Game Summaries
Setting Info:
Extremely generic fantasy setting that exists largely as an excuse to have big mass battles. Despite having extremely different tones, this was initially inspired by Vinland Saga's named characters all being superhuman killing machines while the background NPCs are all utterly ineffective, which got me thinking about Dynasty Warriors. The gist of it: an empire once united must divide.
Peoples and Regions
The Earthlings of the Highland Forests are rock people, tree people, or even sometimes rock and tree people. Much like the other mortal races, they farm the land for food, but in their case their meals are trees, rocks, and the prized "rockflower" (gemstones). Their religious beliefs place the earth god Terra above the others, which conflicts with the Imperial Religion which recognizes Astraeus, god of the sun, as primary, with the earth goddess, Minerva, in a subservient role. Earthlings live to between 200 and 250 years old. Their government is a "meritocracy" decided by society-wide games, the winners of which are elevated to positions of power. Their elector seat is held by a Triumvirate of the greatest champion, the greatest strategist, and the greatest general.
The Dwarves of the Undersands live away from the rest of society. Immortal save for deaths by violence, disease, and accident, they have no need to eat, and they are more than willing to keep to themselves in their grand underground fortresses, viewing the mortals as rash and unreliable. Dwarves spend their long, long lives on a variety of tasks as they please, and the search for novelty tends to lead to very broad skillsets. They by and large do not follow the Imperial Faith, though there are some individuals more disposed to religion. Their elector seat is held by Barrend of the Shield Clan by consensus and has been for the entire duration of the Third Empire.
The Elves of the Forest are likewise isolated, though they are more personable than the Dwarves. Also immortal, Elves tend to develop fixations and hyper focus on them, leaving them the undisputed masters of their chosen field. As may be expected, they use Folk Magic and eschew the Imperial College as "newfangled and confusing". Elves have a reputation as being trustworthy and always in favor of peace, dating back to their encouragement of the formation of the First Empire. Elves do not follow the Imperial Faith. Their elector seat is held by Uthemar, as he seems to be the one most interested in foreign affairs.
The Prince-Bishopric of Lumene is a newly-divided nation of predominantly humans famed for their devotion to Astraeus, the sun god. After the accidental deaths of the heir, second son, and then king, the elector seat fell to the third son of the royal family, Eremon, who had already given his life to the faith, while the rulership went to his elder sister, Edelina. To all observers this has worked so far, but many fear it will not last. The Imperial Faith exists as it does because of the faith of the Lumenians and their insistence in the dominance of Astraeus.
The Imperial Province of Tauschun
The Imperial College's Province of Halberst taken from a former grand duke after he rebelled
The Segretan League competing city states built over a country-wide labyrinth full of monsters and treasure
The Grand Duchy of Wrost orcs
The Kingdom of Baronde halflings
Magic
Folk Magic is the traditional and idiosyncratic use of magic in ways that an individual understands magic to work, which often involves beseeching one or several deities. It has as many styles as there are practitioners, many of whom do not even consider themselves to be mages, and is used for a variety of purposes covering all walks of life, from prophetic dreams that reveal the best place to plant a tree, to throwing fireballs.
Imperial Magic is the scientific and rigorous study of magic, with a heavy focus on how best to administer extreme violence. It is divided up into the 19 Paths, alternate realties where the gods of the Imperial Faith dwell, and from which a Magister pulls energies. The Paths are divided into 3 categories; Outer Paths are secondary styles that are based on some combination of other Paths, Inner Paths are the fundamental building blocks of the universe, and Forbidden Paths are so potentially broad and powerful that they have been banned from study since the times of the first Empire. There are 6 Forbidden Paths (Life, Death, Creation, Destruction, Thought, and Magic), 6 Inner Paths (Earth, Sky, Sea, Sun, Moon, and Void), and 7 Outer Paths (Healing, Forging, Change, Animals, Blood, Secrets, and Prophecy). It is suspected that there are up to 5 additional Outer Paths that have yet to be discovered.
The usage and training of magic-users, dubbed Magisters, is governed by the Imperial College of Halberst, which also offers general education studies on different non-magical fields such that many nobles with no interest in or capability of using magic stay there for years in their adolescence. A student starts out an Adept, a graduate of the College earns the title Magister, a true master of a given Path is a High Magister, and the elected leader of the College holds the title Grand Magister.
Game Info:
Characters are so far out that this could reasonably be argued to no longer be GURPS, with only 3 Skills each (which have a further 3 specializations each), and 40 points spent on Attributes. Skill levels are untied from Attributes and point costs entirely, with each character starting with one Skill each at 15, 13, and 11. The specializations are in a triangle relationship, where a given specialization will be neutral against itself, better against one other, and worse against the last.
Combat
Strong: Swing a large object and hurt people.
Fast: Stab repeatedly with multiple sharp objects and hurt people.
Elegant: Make a single calculated attack to the heart and hurt people.
Strategy
Aggressive: Charge into an enemy formation and destroy them.
Defensive: Let an enemy formation charge you and be destroyed.
Tricky: Burst through a wall behind an enemy formation and destroy them.
Intrigue
Diplomat: Negotiate between two groups of people.
Spy: Lie to two groups of people to get them at each others' throats.
Strategist: Compare the strengths of two groups of people to figure out who would win in a fight.
Each main PC has a trio of Advisors so that when we get into GURPS combat, the other players have something to do.
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