A Whole New World.

As I discussed in my last post, I have recently returned to 2nd edition AD&D and a new campaign world. As such, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not talk a little about the process I am taking to design this new world.

I think that each world should have some sort of central theme and idea, that the DM can work from as a base line. With Meaghana, my orignial focus was on the Godly conflict revolving around the Law vs. Chaos distinction. With Gorbaldin, I wanted something totally different, and so I approached the creation of the world from almost the opposite direction. The Gods of Gorbaldin are distant, inscrutable beings that use intermediaries and metaphorical comunication even with their most powerful followers. As such, the world of Gorbaldin and its central ideas spring more naturally from the interactions of the mortal races, rather than a grand mythic history as was the case with Meaghana.

This leads me to the next major difference of the two worlds. Due in part to the distance of the Gods, and other beings of pure alignment, the people of Gorbaldin are in some ways more real to me than some of the peoples of Meaghana. For instance, the primary civilizing force in the campaign area is the Kingdom of Keplan. The Keplish have brought safety and civility to much of the Northlands, and the majority of the humans in the area trace their linage back to the founding of this great kingdom. However, the Keplish are not saints. They took their lands in a brutal war of conquest against the Anhaldans, a group of humans who lived in the area before the coming of the Keplish.

In Gorbaldin, these conflicts set the stage for the world as it currently stands. Many of the ancient ruins available for plundering are all that is left of the Ancient Anhaldan people, which leaves the characters a more murky world to navigate in. It is a world where goodness and heroic deeds are the responsibilites of mortals themselves, rather than them being kept on the narrow path by supernatual parent figures, who will appear to council their wayward children.

From this basic distinction the entire world has flowed, leading to a number of changes to everything from races to magic, which will be discussed in later posts. It has allowed for me to separate myself from what has come before, and forge a new gaming experience for not only myselves, but my players as well.

This brings me to my last point for this post. When I told my players about the change of game world, I had expected some resistance, as they had come to know and love Meaghana nearly as much as I do. I was suprised when the general feeling was one of excitement for the world change. The one thought I heard from everyone was "Great, We get to be the first PCs!" It has been so long since I had changed my game world, that frankly, I had forgotten the joy that is inherent with being the first people to experience a world. It does my heart good to see that excitement, and to know that it is there to help overcome even the difficulties of changing game systems, to one that none of the players had much experience with.

So here is to my players, and their characters: Alicia (Sister Sulwyn), Richard (Cartwicket Schepder), George (Valerius Justinius Leontius) and Stefanee (Alexander Caradas). I hope that your first steps upon this new world form a legacy that will help to shape it.