The Stars Above

[CYMRO]

Is magic incompatible with d20 Future?

[Elven Doritos]

Is magic incompatible with d20 Future?

It's not that it's incompatible mechanically, it's that I feel it is incompatible with the feel of the setting.

My main goal is to take the concepts and archetypes from typical fantasy and rework them so that they work in d20 Future, and I think that magic-related classes would be better served with a technological equivalent rather than the hazy "definition" of magic that I had given previously.

[Elven Doritos]

As a note-- psionics are a definite replacement possibility.

[Numinous]

Just a thoguht on you're magic replacement.  Perhaps magic has been rediscovered/used as a viable source of technology.  Have you read Urban Arcana?  Magic still exists, coexistent with technology.  It's just anpther thing in the universe.  just like technology, electricity, physics, and magic.

Do you get what I mean?

[Elven Doritos]

I own Urban Arcana, and I understand the notion of "magic in a modern/future" setting-- I'm currently running one. I just don't think that THIS setting is benefitted by the presence of magic.

[Numinous]

Well, if you don't think it helps, take it out.  I really had liked how it had been done originally, but it is your setting.

[CYMRO]

I own Urban Arcana, and I understand the notion of "magic in a modern/future" setting-- I'm currently running one. I just don't think that THIS setting is benefitted by the presence of magic.

Well, at least you have Psionics.  And anything jazzy in the magic realm can be retooled for psionics.

[Elven Doritos]

And it's not to say that creatures won't have supernatural powers. I've got variants of the traditional D&D outsiders-- Outsiders, in this since, will refer to creatures from outside our galaxy, many of whom have immense personal powers. And I just think that psionics fits better than magic.

[CYMRO]

Outsiders, in this since, will refer to creatures from outside our galaxy, many of whom have immense personal powers

No planar stuff then?

[Elven Doritos]

Probably not. The plan was to set the traditional role of the planes as other systems and extra-galactic forces.

[Lmns Crn]

Okay, it's taken me a while to get here, but the read is worth it. This is such a neat juxtaposition of ideas: the scene of a starship fighting off beholders as it pushes through an asteroid belt is pretty damn cool, and you can't get that anywhere else.

I for one am a fan of the magic/future-tech mix here, although I may be a little biased because it's the first thing we talked about, all those months ago. I like the unique sort of feel that it gets; maybe on some level, the fact that it doesn't feel strictly genre appropriate is what appeals to me-- it feels new. I can't help worrying that without that new element, this might become very Star Treky, which may or may not be what you want. Frankly, psionics in sci-fi have been done to death.

What I'd really like to hear about is the sorts of conflict and adventures that this setting is designed for. I can tell from what you've written that diplomacy (and double-crossing) is a big one, and so is frontier exploration (and contact with weird and wondrous denizens thereof.) Is there a place here for full-scale factional warfare, for the Han Solos and Malcolm Reynolds of the galaxy to pursue their illegal business, for scientist-philosophers to unravel the meaning of existence at the heart of the atom? What about space survival, with the crew of the wrecked space station desperately trying to scrape together enough life support to manage a crash landing? There are so many genres that you touch upon with this setting, ElDo; there are tons of elements present in this at your disposal. Which directions are you taking it? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Elven Doritos]

Okay, it's taken me a while to get here, but the read is worth it. This is such a neat juxtaposition of ideas: the scene of a starship fighting off beholders as it pushes through an asteroid belt is pretty damn cool, and you can't get that anywhere else.

I for one am a fan of the magic/future-tech mix here, although I may be a little biased because it's the first thing we talked about, all those months ago. I like the unique sort of feel that it gets; maybe on some level, the fact that it doesn't feel strictly genre appropriate is what appeals to me-- it feels new. I can't help worrying that without that new element, this might become very Star Treky, which may or may not be what you want. Frankly, psionics in sci-fi have been done to death.

What I'd really like to hear about is the sorts of conflict and adventures that this setting is designed for. I can tell from what you've written that diplomacy (and double-crossing) is a big one, and so is frontier exploration (and contact with weird and wondrous denizens thereof.) Is there a place here for full-scale factional warfare, for the Han Solos and Malcolm Reynolds of the galaxy to pursue their illegal business, for scientist-philosophers to unravel the meaning of existence at the heart of the atom? What about space survival, with the crew of the wrecked space station desperately trying to scrape together enough life support to manage a crash landing? There are so many genres that you touch upon with this setting, ElDo; there are tons of elements present in this at your disposal. Which directions are you taking it? Inquiring minds want to know.

You bring up some interesting points, and I concede that magic probably should be in the setting-- I just may rework the explanation of it.

As for the types of adventures that are possible, after I complete the descriptions of the "Vorian Collective", a series of about five races of galactic importance whose histories are intertwined, I might do up a good number of plot hooks and adventure ideas based off of the material present.

For those of you who are using d20 Future (or who have access to the SRD): Most cultures, particularly the Alliance and their most prominent enemies, are around PL 7 or 8. The Alliance is PL 8.

~Elven Doritos

[Lmns Crn]

I'll be looking forward to hearing future developments, then.

I'd be happy to help you hash things out with regards to treatment of the magic system or other setting aspects. If you like, we'll set up a time to meet on AIM and bounce ideas back and forth.

[Elven Doritos]

Just so you guys know-- huge writeups and races on their way. That's today's project. ;)

And the official word is that magic IS in the setting.

~Elven Doritos
(Busy typing)

[Elven Doritos]

The Vorian System

The Vorian System has long been a frontier upon which various interstellar empires have risen and fallen. The earliest recorded sentient life within the Vorian System is upon the planet of Numara, a mixed-terrain planet where land-based sentient mammalian life arose. When a Baator System scout ship discovered that Numara had significant deposits of a rare mineral called arconium. The mineral possessed the ability to absorb different types of energy, most notably the latent magical energy that is woven throughout the universe. As such, the mineral (and therefore the planet) became a very attractive prospect for the denizens of the Baator System, and within a matter of years, the Vorian System was part of the ever-expanding interstellar empire that the Baatezu possessed.

The tyrannical Baatezu enslaved the native population of Numara to work the arconium mines, and word quickly spread of the cruel mistreatment inflicted upon the natives. Although the knowledge was widespread, for several eons, no faction would oppose the interstellar empire, primarily because of internal problems or a failed sense of appeasement.

The platform of non-involvement by the budding galactic community caused a significant rift to form between two distinct factions of the Surian race- having recently achieved interstellar travel, some felt that liberating the people of Numara would be an important early victory to show that the Surians were a power worth reckoning with. However, the majority of Surians felt the Baatezu invasion and their incursion with the people of Numara was an isolated event of imperialism and that it was not their place to interfere.

This rift eventually led to the mobilization of a particular group of Surians, under the leadership of the legendary Voras, spearheaded an assault against the relatively small Baatezu occupational forces of the Numara System. A full-scale war began to rage soon between the Baatezu and the forces of Voras, although the original intentions of both side began to disintegrate as the people of Numara were virtually eradicated in the crossfire. As the war winded down, it was clear who the victors were-- the Baatezu, with strange powers, superior weaponry, and steady reinforcements quickly overwhelmed the under-supplied and disparate Surians. Voras and his people were enslaved to replace the extinct natives of the planet.

After several millennia of subjugation to the Baatezu, the descendants of these slaves had forged a new racial identity. With genetic tampering from their domineering overlords, the effects of the magically-charged arconium, and the natural adaptation that comes with spending thousands of years in a rugged, underground terrain, they were no longer Surians. They had developed preternatural powers, keen sight even in the absence of light, and an ingrained sense of racial hatred for their oppressors, their kin who abandoned them, and even their own progenitors, taking no pride in their heritage or the culture forced upon them.

But the Baatezu overlords were steadily receiving fewer and fewer forces to help govern their colony on Numara. Soon, nearly all the Baatezu forces were recalled to aid in the Baator System's so-called "Blood War" with the nefarious Tanaari factions. The remaining provisional forces were ill-prepared, and in a massive cooperative effort, the Surian-descended slaves of Numara rose against their masters and expelled them from the colony. With keen minds and an intense sense of individualism, the race named itself after Voras, calling themselves Vorians. Likewise, they called the star system surrounding them the Vorian System, honoring the ill-intentioned but now-mythic Voras.

The Vorians, using old Surian schematics from the days of Voras as well as technology scavenged from the remaining Baatezu facilities, worked almost single-mindedly to establish a defensible foothold within the Vorian System. Eventually colonizing the even the most remote of moons in the system, the interplanetary Vorian government began to take shape: in the form of highly disparate factions of self-proclaimed "nobility", each vying for supremacy of the overarching government. The lack of a real vision for the Vorian people and the in-fighting that arose from the noble caste ripped the newly-united Vorian System apart. During this time, weaponry, magic, battleships, medicine, and even mobile mechanized war suits (known to Vorians as "pah-rho-trahn" in the Vorian runic language).

This cycle of systematic insurrection and a ascension of a single dominant faction would continue for several hundred years. A pivotal change in Vorian politics came with the discovery by the Vorian pioneer, Alinor Dahrenas, discovered sentient non-industrialized life in the nearby Renezaad System. In a cruel twist of fate, the Vorians took the unindustrialized and overwhelmed natives, a species of feline humanoids who called themselves the Yomaru (singular: Yomarii), and transformed them into a slave labor force to mind both the remaining arconium strip mines in the Vorian System and the newfound resources of the Renezaad System. The Vorians continued to expand their reinvigorated Vorian Interstellar Empire and, under the rule of House Voras (who claimed to be descended from Voras himself), it prospered considerably. At its peak, the Vorians had conquered five uninhabited star systems and three inhabited ones, excluding the Vorian System.

Since the formation of the Interplanetary Alliance, however, things have not boded so well for the Vorian Interstellar Empire. A series of wars with the Alliance due to territory disputes has led to the breakdown of several of the Empire's outermost colonies, and a massive uprising within the Yomaru labor camps led to the collapse of much of the Vorian Empire's former holdings has brought the Vorian people to their lowest point militarily and economically since the end of the colonization within the Vorian System.

But if there is anything that can be surmised from the history of the Vorian people, it is that if given a tangible, single obstacle to overcome, they are more dangerous than ever.

----

A Vorian looks vaguely like a Surian with long, pointed ears and slim frames. After that, however, the similarities tend to end. With skin tones ranging from dark blue to deep violet, Vorians are entirely hairless. Their eyes are shimmering pools ranging from scarlet to amber, while they possess varying numbers of digits on each hand, from a mere three to, typically, seven. Normally, a Vorian's digits are the same on each of his extremities, though this is not always the case.

Noble-born Vorians wear long, flowing robes of dark colors. Soldier and worker castes wear garments appropriate to their professions.

+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution.

Darkvision out to 120 feet.

Spell resistance equal to 11 + class levels.

+2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities.

Spell-Like Abilities: Vorians can use the following spell-like abilities once per day:

detect magic, darkness, detect poison. Caster level equals the Vorian's class levels.[/list]

Weapon Proficiency: A Vorian is automatically proficient with all pistols.

Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Abyssal,  Myrath, Rovigan, Nilbog.

Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a

daylight spell) blinds Vorians for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.[/list]

Level adjustment +2.