Setting 2 - rpg punk

The Rim

Strathos, the world, is made up of four sections. The first is the Axis, which is the central spoke. The vast majority of the world is made up of the Disc, which is actually two separate sections stuck together like wafers; the Light Side, and a Dark Side. The outer edge of the Disc forms the fourth section; The Rim.

Rimward is the word used to describe travel away from the Axis towards the Rim.

Regardless of which side of the world one is on, The Rim is considered the Unknown, due to its isolation. Many myths, legends, and stories exist pertaining to the Rim, and many of these tales involve intrepid but doomed adventurers falling off the end of the world, or being taken away by celestial beings for use as playthings.

The lands leading toward the Rim are cold and desolate. On the Light Side, there are often coniferous forests or tundra. On the Dark Side, there is simply tundra or glaciers or barren rock. Mountains often tower at the edge, overlooking the interior. In a few spots, the ocean drains down from the Rim in massive waterfalls, to be collected and funneled back toward the Axis through the center of the planet and belched forth back to the surface from springs within the central continent.

It is said that the lonely towers found on the rim are the retreats of monks who have given up on the world. Some say these monks oppose the lords of the Axis. Some say they call themselves the Children of Gith.

The Axis of the World

While I haven’t been keeping up on the blog, I have been keeping up in my notebook.

Strathos has expanded from a continent to an entire world!

Strathos (the world) is in the style of a “Flat Earth,” in that it isn’t a globe or sphere, but rather a disc. However, this disc, like a coin, has two sides. A Light side, and a Dark side. Which is kind of a misnomer, as there is darkness on the light side and light on the dark side, but well I’ll explain as I go on.

Imagine a coin or wheel floating in the air, laying parallel to the ground. Now put an axle through the center of the wheel, with equal lengths on either side of wheel. At each end of the axle, imagine a light bulb. When one light bulb is turned on, the other turns off. Now, place a bubble on either side of the wheel, encompassing everything within that side of the wheel, including the axle and light bulb.

That’s a rough description of Strathos.

I never claimed to be a good artist

For our purposes, I will refer to the world as the Coin, and the previously described axle as the Axis. The light bulb is the Sun.

The center of the coin, the area surrounding the axis, is the hottest area of the world. Jungles, swamps, deserts, tropics, etc. The outer edge of the coin is the coldest; tundra, ice flows, glaciers, and so on. In between is the temperate regions.

The Light Side of the coin experiences daylight for a uniform 16 hours a day, and 8 hours of darkness. The Dark Side, by contrast, experiences daylight for 8 hours a day, and 16 hours of darkness.

The Light Side is where I’m going to concentrate first.

The Axis in the center of the Coin, rises higher than the tallest mountains. At its pinnacle rests a gigantic sphere that emits light and heat. Not as much light and heat as a traditional star, of course. But just enough to mimic most of the conditions here on Earth.

Surrounding the Axis is a continent filled with steaming jungles.

Outward from that continent are more continents and landmasses, each with their own ecological systems and dominant life forms. These would be the “sandbox,” to borrow the popular term. I will build upon the central continent and Axis, while the rest of the world can be whatever; premade settings, homemade ideas, or a mixture of both.

The Primacy

The Primacy is based on expansion and ruled through a strict and formal military bureaucracy that pervades all aspects of life. Because of rapid expansion, massive population growth, and emphasis on military industries instead of agriculture, the Primacy is always in need of food and supplies. This causes the Primacy to constantly raid its neighbors, which also serves as a means of scouting and reconnaissance for future invasions.

The Primus and their subordinates truly believe that subjugating people means bringing order and peace to their lives. That they are doing the conquered peoples a favor by bringing true civilization and law to the lands they invade and the cultures they destroy.

They follow (not necessarily worship) the order and structure of the Modron’s Nirvana. The Empire is structured in the same way as Nirvana.

Think of the Primacy abstractly as a wheel, with the Primus as the central hub. Four spokes reach out from the hub and within those spokes are the realms of the Secondus. Each of those quarters is subdivided into a region ruled by a Quarton. Each of the Quarton’s regions is further subdivided into the sectors of the Octons.

When the occasion arises where a citizen of the Primacy dies, a member of the next lower class is elevated to the newly opened position as a replacement. This usually happens rather quickly as everyone has ranks and sub-ranks and is well aware of their place in society. If a citizen should fail in their duties, then they can be demoted and replaced. In this way, a lowly Monodrone has the potential to become Primus, and even Secondus have the potential to be cast back to the status of a Monodrone if they fail in their duty. Only the Primus is exempt from demotion. Titles and status are not hereditary; all citizens begin as Modrons.

Lower classes –

Monodrones: There are innumerable Monodrones, who are could be considered the laborers or serfs of the Primacy. They also serve as a militia force when needed.
Duodrones: There are innumerable Duodrones, about one for every six or seven Monodrones. Duodrones act as the lowest ranks in the military.
Tridrones: There are one hundred forty five thousand one hundred fifty two Tridrones and the act as the corporals in the Primacy’s military and police forces.
Quadrones: There are twelve thousand six hundred eighty eight Quadrones and they act as the sergeants in the Primacy’s military and police forces.
Pentadrones: There are one thousand three hundred sixty four Pentadrones, and they act as the lieutenants in the Primacy’s military and police forces.

Sub-ranks of the lower classes.

Due to the number of Monodrones and Duodrones, they are further divided into lesser ranks based on number. A Monodrone rank 2 outranks a Monodrone rank 1, for example. This ranking system is used for organization of work and jobs. A Monodrone or Duodrone does not have to work their way up every sub-rank in order to be promoted to the next major rank.

Upper Classes – these can be considered the nobility of the Primacy. Most of the upper classes have cleric powers of considerable power, and are correspondingly fanatical in their loyalty to the Primacy. Names in BOLDare those that govern territory within the Primacy.

Decaton: There are one hundred Decatons; one assigned to each Octon, and one assigned to each Hexton. Decatons oversee the well-being of the lower classes, and act as the voice of the lower classes to relay their needs and wants to the Octons and Hextons.
Nonaton: Nonatons serve as the Captains of the military and police forces. One Nonaton serves each Octon, one serves each of the nine Tertians, and eight report directly to the Primus, for a total of eighty one Nonatons. Each Nonaton has twelve Pentadrone lieutenants, one hundred forty four Quadrone sergeants, and one thousand seven hundred twenty eight Tridrone police.
Octon: Octons are regional governors, of which there are sixty four. The lower classes, as well as the Nonatons and Decatons, are the Octon’s responsibility. Each has a personal staff of one Decaton, one Nonaton, five Pentadrones, sixteen Quadrones, eighty one Tridrones, two hundred fifty six Duodrones, and one thousand seven hundred twenty eight Monodrones.
Septon: There are forty nine Septons; 8 serve the Primus, four serve each Secondus, one serves each Quinton. Septons are officials who travel throughout their assigned areas as inspectors and charged with transporting/relaying information from outlying areas to the centers of the regions, quarters, and the capital.
Hexton: There are thirty six Hextons, each the commanding general of an army. Nine serve the Primus directly, three serve the Tertians as military police, each Secondus has the services of two Hextons, and the remaining sixteen serve the Quartons. Each has a personal staff of twelve Pentadrones who are fanatically loyal.
Quinton: There are twenty five Quintons; five reside within the the palace of the Primus, one with each Secondus, and one with each Quarton. Quintons are record-keepers, inventors, and scholars.
Quarton: There are sixteen Quartons, each of whom administers a quarter of a Secundus’ territory. Each Quarton resides in a tower that is similar too, although smaller than, that of the Secondus.
Tertian: Tertians are the judges of the Primacy. They supervise law enforcement as well as cast judgement in trials. There are only nine Tertians at any one time.
Secondus: There are four Secundus, who each rule a quarter of the Primacy. Each has a staff of two Tertians, two Hextons, and four Septons. Each Secondus has their own tower that is very similar too, although smaller than, that of the Primus.
Primus: The ruler of the Primacy. The Primus is chosen from among the Secundus, by the Secundus. The position is for life. Rules from a massive tower that serves as the capital.

Species of the Primacy

Hobgoblins created the Primacy and hold most of the upper class positions. As the Primacy has expanded and new peoples have been brought into it, other species have joined the ranks. All start as Modrons and have the opportunity to work their way up the ranks. Theoretically, any person of any species can become any rank, even Primus.

Magical species are never allowed to be citizens and are driven away or killed when encountered. If they are powerful, they are ignored until overwhelming force can be brought to bear. Elves, faeries, dragons, and the like are considered magical.

While this bureaucratic system works for the Primacy as a whole, there is constant infighting and backstabbing as citizens are promoted or demoted based on influence, favors, friendships, and more.

The Primacy is not currently located in Strathos, but on a distant continent and launches raiding/scouting missions to Strathos.

Strathos Setting Update: part tres

Playtested last weekend. Here is the skinny:

Ran the players through Tower of the Stargazer. A quick, 1st level adventure by Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Got the players to try out the new Wizard, Fool, and Yon classes.
The Wizard died after losing a game of Blackjack with a ghost.
They took to the three-save system immediately.
Flesh and Grit took a little bit longer to understand, but I used Palladium’s HP/SDC system as guide – they are old Palladium players, so it made more sense to them with that example.
Didn’t get to try out the new firearms rules, as no one had a gun.
Didn’t get to use Shields Will Be Broken, although we’ve used that in the past, so no big deal.
I got good feedback on my rules document and character creation document. By “good,” I mean I now have more ideas on how to improve those documents. I play with people who ask a lot of questions and aren’t afraid to tell me what they don’t like. Which is great! It’s refreshing to receive constructive criticism instead of just hearing that everything is wonderful.
Didn’t get to playtest the Muscarn Mushroom Men, as I’m still working the kinks out of the class. There was a nice amount of interest in them though, so that makes me happy.
Looking back, I think the player who used the Fool class didn’t fully read the Level Up section, because I don’t think they rolled on the table at level 1. Which I should have noticed while playing, but didn’t think about until afterwards. I’m rewriting and reorganizing the Fool class to make it easier to read AND make it more in tune with the setting, and less like the source material I took it from.

Next up, I’m going to publish the Three-Save rules I came up with, and how to convert LotFP classes to it. I’m also going to publish the firearms rules I’m using. And yet another write up of the Yon class, Wizards, the Fool, Shaman, Barbarians, and maybe more setting specific stuff.

Strathos Update Part Dos

So, what exactly is Strathos and who lives there and what do they do and what game system is this and why should you care?

I’ll answer those questions in no particular order.

Strathos is the name of a recently discovered continent on a world based on Lamentations of the Flame Princess type source material.

By “recently discovered,” I mean by the standards of Europeans “discovering” the Americas, as there are already people living on Strathos. More on those people later.

Using LotFP rules as a base, some aspects of those rules have been altered to better fit the setting, or are simply fun additions; Shields Will Be Splintered and the d30 rule, for example.

Back to the setting;

Nations/Kingdoms from the European-stand-in continent discover a new continent in the Southern Hemisphere and send colonists to settle there and send back any silver and gold they find. The colonists discover little in the way of material goods, but do discover the natives.

The colonies are founded by members of several nations, so they each have distinct cultures and languages of their own. Proximity to the other colonies and the natives, as well as being more or less cut-off from their homelands, has had some effect of cultural homogenization among the colonies.

Not wanting to send their best and brightest to this far off and dangerous land, the European nations send their undesirables; wizards, religious zealots and heretics, convicted criminals, and trouble makers. These people are given the promise of self-government with the caveat of sending a portion of their wealth back home, in exchange for limited supplies and support.

The colonists are technologically advanced, with access to large multi-masted ships, firearms, and advanced agricultural techniques. They also have horses and cattle, which are not native to Strathos.

Classes available to the colonists include; Fighter, Magic User, Inquisitor, Specialist, and Innocent (Alice).

The natives of Strathos include the human Picts, the ape-like Yon, the fungus-based Muscarians, the plant-like Moss Dwarfs, Goblins, and Hobgoblins.

Picts are humans who live in nomadic tribes in the wilderness. Each tribe has a totem animal they revere for its survival abilities. Physically, they are generally larger, more muscular, and more physically imposing than the colonists. They are low tech, practicing a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and use the gigantic prehistoric beasts native to Strathos as work animals.

Classes available to the Picts include; Warrior and Shaman.

The Yon are intelligent apes who dominate a particular region of Strathos. Their culture is almost hive-minded, with each village centered around a large Giant Bee hive, and all aspects of society working in some way to build and protect that hive. Yon found elsewhere are outcasts who were driven away.

Muscarians are mushroom people who emerged from the Mushroom Forest which borders Yon territory. Muscarians have special powers derived from spores they can release. They have no technology or society to speak of, but are considered friendly and helpful by every other native species, even the hive-minded Yon and militaristic Hobgoblins.

Moss Dwarfs are creatures who live in the deep forests either by themselves or in small communities. They tend to keep to themselves, but do have an innate curiosity that sends them off to adventure and explore the world. Moss Dwarfs are renown for the alcohol they brew.

Goblins are essentially the same as the goblins of most fantasy games. Sneaky, conniving, not particularly bright, backstabby. They aren’t liked by anyone, but are tolerated if they behave themselves. Some of the colonists employ goblins as scouts or laborers.

Hobgoblins are all from an empire to the North, that recently began expanding southward. The Pict tribes that first encountered them named them “Hobgoblins,” as they drove the goblins south before them, and “hob” in pict means, “hearth,” to show that the hobgoblins are civilized unlike the goblins. The Hobgoblin Empire is the single largest and most powerful political entity on the continent, although its expansion is stymied by the seemingly bizarre and chaotic nature of hobgoblin society. Hobgoblin society is based on a beaurocratic social structure based on family caste and personal status. To outsiders, it appears chaotic, but to hobgoblins, it is the pinnacle of order and law. In fact, they believe themselves to be the sole arbiters of law and order in a chaotic world, and expansion of the empire grants this order to the poor souls who they conquer. Hobgoblin “gods,” if they can be called that, are more like mathematical formulas than the typical gods worshiped by other peoples.

Why should you care? Well, you probably shouldn’t. Unless any of this sounds interesting to you.

Strathos Update

Strathos is the name of the continent/setting I’ve been working on for a year. The whole process has been up and down with too many rewrites, edits, and complete deletions to count. It’s been a lot of fun! I love writing. Even if it never comes to anything, it still keeps my brain working.

Anyway, I drew a new map rough and of course it is completely different from previous maps I published here.

Even the background info is vastly different than what I’ve previously written. For me, this whole thing is almost like a living entity; changing, growing, evolving, devolving, morphing into new shapes and forms.

Basically what I have now is this:

Fantasy stand-in for Europe sent explorers and undesirables to a New World; a newly discovered continent across a vast ocean.
Strathos is located within the southern hemisphere of the planet, so South gets colder and North gets warmer.
Colonists are Wizards, religious fanatics, criminals, and people who want to settle a new area free from the control of the government back in the homeland.
The colonies are generally left alone by the founding nations due to distance and lack of profitability and/or strategic value.
Strathos is already populated by humans and a couple other sentients, including Ape People, Moss Dwarves, Muscarians (Mushroom men), Goblins, and Hobgoblins.
Animal life is mostly giant-sized; giant weasels, giant lynx, Mastadons, Saber Tooth Tigers, Wooly Rhinos, and other prehistoric beasts.
Colonists have firearms, including cannon. This is really the only thing keeping them from being wiped out by beasts and barbarians. Well, this and the wizards they pay for protection.
Wizards have created a closed community among themselves and do not allow non-magical beings to enter. There is a password (Wizards Rule) to get in.
Most wizards maintain homes/towers/laboratories outside of the bubble, only visiting the community to trade for or purchase supplies or socialize.
Some of the colonies were founded for the express purpose of supplying the wizards. These communities are under the protection of, and governed by, wizards.
Where the colonies end, the Pictlands begin. Picts are the native humans who wear little clothing and ride on the backs of Mammoths and drive sleighs pulled by polar bears. They are bad ass barbarians who don’t give a fuck.
Beyond the Pictlands are the Goblin Forests and beyond those is the Hobgoblin Empire. The Hobgoblins are socially and technologically advanced almost to the point of the colonies, but lack gunpowder and the know-how to make firearms.
The Ape People, Yon, live in an isolated rainforest within a crater valley on a high plateau overlooking the ocean. Trees, animals, and insects are all especially large in the valley.
Within the crater is a section of few trees, but thousands of collosal mushrooms and other fungus. The Muscarians emerged from this area and spread out over the continent.
The Moss Dwarves are a plant based people and not actually dwarves. They live in the forests and are generally peaceful people who brew beer and talk to birds and smell rather bad.

Setting Notes: Strathos

I’ve been working on and off on a setting for a year now. Figure I should share some of what that is.


Very rough map

This is a rough map of the continent of Strathos. It is located in the southern hemisphere of the world. The map is mainly to show a rough geographical positioning of nations and regions in relation to each other. Notice no actual geographical features like mountains, rivers, lakes, or swamps.


Geographic relations to other lands

I will describe in more detail each region on the map in later posts. For now I’ll give a brief summary. The names are all working names until I think of something better, so yeah, I know some of them are stupid.

Pretonia: Pretons are the oldest of the human races on Strathos. They are descendents of slaves of the Serpent Men from long ago. They still worship the Serpent Men, who they believe have ascended to the stars. Essentially stone age cave men. Pretons are monsters, essentially, who live to destroy the works of humanity. As the Nords and Hobgoblins swept through Pictland, pushing the Picts South and East, Pretonia was split in two. Pretons are based on pre-Anglo-Saxon invasion Celts.
Pictland: Picts are descendents of the Pretons, and are a bit more advanced culturally and technologically. They were poised to be the dominant people on the continent until two major invasions occurred. The Pict language is considered the Common tongue of the continent, and peoples and places are named in the Pict way. Pictland is a huge expanse of mostly unexplored wilderness filled with gigantic prehistoric beasts. It is much like Canada or Siberia: a vast, cold, forest with numerous rivers and lakes and mountains.
Yonwood is a large, forested region of impossibly tall trees. The Yon Ape Men are the dominant society here. The place is crawling with giant-sized insects, carnivorous apes, and deadly plants. The weather conditions are similar to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
Mushroom Forest is an area of the Yonwood were the trees are supplanted by colossal varieties of fungus. This is where the fungoids and Needlemen come from.
Nordheim: Home of the Nords, a piratical people who conquered the area a few hundred years ago. The Picts living there became serfs and slaves of the invaders. Nords are based on Vikings, with magnified stereotypes.
Hobland: I feel like hobgoblins have always gotten shafted in DnD; they’re described as being organized and technologically advanced, but they only appear in ragtag groups with other monsters that share nothing of their culture. Makes no sense. So this is the Great Hobgoblin Empire. Or, at least, part of it. Picts and goblins make up the lower castes of this advanced feudal society, although there is at least one human-ruled member-state of the Empire. Based on the Holy Roman Empire.
Icefields: The Icefields are the permafrost areas. The few people who live here hunt seals and whales. Populated by Frostmen (Fiend Folio, yo) pushed down to the bottom of the world eons ago by the pretons. There isn’t much in the way of easily exploitable natural resources, so everyone else tends to stay away.