So, a few weeks ago, I posted something on Elves. Here's a lot more. Why? Because I stupidly decided there'd be a small elf community a bit north of where the campaign begins. Which means people might decide to go there. Which means I need some vague ideas on what elves are like. Again, I am not claiming I'm redefining elves or making some amazingly original creations here. I begin with the core D&D tropes and then try to detail them in a way which I think breeds plots or the potential for interesting characters. To me, the essence of the D&D (i.e, Tolkein ripoff) elf is alienness. Living for centuries makes you different, and a bit weird. Being chaotic by nature just magnifies it. Elves understand the world differently. They don't see in four dimensions, but maybe they see in three and a half. They're just a little bit out there, and you know everything they do and say makes perfect sense to them, but they're still tilted just a couple of degrees outside our reality. They're playing by rules you not only don't know, but can't learn.
As is usually the case, this essay is bass-ackwards, in the sense that first I wrote up an elvish community, making up some names and roles and concepts, then, from the community, I back-engineered elvish culture. (This isn't all that odd -- for example, Gene Roddenberry created Spock with pointy ears and greenish skin, then reverse-engineered this to establish an arid, thin-aired Vulcan and copper-based blood.) I'll bet an awful lot of creative types do "Concept first, justification after".
Anyway, elves -- Revised&Expanded.
Elves
The elves of Arith are among the oldest of the Free Peoples, though certainly not the oldest sapient species. They are long-lived beings who dwell in environments which carefully blend natural beauty and civilized comfort. They once ruled over vast empires, long before the first Magewar, but now are a somewhat diminished race, gathered into a few large woodland cities and countless small settlements and villages. The elves produce many skilled individuals, but few great heroes -- but those who do exist are great indeed.
The Long Sleep
Elves live for centuries, but very few spend all, or even most, of that time in a single pursuit. After a few decades of life, an Elf will grow weary, and develop a deep sense of ennui and indifference. All joy flees from existence; food is bland, lovemaking tiring, even life-and-death struggles begin to pall. At this time, the elf enters what is known as the Long Sleep, where they enter into a coma-like state, needing nothing but air to survive. (Obviously, they do this in safe surroundings -- usually a sacred hall in a larger Elvish community). The Long Sleep lasts for 6-10 years. When the elf awakes, he is reborn in spirit. While he retains, in part, all of his old memories, he has lost much of his learning. In essence, he emerges with no class levels, and begins life anew, studying different arts than he did before. The dreams of the Long Sleep serve to show him new paths in life, and he might emerge with a different alignment. While still technically the same person, he thinks of himself as one reborn, and often ignores old friendships and commitments, as if they belonged to another. (Elf law dictates this is so -- marriages end when one spouse enters the Long Sleep, and debts are forgiven as if the debtor had died. Laws of other cultures are not so understanding.)
Government
Elvish government is summarized by lalithilianilis, or 'Agreement reached by consensus which transcends speech'. Elves simply understand how things are supposed to happen. They are bound by few rules, and most of those rules are based on complex webs of understanding and cultural assumptions. To an outsider, everyone simply seems to do as they please, but to the elves, their society is perfectly sane and controlled. Even a simple request such as "Who is in charge here?" is meaningless to elves, since the answer could change based on the situation, the time of year, or even the phase of the moon. Long dealings with other races have taught them to have a few spokesmen, but those are not the true 'leaders' -- rather, their job is to appear to humans, etc, to give them a person to consider as a leader so that their needs are met. Elves have little concept of hierarchy and 'leader' and 'follower' can shift and change with each passing moment.
Names
Elf names are long and complicated. Unlike their place names, which are usually descriptive and poetic, an elf's name seems to others -- even those who speak Elvish - to be merely a long collection of syllables, usually five or six words in length. To the elf, though, the name is summation of their essence, and speaking it will produce, in the listener, a resonance which tells them all they need to know of the person. As such, the name changes as the person does, and one elf can tell another all that they have gone through over a decade merely by giving their new name, which might differ by as little as a syllable from their old one.
Personality
Elves are constantly torn between the Now and the Never. An elf can become suddenly focused, sometimes frighteningly so, when an event occurs which demands immediate attention -- such as an attack. However, anything which doesn't need to be done now might as well need to be done never -- if an elf loses focus, he/she might well forget about the undone job for a month, a year, or more, unless suddenly reminded.
Religion
Elves worship a large pantheon of gods. All of their deities blend humanoid and natural traits, either plant or animal, and tend to shift in the degree to which these traits balance over time. Jalillianili, Goddess of the Hunt, for example, sometimes appears as an elf with a few slightly lupine features, other times as an elvish werewolf, and other times as a wolf which a few hints of elven blood. An artist might portray her anywhere along the spectrum in accordance with what aspect of her he was trying to convey or invoke.
Elvish worship is not predicated on specific rites and rituals, but on a 'sense of properness' -- they will sometimes stop and pray at seemingly random moments, or ignore the gods for years and then volunteer for a holy quest. Elvish clerics are simply those more attuned to the moment than the lay populace. Religion is one thread of the entire tapestry of life; a blade might contain symbols of the Goddess of the Hunt, the God of Ironworking, or even the Goddess of Family, depending on the whim of the crafter or the inspiration of the customer. (It might contain no religious iconography at all, too)
Language
The elvish language is lyrical and complex. While most people can learn the basics, truly mastering the language is amazingly difficult for non-elves. The individual words are not exceptionally complex, though the elves pride themselves on single words which encompass multiple aspects of a single concept. Rather, the true complexity is in the tenses, as the Elvish frame of reference is so long that conjugation includes span of time in the past of the future. Further, both nouns and verbs must be conjugated in this fashion, so that "I walked to the store" must be said, in Elvish, as "I(From the point in the past where I was born to the point in the future where I will cease to be) walked (seven days ago) to the store (as it existed in that point in the past)" To elves, this is intuitive; to others, it is nightmarish. Further, as befits their nature, elvish "rules" of grammar are more polite suggestions; poetic phrasings and metaphors are more important than sticking to the rules.
Art And Culture
Some non-elvish sociologists have commented on the 'beautiful simplicity' of Elvish arts, from woodcarving to cooking. They miss the point. Elves have remarkably complex arts, but the complexity is hidden by an obsessive drive to perfection. An elf cook might make a thousand variants on a single dish, constantly experimenting by varying ingredients by the tiniest degree, until he has achieved absolutely the flavor he desires. An arrowsmith might make ten arrowheads a day, year after year, and only the most keen of observers would note that each one has a slightly different pattern carefully hammered into it, making them as unique as snowflakes. The smith, though, could look at anyone and then tell you the day, and even the hour, it was made, simply by studying the pattern she implanted.
After The Crush
The elves found themselves "trapped in a world they never made", but then again, so did everyone else. Their centers of civilization in the region of the Pacific Northwest were wiped out, and their ancient foes, the bugbears, emerged in force to ravage what remained. As with most of the other races, it was the small outposts and isolated villages which survived more-or-less intact.
Elves had earned great respect from the humans of Arith for their wisdom and power, but the humans of Earth at first saw them as one more set of invaders. Early battles between the two races still leave bitter memories, even though hesitant truces have been forged in many regions. Older Earthborn refer to the elves as "Spocks" or "Keeblers", or greets any passing elf with "Yo, Legolas!", though a certain segment of the populace finds their unearthly beauty and aloof intellectualism compellingly attractive, so it is hardly surprising that half-elves are becoming common anywhere that the two peoples live together in any kind of peace. (Some elves find humans' energy and enthusiasm sufficiently appealing that their other flaws can be overlooked, at least for a night's pleasure...and what is one night out of many tens of thousands?)
The elves thought the humans of Arith were living life at a full gallop with no ability to slow down and appreciate things, as well as dying so fast you hardly got to know one before you were meeting his great-great-grandchildren. Thus, they see the humans of Earth as little more than mad blurs of motion, and what they've learned of pre-Crush Earth society fascinates and repels them. The walls that Earthborn humans erected between themselves and their world -- both physical and metaphysical -- terrify them. Many have found a new appreciation for the humans of Arith, suddenly aware of how far they might have gone. "Skallidane across the entire world" is a typical Elvish phrase for Earth human culture.
They are also fascinated, and intensely curious, with the fact that a race very similair to their own features so prominently in human art and literature -- along with dwarves, gnomes, and other such beings. Those philosophers who have survived have begun to formulate theories, but it will be decades, or longer, before any of them feels they know enough to voice their hypotheses.
Most elvish communities are more isolationist than ever. Few in number and slow breeding, they wish to preserve all they can. When it is prudent to deal regularly with other societies, they usually have an outpost a few miles from their main population center, which serves as a place to meet and trade. They often prefer to be helpful, within certain limits, as long exposure to human psychology has taught them humans hate most that which they do not understand. Thus, no matter how odd or distasteful they might find it, many elves regularly leave their communities to work in cooperative ventures with humans, often in the form of shared patrols, teaching of history or art, or running messages back and forth. "To the humans, the mysterious is the dangerous, and that which is dangerous must be killed out of hand."
Friday, December 14, 2007
A few small hints...
To: Tom Gordon.
Subject: Good Guess. :)
Which brings up an interesting problem for this blog, in that some parts of the world need to remain hidden for the sake of the live game -- not just NPCs and adventures, but Mysteries To Be Revealed. It's not that I don't trust my players not to act on OOC knowledge -- they're much too good for that -- but rather, that it robs them of the fun of discovering the world. Ultimately, the game is about showing the players a good time, and anything which gets in the way of that is problematic.
So, while it surprises no one that something has survived more-or-less intact(ish), (It's such an essential trope of the genre that it must be included) the where, when, and how has to remain hidden for the nonce. (I also need to work out a few key details...)
As a side note, this is the kind of thing I loathe in commercial products -- the "setting details revealed in next supplement" marketing scheme. (Brave New World, I'm looking at YOU.) I'm not talking about things where the world is too big for one supplement to detail properly, I'm talking about things where core premises or major, major, plot elements are left out, not to give the GM freedom but to sell more books. If the campaign world has any big Secrets or Hidden Lore, they should be given up-front -- maybe not detailed to the nth degree, but there so the GM knows about them and can take them into account. Forex, imagine if the new Galactica were released as an RPG first, and the first sourcebook completely failed to mention that Cylons now come in fleshtone. (I also hate metaplot in game settings; give me the world at Point X, give me everything I need to know to start running it, and sell me supplements which simply expand on that base in terms of depth and detail. Don't "advance the timeline" to kill off major NPCs, nuke a city, or otherwise screw with my live game. If you think you've run out of crap to milk for sales, then, if you must, release a "future" setting or a "past" setting which basically kicks off a whole new baseline. (OK, I never use prepackaged supplements anyway, but when these tactics annoy me on a general level.))
Enough ranting. Elves later. (Been setting up a new computer, and, as usual, that sucks down most of my time and energy. Gack.)
Subject: Good Guess. :)
Which brings up an interesting problem for this blog, in that some parts of the world need to remain hidden for the sake of the live game -- not just NPCs and adventures, but Mysteries To Be Revealed. It's not that I don't trust my players not to act on OOC knowledge -- they're much too good for that -- but rather, that it robs them of the fun of discovering the world. Ultimately, the game is about showing the players a good time, and anything which gets in the way of that is problematic.
So, while it surprises no one that something has survived more-or-less intact(ish), (It's such an essential trope of the genre that it must be included) the where, when, and how has to remain hidden for the nonce. (I also need to work out a few key details...)
As a side note, this is the kind of thing I loathe in commercial products -- the "setting details revealed in next supplement" marketing scheme. (Brave New World, I'm looking at YOU.) I'm not talking about things where the world is too big for one supplement to detail properly, I'm talking about things where core premises or major, major, plot elements are left out, not to give the GM freedom but to sell more books. If the campaign world has any big Secrets or Hidden Lore, they should be given up-front -- maybe not detailed to the nth degree, but there so the GM knows about them and can take them into account. Forex, imagine if the new Galactica were released as an RPG first, and the first sourcebook completely failed to mention that Cylons now come in fleshtone. (I also hate metaplot in game settings; give me the world at Point X, give me everything I need to know to start running it, and sell me supplements which simply expand on that base in terms of depth and detail. Don't "advance the timeline" to kill off major NPCs, nuke a city, or otherwise screw with my live game. If you think you've run out of crap to milk for sales, then, if you must, release a "future" setting or a "past" setting which basically kicks off a whole new baseline. (OK, I never use prepackaged supplements anyway, but when these tactics annoy me on a general level.))
Enough ranting. Elves later. (Been setting up a new computer, and, as usual, that sucks down most of my time and energy. Gack.)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Let The Infodumping Re-Commence! (Bugbears)
So here's the thing. I've been churning out world details like mad, but a lot of it has been scenario-focused since the game is now up and running. I don't plan to post major NPCs and stats somewhere where nasssty playerses can gets their pawses on them, preciousss. So I sort of need to edit and filter that which is truly world-based out from that which is in-game based.
In any event, there's a whole mound of what I term 'cascade creation' going on. I start doing X, I have a tossaway reference to Y, then when I do Y I realize a need for Z, and so on. A lot of the offshoots of what I'm doing for the scenario can and will be posted here. In the meanwhile, though, I've been developing the culture and background for one of the many humanoid races which wander the campaign world. That they also happen to be antagonists for the first story arc is a nice bonus. Nothing in here is current-plot-specific, though, so I can post with minimal fear. (This is also an interesting example how plot and general creation drive each other. I had some short notes on bugbears, which inspired my plot -- then I found that the plot caused me to ask questions of myself, which caused me to do a lot more development on the bugbears to fill in some gaps. There's still some things left, such as family life and exotic weapons, and mebbe some racial spells, and....sigh. Here's the annoying thing. Give me a week, I could write a 32 page PDF with full details to make the race fun and interesting for any campaign, but with 4e looming and GM-focused supplements selling extra-poorly, what would be the point? Eventually, I'd like to have an ad-supported blog which earned enough money to justify serious time investment, but for now, I have to limit myself to interesting tidbits that are created during my normal 'allotted' time for creative endeavours.)
Anyone want to be a Patron Of The Arts?
Didn't think so. Sigh.
Anyhoo...Bugbears! (Tomorrow -- more on Elves.)
=============================
Bugbears
History
Bugbears have long been mortal enemies of the elves, as both claim the woodlands for their own. While the elves adapted the arts of men and dwarves into their own culture, becoming masters of crafting and construction, the bugbears clung to the simplest of tools, albeit fashioned with cunning. They built no great cities, but lived as semi-nomads, wandering during warm months and settling into small villages during the cold winter. They also raided passing travelers and outlying villages, and many individuals turned to banditry. Over decades of war with the elves, they were driven into the deepest and most remote parts of the wood, denied access to many areas which had been their traditional homes. Many tribes became semi-underground dwellers, seizing the upper levels of the underdark passages for themselves and driving out smaller, weaker, races, including their goblin kin. There, they nursed their hatred for the elves who had driven them out of the lands which were rightfully theirs.
The Crush impacted them little, directly. To some extent, all it did was dump a host of fresh raiding targets in their laps. While many of the Earthborn who dwelled in the regions the bugbears called home were armed, they were not prepared to deal with organized raiding parties. The bugbears reacted to guns, tractors, and other artifacts of man with insane hatred, and tore apart anyone using such devices against them with no hint of mercy. Small towns nestled in the deep woods were attacked, raided for fresh foods, and then burned, the inhabitants slaughtered if they could not escape. Elves fleeing the destruction of their great cities were also targeted, and the many elvish outposts which kept the bugbears in place were overrun and destroyed.
The bugbears have no great nations, but the two largest collections of tribes are found in the former Pacific Northwest and in the heart of Europe, in and around the former Black Forest. Smaller groups are known to exist in parts of the American South, New England, and the jungles of Central America. Individuals who have left their tribes for whatever reason might be found anywhere, though they are welcomed in few settlements.
Culture
Bugbears consider themselves guardians of nature and embodiments of the natural order, which is a struggle of all against all where the weak exist solely as prey for the strong. They have a deep seated, perhaps almost instinctual, hatred of metalworking, and this extends to almost any craft beyond a late paleothic level. They are, perhaps, the finest stoneknappers and woodworkers of the humanoids, but all their craft cannot make a wooden shield hold against a mithral axe or allow a sling stone to be deadlier than a crossbow bolt. They compensate for this by breeding powerful druids, and training their best warriors in the arts of stealth and ambush.
Bugbears are also violent and chaotic by nature, and no tribe can grow to more than a few hundred individuals before it fragments, usually in a single day of brutal conflict. When tribes disagree over territory or resources, there will be a contest of champions, but the losing tribe often disregards the results and attacks anyway, if it sees an advantage. Unlike the more egalitarian goblins and hobgoblins, bugbears view their females as nothing more than breeding machines and tokens of status for the alpha males of the tribe. On the other hand, females and young are protected with insane vigor, and attackers will not reach the women and children of the tribe until every male of fighting age is dead.
In times past, bugbears were taken as prisoners by the hoboblin nations, and these slaves have been bred for strength and obedience for centuries. Despised by their free ancestors, they are shock troops and workers for the hobgoblins. In the aftermath of the Crush, some have freed themselves, and, without homes among the Free Peoples or their own kind, they often join up with bandit gangs or seek work as mercenary soldiers.
Religion
Bugbears are a nature-oriented people, but, unlike the elves, their gods do not incorporate nature into their physical forms. Bugbear religion is based partially on reincarnation, on the belief that a spirit travels through life over and over -- for a time. If the spirit survives life's challenges, it grows stronger with each incarnation, until it eventually ascends to godhood. A weak spirit is torn a little for each life in which it fails, and eventually, it is too weak to remain in the materal world and is pulled into the Maelstrom Forest, a lower plane where the souls of the weak are hunted, tormented, and tortured until they are reduced to raw soul-stuff, which then reincarnates with a 'fresh start'. Souls strong enough to break free of the material but too weak to become gods become the deities servants, avatars, and messengers. Bugbears do not believe reborn souls can incarnate as anything but bugbears; all other races have alien souls, even their goblinoid kin.
Some spirits linger between incarnations, lending their power to the worthy. From these waiting souls come the shamanic powers of some bugbears.
Glugruk The Challenger
Bugbears do not have a well defined hierarchy of gods. Indeed, each tribe has at least one 'local' god who is the deified version of their greatest and most famous ancestral hero. A few deities, though, seem to exist in one form or another across bugbear culture, and one such is Glugruk The Challenger. In life, it is said, Glugruk would never refuse a challenge which the challenger was also willing to do -- swim a raging river, enter a human city and kidnap an infant, march into an orc lair and slay ten of their warriors. As long as both contestants faced the same task with the same odds, Glugruk would accept, and the legends say he never, ever, lost.
After his ascension, Glugruk began to appear to worthy-seeming bugbears to offer them tasks to undertake. For these challenges, Glugruk would incarnate himself in the same form as the one being challenged, and if the target managed a decent showing without cowardice or hesitation, Glugruk would offer a blessing. If he failed or refused...he died. Victory was not essential, but performing beyond the normal limits was.
Bugbear rangers and barbarians are the most common followers of Glugruk. He has few true clerics, as that sort of religious training is not a major part of bugbear culture.
Blugrul The Wisdom-Giver
While might and skill are admired among bugbears, there is also respect for those capable of cunning, insight, and awareness -- provided such things lead to victory! Blugrul is the second of the 'shared gods' known to most bugbear clans. He was, in life, reputed to be a great seeker of secrets, tearing them from those who guarded them. He believed that nothing should be unknown or hidden to those with the courage and daring to learn the great truths.
When he ascended, he became a revealer of knowledge to bugbear shamans -- but he never gave answers, only a path to where the answers could be found. Winning the answer -- and understanding it -- was up to he to whom the answer was given.
Obviously, spirit shamans are the main followers of Blugrul, but rogues and scouts -- all those who seek that which is hidden -- hope to emulate his success and ascend into his service.
Classes
The typical bugbear is a first level Warrior, but elite bugbears are likely to be Rangers, Rogues, or Druids. As with all races, there are bugbear Sorcerers, and many bugbears become Barbarians. Few bugbears are true fighters, as they lack the dedication to the fighting arts which that class requires, as well as lacking the metal armor and weapons the class tends to rely on. A rare few are psychic warriors or psiblades. Wizards, standard Clerics, and Monk are almost unknown. A handful of bugbears find they can become tribal drum-shamans, or bards, often with a slightly different spell list.
In any event, there's a whole mound of what I term 'cascade creation' going on. I start doing X, I have a tossaway reference to Y, then when I do Y I realize a need for Z, and so on. A lot of the offshoots of what I'm doing for the scenario can and will be posted here. In the meanwhile, though, I've been developing the culture and background for one of the many humanoid races which wander the campaign world. That they also happen to be antagonists for the first story arc is a nice bonus. Nothing in here is current-plot-specific, though, so I can post with minimal fear. (This is also an interesting example how plot and general creation drive each other. I had some short notes on bugbears, which inspired my plot -- then I found that the plot caused me to ask questions of myself, which caused me to do a lot more development on the bugbears to fill in some gaps. There's still some things left, such as family life and exotic weapons, and mebbe some racial spells, and....sigh. Here's the annoying thing. Give me a week, I could write a 32 page PDF with full details to make the race fun and interesting for any campaign, but with 4e looming and GM-focused supplements selling extra-poorly, what would be the point? Eventually, I'd like to have an ad-supported blog which earned enough money to justify serious time investment, but for now, I have to limit myself to interesting tidbits that are created during my normal 'allotted' time for creative endeavours.)
Anyone want to be a Patron Of The Arts?
Didn't think so. Sigh.
Anyhoo...Bugbears! (Tomorrow -- more on Elves.)
=============================
Bugbears
History
Bugbears have long been mortal enemies of the elves, as both claim the woodlands for their own. While the elves adapted the arts of men and dwarves into their own culture, becoming masters of crafting and construction, the bugbears clung to the simplest of tools, albeit fashioned with cunning. They built no great cities, but lived as semi-nomads, wandering during warm months and settling into small villages during the cold winter. They also raided passing travelers and outlying villages, and many individuals turned to banditry. Over decades of war with the elves, they were driven into the deepest and most remote parts of the wood, denied access to many areas which had been their traditional homes. Many tribes became semi-underground dwellers, seizing the upper levels of the underdark passages for themselves and driving out smaller, weaker, races, including their goblin kin. There, they nursed their hatred for the elves who had driven them out of the lands which were rightfully theirs.
The Crush impacted them little, directly. To some extent, all it did was dump a host of fresh raiding targets in their laps. While many of the Earthborn who dwelled in the regions the bugbears called home were armed, they were not prepared to deal with organized raiding parties. The bugbears reacted to guns, tractors, and other artifacts of man with insane hatred, and tore apart anyone using such devices against them with no hint of mercy. Small towns nestled in the deep woods were attacked, raided for fresh foods, and then burned, the inhabitants slaughtered if they could not escape. Elves fleeing the destruction of their great cities were also targeted, and the many elvish outposts which kept the bugbears in place were overrun and destroyed.
The bugbears have no great nations, but the two largest collections of tribes are found in the former Pacific Northwest and in the heart of Europe, in and around the former Black Forest. Smaller groups are known to exist in parts of the American South, New England, and the jungles of Central America. Individuals who have left their tribes for whatever reason might be found anywhere, though they are welcomed in few settlements.
Culture
Bugbears consider themselves guardians of nature and embodiments of the natural order, which is a struggle of all against all where the weak exist solely as prey for the strong. They have a deep seated, perhaps almost instinctual, hatred of metalworking, and this extends to almost any craft beyond a late paleothic level. They are, perhaps, the finest stoneknappers and woodworkers of the humanoids, but all their craft cannot make a wooden shield hold against a mithral axe or allow a sling stone to be deadlier than a crossbow bolt. They compensate for this by breeding powerful druids, and training their best warriors in the arts of stealth and ambush.
Bugbears are also violent and chaotic by nature, and no tribe can grow to more than a few hundred individuals before it fragments, usually in a single day of brutal conflict. When tribes disagree over territory or resources, there will be a contest of champions, but the losing tribe often disregards the results and attacks anyway, if it sees an advantage. Unlike the more egalitarian goblins and hobgoblins, bugbears view their females as nothing more than breeding machines and tokens of status for the alpha males of the tribe. On the other hand, females and young are protected with insane vigor, and attackers will not reach the women and children of the tribe until every male of fighting age is dead.
In times past, bugbears were taken as prisoners by the hoboblin nations, and these slaves have been bred for strength and obedience for centuries. Despised by their free ancestors, they are shock troops and workers for the hobgoblins. In the aftermath of the Crush, some have freed themselves, and, without homes among the Free Peoples or their own kind, they often join up with bandit gangs or seek work as mercenary soldiers.
Religion
Bugbears are a nature-oriented people, but, unlike the elves, their gods do not incorporate nature into their physical forms. Bugbear religion is based partially on reincarnation, on the belief that a spirit travels through life over and over -- for a time. If the spirit survives life's challenges, it grows stronger with each incarnation, until it eventually ascends to godhood. A weak spirit is torn a little for each life in which it fails, and eventually, it is too weak to remain in the materal world and is pulled into the Maelstrom Forest, a lower plane where the souls of the weak are hunted, tormented, and tortured until they are reduced to raw soul-stuff, which then reincarnates with a 'fresh start'. Souls strong enough to break free of the material but too weak to become gods become the deities servants, avatars, and messengers. Bugbears do not believe reborn souls can incarnate as anything but bugbears; all other races have alien souls, even their goblinoid kin.
Some spirits linger between incarnations, lending their power to the worthy. From these waiting souls come the shamanic powers of some bugbears.
Glugruk The Challenger
Bugbears do not have a well defined hierarchy of gods. Indeed, each tribe has at least one 'local' god who is the deified version of their greatest and most famous ancestral hero. A few deities, though, seem to exist in one form or another across bugbear culture, and one such is Glugruk The Challenger. In life, it is said, Glugruk would never refuse a challenge which the challenger was also willing to do -- swim a raging river, enter a human city and kidnap an infant, march into an orc lair and slay ten of their warriors. As long as both contestants faced the same task with the same odds, Glugruk would accept, and the legends say he never, ever, lost.
After his ascension, Glugruk began to appear to worthy-seeming bugbears to offer them tasks to undertake. For these challenges, Glugruk would incarnate himself in the same form as the one being challenged, and if the target managed a decent showing without cowardice or hesitation, Glugruk would offer a blessing. If he failed or refused...he died. Victory was not essential, but performing beyond the normal limits was.
Bugbear rangers and barbarians are the most common followers of Glugruk. He has few true clerics, as that sort of religious training is not a major part of bugbear culture.
Blugrul The Wisdom-Giver
While might and skill are admired among bugbears, there is also respect for those capable of cunning, insight, and awareness -- provided such things lead to victory! Blugrul is the second of the 'shared gods' known to most bugbear clans. He was, in life, reputed to be a great seeker of secrets, tearing them from those who guarded them. He believed that nothing should be unknown or hidden to those with the courage and daring to learn the great truths.
When he ascended, he became a revealer of knowledge to bugbear shamans -- but he never gave answers, only a path to where the answers could be found. Winning the answer -- and understanding it -- was up to he to whom the answer was given.
Obviously, spirit shamans are the main followers of Blugrul, but rogues and scouts -- all those who seek that which is hidden -- hope to emulate his success and ascend into his service.
Classes
The typical bugbear is a first level Warrior, but elite bugbears are likely to be Rangers, Rogues, or Druids. As with all races, there are bugbear Sorcerers, and many bugbears become Barbarians. Few bugbears are true fighters, as they lack the dedication to the fighting arts which that class requires, as well as lacking the metal armor and weapons the class tends to rely on. A rare few are psychic warriors or psiblades. Wizards, standard Clerics, and Monk are almost unknown. A handful of bugbears find they can become tribal drum-shamans, or bards, often with a slightly different spell list.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Gods, Demigods, and Heroes
Huh. Didn't realize it's been so long since I posted.
Currently, we (by which I mean, 'me') are in the panicked drill-down phase, where I need to run a game in, oh, five days, so I need to assemble enough world to support the first game session. This means making sure every PC class and race has a place and role in the world. This means, especially, religion. And since religions are regional, I had to first come up with something for the general region of the first few games. That meant deciding, in broad strokes, what the Arithian area was like, then creating some gods which fit that culture. Oh, and since I don't know if the PC plans on being an Earthborn human or not, I needed to sketch out a few of the faiths which have evolved among the post-Crush Americans, and give them game stats.
Religion in D&D is a fairly mechanistic thing -- it tends to be mostly about what domains you get and any annoying restrictions on play you might have to endure in exchange for being a mobile first aid kit. Of course, I want it to be more than that, but first things first -- you can have a D&D faith with game stats but no substance, but not one with substance and no game stats.
I view the gods of a D&D world as the bored CEOs of truly huge corporations, and the clerics as relatively low-ranking employees. Spells are their paychecks. The CEO doesn't know the names of one one-thousandth of his employees, and certainly doesn't monitor their daily activities too much. So long as a cleric doesn't too drastically violate the workplace policies, he gets his spells every day, just like an office worker who barely does his job still collects his pay. Every so often, though, there's a surprise inspection. Further, the higher ranked an employee is, the better the odds that a senior VP of marketing (i.e, an archon or celestial or something) is keeping close tabs on him.
What this means is that, in actual play, it doesn't matter if the cleric of god 'a' uses a quick Cure Serious Wounds on a follower of god 'b'. That's like taking an extra-long coffee break. The CEO might object if he knew about it, but he doesn't, and no one is going to waste his time bringing it to his attention. Of course, using beneficial spells on out-and-out enemies of your god is a lot more like corporate espionage -- you might not get caught instantly, but, when you are, you will be summarily fired, and possibly turned into a leprous weasel.
(Paladins are on permanent probation. They're always being watched, and their manager is a be0tch who will write them up for every tiny violation...)
This post contains a lot of small essays I've been hacking together, and should not in any way be considered the exhaustive, or even semi-useful, list of religions and deities. I still need to define some more evil gods, add at least two more Earthborn faiths, and so on. But, hey, it's a beginning.
Earthborn Faiths
Following the Crush, the religions of Earth underwent many changes. The following discusses the perceptions and game mechanics, but offers no opinion on the validity of belief, either in terms of the fictional world or the real one. The observed facts are presented; theologians on the Shattered World draw their own conclusions as to what they mean.
United Church of Christ (Earthborn)
Following the Crush, the countless denominations of Christianity in America found themselves bereft of numbers and facing a profound theological crisis -- first, alien gods, and their followers, had appeared everywhere (and were wielding palpable power), and, second, the truly holy and devout suddenly found themselves able to do the same, seemingly without regard to the many distinctions and doctrinal disputes which had consumed the branches of the faith for so long.
Communication post-Crush was a nightmarish mix of still-surviving technologies and hand-delivered messages. Surviving leaders of major deominations spent several years exchanging letters, often with weeks or months between responses, slowly building a rickety ecumenical framework which they felt could keep Christianity from shattering into a thousand irrelevant and shrinking cults, and offer a basis for evangelism and outreach to the newcomers whose souls were at risk from their polytheistic faiths. The United Church of Christ built from the teachings of many faiths, and tried to adapt them to their new reality. A key doctrine of the United Church is that there is still only one true path to salvation, and that other gods are either Yahweh revealing himself in alien ways, or deceptions of Satan -- there is still tremendous debate over this, and the newly-formed Church is clearly heading for a major schism sometime in the future.
Followers of the United Church of Christ gain access to the following domains: Law, Healing, Protection, and Good. Clergy must be of any Good or Lawful Neutral alignment. Vows of Poverty are common but not required; neither are vows of chastity, though marriage is still a sacrament.
Unitarians (Earthborn)
Once a relatively small sect filled with tofu-eating granola heads, the Unitarians have found their belief system proven empirically -- or so they claim -- with the plethora of different gods who all seem real, at least in terms of the ability of their devout followers to cast spells in their name. The Unitarian basic philosophy of peace, love, and all that other tree hugging hippie crap remains unchanged, and the stresses of life post-Crush have actually strengthened the faith -- it now takes real guts and dedication to preach non-violence, forgiveness, and especially tolerance. The Unitarians are evangelical in a low-key way, and work to incorporate all they can learn of Arthian deities into their faith -- at least, those Arithian deities not dedicated to slaughter and mayhem. Of all Earthborn faiths, the Unitarians are most likely to accept humanoids, especially half-orcs and half-ogres, into their ranks, provided they manage to abide by the tenets of the faith. Many Arithians consider them to be insane or deluded, but elves, half-elves, and, halflings, find aspects of the faith appealing, especially since it doesn't require the abandonment of their own gods, holidays, and traditions. Unitarian 'churches' are a mix of church, school, and town hall, and they run charities and provide shelter for those in need. Their relationship with the United Church Of Christ varies from cordial companionship to borderline religious war, depending on the nature of the community and just where the local branch of the UCC fits on the scale from Hairy Thunderer to Cosmic Creampuff.
Unitarian clerics have access to the domains of Liberation, Healing, Protection, and Community.
The Verithanian Gods (Arithian)
The Verithanian gods were worshiped in Mantaros, Denethon, and Calval. They are mostly human-seeming beings, each with many traits and foibles. The Verithanian deities are very active, and their structures and relationships change over time. Myths tell of the rise and fall of various gods, and of the impact these internecine struggles have on the world. The Verithanian pantheon is the largest of the three major faiths of the Alliance Of Free Kingdoms, and contains many minor deities without large active priesthoods. Such lesser gods are remembered alongside the more powerful entities, or are called on by those whose immediate needs fall within their specialty.
As might befit the complex politics and changing alliances which defined the eastern nations of the Alliance, the gods are seen as the nobles of the High Kingdoms. Each god has his own province in those kingdoms, and all swear putative loyalty to Marridan, High King Of The High Kingdoms. The events of the Crush have led some to speculate that there has been a coup in the heavens, that after aeons of plotting, Borrabos has finally overthrown Marridan, and the world itself has trembled in response. Certainly, Borrabosian cultists have spread this tale among the ruined cities of the Shattered World.
Gods are defined as follows:
King or Queen -- Greater God
Duke or Duchess -- Intermediate God
Baron or Baroness -- Lesser God
Earl -- Demigod
Knight or Dame -- Quasi-Deity
A few of the Verithanian gods...
Marridan
Divine Rank: 20
Symbol: A gold crown crossed by two red swords
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Law, Verithania, Rulership, Power, Justice, Command, Patriarchy
Worshippers: Nobles, the powerful, generals, judges
Cleric Alignment: Any lawful
Domains: Law, Leadership, Nobility, Pride, Glory, Strength
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Description
Marridan appears as the essence of rulership -- a massive, red-haired, full bearded, and strongly muscled man, always garbed in fine raimant, either that of the highest nobility or ornate plate armor of the grandest make. He usually manifests as 30 feet in height. His weapon, Law's Might, appears in his hand as needed. His aura of command is such that anyone who sees him treats his every word as a suggestion with a Save DC of 50. Unlike many such gods, he never seeks to diminish or disguise himself. He would no more walk among his followers as a common man than he would gouge out his own eye.
Dogma
Command, duty, discipline. Marridan rules a fractious and quarrelsome kingdom of gods, all seeking power, and he maintains absolute fairness and order. In the mortal world, laws are to be obeyed, hierarchy is to be respected, and all things must happen in their due course. The greatest possible sin is treason and treachery. Remember your duties to those below you as well as those above. To fail to do right by your bondsmen is as wrong as failing to obey your liege.
Clergy And Temples
Clergy of Marridan usually serve as advisors to the nobility, and as judges and lawgivers in many communities. The most powerful clergy are often given noble rank, and this is not considered a conflict of interest. After the Crush, some of the lowest ranking of Marridan's clerics have become wandering justices, making a circuit of the holdfasts and offering to resolve conflicts or settle disputes. Some of the academically minded have begun to make a study of the laws of Earth, which they find, in general, to be ill defined and alien. A few Earthborn lawmakers, police, judges, and politicians have taken oaths of service to Marridan, as well.
Hallenia
Divine Rank:20
Symbol:A tree, surmounted by the sun
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Nature, life, healing, rebirth, creation, weather
Worshippers: Druids, rangers, healers, midwives
Cleric Alignment: Any non-evil
Domains: Plant, Healing, Animal, Weather
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Description
Hallenia, Queen of Nature, traditionally appears as a women clad in ever-growing plants, and wearing a grown of golden -- but still living -- leaves. She always appears with a dire animal of some sort, the exact type depending on her mood and her mission -- a wolf for when she is angry or seeks to tell her followers to fight, an owl for when she wishes to dispense wisdom, and so forth. Whenever she appears on the material world, life blossoms; areas where she has walked are incredibly fertile for years afterwards.
Dogma
Hallenia is the goddess of life, healing, nature, and rebirth, and she encourages her followers to create, nurture, and care for things -- nature, their homes, their families. She is seen as the wise protector of nature from excesses which would lead to the destruction of all; she sets limits and boundaries on relentless expansion, and blesses those who respect her. As befits a deity of the often-wartorn nations of the East, she does not preach pacifism or indiscriminate use of the gifts of healing; a dead orc is a boon to the natural order. Cruelty is forbidden, though, and compassion to any who might be worthy of it is a boon.
Clergy And Temples
Hallenia's clergy are usually found in farming villages and small towns, though there are temples in the large cities, too. Her temples are usually found in areas of wilderness otherwise surrounded by fields and orchids, a sign of tribute to nature itself, a sacrifice of some land to the wilderness. Many of her lay clergy are midwives, nurses, or other caregivers. Those who stand between the world of nature and the cities of man often worship her -- druids and rangers, in particular.
Gabriella, Duchess of War
Divine Rank: Intermediate God
Symbol: A sword and axe crossed, over a round shield.
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: War, battle, defense, victory
Worshippers: Soldiers, generals, guardsmen, paladins
Cleric Alignment: Any, but usually lawful
Domains: Law, War, Protection, Glory
Favored Weapon: Any
Description
Gabriella is the Verithanian Duchess of War, and she appears as a heavily armed and armored woman possessed of a fierce beauty. When she appears, it is always wearing the armor and wielding the weapons of the army to whom she shows herself, or the leader she has appeared to council.
Dogma
Gabriella is the Duchess of war, not violence or mayhem. She preaches directed and purposeful action, of battle for a cause, of sacrifice for glory. She disdains those who disobey orders or who engage in brutality for its own sake. She respects courage, but not foolhardiness. She is also considered an "Officer's Goddess", though most of the rank-and-file pay her homage as well.
Clergy And Temples
Most fortresses, barracks, and military schools maintain shrines or even full scale temples of Gabriella, and her clerics accompany troops into battle, healing or smiting as needed. Those too old or wounded to fight become teachers and advisors.
Post-Crush, many fighting men of Earth, especially national guardsmen, police, and remnants of the military, have begun to embrace her doctrines, though this is not widespread. A few surviving military units openly follow her, but on Holdfasts centered on old Guard bases or the like, there is more likely to be a carefully hidden shrine and some copies of Arithian holy writings, laboriously translated.
Currently, we (by which I mean, 'me') are in the panicked drill-down phase, where I need to run a game in, oh, five days, so I need to assemble enough world to support the first game session. This means making sure every PC class and race has a place and role in the world. This means, especially, religion. And since religions are regional, I had to first come up with something for the general region of the first few games. That meant deciding, in broad strokes, what the Arithian area was like, then creating some gods which fit that culture. Oh, and since I don't know if the PC plans on being an Earthborn human or not, I needed to sketch out a few of the faiths which have evolved among the post-Crush Americans, and give them game stats.
Religion in D&D is a fairly mechanistic thing -- it tends to be mostly about what domains you get and any annoying restrictions on play you might have to endure in exchange for being a mobile first aid kit. Of course, I want it to be more than that, but first things first -- you can have a D&D faith with game stats but no substance, but not one with substance and no game stats.
I view the gods of a D&D world as the bored CEOs of truly huge corporations, and the clerics as relatively low-ranking employees. Spells are their paychecks. The CEO doesn't know the names of one one-thousandth of his employees, and certainly doesn't monitor their daily activities too much. So long as a cleric doesn't too drastically violate the workplace policies, he gets his spells every day, just like an office worker who barely does his job still collects his pay. Every so often, though, there's a surprise inspection. Further, the higher ranked an employee is, the better the odds that a senior VP of marketing (i.e, an archon or celestial or something) is keeping close tabs on him.
What this means is that, in actual play, it doesn't matter if the cleric of god 'a' uses a quick Cure Serious Wounds on a follower of god 'b'. That's like taking an extra-long coffee break. The CEO might object if he knew about it, but he doesn't, and no one is going to waste his time bringing it to his attention. Of course, using beneficial spells on out-and-out enemies of your god is a lot more like corporate espionage -- you might not get caught instantly, but, when you are, you will be summarily fired, and possibly turned into a leprous weasel.
(Paladins are on permanent probation. They're always being watched, and their manager is a be0tch who will write them up for every tiny violation...)
This post contains a lot of small essays I've been hacking together, and should not in any way be considered the exhaustive, or even semi-useful, list of religions and deities. I still need to define some more evil gods, add at least two more Earthborn faiths, and so on. But, hey, it's a beginning.
Earthborn Faiths
Following the Crush, the religions of Earth underwent many changes. The following discusses the perceptions and game mechanics, but offers no opinion on the validity of belief, either in terms of the fictional world or the real one. The observed facts are presented; theologians on the Shattered World draw their own conclusions as to what they mean.
United Church of Christ (Earthborn)
Following the Crush, the countless denominations of Christianity in America found themselves bereft of numbers and facing a profound theological crisis -- first, alien gods, and their followers, had appeared everywhere (and were wielding palpable power), and, second, the truly holy and devout suddenly found themselves able to do the same, seemingly without regard to the many distinctions and doctrinal disputes which had consumed the branches of the faith for so long.
Communication post-Crush was a nightmarish mix of still-surviving technologies and hand-delivered messages. Surviving leaders of major deominations spent several years exchanging letters, often with weeks or months between responses, slowly building a rickety ecumenical framework which they felt could keep Christianity from shattering into a thousand irrelevant and shrinking cults, and offer a basis for evangelism and outreach to the newcomers whose souls were at risk from their polytheistic faiths. The United Church of Christ built from the teachings of many faiths, and tried to adapt them to their new reality. A key doctrine of the United Church is that there is still only one true path to salvation, and that other gods are either Yahweh revealing himself in alien ways, or deceptions of Satan -- there is still tremendous debate over this, and the newly-formed Church is clearly heading for a major schism sometime in the future.
Followers of the United Church of Christ gain access to the following domains: Law, Healing, Protection, and Good. Clergy must be of any Good or Lawful Neutral alignment. Vows of Poverty are common but not required; neither are vows of chastity, though marriage is still a sacrament.
Unitarians (Earthborn)
Once a relatively small sect filled with tofu-eating granola heads, the Unitarians have found their belief system proven empirically -- or so they claim -- with the plethora of different gods who all seem real, at least in terms of the ability of their devout followers to cast spells in their name. The Unitarian basic philosophy of peace, love, and all that other tree hugging hippie crap remains unchanged, and the stresses of life post-Crush have actually strengthened the faith -- it now takes real guts and dedication to preach non-violence, forgiveness, and especially tolerance. The Unitarians are evangelical in a low-key way, and work to incorporate all they can learn of Arthian deities into their faith -- at least, those Arithian deities not dedicated to slaughter and mayhem. Of all Earthborn faiths, the Unitarians are most likely to accept humanoids, especially half-orcs and half-ogres, into their ranks, provided they manage to abide by the tenets of the faith. Many Arithians consider them to be insane or deluded, but elves, half-elves, and, halflings, find aspects of the faith appealing, especially since it doesn't require the abandonment of their own gods, holidays, and traditions. Unitarian 'churches' are a mix of church, school, and town hall, and they run charities and provide shelter for those in need. Their relationship with the United Church Of Christ varies from cordial companionship to borderline religious war, depending on the nature of the community and just where the local branch of the UCC fits on the scale from Hairy Thunderer to Cosmic Creampuff.
Unitarian clerics have access to the domains of Liberation, Healing, Protection, and Community.
The Verithanian Gods (Arithian)
The Verithanian gods were worshiped in Mantaros, Denethon, and Calval. They are mostly human-seeming beings, each with many traits and foibles. The Verithanian deities are very active, and their structures and relationships change over time. Myths tell of the rise and fall of various gods, and of the impact these internecine struggles have on the world. The Verithanian pantheon is the largest of the three major faiths of the Alliance Of Free Kingdoms, and contains many minor deities without large active priesthoods. Such lesser gods are remembered alongside the more powerful entities, or are called on by those whose immediate needs fall within their specialty.
As might befit the complex politics and changing alliances which defined the eastern nations of the Alliance, the gods are seen as the nobles of the High Kingdoms. Each god has his own province in those kingdoms, and all swear putative loyalty to Marridan, High King Of The High Kingdoms. The events of the Crush have led some to speculate that there has been a coup in the heavens, that after aeons of plotting, Borrabos has finally overthrown Marridan, and the world itself has trembled in response. Certainly, Borrabosian cultists have spread this tale among the ruined cities of the Shattered World.
Gods are defined as follows:
King or Queen -- Greater God
Duke or Duchess -- Intermediate God
Baron or Baroness -- Lesser God
Earl -- Demigod
Knight or Dame -- Quasi-Deity
A few of the Verithanian gods...
Marridan
Divine Rank: 20
Symbol: A gold crown crossed by two red swords
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Law, Verithania, Rulership, Power, Justice, Command, Patriarchy
Worshippers: Nobles, the powerful, generals, judges
Cleric Alignment: Any lawful
Domains: Law, Leadership, Nobility, Pride, Glory, Strength
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Description
Marridan appears as the essence of rulership -- a massive, red-haired, full bearded, and strongly muscled man, always garbed in fine raimant, either that of the highest nobility or ornate plate armor of the grandest make. He usually manifests as 30 feet in height. His weapon, Law's Might, appears in his hand as needed. His aura of command is such that anyone who sees him treats his every word as a suggestion with a Save DC of 50. Unlike many such gods, he never seeks to diminish or disguise himself. He would no more walk among his followers as a common man than he would gouge out his own eye.
Dogma
Command, duty, discipline. Marridan rules a fractious and quarrelsome kingdom of gods, all seeking power, and he maintains absolute fairness and order. In the mortal world, laws are to be obeyed, hierarchy is to be respected, and all things must happen in their due course. The greatest possible sin is treason and treachery. Remember your duties to those below you as well as those above. To fail to do right by your bondsmen is as wrong as failing to obey your liege.
Clergy And Temples
Clergy of Marridan usually serve as advisors to the nobility, and as judges and lawgivers in many communities. The most powerful clergy are often given noble rank, and this is not considered a conflict of interest. After the Crush, some of the lowest ranking of Marridan's clerics have become wandering justices, making a circuit of the holdfasts and offering to resolve conflicts or settle disputes. Some of the academically minded have begun to make a study of the laws of Earth, which they find, in general, to be ill defined and alien. A few Earthborn lawmakers, police, judges, and politicians have taken oaths of service to Marridan, as well.
Hallenia
Divine Rank:20
Symbol:A tree, surmounted by the sun
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Nature, life, healing, rebirth, creation, weather
Worshippers: Druids, rangers, healers, midwives
Cleric Alignment: Any non-evil
Domains: Plant, Healing, Animal, Weather
Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
Description
Hallenia, Queen of Nature, traditionally appears as a women clad in ever-growing plants, and wearing a grown of golden -- but still living -- leaves. She always appears with a dire animal of some sort, the exact type depending on her mood and her mission -- a wolf for when she is angry or seeks to tell her followers to fight, an owl for when she wishes to dispense wisdom, and so forth. Whenever she appears on the material world, life blossoms; areas where she has walked are incredibly fertile for years afterwards.
Dogma
Hallenia is the goddess of life, healing, nature, and rebirth, and she encourages her followers to create, nurture, and care for things -- nature, their homes, their families. She is seen as the wise protector of nature from excesses which would lead to the destruction of all; she sets limits and boundaries on relentless expansion, and blesses those who respect her. As befits a deity of the often-wartorn nations of the East, she does not preach pacifism or indiscriminate use of the gifts of healing; a dead orc is a boon to the natural order. Cruelty is forbidden, though, and compassion to any who might be worthy of it is a boon.
Clergy And Temples
Hallenia's clergy are usually found in farming villages and small towns, though there are temples in the large cities, too. Her temples are usually found in areas of wilderness otherwise surrounded by fields and orchids, a sign of tribute to nature itself, a sacrifice of some land to the wilderness. Many of her lay clergy are midwives, nurses, or other caregivers. Those who stand between the world of nature and the cities of man often worship her -- druids and rangers, in particular.
Gabriella, Duchess of War
Divine Rank: Intermediate God
Symbol: A sword and axe crossed, over a round shield.
Home Plane: The Fortress
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: War, battle, defense, victory
Worshippers: Soldiers, generals, guardsmen, paladins
Cleric Alignment: Any, but usually lawful
Domains: Law, War, Protection, Glory
Favored Weapon: Any
Description
Gabriella is the Verithanian Duchess of War, and she appears as a heavily armed and armored woman possessed of a fierce beauty. When she appears, it is always wearing the armor and wielding the weapons of the army to whom she shows herself, or the leader she has appeared to council.
Dogma
Gabriella is the Duchess of war, not violence or mayhem. She preaches directed and purposeful action, of battle for a cause, of sacrifice for glory. She disdains those who disobey orders or who engage in brutality for its own sake. She respects courage, but not foolhardiness. She is also considered an "Officer's Goddess", though most of the rank-and-file pay her homage as well.
Clergy And Temples
Most fortresses, barracks, and military schools maintain shrines or even full scale temples of Gabriella, and her clerics accompany troops into battle, healing or smiting as needed. Those too old or wounded to fight become teachers and advisors.
Post-Crush, many fighting men of Earth, especially national guardsmen, police, and remnants of the military, have begun to embrace her doctrines, though this is not widespread. A few surviving military units openly follow her, but on Holdfasts centered on old Guard bases or the like, there is more likely to be a carefully hidden shrine and some copies of Arithian holy writings, laboriously translated.
Monday, November 26, 2007
This is my Boom Stick!
Ah, guns. Where would games be without them? It's not possible (well, not easy...) to do any kind of post-apocalyptic game without the smell of gunpowder in the imaginary air, and if having a squad of orcs with machineguns is wrong, I don't want to be right.
Of course, guns need rules. Fortunately, D20 already has good rules in D20 Modern, so they can be moved over fairly easily. Only a few minor tweaks are necessary. Still, the game designer in me is itching for more complexity. We're talking about guns which have been in active use for 20 years now, without any industrial complex behind them. Well made, well maintained guns can be kept in a fireable state for centuries, but cheap guns left in the rain and mud (or even well made guns left in the rain and mud) can be much less...safe. This is one of those things where the rules lawyer, the world builder, and the actual DM in me all get into a fight. Writing this, now, the Rules Lawyer wants to write "The Complete Guide To Post-Apocalyptic Guns", with all sorts of cool tables for misfires, gun condition, ammo rarity, reloaders, and all that other gun porn. The World Builder is thinking about the social/economic issues and wants to write another essay. And the DM is thinking "Hey, we're actually going to be playing this in under two weeks, and your 'opening scenario' consists of one NPC, a paragraph of plot, and a link to Google Earth showing the rough area of the game. And did I mention you have a cleric character and no deities statted out for him? Or any 'townsfolk' NPCs? Or...."
Probably, the DM is going to win and I'll be fudging the details of guns for now, not going much beyond this little bit of rule mods:
Of course, guns need rules. Fortunately, D20 already has good rules in D20 Modern, so they can be moved over fairly easily. Only a few minor tweaks are necessary. Still, the game designer in me is itching for more complexity. We're talking about guns which have been in active use for 20 years now, without any industrial complex behind them. Well made, well maintained guns can be kept in a fireable state for centuries, but cheap guns left in the rain and mud (or even well made guns left in the rain and mud) can be much less...safe. This is one of those things where the rules lawyer, the world builder, and the actual DM in me all get into a fight. Writing this, now, the Rules Lawyer wants to write "The Complete Guide To Post-Apocalyptic Guns", with all sorts of cool tables for misfires, gun condition, ammo rarity, reloaders, and all that other gun porn. The World Builder is thinking about the social/economic issues and wants to write another essay. And the DM is thinking "Hey, we're actually going to be playing this in under two weeks, and your 'opening scenario' consists of one NPC, a paragraph of plot, and a link to Google Earth showing the rough area of the game. And did I mention you have a cleric character and no deities statted out for him? Or any 'townsfolk' NPCs? Or...."
Probably, the DM is going to win and I'll be fudging the details of guns for now, not going much beyond this little bit of rule mods:
Knowing how to use guns requires "Firearm Proficiency". Classes which gain proficiency in all martial weapons gain this automatically as a bonus feat; other classes must select it. Heavy military weapons, artillery, etc, all require an Exotic Weapon Proficiency; "Firearm Proficiency" covers single-shot or semi-auto pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Full-auto weapons and black powder weapons each require a seperate proficiency. (Black Powder weapons are starting to come into vogue as they can be manufactured more easily than modern firearms, but they are less common than 'legacy' weapons from pre-Crush Earth.)Sharp-eyed readers might note weasel phrases like "At this point in the campaign world...". Lizard can't think small or local. It's my weakness, one which keeps me from ever really completing anything. When I started thinking about Shattered World, my first real decision was '20 or 200?' -- that is, set the game 20 years after the disaster, or 200. Both had promise and problems. I decided on 20 (reasons for that in an upcoming post), but in the back of my mind, I'd already decided that 200 would be the setting for any 4e games I needed to run -- the massive changes in the world (as reflected by massive changes in the rules) would be the result of the final merging of two worlds. At the same time, as Arith comes together, the urge to define it at some point in its past -- probably about 1,000 years pre-Crush -- and use that as a future campaign world is also strong. So one world spins into three, albeit with two no more than 'placeholders'. Point being, I figure that, in 200 years, there will be magic guns. But for now, I really, really, want to keep away from 'magitech', except for very steampunky things that are artifacts of Skallidane. Partially, this is because I'm coming out of a D20 Modern game which was hip-deep in magical cell phones, guns, binoculars, and 8-balls, and I want this game to have a very different feel, despite some overlap in the sense of "21st century, and there's orcs running about".
Double-Tap is replaced by Rapid Shot and Manyshot. All D20 feats applicable to bows have 'twin' feats which apply to guns. These feats must be learned separately for each class of ranged weapons -- that is, you can have Point Blank Shot (Bows) and Point blank Shot (Guns). Each applies to all weapons in the category that you are proficient with -- you do not need PBS (Pistols) and PBS (Rifles), for example.
If there are similar or overlapping feats between D&D and D20M, the D&D feat is the one which will be used.
Profession (Gunsmith) covers the maintenance of weapons and reloading cartridges, as well as evaluating the worth of a gun and its condition. Craft (Guns) allows the manufacture of guns from scratch. Five ranks in one grants a +2 Synergy bonus to the other.
At this point in the campaign world, it is not possible to enchant guns or bullets; there are no +3 Flaming rifles around. There are a few exceptionally well-made weapons which have the equivalent of an Enhancement bonus, but this is not magical and does not detect as such. However, bullets do tend to overcome magical DR; pistols can overcome DR x/+1, while rifles can penetrate DR x/+2. Heavy weapons (LAWs, etc) can penetrate DR x/+3. DR against specific damage types is not ignored by bullets, unless, of course, they do the specific type of damage to which the creature is vulnerable. Likewise, abilities such as Deflect Arrows or spells such as Protection from Arrows do not affect bullets.
All gun-related feats from D20 modern can be taken as fighter bonus feats.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Elves And Dragons And Gods, Oh My!
An assortment of short bits of worldbuilding, sort of 'filling in the gaps'.
Dragons. My last two D20 campaigns were chock-full of the things, and it's hard to imagine the game without them -- It's Dungeons & DRAGONS, after all! However, I wanted to get away from them for a bit, without writing them out entirely. Thus, this backdrop, which lets me bring them in if I need them, allows for interesting dragon-based classes and races, but which keeps the great beasties themselves out of the way. For now.
Elves -- I like to define at least a bit of culture for each of the main races. I don't veer too far from the established norms, as I dislike change for the sake of change. ("My dwarves are nine feet tall, beardless, and hate mountains -- but they're still dwarves!") So elves are still artsy-fartsy tree hugging wizard-warriors, but they're also a little alien and withdrawn, reinventing themselves every few decades when the ennui of existence grows too much. I think this also adds some great plot hooks for both PCs and NPCs. The PC might have to deal with friends, or descendants of friends, who knew him in a "former life", while the party might seek out a great Elf general, the finest warrior of his generation, only to find he's now a first level rogue who has only dim memories of that former life and no desire to return to it.
Gods -- I like gods, at least in works of fantasy and imagination, where they belong. D&Dish gods, very mechanistic and defined, appeal to my marginally Asbergers sensibilities. I always loved the racial gods from old issues of Dragon, gods made from the whole cloth to fit the worlds of gaming, not reality. Since I needed to provide background for Warforged in my world, I wanted at least one deity for them. (I think I need at least one more, come to think of it, but here's the first.) Also, having established "Name, The Verb Of Name" for one Warforged god, I can make sure the others follow that pattern. Always good.
Dragons
Dragons are not fairy-tales in Arith -- they are creature of undisputed historical fact, and their actions shaped the world to the point of the Crush and beyond. However, the actual sighting of a dragon is something no living Arithian -- at least, those of the Free Peoples -- can honestly claim to have done. The dragons were unquestioned lords of the world in the dimmest recesses of history, long before the Magewars, the fall of Skallidane, or the founding of the Alliance Of Free Kingdoms. Even after they fell from total lordship, they were still mighty powers in the world, both in their natural forms and as disguised wanderers passing among many races. It was a long, slow, process by which the true dragons bred less and less with their own kind, and fewer and fewer of their young grew to maturity. The eldest dragons, weary of their petty games and wary of their powerful foes, retreated more and more from the world, finding the darkest and most foreboding of places in which to dwell and dream. No one knows how many of the elder wyrms live still, or where they sleep, but many fear the great tragedy of the Crush has awakened them, and they have begun to once more move upon the world. Others claim this is nonsense, fear mongering in a world which has no shortage of real fears.
Certainly, the dragontainted are well known -- from half-dragons born from seemingly normal human parents, to sorcerors, to dragonfire adepts, to stranger hybrids and odd creatures -- but the great beasts themselves? They belong, thankfully to an earlier time.
Elves
The elves of Arith are among the oldest of the Free Peoples, though certainly not the oldest sapient species. They are long-lived beings who dwell in environments which carefully blend natural beauty and civilized comfort. They once ruled over vast empires, long before the first Magewar, but now are a somewhat diminished race, gathered into a few large woodland cities and countless small settlements and villages. The elves produce many skilled individuals, but few great heroes -- but those who do exist are great indeed.
The Long Sleep
Elves live for centuries, but very few spend all, or even most, of that time in asingle pursuit. After a few decades of life, an Elf will grow weary, and develop a deep sense of ennui and indifference. All joy flees from existence; food is bland, lovemaking tiring, even life-and-death struggles begin to pall. At this time, the elf enters what is known as the Long Sleep, where they enter into a coma-like state, needing nothing but air to survive. (Obviously, they do this in safe surroundings -- usually a sacred hall in a larger Elvish community). The Long Sleep lasts for 6-10 years. When the elf awakes, he is reborn in spirit. While he retains, in part, all of his old memories, he has lost much of his learning. In essence, he emerges with no class levels, and begins life anew, studying different arts than he did before. The dreams of the Long Sleep serve to show him new paths in life, and he might emerge with a different alignment. While still technically the same person, he thinks of himself as one reborn, and often ignores old friendships and commitments, as if they belonged to another. (Elf law dictates this is so -- marriages end when one spouse enters the Long Sleep, and debts are forgiven as if the debtor had died. Laws of other cultures are not so understanding.)
Govar, The Forger Of Souls
Part of what helped the Warforged escape their bondage and become free-willed beings was the slow evolution of a religious consciousness. Since they were formed with souls -- or at least, fragments of souls -- they had the capacity to understand the concepts of higher planes and higher beings. As with all such issues, it is uncertain if their desire for a deity created one from raw god-stuff, or if they attracted some being from elsewhere in the multiverse who took on the form they wished him to have. Either way, the first god of the Warforged was Govar the Forger Of Souls.
Divine Rank: 15
Symbol: A blue smith's hammer
Home Plane: Mechanus
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Law, Creation, War, Warforged
Worshippers: Warforged
Cleric Alignment: Any
Domains: Law, Creation, War, Warforged
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Description
Govar appears as a massive mithral and adamantine Warforged, thirty feet high, swinging a warhammer composed of solidified incarnum. He wears a simple tunic woven of prismatic fiber, and his eyes are deep pools of golden light.
Dogma
Govar preaches obedience to rightful authority, honor in duty, service to the race, and liberation. Unlike many Lawful gods, Govar believes that it can never be right to own another sapient being, no matter the cause. His clerics oppose any form of slavery and will use any means at their disposal (preferably lawful ones) to end it. Buying slaves and freeing them, attacking slave vessels, or ambushing slave caravans and liberating their 'cargo' are all noble acts according to Govar.
Clergy And Temples
Only Warforged are clerics of Govar. Because they are few in number, there are very few freestanding temples to him. Rather, a group of Warforged will dedicate a portion of their workplace, home, or barracks to a shrine to Govar.
Dragons. My last two D20 campaigns were chock-full of the things, and it's hard to imagine the game without them -- It's Dungeons & DRAGONS, after all! However, I wanted to get away from them for a bit, without writing them out entirely. Thus, this backdrop, which lets me bring them in if I need them, allows for interesting dragon-based classes and races, but which keeps the great beasties themselves out of the way. For now.
Elves -- I like to define at least a bit of culture for each of the main races. I don't veer too far from the established norms, as I dislike change for the sake of change. ("My dwarves are nine feet tall, beardless, and hate mountains -- but they're still dwarves!") So elves are still artsy-fartsy tree hugging wizard-warriors, but they're also a little alien and withdrawn, reinventing themselves every few decades when the ennui of existence grows too much. I think this also adds some great plot hooks for both PCs and NPCs. The PC might have to deal with friends, or descendants of friends, who knew him in a "former life", while the party might seek out a great Elf general, the finest warrior of his generation, only to find he's now a first level rogue who has only dim memories of that former life and no desire to return to it.
Gods -- I like gods, at least in works of fantasy and imagination, where they belong. D&Dish gods, very mechanistic and defined, appeal to my marginally Asbergers sensibilities. I always loved the racial gods from old issues of Dragon, gods made from the whole cloth to fit the worlds of gaming, not reality. Since I needed to provide background for Warforged in my world, I wanted at least one deity for them. (I think I need at least one more, come to think of it, but here's the first.) Also, having established "Name, The Verb Of Name" for one Warforged god, I can make sure the others follow that pattern. Always good.
Dragons
Dragons are not fairy-tales in Arith -- they are creature of undisputed historical fact, and their actions shaped the world to the point of the Crush and beyond. However, the actual sighting of a dragon is something no living Arithian -- at least, those of the Free Peoples -- can honestly claim to have done. The dragons were unquestioned lords of the world in the dimmest recesses of history, long before the Magewars, the fall of Skallidane, or the founding of the Alliance Of Free Kingdoms. Even after they fell from total lordship, they were still mighty powers in the world, both in their natural forms and as disguised wanderers passing among many races. It was a long, slow, process by which the true dragons bred less and less with their own kind, and fewer and fewer of their young grew to maturity. The eldest dragons, weary of their petty games and wary of their powerful foes, retreated more and more from the world, finding the darkest and most foreboding of places in which to dwell and dream. No one knows how many of the elder wyrms live still, or where they sleep, but many fear the great tragedy of the Crush has awakened them, and they have begun to once more move upon the world. Others claim this is nonsense, fear mongering in a world which has no shortage of real fears.
Certainly, the dragontainted are well known -- from half-dragons born from seemingly normal human parents, to sorcerors, to dragonfire adepts, to stranger hybrids and odd creatures -- but the great beasts themselves? They belong, thankfully to an earlier time.
Elves
The elves of Arith are among the oldest of the Free Peoples, though certainly not the oldest sapient species. They are long-lived beings who dwell in environments which carefully blend natural beauty and civilized comfort. They once ruled over vast empires, long before the first Magewar, but now are a somewhat diminished race, gathered into a few large woodland cities and countless small settlements and villages. The elves produce many skilled individuals, but few great heroes -- but those who do exist are great indeed.
The Long Sleep
Elves live for centuries, but very few spend all, or even most, of that time in asingle pursuit. After a few decades of life, an Elf will grow weary, and develop a deep sense of ennui and indifference. All joy flees from existence; food is bland, lovemaking tiring, even life-and-death struggles begin to pall. At this time, the elf enters what is known as the Long Sleep, where they enter into a coma-like state, needing nothing but air to survive. (Obviously, they do this in safe surroundings -- usually a sacred hall in a larger Elvish community). The Long Sleep lasts for 6-10 years. When the elf awakes, he is reborn in spirit. While he retains, in part, all of his old memories, he has lost much of his learning. In essence, he emerges with no class levels, and begins life anew, studying different arts than he did before. The dreams of the Long Sleep serve to show him new paths in life, and he might emerge with a different alignment. While still technically the same person, he thinks of himself as one reborn, and often ignores old friendships and commitments, as if they belonged to another. (Elf law dictates this is so -- marriages end when one spouse enters the Long Sleep, and debts are forgiven as if the debtor had died. Laws of other cultures are not so understanding.)
Govar, The Forger Of Souls
Part of what helped the Warforged escape their bondage and become free-willed beings was the slow evolution of a religious consciousness. Since they were formed with souls -- or at least, fragments of souls -- they had the capacity to understand the concepts of higher planes and higher beings. As with all such issues, it is uncertain if their desire for a deity created one from raw god-stuff, or if they attracted some being from elsewhere in the multiverse who took on the form they wished him to have. Either way, the first god of the Warforged was Govar the Forger Of Souls.
Divine Rank: 15
Symbol: A blue smith's hammer
Home Plane: Mechanus
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Law, Creation, War, Warforged
Worshippers: Warforged
Cleric Alignment: Any
Domains: Law, Creation, War, Warforged
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Description
Govar appears as a massive mithral and adamantine Warforged, thirty feet high, swinging a warhammer composed of solidified incarnum. He wears a simple tunic woven of prismatic fiber, and his eyes are deep pools of golden light.
Dogma
Govar preaches obedience to rightful authority, honor in duty, service to the race, and liberation. Unlike many Lawful gods, Govar believes that it can never be right to own another sapient being, no matter the cause. His clerics oppose any form of slavery and will use any means at their disposal (preferably lawful ones) to end it. Buying slaves and freeing them, attacking slave vessels, or ambushing slave caravans and liberating their 'cargo' are all noble acts according to Govar.
Clergy And Temples
Only Warforged are clerics of Govar. Because they are few in number, there are very few freestanding temples to him. Rather, a group of Warforged will dedicate a portion of their workplace, home, or barracks to a shrine to Govar.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Forging War
So. One of my players wants to play a Warforged. I don't own Eberron; no offense to the creators, but I don't use pregen settings, and only buy them if I think I can suck the Crunchy Bits out of them, and, by the time Eberron came out, D&D 3.x had so many books of Pure Crunch that it didn't seem worth the effort. This isn't "Eberron suxx0rz!!!!", just, I don't use it. OTOH, I do like to meet player requests -- nothing kills a game faster than a player who isn't playing the character they most want to play. Warforged were described generically in MM3, which I had, so I went from there. The following is pretty cliche, but it sets up things nicely, and also fills in some background on Arith. Arith began as a vague "generic fantasy" world, and, frankly, it still is and always will be, but at least now it's getting some requisite history. It's all still pretty basic, but that's part of the point -- the "interesting" part of Shattered World is post-Crush. If I made Arith a baroque creation not readily identifiable as a typical D&D world, a)I would have to do a lot of worldbuilding, and, b)It would overshadow the world the campaign is set in.
So, I wrote up the warforged backstory. In so doing, I tossed out the term "Ironsouled Legion", because, you know, it sounded cool. Then I started thinking that it could fit into Shattered World, and that gave me the chance to crack open PH2 and build me an Affiliation. I love "systems for defining things", and I wanted to use a lot of the cool options which 3.x has produced over the years, so there you go. Thus, we present Warforged (as they exist in the Shattered World), and the first Affiliation for same.
(And, frankly, the idea of some Warforged painting himself red and blue and calling himself Optimus Prime is just damn appealing...)
Of course, having conceived of Warforged paladins, I now need some gods. They might be coming next. (Racial deities are another thing I like to create). And so worlds are built cascade style -- from one idea comes the next, and the next, and the next. The hard part is knowing where to stop, to actually focus on play, and not on making a stage no one will ever act upon.
Warforged
The warforged of Arith began millennia ago, shortly after the last Magewar. On the flying island of Skallidane, the scholars of the Pearl Conclave sought to supplement their small numbers (and their many dead soldiers) by finding ways to make smaller, cheaper, golems. To simplify the process, they used a small portion of incarnum -- the raw material of souls -- to power their creations. The miniscule spark used was enough to provide mobility and obedience, but not consciousness. At least, not at first.
After centuries (and this was still at least a thousand years pre-Crush), the populace of Skallidane was at least a fourth warforged. They served more than the Conclave -- the worked in every part of the flying island city, from the fields to the mills to the foundries. Then things began to go wrong. Some of the most ancient of the warforged began to grow rebellious; then it spread. A year after the first incidents, the island was consumed in a virulent war. The magitech for which Skallidane was known and feared was turned against itself, as the Conclave sought to destroy their own creations, unaware of how powerful they had become, and how free willed. The warforged, made with incarnum, had grown true souls, true freedom of thought -- and they were not content to be slaves.
By the time the war was over, Skallidane was no more -- the smoking ruins of the wondrous city had crashed into the sea -- but tens of thousands of warforged survived. They scattered across the world. There, their reception was uneven at best. Masterless golems -- which is how they were seen -- were known as rampaging killers only. While Skallidane was not loved by most of the world, a force which could destroy it was even more terrifying. The warforged were generally driven away. Some gave them shelter -- conquerors who saw them as perfect soldiers and who did not understand their true nature. Some took to banditry, some tried to disguise themselves as humans in thick robes and heavy makeup. A few, though, were determined to prove to the world they were as worthy of respect as any elf, man, or dwarf. They formed the Ironsouled Legion, a band of heroes who took on the greatest and deadliest of foes, asking nothing in payment but to be treated as equals. In time, their deeds became legend, and if folk didn't exactly love warforged after that, they began to accept they could be anything they chose to be.
Most warforged were destroyed in the first century after Skallidane's Fall, and many more died since then, as their natures take them towards dangerous careers. However, while the old rituals of warforged creation have been lost, it was found that a warforged could give up a small portion of their incarnum to animate another. The creation of the body takes 10000 gp and the soul-sacrifice takes 1000 XP, making this a rare process, but common enough that the race can continue -- and that many warforged take up adventuring to pay for the process of having 'children'.
Post-Crush, the warforged find themselves in a world where humanoid machines are sometimes feared, but often admired. The worlds of anime and tales of mecha appealed to them, and some have begun to paint themselves as Gundams or Transformers in the hopes of appearing to the Earthborn as heroes.
Ironsouled Legion
Ironsouled Legion
In the past of Arith, the Ironsouled Legion emerged from the ruins of Skallidane, to prove to the people of the world that beings of steel could be beings of soul. The Legion became legend, and the tales of its deeds have been told and retold by bards for centuries. The legion is not dead, though -- it existed right up to the Crush -- and beyond. Now, in a strange new world built from the mangled corpses of two older worlds, its members -- scattered, isolated, hunted, and feared -- still uphold the ideals of its founders.
The Ironsouled Legion
Symbol: The symbol of the Ironsouled Legion is a bright blue anvil, upon which is superimposed a white heart.
Background, Goals, and Dreams: The Ironsouled Legion exists to provide examples of heroism, honor, and nobility among the Warforged. While not every Warforged is a member of the legion -- or aspires to such nobility -- the Legion believes that if they can proved Warforged can be heroes, the rest of the world will at least give an unproven member of the race the benefit of the doubt.
Missions on behalf of the Legion often involve great risk, impossible odds, and worthy causes. Depending on the skills of the members of the Legion, they may be sent as front-line fighters, scouts, or bodyguards. Hunting down evil Warforged is one of the Legion's primary missions.
Type:Fighting Company
Scale:7
Affiliation Score Criteria:Only Warforged can join the Legion. Further, all must be of Good alignment (and will be tested) and maintain the highest standards of heroism. Cowardice is the worst flaw imaginable; second to that is acting in a way which shames all Warforged. The Legion encourages Warforged to go beyond the stereotypes, and so, Bards, Wizards, and even Druids can be found among their number.
Criterion
Character Level +1/2 PC's Level
BAB 5 or higher +1
BAB 10 or higher +2
Leadership Feat +2
Paladin +2
Completes a mission for the Legion +1
Dies on a mission +2
Acts to increase the reputation of the Warforged +2
Kills an evil Warforged +1
Acts in a cowardly fashion -10
Brings shame to all Warforged -10
Friendly association with evil Warforged -8
Friendly assocation with evil non-Warforged -5
Creates a new Warforged +1
Titles, Benefits & Duties: The Ironsouled Legion are warriors, first and foremost; even those without fighter type levels are expected to enter combat on a regular basis. There are no idle scholars or philosophers among the Ironsouled! As they progress through the ranks, members are expected to take on greater duties and assume the mantle of leadership, often volunteering their services to command armies of other races, if they are willing be so led.
3 or lower Not a member, or a member who has not proved himself.
4-10 Coppersouled: +2 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +1 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
11-15 Bronzesouled +4 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +2 on all Charisma based skill checks with non-evil being; +2 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
16-20 Ironsouled: Gain one Fighter bonus feat; +4 on all saving throws against fear; +3 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged
21-30 Adamantinesouled: +6 on all attempts to influence Good beings and +3 on all attempts to influence non-evil beings; +4 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged; +2 to natural AC bonus
31+ Mithralsouled: Gain two fighter bonus feats.
So, I wrote up the warforged backstory. In so doing, I tossed out the term "Ironsouled Legion", because, you know, it sounded cool. Then I started thinking that it could fit into Shattered World, and that gave me the chance to crack open PH2 and build me an Affiliation. I love "systems for defining things", and I wanted to use a lot of the cool options which 3.x has produced over the years, so there you go. Thus, we present Warforged (as they exist in the Shattered World), and the first Affiliation for same.
(And, frankly, the idea of some Warforged painting himself red and blue and calling himself Optimus Prime is just damn appealing...)
Of course, having conceived of Warforged paladins, I now need some gods. They might be coming next. (Racial deities are another thing I like to create). And so worlds are built cascade style -- from one idea comes the next, and the next, and the next. The hard part is knowing where to stop, to actually focus on play, and not on making a stage no one will ever act upon.
Warforged
The warforged of Arith began millennia ago, shortly after the last Magewar. On the flying island of Skallidane, the scholars of the Pearl Conclave sought to supplement their small numbers (and their many dead soldiers) by finding ways to make smaller, cheaper, golems. To simplify the process, they used a small portion of incarnum -- the raw material of souls -- to power their creations. The miniscule spark used was enough to provide mobility and obedience, but not consciousness. At least, not at first.
After centuries (and this was still at least a thousand years pre-Crush), the populace of Skallidane was at least a fourth warforged. They served more than the Conclave -- the worked in every part of the flying island city, from the fields to the mills to the foundries. Then things began to go wrong. Some of the most ancient of the warforged began to grow rebellious; then it spread. A year after the first incidents, the island was consumed in a virulent war. The magitech for which Skallidane was known and feared was turned against itself, as the Conclave sought to destroy their own creations, unaware of how powerful they had become, and how free willed. The warforged, made with incarnum, had grown true souls, true freedom of thought -- and they were not content to be slaves.
By the time the war was over, Skallidane was no more -- the smoking ruins of the wondrous city had crashed into the sea -- but tens of thousands of warforged survived. They scattered across the world. There, their reception was uneven at best. Masterless golems -- which is how they were seen -- were known as rampaging killers only. While Skallidane was not loved by most of the world, a force which could destroy it was even more terrifying. The warforged were generally driven away. Some gave them shelter -- conquerors who saw them as perfect soldiers and who did not understand their true nature. Some took to banditry, some tried to disguise themselves as humans in thick robes and heavy makeup. A few, though, were determined to prove to the world they were as worthy of respect as any elf, man, or dwarf. They formed the Ironsouled Legion, a band of heroes who took on the greatest and deadliest of foes, asking nothing in payment but to be treated as equals. In time, their deeds became legend, and if folk didn't exactly love warforged after that, they began to accept they could be anything they chose to be.
Most warforged were destroyed in the first century after Skallidane's Fall, and many more died since then, as their natures take them towards dangerous careers. However, while the old rituals of warforged creation have been lost, it was found that a warforged could give up a small portion of their incarnum to animate another. The creation of the body takes 10000 gp and the soul-sacrifice takes 1000 XP, making this a rare process, but common enough that the race can continue -- and that many warforged take up adventuring to pay for the process of having 'children'.
Post-Crush, the warforged find themselves in a world where humanoid machines are sometimes feared, but often admired. The worlds of anime and tales of mecha appealed to them, and some have begun to paint themselves as Gundams or Transformers in the hopes of appearing to the Earthborn as heroes.
Ironsouled Legion
Ironsouled Legion
In the past of Arith, the Ironsouled Legion emerged from the ruins of Skallidane, to prove to the people of the world that beings of steel could be beings of soul. The Legion became legend, and the tales of its deeds have been told and retold by bards for centuries. The legion is not dead, though -- it existed right up to the Crush -- and beyond. Now, in a strange new world built from the mangled corpses of two older worlds, its members -- scattered, isolated, hunted, and feared -- still uphold the ideals of its founders.
The Ironsouled Legion
Symbol: The symbol of the Ironsouled Legion is a bright blue anvil, upon which is superimposed a white heart.
Background, Goals, and Dreams: The Ironsouled Legion exists to provide examples of heroism, honor, and nobility among the Warforged. While not every Warforged is a member of the legion -- or aspires to such nobility -- the Legion believes that if they can proved Warforged can be heroes, the rest of the world will at least give an unproven member of the race the benefit of the doubt.
Missions on behalf of the Legion often involve great risk, impossible odds, and worthy causes. Depending on the skills of the members of the Legion, they may be sent as front-line fighters, scouts, or bodyguards. Hunting down evil Warforged is one of the Legion's primary missions.
Type:Fighting Company
Scale:7
Affiliation Score Criteria:Only Warforged can join the Legion. Further, all must be of Good alignment (and will be tested) and maintain the highest standards of heroism. Cowardice is the worst flaw imaginable; second to that is acting in a way which shames all Warforged. The Legion encourages Warforged to go beyond the stereotypes, and so, Bards, Wizards, and even Druids can be found among their number.
Criterion
Character Level +1/2 PC's Level
BAB 5 or higher +1
BAB 10 or higher +2
Leadership Feat +2
Paladin +2
Completes a mission for the Legion +1
Dies on a mission +2
Acts to increase the reputation of the Warforged +2
Kills an evil Warforged +1
Acts in a cowardly fashion -10
Brings shame to all Warforged -10
Friendly association with evil Warforged -8
Friendly assocation with evil non-Warforged -5
Creates a new Warforged +1
Titles, Benefits & Duties: The Ironsouled Legion are warriors, first and foremost; even those without fighter type levels are expected to enter combat on a regular basis. There are no idle scholars or philosophers among the Ironsouled! As they progress through the ranks, members are expected to take on greater duties and assume the mantle of leadership, often volunteering their services to command armies of other races, if they are willing be so led.
3 or lower Not a member, or a member who has not proved himself.
4-10 Coppersouled: +2 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +1 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
11-15 Bronzesouled +4 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +2 on all Charisma based skill checks with non-evil being; +2 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
16-20 Ironsouled: Gain one Fighter bonus feat; +4 on all saving throws against fear; +3 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged
21-30 Adamantinesouled: +6 on all attempts to influence Good beings and +3 on all attempts to influence non-evil beings; +4 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged; +2 to natural AC bonus
31+ Mithralsouled: Gain two fighter bonus feats.
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