Brokenterra [Archive] - Wizards Community

Brokenterra [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
lulzapalooza
08-07-07, 12:21 AM Ever heard of the game septerra? Well he's my campaign based off it.

I was thinking of a world with a central core of liquid-hot iron, and orbiting around are eight continents or layers, massive iron plates covered in dirt and grime where the denizens of the Brokenterra manage to grow just enough food by the light of the maulten core to survive. Trees are rare, and wood is a precious commodity. The elves live on the top layer, where they study art and crap and get the only few rays of sunlight from between the dark cloudy blight of a sky and are generaly ignored as non-players in the world. The dwarves and gnomes occupy the lowest layers, where the are the pinacle of industry and engage in bloody civil wars with each other. Halflings and humans live in small farming villages in the middle layers, living between orc raids and other disasters, they pine for the days when the world was made of dirt and are the few races that remember that once the world was whole. Drugs are a persistant part of every culture, and questions of legality are mute, because ideas of 'law' are abstract and personal.

There are three generaly accepted religions. The elves worship the sun and the written word in a vague 'everybody is right and nobody is wrong' sort of way. Dwarves and gnomes worship themselves and the things they make, they seek to better themselves as much as they can, the monk is a common class for both races, and they've developed the word 'Innerism' to represent their belief in themselves as 'indivual gods.' Humans usually worship Aphorith, the angel that sacrificed his life in an ultimatily futile attempt to heal the broken world; they believe that by proving to the gods they've repented and atoned the world will be made whole again. The halflings are usually cynically atheistic. Orcs worship everything from rocks to the sky; they're not picky. A sword called Urfink'a Gual, which is orc for 'everything' is the one thing almost every agrees is worth worshipping, and the orc race engages in a neverending war to posses the 'god-sword' which changes owners almost every day.

Hydrogen filled zephlins plated in iron called Dragons are the only ways to travel from layer to layer, and wars are usually decided in the air between the cores. Cities are pretty much non-existant because there's not enough food to support alot of people in a single area, except for the mining city of "Core," which sits on the iron core of the planet. Oh yeah, and there are tanks. I've loved the idea of tanks and swords since I've seen Nausicaa of the Valey of Wind.

Nobody believes in monsters anymore, on the Brokenterra, because so few people see them. They usually are ancient creatures hidden in places nobody remembers, or the descendents of creatures hidden for centuries. The exception is aboliths, which are very much accepted as fact, and are feared as much as anything possible. In my campaign aboliths fly and pass on memories from one generation to the next, so they know everything that happened since their creation, which they claim coincided with the creation of time. They spend all their time floating around in the dark clouds that surround the world pining over their races former glory.

Oh yeah, and my campaign has electric guitars.
queenfange
08-07-07, 09:32 AM I've never heard of "Septerra", so all my feedback is just about what you posted, not related to whatever other materials it may be linked to.

Sounds a bit nutty. I don't mean that in a bad way, it just feels rather spazz-tastic. If that's what you're going for (which it seems you are), that's great. For players looking for a very logical world, it might not work; if most people are farmers or warriors, why would anyone have the resources to build an electric guitar, much less bother making one. Also, tanks rather make swords obsolete.

The religions sound cool, much more inventive than just giving different deities to each race. Is it safe to assume that there's a lot of racism and/or xenophobia? With the unsafe state of the world and great variety in views, it doesn't seem like many races would get along well with each other.
lulzapalooza
08-07-07, 02:53 PM I was envisioning the dwarves hating on the gnomes and vice versa for reasons nobody really understands, and an outsider only sees two diminutive and creative races knocking each other senseless. Other than that, I figure on strong bohemian vibes, everybody is cynical about just about everything, but no race has any strong gripes against any other. The dwarves and gnomes stick to each hating other, the orcs just do what orcs do, the elves couldn't pick a fight with a ten-foot-fight-picker and the humans and halflings are too meek to do much. So, no, xenophobia isn't a theme.

And, iron-working is the most advanced form of technology on the Brokenterra, to the point that even a commoner's house has atleast an iron door or a ramshackle plated iron shack. Iron and electrical guitars go side and side in my mind.

Tanks could be rare enough that a good ol' greatsword still had it's place. I don't like the idea of guns, though, but my tank would surely have a canon-turret.

I'm seeing some strong steam punk/post-apocolyptic themes emerge.
lulzapalooza
08-13-07, 09:21 PM Hmmm...Let's say the elves on the top layer were dabbling in genetic manipulation, and abberations were direct biproducts of the elven tampering with nature. Mindflayers and chockers could be subservient to elves, who look at themselves as the true masters of the broken terrain and rule with crowns of bone and fly about on ships that aren't made, but grown! A subclass of half-elf half-mutant elves could be grown directly out of the ships, as pilots permentally affixed and attuned to their ships.
lulzapalooza
09-14-07, 11:22 AM Half-elves could be the biproduct of genetic study and breeding programs. Half-elves are the warrior class of the elves, who load them up in the ships they grow from biological sources, and fight human mercenaries for resources on the continent dirrectly bellow them, which is the only known source of gold; still the default currency all around the world.
LurkTheStool
09-14-07, 12:18 PM For those of you who don't know, Septerra Core is one of the best computer games you've probably never heard of. I tore that game up multiple times, and still have some saved games that I play through every now and then.
lulzapalooza
09-14-07, 05:15 PM For those of you who don't know, Septerra Core is one of the best computer games you've probably never heard of. I tore that game up multiple times, and still have some saved games that I play through every now and then.

Yeah it is! I haven't played it in years, but it's unique style, especially the semi-christian, semi-pagan, semi-unique religion (as I remember it) aspects, those were cool.

What do you think would be a good roleplaying aspect to encorporate?
lulzapalooza
12-22-07, 12:24 AM This post hasn't been bumped in six months. That's a shame, because it's so much better than all the other variations of the standard D&D cosmology here on the boards. Won't somebody look this over and give me a non-stock response?
LurkTheStool
01-01-08, 09:15 PM This post hasn't been bumped in six months. That's a shame, because it's so much better than all the other variations of the standard D&D cosmology here on the boards. Won't somebody look this over and give me a non-stock response?

I think that to claim your particular work is better than everyone else's around is probably not the way to get proper responses.

To start with, I have heard of Septerra Core, and it is a wonderful game; I played it many times through when it first came out. You seem to be describing a "campaign setting" based on similarities to Septerra Core, not a cosmology. In fact, I'm not sure what you're asking in your most recent post. You haven't described a cosmology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmology) yet, you have simply outlined (vaguely) a setting and some religious sides. I think Septerra Core would be a good game (maybe one of the best) to base a d20 remake off of, but I would like to see more of your work to accomplish that goal instead of your demanding of responses to a thread that hasn't been updated in several months.

(Hint - one way to get responses on your setting would be to continuously update it, instead of letting it sink into oblivion)
lulzapalooza
01-05-08, 11:11 PM I changed the name from Brokenterra to Traum

Traum

Factions in Traum:

Epoch of Change Amalgamation: After the world broke into pieces the elves found themselves under the angry sky, and more than any other race realized the wrath of the gods. The three fragments of the Elven nations threw aside their petty differences and joined together to find a way to love freely and honor the gods and the order of things. At best the Elves of the Amalgamation are understanding and humane, but at worst, they are aloof and angry at those who they deem petty.

Midlands Association: The humans, Halflings, and orcs on the continent of Midland quickly realized their way of life and their very existence was threatened by the Amalgamation and their more fanatical ways. The Midlands Association are called defenders and terrorists, crusaders and villains, civilian militia and highly trained military outfit, all in the same areas of operation. Not at all organized, the Midlands Association is more an ideal that certain headstrong individuals mantle themselves with, and call themselves Associates. The Amalgamation has had a hell of a time locating the center of command for the Association, because, they fail to realize that there is no head.

Tribes of Charr: The numerous tribes of orcs on the Midland continent have only one thing in common; love of combat. They call Midland by the name their orc ancestors called the world before the cataclysm, Charr, when the orcs were one unified people. The Orcs of Charr were one of the few races to see the cataclysm before it happened, and only they knew the true reason for it happening, but that information died with the degradation of orc society.

The Word Inside: The dwarves and gnomes were one of the few races on Traum that had no difficulty in finding their place in the world; at the bottom, nearest the fiery Core. They built huge machines and forged great iron cities. They saw perfection in the things they made. Eventually, a few found perfection in themselves. The Word Inside worship themselves as individual gods, and the masses as the representation of evil. So, they work their hardest to insure that every individual is as individual as possible, never becoming as same as their neighbor. The Word Inside is also the ruling body of the dwarf and gnome continent, Tlalo [Tee-lah-oh].

Traum’s Core

The cause of the cataclysm was in the core. When the universe was new, Traum was one of the firsts worlds made, and it held a purpose great and menacing; it was a prison for an evil horrible and infinite. A demon called Ys [Eez] was held there for crimes against reality by the forces that created the universe. Eez eventually learned to talk to those who led normal lives on Traum, and eventually convinced an orc woman named Sal gather him worshippers and to dig a temple down into the planet’s core, for him to escape. When the temple reached down, he made his dash for freedom, nearly destroying the world in the effort. No one knows whether he succeeded in his escape, not even the Lords of Creation who imprisioned him there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lulzapalooza 08-07-07, 12:21 AM	Ever heard of the game septerra? Well he's my campaign based off it. I was thinking of a world with a central core of liquid-hot iron, and orbiting around are eight continents or layers, massive iron plates covered in dirt and grime where the denizens of the Brokenterra manage to grow just enough food by the light of the maulten core to survive. Trees are rare, and wood is a precious commodity. The elves live on the top layer, where they study art and crap and get the only few rays of sunlight from between the dark cloudy blight of a sky and are generaly ignored as non-players in the world. The dwarves and gnomes occupy the lowest layers, where the are the pinacle of industry and engage in bloody civil wars with each other. Halflings and humans live in small farming villages in the middle layers, living between orc raids and other disasters, they pine for the days when the world was made of dirt and are the few races that remember that once the world was whole. Drugs are a persistant part of every culture, and questions of legality are mute, because ideas of 'law' are abstract and personal. There are three generaly accepted religions. The elves worship the sun and the written word in a vague 'everybody is right and nobody is wrong' sort of way. Dwarves and gnomes worship themselves and the things they make, they seek to better themselves as much as they can, the monk is a common class for both races, and they've developed the word 'Innerism' to represent their belief in themselves as 'indivual gods.' Humans usually worship Aphorith, the angel that sacrificed his life in an ultimatily futile attempt to heal the broken world; they believe that by proving to the gods they've repented and atoned the world will be made whole again. The halflings are usually cynically atheistic. Orcs worship everything from rocks to the sky; they're not picky. A sword called Urfink'a Gual, which is orc for 'everything' is the one thing almost every agrees is worth worshipping, and the orc race engages in a neverending war to posses the 'god-sword' which changes owners almost every day. Hydrogen filled zephlins plated in iron called Dragons are the only ways to travel from layer to layer, and wars are usually decided in the air between the cores. Cities are pretty much non-existant because there's not enough food to support alot of people in a single area, except for the mining city of "Core," which sits on the iron core of the planet. Oh yeah, and there are tanks. I've loved the idea of tanks and swords since I've seen Nausicaa of the Valey of Wind. Nobody believes in monsters anymore, on the Brokenterra, because so few people see them. They usually are ancient creatures hidden in places nobody remembers, or the descendents of creatures hidden for centuries. The exception is aboliths, which are very much accepted as fact, and are feared as much as anything possible. In my campaign aboliths fly and pass on memories from one generation to the next, so they know everything that happened since their creation, which they claim coincided with the creation of time. They spend all their time floating around in the dark clouds that surround the world pining over their races former glory. Oh yeah, and my campaign has electric guitars.
queenfange 08-07-07, 09:32 AM	I've never heard of "Septerra", so all my feedback is just about what you posted, not related to whatever other materials it may be linked to. Sounds a bit nutty. I don't mean that in a bad way, it just feels rather spazz-tastic. If that's what you're going for (which it seems you are), that's great. For players looking for a very logical world, it might not work; if most people are farmers or warriors, why would anyone have the resources to build an electric guitar, much less bother making one. Also, tanks rather make swords obsolete. The religions sound cool, much more inventive than just giving different deities to each race. Is it safe to assume that there's a lot of racism and/or xenophobia? With the unsafe state of the world and great variety in views, it doesn't seem like many races would get along well with each other.
lulzapalooza 08-07-07, 02:53 PM	I was envisioning the dwarves hating on the gnomes and vice versa for reasons nobody really understands, and an outsider only sees two diminutive and creative races knocking each other senseless. Other than that, I figure on strong bohemian vibes, everybody is cynical about just about everything, but no race has any strong gripes against any other. The dwarves and gnomes stick to each hating other, the orcs just do what orcs do, the elves couldn't pick a fight with a ten-foot-fight-picker and the humans and halflings are too meek to do much. So, no, xenophobia isn't a theme. And, iron-working is the most advanced form of technology on the Brokenterra, to the point that even a commoner's house has atleast an iron door or a ramshackle plated iron shack. Iron and electrical guitars go side and side in my mind. Tanks could be rare enough that a good ol' greatsword still had it's place. I don't like the idea of guns, though, but my tank would surely have a canon-turret. I'm seeing some strong steam punk/post-apocolyptic themes emerge.
lulzapalooza 08-13-07, 09:21 PM	Hmmm...Let's say the elves on the top layer were dabbling in genetic manipulation, and abberations were direct biproducts of the elven tampering with nature. Mindflayers and chockers could be subservient to elves, who look at themselves as the true masters of the broken terrain and rule with crowns of bone and fly about on ships that aren't made, but grown! A subclass of half-elf half-mutant elves could be grown directly out of the ships, as pilots permentally affixed and attuned to their ships.
lulzapalooza 09-14-07, 11:22 AM	Half-elves could be the biproduct of genetic study and breeding programs. Half-elves are the warrior class of the elves, who load them up in the ships they grow from biological sources, and fight human mercenaries for resources on the continent dirrectly bellow them, which is the only known source of gold; still the default currency all around the world.
LurkTheStool 09-14-07, 12:18 PM	For those of you who don't know, Septerra Core is one of the best computer games you've probably never heard of. I tore that game up multiple times, and still have some saved games that I play through every now and then.
lulzapalooza 09-14-07, 05:15 PM	For those of you who don't know, Septerra Core is one of the best computer games you've probably never heard of. I tore that game up multiple times, and still have some saved games that I play through every now and then. Yeah it is! I haven't played it in years, but it's unique style, especially the semi-christian, semi-pagan, semi-unique religion (as I remember it) aspects, those were cool. What do you think would be a good roleplaying aspect to encorporate?
lulzapalooza 12-22-07, 12:24 AM	This post hasn't been bumped in six months. That's a shame, because it's so much better than all the other variations of the standard D&D cosmology here on the boards. Won't somebody look this over and give me a non-stock response?
LurkTheStool 01-01-08, 09:15 PM	This post hasn't been bumped in six months. That's a shame, because it's so much better than all the other variations of the standard D&D cosmology here on the boards. Won't somebody look this over and give me a non-stock response? I think that to claim your particular work is better than everyone else's around is probably not the way to get proper responses. To start with, I have heard of Septerra Core, and it is a wonderful game; I played it many times through when it first came out. You seem to be describing a "campaign setting" based on similarities to Septerra Core, not a cosmology. In fact, I'm not sure what you're asking in your most recent post. You haven't described a cosmology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmology) yet, you have simply outlined (vaguely) a setting and some religious sides. I think Septerra Core would be a good game (maybe one of the best) to base a d20 remake off of, but I would like to see more of your work to accomplish that goal instead of your demanding of responses to a thread that hasn't been updated in several months. (Hint - one way to get responses on your setting would be to continuously update it, instead of letting it sink into oblivion)
lulzapalooza 01-05-08, 11:11 PM	I changed the name from Brokenterra to Traum Traum Factions in Traum: Epoch of Change Amalgamation: After the world broke into pieces the elves found themselves under the angry sky, and more than any other race realized the wrath of the gods. The three fragments of the Elven nations threw aside their petty differences and joined together to find a way to love freely and honor the gods and the order of things. At best the Elves of the Amalgamation are understanding and humane, but at worst, they are aloof and angry at those who they deem petty. Midlands Association: The humans, Halflings, and orcs on the continent of Midland quickly realized their way of life and their very existence was threatened by the Amalgamation and their more fanatical ways. The Midlands Association are called defenders and terrorists, crusaders and villains, civilian militia and highly trained military outfit, all in the same areas of operation. Not at all organized, the Midlands Association is more an ideal that certain headstrong individuals mantle themselves with, and call themselves Associates. The Amalgamation has had a hell of a time locating the center of command for the Association, because, they fail to realize that there is no head. Tribes of Charr: The numerous tribes of orcs on the Midland continent have only one thing in common; love of combat. They call Midland by the name their orc ancestors called the world before the cataclysm, Charr, when the orcs were one unified people. The Orcs of Charr were one of the few races to see the cataclysm before it happened, and only they knew the true reason for it happening, but that information died with the degradation of orc society. The Word Inside: The dwarves and gnomes were one of the few races on Traum that had no difficulty in finding their place in the world; at the bottom, nearest the fiery Core. They built huge machines and forged great iron cities. They saw perfection in the things they made. Eventually, a few found perfection in themselves. The Word Inside worship themselves as individual gods, and the masses as the representation of evil. So, they work their hardest to insure that every individual is as individual as possible, never becoming as same as their neighbor. The Word Inside is also the ruling body of the dwarf and gnome continent, Tlalo [Tee-lah-oh]. Traum’s Core The cause of the cataclysm was in the core. When the universe was new, Traum was one of the firsts worlds made, and it held a purpose great and menacing; it was a prison for an evil horrible and infinite. A demon called Ys [Eez] was held there for crimes against reality by the forces that created the universe. Eez eventually learned to talk to those who led normal lives on Traum, and eventually convinced an orc woman named Sal gather him worshippers and to dig a temple down into the planet’s core, for him to escape. When the temple reached down, he made his dash for freedom, nearly destroying the world in the effort. No one knows whether he succeeded in his escape, not even the Lords of Creation who imprisioned him there.