Tephra: a World of Collisions

[LordVreeg]

Just a quick note-

In Tephra, there is no such thing as anti-magic.  You cannot nullify the magic in an area.  That's illogical.  You can alter it on occassion, but you cannot get rid of it.  If it was possible, Aeon would have nullified magic rather than altering it during the Magi Rebellion.

In D&D, dealing with magical forces is very difficult.  It typically seems like the only way to keep a powerful mage from teleporting in, killing the emperor, and teleporting out is a huge anti-magic field or some sort of anti-teleportation area or something of that sort.  There are very few defensive spells in D&D with the exception of simple walls, and those don't often keep out spellcasters.

In Tephra, counterspelling is going to be a staple.  Counterspelling is become a skill (and don't judge that yet, as skills are getting a major work-over), and all spellcasters will have access and probably learn it.  It'll replace many of the effects of spellcraft.  I haven't fully figured out what I'm going to do, but I envision royalty using secret-service style magi and mage-warriors to act as bodyguards.  They'll be able to quickly react to and deflect spells, banish summons, and, at higher levels, intercept incoming teleportations.  This will be one major difference from normal D&D in Tephra.

Very true and very important. Whatever level magic the world uses, the ability of a mage to counter a spell is just as important as casting in the first place.  Magic resistance in Celtricia affects spell success of the caster and increases the saves of the target, and one of the most common types of artificed items is magic resistant items.  In addition, the better casting skills a character has in any of the 11 major power sources, the better automatic resistance they have to that type of magic.

Whatever the system, there needs to be counters avaialble to powerful magics, or, as you notated, spells like teleport and passwall, etc become too powerful.

[Jharviss]

Exploring...
Gnomes

Gnomes hold a special place in Tephra, being the only people shorter than the aodin.  The aodin tend to stand around five feet tall.  Gnomes are about half that size.  But gnomes have proven that having a small stature doesn't make them easy to repress.

Gnomes almost never grow over three feet tall, most between two and two and a half feet tall.  Their hair and skin color has the same pigment range as humans, though red hair is much more common.  Their eyes come in many hues, though they always have an opaque clearness to them.  Some say that their eyes look like glass, some that their eyes look like those who are going blind.  This is anything but the case '" gnomes can see at distances ten times further than humans, being able to focus on finer details at long ranges.  And while they can read a book across a room, but almost all gnomes are near-sighted and wear goggles, spectacles, or monocles to help them deal with things up close.  

Gnomes have been responsible for the majority of the world's technological and magical developments.  Gnomes have the longest lifespan of any race, often living to about 200 years, but are also known for never sitting still.  Of all races, gnomes have a passion for development.  With this, gnomes tend to get the most accomplished.  The printing press, magical growth stimulation, the bicycle, modern glass shaping, most agricultural advancements, and a wide variety of magnetic technologies were all the creations of gnomes.  

The most empathetic of all races, almost all gnomes are stout defenders of the people.  They dislike seeing people get needlessly hurt and often stop at the sight of blood.  If it were up to them, all people would be able to get along with each other and just go about their daily lives.  

Gnomes are far from pushovers, however.  They have long had some of the most powerful militaries in Tephra and have never hesitated in using them in defense.  Gnomes rarely cause wars but seem to join them easily.  Long known as the best marksmen, gnomes are the only race that can pick up a crossbow and see distance as not a problem.  Historically gnomes have also been the first to utilize new technologies and magical abilities in battle, and gnomes make guerilla warfare seem like the only viable option.  Gnomes, however, are the last to enter melee.  Though quick and often hard to hit, gnomes are still the size of most other race's children and that doesn't lend itself to close combat.

Gnomes have a hard time holding grudges and prejudices.  Gnomes have long been the enemies of the haudi, but few gnomes hold the tragedies of history to the haudi of the present.  (Humans and satyrs, also quick enemies of the haudi, can't say the same.)  Gnomes enjoy the presence of other people and try to get along with everyone.  Of all the races, gnomes idealize world peace more so than any.  Gnomes can be the best friends of aodin, satyrs, izedans, though gnomes are always in conflict with izedans because of their blatant disregard for the feelings of other creatures.  

Rolling hills and soft forests are the gnomes' favorite places to live.  Some gnomes also live in mountains and denser forests, but these are the exceptions.  Gnomes live in villages much more often than cities, and these cities are often built quite close together.  They share farmland, each member being given land near their home to farm.  While common economics do function in gnomish villages, they are rarely as important as in the villages of other races.  Gnomish cities do sprout up on occasion, but these cities are often well designed in advance and are kept quite immaculate.  Gnomes never let their living environments get dirty '" only cluttered.

[Jharviss]

Let's talk about racial balance.

In Tephra, I have basically said that being a "core race" is going to be a power jump from other D20 systems.  The e3.5 dwarf is about to look seriously underpowered.  There will be no level adjustment races.  

Let's look at some of the powers of the races:

Aodin: Aodins can breath both in water and out of water.  They can turn their bodies into a liquid (though not their clothing or possessions).  They have long fins on their backs, and these fins have a chemical in them that allows the aodin to harden them.  They'll be able to use these fins like shields, similar to a fencer's cloak.  Finally, the aodin have a poison they release on their fingertips that feels like an electric shock, akin to a jellyfish.  Needless to say, the aodin are a powerful race.  

*Elf: Elves are mighty brutes.  Their strength will be the most of any race and they'll be able to move rather fast.  They'll have a very powerful sense of smell, be immune to many diseases, and have several built-in defenses against magic, especially mind magic.  

*Farishtaa: Farishtaas will be the only race that has built-in daemon sight, and they will have several abilities that interact with and use daemons.  Farishtaas will have quick reflexes and be graceful, though their bodies will be frail.  They are immune to fear.

*Gnome: Gnomes will be short, but they will be the only race with access to some divinations and flux magic.  They can also see tenfold the distance of other races, and their ability with ranged attacks will be unparalleled.  

*Haudi: Haudi are the largest race (though not "large") and will have benefits because of that.  Their bones are amazingly strong and their skin will be hard to damage.  They will genuinely be difficult to damage.  They will also have long nails they can use as weapons.  

*Izedan: Izedans regenerate.  They also can eat anything and their bites are amazingly powerful.  They are stocky and have thick, powerful bodies.  They're immune to most poisons and diseases.  On the downside, they also require light or become sluggish and are adverse to the cold.[/list]
Okay, problem: satyrs and humans.  I can answer for one of them, and probably not the one you expect.

Humans were created by aeon to introduce magic into the world.  They are highly magical adept and can see magic better than any other race.  All humans can counterspell (only magic users of other races can counterspell), and humans are unnaturally good at counterspelling.  Humans are also good at magic in general and cast better than all other races.  In addition, humans learn quicker (yay for gaining a bonus feat and extra skill points!).

I've always hated the "humans have short lives and are over-eager and ambitious" and all that nonsense.  I've gotten rid of it.  Plus I think this will fit the world better and just make humans more unique and cool.  I mean, hell, what's greater than the martial artist that can punch that fireball in the nose!  No other race can do that!

Satyrs I'm having issues with.  I don't know how to put them on par with the rest of the races.  Thoughts?

[The Mad Hatter]

You nailed the Gnomes in the description!

I'm going back and forth with the Aodin turning into liqiud. It's more on the "how would it exactly work?" we need to figure it out for sure. Maybe flux magic? Especially good with water?

Satyrs

hmmm I see our satyrs being the "go getters."  They would be the ones to lead the way type of deal. Tough and rowdy with a great love and respect for life (a bit hippish). Satyrs don't like being suppressed (like they were by the Haudi) and since than they took the role of the freedom fighter niche perhaps?

[Jharviss]

Right, but I'm trying to figure out how they can compete, on a power scale, with the other races.  Satyrs just don't seem to have anything going for them beyond horns and alcohol.

[Jharviss]

This is probably going to be quite different from what anybody's expecting.

Exploring...
Satyrs

Satyrs were created not by the Aeon of even Tephra, but by the haudi.  After the rise of the haudi empire and their widespread enslavement of humans and gnomes, the haudi found themselves needing more and more protection.  For this purpose the haudi created a new race, utilizing the skills of their gnomish slaves.  They created a race that could protect them, strong but not as strong as they, and would be strong allies to keep around.  

Unfortunately, their creation was not as loyal as they would've liked.

The haudi's new creation, the satyrs, combined various human and animal aspects into what they saw as an ideal new race.  The satyrs walked upright and spoke intelligently, and they were really only hard to control when they got alcohol into their system.  The satyrs were close with nature, and could speak with animals just like haudi spoke with other haudi (though the haudi were never sure that the animals understood what the satyrs were saying).  Of course, the haudi were pleased.  When the satyrs joined the human and gnomish resistance, however, the haudi were anything but pleased.  They soon began exterminating their 'flawed' creation, and that action quickly led to the demise of the haudi empire.

Satyrs have human torsos with horns and the lower bodies of goats.  They have two legs and a substantial amount of hair.  Their horns come in many shapes and sizes, curved like a ram's or straight like a goat's.  Their tails also range between goat tails and full horse tails.

Satyrs were created to be the ultimate support for the haudi.  Their bodies are tough and durable.  They are natural empaths, easily sensing the emotions of other people.  Many people see satyrs as walking lie testers.  The haudi's proudest creation is in the satyr's blood.  They have a chemically created blood that, when mixed with into another race's blood, causes the regenerative cells in it to speed up and reproduce very quickly.  Originally, the haudi created the satyrs so that if a haudi were injured, a satyr could prick their skin and drip some blood into the wound, which would cause small wounds to heal almost instantly and larger wounds to heal much quicker.  Unfortunately for them, satyrs are immune to their own blood.

Satyrs have come a long way since they escaped the grasps of the haudi.  They are the haudi's foremost enemy and most satyrs hate haudi with a passion.  This isn't helped by the fact that most satyrs live in mountains near the haudi (though many satyrs have moved down into nearby forests and taken up residence there).  Satyrs and humans get along better than almost any two other races, seeing each other as brethren.  Satyrs also get along well with gnomes.  

The emotions of satyrs are quick to change, and satyrs are known as being somewhat temperamental because of this.  This isn't helped by the fact that most satyrs drink in excess.  Because of the odd chemicals in their blood, satyrs react to several poisons and drugs differently, the most notable of which is alcohol.  Alcohol is a stimulant for them, not a depressant, and '" as many humans have noted '" makes the satyrs act as though they are getting the best affects of alcohol and caffeine at the same time.  

Satyr children, satyrisci, are typically very calm and mild-mannered.  They follow a 'children are meant to be seen but not heard' lifestyle without meaning to.  Around puberty the satyrisci begin to grow horns and become much more rambunctious.  

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=JHArVISS]Satyrs were created to be the ultimate support for the haudi. Their bodies are tough and durable. They are natural empaths, easily sensing the emotions of other people. Many people see satyrs as walking lie testers. The haudi's proudest creation is in the satyr's blood. They have a chemically created blood that, when mixed with into another race's blood, causes the regenerative cells in it to speed up and reproduce very quickly. Originally, the haudi created the satyrs so that if a haudi were injured, a satyr could prick their skin and drip some blood into the wound, which would cause small wounds to heal almost instantly and larger wounds to heal much quicker. Unfortunately for them, satyrs are immune to their own blood.[/blockquote]
So durable empaths with healing abilities.  Sounds like a group that would be built to become natural healers for any group.  
We've spoken about racial integration before; on a smaller scale, how integrated are the churches and organized religions.  Not in terms of belief or worship, but purely in terms of the secular organization and breakdown?

btw, interesting writeup.  Reserving judgement until I understand more fully, but you've made this interesting so far.
and another question...do any other races have unusual reactions to alcohol?  

[Jharviss]

Interesting questions, and thanks for the feedback!

Religion
In D&D worlds religion almost always plays a huge role because the deities have a very direct influence on people and characters, being responsible for their divine spellcasting.  In Tephra, religion does not flow so naturally.  

Let's examine this in terms of point of view.  Looking at the world from a third person omniscient, there are two gods:  Aeon on Tephra.  Some people worship them, but Tephra doesn't listen to any of his worshippers and Aeon probably likes it but doesn't reward them.  There is really no religion based around the two real gods.  Daemon gods -- daemons with such powers that they seem like gods -- sometimes form religions or gain followers.  In Nation A, the entire nation could be based around the religious following of a daemon god.  Meanwhile, that daemon god actually lives in Nation A.  They could go to war with Nation B because of religious purposes, but Nation B has never seen nor heard of this daemon god.  

Religion will pose a large role, but each religion will be unique to its area.  I've long envisioned a daemon god who looks like a large, ominous cloud.  This daemon god could be worshiped as the God of Storms and Weather.  His followers could branch off into separate sects, one that is largely a group of farmers looking for rain, a second that are all warriors, worshiping the power of lightning, and a third dark, underground sect that wants to harness the terrible power of storms so that they can take control of land.

That cloud daemon god could be completely oblivious, but that would be an exception rather than the rule.  He could, instead, have his own agenda.  Maybe he is kind and benevolent, and wants to help the farmers that go to him for help?  In this case, he has basically validated their "religious" beliefs.  If he chooses to ignore them all, eventually they may stop believing in him (he exists, but they don't see him as a God), or they may continue worshiping him out of habit.  Likewise, he could be somewhat sinister and unsympathetic, and validate the dark cult's hopes and start ravaging the countryside.  All of these are possible cases.

Some daemon gods will not have cult followings at all.  Some of them will make themselves look like normal Tephrans and go about as if they were completely normal, because that's what the daemon god wants to do.  I am making a United Nations-type organization in Tephra that meets yearly.  The head of the organization is a Tephran and changes every couple years, but since its founding there has been a daemon god there acting as administrative assistant.  He keeps the grounds clean, prepares the food, basically runs the entire building and ensures that there are no kinks in the organization.  He's a daemon god with amazing powers, but he's taken this idea of a world organization and is putting forward all of his efforts to ensure it works.  He has no following, but he's still a daemon god.  

Also, daemon gods are not immortal.  There may have been a kind and benevolent daemon goddess for a millennium who became the figurehead of several nations and beloved by all, but she's been dead for two centuries and people still worship her as though she were alive.

That was a long answer, but does it answer your question, or does it raise more of them?

Alcohol
The only race that has a unique reaction to alcohol are the satyrs, who receive it like a stimulant rather than a depressant.  Of course, I'm just talking about straight alcohol.  I'll be developing unique drugs in the future.  I've already started thinking about drugs that farishtaas take -- they trap demis and other daemons and process them into drugs that have various purposes.  It's a little sick, but they like it!

[Jharviss]

What I'm adding is a map of the main continent similar to what has been previously seen, but this one has expanded notes on what each nation could possibly be or contain.  Like usual, this is not the end-all be-all of brainstorming, but it's a start.  Note that several nations have no comments -- there are some ideas I have fishing in my head that have not been earthed out or placed on the map.  Otherwise, let me present my map:

Warning, this is a big image.[/i]
[spoiler=Main Continent - Political Map with Notes][/spoiler]

Let me know how you feel about this outline.  Do the borders feel natural?  Does the assortment of nation sizes seem realistic?  What do you think?

[Jharviss]

What follows are simply plans and visions, but I would like feedback, especially ideas!  I love ideas!

Tephra D20 System - Classes
The Tephra D20 system is a huge revision to D&D v3.5 rules.  Feats are being dropped and the skill system is getting a huge boost.  There are three categories of skills:  Skills, Combat Skills, and Magic Skills.  Skills will include crafting, performing, diplomacy, sleight of hand, athletics, and several others.  Combat skills will include many different fighting styles.  Magic skills will include one skill for each discipline and the counterspelling skill.  Skills are being grouped up more.  There will no longer be jumping and climbing and swimming; instead, there will be the athletics skill.  To replace feats, you may gain a single Skill Specialty of your choosing per level (that you qualify for).  These will be similar to feats, but you will be able to gain one per level and will cover a much wider basis.  You will gain class benefits to these Skill Specialties based on what class you choose.  

Now that you have the basics, what follows are the five classes:

Artisan: A first level artisan will be the D&D equivalent to a commoner.  The artisan will be a class that will not be as commonly played as other classes, but is still a perfectly logical option for characters.  The artisan class will require time and money to create its items, however.  Artisans gain huge bonuses to crafting, performances, and various other skills.  The gnomish mad scientist or the haudi chemical weaponry producer are both very possible characters for the artisan.  Artisans will learn how to craft items faster, cheaper, and more effectively as they gain levels.  

For example, say you are playing a weaponry crafter.  You begin at first level with a couple small bombs and a nice crossbow.  You gain a couple levels and you're suddenly using remote mines, crafting flyers, and you have a repeating crossbow with some acid-containing bolts.  You gain some more levels and you're walking around in a fireproof set of armor, an exploding, repeating crossbow, and a crawling machine you can ride in.  Finally you end up with a hand-held sonic cannon, several floating chemical weaponry releasers, crawling mines, and armor that attacks anybody who comes near you.  

The artisan will be able to produce similar weapons for other members of the party, but most of the top-of-the-line weaponry that the artisan would produce would only be usable by the artisan until he is able to make it user-friendly enough for others to use safely.

This is just one possible route the artisan could take.

Mage: I've discussed the mage quite a bit previously.  The mage (plural magi) is a spellcaster who specializes in a discipline and a subdiscipline.  They can only cast spells from their primary and secondary disciplines.  The mage will have access to magic skill specialties, which will let them do things like prestidigitations at will, have daemon sight, be able to create minor illusions at will, and a wide variety of other small yet interesting and useful abilities.

Rake: I have put very little effort into the rake thus far, so I apologize if this sounds less than inspired.  The rake will be similar to the D&D rogue.  It will be just as customizable as the rogue, if not more.  There will be benefits to taking the Dirty Fighting skill, which will progress similar to a rogue's sneak attack.  However, a rake could take many different combat skills or none at all.  It will be easier to have the rake focus on diplomatic or swashbuckling skills rather than dungeoneering skills, though these will still be very present.  

Templar: The templar class is a combination between a warrior and a mage.  They will choose one discipline to follow, and their discipline will highly affect the way the templar is played.  They will be strong fighters, top-notch at counterspelling, have magical abilities that affect their fighting abilities, and have access to some spells.  I will talk about each discipline of the templar separately.  

The creation templar will have to train to wear armor.  They will be amazing templars on the battlefield, superb at taking out multiple enemies.  Their spells will include the creation of walls and spells akin to fireball.  They will be able to create weapons when they have none or create weapons to attack enemies.  

The flux templar will also have to train to wear armor.  These templars will be well prepared for almost any form of combat.  They could change the size of their sword and make it as light as a feather.  They could have their shield float in front of them.  They could cause their stomp to send shimmers through the ground.  They will also be able to heal.

The mind templar will be a subtly powerful opponent.  They will be able to wear armor, as mind magic does not require hand gestures.  They will be able to create illusions to confuse the enemy or possess their mind to slow them down or possibly turn on their allies.  The mind templar could find hidden enemies or make the enemy think they are standing behind the templar when the templar is actually standing behind them.

The summoning templar will be able to wear armor, as their magic does not require hand gestures.  Summoning templars will be able to use daemons for a huge variety of things, being even more versatile than the flux templar.  Summoning templars can bind daemons to their equipment so that the equipment fights on its own, they could summon daemons to ravage opponents, or they could summon a daemon to act as the templar's mount.

Warrior: The warrior will have obscene access to combat skills.  They can specialize completely in polearm fighting or be able to pick up almost any weapon and fight well with it.  They will be nearly impossible to take down, be able to wear any sort of armor, and be able to fight in a huge variety of circumstances.  The warrior will be a more basic class, but it will have just as many options as the other classes.

~ o ~

Thanks for listening, and any feedback would be great!  I really enjoy hearing ideas for the templar class, or if you've ever wanted a certain change to the rake, mage, warrior, or anything else, just let me know.

[Jharviss]

For today's post, I will talk about everything that crosses my mind in no terribly particular order.  

It is unfair to speak of the afterlife in Tephra, for none really exists.  

Unknown to most Tephrans, when a person dies, the essence of their body releases in the form of a daemon, typically a demi.  On exceptionally rare occasions the body releases a more powerful daemon, but even then the person's conscious and memories are not transferred into the daemon.  In the entire history of Tephra there may have been a handful of occasions where the daemon created upon death was able to take its body's memories and conscious, but these daemons were typically of the daemon god class and would become legend unto themselves.

This is not common knowledge, though.  Many haudi believe it, but they're pretty unique in that aspect.  Most civilizations have religions which paint prettier pictures.  Some say that those released become demis with the person's full conscious.  Others say there is an afterlife, like an eternal paradise.  Many say that the deceased join the stars in the sky or watch over Tephra from Aeon's rings.  Some believe in reincarnation.  Often times this is all dependent on what various daemon gods have made up and told their followers.  Sometimes the Tephrans make up these religious beliefs on their own.  Regardless, they differ from one region to another.

There are only a handful of daemon gods that are worshipped in large, widespread numbers.  The Four Humours are four of these, as each one represents a circle of magic.  Each one is unique and of varying ages.  The Humour of flux magic has only been around for a little over a decade.  

Jayrotiin is one of the most unique daemon gods in Tephra, largely because he is not a daemon.  Jayrotiin was one of the most powerful human magi in the Magi Rebellion.  He cut a deal with Aeon to end the rebellion if he was granted the powers of a daemon god.  She did as he asked, and now Jayrotiin, the ex-human, is the daemon god of creation magic.

Vilaudika is a wise and thoughtful daemon goddess.  She has been around for ages.  Some think of her as an angel, but her wings are more like those of an insect.

Vilaudika will either be the goddess of mind magic or summoning magic.  I have yet to decide.

The other two humours have not yet been created.[/quote]Daemonhome Trees[/b]
These trees are enormous and populate the forests of the farishtaa, who grow them.  There could be no more than a dozen of these trees in existence, and even that many say is a high estimate.  Daemonhome trees look, to a Tephran, to be a beautiful tree that towers high above the forest.  It has many different shapes and colors of leaves, and bright colors sparkle in the midst of its branches.  The branches flow out of the tree and then angle down, falling into the ground.  But to those with daemonsight, the daemonhome tree looks quite darker, as it is surrounded by daemons.  Those sparkles of light are fairies dancing about.  Demis engulf the tree, making it hard to work around for the farishtaas.  

The daemonhome tree is a tree that grows other trees.  It is a root of life and essence, as the farishtaa say.  It attracts demis and other daemons to it, and they feed on it.  But their feeding makes the daemonhome tree grow and feed everything around it.  A daemonhome tree is the center of most major farishtaa cities, as it causes all trees around it to be excessively fruitful year-round.  And it is true '" trees of many types sprout from the roots of the daemonhome tree just like soul, and some trees even sprout from the branches of the daemonhome tree.  Trees seem to grow out of the daemonhome tree's foliage.  Few argue with the farishtaa's assessment of the daemonhome as the center for life.

Boom.  Enough of the daemonhome tree.

Also, a quick note '" the gnomish nation to the west of the main continent, the really big one, is a weapon's dealer.  It's a very powerful nation and is constantly in war.  It and the human empire to the east are always fighting, though not always directly.  The gnomish nation often supplies weapons to enemies of the human empire, which has been a huge thorn in the human empire's plans.

And that's enough for now.  

Tootles.

[Jharviss]

Just some quick notes --

First off: languages
Tephra will basically be using the same system as D&D for language learning, with some small changes.  Two skill ranks will be necessary to master a language.  One skill rank will be necessary to learn the basics of a language.  With the basics, one can communicate enough to get around, but takes a -2 penalty on all diplomatic checks made when speaking that language.  A character begins play with three ranks worth of languages, plus one rank per intelligence.  Hence, most will have mastered one language and know the basics of another language.  With another rank, they could either master two languages, or master one language and know the basics of two others.  Make sense?

Tephra has no common, international language; therefore, this system is necessary.  If somebody starts a campaign in the Kingdom of Burgers, all the players should master Burgish.

Note #2: Economy
While there is no international language, there is an international "coinage" system, at least on the primary continent.  There is a large mercantile guild that regulates the coinage.  I haven't quite figured out all the specifics, but they're either going to create some sort of cursed symbol to put on paper money that only they can produce or something of that sort.  Eh?

Note #3: Flyers and Propellers
Propellers as they were originally described will not work.    I need to discuss things with the Mad Hatter, but the initial version of the flyer is being scrapped.  I just throught I should bring that to the attention of our numerous and long-time readers.

^_^

[LordVreeg]

So, after reading your classes, how would you create the following:

1) A former bard, one who was pretty talented and was even taught some basic baric magic, who startes travelling with merchant caravans, training with the gaurds but also learning some of the ins-and-outs of local trade?

2) A former tavern brawler that joins the city guards, starts going to the Local church with some of the other guards, and is now a seargeant in the local toan guards and has become an acolyte in the local church?

3) A moneylender whose family dabbles in politics, used to dealing with upper social strata.  In his late thirties, has been having a tutor come to him to teach him the basics of illusion and mind magics.  He started learning this due to extreme paranoia about being ripped off, now he likes having a bit of magical knowledge, and he feels it makes him mer dangerous (point of fact, he's pretty basic and not very talented magically, but his tutor likes the money and flatters him outrageously).  Very good with Gems and other rare items, decent barterer and cuts a mean rug.

4) a Satyr Pyromancer who has spent most of his time in the local cabal, but who is trying to learn some artificing so as to make fire potions (fire...heheheh...fire!!!!).  Also one who really likes technology and  living in the city.

[Jharviss]

Interesting question.

1) A former bard, one who was pretty talented and was even taught some basic baric magic, who startes travelling with merchant caravans, training with the gaurds but also learning some of the ins-and-outs of local trade?

There is no bardic magic in Tephra.  Singing or playing instruments will typically not have some sort of arcane effect.  The perform skill is going to be more powerful than it was in D&D, but even then it won't equal the D&D bard.  The closest you could get to that would be a flux templar with the perform skill.  In fact, that would be pretty dead on.

2) A former tavern brawler that joins the city guards, starts going to the Local church with some of the other guards, and is now a seargeant in the local toan guards and has become an acolyte in the local church?

In Tephra, there is no magic drawn from religion.  Therefore, a former tavern brawler would take the warrior class, probably focusing on unarmed or dirty fighting.  They could also be a rake doing the same thing, depending on how much of a strong-arm they are.  They start going to church?  Lovely!  If they want magic they can draw from the mage or templar class, but that doesn't seem key to this character.  This character just seems like a warrior who has some skills in unarmed fighting and has recently started taking skills in another style of fighting.

3) A moneylender whose family dabbles in politics, used to dealing with upper social strata.  In his late thirties, has been having a tutor come to him to teach him the basics of illusion and mind magics.  He started learning this due to extreme paranoia about being ripped off, now he likes having a bit of magical knowledge, and he feels it makes him mer dangerous (point of fact, he's pretty basic and not very talented magically, but his tutor likes the money and flatters him outrageously).  Very good with Gems and other rare items, decent barterer and cuts a mean rug.

This would be a fairly easy character to make.  There are no class and cross-class skills in Tephra, so you could make a mage where his skills go toward diplomatics (dealing with the upper social strata) and some crafting skills.  If you wanted, you could give him a couple levels of artisan and then just one of mage.

4) a Satyr Pyromancer who has spent most of his time in the local cabal, but who is trying to learn some artificing so as to make fire potions (fire...heheheh...fire!!!!).  Also one who really likes technology and  living in the city.

Well, presuming that you mean pyromancer to be a mage, this satyr would be best situated for the creation mage class, which has several explosive spells, and maybe some artisan levels.  The character could go all mage, just take some crafting skills, and pretty quickly learn how to create fire potions.  If he wanted technological crafting skills too, he could just focus on crafting.  So yes, a creation mage with a lot of crafting skills.

Pretty cool character concepts, and they are all perfectly reasonable in Tephra.  I'm actually a little surprised at how well a flux templar with a high perform would be like a D&D bard.  But bardic magic doesn't exist, just like druidic magic or divine magic.  There's just that one type of magic.  That said, I'm much more excited about the crafting and other skill abilities here.  Skills got screwed in D&D.  I'll fix that.

[LordVreeg]

Well, when it comes to game and setting design, I like to look at things my players have done in the past.  Better players like to be able to create complex and interesting backstories: and good players like to be able continue their backstories.  One of my oldest PC characters, Drono Biddlebee, started with a bunch of artisan schools, and had the Turniper Commune as the main school.  And grew from there into a mercenary, politician, and now a priest of Amrist, God of the Autumn Harvest.

So I like to ask how a sytem will accomodate the more advanced gamers and the stories they want to create, Not just bob the fighter and Joe the thief.

[blockquote=Jharviss]

A former tavern brawler that joins the city guards, starts going to the Local church with some of the other guards, and is now in the local town guards and has become an acolyte in the local church?

No, you have it, less magic than trying to learn historical knowledge of the religion, and healing skills.