Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Take a "standard" fantasy world with an "evil overlord" in charge and a prophecy of his downfall. Throw a band of heroes at him in a gloriously destructive battle in which they defeat him with great sacrifice... Then pick up the story with PCs who were apprentices and pages or other "minor" figures who supported the heroes. The big bad is dead, but so are the heroes on which everyone pinned their hopes. The PCs have to rise to the challenge of dealing with the aftermath. Power vacuums, societal shifts, etc... I suppose it'd be like an examination of what happens after Return of the Jedi , which isn't exactly a new idea, but it strikes me as an interesting setup for a fantasy campaign. This is probably inspired by recent readings such as Akame ga Kill! and The Heroic Legend of Arslan .

A fantasy world of "no history." Well, actually some, but not well remembered. A mage a great renown and power slowly slips into megalomania and perhaps possession as he delves into deeper mysteries. He finds a world in his planar travels and convinces a nation-state of impending disaster, taking them to this other world magically. In the process, memories are scrambled and people die, making the whole ordeal fuzzy in the collective memory of civilizations. The people build upon the ruins of a massive city and start to learn about their new home with vague stories of how someone magically saved them as a people by bringing them there, but without any solid details. Meanwhile, the mage becomes increasingly unhinged, running experiments and such - perhaps even maintaining a heroic face as savior on the side...

City-state on an isolated peninsula founded on the ruins of some ancient civilization when a powerful mage brought people there from a foreign land. 200-ish years of settlement, time to get well established, but not having developed long-range sea travel and explorations tend to end up with people not returning. Possible catacomb/dungeon in the mountains on the inland end, possibly set up by the very mage that established the settlement. - The thought is the mage (possibly demon-possessed) made himself out as savior, magically transporting a population away from a supposed threat while really establishing a supply of test subjects. Over a couple hundred years, the necessities of survival have obscured some of the reality of what happened. Class and racial biases transferred over, but then the lines became somewhat blurred. Nobles could only retain status if they had enough loyal followers to help hold it, since possessions were, to an extent, reset. And anyone who really looks ...

Back and forth, back and forth... But in the last week, I've actually made some progress, at least. So I had a campaign idea I wanted to follow up on, but it's been a struggle to get anywhere with. I started with some scene-setting imagery in mind a while back. On further thought, it might be interesting to have people who aren't such celebrities, so that's ceased being a "requirement." Rather, the PCs are survivors of the climactic battle of a war - possibly from either side or even just on the scene at the time. Whatever the case, they've inherited a degree of supernatural power. That power, though, has a sort of dark side to it. The first part of the campaign is likely to be learning about that power, through personal experience and witnessing of others. Then things develop from there. One huge hurdle had been even picking an RPG system. Similar to my sources of inspiration, I want a system that allows heroic mortals to stand above the rank-and-...

As a follow up to my last post : Hmmm... so it's acceptable, at least in some cases, to conceal major plot twists. I would have expected at least a little more reservation from those two, just based on what I've perceived as a desire to not cope with major changes in a campaign and/or a desire for full disclosure in advance. Well, I agonize over and over, but... I really cannot imagine any way in which I would run this online. It's not terribly likely offline either (perhaps more due to scheduling and such), and there's really only one offline gamer I know who might read any of this anyway. Kyn, at least, keeps prompting me for more details whenever I post some sort of campaign seed, so here's what I scribbled/fleshed out the other day... Spoilery self-notes: The Empire of Vastyr assaults and is eventually defeated by the Republic the PCs come from. In the process, the PCs (and several NPCs) are exposed to mystical forces that render them more than human w...

So... venting a little more in the way of ideas and analyzing them. Were I actually to run this as a campaign, I might put forth something like this to the players: You were a part of the assault on the beachhead at Port Nadir. It was the last, desperate gasp of the Republic. With the Emperor himself present, success could lead to a negotiated cease fire with the Imperial generals. If the attack failed, there would not be enough of an organized resistance to slow the Vastyrian armies anywhere. Progress was hard-won, but you survived were countless others did not. At the doorstep of the Emperor's mobile palace, you met up with General Farius himself, leader of one of the few combat-tested Republic military units. True to his reputation, the general rallied stragglers from what units had made it and he led the final charge himself. Alongside his knights, you saw the line held against waves of fanatical foreigners dying by the dozens on spear and blade. As costly as it was, the f...

The Empire of Vastyr was a mystery to us. Far across the Eastern Sea a foreign people was known to exist, but few of our vessels were capable of making the journey. Thus it was an utter shock when the Empire's invasion force landed on Republic shores. Three coastal cities fell within the day. Waves of trained soldiers spilled forth, supported by self-mechanized devices we had never even conceived. The Imperial onslaught seemed unstoppable. We won. Victory came not through numbers or technology. Our magic was not superior. Some say the gods gave their favor to the Republic. Certainly the valor and determination of our heroes contributed much to winning the day. Figures of will and fate, numbering a score, cut to the heart of the assault - indeed, the very Empire itself - to save us all. They are revered today. Rightly so, for they are the saviors of the Republic. Monuments are crafted to the fallen as the living have risen to the peak of our society. The Republic shines brigh...