Hello!
If you have looked at my Shattered World thread, then undoubtedly you have read my world premise which is as follows:
WORLD PREMISE:
Oramis was once a solid world like any other. A millennium ago, a war sprang up between two formidable mages (who also happened to be twin brothers but of differing ethical beliefs). This war raged on for many days, but neither mage could seem to get the upper hand. The final blow of this Wizard War was so potent that neither mage was able to contain it, and the world was shattered like a glass ball into a thousand pieces.
Since both mages were far more powerful than the Wizards’ Guild could handle, it was powerless to stop the war. Luckily, however, the Guild (some of whom were diviners) was able to foresee this disaster months before it actually happened and was prepared. Though unable to completely prevent this event - now referred to as the Shattering - they were able at least to save the world from total destruction. After determining how the world would be shattered, the Guild devised magical devices - called shard-keys - and placed one of them on each piece of land which would someday become a shard. These devices maintain each shard's gravity, atmosphere, climate, and stability. If a shard-key were ever to be removed from the shard it was designed to protect, that shard would lose all of these things and would pose a hazard to other shards as it spun out of control. All of these shards were suspended inside a large envelope of air and set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns.
Millions of people died in the ensuing chaos which followed the War’s conclusion. Common people, blaming mages for the destruction and death, hunted down and slew many wizards. Much knowledge of magic was lost. Modern mages have yet to duplicate many of the marvels that have been accredited to those ancient wizards - including the magic which created shard-keys! Even today, after one thousand years, mages are still feared, shunned, and - in many places - actively hunted, despite the fact that they were instrumental in saving the world from total destruction. Undaunted they have continued to be of great service to man, creating the windriggers which provide transportation from shard to shard.
I have received alot of criticism on this, both here and at other sites where I am seeking advice. As a result I am ready to rethink my premise, and would love to get your help in this.
Problems:
- Most everyone agrees that they don't like the entire twins/wizard war idea behind the Shattering.
- Some want to know how common people were able to bring down mages powerful enough to shatter a world.
- Some want to know details behind the shard keys...how did they become intelligent?
- Some want to know how priests and deities tie into all of this.
Well, I don't have answers. I do know the folowing details which I want to work into my premise somehow.
- Long ago there was a race called the Dragon Lords who came from "somewhere else" (no one knows exactly where) who ruled the world for thousands of years, then disappeared. They were ulta-powerful mages. Elves and dragons are somehow tied to them.
- I love the concept of ley lines and standing stones and monoliths and would like to work them in somehow.
- Priests helped the common folk in supressing mages.
Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.
Perhaps the Dragon Lords came here for a purpose...something to do with magic. Maybe the magic here was wild and untamed and they set down a system of ley lines to help regulate the flow. Haven't yet decided if the Dragon Lords were called that because they actually were dragons. Or perhaps they were ancestors of elves who rode dragons. Or perhaps elves were the race the Dragon Lords chose to teach to maintain the ley line system after they left.
Anyway, maybe something interfered with the ley line system and this magical back lash caused the Shattering.
Perhaps the gods, angered by the devastation, had their priests begin the persecution of mages.
Where did the Dragon Lords go? Did they move on to another world which needed their help? Are they coming back? Or did they sacrifice themselves becoming the Shard Keys which now hod the world together?
Well, what are your thoughts on all of this? Better than the Wizard War premise? Advice? I'd love to hear your thoughts...
Doesn't anybody out there have any ideas? :(
I think that's a very interesting premise, dood. Thoughts:
1. The Wizards as Twin Brothers- This sounds fine to me, I wonder what some of the critics have said against it? Family ties always bring a level of depth and breadth to a campaign, and I love it when my PCs have famiy interests (and I always, as a player, create some sort of family background). Now, whether they really are twins is up to you...perhaps one is the "real" guy, the other some sort of eveil clone or doppleganger or alternate dimension version or something.
2. Common folk destroying Wizards - This needs no explanation at all IMHO; wizards must rest, memorize spells, prep components (people always forget that). Sure, a readied wizard is a formidable foe, but for how long? 1 day? 1 week? How many 10kgp powdered diamonds is he really going to have? As they said on the podcast Fear The Boot (a good "pen and paper" rpg podcast), if there really were dragons sitting on moutains of gold, it wouldnt be adventuring super-humans fighting them, it'd be massive corproations with armies that would eventually run the dragons to ground and "mine" them like we mine oil today. I think that same reasoning applies to wizards...a wand of fireballs is going to kill hundreds of people, but how are you going to stop thousands?
Now, if the wizards in your world are removed from these restrictions, maybe some more explanation is needed...the priests of the land getting involved is a good solution, as clerics can cast dispel magic as well as anyone else I believe. In many of my games, I use monks and barbarians as the "anti-mages" they were kinda meant to be (and by that I mean good saves, stunning fists, and fast movement for the monk, and temp hp and fast movement and extra str for the brb, have both classes grapple to get Attacks of Opp on casters, etc).
Perhaps the priests of God X formed monestaries of magekillers, or the druids of Nature God summoned brb hordes.
Or, and I don't know how u feel about psionics, perhaps "the people" discovered the power...of the mind. A few psions mixed in a crowd would really change it's capabilites. This solution is perhaps more acceptable to critical rules-lawyers out there if you were to utilze the "magic and psionics are different" option in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, wherein protections and dispelling of magic have no effect on psi powers, and visa versa. magine the confusion your wizads would have when ecoplasmic assassins walk right through their wards, crystal shards flying through their shields...When I play Eberron, this is how I roll it, it makes the Dreaming Dark all the more menacing...
Now, you wouldnt want to make the world too psi-heavy, b/c normally that's a pretty niche audience, your players may not like it, that's up to you. Eberron does a good balancing act here, better than the old Dark Sun setting.
3. Ley Lines - my first thought was that the world shattered along the ley lines. Would this make sense?
4. Dragon Lords- this is a tough one, let me think about this one.
5. The Gods- you are making up your own gods? And I guess the question is, what were they doing during the Shattering? I think the best "absent gods" model was played out in the old Dragonlance series, where the gods left the heavens, and when they did their constellations left the skies darker. During that time, there was no divine magic, and youve said that you have priests with power, so that isnt an apt comparison, but it s a good example of a "where have the gods gone" fiction arc.
Unless you do mean that priests have lost their power? If so, what about paladins, bards, and druids?
It would be interesting to have the gods be silent on the issue, acting as though nothing unusally happened...and by that, I mean, augury or portend spells like commune simply return no answer on the subject of the Shattering. Or maybe they're giving different answers.
6. Keys- Here's another place where I think your premise is fine. Why does there have to be a "reason" for keys being sentient? Perhaps the Guild wizards made it so, perhaps another sentient race who saw the Shattering coming, like archons or even demons. Maybe the Keys are somehow linked to the gods, like a lich has a phylactery. You've really got alot of freedom here.
Here's a question: how do people travel between the shards? And what is it like in that "space"? Visions of SpellJammer come to mind here, maybe thats good, maybe that's bad.
Anyway, hope that helps, I'll be looking for your next post, and keep up with your good, creative work :)
Sorry, buddy, I hate long posts regarding campaigns.
Here's a thought, though, I have no idea if your players are like this -- if not this could be a waste: PCs often like extremely brief, limited or nonexistent campaign backstory!
Once you the DM have a general idea about the ecology and sociology of your campaign, basic structure stuff, STOP THERE. Let the PCs develop their backstories as they merge with the campaign world. You'll develop your world concept right along with them and you won't want to railroad the PCs' actions nor become frustrated when they want to move in differing directions, storywise. You'll have more time to prep each session for combat and roleplay encounters because you won't have to spend time furthering the campaign story as a whole and trying to work in future elements you designed months ago.
Remember, DMing and Campaign designing are not novel or story writing. Good luck, man -- hope all goes well!
-W. E. Ray
Improved Sunder - Planet, is not a feat I have seen anywhere (though I am sure it will show up in a book eventually) so I would recommend taking the actual destruction out of mortal hands.
Perhaps the two combatants were the demigod children of a central goddess, each with a portfolio of arcane magic. They lead vast armies into battle against each other, but it was their own, near limitless power which tore the world apart.
The keys could have been divinely fashioned, and imbued with the tears of the mother goddess, an effort to undo the damage she had wrought through her progeny.
That leaves you with a nice dichotomy where the gods are hated and feared, they did tear the planet apart, but also serve as the salvation of life.
As for bringing down the armies, perhaps the twin gods were consumed in the eldritch fire that shattered the world, as well as many of their followers. The remainder warred amongst themselves as well as against the fearful mortals around them, until their number dwindled to near nothing. The priests took an ever increasing roll in this final stage of the conflict.
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As for the Dragon Lords, personally I have seen enough of the ancient and mysterious progenitor race to consider it tiresome, but since you want it. When the Gods formed in the heavens, they were mirrored by creatures of nearly equal power in the mortal realm. Dragons bborn of the vortices of magical energy where the divine realm encroached to closely on the material. They were powerful beyond reconing, and cloaked in scintilating scales.
Their children were less pure, and their grandchildren even more so, until instead of birthing "True Dragons" they were but pale shadows, individual sub-races which bred true only with them selves (read chromatic, metallic, etc.).
When the gods placed into the mortal realm the humans, the Dragon Lords took offense, and stole away many of the people. Proximity, and perhaps interbreeding turned those humans into something else, longer lived, connected to the flow of magic, and yet some how still anchored to the very essence of the world, so were born the first of the elves.
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The standing stones, menhirs, monoliths, and megaliths could be the last remnant of the Dragon Lords civilization. An effort to sunder the mortal realm from the divine realm. The ley line network would lay in tatters, some areas intact, other areas spewing the raw stuff of magic into the realm. A good place to stick "wild magic zones" if you want them, or something like manifest zones from the Eberron setting.
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As for where the Dragon Lords went, when their attempt to sunder the mortal realm from the divine failed, they attempted something new. Creating an artificial third realm into which they retreated, taking many of their followers, and all of their history and legacy, leaving behind the base born childer (Dragons) and their other constructs (Elves).
My 2 coppers, Hope it helps...
I started to do a devestated world once. In that one, the moon had shattered, unleashing global upheavel (think Thundarr the Barbarian). I hadn't really planned the actual cause of the destroyed moon, but gave the various cultures their own differing religious myths regarding the event.
I was thinking over the weekend about your desire to have ley magic, and such.
After the shattering, and the network being torn asunder, some places of power still exist. But more importantly, there are points on the old ley lines which are still connected to eachother, raw magical energy bending the material plane.
These places are called Nigh Points, anyone entering a Nigh point can attempt to bridge the space in between. Perhaps a willpower save, exercising ones will and self control to bond with the etheric flow. If the minimum difficulty is 20, and "hard" journeys (could be long, or not at the correct time) could be higher DC, so it is never a practical method for anyone to travel reliably.
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Another question I had was what about the secondary realms. Typically the shadow realm is a mirror of how the prime is/could be. Might be an interesting aspect if the dark and twisted realm is still whole, but very dark and very twisted. Would also be a nice dumping ground for the underdark stuff you want to keep in.
Just a thought about the common people thing (and I haven't read you stuff in detail, so this may not be appropriate). Just because they were "common people" it doesn't necessarily follow that they were "commoners" in the NPC class sort of way.
For example, some druid sects or churches might be composed of ordinary folk who just happen to be fairly powerful druids or clerics. There might be champions of the common folk who are actually quite high level, possibly reaching that level through the trials of bringing down the wizards (as opposed to being bog-standard adventurers in it for the cash). Yes, it is odd to think that very powerful wizards could be brought down by a mob of lvl 1 commoners. But a bunch of high level druids, sorcerers, fighters and so on, raised up from and supported by the people would be a different matter.
As a general note - I wouldn't worry too much about the criticism. It is possibly a good idea (and quite brave) to receive a critique, but there are some aspects which might just feel good to you that don't necessarily bear a close look. So don't get too fussed about it - you can probably explain it away and make it fit it you have to.
I never was really fond of the twins/Wizard War thing anyway. The only reason I went with this was because of an idea I had for an NPC... A crazy wizard (actually on the twins who survived the war) Who is now cursed with two personalities. He goes around on a dextructive rampage for a while, then later comes back trying to undo the damage he did. I was going to call him Gemini. Pretty lame, huh?
Love the setting idea.
Cracking of the World: I'd intentionally leave this unstoried at the start of the campaign, waiting until people are higher-level before they gain any insight into what happened--that could even be the focus of an AP at some point. It's just too good a mystery to give away at the start of the campaign!
Ley Lines: I'd make the ley lines what hold the shards together, keeping them from drifting off (saving you any concerns about gravity, etc. alluded to in another thread). This would also allow one set of standing stones or some other feature on each shard to act as the focus for the ley lines there.
I'll think about it some more and post as I come up with ideas for your perusal.
Okay, here it is... a preliminary version of my new world premise. I know it still needs a LOT of of work, but I'd thougth I'd get your thoughts on it so far....
WORLD PREMISE
In the mist-shrouded ages of times gone by, Oramis was a different place. Myths and legends tell us that the world was whole and solid then, a sphere of unimaginable proportions. They say the world would turn its face away from the sun every day so that a great darkness called “night” would fall, dividing the days into alternating days and nights. In this darkness, or so the legends run, one could see lights in the sky - small lights called “stars” as well as a greater light the ancients called the “moon”. The followers of Selene say that this is true and that this moon and their Lady are one and the same. But if that is true, who supplies their powers now that the moon is gone?
They also say that great sections of our world were covered in water. Vast “oceans” of water so great that one could not see the other side, and so deep that one could not see the bottom. Ships plied their trades on the surface of these oceans and great monstrous beasts filled their depths.
Then came the Dragon Lords. From whence did they come? What did they want? What was their purpose? No one seems to know for sure save, perhaps, the elves and dragons - and even they do not have the answers... or so they claim. For ages the Dragon Lords ruled, setting up stone circles and monoliths. Only they knew the purpose for them. Their servants, the elves and dragons, provided the labor, while the native peoples of our world - human, dwarf and twyll - could only watch in awe. Great magical powers the Dragon Lords had, and watching them we learned. We learned about building, about power, and ultimately, about magic. Through their servants, the elves, they began to teach our peoples the ways of magic, and our peoples learned well and true. Many of the people began to worship them, turning their backs on the True Gods. In return the Gods, in their jealousy and rage, turned their backs on us.
If only we had known what was coming....
Everything seemed peaceful according to the stories. Yes, the True Priests and the Followers of the Dragon Lords bickered and fought, but everything else, it seemed, was fine. Then one day the
True Priests began to cry, “The end is coming! The Tapestry unravels! Turn away from the false ones and return to the True Faith! Bring their blessings back upon us before it is too late!” But few heeded their warnings.
Then He came. He Who Has No Name. The Incomprehensible One. The Destroyer. The Unraveler. The people cried out to the Dragon Lords to save them, but they could not be found. They and their followers, the Mages, had vanished, deserting the peoples in their time of need. The True Priests gathered their strength and stood up to him, but ultimately it was no use. The Unraveller struck, and the world was shattered like a glass ball into ten thousand pieces. But the True Priests were able to rescue us. They cried out to the Gods “Save us!” And the Gods responded. They drove away the Nameless One, and created a sphere to keep the pieces of our world from drifting away.
Only after the world had shattered and the Nameless One defeated did the mages return saying that they had saved the world for us. The Guild (some of whom were diviners) claimed that it had been able to foresee this disaster months before it actually happened and was prepared. They said that - though unable to completely prevent this event now referred to as the Shattering - they were able at least to save the world from total destruction. After determining how the world would be shattered, the Guild - working feverishly - claimed it had devised magical devices called shard-keys and placed one of them on each piece of land which would someday become a shard. These devices maintain each shard's gravity, atmosphere, climate, and stability. If a shard-key were ever to be removed from the shard it was designed to protect, that shard would lose all of these things and would pose a hazard to other shards as it spun out of control. All of these shards were suspended inside a large envelope of air and set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns.
Millions of people died in the ensuing chaos which followed the Shattering. Common people, blaming the cowardice of the mages for the destruction and death, hunted down and slew many wizards. Much knowledge of magic was lost. Modern mages have yet to duplicate many of the marvels that have been accredited to those ancient wizards - including the magic which created shard-keys!
For centuries mundanes - those who don't practice magic - persecuted those who do, blaming them for the catastrophe that was the Shattering, despite the fact that they were instrumental in saving the world from total destruction. However times and people change. As society began to rebound, people became more and more dependent on those who use magic for trade. There is now a grudging acceptance of mages in most places. However there are a few shards - even today - that still cling to the old beliefs, that remain suspicious of those who use magic and continue to support the witch hunters who help to "rid the world of those dangerous people."
RASAMA (the Royal Academy for the Study and Advancement of the Mystic Arts - also known as the Mages' Guild) was originally conceived as a means of controlling and monitoring mages in light of the general public's fear of them. All mages were required to register with the Guild, and those who did not were shunned and hunted down by witch hunters - betrayed by to them by their own brother mages. Today the registration of mages with the Guild continues, despite the general shift in attitudes and the changing views of most people. In many places a mage will not be hired for work unless he is a registered Guild member, and since the Guild still brands those who practice forbidden schools as rogue mages, often those who are not registered will be viewed with suspicion.
Undaunted by the prejudice and persecution they received in the past, however, mages have continued to be of great service to man - their greatest accomplishment being the creation of windriggers, flying ships which provide transportation from shard to shard.
wizardofowls wrote: l. All of these shards were suspended inside a large envelope of air and set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns ... {requiring} windriggers which provide transportation from shard to shard. Check out as much old 2nd Edition Spelljammer stuff as you can get your hands on for operating in such an environment. You can take many of its ideas and just apply them on a smaller scale.
Also, Magic of Faerun has some info on fey cross-roads and backroads that sounds like your ley-lines ideas. May also provide assistance.
Although it's good to have a concept of world-history and meta-plot, the poster who mentioned not going into too much detail had a point. Do what you need to get the campaign started, and leave a few mysteries for both the Players and yourself to discover as things develop.
I'm also curious to know how priests and deities fit in. Perhaps the wizard twins grew so epicly powerful that they sought to banish the gods from the world, and when they succeeded the "Gaia spirit" herself was forced from the planet's core, causing it to shatter.
FWIW,
Rez
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