Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 blasticusreverb Sep 06, 2010 18:42:45	I have started to create a campaign world where there are no ancient ruins or fallen empires.  No mystical ancient artifacts or anything like that.  The world has more or less just started to perfect the use of magic.  Civilizations are little more than small city-states.  No major wars have broken out and very few biases have developed between the races. What details should I flesh out and what problems do you think I will encounter?
#2 lizardmage Sep 07, 2010 8:22:29	Flesh out the culture differences between your associated races, and determine how far they have progressed magically.    As your heroes level if they are playing an Arcane character they can simply be researching and discovering new spells in general rather then just spells for themselves.  I would level cap on rituals to show that magic is starting to be used.  The pcs can learn above the level cap it just takes them alittle longer.  Will a basic theme of this world be discovery? And will the PCs be able to influence larger scale events in the world?
#3 blasticusreverb Sep 07, 2010 9:40:01	Thanks for the reply. I have fleshed out the cultures to be unique to themselves.  I've developed the basic reaction of each society to each other as logically as possible.  I've tried to leave all the humanoid races at a neutral stance so that the PCs can influence the diplomatic relations in the course of their adventures. I do want the PCs to discover the unknown powers of the world and be instrumental in creation and possibly destruction of powerful kingdoms and artifacts.  I also want to have them rise from nothings to self made heroes that help influence the larger world around them. This means the first adventures will have to be more about learning what's wrong and developing their own abilities before they tackle big issues.  I wanted them to start by helping out a frontier fishing town with various problems they have.
#4 squanderdalfast Sep 07, 2010 13:53:25	You could have them help local villagers and then the mayor/town leader gets word of their deeds and he has aspirations that he can use them for, it's possible that they follow this guy to the top, that guy uses them to help anex the next town over and again until he becomes king.  Perhaps they have a falling out at that point and they take control of the realm? Or he becomes too power hungry and they switch allegiances to another rising power. Maybe one of his aids is in need. One thing I will say is, I've been in a campaign like you mentioned, and the early stages were boring to play. And I think totally skippable. I suggest you have them roleplay the point where they started from nothing into their back story. Help them flesh it out, and just summarized who they helped first and describe the connections they have to the local people because of it. I don't think they have to play it out to feel the eventual dramatic impact. And I think the added work of having really detailed back adventures will help them be more well rounded characters.
#5 blasticusreverb Sep 08, 2010 1:22:21	Those are very good ideas.  I had the idea to start involving outside agents of the larger villians in the campaign to build up a background of foes for their later grander adventures.  Perhaps they could somehow frame the PC's into appearing to have betrayed the town and mayor and they have to prove their innocence, etc. I can see how those quests could be skipped, but I know my group and they like the buildup stuff.  I had the idea to spoof classic MMO quests where you kill 20 boars or something and turn it in, but I was going to add a twist of some sort.  Plus we are all getting adjusted to 4E so I think simple quick encounters will benefit the basic grasping of the rules.
#6 blasticusreverb Sep 08, 2010 10:47:55	www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/rise-to... This is the link to the wiki I've created so far.