The DCC, as per rulebook, assumes adventures focusing on gaining treasure and power through adventure, intrigue or other somesuch means. In this sense, early iron age pseudo-Finland is challenging to give players a chance to attain the loot and fame. This means I need to make the Kalevalan lands far more "compact"; certainly, we aren't even historically speaking of very long distances, but even with horse-sled, the path through Karelia and Finland would have taken weeks. And horses were scarce; Kalevala itself mentions Väinämöinen having few, as well as Joukahainen having two, and few between. The land itself is filled with lakes and swamps. This makes longer journeys into downtime, effectively, or I need to make horses less scarce, and some in-game-world logic for someone to have made decent roads. Roads also mean major settlements, something little lacking in real-world Finnish iron ages. And so forth.
So, essentially I need to build an iron age Kalevala, that is conductive for PC interaction.
I already slightly touched the problem in previous post. "Dungeons" can be provided from two immediate sources:
- Ruins and ghost-towns of Pohjola (intention to introduce
Sauna-like eldrich horror themes)
- More conventional "stone-cathedrals" of trolls (but also may contain horror elements, as in
Ontot Kukkulat)
The opposition for players should mainly be natural, as in feuding tribes and eastern raiders, bandits and outlaws, as well as dangerous animals (wolves mainly, also bears). Also disease and weather should play role. But there are elements of supernatural horror in sources, like Iku-Turso (most commonly depicted as kraken-like monster, but also as more elongated, emanciated frog-demon, also doubles as deity of war). Spirits themselves (that are aplenty in the Finnic folklore) will be twisted and unpredictable. I envision that in the end I'd use "pools" of magic, i.e. old forgotten groves, caves and burrows of murdered bears (a sacred creature) and abandoned villages and such as source for such perversion of natural order that provide for supernatural foes and dangers. Mostly angry and "diseased" spirits, but also fey and animals will do for non-human enemies. There will be giants and other more traditional foes, even dragons, as not only Scandinavia will be under such effect of lingering magic but all the world has lived under the rule of sagas for a time. I have no real intention to research upon such matters but if need and time permits, it is not ruled out.
The Kalevala ended with Väinämöinen leaving the world, chastized by a child whom he proclaimed the King of Kalevala. Extrapolating from this, there has been a line of Kalevan kings; I envision that the line of kings has declined, perhaps completely cut short? And thus the old tribal (based on locality) connections have started to mean more. But also the kingship should have meant more centralized rulership, and attempts at building roads, hence also taxes and more trade. Also, as king has ruled over the Finns, this has meant diplomacy with the other nearby kingdoms; Swedes, Novgorod, Norway etc... Now, since it is prudent to use such devices, I'd say Swedes at the very least have made a presence in the south-west, trading and introducing things from wider world to the Kalevan peoples. This includes religion, and as such there will be a new contender in the god-business, as I think it'd be more potential for adventuring business for having a contest of belief in the southern areas, if that's what PCs wish to intrest themselves with. Also the south-west would be the primary source of things like steel weapons and armor, although dwarves living in the inland should make these items more reasonably priced than IRL.
Coinage and trade is another thing to convert. I think the most straightforward road is to make most trading as exchange of goods. Treasure, mostly iron, copper, silver and gold will be more valuable in regions where foreign traders do business. There will not be coins, or at least they aren't of fixed price, in most of the country. Items and pieces of silver and gold are valuable in the coastal areas and trade centres, whereas inlands you'd get more for iron, copper and tin items. Furs are more consistent trading item; 100 red squirrel counts roughly as 30 fox furs, and 10 pelts of wolf would net you a good sturdy iron blade anywhere in the land. This would make a background as trader very valuable addition to the group.
"Vikings" will be included- Norwegians will be still worship the norse pantheon, and this causes strife between them and christianized Danes and Swedes. They rarely raid Finns though as more lucrative loot may be found from Novgorod and Kievan Rus, not to mention Byzantine Empire, but I see them more active than IRL in Finland. Novgorodians will have their slavic pantheon, instead of Orthodoxy, and are more disparate for all that. Actually, with further thinking I'd be willing to disband the whole notion of Novgorod unity and make the south of Kalevala as hodgepodge of slavic and fennic tribes, as they were in the early 400-600s.
I need to think about that latter part in particular. It'd be important for there to be some potential conflict everywhere, but it shouldn't be as if everywhere there'd be bloody battles and consistent raiding going on all the time.
