|
Now, I'm running a campaign that is currently moving crosscountry in southeastern Cheliax, across the plains and forests to the east and north of the Brackle River. How populated is this land, and how policed is it? I'm curious what random monsters could fit into this area, and I think that would depend heavily on how far the reach of the guards and the Hellknights went. They still have a good amount of overland travel to do, and I'm trying to find the right fit of hazards, encounters and enemies to throw at them without relying too heavily on "Bandit Ambush!", heh. Any ideas?
Hmm....if you're in the backwaters, possibly far from the controlling eye of Cheliax's diabolic government, how about running into some genuine anti-government backwater folks? They wouldn't necessarily be good-aligned, after all. Why, such freedom-loving folks might even be desperate enough to look for allies in the most...abyssal of places...
TL;DNR: I'm suggesting that you use demon-rednecks. No, seriously.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Unfortunately, Paizo has been grossly negligent in giving overviews such as these to help gamers who want to play outside of published adventures run their Homebrew games while still trying to maintain as much to published material as possible.
Their stance is that by putting out place names and areas on maps without general information, future designers have freedom to develop according to whimsey and Homebrew games have freedom to do it how they wish. Unfortunately, in my experience, this fails in practice because we know a bit about parts of Cheliax, for example, but not enough to run something outside of canon without being certain that eventually, something will be published that totally destroys what your group has done in Homebrew.
Your best bet is the flimsy Companion to Cheliax that has a few paragraphs each on each region of the nation, mostly describing to what degree the common person in each region follows Asmodeus's religion and the State.
But here's hoping that Paizo will soon publish enough generic information on these "gaps" in their Campaign Setting so we can play where we want without knowing that we're going to grossly contradict future published material.
|
Cheliax and Taldor have been human-settled and dominated for almost 5000 years (radically longer than human civilization has spent pacifying Europe). If there's any sort of humanoid or monster presence, it's probably a lone bugbear with a maxed-out stealth score playing boogeyman...
Critters would likely be the sorts that could evade eradication in a built-up area, like ankhegs or giant ant hives (able to travel underground, and, in the case of the ants, perhaps having a hive mind that gives the queen adept or sorcerer abilities!), goblins or kobolds (able to squeeze into warrens in the hills that no human force could get into to exterminate them, although the Chels might try sending plague-ridden or poison-bladder-implanted slave halflings into their warrens to get eaten by them and afflict their devourers with contagion or toxin), or flying critters like chimera or manticores, able to escape pursuit, and lair in inaccessible places.
There's room for the occasional non-bandit bad-guy humans, as well.
A seaside town of goggle-eyed fishing villagers who pride themselves on their 'Azlanti blood' (which may have existed, back in the day, but mostly derives from their forbidden dalliances with Gillmen, these days, explaining the goggle eyes and 'fishy' appearance) could have some nasty traditions involving travellers who stay for the night, or maybe, a bite, before they show them their favorite obsession.
Demon-worshipping rednecks also sounds fun. :)
|
|
Hehe :) I like demon-worshipping rednecks. They have experienced the run-down backwater church holding a dark secret in its catacombs, plundered the dark secret and released the seal holding the Huecuva priest at bay and have fought their way through that madness. Now it's a few more days of lonely countryside until the next town.
Thinking, animated scarecrows and marsh-things, and redneck teenagers having been convinced by something beneath the marsh (demon) to start reading the old Book they found in an elders library. It taught them to read. In the end... Demon possessed rednecks. Might give the characters an appreciation for the villainized hellknights. And of course, scarecrows are creepy.
They have a few more game sessions before they get to where their going.
I like the Manticore ideas, and I kind of agree with you W E Ray; something as simple as suggestions of areas and countries under a monsters climate/terrain listing would be AWESOME. Hey designers... hear that? AWESOME. Heh.
And no devils and demons and daemons and crazy magic users.
Also the events like WW2 or other great tragedies costing many lives are more frequent in fantasy.
We play in Cheliax too.
A thing to consider is the info on Amsodean church and stuff.
While they rule, a lot of ther things are going on.
In backwater, things can be much different, since mainly knots of power interest them. There could be old chelaxians, true to old nobility or going their own ways, asmodean inquisitors on their heels.
Close to Isger also hobgoblins and all other stuff the like are possible.
We play in Cheliax a certain resistance style, like the resistance in WW2 vs Nazis in occupied france a little bit.
