Worlds Yet To Conquer...

In which I display some setting ideas that I really want to run with and develop at some point but at the moment have neither the time nor the motivation (due to working on my RQ world) to do so:

I want to run an RPG, though I've yet to decide on the system, set on Oddworld. Dystopian high-tech world? Check. Tribal magic-based cultures? Check. Huge conflict between Industrial greed and naturist tree-hugging? Check. This is essentially Pandora but 15 years earlier and is such a developed world with a fantastic backdrop for adventuring and freedom-fighting/terrorising that it would be remiss not to run something here at some point. Unfortunately as it's a (very strictly) licenced world, I'd have to do all conversions and everything to a system myself which would be a drag. Not insurmountable but it's certainly delayed for now.

A long time ago there was Prince Of Persia, now there is Garshasp: The Monster-Slayer (A game I highly recommend playing by the way). Between them they sparked an interest in Persian mythology that has been brewing steadily of late. While Greco-roman and to a certain extent Arabian mythology (Al-Qadim anyone?) have been well covered in RPG canons of various flavours, Persian mythology seems to have gone somewhat unloved. Whether this is just due to a lower level of proliferation in Western culture or just the fact that their myths and fabulous creatures are less well-known I don't know but I'd like an authentically Persian feeling setting for one of my games. Similarly, classical Meso-American civilisations (Aztecs, Mayans) seem to have generally been relegated to being the calling cards of various Lizardman cultures (c.f. WHFB) and hopefully at some point an entirely jungle-based setting inspired by these cultures shall also be realised.

More shall probably be forthcoming but these two/three (primarily video-game inspired I notice) arethe ones I have been mulling over recently.

Always Believe In Yourself...

This thread on YSDC got me thinking a little about how to portray Real-World religions within the context of Lovecraftian nihilism. Partly because this intrigues me anyway - as I may have mentioned before, I'm a psychologist in training - and also because my current character in my role-reversal sessions of CoC is a Catholic exorcist. Now, my Keeper has specifically stated that religious rituals etc. will have no discernible effect on the world except for psychological effects. That's fine, and especially as he's only running a short game I completely understand the lack of ambiguity. That said, I think there's some wiggle-room for my own game to play with and I'd like to explore some options.

Obviously, some people will take it upon themselves to view this post as some sort of flame-bait. I do not intend to tread on any toes and these are not reflective of my RL views (which are entirely irrelevant to the issue) but my stance on portraying religion in a fictional universe, albeit one much like our own. If you are offended, please feel free to shut the tab and navigate away. Fair warning, I'll simply delete antagonistic posts.

I am working from the standpoint that no major world deities exist as independent deities. This is for two reasons. Firstly it gets very idealogically charged very quickly as you decide which ones are left out or left in, even things like meshing all the Abrahamic conceptions together can cause problems. Secondly, there are too many anyway, from major religions down to Egyptian beings. Incidentally, when there are exceptions to this rule, it is invariably Egyptian gods that actually exist in my game as I have a soft spot for the whole pantheon.

Option 1: The Facade.
This is an approach that is very popular among many writers of CoC scenarios as it is malleable to individual scenarios and situations. It involves treating the deity in question as an avatar or facet of an established Mythos entity (I hesitate to call them deities as they aren't technically in my game). This is typically Nyarlathothep (Baron Samedi in Burning Stars, for example) but could be Y'golonac, Yig or even Yog-Sothoth itself. I understand why it's become such a trope and have indeed invoked it myself, but I do have reservations about this. Firstly it disagrees with my conception of many of the mythos beings. Nyarlathothep especially suffers from this, probably largely due to a certain well-liked published campaign that is based around the concept, and it means he has basically turned into Loki. Who is far, far too human for my tastes. Mischevious and trickster deity is all well and good, but I don't like it when he's too heavily involved. It just smacks too much of anthrocentrism. With the exception of Y'golonac of course who is a deified version of everything that is wrong with humanity born from our basest desires. So fair enough. He doesn't usually use avatars though, preferring followers who join his debased ways anyway.

In this instance, religious folks who appeal to their deity of choice are in fact attracting the attention of a Mythos being. While this can never be a good thing, it may achieve short-term goals. There are likely to be conditions or, more likely, consequences of these appeals though and as the person's faith is likely to grow stronger if she has prayers that are answered the final revalation is likely to be that much more sanity-shattering.

Option 2: The Derleth.
This is a very unpopular approach among many purists in particular. It involves factionalising the various beings into 'good' and 'evil' sets that are at war in the cosmos. The general divide is that the GOOs are fighting for the destruction of the Earth, while the Elder Gods are attempting to suppress their efforts. Thus, again the native gods of earth religions are likely to be avatars and masks of the Elder Gods. The differences are chiefly that these deities are much more likely to be sympathetic. Again though, they are unlikely to wear repeated pestering and smiting shall be visited upon an uppity follower. Under this section would also come the 'actual' deities, such as Bast and Hypnos in the game's canon. These tend to exist as benevolent deities and also work with Nodens if he is around. Similarly, it could be that all benevolent gods are facets of Nodens. While I'm a pulpy gamer, I'm a Lovecraftian purist so I don't like touchy-feely deities like Nodens wandering about in my game world.

Option 3: The Lovecraft.
No being that isn't mathematically summoned using the correct ritual can be interacted with. Prayers and the like go completely unanswered and many will lose their faith in the face of the unholy truths they encounter. Most powerful entities are mere aliens and natural forces rather than actual deities.


I tend towards option 1 when these issues come up. But it varies and as I have said before, I am constantly meddling with my world's canon as much as the rules of my game.

Now, I reckon that there should be psychological implications of religion for characters. These can be both positive and negative of course. To start with at least, the promise of an overarching plan and a guardian would make a seriously religious character fairly hard to shake. Similarly, courage of one's convictions can lead to a persuasive personality and a master of argument. Of course if and when their faith is challenged and found wanting, there is a massive downward spiral from there.

Sentience Vs Intelligence Vs Instinct

In the course of my designs on society, I have been musing on how to portray various species' societies.

Obviously at a settlement level, the differences between intelligences can be shown by clumping into technological groups can be made explicitly clear. The wild creatures live in rough family groups and make their homes in natural formations such as caves. At a primitive level, when intelligence becomes apparent, the groups consist of multiple families who make their own habitat. This can be fashioning nests to building rudimentary structures. Once classified as a sentient species, an appreciation of aesthetics develops and so more ornate architecture or art or mythology is present around usually (though by no means exclusively) permanant structures of some kind. Communication is also probably more concrete at this point between individuals rather than just signals to a group.

However, what I have been struggling with is how to make the players aware of whether they are dealing with animal cunning or intelligent planning when they encounter members of other species. While I appreciate that it may be beneficial to keep the players unaware as to whether the lizard-man they've just encountered is a slavering animal or a plotting genius, from a roleplaying perspective it would be helpful to have something to go on. Though I could go the traditional route and just give all the evil genius lizard-men English accents...

Behaviourally, I think the key is scale. While wild creatures may make posturing roars and swipes, a more calculated and subtle approach is a strong sign of not acting on the first instinctual impulse. Speech is not necessary, though some attempt at communication is probably another good indication of self-awareness and intelligence. Unless there has been some background event or provocation, a sentient creature is unlikely to strike out for no reason. Though if the adventurers are being actively threatening then the base reaction from most things is going to be to retaliate purely for self-preservation. As such it is also important to note that higher intelligence is not a sign that they have no impulses, even the most collected human can strike out like a snake if they are scared or annoyed.

If anyone has any tips on representing intelligence in non-humans I'd be very glad to hear them.

Expansion (Society Part 1)

The next couple of posts will likely be on the current stage of my worldbuild. That is the establishment of my principal empires and societies.

I will be maintaining humans as the dominant species, for ease and because the theme of the campaign is the players being on the fringe of expansion of the empire. It's easier to obtain player buy-in for these things I find if they can relate to the force they are getting behind. The other races are allied with the humans, or at least on neutral enough terms that individuals would not be looked down upon for doing mercenary work for them.

The campaign will start with the PCs in one of the border towns of the human Empire, having been instructed that the peninsula beyond needs to be mapped and scouted out. Their main motivations at this point will probably be wanderlust and just a need to adventure. As they clear more and more of the peninsula, they will notice that small groups of people are settling the area they have cleared. As their names become more well-known they may even be offered ruling oppurtunities in the newly established provinces. Even if not, there will be plenty of intrigue and political manouevering to be done if the PCs want to keep their power and indeed their lives as they gain in noteriety.

What all this is attempting to do is raise this above the level of a standard hex-crawl. One of the things that is mentioned in the West Marches information is that you must keep the players out of the towns and on the edge of society. Maybe its my inner story-gamer rebelling but i can't see there being a huge amount of satisfaction with just entering an area and slaughtering the natives. Though if the players wish to do so, that is entirely their perogative of course. But if they wish, there will be a chance for mightier things, both as they reach the upper echilons of their chosen cults and guilds, and the top of society in general. Hopefully, using the RuneQuest 'Empires' book, I can fashion an interesting enough society for them to want to get involved in. Even if its only so they can direct their own adventures instead of being handed places to go.

BUT, and I can't stress this enough, there must always be wilderness bashing to be done. They can establish new trade routes by ousting the Slarge chieftans who rule the jungles, they can become rulers of their own minor kingdoms, they can even lead armies into battle but there will be a great feeling of being able to run off once in a while and slay a dragon or two.

Possibly I'm getting ahead of myself here, so the next post will be detailing the small societies that are established on the peninsula with which the players are likely to come into contact. And more to the point how to establish them in a way that doesn't make the PCs want to kill them all.