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* The final amount of kick-ass might not live up to the initial expectations. Apologies in advance.
So! Settings! Homebrew ones! We have an entire subforum for them now, so it feels like letting it go to waste not to create one.
Unfortunately, if you are one of my BFFs forever, you know how easily distracted I am and how I cannot focus long enough for my ideas to congeal into something tangible. Somewhere in the decision making process, I seem to be... OOH! SHINY COOKIES!
*ahem*
Well, that's why I created this thread. In typical Let's Play fashion, I'll have you vote for all the critical stuff so I can bum out all day and not have to do any work until later in the process (but I'll still be doing most of the actual setting work, so don't envy me much). That is, if you want to. I cannot promise you quality. I cannot promise you quantity either. I promise you nothing but blood, toil, tears and sweat. Mostly my sweat, tears and toil (blood, I get from slaves I keep around the house).
Therefore, I suppose we will get started with the genre. We'll move on to sub-genres later.
VOTING FOR PREVIOUS ROUNDS:
Spoiler
Genre
Votes
Fantasy
1
Horror
2
Modern
12
Sci-Fi
1
Superhero
8
Historical
5
Subgenre
Votes
Conspiracy
6
Urban Fantasy
11
Post-Apocalypse
1
Theme
Votes
Piercing the Veil
10
Keeping the Vigil
8
Truth-Seekers
19
The Search for Acceptance
20
Wardens of the Night
29
The Eternal War
14
Fighting for Survival
18
Living the High Life
7
Magic Level
Votes
Faded Magic
3
Emerging Magic
1
Low Magic
6
Rising Magic
6
To expand on the themes:
Piercing the Veil: Most people don't know of the supernatural. Most people cannot perceive the supernatural. Most people, in fact, refuse to accept the supernatural. It is the job of the supernatural to make them see the truth.
Keeping the Vigil: The opposite of Piercing the Veil, where the supernatural needs to be actively hidden from prying eyes, lest the mortal men ruin what lies beyond the Veil. While they are opposites, Keeping the Vigil and Piercing the Veil are not mutually exclusive.
Truth-Seekers: Most humans are not born into a world of magic with expansive knowledge of the arcane. Therefore, the search for knowledge and the uncovering of mysteries is a popular pastime - after all, the old adage of "knowledge is power" rings truer than anywhere else in the world of magic.
The Search for Acceptance: For those who discover magic later rather than being born into it, both the supernatural world and the mundane world can be harsh, cruel and intolerant, and people of either world can be outcasts in the other when thrown in. To find a place for oneself can be the greatest treasure of all.
Wardens of the Night: Somehow similar to Keeping the Vigil, Wardens of the Night is about keeping people safe from those who would persecute them, be the persecutors magical or mundane. Both sides can be fully aware of each other, or either side may be in the dark.
The Eternal War: The war might not be actually eternal, but it sure feels long enough. For longer than most remember, there has been a war between two or more sides, and this conflict defines the world of both magic and mortals, in its own way.
Fighting for Survival: Power rarely comes without a cost, and people with power rarely avoid attention for long. In this case, the knowledge and use of magic attracts envy, hatred and enemies. Therefore, those who do have power often find that they need it more than those without.
Living the High Life: The opposite of Fighting for Survival, magic has few strings attached, and those deep in the supernatural can afford to flaunt their powers and make their lives easier, even in the least of ways. The mundanes might not know of them, or consider them bona fide superheroes. This is not mutually exclusive with Fighting for Survival.
Now we are past the fourth stage, voting for the fifth round may begin.
__________________
If my text is blue, I'm being sarcastic. No, really. Don't bite my head off for saying the Fighter is way overpowered, or how Wizards need more spells per day to keep up.
Superhero and Urban Fantasy aren't mutually exclusive; e.g. the Marvel Universe has Blade, Doctor Strange, and Ghost Rider coexisting with Iron Man and Captain America. If I have to pick one, though, I guess I'd go Urban Fantasy/Modern.
__________________ Homebrew
Current Project (A sequel to Tome of Battle)
Urban fantasy with substantial horror elements. 'Run away' should be a beloved and refined tactic, even for seasoned adventurers. Add half a vote to urban fantasy and horror. If you really dislike decimal points, I suppose +1 to modern will be sufficient.
__________________ Brewing a new setting (3.5 ed D&D). The setting is complete and ready to play. Indeed, here is the recruitment thread for the first run.
The above post was probably snide, snippy, tongue in cheek and/or opinionated. Consult your sense of humour before vexation. If still vexed, attempt to cease giving a damn. Thank you for reading this public service bulletin.
Last edited by Icedaemon : 03-30-2011 at 04:06 AM.
Sigmar grant me the
bourbon to accept the things I cannot change, the bullets to change the
things I can, and a big-titted sidekick who knows the
difference.
Maybe a compromise is in order, a modern super-hero setting?
__________________
If my text is blue, I'm being sarcastic. No, really. Don't bite my head off for saying the Fighter is way overpowered, or how Wizards need more spells per day to keep up.
Maybe it will end up cross genre. Which is fine, love cross genre. We could scale it down a bit, and use a low powered superhero world, making how you use your powers more important than the power level. Could mix in things that make it feel very noir, or a bit techish, or whatever atmosphere we wanted for a modern/urban fantasy superhero setting