Blackmoor in the year 500

[Rafael]

BE SILENT LET ME RANT

[Rafael]

Nah, actually, it's a good list. I am sure - I hope - Havard knows how to read me there.

The thing is just - it's not about refining the setting much more; it's about how we make what we have blend together.

So you understand what I am after, let's start simple.

No Ducy of Ten (Not even Robinsport, Dacoit etc)

So, what is there? Thracian ruins, or simple prairie? ...And bit by bit, we work through the list, and we get a concept.

[Rafael]

By the way, what about this - so we have a plastic way to start:

What would a three-line pitch for a beginner adventure in NC 500 look like, if YOU (public, general "you") ran the game?

Perhaps, if we can get three or four pitches together, we can connect them, and form some sort of coherent story.

(My own pitch, tomorrow. Crazy tired. If my Engrish today is bad, consider that I am awake for, what...? Long.)

[Havard]

By the way, what about this - so we have a plastic way to start:

What would a three-line pitch for a beginner adventure in NC 500 look like, if YOU (public, general "you") ran the game?

Glad to see this thread turning back to a constructive direction.

Let's see:

This is the age when the Dog Duke rules Blackmoor. The alliance between Men and Elves are being tested as many elves urge the Elf-King to withdraw into the woods, leaving man to fend against the growing shadows on his own. This is an ancient and wild time, when castles are far between and the wilderness covers most of the land. Beyond the few strongholds the Thonian Empire has built in this part of the world, the North is unmapped territory. The Duke of Blackmoor now needs adventurers who are brave enough to risk their way into the unknown. Into the dark places of the wild where even the enigmatic elvenfolk do not dare to venture.

• In this world you can:
  
• Investigate why the elves are becoming more reclusive, and why their sylvan allies are disappearing.
  
• Help the newly arriving race of dwarves to find a new home in The North
  
• In a world without Orcs, Goblins or Beastmen; fight ancient foes like the Gakkarak, Malfera, Garl, Fell-Brutes, Displacer Beasts, Athach, Chokers, Nucalavee, Necrozon, Ropers, Nightshades, Savage Valemen and Undead Peshwa.
  
• Quest for the Seven Stargems, relics said to be recovered from the Blackmoor Dungeon in the Age of Giants and perhaps the only hope of protecting Blackmoor from a horrible evil.
  
• Discover the nefarious plots of the Order of Id
  
• And more...

Sorry, I realize you said three lines, but I got a little carried away... :oops:

-Havard

[Rafael]

Sweet, thanks.

Now, what I meant with "three-line pitches" would be something like this:

"On the western shore of Lake Hope, a lonely fisherman has caught a dying Sar-Aigu princess in his net. Mesmerized by her beauty, he has hidden her in the basement of his home, and nurtured her back to health. His newfound love, or rather, his prisoner, however, longs to return to her home in the deep sea, and, with her restoring magic, turns the fisherman into her demonic pawn..."

Basic rule of thumb, what premise you cannot sum up in three sentences is a bad premise. More is to complicated, less is too raw. Textbook writer's workshop material. :oops: (Yeah, I go to those.)


Basically, what I would do would be to decide on the stories that I want to tell: So, essentially, to prioritize the plots. For example, for a beginners' game, when not all the variables are determined (i. e. no backstory exists as of yet), I would go like this:

1. Dwarven journey to the north.
2. Dog Duke's exploration of the north.
3. Temple of the Id conspiracy.

So, 1 determines 2 determines 3.


-_- More coffee needed; my days, like my nights, these days.

[Havard]

Sweet, thanks.

Now, what I meant with "three-line pitches" would be something like this:

"On the western shore of Lake Hope, a lonely fisherman has caught a dying Sar-Aigu princess in his net. Mesmerized by her beauty, he has hidden her in the basement of his home, and nurtured her back to health. His newfound love, or rather, his prisoner, however, longs to return to her home in the deep sea, and, with her restoring magic, turns the fisherman into her demonic pawn..."

Wow, that is well done!

Sadly I don't have this poetic talent. I think I will leave what I wrote as is for now, but I eagerly await more from you and other posters on this!

-Havard

[Rafael]

Thanks, brother. It's not poetic ability, though, as much as the willingness to spice things up a bit. As in, canon is what is most convenient to the story I want to tell.

Even if it's just the 2009 version, you might enjoy rereading the old LFC timeline:

Clicky


Also, an entire chapter of the LFC took place in the old north; it's not like it's completely uncharted country:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1356


Working only with that, Havard's details on the "Age of Id", and my own "Tales from the Old Lands", it should be pretty easy to create a fairly coherent image of the "old north", and without great effort.

[aldarron]

......
This is an ancient and wild time, when castles are far between and the wilderness covers most of the land. Beyond the few strongholds the Thonian Empire has built in this part of the world, the North is unmapped territory. The Duke of Blackmoor now needs adventurers who are brave enough to risk their way into the unknown. Into the dark places of the wild where even the enigmatic elvenfolk do not dare to venture.
.....
-Havard

This is a characterization that should be discussed. Blackmoor had had a "duke" for several hundred years at this point. Had enough of a population to have given rise to an active and powerful cult with a large and wealthy temple. And had just experienced the megalomaniac reign of the Bloody Duke, who was wealthy and powerful enough to undertake the massive construction of Blackmoor dungeon.

If anything, I think the year 500 is right in a golden age for Blackmoor. The way I envision it is that there are still plenty of backwater swamp areas where only picts and monsters live, but the areas around the major towns and cities are well settled and cultivated. The rest of the land remains under elvish control. However since the elven kingdom is undergoing an upheaval. The coming years will see a gradual decline in elvish population and a pullback from the amount of land they control. In part this helps to create the conditions that lead to the Mage Wars. The mage wars are a major upheaval for Blackmoor. As I see it, something like 80% of the population is killed or flees south, leaving the land abandoned and in ruins. It isn't until decades after the Mage wars are over that Blackmoor begins to recover and eventually surpass under Uther's reign, the level of civilization enjoyed earlier. Note that in the early centuries Blackmoor is ruled by Dukes, but after the Mage wars it is only a barony.

[RobJN]

Aldarron raises some very good points. The expanse of the elven nation would more than likely serve as an isolating buffer between the human settlements, perhaps restricting trade and travel between them, making the North feel much more isolated and sparsely settled than it otherwise would, even if such settlements were otherwise quite populous and prosperous.

[Havard]

......
This is an ancient and wild time, when castles are far between and the wilderness covers most of the land. Beyond the few strongholds the Thonian Empire has built in this part of the world, the North is unmapped territory. The Duke of Blackmoor now needs adventurers who are brave enough to risk their way into the unknown. Into the dark places of the wild where even the enigmatic elvenfolk do not dare to venture.
.....

This is a characterization that should be discussed. Blackmoor had had a "duke" for several hundred years at this point. Had enough of a population to have given rise to an active and powerful cult with a large and wealthy temple. And had just experienced the megalomaniac reign of the Bloody Duke, who was wealthy and powerful enough to undertake the massive construction of Blackmoor dungeon.

Absolutely. As with most things Blackmoor, the published material is limited and there are many ways to fill in the gaps. Note that the paragraph you quoted was my "sales pitch" so I allowed myself to get a bit more creative there than in other comments in this thread.

If anything, I think the year 500 is right in a golden age for Blackmoor. The way I envision it is that there are still plenty of backwater swamp areas where only picts and monsters live, but the areas around the major towns and cities are well settled and cultivated. The rest of the land remains under elvish control. However since the elven kingdom is undergoing an upheaval. The coming years will see a gradual decline in elvish population and a pullback from the amount of land they control. In part this helps to create the conditions that lead to the Mage Wars. The mage wars are a major upheaval for Blackmoor. As I see it, something like 80% of the population is killed or flees south, leaving the land abandoned and in ruins. It isn't until decades after the Mage wars are over that Blackmoor begins to recover and eventually surpass under Uther's reign, the level of civilization enjoyed earlier. Note that in the early centuries Blackmoor is ruled by Dukes, but after the Mage wars it is only a barony.

This is definitely a valid interpretation. I am working on a few assumptions:
1) Blackmoor was founded shortly after the forming of the Thonian Empire (Great Kingdom). Before that there was probably no Thonian settlers in the North. So I would assume it would take a few centuries to get even a decent Thonian population up there.
2) The North saw a massive expansion in population from ca year 600 after Kargas made his disoveries of the magical properties of the North
3) The New Lands, Outlands and Dismal Swamp was settled during the FFC era. Even Glendover/Jenins Land was settled during Fant's Reign.

You have a point about the Duke title, but is it not also possible that this simply indicated the size of the area nominally appointed to the ruler?

Interesting that you have the Bloody Duke rule before the Dog Duke. In my Rulers of Blackmoor writeup I have Raddan Goss as the Bloody Duke, but looking back I think that he could not be the original Bloody Duke. IIRC the FFC states that there were several Bloody Dukes, so Goss could well have also been referred to as a Bloody Duke, but I like your idea of having the original Bloody Duke rule Blackmoor before the Dog Duke.

I also note that your description of elven history seems to be close to how I see it.

I dont have a definite stance on exact population figures either though. I do agree that the population could well have risen and fallen with the major wars and other dramatic events through the centuries.

One more thing to take into account: The Temple does seem to have been a significant threat to the humans and perhaps even the combined human and elf forces of the North. If Blackmoor was at its Age of Glory at this time, what sort of resources would the Temple have had access to to pose such a threat?

-Havard