CrystalFire

[Epic Meepo]

(Feel free to post questions and comments right here in this thread.)

CrystalFire
contributors so far: Epic Meepo, Golem, Natural 20, Realm Weaver, Salacious Angel, SilvercatMoonpaw, WitchHunt, Xathan.

There was a time when the World of Cebexia remained mostly uncharted. But the modern age is an age of crystalfire, that treasured substance whose elemental properties have changed everything. With fire alight in their wake, boilerships cross the globe in mere weeks and ancient kingdoms from disparate lands find themselves closer than ever before. In this wondrous age of conquered seas, adventure awaits on all continents of the world...

Egridar, a land of ancient traditions. Just a few miles inland from bustling cosmopolitan ports lie venerable kingdoms built on the ruins of even older nations. Fuedal lords scheme within their crumbling castles. Ancient foes lurk in the shadows of civilization. Lawless warbands prowl the countryside. Just another day under the bleak, gray skies of Egridar...

Goromor, the Land of Morrow, where the Age of Ruin that ends the world has come early. The lands are scarred, the people savage, the fabric of reality itself worn thin by the battles of ages past. These dangerous wilds now play host to invaders and settlers from distant lands. But Gorormor is no easy prize, and its mysterious interior remains unclaimed...

Novataire, a land of intrigue at the heart of the world. Birthplace of the boilership and the Common Tongue, this proud land is the seat of Cebexia's mightiest nations, guilds, and secret societies. But behind their facade of bottomless coffers and eternal decadence, there is a hint of building desperation, for change is in the air and the balance of power is shifting...

Qin'ara, a tropical land of spirits and genies. Against a backdrop of winding waterways, windswept deserts, and teeming jungles, countless tales of daring adventure come to pass. Heroes, scoudrels, and steam pirates quest for gold and glory, while the imperial princes compete to secure control of the richest fire mines the world has ever known...

And these are just the most popular destinations, to say nothing of the Lost Continent or the frozen wastes of Margaath. There and elsewhere across the World of Cebexia, it is the Modern Age, an Age of CrystalFire.

[Wensleydale]

:O Somebody chose Goromor for a combination setting? But even I'd given up on it! Yay!

So, essentially, this is Cebexia steampunk (for want of a better term, probably not true steampunk)? I like the idea. I like the idea a lot! Want to see more. :D

[Epic Meepo]

Magic and Technology

Cebexia is a world of ancient magic and recent innovation. The magical arts were first introduced to mortalkind by the long-departed elder gods, but their practice has continued uninterrupted since elder times. Meanwhile, recent centuries have seen the introduction of the elemental engine, a furnace that can facilitate travel and power machinery, but only when brought into contact with a large body of water.

Magic of Cebexia
[spoiler=Magic of Cebexia]The source of all magic is the Amenta, a semi-aware spiritual force that pervades all known planes of existence. It is from this substance that deities, dreams, and souls are formed and through it that all things in existence are mystically connected. The Amenta is also responsible for both light and darkness in the form of positive and negative energy. The former dominates in regions where the Amenta is in perfect balance while the later dominates in regions where the Amenta is agitated.

Since the Amenta is all-inclusive, and since forces from all ends of the spectrum play a part in the metaphysics of magic, it is perhaps not surprising that multiple approaches to the pracitice of magic exist across Cebexia. The three universally recognized types of magic are arcane magic, divine magic, and innate (or psionic) magic. Other, more exotic, approaches may also exist.

Arcane Magic: Arcane magic involves the use of formulae, mantras, and rituals to provoke a response from the Amenta. In a way, arcane magic is like guiding a horse-driven cart. The horse does all of the real work, but a driver is required to hold the reigns and guide the movement of the animal. In the case of arcane magic, the Amenta is the beast of burden, the driver is the arcane spellcaster, and the reigns are the magical rites known as arcane spells.

Divine Magic: It is believed that the entities known as deities are beings of pure Amenta. Whether or not this is true, deities are known to have a powerful and inborn connection to the Amenta that allows them to work miracles in the form of divine spells. When a deity chooses to interact with mortals, it can allow mortals to summon it through ritual and meditation in order to access a portion of its divine spell capacity. (The only service that can be gained through such a summoning is the granting of divine spells.)

Innate Magic: While both arcane and divine magic rely on accessing the Amenta externally (at least as far as mortals are concerned), innate magic instead taps into the Amenta by focusing inward. Also known as psionic magic, innate magic is an approach to magic that deals with dreams, intentions, and perceptions, bringing external effects into existence by blurring the lines between objective and subjective reality.[/spoiler]

The Power of Steam
[spoiler=The Power of Steam]The magical forces that Cebexians access are the same as those that were used by their anceint ancestors. In many respects, the same can be said about Cebexian technology. Technological advances have replaced bronze with steel; mud-bricks with stone and mortar; and papyrus with crude paper. They have also ushered in an era of simple alchemical devices and clockworks in many places. Despite this, most technology exists in the same form it has had for countless centuries. However, one advance stands in stark contrast to this claim: the elemental engine.

Powered by crystalfire and capable of functioning properly only when brought into contact with a large body of water, elemental engines have allowed Cebexian traders to conquer the sea. They have also created a quiet but real industrial Renaisance in coastal cities across the globe and brought wealth to inland communities where crystalfire is mined.

Crystalfire: Known by any number of different names - frozen fire and phlogiston, to name a few - crystalfire is a dormant form of elemental fire. Caches of crystalfire exist buried beneath the surface of Cebexia, where they formed at the dawn of the world when flames were trapped within elemental earth and frozen into a cold, crystalline state. When exposed to actual flame, crystalfire normally evaporates into the Ethereal Planes in a brief and useless flash. However, two centuries ago, it was discovered that exposure to a large body of water agitates burning crystalfire, causing it to remain in place and pull steam out of the Ethereal Planes. This influx of steam results in modest heat and impressive pressures.

Elemental Engines: Elemental engines are large furnaces in which crystalfire is burned. They rely on the fact that buring crystalfire exposed to vast amounts of water produces steam pressure. Thus, they only function when placed in direct contact with a large body of water, such as a lake, river, or sea. In such places, elemental engines can be used to propel watercraft by creating pressure between the ship's engine and the surface of the water beneath it. This most-popular use of elemental engines has lead to extremely fast rates of water travel, despite the lack of any real overland equivalent.

Industrial Machines: While fast water travel is the primary benefit of elemental engines, elemental engines built into river- and seaside buildings can also be used to provide steam power for mechanical devices. Steam-powered millstones, looms, and similar devices are often found in the waterfront buildings of larger towns and cities. However, this particular utilization of steam power is conducted only on relatively small scales. Many Cebexians are too superstitious about large and complex machinery - from which the Cebexian underworld is built - to welcome wide-scale industrialization. Some even claim that certain dangerous creatures are drawn to industrial locations the way evil spirits are drawn to haunted houses.[/spoiler]

[Stargate525]

Magic of Cebexia

The source of all magic is the Amenta, a semi-aware spiritual force that pervades all known planes of existence. It is from this substance that deities, dreams, and souls are formed and through it that all things in existence are mystically connected. The Amenta is also responsible for both light and darkness in the form of positive and negative energy. The former dominates in regions where the Amenta is in perfect balance while the later dominates in regions where the Amenta is agitated.

It's the Force...

Cool.

The Power of Steam

Question, why hasn't anyone thought up the decanter of endless water to couple with the elemental engines? I don't know how heavy the engine is, but considering it doesn't have to pull enormous amounts of water with it, I'd bet a steam locomotive with this type of power source could get pretty darn fast.

[Epic Meepo]

Question, why hasn't anyone thought up the decanter of endless water to couple with the elemental engines?

decanter of endless water[/i] can eventually create a lake, just having the decanter doesn't let you cast the spell.)

[Wensleydale]

It's like, other people like the Amenta!

I like your descriptions of the way magic works. I left out divine spells in Goromor, including them in the arcane spells... but Pure Amenta works too.

[Epic Meepo]

Faiths and Pantheons

Across the globe, thousands of deities are called upon or worshipped. Documenting every god and goddess would be a tedious task, and is best left to the sages; alongside the churches that span nations exist countless religious traditions practiced only by a handful of adherts. Most Cebexians are content with the knowledge that all deities can be divided into two categories: tangible demigods and the unknowable Revealed.

Demigods[note=Divine Rank]"Demigods" is used to refer to deities of divine ranks 1-20, even those of lesser god, intermediate god, and greater god status. The Revealed, if they exist, have divine rank 21+.[/note]
[spoiler=Demigods]Demigods refer to themselves as such because they have the full power of gods, yet are unable to experience that which they consider to be the truest expression of divinity. Specifically, demigods cannot directly experience mortal emotions. This has left demigods strangly beholden to the mortalkind. In order to feel such things as joy, love, wonder, or even hatred, a demigod must interact with mortals by granting divine spells.

Towards these ends, demigods foster covenants with mortals who share their personal philosophies. For some demigods, these alliances with mortals are little more than means to an end. Others have greater respect for mortalkind, and view interaction with like-minded mortals as a form of shared spiritual growth. A few are even awed by the conviction of mortals who adhere to certain moral codes.

In any case, demigods make themselves available for a limited form of summoning in which mortals receive spells through ritual and meditation. Because the demigods are the supplicants in these rites, divine spellcasters are under no obligation to follow the tenants of the deities that provide their spells; other deities can and will provide access to divine magic when a specific demigod chooses not to do so. Thus, the responsibility for recognizing and prosecuting spiritual hypocrisy falls squarely on the shoulders of mortalkind.

The Elder Gods: Historically, not all demigods have shown an interest in mortal emotions. The long-vanquished deities that created the mortal world had emotionless, alien minds, and showed no interest in expanding their horizons. This freed them to treat mortals as mere playthings and prized possessions. As might be expected, the elder gods' reign over the ancient world was both dreadful and bloody for all races involved.[/spoiler]

The Revealed
[spoiler=The Revealed]Depending upon whom one askes, the term "Revealed" can be either singular or plural. In the singular form, the Revealed is one, all-powerful Deity, possibly having multiple aspects. In the plural form, it is a family or pantheon of related deities. In any case, Revealed deities do not have the limitations of demigods and do not reside within the known bounds of the cosmos. As a result, Revealed deities - if they actually exist - have no direct interaction with mortalkind.

Believers hold that the glory of the Revealed is evidenced everywhere in the cosmos, but the fact remains that divine spellcasters are never granted spells by the Revealed. Instead, the faithful receive their divine spells from demigods who claim allegiance to the same Revealed deities. In most circles, these demigods are accepted as messengers or fellow worshippers. A few militant orders instead reject all demigods as deceivers, even those professing tenants they hold dear.

Such disputes are indicative of larger trends. Despite a shared belief in something greater than the known cosmos, the followers of the Revealed are divided into countless sects, for a plethora of throny theological debates exist that cannot be resolved in the absence of direct divine guidance. The largest divide is that between monotheistic and pantheistic faiths, but dozens of comparatively minor disagreements exist that regularly cause strife amongst the faithful.

The Reviled: Adherants of the Revealed usually uphold the existence of a supreme deity that embodies benevolence, compassion, or - in the very least - wise governance. They also frequently claim that evil is the province of mere demigods. However, some believe that one or more decidedly malevolent Revealed deities exist. The term for this evil face of the Revealed is "the Reviled," and such wickedness is thankfully worshipped by only a handful of small cults across the globe.[/spoiler]

[Epic Meepo]

In case there was anyone following this setting, here's an update: despite a general lack of new posts this month, I've been relatively busy with the Age of Crystalfire. I've been slowly creating a handful of digital maps from scratch, something I've been learning to do as I go. Hopefully, a few layers of maps will be ready for a preliminary showing in a week or two.

[Epic Meepo]

The Soulblade
(This is neither polished nor central to the setting, but since its been a while, I wanted to post something juicy. Enjoy.)

[spoiler=Fiction: The Sword Sisters]The young prince, still more boy than man, cringed at the sounds of the battle raging outside his carriage. Men were screaming and dying. Rider-less horses were tramping about in confusion. The bandits were letting out great cries of triumph.

The prince stared pointedly at the floor of his conveyance. Oddly, he was doing so more to avoid eye contact with the company within his carriage than the marauders without. The sisters three were both fierce and beautiful, two things no mere boy could face without trembling in abject terror.

"Princeling," purred the eldest of the silver-haired sisters, prompting the aristocrat to look up. He found himself staring into cat-like eyes of gold. Though he couldn't look away from those glittering orbs, he was fairly sure she was smiling, her cat-like incisors peeking out from behind her not-quite-human lips. "Princeling, you hired us to fight, so I suggest you let us fight."

"No," he snapped, trying desperately to sound decisive. "No, my knights can yet win this skirmish."

"Your knights are dead or dying; as we will be if we continue to sit here pretending the situation is in hand. We took this contract because you assured us we would be allowed to fight. I suggest you let us fight now." It was not a suggestion.

Even as the princeling nodded his assent, the three sisters emerged from the carriage door, three identical swords in their slightly-clawed hands. All the prince's knights were indeed dead or dying, and the only ones to greet the sisters were a throng of bandits edging cautiously towards the vehicle. There were fifty in all, standing roughly in a semi-circle.

"Hah!" scoffed the apparent leader of the crew. "Yonder lord seems to have hired the wrong bodyguard for this road. Seems he's brought swordsmen to an archery range." The highwaymen gestured to his allies, and the lot withdrew a few paces, each reaching for bow and arrows. Gloating over their superior tactical foresight, the bandits moved without urgency.

The sisters reviewed the situation, glanced at one another, and nodded. All three tossed their swords into the ground. The three blades landed in the bandits' midst, each stuck into the earth at least two paces from the nearest possible target. The bandit leader opened his mouth to accept the bodyguards' surrender. Before he could say a word, there was a blast as sweeping tongues of lightning arced forth from the trio of grounded blades.

To the young prince gawking from inside the carriage, it seemed as though the split-second flash of lightning lasted for countless minutes. He had ample time to take in every detail of the outlaws' final, twitching dance of death before the entire band of brigands collapsed into a heap of smoking corpses.[/spoiler][note]On the world of Cebexia, the soulblade base class replaces the soulknife psionic base class.[/note]
In the ancient Age of Insurrection, the Beast Lords forged a perfect weapon forged from raw elemental energy, a blade named Amenta's Avenger. Though this artifact was later shattered and even its fragments destroyed, the soul of Amenta's Avenger has since been reincarnated. For every shard of Amenta's Avenger that once existed, there is now one living soulblade, an individual born with a fragment of the ancient weapon's power.

Soulblades develop the ability to focus their blade-like souls into ordinary swords, and come to depend as much upon this ability as they do upon physical combat styles. In addition to being able to magically enhance their so-called awakened blades, soulblades can channel the elemental power of Amenta's Avenger. An experienced soulblade can also strafe the battlefield with devasting energy attacks, unleashing the ancient power that surges inside the weapon that is his soul.

[spoiler=Table: The Soulblade]Hit Die: d10
[class]
[bab=cleric][ref=good][will=good]
[special=Special]
[1]Awaken blade, blade focus +1[/1]
[2]Quick Draw[/2]
[3]Combat Manifestation[/3]
[4]+1 awakened blade[/4]
[5]Throwing blade[/5]
[6]Blade enhancement +1[/6]
[7]Speed of Thought[/7]
[8]+2 awakened blade[/8]
[9]Bladewind, blade focus +2[/9]
[10]Blade enhancement +2[/10]
[11]Ghost touch blade[/11]
[12]+3 awakened blade[/12]
[13]Blade to the soul[/13]
[14]Blade enhancement +3[/14]
[15]Bladestrike[/15]
[16]+4 awakened blade[/16]
[17]Returning blade[/17]
[18]Blade enhancement +4[/18]
[19]Widen Power[/19]
[20]+5 awakened blade[/20]
[/special]
[special=Power Points/Day]
[1]1[/1]
[2]2[/2]
[3]3[/3]
[4]4[/4]
[5]6[/5]
[6]8[/6]
[7]10[/7]
[8]12[/8]
[9]15[/9]
[10]18[/10]
[11]21[/11]
[12]24[/12]
[13]28[/13]
[14]32[/14]
[15]36[/15]
[16]40[/16]
[17]45[/17]
[18]50[/18]
[19]55[/19]
[20]60[/20]
[/special]
[special=Powers Known]
[3]stomp[/3]
[7]energy push[/7]
[11]energy burst[/11]
[15]energy adaptation[/15]
[19]energy wave[/19]
[/special]
[/class]
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier skill points per level, x4 on 1st level): (Under construction.)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Soulblade Class Abilities]Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Soulblades are proficient with all simple weapons; with martial melee weapons (but not martial ranged weapons); and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Power Points/Day: A soulblade gains a base daily allotment of power points, as outlined on the table entitled "The Soulblade." In addition, starting at 3rd level, a soulblade receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score, as would a psychic warrior. His race might also provide bonus power points per day (starting on 1st level instead of 3rd), as might certain feats and items.

Powers Known: A soulblade begins play without knowing any powers. Beginning at 3rd level, he starts gaining certain specific powers known, as outlined on the table entitled "The Soulblade." Note that these powers known are fixed, and that there is no soulblade power list. Soulblades thus have no ability to activate power completion and power trigger psionic items.

A soulblade simply knows his powers; he does not need to prepare them in advance. However, soulblade powers are granted by awakened blades (see awaken blade, below). A character cannot manifest any soulblade powers unless he is holding an awakened blade, and he must gesture with that blade in order to manifest any such power. A soulblade is considered free to gesture with an awakened blade - and thus to manifest his powers - whenever he could make a melee attack with that weapon, were an opponent within his reach. For example, a grappled soulblade wielding an awakened greatsword could not manifest his soulblade powers (since a grappled character cannot attack with a greatsword), but a soulblade standing alone in a field could (since nothing would prevent him from making a melee attack, were an opponent within his reach).

A soulblade's manifester level is equal to his class level. The Difficulty Class for saving throws against soulblade powers is 10 + the power's level + the soulblade's Wis modifier.

Awaken Blade (Su): A soulblade can awaken the power of the artifact known as the Amenta Blade in any falchion, greatsword, short sword, longsword, or scimitar that has no magical or psionic properties of its own. Doing so requires an hour of uninterrupted meditation, during which time the soulblade must remain in contact with the sword to be awakened. A given soulblade can have awakened only one blade at any given time; awakening a second blade while a first still exists causes the first to no longer be an awakened blade. Likewise, adding permanent magical or psionic enhancements to an awakened blade causes the blade to longer be an awakened blade.

An awakened blade has no special properties in the hands of any character other than a soulblade. When wielded by a soulblade, an awakened blade counts as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and allows the soulblade to manifest any soulblade powers he knows whenever he is free to gesture with that blade (see powers known, above). In addition, an awakened blade wielded by a soulblade of at least 4th level gains a magical enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to one-fourth of its wielder's soulblade level, rounded down.

Blade Focus (Ex): A soulblade gains a +1 circumstance bonus on attack rolls when attacking with an awakened blade. This bonus stacks with all others. At 9th level, the circumstance bonus granted by this ability increases to +2.

Quick Draw: A 2nd level soulblade gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat.

Combat Manifestation: A 3rd level soulblade gains Combat Manifestation as a bonus feat.

Throwing Blade (Su): An awakened blade wielded by a soulblade of at least 5th level gains the throwing special weapon property in addition to any others it happens to possess. When thrown, the blade retains its enhancement bonus and other special properties gained for being wielded by a soulblade for 1 round, or until the blade comes into any creature's possession, whichever comes first.

Blade Enhancement (Su): At 6th level, a soulblade gains the ability to enhance his awakened blade. This ability is identical to the mind blade enhancement ability of the soulknife class detailed in the core rules for psionics, except chosen enhancements apply to any blade the soulblade has personally awakened whenever he holds it. These benefits do not apply to awakened blades other than the soulblade's own.

Speed of Thought: A 7th-level soulblade gains Speed of Thought as a bonus feat, even if he doesn't meets its normal prerequisites.

Bladewind (Su): As a supernatural ability, a 9th level soulblade gains the benefits of the Whirlwind Attack feat, but only when attacking with an awakened blade. He does not need to meet the normal prerequisites of the feat to gains its benefits, and does not count as actually having the feat.

Ghost Touch Blade (Su): An awakened weapon wielded by a soulblade of at least 11th level gains the ghost touch special weapon property in addition to any others it happens to possess.

Blade to the Soul (Su): At 13th level, a soulblade can expend his psionic focus prior to making an attack with an awakened blade. The attack is resolved as a touch attack. If the attack misses, the soulblade's psionic focus is still expended, and produces no effect.

Bladestrike (Su): When a 15th level soulblade manifests an instantaneous area power, he may expend his psionic focus to make a ranged attack with an awakened blade as part of manifesting that power. If the ranged attack hits, the point struck by the awakened blade becomes the point of origin for the awakened blade. (The soulblade may choose to have the awakened blade strike anywhere within the target's space with a successful attack.) If the attack misses, the manifested power fails; power points spent and the soulblade's psionic focus are expended without effect. Because of this, many soulblades attack squares on the ground (AC 5) instead of attacking creatures when using this ability.

Returning Blade (Su): An awakened blade wielded by a soulblade of 17th level gains the returning special weapon property in addition to any others it happens to possess.

Widen Power: A 19th level soulblade gains Widen Power as a bonus feat.[/spoiler]