Author Topic: Ravnica as a campaign setting.  (Read 4820 times)

Offline deadkitten

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 321
  • It's so fluffy you are gonna die... Horribly.
    • View Profile
Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« on: February 28, 2014, 11:43:19 PM »
For those who don't know what Ravnica is, it is a setting in Magic the Gathering so if you have not played magic during the two cycles that it was released and you REALLY want to help you can either google search it or ask a question in this thread and I will do my best to answer. I know on a lot of levels that Ravnica does not have the necessary details for a fully fleshed out campaign setting and, in that regard I am going to have to make it up as I go along.

1: I would like peoples opinion on what alignments each of the 10 guilds are, some are extremely easy while others due to their fluff are kinda awkward.

2: Divine magic is kinda tricky on Ravnica because there are hardly any beings that can be considered divine. I  dont want to leave out divine casters from the setting and am looking for a way to incorporate them that would not directly contradict the fluff of the setting.

3: I plan for it to be a sandbox game and to have at least one quest line for each guild that leads into my main story of the Plane of Phyrexia invading Ravnica, so any Ideas for quests will be greatly appreciated.  :D

4: Since it is too hard to resist, the campaign will be a gestalt game. It simply makes too much sense for a campaign set in Ravnica to be gestalt.

5: Im allowing stuff from 3.5,3.5 2nd party, and Pathfinder 2nd party. I am searching the material that I can stomach in order to find appropriate anagrams to various aspects of Ravnica. 

I hope I get some great feedback on this, and thanks to anyone who takes the time to post anything helpfull.  :D

Online Garryl

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 4503
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2014, 01:42:01 AM »
Take this with a grain of salt, as I was kinda leaving MTG during the Ravnica block, so I never got too invested in the fluff and the setting.
Orzhov seem like textbook LE.
Gruul are CN.
Selesnya are probably NG or TN, but I've also seen homebrew describing them as LG.
Rakdos are CE, no doubt.
Izzet strike me as TN, maybe CN.
Boros are LN, possibly LG.
Dimir are probably NE.
Azorius are LN.
Golgari might be TN or NE.
Simic might be NG or CG when the guild was remade in Return to Ravnica block's storyline, but are probably NE or LE in the original Ravnica block.

Just force clerics to follow ideals, rather than specific deities. Nothing specifically divine or godly, just another variant of standard magical practices. Heck, druids and rangers are walking poster children for Selesnya, Golgari, and Gruul nature mages. If it's really an issue, you're probably overthinking it.

Are you at all interested in homebrew material? Ziegander made a set of base classes for each of the Ravnica guilds. If you're interested in some less-specific stuff, I can think of a few that fit with the general concepts of some of the guilds.

Offline Gazzien

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 2113
  • Science? Science.
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2014, 01:42:13 AM »
1.
Azorius - Lawful Neutral; order for the sake of order.
Dimir - Lawful Evil; ordered, but trying to enhance their own power.

2.
They draw their power from faith in their guild?

Offline Leviathan

  • Full Member
  • **
  • Posts: 170
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2014, 02:14:27 AM »
Have you read any of the novels set in Ravnica? Though I haven't read them, I suspect that they would be full of useful details you couldn't get from cards alone.

Quote from: deadkitten
I would like peoples opinion on what alignments each of the 10 guilds are, some are extremely easy while others due to their fluff are kinda awkward.
If at all possible, try to have at least one guild for each of the 9 alignments. This will give all sorts of people a place in Ravnican society, even if the alignments have to be fudged a little.

Quote from: deadkitten
Divine magic is kinda tricky on Ravnica because there are hardly any beings that can be considered divine. I  dont want to leave out divine casters from the setting and am looking for a way to incorporate them that would not directly contradict the fluff of the setting.
There are 18 Cleric creature cards among the 6 Ravnica expansions. The connection between the creature type Cleric and the class Cleric is tenuous at best, but looking at these cards should give you some indications of how divine-style magic works in Ravnica. Most of them work for a guild, but a few, like Caregiver and Urbis Protector, are described in their flavor text as not belonging to any guild. Of the 18 clerics, 7 have an Orzhov watermark, 2 have a Selesnya watermark, 3 have a Rakdos watermark, 2 have a Boros watermark, and 4 have no watermark. Divine spellcasters in other guilds use different creature types, which should give you some idea of how Ravnicans themselves think of divine magic.

In general, clerics in MtG gain spellcasting from faith, rather than from a higher power itself. In D&D, clerics of ideals fit this flavor perfectly. If you want something more specific for cleric characters, you might decide that each guild has a few domains which are especially common among its clerics.

Quote from: deadkitten
Since it is too hard to resist, the campaign will be a gestalt game. It simply makes too much sense for a campaign set in Ravnica to be gestalt.
If you came up with color associations for each class (Barbarian is R, cleric is W/B, druid is G, paladin is W, etc.), you could encourage players to have different colors on the two sides of the gestalt. Depending on your group, this might feel like a cool reflection of multicolored cards, or it might feel like a stupid gimmick; in your place I would use it as a suggestion, not a requirement.

Offline Nytemare3701

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1650
  • 50% Cripple, 50% Awesome. Flip a coin.
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2015, 02:43:07 AM »
Hijacking this old thread because it's old as hell and still on the front page.

Starting a Mistborn game, but nobody in the group is particularly interested in the setting. I'm thinking Ravnica since we all play MTG.

No need for mechanics stuff, since the system supports this kind of thing naturally.

Setting lead for the players:

"After the fall of the nephilim, the guildpacts, and most of the original Paruns, an unsteady peace has befallen Ravnica. Well...peace probably isn't the best word. The old tensions and grudges still gnaw at the hearts of the guilds, but with the loss of so many powerful beings among the guilds, the fight has been taken to the streets and alleys of the city of guilds. In the midst of all this, a strange new metal has been discovered called Atium, which each guild is fighting tooth and nail to acquire."

Offline Solo

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1778
  • Sorcelator Supreme
    • View Profile
    • Solo's Compiled Works
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2015, 02:44:46 AM »
What does this metal do?
"I am the Black Mage! I cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down."

Offline Nytemare3701

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1650
  • 50% Cripple, 50% Awesome. Flip a coin.
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2015, 02:47:31 AM »
http://mistborn.wikia.com/wiki/Atium

In Allomancy, Atium allows the user to see into another person's future. The user can see what their opponent is going to do before it happens, thus allowing them to avoid or counterattack any offense. This effectively renders the user invincible to any form of attack, unless their opponent is also burning Atium or Electrum. However, it has been proven that a person burning Atium can indeed be defeated by one not burning Atium nor Electrum, such as when Vin killed Zane. Furthermore, this ability is limited only to predicting the future centered around live beings, making natural events insusceptible to the perception that burning Atium grants

In Feruchemy, Atiumminds (pieces of Atium used for Feruchemy) store the attribute of age. When an Atiummind is being filled, the Feruchemist becomes older, and, by reversal, younger when it is being tapped. This Feruchemical property of Atium is what allowed the Lord Ruler to render himself immortal.

In Hemalurgy, Atium is used to steal Allomantic temporal powers.

Side Note: "Normal" magic (as depicted in the MTG universe involving mana) has been replaced entirely with Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy.)
« Last Edit: January 14, 2015, 02:55:41 AM by Nytemare3701 »

Offline Solo

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1778
  • Sorcelator Supreme
    • View Profile
    • Solo's Compiled Works
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2015, 03:10:05 AM »
I say, this is just balls, isn't it?
"I am the Black Mage! I cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down."

Offline Nytemare3701

  • DnD Handbook Writer
  • ****
  • Posts: 1650
  • 50% Cripple, 50% Awesome. Flip a coin.
    • View Profile
Re: Ravnica as a campaign setting.
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2015, 04:07:25 PM »
Eh?