The basics for
the new campaign are based upon desires of the players and me after my last
campaign, which was also the first I had designed from scratch.
They wanted
something with a more stable base of operations, possibly urban in flair. I wanted a campaign which touched on horror
elements --- not undead, but Lovecraftian.
So I will do a campaign with an urban vs. rural dynamic (small village
will be base and larger city to the south will be used frequently) to look at
this element. Kind of a “Firefly” feel,
the pros and cons of each side and how they interact and butt heads.
The setting is
Varisia in the Pathfinder Inner Sea setting, with the city of Korvosa and a
village I have created called Clearwater’s Gate, which I have placed 40-50
miles to the North of Korvosa, located in the hilly region at the foot of the
Mindspin Mountains. The village is
located where a small river called Clearwater runs into the Falcon River, and
is about 145 folks in population.
I have asked
the players to create 3rd level characters to begin play with, and
have given them access to the information in “Varisia, Birthplace of Legends”
as well as the blurb on Varisia on pp. 194-197 of “The Inner Sea Guide.” Core Rulebooks and supplements only, minus
the new Mythic Adventures, unless they ask specific permission (i.e. I want
this spell from this third party source).
I also gave them access to specific, targeted information from “The
Guide to Korvosa,” but asked them not to read the full supplement as it is more
for the DM and less the characters.
So far, here is what we have for characters:
·
Heath is playing a cleric
·
Kyler is going for a specific archetype for a
monk
·
Blue will be playing a magus (combining melee
with spell casting through melee weapon)
·
Amon is playing a summoner with a specific
archetype
·
Ian is still debating what he wants to
play. Shifting between various melee
option but possibly a rogue character instead
I will have more
later on how the character choices are slotting in extremely well with what I
already have planned. As an example,
Korvosa has a renowned School of Magic which specializes in Summoning and
Conjuration. Amon’s summoner will need
to deal with the dynamics of being a rogue summoner in a city which keeps tabs
on those not from their School as well as with Specialist Wizards and other
Summoners with similar strengths.
The campaign arc,
which I will write more of in the next posting, will center around some of the
Horsemen of the Apocalypse as well as a few Runelords of the Seven Sins
(Thassilonia, the Ancient former land of Xin and the Runelords which was
located in the same location as modern Varisia). I am interested in the interplay which can be
created when Pestilence and War of the Horsemen combine with Lust and Sloth of
the Seven Deadly Sins. As some basics to
consider:
·
Pestilence and Lust – Sexual diseases
·
Pestilence and Sloth – Diseases of stagnation
·
War and Lust – Rapine and sexual assaults
·
War and Sloth – War carried out through
mercenary forces or lower caste society
I also plan on
touching on the other sins and Horsemen, but these are the main players as well
as daemons in general and the Oinodaemon, the First Daemon and Bound Prince.
I also want to use
mirrors as a device, both for future visions and for communications, whether
benign or nefarious. One of the points
of this campaign is to bring in dreams I have had over the years which are
nightmarish in nature. Again, Lovecraft
and dreamscapes. I want the horror feel
from my dreams to come out in the campaign, the alienness and the aura of
evil. I can use my dreams as setting and
theme for several scenarios, and set the tone of horror through this avenue
instead of directly through specific “horror-themed” monsters only.
So that’s the
initial beginning. Next I will write the
campaign arc, which happens within the context of what the characters are
doing. I have found it easier to work
with the idea that the story of the campaign happens, and the characters make
the choices and play in the sandbox within the story dynamic. This leaves which way they turn, what actions
they take, etc., to the characters without needing to lead them by the
nose. The villains are doing their
thing, the characters will do theirs and not feel they have to make specific
choices. If they skip something in the
“story,” the story doesn’t stop and the players get to experience whatever
actions they take while also seeing and maybe NOT understanding ramifications
of the story going on in the background around them. It is really a lot of fun to do it this way,
letting the characters drive the scenario and me as the DM just making certain
the story in the background keeps going, whether affected or not by the
players. The more the players interact
with the main story arc, the greater the chance that it will change and alter
(which absolutely needs to be allowed).
But if they go off on a tangent, I don’t need to worry about the story
arc not progressing in whatever direction it currently is headed. I also get to let the players choose what
they want to do and play, with hints of the main story being feed but not necessarily
required, so that they enjoy themselves as well. It is the game for all of us instead of my
game which they play in.
More later.