The Campaign Builder's Guild

I want to restart Arga again, for what I believe is the fourth time now. It has gone through several renditions but none of them has ever captured what I know the setting feels like (I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this). That being said, Arga is my baby, my magnum opus, the first setting I ever started working on in earnest. That being said, before I take that big leap and start posting in full, there are some key issues within the setting I'm trying to settle and would appreciate any and all feedback. [For those unfamiliar with Arga, I suppose it would be best described as a Greekpunk setting - an ancient world of bronze and iron but with plenty of anachronisms and just enough subtle, tongue-in-cheek references to keep it fun.]

Firstly, I'm trying to figure out the races for Arga. While I'm avoiding using any Gygaxian tropes, that has turned out harder than it seems so some of the races will obviously be similar to classic DnD races. So without being long-winded, here are the five surviving Mortal Folk left in Arga.


1. The Anthos, the Chaos-Kin [The Anything Goes Race]
Roughly the humans of Arga. Numerous and extremely varied in culture, language, faith, etc. They are born unattached to the strings of fate and differ impossibly in ability, temperament, and power. The average Anthos is a lesser being than the other four Mortal Folk, but there are a few [the PCs if they so desire to play an Anthos] that are born with a little extra spark and are truly capable of anything.

2. The Dura, the Dark-Delvers [The Tough Gruff Race]
I won't try to mince words, these are the dwarves of Arga - in fact, dwarf is a derogatory terms sometimes employed by the other Mortal Folk in referring to the Dark-Delvers. The Dura once ruled a continent-spanning empire, Deep Durast, but were betrayed by the legions of brass golems they forged to safeguard their lands and conquer their enemies. Most Dura now shun their old ways and have retreated to a handful of island-mountain citadels on the edge of their old empire. Some that do leave are called Doom-Walkers, and essentially embark upon a quest bound to eventually fail - marching into Deep Durast to hunt and slay any golems they find. There is also another branch of Dura, the Moru, who revere the past and look to restore the glory of Deep Durast - they tend to be proud and arrogant.

3. The Vorr, the Bell-Bearers [The Philosophical Race]
Physically, the Vorr are not unlike minotaurs, but have animal features more similar to antelope or deer than cows. They are wanderers from the far west and are very intelligent and spiritual despite what tavern rumors would have. Yet they are not entirely civilized - they are barbarian-philosophers. Their god is a god of experience, of travel, of bloody combat and solitary contemplation. While most Vorr traverse the never-ending continent of plains and savanna to the west of Arga, enough make their way east that the Vorr are a significant part of Argan life in quite a few lands [This would be a PC Vorr].

4. The Nurn, the Fae-Wrights [The Artificer Race]
I stole the Nurn from an iteration of the gnomes from my Meatloaf Setting - while they are not particularly violent or power-hungry, they obsess over making perfect things, especially weapons and arms. While not unheard of, Nurn are very uncommon. Their a handful of Nurnish kingdoms hidden on mist-shrouded islands to the north who still continue to forge unparalleled items. A PC Nurn might be out looking for an ancient schemata, a mythic spear from an other age, or is simply curious to see the world. Maybe the Nurn have a prehensile tail? Monkey-gnomes?

5. The [Mer], the Tide-Born [The Quick Clever Race]
The name is only a place holder, but the Mer are more or less fish-people that can survive on land pretty well. Like the Nurn, I'm having trouble fitting in the [Mer]. I think they make sense with Arga being such a maritime-focused setting. They will be frail but very quick, even more so around and in the water. Any ideas on the [Mer]? Particularly in terms to how they relate with the other four?


Overall, I feel like these 5 races compose a balanced enough selection both in fluff and crunch. But I would like know if anyone has any ideas before I start putting things in stone.

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
I want to restart Arga again, for what I believe is the fourth time now. It has gone through several renditions but none of them has ever captured what I know the setting feels like (I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this). That being said, Arga is my baby, my magnum opus, the first setting I ever started working on in earnest. That being said, before I take that big leap and start posting in full, there are some key issues within the setting I'm trying to settle and would appreciate any and all feedback. [For those unfamiliar with Arga, I suppose it would be best described as a Greekpunk setting - an ancient world of bronze and iron but with plenty of anachronisms and just enough subtle, tongue-in-cheek references to keep it fun.]

Firstly, I'm trying to figure out the races for Arga. While I'm avoiding using any Gygaxian tropes, that has turned out harder than it seems so some of the races will obviously be similar to classic DnD races. So without being long-winded, here are the five surviving Mortal Folk left in Arga.


1. The Anthos, the Chaos-Kin [The Anything Goes Race]
Roughly the humans of Arga. Numerous and extremely varied in culture, language, faith, etc. They are born unattached to the strings of fate and differ impossibly in ability, temperament, and power. The average Anthos is a lesser being than the other four Mortal Folk, but there are a few [the PCs if they so desire to play an Anthos] that are born with a little extra spark and are truly capable of anything.

2. The Dura, the Dark-Delvers [The Tough Gruff Race]
I won't try to mince words, these are the dwarves of Arga - in fact, dwarf is a derogatory terms sometimes employed by the other Mortal Folk in referring to the Dark-Delvers. The Dura once ruled a continent-spanning empire, Deep Durast, but were betrayed by the legions of brass golems they forged to safeguard their lands and conquer their enemies. Most Dura now shun their old ways and have retreated to a handful of island-mountain citadels on the edge of their old empire. Some that do leave are called Doom-Walkers, and essentially embark upon a quest bound to eventually fail - marching into Deep Durast to hunt and slay any golems they find. There is also another branch of Dura, the Moru, who revere the past and look to restore the glory of Deep Durast - they tend to be proud and arrogant.

3. The Vorr, the Bell-Bearers [The Philosophical Race]
Physically, the Vorr are not unlike minotaurs, but have animal features more similar to antelope or deer than cows. They are wanderers from the far west and are very intelligent and spiritual despite what tavern rumors would have. Yet they are not entirely civilized - they are barbarian-philosophers. Their god is a god of experience, of travel, of bloody combat and solitary contemplation. While most Vorr traverse the never-ending continent of plains and savanna to the west of Arga, enough make their way east that the Vorr are a significant part of Argan life in quite a few lands [This would be a PC Vorr].

4. The Nurn, the Fae-Wrights [The Artificer Race]
I stole the Nurn from an iteration of the gnomes from my Meatloaf Setting - while they are not particularly violent or power-hungry, they obsess over making perfect things, especially weapons and arms. While not unheard of, Nurn are very uncommon. Their a handful of Nurnish kingdoms hidden on mist-shrouded islands to the north who still continue to forge unparalleled items. A PC Nurn might be out looking for an ancient schemata, a mythic spear from an other age, or is simply curious to see the world. Maybe the Nurn have a prehensile tail? Monkey-gnomes?

5. The [Mer], the Tide-Born [The Quick Clever Race]
The name is only a place holder, but the Mer are more or less fish-people that can survive on land pretty well. Like the Nurn, I'm having trouble fitting in the [Mer]. I think they make sense with Arga being such a maritime-focused setting. They will be frail but very quick, even more so around and in the water. Any ideas on the [Mer]? Particularly in terms to how they relate with the other four?


Overall, I feel like these 5 races compose a balanced enough selection both in fluff and crunch. But I would like know if anyone has any ideas before I start putting things in stone.

Do you care if I ask what system this is for? I've read your other Arga stuff in the past, I was just never very clear what system it was for.

I really like the Vorr. The thought of poetic barbaric antelope people is something that would draw me to a game. So do they resemble vikings with their brutal yet exploration outlook?

I fully support the thought of Monkey Gnomes just out of principle alone. In fact I've been thinking about making a monkey and/or gorilla race for my setting I'm working on (Not Panorah).

Also if I may throw out a name for the Mers. Ichth's?

The Ithos?

I feel like "Ithos" fits in with the rest of the names.

I kind of like the races you've got here. What about Arga isn't up to your liking?

It just never coalesced the way I wanted it too - I always seemed to get sidetracked from the core idea.

As for a system, if I ever used one it would be a modified D20 Modern as many classes and races that are central to 3E/d20/Pathfinder make little to no sense in Arga or would better serve as prestige or even NPC classss. I like how the D20 Modern classes (Tough Hero, Smart Hero, etc.) adequately describe the PC's abilities but do not define their place in the world - that is left up to the players creativity.

I generally like what you've done here, but I do have to chime in my usual complaint about the D&D standard of humans being the "versatile race" and the "kinda crappy race." I mean, I know that this is kind of rooted in our experience-- we've all seen firsthand the amount of variety in the human race, so stereotyping is really hard, and being human is what we're all used to, so it's going to seem sort of mundane. I feel like more could be done, though!

For example, humans could be "the industrious race," or "the warlike race," or "the inventive race," or whatever, because all of those kind of suit human nature at its broadest strokes.

Quote from: sparkletwist
I generally like what you've done here, but I do have to chime in my usual complaint about the D&D standard of humans being the "versatile race" and the "kinda crappy race." I mean, I know that this is kind of rooted in our experience-- we've all seen firsthand the amount of variety in the human race, so stereotyping is really hard, and being human is what we're all used to, so it's going to seem sort of mundane. I feel like more could be done, though!

For example, humans could be "the industrious race," or "the warlike race," or "the inventive race," or whatever, because all of those kind of suit human nature at its broadest strokes.

You make a very good point here and touch on something I was thinking about today - how humans, or their equivalent, tend to be immensely varied, but other race generally (key word) are presented as monolithic and homogeneous with little conflict occurring between themselves. So in order to resolve that issue, here are some options.

1. Have the Anthos be a trader-explorer race with far reaching-colonies (in the sense of ancient Greek trading colonies, not empire-building settlement colonies) flung all over Arga. They have a core homeland and are not quite as varied as they were originally planned to be - there would obviously be diversity among the Anthos, especially between the metropolis and the colonies, but they would, as a whole, share a general culture much like the other Mortal-Folk do.

2. Have the other Mortal-Folk - Dura, Vorr, Nurn, Ithos - also be as varied as the Anthos were originally planned to be. I'm not sure if I like this though - it will be a lot of work and potentially muddies the differences between the races.

Further more, I think I would like one more race to round-off the roster to six. I would like each race to be tied to an ability score - ever so lightly. The Anthos would be tied to Charisma, the Dura to Constitution, the Nurn to Intelligence, the Vorr to Dexterity (deer and antelope are quick, not strong. And while they may still be a philosophical people, that does not mean they are natural wise), the Ithos to Strength (because big, burly, pirate fish-men seems awesome), and a yet-to-be-designed sixth race based on Wisdom. Since the Anthos, the Dura, and the Nurn are humanoid and the Ithos and the Vorr are semi-animalistic, I think another nature-inflected race would work well - toad-people? Moss-men like in 2E Dnd? I'm thinking something physically ugly. Any suggestions?

Wise, contemplative moss-men sound cool. I once did a setting where there was a race/nation of people who voluntarily infected themselves with kinds of supernatural, psychotropic molds and fungi that formed symbiotic relationships with their host, while providing a tiered over-mind and mystic predilections. The molds would eventually overtake the hosts, physically (which they looked as cooccurring with spiritual transcendence/transubstantiation), but the mold would be scraped off the dead and passed on to the next generation.

Rather than animalistic, you could go for plant-like or fungal race. If they are slow moving and/or have a need to root themselves on dirt from time to time, that could mesh well with an introspective mind that spends much time in deep contemplation -- hence the wisdom focus.

In keeping with the importance of the seas, what about a race that would composed of coral or barnacles or with an appearance like a starfish people? I was thinking crustacean folk too?

Make the coral people make their homes out of their dead kin -and give them the ability to consult with their spirits/bones.

Quote from: Rose-of-Vellum
Make the coral people make their homes out of their dead kin -and give them the ability to consult with their spirits/bones.

I was going to say something similar. You could have them be symbiotic coral reefs that have a central hivemind. Essentially small reefs with great psionic power or something.

Now I'm imagining Groot, but made out of coral.

Also, how would a PC race that cannot speak (but is still intiligent) effect game balance? Keep in mind that magic is not dependent on a voice in Arga.

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
Now I'm imagining Groot, but made out of coral.

Also, how would a PC race that cannot speak (but is still intiligent) effect game balance? Keep in mind that magic is not dependent on a voice in Arga.

Eh I don't see how it would effect anything. Do they have a signal language like signing or something that they communicate with?

I think I'm going to alter the Anthos to be less of an ersatz human and more of mercantile-inflected people that look more like hornless, moderately tall satyrs (hooves, no horns). Having the Anthos be so similar humans was proving a big problem in how I was imagining the history and race-relations of Arga - with a faux-human race, all the importance ended up falling on their shoulders.

Also thinking about implementing a squat, toad-esque race (Oud, Oad, Oed, something like that) as well. I feel that without a human race as a measuring stick, having a few more interesting races feels more 'right.'

Edit - or still have a human race, but make them very unimportant and peripheral. I've been meaning to get some decent paper and pencils and plan on posting some sketches as well soon, I really think a 'race roster' would make things coalesce more.