Ilorin Lorati
2011-09-05, 11:00 PM
Before I start, I want to make a quick note: What I’m putting forth is by no means finished. I’m actually certain it’s closer to not being allowed on this section of the forum than it is to a finished product, but I wanted to get it out there to get opinions from neutral third parties. Right now I’m still working on the base framework and as such this writeup is largely an exposition.
Concept
This setting is a thought experiment that is definitely much harder than I expected it to be. I aim to answer a very curious question: What will fantasy look like in ten thousand years? What legends would make up our descendants stories of knights and innocents, or those of villains and heroes? By coming up with a fantasy answer to this sci-fi question, I hope to create a unique oddity, a mix of superscience and fantasy that embraces Clarke’s Third Law instead of turning it on its head like magitek and Dungeon Punk style settings do. In the end I hope to have those styles represented, but on other planets in the solar system, separated from the core world of the setting, Aria.
History
The start of any setting is the world it takes place on. With this in mind, I have Aria, an originally class-K (to use Star Trek terminology) approximately Earth-sized planet planet revolving around an as yet unnamed F-type main-sequence (yellow-white dwarf) off in one corner of the galaxy. Many thousands of years ago, an entertainment based megacorporation bought terraforming and usage rights to the planetary system and sent a long term probe there to begin the dirty work. Taking several hundred years to get there, it built a warp gate back to the core of the galaxy and began the task of terraforming the worlds. Ultimately successful, in the course of a thousand years it had turned Aria into a lush garden world, a class-M planet (to use more Star Trek) suitable for colonization. But that wasn’t all that it had done.
Aria was destined to be far more than just another world that would be used and abused by those who lived on it. The corporation had plans to turn it into a lush fantasy world, a resort of the finest caliber, to keep people’s minds off the ever growing trouble in the galaxy. The probe had crisscrossed the world with underground maintenance systems and energy projectors, implemented a design that allowed nanites to travel freely throughout the world, all in an effort to make magic. Not just stage magic, but the ability to conjure a facsimile of ancient spells, to take people back into the days of wizards and dragons.
Scientists over the course of a thousand years designed the rest of the system. New species, methods of modifying old species, an entire roleplaying world for people to escape to. Eventually, it was finished.
With the world ready, it was opened to the public. Populated as a long term fantasy resort, a world where escapist people and families could spend a year or more among the style of the world that their childhood stories came from, Aria was a huge commercial success. The galactic government breathed a sigh of relief that there was a slight weight lifted off their shoulders from the millions who found their way to the planet over the course of 200 years after opening.
Unfortunately, as such things often do, this level of escapism eventually brought fury down from those who saw through what, in their mind, it was: an attempt to quell the minds of those who would otherwise rise up against their would-be masters. When the strike came, it was quick and completely devoid of mercy: the warp gate, as well as the space station that held the quarters for the maintenance staff, and most of the ships in orbit near the world were destroyed in a single detonation whose force could be felt from the planet below.
With no way to their homes for thousands of years, the people of Aria did the only thing they could: adapt. In a world with magic, the strongest and most capable survive. Over two thousand years have passed since what is now called the “Catastrophe”, and the ancient worlds and the warp gate have since faded into the myths and legends of the developing culture.
Meta Lore vs. Aria Lore
The lore of Meta is split into two distinct parts: Meta Lore, the lore of the overarching sci-fi world that spawned Aria, and Aria Lore, the lore and legends of the fantasy world itself. This will eventually lead into mechanical differences between my world and traditional fantasy worlds, but for now this is limited to magical and creature subtypes.
Examples of Meta Lore:
The story above
Magic and racial types listed below
Explanations on how systems work
Examples of Aria Lore:
Most core system explanations of magic and races
The legends of the Tengu race described below.
There are a few situations these will overlap:
The lore and legends of the Adonis exist in both Meta and Aria lore.
Magic
Ah, magic, staple of any fantasy world, and Aria is certainly no exception. Laced with hundreds of thousands of miles of underground energy projectors, as well as stores of trillions of nanites and a planetary teleportation system, Aria has everything it needs to mimic any magical effect its inhabitants can think up. The energy projectors can create localized energy bursts, replicate organic matter, shape holograms, and project force shields. The nanites produce and inject mind and body altering chemicals into spell targets to enhance or inhibit their abilities and can rebuild a person up from scratch, changing those trained well enough into any form that they can think of. Working with the other two systems, the teleportation system allowed even death and reincarnation to be mimicable.
Magic on Aria uses word casting techniques like those seen in the Ultima series of games and many other fantasy settings. This is represented by the Words of Power rules as implemented by Paizo in their Ultimate Magic book. Beginner players can use Vancian based spell systems, but it is discouraged in more advanced players.
Psionics
A mysterious force that has just recently emerged onto Aria, psychic abilities exist primarily outside of the world’s magical systems. Awakened by the world’s constant tweaking of its own systems and the minds of its inhabitants, Aria’s AI core has tried to adjust the world’s ruleset to work with these powerful people with only limited success. Though it can provide limited defense against incoming psychic onslaught, it cannot mimic these powers and it cannot make psychic powers able to affect AI constructs that it controls.
Alignment
The standard alignment system doesn't work from a meta perspective, as an objective AI can't properly grasp the concept of good and evil. Lose-lose situations would arise where a person would just be considered evil despite their best attempts otherwise. To this extent, I'd decided to use the Color Wheel Alignment Replacement by Lord_Gareth. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174163) This should allow a more ideological system that can be tracked easier in Meta Lore.
Religion
There are seven gods in Aria, five of which each represent an ideology of the Color Wheel alignment replacement. The first five are:
The Hearth
The white goddess, she represents Order and Community. Legends say that she is the mother of Aria, but that she nearly suffocated the world with her protection.
Her dogma is Though safety is found in numbers, both utopia and tyranny can come of it.
The Fallen Star
The blue god, he represents Knowledge and Discovery. Legends say that he came to Aria out of curiosity, but lost his way in the depths of the sea.
His dogma is Though the quest for knowledge brings many benefits, digging too deep brings madness.
The Abyss
The genderless black deity, it represents Power and Individuality. Legends say that The Abyss was once a mortal that sacrificed itself and tore its true name from the universe in order to ascend to godhood.
Its dogma is Though strength is the first step to success, be wary that you don’t forget who you truly are.
The Flame
The red god, he represents Freedom and Emotion. Legends say that he was The Hearth’s lover until he saw what she was doing to Aria. In his fury, he bestowed the gift of flame to the people of Aria, letting them break free from The Hearth’s hold.
His dogma is Though freedom is a gift, it is a fickle flame that could birth a wildfire of fury.
The Seed
The green goddess, she represents Growth and Harmony. Legends say she brought the gift of life to Aria, but was consumed by the wilds she helped create.
Her dogma is Though one must work with the world, one must also beware her for she is but a beautiful monster waiting to strike.
In addition to the Five, there are countless unnamed spirits tied to the world that do their bidding. Outside of the color wheel, however, there are also two other deities:
Sast, the Deep One
The primary god of the Adonii, Sast is a primal god of the sea brought over from their homeworld. Legend holds that in ancient times he fought a great and terrible beast from beyond the stars. Where his blood fell, the Adonii rose up. Barely able to fight back the beast, he retreated to the depths of the endless sea to recover over the eons before it returns.
His dogma is Be wary of the beast within and without.
Machine (Mosh-in-ay)
The goddess of the Caretakers, they hold that she is Aria, the world. Most surface dwellers wave them off as madmen, though.
Her dogma is Safety is job one.
Races
There are five kinds of races on Aria: Unaltered, Altered, Created, Alien, and AI. Each race type will be a subtype added to all creatures encountered in the world, intended to represent what the races are in Meta Lore, while the original subtypes represent what they are in Aria Lore. With the exception of the Alien subtype, these subtypes are far too broad to be used by PCs for abilities like Favored Enemy and should only be used by the DM or in special situations like custom archetypes and classes.
Unaltered
Any living race whose ancestors did not take alterations when brought to Aria. Ex. Humans, most Alien races.
Altered
Any living race whose ancestors had genetic modifications when they came to Aria. Ex. Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, Orcs, and most other humanoid fantasy races.
Created
Any living race that was genetically designed from the ground up. This includes Dragons, Beholders, the Tengu, and most other monstrous races in the world.
Alien
Any extraterrestrial race that came to Aria, either voluntarily or otherwise. Alien creatures will also be Altered or Unaltered.
AI
All non-living races that can only exist when controlled by the world’s AI systems. Ex. incorporeal creatures; most undead, elementals, and constructs.
AI creatures are immune to Psionic abilities that provide a chance for power resistance.
Unknown
All living races not in the world’s Aria Lore database. Ex. Caretakers
Unknown creatures gain Spell Resistance equal to 5 + their HD due to the world's AI not being able to properly process them.
Caretaker (10 points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
Trapped underground for millennia, these descendants of Aria’s original support staff survived in the unnatural lighting and recycled air for nearly two thousand years after the Catastrophe trapped them there. Completely cut off from the surface world and their only source of outside information, all that the poor people could do was survive. As time and generations drove on, the stories of what happened passed into the realm of myth as their bodies and minds grew more accustomed to the world around them. Barely fifty years ago, Aria’s continual modification of the world opened up passages into the world’s underbelly, allowing Caretakers out into the sun for the first time in two thousand years.
Physical Description: Caretakers closely resemble their human cousins, but typically appear pallid even when in good health.
Society: Caretaker society is divided out into three social classes: Janitor, Engineer, and Management. The Janitor class, sometimes referred to as “the caretakers of the Caretakers,” is by far the largest, making up those caretakers who dedicate their lives to taking care of the others, ranging from medics all the way to lowly toilet cleaners. The Engineer class, sometimes called “the Blood of Aria,” makes up the maintenance workers of Aria who, still after two thousand years, do a passable job with repair tasks in the world’s heart. Finally, Management, the priest class, advises the other two classes on their daily tasks while preaching the word of the Manual. Due to the cramped nature of their living spaces, Caretaker society is very communal and almost socialist in nature, with everything shared amongst the group.
Relations: Caretakers have not had time to develop any special relation to surface groups, but by and large treat surfacers with extreme distrust as they are outside Caretaker society and take no time to understand them. In turn, they are typically treated by surfacers with distaste, cementing the hatred in their minds. In fact, Caretakers have a strict code of conduct called Enda buried deep within their Manual that prevents them from getting too close to surfacers and prohibits them from sharing the secrets of the Caretakers.
Alignment and Religion: Caretakers are typically white-aligned due to their society’s focus on community, but Caretakers of all outlooks exist. Caretaker religion is based off the original manual given out to all Employees and stresses the importance of taking care of Aria, who they believe is their goddess, and the community. Some caretakers trapped on the surface of the world and away from the teachings of the Management for extended periods find faith in The Hearth, whose teachings are similar and is generally known as the mother of Aria.
Adventurers: Caretaker adventurers are typically those who live around one of the growing numbers of entrances into their underground and venture out from curiosity, bringing back tales of magic and great warriors. Oftentimes this is enough to inspire a young Caretaker to go out into the world at large, taking their teachings with them in their heart. Older Caretakers that know more about the underbelly typically never become adventurers as they have steeled their hearts to the outsiders.
Names: Caretaker names are generally names of technologies or those of their ancestors. Names such as both “Wire” and “John” are common.
+2 to One Ability Score: Caretakers are just as varied in nature as their surface cousins.
Medium: Caretakers are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Caretakers have a base speed of 30 feet.
Unknown: Caretakers were never properly set into Aria's Lore database and as such gain the Unknown subtype.
The Unknown Subtype grants spell resistance equal to 5 + the character’s level.
Mandatory Training: All Caretakers are trained from birth in the skills of one of their parents. Caretakers gain one of the following abilities to represent this training and their background. These abilities automatically take up one trait slot of the listed type and are not available to be taken as Traits otherwise. Campaigns without traits should remove the secondary bonus, leaving just the primary bonus intact.
Management Class (Religion Trait): Your priest training has hardened your mind and honed you to be an excellent mediator, granting you a +2 bonus to will saves as well as giving you a +1 trait bonus to Diplomacy checks and making that skill always a class skill for you.
Engineer Class (Equipment Trait): You spent a large part of your training moving through tight spaces and carrying heavy loads. You gain Fast Crawl as a bonus feat and treat your strength as two points higher for the purpose of carrying capacity.
Janitor Class (Social Trait): All Janitors have extensive experience with getting through disgusting situations, granting you +2 racial bonus on saving throws versus abilities that cause fear, nauseated, or sickened conditions. In addition, your hospitality training gives you a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks and that skill is always a class skill for you.
Skilled: Like their cousins, Caretakers interests range far and wide, giving them 1 additional skill point at first level and every time they gain a level afterwards.
Low Light Vision: The dim hallways of the world’s underbelly have blessed the Caretakers with the ability to see twice as far as humans in dim light.
Light Sensitivity: Caretakers are Dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
Languages: Caretakers begin play speaking Common. Those with high intelligence scores can choose any language as a bonus language.
Tengu (10 points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2867481/Pathfinder/Tengu.jpg
Tengu by DeviantArt member ~Logna (http://logna.deviantart.com/)
Used under a Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) license.
Meta: When scientists were designing the world of Aria, they looked back into Earth’s ancient past for tales that they could work into their world. Along their inspirations were the many legends of ravens and crows that ancient humans had come up with. So, they designed an entirely new race of people revolving around the stories, and named them the Tengu after ancient Japanese crow spirits.
Aria: Legends hold that many thousands of years ago, the Tengu were nothing but a short statured race of tricksters, who could find nothing better than to use their quick wits and quicker fingers to bring trouble to the more common races of the world. While humans saw them as pests and nuisances, the gods saw the potential in them to be something more, great scouts and eyes for the gods. Taking them from Aria for a time, the gods blessed the Tengu with the essences of their helper spirits, the Tengu became what the gods themselves could not do: vigilant watchers and scouts that reported directly to their gods the happenings of the world.
Physical Description: With shiny black feathers and an elongated beak, Tengu are humanoid creatures that strongly resemble the crows that they are based off of. Tengu exhibit very little in the way of sexual dimorphism, with all Tengu standing around a head shorter than the average human and even then are deceptively light both on their feet and in weight. Female Tengu have a tendency to adorn their feathers much more often than males, but this is not a hard rule and anyone that tries to use it that way it will eventually call a male Tengu a female. Their hands and feet end in talons not unlike their avian cousins, and though they do have wings on their back, they're vestigal and Tengu have no natural ability to fly. Rarely, a Tengu will be born with red feather coloration: this is a good omen and Tengu that have this coloration are expected to do great things in their lives.
Society: Tengu society is based around the belief that they are scouts for the gods. As such, the few permanent Tengu settlements that do exist are near the edges of consistently troubled areas such as constantly warring kingdoms and wildlands known to produce hordes of monsters. Most other groups of Tengu live in traveling caravans or even smaller groups of nomads that follow the smell of trouble. An abnormally large percentage of Tengu live away from even these groups, feeling that being a part of a group hinders their ability to move as needed to get information to the gods.
Relations: The notion that Tengu are tricksters is a part of the mindset of commoners of most races, seeing them as omens of ill, if not the cause of it. This is largely due to the fact that many Tengu have an almost supernatural ability to see trouble brewing, and are often in an area before it erupts into bloodshed. More educated group tend to have an understanding of Tengu society, and though they are still an omen of ill events, they are viewed as valuable allies in diffusing the situation when coaxed into directly assisting. Out of specific races, Tengu tend to have a good relationship with halflings, as both groups have a tendency to be stereotyped as troublemakers – though this is more likely to actually be the case with halflings than Tengu.
Alignment and Religion: Tengu see themselves as having a special connection to the gods, and almost all Tengu follow one god or another. It is common practice among the Tengu to copy their weekly findings down onto parchment, then to burn that parchment in a form of prayer and tithe. Tengu of all ideological colors exist and are equally common; they generally follow the gods they feel closest to.
Adventurers: Almost all Tengu follow the life of adventure, following the trail of trouble to the ends of the world. It is extremely rare for a Tengu to live a sedentary lifestyle in a city or town, but these Tengu generally become innkeepers or some other profession that exposes them to the latest gossip of the town.
Names: Tengu typically name themselves after great heroes of other races. In time where heroes are lacking, they’re usually given the names of their parent; this can stretch several generations if a family of Tengu feel that there is no one worthy of being called a hero, but it can also cause an entire generation of like-named Tengu if a legendary hero comes about in their parents’ lifetimes.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Constitution: Tengu are fast and observant, but relatively fragile and delicate.
Medium: Tengu are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Tengu have a base speed of 30 feet.
Created: As the product of extensive genetic engineering, Tengu gain the Created subtype.
Low Light Vision: Tengu can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Light and Quick: Tengu gain a -1 size penalty to CMB and CMD, but gain Dodge (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/dodge-combat---final) or Agile Maneuvers (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/agile-maneuvers-combat) as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Raven-Kin (Ex): Ravens seem to regard Tengu as family. Once per day, a Ravenfolk can call upon a raven to deliver a message, as if the Tengu had cast Animal Messenger at a caster level equal to their character level. The Tengu can only have one raven delivering a message at any given time.
Natural Weapon: Tengu posess a bite natural attack that inflicts 1d3 points of damage on a hit. This is a primary attack if the Tengu is not wielding a manufactured weapon, or a secondary attack if they are.
Weapon Training: Tengu are trained from birth in the art of the sword and are proficienct with greatswords, longswords, rapiers, and short swords, and treat bastard swords, elven curve blades, and two-bladed swords as martial weapons.
Huginn’s Eyes, Muninn’s Memory: Tengu gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks and checks in any one Knowledge skill.
Languages: Tengu begin play speaking Common and any one language of their choice. Tengu with high Intelligence scores can choose any language as a bonus language.
Adonis (10 Points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
Hailing from the shallow seas of Adonis, the Adonii (pl) are a strong and proud race of social warrior-hunters that are as comfortable on the battlefield as they are sharing stories around a campfire. At one time a primate-like race adapted strictly to life on dry land, their evolution followed a path not unlike Earth’s marine mammals, bringing them into the water less than 2 million years ago. While the Adonii had only been space-faring for a few hundred years by the time Aria was settled, they were already known as the best divers in the galaxy, and a fair number of them jumped at the chance to work waters that had literally never been fished before. Two thousand years after the Catastrophe, their society thrives in both large port towns and small fishing villages all over Aria.
Physical Description: Although more muscular and taller than the average human, the Adonii are relatively human in appearance. Adonii are barrel chested due to having abnormally large lung capacity and are covered in very short, sensitive fur that helps them detect the slightest movements in water, they come in many colors from sea greens and blues, to dark greys, browns and whites; it’s also relatively common practice amongst those who don’t water-hunt to dye their fur even more radical colors.
Adonii body shape is more streamlined from head to toe than humans, their features holding much closer to their bodies with the exception of small, collapsible stabilizing fins on their backs and arms. They have further streamlining webbing around the base of their head that flares out while in water but holds tight when on land, and both their hands and feet are partially webbed as well. To aid in moving easily between sea and air, Adonii have two sets of eyelids, the inner of which is closed while in water and the outer of which is a more traditional humanoid eyelid. Despite their adaptations, the Adonii don’t have any physiological requirement to be near water. Other than being uncomfortable, an Adonis won’t suffer any ill effects from even being in a desert.
Society: Adonii are an extremely social race that enjoys the company of anyone that would give it, no matter what society they come from. In fact, outside of hunting, most people would consider the average Adonii among the nicest people they had ever met. While hunting or alarmed, however, their demeanor changes significantly; a wary Adonii is short tempered, quiet, and quick to move, with an instinctual precision that rivals even the most well trained human special forces member.
Adonii society is largely gender based, though both genders do same tasks. Instead, gender typically determines location of where the task is performed, with males doing the majority of the in-water work and females spending the vast majority of their productive time on land. Outside of work, their society sees little difference between the sexes, with both genders helping with mundane homebound tasks such as childcare and cooking. It’s very rare for Adonii children to not be in the company of at least one parent, with male parents generally being gone in the early morning as their prey come to the surface to feed, while female parents generally go out in the early afternoon once their mates have returned to hunt while nocturnal predators are asleep.
Adonii villages are always found on the edge of the water, with the larger ones digging out deep canals as they grow further from shore. Because of this, Adonii cities are superficially similar to earth lagoon and marsh cities like Venice. Gathering halls, temples of healing and other vital structures are almost always directly on the water’s edge.
Relations: Just as the Adonii like everyone, all common races are friendly with Adonii societies, if not for their good nature than for their fishing skills. The only civilized race that the Adonii don’t have a friendly outlook with are the Caretakers, whose distrust in them leave the Adonii no choice but to keep their distance when possible.
Alignment and Religion: Adonii religion preaches one primary god, Sast, and a handful of unnamed minor deities that exist only to aid Sast while he rests in the depths of the sea. Sast’s only real teaching is cryptic, reading “Beware the beast within and without,” but followers almost always treat it similarly to humanity’s golden rule: they view “the beast within” and “without” as the same dark creature, and that by being wary of the “beast within,” or by being kind, that they won’t awaken the beast “without,” or bring trouble down upon them. Scholars from other races typically disagree with this assessment, but have done little to try and convince the Adonii that they’re reading the teaching wrong.
Adonii are typically white or green in ideology, with the concepts of community and harmony being the core of their society. As with most races, however, Adonii come in almost all ideological colors.
Adventurers: Adonii adventurers are usually younger individuals who originally grew close to an already established group of adventurers, joining them on the road for a time. Most eventually go home, eager to regale their friends and family with tales of their exploits, but others develop a lasting taste for the life of adventure and join other adventuring groups if and when their first one is disbanded.
Names: Adonii names are typically medium to long written words that heavily use artificially silenced letters when pronounced. While there is no written difference between male and female names, male names typically silence more vowels and female names typically silence more consonants. Examples include Ssilyrrlyn (pronounced Silrin as a female name and Slyrlyn as a male name) and Corithra (pronounced Coria as a female name and Corth as a male name).
+2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity: Adonii are strong in both body and spirit, but their bodies are not built for moving on purely dry land.
Medium: Adonii are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: As medium creatures, Adonii have a base speed of 30 feet.
Unaltered Alien: Originally extraterrestrials who did not take any alterations when they came to Aria, Adonii gain the Alien and Unaltered subtypes at character creation.
Natural Swimmer: Adonii are adept at swimming, gaining a 50 ft. swim speed. This also grants them a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks.
Ocean Kin: While in water deep enough to swim in, Adonii characters gain a +2 racial bonus to Dexterity. This applies whether or not they are actually swimming.
Capable Lungs: Adonii can hold their breath for twice as long as normal, and taking standard actions (but not full-round actions) does not reduce this time.
Aquatic Craftsmen: Adonii gain a +4 racial bonus on all craft checks to build or make objects with a specific aquatic use (As not all items have an immediately obvious aquatic usage, this is at the DM’s discretion. Examples include nets, spears, and various types of boats).
Weapon Familiarity: Adonii are automatically proficient with spears (including short- and long-) and Tridents, and treat nets as martial weapons.
Languages: Adonii begin play speaking Common and Aquan. Adonii with high intelligence scores can learn any language.
The following should be used for the ages and weights for each race. If any race isn't noted use Pathfinder defaults for them, with Caretakers counting as humans.
Description Tables
Height and Weight
{table=head]
Race|
Base Height|
Height Modifier|
Base Weight|
Weight Modifier
Tengu|
4 ft. 6 in.|
+2d6 in.|
60 lbs.|
x2
Adonis|
5 ft. 10 in.|
+3d6 in.|
150 lbs.|
x6[/table]
Starting Age
{table=head]
Race|Adulthood|Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer|Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger|
Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard
Tengu|
13 years|
+1d4 years|
+1d6 years|
+2d8 years
Adonis|
10 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d10 years|
+3d6 years
Elf|
30 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d8 years|
+2d8 years
Gnome|
20 years|
+2d4 years|
+3d4 years|
+4d4 years
Dwarf|
25 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d8 years|
+2d8 years
Halfling|
20 years|
+2d3 years|
+3d4 years|
+4d4 years
Half-elf|
18 years|
+1d4 years|
+1d6 years|
+2d6 years[/table]
Aging Effects
{table=head]
Race|
Middle|
Old|
Venerable|
Maximum Age
Tengu|
30 years|
50 years|
65 years|
+3d8 years
Adonis|
40 years|
65 years|
88 years|
+2d6 years
Elf|
50 years|
75 years|
100 years|
+8d12 years
Gnome|
45 years|
65 years|
80 years|
+7d10 years
Dwarf|
55 years|
75 years|
90 years|
+5d10 years
Halfling|
50 years|
75 years|
100 years|
+5d10 years
Half-elf|
43 years|
65 years|
85 years|
+4d10 years[/table]
Classes
Unlike most settings where magic and martial classes are completely separate beasts, in Meta all classes make some use of the world's back end systems either consciously or unconsciously to great effect. In fact, with the exception of the NPC classes that directly cast spells, this is the primary separator between PCs and NPCs. A brief explanation of how each class works with these systems is below.
Note that this excludes Psionic classes, which have already been described and individual explanations wouldn't do any good.
Barbarian
Barbarian is a pretty straightforward class. More commonly known as Berserkers in this world, these hammer swinging oddities have learned how to innately force the world to increase their strength and stopping power through muscular reinforcement and adrenal stimulation.
Bard
The sweet voices of bards tie directly into command receptors in the same way that their magic spells do. Knowledge is their domain, and being indirectly connected to a worldwide computer system certainly helps them in this way as well.
Cleric
As with all settings, Clerics believe in what they preach. As with all divine casters, the world forces power upon clerics by translating their faith and training into the ability to call on divine power through spell casting.
Druid
Similar to the Cleric, the faith that druids have in the world, as well as their training, tells the world to force the ability to cast upon them. However, Druids who have learned Wild Shape abilities turn these commands back on the world, telling it to change their shape. Animal companions have neuron connections forced to see the druid as their pack leader, and as such will follow their lead.
Fighter
Fighters have found an innate ability to change themselves for the better by sheer force of will. Not to the extent of druids, but in a far more long term form, this is represented by the Fighter’s ability to retrain, as well as their extreme ease of mastering weapons and armor.
Monk
Masters of inner peace and will, Monks call upon the magic in the world to strengthen their blows, to help them jump that extra inch, to allow them to do all sorts of extraordinary abilities with their bodies far beyond what anyone else can do.
Paladin
Adherents to the righteous cause of justice, paladins rarely follow gods. Instead, they travel the world, seeking out and bringing wrath to those who would do evil.
Ranger
Trappers and hunters, rangers are the best at finding what they do. Subtly forcing the world to make their prey’s tracks more apparent and guide their blade to weak points, these specialists eventually learn to cast spells of their own.
Rogue
These knaves may very well have the closest relationship with the world’s magic systems, learning small tricks from a million different walks to help with their job.
Sorcerer
The only arcane caster with power forced upon them, sorcerers represent a glitch in the system. Though actual cross race bloodlines are nearly impossible in this world, a corruption in the world database has told the systems to give them access to magical abilities as if they were a creature of their bloodline’s race.
Wizard
The quintessential caster class, Wizards learn the intricacies of magical command words through years of training.
Alchemist
Alchemists tie their connection to magic with a newly rebudding of scientific knowledge, missing chemicals and infusions of power into sometimes explosive effects.
Cavalier
Followers of a line who were based on mounted knights of old, Cavaliers power comes as much from faith in their order as any Cleric’s, but their training was not in a magical discipline. Samurai follow this style as well.
Gunslingers
I was on the fence about allowing Gunslingers into the world as is, but a conversation with a friend convinced me that if I was allowing Alchemists that I should allow Gunslingers. Gunslingers, like Alchemists, tie the rebudding knowledge of science with the magical systems in the world. The grit mechanic and grit based abilities work with the world, aiding the Gunslinger in lining up shots, while mechanics that ignore misfire are nanites at work repairing and preventing damage to PC equipment.
Inquisitor
As with all divine casters, faith forms their ability to cast spells. More warlike than most Clerics, the inquisitor ability list is fleshed out with abilities that allow them to work directly against those who would harm their faith.
Magus
Magi work closely with all facets of the world's magic to tie martial training with magical ability.
Oracles
Similar to Sorcerers, Oracles represent a glitch in the system that gives them magical powers where they shouldn’t. Since most Oracles don’t have faith in a specific god or ideal before they become Oracles, the feedback in the system causes damage to the Oracle – thus leading to their curse.
Summoner
Summoners work directly with the holographic subsystems in order to make a semi-permanent companion that aids them in battle.
Witch
Witches make pacts with creatures that have innate access to magical abilities for power. Channeling magic through those willing creatures gives the Witch access to their spell list.
Culture
The Culture of Aria is a work in progress, because to make it as consistent as possible I need to have most other concepts finished first.
Concept
This setting is a thought experiment that is definitely much harder than I expected it to be. I aim to answer a very curious question: What will fantasy look like in ten thousand years? What legends would make up our descendants stories of knights and innocents, or those of villains and heroes? By coming up with a fantasy answer to this sci-fi question, I hope to create a unique oddity, a mix of superscience and fantasy that embraces Clarke’s Third Law instead of turning it on its head like magitek and Dungeon Punk style settings do. In the end I hope to have those styles represented, but on other planets in the solar system, separated from the core world of the setting, Aria.
History
The start of any setting is the world it takes place on. With this in mind, I have Aria, an originally class-K (to use Star Trek terminology) approximately Earth-sized planet planet revolving around an as yet unnamed F-type main-sequence (yellow-white dwarf) off in one corner of the galaxy. Many thousands of years ago, an entertainment based megacorporation bought terraforming and usage rights to the planetary system and sent a long term probe there to begin the dirty work. Taking several hundred years to get there, it built a warp gate back to the core of the galaxy and began the task of terraforming the worlds. Ultimately successful, in the course of a thousand years it had turned Aria into a lush garden world, a class-M planet (to use more Star Trek) suitable for colonization. But that wasn’t all that it had done.
Aria was destined to be far more than just another world that would be used and abused by those who lived on it. The corporation had plans to turn it into a lush fantasy world, a resort of the finest caliber, to keep people’s minds off the ever growing trouble in the galaxy. The probe had crisscrossed the world with underground maintenance systems and energy projectors, implemented a design that allowed nanites to travel freely throughout the world, all in an effort to make magic. Not just stage magic, but the ability to conjure a facsimile of ancient spells, to take people back into the days of wizards and dragons.
Scientists over the course of a thousand years designed the rest of the system. New species, methods of modifying old species, an entire roleplaying world for people to escape to. Eventually, it was finished.
With the world ready, it was opened to the public. Populated as a long term fantasy resort, a world where escapist people and families could spend a year or more among the style of the world that their childhood stories came from, Aria was a huge commercial success. The galactic government breathed a sigh of relief that there was a slight weight lifted off their shoulders from the millions who found their way to the planet over the course of 200 years after opening.
Unfortunately, as such things often do, this level of escapism eventually brought fury down from those who saw through what, in their mind, it was: an attempt to quell the minds of those who would otherwise rise up against their would-be masters. When the strike came, it was quick and completely devoid of mercy: the warp gate, as well as the space station that held the quarters for the maintenance staff, and most of the ships in orbit near the world were destroyed in a single detonation whose force could be felt from the planet below.
With no way to their homes for thousands of years, the people of Aria did the only thing they could: adapt. In a world with magic, the strongest and most capable survive. Over two thousand years have passed since what is now called the “Catastrophe”, and the ancient worlds and the warp gate have since faded into the myths and legends of the developing culture.
Meta Lore vs. Aria Lore
The lore of Meta is split into two distinct parts: Meta Lore, the lore of the overarching sci-fi world that spawned Aria, and Aria Lore, the lore and legends of the fantasy world itself. This will eventually lead into mechanical differences between my world and traditional fantasy worlds, but for now this is limited to magical and creature subtypes.
Examples of Meta Lore:
The story above
Magic and racial types listed below
Explanations on how systems work
Examples of Aria Lore:
Most core system explanations of magic and races
The legends of the Tengu race described below.
There are a few situations these will overlap:
The lore and legends of the Adonis exist in both Meta and Aria lore.
Magic
Ah, magic, staple of any fantasy world, and Aria is certainly no exception. Laced with hundreds of thousands of miles of underground energy projectors, as well as stores of trillions of nanites and a planetary teleportation system, Aria has everything it needs to mimic any magical effect its inhabitants can think up. The energy projectors can create localized energy bursts, replicate organic matter, shape holograms, and project force shields. The nanites produce and inject mind and body altering chemicals into spell targets to enhance or inhibit their abilities and can rebuild a person up from scratch, changing those trained well enough into any form that they can think of. Working with the other two systems, the teleportation system allowed even death and reincarnation to be mimicable.
Magic on Aria uses word casting techniques like those seen in the Ultima series of games and many other fantasy settings. This is represented by the Words of Power rules as implemented by Paizo in their Ultimate Magic book. Beginner players can use Vancian based spell systems, but it is discouraged in more advanced players.
Psionics
A mysterious force that has just recently emerged onto Aria, psychic abilities exist primarily outside of the world’s magical systems. Awakened by the world’s constant tweaking of its own systems and the minds of its inhabitants, Aria’s AI core has tried to adjust the world’s ruleset to work with these powerful people with only limited success. Though it can provide limited defense against incoming psychic onslaught, it cannot mimic these powers and it cannot make psychic powers able to affect AI constructs that it controls.
Alignment
The standard alignment system doesn't work from a meta perspective, as an objective AI can't properly grasp the concept of good and evil. Lose-lose situations would arise where a person would just be considered evil despite their best attempts otherwise. To this extent, I'd decided to use the Color Wheel Alignment Replacement by Lord_Gareth. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174163) This should allow a more ideological system that can be tracked easier in Meta Lore.
Religion
There are seven gods in Aria, five of which each represent an ideology of the Color Wheel alignment replacement. The first five are:
The Hearth
The white goddess, she represents Order and Community. Legends say that she is the mother of Aria, but that she nearly suffocated the world with her protection.
Her dogma is Though safety is found in numbers, both utopia and tyranny can come of it.
The Fallen Star
The blue god, he represents Knowledge and Discovery. Legends say that he came to Aria out of curiosity, but lost his way in the depths of the sea.
His dogma is Though the quest for knowledge brings many benefits, digging too deep brings madness.
The Abyss
The genderless black deity, it represents Power and Individuality. Legends say that The Abyss was once a mortal that sacrificed itself and tore its true name from the universe in order to ascend to godhood.
Its dogma is Though strength is the first step to success, be wary that you don’t forget who you truly are.
The Flame
The red god, he represents Freedom and Emotion. Legends say that he was The Hearth’s lover until he saw what she was doing to Aria. In his fury, he bestowed the gift of flame to the people of Aria, letting them break free from The Hearth’s hold.
His dogma is Though freedom is a gift, it is a fickle flame that could birth a wildfire of fury.
The Seed
The green goddess, she represents Growth and Harmony. Legends say she brought the gift of life to Aria, but was consumed by the wilds she helped create.
Her dogma is Though one must work with the world, one must also beware her for she is but a beautiful monster waiting to strike.
In addition to the Five, there are countless unnamed spirits tied to the world that do their bidding. Outside of the color wheel, however, there are also two other deities:
Sast, the Deep One
The primary god of the Adonii, Sast is a primal god of the sea brought over from their homeworld. Legend holds that in ancient times he fought a great and terrible beast from beyond the stars. Where his blood fell, the Adonii rose up. Barely able to fight back the beast, he retreated to the depths of the endless sea to recover over the eons before it returns.
His dogma is Be wary of the beast within and without.
Machine (Mosh-in-ay)
The goddess of the Caretakers, they hold that she is Aria, the world. Most surface dwellers wave them off as madmen, though.
Her dogma is Safety is job one.
Races
There are five kinds of races on Aria: Unaltered, Altered, Created, Alien, and AI. Each race type will be a subtype added to all creatures encountered in the world, intended to represent what the races are in Meta Lore, while the original subtypes represent what they are in Aria Lore. With the exception of the Alien subtype, these subtypes are far too broad to be used by PCs for abilities like Favored Enemy and should only be used by the DM or in special situations like custom archetypes and classes.
Unaltered
Any living race whose ancestors did not take alterations when brought to Aria. Ex. Humans, most Alien races.
Altered
Any living race whose ancestors had genetic modifications when they came to Aria. Ex. Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, Orcs, and most other humanoid fantasy races.
Created
Any living race that was genetically designed from the ground up. This includes Dragons, Beholders, the Tengu, and most other monstrous races in the world.
Alien
Any extraterrestrial race that came to Aria, either voluntarily or otherwise. Alien creatures will also be Altered or Unaltered.
AI
All non-living races that can only exist when controlled by the world’s AI systems. Ex. incorporeal creatures; most undead, elementals, and constructs.
AI creatures are immune to Psionic abilities that provide a chance for power resistance.
Unknown
All living races not in the world’s Aria Lore database. Ex. Caretakers
Unknown creatures gain Spell Resistance equal to 5 + their HD due to the world's AI not being able to properly process them.
Caretaker (10 points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
Trapped underground for millennia, these descendants of Aria’s original support staff survived in the unnatural lighting and recycled air for nearly two thousand years after the Catastrophe trapped them there. Completely cut off from the surface world and their only source of outside information, all that the poor people could do was survive. As time and generations drove on, the stories of what happened passed into the realm of myth as their bodies and minds grew more accustomed to the world around them. Barely fifty years ago, Aria’s continual modification of the world opened up passages into the world’s underbelly, allowing Caretakers out into the sun for the first time in two thousand years.
Physical Description: Caretakers closely resemble their human cousins, but typically appear pallid even when in good health.
Society: Caretaker society is divided out into three social classes: Janitor, Engineer, and Management. The Janitor class, sometimes referred to as “the caretakers of the Caretakers,” is by far the largest, making up those caretakers who dedicate their lives to taking care of the others, ranging from medics all the way to lowly toilet cleaners. The Engineer class, sometimes called “the Blood of Aria,” makes up the maintenance workers of Aria who, still after two thousand years, do a passable job with repair tasks in the world’s heart. Finally, Management, the priest class, advises the other two classes on their daily tasks while preaching the word of the Manual. Due to the cramped nature of their living spaces, Caretaker society is very communal and almost socialist in nature, with everything shared amongst the group.
Relations: Caretakers have not had time to develop any special relation to surface groups, but by and large treat surfacers with extreme distrust as they are outside Caretaker society and take no time to understand them. In turn, they are typically treated by surfacers with distaste, cementing the hatred in their minds. In fact, Caretakers have a strict code of conduct called Enda buried deep within their Manual that prevents them from getting too close to surfacers and prohibits them from sharing the secrets of the Caretakers.
Alignment and Religion: Caretakers are typically white-aligned due to their society’s focus on community, but Caretakers of all outlooks exist. Caretaker religion is based off the original manual given out to all Employees and stresses the importance of taking care of Aria, who they believe is their goddess, and the community. Some caretakers trapped on the surface of the world and away from the teachings of the Management for extended periods find faith in The Hearth, whose teachings are similar and is generally known as the mother of Aria.
Adventurers: Caretaker adventurers are typically those who live around one of the growing numbers of entrances into their underground and venture out from curiosity, bringing back tales of magic and great warriors. Oftentimes this is enough to inspire a young Caretaker to go out into the world at large, taking their teachings with them in their heart. Older Caretakers that know more about the underbelly typically never become adventurers as they have steeled their hearts to the outsiders.
Names: Caretaker names are generally names of technologies or those of their ancestors. Names such as both “Wire” and “John” are common.
+2 to One Ability Score: Caretakers are just as varied in nature as their surface cousins.
Medium: Caretakers are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Caretakers have a base speed of 30 feet.
Unknown: Caretakers were never properly set into Aria's Lore database and as such gain the Unknown subtype.
The Unknown Subtype grants spell resistance equal to 5 + the character’s level.
Mandatory Training: All Caretakers are trained from birth in the skills of one of their parents. Caretakers gain one of the following abilities to represent this training and their background. These abilities automatically take up one trait slot of the listed type and are not available to be taken as Traits otherwise. Campaigns without traits should remove the secondary bonus, leaving just the primary bonus intact.
Management Class (Religion Trait): Your priest training has hardened your mind and honed you to be an excellent mediator, granting you a +2 bonus to will saves as well as giving you a +1 trait bonus to Diplomacy checks and making that skill always a class skill for you.
Engineer Class (Equipment Trait): You spent a large part of your training moving through tight spaces and carrying heavy loads. You gain Fast Crawl as a bonus feat and treat your strength as two points higher for the purpose of carrying capacity.
Janitor Class (Social Trait): All Janitors have extensive experience with getting through disgusting situations, granting you +2 racial bonus on saving throws versus abilities that cause fear, nauseated, or sickened conditions. In addition, your hospitality training gives you a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks and that skill is always a class skill for you.
Skilled: Like their cousins, Caretakers interests range far and wide, giving them 1 additional skill point at first level and every time they gain a level afterwards.
Low Light Vision: The dim hallways of the world’s underbelly have blessed the Caretakers with the ability to see twice as far as humans in dim light.
Light Sensitivity: Caretakers are Dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
Languages: Caretakers begin play speaking Common. Those with high intelligence scores can choose any language as a bonus language.
Tengu (10 points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2867481/Pathfinder/Tengu.jpg
Tengu by DeviantArt member ~Logna (http://logna.deviantart.com/)
Used under a Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) license.
Meta: When scientists were designing the world of Aria, they looked back into Earth’s ancient past for tales that they could work into their world. Along their inspirations were the many legends of ravens and crows that ancient humans had come up with. So, they designed an entirely new race of people revolving around the stories, and named them the Tengu after ancient Japanese crow spirits.
Aria: Legends hold that many thousands of years ago, the Tengu were nothing but a short statured race of tricksters, who could find nothing better than to use their quick wits and quicker fingers to bring trouble to the more common races of the world. While humans saw them as pests and nuisances, the gods saw the potential in them to be something more, great scouts and eyes for the gods. Taking them from Aria for a time, the gods blessed the Tengu with the essences of their helper spirits, the Tengu became what the gods themselves could not do: vigilant watchers and scouts that reported directly to their gods the happenings of the world.
Physical Description: With shiny black feathers and an elongated beak, Tengu are humanoid creatures that strongly resemble the crows that they are based off of. Tengu exhibit very little in the way of sexual dimorphism, with all Tengu standing around a head shorter than the average human and even then are deceptively light both on their feet and in weight. Female Tengu have a tendency to adorn their feathers much more often than males, but this is not a hard rule and anyone that tries to use it that way it will eventually call a male Tengu a female. Their hands and feet end in talons not unlike their avian cousins, and though they do have wings on their back, they're vestigal and Tengu have no natural ability to fly. Rarely, a Tengu will be born with red feather coloration: this is a good omen and Tengu that have this coloration are expected to do great things in their lives.
Society: Tengu society is based around the belief that they are scouts for the gods. As such, the few permanent Tengu settlements that do exist are near the edges of consistently troubled areas such as constantly warring kingdoms and wildlands known to produce hordes of monsters. Most other groups of Tengu live in traveling caravans or even smaller groups of nomads that follow the smell of trouble. An abnormally large percentage of Tengu live away from even these groups, feeling that being a part of a group hinders their ability to move as needed to get information to the gods.
Relations: The notion that Tengu are tricksters is a part of the mindset of commoners of most races, seeing them as omens of ill, if not the cause of it. This is largely due to the fact that many Tengu have an almost supernatural ability to see trouble brewing, and are often in an area before it erupts into bloodshed. More educated group tend to have an understanding of Tengu society, and though they are still an omen of ill events, they are viewed as valuable allies in diffusing the situation when coaxed into directly assisting. Out of specific races, Tengu tend to have a good relationship with halflings, as both groups have a tendency to be stereotyped as troublemakers – though this is more likely to actually be the case with halflings than Tengu.
Alignment and Religion: Tengu see themselves as having a special connection to the gods, and almost all Tengu follow one god or another. It is common practice among the Tengu to copy their weekly findings down onto parchment, then to burn that parchment in a form of prayer and tithe. Tengu of all ideological colors exist and are equally common; they generally follow the gods they feel closest to.
Adventurers: Almost all Tengu follow the life of adventure, following the trail of trouble to the ends of the world. It is extremely rare for a Tengu to live a sedentary lifestyle in a city or town, but these Tengu generally become innkeepers or some other profession that exposes them to the latest gossip of the town.
Names: Tengu typically name themselves after great heroes of other races. In time where heroes are lacking, they’re usually given the names of their parent; this can stretch several generations if a family of Tengu feel that there is no one worthy of being called a hero, but it can also cause an entire generation of like-named Tengu if a legendary hero comes about in their parents’ lifetimes.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Constitution: Tengu are fast and observant, but relatively fragile and delicate.
Medium: Tengu are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Tengu have a base speed of 30 feet.
Created: As the product of extensive genetic engineering, Tengu gain the Created subtype.
Low Light Vision: Tengu can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Light and Quick: Tengu gain a -1 size penalty to CMB and CMD, but gain Dodge (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/dodge-combat---final) or Agile Maneuvers (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/agile-maneuvers-combat) as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Raven-Kin (Ex): Ravens seem to regard Tengu as family. Once per day, a Ravenfolk can call upon a raven to deliver a message, as if the Tengu had cast Animal Messenger at a caster level equal to their character level. The Tengu can only have one raven delivering a message at any given time.
Natural Weapon: Tengu posess a bite natural attack that inflicts 1d3 points of damage on a hit. This is a primary attack if the Tengu is not wielding a manufactured weapon, or a secondary attack if they are.
Weapon Training: Tengu are trained from birth in the art of the sword and are proficienct with greatswords, longswords, rapiers, and short swords, and treat bastard swords, elven curve blades, and two-bladed swords as martial weapons.
Huginn’s Eyes, Muninn’s Memory: Tengu gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks and checks in any one Knowledge skill.
Languages: Tengu begin play speaking Common and any one language of their choice. Tengu with high Intelligence scores can choose any language as a bonus language.
Adonis (10 Points (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183223))
Hailing from the shallow seas of Adonis, the Adonii (pl) are a strong and proud race of social warrior-hunters that are as comfortable on the battlefield as they are sharing stories around a campfire. At one time a primate-like race adapted strictly to life on dry land, their evolution followed a path not unlike Earth’s marine mammals, bringing them into the water less than 2 million years ago. While the Adonii had only been space-faring for a few hundred years by the time Aria was settled, they were already known as the best divers in the galaxy, and a fair number of them jumped at the chance to work waters that had literally never been fished before. Two thousand years after the Catastrophe, their society thrives in both large port towns and small fishing villages all over Aria.
Physical Description: Although more muscular and taller than the average human, the Adonii are relatively human in appearance. Adonii are barrel chested due to having abnormally large lung capacity and are covered in very short, sensitive fur that helps them detect the slightest movements in water, they come in many colors from sea greens and blues, to dark greys, browns and whites; it’s also relatively common practice amongst those who don’t water-hunt to dye their fur even more radical colors.
Adonii body shape is more streamlined from head to toe than humans, their features holding much closer to their bodies with the exception of small, collapsible stabilizing fins on their backs and arms. They have further streamlining webbing around the base of their head that flares out while in water but holds tight when on land, and both their hands and feet are partially webbed as well. To aid in moving easily between sea and air, Adonii have two sets of eyelids, the inner of which is closed while in water and the outer of which is a more traditional humanoid eyelid. Despite their adaptations, the Adonii don’t have any physiological requirement to be near water. Other than being uncomfortable, an Adonis won’t suffer any ill effects from even being in a desert.
Society: Adonii are an extremely social race that enjoys the company of anyone that would give it, no matter what society they come from. In fact, outside of hunting, most people would consider the average Adonii among the nicest people they had ever met. While hunting or alarmed, however, their demeanor changes significantly; a wary Adonii is short tempered, quiet, and quick to move, with an instinctual precision that rivals even the most well trained human special forces member.
Adonii society is largely gender based, though both genders do same tasks. Instead, gender typically determines location of where the task is performed, with males doing the majority of the in-water work and females spending the vast majority of their productive time on land. Outside of work, their society sees little difference between the sexes, with both genders helping with mundane homebound tasks such as childcare and cooking. It’s very rare for Adonii children to not be in the company of at least one parent, with male parents generally being gone in the early morning as their prey come to the surface to feed, while female parents generally go out in the early afternoon once their mates have returned to hunt while nocturnal predators are asleep.
Adonii villages are always found on the edge of the water, with the larger ones digging out deep canals as they grow further from shore. Because of this, Adonii cities are superficially similar to earth lagoon and marsh cities like Venice. Gathering halls, temples of healing and other vital structures are almost always directly on the water’s edge.
Relations: Just as the Adonii like everyone, all common races are friendly with Adonii societies, if not for their good nature than for their fishing skills. The only civilized race that the Adonii don’t have a friendly outlook with are the Caretakers, whose distrust in them leave the Adonii no choice but to keep their distance when possible.
Alignment and Religion: Adonii religion preaches one primary god, Sast, and a handful of unnamed minor deities that exist only to aid Sast while he rests in the depths of the sea. Sast’s only real teaching is cryptic, reading “Beware the beast within and without,” but followers almost always treat it similarly to humanity’s golden rule: they view “the beast within” and “without” as the same dark creature, and that by being wary of the “beast within,” or by being kind, that they won’t awaken the beast “without,” or bring trouble down upon them. Scholars from other races typically disagree with this assessment, but have done little to try and convince the Adonii that they’re reading the teaching wrong.
Adonii are typically white or green in ideology, with the concepts of community and harmony being the core of their society. As with most races, however, Adonii come in almost all ideological colors.
Adventurers: Adonii adventurers are usually younger individuals who originally grew close to an already established group of adventurers, joining them on the road for a time. Most eventually go home, eager to regale their friends and family with tales of their exploits, but others develop a lasting taste for the life of adventure and join other adventuring groups if and when their first one is disbanded.
Names: Adonii names are typically medium to long written words that heavily use artificially silenced letters when pronounced. While there is no written difference between male and female names, male names typically silence more vowels and female names typically silence more consonants. Examples include Ssilyrrlyn (pronounced Silrin as a female name and Slyrlyn as a male name) and Corithra (pronounced Coria as a female name and Corth as a male name).
+2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity: Adonii are strong in both body and spirit, but their bodies are not built for moving on purely dry land.
Medium: Adonii are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: As medium creatures, Adonii have a base speed of 30 feet.
Unaltered Alien: Originally extraterrestrials who did not take any alterations when they came to Aria, Adonii gain the Alien and Unaltered subtypes at character creation.
Natural Swimmer: Adonii are adept at swimming, gaining a 50 ft. swim speed. This also grants them a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks.
Ocean Kin: While in water deep enough to swim in, Adonii characters gain a +2 racial bonus to Dexterity. This applies whether or not they are actually swimming.
Capable Lungs: Adonii can hold their breath for twice as long as normal, and taking standard actions (but not full-round actions) does not reduce this time.
Aquatic Craftsmen: Adonii gain a +4 racial bonus on all craft checks to build or make objects with a specific aquatic use (As not all items have an immediately obvious aquatic usage, this is at the DM’s discretion. Examples include nets, spears, and various types of boats).
Weapon Familiarity: Adonii are automatically proficient with spears (including short- and long-) and Tridents, and treat nets as martial weapons.
Languages: Adonii begin play speaking Common and Aquan. Adonii with high intelligence scores can learn any language.
The following should be used for the ages and weights for each race. If any race isn't noted use Pathfinder defaults for them, with Caretakers counting as humans.
Description Tables
Height and Weight
{table=head]
Race|
Base Height|
Height Modifier|
Base Weight|
Weight Modifier
Tengu|
4 ft. 6 in.|
+2d6 in.|
60 lbs.|
x2
Adonis|
5 ft. 10 in.|
+3d6 in.|
150 lbs.|
x6[/table]
Starting Age
{table=head]
Race|Adulthood|Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer|Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger|
Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard
Tengu|
13 years|
+1d4 years|
+1d6 years|
+2d8 years
Adonis|
10 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d10 years|
+3d6 years
Elf|
30 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d8 years|
+2d8 years
Gnome|
20 years|
+2d4 years|
+3d4 years|
+4d4 years
Dwarf|
25 years|
+1d6 years|
+1d8 years|
+2d8 years
Halfling|
20 years|
+2d3 years|
+3d4 years|
+4d4 years
Half-elf|
18 years|
+1d4 years|
+1d6 years|
+2d6 years[/table]
Aging Effects
{table=head]
Race|
Middle|
Old|
Venerable|
Maximum Age
Tengu|
30 years|
50 years|
65 years|
+3d8 years
Adonis|
40 years|
65 years|
88 years|
+2d6 years
Elf|
50 years|
75 years|
100 years|
+8d12 years
Gnome|
45 years|
65 years|
80 years|
+7d10 years
Dwarf|
55 years|
75 years|
90 years|
+5d10 years
Halfling|
50 years|
75 years|
100 years|
+5d10 years
Half-elf|
43 years|
65 years|
85 years|
+4d10 years[/table]
Classes
Unlike most settings where magic and martial classes are completely separate beasts, in Meta all classes make some use of the world's back end systems either consciously or unconsciously to great effect. In fact, with the exception of the NPC classes that directly cast spells, this is the primary separator between PCs and NPCs. A brief explanation of how each class works with these systems is below.
Note that this excludes Psionic classes, which have already been described and individual explanations wouldn't do any good.
Barbarian
Barbarian is a pretty straightforward class. More commonly known as Berserkers in this world, these hammer swinging oddities have learned how to innately force the world to increase their strength and stopping power through muscular reinforcement and adrenal stimulation.
Bard
The sweet voices of bards tie directly into command receptors in the same way that their magic spells do. Knowledge is their domain, and being indirectly connected to a worldwide computer system certainly helps them in this way as well.
Cleric
As with all settings, Clerics believe in what they preach. As with all divine casters, the world forces power upon clerics by translating their faith and training into the ability to call on divine power through spell casting.
Druid
Similar to the Cleric, the faith that druids have in the world, as well as their training, tells the world to force the ability to cast upon them. However, Druids who have learned Wild Shape abilities turn these commands back on the world, telling it to change their shape. Animal companions have neuron connections forced to see the druid as their pack leader, and as such will follow their lead.
Fighter
Fighters have found an innate ability to change themselves for the better by sheer force of will. Not to the extent of druids, but in a far more long term form, this is represented by the Fighter’s ability to retrain, as well as their extreme ease of mastering weapons and armor.
Monk
Masters of inner peace and will, Monks call upon the magic in the world to strengthen their blows, to help them jump that extra inch, to allow them to do all sorts of extraordinary abilities with their bodies far beyond what anyone else can do.
Paladin
Adherents to the righteous cause of justice, paladins rarely follow gods. Instead, they travel the world, seeking out and bringing wrath to those who would do evil.
Ranger
Trappers and hunters, rangers are the best at finding what they do. Subtly forcing the world to make their prey’s tracks more apparent and guide their blade to weak points, these specialists eventually learn to cast spells of their own.
Rogue
These knaves may very well have the closest relationship with the world’s magic systems, learning small tricks from a million different walks to help with their job.
Sorcerer
The only arcane caster with power forced upon them, sorcerers represent a glitch in the system. Though actual cross race bloodlines are nearly impossible in this world, a corruption in the world database has told the systems to give them access to magical abilities as if they were a creature of their bloodline’s race.
Wizard
The quintessential caster class, Wizards learn the intricacies of magical command words through years of training.
Alchemist
Alchemists tie their connection to magic with a newly rebudding of scientific knowledge, missing chemicals and infusions of power into sometimes explosive effects.
Cavalier
Followers of a line who were based on mounted knights of old, Cavaliers power comes as much from faith in their order as any Cleric’s, but their training was not in a magical discipline. Samurai follow this style as well.
Gunslingers
I was on the fence about allowing Gunslingers into the world as is, but a conversation with a friend convinced me that if I was allowing Alchemists that I should allow Gunslingers. Gunslingers, like Alchemists, tie the rebudding knowledge of science with the magical systems in the world. The grit mechanic and grit based abilities work with the world, aiding the Gunslinger in lining up shots, while mechanics that ignore misfire are nanites at work repairing and preventing damage to PC equipment.
Inquisitor
As with all divine casters, faith forms their ability to cast spells. More warlike than most Clerics, the inquisitor ability list is fleshed out with abilities that allow them to work directly against those who would harm their faith.
Magus
Magi work closely with all facets of the world's magic to tie martial training with magical ability.
Oracles
Similar to Sorcerers, Oracles represent a glitch in the system that gives them magical powers where they shouldn’t. Since most Oracles don’t have faith in a specific god or ideal before they become Oracles, the feedback in the system causes damage to the Oracle – thus leading to their curse.
Summoner
Summoners work directly with the holographic subsystems in order to make a semi-permanent companion that aids them in battle.
Witch
Witches make pacts with creatures that have innate access to magical abilities for power. Channeling magic through those willing creatures gives the Witch access to their spell list.
Culture
The Culture of Aria is a work in progress, because to make it as consistent as possible I need to have most other concepts finished first.