Nightfall Setting

[Zyraen]

Here's a possible setting

Edit : renamed Thread for easy finding

Edit : this was the original concept for this campaign written a long time ago. Still a relatively handy source document.

[Zyraen]

Campaign Setting : Nightfall

Background

After millenia of conflict, the High Elves and Sylvan Elves united in their hatred of their Dark Elf kin, and successfully stormed their subterranean cities, driving them deeper beneath the world. Establishing self-sustaining fortresses underground, and allying with Dragons both above ground and in the deep to ferret out their foes, the Elves eventually hunted down and exterminated the evil race. But in this savage process, the Elves had become as ruthless and merciless as the evil they sought to destroy, and to most outsiders, they were now one race – one unstoppable, elder Race, long lived, learned in lore, powerful in magic, armed with peerless weapons and finest armor, and from their long conflict they had eyes that could see through the deepest darkness.

With its original target terminated, the war machine that the Elves created and were part of turned to the rest of the world. Initially they targeted Goblins, Orcs, and other vile creatures, but soon they made demands of the other races as well, for were the Elves not above over all the free Races, with only the Dragons their betters? Their high handed attitude sparked outrage, which the Elves swiftly reprised, calling upon precise arcane storms to raze the palaces of various kings and nations, leaving their new enemies struggling to find new leadership. But in desperation they eventually regrouped, and ultimately the Elves numbered fewer than the populous other Races, such that even if one Elf fell for every ten enemies they slew, the numbers were not on their side.

But that would soon change. Guided by their Archmages, supported by Draconic Magic, the Elves brought about Nightfall – an event that plunged the world into the an endless night, shrouding the heavens and cutting off the sun, moon and stars alike. Starving the world while they survived off the fare of the deep, and utilizing their darkvision at an advantage against all others, the Elves bade their time for weakness and hunger to consume their foes, not caring that the forests which once sheltered them were dying along with all of nature that was on the surface. By now, it became widely believed that the Elves did not actually destroy the Dark Elves all those decades ago, but took the remnants of that race and somehow became one with them.

After they had waited enough, the Elves set out to enslave the world, easily decimating what had once been armies, which were by now ragged populations struggling to survive. Only a few pockets of survivors escaped by retreating underground, and learning to sustain themselves on what scraps they could find. Only the Dwarves and some other subterranean races persevered to defy the might of the Elves and managed to maintain some semblance of their glory, but even then large sections of their dominions were lost to the invading Elves. Meantime, the world fell under the dark dominion of the Elves, and even death did not release those enslaved, for dark arcanists returned them into service using dark magics. Breeding their slaves into expendable armies, and reanimating those who died, it was only a matter of time before they would muster enough forces to simply overrun all who defied them.

Setting Notes & Elves

Nightfall is mainly a setting of despair and darkness. The influence of Gods in Nightfall is very limited. The Gods are still around, but somehow their influence to directly aid has been severely hampered. Divine Powers still work normally, but generally speaking Divine Rituals and anything Divine-related have a lesser impact on the world. Note that the Elves still retain worship of their own Gods.
For most part, Raise Dead and other such rituals should not be available to the players in this setting, making death as final and forbidding as the setting itself.

Despite the background notes and perceptions of other Races, the Elves are not Dark Elves, although most of their veterans have since gained darkvision. All the traditional elven appearances - blue eyes, blonde / light / brown / dark hair, slender build - are all still maintained. They are patriarchal, not at all hedonistic nor decadent, and they take no pleasure in the suffering or killing of their enemies. They are reasonable, logical, effectively "normal" elves, just on an unstoppable, all-or-nothing mission to take over the world. They do not (appear to) take pleasure in torture, but it is a very convenient way of getting what they want out of slaves. Though at times empathic, even sympathetic, when push comes to shove they are efficient in their brutality and merciless in the execution of their directives.

Elves are unlikely to take prisoners, especially one that has the power to pose a serious threat, without good reason. Even if they did, they might seriously maim the captives to ensure they wouldn't be a threat even if they broke free. Due to their limited numbers, they have an inculcated doctrine that the life of an elf is important and sacred, and anyone or anything that might endanger themselves or another elf in future is to be eliminated. These are general guidelines, though if the GM and players are comfortable, there's always exceptions to the rules, for captives to be kept alive for use rather than killed.

Not all the Elves agree with the current course of action. There are many young Elves that are sympathetic, but these Elves are generally not as experienced as the Rulers, Leaders and Vanguard of the Elves, and many also lack darkvision from not having fought against the Dark Elves earlier.

For most part, Elves are Masters of Arcane magic, and they have detection systems throughout their kingdom, both above ground and below ground. These detection devices generally provide less coverage towards the fringes and contested areas of their Empire, but are sometimes used to cover "key" contested points, such that any Elf attacked in the area can use his abilities to signal his allies that enemies are active within the area. For more details on how these devices might work, refer to the Unbound GM Guide.

Due to the bleak nature of the setting, with a scarcity of magic items, it is encouraged that the Characters use Inherent Bonuses for this setting. Depending on how much the players avoid or engage the Elves, the lack of food will also affect the adventurers, and helps to set the mood for the campaign.

However, unlike most settings in other games, Nightfall has the possibility of the Players and their actions utterly transforming the world and the setting that they started in. This need not be always a spectacular outcome, nor always a good outcome, but the possibility is there for some earthshaking development, and for the GM to really reward the players for taking on such a challenging setting. For ideas on plotlines about these, refer to the Unbound GM Guide.

Story Arcs

Most of the following arcs are basically bleak scenarios, with little initial hope of actually dislodging the Elves from their dominant position. There are some fine points that the Players can eventually pursue to change the fate of the world, but these are hardly obvious. Here are some possible Starting Points, which can be mixed and matched.

a) Slaves of the Elves. This is not something unique to Nightfall, and is not entirely ideal. Perhaps one player can be an Elf, who might start the adventure by freeing some the Slaves. Escape should be emphasized in this arc, unless of course the players actually enjoy behaving and being treated like slaves.

b) Surfacer Survivors. The players have watched all that they know, their life and peace of their kingdom laid low by the night, civilisation turned into anarchy struggling for food, until the elves came and destroyed what was left of it. The campaign either starts with that initial assault, or with the players already settled into a makeshift, backward settlement eking out a desperate existence, that eventually comes under attack.

c) Renegade Elves. The players are elves, possibly with their friends and servants, that have turned their back on the evil of their race and try to help them. This may involve either trying to find out who is the one behind all these, or leaving the Elven kingdom to try and aid the suffering. But being elves, they will likely be attacked upon sight, if not utterly shunned, feared and distrusted by all.

d) Special Operations. The players are elves, sent out to infiltrate and assassinate various enemies, softening them up before a full scale invasion. For most part, this is an evil-aligned campaign, but along the way it may or may not develop into something more intricate and humane.

e) Underground Alliance. The players play dwarves and other underground adventurers, possibly with a few survivors from the surface as well. They form a party to put up a resistance against the elves, attack them, sabotage their military efforts, perhaps eventually take out their leadership.

f) Savage Races. The players play usually savage races such as Orcs, Goblins, Gnolls, Ogres, Trolls, Snakemen, Lizardmen etc, that have been largely decimated by the ruthless efforts of the Elves. Left with few survivors, they can launch vengeance-motivated guerrilla efforts that might barely affect the elves, or perhaps put themselves in danger by trying to ally with the other races. Although the other Races are in dread of the Elves, they also have centuries of bloodshed and hatred against the Savage Races the players represent.

g) Intelligence Acquisition. Knowing your enemy is half the battle won. Basically, the group of adventurers try to get into the Elven Empire to gather intelligence, information on their activities, understand their motivations better. Perhaps they might even acquire enough magical lore to understand more about the Nightfall event, and maybe eventually try and reverse it.

The Darkest Night Arc

Set some years after the initial Nightfall, the Elves have been successful in taking over most of the world, and even many subterranean kingdoms like those of the Dwarves have fallen before them. The survivors of all races have banded together, but they are in a terrible shape, and there is only one (known) settlement, with its location closely guarded. However, recently it seems they may have been found out, and the player characters are sent to try and stop the invading Elven army, or try and infiltrate the Command Tower deep in Elven territory. If they can kill the Elven commander, perhaps that might halt the army's advance long enough for the settlement to relocate and cover its tracks, but for the player characters it is certainly a one-way trip.

The Darkest Night is a unique arc in that it is basically a suicide mission. Its length can vary, from as short as 1-2 sessions to 1-2 months, or maybe even longer. It is best used as an introductory game to the Nightfall setting, and is intended to capture the stark desperation in the setting. Some experienced players are used to the GM adapting for their mistakes so that things do not turn out too badly at the table, but with the Darkest Night, it helps to build the GM's fortitude to close a story by killing the player characters, and not to fudge to cover up their mistakes.

There may be a high temptation for a GM to create an exit for the player characters at the end of the arc, but this is not very advisable as it breaks the tone of the setting. At the end of the short session, it helps to set a tone for the actual campaign, which is pretty much the same merciless, desperate setting, and also helps players determine if this is the sort of Setting they would enjoy.

[yhuangj]

Very interesting campaign - it's essentially a Rebel forces campaign. To flesh it out, you'd need a list of hidden races nominally subjegated by the Elven dominion but retain the wish to 'be free' one day.

Players will have to secretly collect an alliance of diverse races to take on the elves.

[Zyraen]

moved from General, for reference only. Minor alterations may apply to various arcs.