Don't forget about sea lions! Though I do love me some otters. Just giving options.
Hawk - Scouts, messengers, archers?
Fox- Caravaneers, gypsy traders, perhaps agents and stealth?
What about a badger for forge and craftsmen?
Printable View
Both of those are correct, but I really feel like Hawk and Fox should stay separate. Their cultural identities are pretty disparate. Badger is actually excellent, though, good idea.
I have this idea of the seven lost items of the founder of the clan, and a permanent position within the clan's hierarchy as "guy who looks for them".
So, Boar and Horse are out, Badger is in. Now we have the Ten Clans. That sound good to everyone?
How about Karreus, Raksasa, Azakar, or Tareus for the land of the giants? (or was it the straight you were speaking of? if so Straight of Ravino, Delios Straight, Staight of Frisk)
Glad you like the badger. No love for the sea lion?
As for the fox and the hawk, I just generally saw foxes as sneaky, and hawks as a from afar, quick, and well sighted. So not making both sneaky, just the foxes.
Hm... It's the strait that freezes over, but both need names. Maybe something more Norse-influenced? It's right off their coast, and they're the only ones who use it. I'll derp around on Google Translate and see what I come up with.
They're kind of.... derpy. Seriously, watch one for five minutes. I live a half-hour away from the oregon coast, and every time I go there I just have to laugh at them. Otters are a little more respectable.Quote:
Glad you like the badger. No love for the sea lion?
The foxes are a pretty culturally isolated group of traveling merchants/performers/tradesmen. They may be sneaky at times (If an innkeeper's daughter comes up pregnant, everyone blames the Fox caravan that came through last month), but it's the Hawks that really excel at scouting, deep-cover spying, assassination and that sort of thing.Quote:
As for the fox and the hawk, I just generally saw foxes as sneaky, and hawks as a from afar, quick, and well sighted. So not making both sneaky, just the foxes.
*there needs to be an "innocuous whistling" smiley...*
English-Old Norse Dictionary.pdf
Straight-
Stynrsvell (Moaning Ice)
Svell Straights (Ice)
Straights of Samnador (Straights of the gathering)
---or combine them---
Svell Samnador (Gathering of ice)
Giants-
Joturund (Giant Way)
Harlirifel (Tall like Mountain) ((Liri=Liki))
Harifel (Tall Mountain)
Irifjall (Like Mountain)
Nynendi (No end)
Just some attempts. :smallsmile:
So, I have yet to acknowledge that dragon exist(ed?) in Patria. After playing Skyrim for seven hours straight, I'm beginning to reconsidered that. How does that jive with everyone?
Would they actually add anything? Or just be another overdone trope?
I like Sternsvell for the strait (Anglicanized Styrnsvell) and Vedhrheim (wind home) for the giant-held land.
What shall be named next?
In a fit of inspiration, I've decided to triple post. Deal with it :smallcool:.
Counting coup. A native american tradition that derives from being such a brass-balled hardcore badass that you fight an opponent unarmed and defeat him without killing him. Who do you think deserves to have that tradition in Patria?
My current idea involves it being a tradition of the Elder Folk (the first people that the old empire drove over the Fogbound river) that was passed on to the Empire's warriors. It now is a tradition in the Piloti culture and with Sunshani fighting monks, as well as a less-formal display of dominance among the Vallheimers.
Seriously, when a naked bearded guy tosses your plate-armored ass back to Soleh and throws your sword after you, you just got pwned pretty hard.
I do believe it's been a while since I posted on this.
Dragons: don't. Skyrim (SKYRIM!!!) does them very well, but they are the focus of the game. Here, you already have a well developed world with many different races and monsters, adding dragons would be ill considered. However, a spirit to take to place of dragons might be a good idea; I suggest feathered snakes. Have them be really freaking rare, tied to a single place, and shed feathers regularly, which turn to jewels. The spirit aspect gives them wisdom and power, the feathers give wealth and can be used for magic (a no-save-just-die arrow?), while the rarity and being tied to a single place let's them mesh with your existing setting without having to justify why they aren't running things.
I kinda agree with Eldest on the dragon thing. I suppose if a DM wants to shamelessly rip of Skyrim and do a whole "Oh they were just sleeping but now they're not" storyline, it wouldn't completely wreck the setting, but I won't put in anything canon regarding them.
Oh, and for counting coup: do it! I'd say that it grew a bit more diverse than that. The monks (all of them) have a game with a ball and a stick, with rules based off of the idea of counting coup. Think between capture the flag and lacrosse (which, incidentally, was also a native american (Cherokee or Creek) game). The Piloti have great, sweeping games of it going, but much more formalized, where you essentially have large games of very complex stealth-tag going on all the time with the younger people. The idea of it being a dominance game for the Valhallian and very informal I really like.
That sounds good!
Is there anything else? Shall I re-iterate the new Vallheim clans?
I'd sneakily add a version of the game to all the different cultures, even if you need to have it outlawed and only practiced by cultists and evil people; make the Goliaths the only ones to practice it in it's pure form. They are the best at it, after all, and the person who manages to count coup against a Goliath... well, lets just they go down in Goliath legend.
Now I really want to try that...
Edit: Ok, so I found this picture. You better well use it.
Pretty cool, eh?
Is that a Goliath person? Pretty awesome!
So, the new clans:
Elk: Civilian leadership, primarily.
Bear: Military leadership, warriors
Wolf: Hunters, outdoorsmen, and trackers.
Hawk: Deep-cover spies, scouts and snipers.
Fox: Merchants, traveling traders, gypsy-style entertainers.
Owl: Historians, librarians, educators, magic folks.
Raven: Religious leaders, artists, musicians.
Badger: Craftsmen, blacksmiths, sculptors.
Beaver: Loggers, surveyors, fortification experts, architects.
Otter: Sailors, fishermen, longshoremen.
Dove: Healers, medics, mediators and psychologists.
With this new clan system, we have a broader range of focus, with less overlap and more options for players to choose from. Furthermore, it cleans up the parliamentary side of things: When one Clan Chief is chosen as king, the other nine form a council that debates laws and policy, as well as serving as the highest court. With ten clans, this leaves nine councilors, so there can be a clear majority.
Alrighty...
Fox and Hawk should be natural allies, and Hawk should have a rivalry with Wolf. Raven, Elk and Bear should be rivals. Owl and Otter should be neutral. Badger and Beaver would be allies. Dove would be allied with whoever's on top at the moment.
I think Otter would be allied with Bear (Bear clan marines and guards come along on dangerous voyages) and with Beaver (shipbuilders).
I actually think Raven and Elk would be allies, it's a trend as old as time that secular leaders enjoy the legitimacy than a spiritual leader can grant them. Bear would have been one of the leaders of a rival faction during the Civil War, fighting against the Elk-Raven-Wolf coalition.
Owl, Fox, Badger, Beaver and Dove could remain mostly neutral with Bear, Hawk and Otter opposing the Elk-Raven-Wolf faction.
The first few are the ones I'm most in favor of. Fox would bring Hawk deep-cover spies along with them on their trips, bring the info back and forth, etc. Hawk would provide some of that info to the Fox, so they can avoid problem areas. Hawk (as scouts) would clash with Wolf (trackers). The three clans fighting would be a recent thing, as the Ravens are trying a powerplay right now on the Elk, with the Bear still trying for one-upmanship. Just adding some future conflict to a currently rather idyllic area. That possibly leading to a second civil war, as well as the giants, should be enough.
...As well as Soleh proclaiming Crusade/Jihad/whatever and invading. Or a massed Goliath invasion. Or another Long Winter (that giant/evil fey invasion that Vail's grampa fought in). Or any of the non-sociopolitical-dependent adventures normal D&D PC's get into, killing green-skinned things and bandits and whatnot.
Can't never have too many threats.
So... my favorite part of Skyrim is the Shouts. Plain and simple, I can't get enough souls to use every shout I want to, and I think that's possibly the most compelling part of the story.
Has anyone seen/felt a burning desire to make a homebrewed system similar to this? If so, could it thematically work in Patria?
My first campaign setting was actually an expy of Tamriel. I had the Geats up north, whose magic was all about using the power of their voices etc. I thought about coming up with a 3.5 class or prestige class, but in the end I just decided to reskin everything to be more vocally focused. It seemed like the easiest compromise, and the only way for this crappy homebrewer to ensure that the game remained as balanced as it was before.
That said, you've got to be careful. A shout system might work out fine in your setting, but you've got a lot of unique stuff going on right now. You will not be able to add a shout system to the world without making it an obvious draw from Skyrim. If that's all right with you, then I say go for it. But if you'd like to keep this world as much "your own" as possible, I'd steer clear.
Yeah, it's been hard, when reading/watching/playing pretty much everything cool to not go "Ooh! I want that! And that! And that!" and throw every awesome thing I can find into Patria, which really isn't the way to go if I want everything to blend thematically.
I'll go with no.
Oh, Runes. I'll finish those up this summer, and use them in a game or two. One of the great things about being a DM is that you never need to search for a playtest game :smallbiggrin:
Crime is still simmering in the back of my mind, I kinda need to do my homework on these, as it's not my area of expertise. Any help, advice or related contributions are even more welcomed than usual.
Wikipedia is always my first stop, if only to find links to better, more in-depth stuff. This is a pretty cool section of the organized crime page that pretty much confirms my suspicions.
I don't think there would have been anything like a mafia in medieval times, but that's no reason why you can't have one in your setting. Highwaymen and bandits should obviously be a major part of things, and other ideas for sources of crime really depend on the laws of the region in question.
How does the region consider gambling? Prostitution? Theft? Murder? If anything is illegal, you can be pretty certain that at least one group will find a way to do it on the down-low.
One other idea is to transform opposing cultures (like Soleh and Vallheim) into crime groups in each other's eyes. For example, merely being from Vallheim is illegal in Soleh because the two nations are at war (am I remembering that right? Whatever. Work with me. :smalltongue:), and the punishment could range from imprisonment to torture or even execution if you're caught. By extension, most of the Vallheimers that go into Soleh are either sneaking through, or they're reaving and pillaging with abandon.
Well, Vail's in trouble...
Another suggestion is to read Terrier and it's sequels, since the plot is based off of what amounts to fantasy police it has good ideas for crimes.
Hm... I'll throw The Reasoner at the Dotze Affariata, as he's an Italian history nut, and he's already been kicking around some ideas. I'll consider that taken care of.
In Sunshan, there's probably a decent-sized Torei or freedman smuggling network, as well as plenty of plain-old highway banditry. Maybe corruption in the bureaucracy?
Oh, idea. Those convicted of crimes in the Vallheim are given a very sizable fine and are excluded/tarred and feathered/run out of town - in every town - until they pay it, possibly identified by a brand or tattoo. Now, if you're not allowed to go home and get to work, really the only way to make money is to take it. And because those people caught doing a crime while branded are sentenced to death regardless of the severity, there's a pretty strong prerogative to leave the country. These people sometimes band together to raid into Soleh, or head south and form mercenary or bandit groups until they earn enough to pay off their debts or decide they like the rape and pillage lifestyle better.
As for Soleh and the Vallheim being at war... Well, nothing's official, but it's happened before and will inevitably happen again. At the moment, the Bear Clan Chief and the Warden of the North, who have more-or-less equivalent roles in their opposing countries, glare at each other over the border, send punitive raids in response to the others punitive raids and funding bandit groups in the area.
As there's a trickle of Vallheimers coming into Soleh for the sole purpose of raping and pillaging, the Solerians have some pretty well-developed opinions on them, not to mention that they're heathen devil-worshipers. As such, simply having weapons and a Vallheimer accent would be sufficient evidence to most priest-judges that you're a bandit. Particularly vindictive ones may interrogate a suspected bandit with torture before executing them, while others may offer a partial forgiveness if the Vallheimer converts (not bloody likely).
More to come, but that's a decent outline.
First, does the above sound good? Feedback?
Second, I plan to read a lot of roman military and political history to help flesh out Soleh some more. Any suggestions?
It looks good. I'd say that the fine and stuff is for the really, really bad crimes. Murder, treason, and insulting the king.
Well, I imagine most Vallheimers would either A. Nod and grunt agreement or B. Punch you in the jaw if you insulted the King. They're pretty good about freedom of speech, provided you can back up your words with your fists if someone disagrees. Think the Jeffersonian ideal democracy, with a little more compartmentalization through the clans.
Treason would probably be a much more severe penalty, as the Vallheimers are pretty nationalistic. That would depend if it were treason against the Clan or against the King. Which one is considered worse depends on the clan, but they'd almost always do more than tattoo you with a Villain's Mark and kick you out.
Murder... yeah, that fits.
Other crimes deserving of the Villain's Mark and banishment include theft, assault (unless the judge agrees that he deserved it), smuggling and a couple others. Rape is punished by being buried alive at a crossroads to appease the spirits of the victim's ancestors.
Note that different crimes have different amounts fined. Murder would be pretty substantial, requiring several years' effort to pay off, while theft may only be a month or two.
Maybe the amount you need to pay off is related to the amount you took/removed. So punishment for killing the town drunk is substantially less than killing the only blacksmith. All the murder charges would need a lot of money to pay off, though. A life is precious. The town drunk did keep the local economy running above average by the continual reinvestment of funds.