The Campaign Builder's Guild

 [note]I am not abandoning Shades and Dust. But working on one project at a time is something I seem to be completely incapable of, and Halloween's impending arrival has gotten me in a mood for creepy settings.[/note]Because I love the idea behind this setting but am having major problems putting it together in any kind of orderly fashion, I decided to start a brainstorming thread to get the initial concepts down and get some help from everyone in fleshing this out.

First of all, the basic Ideas I have loosely established (none are set in stone).

-The Great Old Ones/Elder Gods arrived in the 1300's, early enough where they were able to easily seize power and establish themselves as lords wherever they wished.

-For everyday life, much is as it was in the early 1700's, but instead of monarchs the Great Old Ones rule the world.

-Their motivations are, as is often the case of Lovecraftian entities, completely unknowable, but they seem content (for now) to have minimal influence in the realms they govern. They do make wars amongst themselves, and for some reason (perhaps sheer amusement at the concept, perhaps to allow their new toys their delusions after obliterating existing faiths, perhaps for some darker plan) allowed humanities national borders to remain intact. How long this state will remain is a cause for some concern, but since these are beings that waited literally millions of years to return to Earth, they're likely fairly patient while here.

-Their arrival did impact the natural world in many ways, in some places creating nightmare landscapes, in others causing new landmasses to form or others to be permanently offered. In addition, new, twisted versions of existing plants and animals arose, some of them extraordinarily dangerous.

-Their primary interest was on the main continent - which, for them, meant all of Asia, Europe, and Africa, since these regions are all a single connected landmass.

-Lesser Old Ones/The Younger Gods arrived with them, and while dangerous and powerful, lacked the power of the Great Old Ones, so were consigned to the less desireable pieces of land - locations where the natives were not particularly technologically advanced, the Americas and Australia and Antarctica, and certain insular areas. Lacking the raw power of the Great Old Ones, as well as their patience, the Lesser Old Ones take a more active hand in day-to-day rule of their lands.

-Servitors were created by old Old Ones through either inbreeding (a process that typically left the human parent a heap of insanity) or infesting existing humans with their larva. Such creatures are allowed free will, can take a form that looks almost human, but are still extremely dangerous, twisted abominations - especially when they drop their human skin.

-The Misbegotten are Servitors that did not fully succumb to their larval parasite.

-Most humans, after 500 years of rule, are content with the current state, but some still actively revolt.

-One area that emerged from the twisting was the continent of Atlantis, a continent with a landmass roughly equivalent to Austrialia but divided over multiple islands with landbridges connecting them, giving it a range that stretches from near the coast of South America to within 200 miles of Africa. They are the last bastions of humanity and a haven for pirates, rebels, and outlaws of all sorts, and the one place where democracy has taken root.

-Technology comes in two flavors - The Old Ones technology is largely biological in nature, strange, twisted, and horrific to see or touch, while the technology of humans is what I'm calling DaVince-Punk - techology based on the designs of Leonardo DaVince as opposed to the classic steam punk technology.

-New races emerged, many of them horrific in their own way, and only some form humanity - others are twisted forms of bats, lizards, sea-creatures, crows, and other "dark" creatures contorted into forms that are vaguely recognizable by humans as humanoid but still alien - and all of them posing both potential threats to humanity and The Old Ones, as well as potential allies for both sides.

-The tone of the setting is a combination of horror and swashbuckling, mystery and action, the incomprehensible and the rational.  

That's what I have right now. I've gotten as far as where I am, but need ideas, questions, comments, snide remarks and all of the above to get this setting further. Particularly useful - Old Ones that rule in various areas, designs for Servitors/Misbegotten, new races, technological ideas, and concepts for Atlantis.

I only want to make a few comments right now, I really need to hit wikipedia and do some more research on the mythos and those who dwell within it. Don't have a really good working knowledge of it.

I want to throw out some ideas about Atlantis:

The islands are the only places on earth were the Old Ones/Elder Gods/Lesser Old ones/Younger Gods have no dominion or influence. Not through lack of trying, but by the shear fact that they can not set foot upon them. I see the islands as being an extremely unique place, like a crack in the universe runs under them; something completely beyond mortal and god alike.

Maybe the islands give humans special abilities or in some way protects them from the old ones. Maybe on the islands, humans gain a form of telepathy or group mind.

Races:

Wouldn't mind seeing the Mi-Go show up.

A race of bat people would be interesting. I see them as being feral, cave dwelling creatures, which emerge at night to hunt anything in their path.


I'll have more after later on.

Great idea!

A HUGE deal will be how you handle wars.  You mention that the Great Old Ones war amongst themselves - over what?  Sheer malice?  Territory?  Resources?  Worshipers? Do their human armies fight for them or stay out of it?  If the latter, do human armies go to war for other reasons (usually this requires a monarch's consent...)?  If the Great Old Ones are minimally active in affairs of state, has this led to parliamentary/constitutional monarchies where a prime minister has most of the effective power?  Do human armies have Lovecraftian weapons of war?  Can occultists/battle-clerics cast spells?

The other big one will be religion.  Are there any vestiges of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc, and if so, are these legal to practice, or not?  It might be tricky to keep practicing some of these in the face of horrifying material gods - the common folk especially probably would rather worship Cthulhu than an abstract deity who doesn't appear to be actively interceding on their behalf.  Is worship of the Great Old Ones via state religion/"cult of personality" common?

Other big questions:

- Have any Great Old Ones been killed?  If so, by whom?  What happened to their kingdom?
- Have the Old Ones brought any major scientific/cosmological knowledge with them?
- Do any real-world individuals exist in this world?
- Is there a human nobility?  Are they all Servitors?  If so, are they psychically controlled by the Great Old Ones, or can they rebel?  How do they feel, in general, about their rulers?
- How has all this affected exploration?  Does Europe have colonies in the New World?
- Medical technology - has it improved or is it roughly 1700s era?
- Why the mass exodus to/invasion of earth in the first place?  Is there something significant here apart from humanity?  Were the G.O.O. forced here?
- Labour - is it mechanized, done by Lovecraftian beasties, or done much as it was in the 1700s?
- Airships: yes or no?

@ Steampunk Knight I really like the idea of Atlantis being a place the Elder Things cannot physically enter - something about the Islands make them untouchable by them and any of their creations. While they can still send their human armies against it, they cannot ever directly influence it - it's creation was almost the Earth rebelling against their existence. It's not a physical barrier per say, but the very seas, earth, and skies rally against them if they try to enter with enough force to drive even Them back. Attempts to summon Them there directly - or anything like Them - utterly fail due to the same influence. Perhaps there's actually a physical manifestation of the Earth, a genus loci type being, that's powerful enough to rival them that aids this influence. Ripe with story ideas and establishes a concrete reason why Atlantis is so well guarded.

I'm not so sure about humans there gaining any kind of mystical abilities. On the one hand, the concept is very interesting, but on the other, I'm trying to keep the mystical out of human hands - I like the idea of humans having to work within our limitations against such horrors as opposed to gaining powers that allow us to combat them. Still, renaissance-era powered humans battling Lovecraftian horrors is an interesting one...I'll have to ponder this.

As for the Mi-Go, that actually raises another question I've been pondering - namely, how much of the actual mythos of Lovecraft do I want to steal? On the one hand, my own creations would create a uniqueness to the setting if done right. On the other hand, directly using Lovecraft's creations (especially in a context that I've only briefly seen them in a short story by Neil Giaman) has the benefit of both familiarity and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Plus, using Lovecraft's creations doesn't limit me to adding my own things to the mythos, so I can still have unique creatures, so maybe a blend of some sort would be best.

That's kind of what I was thinking for the bat people - almost making them vampire analogues with forms that fit Lovecraft's aesthetics as opposed to the traditional "sexy humans with fangs" and eliminating the reproduction through bites. I'm not going to make them completely feral - I want the other races to be viable options for players/characters as well as forces that can be bargained with - but since they've only had 500 years of sentience to back them, they're fairly close to fully feral, despite having near-human intellectual abilities. Plus, it's kind of hard to reason with anything that finds you rather tasty, which makes them seem even more feral.

Thanks for the feedback! Looking forward to what else you come up with.

@Steerpike

The reasons the Great Old ones go to war against each other is not something they typically divulge - resources, territory, malice, a desire to dominate the entire world, an instinctive hatred of each other, more worshippers, or some motivation even more alien are all theories, but no human has ever been told their reasons, and if Servitors (which have a more human mindset) have been told, they're not telling. :P Human armies do fight for them (why will be answered in the religion section), but it also ties into the monarch questions - most of the Old Ones have the title "King" or "Queen" or "Emperor" or "Czar" or whatever the local equivalent is attached to them, and much of the nobility is composed of Servitors with the occasional true human among them. And they do go to war for very human reasons at time unless they are forbidden from doing so - humans are still humans, after all, and unless their Old One forbids an act of war, humans can and will go to one if they feel the need to (for typical human reasons, typically). However, unless the opposing nation throws the resources of their own Old One into the battle, humans going to war against humans is a strictly human affair. There aren't constitutional monarchies - Democracy is a joke outside of Atlantis. Instead, Servitors are the ones involved in day-to-day rulership at the behest of their patron Old One, with occasional trusted humans. Some countries have a body that is allowed to suggest things to the Servitors, but have no actual power other than "We believe this would be beneficial" - arguing if told no is a great way to end up dead or turned into a Servitor. Occult magic is typically in the form of long, complex rituals as it is in Lovecraft, and rarely suitable for the rapidly shifting tides of war - and is rarely done outside the works of Servitors and the Old Ones. Humans can wield the weapons of the Old Ones, but doing so is difficult and rare - typically, in wars where such weapons are fielded, they're used by Servitors or humans that have proven their Faith.

Religion is something that is almost exclusively based around the Old Ones - in the face of physical beings of deitific powers, humanity has mostly decided that the Gods of old are lies or uninterested in them. Practicing any other faith within territory ruled by the Old Gods is strictly forbidden, punishable by horrific death, and within Atlantis most people are either Atheists or Deists, since if there was a loving and caring God He surely would have intervened by now. That being said, crushing religion is something that's never been fully possible, and pockets of Christians, Muslims, and Jews still exist. Eastern religions are less common, partially because incorporating the Old Ones into their beliefs was easier, partially because it's harder for them to get to Atlantis, and partially because (historically speaking), followers of those faiths have been less fanatical in a military sense and more inclined to peaceful protest, which doesn't work so well against alien beings of hostile intent.

No Great Old one has been killed, ever. Some of the Lesser Old Ones have been killed, typically by another of their ilk who took over their territories. Humans have killed Servitors, and actually wounded the Lesser Old Ones, but never killed one.

Yes, they have, but they're keeping it to themselves, partially for their own preservation, partially because humans like the knowledge to understand the knowledge needed to understand the knowledge the Old Ones possess.

Yes, real world individuals exist, and I'm doing research to figure out which ones, and what roles they would fill. This is being kept fairly vague for now as I figure this out, but I plan on incorporating historical figures into this world.

Human nobles can rebel, though having sufficient power to do so openly is difficult - instead, if they are rebelling, it's done through layers of subterfuge. Servitors are not directly controlled by the Old Ones, but the process of turning one into a Servitor involves infecting one with a larval form of an Old One, so their views are radically altered - typically, they have no inclination to rebel. The Misbegotten, who were able to control their host, keep much more of their original personas intact, and are often rebels against the Old Ones.

Yes, there are colonies, partially form human wars that desire expansion (In the name of their Old One nominally, but also to have territories outside the Old One's direct physical presence), and partially by Old Ones wishing to dominate the Young Ones. It's sort of a mixed bag here.

Medical Technology is significantly improved, though not to modern day standards - rather, many of the new forms of life that emerged in the wake of the Old Ones's arrival proved to have properties beneficial to humans, and the Old Ones' and their Servitors see no reason to let their subjects suffer from illness, since that weakens their own subjects.

The invasion was for a very simple reason - they were once the masters of Earth, long before there were dinosaurs, and wished to be so again. In addition...they were dead. But, as Lovecraft said, with countless eons even death may die, so dead was only something that prolonged their return. How or what killed them is unknown, or if it was simply a torpor they entered to wait - the Faithful profess the latter, while the rebels hold on to hope of the former, since it means they can be killed.

Labor is a bit more mechanized, closer to industrial levels, but still very similar to the 1700's. Lovecraftian beasties rule, not work.

Airships? Hell yes, that's part of the reason for the DaVinci-Tech.

Glad you like it, and thanks for all the questions - that's the best thing to get me fixing (most of my answers were not things I had decided on, but rather thought of just because you asked the questions. :P)

Oh, and one final detail I feel that I've left out that's important. While in later works the Old Ones were malicious and evil, in Lovecraft's work they were simply alien and inscruitble. I'm going the latter route - they arent evil or good by our standards, just so incomprehensible to our minds that at times they seem one or the other.

Great answers!  Glad the questions are helpful.

When I said Parliament I didn't mean like an elected body but more something akin to the historical English parliament i.e. a unicameral House of Lords (consisting of Servitors/nobles).  This wouldn't be a check on the G.O.O.'s power but rather just a state apparatus for actually running the country - effectively a council of leaders with various duties (ministries or whatever).  Was wondering if that kind of thing was around or if rule was a lot less centralized.  Or maybe both depending on which country you're in.

Without the Protestant/Catholic religious conflicts the world will probably look very different.  A slew of important questions, geopolitical and otherwise, to consider:

- Does a single Great Old One rule the Holy Roman Empire, or do multiple Old Ones rules its constituent kingdoms i.e. Germany, Austria, Belgium etc?  In general, how has the HRE been affected?  Is it more unified (scary), or has it Balkanized/fragmented (following real-world history a bit more closely)?
-Are Castile and Aragon separate states as they were in 1300 or have they unified to form Spain?  If the latter, what precipitated the union (since in the real-world it was precipitated by a royal marriage - which wouldn't work well in this case).
- Are there institutionalized churches/religions, or is worship handled differently?  If the former, who runs the church?  Servitors?  Mortal priests/popes?  Are there pantheon religions or do people in each country only worship their own G.O.O.?  Are there inquisitions, witch-hunts, etc?  How much power does the priesthood have?  In general, how religious is everybody?  Do you pray nightly, or has the world become (ironically) more secular?
- How long do the Servitors live?  A human lifespan?  A couple centuries?  A millennium?  Forever (unless killed)?  Do they worry about establishing dynasties and thus with all the usual stuff European nobles traditionally worried about i.e. marriage, heirs, inheritance, children, succession, etc?  If they aren't interested in that stuff, the ENTIRE political system in Europe would look hugely different - which could be cool, but would also be challenging...
- The UK - fragmented or no?
- How about Russia/Muscovy?  Is the Mongol Empire around in any form?  What's up in Siberia?
- The Ottoman Empire couldn't exist since Islam isn't around.  What's in its place?  Historically it comes into being just around the time the Great Old Ones invade.  Is it just a bunch of emirates, each ruled by a G.O.O. or a Lesser Old One, or has this territory been unified?  Is the Byzantine Empire around in any form, given that its downfall was due to war with the Ottoman Empire?
- How fast was the original war of conquest?  Overnight?  Decades?
- CIVIL WAR.  Does it happen?  It can't happen over succession since that's fixed (one ruler, forever).  It might happen over religion, depending on how that's handled.  But would a Great Old One allow civil war to even occur?  Would it stop civil war from breaking out (given that thousands of its own subjects might be destroyed)?
- Samurai: are they all Servitors?  Cuz that would be awesome.
- This is historically the age of Enlightenment when people start rejecting traditional notions of morality, religious truth, etc and start turning to science and reason, to begin agitating for reform and constitutions.  A proto-middle-class was emergent with the rise of capitalism, and egalitarianism/liberalism were very much on the rise.  Given the autocratic rule of the Great Old Ones, how much of this is still going on?  Is Europe locked in stagnation or are philosophes assembling in salons (underground or no) to discuss the day's major issues?  Are intellectuals, looking to Atlantis for examples, beginning to question traditional values, or are we locked in a dark age of brutality and ignorance?  Is serfdom still prevalent or is it being recognized as a barbaric institution?
- The Sanity issue.  Do more people go insane due to the presence of so many sanity-corroding monstrosities?  Are there institutionalized asylums packed to the gills?

EDIT: btw some people call what you're terming DaVince-punk "Clockpunk."

Also, I'm very curious whether Shakespeare existed and what he wrote instead of the various Henry/Richard plays!

Apologies for my Euro-centric questions.  I'm just way more familiar with European history than everything else.

This makes me think alot about a setting I worked on with a few people back in the early 2000`s. Which we called Atlantis: The Shattered Souls and I renamed Atlantis: Rise of the Titans.

If you give me your e-mail address I might be able to send you a .rar file of what we've done, you can steal ideas and whatnot since we don't use it anymore.

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
I really like the idea of Atlantis being a place the Elder Things cannot physically enter - something about the Islands make them untouchable by them and any of their creations. While they can still send their human armies against it, they cannot ever directly influence it - it's creation was almost the Earth rebelling against their existence. It's not a physical barrier per say, but the very seas, earth, and skies rally against them if they try to enter with enough force to drive even Them back. Attempts to summon Them there directly - or anything like Them - utterly fail due to the same influence. Perhaps there's actually a physical manifestation of the Earth, a genus loci type being, that's powerful enough to rival them that aids this influence. Ripe with story ideas and establishes a concrete reason why Atlantis is so well guarded.

Perhaps this "earth spirit" is simply a cosmic power similar to the Great Old Ones, some kind of ancient cthonic being residing in the center of the planet that was awakened when all those outsiders arrived. A great twist would be that this one cares nothing for the all the alien politics and merely wants to go back to sleep - but can't because of all the noise the newcomers are making! So it decides to drive them away but, being too weak to attack them directly, instead uses it's powers to create the atlantis. It's hoping to foster the atlantean humans as it's unknowing pawns so that they may eventually be used to foil the G.O.O.s, and doesn't mind if that should require millennia of development.

Quote from: Steerpike
Great answers!  Glad the questions are helpful.

When I said Parliament I didn't mean like an elected body but more something akin to the historical English parliament i.e. a unicameral House of Lords (consisting of Servitors/nobles).  This wouldn't be a check on the G.O.O.'s power but rather just a state apparatus for actually running the country - effectively a council of leaders with various duties (ministries or whatever).  Was wondering if that kind of thing was around or if rule was a lot less centralized.  Or maybe both depending on which country you're in.

It is around, depending on country. I'm still working on which country has what type of governance, but tentatively thinking that England, France, Hungary, the Roman Empire (apparently it still existed in a reduced form at this time, according to a map I found - though I'll need more research) will have a parliament type structure, while the Holy Roman Empire (Renamed Germania), the Ottoman Empire, and large countries will have a more Governor-based system that's less centralized.

Quote- Does a single Great Old One rule the Holy Roman Empire, or do multiple Old Ones rules its constituent kingdoms i.e. Germany, Austria, Belgium etc?  In general, how has the HRE been affected?  Is it more unified (scary), or has it Balkanized/fragmented (following real-world history a bit more closely)?

From the research I've done, the HRE appears to have been a going concern during this time period, so it's now more unified under a single Old One as opposed to fragmented - the influence of the Old One prevented the Balkanization of it. Part of this decision is because a still present HRE (which I'm renaming Germania since the Holy in it was probably wiped away) is pretty scary, part of it is because, well, I'm a bit lazy and having a unified HRE means a ton less nations to work with. :P

Quote-Are Castile and Aragon separate states as they were in 1300 or have they unified to form Spain?  If the latter, what precipitated the union (since in the real-world it was precipitated by a royal marriage - which wouldn't work well in this case).

Given that it was a marriage that unified them, it seems most likely that the two are still separate nations - though I could say an Old One managed to unify them, that wasn't really their MO when they first arrived, instead choosing to take over individual nations.

Quote- Are there institutionalized churches/religions, or is worship handled differently?  If the former, who runs the church?  Servitors?  Mortal priests/popes?  Are there pantheon religions or do people in each country only worship their own G.O.O.?  Are there inquisitions, witch-hunts, etc?  How much power does the priesthood have?  In general, how religious is everybody?  Do you pray nightly, or has the world become (ironically) more secular?

This is one thing I'm going back and fourth on, but I do know the world has become more secular since, while faith is easier when your God is physically present, actual prayer seems silly when you can instead speak to a Servitor. Also, each nation only worships their Old One - all others are acknowledged as Gods, but not worthy of worship. However, cults dedicated to another Old One in a different nation do exist as a point of disunity that has nothing to do with human independence.

Quote- How long do the Servitors live?  A human lifespan?  A couple centuries?  A millennium?  Forever (unless killed)?  Do they worry about establishing dynasties and thus with all the usual stuff European nobles traditionally worried about i.e. marriage, heirs, inheritance, children, succession, etc?  If they aren't interested in that stuff, the ENTIRE political system in Europe would look hugely different - which could be cool, but would also be challenging...

Average Servitor lifespan is ~150 years, discounting murder/assassination. And yes, they do have all the concerns of the classic European nobility - while their viewpoint is altered, they still have very human motivations. Part of this is because again, I'm kind of lazy, but mostly this is to keep court intrigue alive and well as a possible plot source for games - it's more interesting and something the players are more familiar with, rather than trying to devise an entirely new political system and then expecting the players to learn it and work within it.

Quote- The UK - fragmented or no?

Unified. Queen Angelica (Called so because Her name is not made for human tongues, and it is said that any who see Her in Her true beauty are driven mad) did not have any Great Old Ones interested in the other nations of the British Isles, so she claimed them all - one of the few exceptions to the "Keep nations intact" policy the Old Ones seemed to enjoy upon arriving.

Quote- How about Russia/Muscovy?  Is the Mongol Empire around in any form?  What's up in Siberia?

For Russia, I'm uncertain - need to do more research as to what it was like prior to the Arrival before I can make a definitive statement here. The Mongol Empire at the time was divided into several Khanates, and all of them have their own Old One as the Khan of it.

Quote- The Ottoman Empire couldn't exist since Islam isn't around.  What's in its place?  Historically it comes into being just around the time the Great Old Ones invade.  Is it just a bunch of emirates, each ruled by a G.O.O. or a Lesser Old One, or has this territory been unified?  Is the Byzantine Empire around in any form, given that its downfall was due to war with the Ottoman Empire?

Again, gonna need to do some more research to figure this out, but it appears that it was fairly fragmented at this time, giving it a great place for Lesser Old Ones to take territories instead of unified - and since the Byzantine Empire didn't have a chance to fall through that war, it still stands thanks to it's Great Old One.

Quote- How fast was the original war of conquest?  Overnight?  Decades?

Fairly quick - a week at most. Humanity was too awestruck to try and stand against them, and didn't have the necessary tools to even attempt to repel them.

Quote- CIVIL WAR.  Does it happen?  It can't happen over succession since that's fixed (one ruler, forever).  It might happen over religion, depending on how that's handled.  But would a Great Old One allow civil war to even occur?  Would it stop civil war from breaking out (given that thousands of its own subjects might be destroyed)?

Civil Wars do happen - while the Great Old Ones like to preserve their subjects, the common belief is Civil Wars are allowed to weed out the weak. However, it typically happens as Servitors and human Nobels jockey for power - while the one ruler is fixed, how close various Nobel houses stand to the Ruler is determined by a number of factors, and ties of marriage, alliances, and domination through Civil War are some major ways to go about gaining proximity to the Ruler, which the Great Old One allows.

Quote- Samurai: are they all Servitors?  Cuz that would be awesome.

Almost all. Some are still humans, but the most powerful are Servitors - most human samurai serve a more powerful Servitor Samurai.

Quote- This is historically the age of Enlightenment when people start rejecting traditional notions of morality, religious truth, etc and start turning to science and reason, to begin agitating for reform and constitutions.  A proto-middle-class was emergent with the rise of capitalism, and egalitarianism/liberalism were very much on the rise.  Given the autocratic rule of the Great Old Ones, how much of this is still going on?  Is Europe locked in stagnation or are philosophes assembling in salons (underground or no) to discuss the day's major issues?  Are intellectuals, looking to Atlantis for examples, beginning to question traditional values, or are we locked in a dark age of brutality and ignorance?  Is serfdom still prevalent or is it being recognized as a barbaric institution?

An Enlightenment still occurred, and a middle class based on commerce was able to arise - the Great Old Ones saw no reason to stop this. Philosphical, Moral, and Scientific advancement are occurring openly...unless you are using Atlantis as a positive example. Doing so is viewed as seditious nonsense if you're lucky and outright treason if you're not. Due to that, it's not progressing as fast as it did in the real world, and questioning the rule of the Great Old Ones is seen as madness so there's none of the questions about the supremacy of monarchs, but the creation of a middle class has lead to some questioning the nobility, and the more powerful guilds/companies are beginning to attempt to take the place of Nobel houses.

Quote- The Sanity issue.  Do more people go insane due to the presence of so many sanity-corroding monstrosities?  Are there institutionalized asylums packed to the gills?

Asylums are very, very well stocked. :P However, a human can be in proximity to a Great Old One without having their sanity shatter - it's just some people, those more sensitive, are driven mad by their mere existence. However, many new forms of madness have arisen, and some of these are allowed to wander openly since their particular brand of madness (Obsession, Nigh-Precognition from near superhuman patter recognition, etc) are viewed as beneficial, not detrimental.

QuoteEDIT: btw some people call what you're terming DaVince-punk "Clockpunk."

Yeah, but I think Clockpunk sounds stupid. :P DaVinci-Punk, to me, has a nicer ring - and really, I probably won't use that term often when I'm actually outlaying the technology. Just used the term to give an overall aesthetic impression of what technology looks like.

QuoteAlso, I'm very curious whether Shakespeare existed and what he wrote instead of the various Henry/Richard plays!

Yes he did, and I'm going to be working on that, because I'm an English major and just cannot have a non-Shakespeare world. :P

Quote
Apologies for my Euro-centric questions.  I'm just way more familiar with European history than everything else.

No problem - so am I. I'm probably going to initially focus on Western Europe and Atlantis anyway, partially due to familiarity and partially to keep it more contained - though I'll be spending some time on the Arabian peninsula to discuss the kingdoms of the Lesser Old Ones

Quote from: Magnus PymThis makes me think alot about a setting I worked on with a few people back in the early 2000`s. Which we called Atlantis: The Shattered Souls and I renamed Atlantis: Rise of the Titans.

If you give me your e-mail address I might be able to send you a .rar file of what we've done, you can steal ideas and whatnot since we don't use it anymore.

klinkallyinsane(at)gmail(dot)com - I'm very interested in seeing how someone else did a similar thing, and I can always use more inspiration. :)

Quote from: GhostmanPerhaps this "earth spirit" is simply a cosmic power similar to the Great Old Ones, some kind of ancient cthonic being residing in the center of the planet that was awakened when all those outsiders arrived. A great twist would be that this one cares nothing for the all the alien politics and merely wants to go back to sleep - but can't because of all the noise the newcomers are making! So it decides to drive them away but, being too weak to attack them directly, instead uses it's powers to create the atlantis. It's hoping to foster the atlantean humans as it's unknowing pawns so that they may eventually be used to foil the G.O.O.s, and doesn't mind if that should require millennia of development.

I love it. It's seeking to return to it's slumber, and is fostering humanity as it's children to drive away the Old Ones so it can once again rest. In the meantime, it uses it's powers to defend Atlantis...and give birth to new creatures the humans of Atlantis can use to fight the Great Old Ones, as well as sending inspirational Dreams to humans to further their technological prowess. Sort of a Cthonic Gaia, and one that really wants the return of the status quo.

Also, random question that'd be insanely helpful - does anyone know where I can find maps of areas other than Europe that show the nations of the 1300's? Because I've been having a hell of a time finding any good ones.

Got one for the eastern hemisphere here (http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/images/East-Hem_1300ad.jpg). Mind you that applying the word "nation" to political spheres of the 1300's doesn't really make much sense.

Yeah, nation is a loose term...but right now, you're my hero. Unfortunately that site doesn't have one for the western hemisphere - can your google-fu find that as well, since my google-fu is weaker?

Quote from: Xatahn...the Roman Empire (apparently it still existed in a reduced form at this time, according to a map I found - though I'll need more research)

The Roman Empire became the Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire.  It was generally called Romania (confusing I know).  The Empire we call Roman became what we call Byzantine after Emperor Constantine moved the capitol from Rome to Constantinople ("New Rome").  Constantine was also a big deal as he was the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian convert.  This map (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/1263_Mediterranean_Sea.PNG) shows the Empire's territory in 1263.  It used to be a LOT bigger, but it got partitioned and splintered into successor states following some of the Crusades. 

People forget about this because of the misleading phrase "the fall of the Roman Empire," when really what they mean is "the fall of the Western Roman Empire - the Empire was divided in two around 300 CE.

In regards to the western hemisphere, you're really not missing much by having no map. By 1300 the empires of Tula and Teotihuacan are both gone and there really isn't a dominate power as far as Mesoamerica is concerned, as this is before the rise of the Aztec Empire, and even before the Triple Alliance. So, what you're looking at is a spread of Nahua, Maya, Zapotec, Totonac and Mixtec city states (there's a few other cultures, but those are the main groups)  

The only other centre of any kind of recognizably organized civilization is in the Andean highlands, and that's something I really don't know much about. But this is also before the rise of the Inca, so again, you're dealing with some city-states and small kingdoms.

In a lot of instances it would seem to me to make more sense for the Great Old Ones to devise new territories instead of trying to preserve existing ones.  And surely in the various wars fought over the last few centuries after the G.O.O.s showed up borders will have changed a lot.  Basically it would make sense to invent new countries/territories as needed instead of trying to track down every possible country that was around in 1300.  If the HRE and the UK got unified it makes sense for a lot of other disparate places to get unified too, when it's worth the effort to do so.  Just random thoughts.

@Steerpike:

As far as Roman/Byzantine Empire goes, I think I understand now. Thanks for clearing up that confusion on my part, I was rather befuddled as to how that worked.

As for consolidation...I've decided that the Great Old Ones decided to preserve existing nations for their own reasons. Maybe the found the concept amusing, maybe they found it simplified matters, maybe it was to reduce risk of rebellion, or maybe something far more inscrutable and sinister. Regardless, I'm keeping boundaries as they were in the 1300's, though there were some changes since the GOO's arrival - but that's mainly in colonial areas, not directly in Western Europe.

Fun fact - apparently a portion of the main continent was actually controlled by Britain at this time. I'm deciding right now that Angelica managed to hold on to that, just because that'd be a great area for intrigue.

@Guest - so, to make sure I understand you right, there really isn't any major human nation with defined boundaries in the Americas at this time - in other words, it's a great point for mutated creatures to arise and the Lesser Old Ones to gain a foothold?

QuoteIn a lot of instances it would seem to me to make more sense for the Great Old Ones to devise new territories instead of trying to preserve existing ones.  And surely in the various wars fought over the last few centuries after the G.O.O.s showed up borders will have changed a lot.  Basically it would make sense to invent new countries/territories as needed instead of trying to track down every possible country that was around in 1300.  If the HRE and the UK got unified it makes sense for a lot of other disparate places to get unified too, when it's worth the effort to do so.  Just random thoughts.

I've given this some more thought now that I'm sober, and here's the way I'm working it:

In areas where there Great Old Ones settled (Mostly Western Europe, the various Mongol lands, Russia, India, and a few spots in North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Arabian peninsula), similar but disparate groups were unified. For everywhere else, Lesser Old Ones took over the smaller nations and didn't have the needed power to consolidate more. And there were changes from war to various areas within Western Europe, but not so much that it's caused nations to be consumed or vanish - rather, just changes in borders here and there. The real conflicts that change borders are colonial ones, either land stolen from a Lesser Old One or ones that were colonies of one nation being conquered by another. Hope that makes more sense. :)



On an unrelated note, my dreams were full of weird last night, maybe from working on this setting: but I've pictures of alien landscapes running through my mind, fields of arms and hands growing from the ground, trees with eyes that weep sap, a desert full of shells that hide tentacled monsters. Not sure if these nightmare landscapes are something I want to work in, but figured I'd put them down and see what people thought.

Here's a funny, small question: does the Divine Comedy (written 1308-1321) get written?  In general, do the Powers that Be exercise much censorship of literary works and the like?

Quote from: Xathan...fields of arms and hands growing from the ground...

I sort of have these in the Cadaverous Earth :P.  Fleshtrees and body-farms and the nightmarish Meatgardens.

Huh. I'll have to consider that...really, what I need to do more than any thing else is determine the exact year the Old Ones arrive. If it was prior to 1308, then it probably didn't get written - while they aren't so much on censorship after 500 years of rule, they clamped down much harder at first, and even if the Divine Comedy wouldn't have caused a problem (since it was more a social commentary than religious text), I don't know if Dante would have been willing to risk it - or if he was, it would have been different, since the social landscape was so drastically changed because, y'know, Eldritch Horrors from beyond Time and Space and all that. If they arrived after 1321, then yeah, history was going as it did in reality, so they got written.

Cool.  Another thing I was wondering about: did the invaders extinguish every royal line in Europe?  Or do some of the great families perpetuate themselves underground, their heirs growing up in secret?  Were any of the monarchs co-opted by the invaders as Servitors?  Because having the Black Prince or Vlad the Impaler as Servitors/Misbegotten would be awesome, even if they'd be dead by the present day.

Few of the royal lines were actually extinguished - why waste something valuable like that unless it was a danger? While some did flee into secrecy and now either live underground or have fled to Atlantis, others became Servitors at at least one royal line bowed peacefully, keeping their family name but loosing their throne. And I'm doing this partially because of what you mentioned - Vlad the Impaler earned his name even more honestly in Terra Macabre - and partially because I'm trying to figure out where to fit historical figures into this world, and don't want to cut off avenues by killing off royalty...yet. :P

Alright, cool.  Some questions about DaVincepunk and science/technology now:

- Are there any primitive (or less than primitive) mechanical computers, akin to the Analytic/Difference Engine, the Antikythera Mechanism, the Differential Analyser, etcetera?
- Are there advanced automatons?
- Are there Da Vinci tanks and helicopters?
- What are firearms like?  Repeating pepperbox wheellocks?  What's artillery like?
- Clockwork phonographs?
- What's the state of knowledge surrounding hydraulics, pneumatics, electricity, and steam-power?
- Is there a germ theory of disease, or does the miasma theory dominate?
- Do the common people understand that the Great Old Ones came from outer space?
- Do people believe in evolution?  Now that the traditional religions have been thrown out, one would assume creationism has likewise been chucked, but in the real world the taxonomic record isn't complete enough in the early 1700s to really allow evolutionary theories to develop properly.  Are theories of spontaneous generation in play?
- Is alchemy practiced in any form?
- Submarines?
- Trains of some kind?

Ok I'm still doing more research, but here is what I have so far

How close are you sticking to the Mythos?
Have you decided on what you are keeping and what you are excluding?
How are you handling the size issue the GOO's? Last time I checked Cthulhu was massive. Then again they are powerful beings, so this might be a moot issue.



Cthlhu
Will he have a domain on the main continents or will he use R'lyeh? Now my suggestion is that R'lyeh is Cthlhu's capital and since it is so close to Antarctica, makes it his nation. He would use his power to draw his followers to him and to change the continent, or at least part of it into a habitable land so they can survive there.

Now if you use this idea or something like it could pave the way to being back some other parts of the mythos that take place on the continent like the Elder Things.

Nyarlathotep
I see him controlling Egypt or maybe the entire Middle East. He definitely would have converted the society back to they way it was in the Egyptian Old Kingdom period. Installing himself as pharaoh and worshiped as a god-king. I can see towering statues and monuments praising his name.

There is also precedence for him having cults throughout the world. If you look at this Wikipedia page there are like 19 other guises he has. He could be actively working of expanding his domain, destabilizing others, or just as an act of pure chaos.

Great Race of Yith
The Great Race of Yith mastered time travel and were very powerful psychics. Who, when their species was threatened with extinction, transferred their minds to the race that will follow the human race. Now you could say that some of the race transferred their minds to humans in an attempt to taken control of them. It would make a nice hidden faction perusing they own goals that may or may not in concert with the GOO.

Since they also have access to time travel they have would have knowledge of the future, they could know something that is going to happen and try to prevent/cause it. Or if you want them to be a known factor they could act as oracles who offer glimpses of the future in exchange for a horrid price.

I still have more reading to do, I'll have more questions later.

Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu are both pretty minor deities, though - Antarctica might work for Cthulhu, but I doubt Nyarlathotep would get a major kingdom.  But I get the feeling Xathan isn't sticking to the Mythos precisely but rather heavily drawing inspiration from it.

Quote from: Steerpike
Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu are both pretty minor deities, though - Antarctica might work for Cthulhu, but I doubt Nyarlathotep would get a major kingdom.  But I get the feeling Xathan isn't sticking to the Mythos precisely but rather heavily drawing inspiration from it.

ah, there must be a hierarchy I am missing.

Quote from: Steerpike
Alright, cool.  Some questions about DaVincepunk and science/technology now:

- Are there any primitive (or less than primitive) mechanical computers, akin to the Analytic/Difference Engine, the Antikythera Mechanism, the Differential Analyser, etcetera?

Yes, but I'm still deciding on how advanced they should be as far as what they can do. Where they do exist, however, they are most certainly massive structures, needing an entire room to house the processing part of the computer,  much like the computers of old. Once I've done some more research and decided what would fit the setting best, I'll have more details here. One thing I am certain of: there is no internet.

Quote- Are there advanced automatons?

In the sense of clockwork androids? No. Unless I drastically change my mind, there is nothing even close to approaching artificial intelligence developed by humans, and the Old Ones create new life forms, so the intelligence is hardly artificial.

Quote- Are there Da Vinci tanks and helicopters?

Yes and absolutely. I need to do some more research on his designs, but something very similar to both of those will exist now - though they will appear much more archaic.

Quote- What are firearms like?  Repeating pepperbox wheellocks?  What's artillery like?

I'm going with the repeating wheel locks for the more advanced weaponry, though single shots still exist. Artillery closely resembles cannons, though a repeating reloader has been added to allow the cannons to shoot several shots in rapid succession. In addition, there are primitive versions of gatling guns as an option, but those are typically similar in size and weight to cannons and therefore have to be used much like them - and they're a very, very new invention.

Quote- Clockwork phonographs?

Yes. Heck, that's something that's easy enough that I'm kind of surprised it didn't exist in reality. :P

Quote- What's the state of knowledge surrounding hydraulics, pneumatics, electricity, and steam-power?

The answer's going to seem a bit of a cop out, but it's the best I have: enough to make the technology work. Lights are still done by lanterns, there are no steam-powered trains, and there's no electrical grid - it would be possible for someone transplated from the real world 1700's to Terra Macabre to not notice anything was different for a couple hours, at least.

Quote- Is there a germ theory of disease, or does the miasma theory dominate?

Germ theory was developed, thanks to some more advanced microscopes, and that's part of why medicine is more advanced than it was in reality.

Quote- Do the common people understand that the Great Old Ones came from outer space?

Yes. Well, that they came from the stars, which is very similar but slightly different. I'm actually considering merging my Aetherial Void with this project, which would drastically change the answer but open whole new possibilities, so what I'll say for now is that people do know that the GOO's are Extraterrestrial in origin, and that there are other inhabitable planets in the universe.

Quote- Do people believe in evolution?  Now that the traditional religions have been thrown out, one would assume creationism has likewise been chucked, but in the real world the taxonomic record isn't complete enough in the early 1700s to really allow evolutionary theories to develop properly.  Are theories of spontaneous generation in play?

I'm glad you mentioned spontaneous generation - when the GOO's arrived, hundreds, if not thousands, of new life-forms suddenly appeared - in reality mutated versions of existing plants and animals, but as far as it seemed to people spontaneous creations in response to the GOO's arrival. As such, it's questionable if the people of Terra Macabre will ever understand evolution, but even if they do, it won't be until the late 1900's early 2000's that sufficient data exists to contradict spontaneous evolution, since existing history makes spontaneous generation seem completely plausible and backed by empiracle data.

Quote- Is alchemy practiced in any form?

Yes, though there's nothing mystical about it - it's chemistry, just with a different name because people don't fully understand it. It's fairly advanced for the time, but lacks much of the underlying knowledge it would need to be truely considered chemistry.

Quote- Submarines?

Yes, because that would be awesome, especially given the new sea-fairing beasties out there. Hell, one of the GOO's took over the Mederterrainian and drug a bunch of humanity down into it, twisting them into aquatic creatures and establishing an underwater nation.

Quote- Trains of some kind?

I haven't decided on this one yet - I'll have to consider how much it'll impact the overall setting and history to decide. If so, they're very new.

Quote from: Steampunk Knight
Ok I'm still doing more research, but here is what I have so far

How close are you sticking to the Mythos?

My original plan was to stick as closely as possible to it an only add new things when needed. However, yesterday I re-read The Dunwich Horror and Call of Cthutulu, and realized that Lovecraft's Great Old Ones would have never, ever allowed humanity to live in the relative peace they have, either deliberately or accidentally driving the entire race completely mad and likely twisting their forms as well. As such, I'm stepping further away from the mythos and using it more for inspiration than directly stealing from it.

QuoteHave you decided on what you are keeping and what you are excluding?

Not as such yet, but as a general rule the more powerful it is the less likely I'll include it - however, I'm probably going to have to re-read all of Lovecraft (Yaaay!) to fully make that determination. Big C is out, as is Yog-Sothoth, but that's still fluid.

QuoteHow are you handling the size issue the GOO's? Last time I checked Cthulhu was massive. Then again they are powerful beings, so this might be a moot issue.

Cthulhu was described as being literally MILES tall. I've decided the GOO's have the power to alter their shape and form to some degree, so are able to become significantly smaller to accommodate human interactions.

QuoteCthlhu
Will he have a domain on the main continents or will he use R'lyeh? Now my suggestion is that R'lyeh is Cthlhu's capital and since it is so close to Antarctica, makes it his nation. He would use his power to draw his followers to him and to change the continent, or at least part of it into a habitable land so they can survive there.

Unfortunately as of now I'm leaving Cthulhu out - especially since there is so much baggage attached to that character. If I decide to leave him in, I'd likely use R'leyh as a sort of "neutral ground" for the GOO's, and I do love the idea of them terraforming Antartica - if Cthulhu himself doesn't do it, another GOO or group of LOOs will, because that's too awesome not to happen.

QuoteNow if you use this idea or something like it could pave the way to being back some other parts of the mythos that take place on the continent like the Elder Things.

An excellent point. In fact, Antartica could become the point where other races visit the new domain of the GOOs...hmmm...you've given me some awesome ideas here.

QuoteNyarlathotep
I see him controlling Egypt or maybe the entire Middle East. He definitely would have converted the society back to they way it was in the Egyptian Old Kingdom period. Installing himself as pharaoh and worshiped as a god-king. I can see towering statues and monuments praising his name.

I'll admit to not remembering him all that well, but from what I remember he'd definitely be in charge of Egypt if I include him - however, most of the middle east has been assigned to the domains of various Lesser Old Ones, rather than being dominated by any singular Old One.

QuoteGreat Race of Yith
The Great Race of Yith mastered time travel and were very powerful psychics. Who, when their species was threatened with extinction, transferred their minds to the race that will follow the human race. Now you could say that some of the race transferred their minds to humans in an attempt to taken control of them. It would make a nice hidden faction perusing they own goals that may or may not in concert with the GOO.

...even if I don't use Yith themselves, that idea is too awesome to not use, a third faction with their own agendas not native to this time. Tons of possibilities there - thanks for the idea!

BTW, sorry if it seemed like I cut out huge portions of your post, I did read them...but responding on the iPad is very hard. XD

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
BTW, sorry if it seemed like I cut out huge portions of your post, I did read them...but responding on the iPad is very hard. XD

Hey, I'm just glad that my suggestions are helping you out. 

Everyone's who has commented on this thread has been a huge help. I'm gonna try and get a working writeup tomorrow, right now going through old settings looking for stuff I can mine for this one. :P

Okay, some older settings I'm thinking about cannibalizing to incorporate into Terra Macabre, along with summaries for those settings if you don't feel like reading entire threads:

Datrick, the Void Above (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,4696.msg6642.html#msg6642) The primary element I'm thinking about stealing from this setting is the idea of the Lowlands, vast, underground caverns that are a combination of the Underdark and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I can see these either emerging as part of the Earth Spirit's attempt to undermine the Great Old Ones, an effect of the reality warping powers of the GOOs, or the deliberate creation of either them or some other, yet unnamed power. Perhaps they've always been there, but the paths to them just now opened, and they house old temples of Elder Things and nightmare landscapes and creatures - but the hidden lore in those sunken temples may hold the key to driving the Great Old Ones form Earth - or cementing their power.

That, and the Mirrored Paths. (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,3610.0.html) While I'm planning on revising them to make them less cyberpunky, the basic concept (a combination of Robert Jordan's The Ways and Cyberspace, using mirrors as doors) still fits this world. It adds a bit more magic, but at the same time is creepy and alien enough of an alternate dimension to fit, as well as adding an additional adventure path players can take - or areas where horrors can attack them through. And since it's not the classic "Blasty" magic that I'm trying to avoid here, I see them fitting pretty well.

Life in the Aether (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,190023.0.html) Essentially, this would be a vehicle that would allow for Renaissance-era space exploration without having to advance the technology too much. (The basic concept of the Aether is that space is breathable and doesn't contain nearly as much nasty cosmic radiation, not to mention the planets are closer together and easier to access) Again, opens new adventure paths, plus opens up the entire solar system (at least) for the homes of creatures like the Mi-Go that seek to inhabit the Earth - not to mention colonial battles for a verdant moon, and DaVinci-Tech Space Stations. My only problem here is the same problem I always have when I open Space as an option - it can make too large and feel overwhelming. But if I "lovecraftian" them a bit more, I can see them being an awesome element - thoughts here are greatly appreciated, because I'm on the fence here.

Anyway, those are my three main ideas I'm thinking of Cannibalizing here - what say you all?

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
Datrick, the Void Above (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,4696.msg6642.html#msg6642) The primary element I'm thinking about stealing from this setting is the idea of the Lowlands, vast, underground caverns that are a combination of the Underdark and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I can see these either emerging as part of the Earth Spirit's attempt to undermine the Great Old Ones, an effect of the reality warping powers of the GOOs, or the deliberate creation of either them or some other, yet unnamed power. Perhaps they've always been there, but the paths to them just now opened, and they house old temples of Elder Things and nightmare landscapes and creatures - but the hidden lore in those sunken temples may hold the key to driving the Great Old Ones form Earth - or cementing their power.

Think any of these ideas would fit the setting really well. My vote is that they are created by the Earth Spirit in its attempt to drive off the G.O.O's. maybe they vent some type of strange mist that repels the G.O.O's and their creations. Or they are pathways for minions of the earth sprint to travel quickly between any points on earth and depending on how benevolent you want the earth spirit to be also it could be attacking the humans on Atlantis as well. Even if the tunnels are created by the earth spirit they still could run next to or through sunken temples of the elder things or other creatures.

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
That, and the Mirrored Paths. (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,3610.0.html) While I'm planning on revising them to make them less cyberpunky, the basic concept (a combination of Robert Jordan's The Ways and Cyberspace, using mirrors as doors) still fits this world. It adds a bit more magic, but at the same time is creepy and alien enough of an alternate dimension to fit, as well as adding an additional adventure path players can take - or areas where horrors can attack them through. And since it's not the classic "Blasty" magic that I'm trying to avoid here, I see them fitting pretty well.

Reminds me of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. I think it would fit very will in your setting. 

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
Life in the Aether (http://www.thecbg.org/index.php/topic,190023.0.html) Essentially, this would be a vehicle that would allow for Renaissance-era space exploration without having to advance the technology too much. (The basic concept of the Aether is that space is breathable and doesn't contain nearly as much nasty cosmic radiation, not to mention the planets are closer together and easier to access) Again, opens new adventure paths, plus opens up the entire solar system (at least) for the homes of creatures like the Mi-Go that seek to inhabit the Earth - not to mention colonial battles for a verdant moon, and DaVinci-Tech Space Stations. My only problem here is the same problem I always have when I open Space as an option - it can make too large and feel overwhelming. But if I "lovecraftian" them a bit more, I can see them being an awesome element - thoughts here are greatly appreciated, because I'm on the fence here.

Anyway, those are my three main ideas I'm thinking of Cannibalizing here - what say you all?

If you are going to use this I would limit it to only our solar system, or maybe even just the inner planets. Like you say in your post it might make the setting too large. But if you do want to go this route here is an idea. There is a G.O.O. that covers the entire surface of the moon its byproducts cause an atmosphere to form making it habitable for people to live on. The residents from a symbiotic relationship with the G.O.O.; they form their buildings from its flesh and grow food in its pores. In return the people must make sacrifices of the old, sick, and injured on a daily bases to the G.O.O. Sometimes, if the G.O.O. doesn't feel that there have been enough offerings it will take victims from their homes or right of the street. Since everything is made from the G.O.O. it just absorbs them directly into itself. Maybe its skin is somewhat translucent and you can see the person being digested.

That idea might be a little morbid.

QuoteThink any of these ideas would fit the setting really well. My vote is that they are created by the Earth Spirit in its attempt to drive off the G.O.O's. maybe they vent some type of strange mist that repels the G.O.O's and their creations. Or they are pathways for minions of the earth sprint to travel quickly between any points on earth and depending on how benevolent you want the earth spirit to be also it could be attacking the humans on Atlantis as well. Even if the tunnels are created by the earth spirit they still could run next to or through sunken temples of the elder things or other creatures.

...Not to mention the new creatures that arose from the G.O.O's arrival would be able to inhabit it - the bat people, lizard people, etch that were mutated by their arrival would be able to inhabit it, since they're technically "of Earth", so that opens a whole new ecosystem for them to play in. Alright, that's in.

QuoteReminds me of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. I think it would fit very will in your setting.

Thanks. I just need to give them a bit of work to make them fit better, and make them hostile enough where using them is kind of a last resort option - unless you're a Misbegotten or Servitor.

QuoteIf you are going to use this I would limit it to only our solar system, or maybe even just the inner planets. Like you say in your post it might make the setting too large. But if you do want to go this route here is an idea. There is a G.O.O. that covers the entire surface of the moon its byproducts cause an atmosphere to form making it habitable for people to live on. The residents from a symbiotic relationship with the G.O.O.; they form their buildings from its flesh and grow food in its pores. In return the people must make sacrifices of the old, sick, and injured on a daily bases to the G.O.O. Sometimes, if the G.O.O. doesn't feel that there have been enough offerings it will take victims from their homes or right of the street. Since everything is made from the G.O.O. it just absorbs them directly into itself. Maybe its skin is somewhat translucent and you can see the person being digested.

That idea might be a little morbid.

It's a lovecraftian horror world where Elder Things have ruled the Earth for about 400 years - morbid is kind of the point. :P

As for that idea, I love it. If I do go that route, I'll almost certainly steal it - I just have to decide if I will. Definitely limiting it to our Solar System if I do, though I want to leave the Gas Giants as options so it'll go beyond just the Inner Planets. Good news is, I can start the setting without making a decision here yet, so I might let it simmer on the backburner for a bit before I do.

"A little too morbid" is an oxymoron.

Okay, I'm going to organize this into a coherent setting - or at least attempt to. This will be the discussion thread for it. But, while I'm pondering how to best do so, here are some races (and need some suggestions for names, since not 100% happy with what I have.) NOTE: unless otherwise specified, all races are between 5-7 feet tall. Also, no notes on culture here, just physical appearance and a bit on habits.

The following four races are all native to Earth.

Chiropetri - The bat-folk. Large, hairless, with a head that looks very bat-like. They walk in a simian, almost gorilla-like when on the ground, able to fold up their wings into their arms enough to use the hands as well as crawl. Can fly as well, of course, but rather ungainly when not gliding. Completely eyeless - rely entirely on hearing and smell, and primary food source is blood.

Celphatul - Original thought to be Elder Things, the Celphatul are actually a mutated form of the octopus. Their natural shape is somewhat similar to that of an actual octopus, although their tentacles are fairly rigid and have a somewhat segmented look to them, giving them the motion on land that's a vulgar cross between spider and tentacled slithering. However, like their ancestors, they have immense control over the shape and coloration of their body, able to mimic a huge range of shapes and sizes - when clothed, they can even pass for human, so long as they completely cover all but hands and face. They have an omnivorous diet.

Rethulid - A twisted form of a spider, a Reluthid has six legs placed beneath its abdomen. From the center of the abdomen rises the torso, a vaguely human-shaped construction that sprouts two arms - each of which split after the "elbow," giving them 4 forearms and hands. (The hands are 6 digits spaced radially away from the wrist.) Their heads are arachnid as well, ending in venomous fangs. Their vocal chords limit their ability to speak the human tongues well. They weave webs, and have a carnivorous diet.

Dutvine - Unlike the prior mentioned species, Dutvine are twisted from humans - and one of the few species of such to survive. A Dutvine looks fairly human, though their skin color is various shades of light gray and their eyes are sharply slanted and solid black while their hair is wiry strands that end in barbs. However, those differences are not what the make Dutvine truly unique from humanity - instead, it is the bond they share. Every Dutvine is born as a pair of identical twins, and between those two bodies one mind is shared. All that one knows and thinks, so does the other, on a level humans can't even begin to comprehend. Occasionally, identical triplets or quintuplets are born, sharing the same gestalt intellect.

Sifting through the races of Lovecraft right now to determine what goes in, as well as seeing what other horrific creatures I can come up with, both native and Elder.

Quote from: Steerpike
"A little too morbid" is an oxymoron.

BTW, Steerpike, did you see that I responded to your earlier questions? iPad forced me to respond to you and Steampunk separately.

Yeah, I caught the answers!  I like the understated approach - clockwork technology is a little more advanced, but not to an extreme degree.

Glad to hear it! Though I might be upping the clockwork technology, especially from that game you ran tonight - very inspirational.

oh, found a good image for what a Rethulid looks like torso-wise:

(http://th02.deviantart.net/fs50/PRE/i/2009/315/a/d/Along_came_a_spider___by_mangrasshopper.jpg)

Source: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=spider+monster#/d2da6am

The Chiropetri (ignore the eyes)

(http://th01.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/117/c/5/Bat_creature_by_BOULARIS.jpg)

Source: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=bat+creature#/d2oj4nc

Whoa, those are so cool!

Glad you like! I love deviant art - those fit what I was looking for perfectly.

The first part of the campaign thread is up. I will be doing the campaign thread (other than the system, which I'm still working on) entirely IC, mainly through the history writing of Benjamin Franklin, because Benjamin Franklin is awesome and I feel one of the best candidates to tell the story in an objective fashion. Note that most languages are translated to English, but assume the writer is using their native tounge or R'lyehian, the commonly spoken tongue - and most languages include a peppering of R'lyehian slang, since Steerpike's idea there is awesome, but those are translated as well, since I don't have a working lexicon up yet.

New race up, in full detail. Also - anyone know of a 14th century biologist/naturalist?

I bet 5 imaginary dolllars that Steerpike will comment on the slang before the end of the day :p (if he hasn't already. Time got confusing after the Old Ones took over)
Personally, I thought it was nice, evocative, creepy and very imaginative. Sadly, I can't imagine players using it too much simply because of the sheer difficulty of remembering how to spell it. I especially love the glosses/transliterations which imply a more alien (mis)understanding of human life and emotion.

:)

Can I use it in future Sixguns sessions?

Especially "Ygotha'ai  n'gha gof'nn."  I wish the call of death on your children.  Now that's how to challenge someone to a duel!

@ sc I owe you 5 imaginary dollars, apparently. :P as for the Prounciation/ spelling issue, I've been giving this some thought because I agree with you. While not a huge problem in ICR thanks to copy/paste, for tabletop it does pose a severe problem, and I've considered basterdizing words to make them shorter and more pounciable, much as what you'd expect when a language has 400 years of human development - and making them more usable in speech.

@steerpike - I'm glad you liked! And of course you can, since you inspired this - mind if I steal yours in return? :P

Yeah go ahead!

*yoink*

I wanted to throw out some names for the third IC writer. Now a few of the names below don't fit into the time frame that you are looking for, but it is hard to find some one that totally works. Again these are just a suggestion

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa 15th – 16th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Cornelius_Agrippa

Leonardo da Vinci 15th – 16th century

Albertus Magnus 13th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus

Geoffrey Chaucer 14th – 15th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer

Pietro d'Abano 13th and 14th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_d%27Abano

That's a huge help, Steampunk! While most of them are prior to the time period the setting takes place in, I'm perfectly fine with that - I wanted the three previously mentioned writers primarily to comment on the modern world, but historical viewpoints are a huge help, especially for notations included in the writings of the "modern" writers. Chaucer was also someone I hadn't considered that'd be an awesome choice - taking a twist on the Canturbury Tales with a Lovecraftian bent would be a blast to write.

Unfortunately my next two posts are going to, by virtue of needing to reference the real world, be OOC posts - something that I've resigned myself to being unavoidable at times. That being said, those writers will make things much easier. :D

BTW, I'll be on, but I'm transcribing about 7 pages of notebook notes to text right now, so I'm not gonna be in the IRC - these are the two OOC posts I mentioned. I might reorganize the thread again to put those before the IC posts - basically, explain the setting in OOC terms, and then expound upon them in IC posts.

Just an odd note I want to mention - I've always enjoyed setting writing, but never before have had this much sheer fun writing a setting. Terra Macabre is a blast to write, and I think may be the first setting I'm going to be totally dedicated to for awhile. I have some ideas for a mashup of my old fantasy settings that I've been unable to use for TM brewing in the back of my head, as well as a mashup of my old post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk settings for Shades and Ashes, but my desire to work on them  before I get a great deal more for TM down is nil to none. :D I love this setting.

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
That's a huge help, Steampunk! While most of them are prior to the time period the setting takes place in, I'm perfectly fine with that - I wanted the three previously mentioned writers primarily to comment on the modern world, but historical viewpoints are a huge help, especially for notations included in the writings of the "modern" writers. Chaucer was also someone I hadn't considered that'd be an awesome choice - taking a twist on the Canturbury Tales with a Lovecraftian bent would be a blast to write.

Unfortunately my next two posts are going to, by virtue of needing to reference the real world, be OOC posts - something that I've resigned myself to being unavoidable at times. That being said, those writers will make things much easier. :D

BTW, I'll be on, but I'm transcribing about 7 pages of notebook notes to text right now, so I'm not gonna be in the IRC - these are the two OOC posts I mentioned. I might reorganize the thread again to put those before the IC posts - basically, explain the setting in OOC terms, and then expound upon them in IC posts.

Just an odd note I want to mention - I've always enjoyed setting writing, but never before have had this much sheer fun writing a setting. Terra Macabre is a blast to write, and I think may be the first setting I'm going to be totally dedicated to for awhile. I have some ideas for a mashup of my old fantasy settings that I've been unable to use for TM brewing in the back of my head, as well as a mashup of my old post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk settings for Shades and Ashes, but my desire to work on them  before I get a great deal more for TM down is nil to none. :D I love this setting.

I'm sorry the names I gave to you were meant for the posts that say "14th century biologist" not as a modern speaker. sorry for the confusion.

Oh, no worries, I understood what they were for, but they totally sent my brain spinning in a differnt direction - thanks for the clarification though in case  my brain spinning had completely befuddled me. I might just play fast and loose with history and up the birthdates for one of those figures, because (as you'll see in my OOC posts), I'm playing much looser with history than I originally had planned. :P

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
Oh, no worries, I understood what they were for, but they totally sent my brain spinning in a differnt direction - thanks for the clarification though in case  my brain spinning had completely befuddled me. I might just play fast and loose with history and up the birthdates for one of those figures, because (as you'll see in my OOC posts), I'm playing much looser with history than I originally had planned. :P

always interested in what you come p with. looking forward to it.

Posted! Coming up next - OOC overviews of races, the Aether, Technology and The World Within, followed by detailed IC information on everything and some information on system. Also, going to reorganize thread constantly so the OOC stuff are in the first posts (perhaps with some IC documents preceeding them to make them more interesting to read) and the IC stuff comes in the second group of posts, while system stuff is either getting it's own thread OR is in the bottom group of posts, because I'm rather anal retentive.

Quote from: Steampunk Knight

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
   The Americas:
   First, the Incans, Aztecs, and Mayans are all at their peak at the time of the arrival, and became the domains of Great Old Ones. In North America, the discovery of the continent by Leif Erikson in the 11th century cause a large viking migration prior to the Arrival, and two nations (Asgard in the northwest of America/southwest of Canada, Valhalla in Greeland) arose from this. Both were large enough to warrant dominion by a Great Old One upon arrival. They did not engage in the mass genocide of the native peoples that the European immigrants in the real world did, allowing them to flourish a bit more (something we'll explore later.)
   Secondly, during his conquest of damn near everything, Ghengis Khan decided to send a number of people he deemed unfit or weak (which he had an extraordinarily tough metric for determining) across the Pacific, partially to be rid of the burden of them, and partially to allow them a chance to prove their worth by finding something of value over there. Understandably, upon arriving in the area occupied by Northeastern America and Southeastern Canada, they were unwilling to return to the people that exiled them, and became the Oceanic Khanate. Again, they were powerful enough to draw the attention of a Great Old One.
   Finally, a yet-to-be-determined North American tribe, faced with the arrival of three less nomadic and more technologically advanced cultures - the Aztecs to the south, the Khanate to the East, and Asgard to the west - banded together to form a more permanent settlement for defense, and many allied tribes flocked to this newly born, stable nation along the Great Lakes. Once again, this culture was significant enough to warrant a Great Old One's dominion.
   And if you're wondering why all these changes occured - the Great Old Ones had begun stirring in the late 9th century, and their subtle influence altered history in such ways.

Are the peoples of the Oceanic Khanate, the uncreated North American tribe, and Asgard in contact with Incans, Aztecs, and Mayans at the time of the arrival? If so, how are you handling the factor of disease brought by the Euro/Asian people? Did the G.O.O.'s help stop the spread of them? Did they do anything at all? I'm guessing not, but would be interesting to read your take on it.   

This is something I gave some thought to, and no, the GOO's did not stop the spread - they weren't involved or aware enough to do that, and they hadn't "decided" who would rule where, so they had no reason to protect any one people's heath.

Doing some research and all...it seems that the spread of disease was so devastating to Native Americans partially because it was deliberately used as a bioweapon (smallpox infested blankets) and because the contact with disease carriers, deliberate or not, was so frequent. Initial contact with the Native Americans by the Oceanic Khanate and Asgardians was limited - the former was worried Gengis Khan was going to show up to reclaim them at any moment, the latter was in a civil war that would eventually create Valhalla. Because of that, the diseases were spread to and then among the various Native American groups much slower than in reality, and didn't happen in the middle of a war for dominance. As such, while the various new diseases were bad for them, it really was more "Black Plague" level bad rather than "Genocidal" bad, and they were able to recover enough prior to the Arrival.

I finally took some time to carefully read some of Terra Macabre and I like it. The sole fact that it happens on Earth does incite me to continue reading. Now with the G.O.O's and Atlantis, you bring me back to my childhood when I created a setting called Atlantis : The Shattered Souls. It had something to do with Earth initially, but then the action was relocated on another world, another dimension even. The G.O.O's, which could have been called like that anyways, were Titans. Some were evil, some were good, some didn't care, blablabla. Anyways, this is very interesting to me.

I especially like how vast you've made the adventuring possibilities, allowing one to fancy himself a spy for the benefit of the Atlantean rebels or the G.O.O's (or any other ambitious faction), an explorer of the universe or underground, or an abomination hunter, to only name a few.

Even though at first read the politics seem incredibly simple, I see the potential for extreme complexity, double-crossing, temporary power shifts and the eternal power struggle between more than just two factions. It's unsuspectingly complete. One just has to use his imagination.

I must admit I don't know a thing about Da Vinci, nor clockwork, so I won't comment much on that. It –seems- to me that it's kinda unique, in its own way and I like that.

I've never been one for races other than humans... not that I am racist. In your setting I think you've done well though, not using the cheesy standard races like elves, dwarves and whatnot. Unless you just renamed them.

Another thing that catched my attention is how you make the use of in-character description of things, events, e.t.c. I've wanted to do this for Plaguelands, but I realize I'm not so good at it. I have to say you've inspired me to try more though. Kudos!

You gave it your all, went in depth with slang and language thing. That takes some serious thinking effort, especially with the naming convention you're using, Kudos again!

I'll keep it at that for now. I might have more to say later!

Quote from: Magnus Pym
I finally took some time to carefully read some of Terra Macabre and I like it. The sole fact that it happens on Earth does incite me to continue reading. Now with the G.O.O's and Atlantis, you bring me back to my childhood when I created a setting called Atlantis : The Shattered Souls. It had something to do with Earth initially, but then the action was relocated on another world, another dimension even. The G.O.O's, which could have been called like that anyways, were Titans. Some were evil, some were good, some didn't care, blablabla. Anyways, this is very interesting to me.

Glad to hear I've sparked your interest. :) I do see some similarities in basic idea, which is always nice - great minds thinking alike and all that. Plus, I always love alternate Earth histories/the Humans are From Earth in fantasy, so it's good to hear someone else does it.

QuoteI especially like how vast you've made the adventuring possibilities, allowing one to fancy himself a spy for the benefit of the Atlantean rebels or the G.O.O's (or any other ambitious faction), an explorer of the universe or underground, or an abomination hunter, to only name a few.

That's what really kicked off the setting - I wanted to create a Lovecraftian settings that had options other than "OH GOD COSMIC HORROR BLARGLEBLARGLE!" (not that there's anything wrong with that, but since it's public domain I like the idea of taking Lovecraft's literary Lego's and seeing what I can build with them.) I'm really glad to hear that I've achieved this design intent so far - it's more difficult than I expected to do something than the above mentioned Cosmic Horror with Lovecraft, and it heartens me to hear I pulled it off. :D

QuoteEven though at first read the politics seem incredibly simple, I see the potential for extreme complexity, double-crossing, temporary power shifts and the eternal power struggle between more than just two factions. It's unsuspectingly complete. One just has to use his imagination.

Yeah, there's one basic fight - Atlantis Vs. Everyone else. However, that's largely because I haven't gotten into various details - international politics exist between the G.O.O's who do, in fact, war against each other and ally with each other, so that immediately creates a ton of factions, then there's internal rebels with the same goals as Atlantis but disliking it - internal rebels who want to establish a Christian/Islamic/Hindu Theocracy after getting rid of the G.O.O, people who were in line for the crown fomenting rebellion to get it back - and disgusted by the whole democracy thing Atlantis does, meaning Atlantis and them are on unfriendly terms even though they have a mutual foe...and then on Pacifica, you have settlements of various interplanetary races, and none of these races have a homogeneous culture even on their own world with one exception (because it's a single hive-mind), and those races are involved in Earth politics - and not always in favor of the G.O.Os. Then you add in the various cultures of the Nascent Things who are trying to found their own nations, or the new versions of humanity that are forming separatist movements - sometimes both of which are backed by a Lesser Old One seeking more power...the politics is a lot more complex than I've gotten into so far, because I'd prefer to explore that ICly - but you've made me realize I should probably do a political OOC post to clear that up. :)

QuoteI must admit I don't know a thing about Da Vinci, nor clockwork, so I won't comment much on that. It –seems- to me that it's kinda unique, in its own way and I like that.

Da Vinci tec/Clockpunk are not completely unique to me, though I'm trying to put my own spin on them - and really, what it boiled down to was I wanted 18th century aesthetics but more advanced tech, which left me the option of clockwork technology or Steampunk, and I chose the road marginally less traveled. :P

QuoteI've never been one for races other than humans... not that I am racist. In your setting I think you've done well though, not using the cheesy standard races like elves, dwarves and whatnot. Unless you just renamed them.

Nope, that makes you a speciesist. :P In all seriousness, I completely understand, and I'm most definitely not doing standard fantasy races - partially because I'm sick of them, partially because they'd be completely out of place. Instead, I'm doing mutated animals/humans as well as Aliens of a Lovecraftian Type, given things a horrific twist and never, ever using anything that could be an elf or a dwarf or a blank. I'm saving those for a latter fantasy mashup setting that's brewing in my hindbrain.

QuoteAnother thing that catched my attention is how you make the use of in-character description of things, events, e.t.c. I've wanted to do this for Plaguelands, but I realize I'm not so good at it. I have to say you've inspired me to try more though. Kudos!

Thanks! It's really hard to do - I made a huge mistake when I tried to do the whole thing in IC posts. I'm looking forward to seeing how you weave them in, however! They're good to spice things up, and I'm betting you're better than you think. :P

QuoteYou gave it your all, went in depth with slang and language thing. That takes some serious thinking effort, especially with the naming convention you're using, Kudos again!

I'm really glad people have liked that so far. I'm going to have to do a second version of almost every word, something that people can remember and pronounce, but this is one of those things where I was really proud of how it turned out and worried to all hell that no one else would like it. So far, response has been positive, and I'm glad you liked it as well!

QuoteI'll keep it at that for now. I might have more to say later!

Thanks! Hope you do - I'll be updating it as much as possible (going to skip next tech update until after I've done an OOC politics update, because you made me realized I need one.) :) Looking forward to more Plaguelands as well!
[/quote]

The Politics read was a good one. Very interesting. Definitely we can't say it's simple anymore, with the mish-mash of people, faiths, ambitions, goals, e.t.c.

I am, however, very curious about the Aether stuff. Bet you've seen that coming though so I'll wait until you release more info on that.

Thanks! Glad I could add to the complexity - and realized there are even some groups I forgot about I'll have to add back in later.

The Aether is something I'm really looking forward to - I just need to hammer out the tech (pun intended) before I can nail down the Aether fully, since that will have the biggest impact.

I posted on the Tech.

I gotta admit, this is the first thing about Terra Macabre (outside of system stuff) I haven't felt 100% sure about. Part of it is a bias sparkletwist pointed out in IRC - we have an inclination to, when we think of Lovecraft's stories, think of the tech that was around in his time. But part of it is just...it feel kind of almost...goofy? Out of place? Maybe that's just my nerves, but I'm thinking steamtech or deiseltech might work better...but at the same time, not too sure about those either. Feedback greatly appreciated.

Technology Discussion

Right now I'm looking at the technology for Terra Macabre, the first part of this setting to give me a headache – and one that's so critical to everything I do next that it's vital I establish it in some manner so I can move along. Instead of getting into a big debate with myself in the setting thread, I've decided to open the discussion here and get everyone's thoughts, so we can weigh the pros and cons of each.

First, I need to outline what the technology can do, and the best way to do this is define the highest point technology has been able to reach. Once established, then we can work our way down – but first and foremost, I have to answer one question for consistency of the setting:

How did we get into space? (In this case, the Aether, which is easily converted into breathable air, so we don't need super-advanced "sealing" systems and such that modern day spacecraft have.)

While I'm not going to answer right now, keep in mind that all the technology ideas discussed below must be able to achieve that goal in a reasonable way.

The second question, important but one I regard as slightly less so than the above:

How does it work with the tone? (Terra Macabre, despite it's name, is not meant to be a gritty-dark horror nightmare madness setting – if you want that kind of setting, look at CE or Plaguelands, because they've turned that style of setting into an artwork. Instead, the horrific cosmic nightmares are meant to be a backdrop for everything else – so I have to walk a careful line on the tone, making the fact that horrific cosmic nightmares exist not something that overpowers the setting, but I also don't want to make these cosmic horrors "ho-hum, there's a tentacled monster from beyond space and time. It's early for our tea and biscuits today." As such, technology is important because the look and feel of it, even more than what it can do, will influence tone.)

Looking at all this, plus drawing stuff I can mash out of my previous settings (I swear my new design policy has become "Take whatever you can and mash it together," and I've come up with the following technological routes that Terra Macabre could work, and weigh some of the immediately obvious (to me) pros and cons of each.

CLOCKWORK:
The original intent of this setting was a Clockwork Tech setting – spring powered thises and thateses and whatnots, analytical engines, airships which were hung from balloons, etc. Initially I loved the mental images that created, but as the rest of the setting grew it seemed to fit less and less.

First of all, the Pros: It keeps the setting cohensive for the time period – if I were to go to more advanced technology types, I might have to move the setting into the 19th or even early 20th century. It also limits humanity's technology in many significant ways, giving the world the 1700's feel I first liked – and allows for melee weapons to still be commonly used.

Second, the Cons: It's the most limiting of any of these ideas, forcing me to logically think about what something spring powered could actually do – and unfortunately, there's only so far I can stretch my brain before my suspension of disbelief makes like an overwound spring and snaps, and my knowledge of what you could reasonably do with torque is limited. Second, it traps me in the time period – I can justify 17th century steam or diesel or OTHER tech, but going past that to the future it becomes harder and harder to justify why we haven't switched to steam or diesel at the very least. Finally...it feels silly. No matter how I describe it, or picture it, it's hard to take clockwork-based technology seriously, and I can't find a way to do it without it detracting from the overall tone too much – pushing me over that balance of "Cosmic Horror" and "Silly Cosmic Horror" that I'm having so much trouble managing already.

STEAMPUNK:
I don't need to explain what this is. Seriously. If there is a single CBGer who is surprised by this term, I may die of shock.

Pros: Established and well defined but still flexible – most people won't object to steam-powered BLANK, and it can fit in most anywhere – especially if I upped earth's history into the 1900's where we actually had the basics of this. It also keeps some major limits on humanity's technology, but allows more flexibility than Clockwork. Plus, it's full of smog and groaning and clanging that helps eliminate much of my problems with Clockwork's technology.

Cons: There's nothing new I can do here. At all. I mean, sure, I could maybe nudge things here and there to make them kind of unique, but steamtech has been done to death that I almost feel like I might as well throw in elves and call it a day. From Day 1, Terra Macabre has been a setting that I've felt was very unique from all others out there – and I fear that adding in Steampunk technology would ruin this feel. While "how does it get into space" is a vital question to make the technology work for the setting, "How does it impact the overall setting" is another vital one – and I'm worried steampunk would cheapen it, ruin the charm it has.

DEISELTECH:
It's Dieselpunk. Again, this term is pretty self explanatory.

Pros: Again, well defined and flexibile – but not as defined/well known as Steampunk, so less cliched and trite. It has the smog and groaning and whatnot to help preserve tone, but could be streamlined more than steampunk to make it so not everything is a twisted mass of pipes and clogs and such, making it easier to "adjust" the tone based on how the technology looks. Plus, it's the technology that is closest to Lovecraft's actual writings, so it would help with the "Lovecraft Overtones"

Cons: At this point, melee weapons that don't stem from crazy technology or old one technology become largely irrelevant compared to guns and harder to justify. Travel is much faster around the world, though not super-fast. Humans get access to huge numbers of tanks and iron battleships and such that are reliable and could make them a much greater threat than I'm sure I want them to be. And...while not as overdone as Steampunk, Dieseltech is very Pulpy (not a bad thing)...except I'm working on a FATE based game, and worry if I add Dieseltech it'll become Spirit of the Century...BUT WITH LOVECRAFT!

BIOTECH
Humans have learned how to reproduce old one's biotech and now use it the way they do.

Pros: LOOKS AWESOME. It's not a car, it's a beetle-like being bred to seat people inside it and cover them. It's not a plane, it's a smei-transparent dragonfly battlesuit that spits acid. Gives a huge degree of flexibility, but I could still reasonably limit human travel because we're no where near as advanced as the G.O.O's are with it, so our travel isn't that much faster than it was back then.

Cons: LOOKS LIKE THEIR TECH. It reduces the alieness of Great Old One's tech from "it's made of living things what the hell?" to "It's made of better living things than ours, what the hell?", and makes it much more commonplace, reducing the impact. Also, tone control could become a nightmare here, the reverse of the problem Clockwork Technology had.

MODERNTECH/SCIFI-TECH
Setting the tech level to either present day or slightly after, cyberpunk style.

Pros: Most of the advantages of Steampunk in terms of preexisting notions, not to mention that players are already extremely familiar with it, since they use it on a daily basis.

Cons: Makes things too easy – the internet, travel, and such are huge changes that could easily destroy tone. Added to that...nukes. I'm pretty sure I don't want that kind of power in humanity's hands.

WEIRDTECH
This is a lump all for stranger technology – stuff based on crystals found in the World Below or mined in the Aether after initial meteors were used to jumpstart us, Aether, Phlogiston, Quintessence, or something stranger – all the way straight up to Magic.

Pros: Complete flexibility and minimal trappings. I can essentially create whatever I want and have it fit the setting, and impose any limits I need because it's a substance of my own definition, and therefore I am not limited by existing conceptions, can make it work as well as I want it to in a given area and as poorly as I want it to in another area and only need minimal explanation without bumping up into preconceived notions, and can give it any design I want to make the tone whatever I want from appearance.

Cons: I'd have to start from the ground up, make the system internally consistent for me to like it and for players to grasp it, and wouldn't know until I had don a ton of work if it was actually an improvement over the other areas.



That's where I am right now. Thoughts would be hugely appreciated, because right now technology is what's holding the entire setting back. Thank you in advance!

Personally I'd go with mostly clockwork tech with a healthy smattering of biotech (rarer, more expensive, more elite, the sort of things nobles and the very wealthy have access to) and weirdtech to fill in the gaps and handwave the problematic stuff.  This can hugely help to justify why dieseltech/steamtech hasn't been developed.

Dieseltech is cool (and not done enough) but you'd lose the 18th century feel which I figured was pretty central.

Why is space breathable?  That feels (to me) like it has the potential to undermine the realism underpinning the historical aspects of the setting.  Can't outer space just be called the aether?

Here's an alternate idea, though: just develop several optional time periods to set Terra Macabre in - different modes of play.  You could start by focusing on the 18th century one, then do a dieselpunk one later, or something like that.

I vote dieseltech. Even though your world is more about adventure than horror, the aesthetic will give you a nice bleak background to play around with. Admittedly, my grasp on this genre is tenuous at best, but off the top of my head it seems like the best fit.
If you are afraid of guns becoming too popular you can perhaps emphasize how little effect they have on some of the weirder creatures? 

Quote from: Steerpike
Personally I'd go with mostly clockwork tech with a healthy smattering of biotech (rarer, more expensive, more elite, the sort of things nobles and the very wealthy have access to) and weirdtech to fill in the gaps and handwave the problematic stuff.  This can hugely help to justify why dieseltech/steamtech hasn't been developed.

I suppose if I up the level of weirdtech, I could sufficiently fill the gaps...the problem is with handwaving. I'm trying to do as little of it as possible...largely because how space is now set up is one gigantic handwave, and to many of them in my own setting bother me - even if I never explain why in a post, I have to at least understand how most things work or I don't enjoy it.

QuoteDieseltech is cool (and not done enough) but you'd lose the 18th century feel which I figured was pretty central.

That's the problem I'm having, which you solve neatly in a later post...

QuoteWhy is space breathable?  That feels (to me) like it has the potential to undermine the realism underpinning the historical aspects of the setting.  Can't outer space just be called the aether?

I suppose I didn't explain this right. Space is not, inherently, breathable. However, it's also not a vacuum - it's filled with Aether, which  can easily be Made Into breathable air, making longer voyages much easier since you don't need to worry about air supply/filtration, pressurization much less of an issue because there is stuff outside as opposed to nothingness (though you still need it to be sealed otherwise all your air leaks out) and, most importantly, allows various life forms a plausible way to live in space - their lungs can convert Aether into something their body can use. Humans and most Nascent Things cannot - in the Aether, you'll suffocate just as quick as you would in real space - but it's pretty easy to design a machine that can do so almost indefinitely.  Also, this allows me to put life on Pluto, the Moon, various moons of Jupiter and Saturn, even Mercury with impunity - but humans still need helmets with filtration systems built in. Kind of a "Best of both worlds" for me scenario. :P

QuoteHere's an alternate idea, though: just develop several optional time periods to set Terra Macabre in - different modes of play.  You could start by focusing on the 18th century one, then do a dieselpunk one later, or something like that.

Bingo. Going to make two Terra Macabre's - 1790 and 1920, one clockwork one deiselpunk. I might work on both of them simultaneously, as inspiration strikes, or focus on 1790 until I have it hammered out better.

QuoteI vote dieseltech. Even though your world is more about adventure than horror, the aesthetic will give you a nice bleak background to play around with. Admittedly, my grasp on this genre is tenuous at best, but off the top of my head it seems like the best fit.
If you are afraid of guns becoming too popular you can perhaps emphasize how little effect they have on some of the weirder creatures?

You're right, and I'm going to use Steerpike's suggestion to do both. And then I don't have to worry about guns - guns can be rarer in 1790 and more common in 1920. :D Though I'll still likely make swords and melee weapons needed for dealing with the weirder creatures of the world, since putting a bunch of tiny holes in one isn't as useful as putting a huge gaping wound in one. :P

Okay, put a preliminary re-write of technology on the main thread. Let me know what you all thing - though I will say I'm much more comfortable with it now than I previously was. :) Thank you for the help!

[spoiler=Archive, Old Tech, Just for Storage]
[ooc=Technology]
Again, another topic that demands an OOC overview, because the people of this world cannot "compared to real 1700s" or "This works like (modern day device X) with these differences,", so the overview is needed to give players context they can understand before i delve into the IC details. I swear, once I get done with Tech, I should be able to move back into the IC posts outside of the system thread, though I might be wrong about that. *crosses fingers because the IC posts are both more fun to read and write.* (Actually, will probably need one more to address the use of Lovecraft's races, and one more "vocab" post that doesn't address IC slang but rather general words I throw about that need definition, but that should be it.) Since I'm on limited time but want to keep posting, this post will initially just explain the upsides and downsides of each type of power source, and then be expounded into details of specific devices.[/ooc]

[note=Nascent Things]Outside of humanity, Nascent Things not spawned from humanity rarely use the more advanced technology, though they have some unique stuff of their own. However, this unique stuff is comparable to primitive tech that was known of in the 1700's, so can be handled in an IC post - just keep in mind that, except for the Nascent Things that have had extensive peaceful interactions with humanity, they won't much of this tech. That's not because they can't grasp it, it's just because they haven't had the time to develop it in only 400 years.[/note] Technology comes in 5 categories - Military, Commerce, Private-Life, Travel, and Old One Tech. The basic premise behind the first 3 is clockwork, the 4th mixes airpower and actual engines that run on phlisophen (which I really need to look up an accurate spelling for at some point), and the final is based on biotechology.

A quick overview of the benefits and downsides of clockwork:
Benefits: Reliable, no large fuel tank needed, usable in handheld devices, and much more lightweight than a steam-powered variant would be, quieter than many other forms of technology would be.
Downsides: Limited run time - one the spring runs out, it gradually slows down and then stops, since you can't wind it too tight. Must be prepared in advance but not to far in advance - in combat, you rarely have time to sit and wind a clockwork device, but if you leaved it coiled for too long the spring looses tension. (In game mechanics, this represents an aspect the GM could invoke to give a player a fate point - otherwise, it's assumed that the device will lrun for the duration of a scene.) Some devices, such as the rapidfire cannons, avoid this by being manually cranked to continue running as opposed to springs, but that works less well for a gyrocopter or a handheld weapon. Finally, when they do actually break (a gear snaps, the spring looses tension, etc) it's never a simple fix - you have to find the broken part, buy the replacement, and then get a specialist to replace it without throwing other gears out of whack.

That may seem like so many downsides it'd be easy to adapt a "why bother" viewpoint, but really, since the major downside is something that will only occur if the DM invokes that aspect of the weapon and you accept the FATE point, it only comes into play when allowed, which minimizes how crippling it can be in mechanical terms.

For phlosphogen, the upsides and downsides are easy - an phlospogen engine is reliable, powerful, achieves speeds of up to 30% the speed of light, and can make fuel from Aether so never runs out - but it only works in the Aether, so has absolutely zero terrestrial use except for the occasional weapon that needs a power cell drawn the Aether to be charged, which makes them almost impossibly expensive expensive and typically used only by Special Ops type military branches.

I don't think I need to get into the upsides and downsides of wind power - if you're at all familiar with the benefits and downsides for sailing ships, the same applies.

Biotech is one of the most reliable types of technology out there, and it has the benefits of adaptability, mutability, can be used to replace or agument human natural abilities, and the only downsides is it can be impacted by diseases and other flaws of organisms, including death and needing replacement, and for "higher order" tech, often has a degree of intellect (dog level at best) so needs to be "tamed" to be usable. Other than that, though, Biotech trumps all other kinds of technology, and is the most powerful out there - which it is rare to see it in PC hands.

Next: details of particular kinds of technology

[ooc=Technology Overview]I've decided that describing each individual peace of technology would be tedious and boring – instead, this is going to be a broad overview of technology in these categories and general devices. I'm not going to describe every gun by every manufacturer, but instead describe different categories of firearms. Also, this list is written in water as I adapt and build the setting – any suggestions for technology are quite welcome. Also, I very well may decide to tone this down or up or alter it altogether – of all the elements of the setting, it's the one that's the most fluid.[/ooc]

[note]As I'm doing this, a large part of me is debating switching to Steampunk or Deiselpunk style technology. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter – is clockwork doing it for you? Would Steampunk or Deiselpunk style technology be a better fit?[/note] Military
Military technology, as can be expected, is pretty much exclusively limited to ways to make killing people easier and more efficient, and prevent people from getting killed. Vehicles that have military and other purposes are covered under Travel – just assume that the military variant of it is going to be armed and armored.

-Guns
Guns come in several flavors and varieties, slightly more advanced than they actually were in the 17th century in reality. The revolver was invented, using precession caps, and that became the most popular way to outfit weapons – many military guns have large "clips", giving them a somewhat tommy-gun style appearance, which allows them many shots before being reloaded – though anything like automatic fire is impossible. Other guns would look fairly at home in the wild west, or variations thereof – a long-bore rifle with a revolver clip, for example, or a shotgun (called sprayguns) with the same.

One thing that guns feature that they did not commonly see in reality are add-ons beyond bayonets. Most guns have the ability to attach a variety of objects to them – shields, different variety of bayonets, (some of which nearly turn the gun into a sword, though those guns cannot have the revolver clip and must be single shots, other bayonets that make better sword-breakers than they do stabbing implements), phosphorus canisters which can be used to flash light in an opponents eyes...they've gotten quite ingenious at things they can stick on the barrel of a gun and still have it work.

Melee Weapons
Despite the advancement guns have reached, melee weapons remain common, partially because the lack of a need to reload is a huge advantage, partially because you do not want your only weapon to be a gun – even with a bayonet – when something twice your mass with tentacles and claws attempts to remove your face, and partially because guns are often illegal in areas where melee weapons are not. While most melee weapons haven't advanced, there some exceptions, one of which is the shudderblade.

A shudderblade looks like a normal sword with serrated edges like a saw and an unusual large handle. When wound and then activated, the shudderblade does exactly what it's name implies – shudders up and down rapidly, giving it a chainsaw effect. While this is less effective against hardened armor, against the thick skins many Elder and Nascent Things have, it's a much better option than a typical slashing or stabbing motion.

Other Ranged Weapons
While guns have replaced most ranged weapons for humanity, there are some specialists who prefer clockwork arrows – arrows with an effect that's triggered by a spring upon impact, an effect that cannot be duplicated with bullets. These effects can be very varied, from the simple "trigger the gunpowder that fills the shift" to "ignite to mark the target" to "create a piercing whistle noise for several seconds upon impact."

Explosives
Clockwork is really only used here to give timers to bombs, replacing the less reliable fuses. As such, handheld grenades are a viable tool, and bombs are more easily launched from cannons – although the cost of the clockwork components and chemical components makes them less common than they are in modern day warfare.

Vehicles: While many vehicles are used both for travel and for the military, there are a few that are uniquely military.

One of these are tanks: often called "Turtles" due to their shape, a tank is a rolling fortress that resembles a turtle shell on treads. Covered in armored plates and propelled by a clockwork engine, a tank cannot move very quickly – most people can easily outpace one on foot. What they lack in speed, however, they make up for in firepower – most have a forward-facing heavy-revolver cannon, two side mounted quickfire-cannons, as well as slots where soldiers within can shoot at external targets. Their slow speed (plus the mutation of some domesticated beasts, to be covered later) means that mounted combat still exists, but Tanks are the primary power on the battlefield. Advancements to increase their speed have proven to be ineffective, as the engine size increases to rapidly.

The other piece of vehicular technology that's pretty much exclusive to the military is the Gyrocopter. It has the unique distinction of being the only aircraft that is capable of flight purely on the power of it's spring, with no use of wind or hot-air lifts. This is advantageous because they can be made extremely small and lightweight. The downside is they can only fly as long as their spring holds up, giving them a relatively short, fixed flight time – making them perfect for military uses, but ineffective in any personal usage. They are typically launched from more classic airships or sea-ships, and return before their spring runs out.

Armor/Defense:
[ooc]This space lacks any good ideas right now.[/ooc]

Commerce
There is, right now, exactly one piece of technology that is used exclusively for commerce: The Analytical Engine. Capable of calculating prices to a degree no human could have managed before, in addition to making predictions based on past trends when given data, the size these devices require and cost it takes to make them is still more than worth the effort for the benefit it gives any companies that have access to one. The sciences, also, find their computational power exceptionally useful, and the measure of how good a university is for science is now measured on if they do or do not have an Analytical Engine. Note that while these are computers, they're very, very primitive ones – they're really just hyper-advanced, massive calculators. Incredibly revolutionary in the 1700's, but at the same time not yet world altering the way personal computers eventually became.

Private-Life
For everyday life, technology is not extremely different. Horses and carriages are more reliable and much less expensive than a clockwork automobile would be, personal flying machines and Analytical Engines are beyond the reach of all but the super-rich, and most of it just doesn't influence day-to-day life. However, it impacts it more subtly – roads are better, houses are sturdier, glass is more common, advances in science has made disease less prevalent, the increased need for knowledge has improved the education system – minor alterations that make a huge difference. One big change – hand-cranked fans are available in summer, and ones that can be used to blow hot air from a fire in winter, and it's a sign of status to own one or both of these.

Travel
[ooc]Coming Soon! Want to get this posted right now, will update this tomorrow[/ooc]

Biotech
[ooc]Coming Soon! Want to get this posted right now, will update this tomorrow[/ooc]
[/spoiler]

Well I got to this a little late. I do like your new conclusion about separating two settings. Have you considered making time travel an important component of the adventures? What if something TERRIBLE (more terrible than just G.O.O.s coming to Earth) happens in the intervening two-hundred years, and the adventurers have to stop it. I would be excited by a premise like that.

Quote from: Xeviat
Well I got to this a little late. I do like your new conclusion about separating two settings. Have you considered making time travel an important component of the adventures? What if something TERRIBLE (more terrible than just G.O.O.s coming to Earth) happens in the intervening two-hundred years, and the adventurers have to stop it. I would be excited by a premise like that.

Time travel is definitely possible, as the Yith prove in the mythos (they can at least psychically time travel), so I won't discount other Time Travel possible - but I'm not going to build it too hard into the setting, leaving that more in the DM's hands - but I could see such an adventure being a ton of fun, and completely possible within what the system will do, so I'll at least include a sidebar on ways to do it - because that would be a blast. I do know that travel back to before G.O.O.s arrival is impossible - and any Yith that traveled to that time are stranded, which is the source of most Yith characters in the game. That, and I don't want the plot to be "go back to stop the G.O.O's"

Also, what do you think of the tech that's up? I'm about 90% sure on it, but would love your thoughts. :)

I don't have a whole lot of input on the technology, other than to say it is nice and cohesive on the surface. The technologies fit together nicely, and they create a unique atmosphere of weirdness (with the clockwork and springs) that we have lost with the recent resurgence of steampunk faire. I really like your use of Phlogiston and your willingness to alter the stuff of reality to achieve your tone (Yes, space is really filled with the Aether, I don't care what we've discovered post 1960's). Your explanation for why phlogiston rockets aren't used to propel balloons was especially amusing.

Quote from: Xeviat
I don't have a whole lot of input on the technology, other than to say it is nice and cohesive on the surface. The technologies fit together nicely, and they create a unique atmosphere of weirdness (with the clockwork and springs) that we have lost with the recent resurgence of steampunk faire. I really like your use of Phlogiston and your willingness to alter the stuff of reality to achieve your tone (Yes, space is really filled with the Aether, I don't care what we've discovered post 1960's). Your explanation for why phlogiston rockets aren't used to propel balloons was especially amusing.

Cohesion was my biggest concern, so I'm really glad to hear that first comment especially! I was going for that weirdness and I'm really glad to hear I pulled it off.

Yeah, I decided that since I was already adding Old Ones of Lovecraftian nightmares there's no need to adhere to the rules of reality - once you have Cthulhu, physics is crying enough as is.

Thanks for the feedback! It's much appreciated, and makes me more confident I'm going in the right direction. :)

Late to the party, but consider Frankenstein dirty-feeling "meat tech" if you need delineation between Theirs and Ours biopunk. Especially for the 1920s setting. Continental meat moss, shapeshifters, and things that disobey the law of conservation of mass will feel different than a guy with one ridiculously strong arm, or a guy whose life was saved when his head was grafted onto another guy's torso.

I like the "intelligent and willful grafts" idea too.

Also consider for the GOOs: Telikinetech. They warp physics directly. Euclid's nightmares and all that.

And revolvers are nice, but if you stat this game up, let me play with a concealed pepperbox if at all possible.

EDIT TO ADD: Are you familiar with the Tripods trilogy? Deals with post-invasion (by Wellsian aliens) Earth, so it might be interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods

Quote from: beejazz
Late to the party, but consider Frankenstein dirty-feeling "meat tech" if you need delineation between Theirs and Ours biopunk. Especially for the 1920s setting. Continental meat moss, shapeshifters, and things that disobey the law of conservation of mass will feel different than a guy with one ridiculously strong arm, or a guy whose life was saved when his head was grafted onto another guy's torso.

...Oh god. I had totally forgotten about Herbert West: Reanimator. Yes, that totally works for Human Biotech, and I'm honestly ashamed I forgot about it - thank you so much for jogging my memory there, Beejazz (though you didn't mention it, that's what Frankenstein-tech would look like/come from in Lovecraft's work."

Thanks!

QuoteI like the "intelligent and willful grafts" idea too.

Grafts that won't always obey you? Or may work to defend you of their own volition? Can I say yes strongly enough?

QuoteAlso consider for the GOOs: Telikinetech. They warp physics directly. Euclid's nightmares and all that.

LD and I were talking earlier tonight about giving the GOOs and Elder Things more than just biotech as their sources of technology, what I'm calling Weirdtech. Telikinetech is not something I had considered, but the idea is too interesting mentally to not at least examine - once I figure some more details, there's a good chance I'll work that in.

QuoteAnd revolvers are nice, but if you stat this game up, let me play with a concealed pepperbox if at all possible.

In the stats thread, I included a holdout pistol - what exactly shape that takes is up to you. :P

EDIT TO ADD: Are you familiar with the Tripods trilogy? Deals with post-invasion (by Wellsian aliens) Earth, so it might be interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods
[/quote]

An idea for aether: maybe it's "dark matter."

OH! Oh damn, my brain just flipped a shit with that, Steerpike! Aether = Dark Matter, that's why it's everywhere, doesn't change the way space looks, and...well, solved pretty much much every other problem I was having with Aether in my head. WIll probably make it a bit denser to allow things like Mi-Go wings to work in it and such, but still, you're a damn genius!

[ooc]Moving the IC post on the Chriopetri here for achieve purposes, it's a bit out of place in the current setting thread.[/ooc]
[spoiler][spoiler=Headshot (ignore eyes)](http://th01.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/117/c/5/Bat_creature_by_BOULARIS.jpg)[/spoiler]
[ic=Benjamin Franklin]
Of those intelligent races that we are now aware of, most are divided into two categories: the Nascent Things, those who's history stretches back less than a million years (which, much as many of us are loath to admit it, puts humanity in this category, though we have the unique status of being the Eldest of the Nascent Things in our Solar System.) and the Elder Things, thous with histories of millions of years long. To begin, I shall focus on the biology of the Nascent Things, since those are the ones we interact with on a more frequent basis.

The first Nascent Thing that was not an offshoot of humanity that we noticed were the Chiropetri, called by some the batfolk and by others believed to be the vampires of legend. Their bodies are large, reaching a height that puts them to human sizes even with their stooped posture, and completely devoid of hair. Their title of batfolk can be seen from the design of their head, which shares the upturned nose, elongated ears, and musculature commonly associated with bats. However, their face are rendered different from bats first by the complete lack of occular organs of any kind, forcing them to rely entirely on their senses of hearing and scent, and secondly by their teeth, which are far fewer (only seven on top and 9 on the bottom) than those of most mammals, and all of which are 2-3 inches in length. Their posture shares much in common with the apes of Africa and the Orient, their legs being significantly shooter than their arms. The arms, in particular, provide their final noteworthy feature: they serve three functions – limbs for locomotion, claws for grasping and manipulating objects, and when unfurled, wings capable of flight. When not in use, the wings are retracted back into the arms, giving them the appearance of loose, hanging skin, but when extended give them an impressive wingspan of, on average 5.5 meters.

[note]I'd love to use the fictional writings of a historical biologist from the 14th century here that Franklin inserted, but have been unable to find a good example of one. Any suggestions would be appreciated.[/note]The Chiropetri were the first of the Nascent things not descended from humanity that we realized were, in fact, as intelligent as humanity. When they were originally first encountered by Europeans, they were viewed as dangerous and also extremely curious. While their night-time raids on human villages were feared, and their unique diet of endothermic blood was horrific even the wake of the Arrival, a number of them were captured and kept in menageries and as attractions in wandering carnivals. From those, suprising observations were made:[/ic]

[ic=14th century biologist]When the creature was First placed within the Enclosure, we eagerly awaited it's awakening. Upon arousing, it at first Observed it's enclosure with a degree of Curiosity. Unlike most of the aerial creatures we had Captured, it did not immediately attempt Flight from the cage we had Constructed to contain it. It turned its head towards us, Making a series of unsettling and Strangely rythmic snarling and clicking Noises, and then strode over to one of the Bars, examined it through Touch and more of that Clicking, though it lacked the Rhythm of the previous noises, and then wrapped its claws and Commenced pulling upon it with all the might it Could bring to bear. Upon that failing, it lifted a Rock from its enclosure and Struck the bar repeatedly – and we were suddenly most Grateful it had been wrought from the strongest Iron, embedded within thick Stone. After that failed, it moved on to the next bar and Repeated the reaction – which I hesitated to call Tests even then, until it had attempted every bar Surrounding it's enclosure. It spent a particular amount of time of its Efforts against the gate to its enclosure, as if Recognizing this represented a potential weak point. That failing as much as its other Efforts, it turned to the roof of its enclosure. Instead of flying to the top, it Climbed like a Spider along the bars until it reached the apex, which afforded it an easier means to grasp the Apex on its arrival than Flight would have. Once it had failed to use both its prodigious Weight and Strength to burst the bars there, it clasped its hindclaws to the roof and turned to Sleep.

The next day, and every day Thereafter for the next month, the cycle was Repeated, and we found it Necessary to occasionally reinforce its enclosure at times as the Damage from the rocks and repeated stress it put upon the bars. After a month, it Ceased these repetitions, and began to spend its waking hours with its Head turned towards us, and though it lacks Eyes as do all of its kind, I still found myself Fancifully imagining that it was giving me the most piercing stare I had ever Encountered from Man or Beast. During this period it was not even Making it's typical clicking sounds, as if it was Observing us merely though Scent and the Sounds we made.

One can imagine our Shock, three weeks later, During a private viewing for a Servitor of Queen Angelica, when it Turned to us and made Sounds that was Unmistakably a Complete Sentence - "From this release me and I swear I will Do no harm to you."[/ic]

[ic=Benjamin Franklin]This first of the Chiropetri to speak in any human tongue, who identified himself as Gruthik, revolutionized our view of the beings that had arisen in the wake of the Arrival. Gruthik was intelligent, and not an aberration: he explained to us the culture we had dragged him from. Among his own people, he was a warrior, defending them against other tribe's assaults and incursions from humans. We had encountered him during a return from an assault on a rival tribe that had encroached upon his tribes' territory, which he viewed as a vital measure to take for his people. The rest of his group had been extinguished, though they had achieved an overall victory, and attributed his capture to overall exhaustion from the battle. Those Chiropetri that had previously been in captivity were quickly taught the local tongue and Rlyhian and, upon extracting promises of non-violence, were released. Now, the Chiropetri are divided into two groups – those that live among humanity and those that remain in a tribal society.

Though the latter have advanced in some degrees technologically, they typically view their natural attributes as being sufficient to defend themselves – their primary technological advancement have been in the areas of architecture, creating more difficult to assault structures. These tribal groups are viewed, depending on the region, as menaces or savages that must be taught the benefits of society. Meanwhile, the Chiropetri that live within the cities do adapt to some human customs, wearing vests that do not inhibit their wings and specially tailored pants to cover their private sections, though they do draw the line at any footwear and gloves that cover their claws, nor do they wear hats, finding the concept ludicrous considering the ease in which they could be dislodged during flight. However, of all the non-humanborn Nascent Things, the Chiropetri have exhibited the easiest integration into human society.[/ic][/spoiler]

Don't have anything really to contribute right now, but I am very impressed with how the setting has progressed.

Thanks! Always good to hear people are enjoying it. :)

Culture:
[note]Culture and Creatures are being posted in the discussion thread because they need more formalization/ideas/definition before I'm comfortable putting them in the setting thread[/note]One thing I've been pondering is the impact on overall culture of the world by the Great Old Ones being considered gods - present, physical beings worshipped compounded by the several reduction in the worship of existing religion, especially the Judeo-Christian faiths. Here's what I've come up with so far:

[spoiler]-Decreased sexual repression. Quite frankly and cruedly, the Old Ones don't give a fuck who or how often we fuck, so after 400 years of the gods not caring people are much more sexually liberated/degenerate depending on your viewpoint and the type of changes. In the extreme, polyamory, homo/bisexuality, polygamy, incest, and omnisexuality (a willingness to couple with sentient nonhumans) are not viewed as strongly distasteful as they were in the 1790s or even the modern world, though monogamous heterosexual relationships are still the most common type.  On the less extreme end of the scale, clothing is much less chaste, giving it a mixture of renaissance/early victorian aesthetics with modern standards of modesty.

-Increased women's rights/equality. For many Elder Things and Old Ones, the very concept of gender - or gender roles - is alien and strange, so there's no religiously enforced marginalization of women, and social enforcement is minimal - though a more promiscuous woman is still viewed more negatively than the same trait in a man. Chivalry isn't dead, it was barely born, and its remnants are less men protecting/courting women but rather warriors protecting/courting the opposite sex with less physical prowess. It still lingers more strongly in cultures with a more deeply rooted bias prior to the Arrival, but even there it's less frequent or strong.

-[note=NOT RACIST]A classmate of mine reading over my notes considered this to be a racist/culturalist point of view. I feel the need to defend this -I'm not saying tribal cultures were primitive and ignorant, but that the culture they had was more flexible and more easily accommodated the idea of Old Ones than the more rigid societies we saw in the "civilized" world - in fact, this is an advantage, not a hinderance to them.[/note] Increase technological advancement among tribal cultures, particularly in the area of biotech. This is due to two factors - first, tribal cultures are more likely to be ruled by a Lesser Old One than a Great Old Ones, many who see a greater need to give their followers biotech/wierdtech than the Great Old Ones since the L.O.Os lack the ability to challenge G.O.O's directly, and because the religion and culture of tribal cultures had a much easier transition to the idea of their Gods being physical present and their technology to simply be new lifeforms born from the gods than cultures with more technological advancement prior to the arrival - if most of your weaponry/technology is already based around things you find naturally, it's easier to adjust to seemingly natural technology.

-Increase "domestication"/training of animals and creatures since more "useful" and tractable lifeforms arose - as well as alchemical discoveries that could make such creatures more easily tamed.

-Increased secularism. Ironically, the gods being physical and present has lead to a decrease in dogmatic behavior and zealotry, since one can ask the god or his Servitors for clarification as opposed to relying on human interpretation. Granted, the response will rarely be a coherent dictate if directly inquiring a Great Old One - they do not frequently (ever) answer questions such as "Is this right." However, Servitors do, and are viewed as speaking for the Great Old One - a Servitor has enough of a human mindset to understand what a person means by right and wrong and enough of a connection to their Great Old One to translate what their particular Patron wants into a moral framework humans can understand. However, those who hold on to pre-Arrival religions are even more devout in the face of persecution, similar to what we saw in the Jewish faith and early Christianity during Roman persecution. Paradoxically, observation of the faith/attendance to religious gatherings is still very high, largely due to the fear that failure to be seen as devout could result in god eating you.[/spoiler]

Creatures:
This has always been, easily, my favorite part of setting design, and I've largely ignored it up until now since it's not as integral to Terra Macabre as it is to more classic fantasy/sci-fi settings, or the creatures I initially thought of were much more rooted in Lovecraft's mythos as opposed to alterations of existing lifeforms. However, I had a brain flash and can't ignore it any longer, so here's a number of creatures I thought of that fit the setting - these are mostly terrestrial (though some have the capability of naturally entering the Aether), native to Earth, and lack the sentience needed to be classified fully as Nascent Things. Note that those with names rooted in mythology are due to superficial similarities to the creatures they reference in either appearance or behavior and not an actual case of these creatures being their mythological counterparts - they're simply good analogues and therefore humans found them easy to name.

[spoiler]
Ratweres - though they lack sentience, a Ratwere is a creature that appears as though it should - bipedal rodents, easily 3 feet tall, with rudimentary tool use. However, their tool use is only slightly more advanced than what we see in apes. Rateweres gather in large groups and are considered a menace to society as a whole, since they can breed rapidly and pose a significant threat to Nascent villages and frontier civilizations, though they rarely have the numbers needed to threaten larger societies.

Manticores - Flying creatures mutated from apes, Manticores have an eerily human countenance in their face, a body similar to that of a tree-dwelling ape though much larger, a venomous tip to their tail, and large wings structured like a featherless bird's. They're predatory animals but can be tamed, and on some skyships serve as mounts. Manticores can survive without aid in the Aether.

Howler Bats - despite their name not mutated from bats but rather from Howler Monkeys, Howler Bats are essentially flying apes with their forearms mutated into batlike wings - gaining their name both from their distinctive sounds and the structure of their wings.

Carnequines - also called Hellhorses, Carnequines are horses with sharpened teeth and a predatory diet, competing with wolves for the same ecological niche and often preying upon their herbivorous cousins.

Floatwhales - Whales that developed the ability to naturally refine phlogiston and create "air sacks" that enable them to be skyborn, Floatwhales are lagely docile and used by some cultures/creatures in place of skyships despite being smaller than their mechanical counterparts. Floatwhales can survive in the Aether and many have begun to roam far form Earth.

Drakes - Iguanas given broad wings that resemble those of an insect more than their mythological counterparts "bat wings", drakes lack any sort of flaming breath weapon but, like many iguanas, can exhale huge amounts of air to stun/disorient prey - breath that is typically around 150 degrees F, making it feel like the flaming breath they were ascribed in mythology. One particular breed, much larger than most, are called dragons and prey upon floatwhales, meaning they've taken to the Aether in a case of prey migration, and are the only species of drake capable of breathing in the Aether. All species of drake are considered a menace to ships and villages, though Aqua Drakus, an alchemical substance that can be injected directly into their skulls, have made some into animals as tractable as domesticated dogs.

Hydras - land based snakes, often as large as anacondas with a venomous bite, typically with 3-5 heads that give them their name. Unlike their mythological counterparts, they cannot regrow severed heads - though a severed head will grow a tail and survive as a single, independent serpent if severed close enough to the main trunk.

Krakens - Giant squids that can tear apart ships.

Crovus Rex - A mutated crow bigger than an eagle, Crovus Rex is a highly debated topic because they seem to have a language and culture so may actually qualify as Nascent Things, though they lack tool use and have yet to communicate with any other intelligent life-form. They resemble crows with spinal ridges along their backs and a third blood red eye directly in the center of their skull.

Trolls - Large reptiles with simian bodies and regenerative properties - though not as rapid as in typical fantasy, they still can regrow a severed limb and heal form most wounds given time. Predatory but not highly intelligent, they are tamable enough to serve as guard beasts.

Swampgrasps - an evolved mollusk, swampgraps are unique for their three elongated radula (the tongue of a mollusk) that can extend up to 20 feet to grab prey, sea based creatures that often prey on ships and coastlines.

Glideapus - an octopus with a flattened body and two of it's tentacles flattened to serve as wings, Glidapus can, like floatwhales, naturally refine  phlogiston, though they use it as a means of propulsion instead of gliding, essentially making them jet-propelled areal creatures. The remaining four tentacles drag behind the body, and the glidapus will swoop over prey and grab it, typically snapping its spine from the sheer velocity of the grasp. Glidapus can survive in the Aether.

Parakrill - small arthropods that developed a membranous parachute allowing them to float, they reproduce incredibly rapidly and have become the basis of the aerial ecosystem and are rapidly spreading across the Aether.

Phages - though these creatures are not defined very well, the basic idea behind them are creatures that, instead of having a cellular basis for their biology, are essentially mutliviral lifeforms that reproduce in a horrific, larger version of their microscopic forbearers.[/spoiler]

At sparkletwist's suggestion, minor modification to the last point under culture to explain how this mindset works, since before it implied a G.O.O would give you a straight answer, but that's not the case.

Now comes the big decision that's gonna influence how I make the setting from here - do I offere a detailed description of each country/region, what I'm calling the forgotten realms approach, or do I go the route of only giving one or two towns details as well as descriptions of some major global players and other than that putting setting design for the purposes of the game in the hands of the gm and players, a la the Dresden approach. One requires more work in setting, the other in system, so it's not a matter of lazy but which would be most interesting, thoughts?

I personally aim for an approach that gives detailed descriptions of cultures and countries, because that's my personal fixation - the small details that added to the whole picture make it special. So yeah - that'd be the option I'd choose of those two.

As you are well aware, I'm a huge fan of the FATE approach (since every FATE system I've read places world creation as part of character creation). That being said, it's not really a question that you should be asking us and more a question that you should be asking yourself. With that in mind; do you want to adhere to the previous tropes of FATE or do you want to break the mold and go with an atypical world design for the setting?

The choice is, ultimately, yours.

Quote from: Kalontas
I personally aim for an approach that gives detailed descriptions of cultures and countries, because that's my personal fixation - the small details that added to the whole picture make it special. So yeah - that'd be the option I'd choose of those two.

Out of curiosity, do you aim for that because you have the most fun designing it, or most fun reading it - if it's the former, than the alternate approach would probably make the setting more interesting to you.

Quote from: SabrWolf
As you are well aware, I'm a huge fan of the FATE approach (since every FATE system I've read places world creation as part of character creation). That being said, it's not really a question that you should be asking us and more a question that you should be asking yourself. With that in mind; do you want to adhere to the previous tropes of FATE or do you want to break the mold and go with an atypical world design for the setting?

The choice is, ultimately, yours.

Oh, I know it's mine, but I'm torn between both methods so figured I'd get some thoughts to help me collect my own. :P

What I'm kind of leaning towards is a mixed bag - giving some major players/groups and then a general 3-4 paragraph for each nation, but allowing the individual game masters to do the FATE approach of world creation, kind of a best of both worlds thing, but I'm not sure I could write that vaguely enough to be workable with the FATE style. Hence my request for assistance. :D

To say it plainly:
Dude. Just write the thing. lol

You know, as well as I do, that your biggest problem with the setting right now is going to be finishing. And right now? You're stalling on finishing cuz you're getting close to the end. You've been doing the GM'ing thing for a LONG time and the setting design thing for longer than that. You know what's good and what's cool. You're experience and your knowledge (collectively known as WISDOM) will inform you on how to make the setting awesome.

If you want advice on how to collect your thoughts, I have that ready at hand:
Write down all the stuff you know. Then read that. Decide if you need more. Scribble down some stuff that could be interesting to add, anything and everything to keep your options open. Keep the good, ditch the bad (or keep the great and ditch the not-so-great, as the case may be). When done, let it be done.

I don't mean abandon the project entirely, but at least be happy with the setting as it turns out as a first draft. Finish TM v1.0 and call it a day. You can then expand and tweak and fix all you want. lol

QuoteYou know, as well as I do, that your biggest problem with the setting right now is going to be finishing. And right now? You're stalling on finishing cuz you're getting close to the end.

I feel like I should hate you for knowing me so well.

You're right. I need to get this project first draft complete, which is something I never quite manage. Going to get started on doing so and stop stalling - hopefully will have a big update with all of that, going to spend a good chunk of Thanksgiving break working on that.

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds
I feel like I should hate you for knowing me so well.

You should. lol

But, hatred aside, I wish you luck in the conclusion of your setting. Mostly because I'm ready to start playing in it. lol

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds

Quote from: Kalontas
I personally aim for an approach that gives detailed descriptions of cultures and countries, because that's my personal fixation - the small details that added to the whole picture make it special. So yeah - that'd be the option I'd choose of those two.

Out of curiosity, do you aim for that because you have the most fun designing it, or most fun reading it - if it's the former, than the alternate approach would probably make the setting more interesting to you.

Both, actually. I like settings that feel "real" (because of small details about some weird insubstantial legend, or an intricacy of local politics), both as an author and a reader. I just want worlds I read/create to feel like a world, not just some skeleton of a setting made up for a campaign - and those little things help that feeling.

I'm of the belief that the world builders job is to offer a fully fleshed out world. But not one that is locked up and unalterable. The world builder should offer enough so that the DM can simply take the world and run with it. However, they should leave things open enough that the DM and players can shift things around to fit their own needs and desires.

Part of the enjoyment I get out of players playing in my setting is allowing them to affect and alter the dynamics of my worlds. It's much more satisfying to me to see that, while I fleshed out a full setting for them, they were able to alter it. That for me is the spirit of collaborative storytelling that I seek out in roleplay. In fact part of my plans for the development of Mare Eternus is to run games in areas and use the players experiences to further flesh and solidify those areas (but group setting development on the fly is something I like in games). It might be different for you than me but I love a good story above all else. Of course that may be obvious to you by now since I went and forced you to start fleshing out cities for those maps. :D

Yeah, Nomadic, your view was made pretty clear. :P And just to update everyone as to what's going on here, I'm working on fleshing out individual nations/locations - keeping above the city level for now. I've decided that, to get Terra Macabre to "Beta Complete", I'm going to need to keep the Aether, the World Within, and the Mirrored Paths to one post overviews for now - as much as I love those elements, they are no where near as central as the stuff that happens on the surface of Earth, so those are staying as is (for the Aether) or getting posts as detailed as the Aether post is (for The World Within and the Mirrored Paths)

While I obviously don't have anything to the point where I feel ready to post it yet, I've got a ton of work done on Britain, Spain, Azteca, The Pacific Khanate, Wallachia, Atlantis, and sub-Saharan Africa. Out of curiosity, any particular interest in any of those areas?

Quote from: Xathan Of Many Worlds

Floatwhales - Whales that developed the ability to naturally refine phlogiston and create "air sacks" that enable them to be skyborn, Floatwhales are lagely docile and used by some cultures/creatures in place of skyships despite being smaller than their mechanical counterparts. Floatwhales can survive in the Aether and many have begun to roam far form Earth.

For the record you should probably make a house rule that bans anybody who's read the "Leviathan" books, because if i were a player in this game i would totally harass you into letting me have an airship pilot who has attached some sort of ship hull onto a floatwhale, and has learned to bend it to his will.

Quote from: Newb Colossus Slayer...if i were a player in this game i would totally harass you into letting me have an airship pilot who has attached some sort of ship hull onto a floatwhale, and has learned to bend it to his will.

But Slayer, that would be COOL! Why would you NOT want players to have something that cool? Now that you've said it, I'm sure Xathan will include an NPC who has one if one of his PC's doesn't ask to have one.

My vote is for Britain.

You've got materials done on Wallachia? Now bite me people if that's not original!

Azteca. Hands down. The Aztecs rock (via copious sacrifices to the God of Coolness) and we must hear more of them.

Alright, I have about 7 availabile minutes in my break left, so I'm going to see what I can hammer out without my notes on my iPad to give a brief sketch of those nations to help drum up interest and to get the old creative juices flowing.

Britian: The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire is a truism in Terra Macabre as well (not counting their astral holdings, because otherwise it could be said that of most nations), in part due to the superiority of their naval forces - they have the best in both water and airships, including the H.M.S Skyreach, one of three Asteriod-Class Terrestrial Airships, and also in part to Queen Angelicas policy of Adoption - unlikely most G.O.O's, who utterly annihilate Lesser O.O.'s in territories they colonize, Queen Angelica adopts them and implants them with a larva as she would a Servitor, making them more powerful and bringing them in line with the Empire. Culturally Britian is seen by some to be the height of culture, rivialed only by the French, and they compete for that spot vigirously, adopting new and outlandish fanshons as part of that. Their Parliment of Lords is a fractured bunch - while all are extremely loyal to the Queen, they squabble amongst themselves worse than most other noble groups to have the honor of Earldom, the Queen's right hand.

Wallachia is notable in such a brief time for two major portions - their policy of "robie", making them one of the largest slaveholding nations of Europe largely due to a completely enslaved gypsy/roma population, and for their most powerful nobel house, House Dracul, founded and cemented by the transformation of Vlad III into a Servitor of their G.O.O. Their land military, Draco-Onis (order of the dragon) is one of the most fearsome, in part for the widespread use of biotechnology to enchance their soldiers.

Azteca is perhaps the most feared power - they continue their policy of honoring their God through sacrifice in the form of periodic Wars (often against the Pacific Khanate, Mayans, Incans, Asguardians, Vallahians, and Iriquois, but spreading across the Atlantic and Pacific to wage war on pretty much everyone) and are one of the most alchemically advanced nations, making up for their lack of a strong metallurgical industry with alchemically treating bone, obsidian, and hide to create technology on par with other countries but with a decidedly primitive/macabre twist to their appearance.

Break over, more soon!

I'll get back to cultures once I get to updating again (3-4 more days!). However, i wanted to mention that Most cryptids actually exist as far as Terra Macabre is concerned, and are more common than they are claimed to be in reality. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptids). That is all. :P

EDIT: Also, thinking about cutting the Nascent Things and using them in Xeno Fantasum instead. There are so many different races available or implied in Lovecraft's lore that adding my own feels like I'm starting to bog the setting down. Thoughts on this?

Oddly enough, I have been reading a Lovecraft story before bed every day for about the last week. I have read a quite a bit of his work, though far from all of it. Also, most of what I have read has been his earlier stories before he really got into the cosmic horror stuff and what has come to be known as the "Cthulhu Mythos". I do, however, have his complete fictional works (and then some) on my Kindle as well as in physical book form.

Unfortunately, I am only passingly familiar with the races that are used in this setting. For the sake of reference, if you could suggest to me the stories that they come from (as well as any others that were particularly influential on this setting), it would be greatly appreciated.

At The Mountains of Madness, Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow Out of Time, The Dream Cycle of Unknown Kadeth, The Dweller in the Dark, Pickman's Model...those are some good places with various races/creatures. Herbet West - Reanimator is what is inspiring the necrology I'm going to be getting into. The Dunwich Horror contains a great example of how I envision a Servitor.

Of course, almost all of these are some of his longer works. :P

I've actually read about half of those. I don't remember the creatures in Pickman's Model being given a name. Which were they? I also can't remember the name of the main creatures from At The Mountains Of Madness, though I do remember the giant blind penguins and the shoggoths because both are badass.

They were only called "ghoulish" and the name stuck - most people call them ghouls now. And The At the Mountains of Madness creatures were called Elder Things more often than not.

I thought that "elder things" was really a sort of blanket term. I'll look at reading the ones that I haven't over the next couple of days.

My first question now is about the humans that have become nobles and now rule the world on behalf of the Old Ones. Are they the people that were in power before the Arrival? Were they chosen by the Old Ones? How did they come to the position that they're now in?

Has the vacuum of space being replaced by Aether had any effect on the movement of planets in the solar system?

I'm not seeing The Dweller in the Dark in either collection. Did you mean The Whisperer in Darkness or The Beast in the Cave?

Whisper in the Darkness, sorry - always get that name wrong XD.

Quote from: Nerevarine D!
My first question now is about the humans that have become nobles and now rule the world on behalf of the Old Ones. Are they the people that were in power before the Arrival? Were they chosen by the Old Ones? How did they come to the position that they're now in?

Some were people that were in power - enough of them so I can use historical figures as needed, but not so many that I'm going to need to do TOO much research. Others were Chosen - and as far as those ones, they were chosen for reasons that are difficult to define or describe, since the rationality was entirely the rationality of the Old Ones that chose them, and not only do they rarely explain WHY they do something, but in those cases that they do it's far, far more rare that we understand them.

QuoteHas the vacuum of space being replaced by Aether had any effect on the movement of planets in the solar system?

Short answer: No. Long answer: I once attempted in a setting to play with orbital mechanics and all I got for it was a headache and an abandoned project. Aether has no impact on the movement because I just don't want to deal with that - I'd need a degree in physics to do it in a way that would make me happy (since I'd want to keep it realistic) or a ton of independent research, and when pondering it I realized that I cannot think of a single thing changing orbits in the Sol system would add to the setting besides needless complexity. :P

Those are actually two of my favorite Lovecraft stories and both seem like they'd have a sort of connection to the setting. The Whisperer in Darkness would be a bigger one but The Beast in the Cave could bring to mind the sort of underworld you have here.

Are there things still alive underground or have they all died or moved to the surface?

Quote from: Nerevarine D!
Those are actually two of my favorite Lovecraft stories and both seem like they'd have a sort of connection to the setting. The Whisperer in Darkness would be a bigger one but The Beast in the Cave could bring to mind the sort of underworld you have here.

I actually haven't read Beast in the Cave yet, need to do that for inspiration for The World Within.

QuoteAre there things still alive underground or have they all died or moved to the surface?

Oh yes, there are still living things underground. They're the more feral versions of surface things, and as such are fairly nasty in their own right. I'll admit I'm keeping this pretty undefined for now, focusing on the surface before I delve too greedily and too deep. :P

I think that The Beast In The Cave was the first story Lovecraft wrote. It's a bit more grounded than a lot of his stuff. It's about a person that gets lost in (one of?) the world's largest cave(s). I enjoyed it quite a lot.

How big a role do you intend this earth spirit to play in the setting? Is she on par with the Old Ones in power? More or less? Do you expect most of the tension / stories to be based around or relate to the struggle between the two sides?

I think a game playing as a Da Vinci tech / "clockpunk' special forces team on either side taking on high risk ops against the other side would make for a GREAT episodic canpaign.

Quote from: Nerevarine D!
How big a role do you intend this earth spirit to play in the setting? Is she on par with the Old Ones in power? More or less? Do you expect most of the tension / stories to be based around or relate to the struggle between the two sides?

When it comes to raw power, she could go toe to toe with any of them - and when on Earth, especially in her domain of Atlantis, she's nigh untouchable and really the only thing keeping the Great Old Ones from descending upon it. That being said, her ability to actually influence things outside of Atlantis is very limited, keeping her in check.

The struggle between the two sides is the most obvious choice for a Terra Macabre game, but I intend on making a number of other options available. That struggle is a central one of the world, and the one that has the clearest "good vs. evil" if you want to define it that kind of way (though I'm intentionally NOT making it that.) That being said, it's an easy conflict to grab onto, and I see a lot of DMs in TM taking that as an option.

QuoteI think a game playing as a Da Vinci tech / "clockpunk' special forces team on either side taking on high risk ops against the other side would make for a GREAT episodic canpaign.

Funny you should mention it, because that's the route the TM game I'm planning is going to go (although it just won't be against Atlantis). British special forces team - game name: In The Service Of The Queen.

I think a game playing as a Da Vinci tech / "clockpunk' special forces team on either side taking on high risk ops against the other side would make for a GREAT episodic canpaign.
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