The Campaign Builder's Guild

As Vorro already knows, i'm a big fan of his maps. And what i have read so far of the setting seems to be awesome as well.
The only thing that makes me unhappy is hearing that the rpg-system will be based off of the 3.5 OGL. As a theoretical customer of the Elyden RPG setting, this would turn me away from it immediately.

Well, the only things that will remain the same are ability scored and rolling d20s for a rooms. Classes, levels, magic, skills & feats will be quite different.

And reason you don't like the 3.5 rules?

A big problem were the tons of feats and the classes, so if you got rid of those, that's a big step. I wouldn't call it a d20 game anymore like that ;)
The other big thing was the linear distribution you get with a 1dX die-system. It's just too swingy and "unnatural"...it does not model processes well.

I guess if you have dumped classes, you also will have to work the skills differently, yes? That's another thing that bugged me with dnd 3e and 3.5... fighters were just bad at skills (the only thing they were good at was...well...fighting) and others, like thieves, were "the king" of skills...just wasn't my kind of thing. Also, miniatures-focused combat...ugh (that was even worse in 4e).

Quote from: Eilathen
A big problem were the tons of feats and the classes, so if you got rid of those, that's a big step. I wouldn't call it a d20 game anymore like that ;)

As I said I'm basing it on the modern system so there's 1 class per stat (strong character, dextrous character etc), though im actually thinking about scrapping classes altogether using a points-by system instead of levelling up. so yo ucan buy +1 Base attack for x points, +1 skill for x points,etc. Still speculative at the moment. though the sourcebook I'm writing at the moment is assuming a basis in the modern D20 system + more skills + skill/feat-based magic, scrapping the normal D20 spells entirely.

Quote from: EilathenThe other big thing was the linear distribution you get with a 1dX die-system. It's just too swingy and "unnatural"...it does not model processes well.

I guess if you have dumped classes, you also will have to work the skills differently, yes? That's another thing that bugged me with dnd 3e and 3.5... fighters were just bad at skills (the only thing they were good at was...well...fighting) and others, like thieves, were "the king" of skills...just wasn't my kind of thing. Also, miniatures-focused combat...ugh (that was even worse in 4e).

I agree about skills and certain classes ((my normal D&D group generally allows charcters to swap certain skills if they fit in with their classes and even the purest fighter in my group will commonly have a level of rogue for the skills too) and the modern classes address this and generally all classes have more skills to choose from, though as I'm also making region a big part of the system (you chose your region before your class during character creation) and that gives a lot of skills as class skills that would otherwise be unavailable to your class.

Sounds not bad, Vorro. Now if only you could exchange the d20 for 3d6 and we would be golden ;) (the 3d6 have the same mean-result of 10.5 like the d20 but produce a bell-curve instead of a linear distribution...that means your characters perform much more...realistically).

Looking forward to more of your world and/or system-discussions (if you want to).

I'm not keen on the bellcurve results that the 3d6 give.

Well it's all hypothetical for the moment anyway as I have little plans to currently game in the world for now. The worldbuilding itself takes far too much time!

How's this for thread necromancy?

I've been beavering away at the world for some years now, creating a LOT of maps, history and lore, with an eye towards printing two books (mostly for my own amusement, though some internet-dwelling people have shown an interest in them): an Encyclopaedia and an Atlas.  

Some things to know about Elyden

• 1) Decay: Elyden is a dying world. The seas are slowly retreating, Ice in the north and south poles Is growing every year and the sun is slowly goring weaker. Empires built atop the ruin of older empires are crumbling to decadence and greed. Resources are waning. Life is cheap (to the common folk, at least).
• 2) Ancient: We are now in the Fifth Age, which is around 5,000 years old. Most Fourth Age and early fifth Age nations are ruined and unknown to unlearned people, their ruins either forgotten and consumed by the elements or serving as the foundations for today's cities. The Third Age is considered near-mythical and is the basis for many folk tales and legends, with fantastical races and beasts that are now extinct.
• 3) Demiurges: Elyden (and the universe that supports it) was created by 22 Demiurges (gods) whose hubris led to their fall and banishment to the mortal realm, where they each became leader (some willing, others unwilling) to a mortal tribe (of which humans are one). Most demiurges are now 'dead' (death to a demiurge is similar to a coma, their dreams and nightmares manifesting in the land surrounding them). The Demiurges sired scions, the descendants of which still possess traits and powers from their demiurge sire. Few scion-born know of their divine heritage and what powers or traits they have are so diluted as to not be of import.
     The Demiurges are largely forgotten, remembered or worshipped as corrupted versions without most known the truth (save one, who has cunningly adopted the human race as his own and become the Undying Machine – god of the nation of Korachan, interred in a life-support machine deep in the Karkharadontid desert – a site of pilgrimage to his faithful). More on the Demiurges can be found here.
• 4) the Materia Omna: the chaotic matter from which the Demiurges shaped the universe. Their stirring caused this chaotic sea to divide into two – the Firmament above and the Atramenta below. These are collectively known as the Materia Omna and are the fuel that power acts of shaping (magic). The two opposing energies manifest on Elyden through two antipodeal fonts – the Black Fountain and the Meniscus, for the Atramenta and the Firmament, respectively. More on this here.
     The Firmament and Atramenta also leak into the material realm, resulting in tainted regions that are quantified in varying degrees, from mild to those that are so inimical to life, warping the natural laws of the world in strange ways, as to be shunned by mortals.
• 5) Dreams: dreams are tangible forces thanks to the actions of the Demiurges. They can be planted, read, examined and altered by Oneiromancers. They can also be travelled to and explored, though dreamrealms are dangerous and mutable, subject to the dreams and nightmares of the Demiurges. They can exist in one of two forms – either as physical tangible places that can be mapped and explored (insofar as a mutable dreamland can) through mundane means; or they can be otherworldly realms that can only be reached through astral projection or Oneiromancy.  
• 6) the otherworld and otherworlders: death is not final in Elyden. Following death a persons soul enters a gestative period of arbitrary length, with the spirit dwelling in a timeless astral plane known as the otherworld. This realm can be travelled to by some shapers, and is used for long-range communication. Amongst other things. Following this period the spirit is reborn as an otherworlder – an alien aloof being that returns to the material realm. Mortals claim these beings are considered as angels or demons, their purpose unknown, but thought to either aid or hinder mortals. The truth is unknown and though the varying breeds have been catalogued under strange taxonomies, they remain oddities of the otherworld, rare, despite it being accepted as fact that each spirit eventually becomes an otherworlder.
• 7) Halfbloods: Some otherworlders can breed with mortals, leading to so-called halfbloods – beings with one foot in the material and another in the otherworld, belonging to neither. They appear alien and have strange wondrous abilities, that dilute with each generation. Some halfbloods have risen to positions of power, either ruling, or founding great hoses and dynasties that last millennia, inbreeding and seeking out otherworlders of their lineage to preserve their bloodline  
• 8) Technology and Technarcana: The heart of Elyden is the Inner Sea, and the nations surrounding it are post-industrial. Aside from steam engines and other technologies common in the real world around the Victorian era, there is also technarcana – machines and engines that use the Atramenta and the Firmament to function. These can take the form of scrying pool, far-range communicators, body orthoses akin to power armour, iron-mantles surgically grafted to shapers backs to aid them in their shaping, and so on.
     With regards to real-world technologies, the main anachronism is the absence of trains (though there are electric trams in the larger cities). In their place are ambulants and conveyors – tracked vehicles that range from personal carriers and huge land-ships that crawl across the wastelands of the world. The printing press, steam mills, forges, photography, bicycles, single tracked motorbikes, primitive telegraphs metal-hulled steamships, rubber tyres, sewing machines, stainless steel, concrete, typewriters, repeating rifles and revolvers (but no machine guns), artillery, blimps (rare), electricity (relatively rare, only common in high-class districts of larger cities), phonograph & voice recordings.
     Notable absences include railways, radio, though technarcane replacements may exist, but not widespread.
• 9) YEAR 4007 RM: the present day is 4007 RM (the Reign of Malichar)

I'll be adding more details over the coming days.

I've also made some maps, including the examples below: