• From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2011-04-18
  • Posts: 14

Topic: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

I am setting up my campaign world for our first LotFP campaign and I am really hesitating between creating a pseudo Europe or using the historical one.

I like the advice in the referee book about creating your own campaign world mainly because I want to avoid slipping into wanting to be historically near accurate and ending up doing researches to find where to place the weird in the setting (kind of like for a Call of Cthulhu campaign).

But on the other hand finding many pseudo European country and city names is kind of strange. I think that I agree with JimLotFP forum post where he wonder why not just use real names instead of saying it like Europe, but with made up country and city names.
 
What I also like with a created setting is that I really feel more free to invent and to improvise towns and various setting elements.

I have also read JimLotFP blog post about using real world religions so that the player find it more easy to roleplay their character's religious beliefs. But again here, I think I prefer the creative freedom that fantastic variants of real religions grant.

So I think I prefer a setting where I don't feel restricted by real world history and geography, but at the same time it feel weird to have to come up with made up European sounding name for countries, city, religion, etc...

Last edited by Gwion (2012-02-22 05:39:36)

GM: Labyrinth Lord. Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Player: Looking forward trying Stars without number.
  • Registered: 2011-11-15
  • Posts: 12

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

Ed's idea is basically what I do.  My Wessex campaign is slightly reskinned southwest England, circa 1140AD.  I've got a ton of stuff I can swipe from actual history, but I can also pick and choose because the setting isn't really Historical England, it's Mythic Wessex.

  • Registered: 2011-07-25
  • Posts: 63

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

Agreed.

My last campaign took place in a variant of Elizabethan England. I explained to the players that, whilst many of the names might be the same, the geography and tenor of the place was rather different. The ferocious Henry VIII was commonly known as 'the Boar King' -- with appetites and predilections reputed to have manifested physically, possibly explaining the 12' sarcophagus at Westmynster. His daughter; Elizabeth, aka 'the wanton', 'whore-apostate' and 'Flame Princess' (!) was reputed to bed hundreds of men, draining them of their vitality to the point of death. Hampton Court was surrounded by a petrified hedge maze no sane man could navigate without the seal of the crown. Walsingham, Dee, Marley and Shaxbeard rubbed shoulders with Faustus, baby-eating fey and horrors from beyond the stars.

My approach was pretty simple -- I used whatever historical detail I knew (or could easily get hold of); the rest I made up -- and if anything the setting felt more authentic for doing so. Ask yourself: what man of that era had precise geographical knowledge of his homeland? Who knew what promises and appeasements were made by students of Temple Inn in exchange for the power to manipulate the King's law? It's all up for grabs if you as referee decide it to be so.

Last edited by Andrew S (2012-02-23 09:43:51)

  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2011-04-18
  • Posts: 14

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

Thanks Andrew and the others for your insight. After reading your comments, I will go for a alternate history Europe.

I will start the campaign in France who is painfully recovery from a failed early revolution. 
Most of the noble and conservative guild privilege will come from ancient elven and dwarven given rights.
The revolution was mainly about abolishing those ancient demi-human awarded right and privilege.
The human classic pantheon will be humanized elf deities. And my christian figure will be the son of a smith instead of a carpenter to show the dwarf influence. God will be a human adaptation of the dwarfs monotheist creator smith-god, the Exodus will be a mythological trace of the dwarfs freeing the human from their demi-human masters.
The crusade was about reclaiming ancient demi-human artifact and treasures that the demi-human entrusted to the muslim who have their own interpretation/adaptation of the demi-human mythology.

As for using pagan or heretic cleric scrolls, the solution I like: cleric can use all scrolls, they work but this is a sin, you better be careful that the church don't know about this. Why they work? This is debated, no one really know for sure, it probably come from all human religions having demi-human roots. 

As for the demi-human themselves, they are very very rare as in the assumed setting of the game. smile

Last edited by Gwion (2012-02-23 19:09:16)

GM: Labyrinth Lord. Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Player: Looking forward trying Stars without number.
  • Registered: 2011-07-25
  • Posts: 63

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

Gwion wrote:

Thanks Andrew and the others for your insight. After reading your comments, I will go for a alternate history Europe.

You're welcome.


I will start the campaign in France who is painfully recovery from a failed early revolution. 
Most of the noble and conservative guild privilege will come from ancient elven and dwarven given rights.
The revolution was mainly about abolishing those ancient demi-human awarded right and privilege.
The human classic pantheon will be humanized elf deities. And my christian figure will be the son of a smith instead of a carpenter to show the dwarf influence. God will be a human adaptation of the dwarfs monotheist creator smith-god, the Exodus will be a mythological trace of the dwarfs freeing the human from their demi-human masters.
The crusade was about reclaiming ancient demi-human artifact and treasures that the demi-human entrusted to the muslim who have their own interpretation/adaptation of the demi-human mythology.

As for using pagan or heretic cleric scrolls, the solution I like: cleric can use all scrolls, they work but this is a sin, you better be careful that the church don't know about this. Why they work? This is debated, no one really know for sure, it probably come from all human religions having demi-human roots. 

As for the demi-human themselves, they are very very rare as in the assumed setting of the game. smile


You're off to a cracking start already. Seriously cool stuff!

  • From: Rehovot, Israel
  • Registered: 2011-04-07
  • Posts: 81

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

I love this background!

golan2072's Website

  • From: Finland
  • Registered: 2012-02-28
  • Posts: 63

Re: Setting up: real or pseudo Europe, hard to choose!

I think I am using a combination of "real but weird" Europe with details from history I feel fit without too much research and my base knowledge twisted into fantasy. I also will use Vornheim Kit and include city of Vornheim to game. I also own Ravenloft setting book (White Wolf edition) I will use for Eastern Europe.

Here are a couple of maps I found I use: http://cradleofrabies.blogspot.com/2012 … lotfp.html
My LotFP will be set in Europe and I found cool old Europe map for it.
Game will be set in Germany I also found old map for (well, pseudo-fantasy Germany).
Also found nice city map to fill my own stuff with. It's Nurmberg in 1648.

I printed them and will add gaming details into. For example locations of dungeons, cities, shrines, evil forests etc. during the game. I was thinking that Elven are originally northern people (Kalevala) and Dwarven originate from mountains of Ural in Russia. Rest of the Europe and Far East are human territories and Africa is full of weird creatures and strange monster-demi-human tribes and generally full of strange and weird locations and dangers from deserts to deepest jungles.

This plan also in my blog here: http://cradleofrabies.blogspot.com/2012 … anasy.html

Last edited by Thaumiel_Nerub (2012-02-29 07:16:35)

"Man has come to dominate the planet thanks to two essential traits. One is intelligence. The other has been the absolute willingness to kill anyone and anything that gets in his way." (Stephen King)
My blog: cradleofrabies.blogspot.com

Thaumiel_Nerub's Website