tkdguy Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I'm still toying around with this idea, as I just started working on it recently. But here's what I have so far: When mankind travelled through the stars, a mining colony was founded in a distant part of the Milky Way. The planet orbited a yellow-white F0V star and was hotter than earth, especially during perihelion. But it had a rich supply of energy crystals, so humans and other races settled there to mine these crystals. Many grew rich over the years, but overmining stripped the planet of most of the useful crystals. Then the Galactic War began. The mining planet was one of many worlds abandoned and forgotten. The civilizations in the planet collapsed, leaving the surviving inhabitants in chaos. Centuries passed. A few cities have arisen, but they are few and far in between, surrounded by vast stretches of wilderness where tribes of barbarians dwell. The races living in the world compete for resources that are dwindling. Technology has for the most part regressed to the Dark Ages. Swords and other melee weapons are commonly used. Firearms are not unknown, but they are rare. Most people who travel must do so on foot or by riding animals. Several flying machines still exist, but they require the energy crystals, which are no longer as common as they used to be. Most of the planet's inhabitants live as barbarians. The few cities are civilized, but they are corrupt and decadent, ruled by petty despots. Gladiatorial games are a favorite pasttime, as are public executions. The most popular form of execution by the overlords is stipping the prisoners and chaining them to posts under the sun, especially during perihelion. The prisoners die in agony unless they are released for questioning and further torture under the sun. Thus the sun has become known as the Agony Star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Sounds interesting. Reminds me just a little of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Reminded me of Thundarr, actually. Far-post-apocalyptic S&S. Only perhaps less tongue in cheek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I definitely would be wise to draw upon Barsoom and Thundarr (without the wizards), as well as some of Clark Ashton Smith's works. I'm still working on what alien species to include, as well as other details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I'd say you could also draw inspiration from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series of novels, as well as the Dark Sun campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I'm somewhat reminded of Arrakis, and its desert-dwelling Fremen, whose elderly, women and children routed the Emporer's elite shock-troopers. Don't mess with those desert 'barbarians'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign A few details I've been mulling over: The star itself is classified as F0V and is a bit larger and brighter than the sun. The planet is still in the "Goldilocks Zone," albeit skewed toward the warm side. The planet is comparable to earth's diameter, gravity, etc. But it is hotter, the temperature during perihelion being comparable to Death Valley in the summer. Aside from that, I don't plan on getting too technical. This being a sword and planet campaign rather than a hard sci-fi campaign, I'll play it fast and loose with the details. Firearms are rare, but they are available. Both slug throwers and ray guns exist. The latter require energy crystals to work, and they only have 2-5 Charges (the variable number indicates that the crystals vary in quality). Crystals are now somewhat rare because of overmining. Slug throwers are therefore a little more common, although the materials to create gunpowder can also be hard to find. Fliers are similar to those in the Barsoom novels. They require larger crystals, which are more stable than the smaller ones, but these too are rare and not always the best quality. Not too many people remember how to manufacture them, so they are used sparingly. As for the aliens, I was thinking of using the Vrusk from Star Frontiers, or the Thranx from the Humanx novels. Tharks would work well, of course. Maybe crystalline beings, the planet's natives (who were mostly wiped out by the colonists), will be around as well. The different species are generally hostile towards one another. It's not that they instinctively hate everyone not of their kind; it just that they're all competing for rapidly dwindling resources. They know the world is dying, and they each intend to be the last ones standing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign This would be a heroic campaign, using 5E. The characters can be standard heroes, but I'm tending toward powerful heroes. Maybe something in between (85 points base + 85 points disads) will work. Skills and Talents will be common; Perks, not so much. Powers would be rare, unless they're built in some gadget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Is it just the one planet or will there be interplanetary travel or dimensional gates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I'll stick with a single planet. Part of the reason the natives are so desperate is that they're stuck there. They know there are other planets out there (or were, nobody knows how the Galactic War turned out), but they no longer have the resources or knowledge to get off this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign That could make for a pretty good character or campaign objective, fwiw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign That could make for a pretty good character or campaign objective' date=' fwiw.[/quote'] That would work. Thanks for the suggestion. I have been considering mutant humans, although I'm not sold on them yet. I'm also undecided about psychics, since I never liked psionics. But there will be lots of nomadic survivalists and brutal overseers. I had been thinking of dog-men and cat-men who hungrily wait under the cliffs until the charred corpses of those who die under the Agony Star are thrown down. Then they fight over the remains like cats and dogs. But I decided that would be too cliche. Maybe carnivorous apes would work better. I have been taking a look at the Talislanta books for ideas. I may find a couple of sentient races there, as well as a few animals native to the planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign That would work. Thanks for the suggestion. I have been considering mutant humans, although I'm not sold on them yet. I'm also undecided about psychics, since I never liked psionics. But there will be lots of nomadic survivalists and brutal overseers. I had been thinking of dog-men and cat-men who hungrily wait under the cliffs until the charred corpses of those who die under the Agony Star are thrown down. Then they fight over the remains like cats and dogs. But I decided that would be too cliche. Maybe carnivorous apes would work better. I have been taking a look at the Talislanta books for ideas. I may find a couple of sentient races there, as well as a few animals native to the planet. Psychics are a tough call -- in this setting I could see a place for "sensitives" who can douse for water with divining rods, or for charlatans who claim they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Psychics are a tough call -- in this setting I could see a place for "sensitives" who can douse for water with divining rods' date=' or for charlatans who claim they can.[/quote'] ... And the inevitable "seers", who claim to foretell the future, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign ... And the inevitable "seers"' date=' who claim to foretell the future, etc..[/quote'] True, there are all kinds of phony 'psychic' scams. I brought up the 'water witch' idea because it's particularly appropriate to a desert-type setting, where water is always in short supply. These people will either be extremely valuable (if they're for real) or the most reviled of scam artists in that world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Certainly. Just occurs to me that seers would find lucrative employment of some kind with conquerors in any environment - either by telling the boss what he wants to hear, or by telling OTHER people what the boss wants them to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign When I first read the description, I too thought of Thundarr then Barsoom in that order. May I suggest for the game, those worms from the movie tremors? They seem like a natural hazard in the wastelands. Also for cultures, I would suggest Tusken raiders and Jawas, serial numbers filed off of course. The Jawas could be descendants of scienctists who now roam the wastelands fixing things-though they now have no idea what the said items do or work. Also, killer robots on the rampage also seems to be appropriate. Just some thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign To expand on the killer robot/warbot. they were design to be self-repairing. So now each one looks like a chimera. They have two priorites. One, repair self. And two, kill anything it programming says so, but sometimes the programming has glitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizza Man Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Hmmm. Mutants might just fit in a campaign like this. A mining colony would have a LOT of toxic waste. As for alien races...I like to include something truly alien (more than the humanoid in a Hollywood outfit type). One race of carnivores went barbarian early on. The only good sources of meat were the other colonists. These are nocturnal, fly at human running speed, and look like solid jellyfish. They are transparent (you can see the brain and internal organs), and communicate with displays of phosphorescent color. They have an internal gas bag, and air jets that let them fly. Pierce the gas bag and they are helpless on the ground. Some human barbarians tribes consider them a delicacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign If you want a suitably alien and frightening being then consider the Vermiform from Steph Swainston's Castle series. 'She' is a hive mind formed from a colony of parasitic worms that can combine to create humanoid shapes. I think the Hunters from Halo have a similar make-up, though I have never heard of them appearing in anything other than their in-game form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Do the nobility train in dueling? There could be rival schools of swordsmanship in a city. You could look to the city-states of medieval Italy for example of decadent nobility. Men trained to do violence were also often hired as professional duelists by the petty nobles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I haven't thought out much of the social structures yet, except for the fact that the cities have absolute rulers. They could be more like crime bosses than actual nobility, but it would make sense if they are skilled fighters, and teach their children to fight as well. Power may not be hereditary; more likely than not someone who is strong enough will take it by force. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign I haven't thought out much of the social structures yet' date=' except for the fact that the cities have absolute rulers. They could be more like crime bosses than actual nobility, but it would make sense if they are skilled fighters, and teach their children to fight as well. Power may not be hereditary; more likely than not someone who is strong enough will take it by force.[/quote'] Advise wide variation here. Even a term like "absolute ruler" is open to many interpretations. Some rulers may be better at it than others, or just have very different priorities and/or methods. Some rulers may simply be the (current) head of whichever bunch is currently running the show. Some might be figureheads or otherwise beholden to somebody else. Could be some city-states are running more or less on momentum - previous leader gone, new leader (the heir and/or assassin) still trying to find their feet. Might even be a few places that have broken with the usual "One Ruler" pattern to have something different. It could well be that most rulers have risen to their current positions mainly by the strength of their swordarms and the size of their armies. But I would also suggest mixing in a few cunning little b#####ds as well, if just for variety. And at least one femme fatale ruler, naturally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Don't forget the beautiful femme fatale daughter of a ruler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Re: Under the Agony Star: a sword and planet campaign Dude, most of them would have that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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