For some time, around 6+ years, I’ve been knocking around a campaign setting that is, hopefully, a bit off of the beaten path. I’ve had a couple of close calls, particularly with a series of articles in Dragon / Dungeon, but so far my “idea” hasn’t appeared in another form somewhere. (After this post I’m sure it won’t be the case.)
The campaign world the players know is coming to an end. It isn’t a campaign where apocalypse is a saving throw away: the end is nigh and ugly in several unpleasant ways. Tough choices are being made, along with some hard changes in alignment, as the players and the NPC’s are forced to make hard choices with no easy answers.
Think along these lines: “Two children, a boy and a girl, are tied to a stake with a red dragon winging closer with every minute. You have time to save one so who do you choose?” It’s not an actual scenario, and sounds trite to boot, but gives you a sense of the kind of moral ambiguity with some of the decision making.
In a lot of ways the world of the campaign setting is going through the Kubler-Ross stages of receiving catastrophic news as realization of what is happening spreads:
Denial – The first nations that deny what is happening are among the first most dramatically effected and pay a terrible price.
Anger – This is where the initial physical resistance finds its roots. Unfortunately while initially effective, it soon becomes a case of holding back the tide. (Not literally. This isn’t “Waterworld” or the far superior Alexander Key’s “The Incredible Tide”.)
Bargaining – Perhaps the single worst path that can be taken. The line between the devil and the deep blue sea only ends in tragedy of horrific proportions. Reaping what they sow is clearly presented as a non-viable option.
Depression – Loss is a key theme of the campaign: Loss of culture, art, population, etc. That doesn’t mean that hope and promise of a brighter future don’t exist but for many of the countries and people of the land this is a dark, dark time requiring heroes .
Acceptance – I really think this is where the roots of this campaign’s success lay. Once the problem is laid bare and the scope of the undeniable fate is realized the best are those that recognize what must be done. (Or at least attempted.) It’s this “What must we do?” thinking that is going to lead to some failed alignment checks.
I’ve several other key ideas fleshed out:
As a diety what do you do when your followers are becoming fewer and fewer. (Tipping my had a bit that the overall device is an escalating one.) What pact do you make with the other gods on your plane?
How does your knightly order survive when the very thing you must do to save some of the people you serve will damn the rest to a fate that will haunt your dreams for eternity?
What will force evil, true evil, to recognize that there are some times when working with the forces of good to survive. (Vice versa as well.)
Can any king survive the weight of responsibility when their decisions will lead to the deaths of unimaginable numbers of the very subjects they are sworn to protect?
If the old have had their chances who will teach the young you are trying to save?
My creative, and hopelessly vain, side thinks there are several excellent adventures in the heart of this. (Perhaps a novel or two. *lol* Are you listening WotC? Paizo?) Here are some examples:
The politics of building a pact that will stand against “the foe” are extreme. How do you convince your steadfast friends and worst enemy to ally as one?
As a kingdom falls the last surviving heir to the throne must be rescued to rally her desperate people. The party, in carrying out the rescue, comes face to face with the true extent of what they face.
What do you choose to save from the most fabled libraries and museums of the world?
How do you save a people whom you cannot communicate with and who have no interest in communicating with you?
Ideally none of this sounds like a retread of “Battlestar Galactica” or Noah’s Ark. because I think the key concepts are very different. (Although I do like the new Starbuck.) There’s death and dying on apocalyptic scale but rebirth is just as important.
D&D has always lent itself to killing monsters and getting treasure but the best games I’ve ever played in are about story telling and watching characters grow in ways that you can never imagine when you’re first rolling their stats. It’s about stories that, years after the actual events, can cause you to laugh or smile or grimace as memory floods back. I suppose that is what I want to do the most: tell a great story.
I’m interested in getting some input from some of you with solid DM experience. My DM skills are pretty rusty and I’ve not run a game in a long time so some of the mechanics of 3.5 are still new to me. (I do have a few Prestige classes lined out that I think are nifty and tie in well.)
At some point in the next couple of weeks I’m going to open a section of my website where I can upload a lot of the particulars for feedback. (I pray it will be a bit more constructive than the "It sux!" type.) If you're interested please feel free to email me or reply here.
Kind regards,
Jim
Have you checked out the "Midnight" campaign by Fantasy Flight games?
Think, Lord of the Rings, but the bad guys win.
Dark.
ASEO out
I like the premise, but from a game-technical standpoint:
- From an apocalyptic standpoint, does the campaign setting world stand a fighting chance to survive?
If it doesn't, then you're designing a game-world with a finite lifespan and the games run within it, while being quite interesting, will eventually be irrelevant due to the world ending. That will sort of take the wind out of some people's sails, as far as motivation to play...
If the world survives, it will be fundamentally altered and no longer resemble the world you originally created; while much more playable and still interesting, you will have to be prepared for the 'big re-write' a la Greyhawk, pre- and post- Greyhawk Wars.
My two cents as a long term DM.
M
You've been pretty vague, but I love the open-endedness of the what-can-we-save and how-do-we-rebuild-the-world-now-that-the-world-has-ended scenario.
As far as good and evil and survival, good means, IMHO, that one is willing to die before taking the life of an innocent or committing any similarly evil act. If we are willing to do evil for the sake of our own survival, then I think our true colors have been exposed.
Of course, sometimes sacrifices must be made for the good of a larger group, and that's where it gets tricky. For example, should good people exile or even exterminate folks with the plague if it's the only way to prevent its spread? If so, who makes the decision?
And I do think it's *very* Battlestar Galactica, but why is that bad? Do yourself a favor and let go of the notion that there is anything "original" to be said. Just find a fresh way to explore old themes (just like Battlestar Galactica is doing).
Like I said, Take a look at "Midnight".
It is things like kill the good guy that is being held prisoner before he can talk, because he knows to much, and if you rescue him he'll likley get recaptured.
Help the evil overlords scheeme against each other to take some of the pressure and terror off the local population.
The PCs are more likley to get turned over to the evil overlords by the local population who see placating the overlords as their only way of survival.
Magic and weapons are illegal. Everything is punishable by death.
The heroes are not trying to win against the evil, but only survive, and if they can manage to nick the heal of the evil of maybe just maybe give evil a black eye, then they've done more than anyone else and are truly heroes.
It is a dark dark setting, that really needs more published adventures.
ASEO out
The one thing I have noticed while DMing is that the people and the characters in the story line need to seem real and very annimated. Regretably most DM's are failed actors and are unable to bring life to the story line, whether they role play the good guys as well as bad guys and much in between. The thing about role playing is to make it seem real, real choices and real decisions. The sign of a great leader is the ability to make the hard choices that no one wants to make. If it is not real to life then it is not real to a persons character. I always favored the scenario that either one person survives while millions die or the other way around. It tends to test a persons metal. Great premiss, good fortune on what ever your choice will be and God speed.
Have you checked out the "Midnight" campaign by Fantasy Flight games?
Thanks for the tip. I've not seen that but will give it a look the next time I have a chance.
From an apocalyptic standpoint, does the campaign setting world stand a fighting chance to survive?
If it doesn't, then you're designing a game-world with a finite lifespan and the games run within it, while being quite interesting, will eventually be irrelevant due to the world ending. That will sort of take the wind out of some people's sails, as far as motivation to play...
If the world survives, it will be fundamentally altered and no longer resemble the world you originally created; while much more playable and still interesting, you will have to be prepared for the 'big re-write' a la Greyhawk, pre- and post- Greyhawk Wars.
Marc,
The world is going to come to an end. It's going to be messy and clever but in the end the world will come to an end.
That being said once things are over the survivors start off somewhere else. A new place to explore, rebuild, etc. That doesn't mean there might not be an occasional trip back to what's left or sidesteps to other places. Or some conflict with the locals once the "colonists" show up.
I suppose the easier answer is to say that you're right, one of the worlds has a finite lifespan / fate. The next one however...
You've been pretty vague, but I love the open-endedness of the what-can-we-save and how-do-we-rebuild-the-world-now-that-the-world-has-ended scenario.
Thanks Robert. I've some concerns about losing a good idea but I'll get a bit more comfortable as time goes by.
As far as good and evil and survival, good means, IMHO, that one is willing to die before taking the life of an innocent or committing any similarly evil act. If we are willing to do evil for the sake of our own survival, then I think our true colors have been exposed.
Of course, sometimes sacrifices must be made for the good of a larger group, and that's where it gets tricky. For example, should good people exile or even exterminate folks with the plague if it's the only way to prevent its spread? If so, who makes the decision?
The tricky part is where some of the issues come from. The nature of "the foe" leads to some startling reactions from people I've spoken to. (Including some "Oh. Yuck. Sheesh that's grim.") We're not talking about a virus or bug though. It's a malign intelligence and it's goal and the survival of the people of the world are not compatible.
And no, it's not Ethergaunts. (lol)
And I do think it's *very* Battlestar Galactica, but why is that bad? Do yourself a favor and let go of the notion that there is anything "original" to be said. Just find a fresh way to explore old themes (just like Battlestar Galactica is doing).
Ok! Duly noted!
That being said here's part of my background on one of the cities, Meridian, in the major polity of Sidri. The King of the Sidri plays a major role in things and he's going to face some hard choices. There are some references to one of the major events, The Campaign against the Black, that I hope will be easily understood.
Let me know what you think:
Meridian and the The Black.
Meridian is a city with three tales: A tale of trade, a tale of death and a tale of import.
Background:
Meridian began as a city whose birth came thousands of years ago as a trade center for western oceanic merchants and the peoples of lands beyond the mountains that separate the two. What began as a convenient way point grew to become one of the most active and thriving centers of population and commerce in all of the Sidrian lands. If an object was impossible to find the timeless joke was that two could always be found in Meridian.
It was five hundred years ago that Meridian and its surrounding lands became a part of the Sidrian kingdom. Gheros of Sidria, monarch at the time, won Meridian as a concession from the Brennan for the Sidrian campaign against the coastal pirates that at that time received tacit support from the Brennan. The ruling council of Brennan, recognizing their political and military liability after the campaign, were eager to draw the conflict to a close. When Gheros suggested that Meridian would be sufficient reparations for the cost of the conflict the Brennan eagerly complied. With the removal of Brennan garrisons, and an exceedingly light touch from the Sidri crown, Meridian flourished over the next 5 centuries.
The coming of the Black.
“Five were their number, all older than time,
They appeared with no warning and death with them came.
Serpents most foul, with skin almost grey,
They darkened the sky on that fair spring day.
Hold close to your loved ones and remember their names:
Rivistan, Ma’Rhauga, Um’Ghvon, Hi’Ridran and Mourn.”
The Death of Meridian
One the Sidrian calendar the Day of Mourning marks the death of Meridian. For the last 12 years ceremonies mark the day at every city, town, village and embassy within Sidrian lands. It marks the day that Meridian died.
On the 12th day of Landishlon Meridian woke to a beautiful day that seemed to portent a good harvest and an end to the winter. As farmers took to the field, caravans were readied for departure and the dew began to evaporate a handful of townsfolk noticed specks high in the sky, specks that seemed to grow larger as they came closer. Specks that became the sight of five black dragons sweeping down on the city.
Less than a handful of survivors survived the assault. Most of the city, still asleep at dawns break, only knew death in their last moments. The militia was destroyed almost instantly and what little resistance was mounted was quickly overwhelmed. The keep in the center of Meridian was one of the last buildings to fall and it was on a shattered wall the Five left their marks proclaiming to all who could read Draconic who it was that was responsible.
Within a day the silence coming from Meridian caught the attention of nearby towns. Within three days a merchant train that had arrived at the devastation had returned to the city it had departed from and brought word of what they had found. Riders were immediately dispatched.
As word arrived the Sidrian Monarch, King Bronnan dispatched the entirety of the Guardian’s Own of the Order of the Temple Knights via teleportation. Two additional Orders were mobilized from nearby towns on forced marches to arrive and provide additional force of arms. At the Crown’s request the Council of Mages dispatched an unprecedented half of the grand council to accompany the Guardian’s Own to Meridian. Emmisaries were sent to all of Sidri’s bordering nations with requests of aid and consultation.
What greeted all who arrived was a scene out of the worst of nightmares. Men and women, children and animals, all were slaughtered with no regard to age, race or sex. Farms whose fields were filled with crops but a day before now lay useless. Acid from the Five etched stone, rock and left the very soil itself as dead as Meridian’s inhabitants.
No incident or provocation has ever been recorded or discovered that explains the actions of that day. Of the Five dragons responsible only Mourn was captured alive and even then died from wounds inflicted during his capture before he was able to be questioned directly. If any injustice brought Meridian’s fate upon itself that slight will remain lost to time.
Homeland to a peoples and rebirth
In months following the death of Meridian the Sidri response was at first stunned shock. As time passed and the dead were mourned the Sidri Royal family visited nation after nation accepting the pro-offered grief of other peoples. Finally, a half a year after Meridian’s fall, the campaign of the War against the Black began.
For the next two years Sidri’s armies sought out every black dragon that could be found. One by one, nest by nest, the Black were systematically hunted into extinction. One by one the Five were found and made to pay the price for their butchery. It has now been almost 8 years since a reliable sighting of one of the Black.
For aid in their part against the Black the Elven peoples of Terenth were given Meridian and her surrounding lands as a seat for their nation. (The Terenth’s ancient ancestors had founded the original city that now lay beneath Meridian’s shattered foundations. Realizing the once lost dream of a born again homeland the Terenth have flocked to Meridian in droves, welcoming any Sidri who wish to once again populate the city.
The importance of Meridian to the trade of so many countries has already fuelled increases in size that many would have thought impossible. At current projections Meridian will reach it’s previous population within a generation.
As always I look forward to your comments. (In advance I'll beg forgiveness if it reads like bad fan fiction.)
Best,
Jim