This is an interest check for a kind of world building/campaign building game. The way it would work is, I have a pretty generic map of the world, and each player would play the leader of a primitave-ish tribe in this fantasy world.
Each player would basically take charge of one race, and foster them as we play through the development of their burgeoning culture.
Play would revolve around how this tribe establishes itself in the world, growing and settling (or not) and building it's legacy.
Think of it as a mash-up of Civilization and Pathfinder.
Before I get down to the nitty gritty and mechanics of it, does that sound like something you all would be interested in? Who wants to build a world with me, and do some storytelling/rpging at the same time?
Dotting for interest. What would the constraints of the setting be (high magic, low magic, no guns, emerging guns, ALL THE GUNS!)?
I would be interested in putting a spin on some savage race like gnoll or orc. You can count me in if this gets off the ground.
Intriguing
Interested have to hear more about how it would play before going for it though.
Brilliant! Bring on the details!
I am interested in this. What races would you allow? I assume the game would start at an early period or would it start from a more advanced age?
Wow, much more definitely much more attention than I expected this early.
I'm still working out alot of the mechanical stuff, but I can answer a few questions.
-races allowed: I'd like a mix, so I'm open to ideas. All the traditional races are open game, which includes the "savage" humanoids, and I'd also consider completely new races, though on a case by case basis.
-magic level: ideally, I'd like to start low, and build it to higher. The idea being it's far enough back in the history of the world that (initially at least) noone really knows how magic works. Same thing with divine magic. I had this idea that (during play) gods would pop up based on player actions; where they decide to settle, what their goals become, etc.
Keeping with that, initially there will be no wizards or clerics, only sorcerers and oracles.
-technology level (guns): probably (at least to start) none, but that doesn't mean it's not possible for gunpowder to be discovered
I think it wold be the most interesting to have everyone start at a hunter/gatherer level, and we'll see how things progress...some might develop guns and some might stay nomadic barbarians!
-also, I'm thinking each group/race will have a kind of trait-like bonus
based on the class of their leader.
(ie those lead by a thief will tend to be sneakier, those lead by a ranger will hunt better, those with a bard will have better morale...)
Probably start with turns by season or even several years, but then "zoom" in for important events. In some respects, I can see it playing alot like a board game.
I'd be interested in trying out Kobolds. See if it is possible to give them the empire their egos always said they should have.
...I will lead the goblin tribes to TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION.
and then anarchy when it all falls apart :)
Greatly looking forward to this. I just hope you get the mechanical parts sorted out; as it is you might be creating a whole new system and that might not be best for your interest and the game's survivability.
I'm torn. The hobgoblins would make an awesome evil Roman Empire, but core races need love, too.
Very interested. During my DMing "career" ive often used Hobgoblins as an antagonist nation, since I love the idea of a savage race tempered by disipline. Watching the Dothraki (spelling?) in Game of Thrones only strenghtened that.
Alternatively id do elves, again an idea from DMing. They would develop into a xenophobic nation hellbent on expansionism and the submission of the inferior races. They wouldnt really be evil, more like Lawful Neutral with an evil slant in the things they do to their enemies. Red dragons would be revered on a near religious level and be a big part of the upper levels of society. Im thinking something along the lines of a pact made in the earliest days, whereby the elven emperor always takes a dragon as his queen. Halfdragons would feature heavily in military leadership.
Leader would likely be a Half elf, the other half being dragon (doesnt need to be any rules for it, basic half elf is fine). Class would be Sorcerer, moving into Dragon Diciple, probably with a few levels of Fighter with the Tactician archetype.
For the general feel of the culture, think Feudal Japa, mixed with the Fire Nation from Avatar.
Thats the basics, cant wait to see where this goes, either as a player or spectator.
The Ifrit nation, destined to reign over the desert for eternity.
Idea is the Ifrits (in this setting they are basically "degenerate" efreeti) have been driven out of the plane of fire into the harsh desert to die by their efreeti kin.
Now they must build a civilization that will stand the test of time and of course achieve world domination.
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I'd also like to post my interest here.
Thoughts on Summoners?
Will we wind up playing generations? i.e. I might wind up playing my PC's son after a while if I'm a short lived race?
Depending on the scope of the game, would you be alright with a race developing over time? I start out leading a tribe of humans, but the more "dragon magick" I use, the more draconic they become.
I too will dot for interest. Sea Faring Dwarves seem like fun to me!
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I was thinking along the lines of Suli, the tribe ruled by at first an elemental blooded sorcerer and possibly as the civilization evolves going to a council with one from each elemental bloodline. I saw it as a nomadic people traveling to various points with a strong connection to one element, at least at first.
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Departing from my post of 40 minutes ago (that was fast) I'm thinking of a tribe of orcs or half-orcs (Depending on if half-orc is a race or just a hybridization) or another savage race.
Make them some kind of honorable warrior people. Maybe they're a savage tribe that's taken over by a "Cavalier." Their primary weapon is something like the lance used by the Apache of the US.
I'm thinking ratfolk. Probably traveling in caravans whose leaders would be trying to become merchant princes, dominating cities through their economies or as urban parasites depending on how things go for them.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's some interest out there...
Yes, not surprising in these forums. I would want to go either with Strix or ratfolk, or maybe catfolk XD.
So many monsters!
I'd love to just play any old classic race, but with my spin put on it.
Pshaw. Gnolls, suli, elves? A hobgoblin empire? Even more laughable, a kobold empire?
Everyone knows that humans are the greatest race, with the biggest, bestest, most powerful empires! ;)
As has been mentioned, core races need representation. I would be proud to bring the humans to dominance!
So would this be sort of Kingmaker-esque? Each of us plays a leader of a group of races working together to form a greater kingdom?
If that's the case, it sounds awesome and I'd love to play.
That being said, I think we'd be hard pressed to get elves, stryx, goblins and gnolls to work together. We might want to go with a narrower racial grouping/theme.
Personally, I'd love to play Bugbears or Lizardfolk in a savage empire game.
I imagine it would work rather like kingmaker in many respects, although many of you may (or may not) be aware of each other's presence for a while due to "fog of war"
So, it looks like there is genuine interest for this little undertaking I dreamed up. I crack down and try to hammer some of the more mechanical things in the next week or so, and probably begin official recruitment on Monday (hopefully)
P.s. good to see someone givin' the hoomans some love, I was starting to get a bit curious how that would go down.
Dot this because I deem it very dotable.
This sounds awesome.
Imagining the possibilities of stone-age halflings, following herds of mastadons across the prairies.
Which desert will I set the Ifrit empire in...
I'd also like to post my interest here.
Thoughts on Summoners?
Will we wind up playing generations? i.e. I might wind up playing my PC's son after a while if I'm a short lived race?
Depending on the scope of the game, would you be alright with a race developing over time? I start out leading a tribe of humans, but the more "dragon magick" I use, the more draconic they become.
Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner.
1) not sure I want to bring summoners into the picture, at least just yet. Could be revisited once the game has been going for a while though.
2) yes, I imagine it would be very generational, depending on the length of "turns". I totally want to see development over time, one of the main points of this experiment/game was to build the background for a homegrown campaign, but to do it organically, and in a way that would involve more people.
Your example is right along the lines of something I'd like to see.
Going along the same lines as above, and the race/culture developing over time, I'm not sure how i feel about the planar races. There's no doubt that many of them can be cool...i have a pace in my wicked little heart for fetchlings...but I'd like to keep higher level magic and the planes out of the picture for a while.
Now if they started out human, and somehow developed a propensity for fire or the like...
so far the proposed races are:
Harakani - kobolds
GM Arkwright - goblins
Bearded Ben - hobgoblins
Anthony Krast - hobgoblins or elves
Viluki - ifrit
DarkestHeart - sea dwarves
Xzaral - suli
twilsemail - half orcs
Seranov - dwarves or oreads
Augustus413 - ratfolk
Rafael The Silent - strix or ratfolk or catfolk
GM Gluttony - anything (with a twist!)
Loup Blanc - humans
Doomed Hero - bugbears or lizardfolk
dreamingdragon - halflings
STraveler - tengu or drider
Wow! So much to think about...thanks for all the interest so far folks...very encouraging.
Allow me to volunteer to represent the orcs in all their ferocious glory! Legends will be made as this savage green race spawns across the lands, claiming all land and lives for the glory of their angry god.
so far the proposed races are:
-Snip-
I believe you've forgotten me. I expressed interest in gnolls or orcs in post 3, but I'd like to change that to gnolls or trolls.
I believe you've forgotten me. I expressed interest in gnolls or orcs in post 3, but I'd like to change that to gnolls or trolls.so far the proposed races are:
-Snip-
Yes, you did. Sorry, I didn't scroll back up high enough. :)
Could there be more than one player with the same race? Sort of like different branches sprouting from the same tree.
There could definitely be multiple players with the same race. This is about developing a fictional culture as well, so that's cool. Even if it doesn't turn out that way through player choice, I'll be "npc"ing several other tribes to interact/have conflict with.
Sorry about missing you DK,there was much more interest than I expected, and I was probably going through the posts a bit too quickly; may have missed others, though I think it was just you two.
As for how many I'll be taking...probably maximum 6, although if I think I can commit extra time I could go as high as 8...that might be pushing it though.
If this is still open, I'd like to submit a tribe of humans led by a blight druid. Mostly druids, rangers, barbarians and sorcerers (with a few rogues, witches, oracles, fighters, etc thrown in some clans), this tribe reveres their dead ancestors and believes the dead should serve the living. Human bodies are reanimated for labor and war, used to fertilize early crop fields, etc. Bones are used as weapons and jewelry, teeth as currency. The spirits of nature (fey, elementals, etc.) are equally revered. The tribal chieftan will eventually aspire to some form of undeath-such as vampirism or lichdom. I want the tribe to feel like a green/black deck from magic the gathering with a touch of aztec/egyptian undertones and native american/viking warrior-hunter culture, for ease of explaination.
In terms of civilization, they would be a dozen or so seminomadic protoagrarian hunter-gatherer clans that have a trade center akin to the Cahokia mound builders, with earthen mounds/pyramids located in a river valley near a lot of forests. Wooden structures such as battlements around the city, woodhenge-like religious structures, log longhouses, etc. would exist. Weaponry consists of spears, clubs, stone maces, bone daggers/shortswords, biws (including composite bows made from bone and sinew), etc. Anything wood, bone, or stone/flint.
They are the Tribes of Oru.
Barring humans, I would be interested in elves, oread, or tengu with the same cultural fluff.
I have been wanting to play in or run a game like this for years. Stone/early iron age emerging magic/civilization...! Love it.
@W Canepa
Teeth as money? Someones an Ork fan. (Ork with a K not a C. Only proppa orkz spellz wiff a K boyz)
The culture of the Ifrits. Like their cousins the Efreeti the Ifrits are cunning, calculating and vengeful. They are determined to survive the desert and succeed no matter the cost, woe to any who stand in their way.
When you think of the Ifrit empire, think of the ancient persian kingdom of the middle-east. Think of their leaders Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes and you begin to grasp what the Ifrit empire will look like.
Anthony- i just added that on the fly. Seemed appropriate, but would not be surprised if it has been done before. I was thinking of tooth fairies and limited but durable skeleton bits. Teeth are harder to destroy, can be used as tools (and weapons for larger predatory teeth), etc. Humans have 2 sets they grow, so everyone has at least the wealth of their baby teeth. Some even gain the luxury of wisdom teeth. Etc