The Campaign Builder's Guild

The Archives => Homebrews (Archived) => Topic started by: SilvercatMoonpaw on October 31, 2006, 10:58:22 AM

Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on October 31, 2006, 10:58:22 AM
After four settings abandoned due to dwindling interest each time (mine), I've just decided to make one thread where I post random ideas I have that feel too good to let go.

Edit: Anyone may now post random setting ideas here.  But I bet they won't.

"Hate makes this world go 'round."
In the old days the giants, the humans, the elves, and the halflings all lived integrated together.  It was true that each had a preferred habitat: the giants strolled the open plains, the humans sailed the seas, the elves raced through the forests, and the halflings crawled through the tunnels just under the soil.  But there was no isolationism by race; halflings, giants, humans, and elves could live together in the same village.  Bloodlines were mingled freely: gaint/human, human/elf, elf/halfling, and and even more trace by combination.  The only threats to the peace of this land were the attacks of the dwarves: seafaring from the north, bull-riding from the east.  Yet these were only raiders, intersted in loot, not conquest and ideology.  Though half-dwarves were sometimes born in the wake of these raids they were accepted as beings of their own by both sides.
This lasted until the dwarven legions of the south invaded.  Unlike the north and east, the regions in the south were condusive to large-scale agriculture, affording dwarves a chance to settle down and develop the makings of organized civilization, most importantly disciplined armies and a conquering mindset.  They had already tamed the giants, humans, halflings, and elves of their own territories the dwarves set out to aquire the land to their north.  Their advance was slow but relentless, as the dwarves took the time to carefully secure their position militarily.
The people of this land were stunned: dwarves were swarming, screaming hordes that were easily repulsed by organized defenses.  It was unthinkable that the same savages from the north and east could defeat them.  Refugees from the south told tales of the great feats of egineering the dwarves created to sustain their war machine: roads, bridges, aqueducts, sewers.  Rumors and tales began to circulate that the dwarves must have the help of the gods, and that the peope of the mid land were being punished for some immoraltiy.  But what?
The answer came from those of mixed-blood fleeing the dwarves in the south: wherever the legions went, the dwarves systematically slaughtered every individual who showed sign of mixed race.  The dwarves preached a doctirne of racial purity and fixed identity, holding their justification under the commandment from the gods "Each one must remain true."  That phrase also existed in the religions of the mid landers, though they had interpreted it differently.  Now fervent religious individuals preached that to beat back the "new horde" they must first win back the favor of th gods by returning the races to their "traditional identities" and cleansing the land of the "tainted blood".  The panicking citizens of the various mid land countries swiftly took up the cause, and the genocide began.
Whether this was simply coincidental or an actual turning of the god's blessing, the southern dwarves began to squabble over politics, and while their attention was turned and their vigilance was faltering the "newly cleansed" armies of the mid lands retook most of their old territory.  The southern dwarves were able to marshal themselves to hold on to their old lands, but the damge to the freedom of the mid lands was done: the purists were proven right, and even some of the most stubborn holdouts capitualted before the "evidence".  Half-breeds that were not slaughtered could attempt to escape east (the south was just as certain a death as the mid lands) into the steppes of the bull-riding dwarves or the maze-like forests of towering conifers.  In a few coastal human nations, however, this purge was slower, and clever hybrid inidividuals along with their sympathetic human allies decided to take their chances with the sea.  Hearing about the discovery of an uninhabited land across the western sea, they set out in great ships, hoping to settle in this "land of freedom".

Point of this idea: I wanted a setting where there was a big tension about mixed race and what being a "true member" of a race means.  While standard D&D mentions these ideas, I had an old region from another world lying around my mental junkpile where the PHB stereotypes were enforced for the reasons of an overarching religion, one that specifically called for the death of all half-elves.  This setting tries to take that idea and make it seem reasonable, adapting the real history of the Byzantine Empire facing attacks from the Muslims and how the empiror decided that the Muslims were winning because God favored their stance on no images.
The land in the west is sort of an idea of establishing an "America" where people can be free.  It's basically an add-on when I was going to do this setting in two parts: medievil and Victorian style-periods.  However I still like it, as it creates a place where the population is almost entirely mixed races (though there are supposed to be some native inhabitants).
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on October 31, 2006, 03:24:34 PM
Spiritual-Primal Cosmology
The universe is divided between two forces: that of the perfect, unchanging spirit realm (think of Plato's idea that there is a place where perfect copies exist of everything that can be found on Earth), and the variated, constantly changing primal realm (primal is used here to mean matter as well as "lower thought").  In this specific cosmology their are only five plains: the Spirit Realm, the Primal Realm, the Beast Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Mortal Realm.  They are arranged in a cosmic pattern known as the pentogram, and each realm only connects to two others: Mortal to Beast to Primal to Spirit to Demon to Mortal (think about that method of drawing a pentagram where you draw the lines without lifting the pen).  Upon death a soul moves toward either the Primal Realm or the Spirit Realm depending upon it's inclination to the core being of one or the other.  Souls that value consistancy, abstract thought, mind-over-matter, etc., move on to the Spirit Realm to join with its perfection.  Souls that value spontineity, insinct, feelings, etc., move on to the Primal Realm to be changed and flung anew into the Mortal Realm.
However each soul must journey to their respective realm.  Primal souls pass through the Beast Realm, Spirit souls through the Demon Realm.  Sometimes a soul is not ready to face it's core force, and lingers in its realm, becoming either a Beast (which here can mean animal, magical beast, fey, elemental, etc.) or Demon (which here includes fiends and celestials both), respectively.
There is a great conflict in the universe between the forces of Spirit and Primal.  The Beasts and the Demons often emerge into the Mortal Realm to engage in conflict for their respective realms.  Demons try to impose the will of the Spirit Realm on the Mortal Realm, but the Beasts have no such compulsion.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 10, 2006, 09:23:07 AM
A setting where all the humans are dead, killed by a curse release by one of their own to stop them from (supposedly) destroying the world.  The world was left to the fey and the beasts.

And the dragons.  Because on this world there are no gods.  Or, to state it inaccurately, the dragons are the gods: each has some small control over the primal forces that keep the world moving.  And the fey and the beasts worship them, as did the humans before them.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 21, 2006, 04:51:24 PM
Eberron is supposed to be based off pulp stories.  Well, the progression of those led to superhero comics.  Already on the Mutants & Masterminds boards there has been a suggestion that Sharn would make an excellent place to have a superhero adventure.  My thought is that Eberron could be advanced in its timeline until it resembles our modern world (or more futuristic), making for a great combination of D&D and real-world elements in the backdrop of superheroes.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 21, 2006, 07:55:29 PM
998 YK: Kaius the IV is born to (whatshername, don't have access at the moment) and Kaius the III (really I).  A few days later, during the royal display (or whatever that's called) Kaius is revealed to the public as a vampire by agents of the Emerald Claw.  The public of Karrnath splits three ways: those who abhor undead, the Blood of Vol who resent Kaius's persecution of their religion, and those of the faith who see Kaius as a form of messiah.  Kaius manages to maintain control only with strict martial law.
Thrane declairs war again, saying that a people ruled by an evil being will ultimately become evil themselves.  Or that the rule of the country by an evil being shows that the country as a whole must be evil, whichever is most convenient.
Aerenal, too, takes an interest, though a less overt one.  Seeing this as a repeat of the abbominable House of Vol, they dispatch assasins to kill both Kaius and his son.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 21, 2006, 08:27:15 PM
A setting where the gods abandoned the mortals (I love these sorts of settings) so long ago that the mortals have forgot about it and begun worshipping new things.  This time, though, the PCs play the role of the returning gods, and while saving the world from evil have to decide whether they should try to convert the mortals back to the worship of them or just leave everything alone.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 25, 2006, 05:19:26 PM
Introduction:
In the year 2040 most supplies of oil and natural gas had been tapped out, what was left being reserved for government services and military forces.  Though alternative sources were widely in place, it had been quickly realized that the modern world used far too much energy for them to meet.  Attempts at developing fusion had not met with success.  Even with energy rationing in place, high-tech countries such as Japan and the US faced mediocre futures.
Meanwhile, in a small laboratory at the University of Las Vegas, a single scientist was exploring the mysteries of absolute zero.  Dr. Gabriel Chicken was absolutely fascinated with the effects of cold, something that was perhaps odd for a Las Vegas native.  In particular he wanted to know why it was impossible to remove the last remaining energy in any system chilled to 0 Kelvin (-237 Ã,°Celsius).  At the time he had been studying a tiny spherical chamber, about the size of a chicken egg, chilled to absolute zero for months now, but he knew the pressure would soon be on to shut down any energy-intensive project that had no foreseeable practical application.  In a very commendable act, Dr. Chicken volunteered to have his project shut down.  When the time finally came, Dr. Chicken threw the switch himself.
Maybe it was the influence of the famous gambling city, or maybe 1 in Infinity chances have to happen to justify the 1.  For whatever reason, as soon as the cooling units of the chamber were shut off instruments all over the campus registered a surge of energy off any known scale.  It was nearly impossible to pinpoint, but eventually it was tracked to Chickenâ,¬,,¢s lab.  Inside the scientist of cold had already noticed his instruments shorting out, and had opened the chamber to reveal a tiny glowing sphere.
Skipping over all the minutiae of panic, puzzlement, study, and debate, it was eventually settled that this Egg (as someone suggested, because it was created by a Chicken) was likely a miniature white hole, a source of limitless energy.  Here it was, the answer to humanityâ,¬,,¢s most pressing issue: energy that wouldnâ,¬,,¢t run out, and that seemed to be perfectly clean.  All they needed was a way to harness it.
That invention took Dr. Chicken only a few days to design, along with a layered shell to keep the Eggâ,¬,,¢s emanations from leaking.  Only two months later, again under the direction of Dr. Chicken, more Eggs were created, using new cooling units powered by the first Egg.  In fact, in the months since the creation of the first Egg, Dr. Chicken had designed more practical inventions than Thomas Edison had in his entire lifetime.  People were already using â,¬Å"chickenâ,¬Â instead of Einstein to refer to someone with incredible intellect.
Only in later years would it be suspected that Dr. Chicken was the worldâ,¬,,¢s first super.


Timeline:
November 22, 2040: The first Egg is accidentally created at the University of Las Vegas by Dr. Chicken.

March 39, 2041: Dr. Chicken successfully implements a way to tap the power of the Egg.

April 13, 2041: Several more Eggs are born under the direction of Dr. Chicken.

May 9, 2041: Chicken flees with all the Eggs after suspecting the US government of wanting the hoard them to exert control over the world.  Before leaving, he completely erases all records on how to create Eggs.

July 4, 2042: An unknown person (believed to be Dr. Chicken) delivers several Eggs and the plans for energy absorption devices to the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

July 23, 2042: The UN creates the World Egg Distribution Agency to ensure that every nation has needed access to Egg energy.  The same day the necessary notes for Egg creation are delivered to the WEDA offices.

2046: In Las Vegas, reports of a costumed crime-fighter with super-human luck increase until they can no longer be dismissed.  Never giving a name, he only refers to himself as â,¬Å"A gamblinâ,¬,,¢ man, one who has too much luck to keep it all to mâ,¬,,¢self.â,¬Â  The moniker Gamblinâ,¬,,¢ Man sticks.

October 8, 2046: â,¬Å"Dead Mondayâ,¬Â. An electrical being completely destroys the entire power system of New York City and the surrounding area, claiming it is releasing its â,¬Å"imprisoned kinâ,¬Â.  It then goes on a spree overloading emergencies generators.  Fortunately the being is captured by a mysterious man in a long coat and reflective shades, who then disappears with the containment device.  With no hope of reviving the city in its current state, the US government evacuates, leaving the area a series of ghost towns.

2048: More powered individuals, both heroic and villainous, pop up around southern Nevada.  One of them, calling himself American Demon, joins the US military.  A few also start appearing in Europe, where most Egg technology is being developed and where Eggs now power several major cities.

Scientists working with Eggs report developing strange â,¬Å"powersâ,¬Â.  A connection is proposed between exposure to the energy of Eggs and the concentration of powered individuals around Las Vegas, where the first Egg was created.  There is immediate fear among various member UN nations concerning the distribution of Eggs and the potential for countries to deliberately expose individuals to create super-soldiers (particularly with the example of American Demon).

2049: The incidence of superheroes from London, Paris, and Berlin further suggests that the energy of the Eggs can cause the development of powers.  However, close study of employee records shows that those who were directly or even indirectly exposed by working with Eggs are accounted for, leaving WEDA agents even more confused as to whether the Eggs have anything to do with powers or not.

2055: The correlation between the distribution of Eggs and the emergence of powers can no longer be ignored.  However too many countries now rely solely on Egg power for a recall to be considered.  An intense study is launched to identify the effect chain that leads to power development.  WEDA is restructured into the World Egg Management and Security Agency (WEMSA), and the Power Monitoring Commission (PMC) is created to coordinate the actions of government agencies around the world in dealing with powered individuals.  While some countries may use a term such as â,¬Å"superâ,¬Â or â,¬Å"paranormalâ,¬Â to refer to powered individuals, the UN adopts the official designation as â,¬Å"poweredâ,¬Â to reflect the influence of the Eggs.

2062: Tibetian exile powered, having secretly returned to their country, begin a guerilla war against Chinese occupation.  The Chinese government has no powered with which to oppose them (and no Egg with which to deliberately create more, having been deemed â,¬Å"suspectâ,¬Â by WEDA).  However, the few Tibetian powered arenâ,¬,,¢t enough to put up a sustained resistance against the Chinese army, so the war continues for five years.  Known as the Sino-Super War, it begins to drive in the point that supers have a great capacity to influence world events.  The UN has the PMC step up its activities, especially regarding powered who use their powers on behalf of a military.

2067: A sudden revolt occurs among the Chinese populace again their corrupt government.  At its head are five mystics, calling themselves the Elemental Masters, each having â,¬Å"magicalâ,¬Â powers related to one of the classic Chinese elements: earth, fire, water, wood, and metal.  This ends the Sino-Super War, with the Elemental Masters, as the temporary government, grant Tibet its freedom.  The lesson of powered-individuals influence is reinforced, and a new issue is brought up: when questioned about their origins, the Elemental Masters claim to be from an alternate reality, one in which magic is very real.  Already certain supers such as New Mexicoâ,¬,,¢s The Alien have demonstrated that the influence of the Eggs has drawn certain powerful individuals to Earth from outer space, and now, with the example of the Elemental Masters, apparently from other dimensions as well.  To reflect this, the term â,¬Å"poweredâ,¬Â begins to drop from common usage, replaced by regional slang terms (the US taking â,¬Å"super(s)â,¬Â in imitation of their comic-book idols).

A few months after the revolt, the PMC becomes the Powered Diplomatic Commission to deal directly with powered individuals.

By now the former NYC, called Wild City by the popular media and press, has become a hideout for criminals and secret groups of all kinds.  The US army and several super-teams make a go of clearing it out, but even if they have success (generally minor) the empty nature of the city just regains its criminal population in a few short weeks.  The government begins taking bids on contracts to rebuild New York to halt the return of decay.

2068: The prominent Colony International secures the contract after a demonstration of its Termite Mech.  Construction teams, in conjunction with the US army and supers with various affiliations and motives, begin slowly pushing into Wild City.  Many of these supers, in fact, have been hired by Colony for this purpose.

2071: The first neighborhoods in the Newark district are opened.  However, the crime that creeps over from the still-unsecured areas discourages many potential residents.  Super-heroes fill many of the gaps in police protection, but most are either have commitments elsewhere or are mercenaries â,¬Å"not paid to baby-sitâ,¬Â.

Then rumors begin filtering in that Wild City has its own group of supers, calling themselves the Wild Knights, each with an animal theme.  Led by the sassy Black Cat, the group has already brought some justice to Wild City.  But Colony claims that the Wild Knights are in league with the crime bosses of Wild City because they also fight against the heroes fighting that crime.

November, 2071: Black Cat appears in Philadelphia, holding evidence that Colony is making deals with the crime groups of Wild City.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Wensleydale on November 25, 2006, 06:09:10 PM
Can I add some of my own, Silver? I have the same problem as you...
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 25, 2006, 06:42:12 PM
Knock yourself out.  I'll just rename the thread.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Captain Obvious on November 26, 2006, 12:42:47 AM
Wow, i really like the powered/egg setting. there's some really cool ideas in there. i always like seeing new takes on justifying the existances of metahumans.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 26, 2006, 07:35:24 AM
Quote from: Captain Obviousâ,¬Â¦Ã¢,¬Â¦i always like seeing new takes on justifying the existances of metahumans.
Part of its idea is to actually try to justify nearly every kind of superhero origin while simultaneously retaining our present and past so that we can really imagine that this could happen.  I've already sort of planned for any adventures I run to take place far enough into the future that supers are accepted, but history has an impact on the present and the players should be able to understand that.  On another note, by placing all this in a future that hasn't happened yet, I can avoid the need to either justify how history that we know stayed the same with the addition of super-heroes and -villains or figure out how it was changed.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SA on November 26, 2006, 09:24:43 AM
Eutopia : Antebellum
"Before they destroyed the universe, their empire spanned galaxies innumerable.  They had mastered flesh and machine alike, and housed their intellects in palaces that cradled stars.  But the seeds of their own fall had long ago been sown."

Humanity died an indeterminate time ago, taking with them all of civilisation.  In their wake was a monolithic intelligence (presumably created by men), which repropulated the universe with entities bearing the semblance of its creators and bestowed upon them a virtually limitless paradise.  In order to understand the cause of man's fall, man's own nature, and the circumstances of its own creation, it sent "erudites" back to the "Antebellum", the anarchic time leading up to the apocalyptic Final War.

The setting revolves around the Erudites' endeavours to understand the chaos of Antebellum, and bring this knowledge to the Intellect.  But while they were created as observers and possess much of the godlike power that suffuses the Intellect's other progeny, there is also something in them that is undeniably human, which separates them from their siblings and means they may never call Eutopia their own.

The setting expresses a great futility: man is doomed to die, for he already has, and his construct sees in itself no other purpose than to understand why it endures and its creator does not (I suppose that it's really just an allegory for our own eternal quest for meaning).  The Erudites are but instruments in this quest.

Inspiration
Gears of War, Orion's Arm, Warhammer 40K, 12 Monkeys, Dark City, Nobilis, Transhuman Space.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on November 26, 2006, 11:31:36 AM
I particularly like that idea, IoValde.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on November 29, 2006, 10:35:49 AM
"They are fools, those who believe that all this burning land was once covered in water.  They are even more fools, those that claim that it still is!"â,¬'Uchunba Ze, human ascendant of Shuna, the Sun

"So soothing is the dream that it must be water."â,¬'Lu-ss, dragon

The island has two names.  The one you use shows how you believe.  Those who call it Gung ("empty") only see a scorching desert, barely fit for habitation and showing no mercy to those living within.  Those who call it Luh ("sea") see a living land, just like any other, only hostile to those who are not adapted to it.  They tell legends about the time when Luh was once covered in water, and point to the rock shells found everywhere on the island.  The people of Gung laugh at this notion.  They laugh even harder at those who follow the path of Luh-mm, the "sea-dream", who teach that the sea still lies over the land, and that one can reach it if one only dreams.

The Settlers
Approximately 2300 years ago Gung/Luh was settled by the exiles of a prominent empire on a continent far to the west.  They arrived en-mass in large ships which they then canibalized to build their first settlements.  Unfortunately the island's only source of trees suitable for constructing ocean-going ships exists far up in its mountains beyond any effective means of transportation.  And even if they had access to it none know how to build ships like that.  There is no escape from the island.

The Natives

Religion
It has in fact been so long since they came that most of the descendents of the settlers consider the "homelands" a mystical place,  a paradise they were banished from to this hell land accoding to those of the Gung view.  Gung religions teach variously that one's soul can return "home" if one lives a lifetime either quietly enduring the suffering or proclaiming it loudly to the gods, depending on the particular sect.  Those of the Luh view generally do not concern themselves with the loftier aspects of religion, instead being content to worship nature and simply live out the cycle of lives.  But those of the Luh-mm have their own path: seeking a way to join with the dream of water that lies over the land.
--Gods
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on December 02, 2006, 10:13:30 AM
A generic D&D medievil setting, but one where "savage" humanoids and monsters are as accepted as standard races.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Endless_Helix on December 02, 2006, 12:07:22 PM
A world where abstracts like peace, prosperity, and hate are actual physical edifices and people. These 'advanced beings' and 'genius loci' influence events  by manipulating normal people to their own ends...
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Cube Melon on December 03, 2006, 03:49:42 PM
A world where gravity is sideways, and so the world is a giant wall which can be scaled or climbed. Alternatively, perhaps less drastically, it could be a giant mountain, or perhaps a floating island whose bottom and sides could be explored. (Cave Story, anyone?)
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SDragon on December 03, 2006, 03:57:29 PM
a world almost entirely (90-98%... ish) covered in water. but unlike the typical waterworld settings, the deepest the water gets is approximately 3-9 feet, with the majority being a foot deep, or less.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on December 03, 2006, 05:34:39 PM
Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguina world almost entirely (90-98%... ish) covered in water. but unlike the typical waterworld settings, the deepest the water gets is approximately 3-9 feet, with the majority being a foot deep, or less.
And it shall be named "Dampworld".

No seriously, interesting idea: and entire planet covered in a shallow  sea.

The "abstract ideas walk among us" is good.  Reminds me of my "gods walk among us" concept (and that other people then used).

As to the different world designs, I once thought of having a giant floating island with the house of a god on top, only we're talking a mountain-sized house.  It was abandoned by the god who once lived there and colonized by various creatures.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SA on December 04, 2006, 08:37:45 PM
The "abstracts walk among us" idea sounds like Nobilis, possibly the greatest diceless rpg in the universe.

Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on December 06, 2006, 10:35:53 AM
Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguina world almost entirely (90-98%... ish) covered in water. but unlike the typical waterworld settings, the deepest the water gets is approximately 3-9 feet, with the majority being a foot deep, or less.
If you are playing D&D, it'd be the perfect setting for those vampire rays in MM2 that no one can spell without looking up.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Captain Obvious on December 06, 2006, 02:26:03 PM
Ixitchtl, i believe.
that's prolly not the correct spelling though.
setting idea kicks ass though.

small mammals would have trouble.
amphibians would abound.
and the mighty dire hippos would rule the food chain.

man this setting sounds better and better.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 08, 2007, 09:49:13 AM
An idustrial world devoid of any natural plants or bodies of water, completely covered in sooty clouds and buildings of iron and stone, and the only way for the races to survive is to subjugate themselves to the demons formed from the poisons of industry.

Drow are the only remaining elves.  They are the ones who gave in to the demons, their skin becoming black from the poison (there is a real condition caused by lead poisoning that turns skin black).
Dwarves led the industrial charge, and fully embraced the demons before anyone else.  They are the buyers and sellers of everything.  And they're always trying to cheat you.
Humans are the vermin of the setting.  They don't breed fast enough to be a cheap workforce, and they no longer have the advantage of adaptaion.  The are the barbarians of the setting, living in the sewers, the forgotten corners, anywhere abandoned from which they can raid the rest of the world.
Orcs are the heavy labor.  Strong and big, but not so big that they require too much food, and their dumb.  Plus they breed fast.  Drawback is that they're dumb.
They ratling is the race for the tiny, delicate work.  They've got tiny hands, they're clever, but they can be distracted and eagerly go with the crowd.  What were they before? Some kind of fey? A tiny "humanoid" race?  Who cares?
Dragons are the embodiments of the elements of the world around them.  These days they're made from iron, soot, the blood of the workers that died from exhaustion, etc.  They're on the side of whoever pays better.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Epic Meepo on March 08, 2007, 01:05:39 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw...the demons formed from the poisons of industry.
Humans are the vermin of the setting...
[The ratlings are] the race for the tiny, delicate work.[/quote]
You know you're at the bottom of the totem pole when you're more vermin than a talking rat.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 08, 2007, 04:00:30 PM
Quote from: Epic MeepoIndustrial demons. You must be reading my mind, because that's kinda, sorta what demons are in the World of Cebexia/Age of Crystalfire setting I'm slowly putting together from everyone's contributions.
have[/i] to submit themselves to the rule of technology in order to simply survive.  Thus they made their own overlords out of their folly.
Quote from: Epic MeepoYou know you're at the bottom of the totem pole when you're more vermin than a talking rat.
This is part of my "make humans the b*thces" campaign.  I don't like humans, so I try to make them the most dispised part of a setting.
I wasn't intending to make the ratlings humanoid rats at first, more like another name for halflings, but now I think it works better.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 08, 2007, 04:55:12 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawI don't like humans, so I try to make them the most dispised part of a setting.
Wow.  RL must suck huh?  

On behalf of the human race: :cry:
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 08, 2007, 05:25:40 PM
Quote from: Phoenix KnightWow.  RL must suck huh?
Just because I don't like us doesn't mean RL is too much of a pain.  I just find humans typically stupid :morons: and think they need to learn some humility.  :poke:
Quote from: Phoenix KnightOn behalf of the human race: :cry:
Yes, that's it!  Cry!  CRY FOR ME, B*TCHES! :axe:

Sometimes you just need a good :hammer: .
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Stargate525 on March 08, 2007, 05:32:15 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw
Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguina world almost entirely (90-98%... ish) covered in water. but unlike the typical waterworld settings, the deepest the water gets is approximately 3-9 feet, with the majority being a foot deep, or less.
And it shall be named "Dampworld".

No seriously, interesting idea: and entire planet covered in a shallow  sea.
haha. The planet came out of the dryer a few million years too soon.

That's a really interesting concept though. with most of the water being less than a foot deep, you would only have the smallest of fish.

I would foresee this place being taken over by legions of enormous, water-rooted trees, and the world turning onto one huge swamp.



as for that egg setting idea, Now we know for a fact that the Chicken came before the Egg. (I can't believe I'm the first one to make that crack.)
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 08, 2007, 07:03:47 PM
Quote from: SG-525as for that egg setting idea, Now we know for a fact that the Chicken came before the Egg. (I can't believe I'm the first one to make that crack.)
That name comes from the fact that I once, for about an hour, had a sub with the last name ofâ,¬'â,¬'I swear I am not making this upâ,¬'â,¬'Chicken.  John Chicken.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Ghost on March 08, 2007, 10:46:39 PM
There's one I tried to develop, but found way too far from any D&D mythos, or any non-freeform system atmosphere, to commit to one over another. I may still use it as a setting for short stories, but that'll probably be it.

I called it 'Rayne' as a temporary title.

In short, it takes place in about 3090 CE, on a somewhat distant planet. A colonization attempt was made in 2450, since the planet already had favorable conditions, but the large colony ship crashed before it could land safely. However, a few pods managed to jettison before the impact, and landed in several parts of the world. The descendents of the settlers remember Earth only in legends and mythology, though Terran gods and culture have influenced their development for many centuries. The people are not back up to the level of technology they originally were, as many computer systems were damaged, and rendered inoperable; they use swords and crossbows, along with a few electrical systems, but no pistols or much in the way of fossil fuels other than coal.

What made the ship crash was another matter entirely. What the settlers didn't know, was that a very powerful, and very insane being, who claimed to be the merged consciousness of an entire race of magically poweful beings, had managed to influence the minds of the ships's crew and passengers, and even steer the ship itself, guiding it towards it's body, in an apparent act of suicide. When the ship impacted this being, it's magical potential was scattered across the landscape, creating ever more chaos the closer one gets to the wreck. But at the middle latitudes, the magic is calm, and low, enough for humans to be able to manipulate.

As well, this being had an affinity to rain, so it rains almsot everywhere on the planet for 420 days out of the 440 days in the planet's year. Needless to say, this has been a problem the humans have had to overcome.

As for any kind of quests players might find in this setting...well, I hadn't come to that part yet. But, i'm thinking they could find old computer parts, or jewelry taken form the original passengers of the ship, that the few people who could resist the warping magics at the crash site recovered during the centuries.

I know, it's a strange setting, but I think if I managed to flesh it out more, it could have potential to be fun and thought-provoking.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Epic Meepo on March 09, 2007, 01:56:02 PM
Quote from: Realm WeaverThere's one I tried to develop, but found way too far from any D&D mythos, or any non-freeform system atmosphere, to commit to one over another.
Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't this setting work in a non-freeform system? You'd probably need a custom magic system, but most settings can use custom magic systems. Other than that, you could probably use almost any system for this campaign setting.

EDIT: I see my long history of stupid posts to appear at the top of a page continues. At least this time, my comment is at least marginally relevant to the purpose of the thread.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Ghost on March 09, 2007, 10:44:32 PM
Quote from: Epic Meepo
Quote from: Realm WeaverThere's one I tried to develop, but found way too far from any D&D mythos, or any non-freeform system atmosphere, to commit to one over another.

Ah, I guess you're right. It would probably need a bunch of rule modifications, but I guess it could work in a pre-existing system.

I'm just not sure which one would be best, though. I was originally mulling over d20 Past, or GURPS, but I don't know much about GURPS.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 21, 2007, 08:04:53 PM
A world that was once beseiged by demons, so they called up a bunch of angels to help them.

Only problem was that once the angels were done they started getting into all the authority positions and restricting people from doing anything fun in the name of "keeping vice from tarnishing their souls".

And the demons who survived the war weren't the "evil overlord who pillages and destroys"-type but instead had become the "annoying politicians who tax you and then use that money to do nothing interesting"-type.

So you have a choice between being ruled by the a**l-retentive control freaks or the useless bastards.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Stargate525 on March 21, 2007, 10:18:06 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawA world that was once beseiged by demons, so they called up a bunch of angels to help them.

Only problem was that once the angels were done they started getting into all the authority positions and restricting people from doing anything fun in the name of "keeping vice from tarnishing their souls".

And the demons who survived the war weren't the "evil overlord who pillages and destroys"-type but instead had become the "annoying politicians who tax you and then use that money to do nothing interesting"-type.

So you have a choice between being ruled by the a**l-retentive control freaks or the useless bastards.
So we have modern day China and US politics? :)

*fights off urge to promote his own country.*
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: khyron1144 on March 22, 2007, 01:57:25 AM
It was an idea I started working on for the old Marvel Super Heroes RPG by TSR:

The Island of The Ugly

Basically Mole Man announces his intentions to have Monster Island and the moleoids join the formal community of nations.  He wants Monster Island to become a haven for the disenfranchised, especially those outcast largely because of appearance.

The catch is, he's being completely straight and honest about this, but two of his earliest immigrants are Mandril and Nekra who are turning the situation to evil purposes.

Some suitable PCs: Nightcrawler, blue-furred Beast, (Arch)Angel, Thing, Triton, Lockjaw, Warlock, Artie, any Morlock, Max Rocker, Machine Man, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur, and Kylun.
I'd also be willing to let in any transformation-based character (Colossus, Wolfsbane, Catseye, and Ursa Major are prime examples) if they are willing to have difficulty returning to human form (An orange Psyche FEAT) or Spider Man in his six-armed mutation.
Some of those characters might be present as NPCs if no player takes them as a PC.

NPCs that will be there: Nuklo, Dragon Man, and Stick (more or less good guys)
Amphibus and Toad (part of Nekra and Mandrill's plan)  
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 22, 2007, 09:56:33 AM
Quote from: Stargate
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawSo you have a choice between being ruled by the a**l-retentive control freaks or the useless bastards.
So we have modern day China and US politics? :)
Even worse than China, I think: I said "not allowed to do anything fun" in more of a sense of Calvanism, which doesn't allow you to play cards in addition to all the other restrictions.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 22, 2007, 11:44:11 PM
One idea, though more campiagn-oriented than setting-oriented would be a bit of a comedy.

The premise is that once upon a time, a few angels were goofing off on teh job in heaven and accidentally spilt a Diet Coke on God's PC.  The resulting short circuits caused all manner of fantasic beast and crazy witch and magic to run rampant through the world (pick any RL time and setting).  God was not particularly happy with these angels, and after fixing his PC, sent them to Earth in the bodies (limitations) of humans.  Disallowed from using their angelic powers, they are now responcible for hunting down adn "removing" all of the residual anomolies from the previous mishap.

Depending on how it is played an in what time period, you either end up with a weird comedy set in modern day Japan or a really dark fairy tale world set in the Schwartzwald in medieval times.  Either way, it'd be fun, imho.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 23, 2007, 10:38:34 AM
I like it Raven!  Of course, I favor the dark fairy tale, but most regulars could probably guess that...
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 23, 2007, 05:10:00 PM
Unfortunately it already has the makings of a comedy:
Angels were goofing off and got Diet Coke on God's PC.
I'd suggest that if the tone is going to be dark that the origin sound much more ominous:
Angels were fighting and got blood on God's Painting of Creation.

It's not strictly necessary to do this, it just keeps the tone consistant.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Numinous on March 23, 2007, 05:34:52 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawUnfortunately it already has the makings of a comedy:
Angels were goofing off and got Diet Coke on God's PC.
I'd suggest that if the tone is going to be dark that the origin sound much more ominous:
Angels were fighting and got blood on God's Painting of Creation.

It's not strictly necessary to do this, it just keeps the tone consistant.

:ninja: *yoink* :ninja:
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Wensleydale on March 23, 2007, 07:23:03 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawSpiritual-Primal Cosmology
The universe is divided between two forces: that of the perfect, unchanging spirit realm (think of Plato's idea that there is a place where perfect copies exist of everything that can be found on Earth), and the variated, constantly changing primal realm (primal is used here to mean matter as well as "lower thought").  In this specific cosmology their are only five plains: the Spirit Realm, the Primal Realm, the Beast Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Mortal Realm.  They are arranged in a cosmic pattern known as the pentogram, and each realm only connects to two others: Mortal to Beast to Primal to Spirit to Demon to Mortal (think about that method of drawing a pentagram where you draw the lines without lifting the pen).  Upon death a soul moves toward either the Primal Realm or the Spirit Realm depending upon it's inclination to the core being of one or the other.  Souls that value consistancy, abstract thought, mind-over-matter, etc., move on to the Spirit Realm to join with its perfection.  Souls that value spontineity, insinct, feelings, etc., move on to the Primal Realm to be changed and flung anew into the Mortal Realm.
However each soul must journey to their respective realm.  Primal souls pass through the Beast Realm, Spirit souls through the Demon Realm.  Sometimes a soul is not ready to face it's core force, and lingers in its realm, becoming either a Beast (which here can mean animal, magical beast, fey, elemental, etc.) or Demon (which here includes fiends and celestials both), respectively.
There is a great conflict in the universe between the forces of Spirit and Primal.  The Beasts and the Demons often emerge into the Mortal Realm to engage in conflict for their respective realms.  Demons try to impose the will of the Spirit Realm on the Mortal Realm, but the Beasts have no such compulsion.

Yoinkage, methinks...  :demon:
 :ninja:  :ninja:
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 23, 2007, 07:33:56 PM
Quote from: GolemYoinkage, methinks...  :demon:
 :ninja:  :ninja:
That's even a very old idea, so I have no special connection to it.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 23, 2007, 09:15:49 PM
Here's another general basis for a setting:

Stars are actually portals to teh plane of positive energy (or whatever you feel like calling it) and black holes are portals to the negative energy plane (flavor as you like).  Around the planet where everything is taking place orbits a moon rich in a magically-conductive element and by a naked singularity.  The singularity could be quite small and as it is rotating faster than the speed of light, it is invisible to the naked eye.  The effects of these two magical celestial bodies in addition to the sun would produce rather complex effects on the planet.  It could lay a nice groundwork for a very nature-based and in depth magical backdrop to a world.  Magic would vary by season, by day and night, and also erratically as the singularity approaches and perogee and apogee.  Personally, I'd give the singularity a rather essentric orbit.

The rituals and holidays that would arrise would be quite interesting, and the advances in astronomy adn astrology would be a cool feature for a fantasy, imo.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Stargate525 on March 23, 2007, 10:30:20 PM
Quote from: Raven BloodmoonHere's another general basis for a setting:

Stars are actually portals to teh plane of positive energy (or whatever you feel like calling it) and black holes are portals to the negative energy plane (flavor as you like).  Around the planet where everything is taking place orbits a moon rich in a magically-conductive element and by a naked singularity.  The singularity could be quite small and as it is rotating faster than the speed of light, it is invisible to the naked eye.  The effects of these two magical celestial bodies in addition to the sun would produce rather complex effects on the planet.  It could lay a nice groundwork for a very nature-based and in depth magical backdrop to a world.  Magic would vary by season, by day and night, and also erratically as the singularity approaches and perogee and apogee.  Personally, I'd give the singularity a rather essentric orbit.

The rituals and holidays that would arrise would be quite interesting, and the advances in astronomy adn astrology would be a cool feature for a fantasy, imo.
An interesting concept, but I must poke some holes in it.

Black holes can't be seen, so there's no way to really tell them apart from an open patch of sky.

A singularity is, by nature, enormously huge. It would easily be the heaviest mass in the system, making it the center of the system. No way would the thing be traveling at the speed of light, and unless it's got a plasma halo, it too would invisible. Although I would love to figure out a singularity-based system where both the planet AND the sun(s) are moons of the primary black hole...
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 24, 2007, 02:05:11 AM
Quote from: StargateAn interesting concept, but I must poke some holes in it.

Black holes can't be seen, so there's no way to really tell them apart from an open patch of sky.

A singularity is, by nature, enormously huge. It would easily be the heaviest mass in the system, making it the center of the system. No way would the thing be traveling at the speed of light, and unless it's got a plasma halo, it too would invisible. Although I would love to figure out a singularity-based system where both the planet AND the sun(s) are moons of the primary black hole...

Not to delve too deeply into the works o fhte likes of Penrose and Hawking, but a singularity, by definition, is not enormously massive, but rather merely a dent in spacetime taht has no bottom.  This is the result of the acceleration due to gravity being strong enough at the surface of teh singularity to warp sspacetime to the point where not even light can escape.  This occurs when teh escape velocity at the surface of a mass is greater than c.  As for it moving faster than the speed of light, naked singularities have been speculated to exist by a number of physicists, and the reason they are called this is because they are rotating so quickly that the event horizon itself is moving faster than c and thus disappears to the naked eye.  While the singularity itself is not visible, the effects of a singularity may be, such as the jets so commonly depicted in various photographs and illustrations.  All of this would be removed if it were rotating at such a high velocity.  Lastly, just because a singularity is massive does not mean that it is the center of the system.  It is perfectly possible to create a singularity that is no more massive than the earth, moon, or even a marble.  The singularity occurs when that mass becomes so dense that the escape velocity at the surface of the mass is greater than c.  Thus it is the density that is the key factor.  A marble-size mass could easily orbit a planet without affecting other celestial bodies.  I'm not trying to be annoying here, but it is a perfectly possible system, even if it may be rather unlikely. </rant>

With regard to your last speculation regarding a star orbiting a black hole, NASA has alrady found at least one binary system composed of a star and a small black hole.  In this instance, the black hole was close enough and massive enough to draw matter from the sun, which happens to be how NASA realized there was a black hole there.  There could easily be such systems as you describe, and they would make for some interesting local myths.  Apophis being a dragon that devours the sun at the tend of time certainly takes on slightly more literal meaning in such a solar system.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: KeshFerrar on March 26, 2007, 09:30:55 PM
Here's a setting that hasn't gotten past the brainstorming stage:

Heaven and Heck Close their Doors, or the Sundered Gods

Either a great civilization sunders the gods, or the gods simply get tired of their gig and close up shop. The outcome is the same: the spirits of the dead have no where to go.

Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 27, 2007, 12:28:54 AM
Oooh!  I like!  Elyria doesn't have an afterlife that anyone is aware of, so souls tend to linger of just disappear when someone dies.  But you raise some other good questions, too.  Thanks!  The gerbil in my head just hopped back on his wheel.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 27, 2007, 09:37:38 AM
Quote from: KeshFerrar
    The spirits could be ephemeral occasionally manifesting, or if they're strong enough they rise again as
unread. [/list]
...
    Do
unread rule the world and outnumber the living? [/list]
I like the idea, too.

And an "unread" spirit.  This has to be something else for Meepo's Typo monsters list.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 27, 2007, 12:45:39 PM
You forgot reincarnation.  The souls of the dead don't linger because they go right back into mortal bodies, leaving you with less of a soul shortage, and you don't have the worry about the BBEG unless he figures out a way to retain his memories.

I'm just bringing this up because your setting sounded like you are assuming that the dead can only go on to an afterlife.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 27, 2007, 01:01:10 PM
The premise of his setting assumes that by its very nature.  It would fall or become meaningless without that premise, unless he were to then assume that the samsara (or whatever) is guided by a deity.

Even then, I don't know that I've ever seen someone succeed in merging the ideas of a classical afterlife with reincarnation.  At least not to my satisfaction.  A setting usually works better if it employs one or the other as the standard.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 27, 2007, 01:33:11 PM
Well, in that case it works.

But still a few things (in the order posted):
1. You could have it be both, with the really strong spirits becoming undead.
2. You can still kill him.  He just comes back as a ghost.  So far it's not any different from what a capable BBEG can do.
3. Depends on what the souls are allowed to do.  A world ruled by undead sounds interesting even if you don't have this idea.  But that's not all they can do.  Look to Terry Pratchett for what happens when dead people come back and keep their positions filled.
4. So you "kill" souls?  Sounds as grim as you can get.  Maybe people come up with a way to "trap" the souls in special pocket dimensions attatched to items, maybe each family has one for all its dead relatives.  This might be a good way to introduce Incarnum.
5. This relates to why I brought up reincarnation: Were the gods the ones making new souls?  Because the "classical" afterlife always makes it sound as if once the soul is there it stays there forever.

I think there is still a real-world model that relates to this: ancestor worship.  Your dead relatives stick around you and influnce your life.  This answers the questions about what the dead souls do, but not whether new people can be born.
I once thought of the idea of soulless people, individuals who were normal except they didn't have souls.  This works if you accept that a body acting naturally would be indistiguishable from one with a soul, that you only need a brain.  It's a scientific view that I came up with after seeing way too many shows in which humans who loose their souls just stop working.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Epic Meepo on March 27, 2007, 02:19:38 PM
Quote from: KeshFerrarThe spirits could be ephemeral occasionally manifesting, or if they're strong enough they rise again as unread.
I think my campaign setting rose again as an unread.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 28, 2007, 01:01:36 AM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw5. This relates to why I brought up reincarnation: Were the gods the ones making new souls?  Because the "classical" afterlife always makes it sound as if once the soul is there it stays there forever.

Alternatively, you could just shuck Western concepts of the afterlife and do one of two things:

1) Use a Bhuddist view fo the afterlife where you are basically waiting to be reincarnated.  If your karma was good, you get to wait in a country club, otherwise it's off to Naraka with you where you can spend the next 500,000,000 years beign killed repeatedly in various excruciating ways until your karma is clean enough to reincarnate.

2) Take a more Shinto-esque opproach adn just have no afterlife at all.  When a soul dies, it just becomes one of teh spirits.  The less powerful souls can't really influence the world significantly, but more powerful ones may eventually even become gods.  Personally, I love this approach, as you will see in my next post on Elyria (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?27679.last). [/shamelss self promotion]
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: deadone on March 28, 2007, 05:27:02 PM
The Limited Lands

The limited lands are, at their widest, 100 miles across.  Two mountain ranges intersect the lands, and the center is dominated by a primeval forest.  The ruins of ancient civilizations litter the landscape.
The land is surrounded by a ring of humaniods.  Beings of all humaniod races make up the ring, the only thing unifying them is their unmoving, seemingly eternal nature, the fact that they are armed, and the fact that they invariably strike down any who try to pass them.
In the four thousand years of recorded history, only one has ever been recorded to have escaped.  Entire armies have met their doom against the ring on unmoving killers.  Any trying to fly above the ring are shot down by the bows and arrows of the ring.  Those who try to dig beneath find their tunnels collapsing and might spears driving down through the earth.
There is the one, however, who escaped.  It is said that he found a minuscule gap the the border.  It is said that at one point in the ring stand a dwarf with an ax and a human with a sword, and the distance between them is just great enough that if you are fast, and nimble, and clever, you can dodge your way past them with only the most manageable of wounds to the lands beyond.
Beyond the ring can plainly be seen a land of fertile plains stretching into the distance.  Forests and mountains can be seen on the horizon.  There are even signs of civilization beyond the ring.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Stargate525 on March 28, 2007, 05:32:09 PM
Quote from: Raven Bloodmoon1) Use a Bhuddist view fo the afterlife where you are basically waiting to be reincarnated.  If your karma was good, you get to wait in a country club, otherwise it's off to Naraka with you where you can spend the next 500,000,000 years beign killed repeatedly in various excruciating ways until your karma is clean enough to reincarnate.
So what happens to the neutral people? Are they stuck waiting for 500 years in a heavenly waiting room reading 4000 year old parchments?
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 29, 2007, 09:51:14 AM
Neutral?  If that was a joke, ignore this.

Rather than neutral, it is a matter of paying off all your karma.  The more you have, the longer it takes.  A person with a lot of bad karma will have to suffer longer - or rather their own soul forces them to suffer.  Short, imprecise, explanation.

The religious system doesn't really assume people are good, evil, and neutral the way an alignment system does.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Tangential on March 29, 2007, 04:36:22 PM
Quote from: deadoneThe Limited Lands

The limited lands are, at their widest, 100 miles across.  Two mountain ranges intersect the lands, and the center is dominated by a primeval forest.  The ruins of ancient civilizations litter the landscape.
The land is surrounded by a ring of humaniods.  Beings of all humaniod races make up the ring, the only thing unifying them is their unmoving, seemingly eternal nature, the fact that they are armed, and the fact that they invariably strike down any who try to pass them.
In the four thousand years of recorded history, only one has ever been recorded to have escaped.  Entire armies have met their doom against the ring on unmoving killers.  Any trying to fly above the ring are shot down by the bows and arrows of the ring.  Those who try to dig beneath find their tunnels collapsing and might spears driving down through the earth.
There is the one, however, who escaped.  It is said that he found a minuscule gap the the border.  It is said that at one point in the ring stand a dwarf with an ax and a human with a sword, and the distance between them is just great enough that if you are fast, and nimble, and clever, you can dodge your way past them with only the most manageable of wounds to the lands beyond.
Beyond the ring can plainly be seen a land of fertile plains stretching into the distance.  Forests and mountains can be seen on the horizon.  There are even signs of civilization beyond the ring.

Weird.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on March 31, 2007, 04:22:08 PM
Some time ago I posted a one-sentence idea of a setting where the magic items adventured and people were traded up.  Now to do this in D&D you'd have to design a whole slew of new mechanics and fluff to go along, but the idea of magic items in charge is an interesting little addition to any world in which they can be intelligent.  So here are a few thoughts I had on the subject:

How do they have control?
Now a single intelligent item could reasonably pull the strings of a ruler just by advising or lying to him/her, since normal people do that all the time.  Likewise if the magic item is the best or even the only defense against something that threatens the ruler and/or country the item can probably get its way.  But if you want an entire culture of these items then you either have to come up with a reason why so many key people need them or just go with a charm or dominate effect.

Item Attitudes
Ruler: thinks its okay to treat people like some would treat an item, wearing them out and replacing them without a care.  Maybe this is a big revenge fantasy, maybe the items are just sadistic, maybe because items just sit around unless they are used the items need this near-constant activity in order to real feel that they live.
Riders: they treat people like a work animal the must be taken care of, but may or may not care whether the people really want to do what they are directed to do.  Riders are kind of like Rulers in this respect, but their view of the beings is more like perpetual children who wouldn't have any direction or purpose without the items.
Questors: items that ask beings to help them in fulfilling a task.  Questors won't force anyone into taking up what they want to do.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Wensleydale on March 31, 2007, 06:54:37 PM
I can see a crown being an interesting intelligent magic item - perhaps dominating all other intelligent magic items and controlling its wearer. I did this to a PC once... it was an interesting campaign. He ended up manipulating the other PCs through his own will, until eventually they realised what was happening and melted the crown. 'Course, they had to keep said PC inactive until they could manage to do so...
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 04, 2007, 09:32:15 AM
The Old Civilizations Fall, But Not Quietly
In nature species rise and fall based on whether the world can support them or they are out-competed.  In time the elves and dwarves too began to fade, their civilizations crumbling and their numbers dying away.  They were sad, yes, but they accepted it as part of the course of fate.  The Age of Fey was setting, and the Age of Mortals dawned.  Particularly the humans.

(Note: One could instead decided that the elves and dwarves are desperate, and that they think that if they destroy all the mortals than nature will have no choice but to let them live.  Thus all the war described after this pits the elves and dwarves as the villains in a human setting.)

But the humans were arrogant, they assumed that since they survived that they were "right".  And by that rightness they could do as they pleased.  They were also fearful, for unlike the fey that came before them their lives were short.  They rushed to cram experiences into these short lives, tearing through whatever got in their way.  The Age of Mortals was dawning on an entire world that was dying.
But the elves and dwarves refused to die knowing that their world would come down with them.  They gathered together with the creatures that were dying because of the humans.  They made a pact to fight the humans until either they were dead or the humans were no longer a threat.  But the numbers of both dwarves and elves would never be sufficient to stand against the hordes of the humans.  So the elves used their powerful magics to call upon the spirits of ancient warriors to return to battle one last time, creating the first of the purpose-born [undead, but the idea is in this setting that all of them have been raised by their own spirits to fulfill some purpose they've decided to take on (asked of them or of their own volition); no mindless and/or just plain destructive undead].  Against armies of undying warriors armed with the greatest of dwarven-forged weapons the humans stood no chance, and fled in terror not only of being overrun but simply because the dead were rising against them.  The elves would ride into battle atop skeletal horses and unicorns, weilding scythes, their faces painted like skulls, calling out to the huamns that this was nature fighting against her murderers.
Yet the fey were still dying, and it might happen that they would die before fulfilly their mission.  So the elves and dwarves conceived of warriors who would never die, who could continue their crusade should they fall.  The elves grew the bodies out of the plants of the earth, and the dwarves forged bodies of metal for them to inhabit.  And when that was done they put words in their heads as one puts words in the heads of golems.  Yet these were not words of obedience, these were words of justice, of honor, of freedom.  And when finally done they were the first race never to be created by the hand of nature or a god, the Forged, the legacy of the great fey races to carry on their ideals.
[This is about as far as I need to take the idea.  After this it's all a question of whether one wants to campaign in the war or after, and what the result was.]
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 04, 2007, 09:47:40 AM
Laws of Nature
What happens if a society carries nature worship too far?  They take the "laws" they see in nature and make commandments out of them.  Of course, they're open to interpretation.
(in no particular order)
1. All parings must have an ultimatley procreative purpose.
Interpretations (more than one may apply per group):
â,¬'Birth control is wrong.
â,¬'No casual sex.
â,¬'Homosexuality is wrong.
â,¬'Non-gendered beings are "wrong" (i.e. shunned, expendable, etc.).
â,¬'Those who do not have/loose the ability to reproduce are expendable.
2. All species mate with their own.
Interpretations:
â,¬'Interspecies mating is wrongâ,¬Â¦
â,¬'â,¬Â¦unless it can produce viable offspring (i.e. not sterile).
â,¬'â,¬Â¦unless the two species are very similar (i.e. elves and humans) and can produce viable offspring. [So this means no half-dragons.]
â,¬'â,¬Â¦always.
3. Chainging the natural form in unnatural.
Interpretations:
â,¬'No shapeshifting magic.
â,¬'No ressurrection magic.
â,¬'No healing magic.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: KeshFerrar on April 04, 2007, 10:27:01 PM
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawThe Old Civilizations Fall, But Not Quietly
But the elves and dwarves refused to die knowing that their world would come down with them.  They gathered together with the creatures that were dying because of the humans.  They made a pact to fight the humans until either they were dead or the humans were no longer a threat.  But the numbers of both dwarves and elves would never be sufficient to stand against the hordes of the humans.  So the elves used their powerful magics to call upon the spirits of ancient warriors to return to battle one last time, creating the first of the purpose-born [undead, but the idea is in this setting that all of them have been raised by their own spirits to fulfill some purpose they've decided to take on (asked of them or of their own volition); no mindless and/or just plain destructive undead].  Against armies of undying warriors armed with the greatest of dwarven-forged weapons the humans stood no chance, and fled in terror not only of being overrun but simply because the dead were rising against them.  The elves would ride into battle atop skeletal horses and unicorns, weilding scythes, their faces painted like skulls, calling out to the huamns that this was nature fighting against her murderers.
I like it. Many of the ideas could even be mixed into the campaign I described above where the gods closed up shop.

Perhaps they even go to far in their summoning of the ancestors.  The dead won't be happy until the world can start new. In the end, every race has to unite to stop the dead from cleansing the entire world of intelligent life.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 05, 2007, 04:18:14 PM
And interesting twist.  I simply came up with it because I keep feeling that no one tries to explain undead, why/how they came into existence in the first place, why undead could exist without a necromancer summoning them.  I like "purpose-born" because you could justify the raising of undead for a good cause because thay want to help, and you can justify random undead rising because they have something that they must get done.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Numinous on April 05, 2007, 05:02:48 PM
[ic=(Comedy)Superhero Setting]
Long Ago, Heaven and Hell bled through into the mortal realm.  Faced with direct conflict, the heavenly army and the infernal horde claimed vast swathes of territory and settled into a long and protracted conflict.  Shortly after the initial invasion, lieutenants were selected from among the mortals, usually those that were already in positions of power.  Imbued with mighty powers, these Barons quickly secured their power by eliminating all other mortal threats to their position.  Recently, a force of rebels possessing minor powers and sporting colorful garb called the Casped Crusader's has arisen as a third-party in the conflict, seeking to reclaim rights and exact vengeance for the people of Earth.

Main Ideas
-The B.A.D.s- The Barons are rulers of a territory, given power by either a Demon or Angel, and expected to use their influence and pwoer to further the goals of their sponsor.  Collectively, the B.A.D.s are seen as the enemy of the people, and rule with an iron fist, consumed by their eternal conflict.

-The CCs- The Caped Crusaders are a newborn rebellion movement, determined to fight for liberation and the rights of the people.[/ic]
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 07, 2007, 10:50:51 AM
Doesn't sound quite comedic yet.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Numinous on April 07, 2007, 12:31:00 PM
Well, it mutated quite a bit as I wrote it...  Acronyms apparently =/= humor.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Ghost on April 09, 2007, 01:56:30 AM
Has anybody tried roleplaying in a end-of-the universe campaign? It could be pretty cool for D20 Future campaigns. You could have the pc's meeting other races, debating wether to join a civilization's quest for ultimate control of the universe and ownership of the contracting point, and dodging bose-einstein condensate pools.

Hmm...there have been some SF books based on this era. Maybe they could do for a base of a campaign...

Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 09, 2007, 08:48:51 AM
Um, what is it with you people and dark tones?  They never get you down?
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: beejazz on April 11, 2007, 02:13:04 PM
Are you kidding? Dark tones=High adventure! Temple of Doom style. It's the societies that actually function that are scary... like in Brave New World. Happy place... but the implications are really friggin' creepy.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: SilvercatMoonpaw on April 11, 2007, 05:54:32 PM
I'm going to post this on another thread so as not to derail this one.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Bryan Lovely on April 13, 2007, 03:42:48 AM
Quote from: Realm WeaverI called it 'Rayne' as a temporary title.

In short, it takes place in about 3090 CE, on a somewhat distant planet. A colonization attempt was made in 2450, since the planet already had favorable conditions, but the large colony ship crashed before it could land safely. However, a few pods managed to jettison before the impact, and landed in several parts of the world. The descendents of the settlers remember Earth only in legends and mythology, though Terran gods and culture have influenced their development for many centuries. The people are not back up to the level of technology they originally were, as many computer systems were damaged, and rendered inoperable; they use swords and crossbows, along with a few electrical systems, but no pistols or much in the way of fossil fuels other than coal.

What made the ship crash was another matter entirely. What the settlers didn't know, was that a very powerful, and very insane being, who claimed to be the merged consciousness of an entire race of magically poweful beings, had managed to influence the minds of the ships's crew and passengers, and even steer the ship itself, guiding it towards it's body, in an apparent act of suicide. When the ship impacted this being, it's magical potential was scattered across the landscape, creating ever more chaos the closer one gets to the wreck. But at the middle latitudes, the magic is calm, and low, enough for humans to be able to manipulate.

As well, this being had an affinity to rain, so it rains almsot everywhere on the planet for 420 days out of the 440 days in the planet's year. Needless to say, this has been a problem the humans have had to overcome.
I had a different take on a very similar idea, for my SF campaign:

A thousand years ago, during the Downfall Wars that inaugurated a dark age across the sector, an earthlike planet was hit by an asteroid weapon that was exactly the right size to fry the entire surface, destroying all life, native and imported, and completely vaporize the oceans. Whether this was intentional or accident is lost to history.

After eight hundred years, the atmosphere had cooled enough that the water vapor in the air could start to condense, resulting in a planet-wide downpour that would last for centuries. When it was rediscovered a century ago, the temperature had decreased to human-habitable levels, and terraforming began anew from a completely fresh start.

The environment now is still a continuous planet-wide downpour, but with sufficient sunlight penetrating the clouds that photosynthesis can happen. The as-yet small oceans have been reseeded with bacteria, algae, kelp, shrimp, and small fish. The landscape is mostly barren rock, clay, and mud, but ferns, gingkos, and palms are beginning to spread widely, and bacterial cultivation is creating enough soil for tropical rainforest hardwoods to begin to take root. Land animal species are mostly burrowing worms and insects to condition the soil, but lizards and amphibians have been released and seem to be thriving.

Human habitation is a chain of terraforming stations across the main continents, with a larger town built around the primary starport. In the last couple of years they've had up to two or three days a year where you can see the sun! Otherwise, it's rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain.

I haven't got any particular storylines developed for this planet; I just figured it would be a fun change from the desert planet the PCs have been on for the last year.
Title: Random Setting Ideas, now by anyone who feels like posting.
Post by: Bryan Lovely on April 13, 2007, 04:24:25 AM
Here's thumbnail sketches of the settings I'm going to offer in my gaming prospectus when the current campaign's storyline comes to a close, roughly in the order I thought of them:


Agents of the League

This is the continuation of the current League of Tarregon (Sanjafar) campaign. PCs could either be the existing characters given 30 points of "secret agent" training, or entirely new characters at slightly less total points. The Great Game set in the stellar hinterlands, against the Batavians (a known rival empire) and a mysterious other power.

Always 'Round Midnight

Modern urban fantasy/horror/conspiracy set in a very large East-Coast American-type city, that is actually a pocket universe whose specific properties are to be determined. Play would go through "discovery", "mastery", and "supremacy" phases, as the PCs learn about the nature of the setting, their place in it, and finally their control or escape from it. I might use Unknown Armies for the system.

Connecticut Yankees

A modern enormous cruise ship in the Mediterranean sails through a rift and drops back hundreds or thousands of years (to be determined). Inspired by the 1632 and Island in the Sea of Time series. PCs would be either junior ship's crew or intrepid passengers. Play would focus on finding a place to live, conquering and/or colonizing it, and then protecting it against the powers of the era.

Tunnels

A mini-campaign to last around six months. A team of modern-day archaeologists/spelunkers/engineers/soldiers goes into a tunnel system (natural, sewers, catacombs) and never comes out. The tunnels change from time to time and become tunnel systems in other places, times, or universes, with suitable encounters with other lost parties (e.g. early Christians in the Roman catacombs, Egyptian priests interring a mummy, London subway tunnelers, etc.). Eventually the PCs would learn the pattern and cryptic markings in the tunnels to find a way out or find a way to the controlling center.

Rise and Fall of the Vanadian Empire

A series of mini-campaigns set in my vanilla fantasy world originally developed for a campaign back in college. "Imperialism" in the formative period, "crash of empire" during the late antiquity, "squabble" during the dark age, and "successor states" early in the modern period. Each section would be connected to the following by family-historical ties, where the actions of the PCs would not only set the conditions for the next section, but the new PCs would be descendents of the previous ones.

Lost Cities

Victorian fantasy -- like Castle Falkenstein without the steampunk aspects. Imagine the Great Transformation from Shadowrun happened in 1840/1850/1860. Legendary places suddenly become real, magic starts working, ten percent of the world population turns into something ... else (including critters). Play would focus on world exploration (especially Africa), where the white man doesn't have so many advantages as in real history.

Vosemnadtsaty Angar

Pulp X-Files. Soviet scientists visit the site of the Tunguska Event in 1927 and find a wrecked alien spacecraft, which they bring back with them for examination and exploitation. The rest of the world sees new science and technology coming out of Stalin's USSR, and send spies and adventurers to wrest it from them. ("Vosemnadtsaty Angar" is, roughly, Russian for "Hangar 18".)

Bronze versus Steam

Revolutionary France meets the Peloponnesian War. Rival city-states are in equilibrium until the court magician of one accidentally invents a non-magical steam powered engine. Its use turns peasantry and townsmen out of their livelihoods, which combined with a lowering of the mana level and withdrawal of the favor of the kingdom's patron deities results in overthrow of the old monarchy in favor of a coalition of radical philosophers and artificers. Now the other two kingdoms are threatened by the first but nevertheless they scheme to enlist the revolutionaries against each other.

In Klezkavania

The Mythical Balkans during the Mythical 19th Century. All the fictional/legendary European principalities -- Ruritania, Klezkavania, Syldavia, Borduria, Latveria, and of course Transylvania -- exist together in a mountainous region (bordered vaguely by The Empire, Russia, and The Turk), inhabited by superstitious peasants, oppressive nobles, Jews, Gypsies, vampires, werewolves, strange beasts, and of course The Devil Himself (in his suave trickster guise). Play would be either Prisoner of Zenda/Flashman/Princess Bride type adventures and/or Van Helsing-style monster hunting.


Heh. That's it for now. I'll almost certainly have more before prospectus time, and I may cull out some of them if they're not inspiring me anymore. System would almost certainly be GURPS 4th except where otherwise noted.