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Eldhusgaur
2009-06-13, 10:50 PM
(First post Ever from me so please excuse my failings)
(My view of this thing is quite broad right now and what I request is help on narrowing it down)
I'm planing on having my adventurers jump on a ship with a Captain Cordell who is setting away with his mercs and some clerics of Helm to the a land only Cordell, his mercs and A Cleric of Helm believe to exist, Maztica (There is an old AD&D source book detailing this new continent of Faerun).
Here are my troubles, (the higher the number, the bigger the problem).
1. So, I have pretty much planned how I will get them on the ship, However the hows and whys of building a colony (Helmsport), And just how the hierarchy in such a place works (500 mercs or so, Not sure on the numbers for clerics and other... settlers.) A general idea of it would be appreciated.

2. They will be combating the natives a lot, fighting in large scale fights and such, and just how I should stat a basic, veteran, and elite Aztec warrior is a bit vexing although I plan to have special units such as rowdy Aztec Panther shaping druid groups or Elite Cleric/Monk dudes, more ideas on High Fantasy Aztec warfare would be Greatly Appreciated.

3. When the crew is not on military duty, they will want to explore, random encounter ideas and funky location ideas will help me greatly here.

4. My biggest problem, Magic Items and money, I plan to have exotic Aztec magic items and a bunch of Aztec gold, however the heroes are STUCK there, Cordell will order the men to burn the ships and no ship will be built until they have established a Stronghold port in this new world.
So do I have two greedy wizards among the settlers that charge thousands of gold for teleporting the party to the continent or Overprice stuff from the mainland for the adventurers? (There will be 4 groups of adventurers, the PCs, the "Explorer" Party, Some random antagonist party and something I have yet to plan).

Details on the party: They Are evil, they will get there at lvl 4-7, There is a Wizard, A Bard, A Druid, A Fighter and a Barbarian.

Details on the Natives:
The natives have NO arcane magic at all, only druid and cleric stuff.
They have yet to develop Metalurgy, so they will come at the heroes with stone weaponry and useless (against metal) armor.
I have been lurking this forum for almost four years, I have seen a lot of wonderful work on this forum, and I will treasure the every bone you throw me.:smallsmile:

afroakuma
2009-06-13, 11:00 PM
(First post Ever from me so please excuse my failings)

Not at all! Welcome to the Playground, and to Homebrew specifically! :smallsmile:


I'm planing on having my adventurers jump on a ship with a Captain Cordell who is setting away with his mercs and some clerics of Helm to the a land only Cordell, his mercs and A Cleric of Helm believe to exist, Maztica (There is an old AD&D source book detailing this new continent of Faerun).

Tapping a rarely used setting. Very nice. Cheers to you.


1. So, I have pretty much planned how I will get them on the ship, However the hows and whys of building a colony (Helmsport), And just how the hierarchy in such a place works (500 mercs or so, Not sure on the numbers for clerics and other... settlers.) A general idea of it would be appreciated.

I would suggest you pose this particular question in the main Roleplaying Games board, as you will receive more thorough and diverse responses.


2. They will be combating the natives a lot, fighting in large scale fights and such, and just how I should stat a basic, veteran, and elite Aztec warrior is a bit vexing although I plan to have special units such as rowdy Aztec Panther shaping druid groups or Elite Cleric/Monk dudes, more ideas on High Fantasy Aztec warfare would be Greatly Appreciated.

This we can certainly help you on; in terms of arming said warriors, the Roleplaying Games forum again has a Real-World Weapons & Armor thread monitored by some really ingenious and expert folks.


3. When the crew is not on military duty, they will want to explore, random encounter ideas and funky location ideas will help me greatly here.

If you have access to old Maztica information, this will help you greatly. There was also a Dragon issue with statistics for several Mesoamerican monsters... I don't recall the number, but I'll find it.


4. My biggest problem, Magic Items and money, I plan to have exotic Aztec magic items and a bunch of Aztec gold, however the heroes are STUCK there, Cordell will order the men to burn the ships and no ship will be built until they have established a Stronghold port in this new world.

You may want to have the ships converted into construction supplies; burning them would be an awful waste of serviceable wood.


So do I have two greedy wizards among the settlers that charge thousands of gold for teleporting the party to the continent or Overprice stuff from the mainland for the adventurers? (There will be 4 groups of adventurers, the PCs, the "Explorer" Party, Some random antagonist party and something I have yet to plan).

I would suggest a more interesting system; have these wizards show up, but make it a barter system - rare Maztican magic items and goods in exchange for practical but familiar Faerunian magic gear.


Details on the party: They Are evil, they will get there at lvl 4-7, There is a Wizard, A Bard, A Druid, A Fighter and a Barbarian.

Evil? Hmm... that may raise a few difficulties. Lawful? Chaotic?

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-13, 11:12 PM
Not at all! Welcome to the Playground, and to Homebrew specifically! :smallsmile:
Thanks!





If you have access to old Maztica information, this will help you greatly. There was also a Dragon issue with statistics for several Mesoamerican monsters... I don't recall the number, but I'll find it.
I got the old book, its free download somewhere, good ideas in there.



You may want to have the ships converted into construction supplies; burning them would be an awful waste of serviceable wood.

Huh, thats should have been obvious, thanks for pointing that out. :smalltongue:




I would suggest a more interesting system; have these wizards show up, but make it a barter system - rare Maztican magic items and goods in exchange for practical but familiar Faerunian magic gear.
wow, Fantastic idea man, gotta write that down....



Evil? Hmm... that may raise a few difficulties. Lawful? Chaotic?
They are a mix, One of them is just neutral, other wise they are a mix of lawful evil and chaotic evil, they are weird choices if you ask me, but hey.

afroakuma
2009-06-13, 11:21 PM
I got the old book, its free download somewhere, good ideas in there.

Excellent. That will prove serviceable.


They are a mix, One of them is just neutral, other wise they are a mix of lawful evil and chaotic evil, they are weird choices if you ask me, but hey.

The chaotics and neutral will prove obstacles if they RP correctly.

Now, for Aztec combatants, you'll want a mix of spear warriors, atlatl-wielding fighters and the occasional poison-arrow firing ranger. Throw in an adept or two if you need to make fights more interesting, and remember that Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultures had access to some of the most lethal poisons anywhere in not-Australia, so keep that element a prime concern.

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-13, 11:26 PM
atlatl-wielding fighters
Gotta google that....


some of the most lethal poisons anywhere in not-Australia, so keep that element a prime concern.

:smallbiggrin: Just that piece of information is priceless! Thank you so much!

afroakuma
2009-06-13, 11:31 PM
Gotta google that....

Off the cuff, I'd say increase range increment of a thrown javelin by 10 ft. and add Str to damage.

Regarding poisons: they had access to these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Poison_Frog) nasty things. Any archer will have a full stock of poison arrows, and even the warriors might be skilled with a sling or a blowgun.

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-13, 11:36 PM
Off the cuff, I'd say increase range increment of a thrown javelin by 10 ft. and add Str to damage.

Regarding poisons: they had access to these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Poison_Frog) nasty things. Any archer will have a full stock of poison arrows, and even the warriors might be skilled with a sling or a blowgun.

Dude, you have given me enough material to make this interesting, thank you so much :smallsmile:, but its 4:42 here and I need to feed the blind feline and go to sleep, good night man, and thanks a million!

Edit: Thread not over btw, anybody who gets ideas will be thanked and appreciated by me (and possibly a rowdy bunch of adventurers too!).

afroakuma
2009-06-13, 11:40 PM
Dude, you have given me enough material to make this interesting, thank you so much :smallsmile:, but its 4:42 here and I need to feed the blind feline and go to sleep, good night man, and thanks a million!

As I said, welcome to the Playground. This is what we do. :smallsmile:

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-14, 10:20 PM
Ok, So I got Mad poisons and weird weapons for the army, a solid idea on the wizard/merchants and a plan for some mesoamerican monsters...
This thread has proved very useful!
Thanks again Afroakuma!

afroakuma
2009-06-14, 10:35 PM
Ok, So I got Mad poisons and weird weapons for the army, a solid idea on the wizard/merchants and a plan for some mesoamerican monsters...
This thread has proved very useful!
Thanks again Afroakuma!

Absolutely! Glad I could help!

Can't seem to track down that Dragon issue, though. :smallannoyed:

In terms of other encounters, Couatls are very Mesoamerican, and if you have access to the Fiend Folio take a look at the Ahuizotl.

sigurd
2009-06-14, 11:01 PM
Personally I'd say your biggest problem is an evil party. They always cause me grief.

At a guess this might be an arc.

1. Make landfall - find small village - hermit etc... Torture and\or rob them to get information & re provision the boat.

2. Discover an evil power thats losing standing. Investigate. Is the power compatible, corruptible, conquerable?

3. Dreams of empire!

4. Better information - Dreams of magic weapons\powers.


repeat. :)

If you want a great resource for managing Evil Parties I recommend 'Darkwalkers' by Bastion Press\Darkwing Press.



What is the alignment of the rest of the expedition?

afroakuma
2009-06-14, 11:03 PM
Eh... I dunno. The classic Mesoamerican monster, the Couatl, is a good creature, after all. So that's somewhat workable.

Thane of Fife
2009-06-15, 07:13 AM
Does 3.x have Tabaxi anywhere? They would work fairly well, as could Tasloi. If not, Tabaxi are like jaguar people, whereas Tasloi are kind of like jungle kobolds - think the Flayed Ones in Diablo II.

Giant carnivorous plants are always fun, too.

Just as a thought, you might want to make some kind of Human Sacrifice domain, or perhaps a couple feats providing Aztec clerics with bonuses for doing such.

Also worth noting is that, apparently, many Aztec weapons were designed to maim rather than kill, so that the crippled could be captured for sacrifice (taking captives was one of the major purposes of Mesoamerican warfare).

afroakuma
2009-06-15, 07:21 AM
Does 3.x have Tabaxi anywhere? They would work fairly well, as could Tasloi. If not, Tabaxi are like jaguar people, whereas Tasloi are kind of like jungle kobolds - think the Flayed Ones in Diablo II.

I haven't found a record yet of published tabaxi, although there are catfolk races in Races of the Wild and in the Miniatures Handbook.

Tasloi appear in Shining South.

Debihuman
2009-06-15, 08:39 AM
If you are looking for some monsters, there have been conversions made over on the EnWorld site

Here are just a few: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-monster-talk/225649-pocket-reference-creatures-maztica-setting.html.

Debby

Set
2009-06-15, 09:16 AM
As of 3.X, the Red Wizards of Thay have become the default 'Magic-Mart' of the setting, so it would be eminently do-able for a Red Wizard to appear at set times at the settlement and 'take orders' for magical gear made of metal, which she will bring with her on her next scheduled arrival (please allow one week for delivery).

She would be fairly mercenary and self-serving, and well protected by defensive spells (such as stoneskin, since she knows that she's teleporting into unfriendly territory, and possibly carrying extremely valuable magical items to deliver!). She'll demand half-payment up front (which will conveniently cover the expense to craft the items, even if the customer doesn't show up to claim it when she returns next week), and the rest upon delivery. She will also make deals for information on the local magical scene, although, upon it being established that there are no arcanists among the native population, her interest will wane and she'll stop offering deals. Native magic items of particular interest might also pique her curiosity enough to get some trade value, as she'll take them home to her enchantment-minded colleagues to 'reverse engineer.'

She could possibly be hired to teleport an *individual* along with her, but the person better be able to arrange their own transportation into or out of Thay, since she doesn't make house-calls, nor does she guarantee safe passage once she drops them off in the street outside of her college of magic. Good luck not getting arrested by the Thayvian guard when they are discovered to be foreigners!

If you want to make her more useful, perhaps some of the local magic *does* have some ability to be adapted by the Red Wizards, in which case, she'll eagerly snatch up information on pluma magic or whatever, and offer discount rates on potions, scrolls, spells from spellbooks (for party wizards, who wouldn't otherwise have a way to learn new spells in this wizard-less land), etc. Being the kind of person she is, she might also make special requests, such as 'bring me back a living practitioner of this local magic, and not some lowly apprentice, either!, and I'll cut the price of your next order in half.' Will the party capture a native and hand him over to the Red Wizards for 'interrogation?' It might not only be a horrible thing to do to the native, but could also turn out to put some power that Thay shouldn't have directly into their grasping hands! Thay with access to a new style of magic that their many foes know little or nothing about? Probably not a good way to make friends with the enemies of Thay...

Emong
2009-06-15, 09:27 AM
Can't seem to track down that Dragon issue, though. :smallannoyed:


I think the one you're looking for is Dragon #317. :smallsmile:

Set
2009-06-15, 09:31 AM
Just as a thought, you might want to make some kind of Human Sacrifice domain, or perhaps a couple feats providing Aztec clerics with bonuses for doing such.

Sacrificial Spellcasting rules can be found in Green Ronin's Plot & Poison (primarily used to offset XP expenditures for certain spells or magic item creation) or in the Book of Vile Darkness (with a whole plethora of possible benefits, based on the type of sacrifice!).

An Aztec style 'capture and sacrifice' culture would also be handy from a DM perspective, since even a TPK can be salvaged into a 'Prisoner's of the Slave Lords' style scenario where the captured party must escape before their hearts are ripped out and offered up to the sun-god. If the party has a Rogue, the focus on traps, snares, nets, etc. will also give that character a chance to shine, as the Rogue's trapfinding and / or escape artist abilities become more relevant, when the enemy specifically wants to capture foes and not just stab them to death.

Designing encounters inspired by figures from meso-american myth and lore could also be fun. Huitzilopochtli, the 'left-handed hummingbird' and god of war, could be inspiration for a Prestige Class of elite Fighter / Barbarian / Ranger / Scout types who move with incredible speed, gaining an extra +1 to initiative for each PrC level, perhaps always taking 10 on initiative checks as a capstone, gaining haste like abilities, gaining 5 ft. movement speed increases regularly, etc. The class would be all about speed, becoming harder to hit, being unable to be caught flat-footed, being able to take a full round action in a surprise round, etc. depending on the level of the 'Hummingbird Warrior.' Perhaps Skirmish dice and / or Move-by Attack would be good choices, or even prerequisites to be learn the PrC. Alternately, they might increase in speed somewhat more slowly than, say, a Monk, but gain a Nature Walk ability that allows them to ignore terrain modifiers to speed for jungle / forest use, allowing them to still seem to move with supernatural swiftness in their favored terrain.

A spellcasting PrC could be inspired by the 'Smoking Mirror,' the jaguar-associated Tezcatlipoca. Scrying (and teleporting) through the use of mica or polished copper mirrors, and functioning without penalty in areas of mist, smoke, etc. or wild shaping into a jaguar (or having a jaguar as a familiar companion) could follow those themes. The Smoking Mirror cultist is preceded by a billowing Obscuring Mist effect, and enters combat with personal enhancing spells (bull's strength, magical vestment, magic weapon, keen edge) alongside his jaguar companion, striking his blinded targets through the smoke that doesn't affect his combat abilities (or those of his companion) at all. Short range teleportation might also allow him to strike someone and then shift through the smoke to appear somewhere else within 10 ft., so long as he has at least partial concealment, making him a frustrating opponent.

Lord Loss
2009-06-15, 09:36 AM
You Didn't say the Alignment of the natives so...

You're at least a bit familliar with the Mayas-Incas-Aztecs, i assume.

For this campaign, Let's throw Pelor out the Window, replacing him with an evil or neutral sun Diety that matches the Inca sun god. He will be worshipped by all the Island dwellers, particularly the Lawful natives (Lawful clerics are Sun god Clerics)

The Chaotic aztec people will worship the Moon God.

Now how big is the island: Will it be the centerpiece of the whole Campaign? A fun adventure ranging from levels 1-3? Or something in between? If I know the amount of time the people will be there i will know how big to make the island and how much 'stuff' we should put on it. Ready To help!

Yahoo_Serious
2009-06-15, 09:38 AM
An evil party in Maztika should have no problem, especially with conquistador style steal the land and loot the resources game play. You could have lots of fun thinking up very unsavory NPCs.

Just a thought, you might enjoy Werner Herzog's classic Aguirre, the Wrath of God (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre,_the_Wrath_of_God) for mood and background material (the score, by Popol Vuh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh_(German_band)), could also make great campaign background music).

Good luck!

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-15, 07:18 PM
1. Make landfall - find small village - hermit etc... Torture and\or rob them to get information & re provision the boat.
its Boats but you gave me a good idea for the first mission, Thanks!



What is the alignment of the rest of the expedition? I was thinking Neutral, and the clerics would be good, however almost all the natives worship an evil god, so the good clerics of the expedition will pretty much sanction their wholesale slaughter (especially after a High cleric's daughter gets captured in a raid and sacrificed to some no name god... I smell Jihad!)

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-15, 07:27 PM
An Aztec style 'capture and sacrifice' culture would also be handy from a DM perspective, since even a TPK can be salvaged into a 'Prisoner's of the Slave Lords' style scenario where the captured party must escape before their hearts are ripped out and offered up to the sun-god. If the party has a Rogue, the focus on traps, snares, nets, etc. will also give that character a chance to shine, as the Rogue's trapfinding and / or escape artist abilities become more relevant, when the enemy specifically wants to capture foes and not just stab them to death.
Great Idea! "You wake up, realizing your being dragged on a rope that ties your hands together towards a huge structure with a massive red stair in the middle. As you get closer, you notice that the red color on the stair is actually A river of blood!


Designing encounters inspired by figures from meso-american myth and lore could also be fun. Huitzilopochtli, the 'left-handed hummingbird' and god of war, could be inspiration for a Prestige Class of elite Fighter / Barbarian / Ranger / Scout types who move with incredible speed, gaining an extra +1 to initiative for each PrC level, perhaps always taking 10 on initiative checks as a capstone, gaining haste like abilities, gaining 5 ft. movement speed increases regularly, etc. The class would be all about speed, becoming harder to hit, being unable to be caught flat-footed, being able to take a full round action in a surprise round, etc. depending on the level of the 'Hummingbird Warrior.' Perhaps Skirmish dice and / or Move-by Attack would be good choices, or even prerequisites to be learn the PrC. Alternately, they might increase in speed somewhat more slowly than, say, a Monk, but gain a Nature Walk ability that allows them to ignore terrain modifiers to speed for jungle / forest use, allowing them to still seem to move with supernatural swiftness in their favored terrain.

A spellcasting PrC could be inspired by the 'Smoking Mirror,' the jaguar-associated Tezcatlipoca. Scrying (and teleporting) through the use of mica or polished copper mirrors, and functioning without penalty in areas of mist, smoke, etc. or wild shaping into a jaguar (or having a jaguar as a familiar companion) could follow those themes. The Smoking Mirror cultist is preceded by a billowing Obscuring Mist effect, and enters combat with personal enhancing spells (bull's strength, magical vestment, magic weapon, keen edge) alongside his jaguar companion, striking his blinded targets through the smoke that doesn't affect his combat abilities (or those of his companion) at all. Short range teleportation might also allow him to strike someone and then shift through the smoke to appear somewhere else within 10 ft., so long as he has at least partial concealment, making him a frustrating opponent.
Huh, With just that I can make a bundle of interesting encounters, Thank you so much!

(sorry about the multiple posts, I just don't know how to quote multiple people in one post :smallfrown:

Jane_Smith
2009-06-15, 07:31 PM
Sadly, they wiped out Maztika entirely from faerun in 4.0/up to 'date' forgotten realms time line to put dragonborn their. :smallfrown: I kinda like the aztec feel.

Eldhusgaur
2009-06-15, 07:31 PM
As of 3.X, the Red Wizards of Thay have become the default 'Magic-Mart' of the setting, so it would be eminently do-able for a Red Wizard to appear at set times at the settlement and 'take orders' for magical gear made of metal, which she will bring with her on her next scheduled arrival (please allow one week for delivery).

She would be fairly mercenary and self-serving, and well protected by defensive spells (such as stoneskin, since she knows that she's teleporting into unfriendly territory, and possibly carrying extremely valuable magical items to deliver!). She'll demand half-payment up front (which will conveniently cover the expense to craft the items, even if the customer doesn't show up to claim it when she returns next week), and the rest upon delivery. She will also make deals for information on the local magical scene, although, upon it being established that there are no arcanists among the native population, her interest will wane and she'll stop offering deals. Native magic items of particular interest might also pique her curiosity enough to get some trade value, as she'll take them home to her enchantment-minded colleagues to 'reverse engineer.'

She could possibly be hired to teleport an *individual* along with her, but the person better be able to arrange their own transportation into or out of Thay, since she doesn't make house-calls, nor does she guarantee safe passage once she drops them off in the street outside of her college of magic. Good luck not getting arrested by the Thayvian guard when they are discovered to be foreigners!

If you want to make her more useful, perhaps some of the local magic *does* have some ability to be adapted by the Red Wizards, in which case, she'll eagerly snatch up information on pluma magic or whatever, and offer discount rates on potions, scrolls, spells from spellbooks (for party wizards, who wouldn't otherwise have a way to learn new spells in this wizard-less land), etc. Being the kind of person she is, she might also make special requests, such as 'bring me back a living practitioner of this local magic, and not some lowly apprentice, either!, and I'll cut the price of your next order in half.' Will the party capture a native and hand him over to the Red Wizards for 'interrogation?' It might not only be a horrible thing to do to the native, but could also turn out to put some power that Thay shouldn't have directly into their grasping hands! Thay with access to a new style of magic that their many foes know little or nothing about? Probably not a good way to make friends with the enemies of Thay...

Oh. My. GODS I love your ideas man! This one is a definite keeper, Thanks a million!
(Btw, I am totally using her, please name her for me, it would be an honor!