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I am making a Pathfinder world, for a school project. Yes, it's true, Pathfinder can/could've decide/decided the biggest grade of your entire Freshman year! My school proudly totes a class-wide "Freedom Project" that grades you based on your ability to BS a few connections to school topics and "new skills," into a (usually) completely unrelated personal project.
So, with that, I present the problem:
I suck at getting original ideas, or more precisely, original lore ideas. All I know is that the present of the campaign is split between two main factions: The pious Divine Casters against the scholarly Arcane.
These guys hate each-other, and, although both sides sit on all sides of the alignment spectrum, they cannot abide the well-being of the other.
If it helps to know:
Divine and Arcane influence almost all of the globe, but the largest faction of neutrals is in the center, and possesses exotic resources, both in application and in methods of quality preservation.
Basically, losing contact with them would result in catastrophic losses for either side. The neutral party uses the conflict to bolster their economy, and changes deals and products to keep both sides at a stalemate.
Besides that:
Everything is open. When, how, and in what state, the three factions meet or rise is entirely up to you. (Except not really, I'm picking the best suggestion from the one person who can be bothered to indulge me.)
Well first off, this could technically be considered plagiarism, so be careful there.
Second you have a lot of repeat posts, might want to flag them for removal.
Thirdly, I would say draw up three factions, plus a few independent groups, draw your world map with no major structures of cities just yet.
Get some throwable objects and then huck them onto your map. Where they land, your faction goes there, mark the map, repeat for the rest of the factions.
Now that you have your placement you can begin to explain WHY. Who holds the coast? Islands? Plains? Mountains? Are any in the ocean?
If they are isolated, is it just a military post? or a struggling colony?
If there are several factions clustered is that a military camp or a massive city?
Is a location of particular divine or arcane importance?
Then you can go backwards from there, if there is no one in a region, is it because it is neutral territory? Monsters? Arcane or divine wrath gone wrong?
If patterns emerge, make them into nations, if a place is particularly fractured then maybe it is a current or former faction battlefield.
And where does the common man stand? Do you declare openly for the Logical Arcane against the emotional Divine? Are the divine and Arcane factions unified? (Very unlikely given the nature of Gods and alignment).
How does each faction rule itself if they are unified? (Councils, single leaders, parliaments, representatives, etc).
Finally, what caused the split in the first place? Was it a holy war? A fracturing of Arcane teachings from the realm of divinity? Some centralized threat that destroyed the standing orders and forced a reordering?
making a world lore is difficult without knowing the nations, the races, the landscape, and some of the broad histories.
Even if you're not thinking about it, making a setting where it's the pious vs. the scholarly has some obvious parallels with RL situations including recent US politics. Expect people who know little about Pathfinder to focus on that.
The centre of a globe is either deep below the surface, or a social construct. Which do you mean?
Really great insight, guys. Thanks for all your thoughts, it's been a real help.
Now, I understand that the "Divine v Arcane" could be a touchy concept, but I also find that it creates a great way to design an easily interpreted world, ie
"What's this place over here?"
"Well that's a Divine civilization"
No more characterization needed. It's a great way to make an incomplete world seem a lot more complete. It also makes for an easy way to create relationships between civilizations, ie
"What do they think of this place?"
"Well they hate them, of course"
"Why?"
"Because they're a divine nation and they're an Arcane nation"
"Oh... okay."
First of all, I have a long guide to making a setting that is a pain to reformat for posting here, so I'll just link to it. Of course it is aimed more at a setting you plan on running rather than one you want to hand in.
For more specific advice, I recommend giving each faction a few traits rather than one. It's pretty simple to add depth by giving each faction a handful of traits, even if they are chosen almost at random.
In particular, values are very useful. Pick a few values for each faction, prioritize, them, and extrapolate. Maybe the divine faction believes in equality, mercy and joy, the arcane faction believes in merit, dedication and fame, while the neutral faction believes in heritage, loyalty, and competition.
Give each faction values that can be positive or negative depending on how far you take them. For added depth, give each at least one pair of opposing values. Justice and mercy, merit and equality, honor and pragmatism. It is possible to follow both, but how you handle the trade offs will help define you.
Once you have values, give each goals and limits. What are they after, and what lines won't they cross? A lot of this can come from the values, but will also help give them more substantial connection to the world.
Next ask yourself what kind of internal struggles take place. Every group has its own inner struggles and politics, so what are the divisions that they have to deal with? Again, this is easy when you start with matching values, but giving them different priorities.
Now, add some interaction with the world. What resources do they have, what do they need, and what do they do to get it? Have their been any recent disasters or major events that have reshaped the world? How do they adapt to climates, terrain, seasons, the demands of agriculture, diseases, or other natural influences?
Now, finally, focus on their interactions, past and present. Figure out what first caused conflict, then add some details about how we got from there to here. Toss in a ceasefire and a betrayal now and then, maybe a splinter faction stirring up trouble, and bam, you'll have a complete history in no time.
To summarize, add a few details, extrapolate, and fill in the gaps as you find them. Doing so will give you a rich lore with minimal effort.
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Divine casters would be all for the gods, that they are our guides and our protectors, and the representations of the universe. They see the arcane casters as heretics and ungrateful rebellious children doomed to folly and self destruction.
Arcane casters claim that the cosmos is there for the taking, by mortals. The gods are a crutch holding us back. To them, the divine casters are dooming their entire society to slavery and ignorance.
The divine casters' evil comes from fundamentalist extremism. Their good is devotion and community.
The arcane casters' evil comes from megalomania. Their good is independence and love for truth.
The divine faction is ruled by a circle of high priests who bicker and argue, as they each represent different gods.
The arcane faction is ruled by a structured hierarchy of archmages, but nobody knows who's actually on top of the power structure.
The truth is that the bloodline of dictators of the neutral faction is in charge of the arcane faction, and has been orchestrating this conflict nearly a century, keeping it at a stalemate. They also have spies influencing the high priests. Their "game" is to keep the conflict going for as long as possible and increase their family's wealth and power as much as possible. One day they'll get caught, but they're so well connected they're untouchable anyway. Worst case, they will forever have a place in legend.
Next you need
- Gods
- Religions
- Religious holidays
- Great moments in history
- Timeline/calendar
- 2-3 sub-factions in the arcane faction
- Cultural traditions for each religious and arcane subgroup
I can't help but wonder as to how either faction would view a Mystic Theurge as well.
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Whenever you make up lore, don't try to shoehorn some concept and think that interesting lore will come from it.
Instead, come up with stories. Everything is a story. These stories will bring characters, and demand settings. These will prompt other stories in turn. Your world with flow from those stories, effortlessly.
Leverage existing mythology not as content, but as symbolism. Use iconography such as the divine family (mother, father, child, brother, sister) and use them to create gods or dragons that shaped the world and gave it meaning. Or use the elements or something equally "timeless". Create conflicts, rebellions, epic folly, ambition, hubris. Then fill in details to make the stories and settings colorful and rich. Work your way down to the say-to-day life of a villager in those times.
This is how you build momentum in building a world.
How about a litch killed a god, and then the divine casters tried to declare a holy war on all arcane casters.
Real quick note:
The Divine v Arcane setup has no underlying meaning to it. It's a dumb fun "who would win in a fight?" style setup.
The conflict comes from a situation comparable to
Goblins + Goblin Dogs vs Dogs + "Pale imitation"
where you replace "Goblins"/"Goblin Dogs" with Divine/Divine Magic, and "Dogs" with Arcane. Making it:
Divine + Divine Magic vs. Arcane + "Pale Imitation"
The Divine hate the Arcane because they see the arcane magic as sort of a "pale imitation" of their divine magic. The Arcane hate the Divine in retaliation. Neither side has any sort of "moral high-ground," but that's not for you to worry about.
I love the enthusiasm. However, my main problem was a lack of a history, for the world. The goal was to get your ideas of lore, not your ideas on how the dynamic between nations should be changed. I appreciate these opinions. It's just that I think they've distracted from the original intent.
This, by the way, is why I figured I wouldn't get this many responses. Because I don't expect this many people to be as enthusiastic about going with what I've already made, and adding on to it.
Oh and by-the-way, I'm working on a schedule here, so any advice on making my own lore can take itself somewhere that has more time for that sort of thing.
We managed to run a lengthy campaign for our Psychology elective back in H.S. We focused on the psychological aspects of roleplay, using each session in class as a sort of mock evaluation on each player. We observed social and play behaviors and lots of stuff, it was pretty cool.
I would consider using some pre established stuff with a twist. Outline your W's, "who, what, when, where and why". For example (from my campaign):
Where: I'm using Kalamar as my setting (got a great deal on the atlas, and really like the map) but I "scale" it that Golarion is simply on the other side of the planet. So no world map making.
When: Setting resources like history, cosmology and the like are readily available online from the right Wikis. So little original history generation needed.
Why: In my case, after Earthfall and during the Age of Darkness people migrated from the World Scar to the other side of the planet, because there was other land available. In your case, why the schism between magical Origins? Perhaps it's cosmology based, with the Gods themselves fueling the conflict?
Who: Again, in my case- the Azlanti that the Aboleth sought to eradicate fled, and created a small kingdom in the Wild Lands. In your case, it's your casting communities.
Now it comes down to the What: What is your story striving to combat/prevent/accomplish? For me, it's uncovering the mystery of this previously unknown kingdom buried under the ice (I added a magical glacier that's disappearing) What is your goal for the players?
Generally, I advise starting small. Not big. Start centralized and expand out as needed. Your players don't generally need a world until they have the powers and money to actually begin traveling it. But they need a reason to, and if your story stays centralized than so do your settings, and by proxy, your stories and histories and available information.
Basically I'm saying build out, not in. And here's the Dm's secret weapon (besides stealing from the players) Your players create more of the world than you do. Seriously. Give them vague ideas and concepts and listen to their interpretations of the info. See where their minds go, and feed off of those conclusions. Crowdsource your story from them, they'll feel smarter and more involved because they've "guessed right" a few times and you'll look more talented as you weave their ideas together into a better narrative.
I just reread what I suggested and realized that I gave you very little usable information because I basically said b.s. them and improvise. I'm sorry. Have you tried hitting setting specific Wikis like Golorian, Kalamar, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, stuff like that? They love to link historical story elements that you can probably adapt.
I'm having trouble imagining what would fuel that specific of a conflict, except maybe if it was an extremely Theological setting and they view only magic from the Gods as true/pure/good and Arcane powers as abominable, from mixed bloods and evil pacts etc etc. Little more in line with some real world history (Salem Witch trials, Spanish Inquisition etc.) Maybe set the story all on one side or the other, as either hunting Arcane casters in the name of the Gods (perhaps leading to a paradigm shift once they gain more understanding?) or put them on the Arcane side, on the run from the Inquisition, while they try to change perceptions and prevent persecution (little of the early X-men vibe?)
I'd like to know more about the exact nature of your project before replying. A lot of folks have responded to your idea but you really haven't told us much about the basic information for your class. Without knowing more it's hard to say if your idea of Arcane vs Divine is too simple for the requirements of the project or if it would be just right for it.