Creating a new fantasy world.

[DangerousThing]

Why do the IEs keep the TL to 3?

[FuelDrop]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

Why do the IEs keep the TL to 3?

Well, TL 3 fitted how I wanted the campaign to feel. IC, the IEs feel they've reached a level that's comfortable enough for them that they can still keep under control.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by FuelDrop

Greetings to one and all.

Today, I'm trying to fabricate a fantasy world for my GURPS fantasy campaign. Here's what I've got so far.

1) The campaign is going to be centered around a single Empire called 'The Empire' (Patent pending). This Empire is composed of a large area of land and several islands off the coast. Exact details are as yet undefined, but the plan at the moment is that it includes most types of classic questing/adventuring terrain (EG: Desert, temperate forests, plains, mountains, possibly arctic holdings at an extreme edge). Other civilizations are going to be largely out of reach, at least at the start of the game.

2) The Empire (Patent pending) is ruled by 'Immortal Elves'. Immortal Elves are ageless and invulnerable... or so they say. The actual nature and source of their 'immortality' is so far undefined, but they can be killed by conventional means. Exact details are so far sketchy, with options including body swapping from host to host then using magic to reconstruct the new host to the owner's taste; Magical clones; a pact with eldrich powers man was not meant to know for eternal youth and regeneration... I'm still new to GURPS so I'm not certain of all the options, but if someone can suggest something fun for the players to discover and thwart that'd be great.
Immortal Elves have held power for generations (Generations of normal people, anyway. See point 3) and many of them are extremely powerful mages with other interests besides that make them very dangerous opponents, without even factoring in their personal bodyguards and other implements of their will. As you have probably worked out, these guys are the BBEG for this campaign. Any ideas to make them more interesting for the players to thwart are welcome.

3) The Empire (PP) has been around for longer than living memory. How much longer? Well, considering that all forms of higher learning are forbidden, books are illegal, and all technological advancement beyond TL 3 are ruthlessly crushed and erased... yeah, establishing an exact age is somewhat beyond the abilities of our PCs. It could be scant centuries or long millennium, no-one knows for sure and bardic songs give conflicting dates (What with the government slipping out false information occasionally to keep things obscure). One thing a brave and canny explorer will quickly work out is that if you go off the beaten track you can find ruins from the civilizations that came before, some of which hold valuable and undoubtedly illegal treasures.

4) Since book learning is illegal, I doubt anyone will be surprised that all forms of magic are as well. This includes magical items... though fortunately, most magic items aren't instantly distinguishable as such and those that are can generally be kept under wraps by all but the most unlucky.

5) Most of the classic 'Monster races' now form the manual labor slave class, while everyone else who isn't either an Immortal Elf or a toady to them should be considered a second class citizen. Since this includes most of the population, this only really comes up when someone finds themselves in contact with their 'betters'.
There are non-immortal elves as well, in order to give the players who want to play an elf the option to do so.

6) Now being oppressive all the time is really more trouble it's worth, particularly when being just oppressive enough. The economy is good and fairly stable, with most trade happening between the domains of various IE lords. Famine is fairly rare and usually dealt with fairly swiftly and efficiently, plagues are usually quarantined fast enough to limit damage with experienced herbalists brought in to find a practical cure to distribute, main roads are well patrolled to limit banditry, ect. The IEs may rule with an iron fist, but for the most part they care about not running the country into the ground. Oh, and they have gladiatorial death matches in large Colosseums, both to entertain the people and reduce prison upkeep, and institutional slavery to boost the economy.

7) There are savage tribes, hidden elf villages, concealed dwarven mines ect in the unexplored reaches of the empire, usually sheltered by natural terrain such as forests or mountains. Whether these are discovered by the players is entirely up to them.

8) There are some people who have taken umbridge to being second-class citizens in their own homeland and have formed various resistance groups over the years. They tend to be destroyed fairly quickly when an IE or one of their pet wizards discern the rebellion's presence through magic, use more magic to find either a base of operations or a group of ringleaders, and then finish them off by teleporting a large force of elite guards past their defenses or having the ringleaders rounded up and turned into modern art (EG flaying + flesh to stone) as a warning to anyone who's considering following in their footsteps. Magic in this world can be learned by just about anyone given the right training (All rules as normal except that Magery can be learned in play provided you can find a book of magic or a mentor to teach you). Most survivors of such round-ups can look forwards to a future as either slaves or gladiators.

So, does anyone have any ideas on what I can add to that or change to make a better setting?

1. Elves have superhuman memory. Book learning is forbidden specifically to give them an advantage over all the various races of muggles.

2. The Big Darned Heroes are from a minority I take it. Perhaps they are like Zoroastrians in Islamic Persia or Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Or like Balkans in the Ottoman Empire. Their existence is dependent either on their obscurity, their monopoly over a given niche, or their habitation of wilderness areas. Perhaps there are rumors of distant cousins of their race living outside the Empire's rule, and even with an Empire of their own? Or heroic tales of last stands, etc? Oral traditions? Lots of things can be thought of.

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[FuelDrop]

I've just found the Soul Stone spell (GURPS Magic page 71) which is perfect for the technical aspects of the immortality.

It makes sense from a social level as well, as the fewer people who know about their weakness the less chance there is of someone managing to exploit it and kill them permanently.

I'm thinking some form of blood magic as their go-to power enhancer. I don't doubt there are already rules for ritual sacrifice empowered spells in some splatbook or other but it'd help if someone could point me in the right direction.

After additional thought and reading the thread's replies, I've twigged to the fact that even a society with a tech level as low as 3 needs to have some basic level of higher learning to function: stuff like basic medicine and architectural knowledge is kind of vital.

Now naturally this means that either the IEs have to do this stuff themselves (not likely, and certainly not beyond hobby level) or they have to let a portion of the population be educated. I'm going to go with the solution of having loyal families rewarded with access to this higher education and better lifestyle, effectively creating a secondary noble class beneath the IEs.

As to what was here before the elves arrived... I'm actually thinking along the lines of several smaller TL 4 societies. The IEs arrived, used their more powerful magic to leverage influence and set most of the factions to squabbling, then swept in with their pet faction and conquered the weaker factions 1 by 1 over the course of several centuries. Having them as outcasts from a high-magic, low tech civilization across the sea means they can have a grudge nurtured for centuries/millennium that won't automatically have them outclassed by their enemy at this point, tech wise (Working on the assumption that a high magic society would have little need to develop new technology, and thus would be relatively unchanged in that regard despite the timescale involved).

This also means I can have them still at war with the last holdouts of the initial civilizations that they've been overtaking. Interesting possibilities are opening up...

Thoughts?

[DAT]

Originally Posted by FuelDrop

Well, TL 3 fitted how I wanted the campaign to feel. IC, the IEs feel they've reached a level that's comfortable enough for them that they can still keep under control.

Rather than TL3 for all the empire, I'd consider TL3 for the slaves/workers and TL3+X^ or TL4+X^ for the IEs. So if there are surrounding TL4 or TL5 mundane nations, the IE field armies equipted to TL3+1^/TL4^ or TL3+2^/TL4+1^ .

If you are unfamilar with the nomenclature, the "+X^" represents an alternative technology ("+X) based on a supernatural/superscience boust ("^"). In the case of say TL4+2^ for your world, the IE could field a TL6ish type device based on magic, that could emulate the abilities of a TL6 Tank, but would be based on TL4 technology. For example a magically powered goleum based on a large (SM+1 or +2) suit of plate armor that could shoot explosive fireballs.
-Dan

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by fartrader

This, so, so much this. I am also an atheist, but you're just borrowing from history here - it has nothing to do with your or your players' personal beliefs.

One other thing to note in my suggestion: There's a difference between the Church and the Deity itself. The Roman Church of the medieval period had as much if not more to do with holding social power as it did tending to the people's spiritual needs. The Church I described would be controlled by the Immortals as a means of holding power, twisting the dogma to suit their purposes. And I speak from experience when I say that if you add such a Church into the setting, even if you intend for them to be the bad guys there will be players who want to play a reformer inside the Church or a true believer in the ideals put forth by the texts. Such a PC could see the current Emperor - if one even exists! - as an usurper or an agent of the Adversary.

I was thinking of fantasy closer to the movies Ladyhawke and Beastmaster, with subtle magic and no casting by any of the PCs, which have less magic than even Lord of the Rings. These kept the casting of magic in the hands of the the BBEG, and those tended to have magic casting closer to the Path/Book option from Thaumatology, with long drawn-out rituals and no real setting difference between "arcane" and "divine". (Navarre and Isaboe in Ladyhawke had Divine Curse (Alternate Form w/ Trigger), and Dar in Beastmaster had put points the Animal Telepathy Power with a hefty Unusual Background charge; neither movie had spell-slinging.)