Good Gaming Gazetteer: The Theories Behind Parlinia


Okay, as those who have been reading have probably figured out, I have a very specific ideology when it comes to development of creatures and their abilities. As will be explored in the Children of Sucur and some of the details behind the Sucuran warriors and their lesser brethren, there are many ways to introduce creatures into a given setting.

Parlinia is supposed to be a post-medieval development of mystic traditions. The idea of magic being purely combative or militarily creative is great, but it goes against the process as seen in most cultures. Admittedly, many would find weatherworking or birthing to be a boring process, but imagine the effects which can occur when one really applies magic to everyday life.

The Children of Sucur, Orphan's Guard, and similar Ostari organizations draw from traditions of abandonment of children combined with the concept of the precocious other. These children are the best, brightest, or the rest, but through training by the state they develop abilities. I give credit where credit is due to Card's Ender Series, Soviet and Reich Propagandist, and boarding schools for making me think that this would be a way for a state to go.

For the most part the Ostari operate as I would figure an empire would; lots of bureaucrats trying to work their way up. However, I agree wholeheartedly with interpretations of alignment which state that such an empire fits within several paradigms. While no doubt many who reside in the Order of Service are classically 'evil' in their intentions (seeing Servitors as slaves more than anything else), there are those attempting an even shake for refugees.

Parlinia serves as the basis for a solid 'starter' city in a highly cosmopolitan campaign; there are hundreds of possible microcultures in the Parlinian system, and there are those who use military Servitors to stockpile their guardposts amongst the Ostari elite.

I believe that Parlinia could be used across editions; the mingling of races, groups, and access to Warforged would make it an excellent start to a 4e campaign city, and the Old Empire with its intrigue and problematic terrain would work well for a 'points of light' style campaign. So please, use these ideas if they'll help your campaign; I'm only glad to help.

We will discuss the estates of the Old Empire in the next bit, including the useful items and individuals which may be found on an average magocratic estate.

Until then,

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

PS: Speaking of Points of Light, check out my friend Dysmestis' (or dz in #ENWorld via Otherworlders) comic at Points of Light. It has its moments, and the poor guy is entering into his second (!) year at the wheel. Give it a shot, read through the archives, and have a good chuckle.

Loonook

Good Gaming Gazetteer: The City of... uhh... Unnamed Promises Pt. 1

Welcome back my friends... I am really sick of the fact that I am so far behind on updating GG, but it has been an exceedingly rough year. Ehh, since I cannot do NaNoWriMo this year due to obligations I figured I would do a little work with Good Gaming and start on a series of Gazetteer articles. I figure the blog function will work better than the traditional forum postings, so I went with this option. Hopefully someone will see this post and get it on the main page .

Well, the original source of the musing involved come from a series of discussions and posts from different forums (many of which appeared on ENWorld) started me thinking about the following premise:

How does a magocratic state function as a unit of power?

This lead to the following questions:

1.) What are a magocracy's debts or expectations for its people?

2.) How would the laws of the land be affected in a standard magocracy?

3.) How would a magocracy affect outside states (in any or all affairs)?

4.) What would the benefits and the costs of a magocratic citizenship consist of?

Thus began the ideas which would become the City of (Blank) [It currently lacks a name ]. Starting tomorrow we will explore some of these questions by exploring a sample city in the magocratic empire of Ostar. This city should serve well for any number of games and give new interpretations to races and classes which appear in sources.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Loonook