Yeah, I didn’t think so but it has been awhile since anything has been posted. As is usual when I’ve been slack in posting, we have still been playing. I just haven’t been the one running the game. RJ offered to run a one-shot that ended up being something like six sessions I think. Todd then wanted to run a game and ran one session. Now it looks like I’m back in the big chair. It was fun to sit on the other side of the table for a bit but that big chair is molded perfectly for my butt.
A couple of weeks ago, Todd missed the session and so I ran what was originally going to be a quick one-shot (journal to follow eventually). It has morphed, however, into a bit of a mini-campaign. We’re going to be using a few House Rules and Setting Rules so this is a good chance to test them out. The main House Rules include: humans only (it is a fantasy campaign and elves and dwarves exist but not as player characters and are kind of bad guys), a magic system based on the psionics system presented in Interface Zero’s Zeeks! Psionics in 2088 (spellcasting can cause Fatigue) combined with a variant of the Corruption rules from Totems of the Dead (it relates to how magic works in the setting but that’s a secret), only one arcane background but slight differences based on how it was learned (temple, arcane guild, or independent hedge wizard) and an encumbrance system based on this thread from the PEG forums, Alternative Encumbrance System – for comment. We are also using the following Setting Rules from Savage Worlds Deluxe: Blood & Guts (but only applies to Wild Cards, Extras still need to take the No Mercy Edge to re-roll damage), Born a Hero, Heroes Never Die, High Adventure, and Joker’s Wild (a character also automatically unShakes if Shaken when dealt a Joker).
The setting is a homebrew that will largely develop as we play. I’ve established the basics of the setting and it is heavily inspired by elements of the Known World/Mystara (we’re just calling it the Known World for now too), the Old World from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1st and 2nd edition, I don’t have the latest version), and Ptolus. Freeport also has found a spot on the edge of the Known World. Although I enjoy reading and writing about settings, I also know that most of my players don’t spend too much time (and don’t have much time to spend) on gaming outside of our actual game sessions so I’m not spending too much time or effort on overly detailing things. A couple of pages introducing the setting, a paragraph or two on each of the ethnic groups, a page or so one each of the nine lands of the Known World, and a page on the premise for the actual campaign. The campaign that has been delayed due to this little mini-campaign we’re doing.
The setting has some pretty standard fantasy tropes and a couple of different things. The Talasian Empire that has dominated the Known World is in decline and both new and old powers are emerging again. The big, bad evil from ancient history might be stirring again in the Dark Lands (kind of think Sauron but not exactly). Firearms and some other technologies not typically found in traditional fantasy settings do exist but vary in commonality and the science of creating them is a dying art. A single church dominates religion having crusaded against all other religions (denouncing them as demon worship) in the past but, like the Empire, the hegemony of the Temple of the Twelve is being challenged. A trade war is brewing between a couple of the new, emerging nations. Bandits and pirates are operating more openly without the Empire’s legions to put them down. The leadership of the Empire is in question with one heir to the Throne having a tenuous claim, the head of the Church claiming the Throne, and the long-time adviser to the last few Emperors doing the same (yep, just like in Ptolus).
Outside of these broad strokes, there isn’t much developed. Like I said above, that’s going to happen as we play.
I’m also using this campaign for a bit of an experiment. I don’t want to say much about that though; I don’t want the players to know about it yet. 😉