I'm running a Barbarian-centric game. Mine is set during Conan's Hyborian Age. The PCs are Cimmerians, like Conan. But, unlike Conan, these characters are not wanderers. Our campaign is about Cimmerians who live in Cimmeria. I've set up a sand-box type affair, and my players have freedom of movement. It's not telling what will happen in the future. But, we just finished our first story-arc, which took place totally in Cimmeria, in and around the PC's village. I don't expect the second story-arc to leave the confines of Cimmeria, either (this is a living, breathing game, though....no telling what the players will do).
You can find a lot of my rantings concering this game around enworld, mostly in the Legacy form.
This Thread I wrote as an idea-brainstorming place. It's got a mish-mash of ideas. You might find some of it useful.
It does have some merrits. But what do you do with it? In a novel, you can only reflect so much on the lonelyness of the wilderness, and in an RPG hunting for food and killing other predator only gets you so far before it loses steam.
Hm... I thought like this at first, then I realized that there is a TON of stuff to do with a barbarian-focussed game. Besides the obvious stuff of wife raiding, maurading across the border, being attacked by enemy clans, blood feuds, surviving harsh winters, and such, I realized that I had to think a little harder to come up with story ideas. But once I broke out of the standard D&D way of thinking, I realize that there really is a lot to do with a campaign like this.
Wandering in to trouble, protecting a not quite defend-able tent village, defending an ancestral burial site or other holy place, butting heads with other nearby tribes, fighting over established territories, clearing out unwanted orcish tribes, getting your own tribe through the mountain pass before the early winter kills everyone, stumbling into ruins, deciding to abandon territories to an encroaching evil from a petrified forest instead of trying to stop it.
It could just be an arc of mini explorations, establishing things, stockpiling for when the seasons change again, and building up before the weather changes enough for them to move on to the next mini exploration.
Exactly.
The first story arc in my campaign told the story of how the PCs became accepted as adult warriors within the clan. I started the game with the PCs at age 12. Those early game sessions, I skipped a year each time, "OK, a year has passed since last game session. You're 13 now..."
During our first five sessions, the action never left the village. There was lots of roleplaying. I created a ton of NPCs, and I endeavored to make them all individual and interesting. I created the PCs' family, the clan chieftain and the war chief (two separate positions in this clan), a warrior who was the PC's primary trainer, even some kids their own age to scuffle around with.
I devised an obstacle race around the village (not unlike what was seen in the recent Conan movie--but note that my race happened a year before that movie came out!). The PCs had to roll dice and use their skills (Jump, Swim, Climb) to complete it. They competed against the other PCs plus some NPCs children. From there, we did a hunting trip with a more powerful NPC. And, we played through the village festival that welcomes Summer. During the festival, I had games, like axe throwing, that the PC's could play. For example, the axe throwing competition featured a shield given to the winner.
That's another thing. I started the PCs with absolutely no equipment. The PCs had to scrounge for their stuff. So, this shield I mention was highly sought after.
When I thought the time was right, with the players used to a barbaric life and totally "into" the challenge of becoming a warrior for the clan, I started a a more traditional adventure. It was as the festival was coming to a close. The players had taken a shine to one of the NPCs they had come to know--a little girl, about age 12 (the PCs were age 14-15 at this point). The PCs were out away from the village gathering fire wood when they heard her scream.
They rushed into that direction and found....an upturned wagon. The mules pulling it dead and dying. The old NPC woman who took care of the girl was lying on her back, next to the cart. The savages who attacked her had ramed javelins through her palms, stapling her to the ground.
And, the little girl was missing....
It was a rival clan. No doubt. The Grath. They had taken the little girl.
One of the events that happened during the sessions in the village was that a hunting party found a Grath warrior lurking out in the woods. They brought him in and tied him to a pole. His teeth were sharpened to points, but other than that, he looked like a normal Cimmerian.
The only shortcut to becoming a man amongst this clan was to defeat another in single combat. I wanted to show the PCs that this was possible. So, I had the tradition play out in front of them. One of the NPCs that they liked, Branoc, challenged the Grath warrior.
The clansmen took the Grath and put him into the arena--which was nothing but a space cleared of rocks. As the entire clan circled the arena to watch, Branoc entered. Both were given spears, and the two NPCs fought to the death in front of the PCs and the rest of the clan.
I didn't know who would win. I just played out a combat. As it turned out, Branoc killed the Grath. Now, that NPC is a bit of a hero among the villagers, and now looked at as an adult warrior among the clansmen.
So, the players specualted, maybe the girl was taken because of what had happened to the Grath.
At this point, though, the PCs just didn't know.
They spied some Grath and took off after them. This lead to a chase and the rest of the adventure. The PCs were gone two weeks. They ventured down through the Blood River Valley, populated by creatures--not quite men--from an age long forgotten. They went through the Witched Wood, where time is not constant. (I'm condensing a lot of adventure and several sessions of play, here.) They caught up with some Grath and battled them at their campsite on the Blood River. Then they followed a trail to the Howling Cave, where they encountered more Grath. They saw the dead walk. They fought a demon. And, they rescued the little girl.
The last part of the adventure saw them racing across the Cracked Lands, with the demon and his undead minions on their tails. They endured hurricane force winds and rain that caused flash floods the the deep, narrow canyons. Finally, they returned back to the village, alive, with the girl safe.
And, the PCs were all hailed as heroes. They were recognized as men among their clansmen.
As we get into our next story-arc, I'm going to skip about 3 years. The PCs will be about 18 years old now. I'll describe how the relations with the Grath has kept deteriorating to where now, the two clans about to go to war.
I've got a lot of ideas for the players. I'll throw them out there during the game and see which ones they bite on. Those that they do, I'll develop into the second story.
So, yeah, I disagree. I think there's a lot to do with a group of barbarians. In my campaign, I've only used the Barbarian character class (so far) since both the PC's clan and the Grath are barbarians.
I think that this campaign is as deep and rich and interesting as any other I've played. In fact, it's kind of refreshing doing something "non-standard" and staying away from the civilized lands.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Age-Conan-Legends-Hyborian-Adventures/dp/0441012922/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348249232&sr=8-4&keywords=conan+kern"]This trilogy of novels is a story set during Conan's Hyborian Age, in Cimmeria, about a clan of Cimmerians (Conan doesn't appear), and the characters in these books never do venture into civilization, either.[/ame] Although much different from my game, this is another example of how an epic campaign can be constructed to feature barbarians in a barbaric enviroment.
It's good reading, too, in case you're in the mood.
Put your thinking cap on, and you'll never run out of stories that can be set in the wilderness.
EDIT: A sandbox is all about setting up an idea, waiting for it to become interesting, then expanding upon that idea later. Here's what I'm thinking for story-arc 2 in my campaign:
In the first story-arc, I established the prachaun grule. This is a set of seven monolithic stones, planted in a circle, very near to the PC village. In fact, the name of the village is Seven Stones Ridge.
Well, as I said before, I'm going to skip about 3 years between the story-arc. Think of the story-arcs as seasons on a TV show. The PCs will be about 18 years old now.
I'm thinking of starting off this second arc with a bang--a real one. A nasty storm errupts around Seven Stones Ridge. The sun is blotted from the sky. In the noon-day darkness, lightning crackles through the clouds. Rain beats down on the clans men. Wind bends trees. All sorts of debris is airborn. Thunder explodes like the voice of Crom. A wagon is blown over on its side. A shovel takes flight and impales itself in the side of a tree.
The PCs, all warriors now, run around, dodging airborn objects, squinting to keep the dirt from their eyes, trying to lock things down--trying to keep the firwood from flying away, taking care of the pigs in the pen, moving the smith's supplies in doors, making sure the old and infirm are OK in the face of the weather.
Then there is an explosion the likes of which none in the village have ever witnessed before. An arc of lightning blazes from the sky to the center of the prachaun grule. Dirt, rock, and debris are thrown 30 feet into the air. A shock wave knocks clansmen to the ground. The actual dirt is on fire for a moment before it is extinguished by the heavy rain. When the site clears, the PCs will see that the teeth--the rocks--of the prochaun grule have all been blasted. A chunk of one of them flew clear across the village into the roof of the smithy.
Investigating after the storm clears, it becomes evident that much of the prachaun grule has been blasted into non-existence. There isn't enough debris around the village to account for what's missing of the seven large stone monoliths.
The clan chief will consult Rutcrana. This is an old, old clanswoman--some say a hundred years old--blind in both eyes and bent over with age. She is the clan oracle. And she will tell the chief what has happened.
Sorcerery.
Vile, dark sorcery is afoot.
Her divinings tell her that the Grath have allied with...her sister. She has a sister!? This will be surprising to the players, who have assumed that Rutcrana is unique to their clan.
I smell war on the horizon. War between the clans. It is finally time for the Foxmen to bring it to the Grath.
Blood Feud.
With the PCs in the middle of all of it.
At least, that's what I'm thinking today. It needs more development. And, of course, a simple action by the PCs during the game can send this line of thinking on a complete right turn.
But, this is the beginnings of my next idea for my babarian centered game.
