Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-10-2019, 12:13 PM   #51
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Oh wow, they are. But I thought the homeworld of the imperials was lost. Its difficult to get through the river of seasons, but its nothing a determined archmage couldn't do. I wonder if the portal still leads to their old world? I suppose something powerful enough to change one end or create a portal can change the other.
Sorry, I only implied that the Turtle Fleet were the precursors to the imperials, without stating it clearly. But yeah, it still connects to their homeworld, but only coming one way. I was going with archmages not being able to control portals (yet), which explains why they haven't been back. The imperials might also be deliberately avoiding going back, wanting to forget the embarrassing situation that brought them here.
Quote:
More like you can tell that this is the kidnapper because of its color and motion. No need to tie portals to worlds. Some of them certainly move around.
Kidnapper might well be one that actually disguises itself each time- this time an unexpected door in an inn's corridor, next time a cattle gate in a paddock fence. But if we have other roaming portals, they'd be distinguishable somehow.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-10-2019, 12:45 PM   #52
patchwork
 
patchwork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Answer 49 I hadn't intended the Chanovat to fly. Flight is simply too useful an ability to give an entire species without some correspondingly massive disadvantage. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of vestigial soft, shining wings with very limited mobility that function rather like hair in humans.

Question 50 To what degree is religion a public or private function in Calledron society? Does one advertise one's connection to a god, or exaggerate it? Are some more acceptable than others (formal government relations with gods)? Or is it rude to ask who a person's god is, or point out that you doubt their god is real? What instruction or guidance in such matters do children recieve?
patchwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-10-2019, 12:49 PM   #53
patchwork
 
patchwork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
The imperials might also be deliberately avoiding going back, wanting to forget the embarrassing situation that brought them here.
Given the implied or apparent outcome of their war, they likely assume their territory was conquered by human-sacrificing Hoggans. The thin trickle of new arrivals over the past 200 years may give them no reason to believe their ancestral home is anything but a hellscape now.

I like the look of where you're going with portals, but we're kind of spinning our wheels here until such an important aspect of the setting gets nailed down. (next stop, gods). I look forward to reading what you have, or getting it broken down into a series of new questions.
patchwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2019, 08:15 AM   #54
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Question 31 [MV]
Re: A#1, what and where are the Distorted Lands?
The distorted lands are a cosmi (Though some debate its status as a cosmi) that is accessible from seemingly every other region of the polycosm. Passing portals lasting only days will connect to the distorted lands every decade or so, and unpredictable times and locations. But the distorted lands are always available through summoning, and the methods are particularly accessible and powerful.

Exotic materials are required to be summoned to the distorted lands, with various materials corresponding to different locations in the lands. At the end of the ritual, the worker's mind is placed in body shaped like their own, formed in the distorted lands, making this weird edge case of tolerated possession. While the body is shaped much like their own, no equipment is brought, and innate magic is not transfered either. A visit can last for as long as 24 hours, and appears to be powered by the energy of the lands themselves.

The distorted lands are connected via geographical features to many realms of the dead and various deities. Some say all such realms can be accessed from the distorted lands. The material used in the summoning ritual or the world the portal used connects to determines which realms are nearby. One rarely has much time in the distorted lands, as portals close quickly and summoning spells run out. Travel there is grueling and dangerous, but essential for those wishing to connect with the dead or the divine.

Quote:
Question 46 [MV]- Death Cult
Which secret, underground cult worships Thresher? How? Why? What plans do they have involving a visit to Praxis?
You're talking about a few different things here:

Many people recognize the thresher's power. That's not even remotely controversial. Some people think its a good idea to give him sort sort of gift to appease him, as opposed to imperial policy to not attract notice. Those conversations are mostly acedemic, because its unknown what sacrifices he takes, and most people want to get it right before they risk offending him with the wrong sacrifice.

The cult is the people who believe that the thresher is the true form of the legendary hoogan gods, the one who sent the imperials to calledron, and that the human sacrifices are to him. They're devoted fanatics, but they generally lack the subtlety to actually make it to praxis with a human sacrifice in tow. They're certainly dangerous, but to individuals, not to the well-being of fragment.

The dangerous group are those who believe that the Thresher's target is Suchos. They thing the shell around the cosmi is a protective bubble thrown up by the crocodile (whose very bones are infused with life) and the patterns on the outside correspond to patterns in the green plasma jet. These theories aren't crazy, but for some reason the next step almost always is. Schemes include performing summonings on praxis, throwing venomous sheep into the plasma stream, attempting to break through Fragment's cosmi shell temporarily, or searching for an exotic material that will let one enter the distorted lands keyed to Praxis and the thresher.

Question 51 [FRG]

How does Calledron handle a having more or less archmages than archmage-positions?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
But yeah, it still connects to their homeworld, but only coming one way. I was going with archmages not being able to control portals (yet), which explains why they haven't been back. The imperials might also be deliberately avoiding going back, wanting to forget the embarrassing situation that brought them here.
That's workable, but be sure to remember the capabilities of Calledronian Mages and Archmages when planning things out. They're not generalists: they have a very specific set of abilities, and while they can't summon elementals, control the weather, or detect enemies from afar, but flying up the mouth of a waterfall with an air bubble is very much in the power-set of an archmage.

Question 52 [FRG]:
How are the genetic abilities of the Mages of Calledron trained, and by whom?
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2019, 12:54 PM   #55
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Metal has always been scarce on Fragment, and on the mother plains as well for that matter, so access to metal is key to the Calledron empire's well being.
Note that calledronite can be somewhat worked like iron, though not melted. I imagine that imperial weapons initially benefitted from this, but they shifted to trade as regular metals became more available, and used comparative advantage to focus on higher value uses for calledronite afterwards.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
EDIT: Over the week end I doodled some artwork inspired by Ton. I'm not a great artist, and the work is pretty stylized, but here it is:
The hanging city of Ton
I almost missed this. Are you working on one of Fragment?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
That's workable, but be sure to remember the capabilities of Calledronian Mages and Archmages when planning things out. They're not generalists: they have a very specific set of abilities, and while they can't summon elementals, control the weather, or detect enemies from afar, but flying up the mouth of a waterfall with an air bubble is very much in the power-set of an archmage.
If it helps, I described the way it worked as "other times the sky above the crater [filling] with silent explosions like puffing dandelions as a significant mass is ported through," hinting that it works by teleporting rather than opening a contiguous physical connection like other portals.

Sorry, no full answers from me at the moment, maybe tomorrow.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-11-2019, 01:26 PM   #56
patchwork
 
patchwork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post


. These theories aren't crazy, but for some reason the next step almost always is.
I choked at this. nice.
patchwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2019, 09:39 AM   #57
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Lets keep this moving along. If a question seems too hard, we can pick easier ones.

Quote:
Originally Posted by patchwork View Post
Question 41 are other divinities known to be active on Mother Plains, or is it a one woman show?
That depends on your definition of "Divinity", of course. Lesser spirits than mother plains are not uncommon, and some of them are powerful enough that many cultures would consider them to be local deities. Mother plains appears to be without peer in her domain though, much larger and stronger than the spirit of any mere river or mountain

Question 53
What kinds of clothing fibers are common in the empire? Which kinds are valued?
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2019, 09:46 AM   #58
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Note that calledronite can be somewhat worked like iron, though not melted. I imagine that imperial weapons initially benefitted from this, but they shifted to trade as regular metals became more available, and used comparative advantage to focus on higher value uses for calledronite afterwards.
Correct, but its hard to harvest and work with, as it destroys even iron tools that work on it for long. Its also been said that non-imperials historically didn't have access to metals. So Calledronite is a fantastic product once you have other metals to work it with, but a poor material for lifting yourself out of the stone age.

Quote:
I almost missed this. Are you working on one of Fragment?
I want to, but Fragment is harder to do: it has more organic shapes, and more angles and sizes to view it from. I'll eventually get something worked up.

Quote:
If it helps, I described the way it worked as "other times the sky above the crater [filling] with silent explosions like puffing dandelions as a significant mass is ported through," hinting that it works by teleporting rather than opening a contiguous physical connection like other portals.
Good! you planned it from the beginning then!

Quote:
Sorry, no full answers from me at the moment, maybe tomorrow.
Keep up the good work!
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2019, 01:03 AM   #59
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Lets keep this moving along. If a question seems too hard, we can pick easier ones.
Definitely not forgotten, just busy with a deadline. There are still plenty of ideas in the bucket, just haven't given them proper write-ups yet.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2019, 11:42 AM   #60
patchwork
 
patchwork's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: [GAME] Conceive a Cross Dimensional Fantasy Milieu

Answer 33 the most common non-Imperial minority in the capital are the Lokou, the human nation that occupied the area near the snout cleft that the newcomers decided to build their city in. They represent somewhere around 10% to 12% of the current population. They maintain a significant separation from the mainstream in residence, with clearly defined boundaries to Lokou neighborhoods. Although inclined to large dwellings with about twenty people to them, the idea of sleeping in another's house is disturbing to the Lokou and they simply don't do it, sleeping in the street if necessary. Their demands in exchange for accepting Imperial suzerainty hinged primarily on privacy, which is a major concern of theirs (the Lokou do not habitually ask unnecessary questions, which means they take asked questions seriously); the important clause is that Imperial authorities are not permitted inside their temples in any circumstances. Even those Lokou who have accepted imperial gods do not speak of the Lokou religion. What can be observed from outside is that their patron frequently blesses them with physical strength and agility, and their spiritual leaders seem capable of reversing those blessings to bring weakness, palsy and physical disabilities to those who violate the communities' norms, whether Lokou reprobates or nosy outsiders. Imperials refer to "the god of the Lokou" without really knowing what it is and the Lokou do not clarify or correct them.

Question 54 What do the Hanging City of Ton's counterculture or underworld look like? What happens to Ton residents who are unwilling or unable to compete in academic alchemy? If this is a university run horribly amok, where are the townies?
patchwork is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
collaborative setting, game, setting, world building

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:14 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.