The Campaign Builder's Guild

Well, I'll put up something new, at any rate.  This isn't necessarily fluff text, it's more of an explanation on the faith of Lantharian.  This is posted because it's such an important part of the world itself.  

 
Lantharian
LG Deity
Domains: Creation, Exorcism, Glory, Good, Healing, Inquisition, Justice, Law, Light, Mysticism, Purification, Retribution, Strength, Sun, and War
Cleric Alignment: LG, NG, LN
Holy Symbol: A solid brass circle with a feather across it
Favored Weapon: Longsword
Other Names: 'The Shining One', 'Lord of Morning', 'Father of Light', 'Solar Judge'

Lantharianism
Lantharianism is the predominant religious movement in the world and is localized around the worship of Lantharian above all others.  The religion's adherents refer to themselves as Lantharians or Lantharianese.  It has spread across the known world and has successfully displaced, if not wholly subsumed or destroyed them completely, but for a few other major world religions.  In a few rare cases, Lantharianism has been fused with native belief to create an amalgam of localized worship.

Lantharianism is broken down, by official definition, into two major movements:

1.  Orthodoxy: Being the largest and most influential and powerful form of Lantharianism.  The majority of practitioners follow this brand of Lantharianism.
2.  Heterodoxy: A catch-all phrase for those who follow alternate interpretations of Lantharianism, originally coined by followers of Orthodoxy.  

Orthodoxy
Orthodox Lantharianism has traditionally been lead by a small handful of individuals known as Archprelates, representing the five greatest cities of Orthodoxy, of which two currently remain as such: the Archprelate of Kalin, and the Archprelate of Lodos.  It is the Archprelate of Kalin that concerns this article.
 
The Archprelate of Kalin is typically the 'greatest among equals' and he is the true leader of Orthodoxy.  The Archprelate of Kalin is both the public face of Orthodoxy as well as the premier spiritual leader for all followers and is served by two bodies of individuals: the Pontificate who deal with law codes, and the Seminary of Pastors who provide spiritual guidance to individuals.  The Archprelate of Kalin is directly advised by the Regia, a body of men and women who advise on matters of doctrine; they are drawn from both groups.  

In game terms, Orthodoxy follows these rules:

1.  Most clergymen, including village priests up to deacons, abbots, and bishops hold ranks in the Expert class.  Their specialty is the class skill Knowledge (Religion), supplemented by such skills as Profession (Counselor), Sense Motive, Diplomacy, etc. which support their role.  These individuals are the predominant members of the Seminary of Pastors, who advise on religious grounds, and perform liturgical rites at feasts, ceremonies, and other such events.

2.  A small minority of Church members demonstrate Gifts or Abilities.  Generally, these individuals are those that do not get involved in the day-to-day organization of the Church, but are trained to fulfill special tasks.  These people are members of player character classes, such as Clerics and Paladins, and the prestige classes which can evolve from them.  They are supported by experts, and they are the Pontificate.

3. Those that are considered the most holy do not come from the Cleric or Paladin class, but come from the Contemplative Prestige Class.  Archprelates are always Contemplatives.  It should be noted that the prestige class has been changed back to the initial requirements from the 3.0 Defenders of the Faith book, to more accurately represent a devout individual being graced with divinity.

The Pontificate

The Pontificate is a body which enforces proper behavior and sees to those that actively breach dogma.  It consists of numerous offices within it, and is one of the most politically active sections of the Church.

1.  The Temple: Members of the Temple are known as Templars, regardless of having classes other than the Templar PrC.  It is both a physical location, known as the Basilica Curia in Kalin, as well as an institution of those sworn to protect it.  The bulk of the Temple is formed of Lawful Fighters, Paladins, Clerics, and other appropriate classes.  Templars guard relics, protect the Archprelate, and conduct the majority of the actions in holy wars.

2.  The Hospital: Members of the Hospital are known as Hospitallers, regardless of having classes other than the Hospitaller PrC.  It too is a physical location, the Hospital of Saint Hier as well as an institution dedicated to healing, succor, as well as protecting pilgrims on their journeys in troubled lands.  The bulk of the Hospital is formed of Lawful Fighters, Paladins, and Clerics, as well as appropriate classes.  It operates numerous smaller hospitals throughout the lands.

3.  The Mission: Charged with bringing the tenants of Lantharianism to the undereducated and heathen masses, it is concerned most with proselytizing.  The mission has no set location, and is often stationed out of the Basilica Curia.  The majority of its followers are the Expert class, and because they are mostly off converting individuals to Lantharianism, it is one of the few offices of the Pontificate that lack political clout.

4.  The Inquisition: Is an office responsible for rooting out corruption within as well as without the church, which has made them greatly feared.  Its primary goal is to uncover demonic and diabolic influences.  Paladins are less common than Clerics, although most followers of the Inquisition are Experts.  The Inquisition is located in a specific wing of the Basilica Curia and operates mostly independently.


Heterodoxy
Heterodox worship of Lantharian is classified in the context of the Orthodox movement '" the predominant religious institution within Wylan.  Depending on the location and the varying control of the Orthodox movement in the region, heterodoxical religions can be welcomed, tolerated, or outright persecuted.  Heterodox movements are also faiths of varying sizes and strengths; in centuries past they were smaller movements based around a particular monastic movement that threatened Orthodoxy.  Some of these remained small, while others have become quite large, particularly with the loosening hold of the Orthodox movement on the spiritual faith of the continent of Wylan.

Since the term '˜heterodoxy' is a catch-all phrase coined by Orthodox theologians the groups defined as heterodoxy often function under differing names, preferring to be known out of context with the Orthodox movement.  Such groups can be the Reconciliatory Sophists, Gnosis Mystics, Sinopian Lantharianists, Mateanism, among others.

However, there are two growing bodies of heterodox faiths that are known as the Rectificationists and the Reformists.  Rectificationists, under a movement known as the Rectification, believes that the Orthodox church of Lantharian has become corrupt and twisted in its ways, and seeks to rectify the mistakes in dogma and theological discourse.  They consider themselves the 'true Lantharians' and are often offended at being called heterodox followers.

Reformists differ from Rectificationists in that they want to reform the church completely, having nothing to do with wanting to return to a 'true' version of Orthodoxy.  Those that subscribe to reformist dogma wish to completely overhaul the entire system of faith, and numerous small splinter groups have formed around charismatic leaders, each impressing their own vision of what Lantharianism should be.  The Reformist movement, however, is still relatively small.

Lantharian Doctrine and Dogmata
The doctrine of Lantharian, the core values that almost all of the disparate groups of Lantharian worshippers follow, has been coalesced into a tome of documents known as the Holy Codex.  The codex is a large, multi-chapter tome that includes several other books previously written by prophets, historians, archprelates, and other religious men.  However, not every codex is similar.  While all revolve around a core group of texts, depending on the denomination, the codex can have very different books included within it.  A handful of holy books used by Rectificationists and Reformists dispute even the core books of Orthodoxy.

The core of Lantharian worship is complete worship and veneration of the deity of Lantharian himself and the deity represents a number of different facets of both Orthodox and Heterodox religion.  Lantharian is at once a compassionate and judgmental deity and embodies the sternest aspects of retribution, law, justice as well as those of light, compassion, and goodness.  The followers of Lantharian feel their souls are saved through their faith to Lantharian and believe that when they pass, their souls will join Lantharian in a place popularly known as Heaven.
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This is basically a mirror image from both Latin Christendom and the Tales fo Wyre story hour thread on ENWorld (Which is an amazing story and has influenced me greatly).  I liked it so much, I wanted to include it with some minor alterations.  It's a lot easier for my players to relate to one, Christian-like religion than a bunch of small, polythiestic ones with a multitude of deities each.

Hmm.  Any other general questions I can reply to?  Any at all?

I think that it is a wonderful idea that you're offering the choice between having a hosted site of two types of quality and not.  Personally, I feel that this kind of small community would be greatly improved by offering such services, as long as they don't attack the functionality of the other services.

Unfortunately, I will probably not be using many of the services available.  A forum is good enough for me, right now, and I don't remember enough of HTML to make a website as professionally as I would like.

But kudos on doing the best you can to provide a home for those of us serious about our own campaign settings.  In my opinion, the CBG's already far surpassed many of the other such sites.  Keep it up. :)

Thank you.  I'm glad people are starting to wander over and look at it. I admit it's not much at the moment, because I generally have a handful of notes scattered about.  I'm trying to butcher the rules for Broadsides!: Naval Adventures for the setting, because I've basically gotten the rules figured out for my aeroplanes.  

If you, or anyone else, are interested in any aspect of my game, please.  It'd probably be easier to update based on a question by question basis, so if someone asked, "Can I see X subject" I can put it up, or simply say, "Sorry, I haven't gotten that far yet, but this is my idea for it."

Thank you for the summaries, and I look forward to the link.  I will have to look at the Black Company when I have time.  I'm prepping to go back to University soon, so it'll be a bit, I think.  

If you, or anyone else, have any questions about my races (I have about 5 written up, three or so actually finished with flavor quotes), Lantharianism, how the classes fit into the world/what classes I'm running with, or other general aspects of the game, I'm very willing to answer them.  

That's the purpose of this thread since I don't have enough yet to actually post as even a quasi-comprehensive guide.

Tomás de Torquemada... ;)  Perhaps.  

Maturity: I would like it to be so.  There's no reason why my group of friends should be playing in immature games, even if I have to beat it out of them.  I like mature games of political intrigue and moralistic problems, so this is what the game will contain.  But it will also have traditional hack n'slash.

Grittiness: I didn't want to drastically change the magic level from the core D&D books.  I try to do it in other settings and it doesn't necessarily work too well.  With the way the magic items aren't on open market, which is said to effectively curtail the prevalence of magic items floating around, I could go the Martin route.  Aeromancers, for instance, are called aeromancers by other people because they believe they do magic-work.  If one called an aeromancers such in front of a wizard....hoo boy.

I was greatly marked to be the avatar of some spear wielding deity, destined to lead countless legions in a holy war against His enemies.  Odin, perhaps?  I know not, but the spear-head scar on my arm is proof enough.

It is most definately NOT due to an accident with a heat-gun and an irate mother.

Generally, I think I want aircraft to be the most unique technology available. Not really explained here is the naval technology, which is a mirror for the Golden Age of Pirates.  I was heavily inspired to use these vessels while playing a bender of Sid Meier's Pirates!, so it's very similar. I haven't worked on it yet because I haven't found good sailing rules.

In direction of Evolution, I won't generally know until we start playing in it, if ever.  I generally havent thought that far ahead, being as I'm concerned with setting up the foundation right now.  Like I said, I don't want this to be steampunk in style or flavor, and I still want it to retain that traditional fantasy feel.

As for the gods, its generally the upper levels that would have access and contact directly, or indirectly.  In Lantharianism, most of the mortal contact comes about by celestials in Lantharian's service, while the Lord God Himself most likely would keep quiet and allow mortals to do His work.  When one gets into the upper levels, depending on their outlook and alignment, it wouldn't be out of the question to have serious devils (Dukes or lower in the Hellish society) come to tempt stalwart paladins.

Lantharian (Either he or through his proxies) generally only speaks to the Archprelate of the church, who is considered somewhat divine himself.  This is represented by the fact that all Archprelates are only drawn from the Contemplative Prestige Class brought in from 3.0.  It's kind of a confusing system, I can post what notes I have on it right now, if you wish.

There's really only ONE god in Kamos, with a named entity representing Nature.  I haven't worked out the other remaining pantheons or individual deities yet, but I would assume that they function in a manner similar to Lantharian, though it is possible that a cleric could be the only worshipper of a deity, so the deity speaks directly to them.

I would say my outlook's been affected most in style of story, but Goodkind is there, too.  It's just not prevalent in my modern day.  In the history of the world, I used Goodkind's idea of a single magic city combined with Jordan's concept of Tar Valon, as well as the general feeling of society. I don't like to rip off any one person more than influence, so its rare that you'd find a group of women running around acting in a similar capability to Confessors.  There are some influences, though: I have a nation that is similar in feel and style to D'Hara prior to the second book, sans Mord Sith, of course.  The setting has definately taken a turn away from Goodkind since I first threw ideas around, though.

Thank you for your interest.  It means a lot.

My initial idea was to not change too much of the quasi-medieval feel for the world in general.  There's a distinct difference in feel for the cultures of the Renaissance than, say, the High Middle Ages.  At the moment, I haven't thought too far into social class as a whole.  I've been rereading a lot of my fantasy novels, predominately George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan (though this setting was originally concieved while reading Goodkind), which helped cement the idea in my head that I wanted a High Middle Ages culture that is changing with the new technologies available to it.

I would assume, depending on ones culture, social status class is important.  As a base class, I'm initially bringing out my redone aristocrat (noble) class for play, which is more of a class suited for a political campaign.  I'm intending that there to be a lot of disenfranchised nobles running around, since there's less of a place for those that aren't the first born.  It depends on the individual culture, I guess.  You bring up an interesting point, and I'll have to look at the tables you mentioned.  Could you direct me to a link?

In my setting, technology does not equate with magical aptitude.  Firearms and naval technology are somewhat out of place, but have been developed throughout the history.  It doesn't mesh in comparison with the real world because it doesn't have to.  So in essence, no, firearms aren't dictated by alchemists or not.  Blackpowder is the result of chemistry (an unknown field), but not alchemy.  I'm using my firearms rules that I posted to the Wizard's forum  HERE, which are continually being tweaked and upgraded.  Right now, I'm on the fence with what ignition system to include.

Aircraft, aeroplanes, which are the work of Aeromancers, are the only technology that necessitates some form of alchemist to build.  I built the excuse off of the idea for the anime Full Metal Panic, where the Paramilitary organization Mithril was at least 10 years ahead of everyone else in terms of military technology due to what they called "Black Technology".  Aeromancers are the only ones that are able to 1) create the engine that drives the aircraft, 2) create the fuel mixture to start the reaction, and 3) combine the fuel into a semi-solid propellant to be used with the firearms of the airplanes (essentially Civil War-style gatling guns hardmounted directly to the assemblage of the aircraft.  Beacause these cannons cannot be used without being attached to the aircraft's engine to utilize the unique fuel, zealous warlords cannot rip them from the aircraft to dominate the field.

Aircraft is essentially relegated to recon and scouting, the inclusion of these guns was a fairly recent development, much like it was in the early portion of air combat in World War I, despite the planes themselves effectively being analogues for WWI craft.

Ostensibly, the predominate religion in Kamos is Orthodox Lantharianism which is a lot like the Latin Christian Church and later Catholicism in feel.  It is run by an archprelate, effectively the Pope, and maintains both temporal and spiritual power.  Effectively, the archprelate stood only second behind the King of the old Empire that Kamos was, though doubly twined together.  The Orthodox Church is powerful enough to enforce a seperate tax to ensure that non-Orthodox followers converted, if not calling out individual inquisitions.  Heterodoxical worship (Non Orthodox) is generally small in most areas, but I intend on working out the religious structures for them at a later date.  Pagan and heathen groups, mostly Druids, are still around and are generally the most taxed non-Orthodox citizens.  It depends on the campaign and the amount of DM inclusion of religious problems.

Since corruption is such a big theme in Kamos, it could very well be assumed that the temporal, mortal, fallible aspects of Lantharian's power (the Church) has fallen prey to diabolistic intent.  This is generally not very well known, though, but the Church has been growing fat and happy for hundreds and hundreds of years, and could be losing sight of what it truly means to be Lantharianist.  

Religious affiliation depends, as always, on location.  Were one to make it public that one was a heterodox worshipper, then there could be problems in places where the Orthodox Inquisition was prevalent and subsumed local government policies.  Likewise for pagan groups.

New-comer nobles could definately be raised merchants, but I saw them as something much more.  For instance, not bound by traditional notions of nobility, because they earned their wealth and power and did not simply inherit it.  While the nobility could be falling in power, prestige, and wealth, these merchants are rising - as well as any mafioso-like characters that feed off of the corruption that comes from such wealth.  

I intend on brushing up on Machiavelli for this reason, though, if that's any intent on what I have planned for the setting.

Keep the questions coming. :) I'm more than willing to answer any.

I've decided I'm going to put the "information" page of my campaign setting up here, instead of Wizards, because I'll most likely (probably not) get some form of feedback.  I'm generally just pitching the idea right now, because I want to see how interesting it is.  Brainstorming and questions would be great after I post it.  I don't have enough to post a coherent setting guide yet, despite me working on it for a couple of months.  But, here it is.

(Also known as: Kamos, TGK, The Gilded Kingdoms)

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Kamos
The westerly continent, Kamos was once a single unified kingdom under the same name brought together by an ancient house that claimed descent of kingship back to the Old Days.  Known also as the Gilded Kingdoms, Kamos is so named due to the fact that times are changing and the world is becoming far more complicated than it once was.

Noble houses are on the decline, only a few are seen to be able to hold on to their dominance. New technologies have the capability to displace the old order, though it has not yet happened; armored knights on horseback are thought to be clinging to the last shreds of usefulness.  Magic pervades the world, but the wizards of Kamos fail to capitalize it, for the previous Arcane Wars wracked the continent with so much energy that it was close to a Breaking that would have ended time itself.  New technologies arise; specialized craftsmen and alchemists known as Aeromancers alone hold the secret of flight, crafting unique engines to be fitted on weapons of war: aeroplanes.  Corruption and greed worm their way into the most saintly of hearts; guilds are falling, independently owned companies rising in their stead, offering better wages, more products, but only at the cost of one's life.  

Societies mingle in the present day; cultural synthesis and conflict are both heavily present.  The fall of the Eastern lands has brought about new ideas and peoples in a deluge of bodies and minds from dozens of kingdoms and regions, offering a combination between the East and Western kingdoms.  It is the east that forward-thinking men and women are concerned with; the East that Was, fallen to the Shadow, a churning land that none has ever entered and survived, holds terror and madness and other things best left unimagined.

Humans are not alone in Kamos; creatures far older still walk and roam, trying to find a place in the modern day of human dominance.  The Aelfen, beautiful, powerful, corrupt men and women from their race have largely left the surface of Kamos, preferring seclusion and opulent decadence of their floating cities and kingdoms, which dot the skies above Kamos and are only visible to those who know how to look.  Dvergar, traditional, resolute, stoic clans toil under their mountain and earthen homes, digging deeper and deeper into the earth with thoughts of jewels and gems on their mind, having long mastered the crafting of stone, metal, and ore into fabricated goods of splendor and strength.  Goblins seek a greater destiny, while the Short-kyn insulate themselves in human lands, looking up to their larger cousins.  And mingling with these races are the races and cultures of the East, unique human groups, fey, and others.

It is a time when heroes are needed more than any other, and yet are wholly unwanted by every quarter '" the world does not even know they are required.  Conflict between kingdoms arises, influenced by any motivation.  The Aelfen, silent for centuries, are stirring from their floating lands, sending scouting parties to the surface once again.  Humanity and a handful of the surface dwelling Aelfen are held together through the Church of Lantharian, yet the church itself faces foes as insidious and as damaging as any other that the kingdoms face, and those knowledgeable firmly believe that it is losing ground.  It is a time of change and of discovery, even rediscovery as old tombs and old cities are found, bringing forward wonders from an ancient world, sometimes with tremendous consequences.  Destiny shines brightly for those who wish to grasp it, who are truly knowledgeable that it is there to be grasped, but as with any other great shining light, the shadow behind it is all the darker, ready to engulf the unwary.

Themes
The Gilded Kingdoms has a number of themes that are all explored throughout the setting, with some being more prominent than others.  The following are all themes that are found within Kamos to one extent, though there are many more than could be in place.  It is entirely possible to run an urban campaign full of political intrigue within Kamos, as well as other aspects of traditional fantasy.  Kamos is a world that combines a handful of disparate archetypes into a cohesive whole, while retaining the flavor of traditional fantasy transformed in a realistic sense.  The most common themes are:

Civilization vs. Wilderness, Modernity vs. Tradition, Religious Conflict (Lantharianism vs. Adversary, Orthodoxy vs. Heterodoxy, Orthodoxy vs. Paganism/Heathenism, Survival of Old Religions) Spiritual Conflict (Heaven vs. Hell, Damnation of One's Soul), Racial and Cultural Conflict (West vs. Eastern Refugees, Race vs. Race), Social degradation and decay due to technology and an abandonment of old ideas, Political Intrigue, Corporate Ascendancy and Corruption (Mafia, Guild vs. Private Business), Exploration, Broken History and a desire to return to former glory, and Corruption within good groups.

Influences and Parallels
Ultimately, the Gilded Kingdoms Campaign Setting is influenced by a number of stories and aspects of history, both real and fictional, in order to give it its form and flavor.  The world is a creation of some of the most interesting things read by the author and creators.  At first glance, some of these influences do not mesh well, or at all, yet all have had a part within the setting itself.  These are the following influences:

Literature: A Song of Ice and Fire, The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Truth, Lord of the Rings, Dante, Milton, Old Testament & Christian Bible, Tales of Wyre (EN World Storyhour thread), Norse Eddas, Beowulf, Eaters of the Dead, and others.
Movies and TV: Howl's Moving Castle, Gladiator, Last Samurai, Flyboys, the Godfather I & II, Underworld I, and The 13th Warrior.
Music Bands: Iced Earth, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, and Celtic Folk Music.
History: Golden Age of Pirates, World War I, the Gilded Age in America, and Scandinavian (Viking-Era) history.
Games: Sid Meier's Pirates!, Age of Empires II & III, Warcraft III, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Cossacks: Art of War.

Alignment Differences
The Gilded Kingdoms follows the same basic alignment setup as presented in the Core Rulebook I, except that it is not as overtly restrictive as some choose to interpret it.  In this instance, alignment is intended to take a back seat to characterization and development and is only supposed to be used as a guide to character creation and portrayal.  Alignment, in the Gilded Kingdoms, is not intended to be used as a restrictive clamp of rules enforced by DMs.  Nor is alignment wholly permanent '" even creatures that traditionally have always embodied their alignment, demons or angels, can shift their alignment and fall or rise.

Deities and Religion
Uniquely, the Gilded Kingdoms is a world based around a religious structure of monotheism, heavily based off of Medieval and Renaissance Christianity with liberal sprinklings of Post-Exile Judaism and Jewish Mysticism.  Despite there only being a single deity that embodies a multitude of portfolios and domains, it is best recognized as a dualistic system with the God Lantharian in constant opposition to what is known as the Adversary, whose name is to not be spoken.  Old religions in Kamos are a dying breed; the Church has been fairly efficient in conversion and eradication of heathen worship.  Even groups of Aelfen have adopted Lantharian as their personal god, replacing older, traditional religions and faiths.  

One of the largest groups of people holding onto non-Lantharian values and traditions are the Druids, who are a scattered and non-unified people of a variety of cultures who lead local communities and groups of people in worship of Nature and the varying names that people give the entity.  Packets of worshippers from the old gods also exist, but these are even rarer than those the Druids champion.  Lantharianism has been spread outside the proper border of Kamos (to the North and to the lands of Al-Shai'a), though it is generally unknown how well the missionaries have done in those lands.

Technological Differences
In Kamos, technology is a unique prospect than other worlds, as it combines a number of aspects that are not necessarily compatible with each other.  On one hand, the Gilded Kingdoms represent everything found in traditional D&D worlds; mounted knights still rule the battlefield, if for only a few more decades, melee combat is still the most predominate form of warfare, magic exists, and everything else of a standard fantasy world is found in the world.  

However, there are differences as well.  Firearms are prevalent in the world, but not so much as to wholly diminish other forms of weaponry and tactics.  The mounted charge is still the preferred method of battle, and most firearms are relegated to elite groups of troops, or are otherwise seen as a peasant's weapon, beneath the nobility to use as more than a personal intrigue.  The most common system is the matchlock-weapon, though a recent development has yielded the flintlock musket and rifle.  Naval technology is advanced, too, similar to that of the Golden Age of Pirates in the real world, with the similarities and variation in ship-classes and tactics as available to that time period.

The largest difference in the Gilded Kingdoms is the prevalence of airplanes, known as aeroplanes, which has become common in recent decades.  These craft, appearing at first incongruous with the overall theme of Kamos, are the world of Aeromancers, specialized artisans that invoke knowledge unknown to any other group.  Bound together in a single brotherhood, Aeromancers are apolitical, supplying anyone who can meet their exorbitant prices with the specialized engines that hold the aeroplanes aloft, as well as the fuel required to run the engine: Thermatrol.  Aeromancers alone have the knowledge to produce these necessary components for flight and they jealousy guard the information so tightly that reverse-engineering is impossible.  

Magic
Kamos is a world full of potent magic, energies that envelop the world and have long existed to be shaped by sentient beings, with no true understood reason why it's existed.  While divine magic is the work of Lantharian, or some other deity depending on the individual asked, arcane magic is viewed by some to be a science, while others view it as an innate gift they can shape and shift through a force of their will.  The largest practitioners of magic continue to be the wizards of Kamos.  Wizards view arcane magic as a set series of formulas and equations, opting to take a scientific approach.  Working with magic is thus commonly corresponded to present-day chemistry and quantum theory instead of any great 'art form'.  Each spell, every working with magic, utilizes base components to build on '" it is truly rare for any wizard in the modern day to be able to pull something out of nothing.

Historically, magic was used for great feats, most of which have been lost in the modern day.  A period of unrest and instability, where wizards sought to influence political dealings resulted in a costly, destructive war that utilized horrific constructs and creatures that were used to create living weapons.  Lasting decades, the period gave rise to the Edict which was implemented by a cabal of non-aligned wizards that prohibited all wizards and arcane magic users from acting in any way that could be thought of as temporal or political.  This has generally remained the same, despite a serious hiccup when a second period of war and destruction was enacted, before a second Edict was implemented with more serious repercussions for wizards that broke the injunction.  This second injunction has, as of now, been unmolested.

Magic Items
Magic items in Kamos are rare on the open market.  Items of all types are typically not for sale in some large warehouse, and are acquired in one of three ways:

1.   Found by individuals, particularly if lost for a time.  This is the most common way they're found in Kamos, either by looting prominent individuals with them or raiding and exploring an ancient location that would contain them.
2.   Conscription by individuals, either amongst themselves as time permits or through payments to a worthy magician that can perform it.  Many of these magicians charge fees for construction time, components, and personal reserves of energy; they can also charge a task to help alleviate the financial burden of the construction such as procuring a highly expensive magical component or an item they desire.
3.   Magical items can be traded for between interested parties, depending on the individual item and type.  Magical items can be traded for to cut the cost of other items being constructed, but the most important and trade-worthy items are: spells and spell books, items with a similar energy or function charge, and other similar things.


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Thats generally the informative overview of the game.  There are a number of things I'm still trying to work out in my head, as well as how to properly present it.  I'm generally fairly leery about producing most of my stuff, but those people I have corresponded with feel that the setting is viable.

I want to stress that this world is not steampunk.  Despite there being airplanes, the steampunk theme is something that I am not trying to emulate.  I may draw inspiration from a few things, but its not my intention to write a steampunk world.

Ask me any questions, or give me any suggestions.  I'd appreciate it.

This post may be rushed, due to the fact that I have to dash off to class in like, five:

I don't get depressed by dark settings due to my general disaffected nature from most things. It's the same way that I don't get scared or frightened when reading murder/mystery or thriller novels.  There are only a very, very, few times I've been genuinely disturbed at something, the most recent was me falling asleep ontop of Lovecraft's Dunwhich Horror or my religious-astral jaunt unwillingly out of my body, but we'll not go into that.

I agree that the term "dark" gets thrown around way too much, but what else is there to use?  Its a catch all term for people (read: Dark Age, however mis-applied such a term is) and is overused, just as much as goodness and other such reasons.  I agree with my fellow posters who wrote before, saying that dark settings give the PCs something greater to fight against, leading to a greater feeling of accomplishment if they succeed.  I prefer the type of game used in the Call of Cthulhu game setting where you may stop one small group of the cult from performing a nefarious deed, but that cult is hidden, out there, and has been forever.  You may have stopped them from sacrificing Sally and raising Yog-Sothoth or Yig, or Dagon, etc to the Prime, but that doesn't mean they'll try to do it again, and this time you may not have the capability to stop them.

Its the small victories that give you hope in such a game.  I like to incorporate a lot of smaller corruption into my own setting, which I've labeled "The Darkening Lands".  However, its not darkening as a horrorific, depressing thing, but as a fact that the world suffers a cyclical trend of constant civilization growth and then inevitable decay, due to the machinations of certain forces I am still yet-unaware of.  I would love to make it more dangerous, more depressing, more realisitic, but I don't know if my DMing style could support such a thing.

But back to the main topic, the real reason why I don't get depressed is because of what I'm exposed to every day through my faith.  You lot may feel that its silly or some such, and that's fine, but I know its true and that's what matters.  If only I could capture THAT feeling in my game.  :P

Righto, ta.

I usually handdraw my maps, but I've gone through a couple different programs to make them, with varying amounts of success.

1. Photoshop, not so good.
2. Campaign Cartographer 3.  I splurged the 50 bucks on it and kind of regret it, honestly.
3. MS paint.

My MS paint maps are based off of someone's who I found on the Epic Campaign Map's (Or whatever) thread on the WOTC boards.  I believe the campaign world was of Arrusaent, and I eventually developed my own way to make maps in a similar style.  They take a lot longer to do, and you need to have infinite patience with them, but I like it.

I found that using Photoshop, rendering clouds/reverse clouds, turning up the contrast to 100% to make black and white shapes and then copy and paste those black shapes onto MS paint make a really intersting shadow for your coastlinet hat you can fill in.

Example of my MS paint map:

Yeah...that's about how I approach math.  

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Glad I could help. :D

By the way, I find the setting extremely interesting and it's helped me get back on some form of track for my own future-style campaign world which I had started two months ago after a three day bender of watching all of Battlestar Galactica.  Thanks for the push.

Quote from: StargateThe second mechanism is the logic behind what most sci-fi series and books take for granted; 'aliens' are pretty close to us (two arms, bipedal, two eyes, a nose, discernible head, mammalian, etc.) and that these species, which have supposedly evolved separately in systems light years apart, are fertile with each other (This is a primarily star trek thing, half-klingons, half-betazoid, bajoran-cardassian, etc., but it holds nontheless). In the series, this seems to be glossed over, but I imagine that if this were to actually occur, there would be some scratching of heads in the scientific community. This coupled with the artifacts, all of which date before any known alien species could walk upright and are suited for the current species, would seem to be enough for some speculation. True, the current set of races doesn't know everything about their predecessors yet, but it should be recorded if a DM wants to use it as a plot point.

TNG's episode The Chase (Season 6, Episode 20) goes into this for their universe.  An original group of "aliens" seeded the different primordial worlds with a basic genetic construct that allows for a general match between the DNAs of the different sentient spacefaring races; with the one ancient alien race being somewhat of an ancestor/progenitor.  While on screen it's only given that Humans, Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Vulcans share a genetic founding culture, one could assume this stretches to generally the other humanoid races in Star Trek, as well.