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Oh, and the first sand ship, the sand hauler, should list the number of decks as 2: the top part where PCs shoot at sand worms from, and the lower part where they eat, sleep, and try to win friends among the crew while stealthily ditching their grog rations.
No, wait. That last part is from Skull & Shackles.
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If you see this thing coming at you, I'd suggest running, but it can keep going while you uselessly flail your racially-determined sets of limbs in vain hope of not getting blown up.
Akiton War Barge
Colossal land vehicle
Squares 192 (40 ft. by 120 ft.); Cost 50,000 gp
DEFENSE
AC 2; Hardness 15
hp 3,840 (1,919)
Base Save +4
OFFENSE
Maximum Speed 120 ft.; Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB +8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8
DESCRIPTION
This vast sandship is the main war engine of the Akitoni city-states. The ship has a top deck, protected with metal shielding from attacks from above and housing the pilot's cabin, and three interior decks: a gunnery deck, a deck with living quarters for the soldiers and crew, and a lower deck containing the engine and storage. The massive engine in the bowels of the ship provides propulsion in the form of a primitive anti-gravity field. A war barge can carry 100 tons of cargo or 200 soldiers.
Propulsion alchemical (8 squares of alchemical engines in the bottom deck at the center of the ship; hardness 15, hp 120)
Driving Check Profession (pilot) or Knowledge (geography) +10 to the DC
Forward Facing the ship's forward
Driving Device control panel
Driving Space the eight squares in the rear of the pilot's cabin
Crew 50
Decks 4
Weapons Up to 24 Large direct-fire siege engines in twelve banks positioned on the port and starboard sides of the ship, or 16 Huge direct-fire siege engines in banks of eight on the port and starboard sides of the ship. The siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship they are positioned on. They cannot be swiveled to fire toward the forward or aft sides of the ship. Alternatively, one bank of Large or Huge siege engines may be replaced with a similarly-sized siege engine on the foreward and/or aft of the ship, which can be swiveled to fire on the port and starboard...
How high off the ground does it hover? Can it increase elevation or is it a static amount of levitation? As far as it's propulsion, is their any integration with magic? Would dispel accomplish anything?
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I'm imagining high enough to clear ground cover and minor terrain difficulties. Let's say a few feet- high enough to avoid some differences in terrain and allow it to conquer minor slopes, but low enough that getting onto it when it's moving isn't an awful ordeal. Say it floats, most often, five feet off the ground. Even a Small PC could grab a handhold on the side and clamber up. It can go higher by a few feet to adjust for elevation and climb slopes, but that's more a "raise the fore to clamber up this shallow incline" type thing than a "hover over this massive crevasse" kinda thing. Anything wider than, say, a quarter of the ship's length will cause it to get stuck, and if that thing is a deep hole, well, that's gonna be pretty awful, since part of it is now wedged into said hole. Anything shorter the engines can "jump" across, with some bumpy riding for the crew and passengers. The wider the gap, the more awful the bumps.
This leaves sand ships navigating around larger obstacles with steep inclines, like a stone plinth or a city wall, while allowing it to cross a small ditch or low hillock.
At your discretion, a sandship could hover say, ten or fifteen feet above the ground, which would require ladders or somesuch to mount up on, but I see them more like the speeders in Star Wars. Much like their fuel (codename: plot-onium), it's how you need it to work that matters.
I'll jump on tech-priests, and by extension, fancy technology, at my nearest opportunity. Prolly Friday afternoon.
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Did I mention (need I mention) that getting run over by X tons of ship propelled by antigrav is a BAD idea? That's prolly similar to hiding under the falling stone block, so, what, 20d6 damage for a Colossal object?
Regardless of how you hand out the damage, it should be obvious to anyone that getting under one is a terrible, TERRIBLE idea.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I put the dash in there so folks wouldn't think I misspelled plutonium. We can just call it plotonium from now on. :P
Hey, I haven't been reading the thread, but I really dig what you're doing here, man!
By the way, you misspelled plutonium.
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For many, the harsh conditions on Akiton are greatly relieved by the advent (or rediscovery) of impressive technology. The famed sand ships allow easy transport of goods or people across Akiton's vast, barren landscape; advanced firearms defend communities from hostile raiders and marauding beasts; and even the humble moisture collector holds a place of importance, keeping small farmsteads supplied with life-giving water with very little maintenance.
But the technological marvels produced annually at Hivemarket's Great Unveiling Festival are where true innovation lies. It is here that the masters of invention, the tech-priests, come to show off their latest creations. Whether old tech found in the ruins of the poles and reverse-engineered into successful designs, schematics traded from the Vercites for valuable mining contracts, or through good old hard work and experimentation, these astounding feats of science keep the wonders of technology alive- and generate vast wealth for their inventors. The tech-priests (called so for their devotion to science and engineering on a near-religious level, and for the secrets they maintain regarding the creation and function of Akiton's most advanced technology) corner the market on advanced machinery, allowing successful designs to flourish only where the market can bear the astounding prices these wonders demand. Woe be to any who attempt to move in on their monopoly, however, for the tech-priests do not sell every weapon or machine they produce, and are some of the most well-armed people on Akiton.
Most famed of these machines are the sky ships, flying vessels made of rare metals, powered by potent anti-gravity engines, and piloted exclusively by the tech-priests themselves. These marvels can transport dozens of people or tons of cargo across vast distances in record time, with even the slowest ships clocking speeds of a hundred miles per hour. The sky ship has been around for generations, but new innovations continue to advance the science. Tech-priests compete to build the largest or fastest vessel, or create opulent amenities for the pleasure craft of the rich and powerful.
Sky ships are not all that the tech-priests create, of course. Weapons that shoot rays of energy or self-propelled and self-guiding ammunition, personal force-fields and flying boots, and self-powered automatons are churned out from their hidden fortress-factories and sold to the highest bidder, with each subsequent design finding a buyer as the city-states or wealthy petty tyrants hope to arm and equip themselves with the latest, the most powerful, or the most innovative tech.
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Because all the cool designs are bought using a bidding system, it's easy for a GM to set the prices they feel are reasonable should a PC attempt to sell an old Elder Thing fire pistol, and the chance to try to secure an exclusive contract with a tech-priest (or steal a design for themselves) gives the Great Unveiling mad-hot adventure opportunity.
As for the tech-priests themselves, they're kinda part Brotherhood of Steel, part cultish conglomerate of super-geniuses. Depending on the campaign, they could be odd benefactors or dire foes for a group, and probably swapping places in that spectrum on a regular basis. They're not monolithic in their goals and alliances, of course. Aiding one tech-priest might earn the PCs the enmity of another who wants to outdo his rival. The one guaranteed thing about them is any PC openly selling their own designs or stealing and selling the tech-priests designs earns them the hatred of the entire group. And it's dangerous to piss off guys with warehouses of deadly weapons, vast resources and wealth, and ties to pretty much every city-state on Akiton.
Interesting piece there N'wah! May I ask how one could represent a tech-priest in game? I'd be tempted to make a juicy cleric archetype for it but I'd like to hear from you first. Also Verces technology is interesting as the Verces people live in a Caste system where groups are split between the Vessels, the Augments, etc. and the use of Augments would be interesting on a aktion tech-priest.
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Hmm. Tech-priest stats? I've mulled it over a bit. I see most of them as wizards, merging science and technology into one unified whole. Verces' Augmented does it, and so it seems do the bone sages of Eox. Plus, it fits nicely with the old "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" trope.
That said, actual clerics could fit in great, either directly worshiping the tech, or a god of technology, if I ever make the theology stuff happen.
Basically, anyone able to take the magical Craft feats could be a tech-priest. Even an expert (or other non-caster) with Master Craftsman could whip up the tech goodies.
Which brings me to an aside:
Equipment-wise, so very much of the tech can be covered by existing magical items. Personal force fields? Rings of protection, bracers of armor, and such fit the bill. Laser guns can be wands or rods of assorted ray spells, with a reloadable magazine. The ideas are pretty much endless, really.
So pricing the stuff can be as simple as making the thing magi-technical in appearance, and selling it at standard prices. It's pretty much a flavor change, really. And there's real simple rules for tech and robots in Dungeons of Golarion that can make an easy transition to Akiton.
It's really up to you on that front.
Hmm. Tech-priest stats? I've mulled it over a bit. I see most of them as wizards, merging science and technology into one unified whole. Verces' Augmented does it, and so it seems do the bone sages of Eox. Plus, it fits nicely with the old "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" trope.
That said, actual clerics could fit in great, either directly worshiping the tech, or a god of technology, if I ever make the theology stuff happen.
Basically, anyone able to take the magical Craft feats could be a tech-priest. Even an expert (or other non-caster) with Master Craftsman could whip up the tech goodies.
Which brings me to an aside:
Equipment-wise, so very much of the tech can be covered by existing magical items. Personal force fields? Rings of protection, bracers of armor, and such fit the bill. Laser guns can be wands or rods of assorted ray spells, with a reloadable magazine. The ideas are pretty much endless, really.
So pricing the stuff can be as simple as making the thing magi-technical in appearance, and selling it at standard prices. It's pretty much a flavor change, really. And there's real simple rules for tech and robots in Dungeons of Golarion that can make an easy transition to Akiton.
It's really up to you on that front.
True and there is a god of technology if I remember right, though she tends to deal with more clockwork I think but I can see a Tech-Priest taking the idea of clockwork as a basis and all things must advance over time. I also agree with wizards being a large group of tech-priest and experts could be the jack of all trade repairmen on sand speeders. The Bonesages, I love Eox for the gods forsaken wasteland it is and maybe even a bonesage or two could be on Aktion with their technological augmented undead or Verces Augments could teach the designs of their augments.
I love Dungeons of Golarion and maybe you could transplant a carbon copy of Red Redoubt onto Aktion, sort of a outpost for Tech-Priest or possibly Technic League members going off world to gather more technology. Also I'm aware of the sample ideas for technology and automatons, wonderful goodies and love how the technology runs on batteries and in my game I made them rechargeable but hard to discover the way to do so.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Brigh. She's a pretty minor deity on Golarion. Maybe her following's better on Akiton.
Or she's just new there.
I know Golarion doesn't tie the deities to the number of worshipers. but it would be amusing if Brigh was pulling a 'Wee Jas' (she shows up in this thread too? Gal gets around) and 'pretends' to not be as powerful in Golarion as she actually is.
"Oh, really I'm a minor goddess, no reason to pay attention to me."
"Really, that's not what my followers on Akiton tell me."
"Oh, you have followers there? Delete. Delete. Delete."
I could see Brigh doing that, she is a minor diety no one really looks at as a threat unlike those decadent cults dedicated to dark gods who want to attack and create chaos.
Tech-Priest:"Brigh is the mother of invention."
Raider:"Dont you have that wrong?
Tech-Priest:"No, do you?"
I'm also interested what gods have active followers on Aktion.
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Overview on straight-porting deities based on the sorta things Akitoni natives care about (in no particular order):
Erastil (farming and community are pretty big on Akiton)
Abadar (in the city-states)
Brigh (technology HOOO)
Pharasma (everything dies at some point)
Azlanti Deities (worshiped in Arl; this is the city-states' full-on pantheon with some changes to be decided later to fill in the dead gods; this list stolen from Pathfinder Wiki)
Abadar, as a god of cities and wealth rather than law
Acavna, a goddess of battle and the moon who died prior to Earthfall
Achaekek, god of monsters and natural disasters (unlike his modern role as god of assassination)
Amaznen, main god of magic, outlawed in Thassilon, presumed killed during Earthfall
Curchanus, god of travel, beasts, and endurance, survived Earthfall but killed by Lamashtu
Desna, seen as goddess of the stars
Groetus, apparently a late addition to the pantheon
Nurgal, his worship suffered during the Age of Darkness
Pharasma, seen as the patron of prophecies, she paid the price for being the bearer of bad news
Shelyn patron of the arts
Zura, not worshipped openly
Aroden/Iomedae/Arazni (in Arl, they're saints or risen thuroks of the Azlanti gods)
My weeding work sent my allergies into a high awfulness. I'll prolly end up passing out when the Benadryl kicks in. So after that I'll at the very least get the Arl pantheon arranged and fleshed out. Should be pretty easy to do.
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Some thoughts as my eyelids droop:
The Azlanti take on Abadar sounds pretty damn good for worship planet-wide. The versions of Achaekek, Desna, Pharasma, and Shelyn also sound dead-on to me, though they may see greater or lesser worship than on Golarion (I see Achaekek filling the roles of Lamashtu and Rovagug on Akiton, so his worship goes up, for instance).
Zura and Nurgal getting a worship boost also sounds fun, and I like that the sun god is evil on a world where the sunlight is weak and distant; he's a withholding jerkus, obviously.
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Alright, so the faiths of Arl are where I'm starting; the assorted deities of that pantheon are always worshiped in Arl, and I can see their faith spreading beyond that pantheistic city-state, so we can use their odd versions of some of Golarion's gods as a jumping-off point.
A thought I have is for clerics of Arl to pick two deities to venerate, selecting one domain from each and incorporating their selected alignments as the follower's chosen alignment range (all deities will be partly neutral for this to work). I've dropped all the available domains for each deity to four to kinda balance this wider selection of domains.
Some adjustments in deities will occur; feel free to convert new/different divine alignments and/or domains and/or whatever to those you like, or try the new ones out, as you desire.
LN God of architecture, cities and wealth
In every city-state across Akiton, mighty Abadar holds steady vigil, his right hand raising wealth and power as his left hand awaits to bring misfortune and disaster.
Abadar's favored weapon is the revolver, and his cleric domains are Community, Law, Nobility, and Protection.
NE God of monsters and natural disasters
Devious and murderous Achaekek culls the weak from Akiton's lands with the tooth and claw of savage beasts, as well as the scouring winds and vast earthquakes that rage across her surface.
Achaekek's favored weapon is the scimitar and his cleric domains are Death, Destruction, Evil, and Weather.
N God of magic
In death, Amaznen's soul merged with that of Nethys, his most gifted priest-apprentice, who was reborn and ascended to godhood as Amat-Nethys, dual-minded warden of all magical lore.
Amat-Nethys' favored weapon is the quarterstaff, and his cleric domains are Destruction, Knowledge, Magic, and Protection.
NG Goddess of dreams and the stars
Desna wanders the stars, unveiling their secrets and blessing her faithful with understanding while guarding them from the horrors that dwell in the darkness between them.
Desna's favored weapon is the starknife and her cleric domains are Good, Luck, Protection, and Travel.
CN God of chaos, creation, and oblivion
Groetus makes and unmakes reality to suit his whims, ever displeased with stagnant reality and each day closer to finally unmaking the world in a fit of madness; only his followers' soothing words calm his tempestuous spirit.
Groetus' favored weapon is the heavy mace and his cleric domains are Chaos, Destruction, Madness, and Void.
CN god of deserts, the sun, and warfare
Violent Nurgal represents the cold deserts of Akiton's surface, the marauding bands that thrive upon them, the dim sun that nourishes all below it, and bloody warfare in all its glory.
Nurgal's favored weapon is the heavy flail and his cleric domains are Chaos, Liberation, Sun, and War.
LN goddess of fate and prophecy
Pharasma is the messenger and diviner of the gods, actualizing the great wheel of civilization and barbarism, prosperity and suffering, that all mortals serve and eventually succumb to.
Pharasma's favored weapon is the dagger and her cleric domains are Law, Knowledge, Repose, and Rune.
NG goddess of art and invention
Shelyn is the patron of arts and sciences, gifting her worshipers with inspiration as they work their craft, be it a simple basket to a grand statue to a weapon of war.
Shelyn's favored weapon is the glaive and her cleric domains are Artifice, Good, Luck, and Protection.
NE goddess of decadence, indulgence, and undeath
Lustful and covetous Zura represents enslavement to one's own desires for wealth, power, food, sex, and anything that drives people to acts of pain and suffering.
Zura's favored weapon is the rapier and her cleric domains are Charm, Death, Evil, and Madness.
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So say I'm a violent, expansionist war chieftain and shaman, seeking to expand my realm and power through warfare and violence to sate my desire for mortal pleasures. I might worship Nurgal and Zura together, making my allowed alignment within one step of CE. One of my domains comes from Nurgal (Chaos, Liberation, Sun, and War) and one from Zura (Charm, Death, Evil, and Madness). I pick Charm and War, boosting my persuasion skills to help expand my army, and my combat skills to help me slay my foes. Of their favored weapons, I pick the heavy flail, since I'm prolly an unsubtle brute.
Instead, pretend I'm a star-gazer gone mad, but I still reach out to help the people and protect them from what lies in the spaces between. I could pick up Desna and Goetus, and go for the Protection and Madness domains. I'll pick the starknife for my favored weapon, and I can be within one step of CG.
Then pretend I'm one of these two and I meet the other me in a bar. Charmed in an "opposites attract" kinda way, I take me home for a blistering whirlwind romance that ends in tears when the very war one of me created causes the death of the other me. Heartbroken, I forsake my blood-soaked throne and devote my life to a monastery of fate and invention, becoming a cleric of Pharasma and Shelyn. With work, I become within one step of LG, pick Knowledge and Artifice, and take up the glaive to defend my weaker fellow-monks and honor my lost love.
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Several thousand years ago, the theocratic city-state of Arl ran into a problem.
They knew too much.
Having tracked the motion of thousands of celestial bodies and other cosmological signs to aid the divination of their pantheon's will and its multi-circular states of ascendence and decline, it became apparent that the variables were becoming harder and harder to factor without significant man-hours and recurring mathematical error. It was obvious they needed something to process the mountains of written data: something brilliant, something infallible.
As luck would have it, the cosmos delivered just that something, literally right to their door.
Verces was just beginning its trade with the residents of Akiton, and her ships were studying the planet's surface to select the larger city-states with which to engage in trade (the Vercites erroneously beleiving these cities to be capitals of a world-spanning group of nations, similar to the ones found upon their planet's thin inhabitable ring). Arl was a political powerhouse even then, and had made the list of populations to contact in order to trade valuable technologies in exchange for equally valuable access to Akiton's plentiful rare ores. As others prepared their descent to the planet's surface, one vessel landed before the great gates of Arl, and its occupants disembarked, bearing gifts to the leaders of the great city.
That is when Arl attacked. Having received warning via magic of the strangers' imminent arrival, Arl mustered her forces of holy knights and great high priests under the guise of a welcoming comittee, quickly overwhelmed the surprised Vercites, and stole onto their ship. They knew such a wondrous flying machine capable of traversing the spheres must have impressive technology indeed, and it was within the ship's deepest decks that they found thier goal: a Vercite navigation system.
The device was unhooked as gently as the priests of Arl could muster, along with one of the ship's power generators, and secreted away deep under their massive ziggurat temple. It took weeks of work to get the device in working order, and upon its reactivation, the machine's output screens ran with complex and alien symbols. As it attempted to communicate, the assorted outer machinery folded away, revealing a humanoid torso, stripped of its limbs and unnecessary sensory flesh, suspended in a tank of fluids and hooked directly to the technology they had stolen. It lived. It breathed. And more imortantly: it thought.
As the priests jabbered, the man-machine hybrid quickly deciphered their alien speech, eventually hacking into its own auditory systems to communicate with the red-skinned strangers. It gave its name (a complex equation Arl's most science-minded citizens regard as a holy formula and work to this day to decipher), and asked what the priests required. Overjoyed, the priests spent months inputting their own data, while the man-machine processed the information into its own databanks, frequently correcting errors in the priest's own calculations and factoring in its own onboard star-charts. Within half a year, the priests had taught it all they knew, and made their request to divine the will of the gods.
The machine began its formulation, outputting data onto its viewscreens, including a centrally-located multi-wheeled representation of Arl's divine order. With each calculation, the wheels moved, representing the rising and setting of the various key players in Arl's celestial order. It constantly required more information, from the broad to the oddly specific. Births and deaths across Arl were dutifully recorded and provided, as were sacred dreams of the priesthood, large trade agreements, and, in one instance, the travel patterns of one stone mason over the course of thirteen days. All the while, output poured from the machine's many screens.
The God Machine, as the high priests dubbed it, has to this day performed admirably. It predicted the ascent of Thurok Novelian thirty-three years before his birth, and accurately timed his demise, from accidental allergy, to the millisecond. Factoring in tectonc motion, it forewarned of a massive earthquake in time for the populace to shore up their homes and businesses, preventing a massive tragedy. However, two factors hinder its ability to directly aid the high priests in their endeavors.
The first is simple time and entropy: as parts of the God Machine fail, the priests must constantly seek out replacements, often at exorbitant cost from the tech-priests of Akiton or the Vercites themselves. Most of the God Machine's output screens have broken down and been replaced, often by crude printing devices of Arl's own design, and the Machine's power source, once considered eternal, will eventually fail as its core begins to melt down. Jury-rigged power supplies made from old tech and Akiton's subterranean gases will only delay the enevitable, and the priests worry that if they directly trade the Vercites for a ship's generator, their violent intial encounter will be discovered and they will be devastated by fire from an orbiting vessel in retribution.
The second development is the God Machine's own ever-expanding aloofness. At first, it seemed eager to receive and transmit the massive volumes of data that kept Arl running smoothly. But over the last century, it has become more and more withdrawn, accepting new input but often ignoring priests' requests for divination. Oblique references in its now-rare communication indicate that it has made contact with the God mind of Axis, the dreaming terrors of the Dark Tapestry, or both, and its readings become more esoteric and oblique with each passing year. What little information it now presents seems to deal exclusively with the Origin Formula, a sort of all-encompassing mathematical calculation designed to understand the birthing of the multiverse, and the Contraction, the eventual end of all things. Both cause concern in the priests of Arl, who are every day being shown the futility and unimportance of their universe, their gods, their planet, their city, and even their very lives.
As word has slowly leaked out from Arl of the existence of the God Machine, the tech-priests of Akiton have grown increasingly curious about its design, and how they might make their own or, barring that, steal it. They know Arl's theocratic government would never willingly surrender the device, and access to it is strictly regimented. However, if they could claim the God Machine as their own, the payoff would be astronomical. After all, if this machine can factor into account the movement of countless heavenly bodies, the lives and deaths of billions, and the divine will of the gods, surely it could advance technology at astounding rates of speed and efficiency. Akiton could become a technical paradise, outstripping mighty Verces and even the malevolent genius of Eox and become a beacon of mechanical advancement across the solar system and beyond. But Arl remains its death grip on the amazing machine. Anyone brave and foolhardy enough to steal the device and find a way to ship it to the tech-priests would be in for a payday indeed...
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Inspired by John Spalding (RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32 and My Skull & Shackles GM) in a Facebook Message Series
Calistria's faith, to the people of Akiton, is one eternally linked with her most-visited celestial neighbor and biggest planetary rival, Castrovel the Green. Calistria is a major deity on Golarion, but among the elves of Sovyrian and Castrovel's other sentient races, she takes a very prominent role. As such, the residents of Akiton associate her with the fertile world of Castrovel, with whom their relationship has been tense at best, and violently hostile at worst.
Because of this, it is popular among dissidents and revolutionaries hoping to incite conflict to claim Calistrian faith, whether genuinely or as a political gambit. No open temples exist to the goddess, but small cult followings sprout up among the disaffected, or bored nobility looking to shake up their more conservative neighbors with scandalous association. It is not that any of Calistria's teachings of lust, trickery, and revenge are particularly frowned upon in Akitoni society; rather, it is her connection to hated Castrovel that inspires such strong reaction.
Among those who know of Calistria, her association with elves is well understood, but many Akitnoni do not know exactly what an "elf" is, and may react with hostility to foreigners or aliens with what are considered "elven" or "Castrovilian" features (pale skin, large eyes, and pointed ears being the most common associative traits). The larger the community, the better people understand their solar neighbors, however, and a halfling's pointed ears can expect better reception in Maro than in a backwards village in Akiton's hinterlands.
Interesting! I love the God Machine idea as it has begun to touch the higher planes of existence as well as the factor of it become self aware and slowly in need of a better power source. The priest of Arl also know if they approach the crew of a Aethership about a new generator they could be found out.
Also how would the tech-priest or priest of Arl deal with the other technologically advance races such as Eox and Aballonians? I could see them trying to tear a Aballonian trying to figure out how it works and a Eoxian Bonesage being approached and studied without incurring the wrath of the arcanist. I could see a Tech-Priest attempting to become similar to a Bonesage in form and manner so he might just live forever.
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You raise some interesting conundrums, Freedom Quantity.
Aballonian tech is, of course, biological and evolutionary, and the Akitoni aren't dumb enough to "tear apart" an Aballonian hoping to find salvageable gears and whatnot. Rather, if the two cultures did intersect, there would probably be a lot of initial violence as the Akitoni feared that the Aballonians were some new form of threat.
I mean, imagine if a tentacular blob-thing the size of a VW Bus came knocking at your door. You'd prolly flip out.
That said, the rocky worlds of Golarion's inner reaches provide few reasons for Aballonians to even bother with them, and it seems by the canon that they haven't.
I mean, what would an Aballonian even want from Akiton, or Golarion, or any of the other rocky worlds? Prolly nothing. They don't build machines; they grow them. They don't need weapons; they evolve them. I suppose they might come by to learn things, but they wouldn't learn much from the land-based bipeds, other than that they exist. I assume an Aballonian's interests lie in different fields than most humanoids can produce or even understand.
I have considered a place on Akiton for Eoxian interests. Some Eox bone-sages may have landed on Akiton, drawn to its rich natural deposits of rare earths and whatnot. I see them as solitary figures whose landed craft and/or hidden refuges are a thing of speculation and fear among Akiton's inhabitants. If peaceful contact could be made, I assume the bone-sage would attempt to dominate the local populace, or enslave them for esoteric purposes and experimentation. That said, a bone-sage on Akiton could make for a pretty awesome adventure, wherein the locals hire a group of heroes to uproot the odd tower and its inhabitant(s) before they enslave and/or kill everyone nearby.
The tech-priests, however, would LOVE to learn anything they could from an Eoxian bone-sage, up to and including the secrets of undeath. I assume undeath is pretty rare on Akiton, aside from hauntings, spirits, and other such "common" phenomena. Lichdom is probably pretty darn rare, and the chance to become immortal and without need for life-sustaining food and water would prove very tempting to many tech-priests.
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The God Machine, by the way, is one of the Ascetics of Nar from the Fastness of the Ordered Mind, a particularly brilliant one whose overexposure to enormous cold in search of enlightenment pretty much accidentally turned him into an imitation of a Joyful Thing from Zon-Kuthon's faith. Like they do, the Ascetics of Nar sold him to the Augmented for plugging in as a nav-com system.
So he/it has always been self-aware, inasmuch as any humanoid is. It's just becoming even MORE aware. It's kinda a one-machine Singularity waiting to happen, and only entropy and the limits of its own systems keep that at bay.
All that is lost on the priests of Arl, who just want their stolen divine calculator to do what they tell it to.
A Aballonian on Aktion might be the work of a tech-priest little off world adventure thinking he might be able to claim he built the creature or to learn from the complex devices the Aballonians are 'grown' as Aballonians are built but the thinker caste purge what things are not needed and add what is need in the design eventually going down the production line to be grown from the basic body. Maybe a Tech-Priest has attempted to construct a similar system that would make crude but effective constructs to fill their ranks as well. The Aballonian of course would be logical in this thought of trying to devise a escape as well as probing the tech-priest mind to give it want it wants in the manner of possibly giving it a new base of operations. The Aballonian he had taken is part of the designers and runs on a interior power source.
I could see a Eoxian Bonesage on Aktion doing as it wished if 'peaceful' contact is made, it offers some obscure knowledge in the form of schematics and actual viewing of a Eoxian vessel. I could see the priest of Arl trying to get in on this possibly over powering the Bonesage with magic to get his ships power generator but maybe unknown to them its a vessel for necromatic or ghost energies, possibly be powered by Abysium. Though the Bonesage might interact well with the Tech-Priest especially those who wish to study techno-necromancy from him possibly even to the poit of becoming a lich in the same manner.
I always found the Ascetics of Nar interesting since most of those who gain frostbite, etc. become part of a Aethership. Verces technology is a interesting thing ranging from the Augments to their solar farms.
I see then, Brethedans and Aballonians are completely different.
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ALRIGHT! I've had some coffee, so my brain's in a better functional state now.
Aballonians. Yes. The robots from Aballon. God, how could I have forgotten about them? I LOVE Aballonians.
Aballonians don't get out much. The First Ones might- MIGHT- have built the machines that jump around the Diaspora, but I don't know if those two robot cultures ever communicate. Plus, Aballon is a mineral-rich rockball, similar to Akiton, so it's not like they need to travel to get more precious metals.
That said, if Those Who Become ever found out about a super-intelligent thinking machine on Akiton, they'd probably love to take it to add to their giant Singularity machine, Epoch, or at least to find out what the crap Epoch is trying to tell them. The God Machine might even be communicating with Epoch already.
On a more general basis, I see few Aballonians travelling over to Akiton, but of the rocky inner worlds, it's the one that probably holds the most interest. Perhaps solitary Aballonians, most likely exiles, would land upon Akiton's surface, enhancing their solar collectors to better absorb the dimmer light of the now-distant sun. A tech-priest finding one would most certainly try to figure out how this self-propelled and apparently smart machine works. I'm gonna guess most of these encounters are violent, but a handful might get across the language and species barriers and work together. The ordered, brilliant mind of an Aballonian would make any tech-priest happy to have on board.
'Course, an Aballonian has goals of his own, and would probably not be content with simply taking orders from the tech-priest to "BUILD MOAR MACHINES". There might even be a few Aballonians who built an army of their kin in secret and overthrew their domineering tech-priest overlord, and now run the factories for their own inscrutable purposes.
An Aballonian who did so but stayed with the tech-priests, using another Akitoni as a flunkie/representative, might become quite a power player on Akiton. Their designs would be highly efficient, but probably not super-comfortable for most humanoids to wield/drive/wear/etc. Still, when one of them reveals their mass communications relay or some other as-yet unknown piece of tech, the other tech-priests and their wealthy buyers, would sit up and take notice.
The Aballonian, of course, is probably doing all this to get back home, of course, and needs the wealthy patrons to pay for the resources to build its "fling me and my army into SPAAAAAACCCE" device. With its new army of fellow-minded Aballonians, it would seek to enact its goals of (whatever got it exiled in the first place) by force.
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The difficulty with Eoxian bone-sages is those guys are walking, talking egos. Eox itself is like a planet of super-villains, including an orbital weapons platform full of tech so deadly that they have to vet everyone who works on it to keep the more insane members from getting their hands on planet-destroying weapons. Take the Legion of Doom, make them all undead, as smart as Lex Luthor, and as vile as a Frank Miller comic, and you're kinda halfway there. Then add magic, super-tech, stir for two minutes, and serve.
So I imagine no Eoxian bone-sage having too friendly a relationship with the piddly, moronic (to them) masses of Akiton. That said, a bone-sage/tech-priest alliance is kinda too sweet to not have happen at least once.
Indeed, you could always do as I did with my Aballonian encounters on Golarion as asylum, the experiments in greater specimens dont always go as intended and they often cant reclaim the scrap of these creatures so they have a Overseer pop the thing off world to Golarion possibly during the Age of Darkness. I had them do so tossing them into Numeria hoping they would become molten slag and kill those barbaric tribes delving into Silvermount. Though as soon as the Age of Darkness ended they couldnt leave their mistakes on Golarion so moved to the next planet that was without technology and felt safe their creations wouldn't end up returning.
The tech-priest placed a hand on the smooth stone, it felt cold to the touch. This cave was unnatural and his drones had yet to return and the video feedback was cut short upon reaching a certain level filled wit amazing wonders. Did he enter a Tech-Priests lab complex? If he did it was abandoned and its wonders left to the ages. He rubbed the wall and descended into the complex. When he returned to the city he was changed, his body was partially converted into a machine and his drones were changed as well. He spoke of a Overseer giving him new purpose, to build a vessel to travel the void and return home.
Also how would the Technic League react to this form of Aktion? A competing force of technomancers and tech-priest? Fight!
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The idea of a(n involuntary?) meeting/synthesis of Bone Sage and Tech-Priest reminds me of these dudes.
Mechanical liches, sort of like magical medieval Borg, with even their summoned minions / familiars manifesting as mechanical spiders and scorpions and centipedes and stuff.
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Oh, and if we're talking reference art, a buddy has a link to Hasslefree Miniatures' web site up on his Facebook, so I glanced around the place and found this figure (NSFW- noodie-bitz), which is a pretty good example of the titillating combo of nudity and weaponry that Akiton's forebearers used.
When and if I get my computer up and running again, and when and if I do Akiton/Barsoom-esque minis, I'll dress 'em up more conservatively than that, 'specially if I'm doing 'em for Paizo (PG-13 content only). But if it's for my own line, I might have a few naked people in there, 'cuz who doesn't love naked people?
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Alright. I'm gonna write a full write-up of Arl as a city-state, including information on the city itself and its major holdings, as well as landmarks around the city, like the dry ocean basin it lies next to. This will also give me a chnce to talk about the kind of clothing and equipment one finds in Arl; each city-state and tribal community take different directions in their preferred arms, armor, and aesthetics. There will also be an entry on the Arlian ethnicity; I'll get into other ethnicities across Akiton as I expand out.
From there it's on to Maro and the Edaio Rift, then prolly Hivemarket. After that will be, I dunno, the tribal areas? Maybe one of the poles?
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Communist Theocracy in Service to a Dead Empire
Capital: Arl (261,121)
Notable Settlements: Axo (3,136), Oztem (14,884)
Ruler: Arch-Priest Mlantec Aluchipopo (LN male Arlian cleric of Abadar)
Government: Communist theocracy
Major Races: Arlians, Ysoki, aasimar, tieflings
Languages: Akitoni, Azlanti, Low Arl
Religion: Abadar, Achaekek, Nethys, Desna, Groetus, Nurgal, Pharasma, Shelyn, Zura
Resources: Artwork, grains, jewelry, magic items, seabeast ivory, textiles
I've already written a thousand or so words on Arl, which I'd cut and paste into here, but that would be redundant. Instead, let's jump-cut to the city's stat block itself:
LN metropolis
Corruption +0; Crime -1; Economy +5; Law +8; Lore +7; Society +4
Qualities Holy Site, Insular, Magically Attuned, Pious, Strategic Location, Superstitious
Danger +10
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government Magical (arch-priest or thurok guided by high-priests)
Population 261,121 (221,953 Arlians, 20,890 Ysoki, 8,832 aasimar, 6,239 tieflings, 3,207 other)
Notable NPCs
Arch-Priest Mlantec Aluchipopo (male Arlian cleric of Abadar)
Most Blessed Scion Tolexi (male aasimar paladin)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 20,800 gp; Purchase Limit 120,000 gp; Spellcasting 9th
Minor Items all; Medium Items 4d4; Major Items 3d4
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Special Material: Seabeast Ivory
While ordinary bone is available for the crafting of weapons and armor, more prized is seabeast ivory, crafted from the long-dead and calcified bones, chitin, and shells of Akiton's prehistoric sea creatures that litter Akiton's surface. Already stone-hard when still living, these remnants of Akiton's past have become even more so as they absorbed the rich minerals present across Akiton's surface. When harvested and carved or molded via alchemical processes, seabeast ivory creates arms and armor of surprising lightness, but with the strength of steel.
Any item made from seabeast ivory weighs two-thirds as much as the same item made from metal, or the same weight as an item made primarily from wood or other lighter materials. In the case of weapons, this lighter weight does not change a weapon's size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed, or two-handed).
Any armor or shield normally composed mostly of metal can be made from seabeast ivory instead. Any armor or shield made from seabeast ivory has its spell failure chance reduced by 5%, maximum Dexterity bonus increased by 1, and armor check penalty decreased by 2 (to a minimum of 0). Armor whose main component is not primarily made of metal, but could be constructed with bone instead, has its armor check penalty reduced by 1 with no other benefits.
Because seabeast ivory isn't made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.
Weapons and armors fashioned from seabeast ivory are always considered masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.
Seabeast ivory has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 10.
Type of Seabeast Ivory Item ------ Item Price Modifier
Light Armor ---------------------- +750 gp
Medium Armor --------------------- +1,500 gp
Heavy Armor ---------------------- +3,000 gp
Shield --------------------------- +500 gp
Other Items ---------------------- +250 gp/lb.
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The fashions of Arl vary based off of the person's particular caste. Listed below are variations on the common clothing options from the Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment. Information concerning outfit equivalents is listed at the end of each entry as necessary.
Arch-Priest's Vestments
These clothes designate the wearer as the preeminent priest of his or her diety's faith within Arl. The outfit consists of a glorious crimson cloak designed to drape over the arms, a loincloth or skirt, and sandals that wrap over the wearer's upper-thigh. Precious metals, gems, bone, ivory, teeth, and furs are woven into the clothing, along with elaborate embroidery, and every outfit includes an astounding headdress and/or ceremonial mask and accouterments for ceremonial hairdos. This outfit is not complete without a holy symbol of precious metals or other rare materials (worth at least 500 gp), and does not include the ceremonial scepter (usually a magic rod or staff), and other jewelry necessary to complete the outfit (worth at least 1,000 gp).
Anyone wearing this outfit gains a +10 bonus to Intimidate checks against anyone within Arl or its holdings. However, as the current high priests are often well-known within Arl, attempting to impersonate a high-priest imposes an additional -10 penalty to Disguise checks.
A high priest's vestments function as a royal outfit in regard to cost and weight.
Artisan's Outfit
Artisan's clothing is well made from simple, durable, embroidered cloth and leather, appropriate for those who must work in various specialized and often manual trades, such as construction, smithing, and other middle-caste professions. This outfit includes a loincloth or skirt with a leather belt or harness for securing tools, a pair of sturdy leather sandals, and often a leather or cloth apron and gloves. A simple cloth headband or leather thong ties back hair to keep it from interfering with the artisan's work, and buttons or fasteners are made from bone, brass, or bronze.
Commoner's Outfit
This outfit consists of a simple loincloth or skirt, crude leather sandals, and a belt or harness for tools of the trade. Simple hand-wraps complete the outfit.
High Priest's Vestments
These clothes are designed to display the wearer- and their deity's- wealth and power, letting everyone know just how important the wearer is in Arl's society. The outfit varies between religions, but usually consists of a fine cloak designed to drape over the arms, a loincloth or skirt, and knee-high to thigh-high sandals. Precious metals, gems, bone, ivory, teeth, and/or furs are woven into the clothing, along with elaborate embroidery, and every outfit includes a beautiful headdress and/or ceremonial mask and accouterments for ceremonial hairdos. This outfit is not complete without a holy symbol of precious metals or other rare materials (worth at least 50 gp), and jewelry worth at least 100 gp to accessorize this outfit.
Anyone wearing this outfit gains a +4 bonus to Intimidate checks against common folk, preachers, priests, and Blessed Scions within Arl or its holdings.
A high priest's vestments function as a noble's outfit in regard to cost and weight.
Priest's Vestments
These ceremonial clothes are worn when performing priestly functions within a church or temple, and aren't well suited to adventuring. A priest's vestments include a loincloth or skirt of fine embroidered cloth, a cloak designed to drape over the arms, and a headdress and/or mask made of bronze and bone. A holy symbol made of precious metals or other rare materials (worth at least 25 gp) and at least 50 gp in jewelry is required to complete this outfit; without these accouterments, the wearer appears as a fraud, imposing a -2 penalty on Charisma checks within Arl or its holdings.
Anyone wearing this outfit (and the appropriate holy symbol) gains a +2 bonus to Intimidate checks against common folk within Arl and its holdings.
Preacher's Vestments
These ceremonial clothes are worn by preachers of various faiths within Arl, but are durable enough to allow for travel. A preacher's vestments include an elegantly embroidered loincloth or skirt, an embroidered cloak of the deity's favored colors, and a headdress or mask of beaten bronze or bone. Functional leather sandals are included in the outfit. The level of complexity in the designs varies with religion and status.
A preacher's vestments function as a cleric's vestments in regard to cost and weight.
Scholar's Outfit
Perfect for a scholar, this outfit includes an embroidered cloth loincloth or skirt, a belt or harness, a simple headdress or mask, comfortable sandals, and a cloak.
Scion's Outfit
The Blessed Scions of Arl wear an elaborately-embroidered outfit, designed to accent their chosen arms and armor. This outfit includes a loincloth or skirt made from fine cloth, sturdy knee-high sandals, and a blood-red cloak of fine cloth trimmed with fur, scales, or teeth. A decorative headdress and mask of bone and bronze is included, and is designed to be worn with special armor custom-made for the Blessed Scion.
A special brooch signifying rank (worth 10-50 gp) is awarded to the bearer of this outfit as their rank decrees; without this brooch, the outfit is clearly being worn by an impostor, negating all bonuses from the outfit and imposing a -5 penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks within Arl or its holdings.
Anyone wearing this outfit (and the appropriate brooch) gains a bonus to Intimidate checks against common folk within Arl and its holdings equal to the brooch's value divided by ten, rounded down.
A scion's outfit functions as a courtier's outfit in regard to cost and weight.
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Before I pass out for the night, let's assume those bonuses to Intimidate apply at half value (rounded down) to to all other Charisma checks. Seems like it'd be easier to get folks to believe you're important and worth listening to when you're wearing appropriate accouterments, but generally, the powerful in Arl throw their weight around and just demand stuff.
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So, net modifiers to checks in general within Arl:
Bluff +0 (vs. Blessed Scions, the guards of Arl); Craft +5; Diplomacy +7 (vs. government officials and to call on the Blessed Scions), +8 to gather information, +4 to non-government officials; Disguise +4; Intimidate +8 (to force an NPC to act friendly- NPC reactions aren't adversely affected by Intimidate); Knowledege +7 (when using local libraries and whatnot- may be adjusted by GM fiat); Perform +5; Profession +5; Sense Motive -1 vs. Bluff; Sleight of Hand -1 to pick pockets; Stealth +0
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Contributor
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Just FYI, the city of Arl's stats and other elements of Akiton have been published in a PFS adventure. Eyes of the Ten Part III: Red Revolution