Other HU Fantasy Hero Settings

[lgguy]

Similar to my Tuala Morn thread, I would be interested to hear any of the Hero staff comment on maybe some of the directions that they are thinking about taking with the unpublished, future FH settings.

[Steve Long]

Well, so far the ideas are pretty basic. I haven't really fleshed them out at tremendous length, but roughly speaking:

The Atlantean Age is a time of extremely common, and often extremely powerful, magic. Even everyday people often know a simple spell or two that make their lives easier, and wizards are sometimes powerful enough to affect the course of kingdoms -- many could stack up against Champions superheroes easily. There's a lot of magico-technology powered by orichalcum -- flying boats and such, among other things.

The Primeval Age (or whatever we call it) I view as being also a time of powerful magic, but powerful in a different sense -- raw, new, wild, strange. Gods and demigods walk the Earth, foul races like the Elder Worm often enslave or subjugate mankind, the entire world is, well, sorta primeval. When I think of what I'd want to do here, the nearest fictional analogy I can think of is some of the stories of Clark Ashton Smith, but that's only an approximation.

[lgguy]

I just got done with At the Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft. I loved the idea behind the aeons-old city of the Old Ones. Having read about Thun and Ureth-Kalai in The Turakian Age and The Valdorian Age I always got the impression that the Elder Worm beings were very Cthulthu-esque. Will the The Primeval Age be a mix of places like what the city in Lovecraft's story would have been like at its heyday along with the extremely high fantasy "Gods walking on the Earth and fighting divine wars" sort of setting? If so, I would like to hear some of your thoughts on the mixing of the two.

[Steve Long]

Will the The Primeval Age be a mix of places like what the city in Lovecraft's story would have been like at its heyday along with the extremely high fantasy "Gods walking on the Earth and fighting divine wars" sort of setting?

Well, that's not a bad capsule description of some of the things I have in mind for that setting. Basically I'm seeing the Elder Worm, despite having technically fallen from the height of their power by that point (since they are, after all, pretty much on the run from the victorious Malvans after aeons of war), are still powerful enough on Earth to enslave lots of mankind, oppose the gods and demi-gods standing against them, and so on. In this case the Lovecraftian horrors, instead of being singular things hidden away here and there, are active and mighty. Should be a heckuva fun setting to write. ;)

I see the PCs in this setting as being Hercules-like demi-gods -- the children of the gods, lesser godlings, that sort of thing. It's just that instead of performing 12 Labors, defeating the minotaur, or what have you, they get to fight the Elder Worm.

[BigJackBrass]

Now that certainly sounds interesting. I've long been a fan of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane stories, which have their basis in a primitive, savage Earth with lots of Lovecraft and Howard influences (and doubtless CAS too) and I could definitely use a book like that.

Something to look forward to, I'm hoping.

Edit: And I rather like the sound of Primaeval HERO as a title for the book... as long as you get the spelling right... :D

[Steve Long]

I don't know whether we'll use "The Primeval Age" (however spelled;)) or not. It's not a bad-sounding name at all, but it doesn't necessarily convey much about what the product covers. Fortunately no decision needs to be made just yet.

[FenrisUlf]

I see the PCs in this setting as being Hercules-like demi-gods -- the children of the gods, lesser godlings, that sort of thing. It's just that instead of performing 12 Labors, defeating the minotaur, or what have you, they get to fight the Elder Worm.

Sounds like the Space Gods DAW series by Manning Norvil. I'd like it; it sounds vastly cool.

And if it's going to have Space Gods, maybe you could work in some Malvans who arrive on the early earth and fight the Worms instead of just raising pyramids and boffing the local women like the Von Daniken aliens.

[FenrisUlf]

The Atlantean Age is a time of extremely common, and often extremely powerful, magic. Even everyday people often know a simple spell or two that make their lives easier, and wizards are sometimes powerful enough to affect the course of kingdoms -- many could stack up against Champions superheroes easily. There's a lot of magico-technology powered by orichalcum -- flying boats and such, among other things.



Oh, now I would love to see that. It sounds like something Edgar Rice Burroughs would have written. Atlantean Champions!

[Steve Long]

And if it's going to have Space Gods, maybe you could work in some Malvans who arrive on the early earth and fight the Worms instead of just raising pyramids and boffing the local women like the Von Daniken aliens.

That I probably can't do. A hundred thousand years ago there were still more than enough vital and active Malvans that if they found a nest of Elder Worms they'd come wipe them out. That's why the EWs are hiding on a little backwater planet like Earth. ;) However, the possibility of one or two renegade Malvans hanging around exists.

[Lethosos]

I'd play with the wording for Primeval Age--say... "The Primeval World", "Age of Primal Power", or some such fun terms. :D

There is going to be other-verse FH products down the line, but they will be independently funded and not subject to DOJ's schedule. Your mileage may vary.

[lgguy]

Kind on-topic, since there are no Malvans, are the Elder Worm going to get competition from the Kings of Edom or are the Kings of Edom members of the Elder Worm race themselves? (Maybe this has been answered in some Hero book, but if so, I don't have it.)


I see the PCs in this setting as being Hercules-like demi-gods -- the children of the gods, lesser godlings, that sort of thing. It's just that instead of performing 12 Labors, defeating the minotaur, or what have you, they get to fight the Elder Worm.


Is it basically going to be Elder Worm vs. Gods or are things going to be more chaotic then that? The impression I got from the Hero Universe PDF is that things wouldn't be as simple as "Elder Worm = EVIL, Gods = GOOD".

[Steve Long]

Of course it's not going to be that simple. There are, for example, evil gods as well as good, and other Elder Races whose names have not yet been revealed. (And, to be fair, the HU document needs a touch of updating here and there in light of canon published over the last few years.) And naturally any given GM can complicate or simplify things as he likes.

I can't really answer your Elder Worm-Edom question without giving away tidbits from the secret backstory scattered here and there across various books, so I'm going to leave it be for now. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. :eg:

[Sword-dancer]

Are there any news from Age of Legends, Age of Heroes and Arthurian Hero?

Especially one which time or local period >Age of Heroes will concentrate or how well willl be Sumer, Babylonia, the Phoenicians are truth to be told the my main interest, together with persia.

Another pet peeve of mine how easily the Plate Mail and which is added with them could be cut out of Arthurian Hero.

Thanks

[Steve Long]

Are there any news from Age of Legends, Age of Heroes and Arthurian Hero?

No, we haven't done any work on them or made any particular plans for them yet.

[Sword-dancer]

Thank you!

[Super Squirrel]

I can't really answer your Elder Worm-Edom question without giving away tidbits from the secret backstory scattered here and there across various books, so I'm going to leave it be for now. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. :eg:
I have a question about the Elder Worm's in the backstory that takes place between 5000 SE and the start of Valdorian Age. Is this in the part of the secret backstory area we can't find out about?

If so, if I was to write an official supplement book on Khor, could I find out?

If not, let me know and I'll ask the question. :)

[Captain Obvious]

Of course it's not going to be that simple. There are, for example, evil gods as well as good, and other Elder Races whose names have not yet been revealed. (And, to be fair, the HU document needs a touch of updating here and there in light of canon published over the last few years.) And naturally any given GM can complicate or simplify things as he likes.

I can't really answer your Elder Worm-Edom question without giving away tidbits from the secret backstory scattered here and there across various books, so I'm going to leave it be for now. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. :eg:

So when is The Fullness of Time due for publication?

[Steve Long]

I have a question about the Elder Worm's in the backstory that takes place between 5000 SE and the start of Valdorian Age. Is this in the part of the secret backstory area we can't find out about?

I would say, generally speaking, that all parts of the backstory not yet revealed in print remain "secret." I don't want to start providing tidbits of information now, only to forget them or think up something better later when I want to put the info in a book. ;)

If so, if I was to write an official supplement book on Khor, could I find out?

If you were working for us in a freelance capacity you'd be made privy to any information you needed to know. That'd be covered by the NDA provisions of your contract.