The Origin of Humanity

[Tybalt]

I was reading through the old box of AD&D stuff I have on an upper shelf and came across a module I'd always kind of liked but never had used fully: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. This is a sort of odd adventure where a crashed spaceship (from ages ago) has been exposed partially by a landslide, and a door has opened permitting strange creatures that had begun breeding after automated release which bother local inhabitants.

Then it occured to me: what if THAT was the origin of humanity ages ago, the cataclysm I couldn't quite figure out? What if not only the piece of starcraft landing but also the dimensional hole that permitted it entry had caused a disaster that destroyed the non-human civilizations, leaving only post apocalyptic remnants? It's sort of a reverse of the Elfquest idea.

The craft was huge, and was on a long exploratory mission. It had been gathering strange specimens as well as conducting experiments in human adaptability; the advance vessel as it were for a great colonization effort. However (as per the module) a plague aboard forced them to separate the ship into modules. One of them struck a dimensional hole. A number of lifepods were jettisoned. The intention of those who had survived the crash of the ship module itself was to make contact with the others. They found however to their dismay that the hangar containing the aviation gear had been irreperably destroyed. They would have to establish a working colony first, then search for survivors.

The extent of the disaster was only fully felt later on; the survivors of the main crash site were subject to a mutiny at the colony site itself following abuses of their android servants by some of their number. Those who survived either fled or in a few cases were preserved in stasis for potential usefulness. Unfortunately in vengeance for the damage that the crash had caused a force of humanoids,  their civilization destroyed as their crops had failed, their population decimated by the plague, arrived and slaughtered most of the androids. The humanoid civilization (decadent at any rate) never recovered ;it degenerated into warring tribes that were forced to reject civilized behavior altogether, chosing deliberately to be savage and brutal in order to survive.

Meanwhile, the humans from the number of lifepods began to fluorish. Some of them made alliances with the native population. They themselves degenerated, for without their equipment or even much more than the weapons they initially had they were forced to learn new sciences that fit the world they had come to. All human nations have a set of legends about their origin from godlike beings much like themselves. This is the basis of it in my campaign world as I'm seeing it at the moment.

Because it was so very long ago it truly is legendary; there aren't even any elves who properly remember what happened.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

I love it.  I always try to give history twists that people don't see coming.  It gives you the chance to have the PCs discover the ruins and put things together, blowing away their concept of history, gods, and their place in the world.

[Epic Meepo]

For a perfect example of an origin story like this one, I would recommend reading the novel Black Sun Rising, by C.S. Friedman, and its two sequels.

EDIT: Typed the correct name for the book this time. "Black," not "dark."

[Tybalt]

Interesting, I'll have to check that one out. I like that author.

A player in my game asked this question rhetorically but then later of another player: "Why do the humanoid tribes hate us? There must be a reason of some kind." This might have just been character play, and my players are very good at that. But I had an interesting thought about this as well. The humanoid tribes probably have  their legends of how the humans robbed them of once wonderful bounteous and pleasure filled lives. Furthermore, I was thinking of having the crashed ship and the first colony site somewhere in what in my game is called Goblinland, and that the creatures that issue out of the ship from time to time are forcing the humanoids to relocate. This of course doesn't take away from the fact that many of them are demon worshipping monsters, but it does explain their actions.

[DeeL]

I could go on at great length about the origins of humanity in my CS, but I think I shall abstain.  Suffice it to say, it all started with J. R. R. Tolkien.

Ever read the Silmarillion?  Within it, Tolkien goes to great lengths to explain the origin of Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Trolls, and even Orcs (indirectly.)  But when he got to humans, he just kind of had them 'awaken' offstage, had Morgoth meet them first, and then had them amble into the narrative, already shadowed by evil but filled with heroic potential.

Tolkiens motives were straightforward - he wanted to create a kind of English Mythology, but consistent with the biblical account.  (Serpent = Morgoth)  But as the creator of the quintessential Campaign Setting, he set a precedent that bad authors have been following ever since.  Everybody else gets an origin story, then humans just kind of amble into the narrative...

Whatever flaws my setting has, I avoided that one at least.  Greyhawk doesn't particularly include an origin story for anyone, but you might just have rectified that, Tybalt.  I shall be following this thread with some interest.

[CYMRO]

"Why do the humanoid tribes hate us? There must be a reason of some kind."

Of course, you can always use the old Botany Bay ploy.  A human crewed starship was relocating proto-goblinoids to a Re-Education Center when the crash occured.  The holding cells were not well shielded from the faulty engines, causing early muations into goblins, bugbears, hobgoblins, and orcs.  The crew could not contain their charges, who escaped and were fruitful and multiplied.

[Tybalt]

The Botany Bay thing might work...I'll have to think about that one. If you have further ideas on how to make it work out please let me know.

The fate of the androids is another important part of the tale. Not all aligned with the mutineers. Some are perhaps the orgins of humanlike beings of great power who came to teach important crafts in some legends. (like Prometheus or Quezalcoatl) Some remained with the ship or other facilities, able to function but not able to leave for lack of instruction. Some others of course were among the mutineers. They yet remain, some of them, here and there, mostly in isolated areas. There is a legend of a plateau in a mountain valley where a vast treasure trove is guarded by undying warriors who have power over the element of fire.

[So-Keher]

I think there is a module on the dnd website about an extraterrestrial landing of some sort (check me on that). it could be one of the pods just being found after hundreds of years and it was forgotten in time.

[Tybalt]

Thank you, I'll go exploring and look for that one.

What I have so far though is the ship module for "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" and a pair of modified adventures from Gamma World. I don't want to totally unabalance my game with all this stuff however so it won't happen till later on in my campaign. This is more of a backstory thing.

Having thought of this stuff I'm re-ordering the thread of my campaign. The first part is going to be about a war with the humanoids and with one of the human nations lying to the west of New Edom. The small nation will be all but overrun, and the players will have an important part (gradually) in freeing themselves from occupation. In part this will involve discovering that the goblins live over the ruins of some ancient civilization (though little will remain to tell of what folk lived there or much about it at all.) After the war will come some time to do some mapping and exploration of captured goblin territory...

[Tybalt]

Some facts:

1. Psionics is limited to humans and the ethereal/transdimensional because it is not native to the world. On the other hand, magic is, and therefore those humans who adopted magic felt the psionicists to be rivals and did their best to discredit or destroy them. Psionicists are very rare, and are either part of secretive societies or else are limited to strange individuals.

2. There is a very simple reason for why most of the human religions in my world are frauds: it is because most of the so called 'gods' don't really exist. They are memories, legends, of a time when people were LIKE gods. This doesn't mean all spirituality is false, but much of it is. Other religions like those of the Dwarves or Lizard Folk are blatantly ancestor worship, while elves for instance simply revere the source of creation. Demons do exist, and most humanoid tribes worship those, as do some human nations. Some faiths, like druidism, are actually gaining power from understanding of nature and communion with an ancient race that exists on a higher plane.

3. The humans that arrived were of various 'races' and gradually separated according to that where possible. However, there are anomalies compared with an 'Earth' type world. For instance, there are blonde savages found in the tropical subcontinent to the west, while the dominant civilization in that area is ruled by dark skinned black haired folk.

[Deadhand]

The City of the Goddess

A faction formed out of the dimensional refugees had strong Gaian and feminist views, and it was one of those that managed to retain a certain level of higher technology. Part of the reason for this was a high percentage of people with psionic ability among this group, who used it to try to create an ideal society. As they faced the usual trials and difficulties of attempting social revolution the more fanatical began to take hold of things, until what emerged was not merely a matriarchal/gynocratic society but one in which men were entirely ostracized. They built a fortified city which would be fully self contained, able to support itself by a constant recycling of local resources. The machines that enabled it to function would be powered by psionics so that they would not have to use fuel. They created a 'religion' for the outcast men in which women were worshipped as goddesses, and used 'shrines' as points of contact in which devices powered by psionics could be used to determine the thoughts and send dreams to their 'worshippers'.

(I'm aware that I'm stealing this idea from a book "The Shore of Women" but I'm also adapting it to my game)

The present result is a mysterious, vast walled city with glittering towers, largely now surrounding by wilderness, in the southernmost part of the great penninsula of Goblinland. Because it is so remote and because the inhabitants deliberately avoid curiousity about the outside world it has not been discovered. It is governed by a council but could not exist at all were it not for the small remaining handful of true psionicists (a number of leading families have some degree of a single talent or two) who make it possible for the city to run. Most of the citizens lead sheltered lives, barely aware that there IS an outside world. The small handful of male tribesmen living outside of the city have for generations been kept deliberately primitive, and believe that only the city can protect them from the humanoids living to the north. The humanoids by contrast have more powerful weapons and have now and then staged raids to obtain slaves.

The humanoid tribes are wary of the mysterious city to the south. The only encounters they have with the inhabitants are through their airships, which appear to be glowing spheres about twenty to fifty feet in diameter that can cause objects to shatter or burst into flame. This includes living objects and both the male tribesmen and humanoids tend to run and hide in terror when they see one floating towards them. Because it requires psionic energy to run the spheres they are rarely used over any significant distance.

Inside, there is some concern over whether or not inbreeding might be breeding out psionic ability. The shrines are used to collect semen and to test males for latent talent (indeed, tribal shamans tend to be such people) but even among them it is dying out.

The inhabitants are capable of most of the psionic abilities but tend to use machinery as a medium. This machinery is often beautiful and impressive, and there is little of the clumsy or mechanical to it.