World Creation by Popular Vote!

Also, If Kyslite is so repulsive, why do we use it? ;P

2- Um... I think habitability would highly depend on the species. Dwarves could exist lower while elves could exist higher or similar situations.

I agree with this, though I suspect that most of the player races should be able to persist fairly well within the upper areas as well.

That said, drow may change into elves and/or vice-versa... if we maintain the magical radiation effect in lower areas.

I picture this world as a gas giant... ok a miniature gas giant with a molten core and layers and layers of gasses above it. The density at the lowest levels would press gas into super hot liquid (a great place for young sky islands to form or old ones to dissolve). Above the molten sea would be thick wet dense crushing layers where visibility is impossible and only the most elemental creatures can exist. Next upward would be the Maelstrom of everlasting storms. Islands are not normally stable in this layer and would be rising young ones or sinking old ones. Many of your deep races from dwarves to drow and illithid would find this layer habitable. I can envision an artificially stable drow island floating down in the maelstrom. Next up is the normal cloud layer puffy clouds and weather fronts shifting about the surface intermingling with sky islands above and below; majestic and beautiful opposed to the frightening maelstrom surging far below. All races can survive in this layer and it happens to be the agricultural layer where most of the food is grown. Next far above the clouds is the ice layer. Thin cold air where the only water is snow like flakes of frozen water tossed up occasionally by storms below. Avians, surface elves, and other light thin boned beings can survive here. And lastly the final layer where only the smallest and lightest sky islands can rise briefly (unless artificially held here) you have the layer of stars. The air isn't breathable and no water or weather can interrupt it's eternal peacefulness floating on the edge of space with the vast sea of stars above and the churning weather far below. Only outsiders can naturally exist up this far.

It's intriguing, as I hadn't really thought of it as a gas giant... and yet, ultimately, that's more or less exactly what it is, but with a "miracle exception" (as any good sci-fantasy thing has) to allow solid floating land with heavier-than-air humanoids and other species living on it. Neat. I should note that I'm curious if the layer thing you mention includes the idea of ever-increasing zones of magical radiation. One intriguing idea is that the gods (or perhaps their "core" aspects pun not intended, but recognized, thus the quote-marks) remain at the core of the planet (while their worshiped elements are projected in the various strata where they keep the place from being overrun by chaos).

As do I, but skyseas imply that they fly individually. I would like a few skyseas here and there, but mostly normal lakes, rivers, etc.

This is more or less me as well.

Aranna, I don't think kyslite has "altered-by-plot" powers so much as I, specifically, was thinking of one thing*, while you (and others, it seems?) were thinking of something else**. This leads to the dissonance that you're experiencing.

It doesn't have to throw science out to have different properties, based on what it's bonded with - it just needs to have internally consistent rules. In other words, it doesn't always have to just have "HERE IS IT'S PROPERTIES FOREVER" to be internally consistent - so long as it always behaves <X> around <1>, <Y> around <2>, and <Z> around <3>, this is internally consistent, and scientifically reasonable.

I think that, keeping it or not, the most important thing for most peoples' sake is to hammer out it's properties (I'm okay with keeping it fairly vague myself but having an very broadly general idea of how it works, but it seems this is detrimental to many's suspension of disbelief).

* A semi-water-bonding [ala lipids+soap+water] gravity-buoyant radioactive-powered material that holds light repulsion for itself, but who's repulsive properties fade in water [again, similar to some other bonded materials], but strengthen dry; it has another element that it tends to bond with dry that helps it bond with dirt, rock, and other minerals that produces lift, cohesion, and greater repulsion (similar to naturally magnetic materials, when bonded with other materials, becoming more powerful magnets). These properties are relatively consistent and scientifically viable (except for the magical nature, naturally). Further I wasn't thinking of flying seas as floating balls, exactly, but more stretched floating quasi-ellipses with variable borders and definitions due to a combination of evaporation, wind-pressure, naturally-forming mist-cum-cloud covering (making them seem like really dense clouds, and leaving them only visible in extremely strong winds... which would tend to turn them into either roughly-egg-shaped globs due to air-movements, or, if it's a powerful sheer, a flat-straight nearly-glassy "sea").

** A solid mineral that's water-soluble that always and constantly repels itself in all states and elements of bonding, regardless of anything else. I think there was mention of it bonding with something. I know I'm leaving stuff out - this wasn't what I was thinking of, after all, so I'm a little more vague on the details, naturally. :)

On the nature of Kyslite.

I say balls of water because that is the nature of water. It flows downward ... but what happens when there is no down? It floats in balls. I suppose enough wind could stretch out the balls into ovals. Is it always windy in the skylands or should weather vary?

Generally, very high up*, I'm pretty sure it's always windy so some degree or another: the islands themselves are likely sheltered due to all the construction, natural growth, and features, but near the edges it would certainly tend to be windy. At least, that's my presumption.

* I'm kind of presuming we are, but I admit this could be incorrect... in which case we're going to be dealing with different issues.

The voting thus far:

I)
1
C has three direct votes [Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru] and one supportive vote [Tacticslion].
A has two direct votes [sgriobhadair, Aranna] and one supportive vote [Tacticslion].
B has one vote. [Detect Magic]

E has three direct votes [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Aranna] and one vote supporting it as the most habitable area [sgriobhadair].
A has three direct votes [Cr500cricket, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair] and one supportive vote [Tacticslion].
D has one vote. [Tacticslion] B and C also have one supportive vote. [Tacticslion]

The general consensus here seems to be that all the areas are habitable, but not by all species.

3
C has four votes. [Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Aranna, sgriobhadair]
B has three votes. [Detect Magic, Goth Guru, Tacticslion]
D has three votes. [Cr500cricket, Aranna, Tacticslion]
A has one vote. [Air0r]

4
C has six votes [Detect Magic, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Tacticslion, Goth Guru, Aranna]
B has three direct votes [Cr500cricket, Air0r, Aranna] and one tentative vote [sgriobhadair]
A has three votes. [Tacticslion, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair]

II)
1
B has threedirect votes votes [Detect Magic, Air0r, sgriobhadair] and one supporting vote [Tacticslion].
A has two direct vores [Cr500cricket, Goth Guru] and one supporting vote [Tacticslion].
D has one supporting vote. [Tacticslion]

2
A has six votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair]
B has six votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair]
C has six votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair]
D has three votes. [Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r]

III)
1
A has four direct votes. [Detect Magic, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair, Aranna]
B has two direct votes [Cr500cricket, Air0r] and one vote of interest [Aranna]
C has one vote. [Tacticslion]

2
G has six votes. [ Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Goth Guru, Aranna] Suggestions include the moon was shattered by the Cataclysm, 42/666, seven –one a death star
B has one vote. [sgriobhadair]
C has one vote. [Air0r]

3
A has seven votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair, Aranna]
B has seven votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair, Aranna]
C has seven votes. [Detect Magic, Tacticslion, Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru, sgriobhadair, Aranna]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Unless someone else votes, I think this round will be closed by 6 am EST on 5/4.

something I noticed is starting to bother me: dividing races too much starts coming off as... well unrealistic. I know that there is a literal divide because of the floating continent bit, but that also assumes that no one traveled and mingled BEFORE that. what I am saying is that we should avoid 'drow land' and 'dwarf mountains'. just a thought, feel free to ignore it though.

I agree

ROUND 5!

I) Deities

1) By popular vote, there are several pantheons with mixed races. So, the next step is determining how many deities are within each pantheon.

A) Each pantheon has only one deity of each race that worships it.
B) Each pantheon has only two deities (one male and one female) of each race that worships it.
C) Each pantheon has 1d4 deities of each race that worships it.
D) Each pantheon has 1d4+2 deities of each race that worships it.
E) Each pantheon has some other number of deities of each race that worships it. Please state the number.

II) Planes

1) Outer Planes

By popular vote, the outer, inner, and transient planes all exist (the Prime as a plane only got three votes while the others all got six).

A) All the usual outer planes for Pathfinder (Abaddon, The Abyss, Axis, The Boneyard, Elysium, Heaven, Hell, The Maelstrom, and Nirvana) exist.
B) All the usual outer planes for D&D (Elysium, Hades, Limbo, Mechanus, Outlands etc) exist.
C) Some other version of the outer planes exist (please list).

2) Inner Planes (multiple choice except for D)

A) All the usual inner planes (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Positive and Negative Energy) exist.
B) Usual para and quasi elemental planes (Lightning, Ice, Magma, Dust, etc) exist.
C) Alternative elemental planes (like Wood and Metal) exist.

D) A different version of the inner planes exists. (please state how it looks) [I do have my own version I like, but I am not going to put it up for a vote unless this option wins.]

3) Transient Planes (multiple choice)

A) All the usual transient planes (Shadow, Ethereal, and Astral) exist.
B) Additional transient planes (Mirror and Dream) exist).
C) Some other transient planes exist (please list and detail).

4) The Feywyld (or its equivalent) exists.

III) The Cataclysm clarified

I think the working assumption so far has been that the Cataclysm involved the Inner Planes, but I don't think that was ever was voted on. I wanted to also include some options for how the Prime might be affected.

1) ONLY the Inner Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breeches.

2) ONLY the Outer Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breeches.

3) BOTH the Inner and Outer Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breeches. (allowing the dead to walk again and/or affecting the life and nature of the Prime).

4*) There are areas of the Prime touched by the Feywyld or its equivalent.

[Note, any of these options would be a good way of having Aasimar, Tieflings, Oreads, Undines, etc without wonky biology.]

*4 may be chosen along with one of the other options.

IV)

V) Kyslite

The nature of kyslite is turning into a bone of contention. It’s best put up to a vote.

VI) Races I

I want to emphasize that it's going to be important for people to list races they particularly want to see here. There are a lot of featured and uncommon races. Even if you vote for the base races, if there are some you do not want to see then please make sure to note it. If you want to brew some races, let that be known too.

Any races voted here will be PC races. I am not fond of Always Chaotic Evil races or similar "enemy races". I think it's much more interesting for there to be good and bad examples of each race. To me, it makes things less video-gamey.

It's also important to remember that the world has not always been this way. Once it was a more or less regular Prime.

1) The base races exist exactly as they are in the PHB.
2) The base races exist, but are different than in the PHB.
3) Base and standard races exist.
4) Base, standard, and featured races exist.
5) Base, standard, featured, and uncommon races exist.
6) Base, standard, featured, uncommon, and advanced races exist.

VII) Races II

I don't think that having wings or being able to fly at first level is going to be as big an advantage as would normally be the case since this setting involves a lot of aerial adventures. That said, I want to gauge interest in flying races. These are likely to be brewed.

1) Flying races are common.
2) Flying races are uncommon.
3) Flying races are rare.

I1c
II1ab
2ab
3ab
III a
IV 1 c
2a
3a
4a
5c
6c
V4-I like the idea of a devastating event when two skylands collide
VI6
VII2

I) Deities: 1) E) Each pantheon has 1 to 8 deities (1d8, if random) of each race that worships it.

II) Planes:
1) Outer Planes
C) Some other version of the outer planes exist (please list).
- - A/B/Other) All the usual outer planes for Pathfinder (Abaddon, The Abyss, Axis, The Boneyard, Elysium, Heaven, Hell, The Maelstrom, and Nirvana) and D&D (Elysium, Hades, Limbo, Mechanus, Outlands etc) exist, as do other variant planes (Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc). There is a great deal of overlap and planar bleed from similar planes, as the outer planes (despite having many similarities to the base cosmological areas) are very messy places of bleed and overlap
NOTE: Outer planes are exceedingly distant, and not really able to be touched, normally
2) Inner Planes (multiple choice except for D)
D: A, B, C) All the usual inner planes (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Positive and Negative Energy), para and quasi elemental planes (Lightning, Ice, Magma, Dust, etc), and Alternative elemental planes (like Wood and Metal) exist.
NOTE: these are, to various degrees, all blended with this world: i.e. the world connects with the elemental planes to generate its nature and substance (air/water/earth/etc) as a result of the cataclysm
OR D) I want to see yours to vote on it
3) Transient Planes (multiple choice)
A/B/C) All the usual transient planes (Shadow, Ethereal, and Astral), Additional transient planes (Mirror and Dream) exist), and Some other transient planes exist (such as the Spirit realm).
4) The Feywyld (aka First World/Plane of the Faerie) exists: yes.

III) The Cataclysm clarified
3 and 4) BOTH the Inner and Outer Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breeches. (allowing the dead to walk again and/or affecting the life and nature of the Prime). There are areas of the Prime touched by the Feywyld or its equivalent.

IV)
1) Moons:
G) Number 1 plus number 4.
--> A) There are seven whole moons (one of which is a death star); D) There are 42 asteroid moons.
2) Guiding Stars I: Guiding stars are similar to Polaris on Earth.
I) There are more than two. There is one for each pole, as well as eight (set at roughly equidistant points around the equator; combine an "x" and a"+" to see how it looks)
NOTE: this ensures that everyone should be able to see a guide-star on this enormous planet which, otherwise, might not be possible due to large curvatures and other planetary elements
NOTE: especially if "3" happens (i.e. the guide stars are manifestations of planes, below), this could be repeated several times across the planet (so rotate the "x/+" star-like shape at 45 and/or 90 degrees from the equator in each direction to generate a large number of guide stars (either 14 [two would overlap] or 28 [four would overlap]
3) Guiding Stars II (multiple choice):
C) [A/B/C] The guide star(s) is/are physical manifestations of the outer planes and inner planes.
NOTE: they exist in the way they do as a form of divine stability across the planet, attempting to stabilize the cataclysm, as it were; it is possible that each guidestar leads to a different realm, or a different combination of realms (e.x. one leads to Heaven, while another leads to the plane of fire, and a third leads to the Maelstrom and Positive Energy, and a fourth leads to both Carceri and the Abyss, etc) [overlaps (see above) could explain the multiple planes/portal thing, though it doesn't have to be tied to that idea]; some of them (namely the pole stars) might not be manifestations of the planes
4) Planets I:
- C or D) There solar system has alternating gaseous and rocky planets or the solar system has a unique look due to the Cataclysm.
-- If there is a good unique design, I'd be all for it. By "alternating", I don't mean that each planet automatically alternates, but rather that there's no clear individual pattern.
5) Planets II:
- C) There are 8 - 15 planets. (1d8+7)
6) Constellations:
- A, B, and D) Constellations are similar to those in our universe - perceived patterns of stars on the sky. There is some official body that catalogues them world-wide, but there are different traditional numbers in a local area. Some Constellations, however, were set by the deities (these may or may not be recognized by mortals); these patterns do not change on a global scale, though what they are called varies. Some constellations are something else (like living creatures made of stars). (I cited the guide stars-as-planar portals, above, but also living creatures made of stars is a great idea*, as well as a few powerful magical runes by which the universe is kept from the cataclysm)
* I don't mean this in terms of "there is a set of stars shaped like a dragon, thus it is a dragon made of stars", but rather, "this suite of stars has some sort of metaphysical link, creating a singular living entity out of these distant, but related astral bodies" (these may or may not be recognized by mortals; they may be created by planetary imagination)

V) Kyslite

1: A semi-water-bonding [ala lipids+soap+water] gravity-buoyant radioactive-powered material that holds light repulsion for itself, but who's repulsive properties fade in water [again, similar to some other bonded materials], but strengthen dry; it has another element that it tends to bond with dry that helps it bond with dirt, rock, and other minerals that produces lift, cohesion, and greater repulsion (similar to naturally magnetic materials, when bonded with other materials, becoming more powerful magnets).

These properties are relatively consistent and scientifically viable (except for the magical nature, naturally). Further I wasn't thinking of flying seas as floating balls, exactly, but more stretched floating quasi-ellipses with variable borders and definitions due to a combination of evaporation, wind-pressure, naturally-forming mist-cum-cloud covering (making them seem like really dense clouds, and leaving them only visible in extremely strong winds... which would tend to turn them into either roughly-egg-shaped globs due to air-movements, or, if it's a powerful sheer, a flat-straight nearly-glassy "sea").
NOTE: this also would take elements of "3" in that it's buoyancy depends heavily on the substance to which it is bonded, and "5" in terms of it's base (crystalline/metallic) nature and "4" the ability to be mined/refined into usable materials (that could cause an island to fall - this is even more insidious, as no one would necessarily know)

OR

"6": OTHER kyslite is, instead, a magical effect based on magical radiation-absorption performed by mindless creatures that create a shades-like effect to produce a floating material that then is bonded into the water [these could be similar to ubiquitous tardigrades that no one notices everywhere]; in this case, dispel magic becomes quite dangerous to the islands, if wide-spread enough.

VI) Races I
- 6) Base, standard, featured, uncommon, and advanced races exist.
- the following races are the most common or "basic" races, known as "landborn" races; those in parenthesis are generally found in lower/higher-magical radiation areas, while the upper areas yield the ones noted before the parenthesis dwarves (duergar), elves (drow), goblin/monkeygoblin (hobgoblin), ghoran, gnomes (svirfneblin), halflings (wayangs), humans (kuru), kasatha, kobolds, lashunta, orcs (ogres), samsarans, vishkanya; half-races: changling, half elves, half orcs, ogrekin
- the following races are flying "airborn" races (usally associated with "landborn" races): gathlan (gnomes or halflings), strix (humans), syrinx, wyvarran (kobolds)
- the following are "planar" templates that can randomly apply to player races [replacing their normal traits]: aasimar, fetchling, ifrit, oread, sylf, tiefling, undine
- the following races are those descended from therianthropes: catfolk, gnoll, grippli, kitsune, lizardfolk, nagaji, ratfolk, tengu, vanara; skinwalkers
- the following races are necessarily limited by the nature of the world (probably considered rare, exceedingly local, and/or mythical): aquatic elf, drider, centaur, gillmen, merfolk, triaxian, trox
[changeling
- the following are specially created races, unknown in other parts of the world: androids, wyrwood,

VII) Races II
1) Flying races are common.

I'm confused. Why does every pantheon have the same number of deities in it?

I'm confused. Why does every pantheon have the same number of deities in it?

The reason I included option E was to allow for a different number of deities. The other ones are there in case folks wanted them to be the same.

I)
1. D, with no gods being racial; no 'god of elves' for example.

II)
1) A is fine, though am open to mixing some B in there.
2) A, B, and C, but would love to ditch positive and negative energy planes. healing and the undead in this kind of set-up would be powered by the sorts of things we see in our own real world myths/folklore, rather than 'a planar connection'.
3) A, B, C
4) Sure? that isn't really a question, but I can go with it.

III)
3 and 4

IV and V) I choose not to vote on these two sections

VI) 6
VII) 1

on the topic of races, as I mentioned earlier, I think most locations should be 'melting pots' of races. not divided because "I am a dwarf". if there are divides of peoples it should be organizational and those organizations should also be 'melting pots' for the races.
otherwise I like the race list provided by tacticslion, and would like to add the psionic races.

First, I realized I made an editing mistake: changeling is supposed to be under the "half-breed" races (because that's what it is, even if no one realizes it). It may well be mythical, though.

Second, I... I... I forgot about psionic races! D:

Psionic Races:

Blues are simply psionic goblins. My suggestion would be that those goblins who are taken, battered, and enslaved by hobgoblins below, and are then released (or escape) to the world above, either turn blue due to their harrowing experiences, or spawn blue (not that goblins could tell who the parents are) due to the lingering effects of magical radiation (see Theory of Psionics below).

Duergar are, by nature (as outlined above), would be found in the lower areas (with higher magical radiation). It's possible that the psionic duergar (where they differ from "normal" duergar) are those duergar who have ascended to the upper realms (see a Theory of Psionics below).

Dromites... hm, dromites are likely related to trox, probably the precursor race (based off of the trox's backstory); that means they were or are (or at least are in some areas), they are enslaved by the duergar. My guess is that they use their extremely tall towers to travel between the upper (less-radiated) levels (and thus generating constant psionic natures; see Theory of Psionics below). It's interesting, then, that the trox are actually not psionic - my guess is that the duergar probably bred them specifically to be bigger, and lack that auto-immune system that generates psionics (due, probably, to the dromites escaping them repeatedly, from all that psionic power).

Half-Giants are the results of hybrids between giants and humans... which would fall under the half-races. I might recommend that half-giants have climbed out from the depths below after having been spawned from half-giants... and kuru (the variant human-group that is altered by the magical radiation below; this would work with my Theory of Psionics, see below).

Maenad are... an interesting case. Noted as being "seafaring" in their description, I take that to mean that they are a group that wonders, often. My take on them, then, here, is that, at some point in the past, they (by choice or not) traveled to the depths below, only to reemerge changed - perhaps touched by some crystalline dust storm, which was, unbeknownst to them, living creatures - effectively symbiotic crystalline creatures that utilize another (more fleshy) creature to reproduce. (It's possible that the crystalline symbiote was a literally one-time-occurrence, that briefly came into existence due to the planar catastrophe.) Regardless, now they are genetically bonded and mutually dependent on one another. They tend to sail the skies, and/or are settled around one or more islands that have been established with the floating seas (if any).

Ophiduans are likely related to nagaji, lizardfolk, or both - perhaps they are an offshoot race of one or the other (or both) that entered deep below, but ultimately rose again from the depths (probably lizardfolk, by description, but I could be wrong here).

Xeph are noted as coming from "a great rift in the ground" and so, I would recommend that they do - perhaps their ancestral homeland is a location that straddles the radiation-line, perhaps where three different sky-islands (or proto-sky-islands) collided, fused, and have been floating ever since, giving rise to strange flora and fauna of various kinds (including the xeph). Now, of course, many have left it.

Elan are an unusual case in that they are made, not born. Thus, my recommendation is two-fold: one that they are crafted by way of a journey to the depths (see Theory of Psionics, below), but also by ritually entrapping a dream spirit (be it quori - the original inspiration for this aspect of their existence - or an animate dream - for a more PF-style thing) within the potential. All-in-all, a very dangerous ritual. It leaves them sterile, lacking all but the most basic memories (as their mind clashes and cancels out that of the bound animate dream) but physically immortal (or at least, un-aging) as it feeds off of the mystical energies of the animate dream. In any event, this sort of thing would be an exceedingly dangerous quest (traveling to the depths, finding, binding, and trapping an animate dream, and imbuing it into a potential... who may simply mutate, be driven insane, or both...) which explains the hesitation for elan to perform it for "just anyone", while also explaining their tendency to be extremely secretive about the whole thing (as running around going, "Hey, I'm possessed by an extremely powerful, evil spirit, and thus immortal now! But the boring kind instead of in the cool way!" probably hurts your chances at getting invited to parties).

Related: I really wish both Inspired and Kalashtar existed here. They would be awesome. But alas, at present, it seems not.

Theory of Psionics: so... how does psionics work, here? Where does it come from? Why is it like magic, but different?

The basic idea: psionics is a (more or less) biological reaction to the cataclysm and the enormous magical radiation that flooded the world (before fading down). Once, psionics flourished profusely over the world, though, due to the rather barbaric, deadly world, much of the psionic lines died out over time (often being killed off by frightened, superstitious folk). The most common method of acquiring (or starting up) psionic heritage now, is by dipping a potential into the magical radiation below, and bringing them back up into the non-radiated places. This kick-starts their own psychoimmune system, and allows them to generate traits commonly known as "psionic".

This is not a constant effect - in fact, it not only varies in commonality by race, but also by individual (some are more prone to it than others). Those groups who (as a race) rise up from the depths can also experience this transformation, becoming something different than they were before. Some (like Dromites) actually have their entire society structured around this principle, where eggs are laid deep below, then shuttled far above, to hatch, before they are brought back to the depths to be raised. I'm totally making that up, by the way. I don't recall whether or not Dromites are hatched...

Not all succeed at this transformation. The powerful radiation in the depths below has a strong psychological and physiological effect: some are driven insane (as the spell, or affliction), mutated into something else (morlocks, mana waste mutants, or phrenic creatures), or both (derro). Some adventurers? are never affected at all, or at least are not consistently affected. And in no few cases of mass-migration, the immune-response has only occurred after they leave the depths and return to the surface.

Regardless, the psychoimmunization process allows them to tap into their own inner power to create magic-like effects that result in displays of what are commonly called "powers". Further, once established, a psionic bloodline usually does not easily die off: most often, if they can breed, psionic heritages breed true, even with non-psionic variants. Exceptions (as in most all things) exist, of course.

Also, I agree with the "melting pot" idea for races, including psionic ones!

Hell yes Psionics!

I'd also like to say, you forgot two psionic races: Noral and Forgeborn.
Norals could be psionic due to their symbiotic pairing.
Forgeborn would be a fun mix of raiders from the deep taking the mortally wounded/recently dead and reconstructing them using magitech (Mentech aka mental technology?)

also, another theory on psionic's existence: Dreamscape! a planar breach of some kind disrupts the dream circles of individuals awakening their psionic potential. races that are psionic by nature could as a race be prone to this breach. just a thought.

Dreamscape is something that I tend to love (thus my mention of quori, kalashtar, and inspired - for which, sadly, there is no PF conversion, at present), but I was attempting to tie psionics more thoroughly to the world and its (current) nature (i.e. the cataclysm) and the theories espoused so far (i.e. the magical radiation by levels). One possibility, however, is that the psycho-immune response that creates psionics is a semi-universal reaction to psycho-spiritual/physical trauma or invasion: in other words; channeling/possession (dream, fiend, or celestial), aberrant change (chaos/madness/void from beyond), and wild magical radiation (ala the lower/higher layers) could all trigger the response that generates a psionic essence.

I don't know the Norals or Forgeborn... they didn't appear in the d20pfsrd, and I've just never heard of them from previous editions (though the forgeborn sound, thematically, like warforged; this is a good thing in my book). Thus, the list above was entirely based on the knowledge I had from before (or, in the case of ophiduans, looked up).

The races I didn't mention (githyanki, githzerai, thri-kreen) I thought of, but:
- no one has translated these
- illithid don't exist anyway (robbing much of the story of the two giths)
- we already have "bug" races (dromites) and multi-armed races (kasatha), meaning that thri-kreen won't have a very big impact or niche to hold on to

The lashunta should also be a psionic race (considering one of their spell-like abilities is noted as psionics).

Now that you mention it, however...

Anumi are probably (wrongfully) often linked with the therianthropic races, when they are actually an alchemical/divine creation. (These are probably an open secret in various alchemical-divine colleges or guilds; the process is probably often made "unavailable"... unless you know who to ask - which everyone does...)

Muses are benevolent incarnate dream spirits that can inspire psionic potential as well as skills and abilities. (They are a cat's paw, of sorts, for celestials to influence the world for the sake of good.)

Oaklings are the result of a druidic wild magic combined with alchemy gone awry, Awakening things that were never originally the target. No one is aware of this. (Think Eberron "living spell" plus "alchemy".)

Obitu are the reluctant result of a precursor of the cataclysm - as the earliest days of those wild times were being just barely suggested, a vast horde of undead being washed with so much positive energy and wild magic in a strange phenomena (a hint of what was to come) that their necromantic negative energy animating force was entirely replaced with positive energy necromantic animating force... much to the surprise of the army of necromancers who attempted to control them! After the first heady days of freedom, the world was torn asunder, and the Obitu were scattered, with few surviving the destruction of the world. But their disease survived, and soon enough new undead were transformed into new Obitu, to continue the progress of life in the face of death...

Relluks were creations before the great cataclysm (probably - unbeknownst to most all - originally designed to put a stop to it - it failed), that have only just now begun to reactivate thanks to a few guild-sponsored adventurers. Unfortunately, which guild is quite a mystery, as several guilds have what appear to be legitimate claims (complete with evidence) to the original project working on it, while diary entries and non-affiliated research almost seem to suggest that the adventurers were acting independently, beyond the bounds of their original mission, or even in direct contravention to their orders. All of this has led to something of a stalemate as all the guilds want to claim them, none of the guilds can act without most of the others colluding against them, and the relluks just kind of accidentally left alone as lots of "unaffiliated" (*ahem* "Yep. Totally unaffiliated. Yes: totally. How about you? Oh, you're unaffiliated too? How nice." *ahem*) adventurers poke around without directly interfering (too much).

Xax are literally aliens summoned from the void by the chaos caused by the cataclysm - not "summoned" as in they came to watch this thing... not even pulled by the inexorable force of gravity... but conjured across time/space through gates leading from the material, through the abyss, out into the maelstrom (and/or limbo, if that's separate) and back into the material... here. Their shattered, confused minds knit themselves back together, as they slowly recovered from the cataclysm.

Others (particularly the entobians, mogogol, and numistians) might be great to add here, but I'm unfamiliar with them.

Oh, also another creature that needs to exist: the living spell (from Eberron). These are the result of wild magic. Don't change their stats from 3.5 - they don't need it. It may also be interesting to make... living powers since we seem to be including psionics (which I hope we are!) which would be exceedingly interesting in terms of how they come about and what, exactly, they are... also having a mindless creature associated with psionics is interesting (the telepathic ones could be very similar to lesser-ish variants of the the old genius loci in the 3rd edition Epic Level Handbook).

I guess we should really vote on whether to keep Kyslite then. Because turning it into some idiotic material whose properties change completely depending on the plot of the moment is a deal breaker for me. I LIKE having such an interesting material as a repulsive metal ore. Are we throwing science out completely? I sure hope not. I like normal looking lakes, rivers, and waterfalls; not the floating balls of water some of you want.

Wow. Just - wow. I think that was a rather harsh blanket statement to make. Several suggestions people have made exist because the science doesn't work out. Interactions between a theoretical substance and the rest of the world should conform to natural laws. New properties aren't the problem; it's how they would fit into the overall scheme of things that presents an issue. We already threw general relativity out the window with antigravity; let's not do the same with basic Newtonian physics. That's science, right? ;)

Also, sky oceans should not be spheres. I'm not sure who mentioned that. Liquids form spheres given a lack of gravity and this is not the case. Repulsion should be uniform across the body of water and therefore, with the nature and/or age of the kyslite according to reduced properties dependant on decay, these bodies of water should form planes. Concentric planes at highly seperate altitudes, even, if kyslite properties vary immensely.

Further discussion on mechanics behind sky-island repulsion are taken here.

A pity work constrained me from voting on the last part. I only have one suggestion to make, and that is, if all levels of the planet are hospitable, there should be a very good reason for most civilized nations to take to the sky. I do support Aranna's gas giant example, with an certain caveat - all levels are hospitable, but descending presents increasingly added levels of danger. Think of an ocean - on the top there's the most sunlight, which is where all the plankton and schools of fish gather. Lower down you have sharks, and lower still you find whales, giant squid and at the very bottom you may find extremely terrifying legends like the Kraken, Ctulhu and Leviathan. Even Star Wars canon explores this principle with the Wookiee planet Kashykk - the sentients gather at the treetops, and down past the canopy things get deeper and darker. At the bottom, you get carnivorous plants, giant spiders and scarier things the Wookiees would rather not talk about.

If you do want psionics, the deeper levels would be the best places for psions to flourish. Absence of light due to obscuring gases and whatnot would require development of alternate senses.

Further voting on the next round to be updated.

ROUND 5!
I) Deities
1)
E) Each pantheon has some other number of deities of each race that worships it. Please state the number.
Each pantheon would contain 1d20 deities (with larger quantities, many would be minor and don't necessarily need creating in detail). The deities in each pantheon would be a mix of genders (and races, if that's what the vote necessitated - though I'm personally in favour of non-racial deities).

II) Planes

1) Outer Planes
A) All the usual outer planes for Pathfinder (Abaddon, The Abyss, Axis, The Boneyard, Elysium, Heaven, Hell, The Maelstrom, and Nirvana) exist.

2) Inner Planes (multiple choice except for D)
A) All the usual inner planes (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Positive and Negative Energy) exist.

3) Transient Planes (multiple choice)
A) All the usual transient planes (Shadow, Ethereal, and Astral) exist.

4) The Feywyld (or its equivalent) exists.
Yes.

III) The Cataclysm clarified
1) ONLY the Inner Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breaches.

4) There are areas of the Prime touched by the Feywyld or its equivalent.
yes

IV)

1-5) Abstaining; just happy to go with the general flow on these.

6) Constellations
C - one set, with locally varying names

V) Kyslite
2

VI) Races I
Any races voted here will be PC races. I am not fond of Always Chaotic Evil races or similar "enemy races". I think it's much more interesting for there to be good and bad examples of each race. To me, it makes things less video-gamey.

7) Other
Humans should be the main race.

Pick two or three other races to be core races on Kysla, but not the usual ones (Dwarves/Elves/Halflings/Orcs) so that the world has a different flavour to the usual. Aerial oriented species make sense. Maybe: Tengus (with the Glide alternate racial trait) and Strix.

Add in the races which combine humans with the inhabitants of the inner planes which were involved in the Great Calamity. Definitely Sylphs. Maybe Fetchlings, Oreads, Undine, Ifrits, Wayangs.

So my race list is:
common: Human, Sylph, Strix, Tengu
less common: Fetchling, Ifrit, Oread, Undine, Wayang

VII) Races II
1) Flying races are common.
It would be nice to have a couple of major new races brewed, that would join the common list above; maybe one or two that fly with wings, and one that flies due to a magical or air-elemental nature but has no wings.

Incidentally, while I personally like psionics, I don't really like psionics and magic in the same world; too much redundancy and confusion IMHO.

On part I: I have no preference... I mean I do but it would take me too long to explain and probably wouldn't get enough votes.

Part II: Pathfinder standard would be the best here I think.

III: Leave this largely undefined. Sometimes a little mystery is good. You could even write a delve into history adventure path to gain some clues as to the event without ever getting clear answers.

IV: Um... a saturn like ring with numerous small moons. Guide stars can't exist for east west unless the planet spins north and south end over end... but then east and west would really just be north and south in truth. There should be stars and planets but they really shouldn't be the focus of the setting.

V: I vote 4 simply because it is unlikely we will reach a consensus here and 4 is simple.

VI: I like Tacticslions approach with races.

VII: But 2 here because I don't want to remove too much of the airship flavor despite winged races being perfect here.

I definitely agree with airships! :D

VII: But 2 here because I don't want to remove too much of the airship flavor despite winged races being perfect here.

I see a PC with the ability to fly being nice, but not competing with airships due to the character's low carrying capacity and endurance.

Exactly!

I) D

II) 1A, 2A, 3A

III) 13(4)

IV) 1B, 2A, 3 N/A (not sure how this would work, so I'm not putting forth a vote on "physical manifestations" of planes), 4A, 5A, 6B

V) 2

VI) 6

VII) 3

I, 1, E up to 10 deities in a pantheon. A cluster of skylands will have the same pantheon, like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all had Norse mythos. Each Skyland will have a patron diety which has an actual church, while the other deities will have a shrine in the plinth.
II, 1, A.
2, ABC, but access is affected by belief. Some were taught there are 4 elements, while others were raised believing there are planes of wood and metal. They could be shocked if they come across the rift to the plane of dead wood(Negative energy and wood) .
3, A, B, C.
4. Sure, and I would also like a separate land of the dead. It’s an overlap of the astral, ethereal, and shadow. Where the pre petitioners try to figure out if they will head for the outer planes or fight to the prime and become undead. With them are shadowy versions of all the people, places, and objects they interacted with, causing haunts in the prime material.
III, 3,4
1, G
2, F
3, A
4, A
5, B Some planetoids too, smaller than pluto.
6, B Sort of an oracle guild.
V, 5 This most directly allows a skysea with SkyCoral at it’s center.
VI, 5,
VII A mutants with wings are more common than in other game worlds.

Love the land of the dead idea.

A couple of more hours before next round, most likely. This thread hasn't been touched since 22hrs ago

A couple of more hours before next round, most likely. This thread hasn't been touched since 22hrs ago

It will be once I get all this tallied and sorted! I was trying to hold out for Katydid since she missed the last round due to work and I don't want folks who have an interest in this to keep missing out on getting their voices heard.

Oh yeah right, new default alias, I'm Cr500cricket

Love the land of the dead idea.

Thanks. I'm going to develop the prestige classes in my Goth's Freakshow topic. If someone practices being a poltergeist for 5 levels before his buds can wish him back, he'll have those levels.

I PMed Indagare for the previous round, so no worries there.

I say balls of water because that is the nature of water. It flows downward ... but what happens when there is no down? It floats in balls. I suppose enough wind could stretch out the balls into ovals. Is it always windy in the skylands or should weather vary?

Ah, quick explanation. If the forces involved vary inversely to distance (these ones do), only at a very narrow altitude band is the specific net sum of two opposing forces zero; above this band the net force is down, and below this band the net force is up. You get a plane, not a ball. Only when there are no net forces will you have a sphere of water. That's why water spreads out on a solid surface - gravity pulls it down, and the force of the earth pushing up against the water is equal to the force of gravity pulling it down.

Anywhoo...

I) Deities
1) (C); each pantheon has 1d4 deities. Go for quality, not quantity. Time spent making lots of deities could be spent making several better.

II) Planes - I wouldn't focus on this as much. Give a handicap so everyone doesn't shift planes all the time. Planar pants? Did you mean breaches? :p
1) (A); the outer planes exist, but accessing them is difficult or dangerous due to the planet's unstable nature.
2) (A); the inner planes exist, but their access is also difficult.
3) (A) ; the transient planes exist.
4) The Feywyld exists.

III) Cataclysm
1) Only the Inner Planes were involved directly, but they also virtually severed contact with the outer planes. (Removes gods/empyreal lords from other places from the picture)
4) There are areas touched by the Feywyld.

IV) Astronomy
1) Moons - I personally think >6 is ridiculous, so I'll vote for the lowest number that has mythological significance. (A); there a seven, and one of them is piloted.
2) (A); Just the one north star removes confusion. They are normal stars.
4) (C); Alternating gaseous and rocky so there's variety in the nearest places you could feasibly travel to.
5) (A); Just 4-7, please; quality over quantity. You could add a number more of inhabitable planets.

V) Kyslite - I still vote for (3), since it still makes the most ecological sense. Nobody else has said much about runoff. You want to prevent the dirt from weathering, or it disappears within a few centuries. Sheesh.

VI) Races I - (5) All Paizo races exist except advanced, which aren't terribly tasteful in my humble opinion.

VII) Races II - (2); Flying races are uncommon, but used to be common.

Actually, I kind of did, though not as thoroughly as you did, and without a full method of negating the consequences. :)

That said, my primary idea (the bonding-concept) is basically just a jump off of yours without localized seas/erosion-handling methods. The latter would also handle erosion through a very, very different method.

Smurf ._.

After a much too long time, the results of the previous voting are below. The main areas that seem to need voting on next are on the suggestions for number of deities in a pantheon (since E won), the races themselves (base, standard, featured, uncommon, and advanced races exist - but surely not all in the same area), and there are common winged races (which are likely needed to be brewed).

If you're still interested in continuing, let me know. I'm not going to put up the next section of voting if folks don't want to continue. That said, I'm very grateful for all the interest this thread has gathered.

I) Deities

E has three votes. [Tacticslion, sgriobhadair, Goth Guru]
D has two votes. [Air0r, Detect Magic]
C has two vote. [Cr500cricket, Katydid]

The suggestions for E are:

Each pantheon has 1 to 8 deities (1d8, if random) of each race that worships it.

Each pantheon would contain 1d20 deities (with larger quantities, many would be minor and don't necessarily need creating in detail). The deities in each pantheon would be a mix of genders (and races, if that's what the vote necessitated - though I'm personally in favour of non-racial deities).

Up to 10 deities in a pantheon. A cluster of skylands will have the same pantheon, like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all had Norse mythos. Each Skyland will have a patron diety which has an actual church, while the other deities will have a shrine in the plinth.

II) Planes

1) Outer Planes

A has seven votes [Cr500cricket, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Aranna, Detect Magic, Goth Guru, Katydid]
B has one direct vote [Cr500cricket] and one supporting vote [Air0r]
C has one vote [Tacticslion]

All the usual outer planes for Pathfinder (Abaddon, The Abyss, Axis, The Boneyard, Elysium, Heaven, Hell, The Maelstrom, and Nirvana) exist.

2) Inner Planes

A has eight votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Aranna, Detect Magic, Goth Guru , Katydid]
B has four votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Air0r, Goth Guru]
C has three votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r, Goth Guru]

All the usual inner planes (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Positive and Negative Energy) exist.

3) Transient Planes

A has eight votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Aranna, Detect Magic, Goth Guru, Katydid]
B has four votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Air0r, Goth Guru]
C has three votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r, Goth Guru]

All the usual transient planes (Shadow, Ethereal, and Astral) exist.

4) The Feywyld (or its equivalent) exists

The 'yes' votes have it. [Tacticslion, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Goth Guru, Katydid] I know this wasn’t technically a question, but I figured if anyone didn’t want the Feywyld around, this would let them say so.

III) The Cataclysm clarified

4 has six votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Detect Magic, Goth Guru, Katydid]
3 has four votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r, Detect Magic, Goth Guru]
1 has three votes. [Cr500cricket, sgriobhadair, Katydid]

There are areas of the Prime touched by the Feywyld (or its equivalent) and both the Inner and Outer Planes were involved in the Cataclysm. They left their touch on areas of the Prime in the form of both stable and unstable planar breeches. (allowing the dead to walk again and/or affecting the life and nature of the Prime).

IV) Astronomy
1) Moons

G has two votes. [Tacticslion, Goth Guru]
C has one vote. [Cr500cricket]
B has one vote. [Detect Magic]
A has one vote. [Katydid]

There are seven whole moons (one of which is a death star) and there are 42 asteroid moons. The asteroid moons form a ring similar to that of Saturn around the planet. The artificial moon acts as a shepherd.

2) Guiding Stars

A has three votes. [Cr500cricket, Detect Magic, Katydid]
I has one vote. [Aranna]
F has one vote. [Goth Guru]

There is a north star that acts as a guide to travelers who can see it.

3) Guiding Stars II

A has three votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Goth Guru]
B and C have one vote. [Tacticslion]

The guide star is a physical manifestations of the outer planes. It serves to guide the souls of the dead to the Boneyard.

4) Planets I

A has three votes. [Cr500cricket, Detect Magic, Goth Guru]
C has two votes. [Tacticslion, Katydid]
D has one supporting vote. [Tacticslion]

The solar system looks much like our own, with rocky planets closer to the sun and gaseous ones further away.

5) Planets II

C has two votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion]
A has two votes. [Detect Magic, Katydid]
B has one vote. [Goth Guru]

To untie this, I will say there are seven planets (as we define planets) and three dwarf planets (as we would define them). They aren't probably going to be immediately visitable (and may not even be habitable), but it satisfies me to have something for astronomers to look at in the sky (given how important astrology was historically).

6) Constellations

B has three votes. [Tacticslion, Detect Magic, Goth Guru]
C has two votes. [Cr500cricket, sgriobhadair]
A and D have one vote. [Tacticslion]

Constellations are similar to those in our universe - perceived patterns of stars on the sky. There is some official body that catalogues them world-wide, but there are different traditional numbers in a local area.

V) Kyslite

4 has two votes. [Cr500cricket, Aranna]
2 has two votes. [sgriobhadair, Detect Magic]
5 has one vote. [Goth Guru]
3 has one vote. [Katydid]

What a mess. I'm going with 4. It's a simple explanation, it still allows kyslite to be mined, and it allows for sinking skylands if overmined. If folks really want to butt heads over how to make water work so that it doesn't all dry up or land so that it doesn't completely erode away, I'd recommend the "on kyslite" thread I created specifically to deal with this. For right now, I think it's enough to say that natural processes (possibly aided by some supernatural ones) allow things to work and that the mining kyslite and sinking islands will make good base for adventure.

VI) Races I

6 has five votes. [Cr500cricket, Tacticslion, Air0r, Aranna, Detect Magic]
5 has two votes. [Goth Guru, Katydid]
Sgriobhadair gave an alternative racial list:

common: Human, Sylph, Strix, Tengu sgriobhadair
less common: Fetchling, Ifrit, Oread, Undine, Wayang

Base, standard, featured, uncommon, and advanced races exist. Because of how the deity vote turned out my guess is that there are no more than 20 races in a given area if that option gets chosen (assuming one deity of each race).

VII) Races II

1 has four votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r, sgriobhadair, Goth Guru]
2 has three votes. [Cr500cricket, Aranna, Katydid]
3 has one vote. [Detect Magic]

Flying races are common.

I'd like to continue voting!

I'm fine with kyslite (though you didn't even mention mine! :D) and I'm more in favor of getting this thing done than getting a specific vision of mine across.

As far as deity clarification, I'm all for lots of minor spirits; I think, then, hammering out the nature of the deities is rather important, before hammering out the number.

I'd be interested in your ideas Inagare, but to me, what I see is:
1) Extremely potent "beyond the beyond" gods (similar to Pathfinder or Zoroastrianism)
2) Relatively minor "spirits everywhere" gods (similar to Shinto or Wychlarchan)
3) Entirely fallible or moderately whimsical gods (similar to Greece or Norse or Forgotten Realms)
4) Some combination of the above (or a quality that I've forgotten)

For numbers, that leads us to:
1) An uncountable numbers of gods (similar to Hinduism)
2) A set number of gods with all other "divine" beings being lesser, subservient creatures (similar to Zoroastrianism or Hellenism)
3) A semi-stable "number" of gods; exceptional creatures may ascend or be cast down (similar to Greco-Roman views)

The questions, then, are "are the gods racially tied" and what that means.

For my money, I'd suggest that they are only racially tied locally - as in, a given deity is seen as the patron (or among the patrons) of a given race, whether or not they are.

I would vote for a variant of "4: combining 2 and 1" in terms of type or power or style, and "3" in terms of number (though "1" to cover the most minor divine spirits).

I'd like a divine presence to be present in all places, but at the same time have the gods somewhat limited in scope - even the greatest of them (which would explain how they were affected by the cataclysm, although they've recovered). My suggestion is that the spirits (such as kami and telthor and fey) are what thus maintains the cycle, making druids (and similar) extremely important in an otherwise very industrialized society.

Thus, I would take my suggestion to have (regardless of the number of races present, with no pre-set limit on them) 1 or more deities to be "racial deities" (and non-racial deities) of a given region; that given region would be similar to Goth Guru's suggestion of a cluster of skylands. Each of the deities would be a mix of genders and races (along the lines of sgriobhadair's suggestion) and their "true" essence will likely be above racial matters (though certain deities may well gravitate to certain racial matters, especially ascended ones). Beyond this, there's also a kind of "meta-pantheon": deities, regardless of pantheon, are generally aware of one another and are trying to balance the world and keep things going well (though they still act according to their alignment). However, ultimately, there are too many gods to make each one fully - most of them are minor enough that they function similarly to saints in the Catholic church: you take this one as you patron, even though no one's ever really heard of them, but that's cool, because they have a certain ethos you associate with.

So, as an example, presuming an area with just the core races (not what I'm voting for in general, but as an example), there could easily be from 7-56 gods... some of which are more major or more important than others, at least one of each of which is considered the patron of a core race (though you could drive this down by having a single god be patron of, say, elves, humans, and half-elves, or something), but not all of which are necessarily racial deities (ex: all craftsfolk - human, dwarven, elven, or whatever - worship Torag; he's a craftsfolk deity in these parts, not a dwarven one; over in that Skyland cluster, he's exclusively dwarven, but then again, they've got fewer gods, more races, and have a few different gods entirely). I don't actually want the standard pantheon, by the way. This is, again, just an example.

In general, on races, I'm a big fan of lots of races - tons of 'em - all together all the time. Not all races need be everywhere - for example, there could be a cluster that happens to have what we'd consider "core only" races - but I like more cosmopolitan regions. That's another reason for voting for lots and lots of gods! :D

Planes: I'd request significant overlap of the planes and the material - often and regularly, preferably! - in such a way that the elemental planes are all present in the world at large, as is the feywild/First World, Shadow, and Dream in some places (also that those worlds overlap with themselves).

Everything else about the stars/guiding stars/planets/moons/etc works, though I'll miss my living stars idea, because I liked it. :D

"In general, on races, I'm a big fan of lots of races - tons of 'em - all together all the time. Not all races need be everywhere - for example, there could be a cluster that happens to have what we'd consider "core only" races - but I like more cosmopolitan regions. That's another reason for voting for lots and lots of gods! :D"

I agree with this. also, I am up for more voting.

More voting, definitely.

I'd like to continue voting!

I'm fine with kyslite (though you didn't even mention mine! :D) and I'm more in favor of getting this thing done than getting a specific vision of mine across.

Isn't #1 yours from the kyslite thread or am I confused?

As far as deity clarification, I'm all for lots of minor spirits; I think, then, hammering out the nature of the deities is rather important, before hammering out the number.

I'd be interested in your ideas Inagare, but to me, what I see is:
1) Extremely potent "beyond the beyond" gods (similar to Pathfinder or Zoroastrianism)
2) Relatively minor "spirits everywhere" gods (similar to Shinto or Wychlarchan)
3) Entirely fallible or moderately whimsical gods (similar to Greece or Norse or Forgotten Realms)
4) Some combination of the above (or a quality that I've forgotten)

By popular vote, there are several pantheons with mixed races.

For numbers, that leads us to:
1) An uncountable numbers of gods (similar to Hinduism)
2) A set number of gods with all other "divine" beings being lesser, subservient creatures (similar to Zoroastrianism or Hellenism)
3) A semi-stable "number" of gods; exceptional creatures may ascend or be cast down (similar to Greco-Roman views)

Given just how many regions of the world there are (since the world is literally completely habitable), I think 1 is the only possible option. Round four established that there are several pantheons with mixed races.

The questions, then, are "are the gods racially tied" and what that means.

For my money, I'd suggest that they are only racially tied locally - as in, a given deity is seen as the patron (or among the patrons) of a given race, whether or not they are.

I would vote for a variant of "4: combining 2 and 1" in terms of type or power or style, and "3" in terms of number (though "1" to cover the most minor divine spirits).

I'd like a divine presence to be present in all places, but at the same time have the gods somewhat limited in scope - even the greatest of them (which would explain how they were affected by the cataclysm, although they've recovered). My suggestion is that the spirits (such as kami and telthor and fey) are what thus maintains the cycle, making druids (and similar) extremely important in an otherwise very industrialized society.

Thus, I would take my suggestion to have (regardless of the number of races present, with no pre-set limit on them) 1 or more deities to be "racial deities" (and non-racial deities) of a given region; that given region would be similar to Goth Guru's suggestion of a cluster of skylands. Each of the deities would be a mix of genders and races (along the lines of sgriobhadair's suggestion) and their "true" essence will likely be above racial matters (though certain deities may well gravitate to certain racial matters, especially ascended ones). Beyond this, there's also a kind of "meta-pantheon": deities, regardless of pantheon, are generally aware of one another and are trying to balance the world and keep things going well (though they still act according to their alignment). However, ultimately, there are too many gods to make each one fully - most of them are minor enough that they function similarly to saints in the Catholic church: you take this one as you patron, even though no one's ever really heard of them, but that's cool, because they have a certain ethos you associate with.

So, as an example, presuming an area with just the core races (not what I'm voting for in general, but as an example), there could easily be from 7-56 gods... some of which are more major or more important than others, at least one of each of which is considered the patron of a core race (though you could drive this down by having a single god be patron of, say, elves, humans, and half-elves, or something), but not all of which are necessarily racial deities (ex: all craftsfolk - human, dwarven, elven, or whatever - worship Torag; he's a craftsfolk deity in these parts, not a dwarven one; over in that Skyland cluster, he's exclusively dwarven, but then again, they've got fewer gods, more races, and have a few different gods entirely). I don't actually want the standard pantheon, by the way. This is, again, just an example.

As long as previous rounds of voting aren't violated I (and I think everyone else) will be very happy.

In general, on races, I'm a big fan of lots of races - tons of 'em - all together all the time. Not all races need be everywhere - for example, there could be a cluster that happens to have what we'd consider "core only" races - but I like more cosmopolitan regions. That's another reason for voting for lots and lots of gods! :D

I like more cosmopolitan areas myself, but I tend to prefer a conservative amount of races. I have a hard time believing that there won't end up being issues between races for resources, and half-races raise up weird biology questions. On a world as wide as this, it's probably not going to be as much of an issue, but even if it's a fantasy kitchen sink, we're going to have to start somewhere and branch out from there.

Planes: I'd request significant overlap of the planes and the material - often and regularly, preferably! - in such a way that the elemental planes are all present in the world at large, as is the feywild/First World, Shadow, and Dream in some places (also that those worlds overlap with themselves).

Everything else about the stars/guiding stars/planets/moons/etc works, though I'll miss my living stars idea, because I liked it. :D

A couple people have expressed doubts about regular mingling of the planes, but I can put it up for a vote.

EDIT: it looked like I was yelling about something! I'm so sorry! I just forgot to format things consistently!

Whoops!

Isn't #1 yours from the kyslite thread or am I confused?

Hah! I meant only in your summation. You put it up for vote - I never questioned that!

What I was referring to was,

V) Kyslite

4 has two votes. [Cr500cricket, Aranna]
2 has two votes. [sgriobhadair, Detect Magic]
5 has one vote. [Goth Guru]
3 has one vote. [Katydid]

What a mess. I'm going with 4. It's a simple explanation, it still allows kyslite to be mined, and it allows for sinking skylands if overmined. If folks really want to butt heads over how to make water work so that it doesn't all dry up or land so that it doesn't completely erode away, I'd recommend the "on kyslite" thread I created specifically to deal with this. For right now, I think it's enough to say that natural processes (possibly aided by some supernatural ones) allow things to work and that the mining kyslite and sinking islands will make good base for adventure.

^ that. That's all. I'm sorry for being confusing! It's like I told you over PM: reading my mind would end in bad things. :D

By popular vote, there are several pantheons with mixed races.

Yes! You're right! But what does that really mean?

There are pantheons. Several (in this case, I simply accepted this to mean "more than one") of them. They have mixed races.

This is what I voted for, by the way. But what was my intent? What were others'? It's hard to say because there are so many ways this scenario could suss itself out, without violating the conclusion you make above.

My intent was:
- there is a "meta-pantheon" i.e. "there are lots of gods all over the place; however many of them know each other, and some are worshiped in multiple locations, possibly by different names, possibly with the local expression of churches having little to no knowledge of each other
- there are many local pantheons that are created by region/inhabitants; let us recognize: this world is enormous; given the variety of worship within our own planet, the variety of worship across the planet here, will likely tend to be almost exponentially larger; thus the multiple pantheons with mixed/integrated racial deities is not violated by my idea of a meta-pantheon, but instead it's merely a facet thereof
- there would be a great deal of races, and races would likely have multiple patrons (this means a high volume of gods)

The last one is the only one that violates the actual votes made... however, let's look at the intent of the three decided options:
me: lots of gods, too many to really nail down perfectly (but with the possibility of "god A" showing up in, like, twelve different pantheons with four or five different names, and slightly different local takes/ascribed portfolios); I presented this as 1d8 per race, with a presumed mix of genders, though I didn't really say anything about that
sgriobhadair: there's too many gods to really nail down (but each of which has a mix of gender and race); he described this as 1d20 per portfolio
Goth Guru: limited number of gods per pantheon, but so many pantheons (inevitably) that it's unlikely that we're going to nail all the gods down (they also have a local shared mythology)
Air0r: voted 1d4+2 gods per race... but voted that a pantheon had no racial deities, which... is a really interesting thing, and, surprisingly, lines up in theme, if not in specifics, with mine and sgriobhadair's basic concepts.
CR500Cricket voted 1d4 per race - there was no ultimate cap on the size of the pantheons, thus allowing a pantheon to be unreasonably enormous
Similarly, DetectMagic voted 1d4+2 per race, with no cap on the number of races - but this may have been an omission on his part instead of an intent
Katydid is the only one that voted specifically to cap the number of gods per pantheon, giving that caveat despite the fact that the option she chose did not have that caveat

Thus, by intent, we have Air0r, sgriobhadair, and myself purposefully attempting to get large quantities of deities; we have CR500Cricket (now The Mighty Chocobo), Detect Magic, and Goth Guru defaulting to invariably large numbers of deities, without further clarification; we have Katydid specifically voting for small numbers of deities (as small as reasonably possible within the broader chosen and implied paradigm).

I think the specifics that each of us were using were a little too specific. I don't know that I'd vote the way I did before if I could vote at present, because sgriobhadair's ideas, Goth Guru's ideas, and my own actually create an interesting synthesis if carefully looked at together.

What was the intent behind having pantheons of mixed races?

So that's what I mean about defining divine traits: making sure we know what we're voting for. I voted the way I did to get closer to a paradigm - a paradigm I see nearly reflected in several other concepts expressed by others. I'm wondering if we're seeing a sort of semi-Venn Diagram situation, and we should aim for the overlap.

I like the idea of many low or local deities with various hierarchies of higher deities. The local deities would be like patron saints or local spirits (similar to a combination Rashemen in Forgotten Realms or kami in Golarion with fey and other local Grecian or Celtic spirits), while the higher deities would be in charge of various important things (what we'd generally consider pantheons) and often probably wear multiple faces - the same deity might appear multiple times as Thor, Zeus, Taranis, or Set, depending on the pantheon. Of course, the really big ones are much more rare, and almost certainly appear in more than one place... if they appear at all. Ao, Ptah, Cronus, Brahma, "The Unknown God", and <unintelligible alien sound> may all be the same one, for example, and are in charge of all the pantheons within the greater north-western regions and/or planet (NOTE: I am not actually suggesting that these gods are all aspects of the same deity, especially since Ao is, in fact, an entirely fictional creation, while <unintelligible alien sound> was crafted by me, here, for the purpose of this discussion).

That said, if we want to go with "there are a finite number of gods; the pantheons are small" then that's how it is, and that's fine. I'm putting my opinion/idea out there (that of getting to what was meant by the votes), but if that's too confusing or causes too many problems... by all means ignore it and let's continue on with this fun group project! There are certainly things I never would have voted for that have produced a very interesting set of ideas over-all! So let's keep this rolling, if you're up to it, Indagare! And if not... no worries, man, life happens. You're cool. :)

Has the shape of skyseas been resolved?

Round Six!

1) Number of Deities

A) Each pantheon has 1 to 8 deities (1d8, if random) of each race that worships it.

B) Each pantheon would contain 1d20 deities (with larger quantities, many would be minor and don't necessarily need creating in detail). The deities in each pantheon would be a mix of genders (and races, if that's what the vote necessitated - though I'm personally in favour of non-racial deities).

C) Up to 10 deities in a pantheon. A cluster of skylands will have the same pantheon, like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all had Norse mythos. Each Skyland will have a patron diety which has an actual church, while the other deities will have a shrine in the plinth.

2) Domains and Subdomains

A) All domains and subdomains are represented in a given pantheon.

B) All domains are represented in a given pantheon, but only some (appropriate) subdomains are.

C) The domains and subdomains of a given pantheon are related to that particular area.

3) Deity Interaction

A) All deities are generally distant and do not interact in mortal affairs directly.

B) All deities interact when they are needed but otherwise prefer to remain aloof.

C) All deities are generally engaging with mortals.

D) Some deities are engaging while others are distant.

4) Number of Races (in an area)

A) Each area has a set number of common races in it (the ones that would, basically, be the PC races). This does not mean that there are not any other races, but these other races decrease in frequency (for instance, if there are 8 common races, there could be 4 uncommon races, 2 rare races, and 1 very rare race). Which races are common varies by region.

B) Each area has a good mix of races in it. The exact mix varies by region, but there are no very rare races.

C) Each area has an excellent mix of races in it. The exact mix varies by region, but there are no rare races.

D) Each area has a cosmopolitan mix of races in it. Any race can easily be found.

E) Some other way of determining races. (Please state how).

5) Winged Races (E may be chosen with one of the others)

A) There are winged versions of all races that do not already have wings.

B) There are winged versions of standard races.

C) There are winged versions of standard and featured races.

D) There are winged versions of standard, featured, and uncommon races.

E) There are some homebrewed winged races (list number).

6) Skysea Shape

A) Spherical or rounded
B) Flat or oval
C) Amorphous
D) Other (describe)

I) Planar Interaction

Please string together 1, 2, and 3 as you want. The highest votes for any particular string will win.

1) There are:

A) Stable planar breeches
B) Unstable planar breeches
C) Both
D) No planar breeches

2) For the:

A) Feywlyd
B) Inner Planes
C) Outer Planes
D) Transient Planes

3) They are:

A) Common
B) Uncommon
C) Rare
D) Very Rare

Has the shape of skyseas been resolved?

If it hasn't been, it is going to be now. I also put up for vote the interactions of the planes. I think it may have been covered before, but better safe than sorry.

1) Null Value: a variation on A-C that incorporates elements of all three, as outlined in my post above.

2) C

3) D

4) D for default "core setting" area, however various areas vary: some are closer to A, some to B, and some to C <this may be considered E, but I'm attempting to narrow down the various multiplying branches of options by choosing "D" - effectively keep this floating and lump it in with whichever seems more appropriate at the end>

5) ... did we... did we vote this into being? If I did, I'm not sure I understood what I was voting for. But, if anything, E: there are some winged versions of all the various races, but this is a rare mutation, unless the race is already typically winged or has methods of gaining wings already (in which case it's, by default, either not a mutation, or more common because in addition to the uncommon "winged template", there's other methods of acquiring wings)

6) A-C, dependent on weather, local conditions, and so on, but mostly a limited variant of B (oval).

I) 1c; 2a/b/c/d; 3a

Round Six!
1) Number of Deities
B) Each pantheon would contain 1d20 deities (with larger quantities, many would be minor and don't necessarily need creating in detail). The deities in each pantheon would be a mix of genders (and races, if that's what the vote necessitated - though I'm personally in favour of non-racial deities).

I'm gonna stick with B. HOWEVER, I'd suggest that there are probably around 30 gods in total (who know, or at least know of, each other), just that only 1d20 of them are known in a particular pantheon, with local names (and races - the same deity might be seen by dwarves as a dwarf and elves as an elf, and appear to each as their own race if manifesting).

2) Domains and Subdomains
C) The domains and subdomains of a given pantheon are related to that particular area.
If going with the above, all domains and probably all subdomains are represented among the 30ish total gods, but the selection of deities in a particular pantheon may not have access to all domains and subdomains.

3) Deity Interaction
D) Some deities are engaging while others are distant.
Though divine intervention is never seen as commonplace.

4) Number of Races (in an area)

A) Each area has a set number of common races in it (the ones that would, basically, be the PC races). This does not mean that there are not any other races, but these other races decrease in frequency (for instance, if there are 8 common races, there could be 4 uncommon races, 2 rare races, and 1 very rare race). Which races are common varies by region.
D) Each area has a cosmopolitan mix of races in it. Any race can easily be found.

I'll go for most areas being A ... but there would be one or two metropolis skylands that were D - very cosmopolitan - and had most races there (excepting only those that were extremely remote/isolated, and even those may have one or two representatives in the metropolis)..

5) Winged Races (E may be chosen with one of the others)

E) There are some homebrewed winged races (list number).

Include say 2 new winged races - or adapt a couple of existing flying humanoids which aren't yet statted as PC races.

No winged versions of regular races exist (I am *firmly* against skydwarves etc.)

6) Skysea Shape

C) Amorphous

We voted in skyseas? Damn. Well, if they're there I'm gonna go with (C) Amorphous ... they shift shape gradually in the wind and as they move.

I) Planar Interaction

Please string together 1, 2, and 3 as you want. The highest votes for any particular string will win.

1) There are:

B) Unstable planar breeches

2) For the:

A) Feywlyd - B) Rare
B) Inner Planes - B) Rare
C) Outer Planes - D) Very Rare or E) non-existent
D) Transient Planes D) Very Rare

(By the way, the spelling is 'breaches'; 'breeches' is to do with rear-ends (of assorted things) i.e. breech-birth, breech-loading shotgun ... but a breach in the castle wall).

Round 6. And here I thought Indagare had lost interest.

1: B. Just seems like the best mix.

2: C. I like specialization and uniqueness that might breath into the pantheons.

3: B. Deities should be part of the background and not active (unless a cool story calls for a brief interaction with the gods).

4: A. I like each area to be as unique as possible. That said. There may be one or two more advanced areas where races come to meet each other which would be far more diverse.

5: E. I want winged races to be a rare mutation... like a hoembrewed template which can be applied to a variety of races.

6: Did we vote for sky seas? Um... I guess A makes the most sense. Look at free falling water aboard a vomit comet. It forms balls. Rain drops are also balls that are stretched out by wind into a tear drop shape. So A... but wind or magic could form them up differently in specific cases. Like a disk shaped water body floating inside a permanent hurricane which keeps it stretched into that disk.

Planar Interaction:
1: C. Variety is the spice of life.

2: All planes.

3: C or D whichever gets the most votes. These things should be momentous and influential occurrences happening only in rare cases.

1) Number of Deities

Tacticslion's idea is my vote

2) Domains and Subdomains

B) All domains are represented in a given pantheon, but only some (appropriate) subdomains are.

3) Deity Interaction

A) All deities are generally distant and do not interact in mortal affairs directly. However, their are numerous 'spirits' who are engaged with mortal affairs actively, but have many rules and limitations preventing them from interfering too much. (so things like 'making a deal with a devil'-style interactions would be possible)

4) Number of Races (in an area)

D) Each area has a cosmopolitan mix of races in it. Any race can easily be found.

5) Winged Races (E may be chosen with one of the others)

D) There are winged versions of standard, featured, and uncommon races. But should be a rare mutation/evolution, we do not want to invalidate Air Ships (though the main benefit of such would be speed)

E) There are some homebrewed winged races (list number). I'd recommend at least one that can, at-will, create energy wings. basically an on-off style. these wings wouldn't interfere with worn clothes/armor/other. I can make this one, if you want.

6) Skysea Shape

A-C, dependent on weather, local conditions, and so on, but mostly a limited variant of B (oval).

I) Planar Interaction

Please string together 1, 2, and 3 as you want. The highest votes for any particular string will win.

1) There are:

C) Both

2) For the:

A) Feywlyd
B) Inner Planes
C) Outer Planes
D) Transient Planes

3) They are:

C) Rare

1) Number of Deities
B has two votes. [sgriobhadair, Aranna]
Tacticslion’s variation on all of these has two votes [Tacticslion, Air0r]

B Each pantheon would contain 1d20 deities (with larger quantities, many would be minor and don't necessarily need creating in detail). The deities in each pantheon would be a mix of genders (and races, if that's what the vote necessitated - though I'm personally in favour of non-racial deities).

Tacticslion, I think, proposes a sort of metapantheon and that there are different levels of hierarchy so that those lowest on the divine rung interact the most with mortals while those highest interact the least. Some deities are worshiped by various names and in differnet guises in different areas while other deities are truly just unique local ones. If I'm missing something here, please let me know. This isn't incompatible with B.

2) Domains and Subdomains

C has three votes. [Tacticslion, sgriobhadair, Aranna]
B has one vote. [Air0r]

The domains and subdomains of a given pantheon are related to that particular area.

3) Deity Interaction

D has two votes. [Tacticslion, sgriobhadair]

B has one vote. [Aranna]

A has one vote. [Air0r]

Some deities are engaging while others are distant.

4) Number of Races (in an area)

D has two direct votes [Tacticslion, Air0r] and one supporting vote. [sgriobhadair]
A has two votes [sgriobhadair, Aranna]

Each area has a cosmopolitan mix of races in it. Any race can easily be found.

5) Winged Races

E has four votes. [Tacticslion, sgriobhadair, Aranna, Air0r]
D has one direct vote [Air0r], but Tacticslion and Aranna both support the idea of a rare mutation causing the races of the setting to become winged.

Sgriobhadair recommended two new winged races - or adapt a couple of existing flying humanoids which aren't yet statted as PC races.

Air0r recommends at least one that can, at-will, create energy wings. basically an on-off style. these wings wouldn't interfere with worn clothes/armor/other. I can make this one, if you want. Air0r

I’d like to see what Air0r comes up with, and I think another race of some sort (possibly the Stryx).

Suggestions for a winged template or mutation would be welcomed, however, we ought to consider if races with a strong earth affinity (like dwarves and oreads) get it at all.

6) Skysea Shape

A has one direct vote [Aranna] and two supporting votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r]
C has one direct vote [sgriobhadair] and two supporting votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r]
B has two supporting votes. [Tacticslion, Air0r]

If I were going on average, B seems to be the way to go. Very likely the exact shape varies depends on conditions in the local area, but they are likely an oval shape (capsules are also oval – I think they’re going to be three-dimensional).

Since a couple of people were surprised about the skyseas:

ROUND 4!

I) World Features

1) Skyseas

A) Do not exist.
B) Exist only around skylands.
C) Can exist on their own.
D) Only exist on their own (never near a skyland).

1
C has three direct votes [Cr500cricket, Air0r, Goth Guru] and one supportive vote [Tacticslion].
A has two direct votes [sgriobhadair, Aranna] and one supportive vote [Tacticslion].
B has one vote. [Detect Magic]

I) Planar Interaction

1C has three votes. [Tacticslion, Aranna, Air0r]
1B has one vote. [sgriobhadair]

2 A, B, C, and D all have four votes [Tacticslion, sgriobhadair, Aranna, Air0r]

3C has two complete votes [Aranna, Air0r] and one limited vote (one for 2C and one for 2D) [sgriobhadair]
3B has one vote (one for 2A and one for 2B) [sgriobhadair]
3A has one vote [Tacticslion]

There are both stable and unstable planar breaches for all the planes. They are rare.

for default "core setting" area, however various areas vary: some are closer to A, some to B, and some to C <this may be considered E, but I'm attempting to narrow down the various multiplying branches of options by choosing "D" - effectively keep this floating and lump it in with whichever seems more appropriate at the end>

For the most part, I imagine all of the options are possible depending on the place.

we do not want to invalidate Air Ships (though the main benefit of such would be speed)

I think the carrying capacity of a winged humanoid would be severely limited as well. Humans can walk and swim but we still use cars and boats. I don't think winged races invalidate airships - it just means there are some folks on board who have less to worry about should the ship start to drop from the sky.

And here I thought Indagare had lost interest.

More like I keep failing my reflex saving throws against the flaming bags of poo life keeps lobbing at me.

More like I keep failing my reflex saving throws against the flaming bags of poo life keeps lobbing at me.

I'm really sorry to hear about this! :(

I'm curious, though: is the result of 4 compatible with 1B?
It doesn't seem that way to me; but am I just reading my own bias into it?

I'd be interested in hearing proposals for how they function together. I admit that my reading comprehension may be affected right now by distraction and tiredness.

I'm really sorry to hear about this! :(

I will be praying for you, sir.

Thanks! It is much appreciated!

I'm curious, though: is the result of 4 compatible with 1B?

It doesn't seem that way to me; but am I just reading my own bias into it?

I'd be interested in hearing proposals for how they function together. I admit that my reading comprehension may be affected right now by distraction and tiredness.

One way of resolving the issue is to make the deities non-racial. If we focus on whatever domains and subdomains are needed then the number of races in an area is moot: the deities can simply appear as a member of that race and are worshiped under a presumed name. It's very likely someone will figure this out fairly quickly and have a Church of the Universal Sky God or whatever, where there are statues of the deity as it is seen by the different races. This won't stop other temples from being built for that specific racial one nor stop a racial pantheon, even if most of the deities are shared.

The one set of deities that every race is going to have unique is the creator deities. Beyond that, though, something like the metapantheon is going to be at work.

If it really is 10-11 (an average of 1d20) deities then things get wonky with metropolitan populations. It's impossible for every race to have a deity in the pantheon. However, if the area a pantheon controls is treated as a demesne for the local deities then things get a bit less problematic. These 10-11 deities are the local power-houses. They are the major ones and they probably represent whatever races first came there or which have the most population.

That said, it won't stop folks from worshiping deities further away anymore than living in Australia would stop someone from worshiping Ahura Mazda (unless, of course, the deities are very jealous of their territorial holds, in which case there are going to be interesting times for clerics and paladins who come from far away - not to mention devout lay-people who may suddenly find themselves on the wrong end of a lightning bolt).

Does this make any sense?