Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 leliel Oct 16, 2008 16:34:22	So, as a natural compainion to my earlier "Cyberpunk D&D" thread, I thought, "Why not make throw out an idea for a another high-tech, high-fantasy setting?" After reading up on the Fallout series, I thought making up a homebrew setting that asks "What if you took the feel and world of Fallout, and added magic to it?" So here's my idea: The world of Thanaz (working title) was originally a fantasy world in the vein of the Forgotten Realms. Then the Azoth came. A mysterious alien bacteria with the ability to induce benefical mutations in those it infected, Azoth quickly became the chief resource of all the empires of Thanaz. Due to the particular method of it's arrival-an unfortuante malfucntion with a starship's FTL-the technology of Thanaz also advanced to levels comparable to modern Earth, and it entered a golden age. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and the end of the age came relatively quickly, when the main source of Azoth-the spaceship-ran out. While it was able to create more of itself over time-it is a bacteria after all-the surplus that had allowed the nations of Thanaz to thrive was no longer. Suffice to say, the major empires of the world started a war over the remaining Azoth, and it wasn't long before the entire planet was reduced to a magically radioactive wasteland. Like in Fallout though, the end of the world of Thanaz was only a chapter in a history that was still being written. The campagin begins as the PCs, members of a shelter of people that had seen the war coming from a mile away, venture out into the remmnats of a continent, all with the intention of starting life anew, but find themselves reluctantly drawn into a quest that, should they fail it, will end the world of Thanaz-for the last time. So, any suggestions on how to make this idea better?
#2 starkiller_ Oct 16, 2008 16:51:24	Well you could take Eberron and turn the whole continent of Khorvaire into a quasi-Mournland (grim, ruined landscape with monstrosities of all sorts but where healing works and the environment itself isn't quite so deadly). That would give you ruined cities, a declining magic-technology industrial base (with a few pockets where it survives), "high-tech" fragments (ruined airships, etc.), secret societies, and a whole back history you don't have to invent leaving you free to focus on the adventures. Hmmm, that could be kinda cool actually....
#3 doomsought Oct 16, 2008 17:47:30	Several airships remains, carefully isolated so that they won't be looted by greedy scavengers who don't know that such magi-tech is more valuable together than sold. These are the last refuges of the enlightened, who know how to work the more advanced magi-tech. Slowly they are being found, and raided. Maybe instead of bacteria, use the plant-angels from Tri-gun. It's more fitting to fantasy to see the creature, and for it to be sapient. Stat them out as monsters, each can supply (con+cha)*X residuum per day, but if they are forced to give more than con*X they must make endurance checks or slowly die. Up till now they have been treated as objects, carefully held in special support chambers, but a few have escaped, and may be responsible for certain events of mass destruction. (like Vash the stampede?) I see also mixing in hints of Tri-gun will make it fit in better as fantasy.
#4 Book5 Oct 29, 2008 12:29:57	Come up with a collection of villages that the PCs can tie together into a nation that doesn't rely on the Azoth. Meeting, befriending, and connecting the villages all while defending such things as trade caravans is a load of material and plenty of challenge/battle.
#5 hantle Nov 13, 2008 19:04:40	Bring back Dark Sun....
#6 doomsought Nov 14, 2008 16:19:52	Bring back Dark Sun.... Thri-keen!
#7 shibb Nov 14, 2008 16:28:31	Seeing the thread title I was sorta psyched for a post-apocalypse United States where mutation has allowed powers comparable to magic. But yours works too, and would require a lot less work.
#8 Vatras Nov 20, 2008 14:40:02	It's not apocalyptic, but I liked the setting of Arcanum, where magic meets technology and their contest for dominance.
#9 Johnny_Angel Nov 21, 2008 9:05:43	I think a lot of the wonderous items in 4E could be reflavored to be the technology that they imitate (i.e. sending stones = walkie talkies) Even some of the races could be easily reflavored to create something like Fallout. Humans would still be humans. Tieflings could possibly be some form of mutant. I imagine that Elves would be some sort of human that had used genetic alteration and natural selection to create a "prettier" race of humans; they could be from a specific vault or series of vaults. Orcs could easily work as humans who have de-evolved into Neanderthal-like and violence driven cultures after years of being forced to survive in the harsh wasteland. I'm not sure how exactly Eladrin would fit in, but if you really wanted to fit Eladrin into the grand scheme of things you could reflavor them to be aliens; instead of having a Fey Origin replace that with an Abberant Origin; also, Fey Step would be reflavored so that they don't actually 'teleport.' What happens is that since they come from an alternate reality/world/whatever the natural world around them somewhat rejects their existance here. At first this was an obstacle to surviving on Earth, but over time they learned how to turn this setback into an advantage by being able to manipulate their effect on time & space. For a very brief few seconds they warp the fabric of space and time around them which makes it appear as though they're teleporting, but what actually happens is that they move faster than the normal human eye can see for a short duration. This doesn't fit with the traditional Fallout storyline, but it's a way to use Eladrin in a setting similar to Fallout. The main thing that would be tough to figure out is how to incorporate guns and similar things into the 4E rules.