# Against the Elves (campaign idea)



## Afrodyte (Nov 28, 2004)

I have an idea for a campaign I want to run, and I have some specific goals in mind with this campaign, but I need a little help providing a few in-game elements to support the changes I'm making. In no particular order of importance, they are:

1. Test the alternate classes as I've initiated on this thread. I've since revised them, but the basic idea (generic classes, adventuring classes, and talent trees) remains the same. One of the most important things for me to do with these classes is to prioritize class abilities over wealth and equipment.
2. Test a rewriting of one of the core races. I did this revision mainly to provide a conceptual and thematic focus for the race. The PHB races are just sort of...there.  My revisions are here.
3. Alter or omit most of the cliches as discussed in this thread. This is mainly so I can see the different types of things I can do with the D20 system without having to buy and/or teach players a new system.  The main elements of standard D&D that I'm seeking to change are: the presence and relationships between humanoid races, the amount and type of magic available, the amount and type of wealth available to PCs, and the place of adventurers in society. These things seem to have the most direct impact upon how players approach the setting and determines to a certain extent the types of characters they will play.
4. Provide opportunities for more than one style of gaming and problem-solving. The PCs can negotiate and figure out non-violent solutions to problems or they can just say to hell with it and bash/chop some heads. They can even try to avoid getting involved in the mess that can happen in this scenario.

Here is what I have so far for the campaign.  I haven't gotten to the cruncy bits yet, since I like having a solid foundation to work from and some ideas just in case the players go on a tangent or something.  I will save my questions for the end.

*SCENARIO*
The situation
Once a year under the light of the full moon, the demons come out to hunt.  Wearing glowing garments and helms shaped like the heads of various wild creatures, the demons sit atop their fierce, gleaming steeds which run faster than any normal horse.  They take people, goods, and livestock before disappearing into the night.  For five years these demons have terrorized the villages, and someone must stop them.

From a certain point of view
Every few years the mortals inch deeper into the lands of the elves.  Every few years they have less and less of their own home.  The leader of the Red Branch has decided to take matters into his own hands and force mortal invaders to remain at bay.  His vanguard regularly goes to the mortals, taking away those who come too close to elven land, confiscating goods which can be used for the benefit of elves, and freeing the captive animals.

Tensions are rising
"The demons have kidnapped us and taken our livestock and the fruits of our labors.  We cannot allow this to continue without a fight.  Otherwise, before long there will be nothing and no one left." --farmer

"The mortals have taken the lands which were given to us by Mother.  They have usurpsed our rightful place and will not stop until all is gone.  We must protect ourselves from them by any means necessary." --leader of the Red Branch

Where do you stand?
Do you want to get rid of the mortals permanently?  Rid yourselves of the demons plaguing your home?  Or perhaps you are one of the few who seek peaceful coexistence. _Note: I am favoring the option where the PCs are trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem, but if they want to start a war instead, I think this scenario can be used to run with that as well._

*SETTING*
Physical Description
The setting is a group of about two dozen villages, hamlets, and thorpes loosely grouped around a small city about five days' travel (by ox cart) north of a mountain range.  A dragon uses the mountains as its turf, and rocs have been spotted flying about as well.  To the east, the elves settle in a vast, tangled forest.  The larger villages are closest to the city, and the smallest settlements dot the edge of the mountains and forest.  Every year, though, the settlements grow larger as people move from the overcrowded city to find comfort and lands of their own.

Subtle Magic
The vast majority of magic in this world is of the subtle variety.  It is not the reality-warping willworking common in other settings, but more like a mirror that reflects emotional states, personalities, significant events, and even moral quality.  It is passive and fluid, not active.  For instance, the scent of blood or rotting flesh may linger at the scene of a terrible battle.  Doves may nest in an area favored by someone with a peaceful disposition.  Two trees may intertwine at the graves of a loving couple.  A person versed in arcane lore is able to interpret the meaning of these signs and thus avoid misfortune.

The effects that magic has upon a person or the environment depends upon how potent it is which in turn depends upon too many factors to truly name.  The most well-known of them are time of day, season, mystical numbers, heredity, and specific materials.

Some individuals, through various means, are able to make this force reflect their wills.  These people become the mages and mystics who have left an indelible mark upon the psyche of humankind.

*HUMANS*
History
Humans first came to elven lands about 200 years ago.  The first settlement was a military outpost.  Then it had been built of wood and mud bricks on the banks of a narrow, steady river.  With the demand for goods constant, artisans and merchants flocked there to ply their trade.  Seeing that the area had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of lumber and iron ore, engineers and unskilled workers soon followed.

As more people came, the fledgling town gained the notice of the nobility.  Several minor lords were sent there to keep order and make sure proper tribute was paid to the king.  These nobles were the foundation of the Council of Lords.  As the city grew, the Council of Lords decided that keeping order would be easier with a single leader, so they chose one of their number to serve as High Lord of the city, with the council acting as his advisors.

About 50 years ago, the city grew so crowded that people moved nearby to start new lives more comfortable (if not more wealthy) than what could be found in the city.  Agriculture soon began in earnest.  Every year a new settlement was established.  They moved further and further away from the city in search of financial and personal independence.  While still subservient to the Council of Lords, they retained the freedom to live as they wished within their own households.

Self-sustaining and controlling an area vastly larger than the perimeter of the its walls, the city became a county and the High Lord a count.  The new county was then eligible for extra funds and protection from the duke and king, a fact which the Council of Lords is starting to exploit.

Politics
Officially, the "world" is a county, with the county seat being the city and ruled by the Count.  The Count, however, is but a figurehead due to his youth and lack of organizational skills.  The Council of Lords, the blue-blooded advisors to the Count, are the de facto rulers of the county.  It is their influence which determines policy in the county and can make life in the surrounding settlements bearable or miserable depending upon what best suits them, and they will certainly not allow themselves to lack for anything.

With a feeble Count as the head of state and the Council of Lords seeking to rule in their own right, astute students of politics sense a coup coming very soon.  Already they are seeking to consolidate their military and economic power by making moves to build strongholds within the county, most notably on the its borders at the mountains and the forest. Their appetite for power aroused, the Council of Lords will allow neither man nor demon to interfere with their ambitions.

Religion
The humans believe in a dualistic paradigm centered around two cosmic forces: the Light and the Darkness. The Light is the source of all life, all beauty, all truth, and all happiness. Those who serve this force are called the Children of Light and includes humans, benevolent spirits, domesticated animals, and harmless wild animals. Opposing the Light is the Darkness, which is the origin of evil, death, ugliness, lies, and suffering. The Darkness, out of envy for light, turned some of the Children against the Light, thus creating the Children of Darkness. Because the Darkness is deceptive, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between them. Incidentally, the creatures identified as Children of Darkness are the same ones who are or have been at odds with those classified as Children of Light. In the context of this campaign, this includes elves, though in other places of the world this may not be so.

*ELVES*
History
The Lady of the Wood does not speak much of her history prior to arriving in the forest.  The most she will say is that she was forced to leave, and every now and then she speaks wistfully of the grandeur she knew in the bosom of Mother (known to mortals as Faerie).

From Faerie, the Lady of the Wood was the first to arrive in the woods.  The site of her arrival is currently known as the Sacred Tree.  The Lady was alone for a while.  Soon, others joined her.  They were elves who were exiled or chose to leave.  Most, like her, sought a life different from that dictated to them.  Those who remained with the Lady submitted to her rule, recognizing her power.  Those who left founded their own realms far away.

Year after year, more joined her, until 10,000 elves were numbered among her followers.  With so great a number and so large a realm, the Lady saw the need for more organization.  Guided by her vision of a great kingdom, she modeled her society upon a tree.  From this the various Branches were formed.  From the start, the Lady ruled that merit alone would determine who leads.  When the position no longer suited them, they chose their replacement, provided that she approved.  Peace and stability reigned.

500 years ago, dragons came to the wood seeking new land and fresh meat.  They killed and plundered, stuffing their lairs with teh bones and treasures of the elves.  With great effort and many losses, the dragons were destroyed or driven to the mountains after 150 years of fighting.  Yet, the wars with the dragons devastated the elves.  Over three quarters of the population had been killed, leaving only about 2,500 elves.  Growth was slow, only one child being born per year in the realm of the Lady.  As a result, the Lady and the other leaders of the elves were reluctant to commit or sacrifice lives to any cause.  Therefore, when the mortals first came only 200 years ago, they were generally avoided.

Each time the mortals came, they ravaged the elves' home.  As they spread, they took more and more.  They changed the beautiful into the grotesque and tainted everything with their fear of death.  Every year less and less remains of what was their home.  And still the mortals come.

Politics
Elven society like a tree with the Lord or Lady of the Wood (in this case, the Lady of the Wood) as the trunk bringing the various branches together, and the roots of language, culture, and magic.  The leaves of this tree are individual elves.  Each branch serves a function in society.  These branches are:

Red Branch: Branch of War; military
Blue Branch: Branch of Justice; legal
Golden Branch: Branch of Wealth; trade, food, goods, labor
White Branch: Branch of Knowledge; education, magic, history
Violet Branch: Branch of the Arts; artists, craftsmen, performers
The leaders of these branches are chosen based on their expertise and leadership abilities.  They are essentially equals, but the one may be deferred to in matters within its domain, but all are subordinate to the Lady.

With the situation of encroaching mortals becoming more pertinent, the various branches are forming their own ideas of how they should be dealt with.  The leader of the Red Branch fervently believes that the mortals will not stay put unless forced to, much in the same way as other vermin.  Eventually the elves will have to make them move.  The Blue Branch supports him, but instead of being in favor of their removal, it wants mortals to respect their right to rule and submit themselves to the laws and customs of the elves.  The Golden Branch agrees with the Blue Branch and adds that mortals can be an excellent labor source, which will leave the elves free to pursue other avenues of wealth and prestige.  They could even be used to be rid of the dragon.  The Violet Branch is indifferent.  The White Branch believes that hasty action is a bad idea.  The elves must find out more about the mortals before determining policy.  The Lady of the Wood does not care who does what as long as the humans do not encroach further into her lands or endanger the lives of elves or the Sacred Tree.

Religion
According to the history of the elves:
_In the beginning there was Mother, and her womb is the source of all time, all space, and all being.  She gave birth to children in Her image and gave them some of Her powers and gifts: the power of Making, the power of Seeing, and the power of Choosing.  The final power, the power of Unmaking, She kept to herself.  The First Children filled the vast emptiness of space with fire and water and wind and earth, forming them into many shapes which pleased Her.  After a time the First Children longed to create children of their own.  They asked Mother how they could do so, and She told them how they must each join together to make children.  When asked why they could not make children alone as She did, Mother said that it is because only to Herself are all things possible.  Thus the children consented to join, and they found it joyous.  From their joinings were made the plants and animals of the worlds the First Children made.  These became known as the Grandchildren, and Mother delights in them.

When the Grandchildren were fruitful, Mother gave birth to the Second Children, and these too were given some measure of her powers, though less than the First Children, for they were to live within the world made by her elder children and act as representatives of Her power and grace within the world.  For this most of the First Children were glad, and they gave the Second Children dominion over the world in honor of the love they felt for Mother.

There was one who was discontent.  One of the First Children, who is called Fire in our tongue, wondered why the Second Children should receive all the glory.  Did the world made by the First Children not satisfy Mother anymore?  Were not the Grandchildren glorious enough for Mother?  The mind of Fire stewed with resentment, and he chose to remain in the shadows cast by his light.  He grew to hate the Second Children, and he resolved to destroy them, supplanting them with children of his own.  Fire, cloaked in the shadows, came upon his sister Earth unawares, and stole some clay.  From his brother Wind he took a handful of air.  In the darkness of the shadows, Fire worked for eons to make his children.  He sculpted their bodies from clay.  When that was done, he filled it with air, and the child came alive.  He then gave them the secret of making fire, with which they would destroy the Second Children and supplant them in dominion over the world.

These new children spread as quickly as the fire that made them.  When the Second Children first encountered them, they were glad, for they thought them to be more children created by Mother.  But the Children of Fire, fueled by the hatred instilled in them by their creator, slew them.  The Second Children used the powers granted to them by Mother to defend themselves, but they were unable to resist the combined strength of the Children of Fire.  The Mother then took them into her bosom where they would be safe until such a time came that they were strong enough to withstand the Children of Fire and to reclaim their place as Mother's chosen in the world.  While in the care of Mother, the Second Children grew stronger.  Little by little, they returned, settling in the regions still untouched by the Children of Fire, and peace reigned._

*NPCs*
Elven NPCs
Lady of the Wood
Branch leaders: Red Branch, Blue Branch, White Branch
Branch functionaries

Mortal NPCs
Count
Council of Lords: lord most in favor of using force, lord least in favor of using force, lord seeking to exploit "demons"

*PLACES*
Sacred Tree
Red Branch HQ
Blue Branch HQ
White Branch HQ
City
outskirt thorpe or hamlet

If you've gotten this far, I really appreciate your time.  Now, for the questions.  How do I present this to make it interesting to players?  Which places and NPCs, aside from those I've listed, would it be good for me to detail?  What sorts of party ideas would work best with this campaign?  How do I run a war if the PCs decide to pursue that option (I had an idea of having the leader of the Red Branch seeking to tame rocs to use in combat, if it came to that)?


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