Ok I have a lull in the good fight over here in the Sandbox so I'm really gonna get down to the grit and construct my MML setting. At first I had considered redoing my Arko campign setting to MML. The Arko idea was an attempt to bring my oldest homebrew setting into the MML themes and ruleset, but now I have decided against that in favor of designing a new setting for it from the bedrock up. I had also decided I was gonna do a setting of urban fantasy and rapier-wielding swashbucklers a la Ellen Kushner's novels, but I have decided to take a different road from this also. I want my setting to have a rich history and realism you know. Kinda what I felt when I first explored Middle-Earth in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings or Glen Cook's Dread Empire. And I want it to be harsh and rugged and unforgiving. Arko ended having a very awesome history too because every campaign my players did since I built it 2001 got added into the history and I would move the timeline forward some so by the final campaigns it had a rich detailed history that my players knew very well and felt like they were apart of. My players all kept campaign journals for their characters and they knew the names of Arko's months and holidays and rulers and everything. it was fantastic. I want to create something in the same vein you know. Something that my next players and I could settle down in since I have officially put Arko to rest.
So themes Im thinking of are:
-Cold majestic snow-capped peaks and deep earthy pine woods
-Frontier-mindset of the human inhabitants
-Only like 1 major settlement and a handful of small logging and mining villages dispersed in the widespread rugged land
-Humans the only playable race
-A bunch of ancient ruins scattered throughout the land from a race of giants called Trolls who lived forever and used rune magic. They died out some how and their underground giant-sized cities fell to ruin. I read that 5th Epoch has plans for a Rune Magic system in the future so when that is done I'll have my players discover the secret of the Troll's rune magic in one of the ruins. ;)
-Life-Elementalism will be the only obtainable magic and it will be very very rare but come at great cost. Because of the rarity i know some players will want this magic to just be unique and since it will most definitely be a spartan setting Life-elementalism will be almost required to keep characters alive.
-I want very few monsters. i love undead so ill have to include skeletons somehow, and i picture this setting having some ice-age-esque beasts of burden. I would also like a biped culture of wolf-headed humanoids called Vargr that dwell in the deepest parts of the pine forests.
-These are just the basic ideas i can think of right now, and as you can see Im very inspired by Old Norse and Old Icelandic sagas and culture (It was my major in college and my heritage!)
-Another thought I had was combining Norse and Persian flavours. As in a Persian empire from lands far to the south is trying to settle this frigid northern land as a province. Characters would be settlers and adventurers from this Persian land intent on settling or conquering this cold land of wild harsh beauty.
Im mainly looking for help from the authors of MML that I've been in contact with: Andy, Vito, and Ryan. Let me know what you think and fell free to add and/or subtract from my ideas! Thanks again!!
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Very nice description. At some point you just need to get it down as a Gazetteer for the Homebrew Setting.
Mini-Gazetteer Name
“Underlie the title with a Quote relevant to the region”
-the quote should be by some prominent person
Begin with an untitled Introduction. This is about one hundred and fifty words on the region describing/hinting at recent history and how things currently stand.
Lay of the Land
This is a thousand words covering the provinces, their beginnings, settlements, and people.
Sites and Landmarks
This is approximately fifteen hundred words describing assorted geographical locations of particular significance and their history.
People and Society
This is fifteen hundred words on the lesser significant families and factions.
Economy and Trade
A good description of fifteen hundred words on Yield rates, Agriculture production, Exported Surpluses, Shortages, Trade Routes, Local Currency, etc.
Religion
Five hundred words on Religious factions, Religious Leaders, the current situation, and background history.
Magic
Insert about five hundred words on the local wizards, magic, and magical history of the region – ending with the status quo.
Laws
This is three hundred words covering the laws of the land, Legal Authorities, etc.
Adventure Hooks
Three hundred words on short adventure inroads.
History Checklist
Bring up the rear with a timeline covering the significant events of each year by date.
You may include some small (low Byte) artwork through the article relevant to the various underlined sections. Such images might include pictures of the local Prince, a castle overlooking a village, wizards duelling with magic, etc.
Created by: Your name goes here (Insert year you knocked out the Gazetteer)
The Gazetteer sounds like a great idea! I usually write out my campaign settings in a long arduous process that takes a couple months but i really like having a format to go by. I will definitely start typing this up asap! I've had quite a few more creative breakthroughs, especially after speaking with some former players of mine, and I really like what I've come up with. Everyone's having a hard time letting me put Arko to rest, but they seem to be ok with me recreating it in MML, so it seems that I may be veering again in that direction. To tell you the truth, if I could find a way to create Arko again using MML it would be the best of both worlds and pretty much the only rpg I would ever play!
Ok! It just hit me. I now know how to mesh Arko, my magical Elfin isle of adventure and myth, with the homebrew world of MML. It is mentioned in the rulebook that the ancestors of the Elfin peoples were the High Elves, but nobody knows what happened to them or where they vanished to. According to me they went to Arko, a magical Elfin realm of powerful magic and breathtaking wonder. Using ancient High Elfin magics that were old even in the First Epoch they created this realm as a refuge from the world that was to be inherited by their Gray Elf and Tribal Elf children. So as the world slipped through the Epochs, enduring the rise and fall of civilizations, great wars, and the cataclysm, the High Elf people of Arko remained safe and timeless in a magical realm tucked away from reality. But shadows from other realms tucked away from the world are beginning to seep into the woods and mountain vales of Arko, and the long-endured peace of the High Elfin refuge may be coming to an end.
Arko is back!!
Go with Arko or create the frontier Persian-Norse setting? What do ya think?
Im still not sure what Im gonna do setting-wise for MML. Due to lack of creativity at the moment I cannot seem to make headway on creating my own setting. If I had more info on the Northern Kingdoms or distant Northern Reaches from the MML world map I would consider a campaign in those regions.