I don't know if you remember or not, but I am putting together a new campaign that I will be sharing with another DM. We will each be taking turns as the DM and are each responsible for building the world that the players will explore.
I wanted to create a homeland for Tieflings in this world, and after discussing with my partner, we decided that it might be cool to have a small band of Tieflings trying to build a homeland for their people and therein lies the problem. Currently, this Tiefling homeland is a collection of caravans full of Tieflings and their families who set out from Waterdeep in search of a place they could make their home. They are lead by the Tiefling daughter of one of Waterdeep's noble houses and her human husband - who himself a member of Waterdeep's nobility. These two former nobles; along with their children, a female Tiefling Sorcerer and a male Human Paladin, lead their followers out into the world, where they have discovered some ancient ruins of a part of the fallen Netherese Empire. There amidst the ruins of a fallen civilisation, they have made their home and built for themselves a small village inhabited solely by Tieflings and their families. The village still consists of the wagons and tents that were part of the caravan as they are reluctant to build anything permanent. A lifetime of being shunned by the societies they have lived in and moved on whenever it was convenient for the other races has left most of these Tiefling skittish and nervous about building something new - although they believe in the cause and want to believe that a homeland of their own is possible. They also discovered a lost Netherese vault that contained knowledge, weapons and other technology hidden away sometime before the fall of Netheril.
We now have a Tiefling homeland; albeit a small one, not yet big enough to be considered s city, let alone a kingdom or any significance, which has access to the ancient Netherese knowledge, weapons and technology that was hidden in the vault, and that is where I have got stuck. I have tried to work something out with my partner already, but, she doesn't know where to go from here either.
If you were creating a world in which existed a Tiefling homeland as I have described above, where would you go from here? We would prefer things to be somewhat realistic but remember that this is fantasy and it still needs to be fun for the players also. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and opinions and any other ideas or guidance, or links to other resources that you think might help us with this piece of world-building.
Cheers
Foxes et al
NB:
I don't expect you to write the whole thing, but both of us are looking for some help in making this Tieflng homeland believable.
Small villages and communities probably spring up fairly often, and they must continually get stronger or come under another's influence.
Knowledge of this cache of lore will get out and must be protected and defended. I would plan out what can be found, mastered, and used to strengthen the community. At the same time, some enemies, both moral and immoral, who believe this lore is better with them then the tieflings.
I think this gives a tie in to both having a story of the rise to prominence of the tiefling and stories to run the characters through.
I'd think 1st step would be defense. If they are currently in the stereotypical "wagons in a circle" at present then I think they would try to reinforce it as much as possible, but some questions to ask would be:
Can they build a wall between existing ruins/structures?
Can they build a gate to control who comes and goes?
Are they all hauled up inside one particular structure and is there room to expand?
Do they actually have the resources and/or manpower and/or knowledge to build what they need?
Based on the mention of a Paladin and Sorcerer I would assume they pull most of the watches and patrol the immediate area, but can they train others to help?
If they can't train others can they afford to hire outsiders? If they can this could be a good jumping off point for the party to be invovled.
Do they have a supply of running water or access to a well? If not is the route to and from a source of water secure enough to allow for people to traverse back and forth without needing a guard?
Is the Netherese vault they discovered acutually something they can use? And do they actually want to use it?
Are there Traps that prevent them from accessing it so its a "look but don't touch" showroom of temptation?
Are they all of the same moral compass (ie all goodly aligned)?
Are they religious and follow the Paladins teachings? Or are they of different faiths?
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Having access to potentially world-altering netherese magics could make for some really interesting opportunities. They could follow in the wake of the Elves of old and try to create a new land for themselves using the Netherese magics. The Elves made an island, but perhaps the Tiefling want to rebuild one of the Netherese floating cities or they get the opportunity to terraform the desert into a more hospitable place for themselves. You could also have the phaerimm come back, being drawn to the magics uncovered in the ruins, and be a menace to the fledgling civilization. Depending on your party's relationship to this group and the currently status of BBEGs in your campaign, you could have a fun turn around where they start out helping this civilization grow and get established, but their leader eventually gets consumed by the passion of building the new nation and does some things that are reckless and destructive to other peoples. Perhaps he becomes a new BBEG with the classic mantra of "Can't you see what I'm trying to do!"
The above are important issues to consider for your city-state build.
The transition from nomadic culture to city-state is a huge one, give some thought to government type- council/monarchy/theocracy, and if their policies will be inclusive or exclusive(e.g. will non-tiefling be welcome? Or can anybody go there?)
Major cultural revolutions are devastating to internal economics and can take generations before the new society type is accepted- there will be dissention among the populace. The transition is easiest made and can be accelerated in the face of an imminent visible external threat. People pull together when they perceive a common threat descending on them~ less so when the threat is invisible or theoretical such as a crisis in a far off land.
One thing to keep in mind is that revolutions, whether political, social, religious, scientific, magical or economic always present sociopaths the opportunity to seize power. Consider throwing a popular but evil character into the bowwave of the revolution.
For fantasy reading, think about the Tinker's cultural transition/evolution in The Wheel of Time & the Dothraki in Game of Thrones. For RL examples think about the post exodus Jews & the forced settling of the previously nomadic American peoples.
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Hi guys,
I don't know if you remember or not, but I am putting together a new campaign that I will be sharing with another DM. We will each be taking turns as the DM and are each responsible for building the world that the players will explore.
I wanted to create a homeland for Tieflings in this world, and after discussing with my partner, we decided that it might be cool to have a small band of Tieflings trying to build a homeland for their people and therein lies the problem. Currently, this Tiefling homeland is a collection of caravans full of Tieflings and their families who set out from Waterdeep in search of a place they could make their home. They are lead by the Tiefling daughter of one of Waterdeep's noble houses and her human husband - who himself a member of Waterdeep's nobility. These two former nobles; along with their children, a female Tiefling Sorcerer and a male Human Paladin, lead their followers out into the world, where they have discovered some ancient ruins of a part of the fallen Netherese Empire. There amidst the ruins of a fallen civilisation, they have made their home and built for themselves a small village inhabited solely by Tieflings and their families. The village still consists of the wagons and tents that were part of the caravan as they are reluctant to build anything permanent. A lifetime of being shunned by the societies they have lived in and moved on whenever it was convenient for the other races has left most of these Tiefling skittish and nervous about building something new - although they believe in the cause and want to believe that a homeland of their own is possible. They also discovered a lost Netherese vault that contained knowledge, weapons and other technology hidden away sometime before the fall of Netheril.
We now have a Tiefling homeland; albeit a small one, not yet big enough to be considered s city, let alone a kingdom or any significance, which has access to the ancient Netherese knowledge, weapons and technology that was hidden in the vault, and that is where I have got stuck. I have tried to work something out with my partner already, but, she doesn't know where to go from here either.
If you were creating a world in which existed a Tiefling homeland as I have described above, where would you go from here? We would prefer things to be somewhat realistic but remember that this is fantasy and it still needs to be fun for the players also. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and opinions and any other ideas or guidance, or links to other resources that you think might help us with this piece of world-building.
Cheers
Foxes et al
NB:
I don't expect you to write the whole thing, but both of us are looking for some help in making this Tieflng homeland believable.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Small villages and communities probably spring up fairly often, and they must continually get stronger or come under another's influence.
Knowledge of this cache of lore will get out and must be protected and defended. I would plan out what can be found, mastered, and used to strengthen the community. At the same time, some enemies, both moral and immoral, who believe this lore is better with them then the tieflings.
I think this gives a tie in to both having a story of the rise to prominence of the tiefling and stories to run the characters through.
I'd think 1st step would be defense. If they are currently in the stereotypical "wagons in a circle" at present then I think they would try to reinforce it as much as possible, but some questions to ask would be:
Can they build a wall between existing ruins/structures?
Can they build a gate to control who comes and goes?
Are they all hauled up inside one particular structure and is there room to expand?
Do they actually have the resources and/or manpower and/or knowledge to build what they need?
Based on the mention of a Paladin and Sorcerer I would assume they pull most of the watches and patrol the immediate area, but can they train others to help?
If they can't train others can they afford to hire outsiders? If they can this could be a good jumping off point for the party to be invovled.
Do they have a supply of running water or access to a well? If not is the route to and from a source of water secure enough to allow for people to traverse back and forth without needing a guard?
Is the Netherese vault they discovered acutually something they can use? And do they actually want to use it?
Are there Traps that prevent them from accessing it so its a "look but don't touch" showroom of temptation?
Are they all of the same moral compass (ie all goodly aligned)?
Are they religious and follow the Paladins teachings? Or are they of different faiths?
Having access to potentially world-altering netherese magics could make for some really interesting opportunities. They could follow in the wake of the Elves of old and try to create a new land for themselves using the Netherese magics. The Elves made an island, but perhaps the Tiefling want to rebuild one of the Netherese floating cities or they get the opportunity to terraform the desert into a more hospitable place for themselves. You could also have the phaerimm come back, being drawn to the magics uncovered in the ruins, and be a menace to the fledgling civilization. Depending on your party's relationship to this group and the currently status of BBEGs in your campaign, you could have a fun turn around where they start out helping this civilization grow and get established, but their leader eventually gets consumed by the passion of building the new nation and does some things that are reckless and destructive to other peoples. Perhaps he becomes a new BBEG with the classic mantra of "Can't you see what I'm trying to do!"
Hope that helps.
The above are important issues to consider for your city-state build.
The transition from nomadic culture to city-state is a huge one, give some thought to government type- council/monarchy/theocracy, and if their policies will be inclusive or exclusive(e.g. will non-tiefling be welcome? Or can anybody go there?)
Major cultural revolutions are devastating to internal economics and can take generations before the new society type is accepted- there will be dissention among the populace. The transition is easiest made and can be accelerated in the face of an imminent visible external threat. People pull together when they perceive a common threat descending on them~ less so when the threat is invisible or theoretical such as a crisis in a far off land.
One thing to keep in mind is that revolutions, whether political, social, religious, scientific, magical or economic always present sociopaths the opportunity to seize power. Consider throwing a popular but evil character into the bowwave of the revolution.
For fantasy reading, think about the Tinker's cultural transition/evolution in The Wheel of Time & the Dothraki in Game of Thrones. For RL examples think about the post exodus Jews & the forced settling of the previously nomadic American peoples.