The Black Campbell

At the end of our game “season”, the crews of Pleiades group had found the Home of the Gods, Kobol.  They arrived a little over two months after Galactica had blown through on their way to Earth, and the only sign of their passing (initially) was a debris field around the planet.  After besting a Cylon basestar there to guard the planet, we ended with the ships in orbit and preparing to go to the surface to look for clues to Galactica‘s course, the nature of the gods, etc.

With the return of one of our players from Scotland, we’re about to fire the campaign back up.  So now I have to turn my attention to Kobol, and what exactly there is to find there.  Unlike the TV show, Kobol is not simply a stepping stone to Earth.  Our characters will find that they have another path, that they are not following the Scrolls of Pythia, but rather the Scrolls of Sybil (even more hazily defined than the Pythian myths in the show!  Gotta leave wiggle room!)

So Kobol is a place not just of exposition for their course, it is a place that holds its own secrets and meanings, and reasons for being there for our crew.

So — Kobol was an advanced planet.  They had the ability to launch massive spacecraft to go colonize the 12 worlds.  It was at least as advanced as the Colonies were, themselves.  That means advanced construction materials and techniques.  So unlike the Kobol of the screen — there are more than a few damaged Doric columns to identify the place; there are ruins galore across the face of the planet.

The City of the Gods — Olympus — is mostly destroyed, partly due to war (the Blaze), and partly due to 2000 years of natural erosion and damage.  While concrete and other porous building materials are susceptible to damage from the elements, there are a number of ancient ruins — untended for centuries — here on Earth that have survived, often damaged or worse.  The best locations for material to stand the test of time are dry and relatively stable climates where the change of temperatures and a minimum moisture do not tear up the structures (the Pyramids, the Parthenon, Petra), while places far north are much more likely to have been destroyed by a combination of weathering and dramatic changes in climate.

Olympus is built on a marshy patch of ground in a wet, cool climate (it’s almost like it was shot in British Columbia!) and most of the place has eroded away to nothing…but depending on the materials used, there could be elements of buildings left standing:  girders (if made of a material that resists corrosion), hard stone walls, even evidence of roads, which might have been used by animals in the intervening millennium.  Evidence of technology is possible, as well — ceramics and some plastics are extremely resistant to the elements and flora.

For my Kobol, there will be at least 13 major cities — each being the home to a patron Lord of Kobol, each with its own unique elements to represent the lord of the city.  Thousands of other cities, and even more towns had dotted Kobol, in my take on the world, but much of that has being reduced to nothing by time.  Of the 13 cities, only a few are anything near explorable, and those are all, conveniently in desert or semi-arid climates.  (I’m still working on this; consider this a thought exercise, if you will…)

Olympus, City of the Gods:  this was the “capital” of Kobol, and the meeting place of the Lords.  Destroyed by war and time, there is little to see here (unless you count mystic visions.)

Heraion:  Near to Olympus, Heraion was centered in one of the breadbaskets of the world, in a richly forested valley (although from the air, the old patterns from agriculture and land division is seen as a strange patchwork design in the growth.)  The city is mostly destroyed, like Olympus.

Corinth:  A seaside city, this was once a center of commerce.  The place has been half destroyed by an earthquake and flood, but parts of the town still stand in the waters of a sheltered bay.

Aresium:  A desert town on a large river near a ocean bay, it is one of the better preserved ones.  Damage to the outlying buildings facing the desert are blackened and scorched, and have mostly collapsed.  Toward the river and bay, the town is surprisingly intact — roofs collapsed, but many of the walls stand, there are statures to the god of war, and there are the remnants of vehicles in the roads.  The harbor has collapsed, but the remains of a lighthouse are visible under water, along with an entire neighborhood of buildings.  Over a slight mountain range, there is evidence of a massive explosion — a nuclear weapon or meteor strike.

Etna/Vulcanium:  On a large volcanic island not far from Aresium are the remains of another town.  The metal superstructures of buildings are twisted and eroded by the sea air, but the walls, roads, and the substructures of the buildings are remarkably intact.  From the air, it is obviously an industrial center — and a large one (think Yokohama).  At least part of the town shoud have been buried in an old lava flow (because it’s great theater!)  On a nearby spit of land, there is evidence of more towns, mines, places to supply Etna with it’s raw materials.  It would be an excellent place to find an underground factory of immense proportions with a number of fantastical devices — like golden female robots.  This would be the Forge of Hephaestus.

Athenaeum:  This could be a city, mostly destroyed, with a recoverable data (with extreme difficulty) in an archive or library.

The point would be to show the Lords of Kobol really did exist, and throw some (incomplete) light onto their divinity (or not if you’re following the new show).  It could give insight into the “all of this has happened before…” motif, and allow the characters to find ancient technology that might not be usable, but might be copyable.

Or you could have the whole place wiped clean by the wrath of god (just make sure to use that Denholm Elliot accent, “wroth” when you say it.)