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I'm seeking a bit of advice and/or suggestions on the campaign I am designing. It was originally inspired by the Kingmaker AP, with players being chartered to explore and then settle a vast wilderness, but I decided to take it in a different direction. Rather than a vast wilderness below another country, my players are exploring a near mythical island inspired by Central American peoples and geography during the Age of Exploration (AKA - Aztec and Mayan people).
So I have a few ideas on how to handle certain aspects of their culture and I thought maybe you fine folks could weigh in on it and give me your opinions. The one I need the most help is first.
The BBEG (Big Bad Evil GODS)
Which brings me to who are these gods? Obvious answer is they are just gods who are kind of evil, but have a soft spot for starving people in their jungle. But I personally think that isn't too terribly original and it basically means the players would be acting against the gods agents, tearing down temples and killing clerics and the like. Almost seems par for the course where evil gods are concerned. Also, this technically means the players can never win, because even if they defeat the undead army and kill all the priests and convert the masses to a good religion, the evil gods will shout "I will get you next time, Gadget! NEXT TIIIIIMMMEEEE!" and away.
I debated going along the lines that the gods were actually demons/devils in disguise, but that also seems a bit overdone as well, but at least the final fight could be some epic battle against some uber demon, which could be cool.
I have also been searching about for something else, flipping through Monster Manuals and the like, looking for something that I could use to fill in the spot. Haven't come across anything that has caught my eye.
Any tips or suggestions on how to run this would be awesome.
Jaguar and Eagle Warriors (To shapeshift or not to shapeshift. That is the question.)
As for gameplay mechanics, I have been debating how to represent these elite warriors. The easiest answer would be to have them as either Fighters or Rangers. Out of those two, I would lean more towards rangers (especially considering how these warriors were ranked based on how many prisoners they could capture, a Ranger's tracking and trap making skills would be awesome). They would wield obsidian weapons (Central American weapons are listed in Ultimate Combat, although I forget the name) and carry shields, although from my research actual armor was either very light (like arm and leg guards and thats all) or not at all. (They wore the outfits of their totem animal to give them strength)
I generally do not see them as barbarians, but that might be me.
The next idea was Druids. I remember reading a while back (long before I thought about running this campaign) that some people believed the most elite of these orders could actually become their animal. Men changing into Jaguars and Eagles. Sounds like a druid. While it isn't a huge problem, this does mean that they would be able to take on a variety of forms with Wild Shape, rather than one. In my game, I could change it from different orders to a single order if I went with this idea.
The final idea I was tossing around was Lycanthropy. (Not enough games with awesome Lycanthrope villains.) The most elite members of each fraternity of warriors could be changed into Werejaguars (using stats for Weretiger) and... Wereeagles? (No clue on that one), much like the Companions quest in Skyrim turned you into a werewolf (uh... spoilers, I guess?) I both like and dislike this idea. The story about the warriors changing into their animal really stuck with me when I was younger and I would think it would be cool. And like I said, not enough campaigns have really also shape changing villains (Thanks a lot, Twilight!). But I'm not sure how well it fits and Wereeagle kind of sounds all kinds of moronic.
Also debated expanding or reducing the fraternities, such as dropping Eagle Warrior in exchange for Crocodile Warrior (and using Werecrocodile) or something.
A funny thing attacked me on the way through the jungle
dotting, I've been working on a mesoamerican exploration campaign idea myself for a while. Might contribute later. (though I will admit mine has a bit more northern americans, pueblo-style indians, and the "aztec-type" civ is the big bads. In mine, they're ruled by drow vampires)
However, my own research has turned up astonishingly little on the mesoamerican peoples. I need to search HARDER.
As for monsters, you MUST have these things coming out of the woodwork:
http://paizo.com/PRD/additionalMonsters/chupacabra.html
You might be able to re-fluff one of the "great old ones", "demon lords" or "kaiju" from the beastiary 4 to be evil gods (they're CR30 Mythic 10, so you know, pretty mighty)
Edit: you are really getting my creatives juicces flowing. For the jaguar and eagle warriors, I would either make them:
-Were-creatures. Gives some tough enemies, but maybe too tough
-Skinwalkers; part were-creatures, it's a PC race that has options (bat & tiger) that could be refluffed to eagle & jaguar. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/skinwalkers-10-rp)
-Fleshwarped template: it's a drow process that "warps" regular races. Could be interesting, but more aberrant.
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I would recommend paging through the Savage Tide Adventure Path for some inspiration (starting after the first few adventures where you haven't begun exploring Mesoamerican-inspired regions yet). It seems likely there would be a lot of stuff worth borrowing or working off in an AP that heavily mixes Mesoamerican and demonic themes.
I'll see if my STAP GM has any more detailed advice.
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Alternately, you could make the knight order racial castes. Eagle knights re-fluffed Tengu, and and the Jaguars catfolk.
In order to preserve the flavor of the setting alter the items available. You'll want to use the Stone Age weapons weapons list, adding spears, clubs, and possibly the Sling Glove.
Dragon had four articles covering Aztec Mythos, appropriately titled just that. Each article covered two gods.
I think that while the gods of the Aztec are largely evil, they should not be the antagonists. It creates a different feel if you have evil gods who are on your side. Come up with a better foe. If you must, have a god go rogue from the pantheon. (Possibly a good god, if you want to be all crazy about it, who decides that the people must be wiped out for their sins and the gods can start anew.) More ideally, you focus on a closer foe, like rival tribes/kingdoms, or some sort of demonic/diabolical influence turning people away from the gods.
If you want to go with the undead apocalypse thing, that's the perfect sort of idea. As people, you are struggling against fate and such, but not trying to tear down the existing social structure. Even within Western religions, you have different attitudes towards the Apocalypse. Some embrace the end, some struggle to put it off as long as possible.
If you want other sources, look up the Olman people in Greyhawk. There exists a lot of information on them, particularly in The Scarlet Brotherhood, that can be translated over.
As for monsters, I would suggest picking up the ahuizotl, couatl, taotieh and tzitzimitl for sure. You can refluff tigers and lions as jaguars. Incorporate alligators and snakes as well.
Though they are asian, kami work fairly well as exotic nature spirits if you don't want to utilize fey.
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I appreciate all the help so far! :D
Yeah I would encourage to have good and bad. Aztec gods are not necessarily evil. It just that they did require blood sacrifice for their rituals. Sure it might be difficult to comprehend but that shouldn't make all of them evil. I mean gods like Quetzalcoatl are definitely on the good side.
Well, of course. I'm not trying to say that Aztec gods were necessarily evil (and from what I have read, their gods required sacrifice to maintain themselves because they had sacrificed themselves to help humanity, not just for the lolz) Its just a set up for the game, not a mirror of real life. Kind of like how the Egyptian gods are undead monsters in Warhammer (I think? Never actually read the lore on that faction) or the pagan gods are people eating monsters in Supernatural.
Also, they are only inspired by them, not actually cults to them in game. There is no Tlaloc or Tezcatlipoca or Quetzalcoatl in the game (nor would I be able to say their names, because seriously... look at some of their names!).
I think that while the gods of the Aztec are largely evil, they should not be the antagonists. It creates a different feel if you have evil gods who are on your side. Come up with a better foe.
After reading this, I have been doing some thinking and maybe you are correct. Rather than trying to have the players slay some sort of godly powerful monster (or even an actual god), maybe the gods will have some sort of chosen champion (Head priest?) or send down a servant of theirs (are there any non-demon, evil divine servants?) to kick start the zompocalypse.
For mechanical differences between the Jaguar and Eagle warriors, try having the Jaguars all have Tiger Style feats and the Eagles all have Crane Style feats. Or any other style of fighting; maybe the Jaguars are close combat and the Eagles are ranged. I really like the idea of having the most elite of each group being able to turn into their namesake. It could be really neat, and put a lot into their cultures, if they had some ritual for their warriors after reaching the pinnacle of skill, which involved contracting Lycanthropy. Maybe because of this tradition, the top tier of these warriors all have grotesque scars on their shoulders, backs, or chest, that the PC's eventually learn the source of.
Maybe for the BBEG, one (or more) of the malevolent tribes have been working toward a grand scale ritual that would summon their deity (or a portion of him) to the Material Plane. You could make the head cult guy be the focus of this ritual, kind of like a sacrifice where the deity is intended to be born from within him. The final encounter in The Feast of Ravenmoor AP does something like this.
Or a neat twist could be that the ritual is being conducted for the intentions of killing the deity. The cult's motivation is actually to prevent their deity from following through with the pact made a thousand years ago, and stopping an undead apocalypse. The ritual is interrupted, the cult killed, and as the PC's are celebrating, the ground begins to rumble and the fresh corpses of cult members begin to stir...
If you are open to 3PP, Little Red Goblin produced a product, Heroes of the West, that includes a Jaguar Warrior. Perhaps it could be of inspiration--they have some pretty solid work and concepts.
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8z8x?Heroes-of-the-West
For an interesting change in flavor, while these are thematically Hindu, Asura and Rakshasa make great and unique foes that are alien and often worshipped in forgotten jungle temples. They provide a good range of mid to high level threats, and asura and rakshasa are known to be antagonistic towards "true gods."
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So what I have decided to do was drop the "at the end of the 1000 years, we raise an undead army" and replace it with "if you ever stop sacrificing to us, we raise an undead army". For the reasons stated above, so that the players see this big evil cult, murder them, then while giving each other high fives and breaking out kegs of ale, hidden ziggurats full of sacrificed bodies begin to stir...
What the PCs would have assumed to be the climax of the campaign leads into a war between the fledgling nation and an army of thousands, maybe even millions of undead. Players have to gather their armies (remember, inspired by kingmaker, so players will have a kingdom and armies) and defeat this massive foe. They can try to gather their allies (there is a bit of political stuff happening in addition to evil blood cults) to help them out.
Things I am considering adding to this;
* The undead armies raising doesn't happen until the monthly sacrifice is due (debating the day of the Full Moon, to tie in with the lycanthropic elite warriors). This way, players actually go back home to their cities and believe all is well and the only things they have to worry about are those pesky foreigners try to game of thrones them.
* As I mentioned earlier, I am thinking about having an NPC or group of NPCs defect from the cult and come to the players (so the players can have a bit of exposition to explain things, in case they are being dense...). But the twist is they aren't defecting out of guilt. They are there to betray their people and bring about zompocalypse. I haven't settled on a reason yet, but possibly demonic influence, rougue blood god who wants to end the world or maybe even Joker "wants to watch the world burn" mentality (although that option is least desirable...) The NPCs will assist the PCs in undermining the cult, by giving them tidbits of information about the cults, locations of some (but not all) of their hidden temples and cities and other such things.
* The Elite Warriors are lycanthropes of their totems. Upon reaching the highest rank of Cuahchicqueh, they willingly allow themselves to be bit by one of their elders and they transform into their appropriate were-creature. As of right now, I have grown the orders to 4;
-Jaguar Warriors act as light infantry and being composed of mostly Rangers/Fighters, typically equipped with Terbutje and Tepoztopilli. Their Cuahchicqueh are Werejaguars (either using the stats for Weretiger or just building a new lycan form)
-Eagle Warriors act as ranged infantry and are also mostly Rangers/Fighers (albeit, focused on ranged combat, of course) and are equipped with bows and obsidian arrows, as well as Atlatl. Their Cuahchicqueh are Wereeagles (which I will have to create).
-Crocodile Warriors are the least numerous, because their fighting style typically does not work well in jungle environments. They are the heaviest infantry, wearing armors made from crocodiles, dinosaurs and other scaled creatures. They are typically Barbarians/Fighters wielding Tepoztopilli. Their Cuahchicqueh are Werecrocodiles (which are in... MM4?)
-Snake Warriors occupy the role of stealthy infiltrators. Their fraternity is composed mostly of Rogues and a few Alchemist and they wield obsidian daggers. Their Cuahchicqueh are Werepythons and Werevipers (neither of which I believe exist)
*Since there are a great deal of Lycans in my campaign, chances are at least one player will get infected with some form of it during the campaign. While they may be able to cure it (I think 2 of the 4 players can rid characters of curses), some players may wish to keep the curse (especially if it compliments their class, like becoming a Wereeagle as a ranged Ranger). I am thinking the various Cuahchicqueh warriors would be wearing armors that will make transforming into their totems easier, as well as provide armor bonuses in all forms, such as armors with Wild (although, I believe that only works on Druid's wild shape and not lycan curses).
(On a side note, should keeping the curse affect the PC's kingdom in anyway? I think people might be freaked out if their find out of the members of their ruling elite or gods forbid, their ruler is actually a Werecrocodile!)
* Finally, debating on if the priest of the cult should be Clerics or Druids? Or a combination of both?
^ My DM ran us through that back in the day. There were Jaguar and Eagle knights and featherweaver PC classes, City of Gold module, etc etc etc.
Looks like WoTC dropped it from their archive, but I found it HERE
-Crocodile Warriors are the least numerous, because their fighting style typically does not work well in jungle environments. They are the heaviest infantry, wearing armors made from crocodiles, dinosaurs and other scaled creatures.
This reminds me vaguely of Warhammer Army: Lizardmen (also themed on central american civilizations), who had an elite Temple Guard unit. These elite were not only lizard-y ("Saurus") but also had the best armor and weapons their temple had. Perhaps these armored lizards could be a form of temple/city guard?
Also, since you're keen on creating new lycanthropy anyway, perhaps you could alter the DR to reflect the differences - say, Gold weapons instead of Silver? It'll draw it away from European fantasy a little bit, but will also catch your players off guard (thus reducing the risk of meta).
* Finally, debating on if the priest of the cult should be Clerics or Druids? Or a combination of both?
Or Oracles? Idk, just seems to me to fit, being cursed by the very gods you worship, in Aztec culture...
* As I mentioned earlier, I am thinking about having an NPC or group of NPCs defect from the cult and come to the players (so the players can have a bit of exposition to explain things, in case they are being dense...). But the twist is they aren't defecting out of guilt. They are there to betray their people and bring about zompocalypse. I haven't settled on a reason yet, but possibly demonic influence, rougue blood god who wants to end the world or maybe even Joker "wants to watch the world burn" mentality (although that option is least desirable...) The NPCs will assist the PCs in undermining the cult, by giving them tidbits of information about the cults, locations of some (but not all) of their hidden temples and cities and other such things.
There's a couple old Living Greyhawk adventures ("The Tomb of Tloques-Popolocas" and "The Rain, The Wind, and The Night") that involved the arrival of the artifacts from the tomb of a powerful (mostly dead) Olman vampire-king. An Olman priest shows up to inform the PCs of the threat that the vampire-king represents and desperately acts to prevent the reawakening of the king. The priest is very much willing to help and assist the PCs in any way he can. He's also utterly, horrifically evil. He worships Mictlantecuhtli, god of death, and over the course of the two adventures he kills his jailer and animates his corpse, generally leaves a pile of corpses in his wake, happily sacrifices his own devout to consolidate power for the party, summons a demon to assist the party, stuff like that. He does all that because he views the vampire-king as an even worse evil that must be fought at all costs.
Is something like that what you're looking for?
have you considered using mythic rules? there's a mechanic in there for mythic beings being able to grant spells... that would open up a world of options for what kind of creatures they worship (just make, what, like half a dozen or so mythic creatures to be their gods...) in order for the PCs to really even attempt the climactic final showdown with the dark gods they have to track down the artifact/mystical site that will allow them to become mythic as well...
edit: the rules are all available at the srd (or d20pfsrd) if you want to look over them
I feel like snake-people/Yuan-Ti are perfect for jungle settings. Don't forget to use a Couatl or two... Winged Serpents and Mesoamerican civilizations kind of go together.
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I plan on using dinosaurs freely. One of the few inhabitants of the island besides the cultist is a tribe of Lizardmen who train various dinosaurs and one of the more frequent encounters will be with a family of T-rex, hopefully because the party will be smart enough not to try to fight such a thing and avoid it more than try to hunt it (at least until the appropriate level, when maybe they can bring it down).
A couple months ago I did an 'alternate' version of some PCs and NPCs from my long term Savage Tide Adventure Path campaign (six years now?) set against the idea that the Olman Empire never fell and the heroes instead of being from civilization were part of that Empire. You can find the details here, but to spare you time reading here are some ideas you could mine.
-Oracles vs. Clerics for natives - particularly the disconnect between divinely inspired oracles and more structured priests and possible conflicts that result internally.
-Jaguar / Eagle warriors as Synthesist Summoners. I cast them as elite troops that were very small in number but disproportionately powerful.
-Demonic corruption of natives otherwise loyal to largely LE gods. This is the biggest point of conflict I think you can explore without throwing the party directly against the natives and their religions. I think you have a lot of potential to make the party choose between confronting the real enemy (in demons and demon lords) and otherwise more benign lawful evil gods of the natives. You could also, if you wanted, cast this as local gods against outside forces (e.g. great old ones, mi-go, ect). Make the blood sacrifices not just some meaningless thing, but actually meaningful in the struggle against the interlopers. One thing my GM has played around with often times (to great effect) is the idea that foreign gods are foreign, not evil. They may have a purpose to what they do
I plan on using dinosaurs freely. One of the few inhabitants of the island besides the cultist is a tribe of Lizardmen who train various dinosaurs and one of the more frequent encounters will be with a family of T-rex, hopefully because the party will be smart enough not to try to fight such a thing and avoid it more than try to hunt it (at least until the appropriate level, when maybe they can bring it down).
If you're going to be featuring both Mesoamerican jungles and giant T-rexes, then some of the STAP adventures are definitely something to look at, because STAP too features this match made in heaven.
(my PC still has scars from that time he cleverly blocked a T-Rex bite crit with his neck)
You might also be able to use maps of the Isle of Dread.
I guess the first thing to do is make sure that you’re not going to deeply offend one or more of your players by depicting an Evil society which closely resembles a real world culture. Some people are very sensitive about that kind of stuff. I suppose that making sure there is both good and bad in the society could help. Maybe a lot of the priesthood is even made up of neutral folks who just feel like "We're doing this for the good of everybody. This is just the way it has to be." If you want some musical inspiration with a somewhat more positive view of the Aztecs check out "Cortez the Killer" by Neil Young, which I consider a great song.
I agree that Savage Tide might give you some material but would suggest going back even further to the source material which inspired it, The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and the Isle of Dread. At least the first two used to be available for download on the Wizards of the Coast website. If you’re a fan of “From Dusk Til Dawn” you could have the “gods” be a cabal of vampires. There’s a possible tie in with the Hidden Shrine module. Ghouls might work either as servants to the vampires or as the secret masters in their own right. I’d almost certainly include them in the campaign on some level (perhaps as priests to the corrupt “gods”) since cannibalism is very evocative of what might be terrifying about an evil fantasy version of Aztec culture. Even if you don't go with those ideas as major themes there could be a ghoul cult somewhere in the New World offering the PCs some chances for adventure. It strikes me that warriors who practice cannibalism in life might rise to serve again in death as ghouls. The paralysis ability of ghouls and ghasts also offers some unique opportunities for horror and extremely twisted scenes of sadism and depravity against literally helpless victims who are probably being slowly eaten alive the whole time.
Describing the common sites and sounds of the strange New World might be nice. You could mention some stuff like the folks in the Mexican area eating pumpkin flowers as well as the seeds and "huitlacoche", which is corn that becomes purple, bloated, and misshapen from a fungal infection. Who knows what effect eating certain fantasy versions of such an unusual food might do to somebody over time. Fungal stuff always makes me think of monsters, and having some monstrous mushrooms in the jungle might be fun. Elaborating on the plant monster theme you could consider having the society or perhaps just a city in the pseudo-Andes be secretly ruled by the Fungi from Yuggoth, who come down to Golarion to mine precious metals.
I guess the first thing to do is make sure that you’re not going to deeply offend one or more of your players by depicting an Evil society which closely resembles a real world culture. Some people are very sensitive about that kind of stuff.
I'm only one person and can't speak for everyone, but I'm Mexican-American and I love seeing Mesoamerican influences in D&D. It's gorgeous, I feel a kinship to it, and I honestly don't mind the depiction of the cultures as evil.
First, I recognize it's fantasy and not real. Second, perhaps because of my Mexican (and thus Catholic Spanish) heritage, we've got a term for the Pre-Columbian period: "Good people with bad gods." Finally, being the villain means being badass. I'm down with that.
Now, of course, I'm only one person, not everyone will think like me. Still take the time to find out. But I just want to confirm that it's not necessarily a sure thing.