Terra Macabre Discussion-Culture and Creatures

[Xathan]

@ sc I owe you 5 imaginary dollars, apparently. :P as for the Prounciation/ spelling issue, I've been giving this some thought because I agree with you. While not a huge problem in ICR thanks to copy/paste, for tabletop it does pose a severe problem, and I've considered basterdizing words to make them shorter and more pounciable, much as what you'd expect when a language has 400 years of human development - and making them more usable in speech.

@steerpike - I'm glad you liked! And of course you can, since you inspired this - mind if I steal yours in return? :P

[Steerpike]

Yeah go ahead!

[Xathan]

*yoink*

[Steampunk Knight]

I wanted to throw out some names for the third IC writer. Now a few of the names below don't fit into the time frame that you are looking for, but it is hard to find some one that totally works. Again these are just a suggestion

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa 15th – 16th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Cornelius_Agrippa

Leonardo da Vinci 15th – 16th century

Albertus Magnus 13th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus

Geoffrey Chaucer 14th – 15th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer

Pietro d'Abano 13th and 14th century
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_d%27Abano

[Xathan]

That's a huge help, Steampunk! While most of them are prior to the time period the setting takes place in, I'm perfectly fine with that - I wanted the three previously mentioned writers primarily to comment on the modern world, but historical viewpoints are a huge help, especially for notations included in the writings of the "modern" writers. Chaucer was also someone I hadn't considered that'd be an awesome choice - taking a twist on the Canturbury Tales with a Lovecraftian bent would be a blast to write.

Unfortunately my next two posts are going to, by virtue of needing to reference the real world, be OOC posts - something that I've resigned myself to being unavoidable at times. That being said, those writers will make things much easier. :D

BTW, I'll be on, but I'm transcribing about 7 pages of notebook notes to text right now, so I'm not gonna be in the IRC - these are the two OOC posts I mentioned. I might reorganize the thread again to put those before the IC posts - basically, explain the setting in OOC terms, and then expound upon them in IC posts.

Just an odd note I want to mention - I've always enjoyed setting writing, but never before have had this much sheer fun writing a setting. Terra Macabre is a blast to write, and I think may be the first setting I'm going to be totally dedicated to for awhile. I have some ideas for a mashup of my old fantasy settings that I've been unable to use for TM brewing in the back of my head, as well as a mashup of my old post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk settings for Shades and Ashes, but my desire to work on them  before I get a great deal more for TM down is nil to none. :D I love this setting.

[Steampunk Knight]

That's a huge help, Steampunk! While most of them are prior to the time period the setting takes place in, I'm perfectly fine with that - I wanted the three previously mentioned writers primarily to comment on the modern world, but historical viewpoints are a huge help, especially for notations included in the writings of the "modern" writers. Chaucer was also someone I hadn't considered that'd be an awesome choice - taking a twist on the Canturbury Tales with a Lovecraftian bent would be a blast to write.

Unfortunately my next two posts are going to, by virtue of needing to reference the real world, be OOC posts - something that I've resigned myself to being unavoidable at times. That being said, those writers will make things much easier. :D

BTW, I'll be on, but I'm transcribing about 7 pages of notebook notes to text right now, so I'm not gonna be in the IRC - these are the two OOC posts I mentioned. I might reorganize the thread again to put those before the IC posts - basically, explain the setting in OOC terms, and then expound upon them in IC posts.

Just an odd note I want to mention - I've always enjoyed setting writing, but never before have had this much sheer fun writing a setting. Terra Macabre is a blast to write, and I think may be the first setting I'm going to be totally dedicated to for awhile. I have some ideas for a mashup of my old fantasy settings that I've been unable to use for TM brewing in the back of my head, as well as a mashup of my old post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk settings for Shades and Ashes, but my desire to work on them  before I get a great deal more for TM down is nil to none. :D I love this setting.

I'm sorry the names I gave to you were meant for the posts that say "14th century biologist" not as a modern speaker. sorry for the confusion.

[Xathan]

Oh, no worries, I understood what they were for, but they totally sent my brain spinning in a differnt direction - thanks for the clarification though in case  my brain spinning had completely befuddled me. I might just play fast and loose with history and up the birthdates for one of those figures, because (as you'll see in my OOC posts), I'm playing much looser with history than I originally had planned. :P

[Steampunk Knight]

Oh, no worries, I understood what they were for, but they totally sent my brain spinning in a differnt direction - thanks for the clarification though in case  my brain spinning had completely befuddled me. I might just play fast and loose with history and up the birthdates for one of those figures, because (as you'll see in my OOC posts), I'm playing much looser with history than I originally had planned. :P

always interested in what you come p with. looking forward to it.

[Xathan]

Posted! Coming up next - OOC overviews of races, the Aether, Technology and The World Within, followed by detailed IC information on everything and some information on system. Also, going to reorganize thread constantly so the OOC stuff are in the first posts (perhaps with some IC documents preceeding them to make them more interesting to read) and the IC stuff comes in the second group of posts, while system stuff is either getting it's own thread OR is in the bottom group of posts, because I'm rather anal retentive.

[Xathan]

   The Americas:
   First, the Incans, Aztecs, and Mayans are all at their peak at the time of the arrival, and became the domains of Great Old Ones. In North America, the discovery of the continent by Leif Erikson in the 11th century cause a large viking migration prior to the Arrival, and two nations (Asgard in the northwest of America/southwest of Canada, Valhalla in Greeland) arose from this. Both were large enough to warrant dominion by a Great Old One upon arrival. They did not engage in the mass genocide of the native peoples that the European immigrants in the real world did, allowing them to flourish a bit more (something we'll explore later.)
   Secondly, during his conquest of damn near everything, Ghengis Khan decided to send a number of people he deemed unfit or weak (which he had an extraordinarily tough metric for determining) across the Pacific, partially to be rid of the burden of them, and partially to allow them a chance to prove their worth by finding something of value over there. Understandably, upon arriving in the area occupied by Northeastern America and Southeastern Canada, they were unwilling to return to the people that exiled them, and became the Oceanic Khanate. Again, they were powerful enough to draw the attention of a Great Old One.
   Finally, a yet-to-be-determined North American tribe, faced with the arrival of three less nomadic and more technologically advanced cultures - the Aztecs to the south, the Khanate to the East, and Asgard to the west - banded together to form a more permanent settlement for defense, and many allied tribes flocked to this newly born, stable nation along the Great Lakes. Once again, this culture was significant enough to warrant a Great Old One's dominion.
   And if you're wondering why all these changes occured - the Great Old Ones had begun stirring in the late 9th century, and their subtle influence altered history in such ways.

Are the peoples of the Oceanic Khanate, the uncreated North American tribe, and Asgard in contact with Incans, Aztecs, and Mayans at the time of the arrival? If so, how are you handling the factor of disease brought by the Euro/Asian people? Did the G.O.O.'s help stop the spread of them? Did they do anything at all? I'm guessing not, but would be interesting to read your take on it.   

This is something I gave some thought to, and no, the GOO's did not stop the spread - they weren't involved or aware enough to do that, and they hadn't "decided" who would rule where, so they had no reason to protect any one people's heath.

Doing some research and all...it seems that the spread of disease was so devastating to Native Americans partially because it was deliberately used as a bioweapon (smallpox infested blankets) and because the contact with disease carriers, deliberate or not, was so frequent. Initial contact with the Native Americans by the Oceanic Khanate and Asgardians was limited - the former was worried Gengis Khan was going to show up to reclaim them at any moment, the latter was in a civil war that would eventually create Valhalla. Because of that, the diseases were spread to and then among the various Native American groups much slower than in reality, and didn't happen in the middle of a war for dominance. As such, while the various new diseases were bad for them, it really was more "Black Plague" level bad rather than "Genocidal" bad, and they were able to recover enough prior to the Arrival.

[Magnus Pym]

I finally took some time to carefully read some of Terra Macabre and I like it. The sole fact that it happens on Earth does incite me to continue reading. Now with the G.O.O's and Atlantis, you bring me back to my childhood when I created a setting called Atlantis : The Shattered Souls. It had something to do with Earth initially, but then the action was relocated on another world, another dimension even. The G.O.O's, which could have been called like that anyways, were Titans. Some were evil, some were good, some didn't care, blablabla. Anyways, this is very interesting to me.

I especially like how vast you've made the adventuring possibilities, allowing one to fancy himself a spy for the benefit of the Atlantean rebels or the G.O.O's (or any other ambitious faction), an explorer of the universe or underground, or an abomination hunter, to only name a few.

Even though at first read the politics seem incredibly simple, I see the potential for extreme complexity, double-crossing, temporary power shifts and the eternal power struggle between more than just two factions. It's unsuspectingly complete. One just has to use his imagination.

I must admit I don't know a thing about Da Vinci, nor clockwork, so I won't comment much on that. It –seems- to me that it's kinda unique, in its own way and I like that.

I've never been one for races other than humans... not that I am racist. In your setting I think you've done well though, not using the cheesy standard races like elves, dwarves and whatnot. Unless you just renamed them.

Another thing that catched my attention is how you make the use of in-character description of things, events, e.t.c. I've wanted to do this for Plaguelands, but I realize I'm not so good at it. I have to say you've inspired me to try more though. Kudos!

You gave it your all, went in depth with slang and language thing. That takes some serious thinking effort, especially with the naming convention you're using, Kudos again!

I'll keep it at that for now. I might have more to say later!

[Xathan]

I finally took some time to carefully read some of Terra Macabre and I like it. The sole fact that it happens on Earth does incite me to continue reading. Now with the G.O.O's and Atlantis, you bring me back to my childhood when I created a setting called Atlantis : The Shattered Souls. It had something to do with Earth initially, but then the action was relocated on another world, another dimension even. The G.O.O's, which could have been called like that anyways, were Titans. Some were evil, some were good, some didn't care, blablabla. Anyways, this is very interesting to me.

Glad to hear I've sparked your interest. :) I do see some similarities in basic idea, which is always nice - great minds thinking alike and all that. Plus, I always love alternate Earth histories/the Humans are From Earth in fantasy, so it's good to hear someone else does it.

I especially like how vast you've made the adventuring possibilities, allowing one to fancy himself a spy for the benefit of the Atlantean rebels or the G.O.O's (or any other ambitious faction), an explorer of the universe or underground, or an abomination hunter, to only name a few.

That's what really kicked off the setting - I wanted to create a Lovecraftian settings that had options other than "OH GOD COSMIC HORROR BLARGLEBLARGLE!" (not that there's anything wrong with that, but since it's public domain I like the idea of taking Lovecraft's literary Lego's and seeing what I can build with them.) I'm really glad to hear that I've achieved this design intent so far - it's more difficult than I expected to do something than the above mentioned Cosmic Horror with Lovecraft, and it heartens me to hear I pulled it off. :D

Even though at first read the politics seem incredibly simple, I see the potential for extreme complexity, double-crossing, temporary power shifts and the eternal power struggle between more than just two factions. It's unsuspectingly complete. One just has to use his imagination.

Yeah, there's one basic fight - Atlantis Vs. Everyone else. However, that's largely because I haven't gotten into various details - international politics exist between the G.O.O's who do, in fact, war against each other and ally with each other, so that immediately creates a ton of factions, then there's internal rebels with the same goals as Atlantis but disliking it - internal rebels who want to establish a Christian/Islamic/Hindu Theocracy after getting rid of the G.O.O, people who were in line for the crown fomenting rebellion to get it back - and disgusted by the whole democracy thing Atlantis does, meaning Atlantis and them are on unfriendly terms even though they have a mutual foe...and then on Pacifica, you have settlements of various interplanetary races, and none of these races have a homogeneous culture even on their own world with one exception (because it's a single hive-mind), and those races are involved in Earth politics - and not always in favor of the G.O.Os. Then you add in the various cultures of the Nascent Things who are trying to found their own nations, or the new versions of humanity that are forming separatist movements - sometimes both of which are backed by a Lesser Old One seeking more power...the politics is a lot more complex than I've gotten into so far, because I'd prefer to explore that ICly - but you've made me realize I should probably do a political OOC post to clear that up. :)

I must admit I don't know a thing about Da Vinci, nor clockwork, so I won't comment much on that. It –seems- to me that it's kinda unique, in its own way and I like that.

Da Vinci tec/Clockpunk are not completely unique to me, though I'm trying to put my own spin on them - and really, what it boiled down to was I wanted 18th century aesthetics but more advanced tech, which left me the option of clockwork technology or Steampunk, and I chose the road marginally less traveled. :P

I've never been one for races other than humans... not that I am racist. In your setting I think you've done well though, not using the cheesy standard races like elves, dwarves and whatnot. Unless you just renamed them.

Nope, that makes you a speciesist. :P In all seriousness, I completely understand, and I'm most definitely not doing standard fantasy races - partially because I'm sick of them, partially because they'd be completely out of place. Instead, I'm doing mutated animals/humans as well as Aliens of a Lovecraftian Type, given things a horrific twist and never, ever using anything that could be an elf or a dwarf or a blank. I'm saving those for a latter fantasy mashup setting that's brewing in my hindbrain.

Another thing that catched my attention is how you make the use of in-character description of things, events, e.t.c. I've wanted to do this for Plaguelands, but I realize I'm not so good at it. I have to say you've inspired me to try more though. Kudos!

Thanks! It's really hard to do - I made a huge mistake when I tried to do the whole thing in IC posts. I'm looking forward to seeing how you weave them in, however! They're good to spice things up, and I'm betting you're better than you think. :P

You gave it your all, went in depth with slang and language thing. That takes some serious thinking effort, especially with the naming convention you're using, Kudos again!

I'm really glad people have liked that so far. I'm going to have to do a second version of almost every word, something that people can remember and pronounce, but this is one of those things where I was really proud of how it turned out and worried to all hell that no one else would like it. So far, response has been positive, and I'm glad you liked it as well!

I'll keep it at that for now. I might have more to say later!

Thanks! Hope you do - I'll be updating it as much as possible (going to skip next tech update until after I've done an OOC politics update, because you made me realized I need one.) :) Looking forward to more Plaguelands as well!
[/quote]

[Magnus Pym]

The Politics read was a good one. Very interesting. Definitely we can't say it's simple anymore, with the mish-mash of people, faiths, ambitions, goals, e.t.c.

I am, however, very curious about the Aether stuff. Bet you've seen that coming though so I'll wait until you release more info on that.

[Xathan]

Thanks! Glad I could add to the complexity - and realized there are even some groups I forgot about I'll have to add back in later.

The Aether is something I'm really looking forward to - I just need to hammer out the tech (pun intended) before I can nail down the Aether fully, since that will have the biggest impact.

[Xathan]

I posted on the Tech.

I gotta admit, this is the first thing about Terra Macabre (outside of system stuff) I haven't felt 100% sure about. Part of it is a bias sparkletwist pointed out in IRC - we have an inclination to, when we think of Lovecraft's stories, think of the tech that was around in his time. But part of it is just...it feel kind of almost...goofy? Out of place? Maybe that's just my nerves, but I'm thinking steamtech or deiseltech might work better...but at the same time, not too sure about those either. Feedback greatly appreciated.