TandemChelipeds
2013-11-30, 01:51 AM
Ok, so I stumbled across this image, and now I kinda want to turn it into a setting: http://th02.deviantart.net/fs32/PRE/f/2008/220/9/3/The_Trench_by_michaelkutsche.jpg
Originally, what I had in mind involved lots of time-travel dickery, but time-travel plots are a pain and it sounded a bit wacky, given the grim tone of the image, so I've decided to opt for something grimmer and darker, following a fairly logical, if pulpy, progression of events. Have some flavour text:
(ironic national anthem, evoking the Ozymandian pride of a fallen empire) (http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DtN9EC3Gy6Nk&start1=&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D 82GoiIMS6Ig&start2=&authorName=)
Gigantic asteroids hit the Earth in the midst of the Great War, obliterating civilization as we know it and throwing the world into chaos. In Europe, feudal lords and the fractious remnants of the church rise out of the ashes, and with them comes the only stability to be found. Industrial engineering is nearly a lost art, and the machines that came with it are cherished relics of a lost age.
Every day, the sons of England fight each other from trench to trench over holdings and livestock, armed with Lee-Enfield rifles and claymores, vested in chainmail and brodie helmets, mounted on horses and the occasional motorbike, breaking sieges with trebuchets and precious artillery fire. All owe their ultimate fealty to the Queen, but beyond that, scant unity is to be found. Their lieges care not for their sacrifice, but greedily eye vulnerable lands and guard their own from the baleful gaze of their contemporaries.
But it gets worse. The asteroids had passengers. Unfriendly passengers, with altogether too many tentacles for comfort. An entire alien ecosystem has the planet in its grip, and with every passing day it sinks its roots a little deeper into our soil. Terrible apex predators stalk the earth, and unspeakable beasts infest the waters of the seas. Some, maddened by the horrors of the new world, have taken to worshiping the visitors as gods. Maybe they're right; the creatures themselves seem utterly unaffected by the human effort to dislodge them.
You are a scavenger living in the heart of the former British empire. Can you maintain a stiff upper lip in the face of armageddon? Can you brave the horrors of another world and the brutality of feudal trench warfare? Can you survive the depredations of depraved cultists and still have time for tea?
I think it's pretty good, as a vague skeleton for a setting, but the devil's in the details. I don't know for sure what to do, on a mechanical level or a fluff level. I'm thinking of running this in a houseruled variant of Pathfinder, but I have a few questions for the community here:
>Big one: Magic or no magic? No magic seems to suit the setting and tone better, but without it how do I handle healing and general game balance? I think I can make magic work, fluffwise, and it should help break up the monotony of such a bleak setting, so I'm leaning towards it at the moment.
>How do I handle currency? British currency didn't use a decimal system until the 1970s, and I really don't want to go through the entire equipment list repricing it. I could implement a Purchase DC system like in d20 Modern, but if I do that, how do I decide on DCs? I think I can unify Purchase and Appraise, though, so I shouldn't have to modify character sheets for it.
>Do I use nonhuman races? I could explain them as mutants if I want, but I don't know if that's something I really want to do.
>Do I use a full level progression, or run it as an E6 game?
>What do you think of this approach to alignment?
Replace the alignment system with the allegiance system from d20 Modern, with the tweak that most allegiances fall under one of four categories: Church, State, Market, or Academic. Each of these categories functions as an alignment in terms of its interactions with the rules: Church as Good, State as Lawful, Market as Chaotic, and Academic as Evil.
Note that these categories don't necessarily match up with the moral and ethical positions they function as; An agent of the church is not necessarily a good person, and a professor is not necessarily evil. Someone with a Church allegiance is simply more likely to be slinging Holy Water around and summoning heavenly beasties, while someone with an Academic allegiance is more likely to have studied the occult, and therefore to willingly enter dealings with "demonic" entities. Also, unlike the alignment system, it's perfectly possible to have allegiances that fall under categories opposite each other.
Two similar allegiances can still fall under different categories; For example, a soldier of the Soviet Union who fights for the motherland has a State allegiance to the USSR, while one who simply adheres to the ideology of Communism has an Academic allegiance to Communism. The latter could conceivably commit treason if they felt that it contributed to the overall realization of global revolution, while the former would be obliged to stop them. And yes, given that this takes place in an alternate timeline that diverges at around late WWI, both of those are feasible characters, though how they ended up in Britain would be a very good question indeed.
Originally, what I had in mind involved lots of time-travel dickery, but time-travel plots are a pain and it sounded a bit wacky, given the grim tone of the image, so I've decided to opt for something grimmer and darker, following a fairly logical, if pulpy, progression of events. Have some flavour text:
(ironic national anthem, evoking the Ozymandian pride of a fallen empire) (http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DtN9EC3Gy6Nk&start1=&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D 82GoiIMS6Ig&start2=&authorName=)
Gigantic asteroids hit the Earth in the midst of the Great War, obliterating civilization as we know it and throwing the world into chaos. In Europe, feudal lords and the fractious remnants of the church rise out of the ashes, and with them comes the only stability to be found. Industrial engineering is nearly a lost art, and the machines that came with it are cherished relics of a lost age.
Every day, the sons of England fight each other from trench to trench over holdings and livestock, armed with Lee-Enfield rifles and claymores, vested in chainmail and brodie helmets, mounted on horses and the occasional motorbike, breaking sieges with trebuchets and precious artillery fire. All owe their ultimate fealty to the Queen, but beyond that, scant unity is to be found. Their lieges care not for their sacrifice, but greedily eye vulnerable lands and guard their own from the baleful gaze of their contemporaries.
But it gets worse. The asteroids had passengers. Unfriendly passengers, with altogether too many tentacles for comfort. An entire alien ecosystem has the planet in its grip, and with every passing day it sinks its roots a little deeper into our soil. Terrible apex predators stalk the earth, and unspeakable beasts infest the waters of the seas. Some, maddened by the horrors of the new world, have taken to worshiping the visitors as gods. Maybe they're right; the creatures themselves seem utterly unaffected by the human effort to dislodge them.
You are a scavenger living in the heart of the former British empire. Can you maintain a stiff upper lip in the face of armageddon? Can you brave the horrors of another world and the brutality of feudal trench warfare? Can you survive the depredations of depraved cultists and still have time for tea?
I think it's pretty good, as a vague skeleton for a setting, but the devil's in the details. I don't know for sure what to do, on a mechanical level or a fluff level. I'm thinking of running this in a houseruled variant of Pathfinder, but I have a few questions for the community here:
>Big one: Magic or no magic? No magic seems to suit the setting and tone better, but without it how do I handle healing and general game balance? I think I can make magic work, fluffwise, and it should help break up the monotony of such a bleak setting, so I'm leaning towards it at the moment.
>How do I handle currency? British currency didn't use a decimal system until the 1970s, and I really don't want to go through the entire equipment list repricing it. I could implement a Purchase DC system like in d20 Modern, but if I do that, how do I decide on DCs? I think I can unify Purchase and Appraise, though, so I shouldn't have to modify character sheets for it.
>Do I use nonhuman races? I could explain them as mutants if I want, but I don't know if that's something I really want to do.
>Do I use a full level progression, or run it as an E6 game?
>What do you think of this approach to alignment?
Replace the alignment system with the allegiance system from d20 Modern, with the tweak that most allegiances fall under one of four categories: Church, State, Market, or Academic. Each of these categories functions as an alignment in terms of its interactions with the rules: Church as Good, State as Lawful, Market as Chaotic, and Academic as Evil.
Note that these categories don't necessarily match up with the moral and ethical positions they function as; An agent of the church is not necessarily a good person, and a professor is not necessarily evil. Someone with a Church allegiance is simply more likely to be slinging Holy Water around and summoning heavenly beasties, while someone with an Academic allegiance is more likely to have studied the occult, and therefore to willingly enter dealings with "demonic" entities. Also, unlike the alignment system, it's perfectly possible to have allegiances that fall under categories opposite each other.
Two similar allegiances can still fall under different categories; For example, a soldier of the Soviet Union who fights for the motherland has a State allegiance to the USSR, while one who simply adheres to the ideology of Communism has an Academic allegiance to Communism. The latter could conceivably commit treason if they felt that it contributed to the overall realization of global revolution, while the former would be obliged to stop them. And yes, given that this takes place in an alternate timeline that diverges at around late WWI, both of those are feasible characters, though how they ended up in Britain would be a very good question indeed.