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SW 4th Era: Establishing a Time Jump

While it’s easy to think of a new era of history (real or fantasy) as a distinct and specific time or year, it’s usually in hindsight that we view the end of one epoch and the start of another as a demising event. In reality, such times are more muddled and gray, with the facts of history written by the victor.

It’s that confusion that drives me to start the 4th Era after a plausible lapse of time; I’m just not sure what that time span should be! From a human perspective, a decade or so could suffice, but Shadow World deals with longer time periods and often measures history in centuries or millennia; a understandable framing in a world of immortal Elves and beings.

I’ve broken down my time-lapse options into 3 basic frames: immediate, short-term or medium-term. I’ve eliminated a longer term option out of pragmatism; I don’t have the time or patience to build another expansive timeline!

Immediate: Under this scenario, the 4th Era begins right after the “final battle”. There are some in game benefits to this option as the flux of events would create a number of adventure opportunities. However, I feel like it wouldn’t create enough of a space to truly reset the setting and make the 4th Era distinct from previous material.

Short-term. 5 years. I’m leaning towards this option as it gives enough time for things to settle down, but not too much. There will still be parties vying for party, locations to explore and loot and enough flux to make Shadow World new, even to experienced players.

Medium-term. 20 years. I like this option for establishing a new setting baseline. Realms and leadership have been sorted, things are settled down into a “new normal” with some rebuilding already accomplished and there is a through line for establishing the new professions that RMU introduced. There are a new slate of big baddies to challenge the players but still enough conflict to drive adventure plotlines.

Per my previous post, I may end up pivoting on this once I have the 3rd Era ending locked in and some of these choices are more determinative. How much time do you think is needed to establish a new era of Shadow World?

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SW 4th Era: Road Map for History

How do you know where you are if you don’t where you’ve been?

For the last 20 years I’ve found my campaign hovering around the last few decades of the 3rd Era. The great story arcs are still in progress and the conflicts arising from those story lines are intersected by the PC’s again and again without them being the main characters. Strangely, I’ve never run a group completely through one of Terry’s campaigns.

Shadow World now feels like a game of the greatest hits, or similar to Star Wars RPG where the players run their adventures during the lead up to the original trilogy. Great moments, world shattering events and completions of story arcs are there but not for the party to enjoy directly. I’ve talked with quite a few Shadow World GM’s over the years and most run games with characters between 1st and 10th lvl and then reset. Some of Terry’s storylines are going to need very high level characters and based on feedback from my “Legends of Shadow World” their also seems to be little appetite for high level adventures as well. Not everyone can be a lowly Hobbit and save the world!

So, to circle around, before I can build the 4th Era I need to finish the last few pages and chapter of the 3rd Era. Each of Terry’s new books slightly advanced the timeline, but I think it was his fiction, “Loremaster Legacy” where he hoped to finish his opus rather than through incremental SW supplements. While there are many story arcs in Shadow World, the higher level narratives need to be resolved to determine and inform what happens next. For all my ideas about the 4th Era, any changes need to have a logical justification and not just the simple hand-waves that annoy me!

So what are these large story arcs?

  1. The Northern Eye. The loss of the Northern Eye plunged the hemisphere into erratic Essaence activity and Terry hinted at more several issues. Clearly, the return and placement of the Eye is a key event in the 3rd Era.
  2. The Shadowstone Chronicles encompasses the “World Crisis” story arc that has driven the setting from it’s earliest form. Several items play here: the Shadowstone, the Soulsword, the Ark of Worlds and the Heart of Agoth are key elements. There is a lot of Middle Earth DNA here and some elements of the Court of Ardor that is leading to a grand confrontation between the good guys and the bad guy(s).
  3. The Nameless One. Something is happening here. A mysterious figure that shows up before a major disaster needs a conclusion.
  4. The Gods. Since the Wars of Dominion, the friction between the Orhan and Charon pantheons has reached a boiling point.
  5. Lorgalis. For many settings, Lorgalis alone might be the main antagonist. While not world spanning, his influence and plans regarding Jaiman are significant.
  6. The Gold Dragon. He hasn’t played much of a role in the 3rd Era, but setting him up for the 4th seems appropriate.
  7. Andraax. Should the story of Andraax be put to rest, finally? Perhaps a deep sleep for now?
  8. Legends of Shadow World. I consider this critical narrative and set’s the stage for several SW elements: the Lense of Strok, the rise of Andaras, the disposition of Nynaku and the Demons of the Pale.

I’m not sure any definitive ending to these stories will satisfy everyone; but these stories need an end. My goal is to write the ending first and then see where it leads us, rather than write the ending that meets my needs and plans for the 4th Era. That’s going to be difficult since I’m not sure what’s working subconsciously in my creative process!

I’m curious if anyone has run to the end, have any ideas on an ending, or feel like there are other major plot points that I didn’t discuss that need commenting!

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Framing the 4th Era. Hope or Despair?

In fantasy fiction it’s not unusual for an age of conflict and strife to end with a resolution and new hopeful future. LOTR, WoT and even the predicted Shadow World storyline implies a new age of prosperity. That’s a natural story arc. Unfortunately, conflict is and challenges are a necessary ingredient for roleplaying adventures! A Shadow World reset should be noticeably different from the 3rd Era and established story arcs.

The tone of the 4th Era would obviously rely on the GM’s preferences, but a few angles or ideas to consider:

  1. Despite the “win” by the forces of light, Kulthea needs to be rebuilt from the ashes of the grand war/battle.
  2. Will the Lords of Orhan withdraw to let the peoples of Kulthea choose their own future, or will the Gods be more omnipresent in the day to day? ie: will the churches fill any leadership gaps? Could this lead to oppressive religious institutions or a corruption of clergy?
  3. How could a major disruption of the Essaence Flows impact the Navigators? Would major flow routes and/or Foci changes quarantine off areas of Kulthea?
  4. How far would civilization fall? Would major cities like Eidolon, Haalkitaine or Danarchis be destroyed?
  5. Is this a “rebuild” society or post-apocalyptic setting or a “clean up” the residual Unlife/Demons/Dark Gods remnants?

Major Arc Ideas:

  1. Legacy of the Loremasters. (see, I inverted “Loremaster Legacy” for continuity sake!). The Loremasters took enormous losses during the “Last Battle” and the organization is decimated. Karilon was attacked and perhaps destroyed too!! Andraax has disappeared and assumed killed while the Council were mostly killed. One of the players is a apprentice Loremaster with a latent artifact. Goal is to recover the Loremaster archives, rebuild the organization etc.
  2. Rise of the Dragonlords. With major cities and governments collapsed, several of the Dragonlords have expanded their empire. The Silver Dragon in northern Emer, The Red Dragon is most of Jaiman, Ulya and Jenkyna is the western lands.
  3. The Age of Reason. The restoration of the Northern Eye created a “EMP” style Essaence surge. Essaence users were exposed and suffered permanent burnout and loss of casting ability! (to be recovered somehow?). Magic is waning, and the Essaence is weakened by a constriction of the interdimensional rift. (the Lords reduce the aperture further to block the Unlife and mitigate the volatile effects of the Nothern Eye) In this void, the Alliance, Channelers and Mentalists are ascendant powers.
  4. Lords of the New Pantheon. The Hierarchy of the Lords of Orhan is overturned. Several of the Gods of Charon have reclaimed their position on Orhan and/or have ensconced themselves on Kulthea as true God Kings. New religions, powerful Clerics and theocracies spring up.
  5. Waterworld. The effects of the last battle have melted much of the polar regions. The sea levels have risen 20′ destroying coastal communities and reducing land mass. Shaal’s followers grow, the Mermen and Shuluri control the sea lanes. Many great cities are submerged (and can be explored!). A plan to re-freeze the poles using the power of the Eye’s is formed by a small group of survivors.
  6. Technology is the new future. Off-world powers begin to visit and/ or settle Kulthea. Technology is still unreliable or sensitive to Essaence effects. Conflicts between native powers and colonialists ensue.

Just a few ideas to ponder!

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Shadow World and the 4th Era

There has been some discussion about resetting the Shadow World setting with the start of the “4th Era”. The purpose is two fold: first, to respect the canon work that Terry has built and second to create a starting point for new Shadow World material with a clean slate (more or less).

There is no dispute that Terry’s work in the Master Atlas’s, Emer books, Loremaster Legacy, Grand Campaign and other supporting material was building towards a finale. The converging narratives were built around the loss of the Northern Eye, growing influence of the Unlife, and world spanning cults. Similar to the end of the 1st Era, and to a lesser extent, the Wars of Dominion at the end of the 2nd Era, the current 3rd Era was going to end, and likely messily!

Clashes of great powers, meddling of Gods both noble and malign, key and notable NPC’s and the players themselves could result in seismic events. Perhaps this grand battle would not result in world-wide destruction, but it could certainly lead to triggers that would then unleash secondary destruction. Floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could be as destructive or more so than cataclysmic releases of the Essaence.

I see 4 major categories of change:

  1. Geographic impacts. This could be destruction of coastal areas, loss of land mass due to a rise in sea levels, subsidence of continental shelves, massive volcanic activity.
  2. Changes in the Essaence. Would major Essaence flows change in scope or power? Would flows reroute or diverge from current paths? Would the ambient level of Essaence change, become more or less volatile?
  3. Political. If major population centers and/or empires were dramatically impacted would new powers emerge? Which major powers, NPC’s or historical figures survive?
  4. Gods. IF the gods were involved with the end of the 3rd Era, what is the end result? A shift of the current pantheon? A change in the hierarchy of the gods? Do the Gods of Charon benefit or lose from these events?

I think this is an exciting pivot point for Shadow World! Terry’s setting up to this point, becomes history– a time of legend and mystery! Functionally, this reset could coincide with the new RMU ruleset and some of the changes built into the 4th Era could better engage with Rolemaster rules.

As I work on this I’ll post some updates, but curious if anyone else has some thoughts?