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So Farael the Fallen created this thread where you could vote and it would shape the world. It had a really good following, so I decided to try my own scenarios for this thread.
The scenario with the highest vote is the one that will get created for the thread. After that, if interest continues, the bits and pieces of the world will get created by vote as well.
You can change your vote as long as you do so before the voting time ends. I'll add my vote only in the case of a tie. Voting time will be for one week or until a day passes with no voting at all. If a week or longer passes with no activity, I'll assume no one is interested.
The names for the scenarios are temporary placeholders unless folks particularly like them (I'll save the official naming for last, if it ever comes to it).
1. The post-apocalyptic world of Mavor: In a world broken by war both magical and mundane, life struggles to survive in a hostile, often chaotic, environment. Magic and bits of technology are used to survive by those left alive. Ruins of former civilizations dot the blasted landscapes, and they hold both safety and peril. Mutants abound and spellstorms often rage. Deities are silent, and the outer planes seem closed, but divine magic still works. Rumors persist of a place called "the Gailwood", where the world is slowly healing—though none who seek it have ever returned.
2. The primordial world of Velrun: The forces of the inner planes are made manifest on this world. Towering mountains, untamable oceans, wild winds, giant volcanoes, and lush forests wait outside tamer valleys and coastal regions where the races dwell. Magic runs deep, huge animals prowl, and fey often play tricks on hapless mortals.
3. The boreal world of Har Ver: Fjords and mountains, volcanoes and icebergs—the world is rough and primal, yet hearty sailors go adventuring into the icy seas and bring trade to other lands. Near the shores are often fertile areas, rich for farming. Deep, primordial forests cover much of the land, and sometimes primordial creatures come forth. Brave heroes battle for glory and a place in the halls of the gods while rune magic often helps to tip the balance of scales between survival and death.
4. The rugged world of Tamaherata: Tribes wander woodland areas and plains, yet cities exist with step pyramids, mounds, and cliff-side dwellings. Many tribes trade along a mighty river. Little of the land beyond the civilized areas is mapped. Those who go forth do so to help their tribe whether by finding new hunting grounds, taking on enemy tribes, or simply exploring the lands to find safe places to settle. Sometimes monsters attack and heroes are needed to protect the tribes.
5. The mystic world of Leiyin: Though broad civilized lands lay near the wide oceans, between them are lands of misty mountains and wild seas that are home to spirits, oni, and other creatures. Travel is dangerous and civilized areas few, but at the heart of the area is Griddhraj Parvat, the tallest mountain in the world, home to the deities and holiest of all places. Pilgrims often try to go there, so there is always a need for escorts.
6. The pastoral world of Anesidora: Gentle rolling hills lead to majestic, cloud-covered, snow-tipped mountains that are supposedly home to the gods. Fertile valleys often lead to coastal regions that are caressed by the wine-dark sea. But beyond the civilized lands, monsters abound. Occasionally they come closer and cause death and destruction. Fortunately there are heroes—many said to be descended from the gods—who arise to protect civilization and restore order.
7. The tropical world of Amihan: It is a world of swashbuckling adventures and moonlight romance. Civilization blooms along the warm, sunny shores, of the shining blue seas while archipelagos dot the wider ocean. Magic abounds, but so do mysteries, for in the thick jungles and swampy marshes that girdle the central areas of the world there lay vine-choked ruins of a lost civilization. Similarly lonely, half-buried monuments can be seen in a great desert region of the world.
8. The adventurous world of Metsa: Magic and technology have come together to create many marvels. The world is largely unexplored outside long-familiar regions, but new magitech allows for greater exploration and colonization. Lost worlds and forgotten civilizations await discovery. Closer to home, new discoveries are made all the time, with sometimes unfortunately monstrous results. In some cases, the discoveries drive the person mad or bring forth beings from Beyond.
9. The high-flying world of Kysla: Continents float on a seemingly endless cloud sea, while islands fly above. Below the clouds lie high winds and larger continents that never made it to the surface. Sky pirates and knights do battle in airships or on gryphons. The races have settled there thanks to spelljamming vessels. The world itself has many hexapod life-forms. Though the continent they landed on is explored, and many nearby continents are settled, much of the world is unsettled and unknown.
10. The medieval world of Pendragon: Many kingdoms dot the known lands, and fairy tales often come true. Yet while there are shining castles and knights errant, there are also those that wish to overthrow kingdoms and take land for themselves. Fey interact with mortals granting boons and causing banes. And beyond the edges, the Wyld Wood awaits the unwary. It is a reminder of an older time, a time when the fey once ruled all the lands—and may yet again.
I vote Number 1!
I'm a little biased since I'm doing a similar scenario in my own setting as a result of the PCs actions over the last 10 years and multiple campaigns. For example, in the update I'm working on, my settings version of the Drow (lolthari) conquered and enslaved what's left of the surface elves.
I vote #1
If done right, 10 would be my vote. I've always loved fey, and would love to see a setting in which they play a more vital (sinister) role. Political intrigue is just a bonus.
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Number 9, add in Pegasus riders and hippogryph riders!
I'm really torn between #'s 8, and 9, but I think that 9 has the least tread ground, and you know what they say about the road less travelled. My vote goes to #9.
Number one, with a one level dip into number nine.
#4
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The vote so far is:
#01 - Three votes
#02 - Two votes
#04 - One vote
#08 - One vote
#09 - Two votes
#10 - One vote
I'm a little biased since I'm doing a similar scenario in my own setting as a result of the PCs actions over the last 10 years and multiple campaigns. For example, in the update I'm working on, my settings version of the Drow (lolthari) conquered and enslaved what's left of the surface elves.
I vote #1
It's cool. I based #1 on the runner up of the previous voting thread.
Number 9, add in Pegasus riders and hippogryph riders!
Sure! They'd work very well! My only worry is someone would want dragons, which would probably cause some issues.
If done right, 10 would be my vote. I've always loved fey, and would love to see a setting in which they play a more vital (sinister) role. Political intrigue is just a bonus.
I think if it wins, we could make sure it works right. The fey would definitely be around, and the politics could even extend into fey kingdoms, which could make things very interesting.
Thanks for the votes so far everyone!
While Dragons and giants could dominate on the lower continents for 9, I like 10. It's close enough to the core Pathfinder to not paint it's self in a corner.
I'm gonna vote 9; it's the one that catches my imagination and that I'd most like to spend time in, based on the initial idea. (It would also inspire the best artwork, IMHO).
(I also like GG's idea of the bigger nasties dominating on the lower, unpopulated continents; an occasional flyer might find it's way up, but mostly it would just be rumours and legends - and an epic level quest could explore 'down there').
Maybe influenced by the fact I had this poster on my wall in my late teens:
http://www.rodneymatthews.com/etherstream.htm
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If done right, 10 would be my vote. I've always loved fey, and would love to see a setting in which they play a more vital (sinister) role. Political intrigue is just a bonus.I think if it wins, we could make sure it works right. The fey would definitely be around, and the politics could even extend into fey kingdoms, which could make things very interesting.
I suppose the problem with "fey" is that everyone's got their own interpretation of what they're supposed to be. Personally, I prefer them to be weird and alien, like they were represented in Changeling: the Lost. They're not necessarily evil, just unable to empathize with mortals--indeed, they have difficulty understanding the finality of death and in some cases become morbidly fascinated with it. In any case, I think of fey as child-like (selfish, unable to admit their own failings, etc.). Their main motivation is their lust for life--more than anything else, they pursue new, ever fleeting desires. The worst, most horrible thing, in their opinion, is boredom. Hence, they're always chasing new experiences. The "Eldest" fey, then, might be really, really jaded--having seen and done most everything. Thus, their fascinations might run, well, quite dark, macabre even.
This might explain why gnomes are described as obsessive--it would be a trait they inherited from their fey ancestors. Similarly, the bleaching would make all the more sense, given the above.
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I really liked the interpretation of Fey from the book, Van Ritchten's Guide to the Shadow Fey, a supplement from the 3.0 splat book done for Ravenloft. I really can't recommend it enough, if only for the flavor. Statistics need updated, mind you, but the lore is refreshingly creepy.
I'll make sure to take a look, Da'ath. Ravenloft's pretty cool--I especially like the ambiguity of the setting. What exactly are the Dark Powers? Why do they reward wickedness whilst simultaneously punishing it?
I'll make sure to take a look, Da'ath. Ravenloft's pretty cool--I especially like the ambiguity of the setting. What exactly are the Dark Powers? Why do they reward wickedness whilst simultaneously punishing it?
It may be just the thing your wanting; I love Ravenloft, used to run it and Dark Sun back in the 2e days. I got really lucky in finding the book - my wife picked it up dirt cheap in the bargain bin when one of the major bookstores in the area had going out of business sale.
Yeah, I've found the gothic feel definitely generated a lot different response from my players than the standard high fantasy (which I normally run these days). The gradual corruption potential and the Dark Powers watching and judging one's behavior were definitely seen as boosting the creep factor.
A sidetrack, but slightly amusing: I didn't realize how much of an impact the setting had on me until I was assigning names to nations in my homebrew setting. Roughly 5 of them were unintentionally named after some of the Domains, so I had to go back and do a bit of renaming, ha!
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The vote so far is:
#01 - Three votes
#02 - Two votes
#04 - One vote
#08 - One vote
#09 - Three votes
#10 - Two votes
While Dragons and giants could dominate on the lower continents for 9, I like 10. It's close enough to the core Pathfinder to not paint it's self in a corner.
Very cool idea for 9! *nods* I'm not sure the others will, but we'll see. So far 1 and 9 are tied, though it really wouldn't take much to tip things a different way.
I suppose the problem with "fey" is that everyone's got their own interpretation of what they're supposed to be. Personally, I prefer them to be weird and alien, like they were represented in Changeling: the Lost. They're not necessarily evil, just unable to empathize with mortals--indeed, they have difficulty understanding the finality of death and in some cases become morbidly fascinated with it. In any case, I think of fey as child-like (selfish, unable to admit their own failings, etc.). Their main motivation is their lust for life--more than anything else, they pursue new, ever fleeting desires. The worst, most horrible thing, in their opinion, is boredom. Hence, they're always chasing new experiences. The "Eldest" fey, then, might be really, really jaded--having seen and done most everything. Thus, their fascinations might run, well, quite dark, macabre even.
This might explain why gnomes are described as obsessive--it would be a trait they inherited from their fey ancestors. Similarly, the bleaching would make all the more sense, given the above.
*nods* Fey can easily have blue and orange morality. The older ones might understand mortals better from being around so long, but they also might not care. It'd be like wolves discussing the morality of killing something to eat it; they may make interesting arguments, but at the end of the day there's still meat for dinner.
A snapshot of Kysla (9)?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIjJiYeMmuI/TjWZRlNQsWI/AAAAAAAAB-g/0hKTgobNRsQ/s 1600/various%2B063.jpg
:-D
A snapshot of Kysla (9)?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIjJiYeMmuI/TjWZRlNQsWI/AAAAAAAAB-g/0hKTgobNRsQ/s 1600/various%2B063.jpg
:-D
Very possibly, or something like this or this.
With Cr500cricket, the vote so far is:
#01 - Three votes
#02 - Two votes
#04 - One vote
#08 - Two votes
#09 - Three votes
#10 - Two votes
So far it's a tie between 1 and 9, but a single vote could change all that. In the meantime, 2, 8, and 10 are only one vote shy of matching them and two away from the lead!
#8
Hmmm... 1, 7, and 8 sound fun.
Seven would be my clear choice... but since I would be alone in voting for it I am not going to waste my vote. That leaves 1 and 8. I would get bored in 1 if done wrong so my only safe vote HAS to be for 8.
I vote for 8.
#8 is my vote
Hmmm... 1, 7, and 8 sound fun.
Seven would be my clear choice... but since I would be alone in voting for it I am not going to waste my vote. That leaves 1 and 8. I would get bored in 1 if done wrong so my only safe vote HAS to be for 8.I vote for 8.
I tried to make all of them sound fun or interesting, though it seems I did a better job with some than others.
Actually I'd like to change my vote to 9
Consider it changed.
The current tally now stands:
#01 - Three votes
#02 - Two votes
#04 - One vote
#08 - Three votes
#09 - Four votes
#10 - Three votes
Tomorrow will be the last day of voting for this part. If there are no new votes before 12 am EST today, however, I'll start the next round of voting tomorrow instead.
Can we vote for a combined scenario, ie a combination of x and y, for example as it's own category?
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Can we vote for a combined scenario, ie a combination of x and y, for example as it's own category?
I don't see why not. I know a couple people here were torn between scenarios (like 8 and 9). Though some probably work together better than others, I don't think any of them are mutually exclusive. I know GypsyMischief voted for 1 with a bit of 9. If other people here like this approach, I can let this stage run a few more days until people stop voting and/or creating. Folks here are very creative, and there have already been some interesting suggestions.
Yeah, as far as combos go, mine would have been 1&9. The reason for 9 is due to 1 - a sort of fragmented world kinda thing.
Edit: LazarX just reminded me with his post - 1 and 9, but without magi tech. I dislike magi tech, lol
10 can be on a floating continent. It's like where the nominee picks a runner up as their running mate.
My vote is tied between Deadlands and Skyrim, I mean Mavor and Har Ver, that is 1 and 3.
In my experience tragedy, hardship, and mystery help develop good characters, which #1 will have lots of. And if you can't make a good game taking heavy inspiration from Skyrim then you just aren't trying.
I like the new suggestions; while 9 remains my primary preference, I'd be very happy for 10 to be one of the continents floating on 9.
9 reminds me of Arianus, the air world from the Death Gate Cycle novels where you have four realms divided racially by altitude. A land of high magic floats very far above the clouds where everyone wields magic. Below that are the cultured elven isles coating amid the upper cloud layer where they explore the world via scientific airships and sextant. The next layer is the human layer with kingdoms and drake riders where agriculture rules supreme since this is where almost all the food is grown under the rain that falls from the clouds above. And deep below that lay the maelstrom of continuous storms Jupiter style where the heavy isles lurk in the depths laden with heavy metals and stone and the great machine of the dwarven labor unions.
3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 seem to be historical earth lands filled with their regional myths.
1 sounds like Dark Sun
8 sounds like Eberron
7 is Pirates of the Carribean
2 is Princess Mononoke
I guess if combining them 9 and 7 combine beautifully and might be super fun. It could even be joined with 8 for the more cultured/advanced areas or any of the mythic historical lands for varied island cultures. 1 might be hard to combine because why would world distruction have only visited one area?
10 can be on a floating continent. It's like where the nominee picks a runner up as their running mate.
I had thought once I allowed the "and" option that what might go on is folks saying something like what they have been, which is basically "Setting X is extremely cool visually, Setting Y is cool thematically, and Setting Z makes a perfect background".
9 reminds me of Arianus, the air world from the Death Gate Cycle novels where you have four realms divided racially by altitude. A land of high magic floats very far above the clouds where everyone wields magic. Below that are the cultured elven isles coating amid the upper cloud layer where they explore the world via scientific airships and sextant. The next layer is the human layer with kingdoms and drake riders where agriculture rules supreme since this is where almost all the food is grown under the rain that falls from the clouds above. And deep below that lay the maelstrom of continuous storms Jupiter style where the heavy isles lurk in the depths laden with heavy metals and stone and the great machine of the dwarven labor unions.
3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 seem to be historical earth lands filled with their regional myths.
1 sounds like Dark Sun
8 sounds like Eberron
7 is Pirates of the Carribean
2 is Princess Mononoke
I guess if combining them 9 and 7 combine beautifully and might be super fun. It could even be joined with 8 for the more cultured/advanced areas or any of the mythic historical lands for varied island cultures. 1 might be hard to combine because why would world distruction have only visited one area?
While I see where you're coming from, when I originally thought these up, there were somewhat different origins:
1 came from the old world-creation voting threat because it was runner-up there and a lot of folks seemed to liked the idea, so I included it here. I didn't
2 I saw as more akin to the inner planes in World of Warcraft. I've long been interested in a sort of "primordial Prime".
3 - 7 are all based on different cultures and settings, and probably could be on the same world, but generally they have their origins from Abier-Toril or settings like Olympus, Excalibur, and Midgard.
3 is obviously Norse but could be like Midgard and have eastern European and Russian added. I could also see areas of it being stone age or ice age.
4 is where I saw Native Americans getting a chance to shine (but not quite Maztica since it would include more than just the Mesoamerican nations - I mention a river for a reason).
5 is based on Kara-Tur (though I was largely thinking more like Journey to the West).
6 is Greek (or Greco-Roman, based partly on Olympus). Hellenistic-based settings tend to be rare.
7 is a bit about Pirates of the Caribbean but it is also partially based on Zakhara. I didn't want the whole thing to be focused on the desert, but did want some of the more on Persian and African aspects to shine. I wouldn't have been opposed to some of the regions ending up like Egypt or Mesopotamia - or even Mesoamerica. Naturally, India could also be included (since it tends to overlap between Middle East and Asia). There could also be places based on Oceania.
8 is based partly on Eberron, but I was hoping to hint at some Lovecraftian elements as well. Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, and so on - the full gamut of scientific potential and peril (mixed with magic!), possibly even including places like Skull Island.
9 I based on both Pern and a cartoon called Storm Hawks. It's been another long-term idea of mine to have a world of flying islands. It's not necessarily a world that was caused by a catastrophe, but it easily could be.
10 Is more like the Pathfinder standard with some emphasis on the fey aspects. Folks sometimes forget that fairy tales aren't those things you see in Disney movies. I could see it including some of the Celtic (particularly Irish) and Arthurian flavors if folks wanted.
I wasn't sure about how Australia might fit - though it sadly tends to get left out of these things. Frankly, I could easily see koalas, bilbies, and frilled lizards (among other creatures) as familiars in that sort of setting - even if it would mean coming up with stats for every animal.
Sorry for the double-post, but the other one seemed a bit long to include the voting info as well.
The voting currently stands as:
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Aeris Fallstar 1
relativemass 1 + 3
N. Jolly 1 + 8
Da'ath; GypsyMischief 1 + 9
Courrain, Abrir 2
Dustin Ashe 4
KillaBot, Air0r 8
Amatsucan_the_First, LazarX 9
Green Smashomancer 9 (but would likely want to see bits of 8 as well)
Aranna 9 + 7 (with bits or 8)
sgriobhadair; Cr500cricket 9 + 10
Katydid 9 + 10 with some of 8 and 1
Detect Magic, Goth Guru, lucky7 10
Please let me know if I missed anything.
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#1 has five direct votes. Suggested combinations include #3, #8, and #9
#2 has two votes
#4 has one vote
#8 has two direct votes
#9 has six direct votes. Suggested combos include #8 and #10 with a hint of #1
#10 has three direct votes
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I plan on ending this round at midnight tonight unless something spectacular happens. For the most part it seems like folks like #9 and #1 (both of them seem to have visual and thematic appeal). It could be that the composite whole will run thus:
There are, however, also ruins of ancient times from before the cataclysm. Some ruins lay on desolate islands while others are on fey-forest choked lands. A few lay where mortals can investigate them and try to harness their secrets - at their own peril.
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Notes:
There may be the occasional dragon as well, but these are likely the nuclear option (dragons being hard to control). It'd take a pretty prosperous or powerful kingdom to get one on its side (though it might be easier with feral dragons).
Others of the scenarios (#3 through #7) could exist on different parts of the world and give a more regional flavor.
If the world was blasted by some magical cataclysm, there could be areas of wild magic and there might be spellstorms. How the deities (if any) fit in could be another point of interest (particularly if instead of an arcane war it was a divine one - though the two aren't mutually exclusive).
Also there may or may not be airships of various sorts (the more agile of which might get into dogfights with the natural fliers). At the very least there is some way for merchants to travel from place to place with goods that doesn't involve a heard of flying horses (though brooms or, more likely, carpets could be an option).
Probably the most common piece of magitech will be the flying machines - which could have a steampunky feel. Other bits are likely gathered from various ruins and may not work properly any more (some may not work at all while others function in dangerous or deadly ways for which they may or may not have been intended). If fey are interested in the macabre they might deliberately find these devices only to gift them to mortals and watch what happens.
Of course, that's not the only possibility and I welcome others.
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#9 has got my imagination going quite well, on a number of areas.
I envision some kind of magical ore or mineral; let's call it kyslite. Large masses of kyslite repel each other, so a continent which contains a lot of kyslite in its rocks would be repelled from the core of the planet, and settle at an altitude where the repulsion of the kyslite is in equilibrium with the attraction of gravity. This same repulsion would prevent continents from drifting into each other.
The kyslite could be mined and used as a source of buoyancy for some flying machines (although others would be directly levitated by magic, and some carried by a group of flying creatures in harnesses). There may be an older continent that was over-mined and started to sink, being abandoned by those who could, leaving the rest to fend off the nightmares they discovered down in the lower clouds.
It's the 'field' surrounding the kyslite that creates dense clouds and mist, so that each large continent is always surrounded and sits upon hundreds of miles of cloud.
With similar logic, a large continent would likely have one or more satellites, at most big enough to only hold a nation or two, orbiting the main continent at a more-or-less fixed distance, probably a few hours' flying by suitable methods from the nearest 'shore'.
The drift of the main continents relative to each other would be predictable; so we might expect our main continent to see a couple of others over the space of a year, remaining within reach of flying animals for a few days at a time. Academics who studied and predicted exactly what landmass would be within reach when, would be in high esteem. Occasionally an unknown landmass (or one that is only seen every so-many-years) would show up.
It might be that a large mass of rock buds off from the planet's molten core and rises relatively quickly through the clouds to take up a high altitude as a new island or continent; but over hundreds of millennia the kyslite decays, so younger continents are higher up, and gradually sink over expanses of time. Ancient creatures like dragons dwell on the oldest continents that have sunken into the clouds (but the odd one might appear in the upper lands, flown up from the depths).
The largest continents will probably have some lakes or even seas on their surfaces, although full-scale ships are probably quite rare.
Yeah I wouldn't make any of the sky islands TOO big if you are using the Kyslite idea. Because if Kyslite repels Kyslite then it wouldn't be likely for vast deposits of the stuff to stay together. And over time earthquakes would rip apart the younger bigger land masses as the Kyslite tries to get away from itself. And since this stuff can levitate massive amounts of weight it wouldn't be hard to imagine a huge quake ripping a continent in half as that force finally breaks apart it's rocky prison. It would also make mining it very very dangerous not just for the miners but the whole island.
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@ sgriobhadair - What if the mist you've mentioned could be used as a fuel source for engines? Very steampunk.
Could easily combine setting #9 with setting #8 and create all manner of steam-driven "magitech".
A combination of 1, 8, and 9 could work very well. Some sort of planar convergence tore the Material plane apart; when the leylines finally settled, you get this misty, sky-wrought realm; the "survivors" begin to explore the shattered remnants of their world, piecing together the technology they need to do so. Hell, you can even throw some of setting #2 into the mix and say some of these floating continents are more primordial than the others (perhaps those closest to the planet's core, as sgriobhadair suggested could be home to the ancient, deadly monsters--like dragons). Definitely an attractive setting.
I agree with Detect Magic. It being a combination of 8 & 9 created in the past by 1. You know you could swap 1 out for 2 as well and have this world exist as a sort of primordial proto-material plane at the edge of the plane of air. But 1 is more popular by far. So I guess we are going with 9 and 1? Hopefully 8 will be well represented.
Some more thoughts behind how 'Kyslite' might work...** spoiler omitted **...
OK, I confess ... I read all of that three times, and I still don't really get it :-/
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Some more thoughts behind how 'Kyslite' might work...** spoiler omitted **...OK, I confess ... I read all of that three times, and I still don't really get it :-/
I think what Katydid is getting at is that the various islands rise and fall gradually over time, but keep an average altitude thanks to a compound formed of kyslite and some other mineral. These are both located in all soil to some degree, but they also go into water so that each floating island also has a floating ocean around its edges. Eventually evaporation happens, breaking down the compound, recharging kyslite and redepositing both so the cycle starts over.
Both the kyslite and mineral x are needed to keep the islands from sinking. Mining deposits of either one removes it from the natural process and thus can cause bad things to happen (the most obvious of which is the island permanently getting lower).
The overall idea seems to be that while kyslite might repel, it's not strong enough to tear the islands apart bit by bit (which may be due in part to the second mineral).
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I think it's also safe to say that #9 won but that #1 will be used to explain how #9 came about (possibly with shades of #2 as Detect Magic suggested if the cause is a planar catastrophe). #8 should probably exist to some degree (at the least there's going to be some attempts at airships). This is not mutually exclusive with other bits since each of the floating islands (or close cluster of such) is likely to have its own culture and may have a different climate depending on location.
How prevalent might portals be? As in, gateways that link various landmasses together and act as permanent teleportation circles? Could/would they exist, or is travel done entirely via airship?