Desert world campaign.

[BabyBackRibs]

Ok guys, I'm a noob here so bear with me.

So I'm going to try to run a desert world campaign and I wanted some feedback on the overall idea. Here's what I have so far:

1. 90% of the world is a complete desert.
2. There is a large oasis surrounded by a forest which serves as the capital of the country.
3. There is a montain range in the northwest of the continent, where dwarves have an underground water source and protect it savagely, and generally distrust strangers.
4. Random oasis' sprout up around the desert every few weeks, and last a few days, causing the nomadic peoples of the desert to race towards them for rescources. (The oasis' may be magical in origin.)
5. At the southern end of the continent there is a large penninsula and the lands in it are supposedly cursed, and plauged with demons.

And that's it so far. I am a mediocre DM at best, so anyhing will be appreciated. Thanks in advance everybody.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

Why dont you look into the Darksun setting for 4th edition.

 

[IanB]

You can probably mine the 3.5 "desert" book for ideas if you can get your hands on a copy - was called "Sandstorm" if I'm remembering right.

 

[jbear]

I'd say Dark Sun is exactly what you need. A perfect base for your campaign.

 

[fba827]

being a desert, the environment is as much of a threat as any monster. so think up some good terrain effects/hazards to pepper in to each encounter.

also, the threat of running out of food/water should probably be relevant else stuff like your magical oasis would not be that important

thinking of your magical oasis - what makes it so special... arcane magic? or the effects from a primal spirit? that could alter the 'feel' of it slightly depending on its origins. and maybe there are some rumors of people getting swept along with the oasis when it does disappear -- not everyone does, just some people under some certain circumstance. that leaves open the plot potential for the party to have/do something that will allow them to travel to some further off place if they are at the oasis when it leaves.

if you're going for "sandy open desert" then think about what affect that might have on your heavy armor wearers. Conversely, if you're just using desert in the clinical sense of low rainfall but not necessarily the stereotypical arabian nights style desert of sand, then there is a little less issue as there would be desert-adapted trees and such to provide some shade, making it a little less painful on those heavy armor wearing fighters.

for flavor and fun -- if it's appropriate for the tone you're going for, replace horses with riding lizards. you can use horse stats, just change the description. of course, that may not work for the tone you're trying to set, so decide accordingly.

lastly, sounds fun and different for your group -- so have fun with it!

 

[BabyBackRibs]

Thanks for all the responses. I had a friend bring over his darksun books and they helped a great deal for forming a base. I really like the idea of people being swept away with the oasis' I'm dedfinately going to incorporate that and the riding lizards.

 

[Barastrondo]

Monster selection will do a lot to showcase the setting. For instance, you might not want to have large bands of humanoids, as there's not as much food and drink to go around to nourish them. Really large animals will have problems in the desert unless you design them to store up food and water for long periods of time, or go into torpor: it would be really interesting if, for instance, dragons and drakes tend to hibernate and awake only in times of plenty, whereupon they try to devour everything they can.

If you can rationalize them in any number, elementals, constructs and undead all make great encounters for a setting, as they're dangerous and don't really take up resources. Mummies and skeletons are fantastic occupants of ancient ruined cities, or as ambushes when they rise up from the dunes, sand spilling from their ribs. Or heck, even as troops for a necromancer chieftain; it'd be a strong tribe that could use the dead as their soldiers, increasing their fighting strength without increasing their water dependency.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Sounds like a good idea. the 90% world of desert is gonna be a LOT of landmass, assuming a planet the size of our own.

Also, when looking at terrain, I would subdivide the idea 'desert' into different terrains and such like rocky badlands, sandy deserts and the like.

 

[BabyBackRibs]

Sounds like a good idea. the 90% world of desert is gonna be a LOT of landmass, assuming a planet the size of our own.

Also, when looking at terrain, I would subdivide the idea 'desert' into different terrains and such like rocky badlands, sandy deserts and the like.

There is only one large continent in the world, and like you said it won't be all sand,there is a couple of mountain ranges and a few areas of badlands, and also the "glass lands" where there was a volcanic eruption and the flowing lava turned all the sand in an area to glass.

 

[SSquirrel]

There is only one large continent in the world, and like you said it won't be all sand,there is a couple of mountain ranges and a few areas of badlands, and also the "glass lands" where there was a volcanic eruption and the flowing lava turned all the sand in an area to glass.

In Rolemaster, one of the critical fumble results from spell casting was that a large area around you (I think 50' radius) was turned to glass. You could decide that the Glass Lands are a result of magical destruction. Maybe an ancient civilization was there and their enemies used power that had previously been considered too much. After the civilization was wiped away in the blink of an eye, all knowledge of the magic was destroyed and those who brought the destruction about were consumed in the casting.

Maybe there were some bits of the knowledge that escaped the purge and are currently being sought after and collected. Maybe the players are being hired to help find those pieces by someone who wants the power for themselves or by someone who wants the purge completed and the knowledge destroyed.