Into the Wizard War Wastelands

So, I need to do a lot more reading and research to get stuff right for "Gods of the Seven Cities" my Summerian Sandbox setting. I also want to work on something less unwieldy than another setting like a scenario/module or a dungeon. Perhaps a small supplement. 

That said, I still want to work on a biggish campaign setting, cos I like 'em, so I'm going to focus on the Hexploration (or maybe in this case Hexploitation) setting I mentioned in a previous post . . .

"The hexcrawl (map/setting 2) is a weird wilderness that gets weirder the deeper into the wilderness the party explores. Definitely Fiend Folio and The Random Esoteric Creature Generator territory. Working title is "Into the Wizard-War Wastelands" It's also kind of a fantasy post-apocalypse setting."

. . .  It doesn't require research in the same way that "Got7Cs" does. This means I can crack on without delay while I read a ton of books for "Gods".

So this is what I have been thinking regarding the Hexploration setting . . .

Into the Wizard War Wastelands

What is it?

An OSR/OSE Hexploration setting where the players lead expeditions into the fabled Wizard War Wastelands in order to recover the lost secrets of magic and gather wondrous relics and return them to their Empire.

Why?

Aeons ago the Empire rose to greatness based on its mastery of Sorcery exemplified by the immense power of its God-Emperor and his supplicants the Seven Sorcerer Kings.

However, when the God-Emperor departed on a two thousand year Dreamquest predictably the Seven Sorcerer Kings pitched the Empire into the disastrous Wizard War that unleashed such powerful and chaotic magics that not only destroyed the empire it laid waste to the land itself making it an unlivable apocalyptic sorcerous hell-scape.

What Happened?

The survivors fled the wastelands and headed West to escape the Sorcerer Kings and the madness of their war. During this exodus, all the remaining petty Sorcerers were purged from society, put to death or driven into exile along the way. Magic was ordered taboo on pain of death by the former empire's new rulers a council of six wise elders.

Through great forests, over rivers, a mountain range, and finally steppes they fought their way through a sea of hostile inhabitants until finally, they came to a place of peace and fertile land where the local population welcomed them. Adding the indigenous people’s leader to their council of six wise elders, these seven leaders evolved into what would become the Seven Noble houses. The builders, and rulers, of the new, magic free, empire.

Why Go Back?

Not only has the passing of time made the new empire forget the dangers of Sorcery, but the empire is under threat from forces within and without. In desperation, they seek to rediscover the secrets of magic in order to save themselves.

What is the Threat?

It Doesn’t Matter!

It’s not what the campaign is about. It could be randomised for each new campaign. Maybe alien invasion, wrathful gods, invading barbarians, rampaging monsters, the dead rising, technologically superior conquerors, the threat of another civil war, a rival empire that has magic, disease, climate disaster, or a spate of constant natural disasters. 

It doesn’t matter what the threat is. It is just a threat that is looming in the near future and has the Empire’s rulers spooked enough to turn back to sorcery and start a “gold rush” like race into the wastelands.

Or Maybe it Does Matter!

As the party must recover enough powerful relics and magical knowledge to fend off the threat in a dramatic end game.

But it probably doesn’t matter. The game is about the expeditions, not a “saving the world” plotline.

What do the Players do?

A magical gold rush has started and each noble house is funding its own expedition. The Player Characters are leading these expeditions on behalf of their House. (Each group will belong to the same Noble House).

They must cross the steppe, negotiate passage and trade with its myriad barbarian tribes, find away across a mountain range and head back into the apocalyptic wasteland to explore the wilderness in search of magical knowledge, history, powers, and artefacts. Knowledge and power that must be returned to their Noble House in exchange for XP, Gold and worldly power within the Empire.

 Of course, they may hold onto magic items that they feel will aid them in their search for more, and more powerful magics. They will also, be building (or finding abandoned) outposts, waystations, trade camps and settlements to help with the trade and transport of all they find.

During these expeditions, the other noble Houses may at different times be, allies, competitors, or deadly enemies in the rush to find the most, and the greatest magics.

The further and/or wider the players explore into the wastelands the greater the magic, the weirder the wasteland, and the more dangerous the journey becomes.

TLDR: Wizards blew up the world and everyone ran away and banned magic. Now the players are heading back into the wasteland to grab sweet magical loot and knowledge cos rich dudes want magic again.

. . . so is this something people might be into?