Running a Valshock Campaign (Valshock Setting)
Running a Valshocki Campaign[edit]
No Nameless Enemies[edit]
In Valshock, your enemies should have names. Each enemy does not need a name, but they do need a name. Fighting goblins and cultists is one thing, but fighting Danarium Imperial Mages and Primal Elf Hunters from the Veradasian Forests is another. By naming them and giving them goals, you create a way for your players to remember them. When your players meet Primal Elf Hunters, they know that these are territorial and aggressive hunters...
Everywhere Is Someplace[edit]
Avoid generic places. Generic places have little flavor. Even a minute story sheds great texture upon a place. "We settled here after we fled the Magikal Breach created by a Wizard." With that little story, we now know some way to play these folks.
Once a place is someplace, it gets easy to create plots for that place. Who killed the Wizard who created the Breach? Did they leave something in their homeland? Does something need to return to their homeland?
Once you know the tenor of a place, you know something of its people. A mountain town has a different feel than a river town. A crossroads has a different feel than a remote hamlet. The economy, terrain, and challenges of their environment shape their settlement differently, and so gives them a unique flavor.
Every Organization Is Both Good and Bad[edit]
Organizations are no better and no worse than the people who run them. An organization need not be evil to do bad things, nor good to do good things. Many organizations do both.
Organizations give play a way to encounter a villain multiple times without fighting the same villain. Campaigns against organizations can have many twists, turns, and many encounters. In many ways, organizations are the best monsters in a game.
Everything done in Valshock matters[edit]
From rescuing a child for a village mother or fighting in the name of a god, everything players do matter in the world of Valshock and therefor, has an effect. If you saved that child, the village might thank you and have other quests and gifts for you, on the other hand, if you kidnapped that child, the village would insult you, and possibly throw rotten food as you walked by, or even attack you. everything has an effect on the world.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Campaign Settings → Valshock