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View Full Version : [Setting Riff] The New World



Kiero
2011-04-05, 06:05 AM
First up, the aim here is not to create something new and unique, it's not original its intentionally derivative. I don't place much value in original for its own sake, especially not if that means using the bizarro-weird as the prime means of differentiating from established tropes.

That out of the way, I've had a kernel of an idea for a fantasy setting. It's a "New World" type scenario drawing on the colonisation of the Americas for themes but with a sword and sorcery (as opposed to Tolkein-ish high fantasy) vibe.

The only mammalian sentients in this world are humans, and they are the invaders/colonists, arriving by sea to this "new" continent. They come from a number of different nations on their home continent, each trying to carve out a fief for themselves and their people here. That means trading, intrigue and espionage and occasionally outright war and piracy. The absence of native humans is a deliberate conceit to avoid the obvious parallels with history and turn it into humans against an entirely alien place.

This place they come to once hosted a powerful reptilian empire spanning much of the continent and enslaving (and eating) all those sentient creatures who lived here. See the Sarrukh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarrukh) of Forgotten Realms' ancient history for the sort of idea here. Magic-using, decadent, some catastrophe struck (which might have been sudden or gradual) them which killed magic dead here. The mana reserves, ambient magic, whatever was drained/negated/destroyed. The impact on this civilisation which relied upon magic to enforce their writ was total collapse.

While there's no magic, there is psionics. People are no doubt immediately thinking "well what's the difference?". Permanence is the primary one. Psionics only exists while being actively channelled by living beings. It can't be invested or stored in places, people or things, so no "psionic items" or global "enchantments" left lying around. The reptilian overlords could use both, but with the disappearance of magic, none of their tools or magical infrastructure worked, reducing them only to whatever personal power they had (both material and psionic).

In true socially-disruptive fashion, psionics appears almost at random amongst humans. Unlike magic in the Old World, it does not require serious study and investment of time (all the better to keep that power in the hands of a privileged elite), but is a spontaneous force that almost seems to choose who can use it. It doesn't respect social class or prior magical ability. So you could have an aristocratic high mage from the Old World who arrives to find not only that they can no longer use any of their magic, but that they have no psionic ability either. And their peasant valet who was never shown even the simplest of cantrips is suddenly able to read minds.

Material is worthy of mention, because this empire was massively rich before its fall. There's gold, silver, gems, artwork, trade goods, all sorts of valuable things squirreled away out there. These are things that make settling here (if only to loot the bones of this fallen empire) worthwhile, people can make their fortunes and leave behind the constraints of their homelands. Or if desired return home wealthy beyond anything that would have been possible if they'd stayed there.

That's aside from the simple lure of adventure. After all, it's a dangerous world out there, while the empire has fallen, there are still many peoples and constructs lurking around in the wilderness, as well as some small successor nations. Basically the overlords with enough nous to hold something together managed to do so.

How long should the colonisation have been going on? The longer its been in progress, the more you'll have established interests in the New World and inroads into the wilderness.

What should the tech level be? While you could go with standard medieval, this might be one for a later historical equivalent with pike and shot (ie gunpowder). Again that might have social implications if in the Old World mages were an important part of the battlefield environment.

Thoughts?