Micro Setting: Endless Depths

[sparkletwist]

Personally (and also keeping in mind that Xeviat seems to like a bit of crunchiness) I'd shy away from totally abstract positioning, and instead use something zone-based or otherwise not stuck on a grid, but allowing some of the unique tactical possibilities of 3D to appear. In particular if there are going to be obstacles or whatnot, which always make a battlefield more interesting. If everyone is just floating around in open water, then knowing relative distances is probably the only thing that really matters, and you can get away with less..

[Xeviat]

I'm probably going to be skinning it as a mini D&D setting, using 5E, and then if that proves interesting, I will seek out a different system or a new system for it.

Abstract positioning could work, like Fate's zone distances. Not being restricted to a grid would also make fighting in a current easier, which is constantly moving, but a grid is definitely wanted when the players are exploring sunken buildings or cave systems. I definitely want obstacles; combat should always be interesting, or else why have it?

[Ghostman]

Maybe you could use a "large" grid, where one square or hex fits several characters. Movement through a square would be blocked only if it's full - in a mobile, fluid underwater combat it should be very difficult to keep enemies from slipping past you. You could revert to normal sized grid rules for the dungeons. For the vertical dimension a simple three-way positioning of High, Middle and Low might suffice.

[Xeviat]

Interesting idea Ghostman. It could definitely help with positioning on a tabletop.

[Rhamnousia]

First of all, I love the concept. Absolutely, unconditionally love it. It's just great. I can't really help you at all on the crunch, but I did have some thoughts on the fluffier questions about the setting.

Technology. Like Steerpike mentioned, underwater metallurgy is liable to be a nightmare, so stone, coral, and bone are likely the most common materials for crafting weapons and armor, but what about taking the whole organic materials idea a step further? The ocean is lousy with examples of symbiosis, so what about the races using stinging anemones and barnacles as armor, or throwing trained mantis shrimp and venomous invertebrates at their enemies?

I get where you're coming from with the sharks being (or being perceived to be) cold and emotionless, but that seems to overlap with the whole alien cephalopod shtick. I think the whole idea that they have to keep moving or die (regardless of how applicable that is to the player race itself) and the fact that sharks IRL tend to maul things as much out of curiosity as hunger because their only way of manipulating the world around them is a mouthful of highly-evolved killing tools lends them more to being a highly driven, expressive race that don't necessarily get why everyone else is so nervous about violence because hey, they can shrug it off just fine. Why can't everyone else?

I know you said there'd be no mammals in this setting, but hear me out: whale prophets. If the storm-wracked surface is seen about the home of the gods that most fear to venture there, then a race of enormous cetaceans who can travel between the inhospitable surface and the crushing depths with ease would be a perfect conduit for what they claim to be divine wisdom. They definitely wouldn't be a player race and would probably be viewed by others as something akin to dragons, but it might add some interesting flavor, I don't know.

[Numinous]

<snip>but hear me out: whale prophets.</snip>

Regardless of everything else in this thread, this is my new favorite image.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Indeed. Also, if whales are seers that commune with gods, then it adds a whole new twist to how whale carcasses feed entire communities for up to 70 years, since said communities would be feasting on not just flesh, but maybe the secrets of the gods. Wars could be fought over the prophetic corpses.

[Lmns Crn]

Love everything about these whales.

(both a declarative with an implied "I", and an imperative)

[Ghostman]

Then items fashioned from whale bones should also have some mystical significance.

[LoA]

I know you said there'd be no mammals in this setting, but hear me out: whale prophets. If the storm-wracked surface is seen about the home of the gods that most fear to venture there, then a race of enormous cetaceans who can travel between the inhospitable surface and the crushing depths with ease would be a perfect conduit for what they claim to be divine wisdom. They definitely wouldn't be a player race and would probably be viewed by others as something akin to dragons, but it might add some interesting flavor, I don't know.

And this is why I love The CBG.

[Xeviat]

Technology. Like Steerpike mentioned, underwater metallurgy is liable to be a nightmare, so stone, coral, and bone are likely the most common materials for crafting weapons and armor, but what about taking the whole organic materials idea a step further? The ocean is lousy with examples of symbiosis, so what about the races using stinging anemones and barnacles as armor, or throwing trained mantis shrimp and venomous invertebrates at their enemies?

Definitely, sounds like it could be a cool thing to set it apart. I'm only going to have a tiny bit of metal, from the lobster people, and it will probably be one of those things that is very, very cherished, especially since it only comes from the lobster communities down at deep sea vents.

I get where you're coming from with the sharks being (or being perceived to be) cold and emotionless, but that seems to overlap with the whole alien cephalopod shtick. I think the whole idea that they have to keep moving or die (regardless of how applicable that is to the player race itself) and the fact that sharks IRL tend to maul things as much out of curiosity as hunger because their only way of manipulating the world around them is a mouthful of highly-evolved killing tools lends them more to being a highly driven, expressive race that don't necessarily get why everyone else is so nervous about violence because hey, they can shrug it off just fine. Why can't everyone else?

You've got some of the idea there. The emotionlessness, though, is more about their brains being incredibly ancient; sharks have been around forever. They come off as unemotional, partially because of a lack of facial expressions and other emotes. While they're unemotional, the cephalopods are out right weird. But I do love the idea of them simply having incongruous ideas about how to live and how to deal with others than the other races.

I know you said there'd be no mammals in this setting, but hear me out: whale prophets. If the storm-wracked surface is seen about the home of the gods that most fear to venture there, then a race of enormous cetaceans who can travel between the inhospitable surface and the crushing depths with ease would be a perfect conduit for what they claim to be divine wisdom. They definitely wouldn't be a player race and would probably be viewed by others as something akin to dragons, but it might add some interesting flavor, I don't know.

Love it too, done and done. In fact, the whales can be the equivalent of "good dragons", while the leviathans can be the equivalent of "bad dragons". Heck, biologically, both could be mammals, just the leviathans are so different that the players would never think of them as such except that they can go to the surface, because leviathans are akin to gods.

[Yodra]

Holy moly, this is awesome! Argh, I really want to play in this world...