Campaign World Creation (diary)

[Delgar]

Anyway, I had hoped to put this in the Plots/Places forum, but it looks like it has been dissolved, so I'll post it here.

Basically my plan is to create a campaign world from scratch using the Dungeoncraft articles by Ray Winninger as my guide. Hopefully along the way I can get some useful comments and suggestions from the fine folks at EnWorld. I may possibly mention the articles from time to time, and if you want a copy feel free to ask and I'll send you one or someone else on the board will, as that is where I got my copy. Also, I appologize in advance as I'm probably going to ramble and my thoughts may not be put together in a nice formatted fashion.

Anyway here goes.

Step 1: Campaign World Hook

I have a vision for my campaign but I can't quite nail it down into a hook. Basically my goal is to have a world that is very similar to George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones." A very low magic, gritty medieval feel. Right now I'm not sure how that's going to play out in PC classes or how I'm going to maintain that feel, but that is what I'm going for.

Things that I want to have in my game: Several kingdoms all ruled by a single king. An ancient wall that was built to block invaders, that spans across one side of the kingdom. Lot's of politics and backstabing. Monsters are only heard of in myth and legend. So, for my campaign I'll have two initial hooks.

1) Race - Only humans are going to be a playable race. All the other DnD races are not available for play and may or may not exist. Humans will be the dominant race.

2)Culture - Medieval culture; although DnD is already knee deep in Medieval culture I want to take it a step further, scale down the power level and really immerse my PC's in a low magic world with nobles, knights, peasants and all that feudalism has to offer.

Now, I haven't really fleshed out much of my campaign yet but at least I've formed an idea in my mind of what kind of campaign I want to run. So following the 2nd rule of dungeoncraft, everytime you create a piece of your campaign world you should create at least one secret. This will be something that hopefully some day my players can come to discover. I'm not too sure where I want to go with the game yet. Obviously I want monsters to remain mythical but yet to exist in some extent exist, but that secret is a little obvious, I'll need something a little more unique. Also, another avenue to take would be for some secret involving the wall.

Secret #1: The Wall; Perhaps the wall was built by the humans to protect them from something, or perhaps it was already there and the humans fled beyond it's protection from something. That then brings up the whole question of who or what built the wall in the first place. I think I'm leaning towards the humans fleeing something or someone and seeking solace behind the wall. What could they have been fleeing?

Secret #2: Enslavement; Perhaps a long time ago the human race was enslaved by some other race and eventually some artifact/hero helped them achieve their freedom.


Well as you can see I don't really have a clear direction at this point, but my goal is to keep posting as I keep developing and hopefully get some useful help and comments from the people here.

Delgar

 

[Desdichado]

Cool! I've actually been doing almost the same excercise (although with quite different campaign assumptions) myself, which is interesting. I'm curious to see how yours evolves. And if I can be allowed a brief commercial, check out my Dungeoncraft project in process at http://jdyal.cheapwindows.us/day1.htm. Link also in sig.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Secret #1: The Wall; Perhaps the wall was built by the humans to protect them from something, or perhaps it was already there and the humans fled beyond it's protection from something. That then brings up the whole question of who or what built the wall in the first place. I think I'm leaning towards the humans fleeing something or someone and seeking solace behind the wall. What could they have been fleeing?

Secret #2: Enslavement; Perhaps a long time ago the human race was enslaved by some other race and eventually some artifact/hero helped them achieve their freedom.
Delgar

If you want to add a bit of a twist, consider the wall having been built by someone else to keep the humans out. Maybe the mythic races (fey? elves?) feared humans because of their prolific birth rates. One or more of these races enslaved humans, but that eventually failed. So instead, they banded together and raised a great wall to hold the humans at bay. The wall possessed strong magic, basically a massive antipathy spell, keeping all creatures away from it. As time has passed, the magic has faded and creatures from the non-human side are beginning to breach the wall. It will only be a matter of time before the humans (who probably have all sorts of official taboos against going near the wall) discover that they can approach it or -gasp - cross it.

 

[ErichDragon]

I just started doing this same thing, except I have never heard of the Dungeoncraft articles.

Delgar, can you send me those articles or provide a link?

ehoffm1@hotmail.com

Thanks!

 

[Delgar]

I just started doing this same thing, except I have never heard of the Dungeoncraft articles.

Delgar, can you send me those articles or provide a link?

ehoffm1@hotmail.com

Thanks!

consider it sent.

Delgar

 

[Delgar]

I actually really like this idea, thanks a bunch, consider it yoinked. This is exactly the kind of interest I was hoping to generate.

Delgar

If you want to add a bit of a twist, consider the wall having been built by someone else to keep the humans out. Maybe the mythic races (fey? elves?) feared humans because of their prolific birth rates. One or more of these races enslaved humans, but that eventually failed. So instead, they banded together and raised a great wall to hold the humans at bay. The wall possessed strong magic, basically a massive antipathy spell, keeping all creatures away from it. As time has passed, the magic has faded and creatures from the non-human side are beginning to breach the wall. It will only be a matter of time before the humans (who probably have all sorts of official taboos against going near the wall) discover that they can approach it or -gasp - cross it.

 

[Delgar]

Step 2: Homebase

Ok, moving on to step two of the creation process I need to decide what sort of home base I want to start with for my players. Basically what I would like to do is to have all of the players take part in a manditory enlisted period (1-2 years) where they will recieve all sorts of training and meet a variety of interesting NPC's. So I'll probably have them start off as young recruits and their training will take place at a stronghold. I won't have to worry much about the enconmy as I'll assume that the entire base of operations is funded by the government. Also, the stronghold will consist of a keep, several barracks (I'm assuming that this will be a fairly large training establishment), and several other buildings as necessities dictates. This will all be surrounded by a stone wall. The stronghold will be run in a military fashion, with orders coming directly from the top.

Now the dungeoncraft articles mention one way to breath life into your setting is to invent one interesting custom or cultural characteristic that sets it apart from anywhere else in the campaign world. For my stronghold, I've decided that I want it to have a very ancient grove of trees complete with it's own wall. The grove is completely off limits to anyone. Those who stand near the grove occasionally hear voices in the wind.

Now in accordance with the second rule of dungeoncraft I need to come up with a secret.

Secret #3: This one is easy, the grove. Just telling the players that its off limits is going to peak their curiosity. But I'm not exactly sure what to do with the grove. Hear are a couple of my ideas but I would definately like to hear some others

1. The grove was a site of whorship of ancient gods, and the voices are the gods crying out to be heard

2. The grove was a place of sacrifice, and the voices are crying out in pain and suffering.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas please feel free to share them, I can use all the help I can get.

Thanks,

Delgar

 

[Storminator]

The same fey that built the Wall are trapped in the grove. They are the source of a magic that the leader of the stronghold taps for ...

PS

Step 2: Homebase

Ok, moving on to step two of the creation process I need to decide what sort of home base I want to start with for my players. Basically what I would like to do is to have all of the players take part in a manditory enlisted period (1-2 years) where they will recieve all sorts of training and meet a variety of interesting NPC's. So I'll probably have them start off as young recruits and their training will take place at a stronghold. I won't have to worry much about the enconmy as I'll assume that the entire base of operations is funded by the government. Also, the stronghold will consist of a keep, several barracks (I'm assuming that this will be a fairly large training establishment), and several other buildings as necessities dictates. This will all be surrounded by a stone wall. The stronghold will be run in a military fashion, with orders coming directly from the top.

Now the dungeoncraft articles mention one way to breath life into your setting is to invent one interesting custom or cultural characteristic that sets it apart from anywhere else in the campaign world. For my stronghold, I've decided that I want it to have a very ancient grove of trees complete with it's own wall. The grove is completely off limits to anyone. Those who stand near the grove occasionally hear voices in the wind.

Now in accordance with the second rule of dungeoncraft I need to come up with a secret.

Secret #3: This one is easy, the grove. Just telling the players that its off limits is going to peak their curiosity. But I'm not exactly sure what to do with the grove. Hear are a coupld of my ideas but I would definately like to hear some others

1. The grove was a site of whorship of ancient gods, and the voices are the gods crying out to be heard

2. The grove was a place of sacrifice, and the voices are crying out in pain and suffering.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas please feel free to share them, I can use all the help I can get.

Thanks,

Delgar

 

[Altalazar]

4. The grove is actually a collection of sentient trees - and THEY are the real power behind the government. They cannot move, but they are very wise and have been around for thousands of years and so they know the true origins of the wall... and are lately alarmed at what has been happening with it... therein enters the adventurers...

 

[nopantsyet]

Read this thread yesterday and passed it by; after rereading it today, I'm liking it. If it's a low-magic setting, I would assume it would also have minimal direct divine presence. I always prefer more subtle manifestations of the divine, and more enigma than fact. So here's my take on the grove:

The grove is owned by the church and is considered a holy site, although the exact reason has been lost to the ages. The wall was erected, presumably to protect it from desecration. Rumors about the grove's secret abound.

One belief maintains that the deva Mercy, trump of the merciful aspect of god, appeared here to deliver the message to man that god would be merciful to those who believe and obey, and thus was the church established. This is the most widely accepted explanation for the grove, and many fringe scholars of divine thought have sought to interpret more about it from the holy writ.

One canonical author wrote that, "The voice of my mercy shall never diminish, though it be soft as the bubbling of a brook." Many have interpreted this as a layered statement, referring to the attribute of mercy as well as the deva. This line of reasoning concludes that if the deva Mercy speaks in a place, it can forever be heard there. These attempt secret pilgrimages to the location seeking to hear the divine voice.

The church not only prohibits entering the grove, but as it is holy ground, it is subject to canonic rather than state law, and those caught attempting to enter are punished.