Post/Author/DateTime	Post
EvilVegan 11-19-07, 09:34 AM	Greetings! The Wildlands (no need for random 'y's in my words) are a portion of my world that I haven't fully fleshed out, the campaign I've been running has mostly centered between a war of east/west and awakening ancient enemies, and there haven't been many forays into the more magical faerie infested north. But I started up a new/separate campaign that takes place here. The Wildlands themselves are a huge chunk of pristine wilderness about the size of Europe along the northern border of both the Western Illearen Empire (illearen [aka elves], shevar [gnomes], westron [aka humans], kinth [aka dwarves]) and the Eastern Oruk Empire (oruk [orc], estron [humans], gutan [goliath], revash [goblin]). The lands are nominally ruled by Rounin Eleash the Forestlord (an advanced satyr), he is the leader of the syarid (satyr/nymph race) and an ally of the majestic enoth (tree-folk). There is no fey court yet, and that may be the eventual result of this campaign. The area covers all types of terrain, there is a desert in the east, tundra and mountains in the north, fading south into coniferous forests and then more temperate deciduous forests, there are large plains leading to foothills and large lakes, rivers, oceans, and an island. All of this is contained in the Wildlands Travel (for fey) is safe during the day through about 30% of the wild. Antagonists: Badastrol - twisted enoth that have been overtaken by kami (spirits) of rage and hatred. They represent a hatred of the woods that typically is directed towards interlopers and people who would harm the forests. Statistically they are identical to trolls. Dark Kekineki - menacing pranksters, these little fey delight in killing people in their sleep. They wear masks of wood harvested from dead trees. Some cover these masks in the blood of their victims (redcaps), others just use them to hide their faces and freak people out (evil pixies). Animals - Lots of hungry critters would eat you. Encroachment - Any sort of 'civilization' could be antagonistic. Loggers and trappers mostly, but even over hunting can cause problems. Places of interest City of the Ancients - In the shadow of a mountain there is what seems to be an ancient city that is devoid of life. Entering the area is forbidden and even the most curious of fey tend to shy away. Druid Groves - The closest thing to inhabitted cities in the wildlands are areas of spiritual confluence that have been turned into groves by enoth druids (kanikami) and syarid. They're little more than safe-havens. There are 12 major groves that the Forest Lord and his entourage frequent. They are each tied to a major zodialogical constellation and Rounin tries to reach each one as the House rises to dominance. OKAY, so that's what I've got so far. My main problem is that I I'm having trouble thinking up any extra areas of interest that wouldn't be out of place. A few more ruins and a dungeon might fit, but what else? A sky castle for sylph? Giant-ruled lands? What other antagonists? An umbral swarm? Ghosts? A blighter? My player's aren't very self-motivated or if they are it doesn't really make sense with the rest of the story (one wants to open a tavern?), so I need to railroad them to get the campaign flowing, but I'm sure after I put forth sufficient momentum they'll roll with whatever. Any ideas?
Space_Dragon 11-20-07, 12:20 PM	What races are playable for PC forestfolk?
EvilVegan 11-23-07, 03:14 PM	What races are playable for PC forestfolk?Any non-robot. Really I just make things up, if somebody wants to play something I let them. But, there are pre-made "PC races": syarid (satyr/nymph race), enoth (treants with warforged stats), and any standard race (standard for my campaign) that could theoretically have a reason to be in the woods (druid, ranger, nature priest, etc). And actually if someone wanted to be a robot I could probably swing it.
taradusis 11-23-07, 04:04 PM	Perhaps a megalith like stonehenge?If the stones can cast a spell if you make the correct sacrifice?One is a wishing stone that requires you to sacrifice yourself?Perhaps a stone golem in the shape of an animal?Rndom thoughts.
Tovec 11-23-07, 05:21 PM	A pair of things. First, Do your games tend to have an overlying arc or do they tend to side toward multiple random encounters that are linked together. In such a well thought out setting as you have, well the beginnings of it at least, I suggest going with an overlying story. I think its less of a matter of what Can they do and more of a matter of what should they do. What cause do they have to enter the wildlands in the first place? Has something happened that would cause the fey unrest and encourage adventurers into this uncharted region? Second, I want to hear some more of your ideas on this City of the Ancients as it seems very out of place in this setting. Do you know why it is devoid of life? I would really be interested in hearing you flush out this idea a bit more as it could very much tie into my first point. What does the city look like? Who made it, what happened to them, how long have they been gone and why?
Rosisha 11-24-07, 05:39 PM	Faerie rings are a good idea, these are rings the fey use to travel between locations quickly, but if you are not fey they can kill you. Usually identified by an ancient stone rings, mushroom rings, plants that are special to the fey (such as holly, willow, etc). Also they are fun little traps... players are chasing the bad guy, he jumps into a field, runs between two standing stones and *poof* is gone! A boneless is a good creature to throw at them too. Basically the fey equivalent to a geletinious cube. They poke around, limited intelligence. Look like mist on the ground, very dangerous :D Enjoy! Rosisha
EvilVegan 11-25-07, 09:09 AM	Faerie rings are a good idea, these are rings the fey use to travel between locations quickly, but if you are not fey they can kill you. Usually identified by an ancient stone rings, mushroom rings, plants that are special to the fey (such as holly, willow, etc). Also they are fun little traps... players are chasing the bad guy, he jumps into a field, runs between two standing stones and *poof* is gone! A boneless is a good creature to throw at them too. Basically the fey equivalent to a geletinious cube. They poke around, limited intelligence. Look like mist on the ground, very dangerous Enjoy! Rosisha I'd forgotten about rings, so yes they will be making an appearance. The kekineki would definitely make use of such things, if not cultivate them. I don't necessarily want them to be instant transportation though. I've limited teleportation effects to "really fast movement" vs "instant movement through another plane" and the conditions are hard to meet. A pair of things. First, Do your games tend to have an overlying arc or do they tend to side toward multiple random encounters that are linked together. In such a well thought out setting as you have, well the beginnings of it at least, I suggest going with an overlying story. I think its less of a matter of what Can they do and more of a matter of what should they do. What cause do they have to enter the wildlands in the first place? Has something happened that would cause the fey unrest and encourage adventurers into this uncharted region? Typically, I have overlying arcs, in this world my primary campaign was based on an Ancient who woke up and is trying to unleash the enemy that was pivotal in his species' downfall from their arctic prison. But that's my other campaign, this is for a new group I started playing with who was interested in the world. The reason they're in the Wildlands is that they all chose to play races from the Wildlands. Second, I want to hear some more of your ideas on this City of the Ancients as it seems very out of place in this setting. Do you know why it is devoid of life? I would really be interested in hearing you flush out this idea a bit more as it could very much tie into my first point. What does the city look like? Who made it, what happened to them, how long have they been gone and why?The City was there eons before the Wildlands, and it may actually have been the catalyst for the nature of the area. The Wildlands were originally a dream-like dimension of nature spirits, but about 10,000 years ago there was the Reunification of the sundered world that pulled in a few other dimensions. The world was sundered 60,000 years ago by the Ancients. They had encountered an enemy that was immune to their magic and highly volatile (to be honest they thematically resemble a mix of demon and zerg), so in an effort to seal them away they created a magic circle of global proportions, using the dragonstones they erected as conduits placed at the conjunctions of magical ley lines. Everything should have worked fine, and would have if not for the intervention of one Ancient, Igravtha, who had been corrupted by the force of Evil. Through his intervention the spell circle split the world into two coexisting worlds. As a consequence of this the Ancients disappeared, and actually of the approximately 4000, all but 100 split into separate beings. These became the Illearen (elves), Shevar (gnomes), Oruk (orcs), and Revash (goblins). Each represented a portion of the Ancient. Illearen bore the noble spirit, long life, and penchant for order/discipline (my elves are lawful neutral bureaucrats). Shevar were the magical and curious aspects. Oruk the aspect of survival and primal urges. Revash represent secrecy, clannishness, and submissive subterfuge. The City itself is obviously magical in nature, the ancients were extremely powerful sorcerers. The walls are very pale opalescent gold. If you look close enough you can actually see the runic words that form the structure of the buildings. The structures are typically pyramidal in nature with many towers and crystaline buttresses to focus magical power. Most of it has been overgrown with vines and creepers, but nothing can grow inside. The interior structure glows slightly if there are people inside. Most rooms are blocked by secret doors that require a specific rune to be drawn on the wall. If there is anything active in here it would a construct, animal, or possibly an undead/spirit. There would be one major building and 256 other buildings (4^4) arranged in quadrants around it. I was thinking about having the only other currently active Ancient, Aifred, be hiding out here. He's the younger brother of Igravtha and the only ancient that had figured out how twisted Igravtha had become (prior to the sundering), but he had been too scared to do anything. Now he spends most of his time in suspension or reliving old memories. He's most likely been driven completely mad by the evil force that had corrupted his brother. It likes to whisper. Statistcally, the Ancients would best be represented by Elan Psion 20+. But instead of psionics they use their runic language to perform effects. /ramble Perhaps a megalith like stonehenge? If the stones can cast a spell if you make the correct sacrifice? One is a wishing stone that requires you to sacrifice yourself? Perhaps a stone golem in the shape of an animal? Random thoughts.I have megaliths, they're lined up along the Ley Lines and called Dragonstones. They are composed of runic material and if you inscribe the correct rune on the stone it performs a magical effect. Nobody really understands runic though. The Shevar are working on it, so far they've almost got high-speed travel between stones down (typically resulting in the death of the subject), but they're getting closer. Recently the other group downed a floating island that the Ancients had created and they're plundering its secrets as we speak! I do like the idea of an animal totem stone golem though. Consider it used!