Pathfinder 1E Far Realms inspired campaign. Thoughts and Suggestions appreciated!

[Chronikoce]

@Stormonu That looks pretty cool. Didn't have a chance to read through it all yet but there is some interesting stuff there. I especially like that map you posted, I don't know if it will see play time in my current plans but I will definitely keep on hand for future use.

 

[FighterofGlory]

Don't forget any Dreamlands sourcebooks for useful material. The whole nightmare/dream should part of the Far Realms "experience".

 

[Chronikoce]

Don't forget any Dreamlands sourcebooks for useful material. The whole nightmare/dream should part of the Far Realms "experience".

I am not familiar with those sourcebooks. What sort of material do they have? Is it sort of like the dreamland stuff from Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan or a different dreamscape?

 

[Starfox]

While Lovecraft's dreamlands are grotesque, in my opinion they are not nearly as original as his mythos works. Regular early fantasy with a scent of opium and a touch of weirdness. But others seem to think otherwise - Pazio are very fond of the Gugs - dreamland giants - and used them in several adventures.

 

[FighterofGlory]

There is lots of adjustable bizarrerie, and this grotesque weirdness is the difference from the WoT.

http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Dreamlands

http://index.rpg.net/display-search.phtml?firstsearch=1&key=title&match=loose&value=dreamlands

 

[Kinak]

Although the Far Realms are very Lovecraftian, you don't necessarily need to bring his Dreamlands along for the ride. In fact, I probably wouldn't in a Far Realms themed campaign.

That said, I think the real benefit of using the Dreamlands is getting to use Leng.

The Plateau of Leng is a plateau and impossibly high array of mountains that exists primarily in the dreaming world, but also intersects with many real world locations (generally in high mountains, like Tibet or the Storval Plateau in Golarion). The original inhabitants were a race of spider-like beings who were overthrown by a race of twisted men.

The men (called Denizens of Leng in Pathfinder) make for pretty cool villains. They're mostly traders outside their native environment, so some wouldn't find them objectionable. They're great to have be behind the scenes of various organizations, funneling them money (in the form of large, blood red rubies) or magic. They expect slaves and favors for this bounty.

It's never explicitly said, to my knowledge, what they use the slaves for, but I assume they take them back to Leng and slowly twist them into more denizens. On a similar note, I like the idea that they can capture people's dreamselves and use that connection to slowly, horrifically warp their mind and body.

Anyway, if I were to use the Dreamlands in your game, I wouldn't use them as part of the Far Realms. In Lovecraft's works they're the home to the gods that are most like humans. You could have the Dreamlands serve that purpose there, instead of the normal set of planes, and have Leng be the Far Realms' beachhead in the gods' domain.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Starfox]

You must spread some Experience Points around before giving it to Kinak again.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I do NOT like the idea of having fiends be the ones granting PCs their divine spells. This does not involve any choice on the player's side - a character with several levels in a divine spellcaster class cannot really be expected to "just say no" and give up his powers. You have forced a PC to be a servant of evil without presenting it as an option or giving any alternatives. The coices above are interesting precisely because they are choices - if the players choose to stay on the straight and narrow, I feel you should let them. Still, it does enforce the alieness of the situation, the feeling that the rational rules of the universe are breaking down, so if you can present it properly it might work.

I got the impression from the OP that the fiends had chosen to cooperate with the gods, to submit themselves as servants/allies in the way a powerful celestial might. In this way, the gods themselves made the choice for the mortals, as gods are inclined to normally do anyway. The PCs still get to choose how to react, but this fiend power is a god-sanctioned act.

You could have a god or two choose to still tend to mortal affairs. I could see Olidammara or Vecna in the Greyhawk pantheon choosing to continue to tend to mortal affairs, perhaps in an attempt to usurp more followers to gain more power. If that god gambles that the rest of them will somehow fix this whole "destruction of the universe" problem, that god would take advantage of the weakened state of the rest of the gods and wage war at the best opportunity.

 

[Quartz]

I really dislike the idea of the spells for good characters coming from the evil outsiders: what about the good ones?

 

[Kinak]

I really dislike the idea of the spells for good characters coming from the evil outsiders: what about the good ones?

On the other side of the coin, that's probably my favorite part of the whole idea. It really drives home the point that things are incredibly desperate that the fiends are not only chipping in but that the good gods are letting them.

As far as the good outsiders, I'd say that they either jumped into the fray first, exhausting themselves, or just have been using their power over the ages to create positive change rather than using it to become more and more powerful as the fiends have been.

Cheers!
Kinak