Developmental Review

I want to present an overview of how far along we are toward developing the core rules and forming a playtest group.

Core Rules:
I. Player Character Creation
     1. Ability Scores-complete
     2. Races-not defined
     3. Skill Tree-mostly complete.
     4. Money and Equipment-complete.

II. Magic
     1. Spiritual Magic
         a. concept-largely complete.
         b. spells-partially complete.
         c. definitions of spiritual spellcasting aids-partial
         d. dieties, heroes and other spirits-partially defined (specific to campaign)
     2. Elemental Magic
         a. concept-largely complete
         b. potions-defined
         c. material components-partially defined.
         d. elemental 'schools'-scketchy
         e. spells-not even close

III. Combat
     1. Melee-largely defined
     2. Time and Movement-needs work
     3. Magic-not close

IV. World
     1. Races-not defined
     2. Cultures-not defined
     3. History-not defined
     4. Gods-not defined

While I plan to discuss world design here, my own world, Rheen, will not be defined here. My playtest group will have to discover it on their own. I encourage each gamemaster out there to enjoy creating their own world, and I will be happy to discuss world design concepts that I'm not going to use in contrast in this blog. In my mind, deciding which cultures/races are emphasized on your world is a person decision that relates to the story you want to tell.

What I will emphasize in this blog is the concept of Evolution, and the logical progression of events one might expect when Evolution is applied to a fantasy world. At all times I want to make clear how advantages and resources cause cultures to flourish and how there is no static universe.

Also, I will make recommendations that stray far from the cannon of D&D and Tolkien. This may take you out of your comfort zone. You do not have to accept my ideas, and I welcome clarifications. 

That being said, the Core Rules look to need some heavy grunt work in listing out spells and clarifying processes. I want to begin translating some D&D spells to this system, while adding many others. As was demonstrated with Spiritual Magic, the spells are not really that similar.
Many D&D spell effects are not individualized here. By contacting a helpful spirit, the spirit magic caster has many more role-playing and tactical options to consider, rather than casting a D&D spell with only one desired effect. This fluidity is central to spiritual magic.
Elemental magic, on the other hand, will be much more like chemistry and physics. Desired effects will have to be designed, spells exact. Magic is naturally a mildly chaotic force, and controlling through the focus of the mind will have interesting variances, but most of these spells will have what I hope are logical progressions.

Lastly, I want to put forth the concepts of Cultural Bias and Veils of Ignorance. Ideally, the player will have a clear understanding of the social role of their character. To this end, I recommend that your players only be introduced to those mores and customs central to their character's origin. As I envision an ancient world rife with dangers and constant struggles, it doesn't seem to me that a more civilized world like 'The Forgotten Realms' is the right concept. In fact, the world of 'Conan' with its city-states and its despots might be much closer to the mark. Cultural identity is heavily emphasized in a world where ancestral spirits empower cultural continuation.
Gods like Thor and Zeus are not interested in cultural diversification. Defeat. Enslave. Grow in Power.
Thus, strangers are enemies. Strangers are not kindly greeted. Cities of any size have an area outside their most secure gates to quarter travellers and facilitate trade. Guards are not lax, and are often in large groups. Individuals do not travel the open road alone. The larger the travelling party, the better.
As in medieval society in our past, the vast majority of people never leave the village of their birth. Their knowledge of the outside is not based on scholarship. If our forefathers believed in the mythical, can you imagine what people in a mythical world imagine are outside their walls at night?

Part of my effort here is to change the way fantasy role-playing games are approached and played. Too often, the game starts with tired cliches that are formulaic at best. While I will not spend too much time on these concepts, I will design the rules to emphasize what the characters could realistically expect from their culture. Cultures survive because they are self-perpetuating. Magical, deity-led cultures more so.

Designing alien cultures for all the other intelligent races might be too much to take in, but I do recommend challenging convention. While it may be nice, as a player, to visit other cultures and see the familiar, cookie-cutter fantasy setting, it would seem more interesting to visit other races/cultures and have to figure things out. Try for exotic, but practical. I'll put examples of this later in future posts.

Ok, enough soapbox.