Sireap Valley: opinions requested

[Nick the Nevermet]

Hey there.

I recently started re-reading all the TSOY stuff, and quite unintentionally, an idea started to form.  Unfortunately, I'm between groups, so I couldn't put it into action, but I felt like writing it down as much as possible.

It started with an image of a lightly armored fighter, armed with a curved polearm, charging into combat.  The noteworthy thing about this warrior was speed; not speed in terms of attacks per round, but speed in terms of how fast he can close distance as he runs by his opponent, slashing him.  Immediately, it occurred to me he was from a culture that didn't use horses at all, and runners were as close to cavalry as they got.  So, from there, I built out to make a place in Near.

I want as much feed back as possible, but at the moment, this is just a mental exercise.

[Nick the Nevermet]

[oliof]

Hi,
interesting spin, although the killing effects on domesticated animlas seem a bit harsh. The Key of Salvager is incomplete.

All in all, this seems like a nice secondary culture.

[Nick the Nevermet]

Yeah, secondary culture was all I was going for.  Really, it's just Maldoite commoners without animals or nobles (the Vechil doesn't like being called that).  And the effect on domesticated animals is... yeah, I agree it doesn't quite mesh.  I was trying to emphasize the incompatibility of beast & humanity in the Valley, even if one is not from the valley.  But I agree its a bit wonky.  Severity is OK as long as it works thematically, and I don't think it does exactly yet.

As for the Key of the salvager, I don't know how I forgot that.  3 XP to recover an artifact of power one has been actively searching for.  The difference between 1 XP & 3 XP is the difference between random treasure and actively setting out to find the Great Helm of Horns (or whatever).

[Eero Tuovinen]

Hey, no idea how I'd missed this.

I really like the image here, it's very evocative. The fluff also fits well in the setting, it resonates with some stuff I've been working on myself. I also like the notion of subculture, Maldor has more than enough room for these sorts of fantastic ideas. Having Sijjin sponsor the farro is a nice touch. I'd expect the valley to be rather hard on ratkin or other beastkin as well, considering their animal nature; perhaps they're not as common as that, after all?

For the details of the farro, everything seems to work, except that "a grain that fed off the life force of beasts, amplified it, and nourished man with it" is a bit to the abstract side insofar as magical metaphysics go; I could see it for a magic system that made some fundamental distinction between the human and animal spheres, but that doesn't seem tricornerist (or Ammeni alchemy) style. I'd probably just have the farro's pollen be toxic-yet-addictive, especially in large quantities, so that animals have a strong tendency to go frolic in the field and perish there, thus feeding the crop. This has the benefit of allowing outsiders to bring in their horses when the time is right, such as immediately after hard rains. The people don't even have to understand how the thing works; it's enough for them that animals die when the farro is allowed to grow in large pastures, and even when it has been uprooted, animals grow restless and hostile, fleeing to distant recesses of the wilds. Who knows, perhaps Sapa created the farro by crossbreeding something from the Poison River Valley, making it as much an alchemical phenomenon as magical.

Anyway, that's secondary to the purpose of enabling peasant dragoons in Near. Good work. Would you consider CCing this? I might be interested in exploiting it for my own purposes.

[Nick the Nevermet]

My God, I really did create peasant dragoons, didn't I?  Wasn't my intent, but I won't bother arguing about the end result.  Honestly, the idea came to me while reading the RPG Reign, where a certain nation was horse-free for much of its history.  That got the idea for the running warrior elites.  Then I wondered how it would fit in Near, and I got the Ushers.  I can't decide if I'm amused or saddened that I accidentally reproduced a Final Fantasy character. ;-)

The devil is in the details, and when you get past the specific images I have, my details leave something to be desired.  I am, however, happy that the things I cared about seem to hold water.  To be specific, that would be a human agricultural society devoid of animals whose elite warriors were fast pole-arm wielders, and whose former city was now dominated by the Ratkin.  From there came the ideas of a cursed land, and peasants who rebelled during the Year of Shadow.  I also take the total lack of discussion over my secrets as an indicator they'll probably do whats needed without any dramatic effects, which is fine by me.

Anyhow, I couldn't think of a simple way of getting the 'no animals' thing, and the farro seems to work even if it gets complicated quick.  Your idea about a highly addictive plant for animals is appealing.  Sapa probably tried to play botanist & make a grain that would be a 'super-feed'.  My only question then is whether or not it would kill off all animal life in the vallley, instead of my original idea of just domesticated animals.  I'm tempted to just make it 'a mysterious curse', but that'd just be lame.  Also, you mention Ratkin, and that makes for an interesting idea: farro is 'just' a powerful narcotic to the Ratkin when processed correctly, and there is an illicit trade between humans and Ratkin as a result.

Feel free to borrow as you like, though I'd like some help working this out if possible.  The things I'm not happy with is I still don't feel satisfied with how to explain the lack of domesticated animals (I'd prefer to avoid a 'purely social' answer like a religious ban), and I like the hodgepodge holy men, but they're not well developed yet.  Fortunately, they're really not the 'point' of Sireap either. 

[Eero Tuovinen]

I think that farro works just fine as an explanation, actually. TSoY is not the most realistically thought-through game at the best of times, so just saying that the farro pollen kills animals or drives them nuts does fine. Characters who have with some interesting method found out this explanation for the phenomenon (as if they could do it, unless they're themselves scientist-wizards) might try to protect their animals from it by keeping them inside or whatnot, but they're still going to go mad at the most amusing moments. That's more than enough reason for the peasants to not bother with animals; they're big long-term investments, just having them all die off during a certain month of summer would be more than enough of a disincentive in the long term. In the short term some outsider might bring some horses into the valley, and they might or might not get into trouble depending on the length of the visit and the conditions, but that just adds spice to the curse. Much more interesting if it's not quite absolute and easily replicable as a phenomenon.

The Secrets are solid. I've myself removed the Secret of Leaping (was that the name?) from among the general Secrets in my own games, but here's where it makes a comeback. Mechanical punch might well be increased some, but that depends so much on the local crunch landscape that it's almost arbitrary.

I'm liking this stuff a lot. No idea if I can sneak it into the book I'm laying out, but maybe...

[Nick the Nevermet]

How much more mechanical punch were you thinking about?

And if you don't put it in, I guess I'll see if I can upload it to the TSOY wiki.

[Eero Tuovinen]

The wiki is a fine destination to be sure!

As far as mechanics go, my own play is pretty pervy, with lots of complex and powerful subsystems. For example, I might well give the Ushers that signature dragoon ability:

Jump Attack Technique
The character can jump really high, which he has adapted into an attack. In normal conflict the character gets synergy as per the Secret of Synergy between his Athletics (V) and Infantry (V) Abilities. In extended conflict his jump with Athletics (V) is a defensive action (that is, opposed for bonus dice) that provides its full value as bonus dice if successful, but the dice have to be used on an Infantry (V) attack on the next round. Cost: 1 Vigor Requirement: Flying Leap Technique

(That's a Secret, I'm just calling it a "technique" because it belongs in the Usher martial art, specifically.)

That sort of thing, of course for running fast and nimble footwork as well. No idea if that's comprehensible without the Solar System booklet at hand - probably not.

[Nick the Nevermet]

That's an awesome secret.
I was already thinking that an Usher worth his salt needs the secret of synergy, but thats just perfect.

[Nick the Nevermet]

Here are some more secrets for the Dresors.

Secret of Charm Making
   This secret is similar to the Secret of Blessing.  With a succesful craft check, the Dresor creates charm tied to a specific goal, and a dice pool equal to the success level of the ability check.  Whoever possesses the charm may use the dice pool, one die at a time, to help accomplish this goal.  If the goal is achieved by the owner of the charm, the remaining charm pool replenishes the owner's instinct pool.  Cost: 2 instinct.

Secret of  Becoming the Fence
   The Dresor know the darkness that waits in the forest, and they are ready.  The Desor gains a bonus die against beasts.  Additionally, the Dresor can use woodcraft to scare animals, rather than the regular animal ken.