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Mournland Campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
rekko
Aug 15, 2009 22:15:49 Dark Sun has been announced as the next setting, and this got me thinking about a Mournland Campaign. The upcoming Dark Sun material could prove useful in Post-Apocalyptic Cyre.

How would you imagine a Mournland Campaign?

Obviously, well for me, the main goal would be to discover the truth about the Mourning. As such, I'd play that the Mist is very deadly, nearly impenetrable.

The way I see it, PCs could be survivors, along with a few dozens more. The first quests would be survival oriented: scout location, forage food and water, defend against the wild, find shelter, cheer people up, hold the community together, etc. Then, when they reach level 3-4, they could organize the community and dispatch teams to hunt, forage and scout. The PCs would by then have find a reason to explore further more.

However, after the survival adventures, I don't know how to do a Mournland focused campaign without leaving the land, which I would try to avoid. The way I'd do it is, instead of leaving the Mournland to find a clue, the clue would come to them. As in, people from outside the Mournland come into the Mournland and crosses the PCs. Also, if they do get out of the Mournland, I'd say it's either because of some wild manifest zones that drop them anywhere where required to be dropped (other nation, other continent, other plane) or with some eldritch machine that helps them orient themselves through the mist. But they would need to get back to the Mournland because what they discover there points them to some location/ruin in the Mournland.

How would you keep the adventures inside the Mournland ?

Rekko
#2
naturax
Aug 16, 2009 6:59:34 I think deciding on the cause of the Mourning will help out a lot with regards to this kind of planning. You want to be able to drop hints, right from the first encounter, if you can, as to what may be the ultimate cause of the Mourning so that you can build up as much suspense as possible.

With regards to keeping the PCs inside the borders of Cyre, it's just a matter of making sure a) there's lot to do inside the Mournland and b) that, in order to resolve the plot, everything they need is still within the Mournland.

Something that might help with the first point is to have each of the players be warped by the Mourning somehow in a way that actually makes it harder for them to survive outside vs. inside. Maybe now they are able to eat the food from inside the Mournland, but can't eat anything else. This is also an awesome source for angst: would you want to reverse the damage done to Cyre knowing that you will die if you do?
#3
soyim
Aug 16, 2009 13:05:26 I would treat the Mournland as a Domain of Dread: like the old Ravenloft setting or the current DDI articles. The mists make it physically impossible for you to leave the land.

In fact you could choose to have the mists exist inside the Mournland as well cutting off the various pieces of it into smaller demikingdoms each ruled by a different twisted evil monster. The party- desperate to survive and escape: runs from terrible kingdom to terrible kingdom. Some are large (the Lord of Blades, Metrol) some are quite small (an Oasis that seems normal).

Its more of a horror set up- but thats how i would play it.
#4
Kensan_Oni
Aug 16, 2009 14:47:03 I would like to take Soyim's idea one step further if you will.

What if the Mournlands are what is left AFTER a place becomes absorbed as a Domain of Dread? All the strange horrific magical things that creep out of the place, those are the things that live between the world and old Cyre.

The ripping of Cyre to the Dark Domains leaves several questions. The first one, is it possible to bring it back? If it is possible to bring it back, what other evil will come back with it? How does this affect the reality of the world, and can the Quori find a way to use this shift of Non-Existance to slip into the world? Lastly, What will the Lord of Blades do to stop either and all plans from becoming successful? As an aside, what does the Lord of Blades know about what has happened, and does his faction know enough to recreate the events if they need to?

... Not the focus I would make for a Eberron campaign, but it could be spooky fun.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 rekko Aug 15, 2009 22:15:49	Dark Sun has been announced as the next setting, and this got me thinking about a Mournland Campaign. The upcoming Dark Sun material could prove useful in Post-Apocalyptic Cyre. How would you imagine a Mournland Campaign? Obviously, well for me, the main goal would be to discover the truth about the Mourning. As such, I'd play that the Mist is very deadly, nearly impenetrable. The way I see it, PCs could be survivors, along with a few dozens more. The first quests would be survival oriented: scout location, forage food and water, defend against the wild, find shelter, cheer people up, hold the community together, etc. Then, when they reach level 3-4, they could organize the community and dispatch teams to hunt, forage and scout. The PCs would by then have find a reason to explore further more. However, after the survival adventures, I don't know how to do a Mournland focused campaign without leaving the land, which I would try to avoid. The way I'd do it is, instead of leaving the Mournland to find a clue, the clue would come to them. As in, people from outside the Mournland come into the Mournland and crosses the PCs. Also, if they do get out of the Mournland, I'd say it's either because of some wild manifest zones that drop them anywhere where required to be dropped (other nation, other continent, other plane) or with some eldritch machine that helps them orient themselves through the mist. But they would need to get back to the Mournland because what they discover there points them to some location/ruin in the Mournland. How would you keep the adventures inside the Mournland ? Rekko
#2 naturax Aug 16, 2009 6:59:34	I think deciding on the cause of the Mourning will help out a lot with regards to this kind of planning. You want to be able to drop hints, right from the first encounter, if you can, as to what may be the ultimate cause of the Mourning so that you can build up as much suspense as possible. With regards to keeping the PCs inside the borders of Cyre, it's just a matter of making sure a) there's lot to do inside the Mournland and b) that, in order to resolve the plot, everything they need is still within the Mournland. Something that might help with the first point is to have each of the players be warped by the Mourning somehow in a way that actually makes it harder for them to survive outside vs. inside. Maybe now they are able to eat the food from inside the Mournland, but can't eat anything else. This is also an awesome source for angst: would you want to reverse the damage done to Cyre knowing that you will die if you do?
#3 soyim Aug 16, 2009 13:05:26	I would treat the Mournland as a Domain of Dread: like the old Ravenloft setting or the current DDI articles. The mists make it physically impossible for you to leave the land. In fact you could choose to have the mists exist inside the Mournland as well cutting off the various pieces of it into smaller demikingdoms each ruled by a different twisted evil monster. The party- desperate to survive and escape: runs from terrible kingdom to terrible kingdom. Some are large (the Lord of Blades, Metrol) some are quite small (an Oasis that seems normal). Its more of a horror set up- but thats how i would play it.
#4 Kensan_Oni Aug 16, 2009 14:47:03	I would like to take Soyim's idea one step further if you will. What if the Mournlands are what is left AFTER a place becomes absorbed as a Domain of Dread? All the strange horrific magical things that creep out of the place, those are the things that live between the world and old Cyre. The ripping of Cyre to the Dark Domains leaves several questions. The first one, is it possible to bring it back? If it is possible to bring it back, what other evil will come back with it? How does this affect the reality of the world, and can the Quori find a way to use this shift of Non-Existance to slip into the world? Lastly, What will the Lord of Blades do to stop either and all plans from becoming successful? As an aside, what does the Lord of Blades know about what has happened, and does his faction know enough to recreate the events if they need to? ... Not the focus I would make for a Eberron campaign, but it could be spooky fun.