sentry0

OK, I just wrote up something...have a look and let me know what you think.

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The Knights of Tuath

The Knights of Tuath are an elite group of Blooded who have two important functions within Blooded society: enforcement of the Ancient Laws and finding new Blooded. They are considered to be outside the normal social constructs that the Blooded use to organize themselves and are free to come and go between Kingdoms with a minimum of difficulty. Because of this free agency, the Knights of Tuath are often called upon to mete out justice on Blooded who have committed crimes in one Kingdom but have fled to another.

The Knights of Tuath are also charged with seeking out and finding new Blooded. They are expected to bring the new Blooded into Blooded society and place them under the care of their Bloodline. Usually this means they bring the newly awakened Blooded to their closest King so that a mentor may be found.

The Knights of Tuath have been transformed by the waters from the Well of Segais and have access to magic that aids them in their tasks.

12 minutes ago, Steve said:

To be a bit different, why not go with Celtic mythology? They could be the Tuatha de Danaan (People of the Goddess Danu). A lot of mileage could probably be had tying them to the myth of the Tuatha.

 

Come to think of it, are the Blooded purely a Western phenomena? I don't recall seeing any mention of Asia in your document.

I like it, Danu has fertility and wisdom associated with her which both work for this order of Knights.  According to this she's known to bring wisdom into the world through the Well of Segais...perhaps the ritual to join the Knights involve drinking from the well?  

I'm staying away from Asia mostly because my knowledge of Asian myths and pantheons is pretty abysmal.  I imagine that Blooded exist is all cultures but am specifically focused on Western mythology for this mini-setting.  It would be cool to write up Asian themed Blooded complete with their own culturally significant mythological hooks at some point.

Who knows, maybe that's something that will happen in time.

3 hours ago, Steve said:

 

For a more mythic concept, how about calling them Grail Knights? If beings can come into the world through a Mythic Breach, then why not relics and artifacts? The mythic Holy Grail seems like it would be a good choice. If each Grail Knight drinks from the mythic chalice when they receive their office, then it can be the explanation for investing them with certain powers and abilities that other Blooded don't have access to. Knights would be in charge of training their squires, perhaps in a mix of Eastern and Western skills, readying them for the investiture ceremony that will elevate them into being full members of the Order of the Grail, a group existing alongside regular Blooded.

 

Of course, there could also be fallen Knights as well, guilty of pride or some other sin that took them down a dark road into villainy.

I like the idea of having some sort of artifact being the source of their power...what about going back a bit further?  I was thinking maybe we should tie it into an ancient pantheon.

This order of Knights has 2 things on it's plate...enforcing the Ancient Laws and finding new Blooded.  That makes me think of justice and hunting in terms of themes...that leaves some options open.

• Athena/Minerva - Greek and Roman gods of the wisdom and warfare
• Tyr - Norse god of war and justice
• Odin - wisdom, war...a bunch of other things
• Skadi - Norse hunting god
• Artemis/Diana - Greek/Roman gods of hunting, the moon, animals
• ???

I kind of like Tyr out of the list because there's already a Greek themed Bloodline with The Scions of Atlas and I like that he has justice in his portfolio.  Odin and Skadi would work too but Odin is way overexposed because of Marvel and Skadi is kind of obscure.

What do you think?

2 hours ago, Steve said:

 

Actually, Aid both restores Characteristics and also increases their top end. It is a -1/2 Limitation on Aid to "Only Restores To Starting Values" with it. The write-up I did would be a point cheaper with this Limitation added.

 

Watcher Knights (or whatever you choose to call them) could have a Jedi-esque mystique about them, I suppose. Perhaps they could be something akin to the Templars in Blooded society, or even BE the true Templars, for that matter. They could have a martial arts style and other abilities. I assume they are called Watchers because they have some sort of guardian purpose to them, watching for enemies both internal and external, and also finding reincarnated Blood.

 

Blooded that don't get found by a Watcher may end up joining splinter groups of Blooded that could have some radical beliefs, more potential groups of foes for the main organization. There could also be Blooded that don't want anything to do with that society, so they self-exile themselves.

Instead of Watcher how about we call them something else?  I'm thinking something like Paladin or Bloodguard (Blood Paladin?).  This group would have two sacred charges: to ensure the Ancient Laws are observed/enforced and to find new Blooded. 

They would have ability to come and go as they please between kingdoms (within reason).  I'm thinking they would be seen like champions and would have their own powerbase within Blooded society...enough power that even a King or Queen would respect them.  Maybe they have a code of conduct that includes a non-interference policy in regional politics, unless an Ancient Law in broken.  That would keep them beneign enough that a monarch would tolerate them.

26 minutes ago, Steve said:

Regarding a variant of Second Wind, since everyone gets a post-12 recovery each Turn, boosting REC before that free recovery time rolls around is a big benefit for not a lot of points. A pretty cost-effective way to do this would be to use Aid instead of Healing (6 points per die versus 10). STUN and END normally recover very quickly, so Healing is not as good a value for getting back STUN and END. If you add in REC, it gets even better.

 

Consider this build...

 

Aid 2d6, Expanded Effect (x3 Characteristics or Powers simultaneously) (STUN/END/REC; +1), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1) (36 Active Points); One Use At A Time (-1), Side Effects (Mythic Breach; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4). Real Cost: 9 points.

 

Instead of Charges, it can only be cast once, then has to lose all of its Aided points before it can be cast again (due to the "One Use At A Time" Limitation). It gets you to pretty much the same place as your version, plus boosts REC on top of it.

 

I think Watchers would probably be good as a type of Knighthood. If Watchers exist separated from the power structures of the different Bloodlines, they could also provide a line of communication between them. Perhaps Watchers are considered neutrals in the game of thrones, unable to hold leadership positions, so they can freely visit each Bloodline's strongholds and carry messages as well as bring in new Blooded.

I really think you're on to something with the Watchers being separate from Blooded society.  They could travel between kingdoms as messengers and Bloodline houses as you suggest.  They would have special rights and status within Blooded society.

I think that the spell you wrote up is scoped differently than Second Wind.  Second Wind is meant to be used in combat to recover STUN and END up to their starting values.  The spell you wrote up will increase the top end of those stats, which is fine.  I'm thinking that both can coexist for that reason...maybe it can be put into the Blood magic line of spells.

3 hours ago, Steve said:

My comments are a bit random in this one, prompted by some things I noticed in the document.

 

I think the Watchers need some sort of special Blooded ability to find new Blooded because Sense Blooded seems too limited for this duty. The chances that one of them stumbles across a new Blooded and gets near enough to view them clearly after range modifiers are taken into account, especially if we're talking about a city the size of New York, would be pretty small. I'm thinking a type of smell-based tracking sense might work for them. It might take them a while to locate the Blooded they seek in a big city, but they will get there eventually.

 

For those Breachers who have managed to secure a foothold on Earth, can any of them breed successfully with normal humans? If they can, that then presents a whole new issue for the Blooded to deal with. After reading the document, I'm left uncertain if Breachers are real enough to do this, or if they're more like some sort of stabilized illusion, like faerie glamour.

 

Second Wind seems like it could work quite a bit cheaper and easier by simply buying additional REC (say +10 to +30) on Time Limit, which would be a Limitation rather than an Advantage in that case. You also wouldn't have to fuss with the Decreased Re-Use Advantage too.

Watchers probably deserve a bit of a write-up.  Perhaps they're in the peasantry and, like Breach Hunters, being a Watcher is considered a path to Nobility.  At the very least, a Watcher would be above the peasant in station, if not true Nobility.  Also, maybe it makes sense to give Watchers and Breach Hunters their own spells???  I suppose they could be just rolled into general Blood magic too.

I want Breachers to be real mythic creatures so I don't see why they couldn't interbreed with humans.  It does bring up interesting challenges but not insurmountable ones for the Blooded.  

I kind of like that Second Wind doesn't force you to have the side effects of taking a recovery in combat.  Maybe the spell you describe is a general Blood magic spell instead if Battle magic, there's already precedent in Blood Magic for amping stats.

58 minutes ago, Mick Price said:

Is the world basically modern day plus secret magic people?  And if so how do you explain  the lack of effect of magic on the world?

Firstly, check out this thread for the doc and the most up-to-date conversations about it.

The short answer to your question is; they have laws forbidding them from revealing themselves to mortals.

Long answer: during the middle ages the Blooded were decimated by the witch hunts.  They realized that the mortals were capable of overpowering them and that they were severely out numbered so they created laws to hide their existence from mortals.

2 hours ago, Steve said:

Hmmm... 350k is quite a lot, actually. Even if spread throughout the world, that is a lot of Blooded. That also means a lot of Mythic Breach events are happening each year, just based on statistical chances.

 

My personal opinion is that you should consider tying the Limitation value of the Mythic Breach to both the Active Points of the Blood Power and also the activation chance of a Mythic Breach occurring. The Active Points of the Blooded ability could also be used to benchmark the corresponding Summon. With a 10-point Blood ability/Summon, you get a 50-point critter (like an orc or maybe a few goblins). With a 90-point ability, it scales up due to the increased chances, so you're likely looking at a dragon or the like. If you use the same Limitation value on every Blood ability for the Side Effect, what that means to me as a GM is that equally bad stuff happens whether you use a small ability or a bigger one. Also, even if the skill roll is failed, there is then a second roll to check if anything bad actually happens, which should reduce the value of the Limitation.

 

I think smaller Active Point abilities are better expressed with a -0 Limitation or maybe a -1/4 for the Mythic Breach side effect, since they bring forth weaker things and have a pretty small chance to occur. On the other hand, a high Active Point ability (say 51 points for the same of discussion), has a 62.5% chance to occur, so the value would be higher (maybe -1/2 or up to -1). If you read through Side Effect, what I'm saying can be expanded out even more. This would give a fairer point value for smaller-point abilities, and bigger-pointed abilities are better off being held in reserve in case of Godzilla or something major due to the heavy risk.

Your breakdown regarding the Limitation value seems logical to me...I'm just not looking forward to revising 85 spells and transposing them ?. Oh well, I'll suck it up and get it done at some point.  I'll probably make the 1-10 point band -1/4 because, although tiny, there is still a chance of creating a Breach.  Maybe the higher rungs will go below -1.

I'm writing up New York City as the main city for the setting book which has about 8.6m people according to the 2017 census.  That works out to roughly 430 Blooded in one of the most densely populated cities in the world.  That's not a ton of Blooded but enough that it justifies having a local government.  Also keep in mind that most Blooded are not PCs and won't be facing the hardships of adventure that requires more spellcasting and therefore more risk of a Breach.  Most Blooded NPCs will know some spells, lower powered, cheaper ones, I would imagine, but they wouldn't be the mystical powerhouses the PCs will be.  I wouldn't expect the average Blooded peasant to be built on nearly the same point values as PCs...sure they would be more than your average NPC but not even close to 275.

Anyways, good stuff...thanks for the feedback and keep it coming if you are so inclined ?

8 hours ago, Steve said:

The Lost Legion is a nice idea, an enemy group of the Blooded's own making.

 

Since the Blooded do not breed on their own, I had a thought about how their numbers are sustained. Perhaps the spirits of individual Blooded get reincarnated into new bodies after they are beheaded, which I think is what you call the Final Death. So, if there was a maximum of, say, 10,000 Blooded in the world and 200 of them died in one year, then 200 new Blooded would very soon be born to replace them. Some centuries might have even had more reincarnations than others, which could cause Blooded society to evolve if some centuries had vast numbers of new Blooded replacing the fallen. Perhaps they could have past life memories crop up now and then. Also, if they know that death allows them to reincarnate, those who have grown tired of life could embrace Final Death as a means of clearing their memories and starting over as a new being.

 

One of the reasons I think the use of Blood abilities should be a bit more reliable (using 1/20 as the skill roll modifier on all abilities instead of 1/10 on most) is because of Breaches. Once a Breach occurs, unless they carry high-powered weaponry around with them all the time, Blood abilities would likely be needed to fight against whatever emerges, which increases the chances of causing more Breaches. This could end up in a cascade failure effect that would likely overwhelm the Blooded on scene since they are always the primary targets.

 

Regarding the Side Effect, if a Breach is a type of uncontrolled antagonistic Summon, less powerful Breaches would be less Active Points, so they would be a smaller Limitation value. Since all the abilities are built with a -1 Limitation value, they can all cause the maximum effect, even the most minor ones risking the summoning of a dragon or something equally powerful.

I was thinking the Blooded population would be relatively small, something in the ballpark of 0.00005% which works out to 350k globally, large enough to require governing but statistically insignificant in terms of the humans to Blooded ratio.  In regards to reincarnation, I was hinting that something like that was going on during The Reverie but I was approaching it from the other side, the Mythic side.

I hear you on the cascading effects, I think Blooded magic will need to be carefully applied and if more than one breach open they will likely be in trouble.  I'm assuming people will jack their stats so they can cast Blooded magic on a 19- base which means that a 50 AP spell should go off 90% of the time which seems fine to me in terms of a failure rate.  It's when they start dipping into more powerful spells in combat that things get hairy for them...again I'm fine with that as a risk/reward element.

I was thinking about the Breach mechanic a bit in the same terms as you...were it gets even muddier is the activation roll.  Just because they fail a spell doesn't mean a Breach will open and it's even less likely to open on a less powerful spell.  How do you cost that?  I just picked -1 because I figured a tear in reality is a major thing...maybe I should reduce it to -3/4 or -1/2 to account for the activation rolls?

13 hours ago, Steve said:

What might be frightening for Blooded would be something like a Grimm (from the TV series of the same name, if you are familiar with it). Perhaps there are people possessing a natural ability to see Blooded, a genetic inheritance maybe from a spell cast on one of their ancestors long ago. While they wouldn't be one of the Blooded, just them having enhanced physical abilities and the ability to see Blooded could make them interesting foes.

How about this....

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The Lost Legion

This feared group is comprised mostly of victims of Mythic Breaches who have escaped the Second Law. The leader of The Lost Legion, Xoldra, is an ancient Dragon who was pulled into the material world centuries ago and now actively organizes the Legion against the Blooded. Xoldra is a monster of the Blooded's own making and she believes the Blooded are an abomination that needs to be destroyed. The Legion is a scourge on the Blooded who posses the martial and magical might to bring Final Death to their quarry.

The Lost Legion actively recruits Breach arrivals into their ranks and are known to have magics to sense a Breach and to track those that come through them. If a Breach is not dealt with or the Blooded who open the Breach are overrun, then there is a very good chance the mythic creatures who come through will end up in the Legion. It’s often a race against the clock between Blooded Knights and their Breach Hunters and the Legion to see who can get to the mythic creatures first.

Perhaps the greatest blow dealt to the Blooded to date has been by the Legion which was the Fall of Chicago in 2005. Xoldra herself is said to have intervened directly and dispatched King Sambell herself in his own Court. Chicago remains the territory of the Legion to this day and it is considered sheer folly for a Blooded to enter it. No King has mounted a campaign to this day to retake Chicago but there are rumors that some Blooded are actively organizing a resistance.

6 minutes ago, Lucius said:

 

If that's not the knight's job, what IS the knight's job??
 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thought dragon hunting was in a knight's job description

This is true but I was thinking that Breach Hunters would be effectively deputized by Knights and work for/with Knights.  Perhaps it's a path to Knighthood, the Blooded equivalent of military service?

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What might be frightening for Blooded would be something like a Grimm (from the TV series of the same name, if you are familiar with it). Perhaps there are people possessing a natural ability to see Blooded, a genetic inheritance maybe from a spell cast on one of their ancestors long ago. While they wouldn't be one of the Blooded, just them having enhanced physical abilities and the ability to see Blooded could make them interesting foes.

Neat idea, consider it stolen

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If you make all type of Blooded magic cost Long-Term Endurance (LTE) or even just some of the abilities, it's a good way to tamp down on how often they get used. One of the Blooded will not just burn through their allotment of END in a Turn casting magic, fully recover it in a minute or so, then burn through it again. By making things cost LTE in addition to costing END, it's a way to keep Blooded from being more like superheroes. It's also typically a -1/2 Limitation on powers that cost END, so it would make things a bit cheaper.

 

Another thing you might consider is making the skill roll on all abilities (instead of just some) use the 1/20 Active Point version instead of the standard 1/10. It's still a -1/4 Limitation and makes Blooded abilities more reliable without needing to boost the underlying skill roll (making it Skill+2 or Skill+3 instead of Skill+5. If you combine this change with adding "Uses LTE" as a Limitation, Blooded abilities would still be a little more limited than they are on in your constructs right now, be a little more reliable and still be able to keep Blooded magic controllable due to them using LTE.

I'll need to think on this one, in general, I'm ok with the Blooded magic being able to be cast over and over again without LTE restrictions.  If I added LTE into the mix I would be tempted to rebalance the spells so they were more powerful, more like a D&D mage who can cast less spells but the spells they do cast are powerful.  I always compare spellcasting in HERO against a warrior swinging around a 2-3 die KA...that warrior can do that all day long so if you restrict the spells in some way like LTE or the Delayed Effect advantage I feel like the spells should have more oomph.

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You might consider reworking the Side Effect. While I really like the special effect, having all powers take the same -1 limitation level seems a little unfair for some abilities. Using Acclimate (22 Active Points) versus Wall of Flame (60 Active Points) and be risking the same level of breach seems out of proportion.  

The intention was that a Mythic Breach would be scaled based on the spell being cast so a small spell wouldn't summon a Dragon.  I'll clarify this in the text.

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So, are there critters or humanoids wandering the world due to past breaches? How do they not get noticed by the muggles?

That is an interesting question, I was actually thinking about this and I thought it would be kind of neat if there was a class of Blooded who specifically hunted down the Mythic creatures who come through a Breach.  Part of cleaning up a Breach would also include dealing with mortals...Mind Wipes, CC TV footage destruction, cover stories (did you see that guy in the costume?), etc.

Maybe this group would exist in the peasant class and report to Knights to claim bounties and curry favor with the nobility.  These Breach Hunters would be above the general peasants technically but below nobility.

Thanks for looking things over, it's much appreciated

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Sanguine Renewal is a Healing spell with 3 charges and Self Only. Two of the charges are wasted because it does not have the necessary Advantage to be usable more than once a day. Second Wind, same thing.

What advantage is that?  I'm not familiar with it.

Found it, I modified those abilities to use it.

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Chaos Bolt: Why would a bolt of supposedly pure chaos always be green?

Personal choice, I just thought it added some flavour...if it really offends you I could change it

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Phoenix Ward: I don't think Resurrection actually requires Trigger.

Good to know, thanks.

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The First Law: WHY??

Buried at the end of the document is the history section of the blooded.  It's really my first draft of it.  Regardless, the First Law came about from the witch hunts in the middle ages which ended up decimating the Blooded...the Ancient Laws were penned as a direct result of the witch hunts.

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Final Death: "beheading which is typically a ritualized public event." How does this square with that First Law?

Sorry, "public" in this context would be public to the Blooded, not the general public.  I'm envisioning a formal execution that would take place during a Blooded event much like how executions were public affairs.

Thanks again...really appreciate your feedback.

3 hours ago, Steve said:

Hmmm, I didn't notice it before, but there seems to be a disconnect between the cap on Characteristics and Skill Rolls and the required purchases.

 

Consider, a character could buy up to a 23 CON (using the basic package in this for my example), thus giving them a basic CON roll of 14-. Then the Power skill must be bought at Skill+5, so the final skill roll would be 19-.

 

However, the cap on starting skill rolls is 14-, so something seems out of whack (unless the Power skill is an exception to the general cap on skill rolls).

 

I just wanted to mention it, because it seems like there's a contradiction going on in your basic setup.

 

No problem on the social complication and the watched. I understand if some complications like those are considered part of the campaign groundwork.

 

I would suggest you might consider adding a life support versus diseases to them, or maybe only some of the bloodlines might have that. It seems like Blooded are built of sterner stuff than ordinary mortals, a bit like Roger Zelazny sorts of characters. While they don't age, an ordinary flu could put them down, which seems a little odd to me.

There's definitely outliers in those numbers   Some of the spells I built exceed AP cost and some are below for example, I was expecting that magic rolls would be outliers.  I'll put a note into the campaign guidelines section to that effect to call it out.

I'll see about adding in some LS, keep in mind they have access to powerful healing magic so there's no real reason a Blooded would fall prey to a disease or toxin.   

49 minutes ago, Steve said:

You might consider breaking out the Regeneration and Resurrection ability into two powers, which actually totals five points cheaper than what you have.

 

Regeneration (1 BODY per 6 Hours), Can Heal Limbs (11 Active Points); Does Not Work On Fire Damage ([Common attack]; -3/4): 6 Real Points

Regeneration (1 BODY per 6 Hours), Resurrection (26 Active Points); Resurrection Only (-2), Does Not Work On Fire Damage ([Common attack]; -3/4): 7 Real Points

 

The main difference is that they won't heal limb loss until they are actually living again. Most of these savings will be eaten up by the Power skill, which seems like it should be 13 points in cost instead of 10 for Skill+5.

 

A Social Complication for a form of Secret ID seems like it should be part of the basic package, and also maybe a Watched: Other Blooded as well.

I took your advice on Regen, seems like a nice little bit of creative accounting.

I need to think about making Blooded take those social complications...I kind of feel like those are implicit in the setting so should they have to take them?  I could see that if a Blooded has been put on notice for some behavior they may have a watched that's more aggressive, but all Blooded are watched...much like how we're all watched by police.

Thanks for your suggestions!

JK Rowling reveals that you have a good day and time to meet with me

How Canadian of me.

I updated the doc tonight and renamed a couple of the Bloodlines.  Most of the names were working names because I didn't have much of a better idea about what to call them at the time.

I also wrote up a couple of new organizations:

• The Clockwork Union - a cadre of steampunk scientists who like to study and experiment on the Blooded
• Mars Industries -  an American defense contractor who is rumored to be connected to Blooded disappearances

The new orgs are both science-y...I felt like the rest of the orgs were distinctly supernatural in origin so a little variety was in order.

I got excited and went ahead and revised the Mythic Breach writeup...I think it's much better now.

Here's the new version:

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Mythic Breach

A Mythic Breach is a tear in the fabric of reality that allows Mythic beings to cross into the material world; these beings are always hostile to the Blooded. A breach may open at any time or location where Blooded magic is at work. It appears above the ground as a crackling vortex of dark purple energy, and the size of each breach is directly proportional to the power of what is coming through. An Orc raiding party would constitute a small breach while an adult Dragon would be an enormous breach.

Once the Mythic creature(s) are in the material world they are instinctively drawn to attack the Blooded in the area and will ignore non-Blooded targets unless provoked.

         Mythic Breach Probability

*Spell roll failures of 5 or more are moved one row down the chart

A Mythic Breach has a chance of occurring when a Blooded fails their skill check roll on a spell. On a skill check failure consult the “Mythic Breach Probability” table and do the following:

1. Roll 3d6 and compare the result to the “Breach Activation” column, on a successful activation a breach will open

2. Roll the number of dice indicated in the “Segments” column to determine when the Mythic creature(s) will arrive in the material world if a breach opens

Exactly what comes through the breach is up to the GM.

2 hours ago, Killer Shrike said:

I like the improvements you made. I got unexpectedly busy the last two weeks, but I'm still paying attention when the opportunity presents itself. I'd like to discuss your magic system / breach concept but find commenting on the google doc to be a suboptimal way to do so. 

 

If you want to have a conversation about it, I'd rather do it here on the forums, or via email, or via voice if you wanted to do a phone call.

Do you have Discord?  It's probably the easiest way to do a voice chat these days.

The Mythic Breach concept comes from a few places...

• I wanted a way to introduce fantasy creatures into the game without turning the game into Shadowrun
  • Not all Blooded will be able to defeat what comes through a Breach which could lead to things like Chimera's stalking the streets
  • Brings up interesting story opportunities to clean up Breaches
  • It adds a risk/reward element to spellcasting
• I love Rifts (the setting, not the mechanics )
• I just thought it was a fun idea in general and it adds some flavor to the spellcasting system

I like your comment you left in the doc about the mechanic.  Perhaps the activation roll should be based on the AP of the spell being cast modified by the magnitude of the fumble?  Something like the following:

*Skill rolls that fail by 5 or more points are moved one step down

I've been working on a setting document with the same name as the title of this post for a couple of weeks now and I think the document is in a good enough place to open it up to general feedback.  It's still a work in progress and not perfect but it's good enough to convey the settings basics, I hope.  I'm posting now to try and gather feedback from the general public of these boards to see what needs more explaining and what needs to be cut.

The Blooded are a group of immortals who have a connection to a mythic power that is hereditary.  There are 7 Bloodlines that each represent a different mythic theme such as Draconic or Fae.  The connection to the mythic world via their blood allows them to weave spells and perform supernatural feats.  The Blooded are under siege by external threats like the Eldritch Circle who hunt them to harvest gruesome material components for their rituals, The Continuum who are trying to erase them from the timestream, and the Elemental Lords whose ancient feud rages across the planes to day.

In addition to the external conflicts there are the internal politics and stresses of Blooded society.  The Blooded live in the 21st century but retain a feudalistic hierarchy with Kings and Queens who rule over geographic areas with their Dukes and Duchesses, Knights, and peasants.

Here's the doc - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y5hufEqzSfmn5OfIU6QNsj1WW-spQJx8/view

The doc changes frequently so don't forget to refresh the page every now and again.

Leave feedback here or DM me directly through the site or at phil.guinchard@gmail.com

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to read the document.

I'm still plugging away on the document and I have added a new spellcasting mechanic to the setting.  The mechanic is called a "Mythic Breach" and it's a tear in reality that has an increasing probability of happening depending on the number of failed spell rolls in short period of time in a set area.  All Blooded magic has this side effect and by extension has a chance of creating a Mythic Breach on a bungled cast.

I've been working on Blooded magic lately, I built out 49 spells across 8 spell lines and have put them into the setting doc.  Made a prefab for them too

Still looking for feedback, let me know if you want to help.

1 hour ago, Tjack said:

 

 

   This could still be a hook for a GM to use to start a run. (For some reason I’m thinking in Shadowrun terms for this.)  

   A King calls in one of the group and points out that they’ve broken that law.....”Now if you and your friends could take care of a little problem for me,  I’m sure I could forgive this little transgression.”

Yep, I could see that ?

6 hours ago, Tjack said:

    I do have a question about how one of the laws applies to the modern day. The one about not owning land...I get how it works about not building castles, but the way it’s worded no one could buy a house or start a business without getting permission  from  the King.   

That's one of the Laws that calls back to medieval Europe where peasants had no right to own land.  Instead they payed rent to work on a Lord's estate and were taxed for doing so.  I called it out as one of the Laws that tends not to be enforced in the modern era but left it in because a King may decide to enforce it depending upon the King.

1 hour ago, Tjack said:

    I read it, and it’s a very interesting backstory, but in the words of Pinky “What are we going to do now, Brain?”  

   Are players going to work against each other like in the Amber (from the Zelazny books I mentioned) diceless game?  Are they an experienced, mixed team of Troubleshooters working for a council of kings to take care of problems that concern the Blooded as a whole?  Or maybe they’ll be a group of foxhole buddies on the run from the forces that want them to join their respective societies?

    I do have a question about how one of the laws applies to the modern day. The one about not owning land...I get how it works about not building castles, but the way it’s worded no one could buy a house or start a business without getting permission from the King.  An expansion of this is;  What do the Blooded want as a whole?  and What do the individual Houses want?  

   Are they looking for dominion from behind the scenes over Humanity?  Do they want power over the other houses?  

  Think about the motivations behind the Vorlon and Shadows in Babylon 5.  The simple questions “Who are you?” and “What do you want?” drove five years of exceptional television.

   Lastly, would you prefer do work on this board, so that other GM’s can help or as e-mails direct to you so we don’t scare the neighbors?

                                                                 Here’s to a great start, and a new universe being born,      Tjack

    

Thanks for taking the time to read over the doc and giving your feedback...I really appreciate it!  To answer your question about direct email or here, it's really up you and what you feel comfortable with.  I'm hesitant on posting the doc here right now because it's in such an early stage of development so there's a bit of a context gap for people lurking in the thread.  At any rate, I leave it up to you.

To try and answer your main question; I think that I want conflicts to be both internal and external.  I don't foresee players working against each other...instead I'm envisioning them banding together for survival.  One of the ideas that's been bouncing around in my head is the concept of Guilds or adventuring companies (adventurers in the D&D sense).  I like the idea of having the players formally form a Guild or adventuring troupe, sort of like a hero team in Champions.

There's lots of opportunities for conflicts within Blooded society itself.  Those are mostly a political driven constructs and would vary from kingdom to kingdom or even between kingdoms.  There's also the war between The Avalonians and The Lord's of Blight for control of Blooded society as a whole...this conflict needs more thought about what it means to the setting.  Is it a burning fire of a conflict or more of a slow burning background thing?

External antagonists are pretty vague at this point...still thinking on it.  Witch Hunters, mortal wizards, and Elemental Lord's are what I've been throwing around as the short list.  The Elemental Lords concept is this: the Blooded are in conflict with the raw forces of creation.  In medieval Europe alchemists saw the classic elements as the building blocks for the universe.  I like the idea that the Elements are basically trying to erase them from existence because the Blooded are inherently unnatural.  I picture them being highly dangerous and powerful foes.

Lots to think about still...thanks for your comments.