A magical Kingdom, or non-magical as the case may be [Archive] - Wizards Community

A magical Kingdom, or non-magical as the case may be [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
superdav42
07-27-04, 09:20 PM Right, so, after reading the FAQ and the thread making fun of new DM's I know what NOT to ask. So hopefully this is a valid question and not one you're heard a hundred times.

I've DM'd a few one shot sessions but no long standing campaign. But as I was thinking about making a great campaign I had this great idea. Well at least it sounds great to me, so I decided to run it past you and see what you think. The basic premise is that there's this non-magical kingdom with some kind of barrier around it that doesn't allow magic to pass into or out of the kingdom. And almost all the magic in the kingdom was destroyed. All this took place about 1000 years ago. (or 200 or 100 or what ever seams logical) Of course the adventure won't start in this kingdom. It'll probably start in a bar like all other decent adventures :-) . And the adventurers will probably get lost at some point, maybe because of a large T-storm and find themselves in this non-magical kingdom. Of course they won't realize this right off. It probably wouldn't be until they get arrested by local law inforcement that they realize that nobody hear uses magic. Because nobody understands magic they would fear it and begin to think it's evil.

Of course the lack of magic would cause the kingdom to devlope differently than the rest of the world. They would probably have things like firearms, mechanical golems and the like.

I was having trouble comming up with the origins of this kingdom. The best I could think of was that a group of powerful wizards created it to imprisson a particular evil wizard. By putting him in a cell so that the only aid he could possilbly have would be from another powerful spellcaster. To prevent this form happen they built a magical barrier around the kingdom and detroyed all the magic in the kingdom.

The real thing I care about is creating a major conflict in the kingdom. I thought about having the above evil wizard threaten to escape but couldn't think of how to go about doing that. Of course there would be the difficulty of trying to convice the locals that magic isn't all bad and they shouldn't burn them at the stake. But I was hoping for something more. Maybe you can help me out.

So here it is, the making of my first campaign tell me what you think. What you like, don't like. And, yes, you can go ahead and steal my incredible idea. I don't mind. Much.
bpramone
07-27-04, 09:48 PM Cool idea.

I just don't know how the evil wizard is still alive 1000 years later without the aid of magic, and cryogenics were probably not invented in his lifetime... but I digress.

A country was made where people who wanted to have no part of magic could go and was partitioned off with a barrier. As the generations passed, the people on the inside of the barrier only know about the rest of the world through legend.

The barrier could be breaking down and a few years earlier an evil bard came through and is now stirring up trouble for the elected officials. The country could be holding elections and the populace is enthralled by this bard, but the other people running (usually opponents) ban together and ask the party to investigate this new opponent.

Of course, the bard is planning a hostile takeover as a back-up plan if not elected. The party may get clues to his hideout and then hijinks ensue.

This is more of a role-playing type of an adventure, but just my humble thoughts.

And I know what you mean about posting here. I'm scared to give my opinion sometimes, but hey "nothing ventured, nothing gained".

I hope your campaign goes well. And if you have any thoughts on my story, let me know.
Fixxxer
07-28-04, 01:09 AM It sounds pretty good actually. The origins of such a place could be any number of things. Perhaps it was originally a penal colony for convicted spellcasters. Or perhaps thousands of years ago, a great magical evil threatened the land and a group of hardened wizards got together and destroyed the land's ability to harbor magic, so as to remove the magical threat. Mabey the land has always been devoid of magical ability. Perhaps the land was either cursed or protected (depending on you look at it) by the gods, who removed all magic from the area.

No matter how you create the background, it seems fairly obvious that the best way to treat this kingdom is to run it as though it were under a giant non-dispelable anti-magic field. The source could be anything from an ancient spell cast by a cabal of wizards to alien technology buried under the land that supresses all magic.

One thing concerns me, though. You mentioned that the local authority will arrest the PCs, seemingly because they're in fear of magic. How will this authority know the PCs possess magic or magical gear? If magic doesn't work in this place, how does one go about proving that an item is magical?
Cymraegmorgan
07-28-04, 02:30 AM Maybe your evil Wizard was imprisoned only one hundred years ago. The descendants of his followers still try with regular frequency to infiltrate the kingdom to free him.
The powerful spell has a fundamental weakness, such as the magical artifact generating it and the antimagic field can be destroyed by a simple combination of spells.
Wizard X's cult has consistently planted rumours about Kingdom Y and its: 1)evil disposition
2)fabulous wealth to be gained by smashing the artifact
3)etc.

The border guards of Kingdom Y might have the only magic in the kingdom, some sort of Detect Magic items to prevent said infiltration.

You hve a fantastic idea here, especially to test the abilities of PCs that use magic as a crutch.

Bon chance
Jenny With The Lantern
07-28-04, 03:25 AM Have you read 'The Naked Empire' by Terry Goodkind (it's book 8 of the Sword of Truth series)? (For those who haven't and still would like to, spoilers up ahead)

The book is about a low magic world; everybody has some spark of magic in them but very few people have enough to use it in any way. However, there are some people who do not have this magic spark and cannot interact with magic (they do not see its direct effects, only the results) and can therefore not be harmed by magic directly, only by its effects (like a rock falling off a cliff after pushing it with magic).

The problem with these people is, whenever they have children they are always born without the spark of magic and if allowed to roam free would have erased magic from the world.
Now, because these people look like everybody else, some big wizards decided to put them behind a barrier that would keep them separated from the rest of the world (they weren't harmed) and then forgotten.

Maybe you could use it in some way?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
superdav42 07-27-04, 09:20 PM	Right, so, after reading the FAQ and the thread making fun of new DM's I know what NOT to ask. So hopefully this is a valid question and not one you're heard a hundred times. I've DM'd a few one shot sessions but no long standing campaign. But as I was thinking about making a great campaign I had this great idea. Well at least it sounds great to me, so I decided to run it past you and see what you think. The basic premise is that there's this non-magical kingdom with some kind of barrier around it that doesn't allow magic to pass into or out of the kingdom. And almost all the magic in the kingdom was destroyed. All this took place about 1000 years ago. (or 200 or 100 or what ever seams logical) Of course the adventure won't start in this kingdom. It'll probably start in a bar like all other decent adventures :-) . And the adventurers will probably get lost at some point, maybe because of a large T-storm and find themselves in this non-magical kingdom. Of course they won't realize this right off. It probably wouldn't be until they get arrested by local law inforcement that they realize that nobody hear uses magic. Because nobody understands magic they would fear it and begin to think it's evil. Of course the lack of magic would cause the kingdom to devlope differently than the rest of the world. They would probably have things like firearms, mechanical golems and the like. I was having trouble comming up with the origins of this kingdom. The best I could think of was that a group of powerful wizards created it to imprisson a particular evil wizard. By putting him in a cell so that the only aid he could possilbly have would be from another powerful spellcaster. To prevent this form happen they built a magical barrier around the kingdom and detroyed all the magic in the kingdom. The real thing I care about is creating a major conflict in the kingdom. I thought about having the above evil wizard threaten to escape but couldn't think of how to go about doing that. Of course there would be the difficulty of trying to convice the locals that magic isn't all bad and they shouldn't burn them at the stake. But I was hoping for something more. Maybe you can help me out. So here it is, the making of my first campaign tell me what you think. What you like, don't like. And, yes, you can go ahead and steal my incredible idea. I don't mind. Much.
bpramone 07-27-04, 09:48 PM	Cool idea. I just don't know how the evil wizard is still alive 1000 years later without the aid of magic, and cryogenics were probably not invented in his lifetime... but I digress. A country was made where people who wanted to have no part of magic could go and was partitioned off with a barrier. As the generations passed, the people on the inside of the barrier only know about the rest of the world through legend. The barrier could be breaking down and a few years earlier an evil bard came through and is now stirring up trouble for the elected officials. The country could be holding elections and the populace is enthralled by this bard, but the other people running (usually opponents) ban together and ask the party to investigate this new opponent. Of course, the bard is planning a hostile takeover as a back-up plan if not elected. The party may get clues to his hideout and then hijinks ensue. This is more of a role-playing type of an adventure, but just my humble thoughts. And I know what you mean about posting here. I'm scared to give my opinion sometimes, but hey "nothing ventured, nothing gained". I hope your campaign goes well. And if you have any thoughts on my story, let me know.
Fixxxer 07-28-04, 01:09 AM	It sounds pretty good actually. The origins of such a place could be any number of things. Perhaps it was originally a penal colony for convicted spellcasters. Or perhaps thousands of years ago, a great magical evil threatened the land and a group of hardened wizards got together and destroyed the land's ability to harbor magic, so as to remove the magical threat. Mabey the land has always been devoid of magical ability. Perhaps the land was either cursed or protected (depending on you look at it) by the gods, who removed all magic from the area. No matter how you create the background, it seems fairly obvious that the best way to treat this kingdom is to run it as though it were under a giant non-dispelable anti-magic field. The source could be anything from an ancient spell cast by a cabal of wizards to alien technology buried under the land that supresses all magic. One thing concerns me, though. You mentioned that the local authority will arrest the PCs, seemingly because they're in fear of magic. How will this authority know the PCs possess magic or magical gear? If magic doesn't work in this place, how does one go about proving that an item is magical?
Cymraegmorgan 07-28-04, 02:30 AM	Maybe your evil Wizard was imprisoned only one hundred years ago. The descendants of his followers still try with regular frequency to infiltrate the kingdom to free him. The powerful spell has a fundamental weakness, such as the magical artifact generating it and the antimagic field can be destroyed by a simple combination of spells. Wizard X's cult has consistently planted rumours about Kingdom Y and its: 1)evil disposition 2)fabulous wealth to be gained by smashing the artifact 3)etc. The border guards of Kingdom Y might have the only magic in the kingdom, some sort of Detect Magic items to prevent said infiltration. You hve a fantastic idea here, especially to test the abilities of PCs that use magic as a crutch. Bon chance
Jenny With The Lantern 07-28-04, 03:25 AM	Have you read 'The Naked Empire' by Terry Goodkind (it's book 8 of the Sword of Truth series)? (For those who haven't and still would like to, spoilers up ahead) The book is about a low magic world; everybody has some spark of magic in them but very few people have enough to use it in any way. However, there are some people who do not have this magic spark and cannot interact with magic (they do not see its direct effects, only the results) and can therefore not be harmed by magic directly, only by its effects (like a rock falling off a cliff after pushing it with magic). The problem with these people is, whenever they have children they are always born without the spark of magic and if allowed to roam free would have erased magic from the world. Now, because these people look like everybody else, some big wizards decided to put them behind a barrier that would keep them separated from the rest of the world (they weren't harmed) and then forgotten. Maybe you could use it in some way?