Game setting

[Frogknight]

What I have here is lots of random background info that I like typing up, and I was hoping people would help me out by commenting on it, to clarify the world, as all it is now is around four pages of seemingly random notes.

No swords campaign setting
Swords are very rare...
WHY?
   1) The Galrin (Dark) Plague wiped out most of the Swordmaker family. They were the only ones who could make proper swords from Ularion metal. Swords made by the Swordmaker family are very powerful.
   2) After the asencion of the Mage-King Wilde, and the raising of the Rarin (Light) Wall to keep out the Hordes, Ularion metal became very scarce. The Hordes occupied the land of the greatest Ularion mines, and with the barrier, none could get through to access the metal.

WHAT NOW?
   1) Swords are a symbol of great respect and accomplishment.
   WHY?
      1) Swords are very expensive to make ( as there are only a few Swordmakers alive) .
      2) Ularion metal must be fetched by the person who wants the blade (traditionally), and that means traveling beyond Gyrarin ( The Light Wall). Strong warriors can now travel beyond Gyrarin with the aid of a Tyrarin (Light Medallion). The Tyrarin allows them to pass beyond Gyrarin and quest for Ularion metals.

   There are ways of course, around the traditions of the swords. Hiring Galrin scum to search the Hordelands for you is one option. You can also hire Galrin Knights, who are slightly more classy. To be considered a "Knight" rather than scum, you must take direct orders from one who weilds a sword. Hiring of Galrin of any kind is a crime in more traditional locales (usually those closest to the Hordelands) and looked over in large and liberal cities.

   Rarin Knights are those who hunt down the Galrin. As you can see by their title, you may only be a Rarinu if you are accepted and subordinate to a Sword Weilder. Fanatic Rarinu go very far in their hunt, and their punishments of traitors to the Tradition.

   Magic is hard to use because of the Gyrarin. Everyone is now exposed to Magic and effects the Mana Stream and is tied into it. This has a two-prong effect:
First, because the Mana Stream has a will, and everyone is tied into it, people can be manipulated by its power.

Second, it is harder to disrupt the Mana Stream because so many people are anchored to it. Thus, any spell caster of any kind must make an appropriate check on his magic-casting or wisdom like-skill or have his spell fizzle.

-Adventures-
-Generic Missions-
PC's are hired to help a group of fanatical Rarinu to hunt down some destructive Galrinan. They have a charter from the Greater Rarinu of the district to basically do whatever they please....How far will they go before the Pcs must intercede?


PC's have to make contacts in a city and gain false charters to supply a unit of Galrinan with the means to get to a village near Gyrarin.

PCs are hired to find a map/route to bypass a Rarinu camp for a company of Galrinan.

PCs are hired by historain/aspiring historian to find documents pertaining to the nature of the Mana-Stream.

Pcs are hired to protect a town from a Galrinan/Rarinu battle. Alternativley, the Pcs help the town get ready to support  the side they favor.

Pcs help someone acquire a sword for political purposes.

-Campaign-Esque adventures-
Cloaked warriors appear in the land who weild True Swords. Some say they are heralds of Rar, others say they are Hordelings who have found the power of Ularion metal and have cloaked themselves with Galinith. (Dark Magic). They are said to be nigh unkillable....

There is a warrior of rumor who weilds two hand axes. He is said to be so skillful as to kill a Sword Weilder, not just that, but a Rarinu Captain, no less. His friendship or his head could both be valuable.

The Elves are long dead, but in the ruins of their great manors, just beyond Gyrarin, there is said to lie a treasure that could wipe out the Hordelings or the Rar-folk forever.
   
MISC NOTES
In the far east of Rar-land the city of Artuk (The Golden City) is the only city with a non-land based transport systems. From all across the world fly in the majestic air-ships of Queen Helya. Acquiring passage on these ships is almost impossible except for those who have a LOT of money. The Helyan airships are the only way to get past the Hordelands without actually fighting your way through them. The Helflyers (term for Helyan airships) are well gaurded by the Helyan Air Guard, the infantry division of the Helyan Air Forces. Those who can acutally battle in the skies are Helyan Air Enforcers broken into two categories, Helyan Leapers, fearless men and women trained to jump from airship to airship, or fight on the rails and such and the Helyan Warrior-Engineers who understand air dynamics and run the cannons. There are other airships, but most of them are pirate airships, usually dubbed tarks, but the pirates call their ships airbeasts.

The language of the Rar-folk is Erar-ten in their own language but in the most common language (High Helyan)  it is called Urton.

Outside the Hordelands there are plenty of Ularion mines, and all regions have their own branch of the Swordmaker family.

Magic functions normally outside the Gyrarin.

Magic-users who did not grow up( appoximately 5+ years before the age of thirteen) within 10 miles of the Gyrarin will not be able to cast spells for the first week they are within it b/c of the magic drain of the Gyrarin. After that they ALWAYS make the appropriate magic check with a  very minor penalty.

Far in the east, Queen Helya has a hushed-up project digging up old artifacts. People say that that's where she found the science neccesary to build the Helflyers. Supposedly a great thief stole the book/scroll/ or technology and replicated it to be sold on the blackmarket and thus the tarks. He is said to still be around.

Some of the greatest weapon masters in the world live in the deep forests in the very southern tip of Rarland. No one is really sure how many Masters live there.

Queen Helya's younger brother was disgusted with his sisters bureaucracy and political games so he ran away. He knows incriminating things about the Queen so she labeled him a Galrin even though he is not. He has the largest bounty on his head of any man in the Queens Provinces. He is recruiting a small army of the best and most noble warriors he can find, and he has about twelve right now. His name was Hardunelgil (Noblest White Knight) but after his escape and bounty he changed it to Dendunjo (Noble Dark Name)

Dendunjo's (also: Denjo's) second in command is Kwinkar (Flightless Bird), a penguin-like demi-human who is the most dangerous creature alive with a  broadsword. Denjo specializes in many different weapons, and uses whatever strikes his fancy.

Another of Denjo's closest Giljo's (Hardunelgil's knights) is a human from far west named Ged Markswift and he weilds dual hand axes and numerous throwing hatchets.

Most of the fresh water-ways outside within Rarland are inhabited by an intelligent bipedal species of otter. Each holt has a section of waterway about ten miles long and generally two to three miles between holt territory. The otters are called Tylven (literally water birds), and their holt leaders are generally young bucks who lead with strength, intelligence and cunning. The leaders are called Tylvinu or Water Knights. The Tylven generally get along well with humans, but generally dislike those of exemplorary status in a Helyan institution as the Queen has a number of beds decorated with Tylven furred blankets, and that is a profitable, if rare business in large Helyan cities disregarding Rar-cities as they have formed if not friendship a level of respect for the Tylven.

Gaulnu is looking for a capable Tylvinu to add to his ranks.
In the penguin north, there is a large following of the wind god Hwurnan. Followers of Hwurnan find the Helflyers to be blasphemy because Queen Helya rides the winds with her airships but does not worship or acknowledge Hwurnan. Radical Hwurna's are rumored to be saving up to buy  a tark, and convert it to a battle airship to fight the Helflyers, and bring them down. Many more tolerant Hwurna's view them as insane, and bringing a bad name to Hwurnan. However, this airship would have to be the best with the best crew, to be able to combat the fleets of Queen Helya.

The best airship engineer in the world is descendant from the builder of the first airship, his name is Tirtu Hwurxal (Tirtu Windship).

The best pilot of an airship is rumored to be an air-pirate who flys the mysterious Black Tarkin, the fastest airship ever built. His name is Hargu (White Rogue) Vinver.

The best war-engineer for an airship is currently in the employment of the Queen, running the cannons of her flagship, the Imperial Dragon-Hunter.

North of the Helyan provinces is the country of Lasalga (Country of the Prevailing Light). This country is populated mostly by warriors who weild blunt weapons to fight the undead of the necromancers that travel and live there. Underneath Lasalgan soil are many gems of artifacts useful to necromancers most likely left over from when Lasalga was the home of the Seven Necromancer Lords who gained much power from the Ghe Portal that used to be there. The Ghe was magical portal from this world to the Other World, where monsters, and magic were born. It was closed by a mortal Paladin who used the blood of the Seven Necromancer Lords to complete the binding spell. No one living knows how to break the spell. Aspiring and powerful necromancers alike travel there to retrieve the artifacts. With them comes the undead, and many powerful necromancers have set up small forts and hideouts in the ruins of the Seven Towers.

Lasalga is also the only place to find the illustrious true dragons. Dragons live in the mountains in the most norther part of Lasalga, although some argue that Lasalga ends at the mountains and there begins Wherulnin (The Land of Complete Darkeness). There reside the dragons of the old tales. There are precious few who have slain dragons but those who have are called the Dracut (Dragon Knights) who are called when in dire need to fight the necromancers.Many live as hermits in the Lasalgan wilderness (the Expanse) hunting the undead and their dark masters.

There are currently four Dracinu living. They say the blood of seven Dracinu and the apporpriate spell might open the Ghe again...this would unleash Ura (Chaos) on the world, which would end the life of those who hadn't commited to the Dark Arts.

In the eastern excavation mentioned earlier, Queen Helya has uncovered many new artifacts and trained a select few in their use. Ulinn Darkbough was trained in the use of the Denen (Without Name, word uses for mechanical artifacts) Sword, a deadly weapon. Darkbough soon dissapeared, some say to the personal bodygaurd of the Queen. Also, Qin Yulo was trained in the art of the Denen Oulur (a gun), which could be loaded with magical gems called Denen crystals. These crystals would power the Denen Oulur, allowing it to throw magical projectiles long distances in a straight line, for a duration based on the size of the crystal.

There is a great abundance of Denen crystals in the southern hills, but the hills are gaurded by the vicious Pvellal, a great beast of the days of the open Ghe. Slaying him is thought to be impossible because the last sage of the Khanhen, Pvilel died recently. Queen Helya is trying to contact him magically but failing because of the barriers of the mage Articisooz, whom Pvilel ordered to raise the barriers to magical contact to allow him to rest in peace.

[clehrich]

Okay, let me ask some generic questions:

1. Is the point here to explore the setting, to beat down obstacles, or to examine some sort of deeper human question?  It sounds like the first of these, but I'm not sure.

2. Have you thought much about mechanics?  Do you know what they emphasize?

3. Do you have some sort of big plot or story running, into which the characters will be projected, or is it more open-ended?

Thus far, it seems to me that what this game lacks is a focal point.  You have a nice complicated background, with lots of little messy bits, and you could take that in all sorts of directions.  But without knowing clearly where you want to take things in terms of gameplay, it's hard to know how to tinker with the setting.

Before going on, let me make one thing very clear: in these questions I've listed, please don't think that I prefer one choice over another.  For example, a "kill monsters and get treasure" game can be a blast, if well done; I don't see that as a bad thing.  Similarly, I personally am not a fan of the "big story" sort of game, a la Werewolf to take an extreme example, but there's nothing wrong with them in principle -- I just have my personal preferences.

Okay, so anyway, the question here is focus.

Let's suppose that the real focus here is pure exploration.  You've got a complicated world, and you want players to dive in and make something exciting out of it.  Okay?  The classic problem there is going to be convincing your players that they too like the setting, and also that they have enough control over it that they can make up their own stories without constantly feeling that they're treading on your creative toes.

If the focus is beating obstacles of some kind, you can make the world tight and rigid, because the focus of player interaction with the world will not alter the world itself.  What you then need is a really fun way of dealing with obstacles: a great combat mechanic, for example, or a cool magic system, or whatever.  The Riddle of Steel is a great example of this (although it has lots of other bits): the focus, ultimately, is on fighting, and the combat system is terrific.

If the focus is on some sort of deeper human problem, what is it?  How are you going to provoke your players to deal with it?

Just some starting questions.

For the record, I happen to like this sort of world.  In particular, I like airships whenever possible.  Are they gas-bags, or are they ships that fly?

See, if it were me, I'd make the characters an airship crew.  They drift around and do what they like, explore the world, get into trouble, and so on, and they have to live in very close quarters.  Then I'd make sure that they have all sorts of personal conflicts with each other, and have to deal with them at the same time as they try to make their contracts or whatever.  But of course, that depends significantly on the fact that I like airships.  I really like airships.

One thing I would definitely recommend, although some may disagree here.  I think that a game like this, if I read it right, will be a lot more fun if the characters are constantly interacting in a not-terribly-cooperative fashion.  As my old college group would put it, they shouldn't all get along because they have "PC" stamped on their foreheads.  So long as you have good external reasons that they can't just take off and split up as a group, you want the focus to be on their dealing with each other.  Then their interaction with the world becomes context for their personal relations.

Oh --- and welcome to the Forge!

[Frogknight]

To answer your main questions:
1) Yes, its mainly a "beat-down".
2) Honestly, I like designing the setting first, since that's what I enjoy
most. However, I know how I want most fights to work, if you've ever seen
an anime, there are certain fights in which two characters will have drawn
swords facing each other. Then in the course of about three frames, one will
end up directly behind the other, and the latter will collapse. This is how I
want combat to feel. Not neccesarily end fast, but feel like the action takes
place at breakneck speed. Other mechanics I'm not sure about, but it may help
that I'm building a FUDGE adaptation of Tri-Stat dX (BESM but better) for
the mechanics. I can't tell you exactly how its going to work, so hopefully
that will give people a decent idea of what its about.

It's interesting that you bring up a "focus" because I'm trying to design a
dynamic world that will allow my players to do what they want. There are two
reasons for this, One, I don't know who will eventually end up playing this so
I have to cover most player preferences and Two, certain players like REALLY
open-ended games where they can do whatever they want. These are the
computer role-players who live off Diablo and Baldurs Gate. That means when
they trade off graphics, the computer doing damage rolls, and good music for
some pencils, papers, and character sheets, they want what those games cant
provide, TRUE choice of action, and they want it in loads enough to make a semi
sag.

The airships are gas-bags with many propellers protudruding. There are many
different designs, think Miyazaki on this one (Castle in the Sky: Laputa). I like the airship
idea, but I can't really tie myself down to any campaign or adventures or even scenario
till I found out whos playing this. If one player HAS to fight the necromancers in Lasalga
as a soldier from one of the Lasalgan cities, there's not a good explanation for
airships. Also, some of my regular players may be interested in the more obscure,
frex, playing a Tylven otter-folk from the Rar-land. I've beefed up the setting enough
to allow my players a lot of head room for creativity and have thus left myself in a
bad position for pre-creating scenarios. Thus, my request to the great people on The Forge, to help me think through things like this. I really appreciate your post Chris,  I'm sure reading all my random material (or even half of it) couldn't have been the most exhilirating part of your day, and I really appreciate your input.

Speaking of your input, you made me realize I had no combat system, but a fairly defined way I want combat to work. Does anyone have any advice on how to Fudge my battle concept? I personally hate the combat that comes with the rules.

[Frogknight]

Here is the combat system I have built so far: even though it is in its infancy.

The attacking player rolls 4dF (four six-sided dice, with two sides labeled with "+", two with "-" and two blank. Used for FUDGE)

+ Represents a high attack
Blank Represents a middle attack
- Represents a low attack
(These are in terms of height)

The defender then rolls 4dF and they compare. Each pair of dice that have matching symbols are removed. Whatever is left "goes through" to damage, with the damage based on the weapon and the height of the attack (weapons will cause more or less damage based on height). The attacker will gain preference during the transaction, I think he will automatically gain one hit of the lowest damge for the weapon. Nothing is set in stone, please comment.

[hanschristianandersen]

Senor Frogknight,

I think you should take a good long look at The Riddle Of Steel, not really because I believe that you should use it for your game, but because it has a lot of great mechanics for accomplishing some of stylistic conventions that you noted.

I know how I want most fights to work, if you've ever seen
an anime, there are certain fights in which two characters will have drawn
swords facing each other. Then in the course of about three frames, one will end up directly behind the other, and the latter will collapse. This is how I want combat to feel. Not neccesarily end fast, but feel like the action takes place at breakneck speed.

I encourage you to take a look at TRoS' initiative system - in a nutshell, when two characters face off, each drops either a white or red die - red means "attacking", white means "defending"; if both drop white, it means the foes warily circle each other, neither committing to the attack.  If both drop red, they attack simultaneously, in the same heartbeat.

In practice, this leads to very tense buildups, as neither side wants to commit blindly to the attack, and then in the blink of an eye it's over.

(Legend of the Five Rings had an "Iaijutsu Duel" system that tried to accomplish this same thing, though I don't recall liking it as much in practice.)

That means when they trade off graphics, the computer doing damage rolls, and good music for some pencils, papers, and character sheets, they want what those games cant provide, TRUE choice of action, and they want it in loads...

TRoS' Spiritual Attributes can go a long way towards letting "ordinary" characters do "extraordinary" things, through sheer strength of conviction.  You cited Miyazaki as an inspiration, and a great many of Miyazaki's heroes and heroines fall into that mould.  SA's are a great framework for allowing players to not only have choice of action, but to be competent protagonists at whatever causes they set their minds to.

[Sydney Freedberg]

Swords are very rare…WHY?

I hate to say it, but you never answered this question -- which is quite literally the first thing you say about your world.

Setting aside the plausibility problems within the world you've imagined (e.g. why can't anyone make swords out of iron like regular Earth people? Especially when at least some of them have the teechnology to make freakin' airships?), there's a basic question of your intent as the author: why do YOU want a world where swords are very rare? What exactly does that achieve?

I get the sense you want characters to go on all sorts of quests to get these rare and amazing swords, but I see no reason you need to make swords as such rare: just make superpowered swords rare.

In any case, the concept seems to boil down to, "we go on quests to get swords so we can kick butt (possibly while flying in cool airships), while dealing with other people who have swords and can kick our butts." I mean, nobody here is exactly Tolkein, myself included, but still, I bet you can come up with a more gripping premise for adventure than that.

So again I ask: why is it so important that swords be rare?

[Frogknight]

I will be posting an updated combat system soon, although I haven't read the Riddle of Steel combat rules yet. The new post will actually have two systems, one for longer duels, and one for dispatching huge numbers of henchmen.

But to answer your question, here are my out of game reasons for having swords being rare. First of all, they're only rare in the Rar-land, the place within the Light Wall. Outside of said Light Wall swords can be found more commonly. But here's why they're rare
1)  Rare swords allow them to be viewed as social badges, people with swords get that "uber-cool feeling"
2) Rare swords let my players feel uber cool when they get one.
3) I'm really tired of rare/valuable weapons=magic weapons, so I decided to take a weapon everyone takes for granted and make it rare and valuable even with out a "+3" stuck on the end.
4) I personally like the idea of adventures involving fighting and searching for swords in the Hordelands, it gives a hack-and-slash aspect to the game when you don't feel like political intrigue.
5) Rare swords add to the political elements of Rar-land, as it pits the Galrin against the Rarin, perfect for players who want to join fanatic factions (my players enjoy this).

You asked why it couldn't just be made of iron, especially when they have the technology for airships, remember the airships aren't built in the Rar-land, and outside the Rar-land there's plenty of Ularion metal. But that aside, I never said Ularion metal was different than iron, I just named it. I know that it appears misleading, but that wasn't my intention. I just sit down and write.

[Frogknight]

First off, as a intro to my system there are six stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. They are rated on the adjective scale of FUDGE, which is Terrible, Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good, Great, Superb, Legendary, Legendary+1,.... However, none of my characters will have legendary stats for a while. The skills are ranked in the same way, and players pretty much make up their own, though they will probably draw most from FUDGE, BDSM, and d20. Gifts from FUDGE are also used, which basically represent skills or attributes that can't be rated, either you have it or you don't. This is highly personal, for some GM's you either have night-vision or you don't and for others, you can have Fair night-vision or Great night-vision. Then there are Faults, these are disadvantages added to increas role-playing, and in exchange for taking Faults, you can also add attributes/skills/gifts.

Duels
Duels are drawn out battles between important characters. When fighting hordes of nameless underlings, an extensive combat system isn't needed, but fighting important characters should feel different, as it does in any story be it from a book, movie or any other kind of story-telling device. Thus there is one game, two systems, for my combat

Initiative is done Riddle of Steel style, although I have yet to read the book. Dropping a white dice indicates defense and red indicates attack. If both drop white, nothing happens. When one drops red and the other white, the one who is attacking rolls 4dF (see my previous post for explanation). Each "+" is an attack aimed high, each blank is an attack aimed midsection and every "-" is an attack aimed low. The defender rolls the most appropriate skill related to defense. 4dF is rolled, and results in an increase or decrease in the stat (rolling a plus raises it one level and rolling a minus lowers it a level, blanks do nothing), the GM decides how many attacks the modified stat can parry, dodge, whatever, and that many hits are subtracted (player choice). The remaining hits score damage. If both drop red, then both roll 4dF and like symbols are removed (frex, a plus and a plus cancel out). This represents the characters weapons clashing as they attempt to strike eachother. The remaining symbols deal damage.

Battles
Battles are used for unimportant fights against underlings.

Players always go first in battles unless they are caught off-guard. Players roll their appropriate combat skill or default to Poor Fighting. Players roll 4dF and modify their stat,  the enemy dies if the roll is equal to or greater than their Fight Stat (rated on the FUDGE adjective scale). The player can follow-through and attack again IF they hit AND if they make a Dex roll at -2 (penalty). However if players have a somewhat appropriate skill for a follow-through, they can use that at -1, and if they have a very appropriate skill (Fight Many Enemies) then they can roll that at normal stat levels. You can target a group of enemies by taking the strongest enemy, and their Fight Stat and add +1 for every other person in the group, but the stat is an additional +1 per group member beyond one if you don't have a stat similar to Fight Many Enemies. If you do, you can add your levels in that (levels above the default, which in my campaign is Terrible) to the roll. Frex, White Knight Mek is fighting three airship pirates. He decides to target all three. They all have the same Fight Stat of Fair. Fair, plus one for each of the two pirates leads to a Fight Stat of Great. Normally that would be modified to Legendary Fight Stat because of the two extra group members, but Mek has the Fight Many Enemies skill at Mediocre, which defaults to Terrible, which means he has two extra levels. He adds these levels to his sword skill (Good) which brings him up to Superb sword skill. So here is the final situation, Mek will target three pirates with a total fight stat of Great, with Superb sword skill. He will roll 4dF and if the modified stat is equal to or greater than Great, they will meet a quick death at the blade of his sword.

If you miss or fail to kill someone in a battle, it is then their turn, they roll their Fight Stat against the characters applicable defense skill and if they roll equal to or higher they deal damage equal to their damage stat.

[Frogknight]

Here is the full character sheet for White Knight Mek in case anyone was interested. It should give you and idea of what kind of skills/ gifts/ faults I imagine will be used. The letters next to the skills represent how difficult the skill is to learn. M is medium difficulty, H is hard and VH is Very Hard. M skills default to Poor (thats what they are assumed to be if they're not listed and thus spending one free skill level raises it to Mediocre), H defaults to Terrible and thus one free skill level raises it to Poor and VH skills can't be used if you don't have levels in them, and one free skill level raises it to Terrible.

White Knight Mek
HP: 10
Attributes (4 free, 5 taken, balanced by skill)
Str   Fair
Dex   Superb(3)
Con   Fair
Int   Fair
Wis   Good(1)
Cha   Good(1)

Skills (50 free, 47 taken, 3 to balance attribute)
Deflect Missiles   Fair(4) VH
Quick Draw   Great (5) H
Lightning Strike   Superb(5) M
Multiple Attacks   Good (4) H
Fight Many Enemies   Mediocre (2) H
Sword      Good (3) M
Flute      Good (3) M
Impart Wisdom   Fair (2) M
Travel Fast on Foot   Good (3) M
Parry      Great (4) M
Helflyer Leap   Good (5) VH
Urton (Rar-tongue)   Mediocre (2) H
Etiquette      Good (3) M
Leadership   Mediocre (1) M
Camping      Mediocre (1) M

Gifts (0 Free, 4 taken balanced by faults)
Receive Charity
Quick Reflexes
Be where he needs to be
Percieve Situation

Faults (0 required, 4 taken to balance gifts)
Bound by White Knight code of ethics
Must obey superior White Knights
Humanitarian
Fanatic follwer of White Knight doctrine

Equipment
Chain Mail
Sheild
Sword
Flute