Campaign Planning Log- Nature of The Beast

[Kol Korran]

Sorry for the somewhat long delay. I wrote much of the third post, but forgot to save it, twice... Odd, since I did that for the rest of my logs, but it seams I need to relearn this lesson each time...

Any way, In the third post I got to detail the main features of the time period, and the regional borders, along with some maps to help, and the reasoning. Next will come filling in the major areas and such, along with some of the inhabitants and so on. At the end of that, I will post a rough sketch of the region, a base for planning ahead.

It's a long process, but I'm getting there, slowly...
Also, if you're interested in helping, you might help with the following:
- you'd notice I'll have many "place holder" names for places, NPCs and such. (Like "Home base town" for the main civilized settlement, the PCs' likely home). I'd love suggestions for it, and what may come down the line.
- As mentioned in the "defining the borders" part, I am contemplating/ thinking of what might be a more "natural geographic border" for the southern and western borders. As the map is very scarce, suggestions and creativity are welcome.

Hope you like reading! As always, feel free to ask questions, comments, critique (Both good and bad), or anything else really.
See ya next time!

[Karion]

Long-time lurker, but new forum member and player here.
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your campaign logs - I think your focused, player-driven and methodical approach to DMing is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Regarding your map borders issue:
If I understand correctly, most of the campaign map is dry and desert-like. This might make it difficult to provide a hard border that's not a mountain. One possible solution (which would probably work better at the western border) is to have a gradual switch to a different type of desert (e.g. wide steppes around your home base and most of your map, and a fine-sand, Saharan desert to the west), and to have the border be not so much an actual physical obstacle, but rather impassable weather - frequent, unpredictable and devastating sandstorms that make it extremely dangerous to attempt to cross.
For the southern border for some reason I'm reminded of the Dalmatia region in Croatia - high mountains parallel to the coast, with a borderline of many small islands and peninsulas. This sorta mimics your northern mountain Earth+Air theme, except that it also adds Water.
Alternatively you might make it a dormant volcano, or a vast, low region, full of marches (think the Netherlands, but also a giant swamp).

[Kol Korran]

Long-time lurker, but new forum member and player here.
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your campaign logs - I think your focused, player-driven and methodical approach to DMing is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

First of all, Thanks for your kind words! I do not do well with such praise, but it waneed my heart in a very busy and hectic time. Thank you!

Regarding your map borders issue:
If I understand correctly, most of the campaign map is dry and desert-like. This might make it difficult to provide a hard border that's not a mountain. One possible solution (which would probably work better at the western border) is to have a gradual switch to a different type of desert (e.g. wide steppes around your home base and most of your map, and a fine-sand, Saharan desert to the west), and to have the border be not so much an actual physical obstacle, but rather impassable weather - frequent, unpredictable and devastating sandstorms that make it extremely dangerous to attempt to cross.
For the southern border for some reason I'm reminded of the Dalmatia region in Croatia - high mountains parallel to the coast, with a borderline of many small islands and peninsulas. This sorta mimics your northern mountain Earth+Air theme, except that it also adds Water.
Alternatively you might make it a dormant volcano, or a vast, low region, full of marches (think the Netherlands, but also a giant swamp).

The info on Drooam indicates that the land was very hard to farm, which is one if the reasons it wasn't inhabited. I won't make it a desert or an arid land though, but a land that requires quite a lot of effort, a harsher land, requiring tougher folks. I'll touch on my ideas on farming later...

I like the idea if a rougher, more desert/ arid like western border, as you suggested. The last few hexes to the west may show the beginning of a more difficult terrain, signifying that.

I'm not yet sure about the southern border. By the cannon Everyone map, it's not close to the water (At least not the zoomed -in cropped area map I made). I can just move it to be so (like the mountains in the north), yet for some reason that idea sits less well with me.

Swamps? Perhaps... That's a LOT if swamps, yet players might wish to cross them. I'll have to think on this some more...

---------------------------------------
Sorry about not updating yet folks. It's been very busy and hectic week, and sitting down to write these posts takes the right mind set, and sufficient time. I'll try to get to it (And perhaps a bit more ) next week!

See ya!

[wobner]

Excellent read so far.

Would it work to simply have, as an established border, hostiles? Forgive me, I have an image of steppes stuck in my head now, so while not quite appropriate, what if the region were teeming with something like Mongol hordes? your players would find constant unending harassment if they tried to venture too far in those directions against a fast enemy that could scatter and regroup when it started to lose, and left little in the way of loot, or incentive, to venture further? quickly exhausting resources and forcing a withdraw. it might feel a little forced, but it could suffice in lieu of anything else.
You could also simply say "here there be dragons", well, something big or nasty, appropriate for the region, and well beyond the capabilities of a level 6 capped group.

in the end though, any border is going to feel at least a little arbitrary. Water, get a boat. Mountains, look for a pass. In the end you just gotta say "end of the map, turn around".

[Kol Korran]

Real life has been VERY busy of late (Trying to find an internship, arranging a wedding, preparing for the new baby), so it took me a little while to update. Yet, I did warn you, didn't I?

In the third post I wrote the "Filling in the major terrain, areas and locals". At the end I need to post my sketch of the basic regional map, but I want to patch it up a bit, to make it readable through the pic I'll take of it. I hope to get to that, and finishing the post (Factions, Old history and recent- current history) in the next few days.

Thanks for reading!

Excellent read so far.

Would it work to simply have, as an established border, hostiles? Forgive me, I have an image of steppes stuck in my head now, so while not quite appropriate, what if the region were teeming with something like Mongol hordes?

The region pretty much plays within the"mongol hordes" region (Gnolls, Centauri and more). But yeah, I get your idea.

You could also simply say "here there be dragons", well, something big or nasty, appropriate for the region, and well beyond the capabilities of a level 6 capped group.

That is quite... an excellent idea! In what I wrote just now, I mention the possibility of a dragon. Something on those lines might work... Hmmmm...

in the end though, any border is going to feel at least a little arbitrary. Water, get a boat. Mountains, look for a pass. In the end you just gotta say "end of the map, turn around".

Yeah, I know that, but t least for my group, we'll need a sort of explanation in game as well, to justify that. It doesn't need to be a fool proof explanation against all attempts, but enough for the Fantasy Aesthetics oriented players to give their characters enough justification why they turned around at that point. It's not a huge concern, but something to think about.

A small note: I don't intend to put any of the major locals RIGHT AT THE EDGE of the map, but rather few hexes shy of it. I imagine that itself might provide a good enough satisfaction in itself for the explorers (Finding the lost cities of gold, as it were) to avoid perhaps reaching "yet beyond..."

Thanks for your comments! You never know where an idea will inspire you!

[wobner]

After reading your write up on the weather and landscape, I remember a Wikipedia page I went to, that I can't for the life of me find again, that dealt with a desert area (as i recall) in or around the middle east, that (my memory is really failing me here) when the monsoon rolled around, would cause the land to get blanketed in fog, so much moisture, that the desert became green with moss. The pictures were a truely startling contrast, and quite cool to behold. it was something like 3 to 4 months, where everything was emerald green and shrouded in mists before turning back to the yellow sands and rock(according to the page anyway)

unfortunately all i can find now is this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khareef
and, under the climate section
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhofar_Governorate

anyway,
that definitely makes for problematic agriculture and something an outsider wouldn't be used to, which you mention as being something you'd like for the region. and while only 3 to 4 months of the year(assuming my memory is even right), its not permenant situation, but is a really eerie one while it lasts, and might be cool to adventure in(it could be a place to adventure in only while the fog is there, if supernatural in origin, but i digress, my point was a real world weather/agriculture phenomenon)

[Kol Korran]

Phew! I finally finished the third post. It came up too long, over 50,000 characters. So I went through the introduction there, and trimmed it down a bit, slightly less wordy, more concise. What got updated?
- Added the regional sketch of the region, at the end of "filling the major terrains..." and such.
- Had you read the post before, you might notice that the last section, that was under work (About factions) is now gone. I decided to just move all of that to the "faction design" post. Currently that is saved on my computer, but I'll get to that.
- I also removed the post's own "update log". It seemed unnecessary, and will take up too much space. The original post is enough for that.

few more issues/ changes:
- I've added to the initial post a spoiler called "To be solved", which mostly lists things that I need to think about, that rose through the writing yet. Most of it will be more minor issues (Currently), thoguh some will be more major. Mostly things that I need to make sure will not slip my mind. Any of you that would like to suggest ideas (As wobner and Korian have done so lovely! )

- In my initial planning of the log, I thought I'd got into now detailing my work with the players, and their influence on my design process, but I think that it may be better to explain the major factions, and the mystery of lycnthropy (As it plays such a major part in the campaign) before going into the players' discussion. I'll need to think about it...

Any thoughts?

-------------------------------------------------

And now to reply:

After reading your write up on the weather and landscape, I remember a Wikipedia page I went to, that I can't for the life of me find again, that dealt with a desert area (as i recall) in or around the middle east, that (my memory is really failing me here) when the monsoon rolled around, would cause the land to get blanketed in fog, so much moisture, that the desert became green with moss. The pictures were a truely startling contrast, and quite cool to behold. it was something like 3 to 4 months, where everything was emerald green and shrouded in mists before turning back to the yellow sands and rock(according to the page anyway)

unfortunately all i can find now is this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khareef
and, under the climate section
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhofar_Governorate

anyway,
that definitely makes for problematic agriculture and something an outsider wouldn't be used to, which you mention as being something you'd like for the region. and while only 3 to 4 months of the year(assuming my memory is even right), its not permenant situation, but is a really eerie one while it lasts, and might be cool to adventure in(it could be a place to adventure in only while the fog is there, if supernatural in origin, but i digress, my point was a real world weather/agriculture phenomenon)

Hmmm... seems like quite a cool idea! A very different site, according to different seasons. The greenery and mist could add quite a nice touch for exploration, both flavor wise, but possibly also challenge wise. Hmmmm, I'll keep it in mind, and try to see how to later incorporate it. It could be fun, knowing some rocky, barren hills, only to have them become all green and mushy, after a few hard rainy days!

Thanks wobner! Much appreciated!

[Kol Korran]

Hey there. Some of you may have noticed I started another log, a Shadowrun campaign log (Actual campaign, not of planning). I didn't ditch this log though. The delay comes from 2 main reasons:
1. Lots of RL stuff going on (A change in pregnancy plan, got married, got my final paper authorized, and more).
2. I've contemplated and rethoughof how to introduce the next part. It will deal with the mystery of lycanthropy, which will be far more complicated than what's in the D&D books. I'm thinking seriously about it, and writing that segment, soon enough.

Writing a campaign plan post is more complicated, and requires a rested mind, concentration and a certain mood to get it done well. With the combined two reasons above, this got delayed. Yet hopefully, I will get to write it soon enough. (The SR campaign is far easier to write, as it just a fancier writing of in-game notes, and on that I'm a player, not a GM). Just wanted to let you know, and thanks for those with patience.

See you soon!

[Karion]

Lots of RL stuff going on

Congratulations on the marriage, I wish you a wonderful family life and may your child bring you much joy.

[Karion]

- The Serpentine river: It's not on the map. This will be the region's main river. I imagine it starting fro ma few sources in the Byeshk Mountains to the north, and then moving south, spliting into several arms, which will form 2-3 main north- south streams, one of them making it's way all the way even to Home base town, forming it's western border.

I think most towns spring naturally on both sides of the river, so you might need some explanation as to why that is not the case. Perhaps the western coast is made of very steep cliffs and the whole town falls into a natural defensive formation?

My main problem with the Serpentine, is that I need a destination where it flows TO... I don't want it to go all the way south to the sea (I want there to be other bodies of water there), yet it can't just... end up nowhere... The rive'rs arm that gets up to Home Base will probably just continue a bit south, and then east to Breland, off the map (Hey! Just got a trade route!) while the others might end up at small lakes, maybe a bog/ swamp or such? Not yet certain...

It might be cool to have a smaller arm actually flow below the surface level to the Underdark, which could provide some opportunities for side quests. That is, provided you want to have that in your game (and there is an Underdark, I'm not familiar with Eberron).
I can also imagine some cool scenes set at the bottom of a huge waterfall, though I'm not sure how well that meshes with the terrain you have in mind.
Perhaps a smaller one in one of the forests? Possibly a seat of the fey courts?

- Pig Country! No cows! I don't know exactly why it came to my mind, but for some reason, from the earliest conceptions of the campaign, I felt it was important that the more "traditional" live stock, couldn't easily be grown here. So no cows, few horses, but a lot of... pigs, boars, hogs, and so on.

Wildebeest. They come with the added bonus of hanging around with zebras. Also I think a farm of gnus is just cool, and they can even possibly serve as beasts of burden (also as beasts-with-an-awesome-name).

Not going for Illithids, Aboleths and such

Drat, and I was already imagining an aboleth in Gnoll lake.

- The Outpost: (I'll really need a better name).

I like Shardscour - conveys exactly what it was made for, as well as the inhospitable terrain around it.

- Darkness and The Red Hound: A special local, between the gnoll tribes and the Centauri, of great cultural and religious significance to them. Most savage races know of the place, but steer far from it. At times, leaders or priest, may decide to venture to seek The Darkness help and advice. They give tribute to The Red Hound (One of the Spirits of The Land) that guards it. The party may well come upon this place, later in their travel. It will be in the mid western portion of the map, about middle way between the center and the western edge.

This is really cool.

A brief look through history

I love this whole section. Especially Shere-Khan. DnD needs more Weretigers.

The ogres, and ogre lords: I'll admit that I got this from Dragonlance- I once read in one of their novels ("Lord Toade" I think?) about the ogres being descended from far more advanced and beautiful beings. The ogres all forgot, yet some hints remain- some ogres manage to activate highly advanced magical gear, that no one else can, and the offshoots to the past- the ogre mages.

If they are unaware of it you might set up a huge conflict between them and all other "later" lycanthropic peoples - the Ogres hate them for infringing on their territory and for being a results of such an "unnatural" transformation, not knowing that they themselves are the same.

[Kol Korran]

Congratulations on the marriage, I wish you a wonderful family life and may your child bring you much joy.

Thanks! We feel quite blessed. Excited, slightly worried, but very happy!

I think most towns spring naturally on both sides of the river, so you might need some explanation as to why that is not the case. Perhaps the western coast is made of very steep cliffs and the whole town falls into a natural defensive formation?

Home base is built upon the ruins of the Dhakani ruin, which IS a defensive place. (Hill with cliffs, haven't decided yet. Some farms and pig grazing grounds do stretch out of the city. I'm not fully certain yet why they haven't settled westof the river, but the main idea is that The Falcon decreed not to, which the base population agreed to (The river sort of marked the "border" with gnoll lands). There may be a few brave souls who decided to graze/ settle beyond, but they are the exception, far from the rule

It might be cool to have a smaller arm actually flow below the surface level to the Underdark, which could provide some opportunities for side quests. That is, provided you want to have that in your game (and there is an Underdark, I'm not familiar with Eberron).
I can also imagine some cool scenes set at the bottom of a huge waterfall, though I'm not sure how well that meshes with the terrain you have in mind.
Perhaps a smaller one in one of the forests? Possibly a seat of the fey courts?

... I... I think you've just inspired an adventure site! I imagine a sort of great fissure, probably from the Dhakaan- Daelkyr war, into which an arm of the Serpentine flows, and fall, into a small lake at the bottom, which may have rivulets/ streams to the underdark (Eberron DOES have a sort of underdark, called Khyber. The massive underground ruins in the Khundarak expeditions may have access to it).

I imagine some sort of a community living in the cliffs of the fissure, subsiding on the lake. Perhaps denizens arisen from the underdark, perhaps others. Not fully sure what I'll make of the place, but it sounds like a very cool site to explore! Thanks!

Wildebeest. They come with the added bonus of hanging around with zebras. Also I think a farm of gnus is just cool, and they can even possibly serve as beasts of burden (also as beasts-with-an-awesome-name).

' Wildebeasts are quite good! Perhaps Ganu as well. I've spent some time in Africa after my military service. Some of the experiences from there will surely color this.

I like Shardscour - conveys exactly what it was made for, as well as the inhospitable terrain around it.

Shardscour? Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind. Need to mull over the idea...

I love this whole section. Especially Shere-Khan. DnD needs more Weretigers.

Shere-Khan will actually be a were-dire lion. His brother will be the were-tiger or were-diretiger. I'll get to that later.

If they are unaware of it you might set up a huge conflict between them and all other "later" lycanthropic peoples - the Ogres hate them for infringing on their territory and for being a results of such an "unnatural" transformation, not knowing that they themselves are the same.

Oh, the ogres might well have conflicts, raids, and such about the "animal people". The origins of most of these people (Gnolls, centaurs and such) won't be evident from the start. Part of the mystery the party will need to figure out. There may be 1-2 ogres (Most likely ogre mages) who know a bit more about the past, and may be minor factions upon themselves and their group/ minions.

Karion, thanks a lot for your input! It already added nicely!

[Karion]

Karion, thanks a lot for your input! It already added nicely!

Glad to be of help :)

Shere-Khan will actually be a were-dire lion. His brother will be the were-tiger or were-diretiger. I'll get to that later.

So he's not based on the Jungle Book tiger?

[Kol Korran]

Ok, after a long time contemplating and writing it in pieces, the Mystery of Lycanthropy is done (4th post, in purple). I hope it's clear enough. As this is the major mystery and driving force of the campaign (other than the PCs) it's quite important. Next I'll start tackling the major factions, and once that is set, I'll start incorporating the PCs' role, and design attitude. (It's been done all along, yet I think that will be the place to post it).

So he's not based on the Jungle Book tiger?

There is some inspiration, but quite a few others as well. In the next post, when describing the Lycan's faction, I'll explain about him, his siblings, and the process that led to it's development more in detail. He's a mix of many inspirations, hopefully with some of my own twist upon it.

And don't worry, there will be a more direct Were- Tiger hunter, Shere-Khan's brother and potential "Star scream". (Autobots 80's animated series reference ).

[wobner]

first,
is this what you were looking for? or something that does the same thing? I really have no idea, but stumbled on this and thought i'd point it out

http://marksworld.zeemer.com/files/c.../calendar.html

second, forgive me if i ramble, or the post seems disjointed, i'm not sleeping very well, but opted to post this anyway. Live dangerously.

Maybe i'm not understanding you completely, but i would argue that our inhibitions are part of who we are, you can't remove them and claim to be more of yourself, you are infact less yourself. what we chose to keep in check is atleast as important as what we dont, and why we chose to keep it in check is a fundamental part of who we are. Overcoming these inhibitions, where warranted, is what makes people great, or atleast better.
I'm reminded of the saying, a brave man isn't one who has no fear, but overcomes that fear(atleast when the cause is good). Removing that fear through drugs though, through substances that reduce inhibitions isn't overcoming it, and doesn't make you brave. Wreckless, careless, foolish, but not brave, brave is when the inhibition still exists and you choose to push through it. Perhaps this is part of the arguement you were hoping for, it just seems in your description so far that your veiw is a little one sided, but then as most of your quotes come from Shere, i guess thats expected...


Bare in mind most of these are not suggestions, or atleast i'm not personally fond of them, just an attempt to stir up discussion.

I tried delving into the lore looking for suitable names, some prexisting ones that could be used or might inspire me to make a suggestion. I found a lot of apostraphes and X's, and i'm afraid i threw up my hands. Thats really not my thing. The best i could come up with for a name for home base was using something descriptive but mundane, which is only slightly better than just calling it home base. Something like the Bastion, or the bulwark. The ingress.

honestly i am a little confused as to where graywall actually is. Half the time i get the impression of a mountain pass, but the maps i see show it sitting in a 'gap of rohan' type deal that they inexplicable describe as a valley, and they don't put it all that close to the graywall mountains, atleast in my oppinion, especially in relation to the other, equal distance, mountain range. This is adding to the difficulty for me.

it mentions that "The daelkyr overran Korash Khaar, and some say that the defenders' blood was absorbed into the walls of the fortress, turning the stone to blood red" it seems a little odd to go from red to gray in the name, but the history tie in at this early stage of the cities developement could be interesting.

I'm assuming the place holder name of 'falcon' has significance, which leads me to thinking birds, and something like the perch, or the eerie. but ehh...


you mention the moons rotation in relation to the planes having a connection to the lycanthropy spread. Have you considered also including things like the moons position in relation to constellations and other celestial bodies, comets(that i am assuming exist in eberron)? I had a story where planets where considered 'in prominence' and thus could influence things when they were within what amounted to different signs of the zodiac, and truely unique events occured when multiple planets were in prominence at once. The interesting thing being, a planet could be in prominence without even really being visible to the world. I'm not sure how detialed the star charts for eberron are, or whether you are willing to throw them out to take this avenue, but its a thought.

I'm curious also, the 13th moon, does it,(did it?), have a defined cycle, since it seems its invisible, may no longer exist? you mentioned in a really old post using it for were creatures, but about alignment, why not about creation? The connection to xoriat, and the daelkyr, and their connection to droamm, seem almost too good, though admitedly i am lax on the eberron details. If the curse began before the delkyr war, then the moon should still have been in the sky, regardless of where it is now, or its state(assuming my eberron history is right).

I also keep trying to do something with the delkyr trapped in the khyber after the war, but i get nowhere, especially if lycanthropy traces back as far as you currently want it to.

One delima i see is that you want the animal you become to not be related to the one that bit you, yet you then state you want the centaurs, hobgoblins, etc. to have originated in one of these surges, but not the same surge, if i understand you. meaning either all/most during these time frames shifted to the same type of animal(unlikely), or the others died out, were persecuted?


I do have three words for your fallen civilization that would explain it being wiped out. Bear with me.

Akira the movie(I haven't had the pleasure of reading the manga).

Whenever i start thinking Gaia and Primordial beasts i remember the line from that girl trying to explain what Akira was, and relating it to an amoeba. Even animals have inhibitions, they fear, they serve, the pack relents to the alpha, you care for your young, you don't just run wild and witless. If you give up all inhibitions, The blob Tetsuo became in the movie strikes me as the likely scenario. It also strikes me as the total d**k move a fey would do if you go that route. Certainly a lesson to be learned.
the blob (or multiple blobs) itself would have destroyed the cities and the populations save a few alcoves that hide away or managed to outlast the abomination, or remain undiscovered.
more over, if Tetsuoblob didn't die but went dormant, it could be related to why the falcon and the hobgoblins reached their truce, and could further be related to the lycanthropy surges, especially since falcons arrival seems to be stirring, or atleast coinciding, with a new surge.

again, not a real suggestion as much as a topic for discussion. Although Tetsuoblob is awesome.

[Kol Korran]

first,
is this what you were looking for? or something that does the same thing? I really have no idea, but stumbled on this and thought i'd point it out

http://marksworld.zeemer.com/files/c.../calendar.html

Yes! Yes it is! Thanks a bunch! My google-foo has failed me! Thanks, this will be a HUGE help!

second, forgive me if i ramble, or the post seems disjointed, i'm not sleeping very well, but opted to post this anyway. Live dangerously.

Maybe i'm not understanding you completely, but i would argue that our inhibitions are part of who we are, you can't remove them and claim to be more of yourself, you are infact less yourself. what we chose to keep in check is atleast as important as what we dont, and why we chose to keep it in check is a fundamental part of who we are. Overcoming these inhibitions, where warranted, is what makes people great, or atleast better.
I'm reminded of the saying, a brave man isn't one who has no fear, but overcomes that fear(atleast when the cause is good). Removing that fear through drugs though, through substances that reduce inhibitions isn't overcoming it, and doesn't make you brave. Wreckless, careless, foolish, but not brave, brave is when the inhibition still exists and you choose to push through it. Perhaps this is part of the arguement you were hoping for, it just seems in your description so far that your veiw is a little one sided, but then as most of your quotes come from Shere, i guess thats expected...

Well, I did want to provoke an argument, but I guess I should explain a few things:
- The Beast does break inhibitions. Yet, the source of the different views, depend on how one perceive the inhibitions- their source, their value, and undoing them. Your opinion is of course valid (I do not decide what is "right"). Shere- Khan's opinion is that most of the inhibitions (Not all of them), have been thrust upon people by civilization, by rules, regulations, norms, and such. He thinks that humanoids have been tamed by civilization, and as such they are enslaved to the social structure, instead to their "true selves". In his mind, his understanding of The Beast, it releases/ unchains/ enlighten/ make people see the truth- their true nature. He thinks, he fully believes, that the way people act under civilized manner, is not their true self. I'll touch more on Shere-Khan later (In the factions), but I'll just say this- he fully believes he is doing good. He isn't just lying/ manipulating others. In his heart, he feels he is freeing humanoids from the slavery of civilization. It's more complex than that, but that's the core of it.

- Some people find it very, very VERY hard to break their inhibitions, and at those times some substances can help. Part of why alcohol is loved so much I guess. I won't go into various psychological issues, but I'll just say that a lot of different people can treat such things very differently. Some may use it for good, some for bad.

- I purposefully relayed quotes from Shere- Khan, as a sort of a primer for the next part. There are quite a few different views on that, but no real certainty. That is for the PCs to decide for themselves.

- I may need to explain all of the above in the post, when I have more time. Thanks for showing these points!

I tried delving into the lore looking for suitable names, some prexisting ones that could be used or might inspire me to make a suggestion. I found a lot of apostraphes and X's, and i'm afraid i threw up my hands. Thats really not my thing. The best i could come up with for a name for home base was using something descriptive but mundane, which is only slightly better than just calling it home base. Something like the Bastion, or the bulwark. The ingress.

Thanks a lot for the effort! Names are hard to come by. It's important that the name will be simple to pronounce, has a distinct feeling, and describes the place enough. I think it will emerge once I design "Home Base" more.

honestly i am a little confused as to where graywall actually is. Half the time i get the impression of a mountain pass, but the maps i see show it sitting in a 'gap of rohan' type deal that they inexplicable describe as a valley, and they don't put it all that close to the graywall mountains, at least in my opinion, especially in relation to the other, equal distance, mountain range. This is adding to the difficulty for me.

it mentions that "The daelkyr overran Korash Khaar, and some say that the defenders' blood was absorbed into the walls of the fortress, turning the stone to blood red" it seems a little odd to go from red to gray in the name, but the history tie in at this early stage of the cities developement could be interesting.

Graywall IS situated in a sort of a big valley, between the two mountain ranges.The location isn't a choke point holding a secure mountain pass, but rather a fort that enables an army to "dig in", and forces an enemy army to devote resources to dealing with it. Sure, small bands can cross the gap, yet a large army can't easily go unnoticed (A bit similar to how the Brits build their castles, to control land).

It's called Graywall due to the mountains to the south (The Graywall mountains). Why them and not the Byeshk Mountains? I don't know. Perhaps it sounds cooler, or eaiser to pronounce. In the Eberron lore there seems to be some importance of the Graywll Mountains tothe old Dhakaan empire, as some monuments of them (Most known in the monument of The Six Kings) are built straight into those mountains. That said- the name "Graywall" comes far, far later, about 140 years after the campaign takes place. (I did mention the campaign takes place in Eberron's past, I hope).

I'm assuming the place holder name of 'falcon' has significance, which leads me to thinking birds, and something like the perch, or the eerie. but ehh..

. The name "falcon" does have significance, as I'm imagining the ruler as a cavalier who'se mount is a griffon, and has a small elite force of gryphon, and has been known to gather lots of info, be a shrewd planner, with decisive, surprise attack against his enemies.

you mention the moons rotation in relation to the planes having a connection to the lycanthropy spread. Have you considered also including things like the moons position in relation to constellations and other celestial bodies, comets(that i am assuming exist in eberron)? I had a story where planets where considered 'in prominence' and thus could influence things when they were within what amounted to different signs of the zodiac, and truely unique events occured when multiple planets were in prominence at once. The interesting thing being, a planet could be in prominence without even really being visible to the world. I'm not sure how detialed the star charts for eberron are, or whether you are willing to throw them out to take this avenue, but its a thought.

Constellations? Hmmm... I'll need to look into that. As far as I remember, Eberron doesn't much detail constellations. I think it uses fairly regular ones. I'll only use 2 planes though, and not in conjuction with the planes- Lamania (The natural world, sort of a fey-wild world), and The Shadow Plane. Getting to these will be quite farther in the campaign, if at all... The campaign will not focus on planar traits much.

I'm curious also, the 13th moon, does it,(did it?), have a defined cycle, since it seems its invisible, may no longer exist? you mentioned in a really old post using it for were creatures, but about alignment, why not about creation? The connection to xoriat, and the daelkyr, and their connection to droamm, seem almost too good, though admitedly i am lax on the eberron details. If the curse began before the delkyr war, then the moon should still have been in the sky, regardless of where it is now, or its state(assuming my eberron history is right).

Eberron has a recurring theme of the numbers 12, and an alluded 13. 12 dragonmarks (And the alluded mark of death), planes, moons and so on. As much in Eberron, everything about the 13th moon is kept vague, a mystery, and open to the DM's decision. I'm still unsure of what to do with it.

I also keep trying to do something with the delkyr trapped in the khyber after the war, but i get nowhere, especially if lycanthropy traces back as far as you currently want it to.

Though there will be some aberrations in the game, their place is mostly as odd horrifying challenges, and echoes of the war... The Daelkyr themselves, or even high servants (Such as Mind flayers and such) won't play a prominent role. There is enough to deal with as it is. The focus of horror here, is sort of "humane" horror, horror that one can easily relate to, not the unfathomable madness.

One delima i see is that you want the animal you become to not be related to the one that bit you, yet you then state you want the centaurs, hobgoblins, etc. to have originated in one of these surges, but not the same surge, if i understand you. meaning either all/most during these time frames shifted to the same type of animal(unlikely), or the others died out, were persecuted?

Oh right. I probably should have explained why the gnolls and the centauri (And to an extent, the ogres) turned up as one-type-animal race. Well, part of the make up of the animal is indeed the self, yet part of it is the cultural concept of the animal. I didn't mention it, but In my mind, at some point in each of the surges, a great sweep of transformation went through most of that race/ that culture, and due to cultural concepts, beliefs and tradition, the most common shape was the one that remained, tying itself to the RACE as a whole. I'm not yet sure in what fashion- perhaps some sort of a "critical mass"/ ritual/ something else... (Shere- Khan knows this may happen at some time, and seeks to prevent it. He thinks he can) The race transformed to it's final form, and remained as such. As to the individuals who weren't part of the culture, they ended up dying out/ thinning out, or form much smaller and minor racial groups (The minotaurs for example might be so).

Two things worthy of note:
- These races CANNOT be further affected by lycnthropy. (A clue I hope the players catch upon at some point, and a vexing point to Shere-Khan, who sees most of them as "failed attempts".)
- The shifters have found another way of dealing with the surge at their time, and are far more varied in appearance and animal relation.

I do have three words for your fallen civilization that would explain it being wiped out. Bear with me.

Akira the movie(I haven't had the pleasure of reading the manga).

Whenever i start thinking Gaia and Primordial beasts i remember the line from that girl trying to explain what Akira was, and relating it to an amoeba. Even animals have inhibitions, they fear, they serve, the pack relents to the alpha, you care for your young, you don't just run wild and witless. If you give up all inhibitions, The blob Tetsuo became in the movie strikes me as the likely scenario. It also strikes me as the total d**k move a fey would do if you go that route. Certainly a lesson to be learned.
the blob (or multiple blobs) itself would have destroyed the cities and the populations save a few alcoves that hide away or managed to outlast the abomination, or remain undiscovered.
more over, if Tetsuoblob didn't die but went dormant, it could be related to why the falcon and the hobgoblins reached their truce, and could further be related to the lycanthropy surges, especially since falcons arrival seems to be stirring, or atleast coinciding, with a new surge.

again, not a real suggestion as much as a topic for discussion. Although Tetsuoblob is awesome.

I haven't seen the movie, but I will look for it, when I have the time. I don't understand everything from the post, but perhaps after seeing the movie.

Thanks A LOT! This is a great contribution! I really appreciate you bringing up all of these points, and the cosmology tool! This is awesome!

[wobner]

*snip*

I haven't seen the movie, but I will look for it, when I have the time. I don't understand everything from the post, but perhaps after seeing the movie.

Thanks A LOT! This is a great contribution! I really appreciate you bringing up all of these points, and the cosmology tool! This is awesome!

i'll respond to the rest when i get a chance, but i wanted to address this, since i've already effectively spoiled the movie for you anyway and don't want to send you on a wild goose chase. You are better off going to a wiki for explanations, or a fan site, or just asking me. I liked the movie, you might enjoy watching it, but it left out alot that might inspire you, and lets face it, you are a little busy at the moment. Also, its *what i think of* when people start talking about things like lycanthropy, gaia, primal-ness. Its not *exactly* on point. Oh, and its a bit gruesome at times.

Spoiler: akira spoilers

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The antagonist, Tetsuo, developes telekenetic powers, as some before him have(namely the titled Akira), He ofcourse lets it go to his head(he was picked on and what not), taking it to a very bad place, so pretty on par with your scenario here, eventually though he loses control and becomes what amounts to a giant flesh blob, absorbing everything into himself. If you saw the Trapper-Keeper episode of south park, its based on this.

here is a link to a youtube video, its french, and its much more horrofic than i remember, but shows his transformation into Tetsuo-blob. Be warned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awc1ZJVxXhU
I should point out, some of those people he is *eating* are his friends.

I see him effectively becoming an amoeba and consuming on instinct, or what you would get, if you *truely* removed all inhibitions and self restraints. You mention this precursor race looking for "the truth", then you have Shere's speeches spouting 'Truth' when the reality, for me, that his arguements paint is just that he has a slightly longer leash than the 'civilized' peoples. So naturally my mind went here.
behold your truth and despair.
again, throwing it out there not with the expectation that it fits your scenario(much less will be used) only to stir conversation, inspire maybe.

Oh, and really enjoying the journal, and will address your other comments when time, sleep, allow.

[wobner]

Whoops, I got a little carried away with the literally tetsuo-blob, when i meant to suggest someting more like a figurative one, not that i don't like the literally one. A large civilization exists because of agriculture, large swaths of farmland that allow a larger population than the land could support if left alone, in its natural state. If this precursor culture largely or universally adopted a beast form of something carnivorous, predatory, solitary, and was big enough in numbers, they couldn't sustain themselves if they abandon civilization. They'd be like a plague of locusts, stripping the land bare, and then likely turn on the non lycans before finally turning on eachother. whatever survivors were left, after something like that, wouldn't much resemble what they were before.
The gnolls are jackals right? the centaurs horses, even minotaurs are cows, all somewhat social animals, if they went panther, cheetah, or some other solitary cat or similiar beast, its a recipe for disaster.

Well, I did want to provoke an argument, but I guess I should explain a few things:
*snipped to keep my reply reasonable in size*

first, its seems part of my post got eaten, lost, by the forum or when i copied and pasted from notepad, i should have paid closer attention, my apologies on that, and I was just unclear. I guessed you had multiple sides of the arguement covered, i just felt it currently read as really one sided, atleast to me(which admittedly could be the result of reading while tired), and wasn't sure you were aware of that(assuming its not just me).
Though i did want to throw my two cents in on shere-khans rantings, in no small part because of the suggestions i made later, but also because i strongly disagree with the characters position.
mostly it was calling attention to the the bias and making sure it was really intentional, which it seems it was. I'm even more confident now, from your reply, that you have the other perspectives covered to a good degree.

Graywall IS situated in a sort of a big valley, between the two mountain ranges.The location isn't a choke point holding a secure mountain pass, but rather a fort that enables an army to "dig in", and forces an enemy army to devote resources to dealing with it. Sure, small bands can cross the gap, yet a large army can't easily go unnoticed (A bit similar to how the Brits build their castles, to control land).

It's called Graywall due to the mountains to the south (The Graywall mountains). Why them and not the Byeshk Mountains? I don't know. Perhaps it sounds cooler, or eaiser to pronounce. In the Eberron lore there seems to be some importance of the Graywll Mountains tothe old Dhakaan empire, as some monuments of them (Most known in the monument of The Six Kings) are built straight into those mountains. That said- the name "Graywall" comes far, far later, about 140 years after the campaign takes place. (I did mention the campaign takes place in Eberron's past, I hope).

Its good to have it clarified how you see it, how it really is. I will cast aside my confusion and accept this as the situation.

You were perfectly clear on this taking part in the past, though admittedly i am probably confusing dates, but 8000(?) years ago, Korash Khaar's stones get so soaked with blood they turn red, then 15-20(?) years ago, falcon takes over the base the savage races built over Korash khaar. then sometime in the 150(?) years from now, its been renamed graywall. So i was working towards something like 'redkeep' or 'fort redstone' to pay omage to that story, but turning that to graywall, even though its referencing the mountains and not really a color, and 150 years later, struck me as odd.
i was also looking into having 'homebase' named after one of the quarters that currently make up graywall, or something that paid omage to one of those quarters, but nothing really seemed to fit. An avenue someone else might be able to do something with?

. The name "falcon" does have significance, as I'm imagining the ruler as a cavalier who'se mount is a griffon, and has a small elite force of gryphon, and has been known to gather lots of info, be a shrewd planner, with decisive, surprise attack against his enemies.

Its good to have the origin of the placeholder name 'falcon'. and i guess if he was using griffons, then the perch, eerie, or similiar names could still work if you were inspired to go that route.
They actually use the name 'kennels' for the quarter humans live in now as i recall? but griffon lairs are usually refered to as 'dens' when i hear someone talk about them. okay, now i'm rambling.

Constellations? Hmmm... I'll need to look into that. As far as I remember, Eberron doesn't much detail constellations. I think it uses fairly regular ones. I'll only use 2 planes though, and not in conjuction with the planes- Lamania (The natural world, sort of a fey-wild world), and The Shadow Plane. Getting to these will be quite farther in the campaign, if at all... The campaign will not focus on planar traits much.
Eberron has a recurring theme of the numbers 12, and an alluded 13. 12 dragonmarks (And the alluded mark of death), planes, moons and so on. As much in Eberron, everything about the 13th moon is kept vague, a mystery, and open to the DM's decision. I'm still unsure of what to do with it.
Though there will be some aberrations in the game, their place is mostly as odd horrifying challenges, and echoes of the war... The Daelkyr themselves, or even high servants (Such as Mind flayers and such) won't play a prominent role. There is enough to deal with as it is. The focus of horror here, is sort of "humane" horror, horror that one can easily relate to, not the unfathomable madness.

all i found on the constellations was a few dragon ones, there must be other stars, so conceivably you could have a homebrewed shamanistic zodiac, or some sort of celestial alignment being the cause for the surges. The really nice thing about that scenario is you can detail it out, or simply handwave as being rather complex, and then arbitrarily state "when i say so".
Comets are often the catalyst of change, it just depends on how cliche you consider it.

A possible benefit about the thirteenth moon then, if it can still have an influence despite whatever its current state is, is that the only people who would really know, who could have really studied it in the years since the surges started, are the long dead ones, leaving the knowledge, justifiably, secreted away in their various ruins. it vanished at the end of the war right, which is 8000 years ago? or am i confusing things?

Oh, and I figured you weren't keen on using the daelkyr, why i pursued the idea only half heartedly.

Oh right. I probably should have explained why the gnolls and the centauri (And to an extent, the ogres) turned up as one-type-animal race. Well, part of the make up of the animal is indeed the self, yet part of it is the cultural concept of the animal. I didn't mention it, but In my mind, at some point in each of the surges, a great sweep of transformation went through most of that race/ that culture, and due to cultural concepts, beliefs and tradition, the most common shape was the one that remained, tying itself to the RACE as a whole. I'm not yet sure in what fashion- perhaps some sort of a "critical mass"/ ritual/ something else... (Shere- Khan knows this may happen at some time, and seeks to prevent it. He thinks he can) The race transformed to it's final form, and remained as such. As to the individuals who weren't part of the culture, they ended up dying out/ thinning out, or form much smaller and minor racial groups (The minotaurs for example might be so).

Two things worthy of note:
- These races CANNOT be further affected by lycnthropy. (A clue I hope the players catch upon at some point, and a vexing point to Shere-Khan, who sees most of them as "failed attempts".)
- The shifters have found another way of dealing with the surge at their time, and are far more varied in appearance and animal relation.

Okay then, I would only say that personal aspect of the change, in your writings until this post, seems stressed to the point that a societal change to that degree, seemed unlikely, but this is likely me conflating the beast you change into with how you deal with the change. which are really two seperate things. My confusion then.
It does seem interesting to me to have the surge be a force tied to those it infects. an entity almost that can be directed by those afflicted acting in mass, but still resisted by stronger individuals, or disjointed ones. actually...

I'll need to find a way to explain why these "surges" occur, and when they end. Not sure right now, but I'm thinking of either tying these to the moons and/ or planes, or to some changes in major societies in the region. Perhaps some sort of a cultural/ people feel, that "awakens/ triggers" lycanthropy? This is important, as it will be tied to the current rise as well.

You already seem to have explained how it ended, haven't you? and why shere-khan would want to prevent the homogenization of the current lycans, why he would consider the others failures?

if the 'curse' exists almost as a collective force, tying all the afflicted together. The surge might then end when the blood goes stagnant, when a form is chosen. As long as enough new individuals are coming in, as long as the call of the wild remains strong, it prevents any sort of homogenization from occuring, the surge continues, but when you reach a critical mass, a collective direction for the surge, the surge ends, expending its last breath in achieving this homogenization, atleast as much as it can. In effect, though they are 'wild', they civilized, and it ended because of this.
So it ended when the centaurs decided to become centaurs, the gnolls decided to become gnolls. When they formed a new culture of beasts, putting back on the shackles of society. A few may have resisted the mass change, like the harpies, but that didn't stop the conclusion of the surge. its over till a new surge begins
It does make it a little harder to explain the shifters.

[Kol Korran]

I'll respond at a later date. My wife gave birth to our son 3 days ago, and we've been mostly around that since. Both are well, we are learning what being fresh parents is all about, and we're enamored with the little guy! (That's some powerful charm like effect! Failing Oh sooooo willingly!)

I guess it will take me a few days till I get back to posting appropriately.

Thanks for understanding!

[wobner]

Congradulations. Good Luck. and prepare yourself for the rude awakening if you really think it will just be "a few days"
Take your time.

[Kol Korran]

Congradulations. Good Luck. and prepare yourself for the rude awakening if you really think it will just be "a few days"
Take your time.

Yeah, the little guy keeps us busy, but we're starting to get accustomed to it. Of course there will be quite a few more adjustments and a lot of learning, but we're currently quite ok. I think I may be able to post, though slowly. The factions segment can be more easily written in parts, so I think I will try that, part by part. I've been updating the Shadowrun log (In my sig), slowly, and it seems to work so far.

Thanks for caring! Post by post, day by day...

[Kol Korran]

Congradulations. Good Luck. and prepare yourself for the rude awakening if you really think it will just be "a few days"
Take your time.

Yeah, the little guy keeps us busy, but we're starting to get accustomed to it. Of course there will be quite a few more adjustments and a lot of learning, but we're currently quite ok. I think I may be able to post, though slowly. The factions segment can be more easily written in parts, so I think I will try that, part by part. I've been updating the Shadowrun log (In my sig), slowly, and it seems to work so far.

Thanks for caring! Post by post, day by day...

Yeah, well... Wobner, you were right. Since that post I managed to make a few short posts, here and there, about other stuff, but not about this project. Been too damn tired to think straight, though I've been making progress with the post (I keep it on my computer), and hopefully soon... Yet, I can't promise that, since the kiddo seems to take a lot of time, caring and around the clock management for such a little creature. Yes, I knew that, mentally, but it's quite different living it!

Just wanted to say- I haven't forgotten or given up on the log, but it may take me a little while longer to post the next post. Sorry folks!

[Kol Korran]

Ok... so I've started to get back to this project... very, very slowly. I'm getting accustomed to parenthood, and for the new work. I've got tons of ideas and such in my head, but I have very little time to put things (coherently at least) to writing.

So, not a lot that's new, but I've started writing about factions. Design philosophy, a general description of the 4 major factions, and the "home base" faction in more detail.

I've re-written this part several times. I had trouble finding a way to present it. But I hope this gets the main points clear enough.

Not sure when I can update again, but hopefully at least 1-2 times a month, and perhaps this will speed up if I get more accustomed to my life responsebilities.

If you ARE reading this, thanks for getting this far. I hope you don't mind the wait (too much).

[Kol Korran]

3 small additions to the Home Town Faction I forgot to add in the last update (Now inside). For those who read and don't want to go searching, I'm adding these under a spoiler

Spoiler

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(Under "relations with other factions")

The other races of the land
Home town promotes limited trade with these races and factions (such as the centauri, the ogre lords, the Byeshk giants and so on). it holds a special market, just outside town (I'm currently calling it "The howling market/ laughing market") which takes place about once a week or 3 days a month (undecided yet), where all of the savage races may come and trade. This is done for trade, but also to give the settlement a place in the region, and a source for info. None are allowed inside Home town itself though. (I'll expand on the market later).
While the team keeps an eye on the other races, they consider them far less of a threat than the gnolls, and a potential tool to use in the region.

(Under "Major leaders and focal points")

Other Falcon Team members?
I'm not sure, but I think I'd like to have 1-2 more. Not yet sure who, but I'm thinking perhaps a child of someone who ws lost from the original team, who may not be "in the know" about the secret. I'll need to think of this more.

....

Other home town NPCs?
There will be more (As this will be the most detailed settlement probably). Yet for now I have but a few ideas... I'll get to that later.

[Kol Korran]

Slowly working at it...

I finished working on the Gnoll faction basic concept.

I worked on it a bit here and there, so if any looked at it (I doubt it, but still), they may have seen an unfinished process. As such I've decided to put "Anything "in the works"/ "Upcoming next" in this color, so not to confuse anyone.

Some thoughts while writing the first two factions:
1. In each I seem to focus on the faction from a different perspective. Home Base mainly from Falcon Team, their secret and past, focusing on them from the Exploration & Expression aesthetics, while with the gnolls I've mostly concerned myself with their culture and role s adversaries, focusing on them from the Fantasy & Challenge aesthetics... Interesting...

2. It was quite hard for me to decide what to write, how much to expand or minimize, and at which part. At times- motives, goals and plans became intertwined...

3. I've read some of Yora's latest threads. She's developing her own Campaign world- Ancient Lands and an intriguing sandboxish module which also focuses on exploration, though differently than mine.

Two of her recent threads (Winter camp and Making a good town to be used as a base camp got me thinking...

If I elaborate on Home Town, including hooks, conflict within it, and possibly endangering it (Or at least valued NPCs in it), the PCs may well feel like they need to stay in town, instead of exploring the wild... This poses a significant problem. In a previous campaign, my group's interest were split between exploring their settlement, and going out exploring, which was a big (Though subtle in it's way) problem. Caused significant tension at the table.

Originally I wanted to do this in order to put interesting things "In town", and enable developing more relationships, urban adventures, and enable projects and aspirations. But... this runs the risk of driving the focus into the town. I imagined that they'll do some exploring out, come back to town, do some stuff in town and explore out again, rince and repeat, at least till things get more serious...

While this may be ok for a sandbox, I do plan on them exploring, and not feel like they are "abandoning the town to it's fate"...

So, a problem... I'll need to think about it, though any ideas/ suggestions are welcomed...

Slow going, but at least still going?

As always, thanks for reading!

[Kol Korran]

Hey there. Not a real update, but...
In case anyone has been reading this, and wondered where I've gone to, This thread/ post here might explain things a bit.

So this will be "on hold" for awhile until I can devote enough time for it. Sorry folks...