Fatal Planet Campaign

[Irish Warrior]

Alright, I have decided to bite the bullet and post about my campaign. I call it the Fatal Planet Campaign as homage to the ultimate Science Fiction Film from the 50's "Forbidden Planet" original concept name "Fatal Planet". The campaign borrows some elements from Edgar Rice Burroughs's Caspak trilogy (The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, and Out of Time's Abyss).

Thus I have a world that mixes medieval times with the age of dinosaurs and the ages in between.

The main continent where the action takes place I call Caspak (aka Caprona) and it is a full Eurasia sized continent. However, it is a long twisting continent that crosses the equator four times and is surrounded by thousands upon thousands of islands from teeny-tiny to half-way between Greenland and Australia in size.

The technology is not as advanced as is usual in the game so the maximum armor available is leather armor and the max armor class with all magical options in place is Armor class 2. In keeping with the name Fatal Planet, the world is very deadly and the survival rate for adventurers is rather low. Getting a PC to 4th level is quite an accomplishment. Most of the more modern humans live in protected areas with barrier protection, and expansion of these areas is both slow and difficult.

There are other intelligent races, besides humans and all of them war on each other out in the wilds as they seek to gain an advantage on each other. Also upsetting the equations are the rouge mages that dwell out in the wilds and create all manner of powerful magic and experiment on the worlds creatures.

I use just the 3LBBs and do not use anything from the supplements and the campaign is heavily house-ruled.

Wealth does not involve Gold, Silver and the like. Wealth consists of Land, Livestock, Knowledge, Magic and captured Slaves. Most trade takes the form of barter.

Adventurers and most humans worship a god that gives them strength, grit and ruthless determination at birth and expects them to make it happen in their own lives. Prayers for help can bring quick death for being a cowardly whiner; however, the pouring out of the blood of enemies as a libation for their god usually brings benefits.

[tetramorph]

How do you judge the wealth, land, livestock, etc?

How do you award XP? Is XP separated completely from the acquisition of wealth?

Very interesting stuff.

Thanks

[Irish Warrior]

Every adventurer belongs to a House (clan). Within the House each unit of land is called an acre which is equal to about 15 modern acres or the land required to support one family (approx. 10 people) and to support the livestock and slaves. When an adventurer obtains the means to expand the House holdings(boundaries) by an acre he gains a level. Those means are a combination of Knowledge, Magic, Livestock and Slaves. The adding of a single acre to the House holdings brings prestige and honor in the House. Adding five acres brings great prestige and honor in the House and gives the adventurer a Voice in House decisions. It is considered bad form to war on other humans; nevertheless, it is fairly common. Human slaves are slaves for life but any children are adopted fully into the House. Slaves from other races are normally Charmed and worked to death.

To add an acre usually requires about 20 slaves who will be used to add to the Great Wall of the House, Magic to bind, strengthen and protect the new portion of the Great Wall and 40 head of livestock to both provide food for the labor and to plow the new land. New knowledge can be traded within the House to make up for small deficiencies in other areas.

[Irish Warrior]

The other intelligent races and humans all mutually hate each other and are constantly striving to wipe each other out. However, there are no all out wars because to take enough warriors to have a chance to successfully invade and conquer a domain would leave the home domain too vulnerable. So they try raids now and then and prey on each others adventurers.

Races

Humans - In this world the weak and the defective die young, the resources are not there to support the non-productive and as a consequence all humans have an average Strength, Intelligence, Constitution and Dexterity of 13 with a minimum of 9. Humans (men) average about 6 feet 6 inches tall and average about 250 lbs.

Leezards - These creatures come in several different varieties that are descended from lizards and reptiles, but are all lumped together by humans under the one name. They vary in size, depending on the version, from about five feet tall up to 7 feet tall and can weigh from 100 lbs up to 350 lbs. They have an average intelligence of 9.

Buggss - These creatures come in three versions and and are dangerous because of their numbers. They are not very big running about three to four feet tall and weighing about 50-60 lbs. They average Intelligence of 14.

Mo-rocs - These creatures are big brutes that look like a twisted version of humans. They run about 7 feet tall and 250 lbs and have an average Intelligence of 8.

Orgoes - There creatures are massive standing 8 feet tall and weighing around 450 lbs and also looked like a twisted version of humans. They are the least populous of the intelligence races and have an average Intelligence of 7.

Tivacs - These creatures are descended from birds and have lost the ability to fly; however, they are great climbers and can glide up to 100 feet depending on the height they start from. Starting from a height greater than 60 feet does not work and can be deadly if they try it. These creatures are about 5 feet tall and weigh about 70 lbs. They have an average Intelligence of 11.

Wild Mages - are not a race of their own and can be human or Buggss and occasionally Tivacs. They dwell out in the wilds and create all manner of powerful magics and experiment on the worlds creatures. They are constantly creating things and discarding them. They are very deadly and only a very powerful party seeks to attack one. They have charmed minions to due their bidding and can have quite extensive lairs. Adventurers generally try to sneak in and out and grab what they can.