Design &
Development
Because a few people have actually asked some
questions, and because I do benefit from examining my own creative process, I’d
like to share some notes and observations for a campaign setting built from the
ground-up. Avremier has been building for nearly forty years and I actually
struggle to recall many of the earliest details. Grayharrow was started within
the last few years – though its origins do lie in an earlier iteration of
Avremier (from the mid-1980s). Very little from that Grayharrow survives to
this project, but those small kernels are very important.
Project History
Vythakhar was an unused realm in
the first iteration of what is now the Avremier setting. It was a place of
strange magic and an atmosphere I could only describe as, “eldritch.” It was a
weird place created by a very young me, and none of my players ever reached it.
Maybe a shadowy reflection of Melniboné. When I set out to bring Avremier “to
the masses,” I found that Vythakhar just didn’t fit my current vision of the
setting. So, rather than attempt to force a triangular peg into a round hole, I
decided to create an Avremier spinoff, of sorts. Not that Vythakhar is part of
Avremier. It is just a mini-setting that takes much of its flavor and detail
from the early days of Avremier’s development. Like an archaeological site
recently unearthed for study and possible appreciation. What you have here is
Vythakhar placed within a more suitable setting, developed by a more mature and
experienced me. It is my hope that both have aged well.
So – that’s where Grayharrow
comes from. An exotic kingdom that never saw use in my game, poised at the edge
of a hand-drawn map that no longer exists. The players just never travelled
that far. Possibly for the best. Recently, when I dusted off some of my notes
from the 80s and 90s, Vythakhar and its environs came fully to my attention
after years of neglect. The timing seemed right, because I immediately began
brainstorming a new campaign setting. But, I was no longer a kid living at
home, with hours and hours to spare in the building of another sprawling and
detailed fantasy world. I’d have to exercise some restraint – something I’m
rarely good at when it comes to creative endeavors.
Guidelines and Ground
Rules
This was not going
to be a project that would grow and develop at a leisurely pace after extensive
playtesting. I had set out to build a fantasy world with boundaries and some
measure of focus. I would have an overall genius loci, in the form of a
fallen deity that left behind titanic skeletal remains. The initial visual was
very appealing to me – creating a landscape around a massive skeleton. In fact,
this dominant physical feature would help define the true scope of the setting.
With a bit of number-crunching and mathematical reckoning (not my personal
strengths) I determined that the divine remains would be about 38 miles long.
So, Vythakhar would have to be at least that size. And, I just had to place Imharra,
the main city of the setting, directly into the palm of one dead hand. Nothing
less would do. Also, the skull would be one of the most important features of
the setting. The place where the mind of the departed deity would reside. A
crucial focal point for the intended flavor and subtext of the campaign world –
psionics.
Those who know me
are aware that I generally exclude psionics from my own game and campaign setting. Still, over the years, I have come up with psionics-based ideas that
seem fun to me. Grayharrow gives me an environment suited to those ideas. A
showcase, of sorts. A psionic lich-king with an exposed crystallized brain,
served by lawful-neutral psionic paladin enforcers, with leashed crystalline
intellect devourers as hunting hounds. Clans of psionically-endowed grell totake the place of a certain type of octopoid-headed humanoid known for psionicallytenderizing and physically devouring the brains of its victims. Hidden domains
of mad duergar. Isolated orders of psionic monks. Psionics that originated
within the brain of the Dead God – emanating outward into the surrounding
realms. I wanted a source that I could isolate and control – just in case.
Imports & Recycling
Honestly, I have a
lot of ideas that just don’t suit my existing settings. Tons of stuff that don’t
really fit within the established framework of Avremier. Concepts that aren’t
funny enough for Duckin’ & Braggin’. That’s how the ‘Color-Titled’ settings
came about. Each one embodies a distinct atmosphere or flavor that I’d like to
explore in-depth. Grayharrow’s signature
flavor is something I sometimes struggle to describe in simple terms. It is
built upon a solid foundation of psionic-based science-fantasy, with a
pseudo-Victorian veneer. Not quite Steampunk. Gothic Gaslight, but not always
traditional Gothic. There are a few strong literary influences, but I don’t
really want to dwell on them. I’ve taken them in different directions and woven
them into something more my own. There are other Avremier concepts that have
been transplanted fully into Grayharrow – the pivotal city of Imharra being
one. Then, there are concepts that were introduced in Avremier, but taken to
different levels and in other directions for Grayharrow. Gargoyles, sphinxes,
paladins, monks, arcane magic, nonhuman PC races, nonhuman domains, psionics-aided
combat, other dimensions, undead, psidead, and more. Just a lot of standards or
trappings that I wanted to twist or repurpose into something I found engaging.
Culture, Myth, History &
Folklore
Quite a few
real-world cultures manage to inspire and flavor the creation of my fantasy
civilizations or concepts, but not always to their fullest extent. I’m not
interested in creating a fantasy version of Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, or China
– but I do like to take bits and pieces of the look or feel of older cultures
for a foundation or framework. I like to give players something they can
recognize, but not necessarily something they’ve seen before. I’m not
re-creating cultures for use in my game. This is true of Grayharrow even more,
perhaps, than Avremier.
