[ooc=Brian's Creative Hemorrages] hello again everyone! i seem to suffer from a creative hemorrage of the brain sometimes, and i find that i need a place to put it...so, much like SilvercatMoonpaw's thread of campaign ideas and hooks, i figured it would be nice to keep a thread of half-baked ideas and such for possible inspiration later down the road, or as a brainstorm forum for other world-builders, or to simply find time to flesh out myself sometime in the future...[/ooc]
[spoiler=The Frozen World] Outline
A world covered in ice and snow...locked in a seemingly eternal ice-age...most standard player races exist, but are an arctic or ice version - Wooly Ogres with large tusks, ghost-like snow elves, etc. It would be a fairly low-tech setting, the cold and ice making it difficult to mine or set up agriculture...some larger nations use magic to create warm areas.
General History/Background
The gods of the world have turned their backs and left. Long ago the god of the sun fell in love with a mortal priestess of the moon. His court warned him of the fickle hearts of mortals, and advised him to not interfere with their lives, but he did not heed their warnings. He wooed the object of his affections, but alas, Despite his efforts and his amorous gestures of affection, the mortal woman fell in love with a powerful mage; but unbeknownst to the god of the sun, the mage had actually put a spell upon her. Sadly, in his angst and sorrow and broken-heartedness the god of the sun turned his back on the world. the sun became dimmer and its warmth waned and the world was cast into an eternal winter that has lasted for hundreds and hundreds of years. the mage, now an immortal undead of incredible power, still holds the priestess captive after many years, in a mighty citadel of ice and snow, protected by powerful spells and demons. he enslaves many and makes them dig into the ice in search of ??? while the rest of the world struggles to survive the neverending cold of winter...[/spoiler]
[ooc=Super Fantasy Giant Robots!]I've always liked giant robots...Macross...Gundam...Big O...etc. And when i visited Japan some years ago i was in a bookstore and found a Japanese RPG book that was a weird fusion of fantasy/swords/sorcery and of all things, giant robots! i still have this book, and because it is all in japanese, have absolutely NO CLUE what the mechanics are...the history...etc. but, i like the pictures and the impression they left me with. so of course, i got an idea for a similar campaign...[/ooc]
[spoiler=The Epic Romance Saga of the Super-Fantasy-Giant-Robots!!! aka Arcane Engine] Outline
The world is in a renaissance type era with chivalry and romance and knights and kings and all that fun stuff. there are 5 nations - humans, elves, gnomes, dwarves, and orcs. Orcs are warlike, expansionist and aggresive. Each is on at least uneasy terms with the others and friendly terms at most...but all are pretty much not happy with the orcs. Knights of each kingdom follow a strict code of honor and instead of riding mighty steeds into battle, they control giant alchemical constructs (aka Giant Robots). each race has a unique feel and design to their constructs obviously; and each class can have a Arcane Engine unique to it - mage Engines, cleric Engines, warrior, etc. - that boost or amplify some of their class abilities or allow them to channel spells through the Engine. Obviously, magical level is fairly high, as well as standard tech-level...maybe some gun-powder type weapons (i imagine stout Dwarven Engines bearing big cannons on their shoulders with a full crew to man each one). The setting would have a lot of intrigue and romantic type themes and such - princesses in danger, mages trying to stage coups and overthrow governments, orcs being mean, etc. - but a greater danger lies with a tragic, and long thought dead hero of a past war who has risen as a hateful undead bent on domination...perhaps he's been cursed as a vampire for a transgression of his code that no one knows about...or maybe he seeks revenge against a current political leader who masterminded and staged the war for personal gain or profit. whatever the case, he's a cunning strategist and leader, an amazing warrior, and a fallen knight...his undead energies infused with his giant robot he musters his armies for war...or something like that...[/spoiler]
[ooc]I have the pleasure of owning two books of illustration by James C. Christiansen - "The Voyage of the Basset" (a childrens book with his illos) and "A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James C. Christiansen". His paintings, and the story, are filled with whimsical fairyfolk, goblins, gnomes and the like that made me think of a possible setting called Neverwhere. You don't see much in the way of humorous settings abounding in the RPG world, and i wondered how a setting of wit, humor, comedy with a dash of Brother's Grimm might play out, it was also partially inspired by my friend's son, who liked to hang with us at the gaming table and was always wanting to play the game with his daddy and the big guys...so i began to brainstorm a setting that a kid could enjoy as well as the grown-ups...it's loose and rough...but here it is anyway...[/ooc]
[spoiler=Neverwhen? Nevermore? Alwayswhere? (TBD)] Outline
(Name Pending) is a place that shouldn't be a whimsical realm of faerie and dream. Gnomes, goblins, fairies, sprites, and all manner of mythical beasts abound in a land of light and song and fantasy. the game would be fairy-tale like with stories of bickering bears and girls with curls of gold...witches and children...and sleeping beauties...and the dish running away with the spoon. adventures would range from cute, to fantastical to absurd. there is no war in Neverwhere...nor is there death...no beginning and no end...the world is an eternal dream. But, the larger arc is that something gnaws at the edges of the dream, something dark and terrible...a nightmare...
General History/Background
(Name Pending) is a demi-plane in the ethereal. It seemingly popped into existence one day and has gone about its business for a long time. The entire plane is the dream of a child and has up until this point been a peaceful and whimsical. player races would be limited to gnomes, halflings, goblins, sprites, dwarves, and elves. there are dragons and witches, wizards and sages, and all the trappings of fantasy...but all have the childlike aspect. Lately sections of the world have been changing, and once cute and lovable creatures are becoming dangerous and evil. A presence is warping the dreamworld with sinister aspect and the once cute nature of the place is fading. dreams die and give way to reality...and always the dreamer must awake...[/spoiler]
There exist no less than two worlds already called Neverwhere. I do like the concept of a lighter setting though. Perhaps flesh it out and call it Talewhere or something?
lol...yeah my wife said the same thing! :-P
looking it up i realize there's already a Neil Gaiman "Neverwhere" and various other published items. damn group conciousness! lol.
i'm rolling around another name for it though for sure.