I have a couple of different world
ideas that I've recently been considering. The first one is my White
Whale, Aedora. It's a world I named better than 10 years ago, but
never really gave it “final” form. I've drawn and redrawn maps.
Developed and redeveloped its origin. Drafted lists of deities.
Redrafted lists of deities. Same with races and nations and magic,
etc. And each time I decide that this is it, I'm going to
finally sit down and make this thing work, I go back to the
ever-growing notebooks-turned-computer-files of notes. Each
edition's worth of notes being added to the collection. The idea is
that with enough time and drafting I can turn it all into a cohesive
thing.
My problem is one of scope. In its
current form Aedora has three continents, all three with their long
histories, kingdoms, legends, myths. Well, that's the idea. I don't
actually have them. I want it to be my iconic world, my
Forgotten Realms. I want to make that world that my friends and I
are still playing in when we're in our 40's and 50's (since we're all
in our early 30's now, with one guy being in his early 40's). I'm
not under any illusion that this is going to be some huge, published
phenomenon. I just want a huge tapestry to call my own.
Realistically, I'm approaching it wrong and I know that. My biggest
stumbling block is the fact that I have no restrictions. The canvas
is wide open to do what I want with as many little building blocks as
I can get my hands on, but the sheer number of options is
overwhelming.
The second of my ideas is really just
me stealing a bunch of stuff from other people (which is pretty much
what having an idea is anyhow). The scope of this world is far, far
smaller and is happy to be about one thing to the exclusion of all
the other types of fantasy. It's essentially what I imagine Houses
of the Blooded more or less is in tone based on what I've heard and
what little I've read. Take in some of the structure of Vampire: The
Requiem, and shades of A Song of Ice and Fire (or Game of Thrones by
its more popular name) mix it all up and that's what you get.
From Houses I'm taking the idea that
the PCs are playing a literally superior race. They're smarter,
stronger, (you can make the argument that they won't be wiser). From
Vampire I'm taking the notions of Clans and Covenants. Though I'll
probably use the term bloodlines instead of clans, royal families
will have some kind of powers prescribed to them on top of having
superior stats. Covenants are something that I really like from VTR.
They are the political and philosophical affiliations you have.
There's so much potential in pitting characters' personal beliefs and
affiliations against family obligations in a culture where bloodlines
are ostensibly the thrust of political power (which is where you get
your Game of Thrones).
Those are the two competing ideas I'm
thinking about right now. The first one is largely inspired by my
gaming history. My cousin was (and still is) my GM, and he's got 25
years worth of binders full of histories and gaming sessions to fill
out his worlds. Huge, epic stories full of fighting gods, becoming
gods, destroying and birthing planes, getting duped by demons, become
Dark Lords (and thus becoming NPCs). And I know these stories start
small and end up huge organically, at least when you're building
worlds for the purpose of campaigns. The second idea is designed to
ratchet up the intrigue. It's not meant to be an expansive world.
On the power scale it's much smaller. Grounded in the real with just
a touch of something extra. One built on plot, the other built on
relationships.
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