Hey Man, well this is Babylon

This weekend, I met with a handful of players to discuss creating the setting for a new campaign.  I sent out some feelers last month about a new campaign idea, in which we meet once a month, and each time we meet we play for 8+ hours.  I was glad with the number of interested responses, and after getting some initial arrangements set up, we had our first session of setting design and basic character planning this past Saturday evening.

The basic format of the campaign was the only thing laid out initially: all the characters are crewing a large high seas sailing vessel in a “fantasy” world, sent on an extended voyage by one or more major financial and/or governmental interests.  Each character will have their own personal agenda in addition to whatever missions serve as the driving purpose of the voyage as a whole.  That being laid down, we put our brains together and designed the specifics of the setting itself, with each player having equal say over aspect they desired or wanted to avoid.  I was extremely pleased and impressed at how well we all worked together.  The absolutely wonderful results of our design session are outlined below.

The System:

We’ll be using the Savage Worlds roleplaying game system for this campaign, and more specifically the Pirates of the Spanish Main sourcebook’s rules for high seas adventure. I’m porting in the Cold City trust mechanics to better emphasize the clash of intentions and politics amongst the members of the crew.

The Setting:

• The game takes place in an alternate-history, fantastical version of Earth, in the year 1746. We all agreed that having a 1700s “colonial british” aesthetic was a grand idea, with lots of longcoats, hose, tricorner hats, etc. Essentially, a “Pirates of the Caribbean” British officer aesthetic, with a bit of Brotherhood of the Wolf thrown in. We primarily chose Earth simply because we’d be more familiar with the basics of the geography.
• We all thought some level of steam technology would be fun, so in more civilization-heavy areas, there are steam-powered automatons occasionally seen, and maybe a major train or two crossing Europe.
• Magic: yes, but it’s limited. The magic in the setting is “old school” and faith-based. It could be considered “folk magic” for the most part, and is mainly derived from rituals and lore stemming from the empowerments of the “gods” and their incarnations. Nothing huge and epic, more subtle and bizarre.
• There are a number of MAJOR historical differences. First off, Egypt was never conquered by the Romans, and still exists as a major Empire today. While its power is nowhere near what it could have been, it still rules the entirety of Northern Africa. This fact historically prevented the European whites from enslaving the Africans, even those of the unconquered south. Any excursions by Europeans to the south were repelled by Egypt, and many never returned. Thankfully, Egypt is somewhat isolationist in global politics, concerned only with the African continent.
• Another difference: the Crusades never really ended. Multiple Crusades have been launched over the centuries, with new religious leaders trying to rally a new spiritual Crusade every century or so. Each of them has mostly failed, but that is usually a rallying point for the next one.
• Yet another difference: no major European force has yet to effectively establish a heavy foothold in North America. Without a large slave force, expeditions to the New World were fewer and further apart than the “real” Earth. There are colonies from several nations, but none of them have united, and they’re all of various conflicting nations. The natives have proven too tough to conquer, and many many rumors have come from this New World. Some say the natives are united against the white man, some say the natives are just myths, and other say that colonies keep disappearing, with no word or sign from the old inhabitants. Any way you put it, the New World is a dark mystery, largely unexplored…
• The people of Northern Europe, mostly those descended from the old viking cultures, never quite progressed to the age of Reason. As such, most of the peoples of the north are seen as second-class peoples, and are frequently employed in crap work, if not outright slavery. A large number of Scandinavian and Norwegian slaves and sailors came across in the early voyages to the Caribbean, and after years of mixing with the natives, the people of that region are now of an odd “aztec-viking” culture and heritage. This means that the traditional “voodoun loas” never came to be, and instead we have a large number of strange local deities with a mix of both viking and south American folklore. Imagine a cross between Odin and Quetzalcoatl, and be afeared.
• Back in the Homeland, there are many Hellfire Clubs, which function as private gentleman’s clubs for the powerful and the elite. Several of them are rumored to be secret magickal cabals. The Hellfire Clubs are by nature exclusive men-only clubs, although rumor has it there is a secret women’s club out there with an extreme amount of power.
• It is indeed a man’s world: As was so with our history, women are still second-class citizens. However, those rare women who rise to positions of recognized power are among the most feared and respected leaders of the times.
• Even in this age of Reason, however, fear of the unknown is still prevalent. Folk tales hold great power and sway – the dark Americas are fine proof of this.

The Voyage:

• Setting forth from Port Royal in the Caribbean, the ship’s main mission is to chart a new course to the east. Those behind the mission have a special reason to believe that they can find a route to the Far East by seeing just how far the coast of the New World extends to the south. Several major interests have come together in this British port to fund this voyage, although each is believed to have their own ulterior motives.
• However, everyone knows about the ship’s true purpose, although few on the ship actively discuss it: Britain is seeking a new route to the east, because the Cardinal seeks to launch a seventh Crusade. The previous six Crusades have failed, each one taking the same route and suffering the same defeat. If a new passage can be found, however, then possibly the next attempt to reclaim the Holy land will succeed.

The Characters:

We hammered out some basic character ideas, but I’ll save them for a later post, after the players put more details into their roles and backgrounds. As it is, I am having each player make two primary characters in the crew. Additionally, I’m deliberately making the crew large enough to allow any number of random drop-in players to join in and play a character of their own. Hey, Lost does it, so can we.

That’s all for now!