Lac Bridgeon
| Time: | Non-Earth world |
|---|---|
| Genre: | D&D-esk Fantasy |
| Feeling: | Cultural clashes between four races |
| Tech: | Medieval |
| Magic: | You betcha! |
| Spirits: | Competing race-based pantheons |
| Sources: | D&D, DM of the Rings, the Red Box Hack, Carl Jung |
The four races are split between the four elements:
- Humans, Fire, Analyzers, swords
- Elves, Air, Intuiters, bows
- Dwarfs, Earth, Doers, tools as weapons
- Goblins, Water, Feelers, chains
The starting setting is centered around a mostly Human port city that sits between Elves in the West, and Dwarves in the East. It has a problem with Goblins in the sewers.
Tensions between the four races is high. They really don't understand each other very well -- or at all. Especially the cardinally aligned ones (Humans and Goblins, Elves and Dwarfs).
Moreso than any other fantasy setting, the player characters will be anomolies. They will actually get along with members of the other races in their party (to a certain extent). And so, these characters can be of any race. It would be coolest, however, to have at least one character from each race represented in the character's party.
I started this setting after reading some stuff on building campaign worlds for D&D. The central theme, of four cardinally-aligned races that, therefore, do not see eye-to-eye, could be dropped into any fantasy world. I sketched out a map of very small part of the world. What is outside of that is completely open to interpretation. In fact, much of the map can be filled-in as needed.
| Time: | Present Day |
|---|---|
| Genre: | 'Realistic' Super-heroes |
| Feeling: | Super Angst meets the Paparazzi |
| Tech: | Present-day |
| Magic: | Super-powers but no spell magic |
| Spirits: | Present-day, no direct power |
| Sources: | The Incredibles, The Specials, Heroes, The Tick, Mystery Men, Hancock, Wild Cards |
Starting about 6 months ago, people started manifesting super powers, most of the time in a pretty public way. All the people that manifested super powers were between the ages of 16 and 20. Maybe a couple of hundred people across the whole world were affected.
Characters are trapped between their personal desires for their powers and societal pressures.
I'm concerned with exploring the nature of fame when the famous can smack a photographer to the ground hardly without noticing. I want to look at governmental, police and other legal issues.
I figure in-game story telling about events in the world is probably the best way to fill out this setting. We all know about the world right now and are quite capable of guessing how various factions will react to the presence of super-powered humans.
| Time: | Near Future, parallel universe |
|---|---|
| Genre: | "Low-Tech" Science Fiction |
| Feeling: | British Imperials in Space |
| Tech: | All "future" technology was found, not discovered |
| Magic: | Psionics |
| Spirits: | Weird, Ancient and Alien |
| Sources: | Classic Traveller RPG, The East India Company, The World of Null A, but with a bit more pulpy flair |
In 1869, a British trading expedition in India discovered an intact space craft. The craft was claimed by the East India Company and returned to London for study. Due to the presence of a "Matter Transmogrifier" on the ship, the process of studying the craft's secrets was greatly sped up.
After winning the Great War in 1914, pretty much single-handedly, the East India Company took control of most of southern Germany as partial payment for their efforts. When they turned their attention to interstellar colonization and exploitation, they changed their name to the Whole Ether Company.
They were forcibly driven off Earth when the Americans nuked the WEC spaceport near Stuttgart in 1938. The WEC retaliated by dropping asteroids on the East coast of the US.
At the start of the game, the WEC has three colonies, Avalon (known for its huge trees), New Manchester (known for its mineral-rich mountains) and New Wales (known for its rolling fertile fields).
The characters will be explorers, trying to fill in the gaps in the WEC's stellar maps. They will meet and greet all sorts of alien creatures, people and architecture as they jaunt across the galaxy.
I've been rolling this setting around in my mind for more than a dozen years. I remember riffing on the setting with Myron an age ago. I was focused on where the British were going and he wanted to explore the damage to the Eastern seaboard of the US. There are a lot of open areas, even though the thread I've followed (how humans got into space) may not be the most flexible.
| Time: | Far Future |
|---|---|
| Genre: | "Low-Tech" Science Fiction |
| Feeling: | Making ends meet on the fringes of a massive Interstellar Empire |
| Tech: | Restricted List of Future Technology |
| Magic: | Psionics? |
| Spirits: | None |
| Sources: | Classic Traveller RPG, Battlestar Galactica (2003), The Foundation series, Larry Niven's Future History |
| Rules: | http://www.phreeow.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Spirit+of+the+Far+Future |
Humanity has spread throughout a fair swath of the galaxy. It has joined into many Empires that have fallen and reformed, over and over. Currently, the Imperium controls some 2/3rds of known space. Two other human empires stand in opposition, the Vilani (declining) and the Zhodani (rising). There are several non-human empires on the fringe of the Imperium (Aslan, Hivers, Centaurs and Vargr), as well as a number of minor intelligent races.
The traditional place to adventure is on the fringes of the Imperium, where the Imperium is still expanding.
The Imperium (and her neighbours) require each citizen to serve in an Imperial agency (Armed Forces, Merchant Fleets, etc.) for a minimum of 4 years. Classic character generation walks each character through 4 or more years of service to the Imperium (or equivalent). Once the characters muster out of their service, they join up and adventure together. I'm sure we can make that more compelling!
The history of the setting is quite well established. However, the details are completely open, especially on the edges of the Imperium. I figure players will be free to create whole worlds, as well as riff on stories about events in the area.
