dead thread - please delete

[Ry]

mmm

 

[Drakmar]

you might find that having a read of the Living Towers Trilogy by Martin Middleton will give you some more ideas that fit in well with where you are headed.

I like the way you are approaching this. It is similar to how I do it.. I start with what style of game I want.. for example my current game I wanted it to become heroic.. and i have ended up with a campaign centred on a Roman/Greek style culture.

 

[Ry]

mmm

 

[shady]

So, I dealt with some challenges, and ended up designing the setting's races. One more outstanding challenge: If the setting isn't hostile, but still is harsh... what is it? Where do I get a feel for the environment of the campaign?

I'm now taking a look at many, many pictures from the Gobi desert.

Blasted heathland, maybe. Long ago, I ran a campaign (using Runequest 2 rules, to give you an idea how long ago) set a hundred years after a war between the gods. One of the gods had been destroyed, and his remains persisted as a kind of radioactive wind which ebbed and flowed randomly, mutating anyone crazy enough to get caught in it (I had to find a use for my stock of Broo minis).

The armies which had been fighting at ground zero had become crazed, immortal beastmen. The remnant of the high elven civilisation that had occupied the country now lived underground, where they would bolt if the "godwind" swirled in their direction. Defeated demigods lay shackled in deep dungeons.

It gave me what I wanted at the time, basically a chance to reuse my Runequest minis (and runequest, at least then, had a more primitive, bronze age, feel around it) plenty of opportunity for dungeon crawls, a non-D&D feel to the magic, and lots of atmosphere - based around this misty, blasted heath. The general feel for the players was one of furtive freedom fighters, cooperating with the elves in quests for long lost artifacts.

Anyhow, you can do barren without desert; or rather if you combine any terrain with interesting climate you rarely get something dull, I think.

 

[Ry]

mmm

 

[shady]

Well, one major thing was removing the radioactive flair from Dark Sun - but do you have any other examples of blasted heathlands?

Ummm ... (along with some Googling)

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/vv/20040319a

Also the first 5 minutes or so of Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (which I think I was thinking of when I did the setting) or for that matter most film versions of Macbeth (e.g. Polanski), on which Throne of Blood is based.

 

[Ry]

mmm

 

[humble minion]

I've solved my geography problem; basically, I'm tackling it too soon. I know the setting will be a mix of geographies - alluvial plains hit by monsoons, dense jungles, asian deserts, and rocky badlands. As far as how that mix comes out, I'm going to put that question in service to what I call the skeleton of the setting.

Sounds like you've just discovered Australia...

 

[cmanos]

We recently started 10th-ish level characters using a character creation system that relied on cards that were drawn and traded for. These cards provided the germ of majoy PC history elements which were then fleshed out with the referee to make sure they were integrated into the setting. For instance, one card was "World renown love affair, successful or not". Another was "Major war hero". There were 6 for each player and the cards had other effects (suits determined starting gold, base stats, birthright while card text determined history stuff.)

This is a really interesting idea. I'd like to hear more about it. Perhaps in a different thread or feel free to e-mail me at thorscipher_mason /AT/ yahoo /DOT/ com.

 

[Ry]

mmm