For a Unique Gaming Experience, Rewind The Clock on Your Campaign Setting

Most published campaign settings have an established timeline in them these days. It's one of those things players expect to find, and the longer a setting has been around the more events and eras there will be in the past. Whether you're running a game set in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, the Grim Darkness of the far future, the Battletech universe, or anywhere else, most game masters have a tendency to set their games in whatever period is considered now by the timeline.

But if you've got all of that history to work with... why not play around with it to create a unique story, and to add some spice to your players' experience?

 

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History is closer than you think.

Everything Old is New Again

To be very clear, I'm not talking about games with time travel in them, where players spend an arc in the past doing something or other before returning to the present for the rest of the game. We're talking a full campaign nestled completely within an older period of time, with characters from that period. Whether it's a part of a great world event, or one of the many deeds that were simply lost to the ages, that's up to you.

This allows you to keep the same world, and the mechanics of the game you're all used to, but it also creates a thrilling new sense of the unknown. Because in many ways, the past is a truly undiscovered country.

Perhaps an example would help?

Since it's the setting I know best, let's talk about the world of Golarion for a moment. Though there are dozens of adventure paths out there that you can play, most of them are set around the year 4711 in the Age of Lost Omens. However, as The Inner Sea World Guide points out, that's only the most recent era of the world... and it's only been going on since the death of the god Aroden, which was barely a hundred years or so ago. While massive changes happened to the world at that point, rewinding the clock around 200 years or so would leave you with a setting that was recognizable, but also hugely different in many ways.

First and foremost, the image of Cheliax as devil-worshiping fascists wouldn't be the case. The Hellknight orders have yet to be founded, and Aroden still guides the nation on its explorations. Galt's bloody revolution has yet to begin, with the aristocracy still ruling over a nation that might be fractious, but hasn't yet reached the point of bloodshed. Alkenstar is brand new, and firearms are found only among the dwarves sealed in the underground stronghold of the Dongun Hold since the gun works hasn't been built yet. Taldor and Quadira are still at war, Osirion is still under Keleshite control... and the list goes on and on.

The countries players are familiar with are present... but they're still in what most think of as their golden age. The unexpected turn that ripped open a portal to the abyss, and that created a permanent hurricane, hasn't happened yet. The huge, cultural and political shifts that players are so used to being taken for granted as part of history still lie in the future. That is where the potential lies!

Whether you've been looking for a way to gracefully avoid dealing with gunslingers in a game set in Golarion, or you really want to see what Cheliax was like back when it still had its soul, this kind of game would give you and your players the chance to play out those what-ifs. To re-discover and experience the history of the setting. And if you have a long-lived character like an elf, a gnome, etc., there's even a potential they're still around and kicking when many of the "modern" adventure paths are going, for those game masters who enjoy callbacks to previous campaigns.

The Further Back You Go, The Stranger Things Get

To continue with my timeline of examples, Golarion has something like 10,000 years of recorded time, eras, and events you could run games in. As well as two full eras that have no dates and events because they're just too damned far back. And the further back you go, the more of the world that's open to your imagination and interpretation because the civilizations, nations, rules, and heroes have been lost to the annals of time. The Age of Darkness, for example, marked the fall of the greatest human empire the world had see, the sleep of the Runelords, and the return of the dark god Zon Kuthon. There is a huge potential for a fantasy post-apocalyptic game there, in a world where everything has fallen, and death lurks in every shadow. Heck, several gods haven't even been established yet, most nations players are familiar with have yet to be formed, and even so-called "lost" empires haven't even been founded yet.

The campaign practically writes itself.

If you have an established campaign world (or heck, if you created your own), you can get a lot of unique mileage out of this idea. Especially if your table wants to do something different, but doesn't necessarily want to learn a whole new rules set to experience a unique campaign setting.

Also, for any Paizo folks who caught this particular update, feel free to reach out to me if you're considering writing adventure paths set in the past! I would be more than happy to roll up my sleeves and get to work on that.

Further Reading and Inspiration

If you take this advice, but you find yourself going back far enough that you need to fill in some gaps in the setting, check out some of the following supplements by yours truly!

- A Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore: If you need to fill in the blanks in your setting, especially because you wound back the clock, then this one might be right up your alley.

- A Baker's Dozen of Rumours (And The Truth Behind Them): If you're looking for some potential plots to fill-in the empty places in a city or campaign, these 13 rumors are just meaty enough to get the job done. Versions are available for Pathfinder and for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, as well.

- 13 Fiends: A Baker's Dozen of Devils: Whether you've rewound before the prominence of certain dark faiths, or you just want something more unique for your earlier setting, these fiendish entries come with notes on their areas of influence, rituals and rites, and the sorts of followers they draw. It's best paired with 100 Cults to Encounter, for those who need a little extra inspiration.

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