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This thread is probably half recruitment/half interest b/c the viability of the recruitment will depend on interest in certain aspects.
I'm interested in doing a fairly casually paced (about 4 substantial posts per week -- i.e., not "I open the door", "Thenn follows," etc., but rp and detail, like a decent short paragraph,") to flesh out a homebrewed setting I've been working on versions of off and on for a few years.
The game would be more about rp and doing stuff like describing interactions around the campfire etc. than a focus strictly on combat (though there would be combat). I'd want interested players to be comfortable with a setting/style where there will be a lot of scene setting and detail -- imagine something like playing a table top experience like a Malazan Book of the Fallen novel. This would include elements like conlangs with complete grammars, comments on hairstyles, clothing fashion, architectural features, mythology etc. I'd be interested in players contributing their own fluff like making up gods they worship, or their mage guild etc. Maybe develop cities or kingdoms connected with their character, flesh out the culture of their race. I'd like players to actively help me flesh out details of the setting -- coming up with unique monsters, historical events, locations etc. as they flesh out their character.
Looking for 6-8 players (really probably 6, but it depends what kind of submissions are received). Probably no more than mid level.
Caveat -- I'm not really interested in the part of recruitment where the prospective DM has to answer dozens of rules interaction questions/clarifications over several weeks. I'm looking for a situation where I can just offer some basic fluff parameters (what kind of elves and magic exist in the world), and the interested players will just come up with the build rules between themselves and negotiate questions/concerns, or just have one person appointed to do that for me, and I'll answer fluff questions. I'm open to anything basically PF1e or very close like FFd20 or something similar. I'm not going to learn PF2e, 5e, or some other system like 13th Age or Fate for this -- I just don't have time or energy. I also like some specific elements in PF1e like psionics, akasha, spheres, etc. that I already have ideas for in my fluff. 3pp. and homebrew are options.
So, if you have some specific build in mind that fits my fluff, propose some rules and this may be your chance to play something unusual you've been thinking about.
Additionally, a lot of this game is going to be focused on 'map porn'; I'm going to be using the Astral and Foundry VTTs to post enormous maps. I have hex maps with millions of hexes and thousands of cities, city maps with hundreds of thousands of buildings, full color area maps and isometric maps, etc. This is a lot of work to put together and post, and I'm looking for an appreciative audience that is really into that sort of thing. If you're the kind of player that just wants a white screen with some x's drawn in for basic placement for a battlemap, this game isn't for you; if you think that all sounds unnecessary, excessive, or ridiculous, and are going to constantly be annoyed by 30,000x30,000 pixel maps with thousands of cities and buildings, please don't apply, you won't like this, and I'll be frustrated putting lots of effort into game aids that no one appreciates.
That said, here's the basic outline for the setting -- Tzarilon: The Age of Hematite is a dark fantasy medieval setting inspired by Dark Sun, but doesn't have the bronze age/ANE cultural element or some of the climactic features -- normal oceans, for example.
The planet has over 100 ages named after different metals, and probably hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years of history -- it certainly goes very far back. The most significant known historical concepts are that the planet was once ruled by a world-wide empire of dragons, the provinces of which, not all geographically contiguous, were connected by magical portals known as Dragon doors or Wyrm gates. This civilization was known, among other names, as the 'Empire of the Dragons' Dreaming'. Its ultimate rulers were unimaginably ancient advanced dragons whose slumber connected them to the dream realm of their draconic gods. The mediators/representatives of these dreaming dragons were the primary priests/oracles/religious officials of their civilization.
The downfall of this realm occurred because of two servitor races of the dragons -- the elves and the kobolds -- which were created by the different great houses of the draconic civilization. The elf-dragons and kobold-dragons (i.e., ascended elves and kobolds that had a draconic, mixed, and completely mortal form) each took different stances in relation to their masters -- the elven dragon blooded wished to replace their makers and become the new representatives of the dragon gods, while the kobolds instead wanted to uplift their race to join their masters. The two forces began a civil war that consumed the realm of their masters and caused the civilization of the Empire of the Dragons' Dreaming to collapse. This left the geographically isolated provinces of the empire disconnected for several millennia. Different regions were ruled by dragon-elf or dragon-kobold remnants of the ancient empire of the dragons, and the original wyrms fled to the realm of dreams, fell into a deep slumber in subterranean tombs, or were slain in the civil war.
In the wake of this collapse, one region, known as Ba'al-Chemosh, saw the rise of a new race known as humans, who resented their oppression by the older civilizations of the elves and kobolds. Several renegade druids contacted ancient chthonic entities that predated the civilization of the dragons, who offered them the powers of blight magic to overthrow their enemies. These dark druids/anti-druids, known as 'the Chosen', trained their fellows and began a genocidal campaign against the older civilizations of the elves and kobolds, who eventually put aside their differences to cast back the waves of undead and servitor races which were overwhelming their cities and armies.
The humans were faced with practical extinction from the resurgence of the elves and kobolds, but the chosen were offered an opportunity by their mysterious patrons to sacrifice the lives of most of their fellows to achieve a new, greater form that could turn the tide of battle -- that of the 'draugothim' or 'draugothaur', the blight dragons, or false dragons (these are basically the alien dragons of the Iron Kingdoms and Dark Sun that pollute their environment and require life energy sacrifice). The newly created 'Dreadlords' sacrificed most of humanity to achieve their new forms, and then proceeded to devastate their continent and declare victory and a new regime. They also imprisoned their antediluvian patrons when these entities, realizing their error in offering so great of power to the Chosen, attempted to dispose their creations. The new empire of the Dreadlords, administered largely by the few remaining humans who serve as warlocks/dark energy channelers of the blight dragons' caustic miasma, now seeks to replace the former Empire of the Dragons' Dreaming by re-establishing the network of wyrm gates and conquering the various isolated territories.
I have a lot of additional fluff, but I'll leave it at that for now.
I'd imagine adapting some old dungeon magazine adventures.
The basic fluff/aesthetic and naming conventions of the setting is something like medieval/mughal India. The merging of Indian and European architecture in the recent Wheel of Time sets is a good example of what I'm thinking about.
The basic races include:
-Many subspecies of kobolds derived from different dragon species.
-Many subspecies of elves -- there are no 'baseline' elves, but rather distinctive subraces descended from different dragon species -- the groups I have so far are blind/albino elves created by dread or corpse-eater linnorms and red skinned psionic elves created by obsidian dragons.
-Humans are almost extinct -- the vast majority of the existing humans are warlocks of the Dreadlords. Half-breeds -- half-elves etc. are also mostly a lower class of servant to the Dreadlords -- such as members of their 'slave soldier' ghilman/mamluk/sardar armies; these are akasha-wielding warriors who are the main force of the Dreadlords' armies.
-Various reptilian races, who are the oldest species on the planet, descended from civilizations that preceded that of the dragons.
-Half-dragons of various sorts. A distinctive element of this setting is that there are few real dragons that are present/awake, but lots of half-dragon monsters and races that reflect their previous influence. Half-black dragon otyugh, for example.
-Elemental species like oreads or earth-dwarves etc. The planar alignment of this setting is such that there are dozens of elemental and transitive planes, but less connection to the outer planes. Instead of an arch-devil, it would be more likely to find worshippers of evil princes of elemental fire.
-Some of the gods that are present are the Egyptian and Mesopotamian pantheons, but none of the gods from Greyhawk, FR, or Golarion. You can make up replacements, but I don't want Sarenrae, for example, to be stuck into this setting.
Some class considerations:
-Most arcane magic is of a spontaneous/sorcerer-like quality, and consists of having dragon-blood. There are few arcane casters among races other than kobolds, elves, and humans/half-humans who are warlocks or akasha-users of the various dreadlords.
-Other kinds of casters are primarily technomages/tinkerers and alchemists/golem-makers of various sorts. For tech level, think of an industrialized mughal empire with magical technology run by dragon-ash/gun-powder.
-Elemental/energy-channeling concepts for different classes are all at the forefront of options.
I'm looking for really detailed, well-written back stories that prove an ability to contribute substantively to world-building and setting-fluff.
Sure, it sounds like fun. I'm thinking maybe a Kobold would be fun to play. Maybe something waring steam driven armour in the shape of a dragon. Because if you wanna be a dragon, but can't, then make yourself a dragon to pilot. I'd wanna use the Spheres Technician with the Mech Pilot archetype or maybe do something with the Aegis if Mechadragon Rises isn't viable in the setting.
I'd propose something a little lower level, so we can't just flash across the map and instead need to use public transport, explore a little. Not level 1, because...pain. But not high enough to teleport over the map either.
Gestalt or other bonuses is fine, but I don't think it's needed for this campaign, from the sound of it, and my character could be built monoclass (but I'd still like to add more stuff, because it's fun).
For the magitech element of the setting, I'm thinking of something like ancient aliens inspired by vimana, as well as early gun powder like Mongol fire-lances.
I'll tentatively declare interest. I've been wanting a creative outlet for a while now so this might work. My knee-jerk reaction is to reuse an old character but I don't think that will work here. I have some ideas but unfortunately I don't know most of the stuff you're pulling from for inspiration. I never played Dark Sun and don't know what the Mughal Empire is. Never learned about the Mesopotamian gods and what I know of the Egyptian ones mostly comes from things like Age of Mythology. Plus this a lot of high level history and events. Nothing small scale and I can cling to.
Still I do have a few ideas. I was thinking some kind of divine druid called by the weakened god or spirit of the earth to either heal the world or burn away the corruption. Maybe both. Duel aspect.
Another is an undead necromancer plagued by the restless, angry souls sacrificed for the ascension of the Chosen or annihilated by the resurgence of the elves and kobolds.
Then again I always wanted to play the Spheres of Might Blacksmith. A simple man with simple ideals. Breaks some things and fixes others.
Hmmm, both groups do have dragons, so it should be doable.
I'll tentatively declare interest. I've been wanting a creative outlet for a while now so this might work. My knee-jerk reaction is to reuse an old character but I don't think that will work here. I have some ideas but unfortunately I don't know most of the stuff you're pulling from for inspiration. I never played Dark Sun and don't know what the Mughal Empire is. Never learned about the Mesopotamian gods and what I know of the Egyptian ones mostly comes from things like Age of Mythology. Plus this a lot of high level history and events. Nothing small scale and I can cling to.
Still I do have a few ideas. I was thinking some kind of divine druid called by the weakened god or spirit of the earth to either heal the world or burn away the corruption. Maybe both. Duel aspect.
Another is an undead necromancer plagued by the restless, angry souls sacrificed for the ascension of the Chosen or annihilated by the resurgence of the elves and kobolds.
Then again I always wanted to play the Spheres of Might Blacksmith. A simple man with simple ideals. Breaks some things and fixes others.
The mughals were a central asian steppe culture of horse archers who invaded India and established a long-lasting regime that existed up until British rule. I have graduate degrees in ANE languages and civilizations (I studied biblical hebrew for over a decade and I've taught the language at the university level) -- that will definitely come out in some of my world building in terms of inspiration and approach. I'd be happy to expand upon some individual city-states or smaller areas if that would be helpful -- I was trying to give a broad overview and I have a sufficient amount of stuff thought up about this world that I can't put it all in a recruitment post.
It might help to give a little more detail about how I imagine this campaign going -- apparently, the Malazan Book of the Fallen was actually a GURPS campaign at some point, and the siege of Capustan in Memories of Ice was actually something that got played out in some form at a table. Dennis L Mckiernan played some sort of table top in the Midgard setting, and the MAR Barker ran games in Tekumel -- I'm imagining that kind of a vibe -- trying to create a thick description in the game play thread that could conceivably be the initial draft or working notes for an epic published series of some kind.
I'm looking for a very specific kind of over-writing -- probably players who are otherwise perpetual DMs that want to play but also worldbuild, or individuals who do a lot of worldbuilding, creative writing, or fan fic work -- someone who writes million word Dragon Age fan fics as a hobby (multiple ones exist). I'm the kind of person who wrote 100 page term papers in grad school -- I really layer it on when I layer it on.
I might not be the kind of person you are looking for then. I'm more of an over-thinker. While I have lots of ideas I rarely put them down because I don't like it or it doesn't make since or I thought of something better later. Despite all that I still want to give it a shot. If I can't meet expectations I'll bow out. You've given me some inspiration and I want to see where it goes.
Expanding on the first idea I was thinking of a female, half-elf, Incanter from Spheres of Power with a focus on Nature and possibly Destruction, specifically fire. Forest fires and regrowth. Either living in the lands of the Dreadlords or fled from them. Depends on where it starts. I was imagining the realm of the Dreadlords as being a post-apocalyptic kludge of medieval and high magic. Industrialized farms tended by slaves treated as little more than shovels. She's forced to grow nothing but staple crops over and over yet in the little free time she has, grows things with a little more color. Flowers and shrubs that would be considered useless.
I have some elaborate maps of these areas I'll try to post over the weekend if there's enough interest to give you a better sense of the lay of the land -- there's essentially a wide strip of green, verdant territory that makes up the north eastern coast of the continent the Empire of Eboncar -- the Dominion of the Obsidian Compact/Realm of the Dreadlords -- occupies. The interior has several high mountain ranges and the western border runs up against an enormous plateau of red rock. I'll try to make a longer post to describe some of the geography and cultural zones.
Hmm. My initial thought would be to play as a Koldemar Kobold sorcerer/Cleric of Anubis gestalt. A wise, but foreboding kobold, likely blue-scaled, wearing a simple black robe and a powerful staff. He would either be stationed at a temple of Anubis or be a roaming death cleric, walking for days on the hot sands to protect a burial site or help usher souls to the underworld.
Hmm. My initial thought would be to play as a Koldemar Kobold sorcerer/Cleric of Anubis gestalt. A wise, but foreboding kobold, likely blue-scaled, wearing a simple black robe and a powerful staff. He would either be stationed at a temple of Anubis or be a roaming death cleric, walking for days on the hot sands to protect a burial site or help usher souls to the underworld.
I have a bunch of Rogue Genius stuff and I've never seen this supplement -- it's perfect for this setting!
I have some elaborate maps of these areas I'll try to post over the weekend if there's enough interest to give you a better sense of the lay of the land -- there's essentially a wide strip of green, verdant territory that makes up the north eastern coast of the continent the Empire of Eboncar -- the Dominion of the Obsidian Compact/Realm of the Dreadlords -- occupies. The interior has several high mountain ranges and the western border runs up against an enormous plateau of red rock. I'll try to make a longer post to describe some of the geography and cultural zones.
This place is sounding more and more like Preas from the web novel A Practical Guide to Evil. They even have Green Stretch. That helps give me a better image of the place.
That's an overview map of one of the main areas -- there are dozens of closer-up maps. The north east upper right hand corner is the Domain of the Dreadlords.
city map here's an example of the insanity I'm referring to with city maps -- this city has like 200,000+ individual buildings.
city map here's an example of the insanity I'm referring to with city maps -- this city has like 200,000+ individual buildings.
Whoa!! That's HUGE! If the setting gets more urban-based, I figure a kobold urban druid might be more fitting!!
I like the idea of a priest of Anubis -- I'm already imagining fleshing out the kobold veneration of this deity in a more reptilian/draconic guise -- like a black dragon with obsidian scales but the ears of a 'set animal'.
Here is an article speculating that the Sphinx was originally a statue of Anubis. I could see a sect of kobolds creating a more reptilian representation to fit this kobold ideal of The God of Death.
How do you feel about Occult casters in general? How about a 3ed party rewrite - Legendary Mediums
I could see a folk living outside the edges of the Empire of Eboncar, a fallen culture of survivors from the devastation of the Dreadlords. They have become tribalist nomads. But they have retained a tremendous amount of their culture, magic, lore and technology in their fall; this is due to a mystic tradition of contact with the dead... A major part of their current culture is a network of mediums (spiritdancers), who can call upon the souls of the fallen.
Racially, I'm not quite sure what they'd be, perhaps one of those elven subraces you mentioned, or Koldemar Kobolds.
I like all weird forms of magic, including occult casters, but also spheres, akasha, ether magic, etc.
What kinda society are you thinking of having? Are using any of the structures from India and Mongolia, like caste systems of gender roles?
My thinking is that, if there were castes, they might have been along racial lines - kobolds did x, elves did y, etc. Maybe even the different types had different roles. Castes aren't a thing, now, but there's still a certain social assumption that you'll follow those roles.
-The basic guidelines I would offer are:
-Lower level -- like 3-8.
-I'm fine with gestalt if that's attractive or some variation (free VMC, free archetype, limited gestalt -- like only U rogue, Fighter for extra feats or skill points).
-I'm fine with basically any PF1e, including 3rd party or stuff like FFd20; if FFd20 gets included, I think we have to buff the base classes with extra class features, because otherwise the power disparity is too great. I'm okay with spheres, akasha, psionics etc.
-The reason I'm putting a caveat about answering tons of build questions is I don't build characters with these 3rd party systems and I really only understand how the game works from the perspective of using monster stat blocks and running the game.
I almost never play as a character, and I have no idea how a random maneuver from PoW interacts with a given Spheres feature, etc. -- those kinds of questions, I would have to google and read the available forum threads on and try to understand the issue. I don't really enjoy that, and I'm not interested in spending tons of time doing it -- sometimes I see recruitment threads devolve into hundreds of posts about these kinds of issues, I'm happy to allow 3pp., but I don't want to have an endless discussion about mechanics that I only understand on a high conceptual level -- I understand that akasha uses soul force to create items and is bonded to different chakras. I'd have to sit down and reread all the rules to make a character using any of those classes.
I know part of the subgame of 3x is making characters -- I personally don't enjoy it; what I like about rpgs is reading lore and making game aids and thinking about alternative rules, but not actually building with them or exploring stacking interactions. I don't participate on the FAQ forums because I don't enjoy them -- I want to run a games, not have long theorycrafting discussions about the minutiae of mechanics. I don't have the system mastery to participate easily, and it's not interesting to me. I just want everyone to make a character and use their own judgment to resolve stuff.
-I also genuinely enjoy a lot of creative homebrew -- there's some fascinating stuff that's been put together on the min max boards, the multiclass archetype database, and gitp forums that's, in my opinion, every bit as good as published stuff, and some of it is just tremendously creative.
I know a lot of DMs want to check sheets and micromanage this kind of stuff -- but I don't check sheets on submission; I just make sure everyone has about the same AC, BAB+, hit points etc. where they look broadly equivalent. I'm not adding up your points to make sure you didn't cheat somewhere.
-25 pt. buy seems acceptable most ideas unless there's something really wacky, in which case I'd be ok with a bit higher.
-I do milestone advancement and normal wealth or double wealth.
-I usually give max hp.
-I think giving all classes an additional +2 to skill points is reasonable.
-I think background skills and elephant in the playground feat tax rules are good house rules.
-For combat, I like playing where you can pick each round to use either the normal or unchained action economy, as I find the latter easier to understand and gives monsters more options.
-I usually make the monsters go in a block b/c it becomes too messy in PbP to have goblin ed, billy, ted, goblin, goblin, orc, goblin, sue, mary, fred, goblin goblin, dire wolf etc. as an initiative order
Also, for more insight into my style -- here's an example of a catchup post from a homebrew Dark Sun game I ran on these boards (this was one of my periodic 'story so far' posts that summarizes what's happened and who the major characters are)
The story thus far...
Hearken strange, my name is Slavathras of the Lands of the Dead, Silan Tilak of the elves who are the Makers of Thought, and Mind Shadow according to the Compact of the Company of the Broken Tablet…’
Thus have I heard...
In the early days of the Age of Heroes, the dolorous form of Destiny's Chariot came to wander amongst the interminable reaches of the Great Alluvial Sand Waste's most south-easterly reaches, an exceptionally barren corner of the Lands of the Seven Kingdoms on the Continent of Hargalor which dominates the southern hemisphere of this blasted world.
This fabled moving palace was once the luxurious summer domicile of Kalid-Ma, sorcerer queen of the vast, ancient, and terrible city of Kalidnay, it was rescued a millennia past, following the vast city's sudden destruction at the hands of Borys the Dragon Emperor of the Million Isles and his accomplices among the sorcerer kings of the other Seven City States of the Tablelands. Before the final assault, in which Borys massive army of undead minions breached the Citadel of Kalidnay, the palace of Destiny’s Chariot was rescued the agents of the city’s House Vordon before their hijra to the north, to seek the shelter of the Ringing Mountains.
Some stories of the time, if they can be believed, recount that the trader Ah Pteh-menes of House Vordon arranged to have Destiny’s Chariot borne on the swift currents of a mighty subterranean torrent which surfaced in the famed Subaqueous Bazaar of Kalidnay’s Trade District.
Whatever the truth of these, and other tales of the ancient world, the redoubtable merchant enclave, though given birth in the lost city of Kalidnay, was reborn in what would, in our latter days, become the Free City of Tyr. For many years, they served Kalak and his Templars, and were the scourge of the Free Men of the Ringing Mountains, who occupied villages near the ancient elemental shrines of the Rhulisti, including Amlitkayek of the Eternal Flame.
But just as they had been reborn in former times, so they faced ruin in these latter years, for the end of cruel Kalak's rule in Tyr brought the simultaneous abolishment of human bondage.
And thus Clan Ashtarte-Athirathu of House Vordon found itself impoverished, fallen from their recent majesty, and dispatched its favorite daughter, the Lady Almah, alongside her ever-dutiful major-domo Garavel, and my own humble person, to restore the forgotten trading post known variously as Kelmarane or Kell’Tamm-Hammath. This lost possession of House Vordon lay far off, in the vicinity of the Lost Oasis, and, with the reclamation of this prize, the fortunes of the beleaguered clan stood in the gaze of a fresh up-surging, like a desert fountain thought dried up by the weltering sun.
Destiny's Chariot wended amongst the dunes in a strange journey astride the ruins of its birthplace, when its grand progress was arrested by unexpected apparitions in the distance, portending an unexpected life still stirred within the devastated city state.
What more, the caravan was halted by the admonitions of Faalcuun the Magnificent, a former apprentice of the supposedly long-dead sorcerer-king Dregoth of Giustenal. This terrifying, decrepit t'liz, a horrible remnant of a half transformed dragon, restored to a pale semblance of life as an essence-drinking undead abomination, dispatched its herald Nalcaros of Ebe from the cyclopean pyramidal Green Age vessel known as the Pavilion of Mercy to stop the progress of House Vordon before the ruined city.
Lady Almah dispatched a delegation to parlay with Nalcaros, the herald of Faalcuun, and likewise an undead creature. He belonged to a forgotten race, the gnomes, and stood as a brutal testament to the violent age of the Cleansing Wars.
Nalcaros ushered our heroes into his master Faalcuun's presence within the heights of the t’liz’s throne within the Pavilion of Mercy, where Dregoth's former apprentice revealed deep mysteries to those gathered hastily before his awful personage.
For the ancient city of Kalidnay had been reawakened -- the black orbs containing the minds of the sleeping sorcerer-queen and her five greatest Templars had been reawakened, and with them the Great Orrery, a colossal black ring that hung in the heavens above the ruins, and offered an open gate to dark powers wishing to enter Athas.
What more, this unanticipated stirring of the ancient sorcerer-queen's hateful spirit had drawn emissaries of the other sorcerer-kings of the Tablelands, who hoped now to secure the power for which they had felled their sister over a millennia ago -- the greater seed, an obsidian orb of great power which derived from a world accessible only through the portal of the Great Orrery.
And so it was that the Shadow King Nibenay, Hamanu, the Lion of Urik, and the Dread King Dregoth had all sent their most trust worthy servants to wretch power from the ruins.
And they should shortly descend upon the once sleeping city...
In addition, Faalcuun revealed to our heroes that the source of the greater seed, the Great Orrery, and other obsidian wonders of the Green Age was not, as they supposed, the halflings or the other powers of the age, but a species of ancient malevolent entities who wandered the stars, known only by the name of Stoneburners.
These entities, and their ancient rivals, the Glassmakers, were in fact responsible for all psionic, as well as many of the most potent magical arts of Serinbaal the Lands of Torment.
Strengthened by the fell powers of Faalcuun, channeled from the sun within the Pavilion of Mercy, our redoubtable heroes decided to attempt an ingress of the city, whereby they would quiet the minds of Kalid-Ma and her Templars stirring in the four Talons of the Mother, and the Great Temple of the Eternal Queen at the heart of the recently slumbering city. By disabling the pylons at each of these locations, the threat to the Lands of Torment and their inhabitants would be at least temporarily halted.
Based on the expert guidance of your trusty narrator, our heroes resolved to attempt an entrance to the ruins through the Riese, the name of the vast subterranean complex within the ancient diamond mines which tower above Kalidnay, and were once ruled by the implacable will of the High Templar Khnum-Khamunkephres.
However, upon arriving at the dead fire-mount, our valiant heroes found the complex not so abandoned as they might have expected -- and instead interrupted a gruesome sacrifice made by the servants a mysterious soul-trading fiend who now ruled the mines. This mysterious entity, known only as the Master of the Aerie, had apparently arrived recently from the City of Brass preaching the bloody gospel of Ymeri, Elemental Princess of Fire, and quickly converted the mutated remnants of Kalidnay’s population which inhabited the diamond mine, as well as the distorted psionic creatures which governed them, to the teachings of the Cult of the Auroric Inferno.
Helping the heroes was a small party from a distant world, deposited in Serinbaal by the Great Orrery, and led by a mysterious draconic sage known as Tlamtlistillit the Shadowborn. However, these new travelers vanished as quickly as they had arrived, spirited away by some power possessed of this mysterious spell wielder known as the Shadowborn.
However, their quick intervention allowed the emissaries of Almah to save several intended sacrifices -- including a halfling warrior and druid, and a noble elf maiden of the Serpent Sing tribe, one Amunet-Ra – from the greedy mouth’s of the Master’s Fire Drakes.
The intellect devourers, once the masters of the mines and the misshapen remnants of ancient Kalidnay’s people until the arrival of the Master, parlayed with our heroes. On behalf of the enigmatic Master, they sought an alliance against a mysterious threat -- the ‘serpent spiders’, a race of extra dimensional wanderers who had recently come to the dark places beneath Kalidnay, and vied with the devourer's own Master for control of the ruins of the ancient city-state. These serpent spiders had installed themselves in vast arcologies beneath the Rift of Baltoush, a deep ravine south of the ruins.
Among those saved from peril, the halflings revealed that they had joined an expedition from distant Raam betrayed by disguised dray -- apparently a new race of shape-changing draconic beings sworn to Dregoth of Giustenal. The dray were adherents of a terrible cult known as the Children of the Endless Gray that had infested Raam and other city states of the Tablelands. A society of skin-stealers, the cruel ritualists of the dray flensed one of the caravan guards in the sight of the other captives. These dray had then traded the captives to the morlocks, intellect devourers, and their mysterious Master who now ruled the mines in return for safe passage.
And so it was revealed that Dregoth's servants had already entered the ruins at the behest of their terrible master, but our heroes possessed no means of revealing the dray's arcane disguises.
At the urging of the rescued elven maiden, Amunet-Ra, our heroes made a short journey to a forward camp of the Serpent Singer tribe, which resided within a ruined temple. There, one of the leaders of the tribe, the Dreaderseer Anubisemonekeh, parlayed with our heroes, and agreed to exchange the desired knowledge of aura-reading, which might reveal the presence of the disguised dray, in exchange for their provision of ancient knowledge from the kreen tomb that lay astride the temple where were gathered the elves.
While meeting with the elves, a mysterious stranger, known as Cae, arrived on the scene, claiming to hail from Balic by the shores of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue. He sought, or so he said, to reunite with his departed mistress, Arsinoe of House Nicephorus of the city-state of Balic.
And thus our heroes resolved to enter the tomb of the ancient kreen, servants of the Red God Dargulin, an ancient allay of the corrupted pyreen Rajaat.
A fierce melee with flying abominations at the entrance of the tomb dispatched one of our redoubtable heroes, who had no time to mourn.
Our heroes were again assaulted by the forces of the serpent spiders -- a party of xulgath and their animal servants. After a fierce melee, the remaining xulgath druid Troodon began to reveal much of its new masters and their desires. The serpent spiders were a race of shape changers and dimension-skippers that hailed from a distant world which had also been visited by the power of the enigmatic Stoneburners who had taught Rajaat the defiling arts, and the abomination of nature bending to the ancient halflings. Their legacy on the far off world of the serpent singers had been adopted by a race of colorless dragons who had drawn upon its power to shape themselves and the other races of mortals in their own image. Chiefly, this power, as in Serinbaal, was channeled through obsidian orbs. However, the dragons’ corruption of fiends with their mutagenic abilities proved their undoing, and the resulting abominations, known as the dramojh, and driven their former masters from the Lands of the Glistening East before installing themselves as rules of all. The serpent spiders, known as the slassans, were created by these dramojh, the warping of great subterranean serpents with the mutagenic powers of the dragon’s Stoneburner artifacts. After the destruction of the dramojh at the hands of a crusade of giants, the slassans were freed to pursue their own destinies. They divided themselves among several Chromatic Societies, and drew upon the power of the phase heart, an ancient dramojh artifact, to travel to the world of Serinbaal to seek after the remnants of the tenebrian seeds, the black orbs of the Stoneburner’s power, on other worlds. And so they had arrived on Serinbaal in Kalidnay. The Yellow Chromatic Society of the Ochre dome had awakened an ancient Stoneburner within one of the obsidian orbs, and had quickly used their newfound powers to rise to the head of serpent spider society. The Azure and Vermilion Domes of, respectively, the Blue and Red Chromatic societies had decided to pursue a different, less warlike course in their explorations of the Lands of Torment.Venturing deeper into the tombs, our party encountered a group of agents from Nibenay seeking to punish smugglers from this region who had trespassed on their trade routes, but they quickly passed by…
Within deeper chambers of the tomb, within the resting place of Klaa’Trah-Yee the Keeper of the Keys, one of the Templars known as the Six Fingers of the Red God, the redoubtable servants of Almah combatted grievous tomb guardians, bathed in a residual living vortex of the kreen dark lord Dargulin, and then ascended a network of caverns above the tombs.
Here, they encountered the Soordogum Tribe of myceloids, who had succumbed to the power of Kchac'Thraa, an undead servant of Dargulin who had recently awakened. The wraith and its myceloid spokesperson Shraagroom the Sporulator convinced the party to enter an elemental grotto and dispose of a troublesome earth drake.
When they had arrived via a magical portal in the grotto, the party discovered that there were not one, but two drakes, and that they were companions of a mysterious druid from Yaramuke known as Itko. The representative of a clandestine criminal society that served the former serpentine lords of Yaramuke, he proposed to allay and dispose of the wraith. When their double-cross had been negotiated, the group was assaulted by an automaton servant of Kchac'Thraa.
The party returned to the great chamber of the myceloids and an intense melee ensued where the apprentices of the wraith were destroyed. Having dispatched the wraith’s immediate forces and sealed off the chamber from reinforcements, they then entered the Chamber of Convocation, where they discovered the myceloid shaman Shraagroom parlaying with the terrible Reapers, soul-stealing entities of the Gray. The party struck a deal with the caneloth, a hyena-headed monstrosity, and a renewed assault commenced that ended the reign of the wraith with its detonation of a powerful incendiary device which collapsed a vast portion of the tombs.
However, enough remained to allow the surviving heroes to rescue several elven artifacts from the myceloid chambers, and return them to Anubissemonekeh of the Serpent Singers in exchange for aura-reading abilities.
The collapsed mass of the kreen tombs, a great hole in the Iridescent Desert and the Rainbow Rise which divided the glittering sands of the former from the heat of Magsaphuron the Lake of Magma to the east, was quickly founded as a new settlement known as Cthasm. This strange admixture of myceloid, xulgath from the depths, white gnomes, human traders from New Kalid astride the ruins, and others from both the surface and subterranean worlds, had become the greatest nexus of peoples since the fabled days of Kalidnay’s Subaqueous Bazaar. Now, they all gather around the great pit known as the Doom Drop to seek their respective destinies…
The last week...
After the destruction of the Soordogum Tribe's cavernous lair by during the combined assault of the Compact of the Broken Tablet, their erstwhile ally Itko of Yaramuke, and the forces of the mysterious Reapers, the immense cavity created by Kchac'Thraa's detonation of a powerful explosive device was quickly repopulated, and the area -- now known as the 'Doom Drop -- has already transformed itself into a kind of makeshift city which the locals have taken to calling Cthasm.
Within the remains of the Soordogum tribal domain, the surviving myceloids have laid new sporulation beds, as well as constructed shrines to their new masters, the soul-thieving inhabitants of the Gray known as the Reapers. Within the myceloid domains, confined largely to the top tier of Cthasm, the arachnidians, the race of spider-like creatures that serve as the Reaper's warriors and beasts of burden, have become a frequent sight. It is said that several caneloths and oinodaemoiniae, as well as other Reaper castes, have also have spotted within the myceloid domains.
From the deeps of the earth, which, in the tortured planet, is now far more heavily populated than the surface world, several forces have converged on the new aperture to the lands of the sun, erecting their respective embassies beside the subterranean lake at the bottom of the Doom Drop, upon the site for the former lair of the wraith Kchac'Thraa .
First, an embassy of White Gnomes have arrived with several of their monstrous cavern worms. They have come to seek slaves, food, and mercenaries to assist them in a conflict with some terrible force deep within the earth...
Another party to have recently settled the shores of the Dead Lake are the xulgaths of the inner world. By their own account, these creatures hail from a hollow world within the planet, a verdant but deadly jungle paradise dominated by reptilian creatures. The xulgath arrived with a large entourage of dinosaurs, and one of the enterprising creatures has recently established a sort of menagerie to display lost varieties of the species to interested inhabitants of the Seven Cities.
From some lightless realm has also surfaced the mysterious obsidian-skinned elves know as the fulgrim or shograth. These ambassadors of what they refer to as the 'Shadow Kingdom' of their kind appear to nurture a special interest in establishing, or re-establishing, contacts with the elven tribes of the surface world, including the Serpent Singers of the Iridescent Desert.
Many other parties arrive, day by day, and the district on the shores of the Dead Lake has already been organized and surrounded by a palisade and defensive trench. This had proved a show of remarkable foresight, as the recently-completed fortifications were shortly tested by a hostile party of deep-dwelling dwarves known as druegar or dvenimpram and their earth elemental allies, who were driven back with difficulty by the combined forces of the xulgath, the white gnomes, the fulgrim, the xulgath, and other recent immigrants.
This establishment of new trade relations within the earth has been accompanied by similar developments above ground. The Serpent Singer tribe has established an embassy within a Kalidanayan ruin on the top ledge of Cthasm, set perilously by the shores of a torrentous waterfall.
From the south, the mysterious winged pterrans known as the kamistala'i and the speaking, thinking pangolins known as atodilophs, who likewise hail from a far region below the Deadlands, have appeared to seek their fortunes.
In the meanwhile, Rokan the Ascetic, psion of the Free City of Tyr, led the remainder of the Compact of the Broken Tablet to Destiny's Chariot, the remarkable mobile palace in which the Lady Almah of House Vordon had pursued her journey to an abandoned trade site in the most distant corner of the Great Alluvial Sand Waste.
Upon receiving their report, she encouraged the company to continue its adventures within the ruins of Kalidnay, seeking to end the threat which the Great Orrery posed to the rest of the Lands of Torment.
Several elven artifacts were retrieved from the myecloid chambers, and these permitted a successful parlay with the Dreadseer of the Serpent Singer Tribe, Anubisemoneke, who endowed the Compact of the Broken Tablet with the abilities of aura reading, so that they might, upon their next encounter, uncover the villainous presences of the shape-shifting spawn of Dregoth known as the dray.
The further adventures of the Compact of the Broken Tablet begin in the Plaza of Power, deep within the ruins of Kalidnay. This ancient parade ground stands before the immense fortifications of the Scarabhold, the former demesne of the High Templar Ahmun Ahnpur the Beastmaster. This powerful summoner and alchemist, one of the great Templars whose minds were imprisoned alongside that of their queen in the Orbs of Kalid-Ma, built this immense fortress on the shores of the Lake of Doom to surround the Gates of the Night, a set of three large portals to the subterranean caverns below the city, each surrounded by an immense mazework.
Recently, it appears that the fortress has been re-inhabited, as lights have been detected from the heights of the central keep.
The Compact of the Broken Tablet was directed by the Lady Almah of House Vordon to begin their explorations of the Kalidnay ruins within this site, since a troubling report had come to the noble lady's ears: a caravan of the winged pterrans known as the kamistala'i and the race of anthropomorphic pangolins know as atodilophs have been waylaid during their movement through the city, seeking to visit an unknown purveyor within the depths of the ruins. She charged Rokan and his companions to investigate the dispatch of the caravan, and, if possible, determine their current course and intentions. For the representative of both races had been extremely circumspect in their comments when they had visited Destiny's Chariot, and had declined to reveal the true nature of their visitation to the lands of the Seven Cities.
And so the Compact of the Broken tablet finds itself within the broad expanse of the Plaza of Power, within the uppermost reaches of the Acropolis of Kalidnay. They must uncover the truth behind the mysterious assault on the lost caravan, whose ruin now lies before them, as well as seek the Orb of Kalid-Ma and its attendant pylon which is doubtless contained within the Fortress of the High Templar Ahmun Ahnpur, the first stage of closing the gate of the Grand Orrery, whose rings still hang ominously over the ruins of the vast city...
Seb, I wouldn't mind handling the rules part of this recruitment, but it would need after we're done with the mythic game recruitment(or mostly done). However, I'm not entirely positive I'll end up playing. Gotta see if I get inspiration for an interesting enough concept, and if I have the time for long posts.
One thing I would like to suggest is that each PC gets a Draconic Bloodline regardless of their actual class. For non casters, they can use the spells as SLA 1/day.
This would reflect how pervasive dragons are in the general lore of the world, along with their role in the creation of several of the races.
Should this be acceptable, I'll work with each player to come up with specific spells that fit their draconic heritage, as opposed the generic ones the standard bloodline gets.
Another idea would be to ban most(all standard) casters, and possibly even all standard classes, to give the setting a more unique feel.
By standard, I mean basically core, with the exception of sorcerer since they seem built into the setting. APG, ACG, etc classes would probably be okay.
This is solely based on the feel of the setting I'm getting, where the more 'exotic, non standard' classes would fit better than the 'generic' ones.
That's fine with me -- I want to spend a lot longer on this recruitment writing elaborate background stories and pre-histories for the characters, as well as having people design mythologies and rituals for their religions, maps of their homes/shops, etc.
The world is basically split between those that have draconic blood of some sort and those who don't -- the latter part has several opponent factions that don't work together. One part are the primordial powers that ruled the world before the dragons, another are giants. However the Age of Dragons endowed many races, foremost the elves and kobolds, with dragon-blooded members. However, it is also possible to find members of other races with these bloodlines -- they're just not anywhere near as numerous as the main two. They'd be one in a million or even unique individuals in many cases, or a family in one or two cities.
Another thing I think would be fun if everyone felt really creative is if everyone made up their own homebrew class, or at least several players did. I'd offer the FFd20 classes as a model -- make them super dense with lots of features and really go wild.
What kinda society are you thinking of having? Are using any of the structures from India and Mongolia, like caste systems of gender roles?
My thinking is that, if there were castes, they might have been along racial lines - kobolds did x, elves did y, etc. Maybe even the different types had different roles. Castes aren't a thing, now, but there's still a certain social assumption that you'll follow those roles.
There is a kind of caste system, but it varies culture to culture. Within many of the elven and kobold subcultures, those with dragon blood of various kinds are the rulers. Within the Dreadlord realms, the humans are on top, then the half-humans, then elementals/genasi who worship the Dreadlords and the humans as their representatives, and then everyone else is in a separate, lower, caste.
In many societies, the oneiromancer (dream mages) are near the top of the social heirachy b/c they are associated with the powers of the slumbering dragon gods. They are opposed by sub-psychics (basically psionic shadow-magic), though in some cultures this is reversed -- though more have the oneiromancers on top.
A minority of cultures are shadow-focused and the shadow-oriented races and classes are on top of the social hierarchy.
There are also separate regions where, alternatively, red/purple hair, bubble gum skin, and purple eyed races with six fingers are on top of the social heirarchy -- this can include many races, including human, elven, orc, etc. examples with the same colorations and digits. Another set of cultures puts purple skin, clear/invisible hair, and lime green eyes w/ an additional third nipple and cleft chin, and prehensile on top -- again, multiple races have those features.
-There's like 8 of these kinds of groups I think I have notes on.
All of these schema have overlapping or hybird arrangements in different areas.
If it wouldn't make sense for some of the PCs to have a draconic bloodline, what about a fitting sorcerous bloodline in general? Again, seems like it fits the overall theme of the setting.
Making our own classes is very difficult, as it's not easy to hit a proper balance. I remember seeing a 3pp class on d20PFSRD awhile back that had pretty much all the main features of all the core marital classes.
What if you allow each PC to take one or more of the archetype packages for free? Ie, added to their normal class without giving anything up. You could also give the PCs a free archetype, but allow them to pick an archetype based on their theme. Ie, if you're building a ranged character(super simple concept) you can pick any ranged archetype, not just the one based on your class.
If it wouldn't make sense for some of the PCs to have a draconic bloodline, what about a fitting sorcerous bloodline in general? Again, seems like it fits the overall theme of the setting.
Making our own classes is very difficult, as it's not easy to hit a proper balance. I remember seeing a 3pp class on d20PFSRD awhile back that had pretty much all the main features of all the core marital classes.
What if you allow each PC to take one or more of the archetype packages for free? Ie, added to their normal class without giving anything up. You could also give the PCs a free archetype, but allow them to pick an archetype based on their theme. Ie, if you're building a ranged character(super simple concept) you can pick any ranged archetype, not just the one based on your class.
I like the idea of the sorcerer-bloodlines, though I'll probably make a sub-list of ones I think are appropriate
Which class is that on d20PFSRD. Is that the reaper?
Another idea I've toyed with is gestalt where you combine a base class with a multi-class archetype, making kind of an uber-hybrid.
I honestly don't remember which class it was. If the reaper you're thinking of is the one by Interjection Games, then no.
Multiclass archetypes could be very interesting. Especially if you combine that with one of my free archetype ideas above.
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Hey there, I've been following the thread and must first say that I likely don't make the cut...
I'm not a huge fan of maps and it all seems a little too daunting to me o.o
That being said... The creative side really appeals to me and being capable of creating a class... Well color me interested if tentatively.
Also... Take a look at this: Freelancer AKA Create your custom class for FFD20 I've been dabbling into FFD20 a lot these days so I can certainly put a character together...
Hey there, I've been following the thread and must first say that I likely don't make the cut...
I'm not a huge fan of maps and it all seems a little too daunting to me o.o
That being said... The creative side really appeals to me and being capable of creating a class... Well color me interested if tentatively.
Also... Take a look at this: Freelancer AKA Create your custom class for FFD20 I've been dabbling into FFD20 a lot these days so I can certainly put a character together...
I am familiar with the Freelancer, it's certainly one of the more interesting ideas in the FFd20 system.
I'm not telling you not to apply, but if you wanted to play, you'd have to go into it with the idea of adapting your expectations to my playstyle; I'm looking for a specific kind of play experience and appreciative audience that I'm trying to make clear in my description.
I'm copying the maps and images folder from a previous campaign into the spoiler below --if anything, I've only gotten onto a trend of making more elaborate play aids over time. It will be extremely similar, and I'll expect everyone to be looking at and digesting everything I post. You'll have to make an astral and foundry vtt account for some things. I'm not making alternative versions of things like white board battlemaps with x's or similar abbreviations.
Battlemaps:
Current Encounter Maps:
Plaza of Power: Sideview
Plaza of Power
Tarek Camp
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: Overview
Shraagroom's Sporulation Chamber -- Battlemap: Round 6
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: Shraagroom's Sporulation Chamber -- Battlemap: Round 4
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: Shraagroom's Sporulation Chamber -- Battlemap: Round 3
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: Shraagroom's Sporulation Chamber -- Battlemap
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: Shraagroom's Sporulation Chamber -- Plain View
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable: The Door to Doom -- Battlemap
pngs/pdfs of battlemaps
PNG of Map w/ Tokens
PNG of Map w/out Tokens
The Lair of Kchac'Thraa the Inimitable - The Door to Doom pdf
Current Encounter Maps:
Myceloid Cavern
Earth Drake Layer: Overview
Earth Drake Layer w/our Grid
Earth Drake Layer w/ Grid
The Ruins of Kalidnay
The Ruins of Kalidnay I: The Ceramic Desert and Outskirts of New Kalid
The Ruins of Kalidnay II: Elder Kalidnay and the Diamond Mines of Khnum-Khamunkhephres
The Ruins of Kalidnay III: The Iridescent Desert and Magma Lake
Setting Maps
The Free City of Tyr
The Ruins of Yaramuke
The City State of Raam
The World of Athas
World Map I
World Map II
World Map III
The Valley of Dust and Fire
The Tyr Region
The Tyr Region and the Valley of Dust and Fire
Some additional ideas from the 'Arena' discussion forums of Athas.org that I will be using for this fan-created expansion of the Dark Sun world map include ideas from the following threads:
And here are some ideas I will be incorporating in some fashion if Spelljamming ever comes up:
The Tablelands and Beyond
The Tablelands I
The Tablelands II
The Tablelands and Beyond I
The Tablelands and Beyond II
Giuestenal
The Ruins of Giustenal
New Giuestenal
Chapter One: The Howl of the Carrion King
The Ruins of Kalidnay Overview
The Riese: Levels 1-2
The Riese -- Side Perspective
The Scarab Hold: The Fortress of the High Templar Ahmun-Ahnpur -- Overview
The Scarab Hold: The Fortress of the High Templar Ahmun-Ahnpur -- The Spires of Apep: The Central Keep
Destiny's Chariot -- Overview
Destiny's Chariot -- Detail
Trading Post of Kelmarane I
Trading Post of Kelmarane II
Battle Market of Kelmarane -- Ground Level
Battle Market of Kelmarane -- Second Level
Temple of Elemental Earth of Kelmarane
Sulfuric Baths of Kelmarane -- Overview
Sulfuric Baths of Kelmarane -- Detail
This recruitment is going to need some time to get material together but I don't want to let it flail forever without any definite outlines of what character creation rules might be like.
So, give that I think we tentatively have enough interest, how about everyone who's expressed serious interest puts together a wish list for build rules and I'll try to edit them together in a way that 'splits the difference' if they're not reconcilable. I think we could have some basic guidelines, and then monkeygod can potentially help me deal with details after we get the other game off the ground, but we can still put enough in place to start getting serious work done on characters.
I think something that might help with figuring out character creation will be determining what sort of game this is going to be.
If you expect there to be a fair amount to a lot of combat, and interactions that will require lots of stats/dice rolling, than I would suggest a decently robust set of character creation rules.
Otherwise, you might wanna take a sort of rules light approach.
I'm imagining more talking than fighting.
So what are you looking for in a submission? A functional character sheet as per Monkeygod's rules (less important) and a Backstory (more important)? Something long and detailed. Is there a place we should start in or around?
How bad of an idea would a dragonrider be?
Let me get some more information about a starting location up -- I'm going to give sort of an overview like they give in APs of what I think the initial scenario(s) is(are) going to be, and a gazette of the nearby region.
I like most of the rogue genius stuff -- I'm still exploring mechanical options for this -- it will be most useful to start with fluff while I try to pair down the rules. I'm also still trying to decide the exact ratio of combat/noncombat / campaign style. Lots of fluff can be communicated in different ways -- intensive descriptions of tombs and unique monster appearance -- colorful descriptions of combat tactics, on the one hand and info dumps from NPCs on the other.
Just an update- Monkeygod and I are working on build rules. It will probably be high powered and based in part on FFd20. It will still be a little before we post something, as we have a lot of material to go through. I'm going to try to work up a little fluff primer as well.
The Land of Grom is a longstanding nation of considerable power that at one point ruled much of the world. It was the genius political divisiveness of nations around Grom to cause a racial civil war within the country after noticing most of one type of people preferred one way of living while the others preferred another. At the turning point of the century, four hundred years ago, these two nations split apart completely and their power was cut in half. Looking at them today, one could even consider them separate countries, however, their viciousness in combat on either side is considerable even to this day. To see the two halves merge once more would throw the world into a brutal war once more. For this reason, nations around Grom constantly send spies in to cause division between these two people, and so sharp has the feud become, that alliance is hardly an option anymore.
Westgrom Ruler: Senestra Bluegräben
Population: Unknown
Largest Cities: Blue Stone City, High Tower, The Citadel, and Lower Gastiel.
Eastgrom Ruler: Sao Chi
Population: ~340,000
Largest Cities: Haven Chi, Yuxia, Bamboo City, Ude, and Old Reed City.
Names: Those in Westgrom have surnames that are often a mix of a color in the common tongue and a germanic ending. Those in Eastgrom have surnames often closer to Asian influence.
Appearance: Those in Westgrom are often bright-haired. These are celebrated for having blonde or red hair. The darker, the lower the class. Those in Eastgrom are the opposite. They celebrate having darker more raven-black hair and dislike those with lighter-colored hair. Those in Westgrom and Eastgrom both have a paleness to their skin. Those in the West often have a pinkish undertone, and those in the East, a yellow, however, it is not uncommon to see these reversed in some people.
Accents: Those in Westgrom have a slithery accent, accentuating A's and S's. Those in the East have brutish language, often involving yelling to show how important their topic is based on the tone. They have little in the way of accent and are usually soft-spoken unless in a passionate discussion. Their lack of accent makes them easier to do trades with, but some avoid it due to their heated exchanges when being taken advantage of. Those within Westgrom are happily traded with from all nations surrounding Grom.
Tattoos: Both Westgrom and Eastgrom celebrate tattoos. Westgrom often has more patterns and symbols. Eastgrom loves depictions of known animals or elements. Both societies often dabble in blackened tattoos. People in Westgrom will cover their entire bodies and faces with tattoos. While this isn't rejected in Eastgrom, the chest, face, and neck are sacred, and are, in most cases, devoid of tattoos. In the east, it is not uncommon that one can very easily wear their clothing and no tattoos may be visible.
Deities: The rift between Westgrom and Eastgrom began with Eastgrom's worship of the animal spirits. The greatest of these is the dragon. In Westgrom, they honor a single god of great strength and war named Tomec. Both of these sets of deities are very silent and most experiences by people of Grom are self-supported by wild conjecture and self-fulfilling prayer-answering, however, there are pieces of evidence that these deities exist. Therefore, the debate isn't their reality between these two sister-nations, but rather which is more supreme.
Fashion/Trade: Fashion between the two nations can't be more opposed. It is the only thing that has kept these two nations bound together. Within Westgrom, lies mountains and little in the way of forests. What they do have are rock worms, which spin a highly coveted silk used primarily within Eastgrom. Within Eastgrom, there are huge forests and many animals to hunt, which supplies the desired leathers and clothing of Westgrom. Leatherwork is almost forbidden in Eastgrom to be sold there, and Silken goods are almost completely rejected within Westgrom to encourage trade with their sister-nation. Any political strain often comes down to the subject of this trade. Gold jewelry and woodworking are popular in the East, while stonemasonry and beads are popular in the west. Unlike with fashion, these goods are found in abundance in their respective sides. Despite this, they are often traded for the need on the opposite side.
Laws: Westgrom is mostly lawless. They honor the Pilgrim, who is said to be an avatar of Tomec. Other than that, each works and lives by their own regard. Each sector of their land is generally ruled over by a satrap who people can go to for general justice, but for the most part, this is a last-ditch effort in a conflict. Most law is handed out by self-rule and by the strong or capable. Eastgrom is ruled by laws, order, and tradition. There is a certain way to do things and if you violate that, you are shunned. It is a mostly open society, however, and the people there seek to find new ways to perfect life without being in violation to the rules or tradition.
Artwork: Often left to themselves, people of Westgrom will sometimes make totems, pictographs, or paint upon themselves. Their artwork is simple and crude. Some works however can span huge valleys or be massive temples to Tomec atop mountains. Their burial chambers can be oppressively large and are works of art themselves. The Eastgromians consider themselves works of art. They adorn themselves with makeup, paint, and jewelry to present a pure image of demureness. Even the most salacious denizen may have clean skin and a flawless appearance. They also are known to wear vivid colors with beautiful designs to accentuate themselves further. Aside from their own personal decorations, everything they make, whether it is a shingle on a rooftop to a tile on the floor of an outhouse, it has some sort of design, engraving, or depiction. Even a simple blade to cut a deer's hide will have the most beautiful jade handle with etchings or an engraving on the blade.
No one knew when the black mark would show itself or why. Whole families may never experience this pain. For some, whole family lines are wiped out. Over the years, their grand, noble family had been reduced to that of a lower rank and what many considered a blight, or people not to be associated with. When Laree was sixteen, she received the black mark.
Her father loved her so greatly that he fell to pieces, and in a way, went insane. He looked everywhere, tried everything. He spent all of what little money they had left to find a cure for his daughter, but nothing worked. She was destined to die.
He began to look into other things...darker things. It was here he stumbled upon necromancy.
The more he learned of this strange, magical art form, the more he saw the answer. As long as she lived, Laree would be cursed by the mark. She would need to be undead. It was the only way. How could he, her father have an undead for a daughter? No...she would have to retain who she is so completely even she would not know.
He began to delve into powers not his own, make sacrifices to beings of unsavory power. Piece by piece he whittled away his soul for the sake of hers, and when he could go no further, he pressed into the void of unlife himself.
During this time, his wife was suffering from his absence, strange behaviors in the night, and his powerful determination to end his daughter's suffering caused her to despair; yet despite this, his wife let him, for she too desired him to succeed--no matter what. It was during this time that Laree grew worse. Her condition turned sour and she began to cough up black blood. Her father knew her time had come, and instead of embracing it, forged an altar made of stone, bathed in the blood of a dragon, and enchanted it to preserve her. Not wanting anyone to disrupt his work, he moved their family and this altar to an island off the coast and there made a home for them.
They lived and fished off the sea during those days and it was here he set the stone altar. It was that following winter that Laree died. Her heart could no longer take the strain. Her father quickly placed her on the altar and there she remained. Her body perfectly remained--unaffected by decay. Her soul, he placed in a phylactery with unholy powers. She would become lich-like.
Her mother, upon learning her husband's plans attempted to stop him and perished in doing so. This drew Laree's father into a darker depression and despair. He now had only one goal in mind, to preserve the goodness and kind soul that was his daughter. As hundreds of years passed, her father grew to delve further into unlife. Unable to die, evil consumed him all except for his one goal. He turned his island into a vile spawning zone of the undead.
In time, greater beings than he sent servants of good to eliminate this growing threat, but they vastly underestimated his tenacity and cunning. Now, Laree's father had what he had been searching for for years--a celestial's blood and soul.
With the blood, lifeforce, and soul of a celestial being, he began to fuse Laree's soul with the positive plane while his own desolation corrupted it. In the end, the soul neutralized and remained pure. Infused with life, but undead. Not inherently corrupted by evil, but not bearing perfect good. This is what he would infuse into his deceased daughter. In the same manner that he became a lich-like being, he would raise her to be one as well, but with life within. Not dead, but alive. Not alive, but dead.
She eventually woke to life and breathed her first gasp of air in hundreds of years. Something was different. She felt...odd. Dulled. As she looked around, nothing that once was of her life remained. Her father, not wanting his daughter to know him in his grand lichdom shrunk away into a cave on the island and sealed it from her with an impassible stone gate. She realized her mother was gone only by the grave that bore her body. Her father she knew nothing of what became of him. All that remained were her clothes and a ring that once belonged to her mother, now upon her own hand.
In time, Laree grew to mature on the island. Years passed in her solitude. Occasionally, and unknown to Laree, her father would send undead to accost her in an effort to strengthen his daughter's resolve. She learned quickly how to make weaponry, clothes, and gear. It was here she learned how to fight for her life. To survive. To thrive amidst the isolation. When she wanted to flee, she would wander the ocean, finding her breath no longer needed to feel its draw. No matter how far she went, she would never be able to find another area of land closeby as the mainland was quite far from the island.
At the turn of the century, her salvation came. A ship, coming to explore the island, discovered her there. Immediately they recognized her as a person from Eastgrom and by her begging, took her aboard their ship to the mainland.
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Ability Score Modifiers: Half-lich characters gain a +2 bonus to two ability scores of their choice at creation to represent their powerful celestial and undead nature.
Type: Half-liches are humanoid creatures with the half-lich subtype.
Size: Half-liches are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Slow Speed: Half-liches do not have an optimal interior anatomy, and as a result have a base speed of 20 feet. Their magical origin allows their speed to never be modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Half-liches begin play speaking Common and Necril. Half-liches with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of the following: Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Infernal, Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
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Defense Racial Traits
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Celestial Resistance: Caused by the sacrifice of an aasimar to be infused in their blood, they possess the same celestial resistances given to them by that sacrifice. Half-liches gain acid resistance 5, cold resistance 5, and electricity resistance 5.
Undeath Resistance: Half-Liches gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects.
Natural Armor: Half-liches gain a form of natural resistance to feeling pain and enduring harmful blows. Half-liches gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class. This stacks with other forms of Natural Armor.
Resist Level Drain: Half-liches take no penalties from energy-draining effects, though they can still be killed if they accrue more negative levels than they have Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels they’ve gained are removed without any additional saving throws.
Skeletal Damage Reduction: Given that their very bones are infused and hardened with magic, this makes them harder to kill as they grow stronger. Half-liches gain DR 1/bludgeoning and increases by 1 every 5HD.
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Magical Racial Traits
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Spell-like Ability: The half-lich is capable of speaking to the dead. Once per day, they can cast speak with dead as per the spell, using their HD as their caster level.
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Senses Racial Traits
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Darkvision: Half-liches gain darkvision out to 60 feet.
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Weakness Racial Traits
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Partial Negative Energy Affinity: Half-liches are harmed by positive energy cast by a good-aligned caster and healed by negative energy cast by an evil aligned caster. Both positive and negative energy powers heal or harm the half-lich as normal if from a neutral source. A half-lich creature with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
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Other Racial Traits
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Mostly Dead: Half-liches do not need to breathe, eat, or sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of these activities. This means that half-liches can drink potions to benefit from their effects and can sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these activities are required to survive or stay in good health. Because of their undead quality, coupled with their living quality, they do not age at a normal rate for their race. They tend to live far beyond their initial age ranges before perishing. When they finally reach the end of their old age, they die as normal unless they have become a full lich. Half-liches are raised as normal except that the ritual costs to raise them cost an additional 200gp per level.
Rejuvenation, Lesser: A half-lich is a mostly completed lich. The one who created them may have elected to have made a phylactery for them or not (subject to GM approval). This can be done without their knowledge. This would depend on their creator who has an intimate understanding of the subject’s soul. If the subject ever completes the process of becoming a full lich, the material requirements for creating a phylactery are decreased by 1/2 of the cost. The half-lich is also fully capable of retaining their alignment regardless of the evil requirement to become a lich, but at that point, they will be fully undead and will decay as normal unless spells retain this purity of flesh. They also lose their celestial resistance. To become a full lich, they must still meet the level requirements and all other requirements.
When a half-lich is destroyed, its phylactery (which is generally hidden by the half-lich in a safe place far from where it chooses to dwell) immediately begins to rebuild the body nearby. This process takes 1d10 days. If the body is destroyed before that time passes, the phylactery merely starts the process anew. After this time passes, the half-lich awakens fully healed (albeit without any gear it left behind on its old body), usually with a burning need for revenge against those who previously destroyed it.
The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40.
Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items. To make their own phylactery, they must use the Craft Wondrous Item feat. They must then be able to cast spells at a CL of 11th or higher. On top of that, they must provide the 60,000gp (Normally 120,000gp) in materials to create this device.
** spoiler omitted **...
This is great stuff!
Thanks!