Help modeling an unusual solar system

[Duke Bushido]

Folks, I am trying to toss a Thank You trophy to everyone with something to add, but I've run out for the day.    I'll hit you as soon as I can, but I promise: it's all appreciated.  

 

[Hugh Neilson]

Unrelated to this thread, but a setting like this, presented with "here are abilities that various races can buy" (with as little or as much "you need to be trained in this to add that", limitations based on total CP, etc.). rather than "here are some examples; use the Tomes to build your own, would make a fantastic "powered by Hero" game.  Something very different from the classic D&D/fantasy tropes that would be very difficult to duplicate by modifying those rules, but a game you could pull out of the box, build characters for and start playing.

[Duke Bushido]

1 hour ago, Hugh Neilson said:

Unrelated to this thread, but a setting like this, presented with "here are abilities that various races can buy" (with as little or as much "you need to be trained in this to add that", limitations based on total CP, etc.). rather than "here are some examples; use the Tomes to build your own, would make a fantastic "powered by Hero" game.  Something very different from the classic D&D/fantasy tropes that would be very difficult to duplicate by modifying those rules, but a game you could pull out of the box, build characters for and start playing.

 

 

Thanks, Hugh.

 

And yes; that's precisely what I have in mind for this re-do version of the world.  As my daughter has never run anything before (and as yet, doesn't have recall enough of the rules themselves to play without having to stop and ask questions here and there), I want to make this version of this setting sandboxed as best I can-- racial templates, pre-built magic system(s) and spells, pre-made Bestiary, maps, cities, cultures, ruins, lore-- but without limiting the world itself: nothing to _have_ to build, but with room to build when you're ready to do so.  It's my hope that by presenting racial templates / packages, she can get off to a firmer start.  I'm going to have to revisit dragons, though.   Dragons are what drew her to Fantasy, and in the original version of this world, dragons are insectoid as opposed to reptilian.  In fact, the entire world was inspired by a single piece of art on the cover of an old Dragon Magazine my first GM had.  I don't remember which one; Dragon was still in double-digit issue numbers; I remember that.  At any rate, there was a dragon on the cover with butterfly wings, and I thought "Hey, what if...."

 

That's just how these things happen, I suppose.  

 

 

[DShomshak]

Yes, it very often is!

 

Re: Elves: I don't dislike elves, but then I've never had the "Legolas Problem" with players. We've had a few elf PCs in the D&D games I've been in recently, but that's been from players calculating advantages for various race/class combinations; i.e., "This character is DEX-based, and elves give a DEX bonus. I don't give a rat's ass about the rest."

 

But we also have fairly broad tastes in Fantasy, so nobody expects Tolkien, Tolkien, Nothing But Tolkien. I don't dislike Tolkien, either; LoTR is the mountain-tall standard by which all epic fantasy shall be judged, for a long time to come. But ye gods, I hate the Tolkien rip-offs by writers (and gamers) who never look beyond the surface of his work and trot out endless copycat dwarves, elves, dragons, magic swords, quests and Dark Lords. They're literary vampires, feeding on his creativity without even trying to add anything of their own.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Scott Ruggels]

Hey, I have a fairly worked out endothermic reptilian race that fell into the “elf” category in my long running FH campaign.  Stronger, faster, more dexterous, and possibly smarter than humans. They were horse sized bipeds, that operated very well at night, and were superb trackers.  The downsides were they didn’t do well in cold, altitudes above 5000 feet, rainy climates, and they were very nearsighted. Their government was a Satrapy system, and they tended to be aromantic, very practical, though in general not that creative. When not engaging in local genocide to expand their agricultural requirements, they were trying to trade crafted items across vast distances. They use magic, but it was a collective ritual, taking time and numbers to cast. More details I can scan and send if you are interested. 

 

https://d.facdn.net/art/scottruggels/1499967720/1499967720.scottruggels_militia01.gif

 

https://d.facdn.net/art/scottruggels/1500575886/1500575886.scottruggels_trading01.gif

(for some reason I cannot post images from my iPhone, only

links, sorry. )

[Scott Ruggels]

On the first point, though, on Earth isn’t their a bit of lag in the seasons? The Winter Solstice is December 22,

but the worst of the cold is  mid January through February?  Summer solstice is June 22, but the worst of summer is August and early September? Would this have an effect on the timing of the seasons?

[Duke Bushido]

An excellent question! 

 

I don't know.

 

But I'm with you, Sir.  My own elf analogue-- on this particular world-- is also reptilian (and arrogant, but they can't help that, what with being superior to everyone and all), as are the majority of the player races (but not all), which is why a warm world is rather important. 

 

The teacher and the rest of the class in the little Lore bit I put up are all Amphii, which is the elf-analogue race.  Taller, lithe, educated, big emphasis on social interactions, master craftsman of fine and delicate items (and lightweight armor and weapons, in some cities), faster (briefly), stronger (briefly), more agile, better eyesight (they had worse hearing originally, just to keep the template balanced, but I don't think I'll revisit that this time), etc. 

 

But I like the tempering of all this superiority with "reptilian:" lower END, lower REC, penalties in the cold (tempered by not taking normal penalties to LTE when it's really hot), and a preference for sunshine that keeps the the hell out of hidden tree cities. 

 

I've got a human-analogue reptile: very similar in all respects, with very minor tweaks to the template-- for those who just don't want to be human, but don't much cotton to being anything out of the comfort zone (the human analogue is, objectively, better suited to close combat, but as a people they are terrible with magic, as it requires rigors for which they are generally far too laid back.  Individuals can, of course, be exceptions). 

 

There's a dwarf analogue (partly because I never minded the dwarves: interesting and well-detailed culture by the tropes of fantasy, and partly because I had a player who just _had_ to be a dwarf.  As there are already a predominance of reptilian races (the giants are reptiles, and there are a couple of amphibian races, one playable) the dwarves are insectoid, and the only player race with six limbs (as is common in such, two dedicated legs, two dedicated arms, and a pair of "swing" appendages.   Two varieties: subterranean (uncommon) and cliff-dwellers. 

 

And I'm wasting lots and lots of time and space better used for staying on topic, and the only way out of that is to end it abruptly. 

[Duke Bushido]

Man, Google's awesome.

 

The changes to their imaging set-up are irritating, but still, if you look hard enough, you can find a source.

 

And it turns out there's an image on e-bay of the very magazine that inspired the entire world.  (Jim, so far as I know, owned every issue of Dungeon.  Mostly they were just littered around the gaming room, but still: a greater source of art and inspiration for gaming simply didn't exist at that time).

 

At any rate:

 

 

 

 

 

From that moment on, it was "BOOM!"  Insect dragons and reptile people!  I wonder.....

[ScottishFox]

On 6/14/2019 at 7:59 PM, Duke Bushido said:

man it pains me to say this, but the fact is that spending the bulk of her free time to a damned screen instead of reading or playing like normal kids  the way we did growing up has left her really, really short in the creativity department.      Seriously: I love my kids, but the damned screens have rotted their ability to imagine.  They don't even play video games!  I _thought_ they did; bought them one a couple years ago.  Came home one day to a house full of kids.  All of them at the computer, on youtube FREAKIN' WATCHING OTHER PEOPLE PLAY VIDEO GAMES!

 

It is a strange world - no doubt.  My daughter does the same.  But, some of this is going to be there personality as well.

 

My daughter - doing an obscene number of hours on the iPad during school break has shown me countless drawings and animations in multiple apps.  She'll download something and the next day be showing me things that are actually kind of fun to watch.

 

Her thumbs are crazy fast and accurate.  We recently blew a good chunk of her allowance savings to get her an Apple pen so she can draw better.  She was previously frustrated by "finger painting" on the screen.

 

Still, I am probably similar in age to you and share many of the same concerns.  I force the little tyke into swimming and martial arts classes to make sure she retains ambulation in adult life.

[Duke Bushido]

We're likely within a decade or so.

 

These  are both "late life" kids: I'm fifty-nine.

 

And after the 6th grade orientation I had to attend for my son's new school-- which could be better boiled down to "how to helicopter even more closely via social media and smart phone, I think I may also be the last of the "free range" children....