belgariad campaign world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

belgariad campaign world? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Maleous
03-29-04, 09:30 PM Hi,

I was thinking the about making a campaign world out of david eddings Belgariad series...

However, If you've read the books you know that any arcane magic is in the hands of the truly high and mighty, or the evil.

Divine magic is pretty weak and any that does exist is mostly useen magic. (e.g. no evocation). So all this makes the spell-casting classes hard to justify.

Also as to races you can say dwarves = ulgos and orcs = Murgos. I know that ulgos and murogs where both human, but dwarf and orc ar epretty good approximations. However there's really no parrallel for elves, halflings or gnomes.

On top of that, there's no undead. Period. and limited anounts of monsters. apart from Trolls, dryads, various belgariad-specific monsters in Ulgo land. Only 1 dragon and she's stupid. The only villains left are humans. (Angaraks, murgos, Malloreans etc.)

I'm looking for comments from belgariad fans...

So do you think there's any chance of a D&D campaign being able to fit into the Belgariad world without ruining the favour of the belgariad.
The Fist of Vengeance
04-01-04, 09:19 AM It's definitely doable. Just keep in mind that it's going to take a lot of planning to set up encounters, since you don't have a Monster manual to pull random stuff out of. Also, for spell casting classes, I would use a mana/magic point system instead of memorization, because it goes with the flare of 'the will and the word'. Sounds like a great idea.
Galahad_Knight
04-01-04, 07:04 PM The big problem is goping to be magic.

The Belgariad is at once a lowe-magic setting and a high-magic setting.

Magic is insanely rare. There are maybe a couple dozen sorcerers in the world, not couting the Grolims...and only abotu six of them are any good.

And those that ARE good are insanely powerful.

You;v ealso got5 wizards, but if you so much as sneeze while you;re chalking out your pentagram, yo;ve just become Demonchow.

There's also virtually no magic items.

It's much the same problem with making a Tolkien RPG... Which si why the cvarious Middle Earth RPGs have all died out.

It can be done, but the best way to do it is probably going to be keeping magic out of the hands of the players.
Maleous
04-05-04, 02:26 AM I've got a couple of questions...

Would grolims be adepts, sorcerors, wizards or clerics?

I'd say clerics with magic domain as they're magic fails if they aren't near believers of Torak.

Could Dryads work as a playbale race to make up for no elves, gnomes or halflings. What other races could be made playable?

I don't necessarily think that magic items would have to be taken out, just constructed so the don't look magical.

E.g. Hettar's sabre is a good weapon maybe +2 murgo bane or something. But it doesn;t glow or do anything else.

So flashy effects such as flaming, glowing shock etc would have to go but keen, +X enhancement, and other such things would be fine if you played the "it's just a high wuality blade angle."

Wands, rods, rings etc would alomst all be out though.

The Morindim and Karindim almost requires a complete new class write-up. Probably a Conjurer variant. I'd say demon summoners would definatly have to do a LOT of preparation so the "memorise" thing works.

An vengance you're right. All encounters would be vs ethier humanoids or monsters from ulgoland. And the Ulgoland monsters would have to have stats written up.

Looking at it properly I think the onyl players who could stand to play the campaign woudl be fans of the belgariad as there would be far too many restrictions to satisfy most players.

Half the Phb races NA
most spells hard to justify
Trolls and Dryads are the only conventional monsters.
Extremely limited magic item access. (effects not power based)
Repetative fights (humanoids, grolims and ulgolanders essentially)

I for one would only play a character uner those circumstances unless there was a really good plot. Which is a matter of fandom.
BlackFlame
04-06-04, 02:47 PM I'd have to disagree w/the Murgos=orcs. They're definitly hobgoblins. I'd say the Thulls are more like orcs, cept not as blood thirsty, just strong and stupid.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maleous 03-29-04, 09:30 PM	Hi, I was thinking the about making a campaign world out of david eddings Belgariad series... However, If you've read the books you know that any arcane magic is in the hands of the truly high and mighty, or the evil. Divine magic is pretty weak and any that does exist is mostly useen magic. (e.g. no evocation). So all this makes the spell-casting classes hard to justify. Also as to races you can say dwarves = ulgos and orcs = Murgos. I know that ulgos and murogs where both human, but dwarf and orc ar epretty good approximations. However there's really no parrallel for elves, halflings or gnomes. On top of that, there's no undead. Period. and limited anounts of monsters. apart from Trolls, dryads, various belgariad-specific monsters in Ulgo land. Only 1 dragon and she's stupid. The only villains left are humans. (Angaraks, murgos, Malloreans etc.) I'm looking for comments from belgariad fans... So do you think there's any chance of a D&D campaign being able to fit into the Belgariad world without ruining the favour of the belgariad.
The Fist of Vengeance 04-01-04, 09:19 AM	It's definitely doable. Just keep in mind that it's going to take a lot of planning to set up encounters, since you don't have a Monster manual to pull random stuff out of. Also, for spell casting classes, I would use a mana/magic point system instead of memorization, because it goes with the flare of 'the will and the word'. Sounds like a great idea.
Galahad_Knight 04-01-04, 07:04 PM	The big problem is goping to be magic. The Belgariad is at once a lowe-magic setting and a high-magic setting. Magic is insanely rare. There are maybe a couple dozen sorcerers in the world, not couting the Grolims...and only abotu six of them are any good. And those that ARE good are insanely powerful. You;v ealso got5 wizards, but if you so much as sneeze while you;re chalking out your pentagram, yo;ve just become Demonchow. There's also virtually no magic items. It's much the same problem with making a Tolkien RPG... Which si why the cvarious Middle Earth RPGs have all died out. It can be done, but the best way to do it is probably going to be keeping magic out of the hands of the players.
Maleous 04-05-04, 02:26 AM	I've got a couple of questions... Would grolims be adepts, sorcerors, wizards or clerics? I'd say clerics with magic domain as they're magic fails if they aren't near believers of Torak. Could Dryads work as a playbale race to make up for no elves, gnomes or halflings. What other races could be made playable? I don't necessarily think that magic items would have to be taken out, just constructed so the don't look magical. E.g. Hettar's sabre is a good weapon maybe +2 murgo bane or something. But it doesn;t glow or do anything else. So flashy effects such as flaming, glowing shock etc would have to go but keen, +X enhancement, and other such things would be fine if you played the "it's just a high wuality blade angle." Wands, rods, rings etc would alomst all be out though. The Morindim and Karindim almost requires a complete new class write-up. Probably a Conjurer variant. I'd say demon summoners would definatly have to do a LOT of preparation so the "memorise" thing works. An vengance you're right. All encounters would be vs ethier humanoids or monsters from ulgoland. And the Ulgoland monsters would have to have stats written up. Looking at it properly I think the onyl players who could stand to play the campaign woudl be fans of the belgariad as there would be far too many restrictions to satisfy most players. Half the Phb races NA most spells hard to justify Trolls and Dryads are the only conventional monsters. Extremely limited magic item access. (effects not power based) Repetative fights (humanoids, grolims and ulgolanders essentially) I for one would only play a character uner those circumstances unless there was a really good plot. Which is a matter of fandom.
BlackFlame 04-06-04, 02:47 PM	I'd have to disagree w/the Murgos=orcs. They're definitly hobgoblins. I'd say the Thulls are more like orcs, cept not as blood thirsty, just strong and stupid.