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Elementalist World
EltonJ:
--- Quote from: Thot on August 11, 2021, 06:42:23 AM ---So, nothing special, not something that is related to the type of magic used? A pity.
--- End quote ---
I'll think of something else.
Spectre771:
First off, run the campaign that you and your friends will enjoy. Sometimes the best campaign sessions I've had were ones that went totally off my script and just happened to write themselves. The players end up adding variables to the game that I never thought of and I work off of those ideas or results (good or bad) and weave them into the story line so the main plot still gets worked on, but maybe in a less direct line that I had planned.
Second, your idea is what I have been running in RM2 since the early 90s in with my first group of gaming friends. I've had several older posts in other threads about my game setting. To make RM2 a little more manageable for players and GMs, the only magic users and spell lists that exist are the ones found in Elemental Companion. It IS the Renaissance period (of sorts) for the gaming world. The older magics and spell lists have all been "explained" away through what now passes for science. Healing powder is just the equivalent of aspirin, burn salve was just aloe all along, mind control effects are just hypnosis, the paralyzing touch was just the slime off a brightly colored frog. Magicians are today's real-world street performers, (David Blaine, David Copperfield, Harry Houdini) etc. Elementalism is the science du-jour and I've added the Alchemy Companion into the mix too as that also passed for science in our real world at one point. The Alchemy Companion is pretty cool too.
So now mankind is 'enlightened.' Science above all. There's no such thing as 'magic.' So.....
To add a little drama and excitement to the game, the spell casters in the game world have gone to hiding or at least are laying low to avoid scorn. Some NPCs can still be found around and about. All of the old magical items that survived are still there, waiting to be found, or are still being made by non-human folk. In the larger cities, such as those with schools of study and higher education, or those with a higher educated populous, the spell casters are shunned or treated as scam artists. As one moves toward the more rural areas, magic users are still held in awe, maybe respected, and always with some trepidation. The non-human races still know that magic is magic and is real. The Elven race is enjoying the new modern man and their lack of belief in magic and see it as yet another step on their path of ignorance.
The gaming world we use mirrors the treatment of spell casters the way our real world treated Indigenous American Shamans, the Celtic Druids, the Tribal Medicine man, witches, alchemists, and snake-oil peddlers. In the gaming world, the spell casters in the party get the same sideways glances when in certain locales.
PiXeL01:
The above is pretty cool as the struggle between “science” and “barbarism”.
You could also have the world exist as the point where all elements converge and serve as one of the battlefields between the elemental forces. Each element wants to become the dominating element and absorb or consume this realm into themselves.
Players could either work for one of the elemental forces to further the agenda or fighting to keep the world from being consumed.
The world could be a disc where around the edges the elements swirl
jdale:
Another elemental theme might be the intrusion of elements that don't belong in this world. Given the structure of the elemental companion, that might be an entire triad of, say, crystal, gossamer, and quintessence. Or it could be a single element that has a corrupting influence. Or it could be elemental plasma or nothingness attempting to consume other elements. In any of those cases, if all your magical tools are elemental, how do you deal with a problem that is composed of an entirely foreign element? What kind of effects does it have on the environment? At what point do you even become aware that it is possible for other elements to exist? Can they exist and sustain themselves without a connection to a plane where they exist naturally?
Spectre771:
Elemental Companion is easily my favorite book of RM2. I've read it cover to cover multiple times over the years for pure enjoyment. How the Elemental realms are described, the variety of elemental creatures, the theories and schools of thought, etc. are all so well laid out that it's a fun read. I bought 6 copies last Christmas to give as gifts to my gaming group because there is just so much info included in the book. Even if you don't play RM2, it's a book worth owning and reading, particularly if you want to run an elemental campaign.
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