I’ve been looking for an existing setting to place my Dwimmermount campaign in. Since it looks like the Auren Empire setting is still quite a bit always from being published, and because some of the feedback I’ve received from the Autarchs makes it sound like placing Dwimmermount therein might be a bit difficult, I’m now thinking about using The red Tide Setting instead. I’ve only read lightly through both Dwimmermount and The Red Tide, but it seems with a little finagling it should be possible.
Is there any special concerns or gotchas that maybe others have noticed that I should look out for?
• The fall of Dwimmermount occurs 1800 years ago instead of 200 years ago. This places the fall of Dwimmermount at -1500 AL in The Red Tide timeline.
• The history of Dwimmermount prior to it’s fall would remain mostly intact. While the rebellion against the Termaxians was closing in on the Sunset aisles, it was the sudden arrival of the Shou in -1500 AL that destroyed the Termaxians. The rebels, satisfied that the Termaxians were destroyed had little interest in attempting to conquer the Shou after it was determined that access to Dwimmermount was no longer possible. However, it is still Sarana and Hu 'Pan that actually seal off Dwimmermount.
• The Shou/goblinoid races did not exist the world until -1500L.
• I’m considering replacing the Ranine race with the Thrassians from the Auren setting, or placing them alongside the Ranine as the race that once dominated the surface before.
• The cosmology and theology follow the Dwimmermount model. Four Worlds still exist as do the Eld, but rather than being different planets in a solar system they are worlds in different realities, perhaps next to be visited by The Red Tide.
• Though some may hope that Dwimmermount might hold the key to defeating The Red Tide this is not the case. That role still lies with the Shou.
• The Skandr are the descendants (about 2,000 years removed) of the Thulians. They are as culturally Thulian and modern Icelanders are Vikings, meaning they are not. However, some of their sages might retain some knowledge from the Thulian Empire and Dwimmermount.
• The dwarves follow the Dwimmermount history/biology for the most part. Those Dwarves who returned to the Susnset Isles know little to nothing about Dwimmermount itself, or their brethren within.
• The elves are still descended from the Eld, but are mortal of body. Their set number of spirits do recycle over the generations as described in The Red Tide.
That’s about as far as I’ve gotten in trying to brainstorm this out.
I don’t know anything about Dwimmermount, but you seem to have already considered the major points of Red Tide that came to mind as potential issues. The only one you didn’t mention is that, officially, the Sunset Isles didn’t exist in this world prior to the arrival of the Shou (“In truth, neither the Shou nor the Sunset Isles are native to this world.” - Red Tide 138), but I don’t see any reason you can’t change that in your version of the setting.
Or perhaps Dwimmermount could also be a relic of the Shou’s original reality?
@Alex
There are many elements of Telluria that I’d be keeping, such as the gods, the order and actors of the historical events (just set about 1300 years earlier), but outside the immediate area surrounding Dwimmermount I don’t think we know a lot about Telluria itself. To be fair, the kickstarter was not to provide Telluria as a setting. Also, I thought that part of the idea for Dwimmermount was that it could be adapted into different campaign settings with some modifications. Now that we know more about Dwimmermount I can see how that might be a little more difficult than originally thought, especially if added to active campaign one is already playing in, but I think it can still be doable for the most part. Luckily, I haven’t started a campaign in The Red Tide yet, so I don’t have to retcon anything.
@nDervish
I didn’t realize that the Susnset Isles themselves weren’t native to the setting, I thought it was just the black rock surrounding the islands that had been added. I think I’ll go with the islands having always been native to The Red Tide setting. If I left it as the Sunset Isles being originally from the Shou’s reality, then that would imply that Dwimmermount was the creation of the Shou’s creators, and could more likely contains information on what the Red Tide is, and maybe the means to defeat it. That could also be an interesting way to merge Dwimmermount and The Red Tide, but I’ll be keeping Dwimmermount’s creation and purpose separate from the Red Tide in my campaign.
No worries, I didn’t think you were being critical. I’m posting here in the hopes that other forum members also aware of The Red Tide might provide some feedback. Unfortunately it seems that Sine Nomine doesn’t have their own forums for me to post this question to as well.
The G+ community for Starts without number has a section for Scarlet Heroes, so I suppose that it can be a good place to start a conversation on the Red Tide setting. I will be interested in the final result, I wonder how a lone hero would do in Dwimmermount. https://plus.google.com/communities/108012684439844399874
I believe Red Tide is the setting, but doesn’t necessarily have to be run as Scarlet Heroes, which is the solo-player version. as an aside, did anyone else back Scarlet Heroes? I feel like ACKs, with its robust henchmen rules, is also a satisfactory method for running solo adventures, but perhaps a bit more complicated.
I backed Scarlet Heroes but have not used it yet. I’m running a solo PbP game using the sci-fi version of the ruleset (Stellar Heroes). It works pretty well but you have to assume that the PC, even at 1st level, is a pretty epic hero.
I believe Red Tide is the setting, but doesn't necessarily have to be run as Scarlet Heroes
Correct. The Red Tide Campaign Sourcebook came out long before Scarlet Heroes, along with a few other related supplements, including the free line of “Black Streams” supplements. Scarlet Heroes is basically Black Streams: Solo Heroes with some setting information and a complete streamlined OSR-style game system added on to make it usable standalone instead of as an add-on to another system.
I backed Scarlet Heroes and have done a little GM-less play with it. It seems to be a solid system overall. If you’re interested in it purely for the solo play rules and not for the setting or system, you can, as I already mentioned, get essentially the same rules for free as Black Streams: Solo Heroes at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/114895/Black-Streams-Solo-Heroes