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10/03/2016 6:12 am  #1


City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

I hope this is the right place to post this - I've written up the details of a city that's proven to be an interesting locus for a wide range of adventures.    If any of it is of use to anyone for their own games then feel free to take/use/change anything that sparks a thought.    I'd love to get some feedback on what works, and pretend to love getting feedback on what doesn't.

Link here


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10/04/2016 6:01 am  #2


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

I downloaded this yesterday. A very impressive piece of work. I loved the pseudo-Mesopotanian(?) vibe, and thought I detected a bit of inspiration from the flawed film 10,000 BC (the good bit at the end). The pyramid in two places at once was a lovely idea! I'd love to see more on this setting - the other two cities and the wider geography generally. More please!! 


My real name is Steve Hall
 

10/04/2016 6:48 am  #3


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

I went to school with someone called Gruntfuttock.  J Peasemould of the breed so I if memory serves.  Odd chap, not least  in that he was in his fifties at the time.

Thanks for responding - it's lovely to get some feedback, and I'm glad you liked what you saw.  I haven't actually seen 10,000BC so any inspiration is entirely coincidental or filtered through the Akashic Records (available from Our Price I believe) or some such thing.   

There's plenty more material but at present it's in the "For Finn's use" format which would be useless and probably incomprehensible to real people until tidied up and dressed nice like the last offering.   I'll keep posting as they get cleaned up.   Any thoughts on what you'd like to see next (from the ambiguous vague notes in the Afterword)?

Last edited by Finn (10/04/2016 6:54 am)


I've written a book!  Regency Drama and Cyberpunk thriller all rolled into one!   "A Step Beyond Context" available now.
My blog -Otherworlds - RPG  thoughts, settings, adventures
     Thread Starter
 

10/04/2016 7:50 am  #4


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

I'd love to know who are the rivals to Mother Red Sash - I assume there are other gangs in Three Bridges, subordinate to the Dear Mother, who possibly jockey among each other under her rule, or who may entertain thoughts of replacing her.

​How does a new Queen get chosen, or rather, how does the Lich King choose which Noble House will present a new bride. Does the king actually choose a bride from two candidates, one from each House? Or does he decide on the House first, and they present a selection of unfortunate young women?

​Do the Perfected and the Ravens indulge in low-level covert warfare against each other? How do the Lions feel about the end of their Queen's reign (which they should be expecting, one way or another)? Could the Lions also be able to put forward a new bride, or do they accept that it's another House's turn to provide the Queen?

​Basically, I think a few more hooks would be nice.

​However, I'd like to hear about the other cities as well - greedy or what?

​[10,000 BC is one for the bargain bin only - some good pulpy ideas there, but too much wordy acting from actors who can't act, when ACTION was what the film required. The city at the end was the best bit, but the film didn't spend enough time there. Liked the Terror Birds though.]


My real name is Steve Hall
 

10/04/2016 8:02 am  #5


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

Also....

​The Slip was a nice idea - I do like a bit of mysterious horror in my S&S (I blame reading the Kane stories in the 1970s).

​The Sentinels are an obvious employer for our PCs, but what of the opposition? If they are so efficient, what makes river piracy still attractive? What are the cargoes that attract the pirates? I assume that ships that cannot afford the protection of the Sentinels are carrying cargo that is rather mundane?

​Also, what do the Sentinels think of Mother Red Sash? Useful contact in the city/a rival/an irrelevance?

​A bit of detail on the bazaars would be nice, as I assume new arrivals in the city (as well as the established adventurers) wiould spend a good deal of time there.

​I don't like heavily detailed settings, so your approach is hitting the right spot for me - but just a little more detail would be nice. And I love a short paragraph or two on the everyday. What do people eat and drink? What are the buildings like for rich/middle class/poor?


My real name is Steve Hall
 

10/04/2016 8:30 am  #6


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

Well thank you, I'll see what I can do :D

My instinct would be to say "Hey fill in the blanks with whatever makes sense for you" (since that's what I would do) BUT I'm more than happy to share some of the fillings for the gaps that I've already fleshed out in play so you can have the Official Canon version.

One point that made for some nice intrigue - the Lich King tends to choose his next bride from among the young noble ladies presented at court (the ones who lounge around being fanned by burly men with palm fronds etc) and cynically rotates his next choice between the three noble Houses.    The most likely next Queen is Ialor of the Perfected who is gorgeous, meek and relatively new to court but is being pushed by the House as the ideal candidate.    So far her "father" Kal-Haram has managed to conceal from everyone that Ialor is not actually his daughter but a slave he purchased during a secret transaction some months ago.   He wants the benefits of a queen on the throne you see without actually surrendering his flesh and blood to the foul company of Tem-Karis.   It's a damned dangerous game and kind of relies on keeping poor Ialor doped up and confused about her memories.    The Ravens already suspect something and are desperately seeking for proof of shenanigans which will first require finding the real daughter where she's been sent for safety...


I've written a book!  Regency Drama and Cyberpunk thriller all rolled into one!   "A Step Beyond Context" available now.
My blog -Otherworlds - RPG  thoughts, settings, adventures
     Thread Starter
 

10/05/2016 2:33 am  #7


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

I'm more than happy to fill in the blanks - like you, I generally prefer what I make up to the work of others - but I would like to see a little bit more of what you came up with, as what you have revealed so far was inventive and intriguing.

​Knowing how the new bride was chosen was helpful - so the poor old Lions know their time in the sun is over...umm...wonder how they cope with that? Perhaps that's when a noble family thinks about toppling the Lich King (the fools!)

​The Ialor plot is a nice one! 


My real name is Steve Hall
 

10/05/2016 3:13 am  #8


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

Thanks for the kind words - I haven't got a spruced up appendix to the background stuff yet but if you're interested I do have a couple of adventures I've written for BOL that have been quite well received when I published them on my blog.  Just home grown efforts but with some wider applicability I feel and you're welcome to them if you like

Five Lights
Long Night At Blackthorn

And hopefully a map of the nation of Arakhem will be of use

Last edited by Finn (10/05/2016 2:05 pm)


I've written a book!  Regency Drama and Cyberpunk thriller all rolled into one!   "A Step Beyond Context" available now.
My blog -Otherworlds - RPG  thoughts, settings, adventures
     Thread Starter
 

10/06/2016 2:54 am  #9


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

That map is great - I think my players may take a holiday in Arakhem someday...


My real name is Steve Hall
 

10/06/2016 12:17 pm  #10


Re: City of the Lich King - a Sword & Sorcery city setting

Thanks Gruntfuttock.   If you do unleash your players on Arakhem let me know how it goes.  I appreciate all the feedback you've given, it encourages me to keep going


I've written a book!  Regency Drama and Cyberpunk thriller all rolled into one!   "A Step Beyond Context" available now.
My blog -Otherworlds - RPG  thoughts, settings, adventures
     Thread Starter
 

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