Having Fun With The 'Limited Campaign' Idea

A thought experiment, I suppose. Right now I don't really have any plans to run anything beside what I'm already working on. However, this post inspired me to try my hand at a 'Limited Campaign' concept. Bit of a rambling thought experiment, one could argue. Just to change things from my usual OSR-related posting I'll use Pathfinder+Epic 6 as a basis.

Main Concept: Pathfinder+Mesoamerica+Dash of Gothic Horror
Basically? A fairly high fantasy setting which draws inspiration from meso-american myths and the era of conquest following the arrival of the Europeans. A dark era and theme? Maybe so, but add in a dash of Gothic Horror and it become clear this is not meant to be a pleasant world. Good and evil exist but they aren't quite as clear cut as one may expect. It's a messed up world designed to make players mildly uncomfortable.

The world is ruled by the Seven Gods, four of which are no longer worshiped/dead/missing. The world is cyclical, or so legends go. Today the land of is a broken one following it's conquest by travelers from oversea. Once, long ago, humans had a common root but at the end of the Last Sun the earth and sea were rent asunder, isolating the various human tribes. When they finally made contact again, they were culturally so different that things got...messy. The fact that the Gods are silent on the true why for this bloodshed make things worse. Some believe there was a war in heaven and that the Gods are just as divided as the humans.

Races

There's going to be seven races, as Hack & Slash outline. Now obviously, for simplicity I'll use humans as one of the basic available races.

1. Human*: The basic, the common and the mundane. People say they are boring but I personally like to ground my fantasy more into a human-centric worldview nowadays, as it make things more easily fantastical if the truly alien and magical things are more of an unknown and alien thing.
2. Changeling*: They carry the ancient and potent blood of the Shadow Lord in their veins. It runs thicker in them than in any human.
3. Gillmen: Considered to be predecessors of humans. They are alien and ill-understood and worship long-forgotten gods of the primordial depth.
4. Half-Orcs*: Long ago, a population of ogres were converted by a holy man.. These surface orcs ogre are smaller, less monstrous than their kin but are civilized and have mingled with humans. Pious, they have combined their new faith with their ancient tribal markings, inscribing colorful prayers on their very skin. Half Orcs have the Sacred Tattoo racial trait.
5. Strix: Some of the beings from the previous world are said to have 'become as birds'.
6. Vanara: Much like the Gillmen and Strix, it is said they come from a previous incarnation of the world.
7. Vishkanya: Called the Serpent-Folks, they are descendants of humans who worshiped The Renewal Lord under his 'Snake God' aspect. The worship of the Snake God is illegal and they are second-class citizen. Their poisonous bodies are rightfully feared.

*Are those races available at the start of the game.

Classes

Now, moving on to classes. Obviously, the Fighter and Rogue classes will be included as they cover a fairly wide (and dare I say, mundane) archetype.

1. Cavalier: Knightly orders are a common thing on the 'old continent'.
2. Fighters (or maybe Brawler?): Every setting need it's option to play a simple warrior.
3. Inquisitor: These divine servants gain their powers through worship and rite, not blood. They bring down judgement.
4. Oracle: The Eleven Gods aren't just served by Clerics, but also by Oracles. Many descent from ancient bloodlines who bear the blood of saints and monsters alike. Their connection to the divine is a double-edged sword.
5. Ranger: There are still vast swathe of wilderness and those who learn to live in it. Rangers use the Skirmisher archetype and thus lack spells.
6. Rogue: There are those who live with their wits, skill and some trickery in all societies.
7. Sorcerer: 'Arcane' magic in this setting is derived from bearing the blood of the god of trickery, magic and fate.

Gods (The Three and the Four)

While separated by millennia of cultural drift, the humans (and perhaps every race, really...) worship the same Gods. Very differently, mind you, but the same gods nonetheless. These are not kind gods. They demand sacrifice, be it in blood, flesh or in dreadful oaths of loyalty and vengeance. Lay priests and worshipers obviously worship all of them, but Inquisitors  and Oracles are obviously tied to a specific god for the purpose of receiving powers as they are initiated into the deeper mysteries surrounding the cult of these Gods.

The Morning Lord

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Domains: Glory, Nobility and Sun

Mystery: Heaven and Solar

The Morning Lord preside over the rebirth of the sun, it's glory and all the bounty associated with it's continual glow. He is considered to be one of the more important Gods.

The Bloody Lord

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Domains: Protection, Strength and War

Mystery: Battle and Metal

Eternally-wounded, eternally-bleeding he is the patron of all forms of conflict. People fear him but also worship him for his protection. Warriors of all stripes frequently ask priests of the Blood Lord to anoint them in blood.

The Renewal Lord

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Domains: Healing, Repose and Weather

Mystery: Life and Wind

Of the major Gods, only the Renewal Lord is Chaotic. He's associated with that alignment due to the 'necessity of renewal and constant change', such as life and death (and rebirth) and the cycle of the seasons.

The Dead Lord

Each time the world renew itself, sacrifice must be made. This God sacrificed himself and ignited the sun to pass on to the Morning Lord, dying in the process. He is not worshiped because he is considered to be dead but a few heretics are said to draw upon his power and discarded body parts to wield necromantic powers.

The Missing Lord

It is said He will return when the time come, with some saying he'll return as the world end or at the start of the new one to bring new wisdom and impart law upon the mortal races. Folklore is replete with appearances of him in the form of a white-bearded travelling old man but priests consider it mildly blasphemous to say he stopped by for a drink.

The Lady of Endings

She only appear at the 'end of the cycle' and unleash her slavering hordes of monsters to cleanse the world. She has no priests and little to not shrines safe for those mad men who dare dwell in forces-man-was-not-meant-to-know. When the time come she'll return and exist again. And the world will drown in darkness.

The Shadow Lord

Lord of the night, trickery, magic and fate. While he is part of the pantheon, those from the 'old lands' have stopped worshiping 'him', citing his chaotic nature as blasphemous or at the very least dangerous. The patron of heroes just as much as monsters, 'he' is a force of unbridled chaos and change for both good and ill. Sometimes called the Night Lord or the Black Mother, his malleable form has given him the most varied incarnations and the Shadow Lord appear equally male and female.

Sorcerer Bloodlines

In ancient times (When the Shadow Lord ruled, some say), human stock was mingled with that of other beings. Other say the Shadow Lord saw the need to infuse some human bloodlines with sorcerous powers while others believe he did it simply to make the world a strange place on a whim. Changeling, in particular, are direct descendants of these beings. However Sorcerer potential appears in seemingly-human individuals while other races display their own variation.

1. Destined: One of the more common and 'universal' bloodline which are said to carry the blood/gift of the Shadow Lord in his aspect of the Fate Master and/or The Trickster.
2. Arcane: Another common and 'universal' bloodline, The 'blood of magicians'. Many of it's bearers are feared but well-regarded scholars.
3. Shadow: The third most common and 'universal' bloodline, the 'blood of shadow' gives it's bearer the powers of the Shadow Lord in his most common aspect.
4. Ghoul: Did the Shadow Lord create the first ghouls long ago and if so how and why? Some say he used parts of the flesh of his deceased brother, the now-Dead Lord. Others say he didn't create this Bloodline but rather that it was a byproduct of later experimentation by some of his most ambitious servants. Others simply believe it arise naturally in ghouls and half ghouls.
5. Imperious: In ancient times, the Shadow Lord blessed human nobles with a bloodline which grant them the power of dominion.
6. Orc: The blood of half-orcs half-ogres which allow them to tap in their power as brutal creatures of the night.
7. Serpentine: The bloodline of the Vishkanya and a few humans with a Vishkanya parent.

Monsters

Only seven monsters, huh? Well, given that and the use of E6 (and thus focusing on lower levels) I'd say most enemies are humanoids. Plenty of cultists, bandits and pillagers from enemy nations and empires. A period of political and religious unrest gives plenty of reasons to fight people more than monsters. If one feels like cheating, this excludes giant and dire versions of animals.

1. Aboleth: Re-imagined as the spawns of some watery entity akin to Cipactli. They are ancient, pre-human terrors of the sea and the hidden masters of the Gillmen.
2. Ahuitzotl: Terrifying critters who haunt the waterways and swamps.
3. Chupacabras: These annoying buggers are just mundane enough to be almost animals, but supernatural enough to be terrifying to just about everyone.
4. Ghouls: In a world full of blood and flesh sacrifices, of course one would expect Ghouls (and, cheating a bit, Ghasts). Part-scavenger, part-corruption of rites, the Ghouls of this world have an unusual role. Ancient tales hold them to be connected to the gods but today they are feared and reviled as a plague. Powerful ghouls have class levels as Oracles. Ghouls fill the niche one would expect Vampires to fill.
5. Ogre: All that remain of the once-glorious giant race (except half-orcs half-ogres), these creatures are misshapen, ashen-skinned brutes with feral faces. They have eyes, ears and fangs of jaguars and other large cats and spots or stripes on their hairy bodies. At least, that's the most common breed around these parts.
6. +Mongrel Giant: That should help spice up Ogres! These Ogres have more potent abilities and a stronger blood connection to their ancestors. The smartest and most charismatic of their kind have Sorcerer levels and/or possibly the Advanced template.
7. Shadows: They aren't just regular shadows, they are (un)living shadows from times when the sun didn't shine. They are alien creatures, who were never alive. They hunger.