• Welcome to The Campaign Builder's Guild.
 

Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Started by Endless_Helix, July 31, 2006, 12:00:04 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Endless_Helix

The Gnomish Monastaries need a bit of help. I'm a bit stuck on them. Thanks
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Numinous

I'm not sure I liek gnomes being religious monastic people, but I also have a natural hatred for gnome sin general, so let's see here...

I suggest giving the fochlucan monastery a library, seeing as how it's based upon knowledge.  Perhaps some adventure hooks could be provided for each monastery, like a book had been stolen from the fochlucan and need sot be recovered or information is recorded there and must eb retrieved before the competition finds it.

Lem sounds pretty cool, and isoltionsists are always awesome.  Adventure hook: Terra cotta warriors are attacking other people, and someone has to find the Lem and figure out why?

Eserak is awesome.  Perhaps they would have isolated cults based on recruiting others to their beliefs?

Alkanagosh sounds fine, although if you want it to be more interesting, something dynamic is a must. As this place seems rather dull, unless used as a place of origin for a PC perhaps?

Galifa is nice, a benevolent patron to the party perhaps?  rather dull if left to be an independent organisation left to it's own devices.

Sajadeen is nice, but these monasteries seem to overlap a lot.  If I were you, I'd tie these arcane energies into the traditions of Sajadden, seeing as their location aids in this.

Ogjama is well, rather dull.  How do you intend to use these monasteries in your game?  Influential organisations or just static in the background.  If they're just aesthetically pleasing pieces of the scenery, then what you have already is fine.  you need much more however, if you want all but the most curious PC's to just gloss over these locations and schools.

Shegatho is so isolated, I fail to see how much of the world would even recognise it's existence.

Also, you mention that soem of the monasteries have been attacked, or repel attack.  Why would anyone want to attack such places which hold little power or influence?

I'm not really sure what you wanted, but I hope I helped.
Previously: Natural 20, Critical Threat, Rose of Montague
- Currently working on: The Smoking Hills - A bottom-up, seat-of-my-pants, fairy tale adventure!

Endless_Helix

Like you, many people hate the gnomes. Also, the monastaries are small, isolated communities, which looks lovley to the stupider raiders.  Gnomes are small, have alot of amassed arcane and occult knowledge, and a lot of wealth disporportionate to their physical power. They also compete with The Church of Four and to an extent, The Cabinet from Ursaiden. And they have a quiet war with the Yuan ti over buried hateseeds in the Divide, particularly near Shematho.

Here's some ideas for revamps:

-Shematho is so isolationist because they want the area they guard to be as overlooked as possible. In the caverns below the monastary, an ancient weapons cache exists, including an intact hateseed. Yuan ti spies and commandos besiege the lower levels, while the elders attempt to destroy the hateseed.

- Sajadeen hides  ancient seals that bind some dark spirit from the War of the Aeon. The seals bind thirteen souls to keep this mysterious devil at bay, forever reincarnating to protect the world. The primary function of this monastary is seek those possess one of these souls, and to teach them their duty. These are known as Jade Pheonix Mages. 12 souls stand in the light but one has fallen to darkness and decrepitude. They were forced to kill the last bearer of this soul and are actively seeking the current host.

-Alkangosh is split in two major factions, one that adheres to the old ways of quietly tending gardens, and the other wishes to begin using their philosophy on the world at large. Open warfare has erupted twice in the last twenty years between the two factions, and many lives were lost. Trouble has been brewing for several years now, and fighting may erupt at any time. Yuan ti have infiltrated the monastary and are inciting violence as a cover while they desperately smuggle some of the more powerful artifacts, particularly ones that enhance plant growth, to aid in the seige against Shematho

-Have to think a bit more on Ogjamma

Also, I guess my theme here is to create a realistic alien world, that isn't traditional fantasy, but is still a complete world. So, I'm trying to make each piece pretty heavily crafted, with enough detail to be interesting. The gnomish monastaries were primarily inspired by the image of some adventurers accidently tripping over a gnome monk I made years ago, and his background.
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Numinous

Well, these new pieces are much better, IMO.  Lots more action involved, and a more in-depth explanation.  I especially like how you incorporated the Jade Phoenix mages into your game without making them seem out of place.
Previously: Natural 20, Critical Threat, Rose of Montague
- Currently working on: The Smoking Hills - A bottom-up, seat-of-my-pants, fairy tale adventure!

Endless_Helix

Here's a random idea I had,

The Draconic Conspiracy

[ic=Alganister Seiader]Long ago, when the world was young, and we gnomes were little more than a whisper in the gods' eyes, Dragons ruled the world. They mastered arcane mysteries far beyond our paltry knowledge. Their empire ruled three entire worlds, in it's golden age. Their power had no rival, save the gods. They crafted gargantuan cities that soared into the heavens, their legions of warriors outshone the sun is their mirrored armor. Alas, like all things, it was not to last. Arrogance killed the Empire. The dragons were so powerful that none could openly oppose them, but many dragons wished to conquer more, to build greater monuments to the gods, to be the greatest race to ever exist. This drained the Empire dry. Finally the poverty got so great that there was rebellion. This schism bled out into the other worlds, and the entire universe was at war. It eventually collapsed into utter chaos and the dragons were driven extinct. The universe continued it stuggle for a few centuries but once the dragons were gone, the heart of the struggle was removed. It took hundreds of thousands of years before the gods looked at this world again, there was far worse damage to deal with. Most of the fighting stayed far from this world, as it was merely a garden, a pleasure-home, for the dragons. That is where our tale began...[/ic]

But, what if the dragons weren't quite as extinct as previously believed? Dragon sightings are becoming more and more common, particularly around the Ruins of Chronosht and the Divide...

[spoiler=The Dragons]

When the dragons were certain that they would die, they hid caches of eggs on several worlds, including Daederak. These eggs hatched long after the disaster, but had magical servants that helped to understand their heritage. These dragons are now bent on regaining their former glory. They have infiltrated both the Yuan-ti and gnomish monastaries, especially the monastaries. The Yuan-ti are aware of the dragons and feel they are a major threat to their agenda. They are also aware of the draconist spies within their midst, and actively act to root them out. Their success rate is amazingly high for their actual abilities.

The dragons' other plans involve attempting to channel Matterplay's energies into their spell-casting. They're using the Kurchaali Empire to distract the Xao and the Shoals from their experiments. They've also attempted to turn Ursaiden into their tool, but the Cabinet's rigid control has made it difficult to form any footholds. The Cabinet is aware of a vague threat in the form of a "dragon-cult", but do not know about the origins of this cult. They're currently watching it for any suspicious behavior.

The dragons current bases of opperations are far out in the wastes of the ocean bottom, currently unaccessable to the civilizations on Daerderak.
[/spoiler]
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Tybalt

This looks really cool...I particularly like the use of dragons. A post apocalyptic setting for D&D, very interesting. What do you see as the main course of a campaign? Survival?

As for the gnomish monasteries, perhaps it is simply that they are repositories of ancient knowledge. It gives reason to that old AD&D idea of gnomes being illusionists, perhaps they use them to hide and protect the monasteries.
le coeur a ses raisons que le raison ne connait point

Note: Link to my current adenture path log http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3657733#post3657733

Endless_Helix

The main focus of the last campaign I ran in this was uncovering ancient secrets, accidently setting them loose, and having to back-pedal to save the remnants of the world. Basically everything is delicately balanced, and the PC's accidently drop a sledgehammer on the supports causing craziness to ensue.

This should resolve the questions on why the dragons are in the divide.
[spoiler=Motivations of Dragons]
The motivations of the dragons for infiltrating the monastaries are manifold. First of all, The Divide is fairly central, and consequently any spies don't have to go to the ends of the earth to find who they're supposed to report to. Second, while the dragons are certainly more advanced than the gnomes in many way, the gnomes have a lot of information that even they don't understand, and the monastaries formed before the dragons began to manipulate the continent, so they've got a lot of information from before the disaster. The dragons want access to this knowledge; they don't have access to gradeur of their forbears and wish to regain their former glory. Third, the ancient artifacts beneath the monastaries are immensely powerful and would be amazingly powerful in the grasp of the dragons. Or their enemies. Thus the dragons need to occupy that area or be wiped off the face of the planet by the Yuan-ti or extraplanar entities with a grudge to settle from the ancient wars.
[/spoiler]
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

Schoolworks seems to be thinning out for the weekend... hmmm RPG time! Yeah!

[ic=Alganister Seider] There's a threat beneath the earth. It will eventually consume all the world, you know. We can fight it with all our might, but we will yet fail. We have to win every time, until the end of time. It only has to win once. Our orders are devoted to protect the world from this danger, yet it already infiltrates every city in the world! Yes, this is the Yuan Ti, the deep folk. They undermine our homes and seek to enslave us all! Their dark magics slowly but surely warp the world even more. I have been down to the their vile city and seen their horrifying rituals! I watched them unearth a hateseed! They are the devourer of worlds, and will not stop untill they have all of us in their chains, like they once had me...
[/ic]

[spoiler= The Yuan Ti]
History
The Yuan Ti claim to be the children of the Reventant, who wandered the wastes 1000 years ago, claiming the Disaster was his fault. He has since disappeared, and the last recorded sighting was 900 years ago. The Revenent apparently created them to rule the world in his absence, as he would be bound for eternity. This proved true, and consequently they believe, heart and soul, that their race will attain heights greater than the dragons. They spent the last 900 years building their underground empire, and only recently have journeyed to the surface.

Once on the surface, their emperor, Szalaz II, decided that they would attempt to conquer it. They have spent these last years performing reconnaissance, finding the holes in the surface's defences, stealing their thaumaturgical artifacts, destabilizing the situation politically, and a host of other conspiracies.

Culture
The Yuan Ti are certainly more advanced than any city state on the surface, and are almost entirely geared towords the military. Swordplay, smithing, and unarmed combat are considered "fine" art, with little else to express creativity in, although sculpture is quite popular as well. They use magic to heat up the stone irregularly to provide color and visual texture. Most of the children are funneled into the military or into farming, which mostly includes fungus gardening and domesticated breeds of carrion crawlers. They're usually fed slaves or casualties of war.

Slavery is used to fuel the economy, and the slaves are used accross the board in society. Once they are turned into wretchlings, they're used as cannon-fodder for the more elite Yuan Ti soldiers are the kill-teams. The lucky few slaves that become servants are not turned into wretchlings and have the best prospects of those taken by the Yuan Ti. Most Yuan Ti slavers prey on small isolated villages, although they have become more militant in taking slaves recently; they may have had something to do with the fall of Felltrack.

Militarily the Yuan Ti use their wretchlings as meat shields for their elite teams of Yuan Ti abominations or hunters.  Hunters are search and destroy teams, trained in both information gathering and assassination. They have little by way of crowd control, and consequently rarely see an open battle field. Abominations are trained to unleash their primal frenzy and are used as the hammer to the wretchlings anvil.

Their primary goals on the surface are to gain access to all reasources and information that could help their cause, to infiltrate the surface, and eliminate all knowledge of their darker motives. The gnomes learned about the Yuan Ti and their plans soon after their first attempt on the Hateseed under Shematho. Since the enmity has grown immensely.
[/spoiler]
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

Skal

Population: 30,000: Gnome 33%, Orc 30%, Nezumi 17%, Iaiderach 10%, Changeling 7%, Xao 2%, Other 1%

History
Major Institutions

The Church of Four

The Church of Four, currently led by his Holiness Xenos II, is the driving force of Skal. Skal isn't so much a theocracy as a cluster of worshippers around the church, and those who would exploit those worshippers.

The Cult of Dalmien
Leader: Yng Yng (Xao Cleric 8 )

The Cult of Dalmien act mostly as the restraint for the Harriers, by supplying them with mages and providing some funding. Yng Yng has acted mostly to restrain the Harriers, although many of his enemies have gone accused of crimes that they may or may not have commited. It's also managed to get the Harriers elminating the Given when they can.
The Harriers
The Harriers are the defacto police force. They are technically a citizen's militia, organized around Xilax Urghak, a highly decorated retired legionaire from the Kurchaali Empire (Male Iaiderach FTR 5/Bloodstorm Blade 3, LE). He was once one of the greatest commanders in Kurchaal, but was exiled after he led the late Prince Rasashadrak to death in an attack on a Xao settlement. Secretly, he is a spy for the Kurchaali Empire. He has been consoldating his forces in the Harriers.

So far, only one of Xilax's non-Iaiderach lieutenants has caught on. Urdan Varesh (Orc Barbarian 1/Rogue 3/ Master Inquisitive 2 CN) has a history of being a renegade, having stormed away from the gladiator pits on account of a disaggreement with Klis (Nezumi Male Aristocrat 2, NE), the owner. He has since shaken up the Harrier with a radical new way catching criminals, called finding proof. However, Xilax has cut a deal with Urdan to keep quiet, as nothing will happen for years.

The Harriers have close ties to both
Suliem Trading Cartel
Slavers
The Given


Authority Figures
Shops and Landmarks
Geography
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands

Endless_Helix

Reserved for the Kurchaali Empire
I am Brother Nail Gun of Reasoned Discussion! Fear the Unitarian Jihad!

My Campaign Settings
 Orrery
Orrery Brainstorming
 Daerderak, The Infernal Sands