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Post by mabon5127 on Sept 16, 2012 18:49:02 GMT -6
The new campaign begins in two weeks with character creation, world intro, and a short scenario to familiarize the players with the ASSH rules.
I have 8 players and am pretty excited about getting started. I wanted to give some thought to what Iconic principles need to be introduced early on and reinforced on going to keep the flavor of Hyperborea fresh.
My thoughts: (not in order of importance)
Xathoqqua is widely worshiped
Gods disjointed / Lack of a pantheon
Odd nature of the heavenly bodies / 13 year cycle of light
Sword and Sorcery theme of self interest / reluctant heroes
Racial / cultural tensions
Extreme religious and magical practices
Eldar races and alien technology
I want to develop a list that I purposefully choose several pillars from for each game and incorporate a reminder of that pillar in the game. As I am used to running in other fantasy types this will be good training for me as well as genre reinforcement for the players.
If there are areas I'm missing please chime in!
Morgan
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Post by jasonzavoda on Sept 16, 2012 19:41:13 GMT -6
The new campaign begins in two weeks with character creation, world intro, and a short scenario to familiarize the players with the ASSH rules. I have 8 players and am pretty excited about getting started. I wanted to give some thought to what Iconic principles need to be introduced early on and reinforced on going to keep the flavor of Hyperborea fresh. My thoughts: (not in order of importance) Xathoqqua is widely worshiped Gods disjointed / Lack of a pantheon Odd nature of the heavenly bodies / 13 year cycle of light Sword and Sorcery theme of self interest / reluctant heroes Racial / cultural tensions Extreme religious and magical practices Eldar races and alien technology I want to develop a list that I purposefully choose several pillars from for each game and incorporate a reminder of that pillar in the game. As I am used to running in other fantasy types this will be good training for me as well as genre reinforcement for the players. If there are areas I'm missing please chime in! Morgan I'm still working out the overall idea of my campaign, but I'm not worried about that. Most of the details will be done during gametime as my players usually come up with questions I've never thought of. I think that evil is a much greater presence in the game than I've used in a setting before and I want to work on a sense of Lovecraftian horror. I have found that both horror and humor are very hard to write into a game, both just seem to happen. I am terrible at humor, so the players are best at providing those moments, but I believe the DM has to try to include elements or horror for even the smallest amount of horror to be experienced at all. I would add for, my campaign, Lovecraftian horror to the list of principle elements you named. |
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Post by Ghul on Sept 18, 2012 10:17:58 GMT -6
This is a great idea, and could be very helpful to me, too, I must say. When I run a game at a con, and I have 6 to 10 people seated before me, and one or more of them are curious about the campaign, it think a short list like this could be helpful. Great idea, Morgan.  |
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Post by mabon5127 on Sept 18, 2012 11:29:28 GMT -6
The new campaign begins in two weeks with character creation, world intro, and a short scenario to familiarize the players with the ASSH rules. I have 8 players and am pretty excited about getting started. I wanted to give some thought to what Iconic principles need to be introduced early on and reinforced on going to keep the flavor of Hyperborea fresh. My thoughts: (not in order of importance) Xathoqqua is widely worshiped Gods disjointed / Lack of a pantheon Odd nature of the heavenly bodies / 13 year cycle of light Sword and Sorcery theme of self interest / reluctant heroes Racial / cultural tensions Extreme religious and magical practices Eldar races and alien technology I want to develop a list that I purposefully choose several pillars from for each game and incorporate a reminder of that pillar in the game. As I am used to running in other fantasy types this will be good training for me as well as genre reinforcement for the players. If there are areas I'm missing please chime in! Morgan I'm still working out the overall idea of my campaign, but I'm not worried about that. Most of the details will be done during gametime as my players usually come up with questions I've never thought of. I think that evil is a much greater presence in the game than I've used in a setting before and I want to work on a sense of Lovecraftian horror. I have found that both horror and humor are very hard to write into a game, both just seem to happen. I am terrible at humor, so the players are best at providing those moments, but I believe the DM has to try to include elements or horror for even the smallest amount of horror to be experienced at all. I would add for, my campaign, Lovecraftian horror to the list of principle elements you named. Thanks! Not sure why I forgot the feeling of horror. Maintaining that feeling over time is what I struggle with. But yes must add horror. Morgan |
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Post by mabon5127 on Sept 18, 2012 12:59:47 GMT -6
This is a great idea, and could be very helpful to me, too, I must say. When I run a game at a con, and I have 6 to 10 people seated before me, and one or more of them are curious about the campaign, it think a short list like this could be helpful. Great idea, Morgan. Wouldn't need this with my typical high fantasy campaign but S&S weird fantasy is somewhat new to me and so training wheels will be needed for a bit! Morgan |
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Post by Ghul on Sept 21, 2012 6:08:48 GMT -6
This is a great idea, and could be very helpful to me, too, I must say. When I run a game at a con, and I have 6 to 10 people seated before me, and one or more of them are curious about the campaign, it think a short list like this could be helpful. Great idea, Morgan. Wouldn't need this with my typical high fantasy campaign but S&S weird fantasy is somewhat new to me and so training wheels will be needed for a bit! Morgan I hear you. For me, personally, I've been running AS&SH for over 4 years now, so my players understand the S&S tropes for the most part, even if they are not all huge readers of S&S fiction. But when I stand before a group of folks at a con, and they are mostly comfortable and familiar with Tolkien-esque high fantasy fare, I think it can be helpful to have these "Pillars" you present. |
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mythos
Level 3 Conjurer
Posts: 96
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Post by mythos on Sept 25, 2012 15:39:01 GMT -6
Adding horror is a, imo, necessary component for any good Sword and Sorcery story or game.
The problem is in establishing and maintaining that feeling. AS&SH has plenty of material in it's setting to allow various forms of horror. But my feeling is that it is something that should be developed gradually. Sudden drop a lovecraftian monster on your players will work the first couple of times, but then wears thin and become expected.
I've found that a slow build from unexpected day to day reality, to strange bumps in the night, to finally dropping a uneartly monster into their world helps to keep them on their toes and looking for the horror but still jumping when it hits them.
My prefered methiod is to throw out little things and make them part of the normal daily setting of my world. Since S&S material tends to have a more 'grimdark' feel, I like to take regular events and show them through that grimdark lens.
A few examples; Have your players come into town. Everything looks normal. There are stalls set up along the main road selling all the standard goods your players would expect. The merchants calling to the customers, yelling insults at each other, haggling over the prices. Amongst the crowd are a gaggle of children playing kickball in and out of the crowd. For the most part the populous ignores the children or makes way for them. Only when the kids get close to the players do they see that the ball is actually a severed head. And no one in the town cares.
On the Street of Iron, the local weaponsmiths are preparing for the weekly demonstration of their wares. Each selects a slave from the makeshift pen and uses them to show how effective their axes, swords, knives, etc. are on human flesh. If any of the players stick around, they'll discover that several of the smiths make back some of their money by selling the bodies to a group of men in grey robes. Necromancers? Wizards or Witches? Or the local butchers?
While traveling through the wilderness, the players notice a circle of vultures not far from the course of their path. If they decide to check out what the scavangers are circling, let them see the results of an orc raid, or a bandit hitting an undefended town, or the aftermath of slavers attempting to capture a group of young maidens. Often the player group is hired to deal with orc, raiders, and slavers after the events have gone up the chain of nobles. Let them come across it just after the first, or second, event has happened.
And lets not forget the cost the dwarves demand for the creation of the magical device the players need. Yes, what they need will prevent the great evil from from taking over the land. And really, what are the lives of a few children in the long run?
In short, take all the normal horros of a medieval setting and throw it in the face of your players. And don't be afraid of showing the blood and gruesomeness. The horror comes in when your players realize that the locals accept this as part of the normal routine.
In my past experience, adding horror to any of the above becomes fairly easy. But remember, it does not always need to be a supernatural monster. I've found that if you throw a human element as the cause of, or helper to, the horror, it helps make it stick in their minds a lot longer.
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Post by mabon5127 on Sept 26, 2012 18:57:07 GMT -6
Adding horror is a, imo, necessary component for any good Sword and Sorcery story or game. The problem is in establishing and maintaining that feeling. AS&SH has plenty of material in it's setting to allow various forms of horror. But my feeling is that it is something that should be developed gradually. Sudden drop a lovecraftian monster on your players will work the first couple of times, but then wears thin and become expected. I've found that a slow build from unexpected day to day reality, to strange bumps in the night, to finally dropping a uneartly monster into their world helps to keep them on their toes and looking for the horror but still jumping when it hits them. My prefered methiod is to throw out little things and make them part of the normal daily setting of my world. Since S&S material tends to have a more 'grimdark' feel, I like to take regular events and show them through that grimdark lens. A few examples; Have your players come into town. Everything looks normal. There are stalls set up along the main road selling all the standard goods your players would expect. The merchants calling to the customers, yelling insults at each other, haggling over the prices. Amongst the crowd are a gaggle of children playing kickball in and out of the crowd. For the most part the populous ignores the children or makes way for them. Only when the kids get close to the players do they see that the ball is actually a severed head. And no one in the town cares. On the Street of Iron, the local weaponsmiths are preparing for the weekly demonstration of their wares. Each selects a slave from the makeshift pen and uses them to show how effective their axes, swords, knives, etc. are on human flesh. If any of the players stick around, they'll discover that several of the smiths make back some of their money by selling the bodies to a group of men in grey robes. Necromancers? Wizards or Witches? Or the local butchers? While traveling through the wilderness, the players notice a circle of vultures not far from the course of their path. If they decide to check out what the scavangers are circling, let them see the results of an orc raid, or a bandit hitting an undefended town, or the aftermath of slavers attempting to capture a group of young maidens. Often the player group is hired to deal with orc, raiders, and slavers after the events have gone up the chain of nobles. Let them come across it just after the first, or second, event has happened. And lets not forget the cost the dwarves demand for the creation of the magical device the players need. Yes, what they need will prevent the great evil from from taking over the land. And really, what are the lives of a few children in the long run? In short, take all the normal horros of a medieval setting and throw it in the face of your players. And don't be afraid of showing the blood and gruesomeness. The horror comes in when your players realize that the locals accept this as part of the normal routine. In my past experience, adding horror to any of the above becomes fairly easy. But remember, it does not always need to be a supernatural monster. I've found that if you throw a human element as the cause of, or helper to, the horror, it helps make it stick in their minds a lot longer. These are great examples of the strangeness of various cultures that can create a sense of tension or horror in players. People can be and should be the most prevalent antagonist in a campaign. The Horrors from Yuggoth need to be few and far between. IMHO. Sword and sorcery is immediately a bit grimmer because human enemies are dying rather than orcs goblins, kobalds, and other various evil greenies. The kids playing with the head will be stolen by the way!! |
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mythos
Level 3 Conjurer
Posts: 96
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Post by mythos on Sept 27, 2012 16:00:35 GMT -6
Glad you liked my examples. One of the sources I'm using for the creation of adventures is The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard. Almost all the stories in there can be converted into one shot stories for the Hyborborean setting. Even the ones that have a 'modern' setting at the time they were written. Btw, the severed head I stole from Wagner's "The Dark Crusade". Given that it delt with a holy war, there are a number of things that can be picked from it. While it obviously has a supernatural aspect to it, what the people do to their enemies are worst then any of the monsters in the story. |
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Post by Ghul on Sept 28, 2012 6:29:44 GMT -6
I understand what you fellows are getting at, and I agree. Players can become jaded by the "horror monsters" that they become familiar with; the sense of fear and revulsion is lost. When human cultures behave weirdly or incongruously with "normalcy", I think it can be more disconcerting than a frightening monster. When I think of people as weird or maybe even frightening, I can't help but recall the 1973 British film, The Wicker Man, which was really odd. For some reason, the course of this thread reminded me of that film . . . |
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mythos
Level 3 Conjurer
Posts: 96
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Post by mythos on Sept 28, 2012 11:55:52 GMT -6
I love that movie! And it serves as a perfect example of what I was saying. How, when you scratch the surface, what appears to be normal has a darker side to it that the locals have either come to accept as normal, or has built up over a period of time. In addition, I strongly recommend the film, The Wicker Tree. It's not a sequel, but deals with much of themes from The Wicker Man. |
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Post by Ghul on Sept 29, 2012 7:10:15 GMT -6
I love that movie! And it serves as a perfect example of what I was saying. How, when you scratch the surface, what appears to be normal has a darker side to it that the locals have either come to accept as normal, or has built up over a period of time. In addition, I strongly recommend the film, The Wicker Tree. It's not a sequel, but deals with much of themes from The Wicker Man. OK, I've never seen Wicker Tree. I'll have to seek it out . . . |
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benoist
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
OD&D, AD&D, AS&SH
Posts: 346
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Post by benoist on Oct 10, 2012 18:10:37 GMT -6
The world and Cosmos beyond have lives of their own, and men are inconsequential, a fleeting moment, in light of that truth (the Ashen Worm, the Green Death).
Great kingdoms and empires have come and gone. Mysteries are beyond the reach of men, and yet so close, beyond the veil of time, deep in the dark places of the world, in the wilderness too. Cults abound, and the magic of the land is tied to its ancient history and races.
The reality of the Hyperborean setting could itself be explored. What is Hyperborea in fact? Where does it lie? Is it the prime world, or a dream beyond our consciousness, a parallel world between the worlds, a manifestation of the mythoi of the world in a universe that is self-created, or something else entirely?
The cultures of the world mix all sorts of influences, times and places into a whole that seems to be away, apart, secluded from the normal flow of time we know. That is the otherwordliness of the setting, that gives us both a sense familiarity and weirdness born of surprising melanges and strange combinations (the 'astonishing swordsmen and sorcerers!'), and a feeling that this place has been cut from the world for a long, long time...
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Post by mabon5127 on Oct 10, 2012 19:30:07 GMT -6
The world and Cosmos beyond have lives of their own, and men are inconsequential, a fleeting moment, in light of that truth (the Ashen Worm, the Green Death). Great kingdoms and empires have come and gone. Mysteries are beyond the reach of men, and yet so close, beyond the veil of time, deep in the dark places of the world, in the wilderness too. Cults abound, and the magic of the land is tied to its ancient history and races. The reality of the Hyperborean setting could itself be explored. What is Hyperborea in fact? Where does it lie? Is it the prime world, or a dream beyond our consciousness, a parallel world between the worlds, a manifestation of the mythoi of the world in a universe that is self-created, or something else entirely? The cultures of the world mix all sorts of influences, times and places into a whole that seems to be away, apart, secluded from the normal flow of time we know. That is the otherwordliness of the setting, that gives us both a sense familiarity and weirdness born of surprising melanges and strange combinations (the 'astonishing swordsmen and sorcerers!'), and a feeling that this place has been cut from the world for a long, long time... I read this several times. This would be a good few paragraphs for me to re read before each game to get my game face on. As far as my list goes a few things pop out immediately. "Men are inconsequential" "mysteries" "cults abound" I'm adding these to my list. I also like the "self-created" element. Hyperborea could be the manifestation of the dreams dreamt by millions of souls locked deep within the ice. Thanks Benoist! Morgan |
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benoist
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
OD&D, AD&D, AS&SH
Posts: 346
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Post by benoist on Oct 11, 2012 9:35:49 GMT -6
Welcome! Glad this was useful. I just typed what came to mind I had not seen in your list and kind of riffed from there. |
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Post by Ghul on Oct 11, 2012 14:14:39 GMT -6
Indeed, heady and inspiring stuff, Benoist. You articulate quite well the various aspects I often alude to in the text. Nicely done.
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benoist
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
OD&D, AD&D, AS&SH
Posts: 346
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Post by benoist on Oct 11, 2012 17:16:04 GMT -6
Thank you! I'm making that pitch right now to my French pals. *grins*
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Post by Ghul on Oct 11, 2012 17:57:10 GMT -6
Thank you! I'm making that pitch right now to my French pals. *grins* Heh, at first I read "..to my French gals..." which would have implied something completely different!  |
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Post by mabon5127 on Oct 17, 2012 14:45:28 GMT -6
Thank you! I'm making that pitch right now to my French pals. *grins* Heh, at first I read "..to my French gals..." which would have implied something completely different! ASSH helps you pick up women! I live with 6! Morgan |
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