Icebound Concept

[Vance]

It's not the ice age that's the big limiter, it's the migration. Remember, the 'regular' races of Icebound are not native, they came in from a war torn world about 200 years ago, losing pretty much everything. They've had to rebuild their tech (and magic) since then.

[Phoenix]

It's not the ice age that's the big limiter, it's the migration. Remember, the 'regular' races of Icebound are not native, they came in from a war torn world about 200 years ago, losing pretty much everything. They've had to rebuild their tech (and magic) since then.

Well, the original concept is the races are native and the ice age was a big change to the world.

[Vance]

[quote author]Well, the original concept is the races are native and the ice age was a big change to the world.[/quote]

Thing is, there were numerous conflicting 'origins' to the campaign, and I had to choose one and 'set it in stone' as it were for any hope for anything to proceed. The reason I chose this one (other than it having the most references) was that it allowed for a culture where ice was a limiting factor - most of the magic and tech that would overcome the climate was left behind in a hurry.

Otherwise you just get D&D with occaisional snow, which isn't what we were all shooting for.

[Phoenix]

[quote author]Well, the original concept is the races are native and the ice age was a big change to the world.

Thing is, there were numerous conflicting 'origins' to the campaign, and I had to choose one and 'set it in stone' as it were for any hope for anything to proceed. The reason I chose this one (other than it having the most references) was that it allowed for a culture where ice was a limiting factor - most of the magic and tech that would overcome the climate was left behind in a hurry.

Otherwise you just get D&D with occaisional snow, which isn't what we were all shooting for.

[/quote]

Not at all.  When the iceage hit the planet they where not prepared for those kinds of conditions and a lot of stuff was lost in the regions further North that are now considerably less hospitable as most of the population migrated towards the equator.  And this was the original origins nothing conflicting at all.  Some other concepts may have been floated after that but there was never any intent to change this.

[Vance]

Not at all.  When the iceage hit the planet they where not prepared for those kinds of conditions and a lot of stuff was lost in the regions further North that are now considerably less hospitable as most of the population migrated towards the equator.  And this was the original origins nothing conflicting at all.  Some other concepts may have been floated after that but there was never any intent to change this.

That's just it, you're taking a 'D&D world' and hitting it with an ice-age. If you check magic, even at mid-level, particularly for priests, you discover that there's no way that their world and culture would really suffer. It's actually one of the biggest problems with Dungeons and Dragons.

By the Exodus, you not only get rid of that baggage (well, a lot of it), but also get to have a campaign of 'frozen wonder'. Everything outside of the towns is new and largely unexplored. Native races (what there are) are now alien and new, etc.

That's generally why I prefer this direction, and why I don't think it's a very good idea to have 'We were once FaeRun, then it got cold'. It just doesn't work with Dungeons and Dragons.

[Phoenix]

That's just it, you're taking a 'D&D world' and hitting it with an ice-age. If you check magic, even at mid-level, particularly for priests, you discover that there's no way that their world and culture would really suffer. It's actually one of the biggest problems with Dungeons and Dragons.

Magic can do a lot when it's available, but that does not help those without access to it.

By the Exodus, you not only get rid of that baggage (well, a lot of it), but also get to have a campaign of 'frozen wonder'. Everything outside of the towns is new and largely unexplored. Native races (what there are) are now alien and new, etc.

At this point as far as most of the population is concerned everything outside of the populated areas is largely unexplored.  Even if you had an old map with coming of the ice age changed a lot of the geography.

That's generally why I prefer this direction, and why I don't think it's a very good idea to have 'We were once FaeRun, then it got cold'. It just doesn't work with Dungeons and Dragons.

This is not and was never intended to be Faerun.

[PolletteIrieska]

I love being able to speak with the view of an outsider, still.

Having no attachment to either side of the argument, I have to say, folks fleeing to a whole new world is a lot more exciting than a world with a previous infrastructure that had to adjust to the cold. You literally don't know what's around the next bend, and the possibilities there... Well, that's a big draw.

[Phoenix]

I love being able to speak with the view of an outsider, still.

Having no attachment to either side of the argument, I have to say, folks fleeing to a whole new world is a lot more exciting than a world with a previous infrastructure that had to adjust to the cold. You literally don't know what's around the next bend, and the possibilities there... Well, that's a big draw.

The whole point is the original decision was to have a world that changed with the coming of an ice age.  Not one with the people of the world fleeing through a portal (ie: fleeing from the Valheru in the Riftwar).

[Phoenix_ArchMage]

The whole point is the original decision was to have a world that changed with the coming of an ice age.  Not one with the people of the world fleeing through a portal (ie: fleeing from the Valheru in the Riftwar).

While I truely enjoy this development discussion I do think that ice ages (for the most part) happen naturally and take time, having read the decriptive text (in part) it seems that this was coerced into being via magic in a frozen atlantis type event (though in ice and not water).  Since this is a similar premise, I would think that both sides of the argument have prevalent points.  However, I think a big consideration is what the people in exodus brought with them.  Since there influence and impact are going to be very apparent on both the native cultures and any surviving previous cultures.  What kind of technology will both have left to use?  Will the newcoming people and the natives interact or will it be a warring over comodities such as fresh water and food?

[Phoenix]

The whole point is the original decision was to have a world that changed with the coming of an ice age.  Not one with the people of the world fleeing through a portal (ie: fleeing from the Valheru in the Riftwar).

While I truely enjoy this development discussion I do think that ice ages (for the most part) happen naturally and take time, having read the decriptive text (in part) it seems that this was coerced into being via magic in a frozen atlantis type event (though in ice and not water). 

Ice ages do tend to happen over time but not in all cases.  Maybe a large meteor impact the planet knocking it out of it's usual orbit and pushing it further away from the sun?

[Phoenix_ArchMage]

The whole point is the original decision was to have a world that changed with the coming of an ice age.  Not one with the people of the world fleeing through a portal (ie: fleeing from the Valheru in the Riftwar).

While I truely enjoy this development discussion I do think that ice ages (for the most part) happen naturally and take time, having read the decriptive text (in part) it seems that this was coerced into being via magic in a frozen atlantis type event (though in ice and not water). 

Ice ages do tend to happen over time but not in all cases.  Maybe a large meteor impact the planet knocking it out of it's usual orbit and pushing it further away from the sun?

It sounded to me like that is even more rare than the possibility of magic interference.  The rumor mill on this one should actually be put in stone so that this discussion can progress.  How did the Ice age occur, was it a natural progression that quickly occurred in less than a hundred and fifty years?  Since its cosmology suggests a magical shift I would prefer this route since that seems a bit more likely.

[Phoenix]

It sounded to me like that is even more rare than the possibility of magic interference.  The rumor mill on this one should actually be put in stone so that this discussion can progress.  How did the Ice age occur, was it a natural progression that quickly occurred in less than a hundred and fifty years?  Since its cosmology suggests a magical shift I would prefer this route since that seems a bit more likely.

Sure it's rare, but rare events have been known to happen.  Could be a combination though.  A group of Wizards experimenting with a new type of magic manage to unleash something that attracts a comet?

[Phoenix_ArchMage]

It sounded to me like that is even more rare than the possibility of magic interference.  The rumor mill on this one should actually be put in stone so that this discussion can progress.  How did the Ice age occur, was it a natural progression that quickly occurred in less than a hundred and fifty years?  Since its cosmology suggests a magical shift I would prefer this route since that seems a bit more likely.

Sure it's rare, but rare events have been known to happen.  Could be a combination though.  A group of Wizards experimenting with a new type of magic manage to unleash something that attracts a comet?

A comet-made Ice age does have its merits, though almost parallel to previous earth events.  Consider this as a possiblity as well.  Volcanoes have been known to release huge plumes of ash that block out the sun and can cool the planet that way.  I just think a comet of catastrophic proportions would cause a reign of fire, not ice, is all.

[Giomanach]

Whether here as far as the concept of the setting is concerned or the other Icebound threads I have noticed that they all share one very important similarity that, in my opinion, are slowing progress. The threads are leading to controversial posts for differing view points because no decisions are being made. The original World Building sessions I'm sure have crystalized information that, until shortly noticed on the equipment thread, I assumed had been collected and put together to offer a starting point for further development. We need to know what has been set in concrete so to speak before we open orselves to further bickering about ideas that don't work because they don't fit with ideas that have been decided on. I'm sure that this would lessen the arguments considerably as well as fuel the ideas to progress further and not stagnate on a specific point.
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Update: I thought we had a collection of the original sessions already put together by Vance here on our forums.

[Phoenix]

Whether here as far as the concept of the setting is concerned or the other Icebound threads I have noticed that they all share one very important similarity that, in my opinion, are slowing progress. The threads or leading to controversial posts for differing view points because no decisions are being made. The original World Building sessions I'm sure have crystalized information that, until shortly noticed on the equipment thread, I assumed had been collected and put together to offer a starting point for further development. We need to know what has been set in concrete so to speak before we open orselves to further bickering about ideas that don't work because they don't fit with ideas that have been decided on. I'm sure that this would lessen the arguments considerably as well as fuel the ideas to progress further and not stagnate on a specific point.

The information from the original chats was put in the World Building thread on the WotC forums.