How would you explain this for a campaign setting?
- Thread starter Najo
- Start date
robberbaron
First Post
Big hats.
And cloaks, red silk-lined, of course.
Then again, they could all look like Darth Vader, with some special racial armour.
And cloaks, red silk-lined, of course.
Then again, they could all look like Darth Vader, with some special racial armour.
The Cardinal
First Post
a) place the country to the north, but no too far (like somewhere between northern Scotland and southern Poland) - long dark winters are always great for adventures involving the undead
b) make the whole area mountainous - a mix between the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Carpathian Mountains. Then place dozens of very deep valleys and high cliffs within these mountains, thus creating large areas - covering whole towns & villages - where no sunlight will reach the ground for months at a time. Read this article about an italian village with a similar problem: http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1569442,00.html
c) add some large cave systems and underground rivers
d) don't forget lots of dark & ancient pine forests
e) also add some rare minerals and ores to the area, thus providing wealth for the vampires and a reason for greedy humans to go there
- voilá, you're all set, and no magic was needed (though I would still use the great idea of the vampire mecha / battle suits!)
b) make the whole area mountainous - a mix between the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Carpathian Mountains. Then place dozens of very deep valleys and high cliffs within these mountains, thus creating large areas - covering whole towns & villages - where no sunlight will reach the ground for months at a time. Read this article about an italian village with a similar problem: http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1569442,00.html
c) add some large cave systems and underground rivers
d) don't forget lots of dark & ancient pine forests
e) also add some rare minerals and ores to the area, thus providing wealth for the vampires and a reason for greedy humans to go there
- voilá, you're all set, and no magic was needed (though I would still use the great idea of the vampire mecha / battle suits!)
Andor
First Post
I would put a big volcano in the center is the region that vomits a huge column of smoke and ash which spreads out to cover the region like an umbrella of miasma. All the ash fall make the region very fertile, but the lack of sulight is a problem.
So crop growth in the region is dependant of special blessings from temple of the sun god. Which then gives you an uneasy power balance between the Vampire Lords with their control of the Volcano and personal might, and the Sun priests who the vampires need to keep their thralls alive, but who represent the only credible threat to their power.
So crop growth in the region is dependant of special blessings from temple of the sun god. Which then gives you an uneasy power balance between the Vampire Lords with their control of the Volcano and personal might, and the Sun priests who the vampires need to keep their thralls alive, but who represent the only credible threat to their power.
Perhaps, as a result of some massive spell or ritual cast by the Vampire Lords, the material plane and the plane of shadow intersect slightly in the geographic area where the country is located. That could open the door to some really cool encounters, environmental effects, etc.
The_Warlock
Explorer
Though it's second edition, Return to the Tomb of Horrors had a spell called Sunward created by a powerful Vampire Necromancer to protect herself and her thralls from real sunlight and light based spells.
Merely have the vampire overlords have a Epic Unhallow that covers the country that grants any vampire in it a Sunward-like effect at all times. To effectively dispel the sunward long enough to have most of the vampires destroyed by the sun you have to dispel the Epic Unhallow at it's source, the "Font of Blood" or some such thematic focus in their greatest citadel - probably a floating castle which keeps the capital city in shadow at all times just as a precautionary measure.
Merely have the vampire overlords have a Epic Unhallow that covers the country that grants any vampire in it a Sunward-like effect at all times. To effectively dispel the sunward long enough to have most of the vampires destroyed by the sun you have to dispel the Epic Unhallow at it's source, the "Font of Blood" or some such thematic focus in their greatest citadel - probably a floating castle which keeps the capital city in shadow at all times just as a precautionary measure.
Stormborn
Explorer
The region is in a permanent conjuction with the plane of shadows. A sun rises during the day, but it is known as the Umbral Sun. It is the color of dry bones and even at noon it does not heat the land much, but it is enough for scruby grass to grow to feed the goats and a variety of otherworldly plants. The people surive on what they can trade for plus native goat, pale fish from ice cold streams and pools, mushrooms, and strange looking fruit that thrives only in the Umbral Sun. The people are hearty and have more in common with those of the far north than the surrounding temperate lands. In spite of the hardships of living where they do the people love it. The overlords work hard to make sure that the people are healthy, which is more than most commoners can say. Unlike other lands they are not regularly invaded. No mosters roam the land save by permission of their masters, who do not abide poaching. Wealth can be gained from traders who come seeking goods that only are available in the weird transative state between planes, such as special ores, woods, plants, and cloth sun from the wool of the shaggy goats. They gladly pay their tithe of blood when the time comes and every child strives to serve their masters in the hope of one day earning the right to be turned. Call it an LE government with the majority of the citizenry LN.
