The Campaign Builder's Guild

Another setting start-up for me, and I'm running into my age-old problem of having too many different elements I want to include and not being sure I can get them all in.  (And possibly I'm trying to include stuff that's less about a setting for a game and more things that go into a story.)  Results in an annoying constant shift of focus.

So this thread is for my brainstorming, or more precisely brainstorm development.  I've got ideas, but I'm hoping someone will comment or ask a question or have a suggestion that'll produce the key I need to pick one of my focuses to actually go with.


The genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Creature and race design would definitely feature fantasy animals: griffons, pegasus, dragons, etc.
(http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2028/268knife.jpg)

Magic-like elements include a non-genetic interited quality that produces, among other things, longevity and an entire race of beings who live as masks that can animate objects for them to use as bodies.

Plants feature very prominently in the "ancients" mythos: the devices used to create the lesser races were giant sentient trees, a race of semi-humanoid plant creatures that may be "children" of these trees, space-(or air-)ships that look wooden because they are still-living plants.  And at least one civilization still has some limited access to these fantastic plant-based technologies.
(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8331/arkbymaronski.jpg)

Beyond that needs some more focus on what the setting would be, so I'll just leave you with an image I think expresses some of what I want to accomplish:
(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6541/rabbitthing.jpg)

This definitely seems to be a campaign with a high focus on originality and wonder.
You want to combine fantasy and sci-fi in some way, so i think you should go with sci-fi elements, but perhaps base them on pseudo-sciences instead of real science. So scour the internet for old technologies that were later discovered to be pretty damn fake... Ideas could be astrology, cold fusion, human cloning etc. etc. (astrology-based weapons? hmm...) Biotechnology would feature heavily, of course. You mention the mask-creatures; maybe they could be the remnants of the ancient space ents (not as derogatory as it sounds; actually a nice idea with progenitor trees if you ask me). If the masks are made of wood, this seems like a natural step to take.    
As sci-fi it probably has to go beyond a single planet, but i don't think you should focus on an too large a system. Portals and FTL doesn't seem to fit in well. So 1-7 star systems or so with a dozen planets each. I think it would be cool to focus on the nature on each planet and gather civilization in a mega-city or something like that on each planet.  
Hmm, i have the phrase "Shamanism in space" in my head but i don't know what to do with it. Maybe you could have tribes of spaceship-farers flying aimlessly between planets as nomads. Also, you could focus on space being another aspect of nature and having Vacuum Druids or some such.
Hope this helps? Was it anything like what you were looking for?

Seems like good seeds for an exotic universe. The last picture is awesome, but doesn't tell much all by itself. I like the plant-based technology.

To get started you could decide some basic stuff:
* Rough scope of the setting. Planetary system? Solar system? Galactic? Intergalactic? Multiverse?
* What is the primary form of transportation? Portals/wormholes? Spaceships? FTL? Hyperspace?
* Is space similar to real space, or is it more fantastic (like a sea of aether)?

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawThe genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Do you think it might be better called science fantasy then? Or even space fantasy?

I once had a dream* that the earth was sentient and, in its loneliness, created life in an attempt to reach out to other planets.  Evolution is the process by which earth has patiently guided its creations towards the stars.  It would be cool if your planets were just big version of the spaceships, is all I'm saying.  Anyway, I think this is a fun idea.

* May have been self-induced by ingestion of fungi.

Okay, some great responses.  Let's see if I can answer them all.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowYou want to combine fantasy and sci-fi in some way, so i think you should go with sci-fi elements, but perhaps base them on pseudo-sciences instead of real science. So scour the internet for old technologies that were later discovered to be pretty damn fake... Ideas could be astrology, cold fusion, human cloning etc. etc. (astrology-based weapons? hmm...)

That's a very good idea, as I've definitely got one or two other pseudo-science ideas in my storage vault.  I thin I'll pass on the stuff that's closer to spirituality, like astrology.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowBiotechnology would feature heavily, of course. You mention the mask-creatures; maybe they could be the remnants of the ancient space ents (not as derogatory as it sounds; actually a nice idea with progenitor trees if you ask me). If the masks are made of wood, this seems like a natural step to take.

I wonder where you got the idea I was going for the ancients to be space ents (the plant beings are, mostly, but they're not any more ancient than the other races).  At this point the Ancients who started this whole mess are being kept vague so that I don't trap myself into anything.  I do have some ideas, including things like schisms they had, but right now they're left mysterious.

The Masks = remnants of plant beings is actually a really good idea.  Possibly they're something like ancient ritual items created by regressed lesser races from bark broken off the sentient trees.  The reason they have sentience is because breaking off the bark is like slicing off a twig and placing it in the ground: the tree grows out of any still-living bits.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowAs sci-fi it probably has to go beyond a single planet, but i don't think you should focus on an too large a system. Portals and FTL doesn't seem to fit in well. So 1-7 star systems or so with a dozen planets each. I think it would be cool to focus on the nature on each planet and gather civilization in a mega-city or something like that on each planet.

That's too limited for my tastes, unless I do a rather strange universe.  The thing is I like having a huge bunch of planets to work with (assuming I'm working with multiple), even if the PCs never left their home city.  I just like there to be so many that I can never run out of space to justify stuff in.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowHmm, i have the phrase "Shamanism in space" in my head but i don't know what to do with it. Maybe you could have tribes of spaceship-farers flying aimlessly between planets as nomads. Also, you could focus on space being another aspect of nature and having Vacuum Druids or some such.

I've never been very good with religion.  Nomads I can do, but any kind of religion or spiritual reverence trips me up.

Quote from: GhostmanThe last picture is awesome, but doesn't tell much all by itself.

That was more just because it felt like it could mean something rather than it meaning something currently.

Quote from: GhostmanTo get started you could decide some basic stuff:
* Rough scope of the setting. Planetary system? Solar system? Galactic? Intergalactic? Multiverse?
* What is the primary form of transportation? Portals/wormholes? Spaceships? FTL? Hyperspace?
* Is space similar to real space, or is it more fantastic (like a sea of aether)?

Yeah, these are the sort of question that give me trouble.  So many different answers are each so cool it's hard to pick between them.
It's one of the reasons I reuse old stuff so often: if I like something enough to remember it like that I really like it.

Quote from: Ghostman

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawThe genre is one thing I have down: loose sci-fi that a lot of them time looks like fantasy, close enough that you can't always tell.

Do you think it might be better called science fantasy then? Or even space fantasy?

The way people define things around here I'm careful not to say that this is fantasy, only that it sometimes looks like fantasy.

Quote from: EladrisIt would be cool if your planets were just big version of the spaceships, is all I'm saying.

That may be more 'Gaia hypothesis' then I'm think I'm interested in.  I do like to have familiar elements, which would include planets being basically as we know them.

I do have a civilization that roams around in giant spaceships, though.

Here's some more stuff to add to the storm:

Cryostatics: Generating electricity by drawing off the static that exists in a cold space.  (But you still need a gas, so doesn't work in a vacuum.)

Stormstar: An area of positive charge is created inside a metal globe.  The air inside the surrounding chamber becomes saturated with attracted negative charge, which manifests in a storm of small lightening bolts.  Charge siphons connected to the central globes draw off the electricity that strikes the globe, so that the positive charge inside is never neutralized.  The only fuel the reaction needs is a constant influx of air.  The method is so named because the constant lighting strikes on around the central globe cause it to glow like a faint star.
Electricity can also be generated by siphoning the lightening that tries to strike the positively charged around around the air exhaust.

The Waves: The natural movement of [medium or force yet to be determined, possibly spacetime] in sweeping fronts.  Spaceships can "ride" these waves - achieving FTL - in one of two waves:
* "Surfing": the ship is allowed to be almost at the mercy of the waves, but a skilled surfer can navigate the hidden currents to dramatically cut-down travel time or weave their way into areas of chaotic current.  Only small ships can use this method.
* "Sailing": Larger ships respond to more powerful waves and so stick mostly to certain routes but don't get buffered as often.  There is still an upper limit on size.
(There's also a secret third method that allows one to "drill" right through the waves.)
Compared to other travel methods these may not seem all that great, but in fact they are much more energy efficient as one does not need FTL propulsion, only a harness for riding the waves.

The Great Ships (working title): A group of asteroid-sized ships that endlessly wander known space and contain a civilization of their own.  Each ship achieves stellar travel by means of a mysterious, sentient "ring" that hovers around the ship, and which only special initiated members of a religion can communicate with.

Energy Pattern Life-Forms: Energy in a pattern can be self-sustaining.  If enough of these patterns, with some variability, stick together they can form an energy life-form with intelligence and occasionally even sentience.  The Ancients were even able to create these major patterns and give them instructions for manipulating matter and energy.  These are known as "living programs".

Competing Philosophies (Design Note: details have been borrowed from real life Buddhism)
In the known universe there are two main schools of thought on the nature of existence: materialism and mentalism, known in Takai as Tenkai or Tenkism and Shakkai or Shakkism, respectively.  The main question each attempts to address is 'Why do we suffer?', and their main difference comes from what part of one's being it is most important to focus on.  Neither is intended as a religion but as a lifestyle, though the rivalry between the two has been known to get as zealous as any religious conflict.
'"Materialism (aka Tenkai)
*Materialists hold that there is no special inner self.  Our entire being is made up of parts of the universe, and we are only making ourselves suffer by questing for an inner self separate from the rest.  The confusion comes from our mind, which as we live becomes cluttered with contradictory information to the point at which we convince ourselves that there must be something, buried under the clutter, which we have been cut off from.  We suffer because we search when there is nothing to find.  To end our suffering we must let go of the search, let go of the notion of inner self, release the clutter from our minds and live immersed in material of the universe.
'"Mentalism (aka Shakkai)
*Mentalists believe that the mind (or at least part of the mind) is separate from the body but bound by the material world into an endless torture by the false need for material.  To free the mind one must renounce material needs and wants and respond only to the desires of the mind.  Only once the mind can no longer be bound and controlled by the material world shall it be free.  (In fact greatest form of death Mentalists can imagine is dying of starvation or dehydration while pursuing some piece of information.)

Government Name: Constellation Alliance (capital: Ursus Minor)
----Government Type: Standard benevolent super-republic plagued by annoying bureaucracy.
----General Culture: Capitalist consumers who like to get their information from news media and place importance on one's visual appearance and perceived image.

Alien Species: To be described on a case-by-case basis.  No aliens differ notably from humans in terms of psychology.

Star Rangers
Motto: "Shine with Truth, Justice, Freedom!"
HQ: "The Observatory"
----Ranks:
Cadet
Officer
Lieutenant
Captain
Major
Commander
Marshal
Grand Marshal

"The Constellation Alliance, the greatest force for peace in the known galaxy. Composed of various semi-independant member nations both tiny and huge the Alliance is a union dedicated to the betterment of the entire universe via the inclusive process of democracy. But Evil has the advantage of dictatorship, meaning the Alliance can't afford to wait for everyone to agree when the Psion Collective mind-slaves a planet or the ----- Empire threatens to use a new superweapon. That's when the Alliance needs beings of extraordinary talent to stand up, put aside their differences, and fight for Truth, Justice, and Freedom!  YOU can be one of those beings.  Join up and become a Star Ranger today!

The Star Rangers: Shine with Truth, Justice, Freedom!" -- Star Rangers official recruitment pitch

Business Names:
----StrongByte Security

Random Alliance Planets:
----Crokkus: swamp planet
----Kali Flower: planet of deadly plants and major agricultural producer
----REH 3: savage frontier planet filled with deadly creatures and cults

Alliance Allies:
----The Taurian League (capital: K-Taurus): A mutual protection alliance between several hexpedal species.
----The United Planets System
----The Star Court

Evil Enemies:
----Psion Collective: A not-secret secret society that espouses belief in the "power of the sentient mind over reality" and the idea that by joining all the minds of the universe together they can bring about an age of pure harmony.  Naturally considering themselves superior they have decided to "enlighten" everyone else for their own good by whatever means necessary.

(Fortunately they have a tendency to overbelieve in their powers and dismiss the idea that the "mind-blind" and their "material crutches" could ever prevail.)

Race information culled from my previous sources:

(Note: Panian: my substitute for "humanoid".  "Hominid" is the descriptor for something closer to human resemblence.)

Heyaafoura: A very unique species resembling mantid insects, heyaafoura are not in fact biological organisms. Though their bodies mimic biological functions there non-bio nature can be seen in their ability to upgrade via modular parts.
The basic form of a heyaafoura is a nearly rectangular semi-chitonous torso, with appendages at each corner and one pair in the middle. The legs each have two normal joints and one "wrist" joint, plus a "hand" with an average of six finger-like claws. Their heads are triangular with the point toward the jawed mouth and large eyes at the other points. They do not possess any form of antenna.
All other aspects of heyaafoura appearance depend upon what parts they have on their bodies: they can be large and hulking or smaller and thin; they may utilize four of their appendages as legs or only two; color can vary, but is usually either a sandy gold or dark blue-grey. The parts are easy to deal with: the heyaafoura enters a "trance" and then can just tug out a part and place in a new one. The only limitation to this procedure is that the brain of the individual is unreplaceable.
Heyaafoura reproduction is surprisingly simple method given their "biology": each mating individual, and there can be more than one, produces a "seed part" which can then be attached together and grow into a new heyaafoura.

Tek: A species with wide physiological variability due to a genetic quirk: during gestation a tek's genome regarding their outer appearance mutates and rearranges itself constantly, shut down only by the presence of a certain hormone. From then on a tek's appearance remains stable, only affected by normal aging hormones.
This gestation-form-shifting means that there is no one tek look, thought they are all panians. Tek can most often be said to resemble other creatures: feline, canine, equine, lapine, and rodent are a few of the possibilities. Mammalian tends to be the most common, however. Coloration varies widely, too, from muted to bright tones and in many kinds of patterns. Extra features such as additional tails or wings are uncommon but not rare.
Tek hybridize easily with many other panian species, though because non-tek genes are not as readily malliable the resulting offspring will still resemble the non-tek parent as usual for that species, and in fact their tek DNA seems to adapt so that the form will be mostly from that parent.

Koryuu: One of the more extreme-living species in the galaxy, Koryuu are capable of surviving in environments ranging though hot, cold, arid, and even a semi-aquatic existence. Their digestive systems are especially tough, allowing them to eat foods that would sicken or kill other beings. Their eyes can see into the infrared spectrum and their hearing is quite accute, allowing them to operate relatively well in conditions of no light. There is one factor that limits their spread: they are quadrupedal, and their front paws do not have the manual dexterity for the complex work required to create and maintain interstellar technology. Thus they must rely on other species for travel.
A koyruu's head is somewhat feline with a short muzzle and large eyes, though more streamlined in that the muzzle widens toward the back and smoothly joins the cheek area. Their ears are large and pointed, matching the head in size. The body and legs are more canine, proportioned for running rather than sprinting. The tails are not long in relation to body length, and are usually covered in fur. Coloration is often various patterns of blue-black mixed with orange, red, and/or gold, though solid coloration of those latter three as well as blue hues are known. Eyes are mostly dark colors, red and purple being common.

Beyond those I can only give summaries of some ideas at this point:
Griffin: The beak is in fact a muzzle with a flexible coating that can harden and develop the hook for use in attack.  They actually have teeth.
Minotaurs: I just have a slight fondness for the bovine-human chimera, though the males would have the heads of bison instead.
"Demonic" horses: I based a character off this design, and I really enjoy her look.  Though I might just roll this into the Tek (see above).
Eel-snakes and frog-lizards: I actually don't know what these two really are, but I like the ideas for some reason.
Jird: Giant gerbils.  I realize it seems silly, but I keep coming back to them.
Humans: Unlike other settings where they're all generic and bland they'd have a bunch of genetically-modified sub-races.

Having thought about it some more (and having seen a good movie on the subject), I think I'll go back to using islands.  The question is how to emphasize the islands not just as part of the setting but as most of the setting.

I could probably do a world of all islands, but that just seems too cheap.

A better way is to make it so that the interior of the nearest continent (and maybe all of them) is too hot and dry to support life.  From some science programs I watched (admittedly not making me an expert) you can get this with a Pangea-like continent, but that also results in huge hurricanes which I don't need.  Instead the old fall-back of "magical disaster displaces people" has a nice ring to it because it establishes two nice things: 1) a place of old stuff and mystery that's dangerous to go to but might have potentially powerful stuff (i.e. the central desert full of ruins), 2) the "lesson of the past" that can have an effect on what people believe in the present day.

Might have missed something, but when you say islands, are you talking about a single planet, or are you dropping the entire interstellar concept? I reckon the former?

That's me, unfortunately: my focus is going to jump between ideas.

One thing you can trust me on is that if I say a word I most probably mean it in its original definition.  So "islands" means "land surrounded by water on a planet's surface", and if I were going to use it in a non-standard context I'd try to make sure I explained that context.

Now I guess there could be some confusion as to whether I'd use multiple planets in some way still.  Like I said before, I volley, so there's no real predicting.  Still, putting an emphasis on sailing adventures means I'd probably want to avoid the bypassing of obstacles that comes with vertical methods (i.e. flight), so even if there were more than one planet involved there wouldn't be spaceships.

Seems in tune with the more "organic" feel of the setting and tech that you wouldn't use spaceships. But is it still sci-fi-ish then? Or are you moving back to standard fantasy with some pseudo-tech?

A "water world" type setting has plenty of potential for wondrous technology. You could have artificial, floating islands assembled from living and non-living components. Or Julesvernean submarines exploring the depths of the sea with scuba divers riding tamed marine animals.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowSeems in tune with the more "organic" feel of the setting and tech that you wouldn't use spaceships.

I don't consider them mutually exclusive.  The thought of organic spaceships is part of what started me thinking about them.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowBut is it still sci-fi-ish then? Or are you moving back to standard fantasy with some pseudo-tech?

That's the real big problem for me: I actually don't want to choose.  I'd rather do something where I could have both and they wouldn't mess up each others' feel.

Quote from: GhostmanA "water world" type setting has plenty of potential for wondrous technology. You could have artificial, floating islands assembled from living and non-living components. Or Julesvernean submarines exploring the depths of the sea with scuba divers riding tamed marine animals.

I like adventures on the sea but I actually get a little uncomfortable imagining stuff happening under the surface so I usually pass on that idea.

I've got a better idea of how this could work, now, let's hope I can keep it:

I've already got a previous idea of connecting planets via stretches of their surface that blend together.  I'm thinking my islands will sit on a trade route that stretches between two of them.
Since the trade route is the most profitable thing around most people have no reason to venture to the continental coasts, which are pretty barren anyway except for some savanna and swamps.  However there are reasons for thrill-seeking adventurers to visit.
Connection to other planets means a variety of species and cultures.  The main cultures of the region would be based on stuff from the Indian Ocean.
I'm still working on the setting type, but it would probably be fantasy that props itself up with sci-fi elements rather than magic.  By that I mean you'd have "magitech" devices, but they'd actually be "technology/science indistinguishable from magic".  I can't quite comment on what Earth tech level era we'd compare it to because the pseudo-magitech might vary wildly in what it can mimic.

Heck, why limit myself to one world.  If my ideas vary as much as they do expanding this setting so that it can include anything just gives me a place to put them.

A focus for the current region: Fantasy Pulp.  Eberron was a nice try, but just didn't do it for me.  I'm imagining that in there somewhere is a world with huge skyscraping darkened cities drenched by rain, and I've already described a world with desert ruins and mysterious islands, I can have jungle worlds full of dinosaurs, I can have worlds where the "magitech" and sword-wielders from other worlds gives me a "sword & planet" vibe.  And the best part is I have multiple surfaces to build on, no getting stuck with an eerie magical wasteland right in the middle of the only civilized part of the world.

An idea about how magic would work:

You can only ever hold one spell.
This isn't one spell like D&D's single-effect system.  These would be spells with more flexible application.  Ex. your "fire spell" would let you throw fire, create intense flares to blind, burn the air out of an area to suffocate someone, and maybe even summon a fire elemental.  But you couldn't control lightening at all.
The reasoning is that each "spell" is a piece of magic so powerful that mortals can't hold more than one at a time.  If I were inclined toward having D&D clerics these spells would be the sort of things gods grant in their domains.

For the "One spell idea" you might want to look at some of Jack Vance's ideas. Read Tales of the Dying Earth (http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth-Jack-Vance/dp/0312874561).

I don't think that's quite what I mean:
You don't hold one spell at a time and then lose it in a casting.  You hold a spell and then wield it like a Swiss Army Knife with a certain selection of tools.  If you ever want to have a different tool selection you have to banish the spell you have and take in a new one.

Another idea is physically-derived magic, similar to the stuff presented in high-powered martial arts animé or the show Avatar.  In a sense magic requires you to be a very physical person and costs physical movement to work.  I don't think this would be all the magic in the setting, however, as I just don't see it working for things like illusion.

Possibly combine the two ideas: there is physical magic of which you can learn any and all kinds but is very tied to physical movements, and "spells" of which you can only hold one but can be wielded without movement and which typically have more subtle effects.

Inspired by a couple of video games and a past idea I'm still attached to I've got the basis for a setting outline:

"A long time ago the world was connected to others so that one could simply sail between them through special passages.  At this time magic was easily touched, easily reshaped, easy for all to use to change the world.  But the Witches coveted the power for themselves.  They learned that the magic flowed into the world through the passages.  And so they worked a ritual to bring all the passages together and trap them within the Witches' island.  And so the people were trapped on their world, and no more could they touch magic themselves but only with the help of power items.

At least that's what the legends say............"

The world is made up of oceans and islands, nothing that could be called a continent.  There is more than one sentient race but a distinct lack of racial divides and enmity.  Magic is present in nature -- some creatures have natural magical abilities -- but cannot be influenced by normal people without the aid of Power Items.

Another idea on magic (and no, this is not inspired by the CCG game of the same name): magic schools by environment rather than by what the spell does (as in D&D).  So you'd have desert magic, swamp/wetland magic, mountain magic, ocean/lake/river magic, forest/jungle magic, grasslands magic, etc.  (I can't decide if there's urban magic, the question is how often urban is its own environment as opposed to just a slightly different kind of another.)

The idea is to take magic away from its current status as a force of the distant "cosmos" and bring it down to ground level.  And not people level, but actual ground level, the level of the mud and the muck.  You can read all you want to about magic in big tomes in your comfortable library, but if you actually want to do magic you have to go out and get dirty.

So is magical a universal force that individual environments effect, or does each environment have its one "mini-universe" of magic with its own rules, laws, etc.

First has to be answered the question of whether "magic" is its own force or whether it is simply other forces interacting in a way that leads people to misidentify this interaction as its own thing.  (In my universe everything is natural to the universe, there is no "unnatural" and so magic must, of course, be a natural thing.)  Personally I prefer the answer of "I'm not sure".  The people within my world aren't going to be able to see the laws from the outside, so they're always going to have doubts, and I rather like being in the same position as them in regards to most of the knowledge of their world.

Having answered that question I can focus on how the environments work.  "One force modified" vs. "places with their own rules".  A bit of both: it's based somewhat on how environment determines what creatures can live there, how those creatures' lineages have to change to survive in that environment, and then once you take those creatures out of that environment they don't immediately take to the new one.  Not exactly the same, but similar.  The idea is that "magic", whatever it is, if it spends long enough in a place it changes to conform to all the interactions of that place, becomes "adapted".  This process takes a long time, long enough that if you take a piece of that magic out of its home environment it will take generations of mortals for it to change to suit a new environment.  So meanwhile it can be persuaded to do the sorts of magical things it became good at in its natural environment.

Ex: What does a piece of desert magic do?  Creates whirlwinds, shifts sand around, makes mirages, that sort of stuff.  Take it on an oceans voyage and you can get it to do all those things for you, whereas the ocean magic will only do what it normally does.

UPDATE: Or would it work better if I just didn't say?  Because sometimes I find something isn't nearly as interesting after I've explained it.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawUPDATE: Or would it work better if I just didn't say?  Because sometimes I find something isn't nearly as interesting after I've explained it.

haha, I totally hear you on that dude.

This reminds me of the jar of dirt from Pirates of the Caribbean... carry a bit of the desert with you and you can access its powers.

Quote from: Cataclysmic Crow'¦'¦carry a bit of the desert with you and you can access its powers.

Also explains mages having familiars so often: an animal's part of an environment.  And if the mages didn't know that much about their magic they might decide that they have to stay dressed in "appropriate" garb, thus explaining "theme" wizards.

A lot of what I think about in terms of magic (and I think about magic quite a bit) is changing it into something inherent in everything.  As opposed to how most settings deal with it which is to have magic as something that can only be injected into the setting via certain means, generally all related to spellcasters.

I think I've got the idea now:

It's a fantasy alternate world to a sci-fi planet.  The two worlds do not have any sort of public relationship or knowledge of each other, as per the standard way these things are set up.  There are occasional visitors from the sci-fi world, but they never have any significant impact on the fantasy world besides the usual defeat of an Evil Overlord.  And there is a very good reason for why this is, as well as why the setting has stayed at relatively the same fantasy level for a long time: there are beings actively working to keep it that way.

This alternate world status actually has one additional effect on the fantasy world: there are no humans (though some of the more recent visitors from the other side have been).  If the fantasy world is a reflection then it's not reflecting (most of) our views on traditional fantasy settings.  (Translation: shameless excuse to mix and just make up what I want; I'm not the type who could stand making or reading about a truly alien setting for long.)


Now that I've gotten the self-satisfying plot-point out of the way...........
The world is definitely warmer than most fantasy settings.  I'm trying to start small this time so I don't want to say too much about the larger focus region other than it's two stretches of coastline across a sea with lots of islands in it.  There are deserts, arid scrublands and grasslands, tropical/savanna grasslands, tropical jungle, near-tropical rainforest, and tropical swamps.  Plus the sea in the middle and various islands.
Races are humanoid or half-humanoid in body type, what I've re-coined "panian".  Their faces are all more or less hominid (i.e. human-like), though ears, even if they stick out to the side, resemble the smooth and pointed ears of predatory mammals rather than the rounded, convoluted ears of a hominid.  The races are:
A centaur race (or possibly just an equine version of the other races).
A feline race.
A canine race.
A bovine race.
A draconic race.
An aquatic serpentine race.
A winged griffonic race.
(There's also the possibility of including a version of an RPG elf race, but somehow I wonder if I need it.)

Seems a bit limited to have all your races be overtly anthropomorphicalized (mythical) animals?
Of course, if that's what works for your setting.
Why the dual world? What point does it serve?

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowSeems a bit limited to have all your races be overtly anthropomorphicalized (mythical) animals?

I basically have 5 choices when I make race decisions: standard near-humans, overtly anthropomorphicalized animals, anthropomorphicalized animals, talking animals, and shapeshifters (which isn't really a choice since they're just going to spend time looking like one of the other four).  (One could also have "really weirds", but I generally don't find something that fits in that category all that interesting for long.)  I just didn't want any near-humans this time, but was trying to avoid going too far into the animal look as a style consideration.  Trying to bring the humanoid form into the animal realm rather than the animal form into the human realm.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowWhy the dual world? What point does it serve?

A realm of odd elements to introduce.

I just basically feel that pure fantasy gets stale way too fast for me.  Injecting someone from a different sort of world, one we can relate to from our modern context, pumps the flavor back in through the contrast of perspectives.

Plus I do have a plan to write stories using the sci-fi world as the place where the characters live, but the fantasy world being a place to visit and which ultimately begs the question of "why is it there?"

Have you ever considered slightly stranger creatures, like anthropomorphized crystal-folk, or energy beings, or sentient liquids?  I know you like races you can relate to and understand, but would it ruin the tone to throw in a couple of more alien creatures?  I mean of course it's up to you; it just seems to me that most of your races more or less boil down to a) humans or b) cosmetically altered humans, and one of the big draws of sci fi and fantasy for me is that of stretching the imagination, and trying to come up with creatures that think in a non-human way, with just enough commonalities that they aren't utterly opaque (of coruse, they could be utterly opaque, but then you're in Lovecraftian territory, and I know you don't tend to dip into those particular putrid waters).

Quote from: Steerpike'¦'¦'¦would it ruin the tone to throw in a couple of more alien creatures?'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦'¦just seems to me that most of your races more or less boil down to a) humans or b) cosmetically altered humans, and one of the big draws of sci fi and fantasy for me is that of stretching the imagination, and trying to come up with creatures that think in a non-human way, with just enough commonalities that they aren't utterly opaque'¦'¦'¦'¦

Yeah, you know, there's something I've never understood about this whole "alien" thing:

What other thought process is there?

The way I see it human thought boils down this way:

must replicate self >>> must keep replication equipment functional until replication >>> must avoid/minimize damage to replication equipment, must fuel replication equipment and avoidance/mitigation equipment

I can think of ways to reduce the whole of human experience to this sequence.  I can think of ways to reduce the whole of any organism's experience to this sequence.  Only things that can defy this sequence would be a challenge, and logic then asks the question: if the sequence isn't in use then how would we know it's an organism?  By this criteria there is no such thing as an "alien" mind.

Now you may still want to deal with the fine details.  But the problem I have with that is I often have trouble understanding the fine details of humans.  If you can't understand your own species' fine details why would you believe that understanding the fine details of another species is going to depend on them being a different species.

In the end I'm just not sure I can come up with this "alien" you talk about.

You know, perhaps I can do something other than the sci-fi alternate world.  It seems a bit heavy an issue.  Not exactly my true style, either.  I'd much rather prefer something that expands the possibility for exploration.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawYou don't hold one spell at a time and then lose it in a casting.  You hold a spell and then wield it like a Swiss Army Knife with a certain selection of tools.  If you ever want to have a different tool selection you have to banish the spell you have and take in a new one.

That is freaking cooool.

Quote from: Sarisa

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawYou don't hold one spell at a time and then lose it in a casting.  You hold a spell and then wield it like a Swiss Army Knife with a certain selection of tools.  If you ever want to have a different tool selection you have to banish the spell you have and take in a new one.

That is freaking cooool.

I'm glad you like it. :D

Like "magic is only found in items" and "the types of magic are based on environment" it's an attempt to give magic individual identities.  In too many RPGs I see magic is dumped out in this shapeshifting mass where mages are allowed to do basically anything and thus really just come off as a grand big mix of nothing.  (Mages in fiction seem to fall into the same trap.)

Agreed. Unless it is rare enough that you are awed by it's use in a literary context. (I.E. Gandalf was a bad ass because his magic was used rarely in front of a people that considered it a mysterious and strange thing.)
  I think your magic mechanic could facilitate that shock and awe that is difficult to achieve in games like D&D .
 (magic missile again?)

 Keep it up!

Quote from: Sarisa(I.E. Gandalf was a bad ass because his magic was used rarely in front of a people that considered it a mysterious and strange thing.)
I think your magic mechanic could facilitate that shock and awe that is difficult to achieve in games like D&D.

Unfortunately I think there may have been a misunderstanding here.

I don't want to make magic a strange thing.  I want to make magic a natural thing.  Natural like air and water and plants.  And natural things (normally) don't show the sort of shapeshifting variability that magic is portrayed as having.
I don't want people to be impressed by the existence of magic itself.  I want them to be impressed by skillful use, the ability to take something limited and push its limits.  It's unsatisfying to impress someone just because you have a gimmick.

[blockquote=Silvercat]I can think of ways to reduce the whole of human experience to this sequence. I can think of ways to reduce the whole of any organism's experience to this sequence. Only things that can defy this sequence would be a challenge, and logic then asks the question: if the sequence isn't in use then how would we know it's an organism? By this criteria there is no such thing as an "alien" mind.[/blockquote]Fair enough about the reproductive cycle - although have you ever heard of the hydra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)) (not the mythological creature)?  It reproduces asexually through budding, admittedly (a passive process), but it is immune to senescence/aging because it can regress to an earlier stage in its life-cycle (a polyp).  Would immortality defeat, or at least, alter, the cycle you suggest is foundational?

Aren't there lots and lots of psychological/neurological differences between species, though, even given the basic reproduction cycle as a foundation??  I mean, different species think differently, even if they're of roughly equal intelligence; that's just a biological fact.  Cats and dogs are both remarkably intelilgent animals but they have radically different minds; I'm sure your anthropomorphic cat and dog people would think and act differently, right?

Quote from: SteerpikeFair enough about the reproductive cycle - although have you ever heard of the hydra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)) (not the mythological creature)?  It reproduces asexually through budding, admittedly (a passive process), but it is immune to senescence/aging because it can regress to an earlier stage in its life-cycle (a polyp).  Would immortality defeat, or at least, alter, the cycle you suggest is foundational?

Not unless the creature was so stupid as to consider itself indestructable.  Because the important player isn't the replicator it's the thing being replicated.  One good hit and the replicator is dead, and so long as it hasn't done it's replicatory function the replicated thing has failed.  (This even applies when a sentient organism fails to produce genetic offspring: there is the urge to create something, and if you can't replicate your genetics you will very likely take up some activity that leaves a copy of your mentality.  That's my view of human civilization, anyway.)

Quote from: SteerpikeAren't there lots and lots of psychological/neurological differences between species, though, even given the basic reproduction cycle as a foundation??  I mean, different species think differently, even if they're of roughly equal intelligence; that's just a biological fact.  Cats and dogs are both remarkably intelilgent animals but they have radically different minds; I'm sure your anthropomorphic cat and dog people would think and act differently, right?

How do different species think differently?  I'm trying to see it, but every time I look at something to confirm it another fact comes in and suggests that the differences are only superficial.  Dogs will form group while cats will be loners?  Cats form group (not just lions, domestics can live together).  And will probably also have some sort of pecking order, though the first area I really seeing them diverge is that dogs will be strict about it while cats won't be (although even then I don't know how much different things will be).

I'm not sure where you're seeing such big differences.  I can see tiny little differences, just not enough to see the thought process as different from humans, or rather not enough to see the human thought process as being unique.  (I hope I'm not coming off as stubborn, I am trying to see what you're saying, I'm just not.)

I think we just see differences at different scales.  When I think of dogs versus cats for example, I think quite big differences despite lots of superficial similarities (both mammals, both furred, both quadrapedal, etc).  If I imagined that those creatrues evolved into creatures of humanoid intelilgence, I'd imagine that they'd act quite differently than humans do, or than each other do.  Cats, for example, I picture having a very individualistic culture in which social bonds are transient things and opportunism is unquestionably justified.  A cat would think, "If there are two choices, and one is clearly to my personal advantage, and one isn't, why would I choose the latter choice?  Why do humans insist on doing so with such frequency?  Bizarre creatures!"  Hedonism would rule, cats would revere no gods but themselves, and their language would have no words for "unconditional love."  Personal pleasure would be seen as worthwhile in and of itself, and the cat political structure would be ruthlessly Machiavellian, with an under-developed sense of empathy and compassion.  Subjugation of servant races in some cat cultures probably wouldn't be uncommon, but cats would make very poor servants so they likely wouldn't enslave their own kind.

In dog culture, I would imagine a formalized brutocracy, in which the strongest warrior, or the most authoritarian leader, is served unquestioningly until a usurper amasses enough power to take his place (and it probably would be a patriarchy).  Family bonds and ties, and social bonds, would be sacrosanct and unbreakable things.  Oaths would be of incredible importance, and discipline of certain varieties would be central to the culture (unlike cats, who would suffer from a remarkable lack of self-discipline, though they mightbe fastidious).  Feasts and communal dispays of communal bonding would be common, customs alien to the cats with their hyper-developed sense of personal space and privacy (dogs would have far fewer taboos and manners around such niceties).  Weakness would generally be despised, but faith and piety, possibly to unseen, nebulous, but deified all-mother/father/creator/master figures, would be rewarded.  Personal contact and touch would be casual and common, unlike cat-culture where touching without permission would be disrespectful.

A dog would think, "If there are two choices, one serving only myself and the other with benefits for my pack/clan/state, I am obliged to choose the latter, or else be seen as a traitor and coward, and incrue dishonor.  Look at the humans: little better than cats!  They abandon such niceties at a moment's notice."  A strong dog might also think, "The leader, who is supreme and must be served unquestionably, is weak and sick.  He is no longer the ideal leader of the community.  I am stronger than he is, and will lead better.  I owe it to him and to my pack/clan/state to depose him."  This would probably be ritualized.

So anthropomorphized cats in my mind would probably come off as selfish, sociopathic, pleasure-loving dandies with a biological inability to empathize (much like Luminous Crayon's elves) with ruthless, calculating brains and boundless appetites for personal pleasure, for whom narcissism is the closest thing they've ever had to religion.  Dogs would be militaristic authoritarians with unquestioning subservience to a power-based hierarchy and the laws of strength, power, and will - glorified thugs who like to cuddle.  Both have a lot of similarities to human psychologies - indeed, cats would consider humans rather dog-like, whereas dogs would consider humans rather cat-like - but ultimately both emphasize certain aspects of existence more than humans do, while de-emphasizing others.

I personally find cats a lot stranger/ more "alien" than dogs so I think my version of them comes off as stranger than my version of dogs.  Both, of course, rely on your reproductive/self-replicating foundation and still share a lot in common with humans, while still (hopefully) coming off as different creatures than humans (or at least, very different creatures than each other?), thinking from different perspectives and retaining radically different value systems.

Of course, I have a fondness for the dystopian (no secret), so my versions of cats and dogs are probably pretty dark.  But that's more of my "spin" on them.

My point earlier was about creatrues or entities with even more differences from us than cats and dogs.  Like ants (hive mind).  Or a sentient pond.

Hopefully that explains better what I mean when I refer to "weird" or "alien" races.

Quote from: SteerpikeHopefully that explains better what I mean when I refer to "weird" or "alien" races.

I think it does.  But I think it also illustrates how differently we see this.

You made complicated cultures out of you views of cats and dogs, taking a lot of details from each.  However in my version I'd start out with the assumption that the creatures I'm using as bases are mostly learned behavior and that fundamentally they're the same.  When I change them into new kinds of creatures I don't drag along their learned stuff and instead assume they pick up new behaviors.  So they're not going to turn out much different from humans simply because their behavior's going to develop in very similar conditions.

So really where we're diverging is that your focusing very highly and exaggerating differences that I see as unimportant to the true picture.  You're right, it's scale.  I think the only way I could try it is if I was shown humans using the same scale lense: "adaptable and varied" does not a good example make.

So really, it becomes a question of evolutionary biology and sociology.  Does high intelligence necessitate a typically familial-based, primate-esque social structure and psychology, such that any sufficiently intelligent creature arrives at something resembling the human consciousness (even with other physical differences), or does a creature's psychology extrapolate from its roots, potentially creating a more diverse array of intelligences that can be compared in terms of raw intellectual capability and the capacity for complex thought, while still remaining qualitatively different?  You tend to the former, I the latter view; there's still the big question of scale (the cats and dogs I described still aren't that different than humans) but the preexisting distinction is there.

Not an easy question to answer, though a fascinating one.

Quote from: SteerpikeNot an easy question to answer, though a fascinating one.

And probably not something I'm going to want to try addressing.  I have enough troubles just coming up with races I like, critically analyzing them is too much brain-strain for me.

Another pretty good notion has crossed my mind:

"Now, bring me that horizon." '" Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean I

Mythic tales of adventure and swashbuckling, that's what I seem to be attracted to right now.  Tales of sailing off and finding islands full of oddities and having to fight evil monsters or demon-sorcerers combined with swinging from the rigging and hoards of treasure.  I still can't decide what tech level I want there to be, as some aspects of modern tech are fine but there's a certain feeling of limitation I like.  Possibly I could use technology from 20th century, as I seem to do fine with portrayals of the 30s, 40s, 80s, and 90s.

So what I've got is Arabian Nights starring pirates using 20th century technology.  So what I need are a large stretch of islands with regions unexplored and filled with strange stuff and some trade routes to attack for plunder.  Possibly I need some way to justify the technology.

I think early twentieth century could rock.  Steamboats and sixguns for the win.

I actually have no idea what that would look like, unfortunately.  My experience in that area is severely lacking.

I don't think I need to necessarily define an exact part of the 20th century.  A mish-mash might still be a useful style.

Cool, mishmash is fun.  So steamboats are out, are you picturing motorboats and the like attacking large modern vessels (as in real modern piracy), or is this more a kind of age of sail thing where tall ships coexist with televisions, skyscrapers, and automobiles?

Tricky issues: I can't deny the appeal of ships with rigging, but my guess is you can't have large metal ships being moved by sails.  The actual "sailing" doesn't interest me, motors are fine, I just don't think swashbuckling is complete without ropes and such.

Guns and explosives are the other big issue: They make fighting too easy.  Explosives blow up things that previously required thinking around.  Guns change combat from up-close moving brawls to hiding and staying in one spot.  (I realize I'm generalizing and that some pre-gun ranged weapons were pretty good, but you still got more emphasis on up-close action.  And I know that you still had sword-fights while guns were available, but I'm interested in guns that carry more than one shot.)  Still these two aren't too too bad: lots of heroes get into fist-fights and martial arts battles even in this day and age.  And people don't carry explosives at all times.

Beyond that most technology doesn't matter.  Ideally I'd like to see gun-less fights between metal, motored ships, while the cities have a mix of skyscrapers and paved streets with old stone buildings, and radio communication and television exist but computers are work tools rather than entertainment and don't have an Internet yet.

Have you seen Spirit of the Century (http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/)?  It's a bit different from what you're describing, but might be really well suited for a rules-system.  The PDF is $15.  If Talespin were converted into an RPG, this'd be the system.  Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow also would qualify.  I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too diffiuclt to teak it for a more sailing-oriented campaign, or you could always consider sky-pirates.  But it's got that wonderful slightly retro-futuristic pulp look, very twentieth century but middle rather than late, well before the internet.  And it's very, very pulp.

Again, this isn't a "oh, this product has already done what you're trying to do," it's more of a "this system sounds perfect for what you're trying to create."

Luminous Crayon is a big fan, I believe.

1) I'm not looking into systems yet because my current experience as a GM shows me I'm at least not ready to be in charge.

2) My preferred method of play is PbP, which is slowed by the extra back-and-forth of compelling aspects.
___________________________________

EDIT: Just random extra thoughts:
Magic types: 1) Holders of single internal spells.
2) Carriers of magic from environments in forms of items and/or beast companions.
3) Alchemists that mix substances based on knowledge of environmental interactions.

Weird races: 1) Sentient energy that possess objects for a body, most famously masks.
2) Shapeshifting tricksters who generally do not understand the power struggles and greed of solid races.

I think I've got a way to justify sails: There's a technology that can keep track of ships quite reliably and at good range, but needs their motors to be on (I'm not sure quite yet why).  So if you want to be stealthy you turn off your motor and let the wind move you.

I'm not actually saying yet that I'm going to use it, given how many ways there exist to defeat the stealth that would of course be used, but it's an interesting idea for another day.

So what do I end up with when I put this all together?  A civilization as technologically advanced as the United States around the 1980s-early 90s trading with some place that has really desirable goods but that exists across a mostly unexplored ocean full of islands which are used as hideouts by pirates.  I can have advanced cities at either end for home bases (satisfying my desire for home adventures to take place in a near-information age) and the unexplored in the middle (satisfying my desire for exploration of the unknown).

So that leaves: Races, Magic, Factions.

I've got enough of the idea to say in vague terms what magic is, and I think I'll mostly leave it that way.  A more in-depth look is probably going to bore me, and, let's face it, regular people don't know or need to know the fine details of quantum physics for it to come up and be a known thing.

Races is trickier: I don't really care for dealing with alien mindsets, a purpose to it just doesn't strike me.  But if I don't bother assigning races personalities should I even have different races or should they all somehow be the same race?

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawWeird races: 1) Sentient energy that possess objects for a body, most famously masks.

That seems like an awesome idea to me. Imagine one character who is a possessed mask and another character who is wearing that mask. That could lead to some very interesting situations. Especially if the mask can be made into a convincing replicate of someone's face...

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw2) Shapeshifting tricksters who generally do not understand the power struggles and greed of solid races.

If they are not "solid" themselves, are they supposed to be like the T-1000 Terminator? Such a being would probably have difficulty understanding why solid races are so obsessed with their appearances (clothes, trying to lose weight, etc). After all, if you were able to modify your appearance at will to your liking, you probably wouldn't value such superficial traits very highly. The shapeshifter might disregard looks entirely and judge people solely on their personalities.

[blockquote=Silvercat Moonpaw]1) Sentient energy that possess objects for a body, most famously masks.[/blockquote]Awesome!

I think you could avoid the alien mindset issue by just having the different races possess different cultures.  They all think more or less the same, but their cultures are still distinct, so their values and personalities would still come off as exotic.  You could just say that tehse cultural differences spring from an environment or a particular history rather than a unique pscyhology; in other words, if humans were placed in the same environment, then they'd have developed a similar culture, but as it is the cat-people/bird-people/whatever have been the ones to develop in this manner.

Quote from: SteerpikeI think you could avoid the alien mindset issue by just having the different races possess different cultures.  They all think more or less the same, but their cultures are still distinct, so their values and personalities would still come off as exotic.  You could just say that tehse cultural differences spring from an environment or a particular history rather than a unique pscyhology; in other words, if humans were placed in the same environment, then they'd have developed a similar culture, but as it is the cat-people/bird-people/whatever have been the ones to develop in this manner.

That would seem more like I should present the culture and then present the most common race(s) of that culture.  That would hopefully allow me to avoid people misinterpreting race and culture as intrinsicly linked.  Still it might help if they were all truly the same species, just having varied allot more in appearance than humans did.  Plus if I removed humans from the equation.

It's really the "humans are so super-special" mindset that fantasy and sci-fi stories present that gets me.

As long as I've got two ends to this trade route I might as well make them different.  (All names are tentative, especially because I have terrible trouble coming up with good ones.)

Seagate: An island city whose purpose is to support the fleets that ply the trade route and protect the rift (spacetime blending of stretches of planet) back home.  Tech level is at pre-information age computing, except for vehicle fuel which has advanced to hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion.  (Magic) is well-known but rarely used as technology is seen as much more convenient and varied in capability.  The majority culture place a dual emphasis on free expression of self and importance of assisting one's community, the contrast having grown out of mingling cultural influences back home.  The most common species is the racially-polymorphous sonata.

Ah'rem: Roughly translated the name means "the puzzle".  The "continent" is actually a cluster of Australia-sized islands separated by narrow seaways inhabited by the descendants of cross-world migrants who passed through the "Great Eastern Door" thousands of years ago.  At the time of discovery Ah'rem was actually quite advanced in many areas, simply substituting wireless power transfer via (magic); since trade was established there has actually been little change in Ah'rem due to the fact that its native technology requires less expense on infrastructure.  Obviously (magic) is both well-known and widespread.  There is both no dominant culture or species on the Puzzle Continent.

At the moment I'm feeling fantasy-ish, so I'm going to work on Ah'rem:

Ground rules: 1) No humans.  2) Magic is limited to one versatile spell per person.  3) Anachronistic elements are allowed because this isn't an isolated, Medieval-level world.

REMEBER: All names are tentative.

Races:
Kitsune: Panian foxes with multiple long tails.
Sphinx (male): Robust lion panians with a hominid face and a large, striped mane.
Sphinx (female): A gracile version of their male counterpart lacking the mane and possessing wings.
Alicorn: Unicorn panian but possessing a hominid face with a short, wide-base cone horn.

I really can't think of any more (these don't even seem like really great offerings either).  An elf-ish race, maybe.  Winged fey a possibly.  Intelligent wolves.  I seem to have come down with a case of "minimal race need", not something I've really felt like before.

Okay I can see now that the previous races just aren't going to cut it.  As I've said on another thread any non-human races should have characteristics different enough that they just can't be overlooked in describing how the race goes about actions.

Mask: Energy beings that must possess objects to function in the solid world.  For interaction with other races they prefer the pseudo-faces of masks.
Sonata: Shapeshifters with no natural form but who can't turn into anything larger than 2 ft tall.
Ashina: Animals made intelligent by symbiotic colonies of microorganisms.
Heyaafoura: Organic machine insectoids who can swap out body parts.

Still need to think of some more.

I guess I'm going to have to use humans to have the correct type of creature.

Wow, these are more like it!  At least so far as my tastes go.  Hayaafoura are so cool!

Quote from: SteerpikeWow, these are more like it!  At least so far as my tastes go.

The sonata are still giving me trouble: it's difficult to have a shapeshifting race that has any unique features while still not being too weird.

And the thing is that this doesn't mean I can't have humanoid/panian races, I'd just lump them under one race name (maybe even one race, since they all seem to breed so easily).  I mean, that's unique, right?

Quote from: SteerpikeHayaafoura are so cool!

What exactly do you like?

Swapping body parts is a cool idea, and I like machine races.  One thing gives me pause - you call them "organic machines."  How is this different than a living organism (I tend to think of all living organisms as organic machines...)?

It's tricky, even I'm not entirely sure.  I think I see organisms as just having too many tiny complexities for parts-swap.  The heyaafoura are "organic" in the sense that they have the more fluid and dynamic structure of organisms, but they're "machines" because their systems are still more straightforward than a pure organism.

Okay, makes sense.  A matter of degree - actually the most useful way of making a distinction between machines and organisms that I can think of.

Maybe they would be considered "machines" because they are artificial beings without any natural way to reproduce; instead of being born or hatched, they are constructed in factories?

I can think of theoretical self-replicating creatures that might be considered machines and sterile life-forms that wouldn't be considered machines, but that definition works too.

No, they can reproduce: if two of them combine "starter" from their cores (the essential part, like their brain, they can't replace it) it will grow into a new core.

At least, that's the method I state if I really cared.  I'm not entirely sure the issue of whether or not they can reproduce is important to my worldview of heyaafoura.

So that's definitely five groups of beings:

Mask: Energy creatures that must possess undynamic (i.e. unliving), reasonably solid masses in order to interact with the material world, and prefer using masks for ease of interaction with material beings.
Shihnn: Shapeshifters.
Yoka: Animals given intelligence by symbiotic colonies of microorganisms.
Heyaafoura: Arthropodic living "organic machines" capable of swapping out body parts.  Their appearance depend upon what parts they have on their bodies: they can be large and hulking or smaller and thin; they may utilize any number of their appendages as legs; color can vary, but is often either a sandy gold or dark blue-grey.  The exchange of parts is a simple procedure: the heyaafoura enters a "trance" and then can just tug out a part and place in a new one.  The only limitation to this procedure is that the "core" (essentially the brain) of the individual is irreplaceable.  And their reproduction is surprisingly simple method given their "biology": each mating individual, and there can be more than one, produces a "seed part" from their core which can then be attached together and grow into a new heyaafoura.
Endaan: The collective name of all panian races.

On second thought the heyaafoura run into a really big obstacle: they feel forced, they don't fit in naturally.  Mask, Shihnn, and Yoka can all take up fantasy roles.  Multiple fantasy roles.  But the heyaafoura are just these big weird insects.  It might be fine for a sci-fi race off in the corner somewhere, but they just don't make a good main race by my standards.  I know you like them, Steerpike, but they just feel like an afterthought to me.

Fair enough.  Consider them stolen.

You'll do better with them, I know.

Hmmm, so where should I start building my setting from?

Everyone starts with cities, at least the published settings which I can keep straight in my head.  A city's not a bad place to start, anyway, I like the stuff that can go on in a city.

Sundrenched seaside, I'm a sucker for the tropics (even though I hate light, heat, and humidity).  Stone and brick buildings.  Gonna need a palace (even if it's not a seat of government they make one heck of a cool historical monument), this one comes complete with a couple flying islands for just a little cool factor.  What should the interior be?  I'm torn between near-tropical forest and savanna grassland.

I think I've got it this time:

Title: Ah'rem: Epic Adventures for Non-Epic People

Game System: Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2 (http://spectrum-games.com/cahs2downloads.aspx) (follow the link to find a free demo version)

Dragon's Pearl, capital of the Grand Middle Kingdom
The closest point of land to Ah'rem's center, Dragon's Pearl is the hub through which everything else passes in Ah'rem, whether it be books of great knowledge from the East Kingdom, the precious goods found or swindled by fortune-hunters in the West Kingdom, the exotic things discovered by adventurers in the North Kingdom, and the simple produce of the South Kingdom.  City of maritime merchants, adventurous travelers, and their system of support and supply.  The city is watched over by the legendary Coral Palace, with its famous Floating Gardens atop islands of flying earth, from which rules the baffouonish yet kindly king Great Oak the IX.

So that's my central city in brief.  Anything anyone can see the summary needs?  Anything you'd like to hear about?  I know at this point I have say something about the Middle, East, West, North, and South kingdoms.

So now it's time to pull back and look at the world briefly in Big Picture Mode:

The five kingdoms mentioned (North, South, East, West, and Middle) are by no means the only ones on Ah'rem.  They aren't even as Grand as they claim, having the most sway over the Middle Sea and getting to brag to everyone that passes through.  There is still lots of area left for everything from isolated settlements in wilderness areas to giant nations eager to gobble up their neighbors.

Because of its magical technology the world itself is visually part sci-fi.  The closest comparison would be the 80s cartoon He-Man, where there's definite use of vehicles, view-screens, cybernetics/robotics, some laser weapons, etc, but most of the world is still very much fantasy.  It's the closest, but not exact: for example Ah'rem makes greater use of computer-like devices and general electronics, but doesn't have any sort of car equivalent.  What difference this makes to typical fantasy is mostly in the area of medicine and communications.

(remember all names are tentative)

Jin-Nas
That panian species of Ah'rem, made of two sub-groups: the more hominid Nas and the more zooanthric Jin (the latter should not be confused with the foreign zooanthric species known as the Tek).  Each sub-group is then often further divided up by the shared appearance of regional groups (though these divisions are cultural and not indicative of genetic inclination).

Nas variants
True Elves: Bow-and-poison hunters from the arid fossil deserts of the north.  They are wirey, with very long, pointed ears that stick out to the sides and red-brown skin skin tone.  They consider the term "dark elf" derogatory, as it was given by their half-breed oppressors in an attempt to connotate dark skin with lowness.
Half-Elves: The light-skinned descendants of True Elves -- having the same form but different coloration -- and light-skinned Nas variants migrants.  For a time they ruled over their darker-skinned kin as a "chosen few", but they were usurped and many fled to other lands.  Some prejudiced groups still believe in the doctrine of "light makes right".
Dwarves: Short, compact people from the arid yet mineral-rich western mountains who have a peculiar cultural belief: they are the souls of the dead, given new life by the gods to "guard the path of the dead".  Different dwarven clans interpret and carry it out this command differently, though often martially: from preventing outsiders from entering their lands to quests to destroy magic related to death.  Unfortunately some dwarven clans have taken this belief as an excuse to conquer orc tribes because they see the latter's necromantic religion as "refusing to let the dead rest in peace".
Orcs: Nomads of the western plains who practice a shamanistic form of necromancy that "calls the ancestor to assist the living".  They are frequently at war with dwarven clans over the issue of their religion.  They are tall and brawny, heavily built, with greyish-green skin and large canine teeth that sometimes protrude from their jaws especially in males.

More to come.............

Trying to wrap it all in, the Final

Inspirations: Duck Tales, Tailspin.

Adventures of Regular People: The kind of people who so many games' PCs would trample all over in pursuit of their goal.  That's all this universe has.  But there's adventure out there so someone's got to go on it, if only for a change of pace from the adventure back home.

High Magic, No Spellcasters: The universe regularly bends our rules, magic must exist.  But it cannot be controlled by words, rituals, or minds, just a smart person and a device.  Magic sufficiently vague is indistinguishable from physics.

History out the Wazoo: The universe staggers under the weight of history.  The oldest records of anything are of archaeological expeditions that unearthed the most ancient archaeological records then known.  There really is no concept of the "prehistoric".

Endless Horizon: Thousands of worlds are linked by stretches of blended surface so that traveling between is no more difficult than crossing and ocean or mountain.  Even immortal creatures have traveled and yet not seen it all.

I think I'm going to revive Pulp-Dream, so I need to post the old info here to have it when I go to work.


My one overarching design rule is this: "It's a dream, not a reality". By that I mean I don't entirely care if there are logical errors or any of the other factors that break "verisimilitude" or "realism".  Catering to those generally causes my thoughts to grind to a halt while the logic picks apart my idea.  So this time I'm just going to buy into the dream and try to go along for the ride.

The 'look' for the setting:
Pulp: The clothes, the swanky nightclubs, the art deco, the technology, the buildings, the exotic locals, the villains, practically everything about the look of the 30s/40s as portrayed in popular media.  I think that even if I don't use as much as it might seem from how much I like pulp there's definitely going to be a lot of influence.
Fantasy: Colorful/showy clothes/armor and artifacts/tech.  Mostly the stuff you could find in pulp (including the fantasy from pulp such as Conan, though only the look and not the worlds).  The variety and weirdness of the creatures, too, especially races with animalistic qualities.
Modern: Gleaming skyscrapers and a lot of the building interiors.  Honestly even some of the dullest parts of the interior of a modern building I still like.
Sci-fi (more specifically non-distopian futuristic): The way tech functions and what it can do, but not necessarily its look.  Also the vehicles are okay.  I prefer fantasy races to most aliens and don't care to use space travel.

Tropes
Animal-people: Some people don't like them.  Me, they seem to provoke a better response than anything that looks human.  It's various combinations of primality/atavism, mythological, and just the fact that it connects back the cartoons they show you when you're a kid.
The "Better Guys": This is the setting civilization that's closer to the "shining ideal" vision than most of the others.  The society is on the whole tolerant, prosperous, and uncorrupted, and is just generally the best place to live.  This doesn't mean that factions within the larger society can't hate each, that some people might not be richer or poorer, or that there isn't a little corruption in the government.  But the idea is that these are exceptions to provide flavor and something for the protagonists to oppose rather than the norm.
The "Worse Guys": The big legitimate opposition.  The idea is that this society is a lot worse in every way than the "Better Guys", but probably can't be categorized as deliberately destructive and cruel, rather rigidly conformist and with the rich leading corruption.  They're paranoid and greedy, prone to using spies and proxy wars.  But they aren't a totalitarian dictatorship; they are more or less a democracy/republic.  Think of the US during the 50s and you'll probably see what I mean.
The Old Super-Bad Guys: The guys who make everyone else look saintly, the guys you get to kill without guilt.  You know: Nazi-types.
The Adventure Regions: The unexplored or just-starting-to-be-explored region of the setting with all the really cool ancient buildings and MacGuffins.  It's probably inhabited by new civilizations to have misunderstandings with, and is being coveted by the "Worse Guys" while the "Better Guys" are playing diplomat and just generally trying to nice people into joining them.
The Place for Storing Old Stuff: A university or museum (and there's definitely a private club, possibly as opposition) which is dedicated to finding, studying, and keeping Old Stuff so you can have adventures revolving around it.
The Adventurers' Society: The private club for people who go out and get themselves into trouble to go and brag about it afterwards.  These can be "fame and glory" people the Place for Storing Old Stuff calls treasure hunters, or they could just be a convenient (and virtuous) center for adventure dispatch.  Heck, have both and you've got ready-made rivalry.
The "Mall"-burb: I'm using mall here as a reference word to refer to the look of consumer culture America and the way you could see the idealized parts (like the suburb houses) displayed in a mall.  (Note: this isn't meant to be a completely derogatory usage.  I actually think this sort of image is okay for when you want to evoke modern pop culture (such as a game featuring teens).)
The Glamour District: The part of the setting with the pulp city look and swanky places to hang out.
The Swanky Nightclub: The big happening place that people go to for hanging out in style and having meetings with bigwigs.  If you want mobsters and politicians this is the place to find them.
The 5-star Hotel: You have to have somewhere to store your visiting VIPs.


The Alliance:

The Federation: Supposedly a democratic republic in reality the Fed is society of control freaks who are deeply paranoid of anyone who doesn't fit their view of proper civilization.  They have an extensive rivalry with the Alliance.

The Frontier: The region lying between Alliance-Federation territory and Unknown Country, a place still full of secrets where colonies are established and new civilization are contacted.
'"'"Chaos Rim: Region of the Frontier where the tech is antiquated, the environments dangerous, the secrets well hidden, the villains power-hungry maniacs, and the heroes always willing to risk danger.

Gateway, City at the Edge of Everywhere: Born as the hub of trade between the Alliance and the multitude of small nations in Unknown Country, Gateway was once also once the center of Alliance culture back in the period around the time of the Ancients War.  These days it loses out to the newer Alliance colonies.
'"'"Climatological outlook: Warm and sunny during the day, foggy at night.  There's both semi-arid region nearby (essentially like stuff that occurs in the southwestern US out to California) as well as a good tropical swamp.

Foxden University:

The Daring Club:

Silver Fields: (the Creepy Old House on Moon Hill)

Dreamland:

The Silver Cat:

The Henson:


Notes: Panian: Essentially means the same thing as our word "humanoid", except it isn't based upon referring to one species and thus is not considered specist. When referring to human-like head/facial features the word hominid is used.

Tek: The most common sentient species in the nearer multiverse, and for good reason: they are the most adventurous, cosmopolitan, and one of the most adaptable.  They owe most of this success to a genetic leftover from their ancestors: during gestation a tek's genome regarding their outer appearance mutates and rearranges itself constantly, shut down only by the presence of a certain hormone.  From then on a tek's appearance remains stable, only affected by normal aging hormones.  Because of this lack if inherited form tek societies do not carry many of the notions more stable species develop: bloodline and blood power, racial groupings and prejudice, and partner choice and family make-up.  Thus they are often open to new ideas.
This gestation-form-shifting means that there is no one tek look, thought they are all panians.  Tek can most often be said to resemble other creatures: feline, canine, equine, lapine, and rodent are a few of the possibilities.  Mammalian tends to be the most common, but reptilian and avian also occur.  Coloration varies widely, too, from muted to bright tones and in many kinds of patterns.  Extra features such as additional tails or wings are uncommon but not rare.
Tek hybridize easily with many other panian species, though because non-tek genes are not as readily malleable the resulting offspring will still resemble the non-tek parent as usual for that species, and in fact their tek DNA seems to adapt so that the form will be mostly from that parent.

Humans: An unremarkable panian species..

Sonata: Limited shape shifters, some scientists aren't sure if the sonata represent an actual species so much as an inheritable condition.  This confusion stems from their reproduction: sonata can breed with many different panian species (especially tek), and the resulting offspring at first appears to be of that species but will eventually develop shapeshifting and the perceptiveness of a sonata.  Even sophisticated genetic testing often fails to notice this trait until it has fully matured.
Sonata are capable of appearing as nearly any panian species, though the forms seen in tek are the least difficult.

Heyaafoura: A very unique species resembling insects, heyaafoura are not in fact biological organisms.  Though their bodies mimic biological functions there non-bio nature can be seen in their ability to upgrade via modular parts.
The basic form of a heyaafoura is a nearly rectangular semi-chitenous torso, with appendages at each corner and one pair in the middle.  The legs each have two normal joints and one "wrist" joint, plus a "hand" with an average of six finger-like claws.  Their heads are triangular with the point toward the jawed mouth and large eyes at the other points.  They do not possess any form of antenna.
But true heyaafoura appearance depend upon what parts they have on their bodies: they can be large and hulking or smaller and thin; they may utilize four of their appendages as legs or only two; color can vary, but is usually either a sandy gold or dark blue-grey.  The parts are easy to deal with: the heyaafoura enters a "trance" and then can just tug out a part and place in a new one.  The only limitation to this procedure is that the brain of the individual is unreplaceable.
Heyaafoura reproduction is surprisingly simple method given their "biology": each mating individual, and there can be more than one, produces a "seed part" which can then be attached together and grow into a new heyaafoura.

Koryuu: One of the more extreme-living species in the multiverse, Koryuu are capable of surviving in environments ranging though hot, cold, arid, and even a semi-aquatic existence.  Their digestive systems are especially tough, allowing them to eat foods that would sicken or kill other beings.  Their eyes can see into the infrared spectrum and their hearing is quite acute, allowing them to operate relatively well in conditions of no light.  Unlike most sentients they are quadrupedal and lack significant manual dexterity.
A koyruu's head is somewhat feline with a short muzzle and large eyes, though more streamlined in that the muzzle widens toward the back and smoothly joins the cheek area.  Their ears are large and pointed, matching the head in size.  The body and legs are more canine, proportioned for running rather than sprinting.  The tails are not long in relation to body length, and are usually covered in fur.  Coloration is often various patterns of blue-black mixed with orange, red, and/or gold, though solid coloration of those latter three as well as blue hues are known.  Eyes are mostly dark colors, red and purple being common.


The Ancients: Known by various names including Sh'nn (native term from Unknown Country), Serians (super-bad guys' name), Narras (most common used in the current day).

Party for Order Temperance, short form: Porte/Portis (derogatory "morties"): A group originally begun as simple political party it was slowly corrupted into a pride movement based around the superiority of certain individuals who believed themselves descended from the legendary creator species known at that time as the Serians.
They were defeated in the Ancients War, though there are still occasional Neo-Porte movements in the current day.  Their symbol is a skull, ironically a symbol of peace and renewal for many cultures.

They have special powers, so that's a natural superiority complex waiting to happen.  What's key is that these powers don't have to be confined to one species so they aren't racial bigots.  Psionics seems like a good fit: they thing they have psionic power, but the twist would be that psionics don't exist in this setting. Exactly how they think of their "superiority" I'm still working on (i.e. do they think the usual "we are the next stage of evolution").

Doc Hazard: "The Walking Disaster".  An alien genius who appeared on the multiversal scene around the same time as the Porte, and spent the war years fighting their mad scientists before turning her attention to Evil Emperor Thanos.  While a brilliant inventor she has the tendency to cause dangerous situations, either through her own creations or somehow messing up something else that's going on.  Fortunately that principle holds true for the villains she faces as well, and if that doesn't work her loyal cadre of Science Rangers will get the job done.  She is a hero to many on the Frontier.
In appearance she appears as a very short human woman with a large mass of hair she can change the color and shape of at will.

The Science Rangers: Founded by the infamous scientific-adventurer/walking disaster known as Doc Hazard the Rangers were brought together to serve as crime-fighters and troubleshooters in the pre-war period, especially against the Portis.  During the war they were granted full military status though their activities did not change.  Today the organization is a full branch of the Alliance's interplanetary police.

Evil Emperor Thanos: The Doc's archenemy, a cunning mastermind even if he always overestimates his intelligence.  He is the bane of the Chaos Rim and occasionally the Alliance.  Fortunately wherever Thanos shows up to seize power that infernal Doc Hazard and her meddling Science Rangers are never far behind.  Thanos is quite certain that the Doc is the only one in existence with skills to match himself.
Thanos never caries out an evil scheme without his standard group of henchmen:
* One femme fatal personal assistant who inexplicably falls for a male Science Ranger (and occasionally Doc Hazard).
* One brutish lieutenant who's so dumb that a dress and a longhaired wig convinces him that the wearer is female.
* One small yet brainy lieutenant with shifty eyes who's job it is to yell at the troops if Thanos isn't there to do it and to constantly plot to overthrow Thanos.
* One seemingly endless supply of themed warrior-mooks who have face-obscuring helmets.

Ixator's Discount Villain Supplies: "Ixator's, where you always know what to buy because it's the same stuff you bought last time!
Ixator's is not responsible for any failure of our merchandise due to the cleverness and/or incompetence of a plucky/ragtag (band of) hero(es) and/or your own minions even if you bought them at Ixator's."
Ixator's appears to be a multiplanetary service catering exclusively to the basic needs of villains: elaborate costumes, showy gadgets, fully stocked lairs in out-of-the-way places, even henchmen and mooks.  Villain's never have to seek out Ixator's: if they are suitably villainous a salesthing from Ixator's just shows up to present a selection of merchandise and take orders.  Oddly no money has ever changed hands in these sales, leading many to wonder what exactly it is that Ixator's takes as payment.
Non-villains are acquainted with Ixator's through the distinctive logo stamped somewhere on all their products: a large, painfully obvious red circle with the words "Do Not Push" written on it in a selection of regional languages.

The Mob: I'll probably just include them for the heck of it.  I'm not good with terribly frightening universes, so they'll be threatening but when they're not being focused on you don't have to worry about them sneaking up behind you with a Tommy gun.  Ironically they survive better in Alliance civilization than the Federation, either because the latter is quite willing to trample peoples' rights in pursuit of "justice" or because the latter is so corrupt that there's too much competition to keep together an organization.

"Big Boss": Most mob bosses you see aren't the physically toughest people.  You can tell because they always have someone whose body language says "I break people for a living".  Not Big Boss: he's got the brains, he's got the charisma, and he's got 8 ft of pure muscle and hide.  When he goes out he's surrounded by people whose body language says "I'm paid to stay out of the way and clean up afterwards".


Symphona: The supposed ancestors of the tek and sonata, the symphona could supposedly alter not only their outer appearance but also their entire body structure, mass, and even transform into energy.  Unfortunately all of what is known about them comes from legends: they are considered to have been extinct for thousands of years at least.  Some individuals have appeared claimed to be one of them, but invariably they turn out to be mutant throwbacks.

Temporary placing this here while I wait to feel better about going on.[note]Inspiration: Tailspin

System: either Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2 or Mutants&Masterminds[/note]

My one overarching design rule is this: "It's a dream, not a reality". By that I mean I don't entirely care if there are logical errors or any of the other factors that break "verisimilitude" or "realism".  Catering to those generally causes my thoughts to grind to a halt while the logic picks apart my idea.  So this time I'm just going to buy into the dream and try to go along for the ride.

The 'look' for the setting:
Pulp: The clothes, the swanky nightclubs, the art deco, the technology, the buildings, the exotic locals, the villains, practically everything about the look of the 30s/40s as portrayed in popular media.  I think that even if I don't use as much as it might seem from how much I like pulp there's definitely going to be a lot of influence.
Fantasy: Colorful/showy clothes/armor and artifacts/tech.  Mostly the stuff you could find in pulp (including the fantasy from pulp such as Conan, though only the look and not the worlds).  The variety and weirdness of the creatures, too, especially races with animalistic qualities.
Modern: Gleaming skyscrapers and a lot of the building interiors.  Honestly even some of the dullest parts of the interior of a modern building I still like.
Sci-fi (more specifically non-distopian futuristic): The way tech functions and what it can do, but not necessarily its look.  Also the vehicles are okay.  I prefer fantasy races to most aliens and don't care to use space travel.

Tropes
Animal-people: Some people don't like them.  Me, they seem to provoke a better response than anything that looks human.  It's various combinations of primality/atavism, mythological, and just the fact that it connects back the cartoons they show you when you're a kid.
Manifestation: There are only four alien species in this setting.  One is a mystery, two are rare and alien (though not too alien, there are limits to what I can put up with).  So instead of a multitude of alien races there is only one very common one which can have variability along generations extreme enough that two dimorphic individuals who would appear to be difference species can have a recent ancestor in common.  And enough of these forms are animalistic to satisfy me.

The "Better Guys": This is the setting civilization that's closer to the "shining ideal" vision than most of the others.  The society is on the whole tolerant, prosperous, and uncorrupted, and is just generally the best place to live.  This doesn't mean that factions within the larger society can't hate each, that some people might not be richer or poorer, or that there isn't a little corruption in the government.  But the idea is that these are exceptions to provide flavor and something for the protagonists to oppose rather than the norm.
Manifestation: The Alliance (I really suck at nation naming).

The "Worse Guys": The big legitimate opposition.  The idea is that this society is a lot worse in every way than the "Better Guys", but probably can't be categorized as deliberately destructive and cruel, rather rigidly conformist and with the rich leading corruption.  They're paranoid and greedy, prone to using spies and proxy wars.  But they aren't a totalitarian dictatorship; they are more or less a democracy/republic.  Think of the dark side of the US during the 50s and you'll probably see what I mean.
Manifestation: The Federation.

The Old Super-Bad Guys: The guys who make everyone else look saintly, the guys you get to kill without guilt.  You know: Nazi-types.  In this setting the WWII equivalent is already over, meaning these guys get to be a guerilla threat rather than a direct threat.
Manifestation: (I've yet to name them, I just know their main belief was that they are the descendants of the "Ancients" while everyone else is just a creation)

The Big War that Changed Everything: Normally in these types of settings it's a WWI equivalent, and the events happening in the setting hinting at a WWII.  However I'd rather not have WWII dogging my steps, and since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has shown that you can still have pulp style in a 50s era I'm going to have the Big War be over so the setting can move on.
Manifestation: The Ancients War (so named because the question of who they were played such a big role).

The Adventure Regions: The unexplored or just-starting-to-be-explored region of the setting with all the really cool ancient buildings and MacGuffins.  It's probably inhabited by new civilizations to have misunderstandings with, and is being coveted by the "Worse Guys" while the "Better Guys" are playing diplomat and just generally trying to nice people into joining them.
Manifestation: The Frontier, with the Chaos Rim one part of it.

The Third Thing

Genre: Semi-science-fantasy/Comedy

Summary:
An alternate in which interplanetary travel is accomplished not by FTL spaceships but by ground-level traveling through a spacetime-bypass dimension.  The only sentient species are humanoids known as the jin, who come in several appearance sub-groups descended from ancient genetic experiments.  "Heinous conflict" (i.e. warfare and terrorism) are unknown in the present day, viewed as symptoms of the unenlightened past in which it drastically altered their planets' ecologies.  Games set here are intended instead to revolve around conflicts that do not effect the larger world.

Adventure City
[ic]"Of course the name isn't subtle: these weren't subtle people.  These were people who entered 'forbidden cities' to find out why they were forbidden." -- historian Feileen Jalasinh, Adventure History: Adventure City[/ic]

Situated on the island of Dragon's Pearl in the Veiled Sea, Adventure City is perhaps the perfect spot for those who wish Endless Horizon still held something left undiscovered.  Reckless explorers still return from the mist-shrouded sea with tales of rifts that lead to worlds untouched by modern civilization.  If rumors are believed true pirates use the city's port to unload the spoils of primitive sea-lanes in exchange for a few items of modern technology.  Urban legends are frequently told of the artifacts -- or in some cases things -- brought back from expeditions.  Adventure City, it seems, will be eternally awash in reasons it is aptly named.

Silverse

I've had this setting -- in a couple of forms -- for a long time now.  But I've never really gotten to see much because I really have to write in order to spur the mind's eye to get more than brief views.  Since I consider world-building as good as an actual story at this point I'm going to mark it down as a game setting and see what it is.

In simple terms it's a series of worlds, fairly Earth-like planets, linked by things called "rifts": big holes where bits of one planet blend right in to bits of another planet, and the only sign being a slight rainbow tinge especially around the edges.  (And I mean big, not dinky little stargates.  Entire cities fit into some of these things.)  Most people only pay attention to the ones on the surface and in the sky, but some can be found underwater and -ground.  Multiple exist per planet, most at the surface.

The rifts have always been there, and are always open, and do not prevent anything from traveling through them.  None of the planets vary in terms of composition and gravity, and a few only a somewhat in global climate range.  Even assuming that life might have arisen independently on a few of them lifeforms are similar and related in dizzyingly complex webs across the multi-planet despite their differences.  The same holds true of cultures and races.  One can only begin to imagine how mind-boggling this makes history beyond the local level.

The regions vary in too many other ways anyway.  Tech level is piece-meal: a region can eschew guns but possess networked computers and advanced airships, while in another most advanced technology is rare but laser-blaster guns exist and are used.  This can be due to a variety of factors including regional attitude, as well as use of the mysterious scientific force known as "pseudomagic".

A simple blurb for the Silverse, which has now picked up the title of Endless Horizon:

Title: Endless Horizon

Tagline: "You could be immortal and not see all of it."

Premise: An endless number of worlds, linked by rifts in spacetime.  People have been using these rifts since forever to create a web of interactions not bound by the edge of a planet.
Many of these rifts are large and easily visible.  But if you know what you're doing you can find the small and invisible ones'¦'¦'¦'¦.
(That's the basics of the master setting, inside of which I construct regions to support a certain game or type of game I wish to play.  The existence of a larger world gives justification for creative ideas which might not fit the limited regional context but nevertheless fit the game, something I've found I like to have both for myself and for my players.)

Some of the random regional setting ideas that have crossed through my mind:

Crosstown: A big coastal city that sit between four major rifts, making it an important spot on travel and trade routes.  Everything passes through Crosstown, and that includes trouble: from ancient artifacts that some should have read the huge freakin' warning labels on to evil alien races that want to make a killing at the stock market.  It's even got a series title: "Crosstown Chaos", which is the adventures of the schmucks who have foil the plans and clean up the mess.

Divergent Paths: What happens when two neighboring regions decide to go separate ways over what destroyed a third?  You have two sides so focused on hating each other that they don't notice evil trying to take them over.
Oceana: Earth with serial numbers filed off and the continents flooded and broken into islands.  Eschews "magic".
Mare: Fantasy world that has developed "magitech" Information Age technology.  Eschews industry.
Khar: A continent where "magic" brought on an industrial age, and then an industrial war that went apocalypse.  Now it's the perfect place for power-hungry despots to plan the conquest of Oceana and Mare.

The School on the Edge: A school that sits on the edge of a town around a rift inside a volcanic crater.  Outside the crater is a slightly untamed fantasy-style world.

[ic]Caldera.  Founded in the year AE 925.  Built within the massive formation for which it is named, the world around it is harsh, arid desert and the location would have been nothing more than another criminal hideout if not for the many rifts dotting the caldera.  While not as many as the more famous Crosstown and Nexus City, it ensures that Caldera is the regional waystation for all cross-world economic activities.  As usual this also attracts all the trouble types, combining with its volcano location to give the city the nickname "Hot Town".[/ic]

Part of a larger setting (Worldwalk) in which world are linked by usually visible, open, and permanent spacetime "rifts".  Caldera is one of those "cities at the center of the world", a place where so much stuff passes through that it's just inevitable that it becomes a place for stuff to happen and/or the home base of a group that goes elsewhere to find stuff happening.

The tech level of Worldwalk is nearly like our own, but with the exception that the burning of hydrocarbons (both for fuel and in gunpowder) are replaced by the combining of various special minerals.  The most important is Vaporstone, used to fuel reaction engines and guns/cannons, which has the property of naturally collecting in planetary atmospheres and rains back to the surface in solid form, meaning it's naturally recycled on a sustainable scale.  (Fireworks combine it with a stone that creates light.)

Notes for an upcoming fantasy setting:
Species:
Tek: Anthropomorphics including humans, possessing genetics that can cause the "skin" of an offspring's form to be different from the parents'.  Supposedly descendants of a shape- and matter-shifting species.
Nobles/Savages: A social eugenics program by a radical tek empire to breed back in their ancestors legendary power, discarding all undesirable "savage" traits into a labor and comtatant underclass.  The program was a failure, resulting in both groups becoming more animal-like and limited mentally.  The empire crumbled not long after, with the Nobles and Savages now engaged in an endless race war.
Demons: A highly magical species possibly related to the tek having forms that resemble them.

Religions:
Animal Ancestor Worship
The Five Goddesses: Fire, Water, Earth, Time, Chaos.

A world nowhere near human
A setting where every sentient species must be at most half-human, half-animal or -creature.  No humans, or dwarves, elves, orcs, little people, goblins, ogres, giants, etc.  Instead you have centaurs, stayrs/fauns, mermaids, minotaurs, sphinxes, dragons, pegasi, unicorns, griffons, intelligent animals, anthropomorphic animals, and then anything else I can make up.  What kind of weird stuff can you get when you replace "mostly human" with "mostly beast" and still have a civilization?

I don't see how Pegasi/Unicorns/Griffons are half-human.

I took "at least" to mean "in the smallest amount".

EDIT: Fixed it.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawWhat kind of weird stuff can you get when you replace "mostly human" with "mostly beast" and still have a civilization?

Um, pretty much the same weird stuff that you could potentially get in a "mostly human" setting?

Quote from: Ghostman

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawWhat kind of weird stuff can you get when you replace "mostly human" with "mostly beast" and still have a civilization?

Um, pretty much the same weird stuff that you could potentially get in a "mostly human" setting?

Good, that'll make things easy.

(Was that a stupid question?  (From me, not you.))

A new fantasy species:
Ssl: 10 ft tall mobile trees, ssl resemble an upright, abdomenless insect, most closely the head, thorax, and thin legs of a praying mantis with branches growing there out of.  Ssl are said to be either descendants or child-creations of the legendary creator trees known as Ggddrssl, and whether or not this is true they share their legendary forebears urge to discover and produce new forms of creation.

Pretty interesting critters. Are they actual plants or insects, or something entirely different? Those branches have leaves or needles growing on them?

What kind of things do they create? Plants and animals, or perhaps rocks, hills, rivers, caves, mountains, clouds and winds? Crop circles?

How do you pronounce Ggddrssl?

Quote from: GhostmanPretty interesting critters. Are they actual plants or insects, or something entirely different?

I'm not sure if it's that simple: what constitutes a "plant", exactly?  I can't recall plant and animal cells having too many differences when you get right down to the components.  What this means is that the ssl are, more or less, both plant and animal, having cells that could be found in either, although often arranged in structures more resembling a plant.

Quote from: GhostmanThose branches have leaves or needles growing on them?

Needles are leaves.

Quote from: GhostmanWhat kind of things do they create? Plants and animals, or perhaps rocks, hills, rivers, caves, mountains, clouds and winds? Crop circles?

All of the above, if it's possible to create them based on a plan.  The ggdrssl created creatures based on plans, growing them inside their bodies.  Since ssl do not have that capability (they reproduce like plants) they must fulfill the desire to do so in other ways.

Quote from: GhostmanHow do you pronounce Ggddrssl?

You either need to be a tree or speak Ent to actually make the correct sounds: *cracking strain*-*droaning strain*-*rustle*.  For those of you who can't produce tree noises it's something like "gg(dental stop)-drr-ssil".

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawNeedles are leaves.

I know. I just wanted to know what they look like: summertime trees, evergreens, or trees that have shed their leaves for the winter.

Quote from: GhostmanI just wanted to know what they look like: summertime trees, evergreens, or trees that have shed their leaves for the winter.

All of the above.  Different regional variants mimic different trees.

They were made to take advantage of the Rootwalker species from Fantasycraft, which has feats you can take at first level to be different kinds of trees.

Mirrorskies: Crosstown
This is something I'm posting here more to have a common access point between my home and work.  It is a game setting, but not one intended for the tastes usually displayed on this site.

Genre: Science-Fantasy Comedy
Tech Level: The technology appears contemporary to our own period, but much of it is in fact futuristic.
Theme and Tone: Discovering the whacky diversity and similarity of the universe.
Story Elements: Infinite multiple worlds, strange beings, fantastic powers, characters right in the middle.....

Crosstown sits between several mirrorskies -- zones where one planet of the multiverse transitions into another, also known as nh'hn -- giving it a prime position as a trade hub (and its name).  Crosstown is prosperous because material and memetic goods flow through it.  But other things must also cross Crosstown, and they can often be labeled under 'excitement' and 'trouble'.....

Geography: Crosstown sits on a coastal plain where several rivers from the mountains in the northeast drain into the sea.  A series of rocky islands protects the large merged outlet of two rivers enough to form a bay around which the city is centered.  The entire Crosstown Metropolitan Area actually spreads out over the half the plain.

Economy: The business of Crosstown is getting things from one place to another.  The main industries are import/export, headquartering, banking, and maintenance/supply of transport vessels and their crews.  Minor industries include tourism and educational institutions that boast about the 'obviousness of their diversity'.  There are no manufacturing centers and very little agriculture anywhere near the city as the metropolis can obtain all its needs through trade.

Mirrorskies: The Sihr
The world of the sihr lie at the edge of a mostly unexplored region of the Mirrorskies, and this is evident not only in the sparseness of its settlement but in the design of its devices: the sihr utilize the unexplained energy principle commonly known as "magic".  This allows their devices to do without many of the parts necessary for non-magic designs, but at the expense of the efficiency necessary for certain devices such as energy weapons and factories.  Many sihr inhabitants look upon this as a blessing, stressing the benefits of a society that must consider issues such as warfare and materialism up close and personal.

The Sihr
Definition: "Sihr" originally just meant "magic".  As part of the names of Easihr and Kisihr (lit: "the sea by magic" and "the sky by magic") it became a shorthand for referring to them.  Eventually as a tradition most new settlements continued to incorporate "sihr" into their names -- Ansihr ("below by magic"), Cirsihr ("Circe's created place by magic"), Sihr Monolith -- until the meaning changed to become a reference to a settlement that relied on magic.
"Sihr" is both singular and plural.

Below is a list of the most famous sihr:
Easihr: The Moving Island.
Kisihr: The Flying Mountains.
Ansihr: The Demon Caverns.
Cirsihr: The Witch's Isle.
Shir Monolith: The Grand Fortress.

Mirrorskies: Edge
Out in the Far Places, where the Weave of common Mirrorsky technology and science hasn't exactly reached, there are places that mix the two in odd ways.  Edge is one of them: Creatures provide most of the force, whether this be motive or "behind pointy pieces of metal" variety.  Energy principles not yet understood in the region are grouped under "magic".  Yet there are magic labor-saving devices and the consumer culture that goes along with them, and an entertainment industry that feeds recording disks into magic-powered home viewers.  It's a world of swords, sorcery.....and superstars!

Geography: Edge is literally that: an edge.  One side of a plateau runs for a hundred miles.  The tamed lands sit atop the massive plateau, cities strung out along the edge.  Below are the untamed lands: jungles and plains full of creatures and old ruins.

basic premise: a world created by fantastic, mythic elements rather than mundane
sub-ideas: literal fantastic elements (instead of earth, fire, water, wood, metal, air, light, ice you have mysterious things like "surprise"), rivalry between followers of once-lovers the "earth snake" and the "celestial bird", racial lines drawn between the jin and the more powerful yaojing despite there not really being much difference, many fantastic colorful places to visit

fantastic elements, the "patterns of the cycle": excitement, twist, patience, reverse, direction

the jin: the lower-powered beings, coming in a variety of different flavors such as fox, cat, bovine, dolphin, squirrel, lizard, bird, and human

th yaojing: essentially jin, but with a longer lifespan and being stronger and more prone to magic and mutation

the celestial bird, aka Tianshangniao: represents the heavens, the greater elements, careful and orderly conduct with due respect for what has come before.  sits at the top of the "Palace of Heaven" in order to oversee the grand bureaucracy that ensures the world runs as the cycles predict.

the earth snake, aka Chenshe: represents the world, the lesser elements, rash and risky conduct that pushes boundaries and causes change.  lies coiled within the earth to nourish it with her breath.

the rivalry: obviously those who follow the bird like to keep life humming along in a precise way.  they're not against change per-see, but they believe it should be patient and methodical to ensure minimum disruption.  of course, being mortal and all, this often results in quashing creativity and things like social mobility.  the followers of the snake counter with disruptive behavior and the encouraging of risk.  neither comes out as "right" (in fact many times both come out as wrong), but the common people believe both sides are necessary for the running of life so neither can ever fully win, just grab enough political power to oppress the other.

UPDATE: Further refinement:
eliminate the yaojing, it's just needless complexity

re-add ssl, but define them as mostly mantid (except for clawed hands on the forelegs), add more animal-like plant creatures

random idea being posted here in case someone wants to steal it:
human fantasy setting based on the Five Symbols (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Symbols_%28Chinese_constellation%29) of China and their associated attributes
like: Black-landers (cold north, grey skin and dark grey instead of white in eyes), White-landers (west, white hair), Red-landers (south, US Southwest-style desert), Blue-landers (east, islands, blue skin), Yellow-landers (center, basic Chinese analogue)

Some notes for a new fantasy setting.  It's going to be disconnected, as rather than try and force everything to fit I'm just going to create the pieces and see how they grow into each other.

Material world: Only thing worshiped.

Dancers: May have something to do with religion.  May also have something to do with magery.

Wild/Piece Mages: Have pieces of magic inside them, giving them powers but not spells.