[3.N] A Return to Exile (Help me finish an ambitious Campaign Setting Project)

[Alent]

http://i.imgur.com/ppKFkhT.png
Exile


ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?



To Revisit Exile

Current Status (1/6/23)
If you should find your way across this, be warned that it is in serious need of updating. I have been working on this in a private wiki off and on over the years, and I will probably purge this thread and start a new one once I'm ready to reveal the work. Additionally, recent questions about the OGL have inspired me to clean break from 3.x, I'd already rewritten so much as to not really be compatible with it anymore, anyway, but now I need to rewrite more just to be safe.

Due to the questions surrounding the OGL and non-SRD based games, I guess I'm going to have to make my own version of the OGL, as I do think a declaration of openness is an important facet of fostering a community.

Forward
Exile is an interesting campaign setting my group's original DM (The Fortress Gnome) came up with years ago. I'm not sure when exactly he came up with it, but the group played a few campaigns in it before I joined the group, and I fell in love with the setting in the first campaign I got to play in it, which was a very fun campaign that ran for six months. Unfortunately, we had a parallel campaign where we were all playing gods creating our own world, and we ended up kidnapping Exile's denizens and destroying the plane from the tip of the highest mountain down to the Tarrasque's magmatic pillow.

Several years have passed since then, we stopped playing for a while, and we got together last year for the holidays and thought it would be great to play again, but the Fortress Gnome's job and school were pretty much demolishing all of his time. I offered to DM a campaign set in Exile's backstory and we nodded and thought that would be awesome. The Fortress Gnome shared with me his entire campaign materials- Several pages of incomplete notes and a handful of ideas. I was surprised to learn the entire world was almost completely made up on the spot. I explained I liked to work with more source material and I started on a Campaign Setting book style collection of the ideas we had encountered in the previous campaigns, and that became the seed for this project.

Shortly after that, real life happened, and the idea fell by the wayside for most of the year. Recently we ended up getting together again and talking about the idea, so I picked it up, dusted it off, and after talking with the Fortress Gnome about it, he revealed how little time he had available to help. After a short discussion, he gave me clearance a month or two ago to bring what I'd been working on here to get help, and so after spending some time to make it more presentable and collect and build more of the project, here I am, trying to fill in the pieces and get some of the homebrew advanced so that I can start play.

What Is Exile?
Exile is a steampunk, post apocalypse, post tippyverse setting wherein a material plane's denizens became so possessed of greed and avarice that they stole without reserve from all the other planes to build their wealth and power. Cursed, sealed, unnamed, and broken, Exile has been ripped free from its original cosmology and tossed aside where it can cause no harm to the gods and planes around it. Occasionally people, factions, even entire races are exiled to the world to suffer along with everyone else.

There is no escape from Exile. Planar travel is impossible, magic has been weakened, there is no afterlife for anyone who lives in Exile. As if this wasn't bad enough, three wardens, who take the form of three moons, rose up from Exile's surface and rotate around the planet once a year, raining death and destruction on their slow and unending journey.

For the residents of Exile to survive, they pile into large walking cities, and constantly flee the wardens' rains. This is how the people of exile have lived in the 800 years since their unnaming, and this is the fate they struggle against.

Inspirations
One of the main inspirations of Exile is old scifi. It turns out the Fortress Gnome and I are both big fans of the oldschool Battlestar Galactica series. Being a big anime fan, I also immediately got some huge Chrome Shelled Regios vibes from it, as well, and some of that has seeped into the remake and my art of the cities. It also has some classic sci-fi nods in it, and you'll even notice a Dark Crystal reference with a funny story behind it.

Thanks
A big thanks to the guys in the gaming group for pitching in to help out these last few weeks as we've tried to get the project towards playable.

Thank you to Giles the Cleric for letting me use her Colors of Chaos Homebrew as an official part of the world and giving me some early feedback. A similar thank you to Steel Mirror for letting me use his 5e Centaur Homebrew.

A thanks to all the people who've put up with and given useful advice relative to this over in the 3.5e section, especially that first thread where everyone told me about fun systems like Incarnum.

And thanks in advance to anyone who helps out.



The Cosmology of Exile
Geo-centrism and what it means

Exile is a Geo-centric world, both the three wardens and the multiple layers of the conceptual realm revolve around it. Because of the great unnaming, Exile is functionally trapped in its own universe, by itself.

There are no other planes.

The Three Wardens
The Three Wardens rotate around exile together, delivering their punishment upon it in a slow, methodical manner. Leading the way is Necra, the “middle sized” moon, which calls all dead creatures on the surface and underworld into undeath. Following Necra is Luna, the largest moon, who rains meteors down, which destroy most of the undead. Behind Luna is Mana, which is the smallest moon, who rains down wild magic.

While this began as a punishment for the children of Exile, who greedily stole from all the gods as mere resources, even the punishment has become a resource.

Necra is the source of negative energy, and necromancers actively study her “natural necromancy” to improve their technique.

Luna's meteors often bring small quantities of rare metals, but more importantly they tend to bring the uncharged crystals we call lunastone.

Mana's wild magic is dangerous, but it infuses many of the lunastones, making them viable as fuel, construction materials, an animation medium, an explosive, and many other clever purposes. Additionally, the wild magic elementals that roam in her wake when separated from her power will eventually become weak enough to study, and occasionally yield new magic formula.

Mysteriously, small points of light can occasionally be seen leaving and approaching all three moons.

The Conceptual Realm
The Conceptual Realm would be easily mistaken for real stars and suns. It is a three dimensional representation of every concept and person on Exile, although most people don't become powerful enough to actually become a light in the night's sky. The conceptual realm itself fluctuates in a way that can be expressed musically, a kind of music that the bards call “Loresong”.

While all bards learn the fundamentals of loresongs, the dedicated study of the Conceptual Realm is commonly known as astrology. The most dedicated bards of the bardic colleges prefer to be known as astrologers, and have identified several key traits in the conceptual realm.

One of the most significant discoveries was that important Geographic features and nations themselves are reflected in the Conceptual realm as constellations. For those who know the constellations, this can be used to navigate Exile and locate walking cities, both.

From collaboration with the Confederation Mining expedition and astrologers it became known that some geographic features in the sky that appear farther away have actually been determined to be underground structures. Most of these structures are too deep reach in a single year, so nobody knows what they actually represent.

From this information and many divinations, it was determined that the three great lights of day that appear to be the farthest lights- the large sun and the two smaller lights that circle each other, are actually the core of Exile. It is believed that the great light is an ancient creature known as the Tarrasque, it is unknown what the two smaller ones are, although the astrologers are fairly confident that they both represent the same creature.

Astrologers suggest that because the surface appears closer than the core, the lights representing the three wardens should actually be somewhere inside Exile itself.

The Material, Concepts, and the Soul
No afterlife awaits the people of Exile, who are made up of three distinct portions.

These portions are the material body on exile, an information concept in the Conceptual Realm, and the soul that links the two. The body is self-evident, their information concept can accurately be described as their mind, while their soul can be described as their essence. If any one of these is destroyed, that part can be restored using the other two.

A person dies a final death when two or more parts are destroyed, such as in old age when both soul and information concept cease to exist.

For someone to be changed by a permanent magical effect, two of these things must be changed, and the third “restored” to correctly reflect the new information. This is often a challenge for even the greatest of wizards, and often times requires a ritual involving at least one wizard and astrologer.

History
The Lost Era
Overview

Exile Began as another world, the name of which was lost to the great unnaming. Little is known about this era, but what is known is that in the location presently known as Mare Luna, two civilizations existed: “The city” and the Elven Forest. The world had begun to wither as a consequence of the people's lack of belief in the gods, and Exile had slowly become a barren wilderness aside from these two areas.

“The City” was ruled by an elite ruling class that consisted of a powerful Wizard's Guild, the Hellhounds, and an extremely corrupt nobility so powerful and removed from civilization that nobody but the most privileged knew they existed. “The City” had grown so large that it could only be sustained by extraplanar materials, and the wizard's guild solved every problem imaginable with magic, so much so that they didn't need gods anymore. The city glowed with the lights of hundreds of thousands of transmutations and conjurations- The magical auras so dense they could not only be seen by the naked eye, but lit the city at night so clearly that the actual lights were mere decorations.

Similarly, the Elven forest basked in the glows of Druidic magic, sustained not by the power of gods, but by the elves' belief in their mastery over nature. Even this power began to fade with the wrath of the gods of nature, and so the elves turned to dark magic of an unknown nature that tampered with the power of life itself.

With the world falling into decay, the people of Exile retreated to these two points of life in a dying world.

The "Unnaming"
The Fall of Exile is one of the most controversial moments in history. Accounts describe the sun vanishing, stars disappearing, the wind ceasing, the oceans suddenly becoming stagnant, the planar gates closing, and all but the most basic magics ceasing to function. Many of these things the people

More troubling, the accounts claim that the most powerful people in the world- archwizards included- simply found themselves without names. No one could recall the name of the world, the city, signs and entire libraries of books became faded and garbled beyond repair. After much deliberation, the archwizards of the day declared that the world and all in it had been wholly unnamed by the gods themselves.

After several days in the dark, with only the light and warmth of fire to live by, points of light began to appear in the sky. Slowly at first, then more rapidly, until finally the sky above the city was covered in brilliant stars. Then, a new sun along with four smaller suns, all dim and cold, rose into the sky over the horizon.

In the days to come one archmage began calling the world “our exile” and the name Exile stuck among the survivors, but the worst was yet to come: before long some of the smaller suns descended to the world, destroying “The city” and desecrating the elven forest. From the ruins of both, the three wardens, the cursed moons Luna, Necra, and Mana, rose into the sky, and began raining storms of undeath, meteors, and wild magic on the surface.

Robbed of their homes the survivors were scattered- surviving any way they could- forced into fear-filled nomadic lifestyles, constantly fleeing the rains.

History- The Era of Change
It is this point that I should sadly note the truth has been lost to history. Each culture tells their own version of this era, always rather idealized, and while the accounts conflict it is without doubt that they are mostly true. Particularly, no one account agrees exactly when the moons began their rains.

Accounts of the Unnaming and Fall
The Wizard Guild's Account

According to the Guild, the rains began to move as the city fell. They shrank their towers down to top hats, evacuated hand on hat to the abandoned and now dry western docks via a collapsing passageway, families, slaves, and other survivors in tow. The docks were on the opposite side of the rains, giving them around a year to permanency grease on the bellies of the largest of the beached Galleons and set sail, mapping out as much of the changing world as they could.

During this era, the guild decided that non-wizards were the reason for the unnaming and wardens, and enslaved everyone aboard that wasn't a guilded wizard or their immediate family. They declared themselves the Arcanist's Meritocracy and moved on.

The Elvish Account

The Elves were not present for the rains themselves. The Oracle validated the doomsday prophecy of a young tarot reader, and so they animated the forest and departed west before the rains began. They are uncertain when the rains began, as they did not personally lay eyes on them for several years.

The Elves were guided by the Oracle during this time, and traveled for years without knowing where anything was. It was only through trade with the Dwarves and Wizards that they acquired maps.

The Gnomish Account

According to the Gnomes, the Rains did not move for several years, giving them a chance to complete Sors Gnom. The gigantic frame of Sors Gnom was a functional prototype when it began moving away from the Lost City. During this time they slowly witnessed the seas recede and become putrid gunk, which opened up land passage ways that eventually led to discovering the remains of the Port City of Maragel, now fifty miles inland.

It wasn't until after the rains began to move that the Gnomes began making walking cities for other people, and they made them in abundance.

The Dwarven Account

The Dwarven account begins in the underground of the Lost City, where according to the Dwarves the rains began before the moons rose, and caused the collapse of their underground halls. They claim to have barely escaped to the surface with the rains fast behind them. The Dwarves desperately strove to keep pace with the rains, and managed to animate large stone golems to carry earthships.

In the months afterwards, they received help from the Gnomes and built their own walking cities, and during this time confirmed the loss of their king.

The Orcish Tradition

The Orcs hold that the rains began east of the Lost City, well before the city's collapse, as the Elven City began to walk. Nearly driven mad with visions and attraction to the forest, they began building wagons to get them as far away from the forest as they could.

The Orcs lost many to the early rains, and blindly fled west as soon as the receding waters allowed.

The Kobold Relief

The strangest account is a Kobold relief found in a cargo cube on the Needirpick. It depicts the Ahriman and Dwarves doing battle with an immensely powerful creature of lava, before being crushed beneath rocks. The survivors fled to the surface, enslaved Gelatinous cubes making tunnels with the Kobolds in tow. The cubes then grew several orders of magnitude, and the survivors entered them departing for the sunset, with three dragons overhead, breathing down fire on the ground.

The Early Walkers

No matter which of these accounts you choose to believe, the walking cities came about in a very short amount of time. The verified facts from there are more reliable.

The Dwarves and the Arcanists collaborated on the early maps, until the map of Exile solidified. It was during this time that the Arcanists, who had been creating their own wind for their ships, noted that the wind, albeit weakened, had returned to Exile after a few years.

Many of the early Gnomish prototype walking cities broke down due to poor materials, stranding the users. Families were split as people fled for whatever help they could come by. During this time that two separate factions, almost as opposite as could be, emerged to aid the survivors. One was the Dôrhini ránë, the wandering elves of the southern desert, long believed extinct by their forest brethren. They openly welcomed all survivors on their pillars of animated sand, accepting the refugees under sacred hospitality. The other was the Needirpick, which became known for repairing or salvaging every broken walking city it came across. The Salvagemasters of the Needirpick were cold and calculating businessmen, servants of their Ahriman masters.

Not all stranded in the wastes of Exile were saved. Some were fortunate enough to save themselves, others perished to the rains.

Before long, a group calling itself the Rust Riders began to sabotage and attempt to destroy many of the early prototypes. When they became powerful enough, they started to slaughter survivors that refused to join them, or even more cruelly left them to die.

Technology Matures

Between the Gnomes of Sors Gnom, the Dwarven Forges, the architects of the Arcanists, and the Salvagemasters of the Needirpick, more reliable materials eventually were discovered. More prototypes were made over the next fifty years, and eventually the four major designs began to establish themselves, with many variations and experimental cities being made as well.

The people of Exile began to more fully adapt during this era. The Artificers and Alchemists began to form Ateliers and the guild system reemerged to keep track of them. People were taught Engineering and Clockwork to better maintain the Walking Cities and the smaller Nomad vehicles. Lost magic formula began to be rediscovered, and Exile truly began to grow again, despite the cursed fate that had befallen it.

The Founding of Maragel

To say Maragel was founded is a bit of a misnomer. Survivors had been hiding in the caves of Maragel in the sixty or so years since the unnaming itself, but it wasn't until the Dwarves, Gnomes, and Arcanists needed a neutral ground to discuss trade that Maragel began as a Trade City. The Gnomes recalled discovering the old port town and had been observing it for several years, noting that the remains were in remarkable condition for having been through the rains.

They began to set up shop and met with the survivors in the Caves beneath the ruins of the old port, who did not trust any of the gathered powers, but with their help established more permanent structures in the mountainside. All parties agreed that it would be neutral to preserve the meeting place, and the locals established their own system of governance. The Confederation left behind an oathsworn clan to help defend it from the undead and wild magic that assailed them during the rains, causing the Arcanists and Gnomes to leave behind their own forces, as well.

The Tripartite Reformation

Two hundred and thirty three years after the Unnaming, the Arcanist Meritocracy's slaves rebelled, refusing to be subservient to the wizards any longer. The rebellion was sudden and caught the Arcanists off guard, as they had not expected their slaves to be capable of resisting the Wizards and Mage Knights.

The Rebellion had chosen their timing perfectly, as the Arcanists had taken to spending most of the year at a place they called the Gyre-coast, on the northern coast of Mare Luna, a place which washed up large quantities of Blackrock, a material they had once sought in the Lost City. That year the Arcanists had been greedy, and had decided to leave themselves even less of a gap than usual, being a mere 20 days ahead of the rains.

No less than twelve simultaneous strikes were required to cripple the Greased Galleon Fleet, and the rebellion managed this with gusto. The rebelling slaves destroyed the kites which pulled the ships and added fuel to the fire by anchoring the ships in place with the Blackrock they had been forced to harvest. Their goal was simple: Equality or death.

The gathered forces in the Rebellion were remarkable- the seven Hellhound Judges and their squires, dozens of Goblin Philosphers capable of divine magic, entire barges full of Loredancers, A multitude of Sorcerers who had failed the rigors of Arcanist Wizard training, and even sympathetic wizards and Artificers joined in. For nineteen bloody days they held the decks of the ships against their Arcanist masters before finally the Arcanists relented and agreed to give them freedom. The ships were rapidly repaired and the Blackrock anchors removed, and they narrowly escaped from the waves of undead that assailed them.

The days to come saw them sign the Reformation Charter, their new governance system, making them the Tripartite Magnocracy.

Unfinished timeline ideas start here!
The Draconic War
(work the epic dragon into the lore somehow. Possibly link it to the below)

The Lunar Invasion
(The discovery of the Lunars, invention of the lunar detection magic and devices, link it into Legion Somehow.)

The War of Grains
(How an attempt to steal Barley Seeds from the Dwarves during an Alefest nearly killed everyone on Exile.)

Moar?
(Tapping out, but this feels too small right now.)

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


System Changes and Adjustments
Goals
My goals for this project are a little frustrating and more ambitious than I first realized. I had originally wanted to do homebrew classes that would have the various subsystems of 3.5 adapted and tailored to Exile, as the world concept suggests "Everything is different!" I had originally thought that would be as simple as "making small adjustments" on most of them, some massive homebrew on a select few like Fighter, Druid, Wizard, etc, and then I started to discover how much work some of my ideas actually were.

I turned to 5th edition recently to see if I could save myself loads of work by switching to 5th, and found I liked most of the elegance, but Bounded Accuracy and the skill system don't fit the world. Seeing most of it as 3.5 compatible, I'm borrowing some of the rules to create what I'm calling 3.Next houserules.

3.Next Deviation spots

These are the places where the campaign deviates from the 3.5 rules, either using a rule from Next, or using a house rule for balance reasons.

BAB and Additional Attacks

A character does not gain iterative attacks based on her BAB. Additional attacks are class features which function as described in 5th Edition, and may be used after moving. Additional Attack Class Features may only be applied to Primary Attacks unless otherwise noted.

Stick and Move

We are using the 5e rules under “Breaking up your move”.

Advantage and Disadvantage

I like the use of Advantage and Disadvantage to reduce in combat math. They are selectively implemented here by the key phrases “Dice Advantage” and “Dice Disadvantage” on the off chance that a class feature or spell of 3.5 imported might have “Advantage” or “Disadvantage” in the wording.

Abilities like Truestrike, Guidance of the Avatar, Glibness, etc. along with select racial features will use A&D as a way to make them more dynamic rather than an automatic win.

Additionally, A&D are negated at a 1:1 rate. You do not lose 3 dice advantage because someone gives you a single disadvantage.

Character Ability Scores (Tentative)

Ability scores are chosen by 3.5e's 25 Point Buy rules.

Additionally, two ability scores of your choice increase by +1 on every even character level.

This is to compensate for the removal of the gear enchants that increase your ability scores by either +2, +4, or +6.

Character Skills

Character skills are based on 3.5, but knowledge skills, crafting skills, and select "theory" skills have been consolidated as follows:


Knowledge (Exile):

This general purpose knowledge skill covers knowledge of Exile, the plane.

This skill takes the place of Dungeoneering, Geography, History, and Nature


Knowledge (Dwarven Confederation, Tripartite Magnocracy, Sors Gnom, Maragel, Walking Forest, Dorhini, Needirpick, Nomadic):

These faction specific knowledge skill covers the details of a faction your character is familiar with, usually their home faction.

These skills take the place of Arcana, Architecture and Engineering, Geography, History, Local, Nature, and Nobility.


Knowledge (Astrology, Philosophy):

These generic skills cover the details of higher theory and the beliefs of Exile.

These skills take the place of Arcana, History, The Planes, Psionics, and Religion.

Profession and crafting skills are consolidated into new or existing feats which now grant their features to each faction knowledge skill. EG: A Fighter with the Craft Arms and Armor feat could make a Kn (Dwarven Confederation) to make any Dwarvencraft Armor or Weapon; or a Wizard with the Profession Alchemist feat may use a Kn (Tripartite Magnocracy) to determine his weekly income.

You begin play with a profession feat of your choice. Additional profession or crafting feats may be purchased with four skill points or be selected as a normal feat at level up.

Diplomacy

The Diplomacy Skill will make use of The Giant'​s Diplomacy Fix.

You cannot make someone fanatic. ​ It just isn't possible. ​ Moreover, I will throw a DMG at you then chase you all over the FLGS with the Foam Banhammer if you try.

Concentration.

As a blanket rule, any spell that has not been rewritten for Exile's 3.N rules that has an ongoing effect other than instantaneous is assumed to require concentration. As in 5th edition, a caster may maintain concentration on a spell and cast another spell that does not require concentration. These mechanics apply to all magic subsystems, including psionics and ley magic.

Concentration is still a concentration check as per 3.5e concentration.

There is one change from 5th edition, and that is that if a spell renders you unable to cast, you are unable to concentrate. (Specifically, polymorph, tenser's transformation, etc.)

Polymorph Effects

Polymorph effects largely follow 3.5e with several balance hacks that I still need to finish writing, but thusfar:

A character polymorphed into a creature via wildshape or other magical effect gains 33% of the creature's hitdice as temporary HP. These HP are lost first. The character reverts into themselves when reduced to or below 0 HP and otherwise follows the normal rules for being reduced below 1 hp.

Polymorph effects may not grant you learned abilities. If you polymorph into a form with flight speed, you must pass a fly check to fly. Fly is a trained only skill and is a cross-class skill for all player characters even if trained.

Cantrips, Orisons, and other 0th level spells

All 0th level spells are infinite resources as per 5th and PF.

Campaign Specific Ban List

The following abilities do not exist for the purposes of Exile:

The Wish line of spells
The Miracle line of spells
Fly, Overland Flight, etc.
Planar Binding
Gate
Summon Monster and its cousins are provisionally banned. This will be revisited during class creation.
Teleport, Teleport Circle, and similar iWin@travel effects.
Polymorph Any Object
Fabricate (Fabricate may be rewritten and restored to the spell list.)


This ban list may be extended at any time for any reason, and it if you're wondering why it exists, it will probably be your fault when it is extended.

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems

Races



Name
Description


The Great Five
Exile's Five Most Prominent Sapient Races


Human
Flawed, yet resilient


Dwarves
Longlived, stout, cat-eyed humanoids with a gift for earthwork


Elves
Ancient people with Ancient ways, the most diverse of Exile's cursed children.


Gnomes
The saviors of Exile, inventors of the walking cities.


Ahriman
The twisted masters of the Needirpick. Not available as a player race.


The Other Races
Races without as many great works to their ancestors' credit.


Centaurs
An adaptation of Steel Mirror's 5e Centaur Homebrew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371224-Centaur-Player-Race-%28PEACH%29)


Gelflings
Half-Gnome, Half-Elf, the underdog that's all heart.


Goblins
The fathers of the philosophical revolution.


Half-Elves
Like Elves, but blessed with the ability to grow beards.


Halflings
A delightful race full of laughter and food.


Kobolds
The Salvagemasters of Exile, there's almost nothing a Kobold can't fix.


Orcs
Proud Nomads cursed to hear the call of one of Exile's Moons


Half-Orcs
Crossbreeds who have an orc's pride and a human's temperament.




Details:

Human
Humans are everywhere on exile, from the Confederation to the Walking Forests. Possessing no nation of their own, they are known for how smoothly they blend in with all nations.

Humans tend to live around 80 to 90 years, although occasionally you run into one who has lived longer due to good fortune, magic, or unusual circumstances. They stand between 5 and 6 feet tall, occasionally being taller or shorter.

Well Rounded. Humans receive +1 to all stats. Additionally, Humans gain +1 HP and +1 to both skill types per level.
Medium Size. Humans receive no natural size modifiers.
Senses. Humans are the bar by which all senses are judged, for reasons lost to time.
Citizenship. Humans receive a bonus language based on which society they were raised in.
Gifted, but imperfect. Humans must take a flaw at first level, gaining a bonus feat.



Homeland
Benefit


Dwarven Confederation
Speak Dwarven as a bonus language.


Tripartite Magnocracy
Gain Goblin Sign Language as a bonus language


Sors Gnom
Gain Gnomish as a bonus language


Needirpick
Gain Draconic as a bonus language


Dorhini, Walking Forest
Gain Elvish as a bonus language


Maragel
Gain Undercommon as a bonus language




Dwarves
Short in stature, strong of arm, Wise with old age, endowed with an iron gut, and blessed with the ale to fill it, Dwarves are one of the most populous races of Exile.

Dwarves typically live to about 330~350 years of age, being considered adults at the age of 30. The tallest stands about 4'6“

Hearty. Dwarves receive +2 con, +1 str and wis.
Medium Size. Dwarves receive no natural size modifiers.
Sturdy Stride. Dwarves move almost as slow as a small creature, but are unaffected by armor and weight penalties.
Senses. A Dwarf possesses catlike eyes which allow them normal, infravision, and darkvision out to 60 feet. (Dwarves are naturally nearsighted, and frequently wear glasses to see distant structures.)
Stonecunning. Dice Advantage on checks relating to stonework, alchemical stonework, ores, and refined metals.
Dwarven Constitution. Dice Advantage on Poison and Alcohol saves, resistant to poison damage.


Elves
Elves are the one of the most mysterious and long lived races of exile. Capable of living more than 1000 years, although most seem to die of circumstances long before reaching such an age. Only two elves on exile are known to be older than 1000 years old.

Elves are close in stature to the size of humans.

Swift and fair. Elves receive +2 dex, +1 int and cha. Additionally, Elves gain an additional physical skill point per level.
Medium Size. Elves receive no natural size modifiers.
Swift Runners. Elves run 5 feet per turn faster than other medium creatures.
Senses. Elves possess sharp but normal vision, and abnormally sharp ears that allow them blindsense 60 ft.
Keen Awareness. Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Search, Spot, and Listen.
Elvish Peculiarities. For reasons lost to the unnaming, Elves don't sleep and can't be put to sleep magically. Instead they meditate, commonly known as "Trancing". They also have dice advantage on saves against magical charm effects.


Gnomes
Gnomes are the saviors of Exile, inventors of the great walking cities, masters of clockwork vehicles, and accordingly act like insufferable know it alls. They are well meaning folk, however, and mean no wrong by it. (Usually)

Nobody understands the Gnomish aging cycle. Some age super fast, some age super slow. Gnomes stand about 2'6" to 3'3".

Bright, but tough: +2 int, +1 dex and con. Gnomes also receive an additional mental skill rank per level.
Small Size: Gnomes receive the size modifiers of a small race.
Fleet underfoot. Gnomes run 5 feet per turn faster than other small creatures.
Senses. Gnomes spend most of their lives indoors and other dimly lit places, researching their chosen trade, and pay attention to the strangest things- They'll overlook an alarm, but the sound of a squeaking gear will wake them. Low Light Vision out to 60 ft, Cogsense 120 Ft.
Magical Theorist. Gnomes receive dice advantage when rolling will saves against arcane magical effects.
Natural Engineers. Gnomes receive dice advantage on any check relating to Clockwork, Traps, and other kinds of engineering.


Centaurs
Centaurs are a rare sight on Exile, for they live as nomads and prefer to associate with either the Elves of the Walking Forest or the Dorhini.

I have some notes on how I'm adapting the Steel Mirror's work to my 3.N rules, but I'll have to update this tomorrow as I'm rushing to get done and I'd like to do right by his work. (I don't mind goofing up on my own, but obviously, other people's work needs better care.) My general pattern for the 5e adaptations has been to merge the two "options" and balance down.


Gelflings
Gelflings are the youngest race of Exile, being the only known race to emerge after the Unnaming. It was created not of the acts of the divine, but rather, of more primal acts. The Elves of the Lost City, small in number as they were, found themselves allying with the gnomes to survive as their brethren of the walking forest would not have them. In time, the alliance strained and the elves decided they would become gnomes to solve the problem. As many a dragon can tell you, polymorph effects do have their limits, and as these “gnomes” interbred with real gnomes, their children were a curious mix of Gnome and Elf, affectionately known as a Gelfling.

Gelflings found themselves outcast for their elven lineage, and their elven parents decided to practice another time honored tradition of dragons: “You're on your own, kid.” Many early Gelflings found themselves segregated by gnomish society, but with time and struggle they found their own place in the world, eventually becoming a race that breeds true.

Gelflings are around 4 to 4'6” tall, and live to around 150~200 years of age.

Swift and tough. +2 dex, +1 con and int. Gelflings also receive an additional mental skill rank per level.
Small Size. Gelflings receive the size modifiers of a small race.
Fleet underfoot. Gelflings run 5 feet per turn faster than other small creatures.
Senses. Gelflings have normal vision and Cogsense out to 60 ft.
Natural Engineers. Gelflings receive dice advantage on any check relating to clockwork, traps, and other kinds of engineering.
Determined Heir. Gelflings receive a bonus feat at first level.

So, one session The Fortress Gnome rolled up a random NPC engineer for us to hire, since he didn't realize my paladin had 6 ranks in Kn(Engineering) and that he could work through me. He rolled an Elf, and kept wanting to switch it to gnome, saying things like “The G..elf tells you…” After it happened several weeks in a row, we finally just declared this was a half-gnome elf. The DM started calling him “Gelf” and being a fan of the Dark Crystal, I suggested he call it a Gelfling.

It stuck, and Gelflings were added to the list of Exile's races.


Goblins
The Goblins of exile are an amazing lot. Betrayed by their gods, enslaved by the wizards they fled the lost city with, tamed of their savage ways and used as fodder for experiments due to their resilience, instead of resenting their masters and gods they chose to question their lives. After some time, the Goblins became the great philosophers of Exile, taking the time to question things no one else thought twice about.

The Goblins rose to become great leaders and clerics. There isn't a leader in Exile that doesn't have the writings of the goblin philosophers on their bookshelves.

Goblins typically live to about 150~225 years of age, being considered adults at the age of 22. The tallest stands about 3'8“

Sagely. +2 wis, +1 cha, +1 dex. Goblins also receive an additional physical skill rank per level.
Small Size. Goblins receive the normal size modifiers of a small race.
Born Runners. Goblins have a base land speed of 30 ft.
Senses. Normal, Infravision.
Sign Language. Goblins invented a form of sign language to communicate with each other without their Arcanist slavers knowing. This language is still taught so that people can understand the great pictorials.
Natural Philosophers. Goblins have dice advantage on knowledge checks relating to history, magic, or philosophy, but not local or architecture/engineering.
Memento Mori. If a goblin's player rolls a natural 1 on a save against a death effect or petrification ability, he may reroll the dice. This ability may only be used once per day.


Half-Elves
Half-Elves are in most ways almost indistinguishable from humans in modern exile. They still have an Elvish appearance, to be sure, but like their human ancestors they lack a true race-faction, and thus fit in where ever they can find a place.

A Half-elf's age depends on how strong his elven lineage is. Most Half-elves only live a few tens of years longer than humans, but those with particularly strong elven blood can live to be almost as old as a pure elf. Half elves that live longer than 300 years are often treated as elves in even the insular elvish society. (And there is one notable half-elf who having passed the thousand year point, is considered an Elf by pretty much everyone but himself.)

Adaptable and Fast. +2 dex, +1 to two stats of choice. Half-elves also receive an additional rank of both physical and mental skills per level.
Medium Size. Half-elves receive no natural size modifiers.
Senses. Half-Elves possess their elven ancestor's vision, but their ears are not as sharp ears and only allow them blindsense to 30 ft.
Keen Awareness. Half-Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Search, Spot, and Listen.
Elvish Peculiarities.Like their Elvish forefathers, Half-elves are immune to the effects of magical sleep, and share their ability to resist charm effects. (dice advantage on saves against charms.) Unlike their Elvish forefathers, they do sleep.
Dwarf-Friend. Half-elves can grow beards. That compensates for their Elvish heritage in the Dwarven view of things.


Halfling
Halflings are a delightful race, full of laughter and food. And food. Did I mention food?

Stats. +2 dex, +1 con and cha. Halflings receive an additional physical skill rank per level.
Small Size. Halflings receive the size modifiers of a small race.
Fleet underfoot. Halflings run 5 feet per turn faster than other small creatures.
Bravery. Halflings receive dice advantage on will saves against magical fear.
Plain and unremarkable. A Halfling's small size and unimposing presence allows them to make hide checks with minimal cover.
No. Halflings are resistant to adventure


Kobolds
The Kobolds of Exile are a fractured, scattered lot of desperate creatures. Some live nomadically, some integrate into the societies of various walking cities, some struggle to defend warrens in the mountains even to this day. Where ever you find them, kobolds are a resilient group of scavengers who are best known for their ability to salvage and weaponize anything.

The Average Kobold lives about 160 years, and stands around 2 to 3 feet tall.

Stats. +2 dex, +1 wis and cha. Kobolds receive an additional physical skill rank per level.
Small Size. Kobolds receive the size modifiers of a small race.
Born Runners. Goblins have a base land speed of 30 ft.
Senses. Normal, Infravision, Low-light Vision 60 ft, Cogsense 60 ft.
Natural Engineers. Kobolds receive dice advantage on any check relating to clockwork, traps, and other kinds of engineering.
Salvage Master. Kobolds receive dice advantage when searching for hidden things, traps, or salvageable materials.


Orcs
Orcs are the most primal of the races of Exile, but don't let that fool you. They're as technologically savvy as any human, with outstanding tinkers that approach even the gnomes. They're truly feared for their necromancers, who openly boast of their ability to steal necra's power as their own.

Orcs live about as long as humans, but mature faster. They stand tall, typically having muscular physiques.

Stats. +2 str, +1 con and cha. Orcs receive an additional physical skill per level.
Medium Size. Orcs receive no natural size modifiers.
Senses. Normal, Scent, Darkvision 120 Ft w/ Light Sensitivity. (Most Orcs wear tinted goggles or Sunglasses.)
Eidolon Roar. Orcs have a more primal connection with the Conceptual Realm than most races, and are able to channel their racial essence as a ghostly visage that gives them dice advantage when intimidating Humanoids, animals, and even intelligent clockwork.
Necra's Call. Orcs have long felt the call of the moon of death, and many fell sway to Necra's call in the early days of Exile. Those that remain resist it with their all, but will gladly make it a weapon. Orcs receive dice advantage when turning/rebuking undead and making rolls to overcome spell resistance when using negative energy attacks. Orcs also count as an unhallowed altar when animating the dead.


Half-Orcs
Half-orcs are a true curiosity of Exile. While considered a true-breeding race with roots leading back to before the unnaming, they often crop up here and there as Orcish nomads are not picky and frequently take human mates during the great alefests. (The alcohol might help with that, but that's one bard's opinion.)

Half-orcs are generally pale skinned, having a lighter skintone than either of their parents as a result of the clash of pigments between, and are slightly smaller than their pure orc ancestors. They otherwise are indistinguishable from orcs.

Stats. +2 str, +1 to two stats of choice. Half-Orcs receive an additional physical and mental skill rank per level.
Medium Size. Half-Orcs receive no natural size modifiers.
Senses. Normal, Scent, Darkvision 60 Ft w/ Light Sensitivity. (They don't need to, but most Half-orcs wear tinted goggles or Sunglasses anyway. It looks cool, yo.)
Eidolon Roar. Half-orcs retain their orcish ancestor's primal connection to the Conceptual Realm, and are able to channel their orcish racial essence as a ghostly visage that gives them dice advantage when intimidating Humanoids, animals, and even intelligent clockwork.
Resilient Spirit. Half-orcs are fortunate to not hear Necra's call, and as a result are able to benefit from the strong will of their orcish forefathers, gaining dice advantage on will saves against magical compulsion and charms.


Classes
Classes are the lion's share of what I'm struggling with. When I began I had the idea of just retuning and rebalancing everything to be closer together while making homebrew classes that used the other subsystems so I could both deeply integrate them into the lore and host them on my group's wiki without angering the wizard guild that lives by the sea. 5th wasn't out yet and the only thing I knew about DSP was "PF Psionics" and the first path of war thread only had 2 pages and I wasn't looking closely enough at it. I hammered out my list of subsystem refluff ideas and started re-learning 3.5 and that's around when life derailed me from the project entirely.

Since then PoW released, Meldshaping and Truenaming were picked up by DSP and turned into Akasha and a different flavor of unpronounceable jibberish respectively, and I've learned there was already an astrology themed Binder remake before I started. This leaves me with a bit of a personal conundrum, as I don't want to recreate the wheel just for the sake of recreating the wheel, but I also don't want to scrap what I already started just to adopt something else that doesn't fit into the world as well without refluffing.

So... I guess I'm just going to try to go as far as I can with what I've got and recreate the wheel for the sake of finishing. I'll make threads for each class over in the regular homebrew section when I'm ready to work on each. I'm working on the Initiators since they're the trickiest, and I'll have the Fighter ready for posting in a day or two, as long as life doesn't try to eat me again.



Extraordinary Classes
Description
Status


Fighter
A revamped Martial Initiator version of the Fighter that emphasizes stances and versatility
Rough Draft


Ranger
A revamped Martial Initiator version of the Ranger that emphasizes multiple Animal Companions and Switch Hitting
Concept


Rogue
A heavily tweaked Martial Initiator version of the Rogue that emphasizes Boosts and Tactics
Concept


Brawler
A Heavily tweaked Martial Initiator Monk that abandoned its Mysticism for Alcohol.
Rough Draft


Steam Knight
A tinkering class that builds Soulmeld like parts out of scraps and powers them with a Bag of Steam
Concept/draft.


Alchemist
A support class who manipulates alchemical formula to create fake magic items for personal or party use.
Concept/draft


Supernatural Classes
Description
Status


Paladin of Redemption
A heavily tweaked Paladin that serves as an impartial (LN) arbiter of the law, with diminished domain casting.
Concept


Cleric
A cleric that caps at 7th level casting, and is restricted to general divine magic and the domains of either a philosophy or goddess
Concept


Loredancer
A loredancer is a full BAB version of the Bard which has reduced loresong abilities, but Brawler unarmed strike and weapon progression.
Concept


Bard
A bard homebrew built around the idea of Loresongs, which function like Truenaming.
Concept


Hellhound
A Psionic Paladin of Freedom built around the idea of the struggle between an orwellian-esque pursuit of the greater good that mind-reading powers enables, and the opposing idea of personal liberty and freedom.
Concept


Druid
A psionic druid revamp that lacks an animal companion, and is built around the idea of preserving the memories and ideas of nature in psicrystals, using the memories to become an animal or conjure an ally temporarily. Spontaneous 7th's casting from a known list of nature circles magic. Druidic also became telepathy rather than its own language.
Concept/rough


Mage Knight
A duskblade/magus inspired spontaneous caster built around the idea of full attacking with at will cantrip blasts channeled through melee or ranged weapons instead of melee only.
Concept/rough


Wizard
A more limited version of wizard built around the idea of fighting against the limits of 5e style concentration through familars and contingency magic.
Concept


Magi'i
"Ley Magic" caster that enhances allies' offensive ability, by GilesTheCleric. Will provide links as soon as I validate which version he wants linked.
Polish stage


Order Mage
"Ley Magic" caster that enhances allies' defensive ability, by GilesTheCleric. Again, link coming soon.
Polish stage


Peregrine
Meldshaper homebrew built around the idea of bonding with a shield instead of a totem to gain defensive perks for the meldshaper and allies.
Concept


Aestus
Meldshaper homebrew built to be an Incarnate minus the odd axiomatic crap that made my brain hurt while reading MoI.
Idea


Artificer
A warlock themed artificer class based around invocations and arcane blasts, who chooses an invocation path.
Concept


Shaman
A Binder inspired class who Binds with the blueprints of the most powerful people unnamed and described in the constellations of the Conceptual realm.
Concept



Ability Subsystems
All ability subsystems are refluffed and modified for adaptation to the world. Here's a summary of the ideas:
Combat Maneuvers
Combat Maneuvers are being approached with the idea of cutting down on some of the redundancy. Where Elder Mountain Hammers invalidated each other, you instead would learn a Mountain Hammer and it scales dice every few ILs the way a scaling spell would.

Additionally, instead of trying to use the different schools as the main differentiation between initiators, I'm trying to give each initiator a way of changing or improving on the maneuver. For example, Fighters have stance benefits that give them tactical options, while Brawlers have monk weapons that let them add on to strikes, and rogues can squeeze tricks out of boosts. Each class has their own recovery mechanism, but most classes don't prepare- they just have.

Steam Parts
Steam Parts are meant to function as effectively mundane Meldshaping. These will include some of the totemist natural attacks, class feature receptacles that enhance weapons, and so on. This I intend to get done very soon, as one of my players really likes the idea of playing Ironman in D&D.

Arcane Magic
I really need help with this one. I'm doing a pretty heavy makeover of Arcane Magic based around two central ideas:
Arcane Magic only goes to 6th's casting.
Aside from a list of general magic, every of the factions have their own "proprietary" magics.

While I know some of the classic Arcane exploits, when I post my lists I'll need help spotting any I've overlooked. Ideally any "OP" spell combos that get left in will be on opposing faction lines.

Concept Manifesting (Psionics)
After spending a year or two on these forums, I'm convinced, Psionics aren't broken. Psionics being OGL, the only reason for the renaming is thematic- Concepts are drawn from either Psi-crystals or the conceptual realm, and manifested by the will of the Hellhound/Druid's mind.

I will be building my own power lists, but that's because of who's doing the manifesting- the druid circles will be taken from classic druidy spells, the hellhound mantles will be taken from paladiny spells and I am going to go through the SRD powers to pull appropriate powers where they fit. Lists will go in each class' post when I get there.

Concept Manifesting is advanced by Divine Caster Level advancing PrCs

Divine Magic
Divine Magic is more or less same ol' same ol'. It caps at 7th level (a nod to 2e), and is largely domain driven.

Loresong (Truenaming)
Loresong is an idea I had shortly after discovering Truenamer, and have actually gone through a few variations of this in homebrew. It's actually farther along than all the others as a result, but it still needs to be sat down, filtered and pruned over. The basic idea is that it splits Bardic magic up into Dances, Songs, and motifs, in the avenue of the different truenaming groups. The Motifs come first, then Dances, then Songs. Unless you're a Loredancer, in which case Dances come first. Inspire Courage and other bardic musics granted as class features are gone, baked into the bardic casting progression as Songs.

I used one of the truenamer fixes I found here, I have to check my notes for which one.

Loresong is advanced by Arcane caster level advancing PrCs

Spirit Binding
The basic idea here is that the strongest people alive during the unnaming left their imprint on the Conceptual Realm as constellations that describe who they were at that moment, and those descriptions can be bound to a soul with Spirit Binding, serving as a natural reskin to Vestige Binding. For the most part, this just needs a list of vestiges, but for the sake of time I may take the PF binder remake and use it directly. Nobody actually wants to play one of these, so this is low on the priority list.

Spirit Binding is advanced by Divine caster level advancing PrCs

Pranashaping (Meldshaping)
MoI seems like such an awesome book, and I want to use it, but it's so convoluted I decided I just needed to rewrite the entire bloody thing for the table. Soulborn is a mess, I don't like the particular implementation of axiomatics, etc. Since the thought, DSP Akashics have come out, and I still have yet to even look at them, although it's on my todo list.

Pranashaping is advanced by Arcane caster level advancing PrCs.

Invocations
Pretty much what it says on the tin.

Invocations are advanced by Arcane caster level advancing PrCs

Ley Magic
Ley Magic taps into the energies in the crust of Exile, and comes in Orderly and Chaotic forms. These two forms each have uses, and the Leylines themselves double as a point of reference for navigating.

Ley Magic is advanced by Divine caster level advancing PrCs.


Feats
(coming soon)

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting

Exile is unlike other 3.5e campaign settings. When the gods sealed it away they rewrote the fundamental laws of nature, and one of the consequences was the nature of both magic and magical items changed. Where once a weapon could be enchanted with multiple enchants, now it is all that an Artificer can do to create a weapon with an enhanced edge with multiple material properties.

People adapt, and many old techniques were approximated by new techniques.

Important Concepts

Lunastones
Lunastones are gems that are found in the meteors that fall from the first of the three moons, Luna. When Mana, the third moon passes overhead, the wild magic vortexes left in it's wake infuse the stones close to the surface with magical energy, and make them chemically volatile.

The stones are the lifeblood of Exile's survivors in more ways than one. Many of the great mechs are powered by the consumption of Lunastones as fuel. Many artificers begin their profession working not with precious jewels and valuable metals, but with the more plentiful lunastones. The warriors of Exile often carry weapons and armor made of or enhanced by the infused stones.

Slotted Items
Some Items on Exile are slotted, allowing them to accept enchanted Crystals which have beneficial effects such as adding elemental damage or other effects which in normal 3.5e would be enchantments on the base item itself.

When a piece of gear with enhancement bonus is crafted, it can have slots added to it as part of the enhancement process. The total bonus of the slotted crystals may not exceed the Enhancement Bonus of the gear piece, for example, a +3 Longsword may have three +1 crystals, a +2 crystal and a +1 crystal, or a +3 crystal.

The notation for a slotted item: +# Masterwork Gear name (number of slots).

For example: +3 Masterwork Ironreed Longsword (1)

The Crystals you've chosen to use should be listed below the weapon or armor on your character sheet. These Crystals may be attached or removed by anybody by using a small ritual that takes half a minute. This is dangerous in combat, so it's probably a good idea to keep a backup weapon with different properties.

Crystals may be made out of Lunastone (lowest quality), flawed gems (Average quality) or pure gems (highest quality)

Crafting Materials List
Materials list needs a ton of work for a variety of reasons, it's mostly posted to denote the additions to the material list, not list everything conclusively. On the To Do list here is to smooth out the wording on everything, come up with per pound pricing for materials, and do hardness by weight. This will also require a recalibration of weapon weights, but the D&D version of how much weapons weigh is on the heavy side, anyway. I also ended up borrowing the PF condition without realizing it, which I'm erring to keep.

[B]Ironreed
The Majority of weapons, tools, and equipment on Exile is made of Ironreed. Ironreed is made from a bamboo like reed which the Artificers of Exile cultivate in their Ateliers. When an order comes in, they accelerate its growth with the Plant Growth Invocation, then quickly Woodshape it, before hardening it with the Ironwood Invocation.

The resulting tool is perfectly formed, resilient, rather cheap, and light.

(Figure out which variant of ironwood/darkwood/etc to use.)

Alchemically Treated Stone
The Dwarves, on the other hand, have their own way of cheaply going about things, and it usually involves the earth. Alchemically Treated Stone is a material created from raw granite, Schist, or other stone and reinforced with Alchemy to create a strong material that lacks the original brittleness of stone.

This process is cheap, affordable, and has more durability, but the resulting material has decreased hardness from normal stone. (It is also rather heavy.)

Lunastone
Lunastone, as mentioned earlier, is cheap, abundant, and magically rich with energy, it often gets used for fuel. When it has had all the magic sucked dry from it, you get Inert Lunastone, one of the Cheapest building materials of all. Easy to shape, easy to form, and easy to enchant, many warriors carry Inert Lunastone weapons as they are more affordable than other weapons and can carry a single enchant.

Unfortunately, they are brittle tools, and Lunastone tools and weapons gain the condition if their user rolls a natural 1. They may be repaired by a craftsman at minimal cost.

Lunastones have the same statistics as Steel items despite their brittleness.

[B]Steel
Adventuring equipment made of steel is rare on exile, owing to the value of raw Iron in Clockwork and walking city construction.

Steel equipment stats are as normal for the time being.

Cold Iron
Owing to the rarity of Iron Ore, mistakes are bound to happen in the refinement process, and that probably best describes Cold Iron. Forged at lower temperatures without the carbonization processes that result in the infusion of trace amounts of lunastone dust in Steel, Cold Iron is less receptive to magical manipulation, which adds to the production time and cost of a piece of equipment.

There is one beneficial use for Cold Iron, and that is as a conceptual weapon against Feyfolk.

Mithral
Mithral is a classic material, but rarely are the Dwarves able to dig deep enough to harvest an appreciable amount of it. It was an expensive wonder material for centuries until an inventive Dwarf discovered a way to collect large quantities of the metal from clay.

Mithral has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 15.

Mithral Ingots are 500 gp/lb

Adamantine
Adamantine is found even deeper than Mithral, and the only supplies of Adamantine are old caches from before the fall. The Dwarves guard these in their greathalls, but occasionally sell them to higher level adventurers aligned to their cause.

Statistics unchanged from 3.5

Blackrock
A mysterious material found on the shores of Mare Luna, evidence suggests this material may once have come from another plane.

(Fill in later)

Patina
A mysterious material used in walking city and mecha construction, very rarely a tool or weapon constructed of it emerges. The Gnomes have the only known supply of it, and they save it for important cities.

Material has been included for completeness, but is only expected to show up at higher level play and as a mcguffin. Low priority.

Enhancement Crystal List

This is mostly the typical enhancements, but adjusted down in price to take into WBL/earnings nerfs. I will flesh this out later once I have the maths more worked out. For now this is the least important part.

Ammunition
Ammunition on exile is not enchanted. Instead, inert lunastone is used as the material for ammo, and that lunastone will take on the properties of the crystals attached to the quiver or holster the arrow, lancet, dart, etc. is stored in after 24 hours.

The Artisan Crafting Process

The various Artisan's Guilds and Ateliers of Exile are the most prominent weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, and toolsmiths of Exile, but you will also find the odd practitioner here and there. Weapon and Armorsmiths follow a very meticulous master and apprentice system, and a simple adventurer does not just walk up and speak to the meister of an established guild.

Purchasing Equipment
As an adventurer starting out, your selections will be based on what you can pull out of the Apprentice castoffs unless you get lucky and find a workshop with an abundance of apprentices. As your notoriety or patronage increases with a given workshop, the greater your odds of being able to commission work from an apprentice. Eventually, as an established regular, you will be able to commission the journeymen. With the appropriate backers and enough renown, you may even attract the interest of one of the Meisters.

Table: What kind of craft to expect access to.


Junk Pile
Apprentice
Veteran Apprentice
Journeyman
Veteran Journeyman
Meister


Normal item
Masterwork Item/+1 item
+2 item
+3 item
+4 item
+5 item


ECL 1~2
ECL 3~5
ECL 6~9
ECL 10~12
ECL 13~15
ECL 16+



Doing it yourself
Players will usually be able to use their Craft skills to create quality goods several character levels before they can attract the attention of an appropriate smith, but that doesn't mean they can go straight to Meister level.

I need to work out a good way to progress gate this that isn't just totally gamist. I'm considering something along the lines of Disadvantage when crafting the next grade of item, but that just means brute forcing things. I also am not sure what to do about XP costs. I'm also not 100% sure I have the +1 modifier by Level correct since the guidelines are kinda... um... missing.

Spoils of War
The items carried by humanoid characters will be of appropriate grade for their ECL.

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha

One would imagine after seeing a Clockwork wagon, the grease galleon, the venerable walking stone barge, the great walking Elven Forest, and then our massive clockwork city, that these formed a progression. A series of progressive improvements that allowed small numbers of people to survive. You would be wrong, for all these things were different solutions to the same problem.

While the absolute truth is lost to history, it is known from the greatest of our divinationists that the Deepest most parts of the Clockwork Capitol predate the loresongs themselves. The great grease galleons of the Arcanist Meritocracy were, according to a recovered journal, ships docked in a dry harbor. The Journal claims they had been set aside for use in some illegibly scrawled task, and when Luna's rain began, the Arcanists shrank their laboratories, ushered all their families onto the ships, greased them, and set sail to the west, racing across the barren wastes as fast as kites could pull them. The Dwarves claim that the walking stone barges predate our Capitol, but as the original barges have all collapsed to dust that claim remains unvalidated. And what of the Elves! The Elves! Those glorious bastards had animated their forest long before Luna's rains even began! Unto them was given a glorious oracle, a prophetess that still lives to this day who long foresaw the destruction of the world. When Luna's rains began, The elves simply got in their trees, and left! The Clockwork buggy was made by Orcs of all races, and it didn't come into being until over a hundred years after the rains began!

Incidentally, we know the Orcs invented the Clockwork buggy because the Orcs of the past were better at keeping notes than most of my engineering students. I trust you'll be keeping them, there will be a quiz tomorrow on things I did not lecture on, if you cannot correctly identify them as such, the only clock you'll be working with is a punch-clock at the potato fry. - A passionate lecturer from the College of Gnomish Engineering.


Walking Cities

Walking cities come in all sizes and purposes, in accordance with who created them. Some cities are nomadic cities, which run ahead and camp in one place for months at a time. Some cities are Luna-synchronous cities, which maintain a fixed distance from Luna, on a constant trajectory. Others are eccentric cities, which travel between other cities as traders. Bringing valuable commodities from other cultures. Not all walking cities have legs, some have wheels, some have treads, some glide on magical grease or spheres of force.

While considerably different size, Walking cities and Mecha both use the same variety of power sources. Some use Spell Engines, and are fed by arcane casters who work in shifts to ensure there is always someone feeding power to the city, some burn lunastone as a fuel, some are powered by steam, others still are powered by more mundane means like Horsemills, treadmills, and other creature energy to mechanical energy conversion systems.

Walking Cities effectively have no weight limitations.

Every faction has it's own kinds of walking city, but they typically fall into the four major designs.

The Platform

Platform type walking cities are popular and the largest of the designs, being based on the original walking city, Sors Gnom. They consist of a large circular or octagonal disc anywhere from 100 meters to in excess of 10 kilometers, suspended on eight to sixteen equally spaced legs, these cities are capable of full omnidirectional movement and are quite stable, but require the most power of all the city designs.

It is estimated from observations at the Alefest that roughly 33% of the walking cities in attendance are Platform type cities.

Crawlers

Crawler type walking cities are another popular walking city design. A combination of Golemcraft and Gnomish Platform techniques, the Crawler typically consists of platforms strung together like a centipede. Some Crawlers have legs, others move along the ground in an undulating motion like snakes, some slip forward like purple worms. Each crawler platform is typically small, usually within the 150~300 foot size, but the large volume of them gives the Crawler type city plenty of space to grow and function.

Crawlers account for up to 18% of known walking cities.

Walking Barge

Walking Barge type cities are the most popular walking city design amongst the Dwarves. They are primarily Golemcraft, and are either bipedal or quadruped, holding up a large barge like center body either horizontally, with a smaller secondary deck placed higher up towards the back as a counterweight, or with the barge pointed up at the sky in a diagonal manner to center the weight.

Walking Barges are typically more easily weaponized, so it isn't common to see smaller walking barges used as military assets by the Confederation.

Walking Barges account for around 15% of known walking cities.

Landships

Landships are slightly less common than the other three of the great four, being essentially large, flat bottomed nautical ships. They come in many flavors, some are suspended on large Track Drives, others have their bottoms greased in the same manner as the Greased Galleons. Certain types are even able to skim across the surface of the Putrid Oceans, permitting them to take shorter routes not accessible to the other walking cities.

Almost 13% of known walking cities are Landships.

Others

There are dozens of other walking city types, from the Elves' Walking Forests to ones that attempt to recreate various species of animals or insects. For the purposes of statistics, the Dorhini Sandbarges are also counted as Walking Cities, even if it is a bit inaccurate to call them such.


Ships

Ships are smaller than cities, but larger than Mecha. There are many varieties and sizes of ship, most use the same mechanics as a walking city, but some use Caterpillar drives while even others use Greased Skids or bodies.

Besides just size, the primary difference between a Ship and a Walking City is also purpose. Ships are typically specialized, often geared towards combat or transportation, and people are typically hired or purchased to work on a ship, they don't just “live” there.

As few leaders allow Walking cities to come into direct conflict, military ships will often be used as proxies during disputes where the leaders feel battle is called for.


Mecha

Mecha are to Walking Cities what ants are to Mountains.

They are small, often two to four person vehicles which tend to be of immense expense. The smallest- Gargantuan Size- Mecha takes either 12 first level spells in a spell generator, a crate of Lunastone in a Lunastone generator, an engineer, some combustible material and a Steam generator, or four humanoids walking treadmills to power it. Piloting the mecha is usually a taxing job, and so separate gunners are required.

All factions have Mecha.


Vehicles

Vehicles are non-combat craft which exist solely to transport people and goods large distances.

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Bestiary

Under Construction.

New additions to be developed:
Gnomish Strandbeest. (An entire family of Clockwork Aberrations frequently captured and tamed by special handlers to serve as beasts of burden.)
Crystal Moth. (Lithovoric moths that feed on the rocks of Exile)

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Main Factions

The Dwarven Confederation
In the wake of the unnaming the dwarves found themselves without a king when the main royal family perished with the lost city. For several decades survival was more important than rank, and so the great clans, with the manpower of the lesser clans, were able to establish the early walking barges and restore some semblance of normal life. The Dwarves had created a route west across exile they called the Dwarven March, one of the old brewmaster clans created the great barley ships, and while it wasn't much, they had a staple supply of food when they finally relented and began using Merlin Cauldrons.

With the challenges of dwarven society resolved, came the real challenge: figuring out who was in charge.

Three of the great clans had legitimate claims of relation to the deceased royals, one of the great clans held no claim but refused to bow to their peers, and so these four clans argued and fought. During these early disputes the Dwarves came to a gentleman's agreement that would become the golden rule of exile: Leave no one to perish in the rains. Unable to wage a true total war of succession by agreement, it was a frequent sight for one of the great clan and their vassal clans to take a different route for a time only to rejoin the Dwarven March when their barley supplies ran low.

Finally, Viscount Eòrnatog had had enough. As the sovereign and inventor of the barley ships, he ordered his men to withhold ale from the rest of the dwarves until they listened to him. Once he had their attention, he proposed the great clans build a system out of the original spirit of cooperation. After some argument, Eornatog got his way and the four great clans agreed to create the Dwarven Confederation. Several years later, after being called in several times to break up tied votes, Eornatog was promoted from Viscount to Archduke, making his line the fifth great clan.

The final result of the Dwarven Confederation is a feudal system based on oaths of fealty. A Dwarf belongs to himself and until he takes his first oath, he belongs to his house. Once he takes an oath, he is of his house, but belongs to his sovereign. His social rank is then proportional to the individual willing to take his oath: an Archduke's oathsworn are Dukes, a Duke's oathsworn are Margraf, A Margraf's oathsworn are Counts, a count's oathsworn is a viscount, and so on.

The Confederation has grown to be one of the largest nations of Exile, and counts many non-dwarves amongst its ranks. For legal purposes they are considered dwarves, but generally the highest station they can hope to achieve is viscount- dreadfully few dukes and margrafes are interested in the oaths of someone who at best will live to be a hundred and twenty, generally considered to be the spring of a dwarf's life.

All Confederation oathsworn are expected to hold military position, but military ranks are more relative. The owner of a walking city or ship is addressed as Captain regardless of social standing. If two captains meet on a ship the visiting Captain temporarily becomes a Colonel, if his social standing is greater than the ship's Captain he may also be called “Lord Captain”. Due to the amount of confusion the Confederation ranks can sometimes cause, guidebooks marked with names like “All you ever wanted to know about the confederation (but were too sober to ask)” are frequently seen on shelves in all kinds of businesses from bars to curio shops.

Before swearing his oath, a dwarf may travel freely amongst the cities of the Confederation, and is typically expected to do so when he comes of age. Most Dwarves of rank prefer their oathsworn to be well travelled and knowledgeable in at least one civilian trade.

The Confederation runs annual mining expeditions every year that yields the majority of the ores used by the people of exile. The Confederation also tends to have the heaviest and noisy mechs and are thus prolific bulette fishers.

The Confederation's primary imports are things like shapesand, books, spell components, and they grudgingly purchase gnomish clockwork.


Primary Ship Classes

Mostly placeholders

Greathall Class

Each of the great clans has a Greathall class walking city. These cities are found at various points of the Dwarven march, and function as the primary hubs for city and ship building, arms manufacture, and so on.

The Greathalls require a large number of Magmatic engines to run and operate.

Clanhall class

(fill in later)

Barleyship

The Barleyships are not ships in any sense of the word. A barleyship resembles a giant Chiapet Centipede, if every centipede segment was 300 feet in diameter. These massively long walking cities exist solely to cultivate massive fields of Barley on as to meet the ale consumption needs of all dwarves.

Each segment's internal structures contain small independent magmatic powerplants, redundant city grade merlin wells for crop watering, breweries, and bottom access shipyards and mecha hangars.

Primary Member Races

Dwarves
Humans
Gelflings
Kobolds


The Tripartite Magnocracy
The The Tripartite Magnocracy is one of the most unusual of the recognized factions of Exile. Instead of using walking cities, they use massive flat-bottomed ships, magically greased to allow their use on land and pulled by kites held aloft with magical wind.

Depending on who you ask might be the oldest or newest nation of Exile. Some 400 years ago, they were known as the Arcanist Meritocracy and ruled exclusively by wizards who could trace their lines back to the Wizard's Guild of the lost city, with the wizard's families being second class citizens and everyone not a wizard nor directly related to one doomed to a life of slavery.

The Meritocracy's downfall was underestimating their slaves: A revolt composed of Sorcerers, Loredancers, and Clerics with the commoner in tow rebelled and held the Meritocracy fleet hostage by sabotaging its ability to move. With the Luna-rains coming close, the wizards and their slaves were able to come to an understanding, and from this understanding came a reformation.

Under their reformation they agreed that only the elite could rule, but they could not agree on the definition of elite. The Wizards, obviously, saw themselves as the only elites. The Sorcerers felt they should be Elites and part of the Wizard's association, being masters of the arcane. The Loredancers who had borne the brunt of the fighting in the rebellion felt they had earned the right to be considered elite by price of blood. At the same time, the persecuted Clerics of Philosophy upon who's teaching inspired the rebellion felt they as teachers were elite. With the rains visible behind them as a reminder of how close they all had come to losing everything, they finally compromised to acknowledge each other as elites, and that each group would nominate three Magnates from their number, and the nine would rule together.

As the Meritocracy had already built a model of citizenship for the relatives of wizards who were not blessed with the capacity for Magic, that model was expanded to all slaves, and the Meritocracy became the Magnocracy. Quality of life for the slaves increased drastically, the Wizards kept their status with the only downside being they had to acknowledge sorcerers as their peers in the Wizard's Association.

Life in the Magnocracy is fairly different from most of the nations of Exile. While the Magnocracy struggles as much to survive as all the other cities, the brunt of responsibility is seen as the duty of the leaders and their subordinates. As such, life is different depending on which ruling group an individual belongs to, and individuals are free to choose not to belong to any group. Such free citizens are often tradesmen who enjoy physical pursuits like handicrafts, non-academic arts, or participating in the cultivation ships.

The Wizard's Association is a very practical organization that restructures itself in accordance to the merits of a Wizard's research at any given time. Members may be called upon to temporarily set aside their research to aid in the research of another, and the apprentices of Wizards are often given basic the tasks of established wizards to challenge and further their development. It was the Wizards and Sorcerers of the Association who rediscovered many magic formula lost to the Unnaming.

The Astrologers run the College of History and Music, a place devoted to the study of the Conceptual Realm and preserving as much of the history of Exile as possible. They are less scientific than the Wizards, but even while the wizards forbade them to read or write during the Meritocracy's days, they successfully preserved their knowledge for generations using both hidden caches and oral traditions. Now able to share and expand their knowledge, they hoard knowledge and interpret the stars of the Conceptual Realm. One is not able to become an official member of the Astrologers until they are able to identify the constellations that represent the knowledge and primary cities of each nation in the night sky.

The Clerics of Philosophy founded the College of Wisdom, and actively engage in the pursuit of what they see as the important parts of life- Debating the merits of lifestyles as they seek enlightenment and the definition of enlightenment. While their teachings impact all of the citizens of the magnocracy and are even studied in other nations, they often study the other branches and other nations for what they can learn. Within the College there are many schools of thought, and the college rejects the notion of censoring any of them. (They occasionally regret this as there are Clerics of the three Wardens in their ranks they'd rather like to be rid of, but begrudgingly accept as equals.)

The Magnocracy is largely composed of Humans, Gnomes, and Goblins, with respectable groups of Halflings and Gelflings. Occasionally you will see Elves and Dwarves on their streets, and there's even a tribe of Orcs that participates in the three circles.

The Magnocracy exports very little in the way of material goods, mostly exporting knowledge such as historical records, Books on Arcane Theory, and books of Philosophy. The Magnocracy does sell arcane magic, but they do reserve some spells as being for citizens only. The Magnocracy also exports large volumes of material components for magic.


Sors Gnom
The Gnomes are one of the most undeniably successful races of Exile. Their expertise with clockwork, spell, and materials places them head and shoulders above the rest- stature notwithstanding. Their contributions are so visible that Gnomes can be found in virtually every nation of Exile, but one would be neglectful to not focus on their homeland. While most of the factions of Exile are spread out across multiple Walking Cities, the Gnomes live in but a single such city: The Great Clockwork City, Sors Gnom.

Sors Gnom is the original walking city, the prototype which all further walking cities and eventually mecha would be based upon. Built with Extraplanar materials- a benefit of being built before the sealing of Exile- it is larger than most walking cities since the materials can can carry greater weights and has a multitude of planar affinities and traits. It was these extraplanar materials that allowed several of the great Gnomish Wizards to prevent the loss of their demiplanes during the sealing of Exile by fusing them with parts of the clockwork city to create regions of non-Euclidian geometry which retain their distinct planar traits. By utilizing a mixture of selective physics unique to the remains of each former-demiplane they were able to create a perpetual motion machine, and using their skill at clockwork they were able to make it walk gracefully.

Put more simply, Sors Gnom is a giant walking mess of gears that's bigger on the inside and powered by contradictions, much like Gnomes themselves. (And the Gnomes are proud of the resemblance.)

Gnomish society, proper gnomish society, is actually shared with both Gelflings and Halflings and to a lesser extent, Humans, Dwarves and Kobolds. Sors Gnom welcomes all who seek knowledge, regardless of race, but the gnome's efficient use of space tends to be biased towards the shorter races.

Sors Gnom is barely governed, run by a committee of committees that can rarely agree on anything except space allocation. (They can't even agree on a name for their state!) People are allowed to sit in and contribute to these meetings, but the committee chambers are ensorcelled with a special magic that eliminates all sound, replacing it with the same words written in a floating arcane script that appears in the readable orientation correct regardless of the observer's direction. This magic serves as a learning barrier to prevent the less educated from participating in politics, as many of the veterans can speak in complicated formula.

The ease of describing physical volume in arcane formula is one of the reasons why use of space is the only thing they can agree upon. Additionally, the text logs may be recalled in any city library, allowing universal access to the information of what actually happened. There are committees of committees of auditors who review these government committee logs for use of unfalsifiable theories, academic censorship, and people who round pi.

Within their allocated space, a citizen or working group is allowed to live and work as they see fit so long as they do not disturb their neighbors. Many citizens run workshops from their homes, building parts, brewing potions, and so on from their front rooms while sleeping in their personal chambers in the back. This makes it nearly impossible to travel ten feet through Sors Gnom without stumbling across at least two workshops making something you want.

Sors Gnom is known primarily for its Parts factories, Alchemists, and Schools, which attract members of all races. While most factions are slowly spreading into more and more walking cities as they can make them, the people of Sors Gnom prefer their great city, and typically sell the walking cities they manufacture.

Primary Member Races

Gnomes
Halflings
Humans
Dwarves
Kobolds
Gelfling



The Walking Forest
The great Walking Forest of Exile is one of the world's few natural wonders remaining. Saved from destruction by the predictions of the Elves' Great Oracle. Every tree and shrub of the forest is an awakened plant, allowing it to walk along the surface of exile as a magnificent green beacon of life on the surface of Exile.

At the heart of the forest lies the great tree, home of the Oracle and the Elves' leadership. The Great tree is a massive redwood and comparable in size to a small walking city. It is surrounded by smaller redwoods, which are surrounded by other trees. All of them have been reshaped and sculpted for ideal balance and habitation, with massive hanging tree houses and rope bridges between them.

The Elves have little need for technology, but make occasional use of it where appropriate. Many elves admire the craftsmanship of a good clock, and the Gelflings have been known to come up with some marvelous devices to assist with gardening. The Elves have no intention of building mechanical walking cities but have on occasion, as their culture slowly expands, taken the time to magically grow additional trees.

Life in the city is much the same as it would be in a normal elven city, with most focusing on creative skills, music, or literature. Those skilled in the arts hone their trade and research magic. Gone are the days of the woodland hunt, so the rangers of the forest have taken to raising domesticated animals to preserve as much of the wildlife as possible, although centuries of domestication have had their impact.

The elves are led by the Great Oracle, who's predictions affect all aspects of life. Her prophecies have always been accurate, and many astrologers come to the forest to seek mentorship. As of late she has been silent as her advanced age has made it difficult to act as frequently as she once did. The Great Oracle's exact age is unknown, but it is known that she is the oldest elf alive, having been born at least a thousand years before the unnaming and destruction of exile. When the Oracle's prophecies are not involved the elves are autonomous in most pursuits. They will naturally defer to the safety of the forest, to direct orders from the oracle or her attendants, but are otherwise uninhibited by political structures.

The Forest is inhabited almost exclusively by Elves, with a moderate population of Gelflings and Centaurs.

Primary Member Races

Elves
Gelfling
Centaurs




Dôrhini Ránë
The Dôrhini Ránë (Wandering Children of the Land) are a nomadic group of Desert Elves who, over time, slowly ended up gathering likeminded members of other races- Humans, Kobolds, even Goblins. Different from most wandering nomad groups, the Dorhini are actually quite numerous, and travel as a group, rather than dispersing to the winds. If they separate for a purpose, they always regroup, guided by the Ley lines of Exile and the Information in the Sky.

Where most of the races of Exile have embraced permanent vehicles that always move westward as their solutions to the Luna-rain, the Dorhini Sandspeakers instead conjure large vessels of sand from the lunastone dust and blasted soil of Exile, and then push them along the desert on waves of sand. This method of travel is said to predate the Wardens, although the exact specifics are known only by verbal traditions.

The Dorhini will stop when they find an area they deem suitable to their needs and stay there for a few days, a few weeks or even a month before creating a new craft, and travelling westward again.

The Dorhini live by herding animals, Bulette Fishing, bonecraft, magically cultivating the wastes as they travel, scavenging lunastone, and crafting Shapesand. They freely trade all but the animals, which are considered part of the Dorhini.

Trivia:

The most valuable thing both the Magnocracy and Confederation have traded for from the Dorhini is not a trade good, but the policy of Baelful Polymorph as Capital Punishment.

Primary Member Races

Elves
Humans
Sand Kobolds
Sand Goblins
Centaurs




The Needirpick

The Needirpick is the crown jewel of Exile's walking cities. Larger than all the Greathalls put together, towering atop the landscape, if you need a part of any sort, you need only to find the constellation of the tesseract in the sky and follow it to the Needirpick.

Description

The Needirpick is an unusual city. When the Ahriman trapped on the surface needed to escape the rains, they resorted to the technique they knew from the underground of the lost city: They turned their eyes on a gelatinous cube, transmuted it into a cube of Bismuth, and shaped the substance into a large hollow cube of crystals to serve as supports. Initially they relied on the cube's own locomotion, when that was too slow, they enslaved purple worms to carry the large cube, but in time they developed the mechanical track, providing a smoother version of the same motion natural to the cube. In time they enlarged the cube city by adding additional cubes atop additional tracks. Before long the cube had become a rectangle, then an L shape, then a larger rectangle and eventually a cube again. Whenever the Ahriman deem it appropriate, they simply add another cube to the city.

The Ahriman brought their resources with them. The Survivors of the underground, scavengers, criminals, and refugees alike. The scavengers began to pick up the pieces of broken down Orcish vehicles and gnomish prototypes as they passed them, adding them to the resources in the cube's holds. Occasionally they would find a broken down city that desired help, and the opportunistic scavengers gleefully traded parts for what they saw as more wealth.

This began the legacy of the Needirpick as the mobile scrapyard and parts shop of Exile. You can find parts of practically any nature all over the city, and someone will see to it they create the part you need if by some fluke someone else doesn't actually have it.

The Needirpick has been expanded and expanded upon for so long that nobody knows every part of it. Massive clockwork segments link parts of the massive ship from top to bottom, stem to stern. Even the Ahriman that built it no longer know how the city works or where everything is- they suspect the city might even be alive.

The City's leadership is broken down into several layers, at the heart of the ship are the Ahriman, who run the Society of Sinister Sports. The SSS are seen as the defacto leaders of the Needirpick, although they are rarely directly talked about as such. The SSS run a kind of game that takes advantage of the massive sprawl of the Needirpick, they call it the dungeon, and through the various miles of cubes are different dungeons, some even recreate different kinds of biomes, and all are easily observable from what is known as the “Stadium Cube”.

The exact division of responsibility within the SSS for managing the Needirpick is a secret, but each individual Cube has a section manager, who is usually also one of the tenets of the cube. Reporting to him are a team of law enforcement, and anything that he says, goes. The only requirement on him is to keep order and generally keep his cube working.

Of note is that many of the various factions of Exile actually hold permanent establishment on the Needirpick. The Dwarven Confederation in particular own 163 Cubes, which they oversee as Confederation Territory with the Ahriman's blessing.

There are an estimated 49583 cubes at present, the base of the Needirpick being 38 by 38 cubes, varying between 33 and 35 cubes tall throughout.

Primary Member Races

Ahriman
Everything Else!



Free City Maragel
The only known stationary city of Exile, Maragel is a city built along the base and upwards into the side of a tall west facing cliff in Exile's Frozen Glaive mountains. The earth of the escarpment shelters the city from the direct effects of the Luna-rain, and the proximity to the tall mountain range reduces the intensity of the direct bombardment. The City can be broken down into three sections: The Cliff Dwellings, the Tent City, and the Caverns.

Once a year, the city folds up the Tent City and withdraws into the cliff-dwellings and caverns. The locals often jokingly refer to this as hibernating for the winter, but it is often spent repairing and defending the entrances from first undead, then dispelling Wild Magic elementals, before at last spring comes and they can restore the Tent City.

Maragel prides itself on being a neutral trade city. Many people of Exile seek out Maragel to sell their wares rather than acquire the resources to seek out any one city. The vast majority of walking cities will attempt to stop here at least once a year before resuming their pushing westward, providing a constant supply of travelers and goods.

The city is administered by an elected mayor, his cabinet, and an elected council. The city is protected by a curious mixture of town guard, a militia, the local wizard's guild, an astrology branch college, several local mercenary companies, a detachment of Dwarven Confederation who use the city as a base for recruitment, and a Kobold Warren, and it typically takes all of them to survive the “winter”.

Maragel is often host to meetings between the major factions, who will occasionally use the neutral ground to discuss issues of shared concern.

As a neutral trade city, virtually anything and close to every race may be found here in abundance. The only major thing not commonly found here are City Walker manufacturing facilities, which are occasionally provided by Sors Gnom or the Needirpick.


Primary Member Races

Humans
Dwarves
Kobolds
Gelflings
Gnomes
Goblins
Elves

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Lesser Factions

Redemption's Code (Paladin Order)

One of the last paladin orders on exile, Redemption's Code survived only by virtue of being unique- unlike most orders which were devoted to a god, Redemption's Code is devoted wholly to the law. It isn't uncommon to see several of their paladins in a city or wandering between small groups of cities, serving as the local law.

Composition

While Redemption's Code is an order of paladins, they are an organization like any other. In addition to Paladins, they have Clerics, Artificers, Alchemists, Fighters, Rangers, Bards, and Steam Techs among their ranks. These members do not identify themselves with the order unless given reason to, and will usually state they serve Redemption's Code when they are given reason to.

History

Those who are particularly well read will know that Redemption's Code began as one of the Lost City's thieves' guilds. Prior to the unnaming, the Lost City had immense social inequality, with the wealthy nobles and wizards being so powerful no one could even hope to reach them. It was said that the Wizard's guild itself decided what wealth was, and so with no chance of ever attaining wealth, the poor saw thievery and anarchy as the only answer.

The Thieves' guilds were seen as heroes by the poor, but were an anathema to the wealthy, who petitioned the Hellhounds to come to the Lost City. The Hellhounds arrived and quickly set to making examples of the various thieves' guilds, but their merciless actions only caused an outcry that lead to even more crime and violence. Overwhelmed, the Hellhounds began to call on the aid of mind-reading clockwork beings to patrol the city for them, which caused the various thieves' guilds to escalate again.

Just before the Unnaming, a small group of people's champions from a thieves' guild broke into an abandoned noble's house to steal something for the elves only to discover it protected by Z'd'k. Quickly defeated by the Clockwork creature, instead of giving them the deathblow as expected it proceeded to Geas them, giving them an irresistible order to follow and enforce the law as penance for their crimes. They struggled with this before eventually giving into it and using it against the Hellhounds.

The group had been running the Wizard Guild's Planar Travel Agency, giving them a prestigious status unmatched by most of the thieves' guilds, this made them untouchable by the Hellhounds. Choosing to use their status to their advantage, they founded the order and received the blessing of the Wizard's guild to operate as law enforcement. Making an alliance with Z'd'k, they brought in the criminals they felt redeemable to receive the clockwork creature's geas, and quickly grew their ranks.

When the Unnaming happened and the Lost City collapsed, all semblance of law went out the window in the scramble to survive. The only people from the upper tiers who cared about the lower city, the Order bent over backwards to save as many of the inhabitants as possible. Several of the founders perished in the city's collapse, but they managed to get tens of thousands of people out.

Stranded in the open with the new moons looming overhead, the order and refugees were saved by the order's gnomish allies. As the Planar Travel Agency the order had acquired the materials that would become the frame of Sors Gnom. It was because of this service that the Gnomes offered the order and refugees sanctuary on the prototype frame, moving west to flee the devastation of the rains.

During this early time the Gnomes helped the order to discover newfound powers: the ability to bond with a Clockwork Creature and awaken it to sapience. Their companions demonstrated the ability to create reduction space, a thing which the gnomes were grateful for the opportunity to study. The Order also gained the ability to meditate in a place with a clear view of the stars and learn the laws of a given region, allowing them to keep pace with the rapidly changing Gnomish Law.

For a time the order found favor with the gnomes for these powers, but they eventually felt their services were unneeded by the (mostly) law abiding Gnomes. When the Gnomes began building walking cities for the refugees, groups of the order were sent along with the refugees.

Eventually, the order fully dispersed all over Exile, tirelessly riding their Clockwork companions between the walking cities to bring stability and law to people's lives.

Mission

Paladins of the order are to uphold the law in as fair of manner possible. A paladin of the order is not merely to adjudicate the law without regard for the people but rather, to use the law to protect those people and lead them to better lives. Criminals are not to be mercilessly dealt with, but lead back to the right path. In the pursuit of this goal, a paladin may use any tool he deems appropriate from charisma to excessive violence.

It is said “Justice is blind” and so the code of conduct makes no decisions on what is good and what is evil. A Members of the order are bound only by a requirement to uphold a lawful conduct. Those who waver may request- or be forced to accept- a geas in the style of their founders' original charge.

Leaders

Ranyaner, The Founder
The only of the the five founders still alive, Ranyaner is a half-elf of a thousand years of age. Powerful enough to lose his name in the unnaming, he identified himself as a wanderer until his wife demanded he give himself a name, at which point he decided to call himself an elvish name meaning “Wandering son”. (He fondly recounts being forced to sleep outside that night.) A natural prankster and chaotic soul, he thrives only when adversity is at its absolute highest.

Z'd'k
Z'd'k is a centaur-like Clockwork construct trapped on Exile by the unnaming, responsible for the geas which created the order. Robbed of its name by the unnaming, he goes by what little of his name was ungarbled, and chooses to just pronounce the letters that remain. With no way to return to its home plane it resides with Redemption's Code, aiding them in their quest to uphold law to the wastes of Exile.

The Hellhounds

The once reviled Hellhounds are one of Exile's oldest orders. Where once they were a few powerful men who imposed their ideals on all too weak to oppose them, today they are too weak to do anything but focus more on the pursuit of the worst evils. One shouldn't mistake them as weak, however, for their champions are potent and their ranks quite large.

Composition

While the Hellhounds are an order of paladins, they are an organization like any other. In addition to members of their namesake class, they have Clerics, Artificers, Alchemists, Fighters, Rangers, Bards, and Steam Techs among their ranks. These non-Hellhound Members of the organization often refer to themselves as Hellhound Adherents.

History

The story of the Hellhounds' origin is lost to the Unnaming, but it is known that one day they signed an alliance with the Lost City's nobles and wizard guild. They promptly set up on one of the Lost City's upper spires and began to mete out justice with an iron fist.

The few documents that survived from that period were hopelessly garbled by the unnaming, but from the ungarbled text it is known that the hellhounds were originally the organization's nickname- a slur used by the thieves' guild inspired by how the order hunted them. The Hellhounds became progressively more and more cruel in their efforts to obliterate the thieves' guild, eventually allying with telepathic constructs from another plane to attempt to sniff out the minds of the thieves.

After the Unnaming, the Hellhounds found it difficult to get any help from the people of Exile. As the order's history tells it, they found themselves changed by the unnaming, now telepathic themselves. As they sought help from group after group, they were forced to carry out their duty against evil, discovering flaws and wrongs in all they encountered. Time after time, they were forced to walk as the three wardens slowly crept up behind the group.

With the Lunarain closing in, the Order suffered its first and only known schism. Some of the Hellhounds felt that they could do no good dead, and were willing to deal with imperfection until they had the resources to escape the rains on their own. The majority, however, were convinced that as they had believed in the lost city, to accept anything less than the most pure of good intentions was tantamount to accepting evil itself.

After several days of battle with no clear victor, the rains forced the issue- swarmed by the Undead of Necra and Orcs taken by Necra's madness, the Hellhounds willing to compromise had found themselves in the strangest company imaginable.

They hitched a ride with an Orc Hunting Alliance.

The Orcs had come to save their kin from Necra, but had mostly failed. In the absurdity of the Moment they had pulled the fleeing Hellhounds aboard their clockwork wagons and they fended off the undead the horrors together. It was in this moment that the modern order of Hellhounds came into being. A decent number of orcs were recruited into the order in the months to follow, becoming the first new recruits of the order in decades.

The Order eventually parted ways with the tribes they had been saved by, and slowly gathered their own resources as they moved from Walking City to Walking City. A generation or two later, they eventually found themselves subjugated by their old allies of the Wizard Guild, now known as the Arcanist Meritocracy. The Arcanists had no love for the order, and most of the order found themselves imprisoned and forced to serve alongside what they considered lesser beasts.

Here the Hellhounds would learn a modicum of pragmatism from the predecessors of the Goblin Philosophers, before eventually participating in the great rebellion that created the Tripartite Magnocracy. Although they were few in number, the Hellhounds secured one of the ships themselves at a bloody cost. Given the option to stay and participate in the reformation, the Hellhounds decided to leave. They felt bound by their code to kill all of the Arcanists, but with ideals now tempered by their friends' philosophies, they recognized the foolishness of such an action.

The Hellhounds received a large greased ship for their assistance, and began recruiting. Today they are an infrequent but recognizable part of Exile culture, walking the world doing their best to bring their ideals to the hearts of those who live in the walking cities.

Mission

First and foremost, the Hellhounds believe they are the embodiment of all that is good in the eternal world.

They hold that an individual must, at all times, act with the intent to do what is morally right- whether it is legally required or even prohibited matters not to them. The Hellhounds themselves do not completely agree on what these morals are, but they agree that what is important is the intent behind a person's actions rather than the actions themselves. The Hellhounds will grudgingly acknowledge an individual who acts with evil or ill intents if they are forced to by a situation, but will otherwise actively seek the destruction of such an individual.

The Hellhounds also hold Freedom as a sacred tenet, having suffered the evils of Slavery firsthand as a group. They will, if possible, attempt to free the people of a slave-mech unless doing so would result in their loss of a means of survival. Many of their recruits are freed slaves.

Lastly, the Hellhounds will always attempt to come to the aid of any downed or incapacitated walking cities, ships, or nomads they encounter. To do anything less would show a disrespect and evil intent towards the Unwritten Code of Exile: “Leave no one to die in the rains.”

Leaders

The Hellhounds are lead by three individuals known as Judges. the Judges are the oldest of the Hellhounds, who inherit the memories and wills of their predecessors. The Current Judges are a Dwarf named (male name), a Human named (female name), and an Orc named (male name).

The Rust Riders
The Rust Riders are the most dangerous of the factions of Exile. They are not one flag, as their name would suggest, but rather, many groups who share a common religious cause: The end of order.

The Rust Riders are worshipers of what they call the Rust Goddess, Oxidia. To them she represents the decay of order into disorder, and they believe that the mother goddess wishes them to return all to rust, as has already happened with most of exile. They also believe that the reddish tinge to Exile's landscape is not the handiwork of the Wardens, but of Oxidia herself slowly rusting the planet away.

The Rust Riders break up into individual warbands, lead by warriors and assisted by clerics of Oxidia, and conduct attacks on people with as much or greater frequency than even the Orcs do. They are mostly humans and half-elves, with the occasional Elf or half-orc. They wage these attacks to both steal supplies and to destroy the forces of those who would resist the end of the world.

Curiously the individual motives of the Rust Riders vary, with some of them “just in it for the fun” and others wholly committed to their Goddess' supposed cause. The only cohesive leadership within the Rust Riders comes from their clerics, who take a rather relaxed approach, feeling that too much discipline would go against the teachings of their goddess. The various warbands are quite free to wage battle accordingly, and in some cases they're liable to fight each other over a quarry rather than team up with each other.

The Rust Riders tend to travel as nomad packs, heavily making use of the technology they steal and salvage.

Nomads
Under Construction

Independent Walkers
Under Construction

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Maps
Coming Soon. (Need to resize to web friendly sizes)

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


Economy Simulation
Since Exile is a Sandbox where the players are meant to experience and impact the world, and so it has an economy simulation that's meant to be simple, but thorough enough to help generate events to impact the course of play. An economic shortage in one resource will have roleplay results, and so rather than just arbitrarily decide world events, I wanted to keep a simulation of things and then base events off the results.

Ideally, this information will be played out in an Excel or HTML5 app, or safely calculated between sessions. The "monthly" time cycle keeps it from being something that would be a constant bog on the DM's time in game.

Players will also be able to play as merchants between cities if they decide they like the system, but at no point should the players actually see the world economics table. If sufficiently connected, they may have knowledge of the status of the economy within their city or state, but not the overall world.


Todo: Sort by resource type.


Resource
Production Means


Leather
Leather is primarily produced from Bulette fishing.


Metal Ore
Metal Ores are excavated by several annual mining expeditions.


Gemstones
Gemstones are excavated by several annual mining expeditions.


Lunastone
Lunastone is harvested several ways. The larger and more pure ones must be excavated, the smaller ones are stripmined, lunarock dust is both a byproduct of refining and scooped from the desert floor.


Mithral
Mithral is produced from clay using a Dwarvish alchemy trick.


Silk
Crystal Moths are lithovores that are farmed by various factions for silk. It comes in several types based on the subspecies of the Moth.


Wool
The Dorhini herd Sheep.


Clockwork*
Some Clockwork parts are produced by everyone, but Sors Gnom and Needirpick produce every clockwork part


Scrolls
Scrolls are in high demand because of their use in Scroll Guns. Faction exclusive spells may not be purchased in scroll form.


Alchemy
Alchemical goods are produced by alchemists, some are exclusive by faction.


Treated Stone
The Dwarves produce a softer, more flexible stone via an alchemical process that only they can produce economically. (The technique is known, but expensive at volume.)


Shapesand
Shapesand is a unique material produced by the Dorhini.


Ley Devices
Ley Devices are produced by one of the independent walkers.


Ale
Ale is produced exclusively by the Dwarves.


Potatoes
Potatoes are grown by the gnomes in one of the psuedo-planes.


Mushrooms
Mushroom and other cave fungi are grown in the caves of Maragel.


Vegetables
Vegetables of various types are grown by the Tripartites and Dorhini


Fruits
The Elves of the Walking Forest have orchards they occasionally sell food from. The Tripartites have Grape Vineyards.


Wine
The Tripartites make Wine.


Meat
The Dwarves grow large beasts for both labor and food for the elite.


Animals
Various factions grow animals for spell components, labor, and goods.


Goat's Milk
The Dorhini herd Goats.


Honey
The Both Elven factions farm bees.


Mead
The Dorhini are more creative in their use of Honey.


Currency
Each proper nation has its own currency, and money changers will gladly exchange it at the going rates.



Each Faction's reserves of these resources will be tracked and consumption will be rolled for.

The going rate of a nation's currency will be determined by their reserves. Theoretically, a nation's production and Consumption should nullify each other, maintaining the price of their currency and the cost of the good. An excess in production increases the value of a currency but decreases the price of the good. An excess in consumption decreases the value of a currency but increases the price of the good.

Within a category, items need to be assigned a value by type. The group's other DM is building a gigantic list of mundane and Alchemical items he wants to run past me, so I'm holding on this until I see that from him.

Mechanically, this will be represented on a chart:


Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
Diff


Leather
100%
Export
Monthly
2d6
+/-0



At the end of a month, roll 2d6 for consumption/trade. At the end of a cycle, roll production rate.

Subtract Consumption from Production, Apply the results of the roll accordingly: (assumed result of 4)



Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
diff


Leather
96%
Export
Monthly
2d6
-4



If a good deviates too far from a sustainable cycle by 10%, events will begin to happen in response. A shortage of leather will lead to an increase in Bulette Fishing Expeditions. An Expedition or Player manipulation of the economy will trigger a bonus roll that gives the good a chance to recover or be further depleted, depending on whether the bonus roll was consumption or production.

Longer term cycles function the same way, waiting until the end of a cycle to roll production and calculate difference.

Beginning:


Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
diff


Ale
100%
Export
Quarterly
12d3
+/-0



Month 1: 7 consumption


Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
diff


Ale
93%
Export
Quarterly
12d3
+/-0



Month 2: 10 consumption


Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
diff


Ale
83%
Export
Quarterly
12d3
+/-0



Month 3: 8 consumption, replenishment of 23


Trade Good
Reserves
Type
Cycle
Production
diff


Ale
98%
Export
Quarterly
12d3
-2



After the end of the cycle, the 2% difference in supply is reflected in the price of ale products.

[Alent]

ToC:

Introduction and Mythology
System Changes and Adjustments
Player Races, Classes, and Ability Subsystems
Itemization, Crafting, and Enchanting
Walking Cities, Ships, and Mecha
Bestiary
Main Factions
Lesser Factions
Maps
Economy Simulation
?


The Subject that is not known
This is the place for the subject that is not known, but will be known, and has to become known so it is to be can written. - Professor Daravon

(Couldn't resist the FFT/Adventurers! nod. :smallwink:)

[Alent]

Most of the placeholder stuff is removed now.

Right now I'm concerned about balancing out the races. Between some of the 5e paradigm on stats and the fact that I want the actual perceptions of the races to be different, I'm concerned about the balance of the various senses. In particular, I'm also wondering about the balance of giving Lifesense to the Orcs.

I'll be posting itemization and crafting tomorrow.

General feedback and any help or suggestions about the races is welcome at this point. (I hope my scattered "under construction and covered in dust" methodology isn't too off-putting.)

[the_david]

You weren't kidding about the ambitious part. I haven't read everything yet, but I really like the idea of an entire planet in exile. It kinda reminds me of Dragonlance though, so I guess it's not completely original. I might steal a few ideas here and there, though I'd be far more likely to turn this into more of a Science Fantasy/Sword and Planet setting.

[Alent]

You weren't kidding about the ambitious part. I haven't read everything yet, but I really like the idea of an entire planet in exile. It kinda reminds me of Dragonlance though, so I guess it's not completely original. I might steal a few ideas here and there, though I'd be far more likely to turn this into more of a Science Fantasy/Sword and Planet setting.

Let me know what you think when you have read everything! I've gotten the roughs of the item section down. I'm really hoping to get feedback on the race list in particular, and am hoping to post the rough draft of my Fighter in the other section sometime this week.

I'm actually not familiar with Dragonlance other than the "Die kender die" attitude I've seen around these parts, so I can't really comment on any resemblance. I think the Fortress Gnome is familiar with it, so it may or may not have been an original influence. I'm not too worried about it in any case, being D&D, even as house and setting ruled to hell and back as this will be by the end, it's still going to be the same set of tropes regardless of how I choose to play or subvert them. (Not even the original Final Fantasy changed things enough to mask it's AD&D origins.)

[the_david]

I have to tell you a little secret: There are no original ideas. We ran out of them a few thousand years back and since that moment we have been rehashing old ideas. Every story has already been told, they are just variations of the same plot.

But the only part that reminded me of Dragonlance was that the gods abandoned Krynn, leaving the clerics powerless. (Leading up to the War of the Lance campaign. The evil goddess Takhisis returns while one of the partymembers becomes the first cleric of the good deities.)

[Nevershutup]

I really like this setting. A lot. I'm actually thinking about running a campaign in it, although I prefer 3.5 to 5e, but that's relatively minor in the awesomeness of this setting.

Some ideas/questions I had:


Lunastone can contain any +1 enhancement or any enhancement that costs less than 5,000gp.

Flawed Gems can contain any enhancement that costs less than +3 or less than 15,000gp.

Flawless Gems can contain any enhancement.

(These gp costs were just off the top of my head, so I expect that their fairly off.)

How do you "purchase" slots?


How often is something exiled to Exile?

Roughly, what kind of beasts inhabit Exile? Are they mostly Abberations, undead and vermin? How common are intelligent undead? Is necromancy taboo?


That's all I have at the moment.

[Alent]

I really like this setting. A lot. I'm actually thinking about running a campaign in it, although I prefer 3.5 to 5e, but that's relatively minor in the awesomeness of this setting.

Thanks! You have good timing- I needed a pick me up since work and play both has been a disaster lately. :smallbiggrin:

You don't necessarily have to use the 5th edition features I'm using. Exile works in 3.5 as long as nobody goes past moderate optimization, and a better DM could probably make it work all the way up to the high end. The last campaign we did in Exile actually was an "unintentional E5" Pathfinder campaign. (At the time we were awarding EXP by plot milestone, and for some reason the DM never handed out level 6, and nobody asked about it.) You could probably do straight 3.5, E6, with banned spells and have no issues.

I do think the 5e Concentration nerf is hugely important in narrowing the power rift between the physical and casters, but if your table doesn't abuse magic it shouldn't be a huge issue. I would suggest using that change even if you do just go straight 3.5 otherwise. As far as "by book" goes, I'm actually about to just scrap advantage and disadvantage on my end of things because trying to work them into classes didn't go anywhere nearly as well as working them into races went, I'm finding the system to be all or nothing when I thought they'd originally integrate nicely. I need to hammer that out and will probably get that updated tomorrow. (Well, later today.)

With any luck I'll also get to where I feel okay about posting my Fighter adaptation, too.


Some ideas/questions I had:


Lunastone can contain any +1 enhancement or any enhancement that costs less than 5,000gp.

Flawed Gems can contain any enhancement that costs less than +3 or less than 15,000gp.

Flawless Gems can contain any enhancement.

(These gp costs were just off the top of my head, so I expect that their fairly off.)

How do you "purchase" slots?


Weapons come with slots, I don't have any provisions for adding them. My starting point was the idea that they're something that has to be part of the "plan" for the weapon in the first place, and just adding them makes the weapon weaker. Perhaps there's a mechanic to be had in that- Add a slot after the fact, reduce the hardness. I also haven't priced out the addition of them, but I would generally suggest that they would be like adding a second masterwork bonus worth of cost to the weapon per slot.

As far as the slotted items, I would adjust it to Lunastone being "+1 or +2, or less than Y", and flawed gems being "+3 or +4, or less than X". The logic being to tie it to the Artisan tiers mentioned in the crafting section. Lunastone is the apprentice material, flawed gems the journeyman, etc.

I would also cautiously warn you to take each flat cost enchantment on a case by case basis. I don't see them often enough to recall any by memory, but I remember thinking the book prices end up being questionable in most cases. (in an over/under-priced sort of way.) I remember thinking one of them I wouldn't allow, but I'm too tired right now to remember what that actually was.

Some of those weapon modifiers also go directly on the weapon as I recall, like the Elvencraft Longbow that doubles as a quarterstaff.


How often is something exiled to Exile?

There's no set interval, but generally speaking the answer is something like "Not often enough for anybody to notice."

It takes a really angry batch of gods to send you to exile, because they're basically "dividing you by potato" to make you so incompatible with the universe that you can never come back. This is basically an entire tier past the easier option of sending an aleax after someone, so it generally tends to mean more "A group of people" gets exiled to Exile to get them away from other people.

We discovered one campaign that Exile's pseudodragon population is descended from an entire faction of psuedodragons that was exiled at once. The emergence of an entire race was about what it took to be noteworthy enough for certain people to even be aware it happened.

I would say it's up to the DM to decide flavor wise, but I would suggest that if you have Exile as a "common punishment", most people and/or groups exiled to Exile perish in the rains within a few months, never getting the chance to be noticed.


Roughly, what kind of beasts inhabit Exile? Are they mostly Abberations, undead and vermin? How common are intelligent undead? Is necromancy taboo?

I'll split the bestiary up into three parts to give examples, since there's no comprehensive list yet: Farmed animals, Wild Animals, and Underground animals.

Most factions have farmed animals, the entire purpose of the Ranger class on Exile is to preserve, rear, and train animals. For example, the Dwarven Mining Expedition that I'm going to start my table working for as an intro keeps Rust Monsters to sniff out mineral deposits, keeps Dire Bats to ride and farm guano, and keeps some beasts of burden to haul stuff in places that are awkward to move machines. The Dorhini are another example, as they basically have range-grazing animals like sheep, goats, etc.

As far as actual wild animals, you're running into some familiar and curious critters. As far as the familiar goes, the usual pests of a city or ship are predictably present. (Rats, flying ratsPigeons and Seagulls, Spiders, etc.) There are a variety of lithovoric (stone eating) wild species that actually do quite well on exile, such as Stonemidges (swarm of rock-eating gnats), Crystal Moths (Small to large lithovoric beasts that tend to prey on Dwarven cities, harvested for silk), Strandbeests (Google it, they're strange clockwork and tube constructions, Exile's versions were created by a gnome rather than a crazy artist.), and there are various wild animals that live in natural caves like the ones behind Maragel.

Underground creatures are the more familiar: Purple worms, Bulettes, etc. Most of these are lithovoric and attack surface creatures out of territorial instinct rather than food seeking. Note that on Exile, the ecology of Bulettes is fully known, and some of the smaller dwarven cities actually farm them.

Most of these creatures can come in two template flavors as well: Necratouched and Manatouched. Necratouched are the mindless sort of undead, but they tend to have rudimentary thought processes. An undead will not mindlessly chase a city, for example, as it does make an attempt to work out if it can catch something. (It may not arrive at an accurate conclusion, but it will give up and return to its haunt if it clearly isn't working.)

Manatouched are basically wild magic infused, and usually hang out near the back of the rains where it can feed on/absorb wild magic. I haven't worked out the details on this past "Spell like abilities, can do something that rolls off the wild magic chart". Something can have both templates, but this is very uncommon.

The "up to eleven" for Undead comes in from Necratouched that survive the rains. A very small number of them, blasted to bits as they end up being, will amalgamate into an emulation of another creature, such as a Bone Worm. (A bunch of skeletons merged together to become a purple worm.) If one is brave enough to go into Necra's rains or arrives at them by some misfortune, there is a slight chance that they'll encounter a Walking Necropolis, which is basically a huge mass of necratouched undead amalgamated into an imitation of a walking city. This city is still mindless, but will attempt to run down another city if it sees one. (These are rare, there are maybe three of them and you have to already be in a literal hell to encounter them.)

Much of the encounters you can expect on Exile go something like this, in order of likelihood: (note that some of these aren't really meant to be "one encounter" but "A string of encounters with story", like you'd never "just" end up fighting Rust Riders, they harass you for days.)

1) Wild Animals
2) Necratouched creatures that survived the rains somehow. (either by hiding in a cave or by becoming still-animated debris that amalgamated into a look-a-like creature.)
3) Territorial Underground Animals
4) Rust Riders. (The resident bandits of the monoverse)
5) Other Factions. The Confederation and Tripartites don't get along that well, the Needirpick is basically run by beholder supervillains with the sole mission and goal of making money, and many of the smaller factions and nomads will get into shooting matches over natural resources at the drop of a hat. (especially orc nomads, who tend to be very defensive of anything they call theirs)
6) Lunars ("outsiders" from Luna who consider it their goddess given duty to punish and destroy the people of Exile, they typically infiltrate by using something similar to intellect devourers and can be largely thought of as the mindflayers of Exile.)

Now, as to Necromancy being taboo... it depends on where you go. The Confederation, both tribes of elves, and Maragel abhor the undead for different reasons: the Dwarves still haven't quite shaken all their old divine laws, the forest elves are opposed to them as the moon Necra was raised from their forest as punishment, the Dorhini generally don't accept anyone or anything they can't share salt with (Strandbeests are an exception), and Maragel spends an entire month fighting undead because it's a mountain fortress that has to weather the rain.

The Tripartites are largely neutral on the issue since the philosophers have made it a point to challenge preconceived notions and so the Undead aren't "evil" as much as "dangerous" in their eyes, if you have your undead on a leash and don't cause problems you might be asked to leave your plod outside the bar, but you won't get into trouble for having him. The Needirpick similarly doesn't care and some cubes probably make heavy use of undead labor being run by what basically amounts to Ferengi beholders.

The various Nomads have wildly different approaches, as well. An orc clan generally has respected deadspeakers (read: dread necromancer) whom are charged with the duty of reanimated the fallen so that they may continue to travel with the clan, protecting the dead from Necra's rain and mechanizing the ones that can no longer physically animate as clockwork constructs. On the flipside, the Rustriders see undeath as a force of order and will generally avoid or destroy it where they can.

Curiously, both Paladin factions have no compulsions at an organization level against them that I'm seeing in my notes. The Paladins of the Greater Good would use undead as a tool if they felt there was a good cause to be served by doing so, the Paladins of Law merely act out the laws of whatever faction they're working for.


That's all I have at the moment.

If you think of anything else, feel free to ask. :D I work better in a Q&A format, I think.

[Inevitability]

I just want to say that I really like Living Spells, and they would fit perfectly as another effect caused by Mana. Maybe people enslave them with Ooze Puppet spells and use them for several purposes? Heck, you can even have a group of Awakened Living Spells who live on the surface of Mana.

[Alent]

I just want to say that I really like Living Spells, and they would fit perfectly as another effect caused by Mana. Maybe people enslave them with Ooze Puppet spells and use them for several purposes? Heck, you can even have a group of Awakened Living Spells who live on the surface of Mana.

You're absolutely right, how did I overlook living spells? :smalleek: They'd fit right in amongst the wild magic storms and mana elementals.

I remember seeing Ooze puppet spells mentioned in one of those "I want to play a chibi ooze-ko" threads, but I know next to nothing about them, how do they work?

[Inevitability]

I remember seeing Ooze puppet spells mentioned in one of those "I want to play a chibi ooze-ko" threads, but I know next to nothing about them, how do they work?

Ooze Puppet is basically Dominate Ooze, except it requires a fortitude save instead of a will save, and the fluff is that you are telekinetically controlling the ooze to do as you want.

[Alent]

I'd hoped to get more done by now, but between depression and the chaos leading up to and during the three week family "vacation" that kicked my ass over the holidays I've not gotten anything meaningful done.

I'm hoping to get the rough draft of my Martials closer to being posted this weekend. I just didn't want this thread to fall off the bottom of the board before I did.

Edit: Updated Skills part of the Rules post. The Split skill points was scrapped in favor of simplifying the knowledge and profession skills. There's a few more iterations of that on my todo list, but this was the iteration that came from the work I did on the classes yesterday.

[Thunderfist12]

Ambitious, indeed! I commend you for the effort you have put into this setting. In terms of my review, it is nothing short of awesome.

Long words put aside, it's really cool. I will be reading through this in greater depth when I get the opportunity to do so. I might even use it, but to be honest, I'm pretty sure I've said that about every setting I've critiqued on this site.:smallbiggrin:

Honestly, though, I think I might use this when it's complete. Well done! PM me if you need help finishing it.