Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zodiaq7 03-15-08, 07:04 PM	I am looking to create a campaign setting where, as the thread title indicates, the names for nearly every major locale is from a song. For example, a fog enshrouded place where the world walls are thin & that borders limbo. It boasts everchanging terrain both in layout & consistency. Its reputation for driving inhabitants mad is legendary. It is known as the Land of Confusion. It's not the best description, I know, but that is the basic idea. Any input on this m,atter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.
TimelordSimone 03-15-08, 07:21 PM	This sounds like exactly the sort of crazy thing I would do. Now, are we talking song titles, or just places mentioned in songs? Also, will the places resemble how they're portrayed in the songs, or will you just be stealing names? (Ha, City of Delusion just started playing as I typed this. :D )
Zodiaq7 03-15-08, 07:43 PM	Places in songs will do. Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" has already been plundered without mercy.
TimelordSimone 03-15-08, 07:56 PM	So, you looking for ideas? If so, I'm sure I can come up with something.
anshar 03-15-08, 08:07 PM	Two words: Yellow Submarine. :D
Gadren_Stoneblood 03-15-08, 08:17 PM	Honah Lee (Puff the Magic Dragon) That's right. Let ownage commenceth!
Zodiaq7 03-15-08, 08:49 PM	Consdiering the role that dragons are going to play in this world, Honah Lee will be excellent. Thanks for the fast responses. Any other input will be most helpful.
anshar 03-15-08, 09:03 PM	Well, there's always "Ivory Tower" and "Swamps of Sadness" from The NeverEnding Story soundtrack.
ragoftag 03-16-08, 01:04 AM	I stole Shambala as a major league magic using city for my world. 'Cept its on an Island and thus: no road to...
Darth Syntax 03-16-08, 04:24 AM	Let see then, possible location names from songs: The Rotting Sea (a location between the mortal world and "hell") from Turkish Song of the Damned by the Pogues. The Big Rock Candy Mountain? :D The House of the Rising Sun (a brothel would make sense), from the song of the same name. Fiddlers' Green (a kind of paradise perhaps?) from the folk song of the same name. Whinny-muir (the Thorny Moor, perhaps a location travelers fear to cross due to its bleakness and the general nastiness of the vegetation. Or it could be a place that the souls of the dead are made to cross in their journey to the afterlife. the latter is closer to the meaning in the song) from Lyke Wake Dirge, an english folk song. I recommend the recording by Pentangle. -- Well, I hope some of these prove interesting.
Gadren_Stoneblood 03-16-08, 03:54 PM	Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof) Cleveland (Rocks!)
aikimiller 03-17-08, 09:58 AM	Scarborough Fair- (NPCs: Parsley, Sage, Rosmary, and Thyme). Hook- a Simon, a traveling bard, wishes to send the PCs to remember him to an ex girlfriend Georgia- a small fiefdom, must have a crossroads with a rift into the abyssal or infernal plane, where a Balor/Pitfiend challenges bards to a Fiddling Competition. Next to the Fiefdom of Sweetholm Alamaba, where the skies are so blue. Hostel d'California- a minor pocket of the plane of Limbo that traps unwary travelers drawn there by Sirens, and kept there in a decadent lifestyle, until the denizens become shades of their former selves. Margaritaville- a small island get-away where there has been a recent rash of theft- mischevious gnomes have stolen every last shaker of salt on the island.
SovietCanuck 03-17-08, 06:28 PM	Dammit aikimiller...Hotel California was the first thing I thought of when I read the title:P Nonetheless, I've thought up a few more myself The City of Towers-A formerly great city that has become plagued by corruption and decadence, now finds itself the target of an attack by a great army Research Station 138- This bizarre fusion of magic and technology was established by a group of wizards to explore 'the great nothingness'. The Mucky-Muck Mountains- A great range of permanently snow-wreathed mountains, it's population of barbarian tribes, storm giants, and a large variety of monsters make it a popular destination for would-be adventurers. The Land of Ice and Snow- The cold northern wastes, populated by a violent, expansionist nation of humans who are masters of sea travel. The large amount of volcanic activity in the region provides not only the heat needed for the natives to survive, but the forges where they create their dreaded weapons of war. Paradise City- A large metropolis in the subtropics, it is a place where dreams are rumoured to come true, where the poor and downtrodden can rise above their station and become masters of their own destiny...however, this city too is filled with corruption and decadence, and many who find themselves in this white-washed city find themselves desiring to return to the homes they have left. :D
PrinceOfTheVoid 03-17-08, 06:54 PM	Not sure if this counts due to the nature of the band (better fantasy than a lot of novels) but pretty much any locale from Bal-Sagoth's (http://www.darklyrics.com/b/balsagoth.html) work should suffice with little effort.
Werral 03-17-08, 08:16 PM	Desolation Row Bron Y'Augh (can't remembe the spelling) Crystal Frontier (calexico) Moon River Sweet Home Alabama Ipanema (as in "The Girl From") Dust Bowl Gravel Pit
Zodiaq7 03-17-08, 09:52 PM	Yowza!! Much thanks for the responses. Definitely quite a few ot consider. I did want to keep actual locations on earth out of the equation, but there are some compelling arguments against that stance here. Again thank you for the responses, and keep the coming. Here are a few more I dug up: "City of Night" - The Doors "Hall of the Mountain King"- Greig also from Doors songs: the Pharoahlands and the Realm of the Lizard King. -Cheers!
Thief_of_Hope 03-17-08, 10:52 PM	Saint Brendan's Fair Isle. I don't think the song ever actually describes them getting there, but they end up on an island that's on the back of "the world's biggest fish" in part of the song. So....maybe that'll work.
mearrin69 03-18-08, 01:50 PM	Let's not forget the Jungle (as in welcome to...) You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. M
Kbar 03-19-08, 04:03 PM	If the party happens to travel down "Thunder Road" in "Jungleland", once they past "Greasy Lake", they should be careful not to run into The Boss in the Darkness at the Edge of Town.
Werral 03-20-08, 05:01 AM	Can we also do spells? Like "Purple Haze" (Illusion/Phantasm lv 4)
Greyhelm 03-20-08, 06:22 AM	Electric Ladyland White Room Strawberry Fields Forever
Zodiaq7 03-22-08, 02:28 PM	I'm surprised this is still on the first page. Wow. Anyway, thanks again for all the great input. I think I may have to make a tower with all the "room" songs in it somehow. Mayhaps the "Watchtower", not to be confused the the publication that Jehova's Witnesses peddle, or is that Guideposts. Regardless, ideas are all awesome.
Admiral_Lourve 03-22-08, 03:11 PM	How about a band of elves that travel through the Beautiful South in the Caravan of Love? :P Just some off my iPod. Slow Country ~ Gorillaz Amityville ~ Eminem The Torch ~ Dropkick Murphys Gates of Tomorrow ~ Iron Maiden Island of Wonder ~ Nelly Furtado Digsy's Dinner ~ Oasis City of Blinding Lights ~ U2 Stadium Arcadium ~ Red Hot Chili Peppers Lunar Lamp ~ Relax House of Jealous Lovers ~ The Rapture (Going) Underground ~ Jam
TyWebb 03-26-08, 01:23 AM	Some obscure and not-so-obscure... Terrapin Station: The last outpost before a vast stretch of frontier. A place of endings, but also beginnings. Battle Plain of Evermore: Where the forces of the Queen of Light made their heroic stand. Temples of Syrinx: Stronghold of the tyrannical Priest-Kings. Shakedown Street: Local name for the red light district and home of the thieves' guilds. Forest of Fennario: Where the dire wolves hunt...for souls as well as flesh. Royal Orleans: Decadent hotel on the riverside in the Festival Quarter of the city. Black Diamond Bay: Lair of the ghost pirate ship. The Stairway to Hea- ...okay, I'll stop now :P
ArkhamInmate 03-26-08, 10:21 PM	I doubt I or anyone would be able to find this but, years ago i found a webpage that had an entire campaign setting based on the songs of metallica, i don't really remember many specifics but it was well written and managed to use a huge chunk of their catalog, if anyone knows anything about this let me know please!!!!!! Never mind I found it but I don't have time to read it over so i dunno if it stands up to my memories from my sophmore year of high school http://www.textfiles.com/rpg/metallica-guide.txt
Nor'Morgwae 03-29-08, 03:05 AM	Lets see what I can come up with. I know some of these are not artist specific but I'm listing the one who I have the song performed by: Two-Way Mirror Mountain (Ogre Battle by Queen) The City of the Fireflies (March of the Black Queen by Queen) The Seven Seas of Ryhe (Queen) Paradisius (Lesium) Sucker Row (Mark Knopfler) Hollow Hills (Paul Winter) Elgard's Green Valleys (Rhapsody) Dragonland's Rivers (Rhapsody) Grey Mountains (Nightfall on the Grey Mountains by Rhapsody) The Other Side (Sirenia) Glades of Summer (Sirenia) Planet of Women (ZZ Top) Vampire Club (Voltaire) Smalltown (Chumbawamba) I think that's a respectable list, at least for now.
Zodiaq7 03-29-08, 02:46 PM	Indeed it is Nor'Morgwae. Indeed it is. Thank you for your support.
Hellsbells 03-29-08, 04:28 PM	The other side (as in break on through to)- a land were night in day are constantly in battle so that the time of day can change suddenly with out warning. Here you can find almost anything you could ever dream of but beware, many wolves hide among the sheep. -song by The Doors The desert- here the heat is always hot and the ground is always dry. There are plants, and birds and rocks and things. Travlers through The Desert will incounter three chalenges as they go, each one a sepperate test of the abilities. The first is a fly with a buzz and its partner, a sky with no clouds (monsterous vermin or vermin swarm and either an elemental or a part of the environment maybe). The second test is a river bed, sad to be dead (no idea). The final test is the hardest. The ocean with its life underground, A heart made of stone with the perfect disguise above and the humans who give no love to guard it (some sort of treasure kept in a laborynth, above the laborynth is a beutiful city or an oasis, within the laborynth are lots of monsters and traps (monsters would probably be lots of constructs and things with 2 or less inteligence) ). As well as these chalenges the adventurers will need to confront the natural dangers of a desert. As they go they will be aided by the horse with no name... but can he be trusted? - Song is A horse with no name by America The Long Road to Ruin by The Foo Fighters. Cant think of anything right now but I'll get to it Cities aflame with rock and roll by Blue Oyster Cult.- "The Cities" as they are called were the three greatest holds of a long gone empire, but now they have fallen into disrepare and are void of all human life. In each city horrible abominations walk, all that remains from the disaster that destroyed the once great empire of this un known civilization. In the first city All the inhabitants's hearts are black and there lips are cold (darkness and ice themes). There ears and eyes seem to melt and reform in a continous circle. A sound of musical wailing perpetuates the city but its source cannot be found. In the second city fabulous gardens with every kind of flower and beuftiful plant imaginable grow to tremendous amounts of lushness. Small farmless animals live in the garden but they have never been seen to harm each other even for food and they are all, oddly, nocturnal. Cats, bats, small owls, mice and other rodents, and small lizards are all common. The garden also has a continued source of the most delectable foods that magically appear on there own. Every comfort imaginable is given to the "guests" by an invisible hand. Small, comfortable but simple building sit in clearings they have sleeping and cleaning fasilities, entertainment and anything else one could want. However they are not safe. People are alowd to stay in paradice just long enough to let there guard down. At that time they will become enslaved to the will of the garden, mindless automatrons who pledge the saftey and wonder of the garden to new guests. Thats if there lucky. The other option, and what will happen to the paradised if new guests are not forth coming is far worse. There unseen care takers suddenly become visible. Horrible phantasms they come to the travlers in there sleep and haunt there nightmares, feasting of there inteligence. The fools will be held in a comatose state forever, or until the phantasm grows bored with them at which point they will die. But thats not all, the peaceful animals grow crazy attacking the guests in bloody swarms reducing them to nothing but bones in minutes. And those are quickly dragged away to the hidden dens of the creatures to adorn there hide aways. The garden city is a brainwashing false paradise were hidden danger lurks around every corner, some say it is caused by the scent of the flowers or something in the food. Regardless it is a fate few escape. If someone some how escapes the infatuation that most fall to they will either be killed by the animals (they attack any who stray to far from the paths) or come to the far edge of the jungle, for that is what the garden really is when you escape the well groomed paths. Here is a desolate, bleak place of steal and iron. Metal spikes rain down from the sky continously and within 10 minutes of leaving the garden you will be approached by a pleasent looking man in a fancy suit dragging several bouys tied to rope behind him, he introduces himself as Marshal. He will take you to the desolate buildings were held are slaves being tortured by relentless and abominable task masters. They seem inteligent enough to suffer but controled enought to not fight back. For some reason you feel compeled to follow him peacefully. If your lucky he may take you to his palace, a fabulous but sparsely decorated place, here he keeps several of the most beutiful females to have ever gotten this far, his personal pets there for his amusment. The third cities, held within a deep mountain valley which can only be reached by going through a deep canyon that the other two cities sit either side off is a place of destructive fire and smoke, a hell on earth. Here earth and fire elementals (and derivitaves such as magma, smoke, sand, etc) and creatures of those elements rome everywere. Fire spits from the top of tall skyscrapers like man made volcanoes. A toxic gas of some sort permeats many places, often centered around huge lava pools. Here the thing known as Fender rules. What he does with his power is unknown, no one has ever gotten farther then the first distict of the once grand (and modern) city before disapearing.
Zodiaq7 04-01-08, 04:35 PM	I'll try to get through that wall o' text later, but what I've skimmed is excellent. Now I nust need time to put his together.
Hellsbells 04-01-08, 08:04 PM	Haha sorry. I can write alot from just a line or two if its something interesting.