Bored Silly?

[Soup Nazi]

I've been kind of bored recently, so I thought I'd try to entertain myself with a little project. I want to write up something for the islands off the western coast of L'Landra and Rhoenheim, but I'm not sure what to put there. I'm willing to bet however, that the CBG community can up with some interesting ideas.

These are some things I've considered so far.

1. Pirates: I have in passing mentioned smuggling and piracy several times throughout the setting, and it would be cool to have a lawless pirate city out here, complete with booze, rowdy brawls, burried treasure, and various outlaw types. It's even possible that the islands were once a prison colony, that have since come unto their own...

2. The Tarrasque: I've thought about many of the old Godzilla movies and Monster Island, quite a bit in recent memory. It might be cool to have a wild, untamed, semi-tropical, volcanic island where the beast roams around, and I could even give it a swim movement so it could ravage Sulos from time to time, like Godzilla stomping on Tokyo. Might be a bit too comedic though...

3. Krakatoa: Another volcanic island idea here. What if there are valuable diamond mines, and a merchant colony on the island, but it has hostile natives, and a violent volcano. There could even be buried civilizations, or older colonies that have been wiped out by previous eruptions. Archeology and Trade both play a big part in the world of Sulos, so this idea might mesh quite well with the setting.

4. Lost Races: In Sulos the orcs, halflings, and gnomes are extict. They were wiped out by terrible wars in the ancient past, but what if they weren't? What if one of these species survived, and fled the main continent, to escape the devestation of war? It could have begun something like Swiss Family Robinson, but evolved over time into its own little civilization.

Anyone like any of these ideas, or better yet, have any good suggestions of their own? While these islands are not likely to play a huge role in the setting, they could if somebody blows me away with a fantastic suggestion. At the moment I'm leaning toward the penal colony turned pirates (who doesn't like pirates?), but if something else comes along that knocks my sox off...

-Peace-

P.S. [spoiler=MAP]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/picture.jpg[/spoiler]

[Hibou]

Try a tasteful collage of all or most of these ideas. Maybe one of the islands does have a lawless pirate's haven. Perhaps you could do a kind of King Kong thing by making one larger island surrounded by deadly tides and forms of weather that rarely, if ever, seem to cease (even for short times). On this island, a colossal mountain range separates it, leaving one side somewhat larger than the other. On one side you could have lost races that live very strangely because of lack of influence from other races, and on the other you could do the whole 'mysterious monster' sort of thing.

I probably wouldn't use the Tarrasque, though. It doesn't seem like the right type for that kind of place. Maybe you could take a monster that you originally hadn't intended to use in Sulos, add some templates such as the Monster of Legend template to it, and see how you can spice it up?

Also, perhaps there is a pair of islands nearby those two that frequently erupt, and due to their constant spew of molten lava the land is slowly rising under the sea. If it continues, a land bridge may be formed between them and the other two islands, creating one massive island with a world of troubles.

[Numinous]

I like the pirates idea, and the lost races.  Halflings could be like pygmies, a very cool idea.  But definitely use pirates.  Although I have to say I like WitchHunt's idea of using multiple islands, the more the merrier after all.

[Raelifin]

I like all the ideas except for the Tarrasque. Too cliche, too comedic, too out of place.

You could make the hostile natives from #3, the lost race(s) from #4.

[Soup Nazi]

Try a tasteful collage of all or most of these ideas. Maybe one of the islands does have a lawless pirate's haven. Perhaps you could do a kind of King Kong thing by making one larger island surrounded by deadly tides and forms of weather that rarely, if ever, seem to cease (even for short times). On this island, a colossal mountain range separates it, leaving one side somewhat larger than the other. On one side you could have lost races that live very strangely because of lack of influence from other races, and on the other you could do the whole 'mysterious monster' sort of thing.

The islands (if you want to check the map out I'm putting a link in the first post, just scroll way over to left). They are too small for a huge mountain range, and certainly too small to cram a whole bunch of ideas onto them. I could take bits and pieces from each of these ideas, but not all of them.

I probably wouldn't use the Tarrasque, though. It doesn't seem like the right type for that kind of place. Maybe you could take a monster that you originally hadn't intended to use in Sulos, add some templates such as the Monster of Legend template to it, and see how you can spice it up?

The tarrasques just seemed fun, but it was deffinately not my leading candidate. The idea of hostile natives just naturally leads to a King Kong scenario (in my mind anyway), and the tarrasque fit the bill. Of course there doesn't need to be any huge mosters, for the tribes to be interesting.

Also, perhaps there is a pair of islands nearby those two that frequently erupt, and due to their constant spew of molten lava the land is slowly rising under the sea. If it continues, a land bridge may be formed between them and the other two islands, creating one massive island with a world of troubles.

This idea sounds pretty good, and I can see the volcanic island slowly reaching acroos the sea towards the more peaceful island. In the end however, we're talking a very small place (like Long Island's size in total) so I don't want to force feed too much stuff into it.

I like the pirates idea, and the lost races. Halflings could be like pygmies, a very cool idea. But definitely use pirates. Although I have to say I like WitchHunt's idea of using multiple islands, the more the merrier after all.

I'm leaning towards the penal colony, turned pirate haven already, and I'm willing to bet that a few hostile halfling tribes could be pretty cool...cannible halflings, with shrunken heads, and spears, and necklaces made of human teath.

You could make the hostile natives from #3, the lost race(s) from #4.

Already leaning in that direction...

Thanks for the feedback

-Peace-

P.S. Any other ideas are welcome. I'm certainly not limiting the development of this place to my own imagination. NEED INPUT! [spoiler]Tell me I'm not the only one who remembers Short Circuit[/spoiler]

[Epic Meepo]

I'm willing to bet that a few hostile halfling tribes could be pretty cool...cannible halflings, with shrunken heads, and spears, and necklaces made of human teath.

Tell me I'm not the only one who remembers Short Circuit[/blockquote]

It was an old 80's movie about a kid with a robot, was it not?

[Wix of Bel-Air]

1. Pirates: Port Royal... only badder.
2. The Monster: How about an island that is a reall slow monster, like a turtle.
3. Volcano: I don't really care.
4. Lost Races: Meh, you could make some less evolved races if you want...

[Soup Nazi]

And instead of a tarrasue, how about a dragon of some sort? You can't go wrong with dragons.

Yeah. It's probably a safe bet that I won't go with Monster Island thing (as much as I love Godzilla movies), but the possibility of another dragon lair sounds pretty good. The only dragon thus far mentioned in the entire setting lairs in Thoth, and I could deffinately use a few more.  

It was an old 80's movie about a kid with a robot, was it not?

Yeah it was goofy looking military robot that went haywire, and developed AI. Very qoutable movie...Number Five Aliiiive...

1. Pirates: Port Royal... only badder.
2. The Monster: How about an island that is a reall slow monster, like a turtle.
3. Volcano: I don't really care.
4. Lost Races: Meh, you could make some less evolved races if you want...

Where and What is Port Royal? Should I know this (probably)?

I don't want to use an Island Turtle because it's on a map, and I want it to be a place that is known and can be reached by adventures and other people intentionally, rather than by accident.

No volcano eh? Any reason why not? Or better yet a suggestion for something superior?

Less evolved races have far less impact than races that are supposed to be gone, but are not. Lost races tie into the setting, less evolved races of my own creation could, would have less harmony with Sulos as a whole.

This is mearly a brainstorming session. The more random ideas thrown at me the better. Sooo if you were making an a small island nation a few hundred miles off the coast of the most important seafaring trade nation in your world, what would you place there?

-Peace Out-

[Xeviat]

In my setting, halflings evolved on their own island (think about all the strange creatures that evolved on australia in our world). Halflings are tribal on their island, because the Tarasque lives on this island as well. The Tarasque wakes up every once and a while, so this keeps the halflings from being able to build permanent settlements (such would just attract the tarasque).

There is a colony on the north side of the continent, built by the "westerners" of my setting. So, adventurers often come to this land to try to slay the Tarasque, and halflings have a way to get to the rest of the world (they now make up a good percentage of the population within human cities now, because of their opportunistic tendancies and short maturation rate).

I haven't thought about it much until this day, but because my world is animistic, there's no reason why some halflings won't worship the tarasque. It could be a creature that embodies the wild, chaotic nature of the island.

[Xeviat]

My point is that I think the formerly thought to be extinct race could easily live on an island with the tarasque. It could be a big island, and a prison collony could have been built on one shore before the whole of the island was scouted.

[Wix of Bel-Air]

There was this cool D&D makeup of Port Royal (some ship port in the Carabbean *<--bad spelling* like the places in Pirates of the Carabbean) in a dragon magazine (#317 or 318, with the ninjas, pirates, and dinosaurs, :3 lol).

[Soup Nazi]

Wow! Xev, I had no idea that some of my ideas here were almost exact copies of yours...great minds as they say...

The only problem is that this island chain (unlike in your world) is a very small place, and I really can't cram too much into it, without it feeling a bit contrived.

If I make the islands mountainous and jungle covered, I can probably fill it with some cannibal halflings, and a penal colony, and even the Port Royal style pirate town. They all work fairly well together, but the tarrasque is just too big to include (a dragon lair however might be just fine).

I would like to use the slumbering volcano and some diamond mines, but I don't think they're essential...that could go someplace else.

There was this cool D&D makeup of Port Royal (some ship port in the Carabbean *<--bad spelling* like the places in Pirates of the Carabbean) in a dragon magazine (#317 or 318, with the ninjas, pirates, and dinosaurs, :3 lol).

ninjas, pirates, and dinosaurs you say...where are the robots and jedi?  

 :ninja1:  :yarr:  :robot:  :jedi: (how can we not have a dinosaur or dragon smily? :crazy: )  
 

[Túrin]

This is mearly a brainstorming session. The more random ideas thrown at me the better. Sooo if you were making an a small island nation a few hundred miles off the coast of the most important seafaring trade nation in your world, what would you place there?

Pirates, obviously.

Edit: not that there's anything wrong with dinosaurs and ninjas, or any of your other ideas (though I wouldn't put the Tarrasque there if I were you), pirates just seems like the obvious choice (which could also be a reason to avoid it, though I don't think that's the case here).

[BrisBane]

you could make the pirates merfolk, who sink ships from below but don't like killing fore some reason so they send trained dolfins to save the salors from drowning. It will make a section of the sea where ships mystirously sink but leave many salors alive to tell of the strange event.

[Soup Nazi]

you could make the pirates merfolk, who sink ships from below but don't like killing fore some reason so they send trained dolfins to save the salors from drowning. It will make a section of the sea where ships mystirously sink but leave many salors alive to tell of the strange event.

That is pretty cool, but it doesn't mesh well with the smuggling piracy theme already established within Sulos. This could however be another hazard of the sea unrelated to this current idea.

On a related note, I will start writing this up soon, so if anyone has any great ideas that haven't been mentioned yet, this is almost your last chance. I figure sometime this weekend I'll start this. So far I plan to use the penal colony turned smugglers' cove stuff, but the other ideas are still up in the air.

-Peace Out-