Parameters of the Campaign

D&D Inner Sea:

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 3^rd 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.

 The mirrors also are a metaphor for the “reflections” in each character and the NPCs of their own natures of sin as well as their attitudes towards impending death, signified by the Horsemen.  How do folks react to various sins?  What happens when they see apparently unneeded death due to sin?

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.