New Year/New Setting: GURPS world design 'game'

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by jeff_wilson

The tidelocked nature of the planet mans that it has a north and south pole in opposite points in the terminator, but only people bothering to observe star positions can tell.

Indeed. You can also define east and west poles as the leading and trailing points on the equator as the planet orbits the sun.

These poles could have important mystical or magical significance, but likewise only astronomers would be able to find them.

[combatmedic]

It sounds like the avians are going to be included. Kewl beans.

The discussion has been most productive. Let's go ahead and add a proper expansion post. I will combine ideas from several of your posts, and add a bit of history or legend.
_____________________________

The Avians are descendants of creatures exiled from the day-side. They live in hidden strongholds of the Night and Twilight mountains and forests. They possess strange mind-bending powers, which they use to disguise themselves and to mentally dominate others.

Avians can glide through the air, and make wing-assisted leaps, but they really aren't powerful distance flyers. They spend a lot of time on the ground.


Many humans tell stories of the mysterious Avians; but the creatures seldom reveal themselves to human beings. According to legend, avian mentalists aided some of the human heroes who rebelled against the dragon queens.

The Ursids (what was the name we were going to use?) remember a time when the avians subverted/tircked their ancestors into a war with the reptilians, and are rarely friendly to the bird-folk. Some mine-bosses do make use of the creatures as spies and secret police- and are careful never to allow large communities of the mind-benders into one place.

(The ursids may have developed some kind of metal screens that resist the mind-bending effects)

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Anyway, this brings me to some questions:
What powers should be available?
Is it going to be GURPS Magic magic, some kind of Powers-based magic, or something from Thaumatology?
What powers the magic? Mana? Draconic energy? Sunlight?
Are there spirits or divine entities? Do they grant powers?
Is psionics the right flavour for the setting?
Chi-based powers could be appropriate, if the humans were raised as warriors, but again might not fit the flavour.

Well, I think it would be nice for each species to have its own form of magic. Others species could either not use these forms, or would be at a disadvantage using them.

Magic= anything that does stuff we cannot do in the real world.


Avian magic: 'psionic' mind-bending, illusion, limited telepathy

Ursid magic: rune-graving/metal magic combined with machine building

Reptilian magic: biotech?

Human magic:

bardic/poetic/song magic?

spirit magic?


I think that an Unsual Background would be required for any character who learned to use any alien magic type.


All of this material on 'magic' is just a suggestion, of course.

We could use GURPS magic rules to do it, by assigning certain colleges to certain races, and adding a few rules.

We could also use Powers or Thaumatology.


What I would like to avoid is the 'mages can do everything' thing that shows up in some games. I would like magic to be limited, focused, and related to the races and history of the setting.


I think gods should remain mysterious and distant. Advantages like Destiny and Blessed would be fine, but not D&D style spellcasting clerics (although there is no reason why a human priest should not learn magic/science).

I'm open to suggestions.

[combatmedic]

How exactly were the humans brought to the world?

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

It could be 'steampunk', but I like your rune idea better. Of course, there's really not much difference between 'advanced technology' and certain kinds of 'magic.' Perhaps there are very few fossil fuels available on the planet, but the ursinoids have learned to make some use of natural geothermal power?

There is a lot of difference. A setting is an aesthetic creation. That is rather like saying mosaics and paintings are the same thing because both show pictures.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

There is a lot of difference. A setting is an aesthetic creation. That is rather like saying mosaics and paintings are the same thing because both show pictures.

Mosaics and paintings actually are in the same broad category; artwork.

You seem to have missed my qualifier 'certain.' Certain kinds of magic are essentially a form of advanced technology.

Are you familiar with Clarke's Law, for the reverse?

Magic is a technology/applied science in many settings and games. It certainly is in bog-standard GURPS Magic.

It isn't in Pendragon.

Some technology, like super-science, is essentially magical.

You mention aesthetics, but you seem to have ignored the possibility of a setting that includes both 'fantasy' and 'sci fi' elements. This thread has been leaning in that direction for some time now.

If you would like to continue this tangent, please start a new thread.

If you have something to contribute to the setting-building 'game', please post it.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Faolyn

Magitech is always cool.

The humans have magic as well, but it's the remnants of what they used before they were captured, so it's rather patchy and not necessarily very powerful--they had to reconstruct their entire magic system from memory, as they lost their books when they were enslaved.

However, there are some people--possibly whole factions, possibly just individuals--who are attempting to reverse engineer their captor's magic for their own purposes. The problem is, if their captors are supernatural beings, then using their magic can have a... mutative effect on human casters.

We should build on this for human magic.

[Maz]

Originally Posted by Faolyn

Little wars. Up until recently, all of these humans have been property of the Masters. Now that they’re free, they are trying to rebuild their society, but who says they agree? Some will probably want to be very militaristic, to prevent re-enslavement. Some may want to forget and just expand. If they were taken from different worlds or very different regions on the same world, then they might have their original gripes with each other that suddenly get renewed.

[...]

Also, I think that we mentioned that some humans might still be enslaved. Perhaps there are attempts to free them.

Hmm, this made me me think, how long ago is "recently"?

In my mind, and I think also CombatMedics (based on a couple of his post) it is long ago that the humans where slaves. I'm thinking several hundred years. Something that is believed and told in legends and stories, more than known.

This doesn't mean that there couldn't still be human enslaved (in fact there might still be slave-raids). But not something people really know about.

This also mean that the human society is established in some way.

[Faolyn]

Originally Posted by Maz

Hmm, this made me me think, how long ago is "recently"?

In my mind, and I think also CombatMedics (based on a couple of his post) it is long ago that the humans where slaves. I'm thinking several hundred years. Something that is believed and told in legends and stories, more than known.

I'd go for something a bit more recent, just to allow for more tension and opportunity for adventure. Maybe a hundred years ago. Enough that human society has been established, but close enough that there's still worry that the Masters may return.

Originally Posted by Maz

This doesn't mean that there couldn't still be human enslaved (in fact there might still be slave-raids). But not something people really know about.

I was under the impression that people knew that there were slaves?

[combatmedic]

The count of years doesn't really matter. Remember- day and night are places, and years pass largely unnoticed.

I would count this in generations. That is what matters.

Now, stories passed down from father to son can last a long, long time. How long have we feared the Devil, or ghosts and vampires? How long do nations nurse grudges against old oppressors? The time of slavery need not be recent for humans to have some fear of the 'Masters.'




We can split the difference, of course. The humans need not have won their freedom all at once. Most humans became free long ago, but some became free more recently. That does not contardict the canon we are building, as my earlier post did say that some human may still be slaves today.

The Masters were inactive for a long time, and now they have 'returned.'

How does all that sound, guys?