Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Worse, the sort of really cultural significant items that would be a priority are just the sort of thing that's likely to get collected by longer lived entities for the long-term wealth value. Imagine trying to get the Mona Lisa out of a very old vampire's personal stash...

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Imagine the Elder Vampire has about a dozen da Vinci paintings unknown to scholars. Exquisite works that will be lost to all humanity. Said Vampire wants his own Starship and a ghouled crew.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Different sections of the world present different problems and opportunities.

Europe: The whole continent, with the exceptions of Ireland, Finland, and Switzerland, has large numbers of ancient vampires. Ireland and Finland have been unattractive places for vampires and Switzerland is claimed as a friefdom by a Mummy that claims to be the Horus from Egyptian myth. Those other supernaturals living in Europe have to be both powerful and aggressive to survive.

The European supernatural community won't want to either lose control of their human populations or cultural artifacts. The Sidhe nobility of France will be especially aggressive in demanding power and control.

North Africa and Southwest Asia : The local populations are xenophobic. Not only will most of these populations resist evacuation, but local human political and religious authorities will also try to limit the minority that wants to escape from evacuating.

The most powerful local supernaturals, Setite Vampires, Banu Haqim Vampires, and Al-i-batini Mages, all engage in complex multilayered obfuscation tactics (and the Vampire discipline is only the beginning). They will all three want to take over starship and get to human worlds to destroy their societies, although for very different reasons.

Russia and Central Asia: Ancient Vampires have dominated the local government for generations. The local supernaturals are paranoid and believe in destroying what they can't control. Russia had been already going through a slow motion apocalypse since the 1970s. The place is a mess.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Both the people and supernaturals of this area are lacking in organization. Although this reduces the chances for supernatural interference, it also makes evacuating ordinary people much harder. The tribalism of the local culture makes staying out of local politics nearly impossible.

South Asia : The populations are vast and the local supernatural community stays hidden until they strike. The strong presence of both the Cult of Ecstasy and the Euthanatos will help a great deal.

Southeast Asia: The Cathayan Vampires are strong here but divided. Lack of transportation infrastructure will hurt here.

China : The Cathayan Vampires and the Beast Courts will react negatively to the evacuation. It will be seen as a barbarian incursion. The human authorities won't be much less hostile.

Taiwan, Korea, and Japan : Both the local people and the local supernaturals will accept the evacuation. North Korea will be the exception. The North Korean government will demand a planet for Koreans alone, high tribute payments, and the populations of ethnic Koreans living anywhere be handed over to them.

The local supernaturals will be a festival of passive aggressive tricks and bullying.

Australia and Oceania: Australia's supernaturals are relatively weak and unorganized. They won't give much resistance. The low populations in this region won't be interested in resistance until after they're evacuated.

South America: The supernatural populations are low and poorly organized. However they are bitterly hostile to outsiders. Secrecy and xenophobia will be constant issues here.

The Caribbean: The locals will evacuate with little resistance except from Haiti and Cuba.

North America: Relatively calm, but the local supernaturals are subtle and tough. The surviving Technocracy will be brutal. The local Garou and other Fera will start guerrilla resistances.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Heremetics: They want three main things. First, mass evacuation of human and human adjacent beings. Earth is dying because of the Vampires of both the east and west. The Order of Hermes sees no reason for humanity to go extinct because of the squabbles of ancient monsters. Second, the Order wants to gather needed resources for humanity from works of Art and scholarship to plants and animals with useful genetic traits. Third, they want to teach the survivors of humanity the skills to live free. The Heremetic utopia is one where everyone is educated and has the magical skills to independently meet their own needs.

Ngoma: Much like the Heremetics, but with an emphasis on community and social harmony.

Wu-lung: Broadly similar to the Heremetics, the key differences are that first the Wu-lung don't believe everyone should be educated, second the Wu-lung believe that social propriety is key to survival, and strict hierarchy is key to social propriety.

The Lodge of Vision: This blend of the Dreamspeakers with the Verbena is about survival and politics. If the union isn't happy, it is functional. The Lodge has clear goals. First, bring more tribal and rural people into deep space. The Lodge lacks numbers and the chance to initiate new members. Although both the Dreamspeakers and the Verbena dislike the Heremetics, they are grateful for the young mages that the Heremetics send their way. Still they want to bring more of their kinds of people to places of safety. Second, they want to go back to being the Dreamspeakers and the Verbena as separate groups and bring in groups they see as favorable to their values. The Verbena have decided that, although they would love to regain the Seat of Life, a directional seat will do. The Lodge want the Bata'a and the Kopa Loei to join the Council. The Batini are seen as domineering and the Hollow Ones aren't trusted.

The Children of Knowledge: These alchemists want to bring people from Earth to colony worlds. They prefer Urban populations from the West as most open to their insights. But rescuing people is a priority. They also want to recover mystic, scientific and technical knowledge relevant to their concerns.

Virtual Adepts: The Adepts are mainly focused on building up the colony worlds. When the refugees from Earth are brought to the colony worlds, the Adepts want them to be able to adapt and thrive. To this end the Adepts are using A.I. to make the cities able to adapt themselves to the refugees. The slogans of the Adepts is "The Cybernetic Environment!" and "The City as Personal Ally!"

The Etherites: SCIENCE! WILL PREVAIL! The Etherites tend to turn into pulp heroes under certain kind of stress. They are ready and determined to rescue humanity. Although that is the overwhelming focus, keeping the Council stable and functional is seen as vital to rescuing humanity. The Mad Scientists are willing to kick @$$ to preserve the peace. The most visible aspect of this priority is their determination to get everyone a fair hearing.

Aescepalians: Like the Virtual Adepts, the Aescepalians are more focused on preparing places to bring the refugees from Earth. They've been working with the Artificers (Iteration X) to create systems of farming, food processing, and delivery. Remember, the Aescepalians are biologically and chemically focused mages.

Along with helping the Artificers with automated agriculture the Aescepalians are producing Victors (genetically enhanced humans) and Cyborgs to assist in the evacuation. They are also medics in the evacuation.

Artificers: Like the Aescepalians the Artificers are playing a support role. They team up with the Virtual Adepts to build and design cities and towns for the refugees. They team up with the Void Engineers to build ship for the evacuation of the refugees. They team up with the Aescepalians to create automated farms and vertical farms to feed the refugees. They are aware they aren't people persons, so they choose to be Scottys and O'Brians rather than Kirks and Picards.

Void Engineers: The space jockeys are fully committed to the evacuation. It's their ships that will ferry the refugees first to the moon and then to their new interstellar homes. A part of the Engineers, the Space Marines (backed up by Victors, Cyborgs, and other mages) are taking the fight to powerful supernaturals to force the release of captives and allow the evacuation in the first place.

Akashayama: The Akashayama always has two faces and one heart. The more mental spiritual side of the Akashayama are preparing places of rest and healing for the refugees. The Physical members of the group are teaching martial arts to those involved in the evacuation and preparing to pound recalcitrant bullies you want to enslave or devour the Earth's population.

Celestial Chorus: The Chorus has a slogan for the evacuation, "Comfort the afflicted, Afflict the Oppressors! Rescuing people is the priority. However, if time allows, they will salvage holy relics, but it is low on the list. Still it is on the list.

Chakravanti: The Chakravanti (Euthanotos) see an end to Earth's present cycle and a cycle of human expansion to the stars. However, various forces are trying to stop the wheel of fate by enslavement of humanity and any and all souls. For life to have a future these monsters must receive the Good Death. Also, certain humans who don't merit death must still be prevented from escaping to the stars. These are mainly people that would prevent the renewal of the cycle of humanity by prolonging old oppression and injustices.

Sahajiya: People tend to see the Estactics as stoners and leftover hippies. Well, many of them are, but they are seriously capable stoners and leftover hippies. Remember, the Cultists can simply tune in to any 1st level Sphere they have and leave it on. Little wonder the Sahajiya seem to be seeing another world, that's exactly what they are doing. That's why most of the Sahajiya are in the front lines of the evacuation effort. Grizzled hardened Space Marines know to listen to the spacy hippie chick, if they intend to live.

Meanwhile, back in the stars, the Sahajiya is busy in the Entertainment industry. Having frightened, emotionally wounded, refugees bored out of their gourds is asking for trouble. The Sahajiya are busily working to ease troubled minds and brighten their days.



More later....

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It seems like, the Fera might be a wild card - some of them (especially among the werewolves) think it would be a good thing if there were no or at least far fewer humans on Earth, so they might be in favour of evacuating the humans, and in theory they themselves are the defenders of Gaia so they ought to stay behind and fight - but staying behind to almost certain death might be another thing in practice - and the Fera usually fight like cats in a sack over everything anyway so it's anyone's guess which way a particular Fera will jump.

(Apparently, they don't need humans to reproduce, they can reproduce with animals - the weresharks do this exclusively, except in Asia, and there's at least one werewolf clan that's in favour of just wiping out humans if they can manage it, so that might not be an obstacle. Apparently, they vary a lot between different types, though, so there might be some species of Fera I've forgotten that does need humans to reproduce - in which case, if the PCs run into them, they might have things to say about the PCs trying to jet off into space with their breeding stock).

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

You're pretty solid here. Some tribes have a strong cultural focus. The Fianna are very committed to the Celtic peoples especially the Irish. They might go. Both the Glasswalkers and the Bone Gnawlers are city wolves (there are exceptions among the Bone Gnawlers) they might go as well.

The Asian Beast Courts (with multiple types of Fera) might choose to split and send some to protect their people and Gaia.

The Wererats believe they have the duty of limiting and controlling humans. They see the wolves as usurpers. They champion chaos in service to the Wyld. They would want to follow humanity to the stars in order to destroy any attempt to rebuild civilization.

So yes, the Fera are many types of Wild Card.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Victors and Cyborgs

These two types of Consors (allies of Mages from a Latin term for Friend) require further details. Victors are genetically modified Humans. Cyborgs are just what they are in Sci Fi and comic books.

Victors: These are like Transhuman Space parahumans. However they have a more unified "look." Basically, if GURPS:BioTech says it's Tech Level Eleven bio-modification or less, and the DM allows it, a Victor can have it.

Most Victors look fully human and the advantages of Very Beautiful/Handsome and Voice are commonplace. It's typical for a male Victor to be big brawny well formed man. Think about Chis Evans as Captain America or Burt Lancaster at his most fit. Smaller male Victors are known as well, think Gene Kelly or Bruce Lee. Female Victors look like Prima Ballerinas, Female Martial arts actresses, and female athletes. Think about women like Scarlett Johansson, Maureen O'Hara, Katherine Hepburn, or Marlene Dietrich. Some female Victors are very brawny, think Serena Williams or Tina Turner. Tall strong warrior woman types are also common, think Julie Newmar or Gal Gadote.

Victors have high stats, they are intended to be Homo Superior types. Male Victors average ST 17 and female Victors average ST 14. Higher strengths are not rare. Other stats are in the 13 to 15 range on average.

Cyborgs: As with the Victors, Cyborgs in this setting have more free will and individuality. Thus are available as player characters. If you have GURPS:Cyberpunk any cyber modification is available. As with the Victors, high stats are part of the point.

Magically empowered cyber gear is not rare in this background. Cyborg equipment can be functionally Tech Level Twelve. But Cyber gear above Tech Level Ten risks paradox.

Psions and Sorcerers

Psions: Psionic powers are part of the setting. If someone dislikes the idea of playing a Mage, Psions are available. In this setting both Victors and Cyborgs can have Psi Powers. If the power is in the game, allow it.

Sorcerers: Sorcerers are their own thing in this setting. If someone has the Sorcerer rules for Mage: the Ascension , and the DM wants to adapt those to GURPS, allow it. In this setting both Victors and Cyborgs can be Sorcerers.

Enhanced Mages

In regular M:tA, Mages can become Cyborgs. It could violate their paradigm though. Allow players to be Cyborg Mages for a ten point Unusual Background . In this setting only a few Victors have become Mages, but it is becoming more common. Allow Victor Mages for a Twenty point Unusual Background .

More later.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Sphere of Society: This Sphere governs social connection, social customs, and social structure. It is to populations as the Mind Sphere is to individuals.

Level One of Society allows you to know the actual social connections and relationships between people. Conductive effects with the mind sphere would let you understand the whys of the connections, the Sphere of Society is about what the connections are.

Level Two of Society allows you to strengthen or weaken social bonds and connections. A group's sense of purpose could be weaken or strengthened. The priority given a social connection or social custom could be lowered or raised.

Level Three of Society allows you to alter the social dynamics of small groups. This allows your Mage to rearrange the relationships between people. This isn't mind control but it is powerful. With a conjunctive effect with Prime these changes can be lasting or permanent.

Level Four of Society allows the creation of new Social connections between people. A random group of strangers can be turned into a community or other social group. Any duration for these new connections requires a conjunctive effect with Prime.

Level Five of Society allows the creation of new societies. With conjunctive effects with Correspondence very large numbers of people can be effected. With conjunctive effects of Correspondence all the previous abilities can effect large numbers of people. With conjunctive effects of Prime these changes can be long lasting or permanent. If societies formed by this method aren't put under to much stress, they can last as long as any human culture. In an isolated low stress environment, some very bazaar societies can last a long time.

Sphere of Information: This Sphere governs data, information, knowledge, and learning. Conjunctive effects with the Mind Sphere allows quick development of skills and knowledges. However, such knowledge fades quickly without a conjunctive Prime element. Pattern bleeding is as possible here as in uses of the Life or Mind Sphere to enhance the Mage. Using experience points (which represents actual learning and development) can both cure and prevent Pattern Bleed.

Level One of Information allows recognition of information. If a code or secret message is near the Mage they can see that there is a message. It would take either a Conjunctive effect of the Mind Sphere or appropriate cryptography or culture roles to decode the message. In Conjunction with multiple different Spheres, Information can radically increase the detail and precision of what information is gleaned. Level One Life allows you to see if someone is ill and the general nature of the problem. A Conjunctive effect of Life and Information would allow you to see the specific illness to the limit of your medical or anatomical knowledge.

Level Two of The Sphere of Information allows manipulation of the information around them. Hidden information can be made apparent and obviously there and even the most obvious information can be hidden. Encrypted information can be revealed, although the degree of success will limit the clarity of the translation. Clear information can be encoded. With the right conjunctive Spheres information can be hidden for some and revealed for selected others.

Level Three of The Sphere of Information allows Information to be inserted or removed from the environment. A Mage using a conjunctive effect of Information and Correspondence could remove all records of an individual from public sources or add records of a new fictious individual into the public records. Obscure information could be made commonplace (overmorrow is an archiac word for the day after tomorrow) or commonly know facts could be made obscure (Walt Disney's Snow White could be made a forgotten film).

Level Four of Information allows changes in language and other systems of information. Words could be inserted or removed from a language (although this always risks paradox, and the better known or more commonly used the given word is, the bigger the paradox backlash). Structures like grammar and the alphabet can be changed (but again paradox is a threat). Obscure languages are easier to change. Adding a few obscure words to a dead language risks little paradox. The connotations of words can also be changed at this level and risks far less paradox. Given how often people react to the connotation of a word and don't care about the actual denotation or meaning this is generally the preferred strategy. Level Four of Information allows the mage to know the recorded facts on anything (but not the accuracy of those facts).


Sphere of Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis covers the processes of change. Entropy is about Order and Chaos and thus patterns and their decay. Metamorphosis covers all forms of change and transformation, decay and growth, death and birth, shriveling and growth. The transformation of the bud into fruit or the rotting of the fruit, or the seed of the fruit growing into a tree. Nonliving Transformations are covered too. Mud into slate, coal into diamonds, young blue stars into white dwarf stars.
More later.

Level One of Metamorphosis allows you to see what natural changes a given item might go through, and what changes the item has been through. Unlike the Time Sphere you only see the possible changes in the item. If you're looking at a seedling in a meadow, you can see all the possible transformations of that seedling, but not the scheduled paving over of the meadow for a parking lot. Many mage gardeners use a level One Metamorphosis rote to pick out which plants to weed out and which to keep.

Level Two of Metamorphosis allows for speeding up or slowing down natural changes. A rock might erode in hours, a tree might go from seed to maturity in a day, or a rare bloom that normally lasts only an hour might persist for weeks. Only natural changes can be effected. Bread dough can be made to raise in a minute this way, but baking isn't speeded up.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

There are other groups in Outer Space and on the Earth that affect the campaign. PCs might need to fight, negotiate with, bribe, or simply avoid these power players.


The Technocratic Union

The Technocracy still exists. It is in two halves, deep space and Earthside.

The deep space side is largely an unpleasant minor issue. Since losing the substancial majority of the Void Engineers, the Progenitors, and Iteration X, as well as substantial groups of both the New World Order and the Syndicate, the remaining Technocratic mages have been weak and lacking in adaptivity. The New World Order has overwhelming dominance on their worlds (given the small and underdeveloped economies of the few Technocratic Union worlds, the Syndicate has little to work with) society is tightly controlled and strictly ordered. As stated above, these worlds are comfortable prisons. Any one who has seen the old Twilight Zone episode Number 12 Looks Just Like You will have an idea of the shallowness and conformity of these societies. The rarity of new Mages should be no surprise. Further, the local technology is LESS advanced than on the Council of Traditions worlds.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Technocratic Union left on the Earth are at a fever pitch of paranoia between the supernatural chaos and the realization that they've jumped forward in time (the Technocratic Union understood the implications of the shifted star patterns nearly instantly). These groups will have heavy firepower and no reason to restrain themselves.

The Disperates

The Disperates always lacked the cohesion to back their ambitions. Several members have left and three have joined the Council of the Traditions. The Disperates have no worlds of their own besides old Horizon Realms, they mainly live on worlds settled by the Council of the Traditions. The Council has made it clear that the Sleepers govern themselves.

The Ahl-i-Batin: The strengths they had on Earth are mainly weaknesses here. The subtle manipulation and shaping of society that made them powerful on Earth makes them futile and petty in space. The Batini colonies have largely failed and the Batini are mainly seen as pointless nuisances.

The Earthside Ahl-i-batini are still very effective at maintaining their hidden power over North African and Southwest Asian societies. They will simply jam any attempt to rescue the masses of their societies simply because they can't allow adaption.

The Bata'a: Those that fled to the stars have largely adapted to their new position. They are interested in joining the Council of the Traditions. Lingering suspicions about the former Technocratic Union members still inhibits them. They are finding it hard to recruit new members. The conditions that formed the communities they functioned in are gone. The Lodge of Vision covers highly similar spiritual and ritual areas. The Ngoma are a proudly African tradition. The Bata'a have largely lost their reasons to exist.

Earthside, the Bata'a are going to be among those most resistant to the evacuation. They're street Mages not pioneers.

The Children of Knowledge: Have totally left and joined the Council.

Earthside Children of Knowledge will join in the evacuation freely. They won't fight for a lost cause.

The HollowOnes: Like the Bata'a and the Al-i-Batin, the Hollow Ones really aren't in tune with the worlds they live in. Sure, there are spaces for Romantic Rebels. But the scene is too small and underdeveloped. The main art scene doesn't really go for bleak hopelessness. The Hollow Ones are mainly out of fashion.

The Earthside Hollow Ones would look at the Council worlds as being made to live in a perky Star Trek knockoff. They will demand change. The Council will offer the Hollow Ones their own worlds to settle. Which everyone will see as calling their bluff.

The KopaLoei: They have accepted the offer of isolated archipelagoes on several Council worlds. They live a modified version of their traditional lifestyles. The fish and farm and run efficient food processing plants. They trade their products for what their Islands can't produce. They are largely content and are mainly concerned with rescuing their fellows from Earth.

The Earthside Kopa Loei will gladly flee to the stars.

The Ngoma: They are members of the Council and closely allied with the Order of Hermes.

The Earthside Ngoma will be easy to persuade to evacuate once the chaos gets near their communities.

The Sisters of Hippolyta:The Hippolytoi are determined to fight the power. They rarely concern themselves with the question of whether or not that helps. The Sisters denounce toxic masculinity and never thinking about their own toxic femininity. They've been allowed to set up their communities in isolated areas on Council worlds. They're largely left in peace. But they are seriously unhappy though.

The young men of the Hippolytoi are unhappy in the communities of their birth. In the past, the Sisters raised their male children in the communities near their communes. However, since the Council worlds are underpopulated, the Sisters have to raise their sons in their communes. The boys and young men see their sisters taught sorcery and magery, but know they are excluded from learning. Also, anything that is valued in the community they are excluded from it. So most of the young men leave to have lives. Many of the young women end up following the men. This leaves the Hippolytoi with rapid population loss. They aren't happy about it.

The Earthside Hippolytoi will flee to the stars and their sisters will welcome them. But the problem will stay the same.

The Taftani: The Weavers live in the skies as they do on the Earth. The vast empty spaces suit them. Their main complaint is the lack of available apprentices.

The Earthside Taftani will leave the Earth. They might stand their ground as well.

The Templer Knights: The Templers have mainly stayed on Earth. The Templers will probably make a last stand on Earth.

The Wu-lung: Have joined the Council, for now. The Wu-lung realize they need allies, they haven't learned to be allies.

The Earthside Wu-lung won't be interested in dying with the Earth. They will also demand that China be evacuated first!

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Vampires

The Camarilla: The very name "Camarilla" (small room for private conversation, associated with backroom deals and conspiracy) implies careful plotting and subtle maneuvers. Given the planet is falling apart with shocking speed and the supernatural is out in the open subtle manipulation might be passe. But although most of the Camarilla is slow to adapt, many Princes and other powerbrokers can adapt.

The problem for Vampires is that they have no special powers to get into space. They realize that the mass slaughter of humanity means they'll starve. Most Princes are already planning to get rid of any Vampires that don't pull their own weight in the Prince's eyes. The Camarilla is in no way interested in the wellbeing of its members, only the advantages of the leadership. Said leadership now know they must find away to escape being eaten by either Sabbat packs or Antedeluvians. Many Princes are trying to rules the cities they dwell in as absolute monarchs. Others have heard that the Mages have fled to space. Some want to have kingdoms in the sky.

Either way, the Princes of the Camarilla see humans as the food supply. If the cattle all escape to the stars the Vampires starve. Or the Antedeluvians eat the Princes first.

The Sabbat: The Sabbat has been planning for this since they were founded. And none of that was of any use (of course the True Black Hand which infiltrated the Sabbat to run it for the benefit of the Antedeluvians made sure of that). The Sabbat has fewer advantages for fighting this battle than the Camarilla, but on the upside, the Sabbat lacks most of the Camarilla's self-destructive panic.

The Sabbat are aware of the possibility of escaping to space. They also lack any chance of getting there on a Council of The Traditions spacecraft. However, the Sabbat is friendly with the Nephandi. If any Vampires could sneak into deep space it's the Sabbat.


The Banu Haqim: The Banu Haqim predate civilization and on the whole they couldn't care less about its going away. In fact, they see humanity as easier to control without civilization. Humans are only tools to use in their eyes.

Humans fleeing to the stars is something that they'd passionately want to stop. Groups of humans the Banu Haqim can't spy on gaining unforeseeable powers is utterly disgusting to them.

The Children of Set: The Setties love corruption and vice. They'll want to get onto spaceships and ruin anything humanity creates.

The Giovanni: Augustus Giovanni has always wanted to diaberize God. The Giovanni clan exists to make Augustus a God. The whole clan and their enslaved Wraiths are focused on gaining power for the Giovanni clan and Augustus. They will do what it takes to enslave Mages and get to a safe place in Outer Space.


The Ravnos: This clan was shattered recently. The scattered survivors will be desperate to escape the Earth. Given their powers of illusion and decite, they are a threat.

The Bloodlines: The minor Bloodlines vary greatly. Some, like the Samedi, will simply focus on escape. Others like the Daughters of Cocaphony, will try to complete rituals that might make everything vastly worse.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Fera

The majority of the Garou want to stay on Earth and fight for Gaia. But the majority also want their kinfolk send off planet. The Red Talons, the anti-human wolves, want everyone to leave Earth and never return. The Silver Fangs will demand rule over an extrasolar planet.

The Nagah (were snakes, Gaia's judges) are ordering certain types of Fera (were creatures to leave the Earth and go live on the mages worlds. The Werebears and the Corax (crow/raven shifters) have been ordered to leave as entire tribes. The Fianna (Irish/ Celtic Werewolves) and the Children of Gaia have also been told to go. Small groups within each type of Fera have also been ordered to go. The Nagah have been able to prove they speak for Gaia.

The Asian Beast Courts are negotiating with the Council of the Traditions for Dragon Nests(Nodes in Mage parlance and Caerns to the Garou).


The Changelings

The Commoners of most of the planet are willing to go. The subkith of the Eshu, who are their nobility, are being aided to flee. The Hisen, the Nunnehe, the Menehune, and others are ready to go. The big problem is the Sidhe, sure most of them are willing to go and behave themselves, but many Sidhe have to rule. For some, like House Gwydion, this is a compulsion. This makes them dangerous.

The Thailian and similar groups need humans to suffer and live lives of bitter despair in order to thrive. House Leanhaun is under a curse that requires them to make the lives of humans a living hell. These types need to be kept away.


The Dark Kingdoms

With the exception of the Dark Kingdom of Jade, the Dark Kingdoms want humanity to flee. Many groups (like the Skinriders) are going to do what they can to get their Anchors taken along. The Dark Kingdom of Jade is in terror that the lost of Pathos/Chi from the living Chinese with crush their Kingdom. The Wraiths of China will do anything to stop the evacuation.

The Hunters

The Imbued Hunters lack cohesion. The voices that called them wanted that. It's important that the GM decide what the voices want. Because the voices will move the Imbued in that way.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

I haven't finished my WoD space opera yet, but here's a throw away idea on STAR WARS games that lean into the Force/ fantasy aspects. Try the idea that the actual Force is unitary, there is no Dark Side. It isn't about what aspect of the Force you draw on, it's what aspect of yourself you use to access the Force. If you connect to the Force through your anger or envy, then you manifest that kind of power. If compassion and respect are how you channel the Force the results are different. It isn't the Force that corrupts, it simply magnifies your own corruption. Thus the Buddhist style mental discipline becomes logical.

It could also lead to a series of different types of Jedi based on different emotions like they do the Green Lantern rings these days.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Still thinking about Space Opera and fantasy. There is a web commentary page called Vaka Rangi written by a fairly mentally ill literary scholar. This web page/series deals with Star Trek. He makes an interesting case that, in some of the later third season shows, the crew of the Enterprise play the role of Faeries relative to the people they interact with. In on episode ( Wink of an Eye) both Kirk and the queen of the antagonistic culture in the story essentially play the role of the queen of the faeries.

This leads to the idea of a Star Trek campaign were Kirk and company are literal good Faeries. Phasers get dumped for wands. The campaign could be a hoot.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Well... there's your inspiration for a long term campaign.

You've got me going as well. The actual Faerie Court could be disciplined to a degree similar to that of say a Star Fleet crew, but what about the other fay folk? When you consider the rich tapestry of Celtic mythic creatures and races, well there's your aliens.

Gonna stash this one. Ta muchly.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Having you say such compliments for a one off idea fills me with delight.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Shadowood: A forest in which the canopy is so tightly interlaced that almost no light gets through leaving the ground in a state of perpetual night ranging from -5 to -10. Mostly -8. The natives of this strange realm are the Night Children a race of arboreal humanoids who are blind but hypersensitive to noise and heat and will attack anyone who lights or carries fire in their forest, speaks loudly or otherwise makes loud noises.

Tour D'Ivoire: Tour D'Ivoire appears to be the tusk of some giant long ago beast stabbed deep into the earth and broken off. In the millennia since it was discovered, rooms and corridors have been excavated out of it and it has become the home to a highly prestigious magical academy which makes use of the fact that its interior and immediate surroundings are a high mana area. Tour D'Ivoire is self sufficient with food and water produced by magic. Their only interest in the outside world is as a source of students and books. The senior teaching staff do not, and perhaps cannot leave. Thanks to magical life extension they are immensely old, immensely learned, and totally out of touch. Most of the actual teaching is done by "Teaching Assistants" while the seniors spend most of their time on magical research.

Pleasant Valley: Pleasant Valley basically lives up to it's name. The people of this remote silver-mining community are friendly. The pets are friendly. Even the wild animals are nonhostile. But outsiders feel a sensation of unease. Perceptive individuals can pinpoint the the causes. The people are cool to the touch and blink in an unnaturally even rhythm. The trees sometimes seem to be moving in the breeze, but there is no breeze. The animals pay too much attention to you. The sheep go through the motions of grazing but never actually bite the grass. Perhaps the answer to the riddle lies in the small fortification at up the mountain by where the river flows down into the valley...

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Storybook LandConfidential!

I can't be meeting a real Fairy in Storybook Land!

Get over yourself old dude. You're becoming a real fairy in Storybook Land

How is this possible?

Most people ask why. You make a nice change. Basically, large numbers of humans can be attuned to fairyland. It's more common amoung the Celts but in no way restricted to them. Although you are a lonely sad old man dying of cancer, you have what it takes to become a fairy.

And why?

Fairyland doesn't work for human fertility. We live for centuries, sometimes millennia, but we die. We need new fairies.

Basically, Storybook Land is a trap. The Unseelie Court looks at the people who come to this small out of the way theme park. Given the nature of the park, it's an off brand Disneyland wannabe, Faerie folk aren't all that noticeable here.

Players can be Unseelie hunting new "recruits," Seelie trying to protect the innocent (and grab off a new Faerie or two from those who can't return to humanity), or kidnapped humans. This last group might be divided among those who can go back and want to, those who can't go back and desperately want to, and those who'd like to stay.

Note: Different people attune to Fairyland at radically different rates. Some people can be in Fairyland for years and safely return, others are irreversibly attuned in hours. Eating fairy food speeds things up.

This is an Urban Fantasy/Noir crossover.

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Does this world have a green-haired girl named Gertrude? <shiver in fear>

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Only if it excites you. (Sadly I don't get the reference, but I think you'd enjoy reading Emma Bull's War for the Oaks.)

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The cover of Gertrude's comic should explain it. A Fairytale Realm should fear a Gertrude.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Elder God level scary.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Um, the link seems not to be working for me. It goes to a page that says this:

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Knights of the Carousel!

Arabella, Queen of the Faeries of the City Parks, is at war with the creatures hiding in the shadows of the city. Vampires, Wererats, Goblins, evil Sorcerers and Sewer Trolls. But Queen Arabella has allies, noble Wizards and Wizardesses, Wereravens and Wereowls. More importantly, Arabella may call on the Knights of the Carousel! Each champion and their noble steed ride forth to challenge and defeat the fell creatures. Of course the City has two sides. The mortal realm and the Other Side were the Faeries, ghosts and Otherkin dwell. Magic and wonderthings aren't practical on the mortal side, although it's a great place to hide and plot. Still, wonder and magic rule the day on the Other Side!

Note: Although connected to the big Carousel at the seaside park, the wonder beasts ridden by the Knights are true miracles. Although most of the Wonder Beasts are horselike including winged horses and unicorns, lions, tigers, Griffins, dragons, stags, giant dogs, giant cats, elephants, giant swans, camels, giant rabbits, and giant eagles, are also available.

Basically, the PCs flip back and forth between being children with minor magic powers on the Mortal Side to Wizard Knight champions of Faerie on the Other Side. The special powers of each knight reflects the Wonder Beast they are linked too.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It seems to me you might do a point pool for the PC and their Wonder Beast steed.

You could also buy the Wonder Beast as an ally. There were allies costing several hundred points in GURPS: Lensmen. I don't think a dragon, who can't leave their side of reality, would cost that much.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

IIRC, the high cost of Allies in Lensmen (and the way it dragged up the cost of Kinnison et al, and complicated their creation) was due to the way the rules for Allies were set up in 3e. It seems to be one of the reasons that the rules in 4e are based on how powerful an Ally is compared to your character, instead of how many points they're worth in total.

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But do you like the setting idea?

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Oh, yes. I just couldn't think of anything useful to say about it, and then you hit my blather-about-trivia switch.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

This is an interesting setting to me. A bit War of the Oaks, but much more the vibe of Carousel Tides series by Sharon Lee (of Liaden fame). Not the same, but another setting with an Other Word and a local focus of that Other World on an old amusement part and a carousel.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Myrtlebank Method

Gentlebeings, like you I was once an imp. The lowest rank of devil in Hell. Like you I was a punching bag for the fallen and a despised drudge of the infernal hierarchy. But here I stand before you a human being with a good hope of salvation. I say follow my Method and you to can leave Hell. First for Earth and then for Heaven.

We'll still be the lowest ones, but it's better way to go.

Jeff Myrtlebank figured out how to quit Hell and regain Heaven. Now he's teaching other Imps. Although Imps are the lowest rung in Hell's hierarchy, every hierarchy rests on its base. If the base flees, the hierarchy will fall.

Heaven isn't really as concerned. The path back isn't easy and many sins can wreck the whole effort. So, if the Imps want redemption, and are willing to earn it, why not? Heaven is about mercy and second chances.

Myrtlebank's Method is simple, find a human dying of natural causes and, once the soul has left, take over the body. Healing the body and making it work again are the first steps. You need a body that you can repair, someone burnt to ashes or crushed under a rock slide is hopeless. Once you've restored the body and recovered the memories of the former owner, you are ready to join humanity. To achieve Heaven you'll need to more things. First, a baptism. Imps make sure to take bodies near religious groups that require adult baptism just for this reason. Second, and more importantly, someone to love.

Becoming physically human, and accepting a connection with Heaven, are the preliminaries. Dedicating your life and identity to love is the whole point of the exercise. This love can be romantic, Myrtlebank fell in love with Comfort Gatewood before he had any idea of replacing the real Jeff Myrtlebank. Seeing both Jeff's sorrow at leaving Comfort, and Comfort's heartbreak at losing Jeff made the Imp leave Hell and risk all to help both of them. Jeff was freed from an evil trap and the Imp became Jeff to love Comfort for a lifetime. However, becoming a parent so a child won't be orphaned, or becoming a child so a parent will be cared for in old age is as good. Any love for another person works. Two Imps became two young men who drowned, when they restored the bodies, they choose to love each other, that worked too. The power is in loving a person.

Basically, this is a hidden magic campaign. The PCs are Hell's drudges escaped and seeking new lives. Hell is unhappy with this and will try to reensnare the run away Imps.

Adjusting to being human again, well human adjacent at least, has its own problems. In the Twilight Zone episode The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank Jeff comes close to being lynched.

Imps restore their new bodies to excellent heath. Look at the three Zero Point Advantages No Physical Defects, No Mental Defects, No Unattractive , Imps normally have all three of these. Imps have a general paranormal awareness, there are several ways to represent this in GURPS choose what you like. Imps have something like Magery-0 however they can also cast any magic that costs a point of energy for free. To cast stronger spells requires skills most imps lack and don't want to risk their whole chance at life and salvation for.

Note: This whole setting assumes a Christian worldview. However, there are other ways to set up minor devils seeking redemption and love. Go with what works for you.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Palladium's Msytic China supplement for the Ninjas & Super-Spies game had the Reformed Demon R.C.C., which was this idea from a Taoist point of view. As the R.C.C. advanced in XP, it became more and more human, until it reincarnated as a human. It was then free to enter the cycle of reincarnation and pursue enlightenment.

The difference is that this was an accepted, though rare, part of the lowerarchy. So the PC would have a demonic caseworker assigned to supervise and penalize any infractions. And to unofficially encourage backsliding. never played it, but the redemption arc always dripped possibilities to me.

Alternatively, this would make an interesting In Nomine campaign. The metaphysical underpinnings don't allows for celestial to moral transfiguration. But this method is a real solid path at Redemption. No guarantees. But it's solidly enmeshed the Heavenly side of the equation.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Painted Skies

Where did you hide it?

In plain sight. After all, stories must be remembered.

How did you do that?

They have something called a theater.

The Kingdom of Flowers was a Faerie stronghold. It linked Faerie and the Middle Lands together. However, as the two realms were forced apart the Kingdom of Flowers was nearly destroyed. However a great Wizardess came up with a plan. She changed how the Kingdom of Flowers linked Faerie to the Middle Lands. Now the Kingdom of Flowers is a puppet theater presenting fairy tales to children. However, the puppeteers, musicians, scenery artists, puppet makers, voice artists, etc, are Faerie Folk.

In most things these Faeries are now humans, abet with some small magicks and greatly enhanced life spans. However, the Kingdom has many bitter enemies who want to cut the ties between Faerie and the Middle Lands or worse control the tie to enslave both worlds.

Basically, an Urban fantasy setting with the PCs involved in a theater. Note: The Pcs can travel to Faerie proper, where they are powerful Faerie Nobles, or live in the Middle Lands (the Faerie name for Earth) where they are basically humans with a few advantages. Every few decades the Faeries running the theater send a few older Faerie Folk back to Faerie to renew themselves and come back as "different" people to keep their longevity secret.

This is an espionage game with secret magic elements centered on protecting the link between the worlds.

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Champions of Atlantis!

The surface folks keep polluting the seas your majesty. But I have a plan.

What scheme is it now?

We have clashed with these masked mystery men and women. They have formed teams of champions.

I'm aware of that. I witnessed the man with the green fire, the warrior woman, and the man who runs faster than sound or light, defeat a German fleet.

I propose we create our own champions. My magicks can make them masters of the elements. They can aide the surface dweller champions against the Germans, they look to be losing, and establish Atlantis as an equal nation. The nation of the seas.

You are the mystical warriors of a Sword and Sorcery realm, well trident and sorcery. You live in a world of wizards, warriors, ancient gods, and warring kingdoms. Now you have been infused with the power of the elements, either fire, water, earth, or air. You are to stand among the champions of a strange realm and win honor for your people.

Basically, Conan types given elemental powers and sent from a sword and sorcery realm at the bottom of the sea to the weirdness of WWII Earth.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

A note on the types of PCs is needed.

Most of the PCs would be described best as William Stoddard's The Archetype with Amphibious modifications and a large amount of Elemental powers. Basically, a 1940s Submariner or Aquaman plus Elemental powers.

Wizards with a reduced form of the template (rather like Stoddard's take on Hugo Danner mentioned in the section on The Archetype) and either The Mentalist or The Super Mage template added in.

Remember, the deep seas in this setting are a Sword and Sorcery setting with a superhero inflection. Read Hellboy comics for inspirations for occult Nazi supervillains.

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Knock, Knock. Who's There?

Okay, Billy reads Marvel Comics way too much. But what's wrong with summoning Odin back into the world? He seems like a cool old guy in the books.

You majored in interdisciplinary studies and Critical Theory. My major was ancient European Languages and Literatures.

And neither of us could get jobs with our degrees. Go fig.

Odin isn't the old guy in armor from the comics. He's not even what he's shown being in the later sagas.

What is he then?

He's a wizard that rewrote his whole culture from farmers to pirates to sieze the throne of the Gods. Now he's planning to come back from the dead to be eternal Godking of the Earth.

So that's a bad thing, right?

Basically, an evil wizard with good press is determined to return to our reality to conquer and rule it. The PCs are a ragtag group of grad students and their more New Agey friends and all that stands between humanity and and an eternal winter of enslavement to a paranoid madman with the powers he stole from the gods.

This can go in several directions.

A straight forward horror campaign is a clear choice. Norse Myth and folklore certainly support that.

If we go with the thesis of the book "The Lost Gods of England," Odin wasn't originally the leader of the Norse Gods. Try/Tiw (whose name means 'splendor ') is cognate with deties like Zeus and Indra. Odin is closer to figures like Ares. So having Odin be an interloper twisting reality to gain power and risking the death of the universe in order to achieve Godhood and immortality makes him the ultimate supervillain. And one with good press.

This allows both for "Lord of the Rings" type epic struggles against a dark Lord or magical superheros like Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel (Shazam), or Doctor Fate against a magically empowered Third Reich.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Spaceships of Zeus!

Are you going to space?

That's where the future is being made.

Do you believe the gods have returned?

What they called the gods in ancient times. They seem to have both scientific insights and mystic powers. They inspire clairvoyance, scientific progress, and poetry. They bring the fire of the soul.

Fire can burn.

I want to be ignited.

When the young millionaire got Jack Parsons and Robert H. Goddard to work together to build a rocket plane in January 1935 and made the first Earth orbit in early December of that year, it looked like a new age of science. But then Athena and Apollo visited the White House and healed the President. The sky was opened and wonder rained down.

It's now 1940. Thor killed Hitler and Perun killed Stalin. Franco was informed by Heracles that Isabella of Spain was his descendant, and he would kill Franco and his entire party if he didn't leave Spain. Bast, Thoth, Isis, Indra, Kali, Vishnu, the Dagda, Brigid, and Lugh, have visited Parliament in London. They demanded and end to colonialism. The world is transformed and still changing.

With the gods magic followed. A new Alchemo-Tech brought humanity to the Moon and Mars. Although the moon is mainly airless, certain "Blue Areas" have air and water. These were outposts of Atlantis. Atlantis was Mars!

Basically, it's a pulp Sci Fi solar system with magic and the Elder Gods. The PCs are heroes and Mages exploring the solar system from the ruins of Mars to the Jungles of Venus. The Brass cities of Mercury, the icy wastes of Pluto, with its sinister Cyclopian cities and the ghostly fungi that dwell within them.

Cross figures like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Brick Bradford, and Northwest Smith, with the heroes and sorcerers of Sword and Sorcery.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Death by PowerPoint?

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Perun, Thor, and Hercules, had the power and they made their point.

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Turn backwards, turn backwards, oh Time in Your Flight...

You claim that we can visit the past and change things.

I've already done that.

From anyone else I'd call that madness. But you have a track record. But what's the catch?

Well there are limits...

Your PCs can travel back in time, but only within their lifespans. Also, you are the age you were at that time. Thus, if you are 50 in 1980, and you want to kill Hitler early enough to do some good, you've got a narrow time window.

Basically, your PCs have to achieve your goals in the bodies of the children they were in the past. Note: Although they retain their full memories, their brains were less developed as children. Thus the PC may have bought Science! at IQ, a child's brain is less developed, so skill use is effected.

Another problem. Secret agents that look like young children are treated by society as young children. This can be a major problem.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

There's a more practical way to do this. Pick people in their fifties or early sixties. Send them back to when they were in their late twenties. Have them build a time machine, and recruit another generation of agents who are getting old. Repeat for staging posts backwards into history.
See Jeffty is Five.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

This sounds like the main character (and it's indicated his father had a similar "condition") from The Butterfly Effect - growing up, he experienced a series of memory blackouts, then later discovered it was possible for him to basically go back to those blackouts and inhabit the body of his younger self, potentially changing history (IIRC, the first time it happens he accidentally burns himself with a lit cigarette in the past, then when he comes to back in the present discovers he has a brand new scar corresponding to the cigarette burn). As the title implies, a lot of the plot is him dealing with the unexpected side effects of altering the timeline.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It wasn't mentioned whether or not the agency in question has any choice about the ages of their agents. If anyone could do it, then agents of appropriate ages would be chosen.

Do the Time Agents have a particular Advantage to allow the trip? Do they have this Advantage their entire life or does it activate only at a particular point or under the proper stimulus? Does it go away?

If a particular Advantage is required for time travel, then the Time Agents will be something of a grab-bag. Especially if the Advantage can't be detected until it activates. Instead of a well-trained team of professional Agents, you'll get a group of press-ganged civilians with (hopefully) useful skills.

If the Advantage only works for persons of a particular age group, then the zone of operation for Time Agents will be a narrow band.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Actually, the whole thing is fairly new and poorly understood. So people are experimenting as they go along.

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Faraway Near

Where are we?

Just over the border. Our world is very near. Once you learn how you can look over the border.

"Our world!" That's crazy talk. We can't have left the Earth.

Not so much left the Earth as our part of it. We're in the borderlands.


"Borderlands?" Border to what?

The lands of the dead, Faerie, Elfhame, the realms of the gods. Some places people could get to are closed off now. They've either lost or gave up their connection to our world.

Why did you bring me here?

Ask the men you murdered. They're right behind you.


The walls of the world are thinner than people think. The borderlands are as close as a heartbeat and further than the stars. Living mortals can learn to cross the border. This brings many advantages. Crossing the border can let people travel unseen, unknown, and quickly. Once over the border you can travel to many different worlds. You can speak to the dead and to that which never lived.

Some people feel the border must be controlled. They bitterly resent unauthorized crossings. Their power comes from exclusive control. Some call themselves guardians, others admit they're in it for the money...or power.

Basically, the PCs accidentally strayed across the border. Now their eyes are opened, it's like they swallowed the red pill without being asked if they wanted the danger. Now the PCs are either resources to be controlled or threats to be eliminated. They can no longer hide but their new enemies are well hidden.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Torchbearers

You each were chosen for a strength that never fails you and a flaw that lets you bring the power of this burning light into you. You must make your vices serve your virtues. If you fail to do this, the fires that grant you power will incinerate you.

You've been given power and many responsibilities. Worse no one asked if you wanted the power and its burdens. You can see that which is hidden to others. You can read minds. All the memories, knowledge, insights and wisdom of all your past lives are open to you. The more you focus on any live and its knowledge, the clearer it is to you. You can walk unseen and cloud the minds of men. You understand that you will become more powerful as you go along.

The thing you want to know is how to get off this ride or at least to survive long enough to get back to sanity.

Basically, think of groups like the Green Lanterns or the Lensmen. You have been given a magical relic. A jewel that they placed on your forehead. Ordinary people can't even see the jewel. You can see through the jewel like a new eye. Your new eye shows you the truth of the world, a truth you can't unlearn.

The PCs are the involuntary champions of the light. Now survive and save the world.

The PCs are all chosen for a useful virtue that never fails them and a destructive vice that goes with it. Picture a truly fearless person that is hopelessly impulsive or reckless. The courage is a strength, but only if it doesn't get them killed. Similarly, someone who has empathy and compassion that never fails but refuses to be firm with people is also helpless. The PCs must not only fight the monsters around them they must fight the monster within them.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Well probably not [civilians]. Most governments keep very good track of their troops until they actually die (or after - the US has a pretty good registry of veteran's graves), which is a large enough pool you should be able to find somebody in it, unless the required traits aren't so rare you likely can't find a civilian either. Presumably a lot of these guys are still vulnerable to the appeal their country needs them for this. That it needs them 60 years in the past and will make them 20 again when it sends them is an additional draw if anything.

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The City of Magicians!

These people can do what!

Cast magical spells. I think they came here from Earth a few thousand years ago.

Did they use a "teleport spell" or did Doctor Who give them a lift?

The character is called the Doctor not "Doctor Who" and I don't know how they got here. But DNA analysis shows they're humans from ancient Africa. They are from the Garamantes people. They DNA proves it.

That's not possible.

Possible or not, it simply is.

Basically, your bold Golden Age Sci Fi explorers have found a city of human wizards. Well
the city is ruled by Wizards.

Headquarters wants your bold explorers to over diplomatic relations with a city that hasn't known about outsiders since Ceasar Augustus was on the throne.

Note: The Garamantes are real. They're not well known and they left few records.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Perhaps not surprisingly, I'd play in this one.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Yeah, same here. Maybe one of these days we'll get Astromancer to run on one of the PbP sites.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Naturally, you'll need to bring the offer to them while they're out chopping firewood. "I left that life behind, you hear me?"

More seriously, if the intent of the campaign is that the PC's will be inhabiting their bodies back when they were children, you may want to set it so the machine can only send the agents back to when they were children, maybe with some mumbling about brain plasticity. And in that case, considering how little mobility children have, you would ultimately need to choose people who were in the right places at the right times at the right ages, which can justify having operatives that are less ideal in other ways. Or alternatively, have the event they're going back to change be long enough ago that basically everyone who was an adult at the time is either dead or too addled by age to rely on (killing Hitler was brought up as an example, and while there are undoubtedly some veterans of WWII who are still of sound mind and would love a chance to go back and punch Hitler until his face caved in, the number of such are dwindling and they may well no longer be around at the time when the campaign has the time-travel breakthrough; also I think most of the survivors served near the end of the war, and what you'd want is someone of military age before Hitler ever came to power; someone who was 17 in 1930 would be 110 today).

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Or they go back to age 6-8 and you fast forward, with some opportunity to use their knowledge to build resources because they know upcoming events. Anonymous letters might let you affect some things.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Oh, certainly the PC's can accomplish things as young children - the whole idea would be dead in the water without this. I was just giving reasons why those in charge of the program wouldn't be able to recruit the perfect subjects, which helps justifies the PC's being the kind of less-than-ideal hodge-podge PC's are wont to being. And if the "go back to being an adolescent well before the event you need to change, then build yourself up until you're of age to actually change it" thing doesn't fit the campaign you're wanting to run (the prompt/seed implied it's meant to be "child secret agents"), you might have it be that the characters can only "possess" themselves in the past while they're a certain age (maybe once they hit puberty they become immune to such temporal possession), so they only have a limited time in which to act. Or maybe they're trying to change as little as possible (killing Hitler probably isn't on the table; saving Anne Frank might be), so they need to limit their time in the past to avoid a slew of butterfly effects.

A campaign of anonymous letters makes me think of what Ender's siblings did during the events of Ender's Game - taught themselves as much as possible (they were both more-or-less as intelligent as Ender, they just had the wrong levels of empathy - Peter was too cruel, while Valentine was too kind) and created online pseudonyms to influence politics, eventually to the point Peter basically managed to make himself king of the world (arguably saving it from in-fighting in the process, although I've not read any of the Shadows series to see how his reign ultimately played out) through a really well-done social media campaign. The PC's aren't going to be able to manage that - they're rather unlikely to be on par with the Wiggins - but it's still what comes to mind.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Errand

This is a simple description of a throwaway DnD campaign I'm starting next week. The setting is simple, but possibly useful.

The time is a distant future. New York is vaguely known as an ancient lost city of wonders. The setting is a low tech Sword and Sorcery setting (TL2).

Three cities dominate the narrative. Alzuhur (the flowers) is a coastal city on a plain fertile enough to garrentee regular food. Alabar (the wells) was a minor interior stop on a caravan route that has become rich as a side effect of Alzuhur defending itself. Alwasat (the middle) was an important trade nexus that has lost its economic reasons to exist because of the same actions by Alzuhur that are enriching Alabar.

The Wizards of Alzuhur, in order to thwart an invasion of their lands, used an ancient talisman to cut a channel from the seacoast to an depression in the desert to their southeast. The invading army soon realized they had to go back or die of thrist.

The flooding of the depression has radically disrupted local politics, economics, climate, and many other things. Alabar is at the southern end of this new bay. Suddenly the isolated desert town is a port. All the caravan trade is redirected to Alabar. This means no one has any reason to go to Alwasat. Alzuhur, determined not to be bypassed, places tolls on all ships using the channel to the flooded depression (now called the new sea).

The New Sea is somewhat difficult to get into and out of the wizards of Alzuhur, for substantial fees, garrentee favorable winds and currents.

The cultures in conflict are.

Alzuhur, this area is a isolated remnant of the worship of the Earth Gods (I'm using a modified version of the Gloranthan Gods). Because Alzuhur is a center of worship of the Earth Gods, the land is always fertile enough to provide agricultural surpluses. With trade and agriculture Alzuhur is rich, somewhat arrogant, and profoundly resented.

North of the coastline that Alzuhur is on are several archipelagoes of islands. The small communities on these islands live mainly by fishing and farming small fields. They also grow small groves of spices that are highly regarded. The people worship the Gods of the Sea and the Storm (two separate pantheons). The islanders get protection from the Navy of Alzuhur and blessings from the Earth goddesses, which they like. However, the islanders resent the domination of their trade and local government by the city of Alzuhur.

In the mountains south of Alzuhur and the coastal plains are many villages built around oases. Where Alzuhur is a matrileneal and matrilocal culture (though still patriarchal) The mountain folk worship the highly patriarchal sun Gods. The people of Alzuhur are seen as decadent, lazy, and immoral. Worse, the New Sea means trade no longer has to come through the mountains. This means the village folk in the hills are much poorer than they have been being neither able to charge tolls nor sell their crops to travelers. The exceptions are the few villages near the new sea which have gotten rich from new trading options.

The desert tribes, most of whom worship the Storm Gods, bitterly resent the New Sea. As nomads they followed established routes through the desert to gather seasonal resources. The New Sea cuts many migration routes in half and floods some resources completely. The desert folk are bitter and want revenge.

Alwasat was an oasis that sat at a place where several caravan routes met. And excellent break of bulk point. However the new sea has either cut these routes or made them irrelevant. Sailing to and from Alabar eliminates the need to walk across the desert. Only the ancient shrines, set up for all the travelers, still bring visitors. Alwasat honors the Gods of the Storm, the Sea, the Sun/Sky, the Earth, the Moon, the Underworld/darkness, and the Forrest. The sacred Theraphims of many gods are in these shrines. And theraphims allow the cunning to compel the obedience of a God. This is deeply resented by some.

Alabar, which is now a port, was once the last good watering stop before the desert proper. As a port, Alabar is able to bring in goods far more cheaply and regularly than the caravan towns. They're now the connection between two entirely different trading networks. Their future is limited by one thing only, Alzuhur's dominace of the channel that lets ships enter and leave the New Sea. Alabar, like most of the town and city folk south of the desert, worships the Moon Lady and her Pantheon.

The PCs would be hired by Wizards from Alzuhur to steal theraphims from Alwasat. Rival parties of adventurers from Alabar also want the theraphims.

PCs can be of only these classes. Fighters, Barbarians, Rogues, Warlocks, or Wizards.

Warlocks in this setting are all individually sworn to a God. Those Warlocks who are independent of any institution are called Warlocks in setting. Those in and or working for an organization are generally called priests. All Warlocks can access spells from either the Warlock or Cleric spell lists. Where it makes logical sense, some Warlocks also can access the Druid spell list. Most Warlocks are Celestial Warlocks but Genie and Fiend Warlocks are around too.

Wizards use the points system on page 288 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.


More later.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

A Golden Castle One Ell High

Good lord Bill. It's a castle dollhouse more than a yard high!

An ell high, one yard and nine inches. It's what King Arthur ordered.


Bill, any historical "Arthur" wouldn't have had enough gold to build this thing. Besides, it looks like a Chateau from the Loire. Castles wouldn't look like this for hundreds of years after Arthur's death.

In our world's history Sally, in OUR world's history.

Are you talking about Extraterrestrials?

Ultraterrestrials Sally, ultraterrestials!


In the English chap book fairy tales, Tom Thumb was King Arthur's jester. Arthur had Merlin make Tom a "golden castle one ell high." The stories never mention the Castle having any enchantment save its beauty. But Merlin rarely made anything that wasn't enchanted. In this campaign the golden castle one ell high is a gateway to realities were Arthur is or had been an historical figure. Those seeking to get to Arthur's court can find a charm inscribed into the castle that lets seeker shrink down to Tom Thumb's size and enter the castle. Once in the Castle the seeker can find their way to the Camelot they seek.

Problem, Camelot is different things for different people. One man, who had watched the Bing Cosby A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, landed in a Camelot with knights playing baseball and riding bicycles. Careful what you look for, you might find it.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Job Opportunities

What happened to you?

I survived and got a job. I don't think any of us Monster Hunters that got called to the job so to say caught the plague.

It's been forty-five years, you don't look seventy.

You said you were fifty, you don't look ninety-five. I think the "Messengers" slowed our aging. I haven't heard of anyone new being called, have you?

No. Who gave you this job? Do you work for a peddler?

I am the peddler. It seems some of the Wizards don't want humanity wiped out or enslaved. They hired me to hunt monsters. Peddler is my cover.

My life can't get stranger.

Wrong.

The plague was brutal, it broke out everywhere at once and killed nineteen out of every twenty people. Strangely (or predictably) enough, those touched by the supernatural were immune to the plague. That seems to have included monster hunters called by mysterious beings called "The Messengers."

There seems to have been a war among the monsters immediately after the plague broke out. Many sorts of monsters seem to have left the world or gone into hiding. The undead are still around. And with so very few humans left the dead are so very hungry.

At first the Hunters couldn't cope. However the Hunters were offered help. The Witches and Wizards had built bases for themselves and once they secured their own survival they focused on humanity's. In short, the Spellcasters hired the Hunters to hunt monsters.

Well in hard times you adjust.

Basically, the PCs are disguised as "commercial travelers." However, what they really are is monster Hunters, mainly the undead. Because of the plague the ratio of Vampires to humans increased by twenty times. Vampires began to go hungry as they ate through entire settlements. Mages, Shapeshifters, and the Faerie Folk unified to drive the undead out of human communities.

The alliance didn't last. The Faeries had to go into a deep slumber, they'll be able to return later. The Werebeasts fought civil wars and have slaughtered their way to rarity. The Mages reached out to the Hunters. "The Messengers" hated it but said make the deal.

The Hunters actually provide two services to the survivors of the plague. First, they hunt monsters. The ragged bitter remnants of the Vampire host is still out there. Most have degenerated into Wrights, the Beastial remnant of a vampire that has lost their humanity.

The second service is the provision of aid in rebuilding society. The Mages have trained many Hunters in useful skills and used their charms to get the Hunters acceptance. Thus the Hunters are circut riding judges, doctors, nurses, dentists, engineers, etc. However most of the Hunters are disguised as peddlers.

The peddlers bring useful goods to the scattered settlements. Tools from plowshares to sewing needles, and from frying pans to spinning wheels. The peddlers also bring seeds. Maize, wheat, sorghum, millet, all subtly changed. These new crops are drought resistant, blight resistant, insects don't like them, and they fix nitrogen like peas or other legumes. Common garden crops from carrots, onions, and celery, to blackberries, rhubarb, and watermelon, are also brought to the settlements. The peddlers also give away flower seeds. These flowers clean toxins out of the soil and water by breaking them down into harmless substrates.

The peddlers also sell or trade radios that can be recharged by a hand crank (they sell these in our real world today). The Hunters also have mini radio sets (cell phones are way beyond the wizards just now). Thus the Wizards can communicate with the masses and the Hunters.

More later.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The average person in this setting lives at a low TL5. It would be lower without the actions of the Mages and Hunters.

The bases the Mages work from are a mix of Tech Levels. Living conditions are generally around TL7. Between the contributions of the Etherites and the Children of Knowledge ( which are weirdly skewed Tech) and the Technologies of the Virtual Adepts, Progenitors, Iteration X, and the Void Engineers, people have access to higher levels of technology if and when they need it.

There are bases that aren't communities. These are mixtures of TL6 and TL7 with higher anomalous technology as needed.

The Mages have many simple ways of generating electricity. Often the Hunter bases will be set up to generate electricity from renewable sources, most often hydropower. These bases generally provide services to their local area. For example in much of the South Ice Houses selling ice and providing refrigerated foods. These provide quality healthy food to the locals. And as the Ice Houses sell cold beer and ice cream treats, they are centers of community gossip. And gossip is a powerful resource for Hunters.

The Mages have gotten some railroads open and operating (carbon free). These railroads are creating conditions that are bringing society back. They also attract vampires like a bleeding cut.

More later.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Debatable Lands

I thought a land with less magic would seem ordinary.

You've lived all your live in a magical land. So it is really magic that would seem normal to you.

That makes sense. Maybe the odd feeling I have is caused by not feeling the magic around me.

We've all gone through that. And there is also the change in the source of power. The Archmagi rule in the West and the Theocrat's men rule in the East.

This land is where their powers fight each other. It may make for lawlessness but we are free.

Now how do ordinary people have freedom?

The Archmages rule in the West. They have towns rule themselves through councils and the countryside is ruled by orders of knight administrators. The Theocrat rules in the east. His priests and nobles are above the law. The gods, in order to preserve the world from both war and stagnation, set a border to keep the two empires apart.

This border realm is lawless and wild. Neither the Archmages nor the Theocrat have much interest in these lands. The roadless wasteland makes it harder for armies or smuggler to crossover. The lands of the Archmagi are High Mana and low sanctity. The lands of the Theocrat are high sanctity but low mana. The Border lands are overlapping patchworks of Low to Normal Mana and Sanctity.

Basically, this is a wild empty mountainous land lacking in serviceable roads or navigatable rivers. Powerful societies on either side of these mountains don't want any stable government in these lands. This means that various sorts of "people" like the lack of supervision. Vampires, necromancers, and other less savory types live here. Sadly, the people who live here feel they have nowhere to go.

The PCs are adventurers trying to carve out a kingdom for themselves. The plan is to find a predatory beast and take their home. Let the players build 500 to 750 point characters and send them out to beat up Dark Lords and take their stuff.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The New Neighbors

Sheriff, you know those woods where the kids went missing last summer.

You mean the hills beyond the old Angove place?

Yes, Annie Penrick says she saw a castle in those hills. She claims to have photos.

The Rosdew kid claimed to see a monster in those woods.

What kind of a monster? Bigfoot? Dogmen? What?

A dragon.

No one liked going out to the old Angove place. No one ever really said why. But no one ever wanted to spend time there. People had been going missing in those woods since the last of the Angoves died back in the late 1960s. People saw things in the wooded hills beyond the Angove farm. At least since the 1890s those wooded hills have had an uncanny reputation. Lately things have changed. Physical evidence including scales, huge and reptilian, but from no known reptile. Castles have been spotted in the distance and photographed. The state police have been called in.

Basically, a group of police officers and forest rangers are going to the castle. The building is on the lands of a national park and there is no record of it. So at the least the castle is illegal, and finding out why someone built a secret castle might answer some more questions. Questions like "Where are the missing people?"


As written, the Angoves made connection with a land that became disconnected from its reality. That realm was pulled towards the Earth by rituals performed by the Angoves. Now a fairy tale kingdom is finally becoming part of Earth.

By the way, the location, as written, is in Northern California. The hills west of the Angove place are part of a coastal area. The kingdom would become part of a peninsula jutting into the Pacific ocean.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Goblin Invasion

"So, goblins pop out of rifts all over the world and attack. Medieval style."

"Swords and sticks vs tanks and rifles? Sounds like an easy win for humanity."

"You'd think so..."

In 1992, as the world was getting high off the end of the Cold War, the Goblin Empire invaded. Across the Americas, Europe, and North Africa, hundreds of rifts opened and the goblin armies poured through - goblins and their slave-monsters, all needle-teethed and cackling. Initial casualties were terrible.

But the goblins - while they did indeed have potent magic, cruelty, and thousands of bodies - were no match for modern militaries, even the corruption-riddled militias of gang lords and tin pot dictators. The invasion was over within a few weeks. The war, however, continues. Now it is a war of raiding and rapid defense, as the Goblin Empire tries to unlock the secrets of modern technology faster than humanity can unravel the secrets of magic and strike back.

The Goblin Empire has several advantages in this struggle. First, it is vast. It covers at least two complete worlds and part of a third - even with TL4 technology, it can call on huge resources.

Second, it has magic. Thankfully this does not (yet) appear to include mass mind control, but nonetheless...

Third, it has a great knack for treachery. Part of its current strategy has been to seek out humans willing to sell out their own kind, and it has been regrettably successful in doing that - recruiting engineers, warlords, tacticians, and so on with promises of wealth and power.

Fourth, it remains the aggressor. Humanity has not yet figured out how to open gates, and so must remain reactive in the conflict - still can't pop open a gate ten thousand feet above a goblin city and drop a nuke through...

On the other hand, the Goblin Empire has some significant disadvantages. First, of course, is the technological disparity. The empire is firmly TL4 at best. While they are motivated, quick learners - and have already begun to acquire modern weapons through raids and such - there is a huge amount of work to be done to raise their level even to TL6, let alone parity with human tech.

Second, it has a great knack for treachery. It is riven with infighting of the worst sort, held together only by mutual greed and a sort of religious fervor.

Third, Earth is mostly low mana. It's hard to open a gate most places, so gates tend to be opened at the rare normal mana spots, which gives humanity a bit of a chance of mapping where raids might occur.

Fourth, the world from which they are attacking is not completely conquered. The areas corresponding to southeast Asia, Japan and parts of the Pacific, and some of Africa and the Indian Ocean, are occupied by resisting human, elven, and dwarven kingdoms. Those kingdoms, if they could make consistent contact with Earth, would provide a beachhead for counterattack and teaching in magic.

So as it stands now, five years after the invasion, Earth continues to be troubled by goblin raids which are growing ever more sophisticated - escalating from wolf riders with swords and bows to goblins on pickup trucks with AK-47s. Research units in Earth's few identified normal mana areas desperately work on researching magic with the aid of a few goblin POWs and rescued elves. And everyone is watching the disintegrating USSR nervously, waiting for a desperate Russian officer to hand a goblin warlord some WMD at just the wrong time...

Note on raids: A goblin raid usually begins with scrying (unreliable and cloudy) to identify a good target in a normal mana zone, like an isolated village or industrial complex; then a gate is opened with human sacrifice (for the energy and the sadism) shortly after local sunset, as close as possible to the target, which may be as little as a few feet or as far as a few miles. A warband moves through as quickly as possible, grabs everything and everyone that can be carried off, and returns. The gate closes at sunrise exactly - they can't close it earlier or keep it open longer, so far as we can tell. This may give time for rapid reaction forces to interdict the raid, or at least carry out a rescue. Perfect for PC action.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Catweazel Replay!

He cast a lightning bolt from his finger tips.

Yeah, cool right.

He cast a lightning bolt from his finger tips.

Snap out of it.

He's a wizard.

Yes I told you that.

But Wizards don't exist.

They do now, and we can study magic!


Basically, a wizard botched a spell big time. He landed in the year 2012AD and trying to make sense of it all. He met two scientists (one of whom was a big fan of the Catweazel TV show.) They got government research grants and nice offices for the three of them.

Now the PCs are a class of wannabe wizards and wizardesses ready to study the high entropy art of magic. This whole school of magic is supposed to be secret. Supposed to be secret. All kinds of people from spies to tabloid reporters want in on the secrets. School won't be easy.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

How is its Resurrection magic? If you can do that en mass then some really reckless strategies become viable.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Hadn't thought of it, but I'd lean toward inefficient and requiring sacrifice - they'll use it for VIPs but nobody else. And it's obviously an ideal opportunity for Treachery.

I don't think they'd have zombie horsds either... just not in-theme for them as I envisioned it.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

This would make for a fun high-action, high-violence campaign.
I'd play at least a few sessions, although I'd bail if the GM wanted nothing more than an excuse for gun-fights.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It seems really unlikely that government grants for this could be obtained without the whole business vanishing into a really secure area on a military base or suchlike.

RogerBW's Age of Aquarius campaign started with a similar premise (people in the 1960s start gaining psi powers), and we had quite a struggle to avoid becoming officially dead.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Chessboards

They tell me you've gone mad Poimandries.

I simply have gained some new insights.

Anything you could explain?

Partially, not fully. The gods are at war. Instead of all out violence,
they play something that could be called Chess.

You say it could be called chess.

If chess could have seven players and millions of pawns, yes.

The Western Lands have had strange and glorious times of late. A means to create thousands of copies of a text has been developed, AND IT USES NO MAGIC! The secrets of sailing the deep oceans has been discovered. The lore of the Ancients has been brought to the printer's shop and made commonplace for all. New lands unknown have been discovered. Learning, art, literature, natural philosophy, and all the practical sciences are reborn. Magic shines with a brilliant light. Medicine leaps forward in effectiveness. It is the age of wonders and elegance. To bad every king and sovereign prince is at war with all his neighbors.

Basically, it's a TL4 world undergoing a Renaissance. Every European nation is a print the legend version of its most glorious and glamorous self. Gloriana rules Britannia, the Sun King rules Gaul, Poland extends from the Baltic sea to the Black sea, Hispania is flooded with silver, and Portugal with spices.

However this world is in turmoil. Seven pantheons of gods (Greek, Norse, Irish, Slavic, Egyptian, Persian, and Cannite) are engaged in a game to see who will rule the dawning age. The world is the gameboard and the PCs are the pieces.

This is a high magic swashbuckler game. Individual PCs will have a patron god. As long as they live up to that deity's values the PCs have Ridiculous Luck and three levels of Serendipity with the wishing enhancement. However the gods are picky. If you don't do it their way, you lose your luck. This can be an issue. Thor is one of the good guys, but he doesn't get strategy. Athena has many virtues, but she doesn't understand romance. The Dagda is a great guy, subtlety is beyond him.

Your PCs must accomplish great and glorious deeds while keeping a touchy Patron happy. May the gods be with you. But may they give you some breathing room too.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

I wonder if the Virtue system from 1st Ed Scion would be useful for the Chessboards setting. You might need different virtues.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

For Chessboard I'd look at Divine Favor.

Many years ago Lee Gold wrote Lands of Adventure that had a system where in order to use clerical magic Piety had to be your highest stat. Besides just putting the highest state there and making others lower you could raise it by things like attend all major religious occasions, attend all religious occasions, tithing, tithing more than normal, etc.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The Horns of Elfhame

They say an Irish Witch, they called her a Ban Dru, turned the stones against England.

Turned the Stones?

Placed a curse by performing a ritual in the ruins of an ancient Irish temple.

Did they clap her in Irons or shoot her?

I neither know nor care. It's the fact that she summoned the Fairy host against England that worries me!

Basically, the Fairy host has been summoned into this world. They are attacking the England of Queen Elizabeth Tudor. Luckily the Fairy Host has fairly primitive technology, about TL2. The Elizabethans are TL4 and fairly sophisticated. Most of Europe is staying well out of this fight as the weather has gone insane. The Pope has declared that the devil has tricked the Fairy Host into attacking England to destroy the Earth. All good Christians must aid Elizabeth in the fight. The kings are staying out, but many adventurers are in.

The Fairies have magic. The Elizabethans are learning fast. Meanwhile, the fairies don't seem to learn about technology. Still, at this point the Fairy Host has the advantage.

Note: John Dee has returned to England and has rejuvenated Elizabeth. So Elfhame might not have such a large advantage.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Try stealing the idea of large numbers of humans turning into Elves, Dwarfs, Trolls, and Orks, they called it goblinization. The main switch up is no prior plague. People just start changing. Some ethnic groups (Native Americans, the Celtic peoples, etc) almost exclusively turn into Elves. Other less fortunate groups might turn into Orks or Trolls.

At first the change would be slow. A certain old people seeming to spontaneously rejuvenate. Some people would find that they are growing fangs.

Magic would be seeping into the world at the same time.

Basically, you start with a normalish world and watch it fall apart while the PCs try to achieve an important goal.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Part of the background for my Oubliette setting involves all the humans transforming into one of four races - Havlins (halflings), Dwarves, Elves, and Nornu (giants) - around the time the Dungeons the setting revolves around (and that give it its name) appeared. My original plan was that the transformation was sudden, akin to the change of humans into Cardoodles in Endtown (without people turning into monsters - although the monsters pouring out of the dungeons certainly helped effect something of an apocalypse), but a slower and more subtle transformation might be interesting.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

So... when you do a "goblinization" event (to borrow the term from Shadowrun, do you prefer to keep the changes physical, or do you also include mental changes as well, adding and removing racial mindset stuff like dwarven greed and crafting talent, goblin cowardice, or elven long-term thinking (to take some random cliched examples)?

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

For Oubliette, there's very little in terms of mental changes for the main four races created by the original goblinization (there are two more races, the malofae - cat people - and pixies, which do have some mental quirks, but those didn't come into existence via goblinization). About the only real mental change is that the person comes to regard their new body as "self" more readily than you might expect, preventing any aspects of body horror. There are some hormonal changes as well for three of the races - dwarves and elves have reduced sexual dimorphism compared to humans, with the former leaning toward masculine and the latter leaning toward feminine, so a woman who turns into a dwarf might experience some of the effects a trans-man going through a light hormone therapy would, while a man who turns into an elf might experience some of the effects a trans-woman going through light hormone therapy would (men turning into dwarves and women turning into elves probably would instead experience a slight reduction in sex hormones). Havlin, meanwhile, have increased sexual dimorphism (to the extent they will have different templates, and many naturally have the Extreme Sexual Dimorphism Perk, although I interpret that a bit differently from the RAW*), so a man who turns into a havlin might experience similar effects as a cis-man undergoing the same light hormone therapy as the trans-man above, while a woman who turns into a havlin might experience similar effects as a cis-woman undergoing the same light hormone therapy as the trans-woman above. For completion, nornu (giants) have the same degree of sexual dimorphism as baseline humans (in fact, they largely just look like baseline humans that have been scaled up, although their bones are typically a bit thicker than would be proportional); I'm not 100% decided on malofae and pixies, but the current leaning is for malofae to have comparable sexual dimorphism to nornu, while pixies would be somewhere between havlin and nornu (probably leaning more toward nornu).

*The RAW has it boost secondary sexual characteristics for women, primary sexual characteristics for men. I treat it as boosting both secondary and primary, for both sexes - a woman with ESD would have ultra-feminine characteristics, while a man with ESD would have ultra-masculine ones. The stats (bonus to Sex Appeal, but easier to spot in a crowd) just don't make much sense otherwise, particularly for men. Many of the Supers in Grrl Power would have this form of ESD (alongside very high Appearance - they're noted as looking like "idealized humans"), as would the infamous "GigaChad" from the many, many memes.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The New Alchemy

Your theory is twaddle.

You've got a fun vocabulary. If I can't do magic, explain the fireball.

An illusion. Induced by hypnosis.

They used to call hypnosis quackery and fraud. Occult munbo jumbo.

Well, the hypnosists proved it was real.

Why didn't the fact I turned you into a parrot two weeks ago count as proof.

My analysis may have problems. Could you turn me back? Oh and give me some fruit, I can't imagine why they give parrots crackers.

Brain science seemed to be leading to the discovery of psychic powers. At least until the dragons showed up.

It's the 21st century and magic has returned. The New Agers are furious, they were right, magic was real, but now it's a STEM subject!

Science, technology, and magic, oh my. The PCs are young scholars trying to combine Thaumutology and physics to understand magic. It might also be nice if figuring out how to deal with the various supernatural creatures, that also showed up.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

The kingdom of Alvis is a realm filled with magical wonders but it is also a realm where the bulk of the common folk dread the possibility that their children will have any magic potential, for such children will be taken from them as soon as they are detected. The nation is ruled by an aristocracy of half-elves, although many of them have no real skill in magic, instead relying upon the magic tools provided to them by the magic towers which ruthlessly exploit the magically gifted commoners magically coerced to slave away in in enchantment circles led by the younger children of the aristocrats.

Presumably the player characters would be rebels against this exploitative system.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Fodla Dearg

They call it "Olympus Mons."

Who is they? I'm assuming "it" is the Tara of Kings.

They are the mortal folk. And yes, it is the Tara they named after Mount Olympus.

Who cares if they drape horse doctor's Latin all over what they call Mars. We call it Fodla after Ireland, Ireland see as a spirit of poetry and scholarship.

The mortals are coming to Fodla. They mean to settle and Terraform Mars.

We destroyed their probes. A few accidents and they'll turn away.

They have bases on the moon that circles their world. They are sending towns on "space colonies" to support the landings. They won't be easily driven away. And their curiosity is easy to rouse.

Then we'll seek a new path.


Imagine the shock, there really are Martians! And they speak Gealic? The Tuath De are on Mars! And they want political recognition.

Basically, supernatural beings have decided to make their presence known and they demand diplomatic recognition. Although paradigm shift is more typical of Science Fiction it works in fantasy too. This is a massive shift in a campaign. It's best to drop this into a secret magic setting that's been running for awhile.

Note: I chose Irish Myth because of my personal tastes. Use your preferred mythology in your game.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

In the grand library of really-impressive-name the PCs find a mysterious book written in a mysterious language. It is the Grimoire of a notorious magician hundreds of years ago and long dead.
But something is not right. The city gets a bad run of fish. The trade convoy has turned back-and lost ships from storms. The court mage tells them that the thing to do is go on a quest to the ruined castle where that magician lived and replace the book. The problem is the path there is full of monsters and the castle is haunted by the ghost of the magician and his servants of every kind. Some of these "servants" by the way are eldritch abominations you do not wish to trifle with. You have to put the book in exactly the right place so that said eldritch abominations will not get the book either.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

In the city of...there is a lighthouse. So much prestige comes from being the warden of the lighthouse that he or she is usually chosen from noble ranks or automatically enobled if not so, but never chosen for ruler lest the highest royalty become despotic.

So much for politics which is interesting for those with a bent that way.

The Warden's son has found love. He goes down to the Inn by the lighthouse to listen to the entertainer sing enchanting songs and tales. He wishes to marry. The catch: she is a mermaid. That is really no problem biologically (in my mythos "otherfolk" including mermaids are from a spinoff of humanity from primeval times but have strange powers including of course shapechanging). It is a problem with the ruler of the city. For he is a bigot not to mention being a just plain spiteful expletive who doesn't want his rivals being happy. Not to mention one of his relations was captured by the Dark One, the Harvester (who is sort of a Fey Vampire who lives in a castle far to the north and enjoys tormenting captives).

The agreement: the Warden's and his Mer-bride can marry if they sail alone in a dory to enact a rescue. If they don't come back tough luck. And the ruler of the city is not giving more help. Like I said he is a spiteful expletive.

By the way, this is from the founding myth of a people in the traveller universe that I have spent time working on (an easy way to combine sci fi and fantasy is to use the nested story method).

And yes the idea did come from Beren and Luthien. Except the "obstacle" is not the bride's father and he is a lot nastier than Thingol.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Gunmagic!

The handgone is the new wonder of the battlefield. A cobbler can slay a knight in full armor. The powers that be can't let go of this devil's trick. Neither do all of them like it.

Kings love it. Guns make war to expensive for any but the richest nobles to challenge their king. Knights, always an unruly bunch, quick to mutiny, quick to run off on errands of their own. Mercenaries are far more effective anyway. However, new tools require new skills. Enter the Gun Mage!

Basically, you're a gun and wand for hire. You're a battle mage with skills involving gunpower. You can keep your side's powder dry, and ruin or explode the other side's powder. You can use the Magelock gun (it's enchanted with Ignite and goes off only when you will it). You can manipulate the flights of rockets and cannon balls. And many more tricks as well.

The PCs are Swashbuckling Wizards facing combat, logistics, diplomacy, and skullduggary!

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

Actually a lot of fantasy writers seem to have a tacit interdict against gunpowder in their writing which is kind of silly as the real Middle Ages had no problem with gunpowder but the difficulty of casting cannon. Not to mention the need to carry the elements separate and mix on site (they had problems with volatility then, I forget how they solved it).

By the way the early age of powder with flaws in metalurgy and bad powder has lots of possibilities. Serving a gun is risking blowing yourself up.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It makes the services of a skilled mage very attractive. Plus, the world of Chaucer and Shakespeare is very interesting. Since Falstaff is a contemporary of the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner, just picture the collision.

Re: New Fantasy Setting Seeds.
 

It's a Chekov's cannon issue. If you include guns then a modern audience, especially an American audience are going to expect it to be a big deal, not something too impractical to have much impact.