Many centuries before people noticed magic was fading, it was noticed that the gods were growing more distant and less likely to interfere in the affairs of men. Many great thinkers declared the era of miracles was over and that man no longer required the guidance of the gods to prosper. Others claimed a lack of faith had led the gods to turn their backs on the world.
The average citizen still believes in the power of the gods to affect everyday life. They are just quieter about it, not as flashy. Faith is required. The clergy preaches to that effect as well.
The faithful in the empire follow the Seven Saints of Virtue and the holy family: Father, Mother, Son and Daughter. A host of angels answers the call of the Holy Family. A Dark presence lurks around the family, serving to punish the wicked and faithless. It is said to be served by a secretive conclave of evil. bent on increasing the Dark Presences influence in the heavens.
The Feast of the Saints falls on mid-winter night, and is a time of gift giving and helping those less fortunate as a sign of respect to the virtues. In the spring, there is Mother's Day, associated with planting and the end of suffering. Mid summers day belongs to the Son and Daughter and celebrates hard work and respect. The Harvest Festival in the fall honors the Father and is a time of giving of your bounty to friends and family.
Services are held most evenings, and a family is expected to attend services at least once a month, if not more. Attendance to services is more common and more often in the rural areas.
It somewhat common to hear people swearing by the gods and saints. Some examples: "By the Seven Saints!", "Saints and Family!", "Holy Family curse you!", and "The Dark One take your soul!". Use your imagination. The rougher the crowd, the more epithets are used.
Friday, February 22, 2013
A short history of the Empire
The Empire was established, legend says, at the dawn of time by a great warrior raised by the elves. Honestly, written history can only trace the history of the Empire back a little over 1200 years. The calendar starts 1421 years ago, and dates are referenced from there. A rebellion in the Western Counties a little over 243 years ago led to the creation of the House of Commons and a weakening of the Noble Judges and the King's powers.
At about the same time the first steam engine was built. Soon, the power of steam was harnessed for rail traffic of goods from one end of the empire to the other. Contact was first established with the Supremacy of the Caliphate, lead by his Immortal Majesty and made up of predominantly bi-pedal raptors, almost immediately branded as snake men, despite being covered in iridescent feathers. Things went well, new found wealth flowed into the Empire, and rails were laid through the mountain passes into the southern jungles.
Almost unnoticed, during this golden age, magic began to fade. Many blamed the failure on the steam engine. That makes no sense, as researchers were able to point to magic events in the past that point to magic beginning to fade before then. Scientists and the mages alike are still unable to agree on what the root cause is. Mages blames science or the steam engine, while scientists claim that the mages have used up all of the magic available without giving any back. Neither has made a convincing argument. During this time, mankind looked around and noticed that the elves, and most magical creatures, had left.
Shock and betrayal ruled the day. Then the Supremacy attacked through the passes through the mountains. Caught unprepared and off-guard, the Empire was unable to stem the tide until the Supremacy had a foothold in the Empire. The Empire valiantly dug in an years of steady, draining trench ware fare, with the Empire in a slow retreat followed.
It looked like the Supremacy would finally break through, but airships, a chance discovery kept secret and perfected in the desperate days of the war, enabled the Empire to strike at the Supremacy's forces from the air and drove them back to their homeland. The airships pounded the forces until the Supremacy sued for peace and the war ended with the Empire in control of all of the passes into the south and the land around the exits into the southern jungles.
Now, everyone has airships and the skies are filled with motion. Rumors of magic race from ear to ear. Scientists tinker with the building blocks of life. Machines are being created to lift the burden of accounting from people and replacing them with gears. Relations with the Supremacy are strained. Spies for both sides scurry back and forth through the passes.
At about the same time the first steam engine was built. Soon, the power of steam was harnessed for rail traffic of goods from one end of the empire to the other. Contact was first established with the Supremacy of the Caliphate, lead by his Immortal Majesty and made up of predominantly bi-pedal raptors, almost immediately branded as snake men, despite being covered in iridescent feathers. Things went well, new found wealth flowed into the Empire, and rails were laid through the mountain passes into the southern jungles.
Almost unnoticed, during this golden age, magic began to fade. Many blamed the failure on the steam engine. That makes no sense, as researchers were able to point to magic events in the past that point to magic beginning to fade before then. Scientists and the mages alike are still unable to agree on what the root cause is. Mages blames science or the steam engine, while scientists claim that the mages have used up all of the magic available without giving any back. Neither has made a convincing argument. During this time, mankind looked around and noticed that the elves, and most magical creatures, had left.
Shock and betrayal ruled the day. Then the Supremacy attacked through the passes through the mountains. Caught unprepared and off-guard, the Empire was unable to stem the tide until the Supremacy had a foothold in the Empire. The Empire valiantly dug in an years of steady, draining trench ware fare, with the Empire in a slow retreat followed.
It looked like the Supremacy would finally break through, but airships, a chance discovery kept secret and perfected in the desperate days of the war, enabled the Empire to strike at the Supremacy's forces from the air and drove them back to their homeland. The airships pounded the forces until the Supremacy sued for peace and the war ended with the Empire in control of all of the passes into the south and the land around the exits into the southern jungles.
Now, everyone has airships and the skies are filled with motion. Rumors of magic race from ear to ear. Scientists tinker with the building blocks of life. Machines are being created to lift the burden of accounting from people and replacing them with gears. Relations with the Supremacy are strained. Spies for both sides scurry back and forth through the passes.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Races in the Empire
There are four playable races in the Empire; Humans, Half-Elves, Taurine (Minotaurs), and the Snakes (Raptors). Each has their own unique strengths and weaknesses to bring to the player. The rest of the fantasy races commonly found in the game are gone, either fled over the great ocean to the Mystic Isles, or simply faded from knowledge and are no longer seen.
Humans are the standard by which all other races are judged, and are currently the most numerous of the races. Only the Serpent Men come close in numbers. They have no special benefits, but have no disadvantages, either.
A Tauren is a big bi-pedal humanoid standing a head taller than the average human. The males sport bull heads, the females, cow heads. They are covered head to toe in a short, nappy fur (in brown, black, white, or some mixture of the three) which is often dyed in patterns sacred to their clan.
The Tauren are by nature social, nomadic, herding people, but only among there own clan. They are easy to insult and abide by a strict code of honor. Because of this clannish nature, the only Tauren found outside the clan are outcasts and always male. The mark of an outcast is the cutting the horns and capping them with brass. Females are never found outside the clan, outcasts are killed outright.
Half Elves are the result of inter-marriage between Humans and Elves. Since the Elves have left and magic begun to fade, the Half Elves are slowly fading out as well. If Half Elves marry, only 3 of four children are born Half Elven, the remaining child is human. If a Half Elf marries a Human, only one of every two is born Half Elven.
Never a very common race to begin with, they were never popular with either race. Most Half Elves living in cities are forced to reside in ghettos set aside for them. This, along with their affinity with nature, leads most to live in villages and towns around the country side where they have a chance to get by on who they are, instead of their label.
A Raptor is a feathered dinosauroid that walks on two legs with a tail. With training, the tail can be used as a weapon in it's own right, but is not flexible enough to pick things up. The feathers around the head are longer than on the rest of the body and the raptors use them to indicate mood: Calm, all of the feathers are flat; Agitated, angry or other wise under the influence of strong emotion and the stand up in a fan six inches around the head. The feathers can be any number of bright colors and are slightly iridescent.
Any raptor found in the empire is either a spy, a diplomat, or an outcast unable to return home. Memories of the previous war leads many to hold them in contempt and take out their anger and fear out on them. The life of an outcast raptor in the empire is not a pleasant one.
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Humans are the standard by which all other races are judged, and are currently the most numerous of the races. Only the Serpent Men come close in numbers. They have no special benefits, but have no disadvantages, either.
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A Tauren is a big bi-pedal humanoid standing a head taller than the average human. The males sport bull heads, the females, cow heads. They are covered head to toe in a short, nappy fur (in brown, black, white, or some mixture of the three) which is often dyed in patterns sacred to their clan.
The Tauren are by nature social, nomadic, herding people, but only among there own clan. They are easy to insult and abide by a strict code of honor. Because of this clannish nature, the only Tauren found outside the clan are outcasts and always male. The mark of an outcast is the cutting the horns and capping them with brass. Females are never found outside the clan, outcasts are killed outright.
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Half Elves are the result of inter-marriage between Humans and Elves. Since the Elves have left and magic begun to fade, the Half Elves are slowly fading out as well. If Half Elves marry, only 3 of four children are born Half Elven, the remaining child is human. If a Half Elf marries a Human, only one of every two is born Half Elven.
Never a very common race to begin with, they were never popular with either race. Most Half Elves living in cities are forced to reside in ghettos set aside for them. This, along with their affinity with nature, leads most to live in villages and towns around the country side where they have a chance to get by on who they are, instead of their label.
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A Raptor is a feathered dinosauroid that walks on two legs with a tail. With training, the tail can be used as a weapon in it's own right, but is not flexible enough to pick things up. The feathers around the head are longer than on the rest of the body and the raptors use them to indicate mood: Calm, all of the feathers are flat; Agitated, angry or other wise under the influence of strong emotion and the stand up in a fan six inches around the head. The feathers can be any number of bright colors and are slightly iridescent.
Any raptor found in the empire is either a spy, a diplomat, or an outcast unable to return home. Memories of the previous war leads many to hold them in contempt and take out their anger and fear out on them. The life of an outcast raptor in the empire is not a pleasant one.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Magic in the Empire and Beyond
Magic is waning in the world. It is more difficult now to summon the energy and more difficult to control it. To reflect this fact here are the HeroSystem rules covering magic:
- If you wish to create a character with the ability to use magic the character must purchase the following Variable Power Pool at creation. It may be modified with experience, but may not be purchased with experience:
- Magic Pool: Control Cost (Magic Only (-1/4), Spells each require a separate skill (-1)).
- The skill for each spell is a 3/2 EGO Skill. Strength of will is more important than general knowledge.
- Variable advantage/limitation is not allowed on any spell (since that would negate the separate skill requirement for spells).
Campaign Introduction
Imagine a SteamPunk/Fantasy game:
Magic is weak and being driven out by science and the power of steam! Most magical creatures have fled over the fabled sea to the mystic isles. Only Minotaurs (Taurin) and the Snakes (actually Utah Raptors with feathers) remain in large numbers. The Empire is still recovering from a War with the Snakes to the south, a war that was won by the invention if the airship.
Now cross it with Battlestar Galactica in mid-campaign as the Snakes create artificial warriors to fight the next war for them … and then lose control over them. The Empire, and some Snakes, are forced to follow the elves across the sea in giant airships or face annihilation.
This game begs to be run in a Universal System of some sort. I’m going to use the Hero System (6th edition) but GURPS, or d20 Modern, Savage Worlds, or Fate would work equally well. It has to be a universal system to handle all of the mixtures I want to throw in, weak magic, technology, and all of the trappings.
I’m excited about running this game as it combine all three of my favorite things (SteamPunk, Fantasy and Science Fiction) in one game in a great framework, and it is the first great story arc I’ve ever started a campaign with. I already know how this campaign should play out!
The challenges facing me are getting buy-in from the players, and making sure all of the events in the campaign follow logically from player actions in the campaign. I don’t want to spring the idea of automatons without giving clues, and it would be best if the players were somehow responsible for the Snakes losing control of them! Giant airships need to be introduced logically, and everything managed without railroading the players.
But what a glorious challenge and game this will be!
Magic is weak and being driven out by science and the power of steam! Most magical creatures have fled over the fabled sea to the mystic isles. Only Minotaurs (Taurin) and the Snakes (actually Utah Raptors with feathers) remain in large numbers. The Empire is still recovering from a War with the Snakes to the south, a war that was won by the invention if the airship.
Now cross it with Battlestar Galactica in mid-campaign as the Snakes create artificial warriors to fight the next war for them … and then lose control over them. The Empire, and some Snakes, are forced to follow the elves across the sea in giant airships or face annihilation.
This game begs to be run in a Universal System of some sort. I’m going to use the Hero System (6th edition) but GURPS, or d20 Modern, Savage Worlds, or Fate would work equally well. It has to be a universal system to handle all of the mixtures I want to throw in, weak magic, technology, and all of the trappings.
I’m excited about running this game as it combine all three of my favorite things (SteamPunk, Fantasy and Science Fiction) in one game in a great framework, and it is the first great story arc I’ve ever started a campaign with. I already know how this campaign should play out!
The challenges facing me are getting buy-in from the players, and making sure all of the events in the campaign follow logically from player actions in the campaign. I don’t want to spring the idea of automatons without giving clues, and it would be best if the players were somehow responsible for the Snakes losing control of them! Giant airships need to be introduced logically, and everything managed without railroading the players.
But what a glorious challenge and game this will be!
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