Another take on fantasy campaigns

[tkdguy]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

Lots of great ideas here, so I'll address them separately:

 

AdamanNaBriona: I would definitely welcome a dialogue with you (and with all you other nice folks too). You have some pretty good ideas about the races.

 

Von D-Man: Those are some good points. I was thinking along the lines of a mix of the two. There will be some areas that will have only one race, and others where a few of the races live together, although not necessarily in harmony. The orcs and trolls may be as intelligent and cultured as any other race, but they may be treated as second-class citizens in some areas. Other regions may treat them as equals. It may all depend on the history of the local region.

 

Susano: Definitely I will use those martial in a medieval setting. I was also thinking of other settings to put this in. The Renaissance and the Victorian Age are popular settings. Anyone interested?

 

Vanguard00: Thanks for the map. I hadn't heard of that world, but I haven't read much fiction lately. Still, it presents a great alternative world.

[tkdguy]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

A few more ideas:

 

Elves living in the wilderness could have given rise to tales of nature spirits, and their knowledge of nature and spiritualism led other cultures to consider them a magical race. Elves are not vulnerable to iron. This belief came from a defeat they suffered from a culture wielding iron weapons. Although the elves were advanced culturally, they were backwards technologically, being a Bronze Age culture until being introduced to iron weapons. Elves are also known as dryads, nymphs or fey.

 

The superior quality of magic if dwarf weapons and armor were considered enchanted by humans. Dwarf smiths often engraved runes in the weapons they made as a signature or trademark. These were mistaken for magical symbols. Dwarves are also known as kobolds or gnomes.

 

In Scandinavia, elves and dwarves lived together in harmony, forming many small communities away from mainstream human cultures. This is why Northmen often considered elves and dwarves one race.

 

Orcs evolved from many different ethnic groups that banded together for survival. Many centuries of isolation and selective breeding made them diverge physically from mainstream humanity. Their arms are a bit longer, and their legs are a bit shorter proportionally. Their mostly carnivorous diet eventually gave them slightly larger canines (which are not fangs or tusks). Their faicial features are generally coarse, and their rite of passage to adulthood includes scarring of the face. Orcs are also known as goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears.

 

Trolls evolved in harsh climates where only the largest and strongest members survived. Like orcs, their canines are a bit large when compared to other races. They are often nocturnal, and that gave rise to the myth that trolls cannot stand sunlight. Trolls are also known as ogres, giants, and titans.

 

Hobbits evolved somewhere in Germany, at a time when resources were scarce. They eventually grew smaller in order to adapt (I took this idea from Flores Man).Otherwise, they are proportioned the same way mainstream humans are. They tend to appear overwieight, as the majority of them have endomorphic body types. Many hobbits migrated to Britain, where they were known as pixies. Many more settled in Britain after the Anglo Saxons conquered much of the island. Hobbits are also known as halflings, pixies, or hobs.

 

Items that may be considered magic are usually blessed, and some are sacred artifacts. Others can be "lucky charms."

[tkdguy]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

I apologize for committing thread necromancy, but I had another idea related to this thread. My idea is that the world is earth centuries after a global catastrophe. The PCs would live in what's left of a major city. The names may have changed (San Francisco may be known now as Saffron, for example). Legends of the ancients and their magic artifacts may inspire the PCs to go on a quest for lost technology.

 

Before the catastrophe, technology had become quite advanced. Elves, orcs, and the rest are descendants of people who underwent genetic engineering. Evolution then took its toll over the centuries.

 

As for gods and magic, perhaps groups of powerful aliens are posing as gods (like in Stargate) and are giving certain followers "magic" (like the Vorlons and Shadows in Babylon 5) in order to control the population.

[Trencher]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

I like the genetic engenering bit.

I don't really see how humans could naturally evolve into orcs and Trolls.

[Markdoc]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

I apologize for committing thread necromancy' date=' but I had another idea related to this thread. My idea is that the world is earth centuries after a global catastrophe. The PCs would live in what's left of a major city. The names may have changed (San Francisco may be known now as Saffron, for example). Legends of the ancients and their magic artifacts may inspire the PCs to go on a quest for lost technology.[/quote']

 

Check out Keith Curtis's Savage world site, in that case: he has a stunning post-apocalyptic america setting. Also see ifyou can get Sterling Lanier's Hiero novels, which cover much of the same territory

 

Before the catastrophe, technology had become quite advanced. Elves, orcs, and the rest are descendants of people who underwent genetic engineering. Evolution then took its toll over the centuries.

 

As for gods and magic, perhaps groups of powerful aliens are posing as gods (like in Stargate) and are giving certain followers "magic" (like the Vorlons and Shadows in Babylon 5) in order to control the population.

 

That works. Fitz - who posts to these boards - ran a post-apoc fantasy game in which the survivors of the holocaust lived in little enclaves of high tech and were like unto gods to all the grubby folk who lived outside. If you went this route, perhaps the monsters that are roaming about were engineered and released for sport or experimentation ("I bet you two tubes of Zlunch my new improved dragon EATS those guys this time!")

 

cheers, Mark

[Vanguard00]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

I like the genetic engenering bit.

I don't really see how humans could naturally evolve into orcs and Trolls.

Radiation leaks? Depending on the actual catastrophe, it may be exposure to greater amounts of ultraviolet radiation (i.e. weakened ozone) that drove some men underground in places like the Karlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, and over time they simply evolved (devolved?) into mishapen man-like 'orcs'. Trolls could be some sort of evolved gorilla, even--over time they grew 'up', grew a little smarter, changed their look slightly, etc. Heck, go with a Sasquatch/Bigfoot type creature and call him a troll...

 

Still lots of possibilities.

[Black Rose]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

Just a suggestion, from a language perspective.

 

Orcs are called such due to the region in which they were first found (or some such), but are more commonly known as goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. The reason is due to their language which, while possessing many dialects, still possesses many "hard g", "b" and "uh" sounds, leading the first "people" to encounter them to call them "goblins". The later names came about through dialects/cultural titles/whatever.

[tkdguy]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

Another option is having Orcs and Trolls and the like is having them evolve from Neanderthals, who survived longer in this timeline than they did in our world.

[UltraRob]

Re: Another take on fantasy campaigns

 

For your post apocalyptic campaign...

 

Humans: Descendants of average generally unmodified people.

 

Elves: Descentants of the rich elite who had their children genetically upgraded to be healthier, smarter, live longer, see better in the dark, etc. Maybe they had pointed ears as a "fad" or as a way of marking themselves as different (and superior) to regular humans.

 

Dwarves: Decendants of genetically engineered mining clones, you see in the future most of the easy to get minerals were mined out, so they had to work much harder to mine, this being done by clones of course, not "real" humans.

Great miners and engineers with a natural location sense and great dark vision, also pretty tough little guys.

 

ORCs [Offensive Response Clones]: Descendants of the infantry clones of the future, strong, tough, fast and very aggressive, but not very smart. (After all, they're really just walking armour for tanks...) They look ugly because they were made to scare the bejeezus out of the enemy population.

 

Goblins: Descendants of construction worker clones made to be small, agile, nimble and good with tools, but not very bright because they were meant to be followers. (Although they logically would have good memories since they'd need to remember blueprints.) Could actually be a bit of a gadgeteer race.

 

Trolls: Descendants of heavy labour/ heavy construction clones, big, tough, dumb and heal really fast. Could be multiple variants, like the version for hot climates and the version for cold weather work. (Hairy and bigfoot-like.)

 

Of course, there is the question of why these clones were able to reproduce, since logically they would have been sterile to prevent them from uncontrolled reproduction. Unless of course there are still clone factories somewhere churning them out...

 

Rob