Elyria (Discussion)

[Raven Bloodmoon]

This is the discussion thread for Elyria.  I would greatly appreciate any questions, commonets, criticisms, or tips anyone may have to offer.  I have spent quite a deal of time working out a set of mechanics that should fit Elyria, so now I'm trying to step back from that aspect and begin to explore the world all the rules are suppose to be emulating.

Elyria

[Numinous]

I'll come back to this setting later, as it bears a lot of resemblance to worlds I've worked on in the past and many of the ideas I'm currently exploring.

I just wanted to let you know, kudos on Shades of gray, moral ambiguity is one of my favorite things to explore in a world.  Are you using traditional alignment, or scrapping the system?  I prefer looser rules for alignment in darker settings, as it makes things more interesting.

Also, everything having a spirit is a fun idea to use.  My current works are exploring fey and the darker fairy tales, and these tie in closely with spirits of nature.  Are you using spirits of the world in a sense similar to Shinto, or Fey?

Good luck and keep working, and send me a PM if you feel your world ever needs some attention.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Dude, you just made me to glad I joined this forum.  Thank you.  and thank you for the offer.  I will almost certainly be in contact.

I'm not using any alignment system at all, actually.  I use to use a 10-point scale for alignment and would track each PCs shifts and what not based upon their actions, but I honestly hate trying to pidgeon hole people into a certain category like that--especially when ethics and morality are involved.  I am incorporating taint (slightly modified Heroes of Horror version), so that might be constrewed as alignment to a degree, but really it is more of a black mark on your karma, so to speak.  I'll get into more detail on taint in the main Elyria thread.

I am trying to sneak a lot of asian (Japanese in particulary, as I can't get enough of that culture) influence into this world.  That forum I post mostly on has started to dwindle greatly and has never received asian ideas too fondly.  So to finally shut up and answer your question, spirits in after a more Shinto fashion.  I am still pondering incorporating western fey into the world as sort of nature guardian spirits, but as such, they will tend to be a bit more hostile and nasty than typical DnD fey.  They will be more of the type that will shoot you with a sleep dark, steal all of your equipment, and abandon you far from any beaten path.

[Numinous]

I've messed around with taint, but the fact that the system is not really mine has deterred me.  Then again, I've been drifting more towards free-form RP than anything resembling D&D, as of late.

I think asian influences are great in a setting, but I offer some advice.  All things in moderation, if you build an entirely Japanese-inspired setting, that's cool, but it looks haphazard if there are random elements of other cultures dropped in without explanation.  I guess what I'm saying is, feel free to use whatever ideas you want, but mull them over in your mind a bit and make them your own first.

I'll keep in touch, and I know you've been here a while, but here's your official "Welcome to the Guild" from me. :D

EDIT: Fey, I totally forgot to address your statement on Fey.  I recommend Deliria as a great resource on these supernatural wonders.  Also, look at some of the older myths, especially Greek.  Many fey were innocent or mischievous more than cruel, but they had no boundaries to their pranks and often had a cute* misunderstanding of humans.

*example: Nymphs would seduce handsome men, and then invite them to their homes.  However, since their homes were underwater, the men would often drown.  A simple thing which might seem malicious, but is actually packed with delicious fey goodness.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Thanks for the welcome and I'll definitely check out Deliria and the old Greek fey myths.  I think that'd fit well with some of the fey, but I still want them to be the angrier side of nature, I think.  The kami-type spirits would be the norm, though.  The truth about metaphysics in Elyria will probably differ greatly from what religions preach, but for the most part, they'll be various types of animisms sprinkled with gods.

I'm not planning on making the setting extremely one culture, really.  There is just a lot from asiatic cultures that appeals to me, and more than that, they are unknown to most of the people I know.  As most of the races are heavily modified existing ones or completely new ones, I am hoping that the world won't feel like any particular culture at all.  I also think the classes will help with that to a large extent.

[khyron1144]

It looks interesting so far.  I like scenarios where somehting big and bad either is about to happen or is happening or just happened last week.  The Gotterdamarung hinted at and the Spirit Wars sound like such elements.


It'd be good to see some specifics regarding either geography or history, though.


I hope what I have said is constructive and helpful.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

It is, thank you.  I'll be trying to make proper history posts as I have yet to hammer out a proper map.  I have about a dozen variant maps, none of which are quite right anymore, so give me some time.  Regional maps will probably happen first and later be pasted into one bigger world map.

Since I started with a general idea and the overall flavor of the world, I dove right into amassing the mechanics to handle that flavor assuming I'd build upon the world I had been using, but after looking back at it, I'm seeing that it needs some major retooling to fit my desired outcome.  So I think the next post I'll make in the main thread will be general thigns about the races, their personalities and philosophies, and their general culture.  After that, I'll post a rough and mostly generic history and then revisit the races to make sure their culture fits considering the history.

I was using Gotterdamarung as the term meaning the collapse of a society.  Sorry for the confusion, but here's a little taste of the Spirit Wars in the meantime:

The Spirit Wars occured long ago when a powerful spirit named Enma came to the mortal world and tried to conquer it.  Great heros and other powerful spirits eventually drove him back, at which time Naraka claimed him.  Unfortunately, the pit that swallowed Enma remained open to Naraka even after his damnation, so now there is an open pit to Elyria's equivalent of Hell in the far East.

[Tybalt]

Btw...Private John Carter? Will he fight huge guys with four arms?

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Not yet.  He still has to climb the military ladder a bit and move to Virginia.

Actually, that's just a place holder for now.  I am trying ot piece together some information on different countries.  The John Carter entry will go away or get consolidated (with a name cahnge =P) at that point.

[EDIT]
Just posted new content where the John Carter excerpt was.  Incidentally, would it be best to put each Elyria section in its own post or keep the overview in a single post?

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Okay, religion stuff is halfway finished.  The basic principles of Vaianism are up, along with a little about theplace of spirits in the world.  Next up will be ethics and morals.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Will we see any more updates for this?  I love the flavor of the opening post, the themes, and the rei, and the hints of history.  The whole setting seems fresh to me, so I'd hate to see it dwindle.

[~Kalin~]

Will we see any more updates for this?  I love the flavor of the opening post, the themes, and the rei, and the hints of history.  The whole setting seems fresh to me, so I'd hate to see it dwindle.

This just sums up my thoughts on the setting.

[Numinous]

I'll summon Raven Bloodmoon next time I have the chance...

*prepares circle*

[Raven Bloodmoon]

There will be more, although there has been a bit of a reformation at the moment.  I'm still working out some historical issues and reviewing for inconsistancies.  I'm hoping to put together a bit of a timeline so I can start shaping cultures and religions soon.  It's not dead, just in a cocoon.  Thanks for the interest.

[Snargash Moonclaw]

Casting Thread Necromancy (for GURPS PbP reference usage): The wiki currently shows the setting as defunct and archived.