Points of Light approach to setting

[Filcher]

Ydars,

Agreed. Not trying to derail your work.

For what it is worth, Beowulf makes for a great PoL source text. Grendel & mom are whooping on a settlement, and it takes a hero to save the day.

Also, for discussion, a point of light doesn't have to be "good aligned" (or whatever 4E does), it just has to be civilized. If I was born into a town ruled by a tyrant of a wicked wizard, I'd put up with it knowing that the alternative (dinner with the orcs) was worse.

This presents a moral quandary for the PCs --- defeat the BEG, and whoops, you just condemned a town to a death sentence at the hands of the first giant to stumble by.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Actually that is going to be a part of my game.

The current Aristocracy is run by a race of Pandorans (think Aberrations) they are extremely cold, racist, etc. However they maintain reality and keep various even more hideous abominations at bay.

So should the PCs lie and not tell the rest of the World about Pandorans and them ruling reality (they rule in the shadows) or try to fight them and risk the consequences.

 

[TrainedMunkee]

I understand about suspending disbelief etc but the reason I am asking this question is that I believe the answers we come up with will spur us to better, more interesting games.

And PLEASE don't talk about ecosystems; my day job is running a Biology lab at a University. All ecosystems thrive on complete mayhem and murder. In an ecosystem, you don't need a reason to attack something; if it is weak you take advantage because that is how nature works.

I want to see how far we can get in making PoLs work in order to see what exciting and adventure laden answers we can come up with. This is not a place to start discussions about simulationism etc that seem to start in every thread on this board.

I too have training in Biology. I changed majors after an internship, I wanted to feed future children, and not be in school for eight years.

Back on topic.

I mentioned an academy in my setting, because the PC races would have to be at the top of the food chain. The talent necessary to attend this academy would be rare. It would be the PCs duty to solve the problems that crop up like, dragons leveling villages. Meanwhile the villagers would have to survive in the caverns underneath the village and the dragon would move on to easier prey. 30 Kobold minions and a few new non minions shouldn't pose much of a threat to a village of hundreds or even a hundred.

 

[vagabundo]

That is an AWESOME idea.

"We go back to town to restock and resupply!"

*rolls dice*

"You find a smoking ruin, a bunch of crows and giant tracks leading north to the Wilds. What do you do?"

If the rate of Pols being extinguished exceeds the rate of creation of new pols then we have a decreasing pol campaign.

Probably some of the best POL campaigns will be at a balance, the PCs will be the fulcrum of the story, the fate of the world literally depends on you!!!...

 

[Fallen Seraph]

If the rate of Pols being extinguished exceeds the rate of creation of new pols then we have a decreasing pol campaign.

Probably some of the best POL campaigns will be at a balance, the PCs will be the fulcrum of the story, the fate of the world literally depends on you!!!...

Well that is why with my original post, I said isolated villages. As such these would be say... 100-200 people, hardly something that would rock the boat in terms of the balance, it would simply make it seem like both sides are pushing at the borders so to speak.

 

[Scipio202]

One could make one of the major threats to the PoLs highly cyclical: every hundred years a swarm of <demons><undead><locusts > sweep across the land and wipe out most of the PoLs. Between cycles the monster levels are more "normal" but the world is still only dotted with PoLs because they have to keep rebuilding. The PCs begin at the cusp of a new wave - with ever increasing numbers of monsters to fight, and possibly for paragon/epic play they're supposed to fend off the height of the threat and/or stop it from happening in the future.

 

[Harshax]

Actually I disagree. No RL world example is a good example for a D&D PoL world because the kind of darkness threatening D&D PoL just doesn't exist in RL. Even the darkest RL darkt would be considered bright light compared to mediocre D&D darkness

The Old West might not be the most horrific PoL campaign to you, but from the perspective of the Indians and their way of life, I could paint a way darker story.

Speaking of Dark, if you don't think the Dark Ages is comparable horrifically to a D&D fantasy world, then I think you're missing the point. Having your friends and family suddenly running madly through the street covered in boils and then drop dead is way scarier and threatening than a giant brute with a club. Oh no! Here comes a knight (giant brute with a sword), telling me how it is, taking my crap, and running me through. Oh no! Here comes a priest (skinny brute with a cross) telling me god is punishing me and he needs to punish me more with this whip to get forgiveness. Oh no! Here comes a doctor (creepy brute with a mask) telling me the only way to avoid the plague is to rub this dung mixed with who knows what into my hair. Oh no! Here comes a black rat (tiny brute with the plague) biting my kids and eating all my stored grain. Oh no! Here comes a mini ice age (colossal brute with a cold) making it hard for me to grow enough food so that I can feed myself and my family.

That's a freaking scary setting! Even if there are knights instead of orcs, cultists instead of cultists, doctors instead of necromancers, and rats instead of gibbering mouthers. Now imagine all those tangible cause are correctable and you're the adventurer that's going to do it.

 

[Henry]

Well that is why with my original post, I said isolated villages. As such these would be say... 100-200 people, hardly something that would rock the boat in terms of the balance, it would simply make it seem like both sides are pushing at the borders so to speak.

It works for Warhammer Roleplay quite well, in fact. I see nothing wrong with letting an Inn, village, whatever fall to evil/chaos, and then letting the PC figure out what to do about it; indeed, I'm thinking the revenge taken by the PCs on behalf of their razed home town would make an excellent bridge to Paragon Tier.

 

[Ydars]

This is going really well now; we have some great ideas. I love Scipios cyclical threat post. Now that is a great campaign!

 

[Harshax]

This is going really well now; we have some great ideas. I love Scipios cyclical threat post. Now that is a great campaign!

So the paragon tier would be the players against the leaders of the hoard who have cast their eye on the Jewel of Civilization (what everyone is fighting for), and then the Epic tier would be hopping to the appropriate plane to put a final stop to it. Maybe this happened a hundred or thousand years ago. The adventurers back then (of which there exists awesome relics that bear their names) could only shut the valve off. Maybe this time around, the heroes can end it once and for all.