Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tubadancross Oct 25, 2014 15:37:05	I am running a campaign with four armies roaming across the main landmass. I am attempting to give each army a flavor (the players do not know yet) and have really become fond of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Basically I'm working themes of each concept (Pestillence, War, Famine, and Death) into the armies to make them distinguishable at a fair distance and give them different fighting styles. I was going to pick normal races for the generals, but reading though the monster manual there seem to be some creatures with properties that make them fit well into these concepts. Aside from the names I am staying a few steps away from the biblical design just to maintain creative freedom. I think it'd be logical for me to ask here for concept pieces since a DM forum is bound to be full of creative people with knowledge of the game. Here's what I got so far: War possible general: N. Evil Empyrean alignments: L. Evil, N. Evil unique races: Minotaur, Orcs primary classes: Fighter, Barbarian (Berzerker), Ranger quirks: -they do not use magic and see magic users as weak, relying on powers that could easily be lost -trial by combat is a common test for illegal activities -honor in battle is praised Death possible general: L. Evil Lich alignments: L. Evil unique races: Undead primary classes: Wizard (Neromancer), Warlock, Cleric (Death), Rogue (Assassin, Arcane Trickster), Monk (Shadow), Fighter (Eldrich Knight) quirks: -raise dead as they are defeated (over half of the army is either zombies or skeletons) -focus on necrotic damage -do not care for fighting, but rather prefer instant-killing techniques -travel under the cover of night -the most well-read of armies (amongst living members) -largest army, but the majority is low-level undead Famine possible general: undecided alignments: All Neutral, N. Evil unique races:  primary classes: Monk, Ranger, Cleric (Light, Life, Tempest), Barbarian (Totem), Paladin (Ancients), Druid (Arctic, Desert), Wizard (Illusionist) quirks: -attempts to make battles as long as possible to wear down opponents over time -makes great efforts to keep their food consumption low so any reserves last longer; troops are often very skinny -travels further than any other army, able to handle more terrains that would usually be uninhabitable -weakest army as a whole, but most versatile -avoids attacking settlements that agree to give them food -on good terms with pestilence Pestilence possible general: undecided alignments: Neutral, C. Neutral unique races: Plants primary classes: Druid, Ranger, Cleric (Nature), Paladin (Ancients), Barbarian, Sorcerer, Wizard (Transmutation, Illusion), Warlock quirks: -use diseases and poisons over all-out-combat -use more animals for combat than any other army -on good terms with famine Looking for feedback and any suggestions you all may have. Going for a unique feel for each army and sorta feel like Famine and Pestilence need some really powerful generals if I am gonna give War and Death the possible generals I thought of.
#2 cowleymen Oct 25, 2014 18:03:24	Im just curious, do you plan on having large scale combat? or are you adventures going to be trying to kill top level leaders and generals?   So far it looks like you have very different army. If there arent very many large battles going to happen, then i think you have more then enough information to run in a campaign, as you really only need the thematic elements, which i say you have
#3 The_Spoony_Bard Oct 25, 2014 18:19:00	If you're interesteing in mixing it up a bit, some interpretations name the white rider as Conquest, not Pestilence.  To differentiate Conquest from War, some have taken the crown (a symbol of authority), the color white (the color of peace), and the lack of mentioned arrows for the bow (a weapon that cannot kill) to mean the conquest will be a peaceful one (i.e. one of diplocmacy and/or popular support).  If you took this route, you could use Conquest's army as either a LG/LN force bent on protecting civilazation from the more destructive armies or a LN/LE force serving at the behest of an ambitoius and manipulative leader.
#4 Ansbach Oct 25, 2014 18:56:50	I really like the idea, but you might be making things unnecessarily hard on yourself by trying to differentiate every single thing about them.   My suggestion is to do a thought experiment - if all the armies were made up entirely of human Bandits with human leaders, how would you differentiate them?  You don't actually have to answer that, but the point is to focus on the "big impact" differences  - that is what the players will really care about and remember.  Figure that part out, then add a few details afterwards instead of trying to make every single aspect of the armies different from the others.   It's also advantageous to not flesh them out too much before the campaign, so that you can remain flexible with the details.   As an example, here are a few of your ideas reformulated:   Fierce and savage warriors, the army of War dress in blood-red armor and supplements their ranks with huge minotaurs.  Always looking for a fight, they are constantly on the move and prefer to attack at dawn with a direct and reckless approach, signified in advance by their great war horns. In black armor and with black banners fluttering in the moonlight, the skeletal army of Death marches at night in silence so that they can catch their opponents unaware and kill them in their sleep.  At sunrise the army magically buries itself in the earth, only to return again the next night.