Minor campaign setting ideas (incidental towns, organizations, etc) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Minor campaign setting ideas (incidental towns, organizations, etc) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JulesCARV
01-06-08, 07:19 AM Here's the idea: come up with small-scale ideas (organizations, towns, NPCs, texts, etc) that could fit in a variety of campaign settings, that aren't really of fundamental importance to the campaign setting at a cosmic level, but could be a fun modular addition to most "normal" campaign settings (not necessarily ones with radically different assumptions about races, classes, etc).

1. An orc territory that was recently conquered by a paladin order in response to brutal raids by orc reaver bands; currently under occupation by paladin order, who are attempting to civilize the orcs. (Is the paladin order as competent as it is idealistic? Are the orcs who collaborate with the paladins good orcs who understand the justice of the paladins' cause or quislings who are even more opportunistic and ruthless than other orcs, willing to betray their fellows for any advantage?)

2. A city-state where the ruler has arranged a deal with the mindflayers -- the city gives the mindflayers criminals, vagrants, dissidents, etc, and the mindflayers support the city in wars and covert ops of various sorts. (Was the deal initially a mindflayer idea, or that of a human ruler? Do the mindflayers really rule the city, or, on the contrary, has the city's clever, iron-willed prince tricked the mindflayers and effectively subjugated them, reducing them to his dependent vassals?)

3. A small religious/philosophical sect that forsakes all use of magic. If a religious organization, high-ranking members of the religious hierarchy might be barbarians, rogues, or monks, since they're not fans of the cleric class. (Do they have better non-supernatural technology to compensate for their lack of magic, or not? Do other people admire them, regard them as harmless wackos, fear them if they're aggressive in trying to destroy magic items and spellcasters, or what?)

4. An association of paladins' mounts as part of a paladin order; possibly lead by a talking mount like a unicorn. They gather to try to exchange tips on how to aid their paladins and the Righteous Cause in general more effectively, what to do if they think their master is slipping from grace. (Is it extraplanar, in the celestial realms where the mounts of this particular order meet when not at a paladin's service, or is it in the order's monastery/castle/church whatever? Are there any methods they have for allowing horses and other animals without articulate speech to talk, or something to enable telepathy?)
PerennialRook
01-06-08, 07:27 AM 5. A large city is thrown into chaos when competing nefarious guilds strike a deal to overthrow the "rightful" rulers of the town, with a showing even greater than the whole complement of city guards. Those who oppose the new regime are exiled, and the guilds enforce anarchy, letting no man rule over another. The redistribution of wealth garners the support of the majority of the city, and crime reaches an all time low. When noble refugees spread news of this "calamity" what will be done about it, and what prevents other cities from doing the same?
faghter_hero
01-06-08, 07:55 PM 6. A glass desert in the form of a crater, settled by a few mining guilds who compete for control of adamantine deposits within the glass. The guilds are constantly trying to sabotage one another, so no one has the upper hand for long. Sometimes a curious and valuable artifact turns up encased in the glass and suddenly there's a huge demand for adventurers, but not a whole lot of trust to go with it...
Tsochar
01-09-08, 02:11 AM 7. An enormous cavern, spiralling downward, which has inscribed within it the entire history of the world in pictures and writing. Whenever something happens, a new picture magically appears and the cave grows deeper.
Alexeduardo
01-12-08, 04:12 PM 8-The Thox (http://http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=877948&highlight=thox)

9-An army of hun-like Dracoaurs from a faraway place (dracotaurs appear in the third monster manual, if you dont have it, centaurs work just as well). They use guerrilla and hit-and-run tactics against the orthodox, traditional warfare of the greater nations. Their numbers could reach the tens of thousands!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 01-06-08, 07:19 AM	Here's the idea: come up with small-scale ideas (organizations, towns, NPCs, texts, etc) that could fit in a variety of campaign settings, that aren't really of fundamental importance to the campaign setting at a cosmic level, but could be a fun modular addition to most "normal" campaign settings (not necessarily ones with radically different assumptions about races, classes, etc). 1. An orc territory that was recently conquered by a paladin order in response to brutal raids by orc reaver bands; currently under occupation by paladin order, who are attempting to civilize the orcs. (Is the paladin order as competent as it is idealistic? Are the orcs who collaborate with the paladins good orcs who understand the justice of the paladins' cause or quislings who are even more opportunistic and ruthless than other orcs, willing to betray their fellows for any advantage?) 2. A city-state where the ruler has arranged a deal with the mindflayers -- the city gives the mindflayers criminals, vagrants, dissidents, etc, and the mindflayers support the city in wars and covert ops of various sorts. (Was the deal initially a mindflayer idea, or that of a human ruler? Do the mindflayers really rule the city, or, on the contrary, has the city's clever, iron-willed prince tricked the mindflayers and effectively subjugated them, reducing them to his dependent vassals?) 3. A small religious/philosophical sect that forsakes all use of magic. If a religious organization, high-ranking members of the religious hierarchy might be barbarians, rogues, or monks, since they're not fans of the cleric class. (Do they have better non-supernatural technology to compensate for their lack of magic, or not? Do other people admire them, regard them as harmless wackos, fear them if they're aggressive in trying to destroy magic items and spellcasters, or what?) 4. An association of paladins' mounts as part of a paladin order; possibly lead by a talking mount like a unicorn. They gather to try to exchange tips on how to aid their paladins and the Righteous Cause in general more effectively, what to do if they think their master is slipping from grace. (Is it extraplanar, in the celestial realms where the mounts of this particular order meet when not at a paladin's service, or is it in the order's monastery/castle/church whatever? Are there any methods they have for allowing horses and other animals without articulate speech to talk, or something to enable telepathy?)
PerennialRook 01-06-08, 07:27 AM	5. A large city is thrown into chaos when competing nefarious guilds strike a deal to overthrow the "rightful" rulers of the town, with a showing even greater than the whole complement of city guards. Those who oppose the new regime are exiled, and the guilds enforce anarchy, letting no man rule over another. The redistribution of wealth garners the support of the majority of the city, and crime reaches an all time low. When noble refugees spread news of this "calamity" what will be done about it, and what prevents other cities from doing the same?
faghter_hero 01-06-08, 07:55 PM	6. A glass desert in the form of a crater, settled by a few mining guilds who compete for control of adamantine deposits within the glass. The guilds are constantly trying to sabotage one another, so no one has the upper hand for long. Sometimes a curious and valuable artifact turns up encased in the glass and suddenly there's a huge demand for adventurers, but not a whole lot of trust to go with it...
Tsochar 01-09-08, 02:11 AM	7. An enormous cavern, spiralling downward, which has inscribed within it the entire history of the world in pictures and writing. Whenever something happens, a new picture magically appears and the cave grows deeper.
Alexeduardo 01-12-08, 04:12 PM	8-The Thox (http://http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=877948&highlight=thox) 9-An army of hun-like Dracoaurs from a faraway place (dracotaurs appear in the third monster manual, if you dont have it, centaurs work just as well). They use guerrilla and hit-and-run tactics against the orthodox, traditional warfare of the greater nations. Their numbers could reach the tens of thousands!