The Foundation of Sinestris
Scope
What is your motivation for building this world? I want to create a world that balances fun with grit by overshadowing the classic fantasy-fun-quest with a theme of industrial-revolution-noir (which, importantly, doesn't take itself too seriously). D&D Mechanics. What are you hoping to get out of it? I'm hoping to give my players an experience of 'character development, with consequences', akin to something like Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Dragon Prince. What is the Hook or Unique Selling Point of your world? What makes it unique or different? It takes place in an elven shoe! Whether or not the world's inhabitants know it, Sinestris is a pocket dimension in (the left) shoe of a pair of Seven League Boots. The inhabitants do know that there is a parallel world, Destris, which they are connected to by strings of light in the heavens. When 'the stars align', the two worlds resonate, and magic surges through Sinestris. This leaves residual magic, which the inhabitants use to power their technologies. But now, a mysterious corporation is mining magic straight from the Sky-lights, and weird things are happening...Theme
What’s the Genre of your World? 100% Fantasy! I think magi-punk is a good way to put it, so I'm borrowing that, adding in an early industrial revolution vibe, fueling tensions between Victorian magi-tech and traditional spellcasters. How does the world feel (player experience)? World feels fun and thrilling, but Weird. The magical intrusions caused by the interference with the Sky-lights are things no one's encountered before. Danger is real, but I don't want the players to feel hunted, or like they're against impossible odds. What is the tone of your world? Light, but flirting with dark moments. Closer to The Dragon Prince than to Avatar in that respect. What is the character agency level like? I want the campaign to feel, above all, redemptive. I want the characters to feel frustrated at the failure of legal and political attempts to deal with the source of the intrusions - they are going up against an Evil CorporationTM, after all. In the end, I want their victory in their final confrontation to be incredibly satisfying. They will gain more agency throughout the campaign, as they have to resort to more reckless options. What are the recurring themes which reinforce the genre, tone and feel of your world? (Give three examples) 1. Encounters in rainy backstreets and alleys, with Industrial-era factories pumping tons of burnt out fairy dust into the air. 2. The fairy mob and their drunken leprechaun gold-runners occasionally lending a hand. 3. Re-occuring theme of NPC contacts in politics/law enforcement wanting to help the party out, being unable to get anything done because the antagonists have too much money/power in the higher ranks.Meta:
Weather: The magical 'surges' between the worlds of Destris and Sinestris manifest in the form of storms, where magical clouds and rains of every colour wash over the world, spun around by erratic magical winds. Most of it's safe, but it's incredibly difficult to see through all the colours, and if you're struck by magic lightning, literally anything can happen (cue Wild Magic Surge roll). Weather-consequent Infrastructure: The city-state of Semastis has a simplified road network underground, for emergency travel during stormtime. Technology: Booming. Before, all magi-fuel was limited to what people could gather after the storms (or during the storms, for the brave, lead-cloaked Stormhunters). But now that magic is being tapped right from the Sky-lights, everyone and their mother is coming up with new gadgets, trying to make a quick buck.Drama:
1. Weird anomalies of magical light are apparently taking shape and destroying concentrated stores of magitech. Of course, this is just a rumour being thrown around the local taverns... 2. Traditional spellcasters and tinkerers of magi-tech are in conflict with all the access to new magic resources. They've been able to cleverly design brilliant technologies with the bare minimum for centuries. While they are now able to create by far the biggest and the best stuff, and are being courted by all the Nobles to furnish their extravagant mansions, they're uneasy about all the new competition. 3. The surge in new magitech has completely resolved the border dispute between the city-state of Semastis and the neighbouring Godsgale. Semastis's new access to the technology of the Sky-lights has handed it an explosive victory, and it now fully controls access to the upper portion of the Eastern river. 4. The Stormhunters are a Guild of powerful techno-rogues, and are becoming an increasingly restless bunch as their services are falling more and more out of demand. 5. The magic storms have been acting weird recently. They traditionally flood the skies for 3-4 days at a time, maybe once or twice a month. Now they seem to only be coming in bursts of a few hours, spread across a week rather than a few days. No one really knows why, but it means people seem happier to wait for breaks in the storms, rather than use Semastis's underground road network.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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