Help me build a setting from the ground up!
- Thread starter Desdichado
- Start date
Desdichado
Hero
Cool! Feel free to comment here, or via PM or e-mail.
Sir Whiskers
First Post
Not sure if you're a history buff, but your bare-bones description immediately made me think of the Age of Colonization. Imagine a more advanced civilization, with all the psychological baggage that entails, setting up colonies in more primitive areas. Some themes:
Sub-saharan Africa: jungles, zulus, enormous mineral wealth if you can just get it out, disease.
South/Central America: established theocracies, human sacrifice, abandoned temples (some swallowed by the jungle, some recent), lots of gold and gems in those established societies.
Asia: a decadent kingdom (the Middle Kingdom, aka China) or a warrior kingdom (Japan) with tons of fanatic warriors, more advanced medicine, lots of ancient lore which has been forgotten or ignored, lots of corruption.
North America: abundant mineral wealth, many tribes (most of which fight each other when not trading).
The colonies might encourage adventurers (think conquistadors) to make up for lack of numbers - the natives may outnumber the colonists hundreds to one. Diplomacy and intrigue among the colonial officials, government, and native powers could be interesting.
Also, if you use the "unexplored continent" idea, the party should run into a lot of creatures they've never seen before. In addition to the fun (for the GM) of throwing new things at them, smart parties will find a way to make money capturing some of the creatures (only to find that some of them don't stay captured...
)
Sub-saharan Africa: jungles, zulus, enormous mineral wealth if you can just get it out, disease.
South/Central America: established theocracies, human sacrifice, abandoned temples (some swallowed by the jungle, some recent), lots of gold and gems in those established societies.
Asia: a decadent kingdom (the Middle Kingdom, aka China) or a warrior kingdom (Japan) with tons of fanatic warriors, more advanced medicine, lots of ancient lore which has been forgotten or ignored, lots of corruption.
North America: abundant mineral wealth, many tribes (most of which fight each other when not trading).
The colonies might encourage adventurers (think conquistadors) to make up for lack of numbers - the natives may outnumber the colonists hundreds to one. Diplomacy and intrigue among the colonial officials, government, and native powers could be interesting.
Also, if you use the "unexplored continent" idea, the party should run into a lot of creatures they've never seen before. In addition to the fun (for the GM) of throwing new things at them, smart parties will find a way to make money capturing some of the creatures (only to find that some of them don't stay captured...
)
ConnorSB
First Post
You don't seemed to have discussed races, beyond humans.
And I am actually working on a steampunk like setting as well.
But here's my premise:
Take earth, but replace certain cultures with magical races. Specifically, all the different tribes of europe were actually the monsterous humaniods.
Rome fell late, around the 1500s. Guns are now in wide circulation, as steam is on the rise. The romans once used magic to control the world, but technology outstripped them, and they have retreated to Italy, and in fact, using powreful magics, broken it away from the mainland into a city state where all divine magic comes from the emperor, himself a demigod of arcane magic, and arcane magic is the bread and butter of Roman lives.
Then take all the big countrys of the 17 and 1800s, and assign them a fantasy race.
Rome and Italy: Humans.
Spain: Elves
France: Orcs
Germany: Gnomes
Russia: Dwarves (Communist Dwarves!)
England and Ireland: Kobolds and Lizardmen.
And there is crazy steampunk technology, so... The spanish armada is made of beautiful flying steamships, etc.
And I am actually working on a steampunk like setting as well.
But here's my premise:
Take earth, but replace certain cultures with magical races. Specifically, all the different tribes of europe were actually the monsterous humaniods.
Rome fell late, around the 1500s. Guns are now in wide circulation, as steam is on the rise. The romans once used magic to control the world, but technology outstripped them, and they have retreated to Italy, and in fact, using powreful magics, broken it away from the mainland into a city state where all divine magic comes from the emperor, himself a demigod of arcane magic, and arcane magic is the bread and butter of Roman lives.
Then take all the big countrys of the 17 and 1800s, and assign them a fantasy race.
Rome and Italy: Humans.
Spain: Elves
France: Orcs
Germany: Gnomes
Russia: Dwarves (Communist Dwarves!)
England and Ireland: Kobolds and Lizardmen.
And there is crazy steampunk technology, so... The spanish armada is made of beautiful flying steamships, etc.
Desdichado
Hero
I am a history buff, but I'm curious why you think of the Age of Colonization. Despite the moral bankruptcy of the Colonial powers, there's no denying that those were vibrant, dynamic times, while I envision more of a decadent, stagnant society miring in its own metaphorical filth.
Sir Whiskers
First Post
Joshua Dyal said:
A few things - the description of the cities plus steampunk made me think of the early Industrial Age, especially the slums of England, as well as The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. At the same time this was happening, the scramble for Africa was occurring (which was the last act in the whole colonization bit). You want established cities, but also wildlands, which again led me to sub-Saharan Africa and the "lost continent" idea. Sounds like I took these points in a different direction than you were thinking of.
For something along the lines of urban decay, one source is Asimov's Foundation series, especially the stuff on Trantor. Imagine Trantor, centuries later, only there were no Foundations to limit the barbarism that followed. You could design a city so large that it's essentially it's own continent, with different nations, city-states, or whatever, but with certain shared infrastructure that requires cooperation among the various groups.
Just thinking out loud...
Chaos Apostate
First Post
ConnorSB said:
Hey, I take offence at that statement!
*Chitters and scurries off, wagging his rat tail furiously, to find a mob of his fellows with which to swarm this impudent human*
ConnorSB
First Post
hey, I'm irish myself. You can in fact check out how this campain world is working out at my story hour
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70936
I'm not actually running a campain as of yet, but I'm posting some short fiction as a "this could be the campain and look how cool everything is" kinda thing.
And hey, at least you arn't a french orc.
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70936
I'm not actually running a campain as of yet, but I'm posting some short fiction as a "this could be the campain and look how cool everything is" kinda thing.
And hey, at least you arn't a french orc.
MQP
First Post
First thing I would do is figure out who is in charge. After all, xxxpunk practically requires some sort of rebellion against those who hold the reins of power, right? All the things you want to keep PCs from doing, make it be the ruler's edict. It gives them a reason to rebel.
If you want to limit travel to other cities, it's because the Emperor says you can't do it. Perhaps he fears the spread of ideas from one location to another; he wants to keep the populace ignorant, thus more easily controlled. Something like Steamjacks from the IK could patrol the wildernesses between cities, with orders to kill anything they come across.
Those in power travel via dirigibles. Gotta love dirigibles.
Read Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. And then check out the graphic novel Honour Among Punks by Guy Davis.
Where do you see Druidism fitting into this?
I tried a PbP game with a similar setting a couple of months ago, but then I was incarcerated and had to be away from the boards for a while... it was called The Astronecrotic Heresy, and it's on this board; you could check that out for ideas if you like. Or not.
MQP
If you want to limit travel to other cities, it's because the Emperor says you can't do it. Perhaps he fears the spread of ideas from one location to another; he wants to keep the populace ignorant, thus more easily controlled. Something like Steamjacks from the IK could patrol the wildernesses between cities, with orders to kill anything they come across.
Those in power travel via dirigibles. Gotta love dirigibles.
Read Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. And then check out the graphic novel Honour Among Punks by Guy Davis.
Where do you see Druidism fitting into this?
I tried a PbP game with a similar setting a couple of months ago, but then I was incarcerated and had to be away from the boards for a while... it was called The Astronecrotic Heresy, and it's on this board; you could check that out for ideas if you like. Or not.
MQP
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