The Campaign Builder's Guild

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Introduction

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Ten years ago the foreign nations of Kargea and Alacaron sold their colonies in the stretch of land known as the Wilds to the Republic of Santa Alvara. Now, ten years later, the Republic struggles to control the boom towns and savage colonies of the Wilds. In the past ten years, millions of settlers have made the treacherous move from the industrial cities of east to the fertile plains and mountains of the Wilds and with these settlers come the Priests and Paladins of the All-Father, the Republic Marshals, and Rangers all looking to tame the Wilds.

The two regions are separated by the High-Spine Mountains, to the east are the overcrowded industrial cities of the east. Cloudcroft is one of the largest of these cities. It sits right at the foot of the High-Spines near the only pass to the Wilds. It is the gateway to the Wilds.

The Wilds are expansive; they have been divided into five territories: Chudero, Quemado, Vado, Amado, and Zoar.

[spoiler=Ethos]Theme: Savage vs. Civilization

This game is not a story of good vs. evil. Instead, this is a two sided tale with heroes and villains on both sides. The players can choose if they want to promote one philosophy over the other or neither. The philosophy of the Republic and the Wilds should be treated along the same lines as the worship of a deity or whether or not the character is a republican or democrat. It is important to character development and roleplaying, but usually does not grant any kind of game play boon.

The some people of the Wilds feel that the Republic has no right taking charge of the five territories. To them, it is just another distant ruler, no different than the foreign powers.

The people of the Republic often romanticize and dream about the Wilds and see the west as a land of opportunity. They all hope to make better lives for themselves. Some hope to run farms, some hope to hit it rich in mithril mines, and others just want to earn a fistful of gold coins.

Tone: Grim, dirty, and covered in dust

The game will run more along the lines of Clint Eastwood movies. The Wilds are rough and wild, dirty and grim. Cloudcroft is overcrowded, dirty, and depressing. This is a unbridled world of terror, adventure, and greed.

Tone: Greed is good

Everyone in this world wants wealth. The powerless want power, the poor want money, the oppressed want freedom and the free want more security. Everyone wants something and will pay anything for that. Ask yourself what your character wants? How far will you go to get that? Will you even sacrifice your best mates for that?

Magic:

Magic is a powerful tool of the people and is very common. They use it every day and it becomes an important aspect of civilization. From the animal messengers bringing messages across the country to the lights of a farmer's stead, it is all there. What this means is that some mundane dangers, just aren't dangerous anymore. Things like a cow kicking over a lantern in the farm are no longer a problem with an eternal flame lamp. However, now there are a whole slew of unnatural dangers to press against the settlers of the Wilds. Owlbears attack livestock, fire elementals make their way across the plains, dire vultures pick off people working their fields, and entire towns fall prey to necromantic machinations and become crazed zombies. The Wilds is filled with dangerous magic.

Technology:

Technology is at the same rate that you would see in any western story. Watermills grind grain, photographs can be taken, but they are such a rare thing that only the very rich and wealthy get their portraits taken, printing presses are available and produce books and newspapers, and most importantly guns are easily accessible. That is the fundamental difference between this game and others, guns are used all the time, and will be more akin to the clunky hand cannons of used by Pirates than the sleek six shooters of cowboys.

Inspiration:

I was first inspired when I picked up a copy of Fistful of Dollars. The Man with No Name trilogy and Clint Eastwood are such big inspirations for this project that it is almost impossible to get a very good feel for the setting without ever hearing of them. Naturally, we also will see more high fantasy then what is usually experienced when Western meets Fantasy/Horror.

To get a good feel for the setting watch:
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Fistful of Dollars
A Few Dollars More
Duck You Sucker A.K.A. Fistful of Dynamite
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Firefly
Serenity
Any John Wayne Movie

Then Read:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen
A Louis L'Amour book
The Eye Witness Book on Cowboys
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