Building a new world and I want your input

[Amazing Triangle]

I am building a new world and I have worked up a new map. There are 25 islands all are very small with only enough room for 1 to 2 towns. There is one large island with between 5 to 10 towns. The thing about the world is that I am unsure of what to do for cities. I have decided that once named the island needs a theme. I am a bit dry in the idea department. I have written 2 full campaign worlds in the past 5 years, so I feel I have done it before. So I beg the community to help me build a new world that will keep the PCs on their toes. Naming the islands is also on the agenda and any help in choosing good names would help.
[sblock=Islands]
1- Heavily Forested Area (Elven Kingdom)
2- Volcano Mountain (Dwarven Forge City)
3- Savage lands (human/reptilian lands)
4- Desert Island (Wild wild west human island)
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
15-
16-
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
[/sblock]
Please I ask for any help and I will add anything that is given within reason.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Honestly, I think this would be a campaign where metal would need to be severely restricted. Islands small enough to only hold 1 or 2 towns aren't likely to be rich in ore deposits. No ore, no steel. At least as far as beleivability goes, I would automatically discount any such world that had any standard issue medium armors or heavy armors. Hide armors are fine, of course.

And of course that also means that quartestaffs will probably be the weapon of choice, because a lack of steel means pretty much no swords, daggers, etc. I could see flint axes and the like, but flint makes a poor sword!

 

[Deekin]

It's fantasy, you can have an island made of iron. Plenty of metal there.

As for island suggestions-

Rajrin: The Dreamy Isle. Its tales have served
as building blocks in the creative unconscious
of society. However, this island of the mind is
more than just a mythical construction… it has
appeared in reality, and brings with it a vast
wellspring of untapped potential…

An Island full of psionics.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

It's fantasy, you can have an island made of iron. Plenty of metal there.

Yep, you can. But my guess is that most people check out immediately. An island made of iron doesn't support like. No grass will grow in iron. No animals to feed off the grass. No food for the people to live off of.

Yep. It's fantasy. But not a very believable fantasy. My experience is that an element in the game which can only be magically explained is cool in small doses (like a force field or prestidigitation type effects) but when the system becomes reliant upon magic to explain the survival of life that it has gone too far. Of course, that is if it is to be a serious game.

 

[Bardsandsages]

Yep, you can. But my guess is that most people check out immediately. An island made of iron doesn't support like. No grass will grow in iron. No animals to feed off the grass. No food for the people to live off of.

Yep. It's fantasy. But not a very believable fantasy. My experience is that an element in the game which can only be magically explained is cool in small doses (like a force field or prestidigitation type effects) but when the system becomes reliant upon magic to explain the survival of life that it has gone too far. Of course, that is if it is to be a serious game.

I can't agree more. The "kewl factor" of a completely unbelievable concept solely on the basis of "it's fantasy so its OK" will destroy a campaign. Great fantasy works, not because it is believable, but because it is presented in such as way that the reader (or gamer) can suspend belief to follow the story.

These islands are either terribly tiny or completely unexplored. What kind of game you run depends on which they are. If they are terribly tiny, chances are they rely mostly on the sea for sustanance and engage in trade with some mainland. Also one good hurricane could wipe them out, so there aren't going to be a lot of permanent dwellings. The fact is, if they are that small there isn't going to be a whole lot of questing opportunities.

If they are just unexplored, then the obvious question is "why?" What has prevented the people from expanding? This gives you more questing opportunities. Someone finds the ruins of a lost civilization. A mysterious race emerges from the jungle. etc etc.

But you need to have some basic idea of how the population sustains itself, defends itself, what sort of government it has, etc etc.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Do you really need all 25 islands to be different? I'd have the island in small groups or chains, with variations on the same theme (a group of volcanic islands, some desert-island types, a group of forested islands with warring elven tribes, etc), then work on the differences from there.

As for an island idea...

The Island closest to Heaven

A rift to the positive energy plane floats above this low-lying atoll. The area within 5 miles of the island has the minor Positive dominant trait. A pillar of light descends from the rift, providing constant illumination (equivalent to moonlight), and creating an area with the Major Positive-dominant trait. The rift is slowly growing, as is the area of the Positive-dominant trait.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

These islands are either terribly tiny or completely unexplored. What kind of game you run depends on which they are. If they are terribly tiny, chances are they rely mostly on the sea for sustanance and engage in trade with some mainland. Also one good hurricane could wipe them out, so there aren't going to be a lot of permanent dwellings. The fact is, if they are that small there isn't going to be a whole lot of questing opportunities.

Ultimately this is the sticking point for me as well. I can suspend belief regarding an archipelago so long as the people are not mineralogically developed. [Here would be an excellent reason to remove "steel" from the game and insert psionic crystal, for example. The crystal could be found off shore as a part of a reef system. You could have it be a unique type of corral, or such] That is believable fantasy.

Or, I could go along with larger islands that are unexplored and thus the civilizations are small. But there needs to be some kind of reason.

In the end, it really doesn't matter what the world looks like. But the implications of a given land formation should make believable sense (even if it departs from reality a bit).

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Well, the OP has a Dwarven forge island, so it looks like the no iron idea is out. (If it were I'd advise sharkskin armor and obsidian for weapons.) However, I like the idea of a small chain of volcanic islands so they can maybe get other metals. Hmmm, diamond studded clubs anyone?

 

[Amazing Triangle]

Wow I am sorry.

I was thinking I could make my largest island have mining and in that regard they could trade. I agree that some islands would not have minerals and might have leaf armor (races of the wild) or Chitian Armor (Savage Species or Arms and Equipment). I also was thinking the some of the smaller islands would be unexplored by a large kingdom. This could lead to some cool adventures in my mind.

Could not the mines for steel be deep under mountains on some of the islands? This is why I wanted ideas and for each to have their own flavor.

Do you really need all 25 islands to be different? I'd have the island in small groups or chains, with variations on the same theme (a group of volcanic islands, some desert-island types, a group of forested islands with warring elven tribes, etc), then work on the differences from there.

This would work too allowing some Darwin slight variations across a section of islands. I just don't want them all to be the same.

If they are just unexplored, then the obvious question is "why?" What has prevented the people from expanding? This gives you more questing opportunities. Someone finds the ruins of a lost civilization. A mysterious race emerges from the jungle. etc etc.

But you need to have some basic idea of how the population sustains itself, defends itself, what sort of government it has, etc etc.

For clarity I meant small by comparison to normal "the island is the world" island that most DM's make. The text I quoted is the kind of thing I had thought of. It could simply be that not many people could afford to just explore a new island. Think Christopher Columbus who only got a grant to explore because they though he could go to China. A mix between Hawaii, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Cuba, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand. These islands even have metal for swords and such.

Hope this clears things up....Thanks to the two so far (Dreams, Heaven)

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Could not the mines for steel be deep under mountains on some of the islands? This is why I wanted ideas and for each to have their own flavor.

Again, I wouldn't buy it on truly small islands. But it appears that your definition and my definition of small are not equivalent. [See below]

For clarity I meant small by comparison to normal "the island is the world" island that most DM's make. The text I quoted is the kind of thing I had thought of. It could simply be that not many people could afford to just explore a new island. Think Christopher Columbus who only got a grant to explore because they though he could go to China. A mix between Hawaii, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Cuba, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand. These islands even have metal for swords and such.

I'm glad that you clarified this. Because I would not consider most of these islands as small. Most of these islands are large enough to sustain civilizations of many cities/towns/villages. But, if this is your idea of small, then yes, there could be mountains, mines, etc. You just need to justify why on an island the size of cuba there are only two or three towns. But there have already been several examples of that.

For what it is worth, when you were talking about a small island I was thinking along the lines of Jekyl Island off the coast of Georgia. For a premodern civilization, that is a small island. Japan, Cuba, New Zealand, etc is no small island!



Okay, enough of the term confusion. Allow me to help:

Darkluck Island: The land here is mysteriously unique. Magic (and psionics) fail to work by anyone who is in contact with the ground. [Creatures able to fly or levitate are able to have their magic abilities return to them once they are airborne.] Even Spell-like Abilities do not function here. However, supernatural abilities that do not mimic spells will function. Wands, rings, staffs, and rods will not function. The writing on scrolls vanish, however once the owner's feet completely leave the ground of this island the writing comes back.

For the purpose of the island, the term ground applies to any surface built onto the ground. THus, if a person builds a house on stilts, the house is still a part of the "ground." Magical abilities return at the beginning of the second full round in which a player/creature has not been in contact with the ground (Surprise rounds do not count as a round unless a creature begins the surprise round not in contact with the ground).




The Underwater Spirit Forge: This is an island that is almost entirely submerged under the ocean. The only part above the ocean sea level is a long dead volcanic plume that measures fifteen feet in diameter and rises a slight twenty feet above the ocean surface. Anyone adventurous to descent into the dead volcanic plume finds themselves entering a simple dungeon in the shape of a ring. Alcoves constantly branch off of the circular tunnel froming the ring.

There is a secret about this ring forge. Rumor has it that the circular tunnel and its various alcoves are controlled by an ancient beholder. The alcoves are the homes of those whom the beholder has been able to convince join it or dominated. Of course, beholderkin thrive among the alcoves as well. Yet, it is said that if anyone can defeat the ancient beholder that a magic forge can be found. The forge is not for metal, it is a forge of reality. Any who directly has a hand in the beholder's destruction (Game Mechanic: Cause at least 1 point of HP loss in the beholder's defeat) is allowed to alter their very essence. (Game mechanic: the player may change any aspects about the character including race, classes, feats taken, skill point allocation, etc about their character. However, the player must illustrate that the new selection would have been a viable selection at the level of change. Thus, a player could not give their fighter Weapon Specialization at 2nd level even under this circumstance)

At sunrise the day after the beholder is killed, the beholder rises anew. Each time the beholder arises he is granted more power. (Game mechanic: advance the beholder by 3HD)