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Venezuela-inspired campaign setting for generically dungeoncrawlish RPG

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Comments

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    midtown

    uptown

    downtown



    lololol
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    What's been going on downtown in the low city recently (1d10)?
    1. There's a street football match between neighbouring barrios. The players are dedicated to the utmost to the game and every spot outside of the somewhat arbitrary boundaries of the field is filled with hollering onlookers. Needless to say, the street is virtually impassable in any ordinary sense.
    2. An epidemic! The authorities generally just make sure nobody goes uphill from down at the wider area of the outbreak. Within, hospitaller monks and local medicine peddlers (at least the honest and/or naive ones) try their best. It might be a tropical disease, or just that the polluted water seeped into the wells again, but the locals aren't really qualified to tell the difference or anything like that.
    3. A local shrine sees heighened attendance thanks to a recently spreading reputation for miraculous healings. There's a 50% chance it's not an Assembly shrine. There's a 100% chance it's not quite in accordance with Assembly teachings even when it is.
    4. There's a strike at one of the warehouses in the docks. The striking warehouse workers demand higher pay, which isn't admittedly much, but the merchant (who arrived to observe the situation from a safe distance and surrounded by armed company) is seething. There's a middle-man, one of the clerks who used to supervise the operations on-site, trying to negotiate some solution.
    5. A riot broke out between two groups of the locals! Equal chances it's either some immediately fresh pretext, or old and well-cultivated ethno-racial hostility. In the racial case, one side is humans, the other probably elves or frogs, in case of ethnic things are more thoroughly mixed.
    6. A barge has arrived from upriver. Those laden with treasure still arrive from time to time, such as after a successful discovery or an excavation of a previously-unexplored elven outpost. Those first to the wharf might even grab some of the spoils. In most cases, the barges carry trade goods, but even so there is money to be made as haulers.
    7. In a tavern, two tough-looking hoodlums plan an operation of sorts. If anyone were to overhear, they could discern it's an intended break-in to a merchant's warehouse in search of valuable contraband.
    8. Soldiers barge into a warehouse. Looks like a smuggler got unlucky today. Any workers who might've been on site try to vanish without a trace and pretend they were never there. It's usually the merchant who is the official culprit once courts get around to it, but as the action commences nobody cares much if they knew or not.
    9. An agitator is drawing a crowd, spouting angry rhetoric about the officials and their attitudes towards their duties. The arguments are a lot more economic than political, but who knows where it will lead.
    10. A local makes a name as a magician of some ability around this part of the low city. Curses, healings, you name it. Claims to receive guidance and teachings from a dead political figure who appears in the form of a small bird.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    What's been going on in the old city recently (1d10)?
    1. The locals tell of odd lights seen from one of the ruined manor houses. This might just be night-time scavengers, but they are adamant there were no footprints, nor did they move as hand-held lanterns.
    2. An odd operation was performed by armed men from one of the noble families. The local homeless, whose curiosity spoiled the secrecy of the whole undertaking, claim they seemed to move something heavy and locked into the old family mansion, rather than move out.
    3. There is a house, almost in a good shape, which is nonetheless rumored to be haunted. The scavengers avoid it out of superstition. Who knows what the truth is.
    4. A movement by the river bank reveals an ambush on a river barge is being prepared.
    5. A cleric of the Assembly asked you to procure some sort of devotional item from the old cathedral. It's in ruins, dangerous for all manner of reasons, and river water supposedly seeped into the cellars, but the cleric seems very concerned about the item.
    6. A village of frogs has moved into half-sunken riverside part of the old city. Most frog people live in buildings of their own construction, for they prefer wet environments which are not well provided by typical colonial architecture, but they seem to have stumbled upon the best of two worlds. Frogs living in the low city are already taking notice.
    7. Someone seems to be living in one of the mostly-standing buildings. Lights and sometimes even human silhouettes appear in windows, yet nobody is ever seen to come or leave. There's a lovestruck guy in the city who's deeply convinced it's an unhappy princess imprisoned there for some reason, and he's trying to convince some people to come along to help. He's kind of afraid of the old city's reputation.
    8. A rumor went out that a cell of revolutionaries has a hideout in the old city. Now, such a rumor is dangerous to every side - the revolutionaries would prefer staying secret, the authorities that they weren't warned before a raiding party is assembled, and so on. Nobody knows who let out the story, or even if it is true in the first place.
    9. There is a couple living at the edge of the ruined quarter, subsisting on a small vegetable garden and trapping feral animals. They aren't hostile to others and don't look the criminal types, but are very evasive and awkwardly try to break off any conversation as soon as possible, for some reason.
    10. A bum tried to pay for alcohol with an authentic signet ring of one of the most prominent noble families, to which, obviously, he had no claim. Entangled in the colonial society and administration as they are, this is a vaguely political matter - if there are more out there, just lying around in the old city, who knows how many letters can be opened and documents falsified. The bum has only enough grip on his mind to point to a general direction where he found it, and it's not the family's old mansion, and the family itself claims to have all of their rings accounted for.

    ---

    As in, the ruined quarter. I think this ends the regions of the colony part; I don't expect to provide such write-ups for the neighbourhood. I have a basic idea what's next, but sooner or later I'll need to get to the hard part like the character classes or something like that.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Change is coming.

    It's in the air. It's in the hearts of men. The officials who arrive from Metropole do not speak of it, and in fact, would actively scoff at the notion if it was brought before them, for they are too invested in the old system and petty court intrigues to see or admit what others can see clearly. They would, perhaps, mention there are reform plans drawn at the royal palace, but no matter, surely these are not to be felt by the average man, and certainly no shocks to the system at all, merely minor tweaks of interest only to the Vice-Regent's administrators. Those colonials who come back from Metropole, having travelled there to study or make connections, merchants whose tongues are not as tied as those at high rungs of society, even soldiers of the garrison loosening up after a drink in one of many wineries of the city, though - they see and speak about moods those people are insulated from.

    They speak of the mood on the street, both in the capital of the empire and in many other cities they have visited, and how the old ways of doing things are somehow ever more commonly held to have run their course. They bring back the topics of discussions between cafeteria and teahouse patrons, on matters of philosophy and law which at some point in the past have inocuously shifted towards criticisms of the current methods of governance. They tell of shifting alliances between the powers and how that may impact the tensions which are ever growing between kings. They speak of how many people's ancestral livelihoods have changed because of new industries, new machines to perform the labor which was once men's, and new ways of organizing production.

    There's a ship entering the harbor. It hoists the flag of Metropole and it does not carry just the goods.

    What's the shocking news to just arrive from Metropole (1d10)?
    1. War. Business as usual, in other words, for the kings never stop playing the game. It has erupted involving Metropole on one side, alone or in company of one or more of the other powers, against one or more of the other powers. It can mean anything from no change at all, to the whole colony being handed over to some other power, likely to be culturally and religiously alien to the colonials. But, if this is not a war as usual, if something recent had caused a change in the nature of international politics and warfare... who knows what can happen.
    2. Invasion. War has already been going on, now it's the turn for the worse time. Metropole has been invaded. The authorities are doing what they can, in the corner of the country they still have under their control, and the colonies are at the bottom of their priority list. Possibly, the court will even move beyond the sea, to the safety of the colonies. If a hostile power controls the seas, though, it's likely it will try to wrestle the colonies away from Metropole by persuasion or by force.
    3. Civil war. Metropole is torn asunder by a war between factions of a political nature. Perhaps it's about a pretender to the throne, a matter of inheritance or some such, but just as likely a rebellion that managed to address some touchy issue and it's now half of the country versus the other half. The control over the colony is about to slip, but then the colonials might themselves take sides.
    4. Succession crisis. The ruler died without issue, or the issue does not quite qualify for the throne. There might be some feverish diplomatic talks in order, especially if the ruling dynasty has ties to the ruling dynasty of a neighbouring power. A personal union of two large countries is going to put the other players on edge, and they will do their best to prevent it.
    5. Reform. Somebody in charge was clued in onto the new trends and unlike many, saw them for their merit. Now there's an attempt to shake the foundations of government, so that they may be stabler and firmer, and all that's unnecessary and staining the edifice to be case aside. There will be opposition to it. For the colony, it may mean an attempt at affirming control, or to grant the colonial the rights they have been clamoring for. If anyone wants to break free right now, this might be even worse than oppression.
    6. Hard turn. There's been a change in the government, and the new one - a new ruler, perhaps, or a coup against the reformist previous government - intends to fix everything that seems less than perfect by turning back the clock to the good old days nobody but them really longs for, and certainly nobody sees as better.
    7. Revolt. A burgeoning reform movement decided to take matters into its own hands. It's not quite a civil war, at least not yet, but the official government has let the reins of power slip from its hands. It yet remains to be seen whether order will be re-established or the revolters establish their legitimacy instead.
    8. Revolution abroad. Just over the border, in a neighbouring country, a revolution has erupted. The revolters speak of new government, new policies, new laws, new philosophies. It's very concerning to the government of Metropole. As long as it stays within the borders of its own country, then, perhaps, nothing needs to be done, but already the revolution is proving an inspiration to all manner of dreamers and radicals. Spurred into setting up discussion clubs and printing politicized bulletins, they keep to mere talking... so far.
    9. Industrial revolution. There's been some invention, or a novel approach to the organization of labor, or something of that kind, and the economy of Metropole is rapidly spinning outwards. Things are changing, and society follows. New industries are drawing in ever larger amounts of resources, which the colonies are hard-pressed to supply. Goods from Metropole are flowing back in. Local craftspeople suffer against the imports, while owners of plantations and mines and timber farms push their workforce ever harder to reap the gains for the lowest price.
    10. More than one thing. Because sometimes one thing is not enough. Roll twice and see what's happening at the same time. If a roll falls on this option again, roll until it doesn't or there are no more options left, and prepare for some interesting times to come.

    ----

    I guess it could be more inspired.

    And now... what? The setting's done, it seems. At least in the broad kind of strokes I intended initially. I guess I gotta come up with character classes. Have some notes, but that part was less specific.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    You say you need more inspiration, but that last option despite seemingly lacking originality might just be the most fun option.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    You say you need more inspiration, but that last option despite seemingly lacking originality might just be the most fun option.
    Oh, yeah. It's not always going to be all at once, so when you do roll it, it's all the funnier. I was like, if I do it as the last option then I only got nine left for the others, but I definitely didn't want to skip this one. (I'm settling for ten since it's reasonably many, but at the same time low enough that I can come up with them quickly enough and avoif them getting too repetitive.)

    On the topic of inspiration, I constantly have this feeling like it could be a bit better. Like, more impressive, more unique, less looking like I was crossing off a list of historical events instead of coming up with some better stuff, and so on. You know. More inspired. But then, I don't want to leave it hanging until I just hit that one Great Idea. Which might be the next day, but more likely never. And as I am working on the basis that it is historically inspired, I guess I can allow myself a bit of that crossing off a list stuff. And, you know, the big reason for setting up this thread is that it makes me feel pressure to carry on with this little project, so I don't want to give myself the comfort of letting go for a while. (Because then the while would become, you know, ever.)
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    I do find it an interesting change of pace how this one is more focused on social/economic/political aspects than the others.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Heh, meanwhile I was quietly afraid there's not enough potential for dungeoncrawling. But yeah, the premise has always been more like "raid this half-sunken star fort after an earthquake for muskets" than "raid this cavern complex for gold".
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    The colony is not a uniform mass of people, all sharing the same interests. There is an all manner of factions official and unofficial, organized or not. Thus, the faction game: the loyalties and relative strengths of various factions within and without the colony. If anyone desires to change the existing state of things, then either one must command an overwhelming force already, or play the game.

    The first group are those with direct links to Metropole. The mother country has vast armies, vast fleets, vast resources, and vast concerns. The last is their weak point. If the armies are spread thin, if fleets can't control colonial waters, if resources must be directed towards more pressing demands - then there is a chance.
    • The Vice-Regents and their court: strongly loyal towards Metropole and possessing vast connections to draw upon. Key word is connections; their entire position rests upon their status as agents of Metropole. They don't individually command significant resources, but can draw upon a lot on the basis of their official status. Foremostly, the Vice-Regent can direct the colonial garrison. That said, the courtiers are not a uniform group, nor the Vice-Regent is always blindly following orders. If their loyalties are, say, to the king rather than Metropole itself and there's been a change in government, or if they calculate that they can reach higher position after independence than they ever would back home, then their allegiances are up for discussion.
    • The garrison soldiers: loyal and well-armed in a colony deliberately deprived of arms. Most of the enlisted have families back home and no ties to the colony. Only a few of them would take up the offer to settle down on any given day, especially without having first developed local ties to make the offer worthwhile. Making one develop such ties would be reasonably easy, but for a significant number at once, it would require time and effort you might or might not have to spare. On the other hand, they might be significantly more enthusiastic for a return back home, where at the least they aren't at mercy of tropical diseases.
    • The garrison officers: strongly loyal and strong as long as military hierarchy holds. The officers have tied their careers to Metropole and are unwilling to just throw them to the wind, especially if a successful campaign in defense of the interests of Metropole might raise their position, but their powere depends wholly on the number of men at their command. Like the enlisted, they might be significantly more enthusiastic for a honorable return, if their reputations aren't tarnished too much.
    • The navy: loyal to Metropole, enough said. Even if they draw recruits from colonial ports, even if they maintain bases in the colonies, for them this is always a temporary posting, not a reason to establish ties with the colony. Their power is that of any other full-blown royal navy of a colonial power, which is to say, strong. Having them in your waters and angry at you means ports blockaded, towns bombarded, trade halted, and every suitable place a potential entry point for invasion until you can get them out. It is advisable to have an answer to at least one of these two points.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    The second group are the factions within the colony, foremostly drawn from the colony's own people. They vary even more than the first group, as the first group is made of forces at the direct command of Metropole. Here, are the multitude of peoples that the colony is really made of in all its diversity.
    • The river fleet: loyal to the position more than to Metropole; their river gunboats are well-armed and they are too. This is an odd bunch, consisting more of colonials than newcomers from Metropole, and closer to a round-up of shoreside pirates than a blue-water navy, but at the same time a lot more professional and career-like than the average town militia. Old institutional prejudices with roots reaching as far back as the initial conquests may tinge their opinions against, say, those who would fully embrace the elven cause. They treat the river as their own domain and generally do not show interest in politics, willing to do their job regardless of whoever claims legitimate authority over the region, but getting them overtly hostile to you will virtually lock the river down for you.
    • The colonial nobles: their loyalties are all over the place; their resources are significant, rarely strictly military, but pooled together they could provide a large arms stash and a decently sized and already semi-professional militia. Most of them are loyal towards Metropole by a mix of recent interests and the force of tradition, but resent the fact that Metropole always sends its own to rule the colony. Also, there are outliers. Liberals, young firebrands, local decentralizers. Ultimately, though, the nobles are loyal to themselves, whether it is their interests or a philosophical fancy they devoted their minds to. Getting them on your side without promising them even more than they already have - more political power, mostly, since they aren't as business-minded as the merchants - will be a hard job.
    • The merchants: generally loyal, as long as it's good business, which means that they're perfectly willing to look past the law if smuggling is reasonably safe. Their resources lie mostly in money, contacts, and so on, although trade ships of maritime merchants tend also to carry decent arms for self-defense. The key to get them on your side is to provide them with better business opportunities than Metropole. Open trade, less regulations, access to resource concessions, less fuss over the exploitation of free and enslaved workers.
    • The middle city townsfolk: neutral to mildly rebellious; their might is limited, but are educated, resourceful, and eager to form militias. These are the doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers, printers, supervisors, minor merchants, of the middle city and smaller towns throughout the colony. They are loyal, for want of a better option, but they chafe under Metropole rule. Laws are outdated and unjust. State policies on trade and labor are obsolete and hamper natural human industriousness. And unlike nobles and great merchants, there is little they receive in return. If a better option is presented to them, one that promises equality and liberty over irrational ancient customs, they'd be glad to offer their support.
    • The low city townsfolk: neutral; they're numerous, but divided by ethnic groups, and some may have more combat experience than they seem. Taken together, these are the laborers, dockworkers, haulers. They man the factories when enterpreneurs from the middle city try to set one up. For them, life is hard, and their own grievance lists concern matters of law or politics only further down. But they are not stupid. They hear what the sailors of the ships coming to port have to say, and they can tell when the news from beyond the sea are promising. They don't care much for Metropole, but they care to better their lot. Time will tell who and if will deliver, and for which groups among them; some see themselves better than others of their ilk and may expect priority treatment if a change occurs.
    • Country folk: grudgingly loyal; large in numbers, few in arms save for repurposed farming implements. (Note: a machete is a farming implement.) This is the mix of lowly colonials, settled natives, assimilated elves, half-elves, and every combination thereof, making their living either on their own land or the latifundia of the wealthy and powerful. Not slaves, but that's not always enough. Royal oversight technically protects them from excesses of their societal betters; the oversight rarely extends so far. Still, virtually no protection is still better than no protection. This is a large underclass which will prioritize their subsistence and safety, and they are wary of those not their own.
    • Immigrants: reasonably loyal to the Vice-Regent, who was the authority in charge of most settlement projects; locally strong in numbers and possibly equipment. These are the fresher arrivals, such as the miners of the mountains. Still feeling themselves apart from the established colonial society, they see little stake for themselves but for continued allegiance to their new overlord. But they are not rigid in it. If they are provided for and do not feel threatened, they likely won't mind who is at the top.
    • Frog people: from passively rebellious to grudgingly loyal; quite many in numbers, if dispersed, and competent in their domain. The frogs had an odd place in the initial conquests, in that they were left be in ways others could only hope for, yet they were conquered nonetheless. They know it, and they resent it as they did previously resent the rule of the elves, but they don't see it in terms much different to harsh weather and aren't easily roused to change it. If they are, however, by approaching them as people, subjects, citizens, they may rally behind the one to understand their ways for the first time since the conquest.
    • Riders of the plains: rebellious to neutral; numerous, strong on one's own and in groups, although they may not be fully aware of the latter. The riders and the folk of the plains do not have many grievances, as educated people would see them, but they know what they want, and what they resent. They chafe against the policies of Vice-Regents and great landowners alike, who have made it known to prefer them settled and docile. Many already are riding in armed and warlike bands. Rousing them might not be too hard; convincing them to a cause, and then getting them to follow orders, that would be an entirely different thing.
    • Centaurs of the plains: rebellious and numerous. They are a sibling-group to the above, culturally as non-distinct as biology allows after centuries of living side-by-side and mingling together. Them and man-and-horse-separate share many of the same customs, see each other as fellows, find colonial policies established in distant and different places as irritable as they do. However, as the riders are familiar with them, men of other regions of the colony may not, and it's there that the seeds of contention may lie in the future.
    • Slaves of the plantations: rebellious, enough said; numerous in regions with plantation-based economy. Some of them are half-elves or their descendants, many more have been brought by slave-ships. Regardless of origin, they will enthusiastically side with the one who can be counted on to bring their liberation, although such a sense of reliability may be the crucial part here. Whether it's a rebel force or Metropole's own promise. Only the most jaded and fearful among them will prefer to stay along when everything goes up in fire.
    • The elves: strongly rebellious, or spoken properly, hostile, since these are the remnants who were never conquered, towards both Metropole and the colonial society it founded; who knows how powerful they might be, though clearly not enough to stop hiding. The elves will not simply take the humans' side, even if against other humans. To convince them, the concessions by necessity will be at odds with colonial society at large. Even Metropole, capable of giving away entire lands on a whim, will balk at turning the whole colony to them to halt a rebellion. Enthronement of a Golden King will be no less of a demand, even if it is the only choice in which in all other respects colonials are left to their devices. Tactical alliances are nigh-infinitely more possible, but difficult to maintain. The elves will watch the proceedings cautiously.

  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Thirdly, there are forces beyond the colonial borders, which may have a stake in its fate. This includes other colonies, with their own stories and interests, as well as foreign powers.
    • Other powers: like Metropole, competing colonial powers all have their stakes in the game. They may support or oppose Metropole depending on their own interests, the current sets of alliances, as well as the whims of their rulers, whoever those may be at the moment. Their respective might is all roughly comparable to each other, and so one or another may provide a counterweight to Metropole, in any form possible and including logistic support (and that can include the ever-needed powder and muskets), fleet operations, or even boots on the ground. But, keep in mind, this will be only one of many options they will weigh, always up for change in dependence on nigh-randomly changing policies and court coteries in distant capital cities. Some may be willing to offer support to rebels to spite Metropole, others to establish protectorates or enlarge their direct possessions, open new markets for their industries, or protect their own colonies from potential unrest. An alliance with a great power is like friendship of a jaguar. Do not forget that.
    • Island of broken chains: their relation to Metropole is fanatically hostile. Their power is formidable, as hard as it is to judge, likely to make them a regional kingmaker, though by all accounts they lack a fleet to contend the seas beyond the range of their coastal cannons. Their arsenals carved deep into the island's rock, again by whatever meager accounts there are, are vast and well-stocked. But as well, their isolationism is as strong as any of these. To have the support of the islanders is tempting, but to earn it will be hard to achieve. Releasing all slaves, who they remember they once were, is virtually a must, but possibly not enough. And, who knows what the islanders will choose to do when they are roused.
    • Neighboring colonies: grouped together because in many ways they're much like this colony, all with their own problems, their concerns, factions, cities, and their ruling coteries deployed by Metropole. They will probably not rally against their fellow if it decides to strike free, but their Vice-Regents will attempt it. Among the influential people who do not belong to the Vice-Regential inner circles, there is a delicate balance between a sense of regional identity and the spirit of pan-colonialism, and between loyalty to Metropole and a sense of separateness of identities and interests. This can be exploited. This can, also, be embraced as fellows, brethren all in the same situation, all suffering under the same yoke.
    • Vice-Regency of the Mountains: while also a colony, it is different enough in its peculiar conditions that it would do no good to merely list it along with the others. The upper classes see themselves as different, and the lower are a different mix of peoples than those to the north, and the economy of the colony relies on silver mining rather than primarily plantation output, as elsewhere. There is enough of the upper and middle classes who might support a bid for independence, for sure, with many of the same complaints, but below the surface, the demands of Metropole and inconveniences and insolence of Vice-Regential policies, the issues the Mountains face are not the same at their core. But for now, few know of it, upper classes sharing with the Vice-Regent a preference to keep these matters undiscussed and out of view of polite society.
    • Pirates: the seas around the colonies are full of armed reavers, merely kept roughly at bay with the navies' patrols. When these patrols disappear, the problem will only be exacerbated for as long as the shipping is tempting and there are bases to rest and fence off the stolen wares. This will never be good for any nation who is yet to build a navy of its own, and one to match the pirates, unless there is a plan in place to provide a better way to receive sustenance. But even so, not all of these sailors are likely to take it. But on the other hand, and especially before that becomes a problem, perhaps they can be bought. Whoever can manage it can, again perhaps, find a way to deal with hostile navies without having to resort to labor and time.
  • edited 2023-03-06 11:49:01
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    What brings you here (assuming you haven't been living in the colony already), soldier (1d10)?
    1. The war has ended, and there was nothing to do after demobilization, but then a call for volunteers went out. Turned out it was a colonial conflict in a place you've never heard of, and you almost died of fever, and it fizzled out before you got better, but since you already were there you figured you might just as well stay.
      You get a re-roll on any test of your resistance to poison or disease.
    2. You were a guard, working for a merchant consortium, until they withdrew their assets from the colony. Non-financial current assets, that is, personnel, were written off. Anyways.
      As long as you are in a society, you can survive indefinitely on odd jobs without preparation or loss, and always manage to establish rapport with the local working class. You also seem to somehow never tire by physical labor.
    3. You're back to the colony, after years in royal service over the sea in Metropole. Much has changed, and that includes you. Few things faze you anymore. Going freelance is the most obvious answer to the question of what to do now.
      You get a re-roll on any test against your cool. Since keeping your gear in proper shape has become a nigh-instinctual habit for you, your weapons never succumb to conditions like rust or decay, or getting wet.
    4. You were flushed onto the shore one day. You say you don't remember anything beyond that, and such ship accidents do happen to an unlucky sailor once in a while, but it's up to you whether it's true or a convenient cover story for the wrong kind of sailor who wants to go square.
      You have a preternatural luck at not drowning. As long as you don't do anything supremely stupid, you will be washed onshore at some random place after an unspecified amount of time. (If it's an intentional swim, let's say you get a re-roll before you succumb to overconfidence.)
    5. You were a royal soldier who had just received a honorable discharge from service. So far, your life was rather uneventful, as you always lucked out - a few times the luck had your help, of course - and got a cushy job far from the front. Now, though...
      You still have a bunch of friends in various positions, and once per session you may just stumble upon one, as long as it makes sense in context. Whether it instantly solves your needs is an entirely another thing.
    6. You just came from the jungle, vaguely amnesiac, half-mad, and covered in blood. You do have some obvious combat training, but that's about all that can be said.
      You can't be caught by surprise, and anything in your hands, including your hands themselves, counts as a hand weapon.
    7. A cry for freedom sounded, and you rose to it. Now, after the revolution was crushed, you have to live here, in the ass-end of nowhere. But even after all these years, your blood still boils at the sight of injustice.
      You have a +1 bonus to hit and wound against anyone you could convincingly pass off as an oppressor. Also, if you happen upon someone who also came from the old country/fought for the cause, they will recognize you for who you are.
    8. You came as a bodyguard of an explorer, but he died to a disease before he could get to explorin', what more can you say. You did pick up your share of smart people talk, though.
      Once per session, you can declare you know an answer to a question on some scientific matter, or wow people by turning up a random factoid nobody expected a grunt like you to know.
    9. You arrived lured by the promise of "well-paid supervision work in a multinational team and dynamic environment", turned out it's a slave plantation. You had no stomach for the whip, so you left.
      Something about you registers to people as reliable and trustworthy, and once per session a person from the low rungs of society might recognize you as "the single kind one". Whether any of that's true about you, they are willing to help, as much as their meager means allow.
    10. You arrived in a slave cargo hold, broke out the first moment you could. Officially you're not a slave, since your enslavers neglected their paperwork, and when they got around to fill the papers in, you weren't there already. Not that such legalities help you much. Especially when you're alone against a whole company of snatchers.
      You can avoid notice, including the notice of a false identity, as well as any rogue.

    It's a whole 'nother thing if you have, actually, been living in the colony already.

    ----

    I don't feel like I'm good at writing this part. Took me too long, for just a list of ten ideas. I have the vague notion it might actually be easier if they're separated by class, but then, I would need a good list of classes first. Still, there's going to be a fighter class in any case.

    --EDIT--

    I am in the process of reworking this one. When that's done, perhaps then I will finally have a pattern for character classes.
  • edited 2023-03-06 11:30:55
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    The last one was the Fighter (I have to edit the post), now the Rogue:
    1. You shanked the wrong person. Now you're on the run, and the Colony seemed like close enough and distant enough at the same time. Not good business to go after Assembly secret inspectors, even if you didn't know you were shanking an inspector. Since, you know, that was a secret one. Still.
      You're a knife fighter. As long as there's a knife in your hands, you fight as well as a fighter of your level.
    2. A drunken night with a company of nobles you've been fooling took a turn for the worse, when one of them turned out to be a colonial. Long story short, you woke up horribly hungover, aboard a ship already in the middle of the sea. Not the one to succumb to despair, you figured playing the nobility game might actually be easier overseas.
      You're immensely convincing when pretending to be a noble (and it's entirely possible you actually are a noble). You can always count on plenty of character witnesses and members of society willing to host you interminably.
    3. You had a reasonably lucrative business in selling false deeds, until one day you somehow ended up with a deed to a piece of land in the Colony, a trade gone badly, and the authorities on your heels at the same time. But, hey, since you already had the deed...
      You are a competent forger of documents, capable of replicating jargon and writing style relevant to the kind of document you're about to produce, as well as other people's handwriting.
    4. You were an agent of a revolutionary secret society, but your cell was busted by treason, and you fled. Or you were sent to establish ties in the Colony. Either can be a front for the other.
      Who knows what you were getting at. Every other day, you stay undercover. But once in your life, you may reveal everything was All According To Plan. Perhaps there's a large hidden weapon cache waiting just for the right moment, or that general sent to crush you was really another secret agent all along. At Game Master's discretion, you may also convincingly pretend to be another position from this list to keep cover.
    5. You were an inspector of the secret police. Things ran mostly as you thought they should, until you began to figure the confiscated property of people you bust always seems to end up in your superiors' possession.
      You're an infiltrator. You're supremely competent in getting in the good graces of people who have all reason to be ever vigilant for enemies and wary of outsiders, and subsequently maintaining your cover. Also, you get a re-roll if you get to roll to spot impostors, spies, etc. etc.
    6. They say there's a lot of gold still to be found in old elven ruins over there. Well, you're no explorer, but you know a few things about sneaking around for gold, and you have this here map you've drunk that one explorer under the table for...
      Through a combination of half-remembered factoids, willful ignorance of danger, reality-defying obsession, and pure blind luck, you are as capable of surviving in the wild as an explorer of your level. There's one-in-six chance of unforeseen consequences, on top of any other possible consequences, but you get a re-roll to any immediate test against inconveniences they might cause.
    7. Your experience in peddling snake oils and other quack cures has left you, surprisingly, with working knowledge of actually helpful remedies. Or rather, actually working, given that certain substances don't really deserve that title.
      You're as competent, in the context of practical pharmaceutics, as a scholar of your level. Also, you get a re-roll on rolls against incapacitation by chemical means thanks to your experience with all the stuff you took.
    8. That seeming ingenue you wooed turned out to have a temper, a large family, and what's worse, enough of a mental capacity to find out you weren't exclusive to her. That put a dent in your plan to settle down in comfort, but you remain determined not to let your life's story end up in a dark alley. Even worse yet, this seems to happen about every time you attempt seduction. You begin to wonder, but you keep your head high.
      You're a supremely skilled seducer. As long as the mark is willing to consider, you will succeed at seduction. However, for some reason it always ends hilariously badly. You have 1d10 days of head start before that happens.
    9. You're a free market enthusiast. A market liberator. A high-risk-high-reward enterpreneur. Technically speaking, it means you deal in smuggled goods, but that's an impolite way to say it. And the Colony is a prime location to strike it big, as long as you can outrun the authorities without getting forced to drop your cargo along the way.
      You're a competent trader and can get 20% higher prices for any mundane wares you might be peddling. 50% if they are somehow illegal. 100% if they're coming for you at the moment, since you can play it off as a one-time offer.
    10. You're a firebrand pamphletist and satirist. Your more philosophical works may not of the highest regard - you're trying, though - but as far as satire aimed against important people goes, you already had to move several times and you take it with pride.
      When you want to insult or ridicule someone in a position of legal or societal authority, in speech or in writing, you always hit the right buttons. Depending on their disposition, the result may involve such reactions as frothing rage or a determination to obliterate your social standing, but the general public will be at least secretly favourable towards you. If the individual you want to insult has a positive reputation, it will be taken as friendly ribbing unless you're taking on a particularly revered figure.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    And now, I have to come up with some excuse as to how to separate an explorer class (think Humboldt) and a scholar class (think a wizard without the magic)...

    Although I might do the wizard in some way anyway.

    (Point is I really want to do the professionally-goes-into-the-jungle class as a separate class. Sort of a ranger without the suck. I'm not the one who came up with the idea - that was a certain blogger, he called it "the Traveller" - but I'm not sure if he realized what he did was basically the ranger. The catch is that he did it as a class for a professional caravan guide or whatever and I want to do the kind of whitey fella who arrives from beyond the sea just so he could go into the jungle and explore, for kicks and science, rather than simply "I live nearby so I know the area" which said blogger's description kind of implied. One way to solve the problem is to do a single scholar class and say the explorer is a subset of it, but I'm afraid I'll fail to provide some important element of the intended archetype this way.)
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Some ideas on XP and money together. You may not know, but money-equals-XP was a rule in early editions of D&D and it's been recently rediscovered as a pretty clever idea, because the game rules actually drive the player to have player character do the stuff the player character is supposed to do. I'm trying to tweak it a bit to carry the premise, though admittedly the idea about the character needing time to rest is more like my personal thoughts on the matter than strictly the premise thing. The part about health points would require testing to see if it works, but between you and me, I don't expect any testing to happen anytime soon (read: ever). And for that matter, the investment thing would need that too.

    I guess that's for the moment, so I'm hitting the post button.

    ----

    Metropole maintains a policy of 1:12 ratio of gold to silver prices, similar to other great powers. A piece of silver, however it may be called, is considered a basic unit of currency, though cheaper metals are in common use for everyday needs. Great merchants sometimes speculate on rates of exchange of various countries, but such concerns and opportunities are beyond the reach of most people.

    The colony produces much wealth. Wealth derived from the jungle takes different forms, from honest trade goods such as tropical wood or tree products, through more exotic wares like rare pelts or medicinal plants, but the most coveted finds are precious commodities. Silver, gold, and gems. The last of these is rare, although not so that prospecting is not a viable occupation in the eyes of many. Silver and gold are more common in bulk, and when exploration parties arrive with elven plunder, it often takes the form of silver and golden wares and bullion. Much the same can be said of mining and other industries. In the end, it is silver and gold that are used to express this wealth.

    Though it does not want for resource, the colony had seen too much of its bountiful riches wasted, sent back over the sea and for all practical purposes lost to the colony, or lost at sea. At best, what is retained is merely spent on imported luxuries by nobles and landowners who control the trade and feel no need to develop local industries, when all they would want can come from Metropole. But if the country is to move ahead in the world, it cannot be so, it needs to stand on its own two feet. Its wealth must enrich the nation, not be shipped off year after year to the benefit of only the distant capital cities of empires.

    Player characters may spend their money on leisure and recuperation, and it is certainly an open option to them, but the assumption is rather that they may hide or develop over time nobler concerns than simply that.

    Thus, you learn - convert whatever recent experiences you can recall into useful skills and behavior patterns - when you have time to tune out for a while and meditate on what had happened. Mere living your life in comfort is not that. Either you reflect on what purpose drove you, or you spend what you gained, but the value used in this way must be gained the hard way first. Merely living off rent does not count, as it is no different in practice to feudal rents of the nobles. It's about wealth you gained during the latest expedition, not by a safe return on investment. Although, for that matter, an investment in a fast ship you personally sail to run the blockade, by all means counts as just such an expedition.

    Once there's enough time to rest and recuperate, your character gains experience:
    • by spending actively earned wealth (written off and assumed to have been spent away), at a rate of one experience point for one piece of silver, or
    • by re-investing actively earned wealth in the colony (in some way or another), at a rate of one experience point for one piece of silver, or
    • by having furthered the cause of freedom in the land (either through defeating oppressors or liberating the oppressed), at a rate of one experience point for one health point the involved individuals initially had.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
  • edited 2023-06-12 20:43:18
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    The Book of Armaments:

    The Vice-Regent maintains a hold on gunpowder weapons in the Colony. Unlike most of the laws of Metropole, this one he is keen on upholding. Just as Metropole has a vested interest in its colonies not having the means to rebel, so do the Vice-Regents have to maintain their positions. The colonial garrisons keep a tight lid on stores of gunpowder. Control over arms themselves is less strict, for without powder, they are hardly more than an unwieldy club. Ships coming into the harbours are supposed to retain them on board, but there is not always an inspector waiting on the wharf to enforce the law. Smuggling is all over the place, and special licenses can be bought or earned for exceptional service. Thus, ownership of weapons is more common than laws would indicate, although they are still confiscated on Vice-Regential authority.

    Small amounts of powder are relatively easy to come by, by less than legal means and from apothecaries, as long as one does not arouse suspicions. Larger, that's a different matter. There are no powder mills in the colony, even though, if one was to closely follow geological and prospecting reports, one would quickly realize the needed materials are out there to be found in quite reliable amounts. Excluding a raid on a gunpowder store or a clandestine milling operation, there always remains smuggling. Explosives of other kinds, as less suited to their use for guns, are usually considered to belong to the same category as mining equipment.

    Seaside forts and towns and larger cities are equipped with cannons. Since the former lie on the lowlands, this is a highly undesirable post for those who were not born in the colonies. Which is to say, soldiers. Therefore, many of these forts are fully staffed only on paper, whether by conscious design, desertion, or attrition. Cannons are of concern to the Vice-Regency since they are such a crucial piece of modern warfare, but they also are hard to move and even harder to do so in an inconspicuous way, so it is rare when it is a cannon that is at the crux of an issue.

    Though cannons are commonly mounted on ships as well, a chief exception to that principle are the river gunboats. These, instead, carry the infamous flame guns. The average ship of the line fights at a range beyond the possibilities of a flame gun, but on a river, where your enemies are monstrous wildlife or angry natives or local smugglers likelier than a seaworthy vessel, it is enough.

    Pistols and blunderbusses are not uncommon. They are too small and short-ranged for battlefield use. They are still subject to regulation, but oversight is lax. A low profile and avoidance of irate or aggressively drunk officials tends to be enough to avoid harassment.

    Air guns are strictly illegal. If getting caught with a gun carries a risk of its confiscation and your mishandling by enforcers of law, getting caught with an air gun carries a risk of summary execution.

    By law, muskets are only to be kept in arsenals, but colonial militias are often given leeway in handling them, for purposes of colonial defense. Metropole-born soldiers cannot be everywhere at once. Usually, those more important of settlements have a nominal garrison force to protect the local gunpowder store. It is, nonetheless, undersupplied just as often. Many a pirate raid came to fruition for want of powder on the side of defenders; raids by opposing powers, in theory graver, more than once are simply written off as the calculus of war, rarely ever meant for actually holding the territory. Settlements large enough to form militias, but also out of the way enough that gun-armed enemies are not an issue, often stock up on crossbows. They are considered more reliable in the colonial climate.

    Colonial nobles and great landowners, in public, often grumble about the powder laws as infringement on noble privileges, but it is them who benefit, and in privacy they know it. A slave uprising without access to comparable weaponry is not going to succeed. Soldiers of the garrison never fail to march out when that happens. It is an unofficial, but symbiotic relationship. Many nobles own small-caliber hunting rifles, and the greater ones can afford to provide their enforcers with gunpowder weapons.

    What all of that means, is that non-gunpowder weaponry is a suitable pick for any random crack-squad of adventurous ne'er-do-wells.

    ----

    Weapons exist in three categories: small, concealable ones, mid-sized (medium; the hand weapons proper) which sometimes may be worn as part of everyday suit, but are going to be quite obvious unless you put on a loose coat or cloak, and large, which are likely to be strictly military or, at best, hunting equipment, you probably can't wear indoors anyway, and may require two hands to use.

    Weapons which generally aren't meant to be lethal, such as sticks, clubs, or other mostly civilian, mostly blunt implements, are probably going to deal damage as if they were one size smaller.

    The common country folk and quite often the urban lower classes will carry around a facon, a large knife-dagger which is a bit of a status symbol and can serve as an all-purpose tool. Anywhere there is farm work to do (from gardens to slave plantations), chances are it will be done using machetes. Middle classes are likely to go unarmed, carry side-swords in the fashion of small nobility if they are allowed, or use walking sticks to follow the fashions from the other side of the ocean. The nobles will often wear side-swords as a mark of their status.

    The elves, alongside with more easily comparable weaponry, used to wield clubs laden with obsidian blades. Coming in various sizes, they are equivalent to a sword, one- or two-handed. There are differences in use, but not big enough to warrant a different classification.

    Melee weapons - in general, small weapons deal 1d4 damage, medium deal 1d6, and large deal 1d8. With these guidelines, there are some points to note.

    Machete - a sturdy, multi-purpose agricultural tool of varying sizes and shapes. The smaller count as small, larger are mid-sized and both function quite well as a weapon. Oh, and they can be used for agricultural work, too.

    Sabre - a type of side-sword which looks vaguely exotic and dashing when worn, and is really handy when you fight from horseback. Count +1 to damage when used this way. Obviously, mid-sized, and can get you odd looks or assumptions of being a cavalry officer.

    Staff, pole, etc. - these are large, but deal 1d6 damage since they're not meant to be all that lethal. If there's a sharpened spearhead on the end of a long pole, it's a spear and deals 1d8 damage instead. A lance is generally any type of straight polearm with a sharp point meant for cavalry fighting, which may or may not carry penalties when used on foot sue to its streamlined design (or lack of any design).

    Bayonet - as a category, it's all types of weapons that can be stuck to the end of a gun and used as a spear. A dedicated bayonet used in this way deals 1d8 damage. In many cases, a knife can go into the barrel and do the job in a pinch; 1d6 damage with such an improvised bayonet, and a roll to hit of 1 means it fell out, or got stuck, or broke, etc.

    ----

    Ranged weapons also exist in three size categories, but since it is the projectile that does the actual damage, the relationship between size category and damage dealt is somewhat less strict. For purposes of concealment, though, the principle remains the same.

    Blowgun - a weapon favoured by native peoples of the jungle, it is a tube for shooting darts. Usually small; the darts deal 1d3 damage. Watch out for the poison, though. That's what's going to wreck you if you get hit. The frogs have mastered the skill of using their vocal sacs to power the weapon and as such, they deal 1d6 damage by it.

    Bow - the old bow is still popular with native warriors and hunters. It's a mid-sized weapon dealing 1d6 damage.

    Crossbow - the crossbow is a common weapon for hunting in the colonies, and frequently used for defense. They exist in various sizes, from hand-held (small, 1d4 damage), to standard light hunting crossbows (medium, 1d6 damage), to large weapons meant to be used from ramparts (large, 1d8 damage). In general, they need a turn to reload, unless some fancy and possibly exotic mechanism is employed, either to increase the shooting rate, or to increase damage.

    ----

    Armor and guns for a separate post.

    ----

    I kept the section on armor for a separate post, because, well, it needs some sort of armor class or whatever and it's tied into game mechanics more deeply than just picking a damage die and hoping nobody will notice I don't know what I am doing.

    See, I'm not quite set on game mechanics. All of this can be subject to change.

    The thing is I have a general idea, but it is kind of by definition beholden to a specific, D&D-ish set of mechanics. To just go along with these is the path of least resistance, and it'll likely end up like every other game of that school of design. Also, even within that school I might just tweak a few things.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Been thinking on the setting again so I'm posting this to free the space in the draft box. I'm gonna fill this entry by editing the post, some day.

    ----

    Armor does not suit the colonial climate well. The native peoples often eschew it altogether, or employ exotic means of protection which don't quite follow the old world logic. Elsewhere, battlefield armor has already been discarded for most purposes, as heavy gunpowder weapons make short work of it, and it is too expensive to equip every low-born grunt with it. But in the colonies, the powder laws have created a cottage industry in armor-making. Few of these items are of good quality, but to many enough, mediocre is still better than none.

    Padded vest -

    Brigandine - an old type of armor, consisting of metal plates sewn to the inside of a padded jacket, virtually resurrected in the colonies for ease of production. It is, however, heavy and hot.

    Breastplate -

    Three-quarters armor - the best form of protection to be found, also the most expensive and impractical. Such armors were used in the initial conquest, then less and less so as Vice-Regency was founded and its hold over the country grew. Nowadays, such armors are to be found in personal possession of great landowners, as heirlooms and showpieces.

    Cloak - when used to deflect blows, it works as a small shield. It's also inconspicuous and can protect you from rain, which is a nice bonus.

    something more exotic -

    yeah, at this point I'm leaving out some space to fill in later -

    ----
  • edited 2023-06-16 21:43:40
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    You are an explorer. Perhaps this means you follow in the footsteps of the conquerors of old, on a search-and-destroy mission of your own assignment against people whose only fault is gold. Perhaps you are a native guide who knows the land as well as the back of your hand, leading foreign-born ignorants to places of interest.

    But it might as well be so that your drive is a personal, or barring that, a professional calling. It is something you do and draw pride from. You're not just a fellow who goes to places, and, in fact, you are not even a fellow who goes to places and brings back valuables found in there. You, instead, are a fellow who has been to places as the first one in generations and brought back not just wealth of gold - you certainly could have, for the allure of gold is not lost on every such as you - but wealth of knowledge. This is, most likely, why you came all the way over from the old world. To explore. Discover. Experience.

    It used to be so, indeed, that conquerors cared for naught but gold and other valuables. Many still do see the colonies as a mere source of wealth, great merchants and great nobles of Metropole for personal enrichment, Metropole itself to prop up their regime. The people of the colonies, for a while, did not care either, the locals too bothered with staying alive and whole under the watchful gaze of easily roused authorities, and the newcomers, well, much alike their social betters, coming to a new land beyond the sea in a hope to grow rich quick. But these are enlightened times, and many of those who have lived in the colonies for generations see them as a homeland to be explored, rather than plunder to be exploited until it runs out. Newcomers flock to the colonies as they did once, but what drives them now is curiosity, be it a personal desire, or an academic mission to gather and measure all that the colonies have to offer. In any case, the two are rarely separate.


    1d10
    1. Ever since you delved into those old ruins, you've been feeling odd. It's hard to describe, you don't seem to suffer any obvious ill effects, but you know it's there. An elven curse, you know it. You are still trying to find out how to lift that thing, so far to no avail, but you're sure if you delve deep enough into elven mysteries you will find out. (So far, you've been dismissing the possibility that the curse was supposed to cause.)
    2. Once on your travels, you have found a dead body with a locket. It opens to a compass and a detailed painting of a person. The compass doesn't seem to point to any single direction and you're deeply convinced it's enchanted to point towards the dead one's love. You're getting ever more drawn to find that person out.
    3. You are a surveyor, who was hired to establish the boundaries of some colonial aristocrat's estate. Hardly the first time you did that. But, this time...
    4. cartographer
    5. You're here to study the local languages, those of the low-born folk, those which have not yet found their way into any dictionary, were never spoken in university halls. You have a gift for language, true, but the study you seek gifted you with an understanding of the communities of the speakers beyond the scope of mere learning of the tongue.
      You can always get the gist of what's spoken around you, regardless (especially) if you don't speak the language. Always. Meaningful communication may take a while but it'll take a while rather than a month.
    6. biologist
    7. elven blood?

    ----

    On an impulse, I'm posting it because it's been a while since the last post, I feel like I'm not failing to deliver a promise or whatnot, and now there's a chance I'll finish it in time. I gotta get to work regarding the mechanics, that stuff's stalling me. I'ts kind of like, it's hard to come up with the front-end stuff when you didn't figure out the back-end stuff. (That's why that post on armor is left unfinished.)

    (Also, the rogue class should provide the possibility of playing as Gregor MacGregor. I'm gonna think on it.)
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    You know what, I had that idea that I might set up a blog and more the content to there. But Storm rightly points out I'm falling behind in actually producing that content, so I'll try to get back to it.

    ----

    Lightning gathering operations in the western regions have only increased in scope since the arrival of the new invention from Metropole.

    When a flask of glass is covered in thin tin foil in a certain special way, it can be made to retain the lightning charge. For most, it is not more than a precious curio, but never-ending thunderstorm over the western city is an opportunity not to be passed. And so, a cottage industry has sprung up around it, one of procuring of bottled lightning.

    Apart from officials to pass off as prestige items and persons of science for their experiments, bottled lightning has also found an unlikely use - if perhaps predictable - among adventurers and miscreants of all sorts; as it appears, actual military men tend to hew to the tried-and-true ways of dealing damage.

    Already, whether by desperation or death-wish, some willing or forced by circumstances to risk their bodily health have been preparing jars or buying them from middlemen - the latter more common, as merchants have also arisen who reap the benefits of the trade without risking themselves to the lightning strikes - carrying them towards the storm and mounting tall metal poles, to gather up the electric fluid from the charged air. With good luck, one can fill out their bottles and avoid a lightning strike. With bad luck, any piece of metal, from the pole itself to buttons and nails in their clothes and shoes, can attract a strike before the flask, to an effect that is all too predictable. It is dangerous trade, and unreliable, and so the output from this way of procurement is not a large one, but also easy to get into and the land does not lack for the desperate.

    The lightning flask is one of the wonders of the modern era, but it is not the most novel thing to appear in the colonies.

    However, much has changed is another invention which has recently arrived from beyond the sea, the balloon. A bag of warm air large enough to carry aloft a few persons, it can come much closer to the storm clouds than any erect metal pole. Already it is being used to bring the tip of the fluid-gathering needle ever higher, but the results are best when a conscious mind is up there. The benefits, meanwhile, are measured in numbers of flasks filled with lightning and shipped overseas with every outgoing ship. Thus, the dangerous trade has become even riskier, for apart from the lightning, there also is the simple risk of falling or getting carried off by wind to directions unknown.

    Despite its propensity for all these misfortunes, the balloon offers a hitherto non-existent, save for certain fanciful and unreliable claims of magical crafts, opportunity for exploration of the colonial interior. From above, land can be surveyed and mapped. Mesas which so far were considered uscalable can be now, in theory, be reached from such a balloon to lift a team of adventurous (and hopefully industrious) daredevils just over the edge of the cliff, if only such were to step forward. There is a risk involved, and getting back down is another matter which may or may not be considered in advance. But such concerns have never, in the past, prevented such fellows from appearing.
  • edited 2023-12-14 21:46:03
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    1d10 trinkets you have "forgotten" to bestow to a museum as an explorer:
    1. A broken compass which seems to just swirl around most of the time, except when it points towards the nearest bed or larder. You keep it as a fancy because, frankly, why else, but its prediction did come true a few times already.
      It's pointing towards the thing the character needs most at the moment. The Game Master is encouraged to interpret it in loose and poetic ways.
    2. A playful green parrot that's smart enough to follow simple instructions and can repeat words.
      The parrot can be ornery at times, but generally will agree to help, as long as that's within the realm of possibility.
    3. A painted arrow given to you by that one shaman that one time. The shaman said it will never miss.
      It will not, provided it's roughly in range, and also will not break upon impact. It can be destroyed by other means, though, and does not return, so it will have to be found and collected if it is to be re-used.
    4. Your trusty machete. It's just a piece of sharpened steel, but it has never failed you.
      Whether it's used as a weapon or as a tool, you have a +1 bonus to any test involving its application.
    5. A gourd full of dormant ants. One time, you discovered a unique species of ants not only making their home in a type of gourd, but also having a peculiar quality of going into hibernation in the absence of food and water to quite literally explode into activity at first hints of a fruitful season. Why, you took that one gourd and carefully placed into a container so that they would remain dormant until you need them. (It's fine, they totally won't go extinct if you misplace it somewhere, just trust me on this, okay?)
      It's basically a mostly-reusable hand grenade made of angry ants. Which in a pinch you can also show off and cause a sensation in naturalist circles.
    6. A canteen of water from the Fountain of Youth. (While 'Fountain of Youth' is a fancy name, what it really does is have this strong regenerative effect which, yes, does make you look and feel young again.) You've drawn it, but failed to draw a map since your supplies were ruined by the time you got there, then barely got out, and couldn't find it again ever since.
      A dose of the water causes rapid closing of wounds and purges the organism of poisons and illnesses; full recovery requires a day of rest. There are 1d4+2 doses left.
    7. A custom reliable clock. You made it by yourself, or it was made by a scholar you befriended. Frankly, it doesn't seem to be easily replaceable or possible to produce on a mass scale, but it's reliable beyond any other one you have ever encountered so you keep it around all the more. It's that good a piece of artisanship. Possibly more, given the fact that it seems to work even if you're not quite sure of your speed or other parameters, not that you mind it.
      When you use this clock to measure time or assess your current location by dead reckoning - especially at sea - you will never be wrong.
    8. A letter of recommendation from that one Important Person you met that one time. It's not really of matter and the Important Person may or may not be dead at this point, but just the mark of their respect is going to open a lot of doors. Even if the Important Person was an enemy of the state the representatives of which you are about to encounter, their opinion has a weight.
      A token of recommendation from a widely respected person will help you out through a lot of what would otherwise be, at best, a charisma check, or turn into a charisma check what would otherwise be a sure hostile encounter. The game master is encouraged to role-play the other side of the conversation as demanding a story of how the character met the Important Person, etc. etc.
    9. An enchanted feather you received as a gift from an old elf. When cast into the air, it turns into a set of traditional elven armour which is already fitted to your body and which you can revert into feather form at will.
      The effect does not take place if you already wear armour; the feather simply stays a feather. If you had a hat or another head covering, it falls off to make place for the headpiece.
    10. A custom rifle which costed you a lot in terms both material and immaterial. It's a sturdy, reliable, general purpose hunting weapon. It was well worth the cost. It also serves as a good conversation piece and has a tendency to draw out marksmen and similar types who seem to see it a proof that you are a fellow soul.
      This rifle grants you +1 to hit and wound rolls, never misfires, and if it was to break for any reason involving a roll, you can re-roll it. In addition, NPCs who might be positively inclined towards a fellow sharpshooter/hunter/firearm expert/etc. etc., will be.

    (The game master is encouraged not to destroy these items; putting them at risk or having them stolen is a decent way to get the player to act, though.)

    ----

    You know what guys, I have a bit of a serious problem here. Like, I wanted to include an Explorer class (sort of like a XVIII Century-themed Ranger) and a Scholar class (like a not-necessarily-a-wizard intellectual to build up the theme of the Enlightenment era), but I have this issue: BOTH ARE THE SAME. Like, I wanted to pattern the "Ranger" off Alexander von Humboldt and the "Scholar" off the intellectuals and engineers of the era, but the dude was, like, a scholar all the way through. If I leave that out, all I'm left with is, like, a native guide. (And conversely, if I remove all the exploratory themes off the Scholar, what's left is severely diminished.) Which is fine, but doesn't quite tick off all the boxes I want it to tick off, metaphorically speaking. Do you have any insight on this?
  • Hmmm...
    The other explorer that comes to mind is Jimmie Angel (the guy the Angel Falls are named after), but he's a 20th century guy.
    Also the other day I learned that Dr. José Gregorio Hernández (finally) got beatified and is thus officially a cleric.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    A month or two ago I was picking up trash and I thought I was gonna throw out this old Dunkin' Donuts cup but when I picked it up it turned out to have been incorporated into a large antpile and it was swarming with ants

    i dropped that like an extra-hot potato
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    A month or two ago I was picking up trash and I thought I was gonna throw out this old Dunkin' Donuts cup but when I picked it up it turned out to have been incorporated into a large antpile and it was swarming with ants

    i dropped that like an extra-hot potato
    Sounds totally like that time back when I was a kid when I found a gun-shaped stick that was, like, totally cool, but when I picked it up it turned out to be full of ants. Suffice to say, I did not obtain a totally cool gun-shaped stick on that day.
    Hmmm...
    The other explorer that comes to mind is Jimmie Angel (the guy the Angel Falls are named after), but he's a 20th century guy.
    Also the other day I learned that Dr. José Gregorio Hernández (finally) got beatified and is thus officially a cleric.
    *scribbles down furiously*
    *checks wiki*
    recovery of a girl that was shot in the head, reported as a miracle attributed to Hernández.
    [...]
    He is, also, revered by Venezuela's alternative and syncretic religion the cult of Maria Lionza.
    *scribbles down, like, double furiously*

    I'm gonna tackle the cleric one of these days, but it'd have to involve some unique spin on the class. Also I'm beginning to seriously consider merging the explorer concept into the scholar. The bonus would be that it'd avoid the issue of having a non-native out-native-ing the natives at being native.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    So, like I said, I have this problem with the Expert/Scholar/Whatever. I would like to separate a ranger type from a scholar type, but I imagine the first as driven by (possibly scientific in nature) fascination with the world rather than simply hiring themselves as a wilderness expert, and the second, as perfectly capable and willing to brave the wilderness for science in all that stuff. So, all in all, these two character archetypes end up bleeding into each other, yet at the far ends, feel separate. What I'm writing here is kind of an attempt of mine to at least provide content to the second archetype, so that perhaps one day I will have that Eureka moment and merge them back together in a way that will leave me satisfied with the result.

    ----

    I guess I might have found the key: this is going about to be One Big Thing the character is about to do. The cost, of course, is that I had to write off a lot. At first, I began writing up the effects of all these, but they mostly came off as "work it out with the GM", because they're rather open-ended and I had no better idea. Only then it hit me I don't quite need that. But I'll put the intended effects in a toggle-box, in case I need them in the future.



    For the fighter and the rogue, the premise is that they get a unique skill or something like that. For the explorer, it's some fun item or something that they already got in their past explorations. So, for the scholar, it's one big idea that they might want to talk out with the GM, perhaps to one day see accomplished.

    ----

    It is a new age; an age of knowledge.

    In the past, people have lived for centuries beholden to stolid dogmas, fearful to think of what lies behind the horizon and what makes the spheres of the world turn. It took long, way too long, for some to begin asking questions, but begin they did. And once those first brave few did, others came in their wake.

    It is the first era in history when a warship can be sent to the other side of the world just to perform astronomical observations.

    But yet, not all is well. The world is still far from reason - true, capital 'R' Reason - becoming its guiding principle. It's all the more grating, given the fact rulers see its worth, take to it as wasps to honey, yet all that they draw from it is new ways to control and conquer. Even if sent to perform observations, it was still a warship. Oh, surely, many scholars have taken to them, to use that as an opportunity to introduce new methods and ways of governance, to construct new machines which they hope will soon find uses not for warfare, in small increments when and how they can. But not all those who wish for freedom of the mind are satisfied with a mind which can only extend its freedom as far as the handler's leash lets them.

    Bravery - intellectual bravery as well, and perhaps the most; one needs to dare to know - comes with a price to pay. Of course it has; else it would not be bravery. Perhaps the way is to leave and start over.

    Apart from less immediately practical pursuits, you are an expert in...
    1. construction
    2. military engineering
    3. waterworks and hydraulics
    4. practical mechanics
    5. public health and medicine
    6. practical chemistry and pharmaceutics
    7. naval construction
    8. metallurgy
    9. mining
    10. agriculture and animal husbandry

    As a scholar in this age, there is a lot you have put your mind to, some practical, some theoretical... and some that is likely the second, but seems to have an interesting potential for application if enough hands and funds are thrown at it. In fact, that tends to be why you decided to travel to the colonies. Perhaps only there it can be realized, due to a need for data that only there can be gathered, or unique raw materials, or some other factor. Perhaps you wish your project to be realized, but Metropolitan society is too hide-bound to let you work at a few small things, for science. And perhaps, you want to move away to a place where you will not be demanded to use your skill and knowledge for petty games of dynastic one-upmanship.

    1d10 odd projects you might have had as a scholar (which may or may not be related to the result of the previous roll):
    1. You left your research and escaped the Old World on the first ship out, because otherwise they would have forced you to construct the superweapon the possibility of which you unwisely hinted at in your publications. Actually, you already have all the plans in your head, enough for a single go at it, at least. Why, of course, it's not that you will ever want it made...
    2. Although your philosophical takes on the nature of government grant you recognition of wannabe philosophers and armchair reformists, they did not sit well with, uh, the government. Well, you kind of expected it would happen, so the joke's on them as far as you are concerned. You left before they got to you, but those in the know, well, they already know your writings and reputation. If only they let you introduce some of your reform programs...
    3. You have developed a novel invention, a machine quite unlike any so far constructed, yet nobody is willing to put it to practical use, or else to buy the plans from you. Perhaps this new land, these colonies, will allow you to bring it forth, make it a reality. They laughed at you, but you're gonna show'em.
    4. Through a series of events too complicated for a concise description, you are something of an expert in a highly illicit and possibly unethical field. (Why, of course it's not involuntary soul transfer, why do you ask. Or ghost manipulation. Or designer poison engineering. Or post-mortem fleshcrafting. Or...) Now, after years of working in hiding from the authorities, you have decided to move to a place where you can finally perform research in seclusion and comfort, away from the prying eyes: the colony.
    5. You have a quirky little theory on how some aspect of the world works. Perhaps it's the nature of earthquakes, or volcanoes, or thunderstorms, or hurricanes. You have done all that could have been done in academic seclusion; fortunately, the colonies are known for their unique environment and you decided to arrive to perform necessary experiments and observations. Once you're done, who knows? Perhaps one day, this knowledge will be applied in practice.
    6. Your progressive religious writings, aimed to reconcile science with the doctrines of the Assembly as well as on many other topics, have not sit well with the Assembly. A 'trip' to the colonies was a polite way to remove you from polite society. However, you actually welcome the opportune change in environment and its anticipated effect on your meditations.
    7. You are known for your writings on the nature of trade and wealth. Others call you a philosopher. Or a money wizard. Or a con artist. Or that sleazy banker who got in the good graces of the king and robbed the people of their possessions. Personally, you prefer 'economist'. You have arrived in the colony wishing to present your plan for economic reform to the local authorities. The wealth will trickle down and it will be so amazing. They'll be tired of getting rich. They just need to follow your plan, you know it.
    8. You have long been a humble scholar, a custodian of knowledge for the benefit of all, but so far never for yourself. Well, for some time already, you have felt there are opportunities to be made, in this day and age, where knowledge will bring great benefit when it is properly applied, not merely kept, just as the baker's skill alone does not bestow us with the baked goods we crave. And yet the authorities, the academia, the rich may as well be blind to your vision. Fortunately, there is also the colony. A true land of opportunity.
    9. You arrived to the colony to spread modern medicine, whether by invitation or a request, or by own decision. There are quite simple principles upon which sound improvements can be rested, especially when one puts their mind to it, and you welcome the challenge.
    10. You made a silly bet and now are bound by gentleperson's honor (and money) to fulfill your part. Which is, to deliver a sea-worthy warship to a remote and landlocked part of the colony. There will be infrastructure needed to put the very infrastructure in place that you will need to get it there, and then more. But bet aside, you are sure you can make it.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Religions of the New World

    You have arrived to a new place and there's a religious festival. What do the locals believe in?
    1. Unadulterated Assembly doctrine. A high-born newcomer from Metropole would feel right at home. It's likely the locals are themselves newcomers or high-born, for these kinds of people would be most interested in maintaining their spiritual and cultural links to the Old World.
    2. Assembly doctrine within reasonable range of purity, but with an infusion of local peculiarities and quaint folk customs. It is assumed that most colonials are to be found in this group. A particularly restrictive new ecclesiarch might try to rectify this, but most don't bother.
    3. Assembly heterodoxy. If higher-ups got wind of what the local preacher serves to the flock, they would likely send a reprimand, and perhaps even a recall. Idiosyncrasies of the preacher or political dissidency are equally likely to be the cause of the divergence.
    4. Unaffiliated branch of Assembly. Perhaps it's an immigrant community, colony of foreign merchants, or some other kind of cultural outlier that was granted the privilege to stick to their version of the teachings. These are constantly watched with suspicion to prevent the spread of their doctrines, but generally don't proselytise to avoid losing their position.
    5. Foreign, non-proselytizing religion. As in above case, it might be a community of immigrants, whether by oversight or by ancient privilege given some leeway by the authorities, or of refugees in hiding from them. Recently escaped slaves often gather into communities of their own, which often strive to maintain the customs of their homelands for as long as these are clearly remembered.
    6. Foreign, proselytizing religion. Despite the stranglehold the Assembly maintains on the colonial society, some still slip through, at least for a while before the authorities become clued in on them. The introduction of such religions can usually be traced to a single believer or a small group of them, a charismatic new arrival who managed to convert a community around them to their faith.
    7. Local syncretic religion. Trappings of Assembly doctrines are repurposed for something not quite in line with Assembly standards, mixed freely and in varying proportions with indigenous and itroduced religious beliefs. To the consternation of the authorities, beliefs of the common folk are quite often closer to this than to standard doctrine, whether or not they realize it.
    8. Local pagan, Assembly-influenced religion. Patterns and customs recognizable for those familiar with Assembly can be found, even if sometimes you have to try to spot them. After centuries of missionary work, the majority of indigenous communities has been already exposed to teachings of the Assembly. Sometimes for the worse, if rumours of cannibal tribes who consider eating a preacher the best way to enlightenment, turn out to be true after all.
    9. New pagan religion. The locals went through a phase of religious renewal, but any effect the Assembly might have had on them is indirect. Moreover, it's entirely likely the renewal was a response to the Assembly encroachment on their metaphysical territory and they remain consciously hostile to missionary efforts.
    10. Traditional pagan religion. The locals live as they always had, unaware of the Assembly and its doctrines in any but the most superficial sense. Despite the efforts by the Assembly, many such communities still exist in the interior.

    At this point, I'm drunk enough to hit "post comment" without much thinking about how this might be expanded. I had a rough idea to add another list of outcomes, or what have you, but it'd be enough to see this list. Anyway. Latin American history is cool enough as is.
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    woah

    turns out I just had one of these "what did I do last night" events
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