A week late isn’t too late. Right?

Right?

This post is the first in a series of five, chronicling my completion of the Gygax 75 Challenge. I’ve been allowing ideas to bang around inside my head for over a week now, and it’s time to finally let them burst forth onto this soft and unsuspecting world. No time but the present to get started with my elevator pitch.

War Against The Tyrant Lugal

The World Trembles Under Tyranny: The planet lies under the rule of the immortal God King, the Great Lugal. His law is absolute and his rule without mercy. The domains which live under him are lands where slavery, oppression, and cruelty are the guiding beacon, while the lands that rebel are soon left as destroyed and ruined husks as the Great Lugal’s armies rain fire and thunder from the sky. Something must be done, lest the world continue to stumble forth in chains.

Past, Present, and Future: The ancient, fantastic, and futuristic blend and become indistinguishable. Alien colonization and powerful sorcery have created a world that has a full working knowledge of germ theory, yet does not have the concept of the bound codex. On the battlefield, swords and shields contend with primitive laser muskets. Warlords use bronze-clad chariots as mounting points for flamethrowers.

Chaos and Law: In the style of ancient religions, the Great Lugal has defined as lawful all that live under his rule. That which rebels against him is Chaos. This is a campaign about Chaos, about breaking against the rule of the Great Lugal and against those who would simply replace his rule with the rule of another tyrant. Within these categories, both Law and Chaos have their own internal factions and political alliances, and both camps are likely to produce foes and allies at different points.

Strand-Type Roleplaying: A reference to Hideo Kojima’s invented name for the genre of Death Stranding. The world doesn’t just need adventurers to kill things. It needs trails blazed, trade routes scouted and secured, alliances made, and probably some mail delivered too. Alliances with other settlements and factions will be necessary to survive and thrive in a world that is beginning to eat itself.

A Note on Inspirations

I’m making some really weird choices here, intentionally. By coming up with some weird stretches for inspiration and jamming together some tonally extremely divergent concepts, I’m trying to break out of my usual mold of worldbuilding and make something fresh (or at least fresh to me). That means taking everything I’m currently consuming as well as some old classics and jamming them all together. Whether or not this will be successful remains to be seen. Better to try and go down in flames rather than not try at all, eh?

The X-Files: Hell yeah we’re off strong, basing science fantasy sword and sorcery on a supernatural cop drama. I am particularly drawn to X-Files both to draw on the weird wide world of alien mythology, but also because of the Monster Of The Week format. Unique, intelligent, scary monsters like the Fluke Man are my guiding light for when I want to include an actual monster.

GWAR: This band has lived in my brain like a deadbeat roommate since watching their recent Shudder documentary. From them, I’ll be stealing the chaotic energy, the chrome-and-battleaxes science fantasy aesthetic, and the rampaging bands of space pirates. Leaving behind the crude humor, but not all the crude humor.

Warhammer 40k: Darktide: The flawed but extremely fun co-op horde shooter has been on regular rotation for the last few weeks. I can’t replicate such an impeccably R E N D E R E D game as Darktide in tabletop and narration, but I can certainly take its blend of swords, guns, and laserbeams, the feeling of exploring deep in the bowls of something massive and alien which wants you dead, and the 40k specialty of science-fictioning medieval aesthetics, simply applied to more ancient civilizations.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: In my humble opinion the greatest RPG ever made and the subject of a future blog post about why it’s essential playing for any GMs looking to up their worldbuilding. It is my love, my guiding light, and my model both for risky but adventurous dungeon dives as well as the feeling of exploring a fantastical and somewhat-hostile society that blends fantasy and real-world cultures into a world with real texture and depth.

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And that’s the long and short of it. A simple enough framework to hang my ideas off of. I’m not quite sure if my vision is coming across, but hopefully as I develop it further and begin to produce actual real content it will become more and more clear. Next week, I’ll be tackling Part 2 of the Challenge as I produce the surrounding environs of the campaign! It almost certainly will not be late. Right?

Right?