Tragak
2014-05-01, 11:08 AM
Arcadia
"I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition;
that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner."
A meticulously planned, mathematically precise world of harmony and community for people who believe in sacrificing freedom for the legitimate Greater Good for all people – as opposed to an imaginary "Greater Good" for justifying cruelty – and truly wish to build a system that exists to benefit the people as opposed to the other way around. However, these people ultimately go too far in regulating too much of each other's lives based on too comprehensive a definition of "Evil," not always being able to distinguish between truly "dangerous" and merely "different."
They would certainly not want to threaten "undesirables" with violence, for fear of creating a true tyranny where anybody could be victimized next, but they don't see why those different from themselves would not want to either become "better" - adapting themselves to a system that allegedly works better when everybody is the same as each other - or to go someplace else to form their own society where both groups can be out of each other's way.
These are still basically good people, and benevolence and morality are still important to them, it's just that obedience is even more important.
Even most of the “crime” from this world’s natives will tend to be political, rather than violent, and will still be dominated by a few organized syndicates rather than a large number of independent actors.
There were originally 3 specific layers: the world of “Community,” the world of “Military,” and the world of “Fanaticism.” However the people of “Fanaticism” became so aggressive against others that their world lost it’s connection to Arcadia’s righteousness and became swallowed by the cavalier disregard of Mechanus. It is a crime to speak of the “lost” layer in most regions of the remaining 2, so most Arcadians don’t even remember what it had been named.
It is believed that it was this layer's fall that brought the Formians who first colonized (and eventually conquered much of) Mechanus. However, even if there was any evidence of this, the Arcadians wouldn't talk about it for fear of "legitimizing" the power of this layer's beliefs, and the Mechanians wouldn't admit it for fear of appearing "lucky" to have arrived in Mechanus rather than "industrious" for achieving it deliberately.
Arcadia as it stands now has found a balance between the “Community” and the “Military” layers, with one layer in daylight when the other is under nightfall and vice versa, no transitional dimming in between.
Lawful: completely devoted to the strong
Lawful characters gain a +2 bonus to INT/WIS/CHA-based checks, Chaotic characters take a -2 penalty
Lawful characters cast spells at +1 caster level, Chaotic characters cast spells at -1 caster level
Lawful spells are cast at +1 caster level, Chaotic spells are cast at -1 caster level
Neutral/Good: mostly loyal – but not completely devoted – to the weak
Evil characters take a -1 penalty to INT/WIS/CHA-based checks
The Outsiders that would be most comfortable here would be the somewhat-less-good Archons (LG) and the somewhat-more-good Formians and Modrons (LN).
Guardinals (NG) and most Archons would be uncomfortable in a world where the citizens are so slow to help each other (however well they do so eventually) for fear of getting in trouble with their leaders for doing it “The Wrong Way.”
Any that come to Arcadia – more likely Abellio than Buxenus – will generally be:
*Seeking aid against the forces of Evil
*Trying to convert the “obstructionists” to a life of “readiness”
*Settling a personal matter that could just as easily have happened somewhere else
*…
Devils (LE) and most Modrons & Formians would be uncomfortable in a world where the leaders invest in the well-being of their workers instead of “making them earn it.”
Any that come to Arcadia – more likely Buxenus than Abellio – will generally be:
*Seeking aid against the forces of Chaos
*Trying to convert the “doormats” to a life of “conserving resources”
*Settling a personal matter that could just as easily have happened somewhere else
*…
Abellio: The first layer of Arcadia – and somewhat the more Good, although nowhere near as much as Mount Celestia – is a world where people care for each other primarily through community service. They focusing more on the procedures that do good than on the good that the procedures accomplish, but they still do good nonetheless.
Every house, every street, and even every natural landscape is geometrically patterned and precise, and every community tightly scheduled and curfewed.
Potential NPCs:
*Psolsineos: a Formian Queen who is trying to build a new colony after her previous was destroyed by marauders from Prime Material. What promises might she offer to the PCs in exchange for temporary protection?
Potential conflicts:
*A predominantly-LG cult of Wee Jas has been Binding Formians from Acheron/Mechanus and calling them to Arcadia – with the intention of showing them (and, eventually, their respective hive-minds) that the world works better when people focus on giving rather than on taking – and the Queens of his “guests” have demanded that Arcadian authorities arrest the cult, warning that they will send their own troops if Arcadia does nothing to return their subjects. Do the PCs take a side, negotiate a truce, play the two against each other, or try to stay out of the way?
Buxenus: The second layer of Arcadia – and somewhat the more Neutral, although nowhere near as much as Mechanus – is a world where people care for each other primarily through military discipline. They focus on removing the negatives in each others’ lives rather than on building the positives, but their efforts ultimately make enough room for “somebody else” to build something positive when that "other" person's official duties are fulfilled.
The entire land is criss-crossed with demilitarized zones of various levels of security, and anybody not obviously belonging to one army or another is considered an "undesirable" vagabond, tolerated but not "unduly" recognized.
Potential NPCs:
*Gafflesalg: a Gelugon who sends her division of devils to attack various Buxenian bases and plant evidence that another Buxenian commander had hired them, ensuring that the different armies become embroiled in escalating retaliations against each other and put Buxenus at risk of falling into Mechanus the way that ---------- in eons past. Do the PCs aid her in her mission, try to expose her efforts to her victims, or fight against her soldiers directly?
Potential conflicts:
*A Formian invasion force, intent on developing new underground colonies, has set its sight on a mountain range that Modrons have already established as a series of mining/industrial centers. Do the PCs take a side, negotiate a truce, play the two against each other, or try to stay out of the way?
**
New Feats:
Disciplined Soldier: you have learned more from the Lawful Good communities of Abellio than you have from the Lawful Neutral garrisons of Buxenus, and Arcadia’s conformist energy lets you protect your allies from conflict.
Prerequisites:
Knowledge (Planes) 5 ranks
Affinity for Arcadia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17048470#post17048470)
When you fight defensively, you grant a +1 feat bonus to AC and saving throws to every Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral ally within a range of 30 ft until the start of your next turn. Multiple "Disciplined Soldier" feat bonuses stack with each other.
Disciplined Commander: you have learned more from the Lawful Neutral garrisons of Buxenus than you have from the Lawful Good communities of Abellio, and Arcadia’s conformist energy lets you use your allies to protect yourself from conflict.
Prerequisites:
Leadership feat
Knowledge (Planes) 5 ranks
Affinity for Arcadia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17048470#post17048470)
When you fight defensively, you receive a feat bonus to AC and saving throws equal to the number of Lawful allies within a range of 30 ft until the start of your next turn.
**
Does anybody else have ideas to add? NPCs, locations, conflicts, mechanics? Feedback on what I've already come up with?
"I authorise and give up my right of governing myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition;
that thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like manner."
A meticulously planned, mathematically precise world of harmony and community for people who believe in sacrificing freedom for the legitimate Greater Good for all people – as opposed to an imaginary "Greater Good" for justifying cruelty – and truly wish to build a system that exists to benefit the people as opposed to the other way around. However, these people ultimately go too far in regulating too much of each other's lives based on too comprehensive a definition of "Evil," not always being able to distinguish between truly "dangerous" and merely "different."
They would certainly not want to threaten "undesirables" with violence, for fear of creating a true tyranny where anybody could be victimized next, but they don't see why those different from themselves would not want to either become "better" - adapting themselves to a system that allegedly works better when everybody is the same as each other - or to go someplace else to form their own society where both groups can be out of each other's way.
These are still basically good people, and benevolence and morality are still important to them, it's just that obedience is even more important.
Even most of the “crime” from this world’s natives will tend to be political, rather than violent, and will still be dominated by a few organized syndicates rather than a large number of independent actors.
There were originally 3 specific layers: the world of “Community,” the world of “Military,” and the world of “Fanaticism.” However the people of “Fanaticism” became so aggressive against others that their world lost it’s connection to Arcadia’s righteousness and became swallowed by the cavalier disregard of Mechanus. It is a crime to speak of the “lost” layer in most regions of the remaining 2, so most Arcadians don’t even remember what it had been named.
It is believed that it was this layer's fall that brought the Formians who first colonized (and eventually conquered much of) Mechanus. However, even if there was any evidence of this, the Arcadians wouldn't talk about it for fear of "legitimizing" the power of this layer's beliefs, and the Mechanians wouldn't admit it for fear of appearing "lucky" to have arrived in Mechanus rather than "industrious" for achieving it deliberately.
Arcadia as it stands now has found a balance between the “Community” and the “Military” layers, with one layer in daylight when the other is under nightfall and vice versa, no transitional dimming in between.
Lawful: completely devoted to the strong
Lawful characters gain a +2 bonus to INT/WIS/CHA-based checks, Chaotic characters take a -2 penalty
Lawful characters cast spells at +1 caster level, Chaotic characters cast spells at -1 caster level
Lawful spells are cast at +1 caster level, Chaotic spells are cast at -1 caster level
Neutral/Good: mostly loyal – but not completely devoted – to the weak
Evil characters take a -1 penalty to INT/WIS/CHA-based checks
The Outsiders that would be most comfortable here would be the somewhat-less-good Archons (LG) and the somewhat-more-good Formians and Modrons (LN).
Guardinals (NG) and most Archons would be uncomfortable in a world where the citizens are so slow to help each other (however well they do so eventually) for fear of getting in trouble with their leaders for doing it “The Wrong Way.”
Any that come to Arcadia – more likely Abellio than Buxenus – will generally be:
*Seeking aid against the forces of Evil
*Trying to convert the “obstructionists” to a life of “readiness”
*Settling a personal matter that could just as easily have happened somewhere else
*…
Devils (LE) and most Modrons & Formians would be uncomfortable in a world where the leaders invest in the well-being of their workers instead of “making them earn it.”
Any that come to Arcadia – more likely Buxenus than Abellio – will generally be:
*Seeking aid against the forces of Chaos
*Trying to convert the “doormats” to a life of “conserving resources”
*Settling a personal matter that could just as easily have happened somewhere else
*…
Abellio: The first layer of Arcadia – and somewhat the more Good, although nowhere near as much as Mount Celestia – is a world where people care for each other primarily through community service. They focusing more on the procedures that do good than on the good that the procedures accomplish, but they still do good nonetheless.
Every house, every street, and even every natural landscape is geometrically patterned and precise, and every community tightly scheduled and curfewed.
Potential NPCs:
*Psolsineos: a Formian Queen who is trying to build a new colony after her previous was destroyed by marauders from Prime Material. What promises might she offer to the PCs in exchange for temporary protection?
Potential conflicts:
*A predominantly-LG cult of Wee Jas has been Binding Formians from Acheron/Mechanus and calling them to Arcadia – with the intention of showing them (and, eventually, their respective hive-minds) that the world works better when people focus on giving rather than on taking – and the Queens of his “guests” have demanded that Arcadian authorities arrest the cult, warning that they will send their own troops if Arcadia does nothing to return their subjects. Do the PCs take a side, negotiate a truce, play the two against each other, or try to stay out of the way?
Buxenus: The second layer of Arcadia – and somewhat the more Neutral, although nowhere near as much as Mechanus – is a world where people care for each other primarily through military discipline. They focus on removing the negatives in each others’ lives rather than on building the positives, but their efforts ultimately make enough room for “somebody else” to build something positive when that "other" person's official duties are fulfilled.
The entire land is criss-crossed with demilitarized zones of various levels of security, and anybody not obviously belonging to one army or another is considered an "undesirable" vagabond, tolerated but not "unduly" recognized.
Potential NPCs:
*Gafflesalg: a Gelugon who sends her division of devils to attack various Buxenian bases and plant evidence that another Buxenian commander had hired them, ensuring that the different armies become embroiled in escalating retaliations against each other and put Buxenus at risk of falling into Mechanus the way that ---------- in eons past. Do the PCs aid her in her mission, try to expose her efforts to her victims, or fight against her soldiers directly?
Potential conflicts:
*A Formian invasion force, intent on developing new underground colonies, has set its sight on a mountain range that Modrons have already established as a series of mining/industrial centers. Do the PCs take a side, negotiate a truce, play the two against each other, or try to stay out of the way?
**
New Feats:
Disciplined Soldier: you have learned more from the Lawful Good communities of Abellio than you have from the Lawful Neutral garrisons of Buxenus, and Arcadia’s conformist energy lets you protect your allies from conflict.
Prerequisites:
Knowledge (Planes) 5 ranks
Affinity for Arcadia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17048470#post17048470)
When you fight defensively, you grant a +1 feat bonus to AC and saving throws to every Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral ally within a range of 30 ft until the start of your next turn. Multiple "Disciplined Soldier" feat bonuses stack with each other.
Disciplined Commander: you have learned more from the Lawful Neutral garrisons of Buxenus than you have from the Lawful Good communities of Abellio, and Arcadia’s conformist energy lets you use your allies to protect yourself from conflict.
Prerequisites:
Leadership feat
Knowledge (Planes) 5 ranks
Affinity for Arcadia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17048470#post17048470)
When you fight defensively, you receive a feat bonus to AC and saving throws equal to the number of Lawful allies within a range of 30 ft until the start of your next turn.
**
Does anybody else have ideas to add? NPCs, locations, conflicts, mechanics? Feedback on what I've already come up with?