[Spirits of Rock and Sky] Designer Notes

[reason]

In the spirit of a number of people here, I've decided to keep up an infrequent commentary on my rewrite of Spirits of Rock and Sky. I'll even try to keep it to this one thread

http://www.twilightminds.com/sorasfull.html


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WHY SORAS?

Spirits of Rock and Sky (SORAS) was an outgrowth of my interest in the way in which people think about Gods. It started off as a thought experiment in which I removed as much in the way of distraction as I could. Getting rid of the props, as it were. No sun, no moons, no magic, no monsters, no animals, no metal, nothing but bare rock and people. Since I like my science fiction moderately hard, the rest flowed fairly smoothly from there.

SORAS is an old setting, approaching ten years or so now. Some things have changed, but the essential background remains the same: a small, forgotten corner of post-singularity science fiction disguised as fantasy.

As the years marched on, SORAS fell into place into the larger construct of my SF settings. The whole is titled "Fragments of a Posthuman Dream." Mutterings and themes on what it means to be human. Maybe they'll see light one day

The genetically enhanced (slightly post)humans of SORAS worship Gods, live in Tribes, and dimly recall legends of times when they were as Gods themselves. They dwell on some unknown form of construct somewhere deep in interstellar space. They have little hope of even learning that redemption is possible. For the Tribes of SORAS, ten thousand years have led full circle. They have returned to the metaphorical banks of the Babylon, and talk to Gods of their own creation.

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FRAGMENT

A young Susyan stands, his ancestral and divine spear in one hand, on a hill above his community. Looking up, he can see the brightest stars through the hazy and purple Light of Io Hejin. He is reassured by their presence; he knows that the Ancestral Sky Spirits still watch his Tribe even in this age of the One God.

His ancestors were not Gods. They took their first protected steps on a distant and airless moon while an entire world watched. He knows nothing of that world, and even the concept of a moon is alien to him. Genetically, he is as far beyond those long-dead moonwalkers as they were advanced beyond the animals of their world. He stands on high-density nickel-iron ore, far above a device that augments the local gravitational field. He would leave the ground with his first step, if subject only to the attraction of the demi-world beneath him. The haft of his spear consists of wood that was cut from a genetically altered oak tree. The blade is a superconducting ceramic lattice that was once an important component in an engine of transport. The auroral lights above him are the visible evidence of complex interactions in the upper atmosphere. They result from the beam spread and dangerous irregularities of an extremely powerful ion drive. The atmosphere itself would not exist if it were not constantly replenished by the output of matter-conversion devices. The stars in the sky are not Gods or spirits. They are just stars: incandescent spheres of plasma at great distances. The Gods of this world do not exist beyond the minds of their worshippers. The young Susyan feels secure, but he is more lost than he could ever imagine...
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VIEWS ON VIOLENCE

I'm not a big violence fan. I do believe that it should carry consequences. I also believe that convincing NPCs is more fun and rewarding than hitting them. In between updating the SORAS text, I'll be scratching out d20 additions that basically stick to these principals. Some of these rules are up on the SORAS site already.

SORAS is a collection of old, complex societies. They span the gamut from libertarian to despotic, but there are few civilized places in which violence will help more than it will hinder. It's a small world, and making enemies will always come back to haunt you. That said, violence is there for those who want to take the risk. It's possible to fight carefully, keep ransoms, and know when to surrender. Only fanatics fight to the death.

Most of my plots and plot seeds do not involve the necessity of violence. Certainly, the threat is often there, but there are usually easier paths to take.

DESERTS WITHOUT SAND

The vast majority of the world of SORAS is cold, empty, rugged, black rock. Berefit of any landmark or sign of habitation. There is no rain or running water, so journeys are made with care.

HISTORY

History is a vitally important part of any world. SORAS has an interesting, vivid history that is vital in defining the present state of the world. It serves to make the world feel much more dynamic.

LANGUAGE

Half the fun in writing SORAS is in doing to the language what was done to the setting. The Tribes simply don't have words for 90% of the things we take for granted: units of time, places, animals, colors, history, analogies, running water, rain, and so on. Those words are never used in the text; it gives it an interesting flavor to the writing.

 

[reason]

what makes a good scenario, anyway?

One of the fun things about building your own world is that you get to put in place the things that you think make a good scenario. My prejudices are probably already in evidence by the use of the word "scenario" rather than "adventure."

So what do I like?

1) Character-driven conflict
2) Societies in which violence isn't always the answer
3) Scenarios that are described in terms of the changing relationships between the principal PCs and NPCs.

What don't I like?

1) Scenarios that are described in terms of static rooms, contents, treasures and monsters. (In this 20' x 20' room, there is a chest of 100gp guarded by two giant rock mice).
2) Combat for the sake of it, and combat as a solution to every problem
3) Lots and lots of crunchy one-shot rules (bah).

Here are a few examples of plot seeds that would expand into the sort of scenario that I can have fun with:

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GIFT OF THE INITIATE

A Lesser Council of Susyan Lords and Councilors will soon be under way in Nekopis. There has been more ill feeling than usual in the cycles before this Lesser Council. An argument of public declarations has been underway between Maris, Lord of Nekopis, and Selt, an influential warrior who seeks a place in the Councils.

An elder Susyan Initiate of the Order of the Provider approaches the PCs. He wishes them to publicly deliver a weighty gift of wood from the Order to either Maris or Selt, whomever they feel best deserves it. The Initiate instructs the PCs to be slow in their deliberations so as to be sure of the final choice.

The etiquette of gifts dictates that the gifted owes an appropriate obligation to the giver. The use of the PCs rather than an Initiate is a screen of politeness that everyone sees through. Neither Maris nor Selt wishes to appear beholden to the Order, and each will attempt to convince the PCs to give the gift to the other.

Many other Lesser Susyan Councillors also have an interest in these events, especially if the PCs are not Susyan themselves. The wakes leading up to the Lesser Council should provide a good introduction to the influence of the Order on Susyan Tribal politics.

THE DEATH OF AU SEIS

Au Seis is dying. The old Wohken has sent two Second Lutnens of the Au Family to Tesam. He wishes Somaat to attend his Ceremony of Passing. Somaat is too old to travel to the far Great Pathway communities, however. The Lutnens are relieved; the Au Family has no fondness of Enierd.

Since Somaat does not trust or like the two young Lutnens, he requests that the PCs deliver a gift of inkberries to Au Seis. The PCs are to stand in place of Somaat at Au Seis’ Ceremony of Passing and lay claim to his skin.

There is a long, hidden story to the relationship between Au Seis and Somaat. Were they friends, enemies, lovers, or something less easily categorized? How is it that Au Seis holds the power to dispatch Second Lutnens to distant communities when he is not the Au Father? Why is Somaat sending the PCs rather than any of the willing Enierd in Tesam?

Au Family politics are deep, formalized and secretive. Grudges are held for generations and the smallest things can hold great significance. The PCs will find their seemingly simple task become ever more complex as they get closer to Au Seis. What is the signficance of the inkberries? Why do high ranked Au Family members prevent the PCs from seeing Au Seis? What will Au Seis ask of them when they finally meet? How can the PCs find the necessary political backing to attend the Ceremony of Passing, never mind claim the skin of Au Seis?

COMPETING VISIONS

Tumnil 221 and Tumnil 227 are Jentik sisters and rival artists. One is a bonecarver, the other a painter and scribe. Both have come to Tumnil to create a great work of art. Some unnamed but significant past event has led to hostility and competition between the sisters.

The Jentik Namekeeper in Tumnil is an elder Initiate of the Order. She is tired of mediating between supporters of Tumnil 221 and 227 among the Order and supplicants. The charismatic sisters seem to be good at stirring up trouble among the Jentik. They are almost epitomies of the worst aspects of Jentik nature.

A Jentik friend or companion approaches the PCs. She sympathises with the Namekeeper and wishes to ensure that the warring sisters quickly complete their visions of Tumnil and leave in peace. Each sister, of course, would like to use the PCs against the other. The PCs are likely to learn that the World holds no fury to equal that of a scorned artist.

THE THIRD PARTY

Fen and Daren are Usone half-brothers who dwell in Durern. Fen likes to run and compete in contests of strength, while Daril is dedicated to quiet, painstaking bonecraft.

The Ritual of Passing for Lor, an old Usone warrior, was held a cycle ago. Lor was well loved by both Fen and Daren. In younger cycles, the half-brothers would listen to Lor’s tales while sitting on an ancient, carved wooden beam. The half-brothers argued over claiming the wooden beam during Lor’s Ritual of Passing. The beam has great significance for both, and neither would compromise.

Lor’s partner, Rive, is an advisor to the Usone Chieftain. She now refuses to let Fen and Daren into her dwelling. Rive was angered and offended by the half-brothers, as were many of Lor’s direct relatives. She wants nothing to do with Fen and Daren.

Neither Fen nor Daren will take their dispute to the Chieftain. They don’t want to be the recipiants of Rive’s displeasure by proxy. Friends, family and companions tire of the bad blood between the half-brothers and in the community, however. Fen and Duren have grudgingly agreed to accept the judgement of a third party in this dispute. The only unbiased third parties in Durern are the PCs, newly arrived in the Usone community. Fairly settling a dispute amid the Enierd should certainly be a memorable experience for Wohken and Susyan PCs.

RELUCTANT LEGENDS

Onesen of Clan Usone was always somewhat different, even as a child. It was really no great surprise to his few friends when Onesen departed the Tribe for the Great Temple and the life of a priest.

Half a generation has passed since then, but Onesen has now returned to Durern. He wears the flax and wood-plated leather of a Recorder. His face is lined, and he looks far older than his age. Onesen recalls the legends and stories told only among the Usone. He has brought leather and ink to record the stories of his Clan.

The elder storytellers of the Usone want nothing to do with Onesen. They have no desire to see their words pinned to scrolls and taken from them to a temple of God-adoring fools. Some Usone want Onesen to leave again. Pesa is not one of them. She had always liked Onesen when they were younger. She is pleased to see him among the Usone again.

At least one of the protagonists is known to the PCs and desires assistance. The patient, spiritual Onesen would like assistance in teasing out the old, obscure legends for the archives of the Cult of Io Hejin. The storytellers of Durern would like Onesen to leave them alone. Pesa would like Onesen to stay and become more like he was before he left. She does not like to see him so aged and devoted to ink on leather.

What will the PCs do? Where do their sympathies lie? Who else will get involved? Pesa’s one-time partner, other priests of the One God, unruly apprentices and children of the elder storytellers could all play important roles.

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Next post, I might talk about "Stolen Bones." That's a longer Spirits of Rock and Sky scenario that can involve a fair amount of violence and physical danger, but still focuses on relationships and people.

 

[reason]

Stolen Bones

The real world intruded; I was hoping to have polished off the plot seed inserts for the Enierd by this time. Oh well; it'll happen within the next week or so. In lieu of that, I thought I'd talk about Stolen Bones, a Spirits of Rock and Sky scenario.

Stolen Bones is of the breed of scenario that I like the most. A set of character-driven events unfold and the PCs are thrust into the midst of it all to do as they will. This sort of scenario can be very challenging if poorly written; the PCs have the freedom to do more or less as they please. A scenario of this ilk consists of:

1) Unadulterated Timeline:
a) what happened before the PCs arrived
b) what would have happened afterwards if the PCs had not turned up

2) People, Relationships and Personalities that drive conflict and interest

3) Plot Hooks that entice the PCs to get involved

4) The What-Ifs: guidelines for the most common PC paths that allow GMs to improvise.

Some GMs get upset when the PCs trash their plans/plots, but that's just part of the game. It's best to view the Unadulterated Timeline as a big pile of blocks to be knocked down in a pleasing way. That's the challenge; for the players and the GM to get to a satisfying destruction of what might have been.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

I find that my GMing style benefits from a fairly narrow focus on a few NPCs in any given story; it also helps if the area in which the story takes place is remote or otherwise isolated. That way, the PCs have less incentive to simply leave.

Stolen Bones takes place in and around the Godward Wohken community of Hei. The undulating rock plains between the Gap and the Realm of the World Crafter are sparsely populated. Small, fairly remote communities like Hei are the standard. They are quite unlike the much larger Gap communities. Families and Brotherhoods are smaller, politics more personal. The most religious Wohken worship the World Crafter and make pilgrimages to the Realm.

PLOT HOOK AND ISOLATION

Stolen Bones starts of with an embarrassingly direct plot hook. While traveling Godward of the Gap, the PCs are ambushed, pursued and surrounded by tens of Underdwellers. This is horrible and strange, such large and violent groups so far from any Mouth of the Underworld that the PCs have heard of.

...the Underdwellers appear as strange, glowing shapes against the purple-tinted darkness. They leap and run and lope towards you, their forms seeming to appear and vanish with hollows and rises of the rock...

With nothing to expect but to run or die, the PCs instead have a strange bone forced on them.

...many Glowing Ones have surrounded you and closed off any path that might have led to escape. Most are agitated and breathing heavily. The rock about you is thick with the blue-green reflections of their divine light, smothering the Light of Io Hejin. As they close in on you, even the stars fade into the suddenly black Sky. The Glowing Ones shout at you and among themselves, while several gesture with their bone blades and sharp clubs. Some wear torn clothing that could only have been crafted by a Wohken. The wind now seems chill indeed, but it does not disturb the Underdwellers' matted lengths of hair. Why are they not attacking? One steps forward, the largest of them. Under the bones of his armor, his skin glows intensely along the crossing lines of his ritual scars. He twists his face and growls unintelligible speech at you, jabbing his finger away from you as he does so. Two of the other Glowing Ones shout in the same speech, but this scarred Underdweller silences them with angry gestures. The Glowing Ones to either side of this evident leader seem barely restrained, and one is trembling with anticipation. The leader in the bone armor slams his fist into his chest three times. "Reruk," he growls. He says it again. Then he takes a bone that was hanging from his armor by a thong, tears it free, and throws it at your feet...

Circumstances herd the PCs into nearby Hei, menaced and cut off from other communities by these terrifying Underdwellers.

Once in Hei, the PCs will have a chance to meet with the leaders of the community. They will gradually find out more about the events that led to their encounter on the open rock...

...but more of that later.

 

[reason]

Stolen Bones, Part II: Politics in Hei

(Terrible how having full time employment keeps you from writing up your favorite worlds, isn't it? I am still laboring over Chapter Two plot seeds).

The PCs have arrived in Hei, scared and harried by Glowing Ones, clutching a most unusual bone. It is obviously brittle and ancient, wrappen in and penetrated by threads of reflective divine material. Ancient Midrin characters in the bone are barely legible:

"...light which reflected from the hearts of Sons and Daughters...artist of partnerships still young, but still a friend to all...mother of...beloved of the Family and the Father..."

It is a treasured Ancestral Bone in the ancient Wohken style of veneration. But divine material? It is a mystery.

Hei is a typical Godward Wohken community. The many sprawling and interconnected Family dwellings are clustered around Brotherhood Halls and lit by many small flames. Each Family dwelling has its own separate shrine in which the bones and artwork of ancestors are kept. At the center of the community stands a Shrine dedicated to Io Hejin. Nearby is a deserted Hall that once witnessed the worship of the Huge God.

Hei is built in the midst of many hills. The community is bounded on two sides by steep slopes of rock, one of which shadows the dwellings of Hei on all but the brightest wakes. There is a well-marked route traversing the valley between these hills. The route markers around Hei are all very ancient, crafted from sections of tree-trunk.

The politics of Hei are interesting, if simplistic for a Wohken community. The Mau and Tosi Families are the most influential groups, more so than even the local members of the large, influential Meten Family. Organization of mundane affairs is provided by the Hei Brotherhood. The elders of the Brotherhood are also elders of prominant families. The Father of the Mau Family is also the Father of the Hei Brotherhood. Hence there is a unity of purpose and power in Hei that is missing from most Wohken communities. To add a little spice, elders in the Mau Family worship the World Crafter, while most other Wohken in Hei worship the One God.

On entering Hei, the PCs will meet with warriors of the Tosi family. The PCs will be brought before the Mau Naisi, Father of the Mau Family and Hei Brotherhood.

...while you relate the details of your encounter with the Underdwellers, three Wohken enter the Hall and silently take the empty seats before you, each bowing to Mau Naisi before doing so. One is bearded and old, but nonetheless wears heavy armor. The Father of the Brotherhood places the newly-returned bone in his lap, covering it with a thin and wrinkled hand. "My Family is grateful, but this ancestral bone is one of many. The Glowing Ones mock us!" he exclaims bitterly. There is a moment of silence before Mau Naisi continues, turning to the armored newcomer. "This Reruk...a leader. He must be sought out and slain, Tosi Gar."

The white-bearded warrior shakes his head. "I must refuse you in this, Father." He speaks firmly. "The warriors of Hei are my Sons and Daughters. To pursue the Glowing Ones while leaving Hei unguarded would be most unwise."

Mau Naisi scowls, and the Mau and Tosi seated before you stare forcefully at one another...

Wohken tradition allows Tosi Gar, as the Father of his Family, to refuse the orders of Mau Naisi despite their relative positions in the Hei Brotherhood. As an experienced warrior, Tosi Gar knows that he is right. Despite the presence of the Tosi, there are too few warriors in Hei. They would all be needed should the Underdwellers attack again. Mau Naisi is not pleased.

"...and you, the Tosi, are to sit in your dwellings and pray to your One God while the Underdwellers threaten us?" Mau Naisi demands, angrily.

"The warriors of my Family will guard our community well." Tosi Gar places his old but strong hand at the haft of his bone club, and stares firmly at the Father of the Brotherhood. "We have shown ourselves strong, and the Glowing Ones will retreat into the rock with time, as they have always done..."

There is much to find in Hei besides the conflict between Mau and Tosi over the defense of the community. Some interesting characters are trapped in Hei along with the PCs.

More later...