The Campaign Builder's Guild

I just read Complete Adventurer and fell in love with the Shadowbane Inquisitor.  Now, I have a desire to run a game set in a world in which the vast majority of land masses are under the control of the Shadowbane guild, either directly or indirectly.  Anyone who was thought to oppose the Church would find a Shadowbane Stalker on their trail, and if they were a big enough threat they could expect to see the bone-white armor of the Inquisitors bearing down on them.

However, I have absolutely zero experience with campaign design so that's where you guys come in.  A little help to get the creative juices flowing.

Ok, so maybe this isn't substantial enough for here, and if Ish or another moderator wants to move it feel free to do so.

Quote from: Gwaihir WindlordHowever, I have absolutely zero experience with campaign design so that's where you guys come in.  A little help to get the creative juices flowing.

That's fine, none of us do either. We all just bumble our way through it. :)

You've got your core already; a world where religion is required and strict. That's good. Now flesh that aspect out a little bit more. The first things that come to my mind have to do with the religion. Is it monotheistic? What's the hierarchy? How did they get to be so powerful anyway? What are their opinions on magic?

You could also go with the basics first; number of races, which classes are available, and what your main nations are going to be for a start.

Hope it helped.

Stargate already covered the basics. Other starting points to expand on what you have could be:
- Defining one or more other themes you want to incorporate in this setting and expand on those.
- Work up a map and try to fill in the details there.
- Start small. Design a town and some people (or, alternatively, write a short story set somewhere in this setting) and work from there.

Túrin

Ditto to what Turin and Stargate said.

Also, how do you imagine the PCs relating to this religion?  Is it an oppressive tyrant they must struggle against?  Something that's generally good for people?  Or somewhere more morally ambiguous?  Or perhaps it seems like one at first, until they dig deeper and begin to believe another of these.

Do you want any factions working secretly against the Church?  Be they insane cults worshiping abominations, a struggling religion of another kind, or freedom fighters of some sort, having a group to oppose the Church can throw its values and beliefs into sharp relief.

If you are trying to design a small, self-contained setting, an island or archipelago can work very well.  It allows you to not have to worry too much about detailing outside areas, since their influence would be lessened compared to something connected by land (unless the islands are just off the coast or something).

What they said, but also work to define the religion, as such an oppressive belief system as what you have suggested would have a large effect on society and the world.

If the religion is based on specific deity/ies and their worship, I can help with that.  Just give me the basics, and I'd be glad to provide advice and ideas, since fictional faiths are my area of expertise.

Good luck, and remember to have fun!

Thanks guys!

The Shadowbane Guild is a faction of the Order of Illumination, which is a religious order dedicated to Zarus.  It is beneficial to some, but is also oppressive to an equal or larger amount.  A group of orcs has started an underground resistance, as orcs are deemed "evil" and a mass genocide has been undertaken.

Orc will be a playable race, and they are intelligent, contributing members of society.

The Order of Illumination was created over 1,000 years ago and started attracting worshipers soon after.  Zarus is the kindest, and most benevolent god right up until he isn't.  The wrath of Zarus is terrible indeed.
The Order came to power about 250 years after its conception.  By then, over 80% of the populace was worshiping Zarus anyway, and the Order was the state religion of the three most powerful empires in the world (names as of yet unknown).  The Patriarch of the Order kept demanding more and more power from the emperors, saying that Zarus would extract terrible vengeance if his demands were not met.  There was little the emperors could do and within a decade the Patriarch was ruling all three empires.  It then began a systematic purge of all other religions, deeming them corrupt and evil.

Alcohol and Spice (a narcotic developed well before the Order's rise to power, and consumed by 69% of the population) have been deemed evil by the Order.  As such, they cannot be legally consumed.  However, rum-runners, moonshiners, and all manner of drug dealers have been making fortunes out of trafficking in illegal substances since the decree was made official 50 years ago.

I'm just going to throw a possibly random thought at you. Conflict is always a good central point for a campaign. However I read a novel of roughly similar themes in which magic using types were being hunted down by the king's inquisitors--and I have to admit that I didn't really care. Somehow it lacked strength and I think it is that it was relying too much on cliches that were presented in a tired sort of way in an otherwise interesting world.

I'm not saying that your idea strikes me that way but I have a few notions of how to avoid that. What you might want to do is actually have the church engaged in some kind of conflict that is perhaps ongoing or perpetual where they genuinely do seem good at a glance and the players in the game would be uncertain as to what to think. In the game Rifts for instance there really are demons and horrible otherworldly beings enslaving humans. That doesn't make the Coalition good but it does put some solidity behind their politics and make it not easy to dismiss them entirely. If you took an approach somewhat like this it would make it possible to maybe save the church from its harshness but for it to definitely be there.

So a genocide campaign isn't conflict?  And the orcs are fighting back.

Thanks for pointing that out though, I'll definitely ponder it a bit.

Quote from: Gwaihir WindlordThanks guys!

The Shadowbane Guild is a faction of the Order of Illumination, which is a religious order dedicated to Zarus.  It is beneficial to some, but is also oppressive to an equal or larger amount.  A group of orcs has started an underground resistance, as orcs are deemed "evil" and a mass genocide has been undertaken.

Orc will be a playable race, and they are intelligent, contributing members of society.

The Order of Illumination was created over 1,000 years ago and started attracting worshipers soon after.  Zarus is the kindest, and most benevolent god right up until he isn't.  The wrath of Zarus is terrible indeed.
The Order came to power about 250 years after its conception.  By then, over 80% of the populace was worshiping Zarus anyway, and the Order was the state religion of the three most powerful empires in the world (names as of yet unknown).  The Patriarch of the Order kept demanding more and more power from the emperors, saying that Zarus would extract terrible vengeance if his demands were not met.  There was little the emperors could do and within a decade the Patriarch was ruling all three empires.  It then began a systematic purge of all other religions, deeming them corrupt and evil.

Alcohol and Spice (a narcotic developed well before the Order's rise to power, and consumed by 69% of the population) have been deemed evil by the Order.  As such, they cannot be legally consumed.  However, rum-runners, moonshiners, and all manner of drug dealers have been making fortunes out of trafficking in illegal substances since the decree was made official 50 years ago.

I like what you have so far, I just have a few suggestions to throw your way.

1) I think you should really expand on your god Zarus by developing a back-story on him. Concentrating on what he expects from his followers, how he views them, and how his followers view him.

2) Also I would create event/s in the past that show how terrible/benevolent Zarusâ,¬,,¢s really is.

3) To me, your patriarch of the order has a very Cardinal Richelieu feel to him. I would read the three musketeers or go to this link and read about real man there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu

4) Is there corruption in the order? I think it would be interesting if the order intentionally banned alcohol and spice so they could jack up the price and sell it themselves. Or the order created a protection racket where they allow others to make and sell the goods and take a percentage.

Quote from: Gwaihir WindlordSo a genocide campaign isn't conflict?  And the orcs are fighting back.

Thanks for pointing that out though, I'll definitely ponder it a bit.

Forgive me, I didn't mean to imply that you HAD no conflict, and so I'll try to be more clear if I can. I just meant that you could try another angle on it altogether that might create more of a sense of mystery for any players in your game.

Quote from: XXsiriusXXI like what you have so far, I just have a few suggestions to throw your way.

1) I think you should really expand on your god Zarus by developing a back-story on him. Concentrating on what he expects from his followers, how he views them, and how his followers view him.

2) Also I would create event/s in the past that show how terrible/benevolent Zarusâ,¬,,¢s really is.

3) To me, your patriarch of the order has a very Cardinal Richelieu feel to him. I would read the three musketeers or go to this link and read about real man there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu

4) Is there corruption in the order? I think it would be interesting if the order intentionally banned alcohol and spice so they could jack up the price and sell it themselves. Or the order created a protection racket where they allow others to make and sell the goods and take a percentage.

I'll work more on Zarus later, but I do intend to really flesh him out.  Also, there is a little thing in the back of my mind telling me I stole the name from somewhere, if this is true will someone tell me so I can change it?

I do know all about Cardinal Richelieu, and while the Patriarch is somewhat similar (unintentional similarity, but now that you point it out it makes sense) he is also different.  He's kind of like Richelieu/the Wizard of Oz/the Grand Inquisitor.

There is corruption within the Order, but the Order tries to eliminate corruption from it's ranks.  Therefore, the banning of alcohol and spice was not designed for corrupt officials, but it is exploited by them.

Quote from: TybaltForgive me, I didn't mean to imply that you HAD no conflict, and so I'll try to be more clear if I can. I just meant that you could try another angle on it altogether that might create more of a sense of mystery for any players in your game.

Ok.  Thanks for the advice.