Of Gods and Men…

Please Read: There has long been a debate among gamers as to whether or not one should stat up deities in a game or setting for the game. This post is not the place to engage in that debate. This is specifically about how deites, the planes of existence, and the ways that interact with mortals and the mortal world. With that being said, here we go…

The Planes of Existence:

There are six planes that makes up the Lorthian Planar Cluster. These are:

1. The God Realms – This is where the “Celestial Gods” make their kingdoms.
2. The Spirit Lands – Ghosts and other incorporeal undead are found here. There are also other extra-planar creatures/people that can be found here. Demi-Planes can be found floating through the swirling vortices of the Spirit Lands.
3. Faerie – Home of the Seelie Court, and other powerful faeries. They are very capricious and can be dangerous as a result. While the most powerful faeries may resemble gods in power, they actually aren’t.
4. Lorthia – The Mortal world. Home to humanity and other intelligent races. There are even powerful creatures, such as dragons, powerful elementals, and even gods that can be found here.
5. The Shadow Lands – The Shadow Lands are essentially a darker version of Faerie and is home to the Unseelie Court. The inhabitants of the Shadow Lands are powerful, dangerous, and more then willing to kill for any slight, real or imagined.
6. The Fiend Pits – Home to the evil gods, demons, and devils, you truly will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

There are a large number of powerful beings within these six planes, but none so powerful as the gods. And though, they are seemingly all powerful, they can still be slain with great effort. However, if one fails at completely killing a god, then they had better expect swift retribution raining down on them and those with them. Of the gods on Lorthia, there are three pantheons.

1. The Celestial Deities – Goodly aligned, these deities live in the God Realms where they watch and bless the mortal world and those who live in it, and follow the ways of the gods, from on high. In the typical imagining of the Celestial Pantheon, the head of the celestials is Caelestis, goddess of Life and Fertility.
2. The Elemental Gods – Neutral, and apparently living on Lorthia, or Faerie and the Shadow Lands, the elemental gods tend to ignore the mortals, or at least tend toward ambivalence toward them. It is said that Tiernan, god of Time is the leader of the Elemental Pantheon.
3. The Fiendish Deities – They live in the fiend pits and seek to either destroy the mortal worlds, or seize control of them, the exact goals of the fiendish deities are hard to discern. Prior to the gods’ war, the leader of the fiendish deities was one known only as “The Tyrant”. However, it seems that at the end of the war, The Tyrant may have been slain or imprisoned beyond the reach of even the other gods. The traiterous god known as Gideon seems to have taken control of the fiendish pantheon.

Each of the deific pantheons is arranged in a relatively strict hierarchy. However, it is possible for anyone to move up within the hierarchy due to their or their followers’ actions.

1. Emperor – Creator deity. They are beyond the ken of mortal man and do not have stats. Tiernan, Caelestis, and the Tyrant are, or were, the emperors of their respective pantheons.
2. High King – Greater deity. With the exception of the creator deities, these are the most powerful beings in Lorthia. The High Kings rule vast kingdoms in their respective planes, and can exert great influence over the mortal world through their followers.
3. King – Intermediate deity. The intermediate deities rule kingdoms within the greater kingdom of the high king. Intermediate deities exert influence in the mortal realms as well and have large number of followers. The kings are usually subordinate to the high king, and usually share some aspect of the portfolio of their kigh king.
4. Prince – Lesser deity. Lesser deities rule principalities within kingdoms, often times these principalities are about the size of a large city, others they’re a little larger. More then the kings, the princes share aspects of their portfolios with the king and high king.
5. Marquis – Demi-God. The Marquis serve very specific aspects of their lord’s portfolio and are the least powerful deity who can grant spells and powers to their followers.
6. Duke – The dukes of Hell, powerful angels, etc. They have considerable influence over the mortal world, but not through the granting of powers and spells to their devout followers, but rather through influencing others with their force of personality.
7. Earl – Powerful mortals, the half-mortal children of the gods, and other powerful beings who reside in the outer planes. The Earls also can’t grant spells, and are often ignored by those of the mortal lands. However they are powerful and dangerous to deal with.
8. Knight – Much like in the mortal world, the knight is a noble warrior in the employ of their liege and lord. They are the heavy cavalry when it’s needed, and like the marshal below, are often sent on missions of import for their masters, often with the promise of climbing higher up the hierarchy.
9. Marshal – The heroes and saints of the pantheons, they are the least powerful of the titled. If a god needs someone to go on a mission for them, it is from the ranks of their marshals that they draw from. Often, the marshal might be granted the ability to move up to the title of knight for their service.
10. Petitioner – Petitioners are the deceased faithful from the mortal planes. They do not have any power, but make up the bulk of a kingdom’s population. They are freedmen and serf alike, depending on where they live in the outer planes.

It isn’t unusual for a deity to have as an advisor a powerful immortal of lesser stature within the hierarchy, such as an especially wise angel or cunning demon. However, though they are accorded a large show of respect while within their lord’s kingdom, or even when dealing with other deities outside of theid kingdom, they are still earls or knights, or even marshals within the hierarchy.

Deities from High King on down have stats and character write-ups. However, these are not for the eyes of players. Instead, they get the standard Deity name, portfolio, and spell lists allowed to choose from. Additionally, the Earls on down to Marshal may, or may not have a small measure of deific power as well, while the Dukes are often times easily confused with some of the less powerful deities.

Potential Offline Game

My work schedule seems to have settled into a weekends off routine, I’ll monitor it until after the Holidays have passed us by, and then decide if I can get away with starting a bi-weekly offline table-top RP Game set in Lorthia. We would most likely be using the Pathfinder Game System for the present time. If anyone is interested and able to make the commitment, let me know and I’ll make sure that you have a spot at my table. Most likely I will have 6 players at most, so my wife and five more. Let the jostling to get into my game begin!

for those who don’t know, I’m in Janesville, WI.

New Role-Playing Game Publisher Announced

 

Wanderlust Games to be formed in  Janesville , Wisconsin . Wanderlust Games will produce entertaining Role-Playing Games and original fiction.

 November 1, 2011 ~ Janesville,  WI

 Wanderlust Games was formed by Peter Wyeth to bring fun, affordable, and quality role-playing games to the table-top gaming market. Distribution for Wanderlust Games products will primarily be in the form of eBooks and Print on Demand through services such as Lulu.com. The first of which is a yet unnamed RPG, internally called Project X. This game will be full of danger, excitement, and anthropomorphic animals as they seek to uncover their origins and to survive in a world gone feral. Project X brings the “Honor” stat, which tracks how honorable, or dishonorable, a particular character is in the course of their adventuring career. It will also determine how others in the milieu react to that character’s sense of honor or dastardliness. The Project X game system will be moderately easy to use, so that even children can get in to games with their friends or parents.

 “Some of my fondest memories growing up are of sitting with my brothers and friends and the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, creating stories of adventure together. I wanted to create a game that didn’t have a huge buy-in, either monetarily or in term of time spent learning the rules. I also think that the Honor stat working on a sliding scale will definitely be an asset to the Project X RPG.”

 Wanderlust Games will publish Project X and supplements and make them available as PDFs and through Print-on-Demand services, such as lulu.com. We are also exploring the possibility of publishing 3.5 edition material through the OGL, and even Pathfinder adventures and supplements. Currently the main organizational focus will be developing and releasing Project X, projected to be in early summer of 2012, with some beta testing during the spring.

 

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Ark’A (Continued)

Here’s a quick and dirty low-down on Ark’A before it was denuded. Anything in the present text is from when Ark’A was a functional city, now it’s largely a ruin with fell and dangerous beasts living within the structures that are still standing.

Port City, Population approximately 75,000.

Government: Oligarchy of seven leaders in the shipping/trade industry who installed a beauracracy.

City’s Defenses: Ark’A was largely surrounded by water in the form of a river that flowed through, and around the western side of the city, leaving about half of the city on a low-lying island. On the south-east side of the city is the sea and port, To the east of the city, is Loc Pra’Kiz, a deep saltwater lake. Further, because of how low the land is around Ark’A, there is a complex system of dykes (you know, the ones that hold water back…) and locks, dangerous creatures within the surrounding water that is under control of the mages who also use their magics to protect Ark’A. On the streets themselves, the Oligarch has a large number of guards to keep the peace and force the population into line.

The structures in and around Ark’A are predominately made of timber and mud bricks. However, the important structures of government and the rich is made from a greenish marble with reddish-brown clay tiles for the shingles. The streets are made of tightly fitted flagstone, but they seem to always have a layer of mud on them from the low-lying, swampy land.

There are between 300-400 different shops in Ark’A selling a variety of goods or providing services., including artifacts of the ancients.

Ark’A (The City of the Slime Lord)

Ark’A was once a bustling port at the delta of a major river on the small continent of Califor.The founders and subsequent generations of Ark’A residents literally pulled the city up and out of the swamps that surrounded the river’s delta at the sea. For eons, Ark’A brought grain and other goods from inland Califor to be shipped to the elven islands. In return, the elves brought their goods to the southern port of Ark’A to be shipped to the inland human and dwarven cities of Califor.

When the Great War began, it is said that deep in the bayous and swamps that surrounded Ark’A the humans were building a launch pads, which they could use to reach the realms of the gods. So pervasive was the rumor that the sea god, swamp god, and other water deities summoned their might early in the war and flooded Ark’A, crippling humanity’s trade with the elves, and destroying the launch pads that were rumored to exist. Once Ark’A was virtually destroyed, the gods turned their attention to the rest of the human empire.

In the absence of the gods’ attention, someone calling himself the Slime Lord entered Ark’A and claimed it for his own, commanding the creatures of the swamps and bayous, summoning ever larger numbers of slimes and molds into the city, and controlling the small remaining human population that was found within the city. Thus, has Ark’A lived on for the past five millenia, a twisted mockery of itself, one that doesn’t allow others entry, or if they manage to enter the city, exit.

Because Ark’A was an ancient city when it was destroyed, and there had been a human presence in the swamps and bayous of Ark’A for untold millenia prior to construction of the city, it is said that there might be ruins beneath ruins on the site of Ark’A, ones full of untold wealth for those brave enough to gain entry into the city and evade the watchful gaze of the Slime Lord.

Of Angels, Devils, and Dragons

In quite a few settings, dragons are often seen as the penultimate creature of the Prime Material Plane. They’re certainly creatures of power, especially in the Dungeons & Dragons game. However, while looking at the concept for the Califor setting (this is merely its working title at this stage of the game), I’ve decided that chromatic, metallic, and even gem dragon division that is in D&D is not one that I want for this new setting, so as a result, I’ve decided to pull them from the game. However, there is still a desire to have great reptilian beasts, so I’ve opted for the linnorms as found in the Pathfinder Bestiary.

With dragons out of the way, I began thumbing through the rest of the bestiary, and decided to work out how the outer planes work. I like the idea of a battle between good and evil, with angels and demons as the generals in the war. However, there is also the small matter of the established canon that I’ve already began to work on, which is that humanity, in ages past, grew powerful enough to be able to challenge the gods themselves for control of the font of creation. I could opt to have the devils and their masters involved in the presumed rise of humanity. However, that just doesn’t fit with the idea that I’m formulating in my head. As a result, I’ve opted to look to H.P. Lovecraft and some of the Mythos that he created in his writings. Then, while looking through my various monster manuals, I decided that the Mythos can be used as inspiration rather easily, more so for the fact that it obviously inspired some of the creatures that are found in D&D from day one.

So, further refining the Califor setting (I really need to find a better name for it), I’ve decided that Good and Evil has long been locked in a struggle against one another. However, during their struggle, there came other creatures from outside time and space, they saw the war between the gods and the small and powerless humans huddling in fear on the world below, and these creatures saw that this world was suitable for them. The creatures from outside of time and space decided to whisper of dreams of power into the terrified humans, building up their civilization until the day that the humans would challenge the gods for control of the world and the font of creation. This ended badly for humanity who have yet to begin to recover from their defeat. The creatures from outside time and space, however, remain hidden away on the planet, in the depths of the ocean, in the dark tunnels under the surface, and in the madness-filled shattered minds of those who have conceived of them.

The creatures from outside time and space are most often aberrations, in game terms. As for the demons, I’m stull unsure of what role I want them to play within the above triad…

The History of Califor

The tent was dark and ill-kempt, thick smoke hung near the floor instead of rising from the fire that had been built in the middle of the hide and canvas tent. An old man slowly shambled in a stooped position as he threw a bundle of plants onto the fire, it was from a bundle similar to this that the thick, acrid smoke emerged. The old man sat on a woven mat and somehow managed to cross his legs. Once he was seated, the old man closed his eyes as if in meditation, when a few minutes later, several children of his tribe entered the dark, smoky tent and almost choked from the heady smoke.

The children ranged in age from 4 to 12, like the old man they wore heavy woolen clothes, their hair color ranged from black to dirty blond and they moved easily, as if they were hunters stalking their prey. The children sat quietly on mats around the fire and sat in silence. It seemed almost an eternity before anyone said anything, and then it was the elderly man, he sat hunched when suddenly he loudly cleared phlegm from his throat, making the smallest of the children jump in fright.

“So, you’ve come to hear the tale, have you?” The old man screeched, his eyes suddenly open and clear. “The tale of the fall of humanity? How we were laid low by the gods?” The old man looked over the assembled children, there were half a dozen, the eldest of which was a dark haired youth with bright, blue eyes, named Talkrek. Talkrek was the youngest son of the chief and as a result, had been sent to apprentice with the tribe’s priests. Talkrek, the old man thought, would be trouble. However, it went against everything the History Giver believed to hold back the truth of his people’s history from those who sought it out.

“Over 5,000 years ago, humanity was ascendent.” The old man began, he caught the eyes of Talkrek and could see dark, troubling thoughts brewing behind his bright, blue eyes. “Our magic and technology  was supreme, it is said that it even rivaled the power of the gods.” The old man sensed unease in the room, he smiled inwardly as he determined that it had come from Talkrek. “The gods, meanwhile, grew complacent as humanity called upon them less and less, eventually our ancestors looked to the heavens and desired to take their rightful place at the font of creation, to drive the decadent and fat deities from their thrones and replace them as lords over everything.”

“Everyone knows that we were influenced by demons, you crazy old man!” Talkrek practically yelled at the History Giver. “It was for this reason that our people were punished!”

The History Giver chuckled softly. “No, young Talkrek, it was our own hubris and pride that drove us to challenge the gods.” he stated. The old man paused, then rubbed his beareded chin thoughtfully. “Anyway, the gods didn’t appreciate our challenge, so they went to war against us. It’s said that this war lasted for a thousand years, so evenly matched were we and they. Eventually, when they th0ught that they might lose, the four most powerful gods reached into the heavens, and they cast the very stars upon our cities, our places of learning, our farms, and our villages. The gods destroyed the empire of humanity and shattered our world in the process.

However, we weren’t completely lost.” The History Giver continued. “those few who survived the rain of fire lived far from the cities, in small villages, they saw what had happened to their brethren and fled the devistation. To feed themselves, they began to follow the herds, eventually domesticating them and turning into herders rather than hunters. However, humanity remains on the run, never staying in any one place long enough for the gods to return their gaze upon us.”

“What a load of Kazurg dung!” Talkrek said. “We have priests, who commune with the gods. If the gods were really as wrathful as you claim, you crazy old coot, then they could have destroyed us at will!”

“Oh, they could have certainly,” said the history giver. “But we don’t pose a risk to them anymore, so they permit us to continue this wandering existence. They commune with their priests and the faithful in the hopes that we’ll return to the fold. We are being used by the gods as a pawn, the dark ones hope to gain our secrets from us, for it is said that if the gods hadn’t struck us down when they did, then we would have completed a weapon that could kill the gods. Some say that we did.”

“That, is heresy!” Talkrek growled ,”and I’ll have none of it!” Talkrek shouted as he leapt to his feet. “You will be forced to stop telling these lies!” Talkrek spun on his heels and fled the History Giver’s tent.

“Well then, young children. I fear that I’m not long for this tribe, but know that there are still ruins of our lost empire, mostly underground, where our secrets remain, our magic, our technology, perhaps even the legendary god slayer.”

“Does anyone look for these ruins?” one of the older children asked, awe flashed in his eyes.

“Oh sure,” the history giver said. “There are groups who seek these ruins out, but they’re filled with the twisted abominations that were created by the gods to keep us from finding our lost heritage. One must train in arms, magic, or build their psychic powers.” the history giver said. But now, I am tired, it’s time for you children to return to the village and your parents, they likely grow weary.”

The children reluctantly stood up and exited the tent, some whispering to others. After the children left the history giver’s tent, several heavily armed warriors, who were led by Talkrek and the chief entered the tent.

“Gal, I’m afraid you’ve gone too far, your tales will draw the gods’ gaze to our tribe, they will be angered by the tales that you tell. It’s time that you left the tribe. Or, we’ll have to brand you as a heretic and drive you from our midst. As you know, that is a death sentence.”

The history giver nodded solemnly as he slowly stood, using his cane. “Of course, I’ll be gone before morning.”

Empires Lost

I’ve just purchased Campaign Cartographer 3, so my dream can finally be realized, and that is to import my hand-drawn world map for Lorthia into an electronic format. Unfortunately, the map is approximately 3 feet by 4 feet and has a fair amount of detail. So, in the interest of attempting tolearn how to use CC3, I’ve decided to create a new setting from scratch.

I will be creating all of the maps for the new setting in CC3 and posting them in the blog. I will be designing the setting so that it is fully compatible with the Pathfinder RPG system, and I plan on posting the results and what I’ve done in this blog. These posts will include maps, fluff (quite a bit of that), and crunch. The fluff will be 3 times per week, probably on a Mon, Wed, and Fri basis), maps will be posted on Tuesdays, and crunch that I come up with on Thursdays. Hopefully both the maps and the crunch will be in connection to what I post for the fluff.

That being said, here’s the basic idea behind the new setting (which still needs a name, perhaps I’ll offer a contest to come up with the name for the new setting and/or the world):

5,000 years ago, a great Empire of Man dared to challenge the gods with their magic and technology. However, the Gods didn’t want to share their powers with the puny mortals that they had created, so the Gods decided to punish mankind for their hubris and struck the empire low, destroying the empire and scattering the remaining humans to the four corners of the continent.

Now, while the dwarves live in their stone halls deep within the mountains, the gnomes in their grottoes, halflings in their southern farms, and the elves deep in the forests, humans roam the countryside in an attempt to evade the vengeful gaze of their gods, and yet they still attempt to placate the gods with their sacrifices. There are also groups of humans and other people, who seek the lost magic and technology that is to be found deep in the ruins that still dot the countryside. However, the gods have placed strange and powerful creatures to protect the lost secrets of a lost people.

This is the world that I will be attempting to create. I’ve decided that orcs will not be found in the setting, but rather the main cannon fodder will be goblins and bugbears. Hopefully this experiment will prove to be fun for my reader.

 

 

 

 

 

Busyness and New Games

I’ve been kind of following the Pathfinder RPG from Paizo Games and on June 18, my wife and I finally broke down and bought the Core Book from one of the local FLGSes. We also received a Pathfinder adventure titled “We Be Goblins!” due to it being Free RPG Day, which is intended to get people out to their local game stores and to experience new games. It’s definitely a worthy project. But, back to Pathfinder. As most gamers are aware, it’s essentially D&D 3.75, and as most gamers who know me are aware, I had issues with 3.0 and 3.5 D&D. However, in the random skimming of the Core Book that I’ve done over the past week or so, I’ve noticed several changes that I thought should have been made to D&D 3.5. However, this blog post won’t be about those, but rather some ideas that I’ve had for the class spread of a Celtic-like Warrior culture.

The Gardaan

As mentioned above, the Gardaan are a Celtic-like people in my fantasy Setting of Lorthia. They mostly occupy the Lleweryen Peninsula, which is north of Argoth, across the Argoth bay. Traditionally, Gardos consists of six kingdoms, though a seventh one occupies the Fomor Mountains along the southern coast of the peninsula. These kingdoms are:

1. Eriu
2. Albu
3. Rheged
4. Tasgetius
5. Rhuvawn
6. Chambray

Gardaan Culture is one that is honor-bound and they are a people of warriors and though their society has a kind of caste system, it’s not that hard to move up within it. What follows is a breakdown of the Gardaan system and the Pathfinder Classes that I think best fit within them. I should note however, that there may need to be some “alternate” classes that are built to better fill the roles within society.

The main unit in Gardaan society is the tribe, with smaller units within each tribe being called clans. The geographic range of a tribe is entirely dependent upon the geography where the tribe is based. In an attempt to create loyalty between tribes, high-ranking Gardaan nobility often fosters their sons to be raised in other settlements, clans, or tribes. Gardaan life is structured around farming.

 

Gardaan Classes:

1. Aristocrat: Pretty much 100% of the time, characters with the Aristocrat class are dual-classed with either barbarian, fighter, or ranger as there is no aristocrat who is not a capable warrior in Gardaan society. Leadership is a much needed feat to take as well.
2. Barbarian: Barbarians are thought of as great heroes with their warp frenzy (rage). However, they usually don’t live long enough to become kings, or are considered to be proper king material due to their warp frenzy. However, atribe that has even just one barbarian in it carries great honor.
3. Bard: Members of the priesthood alongside the druid, the majority of Gardaan will not deign to insult a bard for fear of being satired for other tribes, clans, or kings. It is even against the law to kill a bard.
4. Druid: The leaders of the Gardaan priesthood, they usually don’t accompany their tribe’s/clan’s warriors on raids. However, druids are usually advisors to nobles, kings, and the High King of Gardos.
5. Expert: The craftsmen and farmers of the Gardaan, They are not usually the subject of tales, however the Gardaan society would grind to a halt without them.
6. Fighter: By far, the most common class found in the Gardaan, especially among the kings and warrior-elite of the kingdom. Often, the fighter class is paired with another class such as aristocrat or even expert.
7. Ranger: Although almost everyone in Gardaan society can survive in the wilds with minimal trouble, the Ranger excels at it and is often used as a guide through really tricky regions to travel through.
8. Rogue: Because of the honorable nature of the Gardaan, rogues who steal from their kin are, at best, driven out of their clan or tribe. At worst, they are killed outright. However, a rogue who can find another niche to fill within society that benefits their kin can potentially find great honor. Because of the distinct lack of locks or mechanical devices, however, those skills are all but non-existant.
9. Sorcerer: The sorcerer typically lives on the edge of civilization, usually in dismal swamps, high mountains, or distant islands. In the tales of the Gardaan, sorcerers tend to be villains at worst, or sages who forsee disaster that will come to a particular hero or heroine.
10. Warrior: While fighters are almost central to Gardaan Society and the Warrior-Elite, the warrior NPC class makes up the bulk of chariot drivers, spearmen, and other “non-heroes”. Also, people of expert classes who spend more time following other crafts, such as smithing, or carpentry, might multi-class into warrior to represent their greater skill with arms than people in more “civilized” lands might have.

The classes (PC as well as NPC) are either not found in Gardos, or are extremely rare as to not have much of an affect on Gardaan society. Further, because the Gardaan don’t have a written language beyond that of Ogham, reading/writing is not a skill that members of the culture may start out with. However, bards, druids, and perhaps even sorcerers will start out knowing how to read and write Ogham.

This is a work in progress and may be changed and updated as I work out the details even further.

“Do You Hear It Calling? Empire!”

I’ve been kind of floating listlessly trying to figure out a direction that I’ve wanted to go with my writing, and figure out a way to get it out there for the public to enjoy. I think that ‘ve figured it out, I’ll be working on a new Role-Playing Game setting based in the ancient city of Cardoss in my Lorthia setting. It will be post-fall of the Fabosan Empire, but only by about 30 years, so there’s still plenty of action going around.

A weak and ineffectual emperor is vainly trying to cling to a once lustrious jewel. The senate is petty and scrabbling for any power that they can get, while definitely only looking out for themselves (with the exception of a few senators, of course). Meanwhile, gangs roam the city, fighting each other, as well as the thugs who have been hired by the senators in their defacto battle against the few remaining legions under the emperor’s control and the bands of wizards who are working for the Wizards’ Council in an attempt to restore order to the city. Further afield, there are legions who though led by powerful generals, are fighting a losing battle as they’re just trying to get home. The religions, meanwhile, are still reeling from the Gods’ War, which keeps their patron deity, or deities in some cases, busy as they must move their pawns against the other gods.

This is a time of chaos, of strife and disease. It is a time that cries out for a hero. Will you answer that call?