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Freddrick
2013-08-27, 10:35 PM
History: 186 years ago, Warlord Dolenor, accompanied by his companions, Battle Herald Eri, Grand Alchemist Figaro, and the Watcher, led the armies of Erenon against the hordes of the Lich King of Isteroth. Many soldiers were lost and care had to be taken lest they rise again. As a precaution all deceased are cremated to this day. For days the army fought its way into Isteroth and was eventually confronted by the Lich King himself. The Warlord and his companions fought the Lich King in a battle immortalized by bardsong. At the battles end the Lich King was defeated but his phylactery unable to be found, the Warlord gravely wounded, the Battle Herald lay dead, the Alchemist maimed and the Watcher blinded. Gathering the wounded the army retreated. While passing the Felcrag Peaks the Warlord decreed a great wall to be built from there to the sea to separate their kingdom from the land of the dead creating the Warlord’s Wall. All citizens of Erenon spend time in the military protecting the kingdom, from the threats beyond the wall or within.
With magic never having been taught or used widely in Erenon study into ways to better defend the nation led to the discovery of gunpowder and the use of steam in order to create new tools for the war against the undead. Steamtech, as it came to be called, was developed as a way to enhance soldiers abilities by providing better firepower, protection, and even replace lost limbs.

Current events: 16 (or 18) years ago a star fell from the sky above Erenon leaving a trail of fire in the night sky.
In the last 10 years the trade caravans from the elves have become less and less frequent with none having been seen so far this year.


The falling star was really a spacecraft carrying a being called Izuun. It has the ability to modify the form and function of flesh of itself or those that serve it. Izuun has created a neurotoxin to take control of those affected and has developed a necrotoxin capable of dissolving flesh. Anyone born on the day of or a few days after planet fall will be immune to the neurotoxin.

Kingdom: The Kingdom of Erenon is a military state ruled by the Warlord, a title given to the highest ranking person in the military, and the council of advisors, elected or appointed officials whose purpose is to advise the Warlord on civilian aspects in the kingdom.

Schooling for children is provided by the state from ages 6 to 16. At that point citizens can either enlist for 2 years or wait 2 years and then enlist for 3.

The Church contains few true believers today. Most members are petty officials trying to get the churches seat on the council.

Play will start with the players just starting their military service, having just traveled to the closest sign up center where instead of being sent to the wall they are sent east to investigate strange happening close to the border of the elven lands.

Areas:
Kingdom of Erenon (Human Kingdom) Bordered by the Felcrag mountains to the north and Auric mountains to the northwest, the Emerald reaches to the East and the sea to the south and west. This is where the campaign will start.

The Wastes of Isteroth (Undead wasteland) Northwest of Erenon, separated by the Warlords Wall

The Emerald reaches (Elven kingdom) East of Erenon. The Elves of the Emerald reaches are elitist and isolationist. Long before the building of the wall they were first encountered as refugees from the conflict with the undead were fleeing east. They were stopped and forcibly returned to the Elven borders. When the old leaders of Erenon heard tales of these Elves they sent an envoy to request aid in their fight against the Lich King. The envoys were told they needed time to consider the request. It was fifty years before the the Kingdom of Erenon heard a response. Far from the offer of troops Erenon was hoping for, the Elven kingdom stated the undead were not their problem and could offer weapons and tradegoods to help in their battle but that was all. Outraged by the Elves refusal to offer any substantial aid against such a powerful enemy the then King sent Elven envoy back and wrote the Elves off as unwilling to act to help save themselves. However since that date the Elves have sent at least 2 trade caravans to Erenon each year until recently.

The Auric Mountains (Dwarven Kingdom) Located in the mountains to the northeast of Erenon

Rules: Pathfinder; Firearm rules from Ultimate Combat; Mutation, Mecha and Cybernetic rules from D20 Future, Cyberscape and Future Tech.

Wizards would be restricted unless the player has a REALLY good backstory.
Longer lived races would be restricted as the party would all need to be the same age.

New feats:
Craft steamtech arms and armor and craft steamtech wondrous item. These replace their magical counterparts by replacing the caster level requirement with a craft skill requirement. All other aspects remain the same.

Bad Guys: Every 3HD or character level those gifted by Izuun get 3 mutation points to use. Ex: A wolf would get 3 mutation points where a 5th level fighter would get 6.

Should exposure to the toxins allow the players to start gaining mutation points as rewards?

Necrotoxin: Injury DC: 10+CHA mod+1/2HD Initial Damage: d4+cha mod Secondary damage: Limb loss (roll random)

I have decided to drop the necrotoxin and use the rule that has been mentioned on these forums. I will be implementing the option to avoid a critical hit (normal damage would still apply) or killing blow and instead suffer limb loss or other effects.
Limb Loss: 1 Right Hand, 2 Left hand, 3 Right forearm, 4 left forearm, 5 right upper arm, 6 left upper arm, 7 left upper leg, 8 right upper leg, 9 left lower leg, 10 right lower leg, 11 left foot, 12 right foot

I have a few Mecha created, both steamtech and biotech. I can post those if you are interested in them. I am open to suggestions for Pathfinderizing the Mecha Jockey class from D20 Future.

I was considering making the area around the spaceship tainted similar to the shadowlands in the 5 rings campaign setting giving mutation drawbacks instead of generating a taint score.

Mecha

The CR is the level the pilot would need to be in order to earn the mecha.
The number in () is the number of slits that item takes up in the mecha.

Soldier: CR10 The Soldier is the front line mecha used by Erenon against the undead armies. It is styled after the heavily armored knights of yore.
Large Mecha
7 slots
Height: 8ft
Weight: 500lb
Bonus HP: 100
Str Bonus: +12
Face/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Speed: 25ft
Superstructure: Alimisteel - Hardness 10
Armor: Alumisteel- +5 equipment bonus -6 armor check penalty
Equipment: Cockpit (2), Bulwark Shield (1) (+4 shield bonus), Flamer (1)30 ft cone 4D6 fire {5 uses} Ref DC13 for 1/2, Steam Mace (1) 3d6 melee +2d6 fire, Str Booster +4 (1)

Marksman: CR10 The Marksman is the ranged mecha used by Erenon. It is styled after a heavily armored rifleman of the military. The rifle used is an over-sized version of the standard issue misket. Due to its larger size it is able to support a revolver mechanism sized to match the rifle.
Large Mecha
7 slots
Height: 8ft
Weight: 500lb
HP: 100
Str Bonus: +8
Dex Bonus: +2
Face/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Speed: 25ft
Superstructure: Alimisteel - Hardness 10
Armor: Alumisteel- +5 equipment bonus -6 armor check penalty
Equipment: Cockpit (2), Oracle Targeting System (1) (+1 enhancement to hit), Warpath Rifle (1) 8d6 40ft range {5 shots}, Flamer (1) 30 ft cone 4D6 fire {5 uses} Ref DC13, Dex Booster+2 (1)

BioMecha CR14 These are the vat grown creations of Izuun. Each one is custom built for its pilot with a specific mission in mind.
Large Mecha
7 slots
Height: 8ft
Weight: 500lb
HP: 100
Str Bonus: +8
Face/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Speed: 30ft
Superstructure: Duralloy - Hardness 15
Armor: Resilium- +6 equipment bonus -5 armor check penalty
Equipment: Cockpit (2), Class 1 sensor (1) (30 ft Darkvision, +1 perception checks), Life Support (1) (Immune to inhaled poisons and extreme environments)
Pick 3 additional points:
Stealth Suite (1) +10 hide
Claws (1) 2d8
Armor plating (1) +4 armor bonus
Wings (1) 60 ft, poor
Dex Booster +2 (1)
Speed Booster +10ft (2)
Str Booster +8 (2)



Let me know what you think and any suggestions to enhance the world would be appreciated.

Edit: update Elven kingdom info

Thanks
-Freddrick

Alexkubel
2013-08-28, 06:21 AM
Very nice will we be seeing steam turbines? Triple or greater expansion engines fissionable heat source, or even fusion heat source, all have their place, the first gives the rise of mass electric generation and an alternative to pistons, the expansion engines allow for larger ships and therefor mechs to be built, finnionable of fusion heat sources give large amounts of heat for less materials

If three of the bone exist mechs can be a practical war unit, modern society lacks 1, the heat source

Freddrick
2013-08-31, 01:12 PM
With so many views I hope no news is good news and you are liking what you are seeing.

@Alex: I was using steam power, not electricity, kind of like the old steam locomotives. It may not be scientifically accurate but that is what suspension of disbelief is for.

I will start updating my first post with the Mecha and other info to keep building the world.

Alexkubel
2013-08-31, 01:20 PM
hmmm, so we're looking at hydraulics? that Eliminates the tubines

my group doesn't play as strong or hard to kill characters they're just good, we use a custom system that rewards skill more then constitution, they also have the want to take apart every device to see how it works, this is the problem, suspension of disbelief don't work on people who do engineering, physicists, s yea, I need to know how things work so I can actually use the setting.

Freddrick
2013-08-31, 05:28 PM
I totally get that Alex. My players don't have the same science mindset as your do and being an engineer I do have the background to make those calls on the fly.

You would be correct, Hydraulics would be providing the power. How much of the technical background would you need?

-Freddrick

Alexkubel
2013-08-31, 06:04 PM
well that's really all I need to know for how to actually make or describe the interior of an mech. so I'd like to see more on the nations.

Freddrick
2013-09-06, 06:59 PM
Updated with the second Erenon Mecha.

-Freddrick

Freddrick
2013-09-14, 08:10 AM
Updated with the BioMecha for Izuun.

Sabeki
2013-09-15, 01:11 PM
So, why is the NE wasteland a wasteland filled with Undead? If there are undead, are there necromancers? Or would a necromancer just be a weird form of biologist?
For the other kingdoms, why are they separated racially? Is there a heavy brand of segregation, like in the American 60s? Or did they just develop that way? And an especially important, what are the three races like culturally?
It's good to have a bunch of war and all, but who exactly are the humans fighting? Are they trying to take back the wasteland? Are they fighting the Elves, the Dwarves, or both?
Just a few questions I felt were important :smallsmile:
Also, I find it funny that so far, both the people posting on this have dwarf avvies. :smallbiggrin:

Freddrick
2013-09-15, 10:49 PM
Thank you for the feedback Sabeki, let me answer your questions (and eventually update the Original Post)

So, why is the NE wasteland a wasteland filled with Undead? If there are undead, are there necromancers? Or would a necromancer just be a weird form of biologist?
This is a plot device I decided on. An epic lich necromancer creating an army of undead to try and dominate the world. He would have lesser necromancers under him. Arcane/divine necromancy does exist in this world, magic is just highly uncommon in Erenon.

For the other kingdoms, why are they separated racially? Is there a heavy brand of segregation, like in the American 60s? Or did they just develop that way? And an especially important, what are the three races like culturally?
Most typical fantasy settings have racial empires that developed separately. I was lazy and copied that. In my mind the races were generic PHB cultures for the races but this can be changed based on your gaming needs. This is easier for me so that is the direction I went.
I do realize the other kingdoms are severally lacking in information and that is something i plan on addressing once the major project I have been assigned to at work has finished so please stay tuned.

Also:
The elven kingdom has been decimated by the assault from the forces of Izuun. There is not much of an elven kingdom left at this point.

It's good to have a bunch of war and all, but who exactly are the humans fighting? Are they trying to take back the wasteland? Are they fighting the Elves, the Dwarves, or both?
Currently they are keeping the undead hordes at bay. Think Israel in the movie World War Z but with troops occasionally going outside the walls to attack troops and commanders in the area once they are pinpointed.
The dwarves would be be a part of a trade agreement where Erenon gets a decent portion of their metal from them.
The elves being fairly isolationist have a non aggression treaty with Erenon and basically leave each other alone.

Just a few questions I felt were important :smallsmile:
Also, I find it funny that so far, both the people posting on this have dwarf avvies. :smallbiggrin:
I appreciate the feedback and Dwarves are awesome. Where else can you find a tavern and a smithy on every corner :smalltongue:

-Freddrick

Sabeki
2013-09-15, 11:01 PM
Thanks for answering my questions! The reason I thought that Necromancers might be biologists was because I saw BioMech and I though, "Yay, BioPunk!"
As for the elves, how did they fall to Izunn so quickly? Was there a cult movement, or was he that powerful?
And my own personal suggestion for elves, in contrast to them being just plain old Earth huggers, make them cunning scientists experimenting with life and creating vast BioMecha, to make a nice foil for Dwarves.

Freddrick
2013-09-17, 06:12 PM
Sabeki,
When you are referencing Izuun or what is happening to the elves can you please bout it in spoilers. I am beign paranoid about my players getting the info.

As for how they fell so quickly, Izuuns spaceship crash-landed in the middle of the kingdom catching them unawares. It has access to biological agents that overwhelmed the elves immune systems and either killed or converted them to its cause.

Thank you for your feedback.. I will take it under advisement.
-Freddrick

Sabeki
2013-09-17, 06:18 PM
Ah, paranoia.

Well, elves: I still think they should make biomecha.

Freddrick
2013-09-27, 08:12 PM
Updated the info on the elven kingdom.