Post/Author/DateTime	Post
77IM 04-15-04, 08:56 PM	I've been mulling over this setting in my brain for some time now (it was one of my entries to the setting search contest), and keep meaning to write some of this stuff down, and I figure maybe I'll be more inclined to do so if I have an audience. Enjoy! -- 77IM Note: If you're like me and don't like reading large amounts of dense text before finding out what a homebrew world is really all about, you can skip to later in this post to read a summary of the setting, or go to the 4th post ("Setting Search Submission") in order to get a quick high-level summary of the homebrew. The Table of Contents is located in the 4th post down ("Navigational Support") courtesy His Majesty. A Tale of Rebirth The Magicant Imagine a shard of crystal, 5 to 20 feet tall, glowing with an eerie light. Where-ever this light falls, a thin film of fine colored dust gradually builds up. This crystal is a Magicant, and the dust it produces is Essence: pure magical energy, naked and ripe for the harvest. For thousands of years, those who control the Magicants -- the nobility -- have ruled the land. It is through ingesting Essence and experiencing visions that clerics are able to communicate with their deities and cast magical spells. Although the nobles own the Magicants and are the driving force behind the Essence trade, only priests of the Church are allowed to harvest this magical substance. With the aid of spells cast by the Church (particularly sending), the major noble houses maintain far-flung holdings, although each country is ruled by a single family. The life of a noble is one of wealth, decadence, and privledge, but also intrigue, struggle and family loyalty. In olden times, the continent was ruled by an empire of elves, giants, and goblins, but it fell to an invasion of humans and orcs led by the prophet Jordana, so most of the current nobility is descended from humans, orcs or elves. The priests of the Church of the Pantheon does not concern itself with petty matters like controlling Essence trade routes or squelching rebellions -- they are concerned for the souls of their congregations. Only the teachings of the Prophet Jordana can lead individuals to be at harmony with the universe and the gods. The Old Ways, a druidic tradition still followed in remote areas, is a terrible heresy akin to demon worship, but an even greater problem is the newly formed Independant Temples. Although they claim to follow the teachings of Jordana, they do not bow to the Church hierarchy, and some are dangerously sympathetic towards Heartstone users. Most people, though, from dwarf merchants to halfling fortune-tellers, just try to eke out a living, working the land or plying their goods as their ancestors did. Although a high-stakes world of magic and politics constantly unfolds around them, they do not get to take part in it. Only the most talented of individuals -- wealthy half-orc bankers, gnome Essence smugglers, ogre cavaliers, dwarven monster hunters -- are able to break into the big time. The Heartstone The art of wizardry, practiced by giants in ages past, consisted mystical symbols, words and gestures that could draw magical power directly out of a Magicant, creating more sophisticated and powerful spells than those available to clerics and druids. But with the Church's iron grip on the Magicants and the impractical nature of a 20-ton spellcasting focus, the art was lost, studied only by a few eccentric nobles. One of these was Elbrecht Lauthgard, of house Lauthgard, now famous for his development (some say discovery), 60 years ago, of a simple cantrip: extract Heartstone. Magical creatures carry the power within them. Requiring no Essence or extra foci, creatures such as dragons, fey, and outsiders have long travelled the land, a source of danger and awe to ordinary people. From the body of a slain monster, this power can be extracted and solidified into a physical form: a Heartstone. About half the size of a human fist, the Heartstone is a clear, colored crystal. If supplied with Essence on a regular basis, it can be used as a focus for casting spells -- wizard spells. Elbrecht was an academic, and shared his discovery with his colleagues, who met it with eager excitement. Finally, the powerful art of wizardry was portable -- with enough Heartstones, it could be available to all! Research exploded; the price of Essence skyrocketed; the Great Monster Hunt was on; and the Church was not happy. Within 10 years, Heartstones were officially proscribed by the Church of the Pantheon, afraid of losing their monopoly on spellcasting. Deemed a wicked perversion of magic, posessing a Heartstone was illegal in many countries. But other countries split with the Church entirely, forming Independant Temples. Many nobles -- particularly the dwarves of the Mountain Duchies -- kept experimenting and continued to hunt monsters, driving several species to extinction. The gnomes, a hardy people of woodsmen and rangers prone to secretly worshipping the Old Ways, withdrew further from society, in disgust over the use of intelligent magical beasts for harvesting of Heartstones. The Church reversed its previous position on sorcery -- declaring sorcerers normal people, not the "tainted souls" they had been decades past -- yet most sorcerers kept themselves secret anyhow, afraid of the Heartstone hunters. Eventually the monsters began to strike back; cooperating like never before, they congregated in remote strongholds and defended them vigorously. It wasn't long before full war broke out, and for three decades, various nations, peoples, factions, and religions struggled for dominance. A peace was finally achieved with the Compact of Lienne. By the terms of the Compact, only nobles can wield Heartstones, and these may only be extracted from evil creatures. Nobles may allow Independent Temples to operate within their lands, but the Church of the Pantheon still has the right to harvest Essence from all Magicants. The end of the war was a load off of everyone's back. With peace came prosperity, the exchange of ideas, and the rekindling of old friendships -- and old enmities. Academies of higher learning sprung up, and many nobles used newfound wealth to sponsor the arts. Food production soared, and there was a new need for skilled craftspeople and entertainers. Wizardly magic improved infrastructure and living conditions in major cities, and the retreat of many monsters opened up new areas to travel and settling. So much has changed in the world... yet so much remains the same. For most people, the possibilities of owning land, getting an education, or enjoying the fruits of the Heartstone renaissance are only a dream. Those in power still fight one another over petty nonsense; only the sides have changed. And yet never has the future presented more opportunity for those skilled enough, lucky enough, and bold enough to seize it. Summary of The Magicant, The Heartstone This summary was posted on another thread, but I've put it here so people can get a quick idea of the world. Basic Description This is a world undergoing magical renaissance, full of politics and intrigue as various factions (noble, religious, merchant, and humanoid) struggle to dominate the ever-changing social landscape and take the most advantage of new inventions and discoveries. Of particular importance is the discovery of wizard magic, enabled by spell focus called a Heartstone. Heartstones are extracted from the dead corpses of magical creatures, and by sprinkling Essence on them, you can cast magic spells from them (as a wizard). This threatens the longstanding power of the Church, which for hundreds of years had a monopoly on spellcasting -- clerics can ingest Essence to receive visions from the gods and gain spellcasting ability. The Nobility controls giant crystals called Magicants which produce the Essence. Selling Points Lots of opportunities for roleplaying. There are a lot of competing factions, using diplomacy, subterfuge, or force, as necessary. All alignment restrictions are lifted (CG paladins, NE clerics of LG deities), as NPCs and their schemes are more complex than in typical D&D. It's a high-magic world, but only recently -- wizardly magic is still poorly understood and restricted to the nobility. But it does give the PCs a chance to explore the use of magic and how society reacts to it. Social changes that the PCs will be able to impact directly. Also gives the DM lots of leeway to invent variant fringe cultures. Low-Level NPCs allow any PCs that reach even mid levels to be significant, important people. All the D&D staples are here -- dwarven miners, half-orc outcasts, red dragons, and dungeon adventures -- but the world is full of unique twists -- dwarven wizards, half-orc nobility, red dragon freedom-fighters, and urban adventures. Interesting Races/Creatures Half-orcs are commonly nobles. Orcs (now extinct) are venerated as a race of courageous warriors. The known world used to be controlled by an empire of elves, giants, and goblins. Giants are now rare and isolated, but elves are commonly nobility. Goblins are a playable race and are very militaristic and team-oriented. Gnomes are more wilderness-oriented. They tend to live out in the forests. They generally dislike the use of Heartstones, because each Heartstone was taken from a slain magical creature. Ogres and half-ogres are playable races. Ogres are primitive tribal people known for riding dire elk. Halflings live in nomadic caravans with their own colorful culture, and are very gypsy-like. Organizations Dozens of noble houses rule the world. These own the Magicants, which produce Essence, the "fuel" of spellcasters. They are the only people legally allowed to weild Heartstones as wizards. The Church of the Pantheon is a unified religion that has worked with the Nobility for centuries, tending to the Magicants and casting spells on their behalf. Independant Temples are new religions created by those dissatisfied with the Church. Wizard orders, explorers' guilds, universities, and other academic institutions are on the rise. Merchant organizations are still dominated by the nobility, but indepenant middle-class merchants are on the rise and trying to assert more power. The Old Ways is a primitive, naturalistic faith practiced by druids out in the wilderness. Most people think of them as dangerous heathens. In response to being hunted for their Heartstones, the monsters have organized into several resistance organizations. A number of secret organizations try to sway the course of events from the shadows. Magic The Nobility owns giant glowing crystals called Magicants. Housed in special chambers, whereever the light from the Magicant falls, a fine dust called Essence builds up. This is used by spellcasters as a sort of magical fuel. Clerics ingest Essence to gain visions from the deities. In these visions, they also get spells they can cast later in the day. (Druids work the same way, but they get their Essence from the fruit of great trees planted over top of Magicants.) Wizards sprinkle Essence onto their Heartstones when preparing spells, and can then cast spells out of the Heartstone later (the Heartstone acts as a focus and is not consumed by spellcasting). Magical creatures are the source of the Heartstones -- each creature, when slain, can be made into a single Heartstone. The stronger the creature the higher level spells can be cast from that Heartstone. Sorcerers & bards are decended from magical creatures and cast spells normally, but are rare because of persecution. Locations The main location is the city of Lienne, in the republic of Renflour (ruled by a council of noble houses, as opposed to most countries which are ruled by a single noble house). There are also a lot of countries. Most noble houses are spread out, with holdings in multiple countries (thanks to long-distance communication magic). Other This world, for the most part, follows basic D&D rules -- you don't need to learn a whole new spellcasting system or wonder about the balance of custom classes. The most important rules modification is the Essence rules (listed under Magic, above), which basically boils down to, "it costs a few GP to prepare spells each day."
77IM 04-20-04, 11:55 AM	The Nature of Magic Magicants: Between 5 and 20 feet tall, weighing up to 25 tons, a Magicant is a softly glowing crystal in the shape of a pointed hexagonal prism. The origins of these stones has been lost to antiquity. The Old Ways consider them fragments of the heavens that fell to earth in the aftermath of the creation of the universe, while the Church of the Pantheon beleives them to be gifts from the gods placed to help guide people onto the path of righteousness. Modern magical researchers believe that they represent the "fundamental energy" of the universe bound into a physical (potential) form. A Magicant under the control of the Church is housed in a cathedral inside a special Essence collection chamber. One-third of the Magicant is sunken into the floor, held in place by precisely cut stone. (Magicants are difficult to move; violent motion and exposure to sunlight both "dull" the stone -- ceasing its glow -- for a period of time, sometimes years.) The chamber itself is around 25 feet in diameter, with a pointed ceiling. Tiles on the walls and ceiling and standing up on the floor near the Magicant collect the Essence. As light from the magicant falls on the tile, it forms a fine sparkling dust, which collects in a tiny ledge at the bottom of the tile. Priests of the Church swap out the tiles periodically, gathering the Essence. A single Magicant can produce between 10 and 50 gold pieces worth of Essence per week. Followers of the Old Ways gain their Essence from trees known as mallorns. A mallorn is a massive oak with roots that twine around a submerged Magicant. The roots absorb the Essence and collect it in the tree's fruit, a soft, edible acorn. The sheer amount of magic infused in the mallorn manifests itself as a nature spirit known as a dryad. If the dryad is killed, she will reform within 2d4 days, provided her tree is still alive; if the tree dies, the dryad lives for another 3d6 hours, during which time she spends all her efforts trying to plant a new acorn above the magicant. Essence: One gold piece worth of Essence is a tiny pinch of sparkling dust. Kept in special tightly-woven waterproof pouches, Essence is the stuff of raw magic, used by all spellcasters. The "raw materials" cost to create a magic item is almost entirely Essence. Any spell with a costly material component requires Essence instead of the normal component (for example, identify requires 100 gp worth of Essence, instead of a 100 gp pearl). Spells without costly material components require no material components. However, most spellcasters require Essence to prepare their spells. A spellcaster PC (of any level) starts with 100 gold pieces worth of Essence. Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Ingesting Essence in this manner causes vivid halucinations and visions. These are often frightening at first, but if the character holds strong faith (in anything: the gods, him or herself, the natural world, science, etc.), the images gradually become meaningful. Clerics often communicate with gods in this state, and Druids commune with nature and spirits. A character without strong faith will experience horrific nightmares. Wizards sprinkle Essence on their Heartstones during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp per caster level. Unlike divine casters, a wizard only needs to prepare spells when he wants to replenish spell slots or change prepared spells -- so if he prepares spells (supplying Essence to the Heartstone) and then doesn't cast any spells for a few days, those spells will still be available without further Essence application. A wizard prepares and casts spells using special gestures and intonations which, for poorly understood reasons, shape the magical energy within the Heartstone and then release it into the world. A sorcerer doesn't need to consume any Essence to prepare or cast spells. A spell with a costly material component still requires Essence, though. She must merely be touching the Essence during the spellcasting in order to use it. The noble families also have a long tradition of using Essence to increase their physical and mental capabilities. A large tub is filled with a mixture of Essence and special oils, and the noble in question is submerged in the tub. (This costs 5000 gp for a medium-sized noble.) At first, the Essence bath is pleasant. The noble's perceptions expand and her mind opens up to new possibilities. Then her thoughts turn dark and the process becomes excruciatingly painful. This torturous state lasts for hours. Nobles that can withstand it with their sanity intact (those with Wisdom scores of 13+) emerge as scions, capable of moving with fluid grace and sensing things that others miss. Those nobles who can't stand the bath's effects usually recover in a month or so, with nothing but a painful memory to show for it. Heartstones: A Heartstone is a colored gemstone sized somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball. It is formed from congealed magical energy extracted from the corpse of a magical creature. Someone trained as a wizard can use mystical gestures and intonations to shape magical fields within the Heartstone, and then later can release these fields, which in turn shape the universe. (This can actually be done using a Magicant as well, but they are too large to use as a practical spellcasting focus and the Church of the Pantheon does not allow it.) The power of a Heartstone is based on the type of creature that it came from: Dragon, Fey, Outsider: creature's HD + 2. Magical Beast, Elemental: creature's HD. Abberation: creature's HD - 2. Animal, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, Ooze, Plant, Vermin: 0. A wizard's spell casting level and caster level are capped by this amount. For example, a 7th-level wizard using a power-5 Heartstone casts as a 5th-level wizard. The current market price of a Heartstone is its power squared times 100 gold pieces (so a power-5 Heartstone is worth 2500 gp, a power-20 Hearstone is worth 40,000 gp). All wizard PCs start with a power-5 Heartstone. (Dwarves in the Mountain Duchies farm cockatrice to produce these low-power Heartstones.) Heartstone fragments are sometimes required as "raw materials" in the creation of magic items. A Heartstone loses all attributes associate with the creature it came from except for its power, although there are rumors of "tainted Heartstones" that gradually impart the former creature's mentality and alignment upon their posessors. However, it is possible to unlock these monstrous aspects. A person who implants a Heartstone in their own body will gradually transform into the monster that produced it, taking levels in the relevant monster class. Once this transformation has begun, it can't be undone by mortal magic -- the Heartstone itself dissolves into the person's blood and can't be removed. The Church of the Pantheon considers this to be a travesty, and most people find it downright creepy. Extract Heartstone Universal Level: Sor/Wiz 0 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Targets: 1 corpse of a living creature Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No Magical energy pours from the creature and congeals in your hand, forming a Heartstone. If the corpse has been dead less than a minute, this is automatic. Otherwise, success requires a caster level check (1d20 + caster level), DC 10 + 1 per hour the corpse has been dead. (If you fail the check, you are unable to extract a Heartstone from this corpse, but another caster may try.)
77IM 04-20-04, 11:57 AM	Major Countries of the Known World The following are the most significant nations of the known world. Each has its own language, although the language of the Mountain Duchies is dwarven, the language of Ponderry is elven, and the language of Corsom is orcish. Gnomes, goblins and humans have no racial language; the halflings, lacking a nation, retain their own language (called Loshan), and what ogres and giants can still be found speak Giant. There is no common tongue, but each character begins knowing their home language, racial language (if any), and the language of the country where the campaign will take place (or one other country, if that is their home language). Renflour: A broad peninsula bordered by the Mountain Duchies to the north and the Renlinean Sea to the south, Renflour is a centrally located nation based on trade and commerce. Unlike most neighboring countries, Renflour is a republic, ruled by a council of representatives of various noble families; although the country has been stable for hundreds of years, the political landscape is rife with intrigue. Renflour was the capital of the ancient Renlinean Empire, and current noble houses fear that if the nation was unified it could become too powerful, which led to the formation of the republic (although each house would love to unify the country under their own banner). Renflour has a warm, mild climate, with low rolling hills and sparse forest. The country is famous for its orchards, which criss-cross the land and produce fine fruits and fine wines. Renlinean ruins can be found in every major settlement and many parts of the wilderness, and most people live in stone houses with clay roofs. The people of Renflour have a strong musical tradition; Renflourian folk music, with its slow melodies and wide range of notes, is considered elegant and classy (unlike most folk music). Most rural commoners are devout followers of the Church of the Pantheon, but they tolerate the Independant Temples in the cities the way one tolerates a foolish child's stubborn fancy. With major ports pointed towards every country on the Renlinean sea and deep rivers that run right up to the foot of the Parthanian Mountains, Renflour's real economy is based on trade. Food, textiles, metalwork, and rare spices all flow through Renflour, but the real commodity is Essence. Renflour itself has more Magicants than most nations, thanks to the efforts of the Renlinean giants, and the noble houses have made sure that Renflourian Essence can be converted into power and influence. The capital city of Renflour is Lienne. As the biggest port and the center of government, Lienne is a bustling modern city built around the graceful stone architecture of ancient Renlinea. Known as the "city of falling water" or the "city of aqueducts," Lienne contains a broad network of still-functioning elevated aqueducts that carry an entire river's worth of water from the nearby hills down into the city, powering fountains and private baths, and in some areas even supporting gondola traffic. These aqueducts join with and twine around the city's majestic stone buildings, and each public fountain is surrounded by a public park at least as large as a city block. Below-ground sewers guide wastewater out of the city into the nearby Li River. Although a trade city, Lienne's major export is culture. The nobles and wealthy merchants patronize the arts, and Lienne is on the cutting edge of both visual and performing art. Several of the most prestigious colleges are located here, and Liennese scholars are in great demand in many noble courts. People from every nation can be found in Lienne seeking their fortune; there is enough work around that poverty is fairly rare. [I]Frelund: To the west of Renflour, in the shadow of Zoltar, lies the vast, forested country of Frelund. The major geographical feature of Frelund is the Wyrwood, one of the last great forests yet unconquered, filled with dangerous creatures. The Frelunders are a hearty folk, farming the land and hunting in the forest, many of whom secretly worship the Old Ways. They were never fully conquered by the Renlinean Empire but did not flock to the Church of the Pantheon either. Frelund is known for its beer and its highly trained pikemen. About half the population is human, with the rest gnomes and goblins, although an accurate count of the fey population of the Wyrwood has never been conducted. Garland: Centrally located between Renflour and Chirmont, Garland has been the front line of almost every major war, constantly conquered and re-conquered, each wave setting up a new monarchy. Although superficially strong, the rule of the King depends on the loyalty of the dukes, princes and lords beneath him, who are all struggling for more land and more power. Garland is something of a cultural hodge-podge, borrowing many traditions from neighboring Renflour, Ponderry and Chirmont, although they were one of the first countries to allow Independant Temples. Most residents are humans, although there are quite a few dwarf settlements in the mountains (and a few giants), elf and half-orc nobles, and some wandering bands of halflings. Goblin mercenary units also fare well in Garland, and favor the longbow. Chirmont: East of Garland and a stone's throw from Ponderry is the powerful nation of Chirmont. An elegent nation still heavily influenced by elven culture, Church of the Pantheon is headquartered in Chirmont, and it plays a major part in the politics of the country. (It was here that the Prophet Jordana led the human revolt against the Renlinean Empire.) The people of Chirmont are highly culturally refined, and highly value tradition; there are many holidays and festivals throughout the country, and people enjoy hosting visitors. However, the nobility of Chirmont has a deserved reputation for arrogance and haughtiness. Many seafarers, fishermen, and merchant trade operates out of Chirmont, which has a navy rivaled in power only by Ponderry and Jarlhiem. Chirmont cuisine is legendary, and the nation is a leading producer of grains. The population is primarily human, elven, half-orc, and gnome. The poor of this country -- the serfs -- have a very good life style compared to other countries, but social mobility is limited by the Church and noble power structures. Mountain Duchies: In the heart of the Parthanian Mountains north of Renflour lies the Mountain Duchies, a series of dwarven domains. The dwarves mine the rich metals and gems of the mountains, and use stone to build great halls, and sturdy bridges and roads which turn jagged peaks into tractable passes, and massive aqueducts channelling spring runnoff into usable energy. Nominally allies with ancient Renlinea, the dwarves built many structures for the elves and giants, but did not participate in any military campaigns, prefering to remain neutral. Dwarves are an outgoing and well-travelled people, running merchant caravans and controlling most land-based trade routes. Their skills as builders, craftsfolk, smiths, and wizards is also in high demand, although the Mountain Duchies themselves must import most of their grain from lower countries. Dwarves don't distinguish between nobility and commoners in quite the same manner as other races -- fully half the population of the Mountain Duchies are considered "nobles," and the other half generally leads a pretty good life as well. There is no stigma against nobles marrying commoners, although for a noble to undertake certain activities (such as living in another country) they lose their noble status. Ponderry: The eastern half of the Great Isle is known to the elves who rule it as the Empire of Renlinea, but known to everyone else as Ponderry. Although their ancestral home was Renflour, the elves and giants who ruled that land gradually retreated to Ponderry during the great rebellion. A hilly wooded realm with poor farmland, they were allowed to keep this kingdom by the terms of the truce negotiated by the Prophet Jordana. Here the elves have lived since, in their majestic spired castles and quaint woodland cottages. Many goblins and giants, also refugees from Renlinea, can be found here, as well as a substantial population of humans farming in the lowlands. Ponderry is something of a mysterious place, seen as a land where everyone keeps a secret and the nobility is skilled at deceiving people by telling them the truth. The country's main exports are finely crafted goods and textiles. The state religion of Ponderry is known as Orthodox Pantheism, which recognizes the teachings of the Prophet Jordana but does not deify her the way the Church of the Pantheon does. They recognize the authority of the Church and in return are allowed to worship in their own odd manner. Corsom: A cold, vast land of plains north of the Parthanian Mountains, Corsom was the ancestral home of the orcs, never conquered by the Renlinean elves. (In fact, it during an invasion campaign that Jordana incited the humans of Renlinea to ally with the foreign orcs against their own elf masters.) Today, thanks to the Renlinean's use of the orcscourge, there are no full-blooded orcs left, but the region still contains the most half-orcs of any nation, as well as quite a few humans. Corsom is a land of grain farmers, shepherds and horse breeders, although exports are low as much of the produce is used up during the long winters. The people are proud of their heritage of independance, although they are united under their ruler, the High Prince of Corsom. A Corsom cavalry charge is fearsom indeed; their mounted warriors are exceeded only by ogre elkriders. Because it was heavily colonized by followers of Jordana after the Great Rebellion, the people of Corsom are very devout followers of the Church of the Pantheon, and Heartstone use is not very popular here. Zoltar: A cold mountain land of forested hills and perpetual autumn, Zoltar lies along the western reach of the Parthanian Mountains, north of Frelund. It was once a stronghold of giants during the Renlinean era, but no giants live there now. After the Great Rebellion and the death of the Prophet at the hands of the giants, Zoltar was a closed land -- none went in or out. 80 years later, when the giants had outgrown their land and tried to invade the fledgeling human kingdom of Corsom, all kingdoms rallied under the newly-formed Church of the Pantheon and crushed Zoltar, slaughtering the giants or driving them west across the steppelands where they have not been heard from since. This legacy of remoteness and bloodshed has hung over Zoltar ever since. It is a dark land ruled by corrupt nobles; the peasantry is a superstitious lot that cowers in their remote villages, distrustful of outsiders. Although most of the residents are humans and half-orcs, quite a few halflings and goblins live here as well. Zoltar is viewed as sort of a backwards place where the noble families send their unpopular kin to manage what meager holdings they have. Alluvan: North of Chirmont along the coast is Alluvan, a nation of passionate dark-haired people who are considered slightly eccentric. Long a buffer zone between the fierce raiders of Jarlheim, the folk practices of Corsom and the domineering civilization of Chirmont, the the Alluvani people have learned to roll with the punches. Alluvan composed of small regional factions, each with its own traditions and culture. Although they skirmish amongst themselves, they are very trustworth and honorable, and so alliances change with each generation; an old Alluvani phrase is "Former enemies make the best of friends." Alluvan produces a lot of livestock and holds some good farmland. Because of the nation's great diversity, Alluvan is very accepting of strangers, including Independant Temples (although most people are devout followers of the Church). Alluvan's population is primarily humans, half-orcs, gnomes, and ogres, with some wandering halflings. Jarlheim: A frigid northern island of rocky hills and pine forests, Jarlheim is home to small kingdoms of sea raiders. Tough and warlike, these barbaric pirates and pillagers are viewed as little better than savages by many of the southern nations, especially Chirmont. In actual fact, many Jarlmen are quite well-travelled and highly educated, and only plunder ships that intrude upon their territory. Most people of Jarlheim are gnomes and ogres, who work well together on a ship's rigging, but quite a few hardy humans and half-orcs can be found here as well. The traditional religion is Orthodox Pantheism, jokingly called "Unorthodox Pantheism" by many because of its suspicious similarities to the Old Ways. Treothe: This kingom southwest of Frelund was much stronger during the Renlinean Empire, when it was a warlike region dominated by goblins. Most of their best and brightest died on the front lines defending the Empire, so when the humans, gnomes, and half-orcs from the north swept through, they were able to subdue the once-proud nation with ease. Treothe today is a place of many strange traditions. The dry climate has preserved many of the old Renlinean buildings, and the warlike culture of the goblins has led to much infighting and struggling against neighbors Ombroten and Anku. The people of Treothe are known for their fierce loyalty to their allies and love of spicy foods. They are very pious members of the Church of the Pantheon -- Independant Temples are forbidden -- but have a number of odd religious practices. For example, they hold Prayermeet once a day, just after sundown, instead of once per week. Erindu: A pagan nation to the south across the Greensea, the people of Erindu -- predominantly halflings, goblins and elves -- live primarily along the shores of the great River Velm. Yearly floods fertilize the growing plains and deltas and keep the surrounding jungle at bay. Erindu is the ancestral home of the halfling clans known as Losha who wander the continent to the north. Ancient Erindu fought a series of wars with ancient Renflour, but ultimately lost, resulting in the Renlinean Empire, which used grain from Erindu to feed its vast armies. The Great Revolution never quite made it to Erindu, but it broke free of Ponderry soon afterwards, and the people here still openly practice the old ways. Most think them primitive, as they wear little clothing and enjoy strange body modification like tatoos, peircings, and limb extension, but scholars believe that the Erindese had discovered writing and arithmatic long before the peoples of the north. [Edit: After drawing the map, I realized that two more of the countries on it should probably be considered "major" by the standards above (having their own language, having major impact on international politics).]
77IM 04-20-04, 12:04 PM	Several aspects of the world have changed since I first submitted this but the basic premise is the same. I think the format required by the setting search actually produces very good campaign-world summaries. -- 77IM Heartstone Renaissance CORE ETHOS SENTENCE In a world undergoing a renaissance of higher learning and rapid social change, clever wizards, scheming nobles, ambitious priests, and dreadful monsters struggle to control the most prized resource: magic. WHO ARE THE HEROES? Heroes are those driving social change or taking advantage of it -- from wizards discovering new spells, to mercenaries out to make a buck by slaying monsters, to thieves stealing magic power itself, to champions fighting against (or for) the ruling hegemony, to demihumans seeking to return to their former glory. WHAT DO THEY DO? Many heroes are on the leading edge of magical research, seeking out ancient magical artifacts and near-extinct monsters in order to acquire new magical power. Magic is a resource controlled by those in power; some heroes seek to maintain this order, while others work against such tyranny (real or perceived). THREATS, CONFLICTS, VILLAINS An uneasy balance exists between the various wizard, noble, and Church factions that rule the world, often erupting into open conflict. Fantastic magical beasts are becoming more and more dangerous as well, as they are being hunted into extinction and driven from their old homes. But the biggest danger of all might be the wizards, whose reckless experiments into the nature of magic often have dire consequences. NATURE OF MAGIC Magic comes from a substance known as essence, a liquid energy emitted from gigantic crystals. The Church has controlled these crystals for millennia; priests ritually consume essence to gain divine spellcasting abilities. Nobles bathe in essence to increase their physical powers, and weapons infused with essence become enchanted. The discovery of heartstones -- tiny crystals that can be extracted from the hearts of (dead) magical creatures and infused with essence to produce arcane spells -- has led to an era of rapid magical experimentation. Wizards wield these powerful relics to cast spells, while witches and warlocks implant heartstones directly into their own bodies, gradually transforming themselves into magical beasts. WHAT’S NEW? WHAT’S DIFFERENT? The world is an exploration of the effects of magic -- the ultimate technology -- on a medieval human society. It is a fantasy world in a renaissance, both in atmosphere (rapiers are more common than greatswords) and in theme (new discoveries and social change vs. long-established power structures). The driving force behind the existing power structure is the control, production, and distribution of magical essence, and the new technology that is spurring social change is the magic heartstones (replacing such real-world historical elements as gunpowder, trade routes and the printing press).
His Majesty 04-20-04, 02:31 PM	Table of Contents - The Magicant, The Heartstone General Information Themes Summary: "Setting Search Submission" format Summary Summary of different aspects of the world How can you help? (Also read this) Art request thread Magic in the Setting Introduction - a tale of rebirth (Contains copy of summary) The nature of magic Magical summary Effects of essence ingestion Rituals of legend - altering magicants and heartstones Setting General Information Countries of the known world: major, minor Minor countries: Highcaster, Elrain, Lede Map of the known world Timekeeping Cosmology Society and economy: I, II Major noble houses Other noble houses: Varindree, Orvald & Caellethiran Classes in the world Races in the world Racial archetypes Race: The Scorned (Trolls and Hags) (Additional Theory) Monsters in the world Monsters: Dragons, Liches The city of Lienne: I, II Dwellings & domiciles Religion Major religions The Pantheon Religious texts Death Holidays Locations Grumbalor's Heart (Read the following post as well) Mallorn of Life Essencial Mine The Forge The Great Rocks Freeholds Joystones Tower of Light / Tower of Lies Destroyed Monastery of Magin Fornost (Read note here) Non-Player Characters Glóin "Heartseeker" Redbeard Elina Strongheart Obad Baldwin Orrin the Traveller Rurik Swift (Scroll down) Govardel Nos-Nethani Binqi, Son of Binli Farngach "the Necromagus" Dernyson Lord Fornost Sharm Dunsin Tumbleweed Shahanar The Three Travellers Troupe Organizations Guardians of Magic Dwarven Essence Miners Magicele Liberation Army Church orders and other religious sects Society of Arcane Philosophy Artificiers (Scroll down) Highcasters Guild of Exploration and Invention (Also read third post below) Shapeless Maea's Daughters Blackguard General Crunch House rules Skills and feats (New skills & feats, new uses and variants) Feat: Creature Transformation The Magicant, the Heartstone Prestige Classes (Download! (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/tMtH/tMtHPrCs.zip)) PrC: Soulguard Witch Hunter PrCs: Lightbearer, Heartstone Hunter PrC: Holy Swordsman PrC: Shapeless (Scroll down) PrC: Maea's Daughters (Scroll down) Playing in the world of tMtH with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed Spells Treatise on spells: I, II Divination (Field) spells Plane shift Polymorph, lesser (Scroll down) Magic Items and Artifacts Heartstones and Magicants in magic item creation Magical weapon enchantment: Mageslayer (Scroll down) New magical weapons Hammer of Glóin Redbeard (Scroll down) Giants' Redsword Anvil of Creation (Scroll down) Torc of Polymorphing (Scroll down) World picture Adventure Ideas Peasant Hunting Escape from the Tower of Lies! Miscellaneous OGL info To-do lists: I, II, III, IV, V, VI Status of collaborators, to-do list A small note on essence Note on monsters and the concept of the world General note Note about languages About the final formatting (and the next 7 posts) Please report any broken links to me.
The Swedish Viking 04-20-04, 03:03 PM	I am deeply impressed! You have done a magnificent work describing the Heartstones and Magicants and the Essence. I like this, and i like it a lot! You have in a wonderful way described how wizards earn their power and thus deleted a big ? from the world description. That the focus of the campaign lies on magic is something i see as refreshing and very interesting; many times have i tried to think up a good "magic"-campaign, and this beats all my ideas so far. I also like the uncertainty of the Origins of Magic. In most worlds, this Origin is something understood by any wizard worth his salt; which i often find rather disturbing (takes away a lot of the myserious and magical of a setting). I do, however, not like the idea of conspiring elven nobles found in some cultures. Somehow, it seems a little contrary to the elven nature. But thatīs just me, and it is the only thing i can think of that i donīt like with your setting. Please post more!
77IM 04-20-04, 03:45 PM	Thank you for your kind words! As for consipiratorial elven nobles ... they are nobles first and elves second. There are still plenty of non-conspiratorial non-noble elves around, but for historical reasons the upper classes are primarily humans, half-orcs, and elves. One thing I'm doing is removing most racial alignment tendancies. Goblins and dwarves tend towards LN, ogres and halflings towards CN, and all others towards N. The races have other tendancies, of course, but not ones that signifigantly impact alignment. More later! -- 77IM
77IM 04-21-04, 10:24 AM	Action Points The Action Point variant found in Unearthed Arcana is used, but with a few slight changes. 1. Each character gets only 5 action points per level. This amount does not increase at higher levels. 2. Action points can be used to add a bonus to a roll or enhance a feat, but not to take a special action, with the exception of stabilizing a dying character. 3. There are no XP penalties for multiclassing. Instead, if 50% or more of your class levels (not including Prestige Classes) are in your racial favored class, you may spend action points on the Favored Action associated with your class. If your race has a favored class of "Any," you can use the Favored Action associated with the core class in which you have the most levels (if there is a tie, it is the class that was most recently higher). Class Alignment No class has any alignment-based requirements. You can play a Chaotic monk or a Lawful Good druid if you really want to. Some classes have "Roleplaying" requirements which replace the alignment requirements, and other restrictions, like the Paladin's code of conduct, still apply. Prestige Classes All Prestige Classes will be linked to the campaign world somehow, associated with either an organization or a tradition. Prestige Classes will be used to integrate characters with the campaign world -- they are not tools for players to simply increase their characters' power for some thinly-veiled justification. Classes Note that classes may have additional rules regarding spellcasting and Essence (see "The Nature of Magic," above). Barbarian: The fighting style of the barbarian is considered primitive and savage by most people. Yet, barbarians still exist in remote wilderness areas, and can frequently be found in places like Jarlheim and northern Corsom. Roleplaying: A barbarian's rage ability stems from his strong emotions. A barbarian character who does not have strong emotions can't use his rage ability. Favored Action: Unstoppable Rage: A barbarian can spend an action point during a rage to gain a further +4 Constitution for the duration of the rage. This can only be used once per rage. Bard: The bardic tradition is considered part of the peasantry, and most bards are lower-class individuals with some talent seeking fame and fortune. Bardic magic is basically the same as sorcerous magic; in fact, bardic music was initially developed to help "disguise" sorcerer spellcasting when it was forbidden by the Church. Because of this, bards are still not fully trusted -- they are entertaining, but you wouldn't want your daughter to marry one. Roleplaying: Bards live by their wits, and must be capable of improvising and accomplishing their goals without a lot of planning. A bard who relies too much on advanced planning or systematic behavior is not able to use bardic music. Game Rules: Each bard gains the benefit of one minor bloodline, and may take a feat (Improved Arcane Blood) to upgrade this to a moderate bloodline. They do not need to give up levels to gain these benefits, but only gain benefits for progressing in bard levels, not character levels. Levels of sorcerer and bard stack to determine bloodline abilities (a character may only have one bloodline). Spellcasting: A bard doesn't need to consume any Essence to prepare or cast spells. A spell with a costly material component still requires Essence, though. She must merely be touching the Essence during the spellcasting in order to use it. Favored Action: Harmonics: The bard can spend an action point to begin a new bardic music effect while maintaining an existing effect, to use two music effects at once. Only two music effects can be used at once. Cleric: Clerics are one of the driving forces behind the political landscape. They control not only the souls of their parishoners, but also the Magicants. Game Rules: Clerics can be of any alignment, but can't cast spells or choose a domain that opposes their alignment (so an evil cleric can't cast good spells or choose the Good domain). Good clerics much channel positive energy and evil clerics must channel negative energy. Also, most clerics are pantheistic, worshipping multiple deities -- a cleric's choice of domains is usually based on religion, not a specific god. Spellcasting: Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Favored Action: Communion: A cleric can spend an action point as a full-round action to learn whether a proposed action will further the interests of her god or religion. This functions just like the augury spell, but the result ("weal," "woe," etc.) is from the point of view of the deity -- an action that might be "weal" for the character might produce a "woe" result if it is bad for the deity. Druid: As the priests of the Old Ways, druids are not common and usually keep their nature a secret, ministering to remote villages or just living in the wilderness. Their religion is considered a heresy for they put no stock in the teachings of Jordana. Spellcasting: Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Roleplaying: Druids must revere nature and the natural order, and reject the notion that humans are in any way different from or better than other animals. A druid who holds strong moral or ethical beliefs is unable to assume wild shape. Favored Action: Aspect: A druid in wild shape can spend an action point to gain the Extraordinary Special Qualities (such as scent and blindsense) of her chosen form for 10 minutes. Elite: Elites are gradually replacing fighters as the main warrior tradition; they are certainly more popular amongst nobles, who don't want to bother wearing cumbersome, unstylish armor. Game Rules: The elite class is a "light fighter" homebrew class, suitable for fencers, swashbucklers, ninjas, etc. Complete game rules located here: The Elite (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/Elite.doc). Favored Action: Speed Burst: An elite can spend an action point to take an extra move action during her turn. Fighter: Many wars have been fought, and fighters have been on the front lines of all of them. The fighter is a more traditional warrior, such as would be found in Garland or Frelund (in urban settings like Renflour, Chirmont and Alluvan, the elite is more common). Favored Action: Power Strike: A fighter can spend an action point to have his attack deal maximum damage, rather than rolling damage. Extra damage dice that are not multiplied on a critical hit (such as sneak attack damage or damage from a flaming weapon) is not maximized. Paladin: Paladins are almost all members of a Church sect known as the Lightbearers, although there are some paladins associated with Independant Temples. Never terribly common to begin with, paladins are finding it harder and harder to practice their moral righteousness in an increasingly complicated world. Consequently, they tend to favor frontier or monster-plagued areas. Game Rules: Paladins can multiclass freely. In place of a Special Mount at 5th level, a paladin can get a bonus feat, selected from the fighter list, at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter. Spellcasting: Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Roleplaying: Paladins can be of any alignment, but must still obey the paladin Code of Conduct. Favored Action: Death Smite: A paladin who spends an action point to add a bonus to an attack roll while making a smite attack also deals an additional +2d6 points of damage. Ranger: An ancient and tradition of wilderness warriors and skilled guides, rangers serve as the paladins of the Old Ways, scouts of noble armies, and crafty leaders of Essence-smuggling bands. With the discovery of Heartstones, capable rangers are also in much demand as monster hunters. Spellcasting: Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Favored Action: Smite Enemy: The ranger can spend an action point to make a smite attack against a favored enemy. He adds his Wisdom bonus to the attack roll and his character level to the damage roll for a single attack. If the targetted foe is not actually a favored enemy, these bonuses do not apply, and the action point is wasted. Rogue: Skilled and stealthy individuals are everywhere -- from the back alleys of Lienne to the courts of Chirmont to the ships of Jarlheim. Rogues excel in urban settings, at exploring ancient ruins, at bringing down dangerous magical beasts, and at smuggling Essence. Favored Action: Precise Sneak Attack: A rogue can spend an action point to deal sneak attack damage from greater than 30 feet away and despite cover and concealment. Scion: The second and third sons and daughters of the noble houses stand to inherit little of their parents land, so those who are worthy are given the Essence bath as a consolation prize. With supernatural senses and agility, they are master fencers and acrobats, known as scions. Game Rules: The scion is almost identical to the monk. She has Knowledge (Nobility) and Knowledge (Geography) in place of Knowledge (Arcana) and Knowledge (Religion) as class skills. Instead of normal monk weapons, she is proficient in all simple weapons, plus the rapier and the short sword. She can use her "Flurry of Blows" ability with any weapon that she could use with Weapon Finesse, plus the normal monk weapons. She can choose Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat at 1st level. Instead of "Ki Strike (Lawful)," she gains "Ki Strike (Slashing and Piercing)," which allows her to consider her unarmed strikes bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, whichever is most favorable. Scions can multiclass freely. Favored Action: Heightened Awareness: As a free action, a scion can spend an action point to add her Wisdom modifier to her Reflex saves and to any Strength- or Dexterity-based skill checks for one minute. Sorcerer: During the Renlinean Empire, elven sorcerers were the magical force of the nobility, working together with the clerics to conquer territory and maintain order. When the followers of Jordana overthrew Renlinea during the Great Revolution, sorcerers became targets of persecution, regardless of race. Because of their non-humanoid heritage (all sorcerers are descended from a magical creature of some kind) and lack of dependance upon Essence, the Church has suppressed sorcery for centuries, driving most sorcerers into hiding. Ironically, the Church now supports sorcerers and considers them allies against the dangerous Heartstone-wielding wizards, but few sorcerers have gone public because of lingering prejudice amongst the general population and a widespread beleif that the extract Heartstone spell works on sorcerers. Many sorcerers choose to carry a thick book and large crystal with them everywhere, effectively disguising themselves as wizards. Game Rules: Each sorcerer gains the benefit of one minor bloodline, and may take a feat (Improved Arcane Blood) to upgrade this to a moderate bloodline. They do not need to give up levels to gain these benefits, but only gain benefits for progressing in sorcerer levels, not character levels. Levels of sorcerer and bard stack to determine bloodline abilities (a character may only have one bloodline). Spellcasting: A sorcerer doesn't need to consume any Essence to prepare or cast spells. A spell with a costly material component still requires Essence, though. She must merely be touching the Essence during the spellcasting in order to use it. Favored Action: Wellspring: Instead of expending a spell slot to cast a spell, a sorcerer can spend an action point. Wizard: Long ago, the giants practiced wizardry in secret cabals gathered around a Magicant. With the discovery of Heartstones, this art was revived by the nobility, and practicing wizards can be found in all houses in all lands. Officially, the use of Heartstones is forbidden by the Church, but the nobles are considered to be using the Heartstones as a "necessary evil" and are sometimes even portrayed as noble martyrs, although everyone really knows that this is the Church's way of explaining the compromise. Most wizards are members of the noble houses (those who are not, can be persecuted by the Church), and spend their time engaging in magical research and trading arcane secrets. Game Rules: Wizard spells of 4th level and above are not available for sale on scrolls, because such magic is recently discovered and not widespread. This scarcity also means that wizards must spend more time researching original spells and have less access to established spells -- when a wizard gains a level, at least one of the two free spells he learns must be one that is found on another class's spell list as well as the Sor/Wiz list (as it is easier to develop a spell based on an existing effect than from scratch). Wizards can't summon familiars. A wizard's spellbook is not magical in any way, but copying spells still requires expensive raw materials which are used in the process of learning to cast the spell. Also, Divination specialist wizards must give up two schools of magic, just like everyone else. Spellcasting: Wizards sprinkle Essence on their Heartstones during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp per caster level. Unlike divine casters, a wizard only needs to prepare spells when he wants to replenish spell slots or change prepared spells -- so if he prepares spells (supplying Essence to the Heartstone) and then doesn't cast any spells for a few days, those spells will still be available without further Essence application. Favored Action: Polymath: When a wizard casts a spell, he can spend an action point to spontaneously cast a spell he knows but has not prepared, expending a prepared spell of equal or lesser level. For example, a wizard who has a fireball spell prepared could spend an action point to cast dispel magic, using up the fireball as though it had been cast. Yeoman: The bulk of the people of the world are, and have always been, yeoman. Game Rules: The yeoman class is an "expert" homebrew class, designed to replace the expert & commoner classes, but remain roughly balanced with the other core classes (ordinary people simply have fewer levels, rather than a worse class). Complete game rules located here: The Yeoman (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/Yeoman.doc). Favored Action: Scramble: A yeoman can spend an action point to gain the benefit of a feat he does not have for one round. He must meet all of the feat's prerequisites normally. [Edit: Changed wizard specialization slightly.]
The Swedish Viking 04-21-04, 12:25 PM	This world has caught my attention in a way not many works have managed. The setting is rather unique and incredibly well worked out (mostly). The only part i really miss is a map of the world right now! And a little more of the history and important NPCs might be nice... ;) if you need any help, just tell me, and iīll try (though God knows iīm not the best of writers).
77IM 04-21-04, 05:39 PM	http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/tMtH_map.gif About This Map This map was made in Micro$oft Paint. It took about two hours. I did it at work while I thought no-one was watching. I had originally drawn the map on paper a few weeks before, as part of the process of creating the various countries. A benefit of using a simple program like Paint is that it keeps the map simple. It's easy to modify, and as a .gif file it takes up only 25 KB (slightly less than the rest of the graphics on this page; the "Other Worlds" banner at the top is 20KB). Many of the smaller nations indicated on the map don't have their own write-ups yet because they are not as significant as the major countries. Only a few of them have their own language -- Lede, Kresmaya (spoken in Anku) and Hunitania (several languages spoken). Most smaller nations don't have a large impact on international politics, a formidable army, or an influential economy. These countries share a lot of qualities with their neighbors, although each has a few unique traditions as well. The area represented is meant to be around 4000 miles across, square. It doesn't look square because it's a mercator projection, so countries at the top look slightly bigger (Jarlheim is really about 2/3 that size). The world's equator is about 1000 miles south of the bottom of the map, and the north pole is around 1000 miles north of the top of the map. Dark green areas on the map represent dense forest. In Jarlheim and Wanford this is pine forest; in Erindu and neighboring lands it's jungle. Medium-green areas represent light forest or mixed plains and forest -- basically, a normal mix of terrain. Light green areas are primarily plains. The largest part of that big green blob in the middle of Frelund is the Wyrwood. Swamps are not shown because none are large enough to appear on a map of this scale. The part of the desert shown is a sandy desert with many rocky plateaus and outcroppings. It contains a fair amount of desert vegetation (cacti and succulents). If you go west off the map it turns into 1000 miles of dry barren dunes. The jungle is a rainforest with really, really big trees. Hunitania and Erindu are mostly flat, while the unsettled jungle is low rolling hills and the occasional plateau. Many strange creatures live here. The frozen sea is full of ice bergs in the summer and freezes solid in the winter near the Steppelands. (The portion near Corsom is treacherous but solid only in the northernmost penninsulas and islands.) The Steppelands are rocky rolling plains punctuated by plateaus, rocky outcroppings, and dry river beds. The vegetation is mostly grasses and shrubs. The area doesn't get much rain, but gets sufficient snow during the winter to support more life than the desert. The eastern part of the Parthnanian Mountains in Garland is volcanically active, although there hasn't been an eruption in hundreds of years -- just occasional smoke and steam. There are a few active volcanoes in Jarlheim, and in the mountain range west of Hunitania. The map features three tectonic plates: the southern jungle lands are one plate, which is colliding with a plate made of the northern lands plus the desert. This produces the Great Isle and the Parthanian Mountains, and the western jungle range. The Ocean also resides on its own plate, which is pressing against the jungle lands and the eastern side of the northern countries. All of these plates are moving relatively slowly by tectonic standards. Ocean currents go from south to north in a clockwise pattern, carrying warmer tropical waters up the cost of Hunitania, past the Great Isle, and into the Misty Sea. There they turn eastward again. This keeps the coastal climate relatively pleasant up through Alluvan, and habitable around Jarlhiem. Winds are generally from the east. Most of the rain water gets dumped on the jungle regions around Erindu and on the Great Isle, or the coastal countries around Chirmont, Alluvan and Jarlheim. This has lead to the formation of the vast desert west of Treothe. The vast windswept plains of Corsom get warmer ocean air during the summer and autumn, but are plagued by cold air masses from the north and from the neighboring Steppelands during the winter.
His Magesty 04-22-04, 06:09 AM	Are you going to post the Yoeman, Elite and Scion? That'd be interesting.
77IM 04-22-04, 10:16 AM	Unfortunately, these are in Micro$oft Word format. They are not quite done; both classes need changes to their feat lists to become fully 3.5ified. (Also, I made changes to the Elite's upper-level abilities the other day which I am not fully happy with.) The Elite (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/Elite.doc) The Yeoman (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/Yeoman.doc) The scion is posted above. That little bit about "game rules" outlines all the changes. For simplicity's sake, I try to change game rules to the minimum extent necessary. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 04-22-04, 03:30 PM	Organizations? NPCs?
77IM 04-22-04, 05:17 PM	Welcome to the audience participation portion of our program!!! You see, my dirty little secret, is that, even though they are central to the setting, I haven't put much thought at all into the noble houses themselves. Sure, I have some general ideas and guidelines, but no specifics. So, I'm soliciting help to come up with cool ideas for noble houses, especially from Swedes. Basically, each country (except Renflour, the Mountain Duchies, and Jarlheim) is ruled by a single noble family, but other noble families may own land within those countries, and not every noble family rules a country. Many of the smaller countries are actually named for the nobles that rule them (for example, Barriton is ruled by House Barriton, and Sengeral is a new country ruled by House Senge), but the larger countries are not. Each noble house has holdings in many countries, a scenario made possible only by clerical magic such as sending. (Heartstone magic such as teleport also holds great promise, although such high-level spells are still rare.) Each of the outlying countries (Corsom, Jarlheim, Treothe, Ponderry, and the Mountain Duchies) has about 3-4 noble houses. These houses may own land in other countries, but few other noble houses own land in those countries. The other countries (basically, anything north of Ombroten) are ruled by around 15-20 noble houses total. The vast majority of nobles are humans, half-orcs, half-elves, and elves, for historical reasons. There are a few gnome and goblin nobles, particularly in Jarlheim and Treothe, and some short human nobles who claim gnome or goblin blood. Here's the basic format for a noble house: Name: The name by which the house is known. This is usually the "last name" of nobles of that house, but not always. Titles: The default titles are, in order of rank: Sir/Dame, Baron/Baroness, Lord/Lady, Duke/Duchess, King/Queen. However, there are exceptions. Treothe and Jarlheim have their own entirely different schemes. Corsom, dispite its huge size, is only ruled by a Prince. Frelund and the Mountain Duchies are ruled by Dukes, and Ponderry still claims to have an Emporer. Race(s): The types of people which comprise most of the noble house. Most houses are homogenous, consisting mostly of one race with a few half-breeds resulting from marriage. Holdings: What countries the noble house owns land in. Most houses make their money by owning land and trading Essence; if the house makes money any other way, list that here, too. Religion: Almost always, the Church of the Pantheon, although some more liberal houses have switched to Independant Temples and some old families follow Orthodox Pantheism. Relationships: Other houses or organizations allied with or antagonistic towards this house. Personality/Customs: This is the fun part. Each house should have at least two noteworthy personality traits or customs, which should be somewhat orthogonal. For example, a house that is known for being "sneaky" and "clever" is boring, because those two traits are related. But "sneaky" and "religiously devout" is kind of interesting, and "clever" and "warlike" could be a nifty combo. This is to prevent the houses from becoming too one-dimensional. So please, post your ideas! However, I must insist on maintaining strict editorial control. I think a campaign setting works best when there is a consistancy of vision, and so I will not allow an idea into the setting, no matter how good it is, if it is not consistant with the vision. I'll try to elaborate on this vision now in case parts of it are not clear. 1. Most people think "Renaissance D&D" means having rapiers & firearms instead of greatswords & platemail. How boring. I'm trying to create a world that has a Renaissance feel, without turning the rules upside-down. The central theme, then, is an explosion of ideas (the new) in conflict with a system of tradition (the old), as well as the opportunities and chaos that this social upheaval produces. I've tried to emphasize this by holding up the Magicants as a symbol of the old and the Heartstones as a symbol of the new. 2. I would characterize this as a "medium-magic" world. Dispite the focus on magic as a technology which shapes society, high-level (or even mid-level) spellcasters are pretty rare. Any character above 5th level is noteworthy and casters above 9th level are major world figures (like archbishops or noble lords). So the amount of magic is reduced ... but the extremely clever nobles have really maximized their use of that magic. Someone who can cast detect thoughts or zone of truth will be doing so, a LOT. This has often worked out very well for the Church, but on the other hand, the Church's ethical teachings have also curbed the worst abuses of magic -- no using suggestion to take advantage of fair young lasses. Of course, with the advent of Heartstones -- unregulated, decentralized, dogma-less magic -- this whole order is being disturbed. It's sort of an arms race to discover the most abusive spells, and the commoners are the ones caught in the middle because they don't have access to protection from evil to negate charm person attempts. 3. On the topic of magic, "weird magical phenomena" is right out. I want the setting to be a logical exploration of the use of magic when it is a finite resource, so wild-magic zones, invasions of extraplanar creatures, or direct divine intervention would detract from the emphasis on human uses of magic. (Speaking of extraplanar creatures, they can be summoned, but don't do anything with planar travel -- it's pretty rare, and I have a highly variant cosmology planned with a fairly unique set of rules for planar travel that I'll explain later.) Similarly, the presence of monsters generally makes sence, i.e. they were never located near major population centers, and now that they are being hunted they are retreating even further. (However, the psychology of monsters is very different from humanoids -- dragons don't take over the world because it's just not what they do.) On the other hand, monsters are closely tied to the worlds mythology, in a way that reinforces the "old" way of looking at things. 4. Everyone should have a realistic motivation; nobody's just "chaotic evil" just because (although there are plenty of CE people around, they are like that for a reason). I'm removing most racial alignment tendancies (more on that in a later post), to allow for more reasonable diversity of individuals within a race, and all classes can have any alignment. I'm keeping the idea of alignment because it integrates well with a lot of spells and abilities, and I like the idea of personality directly affecting magic. But I definitely want it to be the secondary way of describing things. For example, I think it's a bad idea to include alignment tendancies for noble houses, organizations, religious sects, races, etc. Instead, describe how they behave, and it should become clear what alignment the individuals involved will be. 5. Finally, this is a more urban and cosmopolitan setting than default D&D. Sure, there are some vast tracts of wilderness left and dungeons all over the place, but political jockeying should provide a whole lot of factional conflict. With that in mind, I welcome contributions. Ideas for organizations and prominant NPCs are also welcome -- I don't have many of these yet either. My general plan was to get the world done to a certain level of detail (I will be posting Religions and Races very soon), and then drill-down onto the city of Lienne to flesh out details. -- 77IM
77IM 04-22-04, 05:41 PM	Major Religions Church of the Pantheon History: The Prophet Jordana began her ministry at the height of the Renlinean Empire, when they were exhausting their resources and relationships in her homeland of Chirmont in order to supply an invasion of Corsom. The Old Ways offered little solace to the underclasses -- mostly humans and gnomes -- and Jordana's message spread rapidly. After the Great Revolution and her death at the behest of the giants, her closest follwers began to codify her teachings and set up permanent ministries, seizing all the Magicants in the name of the gods. They controlled the Magicants directly until the War of the Thrones, in which noble factions, attempting various land-grabs, took possession of the Magicants by threat of force. But since Clerics were the only ones who could use the Essence, the Church retained the rights to Essence harvesting that they have today. Practice: The head of the Church hierarchy is the High Priest, headquartered in the Prophet's Basilica in Chirmont. Each country's Church affairs are governed by an Archbishop, who presides over a cathedral. Local priests and bishops minister to their parishoners from churches. The main rite of the Church is Prayermeet, held once per week on a special day also called Prayermeet (which is actually considered to lie "between" weeks; a week is six days, and Prayermeet is one day, for a 7-day cycle). Prayermeet involves a sermon, scripture reading, and a lot of prayers. No-one works on Prayermeet; people are supposed to spend the rest of the day performing selfless acts of compassion, although few actually do more than help their neighbor put up a fence. Another common rite is the Balance, in which a member periodically explains to a priest all the things, good and bad, that they have done since their last Balance. If they have netted more bad things, they are assigned some "community service" to balance out the bad; if they have done more good things, they get a special blessing from the priest. There are lots of holidays associated with the Church as well. Dogma: The gods created the universe as a training ground for mortal souls. Those souls which are virtuous can, after death, go to reside in the realm of the gods. The three pillars of virtue are compassion, courage, and faith. It is through selfless acts, religious devotion, and obedience to the Church that one practices and displays these virtues. Those who act against these virtues become corrupted and languish with the demons, forever apart from the gods. Only the teachings of the Prophet Jordana can guide mortals along the path of righteousness. Symbol: An upward-pointing eqilateral triangle inscribed in a circle (the points of the triangle touch the circle). It is usually quite ornate, with knotwork designs around the circle and radiating patterns within the triangle. Game Rules: Clerics of the Church can be of any alignment, and can choose any domains that don't conflict with their alignment. Even normally "evil" domains like Death and Destruction are allowed, although actually channeling negative energy is very frowned upon. A Church cleric can partake his daily Essence (and prepare spells) for free at any church. Independant Temples History: The Independant Temple movement was born out of resistance to the Church's forbiddance of Heartstones. If such magic could do great good and be weilded by anyone, why was that such a good thing? It seemed to some people that the Church had strayed from the essential teachings of the Prophet. The movement spread to several prominent noble houses, and before long, entire countries were splitting with the Church, founding their own temples. Each Independant Temple is slightly different, but there are enough similarities that everyone (even members) treats them as basically the same religion. Practice: Prayermeet is sometimes held in the afternoon or evening, depending on the Temple, but usually in the morning. It's a simpler ceremony, often involving singing and discussion. Community activities are often held on Prayermeet as well. The ritual of Balance is meant to be practiced alone, in private, every night before bed. Dogma: The gods created mortals out of love, as a parent loves their unborn child. Evil and demons exist where there is a lack of love. Mortals should cultivate love and compassion for all people and all things, to drive away the demons and make the world a better place. In death, those who reject the gods will be rejected by them, but all others who showed sincere peity shall go to the realm of the gods. Only the teachings of the Prophet Jordana can reveal the compassion of the gods. Symbol: An upward-pointing eqilateral triangle inscribed in a circle. It is usually deliberately quite plain, in contrast to the Church's fancy symbols. Game Rules: A cleric of an Independant Temple gets three domains, but has no choice about them: Good, Healing, and Protection. They can't get any free Essence from their temples. They can't channel negative energy; an evil cleric can't spontaneously cast any spell and can't turn or rebuke undead. Orthodox Pantheism History: Those who didn't buy into the Prophet's teachings right away were basically forced to do so at swordpoint. This led to the compromize of Orthodox Pantheism, in which some of the rituals and beliefs of the old ways were integrated with the teachings of Jordana. Although they answered to the Church in the beginning, the Orthodox clerics gradually became more and more autonomous, until, during the War of Thrones, they broke away entirely (or, from the Church's perspective, were let go as an unneeded burden). Orthodox Pantheists have been persecuted somewhat ever since. Although no one runs them out of town with pitchforks and torches as they do followers of the Old Ways, they are not seen as trustworth or good individuals. In many countries, they were forbidden to own land, and they are definitely forbidden to build temples outside of their own lands. Practice: Most Orthodox Pantheists in most countries worship in their own homes, rotating between the homes of community members; those in Ponderry and Jarlheim have small shrines at which they worship. Prayermeet is held for them in the evening, and the ritual of Balance is held once per year and involves fasting. They don't celebrate the day that Jordana started receiving holy visions at all. Orthodox rituals are very mystical in nature and involve a lot of deep symbolsm. Clerics are expected to be knowledgeable about a lot of practical and arcane things, and easily accessible to members of their community. The religion has no central authority or hierarchy. Dogma: The gods and the universe and mortals were all created because that is the only way it could be. The universe is comprised of patterns and relationships which come together to form recognizable entities like gods, mortals, the world, etc. Through understanding these patterns and living in harmony with them, souls can understand their own place in the universe and become like unto gods themselves. People should act selflessly, for in truth there is no self, only the universe. Only the teachings of the Prophet Jordana can reveal the true pattern of the universe. Symbol: An upward-pointing eqilateral triangle inscribed in a circle, with a circle inscribed inside of it, and a triangle inscribed inside of it, ad infinitum. Mystic runes of ancient origin are written around the edge of the circle. Game Rules: Clerics of the Church can be of any alignment, and can choose any domains that don't conflict with their alignment. Even normally "evil" domains like Death and Destruction are allowed, although actually channeling negative energy is very frowned upon. Clerics can buy Knowledge (Arcana) and Knowledge (Nature) as class skills; if they already have one as a class skill (such as from the Knowledge domain) they get a +2 bonus on such skill checks. The Old Ways History: Practice of the Old Ways stretches back into antiquity. It begun as a primitive animistic religion, but by the founding of the Renlinean Empire it had evolved into a proper polytheistic religion with the major spirits getting rolled into a pantheon of gods. As Renlinea unified the land, local religions were integrated, leading to a slew of secondary deities, or demigods. The Old Ways present a largely uncaring view of the universe which encouraged individual power groups and offered little comfort to the oppressed; hence, when the Prophet Jordana began to travel the realm, preaching her new message, the Old Ways (which at the time didn't even have a name) suffered a major setback. Today, the Old Ways are practiced mostly in far-off lands such as Erindu or remote Jarlheim, although certain isolated rural communities still hold to the Old Ways right under the nose of the Church. Practice: Members of the faith revere the natural world and its power. They seek to understand the hidden mystical connections between things. They frequently engage in ritual sacrifice, difficult rites of passage, and "mystery cult" behavior consisting of chanting, dancing, and hallucinogenics. Dogma: The gods are powerful spirits which rule the universe, which is comprised of smaller spirits. Mortals were created at the whim of some gods, as the servants of others, and by accident in some cases. Mortals can gain power by forging a strong relationship with allied gods, but must also work to appease angry gods. In the afterlife, those who pleased the gods may be taken to live with them, while those who gained great power may exist independantly as spirits. There is no need for prophets, because anyone who listens carefully enough can hear the gods themselves. Symbol: There is no one single symbol of the Old Ways, but the symbols of the individual gods is often quite prominent. Areas and people associated with the Old Ways are often adorned with the Crystal Eye, a good luck sign and ward against evil spirits. It is a plus sign inside of a horizontal diamond, much like this: <+> Game Rules: Priests of the Old Ways are druids, not clerics. They may hold any alignment. http://wjs3.com/tMtH/symbols.gif
77IM 04-23-04, 12:58 PM	The Pantheon All of the religions listed above worship the same set of gods (with a few minor exceptions). These gods are not very important individually, and what they stand for varies from religion to religion. Most people pray to "the gods" in general most of the time, and pray to specific gods only for specific needs -- for example, they might pray to the Ocean King when going on a sea voyage, or to the Sky Lord before a trial, but on Prayermeet most pray to just to "the gods." During the ritual of the Balance, Church and Independants pray directly to Jordana. (Orthodox Pantheists and the Old Ways don't recognize Jordana as a god.) Clerics usually choose a "patron" deity, who serves as a sort of spiritual guide or guardian, but still pray to the pantheon as a whole and to other gods as need be. I haven't given these gods names yet, because each really has several names (in different languages). I'm not going to outline any dogma or practice for them, because they don't really have any; these functions are determined by the religion. These gods do factor heavily in the world's mythology, however, and many legends about people, places, or monsters can be linked to various gods. The Sun Father: A powerful figure of goodness and protection. Special patron of most paladins; prayed to by those beset upon by monsters. The Earth Mother: An ancient figure associated with farming, fertility, and motherhood. Prayed to by farmers and wives; married to the Sun Father. The Moon Sister: A mystical figure associate with magic, secrets, and femininity. Prayed to by magicians and anyone keeping/seeking secrets. The Ocean King: A strong figure of both patience and wrath, and wisdom. Prayed to by anyone who travels on or lives by the sea, as well as most merchants. The Sea Maiden: A playful figure of childlike innocence; daughter of the Ocean King. The Sky Lord: A stern figure of justice, bringing rain to the pious and lightning bolts to the wicket. Prayed to by farmers. The Fire Master: An intelligent figure of invention and craftsmanship. Prayed to by smiths, craftspeople, and artisans of all sorts, and those seeking inspiration. The Fire Mistress: A creative figure of innovation and art. Prayed to by artists, performers, and those seeking inspiration. The Huntress: A stealthy figure of hunting, symbolic of working one's way towards a goal. Prayed to by hunters, detectives, and treasure-seekers. Daughter of the Sun Father and the Earth Mother. The Aimless Wanderer: A carefree figure who just enjoys life for what it is. Prayed to by merchants and anyone who's under a lot of stress, as well as loafers. Brother to the Keeper of Time. The Keeper of Time: A impartial figure who marks the hours and records all that happens, in the past, present, and future. Prayed to by those who need just a little more time, astrologers, beaurocrats. Because time is money, prayed to by merchants and moneylenders. The Judge of the Dead: A forboding figure who decides whether a soul, in death, should be allowed into the realm of the gods or be cast out into the void. Plays a major role in funerary rites. The Trickster: A clever figure of using your wits to solve problems and defeat otherwise superior foes. A troublemaker, but only for bad people. Prayed to by everyone at some point. The Silver Knight: A noble figure of honor and chivalry; son of the Sun Father and Earth Mother. Prayed to by nobles and anyone seeking courage. The Golden Princess: A beautiful figure of romatic love, and parties. Prayed to by anyone who wants to fall in love, win someone's love, of marry of their children. Daughter of the Fire Master & Mistress. The Prophet: A devout figure of faith and compassion. Prayed to by anyone who needs spiritual strength and guidance. (Church/Independant only.) Evil There are no evil deities. In the Old Ways, there are no strong notions of "good" and "evil" and all gods are both benign and malign at different times. In the newer religions, gods by definition can't be evil; however, there are demons, creatures of corruption, destruction, and terror, which stand against the gods. No-one worships these, but some may attempt to bargain with them for power.
The Swedish Viking 04-25-04, 02:01 PM	BUMP... and this setting is still fantastic. Going to post a few thoughts (which you are probably going to ignore since they are so rotten and lousy, but still. ;) ) as soon as i can.
77IM 04-28-04, 12:39 PM	Peoples of the World Dwarves History/Relationships: Dwarven society developed on the island country of Lede. Although dwarves are not particularly good sailors, they found themselves on Lede early on, and thanks to the easily accessible metal deposites, they developed one of the earliest advanced civilizations, eventually colonizing the mainland in what is now the Mountain Duchies. They mined metal for the giants and were on good terms with their neighbors -- so good, that eventually the elves of Renlinea went to war with the halflings of Erindu over trade rights with Lede. The dwarves themselves are a merchant people, selling metal and stoneworking services, and remained strictly neutral in these battles, and in the future conquests of Renlinea; it wasn't until the War of the Thrones, when dwarven noble families fought to remain autonomous, that they took a stand. Dwarves today are a fairly egalitarian, almost libertarian society. The Mountain Duchies are a confederation of noble houses that bind together for defense, but rarely bother each other and so do not really need any central authority. Their legal system treats nobles and commoners almost equally -- the only real difference is that only nobles may own certain things (claims, armies, Magicants, Heartstones). Dwarven builders and traders are common throughout the civilized lands in all urban environments, but dwarf nobles must live in the Mountain Duchies. Dwarves are on the forefront of magical research; talented commoners who wish to use a Heartstone are sometimes knighted. Many magic items are also produced by dwarves. Appearance: Short and stocky, dwarven men are the epitome of masculinity -- strong, rugged, and sporting long elaborate beards. Dwarven women are noticably thinner than men, but are just as well-built, often looking trim and fit. They tend to have long hair with braids and ribbons. They live to around 150 years. Personality: Dwarves are extremely logical no-nonsense people. They enjoy personal freedom but also work well in teams. Dwarves maintain a relatively objective and unbiased viewpoint, which causes them to lack both pride and humility -- they usually have a good sense of their own abilities. However, it also makes them unsually blunt and undiplomatic. Dwarves have a slight tendancy towards Lawful alignments. Game Rules: Dwarves don't get any racial attack or dodge bonuses. Favored Classes: Fighter, Wizard. Elves History/Relationships: Elves, according to ancient giant lore, come from a land far to the east, and sailed here, arriving on the Great Isle. Their civilization branched out from there, colonizing the Renlinean sea, and eventually came into conflict with the Erindese halflings. (Scholars believe they fought over the metal deposits on the island of Lede, while priests blame the war on intervention by the deities.) The elves, with the aid of the giants and goblins, won the war and proceeded to form an empire which lasted for 800 years. Many countries were built up by the empire, although the bulk of their wealth was diverted to the elven rulers. Eventually, Renlinea tried to invade Corsom by going through Alluvan. Repelled by the orc and human cavaliers, elven sorcerers applied the orcscourge, as spell developed by giant wizards and crafted into wands, wiping out entire legions of orcs. At about the same time, the Prophet Jordana was preaching rebellion to the oppressed peoples of Chirmont. The elves, softened by hundreds of years of peace and drained by their invasion of Corsom, fell to an allied army of humans, gnomes, and orcs. Most of the elves retreated to Ponderry. Eventually a truce was negotiated; the elves would recognize the teachings of Jordana and stay on their island. This lasted only a few hundred years, of course; during the War of the Thrones, certain elven nobles sided with Chirmont and Garland against Frelund and Alluvan, in return for land and priveledge, and they began to spread throughout the land once more. The elves today are not a unified people. Many are involved in the politics of the noble houses, and most identify themselves by their nationality first, and their race second. Elves are very interested in Heartstone research, as their history of using sorcerers has taught them the value of arcane magic. Appearance: Tall and graceful, with long pointed ears, an elf's eyes and hair can be any color, including unusual tones like blue or green. They live to around 200 years. Personality: Elves are aloof and arrogant, and have trouble seeing things from other people's point of view. However, they are usually calm and serene, and very forgiving of the errors of "lessers." They usually keep thier emotions suppressed. They have no alignment tendancies. Game Rules: Elves sleep at night, for 8 hours, just like everybody else. (They still have immunity to sleep effects.) Favored Classes: Elite, Sorcerer. Giants History/Relationships: Giants are considered the oldest race of humanoids (even though the rules consider them to be of the Giant type) in this area of the world. They were once the dominant race, but gradually lost ground and resources to the smaller, faster-growing races. The giants sided with the Elves during the wars between Renflour and Erindu, and later became valuable members of the Renlinean Empire, serving as master magicians, sages, and, of course, builders. During the Great Revolution, the giants were targetted early-on because of their sheer power; although massive, they could be taken down by coordinated cavalry efforts or offensive clerical spells. Finally, to bring an end to the war once the elves and goblins had been beaten, the Prophet went to negotiate a truce with the giants. They had one demand: her death. She agreed, but not before issuing a strict warning to her followers: "Let they who raise their hands in revenge be cursed by the gods forever." Jordana voluntarily gave up her saving throw against her own slay living spell. Although this ended the war, the giants were now the least popular creatures ever, considered by most to be demons incarnate. Most giants retreated to what is now Zoltar, although some fled into the wilderness. There they remained for a time; but when they saw Corsom being rebuilt, they went on the offensive once again. They underestimated the strength of the new human-half-orc-gnome alliance and were driven westward. Those giants which remain today linger in remote wilderness areas and wish only to be left alone. Most worship the Old Ways. Appearance: The most prominent type of giants were the tall, majestic cloud giants, although these have all fled westward today. Now, only weaker subspecies remain: The ruddy-skinned fire giants, blue-skinned frost giants, and grey-skinned stone giants. Hill giants descended from cross-breeds between giants and ogres. Unlike ogres, giants are proportioned like humans. They live to around 300 years. Personality: Giants are patient creatures that prefer to think before acting (except for hill giants, who resemble ogres psychologically). They have a patronizing attitude towards smaller creatures, and consider themselves superior, although they are not particularly arrogant. Giants value knowledge and new experiences. They don't form very tight families or social structures, although they can remain good friends despite years of separation. They have no alignment tendancies. Game Rules: When I say giants, I mean friggin' GIANTS. They are playable as PCs using a monster class progression. There is still a lot of prejudice against giants, but it is tempered by curiousity, and they do have full legal rights in most civilized countries -- so long as they profess to follow the Church. Favored Classes: Druid, Wizard. Gnomes History/Relationships: Gnomes are a "little people," related to the goblins and halflings, who migrated northward. Gnomes are found in most lands, but are especially prevalent in forested places like Frelund and Jarlheim and Alluvan. Although gnomes were trod upon by Renlinea and eagerly joined the Great Revolution on the side of the humans and half-orcs, most weren't particularly interested in the Prophet's words, seeing no reason to change from the Old Ways. Eventually, most capitulated under Church pressure, but many predominantly-gnome areas adopted the compromize of Orthodox Pantheism, and some still worship the Old Ways in secret. Gnomes are a nature-loving people that can often be found in wilderness occupations like hunters, trappers, and loggers, as well as caravan guides and rangers. Many gnomes are completely horrified at the idea of Heartstones, because they are harvested from magical creatures, and lately whole gnome communities have withdrawn from interacting with the large world out of protest. Appearance: Between 3 and 4 feet tall, with hair in a variety of wild colors, gnomes look like nothing if not miniature, well-built elves. Unlike elves, they can and often do grow beards. They live to be around 100 years. Personality: Gnomes are a confident and rugged people, with a great appreciation for the outdoors and athletic activities. They have large extended families and usually know their geneology. Gnomes take pleasure in simple things and often enjoy working as artisans. They have no alignment tendancies. Game Rules: Gnomes don't get any racial attack or dodge bonuses. Favored Classes: Barbarian, Sorcerer. Goblins History/Relationships: The warlike goblins were the footsoldiers of the Renlinean armies. Based out of ancient Treothe and the Steppelands (goblins are thought to have migrated there from the south with the other little people -- the haflings stopping in Erindu and the gnomes progressing further north), goblin mercenaries signed on with the Renlinean armies against Erindu and were valued members of the Empire ever since, taking jobs as guards, messengers, and animal handlers. When Renlinea fell during the Great Revolution, most of the goblin soldiers died, but those who were more well-integrated with everyday society quickly jumped on the Jordana bandwagon and became part of the new order. Goblins today can be found in most major countries; many carry on the warlike traditions of their ancesters, but many others are ordinary peasant folk or craftspeople. Very few are nobles, most being low-ranking knights who earned their title in battle. Appearance: Goblins are not ugly wretches as described in the Monster Manual. Standing between 3 and 4 feet tall, goblins look much like human children with large pointed ears, fangs, and large eyes. Their skin and hair are a variety of earth-toned colors, and they tend to have higher voices than other Small races. They live to be around 100 years. Personality: Goblins are an active and disciplined people. They enjoy having a sense of tangible accomplishment, and strive to control their own emotions and the world around them. They are a gregarious people who greatly enjoy the company of others. Goblins have a slight tendancy towards Lawful alignments. Game Rules: Goblins have the racial features described in the Monster Manual, plus the following: * Advanced Training: Goblins are disciplined people who train hard. They get one bonus feat at 1st level. * Skirmish Tactics: Goblins train in combat against larger creatures. When involved in a Bull Rush, Disarm, Overrun, Sunder, or Trip attempt, the Goblin doesn't suffer a -4 penalty due to Small size. A Goblin who changes size has a penalty 4 less than normal on these maneuvers. Favored Classes: Fighter, Rogue. Half-Elves History/Relationships: Half-elves can be found in all walks of life. Half-elven nobles are the result of politically convenient marriages between human and elf houses; half-elven commoners are usually the result of noble trysts. Half-elves suffer no stigma for their birth and are judged on their own merit. Most identify themselves as either humans or elves, depending on how they were raised. Half-elves are widespread, but don't ever gather in enough numbers to form actual communities. The Prophet Jordana was technically a half-elf, although most consider her to be human (having been abandoned by her elven father, a Renlinean noble) and she is often depicted as human in artwork. Appearance: Half-elves look like a cross between a human and an elf. They are generally leaner than a human and have slightly pointed ears. Some sport unusual hair or eye colors. They live to around 150 years. Personality: Half-elves are adaptable and ambitious like their human ancestors, but are also cool and composed like their elven forebears, rarely prone to emotional outbursts. They have no alignment tendancies. Game Rules: Half-elves don't get a racial bonus to Diplomacy or Gather Information checks. Instead, they gain one free feat, but it must be one of those feats that just gives a +2 bonus to two different skills. Favored Classes: Any. The class (not including Prestige Classes) in which the character has the most levels counts as their favored class. (If they have two classes with equal amounts of levels, the one that was most recently their favored class remains favored.) Half-Orcs History/Relationships: Many people are proud of their orc heritage; in fact, most half-orc nobles refer to themselves as "orcs" and some human nobles with orc blood call themselves "half-orcs," but everyone knows that the true blood of the orcs has thinned over time. Once the fearsome and undisputed rulers of Corsom, orcs are thought to have originated to the east across the Steppelands (and rumors hold that true orcs live there yet). Their horsemen were able to hold off the Renlinean Empire for hundreds of years, until a renewed invasion force, invigorated by the orcscourge, finally brought the mighty hordes to their knees -- just in time for the Prophet to initiate her Great Rebellion. The orcs quickly allied with the humans and gnomes against the Renlineans and were able to beat back the Empire, ending its reign forever. Humans migrated to Corsom to rebuild, and the orc population, decimated by war, mingled with the humans, teaching them the ways of the cavalier. The resulting half-orcs, with all of the ambition and adaptability of their human parents and the courage and willpower of their orc parents, spread throughout the land, often assuming leadership positions. Half-orcs today can be found in most lands, but are especially prevalent in Corsom. Many nobles in many countries are half-orcs or claim orc lineage. Appearance: A true orc more closely resembles the PHB depiction of a half-orc -- tall and muscular, with dull skin, tusks, and a flat nose. The half-orcs of today are somewhere between this ideal and humans. They have enlarged lower canines, but these do not protrude from the mouth as true tusks. Their noses tend do be flat and their skin somewhat pale or dull. They live to around 100 years. Personality: Half-orcs are a proud and willful people. They are boisterous personalities who prefer to take an active stance in life and show little fear. Although half-orcs suffer from a lack of natural charm, they have a good understanding of the world and empathize well with others. Game Rules: In addition to their other abilities, half-orcs gain +2 Wisdom. Favored Classes: Fighter, Paladin. Halflings History/Relationships: The wandering hafling clans known as Losha have no lands of their own, but carry their culture with them everywhere. They are a somewhat mysterious people, living out of covered wagons, dressing in colorful clothing, and speaking their own language. Most people don't fully trust them, but they manage to find work at harvest time and perform odd jobs like woodcutting the rest of the year. They are most common in Zoltar, Garland and Alluvan, although their wagon-trains can be found winding their way through many countries. Losha are members of the Church but are usually not welcome at local cathedrals; instead, they have their own ordained priests and observe the rites of Prayermeet and Balance in their own unique ways. There is an entirely different halfling culture in Erindu and the surrounding lands; once, a strong halfling empire was based out of the fertile Velm river bed surrounded by the jungles. These halflings are pagans, following the Old Ways. Although they still have a strong culture, their country has lost most of its former glory after losing dominance to Renlinea. Many suspect these haflings to be the ancestors of the Losha, but it is not known whether or not this is true. Appearance: Around 3 feet tall, halflings look much like miniature people. They usually have dark hair, but not always, and their intense, sparkling eyes can be any color. They live to be around 100 years. Personality: Despite their reputation for reservedness, haflings are a fun-loving people who form strong family bonds and are known for their loyalty; an indebted halfling is a trustworthy ally. They are consumed by wanderlust and rarely form permanent settlements, except in their homeland of Erindu; they are generally confident and proud of their traditions and not prone to worrying about things. Halflings have a slight tendancy towards Chaotic alignments. Favored Classes: Cleric, Rogue. Humans History/Relationships: Humans are thought to come from a mythical land far to the west across the desert. They had colonized the northern countries, scrapping out a living amongst the giants and gnomes and orcs, by the time Renlinea came to power. Humans formed the backbone of the lower classes in the Renlinean Empire, working the fields and serving the elven and giant lords, and often serving as conscripted troops during invasions. As Renlinea grew more advanced and humans grew more populous without reaping the benefits of the empire they were helping to build, many grew disheartened with the uncaring deities of the Old Ways and with their elf and giant masters. When the empire began its difficult campaign against Corsom, the words of the Prophet Jordana swept through human lands, inciting millions to rise up against the ruling class in the Great Rebellion, aided by orc and gnome allies. The humans were free and quickly established the Church of the Pantheon as the official religion to replace the Old Ways. However, humankind proved just as ambitious and driven to conquest as the elves and giants had been -- perhaps more so. Within a few hundred years, prominent local rulers had set up hereditary rule and began to wage war on one another; each was attempting to conquer the ancient seat of power, Renflour. The first thing many of these rulers did was seize the local Magicants and force the Church clergy to ait them in their battles. The War of the Thrones, as it came to be known, lasted of and on for nearly 70 years, and was eventually ended by the Treaty of Barriton. This treaty set up Renflour as a republic and developed the Church/noble compromise over Magicants, among other things. This situation remained relatively stable for several hundred more years, when the discovery of Heartstones led to renewed religious skirmishes and power grabs, in what is now known as the Heartstone War. Today, humans dominate most civilized lands. Unlike the elves and giants of ancient Renlinea, though, humans exit at all levels of the social totem pole, and share their rule with other races; those in power prefer to judge others on their own merits rather than by race. Appearance: Human ethnic appearance is on a spectrum from "fair" to "swarthy," starting with the pale, blond-haired people of Jarlheim, gradually going south and westward to the pale, dark-haired people of Alluvan and Chirmont, the hairy orcblooded people of Corsom, the stocky folk of Frelund, and the tan-skinned inhabitants of Treothe. Humans of the southern lands have even darker skin. There are other regional differences and traditions in human appearance; for example, people from Chirmont tend to be skinny, Frelunders are stout, Alluvani are known to be handsome, and redheads are more common in Renflour. They live to around 100 years. Personality: Humans are a widely varied race, showing great ambition and adaptability. They are the most effective civilization-builders, and largely control the Church of the Pantheon. Humans have an unusual contradictory nature in which they desire freedom and a sense of identity, yet they often feel insecure unless they are part of a larger group. Humans that are spoiled with wealth and priveledge often become petty and childish, but those who grow up with adversity show a remarkable resilience. They have no alignment tenancies. Favored Classes: Any. The class (not including Prestige Classes) in which the character has the most levels counts as their favored class. (If they have two classes with equal amounts of levels, the one that was most recently their favored class remains favored.) Ogres History/Relationships: The ogre race is thought to have begun as a hybrid between giants and orcs after the orcs first migrated from the east. Never terribly populous, the ogres have avoided most of the wars and politics of the ages, prefering to live a simple life out in the wilderness. Not terribly bright, all ogres have an affinity for animals and a love of the wilderness. They have a simple tribal culture, living in wilderness areas as hunters and gatherers, although they are usually on very good terms with their neighbors (they get along particularly well with gnomes). They often befriend large animals for use as mounts and hunting companions; ogre elkriders (mounted on dire elk) are terribly dangerous foes. Ogres are most populous in Alluvan, Corsom, and Jarlheim, where they are sometimes sailors. Most ogre tribes officially follow Orthodox Pantheism, but follow rites and rituals that more closely resemble the Old Ways; the Church doesn't really bother trying too hard to convert these politically impotent savages. Appearance: Tall, muscular, and somewhat gangly, ogres prefer to wear their hair long and often with feathers, beads, or trinkets sewn into it. They are font of face paint and abstract patterns, and their skin and hair is often earth toned. Their large, orc-like teeth and sloping foreheads give them a primitive look. They live to around 200 years. Personality: Ogres are a simple people. They are passionate about life and prefer to follow their feelings and instincts rather than intellect. They form strong bonds with family and friends, including wild animals. Most enjoy the outdoors and the thrill of a physical challenge, and don't quite get why civilized races are so attached to their "stuff." They have a slight tendancy towards Chaotic alignments. Game Rules: Ogres are playable using a monster class progression. In addition to the game rules in the Monster Manual, ogres receive Handle Animal and Ride as class skills, and can use the Wild Empathy feature as a druid of their hit dice (this stacks with the Wild Empathy feature granted by the druid or ranger class). They gain a +4 racial bonus on all Ride and Handle Animal checks. Favored Classes: Druid, Ranger. Orcscourge Necromancy Level: Sor/Wiz 2 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 full round action Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./levels) Targets: 1 weapon/level Duration: Permanent until discharged Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (object) (harmless); see text Spell Resistance: Yes (object) (harmless) The ensorcelled weapons are charged with a mystical field that harms orcs. The next time the weapon strikes a creature in combat, the energy of the mystical field is released. If the struck creature is an orc, it takes 2d4 points of Constitution damage in addition to the weapon's normal damage. Creatures with orcish blood (such as half-orcs and ogres) take only 2 points of Constitution damage. Other types of creatures suffer no ill efects from the spell, although it is still discharged and they still take normal weapon damage. A creature struck by the weapon can make a Fortitude save for half damage. [Edit: Clarified elf sleep immunity.]
77IM 04-29-04, 10:10 PM	This is just to let people know that I've been editing the above posts with new information as I think it up. For example, I've been steadily growing the races post, and I just updated the religions post with info on holy symbols. Unfortunately the thread only floats to the top of the board when a whole new post appears, so I guess this counts as a --> BUMP! <-- But I don't feel bad doing it because I've been posting new content above. -- 77IM
77IM 04-30-04, 01:48 PM	Effects of Essence Ingestion Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Ingesting Essence in this manner causes vivid halucinations and visions. These are often frightening at first, but if the character holds strong faith (in anything: the gods, him or herself, the natural world, science, etc.), the images gradually become meaningful. Clerics often communicate with gods in this state, and Druids commune with nature and spirits. A character without strong faith will experience horrific nightmares. When clerics (and other divine casters) get their visions, about 60% of these are revisited memories -- the character relives some memory of theirs, but sees things in a new light, which imparts some measure of understanding and wisdom. Sometimes, the character is able to act differently in the memory than they did in real life; other times, they observe themselves from a detached position. About 35% of visions are dreamlike -- the character moves about in an ever-shifting landscape, encountering beings with the characteristics of people they know (sometimes multiple people or changing over time). The whole thing is surreal and, much like a dream, only occasionally helpful. About 5% of visions are "Lucid Conversations," in which the character speaks and interacts with a god, angel, or spirit. It is often a being the cleric feels an affinity for (such as a patron deity, saint, or deceased mentor), and can take place anywhere -- often, it is someplace signifigant to the cleric, or it is the realm of the gods. This interaction may not involve talking at all -- someone could go on a hunt with the Huntress, do battle against or along side the Silver Knight, dance with the Golden Princess, or just kick back with the Aimless Wanderer. Less than 0.1% of all visions are "Spirit Quests," in which the character goes on an extended journey of discovery in the realm of the gods, meeting a variety of fantastic (sometimes deceased) characters. These are usually of great significance, and the cleric sometimes knows when they are coming. They can sometimes bring their allies with them, if the allies ingest a small amount (about 1-3 silver pieces worth) of essence before falling asleep while the cleric prays. However, this makes the quest correspondingly more difficult -- the quest is always just hard enough for the person to complete it if they put forth their maximum effort (often an effort they didn't know they had). Success or failure on the quest has no in-game impact, but bodes well or poorly for the immediate future of the character; those that routinely fail Spirit Quests dwindle into obscurity, while those who succeed become great leaders. It is possible to overdose on Essence. A divine can ingest up to twice their caster level in gold pieces worth of Essence without harm; other characters can ingest at most 1 gold piece worth. Any character that overdoses must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1 per gold piece worth of excess Essence). On success, the faithful experience normal visions and the unfaithful normal nightmares, although they wake up with a pounding headache. On failure, the character experiences such intense visions that they develop a short-term or long-term temporary insanity (see Unearthed Arcana) [bet you didn't think I could squeeze the insanity rules into this setting, did you?]. If they fail their save by 10 or more, they develop indefinite insanity. If they fail by 20 or more, they die instantly. Essence is sometimes used as a poison, but it has a strong and distinctive taste known to most people, and so can only be delivered by feeding someone a large meal of extremely spicy food. (Essence tasts like 7-Up + 1000 volts of electricity.) Essence used as a poison has no primary effect, and the visions described above as a secondary effect. It allows a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1 per gold piece worth of Essence) to negate the secondary effect; people who willingly take Essence are assumed to be voluntarily failing their Fortitude saving throw. A divine caster who overdoses on Essence doesn't necessarily develop indefinite insanity. Instead, there is a percentage chance equal to the character's Charisma score that they will be possessed by an outsider. This "possession" is gradual, and really represents the character merging with the outsider. This being usually matches the character's alignment and outlook; a character that does not wish to be possessed can make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 outsider's hit die + outsider's Charisma modifier) to get indefinite insanity instead. A possessed character retains their own mind and personality but knows that they have acquired the soul of an otherworldly entity. As they gain levels, they take on the entity's traits -- gaining levels in the appropriate monster class for the outsider, until gradually they become the outsider. A Church member who becomes possessed by a celestial is known as a "saint." Anyone possessed by any other creature is known as a "witch" or a "warlock," depending on their gender. Under the Old Ways, most witches and warlocks were bound to elemental or nature spirits. Nowadays, it seems like most witches and warlocks harbor demons inside them (at least, that is what the Church claims). The Church demands that anyone discovered to be a witch or warlock be killed immediately. A character can also become a witch or warlock by implanting a Heartstone inside their own body. A person who implants a Heartstone in their own body will gradually transform into the monster that produced it, taking levels in the relevant monster class. Once this transformation has begun, it can't be undone by mortal magic -- the Heartstone itself dissolves into the person's blood and can't be removed. Because witches have such a horrible reputation, thanks to the Church, this process is rare; its discovery gave a lot of credence to the Church's claims that Heartstone use was inherently evil. Saints are respected by everyone and attain positions of prominence, but rarely leadership, within the Church. They are never created deliberately; the risk of indefinite insanity is too great. Most are young clerics who "accidentally" took too much essence and survived. Some scholars believe that the Prophet Jordana was a saint, but there is a lack of concrete evidence to support this claim. Essence can be injected directly into the bloodstream, but this is a very bad idea. Any character who has 1 gp worth of Essence or more injected must make an immediate DC 20 Will save, or suffer from permanent insanity. Even if they succeed, they get indefinite insanity.
77IM 04-30-04, 02:26 PM	Plane Shift Conjuration Level: Cleric 5, Druid 5, Wizard 5 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 full round action Range: Touch Targets: 1 character/level Duration: Instantaneous; see text Saving Throw: Will negates Spell Resistance: Yes The targetted creatures travel instantly to one of the alternate planes of existence. The caster determines the destination. He can specify any planar location that he's been to before. He can specify a plane he's never been to before, but everyon arrives at the same random location on that plane. Casting this spell while on an outer plane allows the caster (and targets) to change their location as specified above, or to end the spell (returning to the material plane). Note that planar conditions may make spellcasting difficult or impossible. Although the spell has a duration of "instantaneous," this is merely the length of time the travel takes from the point of view of observers on the prime material plane. Time travels differently on alternate planes than in the real world: no matter how long the creature stays on the alternate plane, when their travels there are done, they reappear on the material plane in the exact same spot where they left at the exact instant that they left. Even if one creature leaves the plane immediately and the others linger a while, both will return to the material plane at the exact same point in time. In fact, the creature isn't really physically travelling to the plane at all. Their mind and spirit travel to the plane, where an exact copy of their current body and all their current gear is replicated. Items lost or used up or magic item charges expended while on other planes do not actually get used up; they retain their original state on the material plane when the character returns. Artifacts can't be brought to other planes in this manner. When the character returns to the material plane, though, they bring all afflictions with them (including hit point damage, ability drain or damage, negative levels, diseases, poisons, polymorphing, etc.), and any other effect which stretches across planes also remains. A creature can never suffer permanent level loss while on an alternate plane; negative levels gained disappear 24 hours after returning to the material plane. Similarly, a characters abilities can't permanently change while on an outer plane (except through normal level advancement). If a creature dies or is destroyed on an alternate plane, they don't really die. Instead, the spell is broken, and they reappear at the time and place where they left the material plane, but suffer the loss of 1 level (or the loss of 2 Constitution points, if they are 1st level) just as though they had died and been raised. A creature on an alternate plane of existance can spend an action point to succeed at any one immediate task. For example, if you're climbing a mountain on an alternate plane, you could spend an action point to get to the top of the mountain. You can't spend a point on a long-term task; for example, if you're looking for someone, you can't spend an action point to find them, you have to go looking. You can also spend an action point to find a way to leave the plane (which ends the spell, dumping you back on the material plane at the exact instant you left). These action points are spent from your current total as normal, and remain spent when you return to the material plane. Planar denizens and conditions can never steal action points from a character. Note that the Ethereal Plane does not count as an alternate plane of existence; it is considered a part of the material plane (a sort of alternate state of existence). All other rules are optional on alternate planes of existence. For example, on some planes, combat might not proceed in turns, or maybe characters don't have any ability scores, or maybe everyone is a disembodied mind in a realm with no dimensions. Magic might be unavailable, go haywire, or maybe every character can cast any spell they want at will. Players might not even be controlling their own characters. This isn't an excuse for the DM to shaft the players or buffet the characters about like helpless puppets -- each alternate plane follows its own bizarre set of rules which may or may not resemble the D&D rules. However, it is meant to convey a sense of danger: few people undergo planar travel except in extreme circumstances. If things get too hairy, a player can always spend an action point to bail out.
The Swedish Viking 05-01-04, 06:05 AM	Gonna take some time to read all this... :P
77IM 05-03-04, 11:55 AM	In many settings, humanoid races are criticized for being "humans in funny suits," which means that they are psychologically too similar to humans. This criticism is based on the idea that for intelligent races to be fun or interesting, they need to be truly alien, distinctly non-human in thought or deed; this allows people to explore the interaction between humans and these strange near-humans. In this campaign setting, though, races are deliberately very similar to humans. They don't exist as a contrast to human nature, but to serve as archetypes of humanity appropriate to the setting. Each race generally fills a certain role. Although individual members of a race may be very different than the racial norm or fill a different sort of role, these folks are "bucking the trend." Racial Archetypes Elves: Effete, cloistered nobility. Think pastry-eating hemophiliacs in lace. Half-orcs: Tough, couragous, bold nobility, from the days when the biggest guy around ruled from a hall of stone. Dwarves: Ambitious businesspeople and merchants. Goblins: Dedicated professional soldiers. Gnomes: Hardy woodsmen: hunters, trappers, woodcutters. A sort of Scandinavian feel. Halflings: Gypsies. Mysterious, exotic foreigners without a land of their own. Ogres: The "noble savage." Simple, nature-loving tribesfolk who don't have the flaws of civilized people. Giants: Sort of parent-figures or like the people of ancient Greece and Rome: feared for their power and dominance but respected for their wisdom.
The Swedish Viking 05-05-04, 01:56 AM	77IM wrote:"A sort of Scandinavian feel." One comment:ROFL :P I really do have a hard time imagining this one. What exactly do you mean by "scandinavian"? Viking, vendel, middle age (1066 - 1523 swedish counting) or later?
77IM 05-05-04, 04:14 PM	Originally posted by The Swedish Viking What exactly do you mean by "scandinavian"? Viking, vendel, middle age (1066 - 1523 swedish counting) or later? IKEA. No, seriously, I don't mean anything "exactly," just a sort of vague older northern European connotation. Muscular blonde-haired people with names like "Hrothgar" in log houses wearing warm earth-toned clothing with colorful embroidery. Not necessarily vikings or norse, but not celts or gauls or whatnots either, and definitely not present-day. Basically, an inaccurate caricatured stereotype. I find it helpful to compare fantasy races and cultures to real-world cultural stereotypes, especially if they are somehow contradictory. For example, the Norse pantheon is full of guys like Thor who are just HUGE, so trying to make the diminutive gnomes fulfill this role is a fun deviation. (Obviously, I don't apply these sorts of cultural stereotypes to real-world cultures or individuals, but in a fantasy world it's fair game.) -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 05-05-04, 04:36 PM	Trust me, you donīt want to get into Norse myth. Itīs worse than a deep, evil swamp filled with skeletons. :P (That is, it is just as difficult to understand.) However, it can sometimes be just as interesting (sometimes more) as watching National Geographicīs most interesting program.
The Swedish Viking 05-05-04, 04:50 PM	hum.... a suggestion for an interesting location: Grumbalors Heart Grumbalorīs Heart is large tower, surrounded by a small (now ruined) wall of stone, sitting on the forested slopes of northern Wyrwood, where wood merges with mountain. This tower has long been centre-piece for many strange myths of dark magic; the tale being the favourite of Clerics who want to tell the tale of arcane magics as being evil in nature. For this tower is unique. It is not constructed out of normal stone, but of Heartstone. It was made from the heart of one of the the most ancient Red Dragons, and was crafted by the wizard Therox (sometimes called "The Mad"). How the wizard defeated a dragon so huge as to hold such a gargantuan Heartstone is unknown, though scholars suggest that, in fact, the tower is the product of merging several heartstones, all from vile creatures. Therox had, according to myth, planned to use the gargantuan artifact tower to fuel his power, and to eventually forge it into an artifact with which he would, some say, rise to Godhood. Clerics and followers of the Old Faith both say that the wizard had sold his sould to the evil lords to gain such power. But whatever the reason, something went wrong. For the inherently evil nature of the creature from which the gargantuan Heartstone was taken, passed on into the great tower-artifact. The tower devoured Therox whole, and he was never seen again. To this day, the tower has spawned many evil creatures. Itīs entrance is said to be guarded by a many-headed hydra, and some even claim that a stairway leading down to the river of the Dead can be found in the deep cellars of this heartstone tower... ((What do you like it?))
77IM 05-07-04, 11:56 AM	I like this idea and will include it, but with a few changes. Everything you wrote makes a lot of sense from a peasant's point of view -- in other words, as a tall tale -- but a few points are not accurate within the campaign world. The biggest change I need to make, is that there are not myths and legends about wizards, because they are a recent development. Heartstones were only discovered within the past 60 years or so. However, this is plenty of time for a secret cabal led by Therox the Mad to build an artifact tower. (Heartstones are often an ingredient in magic items, so it makes sense to build a tower out of them.) It's likely, though, that this story hasn't spread very far beyond northern Frelund, or the place would be plundered quickly. Also, Heartstones are all about the same size, regardless of the size of the creature or the amount of magic contained in the Heartstone. Building an entire tower out of them would require the killing of massive amounts of monsters. It's more likely that Therox and his cohorts killed massive amounts of monsters, and then mixed the Heartstones with other types of crystals to build the tower. (Maybe Therox made a pact with a demon lord and got to slaughter a bunch of demon henchmen -- that would be a great source of Heartstones.) So, how I would use this, is to have the PCs investigate reports of evil creatures running amok in northern Frelund. The peasants would tell the tale of Therox and his entire tower made of Heartstone. When the PCs investigate it turns out not to be "pure" Heartstone, but the effect is still there. I do like the theme of Magical Experiments Gone Bad. -- 77IM
77IM 05-07-04, 11:58 AM	Society The approximate breakdown of the population by social class is as follows: 2% - Nobility 3% - Clergy 5% - Middle-class 82% - Peasants 8% - Outlaws, pirates & primitive peoples This distribution applies in most civilized countries, although it may be skewed in certain locales. For example, the city of Lienne contains a whopping 20% nobility, 10% clergy and 40% middle-class. Nobility: Wealthy land owners, traders, and governors. Nobles rule domains and sometimes even whole countries. Nobles are grouped by houses which pass hereditary rule on to their children. Each house has holdings in many different countries. This means that, while one noble house rules the country, the houses which own property there have a large degree of control over the local economy. It's even possible for one house to be renting land from a second house in a country ruled by a third house -- a truly tangled mess that can prove difficult for a newcomer to navigate. Nobles are usually the most well-educated, well-travelled and well-connected people around. They are trained to read and write, to fight, to run the family business, and the rules of noble etiquitte. Nobles are also the only people officially allowed to use Heartstones, and many study the arcane arts. Many nobles are also raised in a life of priveledge and develop a subconscious arrogant attitude -- they are so used to being waited upon that they think of their lessers as inherently inferior beings. Because of this, and because many don't have to do any real work, they often engage in social scheming, and many nobles are extremely concerned about their social standing and image. Common Races: Human, elf, half-orc, half-elf, dwarf. Clergy: Priests and monks of the Church of the Pantheon and ministers of the Independant Temples (clerics of Orthodox Pantheism are considered commoners in all lands except Ponderry and Jarlheim, and druids of the Old Ways are outlaws or primitive peoples). The career of "priest" is a promising one -- you get to commune with deities and cast neat spells -- and talented commoners often ascend to the clergy in the hopes of a better life. Devout nobles are also inducted into the priesthood, often as a means of forging an alliance between a noble house and a branch of the Church. Because of there spellcasting ability and their need to interact with both peasants and nobles, priests are usually treated as their own social class. Clergy generally are well-educated and literate, with a focus on theology and history. Most also learn to cast spells as clerics, although many of these are perpetually 1st-level, and there are some priests who have levels in other classes (such as fighter or yeoman). Many low-ranking or rural priests are simple, compassionate individuals who wish only to help their parishoners grow spiritually. High-ranking or urban priests tend to be more ambitious and political, trying to advance their rank within the Church and expand its temporal power. Common Races: Human, half-orc, dwarf, goblin, halfling. Middle-class: Highly skilled artisans and wealthy independant (non-noble) merchants. Most craftspeople are considered peasants, serving the needs of small farming villiages, but those in the big city who posess enough skill to ply their trade to the nobility can become quite wealthy. In ages past, most such skilled crafters were beholden to a particular noble house, but with the improved living conditions in the cities (thanks to the Heartstones) many now operate independantly. Increased trade has also lead to the development of independant merchants, plying their trade amongst a variety of noble houses. Some people are born into the middle class, picking up their trade from their parents, but many are ambitious peasants who were able to make the leap to entrepreneur. Middle-class people tend to be literate and skilled in a particular field, and usually know a lot about the areas and factions in which they operate. They are commoners, and considered no better than peasants in the eyes of the law, although the nobility often treats them better. Common Races: Human, half-elf, dwarf, goblin, gnome. Peasants: Simple farmers, shepherds, fishers, hunters. Peasants make up the majority of the population. They typically live in small villages spread throughout the land, usually a few miles apart. They spend their days tending to the fields, the flock, the fishnets, or the forests. Most people live their whole lives in the same village, never travelling more than a few miles away, plying the same trade as their parents. Most peasants are illiterate, and focus on manual labor (such as farming or producing simple goods). Instead of art, they have crafts; instead of literature, folklore; instead of grand balls, country fairs. The individual traditions of peasants vary from place to place, but most peasants form close bonds with their families and communities. Common Races: Human, half-orc, goblin, gnome, halfling. Outlaws, pirates & primitive peoples: Anyone who exists outside the established social structure. Some of these are "primitive peoples" like giants, ogres, and certain gnome and elf communities, who live in remote locations and cling to the Old Ways and a more naturalistic style of living. Some are bandits, brigands and highway robbers who live in secret hideouts in the woods, and others are pirates and raiders on the high seas. Primitive peoples in many ways resemble peasants, but live in locations so remote that they are beyond the reach of the Church and the nobility. They are usually born into their way of life and take great pride in it. They are far more skilled at navigating the natural world than the most highly trained noble-born rangers. Outlaws and pirates can come from any walk of life -- some are dishowned nobles, radical priests, or frustrated merchants -- but most are former peasants who've chosen to live free rather than answer to a lord. Common Races: Human, elf, giant, gnome, ogre. Economy The three pillars of the economy are food, military, and Essence -- spending and production in these three areas are the highest. The broad category of "worked goods," excluding arms, comes in a distant fourth -- most common people produce their own furniture, tools, clothing, etc. locally, although artisans are becoming more and more common, especially in large cities. The nobility controls food production because nobles own most of the land (in some countries, a noble is, by definition, someone who owns land). Most countries produce enough food for their own needs, but because of regional weather effects, there is still a thriving grain trade. The biggest exporters are Chirmont and Erindu; the countries most often in need are those near the desert (like Treothe) or the far north (like Corsom and Jarlheim) and of course the Mountain Duchies. Dispite the lasting "peace," skirmishes between houses and border disputes still break out from time to time, and the nobility still spends a lot of money paying and arming soldiers. Although skilled mercenaries are in high demand, most noble houses have their own troops, and countries maintain standing armies. Because of the influence of magic, large-scale battles are uncommon, so it is rare for the peasantry to be pressed into service. The Church priests harvest and consume the Essence, but the nobility own the Magicants -- although the Church is strong, they don't command any armies, and so must cultivate a strong, positive relationship with the nobles. Peity aside, the nobles want spellcasting and the priests want Essence; hence, a thriving Essence trade as nobles in need exchange the precious powder for large quantities of food, resources, precious metals, and land. It may seem as though those with Magicants would rapidly become much wealthier than those without -- and this is true, but only to a point. All the magic in the world won't feed a country or win a war. At least, not yet. With the advent of Heartstone magic, this trade has increased dramatically, and is upsetting the ages-old hegemony of the nobility and the Church. Because the holdings of the noble houses are far-flung, the economic landscape is ever shifting. A house that exports Essence for gold today might turn around and trade gold for grain tomorrow. Information and alliances are often bought and sold as well, as are wizard spells (for a price). Law The typical relationship between commoner and lord is still feudal, with nobles granting peasants the right to farm their land in return for a cut of the produce. However, as specified in the Treaty of Barriton, these peasants are not truly serfs; they have certain legal rights and can move about as they please. In reality, these peasants have more autonomy in some areas (like Frelund, Zoltar, and Renflour) than in others (like Garland, Chirmont and Corsom). A noble lord is able to serve as judge and jury over the peasants on his land, although he is supposed to hold Tribunal (below) before executing, maiming, banishing, or seizing property. Most lords obey these customs, as the peasantry is usually not worth the hassle of bucking the system. Among the common folk, law is kept by a system of sherriffs and constables that varies from country to country; the most common punishment for a crime against fellow villagers is simply being run out of town. The emergent middle class of merchants and skilled craftsmen have the same legal rights as peaseants, but are often treated as nobility for reasons of diplomacy. An extremely wealthy commoner merchant can be considered the same social class as a low-ranking noble. Most extremely wealthy merchants are, in fact, nobles; the idea of a "wealthy commoner merchant" is only about 20-30 years old. Priests are considered commoners, socially, but have more legal rights. Priests of the Church (and of Independant Temples, in certain lands) are usually remanded to the discipline of their superiors in the case of minor infractions, but for more serious cases they are subject to Tribunal, as though they were nobles. The process of Tribunal is the preferred system of international justice, and is held in any case involving a noble or for serious cases involving priests or commoner. It does not apply to pirates (on the open seas, justice is decided by the strong) and war criminals. A Tribunal is a hearing before a priest, a noble, and a commoner. The priest presides and appoints the other two judges. Cases are presented and evidence is heard, and then the three judges must reach a descision, which must be unanimous. Note that many legal rights we take for granted -- such as right to an attorney and habeas corpus and freedom from double jeopardy -- are granted by the Tribunal as a tradition but are not guaranteed. A person only has the rights to hear the charges against them, see all evidence presented, call and cross-examine witnesses, and speak at length in their own defense. The most common punishment is fines, or confiscation of property in leiu of fines. For commoners with little money (such as brigands), banishment and branding/tatooing are not uncommon. Maiming, torture and the stockade are not very common and are seen as somewhat barbaric; real troublemakers are simply executed, usually by hanging. Prison is seldom used as a punitive measure -- nobles sometimes keep people as prisoners when they want to utilize them in some fashion, such as bargaining chips or questioning, or when they just want to ensure the person is miserable.
77IM 05-07-04, 02:40 PM	I'll use this thread to post new skills and feats or new uses for skills. Skills ART (Cha) Art is the skill of creating more-or-less useless things which hold aesthetic appeal. Like Craft, Knowledge, and Profession, Art is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Art skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. The Art skill covers physical objects, such as the visual arts, as well as linguistic works, but only the artistic aspect; to actually build functional things, use an appropriate Craft skill. For example, someone with Craft (ceramics) can make a sturdy pot, and someone with Art (design) can decorate the pot with pretty designs. For the performing arts, use the Perform skill. For example, someone with Art (poetry) could write a sonnet, and then someone with Perform (oral) could read the sonnet. The categories of the Art skill are described below. Architecture (design of buildings; to make sure the buildings stay up, use Knowledge [Engineering]) Body Modification (tattoos, piercings, ritual scarring, branding) Design (paint, textiles, tiles; abstract art, geometric patterns, decoration) Fashion (clothing design, jewelry design, accessorizing, telling straight men how to dress) Literature (fiction, biographies, historical accounts, scripts) Painting (oil, watercolors, pastels, charcoal; portraits, landscapes, representational art) Poetry (odes, epic poetry, song lyrics, haiku; for song writing use Perform [Sing]) Sculpture (clay, stone, bronze; free-standing, relief, mobiles) Check: You can create a work of art with your talent and skill. This may be an independant piece, such as a painting on canvas, or part of another item, such as a painting on a shield. Because market pressure equalizes the value of an artist's labor over time, the value of the work is tied to how long it takes to produce. A masterwork artisan's tools gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Art checks that involve its use. Art Check Result -- Value of work 9 or less -- Lousy. Worth no money, although it may have sentimental value. 10 -- Amateurish. Worth 1 sp per day it took to produce (max 1 gold). 15 -- Enjoyable or pleasant work, worth 1d6 sp per day it took to produce (max 10 gold). 20 -- Great or noteworthy work, worth 1d20 sp per day it took to produce (max 100 gold). 25 -- Memorable or sought-after work, worth around 1d6 gp per day it took to produce (max 1000 gold). 30 -- Masterpiece, worth around around 1d20 gp per day it took to produce (no maximum value). Action: Varies, but any art check worth money takes at least a day. Simple works, such as most body modifications, designs, or even short poems, often take a day or a few days. Great works, such as lengthy works of literature, massive sculptures, elaborate paintings, and architectural plans for a cathedral, can take months or even years to complete. Try Again: Yes. Retries are allowed, but they don’t negate previous failures. Here is a revision of the Diplomacy skill. I don't usually like to change rules to this extent, but I think the current Diplomacy rules are poor and underutilized and I'd like to change both those flaws with this campaign setting. DIPLOMACY (Cha) Check: You can change the attitudes of others (nonplayer characters) with a successful Diplomacy check. In negotiations, participants roll opposed Diplomacy checks, and the winner gains the advantage. Opposed checks also resolve situations when two advocates or diplomats plead opposite cases in a hearing before a third party. Diplomacy also allows you to understand etiquitte and formal interactions, such as the proper form of address. Change Attitudes: The outcome of any interaction with an NPC is based on that NPC's attitude towards you; by making a sucessful Diplomacy check, you can temporarily change someone's attitude towards you. The DC for this check is 10 + the NPC's hit dice or level + the NPC's Wisdom modifier, the same as the DC for an Intimidate check. If you succeed, the NPC's attitude improves by 1 step; for every 10 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, the NPC's attitude improves by 1 additional step. If you fail by 10 or more, the NPC's attitude drops by 1 step. An attitude can't be dropped to Arch-Nemesis or raised to Devoted through Diplomacy checks. This change in attitude lasts for only one interaction with the NPC. An "interaction" is when your character asks the NPC to do something, such as give you a particular piece of information, allow you free passage, help you obtain an item, or not cook you and eat you. The NPC decides to do what you ask based on whether it has a good cost/reward trade-off, although their attitude towards you may skew their analysis -- for creatures with a negative attitude, hurting you is its own reward and helping you is a cost, while creatures with a positive attitude will help you for no reward at all. For example, if Hostile creatures capture you and are planning to kill you, you could promise them large sums of money to let you go, without the need for a Diplomacy check. If you don't have enough money, you could use Diplomacy to improve their attitude to Unfriendly (the pleasure of killing you is worth less money to an Unfriendly creature) or Indifferent (an Indifferent creature has no interest in killing you, and so will probably let you go), or you could use a Bluff check to convince them that you do have enough money. The results of the Diplomacy check last just long enough for you to make a proposal to the creatures and, if they accept, for them to carry it out. Permanently changing a creature's attitude towards you requires roleplaying; if your interactions with the creature generally work out in its favor, its attitude towards you will gradually become more positive, at the DM's discretion. Negotiations: If two parties negotiating to find a solution to a common problem or resolve their differences can't quickly find a mutually agreeable course of action, they can use opposed Diplomacy checks to try to persuade the other to follow their proposed course of action. The winner of the check can persuade the loser to accept a compromise. If one of the parties negotiating has more at stake or feels more strongly about their position, they don't get a bonus to their check, but the higher check result must exceed theirs by at least 5 or 10 points in order to succeed. Pleading a Case: This is similar to negotiations, but the person deciding the course of action is a third party. Each advocate argues their case and may make a Diplomacy check; the person deciding picks the course of action of the highest check result. If one course of action seems more advantageous to the person deciding, that advocate gets a bonus on their Diplomacy check. Proper Etiquette: Each culture has its own customs for social interaction, including proper forms of address, exchange of pleasantries, taboo subjects, courtesy, simple rites and ceremonies. You can make a Diplomacy check to see if your character knows the proper customs and etiquette; the DC is usually 10 or 15 for ordinary customs and 20 to 25 for obscure points of etiquette. Action: Changing others’ attitudes with Diplomacy generally takes at least 1 full minute (10 consecutive full-round actions). In some situations, this time requirement may greatly increase. A rushed Diplomacy check can be made as a full-round action, but you take a -10 penalty on the check. Negotiations or pleading a case can often take hours. Understanding proper etiquette is not an action, although actually performing the proper interactions may take anywhere from a few words to a few hours, depending on the situation. Try Again: Optional, but not recommended because retries usually do not work. Even if the initial Diplomacy check succeeds, the other character can be persuaded only so far, and a retry may do more harm than good. If the initial check fails, the other character has probably become more firmly committed to his position, and a retry is futile. Special: If you have the Negotiator feat, you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks. Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Bluff or Sense Motive, you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks. If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), Knowledge (local), or Knowledge (Geography), you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks made to understand proper etiquette. Attitudes Arch-Nemesis (Hurting you is highest priority) Attack, kill, torture, betray Hostile (Will take risks to hurt you) Attack, interfere, berate, flee Unfriendly (Wishes you ill) Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch suspiciously, insult Indifferent (Doesn’t much care) Socially expected interaction Friendly (Wishes you well) Chat, advise, offer limited help, advocate Helpful (Will take risks to help you) Protect, back up, heal, aid Devoted (Helping you is highest priority) Sacrifice self to help you (Optional) I don't like the Disable Device skill at all. It's a speedbump -- once a trap is detected, you roll some dice, and maybe you explode, or maybe you get a treasure -- with almost no player input at all. Simply rolling dice without player input is not fun. Plus, traps require the party to have a rogue, and for that character to spend some skill points on Disable Device. DISABLE DEVICE (Int) -- Removed Most traps will require some sort of puzzle-solving in order to get past (think of classic Indiana Jones tomb traps, or Mission Impossible-style security measures). A purely mechanical trap can sometimes be disarmed with a Craft (mechanical) check. A magical trap can be disarmed with a Use Magic Device check. Anything that would grant a bonus to Disable Device instead grants a bonus to checks made to disarm a trap. (Optional) This takes the place of both the Speak Language and Decipher Script skills. Anyone who gets either as a class skill gets Language as a new class skill. I like language and want it to play a bigger role in the campaign setting, so would probably use this as a house rule, but it is not really integral to the setting. LANGUAGE (Int) Each character can speak the language of their homeland, plus the language of the country in which the campaign is set (usually Renflour), plus any automatic languages granted by their race and class. In addition, for each rank of Language they gain, they know one additional language. Check: You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic form. The base DC is 20 for the simplest messages, 25 for standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or very old writing. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a piece of writing about one page long (or the equivalent). If the check fails, make a DC 5 Wisdom check to see if you avoid drawing a false conclusion about the text. (Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you do.) Both the Language check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly, so that you can’t tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false. You can also understand an unfamiliar spoken language. The base DC is 15 for a regional dialect or thick accent of a langage you speak, 20 for an unfamiliar language from the same language group as one you speak, 25 an unfamiliar language in a different language group, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, very old, or extremely foreign languages. If the check succeeds, you understand the general content of a few spoken sentences. If the check fails, make a DC 5 Wisdom check to see if you avoid drawing a false conclusion about message. (Success means that you do not draw a false conclusion; failure means that you do.) Both the Language check and (if necessary) the Wisdom check are made secretly, so that you can’t tell whether the conclusion you draw is true or false. Action: Deciphering the equivalent of a single page of script takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions). Understanding unfamiliar spoken language is not an action (it takes no time at all; either you understand it or you don't). Try Again: No. Special: A character with the Diligent feat gets a +2 bonus on Language checks. Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Language, you get a +2 bonus on Use Magic Device checks involving scrolls. Languages Languages are divided into language groups. Each language in a group shares a common ancestral language and uses the same alphabet; the name of the group, ancestral language, and alphabet are the same. There is no "common" language, but most traders and travelers speak the language of the lands they are passing through; Renflourian is often used as a common trade language or neutral language. Group (Languages in that group) Giant (Frelundish, Zoltaran, Jarlian, Garlish**, Giant) Halfling (Erindese, Loshan, Treothan, Hunitanian dialects***, Old Halfling*) Orcish (Corsan, Kresmayan, Old Orcish*) Dwarven (Parthanian [Mountain Duchies], Leden, Old Dwarven*) Elven (Ponderran, Renflourian, Garlish**, Chirmonten, Alluvani, Old Elven*) Elemental**** (Elemental, Draconic) Sylvan**** (Sylvan, Druidic) Celestial**** (Celestial, Demonic dialects***, Aberrant dialects***) *Dead language; no modern speakers. **Part of multiple language groups; the DC to decipher these languages decreases by 2 for each similar language group you already know beyond the first. ***Multiple languages. ****Languages in this group are considered intricate, exotic, very old, or extremely foreign (DC 30 or higher to decipher). Here is the same info, language first (PHB-style): Languages (Language Group/Alphabet) Aberrant dialects (Celestial) Alluvani (Elven) Celestial (Celestial) Chirmonten (Elven) Corsan (Orcish) Demonic dialects (Celestial) Draconic (Elemental) Druidic (Sylvan) Elemental (Elemental) Erindese (Halfling) Frelundish (Giant) Garlish (Giant, Elven) Giant (Giant) Hunitanian dialects (Halfling) Jarlian (Giant) Kresmayan (Orcish) Leden (Dwarven) Loshan (Halfling) Old Dwarven (Dwarven) Old Elven (Elven) Old Halfling (Halfling) Old Orcish (Orcish) Parthanian (Dwarven) Ponderran (Elven) Renflourian (Elven) Sylvan (Sylvan) Treothan (Halfling) Zoltaran (Giant) Feats AGILE DEFENSE [General] You are so adept at dodging blows and evading damage that you don't really need armor. Prerequisites: Weapon Finesse, Base Attack Bonus +1, Dexterity 15+. Benefit: When wearing no armor and weilding no shield and carrying no more than a light load, you gain a dodge bonus to AC equal to +3, +1 per 4 levels. Unlike other kinds of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack. You lose a dodge bonus in any situation where you would be denied your Dexterity bonus to AC (whether you have one or not). Normal: A character's armor class is typically 10 + their Dexterity modifier + their Armor bonus from wearing armor + their Shield bonus from using a shield. Special: A fighter may select Agile Defenseas one of his fighter bonus feats. Elites are considered to posess this feat for purposes of feat and prestige class prerequisites. This feat does not stack with the AC Bonus benefit of the Elite class; use whichever ability would give you the greater dodge bonus to AC. This feat does not stack with the AC Bonus benefit of the Monk class, including the Monk's Wisdom bonus to AC; use whichever ability (this feat, or your Wisdom bonus +1 per 4 monk levels) would give you the greater bonus to AC. CONTACTS [General] You know a great many people from all walks of life; you always seem to have a friend who is just right for the job. Benefit: You gain a number of contacts (helpful people that you know) equal to 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier. (This number increases as you gain levels and Charisma, but not from temporary Charisma bonuses.) You don't have to decide who all your contacts are right away; you can define some contacts now and then define others later as you need them. These contacts are not allies that will fight for you, but they have a friendly attitude and will do favors for you if possible. Normal: Any character can make new friends and connections through roleplaying. This feat simply allows you to have additional contacts defined at your convenience. Special: See Unearthed Arcana for more information on the types and abilities of contacts. FAMOUS [General] You are a renowned, respected, and beloved individual; word of your total coolness precedes you. Prerequisites: Character level 3rd+, Charisma 13+. Benefit: Everywhere you go, people recognize you. You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information checks, but suffer a -2 penalty on Disguise checks. Most ordinary people are automatically friendly towards you. These bonuses and penalties only apply to people who recognize you, which includes most people of most civilized countries (remote or primitive peoples may not have heard of you). Amongst civilized people, you can take advantage of your fame. You can usually gain an audience with influential people, and get invited to all the best parties (or can at least get into those parties, even if you're not invited). The media follows your speech and actions; things you say may become sound bites, and clothes you wear may become the latest fashion. If you stand up to address a crowd, one will usually gather. You don't usually need to identify yourself to the authorities. Normal: Characters may achieve renown through their actions. This feat represents someone who adept at "milking it," acting famous and staying famous. GREATER ARCANE BLOOD [General] Your magical ancestry is clear for all to see. Prerequisites: Sorcerer or bard, Improved Arcane Blood, Charisma 19+ Benefit: You gain the benefit of a greater bloodline, rather than an intermediate bloodline, for advancing in sorcerer or bard levels. You don't need to give up any levels in order to gain your bloodline benefits, but you only gain them for advancing sorcerer or bard levels. You must choose a greater bloodline which corresponds to your current intermediate bloodline. Normal: Sorcerers and bards gain the benefits of a minor bloodline; those with Improved Arcane Blood gain an intermediate bloodline. IMPROVED ARCANE BLOOD [General] Your magical ancestry is expressed strongly. Prerequisites: Sorcerer or bard, Charisma 17+ Benefit: You gain the benefit of an intermediate bloodline, rather than a minor bloodline, for advancing in sorcerer or bard levels. You don't need to give up any levels in order to gain your bloodline benefits, but you only gain them for advancing sorcerer or bard levels. You must choose an intermediate bloodline which corresponds to your current minor bloodline. Normal: Sorcerers and bards gain the benefits of a minor bloodline. MAJOR HOLDINGS [General] You are a big-time noble landowner. Prerequisites: Minor Holdings. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Lord/Lady. You gain the benefits of Minor Holdings, except that you own 100,000 gp worth of land, which produces 1000 gp per month, but your noble manor is twice as expensive to maintain, costing 200 gp per month, so you net 800 gp per month. You have 1000 potential soldiers available to you if you wish to pay to raise an army. However, you have increased responsibility as well. You must manage more complex holdings and must arbitrate justice in your realm. Doing so takes about a week of your time each month; if you don't spend this week, your land only produces 200 gp that month, as the rest is lost to innefficiency, graft, and lost opportunities. You have 1d4+2 minor nobles (barons and counts) that answer to you; you can demand taxes and armies from them, but this is risky, as they may complain to your superiors, who will then want a hefty cut. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a knight (landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble who has yet to inherit land. MINOR HOLDINGS [General] You are a noble landowner. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Baron/Baroness or Count/Countess (ruling a Barony or a County). You have a noble manor, some stretches of farmland, and are the legal authority over a few villages, although you must still answer to the lord(s) above you (who may demand that you raise an army or pay certain taxes or tribute, although both requests are rare due to their unpopularity). You don't actually gain any wealth from the holdings themselves; you make enough to break even. However, you do have a nice place to live and have a certain amount of clout amongst other nobles. If necessary, you can raise an army of up to 100 1st-level Yeomen, although you must pay to equip them and it costs about 2 sp per day per soldier to maintain the army (since they are no longer farming crops to supply themselves). In a pinch, you may sell off your holdings, which are worth a total of around 15,000 gp (10,000 for the farmland, which you can sell bit by bit, and 5000 for the noble manor), although you must roleplay this transaction and it is not always possible to find a buyer. The noble manor takes around 100 gp per month to maintain, and 10,000 worth of farmland produces about 100 gp per month, so if you sell one but not the other you may have a cash flow surplus or deficit. If you sell everything you may lose your noble title. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a knight (landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble who has yet to inherit land. MULTIPLE IDENTITIES [General] You have multiple complete identities, with background information, documentation, and contacts to prove it. (Only one of these is the real you -- the rest are fabrications.) Prerequisites: Disguise 5 ranks, Charisma 13+. Benefit: For each point of Charisma bonus you have, you can set up an alternate identity. Come up with a background, career, personality, and social circle for the alternate identity; these will stand up to scrutiny from most authorities and investigations -- the only way for someone to realize that both identities are the same person is for you to slip up somehow. For example, an investigator could follow you and realize that you're living multiple lives, but couldn't figure it out from checking property deeds, tax records, or even interviewing your friends and "family." You get a +4 bonus on Disguise checks to appear as your alternate identities. It's probably not a good idea to meet people who know you as one identity to meet you as another identity. Normal: Setting up an alternate identity is tricky, and usually requires some time spent in disguise, making Bluff and Forgery checks, and possibly even spreading misinformation. SPREAD INFORMATION [General] Know how to get the word out and manipulate public opinion. Prerequisites: Gather Information 5 ranks, Charisma 13+. Benefit: You know how to spread rumors, alert the press, post advertisements, subtly guide conversations, and just tell the right people the right things. With 8 hours of talking to people and "making inquiries," you can spread a piece of information (whether true or false) around an area the size of a small city or several rural counties. You must make a Gather Information check to see how well the information spreads. The DC is based on whether the new information supports or contradicts what people already believe: DC 10 for a piece of information that backs up existing beliefs, 15 for information that is orthogonal to existing beliefs, 20 for information that contradicts existing beliefs, and 25 or 30 for information that is contrary to the very core of people's belief systems. If you succeed at the check, the information spreads but is not generally believed unless you beat the DC by 5 or more. If you fail the check, the you have a hard time getting people to care enough to spread the information, and if you fail by 5 or more, the information spreads along with the fact that you were the person spreading it! In a larger area, such as a big city or large rural area, the time for the check extends to 3 days and the DC increases by 5, but you must fail by 10 or more in order for the news of your information campaign to spread. Normal: Anybody can try to go around telling people things. This feat allows you to broadcast information in such a way that people don't know you're doing it -- the information just seems to creep into the public consciousness from nowhere. Special: If you have 5 or more ranks of Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on your Gather Information check to spread information that you know to be false. If you have 5 or more ranks of Diplomacy, you gain a +2 bonus on your Gather Information check to spread information that you think is true or which is a matter of opinion. WEALTHY [General] You are somewhat rich. Benefit: If you take this feat at 1st level, you gain 300 bonus gold pieces. If you take this feat at any other level, you gain gold pieces equal to 500 times your character level. This gold comes from a business you run, a family inheritance, or a special stipend from a well-off organization (work out the details with your DM). Each month, your character earns an additional 100 gold pieces (regardless of your level). Normal: Characters without this feat roll to determine starting gold, and must earn gold to acquire more. Special: You may take this feat more than once, and its benefits stack. Background Skills Homeland Knowledge: Each character begins with 4 ranks of Knowledge (local) pertaining to their homeland. A character who travelled around a lot during their upbringing can choose Knowledge (Geography) instead. Upbringing: Each beginning character gets 4 skill points that they can spend on certain skills, representing their upbringing, called their background skills. Only nobles can choose Knowldege (Nobility) and only commoners can choose Profession (Farmer). The background skills available to everyone are: Appraise, Art (Architecture), Art (Body Modification), Art (Design), Art (Fashion), Art (Literature), Art (Painting), Art (Poetry), Art (Sculpture), Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Armorsmithing), Craft (Brewing), Craft (Bowmaking), Craft (Ceramics), Craft (Leatherwork), Craft (Mechanical), Craft (Structural), Craft (Textiles), Craft (Weaponsmithing), Craft (Woodworking), Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Architecture and engineering), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Geography), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Religion), Language, Perform (Act), Perform (Comedy), Perform (Dance), Perform (Keyboard instruments), Perform (Oratory), Perform (Percussion instruments), Perform (String instruments), Perform (Wind instruments), Perform (Sing), Profession (Chef), Profession (Beurocrat), Profession (Fisherman), Profession (Gambler), Profession (Lumberjack), Profession (Mercenary), Profession (Merchant), Profession (Sailor), Profession (Scribe), Profession (Servant), Profession (Shepherd). Background skills are restricted by class. Wizards and Sorcerers can't purchase Knowledge (Arcana). Clerics and Paladins can't purchase Knowledge (Religion). Druids and Rangers can't purchase Knowledge (Nature). Bards can't purchase Perform. If a character later multiclasses into a class that restricts their choice of background skills, they can't buy any other skill ranks until they've payed for their ranks of background skill. For example, a fighter with 4 ranks Knowledge (Religion) as his background skill multiclasses, gaining a level of cleric. He gets 3 skill points at this level, and must spend them all on Knowledge (Religion) -- he doesn't gain any new ranks, he's just paying for the ones he already has. If he selects fighter at his next level, he must spend 2 of his skill points to get a cross-class rank of Knowledge (Religion), paying off the 4th rank, before choosing any fighter skills. A Background skill can't be used to fulfill a prerequisite for any prestige class or feat. For example, if you have 4 ranks of Knowledge (Arcana) as a background skill, and a PrC you want has a requirement of "Knowledge (Arcana): 6 ranks," you must obtain 10 ranks of the skill because the first 4 don't count. If you wish, you can give up ranks of background skill before spending skill points, in order to stay within the maximum ranks allowed. [Edit: Changed language list, added a bunch of new feats.]
The Swedish Viking 05-07-04, 08:55 PM	Didnīt think of a specific theme. Just outlined the base idea and then wrote more as I went along. :P And I was writing from "tall-tale" point of view, so as to counter anything I did wrong. Which was probably a lot. :D One thing I also appreciate is that you take the different "class" roles in mind. Very few people do that. EDIT: According to my experiences, at least.
The Swedish Viking 05-11-04, 07:12 AM	Mallorn of Life The Mallorn of Life is a great tree, underneath some say lies a Magican of gargantuan proportions. It is about sixty metres in hight, itīs great branches covering an area bout fifty meeters in diameter. The tree has over the years been hollowed out via magical means, and itīs inside has been turned into a large hollow tree-tower. The Druids of the Old Ways frequently meet here to practice their religion, and, in truth, the Tree contains a large druidic temple. The tree has over the years consumed so much Essence, that it has begun to shift in colour to reddish, and itīs leaves glow orange after nightfall, illuminating the area which it covers. Elves frequently visit this place, for it is a place of ancient knowledge and buty. Wizards also search for this tree, for the magical power of this ancient Magicant is something they want to make use of. The Clerics of the Pantheon wish to find the tree, and burn it, think it to be the symbol of the Old Way heresy all over the world. ((hmm... like it?))
77IM 05-11-04, 09:53 AM	Yes! I like the Mallorn of Life quite a bit. I especially like that you didn't list where on the world it is located, because the players don't know where it is located either. In return, I will post some noble houses. I've changed the format slightly. I might decide to use this post for more noble houses in the future. House Deschaigne Race(s): Human, Half-Orc, Half-Elf, Elf Holdings: Rules Chirmont. Major holdings in Garland and Sengeral. Minor holdings in Renflour, Barriton, Belsomme, and Marshalle. Religion: Church of the Pantheon Relationships: Rivals with House Senge. Generally disliked by Gregor. Friendly with Cholai and Ponderry. Personality/Customs: One of the most powerful noble families, House Deschaigne is the ruling family of Chirmont. Closely tied to the Church and to the history of that land, Deschaigne is a wealthy house that has gone on the offensive many times; people joke that the current King Deschaigne should invade Garland for tradition's sake. Members of House Deschaigne are extremely devout, and many of them are Church Knights in their youth or priests in old age. Most work to promote the Church as much as their own house, and find the idea of Independant Temples puzzling at best (and revolting at worst). However, Deschaigne nobles are also known for hedonism and excess; more conservative families scorn their debauched parties, while bards sing the tales of their legendary trysts. House Senge Race(s): Human, Half-Orc, Half-Elf Holdings: Rules Sengeral. Major holdings in Garland and Alluvan. Minor holdings in Renflour and Belsomme. Religion: Independant Temples Relationships: Rivals with House Deschaigne. Generally disliked by Cholai. Friendly with Solane and Ponderry. Allies with Lauthgard. Personality/Customs: House Senge finally flexed its muscles during the Heartstone Wars, breaking away from Chirmont and forming its own nation (Sengeral) under the auspices of several Independant Temples. This weakened them in the short term, as House Deschaigne confiscated their lands, and they were not strong enough to protest effectively, but Sengeral's economy has been thriving since. Members of House Senge are known as thinkers, philosophers, and magicians, and are generally very clever and very curious people. The family has a strong tradition of honor, loyalty, and courage, and it was not without great debate that they decided to split with the Church in order to pursue knowledge of the Heartstones. House Barriton Race(s): Human, Half-Elf, Elf Holdings: Rules Barriton. Major holdings in Renflour. Minor holdings in Garland and Frelund. Religion: Independant Temples Relationships: Openly enemies with House Melgerton. On good terms with most other houses. Personality/Customs: Well thought-of despite its archaic traditions, House Barriton is comprised of skilled warriors who abhor violence. Barriton is a peaceful country that tries to stay neutral during war time and has almost no standing army, although their militia is exceptionally skilled and well-equipped. Nobles in Barriton who have disagreements or commit crimes do not stand before tribunal, however; they instead engage in ritualized dueling, with the winner victorious. This ensures that all the nobles remain physically strong and that they treat their peers with utmost diplomacy, because if relations break down, they themselves will be the ones who do battle. House Melgerton Race(s): Human, Half-Orc Holdings: Rules Garland. Minor holdings in Renflour, Chirmont and Alluvan. Religion: Independant Temples Relationships: Openly enemies with House Barriton. Friendly with House Senge and with Wanford. On bad terms with House Deschaigne. Personality/Customs: Aggressive and warlike, the nobles of House Melgerton are only the latest in a long line of noble families to subdue that nation into a semblance of a monarchy. Members of this house train for combat from an early age and maintain disciplined armies. They are also devoted patrons of the visual arts, often adorning their castles with elaborate paintings, sculptures, and colorful decorations; many a novice bard has had a career jump-start thanks to nobles of house Melgerton. House Mrovos Race(s): Half-Elf, Elf, Human. Holdings: Rules Zoltar. Major holdings in Frelund and Kresmaya. Minor holdings in Renflour, Garland and Alluvan. Religion: Church of the Pantheon Relationships: Pretty well disliked by most other houses, but despised by Cholai. On good terms with House Melgerton and with Gregor. Personality/Customs: The contradictory Mrovos are corrupt to the point of cruelty and perversion, yet they take a weird pride in bettering the lots of their peasants. Members of House Mrovos are generally selfish hedonists who think little of torturing or betraying others for simple pleasure, which doesn't earn them too many friends in other houses. However, they are very close to one another and to the commoners on their land, seeking to "spread the joy" by inducting others into their twisted ways. The foundation of "Mrovos morality," as it is called in other lands, is the notion "if it feels good, do it." They often encourage others to join in this attitude -- sometimes as a way of justifying it to themselves, and sometimes out of amusement. House Cholai Race(s): Half-Orc, Human. Holdings: Rules Corsom. Major holdings in Marshalle. Minor holdings in Renflour and Alluvan. Religion: Church of the Pantheon Relationships: Allies with Deschaigne and Gregor. Enemies with Mrovos. Fairly well thought of by Solane. Personality/Customs: One of the oldest houses, the somewhat isolated Cholai rule the vast plains of Corsom. Renowned horsemen, like most of their countrymen, the Cholai are very religiously devout. They are a superstitious people that believe daily prayer is the only sure way to ward off evil spirits; many of the ornate decorations that adorn their clothing and homes are good-luck symbols. Members of House Cholai are also known as brave, strong warriors, riding swiftly across their great land to defend the common folk against dangerous monsters. House Gregor Race(s): Human, Half-Orc. Holdings: Rules Frelund. Major holdings in Garland and Zoltar. Minor holdings in Renflour and Nebling. Religion: Church of the Pantheon Relationships: Allies with Cholai and friendly to Mrovos. On bad terms with Deschaigne. Not well liked by the people of Renflour. Personality/Customs: A warm people who love friends and family and take great joy in entertaining, members of House Gregor are shrewd, clever individual. Their land is full of festivals and merriment, and they frequently visit old friends bearing gifts. Although the bonds of kinship are strong and their comeraderie sincere, the members of House Gregor are extremely cunning, strategic thinkers who are always working towards a goal. Even as they laugh and cavort, they are maneuvering to strengthen their position. Fortunately, they are good to those who help them on the way to the top. House Lauthgard Race(s): Human. Holdings: Major holdings in Frelund and Nibling. Minor holdings in Renflour and Garland. Religion: Independant Temples Relationships: Allies with Senge. Friendly with Gregor and Solane. Disliked by Cholai. Personality/Customs: Members of House Lauthgard thirst for knowledge -- all types of knowledge, lore and history, but particular magical knowledge. They maintain vast libraries, and young members of the house are encouraged to seek and discover what they don't know. Lauthgard was a very minor house beholden to Gregor before the discovery of Heartstones. This magic brought the house wealth and fame, but also put them at the center of the Heartstone Wars, and to the brink of ruin. With their allies and their magical expertese, they have rebuilt their house's holdings and are on the rise. Members of House Lauthgard, in addition to loving knowledge, have a deep respect for the natural world. Most noble manors are pastoral country houses built on beautiful forest hilltops, surrounded by uncultivated land. Many Lauthgards become explorers, mapping frontier regions and cataloging new natural phenomena. House Solane Race(s): Human, Half-Orc. Holdings: Rules Alluvan. Major holdings in Chirmont and Marshalle. Minor holdings in Renflour, Nibling, and Sengeral. Religion: Independant Temples Relationships: Friendly with Lauthgard, Cholai, and Senge. Enemies with Marshalle. Rivals with Deschaigne. Personality/Customs: The ruling family of Alluvan is passionate in everything they do. They are active traders and have one of the largest merchant networks next to Deschaigne. Members of House Solane love money -- making it, having it, and spending it. They are rich and want everyone to know it, but are not idle rich -- they are savvy business people. They are also quite athletic and love sports, particularly running, wrestling, and sports played by horseback. Most Solane take physical fitness very seriously; they are superb dancers. House Koref Race(s): Human, Goblin. Holdings: Rules Treothe. Minor holdings in Anku, Ombroten and Renflour. Religion: Church of the Pantheon (Treothan sect) Relationships: Friendly with Solane, Gregor, and Deschaigne. Passionate hatred for Mrovos. Personality/Customs: House Koref is widely known as being fiercely loyal to the Church. Although their traditions are odd (they follow the Treothan sect of the Church), they are extremely devoted to the teachings of Jordana and try to take them to heart in every activity they do. What most people don't realize is that they strictly enforce a rigid social structure on their underlings (with themselves at the top). While the Koref are not quite tyrannical despots, they are somewhat hypocritical -- the sort of people who pray to the gods to fill their hearts with goodness and mercy, then turn around and administer harsh justice to their populace (like cutting the hands off a theif who stole some bread to feed his family). House Iphris Race(s): Human, Half-Elf, Elf. Holdings: Major holdings in Alluvan and Corsom. Minor holdings in Chirmont and Marshalle. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Rocky relationship with Solane. Allies with Varindree and Cholai and with the local ogre tribes. Enemies of Lauthgard and Melgerton. Personality/Customs: A very old house -- one of the first to ally with elven houses during the Throne Wars (hey, that rhymes with Clone Wars!) -- House Iphris has a tradition of practicing meditation, contemplation, and seeking pleasure in the simple things of life. They believe that dreams are as important as the real world, and many of them become priests in order to ingest Essence and commune with the divine. Members of House Iphris are often ruthelessly competitive as well; they strive to overcome their own limits, excel in whatever they do, and reach their goals no matter what. A bit of popular Iphris lore tells of two brothers in a fierce competition to see who could become the most tranquil and ascetic; one became so calm that he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating and he died. The other, named Solane, inherited all of his brother's vast wealth but was devestated over losing the contest, gave up on meditation and all that crap and decided to live life to the fullest, forming his own noble house. House Norindal Race(s): Dwarf. Holdings: Major holdings in the Mountain Duchies. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Allies with Cholai, Gregor, and Melgerton. Bitter enemies of Deschaigne. Dislikes Solane and Barriton. Personality/Customs: Norindal is the strongest of the dwarven houses, and most of their members value two things: tradition and money. Norindal follows ancient dwarven customs dating back to the clan days and has a rigid social hierarcy. They've incorporated Church worship into their traditions smoothly and are big backers of the Church -- most Norindal nobility tithe exactly 10% (no more, no less). They are extremely greedy and spend their time hatching schemes to make money; they have had some difficulty incorporating the use of Heartstones with their house's traditional distrust of arcane magic, and some fear that the wizards of Norindal, who now live as wealthy pariahs, may take their profits and form their own line. House Eliosine Race(s): Human, Elf, Half-Elf. Holdings: Major holdings in the Chirmont, Frelund, Ponderry, and Marshalle. Very minor holdings in many other countries. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Gets along well with most houses. Allies of Deschaigne, Solane, and Lauthgard. Disliked by Senge and Gregor. Engaged in heavy trade wars and magical rivalry with Varindree. Personality/Customs: A wealthy mercantile house with land everywhere and lots of Magicants, Eliosine has made big money in the Essence trade for hundreds of years. They are eager to please everyone and try to avoid political or military entanglements, and encourage the rule of law. Secretly, the house also engages in a lot of black-market trade and criminal extortion activities, but they are able to afford the best PR people in the land (called "priests") and have a good reputation in most places. The Eliosine are also a very creative family; many of them are artists or performers as well as trade barons, and House nobles own many fine works of art. Minor Houses In addition to the major noble houses listed above, there are around three dozen or so minor noble houses. Players can create their own noble house as part of their character's background using the guidelines here. Race(s): The most common races are Human, Elf, Half-Elf, and Half-Orc. If the house contains nobles of any other races, there should be a very good reason why, as this is very uncommon. Holdings: If the house rules a country, note that here. Otherwise, note which countries most of the house's land is found in. For a minor house, there should be around 1-4 countries listed here. Religion: Church of the Pantheon is the most common, followed by Independant Temples. Some exotic lands have families that worship Orthodox Pantheism. No noble family follows the Old Ways (at least, not in public). Relationships: List a few houses that are allies, friends, enemies, or unfriendly towards the noble house. These relationships often follow no apparent rhyme or reason, although it seems that houses are more likely to be enemies with their neighbors and allies with those located farther away. Note that most minor houses are beholden in some fashion to one or more of the major houses -- these relationships help keep the minor houses from getting plowed down by other major houses, but sometimes they get subsumed by their allies. Personality/Customs: Give a generalized depiction of how the members of this house behave differently from those of other houses. Each house should have two distinct personality traits or customs which are at least orthogonal to one another, if not contradictory. In other words, if the traits are related, such as "loves nature" and "good with animals," or "warlike" and "athletic," that's kind of boring, but if the traits are unrelated, such as "loves nature" and "warlike," or "good with animals" and "athletic," that's much more interesting. Most people and organizations do not have straightforward, simple personalities. Using obvious contraditions is an easy way to simulate more complex personalities. [Edit: 4 more noble houses]
The Swedish Viking 05-11-04, 10:17 AM	When youīre done, you might consider putting together a Word document of all this. Iīd gladly read the compiled info. And an NPC... hope youīll like it. Glóin "Heartseeker" Redbeard (N male dwarf, lvl 5 ftr/7 wiz/1 rog) "A dwarven adventurer, he is, this Glóin. His beard is at least a foot long and all red in colour, and his gaze as penetrating as the bolts of his crossbow. Whereīer he treads, dragonic and magical creatures tremble." Glóin is a dwarf about 75 years of age. He was born the son of a smith, and raised in the ways of that craft. In time, he grew up to be a skilled craftsman. As the years passed, he became more and more fascinated with the magical phenomena of wizards, and dreamed of one day becoming able to forge magical items of great power. So he began to study the art of arcane magic, buying tomes of arcane knowledge from shady merchants who sometimes visited his realm. From these books, as well as lore concerning the local noble house, he learned exactly what he needed to become the greatest artificier of all time. He dreamt of this, many times: "For the greatest artificier of all, needeth but a few Heartstones from creatures most different: The Heartstone of a Red Dragon, the Heartstone(s) of a Night Hag, and the Heartstone of a Nymph. These and many others are those of greatest power..." And thus the books went on some length, also detailing spells and how to extract the Heartstone. And as he read these books and learned magic, he realised he did not have the resources to complete his plan. So one night, he used his skills as a locksmith to sneak into the keep of the local nobleman and entered the chamber where the Magicant of that house was kept. He stole a great batch of Essence, and using chisel and hammer and spells fueled by the essence, he chopped of a small piece of the great Magicant. He snuck back up, avoided guards alarmed by the noise of his operations, and went into his smithy. There he forged, using all the magical energy of the small Magicant to forge himself a hammer of horrendous power, a hammer to aid him on his quest to become the greatest artificier of all time. However, the guards discovered the identity of the dwarf who had commited the horrendous crime of not only desecrating the magicant, but dulling it, and also stealing from the local lord. He was thrown out, but not without his gear or food. He began to travel the mountains and villages in human settlements, and on his adventures, he used his hammer and knowledge of magic and crafting to search forever for the most potent Heartstones and Magicants. His searching continues to this day.... Hammer of Glóin This hammer functions as a +3 Warhammer. The hammer also provides its owner (which, currently, is Glóin himself) with a +4 circumstance bonus to all Craft (Armorsmithing) and Craft (Weaponsmithing) checks. It also counts as a Bane weapon against Dragons and Magical Beasts. ((If you like this, I could come up with a ruling for using Heartstones and Magicants in creating magical items)) EDIT: If you think Iīm interfering with this setting or modifying Your work in a way you donīt like, then please tell me and I will shut up.
77IM 05-11-04, 12:55 PM	I LOVE Gloin Redbeard -- he displays a great mix of traditional dwarven archetype (smith/artificer) and power-hungry Heartstone weilder. I would be very interested in rules for magic item creation; I was going to go with a simple "some items require certain Heartstones or Magicants as material components at the DM's discretion" system, but if you have something more creative in mind I'd love to hear it! (Also, when someone damages someone else's Magicant, they are usually killed in a gruesome fashion as an example to others; a mystery for the PCs could be figuring out why Redbeard was spared.) I encourage you to interfere with my setting and modify my work in any way you like, provided of course that I can use what you produce. If you come up with something that doesn't "fit" or which contradicts information that is inside my head but hasn't been written yet, I'll simply edit it to conform, or ignore it. For example, space-faring psionic lizardmen are right out. Check out Manowater989's Chronicles of Fate thread for an example of this -- I contributed a lot of material to that setting, and Manowater989 edited all of it, but it always ended up better afterward because he had the clearer, more comprehensive picture of the setting. And if I ever compile this into a Word doc, I will be sure to give credit where it is due! -- 77IM PS. I edited the "Skills & Feats" post on the first page with a new skill: Art. I see the arts as being more important in this world.
The Swedish Viking 05-12-04, 01:40 AM	Heartstones and Magicants in Item Creation Heartstones and Magicants are not only sources of magical power for spellcasters, but their unique magical nature also makes them especially suited for creating items of great and mysterious power. As such, Heartstones are searched for not only by traditional wizards and sorcerers, but by forgers and artificiers. For such is the power of the Heartstones that the hearts of the most powerful creatures can be used to forge items often far beyond the ability of normal spellslingers. Even more powerful are the Magicants. For a piece of Magicant can do what five pieces of the most powerful Heartstone cannot. Thus, many are the rogues and thieves who risk death to steal essence and mayhaps try to knock a few pieces from a larger magicant to sell to scroupuless (spelling?) wizards and sorcerers. -------------------------------------------------------------- To represent the powers of Magicants and Heartstones, use the rules below as listed: 1. A Heartstone, when it is harvested, is given a Power Level. This Power Level is equal to the slain monster/magical creatureīs Hit Dice. 2. In addition, when the Heartstone is taken from the enemy, the caster who extracted the Heartstone may select one of the monster/creatureīs Spell Like, Supernatural or Extraordinary abilities to be imbued into the Heartstone. If the Heartstone is "devoured" to fuel spells or inserted into oneīs body, then this has no effect. The Heartstone may then be used for any one of the following effects: * Replace the Gold Piece cost of creating a Magic Item (using the Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Craft Staff, Craft Wand, Craft Ring, and Craft Wondrous Item feats). The Amount of gold replaced is equal to 500 x Power Level (so that a Heartstone with PL 5 can replace up to 2 500 gold pieces). * Replace the XP cost for creating a Magic Item (using the above listed feats) with 100 x Power Level (so that a Heartstone with PL 5 can replace 500 XP). * Be used to imbue the Spell Like, Supernatural or Extraordinary ability stored inside the Heartstone (using paragraph 2 above) into an item during the making of the Magic Item (so that one having taken a Hearstone from, for example, a Nymph can ī"insert" one of the Nymphīs abilities). This ability becomes useable 1/day for every 5 Power Levels of the Heartstone. It also adds 250 to the XP cost and 2 500 to the Gold cost for every Power Level stored in the Heartstone. The effects for using Magicants (a chunk the size of a large fist): * Be used as a Heartstone of Power Level 20 in effects to determining amount of Gold/XP replaced, and cost for adding creature effects to an item. * Be used to select three Supernatural, Spell Like or Extraordinary abilities of the Casterīs Choice (exact properties determined by DM) to be stored into the item during creation. This is at 1/2 the cost for doing the same thing with Heartstones (costing (in gold): 2 500 x 20 / 2, and in XP: 250 x 20 / 2). ((There. Anything that should be edited or removed?))
The Swedish Viking 05-12-04, 05:19 PM	The Guardians of Magic "Better not mess with the guardians of Magic lad, for as the secretive bastards they are, theyīd smite ya on the spot if they thought ye be after their precious magicant." The Guardians of Magic is a small group of wizards formed from the nobility. They specialize in guarding Magicants from such robberies and thefts as the one comitted by the daring Glóin; and in fact, where created to the rush of such thefts just after he had commited his daring deed. These wizards protect Magicants and search ever for new Magicants hidden beneath mountains or in abandoned ruins, often mounting expeditions to such places. They are heavily in league with the Church of the Pantheon, who have justified their presence as "men who have such intimate knowledge of the ways of Magic that they can combat practicioners of the dark arts with their own methods". The Guardians of Magic are rather power- and wealth-hungry, and using the amount of Magicants that they either guard or possess, they are slowly trying to create a wizardīs guild outside the Church with access to Magicants, despite the comparatively easy access to Heartstone, since they believe that controlling even a single magicant thoroughly might grant them greater wealth and power. Indeed, they are not the guardians of light they appear to be, but instead pose as such to secure their own goals. EDIT: Iīm unsure about this one. Just thought it up as I went along.
77IM 05-12-04, 05:54 PM	I love it! That is exactly the sort of tangled web of intrigue I have envisioned for this world. Historically, Magicants have been guarded by force of arms and by clerical magic, which is of a more information-gathering nature and lacks the firepower of low-level wizard spells. But now that theives have access to Heartstones, there is an "arms race" on, and the old guards are having trouble coping with magical intruders, paving the way for the Guardians of Magic. Also, I posted two new noble houses, above. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 05-12-04, 07:05 PM	Dwarven Essencial Miners "Weird bozoes, those. Thinking they can mine, or even create, Magicants and heartstones! Real dwarves do good in having little to do with their lot!" These dwarven Clerics and miner craftsmen, and a small community of wizards, claim to have discovered an underground "vein" with several weaker Magicants, and even Heartstones from elemental creatures. They dwell in the Mountain Duchies, and those who come to seek Magicants are indeed allowed to use them, at a smaller price than for the normal Magicants (though the power of these are rarely as strong). Some suggest that the Essencial Miners simply "fuse" the magical energies of Magicant chunks and Heartstones to create a half-breed of the two, though these wizards and scholars are rarely heeded. The Old Ways Druids condemn these miners, since their magical ways and tamperings with nature have cause great upheavals and sometimes earthquakes and ruptures. The Clerics of the Pantheon maintain a neutral but guardedly stance towards the dwarves, as do the other pantheons. They merely wish to see how this little enterprise is going to end, and make a decision where they stand when it has been determined. The Essencial Mine This mine is located in the northern Mountain Duchies and is the home base to the Essencial Miners. The Essencial Miners guard the mine with extreme zeal, killing or enslaving any trespassers on sight. Those who wish to visit the mine to use the (so-called) Magicants of that place has to make up a deal with one of the representatives in surrounding towns to be let in. What can be found in the mine is entirely unknown, even to those allowed to use Essence from that place. They are only allowed to collect the Essence, and never see any Magicants or Heartstone. The Essencial Miners are in troth mysterious...
The Swedish Viking 05-14-04, 10:24 AM	The Magicele Liberation Army The Magicele Liberation Army is the magical creaturesī response to the rescent (spelling?) increase in killings and hunting of both good, evil and neutral beasts of magic and myth. The army is comprised of a huge amount of magical creatures. Nymphs; Dryads; Centaurs; human, halfling, elven, dwarven and gnome sorcerers; Ogre Mages; the odd Silver Dragon; Red Dragons in great numbers; Hags and Harpies; and all kinds of magical beasts and Planetouched creatures. The Liberation Army is headed by General Pforthon the Third (male Aasmar lvl 4 ftr/4 sor/4 clr), an excellent tactician, formerly leader of a large mercenary band (mainly comrpised of Humans and Goblins, they have now joined the Liberation Army in force). His second-in-command is Lieutenant Alhandra (female Tiefling lvl 6 sor/7 rog). Each race of magical beasts have their own representatives and officers. The goals of the army, they say, is to defend the magical creatures from the ravages of ignorant wizards and Paladins, from the zealots of the Church and Independant Temples, and to have those who wish practice the Old Ways once more. However, a more sinister force threatens the noble goal of the liberation army. For the Red Dragons and many other evil beasts, as well as the original Mountain Fist Mercenary Company have allied themselves and are plotting to overthrow General Pforthon. They intend to then capture the good magical beasts who have joined the army and who do not suspect treason from within, and sacrifice them and use the Heartstones extracted from them to build an army of magical creatures and wizards from other "magical" races in liege with them. The army is currently camped in the Corsom-Wanford northern forest, threatening to secure the rights of magical creatures by force if necessary. In response to this threat, Corsom and many of the northern nations are mustering heroes and allies so that they are prepared if the horde begins to march upon them. In addition to this main force, secret cabals of loyal sorcerers and magical creatures in disguise hide in many of the northern nations. The Church of the Pantheon is still trying to figure out what stance they are going to take with this new threat. The Old Ways Druids are guardedly neutral towards the army, sensing that somehow so many creatures of magic cannot ally without someone attempting at least something out of order with the Armyīs goals, and they are afraid that this "something" might be rather large a plot.
The Swedish Viking 05-16-04, 04:39 AM	BUMP ((Hey, 77IM, where did you go?))
The Swedish Viking 05-16-04, 02:34 PM	I have been compiling this into a word-document (I want this even when the thread vanishes, if this is a violation of some obscure regulation and law, please inform me) and just the first page is 20 a4 pages. :P
His Majesty 05-16-04, 03:13 PM	Hi. Just popping in to praise the magnificent world you two are creating here. I wish I could help, but I've got two concerts soon (I play a saxophone) as well as final tests in various subjects, so I've got very limited free time. Once all this is over, I'll try to contribute some ideas (This applies also to the Organizations thread, BTW). I can't even read it all. In fact, don't even answer this post - I'll probably read the answer in about four days or something. If I'm lucky. :( It's completly legal to copy things from here, Viking. This setting is overflowing with ideas. You've got at least one loyal reader. See you and good luck. P. S. Viking, you bump too much. ;) Quote: rescent (spelling?) [/quote] -- recent Edit: 'Bout Gloin - I'd picture the 'real' Gloin as someone who lives in constant fear, on the verge of paranoia. As 77IM said, someone who steals Magicants should expect a terrible death - and I doubt that Gloin is willing to accept that. As he seams to be a pretty smart guy, I'd guess that he gathered enough knowledge about people in important positions that, through a thick - though fragile - web of lies, threats and contracts, as well as many less-then-loyal friends, contacts and allies, he is able to prevent a great rush of assassins in his direction. He must constantly maintain that web, however, and that is a difficult task for one who can barely trust his own mother. While still couragous, cheeky, and extremely ambitious, Gloin is no longer a happy man - most of the time. He lives now for the excitement of battle and theivery and the cold joy of defeating another attempt to catch him or foil his plans, and he would never attempt to break in to a castle with no place to run to, or at least 5 different escape routes. The danger has taught him patience. Additionally, I would add a cohort and/or partner and/or group of underlings to Gloin. The goals he set for himself will be extremely difficult to achieve with utterly no outside help. That was longer than I intended it to be. Bye now.
The Swedish Viking 05-16-04, 04:39 PM	Well. I have put no specifics in his personality, how he keeps assassins from his back, or his followers, and leave that to the DM to decide. However, I must emphasize on one point: Glóin strives to become the greatest enchanter and artificer of all time, and at almost whatever cost. Much of his joy lies with creation, and that is the driving force behind his actions. That being said, Glóin is probably a little paranoid, greedy and covetous, though certainly he is cheeky, and to those precious few who actually know him and maintain friendship, he is kind and benevolent (though still suspicious). EDIT: The finished compilation of this CS was 41 a4 pages long. That is, so far, since I do not doubt that more personae, houses, info, and other neat stuff is going to come along soon.
77IM 05-17-04, 11:16 AM	I was out of town over the weekend but I'm glad to see my thread is still alive and well! Thanks for compiling a Word doc. I do have most of this thread in a .txt document, in case the boards explode. In fact, what I usually do is type my posts in the .txt file first, that way I can work on them over several days if need be, and then I paste them into the forum. The bottom of my file contains sections I'm going to work on next (not necessarily in order). These are: Spells -- I'm going to go through the cleric spell list and figure out how the spells there have been integrated with society. This connects to Prestige Organizations -- The Viking has already generated some of these. I'm going to start with a few church organizations I thought of over the weekend. Monsters -- The mythology and ecology behind the monsters of the world, as well as which monsters exist and which don't. Some previews (as this relates to the Magicele Liberation Army): * Aasimars and Tieflings are not "recognized" as such. In other words, they don't appear much different from normal people and some don't even know what they are. * Dragons have their alignments relaxed quite a bit. Red dragons, for example, are "often" Chaotic Evil, but some could be good, possibly even Lawful Good. However, dragons are not very common. They don't have a normal life cycle, either -- they are magical creatures and it's unknown whether they reproduce at all. * Hags and Trolls are the same species. Hags are the females, Trolls are the males. A Hag has regeneration much slower than a Troll's -- if she's not killed by fire or acid, she continues to heal normally, even when "dead." * Centaurs and similar tauric creatures (merfolk, lamias, harpies, driders, nagas) are actually druids transformed. Consequently, these creatures are much more powerful than their MM counterparts. They have no alignment tendancies (there are nice, friendly harpies about as well as horribly evil merfolk). Like most things associated with the Old Ways, these creatures are rare and will soon be forgotten. * There is no Underdark, although earth-elemental creatures do live within the depths. In fact, there are no elemental planes; earth elementals live underground, water elementals in large lakes and distant ocean, air elementals in the sky, and fire elementals in volcanoes. Underdarkish monsters like Beholders and Aboleths simply live in remote areas (often ruins). I haven't decided yet whether Mind Flayers exist. If they do, they will be demonic in origin. * There is no distinction between devils and demons; they're all just fiends (often called "demons" in this setting). * Speaking of demons, they were not common during the days of the Old Ways, as people looked at the world from a more self-interested point of view and were consequently less suceptible to temptation. They became a stronger force during the era of the Church, which focussed people's attentions on the conflict between Good and Evil. But demons have really reached their peak of popularity in the present day, as they find many wizards are all to eager to rush into bargains that seem too good to be true. Many demons are twisted and grotesque and have a sort of "Call of Cthulu" feel about them, although there are still plenty of "Pointy tail and pitch fork" guys around. Abberations and undead are mainly thought to be created by demons. * There are no humanoid subraces like drow, sverfneblin, duegars, etc. An elf is an elf is an elf -- if someone is a "dark elf" it is because of their particular outlook on life, not because they have dark skin and Spell Resistance and LA +2. -- 77IM [Edit: added more monster info]
The Swedish Viking 05-17-04, 11:58 AM	I have been thinking about more organizations and NPCs. Organizations: * A secret cabal of sorcerers within <insert name of land here>, simply trying to survive and delay a war between magical creatures and wizards. * An order of Witch Hunters determined that sorcery and arcane magic is evil incarnate (sorta like the Spanish Inquisition...). Maybe a PRC for them, too. * A thieves guild specialized on Heartstone/Essence acquiration and locating magical creatures within civilized lands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NPCs: * A Witch Hunter determined to thwart the "Old Way plot to have the evil Arcane magic replace the divine connection with the gods!" * A bard trying to influence the minds of the nobles in a way favourable to the Old Ways and sorcery, and to make wizards go after those creatures who use their power for evil; perhaps going against deamons and extracting their power? * A cleric of The Pantheon determined to find a Magicant strong enough for him to communicate directly with the deities for guidance in the difficult problems with magic that lies ahead, and to solve the problem using the deitiesī guidance, once and for all.
77IM 05-17-04, 01:06 PM	Organizations are fun, aren't they? Church Orders These are sub-organizations within the Church of the Pantheon. The other religions are too small or secretive to support sub-organizations, although different Independant Temples may have different focusses similar to these sub-groups. Keepers Those clerics which attend the Magicants are known as Keepers. Devoted individuals who observe the rites of Essence harvesting, the Keepers are a strict and somewhat paranoid sect. No-one may enter a Magicant chapel except for a Keeper or the noble who owns the Magicant, and there is always at least one Keeper on hand. Keepers tend to be extremely devout and skilled clerics, tasked with protecting the Magicant, although they also must guard against the dangers of Essence addiction (which is really not as common as you might think). They are fiercely obedient and maintain a strict hierarchy within their branch of the Church. They favor defensive spells such as various protection and magic circle spells, and others like sanctuary, obscuring mist, and glyph of warding. Some Magicants are even protected by symbols, although none today are known to possess such advanced spells. In combat, they favor spells which disable or drive off foes quickly, relying on their lord's household troops to actually deal damage. Keepers wear elaborate robes of gold, orange, magenta, and indigo, reminiscent of the colors of a Magicant. Their symbol is a triangle within a circle within a square diamond (a square rotated 45 degrees). Their most typical patrons are the Sun Father and the Moon Sister, although they try to pray to all the deities evenly. Lacrima Divinae Compassionate healers who are organized into monastaries and wandering monks, the Lacrima Divinae often train in the mundane arts of healing, as Essence is not as easy to come by for this relatively low-budget order. They are favorites of the people, as many rural villages send their talented young of to study as a Lacrima Divinae, so that they can return as the town's physician. They are a political disaster, as monks give no special treatment to the nobility. It is forbidden for the Lacrima Divinae to accept any payment for services rendered; their living expenses are paid directly by the Church. Most pray directly to the Prophet, although they also study the lore of the Earth Mother and the Moon Sister as well, and their places of worship often depicts this trio of goddesses. They wear blue robes with white trim, and their special symbol is a teardrop within a triangle within a circle. PrC: Radiant Servant of Pelor (from Complete Divine), with these changes: The ONLY special abilities they get are Divine Health (which they gain at 1st level), Empowered Healing, Maximized Healing, and Supreme Healing. The only prerequisite for the class is the ability to cast cure serious wounds. Lightbearers The Lightbearers are the butt-kicking branch of the Church. Primarily composed of paladins and martial clerics, the Lightbearers are focussed on fighting evil in all its forms. Consequently, the Church hierarchy keeps them on the end of a long stick, constantly sending members on dangerous missions just to keep them from interfering with "delicate" matters of Church politics. Their special patron is the Sun Father although they pray frequently to the Prophet for guidance. They can be recognized by their white-and-gold tabards, and their special symbol is the church symbol (a triangle within a circle) with lines radiating down from the peak of the triangle to the base line. PrC: Lightbearer (below). Order of the Silver Shield (Church Knights) The Church Knights, as they are more commonly known, is the comprised of soldiers and knights in the service of the Church. Ostensibly for defensive purposes, guarding cathedrals and priests, the Church Knights are sometimes used as muscle instead. Devout individuals typically drawn from noble families that hope to cement a stronger relationship with the Church, the Church Knights are almost never Essence-users, and are usually fighters, elites, or scions, although in time they do learn to cast a few divine spells. Many feel an affinity for the Silver Knight or the Prophet. They all carry, obviously, silver shields (they are only coated with silver, and simply count as masterwork light or heavy shields), and their emblem is a shape of a shield containing the Church's symbol (a triangle within a circle). PrC: Pious Templar (from Complete Divine). The favored weapon of this order is the longsword. Truthsayers This organization often works with the nobility on matters of law and commerce. The head of a Tribunal is almost always a Truthsayer, and many nobles hire them during important business negotiations. Truthsayers are forbidden by a mark of justice to tell a lie, even a slight one, although many are adept at telling half-truths and talking around the issue (if the mark is triggered, they lose the ability to speak). They use almost all their spell slots for zone of truth and detect evil spells; higher-level Truthsayers make good use of speak with dead, discern lies, mark of justice, and scrying, although only a few of the organization's clerics can cast such high-level spells. Many are experts at forensic science (such as lifting hairs from a crime scene and then using scrying to ID their former owners). Although Truthsayers are often used by the nobility to squelch peasant mischeif, their devotion to the truth curbs the worst noble abuses -- a guilty noble knows not to call in a Truthsayer, but on high-profile cases they often intervene on their own. Their emblem is a triangle within a circle within an oblong eye-shape -- the effect is like an eye with a triangular pupil. They wear utilitarian outfits, often with a silver cape, mantle, or scarf. They often take the Sky Lord, the Keeper of Time, or the Judge of the Dead as patrons. PrC: Church Inquisitor (from Complete Divine). The special mark of justice described above is a Special requirement for this class. The Black Flame A secretive order within the Church which patronizes the Judge of the Dead. The goals of this group are mysterious, but it's thought that they slay enemies of the Church. Their symbols is a Church symbol (triangle within circle) within a black flame, although it is rarely worn or displayed in public. They are also fond of black hooded cloaks. Upper-level Church officials often claim that this group is a peaceful order with unsual practices, and that alleged murders are perpetrated by a group of assassins seeking to frame the Church. PrC: Black Flame Zealot (from Complete Divine). Other Religious Sects and Traditions Way of the Inner Eye This tradition is almost exclusive to Orthodox Pantheism, although a few Church monks and Independant priests have strove for this path. The basic belief is that through meditation, cleansing one's mind of human thoughts and desires and opening it to the energies of the natural world, one can achieve divine perfection. The Way of the Inner Eye is difficult; there are only three living individuals (all elves) who have even reached 1st level in the associated Prestige Class (Contemplative). Followers don't have a symbol or special garb of their own, but often shave their heads and tattoo a small Church symbol (triangle-in-circle) in the middle of their foreheads. PrC: Contemplative (from Complete Divine). Jordanite Missionary Bold followers of Independant Temples, Jordanite Missionaries are linked by a common tradition but have no central organization. They are comprised primarily of hardened individuals, often from the middle class but sometimes low-ranking nobles, who have turned from the Church of the Pantheon and now seek to spread the Prophet's love to all people, even hostile individuals in dangerous lands (including certain devoutly Church lands). They often go on missions or provide defense for the Independant Temples they are associated with, and have a rivalry with the Church Knights. Their symbol is a holy symbol (triangle in a circle, you get the idea) cast in bronze, worn as an amulet, and they typically wear armor (but rarely platemail). Most consider themselves members of their particular temple first, and Jordanite Missionaries second. PrC: Divine Crusader (from Complete Divine), with these changes: They gain access to all three of the Prophet's domains (Good, Protection, Healing) and have the base attack bonus of a fighter (+10 at 10th level). [Edit: 3 new orders, and PrCs for most of them]
The Swedish Viking 05-17-04, 02:15 PM	Yeah. :D Elina Strongheart Ah, a most talented player of the lute and harp, this one, and her tales are not bad either! I just wish sheīd stop trying to convince me that I shouldnīt slay those "poor" little forest-creatures just for their Heartstones..." Elina Strongheart (female human brd 9/rog 1) has all hear life been trying to change the opinion of sorcerers and magical creatures as evil or dark of heart. She was born the daughter of a farmer whoīse farm lay close to a large trading route. Thus, she listened to their tales of derring-do and their songs and music many times during her younger years. When she became older and in her late teens, magic that had until then lain latent in her began to manifest itself. Knowing the signs from the many tales she had heard, she took the first chance she got and ran away with a troupe of bards. During her travels, she learned more of the magic of the blood (of which she possessed a little), but even more of the magic of music. She did also learn of the great forces that even now tried to earn power from slaying other creatures and using their hearts; how could they be so vile? In time, she fell in love with one of the bards, the most skilled singer and entertainer of them all, and after two years, they married. Things could have ended happily, but they didnīt. One day, a wizard, and several priests dressed in black robes appeared on the troupeīs encampment. The Wizard was sanctioned by the Order of Witch Hunters, and they had come to take the heart of her husband who, they claimed, was "a vile consort of deamons and user of black magic, deserving naught to be slain and burn in the hellfire for all eternity". Her husband was indeed a sorcerer, but his power was not in any aspect equal to that of the wizard aided by his allies. They slew him and his heart was used to fuel the wizardīs spells. Soon after, she decided what her two goals in life would be: The first, to change the opinion of wizards and scholars on magical creatures and sorcerers and to help end the hunting of those who possessed this magic. The second would be to hunt down those responsible for her husbandīs death. Until this day, she has sung and performed in many a court in front of many nobles and wealthy merchants. And she believes that her tales have begun to slowly change the opinions of those whoose courts she attend.ī
77IM 05-17-04, 03:54 PM	FYI, I want to avoid super-high-level NPCs. I notice that both Gloin and Pforthon are ECL 13, which should mean that they are fairly well-known in certain circles (those in power try to keep tabs on each other). This seems to be borne out by references to Gloin in other posts. Most famous warriors, heads of noble houses, and powerful magicians are in the 10-15th level range. The High Priest of the Church of the Pantheon is only 13th level, for example, and he is the strongest active divine caster around (there might be more powerful clerics or druids in seclusion, but nobody really knows about them). This makes PrCs somewhat tricky, as the "average" member of most organizations won't be high enough to get more than a few levels in a PrC. I think I'm OK with this though. The whole goal here is to make the PCs seem a little bit more special, so that a party that advances all the way to 15th level can be treated as a major force in the world, not just "ho hum, another bunch of sub-epic adventurers." Also, a preponderance of high-level characters can have weird effects on a campaign world, causing it to revolve around individuals rather than factions, which to me is not as interesting. -- 77IM [Edit: Just wanted to note that I have grown the post on noble houses, above, once again!]
77IM 05-17-04, 07:19 PM	I'm not sure when I'll finish this list, but I figure I might as well post what I got! Monsters How to Use This Information The default D&D game makes certain assumptions about the world and the role of monsters in the world. These assumptions are not valid for this campaign setting, so this post attempts to enumerate the differences. In particular, in the default D&D setting, monsters are common; there are a great variety of them; and they are fairly well understood (or at least expected to exist). In this setting, all three of those statements are overturned. Monsters are rare (those that are common are thought of more like animals); many monster concepts that don't fit with the world have been removed, particularly intelligent or extraplanar monsters; and many monsters are featured only in myths and legends but are thought to be little more than that. Ecology vs. Mythology, or Fact vs. Misinformation For anyone living an adventuring lifestyle, the information below can be considered "common knowledge." That is, most adventurers know enough monster lore to know the information presented below. However: The information presented below may be false. Some monsters, such as pegasi, are integrated into society. Others, like the purple worm, are well-documented and known to exist. Others, like lycanthropes, are known to exist; but there's a lot of misinformation about them floating around (like, are they really vulnerable to silver? and do they change during the full moon? who knows). Others, like the dragon turtle, are rumored to exist, but no one knows for sure. And there are some listed below that may not exist at all. Of course, other monsters exist which are not listed. Monster Roles and Society Monsters fulfill four basic relationships with society. Domesticated Animal: Monsters like griffons and golems, which can be domesticated and are usually treated like any other beast of burden. Wild Animal: Monsters like ankhegs or bulettes, which are simply viewed as natural predators of the world, like lions or tigers. Mythological Beast: Monsters like the hydra or sprites, which are featured in stories and legends and may or may not exist out in the wilderness. These differ from the Wild Animal role because they are more mysterious -- information about them is unreliable and they are viewed as at least somewhat magical. Celestial servants fall into this category too. Monsters: Finally, creatures like most abberations, undead, and evil outsiders are simply monsters. They are viewed as evil and exist only to be slain. They differ from Mythological Beasts because they are inherently dangerous to people and society and are often viewed as less natural than Mythological Beasts. Monster Categories Abberations: Indistinguishable from magical beasts to most people, abberations are usually associated with demons. Celestial Servants: If someone summons a deity's servant from another plane, it will usually be of the type listed here. Extraplanar Creatures: These typically must be summoned to the material plane, or get here through a magical experiment botched. Portals to the plans never occur naturally, and must be opened from the material plane. Fey creatures: Usually (but not always) of the fey subtype, these shy creatures cavort in the wilderness. They are considered highly magical and mysterious by most people and don't usually follow a human thought process. Instinctuals: These tauric monsters were high-level druids who transformed themselves. Each represents some basic instinct or drive of living creatures. Sacred Creatures: If a creature is sacred to some deity, the Church forbids anyone to harm it. There are exceptions, of course, such as self-defence. Killing the animal is thought to invoke the wrath of that deity. Undead: Free-willed undead can retain the alignment and personality they had in life if whatever curse created them is put right (usually, this involves destroying the undead that created them). Most people don't care, though, and see all undead as evil. The Monsters If a monster is not listed here, it is not known to exist. Civilized races are not listed here. ABOLETH: Found in remote dungeon complexes, these creatures are thought to be demonspawn from the depths of the ocean abyss. ACHAIERAI: A demonic creature from the outer planes, thought to be a cross between a bird of prey and a hunting dog. ALLIP: Undead created when someone is driven mad to the point of suicide. More common in recent years; blamed on arcane magic and demonic influence. ANGEL: Celestials from the outer planes who occasionally visit this one. Angels are secretive and don't like to display themselves to mortals. ANIMATED OBJECT: Created from a magic spell, these sometimes get loose and run amok. ANKHEG: Vicious predators from the steplands, they can also be found in parts of Treothe and Highcaster. ARANEA: Rumored to exist in the jungles south of Erindu. Largely dismissed as rambling nonsense. ARCHON: Like angels, they tend to stay on the outer planes unless summoned. The Hound Archon is a celestial servant of the Huntress. ARROWHAWK: These creatures nest amongst the clouds. Created by the Sky Lord to hurl lightning bolts at the wicked (although some sages proclaim that most lightning bolts have something to do with "static electricity") ASSASSIN VINE: A dangerous plant found in deciduous forests, the assassin vine is said to trap the souls of those it kills. ATHACH: The Athachs feature prominently in a particular Kresmayan myth used to scare children, but they are believed to be purely mythological. AVORAL: A celestial servant of the Sky King. AZER: A celestial servant of the Fire Master. BARGHEST: These horrific creatures are born to goblin women who sleep with non-goblins. (At least, that is the common belief. In reality, the non-goblin must be a demon or posessed by one.) BASILISK: A hungry monster that was once common in the Parthanian Mountains. Their gaze is a curse by the Trickster -- a dwarven criminal, hiding in the mountains, was persued by the beasts, and wished that they "only see stone." His wish was granted in a cruel way. BEHIR: A predator of the desert and the nearby kingdoms, behir were a gift from the Judge of the Dead to the ogres on behalf of the Earth Mother. No tribes of ogre behir-riders remain, though, although a few individuals still practice the ancient art at the behest of wealthy nobles. BELKER: A monster that forms spontaneously from polluting smoke. Dwarven forges must be particularly wary. BLINK DOG: These clever yelping canines once ran free in Highcaster and Corsom, but are now nearly extinct, having retreated into heavily wooded hill and mountain regions. BODAK: A horrifically evil undead sometimes summoned from the outer planes. BRALANI: A celestial servant of the Keeper of Time. BULETTE: Ill-tempered creatures that used to ravage the lands around the eastern reach of the Parthanian Mountains, bulette nest sites are systematically located and destroyed every year before the creatures can become a menace. CELESTIAL CREATURE: Rarely encountered on the material plane, sometimes a holy person's animal companion becomes a celestial creature. CENTAUR: A druid of the Old Ways who reaches 11th level can take a feat to transform permanently into a centaur. These Instinctuals represent feelings of nurturing and parenthood, so centaurs are typically compassionate, protective individuals. CHAOS BEAST: Horrible creatures that usually result from magical transformation experiments gone bad, these things are far more common than is safe. CHIMERA: A mythical beast that was sacred to the ancient Renlinean Empire and sometimes used as a steed. They have not been seen much in recent years, sticking to remote islands in the Renlinean Sea. CHOKER: A nasty creature that lurks in old ruins and abandoned buildings. Thought to have originated as halflings cursed by the gods for demon worship. CHUUL: Found on rocky, difficult coastlines and coastal marshes, chuuls have been driven away from most civilized lands. They are thought to have been servants of the Sea King who abandoned their master and dwindled to uselessness. CLOAKER: A weird monster that lurks in remote ruins. According to legend, the Judge of the Dead created them when the Trickster was trying to steal his cloak, in an attempt to trick the Trickster. It failed when the Trickster stole the whole cloak rack and placed the cloaker in the Judge's chamber. COCKATRICE: A scavenger that feeds on Basilisk kills in the Parthanian Mountains, cockatrice are now bred and slaughtered for magicants by dwarves of the Mountain Duchies. COUATL: A mystical creature venerated by the Old Ways. Thought to be just a legend. DARKMANTLE: Natural cave-dwelling predators common in the Parthanian Mountains. DELVER: A creature from dwarven mythology, seen as a source of wisdom, but also a pain in the neck. Unknown whether or not they actually exist. DEMON: Horribly evil monsters that sometimes possess people. Can usually only come to the material plane when summoned. DESTRACHAN: Malignant, sadistic beasts that are fortunately rare. Those who manage to weasel their way out of a pact with a demon, or make a pack that works to their advantage, are usually assaulted by destrachans sent by the demon or its allies. DEVIL: See demon. DEVOURER: An undead that haunts planar travellers, including dreamers. It is said that the devourer cannot harm a balanced soul. DIGESTER: One of the strange creatures that subsists in the Steppelands. DINOSAUR: Fossils of these creatures can be found throughout the world. DIRE ANIMAL: These creatures were once more common, but have largely been hunted to extinction by human settlers. Some still flourish in remote areas such as the Wyrwood and northern Jarlheim. Ogres often train dire animals -- the elkriders of Alluvan are mounted on dire elk. DOPPELGANGER: Mysterious creatures thought to be evil spirits of dischord. It is unknown how many there are or the extend of their penetration into human society. DRAGON: (Work in progress...) DRAGON TURTLE: Massive beasts that are sometimes sighted in the distant ocean. Dragon Turtles increase in size every 6 HD instead of every 12, and can reach Colossal size. DRAGONNE: A majestic creature that is the symbol of Renflour. They live all along the cost of the Renlinean sea and are thought to be sacred creations of the Sun Father. DRIDER: A type of Instinctual (a high-level transformed druid). Driders are not necessarily evil; they represent the urge to build and nest, so they tend to be solitary and build elaborate lairs. Their spell-like abilities are web and poison, and they don't have any caster levels (except those granted by druid class). DRYAD: A fey creature linked to a Mallorn (a great tree growing from a Magicant). The dryad is the tree's protector and caretaker. If she should die but her tree live, she will reform within 2d4 days. If the tree dies, she dies in 3d6 hours. EAGLE, GIANT: A symbol of Chirmont and sacred creature of the Sky Father. They supposedly aided in the Great Rebellion against the Renlinean Empire. ELEMENTAL: Creatures of pure elemental energy found in extreme enviornments. Air elementals live in the high sky. Water elementals live at the bottom of deep lakes or far out at sea. Earth elementals live deep underground. Fire elementals live in volcanically active regions. ETHEREAL FILCHER: These strange creatures are a menace in many big cities. Thought to have been created by the Trickster. ETHEREAL MARAUDER: Thought to be created by the Keeper of Time to eat ethereal filchers. Some wizards keep them as pets. ETTIN: A mutant giant despised by everyone. Thought to be the decendants of those few giants who betrayed the truce between their race and the Prophet's followers. FIENDISH CREATURE: Rarely encountered on the material plane, sometimes a demon can possess an animal, turning it feindish. FORMIAN: Extraplanar creatures of unknown origin, rarely encountered on the material plain. FROST WORM: Immense creatures that live near the north pole. Nobody really messes with them. FUNGUS: These things are a menace and are usually cleared out of civilized lands. They do well in the Steppelands. GARGOYLE: A magical creature associated with witchcraft. They are thought to be made of demon-possessed stone. Still, many decorate their castles and cathedrals with false gargoyles in the hopes of warding off lesser spirits. GENIE: Popular in the lore of Treothe and surrounding lands, genies are thought to be spirits of the Old Ways who gave up their practice to follow the Prophet. Efreet turned from the Prophet, and were cast down with the demons because of it. GHAELE: A celestial servant of the Moon Sister. GHOST: Many an abandoned building is said to be haunted by a ghost, a restless dead that can't easily be exercised by clerical magic. Many people consider lesser undead like spectres and wraiths to be types of ghosts created under a curse; the "ghost" ghost is a natural haunting. GHOUL: Someone who dies from Essence addiction or an Essence overdose will rise as a ghoul. They keep their former knowledge and often strike those closest to them, feasting on the flesh of people who's movements and lairs they know best. GIBBERING MOUTHER: A creature found in the depths of the mines of the island of Lede. Reviled by all, its origins are a total mystery. GIRALLON: Rumors persist of a creature matching this description deep in the jungles south of Erindu. GNOLL: A recent expedition through the Steppelands was destroyed. The few survivors described hyena-like creatures now dubbed "gnolls." Many people doubt their story, thinking that these were human or half-orc raiders wearing hyena skins. GOLEM: The Church has tradionally used clay golems to guard Magicants and important holy sites. Recently, wizards have created golems out of stone and out of body parts (which is illegal, of course). Supposedly, a dwarf wizard (some say Gloin Redbeard) is trying to build a golem out of iron, but this is just a rumor. GORGON: A horrible creature that grazes in the western Renlinean coastal lands around Treothe. They are put down whenever possible but are wily at evading hunters. Local lore says they are the personal herd of the Judge of the Dead. GRAY RENDER: A mysterious creature from the lands around the Misty Sea (Alluvan, Marshalle, Jarlheim). An Orthodox Pantheist hymn depicts the gray render as an animal that reaches a form of enlightenment and understands its true purpose. GRICK: Grotesque scavengers that are a problem for dwarven miners. GRIFFON: A majestic beast that is the symbol of Garland. They roost in the Parthanian Mountains and are sometimes used as mounts. Sacred to the Silver Knight. HAG: A hag is a female troll. (See the troll entry for their origin.) A hag has regeneration much slower than a troll's -- if she's not killed by fire or acid, she continues to heal normally, even when "dead." HALF-CELESTIAL: Extremely rare creatures that are usually able to keep their origin a secret. HALF-DRAGON: Extremely rare monsters that stick close to their dragon sires. HALF-FIEND: Extremely rare creatures that are usually able to keep their origin a secret. HARPY: Few harpies are the vile creatures depicted in the MM. They are birdlike creatures that have no singing ability. High-level druids transform into these Instinctuals, which represent territoriality or social dominance. Fortunately, most of them are fair-minded individuals and leaders, rather than bullies. HELL HOUND: A dog from hell. Ancient Renlinean giant wizards used to summon them as companion animals. HIPPOGRIFF: A majestic creature that is the symbol of Alluvan. Sacred to the Golden Princess. HOMUNCULUS: Some wizard create these little monsters as helpers. The Church of the Pantheon hates them, and considers them objects that can be confiscated and destroyed. HOWLER: A demonic creature that has been popping up near Treothe of late. No one knows how they are getting into the material plane. HYDRA: A dangerous monster that lives in forests on the Great Isle and the lands around the Misty Sea. They are so prevalent in mythology that a DC 10 Knowledge (Arcana) or Int check can reveal the means of defeating their regeneration. INEVITABLE: Extraplanar creatures that serve the Keeper of Time. They are sometimes summoned to the material plane by priests of the Church to hunt down transgressors. INVISIBLE STALKER: Composed of animated air, a few wizards learned how to create these deadly assassins based on ancient Renlinean texts. KOBOLD: There are rumors of reptillian humanoids in the jungles of the Velm river basin... KRAKEN: Sailors tell of massive tentacled monsters that destroy ships, but most think that these stories are false. KRENSHAR: A predator in Corsom, Kresmaya and Zoltar. Lore holds that they only attack humanoids who have escaped death, at the request of the Judge of the Dead. LAMIA: Lamias are not evil and lack a wisdom drain and spell-like abilities. They are high-level druids transformed into Instinctuals. They represent the thrill of the hunt and predatory instinct. LAMMASU: These sacred creatures factor into the lore of Treothe, Ombroten, and surrounding lands. Many heroes on holy quests stumble upon a lammasu who offers advice and wisdom. LEONAL: A celestial servant of the Sun Father. LICH: Legends tell of giant and elf wizards from ancient Renlinea who absconded Magicants and channelled negative energy to obtain immortality through undeath. Long have they been trapped in their hidden underground lairs, dependant on their Magicants... but some say they are on the move once more, using the mobility of Heartstones to interact with the world. In game terms, a lich's phylactery is always a Heartstone or a Magicant (the lich can change phylacteries via a ritual). LILLEND: A celestial servant of the Fire Mistress. LIZARDFOLK: There are rumors of reptillian humanoids in the jungles of the Velm river basin... LOCATHAH: There are rumors of fish-like humanoids living at the bottom of the Greensea and the Renlinean Sea... LYCANTHROPE: Were-creatures are featured in the mythology of all lands. They are particularly prominent in the lore of Zoltar and the Wyrwood, and Jarlheim. Note that lycanthropes have no alignment tendancy, although an afflicted lycanthrope will behave like a confused animal during uncontrolled transformations. Most peasant folk believe them all to be evil anyway. MANTICORE: Unpleasant wretches found throughout the jungle lands and the Great Isle, manticores are thought to be those who betrayed the Sun Father and were cursed into a mockery of his favored lion form. MEDUSA: The original medusa was a priest of the Golden Princess who thought she was more beautiful than the goddess. For her arrogance, she was cursed and became so ugly that any who looked upon her would turn to stone. Medusae can still be found in remote areas, and often engage in demon worship, seeking some way to return to their previous beautiful selves. MEPHIT: Elemental beasties found in remote wilderness areas, mephits are considered fey creatures by most people. MERFOLK: An Instinctual transformed from a high-level druid, merfolk represent playful and childlike attitudes. MIMIC: Thought to be cursed objects infused with demonic energy, sometimes as a side effect of a magical experiment gone awry. MINOTAUR: A few monsters matching this description have been sighted in the southern Steppelands. MOHRG: A hideous undead, often arising from bodies that are hidden or dumped rather than properly buried. MUMMY: Ancient Renlinean tombs are often protected by mummies. NAGA: Two creatures are commonly called nagas. One type, found near the desert lands and jungle lands, are the nagas from the MM. They are associated with the Old Ways and are servants of a demon named the Witch Queen, who was a god named the Wise One but who denounced Jordana (who then took her place in the Pantheon). This has lead to some confusion, as the other type of naga, which posesses the head and upper body of a human, is an Instinctual, a high-level druid transformed. They represent the innate urge of all creatures to reproduce. NIGHT HAG: A demonic upgrade to the standard hag, night hags have been using Heartstones for centuries, preferring to extract them from good-aligned creatures. Some even suspect that Elbrecht Lauthgard earned the secrets of extract Heartstone from a night hag. In game terms, a night hag has extract Heartstone at will. The Heartstone she carries has no powers for non-night hags, but is a regular Heartstone. NIGHTMARE: Devil horses that feature in the mythology of Corsom. They are thought to bear dreamers to the realm of nightmares, where they are plagued by bad dreams. NIGHTSHADE: A horrifically evil undead from the realm of shadows, rarely encountered on the material plane. NYMPH: A fey creature that lives in remote wilderness areas, nymphs are associated with several goddesses, including the Golden Princess, the Moon Sister, and the Fire Mistress. OGRE MAGE: A sort of ogre-sorcerer with specific powers, they are usually not evil and serve as ogre tribal priests and wise men. Lately, most are in hiding from Heartstone-hunters. OOZE: Slimy creatures that help with the decomposition process of certain ecosystems, oozes are not well-liked in civilized lands. OTYUGH: This monster often lives in rubbish heaps in large cities. It is said that they are created from congealed magical residue from discarded formerly-magical items. OWL, GIANT: A creature sacred to the Huntress, common in Jarlheim, Wanford, and Corsom. It often aids those whose cause it finds worthy. OWLBEAR: These mysterious creatures have been spotted in the forests of Frelund recently. No one is quite sure where they come from, but many suspect wizard magic. PEGASUS: A creature sacred to the Silver Knight. Pegasi can be found amongst the wild herds of Corsom, and interbreed with regular horses. Although they are difficult to tame, many nobles of house Cholai have a pegasus mount in their stables. PHANTOM FUNGUS: A weird monster found in the northern forests of Corsom, Wanford and Jarlheim, the phantom fungus is said to attack those who hide or repress their emotions. PHASE SPIDER: Not seen in many years, phase spiders once laired on the Great Isle. They were thought to be created by the Huntress. PLANETOUCHED: According to official Church cannon, the Prophet Jordana had no children. However, there are those who believe that certain individuals can trace their lineage back to Jordana, giving them mystical powers. These individuals are called "aasimar." Similarly, certain humans who sided with Renlinea during the Great Rebellion were cursed by the Prophet to bear a mark of shame for all generations. These became the "tieflings," and any child born today with a deformity -- a horn, tails, club feet -- is put to death, as its existence indicates that its parents are at least part tiefling. PSEUDODRAGON: These tiny dragons are considered fey creatures by most people. They rarely interact with civilized humanoids. PURPLE WORM: Immense subterranean worms, absolutely hated by dwarves. It is said they were created by a demon who was angry at the Earth Mother. RAST: Fire creatures not commonly encountered on the material plane. RAVID: An unusual extraplanar beast that commonly results from wizard experiments attempting to manipulate positive energy and develop curative spells. REMORHAZ: A danger in the northernmost reaches of Corsom and the Steppelands. They are fortunately very docile. ROC: These great birds roost on mountaintops surrounding Corsom where they feed on horses. Because they can't be tamed, they are usually hunted down as youngsters. They also live in the southern jungles. ROPER: Occasionally spotted in remote areas, ropers only attack when hungry, but cannot be tamed. They are said to be the ghosts of dryads. SAHUAGIN: There are rumors of fish-like humanoids living at the bottom of the Greensea and the Renlinean Sea... SALAMANDER: Elemental creatures that cavort in firey regions. They are usually blamed for volcanic eruptions. SATYR: A fey creature that lives in the wilderness. They are all good friends with the Aimless Wanderer, but serve no one. SEA CAT: These live on the coastline and on small islands around Jarlhiem, Wanford, Marshalle, and northern Corsom. They are thought to have once been cats, given as a gift from the Ocean King to the Sea maiden. SHADOW: A horrible undead from the Shadow Realm. They sneak into our world through wizardly illusion magic gone bad. SHADOW MASTIFF: This native to the Shadow Realm can be trained and kept as a pet or guard, but only a few elves on Ponderry are inclined to do so. SHAMBLING MOUND: A plant monster found everywhere, they are said to be the Earth Mother's hand of vengance. SHIELD GUARDIAN: These constructs are often built by the Church to guard important people, or sometimes Magicants when a clay golem is unavailable. SHOCKER LIZARD: Common pests in the lands on the coast of the Greensea and the western Renlinean sea, they are thought to collect the lightning bolts which fall during storms to return them to the Sky Lord. SKELETON: A hated undead, to be destroyed on sight. They usually are created by evil necromancers, demon worshippers, or more powerful undead. SPECTRE: An undead created when a soul is trapped by evil spirits. Often mistaken for a ghost; most people don't care about the distinction. SPHINX: These lonely creatures are said to dwell on the Great Isle. They were giant priests of the Old Ways, followers of the Sun Father and Sky Lord, transformed into monsters so they could escape from the armies of the Great Rebellion. SPIDER EATER: A large bug found in the jungle regions. Sometimes used as a mount by goblins that live there. SPRITE: Reclusive fey creatures, becoming ever more inclusive of late. STIRGE: A pest that plagues marshy regions. They usually prey on large animals. TARRASQUE: According to myth, this monster destroyed that part of the world which is now the Steppelands, but was driven off by a great wyrm gold dragon. The flames from this battle created the desert. No one has seen either creature since. TENDRICULOS: An evil plant beast found in Jarlheim only recently. No one knows their origins but demons are suspected. THOQQUA: An elemental creature that somehow finds its way into dwarven forges, where it is a nusance. TOJANIDA: A water elemental creature rarely seen on the surface. TREANT: Plant servants of the Earth Mother, they have retreated into deep forests along with the fey. They always aid dryads in protecting a mallorn tree. TRITON: There are rumors of fish-like humanoids living at the bottom of the Greensea and the Renlinean Sea... TROGLODYTE: There are rumors of reptillian humanoids in the jungles of the Velm river basin... TROLL: (Work in progress...) UNICORN: A creature sacred to the Golden Princess. Unicorns are born from normal horses who have some unicorn ancestry. Unfortunately, they are difficult to tame -- they bond only with one person, always a fair maid -- and are usually let go. Wild unicorns wander the woods with the fey, but are never harmed. VAMPIRE: (Work in progress...) VAMPIRE SPAWN: Created by vampires, duh. VARGOUILLE: A hellish demon sometimes invoked in fairy tales. WIGHT: A corporeal undead created when a demon desecrates an improperly warded corpse. WILL-O’-WISP: Weird, swamp-dwelling monsters, thought to be the souls of those killed by previous wisps. WINTER WOLF: An upgraded Worg found in cold lands. WORG: Predators and servants of the Huntress. Wors are not evil (they tend towards neutral) and are respected by followers of the Old Ways. They hide in deep forests with fey creatures. WRAITH: An undead created when a soul is trapped by evil spirits. Often mistaken for a ghost; most people don't care about the distinction. WYVERN: A fearsome predator found on the Great Isle and lands northward. Particularly hated by the Silver Knight and his devotees for the use of poison, wyverns are sometimes trained for war by goblins. XORN: An earth elemental creature found deep within the earth, xorns sometimes cross paths with dwarves. YETH HOUND: A hated monster from the mythology of Jarlheim, they are thought to have been murderers and assassins reincarnated. YRTHAK: One of the odd creatures that lives on the Steppelands. It is thought that they also live in storm clouds and produce thunder but this has never been verified and seems unlikely. ZOMBIE: A hated undead, to be destroyed on sight. They usually are created by evil necromancers, demon worshippers, or more powerful undead. [Edit: Almost done! I added some general info to the top of the post, too.]
The Swedish Viking 05-18-04, 09:54 AM	Please make a better description of the Elite for the word document. :P I mean... Races: Monkey? :D Please post links to the Yeoman and that-other-expert-like-class too, so I can get them in here also. EDIT: Added NPC, see post above.
77IM 05-18-04, 11:41 AM	Yeah, the Elite is a work-in-progress. ;) I will write up a better text for him soon. I'm also going to re-work some of his higher-level powers and decrease his skill points to 4. The Yeoman is linked from the Classes post. Does it not work right? I'm not sure what other-expert-like-class you mean... Yeoman is basically it. I meant it to replace the Expert and Commoner classes from the DMG (and to not use the Warrior, Adept, and Aristocrat classes at all). In theory, the campaign setting works just fine with NPC classes, I just hate them and so don't want to write anything about them. Also, I was doubtful of your claim that this thing was 40 pages ("He must be using 14-point font and big headers," so I thought), so I pasted my .txt file into Word, and at 10-point font it was 42 pages! Jeepers! Once I have a slightly better handle on the world -- a few more noble houses and a walking tour of Lienne -- I'm going to start turning this info into a web page. I'm still going to use this forum as the main outlet for the world, though, as it is easiest for people to comment here. -- 77IM PS. I like your bard a lot too. Order of Witch Hunters? :cool:
The Swedish Viking 05-18-04, 06:56 PM	I am going to post it soon... (yawn) But itīs friggin 1īoīclock in the night over here. ;) Going to post one of the organizations tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
77IM 05-19-04, 05:10 PM	How about a more interesting name than The Order of Witch Hunters? It's just too obvious what they do. My suggestion is to call them the Soulguard, to put a sort of positive, protective spin on it, so that they can seem even more sinister when players realize their true goals and methods. (If you can come up with a better name, go for it, and I will use Soulguard for something else.) -- 77IM PS. Monsters post continues to grow! [Edit: So I can point out that I've added two more noble houses, above!]
The Swedish Viking 05-20-04, 03:00 AM	Yes, well, Iīm the King of Generic Names. :) Iīll use Soulguard if thatīs all right. Obad Baldwin Weird one, that priest. Heīs been travelling the lands for a few years now, seemingly checking every church and temple and ancient ruin he comes across for Magicants... Why? The idiot thinks heīll be able to communicate directly with the deities, if he finds one thatīs big enough!" Obad is a Cleric of the Church of the Pantheon (male human cleric lvl 7). He is the latest in a long line of priests and clergymen, with near all his ancestors having been preachers, clerics, priests or monks. Soon after the recent discovery of Heartstone and itīs uses, Obad began to piece together what would follow in its wake, and foresaw eventual catastrophe when the magical creatures and sorcerers began to tire of being hunted. When the Magicele Liberation Army set up itīs camp in the northeast and announced their goals he was not surprised. With many battles between magical creatures and wizards, resulting in raids and heavy losses when organized forces of magical creatures began to conduct retributory and preventive attacks. Many times did Obad write his concern into formal appeals handed over to the church heads. However, the appeals were ignored or made laughing stock. When the approaching crisis became more apparent, Obad decided to take things into his own hands. He packed his things and went out into the wide world in search of legends and lore and temples that might house a Magicant strong enough for him to conduct a ritual only spoken of in the most ancient of myths: The useage of a Magicant to perform such a powerful ritual that the cleric might speak directly to not just one but several deities. The myth spoke of four great artifacts required for performing the rituals, and those artifacts are prominent in many legends. Obad hopes that in finding the artifacts (if they indeed exist), he can gain some clue as to where the legendary Magicant resides, and then use them in the ancient ritual.
77IM 05-20-04, 10:25 AM	I thought this up and am going to post it now! I hope this doesn't interfere with any plans you have for the organization. It's a fighter/rangerish class; I decided to call it "Soulguard Witch Hunter" so that if, say, clerics have a major role in the organization, we can make a separate class for them ("Soulguard Something-or-Other"). It's in an abbreviated format, but I can enbeautify it as a Word doc later. Soulguard Witch Hunter Standard Prerequisites BAB: +6 Knowledge (Arcana): 4 ranks Spellcraft: 4 ranks Feats: At least one of the following: Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes. Test-Based Prerequisites* You must locate and slay a sorcerer, wizard, bard, witch/warlock, druid, or follower of the Old Ways (including many intelligent monsters) of CR 6 or more. You must defeat your quarry single-handedly and with some degree of secrecy -- you can receive help locating the target and preparing for combat, but you can't knowingly receive help from anyone who understands what you are trying to accomplish. *I greatly prefer test-based prerequisites to mechanical ones. I especially hate feat prerequisites. Code of Conduct* A Witch Hunter that leaves the Soulguard, knowingly consorts with arcane spellcasters or followers of the Old Ways, casts an arcane spell, or uses an arcane scroll (not including the Use Magic Device skill), immediately loses access to all supernatural abilities granted by this class and can no longer advance as a member of this class, until he atones for his actions before the Soulguard. *I like for PrCs to have a code of conduct and clear consequences for breaking them. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d8 BAB: As fighter (+10) Fort: Good (+7) Ref: Good (+7) Will: Good (+7) Class Skills: Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Knowledge (Arcana), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str). Skill Points per level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Witch Hunters are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, all light and medium armor, and shields. 1. Improved Disruption (Ex): When an enemy makes a concentration check within the Witch Hunter's threatened zone or while grappling with him, the DC for the check increases by an amount equal to the Witch Hunter's level. 2. Urban Tracking (Ex): A Witch Hunter can track a humanoid quarry in an urban area by making a Gather Information check. The base DC for a quarry that is not trying to hide is 15, and for one that is in hiding, the DC is the quarry's Disguise check result (with a +10 modifier on the roll). The DC increases by 1 for every hour that has passed since the quarry was last in the area. If the check succeeds, the Witch Hunter has learned enough information to discover where the quarry went after leaving the area, or if the quarry is still in the area, the Witch Hunter locates them. If it fails, he learns nothing and retrying in the same location won't gain him any new information unless the quarry returns to the area. The DM should make the check secretly, so that the Witch Hunter doesn't know whether he failed due to a low roll or because the quarry has not been in that area. The DM can also rule that the check fails if there is no way anyone could possibly know the quarry was present (for example, they were totally invisible the whole time). Making the check takes 1 hour, during which the Witch Hunter interviews the local populace. 3. Witch Sense (Su): A Witch Hunter can sense the presence of an arcane spellcaster or a witch/warlock within 60 feet. This sense can benetrate barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt. 4. Spell Resistance (Su): The Witch Hunter gains SR equal to 10 + his class level. Note that this applies to all spells; if he wishes to benefit from a beneficial spell, he must voluntarily lower his spell resistance. This is a free action, as is restoring the spell resistance, but the Witch Hunter can't do both on the same round. 5. Spell Reflection (Su): Once per day, when a targetted spell (not an area spell) fails to overcome the Witch Hunter's spell resistance, he can reflect it back at the caster, as if through the spell spell turning. He may make a Spellcraft check in order to learn what spell was cast at him before deciding to use this power. 6. Improved Witch Sense (Su): The range of the Witch Sense ability improves to 90 feet. As a full-round action, the Witch Hunter can concentrate and determine the number and strength (caster level for arcane casters, HD for witches/warlocks) of arcane spellcasters and witches and warlocks within range. 7. Witch Hunting (Su): The Witch Hunter can use his Witch Sense to notice lingering arcane auras. He can make a Search check (DC 20, +1 per hour since the quarry passed by) to follow a trail for one hour. If he fails the check, he wastes an hour going around in circles, but can retry. If he succeeds on an Urban Tracking check beforehand, then a successful Witch Hunting check allows him to follow the trail for 6 hours (a failed check still only costs 1 hour). 8. Spell Reflection (Su): 2/day. 9. Greater Witch Sense (Su): The range of the Witch Sense ability improves to 120 feet. By spending two full rounds in concentration, the Witch Hunter can determine the exact location of each arcane spellcaster and witch/warlock within range. 10. Spell Reflection (Su): 3/day.
The Swedish Viking 05-20-04, 10:29 AM	Actually, that was more or less exactly what I had in mind. (After I copy paste this into my document and I finish the latest "goals" (see above post) the setting will be approx 55 pages long, excluding the Monster section)
77IM 05-20-04, 12:49 PM	House Rules Variants This post is the opposite of what you think. I've been including a lot of rules variants and house rules into this Campaign Setting just because I like them, and though I feel they are appropriate to the setting, they may not be strictly necessary. This post is to help people who don't want to track a lot of house rules to use the campaign setting. I'll list only the minimum house rules necessary to get the flavor of the world right. Essence Spellcasting This rule is extremely important to the setting -- magic is a resource. However, if a DM doesn't want to track Essence purchases, they can institute the following house rule. A wizard or divine caster who goes to town simply spends an amount of gold equal to 10 x caster level, and is assumed to buy all the Essence he or she needs for the forseeable future. (Clerics and druids need more Essence, but you can assume they get some from the Church or from the mallorns.) Don't worry about tracking Essence consumption after that -- if the person goes back to town after less than 10 days, they have surplus, which will help them when they are away from town for more than 10 days. Track Essence used for costly material components separately. Or, you can allow casters to convert gold directly to Essence at any time, even in the middle of the wilderness -- this represents that the caster had enough foresight to buy as much Essence as he or she needed, even if the player didn't feel like keeping track of it. Heartstone Spellcasting The rules around wizard Heartstone use and extracting them from creatures is extremely important to the setting. There's really no way to simplify it, but it's already pretty simple. To make things easier on wizard players, maybe each of them starts the game with a power-20 Heartstone instead of a power-5, so that they can advance unrestricted. The restrictions wizard spell learning can be dropped. Class & Race Changes These are all unnecessary. However, I strongly encourage people to drop the class alignment restrictions and racial alignment tendancies. This world has more to do with moral ambiguity and complex conflicts than with black-and-white conflicts between simple universal forces. Also, racial enemy bonuses to attack rolls and AC don't make as much sense in this setting. The "light fighter" archetype is strong enough in this world that I feel it deserves its own core class. If you don't like my Elite class, try the Swashbuckler from Complete Warrior, the Unfettered from Monte Cooke's Arcana Unearthed, or a variety of "light fighter" classes and variants available on the Internet. Another way to build a "light fighter" is to use existing classes, such as multiclass fighter/rogue, or ranger. This class build falls short, in my opinion, because of AC problems -- it's impossible for an unarmored combatant to keep up with a platemail-fighter in the AC department. For a solution to this problem, look at the Agile Defense feat (under the Skills & Feats post). Skills & Feats The new skills & feats I've introduced are really all unnecessary. The language system is also not strictly necessary. If you want all the countries of the world to speak "Common," go for it. Cleric Domains This system is pretty simple and should be retained. If you want to write up formal domain lists for the major religions, be my guest. Or, you could associate domains with the various deities. However, I think it's important to allow clerics, in this case, to chose more than one patron deity. Also, deity domains may vary by religion. If this sounds confusing, the guideline is this: religion (Church, Independant, Orthodox, Old Ways) is always more important than deity in every way, and this should be borne out in the game rules.
77IM 05-20-04, 02:29 PM	Society of Arcane Philosophy (LN) Common Knowledge: An eclectic group of wealthy nobles who seek to further arcane knowledge, the Society of Arcane Philosophy is a network of magicians who research supernatural phenonema and publish their findings. Common people have little interaction with, or even knowledge of, the Society, and even most of the nobility aren't that concerned with the Society. Any wizard worth his salt is at least a member, if not a subscription-holder. Goals and Ideals: The Society really exists for two reasons: publication and peer review. Society editors accept works for publication by members. If these works pass editorial review, they are published in a bimonthly tome, Journal of the Society of Arcane Philosophy. Members of the Society scrutinize the reports and findings theirin, and if they take issue, they research theories to the contrary and have their own results published. It is the belief of the Society that this free flow of information coupled with rigorous adherence to methodology is a better way to increase one's personal knowledge than independant, secretive research. Leadership: A simple system of an elected President, who schedules events and tends to organizational matters; an elected Editor-in-Chief, who oversees publication; and a system of appointed Editors who review articles submitted and put the Journal together. Inner Workings: The Society is a fairly apolitical organization. Although there's a fair amount of academic rivalry and backstabbing within the organization, the Society doesn't really interact with the outside world much, and has no real priorities other than production and dissemination of knowledge. Their only facility is a small scribe-house where the Journal is produced and copies are stored, and they have only the treasury required for the bimonthly publication. They have a yearly meeting to elect officials and sometimes have other events, such as topical conferences. Most of these things are paid for by the noble members rather than the Society's funds. Society members can be found in any land, and rarely come together (most get subscriptions to the Journal or read their neighbor's copy). Game Information: Membership is a mere 20 gp per year. This entitles one to vote in Society elections, publish articles, and read copies of the Journal stored at the publishing house reading room. It also puts one in better standing with other members, who will probably allow you to read their copies of the Journal, which is often more convenient than trekking to the publishing house, especially for members in far-off lands. A subscription to the Journal, which gets you your own copy of each new issue, is an additional 100 gp per year, and is only available to members. Back issues cost 20 gp per issue. Because they are so well-read, members are eligible for the Loremaster prestige class.
The Swedish Viking 05-20-04, 02:51 PM	((what do you mean "the opposite of what you think" :confused: :confused: ))
77IM 05-20-04, 04:17 PM	Work In Progress Check back here frequently for updates. Lienne A majestic city of ancient marble architecture rises above you, as streams of crystal-clear water cascade from numerous acqueducts arching overhead. Colorful flags and banners hang from walls and windows, as a busy populace bustles about the city buying and selling all manner of exotic goods. Monuments and statuary adorn picturesque parks nestled between the great centers of commerce, learning, faith, and government, while hilltop noble manors overlook it all. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82127.jpg The capital city of Renflour is Lienne. As the biggest port and the center of government, Lienne is a bustling modern city built around the graceful stone architecture of ancient Renlinea. Known as the "city of falling water" or the "city of aqueducts," Lienne contains a broad network of still-functioning elevated aqueducts that carry an entire river's worth of water from the nearby hills down into the city, powering fountains and private baths, and in some areas even supporting gondola traffic. These aqueducts join with and twine around the city's majestic stone buildings, and each public fountain is surrounded by a public park at least as large as a city block. Below-ground sewers guide wastewater out of the city into the nearby Li River. Although a trade city, Lienne's major export is culture. The nobles and wealthy merchants patronize the arts, and Lienne is on the cutting edge of both visual and performing art. Several of the most prestigious colleges are located here, and Liennese scholars are in great demand in many noble courts. People from every nation can be found in Lienne seeking their fortune; there is enough work around that poverty is fairly rare. The city proper is about three to four miles across, although small villages dot the countryside nearby forming a continuous network of suburbs. It is situated at the intersection of the River Li, which runs from the port town of Vethiar up to the base of the Mountain Duchies, and the High Road, which runs east-west through all the major countries on the northern coast of the Renlinean Sea. Terrain to the north and west of the city is smooth rolling hills covered in orchards and grazing land; to the south and east is flat coastal plains covered in farmland. The city is divided, both legally and culturally, into 12 districts, not including the suburbs. The total population is around 100,000 and growing. A whopping 20% of the populace is nobility, 10% is clergy, 40% is middle-class, and the remaining 30% are commoners, mostly servants to the nobility and unskilled laborers. Of course, the surrounding countryside is full of peasants, should more unskilled laborers be needed for certain projects. Cascade Market The center of commerce of Lienne and Renflour -- and some say the world -- is the Cascade Market. A broad circular court surrounded by a ring of aquaducts raised on columns, which pour water down at various points. The water flows into canals which converge at the center of the court, at a small pool with underground access to the sewers. (Small bridges cross the canals frequently.) No permanent structures can be erected here, but merchants with carts and tents hawk wares from around the world. The storefront properties that ring the Cascade Market are the most desirable in Lienne. The High Road runs right through the center of the market but most people take an alternate route to the south by the Landing. Royal Cartographer's Society: A branch of the Royal Cartographer's Society, an organization retained by House Lauthgard, is located on the second floor of a shop overlooking the Cascade Market. Here, they store copies of maps of all countries and many sea routes. However, some of them are out of date, and maps of certain less-travelled mountain passes and island chains are not very accurate, so the Society is always on the lookout for new maps produced by credible cartographers. Meldoba's Arcane Emporium: A stout, colorful building located aside the Cascade Market, the Arcane Emporium sells Essence on behalf of several Renflourian noble families. They also have a small number of minor magical items on hand, such as potions, scrolls, 1st-level wands and wondrous items, all worth under 1000 gp. Only the proprietor, Meldoba, is allowed to sell or even handle these. He also acts as a broker for those interested in more expensive items; he doesn't keep these in stock but can match up a buyer and seller. He also takes orders for Heartstones. The Emporium itself is an extremely secure stone building lined with lead on the inside and outside, covered in magical traps and defenses of various sorts. Only people carrying a Heartstone can enter the building. The Parthanian Armory: On the south side of the Cascade Market is a weapon and armor shop run by several dwarven merchants from the Mountain Duchies. Made of the finest steel and manufactured on the premises in a small workshop, all of their goods are masterwork. They have a wide selection including all forms of exotic weapons and elven-made composite bows, and they also buy items of high quality (and sometimes they have a +1 magic weapon or armor for sale, although they never advertise these). Landing Just south of the Cascade Market district, the Landing is a strip of land along the River Li which holds the docks and some warehouses. Monument Lane The High Road continues west from the Cascade Market. Here, it is lined with statues and monuments to various religious figures, war heroes, and famous nobles, including a few giant-built monuments of ancient Renlinea. The Monument Lane district is the seat of government of Renflour, and contains many court houses and government agencies. The Curia: This round building situated just north of the center of Monument Lane is where the Council of Lords meets to decide the fate of Renflour. It consists mainly of a single large, round room with benches and desks facing the center of the room, at which the Council members sit. Around the outside of the room are stone seats for visitors. The domed ceiling is adorned with painted relief sculpture of a map of the ancient Renlinean empire. The facility is lit by a plethora of continual flame torches. Marble Court An entertainment district named for a great sunken ampitheater which is now only used for large meetings and circus acts, the Marble Court contains several theaters and concert halls, as well as many restaurants and exclusive nightclubs. This is the upscale recreational district, located north of Monument Lane, west of Fountainhall, and south of Platinum Hills. The aquaducts above the Marble Court are navigable -- nobles can ride in gondolas from one event to the next and even back to the base of Platinum Hills. The Gold & Silver: This elegant dance hall and restaurant is an upscale, formal hangout for wealthy nobles. Membership is 250 gold pieces per year; accompanied guests may enter free but must pay to eat and drink (10 gp per guest). The main part of the building is a large rectangular hall, surrounded by great columns and hanging garnet curtains. The hall is lit by continual flames, and the center is dominated by 15-foot-tall statues of the Golden Princes and the Silver Knight dancing. (These are bronze, plated with gold and silver, and worth a fortune.) Renflour Symphony Orchestra: A grand concert hall used not only for classical music listening, but also for a new art form called "opera" in which actors put on a play, singing the lines as lyrics, while the orchestra plays. The chamber has been magically modified to clarify and amplify the sounds produced. Playing with the orchestra is considered a high honor for any musician in the area. The orchestra is also available for private engagements. The River Theater: A large semicircular building with two levels of seating facing a wooden stage, the River Theater's normal troupe puts on plays for the masses all week long, for just 4 copper pieces (private boxes are 1 gold). However, once a fortnight, the special troupe puts on shows for the nobles and wealthy merchants, for 5 gp (10 gp for a box). Although the skill of the actors and quality of playwriting is usually up a notch, the true attraction here are the illusions. Performed by a team of skilled mages who train at the Azure Academy, illusionary sets, costumes, and even special effects dazzle the audience. The Scarlet Bird: This dance hall is not as elegant and formal as the Gold & Silver, but is a lot more fun. A series of poorly lit chambers decorated with hanging tapestries and minor illusions, there are always several acts playing at the Scarlet Bird, ranging from classical instrumental music of the nobility, to Renflourian folk music, to modern experimental "opera" music. Admission requires 1 gold piece and a presentable look (patrons who look extremely presentable may be let in for free), although the buffet and bar are separate and the musicians usually work for tips. The Scarlet Bird is considered much lower class than the Gold & Silver, but many nobles patronize it anyway, if only to be present when something scandalous occurs. Fountainhall A beautiful region known for holding most of Lienne's academies of higher learning, as well as some public museums and a library. The aquaducts here are also navigable, and connect to the Marble Court to the west, Cascade Market to the south and Platinum Hills to the north. This district is named for a long, rectangular park in the middle, surrounded by aqueducts on all sides, which spout water into basins around the edge of the park. Azure Academy: A large, ornate building, some sort of palace during the reign of Renlinea, the Azure Academy is one of the most visited sights in the city. Located at what many consider the corner intersection of the Fountainhall, Cascade Market, Monument Lane, and Marble Court disticts, the building is covered with ever-shifting illusions that cause it to change appearance -- entire towers and buttresses seem to move about during the day, and elaborate frescoes on the outer walls actually play out as if alive. Although this site is usually shocking to first-time visitors not used to magic, it delights those with an open mind, and many tourists sit in the street nearby and just watch the changes all day, trying to figure out the pattern. Needless to say, the Church considers such a bold display of vulgar magic to be a horrible danger to the souls of common folk, and urges all good followers to stay away from this part of town. The Azure Academy was once a small college of ancient lore, archaeology, and mythological creatures, associated with Lienne University and located in a much more humble building near Fountainhall. With the discovery of Heartstones, research exploded and funds came pouring in, and the Academy is now the third largest school for wizards (behind the Crystal Hall in the Mountain Duchies and the sprawling Elbrecht Academy in Nibling). Membership is free to any who own a Heartstone, although students are expected to research original spells and submit copies to the Academy. The professors here, all reasonably powerful wizards, also accept work on comission, and play a strong role in warding Lienne against magical attack and intrusion. Although by treaty only nobles are allowed to weild Heartstones, talented commoners who show up with a Heartstone are often taught in secret. The Bibliotheque: A this three-story domed building, not connected to any aquaducts, is a public library. The collection of books is modest, and a small fee is charged to cover maintenance. Rarer books are kept on the second and third floors -- seeing them requires placing a deposit equal to the value of the book, usually 50-500 gold pieces. The building is lit by continual flames; no fire, water or food is allowed in the building. Galleria Orbus: A circular building near Marble Court houses the Galleria Orbus, a public art gallery holding painting and sculpture. The gallery is funded by several local noble families as a means to promote new up-and-coming artists, so much of the work is modern and experimental (using such techniques as "perspective") rather than traditional. Entrance is free, and all of the works on display are for sale (except for some masterpieces that are part of personal collections of noble patrons). Lienne University: A noble's college which teaches history, geography, mathematics, economics, rhetoric, and law, Lienne University also has classes in wizard magic and an arrangement with Azure Academy for students who wish to study the arcane arts. Although the University is theoretically open to all, the tuition (1000 gold pieces per year) is too steep for most commoners. Talented commoners can be accepted on a scholarship, in which they attend class part-time while working for the University, often as servants to other students. The University itself is a series of buildings near Winding Way, mostly situated around one side of Fountainhall and surrounding a smaller park known as University Square. Many of the professors are nobles who teach for the enjoyment of it, not for the meager pay. Society Publishing House: The headquarters of the Society of Arcane Philosophy is located here, tucked into a small building across the street from the library. Its main function is to produce the Journal, although they also publish works on comission. The Bibliotheque gets a free copy of each issue. Platinum Hills The largest district, with the highest elevation, best view of the Imperial Gardens, and access to the main aqueduct before it disperses to the rest of the city, is where the nobles live. Consisting almost entirely of noble manors and a few associated businesses (such as an independant stable), Platinum Hills is a place of tall spires, beautiful gardens, and flowing water. The aqueducts here are not navigable, but do cover the district, providing plumbing to the noble mansions and their garden fountains. The wealthiest 20% of Lienne's population lives here, taking up about 50% of the city's area. Only about half of the city's 20,000 noble residents are in town at any one time, and of those, about 80% live in Platinum Hills (the rest in Winding Way, Fountainhall and Marble Court). Because of this unusual arrangement, Lienne is sometimes called the "City of Nobles." The Baths: Located along the river side in the lower portion of the Platinum Hills, the baths are a public bathing and recreation area which includes several quiet gardens. Built by the giants of the Renlinean Empire, the baths are a series of walled courtyards, containing gardens, seating areas (some of which house restaurants), and the baths themselves, shallow pools of water fed by the aqueducts. (These are used more for recreation, like a public swimming pool, than for bathing.) A few of the pools are kept warm by heating incoming water in a great cauldron. Entrance to the baths costs 3 gold pieces, which keeps out most of the lower classes. Winding Way A relatively upscale neighborhood on the east side of town, Winding Way is named for a zig-zagging street that stretches from Amberville to the south up into the Platinum Hills to the north. Most of the residents here are wealthy middle-class or modest nobles. The region is flat enough that the aqueducts are navigable, but because of elevation changes between here and Fountainhall and the cost involved, most of the gondolas here are privately owned. Freethinker's Society: This small cafe, located near Fountainhall, is run by the Freethinkers and is intended as a forum for the exchange of ideas and a pleasant meal. By arrangement with Council of Lords, all people are legally equal on the grounds; nobles and Church clergy get no special priveledges, and people are allowed to freely speak on any topic aside from conspiracy to commit crimes or secrets of national security. A great many professors and students from the University meet here, as do some merchant organizations. The Freethinkers would like to expand their operation and open more cafes, but so far the idea has not really caught on amongst the general populace (partly because Lienne is already a fairly liberal city with lax censorship laws). Amberville South of the Cascade Market along the river, but east of the Landing, is an old region known as Amberville. The aqueducts only penetrate the northern part of the district, but a series of canals provides fresh water. This district is home to artisans, craftspeople, and professionals, many of whom work in Cascade Market (although there are plenty of shops in Amberville as well). Well-off artists often live here too. The Flats The poorest part of town is on the south and west side, across the river from Amberville and the Landing. It is so named both for the terrain (it's dead flat; parts of it are a floodplain) and for the architectural style, which consists of post-Renlinean brick row houses. Most of the common folk live here, simple artisans, and servants to wealthier nobles and merchants. Although the area is poor by Lienne standards, it is very well-kept up and rivals the nicer parts of some foreign "cities." There are no aqueducts on this side of the river. Temple of the Prophet Compassionate: This Independant Temple ministers mostly to peasant folk and lower-class commoners. They focus on the selfless nature of the Prophet's message, and are a major source of healing magic for common people. The temple is one of the best-funded branches of its faith. It is a simple rectangular building with wooden benches, decorated primarily with brightly-colored tapestries. South Market Across the river from the Landing is the South Market. A simple open area with stone pavement, it's more like what one would expect in a big city market: produce, simple crafts and goods, and livestock. Many common professions like wagonwrights operate here, and most of the warehouses which store goods passing between the river and the High Road are stored here. Stone Court The lower-class entertainment district, between the Temple Lane and South Market, runs more towards taverns and festhalls. Most public inns are located here, as well as a modest gladiatorial arena (fights are never to the death, by order of the Church). Acorn House: A cozy, out-of-the-way inn located a few blocks from the High Road, the Acorn House is contains two stories of rooms around a central courtyard. Run by a local family for the past 150 years, the place has a very comfortable, homey feel, filled with peasant craftworks and covered in twining vines. It's not too expensive, and lodging includes home-cooked meals. The place is usually packed with visitors and tourists. The Roaring Dragonne: A large tavern/inn located off the High Road, the Roaring Dragonne is primarily patronized by merchants who are passing through town. They have a large selection of ales and wines, ranging from peasant grog to the finest Renflourian stock. Traditional live music plays in the common room almost constantly. Bywater Casino: A complex gambling hall on the shore of the River Li, Bywater is a series of gaming halls and small taverns. Most of these are operated by independant game operators who lease space from the casino's proprietors. A special branch of the city guard patrols this area, subduing upset patrons and carefully watching for cheates. Lienne Melee League: This combat training facility also has a small, indoor gladiatorial arena capable of seating around 1600 people. The main purpose of the organization is to train and hire out independant men-at-arms, but they keep up the arena fighting because it is so lucrative. Fights here are usually unarmed; when armed they are typically using padded weapons or are to the first blood, although the League will allow more serious fights if a cleric is on hand to ensure the participants' safety. Most of the arena's patrons are lower-class people, especially travellers, although some nobles from foreign lands also frequent the arena; gladiatorial combat is generally disdained as crude and low-brow by the people of Renflour. Temple Lane The High Road crosses the river to the west and continues through Temple Lane. Lienne's big churches and cathdral are here, all built after the fall of Renlinea. All people are welcome here, and the district serves as a buffer between the rowdiness of the Stone Court and the calm of the Imperial Gardens. Cathedral of the Pantheon: The largest temple is a cathedral devoted to the Church of the Pantheon. Both nobles and commoners attend Prayermeet here, although during different services. The building itself is grandiose, with great spires filled with stained glass and ornate carvings and statuary throughout the building, which is lit by continual flames. Church of the Sacred Flame: This Church, located in the south part of the district near the Stone Court, is devoted to the Fire Master and Fire Mistress, and also has a small chapel to the Golden Princess. Typically attended by middle-class people such as artisans, artists, and entertainers, it is a vaguely star-shaped building and one of the most beautifully decorated in town (even prettier than the Cathedral). Church of the Open Flower: This Church is devoted to the Earth Mother. A relatively simple rectangular building covered with sculptures of plants on the inside and actual growing vines on the outside, it ministers primarily to farmers and fruit-growers. It hasn't got a large congregation in the city, but people from surrounding lands sometimes travel here for special occasions. An order of monks adjacent to the Church and associated with it tend to the Imperial Gardens. Temple of the Prophet Ascendant: This Independant Temple ministers mostly to the nobility. They focus on the divine aspect of the Prophet and her message of self-improvement and enlightenment. It is a rectangular two-story stone building with a relatively simple exterior but a resonably lavish interior; it is known for having pews with cushions. Temple of Absolution: This Independant Temple is not very popular. An ascetic order which is even stricter than the Church of the Pantheon, the ministers of this stark, plain, white temple preach hellfire and damnation to whoever will listen. Imperial Gardens Not really a district, the Imperial Gardens are almost a square mile of botanical gardens along the west side of the river, north of Temple Lane. Built by Renlinea, the Gardens have no aqueducts but do feature a few fountains fed by underground rivers. The Gardens are now maintained by the Church at the city's expense. Although all people are welcome here, there is an unofficial yet strongly enforced dress code, which keeps out much of the lower-class riff-raff. The Gardens are an oblong rounded shape, flatter than an oval but lacking the straight edges of a rectangle. It is surrounded on all sides by a 12-foot stone wall, set with a round, pointy-topped column every 40 feet or so. The wall on the river side is actually a series of arches between these colums, where are only spaced 20 feet apart on that side. There are large, swinging, double-door iron bar gates in the walls on the south, west, and north sides. Stone walkways follow the wall, about 10 feet back, on both the inside and the outside, and criss-cross the interior of the Gardens. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few low hillocks towards the north end. Most of the stone walkways are tree-lined and marble benches abound. The general layout of the Gardens is a sort of checkerboard, with alternating areas of open, green grass, and cultured flowerbeds or arboretums. Several ponds and fountain displays can be found in the north half of the garden, fed by underground channels from the river to the north. These channels are somewhat difficult to maintain and are sometimes sealed off when something gets caught in them. Eliadule Southwest of Lienne is a relatively large farming town filled with silos. Surrounded by orchards, most of the fruit and grain that feeds Lienne comes through Eliadule. Lorton Located just northwest of Lienne along the river, the town of Lorton is a common stopping point for river boats heading to or from the Mountain Duchies. Much of the maintenance and provisioning of these boats takes place in Lorton. Pfifburg Northeast of Lienne along the High Road is Pfifburg, a farming town that also has a few inns to shelter those who'd rather not stay in the huge city. Pfifburg is near some good sheep grazing territory and has a small but growing textile industry. Vethiar The large port of Lienne is located a few miles southeast down the River Li. Inside of a large, deep harbor with only a few narrow openings, Vethiar's docks and warehouses transfer goods between oceangoing ships and river boats. The lantern of the great lighthouse at Vethiar is a permanent magic item. [Edit: Added description and picture.]
77IM 05-24-04, 11:40 AM	I thought the first one up last night while trying to fall asleep, and the second one I thought up in the shower this morning. They're in a sloppy abbreviated format. Lightbearer Standard Prerequisites BAB: +4 Turning: Ability to turn undead as a 3rd-level Cleric. Special: Must be a member in good standing of the Lightbearers. Test-Based Prerequisites* Must be a member in good standing of the Lightbearers. Must have undertaken at least one successful quest on behalf of the Lighbearers, involving the slaying of an evil creature with a CR at least equal to the CR your party would have if they were NPCs. Code of Conduct A Lightbearer must always defend the good and the innocent against evil and corruption; must destroy that evil which cannot be redeemed (this generally includes all monsters, and humanoids that don't surrender); and must remain faithful to the gods and the Church. A Lightbearer who breaks these tenets loses all special abilities of this class and can't advance in the class, until he atones. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d10 BAB: As fighter (+10) Fort: Good (+7) Ref: Poor (+3) Will: Good (+7) Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Indimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Ride (Dex), and Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points per level: 2 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Lightbearers are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, all armor, and shields (but not tower shields). Spellcasting: +1 Divine Spellcasting Level at every even level. 1. Turning (Su): A Lightbearer's class levels stack with cleric or paladin levels for purposes of turning undead. 1. Blade of Light 1/day (Su): As a standard action that does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity, the Lightbearer can cause his melee weapon to glow with divine radiance for one round per turning level (the character's effective cleric level for turning undead). The weapon sheds light as a torch, and deals an additional 1d6 points of holy damage to undead and evil outsiders (1d8 points against those specifically harmed by light). This ability can be used once per day. Dispite the ability's name, any melee weapon can be so enchanted, not just bladed weapons. 2. Daylight (Sp): While under the effect of Blade of Light, Aura of Light or Nimbus of Light, the Lightbearer can use daylight with a caster level equal to his turning level. This immediately ends the Blade, Aura or Nimbus effect. 4. Aura of Light 2/day (Su): This ability replaces the Blade of Light ability, and can be used twice per day. As a standard action that does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity, the Lightbearer can cause himself and his melee weapon to glow with divine radiance for one round per turning level, shedding light as a torch. This grants the benefits of the Blade of Light ability, plus the effect of protection from evil, except that the bonus to AC and Saving Throws is equal to the Lightbearer's Charisma bonus (minimum +1) instead of a +2 bonus. 5. Searing Light (Sp): While under the effect of Aura of Light or Nimbus of Light, the Lightbearer can use searing light with a caster level equal to his turning level. This immediately ends the Aura or Nimbus effect. 7. Nimbus of Light 3/day (Su): This ability replaces the Aura of Light ability, and can be used three times per day. As a standard action that does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity, the Lightbearer can cause himself and his melee weapon to glow with divine radiance for one round per turning level, shedding light as a torch. This grants the benefits of the Aura of Light and Blade of Light ability, plus the effect of magic circle against evil centered on the Lightbearer, except that the bonus to AC and Saving Throws is equal to the Lightbearer's Charisma bonus (minimum +1) instead of a +2 bonus. 8. Searing Burst (Sp): While under the effect of Nimbus of Light, the Lightbearer can use a searing burst effect. Every creature within 30 feet is affected as though by searing light, with a caster level equal to the Lightbearer's turning level. No attack roll is needed to hit creatures within range, but they are entitled to a Reflex save (DC 15 + Lightbearer's Charisma modifier) for half damage. Using this ability immediately ends the Nimbus effect. 10. Flash of Light (Su): The Lightbearer can now activate his Nimbus of Light as a free action. Heartstone Hunter Standard Prerequisites BAB: +5 Feats: Track. Special: Must own a power-4 Heartstone. Special: Must have personally slain a creature from which a power-4 Heartstone was extracted. Other people can help, but the Hunter must strike the killing blow. Test-Based Prerequisites Must own a power-4 Heartstone. Must have personally slain a creature from which a power-4 Heartstone was extracted. Other people can help, but the Hunter must strike the killing blow. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d10 BAB: As fighter (+10) Fort: Good (+7) Ref: Poor (+3) Will: Good (+7) Class Skills: Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points per level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Heartstone Hunters are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields. Spellcasting: Heartstone Hunters cast a small amount of spells, as a wizard. They have the "minor PrC spellcasting" chart that goes from levels 1-4 (as a Blackguard). They start with a spellbook containing a number of spells equal to 1 + their Int modifier (minimum 1), and gain 2 new spells per level, just as a wizard. They prepare spells as a wizard, and cast based on Int as a wizard. Their spellcasting level is equal to their class level. They suffer arcane spell failure for casting in armor. 1. Heartstone Hunting +1 (Ex): This ability is similar to a ranger's Favored Enemy and stacks with that ability. The Heartstone Hunter gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of the following types: Dragon, Fey, Outsider, Magical Beast, Elemental, Abberation. Likewise, he gets a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. This bonus increases to +2 at 4th level, +3 at 7th level and +4 at 10th level. 3. Type Sense (Ex): As a full-round action, the Heartstone Hunter can consider a creature he can observe and determine the creature's type (but not subtype). If the creature is in a disguise (including an Alternate Form or Change Self ability), he detects the type of the creature's assumed form; if he can penetrate the disguise (by making a successful Spot check), he can determine the creature's real type. 4. Heartstone Hunting +2 (Ex) 6. Power Sense (Ex): As a full-round action, the Heartstone Hunter can consider a creature he can observe and determine the creature's hit dice. He must know the creature's true type to use this ability (if the creature is in a disguise, the DM tells him the hit dice of the assumed form). This only detects racial hit dice, never class levels. 7. Heartstone Hunting +3 (Ex) 10. Heartstone Hunting +4 (Ex) Heartstone Hunter Spell List 1st -- Detect Magic, Detect Secret Doors, Expeditious Retreat, Enlarge Person, Mage Armor, Magic Weapon, Message, Sleep, True Strike 2nd -- Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, Darkvision, Daze Monster, Invisibility, Resist Energy, See Invisibility, Spider Climb, Web 3rd -- Arcane Sight, Deep Slumber, Keen Edge, Greater Magic Weapon, Protection from Energy, Ray of Exhaustion, Slow 4th -- Blink, Charm Monster, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Dimensional Anchor, Displacement, Enervation, Haste, Locate Creature
77IM 05-24-04, 11:58 AM	I haven't forgotten your questions! I've just been pretty busy getting out ideas. My new homebrewing motto is, "If you have a good idea, don't hesitate to post it, or it will be lost." I like the NPCs you've been posting -- I often have trouble coming up with good, representative NPCs. Originally posted by The Swedish Viking * A thieves guild specialized on Heartstone/Essence acquiration and locating magical creatures within civilized lands. I've just posted a Heartstone Hunter PrC. I see such a character as operating mostly above-board; most monsters haven't got that much sympathy from the common folk (with the exception of sacred monsters). The Church hates Heartstones, but they have trouble denouncing someone who goes around ridding the world of demonic monsters. However, I've been thinking about Essence thieves. I think what would set them apart, is that their targets have access to magical defenses. They'd need to be good at thwarting magical traps and defenses and at eluding magical capture. Essence is used as a currency so they would have no trouble fencing it. In other words, they'd be highly skilled magically-oriented characters. If there's a PrC out there for specializing in disabling magical traps, that would be ideal. ((what do you mean "the opposite of what you think" :confused: :confused: )) Well, usually when I see a post entitled "Variant House Rules" I think it's about ways to make the D&D game more different. But that post was about how to make the D&D game LESS different, more like standard D&D. I love game rules and I love game worlds but I don't want the two to "interfere" with each other, so I felt I needed to point out how to use default rules with this game world. -- 77IM
77IM 05-24-04, 03:34 PM	This is like, a bump, or something. I got Complete Divine this weekend, and I must say that it is generally pretty good. (I was very disappointed with Complete Warrior -- most of those PrCs were crap.) So, I started matching up PrCs to the Church Orders post halfway down page 2 of this thread. Check it out! -- 77IM
77IM 05-24-04, 05:34 PM	Society Gender roles have traditionally been relatively egalitarian. Men and women have the same legal rights and responsibilities, and amongst the nobility, powerful female heirs are common. Almost every profession is socially acceptible for both men and women; it's even ok for the husband to stay home and raise the children, if the wife is a more capable breadwinner. There are exceptions; women are rarely drafted as infantry soldiers (but may be conscripted if they are skilled archers or cavaliers), and men are seldom midwives. Dispite this state of more-or-less gender equality, there are great distinctions between men and women in terms of etiquitte and social mores. In general, women are expected to be ladylike and men to be manly. The essence of ladylike behavior is warm grace: a women must be poised, polite, calm, and delicate, but also very expressive with her emotions. Even a tough female fighter likely has experience fencing while wearing a fancy evening gown. The essence of manly behavior is controlled boldness: a gentleman is courteous and subdued, but always tries to be at the forefront of a situation, in an active role. Even a scrawny scholar is expected to rise to the challenge when the gauntlet is thrown down. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to these rules -- some of the most interesting characters are the ones who buck society's trends. Economy The common unit of currency is the gold piece (gp). Although each country mints its own currency, they make their coins the same size as their neighbors for convenience. By the present day, most coins are stamped with relief designs and bear milled edges. 50 gold coins weigh one pound. In theory, it is the guarantee of the minting country that gives coins their value, but in practice, they are usually valued by weight (as bullion). Lesser coinage, silver and copper pieces, are also minted. These are much smaller and lighter than the gold coins; 200 of these coins weigh one pound. The silver piece is worth 1/10 of a gold piece, the copper is worth 1/100. Although governments can be picky about wanting people to change foreign coins into local currancy, they usually pay little heed to silver or copper. No one makes coins from platinum. However, Essence is used as a currency for large transactions. 500 gp worth of Essence weighs 1 pound. Because it is usually in powdered form, it must be weighed during transactions; use of a weigher's scales usually costs 1 silver piece. So although Essence is accepted everywhere, it is usually only used for important transactions. Many countries also print gold trade bars for this purpose. These are typically 20 pounds (1000 gp). There are no proper banks; most people invest their money in land and business endeavors. However, many gold merchants and moneylenders will "hold" a person's gold for them, to be returned later upon request. The person is given a certificate listing the amount deposited, which they can present to any other member of the merchant's guild (usually associated with a particular noble house) to withdraw the funds. Nowadays, these documents are signed with an arcane mark, which is unforgable. Law The law enforcement system of most nations is comprised of four types of forces: guards, constables, justiciars, and magistrates. All of these are in the employ of the ruling noble house, although they exercise very little authority over nobles of other houses. In Renflour, the law enforcement professionals serve only the Republic. Guards generally patrol urban areas and noble manors, and have the power of arrest. Constables are similar but are stationed in villiages. The relative utility of these two roles varies from country to country. In some lands, these are fair-handed people who work together to maintain law and order. In others, guards exist only to protect the nobility or act as cheap muscle, while constables are appointed to keep the peasants in line. Guards and constables also typically oversee jail facilities. Justiciars are detectives and bounty hunters. Although their main role is bringing in the accused party for justice (or occasionally bringing back an escaped convict or someone tried in absentia), they are often the first highly skilled official at the scene of a crime and do the leg work to determine just who to accuse. Magistrates are petty judges. They issue arrest warrants, preside over grand juries and hear minor cases, particularly those involving commoners. They can issue fines or other minor punishments, such as a month of servitude, but more severe crimes are usually heard by a noble lord or by Tribunal.
77IM 05-25-04, 02:27 PM	PrC AC Bonus Some Prestige Classes gain a dodge bonus to AC when unarmored and carrying no more than a light load. This is similar to the Elite's AC bonus and stacks with that bonus, and also stacks with a Scion's AC bonus. Any class that grants "PrC AC Bonus" uses this progression. Level: Bonus 1: +0 2: +0 3: +0 4: +1 5: +1 6: +1 7: +1 8: +2 9: +2 10: +2 Holy Swordsman Nobles and high-ranking retainers of House Deschaigne practice an ancient art form known as "holy sword style." They can channel divine energy through magical weapons to deal additional holy or elemental damage. Known as Holy Swordsmen (or Swordswomen), in recent years they have focussed on a faster fighting style similar to the Elite. (Non-Deschaigne Holy Swordsmen are rare, and usually only found among the house's closest allies.) Most were previously Elites or Scions, but occasionally a fighter, paladin, or rogue will take up the path. Standard Prerequisites BAB: +5 Skills: Knowledge (Religion): 3 ranks. Feats: Weapon Finesse. Special: Must be trained by a Holy Swordsman of house Deschaigne. Test-Based Prerequisites Must be trained by a Holy Swordsman of house Deschaigne. They usually require a test of some sort before taking on new apprentices. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d8 BAB: As fighter (+10) Fort: Poor (+3) Ref: Good (+7) Will: Poor (+3) Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points per level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Holy Swordsmans are proficient with all simple and martial weapons but no armor or shields. Prc AC Bonus: This class grants the PrC AC Bonus described above. 1. Sword Technique 1/day (Su): Once per day as a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, the Holy Swordsman can channel divine energy into a magic sword. The sword gains the holy special property for 1 minute per point of Wisdom modifier (minimum 1 minute), dealing +2d6 points of holy damage against evil creatures and overcoming damage reduction as a holy weapon. This ability only works on a magic weapon with at least a +1 bonus (including one under the effect of a magic weapon spell), and only so long as the Holy Swordsman wields it; if it leaves his hand, the effect ends. If the magic weapon already has the holy, shocking, shocking burst, frosting, icy burst, flaming, or flaming burst properties, those are suppressed for the duration. Using this ability requires a small amount of Essence. Each week, the Holy Swordsman must consume one gold piece worth of Essence, usually on Prayermeet, or he loses access to the supernatural abilities of this class until he consumes the Essence. This ability can be used one additional time per day at each even numbered level. 2. Sword Technique 2/day (Su) 3. Elemental Technique (Su): At 3rd level, the Holy Swordsman learns an elemental technique, selecting one of these weapon properties: icy burst, flaming burst, or shocking burst. When he uses sword technique, he can choose add this weapon property to the weapon, rather than the holy property. The weapon still overcomes damage reduction as though it were a holy weapon. He may choose another elemental technique at 5th level, and the third on 7th level. You can't use more than one technique at a time -- you can't make your weapon both holy and flaming burst, for example. 4. Sword Technique 3/day (Su) 5. Elemental Technique (Su) 6. Sword Technique 4/day (Su) 7. Elemental Technique (Su) 8. Sword Technique 5/day (Su) 9. Grand Technique (Su): As a free action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity, the Holy Swordsman can grant his magic sword the keen property for one round, doubling its threat range. His sword technique must be active for him to use this ability. If he is using the holy sword technique, then a successful critical hit against an evil creature during this round deals an additional +1d6 points of Holy damage (+2d6 for a weapon with a x3 critical multiplier, +3d6 for a x4 multiplier). Using this ability counts against the Holy Swordsman's daily uses of sword technique. 10. Sword Technique 6/day (Su)
The Swedish Viking 05-27-04, 06:51 AM	Sorry for being inactive... gonna post something soon. Having one of my gloomy periods... :b:
The Swedish Viking 05-27-04, 02:44 PM	((and a new infamous site...)) The Forge The Forge is a small village located within Zoltar. Here, within the corrupt and dark nation, hides the few apprentices of Glóin Redbeard and their kin. The entrance to the village is guarded by illusions and magical runes, forged and crafted from Heartstones and under constant incantations, so that only those who knows of itīs location can find it. The Forge is so named from the great number of forges located within the small underground village. One particular forge has given it itīs name, however. This is the great forge of Glóin himself, guarded under runes and protective incantations, itīs fire is the fire of two imprisoned Salamanders, and the items forged there are forged from Heartstone and Adamantine. A laboratory with many strange fluids and potions has also been set up in the vicinity of the forge, operated by one of Glóinīs more sorcerous apprentices. The village is hidden from many but the very few nobles and customers that are willing to defy church regulations (and have the money to compensate Glóin and his apprentices). These are often taken to the village with their eyes covered, so that they cannot reveal itīs location to anyone. Glóin himself only lives and works in the village when he is not out collecting more hidden knowledge and more powerful Heartstone. ((and a new guild...)) The Artificiers "Stay well clear of that lot. Giant-apprentices and dark-minded fools they are, just as likely to use you in evil experiments as to pay ye for the meal they bought at yer Inn." People say that the Artificiers are extinct. Most tales of this secretive organization tell that it was made up of humans, giants, ogres and dwarves who were apprenticed to the great Giant Wizards of old. Through paying the giants great riches, they learned the forbidden arts of magic. Often, the nobles who paid for this magic was an evil breed. They were more often than not interested in using the magic for their own gains, manipulating minds and increasing the efficiency of their armies through magical curses and enchantments. When the Giants were marked as evil after slaying the Prophetess, those of the Order of Artificiers were hunted down by zealous Witch Hunters, blaming the Order for aiding the giants in their evil ways. Most of the Orderīs members were slain during the time, and the Order more or less vanished. Realizing that continuing to use the Magic for their own benefits was useless in the face of such hatred from the world around them, they instead began to use magic in ways of good. This was originally merely to lure their enemies into a feeling of false safety. However, as new members joined the guild, the old wizards of the order could not reveal that using magic for Good was just a ruse, the lie became truth. As the Giants had been wiped out, not many of them remained to teach men or guide (use) them. And when finally the last of the "old breed" of wizards, intent on using the magic for their own desires died out, the Order became fully focused on using magic to do good. The Order is one of the few (and certainly one of the most secretive) organizations in the world. Particularly since the Order owns a Magicant of itīs own, which it uses to great extent. Each member takes an oath never to harm creatures of pure heart, be they magical or mundane, to fuel his/her own magical power. They swear to uphold Law, and to use magic only for ways aiding the general populace and creatures of light and pure heart, and increasing tolerance of magic. However, eons of bad reputation is not easily discarded, and thus the Order still remains in hiding, operating anonymously through wizard agents throghout the world...
The Swedish Viking 05-27-04, 02:45 PM	Oh, and the document with the setting is close to reaching 70 pages...
77IM 05-28-04, 02:52 PM	I'm sorry to hear about your gloomy period. :( But I am glad you are back and posting! :) I especially love the Artificers; the idea of an organization that everyone thinks is evil but which is really good hadn't even occurred to me. You should post them on the organizations thread (it should be possible to adapt them to default D&D). I think the setting is approaching a "1.0" state. I want just a few more noble houses and organizations, a few finishing touches on monsters and on Lienne, and a small treatise on usage for various spells, before I would think of the setting as "playable." (Once it reaches playability I would like a copy of the word doc format, because at that point I will become really OCD about formatting and such. Try putting the doc into two columns -- it should shave off 5 pages or so and look better in most sections.) I really relish starting a new campaign as DM and handing my players a 100-page document describing the setting. ;) Also, I just added some more locations to Lienne at the top of this page! -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 05-28-04, 02:55 PM	Gotcha. I already did some editing (removing things specifically linking to the boards, including the Elite, Yeoman, etc) and made the doc in two columns. I also included the map. Now, If we could just get hold of an illustrator... :smirk:
The Swedish Viking 05-31-04, 12:26 PM	a feat Creature Transformation Ancient myths speak of druids who could take the form of mythical creatures permanently, to become the spirits and demons of that ancient faith, and to never become human again. Prerequisites: Druid Character Level: 11th or higher Benefits: The druid can, when he takes this feat, chose to transform into a mythical creature, and become that creature for life. These creatures include the centaur and similar half-human beasts. See the monster list for details.
The Swedish Viking 06-02-04, 03:46 PM	The Great Rocks They stand, fifteen feet tall, in the great forest of Renflour. An ancient place of mystery, surrounded by myths of magic and devilish plots. The Great Rocks, as they are commonly referred to as, are ten great, standing stones covered in runes, located in the middle of the Renflour forest. The stones stand in a circle, and at two places the rocks have been shaped into archways by adding a lying down rock on top of two others. In the middle of the circle is an altar, surrounded by flat-lying runestones. The Great Rocks are shroude in mystery. All agree that in ancient times, they were a gathering place for practicioners of the arcane arts. Or was it perhaps druids of the Old Ways? Or maybe a temple, dedicated to some forlorn deity? Well, all agree that it was something amongst these. Many myths tell of people who fell asleep by the temple and awoke hundreds of years later, or in new worlds entirely. Other myths tell of secretive cults, performing rituals in the darkness of summer at the altar. Other myths still speak of an ancient catacomb filled with riches and sleeping archmages beneath the temple.
77IM 06-02-04, 05:45 PM	Time The following are specified by clerics devoted to the Keeper of Time. Years Years are measured since the beginning of the Great Rebellion (when the Prophet overthrew the Renlinean Empire), abbreviated GR. It is currently the year 984 GR (or, "The Nine Hundred and Eighty-Fourth Year of the Great Rebellion," as if the rebellion were still going on). This method of timekeeping was introduced at the Treaty of Barriton which marked the end of the Throne Wars in 523 GR. Prior to this time period, different nations tracked time in a variety of ways, but the multi-national treaty needed a common date, and the practice caught on quickly. Time before the Great Rebellion is simply measured in negative numbers (for example, the Prophet was born in -17 GR, and died in 11 GR). The Heartstone Wars started around 940 GR and officially ended in 961 GR. Months The world's single crater-marked moon rotates as well as revolves. This means that as the year progresses, the image on the face of the moon appears to change as the moon spins around. Each lunar cycle, which lasts a convenient 28 days, the moon rotates about 2/5 of the way around (or 144 degrees), meaning that in 5 lunar cycles someone will have seen all 5 faces of the moon. Each of these is thought to show a different image and has a different astrological attribution depending on where during the year it is full. A year is 364 days long and has 13 months, and begins on the winter solstice. Lunar Faces: Dragon, Rose, Ship, Goblet, Nightmaiden. Months of the Year: Longnight, Midwinter, Coldwind, Springthaw, Blossoming, Summersow, Midsummer, Rainfall, Hotsun, Leaffall, Harvesttime, Feasting, Snowfall. Days "A week" means either 6 or 7 days depending on usage. If someone says, "I'll meet you here in a week" or "Take this medicine once per night for a week," they mean 7 days. If someone says, "The store will be open all week," they mean 6 days. This is because Prayermeet is not considered part of the "week," neither the first day of a week (that goes to Onesday) or the last day of the week (called Latterday). There are four weeks in a month; the first of the month is always Prayermeet. Days of the Week: Prayermeet, Oneday, Twosday, Thrensday, Foursday, Fiveday, Latterday.
The Swedish Viking 06-02-04, 06:36 PM	After including the Yeoman ánd the Time message in the document, it is now 71 pages long. Should we try to get hold of an artist to make a few pics for this?
77IM 06-03-04, 09:37 PM	If you can find an illustrator, go for it! I will try to come up with some guidelines for how I envision the world. It should generally be a fancier, more elegant world than normal D&D; a blend of Renaissance, Baroque, and Late Middle Ages aesthetics. Even peasant folk in rural areas should have decorative patterns around and lots of simple wooden gadgets. I see this as primarily an urban campaign, with busy cities filled with stunning and colorful architecture. Now back to posting! The following spells are part of the Field subschool of Divination, and are only available to wizards. As you know, the theory behind wizard spellcasting is that a mystical energy field is set up within the Heartstone, reverberating in place as a standing wave, until the wizard releases that field into the universe, where it forcefully bends reality to conform to the pattern it specifies. A Divination (Field) spell does the opposite -- it analyzes some part of reality and reduces its essential pattern into an energy field within a Heartstone. This field can then be released later in a manner similar to a spell, or even learned as a proper spell. Needless to say, these spells are an invaluable part of spell research. (In game terms, knowledge of one or more of these spells is needed to research an original spell.) Of course, divine casters claim that this is all rubbish, and that all magic stems from the will of the spirits, an idea vehemently denied by most learned wizards. Enfold Anima, Lesser Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 2 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 full round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Targets: 1 creature with maximum HD equal to your caster level Effect: Summoned creature Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); 1 round (see text) Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless) The magic of this spell analyzes the target creature and creates a pseudospell, an energy field within your Heartstone that can be discharged later to create a effect similar to a spell. You can't prepare another spell in place of lesser enfold anima until the pseudospell is discharged. Your Heartstone may hold more than one pseudospell, if you cast lesser enfold anima more than once. Discharging the pseudospell is a standard action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity and is considered using a spell-like ability; treat the pseudospell as a 2nd-level spell with your caster level. Once the pseudospell is discharged, it is gone, and you must cast lesser enfold anima again to create another pseudospell. To create the pseudospell, you must target a creature for one full round, and specify one of the actions the creature took that round. When the pseudospell is discharged, you summon a duplicate of the creature (this is a Conjuration (Summoning) effect) at any location within close range. The duplicate remains for one round, and undertakes the action taken by the analyzed creature, to the best of its ability. For example, if you target an ogre attacking someone, the pseudospell will produce an ogre that attacks someone, likely the nearest person. You have no control over the summoned creature aside from where it appears and its orientation. For example, if you target a dragon using its breath weapon, you could use the pseudospell to summon the duplicate dragon anywhere within close range and facing any direction you wish, and it will use its breath weapon in that direction. (You can only target a creature with HD up to your caster level, so the most powerful of dragons are beyond the reach of most casters.) The duplicate vaguely resembles the original target creature but is not an exact copy. It is of the same type, gender, and general appearance; has the exact same ability scores, skills, feats, special abilities, and spells; and the same equipment. However, all equipment is non-magical (a duplicated +1 longsword functions as a masterwork longsword; a duplicated wand is just a stick). The duplicate retains the general attitude and demeanor of the original creature at the time the spell was cast (for example, a creature in combat will be aggressive and hostile; a sleeping creature will be drowsy). The duplicate creature has all of the original creature's languages and skills, but does not have the original's memories or specific knowledge; it only has common knowledge, knowledge appropriate to its skills. It knows it is a magical creation and is not bothered by this fact. For the duration of the pseudospell, the creature can't cast any spell or use any spell-like ability higher than 2nd level, can't use any ability usable less often than 1/day, can use each of its spell-like abilities only once, and can only cast one spell of each spell level that it is capable of using. (Note that a duplicated Heartstone is a non-magical crystal, so a duplicate of a wizard won't be able to cast any spells.) Enfold Anima Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 4 Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); 1 round/level (see text) As lesser enfold anima, except as specified here. When discharging the pseudospell to summon the duplicate creature, the creature remains for 1 round per caster level. Instead of taking the same action as the scanned creature, you can direct it to take any single action upon summoning, and it tries to carry out that command for the duration of the pseudospell (for example, you could say "attack my enemies" and it would do so). If it can't complete a command (for example, it can't reach your enemies or they are all dead), it stands idle (although it still defends itself normally). You may command the creature to "follow my commands," in which case it will follow your spoken orders for the duration, but it must be able to understand your language (or you must be good at pantomiming). The duplicate can use spells and spell-like abilities up to 4th level. Enfold Anima, Greater Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 8 Targets: 1 creature of any HD, except for unique creatures and deities Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); up to 1 hour/level (see text) As enfold anima, except as specified here. You can analyze any creature regardless of HD, other than unique creatures and deities. When discharging the pseudospell to summon the duplicate creature, if you give the creature a specific task to complete, the creature remains until the task is completed, up to 1 hour per caster level. The task must be something fairly specific and immediate; if you say "attack my enemies" the creature will attack all the enemies present but won't scour the world looking for other creatures that might possibly be hostile to you. If you task you specify is "follow my commands," the duration is only 1 round per caster level. The duplicate can use spells and spell-like abilities up to 8th level. Enfold Entropy, Lesser Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 3 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 full round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Targets: 1 creature or object Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); instantaneous (see text) Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless); Fortitude half (see text) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless); Yes (see text) The magic of this spell analyzes an attack against the target creature or object and creates a pseudospell, an energy field within your Heartstone that can be discharged later to create a effect similar to a spell. You can't prepare another spell in place of lesser enfold entropy until the pseudospell is discharged. Your Heartstone may hold more than one pseudospell, if you cast lesser enfold entropy more than once. Discharging the pseudospell is a standard action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity and is considered using a spell-like ability (except that your Intelligence modifier, rather than Charisma, applies to the Save DC); treat the pseudospell as a 3rd-level spell with your caster level. Once the pseudospell is discharged, it is gone, and you must cast lesser enfold entropy again to create another pseudospell. To create the pseudospell, you must target a creature or object for one full round, and specify one instance of damage the creature took that round. When the pseudospell is discharged, you target any creature or object (the same type of target that you analyzed) within medium range and it instantly takes as much damage as the original and of the same type (up to a maximum of 6 points per caster level, maximum of 60). For example, if you cast this spell at an ogre, and during the round of casting the ogre is hit by a sword for 12 points of slashing damage and by a fireball for 27 points of fire damage, you could chose to store that fire damage in the pseudospell; later, you can target a dire bear with the pseudospell and deal it 27 points of fire damage. The creature affected by the pseudospell gets a Fortitude save for half damage, and spell resistance applies. Even if the originally analyzed attack required an attack roll (such as a sword swing), none is required for this spell. No affect other than damage is transferred by this spell (if you duplicate damage from a sword of wounding, the wounding effect is not duplicated, only the hit point damage). Enfold Entropy Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 5 Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless); Fortitude half and partial (see text) As lesser enfold entropy, except as specified here. When you discharge the pseudospell, you duplicate ALL damage that was dealt to the analyzed creature during the round you cast enfold entropy. The total of this damage still has a maximum of 6 points per caster level (maximum 90 points). In addition you can duplicate any one secondary effect of the damage (such as wounding, stunning, poison, catching on fire, etc.). This must be a secondary effect of the damage in order to be duplicated; for example, if you analyze a creature hurled by the telekinesis spell, you could duplicate the damage from the fall, but not the actual movement (since the damage is a side effect of the movement, not the other way around). If the target of the pseudospell saves against the damage, the secondary effect is negated. Enfold Entropy, Greater Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 7 As enfold entropy, except as specified here. When you discharge the pseudospell, you duplicate ALL damage that was dealt to the analyzed creature during the round you cast enfold entropy, with a maximum of 150 points. You can duplicate all the secondary effects of all damage (such as wounding, stunning, poison, catching on fire, etc.). If the target of the pseudospell saves against the damage, all secondary effects are negated. Enfold Kinetics, Lesser Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 3 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 full round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Targets: 1 creature or object Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); 1 round or instantaneous (see text) Saving Throw: Will negates (object) (harmless); Will negates (object) or none (see text) Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless); Yes (see text) The magic of this spell analyzes the movement of the target creature or object and creates a pseudospell, an energy field within your Heartstone that can be discharged later to create a effect similar to a spell. You can't prepare another spell in place of lesser enfold kinetics until the pseudospell is discharged. Your Heartstone may hold more than one pseudospell, if you cast lesser enfold kinetics more than once. Discharging the pseudospell is a standard action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity and is considered using a spell-like ability (except that your Intelligence modifier, rather than Charisma, applies to the Save DC); treat the pseudospell as a 3rd-level spell with your caster level. Once the pseudospell is discharged, it is gone, and you must cast lesser enfold kinetics again to create another pseudospell. To create the pseudospell, you must target a creature or object, and note its movement (during the round the spell is cast) in relation to another recognizable creature or object reference point (such as yourself, the ground, or a nearby wall or boulder). Later, when you discharge the pseudospell, you can duplicate the effects of a telekinesis spell, but only to move the same type of object in relation to the another recognizable reference point (all within Medium range). For purpose of this spell, a "type of object" means the object can be called the same thing with the same meaning or is synonymous. For example, if you target a rock, which someone throws at an ogre's head, the pseudospell created is "rock moves quickly towards head;" when you discharge the pseudospell, you would target a rock within medium range and the head of any creature within range, and the rock would fly towards the creature's head. The object can move at any speed, but speeds faster than 20 feet per round count as the "violent thrust" application of telekinesis and require an attack roll. The pseudospell lasts only one round regardless. Movement of objects does not take obstacles into account, but will try to barrel through them; in the case of most obstacles, the object will become held in place for the remainder of the pseudospell's duration. Enfold Kinetics Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 5 Targets: 1 creature or object per level Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); 1 round per level or instantaneous (see text) As lesser enfold kinetics, except as specified here. The pseudospell can last for 1 round per level, and can move objects at speeds of up to 60 feet per round (instead of just 20 feet per round as with telekinesis). Speeds faster than this count as the "violent thrust" application and end the pseudospell. In addition, you can target multiple creatures or objects (up to 1 per caster level) for movement, provided they are all moving in the same direction or their movement can be described as a group (such as multiple objects moving closer together, away from some object, or rotating around some point). If the reference point of the pseudospell moves, the objects change direction to follow it, by the most direct path possible. Enfold Kinetics, Greater Divination (Field) Level: Wiz 8 Duration: Permanent until discharged (D); 1 round per level or instantaneous (see text) As enfold kinetics, except as specified here. Moved objects can move up to 150 feet per round. Multiple creatures or objects can be made to move in any direction, provided the creatures or objects analyzed in when the spell was cast were moving in those directions. In addition, you no longer need to specify a creature or object as a reference point when casting the spell or discharging the pseudospell; you may designate any point in space as the reference point. Other Field Spells I've Thought Up But Not Bothered To Write Down Yet: Enfold Topology (shapechanging and physical buffs) Enfold Dwoemer (copying raw magical effects) Enfold Imago (illusions -- copying something's image) Enfold Nexus (distorting space and time) Enfold Sympathy (odd non-physical buffs and transmutations and abjurations) Enfold Probability (bonuses and penalties) Enfold Meme (enchantments; the copying of moods and ideas) Enfold Energy (creating energy effects) A Feat ENCODE FIELD [General] You can create original spells by analyzing effects via Divination (Field) spells. Prerequisites: Able to cast at least one Divination (Field) spell. Benefit: You can convert any pseudospell you currently have into a regular spell. Doing so takes 1 day per spell level and requires you to use 50 gp worth of Essence each day; you spend 8 hours studying the field and can engage in only light activity when not working. At the end of this period, you make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the spell's level). If successful, the pseudospell discharges harmlessly, but in its place you have prepared a spell with a target, range, duration, and effect identical to that of the pseudospell. You may then write the spell into your spellbook as normal. (If you cast the spell before doing so, it is gone, and you must repeat the process -- including the use of a Divination (Field) spell to create the pseudospell.) If the Spellcraft check fails, you may try again once per day, although each try requires another 8 hours of study and 50 gp worth of Essence. The level of the new spell is equal to the level of the Divination (Field) spell used to created it, or the highest spell level available to the lowest level caster able to cast the spell, minus 1, whichever is more. For example, if you are a 10th-level character and use lesser enfold anima to duplicate a 1-HD goblin, your encoded spell ("Summon Angry Ankle-Biter") would be 2nd level, the level of lesser enfold anima. If you used it to duplicate an 8-HD goblin rogue, the encoded spell ("Summon Instant Backstab Wound") would be 3rd level, because an 8th-level caster is required to duplicate an 8-HD goblin, and the highest spell level available to that caster is 4th spell level, minus 1 is 3rd level, which is higher than lesser enfold anima's level. Normal: A character who casts a Divination (Field) spell to create a pseudospell can only dismiss or discharge the pseudospell; it can't be written onto scrolls or spellbooks and is not a real spell, but rather the effect of an already-cast spell.
Delvesdeep 06-04-04, 02:37 AM	77Im, I can not get over how much work you have invested into this post and obviously your homebrew world.:tiphat: i have been reading for a good half hour and as I skim down, I haven't even begun to read all the information you have posted. What i have read is the basic summary. Now I'm sure you have answered this somewhere in this thread so excuse me if I ask an answered question but.. Does magic only come from these heart crystals? Are they tempoary use items? I'll write again soon after i have had time to read and digest all the information you have included here. Delvesdeep:b:
77IM 06-07-04, 12:28 PM	Thanks for the kind words! Also, thanks to the Swedish Viking, who has contributed quite a lot and also serves as our official archivist! To answer your question about Heartstones, they are not temporary-use, they are treated as a spellcasting focus required for all wizard spells. I'll try to summarize magic in case my previous posts were too wordy. (Delvesdeep I like the summary system you use in your thread and wish I had thought of it.) There are three types of magic: divine, natural arcane, and artificial arcane. None of these use the normal matieral components or foci listed in the PHB. Instead, they use a magical substance called Essence. (Production and distribution of this substance is controlled by the nobility and is a major motivator in world politics.) A spell with a costly material component requires an equal cost of Essence (for example, identify requires 100 gp worth of Essence instead of a 100 gp pearl). Instead of a focus, the caster must use up an equal cost of Essence upon learning the spell or preparing it for the first time (sort of like a really expensive one-time matierial component). Each type of magic gets its spells in a different way, though: Divine Magic: Divine magic comes from spirits. Each day, when preparing spells, a divine caster must consume some Essence (1 gp worth per caster level). This puts them in a trance in which they gain spells that they can cast later. Natural Arcane Magic: This is innate magic, often spell-like abilities, used by dragons, magical beasts, outsiders, sorcerers, bards, gnomes, etc. They don't require anything special to use their spells, although they still require Essence for costly material components. Artificial Arcane Magic: Wizards use artifacts called Heartstones to cast this magic. When they prepare spells, they sprinkle Essence onto their Heartstones, which "sets up" the spells within the Heartstone to be cast later. The Heartstone must be within arm's reach when the spell is cast; most wizards keep theirs on the end of a staff or on an amulet (sometimes in the guard or pommel of a sword). Magical effects, such as rays and touch spells, emanate from the Heartstone, not the caster's own body. Heartstones are extracted from dead magical creatures; the more powerful the creature, the more powerful spells can be cast out of its Heartstone. Infrequently Asked Questions Can a wizard carry two Heartstones and prepare twice as much spells? No. When a wizard prepares spells with a Heartstone, a mystic bond is formed; he puts some of his own energy into the Heartstone. This process is poorly understood; both the bond and the energy are undetectible. It's sort of like a wizard's bond with a familiar. Well, can you grab someone else's Heartstone and cast spells out of it? No, because of the same bond. Can you kill a monster, extract its Heartstone, and then kill it again? 9th-level clerics are rare, so this has never happened... who knows? Gnomes have spell-like abilities, can you kill a gnome and extract a Heartstone? Try it and find out! I'll bet that gnome assassins will find and silence you regardless. What happens if someone who's not a divine caster ingests Essence? Can they cast cleric spells afterward? No, they get some visions (or nightmares) and maybe something unusually good or bad happens to them later on, but it's never a spell that they can cast and control. If they overdose, they could become posessed by an outsider. Do Magicants ever "run out" of Essence? No, although if they are damaged their Essence output decreases. In theory, millions of years of erosion will eventually darken all Magicants, but no one is really worried about this. Is there any way to produce Essence other than Magicants? Some people have claimed to produce Essence by mining it from the earth, growing it in a plant, or refining it from raw elements, but most of these claims have turned out to be clever scams for hiding Magicants from the nobility. (A group of dwarven Essence merchants is still under investigation.) How do magic items work? These have been infused with Essence and, in some cases, bits of Heartstone. (Some powerful items contain bits of Magicants but these are illegal.) How do wizard spellbooks work? And spell scrolls? A spellbook is non-magical. It's just a notebook of formulae for preparing spells. They are very valuable, though, and the process of copying spells is lengthy and expensive because each spell needs to be modified for each Heartstone. A spell scroll is a magic item infused with Essence just like any other magic item. What about supernatural abilities and so forth? These are a minor form of natural arcane magic. They don't require Essence or anything special. Psionics? Don't exist. The very concept does not exist -- if you tried to explain it to a resident of this world, they would think you were talking about sorcery. Psionic monsters are simplyl considered to have natural arcane magic with a mentalist bent. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 06-07-04, 02:28 PM	Well, I think weīve soon covered near every major aspect of the world. I havenīt included the additional spells and magic you wrote in your last post(s), but after I have I think the amount of pages in the document will amount to about 75. Let me summarize the cathegories: 1. Geography 2. Magic 3. Religion 4. Power groups and noble houses 5. Influential personae (room for more here) 6. Notorious locations (room for more here) 7. Monsters 8. Races 9. Classes 10. Artifacts (only artifact sofar is Glóins hammer) 11. Legends and history (a lot is mentioned but nothing concrete established as far as I know) 12. Cosmology (not mentioned) so.... I think I got everything.
77IM 06-07-04, 05:47 PM	Cosmology The World: The world is a great sphere. (This has been obvious to scholars for centuries; in fact the size of the world can be easily triangulated.) It is composed of all four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) bound together, with fire generally contained within the earth and air floating above the others. The Sun & Moon: Above the sky, these two heavenly bodies revolve around the world. The sun is a giant ball of pure light, while the moon is thought to be made of mist or at least cloud-covered. The sun is larger than the moon but is farther away, giving them the appearance of being the same size; it's unclear how far these bodies are from the world, although they do have a distinct effect on seasons (the sun moving higher or lower in the sky) and the tides. Land of the Dead: High above the sky is the Land of the Dead, where most souls end up. Here, millions of Magicants glitter, and Essence is free. These Magicants can be seen at night as stars (during the day, they are obscured by the sun's light). (According to the Old Ways, the stars actually are the souls of the departed.) Moving through the stars are the 7 planets, illegitimate children of the Aimless Wanderer who were slain by their mothers' angry husbands and fathers. They move somewhat erratically but always along the same path as the moon and sun, who have agreed to protect them in the afterlife. Another moving star is very bright but always found close to the sun. It is called the Dawn Star in the morning and is thought to be the home of the Fire Master, and the Evening Star at night when it is home to the Fire Mistress. Ethereal: "Ethereal" is more of a state of being than a plane. It is treated as a separate, cotangent and coexistant plane for most purposes, although the plane shift spell can't reach it. An ethereal creature or object is "outside" the normal world, looking in. There are different depths to the ethereal plane; the deeper you get, the slower time passes. The imprisonment spell shunts a creature so far "deep" into the ethereal that it is effectively in suspended animation. Lesser versions of this spell can bump a creature just a few levels deeper, slowing it to the point of helplessness. Spirit Realm & Shadow Realm: These two mysterious lands are actually the same place, but are called by different names depending on who you talk to. The Old Ways venerate the Spirit Realm as the "true world," inhabited by idealized forms of all things. Modern scholars talk of the "Shadow Realm," a twisted and frightening place of illusions and darkness. Time and space are warped here as in a dream, yet physical travel to this realm is possible with the shadow walk spell. It can also be reached via the plane shift spell. Pandemonium: Known by many names, including the Abyss and the Inferno, this is a realm of demons where evil-hearted people go when they die. Horrible creatures are sometimes summoned from here. Elysium: Also called Heaven and the Realm of the Gods, the gods live here, but also maintain manors in other parts of the cosmos (for example, the Sun Father lives inside the sun). Pious souls are taken here after death where they become disciples of the gods, as the Prophet was in life. Conceptia: Sometimes called the Land of Dreams or the Astral Plane, Conceptia is a purely mental realm in which all intelligent beings exist all the time. All things imaginable exist here, by definition. The plane shift spell can allow people to roam Conceptia directly. Otherworlds: Strange "other" places, different states of being entirely, are reachable through the plane shift spell. Some of these are understandable and border on Conceptia; others defy description entirely.
Delvesdeep 06-07-04, 11:45 PM	A really interesting take on magic. So are there three types of magical crystals - essence (powered crystal used to fuel magic?), heartstones (taken from magical beasts and used to focus spells) and magicants (supreme sources of magic?). Where is essence and magicants originally taken from? How were they created/infused with this great 'magic'? Why has the nobles got a monopoly on the whole thing? As to your cosmology, great imagery with the souls/magicants glittering in the night sky description. I'm assuming the great wanderer was the creator god? What lives upon the planets? I would love you to do a little summary (a couple of paragraphs) on each of the topics Swedish Viking listed. Unless you were there to watch the thread evolve (which unfortunely i wasn't) it will take many hours to form a sufficent understanding of each of the areas you have mentioned. I would love to be able to get a basic run down if you have the time. Swedish Viking, are you a friend/player of this world or just took an interest early on? Write again soon Delvesdeep:b:
The Swedish Viking 06-08-04, 03:27 AM	Iīm just your regular DM with too much time on my hands. :D Simply took an interest and here I am. Up to 76 pages... Have you finished the monster section yet? EDIT: Another thing that needs to be considered is how to handle the artifacts presented in the DMG. What artifacts exist in this universe and which do not? Obviously, the Deity-specific artifacts cannot exist, but what about others (such as the Orbs of Dragonkind)?
77IM 06-09-04, 02:51 PM	Good call on the artifacts, I hadn't even thought of that. I'm going to include minor magic items in the treatise on spells. I guess a good heuristic for artifacts is that they don't exist outside of myths and legends -- at least, not as far as anyone knows... Delvesdeep, Essence is a powdery substance, not a crystal. It is produced by Magicants, which are massive crystals owned by the nobility; the Church harvests the Essence and the nobles distribute it. You should probably re-read the first two posts on this thread, they explain most of the magic in fair detail. I like your idea of summarizing the various sections so I'll do it! You may also wish to read the 4th post on this thread, Setting Search Submission. 1. Geography The center of the campaign world is the great city of Lienne, capital of the Republic of Renflour, a cosmopolitan place of commerce, art, and nobility. Most other countries are ruled by noble houses. However, noble houses are spread out, holding land in many different countries. 2. Magic For centuries, the nobility has controlled the Magicants, giant crystals which produce Essence. Priests of the Church harvest the Essence and ingest it to gain spellcasting powers; nobles trade in Essence and buy spellcasting from the Church (paying in Essence of course). All divine casters consume Essence when preparing spells. Recently, a new discovery has upset this balance of power: a spell that can extract a small crystal called a Heartstone from a magical creature. By using a Heartstone as a focus, anyone with the proper training can cast spells, without the control or dogma of the Church. Wizards prepare and cast spells using their Heartstone, and require Essence during spell preparation. Some people -- sorcerors and bards -- have innate spellcasting power and can trace their lineage back to magical beings. Oppressed for years, these characters are finally being accepted into society -- but also hunted to be made into Heartstones... 3. Religion The Church of the Pantheon is a large, polytheistic church, in which the pantheon of deities is worshipped as a whole -- clerics are followers of the pantheon, not a specific deity. Its priests are in charge of harvesting Essence from Magicants, and the Church has a lot of secular power. Several variant religions exist, all worshipping the same pantheon. A forbidden pagan religion known as the Old Ways is more animistic and followed by druids. An old mystical religion called Orthodox Pantheism is followed by certain ethnicities and is tolerated by the Church. Recently, signifigant amounts of Church members have split to form Independant Temples with new, liberal dogmas. 4. Power groups and noble houses The biggest movers and shakers are the nobles. They own land, rule countries, raise armies, and run commerce, including the lucrative Essence trade. Noble houses own land in many different countries, managing their holdings through the use of cleric spells such as sending. 5. Influential personae There are some of these. 6. Notorious locations Yep, some of these too. 7. Monsters A variety of fearsome monsters once roamed the land, but these have now been hunted nearly to extinction by Heartstone hunters. Monsters are now rare, and civilization is expanding into new areas to fill the gap. Those monsters remaining are in hiding or have banded together for safety. 8. Races The different races live together in relative harmony; national identity is usually stronger than racial identity (although racial demographics widely vary by nation). A quick listing: Humans: Found everywhere; just like you and me. Elves: Aloof, elves are usually members of the nobility. Half-Elves: Usually members of the nobility or bastard children. Dwarves: Miners, merchants, and wizards. Gnomes: Rugged rural folks, who love woodlands and natural areas. Halflings: Nomadic tight-knit gypsy-like culture, insular and ostracized. Half-Orcs: Bold and strong, usually members of the nobility. Goblins: Disciplined, militaristic people that work well in groups. Ogres: Primitive tribal people that ride Dire Elks. Giants: Reclusive, ancient peoples all but driven out of civilized lands. 9. Classes Several old classes are revised, and now require Essence to cast spells. Sorcerers and bards are boosed with a Minor Bloodline. The monk is replaced with the scion, a noble who has received an Essence bath to gain monk-like powers. Characters can implant Heartstones to transform into monsters, taking monster classes. Two new classes are the Yeoman (which represents a commoner/expert sort of class, but better -- "Strong enough for a PC, pH balanced for an NPC"), and the Elite, a "light fighter" class that wears less armor and focuses more on Dexterity, skill and mobility. 10. Artifacts There are some. 11. Legends and history The known world was once ruled by the Renlinean Empire, an organization of giants, elves, and goblins, who ruled the humans, gnomes, and halflings. Dwarves were theoretically aligned with Renlinea, orcs and ogres were independant. About 1000 years ago, when Renlinea tried to invade the orc homeland using a new type of magic, it went badly. A human uprising, known as the Great Rebellion, led by the Prophet Jordana, allied with the orcs and the empire crumbled. The Church of the Pantheon was formed. Several hundred years later, old enmities and alliences were forgotten and everyone was fighting amongst themselves in the Throne Wars. These ended in a truce in which the current national boundaries and noble families were recongized. Nobles owned the Magicants but the Church had the exclusive right to harvest Essence. About 60 years ago, the discovery (or invention?) of Heartstones turned this established order on its head. These items allowed anyone with the proper training, and a little Essence, to cast wizard spells. The Church was afraid of nobles using Heartstones and cutting them out of the loop; nobles wanted to use the Heartstones against each other, but were afraid of commoners weilding them; and everyone was afraid of the strange magical experiments going on in secret. Of course a series of wars broke out, called the Heartstone Wars. In their aftermath, new religions were formed called Independant Temples, which were splintered from the Church of the Pantheon. Also, only nobles are allowed to weild Heartstones and cast spells from them; the Church is still the only authority for harvesting Essence. 12. Cosmology Other planes are weird and dangerous. D&D game rules do not apply on other planes. Put your rulebooks down and enter at your own risk.
Forgehome 06-10-04, 07:48 PM	77im, Good work with the summary. It is easier to read than attempting to slave over pages upon pages of text - no-matter how good they are. Maybe you could put this summary as your first post and keep updating it as you aid to your world? This essence stuff - is it like huge crystal waste (Crystal poo which everyone loves to digest)? If all the monsters are almost wiped out, whats left to fight?
77IM 06-11-04, 01:36 PM	Originally posted by Forgehome 77im, Good work with the summary. It is easier to read than attempting to slave over pages upon pages of text - no-matter how good they are. Maybe you could put this summary as your first post and keep updating it as you aid to your world? Thanks! I may do that. I do think that the current first post is the most important, though -- it's supposed to set up the atmosphere and themes and such. This essence stuff - is it like huge crystal waste (Crystal poo which everyone loves to digest)? It's a fine powder, more like a sparkling dust. The Magicants shed light, and where-ever the light falls, the Essence builds up. (Study Question: If the stars are Magicants, why doesn't their light produce a gradual build-up of Essence on the surface of the world?) People often ingest it by mixing it with water or tea, althogh "hard-core" clerics just gulp it down. There are those who believe that Magicants are alive but they are usually discounted as kooks. If all the monsters are almost wiped out, whats left to fight? People. -- 77IM
77IM 06-11-04, 02:36 PM	A type of place and a magic item. (Also, I hope to wrap up the monsters section soon, with a big write-up on trolls, which are important, and one on dragons.) Freeholds The race to slay monsters and extract Heartstones has pacified many previously inhospitable areas, opening them up to humanoid settlement. Although many such lands were claimed by noble families as ancestral holdings, many others were disputed, and the early settlers there were allowed to claim "squatters' rights." By the decisions of several tribunals, these lands are allowed to exist without the rule of any noble, so long as they follow the laws of the land and have a recognized governing body. Most of these "freeholds" are somewhat isolated, in remote valleys, deep forests, or far from major trade routes. Consequently, they tend to deviate somewhat from traditional settlements. Many freeholds have some sort of democratic system of government, with an elected council or mayor (sometimes all citizens rule by consensus). Quite a few of them are also oligarchies ruled by the wealthiest people in town; some of these wish to found their own noble lineages. Freeholds have a deserved reputation for oddness. Although they must follow the same laws as the country they are part of, their customs are often very different. Some are founded by strange religious sects fleeing persecution, or by debtors seeking a new lease on life. Criminals trying to avoid detection often hide in freeholds, as do sorcerors, non-noble wizards, and even some intelligent, mostly-human monsters. Some freeholds more closely resemble communes, military compounts, or monastaries, depending on who settles there. Mageslayers These magic weapons have been crafted by the Church for years but production has stepped up dramatically with the discovery of Heartstones; almost every weapon created now has the mageslayer property, despite the fact that only a few individuals are capable of creating them. (The stats here are for a +1 mageslayer dagger, the most common type.) The Church is happy to give supply these weapons to anyone who is sincere in their fight against arcane magic. A mageslayer is a fine dagger covered in ornate runes. When it strikes an arcane spellcaster of any sort, it deals an extra 2d6 points of damage; an arcane spellcaster takes this damage simply from touching the weapon. In addition, the weapon itself has Spell Resistance 21. It doesn't grant this resistance to the weilder, but any affect that targets the blade itself may be negated by the spell resistance (if the effect is subject to spell resistance). For an effect that affects a creature and its gear, the spell resistants negates the effect only for the dagger. For example, a weilder may be turned to stone by flesh to stone while his mageslayer survives intact; a weilder may travel via teleport only to find that his mageslayer has not made the trip. Moderate evocation; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, spell resistance; Price 8,302 gp.
The Swedish Viking 06-11-04, 02:52 PM	The Giantīs Redsword "Forged in the deamonic fires of the giants it was, that accursed blade that slew the Prophetess. Envelopped by flames and deamonic energy, it hissed when it was drawn..." The Giantīs Redsword was forged by a coalition of hired dwarven smiths, ogre and giant wizards and the highest of the order of Artificiers. Druidic rituals also had a small role in the ritual of creating this legendary blade. The exact details of itīs creation are unknown, though myths tell that the deities of the Old Ways themselves blessed the blade (thus, in the eys of the new churches, making it deamonic and evil). The blade was for centuries wielded by the greatest of human, ogre and man heroes. It participated in the slaying if the Great Wyrm of Baladros, father of all dragons, from whichīs bones the Orbs of Dragonkind were crafted. However, the blade is rumoured to be cursed. Ever since the day the giant mages cast dark spells on itīs runes and hilt and imprisoned within it dark spirits of vengence, it has been told the blade is dark and evil. For it was used to torture and ultimately slay the Prophetess Jordana. After the Redsword had thus been used, the giants went into the deepest of the worldīs forests, by the most ancient of Old Way temples, and struck it deep within the Oldest Rock, to there remain until one of truely dark or pure heart would find it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Redsword has the following properties: It is a +5 Greatsword (in the hands of any mortal, medium-sized wielder), Bane vs Dragons/Goblinoids/Dwarves/Humans/Giants, Spell Resistance 20, Fire Resistance. It grants the wielder the Cleave and Power Attack feats. Also: If the character wielding it is of good alignment, it counts as a Holy Avenger (for other properties). If the wielder is evil, it counts as an Unholy Avenger (SSDD). These properties are for those of normal, mortal power. Nobody knows what would happen if one of the landīs greatest heroes or darkest villains would lay hands upon it... (IG. Nobody knows what would happen if a diety or Epic character was to wield it)
Delvesdeep 06-13-04, 03:12 AM	G'day guys, I'm sorry about not posting recently but I've been working my @#$% off. I've finally got a little bit of time so I thought I would check out how the world according to 77IM and Swedish Viking is going!:D Firstly, I just wanted to thank you 77IM for the summary you included on your earlier post. It has made it easier for me to form a clearer picture of your world. I like your concepts revolved around the heartstones. This would make for many interesting 'Monster hunts' for characters to gain appropriate heartstones. I also like the history section - rise of the noble essence monopoly! When do you think you will include a section on your cosmos? Obviously this is something i have spent a great deal of time on so have a great interest in and i would love to see what your take on it would be. Great weapons/artifacts both of you. The mageslayer and the Redsword are both great. I really like the creation story behind the Redsword Swedish Viking. Forgehome brought up an interesting point. What do you fight?The monsters are almost extinct. Fighting people over the long term may get a bit repeatative. Is there anyway a whole new continent of monsters could be discovered to give the players something to fight other than other people? Dungeons and lairs of people just don't work. This is just a suggestion though. 77IM, your concept of magic is a real brainwave. I love the idea of a focus. Would mages who attempt to cast without a heartstone burn up their own hearts? Delvesdeep:b: P.S. Thankyou both for you suggestions and questions on my thread. Swedish viking -I need to get some of the stats of the Mystic Forester from one of my players before I can respond back to your thread. it shouldn't be long though.
His Majesty 06-13-04, 07:48 AM	Hi everybody. I think I can answer this: Originally posted by Delvesdeep Forgehome brought up an interesting point. What do you fight?The monsters are almost extinct. Fighting people over the long term may get a bit repeatative. Is there anyway a whole new continent of monsters could be discovered to give the players something to fight other than other people? Dungeons and lairs of people just don't work. This is just a suggestion though. Combat-wise, I think you're right. Monsters with unique combat abilities are by far more interesting to fight with than the average human. But that, I believe, is not the focus of this world. For Hack & Slash, you can use countless other CWs (and if it's Hack and Slash you don't really need such a detailed world anyway), but if you change the focus from battles to storyline, the interest in the game will be created by the plot, not the fights. This world is focused on intrigue and mind-battles, so you will rarely see anything resemblinng a dungeon or lair at all. That's how I think of it, at least. Anyway, there's always the odd monster, and they can be really frightening when they're rare. I compliment you again for your wonderful work, 77IM and the Swedish Viking. I wish I could actually participate in this. :bow:
77IM 06-15-04, 10:18 AM	There are plenty of monsters around for the PCs to fight. They simply have to travel farther to find them. There are very few monster-plagued villages in this world; most ordinary people live comfortably in the cradle of civilization and don't ever see a wild monster. Of course, most of them believe there are monsters everywhere, but this is exaggerated. Remote areas, like deep forests, tall mountains, and desert islands, still hide monsters, and dungeons have a way of re-stocking themselves. Explorers are pushing the boundaries of the known world so it's possible there's a lost continent of really weird monsters out there. Really, the world only needs just enough monsters to challenge the PCs -- and their Heartstone Hunter rivals (rumors of a dungeon travel fast). However, His Majesty has really nailed the essence of the world. I'm trying to provide opportunities for roleplaying -- opportunities for combat will arise naturally and need no special help. In other words, slogging it out with unintelligent monsters, the only opportunity for roleplaying is what the players themselves bring to the table; in a world of factions, intrigue, and story, there are going to be plenty of people around who just want to fight. Also, and this is more personal preference, I absolutely disagree with the notion that monsters are more interesting to fight than NPCs. Sure, some monsters have cool powers, but many of them are just a pile of spell-like abilities, annoying DR, @#$%! SR, and Improved Grab. Considering the vast multitude of D&D books devoted to building characters, a DM who's willing to put in a little work building an NPC can come up with some much wilder spell, ability, and item combos than most monsters. More importantly, NPCs can be negotiated with or manipulated. (Remember your Sun Tzu: Attack first your enemy's spirit; then his goals; then his armies; then his forts.) Many monsters are unintelligent, or have such weird mentalities that they are hard to deal with. NPCs can be beat before the fight even begins. -- 77IM PS. Delvesdeep, there is a post on cosmology on this page, a little further up. You might want to skim all the past posts and just look at the titles, which I've deliberately made really big.
77IM 06-15-04, 10:41 AM	A Treatise on Spells Protection from Evil: Traditionally used to ward off, well, evil, this spell has seen much more use recently for its property of suppressing mind-control effects. During important meetings it is now customary for a cleric to cast this spell on each participant to be sure they are not charmed. Command: This is traditionally the "first line of defence" for clerics, as such a display of power can diffuse many situations and frighten off would-be attackers. Of course, more sophisticated individuals, such as nobles and wizards, shrug off such tricks. Detect Evil: This spell is typically used only on members of the clergy or at the request of wealthy nobles as a means of rooting out corruption. (Except, of course, for the Lightbearers who use it on everyone constantly.) Simply being evil is not a crime; one has to actually do evil things for the Church to take action. Detect Good: This is used on whole congregations during the weekly ritual of Prayermeet. Those that show goodness are considered Balanced. Independant Temples also sometimes use this to decide whether to trust someone or not. Sanctuary: Another great defensive spell frequently used by clerics. Obscuring Mist: This is sometimes used as an escape spell, allowing the cleric to flee while their opponents can't see them. However, it is sometimes also used as a "cover-up" spell, hiding the transfer of valuable goods or people. Finally, the Keepers of the Treothe branch of the Church use this to harvest Essence; condensation from the spell builds up on the walls of the Magicant chapel and runs down into special collecting troughs, taking the Essence with it. Remove Fear: Often cast on nobles during a duel or before important negotiations, this spell is also cast on the priest leading the Prayermeet, so that he or she does not show fear before the gods (or have trouble speaking in front of an audience). Cure Light Wounds: A staple spell used to treat a variety of injuries. The Church charges for this service. Independant Temples do not, but only make it available to those who truly need it. Comprehend Languages: A big money-maker for the Church. Priests are often called upon to serve as translators, interrogators, or to read letters or texts in foreign languages. Create Water: A common miracle used to impress common people, especially in dryer lands. This spell can be made permanent and powers fountains. Detect Poison: Usually cast before a great feast, especially between rival nobles. Detect Magic: Often used on visitors, or by visitors on their guest quarters, as a sort of security sweep. This spell can also find Heartstones fairly effectively. Mending: The Church makes MANY minor repairs using this spell. They don't often sell this service because it's cheaper to fix things manually, but it does keep Church facilities in pristine condition. Purify Food and Drink: Another spell used before banquets, most "holy water" is normal water created by create water and then purified by this spell. The Essence Bath used to turn someone into a scion must be purified before use. Read Magic: Clerics use scrolls too, and often don't have the Spellcraft ranks required to use them well. In addition, Keepers make heavy use of glyphs, sigals, and symbols, and this spell can reveal their meaning. Cure Minor Wounds: The most common form of treatment for common people, this arrests bleeding and grants some temporary relief so that people can get some rest and heal naturally. Light: Another popular miracle for the common folk, this spell is part of the Prayermeet ceremony. (more to come...)
Delvesdeep 06-15-04, 08:38 PM	I must apoligise for my comments on monsters 77IM.:sad: I have know actually read your thread and most of its content and realized that their are plenty of opportunities to battle monsters and NPC's alike. Your write up on monsters, and their locations within your world was excellent. Your religion and pantheon posts were also interesting, and I certainly gain the feeling that gods have little impact on your world. I like this! Even though my thread is ALL about the gods, when it comes to actual play, the gods will rarely if ever make an appearance. As soon as high powered gods begin to make regular visits, the players lose all feeling of control and importance. So overall, another great piece of work!:bow: I take your point in terms of monsters and the scope of NPC abilities but IMO monsters are one of the most important elements to the D&D game. The players in my group use the game as a source of escape. I played through a series of adventures where they fought nothing more than other NPCs and it began to get to them. It was the realism I guess. The imagery of people fighting and killing other people. (Albeit, one of my players has a quite violent job where he deals with conflict regularly.) This is why I try to use as many different types of monsters as possible. I still have the players fight NPCs but I believe it is I idea of slaying evil, monsterous creatures such as dragons, beholders, illithids and giants, that among other things, keep the players excited about the game. Now i realize not every player who plays D&D has the type of job as the one I mentioned, I think monsters remind you instantly that this is just a game. I play D&D because of the magic and monsters, otherwise i would be playing games based on real life with machine guns, wars and crimes. This is just my opinion of course. Now after saying all this, and reading all your thread, I believe i would find plenty of monsters to challenge the players, in any event. Lastly, I wanted to say, after reading all your posts (Swedish Viking too!) I am even more impressed. :king: Well done both of you on some extremely imaginative and detailed work. I would love for both of you to help me out on a few projects within my own world (most of the work already seems completed here!:cool: ) Delvesdeep:b: P.S. is their going to be any wars, invasions, political or geographical changes occuring in your world any time soon? What rumors may one hear in a typical tavern? Any adventure ideas?
The Swedish Viking 06-16-04, 04:15 AM	Well, the Liberation Army in particular is gathering strength to (if you listen to the general) protect the interests of magical creatures and sorcerers (however, if you against all logic manage to get the motives out of his aides, those who aid the army seek nothing but power over the lands). I might throw in something about a crusader force.... and maybe a few Druids seeking to bring back the Old Ways... and stuff like that.
77IM 06-16-04, 12:39 PM	No need for apologies! Monsters are important to D&D, and the summary post did sort of make them seem absent. Escapist D&D is sort of a lowest-common-denominator; any campaign setting can devolve into monster brawls with little work on the part of the DM or the campaign creator. In fact, I find dungeon crawls and monster-bashing quite a fun diversion, especially after several agonizingly intense roleplaying sessions. So although my goal is for the campaign world to support roleplaying opportunities, I hope I haven't lost sight of the fact that the game is called "Dungeons & Dragons." I've tried to take an unusual approach to deities. In this world, clerics can communicate with their deities on a daily basis -- the visions they receive while ingesting Essence basically allow them to converse with their deities (usually about dogma and faith; the gods won't answer game questions without the proper spell, such as commune). On the flip side, they must work through mortal agents. Although legends tell of gods visiting the mortal world and laying some smack-down, and many people believe this is possible, it's not clear that this actually happens; most planar travel must be initiated from the prime material. In fact, many atheists assert (in private) that the gods are nothing more than Essence-induced hallucinations, a way for the mind to cope with the phenomenal cosmic power of magic. As for impending changes to the campaign world... on the one hand, this world is all about change. Everything is changing. On the other hand, I want players and DMs to drive the changes, not me; I generally don't like picking up a campaign setting only to watch it go through drastic changes. So, as the Swedish Viking indicates, we are setting up conflicts and volatile situations, so that hopefully there will be a TON of rumors, adventure ideas, and potential impending changes, which players can then resolve or exacerbate in their own campaigns. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 06-16-04, 03:21 PM	I think Itīs just about time I posted that über-evil take-over-the-nation dark BBEGüberguild... I mean, the PCs need something evil to fight too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Highcasters "Aye, aye, theyīre mysterious, they are. Weird chaps, really, hanging around those old cairns at night... Theyīre generally benevolent, but I wouldnīt wanna go mess around with īem, no siree." The history of the Highcasters is directly intertwined with the struggle for power in Highcaster and Ponderry over the last century. The Highcasters is a guild of wizards, originally a chapterhouse of the dreaded Artificier guild. However, as time passed and the Prophetess walked the land, contact with the main guild was lost. But the Highcasters remained, and now declared themselves independant of the original order. The Highcaster order knew the secret of magic, Magicants and Heartstone, long before the rest of the world. They nurtured the secret and did not teach those outside the innermost circle the ancient spells and formulae, and became the most powerful wizards in centuries. When magic was "rediscovered" by the rest of the world, The Highcasters took up intense cooperation with a few of the Giant clans, thirsting for power and seeing the possibilities of this new time. They had previously began to send tendrils into Highcaster, claiming to be a faction of sages and clerics (thus explaining away their seemingly magical power) wishing only to see the ancient glory of the Empire restored to the Island. They acted in false benevolence, and has enlisted many clerics (who believe the Highcasters to be clerics also) into their service, and are generally making sure that the populace think of them as benevolent. Meanwhile, they recruited Goblins, Giants, and other magical creatures with grudges against the human nations of the mainland into a small army. That, combined with the comparatively great knowledge of magic these mages had, has made them a secretive force to be reckoned with. When they discovered that the Artificier Guild was operative still, the mages quickly invited them into an alliance. However, the sages of that now fortified bastion of light saw through the lies of the Highcasters and cast them off. Ever since, the popular Highcasters have been discrediting the Artificiers. Another step in their plan is to caus turmoil. Their agents in Renflour and Corsom are already sowing the seeds, by committing vile deeds using magic, of a great conflict between magical and mundane. They cooperate to some extent with the evil extremists within the Liberation Army. They plan to take advantage of such a war by seizing control of Highcaster (which is already practically theirs), using the power a nation of great Clerics (using their power to appear as if they are sent by the deities) to forge an alliance with Renflour and Ponderry. Afterwards, they plan to turn on their Liberation Army allies and crush them, and then use the alliance as a basis to forge a Great Empire of Highcasters... The Highcasters are very powerful on the Island. They have for a very long time laboured to gain access to almost any authority and trade in Highcaster and are expanding aggressively into Ponderry, with small chapters in Corsom and Renflour. They gather in ancient places sacred to the Old Ways (defiling them with dark rituals of magic known only to these wizards, thus making them enemies of the few druids left in these nations) and churches with corrupt clerists. They have also enlisted some Druids to their cause, telling them that the Highcasters in fact wish to restore the glory of the olden days. Their coffers seem endless, as magic gold produced in their secret smithies in Highcaster flow to different Mercenary companies; in secret building a huge army with which to crush all resistance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ((The most interesting with this Order would be if the PCs were unable to stop their advance (though they could begin stopping it, the plans of the Order are mostly so far gone that preventing a taking over of Highcaster is almost impossible, and the alliance with Ponderry (and possibly Corsom, in the face of the Liberation Army threat) seem inevitable.))
77IM 06-16-04, 05:31 PM	Sounds great! I will wait on posting the info on Trolls & Hags until you are done so that there is not too much overlap. (Trolls and hags are the same species and operate in secret within human society.) -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 06-17-04, 04:55 PM	I think Iīm done with the ÜberDarkBBEGEvilGuild...
Delvesdeep 06-17-04, 07:45 PM	Nothing like a truly maniacal organisation for a Dm to sink their teeth into!:schemes: Swedish Viking, I like your use of the old cairns in your Highcasters description as well. Keep up the good work Delvesdeep:b:
77IM 06-18-04, 10:06 AM	Nice! I love it when evil organizations use propaganda. If I were the DM the early parts of the campaign would definitely feature the PCs getting hired by the Highcasters to go on important missions. Typo: I noticed you mentioned orcs. There are no orcs, only half-orc nobility who, in Corsom, claim to be orcs (orc blood is something to be proud of, due to their role in the Great Rebellion). Maybe substitute trolls? Trolls hate giants, but also hate the Artificers and the Old Ways even more. (I will try to post on Trolls today.) Here's the description of Highcaster (the country); it fits very well with the Highcaster's goals: Highcaster: A rugged, mountainous land of tall crags and wide moors located on the western half of the Great Isle, Highcaster was the homeland of the giants and an important part of the Renlinean Empire. Many giant ruins dot the land, from mountain-peak citadels to underground sanctuaries, some containing ancient arcane secrets better left undisturbed. Recently, a special order of clerics, the Highcasters, has assumed responsibility for making sure these ruins remain protected from the depredations of power-mad wizards. The people of Highcaster are simple folk, usually shepherds and farmers, who have nonetheless been able to defend their lands from Ponderry. Most of the populace is humans, gnomes, and elves (Ponderran nobles who bought their way into the country). ((Like how I slipped in the Highcasters in there from the common-knowledge point of view?)) -- 77IM ((PS. I've stolen your double-parentheses technique! Mua ha ha!))
77IM 06-18-04, 11:25 AM	The Scorned Before the Prophet Jordana offered her life for the gods, casting slay living on herself, she offered a warning: "Let they who raise their hands in revenge be cursed by the gods forever." There were those who didn't listen. A small group of human warriors, backed up by several female sorcerers, struck deep into the heart of a giant encampment, slaying most of the big folk as they slept. A small battle ensued, but the humans won, and straggled back to their own camp. By the next morning their wounds had miraculously healed, leaving nasty scars. Believing themselves blessed, they charged back into battle, and with each slash or cut, their wounds closed faster and faster, and they felt themselves growing stronger and more powerful. At the end of the day, when the dust cleared, they looked at themselves and beheld a horrible sight -- disfigured, twisted, mockeries of people, a physical expression of their inner hatred. They knew that with their blessing had come a terrible curse -- they themselves were damned in the name of righteousness. No one knows whether this story is true or not, but the Scorned (trolls and hags), descendants of these renegades, believe it to be true. It is their holy mission to do the gods' dirty work, murdering those who follow the Old Ways, worship demons, or threaten the stability of the civilized world, such as giants and monsters. (Strangely, they have no problem at all with Heartstone users; many hags are themselves wizards.) This is not to say that the Scorned are noble protectors -- their methods are as depraved and dispicable as possible. They have no qualms about holding hostages, betraying trust, cannibalism, torture, rape, murder, or mutilation; in their eyes, no one is innocent, and it is the gods' vision for the world that needs to be upheld, not the life or emotions of the people living there. Because everyone hates and fears them, most trolls and hags live in remote areas, subsisting on wild animals and preying on passers-by who are not pious enough (which is almost everyone). Ordinary people hate and fear these creatures, and rightfully so; they are often the villains in children's tales meant to scare youngsters into proper behavior (such as going to Prayermeet without complaint). Although unpredicatble, trolls and hags sometimes aid clerics or other holy people, often without their consent and in ways they would not appreciate when they are known. Certain more intelligent Scorned prefer to operate within society, using spells such as alter self to assume human form (which they can do despite their non-humanoid types). These are the most dangerous trolls and hags of all, for they have the discipline to work together and the willpower to overlook minor opportunities for mayhem in favor of the most important strikes against "evil" and "corruption." No-one knows the full extent of their infiltration, but some worry less about the destruction the Scorned could cause and more about the frightening possibility that one of these wretched beasts could assume a position of true power and authority.
Delvesdeep 06-19-04, 01:18 AM	Great imagery 77IM. I really like stories explaining why things are the way they are. It is an interesting motivation for monsters who are usely considered fairly directionless. It gives your trolls and hags are direct link to your world and the history/plots that drives it.:cool: Have you or do you, have a group of players using your world? Where are they based? What adventures have they been on? Delvesdeep:b:
The Swedish Viking 06-19-04, 11:09 AM	I donīt think I like the trolls. --_^ But hey; Iīm just helping, not my project. Itīd (according to me) be better if thei origins would be perhaps a little farther back in time; and not necessarily involved with the new religions.
The Swedish Viking 06-21-04, 02:41 PM	Orrin, the Traveller (Drd lvl 15) Well, if sometimes an old man dressed in grey, green and brown, a pointy hat, and carrying an old staff, should knock on yer door, ye better let him in. Not because something might happen if ye donīt, but rather because something might happen if ye -do-... Orrin, is ancient. Nobody knows how he has come to live as long as he has, or why, and the opinions of who he is differ greatly. Those of the Old Ways see him as a prophet, similar to the Prophetess Jordana, and a saint. Those of the new faiths view him as a heretic, an evildoer, and a summoner of deamons and devils. Orrin is a druid. Some say he is The Archdruid of All times, though most believe that the Archdruid is just a fictionary individual. Orrin is a wanderer. He has, according to lore and tales, walked the world for nigh one-and-a-half century, thus living much longer than any other human. And yet the legends tell that he is human. He walks the world, telling tales of olden days, and trying to spread the word of the Old Ways. He sings the ancient sagas and tells the old myths, and to those deserving he grants blessings and magical benefits. Many, however, who hold the Old Ways to be evil, view him as a prophet of evil. They hunt him, and punish those who hold him for a good man. Indeed, the Witch Hunters and Orrin are sworn enemies. Orrin was born many years ago in Jarlsheim. He was born the son of one of the local lords, and sent to the Druids, to teach him the ways of magic and knowledge. He learnt well and good, and stayed on Jarlsheim for many years until he became the High Priest of the druids. After the discovery of Heartstones, Orrin had a vision. He does not know why this vision was so different from others those in his line of proffession recieve, but he knew it merely -was-. In the vision, embodiments of three of the deities stood before him; the Fire Master and Sun Father, and they told him to leave his home and go into the world to speak of the ancient tales and try to divert the world from the path it was taking. He saw visions of war and destruction, of what would come to pass if the world was not diverted from its course. Orrin left. He has since that day wandered the world, trying to look for signs of how his task must be completed. He has used what magic he has to ask the gods to prolong his life, and his wish was granted. But the Gods remain silent, and he is currently fumbling around in darkness, but doing what he can to prevent extremist factions such as the Liberation army and similar orders from clashing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anvil of Creation And the Fire Master struck his anvil, and made the walls that separate the planes. "And now, I shall leave this anvil here, for a time must come when blood, heart, stone, and divine must be forged on this altar to forge anew an alliance of forces." And when the deites left the world, the altar was left behind. The Anvil of Creation is said to belong to the Fire Master. According to ancient myth, the god left this artifact behind, so that it could one day be found and used as Fate required. The Anvil has surfaced but once during the history of the world, when the Orbs of Dragonkind were forged on it, but since it has disappeared. Rumours have from time to time surfaced holding it to be in the possession of dwarves, when they forged the Golden Gates of the Mountain Duchies for example. Sometimes it is said to have been in the possession of giants and ogres, and it is true that the Redsword holds many marks of being forged on this anvil. Items forged on the anvil, while arcane and/or divine energies are being channeled into the ancient runes, can become anything. Likewise, the anvil can be used to create items of such power that none could create such items with only "ordinary" magical aid. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Using the anvil requires any one Item Creation feat (except for Brew Potion or Scribe Scroll), ability to cast 7th level or higher arcane or divine spells, and a Craft check (relating to a work where the metalic item forged on the anvil is to be incorporated) and/or (if the item is only metal) Craft (related metal-crafting skill) check. The DC is 25. The exact properties of the anvil is up to the DM to decide. It allows creation of magical items for only 1/4 of the normal cost in XP and gold. In addition, one might also rule that this anvil allows the creation of new Artifacts. Such a process is highly straining, however. It requires that one Arcane and one Divine spellcaster works together, both meeting the above requirements, and both spending at least 10 000 XP on the creation of the item. Other costs, material components, etc. are up to the DM to decide.
The Swedish Viking 06-22-04, 05:09 AM	(UPDATE NOTICE) Finished Orrin and the Anvil
77IM 06-23-04, 10:35 AM	I like Orrin the Traveller quite a lot! However, his level needs to come down quite a bit, to 15 max. I really hate having high-level NPCs running around. A 20th-level druid wouldn't be the enemy of the Soulguard, he would obliterate them. Remember that the High Priest of the Church of the Pantheon is only 13th level, and that a 15th-level druid is still pretty nasty (8th-level spells, eep) and at that level has access to Timeless Body (which I am happy to modify into actual immortality, since so few people reach this level). I like the Anvil of Creation too. It can pop up in many different myths. For example, maybe it was used to forge the Inevitables. On the subject of Trolls & Hags, I made them as they are because I want them to be very closely related to humans. (I had actually considerred an even more recent history related to Heartstones, but wanted them to figure into fairy tales.) But feel free to change their background entirely if you ever DM the setting -- it is certainly not crucial to the world. In addition, I am a huge fan of conflicting versions of history. In fact, here is a secular theory regarding the Scorned. Lord Palomin Lauthgard, "On the Historical Record of Regenerative Humanoids, Particularly Trolls, Hags, and their Ilk, Concerning their Presence in the Civilized World," Journal of the Society of Arcane Philosophy, Issue LXXI, Volume 4. Abstract: Examination of Fossil Record in and about the regions of Kresmaya, Anku, Zoltar, and the western Stepplands, and Archaeological Studies of ruined Habiations, reveals a Presence of Regenerative Humanoids quite some time before Popular Lore holds their Existence. From Study of the Artifacts and interviews with the Local populace, we have Determined that the Regenerative Humanoids had Developed a Primitive Society in this region. It is our informed Belief that early Missionaries of the Church were able to Convert these creatures to Righteous Worship, but the Culture of Violence and Barbarism persisted, and the Teachings of the Prophet corrupted, inciting them to Migrate to areas closer to Humanoid Civilization.
The Swedish Viking 06-24-04, 04:58 AM	Changed Orrinīs level to 15. Hmm.... Time for a little more mundane guild... And a very mundane NPC... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guild of Exploration and Invention Bunch īo weirdoes, them Inventorianss and Explorationistists and whatnot, I tell ye. Keep clear īo īem, ye never know when they might blow up in yer face." The Guild of Exploration and Invention was started up shortly before the Heartstone Renaissance (as they call the period after the discovery of the usages of Heartstones). The Guild was originally intended as an organization to preserve knowledge, teach, and research new inventions. The funding came from wealthy merchants and scholars, though most nobles opposed the Guild (as most nobles felt that allowing commoners to learn these things was to let them gain too much power through knowledge). The Guild has done many great discoveries in the short time it has existed. It has discovered Alchemistīs Fire, a black-powdery substance liable to burn at explosive rates, commonly used by adventurers as grenades, in fireworks, and similar workings (the secret of manufacturing this powder is strictly guarded by the Guild, and nobody outside the innermost circles know how to make it). The Guild has two universities operating relatively independant of each other, one in Highcaster and the other in Renflour (needless to say, the Renflour university is the flourishing one). The Guildīs primary goal is the forwarding of learning and knowledge, new discoveries in geographical, historical, magical, chemical, mathematical and technical fields. Entrance fees are relatively high (with the fees being up to about 100 gold pieces per year spent at the university). They are fierce rivals of the Royal Cartographerīs Guild, which is primarily Noble-dominated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rurek Swift (Rog lvl 11/Wizard lvl 1/Arcane Trickster lvl 1)(CN) "Watch yer tongue while out on the streets. Ifīn ye give the impression yeīve got a lot of money but no guards, then ye can be sure itīll all be gone by morninī, thanks to that (hushed swear-words) Guild and that Rurik..." Rurik is the head of a Guild of Thieves. This Guild includes the top-notch burglars, robbers, highwaymen and thieves that have realized that getting organized is actually a very good way to earn more, and stop having to slit each-otherīs throats every time the division of the loot gets about. Rurik himself is the most respected (some would say "leader of", though the guild has no centralized leadership per se) thief and burglar in the guild. He has planned more successful heists, robberies, extorsions and other deeds than anyone else has to live and tell the tale. Rurik was raised in a small town in the Renflourian countryside. Growing up, he displayed a twist for causing mischief and pranks, and stealing things from money-pinching merchants. In fact, stealing from the merchant his family was leasing itīs farm from (and in the process causing one of his caravans to catch fire) gave him a ban from the village. Setting out on the road, he encountered a lone man walking along. As it turned out, this man was a wizard of the Artificiers (which Rurik soon found out by rummaging around in the manīs pack while the old one slept). The old man quickly noticed Rurikīs adeptness at theft and employed him at stealing an important tome from one of the Guildīs opponents. As payment, the old man taught Rurik the secrets of the arcane. When their ways parted, Rurik had become an adept burglar and had done much in service to the Artificiers (and this had also given him quite the sum of money). After having spent a year or so in the capital of Renflour and made a name for himself, he had noticed how the top-notch thieves and burglars often fought amongst themselves over petty money. Seeing a way to effectivize thievery, he put his idea of a Guild of Thieves up with some of his contacts, and soon, the brightest and cleverest of all Renflourīs thieves were in league with him. Rurik holds much knowledge of many organizations and people. What he currently seeks is unknown, though many believe he lives for the thrill, adventure, reputation, and glory.
The Swedish Viking 06-24-04, 05:39 AM	The Joystones These rocks were crafted into great runestones, obelisks with arcane runes glowing of red, blue and yellow magical energy, by the Sun Father in ancient days. And as they glow, they cast no shadow and yet several, casting shadows in three directions, each ethereal and almost nonexistant. The Joystones, as they are called, are said to have been planted in the world to bring joy to those around them. It is said that any who pray to the deities beneath the shadow of these stones will have their wishes fullfilled and be blessed. Many villages have sprung up around these stones, and many shrines and sanctuaries also. Indeed, many cairns and stone-henges are made up of at least one Joystone. They are holy to all the druids of the Old Ways, and to the new faiths. Some also say that ancient spirits, benevolent manifestations of the Sun Fatherīs power - The Sunspirits - live inside these stones and aid the faithful in their times of need.
Delvesdeep 06-24-04, 06:42 AM	Swedish Viking, tremendous work on both the druid and the standing stones of the Old Way. Infact I really like your Anvil of Creation description too!:thumbsup: The Joystones and even its 'Sun father' creator could easily be adapted into my Homebrew and the Traveller would make for an interesting NPC.:cool: Overall, even though I understand that these inclusions were designed for The Magnicant world, they would work nicely in mine! Keep up the good work both of you! Delvesdeep:b:
77IM 06-24-04, 11:28 AM	In reference to the "Guild of Exploration and Invention," here is a location in Lienne (I've been adding slowly to the Lienne post, up above). Royal Cartographer's Society: A branch of the Royal Cartographer's Society, an organization retained by House Lauthgard, is located on the second floor of a shop overlooking the Cascade Market. Here, they store copies of maps of all countries and many sea routes. However, some of them are out of date, and maps of certain less-travelled mountain passes and island chains are not very accurate, so the Society is always on the lookout for new maps produced by credible cartographers. Your new guild could be competitors of theirs or work with them, or it could even BE them (I am not terribly attached to the name "Royal Cartogropher's Society"). I'm looking forward to your thoughts on theives. So far, all I've got is the notion that successful theives need ways to bypass magical wards and defenses, as well as evade magical detection -- anything worth stealing is going to be protected by some mid-level magic (assume a cleric 7 and a wizard 7 working together, with glyphs of warding, arcane locks, and scrying). -- 77IM
77IM 06-24-04, 05:16 PM	The Shapeless (CN) Common Knowledge: A group of eccentric noble wizards who are shapeshifters. They are known as hedonists, atheists, and anarchists, and are not very trusted by the common people, but in reality they are just polymorph affectionados. Goals and Ideals: Oh, to be a soaring eagle! A swift dolphin! A mighty beast! Or even to be a different person altogether -- these are the goals and ideals of the Shapeless. More of a club than an organization, the Shapeless are simply spellcasters who enjoy shapechanging. Many of them relish the freedom of no longer being bound to a humanoid form. Some are ugly or simply unhappy with their lives, and wish to escape by becoming other creatures. Others like to role-play, turning into different sorts of people and experiencing life from a new perspective. Fundamentally, the Shapeless believe that mind and body are separate, and that one's body is both a restrictive burden and an amazing tool for living life. Leadership: None, really. More powerful spellcasters have more clout and influence, but the organization is very informal -- it is more like a group of like-minded people than an actual organization. (The unofficial leader of the Shapeless in Lienne is Baron Irimal Mrovos, a wizard 7 / Shapeless 2 with the Brew Potion and Craft Wondrous Item feats.) Inner Workings: The Shapeless help spread the joy of shapeshifting. Skilled members cast polymorph on novices, or provide them with scrolls or potions. They sometimes go on retreats into the wilderness, or throw wild parties. These have a reputation for debauchery, as the Shapeless routinely turn themselves into other people or even animals -- the ultimate form of anonymity. Sometimes they disguise themselves as other people and go on "scavenger hunts" which invariably involve fooling other people or infiltrating forbidden areas. Shapeshifting is illegal in most lands because of its ability to create disguises -- spies, assassins, fugitives, and con artists have all used shapechanging spells to great advantage. (There have even been incidents of people unknowingly commiting adultery with a partner under the effect of alter self.) Some of the Shapeless make use of their skills in exactly this fashion, and the group as a whole is not well trusted. Because of this, the Shapeless usually keep their group and events a secret. Their symbols is the butterfly -- most members have a pendant, pin, or necklace in the shape of a moth or butterfly. (In Lienne, the Shapeless have a massive party at the Scarlet Bird about once a month. They come in disguise, and this event is never announced -- many non-Shapeless participants don't realize what has happened until it is over. For the Shapeless, it is the ultimate costume ball.) Game Information: Most of the Shapeless are wizards, although the place is also a haven for sorcerers and illegal (non-noble) wizards. Very few druids are members of the Shapeless, because druids generally don't get along well with wizards and view their wild shape as a means of communing with nature, not an end in itself. The Shapeless often have many ranks of Disguise and Perform (Acting), and various Knowledge skills so that they are familiar with the forms of various creatures. The Shapeless make heavy use of spells like alter self, lesser polymorph, and polymorph. Lower-level casters can get these spells in scroll form, and non-spellcasters can use potions. They are known for producing and wearing a magic item called a torc of polymorphing. Polymorph, Lesser Transmutation Level: Sor/Wiz 3 Range: Personal Target: Self As polymorph, except as above, and your form is more limited: you can only change into a Small or smaller animal of no more than 1 HD. Torc of Polymorphing: This is a silk choker set with a broad amber gem. The wearer may use polymorph on herself once per day and is immune to the secondary effect of baleful polymorph (she is always considered to make her Will save against this spell). In addition, if the wearer is a spellcaster capable of casting a polymorph spell (any spell with polymorph in its name), the torc has additional effects. The duration of any polymorph spell she is subject to extends to 10 minutes per level (spells with a longer duration are not affected), and while subjected to any polymorph spell, the wearer may change her shape once per round as a standard action for the duration of the spell. (These benefits extend to the once-per-day polymorph effect of the torc itself.) Moderate transmutation; CL 8th; Craft Wondrous Item, polymorph; Price 38,400 gp. (This PrC looks really good, but remember that to get it you basically need 7 wizard levels but then go to a lousy 1/2 spellcasting progression -- I think it balances out because a wiz 17 can cast shapechange, while a wiz 7 / Shapeless 10 is under a permanent shapechange, with slightly better HP, skills, BAB, etc., but casting as a lowly wiz 12.) Shapeless Skilled shapeshifting wizards sometimes forego their spellcasting studies to become more adept at changing their form. Standard Prerequisites Skills: Knowledge (Arcana): 5 ranks, Knowledge (Nature): 5 ranks. Spells: Able to cast polymorph. Special: Must be a member in good standing of the Shapeless. Test-Based Prerequisites Must be a member in good standing of the Shapeless, and able to transform into at least 10 different creatures of different types. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d8 BAB: As cleric (+7) Fort: Good (+7) Ref: Poor (+3) Will: Good (+7) Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (All) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Acting) (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str). Skill Points per level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shapelesss are proficient with all simple weapons but no armor or shields. Spellcasting: At every even-numbered level, the Shapeless gains one additional level of any one spellcasting class which grants her the ability to cast polymorph. She gains new spells known, spells per day, and caster level as if she had gained a level in the existing class, but gains no other benefits (such as bonus feats or familiar advancement). 1. Shed Shape (Animal, Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid) (Su): A Shapeless can change her form at will with an effect similar to a shapechange spell, but with more restrictions. She can only assume the form of a creature with HD equal to or less than her own. At 1st level, she can only turn into creatures of the Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, and Animal types. At 3rd level, she can assume the forms of Giants, Magical Beasts, and Vermin; at 5th level, Aberrations and Fey; at 7th level, Dragons and Plants; at 9th level, Elementals, Oozes and Outsiders; and at 10th level, any creature except for deities and unique creatures. Changing form with this ability is a standard action that does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity. At 6th level, changing form is a move action, and at 10th level it is a free action, but never more than once per round. The Shapeless never regains hit points for changing form. This effect is continuous -- once the Shapeless assumes a new form, she may remain in that form indefinitely. At 10th level, this ability functions exactly like a continuous shapechange effect; the HD limit of assumed forms becomes twice the character's HD. 1. Shapechanger: The Shapeless gains the Shapechanger subtype. She retains this subtype regardless of the form she assumes using her shed shape ability. 2. +1 spell casting level 3. Shed Shape (Giant, Magical beast, Vermin) (Su) 4. +1 spell casting level 5. Shed Shape (Fey, Aberration) (Su) 6. Shed Shape (Move action) (Su) 6. +1 spell casting level 7. Shed Shape (Plant, Dragon) (Su) 8. +1 spell casting level 9. Shed Shape (Elemental, Ooze, Outsider) (Su) 10. Shed Shape (Unlimited) (Su) 10. +1 spell casting level [Edit: Added the PrC]
blooddemon 06-24-04, 05:19 PM	I absolutely love this extremely deep and involving world you are creating. I have actually printed a vast majority of the updates you have made. But it would be great if you actually made up a website devoted to this campaign setting. Be sure to post a link if you do decide to make a site. Or if you already have please direct me to your site:banghead: (stupid me).
77IM 06-24-04, 06:05 PM	Thanks for the praise blooddemon! There is no need to bang your head! There is no web site yet, although I certainly plan to create one soon. Swedish Viking is also compiling a Word doc of every post, and I have everything in a .txt document for safekeeping. The thing is, those formats are better for presenting the world, but this slightly-scrambled board thread, with its back-and-forth interaction, is the best format for creating the world. So I haven't bothered with the web site until I feel I'm "done" with version 1.0 of the world. This should happen pretty soon though -- a few more noble houses, spell disussion, dragon discussion, and Lienne details, plus as many organizations and NPCs and things as possible... any day now... -- 77IM
blooddemon 06-25-04, 12:35 PM	Gasp 77IM the great has replied to me:D !! I feel so honored! OK back to my senses, could I maybe post a few of my ideas for this already great world. If we got 3 heads together, we could create a world that would rival Faerun. Also post some stuff on natural wonders on the world, such as a Huge Tree of Life(+2);), giant comet craters and so on.
77IM 06-25-04, 01:21 PM	Sure blooddemon! I'll take all the collaborators I can get! Bear in mind, of course, that I have the final say over whether an idea "fits" with the world or not. I'm very eager to see what other people can come up with for the world because it's interesting to see multiple viewpoints. But on the other hand, I don't want an idea included if it conflicts with the premise of the world. (I made a big post about this on page one of the thread.) If I criticize an idea it's not because it's a bad idea or I don't like it, it just might not "work" in the world. So please post whatever ideas you might have! I should warn you that I am not a big fan of natural wonders unless they have some direct impact on society (for example, the way people will make use of hot springs in a cold land or an oasis in the desert, or even the way people build cities near rivers that they use for transport, etc.). So please keep those sorts of things in mind when coming up with stuff. -- 77IM
77IM 06-25-04, 01:25 PM	A Treatise on Spells, vol. 2 Arcane Mark: By FAR the most valuable, widespread, and accepted wizard spell, arcane mark has found extensive use. Because the marks are unforgable, they are used to certify a variety of documents and even verify the identity of people. Each major city's government hall, and many noble manors, bear "mark stones," giant stone plinths that serve as registries for arcane marks -- when a noble visits, their name is carved into the stone and their arcane mark inscribed beside it along with the mark of a witness (who is usually someone who maintains the mark stones). This allows people to verify the identity of those marking documents. A major use of arcane marks is letters of credit and deposite. Moneylenders and gold merchants often maintain their own mark stones with the marks of trusted individuals. You can give some gold to one individual in the network, receive a document listing the amount deposited and bearing an arcane mark, and present it to another individual to withdraw a like amount. Letters of identification and passage typically bear arcane marks, as do official orders from nobles to their retainers. People can also be marked, although the mark wears off after a month. This practice usually only occurs when very paranoid nobles want to protect themselves against shapechangers by marking everyone around them. The mark can be up to six characters, written in the magical language. This is a language of complex ideograms that can only be read with a Spellcraft check or a read magic spell. The characters are the caster's name, possibly including family, highest title, group affiliation, major accomplishment, or strong personality traits (in other words, it is not a direct translation of the character's actual name, but is a unique string that represents the character's true self). An arcane mark can't be forged, although many illusions can create the likeness of a particular mark. A Spellcraft check (DC 10 + level of the illusion, or opposed by the caster's Forgery check + level of the illusion) can discern minor flaws that distinguish it from a true mark, and a simple detect magic spell will reveal the spell to be too high in level. Also, while the mark itself can't be forged, the document it is attached to can certainly be modified, or the caster could be charmed or compulsed into placing the mark. Arcane Signet Ring: When this white gold ring is placed on a character's finger, a personal rune appears on the broad flat top of the ring. This is the wearer's arcane mark. The wearer can use arcane mark at will. (Every character, even non-spellcasters, has a mark.) Dim universal; CL 1st; Forge Ring, arcane mark; Price 1,000 gp. Mending: Nobles frequently use this spell to make minor repairs to their personal items and clothing. For particularly elaborate or exquisite items, they typically turn to skilled crafters, since the spell is not always very precise. Alarm: A common security measure (surprise, surprise). Mount: This spell is usually cast just to show off, since most nobles can afford horses just fine. Unseen Servant: Many nobles like to be able to see their servants as a way of relishing their power, but some would rather just have magic attend to their needs. Comprehend Languages: An invaluable spell when it comes to studying ancient texts or translating foreign correspondance. Some nobles have been pen-pals for years and never learned each other's language, because they could simply cast comprehend languages instead. Charm Person: Highly illegal; on the same level of severety as threats and coercion. Still, nobles sometimes get away with it, especially casting it on unsuspecting individuals from a distance (usually commoners, who have less legal recourse). Sleep: A popular non-lethal defensive spell, with the added bonus that it can be used as a lethal spell if you just go about and coup de grace everyone. Magic Missle: Everyone's favorite zap-'em-up spell! Initially met with resistance because it allowed a feeble scholar to triumph over a strong knight, the magic missile is now the weapon of choice for noble wizards everywhere. Competitions and courses are set up, in which the contestants run through a sort of maze/obstacle course firing missles at moving targets. Disguise Self: A problematic spell. It is not illegal in and of itself, but wearing a disguise or making false claims about your identity is often illegal. Nobles who learn this spell usually do intend to abuse it, although it makes for a great party spell as well. Silent Image: This low-level illusion is most frequently used for entertainment purposes, such as special effects for plays. Ventriloquism: Another spell which is good for mischief. Fortunately, ruses like this are easily detected and dealt with. Cause Fear: Many nobles, especially the egotistical, love this spell. It is often used to disperse attackers, but sometimes is also used on prisoners as part of interrogations. Enlarge Person: This spell is most frequently used on halflings who wish to have "relations" with one of the big folk. It also has utility as a combat spell. Reduce Person: This spell is most frequently used on halflings who wish to sneak into areas too small even for them. (next: higher-level spells)
The Swedish Viking 06-25-04, 04:14 PM	Finished last post.
The Swedish Viking 06-27-04, 05:22 AM	(UPDATE NOTICE) Finished Rurik Swift. ((If you like the Thieves Guild idea Iīll make more in-depth info of it. But anyhow; I think weīre drawing to a close soon. Iīll summarize what we havenīt done in my next post...))
77IM 06-28-04, 12:56 PM	DRAGONS Massive, wealthy, magical creatures, dragons symbolize power. Everything about them exudes raw power: Their fearsome strength, sharp claws and razor teeth; a roar that can burn you alive or freeze you solid; impenetrable armor and magic resistance; mastery of the arcane arts; massive treasure hoards; and great wings for soaring above the common folk, surveying their territory. No doubt about it -- if you want to define power, force, strength, or ability, look no farther than the majestic and terrifying dragon. This made them one of the holiest of creatures during the worship of Old Ways, a religion that made strength and survivability high virtues; dragons were the main symbol of the Renlinean Empire, and much of their ornamental statuary and trim depicts dragons. Of course, the Church of the Pantheon was therefore very anti-dragon, portraying them as near-demonic creatures that preyed on the weak and symbolized the corruption of power. Still, some nobles wore the sign of the dragon in the hopes of intimidating their enemies (or subjects). Recently, dragons have become the subject of much study, as wizards hope to unlock arcane secrets known only to these beasts. The Nature of Dragons Dragons are giant reptilian creatures of immense strength and wisdom. They are effectively immortal; draconic "age categories" are not well understood (in other words, the specific ages in the MM may or may not be correct or even meaningful). It is known that dragons of all different apparent "ages" exist and that they do grow older over time, and that the older ones tend to be stronger and wiser. No one is quite sure how dragons reproduce but they seem to have familial relationships with one another. Dragons are inherently magical creatures. Many maintain portals to the Spirit Realm within their lairs, and most can cast spells as Sorcerers. Some dragons also keep Magicants and can cast spells as wizards, having traded secrets with the Giant wizards of ancient Renlinea. Fundamentally, a dragon's magic is elemental, representing some primal force in nature. Dragons are difficult for humanoids to relate to. With their immortality and immense power, immediate events are rarely a concern to them (although they can be impatient at times as well). Even a good dragon places little importants on the problems of lesser creatures (much as a compassionate philanthropist recognizes that he can't give money to every panhandler he meets). With keen intellects and a lot of time on their hands, many dragons are masters of philosophy, puzzle-solving, and all manner of knowledge. They do things that are seemingly random because the consequences may not be known for generations. Because they have to put basically no effort into survival, almost any goal a dragon undertakes is some sort of diversion or fun exercise; many don't understand the concept of "responsibility" or "duty." Dragons can be any alignment, but do not seem very inclined to morally judge one another -- good and evil dragons could be close friends or even lovers. A dragon's hoard is magical in nature as well. It represents the dragon's temporal power. Anyone who has possession of a piece of treasure stolen from a dragon (not given away willingly), even a single copper coin, is immune to the dragon's breath weapon, spells, spell-like and supernatural abilities, blindsense, and scent, and all of their attacks and spells bypass the dragon's DR and Spell Resistance. (Of course, they must still contend with an angry whirlwind of muscle, natural attacks, and natural armor.) Consequently, dragons, even good ones, protect their hoards with lethal and unforgiving force. Draconic Society Dragons are united by a social convention known as the Dragon Court. Although most dragons live alone or in pairs*, they congregate frequently and have a sort of feudal social structure, in which individual dragons are beholden to Dragon Lords who in turn are subservient to the Dragon Emporer (a creature never before seen by humans, who rules dragons the world over). There is a system of tribute and aid between the dragons, as well as a form of draconic justice handed down from the Lords. They also hold events -- dragon parties, councils, rituals, and other affiars that make little sense to the humanoid races. Most dragons are solitary creatures, ruling a territory from a hidden lair in a forest, mountain, lake, swamp, or island. These lairs are usually made of exquisitely carved stone, more closely resembling a palace than a cave or dungeon. For a dragon, "ruling a territory" generally means "sitting on a pile of treature in a hidden lair inside a territory." The mighty creatures take almost no interest in the short-lived creatures running around the countryside building things and having wars, and the dragons themselves, for all their power, eat little and travel little and so have little impact on the world around them. There are exceptions, of course -- dragons that disguise themselves as humanoids and integrate with society, or who serve in wars or aid heroes in their quests. Dragons do tend to take note when their neighbors are slain by treasure-seekers, and most keep in touch with their relatives; stories of a dragon-slayer stomped by a vengeful parent, sibling, or spouse are not uncommon. In recent years, many dragons have gone further into hiding, while others have taken a more active role in defending their kind against Heartstone hunters. Several dragons are associated with the Magicele Liberation Army, which is rumored to have a Dragon Lord patron (of course, it's also rumored to have a legion of warror-liches, so be careful what you believe). Officially, the modern-day Church is neither pro-Dragon nor anti-Dragon, recognizing them as simply powerful monsters; Independant Temples typically recognize the rights of all sentient creatures, but don't get too terribly upset when someone kills something with teeth that large. Dragon Game Rules The standard "color-coded" dragons do not exist in this world, although there are certain tendancies and family trends that resemble them (for example, red dragons usually breath fire and white dragons cold). Dragons can be of any alignment and have personalities as varied as any human (although they do share certain common traits). Really, every dragon is unique. To put together a stat block for a dragon in game rules, you need to select 4 things about the dragon, usually by taking aspects from the standard dragon types: Appearance & Coloration: These have no affect on gameplay but can be helpful describing the dragon to your players. Most dragons look like one of the 10 True Dragons, but their coloration may differ wildly. For example, you might encounter a creature that looks like a black dragon but is green in color, or one that looks like a gold dragon but is many different colors (gold body, blue wings, red whiskers, all with green highlights), or one that looks like a red dragon and is red. This appearance and coloration generally has some loose correlation to a dragon's breath weapon and habitat -- a red, fire-breathing dragon is unlikely to live in the ocean. Breath Weapon(s), Immunities, & Subtype: These should go together and make sense. For example, if the dragon breaths fire, it should have the Fire subtype; if it breaths Acid, it should have Acid Immunity; if it lives in the water, it should have the Aquatic subtype; etc. Ability Scores, Special Abilities, Size Category, Movement Speed, Spellcasting Ability, Breath Weapon Damage: It's easiest if you keep these things together; that way you can just pick a dragon type that most resembles the dragon you imagine, and look at one line of the dragon's MM entry and use those stats. You can also use the "sample dragons" from the MM or the Draconomicon (changing appearance and breath weapon type, of course). In theory you can "break out" some statistics like breath weapon damage or spellcasting ability, but it will require a tad more effort on the your part. If you want to get really wild, try taking abilities from planar dragons -- it should throw the players off at the very least! Spell List: Dragons by default pick from the Sorcerer spell list (possibly the Cleric list also, and maybe a few domains). You can change this without too much trouble. For example, pick all the dragon's spells from the Druid or even Bard list, or just the Cleric list, or just pick 4 domains and give the dragon Sorcerer access to all those spells. Of course, if you are using the sample dragons, it's easiest to just stick with the spells they have. Once you have these things selected, you should be able to put together a dragon stat block very easily. Simply take swap out the breath weapon and spell list of the standard dragon for the type of breath weapon and spell list you want. *What rolls down stairs...?
The Swedish Viking 06-30-04, 01:21 PM	Hum, hum... what should I do next...? (broods)
Ghostie Ghost 07-01-04, 06:42 AM	A group of sorcering peasants who want to murder all the nobles they see. Badly organized, have a few cells in villages. Leader:Ugo Lastar Human male CN sor6 a peasant with magical powers who lives hidden in te steppes, sometimes raids noble carriages. (sorry i had only 5 minutes to write this)
77IM 07-01-04, 10:34 AM	Originally posted by The Swedish Viking Hum, hum... what should I do next...? (broods) Well, you can never have enough organizations. Ghostie Ghost: This is a good start but please develop this idea further! Why are the peasants murdering nobles? How do they keep from getting eradicated? Do other peasants know about them? Here are some things currently on my mind: 1. We have a lot of material on the Church and a fair amount of ancient sites and organizations (standing stones, artificers and highcasters, etc.). I want New vs. Old to be a theme of the world so I think we need more progressive organizations (Guild of Inventors and Explorers, Gloin & the Forge, the Shapeless, etc.). In other words -- Heartstones are a new invention and I want to explore more ways that people would use them. In particular, I find it easy to come up with "ancient" adventuring sites like long-lost dungeons, but hard to come up with "modern" adventuring sites. 2. I don't want the world to turn into Eberron* (magic items EVERYWHERE! WHEEE!) but I do want to make sure that magic is well-integrated with everyday life. For example, I imagine many nobles driving magical carriages with summed horses, and some to have flying carriages or magic carpets. Certain spells like detect spells might be built into common magic items, as well as wards against enchantments. The presence of divinations would have a HUGE effect on the world and I don't think we've even touched upon it. (This is the real purpose of the "Treatise on Magic" posts.) 3. I've got a few ideas for more noble houses to post, and a new chunk of information on Lienne (things like the city guard, aqueduct maintenance, prominent NPCs, etc.). I'm also considering revisiting the countries, posting their capitals and a "quirk" for each one (for example, in Ponderry only nobles can own swords, and each sword must have a Deed of Title listing its owner). 4. I linked up all the PrCs in Complete Divine (well, the ones I like -- I have very strong opinions on PrC design) to organizations in the world and would like to do the same for the classes in Complete Warrior and the DMG. I feel that PrCs should always be linked to an organization, tradition, or phenomenon in the campaign world. 5. Adventure Ideas! It's fun to think up adventure ideas, and a good way of seeing how the world "plays out." -- 77IM *Speaking of Eberron, they totally ripped me off. Noble houses? Magical crystals as a resource? A society shaped by magic? Corrupt priests? A recent major war? Bah I say! We can do better!
Ghostie Ghost 07-01-04, 01:24 PM	Sorry i only had 10 minutes to think that up, The Anti-nobles hate nobles because most of them where middle class until there goods got taken by some noble. They hide pretending to be market traders or blacksmiths or bartenders (just anything peasantish). Adventure: Peasant Hunting Location: Ponderry on the southern part of the forest A noble's village/group of peasants working for him has/have rebelled, his personal militia are occupied elswhere (a war is a good excuse) the PCs are required to kill there leader and at least another 30/50 of them (there heads as proof) Reward:the noble SAYS 1000 gp (if thats what u use as money) but the noble and his returned militia will try to kill them once the mission is completed to hide what he has done. Locations: 1:the village Creatures: 19/29 peasants hp varying from 3 to 10 1 agent of the Anti-Nobles HP 14 (sorceror lvl 3/4) (counts as killing a peasant) Strategy: the peasants just mass charge with whatever weapons they have and the sorceror casts magic missile at the healers. Everyone fights to the death (death or freedom they shout) Total loot about 100 gp 2:the forest(north of the village) this area is patrolled by the remaining 10/20 peasants and Ugo lastar him self Creatures: 10/20 Elite peasants HP: 20-30 Ugo Lastar HP 40(sor6) Srategy The peasants and ugo conduct a guerrila warfare by 2 or 3 peasants shooting a hail of poison arrows then running back into the deeper parts of the forest (ugo shoots 2 magic missiles then retreats) Total Loot about 300-400 GP and Ugo's Heartsone If not killed in the forest, Ugo can be found in a small campsite 5 miles north of the village in the deepest part of the forest with at least 3 Elite peasants. 3:the nobles castle THe battle starts when the PCs comein for their reward. They meet the noble in a big hall he talks loud on purpose to cover the sound of the doors closing when all the doors are cloed and locked he teleports away. a cue for the archers on the balconys of the hall to charge into visible position and start firing at the PCs. 40 Archers(20 on each balcony) The way out is busting through the weak wooden door at the end of the hall. If they bust out they'll find themselves in time to jump on the back of the escaping Noble's carriage. im really sure this homebrew is much better than eberron
His Majesty 07-04-04, 10:51 AM	1. You stated that "Elves sleep at night, for 8 hours, just like everybody else". Are they still immune to sleep spells and effects? If they aren't, perhaps they need a slight buff. 2. The Language skill description says that "for each rank of Language they gain, they know one additional language". This seems too much. A first level character can know up to five languages (At the age of 16-20!), almost one-fourth of the known languages in the world! (According to the list of languages in that post). Maybe this should become one language per two ranks, as in the old Speak Language skill?
The Swedish Viking 07-05-04, 07:47 AM	Well, Iīd rule that elves are still immune to magical sleep. "They are magical, fey creatures and can resist such enchantments..." and a lot of fluffy stuff about why. Oh, and... hmm... hmmmmm.... I just had an idea.... What if the Characters could use Magicants and Heartstones to grant consciense, to non-living creatures? Mayhaps, even transfer the personality and soul of the former "owner" of the Heartstone to the construction...? Hmm... Then we have the plans for my next few posts: (ADVERTISEMENT NOTICE) Next to come: The Renflourian Guild of Thieves, and Rituals of Awakening - Demons, and Awakening Nonliving Creatures with Magicants and Heartstones.
His Majesty 07-05-04, 04:11 PM	I hope you'll like this. Govardel Nos-Nethani (Bard 3/Yeoman 7) “Nos-Nethani? They don’t have a son called oh, the runaway! Haven’t heard of him for years. And good riddance – I knew that boy was good for nothing right from the beginning. He looked strange, and those eyes of his ugh! People say that he was a sorcerer, worshiping fiends and things, playing demonic music in the nights. I think they were right. How can you otherwise explain those weird noises that came out of his shack? “ Govardel is the son of a small rural family in eastern Corsom. He was banished from his village in the age of 22, when he started to develop sorcerous abilities. He was always fond of music, and his sorcery has naturally blended with his music. In the search of a more tolerant society, Govardel moved to Alluvan, and he has a small cottage there, in the suburbs of Targelbrone, a small city. At first he supported himself by playing in taverns or in front of nobles, with moderate success, but he soon changed his focus from playing on instruments to building them. Govardel is a very curious person, and since his youth he has been experimenting with new ways to build musical instruments. At first he created simple wind instruments from bottles, different plants and other available materials. After moving to Targelbrone, Govardel apprenticed for 8 years under a master instrument crafter (of wooden string instruments) named Blaje, and he is now considered a master craftsman himself. Govardel has continued to create experimental instruments, and attracted to him several apprentices and lots of attention from other people of his trade. The most notable of them is Falin Davinthraw, an elf craftsman who specializes in metal wind instruments, and has been cooperating with Govardel for several years now. He has also been granted financial support from House Senge, the ruler of Targelbrone. He has very good relations with the local baron, and certain rumors even claim that he has an affair with one of the baron’s daughters. Govardel’s most notable inventions are the Guitar, an increasingly popular banjo-like instrument, and the Cornet (created with the help of Falin), a version of the heralds’ trumpet that has greater diversity and possibilities than the traditional one. Govardel is 44 years old. He is a thin, tall man – in fact, he is so thin that he seems a bit weird at first. He also has strange eyes – one of them is green, and the other brown, and they are very big. These seem to be results of the non-humanoid ancestry that he evidently possesses (Since he is a bard). He tries to hide his magical capabilities, and most of the spells he knows are very subtle, and serve a practical role on his everyday music. He has succeeded to do so until now, and very few people are aware of his abnormality, as he calls it. Edit: Changed the lord into a baron - I couldn't remember the nobles' ranking system when I posted this. Re-edit: Gave the small city a name - Targelbrone
Ghostie Ghost 07-05-04, 05:21 PM	Nice NPC
77IM 07-06-04, 11:49 AM	Thanks for the minor adventure, Ghostie Ghost! I like that you have tied several world elements together. (Although the noble's 40 archers are a bit too many -- I'd give him like 10 if I were to run the adventure.) Your Majesty that is a great NPC! I like the touch about the oddly shaped two-colored eyes, and the skinny build -- it really makes me wonder just what bloodline this guy has... Originally posted by His Majesty 1. You stated that "Elves sleep at night, for 8 hours, just like everybody else". Are they still immune to sleep spells and effects? If they aren't, perhaps they need a slight buff. They are still immune. I'm tempted to say, "They're not immune and they get no buff because they are already slightly strong what with all the free weapon proficiencies," but in the interest of simplicity I'm not going to change a rule unless I think it makes a real difference, and the sleep immunity really doesn't matter most of the time. 2. The Language skill description says that "for each rank of Language they gain, they know one additional language". This seems too much. A first level character can know up to five languages (At the age of 16-20!), almost one-fourth of the known languages in the world! (According to the list of languages in that post). Maybe this should become one language per two ranks, as in the old Speak Language skill? Yes and no. First, re-read the PHB version of Speak Language. It's not one language per 2 ranks, it's one per rank; for most characters, Speak Language is cross-class, so it ends up being one language per 2 points spent. However, since PHB Speak Language has no actual ranks, so there's actually no cap. In fact a 1st-level bard (the only class with Speak Language as a class skill) with an Int 18 could know 40 extra languages! (As opposed to my system, in which he is limited to 5.) But then, we're forgetting about Int bonus. An Int 18 character knows 5 languages automatically. So someone who wants to be a master linguist can really know 10 languages at first level under my system. I don't find 5 languages to be too much; there are plenty of people who speak 5 languages by the time they are 16 (they're called "Europeans" or "Asians" or "Africans" or actually most any non-American). I want language in this homebrew to be an issue, not a hassle, which is why I reduced the number of spoken languages (you don't have to worry about speaking "gnoll" -- of course there aren't any gnolls), but then eliminated "Common," but then made Language a legitimate skill so that people could make checks to understand similar languages. In other words, given a good range of starting nationalities, the typical party should be able to communicate with just about anyone, and in those situations where they don't know the language, they can actually do something about it (rather than just shrugging and saying, "Huh, I guess nobody knows Aquan"). While we're on the subject I'd like to take a moment to revise the list of languages somewhat. (The most substantial change is the inclusion of Abberant as part of the Celestial language group, and the notation of certain languages as consisting of multiple dialects. Languages Languages are divided into language groups. Each language in a group shares a common ancestral language and uses the same alphabet; the name of the group, ancestral language, and alphabet are the same. There is no "common" language, but most traders and travelers speak the language of the lands they are passing through; Renflourian is often used as a common trade language or neutral language. Group (Languages in that group) Giant (Frelundish, Zoltaran, Jarlian, Garlish**, Giant) Halfling (Erindese, Loshan, Treothan, Hunitanian dialects***, Old Halfling*) Orcish (Corsan, Kresmayan, Old Orcish*) Dwarven (Parthanian [Mountain Duchies], Leden, Old Dwarven*) Elven (Ponderran, Renflourian, Garlish**, Chirmonten, Alluvani, Old Elven*) Elemental**** (Elemental, Draconic) Sylvan**** (Sylvan, Druidic) Celestial**** (Celestial, Demonic dialects***, Aberrant dialects***) *Dead language; no modern speakers. **Part of multiple language groups; the DC to decipher these languages decreases by 2 for each similar language group you already know beyond the first. ***Multiple languages. ****Languages in this group are considered intricate, exotic, very old, or extremely foreign (DC 30 or higher to decipher). Here is the same info, language first (PHB-style): Languages (Language Group/Alphabet) Aberrant dialects (Celestial) Alluvani (Elven) Celestial (Celestial) Chirmonten (Elven) Corsan (Orcish) Demonic dialects (Celestial) Draconic (Elemental) Druidic (Sylvan) Elemental (Elemental) Erindese (Halfling) Frelundish (Giant) Garlish (Giant, Elven) Giant (Giant) Hunitanian dialects (Halfling) Jarlian (Giant) Kresmayan (Orcish) Leden (Dwarven) Loshan (Halfling) Old Dwarven (Dwarven) Old Elven (Elven) Old Halfling (Halfling) Old Orcish (Orcish) Parthanian (Dwarven) Ponderran (Elven) Renflourian (Elven) Sylvan (Sylvan) Treothan (Halfling) Zoltaran (Giant) -- 77IM
77IM 07-06-04, 12:56 PM	Wrote this for another thread... Death The exact process of death and the planes associated with it are poorly understood. What is known, though, is that people can be brought back with raise dead and similar spells. This is high-level magic and doesn't happen very often; a few dozen clerics are able to cast the spell, and typically only do so when a tremendously wealthy noble dies young. Those who are revived have hazy half-memories, as if from a dream. For some, especially children, these memories are blissful and pleasant. For most, the memories are just weird, images of strange other worlds inhabited by the dead. Particularly pious clerics recount sitting at the table of the gods in heaven, while corrupt nobles often experience horrific nightmares. Sometimes this causes them to change their ways and repent, but sometimes it drives them into even worse behavior if they don't think they can be saved. Some are even driven mad. There are also tales of raise dead spells gone slightly wrong -- the body becomes animate, but something "else" comes back rather than the intended soul. For this reason, raising the dead is never undertaken lightly; there are usually several high-level clerics on hand. According to the Church of the Pantheon, there are three major planes of death. The sinful go to Pandemonium (or the Abyss, or Tartarus, or Hades, or Hell, or whatever). The righteous and pious go to Elysium (or Heaven or Celestia) and "become one with the gods" (what this actually means is a matter of theological debate). Most souls wind up in the middle realm, the Land of the Dead, located high in the sky. This world is much like ours but weird (alien forests ala The Dark Crystal; impossible cities ala MC Escher). In the Land of the Dead, magic is free and available to everyone. It is thought that souls here eventually, after hundreds or thousands of years, find their way to either the upper realms of Elysium or become corrupted by hopelessness and slide down into Pandemonium. The Old Ways believe that the Land of the Dead is a boring, empty place for weak souls, and that the strong go to the Spirit Realm (where they effectively live forever). The process of dying (but not what happens afterward) is overseen by the Judge of the Dead, a somber, absolutely impartial figure of fate, inevitibility, and order. He decides perfectly where each soul will reside. He also informs the dead of the name, religion (& patron deity, if any), and alignment of any person who tries to restore them to life.
77IM 07-06-04, 04:09 PM	The Tower of Light One of the most impressive structures in the world, the Tower of Light is the headquarters of House Eliosine and the personal domain of Duchess Amia Eliosine (Wiz 12), one of the most powerful known wizards. 180 feet tall and 100 feet wide, this square 12-story building made of pure white marble tapers towards the top, each level about 10 feet narrower than the one below it. The exterior of the building is covered in 9 overlapping permanent daylight effects, 4 on each lower corner, 4 on each side about halfway up, and one at the top, inside of a massive glass crystal that sparkles in all directions. Each of the tower's 11 terraces also holds numerous spotlights -- continual flame spells cast inside of a narrow parabolic reflector capped with a lense so that the beam is projected a mere 3 inches wide at a distance of 240 feet. There are two entrances to the tower, one on the uphill side and one on the downhill, although there are rumors that it is possible to enter through the sewers as well. The tower is situated near the top of one of the two hills of Marsid, a large coastal city in western Chirmont. Most of Marsid is stretched in a valley between too large, rolling hills; the tower is on the north hill, facing the city. By ancient tradition in Marsid, only noble dwellings can be more than one story tall (cathedrals, of course, have very tall single stories), and the building of towers has long been a symbol of status. The Tower of Light contains guest rooms and meeting-places in the upper levels. The middle levels are devoted to arcane research, and the lower levels are all business; this is where House Eliosine meets with merchant traders diplomats from other houses. The underground is said to contain great vaults of Essence, although the building itself contains no Magicant. (In fact, Church members are rarely invited to the Tower of Light.) Lady Eliosine is an outstanding member of the community, contributing to many philanthropic causes. She often hires small parties of specialists (adventurers) for important missions, such as harvesting Heartstones, uncovering ancient lore, or hunting down Essence theives. Despite her power and popularity, the tower is a target for many ambitious theives, as rumors persist that treasure and magic lie within its vaults for the taking. In fact, several prominent retired theives in other lands boast of wealth drawn from the stores of the Tower of Light.
77IM 07-06-04, 04:10 PM	The Tower of Lies When treasure-seekers don't return from the Tower of Light, people assume they have fallen victim to some clever trap designed to thwart robbers. The truth is far more insidious. Those few who have seen the inside of the tower refer to it as the "Tower of Lies," a nightmarish place of terror and death. Lady Eliosine is a sociopath of the highest degree who lures would-be theives into her tower by deliberately planting rumors of vast riches and secret entranceways. There, she toys with them, sometimes challenging their abilities, sometimes exposing them to increasingly confusing and frightening environments, sometimes just torturing them to death. A favorite tactic of hers is to lure in some hapless commoner hoping to get rich quick, and then lure in the commoner's relatives hoping to rescue them, so that they can futilely try to find their kin before something horrible happens (and she makes sure that they know something horrible is going to happen). An expert wizard who has stocked the entire Tower of Lies full of magic items and permanent spells -- mostly illusion and transmutation, with a few well-placed conjuration and enchantment effects -- which she can control and configure by command (she particularly enjoys decieving friends into slaying one another). The entire tower can be transformed from a noble manor to a hellish funhouse in a matter of minutes (although Lady Eliosine usually restricts her activities to the lower and middle levels, where guests are not likely to reside). People have escaped from the Tower of Lies, usually with Eliosine's full knowledge -- she usually sets up a "final challenge" for each "visitor," and if they can overcome it successfully, she allows them to leave. Of course, the challenge itself is horrific, many times a person can only escape by letting someone else die, or by maiming themselves.
Ghostie Ghost 07-06-04, 05:26 PM	Escape from the tower of lies! (part 1) Typical Indiana Jones kind of adventure featuring rolling boulder golem at the end!(only for evil riches-hunting parties) Prologue: Attracted to the towers by stories of riches the PCs start in the nearest tavern (The Rolling Beer) The pcs must find there own way into the entrance, only then the fun starts......... Location: Entrance Hall: Creatures: 4 human guards 10 hp each, once killed they become 4 zombies when the Pcs aren't looking the door to the stairs up is locked and magicaly protected. Staircase down: Creatures: 2 arabic/indian looking guys jumping up and down swinging scimitars (yes they are the guys from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) HP: 25 each
His Majesty 07-07-04, 07:40 AM	Fabulous! That's a good mind put to work.
His Majesty 07-07-04, 08:04 AM	Some of the things I noticed while creating the table: The Swedish Viking - you didn't update Grumbalor's Heart according to 77IM's comments. Also, in the post about Rurik Swift you wrote "Rurek" instead of "Rurik" in the heading, which is pretty confusing. 77IM - You should copy-paste the List of Languages into the first Language post. Also, the spell mending appears in both parts of the Treatise on Spells post. Additionaly, You should add a note about elves' immunity to sleep spells to the races post. Because of the great buff that divination gets from Divination (Field) spells, I think that the rule that says that Diviners ban only one other school of magic should be deleted. 77IM: There are plenty of people who speak 5 languages by the time they are 16 (they're called "Europeans" or "Asians" or "Africans" or actually most any non-American). I don't agree. I live in Israel, so I'm Asian (Or European). I know two languages (Hebrew and English) and I'm learning a third (Arabic). I have some friends who know four languages, but 10 languages at the age of 16 (-20).. that's hard to conceive. I guess it's balanced, however, when you remember that to know so many languages you need to have 20 int (Be a genius). I'm glad that you like Govardel. I was thinking about a fey bloodline for him, but I guess anything will do. In hindsight, it seems that it was a good idea to leave that question open.
Ghostie Ghost 07-07-04, 11:17 AM	3:The circular room: circular room which can be reached with ladder at bottom of staircase as soon as the pcs all reach the bottom, a minion steals the ladder and closes the hatch ( the roof is 4 metres away from the floor) and something black and sticky ooses from a part of the floor: Creatures: Sentient black pudding of death:eek:: HP:200 just like a black pudding of death but it is sentient. Meant to be hardest encounter in adventure. Strategy: tries to make a ring donut shape with chosen PC in middle, then smothers him/her, if necessary shoots a fireball at annoying spellcaster. After the pudding is defeated a teleporter ring appears in the middle of the room which brings to the............. 4:Vault: small rectangular room with an unnaturally long strongbox at one end and a locked iron door at the other. The strongbox when opened contains a bloodthirsty vampire with a taste for torture............ Creatures: Vampiric human lvl 5figh HP 70 strategy:just charges vorpal sword+1 and 1000 gp are found in vampire's coffin door unlocks when vampire's coffin destroyed 5:long tunnel as soon as the pcs are all in the door behind them locks and a rolling boulder golem comes down from a hole in the roof and starts rolling:rofl:........................... .............................. Creatures: Boulder golem: hp 100, anyone rolled over on is automatically splatted into a pulp, Strategy: rolls after Pcs until they get to the exit THE END!
77IM 07-07-04, 12:17 PM	Wow, that is amazing! I am going to copy that into the first post -- let me know if you update it! As for your suggestions to update previous posts with the Errata, it is Done, Done, and Done! -- 77IM
77IM 07-07-04, 12:28 PM	BTW, Ghostie Ghost, I like your "splat into a pulp" attack on the Boulder Golem. ;) When I updated the language post I snuck in some new feats. I'll post the new feats here for review so people don't have to go back to the rules post. These are sort of socially-oriented feats, similar to Leadership. Since social connections are more important in this world I wanted there to be more feats for it. On the other hand, I don't want to squelch roleplaying, and most of these feats duplicate effects that could be gained through roleplaying. The feats are really here for people who know just what they want, and want to get it earlier, easier, and maybe a little bit better. It's sort of like a feat that lets you get a magic weapon of your choice -- sure, the DM will put magic weapons in the treature horde anyway, but with the feat the player gets more control. CONTACTS [General] You know a great many people from all walks of life; you always seem to have a friend who is just right for the job. Benefit: You gain a number of contacts (helpful people that you know) equal to 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier. (This number increases as you gain levels and Charisma, but not from temporary Charisma bonuses.) You don't have to decide who all your contacts are right away; you can define some contacts now and then define others later as you need them. These contacts are not allies that will fight for you, but they have a friendly attitude and will do favors for you if possible. Normal: Any character can make new friends and connections through roleplaying. This feat simply allows you to have additional contacts defined at your convenience. Special: See Unearthed Arcana for more information on the types and abilities of contacts. FAMOUS [General] You are a renowned, respected, and beloved individual; word of your total coolness precedes you. Prerequisites: Character level 3rd+, Charisma 13+. Benefit: Everywhere you go, people recognize you. You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information checks, but suffer a -2 penalty on Disguise checks. Most ordinary people are automatically friendly towards you. These bonuses and penalties only apply to people who recognize you, which includes most people of most civilized countries (remote or primitive peoples may not have heard of you). Amongst civilized people, you can take advantage of your fame. You can usually gain an audience with influential people, and get invited to all the best parties (or can at least get into those parties, even if you're not invited). The media follows your speech and actions; things you say may become sound bites, and clothes you wear may become the latest fashion. If you stand up to address a crowd, one will usually gather. You don't usually need to identify yourself to the authorities. Normal: Characters may achieve renown through their actions. This feat represents someone who adept at "milking it," acting famous and staying famous. MAJOR HOLDINGS [General] You are a big-time noble landowner. Prerequisites: Minor Holdings. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Lord/Lady. You gain the benefits of Minor Holdings, except that you own 100,000 gp worth of land, which produces 1000 gp per month, but your noble manor is twice as expensive to maintain, costing 200 gp per month, so you net 800 gp per month. You have 1000 potential soldiers available to you if you wish to pay to raise an army. However, you have increased responsibility as well. You must manage more complex holdings and must arbitrate justice in your realm. Doing so takes about a week of your time each month; if you don't spend this week, your land only produces 200 gp that month, as the rest is lost to innefficiency, graft, and lost opportunities. You have 1d4+2 minor nobles (barons and counts) that answer to you; you can demand taxes and armies from them, but this is risky, as they may complain to your superiors, who will then want a hefty cut. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a knight (landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble who has yet to inherit land. MINOR HOLDINGS [General] You are a noble landowner. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Baron/Baroness or Count/Countess (ruling a Barony or a County). You have a noble manor, some stretches of farmland, and are the legal authority over a few villages, although you must still answer to the lord(s) above you (who may demand that you raise an army or pay certain taxes or tribute, although both requests are rare due to their unpopularity). You don't actually gain any wealth from the holdings themselves; you make enough to break even. However, you do have a nice place to live and have a certain amount of clout amongst other nobles. If necessary, you can raise an army of up to 100 1st-level Yeomen, although you must pay to equip them and it costs about 2 sp per day per soldier to maintain the army (since they are no longer farming crops to supply themselves). In a pinch, you may sell off your holdings, which are worth a total of around 15,000 gp (10,000 for the farmland, which you can sell bit by bit, and 5000 for the noble manor), although you must roleplay this transaction and it is not always possible to find a buyer. The noble manor takes around 100 gp per month to maintain, and 10,000 worth of farmland produces about 100 gp per month, so if you sell one but not the other you may have a cash flow surplus or deficit. If you sell everything you may lose your noble title. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a knight (landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble who has yet to inherit land. MULTIPLE IDENTITIES [General] You have multiple complete identities, with background information, documentation, and contacts to prove it. (Only one of these is the real you -- the rest are fabrications.) Prerequisites: Disguise 5 ranks, Charisma 13+. Benefit: For each point of Charisma bonus you have, you can set up an alternate identity. Come up with a background, career, personality, and social circle for the alternate identity; these will stand up to scrutiny from most authorities and investigations -- the only way for someone to realize that both identities are the same person is for you to slip up somehow. For example, an investigator could follow you and realize that you're living multiple lives, but couldn't figure it out from checking property deeds, tax records, or even interviewing your friends and "family." You get a +4 bonus on Disguise checks to appear as your alternate identities. It's probably not a good idea to meet people who know you as one identity to meet you as another identity. Normal: Setting up an alternate identity is tricky, and usually requires some time spent in disguise, making Bluff and Forgery checks, and possibly even spreading misinformation. SPREAD INFORMATION [General] Know how to get the word out and manipulate public opinion. Prerequisites: Gather Information 5 ranks, Charisma 13+. Benefit: You know how to spread rumors, alert the press, post advertisements, subtly guide conversations, and just tell the right people the right things. With 8 hours of talking to people and "making inquiries," you can spread a piece of information (whether true or false) around an area the size of a small city or several rural counties. You must make a Gather Information check to see how well the information spreads. The DC is based on whether the new information supports or contradicts what people already believe: DC 10 for a piece of information that backs up existing beliefs, 15 for information that is orthogonal to existing beliefs, 20 for information that contradicts existing beliefs, and 25 or 30 for information that is contrary to the very core of people's belief systems. If you succeed at the check, the information spreads but is not generally believed unless you beat the DC by 5 or more. If you fail the check, the you have a hard time getting people to care enough to spread the information, and if you fail by 5 or more, the information spreads along with the fact that you were the person spreading it! In a larger area, such as a big city or large rural area, the time for the check extends to 3 days and the DC increases by 5, but you must fail by 10 or more in order for the news of your information campaign to spread. Normal: Anybody can try to go around telling people things. This feat allows you to broadcast information in such a way that people don't know you're doing it -- the information just seems to creep into the public consciousness from nowhere. Special: If you have 5 or more ranks of Bluff, you gain a +2 bonus on your Gather Information check to spread information that you know to be false. If you have 5 or more ranks of Diplomacy, you gain a +2 bonus on your Gather Information check to spread information that you think is true or which is a matter of opinion.
His Majesty 07-07-04, 01:25 PM	Temporary Notice Hey 77IM, check your PMs! *This post will be edited into a new NPC. Thank you for your patience.
Ghostie Ghost 07-07-04, 03:35 PM	Binqi son of Binli Binqi was raised like most goblins in a martial society,he stayed a normal private until the battle of the fords of Linshan (random river name) where his father and most of his clan were slain by humans serving Duke Leslo III. There he alone with a penal company (i'll explain later) managed to hold off a human cavalry battalion from flanking the retreating goblins. After that experience, binqi hung up his weapons and started working in the local temple where he met a priestess named Biella and married her. However, their bliss was short when on the second year of their marriage the village got attacked by the humans led by duke Leslo III himself. Binqi watched helplessly knocked against a wall the village defenders getting slashed apart by the Duke's elite cavalry as his own wife was getting gut in half by the duke himself Binqi felt he was changing, looking in the broken shards of a mirror he saw his eyes had changed color from brown to pale blue as he went on a highly calculative rage. He picked up 2 fully sized scimitars and started wielding them both with deadly precision and strength. Binqi killed about 30 elite knights on that rampage, finally he was facing Duke Leslo III himself. A battle ensued, and it ended with the Duke ending up with a scimitar for each eye. Onlookers say they saw only a single goblin covered in blood left the village alive. Binqi now owns a tavern in the elven capital city. He is usually calm and gentle but his rage is destructive and ends only when all enemy's are dead. Luckily for all bar-troublemakers his rage is hard to provoke. Binqi has been recently preparing for an expedition to punish all of Leslo's family, that does not meen death, but repentance and/or imprisonment. Binqi is now a fig5/clr5, his tavern is called "the Golden Mug" but is more commonly reffered too as "Booze'R'Us".He is very fond of elves but not much of humans, especially human nobles.
Ghostie Ghost 07-07-04, 03:43 PM	A penal company is a goblin military unit made out of deserters, panicmongers, Etc. they are aremed only with 1 shortsword each and the rare leather armor. They are assigned to semi-suicidal tasks, the goblins believe in "redeeming through honor/bravery" Many a penal company have done the brave/honourable things, so they are sent back home in honor to work in a temple.
Ghostie Ghost 07-08-04, 02:09 PM	i think i'll start covering all types of goblin military groups (im really bored) Elite Guards: the pride of goblin armies, these are small units of 11 (10+1 leader) goblins which are at LEAST lvl 15 fighters. They ride the most powerful worgs into battle. They are equipped with the following: spear+3, longbow+3, arrows+3, platemail+3, shortsword+3, helm+3 and small shield+3. The worgs are plated with an extra platemail+3. There can only be 111 of these goblins at one time.
77IM 07-08-04, 03:41 PM	I LOVE the idea of the goblin penal company -- that is very clever. The goblin elite guard are cool, too, but they should only be level 5 instead of level 15. There really aren't level 15 characters running around and it's hard to find even 111 5th-level characters working together. Also, it's unlikely that they have that much magic, as it is very expensive. Platemail +1 and maybe a magic weapon (I'm thinking composite longbow +1) would be more appropriate. You might want to look at some cheap wondrous items, too, as these could be more tactically significant for elite units than magic items. Worgs are intelligent, speaking creatures that are not commonly domesticated, but it could happen, and would certainly add an interesting twist to the goblin elite guard. I'm about to post some ideas for "weak" magic weapons, which may be useful to goblin military units, too. -- 77IM
Ghostie Ghost 07-08-04, 06:28 PM	Thanx, i had the penal company idea reading books on WW2, Maybe there can only be 11 elite guards at one time, anyway: Fornost As you cross the bridge you see a what seems at first a black, tall and slim mountain rising from the snow-covered landscape. It is really a castle, you can notice a few-black robed figures patrolling the walls. A powerful magical aura can be felt. Fornost is considered by the few people which know about its existence the most powerful fortress in the multiverse. It is a spiralling structure that reaches through the clouds, many towers can be seen "sprouting" from the main central structure, walls are built around the lower levels. It is one single immense structure. It is on the (permanent snowy island). Only 101 moon elves (if your using them in your world) inhabit fornost, the rest are powerful creatures: the most powerful black puddings ever seen, black dragons (if used) and creatures never seen before by the common people. Only 1 army has ever dared assault it, few survived to tell the tale. The 100 elves are only known as The Blackguards,(they're all epic level with epic equipment) the lord is named only as................... Lord Fornost Little is known of him except that he is the 101th blackguard and that he is a being of immense power.(probable God or Demigod, maybe the god of death.) He observes the world from the central tower of Fornost with his magical powers. Recent discoveries of ancient scrolls point out that he was a prominent figure in the ancient elven empire thousands of years ago. A few sentences that apparently point to him: "his sarcastic comments where enough to cut a dragon in half" "Today another corrupt noble has fell to his blade" or "Another minor human rebel village has been wiped away from existence by Him" Theories have risen about the elven empire starting to crumble only after his moving to Fornost. He is apparently neutral aligned and hopefully doesn't want to interfere much in the world. Some of the titles he has gained in legends are: the messenger of the night, the angel of death, the equalizer, the darklord, the black watcher and the protector. Hope you like this :D
The Swedish Viking 07-09-04, 04:36 AM	Right... erhemm. The setting is currently 90 pages exactly long, using the Verdana (size 10) script. I have not yet added the things written by Ghostie Ghost (too spread out for me to have the energy to organzie them... :P ) nor the Shapeless (format issues, need to edit them to fit into the document....). Returning soon with something good... Iīve been lazy lately. Heartstones and Magicants - Rituals of Legend In ancient times, sacrificial rites and evil deeds were comitted, and dark acts were comitted to gain power from fickle forces of magic. Dark mages summoned demons, tempted them with Heartsones and feed them the hearts of enemies to satisfy them. A few magicants were corrupted by the dark casters and used to capture demons, enabling the master of the stone to control the deamon. In legendary sagas, heroes rescue spirits and fair angels imprisoned by dark wizards into rocky prisons of magic. Druids use the Magicants to spread light actoss the world. The usage of dark magic to corrupt Magicants to a twisted shape is much more common in modern times now that the usage of magic is more widely spread than back in the days of the Old Ways (where the practice was much more frowned upon). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are several rituals of imprisoning spirits, undead, demons, angels and celestial and hellish beings in Magicants, and almost all are very difficult to perform. Ritual of Imprisoning This ritual imprisons a spirit of a being of supernatural nature within the Magicant. The Magicant slowly "tunes in" to the mind of the creature, spilling out magical energy corrupted or made sacred by the being within. Ritual of Binding This ritual is much like the Ritual of Imprisoning, but instead of imprisoning the spirit inside the stone; sealing it away from the world, the Ritual of Binding binds the spirit to the Magicant as a servant of the master of the stone, to be ordered, used and abused. Ritual of Corruption This ritual calls upon dark energies to corrupt a Magicant or Heartstone for usage in dark and evil spells. Such a Magicant or Heartstone is a great and powerful weapon in the hands of an evil wizard such as a necromancer. This is the most common ritual next to the Ritual of Amplifying. Ritual of Hallowing This ritual has been used very rarely over the years, even more rarely than the Ritual of Corruption. This spell hallows a Magicant or Heartstone or Joystone, and is one of the more complicated rituals associated with these rocks. The energy from one of these sacred stones is of such great Light that few evil creatures can even bare look at them. Ritual of Amplifying This ritual amplifies any spell the wizard casts while conducting the ritual to twentyfoldth, thirtyfoldth, some say a hundredfoldth strength. It is the only ritual that has been used within the last twenty years; used extensively by Farngach the Necromagus in his quest to raise an army.... Ritual of Summoning and Evoking This ritual assumes the usage of several Heartstones and Magicants. It is a legendary ritual, and te details around itīs usage are still not fully understood; perhaps because nobody has yet dared use it. It is said that once completed, such a ritual would open a gateway to another plane of existance, a highroad to the deities themselves! ((I am unsure whether or not Iīll make game statistics for the rituals...each one is supposed to be mythical in power and legendary, so...))
Ghostie Ghost 07-09-04, 05:16 AM	Grey Fiend: A tall, grey, vaguely humanoid form materialsizes in front of you, it has long fangs and it's eyes are really burning orbs. Grey Fiends are the most common daemons summoned by powerful spellcasters. at first sight they might be confused with undead. Grey Fiends are chosen mailny because of there intelligence/wisdom/charisma draining attacks. Spellcaster-bane Naural attacks of the Grey Fiend drain 1int,1wis and 1 cha temporarily if the target fails a fort save of DC 10+constitution modifier. HD: 6d10 40
Ghostie Ghost 07-09-04, 08:07 AM	Field Marshal: Best job you can get, need all stats high. Only 1 of them presently present. Each of them command 1 Grand Army. (100,000 goblins) General: Need medium stats, about 10-14 of them presently present. Each of them command 1 Army. (10,000 goblins) Captain: Need medium con, str, dex and cha, each of them command a company (100 goblins) Punished one: fight in penal company's Private: lowly private, barely armed better than a punished one (spear and leather armor). Penal company's fight bravely just to get freed, private fight bravely for the goblins. Known for suicidal bravery (charging at twice their number of steel armored knights) Battlecry: URRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! (Next post i'll start describing goblin society) (help, im bored:whatsthis) (im dangerous when im bored)
77IM 07-09-04, 12:19 PM	Fornost: I like this place and will use it (it will be in the eastern Frozen Sea north of Wanford and Jarlheim, in a part that's cold but usually not frozen solid). However, there aren't any epic-level characters in the world, and certainly not terrestrial demigods. I love the idea that the Blackguards are tied to a specific place/organization, but I'm not sure why there would be 100 of them, plus a bunch of monsters, hanging around in this castle -- no one goes through the trouble of amassing that much power without interacting with the world. The exact number of Blackguards should be unknown, but there are at least 10 of them of 8th level or higher, and maybe as many as 50 apprentices. I think it best to make Lord Fornost a Faustian figure. In other words, he hires out the blackguards to nobles who need some elite musclepower, but the deals they make usually end up worse for the nobles -- Lord Fornost sometimes demands gold, but often he requests land, personal belongings, or just demands one of the noble's children spend a two years at Fornost. As for Lord Fornost himself, no-one has met him in over 1000 years, and it's unclear what he is -- possibly a dragon, a lich or vampire, or some other unholy creature, or maybe he doesn't even exist. Deamons: First, it's spelled "demon," not "deamon." I really don't like intentional misspellings and I want to avoid categorizing outsiders except for broad categories (like Angel, Demon, Elemental, Spirit, etc.). Demons in particular are horrific creatures of pure evil that defy our attempts at classification. (I've never liked the distinction between Devil, Demon, and Daemon.) The idea of Dark Magicants is great and would make a wonderful dungeon centerpiece. (Perhaps they produce tainted Essence that drives users mad.) However, demon binding is FAR more common in modern times than in ancient times. Dark Magicants probably came from giant wizards since few today would risk a Magicant for such a spell, but any demon-infused Heartstones are almost certainly the result of modern magical experimentation. Goblin Armies and Society: Ghostie Ghost, make sure to re-read the post on races for goblin info before you go any further. Goblins have communities of their own, but are also part of larger communities, and don't have any nations of their own. Goblin regiments are likely part of larger noble armies. Many smaller goblin mercenary units also operate, travelling around selling their swords, in countries like Garland and Alluvan. Also remember that they are closely related to the other Little People, halflings and gnomes. I like what you have so far, but I don't think there should be a Grand Army at the moment, as I'm not sure where they would live or what they would do. -- 77IM
77IM 07-09-04, 12:40 PM	Blaster: This ornate metal rod launches bolts of energy (fire, electricity, acid, cold, or sonic). It is wielded as a 1-handed projectile weapon with a range increment of 60 feet, deals 1d6 points of energy damage (crit 20/x2), and is considered a martial weapon; it is activated at will as an attack (so it can be used with multiple attacks, including the Rapid Shot feat). A blaster can be used by a Small, Medium or Large character without difficulty. Smaller or larger characters take a -2 attack penalty for wielding a weapon of the wrong size; blasters can be built in other sizes but the damage does not change. Blasters are seldom built just as rods, though. They are more often factored into a mundane or magical weapon -- in essence, the blaster is built in the shape of a weapon rather than just a rod. Any long metal weapon can be a blaster; most typically a longsword or spear, but also a metal-hafted axe, morning star, mace, or staff. A character can attack with the weapon normally or as a blaster interchangably. The weapon must be masterwork, although the masterwork bonus does not apply to attacks using it as a blaster, only to weapon attacks. If the weapon is magic, none of the magical properties of the weapon (such as magic enhancement bonus, keen or flaming properties, etc.) apply to the blaster attacks. If the weapon is not magic, it is not considered a magic weapon just for being a blaster (think of it more as a weapon-shaped magic item that is sturdy enough to use in combat). The most common blaster weapons are shockspears (electricity blaster longspears and greatspears used by Frelundish pikemen), dwarven spitters (acid blaster all-metal hammers used in the Mountain Duchies), and Alluvani antipodes (a rapier and a main-gauche, one of which is fire blaster and the other is cold blaster). Some low-ranking nobles in Garland and Frelund carry blaster longswords. Blaster usage is on the rise amongst the wealthy, although the cost will have to come way down before it becomes affordable to equip whole legions with them (instead of light crossbows or longbows). Mild evocation; CL 1st; Craft Magic Arms and Armor or Craft Rod, lesser (acid/cold/electricity/fire/sonic) orb; Price 1600 gp for a rod blaster, or +1450 to the cost of a masterwork weapon for a blaster weapon. Beam: This magic weapon enhancement allows the user to make a ranged attack with a melee weapon. The wielder focuses his will and, as a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity, can make a ranged attack with a range increment of 50 feet as though throwing the weapon. The wielder doesn't actually throw the weapon -- a beam of magical energy extends from the weapon to strike its target, which but the target does take damage and suffer other effects for being hit by the weapon, just as if it had been thrown. The attacker applies his Dexterity modifier to the attack roll and does not suffer a -4 penalty for using an improvised throwing weapon, and deals damage normally, except that he always adds his normal Strength modifier to damage (not 1 1/2 times if using a two-handed weapon). The weapon's normal crit range and multiple apply, and magical enhancements (such as the flaming property) also take effect upon a successful hit. The wielder can use feats that apply to ranged attacks (although using the beam is a standard action, so feats like Rapid Shot have no effect), but not those that apply only to melee attacks, nor can they make trip or disarm attempts using the beam. Beam weapons are rare and expensive. The royal sword of Garland is the most famous, a +4 defending beam longsword, but more feared are three Treothan Church Knight rogue/fighters known as the Falcons who wield +2 keen distance beam scimitars. Moderate evocation; CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, spiritual weapon; Price +2 bonus. Everstaff: One of the most enduring type of item used by the Church, and everstaff works just like a regular staff, and has the same price and creation requirements. The difference is that the staff has 3 charges per day, instead of 50 charges that deplete eventually. The Keepers and the Truthsayers make heavy use of such staffs, especially for casting higher-level spells such as symbols and mark of justice. Noble wizards, who want power more immediately, are more inclined to make regular staffs.
Ghostie Ghost 07-09-04, 02:01 PM	I think blasters should cost much more, i mean a PC with the Major Holdings feat can by a blaster rod in two game months without adventuring much, imagine if whole group buys them so then it's more like Star Wars than D&D (slight exageration, more like Eberron actually.) Maybe they can only be bought in the weapon version. Anyway, i really like beam weapons. Creature Idea: White Render When Grey Renders reach true enlightenment, they shed their old skin to reveal a white skin underneath. They then proceed to travel to the northeastern areas of Jarlheim. There they meet up with others of their kind and proceed to a small town of about a total of about 500 white renders and 1000 grey renders. Before the heartsone-getting rampage started they used to live in smaller villages dotted around and lived a calmer life but the heartsone-hunters have forced them to unite and build walls. Basic Stats: Large Magical Creature HD: 10d10+70 (125hp) Alignment: Pure Neutral
The Swedish Viking 07-09-04, 02:08 PM	It -is- unintentional misspelling 77. Read a warhamemr rulebook and youīll see more of them (Daemon? For peteīs sake...). Thusly, Iīve really got no idea how to spell the bleedin word... :P (Update Notice) Concluded what one should be able to do with Magicants in addition to draw essence. And oh yes, each ritual should be an adventure in itself. Especially the last one...
Ghostie Ghost 07-09-04, 04:56 PM	i think the Demon/Daemon mispelling is because Daemon is the anciant greek word for Demon.
The Swedish Viking 07-09-04, 07:22 PM	Farngach "the Necromagus" Dernyson (lvl 13 wiz) "Donīt even mentioned his name. -It- is a vile fiend, one of the first of the bloody mages ye see cropping up everywhere nowadays. Ought to be burned the lot of them. He summoned a demon, they say, inside on oī them magic stones... did all kind of things before he just disappeared..." Farngack grew up the son of a lesser noble. His father had good contacts, however, and soon enough he had managed to secure the best training for his soon. Farngach became apprentice to another old noble wizard, who tough the young lad well. Farngach was an apt student, and he learned the arts quickly. Farngach, however, enjoyed to see others suffer. He enjoyed the destruction and devastation of things, and above all, he desired power over life and death, and he desired to rule. And he knew that magic was a very good way of achieving these goals... Thus he studied, and learned well the arts of his master. And he used the spells he had learned, in secret, to charm his way into the highest circles of nobility. He ensured that he got all the money, funding and protection he needed. And when he uncovered the Book of Rituals, and ancient tome detailing the rituals of Magic involving Magicants, he concieved a plan. Farngach took ten of his closest men and went to a far-away village. There, he stayed for three days. On the night of the third day, he took the Book of Rituals to the monastery that the village had cropped up around. There, he went into the crypt with his men and uncovered there the Magicant described in his tome. He slaughtered the monks in the monastery, and used the Ritual of Amplifying to re-animate every single corpse in the monastery, creating a small army of undead warriors. He marched his host into the village, and slaughtered them all. Then he used the ritual once more, and animated their corpses. The Magicant, now corrupted and for the next millennia emptied by the vile energies, could no longer be used. And so, he marched his host southwest. And as he went, he used his horde to conquer Magicants and consumed their power and animated hordes of warriors, and the army was like a swarm of insects or a plague of rats, devouring all before them. By now, rulers around the areas he had passed had decided to send warhosts against the shambling force of undead warriors, which now numbered up to around four thousand. They had thought of surprising the wizard, but were in turn ambushed by the undead. They managed to punch their way out, but were heavily reduced in number. And had the wizard struck again, they would have been anihilated. But he didnīt. Instead of striking, he and what was left of his army disappeared into the mountains. He had realised, but all too late, that by marching his army widely open he would only meet stiffer and stiffer resistance, and soon heīd face forces from all those nations he had passed. Instead, he opt to disappear with his forces, and build up his strength in secret. He had his army, now he only needed to wait... ((well, a good modern evil guy... and Iīll describe the monastery in my next post; to give PCs a good 1st to 4th level dungeon...))
Ghostie Ghost 07-11-04, 03:57 AM	:bump:
The Swedish Viking 07-11-04, 04:54 AM	The Destroyed Monastery of Magin "Better stay away from those ruins, lads and lassies. Ever since -He-, ye know, the Necromagus, came through there the placeīs been haunted. No, Itīs -not- wise to go searching for the treasures in there. Yup, filled with ghosts and traps it is, just as if he planned on returning there. Why? How in the blazes should I know? The Monastery of Magin is located in southwestern Corsom, and was a haven of knowledge for many years. It housed an order of Monks and Clerics, who had mostly isolated themselves from the world. The Monastery contained one of the foremost libraries in Corsom, and served as a place of healing and rest for weary travellers. All that changed when Farngach entered the monastery. He stayed there with his twenty Captains for three days, during which he searched thoroughly the monastery for the entrance to the secret catacombs said to be found beneath it. Heīfound the catacombs, and entered. What he did afterwards is unknown, but rumours speak that he found an ancient Magicant deep inside, and used an ancient ritual to amplify his spells and raise all the dead Clerics and Monks of the monastery to create himself an army. Arming himself with what treasure he could quickly find, he then left the monastery. The monastery nowadays seem deserted. However, folklore says that strange lights have been seen from within and that townsfolk who venture there never come back. Rumours of treasure abound... and so do rumorus of evil and death.
The Swedish Viking 07-11-04, 10:32 AM	92 pages... Began working on Credits section too. Began thinking of whether or not we should make a front page for the book (and by now, it damned well -is- a book)... and If we should try using some graphics program to make pictures.
His Majesty 07-11-04, 01:58 PM	I think we definitely should make some artwork for this, as well as pick a nice, good-looking format (I would like to get the finished product eventually, if it wasn't clear that I do by now). Perhaps we should decide which locations/characters we want to get paintings of, and put a request in the art forum. Then we can pick the best looking pictures and put them in the booklet. I'll even try to draw some things by myself, maybe. BTW - I've got some unfinished NPCs and noble houses that I'm going to post soon. I thought I'd finish them some days ago, but I changed my ideas and have something I need to finish before I'll have more free time. Just to let you know. Well, I'm going to update the ToC now. Edit: 77IM - The ToC was made because I felt that I needed it. I hope it's helpful for others, too. The Swedish Viking - The title of your rituals post isn't very appropriate, since it doesn't deal with heartstones... :) Ghostie Ghost - Please put the goblin info into one post, so that I can link to it in the ToC.
The Swedish Viking 07-11-04, 07:26 PM	whaddya mean, appropriate? Two of the rituals can be performed with Heartstones too....
His Majesty 07-12-04, 06:17 AM	Oops. I didn't see that.. sorry.
77IM 07-12-04, 02:48 PM	OK, so this idea is pretty much a rip off of Stephen King, but it's such a good idea that I'm going to go with it. Maea's Daughters (LG) Common Knowledge: A group of civic-minded women who volunteer in the community, Maea's Daughters (named for the Earth Mother, one of the major deities) run soup kitchens, serve as midwives, hold bake sales for charitable causes, help teach children, and generally hold the village together. Always commoners, Maea's Daughters are a long-standing tradition in Renflour, Garland, and Chirmont, and are often humans, gnomes, or goblins. When an old man falls ill, a farmer's crop is ruined, or a traveller needs a place to rest, it's Maea's Daughters who offer a helping hand. They also engage in a sport of boomerang-throwing as a sort of friendly competition. Goals and Ideals: Maea's Daughters are part social group, part volunteer organization. They try to maintain a pleasant community and back each other up in times of trouble. They don't seek to take a leadership role, take part in local politics, or quest to destroy evil; they just try to address the little problems in life. Leadership: Each group of the Daughters, local to a town or rural county, has its own elected leadership, which changes on a yearly basis. The group makes most decisions by consensus, but certain items are put to a vote (such as the acceptance and censure of members). Inner Workings: The Charter of the Daughters takes up one page; the first task of any new recruit is to copy this page for her records (Daughters must be literate, as one of their duties is to teach people to read). Women are usually recruited in adolescence, often by their mothers, aunts, or older sisters. The bylaws vary from place to place, but typical groups meet monthly at a member's house, for discussion of upcoming initiatives and issues, a fine meal, and a boomerang contest. These are usually just target practice, throwing the 'rang through rings and catching it again, although sometimes it is a grander affair involving an obstacle course and moving targets. Most people don't realize just how adept Maea's Daughters are at hurling those things; on more than a few occasions, Daughters have stood as a town's last line of defense, cutting down attackers with spinning steel razor blades. Game Information: Maea's Daughters are most typically Yeomen with domestic Craft and Profession skills and the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Boomerang) feat. Some, particularly those from troubled areas, take levels in the Maea's Daughter prestige class, often taking levels of Elite first. Exotic Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Increment Weight Type Boomerang 5gp 1d3 1d4 x2 20 ft. 1 lb. Bludgeoning Boomerang, steel 35gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 30 ft. 1 lb. Slashing Boomerang: When thrown by a wielder proficient in its use, this flat, curved piece of wood will return to the thrower. If the boomerang misses its target, it returns to the square from which it was thrown at the beginning of the thrower's next turn, where she (or anyone proficient with boomerangs) may catch it as a free action. If the boomerang hits its target, it falls to the ground in the target's square, and if it returns but no one catches it, it lands in the square from which it was thrown. Boomerang, steel: Anyone proficient in the use of a boomerang can also use this sharpened steel version. Because it deals damage by slashing rather than force, it will also return to the user when it deals minimum damage (a glancing blow), a critical hit (a clean slice), or drops its target (a very clean slice). However, catching this boomerang is dangerous; upon catching the boomerang, the catcher must succeed on an attack roll (AC 10) or take damage as though struck by the boomerang. (A natural 1 on this roll is not an automatic failure). Maea's Daughter Standard Prerequisites Base Attack Bonus: +3. Skills: Gather Information 2 ranks, any two Craft or Profession skills 5 ranks, Knowledge (local area) 2 ranks, Heal 2 ranks, Survival 2 ranks. Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Boomerang), Point Blank Shot. Special: Must be a member in good standing of Maea's Daughters (they typically only accept women into their group). Test-Based Prerequisites Must be a member in good standing of Maea's Daughters, and have won one of the group's boomerang-throwing competitions. Class Progression (10-level class) Hit Die: d8 BAB: As fighter (+10) Fort: Poor (+3) Ref: Good (+7) Will: Good (+7) Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex). Skill Points per level: 6 + Int modifier Class Features (preceeded by level) Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Maea's Daughters are proficient with the boomerang, club, dagger, handaxe, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, light hammer, longspear, quarterstaff, scythe, sickle, short bow, shortspear, and spear. They are not proficient in any armor or shields. PrC AC Bonus: This class grants the PrC AC Bonus described above. Required Ranks: Each time a character gains a level of this PrC, she must spend two of her skill points on Craft or Profession skills of her choice. (If she is only earning 1 skill point due to exceptionally low Intelligence, she must spend it on a Craft or Profession skill). 1. Precise Shot (Boomerang): The curving flight of a boomerang allows the Maea's Daughter to better select her targets. She gains the benefits of the Precise Shot feat, but only when throwing a boomerang. 2. Directional Return (Ex): The Maea's Daughter can throw a boomerang such that it returns to any square she designates, not just the square it was thrown from, although it can't be farther from the target than the square it was thrown from. If she can reach the return square before her next turn, she can catch the boomerang as a free action; otherwise, any character standing in that square who is proficient with boomerangs can catch it. 3. Far Shot 5. Improved Precise Shot (Boomerang): When using a boomerang, the Maea's Daughter can curve it around corners, gaining the benefit of the Improved Precise Shot feat. 6. Spinning Slash (Ex): When a Maea's Daughter throws a steel boomerang and scores a non-critical-hit, she can choose to have the boomerang deal minimum damage in order to return to her. 7. Improved Critical (Boomerang) 9. Greater Critical (Boomerang): The threat range of any boomerang wielded by the Maea's Daughter is tripled (18-20 for a wooden boomerang, 15-20 for a steel boomerang). Like the Improved Critical feat, this does not stack with other effects that multiply threat range. 10. Manytarget Throw (Ex): The Maea's Daughter can throw her boomerang (or steel boomerang) such that it hits multiple targets before returning. She specifies up to four targets, which must all be within 1 range increment, and then makes a ranged attack with a boomerang as a standard action. She makes a single attack roll with a -2 penalty per target (so -4 for two targets, -6 for three targets, -8 for four targets) and applies the result to each target in sequence; roll damage separately for each target. If the result is a critical hit, only the first target takes extra damage, and any precision-based damage (such as sneak attack damage) applies only to the first target. The targets must all be standing in a line, although it can be any straight line, not just one emanating from the Maea's Daughter, and there must be a clear path between them. After the final target is hit (or missed), the boomerang returns normally. Anything that would prevent the boomerang from returning (such hitting a target, but not with a critical hit, minimum damage, or dropping the foe) also halts the Manytarget Throw; the boomerang drops in the square in which it was blocked and does not continue to hit other targets. The Legend of Maea's Daughter Maea's Daughters are the dryads, creatures born from trees grown from Magicants planted in the earth. Once, Audan (the Aimless Wanderer), weary from a rough journey, laid down next to a great Mallorn and fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he had been bathed and his clothes washed and a great meal had been prepared for him by Waeilylora, the dryad of the Mallorn and one of Maea's daughters. He was greatful and asked what she wanted in return. She answered that she wanted to defend her forest better, but since she could not leave her tree, she wanted a ranged weapon that would return to her when thrown. Audan sought out his friend Pirometh (the Fire Master) to craft such a thing, and after much research and development, he invented the boomerang. Audan travelled around the forests of the world, and any dryad who greeted him with aid and hospitality would receive a boomerang as a gift. The modern-day organization known as Maea's Daughters consists not of dryads, but of ordinary people. The order began around 500 years ago or so in what is now Garland and spread to neighboring countries. It was based on the legend of Waeilylora, but actual dryads are not thought to have played a role in the group's formation. Details beyond this have been lost to antiquity. [Edit: Changed a number of rules things and added the legend that the group is based upon. Also named a few gods! All names are in Elvish -- the root language of Renflourian -- I'll be naming the rest shortly in Elvish, Giantish, Orcish, and possibly Halfling, Celestial, and Dwarven.]
77IM 07-15-04, 11:52 AM	Originally posted by Ghostie Ghost I think blasters should cost much more, i mean a PC with the Major Holdings feat can by a blaster rod in two game months without adventuring much, imagine if whole group buys them so then it's more like Star Wars than D&D (slight exageration, more like Eberron actually.) Maybe they can only be bought in the weapon version. A PC who spends two precious feats to get Major Holdings SHOULD be rolling in cash and allowed to buy a blaster. That's the sort of person who has a blaster (although it would most likely be in rapier form rather then rod form, so that the noble can carry a melee weapon as well). The blaster is a pretty inferior weapon when compared to bows and crossbows. Its only real advantages are energy damage, unlimited ammo, one-handedness, and coolness factor. It pales to bows and crossbows in terms of cost, damage, criticals, range increment, and enchantability. The blaster fires faster than a crossbow but is also a martial weapon, so it's unlikely that the whole group could even use them. At this point in time they are more of a novelty than a serious weapon -- it's fun to blast fire at your foes, but if you really want to kill people, use a composite longbow. Re: Heartstones and Magicants - Rituals of Legend This is great. Are you familiar with the Incantation system from Unearthed Arcana? (And from Urban Arcana, and from Call of Cthulu, ... they keep printing the same stuff over and over and I keep on buying it...) Anyhow, one of the drawbacks of replacing all material components with "Essence" is that the world loses the wacky mystical weirdness of material components. But major rituals like this could still involve similar components, an understanding of astrology, secret magic words long lost, etc. Re: Necromagus I like this guy a lot too. This is exactly the sort of megalomaniac wizard the people are afraid of right now. SW Corsom seems like a good place for the monastary as well; if an army of undead was to wander around the borders of those countries, which are remote to begin with, the nobles would be slow to respond (whereas the same army in the middle of Chirmont would be so much bone fragment). Re: Ancient Leather-Bound Tome (rough draft in progress) I am actually super-duper-****-retentive about formatting and things. I've been putting off even looking at Swede V.'s document compilation on the theory that "the creative juices are flowing" and I don't want to get bogged down too much with actual presentation. What I may do is start putting the PrCs into Word documents, since this should be easy (I have templates already). Also I've been thinking a lot about the organization of the document, and it is boggling my mind. Here are the chapters I'm thinking of right now: 1. Intro (the intro story and a "What You Need To Know" style-summary ala Eberron -- basically, this section is for players who don't want to read the whole 120 page document right away) 2. Nature of Magic 3. Races 4. Classes & Rules 5. Society (includes nobility & noble houses) 6. Religion 7. Geography (includes Lienne, plus the countries, plus the cosmology?) 8. Ecology (monsters, plus all the BS about tectonic plates) 9. Organizations & Famous Individuals (Includes PrCs. I'm hesitant to put this last, but so much of it depends on other parts of the world) 10. History (not actually written yet... this will be a short chapter anyway, as most important parts of history are distributed throughout the rest of the document) A. Appendix: Adventure Ideas B. Appendix: Playing with fewer house rules C. Appendix: Themes & Style Of course I change the order of these in my head on a pretty much daily basis. The thing should definitely have a title page, followed by a Table of Contents (hopefully Word can generate this so that His Majesty doesn't have to do it ;)). I would love to get artwork but I haven't put any effort into it at all. I have about zero artistic talent (I can sling a mean 16-color, 32-pixel icon) and don't really know anybody who does. The things I would most like to see drawn are the city of Lienne and the spherical interior of a Magicant chamber. It would be awesome if we could get all of the art done in Renaissance-style oil painting but that would probably require professional help. -- 77IM, often told he needs professional help
The Swedish Viking 07-16-04, 10:46 AM	Right now, the layout of the document is thus: 1 Intro 2 Magic 3 The World 4 Races 5 Religion 6 Organizations 7 Locations 8 NPCs Appendix A: Monsters Appendix B: Lienne Appendix C: Trolls (canīt remember further)
His Majesty 07-16-04, 12:08 PM	Originally posted by 77IM 9. Organizations & Famous Individuals (Includes PrCs. I'm hesitant to put this last, but so much of it depends on other parts of the world) Perhaps the NPCs should be slowly introduced, each when it's most appropriate, in special sidebars. That's a good way to do it, I think. C. Appendix: Themes & Style I think this should be the introduction. Table of Contents (hopefully Word can generate this so that His Majesty doesn't have to do it ;)). :) Well, I don't want to do the Table of Contents, certainly, but Word can actually generate on automatically if you use certain functions properly. I would really like to be the one to format the whole Word doc, however (If we'll use Word) - due to some mental disorder, I actually enjoy these things. Unfortunately, it seems that 77IM has the same problem, so I guess I won't get to do that. I hope I'll get to my NPCs-in-progress today.. I really should finish those.
The Swedish Viking 07-16-04, 12:44 PM	Given that some NPCs entirely lack connections to any specific guild, organization, cause or nation it would be rather annoying to find some NPCs in sidebars and the rest in a special chapter. Just as annoying to find NPCs without ties to anything in inapropriate places.
His Majesty 07-16-04, 12:56 PM	Well, no NPC has absolutely no connections to anything. The Necromagus could go in the "Nature of Magic" chapter, as an example for a power-mongering mage, or aside the description of the nation he threatens. Govardel.. well, he could go around the description of the bard, maybe. He's a bit complicated. Gloin could go by the Magicants. Binqi could be beside the description of goblin society.. with some effort, every NPC can be incorporated into this. But maybe it isn't such a good idea.. I didn't consider this thoroughly.
The Swedish Viking 07-16-04, 07:09 PM	Well, it depends on whether or not we manage to get a hold of some art and other things to go in sidebars(ish). If we do, I say we go for your line. If we donīt, itīll be weird if the NPCs are the only things to go sidebars and we put them in their own chapter.... gonna try and post something new tomorrow.
The ShapeLess One 07-17-04, 04:14 PM	Are you going to be selling this book?
His Majesty 07-18-04, 05:35 AM	I was thinking along the lines of "giving it to anyone who seems to have any remote interest", but perhaps one day.. who knoweth? PS - I spent two and a half hours yesterday between 24:30 and 3:00 (Israel time), writing a new minor noble house on three A4 pages. So I'm tired, my unfinished works still lie around incomplete, and there's new material coming once I type it down. http://img61.photobucket.com/albums/v187/kindalikethis/o_O/wavey.gif
His Majesty 07-18-04, 01:36 PM	House Varindree Tar-Varin Dir Races*: Elf, Half-Elf, Giant. There were only four Human nobles in the history of House Varindree, all of them in the last 300 years. *Organized according to quantity. Holdings: Major Holdings in Ponderry and Highcaster. Minor Holdings in Renflour – namely, the port city Meel, the nearby estate of Ularry, and the surrounding area. Religion: Orthodox Pantheism. The Renflourian branch of the family is partial to several Independent Temples. Leadership: Duke Aronsef, son of Duke Devare III, son of Duke Ardell the Unforgiving, son of Prince Harath II. His Duchess, Kareela. Relationships: Rivals with House Ponderry*, due to territorial disputes. Friendly with House Lauthgard, on a basis of sharing magical knowledge, and of several minor Renflourian houses, on the basis of profitable trade contracts. Allied with House Ganorrt**. **Will be detailed in the future. Personality / Customs: House Varindree still maintains, even more than most people in Ponderry and Highcaster, the old customs of the Renlinean Empire and the days of elven reign. Many things, ranging from architecture through clothing to combat techniques, might seem odd to a stranger from the main continent. One of these oddities, for example, is the house’s insistence on the use of its elven name, Tar-Varin Dir, instead of the common word Varindree. The nobles of Varindree tend to be very practical. They use every advantage they can to their own benefit, and they rarely engage in anything that isn’t a means to an end. Magic and other scholarly studies in particular are rarely taught to the members of the house unless they have a practical use. They are not stupid, however, and even though they don’t practice deception as often as the members of House Ponderry do, they are capable of it. Varindree excels in seamanship and their navy, although smaller than those of other houses, is extremely well trained. They are not as capable in combat on solid ground, however. The members of House Varindree are very loyal, and they’re proud of their lineage. They prefer to be able to make their own decisions, and don’t function well under strictly organized systems. They need some space to wiggle. Like most other elves, they are arrogant and aloof towards other races. History: House Varindree is one of the most ancient houses of the known world, and one of the few houses that survived since the days of the Renlinean Empire. In those days, Varindree was a major house, the dominant one upon the Great Isle, and one of the most prominent naval forces in the Renlinean Sea. The house relied on its strong ties with the druidic order in political affairs, and controlled most of the trade ships in the Renlinean Sea. When the Prophet Jordana destroyed the druidic orders and scattered the sorcerers of the mainland, Varindree was forced to rely on its naval strength to protect itself and the other remnants of the noble houses of the Empire, who fled to the Great Isle. Although many Varindreen trade ships were burned during the revolution, the house succeeded to keep the growing armies of the Prophet away from the Great Isle. The naval might of House Varindree was one of the most important reasons for the signing of the Truce of Meel, which ended the great rebellion. House Varindree was significantly weakened by the loss of its ships and priests. When a revolution, led by the immigrant elven nobles who later formed house Ponderry, started in the Great Isle, the House could not resist, and with little struggle large amounts of territory were lost to the new House, Ponderry, and the head of the house lost his rank of Prince, and instead received the title Duke. Varindree barely survived the next several century, relying mostly on effective (and secret) tactical use of the few sorcerers it still supported and on the selling of Essence to the church – the Varindrean Essence supplies were one of the few stable sources of Essence in the world in that time, due to the great number of magicants that were harmed or moved during the great rebellion, and almost the only source of noble-controlled essence. House Varindee is well known for its distinctive bond with giantkind, another remnant of olden times. Unlike almost all other houses, and despite the bad reputation it gives them overseas, Varindree has one giant Lord and three giant. This treaty with the small population of stone giants in Highcaster has its advantages – the physical might of the giants is very useful in combat, construction, and many other things, and their ancient traditions and lore have occasionally been valuable throughout the years. The nobles of House Varindree were always eager to gain back their territory from the hands of House Ponderry, and the two houses are rivals to this very day. Until recently, they were unable to even threat the mightier house of Ponderry, but with the discovery of heartstones, the giant nobles of the house dug up the almost forgotten traditions of giant wizardry, and many young nobles were sent to learn the art. When the church announced the emancipation of sorcerers, the Varindrean sorcerers were among the first to announce their existence. In a somewhat risky move, Varindree redirected vast portions of its monthly essence supply to the family wizards. Somehow, they got away with it (They never really cared about what the Church thinks or relied on it, but it still holds many resources and influence). The Highcasters, a very old order of clerics and sages native to Highcaster, has stood by Varindree against the always-present threat from Ponderry, and was willing to collaborate, at first, in the research of magic. This collaboration, together with the existing knowledge of a few sorcerers in the area, gave the Varindreen wizards an edge over the wizards of other nations and houses. Lately, however, they have been reluctant to allow the study of several sites in the mountains of Highcaster, which are under their protection and might contain valuable magical knowledge, and some of the houses most powerful mages mysteriously died, disappeared, or joined the ranks of the Highcasters. House Varindree has not acted against them yet, due to their popularity amongst the common people, but a clash seems inevitable if the current situation will not change soon. The House’s extensive use of magic has given it the power to reclaim several portions of land from House Ponderry, and to promote its interests in the courts of Renflour, but the loss of its most powerful mages has allowed the mages of Renflour (Especially those of the Azure Academy) and Lauthgard to surpass those of Varindree in their discoveries, and as a result, in their power and influence. Unless it renews its magical research soon, the House will lose its position as a pioneer in the use of arcane magic. The brilliant policy lead by the head of the house, Duke Aronsef, in the contacts with the magical beasts and monstrous humanoids of Highcaster, has enabled him to create a noteworthy, though delicate, balance between the interests of the wizards, heartstone hunters, sorcerers and magical folk in the area. It is forbidden, by penalty of death, to possess a heartstone that belonged to certain creatures, including giants, several monstrous humanoids, and few sentient magical beasts. Instead, most heartstones are taken from demons and elementals, which are summoned for this particular purpose. Recent scandals in the area are threatening to shatter the status quo, but until now it has been exceptionally quiet. I hope you approve, 77IM.
His Majesty 07-18-04, 01:46 PM	What is the effective level of a heartstone extracted from a humanoid who happens to be a sorcerer? I'm going to post a request on the art board. Even if we get nothing, or not like anything, nothing bad will happen. Edit: I'll wait for tomorrow with that. My left hand hurts from typing.
The Swedish Viking 07-18-04, 07:57 PM	Iīd say that the level of a Heartstone is equal to a characterīs HD (as explaine in the magic items rules I did). So that a level 19 fighter/1 sorcerer still has a heartstone of 20 Hit Dicesī worth.
77IM 07-19-04, 11:54 AM	Originally posted by The Swedish Viking Iīd say that the level of a Heartstone is equal to a characterīs HD (as explaine in the magic items rules I did). So that a level 19 fighter/1 sorcerer still has a heartstone of 20 Hit Dicesī worth. Seems reasonable. I'm not sure that I want to include a rule for extracting sorcerer Heartstones, though. It's kind of rare and there is some question as to whether it is actually possible, so we could just leave it up to individual DMs.
His Majesty 07-19-04, 12:49 PM	The art issue needs some more thinking. Do we want black-and-white (For easy printing)? What do we want painted? Who provides the description of the things we want people to paint? I was thinking about telling people "Read the thread and paint something relevant if you're interested", but that will create all kinds of unwanted results (Maybe we'll get nothing, maybe we'll get things that are useless, because they describe things that are insignificant, and so on). And a very important question - 77IM, you're the leader of this thread (That's obvious). Are you willing to give others the responsibility over certain things in the world (Dump the history section on somebody, f'rinstance)? Do we get to say something about the art at all? I really am not trying to take over the world (Muhahaha! ;)), and I won't be offended if you say that you're the only one who decides. I'll enjoy this anyway, and try to contribute in either case. We just need to know.
The Swedish Viking 07-19-04, 02:58 PM	If we do get hold of an artist, I say we either go for real high-quality colour or black and white. And no sloppy work (like Mialee the Elf...) or head-legs. :P Since advertising is against the COC, I canīt give you a link to a few good pics (as an example of what to look for). I like the Pics a little nordic-style, If you want an example of what I mean I can send you an email. Go for primarily black-and-white pics (very easy to differ from a good b&w pic and a bad, and if a pic has deficiancies it isnīt as obvious/bad as in a coloured pic), and HIGH-QUALITY colour pics (a coulor pic needs much more detail and realism to be good and is veeery difficult to get good). AND NO ANIME, this is NOT a japanese/asian setting! Itīs a nordic/european/medieval-renaissance! In short: Go only for the best colour-pics, and mediocre+ black and white pics (even a mediocre b&w pic looks good as whereas mediocre colour pic looks horrible), and no anime.
77IM 07-19-04, 05:49 PM	I gotta go so I'll make this brief: 1. I agree that high-quality is better than quantity in terms of art. I also agree that black & white art is "easier" than color and that color art requires a higher standard of goodness. In fact, I would favor black & white in general. I don't plan to print out the setting in color anyway, and b&w looks good as "clip art" on web pages too or even as background images. 2. Things I Want Drawn: If I were commissioning art, the first thing I would want is the City of Lienne, with its tall marble buildings, elevated aqueducts, twisty hillside streets, and colorful banners. The second thing would be the spherical inside of a Magicant chamber, illumnated with the crystal's eerie colored glow, as a robed Keeper harvests Essence. 3. Things That Would Be Good To Draw: People are always good, particularly the nobility, as I don't think that people have quite as good an idea what a Renaissance nobleperson looked like. In short, they wear fancy clothes, with a lot of poofy bits, neat patterns, and a big feather in their caps. I agree that anime-style is not really appropriate to the setting. 4. Style: Actually, fancy is sort of the style of the day. Architecture, clothing, weapons, tools, vehicles... even peasant items like bowls and spoons are often carved with elaborate patterns. It's how these people pass the time without TV (at least the ones that can't afford magical entertainment). Look at the difference between a medieval longsword and a Renaissance rapier -- one is a flat piece of metal with maybe a jewel or two in the hilt, the other has an elaborate basket and metal inlays on the blade. 5. I'm a big fan of urban scenes, spanning vistas, and outlandish fantastic castles. In other words, places that are so cool looking that you want to adventure in them. In a way, this sort of art is more appropriate to a campaign setting than pictures of characters. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 07-20-04, 05:24 AM	Pictures need not only include urban settings and people. Mysterious forests with some ancient standing stone, great plains with strange flowers and a hippogriff soaring in the sky, a bridge deep inside a forest guarded by an Ogre that demands a toll, etcetra. Such random pictures add very much to the "mood" of the setting... magical, mysterious, and a little dark.
77IM 07-20-04, 11:56 AM	House Varindree is some good stuff! Some more specific feedback: 1. I'm not sure that Giant nobility is such a good idea. They are basically the lowest social rung in most places -- feared by peasants and met with disdain by nobles. I suppose if they stayed secluded on the Great Isle they'd be fine but if they went to the mainland it would quickly spark an international incident. 2. House Ponderry shouldn't be called House Ponderry. The major countries have all changed hands too often to be named after their ruling families -- only smaller places like Barriton and Sengeral and Elrain have that distinction. Don't worry about this now; when we come up with a better name we can just search-and-replace. 3. Holy History Batman! This is way more material than I usually write for a noble house. Which is perfectly fine -- if you are inspired to come up with such detailed histories, by all means do it (inspiration is the greatest gift to a world-builder and should never be discarded), but don't feel obligated to write a lot. 4. Can you summarize the other houses you are thinking up? I have a few ideas and I don't want us to accidentally write the same thing. Here are my ideas. * The most powerful of the dwarven houses. A very strict and traditional house that also likes money; they must balance the newfangled-yet-profitable wizardry against traditional house values. * A strange Alluvani house that combines meditation and contemplative asceticism with rutheless competitiveness. * The most powerful of the elven houses (probably the one you call Ponderry). They love nature & woodlands & elven crap like that, but also seek to dominate others through force or manipulation. And a very important question - 77IM, you're the leader of this thread (That's obvious). Are you willing to give others the responsibility over certain things in the world (Dump the history section on somebody, f'rinstance)? Well, so far, I've been approaching contributions piecemeal, which I think works well. In other words, I've laid the foundations of the world, and other people can submit individual elements such as organizations, locations, important NPCs, bits of lore, historical events, etc. If you're talking just about the write-up of the history section, I've been avoiding writing it for four reasons. First, I like for all historical events to be tied to something in the present day -- there's no need to go on and on about irrelevant history -- so I've been incorporating the history of things into the entries on those things (for example, the various Races). Second, I find writing history boring. Third, I find reading history boring (I hate it when a homebrew thread starts with a creation myth or a massive world history) and don't want to turn off my audience. Fourth, too many homebrew worlds are all about history -- ancient artifacts, long-lost kingdoms, fallen empires, prophesies fullfilled, etc. (I blame Tolkien.) I want this world to seem modern -- the focus is on how the world is changing and where it's going and less on where it's been, so if I get too elaborate with the history it sort of slips back into D&D cliches in which things happen because of what people did 1000 years ago, not what they are doing right now. Of course the finished document should have a cohesive history section, and if you're volunteering, go for it! That would be a burden off my shoulders. My suggestions for anyone wanting to do this would be to start by compiling what history is already there. Important events are the formation of the Renlinean Empire, the Great Rebellion, the Throne Wars, and the Heartstone Wars (somehow periods of great change coincide with wars...huh...). I wouldn't use an actual timeline format -- just prose with dates thrown in. Don't detail any bit of history that doesn't somehow impact the present-day world. Feel free to mix up history and mythology, such as the Trojan War, but try to avoid presenting mythology as fact, either (a great way to do this is to present multiple versions of the same myth). Don't touch creation mythology or anything much older than the races settling the known world. -- 77IM
His Majesty 07-21-04, 07:02 AM	I'll throw out the giant nobility. It isn't essential, and it isn't worth the problems you say it will create. Actually, I wrote it when I remembered that some giants went south with the elves, and when I found that it isn't true, I slightly changed the story. The source of the arcane knowledge that gave the Varindrians an edge over the others can be some family sorcerers, whose spells served a basis to the wizard spells they developed. I wrote lots of history for the noble house because that's the way I think about it. I don't think about the attitude of the nobles at first, instead thinking about the house in general, and for every characteristic I find a historic reason (Even two years ago is historic). My noble house ideas: :w: The ruling house of Ponderry. When I first thought of the noble houses of the Great Isle, I thought it should be packed with noble houses, since every remaining elven noble of the mainlands came there, and wouldn't give up the existence of his house. Then, I decided (as you can see in the history section of House Varindree) that a large number of nobles allied, and rebelled against the weakened House Varindree, taking dominance over the Great Isle. I called the house 'Ponderry' because I didn't want to waste time over the name of a house that isn't detailed at all. Because of the great number of factions within the house, I guess it might have changed its name several times, and things like that. This could be the basis of the 'scheming elves of Ponderry' stereotype that you mentioned in the country's description. I prefer that you take these guys. Maybe I can write the history, but I don't really know what to say about them, apart from the fact that they're manipulative. :w: A minor, small house on the boarder between Ponderry and Highcaster. This house is neutral, and and it is always on the defensive against the other houses. It is land based (very small navy) and is a well-known source for mercenaries. This house is poor, and its nobles are less snobish than their counterparts from other houses. It is the source of many master artisans, and it is well-known for its craftsmen. NPC ideas: :w: A giant knight. I haven't worked this one out yet. :w: Two half-elf noble runaways, one a sorcereer and the other a scion. They sell information, constantly traveling between countries. Based in the area of Garland. I think that a Leadership section should be added to each house. Not something comlicated - something like the thing I wrote for Varindree.
His Majesty 07-21-04, 02:07 PM	I wrote the art request. You can read it here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=279979). I also will update the table of contents in a few minutes.
77IM 07-21-04, 02:10 PM	:u: I've posted 4 more noble houses on the Noble Houses post, here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?postid=3388474#post338847 4), but I'll reproduce them in this post for your review. :g: I haven't yet written up House "Ponderry." There are actually several elven houses still in existence in Ponderry, with varying amounts of land in other countries. :r: I like the idea of house leadership section and may go back and to that. However, instead of just naming the leader, it'd be better to give them a short (1-sentance) personality description in the leadership section. :b: King Tayom, I have stolen your mana-based bulletted list format. Muahahahaha! House Koref Race(s): Human, Goblin. Holdings: Rules Treothe. Minor holdings in Anku, Ombroten and Renflour. Religion: Church of the Pantheon (Treothan sect) Relationships: Friendly with Solane, Gregor, and Deschaigne. Passionate hatred for Mrovos. Personality/Customs: House Koref is widely known as being fiercely loyal to the Church. Although their traditions are odd (they follow the Treothan sect of the Church), they are extremely devoted to the teachings of Jordana and try to take them to heart in every activity they do. What most people don't realize is that they strictly enforce a rigid social structure on their underlings (with themselves at the top). While the Koref are not quite tyrannical despots, they are somewhat hypocritical -- the sort of people who pray to the gods to fill their hearts with goodness and mercy, then turn around and administer harsh justice to their populace (like cutting the hands off a theif who stole some bread to feed his family). House Iphris Race(s): Human, Half-Elf, Elf. Holdings: Major holdings in Alluvan and Corsom. Minor holdings in Chirmont and Marshalle. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Rocky relationship with Solane. Allies with Varindree and Cholai and with the local ogre tribes. Enemies of Lauthgard and Melgerton. Personality/Customs: A very old house -- one of the first to ally with elven houses during the Throne Wars (hey, that rhymes with Clone Wars!) -- House Iphris has a tradition of practicing meditation, contemplation, and seeking pleasure in the simple things of life. They believe that dreams are as important as the real world, and many of them become priests in order to ingest Essence and commune with the divine. Members of House Iphris are often ruthelessly competitive as well; they strive to overcome their own limits, excel in whatever they do, and reach their goals no matter what. A bit of popular Iphris lore tells of two brothers in a fierce competition to see who could become the most tranquil and ascetic; one became so calm that he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating and he died. The other, named Solane, inherited all of his brother's vast wealth but was devestated over losing the contest, gave up on meditation and all that crap and decided to live life to the fullest, forming his own noble house. House Norindal Race(s): Dwarf. Holdings: Major holdings in the Mountain Duchies. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Allies with Cholai, Gregor, and Melgerton. Bitter enemies of Deschaigne. Dislikes Solane and Barriton. Personality/Customs: Norindal is the strongest of the dwarven houses, and most of their members value two things: tradition and money. Norindal follows ancient dwarven customs dating back to the clan days and has a rigid social hierarcy. They've incorporated Church worship into their traditions smoothly and are big backers of the Church -- most Norindal nobility tithe exactly 10% (no more, no less). They are extremely greedy and spend their time hatching schemes to make money; they have had some difficulty incorporating the use of Heartstones with their house's traditional distrust of arcane magic, and some fear that the wizards of Norindal, who now live as wealthy pariahs, may take their profits and form their own line. House Eliosine Race(s): Human, Elf, Half-Elf. Holdings: Major holdings in the Chirmont, Frelund, Ponderry, and Marshalle. Very minor holdings in many other countries. Religion: Church of the Pantheon. Relationships: Gets along well with most houses. Allies of Deschaigne, Solane, and Lauthgard. Disliked by Senge and Gregor. Engaged in heavy trade wars and magical rivalry with Varindree. Personality/Customs: A wealthy mercantile house with land everywhere and lots of Magicants, Eliosine has made big money in the Essence trade for hundreds of years. They are eager to please everyone and try to avoid political or military entanglements, and encourage the rule of law. Secretly, the house also engages in a lot of black-market trade and criminal extortion activities, but they are able to afford the best PR people in the land (called "priests") and have a good reputation in most places. The Eliosine are also a very creative family; many of them are artists or performers as well as trade barons, and House nobles own many fine works of art.
His Majesty 07-21-04, 02:30 PM	Originally posted by 77IM :b: King Tayom, I have stolen your mana-based bulletted list format. Muahahahaha! And I stole it from Rhineglade! Mooo! Ha!! I like the houses. BTW - You might not have noticed my last post, because I made it almost in the same second you made yours. Look up. Also, clean up your PMs. You're allowed to have only 20 at a time, both in 'sent items' and 'Inbox'. Last time I tried (I didn't actually have something productive to say, but anyway), it was full.
His Majesty 07-23-04, 11:12 AM	Tomorrow, I will be in Turkey. I'll come back to Israel at the tenth of august, and I'll be in Sinai (The peninsula on the north-eastern side of Egypt) between the 15th of august and the 24th. Since I don't want to write anything that will conflict with the things you'll write while I'm gone, but I still want to write things, I think I'll try to write the history (Unless you have a more interesting niche that I can take). I'm hoping that you won't make so many progress that I won't be here when you make the final format of the booklet for tMtH. Someone needs to bump the thread on the art forum if it goes into the second page (Or look after it and talk to the people there otherwise). I've looked at some threads there, and I think that you'll need to bump many times to get results. It might be a good idea to update the table of contents once in a while too. I'll try to edit the Varindree post and take out the parts about giants today. I might be able to read whatever you write in the next five hours or so. http://img61.photobucket.com/albums/v187/kindalikethis/o_O/wavey.gif PS - 77IM, did you know that Khoref means winter in Hebrew? It doesn't really matter, but that was the first thing I thought about when I saw House Koref.
77IM 07-23-04, 02:44 PM	Have fun on your trip! I hope you are not going by high-speed train. :( Originally posted by His Majesty Since I don't want to write anything that will conflict with the things you'll write while I'm gone, but I still want to write things, I think I'll try to write the history (Unless you have a more interesting niche that I can take). I'm hoping that you won't make so many progress that I won't be here when you make the final format of the booklet for tMtH. Don't worry about any of this. Write whatever you want and if it conflicts we should be able to adapt it. (If you truly want to do the history section, go for it. Please keep it succinct -- 2 pages of to-the-point is more fun to read than 10 pages of wordy prose.) I always find organizations fun, and they are also the easiest to adapt (usually just by changing where they are located or who controls them). I also haven't detailed many locations outside of Lienne (in fact, I think all the locations outside of Lienne so far came from Swedish Viking); you could try thinking up interesting cities or regions, or weirder places like dungeons. Or magical academies. (There are three of these: Azure Academy in Lienne, Crystal Hall in the Mountain Duchies and the sprawling Elbrecht Academy in Nibling. Crystal Hall focusses on applied magic and invents a lot of magic items and spells of economic value. Azure Academy is more scientific, studying history, mythology, and cosmology, and focusess on illusion, enchantment and conjuration magic -- lots of fancy stuff. Elbrecht Academy is the most diverse; they have a strong elementalist tradition and the best transmuters and practitioners of life-related magic.) If you want to try your hand at theology, there are about 4-5 major Independant Temples that need to be written up. I haven't thought about these much but they all have similar dogma (and each gets the same 3 domains: Healing, Protection, Good) but wildly different practices. If you're really into the history thing, a good way to approach it (I think) is to do short write-ups of historically significant places, magic items, spells, etc. Don't fret the document formatting; we can wait until you get back for it. I'll actually be gone the 14th-22nd of August as well. I think what we might do for this is ask Swedish Viking to send you and I his document, and we'll all format it the way we think best, then we'll swap around and discuss what format elements we like best and come up with a final more-or-less consensus version. (I will retain veto power over any formats that make me want to throw up but will try to be accomodating otherwise. ;)) -- 77IM
His Majesty 07-23-04, 04:20 PM	I really need to go. I got this by PM, answered, and I'm posting it here, because I don't think it's private or something. I'll do what I can in Turkey. After what you said, I'm really unsure about what I'll choose. Bye. Captain Mutilate wrote on 07-23-04 08:57 PM: Hey. I've looked at the locales and stuff, and decided that I'm able to draw: -The Great Rocks -Mallorn of Life -The Joystones I'm only an amateur artist and can't guarantee that my stuff is going to be drop-dead awesome. However I like the ideas that you guys have and am going to try nonetheless. And with regards to the location of the Mallorn... what if the only way to get to it was to perform a group ritual at the Great Rocks - and it is on a miniature plane of its own... that would be cool. I could draw an island in space with a giant tree on it. Having it on a plane created by elder druids long ago... What do you think?
77IM 07-26-04, 12:34 PM	The Blackguard (LE) Common Knowledge: A sinister-looking group of knights who traditionally wear black armor with a skull motif, the Blackguard are known as valuable allies and fearsome enemies. Fortunately, they have a reputation for helping those in need, although most people will turn to them only as a last resort, for the price they exact is often high. Goals and Ideals: The Blackguard helps those who can afford it. They will never break local laws, nor terrorize the local populace, but almost any mission is acceptable for the right price. And the price is rarely money: They usually demand payment in favors, even subtle things like permission to build a hidden base or attend court functions, but sometimes ask for more dire payment such as children or particular heirlooms. No-one knows for sure what the ultimate plan of the Blackguard is, but they seem to be insinuating themselves into society and most people they "help" wind up worse off in the end. Leadership: The headquarters of the Blackguard is a forboding black spire rising out of the eastern frozen sea near Jarlheim, known as the Fortress of Fornost and ruled by an enigmatic figure known as Lord Fornost. This structure and its lord have been around since the time of ancient Renlinea, although it's unclear whether it is the same Lord Fornost or a line of successors. The Blackguard are known to have existed during the Renlinean Empire as well, although they disappeared for a time and reappeared during the Throne Wars, fighting for various factions. The real identity and goals of Lord Fornost remain a mystery. Inner Workings: The Blackguard is in constant communication with Fornost regarding their missions. In addition to being ruthless killers and horrible practitioners of dark magic, they must be able to act with delicate diplomacy and act within the laws and mores of the society in which they operate. Blackguards that fail or betray the order are hunted down and destroyed as a priority. The number of Blackguards is fixed -- when one of their number falls, they put out a call to new members. Petitioners must make their way to the island fortress of their master and pass a series of difficult tests, which kill most of them. Game Information: The Blackguard are members of the Blackguard prestige class. They do not need to meet the feat requirements for this class. SPOILER: True Goals of the Blackguard Here is the true nature of Lord Fornost and his (its?) goals. (Font is small so you can skip the spoiler.) Lord Fornost (male horned devil cleric 4, CR 18) was a low-ranking priest of the Old Ways who delved too deeply into the universe's mysteries and became a warlock, posessed by a creature known as the Cornugon. Fornost was obsessed with continuing his studies of the cosmos, particularly the stars and planets and "farther realms" such as what we now call Conceptia and Pandemonium. All the while, the Cornugon grew stronger, driving Fornost mad and consuming his personality. Over the centuries the Cornugon continued to study the stars, and developed an insane theory of astrology: Just as the movements of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies can greatly impact the material world and the lives of men and women, so to do the lives of men and women and the state of the world affect celestial bodies. In other words, Lord Fornost decides who needs to live and die in order for the cosmos to change. His ultimate goal is to break down the barriers between reality and Pandemonium, because he is curious to see what would happen. (He suspects that demons will overrun the world and devour it but wants to see how it plays out.) To further these goals, he and several elven sorcerers -- his "apprentices" -- built the Fortress of Fornost as an observatory in the clear skies of the northern lattitudes and established the Blackguards as his terrestrial servants to carry out his evil plans. This material is purely optional -- DMs could substitute a variety of other villians and schemes for Fornost.
The Swedish Viking 07-27-04, 05:44 AM	(Absence notice) I am on vacation. As for the Mallorn of life issue above... nobody really knows how to reach it save the elves, fey, druids, and other nefarious creatures. Itīs all up to the individual DM.
The Swedish Viking 07-29-04, 09:11 AM	The World Picture In ancient days, a great Heroess (legend has it that she was one of the Moon Sisterīs or Earth Motherīs priestesses, though none know for certain) sat down in front of a pond. The beuty of the place struck her hard, and she ordered her servants to hand her brush and paint. Then, they prayed to their Godess on that she may bless the hands of the Heroess. Then, she began to paint. Now, some mages have it that the magic of the place seeped into her brush and easel, while others have it that the place was so beautiful even the Deities wanted what would follow to happen. Many (of those who have enough knowledge of such things to claim anything) claim it was a little of both. As the Heroess painted, so did the Pond begin to disappear. And as she was finished with the pond and its surroundings, it had completely gone, and left was only a big hole in the ground. As the Heroess studied her painting, she noticed that only a small part of the cloth had been covered by the Pond. She continued to paint, and painted an entire landscape centred upon the pond; with temples and a village and a castle and forest. And yet, the more she painted, the less her paint seemd to cover the cloth. She then was struck with a revelation; and locked herself up with her painting for two days. During those days the priestesses could hear strange sounds coming from within. After the two days had passed, they entered the chamber. It was completely empty; save for the painting which was now very large in size and yet the huge amount of things depicted there seemed to be too little to cover the cloth. And, sitting by the pond, was a perfect replica of the Heroess herself... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some say that the legendary World Painting is a world in and off itself, existing entirely within the boundaries of that painting. They say it is a world with its own rules and laws, and that this world is a gateway to the heavens and hells. Over time, a few legendary men and women have had themselves painted onto the picture, and have thus become a part of it for eternity, so that the painting now boasts a huge collection of heroes and villains. Sometime, a new picture appears on the painting. And, it seems that this picture has somehow gotten there on its own... ((-whistles as he stamps the big "MYSTERICA" on to his post, and leaves for 77IM and others to try and decipher it...-))
77IM 07-29-04, 03:56 PM	The World Picture is cool but I think it would be a lot cooler as a recent invention than an ancient artifact. ("Ancient artifact" is way overdone and is just too convenient an excuse for things to happen.) How do you feel about the painting being a young student wizard's thesis about "representative magic" gone awry? The school tried to keep the painting's existence a secret, but of course they couldn't, and now the painting's whereabouts are unknown, and the student's parents are concerned... Or, it could be a sort of "Dorian Grey" thing where a powerful wizard created the painting deliberately in order to live forever, but was trapped in it as a side effect. Or maybe a wizard developed it as a portal into the Spirit Realm, or something. Or maybe the World Picture is an artifact long lost and researchers found a way to "recreate" it recently. Or maybe all of the above and no one knows for sure... -- 77IM
77IM 07-29-04, 04:06 PM	BOARDS UPGRADE ALERT postponed As outlined in this post (http://boards1.wizards.com/announcement.php?forumid=295), the wizards message boards are going to be under maintenance starting August 24, so there is no need to panic just yet. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 08-03-04, 01:21 PM	Well, the story doesnīt specify whether the painting was made ten or ten thousand years ago. Itīs all up to the DM, itīs a story told by the fireside in many parts of the world and knownst to many priests and wizards. Apart from that, details are entirely up to you 77.
The Swedish Viking 08-05-04, 01:29 PM	Hum... 77IM, youīve still got a few nations on your map without info. Mind if I write something up for them? And if you allow me to, what things -donīt- you want in?
77IM 08-05-04, 05:10 PM	If you have some good ideas for minor countries I'd love to hear them! I designed the map with the idea of "satellite cultures." A more powerful culture has a strong influence on those around it, and most of the smaller undetailed countries are similar to their neighbors. A "powerful" culture in this case is not necessarly one with military strength; it's one with unique traditions that reinforce themselves. For example, Garland, dispite being a powerful nation, has a weak culture and can really be viewed as a "satellite" of Frelund and Chirmont. In contrast, the Republic of Renflour has been influenced heavily by other cultures but retains its own strong values and traditions. Most of the minor nations are, to some extent, satellites to the major cultures. This is why I haven't fully detailed many of them. Some cultures correspond with the major nations but there are a few broader cultures. In particular, Zoltar, Frelund and the Mountain Duchies, and surrounding countries are part of a "western" culture which in my mind is similar to eastern Europe and Germanic lands, while Alluvan, Chirmont, Renflour, and Ponderry share an "eastern" culture which I view as similar to the Mediterranian/Romance nations of Europe (being breakaways from the old Renlinean Empire). Jarlheim, Corsom, and Treothe are their own distinct cultures. Jarlheim resembles Scandinavia (the romanticized sea-raiding vikings, in particular), Corsom is a kind of mix between Russia and Saxon England, and Treothe is vaguely middle eastern (more like ancient Persia than Arabia). Finally, all of the southern jungle lands share an ancestry as part of the great civilization of Erindu, which is now just a mediocre civilization. Erindu is kind of like Egypt and Mesoamerica combined, without the Egyptian focus on death or the Mesoamerican human sacrifices, in a jungle setting. Here's what I know about each of the minor countries. You can also get a lot of information from re-reading the Noble Houses, paying attention to which houses have holdings in these countries. Marshalle: A rugged, frontiersy place that serves as a buffer zone between Jarlheim and the rest of the world. Many Jarlish nobles here. Probably speaks Alluvani. Wanford: I don't know much about this place. Likely a satellite culture of Jarlheim. Probably speaks Jarlish. Nebling: A hodge-podge of cultures; many western folk (especially Frelundish) live here. Probably speaks Alluvani. Sengeral: A recent break from Chirmont and a satelite culture of that nation. Speaks Chirmonten. Belsomme: A satellite culture of Chirmont, ocassionally conquered by that land but currently free. Speaks Chirmonten. Berriton: I think I misspell this one a lot. A buffer between the strong "western" culture of Frelund and the "eastern" culture of Renflour. Speaks both Renflourian and Frelundish. Elrain: I know nothing about this land, but it is likely a satellite of Frelund and/or Zoltar. Go hog wild. Anku: A satellite of Treothe and Kresymaya; speaks Kresmayan. Another one that I know little about. Kresmaya: A satellite of Corsom and Treothe with a lot of weird traditions. Think old, Asian-influenced Russia. Has its own language. Ombroten: A satellite of Treothe. Speaks Treothan. That's all I know. Kelphi: Probably a satellite of Erindu. Probably speaks Erindu. That's all I know. Minca: A satellite of Erindu, but follows the Church of the Pantheon, making it a weird mix of Erindan culture and Church teachings. Lede: Ancient homeland of the dwarves (actually they came from across the sea, but settled here first and had a successful culture). It was once mineral-rich but is now fairly poor. Has its own language. Hunitania A very primitive place; a satellite of Erindu but less civilized (primarily hunter-gatherers). Within the past 50 years the place has been colonized by dwarves from the Mountain Duchies and Lede, who discovered awesome mineral deposites. The fearsome jungle is now dotted with dwarven keeps and criss-crossed with "safe roads" patrolled by dwarven security forces. Many also come here seeking Heartstones. Has its own language, which consists of many regional dialects; each may be purchased as a separate language, or you can make Language skill checks to understand the dialects. Please keep the format and amount of information in line with the existing nation write-ups. I feel it's good for the setting to have a number of places deliberately vague so that the DM can fill in those places with whatever he or she (or the players) want. The minor countries can have whatever weird and creative traditions you want, but be aware that these places aren't meant to exist in a vacuum -- a strong culture will bleed into the lands around it, while a weak one will get rolled over by more effective traditions. You can also add more detail to existing countries if you want. Right now I have the countries described in general terms but I'd like for each one to have more "quirks" to make it unique. (For example, something needs to differentiate Jarlheim from "generic fantasy viking culture.") Interesting locations are also at a premium, particularly major cities -- I've put little to no thought into these (outside of Lienne). Have fun! -- 77IM
77IM 08-06-04, 04:36 PM	(I've decided to put this here instead of continuing the main Lienne post. It's not QUITE done yet.) Lienne A majestic city of ancient marble architecture rises above you, as streams of crystal-clear water cascade from numerous acqueducts arching overhead. Colorful flags and banners hang from walls and windows, as a busy populace bustles about the city buying and selling all manner of exotic goods. Monuments and statuary adorn picturesque parks nestled between the great centers of commerce, learning, faith, and government, while hilltop noble manors overlook it all. Fashion & Ettiquitte Lienne is a very formal and polite place. However, because Renflour is a republic and Lienne is a trade city, a mish-mash of different cultures with their own rules of ettiquitte have had to form a sort of "least common denominator" of social behavior. This can basically be summed up as, "bow or courtsey; offer polite compliments; be a generous host and an unimposing guest; polite honesty is preferable to subtle hinting." Even such a simple convention as this can clash with mores from far-off lands, but visitors and residents from such places quickly learn to ignore faux pas from people who are honestly trying to be courtious. For the past few hundred years, Lienne's most unique fashion accessory has been gloves. A well-dressed person always wears some sort of gloves, from long, elaborate dress gloves to simple leather riding gloves. Many of these bear elaborate designs and expensive jewels, and the wealthy own many sets of gloves corresponding to different outfits; the most skilled glovemakers in the world earn their fortunes in Lienne. Of course, nobles everywhere can be seen wearing gloves -- but to wear certain styles of gloves or to wear gloves when it's not really required is to be wearing a Liennese fashion. Liennese love to read and write. Letters and notes are popular amongst the nobility; it is considered more elegant to send a messenger bearing a note, than to send a messenger who simply recites the message. Important messages are sealed in wax and signed with an arcane mark. Most nobility are capable of simply writing their own mark if they are not able (or willing) to cast the spell, and use this to sign ordinary notes. Books are popular, and a well-stocked library is a sign of status and breeding. "Fiction" is a new art form that has become more widespread within the last 20 to 50 years or so, for those who can afford to copy books for purely entertainment purposes. Because of the incredibly high number of nobles in Lienne, a vast amount of the city is devoted to the entertainment industry. Very few minstrels play in public begging for change because most are able to find commissioned work. Nobles themselves often put on shows for their peers, particularly those adept at illusion magic. Illusions have also had a profound effect on fashion and cosmetics; many cantrips have been developed to change a person's hair color, create animated images on garments, smooth blemishes, or otherwise spice up a person's appearance. Because Lienne is a trade town, one would think that elaborate ettiquitte would have developed for buying and selling goods, but this is not so; simple courtesy prevents most problems and a swift, effective civil court system resolves most of the rest. Most merchants are willing to haggle over goods somewhat but it is not required or even expected -- most of the time haggling is just a way for the merchant to give a "hidden discount" to people they like. A trickier situation is courtesy between sellers competing for the same customers. In particular, vying for space on the waterfront or in the Cascade Market can become complicated, so an elaborate system has been developed in which the city's market managers offer about half the spaces to anyone who signs up in advance (although the waiting list can be months long at times), and rent the rest to successful businesses; when a new space opens up, a bidding commences for it. This ensures that smaller or newer enterprises can still get a space in the market from time to time, but that successful merchants can buy their way into a good location. Many merchants operate in side streets off the main market. These are less regulated; spots in the street for stalls are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the market managers rarely interfere unless a shopkeeper from one of the permanent structures complains. They are still governed by Liennese trade law. It's generally considered extremely rude for one merchant to disparage another, so most do not engage in such behavior, and it is patently illegal to make any sort of false claims in any business dealing. In addition, merchants are required to accept merchandise returned within 24 hours for a full refund, provided it is still in sellable condition and was not a custom-made item. Anyone can buy and sell anything, although if you are selling something that you bought in the Cascade Market, and the person who sold it is still selling things there, you must offer to sell it back to them first (at the going price). It's illegal to discriminate against individuals -- if the buyer has the cash, the seller must sell, unless they sincerely feel that it would be harmful for the buyer to possess the item. If a buyer feels discriminated against, they simply tell the market manager, who goes and buys the item for them as an intermediary (no charge). Law & Government Lienne is ruled by a Precept who is appointed by Renflour's Council of Lords. He oversees the day-to-day business of the city, coordinates various municipal offices, and is in charge of law enforcement, although the laws themselves are made by the Council of Lords. The chief duties of the office of the Precept are law enforcement, city maintenance, and commerce regulation. The guards of Lienne are known as the Halberdier (singular and plural), and dress in distinctive red-and-purple outfits and carry masterwork halberds. They patrol the city in pairs and are tasked with preventing crimes and catching wrongdoers, although they spend most of their time assisting visiting nobles find their way around or chasing off vagrants. Members of the Halberdier are not simple guards; they spend three months on the job as apprentices (carrying spears instead of halberds) learning about the city and getting a firm grouding in the Renflourian legal system before becoming full Halberdiers. Senior members become Justiciars, who operate more independantly. These have no uniform, but carry a badge of office (a medallion bearing two crossed halberds on a field of red and purple split vertically). They investigate more serious crimes such as smuggling, organized crime, kidnapping, and murder. Many rose through the ranks of the Halberdier but some are low-ranking nobles who choose to serve their house by helping to keep the peace in Lienne. Commerce is regulated by the market managers, people in fancy clothing who wear the crest of Renflour (a golden dragonne on a field of red and purple) and usually wear distinctive hats bearing large red and purple feathers so that they can be spotted easily. Their basic function is to resolve disputes, although they also help people find their way around the markets of Lienne. They have the power to eject people from the marketplace and even place them under arrest. Their other major duty is the collection of taxes. Although they are sometimes mildly corrupt (susceptible to bribery), the current administration has done a good job of making sure the market managers are reputable, as it is better for commerce. Each market manager has one assistant (typically a manager in training) who helps them keep track of all the goings-on. City maintenance is handled by small crews of workmen of various sorts. Most of these belong to one of several city maintenance guilds which are contracted by the Precept to take care of specific tasks. They are often supervised by members of the Halberdier. The only noteworth maintenance guild is the Crawlers, comprising of extremely tough but slightly odd individuals who keep up the city's sewage system. Thanks to their efforts and excellent Renlinean engineering, this is not quite as smelly a task as one might think, but it can be hazardous as strange monsters reside beneath the city; if supervising a gardening crew is a good Halberdier's reward, supervising a Crawler run is punishment for a bad one. By ancient law, there is only one Magicant allowed in the city, a large one located in the Cathedral of the Pantheon. This Magicant is owned by the Republic directly, and all proceeds go to the city's coffers. This situation -- which only persists because no noble house wants to see any other get ahold of even one more Magicant -- makes the taxes in Lienne fairly low, which improves trade. Merchants must pay a "stall fee" to operate in the Cascade Market, and all residences above a certain size and all commercial buildings must pay a property tax, although smaller dwellings are officially exempt, which helps keep the lower classes happy. Architecture & Aqueducts Most of the buildings of Old Lienne (the downtown and Platinum Hills areas) are huge marble buildings built by and for the giants of the Renlinean Empire and their elven allies. Most Renlinean architecture consists of two or three elf-sized stories built around a central open area large enough to accomodate the 20-foot-tall giants. Nowadays, these have been adapted by adding wooden floors into the central areas to simply turn these into two- or three-story buildings. There many taller buildings, but most of these were built exclusively for elves, giants being to heavy and not numerous enough to warrant multistory buildings. Many of these have domed roofs or square roofs, although some have steeply ridged peaks and others contain numerous conical towers. Relief sculpture adorns many buildings and freestanding statues line most major streets. The newer portions of Lienne, which lie on the outskirts and on the western side of the river, are primarily made of bricks or smaller marble or granite blocks. Most have simple slanting tile roofs and townhouses which share walls with their neighbors. Most of the roads in Lienne are gravel overlaid with giant granite slabs. The city proper is surrounded by a low stone wall, about two feet thick and eight feet tall, which is more ornamental than anything else. There are 11 gates into the city, each guarded by four Halberdiers day and night, who mostly keep an eye out for wanted criminals and make sure that impoverished wretches keep out of the city. Stone aqueducts criss-cross the city, branching out from the Main Flow, a massive aqueduct that flows into Platinum Hills from the hilly regions north of town (spanning several valleys in an impressive display of giantish architecture). The Main Flow is about 30 feet off the ground, and the water flows through the duct about 15 feet wide by 10 feet high; most of the larger navigable ducts carry water about 10 feet wide by 5 feet deep; and smaller ducts are typically around 3-5 feet wide and 1-2 feet deep. Smaller ducts are held aloft by a single row of stone columns, while the larger ones are sometimes supported by parallel columns. Many ducts are also attached to building architecture, running along walls, over the tops of roofs, or even through rooms. The ducts branch into smaller and smaller flows, until most terminate as a trickle in a public fountain, although some also terminate in the houses of nobles (who must pay a special flow tax) or in elaborate water-based architecture (such as the Fountainhall and the Cascade Market). Aqueduct maintenance makes heavy use of the stone shape spell, administered by the Church; the city insists that there always be at least one Church cleric on hand who can cast stone shape (either prepared or from one of many scrolls). Every hundred feet or so, each aqueduct has a closable gate that can be used to plug the duct in the event of a leak (so that the water pressure does not expand the leak), and the navigable aqueducts are often closed off where they attach to the Main Flow. This allows times for the clerics to arrive and seal the breach. A city maintenance guild makes minor repairs and monitors the aqueducts for potential breaches. The latest rage amongst the nobility are private, lightweight, magically-powered aqueduct gondolas. However, most gondalas are narrow pole-driven craft piloted by members of the Gondoleers Guild. (Because the navigable ducts are so narrow, the gondolas are designed to be driven from either side.) The side walls of a navigable duct are thick enough to serve as small walkways in case of emergency, but because they are 15-20 feet above the ground, there is no regular pedestrian traffic up there. Life & People About 1/5 of Lienne's population is nobility and an equal number is servants to the nobility -- Lienne truly is the City of Nobles. Much of the remaining population is merchants and traders, as well as ordinary trade people required to keep a major city running. Lienne's only real export is culture and entertainment. There are just enough craftsfolk to keep the city running and support the merchant network, which drives most of the city's economy. Of course there are plenty of farmers and regular villages nesteled just outside the city, but these are not considered part of Lienne proper. The Halberdier has no official jurisdiction there although local constables certainly cooperate in any way they can, and the laws and taxes of Lienne do not apply in these towns. They supply Lienne with most of its food and livestock needs. Either despite or due to (depending whom you ask) the presence of so many nobles, the ordinary people of Lienne are have a generally upbeat, optomistic attitude. Life in the proseperous city is good, and the people generally believe that they are active participants in their lives and have the opportunity to better themselves. Indeed, many of the museums and schools in Lienne admit wealthy commoners, and at certain entertainment establishments it is considered rude to treat commoners condescendingly (those well-dressed enough to get in, anyway). Because so many different noble houses from many nationalities have a presence in Lienne, the city's natives are used to dealing with diverse customs and strange cultures. They are required to be more cosmipolitan and sophisticated than most folks, and tend to be a bit more gregarious. Liennese are not the most devout people in the world and tend to take a pragmatic approach to whatever religion they adopt. Many city dwellers have relatives in the surrounding countryside. If there is a "dark underbelly" to Liennese culture, it is the treatment of the destitute. Beggars and street-dwellers are not allowed inside the city, an ordinance sternly enforced by the Halberdier. The general consensus is that such people are simply lazy or failures, and their presence tarnishes the beautiful city the people of Lienne have built up. The roads leading into the city are lined with beggars hoping to provoke pity (or pick a pocket), and even the Church's charitable efforts are focussed mainly outside the city borders. Of course there are poor people inside Lienne, but most of them live in cramped conditions and have low-wage jobs -- eviction often means expulsion into the surrounding countryside. HALBERD COMBAT STYLE [General] You are trained to use the halberd as a versatile weapon. Prerequisites: Halberd proficiency, base attack bonus +1. Benefit: You treat the halberd as a double weapon by hitting with its butt, which deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage (1d4 for a small character). You suffer normal two-weapon fighting penalties when doing so, unless you also have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. You don't get special bonuses to trip and disarm with the butt end of the halberd, and you deal your normal Strength modifier with the head of the halberd rather than 1 1/2 times your Strength modifier when using it as a double weapon. You can deal subdual damage with a halberd without suffering a -4 penalty to your attack roll. Finally, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC when you wield a halberd as a double weapon, but not when you use it as a two-handed weapon. Normal: A halberd is a two-handed weapon with a single attacking end; you can't use it in conjunction with two weapon fighting. If you use it to deal subdual damage you suffer a -4 penalty to your attack roll. Special: The shield bonus from this feat stacks with the shield bonus from the Two-Weapon Defense feat and other feats in that tree, but not with any other shield bonuses.
77IM 08-09-04, 11:20 AM	SWEDISH VIKING is having a right good time sitting on his fat lazy ass. Live the good life, brother! -- 77IM
His Majesty 08-10-04, 05:10 AM	I printed out some material for reading and quick referance during my vacation, and I noticed some things. Although it isn't important, I'll send some spelling mistakes to 77IM by PM. (Only in the major sections, like country descriptions, since I only printed those parts, and not even all of them.) Also, I have some questions. What are the practical uses of mallorn acorns? How do druids use them to gain their daily essence? What is the reason behind the power-level of Heartstones (For example, why are abberations' Heartstones less potent)? I'm not really expecting in-game explanations - just metagame. I truly don't understand why you raised the average age of death to 100 years for most humanoids, including humans. If you don't like the medieval life expectancy of 40-50 years, you can raise it to around 70-80, like the life length in most western countries, but why 100? Are middle-age people supposed to be 50 years old, now? Does the age of sexual maturity rise too? It really messes up with my calculations. What is the power-level of Magicants as a focus for wizardry? Elves' eyes and hair, and halflings' eyes, are supposed to be of "any color". Do you actually mean any color, or just any color in the normal spectrum? I was wondering at some time about racial skin-color. I wonder if you could clear that out? I'll start typing the things I wrote in Turkey at some point in the near future. I've seen some very inspiring things - the monumental buildings of Istanbul, like the Hagia Sofia Church and the Suleimania Mosque are amazing, and the ancient greek/roman cities, Efesos and Termessos, are truly awesome. I like the new snippet. Also, why did you move Lede without telling anybody? Edit: I updated the ToC again.
The Swedish Viking 08-10-04, 06:55 AM	(GENERAL NOTICE TO ANYONE INTERESTED) cleared out inbox.... Note on why I donīt write: I am in the vile clutches of holiday-teenager-laziness. MUHAHAHAHA!
77IM 08-10-04, 10:46 AM	Originally posted by His Majesty I printed out some material for reading and quick referance during my vacation, and I noticed some things. Although it isn't important, I'll send some spelling mistakes to 77IM by PM. (Only in the major sections, like country descriptions, since I only printed those parts, and not even all of them.) Cool. I sometimes spell the country names and things slightly wrong. I think the Microsoft Word spellchecker will catch most of this sort of thing though. I was playing with Word yesterday for formatting purposes. I set up a bunch of styles and got it to auto-calculate the Table of Contents based on styles. What are the practical uses of mallorn acorns? How do druids use them to gain their daily essence? They eat them! They are like a soft version of regular acorns. Divine casters must ingest their Essence. Most clerics mix it with a special tea, although some hard-core ones just gulp it down. What is the reason behind the power-level of Heartstones (For example, why are abberations' Heartstones less potent)? I'm not really expecting in-game explanations - just metagame. This is just a reflection of the relative "magicalness" of different creatures as I see them. For example, dragons and fey are highly magical, while abberations are kind of ugly kludges. (I guess the more magical creatures are ones that inspire a sense of wonder; more mundane creatures, less magical.) I might add to the chart, that certain creatures (giants, vermin) with spell-like abilities could be harvested at -2 also, and humanoids, animals, etc. with spell-like abilities could be harvested at -4. (This means all you 5th-level gnomes better watch out!) I truly don't understand why you raised the average age of death to 100 years for most humanoids, including humans. If you don't like the medieval life expectancy of 40-50 years, you can raise it to around 70-80, like the life length in most western countries, but why 100? Are middle-age people supposed to be 50 years old, now? Does the age of sexual maturity rise too? It really messes up with my calculations. I'm sorry -- that is the MAXIMUM life span. The average is still around 50 for ordinary people and around 80 for nobles and clergy who have access to healing magic. But some buggers live to be around 100 (Fay Wray just died at 96!), or even a few years past it. What is the power-level of Magicants as a focus for wizardry? Infinite, I guess. Power-level is a cap on spellcasting, so Magicant casting won't be any better, you will just never outgrow your Magicant. Elves' eyes and hair, and halflings' eyes, are supposed to be of "any color". Do you actually mean any color, or just any color in the normal spectrum? Any color of visible light. Open up your paint program and go hog-wild. This can lead to elves with anime-colored hair; however, bright colors are less common than traditional colors, just as red hair is less common among Europeans. I was wondering at some time about racial skin-color. I wonder if you could clear that out? Let me check my notes. <checks notes> Well, for humans there is a sort of "fair-to-swarthy" spectrum that goes from northeast to southwest. People of Jarlheim are blonde-haired blue-eyed charicatures, people of the Eastern nations (Alluvan clockwise to Renflour) are fair but darker, the people of Corsom have thicker, dark hair, and the Western cultures have slightly darker or olive colored skin. Treothans are even darker but still caucasian in appearance, and the humans native to Erindu and Hunitania have dark, African skin tones. The demihumans tend to mirror the nearby human cultures, so gnomes and ogres from Jarlhiem will have light hair and skin, the dwarves of the Mountain Duchies resemble the folk of Frelund or Zoltar, the elves of Ponderry resemble the people of Chirmont, etc. Some exceptions are halfling Losha, which have a very "western," almost Treothan, appearance (dark hair, slightly darker skin) no matter where they are found; goblins and ogres, which can have unusual skin and hair colors (such as ocre, rusty brown, or pale greyish-brown) in any land; and giants, which have a lot of diverse ethnic subgroups like fire giants and frost giants and whatnot. Does this answer your question? I'll start typing the things I wrote in Turkey at some point in the near future. I've seen some very inspiring things - the monumental buildings of Istanbul, like the Hagia Sofia Church and the Suleimania Mosque are amazing, and the ancient greek/roman cities, Efesos and Termessos, are truly awesome. Sweet! Turkey looks really cool -- if I am ever in that part of the world I plan to check it out. I like the new snippet. Also, why did you move Lede without telling anybody? Thanks! But I don't remember moving Lede -- where did you think it was before? I certainly haven't changed the map or the Dwarf entry since I created them and I think they are the only Lede references until my "country summary" post just recently. I'm glad you had a good trip to Turkey and I hope to see the products of your labors soon! -- 77IM PS. I'm going to be gone Aug. 14-Aug. 22; please plan to carry on in my absence. I'll post some new material just before I go.
77IM 08-10-04, 11:40 AM	Sometimes when working on details it's good to step back to the beginning, to the big picture, and look at things from the mountaintop. Traditional Modern Life Death Opression Rebellion Dogma Desire Safety Power Conformity Individuality Quantity Quality Faith Ego Past Future Mystical Rational Hypocrisy Heresy The Magicant The Heartstone
His Majesty 08-11-04, 05:24 PM	Here's a new NPC I wrote in Turkey. I really like what you've done, but one thing seems inaccurate - the Quality/Quantity conflict. That distinction is okay between divine and arcane magic, but Magicants themselves are obviously "Quality" and not "Quantity", when compared with heartstones. Sharm Dunsin Tumbleweed – Ranger 3 / Wizard 6 “You’re not a bird, Sharm. Halflings don’t fly. Bear that in mind next time you decide to jump off a 90-foot high cliff. Idiot.” Sharm Dunsin is a tall (well, relatively tall) Halfling, 42 years old. He has long black hair, usually arranged in a short ponytail. When his hair covers his ears, it is easy to mistake him for a gnome, due to his fair skin, blue eyes and tall build. The only thing interfering with this impression is the big, red scar on his forehead. Sharm is a stubborn, silent man, preferring to work on his own and uncomfortable between strangers, although very warm and open between friends. Although he is very intelligent, he tends to respond emotionally, act before thinking, and see and experience things himself rather than learn from other people’s mistakes. Generally, he is very optimistic and devoted to the responsibilities he takes upon himself, and always completes things he started if he can. Sharm was born in a small Losha called Twentin. Although he is no longer an active member in the Losha, he usually adds the name of his Losha, or a translation of it (Tumbleweed) to his name. Sharm has a gift for language - he is fluent in about a dozen, and can basically communicate in several others. He has traveled most of the known world. For as long as he can remember himself, Sharm has been fascinated with birds. At the age of five, he was already helping with the Losha’s chickens. One year later, his uncle Bares brought him a young parrot, from Erindu, which he tamed to whistle several songs while Sharm was playing his flute. When Sharm was sent to learn a profession, it was obvious that he should be working with animals. At first he was sent to become a shepherd, but he was uninterested, and eventually ended up with his uncle Bares as an apprentice hunter and scout. Sharm wasn’t a brilliant student, but he was devoted to his studies, and became a fine woodsman. Yet the greatest pleasure that Sharm took from being a hunter was not the hunt, or the freedom – although he enjoyed those – but the opportunity, and skills, to watch and hunt his favorite animals – birds. By the age of 19, Sharm had around fifteen ornithology books and could recognize nearly every bird east of Berriton. He could also cook the best bird-meat stew you’ve ever tasted. When Sharm was 20, his Losha visited the Mountain Duchies, and he encountered dwarven lumberjacks beside a very high cliff. Instead of carrying their wood around the cliff, they threw it off the cliff in great bundles, and then jumped off it themselves, relying on parachutes to keep them and their merchandise in one piece. After assuring him that it was completely safe, they let Sharm jump too. Although he landed terribly and got himself that huge scar on his forehead, Sharm enjoyed that long fall so much that he decided to try to find a way to actually fly, and not only fall slowly. His ideas were pretty obscure, but he made his decision, and despite the objection of his family, he left the Losha, and began to search for the people who wrote his books, hoping that they could tell him how, exactly, did birds fly. Sharm visited most of the major libraries and academies of the world, but all of the ornithologists he met told him, as his mother would say, that flight was the Sky Lord’s gift to birds. Several alchemists supported the only other coherent theory he could find. They said that, unlikely as it seems, air was an actual substance, and the birds were “standing” or “floating” on it, or anyway it supported their weight. After several experiments, they convinced him, but that didn’t help him very much. One day, Sharm was in a party in Lienne, in the Scarlet Bird, trying to forget about his problems, when he found himself telling all about it to a young human woman he met there. She took him to one of the small rooms in the back, and there, to his astonishment, she turned him into a swallow. Sharm was delighted, but when the spell ended, he could not find anyone who knew anything about that woman. It was now clear, however, what he should do – magic was obviously the solution. Sharm was accepted into the Magic Faculty of the Elbrecht Academy in the next summer. It took him eight years to graduate (It usually takes only five, but he was also learning ornithology and taking courses in alchemy and linguistics), and seven more to gain a noble-of-honor status in the Mountain Duchies, and his first personal Heartstone. He was always, however, much more advanced in his knowledge of magical theory than his practical spells. At that time, he could easily decipher a 4th-level spell, but barely cast a 2nd-level spell. During his time there, he researched every possible air spell he could find. After he got his own Heartstone, he traveled the world for several years, doing various types of research, including gathering details in libraries, roc-hunting in the Great Desert (He got one male. The skeleton is displayed in the Elbrecht Academy), and inspecting mummified flying beasts, relics of the Heartstone War. Eventually, he emerged successful. Based on several existing spells, such as Tenser’s floating disk* and feather fall, as well as his own inventions, such as levitate, he presented before the members of the Faculty of Magic his greatest achievement – the fly spell**. Although difficult to master, it was finally possible – human beings could fly! One year ago, a fatal lung disease struck Sharm, and none of the physicians could recognize or cure it, even with the help of divine magic. It was almost certain that he would die, and he was sent to one of the more remote parts of the Mountain Duchies, to a village named Barzance, where there are hot-water springs. He was accompanied by one of the healers, a goblin female named Giset. There, he secretly attempted to do the one thing that could, possibly, keep him from dying. In that remote village, Sharm implanted the Heartstone of the roc he killed in the desert into his own body. Giset was the only person who knew about it. Half a year later, the disease passed, and he was welcomed back to the Faculty of Magic – but he knew that he had limited time. Eventually, he would turn into a roc. Sharm is very confused right now. He can’t tell his secret to anybody, and he doesn’t believe that he has any hope to reverse the process. No sign of the transformation has appeared, but it must happen eventually. He is still working, but he’s pretty slow now, and his friends are already becoming worried. He and Giset have become lovers, and some of his friends are blaming it on her. *We should change those kinds of names. **I’m going to rewrite this spell as a houserule, in order to make magical flying feel more like using an early airplane. Items created by Sharm Dunsin Tumbleweed Sharm's Whistles: These whistles are all attached to one large metal ring. They are made of various substances and are of many different colors. There are about 20 of them. By blowing into a certain whistle in the right way (some of them are quite complicated), you can duplicate the cry of almost any bird on this side of the steppelands. He plays them quite often. Sharm used transmutation spells for some of the fine-tuning, so the whistles have a faint transmutation aura. Winged Sandals: As the Winged Boots in the DMG, except this is the only copy of this item, and they are sandals with wings on their sides. The wings are always there and are completely non-magical ornaments, made of leather. Private Library: Sharm has very detailed ornithology books from all over the world. He even wrote some books himself. The small book he wrote about rocs and flying magical beasts, such as sphinxes (He met one in the desert) are especially interesting. He also keeps very valuable spell books, which I will detail later.
The Swedish Viking 08-12-04, 05:14 AM	Hmm... I suddenly understood I have one (censored) time of work ahead of me, editing all of these recent postings into the document. Dammit Majesty, do you -have- to write so huge things? :lol: After editing and copy-pasting my estimate is that the book will be about 100 to 110 pages long. Howīs the art section going?
His Majesty 08-12-04, 05:40 AM	Actually, that's a pretty annoying problem I've got. Could you believe I wrote almost half a paragraph about the parrot he had when he was six? I cut that out, obviously, as well as a few other things, but I'll probably still have to trim it again before we make the final document. It happens to me all the time, and because of that I never finish anything. My current techique is writing everything with a pencil on real paper, then rewriting it, trying to be brief this time, on the computer. It doesn't always work.. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm acting llike a ******* Robert Jordan. :looloo: At least I enjoy it. :) I'll shorten the Varindree post today. We've got two artists, but none of them have posted any pictures yet. 77IM - I had this mental image of the map that turned out to be completely wrong. That was why I said that you moved Lede. Sorry 'bout that. I guess I should have printed the map, too. Here are some nice pictures of Istanbul (http://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/resources/www/pictures/turkey/index.html) and some other places in Turkey.
77IM 08-12-04, 10:34 AM	Re: 100-110 pages You haven't seen the 25 Prestige Classes I wrote last week. :devil: Swedish Viking: Did you get my PM? Please respond! :confused: Ghostie Ghost: If you're still around, please do likewise! :( Re: Quantity vs. Quality Magicants are big and have mediocre spells (quanity) while Heartstones are small and have good spells (quality). But you are right, this is the weakest of the oppositional pairs. :rolleyes: Re: Obsessive Writing Consider it a gift! My advice, is to try writing about some locations or cultural phenomena, since these things have a greater impact on PCs and the added detail will help bring those elements to life (as opposed to NPCs, which are only read by the DM). :D Re: Sharm Tumbleweed This guy is great -- I love the idea of providing a history for a spell. This is exactly the sort of thing that is happening right now in arcane magic. (This is actually a fairly benign example -- people probably reacted badly to the inventor of dominate person or to the thief who discovered you could use dimension door to get into treasure vaults.) :cool: -- 77IM :twitch: :invasion:
77IM 08-12-04, 10:52 AM	OK, so these aren't 100% original. A few are generic classes I had written before and others are SRD classes adapted for the world and a few are already posted on this thread. Also they're not all done -- a few of them are missing descriptions and may not be fully 3.5ified. I have a few more PrC ideas that I have yet to draft up (such as the Highcaster and the Corsom Cavalier and the Justiciar). Also I have no idea about the balance of these things; it's impossible to know without playtesting so I just give it my best shot and compare them to existing classes. (This makes it difficult for wizard PrCs -- their corresponding core class has really nothing to give up.) Unfortunately you will need WinZip and a fairly recent copy of Microsoft Word to view these, as I find it easier to create these things in Word than to do it on the board and format it later. The Magicant, The Heartstone Prestige Classes (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/tMtH/tMtHPrCs.zip) Enjoy! -- 77IM
His Majesty 08-12-04, 12:41 PM	the Prestige classes are great. We need that sort of stuff, and I, at least, don't have the patience to create them. You might want to ask for balance tips in the PrC forum. Here's another thing from Turkey: Shahanar - Shapechanger, probably sorcerer or druid of level 17+ Shahanar is one of the most common characters in the mythology of Erindu and the surrounding countries, as well as that of the Losha. The earliest account of this legendary character appears in a scroll, found in the Valo Library, in the capital of Kelphi, Diavle. Here is a translation of the myth, as it is presented there: “ Presently the third witch-king of Valovard, Shahanar, left the city. He traveled the jungles Shahanar was as strong as a constrictor, quicker than a lia lizard, and as wise as the dryad. He was seeking refuge from the one thing he truly feared – his own mortality There, among the tall trees, he watched a snake. The snake wiggled, and Shahanar wiggled. The snake twisted, and Shahanar twisted he turned his skin inside-out Shahanar returned to that wondrous city, Valovard, and his new body amazed every man. He spoke with the voice of Shahanar, yet his form was that of a great couatl, bright and magnificent [Shahanar accomplishes many great deeds – the details are unimportant. 12 years pass.] That day, Shahanar became a monkey. He could not find his house Victorious, Shahanar returned to Valovard. In the gates of the city stood his brother, greeting him. “Who are you, dear man of the city?” said Shahanar... He could not recognize him Met Firia the beloved, his charming wife. He turned her back to her. “Go away, and do not bother me, woman. I have no wife. You are a liar!” Eventually the day came when he could no longer recognize his parents. He could not believe that they were his parents, but he could not tell who his parents were, either. Enraged and insane, he ran into the jungle, roaring and screaming, and he was never seen again in Valovard for one hundred years and ten years and one year after that ” When Shahanar comes back, he does not remember anything except his name, which he never forgets in any of the myths. All of the kings of Valovard had “the Gift of Tongues”, which allowed them to understand and communicate with any creature or god, so communication was not a problem. People feared him, but they gave him food and water in order to please him. The myth above is very common, but other myths depict Shahanar differently. Hundreds of other stories tell about his numerous adventures. He is believed by some to be the father of the Satyrs, or the Minotaurs, and several other strange races. In the art of Erindu, Shahanar is sometimes used as a symbol of change, eternity, and rebirth / rejuvenation, and sometimes he represents innocence, ignorance and forgetfulness. He is usually drawn as a couatl with many tails, or a man / monster with many faces. Shahanar frequently appears in folklore. His roles there are diverse. When objects or even people disappear mysteriously, people sometimes say that Shahanar took them. He is blamed for the great fire that consumed most of the port-city Salanyel 124 years ago. Recently, the Faculty of Magic in the Azure Academy has chosen the traditional image of Shahanar (a many-tailed couatl) as its symbol.
77IM 08-12-04, 05:01 PM	Fantastic! Shahanar is thematically related to the Trickster, possibly a manifestation or avatar or just a chosen mortal. (Or who knows. Maybe it's a trick.) Transformation has become something of a theme in this homebrew, which is something I didn't expect but am happy about. I tossed in the witches (and saints) as a neat way of using monster classes, and the Instinctuals (high-level druids) seemed like a more interesting way of explaining the many mythological half-human monsters about. The Shapeless followed naturally from thinking about polymorph magic, and the Scorned needed to have some history that would relate them to the prophet, and the World Picture is sort of a transformation story, and now Shahanar turning into every which thing... I think it fits nicely, as there is a parallel between physical change, spiritual change, and social change. Transformation also raises questions of identity, which are brought up during times of social upheaval. -- 77IM
77IM 08-13-04, 09:32 PM	I just updated the supplementary post on Lienne, above. You guys will have to carry on in my absence for the next week (until Aug 22). I'll be on vacation in Costa Rica, where I will be an usher at my friend's wedding, go SCUBA diving, go horseback riding, look for sloths in the jungle, and, on the beach before a romantic sunset, ask my girlfriend to marry me. -- 77IM :tiphat:
The Swedish Viking 08-13-04, 09:39 PM	Well, good luck mate.:angel:
His Magesty 08-14-04, 04:24 AM	Have fun! Edit: I have good news and bad news. The bad news are, that my group was TPKed five minutes ago. The good news are, that I'm moving them into this world (Standard campaign start is Lienne), so we're going to get some more elaboration of the world.
His Majesty 08-15-04, 07:16 AM	I'm going to be in Sinai between today (the 15th) and the 24th. Bye.
The Swedish Viking 08-17-04, 02:00 AM	The first of the new nations... Elrain: For a long time, Elrain was (and to some degree still is) unclaimed country. This is and has been a land where adventurers have journeyed to carve out their own domains, establish strongholds, and battle against legendary beasts come down from the Zoltar mountains. Due to itīs isolated position just west of Zoltar, it has remained relatively unchanged for a long time. Events in the outside world, such as the rise and fall of the Renlinean Empire and the coming of the Church of the Pantheon all had little impact on this nation compared to the other lands of the west. To this day Elrain remains one of the westernmost bastions of the Old Ways. Nowadays, Elrain still retains to some degree itīs wilderness aspect, though a substantial portion of the land is now under the rule of a very enigmatic individual by the name of Lord Soot. Lord Soot rules his lands with an Iron fist, and rumours abound in villages and towns close-by to his domain that he is an evil man and that his forces have committed many evils, though those that travel through here havenīt seen any evidence of such behaviour.
The Swedish Viking 08-19-04, 07:56 AM	Lede: Lede is considered by most of of the now-living dwarves (those who disagree tend to be historians, though even these admit that their heart and home lies in the Island) as their homeland. Lede was populated by dwarves coming west over and under the sea a very long time ago, and the memories of that time are few indeed. Lede is dominated by a mountainous landscape with small coves and havens, and is surrounded on all sides by sheer rock cliffs (which suited the dwarves perfectly). The Inland of the Island is hot, though not tropic nor dry, thanks to the closeness to sea and the protecting mountainwalls. It is a land filled with deep valleys, with the mountaintops tipped with snow even during summer and the valleys are green all year around. With its rugged mountaintops, natural caves and caverns, rich mineral deposits, self-sufficiency, and unearthly beauty it is not strange that the dwarves have for a long time been in love with the Island. It was here that the dwarven civilization flourished for millennia, relatively isolated from the goings on in the outside world. They fought the beasts that lived on the Island, and still do, though the lack of wars and famine eventually began to cause over-population. This caused a great migration and the dwarves that left would found amongst others the Mountain Duchies and mining-nations down in the southern jungles. These days, the Island has not much of its mineral deposits left (compared to the olden days). Abandoned mines have become home to vile creatures, and the dwarven nation here is in war comparatively often. it is still the seat of the dwarven civilization, and it is not likely that it will ever be abandoned.
Ghostie Ghost 08-22-04, 05:28 PM	im back from 2 weeks of holiday and ready to post once i've slept a little
77IM 08-22-04, 05:51 PM	She said yes! (It was too cloudy for a romantic sunset but the clouds were pretty neat looking.) On the downside, we missed our flight out due to stormy weather so I'll be stuck here for a few more days. Keep up the good work in my absence! -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 08-23-04, 12:31 PM	The Three Travellers Troupe - Teriam Bushwade (male gnome rog lvl 8, Lillian Fflam (female human wiz 8) , Dengar Bruteaxe (male dwarf lvl 9 war) "Well, theyīre adventurers. Some oī the first to take advantage of todayīs situation. Some would have it that theyīre not tryinī to take advantage, but tryinī to help. Iīd say, a little of both. Who wouldnīt want to help the world and at the same time earn a little coin, ye know?" The Troup of Three Travellers, or Three Travellers Troupe was, as rumours indicate, some of the first adventurers to spring up after the discovery of Heartstone magic, and use this new discovery in pursuit of fame, fortune and heroic goals. Nobody is quite sure about the background of these rather enigmatic heroes (and a heroess), nor is anyone clear of their goal. The gnome, it seems, is mostly after making sure that those who have earned their riches in unjust ways quickly loose it (something he is very apt at making sure), and bringing laughter to where he goes. The elven sorceress (or is it wizard? The theories abound...) seems to be intent to become one of the more powerful magic-users about. The dwarf, well, heīs probably just tagging along for the gold and the chance to smash a goblin or dragonic critter now and again. As different as their motivations might be, the group is a force, albeit small, working where work needs to be done in favour of general wellbeing. The group has tried to remain neutral in political matters, though most say that the sorceress is in fact an Old Way priestess trying to restore faith to what she represents. Recent activities of the group seems to support this matter, as they are rumoured to have been involved in aiding some druidic scum to destroy a wizardly member of the Highcasters and his warriors, in addition to one or two raids against the odd monastery in Elrain. They seem connected to the Magicele Liberation Army, though nobody really knows in what way... ------------------------------------------------------ The Troupe of Three Travellers is actually currently about trying to destroy a recent, evil scheme initiated by the Highcasters. They are agents of the White (good) wing of the Magicele Liberation Army, answering directly to the General himself. What plans they are currently ruining, or why, is as of today unknown...
Ghostie Ghost 08-23-04, 02:49 PM	Recently i managed to DM a tM,tH game, the blaster overdose i expected didn't happen BUT all the players took the "Major Holdings" feat so i had many problems trying to keep them toghether and adventuring. I had to resort to strand the players somewhere far. Major problems i encountered: 1: PCs never leave on long adventures. 2:PCs have so much money that they buy masterwork daggers for fun. 3:PCs go on adventures with army.
Ghostie Ghost 08-23-04, 02:57 PM	Recently i managed to DM a tM,tH game, the blaster overdose i expected didn't happen BUT all the players took the "Major Holdings" feat so i had many problems trying to keep them toghether and adventuring. I had to resort to shipwreck the players somewhere far. Major problems i encountered: 1: PCs never leave on long adventures. 2:PCs have so much money that they buy masterwork daggers for fun. 3:PCs go on adventures/dungeon crwals with army. It could only be my players and their money-grabbing ways, but i felt i needed to report this mishap.
Ghostie Ghost 08-23-04, 03:02 PM	Recently i managed to DM a tM,tH game, the blaster overdose i expected didn't happen BUT all the players took the "Major Holdings" feat so i had many problems trying to keep them toghether and adventuring. I had to resort to shipwreck the players somewhere far. Major problems i encountered: 1: PCs never leave on long adventures. 2: PCs have so much money that they buy masterwork daggers for fun. 3: PCs go on adventures/dungeon crwals with army. It could only be my players and their money-grabbing ways, but i felt i needed to report this mishap. SORRY FOR TRIPLE POST MY COMPY SUCKS
The Swedish Viking 08-24-04, 02:35 AM	Liches Liches? Theyīre ancient and always evil, lad. Donīt get involved with them. Sure, the allure of life and power for eternity might be great, but are ye sure ye want ter pay the price? Liches are very rare, usually ancient, and evil creatures. They are even rarer now than in the ancient times when what little magic there was still remained unchecked by anyone. For the ritual to become a lich is very difficult for the mage, lethal should the mage fail, and lethal should what he is doing be discovered by those who oppose the evil forces or dark deeds involved. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Liches are usually mages who have used their power to attain lichdom, or powerful warriors/heroes who use contacts and power to obtain artifacts with such power they can attain lichdom with the aid of these objects. The ritual to attain lichdom requires an incredible amount of magical energy. Such energy requires that the one to perform the ritual meet the prerequisits in the MM, as well as the prerequisites listed below. * Heartstones or Magicants amounting to Power Level 40. * At least one powerful magical item requiring CL 11 to craft. * One sentient, good-aligned humanoid being. * Gate, Planar Ally, Lesser Planar Ally, or similar spell. Alternatively, performing the ritual aided by evil clerics or other evil mages. Another way to do it is to find scrolls and texts of arcane and divine power (finding an Arcane lesser Planar Binding and Divine of Lesser Planar Ally (or another similar spell), and a scroll of Protection from Evil. * An alchemists laboratory. Each month the character spends trying to learn the rituals, make a Cract (Alchemy) check, DC 15. If the character succeeds, she may reduce the total Power Level of Magicants/Heartstones required by 1 for each successful check. * The knowledge on how to become a lich (in effect, this requires extensive studies on the topic of becomming a Lich) which means the character has to DC 35 (the character may not take either 10 or 20). For this check, apply a +4 bonus for each book on the topic of Lichdom the character has read. A book such as this costs 1000 gold pieces to acquire, and takes one month to read. The check itself takes one week. If the check is failed, one can attempt a new check next week. Each month spent after beginning to tread the path of lichdom (starting the first month the character begins to read books on the subject) costs the character 500 gp (or something equivalent) in supplies for magical experiments conducted. After the character succeeds at the required checks, she may perform the ritual to become a lich. If she wishes, she can continue the studying to lessen Power Level cost. The ritual to become a lich requires the would-be-lich mage to use all the Power of the Heartstones/Magicants amassed, plus the magic of the artifact (magic item) she has acquired. Infusing herself with these powers take 1 hour, after which she must succeed at a Knowledge (Arcana) check, DC 25 (she recieves a +2 competence bonus to this check for each month she has studied the rituals). If the ritual is successful, the mage acquires the powers of the magical items. If the check fails, she must first rest for a week, during which time she may not engage in strenous activities. After acquiring the powers of the magic items, the mage must then conduct the ritual to become a lich aided either by wizards, sorcerers, druids or clerics of a total Caster Level of 30 (add the caster levels of all the participants together) or a fiend (fiends count as having a Caster Level of their HD x 2) of some kind, summoned using spells or scrolls. To handle the power bestowed by these aides, the character must succeed at a Caster level check, DC 42 (she recieves the total Caster Level of the others as a circumstance bonus to her check). The next step in the ritual is to slay the good-aligned being and dedicate the deed to the dark powers, after which the crossing to lichdom takes place (this step is not explained closely for good reason). The mage must now succeed at a Will save (DC 15) to successfully transform into a lich. If, at any point after the initial step 1, the would-be-lich fails a check, he or she fails the ritual, all the magic items/heartstones used are spoiled and ruined, unusable (though the Magicant still retains its powers). She also loose 500 XP for powers spent. Those who have aided the lich in the ritual will likely be a wee bit angry with the failure (which might be -really- bad if the mage was aided by, say, a Balor). If the caster, at any point during the ritual, rolls a 1 (critical failure), the ritual goes completely haywire. Roll a d6 and consult the table below for results: D6 Result 1-2 Lichdom is bestowed on another creature present during ritual, determined randomly. If no other creature than the caster is present, then the closest living being becomes a lich (even if this happens to be a Space Hamster). 3-4 The would-be-lich changes sex, has his head turned front/back, or some similar bizarre event occurs. 5-6 The would-be-lich must succeed at a Will save (DC 20) or die. The mage cannot be brought back to life other than through the use of a True Resurrection spell. If the save succeeds, the mage takes 5d6 points of damage, and the ritual fails (see details above).' If the check succeeds, the ritual is successful and the Lich template is bestowed upon the mage.
Delvesdeep 08-31-04, 02:34 AM	She said yes! (It was too cloudy for a romantic sunset but the clouds were pretty neat looking.) On the downside, we missed our flight out due to stormy weather so I'll be stuck here for a few more days. Keep up the good work in my absence! -- 77IM Now i might be assuming too much here but Congratulations anyway! There is nothing better in this world than to be married to someone you love (expect to be loved back of course!:)) Having a little family is even better but you have all that to look forward too! Weel done mate, enjoy your extended holiday and keep up the good work (and the good work on your thread as well! ;) ) Delvesdeep:b:
77IM 08-31-04, 11:27 AM	Thanks Delvesdeep! I knew she was the one when I learned that she had read Lord of the Rings like six times. Anyway, now it is time for me to re-post things from last week. Let's start with a reply to the esteemed Ghostie Ghost. By the way, Ghostie Ghost, did you ever get my Private Message? If you responded I might not have gotten your email (my spam filter sometimes eats them and I was out of town at the time). Ghostie Ghost, thank you so much for trying out the Major Holdings feat. I was really unsure just how much gold that should be worth. I happen to think feats are precious and would never waste two of my feats just to get 800 gp per month; those feats could be used for things like Spring Attack or Spell Focus, which you could use to kill monsters and take their gold, which is much more fun than just sitting around and letting it accumulate. I think your players just have a very different style of play than I do -- I play D&D in order to go on adventures and find buying equipment kind of boring. Responding to your specific points: 1: The requirement of spending a week each month to manage the holdings was not meant to discourage adventuring, but rather to discourage people from taking Major Holdings. If the players don't want to leave on long adventures, though, there should be plenty of short, close-to-home adventures they can go on. 2: Buying masterwork daggers was the point of this feat. Masterwork isn't that good. The only masterwork items worth the cost are weapons (and then only if you are going to use it a lot, like your primary weapon; buying masterwork daggers is usually dumb), and sometimes armor (if you are going to make a lot of skill checks). By the time most parties reach 5th level, they have enough cash to buy all the masterwork stuff they want anyway. 3: The idea of raising an army for an adventure also hadn't crossed my mind, since most conscripted armies lose effectiveness rapidly when forced to leave their home territory and may rebel if you ask them to enter dungeons. The peasant subjects that come with this feat are not obedient automatons, they are NPCs with feelings and motivations and are certainly capable of assassinating low-level PCs. As a DM, whenever the players are not doing what you want and you have to force them (such as stranding them somewhere remote), it's usually the case that the players want a different style of game than the DM, so instead of forcing the issue, you should talk about it and figure out what kind of campaign to run. If the players want to spend all their time managing their holdings, there are ways to make that game fun for the DM too. In fact, I have considered adapting the old Birthright(tm) regency rules to this setting, to allow for a campaign that focuses on raising armies and running kingdoms and so forth. However, I haven't yet come up with a regency system that requires sufficiently little bookkeeping while providing enough options to be interesting (I find the Birthright rules very tedious -- you need a programmable excel spreadsheet just to figure out what happens on one turn). In any event, the #1 rule of RPG design is "Listen to the play testers." So I've taken your feedback and revised the feats. I've eliminated the old Minor Holdings and Major Holdings feats and created these new ones. Please look at them and let me know if they are still providing too much money. To summarize the changes, 1. It takes more feats to get less money. 1 feat (Noble Manor) actually costs you 100 gp per month. 2 feats (Noble Manor + Noble Holdings) gets you net 100 gp per month. Then, you can start taking more Noble Holdings feats for extra 200 gp per month plus more soldiers, or Resource Holdings for an extra 300 gp per month, or Improved Noble Holdings for three times more soldiers. 2. There's no longer a requirement of spending a week to manage your holdings. They will manage themselves. 3. More detail is given for the drawbacks of different actions. For example, if you raise an army or tax your noble subjects, they may rebel against you. Holdings can't produce an army and any money, and the army costs more if you take it places. 4. The feats are now in a special category of "Social" feats which will come with a disclaimer. A Social feat is one that can be simulated with roleplaying and may not be appropriate for all campaigns; the DM must use his discretion and players must get the DM's permission before selecting these feats. 5. The feats provide more options. The amounts involved are randomized, so players might not get all the money they want each month. Here are the new feats. Please tell me what you think. NOBLE MANOR [Social] You are a noble with your own grand home. Benefit: You are a landed noble, but have little or no actual land; you may be a peer (noble without title) or have a minor title such as Knight. Basically, you own a castle or mansion and some land around it, but have no subjects, farmland, or resources. Your manor is a spacious and comfortable dwelling with a few servants, some nice furniture, and even a horse and carriage. It has about 10 bedrooms, a large banquet hall, several living and recreation areas, nice gardens, kitchen and laundry areas, and a small stable with a carriage. Maintaining this facility costs 2d20+80 gp per month. In a pinch, you can try to sell the manor, which is worth around 5,000 gp, although you must roleplay this transaction and it is not always possible to find a buyer. If you do so, you lose the benfits of this feat (you can no longer use it as a prerequisite and so may lose access to other feats such as Noble Holdings). Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a peer (noble without title), knight (often a landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble (a peer) who has yet to inherit land. Any character can buy a house without needing to take this feat. NOBLE HOLDINGS [Social] You are a noble landowner. Prerequisites: Noble Manor. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Baron/Baroness or Count/Countess (ruling a Barony or a County). You have some stretches of farmland, and are the legal authority over a few villages, although you must still answer to the lord(s) above you (who may demand that you raise an army or pay certain taxes or tribute, although both requests are rare due to their unpopularity). Your farmland produces 3d12x10 gp per month. If necessary, you can raise an army of 6d6+80 1st-level Yeomen, although you must pay to equip them and it costs about 2 sp per day per soldier to maintain the army (since they are no longer farming crops to supply themselves). If the army leaves your territory this increases to 1 gp per day due to supply line issues. Your holdings produce no gold during a month in which you have raised an army, and your subjects strongly dislike being taken away from their land in this manner. In a pinch, you may sell off your holdings, which are worth a total of around 20,000 gp, although you must roleplay this transaction and it is not always possible to find a buyer; nobles usually trade land for other land, so getting someone to pay you in cash may be difficult. If you do so, you lose the benefits of this feat. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a peer (noble without title), knight (often a landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble (a peer) who has yet to inherit land. Any noble can buy land without needing to take this feat (it's difficult for non-nobles to own land). Special: You may take this feat multiple times, and its effects stack. RESOURCE HOLDINGS [Social] You are a noble landowner with access to some special resources. Prerequisites: Noble Holdings, Noble Manor. Benefit: You are a landed noble, and your land has some unique natural resource, such as a mine, a rich forest, abundant marine life, textile mills, or herds of fine horses. One of your holdings produces an extra 3d20x10 gp per month. The gp value of this holding increases to around 50,000. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a peer (noble without title), knight (often a landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble (a peer) who has yet to inherit land. Anyone can buy a natural resource center without needing to take this feat. Special: You may take this feat multiple times, and its effects stack. You must have the Noble Holdings feat one time for each time you select this feat. IMPROVED NOBLE HOLDINGS [Social] You are a major noble landowner. Prerequisites: Noble Holdings (you must take this feat twice), Noble Manor. Benefit: You are a landed noble, a Lord/Lady. You have three noble underlings. These nobles also have the Noble Holdings feat. You can demand that the nobles raise an army on your behalf, and you can also tax them, demanding some or all of their monthly earnings. However, this should only be done in an emergency, as taxed or peasantless nobles will quickly plot against you or possibly rebel. Normal: Any character can be a member of the nobility simply as a background element; typically, this character is either a peer (noble without title), knight (often a landless noble), a landed noble (like a baron or lord) who has through circumstance lost control of his land, or the child of a noble (a peer) who has yet to inherit land. Special: You may take this feat multiple times, and its effects stack. WEALTHY [Social] You are somewhat rich. Benefit: If you take this feat at 1st level, you gain 300 bonus gold pieces. If you take this feat at any other level, you gain gold pieces equal to 500 times your character level. This gold comes from a business you run, a family inheritance, or a special stipend from a well-off organization (work out the details with your DM). Each month, your character earns an additional 2d% gold pieces (regardless of your level). Normal: Characters without this feat roll to determine starting gold, and must earn gold to acquire more. Special: You may take this feat more than once, and its benefits stack.
77IM 08-31-04, 11:30 AM	This was inspired by the lengthy but unbelievable descriptions of racial settlements found in Races of Stone. Dwellings & Domiciles The different races and cultures each favor different styles of housing. Jarlheim Houses in this cold northern land are typically wooden A-frames, with wooden roof shingles. They are sturdily built and brightly painted. They are almost always two-family dwellings, and are built in stands of coniferous forests, a scattering of several dozen buildings located uphill from the town's farmland and/or port. Corsom Houses on the plains of Corsom are built of large clay bricks reinforced with wooden beams. They typically have gently sloping roofs, often tightly woven thatch. The houses are built close together, usually facing inward on a town square with the rear of each house opening on small gardens or stables. Chirmont & Alluvan These two countries have similar building styles, with stucco walls and terra-cotta rooftops. Chirmont tends to have small cottages built in this style with larger villas, complete with inner atrium, reserved for the wealthy. In hilly areas and along the rocky coastline, people prefer to build their houses on slopes to preserve the level terrain for farmland. Alluvan typically has multi-family, sometimes multi-level dwellings. Alluvani communities blend together with the surrounding farmland; even larger cities tend to be in strange elongated shapes. Garland & Renflour The people of Garland favor brick buildings with thatch or clay-tile rooftops. They often have connected town-house style dwellings. Most villages are built on both sides of a river or stream. Renflourian buildings are similar, but are more often built of stone than of brick, and tend to be spread farther apart (similar to Alluvan). Frelund & Zoltar Western countries favor small brick and wooden cottages with thatched roofs. Their small buildings huddle together around the town center and are often decorated in festive colors. In Frelund, most villages are on the edge of a forest near tracts of farmland, and villages tend to occur in a series along a major road or waterway. In Zoltar, a very hilly country, most towns are isolated in elevated valleys. Treothe Rectangular clay, brick, or stone buildings, often adorned with elaborate tapestries, house most of Treothe. Because of the mild weather, many of these buildings are ancient, some dating back to Renlinea. They are continually being expanded; there are some entire towns that reside within a single building. The center of any town in this dry land is the community well. Erindu Most Erindese live near the shores of the river Velm in the broad, flat, fertile floodplane, in wooden houses with leaf roofs. These houses are elevated on stilts due to the seasonal flooding and many ground-dwelling insects. In contrast, Erindese cities are massive stone structures, with elaborate columns designed to look like river reeds supporting pyramid-like structures. These were built over one thousand years ago and have not all been maintained; many buildings are no longer used for their original purposes. They are often painted bright colors and decorated with flowering plants. Gnomes Gnome villages in most countries are typically built in forests, in half-submerged mounds. The gnomes basically dig out a large basement, lay in wooden walls, floors and ceilings, and cover the whole affair with dirt. Gnome craftsmanship seals the dwelling against rainwater seeping through the ground and provides light through a clever system of side windows. Gardens are often planted on top of the houses, which are scattered throughout a section of light forest. An exception is in Jarlheim, where gnomes live in wooden A-frames like their human and ogre allies. Ogres Primitive ogre tribes typically live a seminomadic existance in simple animal-hide tents. Those in more civilized parts of the world (such as Jarlheim) live in the same dwellings as other local humanoids. Goblins Goblins use whatever architecture and building style is common to the local area, but squeeze more families into larger dwellings. For example, if a typical human house in Alluvan is a two-family, one-story stucco dwelling, then a typical goblin house in Alluvan would be a five-family, two-story stucco dwelling that is twice as large as the human counterpart. Dwarves Dwarven buildings are almost always made of thick stone and set into the sides of mountains or hills. Many cities in the Mountain Duchies are laid out vertically, along the walls of a mountain canyon, often above an alpine valley where the dwarves farm and raise livestock. Dwarven fortifications are solid and forboding, and often seem to rise out of the mountain itself. Few dwarven buildings are located entirely underground. Elves Elves, especially in Ponderry, build wooden houses and incorporate live trees into the architecture, often using a tree as a central support or several trees as corner beams. The growth of these trees mean their houses require constant reworking. The wealthiest of nobles employ dwarf engineers to build them houses on elevated platforms in the trees themselves (usually, only a few rooms are located in the trees, the rest of the house on the ground). Elves favor a light and airy style of architecture with lots of engraved woodwork and are especially fond of gnomish carpentry. Some nobles build great palaces of stone, but even these are very open, with thin columns, open walkways and large windows. Elves in Erindu follow the customs of that land. Halflings Halflings in Erindu live like the rest of the Erindese, but the halfling Losha that roam the northern lands basically live out of covered wagons and colorful cloth tents. Everything in the Losha camp makes efficient use of space and weight, and most things serve multiple purposes (like a giant tub designed to wash clothing and people, but light enough to carry things in, and sturdy enough to function as a chair or table). They also have a lot of light sturdy boxes and baskets, so that items can be loaded and unloaded quickly. They sleep in hammocks inside of their covered wagons or in tents which come complete with waterproof floors (because they are constantly exposed to the dust of the road, Losha are very hygenic people). Losha even grow vegetable gardens on the roofs of some of their wagons.
77IM 08-31-04, 11:37 AM	Every real-world religion places a heavy emphasis on certain sacred writings (or sometimes epic poetry, but most of these were written down thousands of years ago too), but somehow the concept is absent from most D&D fantasy worlds -- it turns out a robe, altar, and a big holy symbol are all a religion needs to attract and keep followers. Well in this world, the Codex Luminaire is the glue that binds the faithful together. The Codex Luminaire The primary holy text of the Church of the Pantheon and the Independant Temples, the Codex Luminaire is a medium-sized tome describing the life and teachings of the Prophet Jordana. Written during and after her life by herself and her followers, the book consists of 18 chapters informally divided into 3 sections. The Acccount: Three chapters which are independant accounts of the Prophet's life, written after her death by three of her followers. Originally written in Old Elvish, the language of Renlinea. The Message: Seven chapters written by the Prophet herself. These recount various traditional stories from mythology, but told in such a way as to be morally instructive; the gods are formally described in these chapters as well. The basis of the Church's theology and morality can be found in these chapters. The Prophet wrote them in Celestial, which is considered the canonical version, but she also translated them into Old Elvish; in fact, these chapters are the primary resource for people seeking to translate something from either language. (Orthodox Pantheism only recognizes these seven chapters as divine, and combines them into a single holy scripture called the Shining Text.) The Vision: Eight chapters written during and after the Prophet's life by her followers. Some of these are evangelical letters to the orcs of Corsom and to the Renlinean Empire, some are accounts of the lives of Jordana's followers and the course of the Great Rebellion, and some are additional prophecies. These were originally written in Old Elvish and Old Orcish. For years, monks transcribed Codex Luminaire in both its original langages and in Celestial; one of the issues that led to the schism creating the Independant Temples was the desire of some nobles to translate the Luminaire into common languages. Nowadays, copies in every modern language can be bought in any major city. The Luminaire is the foundation of all Church doctrine and is the basis (rationale) for the system of law and government in most countries.
His Majesty 08-31-04, 03:32 PM	Action Points The Action Point variant found in Unearthed Arcana is used in the D&D version of the Magicant, the Heartstone. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, however, uses a similar system - the hero points system - and it isn't such a good idea to use them both in the same game. Therefore, the rules for using the action points variant are included, but you are strongly advised to choose which system you prefer, and use only one of them. The Magicant, the Heartstone uses the action points variant with the following changes: 1. Each character gets only 5 action points per level. This amount does not increase at higher levels. 2. Action points can be used to add a bonus to a roll or enhance a feat, but not to take a special action, with the exception of stabilizing a dying character. 3. If 50% or more of your class levels (not including Prestige Classes) are in your racial favored class, you may spend action points on the Favored Action associated with your class. If your race has a favored class of "Any," you can use the Favored Action associated with the core class in which you have the most levels (if there is a tie, it is the class that was most recently higher). Class Alignment Alignments do not play any role in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. Removing them from the world of The Magicant, The Heartstone has no significant impact, so there are no alignment rules added in this appendix. Prestige Classes All Prestige Classes will be linked to the campaign world somehow, associated with either an organization or a tradition. Prestige Classes will be used to integrate characters with the campaign world -- they are not tools for players to simply increase their characters' power for some thinly-veiled justification. Classes Note that classes may have additional rules regarding spellcasting and Essence (see "The Nature of Magic," above). The Akashic class is removed, since it does not fit well with the world, due to its unique abilities. The Oathsworn is replaced with the Scion, a homebrew class yet to be created. Champion: Champions are individuals that dedicate their lives to a single cause. The most common champions are champions of light or life, members of the Church sects known as the Lightbearers and the Order of the Silver Shield, although the Independant Temples have also developed several orders of champions, including mostly champions of freedom. In modern times, as the Church of the Pantheon loses its role as the absolute religious belief, many of the church's champions find it harder to maintain their belief in the ancient Codes of Conduct. On the other hand, the new faiths raising their heads all over the world bring with them many new champions, dedicated to ideas unknown before, such as magic. Many of the champions that serve the church choose to undergo essence ingestion rituals, although most of them do not learn to cast spells. Roleplaying: Champions must still obey a Code of Conduct, which summarizes their beliefs and guides their actions. The Code of Conduct must be determined between the DM and player before the beginning of the game. For champions who are members of a certain order, there is a Code of Conduct supplied in the description of that order. Favored Action: Righteous Might: A champion may choose to spend an action point in order to stretch his physical abilities to their maximum for one round. During that round, he gains +6 strength. Greenbond: As the priests of the Old Ways, greenbonds are not common and usually keep their nature a secret, ministering to remote villages or just living in the wilderness. Their religion is considered a heresy for they put no stock in the teachings of Jordana. Spellcasting: The greenbond is a divine spellcaster. Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. Greenbonds usually eat mallorn acorns to gain their essence, although they can ingest powdered essence instead. Divine spellcasters cannot gain access to complex spells unless they take one of the ceremonial feats that allow access to complex and exotic spells of a certain subcategory, such as Peaceful Mage. Roleplaying: Greenbonds must revere nature and the natural order, and reject the notion that humans are in any way different from or better than other animals. A greenbond who holds strong moral or ethical beliefs is rejected by the spirits around him and cannot use his Bond with the Green ablity. Favored Action: ? Mage Blade: Almost immediately after it was founded, the Church declared that the witches, one of the most important foundations of Renlinea's power, were tainted souls, people who recieved their powers through pacts with demons. These beliefs spread out swiftly, and anti-witch rules were forced upon the defeated elves of Ponderry. But in some parts of the elven lands, certain noble houses refused to accept these rules, and hid the witches from the authorities. Historical records written several hundreds of years later mention certain elves, masters of the elven dueling arts, whose swordsmanship was uncanny, who accomplished deeds that were impossible for the ordinary mortal. These elves were mage blades, students of the blade witches of Renlinea, who disguised their magical powers as swordplay. The mage blade tradition still exists, relatively secretly, in the Great Isle, and most elves who show talents in witchery are sent to the mage blades for tutoring. Only few of them have declared their abilities publicly when the Church deleted the rules against witches, however; they were comfortable with the situation as it was. Game Rules: Each mage blade gains the benefit of one minor bloodline, and may take a feat (Improved Arcane Blood) to upgrade this to a moderate bloodline. They do not need to give up levels to gain these benefits, but only gain benefits for progressing in mage blade levels, not character levels. Levels of witch and mage blade stack to determine bloodline abilities (a character may only have one bloodline). Mage blades are arcane spellcasters. Only arcane spellcasters may learn and cast complex spells. Mage blades do not gain this possibility as a class feature, and must take the Complex Spell feat (revised below) to gain access to complex spells. Spellcasting: A mage blade doesn't need to consume any Essence to prepare or cast spells. A spell with a costly material component still requires Essence, though. She must merely be touching the Essence during the spellcasting in order to use it. Favored Action: ? Magister: Long ago, the giants practiced magistry (argh, bad word) in secret cabals gathered around a Magicant. With the discovery of Heartstones, this art was revived by the nobility, and practicing magisters can be found in all houses in all lands. Officially, the use of Heartstones is forbidden by the Church, but the nobles are considered to be using the Heartstones as a "necessary evil" and are sometimes even portrayed as noble martyrs, although everyone really knows that this is the Church's way of explaining the compromise. Most magisters are members of the noble houses (those who are not, can be persecuted by the Church), and spend their time engaging in magical research and trading arcane secrets. Game Rules: Instead of staffs, magisters use Heartstones as focuses for their spellcasting. Magisters are arcane spellcasters. Only arcane spellcasters may learn and cast complex spells. Magisters do not automatically know all complex spells of each spell level they have access to - instead, they must learn each complex spell seperately and copy it into their spellbook. Complex spells of 4th level and above are not available for sale on scrolls, because such magic is recently discovered and not widespread. This scarcity also means that magisters must spend more time researching original spells and have less access to established spells -- when a magister gains a level, at least one of the two free spells he learns must be one that is available to divine casters through the ceremonial feats that allow access to complex and exotic spells of a certain subcategory, such as Peaceful Mage (as it is easier to develop a spell based on an existing effect than from scratch). For more details about copying spells into a spellbook, see the end of this post. Spellcasting: They sprinkle Essence on their Heartstones during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp per caster level. Unlike divine casters, a wizard only needs to prepare spells when he wants to replenish spell slots or change prepared spells -- so if he prepares spells (supplying Essence to the Heartstone) and then doesn't cast any spells for a few days, those spells will still be available without further Essence application. Favored Action: ? The runethane was supposed to replace the cleric, but it doesn't fit flavor-wise, so the cleric will be replaced with a homemade class. This class write-up, therefore, is temporary. Runethane: Every thing in the world, be it an object, creature or concept, can be defined in the symbolic language of the gods. Understanding this language may allow one to better understand the events around him, as well as his own dreams, or the visions seen while in an Essence trance. Runes, the written manifestations of these complex symbols, can be used to call upon the power of the gods and create magical effects. Runethanes are members of the Church (or one of the Independant Temples) who learned to cast spells and create powerful runes by using these mystical signs. The priests of the Curch of the Pantheon are one of the driving forces behind the political landscape. They control not only the souls of their parishoners, but also the Magicants. Runethanes are considered more important than non-spellcasting priests in the Church's heirarchy, and so they are even more significant than the ordinary priest. Spellcasting: The runethane is a divine spellcaster. Divine casters ingest Essence during spell preparation, requiring 1 gp worth of Essence per caster level. A divine caster that does not partake in the daily Essence can't cast spells that day. They cannot gain access to complex spells unless they take one of the ceremonial feats that allow access to complex and exotic spells of a certain subcategory, such as Peaceful Mage. Favored Action: Communion: A Runethane can spend an action point as a full-round action to learn whether a proposed action will further the interests of her god or religion. This functions just like the augury spell, but the result ("weal," "woe," etc.) is from the point of view of the deity -- an action that might be "weal" for the character might produce a "woe" result if it is bad for the deity. Scion: The second and third sons and daughters of the noble houses stand to inherit little of their parents land, so those who are worthy are given the Essence bath as a consolation prize. With supernatural senses and agility, they are master fencers and acrobats, known as scions. Game Rules: Homebrew class. Give me some more time. Based on monk / oathsworn. Favored Action: Heightened Awareness: As a free action, a scion can spend an action point to add her Wisdom modifier to her Reflex saves and to any Strength- or Dexterity-based skill checks for one minute. Totem Warrior: The fighting style of the totem warrior is considered primitive and savage by most people. Yet, totem warriors still exist in remote wilderness areas, and can frequently be found in places like Jarlheim, the Great Desert, Zoltar and northern Corsom. While the totem warrior's affinity for a certain animal type and his bond with his animal companion are considered natural (albeit somewhat weird), totem warriors who can turn into their totem animals (and let anybody know about it) are considered worshippers of the Old Ways and are persecuted for that. Many totem warriors are indeed worshippers of the Old Ways. Favored Action: ? Unfettered: Unfettered (singular and plural) are gradually replacing fighters as the main warrior tradition; they are certainly more popular amongst nobles, who don't want to bother wearing cumbersome, unstylish armor. They are trained for using quickness and intelligence in battle rather than raw power. Their greater array of skills makes them better at urban settings, where diplomacy and deciet are more often more effective than brute force. Game Rules: I'm going to introduce a variant of the unfettered, allowing the player to give up his bonus feats and gain more skill points, and possibly more sneak attack bonus damage dice. Give me some time time to think about it. Favored Action: Precise Sneak Attack: A rogue can spend an action point to deal sneak attack damage from greater than 30 feet away and despite cover and concealment. Warmain: Many wars have been fought, and warmains have been on the front lines of all of them. The warmain is a more traditional warrior, such as would be found in Garland or Frelund (in urban settings like Renflour, Chirmont and Alluvan, the unfettered is more common). Favored Action: Power Strike: A warmain can spend an action point to have his attack deal maximum damage, rather than rolling damage. Extra damage dice that are not multiplied on a critical hit (such as sneak attack damage or damage from a flaming weapon) is not maximized. Witch: During the Renlinean Empire, elven witches were the magical force of the nobility, working together with the clerics to conquer territory and maintain order. When the followers of Jordana overthrew Renlinea during the Great Revolution, witches became targets of persecution, regardless of race. Because of their non-humanoid heritage (all witches are descended from a magical creature of some kind) and lack of dependance upon Essence, the Church has suppressed witchery for centuries, driving most witches into hiding. Ironically, the Church now supports witches and considers them allies against the dangerous Heartstone-wielding wizards, but few witches have gone public because of lingering prejudice amongst the general population and a widespread beleif that the extract Heartstone spell works on witches. Many witches choose to carry a thick book and large crystal with them everywhere, effectively disguising themselves as wizards. Game Rules: Each witch gains the benefit of one minor bloodline, and may take a feat (Improved Arcane Blood) to upgrade this to a moderate bloodline. They do not need to give up levels to gain these benefits, but only gain benefits for progressing in witch levels, not character levels. Levels of witch and mage blade stack to determine bloodline abilities (a character may only have one bloodline). Witches are arcane spellcasters. Only arcane spellcasters may learn and cast complex spells. Witches do not gain this possibility as a class feature, and must take the Complex Spell feat (revised below) to gain access to complex spells. Spellcasting: A witch doesn't need to consume any Essence to prepare or cast spells, nor does she need a witchbag. A spell with a costly material component still requires Essence, though. She must merely be touching the Essence during the spellcasting in order to use it. Favored Action: Wellspring: Instead of expending a spell slot to cast a spell, a witch can spend an action point. Yeoman: The bulk of the people of the world are, and have always been, yeoman. Game Rules: The yeoman class is an "expert" homebrew class, designed to replace the expert & commoner classes, but remain roughly balanced with the other core classes (ordinary people simply have fewer levels, rather than a worse class). Complete game rules located here: The Yeoman (http://www.willscott.net/rpg/Yeoman.doc). Favored Action: Scramble: A yeoman can spend an action point to gain the benefit of a feat he does not have for one round. He must meet all of the feat's prerequisites normally.
His Majesty 08-31-04, 03:38 PM	The runethane really isn't a perfect fit. I you don't like it, it'll go. I don't think they should be orthodox priests, however. That makes orthodox priests too different from ordinary priests, and it also creates the same problem you mentioned - making religion much more logical. You offered to use the oathsworn as scion by removing the Swear an Oath ability; however, it isn't so simple to adapt because of Eschew Air, Refuse Fatigue, Eschew Water and Eschew Food. I'll finish this as fast as I can, but I need to finish something else (Not related to RPGs) first.
The Swedish Viking 08-31-04, 07:09 PM	Lich (Evil deeds galore!) and Three Travellers Troupe finished. Added Dwellings and Domiciles plus New Feats to the documentary compilation. We are now 112+ pages, and still going good. SOON TO COME: TEMPLES AND CLERICAL RITUALS
The Swedish Viking 08-31-04, 08:43 PM	Oh, and tomorrow (or the day after tomorrow), Iīm gonna check with our library if she can provide me with a scanner. If she can, Iīll send you some really neat pics for the setting (though I want to do it with your private emails...).
His Majesty 09-01-04, 11:37 AM	I'm opening a Gmail account today - I'll send you both the address. The ToC has been moved to the first page. You can remove it from the first post now, 77IM.
77IM 09-01-04, 01:40 PM	Nice lichdom ritual Swedish Viking! I hope you can find a scanner. The ToC has been moved to the first page. You can remove it from the first post now, 77IM. Do you mean the Hybrid View thread list? I find that thing confusing, as it's not well organized and many posts don't have very good subject lines. On Oathsworn: I think the Eschew Food, Water, Air, Sleep etc. abilities are just fine. They are odd compared to a normal scion but we can explain them as one of the beneficial effects of the Essence bath -- the character gets their sustenance from magic. I think the Swear an Oath and Oathstrike abilities are the only ones that really need to go. On Lack of Akashics: Without the akashic, there's no class for primary skill-user. I had intented to reintroduce rogue (I love it) but it makes more sense to me to buff the yeoman. I'd give the "MCAU Yeoman" 8 skill points per level, all skills as class skills, and no bonus feat list (he can take any feat for which he qualifies). This creates a class similar to the akashic but without all the weird memory-abilities -- instead he gets a bucketload of feats, and I really like the MCAU feat system. On Magister Game Rules: Taking away the complex spells nerfs the magister into near uselessness; the whole point of the class is that he gets all complex spells. Learning two per level isn't sufficient -- another caster can just grab a few of those feats that let you cast complex spells with an energy descriptor and do about as well. Plus, I'm confused now about the role of the Complex Spell feat. On the other hand, I do want to keep the concept that magisters need to do research to get their spells (especially the good ones). I don't have a good solution here. Maybe just try it your way and let me know how it works (when in doubt, playtest). -- 77IM
His Majesty 09-01-04, 02:11 PM	The ToC has actually been moved. It's here now. Give me a day or two with all the MCAU things. I need some more time to organize everything. I don't like the oathsworn without his oath - a character that doesn't need to eat anymore at 3rd level, and after some more levels doesn't need to eat, sleep, or breath isn't.. human any more. I think the flavor is terribly different from the intended. Edit: Damn! The post-specific links that use the [post] tag give you a single-post display. I don't like that.. I don't know what to do. I think I'll have to change everything back. :(. Anywwy, the ToC is actually on the first page in normal forum display.
77IM 09-02-04, 02:25 PM	I haven't added these to the main noble house post yet. House Orvald Race(s): Human, Gnome. Holdings: Rules Jarlheim. Major holdings in Marshalle. Minor holdings in Chirmont and Belsomme. Religion: Orthodox Pantheism. Relationships: Enemies with Deschaigne and Varindree. Allies of Iphris, Gregor and Melgerton. Disliked by Solane, and by most other houses in Jarlheim. Personality/Customs: The bold and daring sea raiders of House Orvald have epitomized the culture or Jarlheim for generations and are the current rulers of that tumultuous land. The Orvald revel in combat and physical activity and often work as mercenaries or adventurers in other lands. Although their primary income is from sea trade, fishing, and lumber, everyone knows that House Orvald also has some pirates. The Orvald have managed to climb to the top of the Court of Jarlheim because they highly value knowledge and learning; most of them travel as youth or enroll in foreign schools. House Caellethiran Race(s): Elf, Half-Elf. Holdings: Rules Ponderry. Minor holdings in Renflour, Chirmont, Alluvan, and Frelund. Religion: Orthodox Pantheism. Relationships: Rivals with Varindree. On good terms with Deschaigne, Senge, and Gregor. Not well liked by most other houses. Personality/Customs: Members of House Caellethiran love beauty in all things -- in nature, art, and magic. They live in exquisite woodland manors, wear only the finest clothing, and love a stirring song and a delicious meal. They are skilled sorcerers and wizards, preferring spells that are dazzling and impressive to those with simple utility. The Caellethiran are very shrewed, manipulative and deceptive when it comes to getting what they want. They have a very orderly society and disdain violence, preferring to use espionage, intrigue, intimidation and extortion; many approach politics as a sort of game.
The Swedish Viking 09-02-04, 03:27 PM	Clerical Rituals The rituals listed below are rituals practised by the clergy of the Pantheon, the Independant Temples, druidic Old Ways, and the Orthodox church. Solstice Summer Solstice is celebrated during the longest day of the year. Druids and clerics of the different churches keep track of this day using calendars and temple-rituals. Druidic calendar-temples can be found a little here and there, and are utilized even by the new Church of the Panthon and its sibling organizations. Solstice is celebrated by a large mass during the morning hours, followed by prayer and a huge breakfast. The rest of the day is dedicated to feasting, dancing, and merry festivals. Followers of the Old Ways often sacrifice animals, sometimes even sentient beings (with maidens being favoured by these Druids) to the Gods as a way of thanking them for keeping the sun on-track and the universe working. During Summer Solstice, all spells of the Conjuration school count as Enlarged without occupying spell slots of higher level. Necromancy Spells have their Save DCs and all other numerical variables halved. Full Moon Nights with a Full Moon, people stay indoors. They paint holy symbols on their doors to keep evil spirits out, and many conduct lengthy prayers before they go to bed. Clerics of the Pantheon, Orthodox and Independant temples keep watch during the night with prayer and reciting holy texts and placing warding sigils. Druids generally do the same, with the addition that they sacrifice food and wealth and sometimes living creatures to the deities to keep Evil at bay. During Full Moon, all spells of the Necromancy school count as Enlarged without occupying spell slots of higher level. Conjuration Spells have their Save DCs and all other numerical variables halved.
77IM 09-02-04, 04:06 PM	I want to release this setting under the Open Game License. This would only apply to the rules portion of the setting; all flavor elements would be considered Product Identity. However, we can't use any copywritten, non-OGL material in the entire setting. This means: 1. No non-OGL monsters, magic items, spells, etc. We've done a pretty good job of this so far so I don't think it will be a problem. But it means no mind flayers, beholders, etc. I'd rather our "iconic" monsters be more customized than this anyway. 2. We can still use other people's OGL material provided we update the copyright notice properly. Right now we're using material from Unearthed Arcana, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, Fading Suns d20, and www.giantitp.com, all of which is OGL. (As a bonus, our OGL page will plug these people's products, which is nice, since they are all good.) 3. We'll need an OGL page in the document with the updated copyright notice, as well as a Product Identity/Open Content designation on our title page. I'll handle all of this aspect (I think MS Word will allow me to tag Product Identity terms into a special index). 4. We should eliminate other copywritten terms from the text. As far as I know the only of these of any significance is the word "mallorn" which was is still held by Mr. Tolkien's estate. I'm taking suggestions for a replacement word but in the mean time I think we should continue to use it. In fact if we can't find a good replacement we can really continue to use it until they ask us to stop which will probably never happen. 5. Anyone who wishes can copy our rules material and put it in their own work provided they release their work under the OGL too. This does not apply to any flavor text -- and most of the setting is flavor text. I would, however, grant people the right to copy and distribute the whole setting for personal gaming use, provided they don't modify it or distribute more than 25 copies. I really wouldn't bother trying to enforce this stuff unless someone tried to take credit for our work or make money off it. What do you guys think? My main reason for wanting to do this is so that I can incorporate other people's OGL material in good conscious, although protection from Wizards legal action is a nice bonus. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 09-02-04, 04:12 PM	Sounds cool to me. :P You do the legal bit, we continue as before. :) Oh, and tell us what we need to delete... :rolleyes:
His Majesty 09-02-04, 04:46 PM	Solstice is celebrated by a large mass during the morning hours Mass? That sounds too christian - after all, the parts about the bread and wine aren't too relevant here, are they? I suggest that we (meaning you) make a generic Church of the Pantheon ceremony. You can call it a mass, but the differences should be clear. Here are some more holidays, inspired by Jewish ones. Greenday End of Coldwind / Beginning of Springthaw Celebrated during the first day of the spring, Greenday is considered the beginning of the agricultural year (and therefore also named "New Year of Trees"). The date changes every year, and is announced by the local religious authority. Greenday is generally supposed to be celebrated one week after the first Jassels (small eyes in Old Elven) blossom. Jassels are small, yellow flowers, found in most of the northern countries, and are one of the first flowers of the spring. In the Great Isle, most of the south-western lands (Treothe, Minca) and the Mountain Duchies, they use different local plants. Greenday is celebrated by ceremonial plantings, mostly of fruitless trees. Large trees are adorned with ribbons and a great dance is held at noon. According to the Old Ways, new Mallorns are planted at Greenday. Creation 1st and 2nd of Longnight Also named "New Year of the Gods", Creation celebrates the creation of the world. For timekeeping purposes, the new year begins with Creation. During the first day of Creation (the shortest day of the year; the first day of Longnight or the last of Snowfall) People fast between sundown to sundown (Sick, old, and young people do not fast). At designated times, people are supposed to say special short prayers, thanking the gods for the creation of the stars, the sun, the plants, animals, and other things. The last hour before the end of the fast (In Treothe, the last 3 hours) is a time of communal prayer, celebrating the glory of the gods. After the prayer, a great feast is held on large tables, preferably with the whole community present. The second day is a happy day, and no work is done then, although in most places there are no special rituals. Killing anything is forbidden during Creation. New Year's Day First Oneday of Feasting Also called "New Year of Kings", New Year's Day is celebrated by a large dinner with the family, containing special dishes that vary between areas and countries. Not being at home in New Year's Day is considered pretty sad, and lonely people or travellers are often invited to celebrate with larger families. New Year's Day is considered the beginning of the year for tax and business purposes.
77IM 09-02-04, 05:34 PM	Sweet! I had put about 30 seconds of thought into holidays -- about the only thing I came up with was a holiday commemorating Jordana's first and greatest vision (maybe called the Epiphany? I dunno). People exchange gifts on this day, and it's also a traditional time for beginning a courtship. It happens in either early- or mid-winter depending on how strong of a Christmas knock-off we want it to be. Also, the word for mass is "prayermeet." It fulfills a similar role to a Catholic mass (since the Church of the Pantheon resembles Roman Catholicism in many ways), but the rituals are very different (I don't think there's any eating or drinking, although prayer, scripture, and song are pretty standard). -- 77IM
His Majesty 09-04-04, 12:19 PM	* Heartstones or Magicants amounting to Power Level 40. Brings up (again) the question - what is the PL of a Magicant? * At least one powerful magical item requiring CL 11 to craft. CL is never a requirement to the creation of magic items. I'll give you the relevant link right away. I solved the problem with the table of contents (post-specific links showing only one post at a time). If you don't know how, go to the "Question about this board" thread. It's in a recent reply. I also updated it.
The Swedish Viking 09-05-04, 11:29 AM	Magic items with spells as prerequisites have CLs in their prerequisites too. Or? I have posted rules for Magicant Power levels. A Magicant counts as PL 20 according to the relevant post, though I have since changed the PL of Magicants to 30 (counting thus as a Heartstone of HD 30 with added special stuff).
His Majesty 09-05-04, 11:55 AM	Sorry, Swedish Viking, I completely forgot about that yesterday. Shouldn't the PL of a Magicant change according to size? I find it strange that a Magicant shard the size of a child's fist would have the same PL as a large one. It seems that we were both wrong. This is what the FAQ has to say about the CL issue: Q: What is with the caster levels on magic items in the DMG? And how do I use them to create or craft new magic items? A: The rules on caster levels, as presented, are contradictory and non-sensical. There are two interpretations on what the listed caster level is, and I will examine them both here in the context of two different types of magic items: Magic item type (1) Magic items whose price (and power) is directly affected by the caster level (like a Cape of the Mounteback) Magic item type (2) Magic items whose price (and power) is 99% independent of its caster level. (like a Pearl Of Power or Cloak of Displacement) All magic items' caster levels are relevant when making dispelling checks against the item itself, but that is not the major effect. The caster level on a Cape of the Mounteback determines the range of the Dimension Door effect, whereas the caster levels on the Pearls of Power have no effect on their functionality (except as mentioned above). For this discussion, wands, staffs, scrolls and potions are fine and will be ignored. Interpretation 1: As evidenced under the Caster Level section on pg. 178 of the DMG, the caster level is the pre-requisite level that the caster must obtain before being capable of crafting the specified item. an example problem with Type (1) items: Why does a crafter need to be 17th level to create a Pearl of Power 1? an example problem with Type (2) items: Why does a Hat of Disguise have a pre-requisite caster level of 2, when you need to be 3rd level to take Craft Wondrous Item anyways? (note: there are many more examples of why this doesn't work - especially with rings - most of them have their "prerequisite" caster levels < 12, but you need to be 12th level to get the Forge Ring feat... : / ) Interpretation 2: Monte Cook (the main author of the DMG and main creator of the Magic Items pricing system) states on his website that the caster level is actually the "average" caster level that the magic item is created at. So, in essence, if you got a random copy of said magic item, chances are that the caster level would be what's listed in the DMG. In his interpretation, there are no pre-requisite crafter levels for crafting items except where specifically noted (i.e. ioun stones). Here are links to his """explanations""" > Monte Cook's FAQ part 1 (link) < (http://www.montecook.com/arch_dmonly3.html) > Monte Cook's FAQ part 2 (link) < (http://www.montecook.com/arch_dmonly4.html) As much as people like to take this as gospel, it is horribly flawed and non-sensical. (first, a note about statistics. It is important to note that he is referring to an average caster level) example problems with Type (1) items: - Pearl of Power I: it makes no sense that the average mage that is crafting one is 17th level. By that point, most mages would have already crafted them or wouldn't bother. - Cloaks of Displacement: apart from the magic sweat-shop way of crafting these items, no caster is going to have the cash (as per the guidelines from the DMG, pg. 145) and XP to craft them at the low levels listed in the DMG. Furthermore, the caster level on the minor cloak (cost: 25,000 gp) is 3; this means that (almost) all of them had to have been made by 3rd level crafters - the minimum to get the feat is 3rd level, and then simple statistics tells us that therefore the large majority of them had to have been 3rd level. (the same applies to the Cloak of Elvenkind). I find it incredibly hard to swallow this, as should you ;) ). - The Cloaks of Elvenkind are (almost) exclusively crafted by 3rd level crafters, but the boots (which don't require any spells, like the cloak does) are crafted, on average, by crafters that are 2 levels higher??? :uh-huh: example problem with Type (2) items - the Cape of the Mounteback is one of many items that would not have been crafted at the level that it was by any intelligent wizard. By lowering the caster level by 2, the crafter would save 2,880 gp (~20% of the cost) and only lose 80ft of DD power out of 860ft (~10%). I could see an abnormal one crafted at this caster level, but not the average one. (Note: rings also show this method to be completely invalid. For rings that have no real level-dependent effect (i.e. Ring of Climbing), the "average" caster level should be at least 12, as there is no cost associated with the increased caster level - (i.e. it would be crafted at the highest possible level, not 5)) So the only conclusion we can make is that the caster level is not a pre-requisite, and that it is not the average caster level. So we are left high and dry and without recourse, short of a major errata on the issue. 77IM - I have nothing against printing this under the OGL, but one of my players mentioned that the word Heartstone might be problematic as well. I'll ask him to write about it here.
The Swedish Viking 09-06-04, 02:07 AM	Actually, the PL that I listed was for a Magicant of carryable size. (most) Mortals have not learned how to handle the huge amounts of power stored within one of the larger Magicatnts used in, for example, churches.
His Majesty 09-06-04, 03:08 AM	I have too many things to do. You can add a few days to every deadline I gave myself, and I will probably start few new things. My player explained the Heartstone issue, and this is approximately what he told me: In the Exalted RPG (by White Wolf (www.white-wolf.com) Publishing), everything in the world is somehow composed of flowing Essence - magic/life power. In some places, there are strong flows of essence, and it is possible to build a structure in such a place in order to focus the essence and create a Heartstone - a crystal that is capable of creating magical effects. Changing the building that created the Heartstone (even minor changes like moving a picture) change the Heartstone itself and its magical capabilities. Drastic changes might destroy the Heartsone. Heartstones in Exalted are categorized according to elements, or something like that, and I think that each is unique, but those are the basics. Edit: Forget about that. Another guy (Who's more familiar with Exalted) told me that they're actually called Hearthstones, so the problem's solved.
77IM 09-07-04, 10:48 AM	Heartstone is already in the SRD so it's a non-issue. This means that the term Heartstone must remain Open Content, although its description does not. I think the name of the setting, "The Magicant, The Heartstone" can remain Product Identity, though. Besides, screw Exalted; White Wolf can't copyright a term as generic as "heartstone" either. As for item caster levels, v3.5 makes it pretty clear that they are a prerequisite for magic item creation. Chonjurer is a pretty smart guy but sometimes a little bit nuts. He's right on the pearl of power example but in general the caster level rule makes sense. There are several ways to get around the feat and caster level prerequisites for magic items (the most obvious being group item creation) that it's really not such a problematic rule. Also, while a Magicant has no power level (it's just too strong), a piece of one might. There aren't any hard and fast rules for this but I would say that the power level of a Magicant fragment would be the square root of its weight in pounds (so a 400 lb. Magicant fragment would have a power level of 20). When combining fragments you must combine their weight -- so two 400 lb. pieces won't get you power-40, it will only get power-28 (the square root of 800). From this formula I guess a 5 ton Magicant is power-100, but such a number is largely meaningless. A Magicant fragment sheds no light (and hence produces no Essence). Or rather, they do shed light, for a time -- smaller fragments burn out faster. Putting two fragments together to form a larger mass does cause them to illuminate again (people have "built" their own bootleg Magicants this way, although it's usually more cost-effective to use the Magicant shards in magic item creation). Scholars suspect that there is a Magicant "critical mass" at which a large enough sample will illuminate forever, and estimate it at around a ton (well lighter than most Noble Magicants). Of course, such experiments are rare as cutting up Magicants is generally regarded as the most idiotic thing imaginable, like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. A darkened Magicant can't be used as a spellcasting focus the way a Heartstone can; the ancient Renlinean wizards practiced their art using full-sized Magicants and consequently were rather stationary individuals. (If they had been mobile, the Empire would never have fallen, and we'd all be living in a giant-ruled magocracy today.) Also, sudden or violent motion, such as that required to break off a chunk, causes the Magicant to dim or grow dark for a time. The reasons for this are completely unknown but it could last years. A Magicant that falls down is typically dark for a few months and then dim (reduced output) for a year; one story tells of a Magicant that rolled down a hill and was dark for almost 50 years. For some reason, if the Magicant is moved by earthquakes, landslides, strong winds, etc., it continues glowing normally. When a Magicant needs to move, even a short distance, it is done extremely gently. When one is moved long distances (such as the spoils of war) it is still done gently, and is expected to be inoperative for several years, so this is rarely done. New Magicants are most typically found in the ground -- sometimes deep within mountain caverns, other times poking out of the earth of a farmer's field. A new one is located and excavated about every hundred years or so, and minor wars have broken out over the ownership rights. The event often triggers a gold rush of Magicant prospectors hoping the area has another one, but they always come up empty-handed. So far, no spell has been developed to detect Magicants (other than very short-range things like detect magic and locate object). -- 77IM
His Majesty 09-07-04, 11:30 AM	Well, that was from the Spells and Magic Items 3.0 FAQ, so it does make sense, I think. If your discourse about Magicants doesn't appear in some other, more important post, I suggest that you copy it. A link to the second Lienne post in the end of the first (and vice versa) would be a good idea. We need general names for the major landmasses - their absence was quite annoying once I started to talk about the setting with my friends and players. I mean the big chunk between Jarlheim, Treothe, Chirmont and Kresmaya, and another name for the Southern Lands (That's fine, but I don't think that they call themselves "Southern"), containing the Jungle and Erindu. I was thinking about "the _____ Peninsula" for the first, and "the Erindese _______" for the second.
77IM 09-07-04, 01:07 PM	We need general names for the major landmasses - their absence was quite annoying once I started to talk about the setting with my friends and players. I mean the big chunk between Jarlheim, Treothe, Chirmont and Kresmaya, and another name for the Southern Lands (That's fine, but I don't think that they call themselves "Southern"), containing the Jungle and Erindu. I was thinking about "the _____ Peninsula" for the first, and "the Erindese _______" for the second. Yeah, I've thought about this too, and I'm taking suggestions. I don't even have a name for the world. I've called the big northern part "the civilized lands" or "the Church lands" or just "the northern countries" before, and the southern lands "the southern jungle lands" or "the lands around Erindu." Part of the issue is that people from these places don't call themselves anything. From the point of view of someone from Chirmont, his continent really is just "the civilized lands" and Erindu really is little more than "the southern jungle lands." As an example, Renaissance Europeans didn't really call their continent "Europe," they called it "Christiandom." The term "Europe" only became popular with non-cartographers when European culture began to spread to other places like America. As a name for the world, we call ours just "earth" or "the world" or "the globe." There's no need to give it a specific name unless we're contrasting it with other worlds (an in the real-world case, the name we picked for it is synonymous with "dirt" because that's what it's made of). I guess we can take a nod from Greek mythology and have the name of the world be the same as the name of the godess of the world (Mia), on the justification that she is the world itself, similar to the way Eberron is named after the "dragon between" that makes up their world. However, I find homebrew world names to be largely uninspiring and unimportant in the grand scheme of things; nobody cares that the Forgotten Realms is set on Toril, and it's just as easy to say "the world." I'm open for suggestions as to what to call the land masses. For the northern lands, it shouldn't be called a peninsula because it is really not (it's somewhat larger than Europe). The southern lands should likewise probably not be called Erindese to avoid confusion, althouth it could be something etymologically similar (like Erindolla or Rinduland or Irind). The northern lands should have a name either tied to mythology or to religion, like Iordorn (a corruption of the Prophet's name). -- 77IM, brainstorm!
The Swedish Viking 09-08-04, 02:37 AM	Events Well, Iīve been thinking a lot about this. How about implementing something of an event-table for travelling through areas in the setting? Not an encounter-table, but with events (non-combat and combat, locations and sightings and whatever).
77IM 09-08-04, 12:50 PM	This is a fantastic idea! Such event lists are a great way to break up the monotony of travel, give life and detail to a new area, and serve as a springboard for adventure ideas. Unfortunately I am too lazy to do it but I would love to see someone tackle such a list! -- 77IM
77IM 09-08-04, 03:55 PM	These names are not written in stone (actually, they are frequently written in stone, but it's re-writable stone), because I'm not quite happy with some of them, but they should help with naming certain other things, like temples, religious orders, and even places. Because these names are so similar, most people know the names of all the gods in all the language groups; these are really more like regional pronunciation differences than whole new names. People most frequently make use of the appellations, though, as those are the names by which the deities are generally referred to in the Codex Luminaire. The Elven and Giantish names are listed first, as most civilized lands have languages in these groups, and then Orcish as it is the third most popular. Halfling should also be represented but I'm too lazy to do it right now, and Dwarven is spoken really only by dwarves, so meh. Celestial is the "base language" from which the other names are derived, even though few people (mostly priests and scholars) actually speak Celestial. Appellation Elven Giantish Orcish Celestial Sun Father Siolin Shillun Sorlan Solan Earth Mother Maea Mira Maya Mia Moon Sister Illunea Luna Uln Illune Ocean King Lojantus Lorgant Loganad Logant Sea Maiden Tiala Traley Tay Tialy Sky Lord Diruth Dartim Dorth Dartam Fire Master Pirometh Promit Promud Promuth Fire Mistress Janiala Janila Gen Genille Huntress Vanya Wania Vani Vania Aimless Wanderer Audan Oton Ordan Odan Keeper of Time Ciran Corin Kron Chron Judge of the Dead Mirutho Maltus Mort Mortus Trickster Phandorl Fando Fand Fendel Silver Knight Biron Brant Brond Brant Golden Princess Aeslin Heslin Essel Hesaline Prophet Jiordana Jordana Jordun Jordana I don't know what's up with this stupid scrolling box. EDIT: BINGO! I decreased the width of the scrolling box by removing the word "The" from every appellation, and now it doesn't scroll! -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 09-09-04, 01:59 AM	Lol
His Majesty 09-09-04, 11:48 AM	I sent a PM the 77IM about this, but it wouldn't hurt to let everyone know. We have a new artist. Take a look at the art request thread for details.
The Swedish Viking 09-10-04, 07:18 AM	Link?
His Majesty 09-10-04, 08:51 AM	Art request thread Like most other links related to this thread, you can find the link in the table of contents, in the fourth post of the first page.
77IM 09-10-04, 12:47 PM	Weapons Martial Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Weight Type Light Main-gauche 10gp 1d3 1d4 19-20/x2 -- 1 lb. Piercing Exotic Weapons Cost Dmg (S) Dmg (M) Critical Range Weight Type Light Crescent blade 20gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x3 -- 2 lb. Slashing or Piercing One-Handed Swordelaire 20gp 1d6/1d3 1d8/1d4 19-20/x2 -- 5 lb. Slashing Two-Handed Battlescythe 65gp 1d10 1d12 x4 -- 8 lb. Slashing and Piercing Broadglaive 60gp 1d8 1d10 19-20/x2 -- 8 lb. Slashing Great Swordelaire 60gp 1d8/1d4 1d10/1d6 19-20/x2 -- 7 lb. Slashing Greatscimitar 80gp 1d10 2d6 18-20/x3 -- 10 lb. Slashing Swordaxe 75gp 1d10 1d12 19-20/x3 -- 10 lb. Slashing Ranged Boomerang 5gp 1d3 1d4 x2 20 ft. 1 lb. Bludgeoning Boomerang, steel 35gp 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 30 ft. 1 lb. Slashing Curse you, scrolling box! I will destroy you! Battlescythe: This is a long, straight, metal-hafted version of the traditional scythe, redesigned for war. Its haft bends back slightly near the top, so that the large, curved blade runs somewhat perpendicular to the haft. Properly swung, the blade attains frightening leverage. In addition, the curved blade allows the weapon to make trip attacks; if you are tripped during your own trip attack, you can drop the weapon to avoid being tripped. The battlescythe is not a common weapon, found almost exclusively in Treothe and surrounding lands. Boomerang: When thrown by a wielder proficient in its use, this flat, curved piece of wood will return to the thrower. If the boomerang misses its target, it returns to the square from which it was thrown at the beginning of the thrower's next turn, where she (or anyone proficient with boomerangs) may catch it as a free action. If the boomerang hits its target, it falls to the ground in the target's square, and if it returns but no one catches it, it lands in the square from which it was thrown. Boomerang, steel: Anyone proficient in the use of a boomerang can also use this sharpened steel version. Because it deals damage by slashing rather than force, it will also return to the user when it deals minimum damage (a glancing blow), a critical hit (a clean slice), or drops its target (a very clean slice). However, catching this boomerang is dangerous; upon catching the boomerang, the catcher must succeed on an attack roll (AC 10) or take damage as though struck by the boomerang. (A natural 1 on this roll is not an automatic failure). Broadglaive: This long, thin, curved blade (much like a katana) is attached to an oversized handle, and can be wielded as a martial weapon with a normal 5 foot reach. Someone with the exotic weapon proficiency feat can hold it further up on the hilt and make extended, sweeping attacks, giving the weapon a reach of 10 feet. Unlike most reach weapons, it can also strike foes 5 feet away, and threatens all squares within 10 feet, much like a spiked chain. Goblin champions are typically given a masterwork or magical broadglaive as a sign of their station. You must have a Strength score of 13+ to take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat with this weapon. Crescent blade: This weapon is a double-edged curved blade shaped like a scythe or kama, attached at a right angle to a handle. You hold the handle such that the blade extends from the bottom of your fist (near the pinky) pointing away from and parallel to the forearm, allowing a skilled user to execute slashing and piercing attacks with devestating force. It is favored for use with two-weapon fighting, especially amongst the Losha, who call it a "shadowscythe." Greatscimitar: A massive, curved, single-bladed sword resembling an elongated falchion, the greatscimitar is a weapon of prestige in Treothe. Its broad, slashing edge make it capable of devastating cuts, but its massive and unbalanced weight require extra training to use. You must have a Strength score of 13+ to take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat with this weapon. Main-gauche: Almost always an off-hand weapon, a main-gauche is a fancy dagger with an oversized, pronged guard. When wielding a main-gauche, you get a +4 circumstance bonus to disarm checks, including the roll to avoid being disarmed yourself. If you have the two-weapon fighting feat and are wielding another weapon in your other hand, the bonus applies to disarm checks made with that weapon as well. Swordaxe: Also called a "trollblade" because it was supposedly invented by these creatures, the swordaxe is like a long-handled, single-bladed greataxe, but the top of the blade extends upward by several more feet, ending in a sharp, curved point. The combination of a broad slashing edge and massive leverage make the swordaxe capable of terrifying critical hits. You must have a Strength score of 13+ to take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat with this weapon. Swordelaire: This weapon is basically a longsword with a slightly longer hilt with a dagger blade protruding from the end of the hilt. It can be wielded one-handed as a martial weapon. Someone with the appropriate exotic weapon proficiency can also wield it two-handed as a double weapon, taking penalties as though fighting with a light weapon in each hand. It was originally developed by the seafaring culture of Jarlheim, as a versatile yet lightweight weapon (lighter than a sword and shield, anyway), but has spread throughout most of the civilized lands. Swordelaire, Great: This weapon is a larger version of the swordelaire; basically, a bastard sword with a slightly longer hilt with a short sword blade protruding from the end of the hilt. It can be wielded two-handed as a martial weapon. Someone with the appropriate exotic weapon proficiency can also wield it two-handed as a double weapon, taking penalties as though fighting with a light weapon in each hand. You must have a Strength score of 13+ to take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat with this weapon.
The Swedish Viking 09-12-04, 02:55 AM	NOTE: Trying to catch a boomerang in flight is folly, even if it is "returning". Youīd likely only break your hand and forearm when trying. One should allow Reflex save (DC = 35 - Attack Roll) to catch the boomerang (I think I was told it wasnīt doable at all IRL, but the "HEROES" might want to do it... and if a 20th level rogue can kill the deamonlord but not catch the boomerang... well). And catching a sharpened boomerang... NO. It ainīt doable. Plus I have no idea if a steel thing would even fly... though I guess the same principles apply to steel, though weight and material have a lot of effect on the way such things act... Hmm....
Delvesdeep 09-12-04, 06:48 PM	NOTE: Trying to catch a boomerang in flight is folly, even if it is "returning". Youīd likely only break your hand and forearm when trying. One should allow Reflex save (DC = 35 - Attack Roll) to catch the boomerang (I think I was told it wasnīt doable at all IRL, but the "HEROES" might want to do it... and if a 20th level rogue can kill the deamonlord but not catch the boomerang... well). And catching a sharpened boomerang... NO. It ainīt doable. Plus I have no idea if a steel thing would even fly... though I guess the same principles apply to steel, though weight and material have a lot of effect on the way such things act... Hmm.... Catching boomerangs is not difficult but you need to watch and calculate its flight and descent to do it correctly. You need to empty hands to 'clap' on the boomerang as it begins to slow and drop. I guess you could take the concentration required, the fact you need a large open space for it to return and the need to watch its flight path (effectively turning your back to the combat) into account when figuring out checks, saves etc. I'll leave you to it. Delvesdeep:b:
The Swedish Viking 09-12-04, 06:55 PM	Well, I went a crash-course in boomerang-catching in Australia, and the aboriginal told me that it was nigh impossible. (shrug) And besides, the boomerang sure did come back but it was far further than 5 feet away (more like 25).
The Swedish Viking 09-12-04, 06:56 PM	Plus, you need a big open place to be able to utilize a boomerang effectively. If youīre in a corridor or a cave not large enough, youīre not going to make it do anything other than hit walls. Unless you decide to use it as a throwing-star.
Delvesdeep 09-13-04, 02:10 AM	Well, I went a crash-course in boomerang-catching in Australia, and the aboriginal told me that it was nigh impossible. (shrug) And besides, the boomerang sure did come back but it was far further than 5 feet away (more like 25). I've thrown and caught a few myself and you are right in that you need to throw it almost perfectly for it to return directly back to you. If you were targeting a creature it would more than likely not return directly to you and miss the mark by a good 20 feet. Also the range of a boomerang is short unlike most ranged weapons because it quickly begins to circle back to you. You mentioned you had a boomerang crash-course in Australia. Was it close to where I live or further north? Can you remember what people the Aboriginal came from? Some Aboriginals pretend their people used boomerangs (to get money from the tourists) but in reality, unless they are from the more arid regions of Australia, the likelihood of their use was very small. You also mentioned earlier about your hesitation with steel boomerangs. I agree with you. I don't think a steel boomerang would fly, let alone return. Magical ones would of course because afterall, if it won't work normally - magic will make it work:). You are also completely correct aout the room required. You would need an area with a huge radius and height to use the weapon - it was designed for large open spaces to kill kangaroos. It was never used in the bush - spears were used for this. I've got one at home if you want further descriptions.;) delvesdeep:b:
His Magesty 09-14-04, 07:54 AM	As far as I know, boomerangs are catchable. I have a boomerang, and although I have never used it, I have a small page with instructions on how to do it, and it says there that it is possible. The sharp boomerangs don't need to be made only from steel - they could have steel razors in the edges. As for the space issue.. bows need only an open 5-foot wide line between the attacked and the attacker. Maybe boomerangs should require a 15- or 10-foot wide line.
77IM 09-14-04, 09:57 AM	I realize that actual boomerangs are difficult to throw and catch and require a wide, arcing angle to use properly. (The steel boomerang is lightweight and hollow so that is not a problem -- although catching while retaining your fingers could be.) But such a realistic representation would not be viable as a D&D weapon -- it would be a novelty item not worth the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat. I toyed with the idea of requiring a wider corridor for boomerang throwing but it just became too complex to adjudiciate. So yes, the boomerang is terribly cheese-laden for the sake of coolness. But this is D&D, remember, the game that brought you such subsystems as "hit points" and "the jump skill" and "the diplomacy skill" and "rapid shot + iterative attacks" and "the spiked chain." So a little linear, bounce-back boomerang isn't going to hurt anything. If it really bothers someone they can nerf it in their game, requiring it to travel in a circular shape or giving it a 50% chance of returning to the starting square correctly. Besides, if you think the basic boomerang is crazy, you must have missed the Maea's Daughter class, who can do wacky stuff like bank them around corners and strike multiple targets. ;) UPDATE: I posted two new weapons into the weapon post, and updated a few of the old weapons. If anyone can think up a better name than "greatscimitar" I am all ears. -- 77IM
Light Dragon 09-14-04, 02:57 PM	If anyone can think up a better name than "greatscimitar" I am all ears. "Deathslicer" ;) :D honestly, I think Great Scimitar is good enough ;)
The Swedish Viking 09-15-04, 02:05 AM	The Boomerang of Doom This strange artifact was recently recovered deep within the Erindese jungles from some arcane temples, built by some strange enigmatic civilization. Some say that it is lizardfolk, but most believe these structures to be dwarven or elven in nature, maybe giant. The Boomerang of Doom is so called because it emits a wailing sound, and an eerie red glow, when it is thrown. This howl was so frightening it saved the lives of the expedition-members who found it, scaring an army of scaly, green things away from the expedition. According to the writings inside the temple, the Boomerang was a gift from the Eart-Mother to whoever worshipped in that temple. Whether this is the truth or not is at this moment rather uninteresting, as the Boomerang has become favourite toy of a Dwarven Ledish prince and is now being used battling goblins on Lede. The Boomerang of Doom counts as a Boomerang with a +3 enhancement bonus. In addition, it glows and sheds lgiht as a torch, though the light has a reddish undertone. In addition, when it is thrown, everybody within 10 feet of the line the boomerang is thrown in must succeed at a Will save (DC 18) or be affected as per the Cause Fear spell. The Boomerang is also a Boomerang of Bane vs Gnomes and Elves.
77IM 09-15-04, 10:10 AM	The Boomerang of Doom ... Now that's what I'm talking about! Wait until you see my stats for the programmable seeking batarang! -- 77IM
77IM 09-15-04, 11:09 AM	I added some info and may add more later. I opted to NOT update the first page, since it may become too much information too early in the thread. Major Countries of the Known World The following are the most significant nations of the known world. Each has its own language and a major influence on international politics. Renflour Ruler: Council of Lords Races: Many humans, but also half-Orcs, half-Elves, gnomes, dwarves, goblins, elves, halflings in roughly equal measure Exports: Wine, fruit, crafts & worked goods, music, Essence Language: Renflourian (Elven) A broad peninsula bordered by the Mountain Duchies to the north and the Renlinean Sea to the south, Renflour is a centrally located nation based on trade and commerce. Unlike most neighboring countries, Renflour is a republic, ruled by a council of representatives of various noble families; although the country has been stable for hundreds of years, the political landscape is rife with intrigue. Renflour was the capital of the ancient Renlinean Empire, and current noble houses fear that if the nation was unified it could become too powerful, which led to the formation of the republic (although each house would love to unify the country under their own banner). Renflour has a warm, mild climate, with low rolling hills and sparse forest. The country is famous for its orchards, which criss-cross the land and produce fine fruits and fine wines. Renlinean ruins can be found in every major settlement and many parts of the wilderness, and most people live in stone houses with clay roofs. The people of Renflour have a strong musical tradition; Renflourian folk music, with its slow melodies and wide range of notes, is considered elegant and classy (unlike most folk music). Most rural commoners are devout followers of the Church of the Pantheon, but they tolerate the Independant Temples in the cities the way one tolerates a foolish child's stubborn fancy. With major ports pointed towards every country on the Renlinean sea and deep rivers that run right up to the foot of the Parthanian Mountains, Renflour's real economy is based on trade. Food, textiles, metalwork, and rare spices all flow through Renflour, but the real commodity is Essence. Renflour itself has more Magicants than most nations, thanks to the efforts of the Renlinean giants, and the noble houses have made sure that Renflourian Essence can be converted into power and influence. The capital city of Renflour is Lienne. As the biggest port and the center of government, Lienne is a bustling modern city built around the graceful stone architecture of ancient Renlinea. Known as the "city of falling water" or the "city of aqueducts," Lienne contains a broad network of still-functioning elevated aqueducts that carry an entire river's worth of water from the nearby hills down into the city, powering fountains and private baths, and in some areas even supporting gondola traffic. These aqueducts join with and twine around the city's majestic stone buildings, and each public fountain is surrounded by a public park at least as large as a city block. Below-ground sewers guide wastewater out of the city into the nearby Li River. Although a trade city, Lienne's major export is culture. The nobles and wealthy merchants patronize the arts, and Lienne is on the cutting edge of both visual and performing art. Several of the most prestigious colleges are located here, and Liennese scholars are in great demand in many noble courts. People from every nation can be found in Lienne seeking their fortune; there is enough work around that poverty is fairly rare. Frelund Ruler: House Gregor Races: Mostly human, many gnomes and goblins Exports: Lumber, beer, crafts, textiles Language: Frelundish (Giantish) To the west of Renflour, in the shadow of Zoltar, lies the vast, forested country of Frelund. The major geographical feature of Frelund is the Wyrwood, one of the last great forests yet unconquered, filled with dangerous creatures. The Frelunders are a hearty folk, farming the land and hunting in the forest, many of whom secretly worship the Old Ways. They were never fully conquered by the Renlinean Empire but did not flock to the Church of the Pantheon either. Frelund is known for its beer and its highly trained pikemen. About half the population is human, with the rest gnomes and goblins, although an accurate count of the fey population of the Wyrwood has never been conducted. Garland Ruler: House Melgerton Races: Mostly human, also dwarves, half-orcs, elves, some halflings and goblins, a few giants Exports: Mercenaries, metal Language: Garlish (Giantish and Elven) Centrally located between Renflour and Chirmont, Garland has been the front line of almost every major war, constantly conquered and re-conquered, each wave setting up a new monarchy. Although superficially strong, the rule of the King depends on the loyalty of the dukes, princes and lords beneath him, who are all struggling for more land and more power. Garland is something of a cultural hodge-podge, borrowing many traditions from neighboring Renflour, Ponderry and Chirmont, although they were one of the first countries to allow Independant Temples. Most residents are humans, although there are quite a few dwarf settlements in the mountains (and a few giants), elf and half-orc nobles, and some wandering bands of halflings. Goblin mercenary units also fare well in Garland, and favor the longbow. Chirmont Ruler: House Deschaigne Races: Mostly human, many elves, half-elves, orcs, and gnomes Exports: Grain, fish, baked goods, wine, fine crafts, ships, Essence Language: Chirmonten (Elven) East of Garland and a stone's throw from Ponderry is the powerful nation of Chirmont. An elegent nation still heavily influenced by elven culture, Church of the Pantheon is headquartered in Chirmont, and it plays a major part in the politics of the country. (It was here that the Prophet Jordana led the human revolt against the Renlinean Empire.) The people of Chirmont are highly culturally refined, and highly value tradition; there are many holidays and festivals throughout the country, and people enjoy hosting visitors. However, the nobility of Chirmont has a deserved reputation for arrogance and haughtiness. Many seafarers, fishermen, and merchant trade operates out of Chirmont, which has a navy rivaled in power only by Ponderry and Jarlhiem. Chirmont cuisine is legendary, and the nation is a leading producer of grains. The population is primarily human, elven, half-orc, and gnome. The poor of this country -- the serfs -- have a very good life style compared to other countries, but social mobility is limited by the Church and noble power structures. Mountain Duchies Ruler: House Norindal Races: Primarily dwarves, some humans and gnomes Exports: Metal, weapons, Heartstones, magic items, gems Language: Parthanian (Dwarven) In the heart of the Parthanian Mountains north of Renflour lies the Mountain Duchies, a series of dwarven domains. The dwarves mine the rich metals and gems of the mountains, and use stone to build great halls, and sturdy bridges and roads which turn jagged peaks into tractable passes, and massive aqueducts channelling spring runnoff into usable energy. Nominally allies with ancient Renlinea, the dwarves built many structures for the elves and giants, but did not participate in any military campaigns, prefering to remain neutral. Dwarves are an outgoing and well-travelled people, running merchant caravans and controlling most land-based trade routes. Their skills as builders, craftsfolk, smiths, and wizards is also in high demand, although the Mountain Duchies themselves must import most of their grain from lower countries. Dwarves don't distinguish between nobility and commoners in quite the same manner as other races -- fully half the population of the Mountain Duchies are considered "nobles," and the other half generally leads a pretty good life as well. There is no stigma against nobles marrying commoners, although for a noble to undertake certain activities (such as living in another country) they lose their noble status. Ponderry Ruler: House Caellethiran Races: Primarily elves, some goblins, giants, and humans Exports: Fine crafts, textiles, wine Language: Ponderran (Elven) The eastern half of the Great Isle is known to the elves who rule it as the Empire of Renlinea, but known to everyone else as Ponderry. Although their ancestral home was Renflour, the elves and giants who ruled that land gradually retreated to Ponderry during the great rebellion. A hilly wooded realm with poor farmland, they were allowed to keep this kingdom by the terms of the truce negotiated by the Prophet Jordana. Here the elves have lived since, in their majestic spired castles and quaint woodland cottages. Many goblins and giants, also refugees from Renlinea, can be found here, as well as a substantial population of humans farming in the lowlands. Ponderry is something of a mysterious place, seen as a land where everyone keeps a secret and the nobility is skilled at deceiving people by telling them the truth. The country's main exports are finely crafted goods and textiles. The state religion of Ponderry is known as Orthodox Pantheism, which recognizes the teachings of the Prophet Jordana but does not deify her the way the Church of the Pantheon does. They recognize the authority of the Church and in return are allowed to worship in their own odd manner. Corsom Ruler: House Cholai Races: Mostly human and half-orc, a few halflings Exports: Wool, horses, grain Language: Corsomish (Orcish) A cold, vast land of plains north of the Parthanian Mountains, Corsom was the ancestral home of the orcs, never conquered by the Renlinean elves. (In fact, it during an invasion campaign that Jordana incited the humans of Renlinea to ally with the foreign orcs against their own elf masters.) Today, thanks to the Renlinean's use of the [I]orcscourge, there are no full-blooded orcs left, but the region still contains the most half-orcs of any nation, as well as quite a few humans. Corsom is a land of grain farmers, shepherds and horse breeders, although exports are low as much of the produce is used up during the long winters. The people are proud of their heritage of independance, although they are united under their ruler, the High Prince of Corsom. A Corsom cavalry charge is fearsom indeed; their mounted warriors are exceeded only by ogre elkriders. Because it was heavily colonized by followers of Jordana after the Great Rebellion, the people of Corsom are very devout followers of the Church of the Pantheon, and Heartstone use is not very popular here. Zoltar Ruler: House Mrovos Races: Mostly human and half-orc, many goblins and halflings Exports: Crafts Language: Zoltaran (Giantish) A cold mountain land of forested hills and perpetual autumn, Zoltar lies along the western reach of the Parthanian Mountains, north of Frelund. It was once a stronghold of giants during the Renlinean era, but no giants live there now. After the Great Rebellion and the death of the Prophet at the hands of the giants, Zoltar was a closed land -- none went in or out. 80 years later, when the giants had outgrown their land and tried to invade the fledgeling human kingdom of Corsom, all kingdoms rallied under the newly-formed Church of the Pantheon and crushed Zoltar, slaughtering the giants or driving them west across the steppelands where they have not been heard from since. This legacy of remoteness and bloodshed has hung over Zoltar ever since. It is a dark land ruled by corrupt nobles; the peasantry is a superstitious lot that cowers in their remote villages, distrustful of outsiders. Although most of the residents are humans and half-orcs, quite a few halflings and goblins live here as well. Zoltar is viewed as sort of a backwards place where the noble families send their unpopular kin to manage what meager holdings they have. Alluvan Ruler: House Solane Races: Primarily humans and half-orcs, with some ogres and halflings Exports: Livestock, dairy products, liquor Language: Alluvani (Elven) North of Chirmont along the coast is Alluvan, a nation of passionate dark-haired people who are considered slightly eccentric. Long a buffer zone between the fierce raiders of Jarlheim, the folk practices of Corsom and the domineering civilization of Chirmont, the the Alluvani people have learned to roll with the punches. Alluvan composed of small regional factions, each with its own traditions and culture. Although they skirmish amongst themselves, they are very trustworth and honorable, and so alliances change with each generation; an old Alluvani phrase is "Former enemies make the best of friends." Alluvan produces a lot of livestock and holds some good farmland. Because of the nation's great diversity, Alluvan is very accepting of strangers, including Independant Temples (although most people are devout followers of the Church). Alluvan's population is primarily humans, half-orcs, gnomes, and ogres, with some wandering halflings. Jarlheim Ruler: House Orvald Races: Many gnomes and ogres, some humans and half-orcs Exports: Ships, fish, furs Language: Jarlian (Giantish) A frigid northern island of rocky hills and pine forests, Jarlheim is home to small kingdoms of sea raiders. Tough and warlike, these barbaric pirates and pillagers are viewed as little better than savages by many of the southern nations, especially Chirmont. In actual fact, many Jarlmen are quite well-travelled and highly educated, and only plunder ships that intrude upon their territory. Most people of Jarlheim are gnomes and ogres, who work well together on a ship's rigging, but quite a few hardy humans and half-orcs can be found here as well. The traditional religion is Orthodox Pantheism, jokingly called "Unorthodox Pantheism" by many because of its suspicious similarities to the Old Ways. Treothe Ruler: House Koref Races: Many humans and goblins, some gnomes and half-orcs Exports: Textiles, stone, spices Language: Treothan (Halfling) This kingom southwest of Frelund was much stronger during the Renlinean Empire, when it was a warlike region dominated by goblins. Most of their best and brightest died on the front lines defending the Empire, so when the humans, gnomes, and half-orcs from the north swept through, they were able to subdue the once-proud nation with ease. Treothe today is a place of many strange traditions. The dry climate has preserved many of the old Renlinean buildings, and the warlike culture of the goblins has led to much infighting and struggling against neighbors Ombroten and Anku. The people of Treothe are known for their fierce loyalty to their allies and love of spicy foods. They are very pious members of the Church of the Pantheon -- Independant Temples are forbidden -- but have a number of odd religious practices. For example, they hold Prayermeet once a day, just after sundown, instead of once per week. Erindu Ruler: The King and Queen Incarnate Races: Mostly haflings, goblins, and elves, a few humans Exports: Grain Language: Erindese (Halfling) A pagan nation to the south across the Greensea, the people of Erindu -- predominantly halflings, goblins and elves -- live primarily along the shores of the great River Velm. Yearly floods fertilize the growing plains and deltas and keep the surrounding jungle at bay. Erindu is the ancestral home of the halfling clans known as Losha who wander the continent to the north. Ancient Erindu fought a series of wars with ancient Renflour, but ultimately lost, resulting in the Renlinean Empire, which used grain from Erindu to feed its vast armies. The Great Revolution never quite made it to Erindu, but it broke free of Ponderry soon afterwards, and the people here still openly practice the old ways. Most think them primitive, as they wear little clothing and enjoy strange body modification like tatoos, peircings, and limb extension, but scholars believe that the Erindese had discovered writing and arithmatic long before the peoples of the north.
77IM 09-15-04, 05:36 PM	I've been posting a lot of really rulesy stuff lately so I thought I'd toss out an organization to counterbalance. The Sons of Kroldan Common Knowledge: The Sons of Kroldan are a sort of private club for half-orc men designed to get them a little free time away from their wives. They are involved in some civic activities and maintain many ancient orc traditions that would otherwise be lost. Chapters exist throughout the world, especially Corsom, but meetings are held in strict secrecy. Goals and Ideals: Kroldan was the ancient orc prince who allied with the Prophet and rallied his people to fight back against the onslaught of Renlinea. The orcs were getting beaten badly, with their king and many of their best warriors slain, but Kroldan used the Prophet's words combined with the orc's cultural pride to convince his people that they would be victorious because they were more virtuous than their giant and elven enemies. Nowadays, though, these words have been twisted into a message of orc superiority. It's the belief of the Sons of Kroldan that they -- and all half-orc descendants of ancient Corsom -- are simply better than other people in every way and should rule over them. A few believe that only they are capable of making the world a better place for everyone, but most are simple bigots, believing that other races don't deserve any rights at all. All Sons of Kroldan work behind the scenes to promote half-orc interests and see half-orcs put into positions of power. They sometimes try to inflame cultural, religious or racial hatred amongst the lower classes. Leadership: An elaborate hierarchy known as the Flagon Court (because a lot of their meetings are just dressed-up drinking parties) with titles like Commisar, Thane, and Marshal rules over the Sons of Kroldan. Individuals of distinguished orc bloodlines, and particularly aasimars (see below), rise more quickly through the ranks, but talent is also rewarded with promotion. Each level of the hierarchy is privy to more and more of the order's secrets; entry-level members are often unaware of the Sons' true goals. Inner Workings: The Sons of Kroldan work through secrecy and infiltration. Although they are strongest in Corsom, there are members throughout the world, who the organization can use to apply "leverage" in a variety of situations. The term "Sons" of Kroldan is deliberate, as women are not allowed to join. Some, particularly wives of the Sons, join a sister organization called "Daughters of Kroldan" but they have no knowledge or involvement in the Sons' true agenda. Particularly honored members of the Sons of Kroldan are aasimars. The Flagon Court -- which otherwise staunchly defends Church dogma -- encourages the heretical belief that Jordana had children, carrying and birthing twins in while in seclusion writing the Codex Luminaire, and that Kroldan was the father. Aasimars are therefore infused with both the strength of the orc people and the holy power of the gods and are meant to rule over all. Game Information: A half-orc aasimar has all the attributes of both a half-orc and an aasimar. They are outsiders with orc blood, and apply both the racial ability modifiers of half-orcs and aasimars.
The Swedish Viking 09-17-04, 02:17 AM	Doh. Why did you have to change the layout of the nations? Dammit, gonna need to re-edit it again....
77IM 09-21-04, 10:15 AM	Request for Ideas: Vampires Brainstorm! The last monster to be filled in on the Big List O Monsters is vampires, because I want them to be less boring than in D&D. However, I don't really have any good inspiration for how vampires should be, so I'd like people to toss out some ideas. (At this stage I'd rather have just basic ideas, not His Majesty-esqe 300-page essays. ;)) We can discuss them and pick the best one. The question I'm asking is, "What are the role of vampires in this world?" Some guidelines: 1. Vampires may be any alignment. None of this boring "always chaotic evil" stuff. However, they have to suck blood, which is kind of an evil thing to do. I'm OK with the idea that vampires are usually evil by virtue of things done to become a vampire (like unholy rituals or something), the way liches are evil, but if someone becomes a vampire just by being bitten, I don't see why they should turn evil right away. Try to avoid over-angsting them (it's not "Anne Rice's Le Stat Visits Lienne"). 2. Vampires must retain their allergy to sunlight, undead type, and blood-sucking requirements. All other abilities are up for grabs, if you have cool ideas for alternate vampire abilites. However, it must still be possible to build the "default" MM vampire (the guy with dominating gaze, summoning wolves, etc.). 3. Vampires should link to the lore of world somehow. They can be ancient enemies or a recent development, relating to magic or religion or demons or whatever. Be creative! 4. Vampires shouldn't be common in the world or readily accepted. No noble houses or small kingdoms consisting of vampires. (It's not "White Wolf's Vampire: The Magiquant.") They are probably most common in Zoltar, which is meant to resemble old transylvania, but more interesting vampires might exist elsewhere. What do you guys think? I'm sure I could whip up something half-way decent on vamps but I thought I'd first see if anybody had an all-the-way decent idea. Feel free to ignore the above guidelines completely if you have a wicked cool idea that contradicts them. -- 77IM
His Majesty 09-21-04, 12:38 PM	I've found some work in our local library a short while ago. While cataloguing the Fantasy & Sci-Fi section, I found out that our librarian brought the Ravenloft series to our library, and while doing other things, I read about two-hundred pages of the second book. ("The Knight of the Black Rose", I think.) Anyway, those books present a very generic concept for vampires, that is used also in Terry Pratchett's books. This concept is the classoc MM vampire, and White Wolf's vampires are pretty similar. If we want to make the vampires of tMtH special, we should definitely distinguish them from this archetype. If we decide to introduce vampires into Zoltar, there's a chance of losing originality. If we use the classic MM vampires, we're putting a big red label with the word "Ravenloft" on it. Here are the things that I think we should avoid: Big, Dark Castles: Dracula? Who said Dracula? I certainly didn't say Dracula. Was it you, 77IM? Vampire Nobles: C'mon, which one of you said Dracula? I heard you! Fancy Black Cloaks: This isn't funny anymore. The Scheming Vampire: Once vampires become scheming things, intent on controlling urban or semi-urban regions, we're getting close to the vampire-overlord archetype. Unless we find a great twist for this thing, I think that we should avoid it. Coffins: These have a tendancy of making the vampire a lot less mobile. He'll need a place to put his coffin - much more than some cave or shack. This makes him a significantly more urban thing, and BAM! We're on our way to the mysterious man in the large house who never goes out in the day. Again, using this will require a major counter-twist. Here are some things that we could use as concepts. They could be combined, of course. The Seducer: A terrible creature with deep, black, hypnotising eyes who tempts members of the other sex and sucks their blood. More of a creature of the bedroom than just a plain old creature of the night. Wild Wolf-Pack Leader: I think that this one is closer to the original mythical vampires, which were related to werewolves. A feral man who haunts the dark forests. A New Creature of the Old Ways: Vampires are relatively new kinds of Instinctuals, that began to appear soonly after the Old Ways' demise in the northern lands. Might be allied with Old Ways people. Personal Brainstorming: I need to think aloud. Sorry. Drinking somebody's blood is a very strong metaphor (My literary background revealed! Gasp!). Taking the blood is a very drastic way of taking things - you're taking the essence of life itself. One might be doing so because he really wants something, and others don't want to give it to him. This might represent a lust for love or human touch, but I can't see a good monster concept in that. It might represent envy for the lives of others, their joy, their youth, or their feelings. It also means that the vampire is a parasite, living off the things that others have made. Argh, too sick to continue.
The Swedish Viking 09-21-04, 01:11 PM	I LIKE guys in fancy black cloaks. Besides, who said we couldnīt combine the "vampire with fancy cloak and scheming overlord" with "bedchamber" or "wolfman" variants? After all, if you look on the MM variant, they probably took these into account. Vampires could be Magicantised by giving them new background stories and goals, though still fitting with the more generic MM. Say, if the first vampires were those cursed by the Sun Father for trying to steal his children or those of his first children that turned to darkness, perhaps? Yeah, sounds goood. Worgs, winter-wolves and similar critters and bats were creatures transformed by the evil of these wizards, allies used in the struggle for power. That way, we can immediately stake out these possible goals: * Reedeeming oneself. A vampire might wish to rid him/herself of the curse the Sun Father placed on him/her. * Vengeance. The vampire might wish vengeance on all those things living because of jealousy... the blood-drinking is a way of stealing the life-force and soul. * Original goals. They continue to strive towards domination and the usual Evil-R-Us thing, though with the exception that these vampires actively search a way to rid themself of the curse. * Vampires often live in wilderness regions since hiding the curse is easier in a place with little people. * Vampires live with winter-wolves and worgs and similar evil critters because these creatures were the allies of the Vampires before the curse. * Vampires can be of many kinds since the curse took different shapes: Some vampires became as twisted as their intents, while others had the will to retain human form. hmmm...
His Majesty 09-21-04, 02:08 PM	Well, all that is good as well. I'm just stating things that I'd like to see, since I feel that they'll make the vampires more unique, but the cursed vampires are interesting too. My only concern is that they might be too similar to the scorned, but that can be easily fixed. Personal Brainstorming Continued Vampires are "Creatures of the Dark". Darkness relates to secrets, mysteries an fears. In the night, our most important sense is hindered, and we feel less secure. Everything seems strange, and many people feel lonely, since they no longer feel close to the people around them. Darkness is usually considered evil Vampires have an aversion from sunlight. People are active during the day, so this might symbolize a hatred for human society.
Rhineglade 09-21-04, 02:29 PM	Hey, just thought I would chime in: Why not use the concept of vampires from other cultures? For instance, the chinese vampire doesn't suck blood, doesn't turn into a bat and does not turn away from garlic. However, they are blind and hunt for victims by the smell of the victim's breath. Once they find a victim, they absorb life energy through the eyes and in turn become stronger. They can not tolerate sunlight however and can not cross running water. Victims who lose their life energy will become subservient vampires themselves unless the energy is restored by slaying the vampire. OR: I have seen several TV programs where the "vampire" has a change of heart and seeks to undo past wrongs by using their supernatural powers for good instead of evil. Certainly "Angel" comes to mind from the WB but there have been others (mostly animated). That might be an interesting twist.
77IM 09-21-04, 05:44 PM	I love the group brainstorm! It is exactly what I was hoping for! Here are my thoughts thus far. I definitely don't want vampires to be too cliche. Zoltar doesn't actually need them; House Mrovos is weird enough already. Vampires should definitely not be associated with the nobility directly, or live in castles, except in special cases. Also the idea of "good vampires" has become sort of a cliche too. On the other hand, the term "vampire" means something to people, and if we turn those assumptions upside-down, we might as well call them something else and not have vampires in the setting. But I like vampires and want to keep them. A guideline that I often shoot for (and sometimes hit) is "familiar yet original." It's sort of like Eberron's goal of "same but different" except that "same" and "different" are neutral terms where as "familiar" and "original" have good connotations -- I want things to be familiar so that people have some frame of reference to start from, but I want things to be original so that people have something new and interesting to discover (as opposed to sameness and differentness for their own sakes). Anyway, I think a good baseline is: undead sunlight-hating bloodsuckers. "Regarded as evil" and "creates spawn" are both also important to the "concept" of vampires. So I'd rather not discard those aspects, because the thing we end up with would not be very much like a vampire. Also, I don't like to totally upend the rules without some good reason; if a DM playing this campaign world wants to run an adventure with a traditional D&D vampire in it, it should be possible. I've tried do this with trolls & hags (who have game rules largely unaltered, but a new backstory) and with dragons (the dragon game rules basically let you rearrange dragon abilities -- or use published dragons "out of the box" if desired). On the other hand, vampire lore from other cultures is very cool; I like Japanese hopping vampires and Ukranian moth-vampires. One way we could incorporate these sorts of things is by expanding the list of vampire special abilities. Instead of defaulting to the same abilities (dominating gaze, turns into a bat, level-draining slam attack, etc.), we could have a pick-and-choose system similar to the way the Ghost template works ("Pick any 5 of the following special attacks or qualities..."). Maybe one of the abilities is draining life energy through some mechanism more efficient than blood drain. Or, maybe vampires drain blood for some other reason entirely; maybe they are addicted to it or it keeps them from succumbing to some disease or keeps them sane or something, who knows. I like the idea of giving vampires some distinct goals based on their background rather than generic evilness. I had thought of making them the cursed of the Sun Father as well but the god-cursed roll is already fulfilled by the Scorned, and the Sun Father's already a dominant figure in the lore so he doesn't need any more PR. (Also as a side-note, worgs and winter wolves are not evil.) I guess my brain blockage right now is that I don't know how the themes of vampires relate to the themes of the setting. A lot of the setting themes have to do with human nature, particularly ambition, selfish behavior, political dominance, and ideology. So maybe the vampires voluntarily become vampires for some interesting reason but I can only think of mediocre reasons. Here's one I just thought of: In the past they were rare -- so rare as to be almost unique -- but suddenly there are a lot more of them for reasons as yet unexplained (maybe a magical experiment gone wrong). This makes the mythological vampires more "special" but still ties modern vampires to the Arcane Renaissance. Keep the ideas coming! I'm sure one of them will stick eventually. -- 77IM
keyunp 09-21-04, 06:36 PM	I havne't posted in here yet, but I've been reading up on the setting. Everthing looks good and I like it. Personal Brainstorming Just going to ramble on here, so ignore spelling and grammer. What about haveing the creation of vampires involeing the use of heartstones. Something like they're not alive so the spell would create a hearstone of level 0. Something that if its implanted will create a new vampire. You would only be able to get one stone from an active vampire until it has feed enough. Maybe getting the hearstone completely drains them of their supply of blood, and until they feed and are full another one can't be produced. This would explain a sudden increase in the number of vampires. In the past they would have had to gorge themselves to force a heartstone to appear. When designing the mechanics of the vampire have a list of feeding options; Blood, Soul through the eys, breath, sex, etc. Get away from the "negative level drain". I've always hated permanent losses. Have an attack option something like: On a successful attack the target recieve a -1 to all rolls (stacks). 1 point is recovered after every month. As far as 'good' vampires go, I don't think becomeing one should be an automatic alignment change. If a vampire is hungry they would have to make a save of some kind to avoid going into a rage and feeding, each failure (or 2) would have you moving towards chaotic evil. I think you should have options to pick from for vampires. Feeding, Attack, Summons, Misc. Starts with 1 of each, and gains more with levels (PrC ?) I like the concept of options for vamps. The basic vampires would always be very similar, but the powerfull/old ones would have different and possibley unique abilites. (if anyone has read the Anita Blake series you'll understand better.) Thats it for now.
The Swedish Viking 09-22-04, 02:11 AM	According to my MM, both Worgs and Winter-Wolves have the Evil alignment. -_^ If youīve changed that, please inform, cus I havenīt got the energy to read through that fifteen page Monster list. :D
77IM 09-22-04, 11:05 AM	According to my MM, both Worgs and Winter-Wolves have the Evil alignment. -_^ If youīve changed that, please inform, cus I havenīt got the energy to read through that fifteen page Monster list. :D The monster list is in ALPHABETICAL ORDER so if you're coming up with an idea for Worgs or Winter Wolves just scroll down to the W section. (I'm assuming that the Swedish alphabet is in roughly the same order as the English? You've got like a "thorn" character in there somewhere towards the end or something?) Alignment restrictions and tendencies in general are relaxed in this setting, especially for cute fluffy animals like wolves, so it shouldn't really come as much of a surprise that they are not always evil. Also, the Goblin Champion PrC gets a worg companion (although I don't really expect people to wade through all the PrCs), so they really can't be all that evil. Finally, as a heads-up for other canine related inquiries: Werewolves have no alignment tendancy, nor do blink dogs, but hell hounds and yeth hounds do (they are evil). -- 77IM
Brknlf 09-22-04, 05:39 PM	Without getting too involved, I'm still reading the posts here and there, here's an offering for your team brainstorming idea on Vampires: Vampires are blood-suckers. They have special abilities that are dependent upon blood being sucked. Essence is drawn out of dead monsters in some manner or another. Vampires suck blood to draw Essence from their victims to use their 'innate' magical abilities. On the occasion that a vampire completey drains the essence from a sentient creature and maybe under certain other conditions (full moon or winter solstice or some such), the fallen creature may rise as a vampire. For some interesting historical type flavor stuff, the first vampires were rebels against the church, maybe they tried to steal a magicant or the actually stole one and they were cursed - the thing shattered and embedded itself into all of the theives. From this, I'd avoid having blood=power and the 'level' equivilant abilities too much, it starts sounding like V:tM. Sure the older a vampire is, the more powerful they should be - perhaps have an extended ability/age increase chart (in D&D terms - 1 century/50 years/chosen increment equals ability increases in X amount and X number of bonus vampire 'feats' or special abilities).
77IM 09-23-04, 03:57 PM	I have some more ideas for vampires, but first, I've been meaning to post these feats for a long time. The most prominent races in Jarlheim are gnomes and ogres. Although each fulfills a different role in this seafaring culture (ogres drawing oars and maneuvering the sails, gnomes scrambling up the rigging and keeping the ship in working order) they have learned to make use of each others' strengths and weaknesses in the crowded environment of a ship's deck. OGRE SHADOW [General] You can remain underfoot. Prerequisites: Small size or smaller. Benefit: You can occupy the same square as an allied creature at least two size categories larger than you without penalty, nor does the allied creature take any penalties. Any attempt to bull rush, overrun, trip, grapple, or disarm either one of you must be made against both creatures; if the attempt succeeds at both, it affects both, but if it fails at either, it affects niether. You can charge through a square occupied by an allied creature two size categories larger than you, but if you're occupying the square of a larger ally, that creature can't charge. Normal: You can pass through an ally's square but cannot occupy it. GNOME THROWER [General] You can hurl your smaller companions. Prerequisites: Large size or larger. Benefit: You can scoop up an allied creature at least two size categories smaller than you and within your reach as a move action. You must be capable of carrying the creature's weight, and so long as you hold the creature it is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC. Grabbing, holding and throwing the creature requires two free hands. As a standard action, if the creature weighs less than your light load, you can hurl them as a thrown weapon with an increment of 10 feet. You suffer a -4 penalty on the attack roll for using an improvised weapon. If the ally chooses to attack the target you throw it towards, it deals damage as though it had charged and made a weapon attack, but it adds your Strength modifier to its own when calculating damage. Because the thrown ally doesn't make an attack roll, they can't use feats like Power Attack or Combat Expertise which rely on taking attack roll penalties. If the thrown ally chooses not to attack, they still deals damage equal to your Strength modifier from the impact. If you miss with the attack, your ally lands in a random adjacent square. You can also throw an unwilling creature. You must first pin them as part of a grapple. Throwing them is still a standard action, and you must succeed at an opposed grapple check before making the attack roll. If the grapple check succeeds, you can throw them, but if it fails, you only drop them in an adjacent square, where they land prone but take no damage. If you successfully throw them at a target, they may chose to deal damage or not just as if they were your ally. Anyone you throw takes 2d6 points of damage as though falling 20 feet (unless they end up falling more than 20 feet, in which case they take 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet fallen). They can reduce this to 1d6 damage (or 1d6 less damage) by succeeding at a DC 15 Tumble check. Normal: You can throw objects as improvised weapons, but not creatures.
77IM 09-24-04, 11:56 AM	Current musings on vampires. These are just random ideas I'm tossing out there. 1. What if vampires were like lycanthropes, in that some were natural born and some were afflicted? In an odd twist, the afflicted ones tend to become evil (driven mad by their inhumanity -- there'd be some sort of Will saves involved), while the natural born ones are generally "good" and hunt the evil ones (taking great care not to accidentally create any spawn while feeding). 2. What if vampires had a traditional relationship with a race that people don't usually associate them with, like dwarves or gnomes? I particularly like the idea of gnome vampires. Perhaps if you extract a Heartstone from a gnome, it rises as a vampire until it can get it back? 3. I had a thought, that maybe if you kill a priest during their daily Essence trance, there is a % chance equal to their Charisma that they rise as a vampire that night and hunt you down and kill you. This makes priests less vulnerable while trancing (hacking them to bits won't help; their body re-forms), because people know not to kill them. 4. Vampires traditionally fulfill the role of corrupt, dark, twisted humans. However, this setting already has corrupt, dark, twisted humans: regular humans, some of which are bad. So what if the vampire was a dark reflection not of the already-sometimes-dark humans, but of something that is usually good? What if it were fey? I sort of like the idea of applying the mysterious and natural aspects of fey creatures to vampires. Human(oid) vampires could still exist having been spawned by ("taken by") the fey versions. What do you guys think? Any good? -- 77IM
Light Dragon 09-25-04, 02:10 AM	What if vampires were like lycanthropes, in that some were natural born and some were afflicted? In an odd twist, the afflicted ones tend to become evil (driven mad by their inhumanity -- there'd be some sort of Will saves involved), while the natural born ones are generally "good" and hunt the evil ones (taking great care not to accidentally create any spawn while feeding). makes sense to me. What if vampires had a traditional relationship with a race that people don't usually associate them with, like dwarves or gnomes? I particularly like the idea of gnome vampires. Perhaps if you extract a Heartstone from a gnome, it rises as a vampire until it can get it back? Or until it's destroyed- and heartstones can never be returned ??? I had a thought, that maybe if you kill a priest during their daily Essence trance, there is a % chance equal to their Charisma that they rise as a vampire that night and hunt you down and kill you. This makes priests less vulnerable while trancing (hacking them to bits won't help; their body re-forms), because people know not to kill them. Good idea- but this could also work for the Forgotten Realms Revenants rules... or BaneDead rules if you use those. Fey features to vampires... I don't know. But do whatever you like ;)
apparition13 09-25-04, 02:50 AM	re vampires: to summarize: undead, vulnerable to sunlight, blood suckers, regarded as evil, create spawn, any alignment. Other ideas: used to be very, very rare, now more common. wider ability pool to draw from, "pick 5 of the following..." So that got me thinking and here's my suggestion: Vampires are the end result of extracting a heartstone. The cantrip that extracts a heartstone (seems like an awfully powerful effect for such a little spell... is someone or something helping?) must be cast at death or immediately after; within a minute or two, no more. If delayed, it doesn't work as the magical essense drains away into the world. Preventing this draining away strands the spirit of the slain creature, and on the following moonrise (this assumes the body is just left to rot, kind of like bison on the great plains or elephants once their tusks are taken) the spirit re-animates it's body and goes in search of life/blood. So now you have an undead unicorn looking for dinner. suggestions: -starts as a chaotic-evil, undead ravening beast. -It can take the shape of someone of the same species as the last being it drained to death. Simply having a snack with killing isn't enough. This is not a doppleganger type ability, it isn't the ability to turn into Bill if you kill Bill, it's the ability to turn into a human/gnome/goblin/parakeet/whatever. -It could take on some of the abilities and/or features of the victim. Skills, feats, personality quirks and so on. This is actually a much bigger and more complex subject and I'm not that sure about it. -I's say sex of the shapechange would be either limited to only that of the original creature or only that of the victim. Either option works, but I'd pick one and stick with it for all vampires. I think I'm partial to the latter. (I thought we were looking for a man? Who's this woman?) -It can always return to it's original form. -It can permenently add other forms as it gains power (sort of like feats). Think of "Vampire" as a character class restricted to a template. -The victims rub off on the vampire in the psychological sense. This could be how their alignment drifts from CE. Drink from good half-orcs and you start to think like a good half-orc. So as the vampire drinks and experiences different shapes and psychologies it becomes progressively less bestial. Open questions: How would it create new vampires? Is this really necessary or just another folktale with the real story being vampires being created by the cantrip. If this is the case, are the new vampires the same as the old ones (the cantrip was rediscoved) or are they something new? Were there actually old vampires or were they just a folk-tale? What happens if a vampire finds it's heartstone? Has this ever happened? Hmmm, intriguing. I like this question. Interesting world vision folks. Hope my little contribution is in someway useful.
Wyrmling 09-26-04, 02:46 PM	Sorry this is rather off topic, but I just read through your novel of a first few post and I would like to state my compliments. This is a very professional feeling, well fleshed out world. I would love to play in it. Also, just a thought (I'm sure someone stated this before in one of the ten pages so far): You main nation, Renflour, seems almost identical to mideval Italy. A peninsula nation, center of trade, was once the location of a great empire that fell because it overrreached itself and the rise of a new religion... Even the capitol has an Italian sounding name. Is this a coincedence?
The Swedish Viking 09-27-04, 02:23 AM	The Swedish alphabet is the same as the English alphabet, with the exceptions of these eltters: Å, Ä, Ö If youīd like a lecture on how to pronounce them, tell me. :D On further notice: Swedish is related to German (for about 300-400 years, most of the Noble and Merchant houses in Sweden came or had roots in the Germany of those days) and the other Nordic languages. One might also draw the conclusion that Swedish and English are also somewhat related (some certain words are very similar in both languages) due to the Viking occupations of the British Isles about 800 - 1100. ----------------------------------------------------- Enough on Swedish/English language... As a side note; do you want any "magical" towns, cities, communities, etc, or the like? Like a Necropolis or flying cities or similar stuff?
77IM 09-28-04, 12:36 PM	You main nation, Renflour, seems almost identical to mideval Italy. A peninsula nation, center of trade, was once the location of a great empire that fell because it overrreached itself and the rise of a new religion... Even the capitol has an Italian sounding name. Is this a coincedence? Nope. As a short-cut when creating the world, I based each of the major nations on some part of medieval Europe. (I actually considered just using actual Europe, but integrating magic and demihumans into Earth's history is just too hard.) Since Italy played such a strong part in the history of the Renaissance it seemed natural to center things around a country resembling Italy. This method of basing things off real-world cultures is very helpful as a "fallback" -- if I don't know how something would work in Frelund, for example, I try to think about how it works in my own inaccurate, romanticized version of medieval Germany. I did make each nation subtly different than its real counterpart -- for example, the Church rose in Chirmont and is still headquartered there rather than Renflour (in Europe, this happened in Rome). Of course, each country has "drifted" from its original template, some more than others, but that's kind of what I had hoped for. Alluvan, for example, was originally supposed to look like Spain, but now looks nothing like Spain. -- 77IM
His Majesty 09-28-04, 02:37 PM	The house rule presented in the "Magical Scars" thread by tompulsar would be a great addition to tMtH, applied to sorcerers. I've got a short vacation now, so I'll probably begin to write down my ideas. Currently I've got ideas for the capital of Chirmont (4 major temples), an idea for House Deschaigne's most significant castle, some country-specific holidays, two NPCs that have been lying around for several months, and another castle in some remote land (probably Kresmaya, Enku, or Elrain). Edit: Oh, and the Arcana Unearthed thing.. damn, I nearly forgot about that.
His Majesty 09-30-04, 08:20 PM	Dame Hemesola Daegvin, "A Study of Vampirism: Fact & Legend," Journal of the Society of Arcane Philosophy, Issue LIX, Appendix Volume (Reprint; originally appeared in "Druidism and Sorcery: Selected Articles") Facts ...The potential magical power stored in the body and soul of every living creature was already recognized in the traditions of the druidic societies of Renlinea, long before the discovery of Heartstones. The only known manifestation of this power at the time was sorcery, using magical potential to create arcane spells. We may assume that vampirism was discovered in an attempt to study these phenomenon. The vampires, by ingesting the blood of a living creature, could absorb its magical potential and use it to their advantage, while draining the victim of his physical and mental ability, eventually causing his death. Vampirism does not does not grant temporary magical abilities in the form of spell casting, as does the ingestion of Essence. Instead, it invigorates the body of the vampire and enables him to accomplish feats that no normal mortal could even contemplate. According to various sources, vampires are extremely strong and fast, and they can use innate magical abilities to control the minds of others. The path of vampirism is much quicker than druidism, and despite what is told in legends and folklore is not dependant on demons. However, vampirism has its own backdraws, and these are terrible indeed. Vampirism, after empowering the body for a while, works like certain drugs, quickly wearing out the intrinsic magic of the human body, and repeated use of the technique will eventually result in the death of the vampire. Once he technically dies, the vampire becomes completely dependant on the life force of others in order to sustain himself in his unlife. Once most of his bodily systems stop functioning, his skin changes to a pale gray tone and he becomes vulnerable to sunlight, probably due to a change in the functionality of his skin. Exposure to sunlight causes immense pain to the vampire and weakens him, althoughonly a considerate amount of time in the sun will kill him, and staying in a shade is enough to protect him from most of the damage the sun might cause. Vampires have been known to prefer the blood of humanoids over that of nearly any other creature. The most solid theory, devised by Dr. Snemach Fes, explains that the human blood is more easily digested by the vampire's formerly human metabolism. Vampires also seek the blood of sorcerers and magical creatures, since the blood of these carries more magical potential. ...[several quotes from different texts, detailing the abilities of vampires]... Legends This isn't truly important right now, so I'll skip it. Vampirism in Ancient Times It is unknown exactly when the first vampires appeared, but an educated speculation would be about 1500 years ago, during the first Renlinean Era. Ancient records and Zoltaran folklore imply that vampirism was first developed and used by a small group of druids named Zolhasd or Zolkamior, while others blame an unnamed independant Instinctual... Vampirism in Modern Times Vampiric cults have haunted Zoltar for centuries, but there has been a drastic rise in the number of vampires recently. There are two reasons for this change. The first reason is a relatively small group that brought the practice of vampirism to Jarlheim. the numbers and goals of this group have not been discerned. The second reason is a violent cult, comprised of former church followers, which operates mainly from Zoltar. This loosely-connected group, calling itself "The Hunters" or "The Children of the Night", operates secretly, since it is hunted by all legal authorities and shunned by all civilized people, especially the members of the Church of the Pantheon. This Hunters were born shortly after the Church changed its attitude towards sorcerers, declaring the error in its ways and welcoming them under the mercy of the Prophet. This radical cult, based on traditions from the days of the Great Witch Hunts, declared that the Church had been corrupted by sorcerers, and must be purged. They increased their attacks on sorcerers and their relatives, killing many people, mostly in Zoltar and western Corsom, including passersby and innocent churchmen which they deemed 'corrupted'. At some point they began to train their men as vampires, and currently there are about two hundreds of vampires among their ranks, according to my estimations.
The Swedish Viking 10-01-04, 02:29 AM	Aargh! How am I supposed to have the energy to read THAT!? ;) Feeling like writing a vampiresque NPC...
His Majesty 10-03-04, 12:33 PM	One of my players is going to play a witch (=sorcerer) and is considering Celestial and Dragon as his bloodline. There seems to be no specific paragraph/post about Celestials that I can refer him to - could you write one, please? How are we going to decide which vampire idea to use?
The Swedish Viking 10-04-04, 04:15 PM	On vampires: Thatīs easy: ALL OF THEM. Since all of the ideas were good, why not use a bucketload of them? We can easily replace Sun Father with fire or some similar deity, or why not even make them critters that betrayed the Prophetess Jordana? -------------- Yup, lets move on to Celestials and stuff...
77IM 10-04-04, 05:09 PM	For Celestials, start by looking at the entries in the Monster post for Angels, Guardinals, etc., and especially Celestial creatures. Also Fiends (demons, devils, and whatnot) since the outsiders are relatively "symmetric." Read up on the cosmology and the info on Saints (& Witches/Warlocks -- I guess they will need a new nomenclature in the MCAU version). I will post about celestials and fiends as soon as I can but the bottom line is that they are both fairly rare and, according to learned sages, unable to enter the material plane without the help of a mortal creature. They are most commonly encountered in visions (including Essence trance) and while plane-hopping. For vampires, I'm working on merging a couple of the other ideas into His Majesty's write-up. I love the idea of vampires as "anti-druids" and that sucking blood is similar to extracting Heartstones, and I'm trying to merge that with the idea that they are cursed by the gods somehow (because it opens up some cool villanous motivations). Since Libris Mortis* will contain rules for variant vampire abilities, I'm going to delay such rules explorations until it comes out. -- 77IM * Latin for, "Free Mortimer!"
His Majesty 10-04-04, 05:30 PM	I already read and re-read those, I was just wondering if you could make a songle something, since my player didn't and probably never will) read everything here. I'll just gather it for him, I guess. A note should be added to the vampires section - a corpse drained by a vampire cannot be used to create a Heartstone. Oh, and.. Aargh! How am I supposed to have the energy to read THAT!? Drain it from 77IM, of course. He's a religious reader of Rhineglade's Legends of Hyerune - he doesn't need all that reading energy anyway! :P (I'm joking, of course - Legends of Hyerune is certainly worth reading.)
The Swedish Viking 10-05-04, 02:41 AM	Free Mortimer... free Mortimer... :twitch:
His Majesty 10-05-04, 05:00 PM	The Fortress of Tekayev Marllas On the top of mount Tekayev, deep in the quiet forests of Zoltar, lies this enormous stone building. The Castle has clearly seen better days - some of the walls are covered with plants, and there are stumps of towers on the tall walls - but even in this bad state no sane commander would try to attack the fortress. Surrounded by tall slopes, the castle's keep is the highest spot in the area, and can be seen from miles away. Tekayev Marllas was built by giant stonemasons in the times of the Renlinean Empire. The tales about its conquering are quite vague, but it is clear that the battle between the giant defenders and the Prophet's forces was long and bloody, and none of the sides emerged victorious - some outside force ended the battle, and almost all of the warriors from both sides died. Especially dreadful stories surround the battle in the Magicant chamber. With her last breath, the dryad of the large Mallorn that grew in the chamber cursed the castle, people say, and the Mallorn burned for three days before anyone could even approach the place. The Magicant has been completely dark for over a thousand years now, and the Keepers refuse to approach it. They say that it's tainted. 134 years ago, the late head of House Mrovos decided to move his government into the castle, due to a large summer fire that burned most of the old capital city, Nafenth, and the surrounding forests. Although the superstitious commoners hesitated to follow him at first, they didn't have many other options, considering the fact that they were now refugees. The castle has been repaired extensively and settled, and is currently a well populated place - a small village has already begun to grow under the mountain. The castle is a very weird place to newcomers. The dark corridors (since new floors were built, many parts of the castle no longer have any windows) have strange proportions, especially the huge stones that are part of the original building. New secret passages are discovered every once in a while, and the cold and silence in the parts of the castle that haven't been repaired are unsettling. The castle's dungeons have been sealed, since a couple of people have disappeared in there. The official explanation is that they fell into pits.
The Swedish Viking 10-06-04, 02:12 AM	Sounds like the place every aspiring Sauron-wannabe would own.
Mineral 10-06-04, 02:28 AM	The Fortress of Tekayev Marllas The official explanation is that they fell into pits. Mwhahaha. How wonderfully creepy.
His Majesty 10-06-04, 03:50 PM	Saliniar Glass (or Essence Glass) Named after the city in which it was discovered, saliniar glass is one of the most valuable substances in the world, equal to the most precious gems. Saliniar glass is created by exposing delicately made glass to the light of a Magicant. The quality of the glass, as well as the its texture and the amount of time under the Magicant set its price, color and quality. Saliniar glass may be green, blue, silver or violet. The first color is the cheapest while the last is the most valuable. Saliniar glass is used extensively by the Church, since the Keepers are the ones who create this substance. It also differentiates the Church's decorations from those of "pagans" - during the times of the Old Ways, Magicants were never used outside the ground, so exposing things to their light was very rare. Additionally, glass producion during the Renlinean Era was much less developed.
The Swedish Viking 10-07-04, 02:23 AM	Ratachee! Loss Of Writing-talent: Temporary
The Swedish Viking 10-11-04, 02:19 PM	Okay guys, with what material I have in hand I can say weīre 120 pages right now. Done some editing and copy-pasting and imaging and stuff. I might decide to do some pictures for this project, though its secondary to my other D&D projects (Iīm currently writing adventures for another company). With pictures, my guess is this work will be approximately 130 pages after we finish it, and after editing.
NecromancerElf 10-12-04, 02:44 PM	:whatsthis :OMG! GENIUS!!!!!!!! 77IM this is a great setting :tiphat: :bow:
His Majesty 10-12-04, 03:04 PM	We'll almost certainly end up with more than 130 pages. There are still lots of things we need to do: write some minor country descriptions, detail the independant temples, write some basic history.. I, at least, have many things to add. I don't find this daunting, however. I enjoy this.
The Swedish Viking 10-12-04, 06:02 PM	Well, Iīm busy writing two adventures for another company (at a total of 100+ pages), a Campaign-Setting for my own UBERGENERICLETSSAVETHEWORLDCAMPAIGN, which is now 80+ pages, and then this. So the time I have to put on working with this is limited Iīm afraid. Will post some more minor nations soon though. And Im sticking to the original undetailed format of nations, until the rest gets converted.
His Majesty 10-14-04, 04:04 PM	This is work in progress. My goal is to detail the capital of Chirmont. (It isn't named yet.) All underlined things will be detailed in the future. The First Basilica / The Great Basilica St. Basil (-9 – 168 GR) was one of the most important figures in the history of the Church of the Pantheon. The first saint recognized by the Church, Basil knew the Prophet personally as a young man. Although it is unclear if he knew it at the time, Basil was a relative of Jordana. Thanks to the Celestial that possessed him in his youth, St. Basil was granted an especially long life. He began his religious way as a well-known but powerless priest, and slowly gained power until eventually he became important enough to insert his own writings into the Codex Luminaire and participate in its late editing stages (The 14th and 15th chapters are his own). During the 177 years of his life, St. Basil influenced the world more than almost any other mortal since the Empress Ganais II. One of the most magnificent heirlooms that he St. Basil has left for mankind is the First Basilica, an amazing building standing on the western side of the Golden Hill, next to the Celestial Chamber and the Tomb of the Prophet. [Info about appearance will be added] The First Basilica served for a long time as the religious center of the Nathradites, an important religious order founded by St. Basil himself. When the Nathradites were disbanded, 286 years ago, the First Basilica lost some of its significance, but it is still considered one of the most important locations in [the capital of Chirmont].
The Swedish Viking 10-15-04, 02:06 AM	Sicne it looks like 77 īs somewhere else, mebbe I should do the writeup on the vampires?
The Swedish Viking 10-17-04, 05:46 PM	The Vampiir "The Vampiir, or Vampires as they are better known to the common folks of this age, were created during the times of the Prophetess. They are creatures of darkness and violence, of lust and greed and dark passions. They are horrible creatures of the night, and they are and must always be shunned for what they are and have done. The story of the Vampiir begins a long time ago. The first Vampiir were men, elves, dwarves and ogres who plotted and schemed against the Prophetess. They came from her circle of closest friends, bribed and tempted into betraying her. They miscredited her and made her look a fool to other clerics and in the silence of night tried to assassinate her. And it was in that attempt that they failed and a horrible curse was lain upon them and all living creatures; to repent for trying to assassinate a Speaker of the Gods. The Prophetess became shielded by a shield of fire and light and holiness, and the assassins and schemers cowered before her might. And as the attempt occured during prayer with all her friends, it too revealed all those present who had attempted to miscredit her or slay her. The curse was thus placed accordingly: īYou came in the night, and there you shall from now on dwell. You shunned light and shall from now and unto the end of times be forced to flee from its presence. Like rats, bats and vermin, like hungry wolves you flocked to my doorstep and now they shall flock to you. You shall forever be forced to scheme and to plot and sate your hunger with blood to make those all who supported you and prayed for your success pay in blood for their deeds. You have shown great insensivity and thus shall from now on thirst for love, for joy, for happiness. And you who revel in destruction shall become nothing more than mere beasts, you who revel in plotting and foul scheming shall be skulking creatures, the foul villains who hides behind the curtains. Mothers shall tell tales to their children and warn them of you, the order of the Vampiir, who I once though my friends. But the Light has shown my error, and shown your error, and we shall all pay for it.ī This is the curse of the Vampiir. To this day, moters warn their children of the Vampiir and their history. In fact, it is believed that since the Vampiir should "make those all who supported you and prayed for your success pay in blood for their deeds" many think that those who become vampires have done something to deserve this treatment. Whether it be true or not is open for debate. It is also true that many strange types of vampire exist. There are those who consort with wolves and beasts and revel in destruction; great clawed things thirsting for blood. And there are those who scheme and lust for power and dark passions - the truly villainous fiends..." -- from the Book of Vampiir, by Heironymous Renash.
The Swedish Viking 10-18-04, 07:06 AM	This post is a suggestion for measures and rules to keep the population of outsiders on the material plane down to a small number. The Laws of Planar Travel "And it is so that devils and angels cannot enter the Material Plane in the blink of an eye; there are indeed many strange and unbreakable laws and rules governing the environments of the planes. These are strange and alien to the human mind, and one would do good in never even attempting the recently discovered and arcane rituals that sorcerers and wizards claim can summon these beings to our world." - from the Book of Magicae Arcanis by Heironymous Renash
The Swedish Viking 10-18-04, 07:12 AM	Heironymous Renash - The Herald (male human expert 11, wizard 1) "Heh, well there be an odd one. Heīs been wanderin around all over for about two decades by now. During those decades heīs been involved in magical experiments and encounters with just about every strange beast we can offer. Heīs a leadin authority on magic and stuff they say, though I hear heīd not use the knowledge himself fer his life." -to be finished-
77IM 10-18-04, 04:27 PM	Sorry I've been so silent lately -- I've been super-busy, and really only have enough time for one or two posts per day, and I haven't really been much inspired (partly because I haven't actually played D&D in like 3 months and am suffering from withdrawl). I've got vampires more-or-less figured out and will post a final version of them eventually. Hopefully I will have more time starting in a couple of weeks. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 10-18-04, 05:43 PM	OI, 77, I posted some suggestion backround in tall-tale version on last page. Plz read.
77IM 10-20-04, 05:00 PM	I was awake all last night and started thinking about what sort of adventures could go on in this world. Here are some things I came up with right away. These are all brief high-level sketches and oddly, most of them don't directly concern Magicants, Heartstones or Essence. * The party's noble patron gives them a letter to bring to Baron Aromach, who has a manor a few days away, and return with Aromach's response (written or verbal). It is extremely important to get his response. When the party arrives at the manor, though, the bumbling Aromach has botched a ritual to become a lich and transformed himself and his attendants into undead (type based on party level and CR requirements). Aromach, at least, is still intelligent and will happily give his response to the letter, in return for a "meal." * The party is sent to an old, abandoned ruin high in the mountains to retrieve some ancient Renlinean spellbooks rumored to be present. When they arrive, they start running into other adventuring parties after the same goal. It later turns out that there are no spellbooks -- the entire mission was just a test to see which party was most capable, so that they could be sent on a more important mission. * A plague has hit Chirmont. Worse, the plague's victims rise as ravenous zombies at the next moonrise after they die. The curing powers of the Lacrima Divinae are unable to cope with the disease, but a kindly Highcaster alchemist finds a cure. Unfortunately producing it requires a small amount of dragon blood; about a gallon will produce enough cure for most of the country. Where will the party get dragon blood? (And what will the Highcasters really do with it?) * There are reports of disappearances in a remote mountain valley. When the party arrives to investigate, they find an idyllic villiage freehold. Everyone here is happy dispite their isolation. However, there are some unusual signs. People are TOO happy. There are no children below the age of 9. Music and singing are strictly forbidden during the day. There are no wild animals (small birds, rats, etc.) in the village. No one has heard of "Heartstones." What is really going on here? * A local wizard is making a disgusting amount of money pioneering the field of "cosmetic sorcery," selling shape lockets (below) at a huge markup to wealthy patrons who wish to look younger or more attractive. However, a series of crimes have been comitted by people wearing the lockets -- upon investigation by the PCs, it turns out that they make a person more susceptible to mind-control! The wizard denies knowledge of such a flaw in his devices... is that a shape locket he's wearing...? * A dignitary from the Incarnate Court of Erindu is visiting the PC's noble patron, and is scandalized when an "unclean" individual (i.e. someone who is not a member of the Incarnate Court or their servants, priests, or thanes) accidentally sees them. Now the party has to track this person down and bring them to justice. But the person is just one of the noble's housekeeping staff and is the sole breadwinner for their family of three children -- exactly what kind of justice do the Erindese have in store for this person and does it fit the crime? The party needs avoid a diplomatic incident as well. * The party is transporting Important Plot Device from point A to point B when they are mugged and the plot device stolen by a gang of goblins. An investigation of the local goblin community turns up nothing; further investigation reveals that the crime was perpetrated by gnomes disguised as goblins (part of a local rivalry; the goblins are immigrants taking the gnomes' jobs) to discredit the goblins. However, how did the gnomes know about the transport mission, and who is the mysterious buyer who they fenced the plot device to...? (Note: Have a backup adventure ready in case the theft is thwarted by clever PCs; the DM should never render PC actions useless for the sake of the plot.) * A benificient group of scholarly clerics and devout wizards known as the Highcasters hires the party to recover a number of scrolls containing the names of powerful demons, which have fallen into the hands of an underground cabal known as the Artificers. It is suspected that the Artificers plan to bind the demons into objects of power. * Someone is going around town disguised as the PCs. * Mysterious creatures have plagued a section of Frelund near the northern Wyrwood, and the party is sent to investigate rumors of "Grumbalor's Heart." They find only an empty, ruined tower made of plain grey stone. However, after spending the night in the forest nearby, they awaken in a strange alternate version, both more colorful and oddly twisted. In this place (the Shadow Realm), Grumbalor's Heart actually is made of Heartstones, and is guarded by evil creatures. It turns out the PCs were transported here by local fey, who want them to destroy the tower to end the plague of evil creatures; it seems the only way out of the Spirit Realm is to complete their request (also fulfilling their original mission). * The party is visiting Azure Academy when a summoning experiment goes horribly wrong loosing elementals upon downtown Lienne. * The PCs find out that King Melgerton of Garland is raising an army with secret plans to grab some land from Chirmont. Unfortunately, the PCs have some personal ties to the land in question (like it is one of their home villages or something) and don't want to see it turn into a war-torn wasteland. How can they prevent the war? Simply notifying King Deschaigne of Chirmont will cause him to mobilize an army too, stationing them in the contested land (and likely conscripting lots of local peasants). This scenario is even better if the PCs have some connection to House Melgerton as well. (Substitute any two adjacent, somewhat militant countries as needed.) * The PCs find out that several prominent NPCs around town are really Scorned (trolls & hags) in magical disguise, biding their time to strike at the "heretics." However... they don't know who, exactly, is a Scorned, or what they are planning. To complicate things, many of the Scorned's targets are really rotten individuals that the PCs wouldn't mind seeing wacked. * After a series of partial-successes and near-misses, in which the PCs recover some powerful magic items and valuable arcane lore only to have it stolen, the PCs learn that their noble patron is secretly a sorcerer and an agent of the Magicele Liberation Army. She has been feeding the party's mission data to the MLA to aid in the thefts, so that the party does all the hard work of getting the item and then the MLA can reap the benefits. The Soulguard is starting to get wind of this plot, and the noble patron is going to set up the PCs to take the fall. An incomplete set of adventure guidelines: 1. Include at least one thing that is not what it seems. This helps keep the players on their toes and creates an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue. 2. Include at least one thing that is exactly what it seems. Otherwise, players won't trust anything you say, and the game can stall as they go into Vizzini mode ("Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line..."). 3. Make sure the party has a clear mission. In a tangled web of political scheming, it's easy for players to spend an entire session with their heads spinning just trying to figure out what's going on. Counter this by making sure they have a distinct goal in mind that they are motivated to pursue. 4. Allow the players to be successful. No-one likes to feel like they are being buffetted about by mysterious social forces and shadowy conspiracies beyond their control. Turn this around by making the PCs major players and encouraging them to stir things up with their own plots, especially when they are over 5th level (making them fairly powerful characters in this world). 5. Don't allow the players to be 100% successful. Every victory should come with some small cost, some mitigating factor, or at least, raise some troubling questions. 6. Humans with realistic motivations should be the driving force in the world. In particular, avoid: * Powerful ancient artifacts (maybe replace these with recent arcane inventions) * Powerful outsiders (good and evil) and deities influencing the world (the presence of such creatures reflects human goals -- e.g., an evil wizard might summon a demon to do his dirty work, but demons don't go around causing evil spontaneously) * Odd wacko religious cults (a person doesn't really take extreme actions because of their extreme religious beliefs; they gravitate towards extreme religous beliefs because they want to take extreme actions) In contrast, try the following motivations: * Greed and ambition (this can affect characters from all parts of society) * Fear of enemies, real or imagined (individuals or entire civilizations can act out of fear; this can manifest as fascism, bigotry, paranoia, and even certain types of religous devotion) * Family bonds (blood is thicker than water, and often the coldes, most heartless killer truly loves his kin) * Feeling important (covers a ton of ground; upholding tradition and religion, respecting authority, acting rebellious and wanting to be famous can all stem from a person's basic desire to feel important) Of course there are many other motivations a person can have and from time to time it's OK to have a character who is "just plain evil" or "just plain good," but hopefully you can put together the motivations above to produce characters with more complex personalities. Shape Locket: A simple gold locket on a thin chain, the locket opens to reveal a sculpture of a person's face. Anyone who dons the locket (it counts as a necklace) immediately transforms to look like that person, as under the effect of an alter self spell. (If the wearer would be unable to assume such a shape through alter self, because they are of a different size or type than the creature depicted, the locket has no effect.) Shape lockets are often worn by wealthy nobility who wish to look and feel like younger, more attractive versions of themselves, but they are also used by spies or people who maintain multiple identities. Weak transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, alter self; Price 2,400 gp. Cursed Shape Locket: This is just like a shape locket, but anyone wearing one suffers a -2 penalty on saving throws against enchantment effects, and is unaware that they are the target of such an effect, regardless of whether the save succeeds or fails. When the enchantment effect wears off, the victim doesn't automatically know they were enchanted, but does remember all their actions and may suspect mind-affecting magic. Weak transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, alter self; Price 600 gp. P.S. Swedish Viking: Your story about vampires is good but is almost exactly what I had in mind for tieflings. I may take it and just substitute "tiefling" for "vampire." Of course then I'd need to write up something on aasimars to match, but I've been meaning to do that for a while...
77IM 10-22-04, 04:36 PM	Lately in what spare time I can find I've been converting these posts into HTML. It's going slowly because it's pretty boring. Occasionally I do change a few things, but usually it's something minor, a few words here and there for continuity. But this section I totally revised, so I thought I'd post it for your review. Holidays The major religions all observe the same holidays, but attribute different signifigance to each one. Creation 1st and 2nd of Longnight: Also named "New Year of the Gods", Creation celebrates the creation of the world. For timekeeping purposes, the new year begins with Creation. During the first day of Creation (the shortest day of the year; the first day of Longnight or the last of Snowfall) People fast between sundown to sundown (Sick, old, and young people do not fast). At designated times, people are supposed to say special short prayers, thanking the gods for the creation of the stars, the sun, the plants, animals, and other things. The last hour before the end of the fast (In Treothe, the last 3 hours) is a time of communal prayer, celebrating the glory of the gods. After the prayer, a great feast is held on large tables, preferably with the whole community present. The second day is a happy day, and no work is done then, although in most places there are no special rituals. Killing anything is forbidden during Creation. According to Church lore, the Prophet died on the day of Creation, representing the cyclic relationships of all things. Greenday End of Coldwind / Beginning of Springthaw: Celebrated during the first day of the spring, Greenday is considered the beginning of the agricultural year (and therefore also named "New Year of Trees"). It represents the time when the Prophet first began receiving visions from the gods. The date changes every year, and is announced by the local religious authority. Greenday is generally supposed to be celebrated one week after the first Jassels (small eyes in Old Elven) blossom. Jassels are small, yellow flowers, found in most of the northern countries, and are one of the first flowers of the spring. In the Great Isle, most of the south-western lands (Treothe, Minca) and the Mountain Duchies, they use different local plants. Greenday is celebrated by ceremonial plantings, mostly of fruitless trees. Large trees are adorned with ribbons and a great dance is held at noon. According to the Old Ways, new Mallorns are planted at Greenday. Summer Solstice 14th of Midsummer: Summer Solstice is celebrated during the longest day of the year. Solstice is celebrated by a large prayermeet during the morning hours, followed by a huge breakfast. The rest of the day is dedicated to feasting, dancing, and merry festivals. Followers of the Old Ways often sacrifice animals, sometimes even sentient beings (with maidens being favoured by these Druids) to the Gods as a way of thanking them for keeping the sun on-track and the universe working. Modern religions celebrate the Summer Solstice as festival of thanks to the gods for the blessings of the past year, and a request for their blessing in the upcoming year. Because the Summer Solstice always falls on the night of a full moon, the lunar attribution (below) is thought to pertain to the entire upcoming year. New Year's Day First Oneday of Feasting: Also called "New Year of Kings", New Year's Day is celebrated by a large dinner with the family, containing special dishes that vary between areas and countries. Not being at home in New Year's Day is considered pretty sad, and lonely people or travellers are often invited to celebrate with larger families. New Year's Day is considered the beginning of the year for tax and business purposes. Many people also make changes in their own lives on New Year's Day -- it is a popular time for starting new projects or turning over a new leaf. Astrology Most people in the world believe in astrology, the idea that celstial bodies reflect reality somehow. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that this is true, yet also some evidence that the rules of astrology are far more complex than the simple attributions given below. Lunar Attributions The full moon always falls on the 14th night of the month, and the new moon on the 28th night (or the "0th" night of the next month -- when the sun rises, it is the first Prayermeet of the next month). The five faces of the moon (Dragon, Rose, Ship, Goblet, Nightmaiden) each bear some astrological signifigance. Because there are 13 months in a year, the moon's face in any given month will be three further than the year before -- if Longnight is a month of Rose one year, it will be Nightmaiden the next, and Ship the year after. This cycle repeats every five years. Dragon Moon: The dragon is a symbol of power and nobility, and the Dragon Moon is the strongest of months. The Dragon Moon is morally righteous; evil spirits are kept at bay by the ferocious beast, but anyone engaged in wrongdoing, however slight, best stay out of the full moon's light. The month of the Dragon Moon is considered somewhat unlucky. Children born under the dragon moon, conversely, are though of as blessed and strong-willed individuals, as miscarriages are thought to be more likely during this month; women try not to get pregnant during the month of the Rose Moon. Rose Moon: Strong emotions, both positive and negative, are tied to the Rose Moon. It is a time for wooing lovers and seeking revenge on your enemies. Most importantly, it is a time for paaaaaaar-TAY! Holding a local festival or personal gathering on the night of the full Rose Moon is quite common, and the month around it is an auspicious time for entertainment and leisure pursuits. Children of the Rose Moon are passionate individuals, usually with a creative or artistic streak. Ship Moon: The Ship Moon is quite logically a symbol of travel and also change, representing the spiritual journey through life as well as physical travel. Sailors believe that the high tide of the Ship Moon is higher than any other, and all sorts of travellers will often press through the night of the full Ship Moon, believing its light will shield them from danger. The month of the Ship Moon is considered industrious and is a good time for building things, as well as travelling. Children born under the Ship Moon are thought to be both pragmatic and curious about the world. Goblet Moon: The Goblet contains the water of wisdom, but too many people ignore this bitter drink and instead focus on the golden cup itself, representing material wealth and greed. The Goblet Moon also has a connotation of lawfulness; people will often "swear by the Goblet Moon." The month of the Goblet Moon is favorable to scholarly, business, or legal pursuits; when the full Goblet Moon is in the air, its light is thought to reveal sneaks, theives, and liars (although security measures are just as strong on these nights as on any others). A child of the Goblet is regarded as an intellectual and as very ambitious. Nightmaiden: The Nightmaiden is though of as the "true" moon and is a feminine symbol of magic and mystery. Both arcane and divine spellcasters, and especially druids, feel more secure during the month of the Nightmaiden, and on the night of the full moon, many powerful rituals are carried out. The Nightmaiden also watches over women, and harming a woman during this month is considered bad luck. Girls born under the eyes of the Nightmaiden are considered lucky and sometimes magical, while boys are seen as brave and even-tempered. New Moon: The dark period between months is related to death and the eternal void. Nights of a New Moon, people stay indoors. They paint holy symbols on their doors to keep evil spirits out, and many conduct lengthy prayers before they go to bed. Clerics of the Pantheon, Orthodox and Independant temples keep watch during the night with prayer and reciting holy texts and placing warding sigils. Druids generally do the same, with the addition that they sacrifice food and wealth and sometimes living creatures to the deities to keep evil at bay. The next morning -- the first Prayermeet of a new month -- people are thankful that the cycle of life continues.
His Majesty 10-22-04, 05:59 PM	I'm glad that you changed my holidays. I was going to do so myself at some point, anyway. As for the format, I don't really care, but I think that you should add a place for writing where the Holiday is celebrated. Here are two specific ones. The lunar faces are interesting, flavorful and certainly welcome. The Rose Festival Alluvan Nights of the 12th-14th days of the first Rose Moon of the year: The Rose Festival is celebrated almost exclusively in Alluvan, although rarely a branch of an Alluvani noble house will try to celebrate it in another land. Alluvan is well known for its festivals, but the Rose Festival is recognized worldwide as the wildest, most liberal, and most sensual festival in the world. The only way to avoid the celebrations during the Rose Festival is to lock your door and pretend that you're not at home. Dancers and musicians roam the cities in huge parades, wearing outrageous and lascivious clothes, and inviting bypassers to drink, dance or otherwise celebrate with them. In port cities, late-night nude swimming contests are traditional. There's no such thing as a stranger during the Rose Festival, and social classes are completely ignored. People of all ages participate in the festival. Rose Dancers and the festival are commonly mentioned throughout the world as symbols of debauchery. Salgintar & Salginthis The Steppelands, Kresmaya, Westernmost portions of Zoltar and Corsom Between the new moon and 21st of Harvesttime: Nobody really knows when this tradition began, but everybody knows that the new moon of Harvesttime, and the 20 first days of the month - named Salgintar - are a time of spirits, when one must guard himself from harmful powers and may attempt to contact the spirit world. Everybody wears luck signs and prays to the Gods for protection during Salgintar. In Kresmaya and the Steppelands, where the yellow color is considered lucky (and also warm, but that has nothing to do with it), most people wear yellow jewelery or clothes, and houses are painted yellow. Anyone who doesn't take these necessary precautions deserves the bad luck and strange happenings that will undoubtedly come to him. Nobody marries during Salgintar, but Salginthis, the day after Salgintar, is considered a very good day for marriages. Apart from the large amount of marriages, there's nothing special about Salginthis.
The Swedish Viking 10-25-04, 02:35 AM	:confused: We gonna use it for Tieflings or Vamps?
77IM 10-26-04, 12:50 PM	I've been trickling out PrCs. (The most recent is the feyling, which lay half-completed for about the past month.) I have ideas for about a dozen or so more, but haven't really had time to put them together. But I thought I'd post the flavor text for each one here so that you guys can see what kind of classes I've made. A zip file of the classes themselves is available here (http://wjs3.com/tMtH/PrCs.zip). Alluvani Zoner The Alluvani zoner is a warrior who focuses the power of the mind to enhance his senses and physical capabilities. This is a fairly new tradition in Alluvan, invented a few hundred years ago by warriors who needed the occasional burst of strength to face unexpected adverse conditions. There are actually two distinct yet similar zoner traditions; one taught by house Iphris, the other by house Solane. The Iphris focus their willpower on calmness and tranquility, allowing their minds to operate without thought in a sort of trance-like state. The Solane focus their passion and adrenaline, entering an almost rage-like state in which they can overcome their natural limits. Although the means are quite different, the effect achieved is similar -- the character becomes able to see the world clearly and act decisively, with a speed and precision frightening to friend and foe alike. Arcane Archer An ancient elven tradition, kept alive for generations by the sorcerers of House Varindree. Once, arcane archers would lead squads of bowmen in the armies of ancient Renlinea, supplementing the hail of arrows with well-placed spells. They were particularly deadly in naval battles and some credit them with the success of the elves in defending the Great Isle. With the rise of Heartstones, it is gaining popularity amongst other elven houses. The hills and forests of Ponderry are now patrolled by elite arcane archers, loyal knights who bring glory and honor to their noble familes. Artificer Artificers are those who devote their lives to the understanding of magical items. They are master artisans and expert technicians who weave powerful magical effects into physical objects, ultimately learning the long lost secrets bound up in ancient artifacts. The main tradition of the Artificers began as apprentices to the giants wizards of the Renlinean Empire over a thousand years ago. They became very unpopular after the fall of Renlinea and have been a secret order ever since. Most of the populace views them as dangerous heretics. Now that wizard magic is more widely accepted, many Artificers operate within wizard academic circles as masters of item creation, although they still keep their involvement in the order a secret. Azure Academic The Azure Academy was once a small college of ancient lore, archaeology, and mythological creatures, associated with Lienne University and located in a much more humble building near Fountainhall. With the discovery of Heartstones, research exploded and funds came pouring in, and the Academy is now the third largest school for wizards (behind the Crystal Hall in the Mountain Duchies and the sprawling Elbrecht Academy in Nibling). Membership is free to any who own a Heartstone, although students are expected to research original spells and submit copies to the Academy. The professors here, all reasonably powerful wizards, also accept work on comission, and play a strong role in warding Lienne against magical attack and intrusion. Although by treaty only nobles are allowed to weild Heartstones, talented commoners who show up with a Heartstone are often taught in secret. Battlechanter The warrior-poets of the desert nation of Treothe are legendary -- fearsome and devoted foes who wander the land righting wrongs and administering justice. Part religious scholar, part singer, part judge, and part warrior, battlechanters are indoctrinated into Church teachings at an early age and make it their mission in life to help society hold to these values. Battlechanters prefer to take an active approach to maintaining Church ideals; they are never cloistered or even stationary like clerics, and although some are nobles, these give up their land so as to remain impartial. All members of Treothan society respect the battlechanter as both wise and knowledgeable in the ways of the Prophet, and they are frequently called upon to play the role of judge or arbiter in local disputes. The most striking talent of the battlechanter is singing ability. They chant hymns and prayers for all occasions, even during the middle of battle; although it is called "chanting," it has a beautiful and melodious musical quality more reminiscent of song than the simple choral chants of most Church monks. Part of the training to become a battlechanter involves ingesting Essence and slipping into a trance while singing, but once the training is complete they need no further Essence to use their abilities. They have a flowing, almost dance-like fighting style. Traditionally, male battlechanters wield greatscimitars while female battlechanters wield battlescythes, but there are exceptions. Deschaigne Holy Swordsman Nobles and high-ranking retainers of House Deschaigne practice an ancient art form known as "holy sword style." They can channel divine energy through magical weapons to deal additional holy or elemental damage. Known as holy swordsmen (or swordswomen), in recent years they have focused on a faster fighting style similar to the Elite. (Non-Deschaigne holy swordsmen are rare, and usually only found among the house's closest allies.) Most were previously elites or scions, but occasionally a fighter, paladin, or rogue will take up the path. Dragon Disciple If rangers were the knights of the Old Ways, then dragon disciples were its paladins. They were no righteous do-gooders, however. While a paladin helps those in need, a dragon disciple helps those who deserve it. A paladin destroys evil, but a dragon disciple battles those who would upset the balance of the natural world. A paladin fights with honor, but a dragon disciple fights with every ounce of his heart, soul, and will. Naturally, dragon disciples are much less common nowadays than they once were, although there were never particularly many of them. They used to travel the ancient Renlinean Empire, battling its enemies and rooting out weakness and corruption within. Most modern dragon disciples hide in remote areas, waging guerilla warfare against the enemies of the Old Ways. Dwarven Defender The dwarves of house Norindal have perfected a style of fighting to defend their clan lands and their vast treasure vaults. The tradition of the dwarven defender -- who stands solid like the mountain itself -- goes back thousands of years; these brave warriors have held back giant armies, rampaging dragons, and spellwielding thieves. House Norindal will also train worthy allies in the skills of the dwarven defender. Dwarven Wandslinger To some spellcasters, a magic wand is just a trinket, a minor magic item that carries a few convenient charges. But for the dwarven wandslinger, the wand is the ultimate weapon. He perfects the art of crafting wands, and can wield them with frightening swiftness and deadly accuracy. This practice has long been a tradition of select dwarven clergy, who would equip low-level clerics with wands of cure light wounds. With the advent of Heartstones, dwarven wizards have developed the path of the wandslinger into a potent combat spellcaster. Feyling Gnomes are magical creatures with a connection to the natural world. The origin of these abilities has been lost to antiquity, but it is widely believed that when the ancestors of the Little People migrated to the north, the curious fey creatures interbred with them, creating magical half-fey hybrids. Although the powers of these creatures have declined over time, some gnomes still embrace the call of the woods and rivers, becoming feylings. Feylings are widely mistrusted by outsiders, who tend to see them as devious tricksters at best and terrorists at worst. Most gnome communities, on the other hand, hold feylings in high esteem, almost like heroes. Many feylings are followers of the Old Ways or sometimes Orthodox Pantheism, but this is not a requirement, and most feylings don’t put too much effort into religion anyway. All of them are fiercely anti-Heartstone, believing that to "steal" magic is a crime, especially when the natural world offers it so freely. Frelundish Pikeman Polearms are a staple of most military outfits -- they are cheap, easy to use, and effective in rough terrain and against cavalry and armored foes. The Frelundish pikeman is no peasant conscript, though. He takes the simple training of legions and turns it into an art form. Garlish Bowman When the armies of Garland clash, the sky turns black with arrows as legions of troops wielding longbows impale their opponents from beyond reach. Unlike the elves of Ponderry, for whom archery is a majestic art form, the Garlish bowman plies his trade with deadly efficiency. Specialized at firing a bow during a hectic combat situation and hitting multiple targets, Garlish bowmen are in heavy demand, and many foreign nobles will seek the training for their retainers and children. Most bowmen are humans, goblins, or half-orcs, and despite the name, there are many successful female "bowmen" (bowwomen?). Goblin Champion The goblin champion is a loyal goblin soldier who follows an ancient tradition of devoted knighthood. They swear loyalty to a lord, general, or Church leader and serve as their master faithfully, often choosing death before dishonor. The goblin champion’s word is his bond; breaking a promise is the only thing considered worse than failing their master. Unlike most goblins, who like working in groups and excel at team tactics, the goblin champion is a loner. For their service and dedication, they attract the attention of a magical beast who serves as a mount -- usually a worg, but sometimes a giant eagle -- who is often their only true friend. Goblin Ninja The goblin ninja slinks through the darkness, a skilled and deadly opponent. They are highly disciplined assassins who eliminate targets that goblin military units cannot overcome through the use of force. The goblin ninja is something of an outcast in goblin society, so they usually keep their identities secret, making their true nature known only to commanders. They are trained killers with few scruples; a goblin ninja must be able and willing to silence a babe before it cries out, lest they be detected. The goblins do not discriminate; members of any race can become goblin ninjas, and they frequently train humans, gnomes, and elves, who often have an easier time hiding their ninja identities because people only expect goblins to be ninjas. Heartstone Hunter A new breed of hunter has emerged, trekking through the remote regions of the world, stalking the most dangerous quarry: magical monsters. Rugged and hardy individuals, most Heartstone hunters are singularly devoted to their mission. Some are out for vengeance against creatures which caused them pain in the past, while others are simply looking to make a buck. In the end, they all excel at one thing: extracting Heartstones from the still-warm corpses of their foes. Lacrima Divinae Compassionate healers who are organized into monastaries and wandering monks, the Lacrima Divinae often train in the mundane arts of healing, as Essence is not as easy to come by for this relatively low-budget order. They are favorites of the people, as many rural villages send their talented young of to study as a Lacrima Divinae, so that they can return as the town's physician. They are a political disaster, as monks give no special treatment to the nobility. It is forbidden for the Lacrima Divinae to accept any payment for services rendered; their living expenses are paid directly by the Church. Most pray directly to the Prophet, although they also study the lore of the Earth Mother and the Moon Sister as well, and their places of worship often depicts this trio of goddesses. They wear blue robes with white trim, and their special symbol is a teardrop within a triangle within a circle. Lightbearer The Lightbearers are the butt-kicking branch of the Church. Primarily composed of paladins and martial clerics, the Lightbearers are focused on fighting evil in all its forms. Consequently, the Church hierarchy keeps them on the end of a long stick, constantly sending members on dangerous missions just to keep them from interfering with "delicate" matters of Church politics. Their special patron is the Sun Father, although they pray frequently to the Prophet for guidance. They can be recognized by their white-and-gold tabards, and their special symbol is the church symbol (a triangle within a circle) with lines radiating down from the peak of the triangle to the base line. Maea’s Daughter A group of civic-minded women who volunteer in the community, Maea's Daughters (named for the Earth Mother, one of the major deities) run soup kitchens, serve as midwives, hold bake sales for charitable causes, help teach children, and generally hold the village together. Always commoners, Maea's Daughters are a long-standing tradition in Renflour, Garland, and Chirmont, and are often humans, gnomes, or goblins. When an old man falls ill, a farmer's crop is ruined, or a traveller needs a place to rest, it's Maea's Daughters who offer a helping hand. They also engage in a sport of boomerang-throwing as a sort of friendly competition. Most people don't realize just how adept Maea's Daughters are at hurling those things; on more than a few occasions, Daughters have stood as a town's last line of defense, cutting down attackers with spinning steel razor blades. Moonlight Assassin An ancient order with ties to the Moon Sister, goddess of magic, mysteries, and secrets, and the Huntress, who locates her prey by moonlight, the Moonlight assassins operate as small cells throughout many countries. They are primarily mercenary in nature, selling their services to the highest bidder; their old quasi-religious connotation is largely ceremonial. Each moonlight assassin knows very few other members of the order -- usually their mentor, who also assigns them missions, and any junior members that they may be mentoring. The order contacts its clients only through intermediaries; assassins and their clients never learn each others’ identities. Although the order has a long history of helping speed the nobility’s political process, they have recently adopted the use of Heartstones whole-heartedly, learning to cast a small number of useful spells. Shadowdancer A tradition amongst the Losha, the shadowdancer serves as a guardian of a Loshan clan. They are typically the most skilled of the Losha, and are taught the ways of the shadowdancer by their predecessors. Although they do not lead the clan, they are highly respected and their opinions consulted on many issues. In particular, shadowdancers spend more time away from the clan, living amongst the big folks, than most halflings; some even disguise themselves as gnomes or goblins. In this way, they scout the social terrain around the clan, sniffing out potential problems and opportunities. If the clan is threatened, the shadowdancers are their first line of defense, dealing with the issue so that the peaceful Losha do not have to worry about it. Shapeless Oh, to be a soaring eagle! A swift dolphin! A mighty beast! Or even to be a different person altogether -- these are the goals and ideals of the Shapeless. More of a club than an organization, the Shapeless are simply spellcasters who enjoy shapechanging. Many of them relish the freedom of no longer being bound to a humanoid form. Some are ugly or simply unhappy with their lives, and wish to escape by becoming other creatures. Others like to role-play, turning into different sorts of people and experiencing life from a new perspective. Fundamentally, the Shapeless believe that mind and body are separate, and that one's body is both a restrictive burden and an amazing tool for living life. Society Loremaster An eclectic group of wealthy nobles who seek to further arcane knowledge, the Society of Arcane Philosophy is a network of magicians who research supernatural phenomena and publish their findings. The Society really exists for two reasons: publication and peer review. Society editors accept works for publication by members. If these works pass editorial review, they are published in a bimonthly tome, Journal of the Society of Arcane Philosophy. Members of the Society scrutinize the reports and findings therein, and if they take issue, they research theories to the contrary and have their own results published. It is the belief of the Society that this free flow of information coupled with rigorous adherence to methodology is a better way to increase one's personal knowledge than independent, secretive research. Because they are so well-read, members are eligible for the Society loremaster prestige class; the loremasters internalize the information contained in the Journal and put it to practical use. Soulguard Witch Hunter The Soulguard is a religious organization that hunts down and destroys dangerous magic-users -- witches, warlocks, wizards, sorcerers, and even the occasional dark cleric. It is their stated goal to protect the souls of innocent people from being corrupted by these dark forces, although they often act as Church troubleshooters as well. They are widely regarded as champions and protectors, but those who know their true methods see them as dangerous opponents and untrustworthy companions. Specialist Wizard The scholars of Elbrecht Academy have divided magic into 8 "schools," which are thematically or functionally related spells which have certain properties in common. A specialist wizard selects one of these as his "chosen school" and focuses on it almost exclusively, becoming better at that school but worse at others. At Elbrecht, there is something of an intramural rivalry between the schools, each competing to produce the most powerful wizards. Spellblade The term "spellblade" was only coined 11 years ago, by a professor at Azure Academy who meant it derisively -- a slight against students who he perceived as "lazy" because they were more interested in blending spellcraft and sword fighting than in pursuing the pure study of magic. But the term caught on and was soon co-opted as the name for anyone who had the skill to cast spells through a melee weapon (typically a sword, but other weapons have been used as well). Today, young nobles are perfecting the art of the spellblade in many lands. The spellblades are not an order or organization, but simply a term for a group of like-minded nobles. In fact, anyone with a rapier and a Heartstone can call themselves a spellblade -- but those without the true skill are eventually revealed as fools. Spellthief For centuries, the quick and the clever have stolen Essence right out from under the noses of the Church, selling it to unscrupulous nobles or using it to make magic items or even to fuel underground cults or illicit scion Essence baths. Although they developed many techniques to get past the magical might of the Keepers, Essence theft was so difficult and risky that it was rarely worth the effort. All that changed with the discovery of Heartstones -- not only did a vast new market for cheap Essence open up, but thieves themselves were now armed with powerful magical tools. There are several spellthief rings now active; the practice is thought to have begun in Alluvan and rapidly spread to Chirmont, Renflour, and Frelund. Although some spellthieves jealously guard their secrets, most are willing to teach apt pupils in order to have some backup on the job. All are wary of Chuch spies, as the capture of spellthieves is a high priority for the Keepers. Starlight Assassin There is a secretive order within the Church which patronizes the Judge of the Dead. The goals of this group are mysterious, but it's thought that they slay enemies of the Church. Their symbol is a Church symbol (triangle within circle) within a ring of stars, although it is rarely worn or displayed in public. They are also fond of black hooded cloaks. Upper-level Church officials often claim that this group is a peaceful order with unsual practices, and that alleged murders are perpetrated by a group of assassins seeking to frame the Church. Vimomancer One of the first fields of study pursued by the wizards of House Lauthgard was the creation and manipulation of the base matter and energy of physical reality, as this was a key area in which divine magic was lacking. This practice has continued with the students and faculty of Elbrecht Academy, who have developed the science of vimomancy -- the magical manipulation of energy. Each practitioner of vimomancy specializes in a single energy type; most refer to themselves not as vimomancers, but as pyromancers, cryomancer, chemomancers, electromancers or sonomancers.
His Majesty 10-26-04, 03:16 PM	Diplomap! http://img4.exs.cx/img4/6207/TMTHdiplomap.gif Thanks to my father, Imageshack (http://www.imageshack.us/) and AutoCad we will no longer say "An equilateral triangle within a circle"! Orthodox: http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9144/Orthodox.gif (http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9144/Orthodox.gif) Church: http://img87.exs.cx/img87/8219/Church.gif (http://img87.exs.cx/img87/8219/Church.gif)
The Swedish Viking 10-26-04, 05:32 PM	:mymy: :mymy: :mymy: After including PRCs (excluding Vampire-texts, history, and such and all material previously excluded) we are up to 156 pages.
keyunp 10-26-04, 09:04 PM	I really like this world. And I'm going to be doing my next campaign in it. I'm hoping (and praying to Prophet Jordana) that I could get a copy of the document being prepared? I'd like to be able to hand to my players everthing that they need all at once. If I'm sorting this post myself and a player goes off in a direction that I wasn't expecting and I don't want to make something up and then find out soething was already done, or wast time looking for something that may have read some where. I'm not expecting a fancy document, just something that has all related info grouped together.
The Swedish Viking 10-27-04, 02:21 AM	Sending it tonight, just be prepared: Its over 1,2 mb in size.
General Felire 10-27-04, 02:48 PM	Just found it a few days ago. Since then I have read all 11 pages of post. This is such a cool concept and so well thought out. Its amazing. Keep it up, cause its very well done. I couldn't help but notice that you said your going to send it, is this through the forum or is it through email. Cause I would love to see it.
His Majesty 10-27-04, 03:39 PM	I'm glad that you like it. The document is sent by email, unless somebody discovered a way to send .doc files through the forum and didn't tell me about it. BTW, the Swedish Viking, please send it to me too. smajie@gmail.com
Neoatomic 10-27-04, 04:15 PM	I would also like a copy, It would be easier to upload to like a geocities site and give us the address to the file. You dont even have to build a site to do it. just sign up at geocities and then upload and give us the address and file name and we can Download it in a snap. It would be alot easier to do than by E-mail. But if you dont use my idea my E-mail is RCQCI@msn.com Peace
His Majesty 10-27-04, 04:34 PM	Berriton is sometimes spelled Barriton, 77IM. Which is right? You have a mistake in the description of Cockatrices. Magicants instead of Heartstones. Can a mage attempt to extract a heartstone repeatedly? Another specific holiday: The Day of Gadondem the Fair Berriton 22nd of Rainfall: During the Heartstone War, Berriton, was in grave danger of being conquered by the armies of House Melgerton, which had very large holdings in Renflour at the time, and was trying to grab Berriton in the chaos of the war. The forces of Melgerton were stopped in a large and bloody battle in front of the great city Hathwine. The success in battle allowed several Renflouran nobles to seize every inch of Melgerton's territory in Renflour. Godondem the Fair was the supreme commander of the Berriton at the time, and he died a very dramatic death on the battlefield (according to the stories, at least). This memorial day is named after him. During the Day of Gadondem the Fair, it is traditional (and patriotic) to wear red (a red scarf is the most common accessory), and people mourn for the brave warriors who died to protect their country and kindle their hatred for Melgerton.
77IM 10-27-04, 04:42 PM	I'll see your AutoCad and raise you a Paint! http://wjs3.com/tMtH/symbols.gif I would like a copy of the document too. I can host it on my web site as well. However, I'm not sure if we should send the document to everyone in the universe if it's still in a working stage. But I'm not necessarily opposed to it either. I am excited about the prospect of more playtesters! -- 77IM
NecromancerElf 10-27-04, 04:54 PM	:whatsthis Any way i can controbute my talent of nation and NPC building :bigeyes: .
The Swedish Viking 10-27-04, 04:59 PM	Okay, mail sent to Majesty and other guy with email. Havent got Keynups email (post it and Ill send the mail). Having a bit of social lowdown right now, so my writing might be a little.... delayed.
The Swedish Viking 10-27-04, 05:03 PM	Oh, and if we intend to publish this (and make money on it) under the d20 OGL and all that, should we send it about like that? Or what -do- we intend to do?
Rhineglade 10-27-04, 05:17 PM	If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd love to get a copy of it myself. My email is trinian@sbcglobal.net
77IM 10-27-04, 05:26 PM	Oh, and if we intend to publish this (and make money on it) under the d20 OGL and all that, should we send it about like that? Or what -do- we intend to do? I am sending you an email about this. Basically, it's OK to send this to people who are serious about using the setting, so long as there is a clear copyright notice on it. NecromancerElf I would love to see what kinds of places and NPCs you can come up with! Please read the post on page 1 about submitting things (it's about submitting noble houses, but the guidelines apply to anything, really). I try to include other people's ideas as much as possible (especially if they are really good) but if you come up with something that doesn't quite fit with the world I may edit it to make more sense. -- 77IM
keyunp 10-27-04, 05:28 PM	keynup@msn.com Thanks.
NecromancerElf 10-27-04, 05:47 PM	great I'll get brewing :tiphat: Swedish viking can you E-mail me a copy too! eneniahere@yahoo.com
His Majesty 10-28-04, 05:21 PM	Damn. Double post.
His Majesty 10-28-04, 05:23 PM	I haven't finished the Houses of the Council of Lords yet, so here's a holiday: Kabran Gnetal – The Day of Gathering Corsom 28th of Rainfall: Kabran Gnetal (Old Orcish for the Day of Gathering) celebrates the founding of Corsom by the legendary King Shol, an orc who managed to ally several local tribes and found one of the first countries of the North. Shol also left his country for the last time on this day, blessing his sons before he left to lead a military campaign against some force in the area of modern Wanford and never returned, leaving Corsom kingless. Though more than a thousand years have passed since that day, Corsans continue to pray for the King’s return every year. The highest rank in Corsom is Prince. Kabran Gnetal is based upon even more ancient orcish traditions, however. On the Day of Gathering, the head of the family gathers his sons and daughters and blesses them in a ceremonial feast. Inviting someone to spend Kabran Gnetal with your family means offering to adopt him, and the opposite is true as well – deliberately not inviting a member of the family to the feast consists of banishing him from the family. Married couples continue to celebrate with the father of the bridegroom and his family until he dies.
77IM 10-29-04, 12:47 PM	Here are some of the major cities and regions of Renflour. Most of this is meant as "backdrop" information, things to "fill in" the map, as opposed to detailed descriptions of important or interesting areas. I encourage people to think up other small areas, in Renflour or elsewhere. The format I've used for these is a 3-sentance format. Sentance 1 explains the place in general and frankly boring terms -- people should read this sentance and immediately be able to compare the area to other generic RPG regions. Once they have this frame of reference, sentances 2 and 3 are a bit more flexible, describe something interesting, unusual, or memorable about the area, and/or present an opportunity of challenge for the players. Illuny (below) is a perfect example of sentance 2 outlining something unusual and sentance 3 presenting an opportunity. By keeping these to 3 sentances and deliberately forcing sentance 1 to be bland and sentance 2 and 3 to be not, I think this maximizes the amount of useful information while requiring the least effort to the writer and reader. I plan to make a crapload of these, so it's important to economize. Of course if anybody wants to make longer, detailed write-ups of any particular areas, be my guest! Meel (border of Renflour and Barriton): This large, old port town deals primarily with agricultural trade, exporting grains, fruits and livestock produced in the surrounding farmland. By ancient law, no live animals are allowed inside the city walls except for livestock being shipped, and donkeys. Residents have bred a variety of smart and friendly donkeys, from large draft animals to tiny pet donkeys with fluffy, multi-colored coats. South Cape (southern tip of Renflour): The city is a fishing community that also serves as a rest stop and resupply center for sailing vessels making their way along the coast. Most of the city is on an island, which comes close to the mainland on both sides, forming a strait that is wide in the middle but with narrow gaps on either side -- a natural harbor with two openings. Many long-range and exploratory expeditions begin in South Cape. Arbogond (north-central Renflour): A large community surrounded by small farms and massive, communal orchards, caravans travelling the High Road stop in Arbogond to drop off worked goods and stock up on fruits and wine. Arbogond is a beautiful, picturesque place with many parks built around a series of Joystones that have stood longer than the city itself. These are thought to have healing properties, and many nobles in need of some "country air" will retreat to Arbogond to relax and receive treatment from the local Lacrima Divinae. Illuny (most of central Renflour, south of Arbogond): This hilly region is a checkerboard of lowland orchards and sloping forests (from which local residents harvest berries and mushrooms). It has long been associated with the Moon Sister and once harbored many lycanthropes. Many Renlinean ruins can be found here, nestled in the hills; some of these have large underground complexes beneath them. Parthany (northern border of Renflour and the Mountain Duchies): The rolling foothills of the Parthanian Mountains contain steep hillsides and rocky riverbeds, and are primarily populated by small valley farming communities and isloated homesteaders. A Magicant was discovered here about 30 years ago, at the height of the Heartstone Wars, which caused an influx of Noble forces and construction. Most of these have sense left, leaving behind empty fortresses and hopeless prospectors.
77IM 11-02-04, 04:43 PM	Here's another cute feat I've been meaning to post for a long time. This is to encourage people to take more knowledge skills, by making them more useful. The basic idea was stolen from a rules variant by Amber E. Scott posted on Rich Burlew's Giant In The Playground web site, so we'll need to include them in our OGL copyright notice. APPLIED KNOWLEDGE [General] Your theoretical and academic learning can be applied in practical situations. Prerequisites: 4 ranks in any 2 Knowledge skills. Benefit: You can make a Knowledge check using a relevant Knowledge skill and gain a minor bonus to some activity. You spend a full-round action (which does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity) contemplating your situation and then make a Knowledge check using a Knowledge category determined by the DM based on the object of the bonus you are seeking. For example, if you are fighting trolls and want to improve your survival odds, you could try to gain an AC bonus by making a Knowledge (Nature) check (the relevant skill for giants). If you are trying to climb a castle wall, you could make a Knowledge (Architecture) check to gain a bonus to your climb checks. If your check result exceeds DC 20, you gain a bonus along the lines of the following: +1 bonus to attack rolls against a particular type of creature or warriors from a particular area +1 bonus to AC against a particular type of creature or warriors from a particular area +2 bonus to damage rolls against a particular type of creature or warriors from a particular area +2 bonus to saving throws against a specific spell, spell-like ability or monster special ability +2 bonus to skill checks opposed by a particular type of creature, people from a particular area, followers of a certain religion, members of a certain noble house, etc. (including Charisma-based skill checks) +2 bonus to skill checks regarding a specific object, area, or concept These are considered competence bonuses. For every 10 points by which you exceed DC 20, your bonus doubles, so at DC 30 you gain a +2 bonus to attack or AC or a +4 bonus to other checks, and at DC 40 you gain a +3 bonus to attack or AC and a +6 bonus to other checks. You may only benefit from one such bonus at a time. For example, if you have used this feat to gaina +1 bonus to AC against trolls, but decide that you would instead would like a +2 bonus on your saving throw against fireball spells, you can make a full-round Knowledge (Arcana) check to gain the saving throw bonus -- but you lose your AC bonus against trolls. You retain these bonuses until you take a full-round action to gain a different sort of bonus, or until you are unconscious or mentally incapacitated for any reason (including sleeping). Normal: Knowledge skills can be used to gain information from the DM. From time to time, this may allow the skill-user to legitimately gain a small bonus to another skill check based on specific actions they take. This feat allows the user to gain a general bonus for abstract reasons.
The Swedish Viking 11-03-04, 03:07 PM	resend all the copyright text to me on gustaflewander@tele2.se and Iīll have you a copy of the document soon.
77IM 11-04-04, 05:36 PM	I created this monster for another thread on this board a long time ago but I liked it so much that I'm including it here. Cryptweed Medium Plant Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp) Initiative: +6 Speed: 0 ft. (0 squares) Armor Class: 19 (+2 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 17 Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+5 Attack: Tendril +5 melee (1d4+3) Full Attack: 3 tendrils +5 melee (1d4+3) Space/Reach: 5 ft./15 ft. Special Attacks: Clone, disease, tendrils, improved grab Special Qualities: Blind, tremorsense 60 ft., water vulnerability, plant traits, DR 5/slashing Saves: Fort +5, Ref +3, Will -2 Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15, Int --, Wis 5, Cha 1 Skills: Hide +2*, Listen +12 Feats: Combat Reflexes(B), Improved Initiative(B) Environment: Dry badlands or cemetaries Organization: Solitary or guarded (1 cryptweed plus 1 dry beast) Challenge Rating: 2 Treasure: Standard Alignment: Neutral Advancement: 4-8 HD (Medium); 9-16 HD (Large) Level Adjustment: -- A series of thin, thorned vines seem to originate under a nearby slab of rock. As you look, the vines begin to slither slowly, suddenly lashing out with violent force. The origin of the horrifying cryptweed is unknown, but it is universally feared and reviled amongst the people of Western countries, including Renflour, Frelund, Zoltar, Kresmaya, and the western reaches of Corsom. Often living in old cemetaries or remote, rocky landscapes (including the Steppelands), this strange being may be highly intelligent or barely sentient, depending on the circumstances of its birth. A cryptweed is a plant creature, but an unusual one. It is photosynthetic and usually gets what nourishment it needs from sunlight, its leafy vines creeping along the ground and twining up rocks and tree trunks. These vines all connect to a central bulb, usually located underground. This bulb -- often the size of a person -- is the heart of the cryptweed; although the vines may be killed, they regrow quickly, and the creature is not dead until its bulb is destroyed. A cryptweed can lie still and harmless for years, only attacking -- using its vines to deliver a disease -- when it needs to reproduce. The disease is actually comprised of tiny spores, and any creature that dies from the bloating disease (usually after a few days to a week) will gradually grow into a cryptweed after death, their body forming the plant's bulb core. Although this fate should be terrible enough, the plant can, within its bulb, gestate a clone of the dead creature, complete with all of its memories. This clone (only one may exist at a time) serves to lure intelligent creatures to the cryptweed during its reproductive cycle, hiding inside the bulb at most other times, although it will emerge to defend the plant from attackers or natural disasters if needed. The clone functions as the "brain" of the cryptweed and is even willing to negotiate, if such an action would be in the nature of the creature cloned; however, the clone considers the needs of the plant (the bulb) above all else. Since every cryptweed wants its offspring to have the most powerful clones possible, it is unlikely that an intelligent living creature could coexist peacfully with a cryptweed for any length of time, as evidenced by an obscure Corsan fairy tale about a man who tried to live with a cryptweed resembling his dead wife, only to get killed and cloned himself. The cryptweed is highly adapted to the rigors of the natural world and resists most elemental attacks. However, one of the most common substances -- water -- proves fatal. Cryptweeds always position their bulbs underneath rocks, in small caves, or inside of stone coffins or crypts (where the spores are often buried in the first place), retracting their vines at the first sign of rain. Even spit is harmful to the cryptweed, causing smaller vines to wither. About a cup of water is required to destroy a vine; a gallon or more kills the central bulb instantly. Much local folklore speaks of people killed by an unknown disease, only to be encountered in the cemetary years later, not as undead, but as clones, luring their loved ones into the leafy embrace of the cryptweed. Cryptweeds take animals as clones more often than people; these "dry beasts," as they are sometimes known, are dangerous but can be recognized by their fear of water. Combat Cryptweeds usually keep their location a secret, only attacking when they are desperate or when they need to reproduce. Because they are stationary, severely vulnerable to water, and have great reach, the cryptweed's bulbous body is often housed under a rock or coffin-lid, granting it total cover. Although the cryptweed is stationary, it can shift its position about somewhat, enough to suffer no penalties for being immobile. Clone (Su): Each cryptweed has a single clone, which it controls completely through a telepathic link. Although the cryptweed itself has not intelligence, the clone may be very smart, and can act independantly of the cryptweed, although they prefer to stay nearby. If the clone is destroyed, a new one can be grown inside the bulb in two weeks. Disease (Su): Any creature damaged by a cryptweed's tendril attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 13) or contract cryptweed spores disease (DC 14; incubation 1 day; 1d4 Con). The initial saving throw is equal to 1/2 the cryptweed's hit die plus its Constitution score, but the disease saving throw is fixed. Any creature slain by this disease will germinate as a cryptweed within 1d3 days, growing to full size within 1 week. It must then spend more time to grow a clone and some tendrils. Tendrils (Ex): A cryptweed has one tendril per hit die, which can attack independantly of one another (each attacks using the full base attack bonus and Strength modifier for damage). These tendrils can also be targetted independantly as well, though. They are considered to have the same Dexterity and size category as the cryptweed, but 5 less natural armor bonus, so the AC of a typical tendril is 14. Each tendril has DR 5/slashing, and a number of hit points equal to the cryptweed's hit die plus Constitution modifier (5 hit points for a typical specimen). A destroyed tendril regrows after 1 day, but the cryptweed can only regrow 1 tendril each day, and can't regrow its clone at the same time. Improved Grab (Ex): A cryptweed that hits with a tendril can attempt to begin a grapple as a free action. Damage dealt while grappling can also transmit cryptweed spore disease (above). Water Vulnerability: Cryptweeds take damage from water as though it were acid. A cup of water deals 1d10 points of damage; this bypasses the cryptweed's damage reduction, but not its natural armor, so throwing water at it (or at a tendril) is a normal attack, not a touch attack. Greater quantities of water deal 5d6 points of damage per gallon, and immersion in water kills the cryptweed instantly. Plant Traits: As a plant creature, cryptweeds possess the following traits: immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects); immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning; not subject to critical hits. Blind: Cryptweeds can't see, relying on their hearing and tremorsense to detect foes. They are immune to gaze attacks and any effects that rely on vision. Skills: Cryptweeds have a +15 racial bonus on Listen checks (included in the statistics above). They also have a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks in natural or wilderness areas. Dry Beast Dry beast is the term for a clone of an animal produced by a cryptweed. Each cryptweed produces only one clone, based on the creature it killed when it germinated. The clone retains most of the properties of the original creature, but is inexorably linked to the cryptweed; its sole goals and desires are those of the cryptweed. Should the main bulb die, the clone will wither and die within days, being unable to rejuvenate. Creating a Dry Beast "Dry Beast" is a template that can be applied to any abberation, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin. A dry beast uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to plant. Do not recalculate the creature’s base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged. Hit Dice: As the base creature. Speed: As the base creature. Armor Class: As the base creature. Attack: As the base creature. Full Attack: As the base creature (but see Tendril Lash, below). Damage: As the base creature (but see Tendril Lash, below). Special Attacks: A dry beast retains all the natural, extraordinary, and spell-like attacks of the base creature, but loses any supernatural special attacks. It gainst the following special attacks. Pheremones (Su): Three times per day, as a standard action, a dry beast can release a chemical cloud that affects creatures of the base creature's type and subtype. Creatures within 10 feet of the dry beast must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the dry beast's hit die + the dry beast's Constitution modifier). Those which fail become sluggish and suggestive, acting as though under a calm emotions spell for 1 minute. A creature already under this affect that becomes targetted a second time must make a Will save or behave as though charmed for 1 minute. Tendril Lash (Ex): As the dry beast's animal-like form takes damage it gradually degenerates and becomes more plantlike. Every 10 points of damage the dry beast takes causes it to grow a tendril. These tendrils can be used as secondary natural weapons, in addition to the dry beast's normal natural weapons. They attack with the dry beast's base attack bonus and Strength modifier, but with a -5 penalty for being secondary natural weapons, and use only 1/2 the dry beast's Strength modifier. They have a reach of 10 feet and deal 1d4 points of damage (for a Medium dry beast). A new tendril grows as soon as the dry beast takes enough damage to warrant it, and if the damage was caused by a melee attack, the dry beast may make one free melee attack with the new tendril against the creature that damaged it. When a dry beast reaches negative hit points, it grows one last tendril, but its body slumps to the ground, inert. It becomes unable to move, losing its Dexterity bonus to AC, and can take no other action except to attempt the full attack action with its tendrils. Its loses its Intelligence score but remains conscious, and does not lose hit points or fall unconscious for taking actions. It loses all other special attacks and qualities. A dry beast that reaches -10 hit points dies. Improved Grab (Ex): A dry beast that hits with one of its tendrils can make a grapple attempt as a free action. Special Qualities: A dry beast retains all the natural, extraordinary, and spell-like qualities of the base creature, but loses any supernatural special qualities. It gainst the following special qualities. Damage Reduction (Ex): A dry beast gains DR 5/slashing. Water Vulnerability: A dry beast takes damage from ordinary water, but not as much as a cryptweed. A cup of water deals 1 point of damage; this bypasses the dry beast's damage reduction, but not its natural armor, so throwing water at it is a normal attack, not a touch attack. Greater quantities of water deal 1d6 points of damage per gallon (max 5d6 per attack), and immersion in water deals 10d6 points of damage per round. Plant Traits: As a plant creature, dry beasts posess the following traits: low-light vision, immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects); immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning; not subject to critical hits. Recuperation: A dry beast must crawl inside its cryptweed's bulb for at least one hour per day in order to survive. While in the bulb, it gains Fast Healing 1 and can even regrow lost limbs as though through Regeneration. A dry beast that doesn't recuperate cannot heal normally, and begins to suffer from the effects of dehydration. Abilities: Same as the base creature, modified as follows: Strength +4, Constitution +2, Charisma -2. Skills: As the base creature. Environment: Changes to dry badlands or cemetaries. Organization: Changes to solitary (1 dry beast plus 1 cryptweed). Challenge Rating: As the base creature. Treasure: As the base creature. Alignment: Change to neutral. Advancement: Change to --. Level Adjustment: Change to --.
The Swedish Viking 11-08-04, 05:37 PM	A well-earned :bump: Now, 77IM, what did you think of the document? Does it look good to you? Now, on to more strange topics and some update info... Iīll add the following when I get time: * Vampire background. * Religious symbols and political map. * Recent cities. * Recent holidays. * New monster. On to more strange topics, was it: What is our stance towards Thieves Guilds and other unlawful interesting organizations? What "dark and evil sects dedicated to worshipping demons" or "smuggler guilds" are there, and what is our stance towards them? How shall we handle it all!?
77IM 11-11-04, 11:57 AM	I like the document a lot. I'm going to make a few minor tweaks and then send it back to you (mostly, fixing some of the PrC tables, and making "chapter headers" more prominent). I've been really busy with work lately but I have bought a new computer so I should be able to get a lot more important stuff (setting design) done in the very near future. Dark and evil sects dedicated to worshipping demons: I don't like them. It's too unbelievable, and such groups are usually one-dimensional cliche stereotypes at best. I'm OK with groups like the Highcasters who traffic with demons, or with power-mad wizards who attempt to bind them. I'm also OK with people worshipping the "dark aspects" of various gods. For example, the Starlight Assassins follow the Judge of the Dead but in a wierd way. It'd be interesting to see the "dark side" of the Sun Father (maybe fascism?) or the Earth Mother (maybe ecoterrorism?). An exception to all of this is monsters: intelligent monsters, particularly aberrations, are prone to worshipping demons. A human demon-worshipping cult is likely being led or manipulated by such a creature. Of course, the Old Ways are tanamount to demon-worship in the eyes of the Church. Most people who would be attracted to demon-worship (frustrated renegades who hate the establishment) would turn to the Old Ways instead, as it really offers a much better message (personal empowerment) than Evil. Theive's Guilds, Smuggler's Guilds, Bandits, Pirates, etc.: These guys, I like a lot. Essence is worth more than gold, but is often harder to steal. The really good criminal organizations make heavy use of Heartstone magic as well, in what is a sort of "arcane arms race" between the nobility and the theives. On the other hand, the nobility actually hires theives and pirates quite frequently, targetting their political foes to drain their coffers, interrupt important trade routes, or even assassinate them. In other words, they may be illegal organizations, but they are definitely embroiled in the politics of the day. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 11-11-04, 03:53 PM	(chuckles, grinning madly) Goodie-goodie. Oughta give me something to work with... I could probably write a whole chapter detailing naught but criminal activities, guilds, rules, NPCs, locations, feats, and so on and so forth. :D Lets begin a new chapter where we focus our efforts towards this often-neglected and badly-described part of D&D then, shall we? Primarily, we ought to focus on the purely practical, fluffwise aspects of Thieves Guilds. * How -does- one maintain a working criminal organization for a longer period of time in a medieval/renaissance setting? * How does one solve the problems of communication? * Guild rules and organization types? Are we going to do our own or a medieval ripoff of the Godfather? * Magic-level? * How does the guilds operate, practically? How do they continuosly evade the law (and dont just say "bribery")? * How does one contact a Thieves Guild for... - Business proposals - Membership arrangements - similar issues and how does the Thieves Guild let it become known this is the way to do it without having a platoon of guardsmen on their doorstep the next morning? with these questions, we enter... THE REALM OF THIEVES
The Swedish Viking 11-12-04, 03:55 PM	THE REALM OF THIEVES - PART ONE "So, ye wish to find someone to buy all those stuff you found lying near the dukeīs wagon, eh? Well, I might be able to pull a few strings. But its damned difficult mate, and to be quite honest I dun know if ye be here just to try and nail my friends...yeīr not, eh? Well, so ye say. Hereīs what youīre goin ter do..." "Thieves Guilds - How to find them?" Well, one would reason that there are several ways of contacting a thieveīs/smugglerīs/illegal whatnotīs guild. The most obvious are lined up below: * Through contacts gotten through the profession of "thievery" (will be discussed in "Contacts - How to Get them?"). * Through people you have worked for earlier. * By information acquired when you, for example, destroyed those "unsanctioned" robbers that told you where to get this and that... * Listening to local rumours and approaching the person(s) these rumours encircle directly. * Try to locate the Guild locale with ordinary adventuring means. * Through corrupt officials who might know of it. * By contacting the leader of the Guildīs "front" (if they have one, though it is quite normal that they do) and asking around a bit. more to come...
The Swedish Viking 11-13-04, 07:38 PM	Until I get some more thought on how creating and contacting Thieves Guildīs work, let me jump right ahead to running them. Im coming up with this as I go along, so Iīll need some help here... ---------------------------- Running a Typical Thieveīs Guild Running a Thieveīs Guild is very tricky business. One main difference on how a Thieveīs Guild is run depends on its size, and the reliability of those in it. A thieveīs Guild with hundreds of members is of course much more difficult to operate and control simply due to the huge amount of things that can go wrong and the huge amount of people that cant be kept track off. The information below is -vey- general. There are hundreds of aspects of running a Thieveīs Guild, and not all can be discussed in this short post. "Small" Variant Thus, most Thieveīs Guilds that grow past a given point of size often split into more guilds, fighting for power until one remains, and it all starts over again; or the Guild is destroyed by law-enforcement. Thus, most Thieveīs Guilds tend to be small in size; with about ten to thirty members. These often have very close ties to each-other, and have large networks of contacts in all layers of law-enforcement and governmental offices. Most of these guilds need loyalty and a certain "honor amongst thieves" to function properly. It is a necessity for such a Guild to function; without the unwritten code of conduct any given Thieveīs Guild would soon crumble to dust. This is why most guilds are small and consist of a given circle of associates. They are often experienced state-of-the-art artists - con-men, thieves, burglars, smugglers, the best of the best. These in turn have contacts with smaller gangs, bands, and such. "Honor Amongst Thieves" is simply an unwritten code (it might have been written down by some thief who really didnīt want any misunderstandings) of conduct within the world of illegal activities. Some areas enforce this code by violence, others simply by promoting a general understanding that in the long run keeping to the code is generally more rewarding than trying to go against it. The Code differs from town to town, whatever suits that area best. It has usually been tried and tested for years, with tweaks here and there whenever something changes in the world around. "Big" variant Most large Guilds are very difficult to run; thus those that manage to grow past the "critical" point has their members and their activities checked and re-checked constantly. Highly centralized, these guilds often enforce their view of how things should be run by means of force, and incorporate all layers of criminality in their ranks. Big Guilds are often too large to be attacked by the law-enforcement by one fell strike, as can be done with smaller guilds. Such operations take time, often decades - and with use of magic it can take even longer. Big Guilds often employ shady wizards and bribe clerics to be a front of their operations and to provide healing and spells. Some wizards find employ within a thieves guild as a sort of "in-built security force"; prowling the throng with "Detect Thoughts" spells. This is rare, however, as keeping a wizard continually costs a lot of gold. A Big guild has more manpower than a small guild and can afford failures and assaults en masse, things a small guild cannot. The big guilds often sacrifice pawns to achieve their goals, and quite often have several different cells or locales within one city. It is rare to find big guilds outside Metropolises. Contacting a big guild is much easier than contacting a small guild. Not so secretive (it is impossible to keep it secret when it is at this size), most people have a general idea that a Thieves Guild is operating in their town and most people "know someone who knows someone...". It is cheaper, but much mroe clumsy and slow-working. Betraying a big guild is easier than betraying a small guild, though it can be more dangerous if you are discovered. Since the need for loyalty is much smaller, big guilds are -very- often corrupt to the bone. Small guilds are tight-knit units while big guilds are full-blown beurocracies of criminality.
The Swedish Viking 11-18-04, 10:42 AM	Finished post about running guilds (more or less). Now... Origins of a Thieveīs Guild "Who knows where they came from? Some say they were óriginally spies financed by the king, others say they have their roots in the Farandaleth group of resistance-fighters... the truth remains unknown to all." Origins of small and big guilds Small guilds are often more spontaneous affairs than big guilds. They rise and fall within only a few years but, being elité, often reform a few years later. Small guilds often originate from circles of friends and acquaintances, probably with some background in a previous organization where they learnt what they needed. Big guilds are more often direct descendants of previous organizations - armies, intelligence-organizations, resistance-movements, anything that might have been involved in large-scale and maybe covert operations. * Army/resistance-movement The guild originates from an army or a resistance-movement with army-like rankings. It is from the army/resistance-movement that the guildleaders get their tactics and organizational skills, and also the contacts and the means with which to acquire intelligence. The locales they used while being a fighting unit are simply recycled into being the current guildhouse. * Intelligence-organisation Intelligence-organisations are often small guilds. These operate covertly and with great stealth. These organisations are often a) organisations that aided a kingdom that has now fallen to a foreign army, b) an organisastion created by some outsider force to sabotage in a given nation, c) both. * Other guild Merchant guilds can sometimes convert into illegal organisations of smugglers and every trade that is illegal. Some wizards hungry for riches might become thieves guilds, sometimes only accepting those with arcane spellcasting abilities into their ranks. Mercenary guilds degenerate into highwaymen who then develop into full-fledged robber-guilds. * Spontaneous Spontaneous guilds arise when charismatic, intelligent and skilled individuals decide to gather a group of other people and create an illegal guild for some goal. Other ways are possible, but this is the most common.
The Swedish Viking 11-26-04, 02:43 PM	Finished the Realm of Thieves section. Now a small guild: The Snifflers "No honest mage would take these low-lives seriously. Despite this, their actions have indeed caused dismay amongst us, the Order of the Heart, as they are consequently raiding our magical laboratories and vaults." The Snifflers are thieves specialized in raiding established wizard-guilds. They steal magical artifacts and target key locations where Heartstones are kept - these are stolen and sold on the black market. The Snifflers often employ insiders, and consist one-third of former mages. These supply the thieves who do the "rough work" with spells, scrolls and potions so that they can work very effectively. Not often does it happen that a Sniffler is caught, and their hallmark is the Invisibility scroll. Nobody really knows -where- the Snifflers lair. Most people think it is somewhere on Highcaster, from where they strike out with small boats and ships to the mainland.
The Swedish Viking 11-26-04, 03:09 PM	Added all vampire-accounts, political maps, symbols, new NPCs, the Realm of Thieves, and other entries. We are now up to 180 pages.
The Swedish Viking 11-26-04, 03:15 PM	Hmm... I am getting some strange feelings here. Havent heard from 77 for weeks... and I dont know why this is. And His Majestyīs gone missing too. Is there something going on that I should know about? And if we -are- going to publish this, maybe its time to think about HOW, and about the legal bullcrap, and how we are going to see to it that everyone gets their share, and if we and how and... yadda?
His Majesty 11-27-04, 03:44 PM	Well, I'm around.. but not doing much in the forums. I'm flooded with things to do, since I participated in a delegation to Ireland (We met Irish students and talked to them about the conflicts in Ireland and Israel, basically. 'Twas pretty interesting) about a week ago, and now I have to do everything I missed when I was there. So I haven't done anything remotely related to roleplaying for a couple of weeks. Hopefully by Thursday I will have some free time, though I'm not sure whether I'll write anything then. Anyway, I can't count on having time for tMtH. Probably anything I write will be small and probably done while I'm supposed to do something else. It sucks. But I did start my campaign - the characters are closely tied to an Independant Templein in Lienne and are trying to deal with a plague that started to spread in the Flats. They're not really doing anything for the sick - they're worried about losing believers to the Church, and are trying to recruit the only known Healer whose spells actually help to their Temple. I'll give more details later.
The Swedish Viking 11-28-04, 04:57 AM	Well, given that I currently lack a gaming group (Im just doing this lacking better things to do), dont expect me to start a campaign in this setting in the near future. :P
Ghostie Ghost 11-29-04, 03:23 PM	Bump. I finally got back on the boards after weeks. i'll work on a few things as soon as possible. I managed to play Ravenloft and i love the horror and madness checks, maybe you could add them?
77IM 11-29-04, 04:51 PM	Howdy Folks! Sorry I've been so quiet. I was out of town all last week celebrating the American holiday of Thanksgiving, in which, once a year, you gather together with all your relatives for a great feast and give thanks for the fact that you only have to gather together with all your relatives once a year. Also I bought a new computer, capable of running actual software, and have been playing Neverwinter Nights instead of sleeping. It's a problem. Swedish Viking: Your Thieve's Guild stuff is awesome. You should write a whole book on this. I think "The Snifflers" is a great name, too. (It makes up for "The Guild of Exploration and Invention" a while back. ;)) As for publishing the setting, for now, let's just focus on retaining our intellectual property rights while distributing it for free, acting on the assumption that publishing the setting or giving up any rights to it would require the consent of all contributors. However if anyone knows about international copyright law or knows someone who does and has any information about collaborative projects like this, please share. His Majesty: Feel free to contribute whatever you are able. If you're in a time crunch it is often better to write an idea down, even in a crude and sketchy form, rather than let it be forgotten. (Of course share these ideas with the group, too.) If you want, have your play group PM or email me their names and they can get playtester credit! Ghostie Ghost: I was starting to think you had vanished! I sent you a Private Message a while ago asking for your real name but never heard back. This is so that we can give you proper credit for your contributions. Also, your players can PM or email me their names, too, to get playtester credit. As for madness checks, I do like the insanity system quite a bit, but they are really more appropriate to a horror setting. It's certainly possible to play a horror-style game in this setting, but adding madness to the whole setting wouldn't quite work. I hope to get some more material posted soon. I'm probably going to splat out some more quicky city descriptions for nearby countries, and/or post more general country details (local laws, customs, sights & sounds, etc.). -- 77IM
keyunp 12-02-04, 05:20 PM	He could've heard the arguing from outside, but he needed to see who was saying what. Crawling along the ceiling, staying in the shadows, he moved until he was over the gathered clergy. "They're abominations!" came shouted from the assembly. "I insist that it's only a different type of essence bath." spoke bishop Athert. "The results are different, but they have still been blessed by the Essence." "The Count is dabbling with forces that he cannot understand, and must be stopped.” demanded Lightbearer Bartholum. “You Lightbearers have already determined that there is no possession in any of the people Count Malto has changed. The costs and dangers of any essence bath will prevent this from become widespread.” Another voice from the gathered assembly spoke up. “If they’re not possessed, then what will we call them?” Hearing the last statement brought a smile to his shadow cover face. With the Lightbearers being unable to act, the committee will spend months now just trying to figure out what to call us. Touching the heartstone at his waist and muttering an incantation Count Malto teleported back to his manor to continue his plans. This is just to give an explanation for the existence of the Warlock class from complete arcane, without requiring that the powers coming from a demonic source.
His Majesty 12-04-04, 05:05 AM	I think that adding magical classes from the Complete Whatnot series is a bad idea. More kinds of magic would be completely artificial.
The Swedish Viking 12-05-04, 04:02 PM	Well, the word OPTIONAL is nice. Lets not go to great lengths to include additional stuff from the Complete whatnot series but hey, if we get em handed on a platter like this one... well, no reason not to, eh?
Ghostie Ghost 12-06-04, 11:06 AM	As banks of fish move away from you a circle of red energy swirls on the seabed, unfortunately you don't have time to admire it much as a figure starts appearing through it! Aquatic Demon/Devil/Whatever'ri HP: 108 Alignment: CE/LE/CS Of a vaguely humanoid shape the ADDW work as invasion force for evil and can breathe both in air and in water (nifty and can resit pressure) and can change into a human or shark form once per day and stay in that form until they please, they are usually armed with magical tridents and attack in melee. They are usually found in groups of 2/3 and wreak havoc by sinking a few ships not very obviously (no grand scale attacks unless necesary), they prefer to intercept and poke holes in medium sized ships which have shiny objects and coins on them because their one weakness is.............. ShInY oBjEcTsand brownies
77IM 12-06-04, 05:15 PM	I should first point out that in this setting the term "warlock" refers to someone with an implanted Heartstone (or demonic posession) who is taking monster-class levels. That aside, I like the idea of experimental "alternative Essence baths" to describe the CA warlock for several reasons. I don't really want to include anything from the "Complete" series. For starters, so far we have kept the setting OGL-compliant, mainly by staying away from copywritten monsters like mind flayers, yuan-ti and beholders, but nothing in any WotC supplement is OGL except for the material in Unearthed Arcana which we have already pretty well plundered. Furthermore, I don't want people to feel like they need to buy additional books to use the setting -- I actually plan to reproduce the UA material when I get the chance. (I have action points done, but bloodlines remain. Maybe I can OCR it?) Also, the setting already includes quite a bit of magicalness, and more would be largely superfluous. Essence is really a plot device and we can make it jump through whatever hoops we want; the trick is to explore the world that revolves around it, not the limitless possibilities of bolognium itself. (Of course, I will backpedal this statement a tad when I post the Incarnate Court of Erindu, who are mildly enfunkified by constant exposure to Essence.) All that said, I like keyunp's explaination precisely because it has "optional" and "fringe" and "not really part of main campaign world" written all over it already. I don't like to limit character options if I can help it -- I, personally, don't see anything special about the CA warlock, but if a player shows up for a campaign and is just dying to play one, drooling with anticipation, this brief tale could explain how such a character would come about, why they are so creepy, and why no one has ever heard of them before. It could even be the basis for an ongoing campaign (maybe a "Dark Angel" plot where the PC CA warlock has escaped from arcane experimentation). So in summary, this sort of material shouldn't go in our main document but we should hang on to it as sort of "optional/crossover" material. -- 77IM
Sourcemaster2 12-06-04, 07:33 PM	Just finished reading this thread yesterday, and I'm quite impressed. Anyone can brew up a setting and even give it detail, but few can take the foundations of D&D and give them just the twist needed to arouse interest, and you have most certainly accomplished this. I'd be glad to help, and already have several ideas. Would anyone mind if I wrote up a few dragons?
The Swedish Viking 12-07-04, 02:29 AM	Forgot that stuff about OGL. Dammit, why does everything involving these things have to be so legalized (I -know- why, Im just ranting a bit)!?!
77IM 12-07-04, 11:07 AM	Forgot that stuff about OGL. Dammit, why does everything involving these things have to be so legalized (I -know- why, Im just ranting a bit)!?! Hey, don't let it cramp your style, either. If you have some fantastic idea that is not-quite-OGL, there is usually a way around it. For example, I really liked the Black Flame Zealot PrC from Complete Divine and so came up with an "Order of the Black Flame" within the Church. But when I decided to try to keep things OGL, I had to revise it, into the Starlight Assassin, which I ended up liking better anyway because it was purely original and made a smidge more sense. Sourcemaster2: Glad you like it! By all means start posting away! I take it you read the post on dragons? They are by far the most magical and mysterious of creatures, so feel free to ignore those guidelines if need be (as long as you don't make them rational, explicable, or in any way color-coded -- every dragon should be fairly unique). -- 77IM
77IM 12-07-04, 12:24 PM	OK, this has been clawing at the inside of my skull for some time now, and I finally had to just spam it all out. It's not my best work but I'm taking my own advice of posting the thing in its infancy rather than waiting for it to be polished and perfect before revealing it. ERINDU Social Groups The Incarnate Court: The rulers of Erindu live in absolute secrecy, completely cut-off from the outside world, including the people they rule. The only people who are allowed to look upon an incarnate are their personal servants, high-ranking thanes, and druids of Erindu. The punishment is death, although it is often commuted by forcing a commoner into servitude or by banishment. When an incarnate needs to go out in public, they wear viels and ride in a curtained litter. The incarnates live within giant sandstone ziggurats and secluded courtyards within an area of the capital known as the {insert cool name reminiscent of "the Forbidden City" here}. All of the Magicants of Erindu are located here, not within special collecting chambers, but within the living quarters of the incarnates themselves, where they are bathed by the light of the Magicant day and night, Essence collecting on their clothing and the walls of their room. The Incarnate Court consists of elves and halflings with sorcerous abilities, typically with outsider or elemental bloodlines; non-sorcerers can be concubines or high-ranking servants but not proper incarnates. The constant suffusion of Essence causes a phenomenon similar to low-level hallucination at all times. Each proper member of the court is thought to be posessed by an avatar of a deity, the kingdom ruled by the Sun Father and the Earth Mother. "Incarnate" will be a PrC that allows sorcerers to learn cleric spells and gain cleric domains. Thanes: In Erindu, talented individuals are given the Essence Bath and the heightened awareness that it brings. These are thanes (just like scions, but with slightly different weapon proficiencies and class skills), who typically act as guardians and keepers of the peace. Although a thane will often enforce justice, protect the innocent, etc., they don't really rule any areas, deferring to the local elders in all matters of policy. The thanes also function as elite guards to the Incarnate Court, and are often sent on special missions as well. (Using Arcana Unearthed, the thane would use the rules for oathsworn.) The traditional weapon of the thane is a special carved quarterstaff. Most thanes are halflings or goblins, but tall elf thanes are not unknown. Priests: The priesthood of Erindu is primarily druids, who openly follow the Old Ways (although they do not call it that; they don't really have a name for their religion). Their worship retains much of the dress and customs of Renlinea, particularly elaborate white robes and gemstone jewelry. The druids are animists, believing that spirits inhabit every object and patch of land, and act as sort of "liasons" between the civilized and natural worlds. Because all Essence in Erindu is controlled by the Incarnate Court, most druids must constantly travel to and from {insert cool name reminiscent of "the Forbidden City" here}, although Essence barges do periodically make their way up the Velm to supply priests of remote communities. Priests can be any race, including a decent number of human followers of the Old Ways who migrated from the north. Commoners: The verdant floodplane of the Velm held tangled jungle for millenia until the people of Erindu tamed it for the growing of wheat. Although Erindu covers a vast territory, most of this land is the purview of hunters and druids who range through the jungle in search of riches or wisdom; the country is really run like an extended city-state with the capital in the north ruling over a long string of communities extending up the Velm. Most of these are small clusters of wooden huts on stilts, inhabited by hafling farmers or goblin merchants. These communities are often tightly-knit, sharing duties such as the raising of children, constructing new buildings, and caring for livestock. Larger communities may feature a resident priest and/or thane. Because of their simple dress and "primitive" technology, the Erindese are seen as somewhat backwards by their northern cousins, but this is not an accurate view. The Erindese have smiths and stonemasons, but rarely use such materials due to environmental conditions (rust and soft earth). They produce elaborate art in an abstract style, usually integrated into their everyday lives (houses, tools, clothing, etc.) or adorning their bodies (jewelry, piercings, tatoos). Erindese are more likely to be literate than people in the northern "civilized" lands, as their curly runic script covers many surfaces, and their epic poetry is often carved into large rocks or cliffsides or on clay tablets. Servants: The lowest class in Erindu are not technically slaves, as they are not considered property, but exist in a sort of indentured servitude, working for room and board but pledging service for a period of time. The length of time is based on the accomodations -- the typical house-servant who has a cot and can partake of basic servant meals can pledge for a period of 1-5 years, while lifetime pledges are live almost as well as their incarnate masters. Most servants are halflings or goblins. There is little social stigma about being a servant; most people would prefer to be totally free and own their own little patch of land, but for some, it is a good way out of a bad situation or even an opportunity for social mobility (as incarnates face no taboo for marrying commoners or servants or taking them as concubines). Most servants serve the Incarnate Court in {insert cool name reminiscent of "the Forbidden City" here}, but some also serve thanes or prominent community leaders. To be continued...
His Majesty 12-07-04, 03:03 PM	I'm planning to start a series of posts soon (which is stupid, as I have too many plans already.. :rolleyes: ) about cultural differences. For Erindu, I have thought about music and medicine. Music in Erindu is purely instrumental in nature. Singing is only used in folk songs, war chants or children's songs, and is rarely accompanied by any instrument. (This is one of the reasons for the Erindese's disregard for Northern music, and especially the modern Opera.) Any texts accompanying Erindese music are written down or carried by or inscribed upon dancers. The music used in the Incarnates' courts has a very holy and grandioze sound, and is meditative in nature. The provincial music is slightly less traditional and features some faster tempos but is still instrumental and abstract. The Erindese favor wooden wind instruments, including the widely popular pan pipes (which were spread all over the world by druids), flutes of different sizes, the shawm and hautbois. The also use various wooden percussion instruments, such as the marimba and the "bones" (see description in pages 42-43 of Song & Silence). They use very few metal instruments, though bells are quite commonly used by professional musicians. Erindese music is based on the harmonious sounds of the pentatonic scale. The medicinal traditions of Erindu, unlike northern ones, are based on their spiritual codes and rarely use external sources of healing. According to the Erindese, a pure soul makes a healthy body. The sick go through special ceremonies and are sometimes ordered to do certain things or move to a different location.
77IM 12-07-04, 04:04 PM	Great! I am hopefully going to post some more random things about various countries in the near future. But first, racial heritage feats. A Heritage feat represents a character's ancestry or upbringing. They can only be taken at 1st level. This batch of feats allows for characters to have mixed ancestry without introducing a slew of new half-races. In other words, humans and dwarfs are genetically compatible, so if you want to play a "half-dwarf," just pick up the Dwarf Blood and/or Dwarf Upbringing feats. DWARF BLOOD [Heritage] The blood of the mountainfolk flows through your veins. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, Constitution 13+, non-dwarf. Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison. Your somewhat compact frame gives you a +2 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground. DWARF UPBRINGING [Heritage] You were raised by dwarves and are intimately familiar with their ways. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, non-dwarf, ability to speak Parthanian or Leden. Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items, +2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal, and a limited form of dwarven stonecutting. This ability grants you a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. You can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. Normal: Only rogues can find traps with a Search DC of 20 or higher. ELF BLOOD [Heritage] You are decended from elves and retain some of their capabilities. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, Dexterity 13+, non-elf, ability to speak Ponderran. Benefit: You gain immunity to sleep spells and similar magical effects, and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects. You have low-light vision, and can see twice as far as a human in conditions of poor illumination. GOBLIN UPBRINGING [Heritage] You were raised by a goblin family. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, non-goblin. Benefit: When involved in a Bull Rush, Disarm, Overrun, Sunder, or Trip attempt, you don't suffer a -4 penalty due to Small size, and if you change size you have penalty 4 less than normal on these maneuvers. You gain a +2 racial bonus on Move Silently checks. Normal: A Small sized character gets a -4 penalty on ability checks made for a Bull Rush, Disarm, Overrun, Sunder, or Trip attempt. Special: If you are Medium size or larger, you do not gain any bonus when involved in a Bull Rush, Disarm, Overrun, Sunder, or Trip attempt (this feature of the feat only negates penalties). LOSHA UPBRINGING [Heritage] You were raised by the nomadic halflings known as Losha and picked up many of their skills. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, non-halfling, ability to speak Loshan. Benefit: You gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear, a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown weapons and slings, and a +2 racial bonus on Climb and Jump checks. SHORT STATURE [Heritage] Some of your ancestors were "little people," such as gnomes, goblins, or halflings. Prerequisites: Character level 1st only, Dexterity 13+, Medium size. Benefit: Your slightly smaller frame gives you a +3 bonus on Hide and Escape Artist checks. You can move and operate comfortably in areas too small for Medium creatures without squeezing, and can squeeze through Tiny areas. Normal: A Medium creature moving through a space that is only big enough for a Small creature must "squeeze," moving at half speed and taking a -4 penalty to attack and AC.
The Swedish Viking 12-08-04, 10:36 AM	A "Thane" was a wandering storyteller during the viking-age and vendel-age. They were wandering priests/bards with great knowledge of religion and folklore and carriers of the viking oral tradition of storytelling.
77IM 12-08-04, 11:12 AM	A "Thane" was a wandering storyteller during the viking-age and vendel-age. They were wandering priests/bards with great knowledge of religion and folklore and carriers of the viking oral tradition of storytelling. Neat! In Medieval England, a thane was sort of like an I Can't Believe It's Not Nobility -- they had land and were like low-ranking barons but I don't think had any actual title. In Beowulf-era Denmark a thane has been described as a sort of "King's Champion" role (bearing in mind that "King" was more like "local warlord"). The Erindese thanes are local peacekeepers but not really associated with any particular noble or patch of land (although they sometimes assume stewardship of a particular community). They are some of the smartest and most cultured people in Erindu, and often serve as diplomats or ambassadors to foreign lands. (The word "thane" has a very medieval-Europe sound to me, but I picked it for an Erindese role anyway, because it also has a fairly vague, neutral meaning -- the Erindese language has its own word for thane, which would sound weird to us.) -- 77IM
His Majesty 12-08-04, 01:21 PM	Unfortunately, those feats are significantly overpowered when compared to other feats. I'm not so sure how they compare to AU talents, but they are troublesome anyway, as we assume a regular D&D system. Take the Dwarf Upbringing feat, for example. The +2 bonus to appraise and craft is worth a whole feat, according to the system. but you have two more significant bonuses: first, you're not specifying a certain craft skill - instead you specify a material. Also, you add the limited stonecunning. The Elf Blood feat is also obviously too strong. A feat that gives you a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks is a bit underpowered, and certainly worth it good if you add a conditional saving throw bonus. But then you add also the low-light vision and immunity to sleep effects... Again, I like the idea, but it's just broken. I think that instead of this you can make a list for DMs, stating which racial abilities may be replaced by certain different abilities. This has a very good potential for being unbalanced too, but it'll probably be better than this.
77IM 12-08-04, 03:32 PM	Balance is tricky. Feats, in particular, are not balanced against one another -- some are just inherently much stronger than others. I tried to balance these against racial features and feats I consider worth taking. For example, a feat that gives +2 to appraise and craft checks might be balanced against existing feats. But those feats are crap, and I would never in a million years take one or recommend anybody take one. Along similar lines, compare humans and half-elves. Half-elves are widely regarded as a weak race -- would a human give up their bonus feat and bonus skill points to get those half-elf abilities? Well, I rolled them into a feat, so now a human actually can take those abilities, and they still seem weak to me. All that said, I'm looking at those feats again and clipping most of them back a tad. The darkvision in Dwarf Blood was just too much, and the skill bonuses in Elf Blood are unnecessary (a human with this feat can put his extra skill points into these skills). Losha Upbringing combined with Short Stature could give a human rogue most of the benefits of being a halfling without any of the drawbacks. I also added language requirements to most of the upbringing feats, so taking them incurs a minor cost. -- 77IM
Sourcemaster2 12-10-04, 07:57 PM	Have there been any major plagues in tHtM history? I've got the first dragon pretty much written up, but need a good ole population-demolishing disease from a while back. Several centuries before the Heartstone War would be nice, if one such is available.
His Majesty 12-11-04, 12:06 PM	I believe that the closest thing we have to a detailed history is an almost complete part about Ponderry and the area of the Great Isle, and two other parts about Church history and Barriton, and all of those are still waiting patiently in my head. that means that you can insert whatever you want, as long as it doesn't conflict with the things written in the introduction and the country entries. No one has shown any interest in history except for me till now. Let's just work this out. If you are talking about a famine, good locations for a naturla hazard would be Treothe or Ombroten (since they're so close to the Great Desert), or perhaps Wanford/Jarlheim (things might freeze up so high north). If you're looking for a man-caused hazard, I'd take Belsomme or Lede, since any major conflict with a strong naval force would probably cause the other country to cut off their resources from the mainland. The Dwarves' proclivity for wizardry might have been the cause for such a conflict, if we're talking about the period just before the Heartstone wars. If you're going for a plague, you don't need any reasons, but I'd prefer to locate it in the area of south-western (is that supposed to be capitalized?) Garland, the south of the Mountain Duchies, or north-eastern Renflour. That would fit with something featured in my adventure.
The Swedish Viking 12-12-04, 12:42 PM	Euw... I donīt even want to hink about that one.
77IM 12-13-04, 12:11 PM	Euw... I donīt even want to hink about that one. Why not? You got something against dwarves? "Dwarf is beautiful," I say. Why, my fiance is only 3'8" tall (1m 11cm)! All kidding aside (she is really 5'2", but will probably be taller when she grows up), in this setting I am trying to battle the steryotype of dwarves as fat hairy greaseballs covered in soot. Of course there are still plenty of dwarves like that, working the mountain forges, but there is a lot of variety in the race, especially amongst dwarven wizards and merchants. Specifically: Appearance: Short and stocky, dwarven men are the epitome of masculinity -- strong, rugged, and sporting long elaborate beards. Dwarven women are noticably thinner than men, but are just as well-built, often looking trim and fit. They tend to have long hair with braids and ribbons. They live to around 150 years. Please post more of the Realm of Thieves! I was really enjoying that series. -- 77IM
Ghostie Ghost 12-13-04, 03:05 PM	i edited my last post and have been occupied charging thousands of legionaries at each other for no reason rome total war and finding out more about the renaissance Italian states to help you guys out with renflour. If you are doing the same and find some material you need translating, i could help. (being Italian) Now back to the legionaries. :fight!: :fight!: Good luck!
77IM 12-13-04, 05:01 PM	I like the idea of a dragon linked to a plague -- it's not an association I would have come up with, but it makes a ton of sense and I'm curious to see what you have done. Plagues are more likely to occur in densely populated areas, with lots of cities and livestock. The most densely populated country is Chirmont, which you can think of as one giant farm unmolested by intervening hills, surrounded by cities full of poor people. However, most of the coastal countries from Alluvan through Frelund are pretty well stocked, and plagues can strike even in hills of Highcaster or on the broad plains of Corsom. All the History information I've come up with is contained below, in the information on "Years." (This is a re-post of the "Time" post so you can get an idea for how time is tracked.) The only other date of note is the founding of the Renlinean Empire somewhere around -700 GR after winning a series of wars against Erindu. Feel free to create new historical events for the world, especially if they serve as a backstory to something in the present day! Historical events can be handy when explaining Noble animosities, the founding of Church sects, local traditions, whatever. Time The following are specified by clerics devoted to the Keeper of Time. Years Years are measured since the beginning of the Great Rebellion (when the Prophet overthrew the Renlinean Empire), abbreviated GR. It is currently the year 984 GR (or, "The Nine Hundred and Eighty-Fourth Year of the Great Rebellion," as if the rebellion were still going on). This method of timekeeping was introduced at the Treaty of Barriton which marked the end of the Throne Wars in 523 GR. Prior to this time period, different nations tracked time in a variety of ways, but the multi-national treaty needed a common date, and the practice caught on quickly. Time before the Great Rebellion is simply measured in negative numbers (for example, the Prophet was born in -17 GR, and died in 11 GR). The Heartstone Wars started around 940 GR and officially ended in 961 GR. Months The world's single crater-marked moon rotates as well as revolves. This means that as the year progresses, the image on the face of the moon appears to change as the moon spins around. Each lunar cycle, which lasts a convenient 28 days, the moon rotates about 2/5 of the way around (or 144 degrees), meaning that in 5 lunar cycles someone will have seen all 5 faces of the moon. Each of these is thought to show a different image and has a different astrological attribution depending on where during the year it is full. A year is 364 days long and has 13 months, and begins on the winter solstice. Lunar Faces: Dragon, Rose, Ship, Goblet, Nightmaiden. Months of the Year: Longnight, Midwinter, Coldwind, Springthaw, Blossoming, Summersow, Midsummer, Rainfall, Hotsun, Leaffall, Harvesttime, Feasting, Snowfall. Days "A week" means either 6 or 7 days depending on usage. If someone says, "I'll meet you here in a week" or "Take this medicine once per night for a week," they mean 7 days. If someone says, "The store will be open all week," they mean 6 days. This is because Prayermeet is not considered part of the "week," neither the first day of a week (that goes to Onesday) or the last day of the week (called Latterday). There are four weeks in a month; the first of the month is always Prayermeet. Days of the Week: Prayermeet, Oneday, Twosday, Thrensday, Foursday, Fiveday, Latterday. From His Majesty: The First Basilica / The Great Basilica St. Basil (-9 – 168 GR) was one of the most important figures in the history of the Church of the Pantheon. The first saint recognized by the Church, Basil knew the Prophet personally as a young man. Although it is unclear if he knew it at the time, Basil was a relative of Jordana. Thanks to the Celestial that possessed him in his youth, St. Basil was granted an especially long life. He began his religious way as a well-known but powerless priest, and slowly gained power until eventually he became important enough to insert his own writings into the Codex Luminaire and participate in its late editing stages (The 14th and 15th chapters are his own). During the 177 years of his life, St. Basil influenced the world more than almost any other mortal since the Empress Ganais II. One of the most magnificent heirlooms that he St. Basil has left for mankind is the First Basilica, an amazing building standing on the western side of the Golden Hill, next to the Celestial Chamber and the Tomb of the Prophet. (There is more in the post on House Varindree.) -- 77IM
Sourcemaster2 12-14-04, 12:49 AM	Ok, here goes. Itherdanus, the Mistweaver Shortly after the fall of the Giants, the drake known as Eslin the Gilded, a little-known dragon of gold and red, formed a brief but passionate affair with one of his neighboring dragons. The she-dragon was a coast-dwelling creature, colored in dark shades of blue and green, reminiscent of the ocean depths and a reflection of her magic's shape. Enigmatic even to her race, she eschewed consorts and allies alike, earning herself the name Dyritelus, the Chaste Keeper. Why she accepted Eslin's advances, after refusing so many others', is unknown, but within the next few years a small dragon was seen exploring the nearby caves and cliffs. Agents of the local Dragon Lord (a formidable he-dragon of brownish-bronze coloration, extremely old and adept at earthen spells) They discovered the young dragon (of dark blue coloration similar to his mother's, but with rippling bands of silver scales marking his underbelly, wings, face, and tail) abandond in his mother's lair, uncivilized and more than half savage. Taking the child under their wing (so to speak), they brought him before the Dragon Court, which requested a volunteer to see to the dragonet's upbringing. Generally solitary by nature, few dragons desired additional burdens to care for, but eventually one stepped forward. Taking him to his own well-hidden lair (located in what is now called Belsomme), the dragon Miretu began to instruct the adolescent in dragon-lore. Seeking out the true essence of one's power is highly important to dragonkind, and this task occupied the pair for several years. Once it was completed, Miretu declared his charge mature enough to establish his own home, and allowed him to take on his name (toying with the idea that young dragons are generally unnamed; when fully trained, they choose their own. Any thoughts?) Newly titled, Itherdanus put off constructing a defensible home of his own, instead taking to traveling the lands of the other (lesser) races, primarily modern-dar Chirmont. His journeys changed his opinion of the Younglings-general term used by dragons for "lessers"-and he took on many roles in human society, ranging from a merchant's courier to impersonating a cleric on more than one occassion. It was during this period that he witnessed the reemergence of one of mankind's oldest fears: the Stoneblood Plague. (the name of the disease refers to a small trio of Joy Stones containing veins of red quartz, which cause sunlight to color the woodlands immediately surrounding it a half-rosy/half-blood color; the stones are located near the village that first displayed signs of the plague) Spread by unknown (to them) means, the plague was incurable by anything short of divine magic. This valuable resource was virtually denied to the people because the nobility cloistered themselves away with the clergy to insure their own survival. The commoners were left to face the horror of the disease unprotected, and this betrayal greatly angered Itherdanus. Utilizing his inborn magic, he was able to purge many people of the plague, but even a dragon's powers have limits. His energies spent, he was forced to watch the humans who had become his friends wilter and die while he himself-immune to the disease, as are all dragons-remained untouched. While he made an effort to conceal his true nature, tales of a draconic savior persist, and a few more esoteric cults worship the Winged Curate, who supposedly warns of plague, heals it, and/or guides the souls of those killed by disease to the afterlife. Although he called for aid from the Council, they refused to involve themselves in a human crisis. This made a deep impression on Itherdanus, and he holds their inaction against them to this day. After the plague ran its course-killing thousands before it petered out-he devoted his studies to curative enchantments, studying under many druids and priests to learn the secrets of their healing abilities. The fruits of his labors are several unique restorative spells suitable for mass application, especially those dealing with poison or disease. Only Miretu and a few close allies have access to his research, which he harbors against a similar disaster which he believes will inevitably come. Since the development of Heartstone magic, Itherdanus has returned to traveling in human form. He is a sometimes-member of several arcane groups, but only involves himself to keep informed of the progress of magecraft and its possible uses as both a weapon and a restorer. How was that? I also wanted to include the idea that a dragon's magic has a major theme. This wouldn't hinder spell aquisition, but would shade certain aspects of their castings. Dyritelus, for example, is a creature of water, so her divinations might use it as a tool rather than a mirror, and her fire-based spells could use heated steam instead. Nothing that effects stats, but a tool for flavoring a drake. Any thoughts?
His Majesty 12-14-04, 03:11 AM	:w00t: I like it very much. The following is not for my players! For further reference, what looks like a minor outburst of the Stoneblood Plague has started in the Flats of Lienne. Also, I'll show this post to a player of mine who's playing a dragon-born sorcerer. BTW, try to break your entry into several paragraphs next time. It makes reading easier.
Sourcemaster2 12-14-04, 06:17 PM	Majesty, I'm glad you liked it. I realized the post was too long as I wrote it, but couldn't find any place where it cut off easily. I edited it, but the breaks are still a bit awkward. What do you think of the "special effects" nature of dragonic magic? In stat terms, it would be equivilent to the Spell Thematics feat, and could help differentiate draconic casting from wizardly or clerical types. Also, are there any specific items that require additional work? I specialize in things involving casters, magical creatures, and gods/religion, though I'll happily fill in other lore where needed.
77IM 12-15-04, 09:42 AM	Itherdanus, the Mistweaver ...lots of cool stuff about a dragon... Wow, that was really good stuff. I really like the idea of dragons having a "theme." Looking at dragons in mythology, most of them did have some sort of weird powers beyond simply "strong, flies, breathes fire." They often displayed odd habits like guarding a sacred tree, demanding virgins to eat, or having an obscure weakness (like songbirds). Giving each dragon theme spellcasting helps to differentiate them -- sort of like the elemental affinities of the D&D Standard Color-Coded Dragons(tm), except with a broader focus (things like "healing" or "divination" or "shapechanging" in addition to fire, acid, etc.) and each dragon is unique. You also have a pretty good grasp of the Dragon Court. I envision the dragons of this world as somewhere in between Eastern and Western dragons. Western dragons were more or less just monsters: horrible creatures of pure chaos that existed only to wreak havok and get slain by heroes. Eastern dragons were stately and regal, part of the "celestial beurocracy" in charge of making sure that rivers ran and clouds rained and so forth. The dragons of The Magicant, The Heartstone are tied to the essential forces of existence, but don't have specific "duties." While they are far from mindless treasure-hoarding brutes, forming an elaborate social structure, they do remain largely solitary and many of them are quite evil. Your work has inspired me and I have come up with a dragon of Zoltar which I will try to post soon. -- 77IM
His Majesty 12-15-04, 11:25 AM	I agree with everything 77IM said, and your paragraphs are completely fine, Sourcemaster. If you're looking for a caster-related issue to develop, a good place to explore would be the druids of Erindu - their buerocracy, organizations, relationships, methods of action, etc.
The Swedish Viking 12-15-04, 01:38 PM	Well, I really canīt think of more things there is to write about thieves and smugglers. Unless you have personal experience, you can only try and deduce from history how such organisations would operate - and I, being a Swede (where our knowledge of organized crime is about as big as a fishīs knowledge of metaphysical theorems - with spice added by Hollywood) donīt even have very many historical sources to work from. Iīll try to think of something, though. On dwarves - Silly Facts from Sweden The Dwarves, or as they are known is swedish, Dvärgar (not entirely unlike Duergar - these "evil" variants are more viable examples of what the "real" dwarves were) were according to norse myth created from the maggots and worms feasting on the body of the first giant. They were greedy, sly, often evil, masters of all things crafted from rock and metal - living underground like the worms they were created from - and had a huge apetite for women and were also masters of magic. They fought alongside the forces of evil in Ragnarök - the last battle which would destroy the world. Incidentally, the original name for Dwarves were Svartalfir - Dark elves.
Light Dragon 12-15-04, 02:29 PM	Name: House Ledeol Race(s): Human Holdings: (major holdings) Anku, (hidden holdings) the steppeland Religion: Church of the Pantheon Relationships: (SORRY THAT I AM NOT FAMILIAR ENOUGH WITH YOUR WORLD TO PROVIDE EXACT RELATIONSHIP< I'M SURE YOU CAN DO A BETTER JOB ON THIS THAN I.) Personality/Customs: Very reverant of family members and the deceased- the usual period for mourning (and closeting) when a leader of the family passes away is ten years. The family, in addition to its production and sale of essence (which is a very lucrative manufacture), is well known for its women's sewing and embroidery. In the embroidery, some strange images can be seen- people argue, if things are folded (like in those Mad Magazine Fold-Outs), some have argued they see the faces of demons... others argue that the embroidery forms a sort of secret code between members of the House- telling allies just how respected the person who purchased this piece is, and how they should treat them. History A terribly ancient house, House Ledeol was once renouned for its giant magicant Mallorn tree, standing high above all other trees and magicants across the lands. In its region, House Ledeol were well-respected for their powers and riches. However, about three-hundred years ago- a rogue wizard managed to do grave damage to the Mallorn tree, greatly incapacitating the guardian dryad and warping her mind. Thereafter, the essence given by the dryad was said to be 'tainted' much as heartstone magic extracted from evil monsters is 'tainted.' The house of Ledeol, however, because of its strong personality, resisted the calls of evil- but at great cost. The Duke, Nathaniel Georg Leodel VIII, gathering an assembly of family-members and notables, razed the tree and slaughetered the dryad, unleashing a curse upon his family and its line. Nathaniel hoarded the <i>essence-pieces</i> and went in search of another magicant- traveling into the steppelands with a small contingent, accompanied by his son Georg. When Georg returned, he had twice as much essence as Nathaniel had left with, but would not say where he had achieved it. He rebuilt a family manor and established a trade route to the steppelands that was well-protected by vital family interests. Rogues who have tracked the family interests to the steppelands claim that the trail disappears near barbarian territories and that many of the family's caravans have been destroyed. None have discovered the source of the family's magicant, and though many members have been slaughtered- none have divulged the secret. It is almost as though some sort of mental bloc has been imposed on their minds, and that they have some magical force watching over them... or some deadly allies. Rumors abound as to the source behind the power of the Ledeol's, but none are confirmed. Demons, Drow, Duregar, Illithids (OR THIS WORLDS EQUIVALENT SINCE I NOTE THAT YOU DONT WANT TO USE THEM- SOME SORT OF PSI-BEAST, THOUGH), they all could be associated with the house. Some also argue that Nathaniel sold his soul when he destroyed the dryad, inviting devils back to the land. Others, more approving of the family, merely attribuite the family's secretiveness to a well-regarded trade secret. This belief is mostly upheld in social circles since the family continues to be well-regarded, though it has yet to approach the power it once held, and continues to participate in civic duties- contribuiting gold to orphanages, patronizing artists and generally assisting in economic development. As for the curse, it has been well-documented that none of the Dukes' significant others have ever survived a childbirth- and that each generation of children grows increasingly more reclusive and deformed. The current Duke- Georg Whitecastle Ledeol IV (Wiz 6, Nob 4), wears an eyepatch and has a twisted, shriveled arm in addition to a bulbous leg that swells to twice its size in warm weather.
Light Dragon 12-15-04, 02:30 PM	...That was my attempt to contribuite something to this amazing project ;) I hope it's appropriate. -ld
His Majesty 12-15-04, 03:59 PM	I like it - we need creepy houses. They're cool. However, there are several flaws: First of all, the personality section is a bit dull. I think that you should add some more info about what they do, what they produce, etc. Secondly, Heartstones were only discovered less than 100 years ago - so the house couldn't have been known for its Heartstone extracters. And third, the population of Lede is composed almost entirely of Dwarves. So an ancient human house there would be very inappropriate. I'd suggest moving it to some other fringe country - Zoltar is an obvious candidate, but Anku, Marshalle, Wanford and Jarlheim would be just as good. A very interesting decision would be to place it in Garland or another heavily-populated country in the middle of the Renaissance. And Corsom is so big that anything will fit in there, of course. Oh, and though it's pretty minor.. Essence baths can't cure anything. If anything, they can hurt you. Don't get me wrong, now - I like it, your work is welcome, stay and write - I'm just pointing out things that you've missed because you haven't read the whole thread several times. That's okay. We don't need everybody to be committed to this with all their heart. rereading things is quite boring. I feel really bad for criticizing other people's work without being productive myself. I'll do my best to write a couple of things next week. Edit: Oops! Another thing - Orthodox Pantheism is basically worshipped only by the elves and gnomes. So you should change that, unless you're moving the house to a gnome-oriented place like Jarlheim. I think that the Church of the Pantheon would be good otherwise - it's traditional and "old world" in flavor.
Light Dragon 12-15-04, 04:32 PM	Thank you for your feedback. I certainly changed it a lot- from being an adventuring house cursed and now mostly destroyed- I changed it more to mysterious and secretive... while at the same time being socially involved. I enjoyed my original concept more- but it just won't work in this realm. I like it - we need creepy houses. They're cool. However, there are several flaws: First of all, the personality section is a bit dull. I think that you should add some more info about what they do, what they produce, etc. Added some things. Secondly, Heartstones were only discovered less than 100 years ago - so the house couldn't have been known for its Heartstone extracters. I have no idea how I missed that. I noticed this was the "Heartstone Renaissance" but never made the connection. And third, the population of Lede is composed almost entirely of Dwarves. So an ancient human house there would be very inappropriate. I'd suggest moving it to some other fringe country - Zoltar is an obvious candidate, but Anku, Marshalle, Wanford and Jarlheim would be just as good. A very interesting decision would be to place it in Garland or another heavily-populated country in the middle of the Renaissance. And Corsom is so big that anything will fit in there, of course. oops. fixed. Oh, and though it's pretty minor.. Essence baths can't cure anything. If anything, they can hurt you. Well, I knew they could improve wisdom... So that's what I was trying to imply with the "retarded" member of the family seeking treatment. His main problem wsa his terrible ability scores. Edit: Oops! Another thing - Orthodox Pantheism is basically worshipped only by the elves and gnomes. So you should change that, unless you're moving the house to a gnome-oriented place like Jarlheim. I think that the Church of the Pantheon would be good otherwise - it's traditional and "old world" in flavor.[/QUOTE] Fixed that too. Hope the new writeup is better! :D --- One question though- were the only magic casters in the past- Clerics? were there no Wizards utnil Heartstones were discovered? And would that effect my tale at all?
Sourcemaster2 12-15-04, 11:24 PM	There were wizards in the time of the Giants, but they were more or less restricted in that their magic was unusable away from a Magicant. A few wizardly organizations can be found in the thread, as well as a detailed history of magic. Whether that has any big effect on your house is up to you, provided you stay within the set storyline.
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:07 PM	I think that it will still work, Sourcemaster, thank you for your comments- now I know how to better create stuff in the future, assuming that 77IM is all right with it... Players can assume that the wizards protect the trade routes at the origin- where the new Mallorn tree is- and the insane wizard only acted because he was near the old Mallorn. DM's can either make the house evil, good, or gray- for example: the house may be a good pillar of the community- but Georg might be jealous of people whose families have had an easier time of it and those who aren't deformed- he may also be bitter about lost love, etc. Or the worst case scenario, give or take, might be true and they might be working in league with demons. Personally, I would use the good or gray examples, since the good one would completely trick the characters- and could provide a good adventure to rid them of teh curse... and the gray one could do perhaps even more- Georg might do bad things, but he isn't evil... ;) How about that?
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:21 PM	Hmm.. 77IM's first post gave me an idea... Halfling Fortune-Tellers The small people. Yes. Those small people. Well known for pick-pocketing, gambling, and generally relieving people of their hard earned coins. Well, they've got another trick up their sleeves. It has been long rumored, ever since the great halfling hero Nåumenor Halfstaff defeated the Great Sphinx and her terrible riddle that halflings have the ability to view snippets of the future. Indeed, when Nåumenor predicted that a bird would fly by the Great Sphinx at the exact instant that it did AND solved the riddle of the ages- that is the riddle stating: "If I walked on one leg in the morning and no legs in midday and then one leg in the evening, what would I be", answering it as 'a sleeping sphinx buried in the sand,' he instantly immoralized himself and halfling-kind. In addition, Halflings have also been well-known for their seers- always ready to read people's fortunes through a casting of the grains into their mouths (depending on the tastes- 'bitter', 'sweet', or 'sour' different things are interpreted... for example: bitter - Bad days are ahead, terrible things will happen. sweet - Dreams may come true. Chance meetings may occur sour - Your life may turn for the worse, or it may alterantively be very boring hot - Something may 'burn' you so to speak and make your life much mroe difficult spicy - Something is about to change your life drastically Therefore, people have always been willing to head toward a halfling fortune-teller's hut: usually a five foot by fifteen foot yurtlike thing whose floor is dug into the dirt around and which has a oaken table and grains spread upon it. Once the applicant has entered, they pay (of course) and then choose seven grains... one for each day of the week. Depending on how long each taste lingers, the halfling then interprets (after petitioning the gods of course) how long each action will take to fulfill itself. The usual cost for such exertions ranges from twenty five to fifty gp (at a good shop)... though charlatans have been known to charge as little as five (street hucksters) or as much as five-thousand (for paranoid monarchs). Personally, I myself, as the author of this guide would recommend that you do not travel to such houses of (questionable) repute, for halflings are notorious liars, and not all are licensed by a registered guild house... Although, of course in the highly civilized principalities of Renflour there has been a growing movement to 'guild-ize' and create a new licensing system to weed out the incompetents. From: Guide to The Known World... by the Reknowned Sage, Severus Alexanderus Sixtus
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:32 PM	Swedish Viking Just wondering perchance, any chance you'll finish this character sketch? I'd be interested to hear a bit more about his history and maybe his stats, etc... The flavour text is very... shall we say- 'flavourful ;)' http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=4634625&postcount=301 Regards, -LightDragon
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:34 PM	77IM Your guide to adventuring hooks here: http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=4653697&postcount=304 is right on! ;) great idea- maybe you could have it set as its own topic in the Campaign Boards section. It might serve to increase traffic again somewhat- for some reason traffic has been dying down a bit. Then again, I don't blame people- even I'm guilty of not givign enough feedback or having enough time to read everything that everyone has written.
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:40 PM	77IM Another comment again, this time sadly not a positive one however, and a question. The question first- is how often do you actually memorize an authors systems for naming years, months, days, etc. That is, do you actually have Tolkein's cosmological naming system memorized? And if so, do you also have the Forgotten Realms' system figured out? Then the comment: I don't really think that it's a good idea to spend too much time detailing attribuites about something that doesn't really contribute to the actual game playing itself... that is, the lunar attributes and time schedules and naming for them. While teh holidays detailed in post 305 are intriguing enough, the lunar attributes and the cycles detailed in that post and later ones tend to be just tedious. And while a DM may enjoy them, I doubt that the players will really care about the naming and writing down of them. Another question: how many forgotten realms characters actually track months by the games system. That being said- thankfully you at least used a logical progression of days and months, I can sort of convert them into the day and monthly cycle taht actually exists and taht means taht myself and others are more likely to be able to focus on them and actually use them!... but once again, please don't spend so much time on astrological data and Lunar Attributes and things, because at least I myself find it tedious and dull, and I'm assuming that others do as well- it takes a great deal of time commitment to memorize that.
Light Dragon 12-22-04, 09:46 PM	77IM On another angle- just wondering, what exactly is the todo list en total for the game, (so that you can get your pdf finished) -Vampires? -Dragons? -Minor Nations fleshed out? -Minor Houses fleshed out? -Some leading NPCs? -Some extra feats? anything else? or is my list incorrect?
NecromancerElf 12-24-04, 03:30 PM	I really like all of what you have done with this and i plan to use some of it in my own campaign setting Enenia and keep up the good work :cheer:
The Swedish Viking 12-29-04, 04:27 PM	and a :bump:
Light Dragon 12-30-04, 12:20 AM	Well, that's all very well and good SwedishViking, but perhchance can you answer my question posited a few posts above? thank you!
77IM 12-30-04, 03:10 PM	77IM Another comment again, this time sadly not a positive one however, and a question. The question first- is how often do you actually memorize an authors systems for naming years, months, days, etc. That is, do you actually have Tolkein's cosmological naming system memorized? And if so, do you also have the Forgotten Realms' system figured out? Then the comment: I don't really think that it's a good idea to spend too much time detailing attribuites about something that doesn't really contribute to the actual game playing itself... that is, the lunar attributes and time schedules and naming for them. While teh holidays detailed in post 305 are intriguing enough, the lunar attributes and the cycles detailed in that post and later ones tend to be just tedious. And while a DM may enjoy them, I doubt that the players will really care about the naming and writing down of them. Another question: how many forgotten realms characters actually track months by the games system. That being said- thankfully you at least used a logical progression of days and months, I can sort of convert them into the day and monthly cycle taht actually exists and taht means taht myself and others are more likely to be able to focus on them and actually use them!... but once again, please don't spend so much time on astrological data and Lunar Attributes and things, because at least I myself find it tedious and dull, and I'm assuming that others do as well- it takes a great deal of time commitment to memorize that. To answer your first question: I am actually a player in an FR campaign, and nobody knows the names of the days of the week or months or even cares. All we know is that in the Realms a week is 10 days instead of 7, and that there are festivals, which we pay attention to only when it suits the plot of the campaign (e.g., "Your mission is to guard the princess while she attends the festival of Shieldmeet"). As for your comment: I agree. I've deliberately tried to avoid detailing things that are not going to be useful in actual game play. You may notice that I've posted very little history, mythology, and random cultural tidbits because all too often they have little bearing on actual gameplay and can seem daunting to new players. You say, "I don't really think that it's a good idea to spend too much time detailing attribuites about something that doesn't really contribute to the actual game playing itself." I ask, "Have we spent too much time on such details?" I think if anything we have been fairly ruthless at pushing past such concerns and focussing on information is helpful to D&D players. At least, that is my intention, and I'm glad to have collaborators willing to help keep things on track. On the other hand, this sort of "useless" information can provide a lot of flavor and personality to the world, even if people forget it after reading it. The idea of a moon that rotates and revolves at different rates, to produce different "faces" instead of the one constant face that we are used to, is terribly clever and woefully underutilized in fantasy. I also wrote the lunar attributions for purely selfish reasons: I think a lot of homebrewers like to make up histories and cosmologies and pantheons not because it's useful, but because it's tons of fun. I had a blast thinking up the lunar faces and their astrological signifigance even though I knew it wasn't the most helpful of material. It's important to have fun when creating a world, because a lot of the creative process is really hard work and it's so easy to focus on accomplishing something and then get "burned out" working on stuff that isn't really all that much fun to write. -- 77IM
Light Dragon 12-30-04, 08:47 PM	As for your comment: I agree. I've deliberately tried to avoid detailing things that are not going to be useful in actual game play. You may notice that I've posted very little history, mythology, and random cultural tidbits because all too often they have little bearing on actual gameplay and can seem daunting to new players. Indeed, I've noticed that, and you've been doing a very good job at it, I must say. Personally, I enjoy history and mythology, but that's because as an author and DM I enjoy crafting it myself... and taking what others have written and twisting it to my designs. Frankly, I could sit and read the entire Forgotten Realms campaign setting or this as pleasure reading, if I had the time! ;) because both certainly are quality. You say, "I don't really think that it's a good idea to spend too much time detailing attribuites about something that doesn't really contribute to the actual game playing itself." I ask, "Have we spent too much time on such details?" I think if anything we have been fairly ruthless at pushing past such concerns and focussing on information is helpful to D&D players. At least, that is my intention, and I'm glad to have collaborators willing to help keep things on track. Well, indeed, you haven't spent too much time- but I was worried that you might come to do so. You appeared to be heading that direction with your most recent posts. On the other hand, this sort of "useless" information can provide a lot of flavor and personality to the world, even if people forget it after reading it. The idea of a moon that rotates and revolves at different rates, to produce different "faces" instead of the one constant face that we are used to, is terribly clever and woefully underutilized in fantasy. I also wrote the lunar attributions for purely selfish reasons: I think a lot of homebrewers like to make up histories and cosmologies and pantheons not because it's useful, but because it's tons of fun. I had a blast thinking up the lunar faces and their astrological signifigance even though I knew it wasn't the most helpful of material. It's important to have fun when creating a world, because a lot of the creative process is really hard work and it's so easy to focus on accomplishing something and then get "burned out" working on stuff that isn't really all that much fun to write. Well, of course, having fun is most of the battle for the creator. I was just making certain that you didn't have any illusions about what most of the board would probably think about the cycles. (Not that I claim to speak for everyone, but frankly- most people don't post who read things and each person who actually does post truly represents about 5-10 people's nascent opinions. And thus, if I'm wrong, I truly hope that someone points it out to me.)
His Majesty 12-31-04, 07:05 AM	Okay, this is the second time I'm writing this, since it got deleted before. First, I was going to say approximately what 77IM said, and that I actually think that we should add more of these generally useless, but fun, details. Next, Leodeol. Mallorns were used somewhat incorrectly in your article. You see, since druids are nowadays considered demon-worshiping heretics, everything related to them is somewhat resented by the society. That means that many people would consider anybody that possesses a mallorn a sinner. Additionally, nowadays most Essence is collected in large and darkened halls, without the use of mallorns. This way is probably more efficient, and also you get pure essence instead of mallorn acorns. There's almost no market for acorns outside of Erindu, and it isn't legal to consort with druids in most of the northern lands. If they were using mallorns for such a long time, any relationship they had with the Church of the Pantheon or other very religious people would be very problematic. What are Essence-pieces? "Thereafter, the essence given by the dryad was said to be 'tainted' much as heartstone magic extracted from evil monsters is 'tainted.'" - Although there are rumors about "tainted Heartstones", at least most Heartstones taken from demons are not tainted. Commoners or ignorant people might believe that they are, but they're wrong (as far as the ~100 years of Heartstone usage can tell us). A Magicant isn't destroyed when the mallorn above it is destroyed. If the people who try to extricate it from the earth later aren't cautious enough, it might go dark, but it will still be complete and will, as far as anyone knows, start working again after some time - up to a couple of centuries. "Rumors abound as to the source behind the power of the Ledeol's, but none are confirmed. Demons, Drow, Duregar, Illithids (OR THIS WORLDS EQUIVALENT SINCE I NOTE THAT YOU DONT WANT TO USE THEM- SOME SORT OF PSI-BEAST, THOUGH)" - Illithids are not in the OGL, so we can't use them. I think that 77IM plans not to use the evil subraces, and subraces generally, in tMtH. What do you have to say about that, 77IM? Anyway, I think that you could blame hags, witches, druids, or fey creatures. And finally, about your question regarding casters in the past - untilthe discovery of Hearstones there were only druids, sorcerers, bards, and the occasional cleric (although they were very rare - or perhaps even inexistant - (which is true, 77IM?) before Jordana).
The Swedish Viking 12-31-04, 03:34 PM	Well, and another question... What are our stance on fey and demons? Fey and demons will likely have -some- impact on the game world - at least demons will. A CS ainīt a CS with the good olī big bad evil demonlord sitting on his throne and cackling maniacally - or his equivalent doing something else. :P To answer an earlier question - Iīll do that NPC whenever I feel like writing something entirely nothing-to-do-with-generalism. :)
His Majesty 12-31-04, 03:49 PM	Hmmm. Although there's no proper article about demons, I think that 77IM's stance is pretty clear. They're much more twisted than the ordinary D&D demons - more cthulhu-esque. And they're really eeevil. No reformed demons. They never serve in campaigns/history as stereotypical evil enemies - they should be a tool for evil people instead. They're recently becoming more popular, partially because magic is becoming a free-for-all profession, but probably because of some other unknown reasons, too. Or was something there wrong? It's all from memory. As for fey, there's that small thing about the Wyrwood, but no specific details. Is that open for suggestions, like the vampires discussion?
The Swedish Viking 01-09-05, 10:49 AM	:bump:
Light Dragon 01-09-05, 04:40 PM	Thanks for correcting me, His Majesty. I appreciate it. I don't quite see how I can fix it again though... I will think about it.
77IM 01-11-05, 12:34 AM	I actually like the idea of Anku as a place where people who claim to follow the Church can get along just fine with dryads. It adds to the weirdness of this remote area, and also creates a rift within the Church as the clergy periodically contemplates getting those wacky Ankuans(?) to abandon their possibly-heretical ways. I'm sorry I've been so quiet on this thread lately. I have been busy in my personal life and have been too heavily distracted to come up with anything good. (What I should really do is round up a play group and put the setting into action, but that is even more time-intensive...) You guys keep up the good work here and I will contribute something as soon as I get a decent block of time. -- 77IM, needs to try out his speech-to-text plugin, maybe it would make writing stuff go quicker
The Swedish Viking 01-12-05, 05:29 PM	Erikk Blothyxur Male chaotic neutral human fighter 4/rogue 4/barbarian 1 Aye, Erikk be one of the greatest chieftains ever to come outta Jarlheim, dont let those traiterous Norrens say otherwise, ye hear? I think heīs actually the first of the Kings that the Thanes are singing of before his death, and that is no small feat! Erikk "Blothyxur (Bloodaxe)" Tursedraupir (Giantslayer) grew up as the son of Harold Thorfinnsson Tursedraupir, of the Tursedraupir family. In ancient past, two giants escaping conflict in the southwest had ruled some central Jarlheim villages with an iron fist. The greatfather of this bloodline, Hjelm Tursedraupir, slew the giants with his sword Garmsöye (Wolfeye), said to have been passed down unto him by the Deities themselves. Erikk Haroldsson Tursedraupir was fascinated by the deeds of his greatfather, as the tales of the many other Jarlheim warlords, kings, chieftains and rulers. He grew up in his father Haroldīs village, a peaceful hamlet of about 200 people. He went on his first raid together with his father when he was but fifteen years old, but already proficient with the sword and bow. He quickly learnt the tactics of longship warfare, sailing upriver into the mainland or sailing the high seas to attack far into Chirmont or even as far as Highcaster. His father had gathered a small host of men and with their four ships they raided far and wide, and were some of the most renown raiders of the western seas. Change came when Haroldīs sworn enemy, Trygg Olavsson Seawolf married the daughter of the aging High King Sven in southern Jarlheim. Trygg seized his power by eliminating his enemies, and Erikk was slain by fighters emerging when he was out hunting with some soldiers. One of the troops got back to the hamlet where Erikk lived, and warned Haroldīs family. Gathering the heirlooms, along with the sword Wolfseye, Erikk - now head of the bloodline - set out with four of his fatherīs three ships (the fourth having been burnt by Tryggīs forces) unto the sea. They sailed to the west where a fabled land of fey was said to be found. Indeed, they found an island, though too small to be the fabled land it was bountiful compared to Jarlheim and a perfect base for them to establish a new community. Some years passed, and those who opposed the Olovsson-Seawolf line coming to power in Jarlheim flocked under Erikks banner, and soon he could declare the Island home to the realm of Drakurtand, Dragonstooth. With his base close to northern Chirmont and within distance of Wanford and Marshalle, he struck down towards Chirmont and other northwestern realms. Erikk immediately saw the military potential of the Magicele Liberation Army and joined his forces with them for a yearly fee of 750,000 gold pieces as well as aid to destroy the High King Grip Tryggvason-Seawolf. Since then, Erikk has been carrying out raids deep into Chirmont with a vast fleet of Jarlheim longboats, numbering the hundreds - once even breaking into the capitol of Chirmont itself and robbing the great Cathedral of relics. Erikk has his mind set on revenge, however, and is plotting now to use the Magicele Liberation Army to gain control of Jarlheim - as well as territories further south.
The Swedish Viking 01-18-05, 06:48 PM	Hall of Ever There is a tale told by the bards of Highcaster and Jarlheim and by the dwarven Thules and Thanes and by elven Songspinners and written in Loremasters books. It is of the place where those who die in glory, fame, infamy or great dishonor go after they are dead... The Hall of Ever is a mythical place, lorists have tracke its first appearance in myth to the time when giants began to master the arcane arts. As the name implies and the story goes, the halls have and will always be. The Hall of Ever is a strange place. According to myth, this place is where those who die in great fame and heroism or in villainy and dishonor go after their deaths, awaiting what fate has in store for them. The Hall of Ever, they say, is the place where these great men and women sleep and feast and plot and scheme. The Hall of Ever is said to be carved out of diamond and the gates to its entrance be of solid gold, guarded by angels and strange entities from the void beyond death (a concept derived from giant lore). It is here where those who are destined to be reborn unto the world to do great fame await their next life, where those destined for the greatest heavens or deepest pits of hell await their judgement, and it is here they await until they can prove thier worth. Seldom do new faces arrive here, as these heroes and villains are the stuff of legends, and seldom do old faces depart for other destinations. Gerim the Gory and Alawain the Courageous are examples of the personalities to be found within the hallowed halls of Ever. For here, no hostilities occur between good and evil, it is a neutral ground and resting place between those great conflicts that tear the great world.
The Swedish Viking 01-19-05, 10:57 AM	Alright. Lets see here if I can make a "renaissance" evil cult. Yes, I know you dont like them, but thereīs BOUND to be one or two of them out there. And thereīs BOUND to be one or two silly demons who decide to get a share of the Material plane. Darkness Unfolding This section will cover the area of demonic summonings and dark cabals and brotherhoods, witchcraft and dark sorcery and demonic powers, and evil priests who serve the dark Lords False Orders This section will cover orders of the Church who have been twisted, turned, extorted, or somehow beguiled into serving demonic masters - knowing or unknowing. "And amongst the Servants are many different orders. Their ranks are made up of devout men (and sometimes, even women) who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Deities. The Shining Monks serve by collecting knowledge and scriptures, and the sisters of the Blossom Monastery gather herbological lore and are renown for being good healers. However, amongst all the Servants, there are some who have been Twisted. Some have been Turned. Some have been lured to see falsehood, and some have sold their souls to evil for greater power. Some have been extorted, and some have been subdued through threats. These dark Servants threaten our Church from within, and we must be ever vigilant." - Scriptum Defendis Witchcraft and Dark Weaving This area will cover witchcraft, dark weaving, evil magicians who summon dark powers and make evil pacts with demonic entities to gain power. "Many twisted men and women seek the power of magic. The wizards who use Heartstones for their strange and vile experiments, and the demonic sorcerers who use powers fed to them by demonic powers to twist the world. But these are the most common threats. Witches, and Dark Weavers, are ever more dangerous. Those who sell their souls for power and who barter directly with the fiendish servants of the demonic lords. These are those that must be burnt - the heretic, the evil, the dark and twisted who would lead our brethren astray." - Scriptum Defendis Magocratic Cults This section will cover the "evil cult of mages". A rather cliché notion, it still is viable in this setting. Mages and mageling cults who summon and deal with demons, demonic powers and evil energies are included in this section. "Amongst the vile Heartstone-wielders and those dark Sorcerers who have been bestowed with demon-powers, the most dangerous are those who actively pursue the role the dark powers have chosen for them. Many of these magi believe they are pursuing a path of good and glory when they are using the evil energies - and thus do not commit many real and dark acts before they are caught and burnt. However, some magi realise the dark potential within their demonic energies - and wield them." - Scriptum Defendis The Twisted This section covers those of "non-religious" and "non-magical" training or profession who follow demonic powers and do their bidding, or attempt to twist these powers to follow their own will. "These are brethren and Servants, poor fools, led astray by the lure of power or self-gratification. Those who did not heed the words of the preachers and priests and instead thought they could use the demonic for their own gain; those who would join the demons for a share of the plunder and those who seek vengeance upon all light for some immagined injustice. These we must seek to turn back unto the Light and back to the glory of the Deities. If we fail, these twisted men and women are dangerous spies and agents of the dark entities of the void." - Scriptum Defendis (( Introduction-section finished ))
The Swedish Viking 01-21-05, 05:00 AM	Contacting Dark Entities "One should never even consider the vile act of contacting the dark entities. Whether for selfish or unselfish purposes, light or dark, good or evil, these twisted beings will always require tremendous price and sacrifice, and often turn you onto your own ends." - Scriptum Defendis Sacrifice The first, and most common method of contacting a dark entity, is through a sacrificial offering. The offering is meant to draw the attention and ear of the entity being contacted, as well as aligning him benevolently towards the contacter. The sacrifice can take the nature of money, treasure, living creatures, things that the entity to be contacted might consider nourishment, and such. Living creatures are also common. Good and pure creatures are very common (for reasons explained later) as a lure for the demon. The rituals Magical Rituals & Spells Magical rituals and summoning-spells are also a common method - powerful sorcerers and wizards using Gate or Planar Ally/Binding spells to bring entities to their planes. Gate-spells work as normal in the spell-description. Once summoned or contacted, such entities can be contracted to the caster of the spells by sacrifices and bartering (as above), though no rituals or such is required to draw the attention of the entity. Other methods Usage of scrolls and long-forgotten unholy texts, the flow of magic as well as movement of celestial bodies sometimes weaken the weave separating the worlds and allow demoniacs and dark priests to communicate with demons and, during special circumstances, for the demons to enter the Material Plane. GP and XP costs and material components Each time one these spells are cast, or rituals performed, preparation of some length and quantity is required. Mental preparation, as well as usage of proper material components will be required. Sacrifices & Other methods The DM determines the specific sacrifices and requirements to contact the entity in question. As a rule of thumb, rituals taking at least one day per HD of demon to be called (only demons of 8 HD or more are powerful enough to answer such a calling) must be performed. Exactly what these rituals pertain is determined by the DM depending on the type of Demon and its background. One can generally assume that good or neutral creatures of a total of 1/2 the HD of the demon to be contacted are used to draw the attention of the demon - that, or material components to a value of 1 gp per XP of the same amount of HD (use the XP-per-level-table in the PHB to determine the XP of a certain level and then use the same value in GP). Spells Not performing special ritualistic preparations before casting one of the spells (mentioned in "Magical Rituals and Spells") effectively lowers your Caster Level and all numerical bases of your Level by 2. Performing rituals take time and includes materials as per the section above. For each day of preparation beyond the 8th, your Caster Level and all numerical factors dependant on level increases by 1. In addition, the GP and sacrifices undertaken during this time count towards the payment rendered for the services of the entity (in case of usage of the Gate spell). Bartering with Dark Entities "Bartering with the Lords of the Night is a very dangerous task. For allthough the power one might be bestowed from a bargain or deal struck with these demons, it is often a task few undertake lightly. A demon can rip an Offerers soul and devour it, and it is often so that the Offerer is under some influence of the demon during the act of bartering. The nature of this influence is yet to be established..." - Scriptum Noctum Deals Dealing with dark entities is a tricky business. The motives of the entitiy contacted is often the predominant factor in negotiations. Most demons can tackle most wishes of most mortals - but not many mortals can tackle the wishes of an ambitious demon. Demons never give anything for free. However, sometimes it is enough to perform the rituals required to summon the demon as "payment" (see above). This would be the case in strict combat-aid, transportation, guarding, and similar services. Information, connections with deities, quests, and special favors often take more as they are more risky for the demonic entity to undertake. Exchange of "Wares" Often, demons ask for souls of innocents or creatures. This can take whatever form the DM deems necessary. However, certain "wares" are often higher currency in the demonic world: * Innocent maidens/youngsters - pure and untainted souls are prime currency with demons, making good servants when tainted and corrupted - powerful servants. Demons delight much in seeing light turned dark. * Influential persons/creatures - Maybe enemies of the demon, or ideological opponents, or hostages, or influential persons the demon can corrupt to enforce its agenda. * Magic items - Magic items are always good for barter, as these are used to equip the demonic armies and overlords, and forward the demonic agenda, and undertake tremendously powerful rituals. The magic stored in a magic item is a powerful focus for channelling energies - stolen, pure or whatnot - by the demons. * Magicants and Heartstones - A Magicant in Demon hands could possibly open a rift to the Demonic planes for a short time, allowing many demons to come through and manifest physically on the Material Plane. Dark Arcana "The foolish priests and those mages who throw our ways into the mud fear the Dark Arcana greater than any other sorcery. The Dark Arcana bestowed to us by the knowledge they despice is such that we can rule nations, worlds, the minds of lesser men without resorting to the tedious struggles of will nor the petty feuding of lesser mages. Our arcana is the True Arcana, not the arcana of falsehoods told to the masses that it is." - Scriptum Noctum Origins of Dark Arcana Dark Arcana does not, unlike normal arcane magic, originate solely from heartstones or magicants or similar sources. Dark Arcana comes from one of the ancient sources of the energies now known as Dark Arcana. Dark Arcana is a refinement of one of the darkest and vilest energies and components making up the essence of the Magicants and spells. Dark Arcana is demonic magic, a magic not wielded by mortals or deities - but by demons and devils alone. This magic is ancient and more potent, but it is also cursed and tainted with the evils of demonkind - their wishes, their goals. Dark Arcana is not self-sufficient, either. It is an energy stolen from the souls, hearts, actions of living beings. It is the magic of Evil itself. Gaining power Dark favour Favour in the eyes of the entities a character serves is for sake of ease for the DM and player counted in "favor points" - the more points, the higher in favor in the eyes of the entity the character is. This is of course referred to as something else entirely "in-character" - for example as "demonic favor". These "points" can be used to gain new abilities and spells (see below). (( To be finished ))
The Swedish Viking 01-23-05, 03:06 PM	Where the :censored: is everybody?!
The Swedish Viking 02-05-05, 07:02 PM	Updated a bit. Bumping thread too. Will post more info on demons and stuff as I think it up. But where is everybody, really?
keyunp 02-26-05, 10:37 PM	Please don't let this die. :eek: I love the setting.
General Felire 02-27-05, 04:15 AM	I have been following this page for ages, and all I can say is that it is one of the best and most well-written out there. I was wondering if I you could send me the file. It would awesome to be able to have a copy just in case the site gets hit by a meterioite or something. arcturusfelire@yahoo.com Also, did you guys ever completely decide on what you are doing for vampires. Cause the concept of a vampire who instead of drinking blood gets sustenance through sex (it was mentioned) is interesting. Keep up the work, for (as the last poster said) this is too good for it to be made invisible and thus disapear.
Ayers 02-27-05, 12:01 PM	I have yet to post on this thread; so I thought I'd come by and offer my congratulations of developing such an amazing and in-depth world. !!!CONGRATULATIONS!!! :D :bow: :ayyyy!: :drool: :surrender But really; where is everybody? :waits:
Jodjod 02-27-05, 12:03 PM	I think I'll do much the same as Ayers and say that A) it's a amazingly deatiled setting and B) I want to see some (more?) adventure modules for it.
Araciss 02-27-05, 01:11 PM	It’s a shame that I haven’t replied to this thread yet (and I almost feel that I have to apologize to thee, folks, for not doing so earlier). The determination and devotion that you folks have shown working with this setting is breath-taking, really. And so is the world itself. So, keep up yer work!
The Swedish Viking 03-03-05, 08:38 AM	(mutters something sleepily, uninterpretably)
77IM 03-05-05, 02:06 PM	Sorry I've been absent so long. Real Life has once again intruded upon an otherwise perfectly good fantasy activity, and I don't have much time for homebrew stuff, although I do squeeze it in when I have the chance. Swedish Viking thank you for keeping the thread going! Dude, you are a meataxe! I like your approach to demonic cults; they are integrated with the social order, rather than just being "DM's campy villain of the week." Keep it up! Here is a bit I concocted patterned after Eberron's "Ten Things You Should Know." It's to help people who are used to generic D&D settings (like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk or Bob's Generic Homebrew #437), by quickly pointing out the main differences between this world and the standard D&D assumptions. It's to help people who want to run games in the world and need to quickly explain it to potential players. (Hint, hint.) 10 Things You Need To Know This is a fantasy campaign setting, and it contains most of the traditional game elements that we all know and love. However, it is also unique in many ways. This section highlights those differences, by listing ten things that people familiar with other settings should keep in mind when using this one. 1. Renaissance time period The setting resembles the Renaissance more than the middle ages. Although there are still plenty of knights in shining armor around, dashing gents with rapiers are more common. The economy is becoming more mercantile, and governments are becoming more centralized and less feudal. Religious devotion and military conquest are taking a back seat to more progressive pursuits, such as exploration, magical research, higher education, and the arts. 2. Magic is a resource Casting spells requires a magical fuel called essence. The production and distribution of essence, as well as the right and ability to cast spells, has shaped society throughout the ages and continues to be a driving factor it modern times. Essence is produced in limited quantities, emitted from giant, immobile crystals called magicants. The noble families own the magicants, and use the essence produced as currency more valuable than gold. Spell casting characters will need to buy essence regularly to power their abilities. 3. Powerful centralized Church Clerics gain spellcasting ability by ingesting essence during their daily prayers, after which they receive visions from the gods, granting them spells. For centuries, the Church of the Pantheon has united most clerics under a single doctrine, worshipping all the gods equally. The Church weilds enormous political power as both spiritual leaders and the only source of spell casting, having oppressed the half-human sorcerers and the druidic religion of the Old Ways. 4. Wizard spell casting is a recent discovery A newly developed technology is upsetting the old balance of power: heartstones. A hearstone is a small crystal that can be extracted from a dead magical creature, retaining some of that creature's power. It can then be used as a focus for casting arcane spells: wizard spells. Wizards are those who learn to use this new technology, driving social progress and threatening the Church's monopoly on spell casting. 5. Monsters are rare and getting rarer Magical creatures are being hunted for their heartstones, some driven to the brink of extinction. Armed with new weapons, a growing population, and increasing philosophical differences, humanity is expanding and driving its old foes further from civilized lands. 6. Magic is weak, but widespread and important High-level spell casters, powerful magical monsters, and potent magic items are very rare. However, low-level spell casters, domesticated magical creatures, and minor magic items are common. Magic is the ultimate technology, and its application -- intelligent use of low-level spells -- is a major focus of the setting and the people in it. 7. Player characters are major figures Characters with class levels are rare; the most powerful NPCs in the world are around level 10-12. This means that player characters, as they advance, will quickly become some of the strongest and most influential people in the land. In a world so full of political maneuvering, this can be a blessing or a curse. 8. Alignment restrictions are removed Alignment still exists, and spells and magical effects based on alignment function normally. However, all class alignment restrictions are removed, as are most racial alignment tendencies. This setting puts more emphasis on shades of grey and shifting alliances than on moral absolutes or the cosmic battle of good and evil. 9. Altered racial roles All of the player races are part of a larger society, but each has its own role in that society. Elves are typically nobles, gnomes are usually farmers or rural folk, and halflings are nationless wanderers. Dwarves are often wizards, and are on the forefront of magical research. Half-orcs are often nobles; the orc race, now extinct, is regarded as couragous, not wicked. Goblins are a common PC race; they are militaristic in nature, not the ugly, filthy wretches described in the MM. 10. Altered class roles As mentioned, wizards are a new phenomenon, not an ancient tradition. A new core class, the elite, is a "light fighter" who typifies modern swashbuckling combat and is more common than the normal fighter class. Monks do not exist, but scions (nobles infused with essence) use the class rules for the monk. Other classes have some minor changes, but basically follow the roles outlined in the PHB. House Rules The setting also includes a number of house rules -- original feats, modified skills, new equipment, and a host of unique prestige classes -- but none are as essential as the campaign world elements outlined above. -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 03-10-05, 09:00 AM	Ah, finally something new. Iīll be posting new info when I get back from town in some hours then. :)
The Swedish Viking 03-10-05, 12:39 PM	Section on contacting dark entities finished (changes might occur later though). Next step: Bartering with Dark Entities, Occurance of Dark Entities: Common vs Rare as well as Unique Entities.
The Swedish Viking 03-11-05, 02:13 PM	Occurance of Dark Entities: Common vs Rare "The holy texts speak of places where demons roam in armies, hordes of many-limbed raving monstrosities and sophisticated dark, cunning entities plotting and scheming to overtake the world. Thankfully, few of these raving darklings are powerful or strange enough to break through the barrier that protects us - aided or unaided." - Scriptum Defendis Whereas, in generic D&D worlds and campaigns, demons tend to be reather generic and common - this is (usually) not the fact with demons in this setting. The Weave The Weave is the barrier separating the different planes. It is a strange barrier that protects and preserves the Material Plane and its borders. Demons and other malevolent entities would like nothing better than to see it torn down and destroyed, allowing them to send their armies and devastating powers unto the Material Plane at will. In addition to separating the worlds, the weave makes it nigh impossible for the weakest demons and devils to hearken to the calls and summons of spellcasters and magi on the Material Plane. Due to the Weave separating the worlds, only demons with 6 HD or greater are capable of making it to the Material Plane - unless summoned by a spellcaster with at least 6 levels in a spellcasting class, no demons or devils with less than 6 HD can make it through to the Material Plane. In effect, no summoning spells or calling spells etc. can summon or call demons or devils who are not powerful enough until the spellcaster himself is powerful enough. Gameplay-related Info Demons and devils are rare in this setting. They are evil, dark, enigmatic entities awed and feared even by their followers. They are not small critters lurking in every cave and crany of your everyday dungeon - they are there for a reason, and not just to act meatwall for your Orcs.
The Swedish Viking 03-11-05, 06:17 PM	Dark Arcana - Ripper Magic "What fool mages and priests claim to be the "Dark" Arcana is naught but the true power of arcane magic. While foolish mages and clerics battle over the weak Essence and the Heartstones and Magicants, our true power comes from the higher entities, and is pure and untainted by the unnecessary meddling of mortals. A lethal force, for wielder and target alike oh yes, but its usages and powers are so many and diverse and great that any magic-wielder who intend to become something more than a mere peddler in trinkets would do good to follow the path of the True Arcana." - Scriptum Noctum Dark Arcana does not take the nature of spells gained like normal magic. Dark Arcana takes the nature of spell-like and supernatural abilities imbued permanently unto the wielder of the Dark Arcana, for a given price and cost (see above). The abilities are "bought" for the "Favor Points" rewarded for services, sacrifices, ritual, deeds, and such-like (see above). Exactly what kind of abilities the entity rewards the character with are up to the DM to decide, but can include any (but not explicitly) the following: Feats Any one feat that the character meets the prerequisites of costs 3 favor-points. Spell The character can gain the ability to use a spell of a certain level a certain number of times per day depending on favor-points spent. The spell costs 1 favor-point per Caster Level. This is then multiplied by the times per day the spell is to be useable. Regeneration The character gains 1 point/round regeneration for every 6 favor-points. Immunity: Fear The character becomes Immune to Fear and fearlike effects for 2 points. Immunity: Charm & Sleep The character becomes immune to charm and sleep effects for 8 points. Immunity: Death magic The character becomes permanently immune to death magic (such as Finger of Death or Circle of Death or Implode) for 25 points. Energy Immunity The character becomes permanently immune to one type of energy (negative, positive, fire, acid, cold, lightning, etc) for 25 points. Demonic Servant The character is awarded with a demonic servant. The cost is 2 favor-points per level. The demonic servant can be summoned once per day, lasting one hour, at the initial "purchase". The character can then spend another 1 favor-point to lengthen the amount of time the servant can stay by one hour, and 4 points to increase the number of times per day the servant can be summoned. Great Orator The character can Charm those who listens to his talk as per a Charm Person spell (caster level 20). Those who are deaf can obviously not be affected, and he cannot speak if silenced. When one has listened to the character, one forever remembers his great charisma and intelligence. A level The character gains one "free" level as a gift of power from the demonic masters for each 30 favor-points he earns.
The Swedish Viking 03-13-05, 12:49 PM	Finished "Occurance of Dark Entities".
77IM 03-26-05, 02:56 PM	Why would a group of people go on adventures? Most people just try to earn a living and have a good time. In general, the term "adventure" is usually used to describe a story or a trip that happens to be exciting -- most people would view a dungeon expedition or dragon encounter as more of a nightmare than an adventure. In this world, there are not so many monsters and dungeons and ancient artifacts lying around to make adventuring parties common, so a little more creativity needs to be applied to come up with a reason for a group of otherwise sane individuals to travel to scary locations, engage in mortal combat, and meddle with strange magic. Here are some reasons I came up with although there are dozens more. Mercenaries Skirmishes between noble houses are not uncommon, and those with special talents (i.e. class levels) are highly sought out. And of course, there are always caravans to be guarded. ;) A problem with this reason, is that being a mercenary is seen as somewhat lower-class and noble characters would need to hide their background in order to get work. Special Forces Just like mercenaries (above), but tied to a specific noble house. This could allow noble characters to take part, but also ties the party more tightly to noble politics. As a variant, they could be Church or Temple special forces (tied to religious politics). Troubleshooters A more urban / less militaristic version of the above, every large organization (House, Church, magical research groups, merchant guilds, etc.) sometimes have "problems" that only bold, highly skilled individuals can take care of. This reason can be a great launching-off point for many types of adventures. Private Investigators A mystery is a great and underutilized premise for an adventure, and one which could involve any combination of role-playing, problem-solving, and combat, and in numerous locales, although it tends more towards urban or at least civilized settings as opposed to wilderness and dungeons. Explorers There's a lot of exploration going on, from archaeological expeditions into newly-discovered Renlinean ruins, to prospectors in the jungles of Hunitania, to traders seeking a route through the dangerous steppelands, to Independant Temple missionaries bringing their religion to remote rural communities. Discovering something new is a great way to get famous and could start someone's career in one of the above adventuring reasons (like troubleshooters). Monster Hunters A specific sort of profession is the people who search for dangerous magical creatures and harvest heartstones from them at spearpoint. This reason tends to keep the characters in remote wilderness, although their skills will soon be sought out by those in the city (particularly if a monster moves in nearby). Magical Researchers Wizards experimenting with new spell formulae are often in need of skilled individuals. This reason is a sort of combination of Explorers (to find that ancient artifact), Troubleshooters (to put down that rampaging golem), and Monster Hunters (to bring back a power-12 Heartstone and the blood of a fey creature). Theives Theives are considered the lowest social class, so most characters will want to keep such activities very secret, especially members of the nobility and ordained Church officials. However, secret organized crime organizations are on the rise, and it's possible that a party could be part of such a group, a sort of "criminal special forces." Fighting Evil Of course, there are people who just travel around the world combatting evil. Members of the Lightbearers or Soulguard, young nobles emulating famous heroes, law-enforcement agents with a strong sense of duty, or anyone with the ability and desire to make the world a better place can accomplish much just by being in the right place at the right time. This reason for adventuring typically doesn't pay as well as the others. Political Reasons Politics makes strange bedfellows, and shared goals (and enemies) can bring a diverse party together. This adventuring reason works best in combination with others listed above. -- 77IM
blooddemon 03-26-05, 03:06 PM	I haven't read through all the pages yet, bu do you have this up on a website yet?
His Majesty 03-27-05, 04:57 AM	There's no website as of now. According to what I know about him, 77IM should be able to create one, but it seems that he isn't interested. I'll detail here the happenings of my campaign, for anyone interested. My players shouldn't read it. First, characters: THE CHARACTERS Bawren Talay (Elite 3, or Unfettered 3 in MCAU) Bawren is a priest and teacher in the Independent Temple of the Prophet Compassionate. Apart from teaching religion in the temple, he is also a dedicated fencer, and tutors a couple of young students in that art. He is not a violent man, despite his hobby. Bawren lives in a modest house in the Winding Way, close to his parents' store and the secondary center of the Temple of the Prophet Compassionate, a large two-story house with a small library, in the Winding Way. Bawren is the oldest of the PCs, 23 years old, and despite a few romantic relationships, he lives alone. He is an introverted man, and not especially friendly, though he means well. Nell Galapas (Sorcerer 3, or Charm (http://www.diamondthrone.com/displaycontent.cfm?iCatId=11&iConID=212) Warlock 3 in MCAU) Nell is a minor noble of House Galapas, a Corsan house which empasises trade and husbandry. Instead of listening to his father and succeeding him as the manager of the raches and stables which belong to the house, Nell ran away to Lienne, where he stays at his uncle's place, and helps him with his trade. He isn't very dedicated to his cousin's bussiness, however, and prefers to party in the various taverns of Lienne. He has a girlfriend, Melaine, a commoner whom he met during a party. Nell's family has had sorcerous blood in it for a long time, and Nell was taught to use magic by his father. His bloodline is a draconic one, though he isn't completely aware of that. Apart from Bawren, Dieklav and a few others, none are aware of his magical powers. When he first came to Lienne, Nell met Bawren and has become quite a dedicated believer in the ways of the Temple of the Prophet Compassionate. He is really a "people's person", and a very friendly, charismatic, and handsome man. Dieklav (Paladin 3, or Champion of Death 3 in MCAU) Formerly known as Demnur Galapas, Dieklav is a member of House Galapas as well, though he grew up in a Chirmonten branch of the family, and barely knew Nell as a child. He was raised in a very religious, and wealthy family, and aspired to become a Lightbearer. Thanks to his excellence in school, a famous Lightbearer named Gerion Truthshield took charge of him. During one of their travels together, Gerion was slain by a werewolf due to the local priest's treachery. Dieklav buried him, took his famous sword Tempest, and confronted the priest, killing two initiates. He was pursued onto a roof above a river, and after jumping into that river lost his consciousness and had a revelation, in which he was told by the Prophet herself to uphold the truth and destroy the corrupted Church of the Pantheon. He renamed himself, and continued to the nearest city -- Lienne -- where he accidentially met Nell, who brought him to the Temple of the Prophet Compassionate. In his youth, Dieklav was a friendly person, though somewhat provincial. Today, he is a stern, no-nonsense man, dedicated only to what he sees as the true religion. He has always been good at nearly anything he did, which makes him a bit patronising. Dieklav almost always wears his black armor and carries his former master's huge sword, despite the inappropriateness of it. THE ADVENTURE The campaign takes place in Lienne, and starts in the midst of Summer. The leader of the Temple of the Prophet Compassionate (currently located in the Winding Way, because the main center in the Flats is being repaired), [Wutsisname], invited the htree character to his office, and asked them to serve him directly in the affairs of the Temple. According to him, there have recently been multiple events in which he felt that a few delicate, perhaps secretive touches could have improved the position of the Temple significantly. As they all respect him greatly, they agreed, and after half a week of waiting and finding a house for Dieklav, during which they prepared for the coming Summer Solstice. On the night before their appointment with the leader of the Temple (head priest?), Bawren was asked by his parents to come with them and visit some family friends, Sienné and
77IM 03-27-05, 12:34 PM	(Dude, that sucks about the saxophone.) I've been working on this in my spare time for several months and it is nowhere NEAR completed (the most "fun" section, organizations, isn't even converted yet, and I haven't added Swedish Viking's most recent stuff), but I'm going to follow my own advice of releasing things before they are done in order to get feedback. http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/ I've tested it in IE 6 and Firefox, so PM me if there are any weird formatting issues (especially people using Safari or with very small screen resolutions). Swedish Viking: Is there a newer version of the word doc than the one I posted up there? -- 77IM
Grayequus 03-29-05, 09:41 AM	Hi 77IM, Wonderful setting! Many, many moons ago, you mentioned other 'Enfold' spells you'd concepted, but not statted out. any chance more of this magic will be developed? Personally, I'd love to see it! Here's the note as to the ones I mean: === 'Other Field Spells I've Thought Up But Not Bothered To Write Down Yet: Enfold Topology (shapechanging and physical buffs) Enfold Dwoemer (copying raw magical effects) Enfold Imago (illusions -- copying something's image) Enfold Nexus (distorting space and time) Enfold Sympathy (odd non-physical buffs and transmutations and abjurations) Enfold Probability (bonuses and penalties) Enfold Meme (enchantments; the copying of moods and ideas) Enfold Energy (creating energy effects)' === Kudos to everyone on an world that gets more intriguing by the day.
77IM 03-30-05, 07:06 PM	Wonderful setting! Thanks! Many, many moons ago, you mentioned other 'Enfold' spells you'd concepted, but not statted out. any chance more of this magic will be developed? Personally, I'd love to see it! Hmmm, I don't plan on working on this aspect in the near future, because it is very time-consuming and not integral to the setting. In fact I had considered ditching the entire Enfold X spell line in favor of something more generic and less wordy (maybe a non-epic version of Spell Seeds?). My main reason for including it is that I want "spell research" to mean something more than just "character downtime filler and occasional plot device." That said, if someone else who likes developing spells and feels that they would be good at it wants to take a stab at the remaining Enfold spells, be my guest! I am also taking suggestions for how to revise or improve the system so that it is easier to understand and use. -- 77IM
His Majesty 04-01-05, 06:44 AM	Well, It's time to edit my signature.... As some of you might have noticed, I have been absent for the last several weeks. Here's why. A short while ago, I forgot my saxophone on a bus. Yes, I am aware of my own foolishness. Since I live in Israel, nobody stole it or brought it to a lost and found department - instead, the police was alerted, and just to make sure that it isn't actually full of explosives, it was shot. The required reorganisation and additional, unrelated work, were keeping me from visiting the forums. Anyway, things have improved, I'll be posting again, and the damaged saxophone will be hanging on my wall, in my room. Behold! http://img116.exs.cx/img116/6709/closesmall2oc.th.jpg (http://img116.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img116&image=closesmall2oc.jpg) http://img116.exs.cx/img116/9311/overview1small9dv.th.jpg (http://img116.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img116&image=overview1small9dv.jpg) http://img116.exs.cx/img116/9863/overview2small0de.th.jpg (http://img116.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img116&image=overview2small0de.jpg) (Click on the images for enlarged version) EDIT: Discuss!
Rhineglade 04-01-05, 11:37 AM	Well, in any case it is good to have you back and posting Your Majesty. My sympathies at the loss of your sax. :weep: Now, I can certainly see this turning into an adventure of sorts. I can just see this magical musical instrument becomes possessed by some evil spirit. The adventurers are hired by the virtuoso to find the instrument and put a stop to it by exercising the spirit. Of course, the evil instrument is animated and intelligent and can cause confusion as the spell. ;)
His Majesty 04-01-05, 11:55 AM	That's a great idea! And I have another one -- turn it into a LARP prop! And I'm glad to be back.
Elf_Jedi 04-01-05, 08:24 PM	I hope the Hamas doesn't any funny ideas and launches a round of brass instrument attacks on busses. If they do you know where they got the idea from. God forbid it happens.
The Swedish Viking 04-02-05, 10:16 AM	Blown Up Saxophones Inc. :D
The Swedish Viking 04-02-05, 10:19 AM	But, seriously, what aspects havent we covered by now? Demons are almost finished, and Celestials will follow suit. Vampires have been done with a series of legends and stories, more or less allowing people their own variants. Magic is mainly done. Liches is done. Monsters are done. Religion is done. Politics and countries mainly done. Hmm... whatīs left... General Undead? Death in the setting? Yeah, that would be it I guesses... EDIT: Did some updating to the demon-pages.
His Majesty 04-02-05, 10:53 AM	I've got LOTS to do. I need to sit down and write the whole history of the Great Isle, and a couple more places, which I already planned out, and then make up the rest, since no one has shown even remote interest in history. I have lots of plans for the capital of Chirmont, but no time to write them down, either. Additionally, I need to write down the houses of the governing council of Renflour, unless someone's going to take that instead of me. It seems that most of this will wait a long time, however, since I have lots of other things to do in real life, and people won't take "I find it more pressing to write down my thoughts about a collaborative fantasy world project" as an excuse. In short, eliminate the rest of the world, and we're just a few weeks from finishing this! Rejoice!
His Majesty 04-02-05, 04:16 PM	I really should be translating stuff from Arabic, but this is more fun. First, a question: "BLINK DOG These clever yelping canines once ran free in Highcaster and Corsom, but are now nearly extinct, having retreated into heavily wooded hill and mountain regions." Can they still talk? I think that they shouldn't be able to do so. It defies the very nature of dog-man interaction. Having human-level intelligence is enough. Secondly, I've decided to write a dragon! So: ------------------------------- No-Mungastran In the end of one summer, around 350 GR, on a forested mountain near the very center of Corsom*, a lumberjack was attacked by a small yellow dragon, approximately the size of ferret. Terrified, he ran back to his village and told the other villagers about the encounter, but none believd him. It was only a week later, when a huge white dragon flew all the way through Corsom from the shore of the Frozen Sea to that mountain, that the nearby humanoids (mostly humans and half-orcs) took notice. Evidently, the white dragon -- Seemavi, as it called itself -- took the younger dragon under its wing, as it clashed with the local authorities several times in order to protect the forest and the young dragon inside it. After an unusually severe winter, which might have been the doing of the dragon, a small army was mustered to march against the dragon -- but Seemavi and its daughter were long gone when it arrived at the mountain. They were seen flying away in the beginning of that spring, after a few flights above the nearby villages, during which the villagers marvelled at the dragonet's colorful wings. That small dragonet emerged again in history and legend severl times since, always clearly distinguished by her amazing wings and yellow body. The first well-known myth about her is dated around 400 GR, when a member of the court of Wanford allied with her against an Ettin. The second time was less than a century later, in a lake in [that peninsula in northern Corsom], and she was larger than a grown man this time. She toyed with the nearby gnomes, tempting an adolescent to run into the forest with her and talking to people she met in the forests in a strange, sharp accent. A tribe of halflings that passed through the place called her No-Mungastran when they repeated the story in other places. No one really knows what that name means -- "no" (or "nos-" in other languages) means "of", but Mungastran seems to have no known meaning, despite multiple legends and the attempts of several scholars. No-Mungastran is also rumored to have destroyed a village by the shore of the Frozen Sea in an unexplained rage, and a famous myth ties her to the complete absence of worgs on [the island north of Wanford] after 637 GR. Many sailors and mountaineers have clamed that they saw her gliding between the clouds, anywhere between Jarlheim and Wanford, sometimes escorted by her parent, but such claims are nearly expected from such men. In fact, at least three groups are currently looking for her in that area: an expedition from the Elbrecht Academy, a mysterious troupe of men, one of whom might be a vampire, and a dame followed by more than ten guards and courtiers. Since her younger years, No-Mungastran has become much less grandiose and tentative. She has also continued to grow, although she is not a giant among dragons -- her body is approximately twice as large as that of a horse. Her wing span is much wider, of course. Her breath weapon is of very cold gas, and her spellcasting seems to be mostly air-related. It seems that she greatly enjoys flight, and showing off her wings. She has been a powerful member of the Dragon Court for the past century. It is unknown whether No-Mungastram has another name, but it seems likely. *Corsom is too big a land-mass. For example, what's the name of that huge peinsula in the north? We nead to break it up into parts, or add some landmarks in the middle. Which brings me to another matter -- it would be wonderful if we could find a map enthusiast who could draw for us detailed maps of the different countries according to the territories of the various houses. I'm not sure how we can advertise such a thing, but we should. ------------------------------- I know that the portrayal of dragons in ths post is very different from SourceMaster's -- that is intentional. If dragons are to be such mysterious creatures, even the GM shouldn't be sure exactly what they are. I especially like the idea of No-Mungastram's birth and "adoption" (or is it?), since it conforms 77IM's description of the nature of dragons: "...They are effectively immortal; draconic "age categories" are not well understood (in other words, the specific ages in the MM may or may not be correct or even meaningful). It is known that dragons of all different apparent "ages" exist and that they do grow older over time, and that the older ones tend to be stronger and wiser. No one is quite sure how dragons reproduce but they seem to have familial relationships with one another..."
The Swedish Viking 04-11-05, 03:13 PM	Updated and nearly finished demonic entities section. What was next then? Naming major landmasses? Any NPCs we need? Would be fun writing a small level 1 - 5 campaign for TMTH..... hmmm
The Swedish Viking 04-21-05, 03:47 AM	:bump:
Sourcemaster2 04-28-05, 02:29 AM	Sorry for my lengthy absence, but my computer was unavailable for a while. Majesty, I'm sorry that you're no longer saxy. A few questions about the new material. I know there are half-fiends, but do other part-demons exist, and if so, are their abilities uniform or unique? As to possible additions, how about a full iconic characters set? We've already got a fair amount of characters, but let's make a thorough group, with all the classes represented, each from a different area. That could give readers examples of adventurers, their reasons for adventuring, and how they are dealt with in tmtH. Speaking of that, how are they treated/seen? Can they be hired? Do they need licences to wander about and kill things? I'm working on a new dragon and sorcerer, but I'm dead tired now. Will post tomorrow....
The Swedish Viking 04-28-05, 03:30 PM	Well, I suppose there would be Tieflings - though they ought to be fairly unique. There are enough part-demons for there to be a few "standardized" - but not many, a low number (DMs choice). And yes, I would say unique part-demons definately exist - thereīs not very many Magical cratures everywhere, so mostly anything thatīs huge, old and magical is rather unique (I daresay thereīs not that many Great Red Dragons about, maybe one?). An example adventurers-group sounds interesting... dedicatíng a whole section to them.. .hmm. Well, Iīll definately try to write something up tomorrow when I got a day off.
prodigyxss 04-29-05, 09:36 PM	Well I have finally finished reading most of the stuff on this wonderful setting and I must congratulate all of you expecially you 77IM. Viking you did alot of great work. I am very interested in the setting, and want to run a campaign in this world in the future. If its not a hassle, could one of you(I think viking cause your in charge of it) send the document to me. Email= prodigyxss@comcast.net You guys did a real great job and its probable the best setting on campaign workshop. Thanks! :)
The Swedish Viking 04-30-05, 02:29 AM	I would gladly send you the document - the problem is; it is not finished. Some time ago Word seized to work on my computer - cant install it, cant do anything with it. So now all I have is Works. And Since TMTH has a two-column-format, I cannot open it with Works without messing it up completely. Now, I can sand you the document as is, but it wont contain any of the more recent info.
prodigyxss 04-30-05, 10:38 AM	That is all right with me. I can just print the rest of the information. Again good job on the setting. :cool:
The Swedish Viking 05-01-05, 07:56 AM	OK. Iīll send it this afternoon. Gonna post what I wrote about adventures and adventurers too.
Rhineglade 05-02-05, 04:37 PM	To the Trio of 77IM, Swedish Viking and His Majesty: Just wanted to commend you three for all your work on your campaign. I just stumbled across your website and I thought 'Great job!' You obviously did a lot of work on it and it shows. Very well organized and I really like the lay out. It's also nice to see your 'real life' names as well. (You mean you aren't actually immortal?) Congratulations.
The Swedish Viking 05-03-05, 01:25 PM	Email away. EDIT: or not. seems my email has gone traitor on me and took a vacation. :( Rhineglade<<< Thanks, though it looks like I am the only (semi)active one currently continuing work here. :P
His Majesty 05-03-05, 01:36 PM	Hey, I'm semi-active! No.. make that quasi-active. Or pseudo-active.. Whatever. As for what we need to do, it's time to think about stating things up. It's not much fun (for me), but it's necessary for the completeness of it. A preprepared NPC isn't worth much without stats. Edit:* Aasimars and Tieflings are not "recognized" as such. In other words, they don't appear much different from normal people and some don't even know what they are.
The Swedish Viking 05-03-05, 01:42 PM	Stats... oh good grief, not stats... (sigh) I wont pick this one up as another of those things I promised Iīd write - got enough things as is. Still havent gotten around to posting that stuff about adventuring I wrote either. :(
prodigyxss 05-03-05, 05:23 PM	Nevermind about the email, I just found the site on the setting and the document is there. Thanks!
The Swedish Viking 07-06-05, 04:19 PM	Adventurers Well, what defines an adventurer? Adventurers in any game are people seeking excitment, honor, glory, fame, infamy, power; in short treading any path that is potentially very hazardous and at any time difficult - because it strains both physique and mental abilities and forces the person to live by their own wits and sword. In the setting of the Magicant; the Heartstone adventurers are generally the same gathering of peoples as in any generic D&D campaign. Their motivations and goals are usually the same, though the setting defines the methods with which these adventurers go about acquiring their preset goals. The view on adventurers Because of the nature of Adventures in this setting (see below) the view on adventurers differs greatly from nation to nation, populace to populace and geographic region to region. Because the world is (at least on surface level civilized) most adventurers are somewhere somewhen outlaws or bandits in the eyes of rulers, and often break codes of peace and tranquility. They are feared for their might and seeming randomness, and respected for their strength and great feats of heroism. They are, to put it bluntly, usually a pain in the royal behind of rulers who dislike them because they cannot be controlled, and they are also tremendous assets in any situation that requires individuals above-average - thus people usually treat them with a kind of respect and try to ignore them if they are deemed dangerous, or looked upon as great heroes with many followers if they do anything of notoriety. Adventures Adventures are a different matter. Because the world defines the adventures are what defines and at the same time are defined by the campaign world, these will inavoidably be to greater or lesser extent different from a standard D&D campaign. Very few creatures in the world can be used without background and storyline, stand-alone adventures are difficult to create because of this and adventurers might find that just by cleansing a lair of goblin bandits they have triggered a series of events which may or may not lead to war. In short, the setting is very story-influenced. This is not a bad thing - roleplaying is meant to enhance the standard D&D playstyle, and not the other way around. However, it is something that one must keep in mind when designing adventures and setting goals for oneīs character. As monsters are rare, most opponents will instead be of one of the "civilized" humanoid races such as goblins or humans, which might prove both enhancing and detracting from the game. Keep your eyes open and dont get bitten in your own behind by yourself. ;) (( And yeah, this was a bump. Great setting. :D ))
The Swedish Viking 07-06-05, 04:29 PM	Kemlan - Hunter of Miscreants; CN Fallen Paladin 4/Ranger 3/Fighter 3 "Aye lad, if ye ever get heavily into trouble with them lawmakers, ye better be fast when ya run fer it, at least if yer in Corsom. Cus them laddies up there, they gots a feller called Kemlan. Heīs said to be able to track any man provided he has feet and a scent, and any animal provided that it lives. Heīs dangerous, and he cares for only one thing - gold, and the hunt." Kemlan started his life as a Knight Errant, on a mission of the Church of the Pantheon to bring wayward sheep into the fold, and recapture a lost shrine which had fallen into the clutches of some Fallen Clerics, who had let vile wizards study it and use it to fuel their own power. The Knight Errant set out to the shrine with a party of adventurers, mercenaries and fortune-seekers. Approaching the shrine these mercenaries and other knights did many abhorrent things in rooting out the so-called evil, and in the battle between the fallen clerics and the band set out to recapture the shrine many innocents died and much blood was spilt and there was much suffering. From his experiences, Kemlan began to see these hirelings as nothing but a plague on the land, and the faith he served a lie. After completing the mission he laid down his claim to Paladinhood and began instead a life of hounding down those vile mercenaries who would do anything for gold and fame or infamy, hounding their steps and slaughtering them ruthlessly where he decided that they might prove bothersome, or evil, or because he deemed them all alike and evil and thus in need of extinction.
The Swedish Viking 07-06-05, 08:09 PM	Hmm. Maybe something on landscapes and wilderness areas now, as well as their impact on the setting. After that, handling other planes would probably be a good idea.
Klaus van der Kroft 07-06-05, 09:30 PM	Ah, I am glad to see you people back on wheels (well, at least Swedish Viking seems to be back on wheels). I must applaud the way you are handling the issue of Dark Entities. I like how it is developing. Now, in order to encourage you to keep working (asides from some whiplashes, of course), I would like to know more about the cosmology of the setting, the relation of the main plane with other dimensions (if there is), and perhaps some samples of those places.
The Swedish Viking 07-07-05, 12:02 PM	Well, thatīs been 77īs department so far, though my guess is a fairly standard D&D cosmology using the Great Wheel. Hope heīll get around to answering that question. Me, I might continue to scribble away on the Dark Entities and their part in the cosmology. Since the view on demons and devils is a bit different from standard D&D, the cosmology will probably reflect this. I am guessing it will be basically the same as normal campaigns, but with certain changes made by flavor. In addition, it might be interesting to adress the relationship between The Magicant, the Heartstone and other campaign settings. Anyways, Iīll try to keep posting - hopefully the others will wake up too.
Klaus van der Kroft 07-07-05, 02:59 PM	That would be very interesting to see. After all, there is enough material within these boards to create quite a metasetting. However, such a project is likely to meet several systems, mostly because of the various cosmological structures and general principles of the settings. Would be worth a try, however.
The Swedish Viking 07-07-05, 05:01 PM	(grunt) Yes. However, as the civilizational level seems to be quite high in this setting, it is also assumable that scientific levels are also quite high. However, given at the same time the fear of magic prevalent amongst most commoners, science is practiced almost solely by wizards - in troth, most scientists do at one point progress(revert?) to wizardry. However, as there are bound to be one or two non-wizard alchemists or wizards interested in nought but knowledge out there, they are also sooner or later bound to fall over all mannerisms of strange inventions and mechanizations. Thus, I think that my next project will be taking an interesting approach to inventions in fantasy. Now, most settings which try to incorporate inventions or sciency quickly revert to a Victorian Age race for arms. Im going to try and implement them here - and still keep the validness of armour, knights, wizardry and huge castles in place. Iīm going to give this some thought until tomorrow, but basically Iīll first split inventions into sub-cathegories: * Blackpowder/gunpowder * Steam-power * Hot/cold-air power * Alchemists fire * Other alchemical substances And then cathegorize them into: * Inventions existing/valid in real life. * Inventions which doesnt exist/were never invented/would never work in real life.
The Swedish Viking 07-07-05, 05:54 PM	Iīd really like input on my idea on science and technology - specifically if I should bring it up, or let it lie.
Klaus van der Kroft 07-07-05, 06:10 PM	Lets see... First of all, the concept of wizards being the main developers of technology could bring you to interesting concepts, one of which would be the mixture of magic with machinery. Now, magic and science are two parallel ways rather than two points of a line. This allows you to treat their relation in various ways (in my campaign setting, for example, technologically advanced nations see places centred around magic as barbaric, while those see industrial nations as dull-minded and weak, since they base their power on the mind of mortals rather than the magic of mysteries). A scientist does not need to be an improved or unimproved wizard; they are just two different ways to achieve things. Technology requires time, while magic requires power. The issue of technology affecting the various aspects of a setting mainly depends on how available you make it: If the entire world, or at least a broad majority, has access to rifles and cannons, it is very likely for armours and castles to disappear all over the place. However, if you only make it available in a few, specific locations, most of the world will pass unaffected (this is the way I use it, plus some other variables that make technology more or less an exclusive thing of a few places). The wall of a castle is a strong against a cannon as it is to a magical boulder of magma. But just as powerful magic is not in the hands of everyone, powerful science does not have to be either.
The Swedish Viking 07-08-05, 04:18 PM	Blackpowder/Gunpoweder-fueled Inventions and Technology "Thaīs a strange powder lad. Aye, magical, most say it is. They say that the Giants have discovered it, though I doubt those lumbering oafs did it. My guess is the dwarves or the elves. It must be magical, what with its many strange usages and that explosions it makes. Unnatural, ītis." Gunpowder/Blackpowder, and any and all powder-variants, are strange inventions. The Church of the Pantheon consider it devilry, a work of sorcerors and wizards, and have banned its creation and the creation of the substance, since it is clearly vile in nature. Despite this fact, Druids of the Old Ways, and Giants in Zoltar and Erindese in particular experiment with these substances, who they view as the Godsī way to materialize the sorcerous power wielded by wizards. Gunpowder/Blackpowder (or, as it is usually referred to, "Wyrdpowder") is commonly used for fireworks, a means of decoration and amusement. The explosive and volatile abilities of Wyrdpowder has been noted and it has also known frequent use during battles and mining, though this is generally the exception other than the rule. It is a substance which is very difficult to manufacture, given that it is difficult to obtain both pure material and wares from which to make it, and that it is so an unpredictable substance. There are currently three places and persona in the world capable of creating fully functional blackpowder: These are a giant named Krukthuk, living in an isolated area of Zoltar, a few Dwarven alchemists deep inside the Mountain Duchies - who definately arent going to tell anyone - and a Druid grove in Corsom. Available Technology The Pistol and Musket listed in the DMG are not available in this setting. Only the Dwarves are skilled enough with metal to forge such armaments which can withstand the force of a shot, and they have only just begun to experiment with the material. As the main deposits of raw materials necessary for its making are in the hands of nations outlawing the material on moral grounds, acquiring testing materials is difficult at best. The fact that even wizards have accounted for the sorcerous properties of salpeter and sulphur and their inclusion in demonic sorcery doesnīt exactly make it any better, as all scientific experiments show that the substance is indeed tainted with demonic influence. The Bomb and Smoke Bomb listed in the DMG are available in cities of Large City or Metropolis size in Corsom, Zoltar or the Mountain Duchies - and even then the chance of finding such weapons is small. A number of Gather Information checks might give information on a merchant who has a small stash. The prices in the DMG are multiplied by 5 when determining how much these items cost. The DC to manufacture these items are increased by +5, and require a Craft (Alchemy) check to make. They have, however, a 25% chance to malfunction. Roll a d% to determine whether or not a bomb works before determining if it hits. If it malfunctions, then half the time (01-50) it just fizzles and doesnt cause any damage, and half the time (51-100) explode too early. If the latter occurs, the bomb count as having been aimed at a square/target 1d6 squares/1d6 x 5 feet closer than intended for all purposes of damage and determining what it really hits. The fuse for one of these takes two rounds to go off - meaning that to toss one you have to ignite it two rounds before you throw it. This requires some concentration, and you need to roll a Reflex save (DC 10) or it counts as having malfunctioned and explode too early. Clutches of bombs (between 1 and 4) were known to be used in the famed Siege of Callarige, where the attackers attached bombs to bolts fired by their ballistae and flung them over the walls with catapults. The projectiles had a 75% chance of fizzling and causing only normal damage, but the few times they did succeed had a vast psychological effect on the foe. Additionally, Fast-Bombs/Rockets are available also in much the similar way. The Rockets cost 1000 gp. each, cause 3d6 damage, have a range increment of 50 ft., weight 1 lb. and cause Fire damage. They count as normal ranged weapons - such as a bow - when rolling to hit the square they are aimed at (which count as having AC 10, +1 AC for every 10 feet away). A direct hit means that the explosion hit the creature(s) in the square it was aimed at. Anyone within 5 ft. may take a Reflex save (DC = Half damage done) to take half damage. If it misses, use the diagram in the PHB to determine where it lands. Rockets are very difficult to manufacture. The DC to manufacture these items is increased by +10 and require a Craft (Alchemy) check to make. They have been known to appear in the packs of a monster or other, maybe one or two findings each year. Nobody really knows who creates them, though it is believed to be Dwarven or Giant alchemists comissioning these at great costs. A less lethal type of Rocket also exists which have been now and then bought by the careless noble to create fantastic light-shows. Their price is 250 per piece, they cause 1d4 damage, have a range-increment of 100 ft. but otherwise the same stats. They usually explode in fantastic shows of light. The DC to make these items is increased by +5. They are usually available in Large cities, as the quantity of the outlawed substances used in these items is low, their popularity is high, and they dont really have any use in combat. All these have, however, a 10% chance to malfunction. Roll a d% to determine whether or not a bomb works before determining if it hits. If it malfunctions, then usuallu (01-70) it just fizzles and doesnt cause any damage, and sometimes (71-100) explode too early. If the latter occurs, the rocket count as having been aimed at a square/target 1d12 squares/1d12 x 5 feet closer than intended for all purposes of damage and determining what it really hits. The fuse for one of these takes two rounds to go off - meaning that to shoot one you have to ignite it two rounds before you intend to shoot it, and also need to aim it properly. This requires some concentration, and you need to roll a Reflex save (DC 10) then followed by a Will save (DC 5) or it counts as having malfunctioned and explode too early. Firecrackers are noisy, small, and come with a fuse. They cost 100 gp each, and are usually available in Large cities and Metropolises. They cause bright flashes of light and can cause burn injuries if you are too close. They have been known to be used by adventurers as distractions. They have a range-increment of 5 ft. and cause 1 point of damage to any target in the square it is aimed at. They have a 25% chance to just fizzle. The fuse for one of these takes one round to go off - meaning that to toss one you have to ignite it the round before you throw it. This requires some concentration, and you need to roll a Reflex save (DC 5) or it goes of in your square, causing one point of damage to you. The Nature of the Materials a) Raw materials used as components in creating the above items are very rare indeed, and can be bought from a maximum of one or two mines over the continent for each component in Blackpowder (basically, blackpowder has three components). b) The materials used to create blackpowder are unholy in nature, and have been used in unholy rituals and to repel the forces of light. One ounce of sulphur or salpeter can be used by any character or creature capable of casting Arcane Spells (or using them as Spell-Like abilities), who succeed at a Knowledge (Arcana), DC 20, and a Spellcraft, DC 21, check be used in a minor ritual to give the character +1 Hit Point (which lasts for 1 day), or a +1 bonus to the characterīs next dice-roll. c) The difficulty of the substance means that not many deem it worth the risk to experiment with it, and those who have the resources to conduct experiments are often wizards, who deem these inferior to normal spellcasting. Most oftenly, alchemists stick to tried and tested stuff such as Thunderstones and Alchemistīs fire in their experiments. The places where materials are available are thus in Zoltar, Highcaster, and Chirmont and a few smaller deposits in other church lands. The competence to craft these items is only available in the Mountain Duchies, Zoltar and Corsom, where only a few individual knows how and the items can be bought only in major cities; assuming the right contacts.
The Swedish Viking 07-08-05, 05:02 PM	Did some on Blackpowder/Gunpowder. Tell me what you think.
The Swedish Viking 07-11-05, 05:41 PM	Magic and Mechanics - A strange melding A few wizards in the setting have began to experiment with joining science, alchemical results, and mechanical contraptions with magic, runes, and arcane power, in effect attempting to create more powerful and effective magical devices at a lesser cost. Several organizations, such as the Highcasters and the Artificiers, lead the way in this branch of research. Organizations of these types are all very secretive of their results, afraid that their enemies might try to steal their findings. Real Inventions, Unreal Inventions, and Crap that wont work Well, obviously, this is a fantasy setting, and a lot of the mechanics, physics, and theorems presented here are obviously not applicable to/in the "real world" (i.e. are complete bull-dung). However, for the purpose of the setting, they -are- real. Hey, blame it on the wizards! Game Mechanics - Merging Magic and Blackpowder Magic used in creation of blackpowder gear is rare, but not uncommon. Some wizards enjoy creating these trinkets for their amusement and amplify their effects by using simple magical rituals, while other alchemists use simple spells to amplify their creations. Amplify Blackpowder Transmutation Spell Level: Drd 2/Wiz 1 (not available to sorcerers) Duration: Permanent Range: Touch Components: V, S, F Save: None Spell Resistance No This spell is used by alchemists to amplify and make more effective their blackpowder creations. This spell halves the risk of a fizzle or accident when using blackpowder weapons, and enhances the effect of such creations (providing a +1 bonus to damage for every five levels, for example). Other effects by DMīs approval, as this spell is still undergoing research. Game Mechanics - Merging Steampower, Hot-air/Cold-air and Arcane Technology Steampower and hot/cold-air technology are fundamentally different in nature from blackpowder technology. First of all, the latter are large innovations and strange artifacts almost arcane in and off themselves while the earlier are trinkets and amusements, sometimes used as weaponry by mischievous adventurers. Basically, merging magic with inventions work as when merging magic with magical items. They can be bestowed by spells using the Permanency spell, in addition to spells designed newly by PCs. The most common usage to bestow spells to creations would likely be via the Heartstone/Magicant method due to its relative ease of use. This works normally - choosing a relevant power and applying it to the item, as normal. The area is very fuzzy, but then it is also an area under (under)development. As it is likely not going to be an area in which the PCs are going to meddle a lot, Iīll leave out more information or rulings on this - the area is far too diverse for any general rulings, so DM jurisidiction is a must to progress in this field.
The Swedish Viking 07-11-05, 05:48 PM	Hot-air, Cold-air, Steam-power/Water-power' This is a very broad cathegory, as air and water are the types of power most easily available - if not most easily utilisable. However, very few or no (nobody commonly known, anyway) wizards have so far shown interest in this brand of research, as the majority of the findings are applicably practically only in limitted amounts and very rarely increasing their own relative power. Thus, most of these experiments are undertaken by other non-wizard alchemists. Very often this experimentation is mistaken for dark wizardry and foul play, and many an alchemist have befallen an ill fate at the hands of the Witch Hunters. As if that was not bad enough, several power-hungry magocratic organisations strike down on alchemical research outside their control. Not to mention the difficulty in actually allocating the materials and fuel with which to conduct these experiments, and willing assistants and supplicants. Very few working devices utilising these energy-sources are actually commonly available. Those that are known are often grand contraptions put together with a high amount of skill in both arcane and mundane nature. Such contraptions include the Steam-Rocket-Cart, or the Steam-powered Rockthrower, or the Flying Trench. Basics of mechanics The basic premise of science and game mechanics are that these artifcats function - rules-wise - in a way very similar to that of magic items. They do not have caster levels, nor do they give off magical auras, but they do have costs and prices. Their XP-cost and GP-cost is the same as that of a Wondrous Item. In addition, they require the Craft (science-branch of choice) as well as a new feat: (Item Creation) Craft Advanced Mechanics Prerequisite: Craft (science-branch of choice) 8 ranks, Craft (Alchemy) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Architecture/Engineering) 8 ranks. Effects: Ability to craft advanced mechanics such as rocket-carts, steam-pumps, coal-fuelled steam-guns, and the like. Special: This feat merely supplies the extra knowledge required to make these machines work/put together the parts. Anyone can craft the machine (provided they succeed at the checks) but nobody can operate it or put it together without the knowledge provided by this feat. The Steam-rocket Cart The steam-rocket cart exists in four versions. Two on Lede and one in the Mountain Duchies, as well as one in the old giant mines in Zoltar. The one in Zoltar was crafted by some forgotten Giant alchemist and is far too large to be employed by normal humanoids - maybe ogres, but so far no Ogre alchemists have come to the fore of research. It stands, rusting away, in an abandoned hellpit in the Zoltar forests. The two on Lede were crafted centuries before the Heartstone renaissance, as a way to ease mining operations without the aid of wizardry. The Steam-rocket carts operate on the basis of a train of carts loaded with unusually sturdy metal is attached to large chunks of rock. These chunks of rock are placed in metal-and-stone tubes underneath which huge pans of water are placed, and heated. When the preasure rises, the blocks shoot up into the large shafts at incredible speed, pulling the carts with them. The blocks are also attached to counterweights assuring a fast ascent and a slow and comfortable descent. The same is the principle for the one in the Mountain Duchies. It was from researching these contraptions that the principles of the steam-gun and the steam-catapult were derived. Price: 125,000 gp; cost 40,000 gp, 1200 xp. Minimum craft-skill requirements: Craft (Steamworks) 15 ranks, Craft (Alchemy) 6 ranks. The Flying Trench The flying trench is a contraption of hot-air technology. It has been crafted with the aid of sorcery shortly after the Heartstone renaissance by a friend of the man who created the Extract Heartstone spell. The Flying Trench was a dream of this friend, a man called Simvon Tellemvor. The man was a member of the Elimbral family in Corsom, and his family was at a long and exhausting war with three neighbouring noble families of half-orcs and humans. The enemy families were all based high in mountain fortresses from which they struck out with cavalry charges, and were at the time winning the drawn-out conflict. The Flying Trench was thus the first - and to this day, one of the most well-known - merge of ancient principles of the Dwarven technologists and the recent Heartstone sorcery. It was created by first crafting a miniature stronghold - a wooden platform held together with metal, which housed a large tent and was large enough to hold five people and a large stock of alchemical fire. To the trench was attached three large sails, using the same principles as for ships. Applying some strange principles, it was found that winds - particularly hot-air winds - could lift the trench and carry it over the skies. This was achieved by hunting down three ancient spirits of the fiery elements and winds - fire and air elementals - and using the Heartstones extracted from them to create everlasting hot winds. These would then be used to direct the flying trench, and to keep it airborne. A side-effect, however, was that once the trench had taken air it could never again land, and that it would be very vulnerable to storms. It was used with great success in the war from which it originated, but has ever since been anchored in a remote alchemical laboratory in a windless valley deep inside the Mountain Duchies, where hired dwarven guards keep guard and the trench is kept locked, to prevent the secret of the trench from spreading. Price: 700,000 gp; Cost 300,000 gp, 7000 xp, Hearstones from creatures of air and fire; Craft-skill requirements: Craft (Woodcrafting) 12 ranks, Craft (Alchemy) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 16 ranks. NOTE: The details on exactly -how- the Flying Trench was created have never slipped the mouths of the dwarven watchmen hired to guard it. The only person with the power to gain access to the Trench is the head of the Elimbral family, and his goals are his own. However, the Trench can serve as a mark from which to design other magic/science hybrid machines, and make an interesting centrepiece for a campaign. The Steam-gun/Steam-powered Rock-hurler Developed by dwarven alchemists some years before the Hearstone renaissance, this science has also fallen into disuse because of the recent boom in magic. When it was first invented it was bizarre and unsafe to use, and remains so to this day. The steam-gun/steam-powered rock-hurler operate exactly as a Catapult (with the same stats as in the DMG). However, it is much easier to aim (providing a +2 bonus to hit), and causes more damage (8d6). It is much more difficult to operate however (+2 DC), and when it fails it can explode or malfunction in many fantastic ways. Put bluntly, the technology was abandoned recently because it is expensive and yet very erratic. One can still find Steam-guns lingering in the Corsom and Chirmont armories, however. When using a steam-gun and the check to operate it fails, there is a 25% chance that something goes very wrong. There is a 25% risk that the cannon explodes, causing 3d6 damage to all (reflex save for half damage, DC 15) within 15 feet; there is a 50% chance that the cannon has jammed and is inusable until repaired, and a 25% chance that the shot is fired with much greater power (causes 10d6 damage instead). Price: 1000 gp; Cost: 600 gp, 50 xp. Steam-powered pumps These drainage pumps have been implemented in some mines and are quite popular, but difficult to construct and requiring a large amount of maintenance and expertise to operate, they are often abandoned in favor of spells and regular work. They can pump water at large speeds, but are expensive to create. Price: 20,000 gp; Cost 10,000 gp, 500 xp.
The Swedish Viking 07-11-05, 05:52 PM	Bedelius "The Fireflask" Sapper; Neutral Dwarf Rogue 1/Expert 4/Wizard 1/Fighter 1 "Bedelius the Fireflask, eh? Heīs a black sheep, that one. For your own sake, if not for public decency, dont support his heresies or mad ventures. Youīll get yourself - and, if you got relatives, your family - into trouble by associatin with that madman. Blunderin all over, causin trouble, and creating all kinds of heretical havoc aint good for anyone. No, best of luck to the Witch Hunters!" Bedelius "Fireflask" was not one of the many wizards who sprung up following the discovery of Heartstone magic. His family was one of dwarven engineers and innovators, who had been working on improving equipment for the great gold-mines in the Mountain Duchies. His was a renowned family, respected for their skill and artisanry. However, Bedelius became a bit of a black sheep, engaging not only in engineering but in Alchemy. The dwarves themselves couldnt care less about it, being practical people, but their trade-relations could suffer from such attention and thus they kept Bedeliusī experiments a secret, while encouraging him onwards and supporting him with equipment. Bedelius quickly became a promising alchemist, and aided by a human mercenary wizard called Gregorius, who had learnt wizardry shortly after the discovery of Heartstone Magic, they ventured to put together a book - a book which gathered all hitherto discovered lore of Alchemy. This quest of course eventually led Bedelius to leaving the Mountain Duchies on a quest of knowledge. However, as became soon apparent, the outside realms did not take kindly to his pursuit of knowledge. Being practical and stubborn, his first courses of actions thus became applying the magic he had learnt from Gregorius to practical use as a weapon, and learning the way of the sword, axe and hammer. He became a travelling warrior-scholar, a heretic and dangerous dwarf willing to do anything in the quest for alchemical knowledge. An incident with a rather large sample of Blackpowder reculted in a price on his head and an outlawing from Renflour and a lot of very maddened Witch Hunters on his trail. He took his refuge to the west, where he believes he can perform his experiments in greater solitude.
The Swedish Viking 07-12-05, 02:34 PM	Maybe its time to make something about the wilderness areas? Im thinking about doing a write-up on some wilderness locations - particularly the jungles along the south of and even more south than Erindu, the mountains there, and maybe something about the Steppelands.... hmmm. Weīll see. Also, Im interested in the role of the Yuan-Ti. Do they exist here? Or dont they? Overall, Lizardfolk seems to deserve a writeup, in the true spirit of the Kobolds. :P Also thinking about doing something on Belsomme or Kresmaya, and maybe post some intrigues in Garland or Chirmont, some NPC or guild or location or whatnot of that area.
The Swedish Viking 07-17-05, 01:54 PM	Creatures of the Dark Serpent "Long ago, there was a cult deep down in the Erindese jungles and forests. This was a druidic cult of the Old Ways, and this story is another proof of their vileness. This cult worshipped the destructive powers of nature, leading tribes of the reclusive humanoid beings that live in these uncivilized jungles. They were humans and those strange beings rumour would have it are half man, half lizard - Lizardfolk; Kobolds, and relatives to the strange Troglodytes living in the Mountain Duchies. These creatures were warlike, forming small nations and fighting between the tribes, often for spoils, loot, and plunder, but sometimes for religious reasons - to extinct the weak and breed out the worthless, as the stories go, amongst surviving humans and elves. As time passed, this "War of Dominion", as they called it, the war which would make the "strong" masters of the "weak" made them vulnerable to their enemies. And the elves and gnomes in this region hired Giants from the north to aid them, and then they launched an assault on the capital of these beings. The capital was named Merrshaulk, after a demonic entity of strength and intrigue that these men, lizards and hybrids worshipped. They viewed the Lizard, the cold killers, the venomous serpents, the insidiously sly ones, as the ones worthy of supremacy. And so they crafted a gigantic idol of this entity, a gargantuan serpent with the head of a cobra, and arms grasping claymores and long vicious fangs. When the enemy army grew close, the Druids and foul sorcerers of this place used rituals and evoke the spirit of darkness and evil that they had fed with their wars of sacrifice and strength; they gave name to the deity of their city: Merrshaulk. And Merrshaulk, it is said, fell upon the advancing army and tore through it. And when the enemy army was on retreat, it is said that Merrshaulk chose the strongest of his worshippers and shaped them in his image; half human, half serpent, and made the Yuan-Ti; demonic creatures, part of this world and part of the void. Legends say that it was at this point, that the clerics of the Pantheon beseeched aid from the Gods, and called down the powers of the Sun Father. However, the powers of the cleric were not enough to channel the glory of the Sun Father, and the evil of Merrshaulk resisted; so that instead of being destroyed he was put into a long sleep. And this, it is said, is how it remains to this day. Following the vile demonic Merrshaulks awakening, the invading army fled - but only after having slain a substantial amount of the vile folks in this part of the world. Merrshaulk, it is said, remains, and the world must be ever watchfull as these Yuan-Ti will undoubtedly attempt another war of sacrifice, great conflicts of sundering where only they - the insidious, cold killers, vile ones - can survive." - Book of Dark Foes
The Swedish Viking 07-17-05, 02:10 PM	The Eklecast, Mislead Brothers of the Judge "There is one cult of mislead brothers who have caused us much grievance. These poor mislead ones believe us, the Church of the Pantheon, to be wicked and deceitful, to be in service of dark demonic lords of destruction and terror, and believe that we mislead the common man into performing dark deeds of war and conflict. They claim to serve the Judge of the Dead, whom they interpret as being the Judge of all who live and die, the ultimate God who decides who is worthy and who is unworthy. In reality, the one they worship is the Demonlord Garghast, a dark entity of great but not incomprehensible power. This cult believes to be doing good, when they are in fact doing the greatest of wrongs and dark deeds. They are mislead sheep and must be brought back into the fold; we shall not slay them like we do the Giants or heretics of the Old Ways, or the Sorcerers - these are our brethren and must, if possible, be shown the error of their ways. However, if they do not repent, there is no choice but the flame and the sword. This, at least, is what the Church of the Pantheon says about the Brothers. The Brothers believe that since death comes to us all, those who are deemed unworthy of life, or wishing to immediately pass on to the afterlife for their judgement or final reward, must/may do so. In fact, they often "assist" in these matters. The Brothers conduct ritual sacrifices of "villains", and mercy-killings of those that ask for their swift justice. They are out-of-hand brethren instilling a strange, dark justice upon those who deserve or ask for it. The Ecklecast are believed to have close ties with, for example, the Starlight Assassins and other shady church-organisations but, in difference to these others, the Ecklecast are an outcast order and these and other orders dedicated to the Judge hate eachother fervently.
The Swedish Viking 07-17-05, 02:33 PM	Setting might be heading of in too different directions. (frowns) Might be time to lead it back on track, and head back to Magicants, Heartstones, Liberation Armies and whatnot. Hum.
The Swedish Viking 07-17-05, 06:12 PM	The Hearstone Construct Hearstone Golem is the common reference-name of creatures constructed and/or animated through the use of the living magical essence of Hearstone(s). Creating a Heartstone Construct "Heartstone Construct" is a template that can be added to any creature of any type - assuming the creature can use magic, has spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, or are one of the "magical" races (such as fey, dragons, abberations, outsiders, etc.). A Heartstone Construct can take on many different shapes and sized, usually depending on what creature it originally was, these can be used in many different ways. Creature Type: Changes to Magical Beast. Hit dice: One cathegory above that of the creature from which the Hearstsone belongs; maximum d12 (so that a Heartstone from a Gorgon gives a d12 HD, and so on; Heartstone from a creature with a d12 HD gives instead 2d8 HD per level/normal HD - a 12d12 HD creature would thus recieve 24d8). Speed: Creature retains original speed and speed types. AC As Golem shape, but increases by +6 (enhancement bonus). Damage: There is a 10% chance for every other level of the creator that the creatures natural weapons counts as having a +1 enhancement bonus; increasing to +2 if a 5th level creator, +3 if a 10th level creator, +4 if a 15th level creator, and +5 if a 20th level creator. Special Attacks: Retains all those of the golem type, plus depending on base creature. Special Qualities: Retains all those of the golem type, plus depending on base creature. Does not retain Mindless quality. Saves: Same as Character, increases by +4 (count as a racial bonus) Abilities: Str and Dex as golem and heartstone type, No Con, Int, Wis and Cha same as base creature. Skills: Same as base creature. Feats: Same as base creature. Climate/terrain: Same as base creature + underground. Organization: Same as base creature. Challange rating: Varies from +1 to +8, depending on abilities. Treasure: Usually none, but can be varied depending on creature. Alignment: Usually within one step of the creatorīs alignment, though it will always revert to an alignment as close as possible to that of the original owner of the Heartstone. Advancement: By class, size and monster class progression. Creating a Hearstone Construct Creating a Hearstone Construct is very similar to constructing a Golem. Essentially, Hearstone constructs are golems which have had Heartstones inserted into them, granting them life. Creating a Heartstone Construct works exactly like crafting a Stone Golem, Mud Golem or a Flesh Golem (as described in the MM, choose which type before starting creation as the abilities of the Golem type affects abilities and construction of the construct), with the following changes/additions: a) A Heartstone is required. b) The Heartstone Construct must be imbued with special runes and spells of a mystical nature, requiring the spells Arcane Mark, Permanency to be cast upon the construct. c) The Heartstone must then be inserted into the Construct, requiring a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + Power Level of the Heartstone). If the check succeeds, the ritual inserting the Heartstone is completed. If the check fails, the Heartstoneīs energies are consumed, but the ritual itself fails. If the check fails by less than five, there is a 25% chance that the energies of the consumed Heartstone will when the ritual (eventually) succeeds bestow a +1 permanent Ability bonus to one ability score of the creatorīs choice. If it fails by five or more, the draining of energies cost the creator 250 XP. d) In order to have knowledge of the rituals required to craft a Heartstone Construct, you require 12 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana). Mechanics The application of mechanics is thus the following. First, choose the type of golem the Heartstone Construct is going to be constructed as. Then, choose the base creature. The Heartstone construct retains all special qualities bestowed on it from being a golem, apart from the Mindless quality. The Heartstone Construct acquires Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom scores of the creature originally retaining the Hearstone. The Heartstone Construct retains the Strength and Dexterity scores of the golem type it mimicks - as it is essentially a construct, it lacks constitution score and is immune to poison etc. just like a normal golem - however modified with the Ability Bonus of the base creature. So, for example, a Heartstone Construct with the Hearstone of a Str 15 creature would get first the Strength score of the Golem type it was crafted as, and then modify this by +2 because the strength of the Heartstoneīs original owner had this modifier. Special Abilities: Selecting which special abilities are retained by the Heartstone construct works just like selecting special abilities for a magic item, depeing on Power Level etc. However, several Heartstones can be used in the construction of the Heartstone Construct to bestow it with additional power or special abilities.
The Swedish Viking 08-02-05, 06:32 PM	Finished section on technology. I know, its fuzzy, but that is mainly due to intent. It is a difficult task to merge arcane and mundane but keeping in flavor with the setting, but I hope I managed to. Updated the Brothers of Ecklecast and finished them. On the drawing-board are finishing some posts I made maaaaany pages past (posting links if/when I finish them) as well as proceeding to another important part of renaissance, namely exploration. Now, the Elven and Dwarven histories explain them as coming from the east, the Human and Orc as coming from the west, the halfling, gnome and goblin ones as coming from the south. Now, I know the out-of-game reason for this, but wouldnīt it be interesting to make some of this and shaping it as a part of the history? By the way, Im gonna get back to the document. I had a crash a while back and can for some idiotic reason not use word on my computer ( :confused: ) so now I am using Works. Not as good a format but still readable and manageable. It is 190 pages, and gonna be a lot more when I finish it. In addition to this, and keeping in line with the theme of cultural, religious and political strife, I am likely going to return to the theme of experiments-gone-wrong and the like and try to reincorporate that with the theme of exploration, invention, as well as the concept of magicant/heartstone creatures and constructs. I hope to get input from 77 on this; or His Majesty, but they dont seem to be around anymore. :( I dont want to get too close to a fantasy version of Matrix or Terminator, but I cant but feel that it is going to be inevidable if one goes into this theme.
The Swedish Viking 08-03-05, 09:01 AM	Further updated Ecklecast and (more or less) finished the Heartstone Construct.
The Swedish Viking 08-04-05, 03:53 PM	Okay, Iīll be posting some ideas for exploration - who is conducting it, special events/locations, and some stuff on it - plus maybe a new villainous creature, as well as one or two baddies but thatīs basically it. The settingīs near completion - and thereīs loads of storylines to go from. But what after that? Im thinking that some of the (utterly few, admittedly) groups that have so far played in this setting post here a few summaries of what theyīve done and what effects these adventures have had. Im thinking something along the lines of an interactive setting here - with gazetteers summing up recent events and adventure hooks every now and then, as well as locations and villains and new items and other stuff like that. The thing is that Im loathe to touch the major plotlines - like the Liberation army, the Highcasters or Farngachīs expansion plans - because these could easily be altered in many ways. So Im thinking: what if these gazzetteers include options for what occurs if any are stopped, if they go through, or other suggested changes for the world if something else occurs? That way the 1.0 setting can be kept intact and the new additions be "optional timeline-based" material. As Iīm the only one posting here, itīs beginning to seem as if Iīm talking to myself. :(
prodigyxss 08-04-05, 05:10 PM	Its alright Swedish Viking, Im still reading your fine work on the setting :D . Its a shame Majesty and 77 abandoned the forums. I will try to post on this thread more and give you feedback on your ideas and contributions. As for now though I got to be heading for work. Oh, and if you ever get done with the document for the setting, could you email it to me someday. Prodigyxss@yahoo.com
The Swedish Viking 08-06-05, 06:32 PM	The Renlinean Royal Expeditionary Fleet “Hear ye, hear ye! The venerable elves of Ponderry, as well as our own Guild of Exploration and Invention and many Renflourian and Ledesian merchants have now gone together to form a unique organisation in the history of this world! Historians, clerics and merchants and soldiers are now ready to depart for the east to the legendary homelands of the Dwarves and Elves, the land of Feylin! Riches await and lore and secrets of our gods and origins lie there, hidden in the east!” In the wake of the Great Rebellion and the Heartstone Reinassance, the Glorious Renlinean Empire - commonly known as Ponderry - are once again being arouse from its sleep. The ponderrian elves are realising that conquering is not an option, and not a route to greatness. But their population is swelling, the people are restless, and they are tired of former servants spitting them in the face. The elves need trade, they need innovation, they need expansion. The alliance with Highcaster is not yet a fact, and even after it comes into being there are no signs that tell the elves that times will change. So instead they turn their heads towards the south, and the strange empires hidden in the jungles; and to the east, the place where tales and historians tell that their ancient homeland lie. The elves are tired of this place. They are nobles, and the quarrels of the younger races tire them. They do no longer desire the world - realisation of this as an impossibility, as well as it being a folly has struck them after the Heartstone renaissance - so instead they have begun to seek out art, beauty, magic, science - and exploration. Some years past the elves began to construct a fleet. Being a people of fey spirits and of the four winds, the elves have always taken easily to the seas. And this was to be a fleet that none have ever seen before. When the dwarves heard of the enterprise, they immediately sent contacts to the elves, to assist these in return for business opportunities and gold. And the Renflourian merchants and the Guild of Exploration and Invention on the mainland did likewise - expecting glory, fame and grandeur should the expedition succeed. The purpose of the fleet were thus: For the elves to secure their ancient ancestry, their homelands, and bear the fore in creating the greatest fleet ever seen - to conquer the seas, and to find and establish new realms to trade with - although mainly self-supportive, the elves does desire some things from the outside. The dwarves had basically the same goals, although a bit more practically formulated - they desired gold and commerce, and saw in the fickle elves a good business partner. The Guild of Exploration and Invention and the Renflourian merchant leagues did likewise. The fleet itself is a marvellous thing to behold. The ships are living shapes of gigantic sizes - three hundred feet in length and one hundred feet in width. They are crafted of the living trees and twigs, and are all self-supportive communities. The dwarven and elven magicians have strained themselves to use the new Heartstone technology to great effect in the creation of the fleet. The ships do not have sails per se - they have gigantic finlike “wings” on the sides, shaped like fans, which are inscribed with runes. In each ship a Heartstone has been set, that of a water elemental, assuring the ships safe passage and good travels. They are propelled by sails as well as the fins, and have had their technical parts designed by the finest of dwarven smiths and engineers. The elven, dwarven and human fleet set sail for the first time not too long ago. They set sail south, first, as a sort of “trial run” for this great navy. They sailed to Erindu and Hunitania, and farther south where they found islands with gnomish, goblin and some human communities which lived isolated on small southern realms. After finishing this journey - during which they encountered many strange animals, but no other races; although they heard tales of the strange lizardfolk and yuan-ti of the jungles - they returned north with many wares and much pieces of wealth. The fleet is now docked at Ponderry, awaiting the next journey - when they shall set sail for the assumed location of the elven and dwarven homeland. --------------------------------------------------------------------- However, all has not been entirely well, nor has it been without omens and portents. The fey and the spirits of nature are restless, and there are strange rumours. The enigmatic fey tell of a great darkness, supposedly what forced the elves and dwarves to leave their homeland in the first place. They tell of strange beings known as The Heartless, and it is said that late last year, after the return of the fleet, the ancient figure of Orrin - the Grand Druid - turned up at the court of Ponderry to try and tell the elves to change their course
The Swedish Viking 08-06-05, 06:40 PM	Posting the first of these "custom-tailorable" updates within the next two weeks. Going away monday, so this is gonna be on ice for a while.
The Swedish Viking 08-21-05, 10:12 AM	Gazzetteer I: War? "Hear ye, hear ye! Great tidings and news bring I to thee, reader! For the vile and despotic army of brutish monsters to the north is threatening to sack the castle of lord Hargus the Rich, who lives in Wanford and is a patron of the Church of the Pantheon! Open conflict now threatens the land as the church gives the Army an ultimatum! Read more in this gazzette!" Lord Hargus the Rich (male human Paladin 8) is a famous person as far south as Renflour. He owns a lot of land and has financed the building of temples, shrines and churches as well as having raised a considerable force - a small army of his own, made up entirely of recruits from Chirmont and Corsom and combined it into a versatile unit. His lands have always been peaceful, and the people well fed - up until very recently. A vile sorcerer had been cornered by Lord Hargus - who, noble soul as he is prefers to do his own dirty work - in his bastion, after having used the blood of unicorns to fuel his power and occupy a village together with some magical-creature minions and goblin mercenaries. The sorcerer and Lord Hargus, and their respective forces fought a long and ardous battle alongst the northern borders, close to and partly inside the great forest in Corsom/Wanford and the surrounding nations - the forest where the Magicele Liberation Army holds sway. Before this, the rich Lord and the Liberation Army had gotten off very well. Thus it came a complete surprise when the sorcerer led his minions to attack, unprovoked as it seemed, the Lordīs northern villages. The Lord rallied his troops and counterattacked. In the battle between the two forces, the sorcerer flew the flag of the Liberation Army and claimed their protection - hoping to use this as a deterrent and, if they won, profit on the chaos it would wreak. The Lord disregarded this and flew upon his foe. In the battle that followed the sorcerer was mortally wounded and cast a dying curse upon Lord Hargus. The curse was thus: "May your soul be wreaked by the havoc and madness we here today sought to create, vile knight, on that your soul be as tainted as you think our deeds have been!" The curse took effect soon. Barely had the forces of the Lord retreated back to their keep before paranoia and madness began to grip the duke. Believing all and everyone to be witches or in league with the Liberation Army - which he now hated - he saw traitors everywhere and called for the Soulguard Witch Huntersī aid. They came, and with the increasing madness of the land, they too were gripped by the frenzy. For the curse spread to those who stood him closest, and those of his family who didnt flee succumbed to the curse or died when the paranoid lord began to cleanse his home. Soon afterwards religious extremists began to flock to the Lordīs homeland, thriving on the conflict and spurring the Lord to act. He sent his forces into the Corsom-Wanford borderland and attacked Liberation Army encampments, in vengeance. Now the conflict seems almost inevitable.... State of the struggle At this time, the state of the struggle is critical and there are numerous ways the characters can influence the events. Here will be listed the major organisations, events and characters participating in the conflict. The Soulguard Witch Hunters: The Witch Hunters have been here since the beginning of the conflict, acting like your everyday Spanish Inquisition and suspecting everyone of heresy and witchcraft, their originially relatively noble goals sullied by the curse that is driving the mad Lord. Liberation Army forces: The Liberation Army forces arrived within days of the Lordīs attack on the Army. They have announced that they were not part of the original assault on the Lordīs land - although the Lord and the witch hunters call them liars - and have come here to demand justification. They come to a land which is sundered by uprisings of oppressed people as the madness of the Lord has quickly become catastrophic for his land. Neutral towards the Rebels, in open conflict towards Witch Hunters and Lordīs Forces. Rebels: The Rebels have decided to revolt against the mad and oppressive hand of the Lord and to overthrow his rule. The revolt is led by the Lordīs nephew Hans (male half-elf Paladin 4), who is the next in line to inherit the land should the Lord fall in combat. They are noble souls who have been betrayed by the madness of the Lord and whish to see them ended. They are neutral towards the Liberation Army, and in open conflict with the Witch Hunters and the Lords Forces. Lordīs Forces: The Lordīs Forces are a mottled band of half-orcs, human, goblin and other warriors from as south as Renflour. They are highly disciplined and well-trained and utterly loyal to their Lord. They are neither evil nor good but merely dutiful, led by Captain Tyrus (male half-orc ftr 5). They seek to maintain the order while still doing the will of the Lord, which has led many to doubt the sanity of their master and is breaking the unit apart. Goals of the Conflicting/Resolving the Conflict: There are a few ways the conflict can be resolved. The ways and their effects are listed below. 1: The Lord is slain by Liberation Army The Lord is somehow slain by representatives of the Liberation Army who can see his madness but not prove it and is forced to remove him for their own safety. If this is done and it is discovered who did the deed, the Church immediately rallies its allies and sends large contingents of troops to northern Corsom and Wanford, and an army is soon raised to combat the threat of the Liberation Army. The leader of the Rebels take charge of the land and are forced to walk a fine line between church and Liberation Army, seeing the justness of the Army but not being able to react on it - and perhaps even suspecting them of the evil witchcraft they were accused of. 2: The Lord is slain by Rebels If the Lord is slain by the Rebels, the Witch Hunters are forced to leave the area and the Liberation Army volontarily does so. The church does not react other than by taking a more neutral/guarded attitude towards its witch hunter allies and performing numerous enquiries on what in the hells they were doing up there - and taking actions depending on what they find out. The Rebels are highly in regard of the Liberation Army - as the Rebel leader has not taken actions against them, this area now secretly becomes a "safe spot" for magical creatures who assist the Rebels in rebuilding the land. 3: The Lord is Slain by a coalition of the above If the Lord is slain by a coalition of Rebel and Liberation Army forces, Corsom, Wanford and Chirmont will be in uproar. The Liberation Army has coaxed dissidents within a nation to rebel against their rightful ruler! The land is become a land of outlaws, and an army is swiftly raised to recapture it under the banner of the Church. Wanford is suddenly ravaged by civil strife as lords who believe the cause of the Rebels just unite under the flag of the Liberation Army and the Rebel Lord. 4: Rebels and Liberation Army are driven off The Lord succeeds and the land is driven farther into madness. The Liberation Army secretly earns a greater reputation as the madness and evil of the lord is becomming more and more apparent, and nobles of Corsom secretly pledge their allegiance to the Liberation Army in return for aid in ridding their Wanfordian friends of the evil in the Lordīs lands. The Wanfordian nobles feel betrayed and disgusted by the church, and become more hostile to all. 5: As 3, And the truth of his nature is made public Peace and balance is maintained, as the truth of the conflict is made apparent. The Liberation Army becommes more accepted as a political power not to be trifled with and yet earns a reputation of benevolence and the hatred of its enemies. The Witch Hunters become outlaws in Wanford as nobles cry in outrage at their aid in the vile deads of Lord Hargon. The Church is forced to take a guardedly hostile stance towards Wanford for this, and is secretly undertaking measures to regain its prestige in this area.
The Swedish Viking 08-21-05, 10:33 AM	Okay, first gazzetteer posted. Tell me what you think, as Im a bit uncertain with the format. More info posted as I go along.
77IM 08-25-05, 10:38 AM	Holy smokes! I come back after six months to find Swedish Viking keeping the setting alive! You rock dude! I'll give some brief feedback: Kemlan: Like all your NPCs, this guy is really cool. You do a really fantastic job thinking up characters within the context of the world. I will just point out that he doesn't necessarily need to be a "fallen" paladin. If he can live up to the code while CN in alignment, he could retain his powers. (The rules around this are deliberately vague.) Black Powder: I think there is a terrible cliche in D&D that "Renaissance D&D" means "D&D with crude pistols," which I don't like. Your write up is very good, though, especially the idea that druids use gunpowder and that it is considered "tainted" with demonic energy. I would definitely make this material optional; some DM's might like it, but it doesn't need to be part of the core world information (the rarity of gunpowder makes this separation feasible). Magical Mechanics: This is AWESOME. First, though, some of the assumptions about science/technology in this world are wrong -- this is generally a low-science world. Technology is mostly still in a medieval state. With all the magic around, anyone with any brains is too busy working with incantations and heartstones to invent things. However, "simple machines" have been around for centuries -- people had elaborate waterwheels, seige engines, ship riggings, etc. even in the middle ages. This makes "magically-powered clockworks" a natural consequence in the world. I like that your write-up keeps such things as rare curiosities, however, rather than common setting features. Bedelius: Another interesting NPC write-up, he goes well with the write-up of Black Powder. Creatures of the Dark Serpent: Yuan-Ti and Mersshaulk are copyright Wizards of the Coast so if we want to OGL some day (and I would like to, I just haven't gotten around to it yet) we can't actually use them. However if we change their names... and don't provide a clear description of what they are, or any game rules... then we will be in the clear. ("Sinister snake-people" isn't copyrightable.) Knowledge of these guys should be rare, too; the interior of the southern jungles should remain a mystery so that the DM can put whatever weird shite they want in there. The Eklecast: These guys are cool -- they are a great example of an "evil cult" -- I like that they don't realize that they are evil demon-worshippers. The Hearstone Construct: This is a really neat idea. It's unclear to me which abilities come from the base creature and which from the base golem, and it should probably be "construct" type rather than "magical beast" since it has no Constitution. This is exactly the sort of thing wizards do with heartstones. Depending on the base creature chosen this could be a very freaky construct indeed! The Renlinean Royal Expeditionary Fleet: Very well done! I really like the image of the living ships -- fantastic, without being too bizzare. Such a fleet has a lot of great opportunities for adventures and fits in perfectly with the themes of the setting too. Gazzetteer I: War?: This is a really cool scenario premise -- I like how it involves several different factions with somewhat complex motivations. I REALLY like your listing of multiple outcomes and the sorts of reactions they will provoke. I'm going to try to update the web site soon with all of your recent creations (the Organizations & NPCs section is still "under construction" :( ) -- I just need to find some time to do it. -- 77IM, not dead yet!
The Swedish Viking 08-25-05, 02:23 PM	Well, the Heartstone Construct is a Magical Beast because it isnīt really a construct per se - itīs still a beast and magical despite the fact that itīs been "made", and it can still die normally, get sneak attacks and criticals etcetra which is why I have chosen not to make it a Construct - especially as you could probably still use itīs magical energies after it was "dead" which isnīt possible with a Construct creature. Secondly, It is admittedly a bit unclear about abilities - mainly because Iīm not too familiar with describing this kinda things. Iīll try to clarify things but I donīt know how successful Iīll be. As for the snakeys, Iīll get at editing all posts as soon as I can.
The Swedish Viking 09-18-05, 12:21 PM	<.< >.> ..... :bump:
Gandor Illerûn 09-18-05, 09:14 PM	I really like your campaign setting guys. It's awesome!! :cool: My thread, entitled "Elemoor", is accepting ideas, locations, etc. If you'd take a look at it and maybe e-mail me an idea or city or location or. . .etc. Anyway, if you'd take a peek you would have my sincerest gratitude. BTW, this is AWESOME!!!!!!! Edit: If you ever get all this information compiled into one place, drop me an PM or email with the URL or document attachment. Thanks :)
The Swedish Viking 09-20-05, 01:34 AM	Yeah; Iīve been trying to compile it but itīs become very difficult given itīs size and that my email is starting to buggle up. Anyways, Iīll try to get a hold of an email that works, then weīll see about the document. EDIT: The size of the document is 6 megabyte, so I cant use Hotmail to send it, and my Outlook is having the hiccoughs. If anyone knows of a free online email that allows you to send files of this size, then by all means do tell me - a compiled document isnīt doing anyone any good by just sitting here on my comp.
Ishmayl 09-20-05, 11:27 AM	You guys should look into setting up a real webpage. Also, I was just curious what the story was behind 3 people working on the setting, and the original creator (77IM) hasn't really done much on the setting?
The Swedish Viking 09-21-05, 05:34 PM	Contrary, 77IM has done most of the work, and formed the very backbone of the setting. Me and Majesty just (well, mostly) been adding personas, organizations, nations and stuff to inhabit it. Our background? None whatsoever, that Im aware of. I just liked the setting and jumped aboard. Anyways, Im real bad at finding webpages... hmm. Though maybe it might be possible to find some "filhosting" place, where I can just put up the document (after, of course, editing to make it OGL-viable)?
Ishmayl 09-21-05, 06:21 PM	Yeah, I didn't mean that 77IM didn't do any of the work, I meant that I hadn't seen him do much on it later and it looks as though you 2 have taken over for the most part. As for web pages, there are plenty of places that offer free hosting; one of the most unobtrusive ones is www.freewebpage.org. What kind of document are you referring to? Have you compiled everything into text format?
The Swedish Viking 09-26-05, 02:19 PM	Itīs in a Works document (.rtf/.wps format, since my damn comp wont work with Word for God-knows-what reason). And I still havenīt got the damn email working... Iīll try to get a web-page set up with the doc anyway. But Im not at all good with the OGL stuff, which means someone will have to correct it so no illegal **** has snuck into it before I put it up which in turn means I gotta send it to someone.... gah!
Light Dragon 12-03-05, 02:15 PM	How's the conversion going so far?
ragingmaro 12-24-05, 07:50 PM	How is this on the 6th page!?
Sir Loin of Beef 12-24-05, 10:55 PM	I certainly don't want to speak for 77IM but I'm sure it probably got a bit annoying that SO many people read his posts but very few would leave any form of comment, suggestion or otherwise. As a writer, that probably got too frustrating and I'll bet he is posting elsewhere. Too bad too since this was such a good thread. It seems too many "guests" on this forum are far too interested in having other people do their work for them rather than trying to help out others along the way. With that said, I'll step off my soap box now... :teach:
Yules 12-26-05, 11:49 AM	Hello ! I actually ran several quest using the campaing world and I was fantastic ! I'm a Dm that place religion highly and the idea of magic rennaissance is fantastic ! Soon, I will place a little sypnopsis of the adventures I ran and some NPC. Yules
The Swedish Viking 12-30-05, 05:33 PM	testing, testing... dates. Ah, right. Ahem. Havenīt thought of this for ages, almost litterally. Probably wonīt find time/energy between school and everything to write/convert anytime within the foreseeable future.
Soel Griffin 01-16-06, 07:25 PM	Bump for another cool setting!
The Swedish Viking 04-18-06, 06:42 PM	an eeentireeely unbiased bump.
The Swedish Viking 06-05-06, 04:11 AM	Bummelibump. Can -someone- pick this up, read it or comment it?
Cam S. 06-05-06, 06:14 PM	Just a loose suggestion, how about a community dominated by wizards who use a process (Xill implantation, Vampiric conversion) to manufacture heartstones from criminals? That might be a good idea for a villainous organization. Sadly, I don't yet have an NPC write-up or an organizational blurb. If this idea is acceptable, and no one decides to pick this idea up, I'll write a bit more on it later.
The Swedish Viking 06-08-06, 03:33 PM	How do you mean - turn criminals into Heartstone-drones and just "grow" them like crops? That sounds... particularly villainous and nasty, though maybe hard to implement on any large-scale basis in the setting. However, as small cult cells, or some such... maybe tied to some nationality? It sounds interesting, indeed. What are you thinking?
Cam S. 06-09-06, 01:12 AM	Imagine series of special holding cells, managed by a powerful wizard, or spellcaster with access to a powerful magical device, capable of using Dimensional Lock. They have a small number of of Xill (see MMI) chained up. They capture those they believe to have done wrong, and use Charm Monster or Suggestion to get the Xill to use its "Implant" ability on the prisoner. After ninety days, a new Xill hatches. Xill are outsiders, mind you, and have a base HD of 5d8. Thus, they would naturally yield Level 7 Heartstones. There's probably also a way of artificially inflating its HD. This is limited only by the number of prisoners they have available. This would probably be the province of a LE Wizard or Cleric (Depending on the flavor one wishes to give to this group), probably assisted by a group of Rangers with Favored Enemy (Outsider), and probably a battle sorceror or Eldritch Knight, to do most of the extraction, so that the boss can worry about keeping the dimensional anchor, the Xill charmed (if it didn't agree to this, they are Lawful Evil, one might agree to sell out its offspring for a quick profit, or possibly even a boon of some sort.) This might be a good villain for a low-to-mid-level group, especially if the Wizard/cleric is using a magic device for the Dimensional Lock (and provided it's necessary). I have nothing written up, yet, but that's the general outline.
The Swedish Viking 06-11-06, 07:56 PM	Hum. The idea is interesting. Motivations of the group, location, nationality, race...? I canīt recall right now but I think we left a writeup on the planes somewhere... Might be a good time to dig it up.
77IM 09-30-06, 12:11 PM	OK, I have been out of it for quite some time. Due to issues in my personal life I kind of got "burnt out" on D&D. (It wasn't D&D's fault, it was me.) But I still think about this setting a lot and finally I convinced myself to try setting some of my thoughts down. The thing a setting needs most is locations. In fact, by definition, that's what a setting is: somewhere for the adventure to take place. So I've been filling out the map with major cities and some other stuff. Here are some cities: Marsid: This coastal city in western Chirmont is nestled between two large, rolling hills. An old fishing and farming community, only the nobility are allowed to construct buildings taller than one story -- and they fashion grand towers along the hilltops. Despite its tranquil nature, Marsid has throughout its history served as a staging point for invasions into nearby Garland, and several old abandoned forts line the cliffs outside of town. Aracel: This splendid city in southeast Corsom was the capital of that land for hundreds of years, and its ornate and colorful architecture reflects its noble heritage. As the center of trade for goods to and from Corsom, Aracel is known for its hospitality and for abundant gilded statues of mythical creatures, such as coatl and other celestials. For some reason, the surrounding lands have always been plagued by predatory monsters, such as bulettes, rocs, and krenshars. Latugoz: The largest city in Corsom and seat of House Cholai, the "Stone Capital" is a series of massive, high-walled stone buildings set down in the middle of the snow-swept plains. A massive system of heartstone-powered furnaces beneath the town distributes heat to various buildings and residencies, replacing an older system fueled by maneur. Like most of central Corsom, Latugoz and the surrounding area are steeped in legends of spirits, fey creatures, and undead, and the superstitious populace takes these stories very seriously. Galonica: In east-central Alluvan, at the base of the the Galon Woods, is the hilltop city of Galonica. Known as a lively and festive place, this ancient, yellow-brick fort town is built right on top of the remains of previous cities dating back to the Renlinean Empire. Much of this interior space in the "hollow city" is still utilized via a system of magical lights, although many of the older tunnels and catacombs are sealed off for "saftey reasons." -- 77IM
kroh 09-30-06, 01:50 PM	what burned you out ?
77IM 10-03-06, 11:38 PM	Oh, you know, stuff. The game wasn't fun any more due to arguments with my gaming group (what can I say, we liked to argue). My job was so boring and soul-numbing that I would work on this setting all day as an escape, but that just caused me to associate the two (D&D and horrible job) in my mind. I'm pretty much over that now but I don't feel a burning rush to get back into D&D (I'm playing some other RPGs with people who don't like to argue). Anyway... Greatbridge: The capital of Garland, situated to the west of the Darrow Forest along the High Road, is pronounced "Graybidge" by the natives. The city spans the Gath River via no fewer than nine broad stone bridges, including the eponymous Great Bridge, a marvel of Renlinean architecture that is now home to many shops and markets. Greatbridge is an old town with modern sensibilities; it has more than its share of academics and Independant Temples, but way more than its fair share of thieves and criminals as well. Cenchester: A fort city in eastern Garland and west of Marsid along the High Road, Cenchester is often the first stop for invading armies. All adult males in and around Cenchester are required by law to be proficient in the longbow, and the area's goblins in particular are known for their skill as hunters and archers. The nobility around Cenchester is not very loyal to the crown in Greatbridge, or to each other, and frequently hire brigands to make trouble for their neighbors. Giordane: This pastoral town situated at the southern end of the Aquargent (the Silver Lake) was a fishing village once, long ago. Now a bustling center of politics and higher learning, Giordane is the seat of the Church of the Pantheon and the location the Prophet's Basilica. On the edge of the water is the Chapel of Light Resplendant, where the Prophet was said to have received her first vision; it is a holy site that is still said to grant miracles to some of the many pilgrims who visit it each year. Valois: The capital of Chirmont is a massive city east of the Aquargent and marks the eastern edge of the High Road. Like Lienne, Valois is a stone city that still bears much of its original Renlinean architecture, including an elaborate system of underground catacombs that are still in use as burial places. Valois is a major center of culture, learning and international trade and politics, and has been traditionally considered a "friendly rival" to Lienne. Although it is well-known for refinement and hospitality, Valois also has some strong organized crime syndicates, which have been steadily gaining the support of the downtrodden lower classes.
BigJroni 10-11-06, 10:44 PM	I've only read through the campaign setting once, and it definitly is good. All of the contributers work is creative, detailed, and imaginative. Everything seems to be put there for a reason. This world definitely seems like a great place to play, and the mechanical support for the setting is great as well. I look forward to seeing anything more you have to put up.
77IM 10-29-06, 03:16 PM	Thanks BigJroni! Some more cities: Vapsburg: An old town of stone buildings nestled among the trees of the eastern part of the Wyrwood, Vapsburg is a major trading stop on the High Road. Vapsburgers are a hearty woodland folk, particularly the gnome population, and most expeditions through the Wyrwood start here. They practice many unusual superstitions thought to ward off the more mischievious fey creatures of the region, and there are rumors of underground cults of the Old Ways operating out of the Vapsburg region. Hessledorf: The capital of Frelund, Hassledorf is a bustling, colorful city on the coast known as a hub of merchant activity. Sometimes called the "Gilded City," the people here like fine living, fine dining and fine jewelry. Pirates often unload their better-quality hauls (including magical items) through a series of fences in Hessledorf. Hessledorf was the historical western end of the High Road, although the road was extended to Ishtokul towards the end of the Heartstone Wars. Ishtokul: Situated in the center of the Treothan coastline, this massive city of low sandstone buildings and massive Renlinean architecture has always been of two worlds. To the west is arid farmland followed by desert, while to the east is the sea; the Church is prominant and people are very devout, yet crime and poverty run rampant; and Treothe itself has always been a strong nation, yet isolated from much of civilization. The recent influx of heartstone magic and other new ideas from Frelund has only exacerbated these contrasts.
Saros 10-31-06, 07:20 PM	So much . . . to read. But I'll get through it! From what I've read so far, this looks like a great setting to adventure in. Excellent work, 77IM and Company! Edit: Finally located the web page (http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/Intro.html). Reading just got a lot easier. ;) Double Edit: Which further reminds me. If you need any help translating things to HTML for the website (assuming you still update it), just let me know. I noticed PrCs were missing, as well as a few other things that could be found in the word document. Thanks! ~Saros
77IM 11-16-06, 04:17 PM	Thanks for the encouragement, Saros! I thought I had posted two more cities up here on Friday but I guess I didn't. :{ Maybe I just forgot to hit "submit" or something. I'll see if I can find them on my home PC. Alba Vania: A gloomy town of tall, oppressive, brown stone buildings hunched over dark, cobblestone alleyways, the capital of Zoltar is built over top of an older, giant-wrought city. Nestled in the forested foothills of the Parthanian mountains, Alba Vania is home to many poor, down-on-their-luck peasants who sought to escape a bad winter or poor crops. Many of these now live in the ruins beneath Alba Vania in what is known as the Undercroft, a dismal place of poverty, lawlessness, and strange disappearances. Sylfalia: A beautiful wooded city in north-central Ponderry, Sylfalia is a breathtaking place of fine ornamental architecture, flowing waterfalls, and rooftop flower gardens. Living trees and plants are incorporated into the stone and wood buildings, and even the poorer neighboorhoods have landscaped exteriors. Everyone in Sylfalia is remarkably polite and easy-going, although the laws are strictly enforced and often carry harsh penalties. Ponderry is outside the reach of the Church, so many residents of Sylfalia harbor strange ideas and beliefs about magic, religion, and society.
77IM 11-17-06, 12:17 AM	Here are the two cities I thought I had posted on Friday... Karokdurn: An ancient dwarven stronghold built in the Leden tradition, Karokdurn is built into the side of a south-facing cliff, spreading on a vertical plane rather than a horizontal one. Overlooking a prosperous farming valley in the Mountain Dutchies, the finest dwarven craftsmen, scholars, merchants, and wizards live here. The higher-class citizens, such as the nobility, live higher up near the keep, while the lowest levels are inhabited by manual laborers and apprentices. Every part of Karokdurn is precicely wrought and ornately sculpted, and the dwarves have strict regulations regarding new construction and tunnelling. An ingenious system of magical elevators in the city's interior provides easy transport up and down for those who are too feeble or lazy to take the ever-present stairs. Everspring: Long the de facto captial of Jarlheim, this sprawling town of colorful wooden A-frame houses is home to most of that country's merchants and master crafters. The region is kept warm year round by hot springs, geysers, and geothermal activity, which the local populace takes full advantage of for health, recreation and agriculture. Everspring is the starting and ending point for expeditions into the more rugged areas of central and northern Jarlheim, and a lot of pirate booty makes its way through this town as well.
The Swedish Viking 02-19-07, 04:07 AM	Good. Time to (at last) send you the word-document compilation I made a few ages ago. :P
GoriceXII 02-19-07, 12:12 PM	Very impressive setup. I haven't read it all yet but I'm going to. I have to say that four things struck me immediately that made this the type of campaign world that would actually make me want to run adventures in it. 1. An inherent sense of drama. Some campaign worlds seem almost unreachable to me, they seem to have unattainable goals. However you nicely depict a world that is beginning to change that the pcs could ultimately end up being catalysts for in a number of ways. 2. You have an actual explanation for the existence of half orcs. I love the idea that they are actually the descendants of a now extinct race. 3. The magic. You have a unique and interesting basis for magic that explains also how it has formed the society in question. 4. I could easily pick out one of several locations to start a campaign in. A number of them are quite interesting.
The Swedish Viking 02-20-07, 03:06 PM	Okay. Found the reason why I never did send the document all those months ago. The document was all messed up, and pretty useless, so I've spent the evening recreating it. It's still pretty messy (I've mostly just copypasted directly - and not everything's in there), but it's usable and I'm gonna start sending it out, starting with 77IM, in just a coupla minutes.
The Swedish Viking 02-20-07, 03:14 PM	Unfortunately, I cannot find 77IMs adress anywhere. Sending it out to anybody else.
77IM 02-21-07, 03:03 PM	Thanks Gorice! 4. I could easily pick out one of several locations to start a campaign in. A number of them are quite interesting. This is kind of what I'm working on now. One of these days I will have both spare time and spare energy and will make a better map incorporating all the cities, plus some other region names and natural features. I just need to prod myself to do it. :P -- 77IM
The Swedish Viking 02-21-07, 03:17 PM	I've also been sort of toying with the idea of another mini-CS within the CS - namely a chain of small to moderate Islands with refugees who have been forced to flee from the purgings of an overzealous church. Perhaps the only known locale where one can still find Orcs? Who knows. Maybe another Gazzetteer of one kind or other. Perhaps try to do an actual adventure, though that would take more energy than I currently have. We'll see, we'll see.
The Swedish Viking 05-24-07, 02:26 PM	The Northwestern Reaches Kresmayo, Anku and Elrain are a sore thumb for the Church of the Pantheon. Located very close to the heartlands of the Church, yet so very far away, these small nations cling to their wilderness countries and hidden paths and defend them with great skill. In the forests of Frelund and Zoltar some say that the Giants still dwell - and few know what dangers are found on the Steppelands... Kresmayo Ruler: The Great Czar Races: Mostly humans and dwarves, though there are a lot of ogres and half-orcs as well. Very few elves, gnomes or halflings, though a few settlements of these exist in the Iron Woods. Exports: Wood, fur, foodstuffs, horses, jewellery, slaves. Languages: Kresmayan (although other languages flourish as well as the need for trade is recognized) Kresmayo is one of the older nations, dating back to the time of the Renlinean Empire, during which it served that nation as a vassal. Kresmayo has, however, never really picked sides during the conflicts of other nations, preferring to remain neutral and attempt to snatch land and power from it's neighbours at opportune moments. Kresmayo is mostly a flat steppeland, though it has some rather vast pine forests. Cities are few but large - and small villages more common. The nation is strictly feudal, with peasants being little more than slaves and even many burgers are tied to their towns. By contrast, the rather numours nobility (ranging everywhere from small robber-knights to big landowners) has much freedom and usually much wealth. The climate is very cold during winters and very warm during summers, although with few sun-hours. Kresmayo is a rough and often dreary place of quick death and thick plots. Slavery is legal in Kresmayo, though few actual slaves exist - they are mostly luxury commodities of nobles, or ill-fated prisoners of war sent off to the rich mines in the northwest, where most of them perish. The Great Czar is the title of the ruler of Kresmayo. The title is hereditary, and the Emperor has full rulership and near demigod status in Kresmayo. He personally owns much of the nation. The upper nobility, however, based on their vast land holdings and wealth, has substantial power - and Kresmayo is usually a constant internal and external struggle for power. Noble titles are often taken and given arbitrarily and swiftly - followed by quick rises to power, or quick journeys to the hangman. The title has evolved from the title born by the rulers of the Renlinean Empire - who both Anku and Kresmayo regard themselves as the last heirs of. Orthodox Pantheism is very strong in Kresmayo. The people of Kresmayo are very conservative when it comes to religion, and was unwilling to let the Church gain too much power within it's borders. Constant feuding and a geographical separation eased Kresmayo's passage into religious independance. Despite orthodox pantheism being the main religion of the nation, many peasants and nobles still follow the Old Ways, and the notion of "survival of the fittest" - with the Nobles often being the fittest - is still prominent in Kresmayan thinking. Anku Ruler: The great Emperor of the Imperial Nation of Anku Races: Mostly humans and ogres. A lot of dwarves. There are rumours some true Giants still dwell in the western parts of the nation. Exports: Fur, foodstuffs, horses, iron. Languages: Kresmayan (with Anku having it's own dialect - also, the ancient language of the Giants is still alive in this nation) Anku was never really defeated in any of the wars following the Prophet Jordana's ascension and subsequent death. In all the wars the small nation sided with the loosing part, becomming the only nation in the world to officially take in Giant refugees. After the end of the wars, the Giants vanished, though many suspect a few of them still hide in the western forests or out on the plains. Anku officially recognizes Orthodox Pantheism though here, even more than in Kresmayo, most still respect and honor the Old Ways. The nation is something of an anarchic hodgepodge, with the nation split into differring factions under different warlords each controlling different cities and tracts of lands. These warlords seldom unite under one banner except to defend their land from others, or to conduct minor raids into Treothe or push westwards into the steppes, where recently there has been discoveries of rich deposits of copper and silver. Most humans in Anku are descendants from horse-riding nomads, while many ambulating Ogre tribes still linger here - remnants from the days of the Prophet. Intermixed with the cold, gray, and harsh climate of this warrior-nation with it's Kresmayan mindset and culture, are plenty of the so-called Freeholds. Most of these Freeholds are ruled or vassals of one of the many Warlords in Anku, although some of them have their own rulers. One such freehold, for instance, is the Enclave of the Church of the Pantheon which has a few hundred inhabitants and is a strict church-state within the state. Another example is the lands of Duke Gremington II in western Anku, who has abolished serfdom. However, most nobles and estates follow the example set by Kresmayo, the nomad warriors, and House Koref: harsh. The Giants of Anku are both a source of wonder and aggravation. Although not "true" giants, the Ogres here still claim the title of "inheritants of the Renlinean Empire", and the leader of all the tribes and warring factions call himself the "great Emperor of the Imperial Nation of Anku". This title has usually been held by a very strong and bright ogre or ogre mage during latter years. The title has not been hereditary, passing to the strongest and most fit by election of the warlords. It is still a testament to the mentality of the lords of Anku - they regard themselves as the inheritants of the glory of the Empire. While otherwise a backward nation, this is somewhat confirmed by their status in magical research. Since this was the last known residence of the last great Giant wizards, there is an unusual amount of Magicants present within the nation, and many students of the arcane. This also means there are plenty of old Giant ruins abound - not all of which are deserted. Some have been magically rebuilt or resized to fit the Ogres and their human allies. This makes Anku a strange nation indeed. // I will try to work every now and then on some details of the Northwestern reaches around Kresmaya, Anku and Elrain - possibly supplying a more detailed area of the region - and it's conflicts, persona, and some ongoing plots. Maybe an adventure, dungeon or two, but can't promise anything. Updated Kresmayo.
The Swedish Viking 05-26-07, 02:58 PM	Updated Anku and Kresmayo. EDIT: Perhaps we should add the web address of the Home Page somewhere on Page 1?
77IM 09-13-07, 01:29 AM	Well it took a looooooooong time but I finally have a presentable version of the map. Not all the cities and stuff are labeled but I think it covers everything mentioned thus far (except the High Road is not drawn on there either). Edit: Now with TONS of cities, mountain peaks, and the High Road. http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/mapLarge.png A few national boundaries changed but not in any important way. I used AutoREALM which was a huge pain in the butt, although I did manage to win in the end. Someday I will fill in the rest of the locations, smaller cities, etc. as well as produce a map of Lienne (I have it on paper but city maps are hard). -- 77IM
Ishmayl 09-20-07, 06:26 PM	Man, I had no idea you guys had made a web site. Very well done! I'm glad to see this is still being worked on.