New Fantasy Setting Seeds.

[Astromancer]

An interesting campaign might revolve around the introduction of new magical techniques into a campaign setting. Try the idea of the introduction of syntactical magic into a standard GURPS Magic setting. Power relationships would change. And changing power relationships mean struggle, conflict, and drama. Just what you want in a game.

[Willy]

Especially if the people who can use this new magic aren´t the same people who were wielding the power or magic before.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Willy

Especially if the people who can use this new magic aren´t the same people who were wielding the power or magic before.

It is always a source of extra pages in a history book when outsiders get improved skills.

[Astromancer]

Transformations

Grandpa, what were humans?

We used to be humans. All of us folks. I'd say humans looked most like us Elves, but their lives were only a couple of decades longer than an Orc's.

What were they like?

They were like all of us. Think of a mixture of Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Halflings, Dwarves,
Pixies, all the folk. They were like dangerous rainbows. Their characters had so many colors.

Starting in the 2030s small children began to change. Some became slender and their ears got points. Some grew fangs. By puberty about thirty percent of all children were clearly inhuman. The phenotypes matched folklore. Elves, goblins etc. in the West. Nagas in India, Mnoetia in West Africa, Dolphin folk in the Amazon, Menehune in Hawaii, though, it was assumed because of the influence of Western media, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and Orcs, were common everywhere.

More later

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Starting in the 2030s small children began to change. Some became slender and their ears got points. Some grew fangs. By puberty about thirty percent of all children were clearly inhuman. The phenotypes matched folklore. Elves, goblins etc. in the West. Nagas in India, Mnoetia in West Africa, Dolphin folk in the Amazon, Menehune in Hawaii, though, it was assumed because of the influence of Western media, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and Orcs, were common everywhere.

So like that "Troll Syndrome" or whatever they call it from Shadowrun, but humanity-wide.

I once thought about setting where all the humans were transformed into anthropomorphic animals, and came up with an interesting (though minor) knock-on effect: accurate period dramas and time-travel stories would need to use animation (or puppets), which might elevate the medium in the West compared to our timeline. Though I understand it also increases the cost, so you might get a proliferation of "barely fantasies": live-action works based on the past with only the tiniest veneer of "this isn't the real world" for plausibility.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw

So like that "Troll Syndrome" or whatever they call it from Shadowrun, but humanity-wide.

I once thought about setting where all the humans were transformed into anthropomorphic animals, and came up with an interesting (though minor) knock-on effect: accurate period dramas and time-travel stories would need to use animation (or puppets), which might elevate the medium in the West compared to our timeline. Though I understand it also increases the cost, so you might get a proliferation of "barely fantasies": live-action works based on the past with only the tiniest veneer of "this isn't the real world" for plausibility.

I am going for a Low Mana/Low Fantasy setting.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Transformations

Grandpa, what were humans?

We used to be humans. All of us folks. I'd say humans looked most like us Elves, but their lives were only a couple of decades longer than an Orc's.

What were they like?

They were like all of us. Think of a mixture of Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Halflings, Dwarves,
Pixies, all the folk. They were like dangerous rainbows. Their characters had so many colors.

Starting in the 2030s small children began to change. Some became slender and their ears got points. Some grew fangs. By puberty about thirty percent of all children were clearly inhuman. The phenotypes matched folklore. Elves, goblins etc. in the West. Nagas in India, Mnoetia in West Africa, Dolphin folk in the Amazon, Menehune in Hawaii, though, it was assumed because of the influence of Western media, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, and Orcs, were common everywhere.

More later

It's later.

With each generation more of humanity turned into Otherkin. At present, all of the surviving humans are over a hundred years old.

Various cultures reacted differently. On the whole the prettier a group is, the more respected they are. Elves, beautiful, graceful, highly intelligent, and very long lived, quickly rose to the top of society. Sadly, elves rarely seem to remember the old adage "Handsome is as handsome does."

Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, satyrs, and other animalistic types are discriminated against. Some of these like the Orcs have the burden of shorter than human lifespans. Others like the Pixies are considered silly and unreliable, which severely limits their job opportunities.

This is a low magic cyberpunk setting. Use Path/Book magic. Restrict who can have RitualAdept, it should be rare. Most Otherkin can learn Ritual Aptitude, but not all. I'd use Transhuman Space as the model for the local technology. But use what you like.

[Astromancer]

Editorials

What's the point? We're the designated villains in this story. Our whole world is based on narratives and stories and we're the bad guys.

Sure, we've drawn the villain's lot. But who says we can't rework the story? Once someone assumes they're the virtuous hero of the tale they tend to stop asking themselves whether or not they are actually being virtuous or they just look that way

The PCs have drawn the short straw in life's lottery, they are the villains in a world based on mythic narratives. This can be very bad, Disney Villain Death bad. But why give up? You're the villains. You generally start out with several advantages on the hero anyway. Instead of wasting time on the hero (who generally won't get up off their backsides until you attack anyway) why not try to get ahead of the story and grab the role of the hero for yourself?

Basically, the PCs are a pack of wolves, Trolls, witches, goblins, etc, who decided they can be the heroes of the story. Sure, you've got a nasty reputation and some really bad habits to overcome, but being a real hero was never easy.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Basically, the PCs are a pack of wolves, Trolls, witches, goblins, etc, who decided they can be the heroes of the story. Sure, you've got a nasty reputation and some really bad habits to overcome, but being a real hero was never easy.

This is one that I think should be developed more. Also, wondering if the magical style is something like The Magic of Stories, since it seems like that would fit.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

This is one that I think should be developed more. Also, wondering if the magical style is something like The Magic of Stories, since it seems like that would fit.

Agreed. But it's a gift to metagamers.