# Steem Monsters Campaign setting process doc
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Welcome to the Steem Monsters Campaign setting process. You're here because you want to write for Steem Monsters and build the most epic blockchain game ever built. I'm here because there's lots of you and we need some consistency.

## Purpose

We're here to build out the backstory of the world and the game so that as you play the game and story is revealed it creates a cohesive plot even though that plot is spread out to various events, campaign settings, tournament victories, and Heroic Boss Monster Fights. From different points of view the plot might actually be conflicting. One team thinks of a certain event as a huge victory. Another sees it as an atrocity! This is a complicated process of trying to allow maximum creative flexibility while ensuring it's consistant (even when it's not) accross the whole writer's group.

## Objective

We have to build what's commonly referred to as a Campaign Setting. A Campain Setting is a common document readable by anyone in the community that would like to find out about the world of Steem Monsters.

What does the world look like? Who inhabits the world? Where do inhabitants live? What are the major landmarks? What is the history? How do people interact with one another? At this stage we're basically building a travel guide to the world of Steem Monsters.

I'm still forumating the full table of contents, but generally speaking it will have a common element for all teams, and then each team will be able to write their own group backstory and understanding of common historic events.

## The raw basics- Commonalities

In the beginning the world was whole. Since then it splintered. The prophecy states the world will once again become whole. Through this process we are going to discover why the world split, what each Splinter (color) thinks happened. We'll have some common key events and we'll have some events specific to just one or two Splinters.

The map itself is currently called the Splinterlands. I don't know what it's called before that. I don't know what the map of the prophecy is called. Have fun making that up!

We are going to have some common elements that every must follow and some elements that you all get to create through this process.

## Combat

Combat basics. Summoners are magical people. They have the ability to summon monsters to fight for them. Monsters may or may not exist commonly in your realm. They could have all been hunted, controlled, kept in a zoo, or are wild.

Playstyle. Each color has it's own playstyle in the game. Hopefully your story will reflect this to some degree.

Black-Zerg (lots of creatures summoned to fight at once)
White-Protection
Green-Tanky with healing
Red-High damage output
Blue-Lots of abilities low stats
Gold-Extra big stats

Classes. In the game there are 4 key classes of monsters
Tank- absorb damage
DPS- damage output
Healer/support- keep monsters from dying
Assassin- kill monsters that aren't the tank

Summoners. They will have mana. Monsters will cost mana. Summoners will have buffs that help their team of monsters (all monsters get +10 to attack kinda thing)

As you write backstories try to keep in mind that most monsters will have one role that they're designed for. If you're writing about a tomb of a long dead heroic monster than it's ok to embelish and make them awesome at several things, but generally speaking we're not designing perfect killing machines. We're playing rocks, paper, scissors wth monsters and they'll have strengths and weaknesses. A great tank might be able to absorb damage forever with his thick hide, but may never land an attack and can't heal... Hopefully you get the idea.

## Built in imbalances
The differnt Splinters reflect different elements and themes

Gold-Ancient and powerful magics that are raw and unrefined
Black- having to do with death
White- having to do with protection and astral (mixed with alchemy and science)
Green- having to do with the planet itself
Red- having to do with fire
blue- having to do with water

Like Rocks, Paper, Scissors the game has natural buffs that one team gets versus another.

Green is strong against Blue
Blue is strong against Red
Red is strong against White
White is strong against Black
Black is strong againt Green
Gold won't get debuffs from any Splinter

Build these into the stories. So, for example white is alchemy. When they summon monsters they will use alchemy. That alchemy as it exists currently siphons magic from the undead realm. It makes white more powerful and they can build things, but it's being done at the expense of the black team. This game is less about absolutes of good and bad and more about exploring possibilities of balance. We'll still have good and bad characters, but that's goign to be subjective. The heroic fighter of the red teams that slaughters his enemies is going to the worst villian that lived for the white team and be the recipent of hate and vulgarities for the havoc he caused!

## Combat Arenas

Players will have a number of ways they can fight.

Daily quests: relatively easy fights that help new players earn new packs

Campaign mode- You will solo combat your way against computer/game generated enemies and use your cards to make your way through various parts of the each Splinter until you run into a Boss Monster, beat it, and win that part of the campaign. I'm going to try to make it repeatable. @neoxian purchased the right to be built into the campaign as Heroic Dragon at the end of the gold campaign.

PVP- You will face off against others in 1v1 battles and tournament play. Tournament play will have large rewards attached.

Guild PVP- You'll form teams. The team will need 11 submissions. You may have more players on a team than that, but only 11 of them will be able to submit every week.

Guild PVE- Beyond the campaing we'll have "Raids" you can participate in. You'll get your guild together and boss fight against Heroic Boss Monsters. @exyle purchased the right to be the first Guild PVE boss fight.

## Magic
Magic. Each Splinter has to have a type of magic. The only one I know needs to be there is white has to be alchemy. Everyone else can get to decide how magic works for them. Green could be seeds, gold could be arcane and internal, black could be through sacrifice. You guys get to decide how each Splinter is able to maniuplate space/time/energy/frequency/mana/creation to summon and cast spells. As we develop stories your choices will impact other realms.

## Celestial Bodies
There is 1 Sun and 6 moons that circle the planet. Each Team can name a moon.

## Timeline Major events
It's been 956 years since the Splintering. We have to build a timeline that's common. If you look at the map contest post we received two types of submissions. Flat maps with continents, and floating worlds. The flat map style is going to be the current map with each Splinter on it's own section of the map. The integrated floating world map is going to the land of the prophecy that existed in the past and will exist again in the future.

The world splintered 956 years ago. The cause is unknown. Each group can have an interpretation of what happened. (almost) Everyone from that era is dead. You're welcome to create historical documents (that we may or may not allow to be true) to describe what happened at the time to the best of that Splinter's knowledge. The timelines aren't exact for each Splinter. Some may experience these things slightly before or after it emerges.Major events

zero to 2 years- Magic started working again after the Splintering. The prophecy of the planet reuniting is foretold.

124- The last known survivors of the Splintering have all died out (there will be some legendary story arcs that will still be alive, but otherwise they're all dead).

387- The season of starvation as all crops withered and magic fell to a trickle

522- A shimmering white light engulfs the planet and meteorswarms hit the planet for weeks on end.

804- The Grand Tournament is established on Mount Mox. A small common city where the various splinters actively trade and build something together is formed there.

956 - The Burn is unleashed accross the world. People are succumbing to it. Giants from outside explored Splinterlands are attacking the Splinterlands led by Exyle the Destroyer

## Minor Events

Each team will be responsible for writing 4 events into the timeline of their Splinter.

Time of Aggression: Your Splinter attacks the Splinter that they are strong against. You will write about this experience as a victor.

Time of Suffering: You will respond to another Splinter's time of aggression by describing the suffering it caused in your history as the loser.

For these two one group will likely call it The Great Victorious March of Aggroedius Lightbringer. The group that lost will likely call it The Plauge of Aggroedius bringer of Starvation

Time of Collaboration x2: You embark on a great works project with different Splinter(s) to create a great work. These will become playable parts of the campaign setting. If you build a giant tomb the players will visit the tomb and discover this story. If it's a giant portal they'll be able to step through it.

You could imagine the blue ship captains working with the white Splinter scientists to build ship hulls capable of withstanding the Kraken when it tries to pull them under the sea. Or the red team working wtih the black team to build epic seige weapons.

For these you're initially submitting proposals and then the winning teams will have to flesh out

## Logistics

This is in a sense an off chain contest. Each winning team will be provided with 250 SBD for the completion of an expected 10-15 page section for their Splinter. Additional rewards of up to 250 SBD may be rewarded in the second round of this while groups complete the interactive sections with the other winning teams and other commonalities are ironed out in the final revised history.

You can only be part of one team in one Splinter. You announce your intention by entering the Steem Monsters Discord group and stating your intention to write for that Splinter. In a few days time we'll assign the Splinter role to you and then close the room so only people of that Splinter can see what you're talking about.

If you'd like to work as an entire group that's cool. if you can't get along and make different groups that's cool too. Only one team will receive the compensation, be included in the game, and be given credits in the game (which will link back to your Steem profile).

Each team will be required to submit a hackmd.io. I'll be building the template document over the next few days. Once it's complete your team will be considered entered into the prize pool for that Splinter.

You have to give up copyright when submitting these hackmd.io docs so we have the right to use them. We'll hold copyright until we're done creating the Campaign Guide and unused material will be returned free and clear of copyright back to the respective authors. If a team isn't selected as a whole, but we want to include some aspect of their story we'll be in touch to work out details of that. When the doc is done every unused bit reverts back to the author.

Nearly complete freedom to create- You will have to include a few things that won't be in your control. For example Neoxian purchased the right to be in the game in the gold team. We're going to build him into the campaign. He's going to be a Dragon and that dragon is syphonning magic from the land. As we do auctions to include players from teh community in the game your background or story will be altered to reflect it. This is part of raising funds for development (including paying authors).

Surrendering copyright- When you submit to the contest you are surrendering copyright to Steem Monsters so it can be included. If you're submission is chosen you'll be given financial rewards, built into the credits, and where it makes sense we'll point people to your steem profile in game.

## A note

All of this is to build the backstory to the game! We have the whole current to build too. This will take place in campaign story arcs, tournament victories, guild fights, boss fights, and stories on the cards as they are levelled! If you're not chosen or weren't able to participate please don't sweat it too much because we're going to have tons of other writing components in the days to come!