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By popular demand posted:Pity they kept the name 'the crescent empire' it's kinda lazy when everywhere else gets a nice historical name. Probably because the Crescent Empire doesn't even loosely correspond to any real-world nation or culture. It's the Muslim world, all of it at once. The Muslim world during the Middle Ages and Renaissance was extremely diverse, and the Crescents are standing in for everything from the Moors to Egypt to the Ottomans to Persia. It's "All of Europe west of Poland is one nation and one culture" level nonsense.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:34
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7th Sea 2: Inexplicable Name Changes Eisen is in the center of Theah, which has made it a position of strategic import for pretty much all Thean politics forever. Before the War of the Cross, they controlled who got to move through their borders, both for war and trade. After the War, though...well, Eisen is essentially destroyed. Much of the farmland is still in ruins, even 20 years later, and they cannot even attempt to enforce their tolls - or even pay their soldiers. The Eisen are a proud people - they built the empire of the Vaticine, and it lasts for centuries. Their history is one of valor, constantly. Thus, they often try to live in the past, since the present is so awful. They were extremely proud of having no magic but that which they made by their toil. And this is where 2e takes a hard right. See, at some point at the end of the War, the Horrors began to arrive. Vampires, skeletons, demons, werewolves. Eisen had survived the War of the Cross, but now, the monsters were here. They have a long history of coming back from the brink of destruction, though. Right now, the nation is fragmented, haunted and full of killers and monsters, but if it could unite and rise, the pride of the Eisen would bring it to the fore once more. This is te land of desperate heroism and courage in the face of darkness. See, while the War of the Cross eventually consumed most of Theah, it began with Eisen Vaticine fighting Eisen Objectionist - Eisen against Eisen, and they learned the price for their disunity. Most of the world now views them with faint scorn, even though their skill in battle is superior to any other. Even Montaigne's greatest general, Montegue, keeps an Eisen advisor. If one of the princes of Eisen can manage to unite the people and bring them together, they could define the role Eisen will play for centuries to come. But for now? Monsters. Eisen itself is a mountainous region that borders just about everyone on the continent. They have long winters and chilly summers, with lots of rain, snow and mud. Lots of mud. The southern half is full of the black foerests known as the Schwarzen Walder, haunted by the mysterious Schattenmann, the Shade Man who is a gaunt, sticklike creature with an immense pair of shears to dismember you with, while the north has places like the Sudsee, a gigantic lake that has been heavily overfished, or the Unsterbliche Sumpf, the Undying Swamp. The northern forests are full of bandits, and the mountains are home to stories of drachen, gigantic creatures once hunted as proof of valor, but no one's seen one in living memory. The mountains are also home to the iron mines that make up the bulk of Eisen's economy (besides mercenaries), and were once home to the dracheneisen ore, almost magical iron that was legendarily indestructible. The old mines are long since abandoned, though, and what little dracheneisen remains is used to fight the Horrors, which it seems to ward against and is able to harm, even when those Horrors are otherwise immune to damage. The Eisen are bloodied, but they are not quite beaten. They have more collective experience in battle than any other nation, and are masters of tactics. Their skill at war is the main thing they can sell these days, and their military schools are the best in the world. Eisen mercenaries often find work as soldiers, bodyguards or ship-defending marines, leaving their homes to make money for their families. The Eisen are a stubborn people - they may lie low, but they never give up. Their population has been dropped from 24 million to 10 million in 30 years, with only 6 million of that being refugees fleeing Eisen. The rest are dead, less often by battle than by plague and starvation. The Eisen are, as a result, a grim people. Some have been unable to deal with the pain and horror, retreating to catatonia or the bottle, and even those who do not tend to have volatile tempers and scars from their experiences, visible or otherwise. The men tend to wear short hair and beards, while women often grow it to shoulder length and sometimes braid it. There are four classes in Eisen. AT the top are the Adel, the nobles, who live in their ancestral castles and fight over acres of land with a bloody ferocity. Below them are the Soldner, the mercenaries. They are some of the wealthiest people in the nation, and often found academies to train others when they grow too old for the field. The third class are the Bauern, the peasants, who cling to their ability to raise food in the increasingly dead soil. They have endured much, and their anger is growing by the year. The final class did not exist before the War of the Cross: the Waisen, orphans. Their homes were destroyed, their families slain. They wander the land as best they can, foraging to survive. Many starve or die of illness, and the survivors are just as often slain for trespassing on their own ancestral homelands. The Adel have a saying: You can easily tell the Waisen - they don't shield themselves when beaten. The Eisen are a practical and straightforward people. They know tact, yes, but if they don't like you, they'll let you know it. They don't lie very often, except to help a friend or save their own skin. A strong friendship for an Eisen may have them call you their Rucken, their back. This means they would trust you to defend their back in battle, and expect you to never abandon them unless they tell you to do it. They will never check behind them when back to back with you, because they trust you that much. They also tend to be rougher than most foreigners are used to - hugging strongly, speaking loudly. The Bauern and Waisen have no time for fashion - they wear what they can get, though the wealthier ones often like a feathered cap or an apron. Soldner are known for their brightly colored dyed leathers and their distinctive slitted sleeves. They prefer wide-brimmed and feathered hats. The Adel tend to mirror the fashions of nobles elsewhere, but with a few Eisen twists - long leggings, thigh-length skirs and flat, wide-brimmed hats, mainly. (That's all for the men; the women prfer small lace collars and bright colors.) The Eisen are known for their beer, but now even the Bauern rarely drink it - it's too expensive for them. They hope for clean water, good grains, tubers and butter. Lots of butter. Dip things in the butter. The wealthy get imported fruit and vegetables and often pay people to raise meat for them, which is dried or made into sausage, and their thirst for beer remains a constant. Most other Eisen customs have been abandoned these days for reasons of practicality, replaced by new ones. The food shortages mean that children always eat first, period. Even the most honored guest waits before they eat, for the children to get their fill. It is also now customary for guests to bring enough food for themselves and their hosts, as a 'gift' - largely to ensure no one goes hungry if possible. The Bauern also hold that it is terrible luck to harm or touch a Waisen, as their misfortune is contagious. To avoid it, they say, bathe thoroughly to wash it away. Eisen art and music, at least, is somewhat delicate, rather than military. Their greatest works tend to display scenes of idyllic beauty, often landscapes. The Eisen are split fairly evenly between Vaticine and Objectionist. In both cases, their churches tend to the austere, forgoing flashy displays of wealth. They are often highly religious, and discussions of faith are common among Bauern at work, while most Adel donate up to 50% of their income to their local church. They also have a practice unique to Eisen, shared among both Vaticine and Objectionist: Soldner all wear iron necklaces that bear the insignia of the pious dead of their class. These are known as Heiligen, and the Eisen believe the souls of the dead will intercede on the wearer's behalf with God, to keep them safe. The most popular inisgnia is the man with a crown of stars, symbol of the late Imperator Weiss, who is remembered for his policies of religious freedom. AFter that, Imperator Gottschalk I is represented by the Vaticine cross, having created the Vodacce papacy and granted it to the Hierophant to rule. The wolf is the next most popular, with Objectionists at le ast, as the symbol of Stefano Wulf - not an Eisen, but for Objectionists, the holiest man since Mattias Lieber. The final popular heiligen is the hawk in flight, symbol of General Stauss, the Vaticine champion who is still fondly remembered. Eisen is divided now into seven konichreiche, rouhgly 'city-state kingdoms'. Each is ruled by an Eisenfurst, an Iron Prince. The title derives from their former control over the dracheneisen mines. Most of the actual dracheneisen arms and armor were lost, stolen or destroyed during the War of the Cross, however. Each Iron Prince runs things differently. Their borders are often imprecise, too. The first is Freiburg, the Free City, ruled by Niklas Trage, who is probably the most powerful atheist in the world. The War of the Cross destroyed his faith, and he is certain now that all have a price that will make them betray their friends, if offered. He is known to get drunk and verbally accost clergymen. DEspite this, he does his best to help his people and to use their moral weaknesses to manipulate them into doing 'right' as he sees it. He has no desire to expand, claiming only the lands that can be seen from the top of the Wachtturm, the immense watchtower that stands in the center of his city. Freiburg is run on free trade - Trage levies no tax and his only real law is that you must never reveal where your questionable merchandise is from. He attempts not to govern at all, but rather to make his people desire to govern themselves. He is certain Freiburg will not live to see its fifth anniversary, however - there's too many ambitious Eisenfursten, and both sides of the religious divide agree that atheists must not rule. Trage is basically like his 1e version, though I believe they've spelled his name a new way. Wirsche is ruled by Roswitha von Wirsche, who lost three sons and a husband to the War. She was depressed and listless for a time, but something has changed. Now, her land is booming, producing food where once ethere was nothing but ruin. The people are diligent now, but they are also afraid, locking their doors at night. They do not speak to outsiders, for fear that the Countess is listening. This is entirely new for 2e. Wirsche was, previously, Wische, and was ruled by Reinhard von Wische, who was catatonic, and was full of Waisen and little else. The whole probably-a-vampire countess thing? An improvement. Posen is ruled by Elsa Posen (Fauner, in 1e), who, like her 1e incarnation, is a gigantic woman of immense strength, skill and arrogance. Her land is largely unharmed by the War and is full of fertile cropland and wealthy iron mines. Not much else to say. Stefan Heilgrund rules over the konigreich Heilgrund, who shares a name with his 1e version and little else. He wants to reunite Eisen and is sunned by all the other Eisenfursten but Niklas Trage - and even then, Trage only sees him as a brash idiot that can be used. He is collecting occult books and objects for some reason, which is also true in 1e. (The reason there was spelled out; I don't believe it is here.) Fischler is next, ruled by Falk Fischler, who put it together from pieces of Sieger and Hainzl. Fischler is fairly similar to his 1e version - he's a depressed and lonely man who has come into great wealthy but has no friends. He was once shunned by the nobles around him for his poverty, and now they fawn on him for his wealth. Fischler's income is based on fishing, but the Sudsee is nearly fished out and Falk is unsure whether to ban fishing for a bit to let it recover - or if that would ruin his people just as fast. Sieger is the sixth konighreich, ruled by Erich Sieger. As in 1e, it was originally land belonging to a Castillian noble at the end of the War of the Cross, but was abandoned by Castille because Erich was willing to fight to the death over it despite the worthlessness of the area, resource-wise. The land is salted and burned, and Sieger can barely feed what remains of his people, who tend to flee to other konigreiches. Despite this, he is obsessed with retaining his lands and is quite angry at losing some to Fischler. He works hard and is legendarily stubborn. Essentially the same as 1e. The final konighreich is Hainzl, ruled by the cheerful Georg Hainzl, who in 1e was insane, and still is. His lands are largely untouched, and he takes on the role of being Mad King Ludwig, basically - patron of art and music, not super in touch with reality, loves opera. The details of his madness in 1e had him haunted and paranoid, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. His lands produce the best iron in Eisen. Eisen's main exports are iron, lumber and coal, which are quite expensive - and that money is spent on importing food. 40% of Eisen's food is imported thanks to the War of the Cross, and the Eisenfursten conrol all trade in Eisen save for trade in Freiburg. Once, the Eisen currency was the mark, a silver coin minted by the Imperator, but only some Eisenfursten still accept it. Freiburg uses Guilders and its own coin, the pfennig - a tenth-Guilder coin made with permission from the Vendel League. Posen, Hainzl and Fischler do this also. Heilgrund, Wirsche and Sieger prefer the mark - Heilgrund to use as a rallying point and symbol of the glory days, Sieger because...well, because he's stubborn and crazy, and Wirsche for no reason anyone can tell. Freiburg's Guild moneychangers buy marks for Guilder but will not perform the exchange the other way - they want to take the mark entirely out of circulation. Mercenaries make up the bulk of Eisen's military presence, with the rest being the private guards of the Eisenfursten, which are quite small. Most of the mercenary bands predate the War of the Cross, and many fought on both sides at various points. They each have their own distinct banner and war cry, along with a charter that sets out their bylaws. The most famous are the Blutgeister, the Blood Spirits, whose warcry translates to 'Spirits, fly!' and who are renowned for the terror they strike in foes. Of the Eisenfurst guards, only Posen and Sieger are of any note - Elsa Posen's guards are extremely skilled and loyal, while Sieger's are the most brutal and callous Soldner in all of Eisen, which takes some doing. Eisen tactics are world-renowned, and they have four military academies that are recognized as the world's best - Steil, Unabwendbar, Klippe and Gelingen. Steil is only seven years old, founded by a cousin of the last Imperator, Riefenstahl. It accepts only half of those that apply, and focuses on cavalry and infantry maneuvering. Unabwendbar is primarily a school of tactics rather than combat, with a philosophy known as Unwiderstehlich, Irresistable. They learn to embrace rather than struggle against what cannot be changed, focusing on what can be changed in all things. They can often come off as cold, but...well, if they say someone cannot be saved, they're often right. Klippe students are sworn to strict secrecy and new students join only by invitation. It is renowned as the best school in Eisen, and its graduates can be assured of good jobs, but the students have a high mortality rate and the school is believed to be cursed by some. Gelingen, on the other hand, focuses on field education, hunting poachers and watching for invaders or monsters. Their motto is Leren durch taten, learn by doing. quote:Avalon: "The only thing good about the AValons is that we know they can't be trusted." As far as te Eisen are concerned, any Avalon has to be watched cautiously. Still, accusing someone of being a thief or a liar is a serious matter, so Eisen usually keep their opinions ot themselves unless they have absolute proof of an Avalon's dishonesty. Overall, Eisen's main changes are the Horrors. Eisen is full of horrorshow monsters, and that's honestly a good thing. Before, it was mostly just Depression Central with some rear end in a top hat poisoners. I'm not honestly sure why Posen's Eisenfurst had her name changed, but whatevs. The replacement of Coma Dude with Probably A Vampire Lady was definitely a good one. Besides that, not much has changed except for Stefan Heilgrund possibly not being a villain.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:35
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Cythereal posted:Probably because the Crescent Empire doesn't even loosely correspond to any real-world nation or culture. It's the Muslim world, all of it at once. The Muslim world during the Middle Ages and Renaissance was extremely diverse, and the Crescents are standing in for everything from the Moors to Egypt to the Ottomans to Persia. The Crescent Empire is a translation of their name for themselves, and made of like three and a half different nations in this edition, with most people the Theans call 'Crescents' identifying as a member of one of those nations instead. Their book was actually a very pleasant surprise. The nations that make up their area are basically Not Arabia, Not Persia, Not Turkey mixed with Not El Alamein, and the Not Berbers mixed a bit with the Not Turks.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:37
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I didn't own many books for 1E 7th Sea, but I do remember Eisen was the one I liked best. Glad to see they still seem pretty cool.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:54
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So more the crescent empires, definitely an improvement.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:59
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Mors Rattus posted:I'm not honestly sure why Posen's Eisenfurst had her name changed, but whatevs. Where is Posen located on the map? If it's meant to be not-Denmark, it's probably a Frozen reference since Denmark is where the fairlytale The Snow Queen comes from. Regarding the Vesten/Vendel, I kinda wish there'd been a proper not-Scandinavia as a separate thing so you could have a swashbuckling version of Queen Christina of Sweden as a major LGBT character. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 01:00
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7th Sea 2: The Importance Of Scotland The Highland Marches are surprisingly important on the world stage, and always have been. They aren't especially powerful or rich, but their ability to support or disrupt Elaine and her rule makes them extremely pivotal in Avalon's bid to join the world powers. Because of that, Avalon's foes have sought them out as a weak link...and the Highlanders are more than ready to follow the lead of their king, James MacDuff II, in using that status as a weapon. The Marches themselves are wet, foggy and rocky, with bad roads, banditry and lots of vicious beasts. Most travelers prefer horseback or carriages to walking, and the lack of major rivers means that boat travel is rare. The weather is distinctly unpleasant and there are few sunny days, though the frosts rarely get too severe. The food, like the weather, is heavy and rarely changes. Mostly, it's sheep in all of its varieties, though with the discovery of the New World, potatoes have been added to the menu as well, and carrots also grow well there. Most food is boiled or stewed, and fancy preparation is seen as wasteful. The Highlanders tend to be tall, and their clothing is practical by necessity, made for warmth and comfort over fashion. Men wear kilts by tradition, in the tartan of their family or clan. Kilts form a sash also, which is worn over the shoulder or unpinned to serve as a kind of blanket. Nobles favor giant claymores over the more continental rapier, and wear them almost all the time - even at Parliament. Beyond that, their fashion is similar to Avalon's. Women fvor dresses and pleated skirts, usually rather less decorative than those of other nations, and made of strong and warm fabrics. Hats are rare, but women often wear flowers or ribbons in their hair. Clan and family are very important in the Highlands, though they have very little political power outside the island. Clan tartans are worn in public almost constantly, and dances and folk songs are favored for their ancestral allegiances. Foreigners usually have trouble telling them apart, but locals can easily distinguish a song from one valley over that of another. Indeed, county lines are often drawn based on which dances and songs are used where. The reason this obsession with the old affiliations doesn't spark the old wars any more is that Highlanders draw a clear difference between cultural identity and national pride. It's essnetially like sports fandom - you can wear your colors and sing your anthem proudly, but you're not going to identify as a Red Sox fan before you identify as an American, so to speak, at least outside the occasional bar brawl. After all, six centuries of subjugation by Montaigne and Avalon has a bonding effect. Officially, women are second-class citizens in the Highlands. They are forbidden property ownership, political office and the appearance of equality. Women cannot sit at Parliament or serve as clan leaders. However, in practice, things aren't quite like that. Most Highland houses rely on the women to run them, and without them, the country wouldn't get anything done. Women are also the traditional caretakers of finances, and they run the banks to the extent that bills are generally addressed to 'the lady of the household.' Noblemen usually defer to their wives over all other advice, and while no woman holds elected office, many are informal community leaders. The army does admit women soldiers, though they make up a tiny proportion of it - albeit one that contains some of the greatest heroes of the Highlands, including the most notorious privateer of Elaine's fleet, Bloody Bonnie McGee. The Highland nobles are slowly integrating with those of Avalon as the nations grow closer. Most of them still run large farming estates full of gardens and moors, and their education is primarily via home tutors, though some head to Avalon for formal schooling. While the nobles embrace the trappings of sophisticated culture and enjoy the subtleties of hunting, debate and so on, most Highlander nobles prefer to work in politics to being passive. Most of them are patriots, working to better those they lead or themselves rather than focus on mindless diversions. Of course, other countries tend to see them as quaint and backwards, given their isolation. The peasants have a hard life, though the growind middle class has been making things a little better. Most peasants work on the farms owned by the nobilities or wealthy merchant landlords. However, as education and science spread, their lot is improving. More and more are heading to the cities to seek their fortune as merchants or shopkeeps. Generally, Highlander peasants keep to themselves, respect their betters and try to make the most of their lives. They can be quite cheerful, however, and are known to love drinking, singing and competition. The greatest virtue, for the Highlanders, is honesty. Opposing another is no sin if stated openly, and the idea of a 'good clean fight' is dominant in Highland politics. Promises are rare, but if given, they are held sacred - one's oath is one's good name, and no Highlander will consciously break their word. However, this applies only to the people of the Glamour Isles. Foreigners may be deceived freely, and often are tricked into believing a solemn oath that is broken at the worst possible moment. Beyond that, their etiquette is similar to Avalon's. Men tip their hats to ladies and are respectful of rank, and while honesty makes them coarser than in less open nations, the Highlanders still expect politeness or a good explanation. They're also quicker to fight than many, and duels are considered always appropriate as a way to solve a dispute. Clan politics traditionally have been the mainstay of the Highlands, with clan dominance being the focus even under Montaigne rule. However, this is changing as clan loyalty shifts to broader political parties. The Highland Parliament is made of the heads of each major Clan, who inherit their seats, and the old rivalries are shifting from blood feud to debate. They are overseen by the High King, who is a direct descendant of Robert I and oversees all meetings and executes Parliament's edicts. He is the shaper of policy and often controls the agenda. He can tehcnically act without approval, but risks censure and rebellion if he does. It is an unspoken rule that the king respects Parliament's decisions, and in turn gets their approval when he puts forth issues. Currently, the Parliament is divided between the Unionists, who support Elaine's rule, and the Separatists, who want independence. The Unionists are the majority, but the Separatists have been growing. King MacDuff is a Unionist of some passion and has been keeping them in check in the belief that the Highlands can gain strength while remaining largely autonomous as part of the United Kingdoms. Independence, he feels, would leave them weak and unprotected by Elaine's privateers, allowing for easy invasion. He doesn't want to throw away practical freedom for theoretical independence. The main cities of the Highland Marches are Kirkwall and Connickmoor. Kirkwall was built during a centuries-old Vesten invasion, and has stood many sieges since. Now, it is the King's keep and embqassy, and he can generally be found here. The clans meet in the grand hall once a year, and during that week, Kirkwall's population triples and a grand fair is held. Connickmoor is the home of the MacBrides and the center of the Separatist Movement. The MacBride clan leader dreams of independence, but has been constantly stopped by the support for the alliance between MacDuff and Elaine. However, MacBride is a patient man. The rest of the world sees the Highland Marches as nothing but a vassal state to Avalon. However, the Highlanders maintain strong ties to the Vestenmennavenjar, which has allowed wealth and prosperity to enter their lands fairly often. Inismore is the other 'vassal state'. For centuries, the Inish were ruled by cruel Avalon kings who outlawed their language, taxed them heavily and enforced order by violence. Many Inish still hate and distrust the Avalon monarchy, even though Elaine holds the Graal. They dislike the phrase 'Avalon Isles', but they know more than any the power and importance of the Graal. Only a worthy monarch may hold it, and that means Elaine is worthy. And yes, she reduced the tax and made Inish legal again, and yes, the military rule is over, and yes, the island has its own king, even if he's mad. But more than that, the Inish know Glamour is frail and weak. If she does but one thing wrong, Elaine could lose the Graal - and with it, the isles would fall to chaos. Thus, the Inish do not support Elaine out of love or loyalty to her. Rather, they are loyal to Inismore, for they know that if Elaine falls, the terrors begin again, and the Inish would do anything to stop that. The Inish tend to the shorter side, and it is said that when the world was made, the greatest sorcerers ever cast a Gesa, a compelling spell, on the island. It made the code of conduct that has ruled Inish blood for millenia, a code foreign to most outsiders until they visit Inismore. It's all about your reputation. The Inish would kill themselves before doing anything to disgrace their good names. Now, what is honorable and what isn't is very strictly defined by the Gesa of Inismore - and it applies to all, even the king. Indeed, the Inish view of their king is 'the best among equals', quite unlike the rest of Theah. The Gesa is divided into three Great Laws and the Fourth Law that is invoked only when those are broken. The Law of Hospitality says that friends and strangers alike must be treated well. The King maintains hostels along the roads that will feed and bed a traveler without charge, and in which no weapon of any kind is permitted under the King's Peace. Breaking that peace is punishable only by death. A host that turns a guest away or treats them badly is at great risk of reputation loss, and word spreads quickly among the Inish. Abusing hospitality is just as bad, of course. Generosity is also part of this law - a man is judged by kindness of heart and generosity with money. Those who have have a duty to help those who need, and a man with full pockets that cannot spare a coin is a fool and a monster. The Law of Bravery states that it is better to die horribly but with courage than to live blissfully as a coward. More important than anything else is how you are remembered after your death, for you are immortal only in memory. The Inish are a proud people, and that pride prevents them from showing pain, doubt or fear - which has given them a rather casual attitude towards violence. Fistfights can be friendly, and they're always respectful...even if triggered at the drop of a hat. Weapons are never used, of course - just fists, until one man cannot get up again without aid. Then the winner helps him up and buys him a drink. The winner always pays - it's a sign of respect for a man who fought until he could not stand, never giving up. The Law of Loyalty states that a man must always keep his promises, no matter the cost. However, no man can be expected to keep a promise that would make him break the Three Laws, of course. That'd be dishonorable. A man's loyalty is owed to his lord, but his first loyalty is always to his honor - a fact that confuses many Theans. The first and most important concern of all Inish is that their honor is kept intact. Others may find this troublesome, but individualism and honor are taken very seriously on Inismore. Outsiders often see them as arrogant as a result, but it's core to their pride. The fourth law, only ever invoked once one of the Three is broken, is the Law of Justice. Inish law is not about preventing crime, but punishing it. Any injustice is brought to right, no matter how hard it may be. Justice may not be fast, but it cannot be evaded. Foreigners often see this trait of the island as coincidence, but the Inish know it isn't. Fate intervenes. Justice, to the Inish, is a responsibility. If you witness a transgression, you are dutybound to make it right. You cannot ignore it. The only way to rectify a wrong you've done is to atone with a quest that puts your name clear. Often, this includes three impossible tasks, all of which a good Inishman will try to do, even if it means death. Hell, dying is probably the best way to clear your name. Inish fashion is extremely traditional - leggings, long-sleeved shirts and cloaks, all wool, with leather boots and belts. No buttons. Lots of jewelery of all kinds, often with intricate knot patterns. The Inish farm practically all year round, and the island is pretty much two-thirds farmland, primarily barley, dairy, hay, potatoes, poultry, sugar beets, wheat and livestock. Fishing is also common. Inish music is primarily singing, and their customs and traditions are built into their songs, with subjects that vary from rebellion against tyranny to war to love to whiskey. The most important part of this is the bard, one of the Inish learned class. They are unique to Inismore, found in noble courts telling stories and writing songs. Inish religion says that the gods live in far Shadowlands, which can be reached by magic only, though the gates are long closed. The Inish don't especially care about them, honestly. They worship at the right times, on the right nights, but otherwise the gods aren't important, except to note that anyone can become a god, with strong enough glamour. The Inish believe glamour is reputation, and that it has a direct tie to the afterlife. The stronger your legend, the more glamour you're given, and some of the greatest gods were once ordinary people whose legend outlived them, giving them a path to the Shadowlands. That's why you never call an Inish a coward - their reputation matters so much that they have to prove they're not. The keepers of these old waysa re the druids, men and women who hide for a century, until the O'Bannon returned and they could come out into the sun. They aren't always sorcerers - they're teachers who know the secrets of the world, the patterns that show up again and again. They know the right herbs and when to pick them, how to guard against disaster, because they are taught. And because others do not know it, the knowledge looks like magic. Bards are initiate druids, spending their lives learning the secret knowledge by wandering, telling stories and making new ones. They see the patterns as they wander, learning to recognize and understand them as well as serving as messengers with the aid of 'seven-league striders', the magic boots that can cross Inismore in a single day. Inismore is divided into 26 counties, each of which has one representative in Parliament under the ard ri, the High King of Inismore, who rules from Donega. Outside the town is the Fal Stone, a holy artifact that weeps and sings if the ard ri kisses it. Most of Inismore is lowlands but for the core of the isle, which is mountain. There is no place on the island that is more than a hundred miles from water, and boats and ports are very important to the Inish. The climate is mild and warm, but very wet indeed. The rivers are never dammed or blocked for fear of Sidhe vengeance, as the Sidhe live in the waters and sacred lakes. The most sacred are those with an island in the middle, as the Inish say they are gateways to the Sidhe lands. Perhaps oddly, the most prominent buildings are foreign castles along the shore, built by invaders and now rulked by the people they were meant to keep out. The O'Bannon is the High King, but he must deal with Parliament, which was established centuries ago by the Avalon invaders. The O'Bannon has neither the time nor patience to deal with the nobles, though, and dislikes his authority being questioned. The economy is essentially linked to that of Avalon, and the coinage is similar. The Vendel guilds have a growing presence in the ports of Donega, Dunkeen and Darwah. Donega, the capital, is largest, due to fishing and trade. It was cursed in the year 00, but the O'Bannon broke the curse by bleeding on the Fal STone. Dunkeen was the center of Avalon rule and is now the main trade city of Inismore, sitting on several Montaign and Vodacce trade routes. Darwah is the port that trades only with the Highlands. It is ruled by the O'Tooles, whom the O'Bannon removed from the throne when he returned. They make no secret of their distaste for the ard ri, but have so far done nothing to sabotage him. The Inish military is about 90% untrained soldiers and 10% professionals - but those 10% are the important ones. The average Inish army is a mass of madmen led by wild fanatics, and their tactics are unconventional at best. While they're always outnumbered, they are entirely unpredictable, so generals hate fighting them. They have no navy, but have sent hundreds to join the Avalon privateers, and their marines are legendary. For the rest of Theah, they're just Avalon's angry little sibling - no navy, no army, no real economy, no embassies, no threat. The king is a boor and a madman, so why visit? And, honestly, the Inish are okay with that. Overall, the Highlands and Inismore haven't changed much if at all since 1e, though there's less hinting that James loves Elaine and less talking about how totally awesome and invincible the O'Bannon is. In 1e, he was an unstoppable fae supergod with infinite Glamour power. Here, he's...well, probably immortal and fae, still annoyingly crazy and all that, but at least I don't have to read much about it. I'd still prefer him being gone, though. Next time: Montaigne.
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Jun 20, 2018 02:33
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Cythereal posted:Where is Posen located on the map? If it's meant to be not-Denmark, it's probably a Frozen reference since Denmark is where the fairlytale The Snow Queen comes from. Posen is in the northern edge, across the bay from Vesten and Ussura. So...yeah, it's probably Denmark, I guess, or northern Germany.
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Jun 20, 2018 02:35
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At least O'Bannon isn't a serial rapist this time?
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Jun 20, 2018 02:55
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At least this version of Germany is not menaced by Goatman Prime. Also, adding vampires to the mix is a great move for swashbuckling fantasy heroes.
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Jun 20, 2018 02:57
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So Dark Matter, uh, did they realize they were writing story hooks? Werent there things to fight in this game? Like if I just read those Id think its a game about being amateur photographers
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Jun 20, 2018 03:57
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Loving the new 7th Sea write up! Makes me feel old that I fondly remember reading the first one an uncomfortably long time ago. And I see the habit of abusing other languages has remained a constant. The German in that Eisen bit sure is a thing. And “gesa” (or well “geasa”) is the plural. The singular is “geas”. For a fun game, guess how it’s pronounced without googling. It’s basically “gesh” Also I double checked with my Spanish speaking friend and apparently El Vago and El Vagabundo are both perfectly good, it’s just that they mean lazy/hobo and vagabond respectively.
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Jun 20, 2018 03:59
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Lazy Man may not be one of the best vigilante motifs. Though the alternative is basically Hobo With A Shotgun...
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Jun 20, 2018 04:53
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 Skills and Finishing Off Character Creation The next step in character creation is assigning some extra points to your skills. You get an extra 4 +25%s and 5 +10%s to other skills to assign, after a Skill Category Modifier derived from having high enough in relevant stats, homeland, profession and Cult. There’s almost certainly something you want patched up, like making sure you have a good weapon skill, worship skills for better magic recovery and making sure other cult skills are good so you can advance in your religion easier. This is probably a good time to show the list of skills.  It’s not entirely as bad as it looks. A lot of them probably won’t matter to your character, like occupational stuff that isn’t part of your profession, or knowledge skills that maybe one character in your party will have for the occasional advantage, and some are cult-specific like Sense Assassin/Chaos or Peaceful Cut. A lot of them are useful for Augments, like Sing, Dance and Meditate. Some will just be used for an income roll between sessions. That said, it’s a lot and can be really overwhelming, and there doesn’t need to be a difference between Scan and Search or separate Punch and Kick skills. Culture and linguistic skills are probably overemphasized for how much they’ll be in most games, aside from the occasional augment. Every character wants to be good in at least 1 weapon, important adventuring stuff like Dodge and some perception stuff, what they use to determine their income, Worship (your deity) and some other cult skills to advance faster (50% in worship and 4 other cult skills to become a Rune Priest, and 90% in 5 cult skills for a Rune Lord). If you keep that in mind and don't go too broad, you should be fine, although some skills are more important than they look from first glance, since they tie into a lot of resource recovery stuff. The system is a Roll-Under percentile thing, so it’s easy to judge how good you are in something, at the very least. After you’ve finalized your character’s mechanics, all you need to do is handle the finishing flavor touches, like your character’s name, clan and tribe, some aesthetic touches and writing how much your character can Move in a turn for some reason. You get to roll for a family heirloom, mostly minor magical items, but also some fun stuff like a talking animal or having a famous ancestor. There’s a standard sidebar about setting attitudes towards gender and sexuality. The Orlanthi acknowledge people of different sexuality and orientations, although it does state that some cults are gender-restricted, mostly towards women only. At the end of the section, there are a list of pregens you can use, with provided art and backstory. They aren’t really formatted like a standard character sheet so they’d be annoying to use in play, but they’re there if you need them. Overall, I like the Character Creation in Runequest. There's definitely issues with stat balance and rolling, the skills need a trim and the order you go through is wrong, but it's fairly simple in practice to pick a homeland, job and cult, take suggested rune magic from the cult's list, then pick up some appropriate Runes, go through the ancestry charts and then add everything together into a unique adventurer with a history, place in the setting and reasonable competency, without needing to know much about the setting or systems. The next chapter is an overview of each Homeland in detail, with some interesting locations and places detailed. People aren’t super interested in Lorechat so I’m skipping it, but it’s a useful resource for players and gms alike. So next time: the basic systems, if you could call them that
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Jun 20, 2018 06:10
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Was listening to the newest System Mastery ep on Albedo, and boy, the whole "no touching, concert is just a group headphone listening experience, and mild conversations are the best hobby" is like some isolated, put-upon homeschooled fundie child made a game universe that was based entirely on things he was taught were good, and not an idealized escapist experience. Like, he's his old self, but a military fox person with a stupid name. Everyone else is also like that. It's a very interesting paucity of imagination.
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Jun 20, 2018 07:43
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Barudak posted:Thank you Spitalians, for introducing somethig that undermines a setting construct with a vague handwave So I went ahead to check the equipment section and the EX thing is something that's fired from a grenade launcher pistol (flare pistol) and it debuffs Abberants for 10 minutes (as the compound deteriorates fast and the infested nature of the Psychokinetic reasserts itself).
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Jun 20, 2018 07:46
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JcDent posted:Was listening to the newest System Mastery ep on Albedo, and boy, the whole "no touching, concert is just a group headphone listening experience, and mild conversations are the best hobby" is like some isolated, put-upon homeschooled fundie child made a game universe that was based entirely on things he was taught were good, and not an idealized escapist experience. Like, he's his old self, but a military fox person with a stupid name. Everyone else is also like that. From what I understood from that setting that was supposed to be about them having 'just' come into existence and to highlight that we take for granted that we have thousands and thousands of years of artistic development behind everything. Much like the rabbits wandering off and independently inventing fascism to shield their elites from consequences for their corruption.
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Jun 20, 2018 13:06
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JcDent posted:Was listening to the newest System Mastery ep on Albedo, and boy, the whole "no touching, concert is just a group headphone listening experience, and mild conversations are the best hobby" is like some isolated, put-upon homeschooled fundie child made a game universe that was based entirely on things he was taught were good, and not an idealized escapist experience. Like, he's his old self, but a military fox person with a stupid name. Everyone else is also like that. Is it even possible to collect Albedo Anthropomorphics? It's strange to me that the RPG is pretty well known, but I don't see TPBs of the actual comics for sale anywhere.
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Jun 20, 2018 15:43
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7th Sea 2: The French Are Still Assholes Montaigne is the nation that leads Theah's culture, art and architecture. Until quite recently, it was at war with Castille, and the peasants suffered greatly from the war, but the nobles have become quite rich on it. Montaigne itself is resource-rich, with farmland as far as you can see in any direction. The cities are separated by vast gulfs of peasant hovel surrounded by arable and heavily worked land, and the cities are immense and wealthy beyond measure, ignoring the life of the rural peasants outside. Everything about noble life revolves around the Sun King, l'Empereur du Montaigne, Leon Alexandre. He's chopped the land up into small parcels, each ruled by a duke, with each duke served by some number of marquis to attend to day-to-day work. They report to the Empereur, but never actually tell him anything is trouble - they are expected to solve that before he hears about it. The life of the nobles is rich, with no understanding of moderation. For the peasantry, life is simple, with minimal education, large families and quiet lives of respectable desperation. Until recently, all men over the age of 15 were conscripted to the military, and many have come back broken or dead, so the farming is largely taken care of by daughters and widows. It was once tradition for all weddings to be in spring, but the Castillian war changed that - the men would be given leave in winter, when the fighting slowed, you see, and they'd marry quickly and have as much sex as possible before being shipped back to the front. Peasant families are encouraged to be large, to provide more manpower. Nobles, on the other hand, rarely have many children - usually no more than two or three, as Montaigne law states that only the eldest inherits. More than one heir is prudent, but more than three is bad manners...if you aren't l'Empereur and his nine daughters, anyway. Montaigne peasants are hospitable and direct in their words, but the nobility are all about inference. Nothing said is ever what is meant, but instead relies on precedent and metaphor, and diplomats from foreign lands hate being posted to Montaigne as a result, despite the excellent food and lodging. It is considered the greatest rudeness to force someone to have to respond directly, especially on a controversial subject, and the banter can be practically painful in its need to make light of serious situations so no one has to address them. Wit is valued highly - as is intrigue, the favored hobby of the Montaigne court. They are playfully vicious about plot and scandal, and the Montaigne nobles seem to be natural spies as a result of their hobbies. They are also welcome just about everywhere, as the trendsetters of fashion and culture. The Montaigne army forced the Vaticine church out of the country, and the nobles have reveled in their newfound theological freedom, while the peasants are terrified of their possible godless status. The nobles are decadent in the extreme, with so much wealth they have no idea how to use it all except on mischief and extravagance. The entire nation has been excommunicated, and while the nobles don't care, it has broken the morale of the peasants, and some are willing to kill over it. Still, despite all this, the land is beautiful and rich, opulent in every sense. The Church, before it left, warned that the massive overfarming and overly active production would ruin the land if kept up, but there haven't been major failures yet and no one is worried. After all, the climate is kind and the farms still produce well. Montaigne nobles are all fashion-obsessed, with excellent and often complex grooming and hair. Peasants tend to have thick hair, cut only once per year, and thick beards on the men. The classes are very firmly and strictly divided. The highest class is La Famille Royale, who have near absolute power. They consist of the Empereur, his wife, their immediate family, and the parents of former monarchs. Mostly, that's l'Empereur's 9 daughters (and 0 sons, which he's sore over), and his third wife, the Fate Witch Morella Alouse Giacinni. Her only child is Dominique, a girl with no magic whatsoever. His prior wife was mother of three, a Castillian, and died of, quote, 'feminine ills.' Below them are the noblesse, the proper nobility - the Dukes and Marquis. Dukes outrank Marquis by right of owning land and descending from the founding families of Montaigne, while the Marquis are their siblings, who control most of the wealth in exchange for overseeing life in the ducal provinces. Under them are the petite noblesse, the gentry. These are people who are noble by virtue of wealth only, lacking both land and responsibility. Some inherit, some lie and steal, but all that matters is they have the cash. They live extravagantly and avoid politics. On equal footing with them are the noblesse errante, those nobles who have somehow lost their lands and chosen instead to serve in the courts as bureaucrats, courtiers or diplomats under a patron. Just below them are the courtier class, the talented commoners that serve to entertaint he nobles with their skills - poets, jesters, prostitutes, actors, writers. Merchants and priests who possess enough wealth can also be considered of this class, though they can quickly be driven out if they don't understand the rules of the court and accidentally offend the powerful. Below these nobles are the scholars, who have recently become quite popular due to the rise of exploration. While scholars and philosophers have traditionally been well-regarded and supporting them was a matter of noble prestige, archaeologists are the current stars, and most noblesse vie to keep them on hand and build private libraries to attract them, often at great expense. Below them are the merchants and craftsmen, most of whom belong to the Vendel League and thus make a decent income. Some sign exclusive contracts with Montaigne nobles, who love the air of superiority it gives them. Lowest of all are the peasantry, who must work to ensure the rest of the system doesn't collapse. Their life is hard indeed, especially compared to the luxuries and privileges afforded to peasants of other nations such as Vodacce or Castille. They usually work upwards of 60 hours a week, no matter their age or health, tending to the lands owned by the nobles. Montaigne etiquette is all about avoiding confrontation, at least among nobles, and blending in. They are subtle and conflict-averse to the point that they can talk for hours without actually saying anything, and that is admired far more than honesty. Fashion and trend make parties difficult and tiring to organize, but they remain very common, although most prefer to fund the parties that others host, at least outside the bold, trendsetting cities of Paix, Charouse and Crieux. The peasants tend to be more kind and inviting, despite their hard lives. They have learned not to complain, and they keep as clean as they can in their squalor. While visitors often complain about rudeness or vulgarity in the cities, the rural peasants are universally beloved by visitors. Peasants rarely own more than one set of clothes; nobles rarely less than fifty. Porte sorcerers are especially easy to pick out among nobles due to their gloves and cosmetics, used to hide the blemishes that form on their arms and hands. Noble fashion generally consists of many materials of great expense, and while royal blue and gold are always popular, they come in many colors indeed. Rococo floral patterns are almost never out of style, and dark colors are seen as ugly and insulting. The Mode du Lac, or Fashion Society, dictates the trends across Theah at least to some extent, and they have grown close with the Vendel League to help spread their message. Men typically follow the Mode, but women may diverge if the queens of Theah end up wearing different outfits than are dictated by the Mode. Likewise, the nobles eat richly, with imported meat, fish and other products that are seen as rare and exotic. Vodacce food, especially, is popular right now, and Montaigne cooking is considered the most innovative in the world. Grapefruit and cantaloupe are also growing in popularity, as are truffles. Merchants generally eat a less exotic but still solid and filling diet, often heavy in breads and imported Castillian crops, while the peasants make do with beans, moldy bread, discarded or old vegetables, spoiled wine and dirty water. The food they grow never fills their own bellies - it goes to feed the nobles or for export, save for what little the peasants can skim and hide from the tax collectors. Montaigne custom embraces humor, particularly humor that mocks others or even the self, as long as it does not cross certain lines. Those who go too far are ostracized from polite society quickly, and it is not rare for those gifted in ridicule to be popular until they screw up, at which point all abandon them nearly immediately. However, ironically, situations that become so delicate as to be explosive are safer - everyone joins in the ridicule, called 'the game', to make life easier on everyone else - which most outsiders never really grasp. Montaigne do not touch their spouses publically, except sometimes when dancing, but commonly embrace friends or courtiers publically. Touching friends while laughing, particularly in the hand or chest, is also common, as is fanning one's face. Montaigne art and music are as trendsetting as their fashion and philosophy, and it is full of artists and musicians. Harps and string instruments are preferred, while percussion is disdained - for now. Wolffrond von Hazel is working to change that. He's seven years old and considered the greatest musical talent of the last century. He's Eisen-born, but he came on tour with his parents to Montaigne, as they hope to find a patron to support him. He's very popular. Until the early 1600s, the Montaigne were a very spiritual people, strongly Vaticine, but as the morals of Kings Leon XII and XIII were terrible, the moral fiber of society decayed. The Church's influence on the Montaigne nobles is now essentially nonexistant. They promote banned books and secular movements, what churches remain are heavily taxed, and l'Empereur is openly atheist. The peasants, with the exception of direct servants of nobles, tend to fear they're damned. The Church has worked to try and keep the masses happy and alleviate their strain, but even many Church officials turn a blind eye when the soldiers arrive with gold as "gifts." There is no Cardinal in Montaigne any more, and all of its Bishops are in seclusion or missing, leaving only the Monsignors and priests to lead the flock. They have a rough job of it. Governance is, surprisingly, actually functional. The politics are Byzantine at best, built on a web of connection and intrigue and rumor, but results happen...as long as you have the wealth and knowledge of how to make it happen. Montaigne has doubled in size since the War of the Cross, and it relies heavily on the nobles to lead and organize things, while they use the new land to grow rich. On average, Montaigne has the highest standard of living in Theah - though the peasants do rather drag it down. Heavy tariffs on trade keep the coffers full, and the nobles' consumption vastly outstrips their production and export...which means that if they ever hit hard times, the nation would be in deep trouble. But they've never had economic problems, so why worry? Their coinage is the soleil, though the Guilder is equally popular, with merchants preferring to take in Guilders and give soleils as change. The military was once an austere, elite group, but now, it's size is tripled due to conscription, and its command structure is dwindling and largely inexperienced. Most of them are peasants with talent but no real experience, and few nobles bother to enlist. The conscription, of course, applies only to peasants. The losses in Castille were a harsh lesson for the poor and the soldiers, but the rich learned nothing. Many grew wealthy off the war and few nobles died, after all. It hardly helps that the current leader of the Navy, High Admiral Alceste Valois de Praisse III, is the most ostentatious military leader in years. He spends more time at court than at sea, always assuring l'Empereur that the pirates are no threat nearby...though his patrol orders have left the bay west of Crieux essentially unguarded. The elites still exist, however. The Musketeers serve as police, guards for nobles in transit and agents to perform any number of tasks for the royal family. They swear to serve l'Empereur and wield a rapier, tabard and musket as signs of authority, with each blade specially forged and fitted to their grip, the tabard bearing the royal crest and the musket inlaid with silver. Musketeer recruits must be accepted by a council of 20 serving Musketeers, and they never have more than 1000 members at any time, with old soldiers retiring and new ones joining each spring to maintain peak efficiency. Each would fight to the death for any other, and the trust and loyalty between them is legendary. They are not, however, the personal guard of the Empereur - that honor belongs to the Lightning Guard, who are formed from the best Musketeers only. The force has existed for 600 years now as devoted and righteous defenders of the monarchy, as well as couriers, escorts, investigators and ambassadors. quote:Avalon: Though the constant shuffling of government between Montaigne and Avalon has long since settled and commerce across the Montaigne Strait is at an all-time high, long-standing grudges continue between the two nations. Montaigne and Avalon have moved on to new conflicts, however, and internal struggles within both nations serve to keep these hostilities buried at the moment. The biggest change here is the wars. The Castillian War is officially over and Montaigne lost, though the nobles have not seemed to notice that loss. The Ussuran War has not yet started. So that's some timeline shifting that is probably for the better, because the active wars were always a bit weird for making international parties of patriots. Other than that, the nobles remain utterly awful and the Revolution is clearly building up, but has not reached a head yet or even really threatened. It will clearly happen at some point, but it's going to take a while. Oh, and we lost the metaplot about l'Empereur shoving the Not Pope down the stairs. Honestly? Okay with that. Next time: The Sarmatian Commonwealth.
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Jun 20, 2018 16:25
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Realms of Sorcery An End of All Things Shyish, the Wind of Death, is a representation of the natural end of all things. It is not the gurgling decay of a Nurglite or the rotting power of a Necromancer, but rather the dream of a complete life, peacefully ended. It also represents the acceptance of the limitation of all things. The Amethyst wizards who wield it are often dour and grim people, to be so drawn to the idea of the end. At the same time, they possess a powerful respect for life and a desire to give the world meaning before the end comes. It is the Wind of reverence and respect for what it limited, reminding people that what they have is all the more sacred and special for the fact that it will pass one day. It is an awareness that the world persists even as everything within it does not, a view of a greater cosmic picture that understands that the loss of one's own life and the end of one's existence is not the end of all things. It also scares the everloving hell out of people. Shyish blows from the past, because it has already ended, and then permeates the present. It has little concern with the future; the energies of death know where that leads already. The magic is also drawn to liminal spaces. It is strongest at twilight or dawn, when one part of the day is ending and another is beginning. It is pulled close to battlefields, as it concentrates on soldiers who accept the possibility of their deaths and steel themselves against the ending that is coming. It lingers on the executioner's gibbet and the graveyard, and it blows strongest in the spring and autumn, when the world is changing how it works. Amethyst wizards are (by fluff, they aren't that great mechanically, sadly) some of the most dangerous battle wizards in the Empire. Especially if they face the Undead. They can simply snuff out the lives of enemy soldiers, and a single touch by a Wizard Lord can kill even the mightiest hero (They get the only straight up Save or Die non-Chaos spell in the game). They are also masters of spiritual magic, able to conjure forth spirits of the recently dead and question them on various matters. They limit this conjuring to the recently dead because they have no desire to drag a spirit back from one of the realms of the dead, as Necromancers do, for fear of trapping it on this side and away from Morr's Realm. Their magic can also bring about decay and the passage of time; they have spells that will age a living target before their time and spells that will decay an unliving object to dust as if it had just experienced thousands of years of wear and tear. They can physically see the Wind slowly teasing the life out of a person as they age and grow closer to death; the most experienced Magisters see this in every single person they meet, all the time, without being able to turn it off. The Order's power is close to Necromancy but put towards a completely different end. Necromancers exist to defy the natural ending of things. They are generally obsessed with true resurrection or true immortality, both of which are nearly impossible. Necromancy tempts young Death wizards the way Chaos tends to tempt other Colors. A young person who is suddenly, mystically aware of their impending death (and the deaths of those they care for) and given some measure of power over the forces that will bring it will obviously be tempted to tweak things a little, to buy just a little more time. This is a dangerous path that ends in tragedies like Nagash, tragedies that have plagued the world long after their makers should have gone to their appointed rest. Worse, this path pulls the user away from the true nature of Shyish; an Amethyst wizard accepts death and embraces what they have, rather than seeking more. Their measured practice also stops them from suffering the side effects a Necromancer suffers, and their proximity to the power of death helps them put a natural end to the unnatural creations of Necromancy. The general public is terrified of Amethyst wizards. No-one likes to think about their own death, and the purple-robed, bald, pale wizards who shuffle around the graveyards of the Empire (guarding them from Necromancy, alongside the Priests of Morr) are walking reminders that all things come to an end. They are also tremendously secretive; by their very nature they don't tend to be the most social of people, and their Order encourages a measure of detachment to prevent a student from being tempted to extend their lives of their loved ones. Whereas the zero tolerance policies of the Shadowmancers have led to many dead Shadowmancers, there have only been 4 notable renegades from the Amethyst Order in the last 2 centuries. When a Death wizard goes rogue, the Order strives to end every single trace of their existence. The wizard will be killed and their remains rendered to ash, and their books, works, and researches expunged from the Order; a mind that could be tainted by darkness is not worth preserving. The Order also strives to guard the psychological health of their brothers and sisters. Acceptance of the end of all things is healthy. Obsession is not. Amethyst wizards can fall into madness, melancholy, and all-encompassing nihilism without the support of their peers. This is more dangerous and more common than 'spiritual' forms of corruption, and the Order's exercises and internal socialization are intended to prevent it. An insane Amethyst wizard is potentially armed with the ability to kill almost anyone and make it look like a natural death by heart attack; one of them running around the Empire believing themselves the harbinger of the End would be really bad. The Grey Order's paranoid Patriarch suspects that madness is more common among the Amethyst wizards than they let on, but he has no proof. He is deeply afraid of their Order. The only duty anyone officially hires the Amethyst wizards for is battle. The Empire tries to ignore them and to pretend they don't exist during peacetime, which is entirely fitting for an Order that represents death; most people try to put it out of mind most of the time. They find plenty of extra work from noble families that border on Sylvania, however. The Order is intent on one day destroying the persistent threat of vampirism and necromancy stemming from cursed magical eastern Europe. They are happy to lend their aid to Morrites, vampire hunters, and adventurers who battle the undead in that ruined land. The Amethyst College is the smallest of the Colleges and they accept very few Apprentices. They only take students who feel drawn directly to their Wind, and only accept those after strict entrance examinations and strict testing to ensure they really are drawn to the magics of the End. They tell an Apprentice that joining the Order is very much like dying; they will have to cut ties with all they knew before and begin their life anew. An unsurprising number of their students are former Initiates of the Cult of Morr, people who found themselves drawn to death for reasons they couldn't explain until they started to witness the Winds of Magic. They seem to do everything they can to convince a student to find a different Wind if they feel any passion at all for any other part of life. The College sits in a big, gothic crypt within a supposedly haunted cemetery, long since filled during the ancient Red Plague of 1111. The mausoleum's doors are always open, waiting to see if a visitor is drawn to enter the realm of Death. Adventurous street urchins report a dusty, dry, seemingly abandoned building full of shrines to Morr and a creeping sense of dread that eventually sends them running for their lives. Others report that they turned a corner and found a purple-robed Magister waiting for them, scythe in one hand, hourglass in the other, waiting to sweep them away to begin their training as an Apprentice of the Wind of Death. The College is used as a general purpose residence for Magisters, Apprentices, and unusually, Journeymen because Amethyst wizards tend to have a hard time finding understanding lodgings anywhere else. The current Patriarch of the Order is Viggo Hexensohn, rumored to be a former Anointed Priest of Morr before he was drawn to arcane magic. He is, like most of the throwaway Patriarchs, merely a very powerful example of his Order. Quiet, bald (almost all Amethyst wizards lose all their hair over time), terrifying and wise, with an air of mystery. There's nothing that really stands out about Viggo, which is a shame, as this would have been the perfect place to have made him the Scourge of the Carpathians by having him have been involved in purges of Sylvania or something. Next Time: EXPLOSIONS!? Night10194 fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 16:40
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Barudak posted:So Dark Matter, uh, did they realize they were writing story hooks? Werent there things to fight in this game? Like if I just read those Id think its a game about being amateur photographers who knows? i get the sense that the location hooks we either written by (at least) two separate people or else written in literally a single day. there's a pretty clear difference between locations that have a solid story hook and locations that are just a Wikipedia-lite article, and i'm not sure whether that's due to having multiple authors with different ideas of what chapter 7 was supposed to be about, or whether it was because all of these got written in a single session (not necessarily in the order they're presented) and that the ones with no obvious story hook were the ones that got cranked out at the end of the day. i could also see some of these locations being "obligatory" inclusions where they felt like they had to write about (for example) Groom Lake - it's an X-Files style RPG we've got to have a thing about Area 51 - but they didn't have anything interesting or novel to present as story hooks so they fell back on just providing very generic real-life info about the location. if i were to try and "fix" chapter 7, i'd make it the "what are the illuminati doing?" companion to the "who are the illuminati?" info dump we get in chapter 6. cut the number of illuminati groups and the number of locations way down and have every location in chapter 7 clearly outline one active plot thread for each illuminati group at each location. zooming out a little further, i'd probably take chapters 5/6/7/8 and rework them into a more coherent setting guide, because all four include bits and pieces of the info you'd need to run a game in the Dark*Matter Earth and having the chapters completely isolated from each other makes it really hard to create an organic story with logical connections. it'd also cut down on the amount of repeat info you get.
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Jun 20, 2018 16:46
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I get the impression that some amount of Witcher 3's Velen was brought into Eisen. Which isn't necessarily bad, but does stick out a bit given that there's not much mention of monsters elsewhere in most of the nation descriptions outside of those tied to national sorceries.
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Jun 20, 2018 17:31
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Realms of Sorcery EXPLOSION JUSTICE! Well, this is Order everyone's familiar with. The Wind of Aqshy is the Wind of passion and excitement. It is also the Wind of blowing stuff up and conjuring massive pyrotechnics. It calls to those who are drawn to dynamism, energy, courage, and irresponsibility. Actual heat draws the Wind of Aqshy just as much as a heated argument, and so the rites of the Bright Order always involve fire in some way. There is no subtlety to Bright Magic and it is only good for combat. Bright Wizards are known first as warrior-wizards and secondly as tremendously hyperactive and argumentative people who may be so hot blooded that they are literally on fire at all times. The Bright Order was the first Order formally founded, because simple fireballs and explosions were some of the first spells Teclis taught the early human war-wizards, led by the warrior von Taurnus. No other Order is as thoroughly given over to the role of producing Battle Wizards. Bright Wizards go about their business dressed in the customary red and orange robes of their Order, and are some of the most vulnerable to being influenced and changed by their Wind of Magic. It is very rare to find an experienced Bright Wizard who doesn't sport orange hair that turns to flame when they channel their spells, or blazing eyes of fire, or red tattoos that shift and dance like fire (they like fire a lot, okay?) as they cast. They also have a chain and lock motif, with each full Magister wearing the seven Keys of Secrets that they were awarded as they unlocked the various stages of their training. The idea is that progress through the Order represents breaking the chains on one's soul and unlocking one's passions as one learns to control them. The Bright Order places a strong emphasis on controlling and channeling the passions, and they do not generally succeed. These wizards are hot blooded and confident to the point of arrogance, prone to strong emotion and changeable passion. They love to laugh and love and argue and fight. These are the wizards who, despite the efforts of their Order, go and have a kegger and get black out drunk and wake up married and divorced in the same night or something while burning down an evil cult. Apprentices in the Order are taught to control themselves not through strict discipline (this is attempted, it just doesn't work) but by coming to understand their own heart and their own mind. By understanding their own passions, they can shape and channel them more constructively, despite the inherently destructive nature of Aqshy. They are encouraged to put their passion towards their fellow students, to make friends and to aid one another in their studies; the drive to friendship and love of others is considered one of the most constructive passions. They are also driven to healthy, friendly competition and to push themselves to master the arts of combat. Like the Grey Order and their swordsmanship thing, there's nothing in the Bright career that makes you a better fighter, but from the sound of it (and from the fact that their founder was an Imperial Greatsword Champion before he became the first Bright Patriarch) they are encouraged to multiclass into a fighting career at some point. Too much time spent reading like a nerd wizard is frowned upon in favor of getting out there and flinging some fireballs and swinging swords at a practice dummy. Sports and physical exercise are a key part of discharging the hyperactive energy of young Bright Wizards. The public has a very mixed view of Bright Wizards. They make dramatic figures, which the public likes, and they are often war heroes, which the public likes even more. However, they set things on fire and they have extremely quick tempers; property damage follows a Bright Wizard like overturned fruit carts follow an action hero. For every story of a mighty Battle Wizard single-handedly annihilating a platoon of orcs and saving a flank, there will be another story of the same wizard getting pissed off in a pub and throwing a fireball out a window that burns down someone's chickens. The public prefers to admire their work from a safe distance and tries to avoid pissing off the extremely volatile fire wizards. The Bright Order loses a lot of wizards every time major wars break out, and the Storm of Chaos was no exception. Bright wizards were on the front-line of every major battle, burning through the hordes of the north and exploding devils left and right even as many of them died at the hands of their enemies. However, the Order also tends to attract more and more applicants after every major war. They are thus facing a shortage of instructors, with fewer Magisters actually in residence at their main College than any other Order except the Jade and Amber Orders. I imagine some of this is also because getting a Bright wizard to sit still and teach is something of a task. The College itself is set in a huge tower within a burned out ruin; they burned down everything around themselves in a particularly explosive argument about 80 years back, which has not done much for the reputation of the Order. No-one will move back into the 'blast zone' around the College, and everything in the College is made of stone and iron to keep it flameproof. Like many Colleges, it is hidden behind magic, appearing to be a pile of particularly impressive rubble unless one knows there is a flaming wizard College in the area. Locals (and some young Bright wizards) will tell gullible visitors there is, in fact, no building for the Bright College and that the entire Order flies across the sky on wings of fire to drop war-wizards off in the hotzones of battle. Which would totally rule, and the Bright Order would totally do that if they could, so I see why people believe it. Thyrus Goremann is the current Magister Patriarch of the Bright Order, and former Supreme Patriarch of Magic before his defeat by Gelt. He is, as with most of these, exactly what you expect from the Bright Patriarch: A tall, broad-shouldered man with his hair on fire who is quick to anger, quick to smile, and extremely good at blowing things up. He is an old personal friend of Karl Franz, and has remained one of his closest advisors on matters of magic even though he has been devoted in overall magical stature. Members of the Imperial Court fear the amount of influence this gives an unstable and extremely on-fire personality, but Goremann hasn't abused his friendship with the Emperor yet and likely never will. You may note this Order has a lot less philosophy to it and a notably shorter entry overall. The Bright Order's philosophy is fairly simple: Passion can be harnessed and put towards constructive ends if it is embraced and understood. Beyond that, their other core belief is just that fire is totally sweet. Similarly, their magic and duties are just as straightforward: They run around setting evil on fire and fighting in the Empire's armies and they like it that way. They don't have much time for being subtle or complex. Next Time: Killed with my Bear Hands.
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Jun 20, 2018 17:33
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I do wonder how much room there is for a given wizard to play against type for their order. A bright wizard who wields fire with surgical precision, an amethyst wizard who's a devoted family man, a celestial wizard far more interested in the magic of wind and rain than in the stars.
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Jun 20, 2018 17:55
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Cythereal posted:I do wonder how much room there is for a given wizard to play against type for their order. A bright wizard who wields fire with surgical precision, an amethyst wizard who's a devoted family man, a celestial wizard far more interested in the magic of wind and rain than in the stars. I there are for sure a few in Celestial Collage that find the weather part more interesting.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:17
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Realms of Sorcery Just imagine how you get this guy in a party I don't like Amber wizards. They're the only Order I dislike. I feel like White is missing something, but the concept is good. Amber doesn't really know how to differentiate itself from Jade, and it does so primarily in a way that makes it much less fun to have in a PC party. The Wind of Ghur is supposedly the untamed energy of the wilds, the savage and unreasoning power of nature. When it calls to a human, it makes them intensely misanthropic and prone to spending all their time out in the woods, alone, with maybe a couple wolves and a bear. They mostly spend their time in the forest wandering around, turning into bears, and mauling Beastmen to death. An intense misanthrope who is very uncomfortable around other humans doesn't sound like much fun to have in an adventuring party, unlike the other wizards so far. Which is a shame because what they actually do sounds like a lot of fun for a PC. It doesn't help that their magic is absolutely terribly balanced (on the weak side). The Amber wizards live like hermits, using their magic to speak to the birds and beasts of the forests they call home. They can transform themselves into various animals and creatures, they can call on the aid of the wild places, and they can heighten their senses and enhance their own strength to superhuman levels (this is not well reflected in their spells; if it was they'd be a lot of fun to play). Whereas the Jade wizard sees the power of life in terms of nurturing and growth, the Amber wizard sees the competition and savagery of nature. To them, all beasts struggle to survive, and the world is nothing but that struggle writ large. This may explain their misanthropy even more than their alignment with the forest and away from 'civilized' spaces; if they see everything as survival of the fittest, then clearly other humans are first assessed as a threat rather than anything else. They see the world in terms of a sort of brutal animism, where their Witchsight shows them a spirit for every living thing, and all spirits are in constant conflict to thrive and produce more of themselves before they are destroyed in competition with something more powerful. The Amber Magisters ask no money from the Empire and maintain no elaborate College building. They ask only for lands to roam and the space to perform their duty: destroying the Beastmen and anything else that would pervert the natural order of the Empire's forests. They see themselves at war with the Beastmen above all else. They battle for the soul of the Empire's forests, wanting to take the dark spaces and make them green and good again, free of the unnatural savagery of Goatman Prime and other evils. This is the good part: The reminder that the Beastmen aren't about nature, they're a weird bunch of murderous marauders who just happen to be good guerilla fighters in the woods. There is an undercurrent of much of the fluff about the huge forests of the Empire (and other lands) wherein natural magic is locked in a constant struggle to defend itself from the warped satanic imagery of the Beastmen, and that's some good stuff for dark fantasy adventuring. If they tamped back the misanthropy a little to make it a little more feasible that the Amber Order might ask Adventurers for help in their crazy secret nature war it'd be a fun campaign for a more wilderness oriented party. Amber Magisters' only official duty to the Empire is fighting its enemies, and they do so when they wish and how they wish. Imperial armies will simply find the forest bending itself to their aid, never really knowing why. Sometimes, a party of scouts will just lose track of the Beastmen they were following only to find them all torn to shreds by bears the next morning, with only a small ritual fetish left behind to tell the Empire the Amber Order was here and discharging its duty. Amber wizards will band together into hunting parties when they find particularly powerful Chaotic forces in their chosen lands, but while they fight alongside Imperial troops, they never seek them out or coordinate their tactics; if the world of men helps, it helps, but it is not their business. Amber Magisters do not have a College, as I said, nor do they really have a central organization. They take their apprentices from lost children in the woods, rescued woodsmen, young bandits, and others who have lived outcast from or cut off from human society. Young apprentices are taught solely by oral tradition and demonstration. There are no great stacks of tomes of Amber magic, and its practitioners would bristle at the suggestion they write any of this down. There are no fees and no student loans for Amber wizards primarily because they rarely have any money or material possessions beyond what they use to survive in the woods. Most Imperial citizens don't even know there is an Amber Order, and just assume any they meet are lonely rangers, trappers, and hermits. The Amber Order prefers it this way. The Patriarch of their Order is called the Wild Father, and the position is currently occupied by Setanta Lobas, a man who hates being around other people but feels a strong sense of duty towards his Empire. Apparently from an educated background (unlike most of his Order) he is sometimes called upon to write down and share his many observations into how the Beastmen operate and how they can be fought. Articulate, intelligent, and thoroughly misanthropic, he prefers to take no visitors and no students unless matters are particularly dire. Matters became particularly dire quite recently. Since the Amber Order is a bit short, and this next section is too, I'll put them up together. The Colleges were all called to war during the Storm. Gelt and Teclis both informed all of the Magisters of the Empire that Archaon was the Lord of the End Times and that it was time to do what they'd been founded to do. Since this is in the timeline where the personality-less bastard got his rear end kicked, the Colleges marched to war as one, as ordered. Every single full Magister in the Empire was mobilized in some capacity, because the day the Colleges had been created to guard against had come. Shadowmancers garroted cult magi in the dark corners of the Empire before their plots could go off. Astromancers engaged in duels of fates and curses with the machinations of Tzeentch, and came out the victors. Jade wizards battled the forces of Nurgle and saved the Empire from a hungry death. Where the Magisters of Shyish walked, the enemy simply died. The Gold Order's new formulae and compounds were tested in the field of battle against the horrors fielded by the Chaos Dwarves and their dark God Hatshut. The Light Order walked the north to cast out devils and inspire the people to hope. Amber wizards mobilized the untainted forests of the Empire and sent the wrath of nature down upon the warherds that are their ancient enemy. And Bright wizards collectively got psyched as hell and burned their way across the bloody battlefields of the Storm, showing the Empire why they keep these loveable lunatics around. The Empire's Colleges did their duty, exactly as they were founded to do. The Magisters distinguished themselves in the war, showing the progress they'd made from a half-mad collective of hastily trained hedge-mages in the original Great War to the disciplined wizards of the modern Colleges. The Storm, and the widespread use of magic to combat it, brought with it a wave of magical awakening and sensitivity; the Magisters are returning home to find they have far more apprentices waiting to become PCs than ever before. Moreover it has raised the profile of the Colleges yet again. The Magisters hope to capitalize on their heroism, to make this the moment when magic is fully accepted as an institution of the Empire. The people of the Empire have a whole host of new reasons to fear, respect, and admire magic; it will be up to your wizard PCs to take advantage of the challenges of reconstruction, cleanup, and the all important maintenance of the image of the Colleges. Next: Pointy Hat fears Wide Brimmed Hat
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Jun 20, 2018 18:27
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Radagast the Brawny E: also I really like that the colleges are, pretty much, working as intended. They worked to fight Chaos and they're expanding, in a way that feels both human and historical, which is good. Joe Slowboat fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 18:46
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7th Sea 2: These Guys Own, Actually, Like, A Lot The Sarmatian Commonwealth was once two kingdoms - Rzeczpospolita (more commonly referred to as Rzeplita) and Curonia. However, around 100 years ago, the King of Rzeplita was also the Grand Duke of Curonia and decided to formally unite the kingdoms as a nation most others now call the Commonwealth, though the cost was that the united aristocrats forced a series of compromises on him to limit his power and form the Sejm (pronounced 'same'), a parliament of nobles that would serve as the royal council. By 1667, IE, last year, the sixteen-man council was consumed by corruption and petty politics of wealthy nobles and bishops. The aged, dying king had little power, and the Commonwealth seemed sure to follow him to the grave...but his son found a solution, a cure to the poison of corruption: he'd make all citizens noble. Thus was the Land of Golden Liberty formed. The Golden Liberty has given every citizen of the Commonwealth the right to vote in the Sejm, which has dramatically shifted the balance of power. Of course, all isn't bright - the old voices of the dievai, the dark powers of the shadowed forest and the crossroads, whisper promises of power to those who will make deals with them. Rzeczpospolita tends to the temperate, with warm summers and cold winters, and rain and snow are common. It lies southwest of Curonia, and most of it is plains and marsh with a number of forests throughout. The river Sejm (renamed by the Sejm in honor of themselves 50 years back) crosses the entire nation, starting in Ussura and ending in Vodacce, which serves as an excellent trade route for Ussura, who have no good access to the southern seas - and thus a good source of fees for the Sarmatians. Curonia in the north is mostly marsh, except for the cursed and haunted Sandaras Forest. Until recently, the Sejm was just sixteen powerful nobles and clergymen who'd gained their power by politicking, commerce and threats of revolt. The Kings of the Commonwealth signed away most of their rights to the Sejm, but...well, that all changed last year. Just eighteen months before start of game, in fact. See, the Commonwealth was paralyzed and dying, because every member of the Sejm had the right of liberum veto - that is, any single posel ('representative') could kill any legislation by declaring they wouldn't allow it. End of discussion, everyone's done. The rule had been introduced to officially reflect that all members were equal, with equal say, but cynicism and posturing meant nothing got done. King Stanislaw I was dying, and his presumed heir, Stanislaw II, locked himself away in the Royal Library to see if he could do literally anything to make the kingdom survive. He discovered something that'd work. See, any Royal Decree could be vetoed, given the things the kings had signed, with one exception: the declaration of noble title. The King could do that still and no one could stop him. And so, he convinced his father to make one final Decree: all citizens of the Commonwealth would henceforth be nobles, granted the proper title of Sir or Madame, and would have the right to vote in the Sejm. It would take effect within 30 days, and the Sejm could not stop it or prevent it any way. A true democracy would exist. Within hours, they voted unanimously to remove the liberum veto. Stanislaw I also survived an assassination attempt within those hours, thanks to the work of a brave party led by his son and his son's fiance (now wife), a Vodacce Fate Witch. Now, every Sarmatian may travel to the Sejm and vote, if they choose. Not all do, but they know they can. If the Sejm wants to go to war, the army can turn up to vote against it. If the Sejm wants to raise taxes, the merchants can vote against it. It is the first democracy to exist since the very, very earliest days of the Numanari Empire, and the people are very proud of it. Classes do still exist, but they're blurring. Nobles remain powerful, peasants poor, merchants rich - but it's all shifting. Anyone can walk into the Sejm and call a vote, and while most of these 'common votes' are struck down, well, the real politics is when an entire village shows up to push an issue. The power and privilege of rank are slowly eroding, bit by bit. Curonia and Rzeplita are two distinct cultures still, but over the last century they've started to merge. The main difference is religion. Most Rzeplitans are devout Vaticines, sometimes extremely so, while most Curonians follow an ancient faith that reveres old spirits and gods. Both see themselves as holy warriors, blessed by divinity - they just disagree on which divinity. Some Rzeplitans see Curonians as heathen, while some Curonians see Rzeplitans as traitors, but they tend to tolerate each other for the sake of the Commonwealth. Both groups are heavily influenced by the fashions, food and philosophies of the neighboring Crescent Empire, and turbans, long coats and elaborate belts are common in all classes, while the most popular sword, the szabla, is based on a scimitar. However, the last year has seen a shift in fashions with the rise of Sarmatism, a sort of idealized chivalry drawn from the legendary past of Rzeczpospolita. The nobles, seeking to distinguish themselves, began to wear clothing popular centuries ago, thick moustaches and long, braided hair, and to carry szablas once more, along with heavily plumed, gigantic hats. The fad boomed, and became embraced by the peasants and merchants as well, with the most popular item being the pas kontuszowy, the cloth belt in dashing color. Among Rzeplitans, it has become a way of declaring nobility of spirit - of being a just, honorable and righteous person, not a greedy pig. Curonian nobles are getting into it, but the Curonian common folk tend to think poorly of Sarmatism. The currency of the Sarmatians is the zloty, made of one hundred grosz. However, the Golden Liberty has seen the Guilder eclipse both coins in popularity. Rzeplitan food tends to be an eclectic mix of tastes from Eisen, Vodacce and the Crescent Empire, heavy on cream and eggs and kielbasa. They also love soups, and their pierozkies (pierogies) have become extremely popular in Castille and Montaigne. Curonian food is more Ussuran, with a lot of pork and potatoes and dumplings. Cranberries are also common to both, and have become a new export crop that is popular in Avalon, as Queen Elaine loves them. The Vaticine have been quite powerful since the 1300s, but they've never been able to root out the old faith, and most people, even devout Vaticines, still believe in ancient spirits - ancient, powerful and dangerous. This is because, frankly, they exist. The old gods are still here: the dievai. The Vaticines name them czorts, a Rzeplitan word meaning 'demons', but most call them dievai - 'gods'. Singular dievas. Avalon scholars have claimed they may be the lost court of the unseelie Sidhe, but while they look similar, there are some key differences between Sidhe and Dievai. Sidhe tend to be destructive but largely impersonal beings - essentially wandering natural events. Dievai are anything but. They love to disguise themselves as mortals, befriending heroes and revealing themselves only when they must. They travel the land freely, and so you can never say if the man you meet is mortal or...something else. Best to be polite. That's not to say the Curonians worship dievai - they just recognize them as gods that can change your life on a whim. The priests know how to deal with spirits but are not inherently sorcerers...though it's more common among them than among others, because of the nature of the dievai, who love to make bargains - 'Sanderis', in Curonian. The Vaticines see them as deals with devils, and the dievai may love wagers and bargains, but only at a cost. Maybe your hair, maybe your first child, maybe service. The Church rightly regards Sanderis as extremely dangerous as a practice, but they can't stop it. It's been going on for centuries before they ever showed up, and getting rid of that tradition would take more time than they're willing to put in. They don't like it, but what can you do? The Sejm's changes in the past year have led to a lot of governmental reforms. After all, now everyone can vote - and so the stroz exist, the watchmen. They are paid to sit in the Sejm chambers and watch for votes starting, when they then go outside and ring bells to inform the city that the voting is beginning. It's an unofficial position, but necessary after two attempts to sneak votes through by night. The commoners work in shifts to ensure there's always a stroz on hand, just in case. The King himself is easily the least powerful monarch in the entirety of Theah. He's basically a goodwill ambassador to other nations and his castle serves as the embassy for visiting dignitaries to stay in. He can make laws, but the Sejm can veto them by simple majority - harder now than it once was, of course. He may also grant noble title, but since everyone already has it, that's basically pointless now. Beyond that, he is limited by the Walezy Articles, signed in the 1550s. quote:The King is chosen by the Sejm; his offspring does not inherit the throne. Stanislaw I is a just, fair man, but he is extremely old. The people love his son, calling him Stanislaw II even now, before his selection, but very little is certain in these times, and the Prince has many enemies. He recently married his Vodacce fiance, the witch Domenica Vespucci, and she helped save King Stanislaw's life with him. Some do not trust her motives, but both King and Prince would trust her with their lives and those of their people. The Sejm itself is divided into two houses - the Senat ('Senate'), made of the old Sejm before the Golden Liberty, and the Izha Poselska ('House of Deputies') whom the Senat look down as a lower house. The Izha Poselska has no official number and must be called to order by the King, who thought he would die shortly after his Decree. He has not, and while many love him, he is often unable to call them to order. Laws may start in either house, but both must agree to pass them via majority vote, and neither house likes the other. Thus, in order to get laws pass, each house tends to rewrite them and attach new legislation so that everyone can get part of what they want. After the assassination attempt on King Stanislaw, the Senat insisted that they and he needed bodyguards. He refused at first, claiming that their rank didn't raise them over others, but eventually agreed conditionally - and so the slachta were reborn. In old Rzeczpospolita, see, there had been an order of knights devoted to honor and the protection of the Sejm and King. The new slachta must swear to abide by their ancient ideals, protecting not only Crown and Sejm, but all of the nation. The officers of the Sejm were made the first knights, given sacred duties. The king chooses six of these to be goodwill ambassadors, promoting justice and Golden Liberty beyond the nation's borders. Both halves of the Commonwealth provide some military power, but about a third of the army is Curonian by birth. The army is largely volunteers, and is the largest standing force in Theah. Due to multiple clashes with the Ussurans and Crescents, they rely on speed and mobility over brute force, which is rather atypical. The most feared and famous regiment is the husaria, the Winged Hussars - the most dangerous cavalry unit on the continent. They are fearless, and so intimidating in full armor that they've driven forces five times their number from the field. The most common weapon among officers and slachta is the szabla, the Rzeplitan saber based on a scimitar, with a double-edged tip. The blade was originally for nobles only, but is now a symbol of solidarity. It is tradition now that the szabla is not a right - it is a distinction, and wearing one must be earned and maintained by showing true honor, courage and loyalty. quote:Avalon: Because of geographical distance, the Commonwealth has little interaction with the Glamour Isles; however, this has emboldened the activities of Elaine's privateers, giving them the courage to raid the southern seas. The ageing King paid little attention to their raids, but Stanislaw II has hired mercenary ships to guard the Commonwealth's trade routes, ensuring the Sea Dogs meet with cannon fire when they try to capture merchant vessels. Some suggested the Prince of the Commonwealth seek Elaine's hand in marriage. It would have been a great match: two great nations united. Stanislaw II considered the option but carried out his father's wishes to marry a Vodacce woman. The Prince knows Elaine's situation is just as perilous as his and hopes he can convince her to at least make a political alliance now that marriage is out of the question. However, the Prince often suspected it might have never been a legitimate question in the first place. These guys are new and I love them. Next time: Ussura.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:52
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I think my opinion of Amber is colored a lot by how bad their spells are. Spending all the effort to be a wizard to turn into a mediocre fighter with very limited utility magic and a lot of access to our favorite overvalued talent, Frenzy, just isn't worth the investment. They should have been the awesome buffmasters. E: Turning into a bear gets you 20 Wounds, TB 4, SB 5, Strike Mighty, and a 33 WS with 2 attacks, a low Agility, and no ability to dodge. You will die against any serious combat threat as a bear. The spell to turn into one is a major spell with a CN of 21 that also takes 3 full turns to cast. For about the same difficulty of magic, a Bright Wizard is throwing out d10 (minimum roll of their Mag stat) Damage 4 (likely Damage 5 due to Mighty Missile because what Bright Wizard doesn't slam that talent into their veins as soon as they can) ranged attacks at the range of a longrifle, which can't miss or be dodged. This is why Amber sucks. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 18:54
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Oh hey it's the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:58
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So how did the Sejm unanimously support the removal of their veto power? Was it just that once they realized the 16 of them wouldn't be the only ones with it anymore they got rid of it before the promotion to nobility went off?
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Jun 20, 2018 19:03
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Night10194 posted:So how did the Sejm unanimously support the removal of their veto power? Was it just that once they realized the 16 of them wouldn't be the only ones with it anymore they got rid of it before the promotion to nobility went off? Yeah, none of them wanted every citizen to have a veto so they voted it away in the first hours of the 30 day buildup to the decree going into effect.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:05
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Hopefully the Magic Lores are balanced a bit better with each other in 4e.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:05
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Amber is easy enough to fix, I just don't like to go into the stuff my own group has added to the game because I'm reporting the text as it exists. We gave Amber a much more general 'combat form' spell since they have one on TT (Bear's Anger) and a few buffs to replace stuff like Frenzy. The problem with 'temporarily a fighter' in Fantasy is that a Fighter needs a couple core talents and skills: You want a source of Dodge (even if your Agility is bad, an extra, free attempt to avoid an attack each turn is really good) and you really want to be able to use armor, you really want Strike Mighty and you also want at least 2 Attacks. No arcane caster besides Vampires and Chaos Sorcerers gets any way to wear armor and use their magic without serious penalties. Coincidentally, both of those have a much easier time getting multiple attacks and some fighting talents, too, almost as if they're meant to serve as big bosses against a PC party or something. E: There's also the fact that the various Transform Into X spells set your Weapon Skill to the animal's value and replace your skills and talents with the animal's. So if you, say, spent the significant amount of time it would take to go through a basic combat career while being a wizard and get your WS up, you still get knocked down to 33 (which isn't very good) and lose your Dodge and everything. Transforming just wasn't well thought out. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 19:10
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The Sarmatian Commonwealth are my favorite nation in 7th Sea and solely convinced me that Wick isn't as much of an rear end in a top hat anymore and that this new edition of 7th Sea is loving great. They're awesome and playing a game as a Sarmatian is something I've always wanted to do.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:41
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How can you be the PLC if you aren't being menaced by Swedes, though. The Vesten are still vikings, right? So there are no Swedes to actually menace any serious power?
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Jun 20, 2018 19:52
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Night10194 posted:So there are no Swedes to actually menace any serious power? Pity, there should have been. Combine Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina so you can have a badass lesbian warrior queen.
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Jun 20, 2018 20:09
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Somebody write up a third-party not-Scandinavia. Norrland or something.
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Jun 20, 2018 20:48
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It might be the Atabean Islands in Pirate Nations but I think they're more Not Greenland, or possibly Not Hawaii. (The other Pirate Nations nations are Numa as Not Greece, La Bucca as Not Tortuga, Aragosta as Not Libertalia and Jaragua as Not Haiti.)
Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 20:51
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megane posted:Somebody write up a third-party not-Scandinavia. Norrland or something. Might almost need to come up with something else. 
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Jun 20, 2018 20:55
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