[P6] [Psionics-only] The Girdwood

[JusticeZero]

Basic setting: Back in the day, there was this empire in the plains to the west. they had some psions and some people who could get a lot of use out of psionic items, and some hard to make weaker psionic items. Someone invented a battery that would let anyone use the higher end psitech, that was easy to make, and the practical application meant it caught on in the capital like wildfire.
The psions in the capital: "I'm not sure packing that much power in something that fragile and mutable is a good idea.."
People: "Oh, you're just jealous of our new golden age!"
Then someone (maybe by accident, we will never know) found how to make a battery explode in a telepathic blast. Which itself contained the effect to make a battery explode. oops. Within seconds, the entire empire was destroyed in a massive wave of psychic energy.

Telepathic energy of that sort can be blocked by sufficient amounts of living tissue, like trees. On the eastern side of the country was a thick forest, called the Girdwood, through which the LeSette River flowed downstream of the capital. Past the forest, it turned south, deflected by a range of hills, and formed a marshy delta. Everything on the delta was spared. The tops of the hills were scoured clean, and are now known as the Burnside. The hills of the Burnside slope into the sea, making numerous small coastal islands.

The people living on the delta learned what happened and got rid of the few batteries they had that hadn't exploded - there weren't enough in that poor bit of countryside to make a chain reaction.

The Girdwood was left contaminated to varying degrees. The deeper in you go, the worse it gets. Monsters come out of there. People fear loggers - they dread that they might log too deep, like wooden mines of Moria. Over the years, the Burnside has been cleaned up and is no longer contaminated with toxic telepathic echoes such as are found in the deeper Girdwood, but remains rocky ground that is not terribly fertile.

If there is another continent beyond the sea, it is not on any maps. The known and relevant world is bounded on the west and north by the contamination of the Girdwood, and the sea on the south and east.

Mesa Verde, The city at the mouth of the delta, was prosperous at the time, and proclaimed itself the capital. The other towns gave fealty and built up. Recently, however, one of the cities in the Burnside claimed independence and tried to conquer the other cities of the Burnside. It was at this point that people discovered that the ability of the capital to project force across the countryside was pathetically inadequate; the civil war was eventually won and the rogue city razed, but the victory was pyrrhic. The economy was completely ruined in the process, and the inability of the capital to be of any use was laid bare. The cities still claim fealty, but in many cases the fealty is on paper only. The state's scrip, in use after a gold find wrecked the gold economy, has been devalued to the point of worthlessness. Nothing has yet risen to take its place.

Troops from cities patrol, looking for trouble in the countryside and scouting for bog-iron finds. Cities themself are ringed by low walls of dirt and rock, patrolled by defensively trained troops. Each city is ringed by farms ringed by earth levys and drained with pumps. Farmers live in town. They don't own the farms, but claim a patch each year. Every year, the banks of the LeSette overflow and flood the delta, and the farm levys are breached to allow the floods to renew the soil.

Setting is P6, no arcane or divine casting, psionic items only. Classes are aegis, barbarian (not as a separate culture), cryptic, dread, fighter, gunslinger (modified - psi-Artificer itemcrafting and UMD is spliced in), marksman, monk (full BAB, every weapon is a monk weapon), ninja (not as a separate culture), psion, psychic warrior, ranger (skirmisher only), rogue, soulknife, tactician, vitalist, wilder. Human only.

Here's the questions:

Need some advice on the fortifications of the cities and the training of the troops who guard them. I'm thinking there are low walls around each city in the delta, because the ground isn't stable enough for massive fortifications or siege weapons. Maybe 15-20' tall. Somewhat higher towers spaced regularly on the walls for archers to stand on and have line of fire at the top of the walls, but nothing huge because the foundations simply cannot be made very sturdy. Because the walls aren't high, they'd be scaled pretty easily by attackers, so the defenders would need both missile and melee. However, I could use advice about what weaponry and tactics the women on the walls would be specifically trained in.

As a consequence of a historical note, the roving military offensive groups that also hunt for iron are male-dominated, but the troops guarding the city are female-dominated. I could also use advice on the equipment and tactical choices that the roving bands would be more likely to use.

I'm thinking it's sort've a dichotomy between skirmishing warbands and defensive formation fighters, but the actual optimum tactics and squad makeup for each in their terrain and encounter profiles of choice i'm less than clear on.

Could also use questions and comments on the geography/political structure/whatever.

[Grinner]

I. ****ing. Love. It.


Need some advice on the fortifications of the cities and the training of the troops who guard them. I'm thinking there are low walls around each city in the delta, because the ground isn't stable enough for massive fortifications or siege weapons. Maybe 15-20' tall. Somewhat higher towers spaced regularly on the walls for archers to stand on and have line of fire at the top of the walls, but nothing huge because the foundations simply cannot be made very sturdy. Because the walls aren't high, they'd be scaled pretty easily by attackers, so the defenders would need both missile and melee. However, I could use advice about what weaponry and tactics the women on the walls would be specifically trained in.

You're over-thinking it.

If my military history is up to snuff, "training" for the average medieval conscript consisted of being given a weapon and maybe some pad armor. Also consider the fact that maintaining a standing military force, and only for guarding the city walls to boot, is a costly affair.

Therefore, the most reasonable course of action for any local ruler is to conscript soldiers into a militia. They might have monthly or even weekly drills, but their training will amount to "put the spear pointy-side in".

If you really want everyone to be a highly trained samurai, there will need to be a strong martial culture in the Delta. In other words, copy modern interpretations of feudal Japan.


As a consequence of a historical note, the roving military offensive groups that also hunt for iron are male-dominated, but the troops guarding the city are female-dominated. I could also use advice on the equipment and tactical choices that the roving bands would be more likely to use.

Unless they're expert soldiers, they're going to fall back on what they know under stress, in the thick of combat. Their tactics will amount to "put the spear pointy-side in", but in addition, they'll probably try to ambush their enemies first.

Also, they'll wear lighter armor.


I'm thinking it's sort've a dichotomy between skirmishing warbands and defensive formation fighters, but the actual optimum tactics and squad makeup for each in their terrain and encounter profiles of choice i'm less than clear on.

Again, you're over-thinking it. These people live in the back end of nowhere, right? They're not thinkers, and they're certainly not expert tacticians. They're mud farmers, not Marines.

[JusticeZero]

While they are using weekend warriors, the idea is that the leadership that fielded them would have put some thought into what drills to teach them beyond "pointy side in" and a specific training program. They may not be getting intensive training, but some tactical expert stopped to contemplate what to hand them and which drill to train them in.

Pikeman weren't exactly highly trained career military specialists either, but they were drilled in their one tactic enough to be effective at it. The uniforms have already been described as "Grab whatever clothes you have lying around, but they have to be dyed or re-dyed in this specific color scheme". I was planning on having some home-made wicker breastplates and armor show up.

I'm just not sure what what weapons would have the best results in either situation when handed to conscripts, or the best tactic to teach people to do either role with that optimum weapon choice. Maybe a mix of archers and spearwomen with slings on the walls, and in the field.. wicker (tower?) shield and battle axe maybe? Something to cover from the missile fire while crashing into range.

[Synvallius]

For typical wall defense (assuming the attackers are using ladders and rams and what-have-you) you'd want a mixture of bows (as you've said), slings (cheap, and fairly easy to use), spears (good for throwing and for attacking enemies scaling the walls on ladders and for group defensive formations), axes (for cutting grapnels, and for chopping enemy heads as they appear above the parapet). Armor would vary, but most common defenders would have leather, hide, padded, maybe some chain shirts or scale male, but the best kinds of armor would be reserved for officers or captains. For the roving skirmishing bands, they'd probably have spears (for attacking enemies in a swamp you'd want to be able to maintain your distance as you could be pushed into the mud and then they'd have a good chance to impale you), or tridents, maybe nets, and probably axes (axes, like spears, are always going to be the most common weapons because they both take less metal to make than swords [generally] and are thus more commonly available due to their inexpensive creation costs), I'm not sure if the skirmishers would have tower shields (regardless of their actual material make-up) as, in a swamp-type setting, mobility is the key to victory and a tower shield (even a light one) would be a bit too bulky to maneuver around with. In truth, skirmishers in a wet, muddy area probably would not use shields at all, as any shield (except for maybe a buckler) would interfere too much with mobility. I would make the skirmishing bands more ambush, guerilla-type fighters, who lay traps for enemies or just go about through the marsh sneakily enough to avoid detection. I hope some of this helps, as I think I may have been rambling for at least a part of the time.

[Geordnet]

Ah, military theory is my specialty. (My dad's a huge military history buff, and I'm in fact far more familiar with historical wargames than RPGs.)


First thing I can tell you is that 20' is more than high enough that pikes would not be needed on the walls. Especially if the ground is soft -that means big siege towers are also bogged. Behind the walls, ready to plug a breach; sure, but not on them.

The standard fortification will be a Motte & Baily, perhaps with earthen dikes forming the foundations of the walls. The walls themselves wouldn't have much in the way of walking space, it might not even be possible to pass someone going the other way!

Around the walls would be large areas cleared of trees, buildings, and all other obstructions. The ground immediately surrounding the wall of a fortress would be, in times of siege, littered with "killing pits": small camouflaged holes with sharpened wooden stakes in them. The charging enemy steps in them them and gets impaled.


Bows are actually too difficult to train a peasant in the use of in a short period of time, so archers will be mainly professional huntsmen or soldiers. Slings might see more use, since they weigh practically nothing, are cheap, and their ammo can be picked up from a nearby river. (The stones have to be smooth to be accurate; in fact the best ammo baked clay or better yet cast lead.) The sling will have to be a cultural weapon if its to be deployed on a large scale, though. (As in, something that every peasant boy learns how to use.)

The biggest question is the crossbow. Is the technology to create it known in your setting? If so, then it will be the #1 instrument of ranged warfare: its power is on par with or superior to early muskets. Compound bows would be unheard of in this setting, though, since damp conditions damage the resins holding the bows together, ruining them.


(I'll post more later.)

[JusticeZero]

Crossbows are known. I would think the walls would be low enough to make ladders an easily used tactic, though. The rock available would be pretty poor as well and easy to climb. Fortifications would have to deal with the ground shifting a bit, they would end up sloped to cope with ending up leaning as the ground settled. That would make them a more temporary barrier. They could be a bit wider than you mention though.
Any ditch would likely end up being a few facto moat soon enough. Moat and ringwork around the city, basically. I'm sure that any invasion will start with trying to defeat the moat, then charging the wall with ladders.

[Geordnet]

Crossbows are known.
Well, with no Pope around to ban them for being too powerful, they're going to get used a lot. They're simply better than everything else.



I would think the walls would be low enough to make ladders an easily used tactic, though.
Ladders are just as easily stopped by shooting the ladder-bearers from a distance. :smalltongue:

I wouldn't waste wall space with melee troops, which will just get in the way of my archers.



That would make them a more temporary barrier. They could be a bit wider than you mention though.
I don't see why they would be, if it's only supposed to be a temporary barrier. In fact, I'd make it as narrow as possible so that enemy soldiers on the walls have a hard time of moving along it.



Any ditch would likely end up being a few facto moat soon enough. Moat and ringwork around the city, basically. I'm sure that any invasion will start with trying to defeat the moat, then charging the wall with ladders.
And when they managed to scale the walls, the archers pull back and start shooting the enemy in that very exposed and vulnerable position, preferably from a second wall.

[JusticeZero]

Narrow walls would also make retreat hard to do for the defenders though. And couldn't a lot of the siege be set up under the cover of the shield? Part of the issue is the need to support the existence of a lot of armed female forces. They should have a melee component.

[JusticeZero]

Roja Canne
("Roy-ah Can-nay")
This city is near the point where the LeSette leaves the Girdwood, on the inland side, and is charged with supporting Criesce Hold, a tower and barracks at the edge of the Girdwood on the bank. It maintains a tree farming operation on the border of the Girdwood, and grows several high value spices under treecover on the drier forestland. However, skirmishes with monsters have convinced the city to restrict further cutting into the forest.
The city was heavily militarized on account of its location, and prides itself on a well drilled citizenry. The city's official criers are fond of spreading fearsome tales of the dangers lurking at the edge of the Girdwood, as well as fearsome tales of the dangers of other cities, inspiring its strong military recruitment efforts.
During the war, this was a double-edged sword, as the call to arms against the Quinsel slavers found them with a well armed and well drilled force which was both geographically close and sizable. As the siege on Quinsel was terrifyingly costly in resources and lives, this left Roja Canne stripped of many of its male citizenry.
Major ("Mayor") Tomas, following the war, has apparently succumbed to shell-shock and receded entirely from public view, leaving more of the rulership to his more militaristic wife Rene; restrictions have been tightened up in an attempt to make the city cleaner and more attractive, in part in a bid to encourage more men to move in. The results have been mixed; the show of strength of a parade-ready armed force of women guarding the well-maintained wall was intended to be inspiring and a source of pride. Instead, many travelers have come away seeing the city's new image as overly militaristic.

Exports: Lumber, spices
Imports: Salt, gems, food
Resources: Military trainers, medical, mundane weaponsmiths

[Grinner]

Nicely done. Its history is interesting, informative, and gives a few plot hooks to boot.

I'm curious, though. What is the reasoning behind the gem importation?

[JusticeZero]

Item creation.
Psionic powers are consistently fluffed as being associated with either ectoplasm (temporary, quasi-real matter), the body (tattoos, psychometabolism) or crystals. As such, making psionic items requires incorporating/altering either living matter or crystalline matter - for temporary stuff like dorjes or powder for guns, salt crystals are fine; more permanent items require more durable crystal like quartz or other gems. This includes military use as well as low powered utility items where appropriate. There is no local source of these, and even though they don't have access to especially powerful items, there is a demand for what can be made. The need to make difficult craft checks to make them (the mastercrafter isn't epic, just specialised) wrecks a lot of the attempts, and so the office of the City mastercrafter needs a constant supply to keep the Major's demand for items to support the city forces fed.

[JusticeZero]

..making psionic items requires incorporating/altering either living matter or crystalline matter..
This, by the way, is why the Girdwood is still toxic to anything with a normal animal/humanoid mind and the Burnside is now clean. The Burnside was planted with wildflowers which absorb the energy, but the energy goes away when the flowers die. Several plantings with weeds followed in the fall by burning everything bare dissipated even the energy stuck in crystals in the soil. Trees, however, live for a long time.

[Geordnet]

Narrow walls would also make retreat hard to do for the defenders though. And couldn't a lot of the siege be set up under the cover of the shield? Part of the issue is the need to support the existence of a lot of armed female forces. They should have a melee component.
The problem with falling back can be solved by putting fewer troops on the walls than one would for a stone wall, and placing ladders on the inward side every 20 meters or so.

Basically, the idea is that you don't even try to make the walls a solid line of defense like they are in stone castles. It's a lost cause; funneling resources into that meat grinder will at best result in a war of attrition, which favors the besieger.

Instead, you turn the wall into a death trap. Let the attacker climb them if they want, that's what the defender wants him to do! There's no cover on the inward side of the wall, and it's not possible to use a shield at the same time as the ladders which are the only ways up or down. The narrow walkways create congestion wherever multiple enemy ladders are on the wall. The net effect is to make the ramparts a shooting gallery for a reserve force of archers on the inside of the wall, maybe even on a second wall.

That is how one counters enemies storming the ramparts with ladders. Not by trying to fight the enemy on his own terms, (melee on the ramparts) but by changing the rules and turning what was once a good idea into a bad one.


Ladders aren't the be-all and end-all of siege warfare, though. You mentioned shields, and they would certainly be a staple, but they aren't perfect. Solid wood shields are heavy and unwieldy, especially if they are big enough to provide full cover. Lighter shields can be made of hides and wicker, which is better than nothing (and on such small margins often lies the difference between life and death) and would probably see very widespread use despite being useless against crossbows.

That only gets the troops to the wall, though. Tackling the wall itself is another matter. As creating the breach is the most difficult part of storming walls, this is where magic will be the most useful. Any spell which could make a hole will be held in reserve for this moment; I leave it to you to figure out what spells would be the best, but I'd reccomend taking a good look at the low-level spells like Hold Portal, Knock, Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, and Shatter. (Fog Cloud in particular would be most useful if cast on the ramparts, where it can blind the archers there.)

Short of magic, the attacker's best option is probably catapults. The soft ground can be accounted for by building a platform from logs, then unpacking the siege weapon on top of that.


Only once the walls have been breached does the defender have need of melee troops. They'd be on the ground, behind the walls, held in reserve until they are needed to plug a breach -wherever and whenever it appears.

[JusticeZero]

Any spell which could make a hole will be held in reserve for this moment; I leave it to you to figure out what spells would be the best, but I'd reccomend taking a good look at the low-level spells like Hold Portal, Knock, Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, and Shatter. (Fog Cloud in particular would be most useful if cast on the ramparts, where it can blind the archers there.)As noted, exactly zero of those are available anywhere in the campaign world, and the PCs are no exception.
All I can see that would be realistically available and relevant would be Control Air (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/c/control-air), *possibly* Localized Windstorm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/l/localized-windstorm) if there's a near-epic-powered specialist on hand, which isn't really the norm. I'm not sure where you're going with Breach (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/b/breach) or Psionic Lock (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psionic-lock) if things are happening in a mostly open space.

Catapults on a slowly built platform seem like they might be just begging to get torn into by Shroud-type (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/marksman/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/shroud) Markspeople (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/marksman) for one, though.

[JusticeZero]

I also recall that it's not that hard to do construction IN the river, for the reason that a level 1 Aegis can breathe in water and swim at normal move and have a point left over.

[JusticeZero]

Put up a recruitment thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283018)
Next, we're headed to a village for resource extraction. What are some geological resources that one might find in a swamp or moor on a delta, and what are some resources that one would NOT find in such a place?

[Grinner]

Herbs, wood, bog iron, fish. Can't think of any others at the moment.

I don't think you would find many mineral deposits like quartz, but I could be wrong.

[JusticeZero]

Good reedy/wickery stuff, maybe.

There have been a few bits of "wicker plate" material mentioned that is treated heavy woody plant material (like wicker or heavy heavy reeds) in layered intermeshed woven plates. Bulky and stiff and not as tough as steel, but affordable and decently sturdy. Good enough to make a breastplate to add to other light armor out of (and make a suit of Wooden armor, which was given to the gunslinger), or a shield. Lighter than wood, but it has to be a bit thicker for similar protection, so it's a wash in the end.

Usable for walls, too. Since it's hot, walls need to be either light and airy, or massive and stony - and unstable ground wrecks brick buildings. People still spend most of the day never setting foot inside, since the front porch lets you get a cooling breeze and shade. That said, most buildings are more like advanced evolutions of thatched roof huts than brick and mortar structures. The walls are lightweight, made of light and flexible wood strips, reeds, grasses, clay, and cement, supporting roofs of thatch. While this is primitive in ways, the weaving techniques and the cements have been improved over time. Nowadays, modern weaving techniques and quality lime cements allow for elaborate swooping shapes and arching thatch or concrete awnings beneath which the residents spend their time during a hot summer day.

[Geordnet]

As noted, exactly zero of those are available anywhere in the campaign world, and the PCs are no exception.
All I can see that would be realistically available and relevant would be Control Air (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/c/control-air), *possibly* Localized Windstorm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/l/localized-windstorm) if there's a near-epic-powered specialist on hand, which isn't really the norm. I'm not sure where you're going with Breach (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/b/breach) or Psionic Lock (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/p/psionic-lock) if things are happening in a mostly open space.
Oh, sorry I was thinking in general terms, instead of looking at the specifics of the setting.

While there is a lot of open space in a siege, everything that happens focuses on the wall. The wall is everything to the siege. Once the attacker breaches it, it's usually all over for the defenders (trying to hold the city will turn it into a ruin, abandoning it delivers it to the foe; the defenders lose either way).

Taking any objective by storm is a three-step process:

Approach

The attack must reach the objective. The defenders will do everything in their power to make this as costly for the attacker as possible. Man-made hazards, skirmishing, delaying tactics, and interdiction methods are common.

Penetration

The attackers must breach the perimeter defense. This is the line that the defenders are trying to hold. Nigh-universally, the defenders are reliably able to inflict far more losses than they receive holding this position. When the defenders have the advantage of a fortified position, this is often the most difficult task for the attacker. Usually, the attacker attempts penetration at several locations at once, keeping a reserve ready to reinforce wherever his forces are most successful. The defender, too, has reserves which are committed wherever they are most needed.

Follow-through

Once the breach has been made, the attacker must push as hard, as fast, and as deep as he can through it. The goal is to expand the breach faster than the defender can route forces to contain it. If he accomplishes this, the position becomes untenable and the defender must withdraw or suffer unacceptably high casualty rates. If the defender can halt the advance, he can turn the breach into a bloodbath that costs the attacker far more than it's worth. A famous example of this is the Battle of Kursk, which saw the end of the German advance, and the beginning of the Soviets'.



It's usually a bit more complicated than this, as good defenders have multiple defensive lines, and the follow-through from one line blends into the approach for the next, but it's hard to get any simpler than a city wall.

During the approach is where "magic" (by which I include psionics and all other supernatural things) will see it's first use, in providing cover for the troops. The first thing to do is to saturate the area where ranged defenders are standing with smoke (or fog, mist, or whatever). This is better for the attacker than putting smoke around the advancing army since his troops still can see what they're doing, and the defenders can't even shoot at the general area the attackers are in. The defenders will of course also use magic/psionics to try to counter this, probably in the form of increased winds (although that hurts their archers' aim). The defenders will also do whatever they can to slow down the attackers, such as making the ground harder to cross, so that the archers can shoot at them longer. In terms of mundane equipment, the attackers will use large shields as much as they can.

For breaching, magic comes into play yet again. A +10 DC to breaking down the gate makes it practically impenetrable, and of course magic/psionics will replace/supplement the battering ram. If magic can soften the foundations of a palisade enough that it could be feasibly pushed over, that will be tried too. Any competent attacker will use every tool available to him to get through the wall. (Unless he's deliberately keeping some in reserve (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0454.html).) Even in cases where the wall proper was breached from a distance, the defenders will have had time to set up some sort of obstacle during the advance, such as a "living wall" of spearmen. This is the only case in which you are likely to see spells/powers used to directly attack enemy troops; magic is just too useful to be wasted on something a mundane soldier can do (even if they can do it 10x better, it's easier to get 10 more soldiers). In this case, it would be AoE that would be needed.

The follow-through is probably the simplest and most straightforward part of the battle. This is where the defender needs his melee troops, to counter those pouring through the breach. But if the battle gets this far, it's probably lost already. At this point the defenders should seriously start to think about the values of fighting to the last man vs. surrendering. If magic was unable to prevent things from progressing this far, the only potential it really has left is in escape. Although, as always, a general who willingly abandons his men will lose so much respect that he will never be as good of a general again, for men will be less willing to follow him.



Catapults on a slowly built platform seem like they might be just begging to get torn into by Shroud-type (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/marksman/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/shroud) Markspeople (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/marksman) for one, though.
A workable idea, but not at level < 6. :smalltongue: 20 minutes of invisibility in 30-second bursts isn't going to cut it; he'll need to spend a few minutes physically working on a catapult to sabotage it unless he has a bomb. Even then there would be so many people around (whom deliberately remove good hiding spots) that it's a statistical certainty that someone would see him blink in/out of visibility before he could reach the catapults. And catapults are long ranged enough that he'd run out of invisibility well before getting back, so it's a suicide mission at best.

Besides, building the platform is fast. Manufacture the parts elsewhere, pack them on mules, and you can assemble them on-site in a matter of hours. Less, if you're well-drilled.

[Johnny.JJ]

The concept of this setting is certainly interesting, as the design revolves around an idea of you own.


Usable for walls, too. Since it's hot, walls need to be either light and airy, or massive and stony - and unstable ground wrecks brick buildings. People still spend most of the day never setting foot inside, since the front porch lets you get a cooling breeze and shade. That said, most buildings are more like advanced evolutions of thatched roof huts than brick and mortar structures. The walls are lightweight, made of light and flexible wood strips, reeds, grasses, clay, and cement, supporting roofs of thatch. While this is primitive in ways, the weaving techniques and the cements have been improved over time. Nowadays, modern weaving techniques and quality lime cements allow for elaborate swooping shapes and arching thatch or concrete awnings beneath which the residents spend their time during a hot summer day.
So, how about an illustration?

- - -

Let me ask you another question, from the perspective of sociology: how does this society maintain itself together? I mean, with all that psionics available (even in the milder forms), and with every other punk knowing what the other people are thinking, such a situation may lead to a reduction of privacy, private spaces, unspoken thoughts ... and mayhaps to paranoia, blunt honesty, and/or a world wrapped in Tourette syndrome. Have you though about this?

[JusticeZero]

The psionics rules really don't have more P6-available mind reading than a campaign with a lot of wizards and sorcerers and bards. So it's not exactly 'everybody knows what everyone else is thinking'. I mean, what are the cultural consequences of the Charm Person spell? The Telepath version is only 1 hour/level, and a specialist power rather than general issue. The stuff wizards get is actually more invasive and effective.

[JusticeZero]

Let's talk "Item trade". Cities have craftspeople in them. Some of those crafters work in crystal or tattooing, making items. It's lucrative work, but it's expensive to get started in because of how much time it takes to first learn how to make good enough crystals out of stuff like epsom or alum, then to learn how to work the crystal to the point of being able to imprint them with psychic power. If you turn out to have the knack, you might get a scholarship, but you haven't got much control of that. The test at least is easy enough, "Here's a gadget like a pistol or a small motor. Make it do something."

Back in the day, Mesa Verde's craftspeople built a number of crystal altars able to communicate with one central room. In that room, a few psions relay messages from each altar to other altars as needed. These altars are built using at-will limited Correspond (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/c/correspond) and is similar to an at-will Sending with a fixed target.

Some messages are diplomatic, of course, but an adventurer in good standing with the city can certainly slip a trade request into City business. Many of the messages sent are relatively mundane; the system is similar to a telegraph in effectiveness, with city control of access. There is usually a small fee. Mesa Verde has a board of standing requests, and for a cut, they are happy to check over the board and broker a specific trade. The items requested might not be available, of course, and one is left with the question of how to deliver the thing..

Since the economy has gone south, the fee isn't actually payable in the normal sense. There has always been ways to waive the fee through graft or favors. Alas, right now that is essentially the ONLY way to pay. You will need to make some "donations". The altar network is essentially the only service that any of the cities receive from the capital according to many; to renounce this small bit of fealty might cut them off from this valuable trade network. There has been talk among crafters and gunslingers - just how hard would it be to spread the network out? It hasn't been accomplished yet, though.

[JusticeZero]

Mesa Verde
("May-za Vairge")

Ourabaj
("OO-rah-bye")

At the end of the LeSette lies a harbor city. Mesa Verde was the first of the cities, the largest and the best developed, the center of civilization. Mesa Verde is the gateway between the bounties of the ocean and the river. Oceangoing boats from the islands dock every day to sell their cargoes of fish and salts, and other merchants arrive every day seeking bargains on fish, salt, and crystal to raft up the river.

The river has been dredged and straightened where it passes through the city, and numerous boats on lines ferry passengers back and forth between the East and West sides of the river. This attention to the course of the river has interrupted the usual flooding cycle of the LeSette near Mesa Verde, and as a result, the swamps surrounding the city have receded; the city is now located on built up land at the end of a spit.

There is some fear by some that one day, the LeSette River might change course, leaving Mesa Verde a disconnected backwater lacking its economic significance. A large enough ditch dug in the right place in the swamp upstream at the right time would probably do it, and Mesa Verde extends its military forces scouting and maintaining the river to make sure this does not happen. Still, the swamp is large..

Many budding mentalists train as Aegis and come to Mesa Verde to work in construction, where their ability to create amphibious armor is valued with lucrative employment. Beneath the water, they clean and reinforce the city above, digging and building a second, underwater city, sometimes called "Ourabaj" (OO-ra-bye) in their spare time, continuing the work started over a century ago. Ourabaj itself is a trade gateway for the metals mined from the underwater city of Oura Dacej ("OO-ra da-sAY") to the west. There is perhaps a bit of tension between Ourabaj and Mesa Verde on occasion when the water is polluted or demands become strained; Mesa Verde actually has a sewer system of sorts as a result, a tunnel which pumps the waste to a point well out to sea.

Large stones from the islands surround the city, breaking up storms, while large portions of the city have slowly sunk into the water, becoming a Venice-like maze of canals that used to be streets. The sidewalks are lined in the same green shale and crushed seashell paving that the city was built with, on which buildings are raised. The city of today is built on the roofs of the buildings of before, which are flooded to various extents. As the city began to sink, buildings were heavily bricked and cemented to reinforce them along their original wall plans, then abandoned to the sea to be used as the foundation for the new city. Some buildings that were formerly multiple floor are now simply one or two floors lessened, with bricked up stairwells leading down into abandoned and flooded levels which have now become parts of Ourabaj, though many are simply unused.

Mesa Verde has long been the most powerful of cities, the most influential and best developed. For decades, it was the merchants of Mesa Verde who helped to maintain the value of the Verdas, the fiat coin which became popular when the gold market was stricken with fluctuations following the discovery of gold in what is now Oura Dacej. It has the most art, the most theater, and the best restaurants.

Alas, those days are waning. The value of the Verdas has collapsed, and attempts to pay the debts in more Verdas have obliterated the coin of the realm. Many of the talented artists in the city have taken to trading for things in art - but art is unique and not easily measured. Many fine restaurants and art galleries have taken to paying their bills with coupons for their own goods, lending some minor stability to the economy as these coupons may be traded back and forth several times before being redeemed.

Major Junar ("Mayor Yunar") has taken a special interest of late in grooming his three children in the ways of leadership, but he has not yet been seen to have a favorite of the three, and most observers view him as healthy and vital and not needing to worry about such things yet. This has left some confusion among some political observers. Some worry that the Patrones that advise the office of the Major are riddled with corruption and graft, having lost much of their fortunes in the aftermath of the war.

Ourabaj is generally democratic, and run as one monolithic labor union. This causes various frustration with the powers above, but "If you don't like it, come down and do something about it" is a pretty convincing argument from people who have unlimited access to the foundations of your buildings and who can breathe water and swim faster than you can run.

[JusticeZero]

Social class

There are several classes of people, with which the combat classes are often associated. At the bottom is the common class of workers and peasants, followed by the military, and the upper, educated class. Aside is the temple class, who reside in hospitals.

Commoners: Some adventurers come from the peasantry and common people.

Aegis: Warriors who train to manifest a skin or armor of psychic force around themself, which has various adjustable powers. Having formed an idealized skin around themself to enhance their ability, they step into battle as a full warrior.

These are important in this world because of the role they have in the economy. Among the abilities that an Aegis can use is the ability to swim as fast as they can run and to breathe water. There is no time limit on this.
The city of Mesa Verde, nominally the capital, has been slowly sinking beneath the ocean. The ground floor of buildings have been reinforced as the city has transformed itself into something similar to Venice. The laborers, Aegis all, organized and built the city of Oura Dacej beneath the water, creating a powerful labor union. Then, they discovered gold offshore along the coast and built a second underwater city, all populated by men and women laborers in idealized psychic skins. One of the islands serves these people when they need to come above water for a long while, such as when raising a family of children who have yet to learn how to create their armor. All of the variants are represented here.

Barbarian: Warriors who channel their emotions into enhancing their abilities. Some variants refer to primitive cultures; these are not appropriate. Any of the rest though are fine.

Ranger: Only the Skirmisher variant (which has no spells) is available; an expert of the wilderness, a survivalist or hermit who relies on being in tune with the wilderness.

Rogue: A spy, thief, or assassin without substantial mental powers.

Soulknife: A warrior who, much in the way of the Aegis, imagines and manifests an idealized weapon with force of will. A child plays in the woods, imagining themselves as a warrior and battling imaginary foes. Over time, their imaginary sword seems to gain weight in their hand as the blade becomes more of an extension of their will. In time, as their will focuses, their weapon becomes manifest. A similar process creates the Aegis, though that training is often more formal.

Wilder: A Wilder is much like a Barbarian with the focus shifted from combat to the surging of the energy in their mind and body. A wilder is borne of someone with a potentially powerful mind combined with turmoil; they learn to power their psychic power through the rushing emotions coursing through them. This often happens when someone has a powerful psychic potential which is unnoticed, and festers. During their tumultuous adolescent years, their raging emotions may sometimes swell into uncontrolled outbursts of psychic power. If they are not trained soon, the tree of their power is forever bent, and their powers become wild and unpredictable. An untrained Wilder can be a danger to all around them, and many Wilders run away and isolate themselves as they struggle to command their powers, having sown tragedy, horror, or embarrassment in the wake of their accidental outbursts of power.

Military:

Fighter: A basic battle-ready expert in combat. Fighters are found anywhere that people trained in battle are.

Marksman: Experts in ranged weapons and trick shots, a Marksman has learned to psychically command ranged weapons. An excellent shot calms their mind and their minds eye follows the projectile to the target. The Marksman’s mind can empower and enhance their shots. Marksmen spring from the gifted target shooters trained in each city. The forces of the city welcome anyone dedicated to putting in the time shooting many times at targets to develop these skills.

Gunslinger: Expert at channeling psychic energy into machines built for that purpose, the Gunslinger is known for their skill with psychic items and their ability to build and use the guns that they are famed for. (Gunslingers have the crafting skills of an Artificer grafted onto them. They are excellent at UMD.) As crafters, their services are often in demand by cities.

Tactician: Generals and commanders of women and men. Tacticians are leaders whose mind spreads across their charges, spurring them to greater heights. These are natural leaders whose talents have been awakened through special training pioneered in the academies, through special training programs devised by psions to strengthen leaders. These training programs can be expensive, raising money for the academies; generals, tycoons, and the like, however, gladly pay to enhance their middle management. Some learn techniques of the healer or the dread.

Clergy:

The Revelation teaches that God was once lost and confused, and transformed itself into the universe to mutely observe and learn to better discover who it is and should be. (This is a form of Pandeism.) Various factions with their own addenda to the core writings of the revelation sprang up, and a council has been formed to explore the various books in existence to seek to create a unified book of the Revelation. However, politics and disagreement have been an issue, with interfaith strife simmering below the surface. The basic precepts of the Revelation is simply that people should strive to be a good role model for the universe for when it develops, but various more mystical or fantastical and complex interpretations have appeared.

Monks’ training and research into in meditative techniques has been of great use to the Dreads and to the Vitalists in their mastery of their skills. There is some crossover with the educated Psions, but the focus to their meditation differs enough that their techniques have diverged.

Dread: The world is an unkind and terrifying place, and many people have been traumatized by their experiences. There is a way out though; many of those who have been traumatized by fear have awakened their psychic powers through it. Their psychically empowered self suddenly blooms as the revelation fills them, encompassing the terror they feel and taking command of the fear. Their psychic scars are healed, and they bloom, no longer as a victim of fear and terror but as its master. Dreads come from all walks of life, and many Dreads seek out victims of violence or abuse, helping to heal them through mastering their fears as they have.

Add: Knowledge: Religion and Perform.


Monk: Martial artists whose psychic powers spring from tranquility. Monks are brought up in temples which seek to learn more about the nature of the universe. In the silence of the mind they seek inspiration, and in doing so, their almost precognitive skills assist them in those cases where they chose to be forceful.

This ties in with religion.

Changes: Monks are able to use any simple or martial weapon, and have full BAB progression with all of them. Any weapon is a “Monk weapon”. Monks receive Knowledge: Planes.

Ninja: A monk who has turned to the arts of the spy for whatever reason. They do not use oriental weaponry and lack any oriental feel.

Add Knowledge: Religion.

Vitalist: Much as the Dread is shaped by horror, the Vitalist is shaped and forged in pain. Blood, bones, and screaming pain of themself or others echo within the mind of the Vitalist, and their minds learn to command this pain. Vitalists channel the forces of pain, of injury, of disease, and become its master. Some Vitalists are forged through rising like a phoenix from the pain of horrific injury, and others are forged through the sheer helplessness of seeing the shattered bodies of those around them. These healers work alongside more mundane students of healing and medicine in hospitals in each city; all healers are welcome in any hospital, and never want for a roof and a hot meal. Hospitals receive support from a variety of sources, and hold surprising political power; no city wishes to face the spectre of a hospital closing its doors.

While there are many Menders who focus on healing others around them, those borne of solitary misery may become vampiric Sadists. Those springing from plague or sickness become Miasmists able to give sickness and nausea to others. The cruel can become Life Leeches, shuffling pain and misery between friend and foe.

Add Knowledge: Religion.

Educated Class: Upper class privileged people able to spend their time in contemplation and learning in many ways, the academies are paid well by cities and industry for their training and knowledge. For their advances, they are exempt from many of the responsibilities of lesser people.

Psion: Pure masters of the powers of the mind. Psions spring from the educated class primarily, trained from a young age spending long hours in meditation and self reflection to hone and build their psychic abilities. Psions work with cities, or for education, or for whatever else they want; their mastery of the powers of the mind lends them class, and their skills are valued by many.

Psychic Warrior: Some budding Psions have shifted their focus toward the martial; the Psychic Warrior is the result. Valued in military roles, many heroes of childrens tales wield these powers; the hero worship of the tales fills the academies with students of the mind in battle.

Cryptic: Rogues and adventurers, Cryptics have searched for patterns and meaning in the world and this focus has formed their psychic powers. Cryptics are highly skilled manipulators, capable of unmaking things with bolts of disruptive force. Cryptics can be found in the field doing research, or causing trouble.

[JusticeZero]

Back to siege..

Currently, defenses are described as two walls, as noted low; the walls have a couple of heavy trebuchets built into the walls in such a way that they can only be turned in certain arcs; the role of these are to deny the area outside the city from siege weapons.

How would such a city be attacked? Long term blockade tactics?

[JusticeZero]

Religious order: The Virbosine

Since the One is said to be learning of how to remake itself through the memories of the fallen, it would stand to reason that by the spreading of tales of valorous and great behavior, the state of the world shall be improved and the world made great.
The followers of the book of Verbosine take this calling as their own, traveling to the far corners of the land in search of stories of daring and admirable deeds to embellish and spread. In doing, they have become known as holders of lore and spreaders of news. One service by which this order funds its calling is by the delivery of messages from city to city; hired carriers of common mail. The order has chapter houses in every city.

The Virbosine are not an order that has no detractors; the followers of Greyfel sprang up after them, preaching a contrary doctrine: By telling tales of heroism, one also romanticized and immortalized memories of evil, creating lingering fears in the people and poisoning the One. Wherever a tale of heroism is told, often these common contrarians will appear to downplay the tale, trying to render it mundane and dull.

It is likely that either or both orders may have their extreme elements, though most would suggest that creating heroes or deflating the noble are not roles prone to horrible acts.

However, most people may merely lack imagination.

[JusticeZero]

Quinsel
("keen-CHELL" or "keen-NEL", depending whether you're from the East or West)

A city along the inland southern Burnside where the hills meet the sea, now in ruin. This was a great agricultural city, farming in the rocky hillside of the Burnside as it sloped down toward the sea. Numerous villages spread out from the city, linked by roads to the city.

The cleanup of the Burnside made possible the farming of crops once treated as a delicacy on dry soils. These new farmers needed to get their crops to market, and the port city exploded with the new trade.

The wealthy village bosses from the most successful farms were lavishly rewarded with status and fame and power. After Major Cherren was burned by an attacker, he had half of his face tattooed to cover the disfigurement, as well as to have defenses woven onto himself, studying with Cryptics and relying on their help to prevent further danger. Most people were forbidden from being tattooed, but his inner circle of bosses were exempted and followed suit. A tattooed face became a mark of high status, carefully restricted to the elite. The typical tattoo was a shifting pattern created by cryptics; the cost of the work was prohibitive to the common people, and the shifting nature of the tattoo became the standard for authenticity. Over time, though, ways to do the work became better known and more affordable, and even the middle class and moderately well to do could afford to be so marked.

Major Cherren's successor, Aldrejon, greatly expanded the powers of the bosses at their urging. Over the course of years, he greatly expanded their ability to pursue debts; debtors had been able to sell their labor to escape bankruptcy, and now, creditors could demand labor in return for payment. As time went on, the restrictions on this became more and more loose, until some of the bosses descended to the level of hiring criminals to find ways of billing innocent but poor commoners for odd and questionable "services", then pressing them into service when they could not immediately pay, and charging those in their service for their upkeep; in this way, Quinsel's elite became slave owners.

Traders in Mesa Verde appealed to the capital after having seen some of their business partners pressed into service. Restaurants and shopowners were instructed to speak of the horrors of slavery to their customers, raising public ire and outrage which spread across the nation. Moved by public sentiment, Mesa Verde finally demanded, upon the laws of the nation and their power as the capital, that Quinsel place strict limits upon their slave trade and release their slaves.

Major Aldrejon's answer, after consultation with his close circle of slave-owning bosses, was one word long: "No."

The resulting war was long and bloody, ending with all within the walls of Quinsel being destroyed - "Let no stone stand upon another" - and sown with salt. The victory was pyrrhic - the nation bankrupted and alliances strained.

Within the swamps and in shattered villages in the fields remain many people of all ages, marked with dark and crawling tattoos, trying to get by and hide from their legacy.