Campaign Histories [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign Histories [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Digger75
11-10-05, 05:56 PM I'm having a bit of a time creating a viable history for me world, where it can fit in for all my kingdoms. Any ideas will be greatly apreciated.
mike_beavers
11-10-05, 06:56 PM I used blocks of time initially to define things. For example -1000 years from current. Cornerstone of Baradan laid down by the humans after treaty of Omhan.

-950 years from current first wizards guild is created by the trio of wizards named Edric, Lothar and Nerel.

-850 years from current, orcs invade Baradan under the leadership of Gnashtooth, follower of gruumsh.

things like that should get the basics flowing and you can concrete dates for your setting.

Read histories of say England and France to get a idea of change of power. If you are using a more exotic setting, say India, read its history.

You can decide if there is a large overriding empire or it is fragmented.

Ideally you should decide on what is currently existing and backtrack from there.

These are all starting points for your campaign

good luck
witchhunter99
11-10-05, 07:31 PM It depends, what kind of world is it? Dark and mysterious mountain ranges, or happy and cheerfull farmland?
witchhunter99
11-10-05, 08:07 PM another thing is that not all your counrties have to have some secret history behind them, or some evil plot, your new country could just simply be a recently colonized country, that could work for lots of exploring for the pc's.
PenderGrass
11-10-05, 08:41 PM Get a blank piece of paper.

Write down all the significant major events that you want in your world (arrival of elves, arrival of dwarves, "death" of elder gods, etc.).

Write them in the order you want and fill in the blanks in an actual book that you will keep for such a purpose.

:dragon:
****
KJW
11-11-05, 07:46 AM The trick I use is to break history down into eras, mythic history, ancient history, middle history, and modern era. The only one you really need pretty fleshed out is the modern era, which should begin with some great event in the last few centuries. I would keep the other areas vague so you can fill them in later as the campaign evolves.

Some things to consider in building your history:
1) Magic likely has replaced technology as one of the major reasons for societal development, think about the ramifications of healing magic, the ability to make walls of iron and stone, using commune spells to uncover the secrets of the cosmos.
2) Some races are very long-lived, like dragons and elves, and these societies will likely be both more static and at times more dynamic than human societies, depending on who is alive. Imagine if Galileo was a dragon who had centuries to continue his research, or if Napoleon had been an elf. Imagine on the other hand if a conservative elf came to power, then for centuries the elves would have their society stall in its development.
3) What is the role of the gods in your campaign world, are they distant or involved, were they once mortals or have they always existed? When you start thinking about the gods a lot of events on your chronology will fall into place.
4) Remember the world will have changed entire kingdoms will have long since disappeared, languages once common are now forgotten, and the names of places will have changed many times in some cases. This is important to give your history a living feel to it.
5) Remember that history is written by the victors and sometimes by idiots, so there will be errors and omissions that your players may discover and which gives you some wiggle room to escape anything you provide in your chronology.

Just some thoughts, IMC I have a too developed chronology (only a few of my PCs have even dared to read it all), but I do use it occassionally for adventure ideas, and just having it lets my NPC sages sound like they know something.
CzarGarrett
11-11-05, 12:43 PM I tend to try and do things in blocks at the beginning.

357-803: Ballerthorn Empire
803-814: Yer'kul Invasion, fall of Empire.
814-1033: Russen's Solaris

Then fill in the minor gaps after the main picture is set up.

357: Crowning of First Emporer, Vendar the Conquerer
359: Birth of Ansalar the Wise
364: Founding of city of Komm

etc.

I'll make 2 copies of such a list- one with most general information, getting less and less the further back in time. That is what the PC's know as general history and all.

The other list is greater in detail, notes for me, as DM, as to where certain items are due to something that happened, and should someone go for Knowledge checks and gather information and the like, I'll have answers mostly ready.
Thynass
11-11-05, 01:27 PM I'd personally concentrate on just major events; anything else is detail which can be added at a later date, and also you have the opportunity to make things up as you go along if not everything is already writen down in stone. Generally a lot of a campaign history will spawn out of adventures, items and characters.

Also, as a side note, having different ages for a campaign world is good, because it allows you to use the same capaign world for different games, while not having it all the same. Presently, I have started a new campaign in the same world as my first one, but in a different period in it's history. It's the same world (so the ideas are the same), but the entire social and political structre (along with a lot more things besides) are different. It also allows you to use characters from one game as legends in another.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Digger75 11-10-05, 05:56 PM	I'm having a bit of a time creating a viable history for me world, where it can fit in for all my kingdoms. Any ideas will be greatly apreciated.
mike_beavers 11-10-05, 06:56 PM	I used blocks of time initially to define things. For example -1000 years from current. Cornerstone of Baradan laid down by the humans after treaty of Omhan. -950 years from current first wizards guild is created by the trio of wizards named Edric, Lothar and Nerel. -850 years from current, orcs invade Baradan under the leadership of Gnashtooth, follower of gruumsh. things like that should get the basics flowing and you can concrete dates for your setting. Read histories of say England and France to get a idea of change of power. If you are using a more exotic setting, say India, read its history. You can decide if there is a large overriding empire or it is fragmented. Ideally you should decide on what is currently existing and backtrack from there. These are all starting points for your campaign good luck
witchhunter99 11-10-05, 07:31 PM	It depends, what kind of world is it? Dark and mysterious mountain ranges, or happy and cheerfull farmland?
witchhunter99 11-10-05, 08:07 PM	another thing is that not all your counrties have to have some secret history behind them, or some evil plot, your new country could just simply be a recently colonized country, that could work for lots of exploring for the pc's.
PenderGrass 11-10-05, 08:41 PM	Get a blank piece of paper. Write down all the significant major events that you want in your world (arrival of elves, arrival of dwarves, "death" of elder gods, etc.). Write them in the order you want and fill in the blanks in an actual book that you will keep for such a purpose. :dragon: ****
KJW 11-11-05, 07:46 AM	The trick I use is to break history down into eras, mythic history, ancient history, middle history, and modern era. The only one you really need pretty fleshed out is the modern era, which should begin with some great event in the last few centuries. I would keep the other areas vague so you can fill them in later as the campaign evolves. Some things to consider in building your history: 1) Magic likely has replaced technology as one of the major reasons for societal development, think about the ramifications of healing magic, the ability to make walls of iron and stone, using commune spells to uncover the secrets of the cosmos. 2) Some races are very long-lived, like dragons and elves, and these societies will likely be both more static and at times more dynamic than human societies, depending on who is alive. Imagine if Galileo was a dragon who had centuries to continue his research, or if Napoleon had been an elf. Imagine on the other hand if a conservative elf came to power, then for centuries the elves would have their society stall in its development. 3) What is the role of the gods in your campaign world, are they distant or involved, were they once mortals or have they always existed? When you start thinking about the gods a lot of events on your chronology will fall into place. 4) Remember the world will have changed entire kingdoms will have long since disappeared, languages once common are now forgotten, and the names of places will have changed many times in some cases. This is important to give your history a living feel to it. 5) Remember that history is written by the victors and sometimes by idiots, so there will be errors and omissions that your players may discover and which gives you some wiggle room to escape anything you provide in your chronology. Just some thoughts, IMC I have a too developed chronology (only a few of my PCs have even dared to read it all), but I do use it occassionally for adventure ideas, and just having it lets my NPC sages sound like they know something.
CzarGarrett 11-11-05, 12:43 PM	I tend to try and do things in blocks at the beginning. 357-803: Ballerthorn Empire 803-814: Yer'kul Invasion, fall of Empire. 814-1033: Russen's Solaris Then fill in the minor gaps after the main picture is set up. 357: Crowning of First Emporer, Vendar the Conquerer 359: Birth of Ansalar the Wise 364: Founding of city of Komm etc. I'll make 2 copies of such a list- one with most general information, getting less and less the further back in time. That is what the PC's know as general history and all. The other list is greater in detail, notes for me, as DM, as to where certain items are due to something that happened, and should someone go for Knowledge checks and gather information and the like, I'll have answers mostly ready.
Thynass 11-11-05, 01:27 PM	I'd personally concentrate on just major events; anything else is detail which can be added at a later date, and also you have the opportunity to make things up as you go along if not everything is already writen down in stone. Generally a lot of a campaign history will spawn out of adventures, items and characters. Also, as a side note, having different ages for a campaign world is good, because it allows you to use the same capaign world for different games, while not having it all the same. Presently, I have started a new campaign in the same world as my first one, but in a different period in it's history. It's the same world (so the ideas are the same), but the entire social and political structre (along with a lot more things besides) are different. It also allows you to use characters from one game as legends in another.