The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: LoA
Thank you, that paints a much clearer picture. I am a firm believer that history is circumstantial, not inevitable. The circumstances in Britain and America were right for them to have industrial revolutions. What about the Chuul where so dangerous that you had to have this magical industry arise in the first place?

The chuul were stronger and knightly charges and spears and swords were not doing much.

Quote from: O Senhor LeetzI haven't quite thought of what ichor is capable of...

Well, it looks like you've set some parameters for what it is. That's a good start. From there, you can set its limits. Perhaps you could define where it is to be found and how it is to be collected and exploited? So, this ichor... is it a sort of oil then? Or is it just a name we've given the substance?

Overall, I like what I've read. I think your own picture of what your Belle Époque should be has become clearer and as a result you were able to better communicate your thoughts and form a better base upon which you can construct the structure that is your world. I'm eager to read more and contribute more should you have further questions/concerns/brainstorming activities.

Quote from: Magnus Pym

Quote from: O Senhor LeetzI haven't quite thought of what ichor is capable of...

Well, it looks like you've set some parameters for what it is. That's a good start. From there, you can set its limits. Perhaps you could define where it is to be found and how it is to be collected and exploited? So, this ichor... is it a sort of oil then? Or is it just a name we've given the substance?

It's basically an oil mcguffin. But it's not oil. Also thinking of throwing in several other interesting resources - orichalcum, aether, hepatizon, etc. - just to make the world not so dependent on ichor, which was feeling colvaluted.

Something I thought of, an interesting twist on the class issue, what if one of the side effects of Ichor is that the life forms it poisons become more lifeless over time, and the rich have figured out a way to control the lower classes that they poisoned with ichor pollution, putting a spin on the whole "upper class are necromancers" thing you had going (beautiful idea by the way).

Quote from: LoA
Something I thought of, an interesting twist on the class issue, what if one of the side effects of Ichor is that the life forms it poisons become more lifeless over time, and the rich have figured out a way to control the lower classes that they poisoned with ichor pollution, putting a spin on the whole "upper class are necromancers" thing you had going (beautiful idea by the way).

I'm definitely down with a callous upper class! I'm just not sure that using ichor to control the lower classes would be worth it. There's plenty of mundane ways to control them: rent, wage slavery, taxes, derision, strike-breakers armed with ichor-craft, the police, the military, organized religion...

I just had an imagine of war-walkers (shaped not unlike the chuul) being repurposed for crowd- and riot-control in the postwar world.... metal crab machines "dispersing" protestors.

Piece by piece? Haha

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
It would be rare enough to be valuable, but not so rare and powerful it's the only thing worth worrying about. Not common like petroleum, were citizens full-up their magic chariots on a weekly basis. Definitely rare enough to have wars fought over it. Not rare, or integrated, enough to make life unmanageable without it.

I can imagine quite a few societies have developed without or with less ichor and have been, so far, viable political states. Ichor-craft is a relatively new thing, however, and much of global and local power struggles have yet to completely play out. The gap between ichor-craft technology/ichor-rich polities and ichor-poor polities is widening at a very quick pace - ichor-rich nations have already begun to skirmish with themselves as well as "colonizing" ichor-less places.

Though it could be worthwhile to reflect that the discovery of oil reserves has been considered more of a curse than a blessing for the populations of many countries. Thus being found ichor-rich may not necessarily empower a nation so much as invite it's subjugation to the interests of foreigners, increase corruption among it's own politicians and bureaucracy, and retard the development of it's industries and infrastructure (other than those that directly serve the extraction and exportation of ichor).

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
I had an idea of setting the setting after a war that was ended by the devastating detonation of an ichor-bomb: the ramifications and long term consequences of which are still unknown.

I'm digging this, so allow me to throw a couple of ideas here. Bitter ethereal echoes of the multitude that perished in that awful implosion (rather than exploding, an ichor-bomb collapses the space around it inwards to a kind of singularity?) linger to haunt the dreams of the living, draining their life force and thus inflicting upon them a condition of lethargy and accelerated aging. And these echoes are drifting, dispersing ever further away from the ground zero in all directions, propagating the "bomb disease" to other lands and countries. Meanwhile, in the ground zero is now a fracture in the cosmic shell of the world: an unhealable, unpluggable crack through which colour is slowly draining away from the world into the void beyond. It may take centuries to come to pass, but eventually the universe will lose all color and become completely gray. The detonation of more ichor-bombs would greatly speed up this process, though.

Quote from: Ghostman
I'm digging this, so allow me to throw a couple of ideas here. Bitter ethereal echoes of the multitude that perished in that awful implosion (rather than exploding, an ichor-bomb collapses the space around it inwards to a kind of singularity?) linger to haunt the dreams of the living, draining their life force and thus inflicting upon them a condition of lethargy and accelerated aging. And these echoes are drifting, dispersing ever further away from the ground zero in all directions, propagating the "bomb disease" to other lands and countries. Meanwhile, in the ground zero is now a fracture in the cosmic shell of the world: an unhealable, unpluggable crack through which colour is slowly draining away from the world into the void beyond. It may take centuries to come to pass, but eventually the universe will lose all color and become completely gray. The detonation of more ichor-bombs would greatly speed up this process, though.

I get a strong Cacotopic Stain vibe from this. That is a good thing!

Quote from: Ghostman
Though it could be worthwhile to reflect that the discovery of oil reserves has been considered more of a curse than a blessing for the populations of many countries. Thus being found ichor-rich may not necessarily empower a nation so much as invite it's subjugation to the interests of foreigners, increase corruption among it's own politicians and bureaucracy, and retard the development of it's industries and infrastructure (other than those that directly serve the extraction and exportation of ichor).

I feel like you're reading my mind.

Quote from: Ghostman
I'm digging this, so allow me to throw a couple of ideas here. Bitter ethereal echoes of the multitude that perished in that awful implosion (rather than exploding, an ichor-bomb collapses the space around it inwards to a kind of singularity?) linger to haunt the dreams of the living, draining their life force and thus inflicting upon them a condition of lethargy and accelerated aging. And these echoes are drifting, dispersing ever further away from the ground zero in all directions, propagating the "bomb disease" to other lands and countries. Meanwhile, in the ground zero is now a fracture in the cosmic shell of the world: an unhealable, unpluggable crack through which colour is slowly draining away from the world into the void beyond. It may take centuries to come to pass, but eventually the universe will lose all color and become completely gray. The detonation of more ichor-bombs would greatly speed up this process, though.

I love everyone of these ideas. I was thinking that the ichor-bomb (I need a better name) was a last ditch, hail Mary that consumed so many resources (of all kinds, even the people kind...) that no existing nation has the resources, research, or resolve to even attempt at making other one. I'm also seeing the ichor-bomb's explosion be astronomically more devastating anyone could have imagined. Exactly like in Independence Day, it wasn't looking good for anyone not a chuul until a crack team of adventurers sneaked aboard the God Crab, fought their way deep enough, and detonated the ichor-bomb, knowing that they would be sacrificing themselves. seven small fishing villages, a fairly important port, and the hunting estates of emperor.

But then it ends up taking out two entire nations and half the imperial capital. Oops.

Leaving an all-devouring implosion, color-less and cold, rich in plot-hooks and adventures!

Popping into the kitchen to give a thumbs up on what's cooking. Tis smells good.

Senor cooking us a gooey soup.

An ichor-y soup, no doubt.

Here's a question to consider: what's the IG-hypothesized and/or actualized source of magic, both in ichor and in living things? I'd imagine there would be some nouveau philosophies and theories as well as far older superstitions and folklore explanations.

Quote from: Rose-of-Vellum
An ichor-y soup, no doubt.

Here's a question to consider: what's the IG-hypothesized and/or actualized source of magic, both in ichor and in living things? I'd imagine there would be some nouveau philosophies and theories as well as far older superstitions and folklore explanations.

Definetly! Have the day off, will be updating later.

The Luminosité (technological enlightenment of 50-odd years ago, let's say in the year 1055) was a culmination of applying new scientific and rationalist methods of thought towards magic, several new processes in the study of alchemy, and a great turn away from many of the older faiths that claimed sole dominion over magic. Magic was turned from an esoteric, ritualistic, conservative, and mystical endeavor towards one based on reason, evidence, and logic.  The study of magic also changed from an archaic system of apprenticeships and servitude focused on maintaining knowledge of the past to an academic, public field focused on discovering the knowledge of tomorrow.

There are still many, however, that cling to the ways of the past and are at best suspicious and at worse hostile to new ways of magical study. Since the end of the Chuul War (1078-1109), there has been a swelling of support towards the Old Ways, the Vieilles Manières. While it won the war, the aftermath of the imploding of the ichor-bomb resulted in a massive backlash against the very technologies that saved mankind. There exists today an uneasy acceptance of the Nouvelle Façon. People, however, are loath to give up the comforts that the last 50 years have provided: better medicine, cheaper goods, transportation systems, a dynamic economy. But as the technological developments towards the end of the war became increasingly militant and as the citizens own governments began to use these marvels against them in the name of law and order, a deep mistrust of the technological has bound itself deep within the zeitgeist.

Progress, however, continues. While the feverish pace of research and development has slowed substantially since the end of the war, new discoveries are still being made, just perhaps without the reckless abandon of the previous generation. The majority of research is done at arcane academies and universities, often sponsored by the state. While religious institutions have varying opinions towards technological, most theocratic schools focus on maintaining the knowledge and rituals of the past. There also remain several covens, cabals, warlock circles, and other older institutions, bygone reminders of the Vieilles Manières. Those that still adhere to the Old Ways most commonly act as guardians (more like janitors) of a particular type of archaic ritual, the spells of a dusty grimoire, or an antediluvian alchemical process. Most also keep to themselves, maintaining their numbers and interacting with the outside world only as much as necessary.

There are, however, more sinister factions that claim knowledge of magic. Since the end of the war, various fringe groups have risen and fallen, often put down by the bullets of state troops or through vicious in-fighting. Most are short-lived, sowing terror and anarchy until the authorities can organize and put them down. There are a few, however, have beaten the odds. They spoken of in half-trues and whispers, for they try very hard to remain hidden. At any tavern you'll here hushed tales of assassins that can turn into smoke, a network of doppelganger impostors, or the fervent fanatics of a trans-planar manifest that seem particularly interested in this world. There are a few, however, that claim to work for the betterment of mankind, working in the shadows to further their light.

Modern magic theory is based on Penseur's Three Laws of the Arcane. The original work and attached notes were destroyed in the ichor-bomb implosion, as they were housed in the Bibliothèque Impériale. Since than, so many minds have modified, altered, or obfuscated the original work that no one is quite sure what's original anymore. The three laws basically state that magic is a predictable process; that magic can be measures; and that there is no false equivalency in the exchange of arcane and mundane matter. 

From there modern magical through branches into dozens of school of thought and theory. Penseurism is perhaps the school of thought most adhered too. It's fairly conservative and they refuse to expand on their version of the Three Laws. Penseurists, while conservative in thought, are evangelical about spreading their true teachings. Many worry as they see a secular school of thought slowly become theocratic. Some Penseurists even venerate Penseur as a saint, an idea that makes many governments very nervous...

Thumbs up!

EDIT: So is it your intent to continue working on macro-elements or begin focusing on a particular nation/colony/state/region?