Hi all,
This is my first topic. I am not sure if it is in the right subforum, so apologies if it isn't (moderation-team, feel free to move it to the right place).
So here goes:
There are a lot of awesome campaign worlds around here. You guys and gals have shown a lot of creativity...and i want to harness it :D
Help me build a setting around these lines (see below), and try to keep it in the tone aka don't go too far of the rails (it's not the goal to be as freaky/nuts as possible but instead to build on the vision inherent in these starter-ideas).
P.S.: I don't take credit for those ideas, so i am not trying to protect my ideas or flatter my own ego ;) (it was a post made by a member on rpg.net)
QuoteYou take the oddest bits of the Old Testament, stir in various secondary material from all three Abrahamic religions, and throw in Creationist kookery, and you have one of the weirdest and wooliest sword-and-sorcery settings around
* Sophisticated, but scattered civilizations
* Wildernesses full of every cool prehistoric critter of every era
* Centuries-old patriarchs - drop by the right place, and you can meet the very first man
* Mysterious wandering deities. You can't tell them apart, you can only take them at their word when they say they're your old benefactor. However, while quite powerful, they're less than omniscient.
* The beautiful and awful servants of at least one of those deities
* Giants and other fabulous hybrids of humans and some of those servants
* Strange and wretched once-humans cursed by those deities, who've gained vast power that they often use against humanity
If you are one of those talented mappers, feel free to throw in suggestions (self-made or found on the inet) for an appropriate world-map.
Wow. Well, first; hi! Welcome to the CBG. Thanks for all the compliments :)
I don't know if I'll have the time/brain-space to have a crack at this between real life and my own setting, but those are some pretty evocative starting points indeed, and I'm sure plenty of folks here could run with them and do some very cool stuff.
That said, I'm sure you could write something pretty sweet based around those ideas, why not give it a go yourself? I mean, it's flattering to have someone come here and be like "you lot are really good, please do this" but personally I'd value a new, active member posting their stuff far more than I'd value that flattery.
Welcome to The CBG :)
Quote from: Kindling
That said, I'm sure you could write something pretty sweet based around those ideas, why not give it a go yourself? I mean, it's flattering to have someone come here and be like "you lot are really good, please do this" but personally I'd value a new, active member posting their stuff far more than I'd value that flattery.
I'm with Kindling here. As a community we're focused primarily on reviewing and giving feedback on each other's settings. What you have here is a pretty awesome initial concept. Write something up on it, toss it out there and ask for feedback. I promise you'll get many more ideas and thoughts that way then just asking people to write something for you. People here are often focused on their own setting and too busy to write a setting blurb for someone else. However, we're never too busy to give you feedback on your own ideas.
I kind of like the what you've got going here, the first thought that sprung to mind is that I'd love to face down some of the things found in the Abraham religious texts. Imagine fighting the Leviathan for example (what a fight that would be). Or perhaps the Leviathan is more of a background feature, maybe someone built a city on his back and it moves as he swims through the ocean. Seriously, you've got a great start here. Write something up, ask us what we think, I promise you'll get some valuable advice tossed your way (as well as a number of awesome ideas).
Thanks for the warm welcome. I am not strictly a new member, but it is my first thread i opened ;) But granted, my post count is very small...so as i said, thanks for the welcome :)
I hear you guys...but the fact is: 1) these aren't even really my ideas (as i hinted at in the OP) AND 2) i'd really like this to be a collaborative work! I want to profit from more brainwaves than just my own. I think this would yield a much more diversified and therefore much richer setting than if i would do this on my own.
I will try to participate as well, no question. It is not my intention to come across as "Well, i am too lazy to do the work so i will let the guys and gals over at the CBG do it..." .
Welcome to posting. :)
Your setting is an interesting idea; some literature along the lines that could help you get things more concrete is Harry Turtledove's "Between the Rivers" where small gods in a babylonian-style world interact with the humans there.
There is also a RPG setting, Testament, that might be a good source of inspiration.
Finally, there's my GodSmack! which is set during world war II- the European part of the setting involves some of the hierarchy of angels, so you can get some inspiration from there. It seems that your setting has a similar vibe to GodSmack! since my setting drew on alternative religions to populate the fantastical non european parts of the world (and of course the british isles are overrun with fairies). http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,68604.html. The main difference is that GodSmack! is designed to be over the top, while you indicated a hope for a more toned-down world.
I'm glad to encourage you to develop it by asking questions, but I don't think I have time to collaborate.
Good luck!
Ok, how about this:
At the beginning of Time there were 13 Tribes of man. Each lead by a Patriarch, immortal first men. Many of the names of these Patriarchs are now lost to time. What is known is this: The tribes migrated all over Gaia, some kept the nomadic lifestyle, some settled. In time, 7 huge Cities were raised by seven of the tribes, feats of engineering, helped sometimes by godlings that were drawn to the power of the tribes. ... (more forthcoming? I don't know yet ^^ ).
There are still two Patriarchs that are known by name, at least it is whispered that these are their names:
Liwyāṯān - Name of the Patriarch of the tribe Leviathan, the bigest of all the tribes of man. It is said that he can turn into a colossal monster that can devour entiry cities.
Nebutkar – Patriarch of the Derkesthai tribe. It is said that Nebutkar can kill with a single glance. But he's also attributed with great insight into all things of this world.
If the Patriarchs are Immortal, what happened to them so that they are now mostly forgotten? They ascended to the stars?
It's a good start.
Hmm...it seems you found the logic hole in my thinking :D Maybe their true names (which of course hold power) are forgotten? They still live with their tribes but under other names and maybe even incognito? Or maybe they are just known as "patriarchs" and have no seperate name? Hmmm....
In the same line of reasoning, it can not be true that the two names i provided are the real names of those two patriarchs.
See, that's what happens if you just post what comes to mind and you think sounds cool :-/
Well, keeping with your original idea I don't think it'd be a bad idea if they were still with their tribes under the same name. Essentially they would be like the small gods of the area that always exist... also think Kohan:Immortal Sovereigns or Exalted. You can trap an immortal, you can shackle an immortal. So the tribes that are conquered have their small Patriarch hobbled into service.
Also, a thought- what about Matriarchs? Some of the ancient kingdoms did have very important female deities; think Tiamat. Perhaps the Matriarchial tribe would be a heretic tribe of some sort?
Then the question arises, where did the Patriarchs come from? What are their goals now? Their relationship with each other?
A lot of good questions, Light Dragon. Thanks for that :)
I agree with you, i guess keeping the patriarchs as they are is the right way to go. But i am still thinking about the idea that the names they give themselves are not their true names (i always liked the idea that a true name has power).
And you're totally right about the patriarch vs. matriarch thing...it was not a deliberate choice to exclude females...i just didn't think about it or, put another way, the first post with the ideas is, as i said, not really by me. But i like the idea of female leaders/deities.
You gave me some points to think about ... oh and this is all still open for participation for anyone who cares! So if you have some good ideas...let us see it!
I am quite new to this site, but I do have a couple suggestions for your story if you want them.
I know a bit about the Old Testament, and there are several aspects of the OT that would fit in really well in an RPG. First off, those "13 tribes of Man" might actually have a biblical equivalent. There were 12 tribes of Israel, each with a male (patriarical?) leader, after whom each tribe was named. In the OT, these tribes were all nomadic and unified (at least, until they reached the promised land and they broke apart into two Israeli kingdoms).
Another aspect that A LOT of people don't realize is that there are several records of magic in the bible, especially in the OT. When Moses was freeking his people from the Egyptians (via the plagues of blood, locusts, death of all firstborn sons, frogs, etc.) the Pharoah actually had his own magicians replicate some of Moses' miracles. You could tie that concept in somehow... a demonic lord of plagues? Good luck on your writing, feel free to ask me if you have any questions!
Hey AnAnonymousAnomaly, thanks for your input! Cool stuff!
And let me remind you, this is suposed to be an open project...this is not my baby. So feel free to make up cool stuff with the Original Post in mind and post it in here. I'd welcome that.
Oh and welcome on the CBG :)
Do you happen to know the names of those 12 biblical tribes? Just curious.
And i knew there was something about tribes and israel...but my religion is a bit rusty ;) After some thinking i remembered why there was this idea of 13 tribes stuck in my head...iirc the new Battlestar Galactica had the number 13 as the number of the tribes for their colonies. Or to be precise...12 tribes and 12 colonies (which got bombed by the Cylons) and 1 mysterious missing tribe that supposedly found earth...or something like that. So yeah, i am not terribly innovative, as it seems ;)
Quote from: Eilathen
Do you happen to know the names of those 12 biblical tribes? Just curious.
And i knew there was something about tribes and israel...but my religion is a bit rusty
Let's see here:
Judah
Levi
Reuben
Simeon
Dan
Gad
Asher
Naphtali
Issachar
Zebulun
Joseph (traditionally split into Manasseh and Ephraim)
Benjamin