I like to bite off more than I can chew when it comes to making my own Pathfinder supplements. That's why none of them ever get finished. The simple fact is, with nothing more than a computer, some freeware, and no artistic ability, I am trying to do something generally done by teams of people. In order to actually get a supplement completed, I need not to be afraid to ask the Pathfinder community for input and advice at every step of the process. Paizo doesn't do it alone, so why should I? Plus, something written with heavy community involvement is more likely to be in line with what the community would like to see than something that isn't.
So, here we go. What I'm doing is making an Age of Sail sourcebook for Pathfinder (Yes, I have figured out a realistic way to handle full attacks with muskets without reloading super fast. I am using my own firearm mechanics, not the UC ones.). What this needs is a campaign setting, like Golarion but specifically tailored for the 18th century. I've got a few countries:
"Louisiana" - Most of the western Deep South, French speaking, roughly similar to the IRL thing. Cajuns FTW.
"California" - Colonized by the Chinese before the Spanish and later the British.
"Vinland" - A Norse-speaking nation in the Mid Atlantic/Great Lakes region.
Although countries that are basically similar to IRL countries such as Britain, France, and Spain exist, I want to mix up how they interact (as in, who is allied with who and who is at war) and who colonized what so that this campaign setting doesn't seem like the IRL world with magic added. That's why I wrote in a Chinese colonial past for California and gave the IRL British Mid Atlantic to the Norse. I'm also thinking China is balkanized into several countries (the southeasternmost one is the one that once controlled all of California).
Golarion, however, has dozens of countries. So far, I have three. I would appreciate any ideas for more countries you guys can come up with (such as who colonized what, what ethnic groups [such as Italian or German] are or are not unified countries [IRL Italy and Germany in the Age of Sail were not unified countries], as well as any ideas for how these countries should interact. Racial (human, dwarf, elf, and such) and ethnic political suggestions would also be appreciated.
Also, would you guys like to help me decide what to do with Australia in this campaign setting? There most definitely shall be an Australia, and in addition to modern Australian wildlife it shall boast these examples of nature's badassery, but who colonized it or whether more than one country did so has yet to be decided.
Should the Native Americans have their own nation, or more than one nation? How secure should this be from colonial domination?
Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi's
In fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today
Yes. I agree that this is a good idea. Aborigine myth and culture are rarely touched upon. It could be something very interesting to bring into Pathfinder, and more monsters are always good. Regardless of who ends up colonizing Australia, there shall be Aborigine materiel.
The 'Dreamtime' will become your players 'nightmare'...
The 'Dreamtime' will become your players 'nightmare'...
XD.
Hmm. What if Australia has British, Indonesian, Chinese, and non-colonized areas, and they do not get along at all?
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The Iroquios League is always good for a Native American nation.
Check out Northern Crown at Paizo or their homepage.
The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanely Robinson is a great alternative timeline book where 99% of Europe died in the Plague so China and the Muslim States explore and dominate the world. Good stuff on a North America that met the West (and East) later in it's evolution.
The Iroquios League is always good for a Native American nation.
Check out Northern Crown at Paizo or their homepage.
The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanely Robinson is a great alternative timeline book where 99% of Europe died in the Plague so China and the Muslim States explore and dominate the world. Good stuff on a North America that met the West (and East) later in it's evolution.
I'm planning to have the Iroquois part of the Norse Mid-Atlantic colony. What about the Cherokee, Commanche, and one of the northern (perhaps one from Montana, or a coalition) tribes? Perhaps many natives from other tribes immigrated to these three native nations rather than live under colonial masters, and these nations have great racial tension between those natives originally from the areas and immigrants. Could be an interesting story to explore.
My idea is that China and Indonesia got into colonization, but the West is still the major power, especially with China balkanized.
I want Northern Crown REAL bad. Too bad I don't have any money to spend on it right now T_T.
This is the Age of Sail, so this campaign setting and ruleset shall have a nicely sized section on sailing and naval combat.
Persia. We shall have it, and it shall be a major world power.
I also believe independent Greece and Egypt are in order. Not sure about Turks and Arabs yet.
How about a South Africa that threw off the shackles of British rule early (native magic, adaptation of the British technology, Gandhi showing up early and in a different place, however you want it to have occurred) and is now a semi-serious contender, colonizing Madagascar and with its influence encroaching northwards across Africa?
That could be arranged. I like the idea very much.
Postcolonial Polynesian Republic ^_^.
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Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
Except I now beleive the indigenous currently in Australia who have indoeuropean language content (something appearing between 10,000-3,000BC) are not the ones who came thirty to fifty thousand years ago. They went extinct and the continent spanning desert/superdrought may have been a factor...
Except I now beleive the indigenous currently in Australia who have indoeuropean language content (something appearing between 10,000-3,000BC) are not the ones who came thirty to fifty thousand years ago. They went extinct and the continent spanning desert/superdrought may have been a factor...Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
That reminds me. I might use my magical World Creator powers to make that drought less severe and increase coastal mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes. There will still be a large, dry Outback, but the coastal forests will extend further inland. This is so that it can boast a larger population, which is useful when splitting the area between four powers (Aborigines, British, Chinese, Indonesia).
How are you doing your maps?
Ive been doing mine in MS Word.
You can do maps in MS Word? How? All I've ever accomplished is crappy MS Paint maps, and I haven't started on any for this world yet. I wanted to flesh out exactly how the world looks politically and culturally (which is the purpose of this discussion) before mapping it out.
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That reminds me. I might use my magical World Creator powers to make that drought less severe and increase coastal mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes. There will still be a large, dry Outback, but the coastal forests will extend further inland. This is so that it can boast a larger population, which is useful when splitting the area between four powers (Aborigines, British, Chinese, Indonesia).Except I now beleive the indigenous currently in Australia who have indoeuropean language content (something appearing between 10,000-3,000BC) are not the ones who came thirty to fifty thousand years ago. They went extinct and the continent spanning desert/superdrought may have been a factor...Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
Not necessarily a good idea. Indigenous sites as a consequence seem focused on springs where water bubbled out of ground during the superdrought and coastal food sites where swamps at river deltas.
Not necessarily a good idea. Indigenous sites as a consequence seem focused on springs where water bubbled out of ground during the superdrought and coastal food sites where swamps at river deltas.That reminds me. I might use my magical World Creator powers to make that drought less severe and increase coastal mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes. There will still be a large, dry Outback, but the coastal forests will extend further inland. This is so that it can boast a larger population, which is useful when splitting the area between four powers (Aborigines, British, Chinese, Indonesia).Except I now beleive the indigenous currently in Australia who have indoeuropean language content (something appearing between 10,000-3,000BC) are not the ones who came thirty to fifty thousand years ago. They went extinct and the continent spanning desert/superdrought may have been a factor...Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
Could that not apply to the inland deserts, which, though smaller, still exist?
MS Word is awesome as a cartographic tool.
Link corrected.
Fascinating... map building in Word!
MS Word is awesome as a cartographic tool.
Link corrected.
Thankee.
I need some advice.
I don't how how "bad" to make a lot of the country. For example, Britain and France. I love them, and want them to be good guys, but is colonialism a good thing? I can't just have no colonialism, because this is the Colonial era. Does that mean I should portray them as bad? If every nation is bad, however, it's pretty much an anti-government setting, and I don't want to do that.
I need some advice.
I don't how how "bad" to make a lot of the country. For example, Britain and France. I love them, and want them to be good guys, but is colonialism a good thing? I can't just have no colonialism, because this is the Colonial era. Does that mean I should portray them as bad? If every nation is bad, however, it's pretty much an anti-government setting, and I don't want to do that.
I hate the whole "objective" morality thing in DnD. Real world morality is always more complex than this.
Don't portray any nation as good or bad. Instead, make it a matter of perspective.
From one point of view, Britain is bringing education and enlightenment to the dark continent. They are shouldering the white man's burden. In their eyes, they are doing good. From the eyes of Africans and Native Americans, not so much.
Of course, individual characters have to take this complex view of the world where no nation is inherently "good" or "bad" and try to live their lives according to their personal moral/ethical code.
This could work, especially if there were different factions in each government, and not all were pro-colonialism. They may not be the factions in power, but it makes something for a good aligned party to look up to.
Also, I need to know how heavily to play the race card, specifically in Native American nations, where many natives in colonized areas moved to native ruled nations, but are seen as foreigners by those natives native to the particular area. An example would be an Sioux moving to Cherokee territory and being regarded by the Cherokee much as many Americans sometimes regard Mexicans today. Should this just be come individuals acting like this, many, or pretty much everyone?
This could work, especially if there were different factions in each government, and not all were pro-colonialism.does being pro-colonialism have to make them evil?
No, and being anti-colonialism doesn't have to make them good. However, I can see a lot of good aligned PCs leaning towards anti-colonialism.
No, and being anti-colonialism doesn't have to make them good. However, I can see a lot of good aligned PCs leaning towards anti-colonialism.This could work, especially if there were different factions in each government, and not all were pro-colonialism.does being pro-colonialism have to make them evil?I'd be tempted to challenge their thoughts on this, perhaps by showing them that the colonized culture has expanded access to resources.
But, as I said earlier, I hate the Sessame Street morality/ethics of DnD.
Perhaps I can pull alignment from the equation and run Paladins and effects that work on a specific alignment via GM decision (as in, the GM decides what effects what and precisely when a Paladin has crossed the line)? Then the whole "Is Colonialism good or evil" thing could be avoided entirely and the characters could just do what they feel like doing without worrying about fitting their alignment.
For the colonial powers, I would use combos of Europe, like Celtish-esque Irish/French, Vikingesque Germany/Scandanavia, Vaticanesque Italy/Spanish city states, maybe an innovative but staid Dutch/Swiss/British nation, and maybe an archipeligo of Greek/Scotland?
For the lands being colonized, I would use a strong Iroquois Confederacy with a core of ruling nations and a bunch of vassal states surrounding them, with the vassals dealing more directly with the colonizing powers. Definitely some Great Plains tribes, some Navajo or Anasazi (sp?) desert tribes, a couple Meso-American states (at least one brutal and warlike, one more mystical and peaceful). Maybe some Hawaiian and Polynesian influenced societies between Quasistralia and the New World.
Other seafaring societies could be based on China, Egypt, Japan, Persia, Arabia, India, etc.
I like the idea of two major sources of colonial powers (Europe and Asia) clashing on 1 landmass of colonies (N & S America). Could lead up to some interesting mash ups, like samurai in Old West (or Weird West) plains, with Mongol/Plains Indians trying to reclaim their land by using a combination of mounted archery and summoning armies of ancestral ghosts.
For the colonial powers, I would use combos of Europe, like Celtish-esque Irish/French, Vikingesque Germany/Scandanavia, Vaticanesque Italy/Spanish city states, maybe an innovative but staid Dutch/Swiss/British nation, and maybe an archipeligo of Greek/Scotland?
For the lands being colonized, I would use a strong Iroquois Confederacy with a core of ruling nations and a bunch of vassal states surrounding them, with the vassals dealing more directly with the colonizing powers. Definitely some Great Plains tribes, some Navajo or Anasazi (sp?) desert tribes, a couple Meso-American states (at least one brutal and warlike, one more mystical and peaceful). Maybe some Hawaiian and Polynesian influenced societies between Quasistralia and the New World.
Other seafaring societies could be based on China, Egypt, Japan, Persia, Arabia, India, etc.
I like the idea of two major sources of colonial powers (Europe and Asia) clashing on 1 landmass of colonies (N & S America). Could lead up to some interesting mash ups, like samurai in Old West (or Weird West) plains, with Mongol/Plains Indians trying to reclaim their land by using a combination of mounted archery and summoning armies of ancestral ghosts.
What I have for the Native Americans is Navaho, Comanche, Cherokee, Inuit, and Montana Confederacy nations, with the rest colonized. Immigration of natives from colonized to native ruled nations has caused a great deal of native on native racism. Oh, and the Comanche and Cherokee are just as violent and greedy as any colonial power. The Iroquois are part of the Norse colony in the Mid Atlantic, but as an equal partner, not a subjugated race. The Norse have developed great respect for them, and they share the land more or less amicably. The Navaho, Inuit, and Montana have different relationships with each colonial power.
North America is mostly in European hands, but the West Coast has a large Asian population do to it's Asian colonial history. Most of the fighting between Europe and Asia is in South America, the Philippines, and Australia.
The South Africans have a major colonial empire of their own.
Are you doing a quasi-Kushiel-verse alternate history with real world geography? Or are you designing a whole new world?
Can you imagine an Iroquois-Mongol democratic confederacy?
Are you doing a quasi-Kushiel-verse alternate history with real world geography? Or are you designing a whole new world?
Can you imagine an Iroquois-Mongol democratic confederacy?
I'm designing a Golarion style world with heavy real world inspiration.
I could imagine that, but I like the Norse version.
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Could that not apply to the inland deserts, which, though smaller, still exist?Not necessarily a good idea. Indigenous sites as a consequence seem focused on springs where water bubbled out of ground during the superdrought and coastal food sites where swamps at river deltas.That reminds me. I might use my magical World Creator powers to make that drought less severe and increase coastal mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes. There will still be a large, dry Outback, but the coastal forests will extend further inland. This is so that it can boast a larger population, which is useful when splitting the area between four powers (Aborigines, British, Chinese, Indonesia).Except I now beleive the indigenous currently in Australia who have indoeuropean language content (something appearing between 10,000-3,000BC) are not the ones who came thirty to fifty thousand years ago. They went extinct and the continent spanning desert/superdrought may have been a factor...Australia had a native population 30,000 years before the Native Americans set up shop, so worth raiding the Dreamtime legends for the source of many of the nasties.
Rainbow serpents
Bunyips (already stolen!)
Yowies
Mimi'sIn fact theres a whole payload of nasties and monsters to draw upon, and thats not including REAL dinosaurs and (mega)fauna like the impressive Diprotodon or our ridiculously enormous salt-water (Estuarine) crocs (Dire croc I suppose) which are STILL swimming about today.
Oddly not. Current Springs are at the fringe and further from the existing deserts but when it was a continent dominating desert the springs would have been desert springs up to a hundred miles inland of the coast.
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Perhaps I can pull alignment from the equation and run Paladins and effects that work on a specific alignment via GM decision (as in, the GM decides what effects what and precisely when a Paladin has crossed the line)? Then the whole "Is Colonialism good or evil" thing could be avoided entirely and the characters could just do what they feel like doing without worrying about fitting their alignment.No, and being anti-colonialism doesn't have to make them good. However, I can see a lot of good aligned PCs leaning towards anti-colonialism.This could work, especially if there were different factions in each government, and not all were pro-colonialism.does being pro-colonialism have to make them evil?I'd be tempted to challenge their thoughts on this, perhaps by showing them that the colonized culture has expanded access to resources.
But, as I said earlier, I hate the Sessame Street morality/ethics of DnD.
I suggest you find a copy of The Life and Times of Roger Casement. He is an Irishman who investigated abuses in Africa and South America for the British Government. Indigenous Mercenaries in Africa were sent out private (corporate) interests in the Congo with x number of bullets and told to return with x number of Bullets or y number of bullets plus right hands of natives equal to missing number of bullets. In Brazil Mercenaries were massacring Villages including women and children.
Even though the British Government wanted to Stamp out this horror, they didn't give a rats about the same happening in Ireland.Colonialism is the era of frontier Capitalism. Public Embarrassments are a crime, Strategic interests are not.
-Chinese DO NOT explore. The Chinese navy under the various dynasties was weak to non-existant. Distrust and dislike of foreign countries is a major part of the East-Asian cultures of Japan, China, and Korea. All 3 countries have at times in their history passed laws limiting foreign interaction. Chinese who left China came mostly from Guandong and were considered all the worse for it. Neo-confucism despised the merchant class above all else, and so those Chinese who made their fortune abraod were looked down on. Also the racism and xenophobia of east asian cultures means they would exterminate the natives, or be exterminated. Inter-breeding would be impossible. Remember that for all the mistreatment of american indians, sizable percentages of modern Americans, Canadians, and Meztitsos, trace themselves back to Indian ancestors. Modern Koreans in the 21 century refer to 'pure blood'. Such thinking was even WORSE centuries ago.
-What I'm saying is that the Chinese overseas merchant community is similiar to the role of Thay Merchants in the FR. Disliked but everyone, but doing a valuable service, while living as a minority.
Just remember to include the disciplined Zulu Impi's in the South African Equation
-Chinese DO NOT explore. The Chinese navy under the various dynasties was weak to non-existant. Distrust and dislike of foreign countries is a major part of the East-Asian cultures of Japan, China, and Korea. All 3 countries have at times in their history passed laws limiting foreign interaction. Chinese who left China came mostly from Guandong and were considered all the worse for it. Neo-confucism despised the merchant class above all else, and so those Chinese who made their fortune abraod were looked down on. Also the racism and xenophobia of east asian cultures means they would exterminate the natives, or be exterminated. Inter-breeding would be impossible. Remember that for all the mistreatment of american indians, sizable percentages of modern Americans, Canadians, and Meztitsos, trace themselves back to Indian ancestors. Modern Koreans in the 21 century refer to 'pure blood'. Such thinking was even WORSE centuries ago.
-What I'm saying is that the Chinese overseas merchant community is similiar to the role of Thay Merchants in the FR. Disliked but everyone, but doing a valuable service, while living as a minority.
I know this, but I feel that, for story purposes, it could be cool to make them more open. This may be IRL based, but it's still a fantasy world, and some things will be different.
Here's what I'm thinking about the whole good and evil thing: pack two timelines into this campaign setting. In one, the Age of Colonialism it at it's heigh, and morality is highly subjective. Many see colonialism as good, others do not, but it is most certainly happening. This timeline reflects the IRL Colonial period, and is closely in line with Darkwing Duck's suggestions.
In the other timeline the Colonial period is moved to the Medieval era, and it's pretty much over now. The fallout remains, but Colonialism is viewed as having been a bad thing. This reflects modern views on the practice, and is a more black and white world in morality terms.
The countries are the same regardless of which timeline is used except for some of those that have been colonized.
This being the Age of Sail, a lot of people are going to want the first option, but I see myself using the second more. I like moral confusion a great deal, but I also like to have at least one highly sympathetic nation (a good guy, if you please). Having two timelines allows the individual players to choose what they want to play, which is always a good thing).
This project finally has a name ^_^.
Introducing... Trailblazer. A Pathfinder expansion taking the game from 1500 to 1918, complete with it's own campaign setting (with multiple timelines for plenty of customization so that you can play the game you want).
Yes. It's perfect. I also really think expanding into the Victorian and Wild West eras is a nice idea, especially if I include lots of Steampunk.
I've applied for a compatibility license for the purpose of publishing this. I also have a website now.
Careful. Bad Axe Games released a supplement for 3.5 called Trailblazer around the same time PF came out, and with a somewhat similar purpose. Not sure what the copyright issues of the name alone would be, but it's something to doublecheck.
I changed the name to Voyager after someone else pointed out the existence of a Trailblazer. I like that better than Trailblazer, anyway.
I know this, but I feel that, for story purposes, it could be cool to make them more open. This may be IRL based, but it's still a fantasy world, and some things will be different.-Chinese DO NOT explore. The Chinese navy under the various dynasties was weak to non-existant.
Actually once, the chinese had an enourmous exploring fleet, some 100+ huge ships with ridicioulus large crew. The did reach east-africa and Chile, but since there was no one to seriously trade with, they returned more or less empty-handed. At home a couple of lightenings struck the palace and conservative flunkie-priest convinced the emperor, that this was the displeasure of the gods. The fleet was burned and that was that.
As for nations, i´d also throw in the Apaches, Aztec, Inkas and the Prussians. And the Maoris!