Eastern Territories campaign development
I was looking through that "Play Worlds, Not Rules" challenge on the d66 Classless Kobolds blog, and while I'm not planning to run my Eastern Territories setting in "free kriegsspiel" style, I thought making some play notes and tables might be helpful in kinda crystalizing my ideas.
Context
This is a dark fantasy game in a setting with lots of magic, alchemy, spirits, undead, mutations, and weird posthuman, but without the usual hosts of demihumans, dragons, and other mythological and folkloric creatures. The aesthetics are influenced by things like Dark Souls, Mork Borg, and Berserk, and the tone is on the gritty side.
The Eastern Territories are a half-wild inland region of forests, plains, and hills that was partially conquered by the oppressive Empire of Flowers before it collapsed. The resulting power vacuum creates opportunities for bandits, warlords, new religions, new inventions, criminal organizations, and cunning adventurers. There are abandoned palaces to loot, little wars to fight, monsters to exterminate, and all sorts of tensions to exploit.
Tables
God, I love a good random roll table. Or a series of nested tables, even. I might have more tolerance for multiple rolls to generate a single result than some other folks do.
Spark table
Who invented spark tables? Was it Chris McDowall? First place I encountered them was this Electric Bastionland article, but for all I know they might have some non-RPG origin. Anyway, I love the idea. Here's a table for Eastern Territories inspiration.
Roll 1d100 until an idea materializes.
| 1 | Alchemy | 26 | Finery | 51 | Moon | 76 | Secret |
| 2 | Armor | 27 | Fire | 52 | Mosaic | 77 | Serpent |
| 3 | Atavism | 28 | Fly | 53 | Moth | 78 | Sewer |
| 4 | Bandit | 29 | Forest | 54 | Mural | 79 | Smoke |
| 5 | Baroque | 30 | Ghost | 55 | Mutation | 80 | Soldier |
| 6 | Beast | 31 | Giant | 56 | Mutilation | 81 | Star |
| 7 | Black | 32 | God | 57 | Night | 82 | Statue |
| 8 | Blood | 33 | Gold | 58 | Noble | 83 | Swamp |
| 9 | Cannibalism | 34 | Gothic | 59 | Oppression | 84 | Taxation |
| 10 | Castle | 35 | Grave | 60 | Owl | 85 | Temple |
| 11 | Cavern | 36 | Hole | 61 | Painting | 86 | Thief |
| 12 | Chain | 37 | Homunculus | 62 | Palace | 87 | Torture |
| 13 | City | 38 | Horn | 63 | Plague | 88 | Tower |
| 14 | Conquest | 39 | Hound | 64 | Poison | 89 | Tunnel |
| 15 | Corruption | 40 | Hunger | 65 | Pollution | 90 | Undeath |
| 16 | Crown | 41 | Hunt | 66 | Possession | 91 | Underground |
| 17 | Crypt | 42 | Idol | 67 | Poverty | 92 | Village |
| 18 | Cult | 43 | Knife | 68 | Priest | 93 | War |
| 19 | Darkness | 44 | Knight | 69 | Raven | 94 | Warlord |
| 20 | Death | 45 | Locust | 70 | Red | 95 | White |
| 21 | Degeneration | 46 | Madness | 71 | Road | 96 | Wizard |
| 22 | Demon | 47 | Magic | 72 | Rot | 97 | Wolf |
| 23 | Drug | 48 | Mask | 73 | Ruin | 98 | Worm |
| 24 | Execution | 49 | Masquerade | 74 | Saint | 99 | Wound |
| 25 | Feast | 50 | Mercenary | 75 | Savagery | 100 | Yellow |
Weird character detail
When an NPC needs a little more spice, roll for a way to make them more memorable or troublesome.
| 1d12 | Detail |
|---|---|
| 1 | Addicted to a ruinous drug with 1d4 complications. (1d12) 1: Difficult to obtain. 2: Emotionally debilitating over time. 3: Mentally debilitating over time. 4: Physically debilitating over time. 5: Extremely expensive. 6: Incapacitating when used. 7: Infection vector. 8: Morally horrific source. 9: Extreme overdose risk. 10: Repugnant manner of application. 11: Brutal withdrawal. 12: Lethal withdrawal. |
| 2 | Always masked. (1d12) 1: Alchemical goggles and filter. 2: Animal head. 3: Baroque masquerade mask. 4: Blank oval. 5: Cloth hood. 6: Crude wooden face. 7: Demonic face. 8: Beautiful face. 9: Bestial face. 10: Funerary mask. 11: Silken veil. 12: Visored helm. (1d6) 1–3: Disfigured. Roll on "marred face" table. 4–5: In hiding. 6: Insecure. |
| 3 | Cursed. Roll on spark table for inspiration. |
| 4 | Has many... (1d10) 1: Children. 2: Co-conspirators. 3: Creditors. 4: Deadly enemies. 5: Petty enemies. 6: Hangers-on. 7: Lovers. 8: Ex-lovers. 9: Siblings and cousins. 10: Victims. |
| 5 | Malefactor. (1d12) 1: Blackmailer. 2: Drug merchant. 3: Imposter. 4: Inveterate brawler. 5: Member of a dangerous cult. 6: Murderer (just the one time). 7: Murderer (serial). 8: Slaver. 9: Thief. 10: Traitor. 11: War criminal. 12: Roll again, plus open rumors and accusations. |
| 6 | Marred face. (1d8) 1: Alchemically disfigured. 2: Branded. 3: Burned. 4: Congenitally deformed. 5: Scarred by combat. 6: Mutilated by torture. 7: Mutated. 8: Visibly diseased. |
| 7 | Once resorted to cannibalism. (1d12) 1–6: Crushingly ashamed of it. 7–12: Developed a taste for it. |
| 8 | Passionately religious. Serves a... (1d10) 1–3: God (inhuman spirit). 4–5: Saint (ghost sustained by worship). 6–7: Idol (physical object empowered by worship). 8: Immortal (living human made ageless by magic or alchemy). 9: Outsider (alien organism of vast power). 10: Roll again, plus it's a whole pantheon. |
| 9 | Possessed by a... (1d10) 1–4: Ghost. 5–7: Demon. 8–9: Saint. 10: God. (1d6) 1–3: Willingly rents out their body to the entity. 4–5: Thoroughly and permanently hollowed out. 6: Recently dominated and doesn't seem normal. |
| 10 | Secretly a wizard of... (1d8) 1: The Blackbird Society (thieves and tricksters). 2: The House of Flesh (wealthy biomanipulation guild). 3: The Order of the Blazing Eye (nature wizards). 4: The Order of the Scarab (healers and protectors). 5: The Quiet School (necromancers). 6: The School of Five Suns (powerful institution of generalists). 7: The School of the Painted Sky (illusionists). 8: No school. (1d6) 1–3: Working on some underhanded scheme. 4–5: Hiding out from vengeful ex-colleagues. 6: Left the game; starting over. |
| 11 | Seeks bloody retribution. Roll on spark table for inspiration. |
| 12 | Suffers from a disease with 1d4 symptoms. (1d12) 1: Bleeding. 2: Coughing. 3: Dementia. 4: Fainting. 5: Infirmity. 6: Lesions. 7: Migraines. 8: Rotting. 9: Seizures. 10: Vomiting. 11: Eventual Death. 12: Roll again, plus it's infectious. |
Tropes
Power is held by fools and monsters. From the ancient atrocities of the Nameless Kings to the greed and oppression of the Empire of Flowers to the dozens of bandit kingdoms rising and falling in the Empire's ruins, the worst possible people are usually in charge. Even the gods and saints are typically self-centered and short-sighted, and often irrational or incomprehensible.
The sins of the past afflict the present. The pollution of industrial-scale magic and alchemy lingers everywhere, causing disease, mutation, and other ills. Generations of necromancy and soul-manipulation have made it possible for souls to return as ghosts or revenants. The veterans, weapons, and vat-born war-monsters of past conflicts haven't stopped killing people. The Empire of Flowers and their rivals tore smaller polities apart, leaving broken cultures along their borders.
Opportunity is everywhere. There's never been a better time for people in the Eastern Territories to build new lives and societies. The warlords are bad, but their grip is nowhere near as tight as the Empire's was. Both the tools and riches of the Rotha dynasty and their cronies lie within reach of common people; they need only dare to grasp them.
Nothing is fair. Player characters don't have plot armor and challenges don't scale to their capabilities, but by the same token they have the chance to grow beyond the progression of their character class. They can collect spells and magical devices, be transformed through mutation or alchemical treatments, make deals with supernatural beings, or just amass worldly power through wealth and alliances. And just as their enemies won't offer them a fair fight, the PCs should stack the deck in their own favor where possible!
More later!
Yeah, two tables definitely wasn't enough. I'm going to let these ideas marinate for a bit, and then probably do a followup post in the future.
