The Campaign Builder's Guild

Another setting start-up for me, and I'm running into my age-old problem of having too many different elements I want to include and not being sure I can get them all in.  (And possibly I'm trying to include stuff that's less about a setting for a game and more things that go into a story.)  Results in an annoying constant shift of focus.

So this thread is for my brainstorming, or more precisely brainstorm development.  I've got ideas, but I'm hoping someone will comment or ask a question or have a suggestion that'll produce the key I need to pick one of my focuses to actually go with.


The genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Creature and race design would definitely feature fantasy animals: griffons, pegasus, dragons, etc.


Magic-like elements include a non-genetic interited quality that produces, among other things, longevity and an entire race of beings who live as masks that can animate objects for them to use as bodies.

Plants feature very prominently in the "ancients" mythos: the devices used to create the lesser races were giant sentient trees, a race of semi-humanoid plant creatures that may be "children" of these trees, space-(or air-)ships that look wooden because they are still-living plants.  And at least one civilization still has some limited access to these fantastic plant-based technologies.


Beyond that needs some more focus on what the setting would be, so I'll just leave you with an image I think expresses some of what I want to accomplish:

This definitely seems to be a campaign with a high focus on originality and wonder.
You want to combine fantasy and sci-fi in some way, so i think you should go with sci-fi elements, but perhaps base them on pseudo-sciences instead of real science. So scour the internet for old technologies that were later discovered to be pretty damn fake... Ideas could be astrology, cold fusion, human cloning etc. etc. (astrology-based weapons? hmm...) Biotechnology would feature heavily, of course. You mention the mask-creatures; maybe they could be the remnants of the ancient space ents (not as derogatory as it sounds; actually a nice idea with progenitor trees if you ask me). If the masks are made of wood, this seems like a natural step to take.    
As sci-fi it probably has to go beyond a single planet, but i don't think you should focus on an too large a system. Portals and FTL doesn't seem to fit in well. So 1-7 star systems or so with a dozen planets each. I think it would be cool to focus on the nature on each planet and gather civilization in a mega-city or something like that on each planet.  
Hmm, i have the phrase "Shamanism in space" in my head but i don't know what to do with it. Maybe you could have tribes of spaceship-farers flying aimlessly between planets as nomads. Also, you could focus on space being another aspect of nature and having Vacuum Druids or some such.
Hope this helps? Was it anything like what you were looking for?

Seems like good seeds for an exotic universe. The last picture is awesome, but doesn't tell much all by itself. I like the plant-based technology.

To get started you could decide some basic stuff:
* Rough scope of the setting. Planetary system? Solar system? Galactic? Intergalactic? Multiverse?
* What is the primary form of transportation? Portals/wormholes? Spaceships? FTL? Hyperspace?
* Is space similar to real space, or is it more fantastic (like a sea of aether)?

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawThe genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Do you think it might be better called science fantasy then? Or even space fantasy?

I once had a dream* that the earth was sentient and, in its loneliness, created life in an attempt to reach out to other planets.  Evolution is the process by which earth has patiently guided its creations towards the stars.  It would be cool if your planets were just big version of the spaceships, is all I'm saying.  Anyway, I think this is a fun idea.

* May have been self-induced by ingestion of fungi.

Okay, some great responses.  Let's see if I can answer them all.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowYou want to combine fantasy and sci-fi in some way, so i think you should go with sci-fi elements, but perhaps base them on pseudo-sciences instead of real science. So scour the internet for old technologies that were later discovered to be pretty damn fake... Ideas could be astrology, cold fusion, human cloning etc. etc. (astrology-based weapons? hmm...)

That's a very good idea, as I've definitely got one or two other pseudo-science ideas in my storage vault.  I thin I'll pass on the stuff that's closer to spirituality, like astrology.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowBiotechnology would feature heavily, of course. You mention the mask-creatures; maybe they could be the remnants of the ancient space ents (not as derogatory as it sounds; actually a nice idea with progenitor trees if you ask me). If the masks are made of wood, this seems like a natural step to take.

I wonder where you got the idea I was going for the ancients to be space ents (the plant beings are, mostly, but they're not any more ancient than the other races).  At this point the Ancients who started this whole mess are being kept vague so that I don't trap myself into anything.  I do have some ideas, including things like schisms they had, but right now they're left mysterious.

The Masks = remnants of plant beings is actually a really good idea.  Possibly they're something like ancient ritual items created by regressed lesser races from bark broken off the sentient trees.  The reason they have sentience is because breaking off the bark is like slicing off a twig and placing it in the ground: the tree grows out of any still-living bits.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowAs sci-fi it probably has to go beyond a single planet, but i don't think you should focus on an too large a system. Portals and FTL doesn't seem to fit in well. So 1-7 star systems or so with a dozen planets each. I think it would be cool to focus on the nature on each planet and gather civilization in a mega-city or something like that on each planet.

That's too limited for my tastes, unless I do a rather strange universe.  The thing is I like having a huge bunch of planets to work with (assuming I'm working with multiple), even if the PCs never left their home city.  I just like there to be so many that I can never run out of space to justify stuff in.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowHmm, i have the phrase "Shamanism in space" in my head but i don't know what to do with it. Maybe you could have tribes of spaceship-farers flying aimlessly between planets as nomads. Also, you could focus on space being another aspect of nature and having Vacuum Druids or some such.

I've never been very good with religion.  Nomads I can do, but any kind of religion or spiritual reverence trips me up.

Quote from: GhostmanThe last picture is awesome, but doesn't tell much all by itself.

That was more just because it felt like it could mean something rather than it meaning something currently.

Quote from: GhostmanTo get started you could decide some basic stuff:
* Rough scope of the setting. Planetary system? Solar system? Galactic? Intergalactic? Multiverse?
* What is the primary form of transportation? Portals/wormholes? Spaceships? FTL? Hyperspace?
* Is space similar to real space, or is it more fantastic (like a sea of aether)?

Yeah, these are the sort of question that give me trouble.  So many different answers are each so cool it's hard to pick between them.
It's one of the reasons I reuse old stuff so often: if I like something enough to remember it like that I really like it.

Quote from: Ghostman

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawThe genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Do you think it might be better called science fantasy then? Or even space fantasy?

The way people define things around here I'm careful not to say that this is fantasy, only that it sometimes looks like fantasy.

Quote from: EladrisIt would be cool if your planets were just big version of the spaceships, is all I'm saying.

That may be more 'Gaia hypothesis' then I'm think I'm interested in.  I do like to have familiar elements, which would include planets being basically as we know them.

I do have a civilization that roams around in giant spaceships, though.

Here's some more stuff to add to the storm:

Cryostatics: Generating electricity by drawing off the static that exists in a cold space.  (But you still need a gas, so doesn't work in a vacuum.)

Stormstar: An area of positive charge is created inside a metal globe.  The air inside the surrounding chamber becomes saturated with attracted negative charge, which manifests in a storm of small lightening bolts.  Charge siphons connected to the central globes draw off the electricity that strikes the globe, so that the positive charge inside is never neutralized.  The only fuel the reaction needs is a constant influx of air.  The method is so named because the constant lighting strikes on around the central globe cause it to glow like a faint star.
Electricity can also be generated by siphoning the lightening that tries to strike the positively charged around around the air exhaust.

The Waves: The natural movement of [medium or force yet to be determined, possibly spacetime] in sweeping fronts.  Spaceships can "ride" these waves - achieving FTL - in one of two waves:
* "Surfing": the ship is allowed to be almost at the mercy of the waves, but a skilled surfer can navigate the hidden currents to dramatically cut-down travel time or weave their way into areas of chaotic current.  Only small ships can use this method.
* "Sailing": Larger ships respond to more powerful waves and so stick mostly to certain routes but don't get buffered as often.  There is still an upper limit on size.
(There's also a secret third method that allows one to "drill" right through the waves.)
Compared to other travel methods these may not seem all that great, but in fact they are much more energy efficient as one does not need FTL propulsion, only a harness for riding the waves.

The Great Ships (working title): A group of asteroid-sized ships that endlessly wander known space and contain a civilization of their own.  Each ship achieves stellar travel by means of a mysterious, sentient "ring" that hovers around the ship, and which only special initiated members of a religion can communicate with.

Energy Pattern Life-Forms: Energy in a pattern can be self-sustaining.  If enough of these patterns, with some variability, stick together they can form an energy life-form with intelligence and occasionally even sentience.  The Ancients were even able to create these major patterns and give them instructions for manipulating matter and energy.  These are known as "living programs".

Competing Philosophies (Design Note: details have been borrowed from real life Buddhism)
In the known universe there are two main schools of thought on the nature of existence: materialism and mentalism, known in Takai as Tenkai or Tenkism and Shakkai or Shakkism, respectively.  The main question each attempts to address is 'Why do we suffer?', and their main difference comes from what part of one's being it is most important to focus on.  Neither is intended as a religion but as a lifestyle, though the rivalry between the two has been known to get as zealous as any religious conflict.
'"Materialism (aka Tenkai)
*Materialists hold that there is no special inner self.  Our entire being is made up of parts of the universe, and we are only making ourselves suffer by questing for an inner self separate from the rest.  The confusion comes from our mind, which as we live becomes cluttered with contradictory information to the point at which we convince ourselves that there must be something, buried under the clutter, which we have been cut off from.  We suffer because we search when there is nothing to find.  To end our suffering we must let go of the search, let go of the notion of inner self, release the clutter from our minds and live immersed in material of the universe.
'"Mentalism (aka Shakkai)
*Mentalists believe that the mind (or at least part of the mind) is separate from the body but bound by the material world into an endless torture by the false need for material.  To free the mind one must renounce material needs and wants and respond only to the desires of the mind.  Only once the mind can no longer be bound and controlled by the material world shall it be free.  (In fact greatest form of death Mentalists can imagine is dying of starvation or dehydration while pursuing some piece of information.)

Government Name: Constellation Alliance (capital: Ursus Minor)
----Government Type: Standard benevolent super-republic plagued by annoying bureaucracy.
----General Culture: Capitalist consumers who like to get their information from news media and place importance on one's visual appearance and perceived image.

Alien Species: To be described on a case-by-case basis.  No aliens differ notably from humans in terms of psychology.

Star Rangers
Motto: "Shine with Truth, Justice, Freedom!"
HQ: "The Observatory"
----Ranks:
Cadet
Officer
Lieutenant
Captain
Major
Commander
Marshal
Grand Marshal

"The Constellation Alliance, the greatest force for peace in the known galaxy. Composed of various semi-independant member nations both tiny and huge the Alliance is a union dedicated to the betterment of the entire universe via the inclusive process of democracy. But Evil has the advantage of dictatorship, meaning the Alliance can't afford to wait for everyone to agree when the Psion Collective mind-slaves a planet or the ----- Empire threatens to use a new superweapon. That's when the Alliance needs beings of extraordinary talent to stand up, put aside their differences, and fight for Truth, Justice, and Freedom!  YOU can be one of those beings.  Join up and become a Star Ranger today!

The Star Rangers: Shine with Truth, Justice, Freedom!" -- Star Rangers official recruitment pitch

Business Names:
----StrongByte Security

Random Alliance Planets:
----Crokkus: swamp planet
----Kali Flower: planet of deadly plants and major agricultural producer
----REH 3: savage frontier planet filled with deadly creatures and cults

Alliance Allies:
----The Taurian League (capital: K-Taurus): A mutual protection alliance between several hexpedal species.
----The United Planets System
----The Star Court

Evil Enemies:
----Psion Collective: A not-secret secret society that espouses belief in the "power of the sentient mind over reality" and the idea that by joining all the minds of the universe together they can bring about an age of pure harmony.  Naturally considering themselves superior they have decided to "enlighten" everyone else for their own good by whatever means necessary.

(Fortunately they have a tendency to overbelieve in their powers and dismiss the idea that the "mind-blind" and their "material crutches" could ever prevail.)

Race information culled from my previous sources:

(Note: Panian: my substitute for "humanoid".  "Hominid" is the descriptor for something closer to human resemblence.)

Heyaafoura: A very unique species resembling mantid insects, heyaafoura are not in fact biological organisms. Though their bodies mimic biological functions there non-bio nature can be seen in their ability to upgrade via modular parts.
The basic form of a heyaafoura is a nearly rectangular semi-chitonous torso, with appendages at each corner and one pair in the middle. The legs each have two normal joints and one "wrist" joint, plus a "hand" with an average of six finger-like claws. Their heads are triangular with the point toward the jawed mouth and large eyes at the other points. They do not possess any form of antenna.
All other aspects of heyaafoura appearance depend upon what parts they have on their bodies: they can be large and hulking or smaller and thin; they may utilize four of their appendages as legs or only two; color can vary, but is usually either a sandy gold or dark blue-grey. The parts are easy to deal with: the heyaafoura enters a "trance" and then can just tug out a part and place in a new one. The only limitation to this procedure is that the brain of the individual is unreplaceable.
Heyaafoura reproduction is surprisingly simple method given their "biology": each mating individual, and there can be more than one, produces a "seed part" which can then be attached together and grow into a new heyaafoura.

Tek: A species with wide physiological variability due to a genetic quirk: during gestation a tek's genome regarding their outer appearance mutates and rearranges itself constantly, shut down only by the presence of a certain hormone. From then on a tek's appearance remains stable, only affected by normal aging hormones.
This gestation-form-shifting means that there is no one tek look, thought they are all panians. Tek can most often be said to resemble other creatures: feline, canine, equine, lapine, and rodent are a few of the possibilities. Mammalian tends to be the most common, however. Coloration varies widely, too, from muted to bright tones and in many kinds of patterns. Extra features such as additional tails or wings are uncommon but not rare.
Tek hybridize easily with many other panian species, though because non-tek genes are not as readily malliable the resulting offspring will still resemble the non-tek parent as usual for that species, and in fact their tek DNA seems to adapt so that the form will be mostly from that parent.

Koryuu: One of the more extreme-living species in the galaxy, Koryuu are capable of surviving in environments ranging though hot, cold, arid, and even a semi-aquatic existence. Their digestive systems are especially tough, allowing them to eat foods that would sicken or kill other beings. Their eyes can see into the infrared spectrum and their hearing is quite accute, allowing them to operate relatively well in conditions of no light. There is one factor that limits their spread: they are quadrupedal, and their front paws do not have the manual dexterity for the complex work required to create and maintain interstellar technology. Thus they must rely on other species for travel.
A koyruu's head is somewhat feline with a short muzzle and large eyes, though more streamlined in that the muzzle widens toward the back and smoothly joins the cheek area. Their ears are large and pointed, matching the head in size. The body and legs are more canine, proportioned for running rather than sprinting. The tails are not long in relation to body length, and are usually covered in fur. Coloration is often various patterns of blue-black mixed with orange, red, and/or gold, though solid coloration of those latter three as well as blue hues are known. Eyes are mostly dark colors, red and purple being common.

Beyond those I can only give summaries of some ideas at this point:
Griffin: The beak is in fact a muzzle with a flexible coating that can harden and develop the hook for use in attack.  They actually have teeth.
Minotaurs: I just have a slight fondness for the bovine-human chimera, though the males would have the heads of bison instead.
"Demonic" horses: I based a character off this design, and I really enjoy her look.  Though I might just roll this into the Tek (see above).
Eel-snakes and frog-lizards: I actually don't know what these two really are, but I like the ideas for some reason.
Jird: Giant gerbils.  I realize it seems silly, but I keep coming back to them.
Humans: Unlike other settings where they're all generic and bland they'd have a bunch of genetically-modified sub-races.

Having thought about it some more (and having seen a good movie on the subject), I think I'll go back to using islands.  The question is how to emphasize the islands not just as part of the setting but as most of the setting.

I could probably do a world of all islands, but that just seems too cheap.

A better way is to make it so that the interior of the nearest continent (and maybe all of them) is too hot and dry to support life.  From some science programs I watched (admittedly not making me an expert) you can get this with a Pangea-like continent, but that also results in huge hurricanes which I don't need.  Instead the old fall-back of "magical disaster displaces people" has a nice ring to it because it establishes two nice things: 1) a place of old stuff and mystery that's dangerous to go to but might have potentially powerful stuff (i.e. the central desert full of ruins), 2) the "lesson of the past" that can have an effect on what people believe in the present day.

Might have missed something, but when you say islands, are you talking about a single planet, or are you dropping the entire interstellar concept? I reckon the former?

That's me, unfortunately: my focus is going to jump between ideas.

One thing you can trust me on is that if I say a word I most probably mean it in its original definition.  So "islands" means "land surrounded by water on a planet's surface", and if I were going to use it in a non-standard context I'd try to make sure I explained that context.

Now I guess there could be some confusion as to whether I'd use multiple planets in some way still.  Like I said before, I volley, so there's no real predicting.  Still, putting an emphasis on sailing adventures means I'd probably want to avoid the bypassing of obstacles that comes with vertical methods (i.e. flight), so even if there were more than one planet involved there wouldn't be spaceships.

Seems in tune with the more "organic" feel of the setting and tech that you wouldn't use spaceships. But is it still sci-fi-ish then? Or are you moving back to standard fantasy with some pseudo-tech?

A "water world" type setting has plenty of potential for wondrous technology. You could have artificial, floating islands assembled from living and non-living components. Or Julesvernean submarines exploring the depths of the sea with scuba divers riding tamed marine animals.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowSeems in tune with the more "organic" feel of the setting and tech that you wouldn't use spaceships.

I don't consider them mutually exclusive.  The thought of organic spaceships is part of what started me thinking about them.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowBut is it still sci-fi-ish then? Or are you moving back to standard fantasy with some pseudo-tech?

That's the real big problem for me: I actually don't want to choose.  I'd rather do something where I could have both and they wouldn't mess up each others' feel.

Quote from: GhostmanA "water world" type setting has plenty of potential for wondrous technology. You could have artificial, floating islands assembled from living and non-living components. Or Julesvernean submarines exploring the depths of the sea with scuba divers riding tamed marine animals.

I like adventures on the sea but I actually get a little uncomfortable imagining stuff happening under the surface so I usually pass on that idea.

I've got a better idea of how this could work, now, let's hope I can keep it:

I've already got a previous idea of connecting planets via stretches of their surface that blend together.  I'm thinking my islands will sit on a trade route that stretches between two of them.
Since the trade route is the most profitable thing around most people have no reason to venture to the continental coasts, which are pretty barren anyway except for some savanna and swamps.  However there are reasons for thrill-seeking adventurers to visit.
Connection to other planets means a variety of species and cultures.  The main cultures of the region would be based on stuff from the Indian Ocean.
I'm still working on the setting type, but it would probably be fantasy that props itself up with sci-fi elements rather than magic.  By that I mean you'd have "magitech" devices, but they'd actually be "technology/science indistinguishable from magic".  I can't quite comment on what Earth tech level era we'd compare it to because the pseudo-magitech might vary wildly in what it can mimic.