Building a New World, Looking for Thoughts - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Building a New World, Looking for Thoughts

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Shiftkitty
Jun 23, 2009 15:00:26 Tentatively named Cyrune

Cyrune sprang from an older campaign in which the campaign's most powerful wizard ever tested a new spell called "Arcane Ass-kicking". The planet had been a dead world until he tested this spell there on an unfortunate minion whom he keeps resurrecting for such things. (The characters are from a goofball campaign, so the minion is like "Grommet" to the wizard's "Wallace".)

The resulting blast from the spell caused a massive split in the planet going almost to the core. The crack, known as "Uffgart's Crack" sucked in a great amount of the planet's stagnant and dead oceans, spewing them back out as arcane-laced steam. The arcane elements hooked up with the micro-organisms left behind by Uffgart's crushed cigarette and the remnants of the minion's old exploded body This caused an accelerated evolution, tapping into the arcane force (which had originated from the world of Greyhawk) and causing many of the micro-organisms to evolve along the paths of those life forms, as well as to take on some of their own unique forms. Evolution has now slowed to a more manageable pace.

The steam still emanates from Uffgart's Crack, splitting the world along the equator. The northern half is unaware of the southern half. The northern half believes that the steam is the edge of reality, that nothing exists beyond it. The southern half believes that the steam is a gateway to Hell. Both halves stay away from it. Anyone who has walked into it has not come back to tell the tale. One old woman, in a fit of senility, walked in and did walk back out a while later, but her flesh had been boiled from her bones. It sloughed off and she died.

With all that steam in the air, there's a lot of humidity and rain. The planet has no deserts and the polar caps are small. The lands near the Fiery Mists are unusable and have a distinct, heavy sulphur element to them. Water in the liveable places is not an issue. Large bodies of water are limited to very large lakes (no seas), but the frequent rains keep everything nice and hydrated.

None of this is written in stone. The adventurers there right now are still working within the bounds of their kingdom, Wrelin Mahr. In fact, they're still in the village of Dawnwyll. (Magic is illegal here, but I have no time for the kingdom's political history at the moment.) Any suggestions or tweaks as to the ecology of the planet?
#2
crimsonninja666
Jun 23, 2009 15:47:15 very creative. are there many kingdoms? realms? do the races live together or do each race have its own homeland? Do other kingdoms work together or are they at war with each other? Are there limited resources that the kingdoms must find away to explore the steam? is the population small or large? can the lands sustain them?

just a few thoughts that came to mind.
#3
Shiftkitty
Jun 23, 2009 22:13:46 I was thinking of doing the civilization thing a little backwards. Instead of everyone coming from their own ancestral lands, due to the accelerated evolution with arcane "contamination", many races have just sort of evolved together. They haven't had the chance to factionalize into "Dragonborn lands" or "Human lands", etc., but they are keenly aware that they are different races. The kingdom the party will start out in has declared inter-racial relationships illegal, but the products of such unions don't encounter much more than official discrimination (can't hold royal posts, own land, are discouraged from marrying or having children thanks to propagandistic quackery, etc.). Most private citizens, however, aren't so strict. A half-elf's gold spends as well as a full elf's gold, after all. Socially, people tend to identify themselves regionally before doing so racially. (A Human from Dawnwyll will stand up for a Tiefling from Dawnwyll before he'll stand up for a Human from Leyan's Well, but he'll defend a Dawnwyllian Human before he'll defend a Dawnwyllian Tiefling.)

I've named five kingdoms, but they are barely three or four generations old. Prior to that, the people lived in smaller feifs and baronies. The founding of Wrelin Mahr marked the first organized kingdom as the first King Wrelin proved his might to control multiple provinces. The other kingdoms coalesced out of fear of Wrelin Mahr, whose imperialistic tendencies are in the open. There is peace in trade, however, and the four neighboring kingdoms trade suspiciously but fairly. Wrelin Mahr mostly imports luxury goods, which makes the others even more nervous that they need the raw materials more than Wrelin Mahr needs their fancy fabrics and spices. Wrelin Mahr is rich with forests and quarries.

I'm still ironing out some other things, such as how far into teh steam one can safely go and what might be found there.
#4
sigil_beguiler
Jun 23, 2009 22:55:44 I imagine some eccentric people may try to develop ways of delving into the steam. Perhaps they wish to make a deal with the devils in hell, perhaps they wish to leave the world and believe the end of the world is where to do so. I would look into interesting ways to explore them; from magic shielding, to fully-encased suits, etc. Or to travel over with levitation or airships?

Is there knowledge that the steam helps bring about the rain? Those who believe it is the entrance to hell may do small rituals or have sigils on their roofs to purify the taint in the rain from hell. Obviously doesn't do anything since nothing to do, but they don't know that.

How about steam storms? Great gusts of wind cause heavy clouds of steam to roll over the landscape, boiling everything it crosses.

With this steam coming out from deep in the earth, perhaps the steam and also thus rain and humidity is littered with material. From sulphur to metals. This could change the colour of water, the taste, smell, etc. It could also by sulphuric and cause acid rain. Perhaps dissipating the further away you get.

This could mean that it is easier to access complex metals that have leeched through the water into the earth. Buildings would need even more maintenance from not just the normal humidity and rain but also the acid rain. People may need to wear masks to block out the smell of sulphur/help them breath (look at masks worn in Venice during the Black Plague for ideas).
#5
gregt_314
Jun 23, 2009 23:22:49 You're pretty much condemning yourself to a comedy game here; you totally can't expect yourself or your players to maintain a straight face with a terrain feature called "Uffgart's Crack", from which noxious gases emanate.
#6
Shiftkitty
Jun 24, 2009 8:46:41 As I said, nothing's written in stone. Since nobody can enter the steam, nobody IC even knows about the crack. And when they do learn about it, I hope to have a better name for it. (Sorry, I should have specified that we, the players and DM, know it as Uffgart's Crack.)

sigil_beguiler We were discussing the nature of the rain just last night and came to a similar conclusion regarding acid rain, so I was thinking of the notion that the farther away from the mists you get, the less damaging the rain is. The only exception is when something like El Nino (the storms that plague southern California every year) carries some of those more acidic clouds further and faster than normal. I like the plague masks. Maybe as the adventurers travel closer to the mists, they'll encounter communities where such masks are a yearly necessity, much as we wear rain coats and carry umbrellas for part of the year.

For crossing the steam, I'm currently not allowing it for any nation or NPC. I'm keeping north and south separate for now. Hopefully, the adventurers will be the first to cross through (or over) the mists. Those who have tried to levitate encountered a lack of breathable air and/or unpredictable winds that could blow them right into the steam. One such attempt brought back stories of something that lives in the mists (I'm thinking some kind of dragon).
#7
sigil_beguiler
Jun 24, 2009 11:44:15
One such attempt brought back stories of something that lives in the mists (I'm thinking some kind of dragon).

Great minds think alike :P

On the dragon, I would recommend refluffing a Brown Dragon. Instead of sand it can transform into mist, its breath attack would be a blast of swirling acidic mist instead of sand.

One idea too to add to the mist storms is that these storms concentrate the mist. By doing such even though they destroy large swaths of life it is once more seeded by the arcane substances and cause a whole new ecosystem to rapidly evolve in their wake.

Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine It is a inhospitable mine thanks to the metals and such within it. You can get lots of good ideas from it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Shiftkitty Jun 23, 2009 15:00:26	Tentatively named Cyrune Cyrune sprang from an older campaign in which the campaign's most powerful wizard ever tested a new spell called "Arcane Ass-kicking". The planet had been a dead world until he tested this spell there on an unfortunate minion whom he keeps resurrecting for such things. (The characters are from a goofball campaign, so the minion is like "Grommet" to the wizard's "Wallace".) The resulting blast from the spell caused a massive split in the planet going almost to the core. The crack, known as "Uffgart's Crack" sucked in a great amount of the planet's stagnant and dead oceans, spewing them back out as arcane-laced steam. The arcane elements hooked up with the micro-organisms left behind by Uffgart's crushed cigarette and the remnants of the minion's old exploded body This caused an accelerated evolution, tapping into the arcane force (which had originated from the world of Greyhawk) and causing many of the micro-organisms to evolve along the paths of those life forms, as well as to take on some of their own unique forms. Evolution has now slowed to a more manageable pace. The steam still emanates from Uffgart's Crack, splitting the world along the equator. The northern half is unaware of the southern half. The northern half believes that the steam is the edge of reality, that nothing exists beyond it. The southern half believes that the steam is a gateway to Hell. Both halves stay away from it. Anyone who has walked into it has not come back to tell the tale. One old woman, in a fit of senility, walked in and did walk back out a while later, but her flesh had been boiled from her bones. It sloughed off and she died. With all that steam in the air, there's a lot of humidity and rain. The planet has no deserts and the polar caps are small. The lands near the Fiery Mists are unusable and have a distinct, heavy sulphur element to them. Water in the liveable places is not an issue. Large bodies of water are limited to very large lakes (no seas), but the frequent rains keep everything nice and hydrated. None of this is written in stone. The adventurers there right now are still working within the bounds of their kingdom, Wrelin Mahr. In fact, they're still in the village of Dawnwyll. (Magic is illegal here, but I have no time for the kingdom's political history at the moment.) Any suggestions or tweaks as to the ecology of the planet?
#2 crimsonninja666 Jun 23, 2009 15:47:15	very creative. are there many kingdoms? realms? do the races live together or do each race have its own homeland? Do other kingdoms work together or are they at war with each other? Are there limited resources that the kingdoms must find away to explore the steam? is the population small or large? can the lands sustain them? just a few thoughts that came to mind.
#3 Shiftkitty Jun 23, 2009 22:13:46	I was thinking of doing the civilization thing a little backwards. Instead of everyone coming from their own ancestral lands, due to the accelerated evolution with arcane "contamination", many races have just sort of evolved together. They haven't had the chance to factionalize into "Dragonborn lands" or "Human lands", etc., but they are keenly aware that they are different races. The kingdom the party will start out in has declared inter-racial relationships illegal, but the products of such unions don't encounter much more than official discrimination (can't hold royal posts, own land, are discouraged from marrying or having children thanks to propagandistic quackery, etc.). Most private citizens, however, aren't so strict. A half-elf's gold spends as well as a full elf's gold, after all. Socially, people tend to identify themselves regionally before doing so racially. (A Human from Dawnwyll will stand up for a Tiefling from Dawnwyll before he'll stand up for a Human from Leyan's Well, but he'll defend a Dawnwyllian Human before he'll defend a Dawnwyllian Tiefling.) I've named five kingdoms, but they are barely three or four generations old. Prior to that, the people lived in smaller feifs and baronies. The founding of Wrelin Mahr marked the first organized kingdom as the first King Wrelin proved his might to control multiple provinces. The other kingdoms coalesced out of fear of Wrelin Mahr, whose imperialistic tendencies are in the open. There is peace in trade, however, and the four neighboring kingdoms trade suspiciously but fairly. Wrelin Mahr mostly imports luxury goods, which makes the others even more nervous that they need the raw materials more than Wrelin Mahr needs their fancy fabrics and spices. Wrelin Mahr is rich with forests and quarries. I'm still ironing out some other things, such as how far into teh steam one can safely go and what might be found there.
#4 sigil_beguiler Jun 23, 2009 22:55:44	I imagine some eccentric people may try to develop ways of delving into the steam. Perhaps they wish to make a deal with the devils in hell, perhaps they wish to leave the world and believe the end of the world is where to do so. I would look into interesting ways to explore them; from magic shielding, to fully-encased suits, etc. Or to travel over with levitation or airships? Is there knowledge that the steam helps bring about the rain? Those who believe it is the entrance to hell may do small rituals or have sigils on their roofs to purify the taint in the rain from hell. Obviously doesn't do anything since nothing to do, but they don't know that. How about steam storms? Great gusts of wind cause heavy clouds of steam to roll over the landscape, boiling everything it crosses. With this steam coming out from deep in the earth, perhaps the steam and also thus rain and humidity is littered with material. From sulphur to metals. This could change the colour of water, the taste, smell, etc. It could also by sulphuric and cause acid rain. Perhaps dissipating the further away you get. This could mean that it is easier to access complex metals that have leeched through the water into the earth. Buildings would need even more maintenance from not just the normal humidity and rain but also the acid rain. People may need to wear masks to block out the smell of sulphur/help them breath (look at masks worn in Venice during the Black Plague for ideas).
#5 gregt_314 Jun 23, 2009 23:22:49	You're pretty much condemning yourself to a comedy game here; you totally can't expect yourself or your players to maintain a straight face with a terrain feature called "Uffgart's Crack", from which noxious gases emanate.
#6 Shiftkitty Jun 24, 2009 8:46:41	As I said, nothing's written in stone. Since nobody can enter the steam, nobody IC even knows about the crack. And when they do learn about it, I hope to have a better name for it. (Sorry, I should have specified that we, the players and DM, know it as Uffgart's Crack.) sigil_beguiler We were discussing the nature of the rain just last night and came to a similar conclusion regarding acid rain, so I was thinking of the notion that the farther away from the mists you get, the less damaging the rain is. The only exception is when something like El Nino (the storms that plague southern California every year) carries some of those more acidic clouds further and faster than normal. I like the plague masks. Maybe as the adventurers travel closer to the mists, they'll encounter communities where such masks are a yearly necessity, much as we wear rain coats and carry umbrellas for part of the year. For crossing the steam, I'm currently not allowing it for any nation or NPC. I'm keeping north and south separate for now. Hopefully, the adventurers will be the first to cross through (or over) the mists. Those who have tried to levitate encountered a lack of breathable air and/or unpredictable winds that could blow them right into the steam. One such attempt brought back stories of something that lives in the mists (I'm thinking some kind of dragon).
#7 sigil_beguiler Jun 24, 2009 11:44:15	One such attempt brought back stories of something that lives in the mists (I'm thinking some kind of dragon). Great minds think alike :P On the dragon, I would recommend refluffing a Brown Dragon. Instead of sand it can transform into mist, its breath attack would be a blast of swirling acidic mist instead of sand. One idea too to add to the mist storms is that these storms concentrate the mist. By doing such even though they destroy large swaths of life it is once more seeded by the arcane substances and cause a whole new ecosystem to rapidly evolve in their wake. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine It is a inhospitable mine thanks to the metals and such within it. You can get lots of good ideas from it.