How do I go about making a setting where the land is as much of a character as any of the people. Something like STALKER in high fantasy. Witcher also shares this flavor.
Share any ideas, fantasy novels, manga/anime, settings that you can think of.
Dark, Atmospheric Fantasy
Jason Parker
Luis Evans
Don't run D&D.
Gavin Young
Provide, good, detailed description of the world. Make it seem unwelcoming, but not hostile.
Don't know how you'd mix atmospheric and high fantasy tho.
Luis Ward
Good call. You're gonna want a system that keeps the players scrabbling for each victory, possibly something with high-lethality and maybe not geared so much towards combat.
Christian Carter
Good advice, but I want to come up with the fluff before I choose a system. Can you help me with recommendations?
Kevin Ward
Why not? Combat is fun. Being able to end without a hand/leg/eye and push one adventuring is FUN.
As generalist, we have Gurps and BRP(and sons).
Mini six could be interesting too.
About the fluff, I really liked the idea than the dungeons are half alive (being them magically so or biological), and the ecosistems in them follow a set of weird but logical in they twisted way rules, mostly to keep the dungeon alive and expanding.
Cooper Rivera
Mini Six is a good idea, I also recommend grabbing parts from OpenD6 and bolting them on like the equipment and combat options sections.
Robert Cook
Some anons like to add some "narrativist" twists to it, mini six has the advantage to be easy to mod so any idea is welcomed.
Anyway, setting wise bros, its ever easier to limit it so we can define,refine and expand it later without hundreds of ideas bieng mixed and ending without a clear objective. I would like to propose a veto point of three, mostly so when the fetishits posters appear (than they will) we can overrule they shenaningans.
Also a veto for consistency, we should define the magic/power levels (mostly low), fantasy races (I Would push for located, less in number but more varied fantasy races than the tipical ones, think more Ivalice FF than Forgoten realms) and the tone at least.
If I sound a bit pushy, is because I seen to many good threads ending in nothing, and the kind of fantasy OP is searching is my prefered.
Daniel Ortiz
>Share any ideas, fantasy novels, manga/anime, settings that you can think of.
In the upcoming Knights of the Black Lily RPG, you're playing in a dark fantasy world in which there are no gods of goodness, only ill-willed deities that play with mortals for their sport.
>knightsoftheblacklily.com
Sebastian Sanchez
What's that blatant shilling bro?
Gabriel Parker
It's a genuine answer to OP's question.
Do you prefer the stealth promotion that certain publishers pull off on Veeky Forums?
Parker Smith
You didn't disclose and therefore we yourself trying to be stealthy
Charles Baker
Check out Symbaroum (sp?).
Robert Wood
Also, Trudvang Chronicles
Dominic Wright
>blatant
>stealthy
???
Levi Lopez
Solid game, can recommend. Definetely helps supply a dark world especially with the corruption system.
That being said OP I’d focus on supplies and resource management if you’re into that. I’ve always found that making the players pay for and manage food is a good way to keep things moving. It makes them consider travel times so they don’t just charge into everh forest tomb or far off city. Keep it simple though, saying “You have 4 days of food if costs X amount to get more” works. Finding ways to drain players of money (that aren’t unfair and inconsistent) so that they don’t easily assemble a massive hoarde works wonders as well.
Joshua White
Can also recommend Symbaroum, it’s fantastic for dark fantasy
Gabriel Turner
Vampire Hunter D, Sectaurs, Illuminaries and Castlevaina can serve as inspiration. The Apocalypse that occurs could also be magical in nature, some world ending plot that made things easier for mythological races to come back and dominate modern society or mutated humans to resemble said creatures.
Luis Sullivan
Description is key, howling winds, piercing cold, and smothering darkness are all very descriptive ways to describe the environment.
Ryan Collins
>How do I go about making a setting where the land is as much of a character as any of the people.
Just have nightmare stuff constantly happen to travellers. Nothing outright lethal, but things that makes you want to kill everything with fire.
Characters fall asleep in a forest, they wake up with tree roots wrapped around them.
Characters set up a campfire, the wind starts howling, juuuuust enough to threaten putting out the campfire if it's not tended to constantly. Now players have to leave the camp for firewood to keep it going.
The players are walking on a frozen over river. The ice cracks. Then crack then expands through solid ground, up to a fucking tree nearby. Which splits open ever so slightly. Enough to be noticeable, but not enough to see inside without being within grabbing distance. It almost looks like a slightly grinning maw.
Juan Walker
Another thing is that NPCs are extremely mistrusting of strangers.
They are always suspicious and tend to treat strange wanderers with the bare minimum of hospitality.
Every village has a story of being harmed by a stranger no appropriately guarded against
Every village also has a story of being harmed by a stranger not being given appropriate hospitality and it turns out it was a magical being/god/spirit in disguise who went on to curse the perpetrator or even the entire village.
Villages tend to have weird rituals; you would do well not to interrupt them because you will incur the wrath and despair of the village or worse- whatever the ritual was meant to suppress. So if you see a town sacrificing maidens every full moon you should just pretend you didn't see anything. Of course you can always interfere with it, that's what players are for.
Anthony Garcia
Night Land is a must read setting. Also check some of the short stories here:
nightland.website
Other possible inspirations:
readcomiconline.to
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Juan Foster
mist
giant ferns taller than most creatures covering the land
low light from the fat yellow moons
microlite20 is better