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This document contains
suggestions on how to define high level campaign ground rules
and assumptions for running different sorts of Fantasy HERO
Campaigns |
Fantasy is a broad and
rich genre with numerous subgenres that focus on various aspects
of the larger concept. This document identifies five major
subgenres and presents the idea of "paradigms" within them. An
ancillary document is provided for each subgenre that defines an assumed default paradigm for that
subgenre. In addition to serving as ready to use paradigms for
GM's, they also serve as examples of what to consider for their
own unique paradigms within that subgenre, or as a good starting
point ready for tweaking to suit the GM's preferences. |
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Paradigms are roughly
equivalent to subgenres, but are a little more specific. A
subgenre could contain multiple paradigms, which is to say a
number of different paradigms could be very similar and all fit
within the same basic subgenre. For instance two different GM's
might run Sword & Sorcery campaigns, but with different
assumptions and nuances; they are separate paradigms within the
same subgenre. |
Starting a campaign
requires a GM to make a lot of decisions about what kind of
setting they are using, the starting points of the characters,
how prevalent Magic is, what kind of Magic Systems are
available, what Races and Professions are appropriate, and so
on. |
For some GM's these
decisions come as easy as breathing, but for others they can be
quite a chore, and new GM's in particular are often unsure of
what is appropriate. The purpose of this document is to offer up
some easily adopted Campaign Paradigms to help GM's get their
campaign going. The intention is for a GM to either use a paradigm in
it's entirety, or adapt one to serve as a starting point, and
anything in between. A
Paradigm Worksheet is provided for GM's that want to define
their own Paradigm for their campaign. |
ASSUMPTIONS |
Each of the paradigms
provided has several categories of information presented. One of
the most significant is a block of "assumptions" such as the
following. |
No
Formal Race Package or NCM |
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Formal Race Package with NCM |
END
Cost = Active Points / 10 |
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END
Cost = Active Points / 5 |
Knockback |
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Knockdown |
Generalized Damage |
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Hit
Location Damage |
No
Long Term Damage |
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Injury & Impairment Damage |
Literacy Standard |
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Literacy Not Standard |
Super
Skills Available |
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No
Super Skills Available |
Combat Luck Allowed |
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No
Combat Luck Allowed |
No
Deadly Blow Allowed |
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Deadly Blow Allowed |
No
Armor Proficiency |
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Armor
Proficiency |
No
Skill Maxima |
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Skill
Maxima |
No
STR Minima |
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STR
Minima |
Equipment Costs Points |
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Equipment Doesn't Cost Points |
Bases
& Vehicles Cost Points |
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Bases
& Vehicles Don't Cost Points |
Followers Cost Points |
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Follower Don't Cost Points |
Superheroic CSL Conversion |
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Heroic CSL Conversion |
No
Encumbrance |
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Encumbrance |
No
Long Term Endurance |
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Long
Term Endurance |
Normal Damage Default |
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Killing Damage Default |
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Each line item reflects
an assumption about campaign ground rules that are in effect in
that paradigm. Typically one side or the other will be marked
with an "X", showing which option is assumed to be
used. Individual GM's can obviously override the assumed
behavior. |
Generally speaking, the
left hand side items represent more of a "Superheroic"
implementation, while those on the right represent a more
"Heroic" implementation; higher echelons of Fantasy tend to fall
more to the left side of the chart and lower echelons of Fantasy
tend to fall more to the right. |
HEALING: PREVALENCE |
Also included as part of
Assumptions is a detailed section discussing the typical
prevalence of Magical Healing in paradigm, which can have a
massive effect on the tone and mortality of a campaign. |
KEY NOTES |
Each paradigm includes a
section specifically discussing key ideas that relate to it.
This section is intended as advice to GM's, but like all advice
can be ignored at will. |
An important concept to
consider when discussing Fantasy implementation is the matter of
scale, which is typically categorized as "High" and "Low". Generally campaigns are
referred to as being either "High" and "Low", and it is not always clear what the distinction is based
on. |
Basically the term refers
to the ratio a Fantasy campaign has between the realistic and
the fantastic. Campaigns that have a higher ratio of fantastic
elements are "High", while those that have a lower ratio are
"Low" |
Typically this ratio is
also mirrored in the power level of the campaign, but this is
more of an ancillary effect. You could have a high powered "Low
Fantasy" campaign or a low powered "High Fantasy" campaign, this
isn't very common however since the higher the power level of
individual characters the more capable and less realistic they
become. |
Fantasy is a genre, and
it contains multiple subgenres, which in turn contain multiple
paradigms. Running across this model is the idea of meta-genres
that span multiple paradigms, genres, and subgenres. Meta-genres
include the concepts of Romantic, Horror, Mystery, Comedy, and
Tragedy. All of these meta-genres can theoretically be applied
to some degree to Fantasy but the most commonly applied is
Horror; the use of Horror in Fantasy is typically referred to as
"Dark Fantasy". |
Any paradigm of Fantasy
can be "Dark". There is no intrinsic element preventing Dark
Super Fantasy or Dark High Fantasy. Since one of the basic ideas
of Dark Fantasy is that the characters should be afraid and in
danger, it is more difficult to execute in higher powered
campaigns, but it is not impossible. |
To implement a Dark
Fantasy, simply pick a paradigm and add some Horror elements to
it. Some key ideas that can help a GM do this follow. |
UNDERDOGS |
Perhaps the main theme of Dark Fantasy is
that the heroes, or often just the protagonists (as many Dark
Fantasy PC's are not exactly "heroes" per se) are basically at a
serious disadvantage. The opposition they face, or sometimes
even the very environment are inimical to them, and success is
the exception rather than the rule. Nothing comes easy in Dark
Fantasy, and everything has a cost, usually assessed as a loss
of "humanity". Power corrupts rather than empowers, and few
things are what they seem to be. |
ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS
ABSOLUTELY |
A lot of this is just "flavoring" by the GM,
with little to no mechanical effect. However, of course any
Magic System used in such a setting would need to be tweaked to
reflect this overall theme of "nothing good can come of the
pursuit of power". |
DARK MAGICS MOST FOUL |
Often the Magic in place in such a setting
is directly linked to whatever dark forces
infest the setting. Because of this it is difficult to
give specific examples as its
impossible to estimate what effect an individual GM would be
going for, but as a general rule Magic
that hurts or limits
Magic Users in some way via Side
Effects and/or that require
a sacrifice of some sort
(whether literal or metaphysical...or
both) are appropriate. |
SAMPLE DARK EPIC FANTASY |
For an example of a Dark
Epic Fantasy setting, reference the Warhammer Fantasy
Role-playing Game; a detailed conversion with enough content to
serve as the basis of a HERO System campaign is provided
here. |