Dungeoncraft - 4th edition style
- Thread starter Delgar
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Quickleaf
Legend
Great thread, and I really enjoyed Part III.
Suggestion (Stronghold): Ancestral ghosts of the present day siege invaders were bound to the wall by the founder of the community (the PC's ancestor) to capitulate an invading general into a tentative truce. These ghosts, prisoners of war, were hung above the wall as punishment for a broken treaty, and their spirits magically compelled to protect against their former countrymen.
Suggestion (National): The founding hero vanished from history, though a rebirth/salvation myth about "him" has some people looking for the signs of his prophesied return. In fact, the hero was a woman whose memory was deliberately altered by the ruling patriarchy. Her princely lover was attributed with her deeds after choosing to seek her out in the Shadowfell. His spirit in turmoil, he has delusionally come to believe he was indeed the hero the patriarchy made him out to be & the people have come to believe, and his presence haunts the wall. He is something of a ghostly prince of local undead - the mindless ones (commoners) find meaning in being part of their "prince's" court while the few sentient ones (nobility) manipulate their "prince" to their advantage.
Suggestion (Stronghold): Ancestral ghosts of the present day siege invaders were bound to the wall by the founder of the community (the PC's ancestor) to capitulate an invading general into a tentative truce. These ghosts, prisoners of war, were hung above the wall as punishment for a broken treaty, and their spirits magically compelled to protect against their former countrymen.
Suggestion (National): The founding hero vanished from history, though a rebirth/salvation myth about "him" has some people looking for the signs of his prophesied return. In fact, the hero was a woman whose memory was deliberately altered by the ruling patriarchy. Her princely lover was attributed with her deeds after choosing to seek her out in the Shadowfell. His spirit in turmoil, he has delusionally come to believe he was indeed the hero the patriarchy made him out to be & the people have come to believe, and his presence haunts the wall. He is something of a ghostly prince of local undead - the mindless ones (commoners) find meaning in being part of their "prince's" court while the few sentient ones (nobility) manipulate their "prince" to their advantage.
Nytmare
David Jose
Part IV - Gods, Myth, and Faith
I like the idea of a polytheistic pantheon with one "head honcho" god. The basic run of things is a continuous game of king of the mountain, where there are century long plots and machinations where everyone is vying for the throne. The timeframe for the game is right at the cusp of a shift of power between whatever evil god(s) took over the throne, and the broken ranks of the good guy gods.
I like the idea of a polytheistic pantheon with one "head honcho" god. The basic run of things is a continuous game of king of the mountain, where there are century long plots and machinations where everyone is vying for the throne. The timeframe for the game is right at the cusp of a shift of power between whatever evil god(s) took over the throne, and the broken ranks of the good guy gods.
What I'm stuck on myself is trying to give the community some sort of Way to help breath some life into my community.
Here is an excerpt from Ray:
Ways
The second step to breathing life into your base is to invent at least one interesting custom or cultural characteristic that sets it apart from anywhere else on the campaign world. Some examples from history and legend include the following situations:
The inhabitants of ancient Sparta were highly-trained warriors who would rather die than surrender.
Ancient Alexandria housed a library that contained a good portion of all the world's knowledge.
King Arthur's legendary court of Camelot was home to the Knights of the Round Table, an order of noble warriors sworn to protect the land and its people.
These are all good examples of the sort of thing you're looking for. Just one simple unique fact goes a long way toward making the area seem alive in the minds of the PCs. Other possibilities include: a region internationally known for the games it throws annually, a town that houses a holy oracle, or a city in which any violent act is punishable by death.
Here is an excerpt from Ray:
Ways
The second step to breathing life into your base is to invent at least one interesting custom or cultural characteristic that sets it apart from anywhere else on the campaign world. Some examples from history and legend include the following situations:
The inhabitants of ancient Sparta were highly-trained warriors who would rather die than surrender.
Ancient Alexandria housed a library that contained a good portion of all the world's knowledge.
King Arthur's legendary court of Camelot was home to the Knights of the Round Table, an order of noble warriors sworn to protect the land and its people.
These are all good examples of the sort of thing you're looking for. Just one simple unique fact goes a long way toward making the area seem alive in the minds of the PCs. Other possibilities include: a region internationally known for the games it throws annually, a town that houses a holy oracle, or a city in which any violent act is punishable by death.
Nytmare said:
Part IV
Okay so now I need to come up with a couple of secrets for the new part of the game world that I added. So I need one for the stronghold itself and one for the community as a whole. I like WolvOrine’s ideas so I’m going to steal them.
Community Secret: In truth the community is not ruled by a descendant of the hero as he was turned near the very end. But a small group of people decided that because of his efforts they would pretend a descendant of his would rule over the community. They also started up a small group of researchers who have spent several centuries trying to discover the what, why, how and when of the undead plague and try to reverse the process.
Stronghold Secret: Lying deep beneath the stronghold is the re-animated corpse of the fallen hero. His closet comrades couldn’t bear to destroy him or let him go. He had done so much to save as many people as he could. Locked away deep beneath the surface, his howls can be heard 1 week out of every month, when the moon is new and all undead get whipped up into a frenzy. Although those that walk the wall only hear a faint wailing, those that work in the dungeon trying to make sense of it all have to plug their ears to prevent deafness.
Ways: The people of this community are a hardy one. They survived and continue to thrive against all odds. Everyone is martially trained from childhood on and all must give at least 2 years of service, but many give more. It’s an honor to serve and cowardice is not tolerated. Of course those that show a talent for either the Arcane or Divine are also taught how to use their skills militarily. They are taught from a young age, that those that die defending those that can’t will be rewarded in the afterlife. It is very common to hear the saying “Live free, and Die Well!”
Well there you have it, a few more secrets to add to my campaign. Next time I’m going to look at the religion of my world and try to flesh out a few things there. This is really a weak spot for me, so I look forward to any ideas anyone has, and as always any comments and suggestions are welcome.
To perhaps add a bit to the awesome creative juices flowing in this thread, here is what I'm doing with the ideas that I'm eagerly borrowing from earlier posts.
A wicked sorcerer set in motion a ritual that would elevate him to godhood, and he would rule over everything within 1,000 miles of his keep. The ritual was terrible and evil, and a set of heroes set out to stop him. They advanced into his keep, past his guards and traps, and found him in his casting chamber, and slew him, thinking that they would prevent him from completing his act. In fact, they were merely pawns in his great gambit, for in order to complete the ritual, he had to die. He rose, to survey his domain, and found that he too had been cheated. The ritual did make him powerful, powerful like a god. But he was trapped. The ritual broke off a piece of the world, and sealed it into a dark place beside the Shadowfell. He and all of the people in the piece of the world that he'd broken off were trapped. He was the lord of a dead land, where the dead no longer stayed dead, and intelligent beings no longer gave birth. The heroes who thought to stop him were trapped in this land as well. Rifts from the Shadowfell open from time to time, and the dead pour into this place.
I'm still tweaking some aspects of which direction I want to go.
Are the former heroes the key to the dark sorcerer's destruction? Is he keeping them alive and secreted away, knowing that he cannot die while any of them still live?
Its a loose framework, but it gives me the points of light, a big bad guy, and tons of room good story.
A wicked sorcerer set in motion a ritual that would elevate him to godhood, and he would rule over everything within 1,000 miles of his keep. The ritual was terrible and evil, and a set of heroes set out to stop him. They advanced into his keep, past his guards and traps, and found him in his casting chamber, and slew him, thinking that they would prevent him from completing his act. In fact, they were merely pawns in his great gambit, for in order to complete the ritual, he had to die. He rose, to survey his domain, and found that he too had been cheated. The ritual did make him powerful, powerful like a god. But he was trapped. The ritual broke off a piece of the world, and sealed it into a dark place beside the Shadowfell. He and all of the people in the piece of the world that he'd broken off were trapped. He was the lord of a dead land, where the dead no longer stayed dead, and intelligent beings no longer gave birth. The heroes who thought to stop him were trapped in this land as well. Rifts from the Shadowfell open from time to time, and the dead pour into this place.
I'm still tweaking some aspects of which direction I want to go.
Are the former heroes the key to the dark sorcerer's destruction? Is he keeping them alive and secreted away, knowing that he cannot die while any of them still live?
Its a loose framework, but it gives me the points of light, a big bad guy, and tons of room good story.
Ydars
Explorer
Its strange Delgar, but as soon as I read your post, I felt that the secret of your world and your PoL should be this;
that the PCs actually died long ago and their souls were sucked into the Shadowfell. But they were captured by a powerful creature (the BBEG) who consumes the souls of the dead to stave off death. Recently, the Raven Queen discovered this monsterous act and sent her minions to destroy him and his chattels (the PCs,whom she assumes know what is going on). So the BBEG captured some recently dead souls (the PCs), wiped their memories of their death away and used his powers to bring them back to life. It seems, to the PCs, like something terrible has happened to their world, but in fact this is just a dark mirror of the real world.
So the undead assaulting the PCs world are actually just trying to restore the balance, and prevent the PCs and their master from consuming more of the souls of the dead. All the food and drink made by the city is infused with harvested souls. So at the beginning of the campaign, the PCs are unwittingly doing evil.
Later, the BBEG could travel back the real world, with the PCs honour bound to follow and destroy him. If you really want to twist the PCs heart strings, a second revelation could be that the BBEG actually has some mission of great importance in the real world that is required for its survival and he is actually doing evil solely for the greater good.
I suppose I always like the "secret" of the campaign to be something that turns the PCs conception of reality completely on its head.
If you want something different to make the PoL seem special in the early campaign, have it the only place in the whole world where the sun shines; the positive energy harvested from the dead souls has been used to open a permanent gateway to the real world. So the only sunlit lands in the Shadowfell are around the PoL.
that the PCs actually died long ago and their souls were sucked into the Shadowfell. But they were captured by a powerful creature (the BBEG) who consumes the souls of the dead to stave off death. Recently, the Raven Queen discovered this monsterous act and sent her minions to destroy him and his chattels (the PCs,whom she assumes know what is going on). So the BBEG captured some recently dead souls (the PCs), wiped their memories of their death away and used his powers to bring them back to life. It seems, to the PCs, like something terrible has happened to their world, but in fact this is just a dark mirror of the real world.
So the undead assaulting the PCs world are actually just trying to restore the balance, and prevent the PCs and their master from consuming more of the souls of the dead. All the food and drink made by the city is infused with harvested souls. So at the beginning of the campaign, the PCs are unwittingly doing evil.
Later, the BBEG could travel back the real world, with the PCs honour bound to follow and destroy him. If you really want to twist the PCs heart strings, a second revelation could be that the BBEG actually has some mission of great importance in the real world that is required for its survival and he is actually doing evil solely for the greater good.
I suppose I always like the "secret" of the campaign to be something that turns the PCs conception of reality completely on its head.
If you want something different to make the PoL seem special in the early campaign, have it the only place in the whole world where the sun shines; the positive energy harvested from the dead souls has been used to open a permanent gateway to the real world. So the only sunlit lands in the Shadowfell are around the PoL.
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