Dark Ages Campaigns!

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Well, I'm currently designing several cultures on a continent that will be newly discovered in my campaign. This continent will be operating under some different "cultural trends" as some might say. It has to do with the rate of advancement and change that cultures move through. They seem to "mature" at different rates, and in different directions. Anyways, that's the real-world anthropological theory. Moving on, this continent is to be an analogue to 4th-11th century Dark Ages Britain. The continent is to be occupied by humans, but is interwoven thoroughly with classical Celtic mythology. There will be an immense mountain chain that encloses an elven realm that is at the top of the food chain, so to speak, in terms of magic, and spell-casting, but they are capable of being quite ruthless. Still, the elves are very few in number, compared to the humans. The continent has been isolated for millenia by mysterious magical "curtains"--essentially invisible time and spatial walls that have shifted the continent somewhat out of sync, and thus very difficult to reach by mundane means.

With this as a framework, what kind of spells, equipment, classes, and so on, would you think appropriate, or inappropriate, as needs be? As a side note, though the mystical exists, and is highly believed in, it doesn't necessitate that the human communities be highly magical. If you see what I'm saying.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[William Ronald]

Hi, SHARK!

Taking a break from the IR in the In Character forum. (Check it out, you might like it. I am, of course, one of the good guys.)

I would give some of the elves the half-celestial template or maybe elemental templates. Possibly some of the spellcasters are associated with certain elements. For example, Morgan Le Fay in The Once and Future King is called the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Borrow the Celtic campaign source book from 2E and Gurps Celts.

A lot of the feats would work. I think the Inzeladun web site has transferred some of the feats into 3E terms.

Most druid and bard PrCs would be appropriate. I think bards and druids should get social bonuses in any Celtic or Celtic-themed culture. (As well as hospitality at people's homes.)

A lot of nature themed spells would work well. Maybe a lot of fey as well.

Some human communities might be highly magical while others may be in fear of the supernatural or in awe of it. Have a lot of diversity on the continent to keep the players guessing.

Maybe give some of the native races appropriate powers. Maybe dwarves from the area can walk through walk like an umber hulk.

Also, maybe have a few Orders left over from a time of higher civilization.

 

[Deadguy]

I apolgise in advance if this is wandering off topic too far but:

The Dark Ages were not that dark! Certainly not in Britain and Ireland, where the many fragmented kingdoms still dealt with the Continent (i.e traded far and wide). The treasures of the Sutton Hoo burial included goods from Byzantium and Egypt, and I do not mean that they were leftovers from the Roman era, but rather traded goods.

These kingdoms were based upon personal power and prestige. Alignments and wars constantly shifted the balance of power according to the abilities of the monarch, and there are cases of kings being removed by what amounts to coups conducted by brothers and cousins. And borders are always fluid: minor nobles and the powerful leaders of towns might shift allegiance according to the dictates of war but also according to their best judgement of who will serve the place best (basically tax it least and protect it most). This can be healthy to players who are used to the idea of borders being fixed and firmly demarcated: the town they visited in one season might have changed hands by the next!

Now in Britain, the Church was an extremely powerful player and made a lot of the flavour of the age. It was the source of education of knowledge of the past. So you mght want to look at the role of religion on your continent. Some faiths may even split along territorial lines, so the Priests of Tarlok in the kingdom of Cynbrea might not like the same Priests of Tarlok in the neighbouring kingdom of Alandia! Personalities count a lot here too, and priestly leaders who are strong with the king might be willing to use the resources of their church to support him. On the other hand, religious assets might well be appropriated in order to feed the king and his entourage, or to fight his wars. And this doesn't necessitate powerful magic from these churches. Many might well be multi-class Cleric-Experts or Cleric-Fighters or Cleric-Aristocrats according to their bent.

I guess what I am trying to say is that whilst the age might be Dark it needn't lack in being cosmopolitan - some people did travel widely, and the leaders of realms aren't going to be ignorant of events outside their borders. Whislt they probably don't know what happened beyond their "curtain" they may well be surprisingly well informed about what goes on within.

Putting this into D&D3e terms, I can see no reason to actually restrict classes (except maybe you'll need to rework the Monk). You might consider tying the study of arcane magic with priestly magic - making it a gift from the Gods and thus practised by dual-classed people. That carries the flavour of otherworldliness to all power. And the use of the leadership feat might be very important: the drive for most people is to look after their families, so personal loyalty, or a true concept of nation, is rare. Even Kings might amount to people who have the Leadership feat several times over (and with followers who also possess it). These bonds of personal loyalty are what, in fact, make them powerful.

Hoping that these thoughts actually help

 

[Eosin the Red]

Greetings SHARK!

I would take a look at the classes in WOT (or over on the Middle Eath d20 site hosted by Morrus). These give good non-magical variants of classes.

I would do away with the Bard, Sorc, Wiz.

I would change the title of clerics to Avatars - and have them be the embodiment of the prayers of the faithful. The Avatar's power would relate directly to the piety of the local laity. Most clerics would be experts, without divine power.

There would be one order of Paladins (but different types within the order) - waiting for the birth of the promised one.

I would use the Druid and add some musical ability ala the Gleeman in WOT.

If using a British theme, you could allow Mages (any set of rules) but make them the decendants of lost Alantis.

Ditch the items list with one more compatible with darker times. No plate armor. Lots of mail. Most peasants would be restricted away from the weapons of nobility.

I like the rarity of magic (your tastes may differ here) that is inherent in WOT. High magic density does not a dark ages make.

 

[Enkhidu]

Shark,

You've shown yourself to be a student of history, so you might appreciate this one.

To get a better feel for Armor, weapons, dress, and culture of "Dark Ages" British Isles, take a look at www.regia.org. They concentrate on the latter part of that time (up to right before the crusades started), and do a bang up job on research.

Hope it helps!

 

[GreyOne]

Hail Lord of Battle,

A few issues back they had a Dark Ages theme in Dragon. Though it was based more on the Russian Steppes area with mongol, and slavic tribes, there were some Celtic references IIRC. Perhaps that could be a useful starting point .

 

[mmadsen]

With this as a framework, what kind of spells, equipment, classes, and so on, would you think appropriate, or inappropriate, as needs be?

If you want a Dark Age feel, restricting warriors to wooden shields and spears -- no armor -- should go a long way. Only wealthy aristocrat-warriors should have a prized coat of mail and/or a broadsword.

If you want a Celtic feel, Bards and Druids fit -- but you could just as easily rename other magic-users "bards" and "druids".