I haven't officially posted anything for my campaign setting on the forums here yet. I will soon, once I'm happy with the intro to the world. I wanted to run the underlying concept past you guys, mostly because in only a few days of being a member here I have read through endless good advice and great constructive criticism.
Runectar Makes the World go RoundKallir is a fantasy world, full of magic but not in the traditional sense. Magic exists in a physical form; runectar. The wizards of Kaliir aren't like the wizards you may know from other settings in that they can't directly manipulate magic, they are more or less alchemists capable of creating wonderous things with runectar. Kaliir embraces the "Magic as Technology" concept- it powers devices from the everyday to the extraordinary.
Because runectar exists in a physical form in the world, it is every bit as, if not more, sought after then the most precious of metals. Also, because it exists in the physical world, it can have strange effects on the flora, fauna, and very earth in its immediate vicinity.
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I've been developing this world in my head for the better part of 20 years. In the past 4 years, while working on my bachelor's degree in game design, I finally started putting some of my ideas and stories in text format. I realized during this time that the best way for me to develop the world would be to bounce ideas off of like-minded individuals.
So I wonder, what do you think of that little snippet of information? I'm basically using magic as a physical substance, liquid or solid, rather than an abstraction. So a Wizard in Kaliir doesn't hurl a fireball by weaving strands of magic; he builds a runectar-empowered device that hurls the fireball. Of course there need to be some restrictions here; I don't want a world of semi-automatic fireball-throwers. The fact that runectar is a physical substance helps here; it can be depleted in the way that any energy source is. In the instance of throwing fireballs, it's basically a fuel or battery.
I've rambled on enough for one post. Let me know what you think.
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<Pretend I'm not a newbie and have a really cool sig here>
I like the concept quite a bit, and am especially intrigued by
Quoteit can have strange effects on the flora, fauna, and very earth in its immediate vicinity.
I'd love to hear more! Right now, I can officially say the concept is interesting enough for me to follow this thread. :)
Quote from: Xathan On The Town
I like the concept quite a bit, and am especially intrigued by Quoteit can have strange effects on the flora, fauna, and very earth in its immediate vicinity.
I'd love to hear more! Right now, I can officially say the concept is interesting enough for me to follow this thread. :)
Knowing that I can give just that little bit of detail and it be enough to hook someone enough to want to know more validates my assumptions that I really should start laying out my campaign setting.
The bit about the flora and fauna was a recent addition I decided on when I began pondering the effects of magic as a substance on the world around it. Runectar exists in two basic forms; liquid with the consistency of room-temperature mercury and a crystalline solid. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want it to be manipulated, whether it has its own specific elemental properties or if those properties are brought forth through the manipulation of artificers and alchemists. The latter seems the more likely to me, otherwise I would have to come up with a different sub-type of runectar for every possibility.
Runectar exists in the world as a result of tears in the fabric of reality through which arcane energy from the planes leaked. The world of Kaliir reacts to such intrusions by "distilling" the energy into the liquid or crystalline form. This explanation definitely needs some more exploration to flesh it out a bit.
Flora and fauna in the immediate vicinity of the liquid form would be effected by it over time. The crystalline form contains the magical energy within itself and is more suitable for powering arcane objects or even being shaped directly into objects itself; a sword blade for instance. In game system terms, there would basically be sets of templates a DM could apply to plants and animals in the vicinity of a runectar pool. Perhaps not really templates, but something modular along those lines to make it easy for the DM to take given creatures that exist in the world and alter them for the purposes of the campaign.
As an example, lets say a porcupine has been living near an underground pool of runectar. Now, a porcupine is normally nothing to bother a group of healthy adventurers. This porcupine, however, has developed quills as tough as the strongest forged steel and the ability to heal very rapidly. A basically forgettable forest creature can now pose a serious problem if it feels threatened by the adventurers. The number of possibilities for storylines involving wild runectar-infused creatures grows exponentially the more you consider the possibilities. This also makes seeking out pools of runectar a very dangerous prospect at best.
My ultimate goal is to see the mechanics and setting I set up for Kaliir go from tabletop to a digital game, so as I form the setting I'm keeping that in mind and thus far, 4e seems to really suit my purposes as it is basically a combat prototype of a computer game. Of course, making a radical change to the functioning of magic may not sit well with the 4e multiverse, and will require me to rewrite a number of classes and mechanics. Pathfinder and 3e/3.5e are much more robust in terms of mechanics laid out specifically for role-playing, but I'd hate my game to have so many "skills" merely tacked on to the gameplay for the sake of saying "uses the 3e rules system!" on the back of the box.
This is an idea that could go somewhere. Reading this, I imagined a hyper-colored world, with all manner of strange bright fauna and wierd flora -giant mushrooms that glow gold, or birds with translucent blue feathers. Eight moons and two suns sit in the sky, looking over floating islands and shimmering silver seas. What about talking a science-fantasy route? You could still have all the runectar-based magic and creatures, but have all the bizzare and awesome visuals of over-the-top science-fantasy.
Oh I have most definitely considering this- in my mind Kaliir evokes the kind of mechanical aptitude displayed in Final Fantasy settings- a world where airships are possible and technology is fused with magic in such a way that the two almost become one. I definitely don't want it all to be as technologically advanced as the later entries to the series, though. Final Fantasy VII was great, but I didn't like just how much technology had overwhelmed magic in the world. It really became a magic=electricity scenario and as much as the same holds true in Kaliir, I want it to be so much more than a mere source of flashlight batteries.
The strange creatures and hypercolored world you speak of exists in pockets all over Kaliir, making it readily apparent where sources of runectar are. Like I mentioned in the first post, where runectar is used to fuel or power things, it works much the same way with the plants and animals "infected" by it. These creatures won't or can't travel too far from the source of their mutations lest they no longer be able to sustain themselves. Consider it an amendment to the diet of these creatures; in addition to their mundane needs they also need the trickle of power from the runectar to sustain themselves. This also means that they will respond appropriately if they feel this food source is being threatened. This helps to explain why these pockets continue to exist all over- sometimes it's best to find an easier source of runectar to exploit. As many a leader of a gnomish runectar extraction operation has said "Dead miners yield no profits!"
I'm having trouble coming up with precise comments right now other than I knew I would love this setting and you keep proving me right. I'd like a bit more detail on what Final Fantasy levels means, because I don't play those games, so it's hard for me to envision. (Though I'm all for airships. I'm always in favor of airships.)
One thing this runectar reminds me of to a degree is Phaezon from the Metroid Prime series. While that took a much more sciency approach to things (well, psudeo-scinecy), you might be able to get some inspiration there.
Also, I lvoe the idea of some creatures needing runectar to survive - Thaumavores, as it were. However, that does raise the question - is runectar a renewable resouce? Is there only so much of it in the world and it will eventually run out? If so, how much of it is there? How easy is it to find - is it scattered across the surface, deep within the earth, an equal mix of the two?
Keep posting this - I'm loving it. :)
I pondered the question of whether runectar was renewable or finite for a while. It is most definitely found all over the world, in large and small amounts. Because of what liquid runectar does to it's surrounding environ, it's fairly easy to find; it becomes a matter of what else one might find lurking nearby. Crystalline runectar is harder to detect and therefore considered by many to be more precious than the liquid form. The amount of power even a small crystal can contain is also much greater than that of the liquid.
I came up with the concept of Kaliir as a planet having the ability to "distill" magic into runectar form as a defense mechanism from infiltration of planar powers. This is a new development though and I haven't fully fleshed it out enough to explain it the way I want to, or to have it fit in a world that has deities.
Being more of a fan of the classic, side-scrolling Metroid series, Prime didn't really appeal to me so I missed out on the storylines from the series. I may have to hit up Gamestop and check them out, though.
By Final Fantasy tech levels, I'm thinking along the lines of a mostly fantasy setting, but the presence of runectar has led to some interesting leaps in technology. For instance it can be used to fuel sentient life (ie Ebberon's Warforged.) It can allow ships to sail on water and air. It can power a simple automated plow or complex wards to defend a keep or castle. Basically, anything that is possible through magic in most settings is likewise possible with runectar in some way. I'm honestly fighting the urge to recreate Spelljammer here as well... such an awesome idea just poorly executed imo by TSR at the time.
A Note on Races of Kaliir
The procurement of runectar is a driving force in the world, just as much so as the procurement of precious metals. The foremost miners of runectar are the gnomes; in fact it could be said that it is the races singular purpose in life.
The dwarves also dedicate a large amount of time and resources to gathering runectar, for dwarven Shapers are some of the foremost artisans when it comes to creating wondrous things with the substance. Some Shapers conduct business throughout the realm in grand caravans, selling and fixing runectar-powered devices.
Elves of Kaliir fall more into the category of creatures touched by the influence of runectar than anything else. They live deep in a forest-swamp that is soaked in the magical substance. They live a tribal way of life, sometimes raiding settlements outside the borders of their home but always returning before they begin to go mad from lack of runectar.
Humans are the most populous of the races of Kaliir. As in most fantasy settings, they are restricted only by the breadth of their own ambitions.
I'm toying with the idea of opening up Kaliir to all the various races of D&D- the problem there being it clashes with the concept of Kaliir defending itself from extra-planar entities.
Quote from: Stryker25B
I pondered the question of whether runectar was renewable or finite for a while. It is most definitely found all over the world, in large and small amounts. Because of what liquid runectar does to it's surrounding environ, it's fairly easy to find; it becomes a matter of what else one might find lurking nearby. Crystalline runectar is harder to detect and therefore considered by many to be more precious than the liquid form. The amount of power even a small crystal can contain is also much greater than that of the liquid.
Given that it's fairly common in one form but rare in another, I'd go with both - liquid runectar is naturally produced by some plants and animals (or fungus or bacteria or protists or archaea or whatever) - but takes so long to crystallize that, while not technically finite, it's still scarce and difficulty to fine. The reason I advocate this is that it keeps up the core concept of Runectar running the setting, but still allows for plots and adventures that revolve around potential resource wars or obtaining crystalline runectar (btw, how do you pronounce it? I whisper while I type and pronounce it rune-cat-are, but not sure if that's right) to still be viable options. Gives you a best of both worlds sort of thing.
QuoteI came up with the concept of Kaliir as a planet having the ability to "distill" magic into runectar form as a defense mechanism from infiltration of planar powers. This is a new development though and I haven't fully fleshed it out enough to explain it the way I want to, or to have it fit in a world that has deities.
You could do a distinction between "Healty" Deities/Extraplanar powers - the ones that sentient races worship and the servants of those deities - and "unhealthy" extraplanar powers - my first thought is Lovecraftian entities, but that's because I almost
always default to lovecraftian entities. :P
QuoteBeing more of a fan of the classic, side-scrolling Metroid series, Prime didn't really appeal to me so I missed out on the storylines from the series. I may have to hit up Gamestop and check them out, though.
It's a bit of a play through to get the full story/impacts of Phaezon - if the games don't really appeal to you, you might be better served just going to the Metroid wiki or other fan sites and reading up on it. It could provide some inspiration.
QuoteBy Final Fantasy tech levels, I'm thinking along the lines of a mostly fantasy setting, but the presence of runectar has led to some interesting leaps in technology. For instance it can be used to fuel sentient life (ie Ebberon's Warforged.) It can allow ships to sail on water and air. It can power a simple automated plow or complex wards to defend a keep or castle. Basically, anything that is possible through magic in most settings is likewise possible with runectar in some way. I'm honestly fighting the urge to recreate Spelljammer here as well... such an awesome idea just poorly executed imo by TSR at the time.
Spelljammer was an awesome setting that was poorly executed, I agree - I'll be reviving Sooth, my own attempt at doing that right, once I get Sreth a bit better nailed down. Why fight that urge, though? If you like it and would have fun with it, I'd say roll with it!
And I have a much clearer picture of runectar and tech now. One question - what color is runectar? I'm picturing a faintly luminescent neon blue, but that's just because that's what I default to. (I just realized that have a lot of things that I default to.)
QuoteA Note on Races of Kaliir
[snip]
And here's where you started loosing me. I love Kaliir, it sounds awesome...but each time you mention gnomes or dwarves or, well, any other typical race, I feel a bit of disconnect. Like a lot of settings, you have a great, original premise here - classic fantasy races feel extremely out of place. Why not build unique races that better fit the feel of the setting - things like the Changelings, Kalashtar, and Warforged of Eberron, for example? Races that are offshoots of humanity changed by runectar, or animals given new forms, bipedalism and intelligence by the same, for example? I don't mean anthropomorphic animals there btw, I just mean completely unique species with that as an origin. (And yes, this is partially because Magnus Pym made this exact same point to me in Sreth, but I feel it applies here as well.)
Even if you keep the classic races, I'd not bring in all the various races unless you go the Spelljammer route - that many races just starts feeling cluttered and awkward real fast.
QuoteMy ultimate goal is to see the mechanics and setting I set up for Kaliir go from tabletop to a digital game, so as I form the setting I'm keeping that in mind and thus far, 4e seems to really suit my purposes as it is basically a combat prototype of a computer game. Of course, making a radical change to the functioning of magic may not sit well with the 4e multiverse, and will require me to rewrite a number of classes and mechanics. Pathfinder and 3e/3.5e are much more robust in terms of mechanics laid out specifically for role-playing, but I'd hate my game to have so many "skills" merely tacked on to the gameplay for the sake of saying "uses the 3e rules system!" on the back of the box.
If you want it to eventually make it a digital game, you probably should go with 3.5 rules if you want a pre-existing system. 4E is not open license and you'd have to make more than a few alterations to preserve the originality of your setting. I'm just mentioning this because it would be a pity for you to get so far and then have to re-design everything.
Fixed a broken quote tag. -- sparkletwist
Silly as it is, runectar is a conjuntion of the words Rune and Nectar and is pronounced the same. I do like the pronunciation you are using though and may just change the name to something that evokes that pronunciation. And as for what it looks like, i think you've nailed it with the neon-blue faintly glowing description. Runectar-reinforced masonry and armor often shows veins or channels that glow that same blue. Refined runectar, that is runectar that has been altered to perform a specific function, could be different colors.
I love the idea that runectar crystallizes over time! I was having trouble defining WHY there are two forms of it. As for plants and animals secreting it, you'll see my take on that exact function within the next few days on the February contest forum!
*edit* I just realized that forum is from 2010 :(
*edit*I know, the races need a lot of work. I too hate the idea of just going with the cliche fantasy races. Gnomes and dwarves are technically a race I had no better name for than tinkers. I think I default to the basics, though, in an attempt to help give the players and anchor to cling to in a strange world. Basically you are seeing what happens when I'm working on one part of the project and need to quickly come up with another part to explain what I'm working on, so the "dwarves" "gnomes" and "elves" are basically placeholders until I build up the details of those races. I'm glad you pointed this flaw out; it's precisely why I wanted to start posting my thoughts here first rather than trying to grind out a complete rundown of my setting in the main forum!
There's actually another race concept I had of creatures that are basically made of living earth and stone- created by runectar but able to live away from its sources because the substance runs through their veins. I can't remember what I named them- the downfall of having kept most of this in my head for so long. These are to be my "dwarves." Maybe i still have my old concept drawings of them. The elves I envision are more akin to a cross between neanderthals and the Na'vi from Avatar. Come to think of it, they view runectar much like the Na'vi viewed unobtanium- a resource that brings outsiders to plunder and destroy their land. Hmm...
I think you are right in that this setting, and really NO setting that takes place on a single world without immediate and easy access to other planes or space travel, should have that many different races. The addition of Spelljammer-like mechanics would definitely allow for more races, but at this point in the history of my world I don't think I want to deal with extra-planar travel. The wards that the gods wove into the planet to protect it from such invasions would theoretically also prevent those on the inside from getting out.
Perhaps some visuals would help out here. On my portfolio site (which needs some updating for sure) I have a few character and equipment concepts I did while in school. Most of it is video game oriented, but you'll see that I applied the world of Kaliir to a few other settings as well (Such as the Warhammer40k "Battle for Kaliir" campaign.
http://provenance-design.com/wp/?page_id=10 (http://provenance-design.com/wp/?page_id=10)
The setting of Torchlight almost perfectly matches the kind of atmosphere I envisioned for a runectar mining town. I want Kaliir to have the same mostly-fantasy-but-a-little-techno-steampunky feel.
Quote from: Light Dragon
If you want it to eventually make it a digital game, you probably should go with 3.5 rules if you want a pre-existing system. 4E is not open license and you'd have to make more than a few alterations to preserve the originality of your setting. I'm just mentioning this because it would be a pity for you to get so far and then have to re-design everything.
You are very correct there, I say I would use 4e because it would be the best choice for playing with balance of classes and such while creating the setting. Of course I wouldn't be able to say "uses the 4e rules system" or anything like that, and mechanics and such would be far different in a video game setting, since I'm not looking to bring the tabletop format into a video game but rather using the tabletop setting to create the world and characters in it. WotC is a very large entity and not one I would want to rub the wrong way. Perhaps you are right in that I shouldn't even apply anything 4e to this project for the sake of never HAVING to get into that argument with WotC. The Pathfinder project has had me really captivated since I first read about it, and open license is a good thing. I've toyed with the idea for a while now of gathering a team to help make this a full-fledged campaign setting and getting a kickstarter going to fund things like art creation, formatting, and digital distribution. Maybe I'm getting way ahead of myself, but I like to dream big!
non sequitur-> The Lucid game on your site is very intriguing. A twitch-based space MMO... I like the design doc.
non sequitur: In your resume : "resposible for equipment worth over $1,000,000." You may want to change that to "responsible". The optical reader that scanned your resume appears to have accidentally transposed those letters.
QuoteBasically you are seeing what happens when I'm working on one part of the project and need to quickly come up with another part to explain what I'm working on, so the "dwarves" "gnomes" and "elves" are basically placeholders until I build up the details of those races. I'm glad you pointed this flaw out; it's precisely why I wanted to start posting my thoughts here first rather than trying to grind out a complete rundown of my setting in the main forum!
Unlike the other commentators, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with dwarves, gnomes and elves b/c people can easily identify with them and it improves accessibility... but your idea of a more elemental type race to replace the dwarves is definitely a good one because it seems to better fit the flavour of your setting. I think you might get away with elves since elves seem ethereal and they have mass-market appeal... I don't know about gnomes though.
Good luck. For a pen and paper game that succeeded on Kickstarter, I'd recommend researching "Tephra"; it took their team something around 4 years to move from initial design, to a website, to playtesting, to a good Kickstarter campaign, but they will soon have a published setting. :)
The most successful "game' on Kickstarter right now is the one being designed by the Psychonaut's creator... I think it's raised around 1.5 million dollars thus far? It's a currently ongoing pledge drive.
I like the effort that went into your website. In a future redesign, you may want to reduce the amount of PDFs that load (for slow connections), and you may want to lead with the design for your game-- but you seem ready for a redesign (reading your comments here); so good luck with that :)
I wish you well!
Heh, yes I generally don't post the link to that website as it was a portfolio site I was required to create as part of my degree. It was optimized at first, but my in first critique the team reviewing it stated that it was too plain. I'll be starting up a wiki soon to handle the campaign setting.
And yes, I've been following the Double Fine Adventure kickstarter VERY closely. Tim Schafer (credits also include Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, and Brutal Legend!) They reached their goal of $400,000 in 8 hours and are at the 1.9 million mark and rising right now. I also checked out Tephra, and I'm impressed with how much they managed to do before they even started the Kickstarter campaign. I won't be able to do that kind of playtesting on a large scale mostly because I still have my day job in the U.S. Army plus my little gamers in training at home to tend to. I'm definitely geared towards seeing this campaign setting through to whatever end it meets, though.
Ok, back to the subject at hand. Gnomes get such a bad rap! But you are right about the mass-market appeal of these core races, which is why I'm at least using them as the models for the races of Kaliir. My "gnomes" I think will be called Tinkers, more of a cross between Tolkien's dwarves and Warcraft goblins. Wow, that's going to be an interesting concept drawing. Elves will remain elves in name, but as I mentioned before they will be more of a primitive tribal society, very suspicious and even hostile towards any outsiders and very protective of their little corners of the world. They won't be a PC race mostly because they must remain near the area of their birth or go mad and die from the severing of the link with the runectar that sustains them. I guess that leaves the realm mostly to the Humans, Tinkers, and Geode.
Pathfinder and E6 and GURPS.. oh my
So I've spent the better part of the morning reading posts that talk about this game system or that game system and came to the realization that I have been very.. sheltered. As far as game systems go, I never much branched out from mainstream systems like D&D and White Wolf. I find myself wondering- do I really need to heavily modify one of the game systems I know in order to shoehorn my world into it, or is there already a system that fits it perfectly. Knowing that the majority of the regulars here know more about these other systems than I do, it seems best to pose the question here than to spend a few months trying to learn ALL of them.
My lofty requirements for which game system to date
[spoiler=Some form of Open License]
I want to be able to publish this at some point in whatever medium I choose without having to worry that the underlying system is owned by someone else and therefore I have to pay to use it or face a lawsuit down the road.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Classes feel more modular than static]
Rarely in the world do you find people that have chosen a single path in life and stick to it unwaveringly. What would your "class" be if you could define yourself as such? I'm in the U.S. Army, so that gives me a "Fighter" skills for combat, but this is not my primary role so an infantryman would have more abilities here than me. I'm IT support and have most of my abilities here. I'm also a creative writer, above average cook, etc etc. I understand that skills systems account for much of this but my point is that a lot of systems "Classes" feel so static that I can't help but write up a new class for every character I want to make.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Crafting system is more than just "roll a check for success/failure"]
Because magic in Kaliir is item-based, I've basically solved the issue I was reading about in one of sparkletwist's posts about rote magic systems- Kaliir is specifically designed to BE a rote magic system because any magic a character is going to wield is going to be through an item crafted with specific purposes and restrictions in mind. I guess what I'm really looking for here is a magic system designed with some overall guidelines to allow players to create their own spells as they go because that's basically what magic users in Kaliir must do.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Characters can become very powerful]
I've read a lot of discussion about the E6 variant. I love it. It's a great way of looking at overall PC power to keep them from simple destroying entire worlds and all ending up as gods. It makes perfect sense to me. It's NOT what I want for Kaliir. Kaliir is a fantasy world geared towards adventuring into unknown, runectar-infused areas; large scale battles against not-so-much-evil-but-more-misunderstood forces; and of course the good old fashioned dungeon crawl in search of treasure and fame. I want my players to feel that they could eventually become powerful enough to rival gods before they retire and become part of the lore of the world.
[/spoiler]
Maybe I'm asking for too much and I just need to roll up my sleeves and start designing this thing from the ground up, but I know that would be foolish without seeing what the community here has to say.
If you do succeed, though, don't be like Tephra. Recently, the author of Tephra came back and deleted all the Tephra material from the CBG wiki, essentially saying "now that I've made something of this, you can't have this stuff for free any more." It's really just waving a middle finger to the community that helped it get off the ground.
Quote from: Stryker25BBecause magic in Kaliir is item-based, I've basically solved the issue I was reading about in one of sparkletwist's posts about rote magic systems- Kaliir is specifically designed to BE a rote magic system because any magic a character is going to wield is going to be through an item crafted with specific purposes and restrictions in mind. I guess what I'm really looking for here is a magic system designed with some overall guidelines to allow players to create their own spells as they go because that's basically what magic users in Kaliir must do.
It isn't a "rote magic system" (at least in the sense that I was thinking of it) if one of the main points of the game is that players are going to be designing their own magic items and using a set of rules that you provide in order to do so. To me, this is a lot different than D&D or whatever which gives you a big stock list of spells and really, really nebulous criteria (pretty much just "ask the GM if it's ok") for creating your own.
In effect, you're creating a more "freeform" magic system, just that the magical effects are then locked into whatever item. Asura actually does something similar for mundanes who can't use powers directly-- they can still use magic items that have effects placed into them, but I design those effects using the same more freeform power system. To use programming parlance, the spells are "compiled" rather than "interpreted" but they're still written in the same language.
Quote from: sparkletwist
If you do succeed, though, don't be like Tephra. Recently, the author of Tephra came back and deleted all the Tephra material from the CBG wiki, essentially saying "now that I've made something of this, you can't have this stuff for free any more." It's really just waving a middle finger to the community that helped it get off the ground.
That is just.. well having been in the Army as long as I have, my immediate response to that is not suitable for me to post here. Let's just leave it at I believe that was a horrible thing to do.
Another interesting quirk that my military service has given me, besides outbursts of profanity, is an overwhelming desire to complete any task I set myself to. Now if I can get what precisely my task is straight in my head, I'll be all set!
Quote from: sparkletwist
It isn't a "rote magic system" (at least in the sense that I was thinking of it) if one of the main points of the game is that players are going to be designing their own magic items and using a set of rules that you provide in order to do so. To me, this is a lot different than D&D or whatever which gives you a big stock list of spells and really, really nebulous criteria (pretty much just "ask the GM if it's ok") for creating your own.
In effect, you're creating a more "freeform" magic system, just that the magical effects are then locked into whatever item. Asura actually does something similar for mundanes who can't use powers directly-- they can still use magic items that have effects placed into them, but I design those effects using the same more freeform power system. To use programming parlance, the spells are "compiled" rather than "interpreted" but they're still written in the same language.
I'm still learning a lot of the terminology that everyone uses here, most of the time context is enough but some things elude me. You definitely hit the nail on the head with what I'm aiming for, though, with the programming analogy. I want the power to decide what the effects of an item are in the hands of the players, while also giving the DM a set of guidelines so they can judge the time, cost, and materials that would be necessary for such an item. So when Devon says "I want to craft an item that can create a bridge of force to cross chasms." The DM can say "Such an item will take this long, cost this much, and you know you would need a large runectar crystal to power it for x number of uses." Of course that would be based off of the character's relative skills in crafting such items.
Is there any reason why runectar couldn't be turned to gas/plasma? It would be interesting to have that as a rare but possible scenario, especially if it made the substance dangerously volatile.
That's a good question. Originally I'd envisioned runectar being inert until it was shaped into something. That idea made no sense, though, when I decided that it seeps into the surrounding environment and alters it. There will be consequenses for long term exposure to unrefined runectar, and it is extremely volatile when hit with a charge of magic, say a lighting bolt or other spell from a wand. This is a mechanic I will definitely explore in-depth because it is such a big part of the world.
In an effort to start organizing everything, I came up with the base map for Kaliir over the weekend. I guess this marks the point where I should start building the wiki. The map was created via a tutorial from cartographer's guild- one that I attempted to follow a few years ago and fell flat due to ignoring the good advice "save early, save often!" Things went MUCH better this time around and I have a HUGE map to work with, making it easier to break down into regional maps to add to.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B61o9u3jT-9oMDJhMTVkODctYTU5MS00ZGRiLTg4NWYtZDk0YjY5ZWJlZjlm (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B61o9u3jT-9oMDJhMTVkODctYTU5MS00ZGRiLTg4NWYtZDk0YjY5ZWJlZjlm)
Many fantasy writers, I've noticed, begin with a map. I've ready a lot of the same advice when it comes to campaign building. So I spent all day making a nice big canvas to start filling with details!
*edit* Changed the link so that it can be viewed through google docs.
That looks pretty good! I think I know the tutorial you're talking about. I followed it to make this: http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/comnder09/?action=view¤t=NWContinentNatural.jpg
Yours is pretty generally better, though - you must be more patient or perhaps more photoshop educated than I.
And I'm of the opinion that it's always a good idea to begin with a map - much going-on in reality (and fantasy) relates simply to where people are physically located.
M.
Definitely the same tutorial. I've got a lot of experience with Photoshop so I was able to figure out what the author meant when he used shortcut keys that did not translate to CS3 on Windows 7. It was still a 6-hour undertaking to get to the final map of the continent; mainly because the main image is 12500x6250 and the .psd files are over a gigabyte in size.
I'd already created a map in Fractal Terrains 8 and Campaign Cartographer, but they aren't the quality I wanted for this project. I figured I'd put in the time and effort on the Photoshop map and use it as the base for any other maps I need to make.
I'm going to start on the wiki entries today and *hopefully* not mess anything up. Having never done a wiki before, I'll be taking it slow to ensure I figure out how to tag everything properly.
Nice the colors and style say that you've been giving Ascension's stuff a look. He's a pretty talented fellow.
The wiki page for Kaliir is up. Hopefully I followed the instructions in setting it up properly.
It is definitely a good idea to start with a map! My lack of the same is probably why my setting is so slow-going. It provides some much needed structure for the wealth of details you probably have buzzing around in your brain.
I must say it is also one of the cooler semi-realist maps I have seen in a long while! I'm usually of the map-is-a-map school (i.e. more parchment, less satellite), but this looks pretty damn good. Lovely colors and mountains and just looks... real, even if the geography is decidedly fantastic (if not in a bad way) with the massive ur-continent.
Quote from: Superfluous CrowIt is definitely a good idea to start with a map! My lack of the same is probably why my setting is so slow-going. It provides some much needed structure for the wealth of details you probably have buzzing around in your brain.
I must say it is also one of the cooler semi-realist maps I have seen in a long while! I'm usually of the map-is-a-map school (i.e. more parchment, less satellite), but this looks pretty damn good. Lovely colors and mountains and just looks... real, even if the geography is decidedly fantastic (if not in a bad way) with the massive ur-continent.
It does help my thoughts flow better, and I figured if I just focused and put the time into it, any other maps I make could be derived from this one very easily since the original file has masks of the landmasses saved. I do love my fantastical geography :P
Quote from: NomadicNice the colors and style say that you've been giving Ascension's stuff a look. He's a pretty talented fellow.
It was his tutorial I followed, very in-depth. I adjusted a part here or there in favor of a more fantastical look, but I most definitely could not have come up with the series of events that Ascension laid out on my own without weeks to mess with Photoshop, especially with no 3rd-party filters!
Ah, this is amusing. Your runenectar is similar in some fashion to the magic in Gloria (see signature), Shimmer-which only gain magical properties when it is shaped. Shimmer was modeled after oil and cooking. It's a good idea and something I hadn't seen in print, so that's why I went with it. Amusing to see another independently arriving at a similar idea :)
Once again, good luck.
Thanks LD! I was certain I wasn't the only one who had ridden the same train of thought!
So while I flesh out my campaign setting slowly but surely, I'm beginning to wonder about classes. Since runectar does away with magic in the traditional sense, I either need a way to readily convert Pathfinder's magic system into an item-based system or make all of my classes from scratch. I'm thinking of a hybrid between the two where I rewrite core classes that have magical abilities to fit the world. This isn't my major decision point, however...
I'm at the point where I am writing down my classes and I begin to wonder, should I go with few main classes and a lot of prestige options or a lot of core classes with fewer prestige options? I want the player to have plenty of options and use the classes as a core building block that gives them the freedom to branch out without having to worry as much about choosing skills for the sake of maximizing that specific role. Maybe this is more a function of feats and skills and I don't need a lot of prestige classes if any?
Prestige classes should be tied directly to the factions/roles present in your setting. So their number should depend directly on which power groups you come up with for your world.
A slapdash solution would be to remove all casters, keep all the magic items and use the Use Magic Device skill to represent casters and people with a working understanding of runectar-powered devices.
Ok, that makes good sense since most of the prestige classes I was thinking of were specific to certain peoples and factions. I'm still working out how the mechanics of the runectar system work, but I do know want it to be unique and compelling because it is the centerpiece of the setting. The idea of using the Use Magic Device skill like you described is how we played bits and pieces of this setting years ago and is perfectly viable but it lacks the "this is awesome!" component I'm searching for.