New Fantasy Setting Seeds.

[Astromancer]

The Door that isn't Always There

Billy was the first through the door. He was always absent minded and no good at games. I know we're at a school but he needed to make an effort at something other than study and books.

When Billy was late for class we all said he went through the door in the wall between the library and the dorm. The Headmaster scolded us and said there hadn't been a door there since Elizabeth I was queen. I think they thought we killed Billy or something.

Later Alex found the door near the gym. When he got back he said there was a whole other world over there. He met Billy. Billy said he now answers to William and he is apprenticed to a wizard. He had the fireballs to prove it too.

Basically, an old, but not really impressive British Public School with a portal to another world. The disappearence of one William Smythe has caused an uproar. The PCs can find the door at different times and places throughout the school.

The land on the otherside of the door is warmer than Britain, more like the South of France. (As the school is in southern Scotland the climate change is more abrupt). Unknown to the kids this is a high Mana TL4 world. Creatures typical of French fairy tales and Welsh legend roam this land. Also unknown to the boys the door is a lure.

William (Billy) was a neglected orphan and easy to get to change worlds. Several others are looking for likely apprentices.

Remember, doors work both ways. People, and people adjacent folk, can visit the school.

Note: The portal is enchanted both to prevent adults from noticing the door, or believing in the door. The spell even weakens adult memories of being told about the door.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The Door that isn't Always There

Another excellent one! I'd play in this.

[Astromancer]

Second week of my fantasy campaign.

The PCs are beginning to realize how weird the set up of the tower is.

When they tried to explore a door with the crest of a miniature castle surrounded by roses. A writing desk scuttled into their way. An inkwell then asked for formal invitations. The PCs managed to get around the inkwell. They also picked up the fact that the social secretary hadn't been around for 700 years. The inkwell asked if he was coming back.

When they got into the antechamber packs of cards formed into tall stickmen and threatened the PCs with razor edged cards.

The Grandfather Clock interrogated the PCs. He was a bit suspicious, but the Princess had been missing for Seven hundred years too. So he wanted the PCs to ask the Wardrobe what she knew.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Second week of my fantasy campaign.

The PCs are beginning to realize how weird the set up of the tower is.

When they tried to explore a door with the crest of a miniature castle surrounded by roses. A writing desk scuttled into their way. An inkwell then asked for formal invitations. The PCs managed to get around the inkwell. They also picked up the fact that the social secretary hadn't been around for 700 years. The inkwell asked if he was coming back.

When they got into the antechamber packs of cards formed into tall stickmen and threatened the PCs with razor edged cards.

The Grandfather Clock interrogated the PCs. He was a bit suspicious, but the Princess had been missing for Seven hundred years too. So he wanted the PCs to ask the Wardrobe what she knew.

Sorry can't edit right now.

Once they got to the Wardrobe (a large room) she advised the PCs, after a short conversation, that they were in danger. The Steel Guard (animated steel warriors) would hunt down and kill anyone without a proper invitation.

The PCs asked how to get invitations. The Wardrobe told them about the Princess's special playroom. She also warned the "toys" might want to play with them.

They got to the "Playroom" and found the writing desk with the invitations, or rather the standard forms to write invitations on. By this time a Fairy had joined the party and the Kendu and the Tabaxi (correct spelling later) were with the fairy.

The fairy found himself blocked by two "rag" dolls made of leather and dressed as the Queens of Hearts and Spades respectively. The Tabaxi found herself threatened by a white leather bunny rabbit with a scalpel and grappled by a four armed and legged clown doll covered in bells. The Kendu got to the desk and forged some invites. They all barely escaped before the other toys came.

Once back at the Wardrobe the PCs discovered they would need to rescue the other party members.

After tracking them down they rescued them from animated objects intent on washing the PCs up to make them presentable. As a strategy to keep them from being butchered.

The PCs found considerable evidence that the animated objects in the tower were under serious stress from being abandoned.

The PCs are now climbing up the tower to question the library about the tower.

They did escape the tower and prevent any of their party from being butchered. Everyone but the Kendu got a long rest. The Kendu got a short rest and created a forgery.

The Steel Guard saw through the forgery but the other PCs tricked the Steel Guards into thinking the Kendu found the forgery and brought it to the guards for security reasons.

The Steel Guards then rewarded the Kendu.

While passing through the ballroom the candelabras asked them to dance. Some of the Steel Guards clearly wanted to dance as well.

[Astromancer]

Toyland

Long ago the princess was born beautiful and graceful, but odd. In our world they'd have said she was on the Autism Spectrum. The Princess's Uncle, a skilled Enchanter, made her toys that would move about and talk to her. She was delighted.

Her parents, and later her brother when he was king, and his son when he was king, gave her many animated toys. In one attic she built a town out of her toys. Her Uncle, enchanters live a long time, was worried about all those magical animated toys so close together. But when the Princess died at the age of one hundred ten years, they simply sealed off the attic where the toy town stood.

They should have listened to her Uncle the Enchanter. Because now the toys are starting to think.

Basically, the PCs are magically animated elaborate toys that have become aware of their own existence. You are beginning to explore your environment.

[ajardoor]

The Scene in Goodberry

This setting is a “low fantasy” secret magic modern day (TL 8) alternate Earth, specifically the North American city of Goodberry, Florida. (Assume Goodberry is basically Miami with the serial numbers filed off. Think swampland, gators, madcap criminal antics, hurricanes, infamous drug trade, etc.)

The city of Goodberry has a thriving occult underground of street wizards, criminals, urban explorers, grey market dealers and occasional intelligent monsters (typically vampires and werewolves), nicknamed "The Scene" by its members. More animalistic monster lurk in the surrounding swamps and sewers. The Scene is a loose web of shifting alliances, rivalries, gangs, independent operators, grey markets, cults, forbidden knowledge, eldritch locations and monster populations. Being involved in the shady subculture (or just being a magician and/or alchemist) is a Secret worth at least -10 points. It may not technically be illegal, but the cops and the establishment are unofficially enemies of the "deviants".

The magic systems used in this setting are Alchemy (as per GURPS Magic Chapter 28, Herb Lore is out/non-existent, use the higher prices to buy, formularies are not usually available for purchase but you do not need Rank in any guild to access a formulary because such things are secret treasures already) and Book Rituals (see Chapter 5: Paths and Books of GURPS Thaumatology; the rituals use Effect-Shaping, Books, Magery optional, and Magery adds to Rituals).

The overall result is a kind of magical Grand Theft Auto game (if not a way less cinematic and powerful Monster Hunters campaign), where the players are causing mayhem with elixirs and rituals, or trying to illegally acquire new formularies and Books.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by ajardoor

The Scene in Goodberry

This setting is a “low fantasy” secret magic modern day (TL 8) alternate Earth, specifically the North American city of Goodberry, Florida. (Assume Goodberry is basically Miami with the serial numbers filed off. Think swampland, gators, madcap criminal antics, hurricanes, infamous drug trade, etc.)

The city of Goodberry has a thriving occult underground of street wizards, criminals, urban explorers, grey market dealers and occasional intelligent monsters (typically vampires and werewolves), nicknamed "The Scene" by its members. More animalistic monster lurk in the surrounding swamps and sewers. The Scene is a loose web of shifting alliances, rivalries, gangs, independent operators, grey markets, cults, forbidden knowledge, eldritch locations and monster populations. Being involved in the shady subculture (or just being a magician and/or alchemist) is a Secret worth at least -10 points. It may not technically be illegal, but the cops and the establishment are unofficially enemies of the "deviants".

The magic systems used in this setting are Alchemy (as per GURPS Magic Chapter 28, Herb Lore is out/non-existent, use the higher prices to buy, formularies are not usually available for purchase but you do not need Rank in any guild to access a formulary because such things are secret treasures already) and Book Rituals (see Chapter 5: Paths and Books of GURPS Thaumatology; the rituals use Effect-Shaping, Books, Magery optional, and Magery adds to Rituals).

The overall result is a kind of magical Grand Theft Auto game (if not a way less cinematic and powerful Monster Hunters campaign), where the players are causing mayhem with elixirs and rituals, or trying to illegally acquire new formularies and Books.

The WoD with far less baggage and maybe a touch more mystery. Good call.

[lugaid]

Masks of Payn

Geopolitical Situation: A number of independent baronies lying between the Paynim Empire, which consists of seven city-states, each city-state ruled by a magician-king or -queen all answering to the Sorcerer-King Emperor of the World, the Shen Dynasty of High Mandarins whose rule derives from their ability to commune with the Celestial Gods Themselves, and the God-King of the Holy River named the Black Madonna. Each of the three dominating kingdoms maneuvers for political advantage, fighting proxy wars in the baronies, and the players attempt to play off factions against each other in order to profit and prosper. Casablanca and Atomic Blonde meet Conan the Barbarian and A Song of Ice and Fire.

Genre: Low fantasy/dark fantasy. Owes at least as much to GURPS Horror as to GURPS Fantasy. No nonhuman intelligent species, except that there are spirit beings and fairy/in-betweener types. Creatures are mainly the ones you'd find in our world, plus Megalania, Aurochs, and Phorusrhacus, perhaps a few others from the Pleistocene or even Pliocene or thereabouts. Maybe carnivorous apes, though I haven't decided on that yet. Generally things that would be at home in REH's Hyboria. TL 3 without gunpowder (specifically ~12th-13th century Europe), but with an Iron Age or Sword and Sandal cultural feel.

Magic: Inspired more by The Odyssey chapter 11, Genesis 15:9-18, the Witch of Endor, the Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri, Michael Psellus's De Operatione Daemonum, and similar things than modern fantasy. I keep going back and forth on whether to include Path/Book Magic (currently I am inclined to use it), and certainly spirits and fairies/in-betweeners can use it, and perhaps the Alchemy system from Fantasy-Tech 1 is also in play, but most magic is Advantages like Medium or Channeling, various forms of Luck, Visualization (Cursing or Blessing allowed), Oracle, Blessed, Partial Manifestations of Nature/Totem Spirits or Gods, and similar, or Skills like Exorcism, Fortune-Telling, Meditation, Hypnosis, Dreaming, and the like. I'm also likely to include Astrology from Fantasy-Tech 1. The Technicians of the Sacred section of Low-Tech Companion 1, as well as the notes on Low-Tech medical Skills, are in operation. Most magic, though, is mostly spirits and fairies/in-betweeners, with humans finding different ways to interact with them. Exorcism Skill can be used as an Influence Skill for spirits and fairies/in-betweeners. Some characters pick up Imbuement 1 (One Skill Only: Ghostly Weapon -80%) [2], and there are some few similar Advantages tied to particular professions or secret societies. By great, heroic effort it is possible to gain powerful and unique Advantages, like the Vampire-Queen's ability of Unaging and supernatural toughness tied to her requirement to bathe regularly in human blood, the God-King of the Black Madonna's eternal reincarnation, or the Great Sorcerer-King's ability to know the thoughts of others, but PCs may not start with these unusual abilities. In addition, there are powerful artifacts that can give the person possessing them various special powers, such as the Seeing Stone, the Ring of Invisibility, and the like. I'm also going back and forth on Trained by a Master and Heroic Archer and the related Cinematic Skills, but Weapon Master is definitely not allowed.

Adventure: A typical adventure might consist of the PCs investigating rumors to gain information they can then leverage with one or another of the factions with interests in the local barony. Turning minor scandals into opportunities can be a lucrative profession. Rooting out occult conspiracies, or encouraging them, and preventing or causing secret magical curses are the order of the day. Mostly investigation, Social Engineering, and occult conspiracy more than action-oriented, though I won't shy away from the latter.

[dcarson]

I'd say yes on the cannibal apes. Any pulp writer will tell everything is better with monkeys.

[David Johnston2]

The Cursed March forms the border between Ostara and Westenra, the eastern and western halves of the old empire each of which laid claim to being the rightful successors to the empire. They fought for that claim and the war wizards of both sides pulled out all of the stops in raining maledictions on the opposite sides of the warring armies. The result is a 50 to 100 mile strip of land filled with monsters and magical hazards as well as the ruins of what used to be border towns and fortifications. Both empires patrol the borders of the march to deal with the monsters the March generates when they drift out of the land that breed them as well as the occasional daring smuggler, spy or refugee who have dared to make the hazardous crossing and survived.