So I need some thoughts and opinions on a bit for my setting:
Namely, I'm thinking that the effect that dumps people on the continent also inflicts a certain amount of amnesia.
People remember who they are, their skills, all that jazz. What they don't remember it's where they came from - they might remember 'a sandy city' or 'a cold land' but that's it.
Thoughts?
I haven't been keeping up with whatever it is you're doing sooo some questions from me!
1) how is this effect procced? Is it a random natural event? Or is there some sentience behind it?
2) disassociating a person's history from their personality is .. well .. tricky. Could this amnesia allow people to behave with new personalities?
3) can this world of yours be escaped? do any entities travel to and fro at will?
Good questions! The Effect is currently named The Shifting Tides, The Changing Winds. Here's a writeup i did earlier on it that i'm currently refining
"The winds and tides of Terror Incognita are strange and not entirely of this world. Ships, flying creatures and even shore-wandering folk from foreign planes can find themselves hit by a freak wave or gust of wind, and end up slammed into the shores of Terror Incognita. Ships get dumped to the south, statically speaking, and the currents tend to lead them to crash on the shallow reefs surrounding Shipwreck City (Thought: Terror Incognitaas a whole has a ton of shallow reefs around it, making deep harbor ports a rarity. This would add to the navigational hazards!)
This effect waxes and wanes over the centuries - at the assumed kick off point for PCs, the Changing Tides and Shifting Winds are the strongest they've been for centuries. When the effect wanes, the seas are relatively safe to travel - if there are other continents on the same plane/world as Terror Incognita, you could reach them during this time. The Roman Elf empire was founded and grew to it's strength during a waning period - When the Wind and Tides started to wax again, the loss of intercontinental travel, the changes to the climate and introduction of new species all contributed to the fall (also the whole fungus thing, that did not help one bit).|
1) It's being left vauge on my purpose. Authorial intent is that it's a random natural event, because i kinda hate the THERE IS A REASON BEHIND EVERYTHING approach to storytelling. Sometimes a volcano explodes and you just have to deal with that.
But GMs can and should feel free to alter this to to their needs.
2) I dont know! This is why i'm asking the questions about it - it might let me solve some things, but it also makes for bags of issues.
3) Generally, No. You can in theory sail to other continents during a waning peroid, but it's still not particularly safe - How the roman elves managed it (and how the Conquistdaros are doing it during a WAXING period) is meant to be a central mystery in the setting, and a big ol' plot hook for people to chase. When the sailing goes wrong, you smash back onto the continent of terror incognita. You might be able to escape via high level planar magic, but there's no one on the continent capable of such - even the supernatural entities (Devils, Demons, Faeries) are all bound to Terror Incognita. No walking through hell to get to another place!
@Whelk@Tastyfish Oh man, you are both giving me Ideas. This is great, thank you - i've gotta dash out the door, but i'll reply in depth later!
Ok so I think I'd need to read up on the supernaturals of your world to see if there's a theme in there somewhere.
more questions:
what happens to souls (if you have those) when you die?
is this world linked to the 5e cosmos in anyway?
does the world have an overarching theme?
my first take is that this is some sort of jester gods idea of a prank (think barovia but by Cegorach). He can't be pranking the mortals he has taken, though: they probably weren't informed of why they were taken, much less who was behind it. Perhaps the other gods are being pranked. If you're running something that gels with Toril, then the gods will always be keeping an eye on souls that show promise. Perhaps Tempus really digs that fighter; the fighter is getting older now, he's got maybe another 20 years tops and then Tempus will invite him to the eternal battlefields where he will revel in glorious combat! NOPE! Jester god whisked him away and took his memories. The fighter still had a knack for smacking people but as he settled down to life on T.I. he really, REALLY grew fond of knitting. And so when he passed, his soul was claimed by Sune, much to Tempus' dismay. In the end, no god is cheated out of a soul but .. no one gets what they initially wanted.
An alternative idea would be that it's a long running bet/experiment between two (elder) gods (in my take on 5e, Ao is an elder god much the same way Cthulu is. He just likes building things, his brethren like eating the sandcastles he makes) regarding some quality of mortals (I'm envisaging a Lutece twins dynamic). Taking away a person's memories erodes their personalities. One god claims that this matters not; an essence cannot be changed, mortals will always be who they were meant to be. The other opines that an essence is mutable; it's just a question of the correct motivation. And so they whisk away mortals and strip them of who they once were, keeping tally of those that were static and those that changed.
tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
In Theros (MTG setting, now in 5e), mortal souls that escape the underworld do so by shattering into two parts: their identity, which persists as a flickering eidolon, and their body, which manifests as a corporeal "returned" body wearing a blank golden mask to cover its slack, blank face. Returned cannot form long term memories, so they wander the world in a search for an identity that they can no longer remember. They follow simple routines in a crude facsimile of a life they can no longer recall. Eidolons are the corresponding identity of being, in incorporeal form, lacking the physical grounding of their now separated body. In that setting the two halves don't seek any sort of reunion: they're thoroughly broken beings, each half incomplete without knowing and forever searching for something they cannot define.
The way it's set up in Theros is the full-on horror movie interpretation of those ideas, but there's probably shades of grey you could work with in there. I think it's an evocative way to explore what it means for an undead soul to escape the afterlife.
An alternative idea would be that it's a long running bet/experiment between two (elder) gods (in my take on 5e, Ao is an elder god much the same way Cthulu is. He just likes building things, his brethren like eating the sandcastles he makes) regarding some quality of mortals (I'm envisaging a Lutece twins dynamic). Taking away a person's memories erodes their personalities. One god claims that this matters not; an essence cannot be changed, mortals will always be who they were meant to be. The other opines that an essence is mutable; it's just a question of the correct motivation. And so they whisk away mortals and strip them of who they once were, keeping tally of those that were static and those that changed.
I like everything you said, but this is such a fun idea.
First session of my short D&D game went off great, after I was worrying about it for a while! Improv'd most of it, set some stuff aside for later.
Definitely the highlight was the ranger making some very good rolls to properly lay the groundwork for a rodeo wherein he rides a Nightmare. It demanded live meat, preferably a slave girl. It did settle for a nice bird from the gardens instead.
Have I mentioned how much fun it is playing animals and/or kids? It's really the best.
I'm just imagining the idea of an NPC, a lighthouse keeper on some tiny island a little bit off the beaten track but near your PC's adventure hub after they leave the main city.
The one you go to talk to before launching a big expedition as they have the canniest weather eye this side of the pinnacles, and is the only one watching when ships hugging the coast disappear after after dowsing their lanterns.
They're also the person to talk to if you're trying to track down the cargo from a ship that was wrecked. They have the accurate charts for the local area, a reliable time piece and an obsession with the currents and tides here.
A mad old coot, who races to various beaches and coves every spring tide to see what has been brought forth, but otherwise relatively harmless.
Just don't ask about the scarf and the driftwood log they are convinced those are the memories of the child and lover they lost in the wreck that brought them here.
"If you put the wood over your ear, it's like you suddenly can't hear the sea, yes! Sometimes when I do this late at night, I can hear singing..."
I was looking through Troika! while at work today, and holy fuck that's a weird damn game. I really like it though, it evokes a certain feeling (not sure what) and I kind of want to steal ideas from it.
Also, Corvid Court is like a very, very, very rules-light version of Blades in the Dark (at least it is as far as the basic premise: bad people doing bad things) with a lot of humor. It's cover page at the end of the short book is my new phone wallpaper lol
Oh, and not related to the itch.io bundle, but someone on Facebook recommended the game Spire: The City Must Fall and I'm in love with the basic premise and setting and artwork and everything. Definitely going to order a hard copy of this one
my niece joined my curse of strahd game last week, she got turned into frozen minced catfood by leeroy jenkinsing into a frozen room full of brown mold and casting a fire spell
We already have a warlock but I pitched pact of the fiend bladelock for #2, and she asked if she could have a familiar that her old character's soul ended up in. Yeah sure!
I did a 1on1 session tonight where she ended up making a deal with an imp named Majesto, and his boss, and cured Stella Wachter (who in my game went mad because Victor cast suggestion on her almost every day for years to make her hang out with him, not because he liked her, but so his father would leave him alone - forcing her to help him with his research. I like this better than her going mad from Victor turning her marriage proposal down, which is a yikes reason for her to go mad), who she's going to play as.
She, found her ... father, puked, robbed her mother, took her familiar with her learning all about the party opposing strahd, and used mask of many faces to get out of the city. Her old character is sitting on her shoulder as a pet infernal crow, her pact weapon is a Ruby Rod that uses the stats of a maul. What does her old character get out of this? The imp promised that if she can help Stella to get 6 specific mortals to sign 6 infernal contracts, she'll get to return to life (at the end of the campaign)
My niece has spent the last 2 hours finding art online of cool infernal stuff and sending to me, she's really into this. the character is lawful neutral, not evil, and doesn't particularly want anything to do with the hells, but the rationale is that unless they succeed, Barovia is just another type of hell, where sometimes a soul gets eaten by the dark powers... any source of power to go towards that end is worth it (I'm playing it that Stella was conscious during the entire cat period, just unable to express herself, building a hatred for Strahd's barovia, and her mother, and a desire for freedom)
Ok so I think I'd need to read up on the supernaturals of your world to see if there's a theme in there somewhere.
more questions:
what happens to souls (if you have those) when you die?
is this world linked to the 5e cosmos in anyway?
does the world have an overarching theme? .
So: Souls probably exist, what happens is an unknown, they go to some afterlife, there is no memory of this if you resurrect them. Assume this section of my setting guide has a giant "Placeholder" stamped voer it - until i have something better, that's what i'm using.
Linkages to 5e cosmos: Narp. There's a version of the Shadowfell and Faewild, but it's a single realm rather than two separate areas. You could easily have a character from an existing cosmology (the Shifting/Changing effect is infact designed to encourage such), but it's very much it's own world.
Themes: So, i never set out to make themes for this, it's just not how i roll - it came about because i wanted a place to stick my demons, orcs, etc together, and snowballed from there because Bermuda Triangle: The setting seemed interesting.
Thaaaat said, i'd say at this point, there's three major themes:
Trauma: and the processing of it. There's been a lot of traumatic events for the factions and groups, and the scars run deep. Monferrinans sing to help forget their wounds. The Satyrs built the last citadel the way they did so they could never be driven from their homeland again. And obviously, the very fact you can find yourself on a new world, cut off from everything you knew is inherently traumatic.
History: Terror Incognita is old, and filled with events lost to time (and demons, who according to a friend are biasing the archaeological record, therefore making them bad/naughty). This obviously ties in with the trauma theme too.
Hope: Despite everything, Hope endures. All three of the major city states are moving forward, and are generally "Good" places to live. The world has challenges and dangers, but these can be overcome. you always have a choice, and you can ALWAYS choose to make life better for yourself, and others around you. There's always hope.
---
To give you a super quick run down of the supernatural in the setting.
Important note: There's no Always Evil or Always good here. Everything below is neutral - Good demons and Devils are as likely as evil fae or gods. What you DO matters, not what you are.
Gods: Distant and unknowable. What impact they have on the world is subtle, and indirect - clever causality chains, people coincidentally in just the right place at just the right time. The smith with the portable forage turning up just as the messenger's horse throws a shoe.
Devils: Failed gods and shards of failed gods that do not know that they are failed gods - just that they should be something more, greater than they are. Filled with an endless hunger that nothing can salve. Prone to ossifying, mechanizing and fossilizing as they wield power directly.
Demons: Entropy Elementals orientated around Destruction. From the formless chaos outside of reality, they burn the old so the new may grow. Not limited to destroying the physical - Demons can target metaphorical concepts or ideas for destruction as well (such as "Civilization" or "The laws of this village"). Exist as Bound and Unbound - Bound were summoned by someone, Unbound came into existence spontaneously or broke free from being bound (Protip: dont give a Bound Demon a vague goal. Define things Very Clearly).
Faeries: Living stories. Come in three varieties. Small folk - Pictsies, lares and penates, brownies etc. Local folk sustained by local folklore. Fair Folk/Lords of Fae - Formless spirits that take on roles in mythologies and stories to give themselves identity. Literally wear their roles as masks, and can have many masks. Finally, Archfey - The oldest and most powerful, having become living mythologies, they ARE the legends they live.
---
So that gives you a bit of a grounding, hopefully. Honestly, while your ideas on the nature of things are cool - i'm really not interested in solving the why or how of the Changing Tides and Shifting Winds. I'd prefer to leave it as a mystery that GMs can fill in as they want, or leave as an unknown - looking forward, not backwards, you know? Sometimes the mystery box is better kept unopened, and i feel lik the Changing Tides/Shifting Winds should be such.
The main reason i brought up this question is i was tying to solve this mystery:
I know there's been some mass migrations to Terror Incognita. Most recently, the Satyrs, before that, the Orcs. The Ogres initially believed the Roman elves were such (Wrongly, as it turned out), and they think they were also a migration of some kind - but they're not sure, having lost too much of their oral history in the genocide. Fairly explicitly, these are refugee populations, that fled wherever and got sucked onto terror incongita (i actually want to imply that Terror Incognita has an interesting tendency to catch such people in need of a new homeland, as an explicit contrast to the colonial forces that have scared it)
...anyway. I was trying to figure out do these mass migrations remember their history and why they were driven out of wherever they were? does it matter if they do? (it feels like it should). If so, how much detail should i provide of their history? i'm honestly thinking the best answer would be not much - the satyrs were driven from their homelands by war, the orcs by a famine... enough to set the stage, providie a bit of character.
I think, keying off everything, and going with what i say below, teh answer is to say it's a mix - some people have clear memories. some people have fragmented, even within these rare mass migration events.
@Tastyfish I really like the washed up memories idea, that's awesome dood. As is @Whelk (...i nearly just called you Whetfish, dammit monster hunter) suggestion of souls drowned at sea.
So i'm going to run with both of these and say: ALL OF THE ABOVE. Some people do wash up stripped of anything but a sense of self. Some have complete memories. Some have holes in their memory... etc Some people vividly remember drowning at sea or otherwise dying... and then woke here (this was a great idea, Whelk).
I particularly like this because it plays into something i wanted to do with Shipwreck City - ontop of their coastguard tradition, they've got a proud tradition of psychological care. They see all sorts wash up on the reefs and beeches, and they know: It hurts to find yourself far from everything you thought you knew. And... they're here to help. The main island they're on is dotted with farmsteads that act as quiet places for those in need to coalesce, the city itself is filled with sages, wisefolk and the like who can provide care and treatment - and places like the Historian's guild work to compile knowledge of both the new homeland, and of whence people came. (this also dovetails nicely with the fact it was founded in part by orcs, and orcs have a strong "Leave no member of the tribe behind" mentality. If they wont abandoned the disabled/injury, then they'll not abandoned those suffering from mental disabilities either - those are just another type of injury, to the
In fact, @Tastyfish, can i just steal this whole segment you wrote? It's great, evocative as hell, and i really like the idea:
Maybe even link it even more heavily to the sea. The PCs are the sense of self that has washed up as flotsam, but perhaps other memories will wash up on later tides or even further afield on a different shore depending on the current. Certain memories float at different depths and are swept up in other currents; memories of hatred and passion are thrown up on stormy nights along the most stormwracked headlands, whilst hazy memories of youth are eventually deposited on sand bars.
Extreme memories are visible to other individuals as unusual objects, you know (if you've been here long enough, or are an experienced beachcomber) that this bottle that has washed up with a message in a language you don't understand is the lost memories of someone who has ended up on the continent. But the you it's just a bottle, there's no way that anyone knows to get at the memories inside.
Alternatively it might be a strangely shaped bit of driftwood, some cloth or even a strange patch of colored sand. It's different for everyone, though some sages and charlatans say that you can get an inkling of what the memory is and who it belonged to from the nature of the artefact.
For most, this is just a strange quirk of their new home - something that newcomers obsess over for the first year before deciding to start their new life properly. But a few can't let go, and track these lost memories down wherever they hear of them, hoping to find something that will give them a glimpse of their past life and perhaps...even suggest a way home. Others collect these artefacts and believe that if you can crack the code, infinite knowledge resides inside, whilst yet others still think all of others fools, but know that they will pay good money for the memories of their past life, or even someone of note in this world.
Rumours also abound of a few reefs, where the very darkest secrets have sunk into the depths - some even shattered by the churning waves, unholy pressures and jagged rocks, leaking some of their essence into the environment, turning it darker still. Anyone of right mind avoids these places, but if the secret of restoring, or even stealing, lost memories does exist? It's almost certainly to be found in these foreboding regions.
Or maybe these are all just ghost stories and sea shanties, stories made to help folk cope with the idea of waking up in a strange land with no idea of who they are or how to get home?
Oh No I Wrote A Ton Again.
Thanks all again for your feedback and awesomeness on this project - it's really been keeping me going, and i'm loving how engaged you all seem!
In fact, @Tastyfish, can i just steal this whole segment you wrote? It's great, evocative as hell, and i really like the idea:
Of course, it's a few thoughts inspired by your campaign setting!
I do like the meditative orc hospitaliers too. Having a race that's so often traditionally cast as the violent babarians in such a different role really helps to add to the idea that this is a calm serene place (even if it's not out of character for the orcs in this particular setting).
In fact, @Tastyfish, can i just steal this whole segment you wrote? It's great, evocative as hell, and i really like the idea:
Of course, it's a few thoughts inspired by your campaign setting!
Thank you! I'll endevour to remember proper attribution and all because it's really seriously good stuff. it adds a really interesting mystical angle to the whole setting - it's not just people and creatures that wash up:memories, identities, knowledge washes up too. Which is just... mmmff. It feeds into the faeries really well (a faerie lord is going to go /mad/ for a new myth where it could claim the central role, or even twist it into becoming it's own identity), it ties into the history and trauma themes, and it's just yeah. fantastic spice! Demons might strike out to destory certain memory (and hell, they may have very good reason too. Not all memories deserve to be kept, after all). Devils would be interested in such because tempting ways to corrupt people, or even just a mad attempt to fill there own hunger... Or the hope they can find a memory that might help them understand where they went so wrong.
Thanks so much again dood.
It's also fun because you can have the whole "Whose memories are these?" issue and other fun. Or even the horror of someone ending up with memories that are... aggressively colonizing, let's say. And you've suggested justification DMs could use on how the Roman Elves made the navigation to Terror Incognita (A memory or info from one of those dark palces. Heck, maybe they found out about the continent because a memory pearl was taken by the tides aall the way to RomanElfHomeland)
I do like the meditative orc hospitaliers too. Having a race that's so often traditionally cast as the violent babarians in such a different role really helps to add to the idea that this is a calm serene place (even if it's not out of character for the orcs in this particular setting).
I may actually have to call ship wreck city Serenity, or a similar name, i really like that. Serenity, Shipwreck's Repose has a good ring to it.
My thought is the orcs are a bit more involved in the running of the Coast Guard/Salvages Guild (it's the same thing), buuuuut now that you say it, they're totally heavily involved in the hospitaliers (and acutally, thinking about it - a race that's based off predatory cats probably has Huge meditation traditions to compliment the bursts of activity style, soo of course that would in turn develop into psychological care and similar techniques)
I have Meditating Queer Matriachal Orc tribes. That's fucking glorious.
It's also nice because again it shows the races are more than monoculutres - there's still a bunch of tribal orcs out there, and they're doing just fine, and i don't think the city orcs in Serenity begrudge them that (Hell, i bet there's a fuck ton of intercultrual transmission, given orc social dynamics). And i have to imagine as a predatory race who thrives on burst activities, there's probably a lot of thrill in hearing "Shipwreck in progress!" and getting out there to do some savin'. Then when you get old, and a bit more tired, you take up a hosptialer role - maybe Serenity's farmsteads are a bit closer to hacinendas, or similar farmhouse estates - quiet places that can hold a fair amount of people, away from the city's bustle, give them somewhere where they can recover, eat, there's work to be done if that'll help the recovery, etc.
(Also these totally make for a great kick off point for PCs in the setting - easy justification for why you're all there, prime target for a pirate raid, Demon attack, Faerie plot or whatever instigating event is needed)
1) memories can be "viewed" or "consumed"
and not necessarily by the original owner. although the process of merging a memory with a host is easier and more natural if it's the original pairing, it is possible for others to do. Memories will always alter the recipient in some way, specialists in this field can discern what the consequences (if any) might be. You might become proficient in a language you've never heard before or be able to play an instrument at a passable level. This process is not without risk, however. The precise mechanics aren't fully understood, not even by the best specialists (gonna need a name for these guys .. somnimancers?), sometimes a memory simply doesn't belong (this affliction also needs a name. going with a generic "diseased" for now). Initially, it starts off as the slightest of irritants; much like a splinter in your heel. But as time goes by it becomes evermore present. Sleep becomes difficult. Reality, once as sharp and clean as a cool wind on a summer's morning, attains a sticky, sap like consistency. suicide or madness are the outcomes, although rumours persist that the <name for ruling class> have a tonic that, whilst making them somewhat hollow, lessens the problem significantly.
1) class and services based on memories
certain groups aren't interested in an honest finders fee as much as they are in holding what they've found ransom. Particularly interesting or valuable memories that can contribute to a skill are sold off in (illicit) auctions to the highest bidder. The ruling class of T.I. are individuals who have, over the years, stolen much from those below them. They're knowledgeable in a wide variety of fields. They somehow know of your weaknesses. Additionally, entertainment parlours offer experiences for those with the right amount of coin.
1) a legend and a curse
over time, the inhabitants of T.I. mused that perhaps they could escape or gain insight into why this place exists if they collected all of their memories. One of the more infamous memory hunter stories, featuring a man simply known as Joal, now instills fear in the hearts of all who reside in T.I. Most memory hunters learn some valuable lesson along the way and eventually give up their quest of becoming complete. Not Joal. Joal persisted with an undying fervour. it wasn't long until he became diseased. While most people would balk and attempt to remove the proverbial splinter, Joal saw this as the wrong approach. He continued in what could only be described as running nude through a cactus garden. Of course, Joal's hypothesis didn't pan out. And sadly, for the rest of T.I., he didn't take his own life. For you see in the madness that followed he became convinced that someone, somewhere out there, held the last memory he needs. There's no rhyme or reason to his attacks. Rich or poor, Waxing or Waning, it matters not. Individuals are torn apart in the most gruesome of rituals. And Joal never finds what he's looking for.
edit:
4) I just remembered that R&M episode with those telepathic parasites. The base idea is pretty cool; people want to regain what was lost but what if you had this clan of shapeshifters that could forge memories? All of a sudden your long lost brother just happens to be on the same island..
Honestly, a lot of that is i think, darker than i want to go - at least for the main, heroic-aligned city states.
But for the more villainous places? Joal would make for a great (and horrifying) archfey. Creepy class and services based on memories is a great hook for Raider's Rest, and gives them an extra layer of menace beyond "Pirates are real dickweasels". Memory consuming pirates with twisted leaders grown fat on plundered thoughts... yeah, that's got teeth, and it's eminently punchable. Both good things.
(it also adds some further humor tto the fact that Raider's Rest has been burned to the ground many times across the centuries, and in at least one case, destroyed by volcanic eruption).
It also actually adds to the idea that Raider's Rest is more of an ideal/concept at this point. The individual towns that form around the dark and the depraved have been rooted out and burned to the ground many times. The romans crushed it, Monferrina has destroyed it at least twice the three city states alliance was brought into being as a response to Raider's Rest aggression, and then cemented with with it's destruction.
But the ideal of a truly free city - free from all limits, all restraints, all morality lives on. That it's leaders may be immortal memory-eating, body hoping horrors... surely that's just a story.
mmh, I'm having a hard time coming up with something that's all unicorns and rainbows :P
ok, got one.
The Festival of Evenchance
As the Winds and Tides rage and reach their most destructive, the fruit of the eventrees around T.I. ripen. These fruits possess a rather unique quality, for upon being eating, memories will leak from your head and impress themselves upon whatever you touch. It is a time where people reflect upon what has happened to them this cycle: what have I cherished? what have I regretted? and most importantly, what am I willing to part with? The old often gift the young wisdom. Lovers gift each other moments where the significance of the other became clear. People will set aside a day to do something that perhaps their best friend would or could not do themselves in order to gift them with the unattainable. Memories are often stored and presented in pretty trinkets or small ornate decorations that have something to do with what is being shared. Most people will receive a dozen or so gifts and as the festival draws to a close, for a brief moment, they see how fragile causality is, how these gifts could have easily not come to be. Conversely, this also means that anything is possible, and so they set out into the next cycle, renewed with vigour and purpose: your future is unwritten, weal or woe, an even chance for either.
several edits later:
I'm not entirely happy with the flow of the text but it's a very rough draft for a positive element for the whole memory wipey string.
Though, I'll note that the waxing and waning of the SW/CT is measured in decades and centuries, not in seasons.
(Hence why it's often civilization wrecking - no one's ever really prepared for the ecosystem going to hell, the weather going crazy, and the mass influx of new people when a waxing period hits. It screwed the Ogres over, then the Romans, and now a new waxing period is starting...)
Also hard time coming up with rainbows sez the person who's avatar literally fires rainbows at people!
Don't get me wrong, I do want dark stuff in the setting! You've suggested some really great stuff, and I do plan to use it or play of it. But for the three main city states, I want to play up the hope theme - having them be run by what I'd call outright evil just runs counter to my goals currently
Yeah I only saw the Waxing/Waning cycle from your writeup, I'd tie to holiday to something measure in years (<decade).
ooh, how about, and this imo is a big neutral but with the right decoration you could make it look "good":
sooo in wh40k there are the eldar phoenix lords and basically they're a self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating ideal in human form. sorta like the dalai lamai but the soul isn't reincarnating but being absorbed into a plate of armor which really rubs off on the next wearer.
Maybe one of those good aligned city states could have virtues given human form walking around? would make for a pretty epic legendary item :P
tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
+1
Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
Though, I'll note that the waxing and waning of the SW/CT is measured in decades and centuries, not in seasons.
(Hence why it's often civilization wrecking - no one's ever really prepared for the ecosystem going to hell, the weather going crazy, and the mass influx of new people when a waxing period hits. It screwed the Ogres over, then the Romans, and now a new waxing period is starting...)
Also hard time coming up with rainbows sez the person who's avatar literally fires rainbows at people!
Don't get me wrong, I do want dark stuff in the setting! You've suggested some really great stuff, and I do plan to use it or play of it. But for the three main city states, I want to play up the hope theme - having them be run by what I'd call outright evil just runs counter to my goals currently
Legend tells of Saf, a powerful archfey who only wears one mask: an oyster shell, carved into a pair of bird's wings with scales for feathers, set with countless pearls of great beauty.
Many years ago, Saf halted the rampages of a demon. She was badly wounded in the battle, and her body fell from jagged cliffs and began to drift out to sea. She was saved only through the heroics of her partner, who swam into the foaming surf to retrieve her before themselves succumbing to exhaustion in a rip current.
For years afterwards, Saf paced the beaches in a desperate search for her partner. Her mind, damaged in the battle, began to lose hold of her long term memories. She lost her life before the battle, and her memory of the terrible entropic beast and the great battle to subdue it gradually faded. One day, a pearl washed up in front of her: her partner's last memory of dragging her to safety.
Ever since she found that pearl, Saf has devoted herself to reenacting her rescue. She lures wayward sailors or aimless beachgoers near her rocky perch, induces them to rescue her, and then she casts them off to the strangling surf and awaits the return of their precious gifts to her. She has amassed a substantial collection.
Lately, young men from the town have been going missing at a concerning rate. As the players enter the scene, the body of one has just washed ashore.
Reading this stuff about people who lost their memories makes me want to watch the anime "Big O", which covers a similar topic (everybody woke up one day and can't remember any history). Also there are giant mecha for some reason
For Joal, you could steal some of the mythos for The Patchwork Man from the Takeshi Kovacs books. Theres a lot of body switching.
It basically was a bound demon animating a construct made of lost children. It killed its summoner but was still bound to its form. And it had to keep finding replacement parts.
Kovacs encounters a guy whose self was basically an amalgamation of his past bodies instead of his original self or current self like a lot of folks. So Joal could be an archfey and have a bunch of different racial traits, based on which memories he recently absorbed.
Reading this stuff about people who lost their memories makes me want to watch the anime "Big O", which covers a similar topic (everybody woke up one day and can't remember any history). Also there are giant mecha for some reason
I had an idea for a something called Wreckage. It was a post-apocalyptic wasteland of giant mecha, and would follow the lives of the sapient robots that awaken in the aftermath. They each had an individual, blank ‘core’, their soul more or less, but limb, weapon and gadget attachments would alter their personality and reveal snippets of memories of the world before.
I’ll be making a New Zellatia thread to iron out what kind of game we’re playing Saturday 1000GMT.
Edit:
More will be revealed in thread but if anyone else would like to participate just PM me, and I’m also going to make room for ‘player NPCs’ if you’d just like to comment occasionally but can’t play.
Thanks for all the thoughts everyone! I'll have more to post on memories and the effects of Terror Incognita on all that another time
For now, have a demon inspired by this:
Trees Splitting Stone, Unbound Demon
Trees splitting stone is a unbound demon who makes their home in Serenity, manifesting as a satyr child of indeterminate gender wrought in wood, stone and moss. Their personal destructive goal is "bad" memories/bad dreams. Anything you find yourself wishing you could not remember, or are haunted by is what they target. They mostly seek out and destroy memory pearls, or similar memory infused objects, but they're also know to reach into minds to erase traumatic events or consume nightmares - the more vivid the memory, the more drawn to them Trees is. A figure of local folklore, some regard Trees as a benign spirit that seeks to help, while others are deeply troubled by the very idea of losing their memories, no matter the content.
Those who study demons also raise the possibility that Trees child like form - notable when nearly all demons imitate adults - may be because it is in fact still growing... And it's destruction of bad memories may be just the start. Or perhaps it is simply childlike in form due to the childlike logic of destroying bad memories? With demons, who can say.
I have bought the Bundle For Racial Justice, and holy crap there are a tonne of content.
I'm asking here because I'm looking for stuff in these games where I can steal repurpose ideas for my Ravnica campaign.
Me too! I've been thinking that if no one does it before the weekend, I might try to create a catalog of the games myself.
Boy howdy, that's a hell of hill to climb though.
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Tynnanseldom correct, never unsureRegistered Userregular
I think I've seen a number of folks on these forums try to compile a best-of list from that bundle, only to discover another 50 games were added in the time it took them to look through the list.
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
I think I've seen a number of folks on these forums try to compile a best-of list from that bundle, only to discover another 50 games were added in the time it took them to look through the list.
Yeah, I just checked the bundle again today, and they added more stuff from when I last looked at it yesterday.
That mountain ain't gettin' any smaller, that's for sure.
I'm going to run my first one-shot ever on Roll20/Discord tomorrow. I'm currently reading the tutorial. I have 2 players: my partner and her best friend so it will be pretty chill anyway. I'm still anxious about doing it right. I guess I'm more worried about talking into a headset for 1-2 hours than anything else.
I have bought the Bundle For Racial Justice, and holy crap there are a tonne of content.
I'm asking here because I'm looking for stuff in these games where I can steal repurpose ideas for my Ravnica campaign.
Ravnica as in you want to play games/experiences that are set in an eternal city? Or something else? If you could brainfart a bit then I'll keep an eye out next time I'll be browsing through the list.
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
Ravnica as in you want to play games/experiences that are set in an eternal city? Or something else? If you could brainfart a bit then I'll keep an eye out next time I'll be browsing through the list.
Ayup, although Ravnica also has ruins and underground sewers/cities. What it doesn't have much are small out-of-the-way farm towns, large port cities, and its "wilderness" is a bit particular in content.
Anyone who likes TTRPGS should defintely give Costume Fairy Adventuers a look in there - i dunno that it has anything ravinca useful @Wearingglasses but it's fun and funny. I actually put up a recruitment thread on this 'ere subforum if anyone's keen to have a go.
Anyone who likes TTRPGS should defintely give Costume Fairy Adventuers a look in there - i dunno that it has anything ravinca useful @Wearingglasses but it's fun and funny. I actually put up a recruitment thread on this 'ere subforum if anyone's keen to have a go.
I’m going to be busy with work, though I hope to start running games on here soon. In fact I’ve set up a recruitment thread myself for a New Zellatia play-test! It’s called Helping Auntie Fatta.
I’ve got the bundle, so I’m going to look to over regardless. Maybe I can be a mysterious sixth ranger type character somewhere down the line?
I’m a big fan of your work so far The Zombie Penguin!
Your use of demons is grand, and opens up a lot of design space.
There’s a lot to look back over but I promise will!
My only really, it’s not even critic honestly, is I’d make the ogres hippo-people straight up. I think that’d be pretty cool, and make them unmistakable against oni or any other big humanoid monster.
Edit: To me your map looks like a broken heart, which is very cool.
When you say you'd make them hippo people straight up - What are you thinking?
Visually, i'm imagining they really do take after hippos - In my head they're in between classic depictions of ogres, and hippos. they're big, they're chubby and curvy (You could even say "Cute"), they've got hippo tusks that are visible when they open their mouth up and miiiight just poke out. They've got the same skin color as hippos - dark grey bodies with pink bellies. The only breakaway from both looks is that they've got hair on their heads... and that's mainly because the image of hair floating in the river as they poke their heads up is great.
I'm super happy with all my supernaturals in setting. I'm actually thinking that one of Serenity's ruling council is a devil - They run the Wayfinder's Guild, which is Serenity's exploration and outwards military arm (responsible for dealing with pirates, raiders, spore legions and similar threats). They're almost completely ossified, so their statue just sits in place in Serenity's council chamber - by tradition, their second in command is ceremonially armed with a hammer and chisel so they may be "Freed" if needed. Intended that they'll be an example of a good aligned devil. Which seems important to have, given the whole "It's who you are that matters, not what you are" approach. (I think they may have been a saint or similar who ascended to devilhood in a destructive show of divine power to defend the city from pirates or something? Working it out, but they're def a devil and that's the important bit.)
I missed the broken heart look of the map. That's a happy coincidence!
As to CFA, anyone else in this thread who might be interested: It's a super light hearted game. I'm aiming to run a couple of basically one shots, with the option of doing more if it's a hit. The nature of the game is that drop in/drop out play is super doable. There's not any long term character progression, and it's big on narrative play (one of the explicit things is winning a dice roll wins you the ability to narrate what happens next). Which probably means thing get Even More Silly and i might be forced to summon Gnihilistc Gnomes or Bears, but that's what my job is.
Tldr: You jumping in will be no problem, and totally in character for Fairies being overly dramatic little shits in the best way
Next projects for this is writing up the Saytrs, and digging into the three city states a bit more.
If people are curious: Monferrina is a Dukedom, with it's immortal Lich duchess (though i think Grand Witch Jaga is a regular advisor to her). Serenity has a ruling council, drawing on a variety of guilds like groups - Hostpailers, Coastguard (Rescue, Salvage, internal military), Explorers, Historians, and Ambassadors (Including actually having ambassadors from Monferrina and Last Citadel on the council). Not quite sure what Last Citadel will be - they're drawing on the Inca in part, who were a monarchy. Which would make more sense if they were pure saytrs, but i know these days the last citadel has a big amount of dwarfs and gnomes living their. Maybe they have a triple-monarchy? I'll figure it out.
There is currency, but i think the majority of things are handled by barter - you might know the rough price in currency, and just trade in equivalent goods (This is based on how real life currency got used early on, and given things, makes a lot of sense i think)
Appears as a dwarf made of volcanic stone, with slow flowing lava hair and beard. Lives in active volcanoes, and can somehow travel between them. Their goal is the destruction of civilizations.
To do this they forge weapons: obsidian bladed, stone hafted things that burn with unnatural heat, or obsidian arrow heads that shatter into gouts of lava when they hit a target. Their weapons have a disturbing knack for finding their way into the hands of rebels, assassins, terrorists, bandits and other such blights on stable society.
Very old, and very powerful - intended as an example of how Demons can be very subtle in their goals of destruction.
Storm in the Trees, Bound
Storm in the Trees is a known figure in Monferrina. Appearing as a pair of elves, one male and wrought in wood so pale as to be near white, the other as female wrought in dark wood, both crackle with blue lightning. Additionally, both have their ears cropped in half - a common marker of slavehood the Roman elves used on their own people.
Storm in the Trees goal is the destruction of Rome. Even now since it's fall it regularly vanishes into the wilderness to hunt down survivors (there are a few surviving towns/cities on the harsh Northwestern coast), destroy pockets of the Spore Legions, or reduce still standing ruins to complete rubble. Most Monferrinas who know about such things assume Storm is an unbound demon, but in truth they are bound. If one knew where to look, one could find a house hidden deep in the swamps, Storms contact surrounded by the bones of the two former eleven slaves who sacrificed themselves so that their former matters may be brought low.
Waves Grinding the Shore, unbound
Waves appears in their natural form as a tarnished, pitted metal state of a female gnome. She's always followed by a moist sea breeze and the smell of sea salt. In contrast to many other demons, she's a master of illusion and disguise, and can easily pass unnoticed no matter the situation (though the sea breeze always follows her)
Waves seeks out artifacts to destroy. Old relics, paintings, sculptures, original documents - anything that could be said to be historic is her forte to corrode into nothingness. Despite this, those who've interacted with her have noted her gentle and peaceable nature - she'll even present arguments on why she should be allowed to destroy things rather than escalate to a fight should she be met with opposition.
(Not that losing said arguments stops her from sneaking back later to destroy her target...)
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As a note: demons cease to exist when their goal is met. They know this, they don't care - it is their nature to destroy, and that includes themselves when the time comes. The old must perish so the new can grow.
Unbound demons come into existence spontaneously - the 'bigger' their goal, the more powerful and long lived they tend to be. They emerge from destructive natural phenomena - stormwaves crashing on the shore, volcanos erupting, tornadoes, hurricane , you get the idea
Bound demons are created through ritual and contact, often involving human sacrifice to provide a vessel to pour the chaos outside of reality into. Consenting sacrifices work best - unwilling sacrifices have a curious tendency to result in short lived unbound demons with very different goals on what they want to destroy than what the summoner intended. Creating a vessel somehow (Golem, simulclaran or otherwise making an artificial body) should also work
Bound demons can be permanently destroyed by destroying their contact - or by convincing them it's terms have been met. You could in theory do the same with an unbound demon, though good luck given the scale they tend to work at.
Destroying a demons physical form severely inconveniences them, but is not a permanent solution. They'll reconstitute eventually, and may carry a grudge. Or be impressed and try and recruit your help. Demons are werid. Once a demon is gone however, it's gone for good - even if a new demon with the same goal emerges, it'll be it's own unique entity
Bound demons can also break free from their contact - most often because the contract is poorly defined, and the demon realizes it needs to expand its scope to achieve what was asked off it. It's like setting a house on fire to kill the occupants: it should work but there may be unintended consequences.
Just wrapped up the first roll20 session for my 2-player game and they went so fucking far off the rails I am honestly impressed.
So the set up is simple:
Near a small town in a small cave are two grey oozes, a local woman tries to get adventurers and out-of-towners to enter the cave. They either perish, win or fall unconscious.
perish: the loot is raked out with a massive rake by the woman
win: fair's fair. The adventurers can loot the cave. The woman releases new oozes in the cave and waits for a new victim
unconscious: she saves them and makes them promise to help the town in return.
My party was following two thugs who stole a signet ring. One of the thugs went into the cave and perished, the other was camped out on the road being a wimp.
My party is sent to the cave and WINS. When they leave they find the remains of the dead thug and decide to take his head with them. On the way out they see the local woman and hide. They see her talking to herself and release new oozes.
They leg it to the remaining thug, just show him the head and tell him the woman did that. He goes with them to the woman's house and they leave him on lookout.
He sees the woman approach, goes wild and attacks her. Town guards run to the scene. My party legs it back to their home town.
When they return the ring to the local Lord he asks them if they know what happened in the small town. They lie to him that they don't know, he hires them to figure it out. He's afraid a cult made villagers go crazy.
Now they are going back to the town, this time with a patrolman.
I've asked my players what they think happened. I feel like they are to blame for things turning so bloody. The town isn't actively evil, they just make use of a *Edit* nasty resource.
@aldo Sounds like a Good Time Was Had By All and Nothing Is Going To Be On Fire At All.
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So, doing some research, i'm going to call the roman empire Aeternum. Which is Latin for Eternal. Because that's an auspicious name and the sort of high faulting arrogance and irony we're all here for.
Right now, here's my thoughts on them: They were conquerors. I'm not sure exactly when they landed on Terror Incognita, but it was within the last milineum, at the end of a waxing period. They successfully conquered the vast majority of Terror Incognita, genocided or enslaved slaved the natives, and established a prosperous, elf-supremacist empire. They however never managed to conquer the rainforest and swamps of southwestern Terror Incongita -the incredibly hostile terrain and entrenched natives resulted in them getting bogged down here. Shades of Hadrians wall? I'm trying to figure out if they actually started the empire from nothing, or were an extension (Ala Roman invasion of Britain) of an existing empire. I'm leaning towards the latter, as i think there's more meat too it, and more complexity available - the only real loss is it means no emperors on continent, but that just opens up room for crazed Senators and Consuls, especially once intentional contact and trade begins to fall apart.
In their time they built cities, aqueducts, roads and dams. There are ruins EVERYWHERE on terror incognita, as a result. Just like in our world their roads endure (...at least the ones Storm in the Trees hasn't got to yet), as do the remains of plenty of what they built. Serenity's port is built ontop of Aeternum ruins, for instance - though the recently unearthed labyrinth below it is something older still. They had all the trappings you would expect - gladiatorial blood sports, legionnaires, etcera. I need to do more research on my classics and see what other elements i can steal. Maybe i steal Virgil and make fun of him for writing the world's first fanfic. Awful fanfic at that too. (The Odyssey > The Aenied, FIGHT ME)
The empire lasted some 300 years, only to disintegrate in the face of a renewed Waxing period, and the emergence of the cordyceps fungus. There's a few surviving cities and towns in a loose confederation, all located on the desolate north western coast of terror incognita. They've been unable to expand back into the fertile northwestern planes due to the fungus and it's spore legions, while mountains that render the coast such a desolate area also provide a natural defensive bulwark that's kept them protected in turn. I'm still turning over having survivors in my mind, but i think "Elf Supremcist Rome" is too rich a concept to waste on pure backstory - and there's some potential for sins of the father type storytelling and conflicts. What do the heros do when another slave rebellion breaks out, or a commoner rebellion? etc?
I'm imaging the empire as very very elf-supremacist - the vast majority of their slaves were elves of the same stock as they were. Notched ears for criminals, cropped ears for slaves (This is stolen from Delicious In Dungeon's Canaries, but it's such a good visual). The empire would simply wipe out other peoples, and only bothered to enslave peoples like the ogres who were capable of being exceptionally useful. Presumption is that they probably used magic to assist in having a steady stream of slaves (Enhanced fertility, etc), and in keeping them enslaved. This is icky and horrible, and intentionally so - i really don't want people going "the Aeternum were cool guys!". They were not, they were monsters, and monsters by choice.
Still, it's an area i'm going to have to think hard on how to write. There's a really fine line between showing something as icky intentionally, and degenerating into torture-porn. On the other hand, if there's anything current events teach us it's Fuck Subtlety. My health might not let me get out and protest etc (And also i'm in nz), but i can make sure i put the screws to things when i write.
--
So with that info out there, let's talk about the other big related faction, the Spore Legions
There's less to talk about here, i think: The core improvident thing is that contrary to what people assume, the spore legions are not sentient, or even intelligent. they are, in effect, ants - Everything they do is in response to pheromone release, and if you cotton onto that, they're as dumb as ants. Spray them with the "You are a dead Spore Legionnaire" pheromone, and they fall over. Clean it off, and they get back up and go back to what they're doing - they're dumb biological computers running simplistic programs in other words. Injure one, others come running. Etc. The fungus itself is something that came in on the tide (An infected corpse, perhaps some sort of overgrown log?) and the Aeternum Elves were by a stroke of extremely bad luck, the perfect hosts.
The fungus has some ability to piggy back off the capabilities of it's host bodies - so you get Spore Legionnaires wearing armor and using weapons... just as often as you get ones that are naked and attack you with their bare hands. From a doylist POV this is an excuse to have more threatening versions of spore legionnaires that arent just "they're more overgrown with fungus". I haven't quite solved how the fungus spread, but i'm thinking that that it's via inhaling or otherwise getting spores into the body, and the infection lays low before it reaches critical mass and fungus starts erupting from the victim. Rather than the last of us style almost coral look, This is going to be a lot closer to real life cordyceps - long tendrils poking up, or extending out from the skull/neck, back etc.
The delayed time between infection and succumbing to the fungus aided it's spread. Tragically, this factor is also what resulted Monferrina's freed ex-slave population getting wiped out - by the time the guerrillas realized salves they'd recently freed were infected it was too late to do anything.
With the lack of fresh aeternum elves to infect, the spore legions have entered hibernation across the Continent. Which mostly means that digging into old Aeternum ruins sometimes results in a horde of screaming mummified fungus infested corpses coming at you. Fun! This is also what blocks the Aeternum remnants from getting anywhere - the moment they try, Legions wake up again and come straight for the throat... and simple attrition is very much on the Spore Legions side. People do know about the existence of the sproe legions, and they're a serious threat on the wider continent still - i think they're mostly (entirely?) gone from islands in the archipelago. But the nroth western planes, the northern isthmus, the northeastern barrens... They're a problem. Especially because even in their hibernation, they'll emerge to harvest food to sustain themselves, etc.
As of now, the fungus has shown no real ability to infect other races. Elves who aren't of the Aeternum blood are still somewhat vulnerable but it usually just makes them really sick and is easily curable, vs the virulent fungus zombies it creates out of Aeternum Elves. Doylist reason is to avoid games degenerating into the Fungus Zombie Apocalypse. That's not fun for anyone and it's been done, ya know? Though of course, if that's what hte GM wants to be, i want to leave that option open.
This is all going to provide a real issue for the Aeternum-blooded Conqusitdors, of course - though my current thinking is a: Flintlocks and cannons go a long way to letting them obliterate Spore legions safely, and b: they may actually have some idea of what they're facing. A holy crusade to reclaim lands they believe are theirs, perhaps? . Still It's going to be fucking ugly.
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A further note on demons - i'm thinking that with their being significantly inconvenienced by their body being destroyed, they'll regenerate the next time whatever natural disaster gave birth to them occurs - so if you kill Mountain's Furious Heart, they're out of commission until a volcano errupts again. Storm in the Trees will need to wait for lighting to strike a tree, Trees Splitting Stone for a stone to stone to crack from treegrowth, Waves Grinding the Shore for a particularly fierce sea storm making landfall.. .you get the idea.
Additionally: Most people have no idea demons permanently die when their tasks are complete. This is simply because the demons someone is most likely to encounter would be the ones with very grandioes goals, and thus myth and legend turn up around them. (This does mean you get Fae lords imitating demons in storys sometimes, or the ultimate oh god i've gone cross eyed metaness). Wheras a demon that comes into existence with the goal of "Kill this specific tree" "Demolish that house" etc... they dont exactly last long, you know?
you should perhaps slap all of this into a blog where you can format and structure the text.
Maybe include a meta commentary. I think it could help future DMs structure and organise their world building.
tip.. tip.. TALLY.. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
So I've put forth the option that the party go to the boss after a series of nightmares and visions. And the next day they seriously contemplated staying in for the day, thinking, "Fuck, shit's scary."
you should perhaps slap all of this into a blog where you can format and structure the text.
Maybe include a meta commentary. I think it could help future DMs structure and organise their world building.
I've been compiling this all into a Google Doc have slowly working at editing it, but it's honestly pretty stressful and makes my brain freak (chronic mental health: not even once)
Plus I like all the feedback I get here, even when it's as simple as awesomes or agrees - it's really quite encouraging, you know?
Posts
Good questions! The Effect is currently named The Shifting Tides, The Changing Winds. Here's a writeup i did earlier on it that i'm currently refining
"The winds and tides of Terror Incognita are strange and not entirely of this world. Ships, flying creatures and even shore-wandering folk from foreign planes can find themselves hit by a freak wave or gust of wind, and end up slammed into the shores of Terror Incognita. Ships get dumped to the south, statically speaking, and the currents tend to lead them to crash on the shallow reefs surrounding Shipwreck City (Thought: Terror Incognitaas a whole has a ton of shallow reefs around it, making deep harbor ports a rarity. This would add to the navigational hazards!)
This effect waxes and wanes over the centuries - at the assumed kick off point for PCs, the Changing Tides and Shifting Winds are the strongest they've been for centuries. When the effect wanes, the seas are relatively safe to travel - if there are other continents on the same plane/world as Terror Incognita, you could reach them during this time. The Roman Elf empire was founded and grew to it's strength during a waning period - When the Wind and Tides started to wax again, the loss of intercontinental travel, the changes to the climate and introduction of new species all contributed to the fall (also the whole fungus thing, that did not help one bit).|
1) It's being left vauge on my purpose. Authorial intent is that it's a random natural event, because i kinda hate the THERE IS A REASON BEHIND EVERYTHING approach to storytelling. Sometimes a volcano explodes and you just have to deal with that.
But GMs can and should feel free to alter this to to their needs.
2) I dont know! This is why i'm asking the questions about it - it might let me solve some things, but it also makes for bags of issues.
3) Generally, No. You can in theory sail to other continents during a waning peroid, but it's still not particularly safe - How the roman elves managed it (and how the Conquistdaros are doing it during a WAXING period) is meant to be a central mystery in the setting, and a big ol' plot hook for people to chase. When the sailing goes wrong, you smash back onto the continent of terror incognita. You might be able to escape via high level planar magic, but there's no one on the continent capable of such - even the supernatural entities (Devils, Demons, Faeries) are all bound to Terror Incognita. No walking through hell to get to another place!
@Whelk @Tastyfish Oh man, you are both giving me Ideas. This is great, thank you - i've gotta dash out the door, but i'll reply in depth later!
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more questions:
what happens to souls (if you have those) when you die?
is this world linked to the 5e cosmos in anyway?
does the world have an overarching theme?
my first take is that this is some sort of jester gods idea of a prank (think barovia but by Cegorach). He can't be pranking the mortals he has taken, though: they probably weren't informed of why they were taken, much less who was behind it. Perhaps the other gods are being pranked. If you're running something that gels with Toril, then the gods will always be keeping an eye on souls that show promise. Perhaps Tempus really digs that fighter; the fighter is getting older now, he's got maybe another 20 years tops and then Tempus will invite him to the eternal battlefields where he will revel in glorious combat! NOPE! Jester god whisked him away and took his memories. The fighter still had a knack for smacking people but as he settled down to life on T.I. he really, REALLY grew fond of knitting. And so when he passed, his soul was claimed by Sune, much to Tempus' dismay. In the end, no god is cheated out of a soul but .. no one gets what they initially wanted.
An alternative idea would be that it's a long running bet/experiment between two (elder) gods (in my take on 5e, Ao is an elder god much the same way Cthulu is. He just likes building things, his brethren like eating the sandcastles he makes) regarding some quality of mortals (I'm envisaging a Lutece twins dynamic). Taking away a person's memories erodes their personalities. One god claims that this matters not; an essence cannot be changed, mortals will always be who they were meant to be. The other opines that an essence is mutable; it's just a question of the correct motivation. And so they whisk away mortals and strip them of who they once were, keeping tally of those that were static and those that changed.
The way it's set up in Theros is the full-on horror movie interpretation of those ideas, but there's probably shades of grey you could work with in there. I think it's an evocative way to explore what it means for an undead soul to escape the afterlife.
I like everything you said, but this is such a fun idea.
Definitely the highlight was the ranger making some very good rolls to properly lay the groundwork for a rodeo wherein he rides a Nightmare. It demanded live meat, preferably a slave girl. It did settle for a nice bird from the gardens instead.
Have I mentioned how much fun it is playing animals and/or kids? It's really the best.
The one you go to talk to before launching a big expedition as they have the canniest weather eye this side of the pinnacles, and is the only one watching when ships hugging the coast disappear after after dowsing their lanterns.
They're also the person to talk to if you're trying to track down the cargo from a ship that was wrecked. They have the accurate charts for the local area, a reliable time piece and an obsession with the currents and tides here.
A mad old coot, who races to various beaches and coves every spring tide to see what has been brought forth, but otherwise relatively harmless.
Just don't ask about the scarf and the driftwood log they are convinced those are the memories of the child and lover they lost in the wreck that brought them here.
"If you put the wood over your ear, it's like you suddenly can't hear the sea, yes! Sometimes when I do this late at night, I can hear singing..."
I was looking through Troika! while at work today, and holy fuck that's a weird damn game. I really like it though, it evokes a certain feeling (not sure what) and I kind of want to steal ideas from it.
Also, Corvid Court is like a very, very, very rules-light version of Blades in the Dark (at least it is as far as the basic premise: bad people doing bad things) with a lot of humor. It's cover page at the end of the short book is my new phone wallpaper lol
We already have a warlock but I pitched pact of the fiend bladelock for #2, and she asked if she could have a familiar that her old character's soul ended up in. Yeah sure!
I did a 1on1 session tonight where she ended up making a deal with an imp named Majesto, and his boss, and cured Stella Wachter (who in my game went mad because Victor cast suggestion on her almost every day for years to make her hang out with him, not because he liked her, but so his father would leave him alone - forcing her to help him with his research. I like this better than her going mad from Victor turning her marriage proposal down, which is a yikes reason for her to go mad), who she's going to play as.
She, found her ... father, puked, robbed her mother, took her familiar with her learning all about the party opposing strahd, and used mask of many faces to get out of the city. Her old character is sitting on her shoulder as a pet infernal crow, her pact weapon is a Ruby Rod that uses the stats of a maul. What does her old character get out of this? The imp promised that if she can help Stella to get 6 specific mortals to sign 6 infernal contracts, she'll get to return to life (at the end of the campaign)
My niece has spent the last 2 hours finding art online of cool infernal stuff and sending to me, she's really into this. the character is lawful neutral, not evil, and doesn't particularly want anything to do with the hells, but the rationale is that unless they succeed, Barovia is just another type of hell, where sometimes a soul gets eaten by the dark powers... any source of power to go towards that end is worth it (I'm playing it that Stella was conscious during the entire cat period, just unable to express herself, building a hatred for Strahd's barovia, and her mother, and a desire for freedom)
@evilthecat
So: Souls probably exist, what happens is an unknown, they go to some afterlife, there is no memory of this if you resurrect them. Assume this section of my setting guide has a giant "Placeholder" stamped voer it - until i have something better, that's what i'm using.
Linkages to 5e cosmos: Narp. There's a version of the Shadowfell and Faewild, but it's a single realm rather than two separate areas. You could easily have a character from an existing cosmology (the Shifting/Changing effect is infact designed to encourage such), but it's very much it's own world.
Themes: So, i never set out to make themes for this, it's just not how i roll - it came about because i wanted a place to stick my demons, orcs, etc together, and snowballed from there because Bermuda Triangle: The setting seemed interesting.
Thaaaat said, i'd say at this point, there's three major themes:
Trauma: and the processing of it. There's been a lot of traumatic events for the factions and groups, and the scars run deep. Monferrinans sing to help forget their wounds. The Satyrs built the last citadel the way they did so they could never be driven from their homeland again. And obviously, the very fact you can find yourself on a new world, cut off from everything you knew is inherently traumatic.
History: Terror Incognita is old, and filled with events lost to time (and demons, who according to a friend are biasing the archaeological record, therefore making them bad/naughty). This obviously ties in with the trauma theme too.
Hope: Despite everything, Hope endures. All three of the major city states are moving forward, and are generally "Good" places to live. The world has challenges and dangers, but these can be overcome. you always have a choice, and you can ALWAYS choose to make life better for yourself, and others around you. There's always hope.
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To give you a super quick run down of the supernatural in the setting.
Important note: There's no Always Evil or Always good here. Everything below is neutral - Good demons and Devils are as likely as evil fae or gods. What you DO matters, not what you are.
Gods: Distant and unknowable. What impact they have on the world is subtle, and indirect - clever causality chains, people coincidentally in just the right place at just the right time. The smith with the portable forage turning up just as the messenger's horse throws a shoe.
Devils: Failed gods and shards of failed gods that do not know that they are failed gods - just that they should be something more, greater than they are. Filled with an endless hunger that nothing can salve. Prone to ossifying, mechanizing and fossilizing as they wield power directly.
Demons: Entropy Elementals orientated around Destruction. From the formless chaos outside of reality, they burn the old so the new may grow. Not limited to destroying the physical - Demons can target metaphorical concepts or ideas for destruction as well (such as "Civilization" or "The laws of this village"). Exist as Bound and Unbound - Bound were summoned by someone, Unbound came into existence spontaneously or broke free from being bound (Protip: dont give a Bound Demon a vague goal. Define things Very Clearly).
Faeries: Living stories. Come in three varieties. Small folk - Pictsies, lares and penates, brownies etc. Local folk sustained by local folklore. Fair Folk/Lords of Fae - Formless spirits that take on roles in mythologies and stories to give themselves identity. Literally wear their roles as masks, and can have many masks. Finally, Archfey - The oldest and most powerful, having become living mythologies, they ARE the legends they live.
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So that gives you a bit of a grounding, hopefully. Honestly, while your ideas on the nature of things are cool - i'm really not interested in solving the why or how of the Changing Tides and Shifting Winds. I'd prefer to leave it as a mystery that GMs can fill in as they want, or leave as an unknown - looking forward, not backwards, you know? Sometimes the mystery box is better kept unopened, and i feel lik the Changing Tides/Shifting Winds should be such.
The main reason i brought up this question is i was tying to solve this mystery:
I know there's been some mass migrations to Terror Incognita. Most recently, the Satyrs, before that, the Orcs. The Ogres initially believed the Roman elves were such (Wrongly, as it turned out), and they think they were also a migration of some kind - but they're not sure, having lost too much of their oral history in the genocide. Fairly explicitly, these are refugee populations, that fled wherever and got sucked onto terror incongita (i actually want to imply that Terror Incognita has an interesting tendency to catch such people in need of a new homeland, as an explicit contrast to the colonial forces that have scared it)
...anyway. I was trying to figure out do these mass migrations remember their history and why they were driven out of wherever they were? does it matter if they do? (it feels like it should). If so, how much detail should i provide of their history? i'm honestly thinking the best answer would be not much - the satyrs were driven from their homelands by war, the orcs by a famine... enough to set the stage, providie a bit of character.
I think, keying off everything, and going with what i say below, teh answer is to say it's a mix - some people have clear memories. some people have fragmented, even within these rare mass migration events.
@Tastyfish I really like the washed up memories idea, that's awesome dood. As is @Whelk (...i nearly just called you Whetfish, dammit monster hunter) suggestion of souls drowned at sea.
So i'm going to run with both of these and say: ALL OF THE ABOVE. Some people do wash up stripped of anything but a sense of self. Some have complete memories. Some have holes in their memory... etc Some people vividly remember drowning at sea or otherwise dying... and then woke here (this was a great idea, Whelk).
I particularly like this because it plays into something i wanted to do with Shipwreck City - ontop of their coastguard tradition, they've got a proud tradition of psychological care. They see all sorts wash up on the reefs and beeches, and they know: It hurts to find yourself far from everything you thought you knew. And... they're here to help. The main island they're on is dotted with farmsteads that act as quiet places for those in need to coalesce, the city itself is filled with sages, wisefolk and the like who can provide care and treatment - and places like the Historian's guild work to compile knowledge of both the new homeland, and of whence people came. (this also dovetails nicely with the fact it was founded in part by orcs, and orcs have a strong "Leave no member of the tribe behind" mentality. If they wont abandoned the disabled/injury, then they'll not abandoned those suffering from mental disabilities either - those are just another type of injury, to the
In fact, @Tastyfish, can i just steal this whole segment you wrote? It's great, evocative as hell, and i really like the idea:
Oh No I Wrote A Ton Again.
Thanks all again for your feedback and awesomeness on this project - it's really been keeping me going, and i'm loving how engaged you all seem!
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What might happen if a curious diver retrieved and took a peek at a memory that portended great weal or woe?
I do like the meditative orc hospitaliers too. Having a race that's so often traditionally cast as the violent babarians in such a different role really helps to add to the idea that this is a calm serene place (even if it's not out of character for the orcs in this particular setting).
Thank you! I'll endevour to remember proper attribution and all because it's really seriously good stuff. it adds a really interesting mystical angle to the whole setting - it's not just people and creatures that wash up:memories, identities, knowledge washes up too. Which is just... mmmff. It feeds into the faeries really well (a faerie lord is going to go /mad/ for a new myth where it could claim the central role, or even twist it into becoming it's own identity), it ties into the history and trauma themes, and it's just yeah. fantastic spice! Demons might strike out to destory certain memory (and hell, they may have very good reason too. Not all memories deserve to be kept, after all). Devils would be interested in such because tempting ways to corrupt people, or even just a mad attempt to fill there own hunger... Or the hope they can find a memory that might help them understand where they went so wrong.
Thanks so much again dood.
It's also fun because you can have the whole "Whose memories are these?" issue and other fun. Or even the horror of someone ending up with memories that are... aggressively colonizing, let's say. And you've suggested justification DMs could use on how the Roman Elves made the navigation to Terror Incognita (A memory or info from one of those dark palces. Heck, maybe they found out about the continent because a memory pearl was taken by the tides aall the way to RomanElfHomeland)
I may actually have to call ship wreck city Serenity, or a similar name, i really like that. Serenity, Shipwreck's Repose has a good ring to it.
My thought is the orcs are a bit more involved in the running of the Coast Guard/Salvages Guild (it's the same thing), buuuuut now that you say it, they're totally heavily involved in the hospitaliers (and acutally, thinking about it - a race that's based off predatory cats probably has Huge meditation traditions to compliment the bursts of activity style, soo of course that would in turn develop into psychological care and similar techniques)
I have Meditating Queer Matriachal Orc tribes. That's fucking glorious.
It's also nice because again it shows the races are more than monoculutres - there's still a bunch of tribal orcs out there, and they're doing just fine, and i don't think the city orcs in Serenity begrudge them that (Hell, i bet there's a fuck ton of intercultrual transmission, given orc social dynamics). And i have to imagine as a predatory race who thrives on burst activities, there's probably a lot of thrill in hearing "Shipwreck in progress!" and getting out there to do some savin'. Then when you get old, and a bit more tired, you take up a hosptialer role - maybe Serenity's farmsteads are a bit closer to hacinendas, or similar farmhouse estates - quiet places that can hold a fair amount of people, away from the city's bustle, give them somewhere where they can recover, eat, there's work to be done if that'll help the recovery, etc.
(Also these totally make for a great kick off point for PCs in the setting - easy justification for why you're all there, prime target for a pirate raid, Demon attack, Faerie plot or whatever instigating event is needed)
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1) memories can be "viewed" or "consumed"
and not necessarily by the original owner. although the process of merging a memory with a host is easier and more natural if it's the original pairing, it is possible for others to do. Memories will always alter the recipient in some way, specialists in this field can discern what the consequences (if any) might be. You might become proficient in a language you've never heard before or be able to play an instrument at a passable level. This process is not without risk, however. The precise mechanics aren't fully understood, not even by the best specialists (gonna need a name for these guys .. somnimancers?), sometimes a memory simply doesn't belong (this affliction also needs a name. going with a generic "diseased" for now). Initially, it starts off as the slightest of irritants; much like a splinter in your heel. But as time goes by it becomes evermore present. Sleep becomes difficult. Reality, once as sharp and clean as a cool wind on a summer's morning, attains a sticky, sap like consistency. suicide or madness are the outcomes, although rumours persist that the <name for ruling class> have a tonic that, whilst making them somewhat hollow, lessens the problem significantly.
1) class and services based on memories
certain groups aren't interested in an honest finders fee as much as they are in holding what they've found ransom. Particularly interesting or valuable memories that can contribute to a skill are sold off in (illicit) auctions to the highest bidder. The ruling class of T.I. are individuals who have, over the years, stolen much from those below them. They're knowledgeable in a wide variety of fields. They somehow know of your weaknesses. Additionally, entertainment parlours offer experiences for those with the right amount of coin.
1) a legend and a curse
over time, the inhabitants of T.I. mused that perhaps they could escape or gain insight into why this place exists if they collected all of their memories. One of the more infamous memory hunter stories, featuring a man simply known as Joal, now instills fear in the hearts of all who reside in T.I. Most memory hunters learn some valuable lesson along the way and eventually give up their quest of becoming complete. Not Joal. Joal persisted with an undying fervour. it wasn't long until he became diseased. While most people would balk and attempt to remove the proverbial splinter, Joal saw this as the wrong approach. He continued in what could only be described as running nude through a cactus garden. Of course, Joal's hypothesis didn't pan out. And sadly, for the rest of T.I., he didn't take his own life. For you see in the madness that followed he became convinced that someone, somewhere out there, held the last memory he needs. There's no rhyme or reason to his attacks. Rich or poor, Waxing or Waning, it matters not. Individuals are torn apart in the most gruesome of rituals. And Joal never finds what he's looking for.
edit:
4) I just remembered that R&M episode with those telepathic parasites. The base idea is pretty cool; people want to regain what was lost but what if you had this clan of shapeshifters that could forge memories? All of a sudden your long lost brother just happens to be on the same island..
But for the more villainous places? Joal would make for a great (and horrifying) archfey. Creepy class and services based on memories is a great hook for Raider's Rest, and gives them an extra layer of menace beyond "Pirates are real dickweasels". Memory consuming pirates with twisted leaders grown fat on plundered thoughts... yeah, that's got teeth, and it's eminently punchable. Both good things.
(it also adds some further humor tto the fact that Raider's Rest has been burned to the ground many times across the centuries, and in at least one case, destroyed by volcanic eruption).
It also actually adds to the idea that Raider's Rest is more of an ideal/concept at this point. The individual towns that form around the dark and the depraved have been rooted out and burned to the ground many times. The romans crushed it, Monferrina has destroyed it at least twice the three city states alliance was brought into being as a response to Raider's Rest aggression, and then cemented with with it's destruction.
But the ideal of a truly free city - free from all limits, all restraints, all morality lives on. That it's leaders may be immortal memory-eating, body hoping horrors... surely that's just a story.
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ok, got one.
The Festival of Evenchance
As the Winds and Tides rage and reach their most destructive, the fruit of the eventrees around T.I. ripen. These fruits possess a rather unique quality, for upon being eating, memories will leak from your head and impress themselves upon whatever you touch. It is a time where people reflect upon what has happened to them this cycle: what have I cherished? what have I regretted? and most importantly, what am I willing to part with? The old often gift the young wisdom. Lovers gift each other moments where the significance of the other became clear. People will set aside a day to do something that perhaps their best friend would or could not do themselves in order to gift them with the unattainable. Memories are often stored and presented in pretty trinkets or small ornate decorations that have something to do with what is being shared. Most people will receive a dozen or so gifts and as the festival draws to a close, for a brief moment, they see how fragile causality is, how these gifts could have easily not come to be. Conversely, this also means that anything is possible, and so they set out into the next cycle, renewed with vigour and purpose: your future is unwritten, weal or woe, an even chance for either.
several edits later:
I'm not entirely happy with the flow of the text but it's a very rough draft for a positive element for the whole memory wipey string.
Though, I'll note that the waxing and waning of the SW/CT is measured in decades and centuries, not in seasons.
(Hence why it's often civilization wrecking - no one's ever really prepared for the ecosystem going to hell, the weather going crazy, and the mass influx of new people when a waxing period hits. It screwed the Ogres over, then the Romans, and now a new waxing period is starting...)
Also hard time coming up with rainbows sez the person who's avatar literally fires rainbows at people!
Don't get me wrong, I do want dark stuff in the setting! You've suggested some really great stuff, and I do plan to use it or play of it. But for the three main city states, I want to play up the hope theme - having them be run by what I'd call outright evil just runs counter to my goals currently
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ooh, how about, and this imo is a big neutral but with the right decoration you could make it look "good":
sooo in wh40k there are the eldar phoenix lords and basically they're a self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating ideal in human form. sorta like the dalai lamai but the soul isn't reincarnating but being absorbed into a plate of armor which really rubs off on the next wearer.
Maybe one of those good aligned city states could have virtues given human form walking around? would make for a pretty epic legendary item :P
Legend tells of Saf, a powerful archfey who only wears one mask: an oyster shell, carved into a pair of bird's wings with scales for feathers, set with countless pearls of great beauty.
Many years ago, Saf halted the rampages of a demon. She was badly wounded in the battle, and her body fell from jagged cliffs and began to drift out to sea. She was saved only through the heroics of her partner, who swam into the foaming surf to retrieve her before themselves succumbing to exhaustion in a rip current.
For years afterwards, Saf paced the beaches in a desperate search for her partner. Her mind, damaged in the battle, began to lose hold of her long term memories. She lost her life before the battle, and her memory of the terrible entropic beast and the great battle to subdue it gradually faded. One day, a pearl washed up in front of her: her partner's last memory of dragging her to safety.
Ever since she found that pearl, Saf has devoted herself to reenacting her rescue. She lures wayward sailors or aimless beachgoers near her rocky perch, induces them to rescue her, and then she casts them off to the strangling surf and awaits the return of their precious gifts to her. She has amassed a substantial collection.
Lately, young men from the town have been going missing at a concerning rate. As the players enter the scene, the body of one has just washed ashore.
It basically was a bound demon animating a construct made of lost children. It killed its summoner but was still bound to its form. And it had to keep finding replacement parts.
Kovacs encounters a guy whose self was basically an amalgamation of his past bodies instead of his original self or current self like a lot of folks. So Joal could be an archfey and have a bunch of different racial traits, based on which memories he recently absorbed.
I had an idea for a something called Wreckage. It was a post-apocalyptic wasteland of giant mecha, and would follow the lives of the sapient robots that awaken in the aftermath. They each had an individual, blank ‘core’, their soul more or less, but limb, weapon and gadget attachments would alter their personality and reveal snippets of memories of the world before.
Also robots in make-shift busted mechs fighting.
—
@Darmak
@Tynnan
@The Zombie Penguin
@Calica
I’ll be making a New Zellatia thread to iron out what kind of game we’re playing Saturday 1000GMT.
Edit:
More will be revealed in thread but if anyone else would like to participate just PM me, and I’m also going to make room for ‘player NPCs’ if you’d just like to comment occasionally but can’t play.
For now, have a demon inspired by this:
Trees Splitting Stone, Unbound Demon
Trees splitting stone is a unbound demon who makes their home in Serenity, manifesting as a satyr child of indeterminate gender wrought in wood, stone and moss. Their personal destructive goal is "bad" memories/bad dreams. Anything you find yourself wishing you could not remember, or are haunted by is what they target. They mostly seek out and destroy memory pearls, or similar memory infused objects, but they're also know to reach into minds to erase traumatic events or consume nightmares - the more vivid the memory, the more drawn to them Trees is. A figure of local folklore, some regard Trees as a benign spirit that seeks to help, while others are deeply troubled by the very idea of losing their memories, no matter the content.
Those who study demons also raise the possibility that Trees child like form - notable when nearly all demons imitate adults - may be because it is in fact still growing... And it's destruction of bad memories may be just the start. Or perhaps it is simply childlike in form due to the childlike logic of destroying bad memories? With demons, who can say.
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I'm asking here because I'm looking for stuff in these games where I can steal repurpose ideas for my Ravnica campaign.
Me too! I've been thinking that if no one does it before the weekend, I might try to create a catalog of the games myself.
Boy howdy, that's a hell of hill to climb though.
Yeah, I just checked the bundle again today, and they added more stuff from when I last looked at it yesterday.
That mountain ain't gettin' any smaller, that's for sure.
Ayup, although Ravnica also has ruins and underground sewers/cities. What it doesn't have much are small out-of-the-way farm towns, large port cities, and its "wilderness" is a bit particular in content.
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It are a bunch of cards to help you design your own games, as written by someone who enjoys writing TTRPG systems.
I am absolutely not sure how well it works, but the effort is recommendable.
I’m going to be busy with work, though I hope to start running games on here soon. In fact I’ve set up a recruitment thread myself for a New Zellatia play-test! It’s called Helping Auntie Fatta.
I’ve got the bundle, so I’m going to look to over regardless. Maybe I can be a mysterious sixth ranger type character somewhere down the line?
Your use of demons is grand, and opens up a lot of design space.
There’s a lot to look back over but I promise will!
My only really, it’s not even critic honestly, is I’d make the ogres hippo-people straight up. I think that’d be pretty cool, and make them unmistakable against oni or any other big humanoid monster.
Edit: To me your map looks like a broken heart, which is very cool.
Visually, i'm imagining they really do take after hippos - In my head they're in between classic depictions of ogres, and hippos. they're big, they're chubby and curvy (You could even say "Cute"), they've got hippo tusks that are visible when they open their mouth up and miiiight just poke out. They've got the same skin color as hippos - dark grey bodies with pink bellies. The only breakaway from both looks is that they've got hair on their heads... and that's mainly because the image of hair floating in the river as they poke their heads up is great.
I'm super happy with all my supernaturals in setting. I'm actually thinking that one of Serenity's ruling council is a devil - They run the Wayfinder's Guild, which is Serenity's exploration and outwards military arm (responsible for dealing with pirates, raiders, spore legions and similar threats). They're almost completely ossified, so their statue just sits in place in Serenity's council chamber - by tradition, their second in command is ceremonially armed with a hammer and chisel so they may be "Freed" if needed. Intended that they'll be an example of a good aligned devil. Which seems important to have, given the whole "It's who you are that matters, not what you are" approach. (I think they may have been a saint or similar who ascended to devilhood in a destructive show of divine power to defend the city from pirates or something? Working it out, but they're def a devil and that's the important bit.)
I missed the broken heart look of the map. That's a happy coincidence!
As to CFA, anyone else in this thread who might be interested: It's a super light hearted game. I'm aiming to run a couple of basically one shots, with the option of doing more if it's a hit. The nature of the game is that drop in/drop out play is super doable. There's not any long term character progression, and it's big on narrative play (one of the explicit things is winning a dice roll wins you the ability to narrate what happens next). Which probably means thing get Even More Silly and i might be forced to summon Gnihilistc Gnomes or Bears, but that's what my job is.
Tldr: You jumping in will be no problem, and totally in character for Fairies being overly dramatic little shits in the best way
Next projects for this is writing up the Saytrs, and digging into the three city states a bit more.
If people are curious: Monferrina is a Dukedom, with it's immortal Lich duchess (though i think Grand Witch Jaga is a regular advisor to her). Serenity has a ruling council, drawing on a variety of guilds like groups - Hostpailers, Coastguard (Rescue, Salvage, internal military), Explorers, Historians, and Ambassadors (Including actually having ambassadors from Monferrina and Last Citadel on the council). Not quite sure what Last Citadel will be - they're drawing on the Inca in part, who were a monarchy. Which would make more sense if they were pure saytrs, but i know these days the last citadel has a big amount of dwarfs and gnomes living their. Maybe they have a triple-monarchy? I'll figure it out.
There is currency, but i think the majority of things are handled by barter - you might know the rough price in currency, and just trade in equivalent goods (This is based on how real life currency got used early on, and given things, makes a lot of sense i think)
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Mountain's Furious Heart, unbound
Appears as a dwarf made of volcanic stone, with slow flowing lava hair and beard. Lives in active volcanoes, and can somehow travel between them. Their goal is the destruction of civilizations.
To do this they forge weapons: obsidian bladed, stone hafted things that burn with unnatural heat, or obsidian arrow heads that shatter into gouts of lava when they hit a target. Their weapons have a disturbing knack for finding their way into the hands of rebels, assassins, terrorists, bandits and other such blights on stable society.
Very old, and very powerful - intended as an example of how Demons can be very subtle in their goals of destruction.
Storm in the Trees, Bound
Storm in the Trees is a known figure in Monferrina. Appearing as a pair of elves, one male and wrought in wood so pale as to be near white, the other as female wrought in dark wood, both crackle with blue lightning. Additionally, both have their ears cropped in half - a common marker of slavehood the Roman elves used on their own people.
Storm in the Trees goal is the destruction of Rome. Even now since it's fall it regularly vanishes into the wilderness to hunt down survivors (there are a few surviving towns/cities on the harsh Northwestern coast), destroy pockets of the Spore Legions, or reduce still standing ruins to complete rubble. Most Monferrinas who know about such things assume Storm is an unbound demon, but in truth they are bound. If one knew where to look, one could find a house hidden deep in the swamps, Storms contact surrounded by the bones of the two former eleven slaves who sacrificed themselves so that their former matters may be brought low.
Waves Grinding the Shore, unbound
Waves appears in their natural form as a tarnished, pitted metal state of a female gnome. She's always followed by a moist sea breeze and the smell of sea salt. In contrast to many other demons, she's a master of illusion and disguise, and can easily pass unnoticed no matter the situation (though the sea breeze always follows her)
Waves seeks out artifacts to destroy. Old relics, paintings, sculptures, original documents - anything that could be said to be historic is her forte to corrode into nothingness. Despite this, those who've interacted with her have noted her gentle and peaceable nature - she'll even present arguments on why she should be allowed to destroy things rather than escalate to a fight should she be met with opposition.
(Not that losing said arguments stops her from sneaking back later to destroy her target...)
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As a note: demons cease to exist when their goal is met. They know this, they don't care - it is their nature to destroy, and that includes themselves when the time comes. The old must perish so the new can grow.
Unbound demons come into existence spontaneously - the 'bigger' their goal, the more powerful and long lived they tend to be. They emerge from destructive natural phenomena - stormwaves crashing on the shore, volcanos erupting, tornadoes, hurricane , you get the idea
Bound demons are created through ritual and contact, often involving human sacrifice to provide a vessel to pour the chaos outside of reality into. Consenting sacrifices work best - unwilling sacrifices have a curious tendency to result in short lived unbound demons with very different goals on what they want to destroy than what the summoner intended. Creating a vessel somehow (Golem, simulclaran or otherwise making an artificial body) should also work
Bound demons can be permanently destroyed by destroying their contact - or by convincing them it's terms have been met. You could in theory do the same with an unbound demon, though good luck given the scale they tend to work at.
Destroying a demons physical form severely inconveniences them, but is not a permanent solution. They'll reconstitute eventually, and may carry a grudge. Or be impressed and try and recruit your help. Demons are werid. Once a demon is gone however, it's gone for good - even if a new demon with the same goal emerges, it'll be it's own unique entity
Bound demons can also break free from their contact - most often because the contract is poorly defined, and the demon realizes it needs to expand its scope to achieve what was asked off it. It's like setting a house on fire to kill the occupants: it should work but there may be unintended consequences.
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So the set up is simple:
Near a small town in a small cave are two grey oozes, a local woman tries to get adventurers and out-of-towners to enter the cave. They either perish, win or fall unconscious.
perish: the loot is raked out with a massive rake by the woman
win: fair's fair. The adventurers can loot the cave. The woman releases new oozes in the cave and waits for a new victim
unconscious: she saves them and makes them promise to help the town in return.
My party was following two thugs who stole a signet ring. One of the thugs went into the cave and perished, the other was camped out on the road being a wimp.
My party is sent to the cave and WINS. When they leave they find the remains of the dead thug and decide to take his head with them. On the way out they see the local woman and hide. They see her talking to herself and release new oozes.
They leg it to the remaining thug, just show him the head and tell him the woman did that. He goes with them to the woman's house and they leave him on lookout.
He sees the woman approach, goes wild and attacks her. Town guards run to the scene. My party legs it back to their home town.
When they return the ring to the local Lord he asks them if they know what happened in the small town. They lie to him that they don't know, he hires them to figure it out. He's afraid a cult made villagers go crazy.
Now they are going back to the town, this time with a patrolman.
I've asked my players what they think happened. I feel like they are to blame for things turning so bloody. The town isn't actively evil, they just make use of a *Edit* nasty resource.
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So, doing some research, i'm going to call the roman empire Aeternum. Which is Latin for Eternal. Because that's an auspicious name and the sort of high faulting arrogance and irony we're all here for.
Right now, here's my thoughts on them: They were conquerors. I'm not sure exactly when they landed on Terror Incognita, but it was within the last milineum, at the end of a waxing period. They successfully conquered the vast majority of Terror Incognita, genocided or enslaved slaved the natives, and established a prosperous, elf-supremacist empire. They however never managed to conquer the rainforest and swamps of southwestern Terror Incongita -the incredibly hostile terrain and entrenched natives resulted in them getting bogged down here. Shades of Hadrians wall? I'm trying to figure out if they actually started the empire from nothing, or were an extension (Ala Roman invasion of Britain) of an existing empire. I'm leaning towards the latter, as i think there's more meat too it, and more complexity available - the only real loss is it means no emperors on continent, but that just opens up room for crazed Senators and Consuls, especially once intentional contact and trade begins to fall apart.
In their time they built cities, aqueducts, roads and dams. There are ruins EVERYWHERE on terror incognita, as a result. Just like in our world their roads endure (...at least the ones Storm in the Trees hasn't got to yet), as do the remains of plenty of what they built. Serenity's port is built ontop of Aeternum ruins, for instance - though the recently unearthed labyrinth below it is something older still. They had all the trappings you would expect - gladiatorial blood sports, legionnaires, etcera. I need to do more research on my classics and see what other elements i can steal. Maybe i steal Virgil and make fun of him for writing the world's first fanfic. Awful fanfic at that too. (The Odyssey > The Aenied, FIGHT ME)
The empire lasted some 300 years, only to disintegrate in the face of a renewed Waxing period, and the emergence of the cordyceps fungus. There's a few surviving cities and towns in a loose confederation, all located on the desolate north western coast of terror incognita. They've been unable to expand back into the fertile northwestern planes due to the fungus and it's spore legions, while mountains that render the coast such a desolate area also provide a natural defensive bulwark that's kept them protected in turn. I'm still turning over having survivors in my mind, but i think "Elf Supremcist Rome" is too rich a concept to waste on pure backstory - and there's some potential for sins of the father type storytelling and conflicts. What do the heros do when another slave rebellion breaks out, or a commoner rebellion? etc?
I'm imaging the empire as very very elf-supremacist - the vast majority of their slaves were elves of the same stock as they were. Notched ears for criminals, cropped ears for slaves (This is stolen from Delicious In Dungeon's Canaries, but it's such a good visual). The empire would simply wipe out other peoples, and only bothered to enslave peoples like the ogres who were capable of being exceptionally useful. Presumption is that they probably used magic to assist in having a steady stream of slaves (Enhanced fertility, etc), and in keeping them enslaved. This is icky and horrible, and intentionally so - i really don't want people going "the Aeternum were cool guys!". They were not, they were monsters, and monsters by choice.
Still, it's an area i'm going to have to think hard on how to write. There's a really fine line between showing something as icky intentionally, and degenerating into torture-porn. On the other hand, if there's anything current events teach us it's Fuck Subtlety. My health might not let me get out and protest etc (And also i'm in nz), but i can make sure i put the screws to things when i write.
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So with that info out there, let's talk about the other big related faction, the Spore Legions
There's less to talk about here, i think: The core improvident thing is that contrary to what people assume, the spore legions are not sentient, or even intelligent. they are, in effect, ants - Everything they do is in response to pheromone release, and if you cotton onto that, they're as dumb as ants. Spray them with the "You are a dead Spore Legionnaire" pheromone, and they fall over. Clean it off, and they get back up and go back to what they're doing - they're dumb biological computers running simplistic programs in other words. Injure one, others come running. Etc. The fungus itself is something that came in on the tide (An infected corpse, perhaps some sort of overgrown log?) and the Aeternum Elves were by a stroke of extremely bad luck, the perfect hosts.
The fungus has some ability to piggy back off the capabilities of it's host bodies - so you get Spore Legionnaires wearing armor and using weapons... just as often as you get ones that are naked and attack you with their bare hands. From a doylist POV this is an excuse to have more threatening versions of spore legionnaires that arent just "they're more overgrown with fungus". I haven't quite solved how the fungus spread, but i'm thinking that that it's via inhaling or otherwise getting spores into the body, and the infection lays low before it reaches critical mass and fungus starts erupting from the victim. Rather than the last of us style almost coral look, This is going to be a lot closer to real life cordyceps - long tendrils poking up, or extending out from the skull/neck, back etc.
The delayed time between infection and succumbing to the fungus aided it's spread. Tragically, this factor is also what resulted Monferrina's freed ex-slave population getting wiped out - by the time the guerrillas realized salves they'd recently freed were infected it was too late to do anything.
With the lack of fresh aeternum elves to infect, the spore legions have entered hibernation across the Continent. Which mostly means that digging into old Aeternum ruins sometimes results in a horde of screaming mummified fungus infested corpses coming at you. Fun! This is also what blocks the Aeternum remnants from getting anywhere - the moment they try, Legions wake up again and come straight for the throat... and simple attrition is very much on the Spore Legions side. People do know about the existence of the sproe legions, and they're a serious threat on the wider continent still - i think they're mostly (entirely?) gone from islands in the archipelago. But the nroth western planes, the northern isthmus, the northeastern barrens... They're a problem. Especially because even in their hibernation, they'll emerge to harvest food to sustain themselves, etc.
As of now, the fungus has shown no real ability to infect other races. Elves who aren't of the Aeternum blood are still somewhat vulnerable but it usually just makes them really sick and is easily curable, vs the virulent fungus zombies it creates out of Aeternum Elves. Doylist reason is to avoid games degenerating into the Fungus Zombie Apocalypse. That's not fun for anyone and it's been done, ya know? Though of course, if that's what hte GM wants to be, i want to leave that option open.
This is all going to provide a real issue for the Aeternum-blooded Conqusitdors, of course - though my current thinking is a: Flintlocks and cannons go a long way to letting them obliterate Spore legions safely, and b: they may actually have some idea of what they're facing. A holy crusade to reclaim lands they believe are theirs, perhaps? . Still It's going to be fucking ugly.
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A further note on demons - i'm thinking that with their being significantly inconvenienced by their body being destroyed, they'll regenerate the next time whatever natural disaster gave birth to them occurs - so if you kill Mountain's Furious Heart, they're out of commission until a volcano errupts again. Storm in the Trees will need to wait for lighting to strike a tree, Trees Splitting Stone for a stone to stone to crack from treegrowth, Waves Grinding the Shore for a particularly fierce sea storm making landfall.. .you get the idea.
Additionally: Most people have no idea demons permanently die when their tasks are complete. This is simply because the demons someone is most likely to encounter would be the ones with very grandioes goals, and thus myth and legend turn up around them. (This does mean you get Fae lords imitating demons in storys sometimes, or the ultimate oh god i've gone cross eyed metaness). Wheras a demon that comes into existence with the goal of "Kill this specific tree" "Demolish that house" etc... they dont exactly last long, you know?
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Welp, i wrote a fuckton, AGAIN.
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Maybe include a meta commentary. I think it could help future DMs structure and organise their world building.
I've been compiling this all into a Google Doc have slowly working at editing it, but it's honestly pretty stressful and makes my brain freak (chronic mental health: not even once)
Plus I like all the feedback I get here, even when it's as simple as awesomes or agrees - it's really quite encouraging, you know?
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