Mythica

[Gnomemaster]

A Brief Introduction

The world of Mythica has been growing in leaps and bounds. I have always wanted a setting that was new and unique. I want a world where the standard concepts of High Fantasy are challenged (Basically everything the Player's Handbook says about how to be an elf). I first thought of combining the intense World War II combat of Band of Brothers with the deep rooted, lore filled campaign setting Forgotten Realms which is where this idea spawned.

[spoiler=Introduction] Theme: World War II Action, High Fantasy Story

Leave your computer and watch Saving Private Ryan or pick up your copy of Company of Heroes or Medal of Honor and play it. Do you see the grime everywhere? The tough as nails, dirty, unshaven and grimly determined marine gunning down Nazis in their gray coats? Now apply that gritty feel to a fantasy setting. It isn't working? Let me help.

The Old War was devastating. It left such a terrible taste in everyone's mouth that no one is interested in warring anymore. Some even call it the Final War in the hopes that the world will never have to be the stage for another Slaughterhouse again. During the war, the benevolent king of the Elves, Galdor Taralom who had two sons, Arafinwe and Miriel, died. Arafinwe, the eldest son, was crowned in a beautiful ceremony, but was seen weeping afterwards because his brother could not be there. Miriel was busy defending the kingdom on the western front against the hordes of humans and half-elves.

Miriel enjoyed his time in combat, fighting with reckless abandon. The young prince was wounded seventeen times requiring him to have a priest-healer of the All-Father nearby at all times. At the end of the war, Miriel felt lost. He wandered the central kingdoms, avoiding his return home. He grew disgusted with the subservient role the Elves began to take on at the hands of the lesser races. During this time he began working for the Order of Aurnia's Star, a sect that believes that the Elven Race is the mightiest because the All-Father created them first.

Thirteen years after the war, Miriel committed his first act of rebellion. After a failed coup against a local half-elf lord Miriel and several of the Order were imprisoned for two years. During that time Miriel honed his skill and began consulting with a mage dedicated to one of Dark Lords. He realized that he could not save his country by assaulting petty nobles, he would have to take the entire kingdom by force.

Four years with a full compliment of warrior priests from the Order of Aurnia's Star, Miriel stole the forest throne from his brother. While Arafinwe fled to foreign lands, Miriel reignited the pride of the elven people. With the zealotry and religious backing of the Order he pushed his dogma of Elven supremacy.

The Elven nation slowly stopped paying their tithes to the victors of the old war. Miriel slowly rebuilt the Elven military and made pacts of non-aggression with his neighbors. It would soon become apparent that Miriel had no plans of keeping his promises when he first invaded a small country of human and half-elf peasants. Taking back the land that was taking during the peace treaties of the Old War.

Sound Familiar? What if I were to tell that Miriel is the fantasy equivalent to Adolf Hitler? You may notice that not everything is exactly as it happened in WW II, and I am not surprised. While WW II is a huge inspiration for this game, that fact is not written in stone and you may notice that there are many discrepancies. Just remember that this is a fantastical representation of History, and that in an alternate time stream where guns are replaced with wands of Melf's Acid Arrow it works out just like this. Trust me.[/spoiler]

[limetom]

Grit.  I like grit.  World War II fantasy.  I like that too.

I'm sure you're going to get to this pretty soon, but I have a few questions as I read through this: Firstly, do you have a system you were intending for this?  Standard D&D?  Arcana Unearthed/Evolved?  Something else?

I'm sure you'll get to this later, but what was the cause of the Old War?  Who fought in it?  The elves against the humans and half-elves?  Was it more along nationalistic, religious, or some other kind of sectarian lines?  Something else entirely?

Personally, it seems almost too similar to World War II by the end.  Aside from adding a little more detail in the history between the Wars, which I'm sure you will get to eventually, I would try mixing it up a little more.  For example, what if the Elves had another allied state like Italy or German-occupied France or Franco's Spain that played a more significant role earlier in the War?  Or what if their military was more in ruins or more intact compared to Nazi Germany?  Or what if they didn't wait as long as Hitler did to start their hostile intentions?  Or what if the other nations didn't end concessions as soon as they did in our world?

Just some things to think on.

[Gnomemaster]

Well, here are some good questions. Which I love answering! This is a Dungeons and Dragons setting. Which is my favorite game. The biggest thing is the change over from 3.5 to 4e, but that won't be too big of a problem (except for the no gnomes, but who cares what they think).

for sake of the actual Old War, it doesn't matter how it started, most aren't even sure what happened. The war was pretty much along the same lines as the current war, humans, half-elves, halflings, and dwarves (who eventually dropped out as a new power took hold of the Dwarven Kingdom) against Elves, Orcs, and Gnomes.

I will answer your question concerning the different countries and factions in about an hour.

[Gnomemaster]

Ok, give me some time on this. I hope to make a nice looking thread for information only, and for this to be more of a discussion thread. My hopes is to make my thread look as nice as Luminous Crayon's Jade Stage.

Long and skinny of it is there are two factions:

The Alliance (The Axis)
The Elven Nation of Throribas  Nazi Germany
The Gnome Nation of Steamblack  Fascist Italy
The Orc Nation of Brundanthias  The Japanese Empire

 The Coalition of Light  The Allies
The Human Nation of Agibhea  America
The United Dwarven Kingdom (UDK)  Soviet Russia
The Half-Elven Nation of Qualinar  France
The Halfling Nation of Stratton England

Finally, Mythica is a completely Monotheistic society.

The All-Father is the one true God. He created the universe, and in doing so had to defend himself and his creations from the 6 Dark Lords (Ifibo, Vogru, Kykiel, Lithiel, Yushof, and Magog). There are hundreds of orders and sects in the church, and the church is neutral in the war.

For sake of game play however, a polytheistic view is needed. There are options for Clerics as far as domains go. The All-father does not grant any domains (just spells). However his 99 saints and protectors do. This gives the Players a chance to choose from a huge array of saints. There are 6 major ones that are incredibly popular, the rest are minor saints. Keep in mind that the saints are not gods, they are merely patrons of a specific character, and while a church, temple, or hospital may be named after a saint, it does not put the patron saint above the All-Father.

The top saints:
Parmodius: The Keeper of the keys to hell.
Quintus: The Voice and Herald of the All-Father, when a prophet says he spoke to the All-Father he actually spoke to Quintus.
Armand: The Vengeful first of the All-Father.
Radnor: The Knight-Protector of the All-Father's Realm.
Gamon: The Guardian of Forests and Glaids.
Aurnia: The wise golden lady.

[LordVreeg]

ok.  you brought out the Band of Brothers thing.  Now, I'll have to read this.  I'm such a sucker for that...

[Gnomemaster]

me too! Band of Brothers was actually my inspiration. As I watched the soldiers take out the four artillery guns I realized that is the kind of game I want to play.

Instead of Dungeons, the battlefield is the dungeon. Whether that may be a small fortress or a maze of trenches doesn't matter. This war isn't like Braveheart or Lord of the Rings where mobs of men run at each other. Instead it is more about small groups of soldiers facing off against other small groups.

Now, applying this to the game. We have technology replaced by magic and other Dungeons and Dragons fair. So instead of Artillery guns we see catapults, or more interestingly, special Artillery Golems with huge throwing arms and bags of holding slung on their shoulders full of ammunition. Or hill giants carrying a cannon like a rifle, then when he is out of bullets he swings it like a club.

Instead of airplanes we see the occasional dragon (the dragons will have a unique role in the war rather than just weapons) but more importantly, entire squadrons of Pegasuses, hippogryphs, griffins, dragones, and drakes facing off in glorious dog fights. The Flying Fortress is actually replaced by a real flying tower.

Tanks are replaces with Dire Tigers, Rhinoceros, and other war beasts.

All supported by highly skilled heroic soldiers fighting each other knee deep in blood, mud, guts, and glory.

And that's the War in Mythica in a nutshell.

[Illithid00]

I really like the gritty, war-torn ideas here! I've always been a fan of WWII and Band of Brothers. I'd love to hear more about how you're going to change game play to be suitable for large battlefields. What drives the PCs to be there, where do they get their treasure from, etc. More than that, are you going to make the PCs' actions matter in the large scope of the war? Meaning, do they have an affect on the outcome of the battles?

[Gnomemaster]

well it is definitely a whole part of the campaign. I know what the final out come is (at least I think so) but the Campaign is written so that the individual battles the players partake in can be decided by the players.

[SDragon]

I'm really enjoying this, so far. The whole nazi elf thing is a very nice touch, and the visuals of the weaponry replaced with various magical critters and creatures is very impressive. I can't wait to see more.

[LordVreeg]

I like the religion.  I think you've done well with the basics, and yet made it very flexible.  What Saints, tenetas, etc, does the Orc nation worship?  To get the feel I think you are going to need to go for, their needs to be a partial theism in their government, up to and including a warrior code and a near fanatical sense of duty.  
(you've set yourself up for a bunch of Lawful Orcs, my friend...I'd think of adding some more humanoids in here.)

Are you going to have an analogous africa campaign?
Is the leader of the Elves and his cabal going to have a connection/involvement with an early sidhe religion, complete with Spear of Destiny?

[Gnomemaster]

Well,I'm glad you asked. The Orcs are tough as the Japanese, but for me they will border on Samurai Japanese and the 1940s Japanese. They are passionate as well as dedicated to their Emperor. I think that these Orcs would worship their child-emperor, and believe that he is going to lead them into the new age of Orcdom.

Minotaurs live in africa and have plenty of resources the factions want. So, of course the Elves are going to push into there, and the Humans/halflings are going to fight back. Minotaurs are a mercenary group, and will work for the highest bidder. They actually care little about which country controls their land (for now) as long as they are getting paid. Minotaurs are not as intelligent as the other races, and therefore are easy prey.

Naturally there will be a "spear of destiny" element. More than likely, it will be the weapon of the first Elven hero, born millions of years ago when the world was built.