An odd question - My players stay away [Archive] - Wizards Community

An odd question - My players stay away [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
cheseboy
11-06-05, 01:13 AM If any of my players are still reading at this point, go away. This will give you way to much more information than you should have.

I'm starting to make a new campaign world, loosely based on east Europe after the decline of the Mongol Horde. The big twist of the campaign is that mass and energy are always conserved, including one's soul, memories, and experiences. Arcane magic is derived from "leftover" souls, memories, and experiences. Naturally, the if the number of people in the world stays the same, the number of experiences and memories will be roughly equal too. After too much arcane magic has been used, and what I call a "cleansing" occurs. In a cleansing, all the memories and experience of all creatures are erased to make up for the defecit that over use of arcane magic has caused.

This tweak has major ramifications on the races, as after a cleansing they are left with only basic instinct. The instint of elves is to live among trees, so they all leave for forests. Humans curious nature makes them want to mess with all the stuff that they find in the cities. Halflings band together. Dwarves like to stay put, whever that may be. Orcs just generally continure doing what they did before, eat and kill things.

I decided that cleansings will happen roughly every millenium. This gives the races roughly 600 years to get back on it's feet. This is aided by little things left around by the pre-cleansing people who now know that something is happening to set civilization back. Then they have 200 years to attain the same level of technology and culture, which is speeded because they still have the written word from previous generations. Then they have 200 years to advance the technology and culture. The whole thing makes 1000 years of technological development take 5000 years instead.

I figured that this time frame would have a huge effect on long lived species. Breakthroughs are usually brought on by change, change is often caused by radical thinkers on new generations. Elves don't have many generations in 1000 years, so it makes sense to me that they wouldn't be able to regain true civilation in that time frame. Thus elves become a race much akin to orcs of more traditional settings.

I want your opinions on the time-frame, the instincts of the races, how these instincts would come into play post-cleansing, and what would be the effect of life-span on development. Any commentary is appreciated.
SilverSabre25
11-06-05, 01:34 AM There's a book you may want to read called Nightfall, by Robert Silverburg and Issac Asimov. It's about a planet with six suns, and once every 10,000 years, the suns align so that all six set at once. The people on the planet go rather insane when that happens. I won't spill it for you, but it could serve to give you a bit of inspiration.

As far as your actual question goes...I almost think that having the same people around for the duration might make the elves get back on their feet, as they may have a sort of "genetic memory" about the way things used to be. Like, since the mental pathways for certain things have already formed, they are better able to get back on their feet. Their civilization doesn't advance much on its own, but it does come back faster, say, 400 years instead of 600, but the new generation slows them down in getting back, taking 400 years instead of 200. They might have extensive writings on the Cleansing, but keep those writings a secret from the other races.

Humans and the other shorter-lived species take longer to get on their feet, but develop quicker once they do. They are the source of anything new that enters society.

Game-wise, what are you planning on having your players do in this world? I'm just curious because it's an interesting idea.
KDSN
11-06-05, 04:00 AM Yeah that is a good book. And that sounds like a great epic campaign idea. I wish I had thought of it. But what will the players role be? Other than just spectators.
cheseboy
11-06-05, 11:45 AM The campaing setting is still in it's infancy, I have no villains yet. The player will come in about 150 years before the next cleansing. Mostly, they will just be doing what they would do in a normal campaign.

In later campaigns they will all be Chosen of the world. Chosen are revered or feared depending on who you talk to. Chosen are people who were born with the memories and experiences of those who died at the moment of their birth. This happens when the world is really off balance and a Cleansing is about to occur. Writings tell of these supernaturally talented infants and children being born, then the writings stop suddenly. The connection has been made that the Chosen are heralds of the Cleansing.

Most races know very little of the Cleansing, just that it happens every so often and then civilazation starts over. Some believe that an apocalypse occurs, and that people can't live from one cleansing to the next. Others believe they are transported to another plane, where there life starts over. Others are pretty close to the right idea, thinking that memories are erased. No one has made the connection between arcane magic and the Cleansing other than the gnomes.

I decided to give gnomes the niche of being the great knowledge holders. They know that all memories are lost and that arcane magic triggers the cleansing, and are trying to find out why. They hold all their knowledge to themselves, and use their knowledge to position themselves to become more powerful every cleansing until they are dominant.
EDIT: Gnomes don't want the cleansing to come before they are ready, so gnome societies outlaw arcane magics. Psionics, however, are purely powered by the mind. Psion also matches fits with the knowledge hoarder sterotype that gnomes in my campaign have, seeing as they can't become wizards. My group has just gotten the psionics book, so gnomes new favored class is Psion.

Religion has a new twist also. Gods don't exist. Some people have gotten the idea of creating churches, and using the prayers of worshippers to power their magics. I don't want to mess with the rules too much, so this kind of magic is a clone of divine magic, even though it doesn't come from a divine source. Now churches act like banks of power that can be accessed by whoever calls upon that "god's" power. Church leaders realize that non-worshippers can take their power without worshipping, draining their reserves of power. People who realize this are persecuted heavily by the church to prevent this from happening. I don't have any religious intrigue set up yet, but at least one of the churches will be trying to store enough power to cause world apocalypse/become ultimate rulers of reality.
braindead345
11-07-05, 04:44 AM The campaign setting is interesting to say the least. I like it.

I wonder if any ancient tomes of wisdom (historic records, notes on research both scientific and arcane, and the like) survived the last cleansing. The gnomes might be hiring adventurers to explore the ruins for any documents. Of course the translations might be difficult if the cultures have to re-invent languages and writing.

As for the racial cultures being rebooted, distrust and suspicions will dominate. I would recommend keeping the core alignment characteristics the same for each race. Do not make elves lawful and dwarves chaotic; these were developed out of their enviroments more than anything else. With the collective memories gone, the races would be free to form new allegences. Elves and orcs could unite to destroy the dwarves and goblins.

I wonder how inteligent undead monsters would be affected by the cleansing. Perhaps a lich or vampire survived with its memories intact. He would be primed to become the next empire builder and world force.
Escef
11-07-05, 07:34 AM Elves would probably be pretty well off. Given their life expectancies (over 500 years on average) many will know what's going on and prepare texts and the like for future society. Granted, no one will know how to read, but if magic items survive this cleansing a pair of magical glasses are all that is needed to facilitate the rebuilding. Dwarves may very well be less impacted than elves, despite their shorter life-spans, simply due to the nature of the species.

Amongst tribal races (goblins, kobalds, orcs, etc.), legends regarding their gods will have to be somehow gifted to their shamans by their gods. Humans will be pretty bad off, too.

Also, this premise is interesting in at least one way. What happens if someone (perhaps an elven lord who's thinking has become twisted) decides to avert the cleansing by killing off the "lesser" races, humans included. Sages, historians, and wizards may figure out what's going on, leading to strict laws concerning the usage of magic and how many children a family is to have. This can get wacky fast.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cheseboy 11-06-05, 01:13 AM	If any of my players are still reading at this point, go away. This will give you way to much more information than you should have. I'm starting to make a new campaign world, loosely based on east Europe after the decline of the Mongol Horde. The big twist of the campaign is that mass and energy are always conserved, including one's soul, memories, and experiences. Arcane magic is derived from "leftover" souls, memories, and experiences. Naturally, the if the number of people in the world stays the same, the number of experiences and memories will be roughly equal too. After too much arcane magic has been used, and what I call a "cleansing" occurs. In a cleansing, all the memories and experience of all creatures are erased to make up for the defecit that over use of arcane magic has caused. This tweak has major ramifications on the races, as after a cleansing they are left with only basic instinct. The instint of elves is to live among trees, so they all leave for forests. Humans curious nature makes them want to mess with all the stuff that they find in the cities. Halflings band together. Dwarves like to stay put, whever that may be. Orcs just generally continure doing what they did before, eat and kill things. I decided that cleansings will happen roughly every millenium. This gives the races roughly 600 years to get back on it's feet. This is aided by little things left around by the pre-cleansing people who now know that something is happening to set civilization back. Then they have 200 years to attain the same level of technology and culture, which is speeded because they still have the written word from previous generations. Then they have 200 years to advance the technology and culture. The whole thing makes 1000 years of technological development take 5000 years instead. I figured that this time frame would have a huge effect on long lived species. Breakthroughs are usually brought on by change, change is often caused by radical thinkers on new generations. Elves don't have many generations in 1000 years, so it makes sense to me that they wouldn't be able to regain true civilation in that time frame. Thus elves become a race much akin to orcs of more traditional settings. I want your opinions on the time-frame, the instincts of the races, how these instincts would come into play post-cleansing, and what would be the effect of life-span on development. Any commentary is appreciated.
SilverSabre25 11-06-05, 01:34 AM	There's a book you may want to read called Nightfall, by Robert Silverburg and Issac Asimov. It's about a planet with six suns, and once every 10,000 years, the suns align so that all six set at once. The people on the planet go rather insane when that happens. I won't spill it for you, but it could serve to give you a bit of inspiration. As far as your actual question goes...I almost think that having the same people around for the duration might make the elves get back on their feet, as they may have a sort of "genetic memory" about the way things used to be. Like, since the mental pathways for certain things have already formed, they are better able to get back on their feet. Their civilization doesn't advance much on its own, but it does come back faster, say, 400 years instead of 600, but the new generation slows them down in getting back, taking 400 years instead of 200. They might have extensive writings on the Cleansing, but keep those writings a secret from the other races. Humans and the other shorter-lived species take longer to get on their feet, but develop quicker once they do. They are the source of anything new that enters society. Game-wise, what are you planning on having your players do in this world? I'm just curious because it's an interesting idea.
KDSN 11-06-05, 04:00 AM	Yeah that is a good book. And that sounds like a great epic campaign idea. I wish I had thought of it. But what will the players role be? Other than just spectators.
cheseboy 11-06-05, 11:45 AM	The campaing setting is still in it's infancy, I have no villains yet. The player will come in about 150 years before the next cleansing. Mostly, they will just be doing what they would do in a normal campaign. In later campaigns they will all be Chosen of the world. Chosen are revered or feared depending on who you talk to. Chosen are people who were born with the memories and experiences of those who died at the moment of their birth. This happens when the world is really off balance and a Cleansing is about to occur. Writings tell of these supernaturally talented infants and children being born, then the writings stop suddenly. The connection has been made that the Chosen are heralds of the Cleansing. Most races know very little of the Cleansing, just that it happens every so often and then civilazation starts over. Some believe that an apocalypse occurs, and that people can't live from one cleansing to the next. Others believe they are transported to another plane, where there life starts over. Others are pretty close to the right idea, thinking that memories are erased. No one has made the connection between arcane magic and the Cleansing other than the gnomes. I decided to give gnomes the niche of being the great knowledge holders. They know that all memories are lost and that arcane magic triggers the cleansing, and are trying to find out why. They hold all their knowledge to themselves, and use their knowledge to position themselves to become more powerful every cleansing until they are dominant. EDIT: Gnomes don't want the cleansing to come before they are ready, so gnome societies outlaw arcane magics. Psionics, however, are purely powered by the mind. Psion also matches fits with the knowledge hoarder sterotype that gnomes in my campaign have, seeing as they can't become wizards. My group has just gotten the psionics book, so gnomes new favored class is Psion. Religion has a new twist also. Gods don't exist. Some people have gotten the idea of creating churches, and using the prayers of worshippers to power their magics. I don't want to mess with the rules too much, so this kind of magic is a clone of divine magic, even though it doesn't come from a divine source. Now churches act like banks of power that can be accessed by whoever calls upon that "god's" power. Church leaders realize that non-worshippers can take their power without worshipping, draining their reserves of power. People who realize this are persecuted heavily by the church to prevent this from happening. I don't have any religious intrigue set up yet, but at least one of the churches will be trying to store enough power to cause world apocalypse/become ultimate rulers of reality.
braindead345 11-07-05, 04:44 AM	The campaign setting is interesting to say the least. I like it. I wonder if any ancient tomes of wisdom (historic records, notes on research both scientific and arcane, and the like) survived the last cleansing. The gnomes might be hiring adventurers to explore the ruins for any documents. Of course the translations might be difficult if the cultures have to re-invent languages and writing. As for the racial cultures being rebooted, distrust and suspicions will dominate. I would recommend keeping the core alignment characteristics the same for each race. Do not make elves lawful and dwarves chaotic; these were developed out of their enviroments more than anything else. With the collective memories gone, the races would be free to form new allegences. Elves and orcs could unite to destroy the dwarves and goblins. I wonder how inteligent undead monsters would be affected by the cleansing. Perhaps a lich or vampire survived with its memories intact. He would be primed to become the next empire builder and world force.
Escef 11-07-05, 07:34 AM	Elves would probably be pretty well off. Given their life expectancies (over 500 years on average) many will know what's going on and prepare texts and the like for future society. Granted, no one will know how to read, but if magic items survive this cleansing a pair of magical glasses are all that is needed to facilitate the rebuilding. Dwarves may very well be less impacted than elves, despite their shorter life-spans, simply due to the nature of the species. Amongst tribal races (goblins, kobalds, orcs, etc.), legends regarding their gods will have to be somehow gifted to their shamans by their gods. Humans will be pretty bad off, too. Also, this premise is interesting in at least one way. What happens if someone (perhaps an elven lord who's thinking has become twisted) decides to avert the cleansing by killing off the "lesser" races, humans included. Sages, historians, and wizards may figure out what's going on, leading to strict laws concerning the usage of magic and how many children a family is to have. This can get wacky fast.