The Campaign Builder's Guild

I've added a few new things in Red.

Quote from: Kapn XeviatHairy scales would be interesting.

Oh, I realized something that I cannot think of any animal truely having, aside from horns on the head: actual spines. Not modified scales, but spines that are directly attached to the skeleton. Could make for an interesting draconic trait.[/quote]

Wouldn't those just be bones in turn? Or claws?

They'd be exposed bone, yes. But not claws. Claws don't grow out of someone's back and joints.

Giving a bump with an offer. Ask a question (hopefully a set), and post a link to something you'd like reviewed (be specific as to what part you'd like reviewed if you don't want me to amlessly find something) and I'll review it before I answer the questions.

Which race above with their personality unlisted would you like to hear about.

OH, and on a slightly related note but not part of the FAQ: Can you think of any other topics than the following to detail the races:

Race
Physical Description
Personality

Culture
Physical Description
Personality
Relations (with other races and cultures)
Other Races (position of other races within the culture)
Society
Religion
Names
Adventurers

As you can see, much of these are based on the 3E D&D model, as that was my first real foray into RPGs and my setting was originally worked for that system. I'd like to add other things that are important, but am willing to remove things that aren't as well.

Thanks.

Quote from: http://thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?65206.0The Bronze Setting[/url]
 Divergence 2.0
 Hen Mut
 Corcadia

Quote from: Kapn XeviatOH, and on a slightly related note but not part of the FAQ: Can you think of any other topics than the following to detail the races:

Race
Physical Description
Personality

Culture
Physical Description
Personality
Relations (with other races and cultures)
Other Races (position of other races within the culture)
Society
Religion
Names
Adventurers

Galdenfether, the Dragon Goddess of Light. Galdenfether battled her sister Vandek, but when Vandek slew her sister she died as well; the two were linked in cosmic balance

Did Vandek know this would happen? Seems something rather silly to me, mutually assured destruction is something avoided by anything with a survival instinct.

You mention the elemental races favor their element (Ifrits and Fire), is there a race that favors the Aether side of things? Or even a race that favors training?

For spirits, can a non-natural thing gain a spirit if it is revered enough? Like a great Cathedral or a historic sword (that doesn't have its own spirit) or something else?

Quote from: Kapn XeviatOh, I realized something that I cannot think of any animal truely having, aside from horns on the head: actual spines. Not modified scales, but spines that are directly attached to the skeleton. Could make for an interesting draconic trait.

What do you mean by "directly" attached?  The boney plates of dinosaurs grew out of their skin, not the bones.  The only animals I know of that haves bones and plates fused together are the turtle group, and that makes them very rigid.  I think there'd be a lot of problems with the spikes not moving with the skin and muscle.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawWhat do you mean by "directly" attached?  The boney plates of dinosaurs grew out of their skin, not the bones.  The only animals I know of that haves bones and plates fused together are the turtle group, and that makes them very rigid.  I think there'd be a lot of problems with the spikes not moving with the skin and muscle.

Not plates, just spines. Like the tips of the spine jutting out as horns down the back, elbow and knee spikes, rows along major bones. Muscles would have to be wrapped through and around them, but it would definitely be something new.

Bony plates are something different as well, calcified growths. Different then scales because they would be more mineral.

Thanks for the questions, I'll give your setting a look over and one a review before I answer them. Good questions though; the one about Vandek and Geldenfether delves into one of the plots for a future novel.

Did Vandek know this would happen? Seems something rather silly to me, mutually assured destruction is something avoided by anything with a survival instinct.
Vandek wholly knew that if she killed her sister, she would die as well. In the story this happened, her last words were something like 'the world will be a worse place without you'. In my first D&D campaign, which will be made into my second novel (I'm working on the first right now), one of the plot points is the resurrection of Vandek.

Survival instinct is not in question when dealing with gods. While many gods have physical forms, they are not mortal creatures and thus think very differently. Death for gods as powerful as the dragon gods, who are the most powerful of deities, is simply a matter of being denied physical form.

Currently, Vandek's role in the world has been taken over by the Moon deity, and Galdenfether's role has been taken over by the Sun deity.

You mention the elemental races favor their element (Ifrits and Fire), is there a race that favors the Aether side of things? Or even a race that favors training?

Humans have a propensity for Æther magic, as well as anything human blooded (especially fey-touched and hobgoblins, who favor light and dark Æther respectively). Only neutral races (humans, fey-touched, hobgoblins, elves, and halflings) can be Æther sorcerers (Sorcerers will be detailed in the first post shortly).

For spirits, can a non-natural thing gain a spirit if it is revered enough? Like a great Cathedral or a historic sword (that doesn't have its own spirit) or something else?
Yes. Nearly everything has a spirit because they were once natural objects. Cathedrals used to be stone, and a sword used to be metallic ore. In fact, manmade things have a high chance of having a potent spirit due to the act of creation; a manmade object automatically has one worshiper. A Cathedral's spirit will be aligned to the parent deity of the cathedral, so if it ever becomes powerful it will probably be focused upon protecting the worshipers inside.

I'll use the sword example extensively here. Iron ore is by default an earth spirit. The act of smelting and forging it, though, brings it into contact with the fire spirit of a forge. The craftsmanship of the blacksmith making the sword is a form of worship, and together the sword's spirit is transformed. While the spirit begins as an earth spirit, most sword spirits are transmuted into fire spirits by the act of forging; this is good because fire is far more aggressive than earth. Master swordsmiths can awaken the spirit of the sword through the process of forging, making magic swords straight from the forge rather than having to awaken the spirit later through deeds and veneration.

Added information on the Ifriti, and also information on the different types of magicians.

I was wondering, and something a player might want to know too. which kind of powergroups exist that isn't tied to a nation, a diety or a culture?

there's the 5 knight houses offcourse and you mention that the world have varius organizations, and I was wondering what the specifics for those are. noticeable merchant houses? mercenary companies? scholar order? renown academy?

Aside from the Knight's Houses, the only other major organization I have is "The People's Trust", a thieve's guild with much political influence in Hunerst. I have yet to create worldspanning organizations, though I do think I will have a group of people who worship The Ancients and are seeking to bring them back. There will probably also be a group who battles aberrations and seek to hold the Old Ones at bay.

Just me again, some more questions on your new stuff. I found it very thought provoking.

Quote from: Kapn XeviatSorcerers: A normal individual possesses five chakras, each tied to the five elements: Brow is Æther, Throat is Air, Heart is Fire, Center is Water, and Base is Earth. These chakras draw are the centers of elemental energy within all balanced creatures (elemental creatures possess only one chakra). A sorcerer is an individual with a mutant chakra; one of their chakras has enlarged, and absorbs far more energy than the body can use. This excess energy becomes the fuel for their magic. While training is required to perfect it, training for a sorcerer is simply a matter of practice; no arcane studies are required.

Shaman: Shaman, or druids, serve the spirit world as a whole, rather than serving the whims of a single deity. A shaman is an individual who generally serves the interest of a group of people, and deal primarily with the spirits of the dead; a druid is an individual who deals with the spirits of nature, and may or may not deal with or care about people. Like priests, they have to abide by restrictions, but these are more ritualistic in nature, as the whims of the multitudes of spirits they serve differ wildly; if one angers one spirit, it is easy to find another to deal with.[/quote]

Is their power related to the power of the spirit they serve? Can they serve multiple spirits? If they serve a spirit in a smaller object (like a famous ancient sword) can they carry it around with them? Can they access all kinds of chakras? Or only elemental ones?

Why has no one destroyed the Red Ifrit? Are they powerful enough to be able to get away with being such big jerks? I do like their culture though, very aztec feeling. Crunch wise I take it they have a bonus to resist fear? Are Ifrit (Gray and Red) restricted to what classes they can be? Can they not be sorcerers (or only Fire Sorcerers I gather)? Can they use non-elemental energy/chakras if given to them from a spirit (Shaman/Priest/Wizard)?

Wow, awesome questions.

How does the energy they use up return? How long does it take? Is there a maximum amount of energy they can store? How do they gain energy? Can they forcefully drain energy from a spirit without its consent? Can they destroy a spirit from draining it too much?

Mana, the term I'll be using from now on for 'magical energy', returns to the world as long as the spirits residing in the area are still alive; it's like drawing blood.

In typical situations, it returns quickly because mana is not lost in spellcasting; a caster draws in fire energy in order to cast a 'fireball', and the energy is returned to the environment upon casting (I'm aware this violates physical laws, but that's why it's magic).

An individual can only store a given amount, which restricts the power of their spells.

Different casters gain their energy through different means: wizards draw it in through ritual, sorcerers draw it in subconsciously due to their mutation, priests are given it from their deity, and shaman/druids are given it by the spirits.

Wizards often draw mana from spirits without their consent; this is what separates wizards from others.

Under normal circumstances, one cannot drain a spirit of so much mana as to kill it without using a particular spell.

Are Sorcerers more common then Wizards? How fast does a chakra return? Can they only draw on a single kind of chakra?

Wizards are far more common than Sorcerers. Sorcerers are only born to people with elemental bloodlines (including the elemental races), people with ties to spirits (children of dragons), or people who are exposed to a great deal of magic at one time (such as if a pregnant mother is attacked with magic, her unborn child might be born a sorcerer).

Chakras never go away, so they never have to return. Most sorcerers can only tap into one element, the element of their mutation, but they are technically only forbidden from using the opposite (in effect, their mutant enlarged chakra has consumed the other): Fire =/= Water, and Air =/= Earth.

(About Priests) How different is this from a Wizard? Do they have access to every kind of chakra or only the kind their diety has?

Priests are given their mana, wizards take it. Functionally a priest and a wizard can have the same sorts of spells, but priests generally focus on things within the nature of their deities (a priest of an elemental deity will focus on that element). Priests use prayers to form and guide their magic, and generally learn spells like a wizard does; the difference is in how they get their power, and the fact that a deity can take their priests' powers away.

(About Shaman/Druids) Is their power related to the power of the spirit they serve? Can they serve multiple spirits? If they serve a spirit in a smaller object (like a famous ancient sword) can they carry it around with them? Can they access all kinds of chakras? Or only elemental ones?

Shaman and Druids venerate multiple spirits by default. You draw water mana from water spirits and fire mana from fire spirits, so their power is related to the spirits they are drawing upon, but they can draw upon any spirit (nature spirits for druids, ancestral spirits for Shaman). 'Serve' is probably an incorrect term for these casters, their nature is more informal than that, with bargaining and quid-pro-quo. One day a druid might ask the spirits of the wind to guide a storm away from the foothills where it will cause a landslide, and another day a druid might as fire spirits to ignite the gunpowder of an invading army.

Why has no one destroyed the Red Ifrit? Are they powerful enough to be able to get away with being such big jerks? I do like their culture though, very aztec feeling. Crunch wise I take it they have a bonus to resist fear? Are Ifrit (Gray and Red) restricted to what classes they can be? Can they not be sorcerers (or only Fire Sorcerers I gather)? Can they use non-elemental energy/chakras if given to them from a spirit (Shaman/Priest/Wizard)?

The red ifriti are a rather large society, but except for their attacks on bordering settlements they generally squabble with each other more than others. It would be like France caring about what was going on in Turkey; it would take a lot to mobilize other nations against them. Yes, a resistance to fear is one of their stats. No races are restricted in their 'class' (the system lacks class's technically). Ifrit are an elemental race, so Ifrit sorcerers have to be fire sorcerers, but nothing stops an Ifrit druid from drawing water mana from water spirits (only their own preferences would limit them). There's no such thing as non-elemental magic, but anyone can use the 'training' power source.

Little update, especially for Rorschach Fritos. I'm starting on the racial opinions of each other.