Before I get started here, I'd like to take a moment to say Hi.
Uh, Hi.
This will be my fourth campaign as Dungeon master. The first, I simply ran a series of modules until my players were high level and retired their characters, the second, was a short-term collaborative effort with another DM, and the third a project that I scrapped for various reasons. All of these previous campaigns were set in Forgotten Realms, which I like, and know, but My players also know it, and have a little problem separating player and character knowledge (yes, I know that as the DM I can change anything the way I like it, but I'd have to change most everything, which led me to this campaign idea)
This will be my first attempt at building a completely new Game world from the ground up. The basic Idea is that there are currently no Gods in existence in my game. (This isn't entirely accurate, as I'll explain later.) A powerful Human-led Mageocracy has taken control of the known world, enslaved the "lesser" races, (dwarves, elves, Halflings, gnomes, etc.) and Order currently reigns. This will be a very high magic setting, with magic and magic items being very common. There is a school in the capital city, which trains ?enforcers?. Enforcers (any names at this point are tentative at best) are an elite sort of internal operative, who defend borders from monsters, squash rebellions, etc.
Now, This world wasn?t always without Gods. They used to be as active as on any d&d world, Until a Powerful wizard, named Ackazar Struck a deal with a powerful demon lord who offered Godhood to Ackazar. You see, in this world, divine power is directly culled from the worshipers. No worshipers, no god. Ackazar slowly built an order of power-hungry wizards who would help him topple other churches. Ackazar?s wizards plotted to topple those of other gods. He had several brilliant strategists, who helped him pit churches against each other. Good, Bad, Ackazar didn?t care, if they were clergy, they died. There were two, distinct branches of Ackazar?s organization. The crafty, plotting, destructive branch, which concerned itself with the downfall of religion, and a governmental branch, which created an attractive community for those left over from the fallout of the many wars that were sweeping the land. The only requirement for entry into Ackazar?s apparent sanctuary was that one swears off faith in any god before entering ?To help keep the peace.? It was said. Both operations were funded by a rare collaboration between several demon-lords.
As time went on, Ackazar?s small sanctuary grew, and as it grew, more and more people heard of ?the land without war? and flocked to his banner. At this time, Ackazar began his propaganda campaign. The message was simple, and seemingly innocent at first, ?You don?t need gods, when you have Ackazar.? Over a period of several years, the campaign twisted the message to the hate of all deities. Ackazar portrayed good gods as unforgiving perfectionists, requiring too much of their followers, for too little favor. Evil gods were easy enough to demonize. One year, at winter solstice, Ackazar invited his subjects to congregate and burn all of their remaining holy objects, ?To sever the bonds? that gave the gods power over them. Some historians postulate that this was the night that Ackazar ironically ascended to godhood
In the following years, Ackazar rallied an army, and began to sweep up what little remained of once-mighty kingdoms, and tyrannical regimes. Word of his mercy caused the largest of armies to kneel before him. All one had to do was take a quick 2 weeks at a ?re-education? center, and they were free to live at any of the growing number of communities established by Ackazar and his followers. Those that refused to submit were slain to the man.
Soon, Ackazar had conquered all of the great human settlements, and focused on rebuilding the war-torn areas of his new empire. Also during this time, he rooted out and destroyed of as many gods as he could find, most of whom had been reduced to mortals, thanks to his efforts to rid them of worshipers.
For several years, Ackazar fortified his position, building many schools to educate people in the ways of mage craft. Restrictions were placed on alchemy, and gunpowder was outlawed. Ackazar wanted his people to be dependent on him, and to further that goal, he developed many magical devices that made people?s lives easier Life was good for the common man. Magical devices allowed farmers to be more efficient, which led more people into the cities. Life was good for the common man, but all this came at a terrible cost.
Back in the days of gods, when a mortal died, his soul would travel to a sort of astral waiting room, where, if he worshiped a god, or even held strongly to some ideal, he would be picked up by some agent of that god, and whisked off to the realm of that deity where he would continue to worship and serve his deity until the end of time. If the man truly believed in nothing, he was cast into the abyss, where he eventually became a demon. Usually, the heavenly beings, or a few thousand millennia Blood war with the beasts of Hell kept the demons in check, but with no good gods to tend the gates of heaven, it has closed completely, with the few beings capable of keeping the tanari from ravaging the planes trapped inside. Worse yet, now that there are no gods to claim the souls of the dead, every mortal that dies on the material world becomes a terrible demon in the Abyss, no matter who they were in the mortal world. While Ackazar could do something about this arrangement, he continues to hold up his end of his bargain with the demon lords and do nothing.
News of Ackazar?s complete control over the human realms, and the more disturbing tales of the slaying of the human deities spread to the demi-humans. They began to doubt that their own gods would hold up, should the humans decide to continue their deicide. When the seed of doubt had started to sprout in the elves, Ackazar began a new campaign of propaganda, this time showing how the elves and other demi-humans planned to force the people of his empire to bow to their strange, dark gods. The humans bit, and all it took was a staged attack on a small farming community for them to be moved to war.
The battles raged for many years, but in the end, the humans conquered the demi-human races one by one. It would be wise to note, however, than though demi-human clerics and paladins had lost all of their power, not a single god was slain. Most speculate that they simply left when their worshipers lost faith, Refusing to die forsaken like their human counterparts. While the war raged on, Ackazar was betrayed by one of his own. Llathia was an Elf sorcerer, who had adventured with Ackazar, and as Ackazar had come to power, became a trusted general, advisor, and bodyguard. When she learned of Ackazar?s attempt to cripple and enslave her people, she began to plot against him in secret. While the other generals led troops towards the elves capital city, Llathia stayed in wait in Ackazar?s chambers, hoping to catch him off guard. She certainly did, bursting forth from a closet, unleashing some of her most potent death magic. Llathia had long been the superior spell-caster, and during the years, she had only seen Ackazar?s political and military assent, she failed to recognize that he had in fact become a god, and as the dust settled, she saw a furious Ackazar before her.
In the end they were all enslaved or scattered. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and gnomes, all can now be bought and sold on the market as property.
Not long after, a new ?cleansing? program was initiated. All sorcerers, and all of those with a strong talent for sorcery would be destroyed. Some of his finest wizards developed spells that were cast on infants in the womb. While they would be healthier, stronger, and more resistant to harmful magic, those that would grow to be sorcerers were stillborn.
So, that?s pretty much it. A high magic game world where Life is good (If you?re human), but the afterlife is a pretty terrible place to be. (not to mention the demons running around unchecked in the cosmos) The characters are magically enhanced right out of the womb, so I?ll be counting them as at least one challenge rating higher than normal (slight stat increases, and a minor save bonus). The characters will start as level 1 enforcers (I?ve really got to get a better name for that) running missions for the mageocracy, they?ll learn of the resistance and what they?re trying to accomplish, and hopefully they?ll forgo the easy life of the mageocracy, ascend to Godhood, and kill Ackazar. (*whew* how hard could that be? ; )
Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.
Uh, Hi.
This will be my fourth campaign as Dungeon master. The first, I simply ran a series of modules until my players were high level and retired their characters, the second, was a short-term collaborative effort with another DM, and the third a project that I scrapped for various reasons. All of these previous campaigns were set in Forgotten Realms, which I like, and know, but My players also know it, and have a little problem separating player and character knowledge (yes, I know that as the DM I can change anything the way I like it, but I'd have to change most everything, which led me to this campaign idea)
This will be my first attempt at building a completely new Game world from the ground up. The basic Idea is that there are currently no Gods in existence in my game. (This isn't entirely accurate, as I'll explain later.) A powerful Human-led Mageocracy has taken control of the known world, enslaved the "lesser" races, (dwarves, elves, Halflings, gnomes, etc.) and Order currently reigns. This will be a very high magic setting, with magic and magic items being very common. There is a school in the capital city, which trains ?enforcers?. Enforcers (any names at this point are tentative at best) are an elite sort of internal operative, who defend borders from monsters, squash rebellions, etc.
Now, This world wasn?t always without Gods. They used to be as active as on any d&d world, Until a Powerful wizard, named Ackazar Struck a deal with a powerful demon lord who offered Godhood to Ackazar. You see, in this world, divine power is directly culled from the worshipers. No worshipers, no god. Ackazar slowly built an order of power-hungry wizards who would help him topple other churches. Ackazar?s wizards plotted to topple those of other gods. He had several brilliant strategists, who helped him pit churches against each other. Good, Bad, Ackazar didn?t care, if they were clergy, they died. There were two, distinct branches of Ackazar?s organization. The crafty, plotting, destructive branch, which concerned itself with the downfall of religion, and a governmental branch, which created an attractive community for those left over from the fallout of the many wars that were sweeping the land. The only requirement for entry into Ackazar?s apparent sanctuary was that one swears off faith in any god before entering ?To help keep the peace.? It was said. Both operations were funded by a rare collaboration between several demon-lords.
As time went on, Ackazar?s small sanctuary grew, and as it grew, more and more people heard of ?the land without war? and flocked to his banner. At this time, Ackazar began his propaganda campaign. The message was simple, and seemingly innocent at first, ?You don?t need gods, when you have Ackazar.? Over a period of several years, the campaign twisted the message to the hate of all deities. Ackazar portrayed good gods as unforgiving perfectionists, requiring too much of their followers, for too little favor. Evil gods were easy enough to demonize. One year, at winter solstice, Ackazar invited his subjects to congregate and burn all of their remaining holy objects, ?To sever the bonds? that gave the gods power over them. Some historians postulate that this was the night that Ackazar ironically ascended to godhood
In the following years, Ackazar rallied an army, and began to sweep up what little remained of once-mighty kingdoms, and tyrannical regimes. Word of his mercy caused the largest of armies to kneel before him. All one had to do was take a quick 2 weeks at a ?re-education? center, and they were free to live at any of the growing number of communities established by Ackazar and his followers. Those that refused to submit were slain to the man.
Soon, Ackazar had conquered all of the great human settlements, and focused on rebuilding the war-torn areas of his new empire. Also during this time, he rooted out and destroyed of as many gods as he could find, most of whom had been reduced to mortals, thanks to his efforts to rid them of worshipers.
For several years, Ackazar fortified his position, building many schools to educate people in the ways of mage craft. Restrictions were placed on alchemy, and gunpowder was outlawed. Ackazar wanted his people to be dependent on him, and to further that goal, he developed many magical devices that made people?s lives easier Life was good for the common man. Magical devices allowed farmers to be more efficient, which led more people into the cities. Life was good for the common man, but all this came at a terrible cost.
Back in the days of gods, when a mortal died, his soul would travel to a sort of astral waiting room, where, if he worshiped a god, or even held strongly to some ideal, he would be picked up by some agent of that god, and whisked off to the realm of that deity where he would continue to worship and serve his deity until the end of time. If the man truly believed in nothing, he was cast into the abyss, where he eventually became a demon. Usually, the heavenly beings, or a few thousand millennia Blood war with the beasts of Hell kept the demons in check, but with no good gods to tend the gates of heaven, it has closed completely, with the few beings capable of keeping the tanari from ravaging the planes trapped inside. Worse yet, now that there are no gods to claim the souls of the dead, every mortal that dies on the material world becomes a terrible demon in the Abyss, no matter who they were in the mortal world. While Ackazar could do something about this arrangement, he continues to hold up his end of his bargain with the demon lords and do nothing.
News of Ackazar?s complete control over the human realms, and the more disturbing tales of the slaying of the human deities spread to the demi-humans. They began to doubt that their own gods would hold up, should the humans decide to continue their deicide. When the seed of doubt had started to sprout in the elves, Ackazar began a new campaign of propaganda, this time showing how the elves and other demi-humans planned to force the people of his empire to bow to their strange, dark gods. The humans bit, and all it took was a staged attack on a small farming community for them to be moved to war.
The battles raged for many years, but in the end, the humans conquered the demi-human races one by one. It would be wise to note, however, than though demi-human clerics and paladins had lost all of their power, not a single god was slain. Most speculate that they simply left when their worshipers lost faith, Refusing to die forsaken like their human counterparts. While the war raged on, Ackazar was betrayed by one of his own. Llathia was an Elf sorcerer, who had adventured with Ackazar, and as Ackazar had come to power, became a trusted general, advisor, and bodyguard. When she learned of Ackazar?s attempt to cripple and enslave her people, she began to plot against him in secret. While the other generals led troops towards the elves capital city, Llathia stayed in wait in Ackazar?s chambers, hoping to catch him off guard. She certainly did, bursting forth from a closet, unleashing some of her most potent death magic. Llathia had long been the superior spell-caster, and during the years, she had only seen Ackazar?s political and military assent, she failed to recognize that he had in fact become a god, and as the dust settled, she saw a furious Ackazar before her.
In the end they were all enslaved or scattered. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and gnomes, all can now be bought and sold on the market as property.
Not long after, a new ?cleansing? program was initiated. All sorcerers, and all of those with a strong talent for sorcery would be destroyed. Some of his finest wizards developed spells that were cast on infants in the womb. While they would be healthier, stronger, and more resistant to harmful magic, those that would grow to be sorcerers were stillborn.
So, that?s pretty much it. A high magic game world where Life is good (If you?re human), but the afterlife is a pretty terrible place to be. (not to mention the demons running around unchecked in the cosmos) The characters are magically enhanced right out of the womb, so I?ll be counting them as at least one challenge rating higher than normal (slight stat increases, and a minor save bonus). The characters will start as level 1 enforcers (I?ve really got to get a better name for that) running missions for the mageocracy, they?ll learn of the resistance and what they?re trying to accomplish, and hopefully they?ll forgo the easy life of the mageocracy, ascend to Godhood, and kill Ackazar. (*whew* how hard could that be? ; )
Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.
