Fiendspawn is a setting somehwat inspired by the works of Mike Mignola. Of course, that means we have to start the setting with the proper imagry:
Post-war. The barbaric drunkards that followed the Vampiric Order of Superiority (known as VOS) of the west have recently been defeated. Their plans of global cleansing have been effectively disabled by the wholesome, upstanding Republic of Alradura, then destroyed by the evil, sorcerous men of Rosvar.
The Republic, while powerful and driven enough to destroy the VOS themselves, allowed the Rosvarians to make the final blow due only to a simple land dispute.
I have more ideas, but they're all running through my head at such a fast, disorderly pace, I'm just going to list some [spoiler=highlights]
(approximately 150 years pre-war) The rosvarian noble, Radurn, is brutally murdered during a party at his own castle. 13 weeks guests from the party die mysteriously.
Barbaric westlanders elect a vampire with promises of restoring the "once great" nation.
Vampire founds VOS
VOS starts large-scale "cleansing" campaign
VOS conquers a small section of Rosvar
VOS attacks republic
VOS summon a mating pair of pit fiends
Pit fiends spawn a litter
Republic siezes one of the litter and gives it the (unimaginative) name of Fiendspawn.
Rakmarmund, a Rosvarian lich joins VOS ranks; Paranormal circles suspect links between Rakmarmund and Radurn, but nothing can be proven.
Secret Alraduran organization adopts Fiendspawn, and destroys all VOS pit fiends and all evidence thereof (including all records of Fiendspawn, himself); Fiendspawn is raised by paladins of the organization.
Republic cripples VOS
Organization declares independance of the Alraduran republic
Republic retreats from war
Rosavar destroya VOS, along with most of westland
Rakmarmund goes into hiding
Peace
Rakmarmund leaves hiding
Rakmarmund replaces VOS leader with a doppleganger shortly before Rosvar destroys VOS
(tenetive) Rosvar and the republic compete, using nationally instituted gnomish organizations
[spoiler=current events?]tension between Alradura and Rosvaria is building, and the only reason they have peace at the moment is because of threatening military advancements. while the VOS is constantly trying to bring itself back to its former "glory", the western lands are in enough of a chaotic political state to allow other nations to keep it in check.[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]
Quote from: some natural alignmentshumans: NG
dwarves: LN
halflings: CN
elves: CG
liches: LE
pit fiends: CE
(more to come)[/spoiler]
Red is the hitherto untitled "western lands", and grey is unmapped, unmentioned, untitled region(s).
(//../../e107_files/public/1163130849_93_FT18466_map_.jpg) (//../../e107_files/public/1163130849_93_FT18466_map.jpg)
[/spoiler]
The major NPCs of the setting should be obvious at this point. Thoughts?
Sounds interesting. What kind of technology level are you aiming for here? Modern, like Hellboy? or medieval? You could even put this with advanced technology; make it similar in a few ways to Underworld.
Also, are there any other planes? The summoning of pit fiends would indicate their presence, but I want to make sure.
i think i might use a tech level somewhere between core and modern. i don't want this to actually become "d20 hellboy" (is that already out?).
having not seen either of the underworld movies (yet!), i wouldn't know what i could do with that, but suggestions are accepted.
planes.... hmm.... i'm going to pretend this is less on-the-spot then most of my stuff, and say that there is only one true plane.... but! theres several demiplanes within this plane. these demiplanes are even more tightly linked to each other then they are to the actual plane. this makes the demiplanes seem more like planes, and the plane more like some sort of metaplane.
the demiplanes, so far, include:
the material demiplane
the demiplane of Hell (name to be revised)
the magical demiplane
the snowland nation is now to be named Rosvar.
no clue what to call the republic, but i'm picturing it with a leader that has the same "apple pie" charisma as Kennedy, and values to match the patriotic enthusiasm...
edit- moved to OP
edit- moved to OP
I really like your nature vs. nurture alignment system. So the actions of a character need not have anything to do with their actual alignment? Though it actually seems to me like they have two alignments, one for nature and one for nurture. They may be the same or close to each other, or they could be diametrically opposed. In you have two conflicting alignments, this could lead to a lot of internal struggle role-playing ability. I could go see this going so far as to create a prestige class that taps into the two different personalities for a Jekyll and Hyde sort of thing, but using both sides to your advantage.
Quote from: Seraphine_HarmoniumI really like your nature vs. nurture alignment system. So the actions of a character need not have anything to do with their actual alignment?
"Sure he's a pit fiend, but he's a
nice pit fiend!"
QuoteThough it actually seems to me like they have two alignments, one for nature and one for nurture.
They may be the same or close to each other, or they could be diametrically opposed.[/quote] In you have two conflicting alignments, this could lead to a lot of internal struggle role-playing ability.[/quote] I could go see this going so far as to create a prestige class that taps into the two different personalities for a Jekyll and Hyde sort of thing, but using both sides to your advantage.[/quote]
did i hear you volunteer for crunch?
Quote from: sdragon1984did i hear you volunteer for crunch?
. . . uhhh . . . well, ummmm . . .
I hadn't intended to, but I suppose I could give it a try. No guarantees on quality or balance, though.
Quote from: Seraphine_HarmoniumQuote from: sdragon1984did i hear you volunteer for crunch?
. . . uhhh . . . well, ummmm . . .
I hadn't intended to, but I suppose I could give it a try. No guarantees on quality or balance, though.
fair enough. Since this is more of a side project to Xiluh, it isn't too big of a deal if it isn't balanced. if absolutely nothing else, I'm sure members with more crunch experience then I could tweak it a bit :)
edit- moved to OP
Ooooooooo, pretty map. How'd you make it?
made it in photoshop, completely from scratch. actually, that was entirely done in about 45 minutes.
edit- moved to OP
Read over everything you've got, and you might be better off asking for feedback once you consolidate some of your ideas. Also, though your map is pretty, it's very difficult to comprehend...
You mention a lot about history in your first post, but what are the current conflicts in the world today?
Any specific things you want feedback on?
feel free to give feedback on anything you like. i'll try to get as much of all of this to the first post as possible :)
edit- current events moved to OP
First off, i am a huge mignola/hellboy/bprd fan, so anything inspired by them is an awesome premise.
anyways...
what you have here so far looks really cool. I like the vampiric-led barbs and the defenitely plausible political events. the secret society is good, as well.
My main comment is about the nature-vs-nurture alignment. this is really a cool idea. the fact that a characters actions could then have them just get detect eviled and "bam" mystery solved, has always bugged me. on the other hand, it can be great tool sometimes. for this, i thought up another n vs n which is different but similar to yours, so i thought i'd share it.
Basically, a character has an alignment which is based on their actions as standard. this doesn't really have an official alignment type given to it since it is just brought out by their roleplay and will vary basd on their alignments. this is the nurture alignment.
the nature alignment is what gets detected by any "detect spells" or smites or things like that. it is the same as the beings parrent's most common nurture alignment. so, if your parents were evil, but you do good deeds, you are essentially good, but will be detected as evil due to the darkness in your past. similarily, if someone evil comes from a good family, they won't detect as anything other than good.
it would obviously not be as cut and dried as all that, but i never got very far into developing it. I was planning there to be a way that if your alignments were contrary, doing an act closer to your nurture alignment would pull you more that way and it would get harder and harder for you to return to the alignment you were. similarily, if your parents were a far different alignment than you, "atonement" efffects can help to bring your nature alignment to be what your nurture one is. essentially you break away from your past and your alignment becomes based upon your actions, allowing to make your own destiny.
anyways, lots of holes in the system but i thouhgt i'd share it.
great work on the setting and i'm gonna keep watchiing it for new stuff.
If Seraphine wants any help... *flutter eyelashes* :P
Anyway, so far I like the setting - not much to comment on, though.
The map is hard to read - especially what I presume is Rosvar... just looks like a black smudge with the suggestion of some letters. I'd use a thin, unboldified font.
Wow, I had completely forgotten about that prestige class . . . well, Golem, if you want to colaborate, your help would be welcome.
It's a little hard to review this since it's so early in the planning stages, but you seemed to be seeking input in the tavern earlier, so I'll try. I am not at all familiar with your source material (Mignola nor Hellboy), though I loved Underworld.
First of all, what happened to the Fiendspawn? The setting is named after him, but I noticed him mentioned briefly in the "timeline" (yeah, I know there weren't actual dates, but we'll call it a timeline). On a related note, getting down dates is always helpful for understanding how things fit together. Remember while you may have an idea of relative time frames, your readers won't know how many years you're talking about, especially since many of the characters involved are not bound by mortal lifespans (fiends, vampires, liches, and in some cases nations appear like characters in your timeline).
You say the setting is unnamed (so I suppose it's not really named after Fiendspawn). Getting a good name can help you focus your ideas, and perhaps post under a consolidated heading. You can either name it after a place (such as the planet), or a theme. Perhaps a central conflict or idea for your setting. If you can't think of a central conflict, maybe coming up with one will add more focus to your setting.
Nations
A consolidated, detailed posting about the nations most important to this drama would be great. It seems to Alradura (sp?) and Rosvar. How about populations, relative locations, climate, a brief snippit about economy, and a general summary of politics in one place rather than scattered.
Technology
Before addressing this question, let me ask, how much magic is there? If people are capturing and destroying pit fiends, it sounds like you have a lot of magic, at the least. There is no real reason that a setting couldn't have both high technology and high magic, though. If you want to distance yourself from other settings further, go with above average tech. It feels at least Renaissance-era, though I could see WWII-era, modern, or even slightly future.
Another twist I offer randomly, is that it takes place in the distant future of Earth, following a revival of magic (perhaps driven by an apocalypse), ala Shadowrun. That gives you a basis for history and a firm geography. Of course, a new world works fine, too, and you've already put some effort into it.
Vampiric Order of Superiority
Seriously, this almost sounds comical. It feels like something out of the Order of the Stick. That's okay if it's what you want. It sounds like kind of a lighthearted (despite the themes), tongue-in-cheek setting.
Overall
It's a nice start, and it could be a fun dark, but humorous setting. I think would I understand more if I were familiar with your source. Good luck with it.
captain obvious: that's pretty much what i'm going for; the biggest problem with the nature-vs-nurture concept is that the majority of people are raised by their biological parents. while this isn't always the case, it seems to be the case most of the time. that brings up the question: is this person evil because his parents had some fundemental element of evil in their very genetics, or is the person evil because their cheating-lying-stealing-killing parents taught them it's best to be evil? in this setting, it's both working together. this allows for a person to be evil because their parents were evil, but still capable of doing good, because they were raised to do good.
by the way, all alignment-related material has been moved to the OP.
golem: thanks for offering seraphine help with the PrC! i appreciate the effort. is the map any better now? when i move it to the OP, it'll end up getting spoiler'ed due to size, so hopefully that will help, too.
Quote from: Phoenix KnightIt's a little hard to review this since it's so early in the planning stages, but you seemed to be seeking input in the tavern earlier, so I'll try. I am not at all familiar with your source material (Mignola nor Hellboy), though I loved Underworld.
Hellboy was created by Mike Mignola, and is considered his most recognizable work. if you get the chance, either watch the movie, or pick up a few back issues of either Hellboy or BPRD. you wont regret it.
QuoteFirst of all, what happened to the Fiendspawn? The setting is named after him, but I noticed him mentioned briefly in the "timeline" (yeah, I know there weren't actual dates, but we'll call it a timeline).
On a related note, getting down dates is always helpful for understanding how things fit together. Remember while you may have an idea of relative time frames, your readers won't know how many years you're talking about, especially since many of the characters involved are not bound by mortal lifespans (fiends, vampires, liches, and in some cases nations appear like characters in your timeline).[/quote]You say the setting is unnamed (so I suppose it's not really named after Fiendspawn). Getting a good name can help you focus your ideas, and perhaps post under a consolidated heading. You can either name it after a place (such as the planet), or a theme. Perhaps a central conflict or idea for your setting. If you can't think of a central conflict, maybe coming up with one will add more focus to your setting.[/quote]
NationsA consolidated, detailed posting about the nations most important to this drama would be great. It seems to Alradura (sp?) and Rosvar. How about populations, relative locations, climate, a brief snippit about economy, and a general summary of politics in one place rather than scattered.[/quote]
TechnologyBefore addressing this question, let me ask, how much magic is there? If people are capturing and destroying pit fiends, it sounds like you have a lot of magic, at the least. There is no real reason that a setting couldn't have both high technology and high magic, though. If you want to distance yourself from other settings further, go with above average tech. It feels at least Renaissance-era, though I could see WWII-era, modern, or even slightly future.[/quote]high[/i], its not
common. magic is almost entirely limited to a selection of individuals and organizations, whereas technology is open to everybody. in other words, there are more lighters out in the world then there are pyromages, so naturally, there are more people that own a lighter then there are people who know about pyromancy.
QuoteAnother twist I offer randomly, is that it takes place in the distant future of Earth, following a revival of magic (perhaps driven by an apocalypse), ala Shadowrun. That gives you a basis for history and a firm geography. Of course, a new world works fine, too, and you've already put some effort into it.
Vampiric Order of SuperioritySeriously, this almost sounds comical. It feels like something out of the Order of the Stick. That's okay if it's what you want. It sounds like kind of a lighthearted (despite the themes), tongue-in-cheek setting.[/quote]
OverallIt's a nice start, and it could be a fun dark, but humorous setting. I think would I understand more if I were familiar with your source. Good luck with it.[/quote]Leave It to Beaver[/i], is a perfect example of this. i'm glad you like what i've got so far :)
map moved to OP.
Mignola inspired fantasy; I like it! I'd try and cut out most of the typical fantasy trappings (no need for gnomish guilds or such), but that's just me. Secretly I hate fantasy. But otherwise it looks fun.
I'd agree with phoenix knight that it's all a little comical, as is oftentimes Hellboy. The guy is always cracking jokes, the whole thing is kind of tongue-in-cheek pulp action, and the interpersonal interactions between the BPRD members are usually pretty comical, too. The serious things were the monsters* and the horrors Hellboy fought, and that's what made him so much fun for me. He was a wise-cracking Demonic U.S. Military Ghost-Hunter. Even Cthulhu himself isn't so scary when Hellboy is lambasting him across the chin.
As far as technology, I'd say the late industrial age pre-computer technology would work well in the setting. I'd jazz it up a bit, make it big more fantastic and weird (tommy guns in the hands of orcs are fun and all, but it adds to the silliness). Maybe magic powered technology, or something to offset the strange comedy that is a dwarf flying a P-51 mustang. That's almost close to the "barbarians in jet fighters/Battlefield Earth" syndrome; it just seems anachronistic to a comical degree. Then again, maybe that's what your going for, in which case I say more power to ya.
So... would the players be members of the fantasy BPRD, or would one of them be Fiendspawn himself, or what? I'd say go for broke and just nominate one to be Fiendspawn, let the rest be paranormal investigators with strange properties a la BPRD.
*there is a certain comedy to a giant pig-man, as well as the wee folk.
I'm seein' some pretty blatant and simplified parallels with WWII. Intentional?
i was wondering if anybody would point that out...
yes, definately intentional.
Quote from: V - L0XMignola inspired fantasy; I like it! I'd try and cut out most of the typical fantasy trappings (no need for gnomish guilds or such), but that's just me. Secretly I hate fantasy. But otherwise it looks fun.
the fantasy trappings are the big point where i'm trying to make this distinct from Hellboy. like i said earlier, i don't really want this to become Hellboy d20.
QuoteI'd agree with phoenix knight that it's all a little comical, as is oftentimes Hellboy. The guy is always cracking jokes, the whole thing is kind of tongue-in-cheek pulp action, and the interpersonal interactions between the BPRD members are usually pretty comical, too. The serious things were the monsters* and the horrors Hellboy fought, and that's what made him so much fun for me. He was a wise-cracking Demonic U.S. Military Ghost-Hunter. Even Cthulhu himself isn't so scary when Hellboy is lambasting him across the chin.
As far as technology, I'd say the late industrial age pre-computer technology would work well in the setting. I'd jazz it up a bit, make it big more fantastic and weird (tommy guns in the hands of orcs are fun and all, but it adds to the silliness). Maybe magic powered technology, or something to offset the strange comedy that is a dwarf flying a P-51 mustang. That's almost close to the "barbarians in jet fighters/Battlefield Earth" syndrome; it just seems anachronistic to a comical degree. Then again, maybe that's what your going for, in which case I say more power to ya.[/quote]So... would the players be members of the fantasy BPRD, or would one of them be Fiendspawn himself, or what? I'd say go for broke and just nominate one to be Fiendspawn, let the rest be paranormal investigators with strange properties a la BPRD.[/quote]*there is a certain comedy to a giant pig-man, as well as the wee folk.[/quote]
again, that comedy is definately to be included, but not emphasized.
thanks for the review!
On your map, do the dark blue parts represent undersea continental shelves?
It's a pretty map, but why map so much if you intend to use so little? Or do you plan to use more later?
Looking over my original comments, and those of V-Lox, I'd say you could really play up the dark humor aspect; make it a major theme. It sounds kind of like the comic is like that (I still haven't gotten around to seeing the movie...).
What is BPRD? Maybe I saw this the first time, but now I can't seem to find it in re-skimming the thread. (it sounds like it was something from the comic, is that right?)
As to your concern about people knowing what life is commonly like, perhaps a short story set in the world would help to give players a feel for it?
BPRD comes from the comics, and stands for Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense; until i develop a name for it, i'll be refering to the paladinic order that took in fiendspawn as my version of BPRD, since that's what it is.
i do plan on eventually using most- hopefully all- of the map, but so far, that's all i have. an idea i'm tossing around is calling that large landbound body of water "Noose lake", and possibley have a local name for it. i might even have a celtic-inspired region bordering it.
Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguinBPRD comes from the comics, and stands for Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense;
I'm a helper ^_^
i have no clue what you're talking about......... >_>
I took your advice and checked out the Hellboy movie (I saw it cheap at Target). My impressions: Lovecraft meets Dogma.
But after seeing it, I agree that having the players play something along the lines of the BPRD could make for an interesting campaign.
However, I would say you also have the workings of some interesting political stuff going on, and it seems like you might also have the group instead be focused on "national security." If you still wanted them to be like the BPRD, you could have them be spies, rather than a research and defense unit against the paranormal.
Yikes! I wanted to review this setting, but the presentation is really hard to read. I'll go through it instead and give some pointers.
QuoteFiendspawn is a setting somehwat inspired by the works of Mike Mignola. of course, that means we have to start the setting with the proper imagry:
essence[/i] of what I am inspired by and try to duplicate it. I might like the political and technological climate of Europe, so I try to work that in. Xenomorphs are a part of the setting because they are monsters and I like the way they move. So I create raptor-like beasts that lurk in the woods and attack at night. I wrap this up and I find that Iâ,¬,,¢m more interested in the concepts of Monsters and Men, thus becoming focal points for the setting. If Iâ,¬,,¢m able to portray this with a Hellsing-ish feel, Iâ,¬,,¢ve done my job, and perhaps my readers will see a sandwich instead of a liver. ;)
Quotepost-war. the barbaric drunkards that followed the Vampiric Order of Superiority (known as VOS) of the west have recently been defeated. their plans of global cleansing have been effectively disabled by the wholesome, upstanding republic of Alradura, then destroyed by the evil, sorcerous men of Rosvar.
i have more ideas, but they're all running through my head at such a fast, disorderly pace, im just going to list some highlights[/quote] humor isn't exactly a priority of this setting[/quote]â,¬Â¦ Pit Fiend that cherishes life, kittens, and homemade apple pie.[/quote]
CONFLICT! If you donâ,¬,,¢t want a humorous setting, donâ,¬,,¢t make funny quips in major elements.
Lastly, that map isâ,¬Â¦ uhâ,¬Â¦ yeah.
A couple of tips for maps:
- Make SURE the text is readable. This means contrast (black on white, silver on black, etc.) and clear fonts.
- Donâ,¬,,¢t map more than you need to. If a world section isnâ,¬,,¢t important enough to detail, itâ,¬,,¢s not important enough to map.
- Map what you need to! If a nation is a focal point of the setting, cover all its borders!
- Spend some time touching up icky spots. Make sure you donâ,¬,,¢t get grainy edges or unexpected blobs of color.
Good luck with the setting! Tell me if you need any additional help. :)
the map... honestly, i have no idea what went wrong with it. it looks good on my computer, but apparently something happened.
as for the rest... for now, it's mostly just brainstorming, until i can get a few more details. that said, i'll be sure to keep those comments in mind when i clean this up a bit.
and the humor thing? i don't see a conflict.... i said it's not a priority, i didn't say it's not an element.
Ah, I see your point on the humor.
If you need help with the map, I'd be happy to lend a hand once I get back home (I'm in Ohio, atm).
Assuming you're back home (it has been over a month), I appreciate the offer of help with the map.
And lately, I've been contemplating having an emphasis on constructs here. One big problem is that I don't want them so emphasised that they come off as fantasy-styled robots. Also, while this is intended to be pretty much all-inclusive (is that Divset or Ethocentric? I never can get the two straight...), MM2 is very close in the tone that I'm looking for, where creatures are concerned. Now if only i could extract that tone...
Okay. Send me what you have as an email (raelifin@gmail) and try to outline everything you want from the map. This includes tone, countries, whatever. :)
Cool. I'll try to get you that info sometime tomorrow :)
OK, so by "tomorrow", I apparently didn't mean "the day after I make this post", but at least I sent the info. I posted a little more history regarding Rakmarmund today, too.
Also, how does Tormar sound for the name of the western land?
Thought: Despite the increasingly skeptical views on the practice, advanced phrenologists that the racial stereotypes (or, at least, the ones used in this setting) are actually more or less "hardwired" into the races at an almost biological level. These, of course, can be overriden through things like subjective personal experience, or ancestral lineage, but at that point, you need to call in the psychics...
those of you who visit chat might already know what's going on for Fiendspawn, but for the rest of you, yes, I do have some ideas brewing in my head. One word teaser: myconids.
Thread necromancy, anyone?
Quote from: Rorschach Fritosthose of you who visit chat might already know what's going on for Fiendspawn, but for the rest of you, yes, I do have some ideas brewing in my head. One word teaser: myconids.
Okay, it's obviously been awhile since I've done any work on Fiendspawn, but the idea here was to have myconids as the nomadic natives of a north-eastern region of Rosvar, roughly equivalent to Mongolia/Siberia. The main reason I haven't done anything with the setting is because I keep getting stuck on this one idea.
I know i haven't been around in awhile, but I'm still alive, I think.
ANYWAY...
I'm thinking of adapting Fiendspawn, as well as a few other new ideas, for the Mini Six (http://antipaladingames.com/minisix.html) system. If i do, I might even try self-printing my own games, for very small-scale sale.