Enworld Co-OP Campaign Setting

[Sir Elton]

I've started a Community Effort to build a campaign setting. The original thread is linked here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=190032.

I've decided to start a secondary thread here since most people post here. So, the first Question is: what hook shall we use to get players to play in the setting and gamemasters to run it?

This is a thread for generating ideas for the hook, mind you. No polls yet.

 

[Nightfall]

How about no druids as nature clerics!

 

[Tonguez]

I'd love to see a late neolithic world with the secrets of metal only just being discovered (Iron is a magical material)

Mortals have advanced to establishing the first cities and some Divine Kings have arisen to create the first empires, primordial powers still walk the land, perhaps even claiming empires of their own, but mortal heroes (PCs) have yet arisen to keep the excesses of these living gods in check

Magic is yet to be codified and is unpredictable and dangerous (No Arcane Magic!)
Incarnum, Psionics, Divine Magic is all available though

 

[Nightfall]

Tonguez,

Admit it, you just want to do Midnight your way.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Magic is yet to be codified and is unpredictable and dangerous (No Arcane Magic!)
Incarnum, Psionics, Divine Magic is all available though

While I am unlikely to have much time to work on this world, I seriously advise against using any material not in the core rules, or at least in the SRD (such as the psionics rules, which are freely available).

Otherwise each potential contributor will require access to these optional books, which cuts down the number of people who can work on it. For example, I don't own Magic of the Incarnum, and have no desire to buy it in the foreseeable future, so I would face serious problems when trying to develop such aspects of the setting. At best, such optional rules should be considered "fringe elements" - they might be used in small parts of the setting, but are not integral to it.

Conversely, I think it would be a mistake to remove large parts of the Core Rules such as "arcane magic" - they represent a common denominator every contributor is likely to be familiar with. It's one thing to alter these aspects with some house rules, but quite another to do away with them entirely.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Here is my idea for the "hook" of the setting: An "alien invasion" theme - or rather, an invasion from another dimension.

Let's say a cluster of chuul have entered this dimension a couple of decades ago. At the time, no one paid them much attention - they were just one more weird monster among many.

But since then, humans discovered that these things breed rapidly - each female of the species can lay hundreds of eggs in each year, and they only take a few years to grow up. By now, they have overrun most suitable climates (anything that's wet and not too cold).

At the moment, their numbers seem to have stabilized. Humans and other native species have retreated to environments less favorable to the chuul (areas without frequent rain) and are trying to rebuild their civilizations that have suffered from wrecked trade routes - and are also trying to figure out how to fight the chuul.

The chuul, in the meantime, have fragmented into numerous "hives" that fight with each other over the best terrain. They form nations of sorts, though with very alien societies. However, a few hives seem to have started experimenting with weather- and terrain-altering magics that will make other areas more suitable to them, too... It remains to be seen whether humans will be able to fight them effectively now.


What do you think of this?

 

[Remathilis]

I think a post-apocalyptic world might be neat, something akin to a world "bombed back to the dark ages" literally. You could refine it kinda Final Fantasy style, Mad Max style, or something in between...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I think a post-apocalyptic world might be neat, something akin to a world "bombed back to the dark ages" literally. You could refine it kinda Final Fantasy style, Mad Max style, or something in between...

The "chuul invasion" scenario would have elements of this, since humans had to abandon many areas when they were fleeing from the chuul. However, other areas will be largely intact, if suffering from the breakdown of many trade routes.

 

[Sir Elton]

I like the Chuul hive idea. But we need more hooks.

Any difference in geography? That sort of thing?

 

[Sir Elton]

I'd love to see a late neolithic world with the secrets of metal only just being discovered (Iron is a magical material)

Mortals have advanced to establishing the first cities and some Divine Kings have arisen to create the first empires, primordial powers still walk the land, perhaps even claiming empires of their own, but mortal heroes (PCs) have yet arisen to keep the excesses of these living gods in check

Magic is yet to be codified and is unpredictable and dangerous (No Arcane Magic!)
Incarnum, Psionics, Divine Magic is all available though

A late neolithic world is good, but everyone doesn't have Magic of Incarnum.