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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 1:24PM
#11
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Date Joined:
May 13, 2004
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I guess the new city needs to be big enough and eclectic enough to accomodate the new PC races and classes. So too, the new gods will need places of worship or at least holymen/women wanting to gain converts for their patron deities. Arcane power must be adressed somehow either through a school or mentors. There must be some logical backdrop for the PC classes to exist in the city otherwise its not going to be effective for D & D. If we assume that the 8 classes are going to be:Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Warlord, Warlock, Rogue, Ranger,and Warlock, and the races will be Dwarven, Elven, Ealdrin, Halfling, Human, DragonBorn, and Tielfling there has to be some idea for them to exist in the same place at the same time to embrace all of core.
This is a large job! Ithink the societal core also needs to be discussed. Since alignment is in flux, I am not sure about how to go about it other to relate it back to what I know which is.. ahem...alignment. Lawful Neutral always seems to be a good choice. Its allows for evil based characters while not giving them a free ride. It allows rogues guilds to exist, another thing from previous editions, which we might want.
I think location near a major water source is a very good idea- both Waterdeep and Grayhawk two preemminent cities in D & D had this.
my 2 coppers,
Ian
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 1:31PM
#12
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Date Joined:
Oct 13, 2005
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What about a group of refugees trying to patch up a ruined fort enough that it will actually protect them? There could be caves underneath it and wild lands all around.
I like the fort idea. Maybe we could combine it with the cave idea?
When I brought up the idea of the cave, I was talking about a very very small cave - a cave roughly the size of a large house. Historically a lot of forts were built in places that were easy to defend, so perhaps we could combine the two ideas.
One of the ideas behind the points of life fluff is that most of the major kingdoms have crumbled, so the broken down fort could be a forgotten relic from the past. The fort was built on/around the mouth of the small cave; the reason for choosing the cave was twofold: 1) It saved a lot of work and effort to building the fort because the cave served as a make-shift keep, and 2) There was a small freshwater spring inside the cave which allowed the past denizens of the fort to better withstand sieges because they had a water source.
What remains of the fort could be crumbled walls overgrown with moss, mold, and other vegetation. It's not nearly the site that it used to be, but it's still far better than being out in the open in the harsh wilderness of the dark; cruel world.
We seem to have plenty of ideas about how the new point of light will be started. What are some ideas for why/how the founders became refugees?
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 1:40PM
#13
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Date Joined:
Nov 13, 2006
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Historically most people become refugees because of two major reasons: Change in power, which forces out people of differing religous or political views Change in viability of resources (mojor export runs out, food supply is damaged, etc) I think the old fort is a good idea, the first few months, or even years might involve clearing the vegitation, and rubble that have filled the place since it was abandoned, and it gives monsters a good place to hide. 
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 2:13PM
#14
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Date Joined:
Mar 28, 2001
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Spoiler:
Show
Another option for a begining ofa city is a group fleeing another city. Not necessarily due to it's destruction, but because some force (political, economic, monsterous, etc) is pushing them out.
I agree tho that it would make more sense for most of the people to be there befor the thread starts telling the story, and only small groups or individuals should be joining in the "story"
I have to admit I'm not planning on switching over to 4.0 immediatly, so I likely won't be deeply involved in crunch aspects. But writing the story is my favorite part anyway.
My main concern is that any new thread be as open to everyone as it can. The community effort, must be huge for these things to function. I think the old threads were actually damaged by being in a lesser viewed forum (campaign workshop.)
First of all, I am attempting to get this thread stickied so that more members can view it and contribute to it (instead of being buried a couple pages down, accessible to only a few.)
Secondly, that is also an intriguing idea: perhaps we could devote the first few chronicles to describing the exodus into a new land. We should, of course, include any setbacks (for there should be some in a "dark, mysterious world") that the refugees encounter along the way. We could then include that into the other idea, having them settle somewhere using one of Smerg's "poles" (magical resource is interesting.) So now it occurs to me where are the refugees coming from? Where will they end up? Who's leading them (at this point it could be anyone)? And, what caused their journey?
I am, however, still attached to the idea that a major city is leveled, leaving only a handful of survivors to scour through the ruins in hope of piecing together a new future. That way, they have all the resources they'll need to build, but still be left stranded from civilization.
Idea:
Similar to the Diamond-Triangle saga, written in the Forgotten Realms setting, we could combine the two ideas in a unique way. Begin the city with separate chronicles, one for the survivors and one for the refugees. The survivors are forced to rebuild somehow, with limited means and resources. They have no structure, no leader, and must eke out a living with whatever they can find.
The refugees on the other hand, have been forced to migrate, coincidentally, to the new "settlement" bringing a healthy supply of resources and people. They are being led by a paladin or a warlord, who has rescued/liberated them from whatever drove them in the first place. (Or another idea, a noble paladin with a not-so-noble warlord disciple.)
Now at some point, we converge the story lines. The paladin (or warlord, or something) and the refugees stumble upon the ruined city and begin to befriend the inhabitants. They then decide to join forces, both in rebuilding and in defense. The paladin (warlord, whatever) is appointed high lord protectorate of the city and we continue from there. Perhaps their respective reasons for destruction/migration could be even related; again magical resource comes to mind.
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 3:15PM
#15
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2004
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Awesome! Okay, I love all the ideas being presented. My first thought is to have a refugees from a city that was under the protection of a silver dragon. The idea being that the silver dragon was slain by a more powerful chromatic dragon (red?) for it's own sadistic pleasure, burning and destroying everything it its wake. The survivors are now completely unprotected because they had relied to heavily on the strength of the original dragon. They hold council (which could be roleplayed out on this board over the next few weeks) and (most likely) decide to leave and set out for a dwarven redoubt that was supposed to have existed in the foothills of a close mountain range. The survivors comb the city for anything worth taking, supplies to build shelter, tools to farm, etc. Once that is done, they leave the charred remains of their city and make for the foothills. This idea combines all of the presented ideas as best I could manage. TBACT2 compilation
Show
The TBACT2 has some great example chronicles even though it didn't last a chronicled year. I have compiled the chronicles here for reference: The cast. January, Febuary, March, April (Continued), May, June
July, soldier's letter home, August , September, October, November, December (Part II, Part III). |
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 3:23PM
#16
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2004
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Idea:
Similar to the Diamond-Triangle saga, written in the Forgotten Realms setting, we could combine the two ideas in a unique way. Begin the city with separate chronicles, one for the survivors and one for the refugees. The survivors are forced to rebuild somehow, with limited means and resources. They have no structure, no leader, and must eke out a living with whatever they can find.
The refugees on the other hand, have been forced to migrate, coincidentally, to the new "settlement" bringing a healthy supply of resources and people. They are being led by a paladin or a warlord, who has rescued/liberated them from whatever drove them in the first place. (Or another idea, a noble paladin with a not-so-noble warlord disciple.)
Now at some point, we converge the story lines. The paladin (or warlord, or something) and the refugees stumble upon the ruined city and begin to befriend the inhabitants. They then decide to join forces, both in rebuilding and in defense. The paladin (warlord, whatever) is appointed high lord protectorate of the city and we continue from there. Perhaps their respective reasons for destruction/migration could be even related; again magical resource comes to mind.
This is a very cool idea. Perhaps they both are subject to the same menace (red dragon?). The two groups could be the survivors who retreat to the abandoned dwarven redoubt and the group of refugees might be others from the wake of the red dragon's wrath who have banded together follow a paladin sworn to hunt the dragon down and kill it. The paladin would most likely have picked up many non-combatants who would be happy to stay at the dwarven redoubt.
The paladin could continue his crusade, or, better yet, with the right story the paladin could end it there, slaying the dragon and adopting the title as Protector of the Peoples of the Dragonbane Redoubt.
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 3:27PM
#17
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2004
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An interesting article about caves, for anyone that is interested. I like the idea of an expansive natural cavern, the front of which was converted into a redoubt by ancient and forgotten dwarves. The abandoned site could have plenty of water, room for adventure, etc.
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 4:22PM
#18
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Date Joined:
Apr 26, 2004
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I like all those ideas. Sounds great. I hope I am allowed to add a suggestion, though.
Let's not yet decide where or why the city is our point of light, send several groups of homeless on their very own exodi, passing some places which could gain importance in the future of the settlement. In the end only the strongest will survive and meet in the middle where they establish the new city.
Here all of the above mentioned circumstances could be used, and all of us wil have gotten a feeling for the cities various inhabitants.
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 4:30PM
#19
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Date Joined:
Aug 25, 2007
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One of my favourite 'rules' from the Dragon Dungeon Craft articles was that when you design something, then you should design one matching secret to go with the original idea.
For example;
If you took the idea of the Paladin or Warlord that led the refugees to the Dwarven Redoubt. A good secret might be that there was someone who suggested the location to the Paladin or Warlord in the first place. This then poses an interesting question as to why that person might have directed the refugees to this particular spot.
Then there is the former Dwarven Redoubt. There is an obvious secret contained in why the Dwarves abandoned the location. Were the minerals that the Dwarves considered valuable panned/mined out? Did something kick the Dwarves out of the Redoubt? Did the Dwarves discover something in the caves below the Redoubt that made them leave?
There can also be questions/secrets of what the Dwaves might have left behind in the deeper caves were someone willing to go beyond the 'safer' areas that the refugees prefer to live.
If there is a magical source connected to the caves then this could attract a wide range of classes to the site. Think of a boom town developing around a suddenly discovered gold mine but replace the gold with magic. This could though lead to further questions and secrets of why is there this magical source here and now? Did the dwarves know of the magic and did it exist when they built the Redoubt? If the magical source has developed since the time of Dwarves then what is the source?
Anyways, I hope that gets some thoughts flowing.
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5 years ago ::
Jan 24, 2008 - 5:06PM
#20
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Date Joined:
May 26, 2006
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I have read through this article and a few points came to mind for me. A lot of people seem to like the refugees fleeing disaster series, and withdrawal to caves or a city/redoubt. I like both these ideas so I will propose my addition.
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The refugees fled their city, whatever the reason they were able to take some supplies and traveled along the coast. After several weeks of travel they came upon an ancient stronghold. In fact, the stronghold is an old dwarven lighthouse, and like all things dwarven they built it grand and defensible.
The lighthouse was built upon an earthberg (a large hill/small mountain that naturally floats magically as in the picture in Wizard's Presents Worlds and Monsters on pg. 87 and mentioned as a known phenomenon in The World section on pg. 18) that floats over the ocean. The dwarves built the lighthouse centuries ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances the berg became unstable and pieces began falling into the sea below and/or started to orbit around the main berg. Some time after the dwarves abandoned the citadel the stone finally stabilized at about half its previous size (this leaves lots of collapsed tunnels and underground chambers opening into free air, lots of fun).
Obviously we will need to have a reason that the citadel has not been re-occupied even though it is stabilized since ,as I mention below, the light still functions so it will be known about by sailors. Perhaps it is too far from any other town or city to have been filled before this time. Or maybe it is home to a tribe of goblinoids who will need to be routed out to make room for the townspeople (providing a bit of drama as the goblins are not necessary evil, and is it just to kick them out for the greater [?] good of the fleeing citzens).
The lighthouse itself is still functional (a true point of light) being an ancient crystal infused with magical energy. Though it has dimmed with time, the townsfolk can work on a way to re-energize the shining light that is their new home. The citadel itself is large enough for most of the people to live in (all of them for a short time for defense), but most will want to live on the mainland across a small isthmus that the dwarves originally severed and then bridged over with a stone drawbridge. Even with the bridge down the earthberg is stable and other than some swaying will not move to much from its base position.
As part of the magic of the earthberg there should be a natural spring in the center of the citadel perhaps leading to a picturesque waterfall from one part of the berg. The land across the isthmus may be hilly or flat, but should have enough flat areas the farmers can begin building new farmsteads. Other dwarven ruins may dot the countryside, and after being filled for a while it is sure that dwarven interest will return to these interlopers in what the dwarves once though lost.
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