The Campaign Builder's Guild

Well, there are some interesting ideas here. Truth be told, it's not immediately to my taste, but I would be interested in learning more.

My main questions:

• Why were the Manticore Gardens built in the first place? The grand legacy of a powerful, mad, ostentatious emperor that Sovereign Babylon came to inherit, or maybe the secret part of a conspiracy? From the descriptions, it seems there's not a lot of practical reasons for it to be there.
• Are the Thralls basically Human, or a different species entirely?
• When you say they are used for food, do you mean the Thralls themselves are eaten, or are they forced into maintaining vast artificial farms within building?
• How is the richness of the Manticore Gardens maintained? On the backs of the slaving thralls, on a thriving sea trade, or on the skills of the Alchemists?
• Lastly, what kind of roles would the players take in this setting? Thralls, who work to start a revolution; Courtiers, who seem to work only to their own ends, or any kind desired?

Its definitely an interesting concept, even if it doesn't fit usual preconceptions. I look forward to reading more about it.

Well, I've been working on a world that I'd eventually like to run a game in. I have a majority of the setting fleshed out, so I thought I should start thinking about what rules would work here.

However, looking through the SRDs, I've found none fit exactly right.

See, in this region of space, the fabric of the universe is unstable, and this tends to manifest as the ability of sentient creatures to change their environment to a degree. So, I have come to think that most people in this setting (say, 95%) would have some kind of 'magical ability' - though, I think they would progress slowly in these abilities, unless they dedicate their life to practicing them.

There would be many magical elements present in this setting, however - it is not a medieval setting. On the technological side, it would be at least at the 20th-Century level, and usually at 21st or 22nd, as technology is often improved by adding a bit of magic. There are giant floating cruise liners, colonies on moons and other planets, crystal laser rifles, and a portal-based planet-wide communications network.

Getting to the point, I like the variety of spells available in regular D&D, but also the rules for vehicles and starships in d20 Modern/Future. Do you recommend I mix and match from these systems, or is there another ruleset that would require less reworking?

Do you have any ideas on measuring larger intervals of time in Mare Eternus? I know you have the cogs, providing second/day measurements.

I guess without a star there's be a much different definition of a 'year'. Maybe there is some large clockwork chronometer/calendar that the civilizations base their time off of, or possibly the time since an important event in the past (like the arrival of their home in the Expanse, for the Gerrag).

For Nomadic's Mare Eternus setting.

[ic=The Salt Tomb]Far from Indacus, across the Empty Quarter and beyond the Veld Drift, lies a region where nothing lives. Indeed, nothing could live in a place like this.

The Salt Tomb is thankfully very distant from civilized areas – even then, some worry that centuries in the future, it will intrude into other Quarters. For now, it is a small region that is avoided by all Maeri.

Once a small, but surviving worldlet named Resson, the Salt Tomb is now choked with salt. Navigation becomes more difficult the further into the region one delves, with saltbergs drifting randomly about, and the thickness of the water can slow ships. At the center of the Salt Tomb lies an almost pure sphere of salt, constantly leeching salt into the surrounding water.

Beyond the first trip to find it, no voyage has again been made to this intimidating and dangerous place. Its discoverer, the famed scholar and explorer Haran Indaci, was once a captain of renown, but retired from seagoing missions soon after returning to Indacus.

It is not known whether it was a curse by forgotten ancestors, angry gods, or merely malfunctioning machinery, but many Maeri take it as a lesson to always honour one's ancestors, and treat the cogs with respect.[/ic]

I initially wrote a short story, but it turned out to be almost a page, so I will save that for afterwards, in a different thread.

(In the absence of an official discussion thread, I thought this would be best place to post my thoughts.)

All the entries have been interesting to read. The Halls of the Enshrouded for Arga struck a chord with me - it is evocative and mysterious, but with enough detail to make it work.

I joined a bit late to enter this contest, but now I am eager to take part in next month's contest.

I like it - sort of a Crimson Skies meets Waterworld type setting.

Can we look forward to pirates (I imagine both air or water-based pirates could work) or dirigibles? Although, dirigibles could well be older technology than is current in the setting, and gas in that much quantity might be hard to come by.

How do the nations get along? Would they share information and resources, or hoard them to ensure continuing strength? I can imagine that if they don't share information, there could be opportunity for spying/infiltration/sabotage missions.

After reading through most of it, I quite like Mare Eternus so far. There is enough diversity of species and tech levels to open up many opportunities for adventure. Your description of Moyrasmere is neat as well - I always like to read about how the common people get by in any setting.

However, I have a few lingering concerns about the general physics of your universe. I understand that this is a fantastical one, but there should be at least a few things that players can understand coming into their first session here without heavy reading.

-Is there a surface? You mention zeppelins, but without flying in the air, I would think they'd just be larger submarines.

-I think a map or diagram of at least one of the Worlds would help to imagine what they are like. You mention that they are small, yet describe many different types of terrain within them. Maybe they are stacked, or contain many different layers, like an onion.

-Lastly, is the ocean safe to drink, or do people have to rely on freshwater lakes/streams within the Worlds to find non-salty water?

So far, Primeval looks very promising. I haven't seen many 'Stone Age' settings, and this one seems quite engaging. I look forward to learning more about it.

I hope that at least one civilization, maybe the Jamibians, use obsidian - with a large, active volcano nearby, there could be plenty of it.

However, I have a few questions. 600,000 sq. miles is somewhat small to be the main landmass of the entire planet (though maybe if it were smaller than Earth, or is just covered mostly by water) - that's the same area as Mongolia. You mentioned that leaders have their sites set on distant lands - maybe there are more landmasses, just too far away to be of much concern to the main setting?

I also wonder how they know there are distant lands at all. From what I remember, Chalcolithic cultures were slow to spread or explore.

I will keep up with this setting as you develop it - it sounds like it would be fun to adventure in.