Info on a Campaign/world Idea.

[DarkeTwilight]

Ok heres the Idea, one I've been fiddling with fore over 5 years now.

Imagine an Archepalago (spelling may be off.) Now remove the water and have the Islands hovering in a chaotic array in the sky. The islands are for the most part indipendent of eachother, I may even have a hazy fog surrounding the clusters hiding each Island from the view of the others. While not connected by mundane means there is one method of traveling from one Island to the next.

Apon each Island is a temple. For some the temple may be in utter ruins and for others it may be a working place of worship or a place of whispered fears to be avoided by all sane people. Within each temple is a gate way that leads to what is known as the maze.

This maze is unique, its the only place that has portals to all the other Islands temples. The details on what the maze actually is are still scetchy but I'm thinking along the lines of an abandoned metropolis now in ruins.

The starting setting will be a small town known as Arland, the Island Little more than 20 miles or so in circumfrance with a small array of wilderness. This provides the villagers some semblance of hunting and farming.

The players will be from this village and will likely be lured to the shunned ruined temple at the far end of the Island. Once there the will trigger the portal to open and stumble into the maze. The object isnt some grand scheme of saving the world. Its not to spread word of the gods or deny the false gods. Not even to seek revenge or right a wrong. Its to explore. With over 20 Islands and a massive expanse of ruins for treasure hunting and glory seeking I figured the players would have plenty to do. On top of this I'd of course work a story line around the players them selves and some other intrique possibilities I cook up along the way.

Nw as primary Enemies I'm thinking the Roden, whom nest in the maze and see it as thier home. Of course such an expansive an un tended area would hold other dangers, as would the other islands, some of wich may be as large as the Island of England.

The Major draw backs I see are that first by starting in such a remot area I'm forcing my players to play Humans, not a true problem for me but it could cause annoyance among the ranks. And I would likely need to limit the Life paths available. Design my own list since some things are much much less likely to be available and others simply impossible. I dont see a court wizard being around a village of less than 200 people.

On the plus side I see one distinct advantage in the players having a set "Home base". In a village so small the players are likely to know people on a more intimate level. Most the people will have seen the players grow up, know thier attitude and tempers. As a counter for the limitations of the starting Life Paths and human only option for Race I would give the played a handful of extra resource points soloy to be used on Affiliations and Reputations, Limited to Local Reputation and perhaps moderate influence.

Any suggestions or input would be hugely appreciated!

[Grong]

that sounds really really cool, but how did the islands come to be that way is it lost to the past or did someone or something make it that way. Maybe you could have an island taken over by a dragon and such.

Tip: Have dwarf pirates that have invented flying vessels. (I have always had a deep fasination to this mind set, more for gnomes but dwarves will work.......Seeing dwarves swinging from ropes on a vessel that keeps malfunctioning always sets me to laughter.)

"Truth is honor, and honor is my life."
-Sturm Brightblade, Hero of the War of the Lance.

[Manicrack]

an ultimate campaign goal could simply be to bring a smany of the islands together,
so the poeple know of one another,
The mace would have to be cleaned of roden, so it could be traveled,
but just think of the possibility when the players try to somewhat unite different cultures.

-Crack

[DarkeTwilight]

Heres the history for those curious.

On the world of Solinari there were two major continents. For lack of imagination there is the Old land and the New. The races fled the Old when a malign force began its conquest, thier numbers too numerous to stop and thier tactics too vicious to counter. As the races fled the land the most powerful of magic melders gathered to try and prevent the enemy from following. The result of so much unchecked magic was cataclismic.

Of the thousands of magic wielders to show non were able to keep the powers they beconed from going out of control. This shattered the Old lands. Most of what was has sunked into the oceans to the sea depths. Yet the uncontroled magic had other affects as well. It Ripped the Land apart and sent the Islands flying into the air. Leaving them bound in the air to drift.

The ruined temples are in Truth where the schools of Sorcery had stood. The school masters often meeting in the city of Salidor for politics and discussions on how to proceed with the instructing of new students. The protective magic of these schools played a major part in sparing the lands from the cataclism. The potency of the schools magic playing a part in how much of the land around it was spared.

Salidor itself was spared because it was the cetral location of all magical studies. The city though was left in ruins and over run by the envading forces, thus becoming the maze and the nest for what remains of the Roden species.

As for the survivors, they now reside in the New Lands. Ich is as of now devided into two parts. The Peninsula wich has seven major cities, each unique to those who tended to gather to them. The survivors tended to huddle amongths people of like mind, one city now being a religious center, one a place for study of the mystic arts. A third being a place for sodliers of fortune who believe in the sword as the law. A fourth being for the more lawless who believe the cunning and most manipulative will rise to power. The fifth city is smaller and more peaceful the most the others, comprising more of farmers and woodsmen who are happy simply living out thier lives as such. The sixth city is mostly sailors and ship builders. The last city being what most know as a genuin city, a mixture of all the possible trades races and such. This last city also stands as the bastion of defense.

The Peninsula is devided by a wall of mountains. Over all its a rather small chunck of land compared to the northern region, also known as the unexplored lands.

As its name implies none know what exist more than a week to the north. even the hardiest of explorers have never returned after venturing beyond that point. What is known is the plains to the north are swarming with Orcs and thier kin. Countless raids have been sent agianst the Seventh city, known as freehaven.

Now you have some idea of what occured and how the Islands came to be.

The islands themselves have a mixture of races and people. The players of course will in time meet them and such. My problem is i dont believe in building a plot and forcing my players into it. I believe the players should build thier own plot to be enhanced and addedd too by the Dm. So should my players wish to unite the Islands and begin trade amoung the people thats the direction the game goes. However if they wish to conquer and plunder thats how it goes. Its thier game, i simply try and make it interesting for what they want.

Now I will say this, I love the flying ship suggestion. The only problem I have is that in the begining it may counter act the need for the maze. If they can simply travel from one Island to another by boat why enter the maze and risk combat and such? But it would be great for something that may come later in the game. Air ships do exist in my game though much much further into the Unexplored lands.

Let me know if this helps any. And glad you guys seem to like it so far.