Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 kujihn Sep 30, 2009 10:46:49	I usually only play medieval settings, but I'm thinking of starting a group and dming again. My idea of a campaign setting is Sydney (hometown, as well as base of the gaming group ... so everybody knows where everything is ... minus some tweaks to represent the divergent social groups), 1980's Urban Arcana, lots of Shadowkind. Drow, Dwarves, Bugbears, tieflings ..... etc etc. Basic Campaign Setting info: Current place and period: Sydney, 1985 (who doesnt love 80's fashion and music? :P) Setting and background: During the 50's the Gates of Shadow are opened worldwide, allowing single way travel between the various planes of the multiverse onto every continent across the planet. This created a steadily growing population of migrants from beyond Earth. At first this was met with apprehension from the general public, but due the casualties and massive debt caused by the Second World War the Australian Government saw this as a prime opportunity. The Government ordered a national mandate (Directly funding Department-7 operations and bases within all Australian states and territories) to provide services to quickly acculturate the interplanetary travellers, and eventually, combine the new labour these extraplanar immigrants bring with that of the collection of refugees from Europe and Asia during the Australia's Post War "Populate or Perish" immigration policy. After 20 years, the service has been extroadinarily effective. Although many of the Shadowkind drew the ire of the authorities, public and even the military in serious cases of civil 'disobedience', the majority of the shadowkind have been integrated well and have found a general level of acceptance and comraderie from their fellow citizenry. Despite some simmering social difficulties and ignorance from the natives, most 'shadowkind' have found work tailored to their abilities as well as achieving a close-to-equal capita representation within educational forums such as universities and governmental bodies, such as the senate and the police. That being said, the passage of new immigrants doesn't seem to slow. The national budget continues to suffer constant deficits ... and the constant need to build greater infrastructure and provide socialized work (via government sponsored agricultural programs and factories) recreates Australia into a bureaucratic mess. To make matters worse, is also the interest of nefarious extraplanar beings seeking new domains to control have also infiltrated all stratas of society... people found dead, their brains being forcibly removed ... methodical corruption at even the highest echelons of government and financial offices ... In response to this new threat a new detachment of the Australian Federal Police has been formed. Led by the intensely xenophobic Major Julius Hartwell. Problematic in that he is given carte blanche in his operations, and the organization has been known to be somewhat trigger happy in their 'defence' of the Australian public. General unease spreads like a disease over the entire continent, as the 'shadowkind' strike back with protests. At first peaceful, many of the people within the 'Shadowkind Unified Movement' have adopted domestic terrorism to make their feelings clear. Many also within the Movemnt haven't a care for Shadowkind or mundane alike ... but only their own intentions at heart. Australian divisions of Department-7 thus have mobilized. Their operatives, consultants and supporters hoping to bring about peace and goodwill again, which count it's members from both Shadowkind masses and the natives in equal measure. Led by the enigmatic Miss Lynnaera Goldcrest ... an Elven crusader for Shadowkind Rights who seeks to remove the AFP's 'SC Unit' from operation and to return Department-7 as the primary Shadowkind judicial force. Department-7 have problems however ... they have to infiltrate not only the AFP's 'Shadowkind Control Unit' led by Hartwell, but also the Government ... and more seriously ... the S.U.M covens in order to determine the terrorists and gun runners amidst their ranks. One mistep ... Department-7 could be charged with 'High Treason' (now a capital offence). Equally worse, they may become labelled by the Shadowkind as an enemy of their cause. Drawing the ire of the very peoples they wish to protect. .... will the pcs bring peace back to the streets? .... will they triumph against the monstrous enemies that pervert their nation? ... will they cause the downfall of law and order? ... or will they be the boot that causes the suffering of a million shadowkind within the length and breadth of the land? -------------------- Equipment and vehicles: Nothing that isn't chronologically accurate to the time. Weapons rules: No military restricted equipment unless working for the AFP's Counter-Terrorism Force/"Shadowkind Control Unit", Military Forces, Department-7's Sabre Company (DSC-7.... weapons always 'on loan' status and given VERY infrequently). Licensed weapons bought legally require 12 weeks registration ... bullets can only be legally purchased for licenced weapons with proof of a gun licence. Silencers require connection to one of the above institutions. Restricted weapons can be ascrtained through work with the Police (infrequent beyond two firearms) or a private security company (infrequent beyond a single firearm). You can ascertain licenced and restricted weaponry from connections to the black market. --------------- What do you guys think?
#2 TheRealOrion Sep 30, 2009 20:20:10	I think that sounds fun as hell! And I love seeing game settings outside the US (Canadian, here). My one quibble with the set-up of the game world is that I find it a bit too hard to buy that the Shadowkind have proportional representation in governmental, corporate, and educational institutions after having "washed up" on Australia's shores only fifty years ago. Comparable immigrant groups have not achieved that, and that lack of representation would be a very compelling sticking point of the political wing of S.U.M. (there must be one, right? even the IRA had Sinn Féin). All in all, though, I love it! Putting the PCs between those two extremes, trying to negotiate both groups, could be very interesting. I say, write it up and run it!
#3 kujihn Oct 01, 2009 9:09:37	I think that sounds fun as hell! And I love seeing game settings outside the US (Canadian, here). My one quibble with the set-up of the game world is that I find it a bit too hard to buy that the Shadowkind have proportional representation in governmental, corporate, and educational institutions after having "washed up" on Australia's shores only fifty years ago. Comparable immigrant groups have not achieved that, and that lack of representation would be a very compelling sticking point of the political wing of S.U.M. (there must be one, right? even the IRA had Sinn Féin). All in all, though, I love it! Putting the PCs between those two extremes, trying to negotiate both groups, could be very interesting. I say, write it up and run it! Good suggestions on cementing the political objectives of the S.U.M. On the levels of Shadowkind acceptance ... I suppose you're right ... But the problem is I don't want to detail a world that is already damaged. It's a bit overdone. There's a problem, pcs pop up ... deal with it/make it worse/lewave it and do something else. I want to present a world that is actually ... pretty nice ... to begin with. And then you have the slow descent into a totalitarian state... and the possible redemption of via the pcs. The city and the populace are actually somewhat happy to begin with ... life is good ... but slowly humans ... despite doing so well ... start to succumb to prejudices ... as opposed to having the prejudices and then big struggle, and being over it. Earthlings ACTUALLY got something right at the get-go ... but end up mucking it up. There's a couple of reasons why I want to start off with a happier setting is because I want to give the pcs something idyllic to remember ... when they weren't shot at, and people were well off ... and the telephone service and electricity weren't cut off for days at a time because of the slow decay into open violence. But yeah I'll keep your suggestions on board n.n Possibly limit shadowkind involvement in power structures ... but I still want to keep a more rosier picture of affairs .... I think it will be nice because Sydney is our home city, and because things were more pleasant for the first couple of levels ... then you have open anti shadowkind operations and domestic terrorism .. and Sydney brought to it's knees around them... So it will be a little more emotive, unlike if I started them off in a war-torn nation ... they would just do whatever suited them ... the damage has been done already so why should a little more damage  be thayt bad? Whereas in this scenario, if the pcs want to belong to any government agency/institution it's all about damage control straight from the start ... rather than just merely surviving, profiteering and reconstruction. Just that each individual organization has specific ideas on how 'damage control' should be performed :p Alternatively you can work for the forces of chaos ... whether revolutionary or criminal. Or you could simply sip a latte at the corner cafe and watch as cars are molotov'd or trains are derailed as railway tracks are bombed :x A situation where the pcs will see Sydney as an idyllic, lovely, generally accepting place to be ... it's nice and wonderful here ... and slowly have them watch as things go down hill. See if they attempt to preserve the fragile balance, and try to reinforce civility and social control ... or will they watch it all come down ... Do what's easy, or doing what's hard in a way :x --------------- Okay, I'll start writing a campaign setting, general timeline, map, list of interesting locales and local lore.... and I'll create bios for about 30-40 NPCs scattered out over the inner metro ... When I'm done I'll put it online :P Thanks n.n
#4 TheRealOrion Oct 01, 2009 11:32:11	My suggestion, if you want to keep that sense of an edenic time, is to say this: the Shadowkind show up and start revolutionising technology and the commercial world in general. They get hired for various specialised skills, they put a major shot into the arm of the Aussie economy. Everyone is gobsmacked at how well they're doing and they're outwardly quite grateful to the Shadowkind. The more attractive ones become celebrities of various kinds. But all is not well. Despite being in high demand, and paid well for it, the Shadowkind don't have a vote yet because, legally, they're not "people," not human. Also, the less "presentable" members of the Shadow's community (the ones who lived under bridges where they came from) don't have the same status in society. They're shunned and ignored and hired only for dirty work. So while on the surface everything is good--people are making money thanks to "our new friends from across dimensions"--trouble is brewing. A consistent but never well-publicised effort to get the Shadows citizenship and various other basic rights turns into a cause celeb, with massive human support--like White people who supported civil rights in the 60s--but at the same time, the SUM actually commits a violent act or two, thus forcing people to decide how far is too far in this issue--again, parallels with Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. You can have idyllic memories based on the assumption that everyone was okay, but in fact, all these problems were bubbling under the surface the whole time. Despite best intentions. Despite a world where it's not okay to say "them shadows don't belong in my country," there could still be tension. What I love about this idea is that you could have everybody acting in good faith. The SUM thinking it must take drastic measures to ensure its people's basic rights, and the government reacting to protect the safety of the nation. That's how civil rights struggles usually play out. And it's a fascinating, complex problem to play out in a game world, even if it's just a backdrop. That's how I'd go with it, anyway, but it's your world, of course. Either way, it sounds like fun!