Mages of the Caribbean--story ideas

[Pielorinho]

hi, folks! I started a thread a few days ago about some rules questions with an upcoming game, and the answers were fantastic, so I thought I'd throw some of the story out there to get some ideas. The kinds of things I'd love to get would be:
-Interesting characters (villains especially, but also plot-hookers, potential allies, hindrances, and window dressing)
-Cool scenes
-Twists or feedback on my ideas so far.

Obviously, if you're one of the people who might play in this game, stay away from the thread.

So here's my basic idea so far:

The nascent technocracy will be one element, yes, but so will some other parties.

The way I'm going to handle the science mages is to say that they're deist utopians. They believe that their work involves understanding God's machine, and that other groups of mages are purposefully mystifying people about how the world really works. They want to spread a universal understanding of science; in doing so, they'll create an egalitarian (or meritocratic) society in which mages can't rule as tyrants, not even as behind-the-scenes tyrants, since the only "magic" that works will be the magic of science, and science will be available to everyone. But they know that mages are encouraging alternate explanations for the cosmos, and that these alternate explanations present the single greatest barrier to their utopian vision; as such, science mages devote a fair amount of energy to slaughtering other mages AND to wiping out entire societies that prove to be too resistant to the science worldview.


The game will use White Wolf's rules from Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade. As I discussed elsewhere, I expect dice-rolling to take a backseat to the story.

Here are some of my ideas so far:

Executive summary: players will start the game in 1670s Spain in a world with significant magical influences. They will play members of the COuncil of Nine (in white wolf terms, these are a group of mages who are more-or-less opposed to the scientific worldview). Events in the first few sessions will lead to their travel to the New World. This is a world in which Haiti has already undergone a slave revolt and whose rulers are trying to monopolize the (now multiracial) slave trade in the Caribbean. The Aztecs fought the Spanish to a standstill and still control a large empire in Mexico, an empire that's uneasily allied with Spain against rebellious states to the north and south. And, of course, pirates and buccaneers sail the seas, interfering with the Spanish Flotilla and having all sorts of swashbuckling adventures.

Outline of events:
-Through some hook or another, depending on PC backgrounds, the cabal ends up in Seville in September as la flota hoves into view. This is the flotilla of galleons and their guardians, carrying the treasure of the New World. Seville has a festival around this time (I assume--can't find historical verification, but it seems really likely that such an influx of wealth and horny sailors would lead to a festival), so the game will begin in citified chaotic fun.
-One of the items aboard a ship is a root/section of an exotic orchid. Really, really exotic, supercharged with magical energies. PCs will scheme, plot, and fight to get it away from the science mages who want to classify it and study it and thereby rob its power for themselves.
-The PCs will eventually make off with the orchid for their own magical stronghold, where their mentors will begin its study deep in the stronghold's labs.
-The science mages, having followed them back to the stronghold, will attack. PCs will be sent to defend the labs at all costs.
-The orchid, now in a location of strong magical power, comes alive, growing at a tremendous and violent rate, taking over the lab, PCs inside, and turning it into a jungle.
-By the time the PCs hack their way free of the jungle lab, they'll find themselves under the Caribbean sky, on an island. Nearby, a band of pirates has landed and are on the verge of open violence in a dispute about shares of plunder....

The first few sessions may be somewhat railroady, to get them to the Caribbean, but once they're there, I plan to make it a lot more open.

Again, I'd love ideas for characters (especially science mages, including personalities, powers, and what the powers look like), plot hooks (various ways to steer the PCs toward the McGuffin--I already have a prophecy idea, but that's pretty heavy-handed), cool scenes (if I can manage to get an old-fashioned mounted bullfight involved, you know I will, and at some point I might have a science mage chase the PCs in a rocket-launcher-equipped ornithopter), and feedback on the stuff up here already.

Oh--if you have ideas for good source material, I'm all ears. Currently reading the Captain Alatriste books and a great book on pirates, and have read On Stranger Tides; where else can I find good inspiration?

Thanks in advance, y'all!

 

[Umbran]

The way I'm going to handle the science mages is to say that they're deist utopians. They believe that their work involves understanding God's machine, and that other groups of mages are purposefully mystifying people about how the world really works.

So, basically, the Enlightenment, but supported by magical force, when necessary

Executive summary: players will start the game in 1670s Spain in a world with significant magical influences.

Question: Any particular reason for that decade?

-By the time the PCs hack their way free of the jungle lab, they'll find themselves under the Caribbean sky, on an island.

Question: Does the orchid have any backstory or raison d'etre other than to move the PCs to the Caribbean? Are you setting up a permanent portal between the locations?

Again, I'd love ideas for characters (especially science mages, including personalities, powers, and what the powers look like)

Hm. Major question for NPCs - does the game have an analog to M:tA's Nephandi?

 

[humble minion]

Just brainstorming here, while I should be doing something else...

Aztecs. The historical Aztec empire was actually absurdly young as far as empires go when the Spanish arrived. Young, expansionist, flexible. There's no reason that they would stay on the defensive - the entire Aztec economic system was based on military expansion followed by the levying of tribute, and their entire religious system revolved around having enough prisoners of war to sacrifice. What's Aztec magic like? What are aztec SHIPS like (hint, airborne stone ziggurats lifted bodily by gods and operating only so long as they are fuelled by continual human sacrifice)? What happens when the Aztecs try to go to Spain via the magic seed thing, in order to get their sacred treasure back? Bernal Diaz del Castillo is your #1 source here of course.

Something I can visualise the science mages doing - in the wake of the slave revolt, trying to develop a scientific explanation as to the reasons why black Africans are inferior to europeans and only fit to be slaves. And of course this being Mage, trying to spread this explanation as far as possible (especially among the slaves themselves) that it becomes the dominant paradigm, and therefore actually becomes true and self-perpetuating. I can just see some earnest frock-coated creep standing on the deck of a stinking slave ship, lecturing the chained victims about phrenology and racial 'types' in order to prime their minds correctly before they go ashore.

Some of the historical details of actual pirate life ight provide an interesting counterpoint. Many pirate ships were run on quasi-democratic lines, with the captain being elected from among the crew, and a very strong set of ship's rules being set in place regarding shares of treasure, duties, complaints, compensation for wounds etc. The egalatarianism here might provide an interesting counterpoint to that promoted by your science mages. 'If pirate I must be', about the life of Bartholomew Roberts, is a pretty good source.

There's a few other ideas, I'll jot them down as they become clearer in my head...

 

[Pielorinho]

So, basically, the Enlightenment, but supported by magical force, when necessary

That's about it. Hopefully this won't cross any lines, but the Order of Reason (at least its current leaders) are to a scientific utopia what Stalin was to a communist utopia. Nice idea, nasty execution.

Question: Any particular reason for that decade?

It can move a decade or two later. This is around the time when buccaneers really got going, about thirty years before the golden age of piracy, and things are really, really up in the air in the Caribbean. I think in 1691 there's a spectacular earthquake in the area, and if the game goes on long enough (and I'm certainly willing to do years of downtime), that might figure into the game.

Question: Does the orchid have any backstory or raison d'etre other than to move the PCs to the Caribbean? Are you setting up a permanent portal between the locations?

Well, it'll provide them with a permanent sanctuary (or whatever), if they buy those points, and it'll bring a lot of their laboratory equipment when it comes, and connections magic will be easier to do there (at least when the connection is made to their old Chantry in Spain). Beyond that, though, I haven't figured out what it is, and would love some ideas. One thought is that it'll bring them atop an abandoned Mayan pyramid on a Caribbean island, in a location where historically no such pyramid exists, but I haven't decided yet.

Hm. Major question for NPCs - does the game have an analog to M:tA's Nephandi?

There certainly could be; what are you thinking?

 

[Pielorinho]

Just brainstorming here, while I should be doing something else...

Sweet--thanks for giving me your procrastination time!

Aztecs. The historical Aztec empire was actually absurdly young as far as empires go when the Spanish arrived. Young, expansionist, flexible. There's no reason that they would stay on the defensive - the entire Aztec economic system was based on military expansion followed by the levying of tribute, and their entire religious system revolved around having enough prisoners of war to sacrifice. What's Aztec magic like? What are aztec SHIPS like (hint, airborne stone ziggurats lifted bodily by gods and operating only so long as they are fuelled by continual human sacrifice)? What happens when the Aztecs try to go to Spain via the magic seed thing, in order to get their sacred treasure back? Bernal Diaz del Castillo is your #1 source here of course.

Aztec magic is massive and epic and is fueled by tremendous blood sacrifices. Just keeping the empire going requires a constant flow of sacrifices, more than they can get these days through warfare. However, they have a rite that effectively transmutes blood into gold, and they use that gold to buy African slaves from the Spanish. The Spanish don't know what's done with those slaves and work really hard at maintaining their ignorance; all they know is that the Aztec gold is keeping their empire afloat, just as the slave trade is keeping the Aztec empire afloat.

Aztec magic must be performed on the pyramids, and its reach is more-or-less limited to the mainland; this accounts for their trouble expanding. I want them to be a dying empire, a parallel to Spain.

But I love the flying ziggurat idea for later in the game, and certainly there will be room for conflict over the orchid's pseudoportal!

Something I can visualise the science mages doing - in the wake of the slave revolt, trying to develop a scientific explanation as to the reasons why black Africans are inferior to europeans and only fit to be slaves. And of course this being Mage, trying to spread this explanation as far as possible (especially among the slaves themselves) that it becomes the dominant paradigm, and therefore actually becomes true and self-perpetuating. I can just see some earnest frock-coated creep standing on the deck of a stinking slave ship, lecturing the chained victims about phrenology and racial 'types' in order to prime their minds correctly before they go ashore.

Ew! I might use that, but that's dark. Currently I'm thinking that former slaves in Haiti managed to use some squirrelly magic to start the revolution early and are forming their own slave trade in the Caribbean, a nice color-blind trade; the Spanish are their main competitors in this regard. As such, there's a pretty strong belief that dark-skinned people can be plenty intelligent.

Some of the historical details of actual pirate life ight provide an interesting counterpoint. Many pirate ships were run on quasi-democratic lines, with the captain being elected from among the crew, and a very strong set of ship's rules being set in place regarding shares of treasure, duties, complaints, compensation for wounds etc. The egalatarianism here might provide an interesting counterpoint to that promoted by your science mages. 'If pirate I must be', about the life of Bartholomew Roberts, is a pretty good source.

There's a few other ideas, I'll jot them down as they become clearer in my head...

Yeah, the contrast between the bloodless utopianist science mages, and the bloody vicious anarchic pirates, is definitely something I'll want to explore.

Keep the ideas coming--these are great! Especially ideas for characters.

 

[Umbran]

It can move a decade or two later. This is around the time when buccaneers really got going, about thirty years before the golden age of piracy, and things are really, really up in the air in the Caribbean. I think in 1691 there's a spectacular earthquake in the area, and if the game goes on long enough (and I'm certainly willing to do years of downtime), that might figure into the game.

Okay. I was asking because Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is 1687. That should be a watershed moment for the Order of Reason. Mind you, Newton himself was not so much the first of the great scientists as he was the last of the Renaissance men, but that's aside the point.

For your stuff, the socio-political situation is perhaps more important than the precise state of the Order of Reason.

Beyond that, though, I haven't figured out what it is, and would love some ideas.

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that the orchid's travels are no accident - that it was sent by someone or something that wanted to forge a connection across the sea.

On the pyramids - an evocative reason why the Aztec magic works that way comes to mind. Maybe they aren't just structures of ritual importance - maybe the Aztecs themselves aren't doing the magic - the actual power is exerted by whatever is trapped within each pyramid. Maybe some past people (perhaps at the end of the Mythic Age, so their powers are no longer available) trapped things in there. The blood sacrifice provides sustenance for those entities. This would solidly explain why their abilities are localized, and they can't spread very far- they cannot create new pyramids of power.

Not all the trapped critters have to be the same - maybe some are good, some are evil, some are neither. Maybe they are the things the Aztecs worship as gods, or maybe the Aztecs only think that.

One thought is that it'll bring them atop an abandoned Mayan pyramid on a Caribbean island, in a location where historically no such pyramid exists, but I haven't decided yet.

See above - something in that pyramid either wants help from Europe, to escape to Europe, or to gain a foothold in Europe

There certainly could be; what are you thinking?

I'm thinking nephandi are some of the cooler villains around. Let me see if I can whip up a couple concepts...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) Check out my sig- there is a database for aquatic adventures that includes some really good ideas for critters, encounters, and what all, above, in, and under the water, archipelagos and so forth.

2) In the New World, you're going to see all kinds of things that are not present in the old...

I've used these guys myself and have shared them numerous times on these boards- they'd be perfect for the Everglades and Mississippi river valley...

"Anthropomorphic" Snapping/Alligator Snapping turtles.

Short & slow, but strong and very stocky, with a vicious bite & the obvious natural armor. They don't need boats- they're excellent swimmers- but often work as ferrymen, towing rather than poling them across. Those that own the riverboats that take goods the length of the rivers have a status much like caravan masters.

Their natural armor and physical power make them highly valued as soldiers on warships, though they lack the speed that pirates and raiders favor.

If they have a failing, it is their tempers, which are usually volcanic. They are patient- often to a fault- but when they lose their tempers, they completely lose it. Think, "long fuse" but "huge explosion"

As such, they are largely a tribal species, with strength in combat or success in trade being the measuring sticks for prominence in their society.

They love adorning themselves to show wealth or status. Warriors especially favor bright pigments (red is a favorite, followed by yellow) for painting symbols on their faces, and its not uncommon for them to have intricate designs etched into their shells. Those with etched shells sometimes paint the shells or the etchings (or both) to highlight the details.

* +4 Strength, -4Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
* Natural Armor: +4AC
* Natural Attack: Bite 1d8
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: they are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Poor Hearing: -2 to all checks involving hearing
* Crafty: +2 to all checks involving commerce (Appraise, Bluff, etc.). They may not be charismatic, but they know how to bargain.
* Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Base land speed is 20 feet. However, they can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations). Their land speed is also unaffected by mud.
* Base Swim speed is 30 feet. Like their land speed, they can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
* Hold Breath: While living a very aquatic life, they are air-breathers. However, they can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to six times their Constitution score before risking drowning.
* Rivercunning: They get a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice and avoid river hazards, like whirlpools, hidden sandbars or rocks, submerged logs or hidden river predators. One who merely comes within 10 feet of a river hazard can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and can use the Search skill to find traps involving rivers as a rogue can. They can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underwater as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
* Stability: They gain a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
* Because their diet consists largely of fresh or scavenged meat, they have built up a natural resistance to toxins, giving them a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
* Favored Class: Barbarian

In addition in this thread, Loonook and I took an idea from Kurt R. A. Giambastiani's Fallen Cloud saga (his Native Americans used medium-sized raptors {as in carnivorous dinosaurs} as steeds)...we morphed those dinos into Moas. You know, like Axebeaks and other large, predatory flightless birds.

 

[Herobizkit]

More. I want to know more!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just a thought: but for the improved unarmed strike thing, the OA Shaman would probably be a better full divine caster for New World cultures than the Cleric.

Other good choices would be the Kingdom of Kalamar Shaman, the Spirit Shaman, and the Favored Soul.

 

[Pielorinho]

Danny, those are very interesting ideas, but I'm not using D&D: I'm using White Wolf's system. Likewise, the sentient turtles are wonderful, but probably not suited to the flavor of the world I'm creating--they're more Robert Howard, less Tim Powers than I'm looking for, if that makes sense.