Normally I recommend building small and expanding outward. Less effort and it fits the world to your players as they grow cutting down on your setup time. But no, I had a crazy mash up of things I liked and then I tried to find a way to fit them together.
I stared with ideas, built a planet to fit them, then I zoomed in. Traditionally I would say this is setting you up for failure. I don’t recommend it, best to be smart and start small then work out.
So what were these crazy ideas?
I stared with ideas, built a planet to fit them, then I zoomed in. Traditionally I would say this is setting you up for failure. I don’t recommend it, best to be smart and start small then work out.
So what were these crazy ideas?
I wanted alien tech, renaissance tech, but oh maybe in between tech, and fantasy as the dominant theme. I wanted no alignment, no gods and none of the traditional D&D cosmology. Crazy talk right? No Elves or Dwarves (Tolkien styles are getting dull for me right now) and some race that was more sci-fi, but still one other that covered the Demi humans (I use gnomes to replace the missing ones).
While I said no this and no to that, I mean in the current timeline, it all existed in the past.
Regarding technology I often see the term gonzo used in mixed settings. I’m not seeing my world in the crazy light that word often casts. I’m trying to avoid high technology as comedy. I see it as a low tech traveler world, where the inhabitants are aware of technology but unable to create it. I know the boundary here is grey but by imbedding technology in the frame of the game I hope to avoid some of the craziness that comes with finding a wheellock pistol or laser pistol.
Mechanist are common so I had to write up a whole revised guide to the rules with over 30 example items to find as treasure, build or encounter. Alex kindly took it and has published the draft on the Autarc Patreon (hopefully in an Axioms in some future release).
I needed a construct/mechanical people, I have done them in the past back in my 3.0 days, then I found CharlesDMs stuff and various other mechanical people posts on the Autarc Forums and adjusted them to my world.
How to fit this all together?
So something had to have gone wrong, to explain this technology divergence. So I like the Xcom style ID4 alien invasion, but what if the invaders failed? (Don’t they always…) What if the aliens came to harvest all the divine energy from a planet in a renaissance/industrial magic fusion era and fought a war with the gods? (Are all those energy crystals really just the essence of dead gods?) But the gods and races fought back… Both sides were destroyed, the aliens crashing their planet ship and the gods died saving the world. Technology is set back to the dark ages, but still exists through long lived races preserving its knowledge and artifacts from the war (Nothing like a good disaster to create lots of ruins).
Elves and Dwarfs existed (so I can reuse modules) but have left this world. I always tell my players they left on ships, but what kind of ships I have not decided. Time has passed, a thousand years since the event. The gnomes appeared, Humans re established their empires, and they fell, and they rose again. The mechanical people live on the edges following old patterns and rules.
This is the world of the shattered Vale.
While I said no this and no to that, I mean in the current timeline, it all existed in the past.
Regarding technology I often see the term gonzo used in mixed settings. I’m not seeing my world in the crazy light that word often casts. I’m trying to avoid high technology as comedy. I see it as a low tech traveler world, where the inhabitants are aware of technology but unable to create it. I know the boundary here is grey but by imbedding technology in the frame of the game I hope to avoid some of the craziness that comes with finding a wheellock pistol or laser pistol.
Mechanist are common so I had to write up a whole revised guide to the rules with over 30 example items to find as treasure, build or encounter. Alex kindly took it and has published the draft on the Autarc Patreon (hopefully in an Axioms in some future release).
I needed a construct/mechanical people, I have done them in the past back in my 3.0 days, then I found CharlesDMs stuff and various other mechanical people posts on the Autarc Forums and adjusted them to my world.
How to fit this all together?
So something had to have gone wrong, to explain this technology divergence. So I like the Xcom style ID4 alien invasion, but what if the invaders failed? (Don’t they always…) What if the aliens came to harvest all the divine energy from a planet in a renaissance/industrial magic fusion era and fought a war with the gods? (Are all those energy crystals really just the essence of dead gods?) But the gods and races fought back… Both sides were destroyed, the aliens crashing their planet ship and the gods died saving the world. Technology is set back to the dark ages, but still exists through long lived races preserving its knowledge and artifacts from the war (Nothing like a good disaster to create lots of ruins).
Elves and Dwarfs existed (so I can reuse modules) but have left this world. I always tell my players they left on ships, but what kind of ships I have not decided. Time has passed, a thousand years since the event. The gnomes appeared, Humans re established their empires, and they fell, and they rose again. The mechanical people live on the edges following old patterns and rules.
This is the world of the shattered Vale.
Brief History
A brief history would be as follows:
Age of Serpents (a long time ago): little is known of this time. All that is known to common people it that Dragons and Serpents ruled the world.
Age of Enlightenment (-5000 to -3000 years): The “creators”, a great human civilisation dominated the world. Their vast cities were made possible with fusions of industrial era technology and Magic. They created the mechanical people known as the Endjinn.
Age of Strife (-1000 years): The Visitors arrive to wage war with the Gods and races of the world. The gods die, the visitors loose and all suffer. The planet ship of the visitors crashes in the northern hemisphere nearly destroying the planet. The last great spell of the creators pushes up mountains in a ring around the planet and use sorcery to contain the blast.
Age of Recovery (-500 years): Civilisation recovers and new empires of man are forged. What remains of the Elven and Dwarven people depart on great ships. The gnomes appear and begin trade with their new neighbors. The Endjinn forges work on the fringes forging diplomatic ties with their new neighbors. Wars are fought with the Genies from the elemental planes who seek dominance and power over mortals.
Age of Hero’s (present day): Civilisations have risen and fallen but none have achieved the greatness of the past. The Visitors still haunt the world conducting experiments to unknown ends. This is the time for great hero’s to arise and and lead their people into a better future.
Age of Serpents (a long time ago): little is known of this time. All that is known to common people it that Dragons and Serpents ruled the world.
Age of Enlightenment (-5000 to -3000 years): The “creators”, a great human civilisation dominated the world. Their vast cities were made possible with fusions of industrial era technology and Magic. They created the mechanical people known as the Endjinn.
Age of Strife (-1000 years): The Visitors arrive to wage war with the Gods and races of the world. The gods die, the visitors loose and all suffer. The planet ship of the visitors crashes in the northern hemisphere nearly destroying the planet. The last great spell of the creators pushes up mountains in a ring around the planet and use sorcery to contain the blast.
Age of Recovery (-500 years): Civilisation recovers and new empires of man are forged. What remains of the Elven and Dwarven people depart on great ships. The gnomes appear and begin trade with their new neighbors. The Endjinn forges work on the fringes forging diplomatic ties with their new neighbors. Wars are fought with the Genies from the elemental planes who seek dominance and power over mortals.
Age of Hero’s (present day): Civilisations have risen and fallen but none have achieved the greatness of the past. The Visitors still haunt the world conducting experiments to unknown ends. This is the time for great hero’s to arise and and lead their people into a better future.
The World Map
The world looks like this (96 mile hexes):
The red zones were options for campaign maps that I pitched to the players at the start:
- The red zone in the upper left is near the mountain barrier that keeps the radiation from the crashed planet ship flowing over the world.
- The lower middle red zone is near the frozen wastes and is sparesly populated with small nations and nomadic barbarian tribes.
- The far eastern red zone houses an island nation ruled by gnomes with scattered human domains on the mainland.
My players selected the one in the upper left.
I would have chosen the upper left one as well. Cool Visitor tech and alien creatures... Threats from beyond this world!
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