Using some "history".

[Baron Opal]

I was going to fork this from the history thread, but I couldn't find it. I've been tinkering with making / remaking a new campaign world and I thought that I would look to some paleantology for some inspiration.

~ 130,000 y.a.
Ice Age begins.

Remains with complete Neanderthal characteristics are found that date from this age. Proto-Neanderthal remains with partial characteristics are found dating up to 600,000 y.a.

* * * *

The failing of the Squamous powers; the Naga Kings fail in their draconic mandate and are cast down.

Primordials war. Ymir’s victory.

~ 50,000 y.a.
“Great Leap Upward” After long, slow development of stone tools, the rate of innovation accelerates.

* * * *

Adoption of the mortal races by the divine.


~ 30,000 y.a.
Youngest Neanderthal remains found.

* * * *

Neanderthals go underground to survive the grinding ice. Over time they are accepted by Mharg, Mother of Mountains, and become dwarves.

~ 16,000 y.a.
Glaciers retreat.

* * * *

The Primordials are locked away, defeated or assimilated.

~ 7,400 y.a.
City of Eridu founded in Mesopotamia.

~ 5,100 y.a.
Narmer unites upper and lower Egypt.

* * * *

The beginning of the three empires. The three empires are consolideated. Stygia, Acheron and Thracia are the great mortal powers.

~ 3,200 y.a.
Bronze Age collapse.

* * * *

Something goes seriously wrong. The empires fail. Literacy is lost, as is much magical learning and information.

~ 2,500 y.a
Roman Republic founded.

 

[aurance]

Fascinating. I'm especially enamored with the Neanderthals becoming Dwarves idea. So obviously you are doing some sort of alternate Earth. How much are you changing your world from the real Earth? When will your campaign take place?

 

[Baron Opal]

Actually, I'm not doing an alternate Earth so much as using it for inspiration. However, maps are the toughest thing for me to make. I am planning on using the Wilderlands for my overland maps, but we'll see. An alternate Earth could be interesting. An analogous time would be ~ 1500s maybe for a campaign start. I find that to be an interesting time. Basic gunpowder, still lots of swordplay, mercenary groups that function a lot like D&D adventuring companies and a strong age of sail.

Dwarves

It has seemed natural to me that Neanderthals would be dwarves. They were shorter and stronger, lived in caves and several had red hair. They haven't been seen in a long time. I imagined Neanderthals delving deep into the mountains to make a life for themselves while escaping the grinding ice that was inexorably pushing south. Also, for a long time there were no grave goods or adornments found in what were thought to be Neanderthal graves. There were in Cro-magnon and H. sapiens graves. It seemed that the Neanderthal had no appreciation of the divine whereas the Cro-magnon did. Wow, that must mean that if dwarves are modified Neanderthal they might not have any connection to the gods, or may not even have souls.

But, one of the conceits of D&D is that there are gods.*

There is a Christian sect that believes that when you die, you're dead. Your family sticks you in the ground, people cry, you rot and that's that. But, if you are one of the saved, when Jesus comes again in glory you get to be resurrected in an ideal body in a perfect world.** Hey... taking that idea when the Neanderthal are hiding out down below they might encounter a great power. A primordial power, you might say. Rather than being a balrog or Illearth stone, this power under the earth might be somewhat benevolent. In return for following some strictures, which serve the power's interests as well as giving the power the necessary might and information, it will agree to give these ur-dwarves a similar kind of afterlife. This could even lead to a certain hierarchy where heroes are reborn in a pocket plane and could be called if necessary. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, dwarves are evolved Neanderthals, adapted to a life underground, are soulless yet have a higher power they respect and follow.

Elves

Hmm. Elves. I had a love / hate relationship with elves. They were cool. Too cool. Not only did they have the whole Tolkien thing going, they were mechanically great. When we were playing first or second edition there was a running joke that they were the master race because they were just mechanically better than everyone else.#

Reading a post Gallogach posted a little while ago reminded me of them. Alfheimer, people of the elven country. Hmm... after Ragnorrok Baldr is supposed to come back from Hel with Hodr and some of the other young gods and find a lush countryside with a hotter sun. They find a man and a woman, strong and capable, and lead them to a better life. What if when the glaciers retreated one of the ancient gods returned and found a small village of his people that the rest of the race preserved. The ice age began 130,000 years ago; imagine a race that had preserved children that slept for 100,000 years and one of their demigods comes back and wakes them up. This demigod gives them a quick tutorial about what's going on, what they need to know, and hides and defends them until they have a generation or two under their belt and are ready to go out into the world.

Not only are you long lived but you have improved senses and have basic weapons training. You remember your coming of age ceremony when you were personally blessed by your creator's divine grandson. It's enough to give anyone delusions of granduer. But, this god doesn't do anything for his children at a distance, unless you are a cleric, and adventuring elves just have to see what's down to the south.

So, elves are the new and improved children of the first (human) race who have the benefits of direct divine instruction.

Humans

Men. You know, I've wanted a campaign with just playable humans for a while. There may be kobolds, orcs and goblins but if you are playing a character it is going to be a human.$ There would, or course, be differences depending on where you grew up. I'm also kind of lazy, so I want to use rules and such that are already present. Like, my GURPS Conan sitting on my shelf right over there.

Cimmerians. I mean, really, is there anything better than a half-orc to represent one of them? Bonuses to strength and constitution and a penalty to charisma, what could be more barbaric? I don't want humans with unusual eyes, however, so I'll give them some environmental survival bonus rather than special vision.

Zamorans. Zingarans. Two halves of the same coin.## Natural rogues. Reminiscent of the Roma, good at throwing knives and "spider haunted towers". Halflings are good rogues and good at throwing things. Hmm. Stretch them out a bit and you're good. Maybe give them just a drop of drow to make them interesting. Just a drop, now. A little goes a long way.

Stygians. They are the prototypical cleric / magic-users. I'll make them half-elves mechanically but they have no relation to the Alfheimer above. A fair bit of tweaking too depending on how I want to play their resistances.

Hyborians, the Aquilonians, Nemedians and such, would be standard humans probably. I chuckle a bit on basing the Picts off of the gnomes as they can talk to animals.

Originally, I was making this for 4e, but I find myself thinking of AD&D mechanically as I think about it. Hmm...

Religions next, I think.



* Sorta. Work with me.
** Sorta. It's more complicated than that and no disrespect is intended.
# Mostly. Yeah, you could build a better character, but you gotta admit, elves were pretty sweet.
## Sorta. Some people think that Howard confused the two and were originally supposed to be the same nationality.
$ Yeah, I said human only right after detailing two other races. Work with me. Dwarves and elves are human too, just altered.

 

[aurance]

Okay. There's kind of a hodgepodge of cultures and myths going on here, but somehow it works together. Looking forward to reading more, if you have it.

 

[Baron Opal]

Religion, Faith and Spirituality

So, I’ve been thinking about the religions and gods of my new setting. Still feeling a little lazy, so I’m going to read through my Tekumel book. Hey, my fungus deck! I’ve been looking for that.

One of the concepts that I like from Tekumel is “noble action”. What is good or evil is dependant on what benefits you, harms your enemies and what your station and purpose in life is. The noblest man in the world is the potter who makes the very best pots and the most profane person in the world could be the weaver who throws away his trade to pick up a sword and go adventuring. How successful he is becomes irrelevant since he has turned his back on his responsibilities.

Alignment irritates me sometimes. For me, it is little more than picking a side. Good or Evil? Law or Chaos? Purple or Green? There is more to it that that, obviously. How far will you take things, ends and means and all that. Sometimes, however, I just want to be a righteous ass-kicker for God and the paladin class may be the best way to express it. Making me deal with orc babies is just rude at that point.

I have been thinking about using Magic the Gathering as a moral compass for some time. Let’s start. Five alignments, ready made allies and foes. But, like a party with Karakan and Ksarul worshippers, I would like some breadth to my alignment choices and who can adventure together.

Let’s make five alignments: Order, Logic, Ambition, Passion and Instinct. We can call them ideals if you want. All of those can be distinct, have unique goals and methods and be good or evil depending on what you do with them.

I have enjoyed Fajita’s Halmae campaign vicariously. I’ll use that, GURPS Conan and Tekumel for some inspiration. Some of the following is ripped right from the Dusk setting too.

The Five Temples

The Bright Temple
Patron: Mitra
Sign: 12 Rayed Sun
Ideal: Order

The creed of the followers of Order is “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” This is the ideal that the group is stronger and worthier that the individual; by contributing to the group the individual reaps benefits that would be impossible otherwise.

Orderly tend to have a cut-and-dried, black-or-white vision of the world. The have a strong sense of honor as well as being committed to the success of the group over that of the individual. It is easy to see this as the “good” alignment, but that isn’t necessarily true. The will of the group is paramount, and if individual sacrifice is required it can be compelled if necessary. Fascism is a very orderly system. Even with that caveat, this alignment does tend to look out for their fellows more than others.

The Hellbridge Temple
Patron: Asmoder
Sign: Scepter of red and gold
Ideal: Ambition

Followers of Ambition seek the perfection of the Self and the advancement of the Ego. They desire omnipotence, the power to fully control their destinies. “Survival of the fittest” is their creed. They take what is needed or desired, hesitating only when someone stronger could stop them.

The Ambitious don’t pass judgments on their own actions or those of anyone else. They don’t recognize the value of morals or ethics; the true follower is amoral. It is important to note that they are not immoral. They don’t seek to disrupt society or violate morality; those values just hold no value to them. This does not preclude being law-abiding or showing kindness. Simply, an action or behavior is valuable if it benefits the person and has minimal or no consequences. The difference between making friends and robbing strangers is merely one of utility.

The Fane of the Brazen
Patron: Ishtar
Sign: ?
Ideal: Passion

"Life is the journey, not the destination.” Such is the creed for the Passionate. Those that have Passion as their ideal seek to experience all that life has to offer; none are as caring in love or as deadly in fury.

Freedom is the underlying principle in their philosophy. As long as they are able to act as they will when they will they care little for other concerns. They also believe that freedom must be extended to all so they don’t actively interfere in the concerns of others. The Passionate don’t set long term goals like those who follow other ideals. It’s not that they can’t; their objectives tend to be in the short term and involved plans are executed haphazardly

The Way of the River
Patron: ?
Sign: ?
Ideal: Instinct

The followers of Instinct seek to join with the patterns and flows of the natural world. “To everything a season” is their creed. The ideal they strive towards is an existence without thought or passion; to be able to act in accord to need without the distraction of ego or vice.

The natural world is their guide and advisor. The Instinctual have seen the primacy of life: life breaks through all barriers. All things have their place in life as well. To hunt, kill, mate, grow – these are all activities that are part of the cycle of life. Cycles of life and death, growth and decay are their guide to proper living. By observing predation, symbiosis and the cycle of seasons do the Instinctive discover a source of wisdom. Adopting these lessons is a source of strength.

The Collegium Akasha
Patron: Agamotto
Sign: The Illuminated Eye
Ideal: Logic

The Logical desires nothing less than omniscience; the acquisition of all knowledge and the most efficient means of its application. Information is everything to them, and when they aren’t learning they plan and scheme to discover more lore. Not all bright people have this alignment, nor is it a prerequisite, it’s just that Logoicals are preoccupied with learning above all else.

This hunger for knowledge can be a detriment, however. Studying a problem from every angle can be time consuming; those that follow logic’s rules can be slow to a fault. This puts them at a disadvantage when haste is needed

* * * *

There was a poster a while ago that said “develop a religion, not gods. A religion is far more interesting because how a character interacts with a god is more interesting that the god itself.” As I was developing this campaign I was reading through my copy of Book of the Righteous, and darned if that wasn’t exactly what they did. While the gods are interesting, there is a whole religion there. And how they interaction with humanity is what makes them interesting.

I have ~ 34,000 years to see how these deities and religions spread and developed amonst the humans. From their adoption of mortal kind to the eviction of the primordials / titans. And then a good ~10,000 years until the Bronze Age Collapse to see how they strive against each other. Plus, I have the elven demigod and the dwarven power to work in too.

Uh oh. Racial gods. I've come to despise racial gods. I may have a problem here.

Plus, I have the Pattern and Logrus to work in yet.

Hmm.

I'm off to read The Divine and the Defeated for a while. Plus, some Tekumeli history, mostly the Dragon Kingdoms and the Fishermen Kings era. I'll get back to this.