Page 30 - Dungeon Master's Guide
P. 30

Imagine that part of your campaign world erupts in
                                                              revolution. Pick a power group in your current campaign
                                                              and name (or invent) a group that opposes it, fomenting
                                                              revolution. Then let the following points help you flesh
                                                              out the conflict:
                                                               Name three things the rebels want or hope to achieve.
                                                              •  The rebels achieve a victory against those they wish
                                                               to overthrow, even if it's a pyrrhic victory. Which of
                                                               their three goals do they achieve? How long is this
                                                               achievement likely to last?
                                                               State the cost exacted upon the old order after its
                                                               fall from power. Does anyone from the former power
                                                               group remain in power during the next regime? If the
                                                               old order remains in power, describe one way that its
                                                               leaders punish the revolutionaries.
                                                              •  One of the rebellion's prominent leaders-in some
                                                               respects the face of the revolution- was driven by a
                                                               personal reason for his or her part in events. Describe
                                                               this person and state the true reason he or she led the
                                                               rebellion.
                                                              •  What problem existed before the revolution that
                                                               persists in spite of it?

                                                              6. EXTINCTION OR DEPLETION
                                                              Something that once existed in the campaign world
                                                              is gone. The lost resource might be a precious metal,
                                                              a species of plant or animal that held an important
                                                              place in the local ecology, or an entire race or culture of
                                                              people. Its absence causes a chain reaction that affects
                                                              every creature that uses or relies on it.
                                                               You can eliminate a people, place, or thing that
                                                              previously existed in a certain location or area in your
                                                              campaign world. On a small scale, the last of a family
                                                             . dynasty passes away or a once-thriving mining town
                                                              in the region dries up and becomes a ghost town. On a
                                                              grand scale, magic dies, the last dragon is slain, or the
                                                              final fey noble departs the world.
                                                               What is gone from the world-or the region of the
                                                              world you've chosen- that once existed there? If the
                                                              answer isn't immediately evident, consult the Extinction
                                                              or Depletion table for ideas.

                                                              EXTINCTION  OR  DEPLETION
                                                               d8   Lost  Resource
                                                                    A kind of animal  (insect, bird, fish, livestock)
                                                                2   Habitable land
                                                                3   Magic or magic-users  (all  magic, or specific kinds or
                                                                    schools of magic)
                                                                4   A mineral resource (gems,  metals, ores)
                                                                5   A type of monster (unicorn, manticore, dragon)
                                                                6   A people (family line, clan, culture, race)
                                                                7   A kind of plant (crop, tree, herb, forest)
                                                                8   A waterway (river, lake, ocean)

                                                               Then consider these additional questions:
                                                               Name a territory, race, or type of creature that relied
                                                               on the thing that was lost. How do they compensate?
                                                               How do they attempt to substitute for what was lost?
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