MortalPlague
Adventurer
**UPDATE** I have the setting roughly fleshed out, and I've presented the campaign guide to my players. They've come back with some terrific character concepts. More on page three here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...e-Rain/page3&p=6138264&viewfull=1#post6138264
**END OF UPDATE**
I'm going to be kicking off another playtest campaign in a few weeks. My previous campaign ( http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?332320-Playtest-Campaign-Second-Session-TPK ) was light on story and heavy on dungeon crawling. I'm looking to do something different this time around, something very thematic, and I've settled on Gothic Horror. I'm looking to films like Sleepy Hollow for inspiration. Here's my pitch:
Ten years ago, it started raining. It hasn't stopped.
The people of this town have learned to adapt. They grow rice and mushrooms now, and raise pigs and chickens. They wear long coats and leather boots, and wide-brimmed hats. Wooden covers have been built over the major walkways. But the rain persists. Some days, only a light trickle falls from the ever-present clouds. Other days it's a torrential downpour. Ditches line every street, many of them five or six feet deep. The river drinks enough water to prevent an actual flood, but it's rare to find a patch of earth not turned to mud.
Why don't people leave? Some have. But creatures move in the woods these days, and many carriages and wagons have been found shattered, ripped open, and bloody on the side of the road. Many more have simply vanished without a trace. There are precious few who brave the roads between the local towns, which are only a day's ride apart. But reaching beyond the rain? That's a week's travel, and few dare attempt the journey.
Even before the rains, this was a land the gods had forsaken. While wizards often ply their arcane craft, divine magic is nigh unheard of, the stuff of myth and fable. Wizards are a part of life, helping to build and maintain structures in this place. They are valued members of the community. It is not uncommon for academics to arrive, seeking to unravel the mystery of the eternal downpour. Most leave disappointed. Some remain, hoping their perseverance will be rewarded.
Divine magic can be disguised as arcane, so long as components are used. But everybody knows that mending the body through magic is witchcraft. And witches are dangerous.
As you can see, there's a lot of theme and flavor here already. I have some plans to use the rain to affect mechanics, but chiefly, I want to make this a memorable setting for a campaign. I want my players to feel the weary determination of the townsfolk, the ever-present gloom of the downpour, the terror of the unknown that lurks in the woods. I really want this place to come alive!
So I'm posting this here to generate some discussion. What would be some consequences of constant rain for 10 years? I've already considered that the crops would have to change, that coverings would be put up over the main walkways, and the fashion changes. Are there things I'm missing or overlooking?
Other Details:
I'm going to put an abandoned dwarven ruin beneath the town. One reason the drainage is so effective is that a large amount of water spills into the ruins and vanishes deep into the earth. The imagery of a dwarven ruin with waterfalls pouring down through it makes for a very compelling dungeon for future exploration.
I want to avoid turning this area into an everglades-type swamp. I want to keep things set in an evergreen / deciduous woods that's simply been poured upon for years. So there haven't been huge changes in the local fauna; no crocodiles or the like, for instance.
I haven't quite figured out what caused the rain yet. Currently, I'm operating on the idea that it's a long-standing curse, but if anyone's got a really creative idea, I'd love to hear it. Other ideas I've discarded is that it's a mad composer who needs the rain to finish his grand masterpiece, or it was a defense mechanism by a wizard to allow him to fight invisible creatures.
I'm torn on whether or not the PCs will wind up fixing the rain. On one hand, that would be a suitably world-altering thing for heroes to do. On the other hand, it feels a bit trite to have them come along and solve the big problem that's been eluding people for years. Either way, it wouldn't happen till at least 6th level or so.
I play to have the rain come into play mechanically. There will be creatures who heal while they're in the rain. Will the characters risk luring the beast indoors to dispatch it easier? There will be plenty of difficult terrain and loosened terrain (trees and rocks). And of course, in the heavier downpours, there will be limited visibility.
That's it so far. Thoughts?
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...e-Rain/page3&p=6138264&viewfull=1#post6138264
**END OF UPDATE**
I'm going to be kicking off another playtest campaign in a few weeks. My previous campaign ( http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?332320-Playtest-Campaign-Second-Session-TPK ) was light on story and heavy on dungeon crawling. I'm looking to do something different this time around, something very thematic, and I've settled on Gothic Horror. I'm looking to films like Sleepy Hollow for inspiration. Here's my pitch:
Ten years ago, it started raining. It hasn't stopped.
The people of this town have learned to adapt. They grow rice and mushrooms now, and raise pigs and chickens. They wear long coats and leather boots, and wide-brimmed hats. Wooden covers have been built over the major walkways. But the rain persists. Some days, only a light trickle falls from the ever-present clouds. Other days it's a torrential downpour. Ditches line every street, many of them five or six feet deep. The river drinks enough water to prevent an actual flood, but it's rare to find a patch of earth not turned to mud.
Why don't people leave? Some have. But creatures move in the woods these days, and many carriages and wagons have been found shattered, ripped open, and bloody on the side of the road. Many more have simply vanished without a trace. There are precious few who brave the roads between the local towns, which are only a day's ride apart. But reaching beyond the rain? That's a week's travel, and few dare attempt the journey.
Even before the rains, this was a land the gods had forsaken. While wizards often ply their arcane craft, divine magic is nigh unheard of, the stuff of myth and fable. Wizards are a part of life, helping to build and maintain structures in this place. They are valued members of the community. It is not uncommon for academics to arrive, seeking to unravel the mystery of the eternal downpour. Most leave disappointed. Some remain, hoping their perseverance will be rewarded.
Divine magic can be disguised as arcane, so long as components are used. But everybody knows that mending the body through magic is witchcraft. And witches are dangerous.
As you can see, there's a lot of theme and flavor here already. I have some plans to use the rain to affect mechanics, but chiefly, I want to make this a memorable setting for a campaign. I want my players to feel the weary determination of the townsfolk, the ever-present gloom of the downpour, the terror of the unknown that lurks in the woods. I really want this place to come alive!
So I'm posting this here to generate some discussion. What would be some consequences of constant rain for 10 years? I've already considered that the crops would have to change, that coverings would be put up over the main walkways, and the fashion changes. Are there things I'm missing or overlooking?
Other Details:
I'm going to put an abandoned dwarven ruin beneath the town. One reason the drainage is so effective is that a large amount of water spills into the ruins and vanishes deep into the earth. The imagery of a dwarven ruin with waterfalls pouring down through it makes for a very compelling dungeon for future exploration.
I want to avoid turning this area into an everglades-type swamp. I want to keep things set in an evergreen / deciduous woods that's simply been poured upon for years. So there haven't been huge changes in the local fauna; no crocodiles or the like, for instance.
I haven't quite figured out what caused the rain yet. Currently, I'm operating on the idea that it's a long-standing curse, but if anyone's got a really creative idea, I'd love to hear it. Other ideas I've discarded is that it's a mad composer who needs the rain to finish his grand masterpiece, or it was a defense mechanism by a wizard to allow him to fight invisible creatures.
I'm torn on whether or not the PCs will wind up fixing the rain. On one hand, that would be a suitably world-altering thing for heroes to do. On the other hand, it feels a bit trite to have them come along and solve the big problem that's been eluding people for years. Either way, it wouldn't happen till at least 6th level or so.
I play to have the rain come into play mechanically. There will be creatures who heal while they're in the rain. Will the characters risk luring the beast indoors to dispatch it easier? There will be plenty of difficult terrain and loosened terrain (trees and rocks). And of course, in the heavier downpours, there will be limited visibility.
That's it so far. Thoughts?
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