I’m taking a short break from my course prep to share with you some of the brainstorming that is shaping my newest D&D 4e campaign. Last week, when I pre-pitched my D&D adventure ideas for Dungeon Magazine, one of the ideas that wasn’t retained ‘as is’ was a clockwork fantasy adventure.
It’s not that the idea wasn’t good, but more likely that my contact foresaw large resistance about sending D&D 4e in that direction, at this particular time.
Now here’s the thing. When I’m told that an idea will find resistance in it’s path, it makes me want to do it even more! So I slept on it and then I fired up Google Wave and did a little ‘What if’ exercise (I’ll explain this in my upcoming Creativity series).
The idea is to put a bunch of ‘what if’ questions about the new campaign and bounce from one question to the next (never answering) until a unified set of ‘what ifs’ show the way to my new campaign.
Here’s a transcript of my work… enjoy! And please don’t tell me I re-invented Eberron, I skimmed the DM’s campaign guide, so obviously I dipped in that world too. 🙂
Gears of Ruin: Clockwork Fantasy Brainstorm
Caveat: Apart from Girl Genius and LXG, I have very little steampunk/clockwork fantasy experience. Like Stephen King, I’m also a lazy researcher when I don’t feel the need to. So what follows is my plans to create a D&D 4e setting based on Clockwork Fantasy tropes. The goal is to create just enough to generate about 6-8 sessions’ worth of gaming material and create all monsters.
The “What ifs” of the world’s creation:
What if there was a material world where the Primordials nearly won the war against the gods? What if the world was so damaged that water and magic were now so scarce to make it near uninhabitable. What if that world had some of the most valuable material resources that made people from other worlds come?
What if the veils that separate this world from the others was torn in places, explaining the progressive influx of people all over the D&D spectrum. (Planescape?)
What if water was now the most valuable commodity and while not nonexistent, is rare and hard to reach:
- Deep wells guarded like nuclear stockpiles
- Ice Mines at the Poles, filled with ferocious monsters
- Imported from the Elemental Chaos through Faustian commercial pacts with the Efreet lords of the City of Brass
- Hey! There’s water in people too! (Soylent Green FTW!)
What if Airship technology had been developed because there were no oceans to cheaply (or safely) carry cargo over long distance?
What if gears and mechanisms could help magic like it does for moving weights in our world?
What if clockwork technologies (with embedded micro-elemental ‘batteries’) was used to enhance magic, bringing it up to par (or stronger) than the standard D&D world?
What if the richest kingdom of them all was a Skyscrapper-sized Airship with an armada of flying warmachines (idea: Castle Wulfenbach)
What if all clockwork machinery could be disabled by thievery or massive violence?
What if, upon release, the discharged elemental energies exploded (Page 42 limited damage based on item level)?
Elemental Clockwork Grenades anyone?
With a world devoid of water, why not create automatons to do the heavy work that would need higher water consumption if done by live workers?
What if a crazed necromancer, obsessed with avoiding death (Raven Queen fear?) discovered a way to dodge death by ‘downloading’ into a Warforged…
What if Machine sentience appeared after the necromancer’s experiment?
What if the machines rebelled? At the WORSE possible moment in the world’s history?
Welcome to the Gears of Ruin setting.
There you have it, with a series of questions, I managed to build the basis of my next campaign. My players are immensely thrilled, and so am I. My friends have already chimed in with plot ideas, I’ll probably share some with you later.
Just to let you know, right now my players have settled on:
- Warforged Hybrid Fighter/Warden (yes he transforms into a tree)
- Githzerai Monk
- Flamesouled Genasi Swordmage.
Like my friend Dave says, with races like that, we could kick all the others standard fantasy races out of the game.So, does that setting ignite ideas in your mind? What characters would you play? What stories would you like to explore. What setting elements do you see in this world? Let me know.
Image Credit: Wizards of the Coast
Love it!
I’d found before that a D&D campaign isn’t so much defined by what you add in, but by what you leave out. Setting limits (either explicit or implied) narrows the focus and sparks the imagination like nothing else. Add in a twist or two (no water! clockwork goodies!) and you’re hitting the ground running.
Tell us more!
.-= greywulf´s last blog ..Where do you begin =-.
As per your request here it be in comments^_^
So my idea is that for one of your powerful kingdoms, or hell even a warlord, you have a mage that can summon water elementals or can use rituals to do the Create Waters spell (as per 3.5) where he summons 2 gallons of water (or more if you so choose). This ability would make him highly sought after and it could give him considerable political clout.. At the same time it adds, if this mage isn’t a political powerhouse on his own, what happens if he refuses to summon water for other nations, kingdoms, etc.
The term you coined for this during our gchat was hydromancer (just in case you forget, though I doubt it~.<)
Another idea, and I don't know if you are going to have firearms or not is instead of making them just another weapon.. If had it in past games that they could not be magically altered. So you don't have a gun of flaming destruction or whatever, but.. in exchange for that… If done other things, such as guns ignore all natural armor and metal armor only gives have AC bonus.. Or 2, guns damage could only be healed 1/2 by magical means. This made players take cover and really strategize their battles when baddies started pulling out their pistols.
Just some thoughts.
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Having Fun With Curses! =-.
May be cool to have a fairly powerful bad guy with access to a clockwork waterwheel (something like Kemren the Purple Mage in the second Thieves’ World book) that amplifies his magic. Enough for lichdom maybe?
Oooh. Clockwork lich. Now that’s an evil idea.
Poisoning wells would be utterly heinous which means someone has to do it and I could easily imagine people harvesting each other for water as they do in Dune (his water is mine).
I suspect Iron Kingdoms could be seriously mined for ideas here.
.-= satyre´s last blog ..the pale house =-.
I posted my steampunk setting quite some time ago on the Star Wars steam punk thread, so I guess I’ll plug again 🙂
http://industrianocturne.blogspot.com/
I think one of the major differences between a steampunk/victorian era setting is the idea that magic, heroes and gods aren’t the ‘movers and shakers’ of the world, but rather much like our world, it’s the machinations of nation states and governments.
Technology is expensive and typically only gets anywhere if sponsored by the government or organizations larger than the individual. I mean, even Archimedes had his Syracuse.
Of course, one can turn this on it’s head and have a rogue inventor taking on nation states…which was actually one of the major villains in my campaign.
As for guns..I had the fortune of using Star Wars SAGA, which balances guns and melee weapons the best that I’ve seen in any system.
Results on combining them with the D&D 4e system may vary, but I find introducing guns to the system difficult and complicated. It’s too easy to make them too weak or too strong, and often people have strange notions of adding complicated rules like “ignoring armor” or something.
Hmmm…no water has some interesting consequences – no oceans to separate landmasses means you can get anywhere with enough perseverance (airships would be more a matter of speed than anything else). Does this effect mindset (“I can do anything if I work hard enough”) Unless you have a lot of impassible mountain ranges or fissures? Which could make for some interesting battle terrain. Lack of water also necessitates a very dry climate…a desert world like Dune or perhaps the water is just prohibitively deep – trees with taproots miles long…would add dangling roots to every dungeon, and make the Underdark impossible for most lifeforms due to the water. But aboleths now…
Of course that can lead to your deep wells becoming a route for invasion or just sinister machinations
So, steampunk with magic for steam? Do magical machines then spout clouds of sparkling vapor while they’re running? Do they somehow operate on the concepts of expansion and pressure? (grenades go BOOM!) and spells gone awry cause the pressure to be released accidentally or to continue to build unchecked until they reach a breaking point (fodder for some cool magical catastrophe effects)
Of course, you said “What if the world was so damaged that water and magic were now so scarce…” and then talk of airships and flying cities…so either magic isn’t that scarce, or is severely limited in form, or things like airships & flying cities are relics of the bygone era?
You may have a situation somewhat like Eberron but most mages, instead of being tied up lighting lamps and such (or as well as) are tied up “charging” devices (I see potential for a LOT of house rules there…maybe not)
One of the core ideas in my mind is that the inhabitants of the world are using the world’s closeness to the Elemental chaos to survive and thrive. So while there is water on the planet, it is hard to get. So people cheat and summon Water elemental to kill them, filter the water and drink it.
I see clockwork ‘technology’ as a crutch to bring magic back to a level of usability. This is a Low-magic world helped by some mystical technology, powered by bound demons and elementals. So far the technology has held… but how perilious is it for this world to play with the powers of the realm of those whose only goal is to destroy all of creation?
So in fact, clockwork is the ‘steam’, elemental energies the power source and magic the main beneficiary of that technology.
At least that’s how it’s slowly building itself in my mind.
Gah! He totally stole my idea for the transforming warforged druid! :p
.-= Asmor´s last blog ..D&D 4e Combat Tracker =-.
I think we all went there when we read the Warforged.
And his PC will be named Clank Prime. So I’m making a NPC called Optimus Ratchet.
Now if only someone would make a Dual-wielding Gun Ranger with a clockwork Animal Companion.
hehe!!
@Starvosk: As for the gun I would rather go toward exotic feat and make a crossbow similar design with higher damage dice, short range and taking two minor action to recharge one with a “quick load” feat.
This would emulate muskets relatively well and some variety could come with brutal, high crits or other…
You just spun my creative fibre 😉 I’ll have a look at it this evening and suggest something to Phil for them…
Since there is easy access to Planscape, what about merchant caravans from water-rich worlds bringing water to trade for gold and jewels?
As our friends are already pointing out on Wave, any new mechanic that isin’t supported by the all powerful Character Builder will be met with resistance 🙂
But yes, I have ideas for clockwork guns shooting mini-pieces of Magma and lightning elementals.
@ Chatty- on your idea of guns shooting out magma and lightning..
http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/sharing-firearms-in-eberron-ideas/
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Having Fun With Curses! =-.
I’m going to give Wizards fits and create D&D Star Wars 4e Pew Pew Pew!
Thanks Wrath.
To adventure you must be wound up..you have been wound to last for 4 hours after thsi you will deactivate. only ceratin keys can wind you.. you need to get to safe place to be wound up..
esentialy keeping you as slaves.. to the non-mecanical. the winding key is for air/ life support to liveing quaters or some such..
day to day drone clock works will recharge in borg like stations.. some people will have there own key.. ..is key pysical? magical or a code or something?
To really embrace the D&D 4e adventure/Rest mechanic, you could explore how reaching a Milestone actually rewinds the ‘clockwork restraint bolts’ worn by adventurers.
But again, as 4e’s philosophy requires, I don’t plan to impose mechanical restrictions to PCs unless the restriction increases fun levels, or are attached to benefits that make the restriction worth it.
But starting a lvl 1 game in that world… I’d totally have the 1st adventure being about breaking out of such restraints.
Well, if magic (and maybe all power based stuff, since “magic” is simply one focus of power in 4e) is “enhanced” by clockwork, maybe all a character’s powers tie into pieces of clockwork goodies. The rest cycles represent the time taken to care for, maintain and repair those goodies. Everything breaks in steampunk.
@All the Gun Comments- 4th Edition’s BIGGEST strength is pallete swapping. Why try and make more mechanics for game when it doesn’t need it. Change all instances of cross bow with Gun and you are set. They have slow reloads like a musket loader, there are feats in place. Everything. You could have Drow hand crossbows just be wicked derringers. The character builder will like it, and less work for the DM means more fun time. Also, for magma and lighting shots, since its magic anyways, just add the appropriate enchantment.
For other steampunk ideas, don’t forget the Artificer! Making clockwork horrors as an encounter is kind of a must.
Also, toss out humans. Pick like 4 races that happen to be native, make sure they are not PCs, and have everyone else be strip mining the Plane. You could have good old eco terrorism themes. I would suggest mining TORG for ideas on this one.
Sweet. I like the almost-scifi mix-in.
I would play one of those. Or a guy augmented by geartech.
What if some power sources are radioactive, so living creatures get sick and die if they hang round too long? (I’m thinking about the Spelljammer Radiant Golem here).
No offense intended, but I’m getting a little tired of this trope. I’d like to see it subverted, or twisted, or something original. But, that would not stop me from playing this awesome-looking campaign.
I hope you have room for another player, I’m packing my bags. 😉
@Dean: That’s my idea…
@Doom: I feel that re-skinning will only do so much to bring the feel of a setting. I’m not saying create gun rules. As you saw X-bows work fine. But the mechanical aspects could be tweaked (Brutal? High Crit? Changing damage type like Judge Dredd’s gun?)
@Kevin: The great thing about “What ifs” is that you can discard before crystalizing on your campaign concept. The Machine rebellion is an easy trope to enact for a short campaign and as you say, so easy to subvert…
Thanks for the kudos!
This world very strongly reminds me of the book series and world of Dune. It’s all about the barely-there desert world whose residents’ survival depends on space commerce (read: the Elemental Chaos [and/or Astral Sea]) and is rife with half-baked technology and 19th-century political machinations. And Soylent Green? The Fremen rendered water from human bodies; an enemy’s water was the most valuable of the spoils of war. A fun bit of flavor from that is that things like spit and tears become very valuable in themselves and as symbols.
As far as sapient warforged/automatons and their dangers, the backstory of Dune resides in a vein of strong anti-machine paranoia as advanced Thinking Machines revolted against their masters in the past. The human backlash was a religious fight more than political one (Butlerian Jihad), and technological restrictions were part of the religio-cultural fabric. In your world, having Colour of Magic-like anti-automaton religious fanatics running around would be great for flavor and potential plot hooks (especially with a Warforged in the party).
I’m giddy at the thought of purple worms in the deep desert and zeppelins used as carryalls. Marrying Girl Genius and Dune… you know, I think that will be my first campaign world once I cut my teeth on some modules.
I’m not sure clockwork is really my cup of tea. I’m one of those people WotC expects resistance from 🙂
Having said that; some constructive comments?
How exactly are all these machines forged in a low-water environment? Quenching molten metal is I believe very water-intensive.
If planar water is the lifeblood of this material plane, then you can expect a very wide gap between the “haves” and the “have nots”. You’ll have some people living on their skycraper airships and others will be like the settlements in Mad Max.
Exactly how free would machines be if disabling them made them explode? How would you treat a co-worker if you knew that they could blow up at any time?
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..SoW: Interrogating Morrik =-.
@River & Chatty: You need to be careful with the purple worms in the deep desert. Not only would you be “borrowing shamelessly” from Dune, but WotC themselves did so with 4e Forgotten Realms. One of the nations (High Imaskari IIRC) has a growing desert of purple sand inhabited by gigantic purple worms.
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..SoW: Interrogating Morrik =-.
“Now if only someone would make a Dual-wielding Gun Ranger with a clockwork Animal Companion.”
I call plagiarism! You totally stole my idea 😛 (Not that that’s a bad thing…)
And as I pointed out, there’s a lot more clock/steam settings than people actually think of. Pratchett’s Discworld is full of out-of-place tech (Gonne, Clacks, etc.), Warcraft (and by extension WoW, etc.) has guns and gnomish/goblin engineering, Warhammer Fantasy has a lot of clockwork too.
This is leaving out a lot of other more explicit sources of Steampunk. The Red Star, for instance, is a GREAT comic book/graphic novel series (published by Image comics, I think) that is loaded with the greatest magic/technology hybrids I’ve ever come across…
.-= Johenius´s last blog ..Oh Wow =-.
I’m reminded of the Fire & Water episodes of LEXX. The Fire planet was a pure hellhole, while the Water planet was a paradise. The Fire planet denizens were always looking for ways to attack and conquer the Water planet, but their airships couldn’t make the journey between worlds. Plus, the elites of the Fire planet were always subverting each other in an endless power struggle.
Definitely an intriguing idea. One of the TSR dudes (Zeb Cook? Ed Greenwood? Troy Denning? I don’t remember as it was many years ago.) once told me that the Dark Sun setting was envisioned as “Forgotten Realms after the bomb.” What you are describing seems like Castle Falkenstein (or Eberron) after the bomb. You could even draw some parallels with Deadlands. At any rate, it should be a unique experience and I think your players will love it! Good luck and keep us posted.
@River: I’ve only read about half of Dune (I stopped when Paul and his mother crashed an helicopter in the desert) but I did use it as an inspiration. Any water-scarce campaign would dip into the Dune tropes. Purple worms ARE at the current party level too. Hmmm… so now I would rip Dune, Forgotten Realms AND Order of the Stick.
@Colmarr: I won’t try to answer your questions here… but know that they will play a big part in me defining what the world becomes. Thanks for bringing this up… after the explorer and artists are done with an idea, the judge steps in and evaluates its credibility. You were a good judge of the initial idea.
@Johenius: Discworld and Girl Genius are also going to be HUGE inspiration to this campaign. And the idea of a gun ranger WAS your idea… pity my players find the ranger as exciting as filing taxes.
@Tiorn: I have to look for that. LEXX you say huh? What is it, a comic, a TV show?
@Gary: I like the ‘After the Bomb’ appellation. That’s exactly what I’m going for. A World that was Nuked before it developed civilization.
@ChattyDM: LEXX was the tv spinoff series from the 4-part Tales From A Parallel Universe movies series. They are very adult oriented and were produced as a group project between Canadian and German companies. The tv series itself lasted for 4 season (the Fire & Water story arc making up the 3rd season). LEXX is a living ship that looks like a dragonfly… or to the more perverse, it looks like male genitals. The cast is made up of a complete loser (who ends having possession of LEXX’s bio-key), a love slave, a reanimated assassin, and a robot head (which often recites dirty poetry, is in love with one of the main characters, and plots to kill the rest).
In the Fire & Water episodes, the LEXX is floating adrift between the two planets and is out of fuel. Refueling the LEXX pretty much requires destroying one of the two planets so LEXX can eat the remains. The crew decides to visit the planets to see what they discover. They first go to the Fire planet and find that it is a horrible desert world with a constant power struggle over just about everything, but especially any water.
I certainly do recommend checking it out, especially the 3rd season, since its somewhat inline with your topic. But do so when your kids aren’t around. LEXX is a pretty naughty show and was clearly edited for graphic content whenever it was shown on SciFi in the past (it was shown in the Friday night 10pm time slot for quite awhile).
@ Chatty: I’m a judge? Cool 😀
I’ve know for quite some time that my thinking is a little too straight-jacketed for me to be truly creative. I describe myself as a “destructor” rather than a “constructor” (ie. I’m better at evaluating others’ ideas than I am at creating my own).
But it’s nice to know that there’s value in being the one with the critical eye 🙂
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..SoW: Tracking the Goblins =-.
The fact that non-traditional-fantasy settings are being resisted right now is the NUMBER ONE REASON why I haven’t converted to 4e yet. (Note this, WotC)