I'm making my own setting book [PFDR] & [4E], thoughts?

[fireinthedust]

They're just mutated humans, not aliens. I'll have to clarify that point. In a future book I'd definitely want to have a racial page for all the specific alien races, and their hybrids (and this is suggested in later chapters), until then it's just these races.

But that's the thing: you're calling them races. Consider whether they are or are not a race or if they're just a randomly-formed bundle of mutation powers.

You've got 4500 years+ (if the calendars are messed about with) to create a culture or explain why a group exists. This is important for more civilized local races, or for cities with dungeons under them, or what have you. Dwarves could easily have a culture.

However, most of what you're talking about (and what I think sets this setting apart) is that you DON'T have set races. You've got the potential with that on top of having set races.

You could have both: a small number of existent races (elves (maybe), dwarves (cause of the underground thing), tieflings, changelings; done!) and then either random mutations packages, or else have all the others just be options for mutations. No cultural information, no "they do this", as they're just humans who look funny.

Heck, even what the books I mentioned have: a table for random appearance changes that have zero mechanical effect.

I don't have 4e Gamma world, but that's another thing that could be helpful for the 4e games.

The members of the Void aren't outsiders, they're more like that third superpower that wants to wipe out the other two. But I do like that idea. I'll think on it.

Or something like the Void, I dunno. Not having a group of real "evil" in the setting is a weird place to cut back considering you need necromancers, cultists, alienists, etc. I mean, yes, there's the LvC focus, but why have the GvE axis at all if it doesn't have teeth?

Maybe Accord, Neutrals (the majority of who would be chaotic), and actively destructive chaos types? (anarchist's league?)

Thanks for the info! I thought about scrapping the alignment system for a factions system, but it would up making things a bit more confusing, and spells like protection from evil or lawful circle unusable. I'll try to clarify rules like that a bit more.

See, that's another thing: why cement yourself because of a few situational, and frankly forgettable spells? They're from the Michael Moorcock stories about Elric, and from a very hard-line part of the history of D&D. I don't know that they fit into a setting as imaginative and different as yours is/looks like it will be (ie: when you're done with it). If you feel they do, sure go for it. But ask yourself seriously if you need it, then if you want it anyway, and then if you think the setting should have it.


Language: No one cares. "Common" is English. If it isn't usable in play, it's extra time spent NOT roleplaying. In a world with flying islands and humans living around hungry, magical dragons/vampires/orcs/fiends/the Monster Manual, are we really getting hung up on the realism of English surviving? Maybe there was an order of militant psionic grammarians (the sisterhood of Mercury Grammarius) who grafted English onto the collective unconscious so they wouldn't have to drop their budget on updating new editions. There, done!


Okay, I'm going to finish some sci-fi stories and setting concepts I've been working on before I get wrapped up too far in your ideas. Post updates here, I'm interested! PM me if you feel like it!

 

[prosfilaes]

Language: No one cares. "Common" is English.

But Common is not English; it's Common. Getting languages quite right is not important, but painting a quick patina over it is important, at least for some of us. Anglic and Neo-Russian are not necessarily accurate, but it does take away the feeling of "why the heck are English and Russian still around?"

 

[fireinthedust]

But Common is not English; it's Common. Getting languages quite right is not important, but painting a quick patina over it is important, at least for some of us. Anglic and Neo-Russian are not necessarily accurate, but it does take away the feeling of "why the heck are English and Russian still around?"

There's two things going on here: 1) what is best for the setting, and 2) do we really think they'd speak English/anything

The argument above that no language lasts 4500 years... well, that doesn't really apply to us, now, does it? I mean, up until this last couple of centuries we've been in isolated communities. That's how multiple languages formed in the first place, not to mention dialects like those found all over Italy.

Now, otoh, we've got mass media and the internet. Everyone speaks English. The only thing that would stop that would be if the cataclysm/apocalypse destroyed the internet and all written language. If there were loads of books and no one stopped learning to read, AND all the source material was in English (ie: the USA) we'd have a good chance that English would still be around.

I dunno, maybe Common is Esperanto? No?

 

[Ixis]

[MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION]: A lot of your problems have already been solved with the revisions to the older chapters that I'm working on, and I've taken into account many of the suggestions people have given me about the setting.

For example, I do like the idea of having many languages, and at the time removing the older languages (elven, dwarven, etc) was appropriate I have since come up with languages unique to different regions of the world and the people who live there(north america, south america, the Netherlands, eastern Europe, western Europe, Africa, the middle east, Indochina, Australia and the pacific ocean). I've also changed the way people pick languages. Instead of every race having common and one other language tied to their race, it's everyone gets common and a second language tied to their background (for people who live in the flying islands and airships of the Pacific Ocean there's Polyphonics, if you're from the underground cities of Iceland you'd speak Schrappen Spraak, etc.) I felt that this approach made the languages different and unique, while making sense logically, and adding some weight and backstory to the history of the world. It also cements the theme that what separates people aren't the inherent natures of their physiology (elf vs troll, dwarf vs orc, etc) but their cultures and where they're from (north vs south, law vs chaos, etc.)

Moving on, to better explain what I mean by races or mutation you have to realize that it's not mutation in the Gamma World or Fallout sense, but mutation similar to Shadowrun or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If you mutate you gain the genetic traits of very specific aliens, and there's a reason for this that I (mistakenly) didn't put into the first pass of the setting. The reason the Galactic Accord is mutating the planet is because they're really terra-forming it, so the outcome needs to be amenable to alien life.

As for using "races" instead of just mutants or whatever, it's to keep the rules clear. All of the playable races except for humans are technically mutants, but for the sake of rule clarity I refer to them as races, since that's what they do. I could adopt Gamma World's rules on mutation, but it's a bit too random in my opinion, and more game-y.

As for GvE, I think it still works, but I went and clarified and changed a few things in the rules anyway. Normally the struggle is GvE, which makes me feel like Law and Chaos are just outliers that enhance Good and Evil. GoHyaku isn't just a setting where good guys fight evil guys (at least not on the surface.) The alignment system is something almost everybody has a problem with in one way or another, and most people choose to ignore it. I decided to challenge myself and make it so that alignment didn't feel like a hassle. Mechanically it has a lot of weight, but you aren't heavily tied to it, there's some leeway. It's also very obvious in regards to Law and Chaos as the two are more or less different sides of the same coin. You choose to be one side or another.

As for good and evil, I changed it so that evil was selfish, antithetical to society and, basically, evil; but I included the catch that someone can be evil without realizing it. Few people in the real world identify themselves as evil, and everyone is capable of evil acts, but what would happen if a power came about (detect alignment) in the real world that could arbitrate something like that? So hopefully you'll have bad guys who are purposefully evil and a lot of characters that may be doing more bad than good. And you're still free to have evil lich characters, necromancers and demon spawn that just want to watch the world burn. I think it's a great source of drama to include both in this distinction (especially because I like morally gray characters in my campaigns, and it helps outline some of the themes of the setting.)

I'd go into more detail on a lot of things but I feel I'm talking too much already, but I hope the changes will clarify some points or make the setting more interesting.

 

[fireinthedust]

Looking forward to seeing them. Keep up the great work!

 

[Ixis]

PDF version 0-2 is up on Dropbox!

Included in this version is all of the chapters from before, as well as Pathfinder class rules, 4E class rules, Mutation, Special Rules (traits, backgrounds, ougis), sample campaigns and an extras canon section.

The lore section has been changed with an added preface, the Tabernacle has adjusted descriptions know that make more sense, the Races section now has a whole page devoted to languages from around the world, the racial section has also been changed so that every race no longer has its own page, alignments have been clarified and changed a bit and various editing mistakes have been fixed.

Included in this version are the two additional classes specific to the version of the game you play. For Pathfinder GoHyaku campaigns there's the Factotum, a re-balanced class that's a helpful support unit that can prepare feats ahead of time as a wizard prepares spells. 4E campaigns have the Mimic, a class that steals spells and attacks (full rules not included as it needs some more testing.) Factotum could use some looking over, as we're very concerned that people will think it's broken, again. So please, break it and tell us how it can be broken so we can fix that!

The Underground section has also been expanded to include lore on the subterranean empire of Cailleach Moor. Thousands of years ago the people from Western Russia to Norway were frozen under a thick wall of ice by a pack of dragons, and have sinced carved out an amazing kingdom that threatens to take control of the entire underground.

Upcoming fixes:
- Expand Lore section to include more important locations (for example Zhonguro and the Gust Republic.)
- Add rules for the 4E class Mimic.
- Add more art
- Fix the table of contents to have actual pages and hyperlinks to those sections.
- Update the Pathfinder classes sections, in particular the divine classes that still have older and excessive information.
- Add more sample campaigns, specifically the Cailleach Postman campaign and Underground Empire Expansion.

 

[Ixis]

NEW UPDATE!!

This release includes two new classes unique to both Pathfinder and 4E. For Pathfinder there's a re-worked, re-balanced and more group friendly Factotum, and 4E has a weird Mimic class. Both of which are still in the planning phases and haven't been extensively playtested, but any advice on the classes, setting or anything is EXTREMELY appreciated. Seriously, don't be shy. I went to design school, I can take (and expect) criticism.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7wmzqitrycb67js/GHT_0-3.pdf

 

[Zireael]

I don't like sci-fi too much, but I'll definitely take a look, for I am intrigued!