I'm a little out of touch with the two mailing lists these days. Lack of players in my area have severely curtailed my enthusiasm for the system. However, I persevere... As a result, I'm not sure what list this would be ideally posted to. I'll post it here and if anyone thinks it should be cross-posted, please feel free.
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I've always been a fan of the few starting packs that have been available. Borderlands and Griffin Mt. have ranked top on my list. In Griffin Mt. there is a trapped deity by the name of Firashala (I think. Please ignore any incorrect spelling ref. hereon) but I was always a little disappointed in the simplistic way in which she could be released. I've always felt that there was a scenario that could be fleshed out further - possibly even expanded into a decent heroquest or two.
The following is an outline I'd developed for a beginners campaign. It places the players firmly in the place of the 'movers and shakers' of the tribe, and also puts the responsibility for the entire tribes survival, squarely on the shoulders of the players. Discovery of the entrapped deity and her subsequent release should set the basis for a fairly interesting campaign. Unfortunately, due the afore mentioned lack of players, I've never fully developed this outline past the synopsis stage. No stats, details or extended write-ups. So, take it as it is and use it as you see fit.
Cheers.
Paul Pofandt
ppofandt_at_...
http://www.p3data.com.au
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Tribal Flame
Background:
Set in or around Northern Elder Wilds area of Balazar - Large Uz pop.
Harsh winters
Player tribe is primitive hunter/gatherer level with stone, flint &
bone weapons & armour
Tribe has NO firemaking skills (fires eventually go out when claimed
by tribe. Can make smoke though). Food is eaten raw (fruits, roots,
vegs, dairy prod) or preserved (salted or smoked meats)
Tribe has been more advanced or powerful in the distant past.
Evidenced by sophisticated rituals and religion, tribal regalia &
architectural legacies (elaborate stone temple & walls - mainly ruins
now)
Traditional enemy is Uz
Primary god is {mke up name here} (Yelmalio archetype) who provides
law, warfare skills & survival (more on this later)
Religion:
Primary god provides the player tribe with Laws, Stability &
significantly Survival ("Survive the Dark").
Primary god lost his fire powers to the Dark tribe (Uz) but apart
from that, "survived the dark" unscathed.
Tribe has NO firemaking skills (fires eventually go out when claimed
by tribe. Can make smoke though)
Powerful sacred time rituals/heroquests for "Survive the Dark"
provide the following yearly benefits:
* Tribe endures the very harsh winter/dark season - ie don't feel
the cold
* Same for crops & herds
Backstory scenario outline
Backstory - Played out or just described (dates are relative to the
major event)
* Year -2. Tribe exists at survival level. Regular raids by the Uz
keeps tribe 'on the edge'. Fit in any number of standard 'day-to-day'
scenario events to give players a feel for their culture.
* Year -1. In the last year, raids have been less frequent or
damaging than normal. The best Uz warriors and mages seem to be
missing from the normal raids. Play out several combative scenarios
with player tribe finally starting to seem to make headway against
their enemy's. Culminate in large physical/magical battle where
players tribe seem to finally eliminate the Uz threat. Speculate in
tribal council on 'why was it so easy'. Push up players egos
with "they never fought such warriors as yourselves before".
* Year 0. Background - For the last year, the top mages and warriors
of the Uz have been building their power base via mundane and hero
questing. They have now return with a vengeance.
* A series of 'unfortunate accidents' causes the death of the
assistant priest (probably ambushed by the Uz) leaving just the high
priest and trainees.
* Player tribe find's it'self defenceless against the Uz's new
wepons/powers. Attacks increase with heavy casualties on the players
tribe's side prompting a 're-run' of the usual yearly heroquest in
order to boost the tribe's defences.
* High priest is 'ambushed' on the heroplane during the heroquest
but the Uz's best (and now magically enhanced) mages and warriors -
High Priest never returns.
* Major Event - Large attack force of Uz are approaching the tribe's
stead towards end of dark season. Trainees and most of the players
tribal warriors for a defence. Players are given the task of
escorting the young, enfeebled & female from the stead for
protection. Attacking Uz raze the entire stead, defile temples, steal
regalia etc, eliminating any link to their past/god.
Results - Remnants of the tribe now face the remaining winter with little protection from 'the dark'. Heavy casualties among the very old and very young are taken and it should be obvious that the remnants of the tribe will not survive more dark seasons, or attacks from the Dark Tribe. Players are faced with the impossible choice of watching the tribe die out, or finding a new way to survive.
Redemption
The players find an alternative (either by chance, or in response to
some half remembered fable) to their god - A forgotten & trapped fire
deity (Firashala). Firashala offers to teach the tribe how to survive
by using the long lost skills of fire. What Firashala can teach is
severely limited by her entrapment/prison and at the present, she can
only teach the tribe how to survive the winter by building fires.
Through heroquesting, she can be freed (or her bonds loosened)
allowing the teaching of greater skills and feats. (Note - the tribe
may need to first sever their relationship with their previous god.
This would probably require the intervention/heroquest of a god with
powers of severance or rebirth - possible Humakt?)
Freeing Firashala
Freeing Firashala requires a series of sequential heroquests plus
possible peripheral quests to provide power or enhancements.
They are:
* "Firashala's imprisonment" (re-enactment of her original
imprisonment to achieve understanding)
* "Defeat the Ice" (quest for power to overcome her foes)
{details on "Firashala's imprisonment" HQ here} {details on "Defeat the Ice" HQ here}
Rough summary of the two above quests.
"Firashala's imprisonment" - whereby the players partake in the battle of Firashala's tribe against the 'enemy' (exact details are in the wide view - immaterial). Players can either hang back and deal only with minor foes, suffer little permanent damage and get some understanding of just how Firashala (a huge red flame) was brought down (she was conquered by some enormous white flame - and entombed in a crystal prison), or get deep into the fight, encountering powerful foes and (without some form of weapon particularly effective against these types of foes) probably suffering permanent disfigurement (some limbs are imprisoned in the same way as Firashala - limb permanently disabled on return to real world) but realise that the white flame is cold and the crystal prison is an ice crystal. Specially observant characters may notice that sweat from their limbs that spatter the opponents during battle 'burn' the opponents.
"Defeat the Ice" - whereby the players need to obtain a weapon that can defeat the 'enemy' (hard to do if they don't know the enemy is cold - easier if they noticed that sweat/ice burns the foes). I have in mind a quest across the icy glaciers to the north to find a creature that is the 'sovereign against ice'. Turns out to be a large walrus like creature, previously searching the ice for something (lost child, mate, friend whatever) & is completely entrapped in the ice fields of the north. It's given up the fight against the ice because it's deeply depressed/suicidal/unhappy etc. Someone will have to be of a sensitive enough soul to empathise with it. The object is to make it cry. It's tears melt the ice, freeing it to continue it's search for whatever. Players may collect a few handfuls of tears to take back. This can be rubbed on weapons (making them stronger against ice/cold), drunk (making the player stronger against the same), applied to any ice numbed/caked limbs to free them permanently or kept. If kept, the tears will rapidly evaporate leaving a sharp spike of salt or two. This can be used as a knife/spearhead and is also a dreadfully very effective weapon against ice. The salt knife can be used to try to cut Firashala free from her prison on the real world with limited effectiveness, and will 'use up' the knife. If this is the case, Firashala will be freed enough to worship to get simple fire powers. The knife can also be used any number of times against ice or ice based creatures. Alternatively, the players can reenact "Firashala's imprisonment" again, this armed for bear and able to effect a permanent change in the mythology of Firashala - one where she is not defeated (at least not permanently). If so, and if anyone still has ice damaged limbs from the first encounter, they will also discover that Firashala is a healing goddess, using the purgative/burning powers of flame to cut out and remove infected tissue. New powers for her priests. On their return, they will find that Firashala's prison is not as strong as originally thought and she's just about to break out of it. A fully freed Firashala is a much more effective goddess and will grant her worshippers war skills, fireskills and (if they discovered that part of her) healing skills.
Note: A 'mystic' practitioner might use his powers of refutation and dialectic to convince Firashala that the Red flame that burns and the White flame that freezes are merely two aspects of the same being (both cold and fire burn after all) and can re-unite the two separated aspects of this god into one new being. Food for though.
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