Process of Elimination: Collaborative World-Building

[ReturnOfTheKing]

'K, I have way less free time and ability to concentrate than I thought, so my sincerest apologies for taking so long! I'll try to have the Risen up (no pun intended ) before day's end.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Okay, I just might have something here! You see what a last-minute, all-or-nothing deadline can do for your productivity?

Spoiler: Risen

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Last survivors of an ancient Geulan empire which fell during the war, the Risen were able to survive thanks to the foresight of a group of artificers, who augmented them with technology designed to protect them from battle and the ravages of time. In this way, they hoped the legacy of the empire would live on forever.

Those Risen which survived the war and the intervening years since have settled near the edges of the Wastes. Their survival has ensured the survival of their empire's culture, but as their numbers dwindle, that culture may be threatened. Many Risen seek ruins of their once-glorious past in order to regain some of what has been lost, including artificer's lore which may help them create a new generation of Risen and so pass on the torch they all carry.


Ability Score Increase: Your Strength and Constitution scores both increase by 2.

Age: Most Risen are roughly the same age, having all been created in a narrow timespan towards the end of the war. None are younger than how long ago was the war anyway? years of age. Risen age at an extremely slow pace.

Alignment: Having lived in the Wastes for so many millennia, the Risen have had to adapt by becoming as chaotic and unpredictable as Geula itself has become. However, a few stubbornly cling to now-meaningless codes of honour and laws now forgotten, and these tend to be of a lawful bent. The passing of time and their part-mechanical nature has made them cold and distant, and many Risen are of the neutral alignment. A rare few have lost their respect for sapient life and become evil.

Size: You gain the size of whatever race you were before you became a Risen.

Speed: You have the base speed of whatever race you were before you became a Risen.

Living Construct: Even though you are considered a construct, you are also considered a living creature. You are immune to disease and do not need to eat, drink or breathe. You still need to sleep, though only for 4 hours per day.

Reconstruction: You gain proficiency with tinker's tools. Using these tools and 50 gp worth of metal materials, you can spend 30 minutes to repair any damage you have taken. You regain a number of hit points equal to half your bloodied level, though you do not exceed your current max.

Past Life: Before the war occurred, members of many races and cultures called the empire home. As a result, in addition to being a Risen, you can choose to be a member of any race, and you gain any proficiencies, spells or languages a member of that race would have access to.

Built to Last: Having been made to survive the bloodiest war ever fought, you have been designed to survive the crossfire. You gain resistance to psychic and radiant damage.

Languages: You can speak Common, Risen and any language granted by the past life feature. Risen is a harsher, more mechanical variant of the ancient language of the empire, and if you have an Intelligence score of 13 or higher, you can learn to speak Old Imperial as well.

I hope I've managed to stay true to Almarck's lore and the feel of Geula. Feel free to critique, as I fear I may have made these guys far too op.

Also, the original Pathfinder race for reference and PF players: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...&postcount=265

Also, I gave them resistance to radiant damage. Since planar energy doesn't seem to have a direct 5e equivalent, I figured we could make the Wastes places full of radiant energy, though I imagine force damage would work for representing it.

On another note, if the topic hasn't been brought up yet, maybe we could add the Catastrophic Dragons of 4e? I know of at least one 5e conversion of the five main Catastrophics. They would seem to fit into the world as it currently exists.

Four last thoughts - perhaps we should free up a place for the Druids? What do we do about 5e's lack of psionic classes? Could we represent the Dust-Readers as a background? And should we start adding in roles/places for the 5e core races and/or classes?

[Almarck]

Well, that's a neat distilation of the concept I worked on so long ago. I might need to clean things up, but yeah, Risen work well in the setting, don't they? Maybe they're part of the Sea Sand Factions?

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Well, that's a neat distilation of the concept I worked on so long ago. I might need to clean things up, but yeah, Risen work well in the setting, don't they? Maybe they're part of the Sea Sand Factions?

I think they shouldn't be a faction so much as a scattering of people colonizing the edges of the Wastes, with a bunch of them clustered around the former borders of their empire. Think the Metis, post-RRR, scattering across the Northwest in small communities to escape unfair laws while most of them stayed in Manitoba and clustered around the Red River. But yeah, a lot of the Risen might live around the Sea of Sand. Perhaps we could have a special faction of them, called the Scarabs? Actually, maybe the Scarabs could be a separate race more closely related to the sand pirates?

Regarding the sand pirates, I don't really like the idea of their ships riding across the sand like a snowboarder on a mountain snowbank. After all, this isn't your ordinary patch of sand - this is the Sea of Sand. The sand should be fluid and liquid, like water. Think this trailer at the 1:50 mark, with sand dunes as crashing waves and ships crashing over them through raging sandstorms, while vultures like seagulls hover above on thermals, waiting for their next meal. A captain in a thobe and kefuyah stands at the bow, squinting into the darkness for any sign of the treasure they seek - a hidden island with a gold-filled pyramid upon it. He prays to the mighty Sun God Ra (by any other name) to dispel the storm and save the ship, not for the sake of the slaves that drive it, but for his own.

Also, I've been thinking that what this world could really use is a Big Central City, somewhere for adventures to begin where you don't need aircraft to get around, and I feel like Sun City doesn't really fit that bill (it's hard to start an adventure when you're being watched). In Greyhawk, it's Greyhawk City; the Forgotten Realms has Neverwinter and other locales like Baldur's Gate; Eberron has Sharn, the City of Towers. Taking a page from the last one, I came up with a place called Earthsky City.

Spoiler: Earthsky City

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After the war, places that were once great cities were left decimated, irradiated ruins, and nations where millions once lived were silent and still. Yet not all land had been touched by the hand of death, for while some land was fought over by superempires and dotted with megalopolises, there were quiet, ordinary places, places no one really cared about aside from the few people who lived there. Those who lived in tiny, pastoral communities or inhabited wild, untamed lands were unscathed while the world burned, and they found that the world was theirs. It would seem the meek had inherited the earth.

Yet it was not to last, for now that the smoke had cleared, surviving factions found that some small patches of earth were still liveable, and the former owners were the first to be pushed aside in the ensuing struggle for it. Such was the case in the founding of Earthsky City. In an insignificant corner of the world, a Stone Age society of Orcs stubbornly clung to their old ways in spite of the march of progress, and when the war ended, it seemed they had won the battle. But some people had escaped the war by taking to the sky, and many of these refugees were left with no choice but to steal and pillage to survive. One fleet of these "Sky Raiders" discovered the land of the Orcs, and they decided to claim it for their own. Yet the Orcs were unwilling to give it up, and thus began a brief but bloody war.

The Orcs had advantage of numbers, for the Raiders numbered only fifty five-man ships, but the raiders were on top in almost every other way. Though the Raiders had superior technology, they couldn't use their more powerful energy weapons for fear of turning the land into yet another tract of Wastes. Still, they were winning, and the Orcs couldn't hold out forever. Therefore, their more powerful Druids devised a plan. They convinced the Orc leaders to flee to an ancient ceremonial site, and the Raiders, convinced they were winning, came to destroy the village.

Their unwillingness to use energy weapons forced them onto the ground to gun down the Orcish chieftains. However, as soon as they set foot on terra firma, it started to move and boil. Suddenly, roots shot out of the ground and dragged them under to drown in the soil, and trees burst forth and grew to enormous heights, their branches coiling around the Raiders' necks and hanging them. 1/5 of the 500 Raiders were killed, a hundred fatalities in all, and many of their ships were badly damaged. Unwilling to risk any more casualties, they decided to flee, leaving a giant, twisting tower of living wood emerging from the ground.

The Druids had given all of themselves to cause this catastrophe, and few survived, even with the help of the lingering nature magic at the site. The Orcs celebrated the victory and honoured the fallen. Unfortunately, the Orcs' festivities wouldn't last, for the Elves of Aether took notice of this event and came to investigate. One of the Elven nobles decided to establish an Aetherian colony here, and the Orcs knew that while opposing the Sky Raiders had been foolish, opposing the Aetherian Empire would be suicide. The chieftains held council and decided they had no choice but to sell their land to Aether. Thus, the Orcs which had kept their traditions and ways alive while the world burned around them lost the battle for the ashes of that world. Ever since, they have begrudged the Elves and struggled to retain their culture and pride.

The Elves were able to cultivate the Great Tree into an enormous, living city kilometres high, and refugees from across the barren lands started to settle atop the old Orcish temples, forming the megacity of Earthsky. An enormous urban sprawl of slums, shantytowns and backwaters stretches outwards from the Great Tree in all directions, constantly growing in height as new structures are built atop the old as if to reach towards the branches of the Tree itself. The lucky and prosperous live in the Tree, and many have come here in the hopes that they'll be able to escape the irradiated land and start a new life in the sky. Crime lords reign here, and law is almost nonexistent. Between the sprawling dungeon complexes no doubt buried underneath the city to the utter lack of authority to the connection between the civilized and wild worlds, Earthsky City is an ideal place for you to begin your Geulan adventures!

Maybe the fluff could use a bit of work, and I need to figure out time (I'm thinking this city is somewhere between 100 and 500 years old, and I need to fit it after the war (which reminds me, we need to figure out how long ago the war was)), but what do you think? Do you prefer Sun City?

[GorinichSerpant]

Currently I have an argument against using Sun City as the hub. Sense Sun City is located under some highly dangerous random-magic-effect-lightning clouds, airships that are above ground level are unadvised unless you want to explode, be petrified, grow teeth instead of hair or any number of other things. Earthsky doesn't have that problem, you can have all sorts of crazy and interesting combats and chase scenes with roof-top parkor, airships and more 3 dimensional thinking then you usually see. We can't rob our hypothetical players of such wonderful possibility.

Recently a old project of mine has been revived. Here it is: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...n-actual-name)
I was thinking continuing to work with Geula as the setting so as to give the system more focus in what it's trying to represent. Do you think the frame work I currently have fits the setting?

On the Table of Contents of the Google Doc Thunderfist12 pointed out that Nubia is a name of an existing real world country, so that name needs to be changed to something else.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

On the Table of Contents of the Google Doc Thunderfist12 pointed out that Nubia is a name of an existing real world country, so that name needs to be changed to something else.

Nubia was a real-world country, or at least that's what I heard. It was an ancient kingdom or region located to the south of Ancient Egypt, where northern Sudan is now. They actually invaded Egypt a couple times, as I recall. It fell centuries ago, though, so what's your source? Is another country using that name?

[GorinichSerpant]

Nubia was a real-world country, or at least that's what I heard. It was an ancient kingdom or region located to the south of Ancient Egypt, where northern Sudan is now. They actually invaded Egypt a couple times, as I recall. It fell centuries ago, though, so what's your source? Is another country using that name?

Looking back at the comment that was made it, Thunderfist12 actually said that it was the name of a kingdom that existed. Don't know why my mind thought that he meant a currently existing country, blame my dyslexia I guess or my assumption making ability.

[Almarck]

Sorry guys, been real busy with other things.

However, I'm slowly working my way through to completing the living armory things for use in the mechanics. I'm currently working on armor enchants.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

So sorry for dropping off the face of the Internet like that, people! Life reared up and bit me with an enormous workload to finish. Just thought I should let you know I'm short on time, but as soon as I get a chance, I'm gonna try and get the Blighters and maybe the Sparks done. Spark bodies will have to wait until next week, when we get Spring Break here. Looking forward to that very much...

[Almarck]

Still plannnong out that total revamp due fpr sp, e time after my next project.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Still plannnong out that total revamp due fpr sp, e time after my next project.

Ummm, sorry? What?

[Almarck]

And this is why you should never set autocorrect devices to "learn" new words.
I'm planning Spark revisions sometime soon. Mostly the problem is figuring out how to allow subtracting WBL to make it an upkeep option, but not, you know, completely drain a charactr's inventory

[ReturnOfTheKing]

And this is why you should never set autocorrect devices to "learn" new words.
I'm planning Spark revisions sometime soon. Mostly the problem is figuring out how to allow subtracting WBL to make it an upkeep option, but not, you know, completely drain a charactr's inventory

Lol

What, exactly, does WBL stand for?

[GorinichSerpant]

Lol

What, exactly, does WBL stand for?

Wealth by Level

It's a guide for DMs that tells you how much wealth a PC should have at what level in 3rd edition. It's also used when picking magic items for a character not built at first level.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Aaaaaah, I see...

Well, wealth by level doesn't really seem to be a thing in 5e. I'd say give the bodies fixed costs and maybe you have to pay to get them repaired in certain circumstances or handle their upkeep, but otherwise, it shouldn't really make a huge dent in the inventory.

[BootStrapTommy]

Wealth by level is a thing in 5e. It's in the PHB. It functions by tiers of play, rather than levels. 22,500gp max and three uncommon, two rare, one very rare for the 17th+ tier in high magic setting, for example.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Wealth by level is a thing in 5e. It's in the PHB. It functions by tiers of play, rather than levels. 22,500gp max and three uncommon, two rare, one very rare for the 17th+ tier in high magic setting, for example.

Crumbs. OK then, I need to do some more research, but I think I'll handle the Blighters first.

To be honest, I'm worried I'm starting to drift away from this project. I'll try to stay as long as I'm still having fun and being productive, though

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Actually, I just had an idea - how about we just give each body a fixed cost, say it's an item and use the rules for buying items? I mean, if you enter the game with a fixed amount of gp but you decide you want this really snazzy item, I'm pretty sure you're allowed to buy it, so you subtract its value from the gp you've got. Follow? So, each Spark body has a cost, and you essentially buy it the same way you'd buy any item. Of course, the simpler ones should be pretty cheap so any first-level adventurer could buy one, but things like a tank or a metal dragon are kept at higher level due to cost. Which makes sense, given that playing a dragon at level 1 might be a little excessive...

Also, I had another idea - perhaps we could open a branch thread in the Homebrew Design forum with all our races and other things so that we can get more critique on our ideas? Might also get us more designers, since the Homebrew Forum does get more traffic.

[Almarck]

The idea was building a body and then determining how expensive it all was. They're roughly magic items in terms of pricing and building. The problem with fixed costs is that some bodies really should cost more, especially depending on what features are bought to make use of them.

In any case, I am liable to change things to be more point buy like an Eidelion if you know Pathfinder mechanics, where tiers determine BP to buy evolutions.

The reason I didn't do that is that the whole point is to allow the player to swap out bodies as freely as he was putting on clothing and basing off total hitpoints of of the machine yet do so in a not gamebreaking way. Players should switch to undamaged bodies to allow themselves an option because it makes sense lore wise. In order to divorce player hitpoints from the equipment, I did the whole Fragmentation HP thing as a game balance consession, but I realize it's a bit of bad design now that my system mastery has increase.

Now I'm going for having no HP at all outside of the robot bodies, but this is problematic for your fixed cost bodies idea, unless I invent a cost/BP progression for all 20+ more levels.

Actually, perhaps, bodies have up to 20+ levels but also have a "class" thing that determines hitpoints, discounts, ect?

Also, we may need a second section. It'll need a unique tag.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

The idea was building a body and then determining how expensive it all was. They're roughly magic items in terms of pricing and building. The problem with fixed costs is that some bodies really should cost more, especially depending on what features are bought to make use of them.

In any case, I am liable to change things to be more point buy like an Eidelion if you know Pathfinder mechanics, where tiers determine BP to buy evolutions.

The reason I didn't do that is that the whole point is to allow the player to swap out bodies as freely as he was putting on clothing and basing off total hitpoints of of the machine yet do so in a not gamebreaking way. Players should switch to undamaged bodies to allow themselves an option because it makes sense lore wise. In order to divorce player hitpoints from the equipment, I did the whole Fragmentation HP thing as a game balance consession, but I realize it's a bit of bad design now that my system mastery has increase.

Now I'm going for having no HP at all outside of the robot bodies, but this is problematic for your fixed cost bodies idea, unless I invent a cost/BP progression for all 20+ more levels.

Actually, perhaps, bodies have up to 20+ levels but also have a "class" thing that determines hitpoints, discounts, ect?

Also, we may need a second section. It'll need a unique tag.

I'm still not really getting much of this, I confess

You know, the whole point of 5e is to make things simple for newcomers and experienced dungeonophiles alike, so maybe we should apply the same philosophy to the Sparks. Make them understandable, even for a layman. The simplest plan is often the one most likely to succeed.

Btw, what's your opinion on the homebrew thread?

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Guys? You there?

[GorinichSerpant]

I'm still here, somewhat...
Mostly because I'm only somewhat anywhere, but yeah...

Where were we?

[ReturnOfTheKing]

I'm still here, somewhat...
Mostly because I'm only somewhat anywhere, but yeah...

Where were we?

I think we were figuring out how to make the Spark bodies work. Meanwhile, I was planning to convert the Blighters to 5e, and I was also asking for input on whether or not we should open up a branch thread in Homebrew Design for critique on our races and other crunchy stuff, and as a covert attempt to boost our numbers. I say opening a homebrew thread is a very good idea, although I'll try to wrap up the Blighters first. I've also been considering some edits to the Mathuin, which I should probably wrap up first. What do you think about that idea? Also, what do you think should be done regarding the PDF? I would so love for that to get wrapped up and posted somewhere, at last

[GorinichSerpant]

I totally agree that we should have a separate thread for the various mechanical parts.

I am still failing to find time to write out the settings in a organized format, but I promise I'll start this saturday.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Thread's up

[Miranda]

I'm really happy to see that my thread has turned into a fairly successful project. I've been away from the forum for a while, and I'm really impressed by how this turned out. Let me know if you'd like my input, otherwise, I'll let you keep working on it. It's not my project anymore.

Best wishes,
Miranda

[ReturnOfTheKing]

I'm really happy to see that my thread has turned into a fairly successful project. I've been away from the forum for a while, and I'm really impressed by how this turned out. Let me know if you'd like my input, otherwise, I'll let you keep working on it. It's not my project anymore.

Best wishes,
Miranda

Hello, Miranda, great to see you again! I'm so glad you like what we've done with this project, and of course, we owe you a huge thank you for starting this thread in the first place

If we need your help or input, we'll definitely let you know. In the meantime, hope you enjoy Geula!

[Almarck]

Sadly I've grown distant due to alot of personal projects and such piling up. Also have recently gotten disillusioned with d20/leveling systems as a whole since the back and forth cycle thing happened.

Well I'll be revamping the older projects when I get the chance. Really think the simplest thing if you want to port something over king is the marine.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

I, too, have become rather distant and infrequent . I've just had a lot on my plate lately, being involved in several world-building projects at the moment including this one. I'll try to get the Blighters posted later today

[ReturnOfTheKing]

Here ya go, Blighters are now up!

Spoiler: Blighters

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The last survivors of an alien race which inhabited a demiplane destroyed by the war, the Blighters escaped death at enormous cost - they are diseased and weak, and the very air is poisonous for them to breathe. They must wear bodysuits to survive the harsh conditions of Geula, and they rarely live long. Though most Blighters are only concerned with surviving as long as possible, a few have realized their race's existence is short-lived, and they have decided to seek ways to preserve their species. Others, disillusioned by survival without living, seek to make their brief lives matter by dedicating themselves to a higher cause, though few higher causes are to be found in Geula.

Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 2.

Age: Blighters rarely live long, on average reaching about 30.

Alignment: Being dedicated to survival at any cost, most Blighters refuse to adopt the risks of siding with either good or evil, falling in the neutral camp. However, the more adventurous Blighters, who seek to make their brief existences matter or to save their race from it's ultimate doom, are often good and tend towards law or neutrality, avoiding chaos at all costs.

Size: Blighters are, on average, about 3 feet tall. Your size is Small.

Speed: Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Bodysuit: Due to their vulnerability, all Blighters must constantly wear a bodysuit to protect them from oxygen in the air. As a result, you are treated as constantly wearing medium armour, for which you use the stats for a chain shirt. If this armour is taken off or a hole is punched in it, you are poisoned and gain one level of exhaustion each turn, starting with the one directly after you are initially exposed to normal air. You only stop gaining exhaustion levels if you seal or put your suit back on, at which point you immediately lose all exhaustion levels gained as a result of losing use of the bodysuit.

Augmentation: This involves somehow adding items onto your bodysuit that, I dunno, augment it somehow. I'm not sure how this should work. Thoughts?

Poisonous Gas: You can vent some of the gas which keeps you alive from your suit in order to poison your enemies. All creatures which aren't constructs or undead within 20 feet of your position are poisoned and take 1d4 ongoing poison damage until you stop using this trait. You can only use this trait for three rounds plus your Constitution modifier or you fall unconscious due to lack of air.

Languages: You know Common and Blighter.

Spoiler: Subraces

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Nomad

Insert fluff

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Tech Savvy: You gain proficiency with tinker's tools.


Scavenger

Insert fluff

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Darkvision: Thanks to living underground, you have superior darkvision in dim and dark conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Bear in mind it's kind of a draft. These guys need a lot of editing and a lot of love