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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Osterneth" data-source="post: 6039231" data-attributes="member: 78381">I'm in the early planning stages of a new 4E campaign and I'm having a bit of trouble organizing my thoughts and ideas, so I figured it can't hurt to post them up here and hopefully get some fresh opinions from people. Here's a quick introduction that I'm hoping conveys the general themes I'm going for:The land is dying. It has been over a millennium since the Doom came to the heart of the Empire and heralded in the end of the 5th Age. In a single night of chaos and fire, the Emperor vanished and the Gods fell silent, leaving behind an unorganized and unprepared Empire to face the coming of the Blight. Leaderless and confronted by this faceless menace, the Empire fragmented and collapsed as provinces were overrun and the land withered and grew barren. Any semblance of organization and security collapsed when the remaining Imperial Legions fell before the hordes of monstrous creatures that travelled in the Blight's wake. It was centuries before the wards were discovered: ancient symbols from a previous Age that, when properly scribed and aligned, kept the Blight at bay, if only for a time. With some means of defense against the Blight at last, survivors banded together into scattered city-states and settlements for mutual protection against the remaining creatures that stalked the wilds, but much of the damage had already been done. Aside from the newly rediscovered art of warding, knowledge of the arcane was largely lost amidst the Blight, and the Gods remained as silent as they had been since the Doom.Granted, it's not much, but as I mentioned... I'm having trouble organizing my ideas. Currently aiming for a low-magic start, but I don't have any plans on restricting class choice or anything, so arcane wielding PCs will essentially just be rediscovering old knowledge and the like. Deity-wise, I'm currently playing with the idea of having a pantheon of pagan "Old Gods" that predate the Empire still being around and granting powers, with the catch that their practices generally involve things like animal sacrifices and blood rites, though not to the extent that the pantheon itself is evil by any means. The main reason I'm aiming for low-magic is really just the treatment of magic items in 4E; my players and I prefer our magic items unique and special rather than just a shopping list of things to buy as they level up, so I generally just go the Inherent Bonuses route and ensure any magic items around are rare and depply tied into the campaign and setting.I'm also considering including various generally bad "curses" afflicting the various races available. Stuff like elves finding their lifespans getting shorter with each generation, or dwarves finding that whenever they try to craft anything their materials rust/decay away. I don't really have any specific objectives in-mind for these, I just figure it adds another layer of mystery and provides a possible avenue of PC interest if they want to go about correcting them.Anyway, critique away. Am I crazy for thinking any of this sounds interesting? Are my (admitedly vague) timelines unrealistic and way-off? Should I quit trying to go for a low(ish)-magic campaign?</blockquote>

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