Ideas for Yrth

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Both of these seem a little dubious; an Araterre that's headed east and south is an Araterre that isn't supporting piracy on the Erythraean Sea or the Mare Medium. And unlike the Portuguese who had a fair understanding of what value could be garnered by finding a route around Africa. Araterre is, "maybe we go east and discover new lands with valuable things?"

I think the reason Megalos opposes it is that it would be harder to project power that far away, so the discovery of the Yrthan 'New World' would be a place people could go where the Megalan Empire and other Ytarrian powers could not control them. Remember, they do know Earth's history from interrogating Newcomers.

[AlexanderHowl]

Since the people of Ytarria do not know of any other lands, that suggest one of three possibilities. One, there is nothing there. Two, there is something there, but it is too far for TL4 technology to reach and to return given the currents and winds around Ytarria. Three, there is something there, but it is too dangerous for anyone to return.

Let us imagine scenario three for a moment, since it is the most interesting phenomena. The forgotten continent of Eigo lies only 1,000 miles east of Araterre, but it might as well be 10,000 miles for all the good that it does Ytarria. As a consequence of the Banestorm, the entire continent of Eigo became 80% very high mana, 16% twisted very high mana, 3.2% wild mana, and 0.8% twisted wild mana.

As a result of the change in mana levels around Eigo, the technomagical society of Eigo collapsed, leaving a magical post-apocalyptic wilderness. While the native races survived through retreating to the extensive subterranean caverns of Eigo, the surface was abandoned except for hunting and gathering parties due to the fearsome predators of Eigo.

One of the least fearsome, though deadly, predators is the Singing Mouse. The Singing Mouse is a small mouselike creature that hunts in large groups and kill their victims by rupturing their blood vessels through sonic manipulation. After they kill their victims, they harvest the insects that come to feed on the corpse and the fungi that grow of the corpse.

[Rolando]

The reason people in Ytarria don't know of any other lands south or east is because the book is a self contained game supplement and the writers decided to left anything outside the continent as "unknown".

Same with the tech ban, it is high fantasy that tech is so perfectly controlled and the society is still medieval. Unless you want to consider deeper conspiracies (dragons, djinn or undead manipulating the society) it is practically impossible, it is just part of the fantasy of the setting, just like magic and elfs.

So, a renewed exploration drive to the south or east from Araterre may be interesting as part of the "Megalos loosing its grip from the provinces".

[AlexanderHowl]

My solution to the tech ban is a series of anti-techology spells. For example, I made an area spell called Detonate Gunpowder that detonates gunpowder for a base cost of 1/100 (minimum 1) FP and possesses no prerequisites. The existence of such a spell would give a logical reason for gunpowder never spreading throughout Ytarria, as it would be more dangerous for the people with the gunpowder than their opponents.

[Anthony]

My take on the tech ban is that there are maybe wizards who think it's their doing, but the actual reason is something about the world itself. For example, anything that is powered but not living becomes unreliable because of spirits that start drawing on that power.

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by Rolando

,,,,Same with the tech ban, it is high fantasy that tech is so perfectly controlled and the society is still medieval. Unless you want to consider deeper conspiracies (dragons, djinn or undead manipulating the society) it is practically impossible, it is just part of the fantasy of the setting, just like magic and elfs.

In our multi-GM, overarching Best of Both Worlds campaign which includes several dimensions including that of Yrth (think Infinite Worlds), it is a conspiracy. Some of the PCs know the secret of gunpowder, for example, and actively work to suppress it. In other worlds, some of them carry laser pistols....

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by Anthony

My take on the tech ban is that there are maybe wizards who think it's their doing, but the actual reason is something about the world itself. For example, anything that is powered but not living becomes unreliable because of spirits that start drawing on that power.

That could work.

We didn't do that for Yrth, but in a different TL 3 fantasy campaign, we had something similar. The physical laws that allowed magic were incompatible with the physical laws that allowed technology beyond TL 3. Essentially, mana negates technology.

[Astromancer]

An interesting possibility is having a large area of Yttarria change its manna level suddenly. Try the idea of, in an otherwise changed setting, Cardiel sees its manna level jump to high.

If the High Manna area isn't inherently dangerous/toxic, then you have an interesting series of social changes going on.

Once ordinary people begin to start learning spells the economy and culture will begin rapid evolution. For example, if a young nobleman attacks a peasant lass, a routine horror of the real middle ages, and then she casts a spell on her attacker giving him violent cramps. Suddenly, both the class and sexual hierarchies are overturned. And very likely the peasant lass has to kill the young nobleman or be killed later, I don't see the aristocracy lasting long in these circumstances.

Mass literacy will become the basis of the economy very quickly, spellcasters need to read. Once that happens people will read Other things. It will become far harder to control ideas.

[Astromancer]

Another possibility might be as simple as the Banestorm bringing a new species to Yttarria.

If a new food plant got introduced, something that would alter the economy of Yttarria, it could lead to many interesting complications. Let's say a genetically engineered grain crop that gets named "Red Rye" comes in on a Banestorm. This is a tough plant that looks like a rye plant, turns red-gold when it ripens, tastes like wheat, and has the nutritional benefits of both wheat and rye. It also has the multiple grain heads like maize. Thus one acre of red rye produces five times as much grain as wheat, and it produces it far more reliably.

This would lead to both a prolonged economic boom and population growth. Both would dissolve Yttarria's neo-feudal society in a series of wars.

[Astromancer]

A less mundane new species to add might be a giant flying bird that is easily trained to be an airborne mount. Without a change in technology, the whole communication system is revolutionized. And with the communication system, government, military matters, and the economy as well.