Divided and Conquered
In his post last week, MetalJim began a discussion of Avoterra, a new continent-setting he is designing specifically to support the upcoming 4E “points of light” style of default setting. This is smart, very smart. Rather than try to shoehorn in an ungainly setting or something from the past, he’s taking stock of what’s being offered in the new default setting, and using it as a basis to shape up something personal. I’m sure this is exactly what the good Wizards has in mind.
I’ve got plans to run a 4E campaign when it comes out, too, so I’ve been giving much thought lately to the exact same issue – the design and narrative of my campaign setting. Like MetalJim, I’m going to work hand-in-glove with what’s intended out of 4E with the expectation that this will provide the smoothest and most enjoyable initial run for all the players. No point beating them upside the head with a slate of new rules that you’ve already house-ruled into something else!
I’m currently playing in a 3.5 campaign that Random is running, and the significant feature is his campaign is that it’s a decidedly “post-cataclysmic” setting, albeit an upbeat one. Everywhere we go, we can ask the locals about the cataclysm, and our lot in life is evolving toward being global emissaries traveling abroad to rediscover and rebuild the past. We’re in the dawning of a new age, hopefully better than the last one. It’s a hoot for sure, but more importantly, it’s something I need to steer fairly clear of in my own choices to avoid a sense of redunding redundancy.
Well. Something that annoys me about a lot of settings (including most fiction and movies, but not Random’s aforementioned setting) is the singularity, or perhaps solidarity, of the dark side. All the baddies are in it together, or at the very least there’s a hierarchy of bad dudes that leads up to the top dog. (And, treachery within one evil organization hardly counts are multiple sides…) My world won’t be like this. Sure, we’re going to be in some collapsed civilization armageddon thingy, but it’s going to be more of an ongoing, perpetual awfulness. And if it were a strategy board game, it would be a epic battle among six to eight factions – all evil – beating each other back and forth across the continents in a neverending conflict. What few remaining conclaves of “good” (a.k.a. humanocentric civilization) that remain, are so decimated and marginalized, and have been for so long, that they are all but ignored but the big evil factions. Every once and a while there’s a little uprising here or there, and it gets put down brutally before too long, but no one thinks those guys are ever going to really have a chance. And it’s always been like this, as far as anyone can remember. Those big ‘ol grand ruins over there? Somebody built them, a long long time ago, but really, no, we don’t know anything about them…
Of course, evil is where all the fun is – the Monster Manual is packed with such a diverse selection of nasties, and there’s no way most of those guys would be caught dead (or undead) working with one another. Meanwhile good is boring and righteous and full of little farming communities and is really never where the action is, so you want to keep that footprint to a minimum on your map.
Anyway, it’s high time for a few good heroes to show up and change all that, and it wouldn’t be a proper campaign if the players weren’t those heroes. The only thing better than the pomp and pageantry of a dozen flavors of evil is the gang that puts their horned heads in the ‘ol trophy case, one painstaking villain at a time.
How do we get there starting from lowly first level? Oh, that will be quite the adventure…
Posted on April 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pm. About 'Divided and Conquered'.
I once played around with the idea of a world where all of the “typical” fantasy races had actually been created by ancient elder dragons for use as servants. The proud red dragons had created kobolds, because they didn’t expect much from their servants. Black dragons were linked to kuo-toa, yuan-ti to green dragons, hobgoblins to blue dragons, and so forth. Humans were merely the preferred pets of benevolent silver dragons. In a world where the old dragon gods had fallen out of favor, you could easily have a setting where the other races are locked in struggle against one another, and the humans are just one minor enclave of a very threatening and chaotic world.
Posted on April 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pm. About 'Divided and Conquered'.
Hmmm, I don’t see good as being “boring,” but rather the preferred means of interaction between sentient species. Without all the grayness of the modern day, where we always question the difference between right and wrong, evil and good are personified in deities and outsiders in the D&D multiverse. And human civilizations don’t have to resemble the farms and manors of medieval Europe - that was simply the basis for the Greyhawk campaign. Blackmoor never really ascribed to that exact model, and later campaigns used it only because it seemed they knew no better. You get really bizarre when you start getting into things like Darksun, Spelljammer, etc.
And you shouldn’t think that all evil is allied against good. It just is represented that way because while good is pacifistic, evil is antagonistic. Good kingdoms don’t (usually) seek to start wars unless there’s a good reason for it - evil cultures would attack peaceful settlements for no other reason than they can or for profit (or to further their cunning plans). Therefore is SEEMS that every creature in the Monster Manual wants to attack good nations, when its the peace and prosperity that the good nations have that entices evil to attack. Think of it as “jealous neighbor” syndrome.
I’ve liked the discussions here about using the system mechanics as the basis for the campaign, something I’ve been doing myself in recent years. It appears that apocalyptic beginnings are fairly common to many campaigns these days. Can’t you have adventures set in a world where the current generations ARE the dungeon builders and they are “points-of-light” because the world is sparsely inhabited? That would be truly an Epic campaign since you could say that the gods themselves have only recently ascended/departed and left behind some nasty surprises or progeny - perhaps a God War reshaped/reformed creation or the very act of creation is how the Gods wage war. This way the world is new and fresh, but possibly with hidden secrets deeply buried. A new world leads to exploration and curiosity; open areas of wilderness let the players become rulers. All the knowledge in the Core Rules could represent the breadth of current knowledge in the world - new rules and supplemental material could then evolve as it is introduced. Lamenting the lost Druid class? When it returns in the rules, perhaps there are separatist holy men in the wilderness forming their own religion and evolving into what will become druids. Just a few thoughts.
Posted on April 16th, 2008 at 11:33 am. About 'Divided and Conquered'.
I don’t see good as being “boring,” but rather the preferred means of interaction between sentient species. - Sounds kind of boring to me. Good is only exciting when it stands in opposition to evil, which is why we like Superman more than Clark Kent, even though both are presumably equally good. Or Indiana Jones out in the field, not the classroom.
And human civilizations don’t have to resemble the farms and manors of medieval Europe - that was simply the basis for the Greyhawk campaign. - I think it’s fair to say that all core fantasy, from Tolkienn to D&D and beyond, springs originally from the history, stories, and societies of medieval Europe. Sure, it’s grown out in many vibrant ways, but that’s where the heart is.
Good kingdoms don’t (usually) seek to start wars unless there’s a good reason for it - evil cultures would attack peaceful settlements for no other reason than they can or for profit - designating the Vikings and the Mongols “evil” (to name two) by means of this calculus would be a sad and shortsighted caricature of history’s rich tapestry.
Lamenting the lost Druid class? - who isn’t!?
I once played around with the idea of a world where all of the “typical” fantasy races had actually been created by ancient elder dragons for use as servants. - not bad, but we’re gonna need room for giants and demons and vampires and wizards, etc, etc.