I'm starting to think about running 4ed for some people I work with. Right now I play in a game with some guys from Boeing, but I'm feeling a bit of
an urge to get back behind a DM screen. 4ed might be a good time to get a new setting and game going.
I'd like to setup a setting that's a bit more Norse/Celtic in feel then Tolkien. I'd also like to use a bit of Requiem for a God.
Concepts:
Until I have a 4ed PHB in my hands I'm not yet sure if I want to keep their gods, use my own, or a combination there of. I'm tempted to make my own, but the amount of work that would require in 4ed is not yet known. (if it was 3.x I'd do it as it's mostly picking domains).
Larger Ideas for a Meta-Plot:
The goal here is for the PCs to eventually take up the mantle of epic heroes, and return the sun to it's glory, bringing spring back and effectively saving the world. By paragon level they will ready to defeat the Wolf Queen. By end of the Epic level they should have reclaimed the 3 shards and either have one of their number ascend to godhood and become the new sun god, or they will have found a half-god child of the sun god who can ascend. Somewhere along the lines they would have to battle Orcus and the third immortal for their shards.
What I need help with:
I'd like to setup a setting that's a bit more Norse/Celtic in feel then Tolkien. I'd also like to use a bit of Requiem for a God.
Concepts:
Death of the Sun: The sun god use to literally sail a ship across the sky bearing the orb of the sun to light the
world. Use to because he was ambushed some years ago at midday of the winter solstice. He was attacked and killed, his corpse thrown down from the sky, and
the 3 shards were taken from the orb of the sun by his 3 killers: Orcus, an fey queen of winter and wolves, and a creature whose identity is a secrete
(thinking tied to shadow fell) For 3 days after the fall of <god name here> the world was in darkness, but the ship and damaged orb were found by the
dead god's angels, and they once again bring it across the sky each day... but the orb is damaged and weaker, and the angels are not strong enough to
bear it's light as their god once did. Each day an angel dies, burned out by the orb, bringing light to the world... but with the light so weak the
world is left in an un-ending winter.
Wolf Queen's Reign: The lands of mortals since the rise of the fey queen <name here> is hard and brutal. With no spring nor summer, crops are grown in the snow fields. The great human kingdom, a theology devoted to the sun god, crumbled with his death, and the endless winter. Now the communities struggle to find ways to plant and harvest. Some have turned to appeasing the Wolf Queen with a ritual sacrifice to the now ever present wolves. She has gained great power across the lands, although she holds no army, cities, etc. She is a true Fey after all. Her wolf and frost related minions can be found in all lands, stalking and hunting. People once again fear the howls in the night.
Focus on Norse/Celtic Races: Fey, Dwarves, and Giants will be more common throughout the world. The PoL back story of Primordials vs gods, with giants ruling over dwarves for an age, will be kept. I will make Dopplegangers (Changelings) a playable race, but they will have no culture or history of their own. When a fey creature or race kidnaps a human child (common practice) they leave behind a changeling child in it's place. Eventually these children learn what they truly are. Thus they are raised by other races but not really one of them. I don't k now where I'll place Dragonborn, Halflings, and Tieflings, although I think Tieflings would make a good Gypse-style race. As fallen humans of a past empire, they can work into the setting easily. Halflings and especaily dragonborn are more troublesome.
A World of Seas: I'd like the setting to be semi-aquatic, in that is is mostly set around various islands and smaller landmasses. I'm sort of stealing this from Shamus at Twenty Sided Tale, but I think it would be a good mix for a semi-norse setting.
A World of Myth: The world is flat with an actual edge like an massive waterfall. The night sky is the actual astral sea, and the constellation are the actual homes of the gods, demons, devils, and monsters. The supernatural is more common, but in a mythic sense, not as a replacement for technology. Devils at cross roads after midnight, not elemental powered airships. The gods are physical entities, not concepts. They don't have aspects or avatars, just bodies. They can be killed, trapped, or destroyed by those powerful enough to do so. This would not be one world of many, sharing it's Astral realms with the gods and stories of countless other PoL settings... with would be the only world. An enclosed setting unto itself.
I should point out that I only have a passing knowledge of Norse and Celtic myth, and I'm not going for a literal translation for the setting. I
don't want Odin, Thor, Loki, or the exact cosmology that goes with it. I want something that feels more like that then most D&D settings. I am also
aware that Tolkien was influenced by those myths and that D&D was influenced from there.
Wolf Queen's Reign: The lands of mortals since the rise of the fey queen <name here> is hard and brutal. With no spring nor summer, crops are grown in the snow fields. The great human kingdom, a theology devoted to the sun god, crumbled with his death, and the endless winter. Now the communities struggle to find ways to plant and harvest. Some have turned to appeasing the Wolf Queen with a ritual sacrifice to the now ever present wolves. She has gained great power across the lands, although she holds no army, cities, etc. She is a true Fey after all. Her wolf and frost related minions can be found in all lands, stalking and hunting. People once again fear the howls in the night.
Focus on Norse/Celtic Races: Fey, Dwarves, and Giants will be more common throughout the world. The PoL back story of Primordials vs gods, with giants ruling over dwarves for an age, will be kept. I will make Dopplegangers (Changelings) a playable race, but they will have no culture or history of their own. When a fey creature or race kidnaps a human child (common practice) they leave behind a changeling child in it's place. Eventually these children learn what they truly are. Thus they are raised by other races but not really one of them. I don't k now where I'll place Dragonborn, Halflings, and Tieflings, although I think Tieflings would make a good Gypse-style race. As fallen humans of a past empire, they can work into the setting easily. Halflings and especaily dragonborn are more troublesome.
A World of Seas: I'd like the setting to be semi-aquatic, in that is is mostly set around various islands and smaller landmasses. I'm sort of stealing this from Shamus at Twenty Sided Tale, but I think it would be a good mix for a semi-norse setting.
A World of Myth: The world is flat with an actual edge like an massive waterfall. The night sky is the actual astral sea, and the constellation are the actual homes of the gods, demons, devils, and monsters. The supernatural is more common, but in a mythic sense, not as a replacement for technology. Devils at cross roads after midnight, not elemental powered airships. The gods are physical entities, not concepts. They don't have aspects or avatars, just bodies. They can be killed, trapped, or destroyed by those powerful enough to do so. This would not be one world of many, sharing it's Astral realms with the gods and stories of countless other PoL settings... with would be the only world. An enclosed setting unto itself.
Until I have a 4ed PHB in my hands I'm not yet sure if I want to keep their gods, use my own, or a combination there of. I'm tempted to make my own, but the amount of work that would require in 4ed is not yet known. (if it was 3.x I'd do it as it's mostly picking domains).
Larger Ideas for a Meta-Plot:
The goal here is for the PCs to eventually take up the mantle of epic heroes, and return the sun to it's glory, bringing spring back and effectively saving the world. By paragon level they will ready to defeat the Wolf Queen. By end of the Epic level they should have reclaimed the 3 shards and either have one of their number ascend to godhood and become the new sun god, or they will have found a half-god child of the sun god who can ascend. Somewhere along the lines they would have to battle Orcus and the third immortal for their shards.
What I need help with:
- Where do the dragon born come from? The PoL default back story is that they were a race with an empire that battled the Tieflings.
- What role will the halfings fill with "farmer" nitch going to the Humans and the "merchant" nitch going to the gypsy Tieflings?
- How can I work in something Lovecraftian? I like to do this when possible. I'd considered making something Far Realms-related the third entity, but I don't see it working with demons or stealing a shard. It's less logical then that.
- I'm looking for anything cool that might fit the style of the setting I'm aiming for.
