30 Pathfinder GameMastery Guide Campaign Questions
by GiorgioI- The Heroic Details
1-What’s my base of operations?
The PC’s base of operations will be a small LLEA Exploration Class airship, newly built and commissioned with a green crew. This airship is of a standard design and created for a specific Tier 1 Expedition Company. They are never sold and if that ship, crew or company is significantly damage or has taken unsustainable casualties, the surviving crew and company is disbanded and the ship is destroyed.
If a Tier 1 Expedition Company (and its airship crew) survives enough missions to be promoted to Tier 2 status, their ship is given an honorable decommission and parts of it will be used in the construction of a new airship that will be designed by that group, with the LLEA picking up half the construction cost.
A League of Loreseekers, Explorers and Adventurers (LLEA) airship has freedom of navigation with most mayor nations in Mystara (list pending future Mystara airship thread) and has access to airship docking and maintenance facilities wherever a Darokin Diplomatic Corps has a presence and with many nations that have their own airships presence.
2- Do I look different from everybody else?
The PCs are exceptional members of their races (created with the 20pt buy system) and come from a wide variety of races found throughout all of Mystara.
3-How do I make a living?
The PCs are paid a salary by the LLEA as part of an Expeditionary Company. Their base pay and salvage rights are tied to their ranks in Profession (Explorer) and their standing in the organization (using the D&D 3.5 PHB II Affiliation system).
4-Have I been doing this long?
All PCs start at level 1 and have recently finished their training in their respective classes, and will be undergoing a series of test to qualify for membership in the LLEA. The LLEA is an organization celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year (1000 AC, founded in Darokin City).
The NPCs in this world are from levels 1-20, with those in the highest levels unique and well known individuals: Lv1 1-5 Common, Lvl 6-10 Uncommon, Lvl 11-15 Rare, Lvl 16-20 Unique.
5- Are we at war or peace?
The world is in relative peace although their does exists border tensions and hostilities among many nations on all three continents.
6 –What am I doing with these other guys?
All PCs are applying to be part of one of the new LLEA Expedition Companies being formed. If they past their entry tests, the will form part of the same team.
7-How are lives affected by magic and psionics?
This campaign is a high magic setting using standard PF rules, with the availably of magic being limited by wealth. Magic is expensive, and generally only available to those with lots of coin.
There are reasonable social, political and legal restrictions on the use of magic by all the civilized nations and races, as is well known by the people of Mystara that out of control magic was responsible for the Great Rain of Fire many centuries past.
This campaign is a low psionic setting using the rules from Psionics Unleashed. Most inhabitants of Mystara know nothing of psionics as it is limited to only a few regions and races. Most common folk believe psionic to be another form of magic.
8- How are lives affected by religion?
The Immortals have a major impact on the civilizations and races of Mystara, as they take an active interest in the affairs of mortals (as the power of an Immortal has a direct correlation to the number of his/her worshipers). For reasons unknown to mortals, the Immortals of the 5 Spheres of Magic abide by an ancient treaty that bars direct interference in the affairs of mortals, and thus they have to use intermediaries to pursue their agendas, goals and struggles for power.
The Immortals of Mystara are based in the PF rules using the D&D 4th Edition pantheon modified to fit the Mystaran spheres of magic.
9-Who or what is going to kill me?
There are no major worldwide threats to the PCs (that they know of), and they can expect to encounter a wide variety of threats as per the PF Bestiary and D&D Monster Manuals.
10-Where can I sell this loot?
Any goods of historical or high magic value found on an LLEA expedition is property of that organization, while the rest is theirs to keep, invest (land, business, trade expeditions…) or to sell.
There are many places to buy, sell and commission magical items worldwide, almost all of which are under strict regulation and oversight by the mayor arcane power centers (Guilds, Wizard Schools/Academies…) and national governments.
The PCs will be encouraged to save money for the day they reach Tier 2 standing in the LLEA and can commission their custom made airship.
II- The Mundane Details
1- Who is in charge?
Varies by population center, but at the current level of social-political development in Mystara nation states are the dominant powers of the world.
2-Who has the biggest army?
Undetermined at this time.
3-Who has the most money and power?
It varies by population center, usually by a society’s middle class, merchants, nobility and ruling class/government (in that order). This setting uses the standard PF economic system.
4-Who maintains law and order?
It varies by population center.
5- How hard do poor people have it?
It varies by population center, but the average common folk have a better standard of living versus that of Earth circa 1500 AD due to the presence of magic, alchemy, clerical healing and sanitary infrastructure (developed and widespread due to Dwarven and Hobgoblin engineering).
6-How do people travel and how easy is it?
In order of cost and availability: Walk, ride, land transport, water transport (river, coast and ocean going), magic (fly spell, magic carpets, teleport…) and airships. This is an age of exploration, discovery and conquest.
7-What are the best known landmarks?
Undetermined at this time.
8- Why is everybody celebrating?
Undetermined as I haven’t got to working on the Mystaran calendar and holidays yet.
9- What do people do for a good time?
It varies by population center.
10- How weird does it get around here?
The world functions primarily with real world physics and natural laws and has few magical areas that break the rules.
III- The Scholarly Details
1- How did the world come to be?
Undetermined at this time, I haven’t got to the world creation myths/details work yet.
2-What is the nature of the gods?
They are Immortals beings of power who meddle in the affairs of mortals and depend on active worship to keep (or increase) their power. Use the standard PF rules for religion and the planes, modified to fit into the Mystara setting.
3-What is the source of magic and psionics?
Both are a natural part of the energies of the world and the universe.
4-What happens when you die?
Standard rules for souls, death and the afterlife apply. Note that resurrections are very rare and death is usually final as the Immortals of Balance don’t take kindly to those who try to prolong their natural life.
5-What cycles or events define the calendar?
Undetermined as I haven’t got to working on the Mystaran calendar and holidays yet.
6-What do you look when you look at the shy?
There is a standard sky with one moon (Matera), with the constellation of the stars unknown at this time.
7-What constitutes cutting edge technology?
Mystara is close to but not exactly near the technological level of earth circa 1500 AD, close to the GURPS TL3 (Late Medieval) to TL4 (Early Empire) timeline.
8-Where do monsters come from?
Monsters are a natural part of the world.
9-Which is strongest: Magic, Gods or Nature?
As a baseline they are all in balance.
10-If I drop this off the balcony, what happens?
It hits the person underneath, as standard physics and natural laws apply.