Last week, I mentioned my old setting of Bloodport. I thought I’d take a little break from Crowfield, and discuss it instead.
Campaign Goals
The goals of the Bloodport campaign were much the same as the Crowfield campaign, except without the trade aspect. It would be a “hexcrawl” type adventure in frontier lands. There would be opportunity for riches and danger as one explored, but there would be moral issues raised.
I decided that it was a newly discovered land. The areas closest to the city have more or less been tamed. This was to allow the players to be able to choose their risk (and reward!) level. The farther one was from the city, the greater the challenge would be.
Also, being an island, they could start with a map of the coastline, and fill it in as they explored.
In-Game Background
Thousands of Year Ago
Legends say that the Tholonian Empire was once a paradise on earth. It was located on the shore of a great island, and silver and gold flowed like rivers and gems were found along the ground like common rocks. The Tholonians were a bold and brave branch of humanity. They were the paragons of Law and morals. Their temples were grander than palaces.
As time went by, the Tholonians grew accustomed to their great wealth and they became fat and lazy. Worse, they became arrogant and defied the gods themselves. The gods withdrew their blessings and hoards of chaotic races attacked the Tholonians. No longer bold or brave, they fled their lands and the Empire was lost to history forever.
So the legends say.
20 Years Ago
Just over 20 years ago the famed halfling pirate Rugo Rumblesmith was blown off course in a storm. He discovered a new land, which he declared to be the lost shores of Tholonia. The land was under the control of the Silver Scale tribe of Kobolds. Rugo fled back to the city of World’s End, where he raised a force and made the dangerous return voyage1 to “liberate Tholonia.”
He conquered the Kobolds and established the city of Newport. From there bold adventurers set forth and discovered wealth beyond imagination, but they also found danger and death. The city was so dangerous in those days that it acquired the name of Bloodport.
Today
Rugo Rumblesmith still rules Bloodport as self proclaimed “King of Tholonia.”
All the lands closest to the city have been plundered and somewhat tamed; adventurers must travel further west to find greater wealth. The Kobolds that lived along the shore have been subjugated, and serve as a source of cheap labor. Humans dominate the city, but there’s a sizable population of Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and the previously mentioned subjugated Kobolds.
The overall alignment of the city is neutral, with a strong Chaotic sub-culture. Lawful types aren’t forbidden, but they will find life difficult.
Inspirations
The “thousands of years ago” section was inspired by the tales of Atlantis.
The rest of the campaign was inspired by the European colonization of the New World. The “silver and gold flowed like rivers and gems were found along the ground like common rocks” comment was based on the European’s quest to find El Dorado.
The city of World’s End was inspired by the Spanish city Fisterra which I visited in 2015. The name of that city literally translates to “End of the Earth.”
The kobolds, of course, were inspired by the plight of the indigenous American peoples and their encounters with the Europeans. A recurring theme of the campaign was that the kobolds, goblins, and orcs were pretty much just trying to defend their lands from encroachment by the “civilized” races, hopefully leading the party to tough moral choices.
When I told my friend Pete about the background, he commented that “…when word gets out about riches, the town will be like the old west where life is worthless; just to get a few baubles.”
He got it.
What do you think? Would this be a better setting than Crowfield?
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I know the map says that it’s only 4 days journey, but the sea vessels in the campaign weren’t built for multi-day voyages across open seas. They would hug the coastline and make landfall every night. I read somewhere that was how the ancient Greeks did it.↩
Edit 02-Jul-20: Fixed some typos identified by ZomusPrime. thanks!
An interesting post, and neat to see how you're building on your past ideas for the Crowfield campaign!
ReplyDeleteI do like the set-up of this one, but personally would be more inclined to think your Crowfield setup would be more engaging overall. The main meta-conflict here is the moral issues about subjugating the native species (kobolds, etc.), but a party who decided to play chaotic (or even tinted of evil!) would find this no issue.
With Crowfield, no matter what alignment or path the party chooses, the main meta-conflict as I can see it (they are going to run out of food and supplies and need to get something set up) is going to force the party to go out and make tough choices about what to do, when, and how.
And this also encourages exploration more, as it's out of necessity (you and all you care about and know will perish unless you get out and adventure and do things!) versus gain (you can get rich by going out and adventuring an doing things!). Obviously the latter is still motivating, but for most people note to the same extent; the stakes aren't as high.
That being said, Bloodport is still a very interesting premise, and I would be intrigued to know how a campaign in that setting unfolded!