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  • File : 1264165805.jpg-(72 KB, 455x599, frost.jpg)
    72 KB Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:10 No.7716847  
    Hey /tg/.
    I'm thinking of a new setting for my party, and I hoped you could help me with some brainstorming. What I'm thinking of is a classic high fantasy setting, like FR, which was struck by an ice age a few hundred years ago. Most empires and civilizations disappeared, but great riches can be found beneath the snow and ice if someone is daring enough. Now I don't want the survivors to be primitive, more like that they have adapted to the climate and new empires and city states have appeared. I also plan it to be low-magic but not to the point of say Hyboria. The two races I have thought so far are dwarves and elfes. The dwarves still live in huge city states under the ice and snow and have found a way of using the underground thermal water to heat their fortresses. The elves on the other hand have lost their forests and became embittered and grim, and have fearsome powers with which they cann control ice and snow, and are very xenophobic, guarding their dead forests against anyone who enters. They can travel super fast in blizzards and are immune to cold. Give me some more ideas on races and empires/states.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:13 No.7716864
    bump
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:17 No.7716904
    bump again, what the fuck /tg/
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:24 No.7716956
    Kobolds! Kobolds should be very proficient in the use of magic and travel as sorcerers for hire in the wastelands. Want magic? Have money? Hire a kobold, if you can find one!
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:24 No.7716957
    Hey, don't forget that Dwarves are usually used to cold conditions, so I guess most of their civilization would remain unscathed.
    Remember, fire-based/fire-generatng creatures that aren't extinct are probably the most valuable resources around. Masses would probably kill each other over a fire mephit or something.
    Good thread, has potential.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:29 No.7716985
    Has potential. Underground cities might be more popular than before, or at least cities which have a "shell" wall to keep out the cold.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:36 No.7717034
    Think of Cania in Neverwinter Nights. Houses/cities built in ice around some form of heat. That can be like a bound fire elemental or something.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:41 No.7717080
    I like the elves. They should worship a god driven mad by the loss of their sacred lands. Totally awesome. Also, those elves that survived fled to the underdark, becoming drow. Only two elven races, one LE the other CE.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:45 No.7717108
    >>7716957
    >>7717034
    OP here, definitely like the idea. Clerics or wizards who could summon these beings could be very prized in every city and hold much power.

    >>7716957
    Exactly, I'm thinking of dwarves as the most advanced species, but reclusive.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)08:56 No.7717184
    bump
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)09:03 No.7717223
    Thread does have potential. Too bad /tg/ is asleep.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)09:18 No.7717306
    >>7717223
    Well, fuck. Bump anyways.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)09:30 No.7717381
         File1264170605.jpg-(51 KB, 452x399, raven.jpg)
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    Orcs: arrayed in furs, they stalk the wastes for fresh meat. The traveler who sees a pack of large, spear-wielding men on the horizon had best slash his own throat, for fate has already determined the Orcs' next meal.

    Frost Giants: lords of the northern kingdoms, the frost giants have conquered many formerly human kingdoms, subjugating the inhabitants and enjoying decadent delights from the humans' hardships. There are whispers among human soothsayers that the current ice age may have been their doing, and that they owe a terrible debt to a still higher power.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)10:09 No.7717614
    Scary, creepy underground creatures who don't like heat would crawl back up to the surface one said surface has become cold, wouldn't they?

    I sense feral bears/wolves, enormous Ice Wurms and of course all kinds of ghosts, who are unaffected by the cold. Zombies/skeletons would most likely freeze over, though.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)10:20 No.7717697
    Also,a viking like northern civilization who have a burning hatred for ice giants. They hunt them mercilessly, believing that if they kill all of them, the ice age will end.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)10:29 No.7717786
    I see before myself a highly advanced magic-based empire who have ships that can traver over the frozen seas and search for riches of long lost empires in the frozen wastelands.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)10:46 No.7717928
    >>7717786
    That is pretty awesome. This thread is getting somewhere.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)10:59 No.7718032
    If you're setting this in a frozen-over Faerun or Oerth, don't forget the Underdark. The humanoids living there were already nearly a match for the surface dwellers, and while the surface is frozen over, the denizens of the Underdark are still thriving. At any moment, they could decide to take over the surface, if there were anything there that they wanted.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)11:10 No.7718118
    >>7718032
    Elves willingly convert to the faith of Lolth to be admitted to the Underdark and survive...
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)11:58 No.7718514
    Howabout a race of icy fey who see this ice age as the natural order of things and seek to extinguish heat, and thus are generally plotting against those with heated settlements.

    Strange tales abound about them, since any records pre-freeze do not mention them whatsoever and they seem new to the scene. Perhaps spawned from the freeze itself, physical manifestations of it.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)12:14 No.7718634
    Make one of the bigger threats the Wendigo. Undead spirits of cannibalistic hunger that spread through small towns like a plague. They arise in places that can't sustain their populations on normal food and eventually resort to cannibalism.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:07 No.7720603
    >>7717381
    I'm not going to let a thread containing cannibal orcs die!
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:15 No.7720717
    How would you do the wilderness?

    I mean, not freezing to death and all. Plus, I think this would be better as a low magic setting so spellcasters can't solve the whole heating problem with magic.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:29 No.7720899
    >>7720603
    I think cannibals eat others of the same species, if they're just eating other things, than that seems perfectly normal. Especially for Orcs.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:32 No.7720931
    >>7720899
    Eh, I know I used the term loosely. D&D describes cannibalism as eating other intelligent organisms, so don't mind the slightly changed meaning.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:35 No.7720984
    I say take out the elves, they fag up the setting. Have the Frost Giants become the Jarls of majority of the map with a few Dwarf Fortresses and Fire Giant empire to the south.

    Humans are extinct, not really because they turned into Frost Giants. If this is 3.5 I'd use Half-Giant racials for the Frost Giants, while the True Frost Giants would use what's given.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)15:46 No.7721102
    >>7716957
    Dwarves could turn a tidy profit herding lava-dwelling beasts from Deep Down and selling them to surfacers.

    >>7717381
    Very nice.

    Don't forget wildlife. How would flora and Fauna adapt after a hundred generations of frost? Where do human settlements get their food?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:50 No.7721139
    >>7716847
    I believe Frostburn has some interesting races you can use. Including the faerie race and Ice Elves.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:51 No.7721153
    Whatever the outcome, surviving the elements should be very important to the setting for the players.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)15:57 No.7721228
    >>7720984
    Every setting needs a race no one/everyone likes
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)16:00 No.7721257
    I say leave the elves in, I kind of like bat shit crazy elves anyway.

    Yea, I said elves, as in, not drow.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)16:05 No.7721311
    You need to put some Elder Things there, somehow.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)16:11 No.7721372
    >>7721311
    Preferably sleeping frozen under a habitat of millions of innocents, its humongous body warmth "miraculously" keeping the city from freezing up like the rest of the area, hm?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:32 No.7723430
    I'm bumping this half forgotten shit cause it's awesome.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:40 No.7723542
    Lizardfolk die out, the few liches now have rapidly-decaying ziggurats and armies of zombies.

    A ritual exists where one can gain the favor of an ancient and merciless god of the cold- one can survive any blizzard, as long as they sabotage the survival attempts of another.

    Orcs + Worgs = Fuckhueg sleds. Carry the bones of notable ancestors, with their deeds inscribed upon each one.

    Very strong winds everywhere. Sailsleds?
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)18:40 No.7723543
    >>7723430
    Agreed. Easily the best thread on /tg/ right now.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:46 No.7723635
    >>7717786
    This one. The empire is in the south, and is less affected by the cold. They send out these ships with crews who are basically no better than pirates. They infiltrate every city and hire andventurers, or maybe try to sabotage their efforts. They do anything for ancient secrets. Also,as I gather this is 3.5. I suggest you make wizards very very rare and instead use some less-powerful spellcasting classes, like Warlocks(yes, they own in combat, but less useful in everyday life). I see cities under ice and I like what I see.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:47 No.7723647
    Wow, OP here, thanks people, I really thought this thread has died for good. Looks like /tg/ woke up.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:47 No.7723657
    Hibernating dragons, except whites.
    These have spread everywhere like a disease, and you can barely clean out a cave to sleep in without contending with ten wyrmlings hissing at you.

    A frozen ocean. Maybe there's still merfolk, or sahaguin or something in there, maybe not. The relentless winds and snowblinding surface make it too inhospitable to check.

    There's a dead god of fire somewhere, with a city built in his skeleton made of embers.

    Note that Continual Flame does not produce heat, just light.

    Insane frostrimed djinni in whirlwinds full of icy blades.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)18:48 No.7723663
    Here's an idea: Lizardmen abandon the frozen swamps. Live like Peublo cliff-dwelling indians. Their settlements get maximum exposure to the sun. They lose the ability to breathe water and gain a climb speed. This also protects them from predators and hostile neighbors, allowing them to advance their society and culture while most others backslid. They've just recently perfected and begun deploying crossbows with their hunting parties.

    This moves them away from 'generic humanoid gator monster' and into the 'horrific humanoid civilization competing with humans' category.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:48 No.7723671
    >>7723647
    Got home from school, more like.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:53 No.7723730
    Icewind Dale
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)18:53 No.7723731
    >>7723671
    for me it was 'finished required work and have time to leech off of company's wireless'.

    Also: Religion. I'm assuming sun and fire gods would become very important, as well as winter and cold. What other gods would change? A loss of tillable fields would mean the death of a harvest god, and the loss of culture and civilization would likewise cripple most city/civilization portfolio'd deities. So, who's left, and who's rissen to power?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:53 No.7723736
    YETIS EVERYWHERE

    A city-state somewhere where the people have an aristocracy based around frost giant blood.
    In a subversion of the usual, it's valued because the noble needs less resources to survive the bitter cold, and can protect the city at all times.

    The moon has vanished. No one knows why. Lycanthropes went batshit and now either work like Shifters or stalk the wastes as predators even the orcs fear.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:57 No.7723785
    >>7723736
    Also, people with white dragon blood? I also like the idea of the batshit insane elves worshipping a batshit insane deity.

    What about a god of death? Should it be affiliated with cold? The Dark Sun concept of The Grey could also have some place here, though changed.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:58 No.7723797
    >>7723736
    >Yetis
    They might be intelligent, maybe not.
    They vocalise, but even Tongues can't make anything of it, and their actions have no clear motive.
    ...Or maybe you just have to look at it from a larger perspective.
    e.g. Yetis are the hands of an Elder Evil that used to be trapped up in the mountains.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)18:58 No.7723800
         File1264204713.jpg-(18 KB, 266x268, Thanoi.jpg)
    18 KB
    Hmm, ice age, frozen north setting...

    How about Thanoi as the aquatic race. Fuck sea elves, mermaids, crabmen; put in primitive, tribal, remote-dwelling, xenophobic warlrus men eskimos in there somewhere
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:00 No.7723828
    >>7723797
    Nah, the Yetis are working to keep the Elder Evil Sealed in the mountain.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:00 No.7723836
    >>7723785
    >The Gray
    The White?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:01 No.7723850
         File1264204888.jpg-(485 KB, 464x600, hellfrost_gazetteer_cover_imag(...).jpg)
    485 KB
    Pinnacle already made this setting, OP.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:01 No.7723852
    >>7723800
    http://www.wowwiki.com/Tuskarr

    Walrus people, just make them Xenophobic you'll be good to go.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:09 No.7723981
    >>7723852
    wow, Tuskarr are are just slightly more advanced and less evil than the 2E Thanoi. Maybe mixing some elements of both could work.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:10 No.7723996
    >>7723852
    >>7723800
    Not weird enough.
    Give them antlers and a really loud bellow.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:10 No.7723997
         File1264205412.jpg-(59 KB, 400x510, frost worm.jpg)
    59 KB
    With fire now in short supply, trolls are this world's most successful predator. Among the many bands of trolls that stalk the dunes, one in particular is feared among all others: the Shazac clan. Years ago, they discovered a means of taming the Frost Worms, and now ride them across the northlands, ferrying goods and slaves to the Northern Frost Jarls from the more prosperous south.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:12 No.7724031
    >>7723996
    I support this. Antlered Walrii.
    Now we need a reason for their tusks and antlers.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:12 No.7724034
    >>7723996
    Races don't have to be weird to be good.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:16 No.7724100
    >>7724031
    >>7724034
    Compromise: Only the biggest bull males in the tribe grow antlers and use them in fights to determine who becomes chieftain.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:17 No.7724117
    >>7724031
    Mating fights, and to make them harder to be eaten by various aquatic animals and frost worms.

    >>7724034
    No, but they should have a 'thing' they can do.
    If for no other reason than to justify racial feats for them.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:17 No.7724119
    Wasn't there some kind of arctic Cthulhu thread a few months back? Check the archives for inspiration in that regards.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:18 No.7724135
         File1264205887.jpg-(52 KB, 351x502, gnomes.jpg)
    52 KB
    Throughout all this, the gnomes, like their dwarven cousins, have remained relatively safe in their underground homes. In fact, with their advance knowledge of arcana, they have even prospered a little, although acquiring enough food remains difficult. Already deceptive before the ice floes descended, the gnomes maintain absolute, strict secrecy about their relative wealth, and only through elusiveness and well-placed illusions can they keep the larger races from storming their homes and taking what they've hoarded.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)19:19 No.7724160
    >>7721372
    >>7723828
    Meanwhile, lesser eldritch races not seen since the last ice age stir, slithering, floating, and and crawling from their ancient hibernations in the far north and the forbidding peaks of the furthest mountains, they walk the land once more. When the winds still and the clouds descend to brush the ground, the eldritch horrors wander the frozen world, cavorting with the amusing mortal toys they find there.

    Imagine an alien gas bag with a thousand spines and no eyes that surrounds itself in a cloak made of clouds. When it encounters mortals, it dominates them and uses them the way a child uses action figures: To play out incomprehensible plays only its foreign mind can understand. These plays do not always end when the creature leaves.......

    Sorry, waxed Lovecraft for a moment.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:20 No.7724182
         File1264206054.jpg-(134 KB, 640x465, Cerebral Vortex.jpg)
    134 KB
    Here's a question: the setting is meant to be a low-magic version of a high fantasy setting like FR, right?

    So what happened to all the wizards?
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)19:25 No.7724253
         File1264206330.jpg-(392 KB, 659x853, 1234957432786.jpg)
    392 KB
    >>7724182
    Suggestion:

    Magic didn't just freeze the world: Magic FROZE. Literally. All the magic turned to ice. Magic items shattered, and powerful wizards died as the magic that permeated their minds turned to ice inside them. Only the weakest apprentices with the least talent survived. With magic tomes ruined, magic items rendered scrap, and all experienced wizards dead, nobody was left to properly harness the power now floating frozen in the snow, and magic is a lost and rare art.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:25 No.7724255
    The usual 'Died of cold, suck the warmth out of others' undead, to complement the Wendigo.

    Dorf steampunk, except with magma. The cities are mazes of pipes which may or may not contain deadly hot death.

    The Cold Suns. Just a name for the moment.

    Would it be darker more of the time?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:30 No.7724343
    >>7724135
    What is this art from. What is this from!? I remeber reading this as a kid!
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:34 No.7724416
    >>7724253
    Good answer!
    >>7724343
    The classic Dutch book "Gnomes", which inspired David the Gnome. It's pretty much the reason half of my D&D characters are gnomes.
    http://www.amazon.com/Gnomes-Wil-Huygen/dp/0810909650
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:34 No.7724420
    >>7723850
    Hello, what is this?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:37 No.7724465
    >>7724420
    Actually, it's not really good. It has it's moments, but all in all, it sucks.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:37 No.7724467
    >>7724416
    Thanks a lot!
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:40 No.7724498
    >>7724465
    Shame, looked intresting.
    Ice ageish settings seem few and far between.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:46 No.7724595
    A large area of Sahara-like desert, no snow, but cold as fuck. That would be awesome.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:47 No.7724608
    >>7724253
    >>7724182
    Psionics?
    It seems to fit with the Eldritch Horror theme, and you could make it riskier to keep it low-magic.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:52 No.7724684
    Holy shit is good stuff

    I fucking love this setting
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)19:52 No.7724692
    >>7724608
    true. Psionics would work, but psionics is pretty powerful itself. Not nearly as powerful as magic, but powerful.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)19:54 No.7724725
    >>7724608
    How about Pact Magic from Tome of Magic? People become desperate for power, or just simply fire. So they deal with demons and devils just to get a little of it.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)20:01 No.7724839
    >>7724725
    I'm not saying psionics wouldn't work. But place a limit on the higher end teleportation, conjuring, and mind control effects.

    Pact magic works too. And Truenaming, if you think you can shoehorn it in. Hell, keep arcane magic, just trim the spell lists down since almost all scrolls and books of spells were destroyed in the freeze. As long as Wizards can't spontaneously learn 'My Will Be Done', things should be fine.

    But what happened to all the gods/clerics?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:09 No.7724955
    >>7724839
    The gods shall die, and there bodys shall plument to earth. Rocking the land, and creating new landforms, lakes, mountain ranges, craters etc.
    Clerics shall only have the power of there faith, or if your running D&D, you could try Incarnum. or however you spell it.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)20:13 No.7725019
    >>7724955
    The Incarnum rules are pretty good. And faith-powered clerics work too. Or make them all Spirit Shamans.

    Hell, if someone gets around to compiling all this into a .pdf I'd totally run this. This is forming up into a pretty sweet setting.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:17 No.7725074
    Cryons, psionicists that focus their power through shards of ice rather than crystals.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:17 No.7725090
    Look up northern Alaska for inspiration. It's dark almost all the time, with only a few hours a day of sunlight.

    Also, Aurora Borealis.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:17 No.7725093
    >>7725019
    I remebered that the Incarnum system is based on souls, as such, when the gods died their souls splintered and are used by the former faithful to carry on the god's dogma, also, it's sould power.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:18 No.7725096
         File1264209485.jpg-(101 KB, 616x399, dragon_mt.jpg)
    101 KB
    >But what happened to all the gods/clerics?

    "They say the gods have abandoned this forsaken world, that they leave us to the freezing death our hubris has wrought. They say the sun will not shine, the grass will not grow, the fields will not thaw, because we have shown ourselves unworthy. This they say, brother, but I do not believe.

    "For Pelor's light has shone down on me, and I feel His grief that this world, so near in His heart, has grown cold. In His name, I light this fire."

    The clerical orders, which rely so heavily on the tithes of agricultural society, have withered with the grain. Stories are told of Paladins and Clerics, beset with shining armor and fine armaments, who did the gods' bidding on earth, but such wonders are mere fancy now. Only those who are directly chosen by their gods, the favored souls, yet remain. Still too, there are those shamans who speak to the spirits of the world, who, though grown cold, live on.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:18 No.7725109
    alright guys... next important question (Not OP here, just a fellow DM planning to work with a lot of this data)...

    Food.

    Without an abundant of fields to plant and grow, how does folks eat?

    Thinking that some fields could still be till-able, but only with GREAT effort on the part of the farmers to keep the fields free of snow. Some animals could be cared for with leftover feed from those fields.

    Obviously edible fungus and whatnot could grow underground

    Some ice-acclimated animals could be hunted for food...

    maybe through some form of lolmagic there's food that can be grown underground without sunlight (light from lava flows?)... or some areas where there are still tall pine trees that keep the snow clear from the ground could support some crops of some sort?

    Or... just let farmers grow extra-hardy root type veggies and the like?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:20 No.7725131
    Perhaps some adventuring party (aka the PC's) stumble along an ancient, advanced civilization. They find out that they kept the sun up, and prevented the frost age by continually sacrificing victims to their Sun God (like the Aztecs). They might later find out that races of the Underdark, Yetis, or maybe some other force caused the downfall of the civilization, plunging the world into a cold, bleak night.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:21 No.7725158
    >>7725109
    Fish, sea plants, roots, winter berries, hardy animals that can live of dead grass for meat, caves filled with fungus. All of these could feel the role of food.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:22 No.7725183
    >>7725109

    Fishing in the frigid arctic seas is incredibly dangerous, but also very profitable. Sea Creatures of immense size are harpooned and hunted for. A single Kraken can sustain a village for months. Of course, it takes quite a bit of fighting skill and bravery to take one down.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:24 No.7725223
    Somewhere out there is a kingdom (or more) that have access to fantastic snowships, capable of traversing the wastes. They use them to communicate, trade, and explore the ancient ruins looking for treasure.
    The PCs would start in a “little village” and have virtually no knowledge of the big ships or kingdoms, their only contact with the outside being a few other nearby whatsits, maybe a nearby dungeon. The party is sent to trade with a Dorf city in the not-too-distant and finds either a live snowship, or a crashed one. (starting adventure?). Eventually they find their way to the big kingdom city type thing, and they embark on a world-saving quest to end the magic-induced ice age.
    Lesser travel could take place on sail sleds and the like, until the giant snow ships are found.
    *OR* there WAS a great kingdom, in the early part of The Freeze. They had the snowships and such. The PCs eventually find a crashed/dead snowship and follow it’s navigation back to a huge, glittery, frozen city. It was defeated by servents of the Freeze for being a threat. The PCs follow the questline from there to save the world. In this variant, perhaps there is another large kingdom, still alive, but reclusive and well hidden.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:26 No.7725258
    >>7725109

    Most likely potatoes, squash, onions, carrots, and other vegetables whose roots we eat. Certainly all of the leafy plants and cereals are right out. A wealthy family may have a woolly bison or two, but given the minuscule window in which they can harvest and dry grasses for use year-round, it takes many acres to keep even a single bison fed. Pork and fish are the major non-vegetable protein sources.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:29 No.7725308
    >>7725131
    Best idea of the thread.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)20:35 No.7725366
    >>7725109
    fishing and whaling. A good size whale can feed an entire community. And fishing has always been a way for humans to harvest the resources of the planet. But, logically, this brings them into conflict with seagoing races, as well as the fish and whales themselves (Ever seen a Marlin skewer a man?).

    Barring that, great emphasis would be put on the hunters of each settlement. Deer and moose would become the meat of choice, as cows and pigs would be largely extinct. Most fowl, likewise, would die out.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:37 No.7725385
    Okay, someone make a .pdf of this, cause the awesomeness is strong in this one.

    Also, I have an idea too: a "city" which consists of huge ships frozen into the sea or a large lake.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)20:45 No.7725467
    >>7725385
    Hmm.... a dozen Galleons that docked at port, but the freeze hit, they became locked in place. Then, a week later, an avalanche wiped out the port town, leaving these taller structures unharmed. Hmm..... Lots of rickety wooden and rope bridges spanning the ships in a network, like a makeshift Venice on the ice. That sounds pretty cool.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:48 No.7725522
    Archive this.

    http://4chanarchive.org/
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:54 No.7725603
    Also, horses are of no use, they become snowblind easily, so the common animal to ride is a huge dogbreed, like a husky. Breeding pits are very prized in every city and the dogs and their training cost a fortune.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:55 No.7725617
    >>7725522
    don't forget suptg.

    http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:56 No.7725624
         File1264211764.jpg-(64 KB, 450x622, 129050318429628025.jpg)
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    >>7725522
    Seconded, archive this.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)20:58 No.7725651
    >>7725603
    for more than just riding. Even smaller breeds have become invaluable in hunting, navigating the tundra, detecting ambushes and raids, and even protecting settlements. A single well-trained hound or mastiff is easily worth a hundred spears.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)20:59 No.7725666
    >>7725651

    Of course, after selected breeding for hundreds of generations, Dogs are stronger, smarter, and swifter than anything known to modern man. A dog Beastmaster would be SO fun to play.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:02 No.7725709
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    >>7725603
    No, man.

    Horses just get bigger and more adapted to the cold. Pic related, only imagine it way furrier.

    Also, rams and goats and donkey, derp. They're already cold weather animals.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:03 No.7725717
    OP here. This dog idea is awesome.

    What about falconers? New breeds of such birds of prey could be used extensively.

    If this thread gets archived or not, I'll start it again tomorrow at about the same time. Awesome things have been contributed, I'd like to see more of it.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:04 No.7725725
    >>7725366
    You can't farm moose, the Russian trials failed. The high parasite loads of a feed lot make it difficult to confine them and keep them healthy and if you try free ranging them they will just disappear when you slaughter the first one. Stick with reindeer.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:04 No.7725736
    >>7725709
    Actually no. Horses donkeys and ponies get snowblind after a short time. Even reindeers are better. Like the one in OP pic.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)21:05 No.7725739
    >>7725666
    wouldn't take that long. Canine genetics are surprisingly malleable. You can get some pretty strong phenotype changes in just a dozen generations.

    Grab a husky pack, breed in a little chow, mastiff, or pitbull, and you're done.

    Chow and Pit for smaller size and increased muscle mass.

    Mastiff and Saint Bernard for increased size and carrying capacity.

    Saint Bernard and hound for tracking ability

    Naturally, if you want to walk on the dangerous side you could try domesticating a full wolf pack. Good luck with that.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:05 No.7725744
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    >>7725709

    Dire, tamed Reindeer?

    >>7725717

    pic related, except friggin huge.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:07 No.7725765
    >>7725744
    aren't those ussualy called rocs?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:08 No.7725772
    >>7725744
    Would a giant one still be completely silent when it moved?
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:08 No.7725777
    >>7725739
    Dire dogs baby!
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:10 No.7725801
    >>7725772

    Roc-Owls that instead of hunting mice and field rodents, hunt moose and dogs. Their silence makes them good mounts for assassination type characters.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:10 No.7725810
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    Arx Fatalis

    Sun goes away, kingdoms move into old dwarven mines. Life goes on underground. It's a fun game too.

    Note that the FR setting also had an ice age that ended around the year -25,000.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:11 No.7725826
    >>7725739
    Just upscale a bernese mountain dog, they are already intended to be draft animals.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:15 No.7725884
    ARCHIVE
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:25 No.7726013
    >>7725884
    would if I could.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:36 No.7726173
    >>7716847
    http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/4742975/

    might get some ideas from here
    also
    >>7720607
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)21:52 No.7726366
    This is a link to a different thread btw
    >>7726173
    it's a dark heresy ice world thread.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:11 No.7726573
    Some race keeps their dead by putting them on poles out in the wastes.
    These dessicated bodies tend to animate, hence the tight iron bindings they are placed in.
    These are occasionally used as alarms- once they scent living flesh, they begin snarling and shaking their bindings.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:15 No.7726604
    >>7725884
    Already taken care of
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:22 No.7726663
    >>7726604
    link?
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)22:31 No.7726767
    One little detail: What should we call this setting? A quick tag to identify it in suptg would be nice, as would a clever name to put on the front page of the .pdf.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:34 No.7726794
    >>7726767
    Out In The Cold.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)22:39 No.7726860
    >>7726794
    Works for me.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:49 No.7726986
    So should the yeti be living, or some kind of spirit of snow, or living but shoggothy, or what?
    No concept of pain, or blue blood, or hoot while moving, or something to make them creepy.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)22:52 No.7727033
    Dire elephants return as the new Mastadons, do not forget that..

    Vikings riding mastadons!
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)23:01 No.7727152
    >>7727033
    Seems a bit ostentatious for Viking sensibility, and a bit too slow. How about Dire Moose? I can see a viking riding a Moose the size of a small elephant as it barrels across the tundra, goring everything in its path and tossing up clods of dirt the size of a man's head with each gallop..
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)23:09 No.7727268
    >>7727152
    Dire wolves, man, dire wolves.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)23:09 No.7727269
    >>7726986
    There was a beast in second edition, Monster Manual, The Quaggoth. Yeti-like, had mild psionic powers IIRC. Could convert that over if you can dig it up.
    >> Magus O'Grady 01/22/10(Fri)23:12 No.7727297
    >>7727268
    Wolves are over-done, bro. Wolf is the new Driz'zt. Been there, done that, yawn. Nobody bats an eye at a giant wolf anymore. It's cliche`.

    Nobody's done Moose though. Not since he dumped his annoying squirrel sidekick anyway. It's been, what, 40 years? Time for the Moose to make a comeback.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)23:12 No.7727301
    http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/7245208/

    Dunno if that's been posted yet OP, but it's perfect for a snow based campaign.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)23:15 No.7727340
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    >>7727297
    Can wolves fly? no.
    >> Anonymous 01/22/10(Fri)23:17 No.7727371
    >>7727340
    apply fiendish template, give them wings, done.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)00:38 No.7728535
    I'm a bit late to the party, but regarding
    >>7720984

    How about the idea that the main human kingdom turned to the frost giants for protection early on, once their diviners got a solid idea of just how fucked they were. They pledge allegiance to the Frost Giants, creating a new feudal superkingdom of Frost Giant Barons and their human serfs. Roll forward a few generations, and half-giants become the new upper-class under the true giant nobility, with normal humans being the lower class, forced to live in cramped "sweat shops", caverns heated enough for them to survive and do menial work for their Frost Giant overlords.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)02:15 No.7729448
    Kostchtchie anyone? One of my favorite demon lords, anyone thought of him growing in power with the rise of the frost giants? and seeing as wolves are cliche, what about packs of abyssal ravagers (not as hyenas, though)
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:26 No.7732121
    Wolves may be cliché, but we best not forget the riding dog idea. Also, the worship of demons and devils should be very prominent in some parts, where the only way to survive is to sell your soul.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:35 No.7732201
    Where is this shit archived? Need a link. Don't let this die people.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:47 No.7732292
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koschei_the_Deathless

    Especially a la Hellboy, Koschei would work really well as an angry spirit riding around killing for revenge or something.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:51 No.7732321
    http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/7716847/

    Here. Now let's get more shit done.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:52 No.7732330
    >>7732292
    Awesome shit is awesome.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:55 No.7732352
    >>7732121
    I'm missing something.

    How would one go about discovering that survival requires soul-selling? I mean, that isn't the sort of thing one evolves into..
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)07:56 No.7732363
    >>7732352
    Weather gets harsher, people turn to sacrifice to survive the winter or for crops to grow in the shortened summers.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)08:42 No.7732767
    moar?
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)09:17 No.7732971
    >>7724253 Awesome idea btw

    Hmm. How could you cthulhu this up a bit. I like the idea of the maddened ice elves..but have them as worshipers of Ithaqua the Wind Walker. Perhaps they raid human outposts by riding on Shantaks or Byhakees.

    A thought on lycanthropes. Humans would do anything to survive. I could see tribes of people volunteering to become werewolves in a desperate attempt to retain some of their humanity, and survive as powerful hunters.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)10:02 No.7733349
    We should totally make something interesting of goblins.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)11:02 No.7733877
    >>7733349
    Mongl-esque barbarians hailing from frozen steppes, they are expert calvary and also great archers. Possibly ride boars.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)11:38 No.7734244
    >>7733877
    No, make them a slave race for the dwarves.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:01 No.7734472
    Halflings?
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:09 No.7734540
    >>7734472 See >>7734244
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:18 No.7734626
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    I've no idea how this hasn't been posted yet.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:20 No.7734641
    >>7734626
    Also, the Elf women on the giant Badger.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:24 No.7734680
    >>7734626
    Breaks the game.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:36 No.7734791
    >>7734680
    I think it would be the Sub-machine guns and assault rifles that would break the game, not the bears.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:41 No.7734839
    >>7725109
    Look at ice age humans/inuits
    The people can primarily eat animals.
    Mammoths, Seals, Whales, Fish (ice fishing).
    Larger animals can more easily stand up to cold, keep that in mind.

    Also, even during an ice age, there are still seasons.
    Maybe make 2-3 months out of the year just warm enough to grow food.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)12:48 No.7734915
    Make it apparent that if things continue, all civilizations will die out.
    Everything should have been better in the past, and nothing should be sustainable.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:09 No.7735165
    An area somewhere where there is a heavy fog, all the time. They say there is a city somewhere in the fog, but only a few have returned from it, and most of them went mad.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:20 No.7735271
    Right, anyhoo, bear cavalry aside, a few ideas for races and circumstances, some of which already mentioned:

    1) Survival-of-the-fittest orcs. They're already mostly like that, sure, but now to the alarming degree of devouring whatever they come across as food, eating the fallen, and generally following a 'kill first and eat later' policy when running across anything that isn't part of their tribe.

    2) Troll-domination of frozen wastelands. With things that can burn already being in massively short supply, and what little being used to keep from freezing to death, trolls were able to multiply at an exponential rate with the primary detriment to their survival effectively removed. Frost Giants may serve as their rulers, or at least as close-allies.

    3) Better-off-than-everyone-else dwarves. Their subterranean cities live off of geothermal energy and were largely untouched by the iceage, becoming one of the few remaining bastions of civilization. The only ones highly adversely affected were those that relied too heavily on trade for necessities, but most were adequately self-sufficient.

    End Part 1.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:23 No.7735303
    Part 2

    4) Only a few human cities had enough magical protection from the weather to survive. Those that did not followed one of two paths:
    A) Mass Necropoli. Lich in particular moved into cities filled with tens of thousands of dead, creating entire armies within hours of the cold-preserved bodies, decay no longer even a problem without warm climates to worry about.
    B) Forced evolution. The humans who banded together found themselves at a natural disadvantage against virtually all others who were hardy enough to survive. Without numbers or evolutionary advantage to aide them, humans turned to magically/demonically induced evolution to force their weak bodies into those that could survive the harsh environment. If magically obtained, humans may simply have gained simple buffs, becoming naturally stronger, faster, and more resistant to the cold. Magical infusion of the flesh and blood of stronger creatures created men who gained power from the creatures in question, like troll regeneration or dragon-scale skin, becoming inhuman, but retaining their core humanity. Demonic pacts, however, yielded terrifying juggernauts that surpassed their magical brethren, but at the cost of any semblances of humanity. Mutations and insanity abound.

    End Part 2
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:24 No.7735313
    Part 3

    5) Magical mercenaries. While magic-users were relatively commonplace, their natural placement of knowledge over physical fitness has made them alarmingly rare, and effectively worth their weight in gold. Those that did survive did so through various means:
    A) Like normal humans, demonic or magical forced evolution, albeit whilst retaining their natural magical ability.
    B) Existing already as tougher-than-the-average-mage persons, having made the 'sacrifice' of taking time to hone their bodies as well as their minds.
    C) Symbiosis. Even the cannibalistic orcs retain enough sense to see the value in a willing magic user. They survive by attaching themselves to a larger, more physically-adapted group for protection, in turn providing artifacts, spells, and other exclusively-magical services.

    End Part 3
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:29 No.7735369
    Part 4

    6) Fiendish-Dominion. Any harbor of order is a welcome sight to a waste survivor, even one with less-than savory origins. High concentrations of the hot-blooded devils created a new presence on the continent in the form of iron-fisted Archfiends ruling over more than just Baator. Survivors of varying races flock to these cities, welcomed by those who were once seen as an unacceptable evil. There is law and order, but only under the totalitarian devils. Had it not been for the stability present in these cities and the dangerous exterior conditions, they would have long since marched against *other* remaining strongholds to assure no future threat would exist.

    End Part 4
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:30 No.7735377
    Part 5

    7) Bitter Elves. With the loss of nearly all fauna and plant life, most elves resigned themselves to be lost to the ages, allowing themselves to freeze in their sleep amidst their dead forests. Those who did survive, however, did so only by becoming as cutthroat and opportunistic as the 'lower' races. What few of the elves remain do so as killers, brigands, and mercenaries, taking whatever path is best-suited for their own individual survival no matter who provides it. (An effective force of any elves out of anything resembling 'Lawful,' and almost as assuredly from 'good,' as well).

    8) Druids-Gone-Native. Like the elves, the druids were faced with the horror of their natural connection dying en mass. Those with the will to live did so by taking the form of creatures hardy enough to survive, soon coming to meld so far into packs/groups of these creatures that they are virtually indistinguishable from the rest, save for their still-intact magical ability. Groups of surviving beasts with a druid amongst them are characterized by well-kept appearances that would have seemed impossible to maintain while fighting for survival, as well as powerful magical buffs and other such combative magic.

    End Part 5
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:32 No.7735405
    Part 6

    9) Swarthy/barbaric foreigners. Either/or, really, depending on which one you feel the story needs and is lacking in. Both might be from a land close to the equator that was largely untouched by the ice age, and travels northward aboard their steamships/longboats with the intention of finding any survivors and helping/robbing them. May have advanced technology/superior evolutionary stock, but has no grasp or concept of magic beyond technological advantages/natural resistance provided by genetics or a patron god. Obviously, all the /'s deal with swarthy or barbaric, respectively. Take your pick: Steam-powered Byzantines or gene-boosted Norsemen?

    So yeah. tl;dr for most sections of the internet, but I think /tg/ will survive.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)13:57 No.7735789
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    OP here, I salute you /tg/! I also give you tits.

    If someone puts all this together into a .pdf, it would be greatly appreciated. I think I'm not the only one who wants to use this new setting.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)14:30 No.7736232
    Okay /tg/, we have the basics working more or less here. But let's talk about some topography. Maybe we can get some drawfags and writefags in here to give it a little spark of life?
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)14:41 No.7736338
    >>7735789
    Damn straight we get a salute. Didn't put the time into a six part post out of the charity of my heart.
    >> Anonymous 01/23/10(Sat)15:04 No.7736604
    Seeing that this thread still, lives, I'mgonna bump it for some more awesome ideas before the limit is reached.



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