Setting Creation 101?

[The Rose Dragon]

Is there somewhere where I can find the 101 on creating a setting, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, horror or whatever? If not, can people who created their own settings tell me where to start?

[Radar]

You mean apart from this (http://www.giantitp.com/Gaming.html) guide?

I don't have anything else and sort of stumble in the dark with my own creation.

[Yora]

We got quite a number of such threads over the last months. Since people usually give the same advice every time, it might be helpful to look for those threads. I'll try to hunt some of them down, maybe I can find a couple or two.

[Telok]

AD&D DMG, don't forget the weather and a calendar.

[Yora]

Okay, here's a bunch of possibly helpful threads I found:

Creating a world (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180695&highlight=setting+creation)
World creation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178078&highlight=setting+creation)
3.5 Homebrew Theory: The Philosophy of Creation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150609&highlight=setting+creation)

If you're really interested in reading a lot, you might find some useful things here as well:

How generic is your setting? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164185&highlight=setting+creation)
What does "Fantasy Setting" mean to you? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162362&highlight=setting+creation)
Top 10 eleven RPG assumptions (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159015&highlight=setting+creation)
Poll: Game Settings (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162291&highlight=setting+creation)
Low Magic Setting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181042&highlight=setting+creation)
Setting and Systems. Discussions. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161758&highlight=setting+creation)

Most of these threads are quite old and the mods here really hate it for some reason when people post in them. So if you have any questions, better ask them in this thread.

[Trekkin]

I have no idea where to find a starter course for such a process, but I've made a few settings of my own, and they've been generally well liked, so here are related yammerings:

Generally, I start with a blandly generic fantasy world. I make continents in Terragen and semi-randomly plop down whatever races I'm comfortable with having just be there. This normally includes dwarves, because I'm a huge dwarf fanboy, and elves/halflings/gnomes/humans/anything not too remarkable. Mark off cities, decide on the general structure of the governments, pick who's been at war with who. I roll dice for this, within a set of plausible parameters. The point is to make generation as random as possible so that when highly contrived alterations take place, they're harder to see.

Then I pick an event. Perhaps it's a doomsday weapon in a war between competing magocracies (in which case I will add suitable magocracies), perhaps an eldritch abomination/ von Neumann machine splashed down just outside Generic Port City #148, or maybe the planet just blew up. This requires a little more thought than I make it sound like, but as long as you like it, it's wide-ranging, and it's generally destructive, it works. Then start figuring out, according to your previous random generation, how the various civilizations are going to react. This is a good time for significant NPCs to start forming out of significant events; the leader of the task force sent to investigate it and the politician scheming to capitalize on it are two classics. This is a good time for secondary effects of whatever cataclysm you've set up to trigger, as well. Then I make two choices: who wins by how much, and how long does it take? Deplete resources, embitter NPCs, and recolor maps as necessary. Then decide how long after the initial disaster your campaign's taking place, and heal the land as necessary, encoding the NPCs you made in legend and artifact as appropriate. Incidentally, if you feel that the campaign world needs more color, retroactively add contingency plans/ more secondary effects. The process is rather like a fractal; the major effects are decided, than any sufficiently relevant minor ones, until you have functioning towns with enough scars to have character.

I usually run mine ~two months after whatever disaster I want to make the focus of the campaign, be it enjoying the conquest of the local yokels as their new overlords, leading Le Resistance against the new overlords, or the recoiling in shock and rebuilding from whatever cataclysm I felt like inflicting. Sometimes there's either a second one that needs to be stopped (those eldritch invaders can always be scouts or refugees from something worse, and doomsday devices can always weaken the boundaries between the world and some hellscape beyond) or has already happened, and the latter can be repeated until the world has enough history you've sat and reacted through for it to seem characterful.

There are a few variations: the cataclysm was actually a good thing that the various races have horribly misused in their bids for power, or the whatever-it-was happened so long ago that it's been integrated into the world and is now catastrophically fading.

So that's basically that: my way is to take the generic and horribly hurt it until it acquires a unique pattern of scars, justifying any obviously illogical results from the randomness with storytelling (dwarven city ended up in a swamp? fine, they're either a fort exiled to no place fit for a dwarf, or they're cultists amassing around some relic of a battle long past that for some magical reason can't be moved, or maybe dwarven ale needs marsh tubers) and sending the players in while the world's still reeling from the latest one, optionally giving them a quest to be one bright ray of light in the creeping darkness. I play through all the reactions like a big chess game in one-day increments, incidentally. It helps prevent accidental prescience.

[Yora]

While I am a huge fan of maps and work a lot with them, I get to them usually only as the second or even first step.

0: Before you even start with working on anything, think about it why you want to create a setting in the first place. There are no good or bad answers, but if you want to create a setting for a mini campaign that takes place only in one city, you don't have to put much work into all the different nations and races that populate the world.

1: Think of a theme: Lots of worlds I see start with people dumping a lot of things they have seen and they liked on one big pile and use that as a starting point. I go the other way around and first ask what the atmosphere of the world should be and what kinds of adventures the players will experience. Do I want a stone age setting, small kingdoms at constant war with each other, an eternal war between light and darkness, exploration of a new continent, or whatever you can think off?
Yes, settings like Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk do exist, that are just a bunch of fantastic places put next to each other. But I think the really memorable ones are Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, and Eberron, which have a much more well defined idea of what stories are taking place in them. Even Star Wars and Warcraft have their central conflicts Empire vs. Alliance and Alliance vs. Horde. If you just want to explore old ruins in the forest, that's also okay, but even then it's a good idea to make a setting that is based on that idea.

2. Think of the races and societies, and the level of technology and magic. Having thought about a theme, you now can pick the right races and societies to inhabit the world. Some worlds just dump every generic fantasy creature in it and call it a day, but in most situations, you really need only a much smaller number. You don't need 40 to 60 sentient humanoid races. 6 or 8 could be enough, or maybe even less.

3. Make a map. Now that you know what countries you want to have, you can start with a map that fits the requirements your setting has by now. You could also start with a map and use it as a starting point for your creativity to come up with people who live there, but this usually leads to a rather generic world. Not that generic worlds are bad, but this short list here simply assumes a theme based setting.

[Melayl]

The "A Magical Society" (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=4041) series of PDFs/books from Expiditious Retreat Press has everything you'll ever need for worldbuilding. Their "Guide to Mapping" (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=55266) is free, and part of a larger book "Guide to Worldbuilding" make that "Ecology and Culture". :smallredface: I'd highly recommend it.

[IcarusWings]

I think the best thing to start with is just to think of a good concept that sets your setting apart from the rest. The easiest way to do this is think of a really interesting apocalypse that's happened. Take a look at all the community world building projects on the homebrew forum, a good few of them start with that (specifically Smog, Cataclysm of Green, Life in Hell, and Etherworld off the top of my head), they all have interesting and original cataclysm's that really shape the setting, rather than the generic Nuclear/Magical Fallout or Everywhere's been invaded by Nasty Things.
Of course, sometimes you don't want a setting to take place after an Apocalypse, and that's fine. But you still need an original concept that sets it apart such as Eberron's industrialised Magitek, Dark Sun's... well everything, and Spelljammer's unique way of portraying space (well copied from Ptolemy, but it still counts as original).

Another thing to bear in mind is to be interesting with your cultures. A lot of the time, people just slap the generic labels on stuff. Dwarves are mountainous grumpy scots, elves are annoying, snobby, tree-hugging hippies, and orcs are culture-less rabble. And people just use the same cultural models over and over again, I can't count how many fantasy books I've read where the cultures presented are just Viking, Roman, Medieval Europe, or Japanese rip-offs, and countless combinations thereof. Use some of the less well known ones. Why can't your dwarves be Eskimos ekeing out an existence on the ice where they mine for minerals, rather than viking-scottish hybrids? why can't your elves be Incas or Aztecs, rather than renaissance-in-a-forest?

[EccentricCircle]

in general there are two aproaches to world building. the top down aproach where you create a world, often starting with a map, then fill it in with different nations and factions based around different themes, ideas, races, political systems, or types of magic. or the bottom up aproach, where you start with the question; "where are the player characters" and work out from there. first creating a town, city or area of countryside, and setting it within a vague context, there is a high king ruleing from his ivory tower somewhere, there are brigands dwelling in the woods, etc, from there you can work outwards as the player characters explore and adventure, expanding the world as you go.

the different aproaches have their pros and cons, and I would never advocate one over the other as it really depends what you want to do with your new world. if it is to be the setting for a single campaign its probably best to use the bottom up aproach, as it can be less initial work and allows you to concentrate on the bits of the world the players are actually going to see (hopefully, no plot survives contact with the player party and all that)

the top down aproach is best when you want your world to be a vast and sweeping narrative that you can come back to again and again. setting multiple stories in the same world and linking them all back to the same empires and cultures. thats why this is the aproach used in most pre written settings,
somewhere like the forgotton realms, Eberron or DragonLance has been built to create a rich back drop for litterally thousands of campaigns.

for a home brew campaign you don't neccersarly need that scope, afterall even optimistically, playing regularly for multiple years and with a few other DM's taking up your setting theres no way the PC's will see it all.
thats not to say not to aspire to a vast setting, but my advice would be to build it up as you progress developing a number of limited geographical areas in lots of detail rather than an entire world in low detail.

I hope that that helps.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Is there somewhere where I can find the 101 on creating a setting, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, horror or whatever? If not, can people who created their own settings tell me where to start?
Aside from the Giant's Guide (which is very good), I have my own personal checklist.

(1) What is the theme for setting?
Every setting needs a theme; some central concept that ties everything together. It can be anything from "love & loss" to "adventures on the high seas!" What's important is that you've settled on one thing that flavors all of your other decisions - this is tremendously helpful in keeping your setting from expanding out of control (see Forgotten Realms).

(2) What are the quirks of the setting?
"Quirks" are just features that you want to add to your setting to make it distinctive. This can be anything from "the gods are ascended mortals" to "I need every race from the PHB Series represented." This is distinct from the choice of theme because it provides concrete points around which to build a setting. Usually I like to pick 2-3 quirks for a setting, because it gives me more jumping-off points for idea.

Once you've got those two questions addressed, you can start spinning until you get a setting sufficiently detailed to run adventures in. This particular standard varies from DM to DM: Personally, I will not run a campaign until I have established a broad History of the World (from creation onwards) and identified the major power organizations in the world.

EXAMPLE
My current D&D4 campaign is called "Gold & Glory."

Theme: A place where people are free to find (and make) their own destinies

Quirks
(1) Every PC race in the PHBs, FRCG, ECG must be represented - with altered fluff when necessary.

(2) "Patrons" are an everyday part of life for the adventurers

* * * *

With that, I went about creating a setting where the "action" took place in the ruins of a once-powerful Human Empire (with colonies!) which rotted from within and was destroyed by a mixture of Infernal Machinations involing the aristocracy and the widespread adoption of a cult of undeath by the intelligensia. Now, a variety of overseas foreign powers are trying to loot/recolonize the land and are forced to work through the Tiefiling Merchant Princes (descendents of the aristocracy) who control access to the mainland.

This control is mainly executed by requiring Adventuring Licenses for any party bearing arms and seeking entrance to the mainland; these licenses are issued by a variety of organizations (mostly Princes and their merchant companies) and are so expensive that pretty much every holder of a license had to go into debt (fiscal or legal) with a rich and/or powerful individual.

[AyeGill]

As i am also in the progress of creating my first complete setting, i could use the help too. However, this is some stuff that i've found helpful when creating small empires/countries, which is the usual format of what i create for my campaigns.


Concept. I usually start with a concept, which is the setting/country/culture/whatever summarized in one or two sentences. This could be everything from "Vikings with lightsabers" to "Standard Dnd But no prime material". Anything goes
Theme. This is the general theme that the setting, and most importantly the adventures in it, will follow. Ebberon has crazy steampunk magitek, Shadowrun has Corporate Dystopia Mercenary Special Operatives, and your setting should have its own unique theme. This is very close to the concept, and might be the same for some settings.
Features/Quirks. Defining one or two features, major points about the setting that serve to flesh out the theme and concept. This might be "The gods are active, and frequently war", or "Everybody has a bit of magic", or something entirely different. Something that should be noted it that the quirk should not be the sort of things that completely define a setting. For example, while "everyone has some magic" is probably a quirk, unless it somehow affects the campaign setting more than you'd expect, but "nobody has magic, it doesn't exist" is a theme, because it is a point that will heavily impact a setting.
Filling out. Take your concepts and quirks and work from there. i like to start with nations and geography, but anything that suits you is fine.

[Grelna the Blue]

I'm going to quote myself here:


Even if your players will be spending most of their first few levels doing no more than defending a small town or village from the dangers that threaten it, it is highly advisable to know at least the following few things about the area surrounding your campaign’s origin point:

The name of the nation or region it is in and its general political complexion (lawless frontier, principality, duchy in feudal kingdom, independent city-state, etc.)
The name and location of the nearest large population center
The identity of the closest authority figure (baron, sheriff, mayor of nearby town, etc.)
At least some of the principal gods or faiths of the area
The names of at least one or two of the neighboring geographical features (mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, etc.)
None of the foregoing items are things it is desirable to ignore or create off the top of your head. While seat-of-the-pants world creation can sometimes yield surprisingly good results, it is a mistake to rely on sudden inspiration at the very beginning of the campaign, as snap decisions at the beginning can strongly influence the shape of your entire campaign in unforeseen ways.

As an example, if you were to allow a player to create a cleric of Thor because you hadn't yet come up with a pantheon of your own, and you've answered player questions about who is in charge locally by coming up with a spur-of-the-moment baron who lives in a nearby castle, then you've already gone a fair way down the path of accidental campaign creation. Your hypothetical campaign setting would appear to be set in a semi-medieval feudal monarchy with the population revering at least some of the Norse gods. Is that bad? Maybe, but not necessarily. It could be absolutely great. However, it does preclude a lot of other possibilities and if too many decisions are made in this fashion a campaign can all too easily end up feeling like an unoriginal patchwork.

That whole thread (When does a campaign setting becomes finished? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180647)) might be useful to you.

[akma]

My world creating process can be summarized in shoving ideas I like, then thinking on how to explain them and integrate them with the setting. That has worked quite well actully, since I just ignore what should but isn`t explained until I think of an explanation. I mainly did it with my main generic campaign setting, with the other two I barely did that.

Also, themes are a great tool for creating stuff with little effort. For exemple, I thought about the idea of a plane of sound and telepathy, in which there is always voices that even the deaf can hear. So I could theme the geography on that - buzzing sounds are associated in my head with flies, so in that areas the ground is black and moving, with some pieces of ground floating (but still nonliving). With that theme, I could build a plane with many unique terrain types with little efforts.

P.S. Also have diffrent parts of your campaign setting connect, and not just be isolated.

[The Rose Dragon]

As i am also in the progress of creating my first complete setting, i could use the help too. However, this is some stuff that i've found helpful when creating small empires/countries, which is the usual format of what i create for my campaigns.


Concept. I usually start with a concept, which is the setting/country/culture/whatever summarized in one or two sentences. This could be everything from "Vikings with lightsabers" to "Standard Dnd But no prime material". Anything goes
Theme. This is the general theme that the setting, and most importantly the adventures in it, will follow. Ebberon has crazy steampunk magitek, Shadowrun has Corporate Dystopia Mercenary Special Operatives, and your setting should have its own unique theme. This is very close to the concept, and might be the same for some settings.
Features/Quirks. Defining one or two features, major points about the setting that serve to flesh out the theme and concept. This might be "The gods are active, and frequently war", or "Everybody has a bit of magic", or something entirely different. Something that should be noted it that the quirk should not be the sort of things that completely define a setting. For example, while "everyone has some magic" is probably a quirk, unless it somehow affects the campaign setting more than you'd expect, but "nobody has magic, it doesn't exist" is a theme, because it is a point that will heavily impact a setting.
Filling out. Take your concepts and quirks and work from there. i like to start with nations and geography, but anything that suits you is fine.



Aside from the Giant's Guide (which is very good), I have my own personal checklist.

(1) What is the theme for setting?
Every setting needs a theme; some central concept that ties everything together. It can be anything from "love & loss" to "adventures on the high seas!" What's important is that you've settled on one thing that flavors all of your other decisions - this is tremendously helpful in keeping your setting from expanding out of control (see Forgotten Realms).

(2) What are the quirks of the setting?
"Quirks" are just features that you want to add to your setting to make it distinctive. This can be anything from "the gods are ascended mortals" to "I need every race from the PHB Series represented." This is distinct from the choice of theme because it provides concrete points around which to build a setting. Usually I like to pick 2-3 quirks for a setting, because it gives me more jumping-off points for idea.

Once you've got those two questions addressed, you can start spinning until you get a setting sufficiently detailed to run adventures in. This particular standard varies from DM to DM: Personally, I will not run a campaign until I have established a broad History of the World (from creation onwards) and identified the major power organizations in the world.

EXAMPLE
My current D&D4 campaign is called "Gold & Glory."

Theme: A place where people are free to find (and make) their own destinies

Quirks
(1) Every PC race in the PHBs, FRCG, ECG must be represented - with altered fluff when necessary.

(2) "Patrons" are an everyday part of life for the adventurers

* * * *

With that, I went about creating a setting where the "action" took place in the ruins of a once-powerful Human Empire (with colonies!) which rotted from within and was destroyed by a mixture of Infernal Machinations involing the aristocracy and the widespread adoption of a cult of undeath by the intelligensia. Now, a variety of overseas foreign powers are trying to loot/recolonize the land and are forced to work through the Tiefiling Merchant Princes (descendents of the aristocracy) who control access to the mainland.

This control is mainly executed by requiring Adventuring Licenses for any party bearing arms and seeking entrance to the mainland; these licenses are issued by a variety of organizations (mostly Princes and their merchant companies) and are so expensive that pretty much every holder of a license had to go into debt (fiscal or legal) with a rich and/or powerful individual.


in general there are two aproaches to world building. the top down aproach where you create a world, often starting with a map, then fill it in with different nations and factions based around different themes, ideas, races, political systems, or types of magic. or the bottom up aproach, where you start with the question; "where are the player characters" and work out from there. first creating a town, city or area of countryside, and setting it within a vague context, there is a high king ruleing from his ivory tower somewhere, there are brigands dwelling in the woods, etc, from there you can work outwards as the player characters explore and adventure, expanding the world as you go.

the different aproaches have their pros and cons, and I would never advocate one over the other as it really depends what you want to do with your new world. if it is to be the setting for a single campaign its probably best to use the bottom up aproach, as it can be less initial work and allows you to concentrate on the bits of the world the players are actually going to see (hopefully, no plot survives contact with the player party and all that)

the top down aproach is best when you want your world to be a vast and sweeping narrative that you can come back to again and again. setting multiple stories in the same world and linking them all back to the same empires and cultures. thats why this is the aproach used in most pre written settings,
somewhere like the forgotton realms, Eberron or DragonLance has been built to create a rich back drop for litterally thousands of campaigns.

for a home brew campaign you don't neccersarly need that scope, afterall even optimistically, playing regularly for multiple years and with a few other DM's taking up your setting theres no way the PC's will see it all.
thats not to say not to aspire to a vast setting, but my advice would be to build it up as you progress developing a number of limited geographical areas in lots of detail rather than an entire world in low detail.

I hope that that helps.


While I am a huge fan of maps and work a lot with them, I get to them usually only as the second or even first step.

0: Before you even start with working on anything, think about it why you want to create a setting in the first place. There are no good or bad answers, but if you want to create a setting for a mini campaign that takes place only in one city, you don't have to put much work into all the different nations and races that populate the world.

1: Think of a theme: Lots of worlds I see start with people dumping a lot of things they have seen and they liked on one big pile and use that as a starting point. I go the other way around and first ask what the atmosphere of the world should be and what kinds of adventures the players will experience. Do I want a stone age setting, small kingdoms at constant war with each other, an eternal war between light and darkness, exploration of a new continent, or whatever you can think off?
Yes, settings like Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk do exist, that are just a bunch of fantastic places put next to each other. But I think the really memorable ones are Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, and Eberron, which have a much more well defined idea of what stories are taking place in them. Even Star Wars and Warcraft have their central conflicts Empire vs. Alliance and Alliance vs. Horde. If you just want to explore old ruins in the forest, that's also okay, but even then it's a good idea to make a setting that is based on that idea.

2. Think of the races and societies, and the level of technology and magic. Having thought about a theme, you now can pick the right races and societies to inhabit the world. Some worlds just dump every generic fantasy creature in it and call it a day, but in most situations, you really need only a much smaller number. You don't need 40 to 60 sentient humanoid races. 6 or 8 could be enough, or maybe even less.

3. Make a map. Now that you know what countries you want to have, you can start with a map that fits the requirements your setting has by now. You could also start with a map and use it as a starting point for your creativity to come up with people who live there, but this usually leads to a rather generic world. Not that generic worlds are bad, but this short list here simply assumes a theme based setting.

I like these posts, and will ask questions about them when I have the time. The others are not bad (and someone will probably get a lot of use out of them), just useless to what I'm going for at the moment (non-D&D, non-fantasy, set in space across several stellar systems).

[Oracle_Hunter]

I like these posts, and will ask questions about them when I have the time. The others are not bad (and someone will probably get a lot of use out of them), just useless to what I'm going for at the moment (non-D&D, non-fantasy, set in space across several stellar systems).
Out of curiousity, do you have either a Theme in mind or at least some Quirks? Or were you just making a space-something-something campaign?

[The Rose Dragon]

Out of curiousity, do you have either a Theme in mind or at least some Quirks? Or were you just making a space-something-something campaign?

Theme is "You have been given power enough to kill gods. There are no gods to kill around. What do you do with your power (also, you are born in the Solar system and there is FTL now, so go and explore a huge galaxy)?". Quirks are "Space aliens do exist, and there are more human-habitable planets out there than should be)", "Gods turn out to be sapient planets that created the universe and have sapient organs of their own", "sufficiently advanced technology exists, but you can only utilize it, not understand it" and "no one knows what happened to the creators of the implants that give you your power".

EDIT: Can you tell the basic idea was "Mass Effect meets Exalted"?

There are a few more things, but those are very local level, so I haven't gotten around to fully establishing them yet.

[Serpentine]

My campaign started at the opposite end to most of these people. It started with one idea: a town on a cliff. It was called Cliffton. There was a high gnome and human population.
It was my then-boyfriend's idea, for a one- or two-off game. We both built the world from there. It was really just a conglomeration of ideas: wouldn't it be neat if it was disc-like, with two opposite sides? Wouldn't it be neat if there was a bit of this continent sticking off the side? We should have a continent populated by dinosaurs! And so on.
So yeah. Probably not all that much help :smalltongue:

[Oracle_Hunter]

EDIT: Can you tell the basic idea was "Mass Effect meets Exalted"?
"Mass Effect meets Exalted" indeed :smalltongue:

OK, the very next thing you need to do here is figure out is what the hell the PCs are doing in this universe. For D&D the answer is always "adventuring" - a broad activity, but one well understood by the average Player. Here, it's not quite clear.

By comparison, a Theme/Quirk analysis of Mass Effect
Theme: Humanity exists in a Universe beyond their comprehension, controlled by beings they don't understand (n.b. the Council Races too, not just the Reapers)

Quirks
(1) "Mass Effect" technology allows for the manipulation of mass to permit super-tech and magic

(2) Robot Revolts are a constant concern for biological life

(3) Space Civilization has been set up as a breeding/harvesting program by Elder Gods
Thus, it is natural that the Player in Mass Effect is supposed to be spending his time confronting the Unknowable and seeking comprehension - kind of like Call of Cthulhu in Space :smallbiggrin:

What do you see your Players doing in this setting?

Also: are there, or aren't there gods? Your Theme says "no" but your Quirk says "yes."

[AyeGill]

Mass effect and exalted. I like.

I am also curious and confused as to the exact specifics of divinity in your world

[The Rose Dragon]

Also: are there, or aren't there gods? Your Theme says "no" but your Quirk says "yes."

There are gods - or rather, beings who created the universe and have the power it entails. Humanity does not know of them, however. As I envision the setting, the revelation should not be something that comes early in any campaign (to the characters, at least - the players will probably be fully aware of the existence of the Precursors, those cheats).

[Oracle_Hunter]

There are gods - or rather, beings who created the universe and have the power it entails. Humanity does not know of them, however. As I envision the setting, the revelation should not be something that comes early in any campaign (to the characters, at least - the players will probably be fully aware of the existence of the Precursors, those cheats).
Ah, so the theme is not so much "you have the power to kill the Gods, but there are no Gods to kill" but more "you have the power to kill the Gods, but they are hidden. Kill them before they kill you" :smalltongue:

The distinction is important. If there are hidden gods and they know there are not-gods running around with the power to kill them, they are going to have a plan to ensure their survival. Even ignorant god-killing power users are going to have to face up to this reality sooner rather than later.

Or did you have something else in mind :smallconfused:

[AyeGill]

In parallel with mass effect, will the Truth about whoever created your implants be Out There

also, this looks solid. I suggest starting with super-tech/"magic"/other superpowers stuff, because that will probably be important.

[The Rose Dragon]

Ah, so the theme is not so much "you have the power to kill the Gods, but there are no Gods to kill" but more "you have the power to kill the Gods, but they are hidden. Kill them before they kill you" :smalltongue:

Well, there are literally no gods to kill. The Precursors were banished beyond the known galaxies, and their return should probably be a single example of a universe-changing event, rather than the only one in the setting (for starters, first contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence would be one of those examples, and a much more likely one). A possible campaign in the setting could be about killing the returned Precursors, but it shouldn't be the only campaign you can play. Does it make sense?

EDIT: Virtually, not literally.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Well, there are literally no gods to kill. The Precursors were banished beyond the known galaxies, and their return should probably be a single example of a universe-changing event, rather than the only one in the setting (for starters, first contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence would be one of those examples, and a much more likely one). A possible campaign in the setting could be about killing the returned Precursors, but it shouldn't be the only campaign you can play. Does it make sense?
Sort of :smallconfused:

Y'see, the point of the Theme is to have an overarching idea that ties the setting together. Your original theme was:

"You have been given power enough to kill gods. There are no gods to kill around. What do you do with your power?"

Implied within there is that the power just isn't for killing gods; it's god-like power. So perhaps it could be stated more clearly as

"Certain individuals have acquired power that is like that as Gods. What do they do with it?"

Is that fair? If so, then your quirks are going to provoke some immediate questions:
- The Gods exist, but are living planets that now live far outside Known Space
OK... so you have living planets hanging around outside the galaxy. Do they know about The Implants? Did they make the Implants? Why would they leave them around if they grant "god killing" powers?

- The Power is granted by Implants that only a select group can use
Who controls the Implants? Can they be manufactured, or only found? What exactly can they do?
Part of the problem here is that the existence of Gods (even those who are very far away) and the existence of God-Killing Power immediately suggests a conflict between the Gods & God-Killers. It has to dominate the setting: either the Gods care for their survival or they don't - and if they don't, why not?

Again, this comes back to what you want your PCs to be doing. As I understand it, Exalted doesn't have "gods" that can really compete with the Exalted - so conflict comes between Exalted and other people-with-powers who fear them. Contrawise, in Mass Effect
The Reapers really do have all the power in the system; the biological races are pawns to be manipulated. Heck, the only reason Shepherd can win is because of the ultimate device created by one of the countless Super Civilizations that the Reapers wrecked. The stuff that the current civilizations do with the Mass Effect are just parlor tricks in the eyes of the Reapers.
By comparison, your setting has God PCs and secret God NPCs hanging out in the same Universe. Is there something I'm missing?

[The Rose Dragon]

Let's see if what I originally had (well, a part of it) can answer your question better than my simplification here.


SUBJECT: JOHN SMITH
AGE: 26
HEIGHT: 6' 3"
WEIGHT: 206 LBS.
OCCUPATION BEFORE IMPLANTATION: ALLIED PLANETS FLEET COMMANDER
CURRENT HEART RATE: 162 BPM
CURRENT BLOOD PRESSURE: 156 DIA / 92 SYS
RELEASING BIOLOGICAL LOCKS
HEART RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE DROPPING
STABILIZING...
STABILIZING...
STABILIZING...
CURRENT HEART RATE: 45 BPM
CURRENT BLOOD PRESSURE: 120 DIA / 75 SYS
ALL BLOOD LEVELS WITHIN EXPECTED LEVELS
PROTEAN IMPLANTED CREATION SUCCESSFUL

"Greetings, John Smith. Welcome to your new life."

_/_/_/_/

Forty Annis Stellarum have passed since the greatest discovery so far in human history. At the edges of the Solar system, a few million klicks beyond the orbit of Pluto, a vessel of extraterrestrial origin seemingly abandoned for fifty millennia was found by the nations of Earth. Upon examination, the vessel bore two advancements that propelled humanity towards by centuries. The first one was a viable method for FTL travel in interstellar distances. The second one was the process with which certain implants could be created that would increase human potential and capabilities to superlative levels. These people are called the Implanted, and this is their time.

Welcome to the Age of Ascension.

_/_/_/_/

This is a very early gauging interest thread, in that it might not even bear a game if deemed to be unsuccessful, so be careful actually showing interest.

However, if you do show interest, please feel free to bombard me with questions about the setting, since it is still a work in progress, and you might encourage me with your questions, and even allow me to flesh out something I hadn't considered before.

Basically, this is a mix between Mass Effect and Exalted. It allows for Solars, Lunars, Abyssals and Alchemicals as four types of "Implanted", and Terrestrials as people exposed to a substance called Empodeclium.

Themes and genres that you might find good reference points while asking questions are cyberpunk, Age of Exploration, space western and transhumanity.

Here are a few things to get you started.

1. There are three kinds of Implants that can be created. The oldest of them, and the most common, are known as the Primal Implants. The implants of Primals are modular, usually readily visible and often external. While they do not reach the power levels of the newer Implant types, Primals are still the most common kind of Implants, as well as possessed of a flexibility the others cannot quite match. The second-gen are called Protean Implants. They are capable of reaching extraordinary feats of physical, social and mental prowess by subtly or overtly altering their biological features, which also grants them the capability to polymorph into creatures they have consumed genetic data from. The third-gen implants create two kinds of Implanted. The expected results are called the Optimal Implants, as their implants raise their abilities to superlative levels, allowing them to perform Olympian tasks at their chosen fields. However, when something goes wrong in the creation process of an Optimal Implanted, the Implant-to-be enters a state between vitality and necrosis. The result are the Necrotic Implants, a dark mockery of the Optimal Implanted who are often as capable as Optimals, and exceeding even their capabilities in certain disturbing fields.

2. While technically not Implanted, those exposed to Empodeclium are granted certain capabilities that are beyond the human norm, and tend to be colloquially called Elemental Implanted. It is not known whether the manipulations within the metabolism of the Elementals are hereditary, but research is ongoing. Due to military and bureaucratic commitments, no known Elemental has borne or sired offspring yet.

3. While both the Implants and the FTL vessels in use are extraterrestrial in origin, there are no signs of extant extraterrestrial intelligent life forms in the parts of the Milky Way that are explored by humans. However, the percentage of the galaxy explored is still very low, and it is expected by most nations that first contact is inevitable. Whether it is peaceful or hostile, nobody can guess.

4. The societal role of the Implants depends on the individual Implant. Many are akin to Alchemicals in Autochthonia, content to serving non-Implanted humanity, but there is a considerable number of Implants who consider using their talents to elevate themselves above the rest, kept in check only by the power balance created by their less ambitious fellows. Still, most are simply living the dream of having bona fide superpowers, not committing themselves to a role within the society... yet.

5. Currently, there are fewer than 100000 Implants, with the majority being Primal Implanted and a roughly equal number of Elementals. The military of all interplanetary nations as well as several private corporations have the capability to produce Implants, given resources and candidates.

6. There are three main reasons why Implants aren't much more common.

a) Implantation is expensive. It can easily cripple the economy of a small Earth nation - especially the Optimal Implantation. Therefore, most Implants are the relatively cheaper and less powerful Primal Implants.

b) Implantation is dangerous. Even the hardiest of candidates can suffer from cardiac arrest, brain hemorrhage and other emergency medical problems during the process.

c) Implantation is selective. For a host to be successfully Implanted, he needs to be mentally and physically above the norm, or the Implant won't take hold. Scientists are trying to understand why this is and how everyone can be Implanted successfully, but so far without success.

7. While not necessarily military, most Implants work in governments, though by no means all. All bodies capable of producing Implants are legally bound to report the process to their government's military and science committee, even though it is not necessary to have the consent of either for Implantation. The only common exception are Necrotic Implants, which most private companies are not willing to admit to having created. While technically possible for such companies to "forget" to report a successful Implantation, the legal repercussions tend to prevent such cases from being common.

8. Due to the commonly accepted military methods of Earth before the discovery, creation of Implant-level Close Quarters Combat Forms are still in very early stages. The only exceptions are the "Implant Hero" Styles, Gyro Chakram Assault Techniques and the Live Wire Elimination Forms.

But to answer your questions in case the above quote doesn't:


- The Gods exist, but are living planets that now live far outside Known Space
OK... so you have living planets hanging around outside the galaxy. Do they know about The Implants? Did they make the Implants? Why would they leave them around if they grant "god killing" powers?

They know about the Implantation technology. They did not create the Implantation technology, but they did create its innovators, and the technology was created to defeat them.


Part of the problem here is that the existence of Gods (even those who are very far away) and the existence of God-Killing Power immediately suggests a conflict between the Gods & God-Killers. It has to dominate the setting: either the Gods care for their survival or they don't - and if they don't, why not?

The Precursors fought the first sapients who were given Implants, millions of years ago. They lost. They care about their survival, so their return to known galaxies is highly unlikely, lest they suffer an even greater loss. Their banishment was voluntary - they could have fought to the bitter end, and even won if they tried, but they chose exile and assurance of survival instead. If they return, they must have a damn good reason for such a course of action, because the Implanted are still out there.


- The Power is granted by Implants that only a select group can use
Who controls the Implants? Can they be manufactured, or only found? What exactly can they do?

Implants can be manufactured (at great expense), and they basically generate and control incredible amounts of energy that can somehow be used by a large variety of sapient species (humans are not exactly sure on the specifics). The exact uses of the resulting energy can be controlled through training - the Implantations start out with only the most basic of upgrades over the human norm, but they grant more power as they integrate themselves with the host.


As I understand it, Exalted doesn't have "gods" that can really compete with the Exalted - so conflict comes between Exalted and other people-with-powers who fear them.

Exalted has three groups of people that can compete with Exalts - other Exalts, very powerful spirits and Primordials. Other things still can threaten Exalts, whether through bleeding them out slowly or overwhelming numbers and resources (though they probably get those resources from those three groups to begin with).


Again, this comes back to what you want your PCs to be doing.

Basically, discover and ascend. On the one hand, it is easy to simply take the power for granted and help humanity improve itself, one planet at a time. On the other hand, the nature of this new power and how it was found raises many questions: why was that spaceship abandoned near the Solar system? Who were the crew of that spaceship? What do we do know that we know we are not the inheritors of the universe, and that sapience outside of humanity at least used to exist, if it doesn't still exist? What are the limits of this power? So on and so forth. Someone will ask those questions, if the PCs won't. What will the answers mean for humanity? And when humanity discovers other sapient species alive in the galaxy, how do they respond?

[Oracle_Hunter]

Thanks, that was very helpful :smallsmile:

On the other hand, the nature of this new power and how it was found raises many questions: why was that spaceship abandoned near the Solar system? Who were the crew of that spaceship? What do we do know that we know we are not the inheritors of the universe, and that sapience outside of humanity at least used to exist, if it doesn't still exist? What are the limits of this power? So on and so forth. Someone will ask those questions, if the PCs won't. What will the answers mean for humanity? And when humanity discovers other sapient species alive in the galaxy, how do they respond?
However, these aren't really related to the Theme of the setting.

What you have here is an Ontological Mystery (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OntologicalMystery) setting - like BioShock, Dead Space, or Mass Effect the mysteries of the world are what drive the PC onward.

What your stated Theme describes is an exploration of Ubermench (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ubermensch) amongst the Commoners. You have a select few who are granted Real Ultimate Power and let loose on the Universe. There is no one else who is going to oppose them - the only Powers That Be (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PowersThatBe) are Neglectful Precursors (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeglectfulPrecursors). While it is true that they could spend their time exploring the Ontological Mystery, there is little reason for them to devote their time to it when Physical Gods (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PhysicalGod) are being created left and right.

So which is the true Theme of the setting? If it is an Ontological Mystery, then Implants need to found, not made. If you need to find Implants to gain power, then the setting will be more naturally geared towards investigation. If it is Ubermenschen, then you probably are going to want to tone down the Ontological Mystery elements and spend more time defining what sort of galaxy a bunch of Ubermensch created by wealthy/powerful organizations would build.

[AyeGill]

Now, i don't know much about exalted, so forgive any stupid mistakes, but basically:

Everything Oracle_Hunter said
What are the exact powers of the different kinds of implants? just extremely improved abilities, or is there anything supernatural, "magic"-like, in the mix
If the precursors were exiled, they're not very likely to return, as you say. But since they're likely to put up a heavy fight, why seek them out? What would anyone gain from it. And if neither party has anything to gain from contact, what is their role in the setting?

[The Rose Dragon]

What you have here is an Ontological Mystery (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OntologicalMystery) setting - like BioShock, Dead Space, or Mass Effect the mysteries of the world are what drive the PC onward.

What your stated Theme describes is an exploration of Ubermench (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ubermensch) amongst the Commoners. You have a select few who are granted Real Ultimate Power and let loose on the Universe. There is no one else who is going to oppose them - the only Powers That Be (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PowersThatBe) are Neglectful Precursors (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeglectfulPrecursors). While it is true that they could spend their time exploring the Ontological Mystery, there is little reason for them to devote their time to it when Physical Gods (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PhysicalGod) are being created left and right.

So which is the true Theme of the setting? If it is an Ontological Mystery, then Implants need to found, not made. If you need to find Implants to gain power, then the setting will be more naturally geared towards investigation. If it is Ubermenschen, then you probably are going to want to tone down the Ontological Mystery elements and spend more time defining what sort of galaxy a bunch of Ubermensch created by wealthy/powerful organizations would build.

For starters, I'm not going to TVTropes right now, so I'm just gonna go by the names of the links when responding.

One of the important parts in the theme is the word "given". In the case of individuals, by humanity; in the case of humanity, by an unknown sapient species. Now, once you gain the power, you don't have to ask questions: you can become a self-appointed tyrant, a comic book superhero, a gunslinging space cowboy (did I mention we have FTL travel now?), a transhumanist advocate who wants to break humanity's boundaries, or anything your power allows you, limited by other Implanted. And that's fine (not the way I would go, given what I have in mind, but if you want to play superheroes fighting supercrime, I totally support your choice). However, if you stop having your brand of fun and consider the alternative, the setting as presented to the characters have a lot of questions unanswered.

One of my less obvious inspirations for the setting premise was Paragons, a Mutants & Masterminds setting, where superheroes start appearing in the modern world. It is not an isolated incident, it is not scientifically explained in full and it sets a number of people far above the norm. How do those who have the power react? How do those who don't? How do people who will use their power without asking questions co-exist with ones who are more curious? These are the main questions of the setting. On the other hand, it allows for simpler, more four-color style superhero adventures if the players are so inclined. Just like a fantasy setting can allow for both ruin-exploration adventures and courtly intrigue (though the rules may not necessarily support both), I want to create something where asking questions and just going with the power can be options - probably not equally valid ones, considering I have only so much time and cannot work equally for both options, but options nevertheless.

((Some may blame me of spreading things too thin and not knowing my expected audience. Me, I call it giving the narrator more to work with.))

[Oracle_Hunter]

Some may blame me of spreading things too thin and not knowing my expected audience. Me, I call it giving the narrator more to work with.
The problem here is one of world-building, not game-play: you haven't settled on a theme.

Reading this last post, I'm certain you wanted the Theme to be about Ubermenschen. Stick with that, and then think about Quirks to build around. The thing about gods & such aren't good Quirks; they're not really relevant to the setting you have in mind. I mean, they're mysteries that can be answered but they don't actually shape how you design the setting.

For example, what sort of consequence for your setting is it that there were once god-planets but now they're far away and unlikely to do anything? None. Yes, they might make for a nice plot but their existence tells you nothing about how the setting should develop.

Now, your Implants make for a fine Quirk.
In a setting where Ubermensch is the Theme, the fact that Ubermensch must be "perfect specimens" and require a lot of resources to create tells you a lot about the shape of the setting. For one thing, there are going to be Ubermensch Organizations: entities who exist to create and control Ubermensch. If it takes the resources of a whole planet to make a single Optimal Implant then you are going to need whole Empires to have more than a handful existing. And these U.O.'s can't be made up of Ubermensch themselves (aside from the "natural" kind) because there just isn't feasible to staff a vast organization with $10 million men. How do the Commoners feel about creating Ubermenschen? Do they fear them? Worship them?
And that's just a small sample of what that Quirk alone entails. Add in another one or two and you'll have enough points to make a dynamic setting.
The long and short of it is that trying to design a setting without a single Theme in mind is going to be one which is unfocused at best, and incoherent at worst. Designing a setting is a big task; particularly if it's not going to be the cornerstone of a gaming empire you need to give your project of a manageable size. If you spend an equal amount of time developing both the Ubermensch and the Ontological Mystery themes you are going to be disappointed when your Players are only going to spend time dealing with one aspect or the other. Far better to design a focused world you can really develop than having two half-finished worlds which you can't quite reconcile :smallsmile:

[The Rose Dragon]

Reading this last post, I'm certain you wanted the Theme to be about Ubermenschen.

I'm explaining myself the wrong way, then. I, personally, am much more interested in how people would examine the unknown parts of the setting, rather than just throwing around power. Maybe it's because it's how I came up with the setting: asking questions. The Implants are important, yes. But they are just tools to elicit questions, such as "Why would anyone need such power?", "Who created this technology?", "Are we alone in the universe now or do other sapient species still exist?", "What else do we not know?", "What is the place of humanity in the universe?", "What are the limits of humanity now we have such power?" (which is a part of the Übermensch thing, of course, but the asking is more important than knowing), and the search for answers to your questions. It's less "Übermenschen among Menschen", and more "Humanity's Search for Knowledge". The Implants and their powers just allow for the search to start (aside from the millennia of scientific progress we have made so far).

See, that's why I asked for basic information rather than specific stuff. I'm not good at explaining myself. I can clearly visualize what I want from and know about the setting, but I cannot express it in words.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I'm explaining myself the wrong way, then. I, personally, am much more interested in how people would examine the unknown parts of the setting, rather than just throwing around power. Maybe it's because it's how I came up with the setting: asking questions. The Implants are important, yes. But they are just tools to elicit questions, such as "Why would anyone need such power?", "Who created this technology?", "Are we alone in the universe now or do other sapient species still exist?", "What else do we not know?", "What is the place of humanity in the universe?", "What are the limits of humanity now we have such power?" (which is a part of the Übermensch thing, of course, but the asking is more important than knowing), and the search for answers to your questions. It's less "Übermenschen among Menschen", and more "Humanity's Search for Knowledge". The Implants and their powers just allow for the search to start (aside from the millennia of scientific progress we have made so far).
The problem is it sounds like your Implants are supposed to give the same power-level as Exaltation - and that's a big deal, even if you're not personally interested in it.

Like I said about Mass Effect earlier - the actual technology is never more than a sideshow; the stuff the biologicals get isn't even comparable to God-like. However, your description of Implants is that they are strong enough to kill gods with. Unless the gods are simply super-vulnerable to Implants (like Paa'nuri and Teraports (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-07-13)) that level of power in the hands of the PCs is going to overwhelm and native desire to engage int he exploration of Ontological Mysteries. In any case, Implants of that power level should shape the world.

If you really want to do an Ontological Mystery, you need to design the world such that investigation of the Ontological Mystery is a natural desire. You can do that even with Implants being as powerful as Exhaltation - but you need to tie that power to the resolution (or at least engagement with!) the Ontological Mysteries the world presents.

[The Rose Dragon]

but you need to tie that power to the resolution (or at least engagement with!) the Ontological Mysteries the world presents.

You need to explain this part to me, because it feels important, but I don't grok it at the moment.

[Oracle_Hunter]

You need to explain this part to me, because it feels important, but I don't grok it at the moment.
Of course :smallsmile:

Your current problem is that the setting - as you've imagined it - has two, isolated themes.

(1) Ubermensch - Implants allow a select portion of humanity to gain sufficient personal power that they can transcend the human condition.

(2) Ontological Mystery - Humanity is stepping out into a greater Universe which contains clues of a deeper truth about the nature of reality.

Trying to build a world off two unrelated themes results in a world with a visible seam; the point where the writer tried to make the world be two things at the same time.

Worse, Theme #1 is an inward looking theme while Theme #2 is an outward looking theme. There is no reason to go looking for the Mysteries of the Universe when Humanity has just gained the ability to transcend themselves. These themes are working at cross purposes.
Since you want to use both of these themes in your setting, it is then necessary to make one subservient to the other. Then, rather than pulling the world in two different ways, the themes will reinforce each other.

If, for example, you make the exploitation of Implants (the key of the Ubermensch Theme) dependent on examining the Ontological Mysteries of the seting then the pursuit of the Ubermensch Theme will result in the forwarding of the Ontological Mysteries theme; to do one is to do the other.

From a world-building perspective, this neatly combines the Ubermensch aspects of the Civilization you've posited with the actual world you're interested in designing - one of ancient mysteries and exploration.

[Yora]

I don't think they are opposed. In fact they seem much more like two aspects of the same thing.
It's the questions, "where are we comming from?" and "where are we going?". And by extension "who are we?".
Including both aspects and not limiting the themes of the setting to one gives it more depth and ambivalence, and also makes it more realistic and interesting, when different people within the world approach the subject by different means and with different preconceptions.

Just having one truth and one goal that everyone shares is usually quite boring. The uncertainty of not knowing what is right, is what makes interesting settings.

[The Rose Dragon]

If, for example, you make the exploitation of Implants (the key of the Ubermensch Theme) dependent on examining the Ontological Mysteries of the setting then the pursuit of the Ubermensch Theme will result in the forwarding of the Ontological Mysteries theme; to do one is to do the other.

Über. With an ümlaüt (umlaut isn't written that way, but it was funny to do so).

There is an alternate solution, which is not exactly possible at the moment: double my workforce by finding a co-developer. But let's go with the simpler one for the moment.

How can I do this (that is, make Implants dependent on the pursuit of knowledge) without changing the humans' role in the Implantation process?

[Oracle_Hunter]

Über. With an ümlaüt (umlaut isn't written that way, but it was funny to do so).
I know, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to make an umlaut on my AMERICAN keyboard.

In America :smalltongue:


How can I do this (that is, make Implants dependent on the pursuit of knowledge) without changing the humans' role in the Implantation process?
Easy.

Implantation Technology is based off of Precursor Tech, but relies on a lot of Black Box Technology.
The Primals and Elementals were the first examples of the power of Implant. Element Zero ("E(z)")was discovered in the Secret Alien Base and turned out to be a substance with incredible properties - such as fueling the drive (in-system and FTL) of the Alien Ship. In experimenting with the production and creation of E(z) and drives to use it there were accidents; most were fatal but some produced Elemental-type Ascended.

The discovery of Elemental Ascension sparked a series of covert projects on Earth to finally develop the Super-Soldier. Fortunately, the production of E(z) was sufficiently expensive and the failure rate of conversion into Elemental Ascended sufficiently high that these projects were unable to get anywhere before the discovery of the first Implants.

E(z) ships had begun exploring the cosmos and many had come across ruins similar to those that lead to the discovery of E(z). However, inside one they discovered something that looked like an instrument of war - a warsuit designed for an alien physiology that was designed to use E(z) in some fashion.

The explorers brought the suit back to Earth and it made its way into the hands of one of the super-soldier project. When they tried the suit on one of their rare Elemental Ascended, it killed him outright. Through gruesome trial and error they began experimenting with and adapting the suit to work with Terran life - an impossible task that was nonetheless completed.

The researchers never figured out how the suit as a whole worked - or even what most of it was supposed to do - but in the end they had the first Primal Implant. The Implant worked by taking a dose of E(z) and mixing it with the blood of the individual in such a fashion that their blood - and indeed, their entire DNA - changed. The new blood-E(z) mix, called Ichor, would permit the Ascended person to perform feats even greater than those done by Elemental Ascended... greater, but different too. Of course, once transformed by an Implant the human could never go back; only Ichor could sustain their life and without a small but steady dose of E(z) their Ichor would become too thin and they would die all the same.

The Primal Implant could not remain secret, of course, but as it required certain pieces of Alien technology to be created it did not see widespread production on Earth. Out in space was another matter.

Corporations, using stolen plans and top researchers, established facilities in the colonies that humanity was setting up in space. Most habitable planets showed evidence of Alien ("Precursor" as they began known) settlement and, once they knew what they were looking for, the parts needed for Primal Implants were much easier to collect. While it was still true that only a select few could actually survive the Implantation process tests were made that helped identify these Chosen. With the aid of Primal Ascended the life in the colonies flourished.

This all changed when the Optimal Implant was introduced. As research was done on Implant Technology the scientists realized that the key to the Implant was a particular alien device named The Heart. Unlike the other bits of unreproducable but essential portions of alien technology used in the production of every Implant, the quality of The Heart determined the ultimate effectiveness of an Implant. In fact, many of the early failures of Primal Implants arose from using Hearts that were too badly degraded with time; even among the successful Primal Ascended, many experienced a shortened life span due to the failure of a weak Heart years after their initial Implantation. Replacing a Heart was impossible; each Implant needed to be hand-tuned to allow for the idiosyncracies of their mis-matched components during creation - replacing a failing original Heart with a different Heart invariably caused the Implant to overload and destroy irreplaceable alien components.

After discovering the importance of a good Heart - and, more importantly, figuring out how to tell a good one from a bad one - the scientists began work on making an Implant designed to maximize the efficiency of the Acension process. The outcome was the Optimal Implant: an Implant that created an Ascended more powerful than what any had seen before. With its announcement, the Third Age of Accension was announced and a new period of expansion and prosperity was predicted by all.

This did not happen. Perhaps it was for the best that the alien parts needed to produce Optimal Implantation were so hard to find - even the wealthiest planets never had more than a few dozen before Darkness Fell. The first inkling that anyone had that the Optimal Implantation might be problematic was when an Exploration Company headed by an Optimal Ascended returned with only one survivor - the Optimal. Casualties on these sorts of missions were not unheard of; not all planets were friendly to human visitation and not all of the relics of the Precursors were beneficial. But the very night the Optimal returned, someone wrecked havoc on his home port. There were few survivors - and fewer who remained sane - but what little information was gathered indicated that the Optimal had caused the damage, using powers unheard of in any previous Ascended of any variety.

No evidence of the Optimal's original mission ever resurfaced. The company that sponsored him turned out to be a front for some sort of illegal enterprise whose rumored survivors vanished the very night of the massacre. The rogue Optimal - named Nightbringer based off of the mad scrawlings he left at the site of another attrocity - was said to have been killed dozens of times on countless worlds. And he was but the first.

The later Optimals which went bad followed no pattern. Many did work as Explorers but that was a common profession for the Ascended generally. These "bad" Optimals became known as The Fallen (or "Necrotic Ascended" based on their decayed appearance) and made the Ascended as a whole feared by those who had once loved them.

But Implants are still being made and used, and Explorers still go out to find components and lore of the Precursors. Implantation is the beating heart of Humanity now - how could they ever go back?
How's that sound?

[afroakuma]

As I always do when similar questions are raised, I would recommend following my signature link to the original Vote Up A Campaign Setting. Looking over the votes, the options from the votes and the overall structure should give a decent enough checklist of what's available and what should be a consideration when putting it together.