D&D 4E Homebrew setting I'll use for 4e

[Rechan]

No comment to my stuff at the top of the page?

 

[Rel]

No comment to my stuff at the top of the page?

No slight was intended. I was actually addressing some of it obliquely with my replies to other posters. Specifically:

As I read this, the first thought occurring to me was things happening to the Plateaus themselves. For instance, a kingdom utterly freaking because the plateau is starting to sink.

I mention that I like this idea, relatively speaking. Rather than having the plateaus sinking I'm having the Mist rise. Also (I'll mark this as a spoiler just in case my player ever happen in here...)

Spoiler

I'm probably going to have the Mist Demons actively sapping beneath one of the large cities to collapse the entire thing into the Mist. This may cause a region-wide panic and the dispaching of many exploration parties to determine if this is happening near other major cities.

Another is some method of actually moving the plateau in a horizontal direction, like how tectonic plates move continents. This would be an epic event, and the idea being that if two plateaus drift close to one another, the people on them are likely going to war. (In fact, it could be an Ill Omen for war). Same with some splitting apart!

Another thought: you mention 'mist whales'. Well, there is an old legend about an island that is on the back of a giant turtle. Same idea, here; there is a living entity with land on its back, that moves through the mist. Although it could be more akin to those giant long-necked dinosaurs, that it just walks across the land, instead.

Most of these plateaus are close to a hundred miles across in one dimension or another. That's rather on the large side for many of them to be moving around on the backs of turtles and dinosaurs short of truly EPIC size. Still it's a neat idea and I think I might instead modify it such that one of the very small plateaus somewhere is on the back of some sort of creature. Maybe a huge land crab of some sort!

Remember that the plateaus can also function like mountains: instead of it being just one big square with sheer sides, it can have varying levels along the sides. If it's tall, people might have caves carved in the sides/buildings built into the cliff walls (to save space, too!) It can also be hollow; mining and tunnels that go into the plateau sounds reasonable. In fact, many people might live underground, so that they get the maximum amount of usage out of the surface. Of course, there might be thinks lurking Under the surface. Underground might also be an answer to food: fungus, lichen, and other things that can be farmed underground.

These are all definitely in as ideas I'll be using. Again I was lumping these comments in with some of Ydars stuff I commented on above.

I really like the diving bell idea, I had a similar idea. Being able to explore a site in the mist (and the threat of your suit getting damaged, or running out of air, or getting stuck in some sort of cave-in) adds a whole new level of tension!

I'm leaning away from this as the normal mode of Mist exploration in favor of a magical solution. But I like the idea of there being isolated pockets of civilization who have no access to those Ritual ingredients that have developed in a more technological way in order to deal with the Mist issue.

SPACE is a huge commodity. So, you might have some kingdoms with severe rules/superstitions about over-population. Ever read the short story 'The Lottery'? Every year, the population of this kingdom might throw someone over the side of the plateau, or basically force them to walk down into the mist, to 'appease' it. Or, to simply be a population control. Imagine the horror of the PCs coming across a festival, and the culmination is chucking someone over the edge/forcing them at crossbow point to walk down into the mist. (It could even be a punishment if you have too many children. Which might be another plot hook; the PCs have to smuggle a pregnant woman, the mother of one too many kids, out of town).

As I describe above, I'm thinking that population pressures aren't this tough in general (yet). However this is too juicy an idea to pass up, especially if I use it on a small, isolated plateau that has no means of transporting surplus population to other places.

The way the Mist is set up, it actually gives me a "Mournland" vibe (The Mournalnd being an area of cataclysm in the Eberron setting). It could even be an opportunity for Warforged to make an appearance (That might be too much for your game, but WF appearing, having somehow been created inside the mist, and are living in there, unaffected) might seriously effect your campaign (sort of like meeting aliens).

I am familiar with the Mournland and I see the comparison. The Warforged idea is also a neat one. I'm not using them as a player race to start with but the idea of somebody somewhere (maybe the same people that use the "diving suit" tech) having developed them as a way to salvage stuff from the Mist because it doesn't warp them as it does living things is very intriguing. Good stuff.

 

[garyh]

Have you read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy? As the title indicates, it prominently features mists, which in this series come out at night, scare the bejesus out of the common folk, and is rumored to hide lots of nasty thingses that'll eat ya. Naturally, there's a lot more really going on that you might be inspired to use, but I'll not spoil things here, as it's a great series.

 

[Rechan]

Thanks, Rel. Your game sounds very intriguing and fun. Good luck!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another race that would work well for mist-dwelling are Dwarves. RAW, they already have a high resistance to poison. All you need to is boost it a bit.

Which brings me to another thing this reminded me of: The Classic Trek episode "The Cloud Minders." (The Cloud Minders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

This is the episode in which the dwellers in the cloud city reap all the benefit of a mineral mined by "Troglodytes"- the process of mining which mineral releases toxic gasses.

Porting that into your setting, the mineral in question would have to be of high value- iron, perhaps, but possibly something like the Cavorite I mentioned earlier. The Dwarves would be miners, relatively or completely immune to the toxic gasses that the mining process released. But this mining-liberated gas gradually also drove the other races higher and higher up the mountaintops...

Coupled with the Warforged, it could be that the 'Forged are the actual miners, while the Dwarves maintain their "traditional" role of master forgers and craftsmen.

 

[Jack7]

Rel, have you considered the idea that the Mist is no longer lethal or toxic, it is just believed to be? Like an edge of the world, that is not really what it appears to be. For instance, at one time most of the mist was perhaps lethal, but over time much of the toxic element(s) dissipated or bled off into space, or were burned up by solar radiation. But it is still believed to be completely toxic. And actually only a very thin layer is really toxic or semi-toxic.

There could therefore be a habitable area underneath, at ground and sea level and indeed, over time, maybe an whole other, completely unknown world exists underneath, maybe that is distantly heard from time to time but not recognized for what it is. (Noises are heard but they are misinterpreted because no-one can believe anything really lives in the Mist, and actually they don't live in the mist, they live underneath the Mist.) The world underneath, which would probably be cold and/or wet, depending upon other environmental circumstances might hear noise from near the plateaus, but does not recognize it for what it is for it too believes the Mist is impassable and completely toxic.

Then you'd have a method for how the mist effects the world. Is it really a nearly impassable barrier? Can it really separate the ground world from the plateau world? Are there force sin both worlds that do not desire the other to make contact? Why? Are there forces, individuals, or organizations in both worlds who desire contact?

Surely the plateau world would like access to the resources of the world below. Surely the world below would like to trade with or exploit the plateau world? Surely both worlds would like to find a way to entirely dispel or dissipate the Mist? Surely someone wants to use the mist for their own purposes, or even as a weapon?

Is the mist even what it appears to be? How was it created, by what force or forces, or by whom or by what agents? Is it inert, in constant motion, or even partially alive? Is it a chemical barrier, a magical one, a technological one, a natural one, or a mixture of elements and aspects?

How can it be overcome? Manipulated? Controlled? Destroyed?

You could go in a lot of different ways if you keep the idea flexible instead of defining it absolutely at the beginning (at least to yourself, give the players the idea that it is a real barrier but slowly introduce clues that it might not be). As for what you eventually make of it, it could very well be far more interesting to both you and your players if you both figure it out as you go along rather than write the whole script at the outset.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Rel, have you considered the idea that the Mist is no longer lethal or toxic, it is just believed to be? Like an edge of the world, that is not really what it appears to be. For sentence, at one time most of the mist was perhaps lethal, but over time much of the toxic element(s) dissipated or bled off into space, or were burned up by solar radiation. But it is still believed to be completely toxic. And actually only a very thin layer is really toxic or semi-toxic.

There could therefore be a habitable area underneath, at ground and sea level and indeed, over time, maybe an whole other, completely unknown world exists underneath, maybe that is distantly heard from time to time but not recognized for what it is. (Noises are heard but they are misinterpreted because no-one can believe anything really lives in the Mist, and actually they don't live in the mist, they live underneath the Mist.) The world underneath, which would probably be cold and/or wet, depending upon other environmental circumstances might hear noise from near the plateaus, but does not recognize it for what it is for it too believes the Mist is impassable and completely toxic.

There are 2 words for that idea: Suh. Weet.

 

[Rel]

Rel, have you considered the idea that the Mist is no longer lethal or toxic, it is just believed to be?

Well I admit that you have an interesting idea there. But I've kind of built a lot of the campaign world around the very real fact that the Mist is a physical manifestation of magical Chaos and it warps and mutates that which it comes into contact with (for an extended duration). This is partly established because not all of the plateaus sit safe and high above the "Mistline". Many of them have slopes that trail right off into the Mist. And those who live in these areas have seen the lurking Mist Demons who will sometimes prey upon those who dwell outside it. Other times they seem bent on kidnapping people and dragging them off into the Mist to become warped in the same ways the Mist Demons are.

However I do have an idea that I recently came up with that includes some elements of what you are talking about. I'll put them in a spoiler block so that my players don't accidentally read this...

[sblock]I'm thinking of having an area that was never enshrouded in the Mist in the first place, possibly on the far side of the planet. Because the Mist is magical Chaos, it can be destroyed or absorbed (harmlessly) by this special material that I'm calling "Lawstone" (working title). It's one of the major elements of a race that abhors the use of all magic, possibly because they thought or had foretold that magic would bring about the end of the world. Turns out they were spot on.

Anyway, so they work these Lawstones into certain shapes (I'm thinking it has to be a flawless cube) and this sets up some kind of Anti-Magic/Anti-Chaos resonance. Then they drag these cubes out across the countryside (they are big, not unlike the Easter Island Heads) and set them up near the edge of the Mist. And they draw the Mist in and destroy it. This process results in the Mist being pulled into the Lawstone kind of like a tornado coming to a narrow funnel at the base, which is LOUD. And since this race of beings (haven't thought up much else about them so far) has set up dozens, maybe hundreds of these things around the edges of their domain, it makes quite a racket. So I'm calling the region the "Thunderlands".

I've not quite determined how exactly this will ultimately be used in the campaign. I'm supposing that if the PC's get to a high enough level that they might somehow travel to the Thunderlands and discover this secret. The denizens of the Thunderlands may regard them as allies against the Mist or they might consider them to be abominations since several of the PC's use magic. It'll be especially interesting to see the Warlock's take since his "Infernal Pact" directly involves the Mist Demons. Presumably if these "Lawbringers" ever accomplished their mission and abolished the Mist that it would bring an end to that character's power. Or maybe he'd have to try and build his own private hell to house his Mist Demon buddies. Possibilities, possibilities...[/sblock]

 

[Jack7]

Spoiler:

Rel, that seems like a very interesting idea, full of intrigue and long-term plot possibility.

I wouldn't necessarily exclude other ideas, especially at first when the players may not know what they are really facing (that is your idea is big enough for several possibilities to be occurring all at once), but it seems to me that this spoiler idea has a lot of potential, and I have personally always been keen on the idea that magic is by its very nature "dangerous." (More like nuclear radiation in many respects than electrical power.) I'm also a big proponent of fantasy settings being in and of themselves inherently magical, even deeply connected to the people who inhabit them.

Other than that and in more detail I won't mention, for obvious reasons.
But, if you play this thing right then it could make for a fascinating milieu for your players filled with many interesting elements.

Good luck.

 

[Rel]

Just as a further update, this campaign starts in less than a week. The PC's will be as follows:

Astavian - Dragonborn Paladin of Ryukaar (Dragonborn god of vengeance)
Eshik - Dragonborn Ranger and "Edgerunner"
Mialain - Elf Cleric of Melora
Zanne - Human Warlock, Infernal Pact

A few quick notes on this eclectic bunch:

The PHB gods were the gods of the "old", pre-cataclysmic world. When 99% of their worshipers died and all of their shrines and temples were buried under the Mist, they vanished. Some believe that they were destroyed and others that they simply abandoned the world. Either way people lost the faith.

But with the coming of the Mist and its magic and chaos, new beings rose to power. Some were Celestials that live atop the high, airless peaks that came down and saved communities on the brink of extinction. Others were Mist Demons who made bargains with civilized groups to offer them tribute for protection. And then there were occasional individuals who rose to such heights of power as to become effectively demigods. The underlying theme here is that the deities of the new world are local and often very present. As in, "My god lives in that tower right over there. I met him the other day and he blessed me."

Mialain the Cleric however has gotten a vision from some entity claiming to be Melora, goddess of Nature. Now as far as she knows Melora has been gone or dead for over 500 years. Is she back? Is this really her? Whatever the case, Mialain has manifested powers granted by this entity and given a mission to "spread the faith". How will this sit with existing local deities?

Astavian the Paladin worships Ryukaar, the Right Hand of Drakaru, one of a triumvirate of Dragonborn deities that date all the way back to the fallen Dragonborn Empire. These deities were also believed to have vanished in the cataclysm. But around 50 years ago these three powerful Dragonborn appeared and proclaimed themselves to be these gods. They set about gathering the Dragonborn and spreading their worship. The clearly have the ability to grant their followers powers but are these simply imposters who have assumed a mantle of divinity? And if they are the genuine article, where have they been for half a milenium? So far they are keeping that info to themselves.

Zanne hails from the Empire of Vond, ruled by the Warlock Demigod Vond. Many believe he is the very first Warlock and not many dispute that he's the most powerful of them. Zanne derives her powers from her pact with powerful Mist Demons. Is she using them for her own ends? Or are they using her? Is there some kind of debt that these Demons will call due in this life or the next? Is the Paladin going to have a problem with any of this?

Stay tuned to find out!