[OldWoD]An Alternative Setting

[Ancient History]

Back in the day, I came up with a post-Apocalypse setting for the WoD. I wanted a balanced game, with enough power to be interesting but not so much as to be unbalancing. That, and I wanted to use all my damn sourcebooks.

So, here's the concept: Civilization is in the late Bronze Age, almost the early Iron Age. City-states in the wilderness surrounded by farms are the norm, about on par with nomadic herders/hunter-gatherers. The setting is based on a single region that contains five main cities (I had mine in a desert, very Middle Eastern, but anywhere would really work).

Now, some basics:
-Changing Breeds exist, are hale and healthy, and you cannot play them.

-There are no more vampires, and people wouldn't even know what you were talking about if you asked about one. This likewise means no ghouls.

-Demons exist, but are rare. They're either weak and hidden as magicians of some sort; or rather powerful earthbound trapped in magical prisons. Too powerful for play.

-The Fey exist, and reincarnate fine. However, they rarely visit this world save at a spot of power or to strengthen the blood of the kinain. Too powerful for play.

-No Hunters. At least, not in this part of the world. Maybe they're somewhere else, and a migration of them can come through your campaign.

-Mummies exist. Powerful sorcerors seeking immortality sometimes become mummies, Horus and Osiris are not even memories and few organized groups of mummies exist. If your campaigns reach the point where you can become a mummy, go ahead.

-Kuei-jin don't exist; dhampyrs exist, but are reincarnations of ancient spirits who have learned to use their chi to power certain arts. The Shen exist as a monastic order. Both are "foreign" cultures, place them where you like and play them as you will.

-Mages. True mages--either Dark Ages Mages or Spheres Mages--are too damned powerful. The rare few that Awaken to become True Mages usually leave this world, or are try something stupid and get themselves killed in some disaster. Sorcerors exist, but since hedge magic has not yet been unified (ye'll notice in the cities how power is divided), a Sorceror should be rare, but there's nothing inherently munchy with any character learning some sorcery.

-Wraiths most definately exist. You can play them if you want, though I suggest you let them be a bit more upbeat than in standard games. The Underworld should be dangerous, but there are no more Empires and the Spectres are mainly solitary, degenerate spirits. Great Maelstroms are not unknown, but the last one died down at least a millenia ago. Many wraiths find Redemption easier, and tend to reincarnate.

The Cities

Veshank is the City of Clans. Basically, settled-down gypsies. Characters from this city could take and learn Blood Affinities. The more noble the bloodline, the more powerful the affinities.

Nezaki is the Spirit City. This city is rather primitive by the standards of the other cities, but tribes possess kinfolk and kinain. Nezaki shaman-magic (rites and the like) keeps the spirits around Nezaki happy, and the city has great economic power because of the food they can export to the other four cities. Characters from this city may be either Kinfolk or the Kinain, and possess the appropriate powers for such.

Nershrak is the Still City. Artisans, scholars, architects, engineers and philosphers dwell here. Nershrak is ruled by a bureaucracy of Psychics, who have acadamies that find, rear and teach other psychics. Characters from this city can have and develop Psychic powers.

Luzani is the Dark City. It is has many great temples, catacombs, monasteries and mines. The Good Speakers, a cult of mediums and necromancers, rule the city. Luzani characters may be mediums, or possess necromantic hedge magics like the Benedicti. Luzani is special in that unlike other cities, characters from Luzani may possess any reasonable necromantic power from one other city. That is to say, a Luzani could be a dhampir with one dot in Necromancy and be a medium; or a psychic with Necropsi and some Benedicti hedge-magic.

Luzani is the gateway for any campaign to interact with the Wraithly Underworld to any great extant. Whether the Good Speakers are caretakers of the shades of the dead, mere philophers, or power-mad necromancers that seek to steal the knowledge of the dead from the other cities is entirely up to the GM.

Uzika is the Old City. Every family in the city is descended from a single, ruling line. The primary descendants of the ruling line are dhampirs, with less dhampirs showing up the farther you go in blood from the ruling line. The ruling line was founded by the last vampire, who still exists in the city. Characters from this city are dhampirs, and can develop a single dot in any discipline. Schools exist in the city to teach those with an aptitude the magical arts; this means blood magics

(rules-bending: dhampirs can learn the first dot in any blood magic, so they can earn the first dot in any and every blood magic path, at regular cost);

including powerful cuneiform magic.

(rules bending: there's an old sourcebook "Wolves of the Sea" or something, which allows vampires to learn certain hedge magic paths and fuel them with blood points while drawing runes. This gives dhampirs the chance to compete with other supernaturals)

Uzika is where I personally set my campaign; although it makes just as good a powerful antagonist as it does a place for PCs to taste some true supernatural power without gaining too much.

Now, when I say the last vampire, I mean /the last vampire./ No Caine, no Lilith, no demigod-Antediluvians. The last vampire is old, and powerful, but not as powerful as they were and doesn't want to be. He doesn't need to feed on blood, and he can mate with humans (how he sired his line). He won't ghoul anybody, and he can't turn anyone else into a vampire, even if he wanted to, which he doesn't.


Now, this is only a setting, mind. An excuse to have a balanced game. You can do whatever you want to add impetus to it, such as starting a war or letting the PCs start some trouble or go tomb-delving. But it was fun for me when I GMed a campaign in it, and it seems like it'd be nice to pass it on afore the new edition comes along and we can ooh and aah over that.

[Ancient History]

Okay, to sum up:

You may play Kinain, the Enchanted, those whose fey blood give them access to noble houses and the arts of faerie.

You may play Kinfolk, descendants of the Changing Breeds, in tune with the wild part of themselves and whose shamans can perform mystic rites.

You may play Psychics, masters of the mind and will in their many forms.

You may play Gypsies, the bloodlines of the Rom, with access to their unique magical affinities.

You may play Mediums, Speakers with the Dead, who practice the arts of spirits and Necromancy.

You may play the Dhampirs, whose potent blood carry mystic Disciplines that may further power blood magics of some potency.

You may play a Shen or Dhampyr from beyond the desert, drawing on the power of you life-stuff, your chi to power your esoteric arts and further your spirit.

All of these may be Sorcerors, hedge-wizards with access to the scattered rites, rituals and lore that give power to gestures and incantations.

You may play the Restless Dead, drawn to the vibrant world of those yet living, some of whom possess their own dead forms to walk again in the world and channel their dark energies.

Those who aspire to the heights of Sorcery may themselves Awaken and ascend to higher spheres, or else become the eternal Mummies.

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There, better?

There is still room for leeway, in the system, but given the power levels it's much more manageable. For instance, there are certain blood affinities which can be used by Gypsy Kinfolk and Kithain Gypsies, respectively, and which implies that at least one or more families share ties between Nezaki and Veshank. Nearly every group has some access to necromantic abilities, so the Luzani, who are relatively weak otherwise, have a good reason to have access to other powers. Neither the dhampirs nor the dhampyrs, the most powerful groups, can touch any other magics save Hedge Magic, which about evens them out. The Shen are perhaps limited in not being able to learn other powers, but frankly they should be able to kick just about anybody else's ass in a straight fight.

Spirits, demons, fey, mummies and wraiths all make lovely enemies at any power level, because they're easily scaleable.

The Changing Breeds are less so, too physically powerful for most campaigns, but possible allies, enemies or antagonists for experienced and powerful players.

[JongWK]

Sounds cool. I might rip some ideas for my upcoming Ancient Sumer d20 campaign, if you don't mind. *ducks*

[Ancient History]

Of course not. Go right ahead.