Eternally Blue: A Homebrew Setting

[John4]

Hi. New poster here, but I've been gaming since the mid-nineties, on and off.

An idea for a setting came to me the other day, and since I'm most likely to be using a modification of the Pathfinder ruleset (specifically the e6 Modification, applied to Pathfinder instead of regular 3.5e.), I thought this was probably the best place to post it.

My idea, as far as I've taken it thus far, is that the world of Urdina is tidally locked to its primary. This causes the planet to have only a small band of it being habitable for most of the common races, the Twilit Realms. They fall on and around the terminator, making the Realms a hothouse environment for those species that live there. They compete in a small area for resources, making the Realms a constant place of strife, political maneuvering, and danger (read: plot hooks).

It also helps explain all of the various elemental planar stuff that comes with the standard Pathfinder cosmology: the fire creatures can come from the sunside of the planet, while the ice creatures can come from the starside. The earth creatures burrowed deep underground long ago to escape the coming disaster of the planet stopping its rotation, and the water creatures exist in the deepest reaches of the oceans.

On top of that, it helps with the various abilities and rivalries that appear with the standard PC races; the dwarves delved underground to avoid the scorching heat of the near-sunside portions of the Twilit Realms, while the elves developed good eyesight and magic to live on the edge of the starside, etc.

Anyway, I'm going to try and hack my way through the various rules issues that are undoubtedly going to crop up as I develop the setting and the modifications to the e6 system to adapt it for Pathfinder here. I'd appreciate feedback from the community, and any ideas that you like, feel free to take home for your own game!

Thanks,
John4

 

[John4]

Rules Alterations

This is the place for all of the compiled rules alterations that are developed as I go.

e6 Stuff:
I intend upon starting with the Cautious Approach towards feats and spells in the e6 .pdf; generally, with the exception of class features that I deem necessary (on a case-by-case basis), no feats or spells above what can be gained at 6th level will be available. Now, this is likely to become a rule more honored in the breach than the following; but I want to start out with my players knowing that I can (and will, in some places) say "No, that's not thematically appropriate for the setting," without having to argue that I allowed something else in and thus the pet that they have at that moment should be allowed as well.

I also want to include the Conviction Points and Death Flag mechanics from the Raising the Stakes .pdf. However, instead of having the CPs restore at the beginning of each session, I intend upon having them restore after a full night's rest. That way, even if we wind up having to stop a session in the middle of combat (don't laugh, it's happened before at my table when something in real life comes up), we know when and where the points should restore. It also means that my players will have a reason aside from spellcasting to rest on a regular basis--which, given the differences in e6 and normal d20/PF, should be a good thing.


Pathfinder Stuff:

Right now, I'm on the fence as far as altering classes goes. I may or may not make several of the class abilities available at eighth level (stuff like certain domain powers for clerics, several rage powers for barbarians, and some of the fighter feats) available either as capstone feats or something similar. I need to look closer at this before making decisions on what to keep, what to modify, and what to throw out.

I do intend upon keeping the core races the same, and possibly including various planetouched as playable races (since one of the themes of the setting is that the planetouched aren't from different planes, but rather from the sunside or the starside of the world).

Magic items will be craftable as normal, with the single caveat that no magic item can be created with greater than a third-level spell as a requirement. There will likely be exceptions to this rule, but I wanted to ensure that I wouldn't be looking at a Wondrous Item that casted, say, Resilient Sphere on someone's person without looking closely at what that would mean for the world's verisimilitude.


Other Stuff:

I intend upon making Incantations (from the SRD) available as possible alternatives to high-level spells. There are certain things that it should be possible to do, even without high-level spells making them available at-will.

 

[John4]

Races

A place for all of the race modifications and descriptions.

Dwarves:
Master craftsmen and miners, the dwarves live on the edge of the Sunside. Having long ago decided to go underground instead of dealing with the intense heat and inimical inhabitants of that sun-scorched place, the dwarves have many traits that make them uniquely suited to their environment.

Game Rules Alterations:
Defensive Training: Instead of gaining a +4 Dodge bonus against monsters of the Giant subtype, dwarves gain a +4 Dodge bonus against monsters of the Aberration subtype (I intend aberrations to become a largish staple of underground adventuring, while giants don't generally inhabit the same areas as the dwarves).


Elves:
Children of the fey, the elves hold court in small hunter-gatherer bands that roam the edge of the starside. Their innate magic and grace, combined with their superior senses, allows them to survive on the edge of darkness. Weaving songs of magic and stalking the terrors that lurk in the endless, freezing night, the elves continue to thrive in that harsh environment.

Game Rules Alterations:
Elven Immunities: Elves retain the immunity to sleep, but replace the +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist enchantments with a +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist nonlethal damage from Cold environments and move the Extreme Cold band of damage (1d6 lethal, no save) to from -20 degrees F to -40 degrees F (since they live on the edge of the starside, they encounter much colder weather than in normal play).


Gnomes:
Strongly bonded to nature, gnomes feel the pull of the Twilight Realms more than the other common races. They mark the passing of the seasons and the influence of the sun and the stars as closely as possible. Their memory for seasons past constantly requires refreshment or they become disconnected from the world around them and begin to fade. This causes them to obsess over small details and play practical jokes.

Game Rules Alterations:
None.


Half-Elves:
Occasionally, a lost human wanderer will be taken in and succored by an elven tribe or an individual elf will feel the wanderlust to see the rest of the Twilit Realms and pass through the human lands. The result of the union between these two races are often wanderers themselves, finding little compassion from their fellows and feeling constantly out-of-step with the rest of the world.

Game Rules Alterations:
Elven Immunities: Half-elves retain the immunity to sleep, but replace the +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist enchantments with a +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist nonlethal damage from Cold environments and move the Extreme Cold band of damage (1d6 lethal, no save) to from -20 degrees F to -40 degrees F (since their elven relatives live on the edge of the starside, they encounter much colder weather than in normal play).


Half-Orcs:
The children of two strong cultures, half-orcs often find that the road of the adventurer calls them. Their orcish heritage often instills in them the wanderlust of the roving tribes, while their human blood brings the creativity and strive for excellence that is such a part of that species. When raised amongst orcs, half-orcs often become tribal shamans or chieftans due to their greater cunning than their fellows. When raised among humans, half-orcs often become hired muscle or soldiers due to their greater ferocity than their fellows.

Game Rule Alterations:
None.


Halflings:
The Little Folk have always coexisted with their larger cousins. Luck, cunning, and quickness of hand and mind has helped them compete with those who are more powerful physically since time began. Their clan structure--much looser than the one of the dwarves--has allowed them to retain a seperate cultural identity, even though they have lived along humankind for so long.

Game Rule Alterations:
None.


Humans:
A squabbling, grasping, crafting, dreaming, conquering, protecting people, humans have all of the possibilities imbued by the gods in their children. If there is a face of intelligence that can be shown, humans have it somewhere in their number. There are those who believe that humans are the dominant species on Urdina, despite only inhabiting the small Twilit Realms. Truly, though, they are the most populous of the races that exist there.

Game Rule Alterations:
None.


Orcs:
Fierce tribal barbarians, the orcs split when Urdina stopped its rotation. There were those who went deep underground to fight the dwarves for living space, and then there were those who decided to remain topside near the sunward edge of the Twilit Realms. These orcs adapted to their new environment, becoming exceptional horsemen and traders with the rest of the Twilit Realms races.

Game Rules Alterations:

Underground Orcs: None.

Twilit Orcs:
+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence: Orcs are enormously strong and have the wisdom of the ages, but are not particularly bright.
No Light Sensitivity: Orcs see just fine in normal light.

 

[John4]

Setting Information

Setting information compilation.

 

[John4]

Feats, Spells, and Incantation

A place to compile the feats, spells, and incantations.

 

[Glade Riven]

Well, I find this intriguing. I am using the same basic concept for the setting I'm working on: Ironbound: Chains of Phaetos. Beyond being tidally locked, though, our ideas go their separate ways. I'll start a compilation thread of mine so I don't highjack yours.

 

[John4]

Well, I find this intriguing. I am using the same basic concept for the setting I'm working on: Ironbound: Chains of Phaetos. Beyond being tidally locked, though, our ideas go their separate ways. I'll start a compilation thread of mine so I don't highjack yours.

Well, I'm glad to have not been the only guy to have thought of that one. Let me know where your thread is, and I'll look it over.

Thank you for the consideration about threadjacking, too.

 

[Glade Riven]

Here. Oh, and my original thread on the subject.

 

[John4]

Thank you; I'll check it out.

My first draft of the races is up. I've decided to make orcs a playable race for the PCs (why not?); anyway, here're the changes that I've made thus far:

Dwarves: Defensive Training applies to monsters of the Aberration type rather than the Giant type (I intend upon a Lovecraftian "monsters from the deeps" feel for the underground realms in this world, and I'm going to stick the giants closer to the starside than the sunside).

Elves & Half-Elves: Instead of a +2 to Will saves vs. Enchantment effects, I'm giving them a +2 on Fort saves vs. cold environment damage and lowering their Extreme Cold band (1d6 lethal, no save) from -20 F to -40 F to represent their constant battle with the environment on the edge of the starside.

Orcs: Their ability score bonuses/penalties change from +4 Str/-2 Int/-2 Wis/-2 Cha to +2 Str/+2 Wis/-2 Int. I may wind up changing this to +2 Str/+2 Wis/-2 Cha if folks think the Int penalty is too much. In addition, their light sensitivity is gone. I'm also thinking about giving them a racial feat that lets them use their Wis bonus rather than their Dex bonus (if the Wis bonus is higher) for Ride checks, since I intend upon them filling much the same niche as the Mongols or the Bedouin did in real history. I figure on them being master horsemen and nomadic traders rather than the boogeyman to scare children (and 1st level mages) with.

 

[Glade Riven]

Why not just use Hobgoblins instead of Orcs?