Random Chatter: Welcome

[Vardaen]

So welcome to the Pulpits and Politics game, also probably going to refer to it as Kardolin. This game has come about from two desires, one is to use the Pathfinder d20 system, and another is to try and use an old setting from back in my youth. I've started working on this game little by little and have basically managed to change it so it looks nothing like my old Cardolin setting, except for some of the geography and some homages here and there.

My hope here is to have a politically and religiously oriented game, still with lots of combat, but doing so with dwarves. The focus of the game will not be on your classic scottish or norse litle dwarves, but a eloquent, intelligent, well spoken and politically minded Empire of dwarves. (The rogue clan that broke away centuries ago is more scottish so there is a bit of that still!)

The game will focus on the capital city of Kardolin set in the southern reaches of the continent, and well within the cold weather. This is a southern hemisphere game, so north is warm, south is cold! Characters would be connected to the Church of Araw that basically controls the government as politics and personal goals interweave. At the same time a new foe has begun to show its face and war has started on the boarders.

So while I work on this setting, I'll be seeking input from folks that want to get in on the ground floor of another of my settings as well as into the Pathfinder RPG system.

[Vardaen]

I've put up a few files that help to start describing the idea in my head. I would some some input and comments here about them. I'm looking for a few people to help collaberate on this who would then be interested in playing characters in the game.

[Eanwulf]

More than willing to share my thoughts and opinions on the matter - just need to find the time to do so. Already submitted an idea dealing with Oythic and Araw and will try to elaborate more as time permits. Also...some name revision may be in order for the various gods and races...a couple of them sound simply wonky! More to come as time allots!

[Trogdor]

I'll be happy to comment. Dwarves aren't generally my thing, so I may be a bit stiff at first. But this seems like it might be an interesting way to get me to warm to dwarves.

[Eanwulf]

Just Downloaded some Political Campaign Sourcebooks and will read through them over the weekend. Dynasties & Demagogues, AEG's Empire, and some others. Hopefully they will help to lend a hand in creating potential adventure/campaign ideas.

Wanted the sourcebooks for myself as I have always wanted to try and give some form of rebirth to the Birthright setting and now they have quite a few d20 rulesets for "Building & Maintaining Your Own Empire!"

[Vardaen]

I'm not against changing the names of some things. Most of these names were there when I ran this 'setting' 15 years ago, so I just used the same ones to get the ball rolling.

Anything cooler or better is totally good with me.

[Eanwulf]

Alrighty then, I have read quite a bit of source material of my own and am ready to start firing off some questions they will '˜hopefully' give us the chance to aid you in your quest to create a proper Campaign Setting. Since there really is no '˜easy' way of doing this, I will dive right in and get the ball rolling. Where it winds up however, is another story entirely!

The game will focus on the capital city of Kardolin set in the southern reaches of the continent, and well within the cold weather. This is a southern hemisphere game, so north is warm, south is cold! Characters would be connected to the Church of Araw that basically controls the government as politics and personal goals interweave. At the same time a new foe has begun to show its face and war has started on the borders.

Alright, everything sounds fair enough. My questions to you are these:

'¢ Who or what the heck is Araw and what does he stand for in the game. Is he the dwarven god of creation much akin to Moradin or even Odin the Allfather? Or is he perhaps the Elemental Entity of flame and stone that first breathed life into dwarves to begin with? I reckon that you need to develop a basic deity portfolio of what he represents to the dwarven society, how he is portrayed amongst his worshipers, and of course what he looks like and if he has any family, etc. as there are MANY outlooks on dwarves, their gods, and how they came to be '€" most of which of course involve them being first born underground!

'¢ Next would then be that of how the Church of Araw is headed up and governed. Do they hold ultimate power over the existing government, are they the existing government, or are they merely pawns that try to fix the existing governments various wrong-doings and what not. I reckon what I am trying to ask is simply, how much influence would the Church of Araw and as thus our being connected to it have over the overall plotline.

'¢ A new foe showing its face is all fine and dandy, but make sure that you have some working grasp of what it is, how powerful it is, and if it is indeed a new threat or merely the cleverly disguised form of an older and more ancient rivalry, enemy, etc. I reckon what I am trying to get at here is how significant would this new threat be and how bad are the existing threats already?

I will pause here for now, but do have many other questions that I will continue plugging away at you with!

Until then,

[Eanwulf]

Alright, I am back for more!

My hope here is to have a politically and religiously oriented game, still with lots of combat, but doing so with dwarves. The focus of the game will not be on your classic Scottish or Norse little dwarves, but a eloquent, intelligent, well spoken and politically minded Empire of dwarves. (The rogue clan that broke away centuries ago is more Scottish so there is a bit of that still!)

Though a little grammar impaired (no offense meant at all btw), I gather that the gist of your outlook on dwarves is something a little more noble and sophisticated and a little less hot-tempered and blood-hungry. More Roman Politician and less Celtic Pict eh? Not a bad take on things, especially if you already presume that the southern realms were and are ruled by nothing but dwarves and their allies/conquests.

My immediate thoughts were those of 'œDoes he want the '˜entire' party to be dwarves and if so, are we stuck with the only one that they have listed in Pathfinder (a standard hill dwarf)? I ask this because I have found multiple sourcebook information on various sub-types of dwarf '€" ranging from hill, mountain, and deep to the:

'¢ Arctic Isen of the South

'¢ Painted Clachduin of the forests

'¢ Viking Reaver-style Hallvring '€" a race of sea-faring dwarves I might add

'¢ Plains Riding Steppe Dwarves known as the Khura

'¢ Fey-touched Arcane Dwarves known as the Eldorn

'¢ Half-dwarves

'¢ Etc.

I reckon what I am trying to get at here is, if you plan on having tons of dwarves lying about '€" lets come up with some cool names and possibly traits for them as well as maybe some modifications to their standard abilities already!

[Eanwulf]

Sisth Mul - This is a jungle nation considered filled with heretical elves that worship their own false god, and traffic in drugs and magic. I am considering making these similar in manner to the Drow in Eberron, but haven't worked out all of this yet.

If you look in the 3.5 Deities and Demigods on page 203 in the Other Religions section you will find Taiia the Creator and the Destroyer. I can't help but feel that a variant of this goddess would be perfect for your elves of the jungle '€" hell you can even make her avatar a 6-armed, multi-eyed, spiderlike humanoid version of Lolth if you like!

What better way to create a race of drow than have them become flame-wielding Aztec/true Indian '€"like zealots that have had their skin darkened or should I say '˜ashened' by their (false?)god's blessing and forbidden to live above ground or even in the sunlight until they have proven that they're worthy!

The goddess is already four-armed and three-eyed and is technically worshipped as 2 elements. Perhaps the elves believed her hype about being the true creator of the universe and all life and in turn have chosen to bestow true immortality upon her through their worship. That or she really is that powerful and just forgotten '€" and in turn needs followers to help rebuild her strength. After all, creating a universe tends to take a lot out of a person!

Maybe the Blind Mendicant side of the coin has Taiia portrayed as a seductive woman/elven female with four arms and 3 eyes whereas the Purifying Flame side has her more animalistic and spider like '€" sucking out that what she gave them - life's precious essence.

All in all it's worth reading, so make sure that you do!

[Eanwulf]

I have always been a stickler for making sure stuff had proper names that didn't sound dorky or made up on the spot. This being said, allow me to share my 2 coppers about what I have read thus far. Please note that this post will most likely wind up having several replies as time goes on and I have read more stuff!

First off is your Eight Dwarven Kings that helped to forge the Kingdom of Kardolin. I will go out on a limb and assume that one or more of the founding fathers '˜might' have been related, so let's try to make it sound like it '€" dwarven style!

'¢ Thain the Troublemaker
Why not make him Thain the Troublebrewer? Seems more '˜dwarven' to me.

'¢ Hafur the Kragbrewer & Thangik Stonecleaver
Their Last names seem similar in meaning so why not make them brothers and change their names to something similar sounding like:

Hafrik Kraghewer and Thangik Stonecleaver?

'¢ Karbur Dragonhammer
If you changed Hafur's name to Hafrik, this is pretty much alright, though I might add a '˜the' in this one's name as it sounds more professional.

Karbur the Dragonhammer!

'¢ Muric Greyshield
This one already sounds great. No problems there. Sounds regal and pious too!

'¢ Grogdin the Aledrinker
A simple adjustment to Grogdin Aleswiller and presto you got a drunken dorf ruler!

'¢ Dursir Deepforge
I Really like this one, almost as much as Muric!

'¢ Balwain the Ashbearded
Remove '˜the' and '€"ed and you have Balwain Ashbeard leader of dwarves!

Once again, all are merely helpful suggestions and aren't really worth much of spit!