Kudzu
06-01-2005, 12:46 AM
NOTE: I know Burning Sands is a CCG or something, but we couldn't resist calling the campaign that!
I've been playing BW for about five or six months (mostly with TimP as GM), and I'm going to take a turn as GM soon. I've played RPGs for a LOONG time (I actually think it'll be 25 years next year! Ack!), and I have a lot of experience as a GM, though I've just discovered the player-driven games in the last six months, so I've got some unlearning to do. I'm really looking forward to GMing BW in that player-driven mode, as I've enjoyed PLAYING it over the past few months.
I'd like to solicit some suggestions for source material or inspiration for this game we're putting together. TimP, another player, and I (there will likely be at least one other player providing input, too) have been kicking around a bunch of ideas for an Arabian-flavoured BW game. (How appropriate that my current forum title is "Harem Slave" :shock: ).
The major influences on the setting we've been kicking around include: Sword & Sorcery fiction (Conan, Lankhmar, etc.), the Arabian Nights (natch), the now-defunction Al-Qadim D&D setting (just for some fluff, of course), and maybe a little Dune, just for fun.
We like S&S stuff, but we'd like it to be a little weirder and racially cosmopolitan than some S&S fiction (leaning in the high fantasy direction). For example, I'm planning on some deep desert-dwelling Elves that are a little different from the stock BW Elves, some religious fanatic Lizardmen, and maybe some Spiders (just because the BW spiders are so fucking cool!). We'll also have some Orcs, too, but we're not sure exactly what we plan to do with them yet. We'll also have some Djinn as well (how could you NOT have Djinn in an Arabian-flavored game?!). Slaves. Hermit sorcerors. Corrupt and perverse caliphs. Intrigue. Tough choices. Poisonings. Ancient ruined civilizations. Old Gods. Fanatics.
It's going to be dark and gritty: Scheherezade as writ by Howard and Leiber.
The setting will feature prominently a sprawling desert city, a crossroads on trade routes (think Baghdad) and the seat of the caliph's empire. There will be forays into the desert and mountains, but a lot of the action will center around the city (and under it).
There will be at least one Summoner character. I've been working on burning some Djinn for him to deal with, and I'll post some in the MonBu forum soon.
That's about as far as we've gotten. What I'm looking for is the following:
Some S&S stories that are desert-y.
Any other literary sources of inspiration.
Any anecdotes about running a similar sort of campaign (not necessarily with BW).
Anything else that we can throw in the blender.
Once we get past the character burning and initial plot setup, I'll start posting the play results to the Campaigns Forum.
Thanks!
Steven
I've been playing BW for about five or six months (mostly with TimP as GM), and I'm going to take a turn as GM soon. I've played RPGs for a LOONG time (I actually think it'll be 25 years next year! Ack!), and I have a lot of experience as a GM, though I've just discovered the player-driven games in the last six months, so I've got some unlearning to do. I'm really looking forward to GMing BW in that player-driven mode, as I've enjoyed PLAYING it over the past few months.
I'd like to solicit some suggestions for source material or inspiration for this game we're putting together. TimP, another player, and I (there will likely be at least one other player providing input, too) have been kicking around a bunch of ideas for an Arabian-flavoured BW game. (How appropriate that my current forum title is "Harem Slave" :shock: ).
The major influences on the setting we've been kicking around include: Sword & Sorcery fiction (Conan, Lankhmar, etc.), the Arabian Nights (natch), the now-defunction Al-Qadim D&D setting (just for some fluff, of course), and maybe a little Dune, just for fun.
We like S&S stuff, but we'd like it to be a little weirder and racially cosmopolitan than some S&S fiction (leaning in the high fantasy direction). For example, I'm planning on some deep desert-dwelling Elves that are a little different from the stock BW Elves, some religious fanatic Lizardmen, and maybe some Spiders (just because the BW spiders are so fucking cool!). We'll also have some Orcs, too, but we're not sure exactly what we plan to do with them yet. We'll also have some Djinn as well (how could you NOT have Djinn in an Arabian-flavored game?!). Slaves. Hermit sorcerors. Corrupt and perverse caliphs. Intrigue. Tough choices. Poisonings. Ancient ruined civilizations. Old Gods. Fanatics.
It's going to be dark and gritty: Scheherezade as writ by Howard and Leiber.
The setting will feature prominently a sprawling desert city, a crossroads on trade routes (think Baghdad) and the seat of the caliph's empire. There will be forays into the desert and mountains, but a lot of the action will center around the city (and under it).
There will be at least one Summoner character. I've been working on burning some Djinn for him to deal with, and I'll post some in the MonBu forum soon.
That's about as far as we've gotten. What I'm looking for is the following:
Some S&S stories that are desert-y.
Any other literary sources of inspiration.
Any anecdotes about running a similar sort of campaign (not necessarily with BW).
Anything else that we can throw in the blender.
Once we get past the character burning and initial plot setup, I'll start posting the play results to the Campaigns Forum.
Thanks!
Steven