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[4e] Witching Grounds - Challenging Core Assumptions of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 4320133" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Yikes! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue :P" data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" /> I didn't even know about Lovecraft's <em>Dream Witch</em>, thanks for the heads up. Actually, reading about these "outer gods" is very interesting.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes and no.</p><p>Yes, many of these ideas (humano-centric, rare & terrifying monsters, divine warfare, persecuted magic) have appeared numerous times in fantasy and have been tropes of certian D&D settings like Kalamar and Greyhawk.</p><p></p><p>No, because how all these ideas work together to create a setting very different from the core setting of 4e D&D. There's a certain theme evoked by all of these ideas - one which I'm struggling to articulate.</p><p></p><p>It's intended to feel more like HeroQuest/RuneQuest, with the importance of various divine cults and personal trials, or Artesia, with warfare being endemic. Everyone practices magic on some level, even if it is just the local matchmaker who happens to be very accurate at identifying one's true love.</p><p></p><p>For example, consider the following adventure scenario that I think is unique to this setting...</p><p></p><p>* Heroes returning home from adventure find themselves caught in a heavily patrolled region due to a border war breaking out between two marcher lords</p><p>* The border war is just the recent expression of an old feud, one which is prophesied to be ended by a group of warriors matching the PCs' description</p><p>* Disguised as cartographers, the PCs venture into the iron-clad western city-state, discovering that the vile rumors they've learned are largely untrue and the people suffer under the yoke of a mad theocrat</p><p>* The PCs discover that the theocratic city-state sacrifices people to a sphinx, who is surrounded by a fanatic cult</p><p>* Despite their best efforts to get aid from various lords and reeves to assault the sphinx's palace, the PCs are mistrusted as "mercenaries playing both sides of the fence"</p><p>* The PCs are forced to flee the theocracy when it is discovered one of them is a tiefling, who the common folk try to sacrifice to the sphinx</p><p>* Captured, the PCs are tried for practicing sorcery, and they are put through a series of tests practically requiring them to use magic to survive in order to use evidence against them</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 4320133, member: 20323"] Yikes! :P I didn't even know about Lovecraft's [i]Dream Witch[/i], thanks for the heads up. Actually, reading about these "outer gods" is very interesting. Yes and no. Yes, many of these ideas (humano-centric, rare & terrifying monsters, divine warfare, persecuted magic) have appeared numerous times in fantasy and have been tropes of certian D&D settings like Kalamar and Greyhawk. No, because how all these ideas work together to create a setting very different from the core setting of 4e D&D. There's a certain theme evoked by all of these ideas - one which I'm struggling to articulate. It's intended to feel more like HeroQuest/RuneQuest, with the importance of various divine cults and personal trials, or Artesia, with warfare being endemic. Everyone practices magic on some level, even if it is just the local matchmaker who happens to be very accurate at identifying one's true love. For example, consider the following adventure scenario that I think is unique to this setting... * Heroes returning home from adventure find themselves caught in a heavily patrolled region due to a border war breaking out between two marcher lords * The border war is just the recent expression of an old feud, one which is prophesied to be ended by a group of warriors matching the PCs' description * Disguised as cartographers, the PCs venture into the iron-clad western city-state, discovering that the vile rumors they've learned are largely untrue and the people suffer under the yoke of a mad theocrat * The PCs discover that the theocratic city-state sacrifices people to a sphinx, who is surrounded by a fanatic cult * Despite their best efforts to get aid from various lords and reeves to assault the sphinx's palace, the PCs are mistrusted as "mercenaries playing both sides of the fence" * The PCs are forced to flee the theocracy when it is discovered one of them is a tiefling, who the common folk try to sacrifice to the sphinx * Captured, the PCs are tried for practicing sorcery, and they are put through a series of tests practically requiring them to use magic to survive in order to use evidence against them [/QUOTE]
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[4e] Witching Grounds - Challenging Core Assumptions of D&D
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