blacksheepcannibal
First Post
So, I am preemptively preparing a fresh start campaign setting for when my group swaps to 4th Ed. Currently we're playing a 3.5 Eberron setting, in which the players are a group of Bounty Hunters going after the most dangerous of criminals.
So, for a fresh start, I wanted something unfamiliar. Something that we could start small and end big, and would introduce parts of the game slowly enough. I also wanted something that could be started 1st level. This is what I came up with.
It's accepted that a couple thousand years ago the world ended, humanity was banished from the world, and the dead mists took over. The mists break occasionally in small areas, revealing a deadened landscape dotted by small goblinoid villages. All that is left of humanity (core PHB races; humans, dwarves, etc) is a single city-state on a plateau called "Haven". All around the city-plateau is a mixed tribe-kingdom of goblinoids, orcs, gnolls, completely and utterly hostile. They occasionally scale the plateau to attack the city, with various levels of success - hence, the people of the city-plateau assume that all these races are completely evil. Any adventurers that have tried to explore out into the mists have either not come back, or came back scarred permanently both mentally and physically.
Haven is ruled by a benevolent king, nearing the end of his life and never having a son; the entire city-state is rife with rumors of what might happen when the king dies. The plateau is just large enough for crops to be grown, although they have to be magically bred in order to feed the population. For hundreds of years, the oracles and holy men of the city-plateau have been searching the stars, asking the gods, all trying to find out if there are more, if they are alone, or if there are others out there that have lived and have a little city-state of their own.
Recently, and only recently, in the last few decades, the answer has become yes (Or more specifically, "Signs point to yes"). So the city has bred heroes. From childbirth, they were selected, given the best of everything, the best training, the best education...and now, they must set out into the dark mists, to find these other survivors the starts have told the mystics about.
What the players don't know and what they will discover:
Demi-human races and tribes that aren't automatically hostile. Can the players get past their prejudice? Once they have met a tribe or a new race, they can pick that race to play. (The original city-plateau only had the core PHB races).
Humans, dwarves, elves, etc that have adapted to the mists (drow, etc) and live underneath the ground. How do the players react? Can they form a truce, or will they be at war?
And eventually, they find, after several adventures, another city-plateau. This one is larger, more advanced with the magics. Even more mind blowing, is that this isn't the only one. They have airships that sail over the mists, magical trains that move through the mists, and teleportation circles that can allow for instant travel between the cities. When they find the plateau they are amazed, but not as amazed as when they find this plateau is one of many in a new kingdom of united cities.
Hopefully it will have an epic movie type feel, with a good ending that allows for a small prologue, and we can move on with a different campaign.
So, for a fresh start, I wanted something unfamiliar. Something that we could start small and end big, and would introduce parts of the game slowly enough. I also wanted something that could be started 1st level. This is what I came up with.
It's accepted that a couple thousand years ago the world ended, humanity was banished from the world, and the dead mists took over. The mists break occasionally in small areas, revealing a deadened landscape dotted by small goblinoid villages. All that is left of humanity (core PHB races; humans, dwarves, etc) is a single city-state on a plateau called "Haven". All around the city-plateau is a mixed tribe-kingdom of goblinoids, orcs, gnolls, completely and utterly hostile. They occasionally scale the plateau to attack the city, with various levels of success - hence, the people of the city-plateau assume that all these races are completely evil. Any adventurers that have tried to explore out into the mists have either not come back, or came back scarred permanently both mentally and physically.
Haven is ruled by a benevolent king, nearing the end of his life and never having a son; the entire city-state is rife with rumors of what might happen when the king dies. The plateau is just large enough for crops to be grown, although they have to be magically bred in order to feed the population. For hundreds of years, the oracles and holy men of the city-plateau have been searching the stars, asking the gods, all trying to find out if there are more, if they are alone, or if there are others out there that have lived and have a little city-state of their own.
Recently, and only recently, in the last few decades, the answer has become yes (Or more specifically, "Signs point to yes"). So the city has bred heroes. From childbirth, they were selected, given the best of everything, the best training, the best education...and now, they must set out into the dark mists, to find these other survivors the starts have told the mystics about.
What the players don't know and what they will discover:
Demi-human races and tribes that aren't automatically hostile. Can the players get past their prejudice? Once they have met a tribe or a new race, they can pick that race to play. (The original city-plateau only had the core PHB races).
Humans, dwarves, elves, etc that have adapted to the mists (drow, etc) and live underneath the ground. How do the players react? Can they form a truce, or will they be at war?
And eventually, they find, after several adventures, another city-plateau. This one is larger, more advanced with the magics. Even more mind blowing, is that this isn't the only one. They have airships that sail over the mists, magical trains that move through the mists, and teleportation circles that can allow for instant travel between the cities. When they find the plateau they are amazed, but not as amazed as when they find this plateau is one of many in a new kingdom of united cities.
Hopefully it will have an epic movie type feel, with a good ending that allows for a small prologue, and we can move on with a different campaign.
