Short Setting Ideas
To round out my mini-series about settings, I'd like to present a couple less-well-developed concepts I've noodled with over time.
The first was a sci-fi concept that struck me while I was watching videos about paleontology. Author Julian May wrote a series called The Saga of the Pliocene Exile, about humans and aliens from a future time sent back into Earth's past six million years. I haven't read the books, but knowing that the series exists got me wondering just how far back in time humans could survive on Earth.
Naturally, the first point of interest was the Mesozoic era, particularly the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, because dinosaurs! It would indeed be possible for humans to survive in these times, though if they intended to grow crops, they'd need to work on pollination methods. Many stories have been written about humans interacting with dinosaurs, and I'm sure it would be great fun.
But I wanted to look earlier, into the Paleozoic, before the Great Dying that marked the transition of Eras. Anything before the Carboniferous Period, the next to last in the Paleozoic, was right out -- insufficient oxygen levels in the atmosphere would mean any "colony" would have to be sealed. It could be done, but it would require support from the "home" time.
The Carboniferous itself has the opposite problem -- too much oxygen! Perhaps humans could get by with breathing apparatus or a genetic tweak, and I think it would be incredibly interesting to see people interacting with species like arthropleura and meganeura, and dealing with constant wildfires. But the ideal situation narrowed down quickly to the Permian Period. Humans could breathe and farm herbivorous animals, while dealing with dangerous predators like dimetrodon and gorgonopsia.
What would life be like? What if the "colony" wasn't intentional? What if they had no idea how long was left before the Great Dying? Would they try to evolve civilization and technology before the cataclysm in an effort to escape it?
I'd run this with something like Alternity or d20 Modern, but I'm sure Your Favorite System could handle it just fine. You'd just need some critter stats!
Next up is a pure fantasy idea, somewhat inspired by the old Dark Tower board game from the early 1980s. The setting takes place on a large island or small independent continent. In the center of the continent is an elevated, barren plateau wherein a Dark Force has been trapped for some number of years. Kingdoms form a guardian ring around it, founded to watch and protect in the event of the Dark Force's return.
But as people do, the kingdoms fell into squabbling and rivalry over time, and their watch is halfhearted now, at best. They have turned to self-interests, and many believe there is no Dark Force at all. And so they bicker and skirmish, their attention on their own problems... but, naturally, the Dark Force is real, and it has not forgotten. It slowly gathers its power, nearing the time when it will strike out against its beseigers. Tales begin to filter in from the lands nearest the plateau: stories of people vanishing, strange creatures attacking, and worse.
This, of course, was originally a D&D concept, but other fantasy systems could run it just as easily (Mythras, Pathfinder, and so on).
So there you have it; my ideas for TTRPG settings. What's coming up next? We'll see. I'll probably run another Mastodon poll to get an idea. Until then!