Everbough Campaign Setting - Mouseguard Inspired Fantasy
Oct 11, 2016 5:43:03 GMT
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Post by Ulf_Beorstruk on Oct 11, 2016 5:43:03 GMT
I am creating a campaign for my players to take their first foray into 5e, and I wanted to find a setting that really took things back to basics. They're all long-time players, and know every trick and combo of Pathfinder, and before that 3.5, and so on. After listening to the episode on Mouse Guard, it scratched exactly that itch that I hadn't realized I had; a world that was big, new and unknown again. However, I'm not the biggest fan of the system, and getting my players into anything not d20 based is an uphill struggle. Therefore, I am taking it as inspiration for a setting of my own, with a more high-fantasy twist and the 5e ruleset. I am going to be outlining the setting, NPCs, locations and loose campaign structure here, and if any of this strikes your inspiration I hope you'll give some suggestions.
This story takes place in an enchanted wood that no human has ever seen to name. It is a temperate, deciduous forest (leafy trees, 4 distinct seasons) through which runs countless rivulets and streams. It is a generally very light place - during the day, mottled sunlight streaks down through the leaves, while the night is lit by bioluminescent plants - though this is to serve the narrative purpose of making the dark places all the darker. The whole place should feel magical - treents, wisps, enchanted springs, moss covered rocks carved in ancient languages, probably an enchanted sword in a stone somewhere. It should also feel fantastical, with the sprawling riverways traversed by mice riding snapping turtles, mouse knights in beetle-plate armour patrolling the underways, and more. Finally, it should keep some of the sense of vast nature from Mouse Guard. Encountering an elk in the forest should be a breathtaking, almost religious experience for the mice. The forest is bound on one side by a salt-water sea, and on the other by a desert. The border with the desert is extremely stark, going straight from woodland to desert and demarcated by a string of rune stones. No one alive knows where they came from or if they are holding back the desert from encroaching, or the forest from expanding, but that is a possible adventure line down the road.
The players will all be playing mice, with fur colour taking the place of race in a traditional 5e setting to provide character variety. For example, a shale gray mouse would use the dwarf rules, and carry some of the character traits and suggestions for dwarves, like a reputation for stubbornness. One exception to this will be removing all low-light and darkvision features from all the races. I think this can be a generally good piece of advice, since darkness can be such a fun setting element to play with, both narratively and mechanically. The mouse culture will be traditional fantasy setting, taking its inspiration from high medieval Europe and its combination of Celtic, Germanic, French and Mediterranean influences. I find that deciding what style of names will be used for a group to be very helpful in understanding the feel for the group, so some example mouse characters names are Tristan, Gwenivere, Gawain, Roland, Bruce.
Beyond the mice, the other sentient creatures will be chipmunks, rats, and weasels (though others might get added as the setting gets fleshed out). Chipmunks are not as smart or advanced as mice, and take the role as the barbarian or primitive noble/savage. They are based on a combination of earlier Celtic culture, down to dying portions of their red fur blue, and native american cultures. Their names are Celtic in origin, but of an older dialect than the mice. While a mouse might be called Finn, chipmunk names are Fionn, Feargal, Chulain, Maive. Rats are relatively rare in the forest, but those that are around are bigger and tougher than mice with a thorough nasty streak. They are this setting's orks, and have more fantastical names like Grom or Trask, or descriptive names like Trasher or Blackhide. Weasels are much more common than rats, and are the main antagonists of the mice. Physically much larger, they function like ogres or giants in this setting, and culturally are a mix of Nordic and Eastern Steppe cultures. Example names are Kjartan, Alfar or Skeggi.
The mouse kingdom is spread across the entire breadth of the forest, localized in a number of 'great cities'. I am currently thinking 7 great cities, with one of them being lost to the mice and another being overrun by undead. Each city will have a ruler, a representative on the council in the capital, its own relics and so on. Beyond these great cities are numerous settlements, villages and isolated outposts that fall under the jurisdiction of one of the cities. There will also be itinerant groups of mice that live on the waterways.
The capital city is Everbough, a city built up on the inside of the trunk of a mostly hollow treent known as the Ancient One. The Ancient One has slumbered past living memory, but legends say that this was the first mouse city, made in a bargain with the treent for protection in some long forgotten conflict, and from this place of safety and magic the mice expanded outwards. This is of course contested, since each city claims to be the first, but as the largest and most prominent it is the 'official' story. The primal magic that runs through the treent, keeping it alive and animate, is also what powers the city, since fire is not allowed inside. Magic lights the houses and animates public fountains, and is used for all aspects of daily life. High up in this hollow is a cleft that lets in sunlight during the day and allows the birds used by the mice as mounts to come and go. At the highest point in the hollow is Everbough Castle, home of the Queen of the Mouselands and the place where the council from the other cities meet. The castle itself is like an iceberg, hanging down from the ceiling of the hollow, but also rising above it into the boughs of the Ancient One above.
The other cities I am still working on, but thematically there will be a lake city, a mining city, one suspended from tree branches where most of the bird knights are based, and several others. I like the idea of a lost city, as well as an undead city, and am not sure at the moment whether those will be the same or separate yet. Since the Queen/King will be based out of Everbough, the other cities' rulers will need a specific title, and I'm not sure yet whether I want to use Count, Duke, or have them all have their own unique title. At least one city will probably have something of a rebellious streak, and over the course of the campaign might name themselves King or Queen.
The Mouseguard will be based out of Everbough, and will be under the command of the Queen. They will be one of two such guard units, with a healthy rivalry between the two companies to prove themselves to be the better servants to the Queen (think the Musketeers vs the Red Guard in Dumas). They will retain the iconic cloaks and the symbology of their different colours, while the rival company will have some equally iconic accessory to make them visually easy to differentiate. This loses some of the 'ranger' vibe that the Guard have in the actual canon, where they have authority in the woods but not in the cities, but will be useful from a narrative view because once the players become part of the Guard, I want them to have some degree of authority.
That's what I have so far for the setting, I will be fleshing it out as I get time to work on it but if you managed to make it this far and you've been inspired by anything or have some suggestions for things that would be cool in the setting, I'd love to hear from you.
This story takes place in an enchanted wood that no human has ever seen to name. It is a temperate, deciduous forest (leafy trees, 4 distinct seasons) through which runs countless rivulets and streams. It is a generally very light place - during the day, mottled sunlight streaks down through the leaves, while the night is lit by bioluminescent plants - though this is to serve the narrative purpose of making the dark places all the darker. The whole place should feel magical - treents, wisps, enchanted springs, moss covered rocks carved in ancient languages, probably an enchanted sword in a stone somewhere. It should also feel fantastical, with the sprawling riverways traversed by mice riding snapping turtles, mouse knights in beetle-plate armour patrolling the underways, and more. Finally, it should keep some of the sense of vast nature from Mouse Guard. Encountering an elk in the forest should be a breathtaking, almost religious experience for the mice. The forest is bound on one side by a salt-water sea, and on the other by a desert. The border with the desert is extremely stark, going straight from woodland to desert and demarcated by a string of rune stones. No one alive knows where they came from or if they are holding back the desert from encroaching, or the forest from expanding, but that is a possible adventure line down the road.
The players will all be playing mice, with fur colour taking the place of race in a traditional 5e setting to provide character variety. For example, a shale gray mouse would use the dwarf rules, and carry some of the character traits and suggestions for dwarves, like a reputation for stubbornness. One exception to this will be removing all low-light and darkvision features from all the races. I think this can be a generally good piece of advice, since darkness can be such a fun setting element to play with, both narratively and mechanically. The mouse culture will be traditional fantasy setting, taking its inspiration from high medieval Europe and its combination of Celtic, Germanic, French and Mediterranean influences. I find that deciding what style of names will be used for a group to be very helpful in understanding the feel for the group, so some example mouse characters names are Tristan, Gwenivere, Gawain, Roland, Bruce.
Beyond the mice, the other sentient creatures will be chipmunks, rats, and weasels (though others might get added as the setting gets fleshed out). Chipmunks are not as smart or advanced as mice, and take the role as the barbarian or primitive noble/savage. They are based on a combination of earlier Celtic culture, down to dying portions of their red fur blue, and native american cultures. Their names are Celtic in origin, but of an older dialect than the mice. While a mouse might be called Finn, chipmunk names are Fionn, Feargal, Chulain, Maive. Rats are relatively rare in the forest, but those that are around are bigger and tougher than mice with a thorough nasty streak. They are this setting's orks, and have more fantastical names like Grom or Trask, or descriptive names like Trasher or Blackhide. Weasels are much more common than rats, and are the main antagonists of the mice. Physically much larger, they function like ogres or giants in this setting, and culturally are a mix of Nordic and Eastern Steppe cultures. Example names are Kjartan, Alfar or Skeggi.
The mouse kingdom is spread across the entire breadth of the forest, localized in a number of 'great cities'. I am currently thinking 7 great cities, with one of them being lost to the mice and another being overrun by undead. Each city will have a ruler, a representative on the council in the capital, its own relics and so on. Beyond these great cities are numerous settlements, villages and isolated outposts that fall under the jurisdiction of one of the cities. There will also be itinerant groups of mice that live on the waterways.
The capital city is Everbough, a city built up on the inside of the trunk of a mostly hollow treent known as the Ancient One. The Ancient One has slumbered past living memory, but legends say that this was the first mouse city, made in a bargain with the treent for protection in some long forgotten conflict, and from this place of safety and magic the mice expanded outwards. This is of course contested, since each city claims to be the first, but as the largest and most prominent it is the 'official' story. The primal magic that runs through the treent, keeping it alive and animate, is also what powers the city, since fire is not allowed inside. Magic lights the houses and animates public fountains, and is used for all aspects of daily life. High up in this hollow is a cleft that lets in sunlight during the day and allows the birds used by the mice as mounts to come and go. At the highest point in the hollow is Everbough Castle, home of the Queen of the Mouselands and the place where the council from the other cities meet. The castle itself is like an iceberg, hanging down from the ceiling of the hollow, but also rising above it into the boughs of the Ancient One above.
The other cities I am still working on, but thematically there will be a lake city, a mining city, one suspended from tree branches where most of the bird knights are based, and several others. I like the idea of a lost city, as well as an undead city, and am not sure at the moment whether those will be the same or separate yet. Since the Queen/King will be based out of Everbough, the other cities' rulers will need a specific title, and I'm not sure yet whether I want to use Count, Duke, or have them all have their own unique title. At least one city will probably have something of a rebellious streak, and over the course of the campaign might name themselves King or Queen.
The Mouseguard will be based out of Everbough, and will be under the command of the Queen. They will be one of two such guard units, with a healthy rivalry between the two companies to prove themselves to be the better servants to the Queen (think the Musketeers vs the Red Guard in Dumas). They will retain the iconic cloaks and the symbology of their different colours, while the rival company will have some equally iconic accessory to make them visually easy to differentiate. This loses some of the 'ranger' vibe that the Guard have in the actual canon, where they have authority in the woods but not in the cities, but will be useful from a narrative view because once the players become part of the Guard, I want them to have some degree of authority.
That's what I have so far for the setting, I will be fleshing it out as I get time to work on it but if you managed to make it this far and you've been inspired by anything or have some suggestions for things that would be cool in the setting, I'd love to hear from you.
