New Fantasy Setting Seeds.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

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)?

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.

[Astromancer]

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.

[David Johnston2]

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.

[Astromancer]

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.

[jason taylor]

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.

[jason taylor]

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.

[Astromancer]

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!

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

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!

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.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

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.

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.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

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.

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.