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dugfromthearth
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009
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 Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:42 am Post subject: Basic questions for Aztec/Polynesian setting - Rain of Blood |
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I am working on Rain of Blood - a fantasy setting with a blend of Aztecs and Polynesia (fantasy - not actual Aztecs and Polynesia).
One tropical island has a volcanic crater which collects rain and produces a river. Irrigation using the river allows a large Aztec style city (Teohoticuan) which is ruled over by priests of Tlaloc - god of water, rain, and blood. They have a very large population making them the biggest power in the islands. They of course engage in human sacrifice and need to capture people for sacrifice (or get tribute including slaves).
Other islands are either independent or tribute islands - some organized into kingdoms, others independent villages. They do not worship Tlaloc and want to resist the enslavement by Teohoticuan.
The priests of Tlaloc are hereditary and are pure strain humans. The rest of the island inhabitants (including most of the residents of Teohoticuan) are members of totemic tribes and are humanoid animals (I am looking at using the races from SW Justifiers). Totems all have access to magic (similar to Glorantha) but it is very limited totem magic which only applies to the caster (bestial strength, bestial vigor, animal armor, etc) - making them sort of very low powered supers. Priests of Tlaloc have their own dark magic in the more traditional vein.
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My questions are really on how limited/focused to make the setting
1) should I just make the setting to be Tlaloc versus others and not worry about setting up for adventures outside of that conflict?
2) should I limit the totems per area to add more flavor (Teohoticuan is inhabitted by hippomen, island X is all Jaguars, island Y is all monkeys) or allow a mix of races for more variety?
3) how many islands should I have? Should this be a small chain focused on personal adventures and the immediate struggle? Or multiple island chains allowing for a more epic scale with more politics?
4) should I have different cultures for different islands/chains for flavor and variety (on island X drumming is important and everyone wields clubs) or different professions within the same islands (fishermen use spears, diggers use spades)
5) should I make it designed as good guys vs Tlaloc, or make it so you can play the bad guys if you want (or be able to play citizens of Teohoticuan as good guys who are enslaved/dominated)?
I am leaning towards
- the evil races are priests of Tlaloc, Xoc (sharks) and Acayuman (crocodiles) who gladly serve Tlaloc.
- everyone else is enslaved, dominated or resisting Tlaloc, be they citizens of Teohoticuan or living on another island - and can be PCs
- races live in different places on the islands - not on different islands, and mix within villages
- culture/style is by profession, not island
- one island chain with some more distant isolated islands (semi-legendary)
- focus is on struggle vs Tlaloc. Other adventures are possible but incidental or tied to the main struggle (a race up a mountain to convince a village to ally with you against Tlaloc). |
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Chezzo
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Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 282
Location: Philly, PA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| Sounds like lots of fun! Are the good guys not natives? The language barrier would be something if that were the case. |
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Takeda
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Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:45 am Post subject: |
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Priests could be some incorporeal being that possesses the priests and feeds off the tremendous energies released during the sacrifice ... sort of like a vampire. They are tremendously powerful but the religion itself is a phalacy. The Tlaloc followers could easily be villified but it could be much like how the the German people were swayed in WWII ... not evil just caught in the hold of a culture of fear and hero worship that they have no choice but to follow. Sort of like Big Brother from 1984 ... obedience is the only choice aside from death.
There could be a growing underground resistance ... but the 'Priests' can mind-rip anyone captured so there are resistance cells everywhere but nobody knows more than they must to keep the resistance safe. Keep in mind many Tlaloc will be zealots that follow the Priests directives without question as a matter of faith ...
I would advise Having a huge archipelago to draw upon ... gives you an almost unlimited playground to draw from. Could be a water world with very few large landmasses. Having a huge continent rise out of the ocean at some time in the future populated by strange people/creatures and flora could be interesting ... could throw the power struggles sideways ...
Having various totems on various islands but not limited to a particular one seems intuitive ... each island group could have a 'chosen' totem ... but I wouldn't limit island X being the only source of Totem X as that ties your hands for later ... although it allows for rivalry too if a competing island group was found to have the same totems but were rivals ... could be like the difference between a Jaguar and an Ocelot ... or a lemur and a chimpanzee, etc. ... <shrug>
Sounds like fun ... 
_________________
Dean: "Ya' know she could be faking."
Sam: "Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick?"
[Dean nods]
Sam: "Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick?"
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dugfromthearth
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Chezzo wrote: | | Sounds like lots of fun! Are the good guys not natives? The language barrier would be something if that were the case. |
the good guys are native, they just don't worship Tlaloc.
The background which doesn't normally affect play is:
The world exists as an incubator for souls. Souls exist in bodies to protect them while they mature. But bodies are normally weak so that the soul is not corrupted by the flesh - this makes survival difficult.
So many people turned to totems and became part animal - making their bodies much stronger (in game terms pure humans all have the Old disadvantage, making them weaker but more smarts skills). Totemics (I need a better name, maybe primals) have rejected the gods and thus cannot serve as priests - just use their shamanistic totem magic. The pure humans can be priests and rely on the gods for support. In this area the only god worshipped is Tlaloc.
Your "race" is determined by your mother. If different totems mate - the child is the totem of the mother. So being human and thus able to be a priest is hereditary. The pure humans consider themselves the only true humans and the totemics as being beasts and beneath them - basically animals who should be enslaved to the humans. |
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Takeda
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds cool!
_________________
Dean: "Ya' know she could be faking."
Sam: "Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick?"
[Dean nods]
Sam: "Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick?"
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dugfromthearth
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Takeda wrote: | but it could be much like how the the German people were swayed in WWII ... not evil just caught in the hold of a culture of fear and hero worship that they have no choice but to follow. Sort of like Big Brother from 1984 ... obedience is the only choice aside from death.
There could be a growing underground resistance ... but the 'Priests' can mind-rip anyone captured so there are resistance cells everywhere but nobody knows more than they must to keep the resistance safe. Keep in mind many Tlaloc will be zealots that follow the Priests directives without question as a matter of faith ...
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I think I will create a hindrance for those awed by the priests. -2 to resist persuasion and intimidation from priests and -2 to attack them (-4 as a major hindrance). Much of the population accepts the words of the priests and could barely bring themselves to attack them (missing with the penalty might mean they don't even swing at them that round).
I think a larger archipellago (spelling?) loosely detailed to allow room for GMs to add their own villages, kingdoms, etc would be a good idea. |
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Takeda
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| dugfromthearth wrote: | I think I will create a hindrance for those awed by the priests. -2 to resist persuasion and intimidation from priests and -2 to attack them (-4 as a major hindrance). Much of the population accepts the words of the priests and could barely bring themselves to attack them (missing with the penalty might mean they don't even swing at them that round).
I think a larger archipellago (spelling?) loosely detailed to allow room for GMs to add their own villages, kingdoms, etc would be a good idea. |
Sounds good. I suggested the archipelago because I was faced with the same question and felt it gave me as the GM the most freedom. Mine were a Polynesian/Maori analog that plied trade along a massive string of islands on a water world with one supercontinent and two smaller ones in the northern hemisphere ... the rest of the planet (85%) was water. The people I put together had a lot of facial tattooes that were like a resume/history ... small things spoke of their role in their community, have been married (didn't matter if later divorced), relative power in their Clan, etc.
_________________
Dean: "Ya' know she could be faking."
Sam: "Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick?"
[Dean nods]
Sam: "Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick?"
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Armmeggedon
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Joined: 07 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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As long as you have macahuatls(?) with shark teeth instead of obsidian shards.
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Takeda
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| Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:18 am Post subject: |
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| Armmeggedon wrote: | | As long as you have macahuatls(?) with shark teeth instead of obsidian shards. |
But of course! 
_________________
Dean: "Ya' know she could be faking."
Sam: "Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick?"
[Dean nods]
Sam: "Dude, you're not gonna poke her with a stick?"
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dugfromthearth
Seasoned
Joined: 11 Jul 2009
Posts: 115
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| Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Armmeggedon wrote: | | As long as you have macahuatls(?) with shark teeth instead of obsidian shards. |
they do and don't.
not sure what I want the names to be - I prefer descriptive names to foreign names. So there are macahuatls - blunt and with obsidian shards
The Xoc (shark-men) use war paddles and toothed war paddles (with shark tooth edges). Similar to macahuatls but the war paddles are diamond shaped.
at least so far - nothing is set in stone |
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skylion
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Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 753
Location: Covington, Ky
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| Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Shot! Darn good campaign setting. Keep us posted.
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