(no subject)

[brushwolf]

I also would sort of like to get away from the "stop ultimate evil" themed campaign as an idea.

I keep coming back to that. When I ran Star Wars I wasn't interested in good Jedi versus evil Sith as much as New Republic intelligence vs. Imperial military; when I ran WtA I was a lot more interested in the Garou themselves, with questing against the Wyrm being a way to gain prestige and leverage in werewolf politics. I like smiting evil as much as the next person who plays a paladin, but now that the characters run their own stronghold I find myself as much interested in the nearest town as a fief, the former ranger order as a military, and the stronghold as a trade crossroads, as much as I'm interested in defeating the looming threat of giant invasion. I would seriously love to be in on something where the players don't defeat epic evil so much as;

• are merchants, so acquisition and trade are as much of their survival as swordplay;
  
• simply explore the world for all the reasons people go exploring;
  
• are involved in the shadowy games of rival thieves' guilds or gangs;
  
• more above ground competion for prestige or resources - characters want to be leaders of men and owners of ships or fiefs, rather than minions of good;
  
• become involved in some sort of conflict which isn't an epic good versus evil thing; for instance a dispute over trade routes between rival towns.

I'm still throwing together thinking. I'd sort of like to pit characters against slave traders - slavery isn't "army of blighted undead sweep the land" epic evil, but it sure feels evil enough to the people caught in its path. Worse, an orc army or power-mad wizard throws an outside source of evil against a society which can be portrayed as wholy good, but for slavery to thrive requires the complicity of a the PCs' society conveniently looking the other way. But would people find that offensive?

I was thinking about the exploration/trade route thing as well as breaking up a thriving slave trade, as something suited to a maritime/Golden Age of Piracy themed game. After all I like the idea of naval combat and seagoing PCs are faced with a range of trials different from just fighting. Thing is, it sure seems like everyone's done the same elements - Golden Age of Piracy pirates meet Skull Island style lost world meets zombies. Even if I did things somewhat different from the stereotypes, would people even still like playing with those themes?