You can find it here (http://weblog.xanga.com/RPGpundit/643638229/item.html), on my blog.
RPGPundit
Lovin' the Hong and their pyrrhic victory !
Gorilla Kingdoms, Evil Robots - mint !
Thanks, Sean. Besides the cool stuff, the basic concept is that I took medieval europe, posited a mongol-style invasion, that wasn't stopped this time so that it overran basically everything, until it stopped itself due to a conversion to a buddhist-style philosophy.
RPGPundit
That's some good stuff.
Good history, without getting into it too deeply. Good mixture of backgrounds for players to choose from. Good mix of history and gonzo depending on player preference.
Very well done. :)
Quote from: StuartThat's some good stuff.
Good history, without getting into it too deeply. Good mixture of backgrounds for players to choose from. Good mix of history and gonzo depending on player preference.
Very well done. :)
Thank you. So I guess everyone liked it then?
RPGPundit
Quote from: RPGPunditThanks, Sean. Besides the cool stuff, the basic concept is that I took medieval europe, posited a mongol-style invasion, that wasn't stopped this time so that it overran basically everything, until it stopped itself due to a conversion to a buddhist-style philosophy.
Doesn't having the center of your map occupied by such a group rob it of a certain amount of conflict and tension? How does having a philosophy of balance and peace that quietly converted the Hong make this setting a dynamic place for adventure? More specifically, it sounds like not much interesting is happening in the middle of your map and you need to wander off of the edges to find adventure. Is that what you really want? Isn't that rather like focusing a mid-20th Century adventure game on post-WW2 Marshall Plan Western Europe rather than setting the game during WW2, during the lead-up to WW2, or perhaps shifting the focus away from Western Europe toward the Soviet Union, China, or even the Third World, where most of the action was during the Cold War?
Quote from: John MorrowDoesn't having the center of your map occupied by such a group rob it of a certain amount of conflict and tension? How does having a philosophy of balance and peace that quietly converted the Hong make this setting a dynamic place for adventure? More specifically, it sounds like not much interesting is happening in the middle of your map and you need to wander off of the edges to find adventure. Is that what you really want? Isn't that rather like focusing a mid-20th Century adventure game on post-WW2 Marshall Plan Western Europe rather than setting the game during WW2, during the lead-up to WW2, or perhaps shifting the focus away from Western Europe toward the Soviet Union, China, or even the Third World, where most of the action was during the Cold War?
No, because this is a socially realistic setting (well, more or less). Over in SHALLOW fantasy-land a conversion to Buddhism might have made a society completely peaceful overnight; but in reality pretty much every violent society that ever converted to a peace-loving religion continued to be a militaristic culture (witness the Chinese or the Japanese, for example).
What conversion to the Great Wheel religion did to the Hong was take the wind out of their sails, but in the Tribelands they're still there, circling around taking tribute out of the cities they didn't utterly raze, still highly antagonistic to outsiders or those who challenge their sense of power, and still fighting with those in the Bowlands or the various orders of knights dedicated to the liberation of the fallen nations. The main difference is that now they lack the social cohesion to continue launching a massive attack, they're very very slowly being urbanized, and now instead of a bloody altar to the Storm God in the center of their camp they have a shrine of the Great Wheel.
On top of that, there are whole tribes of the Old Hong that refused to convert, and that are ready to make war with the Hong of the Tribelands, something that might end up creating a dilemma for the other human nations as to who to back up.
Anyways, the very center of my map is
full of ruins (and that was my number one goal in putting the Tribelands where I did), some still smouldering, and loot, and violent hordes of barbarians. I'd say that puts adventure right in the center stage.