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The Great Empire of Un

Started by Ninja D!, March 15, 2006, 03:09:18 PM

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daggerhart

#15
March 16, 2006, 11:07:14 AM
umm...   in case some of you missed it, the dark tower books use a meta-setting...  
between the wizard of oz, his old books, and some random poems, king isnt exactly breaking new boudaries with his creativeness.
he just put it all together in an entertaining way.
Quote"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the two said in a statement that seemed to parody Scientology as science fiction. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

Ninja D!

#16
March 16, 2006, 11:10:49 AM
Quote from: CYMRO"The Saints
In the Empire, people do not worship a pantheon of false gods. Instead, they pay tribute to a number of saints. These saints were people that really existed and really had a lasting impact on the world."


This seems a bit hokey and uninformative.
Is "Bodin" the only god?Ã,  Or the only god of the empire?
I, for one, like things spelled out in a CS.Ã,  If people belive something other than the "truth" of the CS, fine, note that, but make it clear from the get go, at least for a DM's sake, what the real deal is, then go into how a particular culture sees things with their little blinders.
In answer to your question, I don't want there to be a 'true religion' in my world.Ã,  From one place to another, different people will believe in different religions.Ã,  Obviously, everyone will believe that their religion is the one and only true religion.Ã,  I think that this at least partially justifies making divine spellcasters very rare.Ã,  I look at it this way: if almost anyone can become a cleric of a certain god and be able to use magic because of it, that god must really exist.Ã,  If only a select few have magical powers that they claim come from their patron, it casts more doubt on them.Ã,  (It could be that their magic is just their intense belief made manifest.Ã,  Or maybe they are telling the truth, and their patron gives them powers.Ã,  But in that case, why does that Saint not give the same powers to other people?)

I hope I got my point across without being too confusing here.Ã,  In my mind, I know how I want my world to be.Ã,  Sometimes it just is not easy to find the words to clearly explain the way things are or,Ã, at least, how I want them to be.Ã,  Thank youÃ, for your comment, CYMRO.Ã,  I will take your point of veiw into consideration and try to clarify my previous posting sometime in the near future.Ã,  When I do so, I will let you know personally and I you can once again give me your thoughts on it, if you so chose.

Answering questions such as these really helps me flesh out my world even more than I could ever do on my own.Ã,  If anyone has any more comments or constructive criticism I would be happy to hear what you have to say.Ã,  I can take negative comments about my world as long as they are meant to be helpful or point out something doesn't make sense or you do not like.

CYMRO

#17
March 16, 2006, 04:22:22 PM
So, besides Un, what other political entities exist?
And, is all well within the Unian Empire?

Ninja D!

#18
March 16, 2006, 08:01:34 PM
Quote from: CYMROSo, besides Un, what other political entities exist? And, is all well within the Unian Empire?
I have created very little outside of Un.Ã,  The one other place, far to the south east of Un is called the Commonland.Ã,  The Commonland is a place free from control by any one government.Ã,  It is an agreed upon neutral zone where most of the worlds trading and international diplomatic relations take place.

All is well within Un, to the extent that all is well within any country.Ã,  There are problems, of course, but nothing major or special.

Soup Nazi

#19
March 16, 2006, 08:49:21 PM
Conflict is the stuff adventures are born from. I'd love to see more.
The spoon is mightier than the sword

CYMRO

#20
March 16, 2006, 10:00:31 PM
Quote from: Black Jack Davey
Quote from: CYMROSo, besides Un, what other political entities exist? And, is all well within the Unian Empire?
I have created very little outside of Un.Ã,  The one other place, far to the south east of Un is called the Commonland.Ã,  The Commonland is a place free from control by any one government.Ã,  It is an agreed upon neutral zone where most of the worlds trading and international diplomatic relations take place.

All is well within Un, to the extent that all is well within any country.Ã,  There are problems, of course, but nothing major or special.

So if Un is without unrest, where do the adventurers get some action? :fencing:

Ninja D!

#21
March 17, 2006, 03:52:12 PM
Quote from: CYMROSo if Un is without unrest, where do the adventurers get some action? :fencing:

The adventurers find work in Un just like they would anywhere else.  There are always things to do.

Epic Meepo

#22
March 17, 2006, 10:39:58 PM
I concur with previous posters.  There needs to be some sort of explicitly-stated conflict going on in or around this empire.  As is, it sounds as though adventuring is just tedious sacking of this or that monster for the good of society, while Bodin steps in as deus ex machina every time some really interesting political intrigue is about to break out.
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Ninja D!

#23
March 18, 2006, 01:51:42 PM
Quote from: Epic_MeepoI concur with previous posters.  There needs to be some sort of explicitly-stated conflict going on in or around this empire.  As is, it sounds as though adventuring is just tedious sacking of this or that monster for the good of society, while Bodin steps in as deus ex machina every time some really interesting political intrigue is about to break out.

I understand what you mean.  But look at other campaign worlds...does every country have something wrong with the government?  Sure, Un has some political intrigue.  However, since the government comes from the religion, there is very little of it.  I never did say that things were perfect in Un.  I only said that things are stable.

Also, Bodin has only helped when the government of Un was on the verge of being corrupted.  Eventually, when I have more of Un's history documented, you will be able to see many cases where Bodin has done nothing for the Great Empire.

There is a threat to the people of Un that will account for much of the adventuring that takes place in my campaigns.  That is the threat of the goblinoids that are centralized in the Borderland Mountains to the far south :chase:.  I have a lot written about them, but it is not yet perfected.  I have them posted on the WotC boards.  If there is any interest, I would be willing to post what I have over there on these forums to be looked at before I finish up all the detail work with them.

Soup Nazi

#24
March 18, 2006, 02:57:43 PM
Quote from: Black Jack Davey
Quote from: Epic_MeepoI concur with previous posters.  There needs to be some sort of explicitly-stated conflict going on in or around this empire.  As is, it sounds as though adventuring is just tedious sacking of this or that monster for the good of society, while Bodin steps in as deus ex machina every time some really interesting political intrigue is about to break out.

I understand what you mean.  But look at other campaign worlds...does every country have something wrong with the government?  Sure, Un has some political intrigue.  However, since the government comes from the religion, there is very little of it.  I never did say that things were perfect in Un.  I only said that things are stable.

Also, Bodin has only helped when the government of Un was on the verge of being corrupted.  Eventually, when I have more of Un's history documented, you will be able to see many cases where Bodin has done nothing for the Great Empire.

There is a threat to the people of Un that will account for much of the adventuring that takes place in my campaigns.  That is the threat of the goblinoids that are centralized in the Borderland Mountains to the far south :chase:.  I have a lot written about them, but it is not yet perfected.  I have them posted on the WotC boards.  If there is any interest, I would be willing to post what I have over there on these forums to be looked at before I finish up all the detail work with them.

There can be plenty of conflict, particularly political intrigue, in a pseudo-theocracy (ancient Egypt, the Aztec empire, etc) setting. Priests fighting for the spiritual, political, and military control of places like this have every precedent. Don't be afraid for there to be devisions among the faithful who favor one saint over another, or who wish to take more direct control over the military, or who want to overthrow the high priest. It doesn't have to come down to war, you just need for there to be interesting things happening that could inspire those things called adventures.

It doesn't matter how intricate or interesting your setting is, if your adventures cannot be intertwined with it. You don't write this whole campaign setting and then plop a bland old tomb of horrors clone in it.

Un can be stable and still be interesting, but if all the conflict comes from outside forces, then all your adventures will end up focused elsewhere. Think about what can be added to Un to make it interesting and fun for adventures at home.

I personally think you've gotten off on a good start, with the Saints, and an overpower-type-deity, but Un itself needs something exciting to pull people in. JMHO

-Nasty-
The spoon is mightier than the sword

Ninja D!

#25
March 18, 2006, 03:24:40 PM
Quote from: nastynateThere can be plenty of conflict, particularly political intrigue, in a pseudo-theocracy (ancient Egypt, the Aztec empire, etc) setting. Priests fighting for the spiritual, political, and military control of places like this have every precedent. Don't be afraid for there to be devisions among the faithful who favor one saint over another, or who wish to take more direct control over the military, or who want to overthrow the high priest. It doesn't have to come down to war, you just need for there to be interesting things happening that could inspire those things called adventures.

It doesn't matter how intricate or interesting your setting is, if your adventures cannot be intertwined with it. You don't write this whole campaign setting and then plop a bland old tomb of horrors clone in it.

Un can be stable and still be interesting, but if all the conflict comes from outside forces, then all your adventures will end up focused elsewhere. Think about what can be added to Un to make it interesting and fun for adventures at home.

I personally think you've gotten off on a good start, with the Saints, and an overpower-type-deity, but Un itself needs something exciting to pull people in. JMHO

-Nasty-

There can always be these things, of course.  I know that, in part, these comments come from the fact that I am the only one who has access to all of my notes and ideas (obviously).  Because of this, no one else knows all of the things that are going on in Un.

In particular, there is a cult called the Church of Saint Steven Alive.  They believe that Saint Steven was not taken away with the other Saints.  They think that Steven was granted immortality and is still alive somewhere in the Great Empire, watching over the people.

Soup Nazi

#26
March 18, 2006, 03:26:20 PM
Sweet. Maybe I'll just wait for you to post more before I jump the gun then.

-Nasty-
The spoon is mightier than the sword

Ninja D!

#27
March 18, 2006, 03:29:09 PM
Quote from: nastynateSweet. Maybe I'll just wait for you to post more before I jump the gun then.

-Nasty-

It's fine.  I will likely never have all of this world posted, if even created.  I am really enjoying getting feedback on what I currently have.  It is helping me further develope the setting greatly, and showing me things that I have missed or not considered.  Thank you, everyone.  Any more comments you have would be appreciated.

daggerhart

#28
March 18, 2006, 03:48:56 PM
Quote from: black jackAlso, I want other people to be able to use the things that I create for my campaign world.  

can i use your calendar?   i really think its the best thing i've seen in a long time.
Quote"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the two said in a statement that seemed to parody Scientology as science fiction. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

Ninja D!

#29
March 18, 2006, 03:53:35 PM
Quote from: daggerhart
Quote from: black jackAlso, I want other people to be able to use the things that I create for my campaign world.  

I would be happy if you did.  I think it would be great that someone is getting use out of some of this.
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