Compartmentalizing for My Sanity

When I had first envisioned this campaign I was hoping to create something that would allow the party fully organic decision making.  I could have the party pick any place on the map and then stick their characters in and allow them to go from there.  I was recommended by a friend to not do that.  He told me to choose one area and make it the opening adventure.  Sand box them in till they complete a task, like a mini-campaign.  This would give me the chance to get to know the characters, the players and better arrange the rest of the environment to suit them.  It would allow for greater enjoyment of the game by all involved.  And after breaking the sandbox I can allow the whole of Adama to be open as I had originally intended.  I think that I will do this.  And the area I choose to be the sandbox is White.


White is a city built on the principal of defense.  It's location is on an artificial floating craft, made of a combination of reeds and scrap wood, most of which is wreckage that is brought by the current.  An entire caste of people make their living salvaging from the waters.  The area of calm water it floats on is in the center of the most active water in the entire Territory.  All rivers, flows and tides in all the city-states, both originate and terminate is the wild waters of White.  It is also the deepest city of all, with a dangerous undertow under the calm water of the city proper.



Salvaging is very dangerous, but potentially very economically rewarding.  Many poor take larger and larger risks in the dangerous waters for a chance at improving their lives permanently by bringing in a good haul.  Many of the richer denizens of the city are former salvagers, commonly known as salrites (salvage pirates).  The rest of the population is made up of pirates of the normal variety, and the services that pop up to cater to them.  Inns and brothels are the most legitimate business present.  White is also the capital of the black market for the entire Territory.


The survival of the city as a whole depends on a measure of co-opertion  to maintain its infrastructure and to expand.   Tolls are charged at the docks and are 'taxed' to cover costs.  Since the salrites are freelance, only three officials are employed at a time to oversee collecting the money from dock owners, seeing to overseeing the construction of new 'land' and the repair of old.  Their other main source of revenue is the sale of new 'land'.  These positions are basically self regulatory and therefore very open to corruption.  This is the problem that I will put to the present to my party.  They will not be able to leave until forming some sort of solution for saving the city from its own lack of bureaucracy.  I figured the irony would be amusing to my projected player base. 


To get them together I'm going to have to play the characters for the players a little.  One Character (already know which one) will have a treasure map and a boat, and will put out an advert that the players will be responding to for a crew.  I can leave the  reason for responding up to them, so hopefully this won't be to invasive. 

The reason they can't just set sail is that...I haven't really gotten that far.  I actually think That is the last think I need for the story line, besides NPCs and the map. 


Anyone got any suggestions?

Map ideas, and further details on areas.

So the map thing did not happen this week.  Or last week.  blargh.  I think that is the technical term.  However I think I have come up with a few other things.

First, pertaining to the whole map and how such a strange environment developed.  Basically a meteor. Hit ocean and collided with the edge of a continent, that's how the thing has at least shallow water over the whole surface and all these crazy environments.  The entire meteor is completely honey combed with caves and tunnel systems, which is why you can almost travel everywhere underground.  Water gets sucked up, spit out, stagnates, and everything else through these tunnels.


A situation has been developed for Green.  Farming and way of life is dependent upon relationship with unicorns.  The unicorns are literally burned by the touch of a non-virgin, so the culture has developed toward, late in life marriage, and fewer, later births.  This results in population decline, and weddings being an unhappy event instead of a joyous one.

There really isn't much a stigma against losing your virginity so much as a preference for your relationship with your unicorn.  The people tend to pair up with one or two unicorns and form a very close bond early in life.  And the relationship with the unicorns makes life so much more convenient.  They can walk on water, easing transportation, purify water which allows the farmers to farm many things that can't be grown anywhere else in the area. 

The unicorns are fully sentient and as upset about the population decline of their humans and the virginity problem as the humans.  They know that this problem has only been going on for the past four or five generations though and believe that there is something causing non-virgins to burn the unicorns.  Still working on how to get the rumor to the party, but I'm going to have the item be made of silver, and therefore really precious in this almost metal free enviroment....or maybe iron and allow them to have weapons made form it...I think I'll leave that open to what the party would like more.


I think the item will also be a cap on a pyramid (short dungeon)...placed there by the same necromancer baddie that is currently in Gray...might make a way to have the whole thing interconnected, but I don't think that matters at all till I see how the players are going to be.

I think I will also have them be greeted by a NPC and invited to a wedding upon entering the area.
Other than mapping and Npc's to be rolled I think I've got what I need for Green. Only 12 more city-states to go....

The Beginning of the World

Thirteen city-states in one Territory.  I have at least a bare bones idea of what I want in each city except for Summer-sky.  Been drawing a blank on that one.  I'm just going to give a quick run down of each area as I have it for now.

White
floating city in calm water with docks all around stretching out into violent pools, whirlpools, rivers converge and originate here, has Venice like architecture and setup, sewer system (want to use it as part of the plot for this area somehow.)

Yellow
Whalers, seafooev farmers

Tiger-Eye
ever changing sand hills surrounded by water, mines for precious stones, ruins, and archeologists  gems loose on the ground sparkling and pretty


Rose
actual swamps, mangrove trees silk farmers, near red same culture (Japanese)

SummerSky

Purple Dusk
near EbonGray and Black, same cliffs rising out of water (can come up inside of Black without stepping into EbonGray, through the tunnel/cave system)  this is wear the last of the dragons roost

Opal
Only pass out of Territory, has town of merchants, only importers and exporters in Territory, very wealthy, society is most like inspiration material

Green
unicorns that can walk on water, forest rising out of water, but not swamp like, (water constantly purified by unicorns)  Like Channelwood from Myst, tree-top society

Sapphire

underground society (rest of territory does not know it's there, thinks it is barren and empty) mermaids, surface barren visually like Tiger-eye, with shallow water and sand dunes. surface unpopulated, water filled caverns underground with like from systems of light refraction from natural gemstones

Red

Sulfur pools, volcanic activity, mud pits, rotten eggs smells, Japanese culture, onsen, health spas, like Bath, hot springs

Gray

Ship builders, more reeds than wood, trade for wood from Green, Egyptian like culture but no stone buildings, bad guy in area, evil spell turns papyrus into stone to build strange looking pyramid, declare himself a god  ruins paper export, can hear rumors, paper really expensive for a while

Ebon-Gray

surrounds Black on all sides, port city must negotiate way through to Black, warrior race, Spartan

Black

Raise Beef ONLY real land in Territory  city built into cliffs to avoid wasting valuable land, warriors as well, but Athenians to Ebon-Gray's Spartans  Corrupt Government



So there are the City-States as I have them so far.  On the map I have also switched Rose and Sapphire in the map.  Next week I will try to have a better map put together, and then I will start fleshing out the City's more.  Have a good Week!