[Brainstorming] Old-timey fantastic New Orleans-esque city campaign

[Dannyalcatraz]

One of the main diseases of the day was Yellow Fever, anthropomorphosized as "Yellow Jack"- spread by mosquitos, it often resulted in the wealthy evacuating the city in the Summers, leaving the poor to suffer heat and pestillence.

Despite the reputation for "laissez le bon temp roulez," the main faith of NO was Catholosism...and Catholics comprised most of the population overall- so the choice of a "monothestic" faith as predominant in your version is pretty accurate.

Oh- thought of another one to check out: While not set in NO, Poe's "The Murders in the Rou Morgue" WAS set in 1840's Paris...pretty close in some ways, at least culturally.

(http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/works/murders.html)

 

[Tonguez]

Of course Voodoo is also a monotheistic religion with many minor Loa.
As such many followers of Voodoo incorporated and used these parallels with catholic saints and catholic ritual so that it is quite possible that those person who outwardly appear to be followers of the Main Church are in fact followers of an outlawed pagan cult.

and Yellow Jack is just wanting to be personified (ie made an NPC) as a minor diety of pestillence

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I've used the concept of Catholic saints and sects to get the plethora of faiths that appear in any D&D campaign while maintaining monotheism before. The Ezraite focus on my Paridon campaign here uses it. Instead of followers of Pelor, Hieroneous, Hextor, etc., you've got different orders like the Fatalists, Order of the Sword, Anchorites, etc. They all answer to Our Lady Ezra, but in different ways that don't always agree. Kind of like the clerical orders of Christendom.

Then, of course, you add heretics that do worship other gods to the mix.

Ravenloft has some resources for a (rather faux) rendition of New Orleans. "Night of the Walking Dead" has some feel, as does the background for the domains of Souragne and Richemulot.

 

[JonMonster]

The temptation you'll face is to make all of the NPC organizations different crime syndicates. Resist this temptation. Once you have two or three of them fighting for control over the various markets any more just becomes needlessly complicated. Instead create two or three unique organizations that could come into play.

One fantastic element that springs to my mind is the Beggar King and his Invisible Court. He is what his title says - the King of all the Beggars in Sunrise. He rarely takes an active role in the political shenanigans, but his minions are all over the place. To most of the wealthy they don't exist and as a result they often hear important things that the speaker would rather go unheard. While the Beggar King guards his vast store of knowledge like a miser his gold, there may be opportunities to bargain with him. If something dark and ancient and evil has been preying on his subjects lately the King may trade his knowledge to those who put a stop to it.

At some point you need to have a major hurricane blow through town and upset the existing order. The social and political turmoil that results make a great backdrop for adventures and may provide the PCs with an opening that they wuoldn't have otherwise.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

On organizations: One of the major divisions in 1830's-1840's NO was between the established Francophone plutocracy and the incoming American "barbarians." In many ways, NO was the "Paris of the New World," and man of the Americans coming into the area had a very frontier mentality...but also a lot of money. These nouveau riche were considered uncultured and almost unbearable by NO's uppercrust society, in no small part because of their somewhat rougher treatment of the black underclass.

Also realize that there was a completely seperate Black upper class consisting mainly of placees (mistresses of powerful white men), merchants catering to white society (like high-end seamstresses), and european-educated doctors and attorneys who catered to black society. Powerful Voudoun also had much power, like the famous Marie Laveau. While not as rich and powerful as whites, black society figures couldn't be entirely dismissed.

(BTW, not many people realize that even blacks kept black slaves... If slavery exists in your campaign world, you probably shouldn't ignore that particular trope- there's a lot of potential there.)

and Yellow Jack is just wanting to be personified (ie made an NPC) as a minor diety of pestillence

As an aside, I had a Githzerai PsiWar/Monk named Zjax who, because of his skin tone and the fact that he arrived in port aboard a ship devastated by a wizard-plague was nicknamed Yellow Jack...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Before I discovered Ptolus, I was considering a homebrewed colonial city campaign that resembled New Orleans. One of the primary elements of it was to be the death god of the indigenous lizardmen -- a giant crocodile god, naturally -- had lost his followers when the colonists wiped most of them out, and the god had gone insane and begun offering secrets of necromancy to colonists to gain a new crop of worshippers.

So I'd have necromancers in the swamp with undead, templated crocodiles and the like.

Blackwater, like New Orleans, was to be set right at the water table, so there'd be above-ground tombs (no dungeons!) and the like as well.

Also check out this PDF of New Orleans-flavored D20 stuff. I contributed the Swamp King PrC, so I'm not entirely unbiased, but I think it's got a lot of stuff you might find useful. (And I don't think of the giant crawdad as a joke at all!)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

At some point you need to have a major hurricane blow through town and upset the existing order. The social and political turmoil that results make a great backdrop for adventures and may provide the PCs with an opening that they wuoldn't have otherwise.

Carl Hiaasen's novel Stormy Weather would be worth picking up just to see a snapshot of what this looks like.

 

[Stormborn]

I know you said you wanted to down play the supernatural, but you would be remiss to not have were-opposums (just use wererats with a some bonuses to climb for the prehinsile tail), fiendish dire catfish, and a few crocodile men.

EDIT: I second the Katrina Relief Book, I contributed the Moht Campaign setting material.

 

[Kunimatyu]

I know you said you wanted to down play the supernatural, but you would be remiss to not have were-opposums (just use wererats with a some bonuses to climb for the prehinsile tail), fiendish dire catfish, and a few crocodile men.

Oh, I've got dire catfish, monstrous crawdads, and gator men (and miniatures for them!) -- the campaign will have elements of the fantastic, especially in the flora and fauna, but there won't be much in the way of ("real") supernatural stuff, meaning not a whole lot of magic/undead/demons. (Superstition, of course, will be everywhere...)

I want to draw attention to the stuff that is supernatural simply by making it rare -- a city filled with twenty different types of undead won't make a plotline involving undead stand out to the players, for example.

The Katrina Relief PDF intrigues me -- I'll get it next week when I've got a little more money free -- and I'd love to hear more about any sections that would be relevant to the campaign.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Perhaps its only on certain days that the supernatural comes to the fore...like your world's equivalent of Ash Wednesday (when, in the real world, the French Quarters are cleared by the cops in preparation for Lent), or on a "Day of the Dead" type celebration.

(Yes, that's more of a Mexican thing, but the Spanish influence on NO is there- just lessened by the dominance of the French.)

I'd include either the OA or KoK versions of the Shaman to simulate Voudoun priests and priestesses as well as Native American shamen- their abilities to communicate with spirits, including the dead, is very much within the flavor of those classes, and depending on alignment, can still control or turn like true clerics. I'd lean more towards the KoK version, which has more of a New World flavor, as opposed to the martial artsy OA version.

Lesser Known RW Fauna in the area:

Nutria- members of the rodent family, these oversized water-rats are quite popular bayou fare.

Snapping Turtles- ranging from the 15lb versions up to the nearly 300lb Alligator Snappers, these aggressive ambush predators are quite dangerous...and tasty!

Lesser Known RW Flora in the area:

Kudzu- this invasive species of plant, because it can grow several inches per day, is everywhere. Its also a very nutritious (and tasty)- somewhat like kelp or seaweeds- but its not a part of the local diet...yet. Its such an aggressive plant that they use industrial strength pesticides to keep it at bay, and the locals haven't added it to the menu.