Fantasy and Exploration

Arith Winterfell · 03-30-2016, 09:56 PM

So currently I've been working on a fantasy setting, which at first I was working on under the basis of building post-apocalyptic elements into core, since then I've found myself drifting away from the post-apocalyptic elements somewhat. So currently I'm at a point where I'm looking for ideas to spark my inspiration and interest in order to help drive me forward in setting design.

Generally I realized with the post-apocalyptic stuff my interest wasn't so much about the pure survival aspect (starvation, finding food, etc) nor about the mechanical aspect (the scavenging for parts, building gear and machines, etc), but rather my interest was more in the sociological aspects. Specifically societies and how they might change due to isolation or the break down of earlier societal structures. This led me into a new premise for a setting which I'm looking to fill out more (hence suggestions and ideas seeking).

The general premise of the fantasy setting is centered on a fantasy setting that once had a large magical civilization made up of many fragments of small dimensions or "Realms" which originally were linked into the inter-dimensional hub of a single large Nexus Realm. However, due to an unknown disaster the Nexus Realm failed and the all of the Realms were severed from each other leading to total isolation from each other. No magic spells known at the time could allow travel between Realms or allow the reactivation of gates to allow access to the Nexus Realm.

Move forward from this event several hundred years and a number of generations.

Now in a Realm ruled by a powerful government of wizards recently researched new advances in dimensional magic allowing them to reactivate their Nexus Realm gate. After successfully doing so they found the Nexus Realm untouched for hundreds of years, but also essentially dead and non functional. The problem was that all the gates had been severed, and the Nexus couldn't connect outward to other Realms, only receiving gates activated from outside Realms.

This led to a new period of research, combined with study into the magic of the Nexus Realm, that eventually yielded fruit. A complex ritual that would allow a small expedition of people to jump to another Realm. From there they would need to find and repair the gate on that Realms side in order to return home by reconnecting with the Nexus Realm. Thus begins a new age of exploration and discovery.

However, the governing wizard society that has succeeded at this is divided as many individuals are driven by many different hopes and dreams. Some see opportunities for conquest, empire building, or expansion and colonization, others see monetary gain by trade, still others seek knowledge and discovery of the societies that have changed over the past hundreds of years, some all of these things in combination.

I currently only have one player (I will run my own personal PC as well, and possibly additional party NPCs if we need more people to make things work). My player is fairly neutral toward the game, and has a strong interest in anthropology. She has trouble coming up with character ideas, so I've suggested essentially playing an "anthropologist" mage focusing on communication, empathy, and divination magic hence giving her the opportunity to act as a "face" character when meeting with new cultures or discovering stuff in the ruins. I imagine she will largely be driven as a character by motives of knowledge gain and good intentions.

My own character, a Necromancer, serves the function of also understanding what happened in these societies/ruins via things like questioning spirits of the dead. He has quiet motivations toward power and learning anything he can about his field of studies. Potentially dreaming of forging an kingdom of his own in time.

I currently imagine also at least one other NPC character whose sole function is "gate repair" as a gate specialist who will spend their time fixing or setting up the gate so that the characters can get home.

Beyond this I'm looking for interesting ideas for character conflict (adding new NPCs with different motivations) and interesting ruins/societies to explore and encounter.

Ideas I have so far:
1. Arrival on a realm that failed resulting in ruins and dead remains, possibly the threat of mad spirits for the party to deal with.

2. Perhaps a Eloi/Morlock situation as from The Time Machine.

03-30-2016, 09:56 PM	#1
Arith Winterfell Join Date: May 2014 Location: Indiana, United States	Fantasy and Exploration So currently I've been working on a fantasy setting, which at first I was working on under the basis of building post-apocalyptic elements into core, since then I've found myself drifting away from the post-apocalyptic elements somewhat. So currently I'm at a point where I'm looking for ideas to spark my inspiration and interest in order to help drive me forward in setting design. Generally I realized with the post-apocalyptic stuff my interest wasn't so much about the pure survival aspect (starvation, finding food, etc) nor about the mechanical aspect (the scavenging for parts, building gear and machines, etc), but rather my interest was more in the sociological aspects. Specifically societies and how they might change due to isolation or the break down of earlier societal structures. This led me into a new premise for a setting which I'm looking to fill out more (hence suggestions and ideas seeking). The general premise of the fantasy setting is centered on a fantasy setting that once had a large magical civilization made up of many fragments of small dimensions or "Realms" which originally were linked into the inter-dimensional hub of a single large Nexus Realm. However, due to an unknown disaster the Nexus Realm failed and the all of the Realms were severed from each other leading to total isolation from each other. No magic spells known at the time could allow travel between Realms or allow the reactivation of gates to allow access to the Nexus Realm. Move forward from this event several hundred years and a number of generations. Now in a Realm ruled by a powerful government of wizards recently researched new advances in dimensional magic allowing them to reactivate their Nexus Realm gate. After successfully doing so they found the Nexus Realm untouched for hundreds of years, but also essentially dead and non functional. The problem was that all the gates had been severed, and the Nexus couldn't connect outward to other Realms, only receiving gates activated from outside Realms. This led to a new period of research, combined with study into the magic of the Nexus Realm, that eventually yielded fruit. A complex ritual that would allow a small expedition of people to jump to another Realm. From there they would need to find and repair the gate on that Realms side in order to return home by reconnecting with the Nexus Realm. Thus begins a new age of exploration and discovery. However, the governing wizard society that has succeeded at this is divided as many individuals are driven by many different hopes and dreams. Some see opportunities for conquest, empire building, or expansion and colonization, others see monetary gain by trade, still others seek knowledge and discovery of the societies that have changed over the past hundreds of years, some all of these things in combination. I currently only have one player (I will run my own personal PC as well, and possibly additional party NPCs if we need more people to make things work). My player is fairly neutral toward the game, and has a strong interest in anthropology. She has trouble coming up with character ideas, so I've suggested essentially playing an "anthropologist" mage focusing on communication, empathy, and divination magic hence giving her the opportunity to act as a "face" character when meeting with new cultures or discovering stuff in the ruins. I imagine she will largely be driven as a character by motives of knowledge gain and good intentions. My own character, a Necromancer, serves the function of also understanding what happened in these societies/ruins via things like questioning spirits of the dead. He has quiet motivations toward power and learning anything he can about his field of studies. Potentially dreaming of forging an kingdom of his own in time. I currently imagine also at least one other NPC character whose sole function is "gate repair" as a gate specialist who will spend their time fixing or setting up the gate so that the characters can get home. Beyond this I'm looking for interesting ideas for character conflict (adding new NPCs with different motivations) and interesting ruins/societies to explore and encounter. Ideas I have so far: 1. Arrival on a realm that failed resulting in ruins and dead remains, possibly the threat of mad spirits for the party to deal with. 2. Perhaps a Eloi/Morlock situation as from The Time Machine.