Picking a Far Place tribe for a campaign

[Super Thunder Bros.]

Greetings all!

After much deliberation (and alot of great help from the community) I’ve decided to run my first RQ:G game up in the Far Place. Set around 1615, Ironfist and his lackeys look like ideal overarching villains, with lots of factions mingled in.

My party will also benefit greatly from nearby locations: Snakepipe for my Uroxi, Skyfall Lake for the Helering, Woods of the dead for the Humakti, Ivory Plinth for the Tusk Rider hating Gori. Even the Hidden Valley for the Barntar initiate!

With that said I’m gathering as much info on the area as I can, I’ve acquired WF’s #15 and am awaiting some of the Zin letters. I’m also taking bits from Apple Lane and Renekot’s Hope for NPCs etc.

What I’m wondering is can anyone suggest an interesting tribe for my players to be members of?
 

Either the Alone or Alda-Chur confederations would be appropriate. I’m more interesting in the party interacting with the cities than being stuck in the hills. Only other consideration is a few characters have beef with Sun Worshippers through family history, so the Yelmalio dominated tribes are probably out.

Happy to hear any suggestions, as I’m sure there may be a fun idea staring me right in the face!

Edited April 30 by Super Thunder Bros.

[Tatterdemalion Fox]

The Alda-chur Confederation has the Princeros; they were famous for "giant fighting," and were defeated by Harvar. Now they have to pay him humiliating tribute to atone for their resistance against him. Or the Tovtaros, which was once known as the "Source of Heroes," but had many feuds inflamed by Harvar's machinations. Since he stepped in and settled most of them, they owe him deeply- which was exactly his goal. (Or he convinced others to feud with the Tovtaros and then repeatedly passed judgment against them, forcing them to spend their wealth to settle these matters; the text is vague enough that either is possible.)

Alone, meanwhile, has the Tres Tribe, which consists of refugees and political dissenters from Alda-chur who fled out to Alone to make a new tribe.

I'll also note that Harvar's own tribe, the Vantaros, is known for being dominated by Yelmalio and Lunar cults, which makes the choice of which tribe to have as rivals very easy.

My source here is Kingdom of Heroes, and while some of this might be updated or changed the next time we hear about Alda-chur and Alone properly, it's what I have to hand.

[Darius West]

I have run a few campaigns using the Tovtari tribe.  I generally opt to have my players as members of the Wild Goose Clan.  The Goose is a strong totem, given Imarja, and the clan is known for mercenaries, and guerillas who lead their adversaries into wild goose chases.  Strangely I get a lot of love for Elmal among my players.  Elmal is a version of Yelmalio that survives in the hinterlands and rejects the Lunarized version of their god that the traitor Monrogh perpetrated.  

[7Tigers]

Don't forget

with Jeff's updates from WF#15.

[David Scott]

You may find this helpful: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/tribes-clans-of-sartar/

Names, and links to clan and tribe maps

[Nick Brooke]

There’s a half-page of information about the Vantaros tribe in the Sartar Book preview section of A Rough Guide to Boldhome.

[Garrik]

John Hughes' Mytho-O-Logic pages has some of the best Far Place stuff I've come across:
To Walk in Far Places | Myth-O-Logic

It's focused on the Tovtaros and the Orlanthi that still cling to the Alda Chur confederation, despite bloody conflict.

The Zin Letters #3 articles sadly don't focus on the city life of Alone. My write-up of the town was so different from the official stuff that I didn't care to publish it. But this thread on the forums has some good stuff, including a map based on my original map:

 

[Garrik]

And this map, found on Pinterest, is mine too:
I've recently been GMing a game in and around Alone in 1618. I used this small map of alone as the basis for a larger map I made: Alon… | Town map, Fantasy map, Map (pinterest.com)

Although small, there you can see my placing of buildings - and the smallness and emptiness after the repressed rebellion. I tried to create an economy around the rural town, and thus there's a Lunar villa, large cattle pens and a source of clay outside of the walls. Figured that agriculture, cattle and small-scale pottery make up most of the local activity. Plus temples. The famous trade in wild herbs, or the more specialized crafts, don't create patterns visible on a map.

[Super Thunder Bros.]

1 hour ago, Garrik said:

John Hughes' Mytho-O-Logic pages has some of the best Far Place stuff I've come across:
To Walk in Far Places | Myth-O-Logic

It's focused on the Tovtaros and the Orlanthi that still cling to the Alda Chur confederation, despite bloody conflict.

Hughes’ content is great. His take on the Tovtaros may be a bit too “backwoods” for my liking 

[soltakss]

We had the Blue Storm Dancers in a HeroQuest/QuestWorlds Far Point campaign but they were made up by our GM.

[Super Thunder Bros.]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:24 AM, Darius West said:

I have run a few campaigns using the Tovtari tribe.  I generally opt to have my players as members of the Wild Goose Clan.  The Goose is a strong totem, given Imarja, and the clan is known for mercenaries, and guerillas who lead their adversaries into wild goose chases.  Strangely I get a lot of love for Elmal among my players.  Elmal is a version of Yelmalio that survives in the hinterlands and rejects the Lunarized version of their god that the traitor Monrogh perpetrated.  

Oh I'd love to hear more!

[Super Thunder Bros.]

Thanks for in the input folks. I think going forward my shortlist is

• Princeros
• Tovtaros
• Tres
• Bachad
• Maybe the Dinacoli?

The Vantaros will be clear rivals and enemies from day one.

I'm using some Apple lane material, so at a clan level will be reskinning the Varmandi or Hiording.

With that in mind, anyone see any parallels between any of the tribes on my shortlist and the Colymar? Just to make the process easier