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FponkDamn 08-11-07, 10:41 AM

So, had an idea for a campaign setting. Not about to start a new campaign, so I have some time to work on the idea, and when I do start a new game, I'll have a nice concept. Figured I'd put my thoughts down here, so any that want to can chime in, since it's all just brainstorming at this point. Imagine a world where nearly all the landmass of the world in on one large Pangea-like continent. The imperfect spin of this world is such that each day, the sun rises just to the right of where it rose the day before - so if the sun rises in the east one day, then half a year later, it will rise in the west. At four outermost points of this continent, at each of the four compass points, are four enormous mountains, each the peak of ranges so vast no mortal has yet climbed them. The sun rises exactly behind the north mountain on the first day of winter, behind the east mountain on the first day of spring, the south mountain on the first of summer, and the west mountain on the first of autumn. Each of these mountains is the home of gods. Four distinct pantheons each dwell in/on one of those mountains, and starting on the day the sun rises behind their home, those gods become the gods of the world for their season - so different gods rule the world depending on what time of year it is. My first thought is to have the "Summer Pantheon" be the Olympic gods, the "Autumn Pantheon" be a collection of the monster gods (Ilsensene, Mershaulk, etc.), the "Winter Pantheon" be the Norse pantheon, and the "Spring Pantheon" be the standard D&D gods. The gods cannot leave their mountain homes, but they can influence the world from their seats of power in the way that gods can. But they cannot reach the other mountains, so they have no way to gain control over more than one season. Therefore, they play a careful game of chess with the mortals of the world, attempting to influence them in such a way that the mortals will wage war on the mountain homes of the gods, each pantheon hoping to wrest control from the others. The main civilized lands are in the central valley of the continent, where many nations thrive. I'd start any campaign here, and a neat idea would be to have the PCs be young, having not ever left their own secluded village. Their town could be somewhat obscure, and have few religious ties, so the PCs do not initially know the nature of the world. When they arrive at the first major city (for whatever reasons the plot dictates) it would be near the end of Spring. They'd see what they'd expect to see in a D&D game - temples to Pelor, the city Mayor perhaps being a Paladin of St. Cuthbert, etc. The game has a session or two of normality, and then comes the first day of Summer. A major day on the calendar, the PCs are shocked to see the Sun symbol on the church torn down and replaced with a bolt of lightning, and the mayor displaced in favor of what was yesterday a beggar, now today claiming to be the great-grandson of Zeus himself. This minor revolution (filled with burly devotees of Hercules as the main rabble-rousers, all following their once-beggar leader) embroils the PCs in the nature of the world, prompting them to speak to the now-criminal priestess of Pelor to find out what's happening. And thus begins the campaign. Thoughts? - Johnny