbarian tribes control vast tracts of the surrounding wilderness (and unbeknownst to most, the Shamans and Druids still employ ritual magic to bolster and defend the ancient menhir's and wardstones that keep extra-planar invaders from spilling out of the valley).</p><p></p><p>------------------</p><p></p><p>I love the idea of the Chaos Scar, but I wanted a much larger valley, on a scale that would support all 3 tiers of play, giving it a 'funhouse wilderness' quality where the group could fight a wide range of encounters in a concentrated area. Deep enough in the valley, there could be caves and passages that connect to the Underdark, portals for elemental explorers, angels on missions of their deity, a small fortress of giants, the lair of a great dragon guarding it's own pulsing shard. Oh, and if I populate it with simple delves / lairs and use lots of encounter groups, I can present it quickly instead of waiting the next few years for WOTC. If any of the higher level Chaos Scar delves are solid, I'll plug them in.</p><p></p><p>I'll take a look at the Loudwater/Luruar areas for placing a long valley - Spine of the World could work, too. North of the Nentir Vale would work as well, although our current 4E used it. I know this could be placed in Xendrik, and will check out Droam-Breland.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="crash_beedo, post: 5085903, member: 18781"] Thanks for the opinions - that thread on the Loudwater area and hexmap for 4E FR is really good. It would need to be redone as smaller subhexes (5 miles per hex or so) but it's a great starting point to look at. My basic idea came about from my frustration waiting for the 'Chaos Scar' series of delves to go anywhere (quickly). So I'm going to adapt my own version - The Valley of the Ancients, or some such similar name. ------------------ **Sandbox Background** When Tharizdun was chained by the early deities, a corrupt piece of the evil deity sloughed off into the astral sea, eventually crashing into the mortal world as a meteor. This 'chunk of Tharizdun' held some of his divine essence, as well as being corrupted by the shard of pure evil he planted in the Abyss. In the times leading up to the Dawn War, the massive valley and crater carved out by the meteor was a frequent battleground as servants of the deities and primordials fought over pieces of the shard. After the Dawn War, after the time when the Primal Spirits rose up and ejected the gods from the mortal world, the valley was sealed by the Primal Spirits to prevent immmortals and other extra-planar entities from escaping the valley. The walls between the planes are thin in places where Tharizdun's scattered essence rained down in the valley, allowing frequent incursions by creatures of the astral sea, the elemental chaos, and the reflections of the world. The shards themselves are beacons to creatures of evil, they slink across the dismal wilds and take up residence in the valley, vying for lairs and searching for pieces of the rocks... the deeper into the valley one goes, the more powerful the creatures need to be to maintain their place in the whole. The shards are sought after for their divine spark, perhaps a source of demigod power or immortality; they can be fuel for artifacts or powerful magic items; servitors of the gods seek them out to learn about the shard of evil and the origin of the Abyss; perhaps the Elder Elemental Cult seeks a way to free the Chained God by reconstituting enough of his essence; finally, they can be mutagenic agents corrupting or transforming creatures. Nowadays, the old empire has collapsed, and the borderlands fortresses and watch towers that kept watch on the valley have fallen into disrepair. Barbarian tribes control vast tracts of the surrounding wilderness (and unbeknownst to most, the Shamans and Druids still employ ritual magic to bolster and defend the ancient menhir's and wardstones that keep extra-planar invaders from spilling out of the valley). ------------------ I love the idea of the Chaos Scar, but I wanted a much larger valley, on a scale that would support all 3 tiers of play, giving it a 'funhouse wilderness' quality where the group could fight a wide range of encounters in a concentrated area. Deep enough in the valley, there could be caves and passages that connect to the Underdark, portals for elemental explorers, angels on missions of their deity, a small fortress of giants, the lair of a great dragon guarding it's own pulsing shard. Oh, and if I populate it with simple delves / lairs and use lots of encounter groups, I can present it quickly instead of waiting the next few years for WOTC. If any of the higher level Chaos Scar delves are solid, I'll plug them in. I'll take a look at the Loudwater/Luruar areas for placing a long valley - Spine of the World could work, too. North of the Nentir Vale would work as well, although our current 4E used it. I know this could be placed in Xendrik, and will check out Droam-Breland. [/QUOTE]
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