Hey everybody. I need some help with a homebrew I am working on. As of right now what I have in vision is a world that’s new-Ish (magic is rare and needed) and untamed, wyverns are common. Settlements are very far and in between due to the fact there’s death from the sky. Most have adapted to using natural caves, tree houses, easier defensive positions and areas.
How would I run a campaign like this? 1) why is there so many wyverns?
2) With a world that has a reptilian problem, how would the common folk survive
3) Other monsters, how would that work? Would they clash?
I have so many questions. Please help. If I can’t figure out what’s the best way to run this idea I’ll just have to drop it
Find a game/move/media that evokes the feeling that you are looking for and watch it. A lot of the narrative elements will be the same. Very new worlds share a lot in common with post-apocalyptic worlds.
(1) why is there so many wyverns?
This is entirely dependent upon the specifics of your world. Wyverns are potent creatures and if the food supply significantly exceeds their natural predators, there will be a wild population boom. This is true for any ecosystem.
(2) With a world that has a reptilian problem, how would the common folk survive
"Reptilian" is often associated with "Cold Blooded" and "dim-witted". Cold blooded creatures don't do well in cold environments, so "common folk" would likely live near the poles. "Dim-witted" creatures are vulnerable to traps and distractions, so "common folk" in warmer climates would probably live kind of like kobold/rats with trapped lairs.
The human population in The Matrix Trilogy might be a good place to start. Large populations centered in fortified bunkers.
(3) Other monsters, how would that work? Would they clash?
Beasts are beasts. Nature has always been competitive. However, it might not just be the creatures you need to watch out for. Plants could very easily join the arms race.
Maybe the Wyverns dominate the skies, but there are forests of blood briars that feed on them if they get too close, so some land based creatures have learned to co-habitate with the carnivorous plants. Dangerous place to live, but less dangerous than the open fields. Such a situation might even warrant cultivating these predatory plants to create safe spaces for the "common folk" to live. You'd get a kind of "forest highway" network.
I think it all boils down to a good old fashioned creation story. If you are going for a fairly old world then you don't have to worry as much with this but for something newer then that could matter. Did wyverns come about simply through evolution, maybe the gravity on the planet is a little bit lower making it easier for such creatures to fly. I don't know much about this subject but looking into the dinosaurs would probably help. If you don't want the evolution part then maybe look into the magic part. The sudden introduction of magic may have caused regular lizards to mutate and grow into wyverns. The final way I can think of is that your world has gods who decided to add them. Maybe it is all to do with a test or a war or something, that is up to you.
Perhaps these wyverns don't like places of power. It keeps them at bay and so humans congregate around these places. Not many people can tap into these places and so magic isn't rare but the ability to use it is. Alternatively wyverns could flock to these places. They may not like leaving these places as they are worried their spot will be stolen so they don't fly too far away from it unless they have to.
Staying unseen is a good way for prey to stay alive. Perhaps humans use camouflage or have underground tunnels to travel. Maybe humans use waterways as they can float along and appear to be flotsam and jetsam.
Are wyverns the apex predators in this world? If they are, creatures will only clash with them if they have to. Some kind of large creature protecting its young may fight back or some other powerful predator which is particularly desperate may chance it but everything else would run. There could be animals that have evolved specifically to deal with wyverns. Maybe humans mimic or use these defence mechanisms to try and survive. Spikes which inject venom, on top of some kind of shell could be something. Perhaps the creature can lay down something like roots which stops them from being pulled up into the air and dropped.
2) create it with your party - sure we can bounce ideas around for you but if you want to hook your players in early get them involved in the world building with an extended session zero. Everyone joins in, have a blank sheet of paper (that’s your map) and an open One Note with “Wyverns” written at the top of the page. Take it turns to add a thing to the world, be it a town, a guild, a landmark, a culture, society, political, economical, religious, military etc. Note down everything they can contribute and then go away and build it.
I can vouch for this being great fun and really pulling people in, as I did the same thing for my current game with some strangers on the internet and it has been running almost a year now.
2) create it with your party - sure we can bounce ideas around for you but if you want to hook your players in early get them involved in the world building with an extended session zero. Everyone joins in, have a blank sheet of paper (that’s your map) and an open One Note with “Wyverns” written at the top of the page. Take it turns to add a thing to the world, be it a town, a guild, a landmark, a culture, society, political, economical, religious, military etc. Note down everything they can contribute and then go away and build it.
I can vouch for this being great fun and really pulling people in, as I did the same thing for my current game with some strangers on the internet and it has been running almost a year now.
Hey everybody. I need some help with a homebrew I am working on. As of right now what I have in vision is a world that’s new-Ish (magic is rare and needed) and untamed, wyverns are common. Settlements are very far and in between due to the fact there’s death from the sky. Most have adapted to using natural caves, tree houses, easier defensive positions and areas.
How would I run a campaign like this?
1) why is there so many wyverns?
2) With a world that has a reptilian problem, how would the common folk survive
3) Other monsters, how would that work? Would they clash?
I have so many questions. Please help. If I can’t figure out what’s the best way to run this idea I’ll just have to drop it
(0) How would I run a campaign like this?
Find a game/move/media that evokes the feeling that you are looking for and watch it. A lot of the narrative elements will be the same. Very new worlds share a lot in common with post-apocalyptic worlds.
(1) why is there so many wyverns?
This is entirely dependent upon the specifics of your world. Wyverns are potent creatures and if the food supply significantly exceeds their natural predators, there will be a wild population boom. This is true for any ecosystem.
(2) With a world that has a reptilian problem, how would the common folk survive
"Reptilian" is often associated with "Cold Blooded" and "dim-witted". Cold blooded creatures don't do well in cold environments, so "common folk" would likely live near the poles. "Dim-witted" creatures are vulnerable to traps and distractions, so "common folk" in warmer climates would probably live kind of like kobold/rats with trapped lairs.
The human population in The Matrix Trilogy might be a good place to start. Large populations centered in fortified bunkers.
(3) Other monsters, how would that work? Would they clash?
Beasts are beasts. Nature has always been competitive. However, it might not just be the creatures you need to watch out for. Plants could very easily join the arms race.
Maybe the Wyverns dominate the skies, but there are forests of blood briars that feed on them if they get too close, so some land based creatures have learned to co-habitate with the carnivorous plants. Dangerous place to live, but less dangerous than the open fields. Such a situation might even warrant cultivating these predatory plants to create safe spaces for the "common folk" to live. You'd get a kind of "forest highway" network.
I think it all boils down to a good old fashioned creation story. If you are going for a fairly old world then you don't have to worry as much with this but for something newer then that could matter. Did wyverns come about simply through evolution, maybe the gravity on the planet is a little bit lower making it easier for such creatures to fly. I don't know much about this subject but looking into the dinosaurs would probably help. If you don't want the evolution part then maybe look into the magic part. The sudden introduction of magic may have caused regular lizards to mutate and grow into wyverns. The final way I can think of is that your world has gods who decided to add them. Maybe it is all to do with a test or a war or something, that is up to you.
Perhaps these wyverns don't like places of power. It keeps them at bay and so humans congregate around these places. Not many people can tap into these places and so magic isn't rare but the ability to use it is. Alternatively wyverns could flock to these places. They may not like leaving these places as they are worried their spot will be stolen so they don't fly too far away from it unless they have to.
Staying unseen is a good way for prey to stay alive. Perhaps humans use camouflage or have underground tunnels to travel. Maybe humans use waterways as they can float along and appear to be flotsam and jetsam.
Are wyverns the apex predators in this world? If they are, creatures will only clash with them if they have to. Some kind of large creature protecting its young may fight back or some other powerful predator which is particularly desperate may chance it but everything else would run. There could be animals that have evolved specifically to deal with wyverns. Maybe humans mimic or use these defence mechanisms to try and survive. Spikes which inject venom, on top of some kind of shell could be something. Perhaps the creature can lay down something like roots which stops them from being pulled up into the air and dropped.
I hope this helps.
Two ideas -
1) Monster Hunter - rip off all the bits you like
2) create it with your party - sure we can bounce ideas around for you but if you want to hook your players in early get them involved in the world building with an extended session zero. Everyone joins in, have a blank sheet of paper (that’s your map) and an open One Note with “Wyverns” written at the top of the page. Take it turns to add a thing to the world, be it a town, a guild, a landmark, a culture, society, political, economical, religious, military etc. Note down everything they can contribute and then go away and build it.
I can vouch for this being great fun and really pulling people in, as I did the same thing for my current game with some strangers on the internet and it has been running almost a year now.
Two ideas -
1) Monster Hunter - rip off all the bits you like
2) create it with your party - sure we can bounce ideas around for you but if you want to hook your players in early get them involved in the world building with an extended session zero. Everyone joins in, have a blank sheet of paper (that’s your map) and an open One Note with “Wyverns” written at the top of the page. Take it turns to add a thing to the world, be it a town, a guild, a landmark, a culture, society, political, economical, religious, military etc. Note down everything they can contribute and then go away and build it.
I can vouch for this being great fun and really pulling people in, as I did the same thing for my current game with some strangers on the internet and it has been running almost a year now.
For the record this was my list from that session
it’s not about getting everything fully formed from it - but getting the building blocks in place