Campaign Journal Entry:
Magic!
Okay, I've been watching Fullmetal Alchemist. Alchemy is the art of Transmuting one material or many materials into something. So, it's time to talk about the Magic in the Known Lands. How magic works in the campaign setting, and what classes it uses.
Well, it only makes sense to tell you that the d20 System has many different sorts of magic options that have been created by creatives in the past ten years. One of the best that came out of it was the Advanced d20 Magic system published by GoO in 2006. It uses the system in Sovereign Stone d20, but with different effects. Advanced d20 Magic takes the system deeper and adds an anime quality to it. Although there is a lot of math involved (anything better in Roleplaying games does involve a lot of math, people!), I love the system and I love how it works. So, on with the show!
Magic Theory in the Known Lands is a bastardization of Quantum Theory from Ancient Times. It's an application of the theory to produce desired effects. Sometimes, these things seemingly override the basic laws of Physics. Which is why it is called magic or Sorcery. A sorcerer: whether he'd be a Wizard, Necromancer, or Warlock; exerts his will over the Universe to create an effect. A priest does this as well to produce a miracle. Desire is key to produce a certain effect: whether it is a fireball, or a lightning bolt, or a healing miracle.
In the Known Lands, Arcanists are divided into three different classes: Wizard, Necromancer, and Warlock. At the other end (Divine Magic) priests are divided into three different classes: Cleric, Druid, and Shaman.
Q. What about psionics? I thought you loved psionics in D&D.
I do. I liked how they worked psionics! But the Advanced d20 Magic system and the way it treats spells makes the psionics system seem obsolete. Psionics is in the Known Lands, but can only be learned from Ancient Technology (i.e. the Atlantean Codex) or passed down through the generations from an ancestor who has learned from Ancient technology. Eventually, what is learned is bastardized back into Arcane and Divine theory. So, you can have a psionic character, but according to how I'm describing how magic works: Psionics is already in the equation. All psionics is about is exerting your desires on the Universe and making them manifest (hence, MANIFESTER class). Magic in the Known Lands works essentially the same way, but people believe it is magic, not science, that is at work here.
WIZARD
The wizard is a master at spellcasting different sorts of spells. A wizard is a generalist, able to speak arcane incantations to produce a desired effect. While the game system that the Known Lands uses is BESM d20, the Wizard class is described in Advanced d20 Magic and has conversions worked out for the BESM d20 rules right in the BESM d20 book.
Wizards in the Known Lands are given respect and honor. So, hence many people seek to become Wizards in the kingdom of Caithness and in the Hordelands. Many people give wizards a wide berth. This is because wizards can cast spells that both help and hinder people. They also use destructive, battle magic to terrible effect. Typically, for all the power they muster, its possible that they can be defeated as for all their power they are only one man and a full company of soldiers will eventually overpower a wizard.
Wizards are secretive, actually. They don't teach powerful secrets to just anyone. In Caithness, the power of the wizard is handed down from Master to apprentice, from teacher to pupil. The young apprentice is often taught from a young age how to master magic, since younger minds are much more impressionable in learning magic. The result is that wizards are few in number, and that the power they can command can be great indeed.
WARLOCK
Unlike the Warlock class in Complete Arcane and D&D 4th Edition (which is kept by a bunch of spoiled brats who live in Renton, Washington who don't want to share all their toys with us, the other children, because they happen to be special and say that it is their intellectual property), the Warlock comes from the World of Warcraft Roleplaying Game.
The Warlock is someone who traffics with demons and other beings from other planes, in an attempt to seek demonic power and other forbidden knowledge. The Warlocks of the Known Lands dabble in powers Wizards don't understand and thus their magic is forbidden. Unlike the Wizard, which has evolved from an incomplete understanding of Quantum Theory, the Warlock student learned his magic from demonic and devilish powers.
Warlocks first appeared in the Known Lands when the Orcs came to the Known Lands and fought the ancients with their demonic arcane power during the second Interstellar War. The warlocks were then organized, but since then they were defeated by the Ancients and their psions. As the years passed, Warlock magic became known to elves, humans, orcs, the undead, and gnomes alike.
Warlocks of the Known Lands understand, and use, dark magic. Their spells are much more destructive, more afflictive, and deals with controlling and enslaving demons. Often, warlocks are seen with a pet. Usually this is a demonic entity: an imp, a Void Walker, a succubus, and a fel hunter are the most often seen pets. Warlocks also have the power to summon a nightmarish Fel Steed from the outer planes, and can summon more powerful pets. The Warlock is a feared spellcaster, and they too, pass down their knowledge from Master to apprentice.
NECROMANCER
In all of the Known Lands, there is but one thing that is absolutely forbidden. That is the Transmutation of a human body. Such magic is forbidden since it dabbles with the cycle of Life. Necromancy, however, is the study of magic in the application of both Life and Death. Necromancers seek magic that animate, transmute, and control the dead. Above all else, this magic is absolutely FORBIDDEN!
But people try. While powerful psions Among the Ancients have been known to bring back the dead, Necromancy caused powerful problems in the History of the Known Lands. It brought down a powerful, Holy Empire; brought upset to the natural balance, and generally wrecked havoc. While Wizards are respected and Warlocks are tolerated in society, a known necromancer is often hunted down and burned at the stake. Still, the desperate often try. Necromancy lures people who are afraid, who have lost someone, and who are suffering from the death of a loved one into its grasp.
The magic of Necromancy has it's perils. While Warlocks may fall under demonic and devilish corruption, and Wizards bend the Universe to their will, Necromancy is a magic of give and take. When you use Necromancy, to give life you must give something up. When you animate the dead, you give a piece of your life force. When you transmute a human being to create life from its simple elements you give something up. Usually parts of your own body. Necromancers are slowly tainted by their magic. The life force they give to animate the dead slowly takes a toll on them. A being who is a necromancer slowly reveals his own soul: hollow eyes, pallid skin, foul odors, and so forth are the signs of a necromancer.
Showing posts with label Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journal. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Known Lands
Campaign Journal, Entry 2
Other Races
Other races in the Known Lands include:
Halflings (player) -- Another human genetic redesign -- although by natural forces. Halflings also come from another planet; but the planet they came from is a water world of Archipelagos and not continents. Evolution has created them over millions of years of natural selection. Most halflings are usually forward -- adopting human customs. Others cling to their tribal heritage.
Gnomes (player) -- Little space aliens that look human; the origin of the gnomes are unknown. They live longer than humans and thankfully; are a rare species.
Dwarves (player) -- Dwarves are also space aliens. They also look human, but their smaller, tougher frames and genetic differences fail to produce perfect offspring. Half dwarves and half humans are known as mulls (pronounced ˈmyül as in mule).
Goblins (non-player) -- Monstrous humanoid aliens also from another planet. The goblins are a defeated enemy of the Ancient civilization. Goblins in the Known Lands are the descendants of traitors and prisoners of war after the Second Interstellar War. Mostly a tribal society of primitives, most goblins retain an inherent genius for technology. Most people often don't realize that the goblins and their genius -- during the Second Interstellar War, the goblins were the leaders of the opposing civilization that fought the ancient humans and their allies.
Hobgoblins (non-player) -- Hobgoblins are genetic redesigns of goblins. The goblins created them to be the warrior caste (with the goblins being the science caste) of their original civilization. Bred for war and violence, the hobgoblins are a larger and human sized version of the goblin. They are warriors first and thinkers second. Although in the millions of years since the second Interstellar War, the hob-goblins live in isolated tribal societies and developed a culture built around honor. Hobgoblins are typically ruddy -- a reddish brown color offsetting the brownish green of the goblin.
Bugbears (non-player) -- Brutish goblin redesign, the bugbears are meant to be shock troopers; elite troops that were abandoned because of their ferocity. Bugbears still exist in the Known Lands, and are hard to deal with. An infestation of bugbears means violence in short order.
Ogres (Non-player) -- When the goblins conquered Archaeri and most of Outland, they found the Orcs. Using their weird science, the goblins managed to recreate humans from Orc DNA, and studied the orcs. Then they genetically redesigned a few of them to be even more primitive and monstrous. The result is the ogre, a human genetic redesign that incorporates goblin DNA with the human DNA. The goblins then enslaved the orcs, made them worship demons and turned them into a powerful force to use against their enemies: the Ancient humans.
Using "magic" the orcs and ogres were unleashed on the home planet of the Ancient humans; the Known Lands. The goblins were ultimately defeated in the Second Interstellar war, but ogres exist in the Known Lands. They are primitive, savage, backward, and dangerous. As a human genetic redesign, human and ogre relations do produce half-ogres.
Centaurs (non-player) -- Centaurs were allies to the humans during the First and Second Interstellar Wars and a colony was allowed to settle in the Known Lands. They aren't prolific, but Centaurs exist everywhere. Wemics were also allies, and have settled in southern lands among the black humans.
Draqons (Non-player) -- Dragons are the most powerful beings in the Known Lands. They are also the true inhabitants of the Known Lands. When the humans came, millions of years ago, the Dragons regarded them as a threat, but they were quickly defeated by their own disunity. There are three types of Dragons in the Known Lands:
Metallic Dragons include Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, Bronze, Mercury, and Steel. Metallic Dragons typically worship Bahamut, the good dragon god.
Gem Dragons include Amethyst, Sapphire, Emerald, Topaz, Ruby, and Crystal. They abandoned worship of a draconic god long ago and learned the Ancient physics of the humans. Applying human physics, they have developed psionic power.
Chromatic Dragons include Red, Green, White, Blue, and Black. The chromatic dragons typically worship Tiamat.
Next: Unusual Races -- will humans mate with anything?
Other Races
Other races in the Known Lands include:
Halflings (player) -- Another human genetic redesign -- although by natural forces. Halflings also come from another planet; but the planet they came from is a water world of Archipelagos and not continents. Evolution has created them over millions of years of natural selection. Most halflings are usually forward -- adopting human customs. Others cling to their tribal heritage.
Gnomes (player) -- Little space aliens that look human; the origin of the gnomes are unknown. They live longer than humans and thankfully; are a rare species.
Dwarves (player) -- Dwarves are also space aliens. They also look human, but their smaller, tougher frames and genetic differences fail to produce perfect offspring. Half dwarves and half humans are known as mulls (pronounced ˈmyül as in mule).
Goblins (non-player) -- Monstrous humanoid aliens also from another planet. The goblins are a defeated enemy of the Ancient civilization. Goblins in the Known Lands are the descendants of traitors and prisoners of war after the Second Interstellar War. Mostly a tribal society of primitives, most goblins retain an inherent genius for technology. Most people often don't realize that the goblins and their genius -- during the Second Interstellar War, the goblins were the leaders of the opposing civilization that fought the ancient humans and their allies.
Hobgoblins (non-player) -- Hobgoblins are genetic redesigns of goblins. The goblins created them to be the warrior caste (with the goblins being the science caste) of their original civilization. Bred for war and violence, the hobgoblins are a larger and human sized version of the goblin. They are warriors first and thinkers second. Although in the millions of years since the second Interstellar War, the hob-goblins live in isolated tribal societies and developed a culture built around honor. Hobgoblins are typically ruddy -- a reddish brown color offsetting the brownish green of the goblin.
Bugbears (non-player) -- Brutish goblin redesign, the bugbears are meant to be shock troopers; elite troops that were abandoned because of their ferocity. Bugbears still exist in the Known Lands, and are hard to deal with. An infestation of bugbears means violence in short order.
Ogres (Non-player) -- When the goblins conquered Archaeri and most of Outland, they found the Orcs. Using their weird science, the goblins managed to recreate humans from Orc DNA, and studied the orcs. Then they genetically redesigned a few of them to be even more primitive and monstrous. The result is the ogre, a human genetic redesign that incorporates goblin DNA with the human DNA. The goblins then enslaved the orcs, made them worship demons and turned them into a powerful force to use against their enemies: the Ancient humans.
Using "magic" the orcs and ogres were unleashed on the home planet of the Ancient humans; the Known Lands. The goblins were ultimately defeated in the Second Interstellar war, but ogres exist in the Known Lands. They are primitive, savage, backward, and dangerous. As a human genetic redesign, human and ogre relations do produce half-ogres.
Centaurs (non-player) -- Centaurs were allies to the humans during the First and Second Interstellar Wars and a colony was allowed to settle in the Known Lands. They aren't prolific, but Centaurs exist everywhere. Wemics were also allies, and have settled in southern lands among the black humans.
Draqons (Non-player) -- Dragons are the most powerful beings in the Known Lands. They are also the true inhabitants of the Known Lands. When the humans came, millions of years ago, the Dragons regarded them as a threat, but they were quickly defeated by their own disunity. There are three types of Dragons in the Known Lands:
Metallic Dragons include Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, Bronze, Mercury, and Steel. Metallic Dragons typically worship Bahamut, the good dragon god.
Gem Dragons include Amethyst, Sapphire, Emerald, Topaz, Ruby, and Crystal. They abandoned worship of a draconic god long ago and learned the Ancient physics of the humans. Applying human physics, they have developed psionic power.
Chromatic Dragons include Red, Green, White, Blue, and Black. The chromatic dragons typically worship Tiamat.
Next: Unusual Races -- will humans mate with anything?
The Known Lands
Campaign Journal, Entry 1When a DM sets about creating a homebrew campaign world, he often starts from scratch. World Building is the most sublime of expression of Art, more sublime than that of depicting the naked female human in sculpture or on canvas. World Building requires a knowledge of many disciplines: geography, geology, oceanography, biology, and even physics (Quantum Physics and Relativity along with classical physics).
So where does one begin? Returning to the known lands to reconfigure the world and to define it according to new knowledge is an important start. The first place one often begins, what system should the world be used in?
A good world builder would say: Any.
The Known Lands needs it's notebook: currently, my computer system is that notebook. :) An Apple Macintosh Macbook Pro serves as my DM's Notebook. So, again, lets start somewhere simple: the hook.
I imagine the Known Lands to be the legacy of an ancient, ultra technical civilization that seeded the planet. After the civilization had fallen, there was a long night and a long spring. A dark age where ancient secrets where lost and ancient science was transformed. The civilization has become absolutely mythical in its aspect. It leaves behind powerful artifacts of powerful technologies and it's scientific knowledge of physics has become bastardized into a theory of arcane and divine magic.
Now, it is millions of years later and the people have climbed out of the Long Night and slowly into a new age of Enlightenment.
Humans are the children, the true genetic legacy, of this ancient civilization. There are three "races" of humans: the White, the Yellow, and the Black. Black humans live in the southern reaches, yellow humans migrated to the Eastern lands, and the White live in the west. Occasionally, wars brought the races together; allowing for integration at times or cultural close proximity.
Elven Paladin by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART
Elves are a genetic redesign of the human for living on another world (this world is known as Arborea). Once called the Eladrin, the forebears of the elves were forced to flee to the Known Lands after Arborea was invaded by Mind Flayers during an Interstellar War between the Mind Flayers and the Ancients. Although the Ancients managed to defeat and destroy the Mind Flayers on Arborea, the Elves had decided to stay in the Known Lands and not return. Elven creation myths tell of the great egg which their Gods had sprang forth to populate the world (an ancient racial memory of what actually happened).
orcs by ~doriefs on deviantART
Orcs are also a genetic redesign of the human. The orcs were made for living on Outland and Archaeri. They are much more monstrous, having fangs and often look much more primitive -- hearkening back to Homo erectus. This is because while the Elves were developed by scientists who believed that the human form was the crowning achievement of Creation, the orcs were developed by scientists that believed in Darwinian evolution and thought a more primitive, monstrous form would survive the planets of Outland and Archaeri.
Orcs are mostly shamanistic but many groups worship demons and seek demonic power. The orcs returned to the Known Lands as a Legion during a second Interstellar War with a powerful enemy. Like the elves, the Orcs also have creation myths that revolve around an egg. But their mythological cycle, although peaceful, has recently included great violence and bloodshed.
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More Races -- >
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