Celtricia

[LordVreeg]

The Accords of Presence
In the Elder Days, in the Age of Legend, the Celestial Planars walked the same earth we walk on today.  They saw the same suns rise, and breathed the same air.
In those days, the Omwo~ built Temples in the Vale of Silence actually housed the Gods, and daily, Keith and the slowly mutiplying Omwo~ and Sauroids went about the Douh'is, learning from the Planars and making sport with them.

And as the Sauroid and Omwo~ races grew, they became the object of the attention of the Planars.  At first, it was the younger gods who made plain their interest, and yet still, though the OMwo~ of the Age of Legend were Burnished steel next to the gaudy brass of the Omwo~ of today, still the least Planar was far stronger than the hardiest Omwo~, and even the sauroids learned to fear.

And as some of the Great Planars began to take part in the contesting for the attention of the Sauroid and Omwo~, it erupted into violence.  Zeldar and Wakikchon thrashed sweet Arlieng of direction, and the eruptions of godly power made waste of the hills they were in.

Then the Great God Anthraxus, the decayed, Lord of the wasting death and of the Feeding, stole Tiamat, queen of the Sauroids, and took her to his dwelling, the Cairnhold.
None saw this in the aftermath of the battling, and thought her missing.
In the following day, there were words of sorry, and acts of contrition.  It seemed the rain that had fallen in the sun-filed times of the Douh'is was at an end.  And yet it was not long before Amerer and Asmodeus, the Scales of Balance and the Ruler, saw once again the sidelong glances from their fellows, and saw fear again in the eyes of their children.  And these two, both seers, saw  more varied children being brought forth, of brilliant, beautiful variety.  And they both wept, for they knew that these children would become pawns.  Not loving subjects, as Asmodeus argued for at first, but thralls of fear, placemarkers on a board.

So they gathered the other Great Celestial Planars, and drew up the Accords of Presence, of whcih all the gods must ascribe to or meet the judgement of the rest.  The Celestial Planars needed to withdraw from the World of Waking, and would need to seek out dwellings near the Wells of power in the Void.

And the Omwo~ and the Sauroids were afraid, miserable without the hands that had guided and steadied them in their first steps.  

[LordVreeg]

Map of the Northern part of Celtricia



This is the shrunken map, including the primary areas of play.

[LordVreeg]

Here we have the Igbarian area of play.


Once again, the zoom makes the wording illegible.  But each small hex is 16 miles.

[Tybalt]

So wow...fairly big place, and nice maps btw. I take it Igbar is mostly where your campaign is centered?

As to your myth--I think if you ever put a web page up for this you might put up a sort of 'chapter' format (check out Phoenix Knight's site for an example if you want) where you quote your histories or legends.

Out of curiousity is this take as 'gospel' truth or just seen as a tale? I can't help but notice that as you mentioned above it does not display some of the beings you mention as the horrors they truly may be....

[LordVreeg]

I think you are right about the chapter format.  
I've actually been re-writing old notes as I move them onto posts.  I intend to organize those better anyways, so I've been using these posts almost as a free-form journal, albiet one with feedback.  I have to say the feedback helps, as well. Some of these notes are really, really old.  Like, written on the sides of notes from Psych 502, back in 1986.

Thank you kindly for the compliments on the maps.  I find them very helpful, as the original genus of the Celtrician world was a page of notes and a large map I drew back in the summer between 10th and 11th grade.  The system had been developed from the last campaign I had run, and I spent almost that whole summer rewriting them.  It is a large world. The first map is about 1/3 of the land mass of the Celtrician continent, but Lambria is even bigger.

I have 3 'active' setting right now.  Igbar, Ocodig, and Miston.  
Ocodig is a town of about 7000 mixed souls, almost a hundred miles nortwest of Igbar, the nex main town on the Recum Road (or the North Trade road).  ON the map below, you can see the scale of 125 miles on the left, and right below the country title of Trabler is where Igbar and Ocodig are.  So Ocodig and Igbar are pretty close in settings, and what affects one afffects both.  It is worth mentioning, population density-wise, there is one walled Inn, manned by the Teque Traveling Guild, about 20 miles north on the road out of Igbar.  All the farming area is to the West of Igbar, and most within sight of the city.
Both areas were once affected by the Astrikon Traders, which was centered more to the east, and in the early 400's, the Orbian clans in exile settled here (in fact, though most do not know it, the squat, minaretted old church area of Ocodig is in actuality three old churches of thoes orbian exiles).

The other area, Miston, can be seen upm in the far north and west, up in the northern Grey March.  Miston was actually where the Collegium Tortoris settled in 225 R.O.N., but it became a natural stopping point between the coastal Venolvians, the Igboniats, and the State of Winter (wich became the Grey March). Once Venolvia was destroyed by the Grey March in the War of the Shield(489-495 R.O.N.), it was big enough to survive...barely.
So in 880, the Giantclan Silverworth, after allying with the Empire of Argus to the south, had taken advantage of the war to the south and had taken over Miston, so in 890, when play started up there, the players were part of the resistance.  Today, in 895, they have freed the town, but warfare with the Giantclan is ongoing.  The ShadowGiant SheasHisti,that advises the rulers of the Clan, is being manipulated by the Dreadwing, an ancient Vampyre imprisoned in the northern barrow fields back in the Age of Heroes.
The Vampyre has a huge history.  Originally a companion of the Bard Numansongs, back in the Age of Heroes whom he met in Atlantia (sort of where Orbi is today) back in -2730 R.O.N.), he was seduced by the ArchLich Arbor, eventually betrayiong the Bard.  As a House Telman Human, a purebreed going abck alomst to the begining of the humans, this was an especially terible betayal. Already a mighty bard himself, he rose as a vampyre, and terrorized the North for hundreds of years as the Dreadwing, eventually being imprioned by the Igboniat City States in a battle that destroyed that confederacy.  He was locked away in the center of a barrowfield, not destroyed, but imprisoned by 3 totems, 3 locks, and three keys.  Four hundred years later, the venolvians almost released him, destroying a totem, a lock, and a key, and had to recreate them.  
Recently, the Mistonians PC's came across the barrowfield, noting the distribution of 2 rough circles of smaller circling 4 larger ones, and one huge one.  Earlier actions by them had partially wakened the Dreadwing, and a creature of his had been tricked into taking a lock from an inner barrow.  So when the PC's inadvertenty destroyed some lesser totems, the Dreadwing becasme self-aware enough to be cognizant of his imprisonement, calling to all his old servants, and infecting the dreams of many, including the ShadowGiant SheasHisti.




 

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Tybalt]Out of curiousity is this take as 'gospel' truth or just seen as a tale? I can't help but notice that as you mentioned above it does not display some of the beings you mention as the horrors they truly may be....[/blockquote]

Actually, all the celestial Planars wore less extreme faces then.  The last ten thousand years has changed that.  Anthraxus was the first to develop a more horrible side, but many followed suit.  Many of the Devils, demons and Daemons now wear a pleasant face when the need arises, but see pain as a sculpture, see corruption as a painting, and the see despair as a sweet elixer.

But yes, almost all the sacred books of the various denominations have a variation of the Song of Creation, just with more data from their particular side of the story.

[LordVreeg]

Damage, Protection, Hit points, and the Lethality of a Campaign
Or,
Another Inside Look at the Mechanics of Celtricia
Or
The Warhorse Fallacy, Revisited.

The Warhorse fallacy is, quickly put, a  critique on the HP system that allows players to take the amount of damage they can in many systems.  The Warhorse is chosen because at a relatively low level, most fighters can absorb more damage than a 2000lb destrier.  (yes, they could get that heavy, though that is about the max).
I understand full well the arguments that HP also equate to luck, learned skills, destiny, etc.  And to a small degree, I totally agree.  It is fun to be able to take more damage as a character gets more powerful, and it is better for the game, to some extent, to have the characters not as threatened by every bow shot.
But I seriously have trouble to the extent that it is done in most systems, and would contend that it is, like many rules , a crutch for bad GMing.
[note]This is not to say everyone who uses such systems is a bad GM, merely to suggest that said rules mitigate the problems that come from poor GMing at the expense of assisting the better GMs to create a more dramatic world [/note]
I mean, I consider it an overdone mechanism of the game that a rogue who never gets hit and almost never gets attacked has 30 HP at a medium power level, and a fighter at that level, unarmored will have 45 or more HP.  Not to even get into higher level characters.

Hit points are a skill in Celtricia, and you only get experience in them in Combat, and a lot more when you get struck. As all skills, it is not hard to break levels early, but it gets much harder later on.  HP as a skill has a base of 3 and gains 2-5 per level (better guilds and schools (and factions) have better experience mods and gain levels faster...a healthy Knight might have an EXPMOD of .35, a wizenned alchemist a .1).  The very highest a PC has in HP is level 9, with 33 HP.  Out of the 13 active PCs, no one else has even 30.  The beginning players that my Igbarians just rolled up have between level 1 and level 3 HP, based on their initial EXP breakouts, and have HP from 5 to 15.

Ogre warriors (between 1st and 3rd rank) will have between 20-35 hp, Hill giants at the same ability will have 45-65 hp.

the two parts to the reasoning here are:
1)We use other mechanisms to keep everyone from getting killed whenever they go into combat.  That would be no fun either,
2)Frankly, on the other hand, our game is a lot more lethal than most.  On purpose.  Dumb moves get you killed.  And I want it that way.

Spells and missle weapons, and their proper use, definitely do help.  But the way weapons (and everything) does damage, and the way protection is done, makes for an interesting game.

To maintain a potential of great lethality, yet not overly so, was a challenge.    First of all, I did what many games had done, and I broke armor into avoidance and protection, and decided that anything that dealt with a character dealing with a blow that was going to hit something (armor, shield, a defensive weapon) dealt with protection, and slipping by all that was avoidance.  But it still didn't quite give me the variability I needed.  Daggers just could not ever touch anyone even in chainmail.  The breakthrough came one day when I really got down to brass tacks and looked at the probablity curves I was trying to create.  I wanted armor to have a range of protections, but more of a bell curve, while I wanted weapons to have a potential of lethality, but not every time, and the smaller the weapon, the lower the chance of a really lethal strike.

So what came out of it was to give both protection and damage a range, with a dividing die.  Which allows you to really mess with the probablity curves.  
I wanted almost all armor to have some protection, but to have a pretty good range.  And I wanted the frequency distribution to group somewhat towards a bell-curve, but still with a bulge towards the low end and a big single tail.  So the dividing die in armor is actaully the average of 2d6, which gives me my slightly taller bell in my curve.  An example of a character with very light armor would be some guy in Hardened leather and padded silk, who would have a base protection of 14-23, divided by those 2d6.  A guy in chain mail and padded silk would have a base protection of 22-31, with a divider, and a guy in Lammellar and padded silk would have 42-51 base protection, still with a divider.
[note]Note that none of these include the avoidance or any skills, for the sake of simplicity.[/note]
So our dude in the leather can protect up to 23 hits, he averages 6 protection, and his minimum is 3.  Our guy in chain mail can protect up to 31, his average is 8 protection, and his minimum is 4 hits.  Our tank can protect up to 51 hits, which is a ton.  He averages 14 protection, but can protect as little as 7 on a couple of bad rolls.  This gives even the medium armors the hopes of rolling a pair of ones or a one and a two, and protecting on a big damage hit.  But it means that even the tank can get nailed if he rolls badly.  And heavily armored tanks never get missed.

Now weapons I wanted something slightly different.  I wanted a range of damage, but I wanted to curve to be a little less belled.  I also came up with a neat mitigastion that allows me to not have the amount of damage being the only factor, but the bigger a weapon is, the smaller it's dividing dice.  [note] Smaller weapons also are much faster.  Sometime, a guy with a short sabre will get in 2-3 attacks for every attack of a guy with a bec-di-corbin, or something.  This is great when you are fighting a lightly armored opponent with a low protection.  However, it has been proved a zillion times that attacking 10 times and not getting through someones protection is not as good as one hit that does.  It's all a ratio, both have their place. [/note]
so a Bank dagger might have 11-18 damage, with a d10 divider, a gladius might have 15-26 damage with a d8 divider, a broadsword might have 17-28 damage with a d6 divider, and double bladed broadaxe might do 22-37 dmage with a d4 divider. Behind the curtain a little bit, this means that with the dagger, you can do up 18 hits (before modifiers), and our guy in Lammellar averages 14 and can protect as little as 7.  So if the guy with the dagger rolls a 1 or a 2 divider die, he has a hope of doing some damage to the tank.  But it also means that there is only a 10% chance of doing decent damage, the gladius has a 12.5%, the  broadsword 16.6%, and the axe 25%.  Only huge, slow weapons have d5 or d4 dividers, they are rare.  Giants generally have all d4 dividers, dragons have d3.  Don't get hit by a dragon.  A medium dragon bite is (55-70/d3)
The way the game has fallen out, and this is a gross generalization, is that a 1 or a 2 divider has a decent chance of doing some damage, anything else means you have to hope your opponent rolls a crappy protection.  So the odds of getting 'decent' hit become 20% with a really small, d10 divider weapon, 25% with the d8 medium weapon, 33% with the good sized weapon, and 50% with those super slow, punishing weapons.
 

[Tybalt]

Most interesting...it actually sounds like a workable system as well. Out of curiousity are you giving examples that have actually worked in play?

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Tybalt]Most interesting...it actually sounds like a workable system as well. Out of curiousity are you giving examples that have actually worked in play?[/blockquote]

OHHH yes.  Though a few numbers have been tweaked, this system has been used for almost 2 decades of play. Like all games, the challenges get tougher, but the system holds together well.  It was not in the original rule set, but was adopted 5-6 years into the campaign.  Fighters are even more valuable 'MeatShields' in Celtricia than most games.

It does add a bit of math and about quadruples the amount of dice rolled, frankly, so it qwill drive some people nuts.  It also fits into my system of giving experience where people use it well.  Basic defence is a skill, with subskills of avoidance and protection.
And it is always a laugh when someone reminds someone else to take the experience in hitpoints after they get nailed.

[Tybalt]

So if I understand it right your system is meant to reflect the idea of 'hit points shields' being the ability not merely to absorb damage but to minimize the attacks of others and maximize one's own? So for instance in accordance with this system a very experienced fighter could be killed by a single blow from a giant or a dragon's tail but because of his skill has more of a chance than say a priest of the same level who has not taken the necessary skills to be so good in combat?

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Tybalt]
So if I understand it right your system is meant to reflect the idea of 'hit points shields' being the ability not merely to absorb damage but to minimize the attacks of others and maximize one's own? So for instance in accordance with this system a very experienced fighter could be killed by a single blow from a giant or a dragon's tail but because of his skill has more of a chance than say a priest of the same level who has not taken the necessary skills to be so good in combat?[/blockquote]

Fighter-types in any game are somewhat there to hold oppnents at bay while 'artillery' is free to damage from long range.  It is more true in Celtricia than most, where a talented orc might luck into doing 25-30 hits of damage, and though most mage skills and magic types allow for some armor, not that much.

It is absolutly true that a very experienced fighter might get hit by even a double bladed broadaxe (let alone what a dragon does), take 40 hits, roll really poorly for armor, protect 10, and take 30 hits.  30 hits is enough to kill 99% of the celtrician population.  But, as you say, because he has been in a lot of combats, he has a higher protection skill and hp skill, and has a far better chance of using his armor to it's fullest potential, as well as beeing tougher.  He will likely have the initiative bonus skill, the Damage bonus skill, the Critical hit skill, the multiple attack skill, and possible other combat skills like frenzy, call damage, or stunning attack.

Dragons and Giant creatures are more fearsome in Celtricia than most.  Purposely.  They have higher protections, and due to the way larger weapons have more damage and lower dividing dice, they don't miss much, and when they do, they deal truly punishing blows.  Your Female Fire giantess leader would probably do 33-51/d4+8 damage (+6 strength compared to the size of her weapon, Damage bonus skill L5-20%).  Note that that 8 at the end is added on After the dividing die.  Even higher level fighter types want to avoid being hit by a six foot long, 300 lb hammer.  Which makes sense, at least to me.

You are correct that a combatent from a non-fighting, or even an ok fighting school/faction (gotta love the faction word) will have a much lower experience modifier in those skills, and will advance much slower in them (unless they learn the skill later from a better school/faction).  

I also need to express my appreciation for your continued interest.

[LordVreeg]

Sadr Them Grananik--Gartier (Bugbear) Undercaptain of the Scarlet Pilums
Sadr is wide for a Gartier, about six foot eight, and has a pink, burnt-out patch on the right side of his head.  His fur is also shot with grey, as he is approaching forty, old for the Gartier.  His voice has a bit of a rasp, and he lacks the subtlty of most of his race.
Sadr has been in the Pilums, the city Guard of Igbar, for the last 18 years, having come in right after Trabler Aptor proclaimed the country separate from the Emprate of Argus.  He has risen the ranks the hard way, as the Bugbear tendency of sarcasm has been passed on to him.  He tends to growl out things like, "No Sir, rooting out incompetent felons and stupid teenage Orcs really is my favorite way to spend Endwaak, sir!"   These comments keep him on duty a lot more often than he should be.
Sadr is a Gatewarden, one of three for the southern gate of Igbar.  As such , he is also in charge of the patrols of the buildings and businesses just south of the gate, as well as the guard of the gate itself, and rest assured, sarcastic or not, he is competent.  He has an uncanny talent for knowing who is who (social contact L4-18%) and gauges well who he is dealing with.
Sadr wears the traditional flaming scarlet tabard emblazoned with a white spear of the Guard, and under it he has a suit of Masterwork Omnian Steel ring armor and silk (50AV, 37PR, prot skill L3-14%) that is always perfectly shined.  He carries 4 fine pilums, one masterwork with a blacksteel tip, emblazoned with raven heads (+1dam before divider).
Sadr is a member of the Church of Belial the True and Clear, and has connections in the Holders of the Straight Way (the Assassins of Belial).  He is very good about being their every Meetwaak, but he is also a sometime devotee of the Church of the Lawful Triumverate, especially of Nebler the Shield.
Sadr pretends to care nothing for the guilds, and all for the Pilums.  In reality, he is in the employ of the Winfire trading Family, and lets stuff slip in and out by them.  He has no idea they have been arming the Firehazer and Zyjmanese tribes in the area, however, or he would turn them in, and himself, in a heartbeat.

Eashell "Portnoy' Esientuimis-Huet (noble) Omwo~Strummer of the Martial School of Song, Letterman of the Steel Libram.
Eashell really just wanted to sing.  An elf with a 4 octave range and a crushingly beautiful voice, he had a future.  His parents would bring him to the Platform of the Harvest in Igtiche, to sing in the choir praising Amrist. When bards were hired or came to sing, they always nodded at the Amristian elders and promised to take him into training whenever his parents said the words.
Both of his parents died almost a century ago, victims of an attack near Igtiche by the brutal Zyjmanese tribe.  Both of his parents died violently in front of him as he hid under the bed, keeping his hands shoved in the mouth of his baby sister as she tried to cry out.
So though Eashell has gotten over his understandable racial hatred of the Orkash, he is still nearly homicidal about the Zyjmanese.  He was admitted to the Martial School of song about fifty years ago, but took slowly to much of the training.  He aslo joined the Steel Libram Sages almost a decade ago, and though he is only there once every couple of hawwaks, he is a member in good standing (Basic Scholar L3-9%, Historical KN L2-21%, Sprit Spell L3-13, Mentalist SPell L2-10, Artificer Spell L2-8).  The sages call him Portnoy, after the ancient Skald of the old Brassy Skald guild who prefered to study history than go find it.  He has spent many a night bringing a bottle of Vneersberry brandy into the closed, second floor of the Libram to share with Broken Bertrum.
His singing almost held him back in the Martial School of Song, but he eventually learned the Patar and Broadsword manner of fighting, and to battle as they do, without armor, with no fear of death.  His voice has started to make the mark all thought it would, and he sometimes sings in the incredibly snooty Upper Crust and Helmand's House of the Harou.
Eashell is in his second century, approaching middle age for his long lived race.  His sister is a respected priestess of Vernidale, the Green Mother, and he still dotes on her.  He married a human woman almost forty years ago, and she is approaching sixty, and looks to be his grandmother.  Nonetheless, Jarina Esientuimis is his best friend, and though he knows she will die soon, he appreciates every moment he has with her.  Jarina has been pushing him to go out and discover, to get past the slow, almost dreamy approach that most of the omwo~ take in their lives.  "Learn something from bedding a human, prettyman", she says to him.  He does not want to be away from her, but she wants him to go and sing, and even to create new music.  He is talented (Basic Song L6-20%, Basic Bard L5-25%, Vocals L5-33%, write music L4-25%, Stringed Inst L4-35%), and has friends almost everywhere (Basic Social L4-12).  He is especially well known in the Harou and Bardic circles.
Eashell Might be found at the Steel Libram or the Martial School Guildhall, singing the famous "If I were a pansy Archer" guildsong they always bawl out at the silliest moments.  He might be seen in the Harou district, or at the Upper Crust.  He also spends time at the shrine of Kiminus the Whole, in his aspect of the Patron of Heroes and Fools.
Since the last incursions and resurgence of the Zyjmanese, he has been thinking about following his sister back to Igtiche, a day to the east of Igbar.  He has written a song about the small band that saved the daughter of the Rissa trading group recently from the Zyjmanese, though his guild jibes him for it, since that band was led by a skald of the rival bardic guild, the Frigid Song.
Eashell is quiet, and patient.  He knows much, but talks little.  He is six foot five, and slender, typical for his race.  His eyes are grey and his hair black, and he wears a suit of chainmail and silk (40AV, 27PR). It is silver washed, but ordinary. He carries an Omnian stel fine Patar and a broadsword, slung for crosshand draw.

[LordVreeg]

The 4 sides of Igbar
PLease , pardon stains and such.  This map was drawn in 1988.
It should give a better idea of what the Northgate and southgate are, and something of the scope of it.  I am busy changing this to an AUR file, but it is taking a while.

[spoiler=Northeast corner][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Northwest corner]


 [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Southwest corner]

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=southeast corner]


[/spoiler]

[Tybalt]

As usual I love your npcs, they so epitomize your world. For instance you demonstrate by these two how different races can interact and again the importance of faction and allegiance over race and ideology. I love how you have given your game a post modern kind of hip feel without compromising the technology levels, the magic and the society--it's like your game has its own kind of cool. The races nevertheless are presented as being relevant in a personal way which is nice.

Sometimes it is interesting to imagine a collision of worlds. For instance Sadr would probably be outraged at being regarded as a mere savage monster in New Edom, while Lord Aholibamah would be totally at sea with the factional and economic politics in Igbar.

About your maps: they are very hard to read. Is it possible for you to increase the darkness of the lines and then repost them?

[LordVreeg]

About the maps, I assume you mean the Igbar ones.  I can do some work on them, they are scans of an old, large-size map.  It was more to show the scope of Igbar, as a small, walled city.

As the the racial thing, there was a philisophical movement in the Celtrician continent about a century before, centered in Orbi, the Bright Lands, and the Grey March.  The upshot of the debate, spearheaded by the Church of Banished Amerer and by the PLatform of Trade, was that integration is a sign of an advanced culture, and that one of the major themes that makes the humanoid tribes and others less cultured is their inability to work with other racial and cultural entities.  Gartier and Orkash are on both sides, but it is considered a mark of a person lacking culture to not be able to work with others.  It is the Celtrician equivalent of spitting on the floor of a public place.