Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:39 am  
Trav's variant GH campaign

I may have posted this elsewhere, concerning my own GH campaign. I forget the exact forum topic in whch it resides, so I will probably repeat myself here.

I use GH as the basis for the fantasy world that my Bureau 13 d20 playtest teams travel to regularly (Some of the PC's even either derive some ancestry from, or were born, on Oerth). I have made several changes to accomodate my needs.

The time rate between worlds was for every time increment on Oerth, the next bigger one passes on Earth, i.e. for every second on Oerth, a round (6 seconds) passes on Earth, for every round on Oerth, a minute on Earth, and so on. The day on Oerth for a month on Earth was the exact opposite of Rasgon's time dilation scale in his five parallels of Oerth post, and I will be changing it soon, claiming it's another axiomatic shift between the two worlds.

The tech level is MOSTLY the same, except dwarves and gnomes are into steam-tech and more clockwork-tech. ANY level of technology can work (which explains the working reactors onboard the crashed starship fragment in the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks module), but the general populace has yet to discover this. Technomagic is even used, but that form of technology is only found in a black market that works throughout cities of 25,000 people or more (Gather Information of DC 25/bardic knowledge DC 20 to even find out of it). Those who regularly use it are of a brotherhood that, if outsiders have gained it due to those in the know, the brotherhood will hunt down and kill the betrayer, and those who now have access to it. Armor, weapons, and other technomagic items are made by either enterprising spellcasters, or by the multiplanar conglomerate that now has a foothold on Oerth, and is using that world as a beachhead to get to Earth. Due to tampering with planar boundaries between the two worlds by this conglomerate, tech can be used on Oerth.

The conglomerate was originally created by a Faerunian wizard who has travelled to the other game worlds, taking bits and pieces of knowledge to augment himself and his business. He is into all forms of tech, magic,, and science, and has left his business to his Board of Directors, while he works on his own projects. These projects involve what he has found on other worlds, and his results have altered the PC's in the campaign in one way or another, enabling them to bypass the Earth's natural resistance to disallow any spells over 5th level, as well as those of a planar nature (a la the D20 Modern spellcasting system).

I have two major areas that my PC's use in the Flanaess: Rel Astra, which is magically bound to New York City, and the land of Geoff, which is still controlled by giants (Liberation of Geoff was the major starting adventure setting for this campaign). The Bureau has a small office in Rel Astra's Barbarian Quarter. Their job on Oerth is the opposite of Earth's Bureau 13: to keep high technology from the hands of the general populace. while using tech to do their jobs better. I have not established a link between the technomagic black market and the Bureau yet. The office in Rel Astra has done things on Oerth to allow faster communication across the Flanaess, so the agents in Geoff can talk to those in Rel Astra. Transdimensional travel is regular between the two worlds, and accounts for most of the supernatural creatures found on Earth.

As far as other game worlds go, I use Toril, Krynn, and soon, Eberron, as other systems (as much as I like SJ, the Dragonstar system appeals to me more, not only in terms of rules, but story). Toril and Krynn are in the "Stable Triangle" of worlds-those in the know trade freely with those on the other two worlds (Mordenkainen, Elminster, and Dalamar all have proficiency with technology, they just prefer to use magic). Toril to Oerth is about 86 LY away, Oerth to Krynn is about 46 LY away, and Toril to Krynn is about 20 LY away. I placed Eberron across the galaxy from the triad of worlds, about 666 LY away. Each system's gods control their system, and to those first coming to Oerth, they will be shocked by how Oerth is literally the center of the system!

I DO use Spelljammers for how groundlings CAN get offworld, but starships of a tehcnological nature CAN be used, if access to, and proficiency of, them can be gained. I have access to the Spelljammer 3.0 rules from that one Polyhedron article, and use that, if PC's want to try their hand at that method of space travel. However, the characters on both worlds are proficient in technology, so SJ would be an "any port in a storm" method to get off-world.

I have a site on Earth (borrowing heavily from Magic of Incarnum) to allow Earth's old gods to go to other worlds (explaining how both Egyptian and Norse gods can be on Toril), but no otherworldly gods can reach Earth's plane. Aspects can arrive on Earth, but only if gated by a spellcaster on Earth. Nerull's Aspect has been to Earth twice now, and has been defeated twice. This site of deity blocking also is responsible for the ambient World Resistance (DC 15+ (spell level x 2) to roll over to use spells and spell-like abilities). Most of the PC's (all of them on Earth, and two expatriates now on Oerth) have this bypass method, and are capable of attaining great power on Earth.

The geopolitical boundaries and history on Oerth are as of 591 CY. Earth is that of the early 21st Century, but with a secret supernatural history. Murlynd was from this Earth's Old West in my campaign. Between the two worlds, certain cities are linked to allow occasional gating and access (planar spells seem to work better and easier at these points). For example, NYC and Rel Astra, Radigast City and Budapest, and Greyhawk and Athens. I explain that, for the obvious similarity between Earth and Oerth Humans, Atlanteans (I placed Atlantis, now in a pocket dimension, only accessible only via the South China Sea, as per the theories of Dr. Arysia dos Santos-www.atlan.org) seeded Oerth with humans a millenia before the Twin Cataclysms from societies all over Earth. The ancient Earth gods saw how powerful humens were getting with magic and psionics 20,000 years ago, so the gods (Norse, Greek, Hindu, Egyptian, and other pantheons) made the humans create the obelisk that barred other worlds' gods from reaching Earth and put an upper limit on how poerful human magic can get on Earth. As Atlantis flooded over on Earth 20,000 years ago, many peoples were gated to Oerth to live new lives-they became the Suel, Baklunish, Olman, Oeridian, Flan, and later, the Rhennee. 20,000 years on Earth=2,000 on Oerth fits my time dilation scale.

I think I have explained enough of my variant GH campaign to satisfy this particular forum.