[Points of Light Setting] The Residuum Must Flow (updated 6/24)

[clark411]

If it will be anything like Dune, there will be a lot of political intrigue and espionage going on. Plans within plans within plans

Put in some active feuds between families. Ooh, and offcourse some factions need hidden alterior motives, such as the church having a breeding program to make their own god or demi god

Hm... I thought I had done so.

"The Noble Houses
The Noble Houses of the Empire are tasked with mining residuum and showing loyalty to the Emperor by offering a portion of their income to the Imperial Family each season. The Noble Houses compete with each other, typically indirectly, through production quotas and pulling the strings of other institutions, such as the churches, arcane orders, and the Forging Guild of Meridia, with donations and trade agreements which are all fueled with residuum.

The Noble Houses must carefully balance their mining operations, their military forces, their relationships with the Imperial Throne and the various Guilds, and the development of their holdings. The political machinations of the Houses are the stuff of legend, and more recently, the stuff of popular plays and songs. While any House may have a grievance with any other House, and there are no Houses that do not have at least one grievance, blood feud, or reason to hate one or more other Houses, these grievances are openly dealt with only very rarely. Intrigue, assassination, and sabotage are the weapons of the Noble Houses; to openly wage war with another Imperial House may come with serious consequences, perhaps the most important of these being the favor owed to the Imperial Throne, and the need for exoneration in the eyes of the other Houses (or at least those that matter to the offending House)."

Are you asking more for the development of the actual Houses with names and a more clearly defined list of bloodfeuds? I can do that.

 

[Hokahej]

I really like this, it's a great setting for a campaign full of intrigue.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I liked what I read.

But anyway, a nitpick: It doesn't feel entirely like a "Points of Light" setting. There seems to be a lot of light with those Noble Houses and a working Empire. Even if peasants don't benefit directly, it seems as the amounts of money and military might available can still keep them safe.

Of course, that's immaterial to the quality of the setting. I would just not describe it as "Points of Light".

 

[Safari]

Hm... I thought I had done so.

"The Noble Houses
The Noble Houses of the Empire are tasked with mining residuum and showing loyalty to the Emperor by offering a portion of their income to the Imperial Family each season. The Noble Houses compete with each other, typically indirectly, through production quotas and pulling the strings of other institutions, such as the churches, arcane orders, and the Forging Guild of Meridia, with donations and trade agreements which are all fueled with residuum.

The Noble Houses must carefully balance their mining operations, their military forces, their relationships with the Imperial Throne and the various Guilds, and the development of their holdings. The political machinations of the Houses are the stuff of legend, and more recently, the stuff of popular plays and songs. While any House may have a grievance with any other House, and there are no Houses that do not have at least one grievance, blood feud, or reason to hate one or more other Houses, these grievances are openly dealt with only very rarely. Intrigue, assassination, and sabotage are the weapons of the Noble Houses; to openly wage war with another Imperial House may come with serious consequences, perhaps the most important of these being the favor owed to the Imperial Throne, and the need for exoneration in the eyes of the other Houses (or at least those that matter to the offending House)."

Aah, you're absolutely right. I'll read more carefully next time. I would also stress the danger of mining and transporting this residuum. Maybe it attracts the attention of Dragon's or burrowing monster's. And if it's of such great worth, there will offcourse be organized raids on the Skyship's.

 

[clark411]

I liked what I read.

But anyway, a nitpick: It doesn't feel entirely like a "Points of Light" setting. There seems to be a lot of light with those Noble Houses and a working Empire. Even if peasants don't benefit directly, it seems as the amounts of money and military might available can still keep them safe.

Of course, that's immaterial to the quality of the setting. I would just not describe it as "Points of Light".

Aww. What if I said the holdings are hundreds of leagues apart from each other? What if I said that villages were dozens of miles from the holdings, and that they're completely on their own in the wilderness? That a Noble House would not spare a military force to save a town if it meant taking those men off of protecting House assets? What if I said the Empire isn't as bright as it seems, because its forces don't handle wilderness at all?

This was as much an attempt on my part to not let "points of light" translate to "dark ages after the fall of Rom- Nerath" so I have to work to make it come across as "pol."

 

[77IM]

I like it! Great minds must think alike, as this is somewhat similar to my 3e setting (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=221815), which was also inspired, in part, by Dune. The major thematic difference is that my setting is specifically the opposite of points of light -- I was trying to build a very urban, political-intrigue oriented setting instead.

I very much like your idea that the Empire is so large that its own internal territory isn't fully explored, yet they still have overland transport in the form of airships. It produces a legitimate reason to include airships in the setting, and also provides a very nice contrast between the city-states and the surrounding monster-filed wilderness. I would imagine the villagers in such a situation view the wilderness with much superstition ("If the goblins don't get you, the fey will!").

I also like how you worked Warforged into the setting, although I'm not sure where the other PHB races fit in. Maybe they exist in the wilderness -- points of light forming their own sovereign realm intertwined with the human Empire, but not powerful enough to contend with it, or wealthy enough to be worth conquering. This could help give non-human races a more exotic, otherworldly feel, less like humans-in-funny-suits. Maybe the setting has no Feywild -- instead, the remotest parts of the wilderness are the most magical. Maybe, the lodestones draw residuum from the surrounding area, so fantastic beasts and bizarre terrain are much more likely deeper in the wild. Anyway, these are just some random thoughts I just had.

-- 77IM

 

[Terwox]

This sounds rad... and I always thought Dune was a bit lame!

 

[ThunderYak]

Good stuff. Great stuff! I love this.

I'm going to present this idea to some friends and see what they think. Great write-up. I appreciate the amount of work you put into your presentation as well.

You get four Groovy points!

 

[clark411]

Good stuff. Great stuff! I love this.

I'm going to present this idea to some friends and see what they think. Great write-up. I appreciate the amount of work you put into your presentation as well.

You get four Groovy points!

Awesome- and welcome to the boards =D

 

[doseyclwn]

Hey Clark411

Email me at dosey69@aol.com. I'd love to hear more about what you're doing with this idea. I'm gonna do something similar, but I plan to steal a lot from you (tee hee). Hit me up.