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This was a big hit with my followers on Tumblr and I decided to drop it here and get suggestions or opinions. I admit I almost chickened out on Clerics and Human races because I don't like offending people but I also didn't want to shy away from some of the negative aspects of the source material. Shakespeare has racism and some casual bigotry. Ignoring that would be kind of wrong in my mind. Of all the hombrew campaign concepts I've built, this is my favorite.
Prologue
War, terrible war, has come to the Italian Coast!
In the West, King Lear has died along with all of his heirs and the throne of Illyria stands vacant. After a brief struggle for control among the nobles, Duke Orsino has gained the support of Illyria’s nobility and now intends to place himself on the throne by marrying the last living member of Old Lear’s family: Lady Olivia.
To the East, the island of Messaline has taken advantage of Illyria's succession crisis to declare itself independent of their rival. Even now, the Duke of Messaline now plans to travel to get aid from mainland Europe. As the campaign begins, the Duke and his twin children, Sebastian and Viola, travel to Aragon to ask Don Pedro for money and arms.
So the two nations call upon their allies across the Mediterranean to stand with them and prepare for war. Italy’s kingdoms are divided, some siding with Messaline and others with Illyria. If shots are fired, the conflict could spread as far as France and Spain.
Only the Doge of Venice, a wise man who knows the cost of war, seeks a diplomatic solution to the madness. To this end, he has hired the pirate captain Antonio to take his airship Portia, and find the mighty wizard Prospero, who disappeared from Milan on the twelfth night of June.
But some people whisper that there is an unseen force behind this war, an inhuman mastermind who plots a terrible revenge upon Prospero, Italy, and all Mankind!
For reasons all your own, you have answered the call to join Antonio’s expedition and have prepared yourself to set sail for an adventure that will take you to undiscovered countries.
You enter the small tavern described in Captain Antonio’s letter and across the hustle and bustle of sailors and barmaids, you find the Captain sitting at a table near the rear of the building…
Introduction
Welcome to the Shakespeare Campaign, a Pathfinder Campaign featuring characters and settings inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare.
As a participant in this campaign, you are about to take a journey through the mind of a master of the English language. This setting is designed to try to capture the essence of the source material and create a high fantasy environment based on the Bard’s more fanciful tales. So before playing, Players and Game Masters are encouraged to watch and or read a few Shakespeare plays to brush up, although it’s not necessary.
The main plot of the campaign is based around the idea that, with a little editing, five of Shakespeare’s plays could occur in the same universe with shared characters: Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice, Two Gentleman of Verona, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest. Other characters from other plays also make appearances and connections between characters in different plays are created that didn’t exist before. For example: Captain Antonio from Twelfth Night is now the same Antonio who nearly lost a pound of flesh in the Merchant of Venice, Valentine from Two Gentleman of Verona is apparently a distant member of the Capulet family, and Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew is a Montague and he’s Romeo’s cousin.
As for the Campaign’s time period, players are going to have to give us a little leeway. Most of the setting occurs a fictional “Clockpunk” interpretation of the 1500s English Renaissance but with deliberate adjustments and anachronisms throughout. By the late 16th century, the Italian Renaissance was long dead and the romantic, enlightened Italian characters of Shakespeare’s comedies simply didn’t exist anymore. So much of Shakespeare’s writing covers a bygone age, even at the time that it was written hundreds of years ago. Even though this game officially occurs during the height of Shakespeare’s writing period, the Italian characters will make no mention of the various outside countries that owned or invaded Italy at the time because this isn’t the real Italy, its Shakespeare’s idea of Italy.
Trust us; it isn’t as weird as it sounds
So keeping all of this in mind, prepare to enter into a world of passion and pain and humanity and loss and romance. A world divided by race and class and history and mystery. This is a world with Ghosts, Wizards, Witches, Mischievous Fairies, and Murderous Kings. An age that existed in the mind of one man (or multiple men or a woman using a pseudonym or aliens depending on the interpretation) the world of the Shakespeare Campaign!
Before we move on, here are a few words from the man himself:
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide on man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
Exit
(From Henry V, Prologue, Act 1, Scene 1)
Playable Races
Humans
“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7
Humanity in this campaign, as in real life, is a multifaceted race of many cultures. Primarily this campaign will deal with Europeans, it would not be impossible for every human race to find its way into the lands of Shakespearean Europe. Players who play a human are encouraged to use a name found in one of Shakespeare’s plays or a period appropriate name, for example : Baltus, Cordelia, Malvolio, Helena, Hermia, Iago, or Falstaff.
Alternate rules: To add a little spice to the game, GMs are encouraged to allow players from different races to have different problems/benefits related to their culture. For example, Jews in Europe were heavily persecuted and discriminated against but their long history of Jewish mysticism and scholarship might make them natural mages and sorcerers.
Sample:
Italian (Default)- +1 to all tests involving navigation, cartography
Asian- may suffer -1 social when dealing with European NPCs, +1 to all tests involving guns
Danish or Norwegian- +1 resistance to cold
French- may suffer -1 social when dealing with British NPCs, +1 to all tests involving Charisma
British (English or Welsh) - +1 to all tests involving bows and swords.
Scottish- +1 to all tests involving clubs or large swords.
Moorish- may suffer -1 social when dealing with European NPCs, + 1 to Intelligence
Jewish- may suffer -1 social when dealing with European NPCs, +1 to all tests using Magic
Spanish- may suffer -1 social to all British NPCs, +1 to all tests involving naval warfare
Note: Since race can be a tricky topic that can distract from play, these rules should be considered strictly optional.
Grecian Elves
“Swifter than the moon’s sphere. I serve the Fairy Queen.”- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1
The enchanted woods around Athens are home to many mythic races: satyrs, centaurs, nymphs, dryads, and even treants. But none are as numerous and as respected as the High Elves of Athens. It is assumed that they are descended from the Greek Gods themselves, born into the world from the union of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. They are long lived, beautiful, and possessing the kind of wildness not found in most other High Elves. Their chief is Oberon, King of all the woodlands and fields from Athens to Arcadia and using his powerful magic he stands watch against the dark things of the world, a source of harmony wherever he goes. Oberon’s marriage, however, is not a source of harmony. He and his wife Titania have a fierce, passionate marriage with loud disagreements, endless threats of divorce or dissolution, and rampant infidelity on both sides. While they have never failed to ultimately reunite, their marital strife tends to be a huge source of upheaval in Woodland Society. A few rough patches are normal in a marriage, 1200 years of rough patches is the definition of a toxic relationship. Many political factions have risen up in the Forest Realm as a result of these disagreements with various courtiers leading factions in favor of the king or in favor of the queen or both at the same time. For this reason, many elves prefer to go off wandering for decades, returning when the sectarian violence caused by Oberon and Titania’s “passion” has died down.
Note: Most Grecian Elves prefer to name their children after small, natural objects that bring them pleasure. For example: Cobweb, Pease Blossom, Mustardseed, Bee Wing, and Hawk Feather
Scottish Dwarves
“Does he have such a high opinion of you because I’m so short?”- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 2
While most Dwarves prefer the mountains in places like Iceland, Russia, or the Alps, there is one breed of Dwarf who digs deep in the Highlands and builds up mighty strongholds alongside black lakes. The Scottish Dwarf is a mighty being, who stands 3 inches taller than all other Dwarves. For this reason they are called “Glenn”, which means “Deep” in old Gaelic. While they retain much of the Old Dwarvish ways, the Glenn have certain cultural distinctions that only their kin lay claim to. For one thing they do not dig as deeply into the earth as other Dwarves and their mines are often large open air pits instead of twisting tunnels in mountainsides. Furthermore they tend to wear kilts, like their human neighbors, and carry swords. They have a fondness for human ales and consider it superior to the thick liquid bread favored by other Dwarven kingdoms. They even enjoy the bagpipe and drum, also like the human Scots who share their lands. But unlike the Scots, the Dwarves do not assemble in clans and instead maintain the complex “stronghold government” of their Dwarf kinsmen. Dwarves live in a stronghold (which is a mine, a city, and a fortress all at once) and each of these strongholds are ruled over by a Thane or Earl, and he is ruled over by a Lord, who is himself ruled over by the High King. This rigid hierarchy was originally designed to keep the peace among warring nobles but lately that peace has been in shambles when a dwarf named Macbeth seized the throne and ruled the land as a mad tyrant. The nobles, now led by an alliance of wronged parties, revolted against Macbeth and his Half Elf Wife, Lady Macbeth. In the throes of madness, the King exiled many of his enemies both real and imagined and created a large Glenn Diaspora who now wanders the world in search of shelter.
Half-Elves
“In black ink my love may still shine bright.”-Sonnet 65
Elves (and some Drow) are very beautiful creatures and thus attract the attentions from many different races. As the focus of so much passion, Half Elves have become increasingly more common, much to the chagrin of many Elven monarchs who dislike seeing their bloodlines mixed with mortal peasants.
Half-Orcs
“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”–The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1
Half Orcs are a pathetic people, looked upon with disdain and generally feared as brutes descended from other brutes. Many Half-Orcs find themselves dropped on the doorsteps of orphanages or sold into slavery by human mothers who either regret consorting with Orcs or had not choice in the matter to begin with…
Egyptian Tengu
“Like a white dove in a flock of crows.” – Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5
The mysterious bird people of Asia seem alien and monstrous but have a rich cultural heritage that stretches back centuries. Many of the Western Tengu are descended from a small colony that travelled across Asia to the Mediterranean and settled on an island near the African Coast. Known among their people as the Horus Flock, these Tengu had close relations with the Egyptians and were a common sight in the court of the Ptolemy Pharaohs. Anthony and Cleopatra were known to have several Tengu in their body guard. To this day, many of the Egyptian Tengu still wears the clothing of their ancient ancestors and worship the old Egyptian Gods. Sadly, this colony of Tengu died out mysteriously and the location of their island was lost. The remaining members of their race live in scattered communities across Southern Europe in small working class neighborhoods. Considered hard working, but strange folk, the Tengu tend to live quietly.
Classes
Alchemist
“All that glisters is not gold”- The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 7
As the very first scientists, Alchemists set off in search of the impossible dream of endless wealth only to instead find endless knowledge and the science that would ultimately become chemistry. While the Alchemists in this campaign could indeed turn lead into gold, they are just as likely to heal an injury or cure a sickness…or make a poison…
Bard
“If Music be the food of love, play on!”- Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1
Minstrels and Bards and theatre folk were very important to the society of the Renaissance, spreading thoughts and ideas across borders and cultures. Some Bards even traveled on the road and put on plays, some built grand theatres to entertain countless masses of people. One even worked at the Globe in London…
Cavalier
“And, upon this charge cry ’God for Harry! England and Saint George!’”- Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1
Gone are the knights and paladins of old and in their place rises a new class of hero: the Cavalier! Charging forward into battle, past the frontlines and towards their goals, the Cavalier is a dashing figure who swings a shining sword that glints in the sunlight. Don’t bother wishing them luck...for they need it not.
Cleric
“Now, God be praised….”- Henry VI, Act 2, Scene 1
Religion in Shakespeare’s Europe had a complicated history. Yes, it was indeed a source of conflict, war, and strife. But it was also a source of comfort and social bonding that assured the meek that their toil would not go unrewarded and reminded the powerful that the defense of their people was their sacred duty.
Sample Real World Alignment Chart for Cleric PCs
(Monotheistic Religions can apply their deity to any “Domain” within their alignment; Polytheistic Religions should merely chose one of the appropriate gods in their pantheon and apply it to that domain.)
Christianity: Lawful Good
Judaism: Lawful Good
Islam: Lawful Good
Hinduism: Lawful Good
Egyptian Pagan: Lawful Good
Buddhism: Neutral Good
Norse Pagan: Chaotic Good
Taoism: True Neutral
Greco Roman Pagan: Chaotic Neutral
Satanic Worship: Lawful Evil
Typhon: Neutral Evil
Great Old Ones: Chaotic Evil
Note: Since human religion can be a tricky topic, use of the Cleric class and the religious alignment chart should be considered optional only.
Fighter
“Come not between the dragon and his wrath!”- King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1
Though they were hardly cut from the same cloth as the noble Cavaliers or the Paladins of ages past, many a sell sword found work during Late Renaissance thanks to the dozens of wars that raged across Europe at the time. The difference between a Fighter and Cavalier was often money, Cavaliers are typically noblemen and Fighters were usually just good with a sword.
Monk
“…knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.” –Henry VI Part 2, Act 4 Scene 7
Christian Monastics were well known in Europe and there are still many wandering friars and clergy willing to travel across the world in search of a place to spread the word of their God. But not all Monks have to be Christian. A Monk PC could be a Hindu Fakir traveling West to see where the Silk Road ends, or a Muslim Imam who wishes to increase his knowledge of Allah’s beautiful creation, or even a Shaolin Buddhist in search of the ultimate source of enlightenment
Ranger
“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”-Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3, Scene 1
Despite centuries of settlement, a portion of Europe remained wild and unsettled. Wild wolves still roamed the Iberian Peninsula and wild deer run through the fields in the British Isles. So men and women with the skills to live off the land are still a prized part of society who could help provide food and faster routes of travel. Rangers in this era have an advantage over nature that their kind have never had before: the Musket.
Rogue
“Where we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles…”- Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3
The 1500s saw the rise of the Golden Age of Piracy on the oceans and organized crime in the city. A person who knows how to be subtle and pick a pocket or two would be highly prized by the proto crime lords of the Elizabethan Era.
Witch
“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.”-Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1
Every society has someone sitting at the edge, even magical societies. Witches perhaps don’t quite fit in with the stuffy world of magical colleges or libraries. Here at the edge between the wild and civilization, the Witches hunch over their cauldrons and whisper words to their familiars…
Wizard
“For I can here disarm thee with this stick and make thy weapon drop!”-The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2
While the Renaissance was an exciting time for the advancement of human knowledge, it was still a time when mankind had a strong belief in magic. When people whispered old words over stones to tell their fortunes or buried locks of hair to keep their beloved close. Magic still rules the day.
A (Role) Play Game in Seven Acts
Act One
Venice: A Pound of Flesh
You and your fellow adventurers are hired by the Doge of Venice to follow Captain Antonio on an expedition to find the lost Milenese wizard Prospero. But before you can depart, it seems one of Captain Antonio’s sins has come back to haunt him…
Dramatis Persone
Venice
The Doge
Antonio
Shylock
Portia
Assassins
Thugs
Townsfolk
Act Two
Verona: A Pox on Both Your Houses
You first travel to Verona to meet with two friends of Captain Antonio’s: Valentine and Proteus, two gentlemen of Verona. But upon arriving in the city, you discover that there will be no warm welcome for the entire city has gone mad! The Prince’s nephew Paris and his cousin Mercutio have died by violence! Tybalt of House Capulet has been murdered! The only son of Old Montague has committed suicide and alongside him the only daughter of Old Capulet. Chaos spreads across the land! And now the city has taken up arms in revolt, each side blaming the other for these young deaths…
Dramatis Persone
Streets of Verona
Prince Escalus
Pertruchio of House Montague
Valentine of House Capulet
Proteus, Valentine's friend
Old Montague
Prince's men
Montagues
Capulets
House Capulet
Old Capulet
Lady Capulet
The Apothecary
Servants
Mad Men
Act Three
Athens and later the Forest of Arden: All the World’s A Stage
Athens is under Goblin attack and the mighty hero Theseus calls for aid. All the lands of men and Elves empty of soldiers to fight off the green horde and the crew of the airship Portia answers the call to action. Perhaps if you join the fight you can meet the Elven King Oberon and ask him a favor….
Dramatis Persone
Athens
Theseus
Hippolyta
Oberon
Puck
Grimwhisker the Gnoll
Spider-eye the Goblin
Goblin soldiers
Gnoll warriors
Athenian Hoplites
Elven Warriors
Arden
Frederick the Usurper
Duke Senior
Rosalind
Celia
Touchstone
Frederick's Men
Act Four
Scotland: For Whom the Bell Tolls
As your party heads towards Denmark, a terrible snow storm forces the airship to land in the wild Scottish countryside where you are rescued by a tribe of Scottish Dwarves. Inside a darkened stronghold, the Dwarven Thane Macduff tells you a story of murder and evil…
Dramatis Persone
Castle Macbeth in ruins
Thane Macduff
Fleance
King Malcolm
Siward of England
Dwarven Warriors
English Soldiers
The Dark Forest
The Wyrd Sisters
The Mysterious Shade
Spiders
Wargs
Drow Bandits
Trolls
Sycorax's Tengu
Act Five
Denmark: Something Rotten in the State of Denmark
After finally making your way to the castle of King Fortinbras, you find that Prospero and his company have already come and gone. But there may be some evidence of their ultimate destination in the deserted castle of Old King Hamlet. “But you mustn’t go there,” The courtiers’ whisper, “that is a terrible place…”
Dramatis Persone
Castle Fortinbras
King Fortinbras
Horatio
Guards
Servants
Courtiers
Nobles
Castle Hamlet
Shades of Hamlet, the King, the Queen, and others
Zombies
Dire rats
Skeletons
Act Six
Sicily and later the Isle of Prospero: The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of
On your way to Prospero’s old island home, you stop in Sicily at the home of Leonato, Governor of Messina, to attend the wedding of his niece, Beatrice, to Sir Benedict, a lord of Aragon. It promises to be a merry affair and a good rest after a long journey. But an Oracle from Delphi sent by King Oberon arrives and gives a terrible warning…
Dramatis Persone
Sicily
Leonato
Don Pedro
Dogberry
Beatrice
Benedict
Hero
Claudio
The Elf King's Soothsayer
Prospero's Island
Ariel
Caliban's Children
Sycorax
Sycorax's Tengu
Act Seven
Illyria: Or What You Will
The final villain of the plot stands revealed: Sycorax the fiendish witch and mother of Caliban. She seeks Prospero to avenge the death of her son and she doesn’t care who she hurts on her way to that goal. Now you race against time to avert a terrible, terrible war. So Antonio turns the airship toward Illyria, charging through the naval blockades to house of Duke Orsino…
Dramatis Persone
Illyria
Duke Orsino
Sebastian
Viola
Countess Olivia
Malvolio
Sir Toby
Maria
Prospero the Fool
Sir Andrew
Orsino's Guards
Olivia's Guards
Sycorax's Tengu Warriors
Sycorax's Tengu Ninjas
Baphomet, demonic husband of Sycorax
You, Sir or Madame, have won my heart.
This is a really, really solid idea and the campaign outline seems to hang together very well. I may very well end up running some version of this for my group!
Though tastes vary, I'm inclined to suggest dialing back the amount of dwarf, elf, and orc blood that would be available to PCs. Given what almost happened between Titania and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, I'm inclined to believe that half-elf would be a viable player option, but I'd likely steer clear of the rest. That being said, I'm all for attaching modifiers to various human cultures as you have done. (Naturally, NOT to denote adjustments made on account of race/ethnicity, but rather on account of one's cultural upbringing and its attendant associations.)
I would consider adding an additional level of complexity based on social class (not character class). Noble, high-born characters might enjoy +2 to Diplomacy and Perform checks, but -4 to Survival. Merchant-class and low-born characters would enjoy other bonuses and penalties. Ecclesiastical might even be another viable social class.
I'm also a little leery of monks as a player option (at least, in the very Eastern way that Pathfinder presents them), but I also wonder this: muskets a mentioned in the Ranger entry, so why no gunslingers?
For the Danish/Norwegian humans, I would suggest that you consider granting a bonus to witch spellcasting (Milton, Shakespeare, and their contemporaries make frequent references to "Lapland witches").
Realizing now that I'm just brainstorming my house rules for this concept, I have to reiterate that this is an idea and one that I will very likely implement with tabletop group in one way or another.
Thank you for posting!
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Ultimately, this was just an outline but at a certain point the races sadly became a way to get the local players here in Baton Rouge interested. I didn't want to walk in with a campaign where I said "no, you can't play this or no you can't play that." I was trying to get as many people to sniff the kool aid as possible. Since this never made it past the outline phase (I have a few NPC ideas written up) it doesn't matter much but in the end I did try to at least restrict these races to what showed up in the plays or what could represent a concept from his plays. For instance, racism and discrimination is a concept in Othello and Merchant of Venice, so Half-Orcs could make that concept work. Ancient, warrior cultures were present in Macbeth so I could use Dwarves but not Halflings or gnomes, Egypt is a theme in Anthony and Cleopatra and the Temgu could fit in there, etc. At some point, the players were going to meet Othello the Half-Orc Fighter at Beatrice and Benedick's wedding and they were going to watch people s!!# on the poor guy but that seemed preachy to me and I couldn't get a good concept for it.
I didn't explain it very well but yes, those culture adjustments for humans represent cultural upbringing differences and social advancements of various cultures and not an excuse for "black people be like this..." style racism on my part. I was always worried it could come across like that but I did like the idea of having 1600 era racial differences be an actual mechanic for humans because, historically, it was a mechanic that people had to deal with everyday. European Jews did not have the easiest time socially speaking in Europe at the time but their unique cultural distinctiveness helped them adapt to that environment for centuries and they were real men and women who really lived and struggled in that time.
I wanted to celebrate those differences along with the rich tapestry of cultures reflected in the background across all of Shakespeare's writings. I also wanted to give some wonder to our racial backgrounds. India is talked about in A Midsummer Night's Dream the same way you or I talk about Middle Earth because it was a magical, wonderful place to Shakespeare, a far off land that was as far away to him as Mars is to us. I think that is something we've lost from Shakespeare's time, that sense of wonder when meeting new people. The Internet has shrunk our world to the point that when I meet an Egyptian, I no longer think "You are from a race of men and women who performed brain surgery and used deodorant before the rest of the world had running water" I think "that's the a@&*$+@ who cut me off in traffic". That's a little sad. Admittedly, that attitude only existed because, well, racism but maybe by bringing that out in a positive way we might give the players an extra toy to play with.
Hmmmmm....social class as a modifier ...that there is an idea, It is an idea worth exploring. I like the survival modifier for nobility too because lord and lady might not know how to skin a deer. Maybe reflected as campaign traits? If you pick a nobleman, you make a wealth roll at character creation to see how broke the old family homestead is? Suddenly Lapland Witches are the only thing I can think of and the pictures in my brain are beautiful.
As for the character classes, that was part of my biggest problems when brainstorming this concept: the conflict between Setting and Theme. Shakespeare wrote most of his Italian plays (damn near all of his plays) about Italian Renaissance Men and Women...except the English Renaissance, during which Shakespeare lived, occurred at least a century and a half after The Renaissance ended in Italy when the Germans invaded Italy. Shakespeare (Living at the start of the Enlightenment/Reformation Period) writing about the Italian Renaissance (High Middle Ages) was like me today writing about the Wild West. But all his Italians talk like English Renaissance people? How to represent that? Answer: it is set in the Italian Renaissance but it uses Clockpunk Style Elizabethan Technology (Pike and Shote, airships, Cavilers instead of knights, etc.). But if I do that I could lose Theme (inspired by Shakespeare's PLAYS, not so much his life remember?) what to do? Answer: restrict character classes only to jobs Shakespeare wrote about or stuff like what he wrote about, thus preserving theme.
That meant tough choices because I initially wanted Oracles, Summoners, Sorcerers, Magus, and yes Gunslingers (as Musketeers).
Gunslingers/Musketeers and Magi got cut because while Musketeers was a job Shakespeare would have known about, it was not a job he wrote about and while I had a badass concept for Tybalt the Sword Mage, Magi didn't fit the Theme. Magi NPCs got cut as well because of personal rule I have: no NPC may have a character class that my players cannot have. This is not out of kindness but as a DM I believe killing in a man with his own sword. Your rogue dies at the hands of a hundred other rogues after the same treasure. I am a sick puppy.
Oracles DID fit the theme but I was worried that I was offering too many character classes, I regret that because an entire play (Julius Caesar) revolves around basically that Character Class and I still NEEDED a soothsayer to show up at the end and it broke my own rule. Looking back, If you play this concept: Oracles need to be there.
Sorcerers and Summoners almost made it in but I cut them because they offered nothing to the theme that a Wizard wasn't already showing up with and I now regret that. They would have been boss in that line up.
Ultimately, because I did the heroic writerly thing and stuck to theme: Alchemists stayed in because they were in Romeo and Juliet. Paladins were out because of Setting but Cavaliers were a similar concept and fit the Theme better (Instead of shouting "Excelsior" you shout "Huzzah" but same play experience). I thought about forcing Pathfinder Cavs to be more like Paladins but upon rereading they were suitably knightly already. Rangers stayed because arrows and marksmanship are talked about often and much of As You Like it is about people hunting through the woods. Plus the line from the beginning of A Midsummer Nights Dream makes that "fairy" sound more like an Elven ranger. I liked the idea this tired ass Legolas type sitting down in a bar next to Puck and be like "the Fairy Queen is riding me hard, yo." I then let the Rangers have muskets because of Setting and to keep my heart from breaking after cutting the mighty Musketeers ("Huzzah...ish").
Clerics were a no brainer (priests and nuns are mentioned much) but what about Monks? I allowed this because it gave players an easy out if they wanted to play an Asian character. Rather than say "I am a Cleric on paper but a bad ass Shaolin Monk in the game", I let them have Monks...also because I cut a bunch of cool classes already and I wanted something that technically fit the Theme (they had monks and friars in the plays) but was also completely b&@&#!@ and the image of Friar Laurence getting fed up with all that nonsense at the end of Romeo and Juliet and just beating people with a Bo staff was too good to pass up.
This is an outline, I did go just far enough to write up some NPC guides but I never made any character sheets for. I can post some of those if you like. One idea I had was to give the players a picture of Prospero that they show to NPCs and have that picture be that famous picture of Shakespeare since Prospero is supposed to be Shakespeare's autobiographical character.
Basically the campaign goes like this: First you are in Venice and you deal with righteous anger, Anti-semitism and intrigue in Merchant of Venice.
Then to Verona with riots, alchemy, swashbuckling, and tragic doomed love in Romeo and Juliet (but not the doomed love you're thinking of).
On your way to your next encounter you pull a wounded teenager out of the ocean, he joins the party and then off to Athens to fight Gnolls and Goblins and to meet Theseus in a Timon of Athens/ A Midsummer Nights Dream mashup then switch to fighting assassins and huntsmen in As You Like It.
Then fly to Scotland and battle evil witches in Macbeth.
A quick trip to Denmark where your party and Horatio dungeon crawl through a haunted fortress of skeletons, and zombies in Hamlet (and yes dire skeleton Yorick, Lich King, Ghost Ophelia and Ghost Hamlet were on the table as encounters).
Then you attend a wedding, meet a soothsayer (who is really Prospero in disguise) and go to a deserted island in a mash up of Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, Tempest and a little Taming of the Shrew.
Then finally it's off to Illyria where play out the second half of Twelfth Night, then you discover the young kid traveling with you this entire time is Viola's brother! Then you discover the Fool is, guess who? Prospero, this entire time he was already subtly trying to avert the war himself. Then it's time to do battle with the lead villain Sycorax and her army of mind controlled Tengu, then once she starts dying, she summons her beloved husband Baphomet from hell and the arch devil decides to avenge his dead love by consuming your souls and sinking Illyria into the ocean. You, your party, and a host of Shakespeare's greatest characters end the campaign in a pitched battle against Hell itself! And yes, to psych everyone up for that final fight, Prospero will do a version of the monologue from Henry V.
This was an outline, I doubt it will ever be finished. Please take this campaign, play your version as you like it (heh) and then tell me about it. Leave nothing out not a single measure for measure (ha!).
Thanks for the love man, really. Next time i may post my 1800s Campaign, Wild West, or my Space Opera Campaign.
In fact, I am so annoyed by the lack of oracles that just paste this in there in classes:
Oracles
"Beware the Ides of March." - Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2
Religion was not a belief to the people of Shakespeare's time, it was a reality. God (or gods or their servants) was a physical force who dictated lives and fates. While Shakespeare himself lived at a time when some of those beliefs fell away, religion was still a very physical matter. Joan of Arc was a character in Shakespeare's plays and her messages were not delusions to Shakespeare or his audience, they were real messages from a real deity (good or evil). When your God speaks to an Oracle...ignore them at your peril!
You list classes that are being banned from play, but I don't think banning them is necessary. WS didn't write about gunslingers? Well he didn't exactly write about orcs either. And if you are worried about offering too many character classes, just remind yourself that this is a fantasy role-playing game, and we offer a wide variety of options for players because that makes it more fun. You should let in all five of those classes.
But when running this type of campaign, you have to leave some stuff out.
I decided to make sacrifices to some of the things I liked to keep the campaign focused and lean. Would Proteus and Valentine make awesome Gunslingers, God yes, but I made a choice, because I decided to either limit races and let them play any class or limit classes and keep the races more open ended, notice I let them play Tengu, Elves, Half Orcs, I kept in a nice selection races but I only included stuff I felt I could drop into a Shakespeare play. initially I considered just humans!
it was a style choice that I stick by to give us high fantasy but stick closer to the work the inspired. Was this a perfect marriage? No because Pathfinder itself is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and that was inspired by stuff like Tolkien, Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and European Folklore as interpreted by The Brothers Grimm. I can't get a perfect fit but I was trying to do so and in my mind, keeping a few options out strengthens the importance of the stuff that stays behind.
Obviously, anyone can run anything they want with the idea, but when planning the whole thing out I dedicated myself to having some kind of boundaries.
...Initially I considered just humans!...
Oh, you can bet your @$$ that if/when I run this, I'll be going human-only. My group gets enough standard Pathfinder APs, with their myriad race and class options, that one human-only game won't kill them.
I'm probably privileging flavor over freedom, but that's kind of my style and my players haven't complained...yet. ;)
I was thinking: Would Ariel be an eidolon or a planar ally?
EDIT: And Prospero's Island...Would this be sort of like an open-air dungeon? I remember in The Tempest that the shipwrecked Italians were plagued with all sorts of illusions and such. Magical traps seem like a must in this locale.
When I made "Mage Earth" for original and advanced, all the stories were true. One PC managed to put a helm of alignment changing on Prince John. I think your restrictions should apply to that one adventure path. The Three/Four Musketeers would each have some levels in Gunslinger(Which would be called Musketeer).
Lurking in the shadows would be the Illuminati, who were plotting to create a new world order with religious freedom and elected governments. If you were not a member, you probably thought they were possessed by devils.
Oh, you can bet your @$$ that if/when I run this, I'll be going human-only. My group gets enough standard Pathfinder APs, with their myriad race and class options, that one human-only game won't kill them.
Your lips, God's ears man. These youngsters with their Elves and their Orcs and the bilingual and the boppin... Seriously though, I like the cut of your jib mister
I was thinking: Would Ariel be an eidolon or a planar ally?
Planar Ally, at least something Elemental. I hadn't decided but it had to be something powerful and beautiful and maybe sexless or simply above the constrains of gender.
EDIT: And Prospero's Island...Would this be sort of like an open-air dungeon? I remember in The Tempest that the shipwrecked Italians were plagued with all sorts of illusions and such. Magical traps seem like a must in this locale.
By this point in the campaign we had two huge open air encounters (Verona, Athens) then a crawl through the cursed Scottish Woods and then castle Hamlet. For this I wanted to try something different and have a different kind of encounter.
You have the party arrive on the island and realize that this is a very different encounter with whispering voices and strange lights and screams. I wanted to go beyond just having the character be afraid but to inspire fear in the player. I was going to make recordings or get scary sound effects and play creepy whispers on the stereo. I was going to drop a little dry ice in some water to create mists and really creep people out.
When you get there, Prospero Island is now under Sycorax's control. She left a group of mind controlled Tengu assassins on the island, a token force meant to keep outsiders out but they are highly trained. Black Birds of Sycorax, they run in and out of the shadows sneak attacks and then retreat...Sycorax's sick, twisted flock who live for nothing but murder. Everything else is an illusion created by an enslaved Ariel who is being punished for aiding Prospero. Once you defeat the illusions and slay the assassins you journey on.
Finally, at the center of the island is Caliban's cave where a huge skeleton is sitting up right outside the cave, a hole in his chest from a magical blast. Inside the cave it's dark but you can see the reason Caliban died: Prospero returned to the island and discovered a pile of bones in Caliban's cave. Caliban had started swimming to the African coast and kidnaped "brides". Prospero felt so guilty for allowing that monster to live that he slew Caliban on the spot.
Then the players hear a voice, maybe it's Caliban's ghost, maybe it's Ariel giving you a warning but the voice says: "Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans." And then a chrous of grunts and screams echo from the bottom cave and the players realize the Caliban was true to his words: He had peopled the island and his children are awake. Trolls? Ogres? Nevermind! Cry Havoc and roll for initiative as dozens of monsters emerge from the hellish depths of the cave...
But when running this type of campaign, you have to leave some stuff out.
No you don't.
it was a style choice that I stick by
Yes, and you are right to do so.
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I think the collected works of Shakespeare would combine nicely into an open campaign setting, not just an adventure path. All the locations, NPCs, plots, subplots, and themes fit together nicely. It would probably work best with some rule tweaks, like low-magic, low-monsters (most enemies are humanoid races with PC class levels, not dragons and liches, etc), and maybe even E6 (higher level magic is super rare and very limited; think of how many of Shakespeare's plays would have had very different endings if Raise Dead, Heal, Remove Curse, and Wish were commonplace).
I think the collected works of Shakespeare would combine nicely into an open campaign setting, not just an adventure path. All the locations, NPCs, plots, subplots, and themes fit together nicely.
A truly great use of this setting would be low magic, almost emtirely human pcs (as discussed, some half elves maybe) restricted to just the classes in Shakespeare's plays. On dream like journeys through the settings of the plays.it would be a low to middle fantasy.
God the more I talk about this, the more I want to pitch this to a game studio or get a kickstarter, hire designers and publish a damn book. It would be big with racial options for high fantasy, magic options for middle fantasy, and advice on running low fantasy options. Then a step by step description for each location in the game world covering every play in the Comedies, Tragedies, and a few of the Histories. Finally, a massive Dramatis Persone for each character in every play with full character sheets for each.
I think the collected works of Shakespeare would combine nicely into an open campaign setting, not just an adventure path. All the locations, NPCs, plots, subplots, and themes fit together nicely.A truly great use of this setting would be low magic, almost emtirely human pcs (as discussed, some half elves maybe) restricted to just the classes in Shakespeare's plays. On dream like journeys through the settings of the plays.it would be a low to middle fantasy.
God the more I talk about this, the more I want to pitch this to a game studio or get a kickstarter, hire designers and publish a damn book. It would be big with racial options for high fantasy, magic options for middle fantasy, and advice on running low fantasy options. Then a step by step description for each location in the game world covering every play in the Comedies, Tragedies, and a few of the Histories. Finally, a massive Dramatis Persone for each character in every play with full character sheets for each.
I've been working on a historical fantasy setting inspired by early modern Europe, so if fleshing out Shakespeare's world more fully is something you'd like to explore and maybe publish, I'd be happy to lend a hand. Personally, I think a Shakespeare Pathfinder RPG fits very nicely in a design space that board and card games have embraced, but tabletop RPGs have been reluctant to play around with (though Witch Hunter and Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade were both very firmly set in the 15th and 16th centuries, IIRC). Personally, I think it's a project worth undertaking.
Personally, I think a Shakespeare Pathfinder RPG fits very nicely in a design space that board and card games have embraced, but tabletop RPGs have been reluctant to play around with (though Witch Hunter and Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade were both very firmly set in the 15th and 16th centuries, IIRC). Personally, I think it's a project worth undertaking.
I have noticed that there is a woeful lack of English Renaissance/Enlightenment play material, which is sad because it's such a rich period for setting everything. Can anyone honestly tell me a RPG set during the English Civil War or the Italian Wars wouldn't be worth playing? Even finding miniatures themed for the 1500-1600s are woefully hard to find (Warlord Games makes a fairly okay battlefield set from those eras but there are few civilian models, no fancy dress, etc.).
I've been working on a historical fantasy setting inspired by early modern Europe, so if fleshing out Shakespeare's world more fully is something you'd like to explore and maybe publish, I'd be happy to lend a hand.
You know? We may just be speaking again.
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So we start with a list of locations, then bend them into a coherent fantasy world. Shouldn't be too difficult, as most of them are based on the real world, just like Golarion is.
From there, you're going to have to do something unthinkable: rewrite Shakespeare. You heard me. Some of the stories need to be modified in such a way as to exist in a perpetual state, not just a linear storyline. You don't want your players waltzing into Verona thinking they're going to have to sit and watch Romeo and Juliet play out act by act. They need to feel like Verona is a living, breathing city with guys like Mercutio and Tybalt prancing around, causing trouble but not necessarily pushing a plot line forward without any player involvement. The last thing you want to do is run the campaign world like a series of MMO escort quests, where a team of PCs gets hired by Prospero to go fight some meaningless battle against a hydra or something.
In short, the works of Shakespeare should be the inspiration for the setting, the people in it, and the overarching themes (revenge, jealousy, lust, shame, etc), but you have to leave the plot lines out in order to make it any fun for player characters (especially those who might not be particularly well-versed or enthralled with the bard's works).
So we start with a list of locations, then bend them into a coherent fantasy world. Shouldn't be too difficult, as most of them are based on the real world, just like Golarion is.
From there, you're going to have to do something unthinkable: rewrite Shakespeare. You heard me. Some of the stories need to be modified in such a way as to exist in a perpetual state, not just a linear storyline. You don't want your players waltzing into Verona thinking they're going to have to sit and watch Romeo and Juliet play out act by act. They need to feel like Verona is a living, breathing city with guys like Mercutio and Tybalt prancing around, causing trouble but not necessarily pushing a plot line forward without any player involvement. The last thing you want to do is run the campaign world like a series of MMO escort quests, where a team of PCs gets hired by Prospero to go fight some meaningless battle against a hydra or something.
In short, the works of Shakespeare should be the inspiration for the setting, the people in it, and the overarching themes (revenge, jealousy, lust, shame, etc), but you have to leave the plot lines out in order to make it any fun for player characters (especially those who might not be particularly well-versed or enthralled with the bard's works).
Good point. Thank you, I'm glad I checked back in because it's a worthy matter for consideration.
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This is a interesting interpretation of Shakespeare's works for the purpose of building a pathfinder campaign. It's possible to apply the same ideas and elements to other literary based campaign settings(like the world of sharasade '1001 nights'(arabian nights), the pulp age of mad science and gothic horror within the 19th-early 20th century(league of extraordinary gentleman style, with elements of dickens, Lovecraft, penny Dreadfuls, sherlock Holmes, and even some wonderland thrown in for good measure), or Arthurian legends(with elements from anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Pictish folklore and mythology thrown in)).
No lie? This was part of a series of wild ideas I was throwing against the wall:
The Greek Myth Campaign (Greek Monsters and Gods)
The Fairy Tale Campaign (Talking animals, giants, witches)
The "Classic" Campaign (Using the Works of Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, and H.G. Wells)
The Romance Campaign (Using Great Works of Romantic Literature and Poetry)
The Gothic Campaign (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, etc.)
The Tall Campaign (Based on American Tall Tales and Legends)
And, my personal favorite, The Christmas Campaign where you travel a snow covered land in search of Saint Nicholas while trying to raise up the Three Ghosts of Christmas.
I'm thinking in a story book world, the original stories create one timeline, while every time the stories are told another way it creates a parallel timeline.
For example, in the nice version, Romeo and Juliet fake their deaths, leave town, and end up going to the new world to start a new life.
Hamlet kills his uncle and life goes on, business as usual.
Macbeth fights his kinfolk till the English arrive. Then the Scots fight the English till they gang up on the French.