[Grymn Studios Presents] The Sands of Destiny :: 4th Edition Setting

[grymn]

Sands of Destiny: Prime Codex
Written by Jerry Hamilton and Josh Taylor
Cover Art by Anthony Cournoyer
Coming in PDF & Print, Q1 2009

The Sands of Destiny setting is many things, but above all, it is a realm in need of heroes. In a time where civilization is buried under the debris of an ancient apocalypse, you take the role of heroes bringing a glimmer of hope back into the world. From the endless deserts of the Godscar to the technology-fused Kingdom City of Zephyr, the fallen empire of Shorin-Kai, and the scattered desert empires you'll battle terrifying tyrants, ancient scourges, and primordial threats while forging a new era for the world.

You'll walk the path few have travelled, the path of the hero. Whether by sword, spell, or ancient legacy, a new saga has begun and fate has chosen its new champions. The inhabitants of the world need someone to give them hope and protect them from the dangers that wander the sands.

The Sands of Destiny Prime Codex presents a world surviving in the aftermath of a ancient apocalypse, its secrets and treasures buried in the sands of the past. Its a world that is swathed in darkness and awaiting heroes to bring about the light of a new era.

For Players​

The Sands of Destiny has many new options for players and their characters. The Immortals, presented as a new race and two new classes based on their ancient legacies. New powers to expand the core class and role options. New mundane equipment and magical items. A host of rules and examples of the ancient magitech of the long lost Immortal civizations. Plus Much More: New Paragon Paths, Epic Destinies, Magic Rituals, Custom Deity Rules, etc.

For DMs​

This product contains everything needed to run a campaign in the Sands of Destiny setting, and a host of new elements that can be incorporated into your own campaigns. You'll find plenty of adventure seeds, plot devices, ready-to-run NPCs, new encounter options, and much more. The setting is being written with a toolkit mindset, meaning it should be easy to integrate anything from the book into other settings and campaigns.

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We also have www.sandsofdestiny.com being developed to provide a wealth of new content and enhancements for the setting before and after the Prime Codex's release. A development blog and previews will be available there somethime in the near future as well.

 

[grymn]

DevBlog 001 - A Vision of the Future

Welcome to my humble development blog for the Sands of Destiny campaign setting. My name is Jerry and I am the lead developer and co-writing for the Prime Codex, currently in development. First off, I want to thank you for your interest in the development of this project. I hope to both give some insight into the setting, and a handful of interesting previews along the way as we move forward into the release of the Prime Codex in the first quarter of 2009. (I'm hoping for a January release myself, but I can't really set that in stone as of yet)

The first thing I really want to delve into is more about how the setting will be developed and presented. With the Sands of Destiny, I really want to provide a constantly evolving world for gamers. I asked myself what things would look for in a setting that would elevate it above others and make me want to use it for my own home games (outside from the premise and design of the world itself, of course). The highest things on my list were full continuous support, having some impact on the setting, and modularity (should I wish to use elements of the setting in another setting). So, these are things I hope to integrate at the presentation level of the setting.

On the support front, preceding the Prime Codex (which is meant to be a Campaign Guide for both players and DMs alike), I intend to have regular support on www.sandsofdestiny.com in the form of web enhancements and articles. These are going to be substantial pieces of constant (not unlike the support 4th Edition has been getting from its owners). This content will be free for all, though those with the Prime Codex will benefit most from it. We've already started developing this content along with the Prime Codex! It will include a healthy dose of both crunch and fluff to further define and enhance your games. Since the setting is a labor of love for us, we intent to sink the majority of the profit we get from the Prime Codex into this free content. From time to time we'll even take this free content, update, add to it and put it into print for those of you who wish to donate to the development of the setting. All of the money earned on these books will be put towards the development of the free content and other aspects of the setting's presentation and support.

The second item I had in my list of necessities was the ability to have some impact on the ongoing evolution of the setting. This is another element that has been planned for the setting, post launch. We want the fans, players, and dungeon masters who use the game to have a little bit of influence in where the setting goes and how it is developed. This is going to be accomplished with several different processes. After the Prime Codex, we'll be hosting regular polls to get the communities opinions on certain things that will happen within the setting, different new concepts, and even what the next book (or support content) we will produce. This will make up the first layer of community involvement in the setting. The next layer will be contests (judged by us and/or the community) that will allow players to get their own ideas into the setting- such as characters, powers, paths, events, locations, etc. In addition to having the winners idea incorporated into the canon of the setting, we're going to see about trying to have some additional prizes as well (to be determined).

The final item on my list was modularity. What I mean by this is making the setting a complete functional setting while making it easy for a DM to cannibalize elements and pieces into their own homebrew world or other setting for use in their home game. I've made it a goal to do this by adding snippets of design insights within the Prime Codex (and future books and writing articles for the website that will help to pull out your favorite elements for use elsewhere. Its more of toolkit approach. Essentially, the Prime Codex is meant to be a toolkit to build your own version of the Sands of Destiny setting, while we'll present our version through future books and online content.

Next time, I'll get into some details about Immortals, Legacies and Legacy-tech.

[The Actual DevBlog can be found at www.sandsofdestiny.com, for those interested]

 

[grymn]

DevBlog 002 - Immortals, Guardians & Sentinels...Oh, My!

Welcome back for another round of the Sands of Destiny DevBlog. Its been quite a struggle to write this one, as I live in central Ohio. For those of you unaware, we were hit by some of the leftover weather from Hurricane Ike. It was in the form of a unusually strong wind storm that pretty much wiped out power for the majority of the state. There were around 378,000 people out in my county, alone. Luckily I had a handful of candles I had been dying to burn. I did end up having to throw out all the groceris I bought the day it all happened. Although my own "hardship" doesn't compare to what those in Galveston,TX went through, it was still a rough time. After the power was back on, my cable (and thus my trusty broadband internet) was out, leaving me cut off from the world wide web. I went through technology withdrawal and ended up going to see lots of movies, as the theatre is within walking distance. There was also a tenacious little squirrel that held onto a tree brach through the storm, only to be blown into the next yard. He came back. I think he nawed through my cable lines...the little bugger.

Anyways, enough talk of hurricane weather in Ohio. Last time I mentioned Immortals and Legacies. Here goes.

One of the biggest influences that I've had since day one for this setting is the wuxia genre. They're the high flying magical martial arts of movies such as Storm Riders, Hero, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Legend of Zu. Ever since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed the genre. In fact, the history and culture of China (especially ancient china) has always intrigued me. The creation myth of the world draws heavily on Chinese mythology. Where is this going you might ask? Well, the Immortals and Legacies.

Underneath the fiction coating, the Immortals are heavily influenced by Chinese culture. They are the oldest civilization in the setting, coming well before any of the other character races. The Five Elements of Chinese mythology are woven into their culture and the world itself. A wandering Immortal is very akin to the wandering swordsman of a wuxia epic, in fact. The Legacies are pretty much their version of magical Kung Fu powers and styles.

Now, you might be thinking that their name, Immortal, implies that they may be a broken character race. They do live for ever....thematically. In game, immortality translates to a few racial traits and abilities. A example abilities:

Immortal Body: The immortal chi within conceals all injures. You are not considered bloodied by your opponents.You do not trigger powers that target bloodied opponents.

Knowledge of Ages: Immortals have lived for countless lifetimes and have accumulated a vast wealth of knowledge. You can select a single skill as a minor action and grant it a +2 bonus until your next extended rest. After an extended rest, your Knowdged of Ages fades and is availble to re-use.

Immortal Breath: You can use Immortal Breath as an encounter power.

Immortal Breath Racial Power
You call upon the immortal chi within yourself to mend your body.
Encounter (Special) ~ Chi, Healing
Minor Action Personal
Trigger: You must be bloodied.
Effect: You may spend a healing surge to heal yourself.
Special: You can use this power a number of times per day equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1), but only once per round.

In addition to the above, Immortals are not as "Immortal" as the once were. In ancient times, they were trully immortal: immune to aging, disease, and trauma (also know as weapon-to-head syndrome). When a large group of Immortals conspired with a large number of Dragons against the gods (The Dragon-Immortal War) they lost full luxury of true immortality in the aftermath (along with near-destruction of the world and existance as they knew it). In the current times, they are still immortal. If they die, they will eventually revive if their body is protected. This process can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months. Rituals and magical items can speed this process up. If the immortal's body is destroyed, however, they will reform at the Five Pillars of Destiny (the pillars are for a later discussion). In fact, a whole city has sprung up around the base of the Pillars and an industry geared towards catering to and aiding reformed immortals thrives there. There are also some circumstances that will destroy an immortal permantly (certain monsters, rituals and items).

The next thing I want to talk about a bit are Legacies. They are the amazing powers of the ancient immortals. These powers are a birthright and gift, given to immortals by the heavens. At least thats how it was back then. Nowadays, most of these powers have been lost to the pages of history with only a select few who still retain the knowledge of the varied ancient styles: Guardians and Sentinels.

In 4th Edition terms, Legacies are powered from the Qi Power source. Many of you know of it by the name Chi. This is the supernal flow of energies that make up all of existance. The powers of the legacies are known as Techniques. See the similarities to wuxia? Its there, trust me. Legacy powers are categorized a little bit differently than those of other classes. They are not necessarily tied to a class. They are grouped into Heroic Styles, Paragon Styles, and Epic Styles. Guardians and Sentinels (two new classes in the Prime Codex) both have access to these styles, as do characters who choose to take Legacy feats.

Guardians and Sentinels are unique classes in that they are only available to Immortal characters...with an exception. Non-immortals can trick the Legacies into accepting them by being Graved by an Immortal. This process consists of an Immortal taking a part of his own Qi flow and graving a bond into the flesh of a non-immortal (like a tattoo or brand). This graving grants the non-immmortal the ability to access the Qi within themselves and mold it into Legacy powers and abilities. What this means is that the non-immortal can access classes, powers, feats, etc as if they were an Immortal. There is a downside to this process: you become a scion of the Immortal who graved you. Now, while most Immortals are honorable and respectful of their scions...there are some twisted Immortals aligned to the darkness who will use scions as tools and puppets to exert their will.

In my next DevBlog I hope to go into the Legacy Powers and the Legacy-Tech from the setting. I also want to shed a bit of light on our method of bolstering the core D&D classes as well. See you next time.

 

[grymn]

Just wanted to give a heads up. Due to various issues with the current GSL, Sands of Destiny 4th Edition will unfortunately not be going forward. This decision came after much discussion between myself and the company that was going to finance and produce the book. The setting rights have reverted back to myself..and I am currently re-imagining them as well as building my own OGL-based game system.

~Jerry

 

[benensky]

Sorry to hear this. The info you had up on your site and the stuff in this thread looked good.
-benensky