Post by gsmitty44 on Nov 12, 2017 17:17:46 GMT
When I realized that the adventure my PC’s had been working on for almost a year was heading into the last stretch I decided to get a head start on their next world. Conveniently, I had just watched Season 1 of Into the Badlands and loved the concept of the show which lends itself very nicely to role-playing. What I retyped below is the basic set-up for the world that I created for my PC’s to play in. Before you read it you should know that I am not a purist. I don’t get upset when films make change the backstory, race, gender, etc. of the characters or events from the book or comic. I think that this is especially important for RPG’s for two reasons. 1) I don’t want my players to know what’s coming up (mine haven’t seen they show, but they could) and 2) we all know what happens when we try to pigeonhole our players into doing something very specific. I have already started this campaign with my players, but there is still much that they have yet to discover, so I am open to suggestions and modification as long as your recommendation isn’t “That didn’t happen in the canon.” However, if I have made a glaring error which does not seem to be a purposeful adaptation, please let me know. I am definitely not an “ItB Guru.” Lastly, I’m playing 4e (I know) so the specifics for each race are built around that, but it shouldn’t be tough to change to another edition.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show and don’t want to look it up, here is a brief summary:
In post-apocalyptic/nuclear war Southern America, the greater-Louisiana area has been ravaged and rebuilt under the rule of seven barons who have banned the use of guns. Each baron rules his/her own territory and controls a portion of the economy. Although, they don’t exactly have “equal” power of the land. Each baron has a military force called Clippers, lead by a single Clipper Regent. Boys who are attempting to become clippers are known as Colts. Cogs are the lower class citizens who are the labor force of the world, like cogs in a machine. Nomads roam the lands in between, and on the outskirts of, territories.
Since the DND world has no guns nor nukes, I set my campaign about 300 years after an empire’s downfall. Instead of different families claiming power as barons, I have attributed a race to each barony. My players didn’t have to be the same race, but they had to decide on which house they would all serve before the campaign began. Had they chosen to be the same race as the ruling house they could be in the noble family, while all other races would be advisers or members of the military, or even a cog in certain circumstances. In order to make each house equally appealing I have given each house automatic proficiency with one ranged, one-handed and two-handed weapon. If the PC’s use those weapons they may do so for free, while all other weapons must be purchased as normal. The adventures the characters get would largely be guided by their house and the allies/enemies they make in the world. What I love about the setting is that any house can be heroic should your PC’s choose it. And since conflict can come from any of the other houses, they can all act as enemies too.
Half-Elves are not a noble family, so they most commonly nomads, cogs or clippers.
Humans
Ruled by Minerva, better known as The Widow. She is baroness of the oilfields, and is thus very important to the rest of the Badlands. Her husband has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Most suspect her (rightfully?) of foul play, and very few recognize her as a ruler. She is eager to prove herself and claim her land, if not more, in the eyes of the other barons. She is in direct conflict with Quinn, but allied with Rojas.
Her clipper regent is her daughter, Tilda.
Their family sigil is a white butterfly on light-blue.
They have automatic proficiency with the shuriken (which I made a minor action), long-spear, and flail.
Dragonborn
Ruled by Rojas. Baron of Agriculture and Livestock. Allied with The Widow.
His clipper regent is Ileah.
Their family sigil is a green grasshopper on black.
They have automatic proficiency with the long bow, scimitar and falchion.
Halflings
Ruled by Chau. Baron of the cogs and transportation. He is in charge or rounding up nomads and “giving them a better life as cogs.” He and his work force then train the cogs in different skills and then ships them out to each of the other six territories to work for a living. He is also in charge of shipping and receiving all of the goods coming from and going to the other six territories. For this reason Chau is pretty well respected by all, including his cogs. He killed his predecessor, Jorban, who treated cogs as slaves, not as a lower working class. (I know that’s not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but Chau sees himself as truly helping the lower class by giving them a means to earn their survival.) Chau’s wife is Mira, and his children, oldest to youngest, are Ard, Nura, Flynn, Koy, Dom, Reema and Oleanna
His clipper regent is Wyn.
Their family sigil is a black fox on white.
They have automatic proficiency with the short bow, flail and katar.
Tieflings
Ruled by Broadmore. Baron of machinery and smithing. He is cordial with all other houses, but he makes money off of conflict, so while he tries to stay out of conflict he does not do much to work for peace between the other barons.
His clipper regent is Cain.
Their family sigil is a white narwhal on blue.
They are automatically proficient with the throwing hammer, war hammer, and the spike chain (which they don’t sell to other houses).
Eladrin
Ruled by Hassan. Baron of textiles and history. Hassan’s territory has the only library in the badlands. Their knowledge, use and manipulation of history gives them an advantage over the other houses.
His clipper regent is Damien.
Their family sigil is a golden peacock on purple.
They have automatic proficiency with the hand-crossbow, rapier and glaive.
Dwarves
Ruled by Jacobee. Only living Baron to have inherited his Barony from his father, he is eager to prove himself worthy of the title. Allied with Quinn. Being the Baron of the treasury, he has a cordial relationship with all barons and knows he has some level of control over them all. Jacobee is in charge of mining the gold, silver, copper, etc., which determines how much money is in the market of the bandlands, and he also determines prices and taxes for the goods and services offered in the world.
His clipper regent is Zephyr, who has had a romantic relationship with Sunny(Quinn’s clipper regent) in the past.
Their family sigil is a pair of white pickaxes and diamonds on black.
They have automatic proficiency with sling, warpick and maul.
Elves
Ruled by Quinn, who was the clipper regent of the previous baron until Quinn murdered him for the barony. Quinn has the largest clipper force in the badlands by far. Allied with Jacobee. Is mentally unstable (from an illness?) but keeps it secret from his family. Married with a son, Ryder, whom he deems unfit to be the next baron. Ryder also walks with a limp he got from being captured and tortured by nomads when he would younger. Quinn also married a second wife who is Ryder’s age. Ryder and she have had a secret relationship.
Baron of the timber and vices: ale and poppies for opium.
His clipper regent is Sunny who previously had a relationship with Zephyr, and now has a prohibited relationship with a doctor who becomes pregnant. Clippers cannot have families, so Sunny keeps this a secret.
Their sigil is a white armadillo on red.
They have automatic proficiency with the hand axe, battle axe, and great axe. They may, instead, choose to take the clipper proficiency of crossbow, greatsword and bastard sword.
My characters chose the elves, so we retconned a bit. Quinn married Adrie to father Enna and Erik (two of my PC’s) before marrying Valna to father a much younger Ryder. I started my campaign early enough to rescue Ryder from the nomads who tortured him, much earlier than the show started. An estranged cousin Kashyyyk (a third PC) runs an elite brothel and opium den in the city. The last PC, also an elf and named Scarlet, is an advisor to Quinn regarding the Dragonborn.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show and don’t want to look it up, here is a brief summary:
In post-apocalyptic/nuclear war Southern America, the greater-Louisiana area has been ravaged and rebuilt under the rule of seven barons who have banned the use of guns. Each baron rules his/her own territory and controls a portion of the economy. Although, they don’t exactly have “equal” power of the land. Each baron has a military force called Clippers, lead by a single Clipper Regent. Boys who are attempting to become clippers are known as Colts. Cogs are the lower class citizens who are the labor force of the world, like cogs in a machine. Nomads roam the lands in between, and on the outskirts of, territories.
Since the DND world has no guns nor nukes, I set my campaign about 300 years after an empire’s downfall. Instead of different families claiming power as barons, I have attributed a race to each barony. My players didn’t have to be the same race, but they had to decide on which house they would all serve before the campaign began. Had they chosen to be the same race as the ruling house they could be in the noble family, while all other races would be advisers or members of the military, or even a cog in certain circumstances. In order to make each house equally appealing I have given each house automatic proficiency with one ranged, one-handed and two-handed weapon. If the PC’s use those weapons they may do so for free, while all other weapons must be purchased as normal. The adventures the characters get would largely be guided by their house and the allies/enemies they make in the world. What I love about the setting is that any house can be heroic should your PC’s choose it. And since conflict can come from any of the other houses, they can all act as enemies too.
Half-Elves are not a noble family, so they most commonly nomads, cogs or clippers.
Humans
Ruled by Minerva, better known as The Widow. She is baroness of the oilfields, and is thus very important to the rest of the Badlands. Her husband has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Most suspect her (rightfully?) of foul play, and very few recognize her as a ruler. She is eager to prove herself and claim her land, if not more, in the eyes of the other barons. She is in direct conflict with Quinn, but allied with Rojas.
Her clipper regent is her daughter, Tilda.
Their family sigil is a white butterfly on light-blue.
They have automatic proficiency with the shuriken (which I made a minor action), long-spear, and flail.
Dragonborn
Ruled by Rojas. Baron of Agriculture and Livestock. Allied with The Widow.
His clipper regent is Ileah.
Their family sigil is a green grasshopper on black.
They have automatic proficiency with the long bow, scimitar and falchion.
Halflings
Ruled by Chau. Baron of the cogs and transportation. He is in charge or rounding up nomads and “giving them a better life as cogs.” He and his work force then train the cogs in different skills and then ships them out to each of the other six territories to work for a living. He is also in charge of shipping and receiving all of the goods coming from and going to the other six territories. For this reason Chau is pretty well respected by all, including his cogs. He killed his predecessor, Jorban, who treated cogs as slaves, not as a lower working class. (I know that’s not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but Chau sees himself as truly helping the lower class by giving them a means to earn their survival.) Chau’s wife is Mira, and his children, oldest to youngest, are Ard, Nura, Flynn, Koy, Dom, Reema and Oleanna
His clipper regent is Wyn.
Their family sigil is a black fox on white.
They have automatic proficiency with the short bow, flail and katar.
Tieflings
Ruled by Broadmore. Baron of machinery and smithing. He is cordial with all other houses, but he makes money off of conflict, so while he tries to stay out of conflict he does not do much to work for peace between the other barons.
His clipper regent is Cain.
Their family sigil is a white narwhal on blue.
They are automatically proficient with the throwing hammer, war hammer, and the spike chain (which they don’t sell to other houses).
Eladrin
Ruled by Hassan. Baron of textiles and history. Hassan’s territory has the only library in the badlands. Their knowledge, use and manipulation of history gives them an advantage over the other houses.
His clipper regent is Damien.
Their family sigil is a golden peacock on purple.
They have automatic proficiency with the hand-crossbow, rapier and glaive.
Dwarves
Ruled by Jacobee. Only living Baron to have inherited his Barony from his father, he is eager to prove himself worthy of the title. Allied with Quinn. Being the Baron of the treasury, he has a cordial relationship with all barons and knows he has some level of control over them all. Jacobee is in charge of mining the gold, silver, copper, etc., which determines how much money is in the market of the bandlands, and he also determines prices and taxes for the goods and services offered in the world.
His clipper regent is Zephyr, who has had a romantic relationship with Sunny(Quinn’s clipper regent) in the past.
Their family sigil is a pair of white pickaxes and diamonds on black.
They have automatic proficiency with sling, warpick and maul.
Elves
Ruled by Quinn, who was the clipper regent of the previous baron until Quinn murdered him for the barony. Quinn has the largest clipper force in the badlands by far. Allied with Jacobee. Is mentally unstable (from an illness?) but keeps it secret from his family. Married with a son, Ryder, whom he deems unfit to be the next baron. Ryder also walks with a limp he got from being captured and tortured by nomads when he would younger. Quinn also married a second wife who is Ryder’s age. Ryder and she have had a secret relationship.
Baron of the timber and vices: ale and poppies for opium.
His clipper regent is Sunny who previously had a relationship with Zephyr, and now has a prohibited relationship with a doctor who becomes pregnant. Clippers cannot have families, so Sunny keeps this a secret.
Their sigil is a white armadillo on red.
They have automatic proficiency with the hand axe, battle axe, and great axe. They may, instead, choose to take the clipper proficiency of crossbow, greatsword and bastard sword.
My characters chose the elves, so we retconned a bit. Quinn married Adrie to father Enna and Erik (two of my PC’s) before marrying Valna to father a much younger Ryder. I started my campaign early enough to rescue Ryder from the nomads who tortured him, much earlier than the show started. An estranged cousin Kashyyyk (a third PC) runs an elite brothel and opium den in the city. The last PC, also an elf and named Scarlet, is an advisor to Quinn regarding the Dragonborn.