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Speculations, or- What'll I Do With It?
I enjoy making up worlds. Sometimes they're more complete than others, sometimes they're not so much a world as someone shaped by them, or an interesting storyline, or a nifty setting to put some drama in. Very rarely do I have many (or any, really) that all gel together to form a whole- that's why I've yet to write any novels. Still- Alucia's kind of a blend of a lot of little notions I've had together- hopefully into a fun and playable whole.
The thing is- what do I give to my players to play with? I've got bits and pieces of interesting things they might want to see or interfere with, some vague ideas of potential for larger trouble that could be investigated and possibly stopped or corrected.
There's the prince of a small chunk of Rogahn putting out the word that he'll pay a lot for the head of an orcish captain who 'paid him great insult'. There's the fact that the Emperor has dismissed court- not unusual, it happens every year, but this time there was the little matter of lacking a date to reconvene.
There's the tourney circuit- technically open to anyone who wants to compete for prizes, it's a great way to earn cash. Or possibly humiliation, but there you go. There's frequent troubles from different woodlands, from Svartlund in the east where it's simply old, dark, and prone to magic, or the Bad-wood on the edge of the orcish lands that produces out and out deformed nasties. And just what is it about King Olmrei the dwarf that makes him so all-fired eager to make friends with the humans, after a long policy of standoffishness?
Then there's potentially some elfin investigator who wants to find out more about his actual, fae heritage and not just the made-up culture the elves have been practicing for the last few centuries. Nobles in some of the cities far from Alucia Herself might be pissy about their children starting to get involved in this supposed orcish priestess's cult. Akyos is a mess, but it's certainly an interesting place, even as it's rather dangerous. The Floating City in the Bay of Baenin, that's a rather nifty place too. Overrun with halflings, and if you haven't got a boat you're rather homeless, but a fascinating place overall.
It seems like in order to draw in players, you need either an immediately interesting premise or a reason to all be in one place, then join up and investigate some adventure lead or another. There's the Irregulars, there's the Mercenary's guild- Crystalmarch started off as a gathering of schoolkids/some people around the school who got sent on errands, then graduated and started freelancing together in search of loot, and found a fire-cult that was trying to bring about the end of the world. Victoria started off with a bunch of different sorts being hired by Loyd's of London, then branching off into their own freelance adventures, switching some characters along the way, but essentially being a roving/investigative bunch who've found many different things along the way, conspiracies and the like. Brightbanner's arcs usually start with something like- 'you're all barbarians' or 'you're all nobles, being sent on a mission.' You adventure along, usually ending up fighting your way to the end only to witness something moderately disasterous or promising ill-omen but managing to escape with your lives- which is actually pretty damn cool and completely in keeping with the style of Song of Ice&Fire that it's based on. I've even intended, one of these days, to do either a oneshot or the start of a campaign based on the premise of 'you're all the daughters of a barbarian king. He's got no sons- you all have a chance to prove you're at least worth considering. Go forth and loot, pillage and survive.' Betsy's new things are 'vikings and werewolves' and 'pirate-city in Eberron'- both quite nice hooks.
So. In Alucia, what shall my premise or starting point be? Wherever I pick, from there I can fill in more details and get in some actual encounters and adventures.
The thing is- what do I give to my players to play with? I've got bits and pieces of interesting things they might want to see or interfere with, some vague ideas of potential for larger trouble that could be investigated and possibly stopped or corrected.
There's the prince of a small chunk of Rogahn putting out the word that he'll pay a lot for the head of an orcish captain who 'paid him great insult'. There's the fact that the Emperor has dismissed court- not unusual, it happens every year, but this time there was the little matter of lacking a date to reconvene.
There's the tourney circuit- technically open to anyone who wants to compete for prizes, it's a great way to earn cash. Or possibly humiliation, but there you go. There's frequent troubles from different woodlands, from Svartlund in the east where it's simply old, dark, and prone to magic, or the Bad-wood on the edge of the orcish lands that produces out and out deformed nasties. And just what is it about King Olmrei the dwarf that makes him so all-fired eager to make friends with the humans, after a long policy of standoffishness?
Then there's potentially some elfin investigator who wants to find out more about his actual, fae heritage and not just the made-up culture the elves have been practicing for the last few centuries. Nobles in some of the cities far from Alucia Herself might be pissy about their children starting to get involved in this supposed orcish priestess's cult. Akyos is a mess, but it's certainly an interesting place, even as it's rather dangerous. The Floating City in the Bay of Baenin, that's a rather nifty place too. Overrun with halflings, and if you haven't got a boat you're rather homeless, but a fascinating place overall.
It seems like in order to draw in players, you need either an immediately interesting premise or a reason to all be in one place, then join up and investigate some adventure lead or another. There's the Irregulars, there's the Mercenary's guild- Crystalmarch started off as a gathering of schoolkids/some people around the school who got sent on errands, then graduated and started freelancing together in search of loot, and found a fire-cult that was trying to bring about the end of the world. Victoria started off with a bunch of different sorts being hired by Loyd's of London, then branching off into their own freelance adventures, switching some characters along the way, but essentially being a roving/investigative bunch who've found many different things along the way, conspiracies and the like. Brightbanner's arcs usually start with something like- 'you're all barbarians' or 'you're all nobles, being sent on a mission.' You adventure along, usually ending up fighting your way to the end only to witness something moderately disasterous or promising ill-omen but managing to escape with your lives- which is actually pretty damn cool and completely in keeping with the style of Song of Ice&Fire that it's based on. I've even intended, one of these days, to do either a oneshot or the start of a campaign based on the premise of 'you're all the daughters of a barbarian king. He's got no sons- you all have a chance to prove you're at least worth considering. Go forth and loot, pillage and survive.' Betsy's new things are 'vikings and werewolves' and 'pirate-city in Eberron'- both quite nice hooks.
So. In Alucia, what shall my premise or starting point be? Wherever I pick, from there I can fill in more details and get in some actual encounters and adventures.