This is the first post on a new campaign setting I am designing based The Gygax '75 Challenge by Ray Otus. The core of the idea, as originally outlined by E. Gary Gygax in the April 1975 wargaming newsletter Europa, was to develop a campaign setting quickly in a five-step process. Ray has further structured this process into five weeks of work, with clear goals and examples for each step. I'll be documenting the creation of this setting in three ways: The physical journal where I am writing down the information needed to run the campaign at the table, this blog where I am recording most of the information in the journal with additional explanation and notes, and finally my first attempt at some Vlog posts on Youtube where I will provide even further explanation and context.
Step 1 and the focus for this week's post are the core concepts. This step involves creating a core concept, writing down 3-7 "pitch points" used to describe the campaign and "sell" it to potential players, and documenting several sources of inspiration. Along with these is an optional "mood board" I'll be using Pinterest as a way of documenting images that help evoke the setting. Without further ado, here's week 1 of The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän.
The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän - A rules agnostic OSR campaign of exploration and conquest in a land long forgotten by man, filled with dangers and riches from age lost to time.
Pitch Points
- The campaign takes place on a 'lost' continent. Malzthurdän has existed as nothing more than a myth, even among the elves and dwarves. Recent mysterious events have led to its rediscovery, and rumor has it there are fortunes to be made in the new world for the bold and adventurous.
- Spellcasters and Magic are rare. The small number of wizards that exist are reclusive academics. Those that can wield divine magic, such as Clerics, are seen as prophets, saints, and the chosen representatives of the gods. High level magic is almost always based on rituals. Most all known magical items are of ancient origin.
- Technology is equivalent to late 15th/early 16th century Europe. While gunpowder and guns do not exist, the rest of the campaign's technology is based on the Age of Exploration. This indicates the "peak" tech available, and it will often be hard to come by. The inhabitants encountered will be using stone age tech, though this can vary in particular instances.
- Rumors and cryptic evidence of lost cities persist. Demi-human powers believe that their ancestors may have originally come from this continent. Cryptic writing and artefacts push this belief, and rumors among the humanoid tribes that inhabit the land seem to support it, as there are tales of powerful guardian, forbidden ruins, and vast treasures to be found.
Sources of Inspiration
- Conquistadors, by Michel Wood. The exploits of Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizzaro are the primary inspiration for overland adventures and challenges to be represented in this campaign. Wood spins a wonderful tale using multiple sources to present a reasonably balanced view of the conquistadors. One must marvel at the hardships they overcame and what they were able to accomplish, and yet be horrified by the destruction they left in their path. Available in print, ebook, and audio book through your library or Amazon. There is also a 4 part TV series which I have not seen yet.
- Aguirre, Wrath of God. The first feature film from acclaimed director Werner Herzog (aka the "Client" in the Mandalorian) is a story of historical fiction based loosely on the accounts of Gaspar deCarvajal which detail an exploration of the western rain forests of the Amazon basin, and the eventual first navigation of the Amazon river by westerners. This film goes a long way in setting the mood and giving a good visual representation of the type of equipment and environment the party will be working with. Currently streaming free on Tubi
- Lost City Z. - While this story takes place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it describes in great detail he difficulty in following clues left by others, retracing your steps in a harsh environment, and the struggles to stay healthy when even the environment is trying to kill you. It’s another tales that takes place in the western amazon basin. Available in all book formats through your library or Amazon. The movie is available to rent on various stream services and is currently included in Amazon Prime Video.
- The Lewis & Clark expedition While this occurred several centuries later, it provides background on adventures in a different climate with different geography. It also is a clear example of how befriending and negotiating with encountered peoples can be vital to the survival of the party. The number of books and videos on the topic are too numerous to mention, but it is notable that their journals are freely available. There are also day by day breakdowns of the events of their trek which would be a valuable resource for any hexcrawl campaign.
- The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan & The Tomb of Horrors These modules exemplify the type of adventures and challenges that the party should expect to face in the dungeons of the campaign. The party must be prepared and quick witted. Fighting the humanoid inhabitants of Malthurzdän will yield limited plunder, but the vast treasures await in the lost tombs, shrines, temples, and cities of the continent. If you don't have these, you know where to get them.
- Indiana Jones These movies typify the whole genre of swashbuckling adventure archaeology which probably started with H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and continues to this day in video games such as Tomb Raider and Uncharted. While these stories are filled with the sorts of trips and traps that you would expect, they also carry another theme that will carry into the campaign: Indy was always in a race, always competing for his prize. So will the PCs be competing with others for the treasures that they seek.
Mood Board - Malzthurdän on Pinterest
Next week, a map of the surrounding area for the start of the campaign.
Notes
If I have done my job correctly, you should already have a pretty clear about of what the campaign is about. As I mentioned in describing the book Conquistadors, when I heard the stories of Cortes and Pizzaro as told by Wood, I was truly inspired. These were tales of men in desperate, deadly situations that somehow overcame the longest of odds to carve out personal empires in a hostile new world. While what actions that they took, particularly Pizzaro were often downright evil, their adventures are simply amazing. What really struck me though was the small size of the groups that they led. At many points they had but a small, core company of men, and they supplemented that at various points with hired men-at-arms and allies. The similarities to a D&D party and their hireling was immediately apparent to me. It almost directly followed the sort of campaign outlined by Gygax in OD&D. My only challenge in trying to turn this into a playable setting was to try to invest some sort framework where I wasn't putting the PCs into the same morale situations that the Conquistadors face. I was not going to allow my campaign to turn into a genocide.
So I decided that "my" new world would be a lost continent, overrun by evil forces, with no humans or demi-humans having stepped foot in these lands for millennia. I'm still not completely happy with that change. Simply replacing Native American with Orcs could be viewed as equating the two, and that is not my intention. There's more to the story that I am not revealing at this time but suffice it to say that the humanoids of Malthurzdän are not the original inhabitants of that continent and are not innocents in this story. Not that one of the potential inspirations for this setting is Maztica campaign developed for 2E AD&D. While there were some ideas there, I quickly dismissed it as I wanted to make sure that I was merely inspired by the events of the exploration of the western hemisphere, not mimicking them.
The one concession that I am going to make in designing this campaign is that I will be creating a minimum of new dungeon levels. Most of what I will use is published adventures that I modify to fit this setting. There is such a wealth of great material that is available to me I figure that this is the best time to use it. The strategy also allows me to populate my world with ready dungeons very quickly, so that no matter where the PCs go I can be prepared for them and avoid Quantum Ogre situations.
One last important note about this setting. It is currently system agnostic, but that could change. I don't like to choose a game system until I know the players that will be in the campaign. I could run this as 1e with some groups, B/X with others, or some OD&D variant with others. It really depends on what the players are familiar with. While I've made many friends online playing B/X and 1e games, more recently I've been wanting to play games with my pre-existing friends that may not be that familiar with D&D rules, in which case something more simplistic like Delving Deeper or S&W may be more appropriate. Separate from the base rules, I'm making a study of all the hexcrawling procedures outlined in early rules and modules, and well as the multitudes of blog posts on the subject. As this campaign is focused on exploration, the details of the procedure used to track and resolve travel are a key part of the game. Another hidden inspiration to this campaign is the board game Lost Expedition, which uses simple, categorized resources and skills to track how your group is able to overcome challenges along a journey. Such a structure may be a great way to quickly resolve wilderness encounters, and I'll be writing more about that in the future.
Cool stuff!
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