Shadowsoul

Re: Play on words magic items/spells A couple more have occurred to me. Position Pole. It tells you where you are, much sought after by racers. Night-Club. Greatly prized by thieves and muggers, it draws shadows around the wielder thus granting a bonus to stealth, it is only useful in darkness however.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy BTW Cysphrett. What role do you see this Mutant Technomancer playing in the party? Artillery or supporting fire? Transport? Reconaissance? Close combat robotic mayhem? General wizardly fix-it man? Somethine else?

Re: Play on words magic items/spells I've not built any as such but off the top of my head. Glad Rags. A suit of battered clothes that induces near insane amounts of joy in the wearer. Stake of Roasting. If you stab a vampire with this but miss the heart then don't worry! It'll burst into flames and you can run away while he's distracted by burning to death! Clue Bat. A mysterious bat shaped amulet that speaks words of cosmic wisdom when its guardian spirit is propitiated with pizza. Thinking Cap. Hat that increases intelligence. Humble Pie. Laced with Ego Draining poison! Death Defying Plunger. It cleans drains, grants luck and has an inbuilt +2d6 Deadly Blow against Reapers. So easy but can't resist. The Ring of Truth. Brings agony to the wearer if they speak falsehoods. And a few spells from the 'nagging' sphere of magic. "Get Down off Your High Horse!" Suppress, Only works against Flight. +2d6 against beings with animal intelligence. "Some People Are No Better Than They Should Be!" Drain, Only works against characteristics or powers that have been increased by other powers such as Aid. "You're So Sharp You'll Cut Yourself One Day!" RKA. Must follow a hostile action made by opponent. SFX = Opponent is wounded by their own weapon. "Oops! Butterfingers." A Transform. Not very pleasant when you think about it.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Some more on Revenants. Although they lack any supernatural abilities beyond those of their deathless form Revenants are rightly feared because of the sheer relentless indestructability they exhibit and the terrifying focus with which they pursue their goals. Here is the package deal for Revenants as it currently stands. Powers. Undead Fortitude. +4 Strength. +5 Body. +5 PD 19 Points. Iron Will +10 Ego. 20 Points Undead Resilience 1 Energy Damage Reduction, 25% 10 Points. Undead Resilience 2 Physical Damage Reduction, 25% 10 Points. Relentless Cannot Be Stunned. 15 Points. Bloodless Does Not Bleed 15 Points By Will Alone Life Support (Character Does Not Breathe; Eating: Character does not eat; Immunity Most terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity: Most terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Longevity: Immortal; Sleeping: Character does not sleep) 35 Points. Sub-Total. 124 Points. Disadvantages. Call of the Grave Requires a successful Ego Roll to Recover from Unconscious. -5 Points. Psychological Limitation Obsession (Common, Total). -20 Points. Physical Limitation Must concentrate to benefit from normal healing (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) -10 Total = 89 Points. The increased characteristics and Damage Reductions reflect the fact that a dead body animated only by will can take a lot more abuse than a living one. Driven as they are by an all consuming will and with their deadened nerves barely registering pain Revenants can not be phased by things that would stun a mortal. They are however tied to their bodies and can be traumatised enough that they must seek refuge in a deathly state similar to unconsciousness, having succumbed to this they must effectively rise from the grave once again although it is much easier the second time around. Since they are dead and the normal bodily processes do not work a Revenant must consciously force their dead tissues to heal themselves. This requires hours of meditation each day, but that will give them something to do while everyone else sleeps. I have not specified the Obsession because it will vary between Revenants. Basically this is their reason for rising from the grave, it could be vengeance, a need to protect loved ones, fear of the afterlife, a desire to be a hero or a hatred of certain beings such as Vampires or evildoers in general. A Revenant can not buy off their Obsession although it is possible that they might modify it over the course of the campaign so long as the change is in keeping with the character's nature and behaviour.

Re: Need names for some magic types Calligramancy sounds great.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy There is an element of difference between individuals in that respect. I'll give you a bit of background on this to help the explanation. If however you want the short answer then skip the stuff in italics. Were-Beasts are the descendants of the Beast-Masters, whether through blood or through the curse being passed on by a bite. The Beast-Masters are or were ancient beings of great power that are said to have been born of unions between the beast/totem forms of the gods and mortal animals. They actually had the forms of men but could shift into various amalgams of man and one other animal. Although predators by nature the Beast-Masters were not inherently evil and in fact occasionally served as the physical arm of the gods' justice by brutally destroying demons and evildoers when the opportunity arose. For the most part however they left the sentient races to their own devices and took the wilds as their domain. The Beast-Masters could breed with humans in their man-forms and the inevitable descendants received a shadow of their power and joined their lords in wandering freely across the world with no thought for territory, wealth or human laws, these were the Were-Beasts or Werelings. Individuals deemed worthy could join their ranks if they were prepared to undergo a painful bite that would pass on a hint of the Master's strength. But centuries before the fall the Beast-Master's broke the ancient covenant; whether through boredom, hubris or some more obscure reason. They hunted humans and other races with abandon and communicated their newfound savagery to their followers. The gods then cursed their erring servants with infertility and subjected them to constant mental torments and reproaches. In retaliation the Masters used bestial magics to empower their bites until anyone who was wounded by the a Were-Beast's fangs would likely become one of them. The Masters then led a growing army of savage beasts to despoil the lands of men but were defeated by an alliance of Humans, the then still earthbound Strell and the servants and manifestations of the gods themselves. The Beast-Masters were captured but were spared by the gods, perhaps the divine ones believed that an age long imprisonment would cure their children of this madness or perhaps the Masters formed so fundamental a part of the world that their destruction would have had terrible consequences, for whatever reason the Masters were imprisoned until their eventual escape at the beginning of the fall. In the present day the Beast-Masters have disappeared and their malign influence over their offspring has faded, allowing some of their children to fight off the inherited bloodlust that is the bane of their existence. Nonetheless Were-Beasts suffer a portion of their Masters' madness which was greatly increased by the god's curse and centuries of imprisonment. They have also inherited the unleashed savagery of their patriarchs. These flaws are particularly noticeable when a Were takes his/her war-form. All Were-Beasts must take an Enraged disadvantage for their war-form worth at least 20 points. While many Werelings do have the Berserk disadvantage as well such rabid and dangerous individuals would not be accepted by New Dawn. The Enraged will typically have something to do with violence, e.g. being in combat, the sight or smell of blood. When not Enraged a Were-Beast's war-form retains most of its original personality although often tinged with savagery and cruelty. The war-form may have psychological disadvantages such as Vengeful, Sadistic, Compulsively Destructive, Addicted to the Hunt and so on. Many Were-Beasts also suffer from Accidental Change although this is associated with periods of great stress and danger and is not affected by the cycles of the moon. (Incidentally some Were-Beasts practice a shamanistic sort of magic associated with the moon, some believe it is possible to escape the gods' curse through this pure form of sorcery). Individuals with a strong will, (high ego), need not take this disadvantage. In their human forms Werelings still tend to suffer faint pangs of madness and may well possess some of the Psych Lims detailed above. They are also afflicted by their predatory nature and can not bear to eat anything other than raw meat. Although they may just be heroic individuals struggling to do right despite their curse it is possible that some Were-Beast characters are hoping to redeem their cursed race by reforging the old ways of protection and honour, this is more likely if the Wereling in question is an actual descendant of the Beast-Masters rather than an unwilling convert as most Were-Beasts are. Phew. That took longer than I thought. Does that answer your question?

Re: Need names for some magic types 1. Telethomancy. Cogitus. Mind Mastery. The Subtle Art. Mind's Hand 2. The Secret Artistry. Creomancy. Palettomancy. Lifegiving. True Illusionism. Sembling, (as in dissembling or resemblance). God's Hand 3. Planeswalking. The Shadow Path or the Celestial Path. Starcrossing. Skyswimming. 4. Artificing. Mage-Smithing or Spirit-Smithing. Soul's Hand.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Yeah telekinesis is ok. Might suggest that you give it a visible manifestation such as shadows moving to pick up the wrench or whatever.

Re: Creatures of Nehwon 5 points. Mist Breath: Hand-To-Hand Attack +0 1/2d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Damage Shield (Offensive; +3/4), Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense ([standard]; +1) (13 Active Points); Activation Roll 10- (-1 1/4), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) Then you link the poison payload you've already outlined to the Damage Shield. Replacing KA must do body with HA must do stun. You won't get any points back for the link because the Damage Shield is constant but that shouldn't up the cost too much. The stun damage done by this initial attack represents the first flash of numbing discomfort experienced by the person who has been caught in the mist. So it doesn't look much more expensive than the poisoned bite to me, am I missing something here?

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy All of these mutations are caused by magic rather than radiation, DNA plagues or whatever. So they will have a magical flavour, you wouldn't be able to fly so much as 'glide on the winds of magic' and so on. But that's just SFX. The powers I have thought about would include Flight, Armour, Clinging, Enhanced Senses, Claws, Poison Glands, Extra Limbs, Increased Characteristics, Invisibility and Teleportation. Most of these should be built with Physical Manifestation and/or Restrainable. However, this campaign is very much at the conceptual stage at the moment. Tell me what you'd like to be able to do and I'll tell you if I think it'll be ok. BTW. I've noticed that I left Priest and Templar off the magic user's list. Priests act more or less like mages while Templar have Paladinesque abilities that work through items such as consecrated swords and holy symbols.

Re: Creatures of Nehwon Perhaps link the Drain, (Str and Con?), to a low powered damage shield with an activation roll, the damage shield only does stun. Basically if you get near the thing there is a chance that you will touch the cloud of venom. Does that make sense? Cool stuff btw, as usual.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Fair enough. Although the way I envisioned the Technomancer was as someone with various wacky powers in the form of focuses rather than being able to build new stuff immediately. Of course if you lose one of your independent focuses you get points back to do something else instead. Alternatively the Technomancer could have a gadgeteer style 'weird technology' VPP. New bits of tech would have to be invented with the appropriate skill and checked by the GM first but hopefully that set-up would create the kind of character you're looking for.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Pretty cool and just the kind of character that would fit the feel of this campaign.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Well I’ve had some positive responses so I guess it’s worth pursuing this. I’d like to ask for advice about the character builds however. Since this is a relatively high powered fantasy campaign in which most of the PC’s should have some supernatural abilities the question of balance comes in; particularly because of the great variety of available character types. I have worked out how the various curses and powers should interact so character creations shouldn’t be too confusing. Hopefully with some careful character building and a sensible attitude on the part of the GM and the players we shouldn’t have any problems. Here are the basics of how I’m planning to build various character types; what does everyone think? All characters must of course choose a race from the following list, barring GM dispensation. Human. Eldren. Mor. Kerak. Strell. They can then choose whether to be a magic user or not. Magic users come in the following broad flavours. ‘Normal Mage’ in the style of Turakian age. Artificer. Crafts magical items. Wards, runes etc. Technomancer. Builds mystical technology. Guns, golems and pseudo mecha. Elementalist. Very unsubtle with a few powerful abilities. Psychics. Does what it says on the tin. Having done this the player may if they wish choose one ‘curse’ which will unlock new abilities but come with particular disadvantage or disadvantages. These are. Vampire. These beings are not actually undead in this setting but are on the brink of death and kept ‘alive’ by the cursed blood in their veins. Undead. Come in two types. Revenants. People who have risen from the death by magical accident or by sheer force of will. Dooms. Best described as minor liches; they were the generals and mages in the armies of Varakus Bane although some may have been created since his destruction. Werebeast. Pick an animal any animal … Mutant. Will have one or more abilities but may suffer social stigma if these powers have visibly physical manifestations. Tainted. (Demonkin). Like mutants but with extra damnation. I’m not planning on using the Turakian divide spell costs by 3 rule but I will be placing supernatural abilities in a multipower as standard. Mages’ multipower will represent their school of magic and they will have to have one multipower for each school they wish to learn, accompanied by an appropriate skill and limitations such as incantations. Alternatively they could have a limited VPP which can only use spells from a given list. Psychics simply count as another school of magic. Elemental mages will appropriately have an elemental control; they don’t use formal spells but simply manipulate the forces of nature and are therefore capable of doing more than one thing at once. Artificers and Technomancers work through independent focuses. Vampires will have inherent powers such as improved characteristics and life support, (they are kept alive solely by their stolen blood and so do not need to eat or respirate). If the player wants they can also purchase inherent abilities such as enhanced senses or hardened skin. Inherent powers are always on. In addition to this Vampires may choose to have a ‘blood gift’ multipower; this can include abilities such as hypnosis, flight, increased strength, regeneration, talons and other exciting things. Blood Gifts do not require incantations or any of the other disadvantages associated with mortal magic but they can only draw on the Vampire’s Blood Pool which is a special Endurance reserve that can only be topped up through the use of the Drink Blood power; two points of End per point of body drained from an animal and four points of End per point of body drained from a human. Furthermore the Blood pool ‘leaks’ two End a day and the Vampire’s player really doesn’t want to know what’ll happen if their Blood Pool reaches zero. Undead work in a similar fashion to Vampires. Revenants only possess inherent powers associated with their undead form and are otherwise normal beings. Dooms may use a unique Death Magic multipower if they so choose. The other key difference is that a Revenant might pass as someone who is just very ill while a Doom’s nature is clearly revealed by its skeletal form and glowing eyes. Werebeast’s normal form is their human one. This form may have some inherent abilities such as rapid healing, enhanced senses and increased speed or presence. They then have a war-form similar to the towering beasts in Dog Soldiers and Underworld. The war-form is for mayhem alone and will have few skills other than agility and combat; it also comes with the ‘enraged’ disadvantage although precisely what brings on the rage is a matter of individuals. Other Werebeast peccadilloes include a refusal to eat anything other than raw meat. Mutants and Tainted will have one or more powers and may or may not show physical signs of their curses. I might allow Tainted to have an ‘Infernal Abilities’ Elemental Control but for the most part these curses should involve physical stigma such as claws, eyestalks and so on. That’s about as far as I’ve got. Does it all sound plausible? If not then WWYD?

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy The standard tech level is roughly late medieval, this includes very primitive gunpowder weapons which have yet to really overtake crossbows and longbows. However there are Artificers who craft magical artefacts which can match modern technology in some respects. Examples include healing items, sentinels and the mystical mechanisms that keep Strell Sky Cities up in the air. There are also a few crazed 'technomancers' who harness strange new materials and the chaotic raw magic that abounds in this PA world in order to construct bizarre technological marvels. These include weapons similar to a Skaven warpfire thrower, jet packs, mechanical golems and even suits of 'robotic' armour. It's probably best to think of technomancy as magical steamtech.

One more playable race. There won’t be any more unless someone desperately wants to play something else and impresses me enough with their character concept. The Mor. Technically another human sub-race but so changed as to appear to be an entirely separate race. The story of the Mor is at one with the story of the God of Death – Coros. Once known as the Herald of the Underworld he pulled unclaimed souls down into that dark realm to languish in spectral form until they could be re-incarnated, mortals sometimes cursed Coros as the greediest of gods because his appetite for new subjects seemed insatiable. But when the fall destroyed most of the population of the world even Coros was glutted and became sickened by the slaughter; furthermore his realm was filled to bursting point by so many lost souls waiting to be reborn into the handful of new creatures being born amongst the survivors. And so Coros’ very nature was changed and he became Amon-Cor – The Preserver; a deity dedicated to the recreation of balance between life and death, order and chaos. To this end Amon rescued a number of dying humans and reformed their bodies to create mortal avatars of his will. These were the first Mor and they were unleashed upon the shattered world to do the Preserver’s will. The Mor are dealers in death in order to preserve life. They hunt down warlords and murderers who are likely to spread destruction and slaughter while protecting those who may safeguard lives. Recently this race has revealed a more subtle goal of encouraging the re-emergence of civilisation in order to mitigate the destructive chaos that still abounds. They also hunt down ghosts that have escaped through the cracks in the overburdened underworld, slay demons who form no part of the world’s balance and even eliminate animals that seem to be damaging nature’s balance by being too successful. In appearance Mor are humanoid but with long graceful limbs and pale eyes that appear to be blind but which can actually see into the realm of death itself as well as that of the living. Male Mor are night-black while females are bone-pale. Their attitude to clothing is similar to that of the Gothic subculture of Western society; which I must admit is a clue as to what inspired them. The Mor believe that the only true solace in a life dedicated to murder is the beauty of art. Their tastes are somewhat morbid however and run to haunting music, grim paintings and sculptures and very dark humour. Although their long term goals should make them natural allies of New Dawn there is unlikely to be much trust between the two factions. New Dawn's all-embracing recruitment policies mean that some of their members e.g. Demon-Kin and Undead are particularly abhorrent to the Preserver's minions. And of course the Mor themselves are a creepy and unnerving race which doesn't make it any easier to trust them. One final point is that although Mor fear pain and suffering as much as anyone else they aren’t worried about death because they are familiar with the world of the dead and know that when they pass on their patron will place them at the front of the queue for reincarnation.

Re: Creating a Shield I can see why you wouldn't be allowed to do this as part of Multipower but since you shouldn't be paying points for equipment it doesn't look like a problem to me. Perhaps wiser heads will have something to add?

Re: Creating a Shield Remember that 'powers' can include skills and talents. So the DCV bonus can be built with CSL's. It costs 4 points for 1 skill level of DCV with HTH or Ranged Combat and 5 points for 1 skill level with DCV for everything. You should find the options for both in Hero Designer. As for your second question I will defer to people with more military expertise but my instinct says not necessarily. I would base the damage on the materials and construction that went into the shield. A large wicker shield might make you harder to hit than a small shield but I would expect a steel buckler to pack more of a punch, (literally). However, Fantasy Hero does not agree with me and generally lists a shield as inflicting 1d6 Normal damage per +1 DCV it provides. You may want to stick with this as a rule of thumb for simplicity's sake.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Well paradigm shifts could be a headache to write. And nothing good ever comes out of holes in reality. But then that's the player's problem, not mine. Certainly if the party isn't careful then they could set off a few events that change geography and climate and perhaps even spontaneously mutate the local wildlife.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy A bit more detail on the world. Continents. There are, (or were), three landmasses that could be considered continents on this world before the fall; although they were of wildly differing sizes. The super-continent of Eretria is the main setting for the campaign and the party would do well to explore even half of it. It spread from temperate forests and plains to arid steppes and deserts and even a few jungles along certain island chains associated with it. Cultures here resembled European Medieval to Renaissance style areas, countries corresponding to the Near and Middle Eastern and Africanesque tribes and civilisations. The far smaller continent of Tuan generally had a more East Asian flavour with monks and martial artist being quite common. The island continent known in recent history as the Doom-Lands was the abode of the master of Life-In-Death himself Varakus Bane and the sophisticated aboriginal civilisations that once lived their had been exterminated even before the fall. Post fall climate and geography have been considerably altered and may differ wildly within a comparatively small area. There were a few archipelagos and island chains as well but their continued existence is a matter of conjecture only. As to the fate of civilisation on the continents. Eretria has been reduced to rubble as I noted above and suffered the most from the reality warping effects of unleashed magic. Tuan was not affected by the Mage Wars and was only invaded by the Yonsai and the hordes of Varakus Bane. Indeed civilisation would probably have survived on that continent if most of the population had not succumbed to five terrible plagues. Now it is a land of ghosts and demons and terrified survivors. Ironically the Doom-Lands may be more habitable now than before the fall. Bane has been destroyed and those undead creatures that remain in his fallen realm are without direction. The geography of this place, both prior to and after the fall is unknown. Races. New races may have been created by the cataclysm but if so then they await discovery. (This means that if someone wants to play something weird that I haven’t worked into the world then it is possible that they could be fitted in). Humans. By far the most common race before the fall and still not doing too badly in comparison to most other races that survived the fall. Eldren. Also known as Sages or High Ones. A kind of sub-race of humanity who gained long lifespan and expanded intelligence through exposure to or the use of powerful sorceries. They appear as tall humans with flashing eyes and pale features; all Eldren will have at least one birthmark in the shape of a mystical symbol of some kind. Eldren are not Elves by any means but are still a good choice for anyone who would like a character with a haughty and superior attitude. A group of powerful Eldren serve New Dawn as seers and the detailed information they provide of surrounding areas, future events and potential enemies and allies is one of the secrets of New Dawn’s success. Strell. These beings resemble humanoid bats and they make their homes in the skies. A race of powerful mages and artificers the Strell crafted great floating cities in order to retreat from the world. There were once 10 Strell sky cities but three were destroyed during the fall and the others may have been damaged. The Strell tried to remain neutral throughout the Mage Wars and the chaos that followed and managed to make their cities more or less self sufficient. But in the century since the final war their societies have stagnated and their mystically empowered farms seem to be failing. Soon the Strell will have to venture down into the blasted world they tried to leave behind in search of resources to trade or steal. Kerak. A reptilian race who for the most part survived the fall because they lived underground and the majority of their tribes had the good sense not to go topside to find out what was going on. They are stronger and tougher than humans but although not inherently less intelligent they are not especially advanced and are unlikely to follow an academic path through life. Although not a race who tended to have much truck with magic there are some Kerak who have been mutated by sorcerous energies leaking into their underground homes. Not a populous race before the fall they are now quite numerous by comparison with the battered survivors on the surface. Nonetheless the Kerak are not as a rule territorially aggressive; in fact they may even regard the survivors as possible allies in the struggle against their hated foes the Golgira. Golgira. An evil humanoid race who live underground. Their national sport is torture and their biggest and fastest growing industry is slaving. Pure scum and not really intended to be PC material. Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes. Do not appear here, unless someone kicks up a fuss and convinces me otherwise, since it is early days yet as I mentioned before. However, there are some small-folk who survived the fall. Such as the pygmies of Eretria’s jungles and the Dwarf-like Koropokkuru of Tuan.

Re: Need a reasonably well known charcter idea Well I won't muddy the waters any further since you appear to have made your decision already. However, Samurai Champloo rocks, could you post your write up of Jin?

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Actually I've heard that Guild Wars is based on skill rather than amassing levels, that sounds too much like hard work. There is an element of truth to your claims however, I think what sparked my memory into action was playing Hellgate London, a decent Diablo clone set in the aforementioned city. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellgate:_London

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy It's very early days yet. Basically I've realised that once I leave University I'll have a lot of trouble finding any kind of roleplaying group, particularly one that plays Hero. So I might well start up a campaign based in this world over Hero Central to make up for not being able to go down to my rpging society every wednesday. Since the academic year is only half way done this won't be happening for another four months. In the mean-time if anyone would like to make suggestions, talk about character concepts or admit to being possibly interested in joining then that would be great. But there is no rush at present.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy The level of darkness is somewhat negotiable. The PC's will be dealing with horrific enemies and they will as often as not be greeted by fear rather than gratitude from those they help. But although the world is pretty screwed up there is a very definite sense that New Dawn can improve things. It will take centuries, perhaps millenia, maybe even forever, to heal the world but the PC's will be able to make a difference, they will be able to start something that could redeem the world.

Hi everyone. Recent gaming events have reminded me of a setting I came up with a while ago. I might run a Hero Central game with it next year and I thought I’d test the waters It’s a curious blend of fantasy, horror and post-apocalyptic. Basically the story is set in a High Fantasy world during the aftermath of one of those cataclysmic wars that occasionally assail fantasy worlds and could be mistaken for a sort of apocalypse. Effectively everything went to hell in hand-basket. If you want to skip the long version then just ignore the stuff in italics. There was no single cause of this catastrophe unless one lays all the blame on the preceding conflict ‘The Mage Wars’. This terrible war shook the civilised world to its very core and so excited the flow of magic that for many years afterwards sorcery would be a more unstable and destructive art and the channels it tapped were often darker than before. In the final days of the Mage Wars the two mightiest wizards of the era faced off and destroyed one another in a cataclysmic duel that rocked the very land itself and shattered the ultimate expressions of magic – The Great Barriers. These were mystical bindings that had been kept in place for centuries and were used to keep the various forces of evil quiescent. With their failure many horrors were unleashed upon the world. Varakus Bane, Master of Life-in-Death, marched his rotting hordes out of the island continent that had been his home and prison for many millennia. The Bloodlords, Kings among Vampires, stirred in their ancient tombs and came forth once again. The Beast-Masters slipped their bonds and unleashed a flood of tainted werelings upon the kingdoms of man. And even the fearsome hordes of the barbaric Yontai left the blasted archipelago to which they had been banished and sailed the seas on demon winds to bring destruction to the lands of civilised races. The land already groaned beneath the reality-warping effects of the Mage Wars and its peoples were divided and fractious. Mystical conflagrations, storms and earthquakes moved ahead of the invaders and warring factions tried to take advantage of the chaos. As mighty magical forces battled once again the fabric of the world itself was torn and demons poured in or were invited by ambitious mages; beasts both mundane and legendary were tainted by the unleashed powers of magic and went incurably berserk while the ever opportunistic Trollkin roamed the land seemingly at will. One by one the civilised nations of the world fell. It seemed that this was the final showdown between Good and Evil and Good lost. However the armies of Evil did not win as such. The goodly peoples put up a tremendous fight and of course the various invading factions had no interest in cooperating; in the end no army retained enough power to claim any kind of victory. The Trickster God is known to have survived the final conflict and some wonder if his hand was in the various factional disputes that destroyed the forces of darkness even as they tore the kingdoms of the world to shreds. Bane’s body was destroyed by holy relics and mighty rituals were enacted to shatter his very soul and prevent his resurrection. But the assassins were a cabal of powerful vampires who had sacked a grand temple in order to gain the items they needed. Those Lords of the Night that survived the battle with Bane then fell to fighting murderously over his body with its precious and oh so powerful blood. The legions of the undead dissolved into turmoil, some wandered aimlessly, others were commanded by lesser necromancers with smaller ambitions. And with all the world to fight over the Blood-Lords found that their old alliances were far weaker than they had once been. The Yonsai were more or less wiped off the face of the planet by warriors desperately fighting to save their homelands and monsters who wanted those lands for themselves. Those few tattered remnants that remained found that their blood-hungry deity spoke to them no more; even gods perished in this war to end all wars. And the Beast-Masters had never claimed to be in control of their wereling offspring to begin with. Nor were the werekind, scattered and without strategy, any more successful at surviving the chaos than anyone else. Although the bodycount was not as high as in a standard PA Earth setting the combination of magical disasters, incredibly bloody wars, mystical plagues and general famine and chaos served to destroy most of the population. The great villains and heroes of the age mostly contrived to kill each other off and in the end there were no victors, only survivors picking through the rubble. And so with the melodramatic intro over we come to the present day and the point of all this. Almost a hundred years has passed since the final great battle of that apocalyptic age ended. The world lies in ruins, humanity and other sentient races huddle together in paranoid little villages and hideaways while monsters of all kinds stalk through the wilderness. The powers of magic grant some people weird gifts and turn others into bizarre mutants. Some savants have carved new technologies out of the magical wilderness while others desperately preserve older practices. New creatures wander out of the wasteland. And of course there are still sorcerers, vampires, werelings and other dangerous beings stalking the land. However, the campaign itself focuses on a new hope, (if you will forgive the Star Warsism). A visionary leader has cobbled together a group of allies who intend to roll back the darkness bit by bit and restore peace to the wounded land; their working title is New Dawn. This group have their headquarters in a secluded valley attended by an order of nature worshippers who survived the final wars. They also include a group of mage-artificers and the only Order Militant of the old gods to make it to the present day. New Dawn is recruiting an army with which to redeem the land and to this end they will accept anyone who sincerely wishes to help or who at least is not planning on betraying them; even monsters such as vampires are accepted into the fold so long as they restrain their darker impulses. On the flipside of this generosity is the vengeance of the Templars of the Order Militant against those who betray New Dawn and the magical tracker amulets issued to all agents that monitor the spiritual state of their wearers, (basically a kind of alignment alarm). The PC’s would take the role of newly recruited agents who have been gathered together into a team and dispatched to further the cause of New Dawn. Since they would probably be playing beings of considerable power the points level would be around 250. Although the focus would be on battling evil there would be quite a lot of dealing with internal tensions and the justifiable paranoia of most NPC’s the party meets. Why should the villagers trust a Werewolf after all? For that matter why should the Templar accompanying the Were trust him enough to refrain from smiting him out of hand? There are other aspects of this world and other character options but for the moment the possible list includes. Just about any kind of mage you can think of. Mutants. Both X-Men style and grizzly PA style. Extremely talented ‘norms’. Basically warriors, assassins, diplomats etc with high characteristics and/or super-skills. Psychics. Vampires. Shapeshifters. (Werelings). Demon-tainted or Demonkin. Undead. Priests. Holy Knights. Artificers and inventors using mystical technology. Inhuman races of various kinds. So. Any thoughts? Any interest?