New Fantasy Setting Seeds.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

Realm of the Towers

This could certainly be interesting. Out of curiosity, what are you thinking would make travel between the towers particularly dangerous? Bandits seem like a good option at first glance, as exiles that survive by raiding travelers/caravans and the like (they can't very well attack the magically-defended towers), but you indicate you're going for something of a cyberpunk (magipunk?) feel for the tower-city states, which implies there would already be a sizable criminal population within the towers. Monsters could also be an option, but mundane animals aren't going to be much threat to humans traveling in groups (and any that are threats, humans are likely to make it a point to wipe them out), and if all the supernatural oomph is in the towers (complements of vril), it's difficult to justify supernatural beasties. Maybe there's a small amount of vril throughout most of the world, and while humans can't tap into it without the sort of large concentrations found where towers are inevitably built, monsters aren't quite so limited (and maybe there are some natural-born mage humans with a similar capability; such might be treasured for their usefulness in crossing the wilds, or despised and thought of as monsters, or anything in-between). Or maybe there's some sort of anti-vril* (that extends downwards instead of upwards, explaining underground dungeons if you want those) that powers the monsters, perhaps some casters... and maybe even some magic items that work outside of the towers (and that might not even be allowed in, due to interference with vril, making dedicated adventurers often functional exiles).

*EDIT: It looks like "vril" is thought to be a shortened version of "virile," so perhaps anti-vril could be called stril, as a shortened version of "sterile."

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Out of curiosity, what are you thinking would make travel between the towers particularly dangerous?

I've never thought much about it; unfortunately I'm rather myopic when I think about these things.

I do like the stril idea (though maybe not the name: I might want to change both): I enjoy the concept of ecosystems that defy our physics because they're being sustained by some kind of special energy. Maybe the cities are where they are because those are the only pockets where stril doesn't cause flora and fauna to overwhelm settlements. The use of vril is just a side-bonus. So the danger is both hostile wildlife plus the inability to keep trails and have efficient road networks; think of wheels as something you only see in cities because that's the only place with enough flat ground. Maybe you can make flying vehicles that aren't powered by vril, but we can throw in the occasional giant flying monster to explain why it's still somewhat of a risky method.

The conflict between vril and stril makes me think that the giant, hostile monsters plain do not like the areas the cities occupy; the edge where the two meet is like an electric fence to all but the most maddened monsters. (Smaller, less "Oh, %1$@!" wildlife is okay, because urban wildlife is fun.) And as for any potential stril-users it's probably the same deal: the majority live just outside the border, fulfilling the "witch just a little ways into the forest" archetype.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

I do like the stril idea (though maybe not the name: I might want to change both)

Humorously, we're arguably using the opposite words, here - "vril" in the original novel was a power utilized by a subterranean race, and using a shortened form of "sterile" to describe a magic energy that appears to actually increase fecundity by accelerating plant growth (and possibly that of animals, to help produce large monsters) clearly seems wrong. But then, from the standpoint of the humans, vril is the thing that keeps them alive, thriving, and growing as a society, while stril is associated with the extermination of entire family lines (from monsters eating everyone), so it still kinda fits. I wouldn't object to different names, of course.

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

So the danger is both hostile wildlife plus the inability to keep trails and have efficient road networks; think of wheels as something you only see in cities because that's the only place with enough flat ground.

Notably, it's going to be quite freaky to be machete-ing your way through the undergrowth, then turning to look behind you and literally seeing the path closing behind you as the plants creep in. And Towers forbid you have to camp outside - you'll have to burn out a clearing to setup, and keep fires going on the periphery to stop the plants from growing over your tents and smothering you in your sleep... and of course all that fire is going to attract predators.

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

Maybe you can make flying vehicles that aren't powered by vril, but we can throw in the occasional giant flying monster to explain why it's still somewhat of a risky method.

Honestly, I love your idea of lines of vril extending between the Towers to power expensive flying machines. Or perhaps there's an abundance of vril once you get high enough, it's just that without one of those rare pillars that extend down to the ground, you can't build a tower tall enough to tap into it (in no small part because the fast-growing plants will cover it and tear it down long before your reach the vrilosphere). To make it risky, perhaps the flying vehicles are restricted to the lower level of the vrilosphere (going much higher means the air gets too thin to breathe; note this also implies needing to slowly acclimate yourself when climbing the tower to even reach the vrilosphere), and there can be fluctuations that result in loss of power - and/or there are monsters that can launch projectiles high enough to reach the ships (you could posit a world where the atmosphere thins out a lot more quickly than on Earth if needed), as I'd expect any flying monsters to have low flight ceilings (stril tending to extend downward rather than upward).

The whole concept really has a lot going for it, I feel.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Originally Posted by Varyon

The whole concept really has a lot going for it, I feel.

I feel like there's a lot of potential in alien landscapes/environments that goes unexplored.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The first Tuesday in March is always Mardi Gras. Pubic mask wearing is a thing.

Is a 'pubic mask' a fancy thong, or a typo?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

I've never thought much about it; unfortunately I'm rather myopic when I think about these things.

I do like the stril idea (though maybe not the name: I might want to change both): .

Orgon or orgone for an opposed chaotic force to vril's order.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Is a 'pubic mask' a fancy thong, or a typo?

Typo corrected. Being blind to my spelling mistakes is painful.

[Kymage]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Typo corrected. Being blind to my spelling mistakes is painful.

I get it, I've had two eye surgeries in the last six months and I've noticed my ability to catch spelling errors and typos has gone done markedly.

[Astromancer]

Glitter and Shadows

The world no longer wants magic. Or at least it seems that way. For magicians to live we must hide. For magicians to live we must be seen. Show Biz is how resolve the paradox.

The cheap phony tacky carnival we're working in is perfect Plausible Deniablity. No one seeks true wonders at carnivals, circuses, or amusement parks. So, wonder, like the Holy Grail, is hidden where the "wrong ones can't find it."

Magicians, faeries, the old gods, and stranger things, still live. Well, if you call it living. The world seems to reject magic. Being publicly supernatural causes rapid aging and general physical deterioration. Hiding away from the world causes you to fade away. Maybe you lose your memory and become mundane, but simply ceasing to be or to have ever been, is also possible.

But side shows, road side attractions, circuses, tourist traps, all allow the magical folk to be supernatural in public without penalty.

Basically, the PCs are magical folk, Wizards, Fay, Demigods, whatever. They have hope that the world will change to be less brutal to magical folk in a couple of centuries. If you can last that long, glory and wonder awaits you.

You need to be acknowledged as magical while not being caught being magical. Smoke and mirrors are your friends.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Glitter and Shadows

I'd drop the carny side of this and set it in early Hollywood. You'd have all this secret magic stuff alongside LA's water wars, the oil industry, and crazy Theosophy cults. (Imagine, if you will, a coterie of fairies and wizards trying to deal with the plot of Chinatown.)