Author Topic: How unique are your campaign worlds?  (Read 1754 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Mordenkainen

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 87
  • OIC Points +0/-0
How unique are your campaign worlds?
« on: April 09, 2017, 06:56:13 AM »
I have noticed that home-brewed settings tend to default to a "Rolemaster"-like feel due to all of the rules material coloring the GM's creation. That's normal and fine as I happen to like the "standard-ish Rolemaster fantasy world" feel. It's a little bit Shadow World, a little bit Middle Earth, a little bit kitchen sink. At least in my interpretation - you might see that differently.

But I'm interested in how far you have gone in changing some of the default assumptions for your settings. Different magic systems, races, tweaks for a Conan-esque sword and sorcery feel, etc etc. How creative have you and your group been and has the game been tugged back by the ruleset into a more standard feel despite your efforts to change things up?

Offline jdale

  • RMU Dev Team
  • ****
  • Posts: 7,103
  • OIC Points +25/-25
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2017, 11:34:43 PM »
My setting is post-technological fantasy; the magic is using remnants of extremely advanced technology but the inhabitants of the world don't see it that way or think of it that way. Magic and technology are not separate and co-existing things, they are the same. I aim for a classic fantasy tone, e.g. there are no blasters, but there are wands. To achieve that, I replaced the usual three realms with five: earth, water, life, self, and aether, reflecting different sources and types of power. Dwarves inherently use earth magic (to varying degrees but all of them have it), to be aware of their environment, to shape it, to improve their crafting, etc. Elves (and sprites, dryads, etc) inherently use life magic to work with living and organic things. Naiads use water magic. So, the races are customized (I'm using standard RMU cultures though), the professions are customized. I've customized or created 58 spell lists (basing them on RMU lists where available but also RM2 and RMSS lists as well as entirely new lists) and still have some I'm planning to add.

Early on, I was largely using the RMU professions, just letting the characters pick their spell lists from any lists in the realm. I think it started working better after I made my own professions and narrowed down the list of possible spell lists. For example, the monk is a discipline-based magic-using combatant, and you can use it to handle a more heavily armored weapon-using combatant with magic, but it was better when I made a separate profession for that. It helps that RMU has rules for creating professions, it's pretty easy in fact. Tweaking spell lists is fairly easy, too. Making new lists is more work, if you are doing your due diligence to try to balance them against existing lists, but if you are willing to mine all the existing editions and sources, you have a lot of material available to start from.

Our RMSS game (likely switching to RMU "soon") is more classic, not much customization. The setting has some other influences since the GM originally ran a campaign in the same setting (with different players) in D&D before switching to RM.
System and Line Editor for Rolemaster

Offline OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol

  • Revered Elder
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,222
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2017, 07:00:17 AM »
I created my own world independantly from any game system (and, in fact, GMed games in it using AD&D2, D&D3.5, RM2, Palladium and other game systems). As such, it doesn't have a "Rolemaster"-like feel (though I guess you could find influences of all the worlds created for these game systems…) Of course, RM2 being a system heavily influenced by the same sources that influence most other systems (I mean "a little bit Middle Earth"? Come on, LotR having shaped so much fantasy as a genre, it's hard not to find "a little bit Middle Earth" in most if not all fantasy worlds!) All fantasy worlds share a lot of common tropes…
That being said, it's also the cause for most (if all) my differences with all game systems, as I consider a good game system should be easily adapted to fit a world, rather than the world having to be shaped by the rules of the game systems. For instance, I know my biggest problem with any incarnation of RM is how the system handles magic differently than how it's supposed to work in my world. :P
The world was then consumed by darkness, and mankind was devoured alive and cast into hell, led by a jubilant 紗羽. She rejoiced in being able to continue serving the gods, thus perpetuating her travels across worlds to destroy them. She looked at her doll and, remembering their promises, told her: "You see, my dear, we succeeded! We've become legends! We've become villains! We've become witches!" She then laughed with a joyful, childlike laughter, just as she kept doing for all of eternity.

Offline Druss_the_Legend

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 537
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2017, 11:35:29 AM »
my setting is based on Sanctuary Thieves World.


https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-World-Roleplaying-Game-Boxed/dp/093363501X

its set primarily in a city where magic is feared and life is cheap. its been a great springboard for a larger Campaign. tbh I have found the standard Shadow World off the shelf material difficult to use as a cohesive setting but thats not because it isnt a good product, its more because of my personal preference for running a more 'heroic fantasy' style campaign based around a smaller location and its surrounding nationalities.

I have added many new factions and villains to the setting although these were initially based on off-the-shelf supplements for the thieves world setting which are quite comprehensive already but i have added my own flavour. For example a thieves guild and two rival assassins guilds have been added to a magicians guild and evil blood cult. Each of these factions has its own boss/villain and they have formed alliance to establish themselves as a powerful organisation within the larger scheme of the plot.

Recently i have added a group of 4 Vampire Lords who are worshipped by the cult and harken back to its history. This story arc will allow the campaign to change modes and move into more epic adventures to far reaching places to destroy thwart the blood cults plans to resurrect the 4 vampire lords and ultimately stop them from freeing their exiled master, a powerful undead lich.

BACK STORY
Centuries ago a powerful lich named Murmaranus Soulstealer created a cabal of vampire lords. There were four vampire lords. They had many names: The Soul Stealers, The Sons of Dyareela and The Assembly of Chaos. The Blue Star Magicians destroyed the cabal but this came at great cost to their order. Murmarandus was banished and imprisoned in The Plane of the Damned. As a safeguard the remaining Blue Star magicians used their magic to trap the soul of each vampire within a stone. These artifacts were called Soul Stones. One Soul Stone was created for each vampire lord. These relics were scattered and hidden throughout the Known World. Even though the vampire lords were destroyed, evil this powerful is never totally eradicated. The Bloody Hand have been searching for the Soul Stones for centuries, gathering followers and forbidden lore. Should they find the Soul Stones, The Blood Cult would be able to resurrect the Soulstealers and then free Murmarandus from his exile in the Plane of the Damned.

Offline Sable Wyvern

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 144
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2017, 02:15:46 AM »
In the past, I think my worlds haven't actually had much of a specific RM feel, because I generally didn't give too much thought about RM assumptions when designing them.

This time around, I started thinking about the implications of various assumptions, professions etc ... and building a world that reflected the mechanical pieces I've chosen to incorporate.

Race-wise, I have humans (common and mixed), hobgoblins (using close to high man stats), boggarts (using goblin stats) goblins (using kobold stats) and sprikkas (freaky, ugly loners based loosely off of elves mechanically). All my races select cultures, because it's not hard to tweak the rules to do it, and it's much more interesting than monocultures.

There are a lot of competing cults, to justify the existence of the Mythic profession. There are also Elemental Cults, to justify the professions from Fire and Ice. There are three regions with distinctive schools of martial arts (with particular monk sub-classes more likely in some locations than others). Powerful organisations endeavour to control or eliminate Arcane magic, to justify many of the assumptions from Arcane Companion. If you use Channeling, you need a link to a specific religious organisation or a demonic entity that actually employs/instructs that profession. Professions aren't just a set of skill costs, some are only possible if you're trained in region where those particular skillsets are actually taught.

It certainly makes for a high-magic setting, where civilised urban citizens learn can generally cast a spell or two, where you can potentially commission the creation of magic items if you have enough money, where sorcerers and astrologers and warlocks are reasonably common, where the rich can employ lay healers or purchase miraculous herbal cures.

If I was to summarise the vibe I'm getting from the things I'm doing, I'd call it "high magic swords and sorcery".

Offline Mordenkainen

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 87
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2017, 04:25:10 AM »
Very interesting responses, thanks for sharing about your campaign worlds. It seems that a lot of you haven't felt quite the same amount of constraints that I sometimes feel from the rulebooks. I mean, anything can be changed or tweaked, but I feel a pretty heavy weight of "RM-default" impinging on setting design whenever I come back to the game. Particularly in the professions and the magic system. Maybe I'll really have to change things up next time I plan a campaign.

Offline Sable Wyvern

  • Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 144
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2017, 08:36:16 AM »
Oh, I absolutely don't dispute that what you're feeling is there. It's very strongly there, and it's what I'm drawing upon this time around. I just think a lot of it is also reasonably easy to ignore.

Having said that, there's only so much you can do with the magic system -- it is what it is, and making significant changes would involve significant work.

Other than that, though, I think if you're running a world not based on the same assumptions as those inherent to the rules, the only thing you really need to do is look at each profession and ask "is this actually appropriate to the setting?". With 50+ professions in RMSS/RMFRP, I don't think it's unusual that you might need to forbid some in any given setting, especially given that there are a number that fill fairly narrow niches.

Offline Druss_the_Legend

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 537
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2017, 04:57:57 PM »
To me, the use of magic, what powers it, who can use it, what the general populace think of magic and what influence gods have in your campaign is a major consideration.
I do find the standard rolemaster spell system a little clunky and not that intuitive at times. the fact spells are put into spell lists is a bit of a different way of learning magic. i honestly prefer the simplicity of the D&D magic system and there is still some scope there for giving spell users more or less choice depending on what flavour you like.
i think i feel a bit of loyalty to use the system at it is and not mess with it too much. my campaigns are usually low magic anyway so it hasnt been much of an issue needing addressing right away.
if i was to reboot a new campaign in another world, id start with redesigning the magic system and tweeking it to my own personal tastes.

Offline jdale

  • RMU Dev Team
  • ****
  • Posts: 7,103
  • OIC Points +25/-25
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2017, 09:43:52 AM »
I've always liked the spell lists. They result in the characters learning a bunch of little miscellaneous things they might otherwise not develop, which helps make them better rounded. That said, because you are dealing with the whole package, it brings along a concept of how things function and you can end up with some parts that fit your setting and others that don't. So it definitely means more work if you want to change the underlying nature of magic; it's more effort to change a whole spell list than it would be to change individual spells. And you do need to make changes (if you are not using the default assumptions about how magic works) because if you just say things are different but all the mechanics are the same, in many ways the mechanics are more important than what you are saying, and your players may not fully buy in.

If you do the work, though, I think customized spell lists can really reinforce a setting. That can be changes in what is or isn't possible, or what is or isn't easy, but it can also be color. E.g. for my game I adapted the Beastly Ways list and one of the things I changed was all the names of the animals to reflect creature unique to the setting. Spell lists customized for specific religions are also great for that.

The different editions of RM are actually a benefit here because you can mine any edition for ideas, take advantage of the extra diversity of lists, and even use different versions of the same lists from different editions. Not to mention the various lists posted on the forums e.g. especially by B. Hanson lately.

In order to keep things feeling coherent with a mixed of customized and standard lists, I have binders that have copies of all the lists from all the sources organized by realm. PDFs make it easy to print out individual pages. (I did this for the standard realms in RMSS, too, combining all the lists from the companions with spell law, printing companion material on different colored paper. I guess you don't have to be that obsessively organized. ;) ) For the PCs, they have binders with their characters and that includes copies of all of their spell lists.
System and Line Editor for Rolemaster

Offline Cory Magel

  • Loremaster
  • ****
  • Posts: 5,615
  • OIC Points +5/-5
  • Fun > Balance > Realism
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2017, 11:16:26 AM »
I pull things from all kinds of sources, so one might see bits and pieces inspired by Shadow World, Middle Earth, novel series' such as The Wheel of Time, Katherine Kerr's Deverry series, Davis Edding's Elenium series, etc., but it's fairly superficial similarities overall.

- I've laid out levels of technology (rare and basic level gunpowder for example), how common magic is and how it is seen (how different populations might react differently to it), and how the various forms work (power sources).
- The commonality of openly carrying weapons, possessing heavy armor, and how different populations might react to that.
- Common forms of travel (land, sea and some air).
- How organized the kingdoms are, how they run, how they interact with each other.
- How the races behave and see each other.  I've tweaked races a bit.  For example you have Mountain and Hill Dwarves.  Wood (forest), Grey (sea and rural), Shadow (murky forests and underground) and High Elves (few and scattered but firmly established).  There are unusual races such as Bird-Men, Centaur and Half Giants (which largely keep to themselves).
- Organizations in the world that can range from Pirates, something very akin to Rangers, a medieval riff on 'gunslingers' (Duelists), one that specializes in elemental magic, a non-religious order of Knights that you might compare to Templars meet Rangers in some ways.

I steal a lot of maps.  So the main city is based on Terry Pratchett city of Ankh Morpork, one based on Terry's Eidelon, I have Ptolus, Neverwinter, etc, etc.  Have a pretty sizable folder on my computer filled with maps.

I'd say the best way to describe it in one, short, sentence is think of it as a Renaissance-like fantasy world.
- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline Druss_the_Legend

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 537
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2017, 01:50:39 PM »
I pull things from all kinds of sources, so one might see bits and pieces inspired by Shadow World, Middle Earth, novel series' such as The Wheel of Time, Katherine Kerr's Deverry series, Davis Edding's Elenium series, etc., but it's fairly superficial similarities overall.

- I've laid out levels of technology (rare and basic level gunpowder for example), how common magic is and how it is seen (how different populations might react differently to it), and how the various forms work (power sources).
- The commonality of openly carrying weapons, possessing heavy armor, and how different populations might react to that.
- Common forms of travel (land, sea and some air).
- How organized the kingdoms are, how they run, how they interact with each other.
- How the races behave and see each other.  I've tweaked races a bit.  For example you have Mountain and Hill Dwarves.  Wood (forest), Grey (sea and rural), Shadow (murky forests and underground) and High Elves (few and scattered but firmly established).  There are unusual races such as Bird-Men, Centaur and Half Giants (which largely keep to themselves).
- Organizations in the world that can range from Pirates, something very akin to Rangers, a medieval riff on 'gunslingers' (Duelists), one that specializes in elemental magic, a non-religious order of Knights that you might compare to Templars meet Rangers in some ways.

I steal a lot of maps.  So the main city is based on Terry Pratchett city of Ankh Morpork, one based on Terry's Eidelon, I have Ptolus, Neverwinter, etc, etc.  Have a pretty sizable folder on my computer filled with maps.

I'd say the best way to describe it in one, short, sentence is think of it as a Renaissance-like fantasy world.
very cool. i like what uv done with the elf and dwarf races.

Offline Bud

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: How unique are your campaign worlds?
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2017, 01:27:11 AM »
My main campaign world, which I have used with several game systems, is not too unique ( I don't think ), the main things that may be different from some:
- Bronze Age, early Iron Age in a couple areas, but designed to be pre-medieval by a long shot, not just in technology but in societal and cultural norms.
- Chariots and boats are important, smaller towns and cities, no "high fantasy" castles.  Almost everyone is illiterate.
- Most areas are unexplored, uncharted, and uncivilized.  All areas are subject to dramatic change by war or other means.
- The magical presence in the world is strongly associated with folklore and superstition - everything supernatural (and most things natural) are assumed to be somehow associated with the Gods, for better or for worse.  Characters using magic with any frequency rarely ends well.  Big monsters are very rare and deadly, often intelligent, and not always mean.  The characters learn that enchanted items are often more trouble than they are worth.
- Mostly humans, but different cultures vary a great deal, enough that some are thought to be of another race.  A race similar to the Celtic Sidhe coexist with humans basically undetected.
- The campaign is during a long period of conflict and unrest, there is usually a war or battle going on somewhere.