Category: Shardworld

The Fantasy War – putting the War in Wardrobe

I wrote some notes a while ago so forgive me for brevity. This morning on the bus….I kinda expanded them. Images are placeholders, I’ve pinged my artist, Dino, to produce some nice original art.

The Long Stair was an internet thread on rpgnet which imagined, possibly to excruciating detail, what happens when a fantasy world crosses over with ours.

This was then followed up with crossing Forbidden Lands (Free Leagues flagship fantasy game) with Twilight 2000 (IMO the best evolution of the YZE).

Now, we had written stuff a while ago about Narnia which kind of tracked with this. (OMG that was 2008).

The idea what what would happen in our world if there was interaction between modern soldiers and fantasy races with magic.

Fantasy Races?

So, Twilight 2000 only really deals with humans. Sure you can get supplements (right here) that add in horrific monsters (in The Gloom) or Dragons (in Here Be Dragons) or mutations (in Enhanced) or Zombies (in Twilight Tangents) but we hadn’t covered Orcs, Goblins and Elves – the standard fantasy fare.

I use the word race very deliberately. There’s only one human race. There is only one surviving human species.

In this photo-fantasy world, they didn’t get humans, they got Orcs, Goblins and Elves. In the hominid evolutionary tree, Orcs are the descendent of ape-like ancestors similar to the modern day Earth Gorilla. Goblins too – descended from chimpanzee-like ancestors.

Rise of the Orc

The Orc is a tribal, aggressive species standing on average 1.8 metres (6’) though specimens are recorded much larger. In terms of body mass, the Orc is commonly up to 500 lbs (226 kgs) of muscle and bone. They have a characteristic gait with the heavily muscled arms reaching down to their knees and can reach a top speed of 40 km/h – fast enough to outrun all but the fastest sprinters. Physically humans are not a match one on one. They have astounding endurance and are very hard to kill.

Orcs are smart, maybe not human smart, but they can learn. They’re delighted to learn about new weapons and toys, new ways to create fire or explosions and they find slapstick humour, particularly where someone gets hurt, to be utterly hilarious. (Not so different from humans).

Orcs live in Prides, where the decisions of the family group are decided by the female Orcs. They’re responsible for food prep, for rearing young and also for the social order. All of the females in the Pride are related but many of the make Orcs will be “hangers on”, drawn by the “wealth” of the Pride (territory, conquests, potential for mates, charismatic leadership). The females select who is their mate (if any) this adds to the males prestige.

Orcs are opportunistic omnivores, able to digest everything from raw meat to tree bark. They are seldom cannibals but will consider humans and even Goblins as a valid food source.

Culturally, the Orcs will form war bands for conquest, based on loose alliances. They can, however be controlled by the Fein who have millennia-old spells to ensnare the mind of the Orc and turn them to war.

STR AGI INT EMP
d20 d10 d6 d6
Close Combat d12, Stamina d12, Mobility d6, Ranged Combat d8, Recon d10, Command d10
Brawler, Melee, Killer, Load Carrier, Ranger
All Critical Thresholds are +1 when attacking Orcs. And their melee attacks Critical Threshold is reduced by 1
Equipment: Sword, Halberd, Mail Armour, Shield

The Goblins

Goblins are the arboreal equivalent of the Orc, weighing much less (50 kgs) and much smaller in stature (1.2m, 4 ft). Their arms are proportionally longer and well suited for moving through trees. On land they’re fast but not for sustained periods. Proportionally they’re stronger than most humans reflecting a life of action rather than sedentary life. Goblins are also smart tool-users, proficient at the bow and practiced with crossbows of their own design.

Goblins live in large community groups, each numbering around 100 individuals. Under normal circumstances, they hunt and forage for food but have been put to work in agriculture and war by the Fein.

STR AGI INT EMP
d10 d12 d8 d8
Close Combat d8, Stamina d12, Mobility d6, Ranged Combat d10, Recon d12, Command d6
Brawler, Archer, Mountaineer, Pitcher, Combat Awareness
Goblins can move through the trees at twice ground speed.
Equipment: Short Sword, Long Bow, Leather Armour

The Fein

The Fein are a slender race of humanoid elfin vampires, reaching 2.1 metres (7 ft) in height. They wear long flowing robes and have golden adornments on their fingers, beck and ears, which are long and pointed. At some point in their past, the Fein developed a type of magic which extended their lives but required the living to sacrifice theirs. They will feed on any living creature, draining its life fluids (blood, sap, ichor) to sustain their own lives. This way the Fein can live for thousands of years. A human will sustain them for 1 month, an Orc for two months and a large tree for a year.

They still eat food for pleasure and sustain their lifestyles through the control of other races, notably Goblins for manual labour and Orcs for war. Their history is a long series of highly triumphant novels about how their intervention has been vital for the survival of all. The Fein worship their royal family, a particularly wretched line of vampires who only feed on other Fein. At some point in the past, they were creatures who lived commensally with the trees using magic to create song and great works, but over the years their lust for immortality drove them to use their magic to unnaturally prolong their life.

Culturally the Fein consider all races to be subservient, as they alone are uniquely long lived. Their methods are cruel and their magic is effective. They are often armed with a keen and slender needle rapier which is effective against armour, ignoring any protection provided by mail armour.

STR AGI INT EMP
d8 d8 d20 d12
Close Combat d12, Recon d12, Command d12
Killer, Intelligence, Interrogator, Psy Ops, Fein Magic
With but a touch, the Fein can drain Hit Points from other creatures 1 per turn, healing their injuries. This operates through their Opifex
Equipment: Rapier, Opifex, Magic Scroll

Fein Magic

The Fein use Magic powered by their own life force and the life force of others. Each effect requires at least the expenditure of 1 Hit Point, which can be regained immediately using their Opifex. Humans can learn Fein Magic and use an Optifex.

The Optifex

The Optifex is a piece of magical technology resembling a pocket watch with an interior filled with glass, blood and some sort of insect-like creature. The Optifex cannot be dismantled without killing the creature. This technology enables the Fein to live effectively forever through the vampirism of other species.

Regent

The Fein have a complex ritual which is performed on every Fein. This causes every Orc and Goblin to be immediately subservient to Fein, effectively giving the Fein an extra d12 when using Command with Orcs and Goblins. It has no effect on Humans. Removing the Regent enchantment from a Fein is considered a serious punishment as these Fein are also vulnerable to the influence.

The Silver Gate

The caster can open an Schwartzschild Bridge (actually a Morris-Thorne Wormhole) between two locations. This spell creates a shimmering globe of silvery metal which, at the predetermined time, will transport anything that walks though it to the desired destination. The primary component is at least 200 grams of orichalcum (which may be re-used). Rather than being an unobtainable mystery substance, Orichalcum is a specific ore of copper and nickel (and can be manufactured).
The Bridge is opened above a specific pattern made in Orichalcum powder by the spell. To close the bridge, break the pattern. The pattern is automatically generated (similar to cymatics) depending on the destination and each pattern is unique.
There is no guarantee that anyone crossing a Bridge will survive. Sometimes they come out the other end ‘reassembled’ incorrectly and survival at the other end can also depend on the presence of life-sustaining conditions.

Rending

This spell exists in many forms across cultures. It causes direct harm to a target, Each Hit Point invested causes a point of damage and Stress may also be exchanged for enemy damage, point for point. The flesh of the target is scored and burned by the spell, including their internal organs. Cause of death will be inexplicable to normal medicine if it kills the target. The Caster may also choose to spend a Permanent EMP level to inflict an immediate Death Save on the target.
This spell completely ignores armour and can be cast line of sight or may have effectively infinite range if there is a sympathetic connection (hair, etc).

Place Stelae

The ritual for placing a minimum of three stelae to enable the forming of a dimensional chiasmata (the overlap of two dimensions) on the basis of a Silver Gate. Stelae must be forged from a conductive metal. The first three stelae must be placed within 16 hours of each other and the ritual performed over each one. Additional stelae can be added later. The maximum distance between them is 1.054 kilometres. If performed correctly, the next 32 hours will see the region within the stelae boundary change as the other dimension begins to write itself over Earth, changing plans, changing the air, even changing the sky.
The specific dimension is dictated by changing the directions within the ritual. If the stelae are destroyed, any areas not covered begin to revert though they will not be the same. For the chiasmata to maintain, there must be at least three stelae.

Resurrect

This spell takes the body of a deceased person and summons life back into it. Any decomposition will remain and can be healed (in theory). The spell does not remove the cause of death (wounds do not heal, cancer is not cured) but for the time being, they are alive again.
The spell also won’t heal any putrefaction processed (They’re still rotting). The Referee deducts 1 level from one Attribute, if it is from STR, AGI or INT, it’s likely decomposition. If it’s from EMP, it’s likely due to feeling the pull of death. If the target has an Attribute that was previously reduced to 0 due to another spell or injury, they retain that handicap.

Effects-based Magic for YZE-Step

My favourite magic systems are from Ars Magica (and to a degree, MAGE), and the effects based system from For Faery Queen and Country.

The principle of Nothing From Nothing (and presumably, Nothing Into Nothing) I like a lot. Which means you can get shot of Creo and Perdo. It’s really just about seeing, controlling and changing

Sky
Fire
Water
Stone
Metal
Spirit

I think all Arcane spells should be prepared with an effect based system. But they need to be written. The spell is then cast by reading the spell from the paper. Arcanists can have lots of spells prepared/designed.

Sky – the element of air and weather. The satrapy of the kingdoms of night and day and the passage of the Sun and Moons.

Fire – the volatile and violent element. It provides warmth and light but also pain and death. Formed by the the leftovers when the Sun escaped from Darkness. Now it lies underground, hiding from the Sun.

Waters – in small amounts this is vital and harmless. In large amounts unfathomable and murderous. The realm of venomous and lurid creatures.

Stone – the ground beneath us and the Chthonic monsters who cause earthquakes with their movement. Their movement is linked to the lines of power and their eggs to the Wyrd places. The Earth traps and smothers fire.

Metal – where fire (the escapee) turns earth (the solid and ancient power) to water. A usurper force, the magic of metals is in the forging of superior weapons and armour.

Spirit – the great linking force. The thing that binds us all. From humans to animals to demons. Sickness is a result of the Spirit being unbalanced. Injuries can be healed through the spirit. Animals summoned and communicated with. Demons called or cast out.

As for the mechanics.

Effect based system describes the number of successes needed. As a comparison: Think each 5 points in Ars Magica being 1 success. So sometimes you’ll need 6+ successes.

Points Range Space Duration Intensity
0 Touch Hand Instant 0 (paper)
1 Close (10m) Human 1 second 1 (cloth)
2 Medium (50m) Room 1 minute 2 (wood)
3 Extreme (200m) Building 1 hour 3 (metal)
4 Line of Sight Town 1 day 4 (stone)
5 Country City 1 week 5 (diamond)
6 Continent Country 1 month 6 (Hardest Known)
7 World Continent 1 season 7 (Mithril)
8 Dimensional World 1 year 8 (Magical Alloys)
9 Multidimensional Reality Permanent 9 (Unobtainium)

That’s a lot. But that’s the sort of magic that infects a city with pestilence. 1 Success for the 1d6 Pestilence, 5 successes for the area the size of a City. 6 successes, Yikes! Even higher if you want a higher intensity pestilence.

So. How would we do that.

We want to send death to a city through the air. We will be corrupting the air with unnatural vapours. Super.
You can just roll your Path dice. So that’s d6-d12 providing up to 2 successes. We have d8 in Air.

You’ll likely need a bucket of Wyrd dice too. So spend a week in a cave at the intersection of ley lines. One d6 per day. Add in your own life force (say STR d8) and it means you can sacrifice hit points for extra successes. Yay.

Ley Lines, consuming certain lotus infused things etc, sacrifices at ley lines etc etc etc.

Hitting minimum successes sends an intensity d6 disease through the city. Lots of deaths. Extra successes can bump that to d12.

If you have a dice roller here, roll d8 (path of air) and 7d6 (each day in the ritual in a power cave) and see how many extra successes we need to hit 6

Whoops. Only 2 successes. Gotta find more helpers, some consuming of magical plants, maybe some auto successes from certain events and sacrifice some hit points.

Optional rule: 2 **1** results means a 2 bump magical mishap. 1st gives a d6. Second bumps to d8.

Magic becomes unpredictable, expensive in time and resources but also deadly. And dangerous to the caster. Who could have used Spirit rather than HitPoints. But having a weakened spirit might leave them open to possession during a magical mishap

Sympathetic Magic
If the magician has a sympathetic connection to the target (a scrap of bone, a hank of hair), then Range is considered 0, no matter what the actual range is. And this includes crossing dimensional barriers. Magic, as it is made up of the stuff that formed the multiverses, is not concerned with distance.

Foci and Trappings
Magicians can add foci objects and trappings (rituals, practices) to increase the Effects of their magic. Every focus or trapping adds 1 to the effect at a sacrifice of time. Also, if a focus is defined, then it must be present for the magician to cast their magic. A focus is usually a portable item they carry everywhere (wand, pendant, staff).

Trappings are like foci. They are time consuming things the magician must do. As a rule, each level of the trapping is taken from the Duration column and the corresponding points added to the other levels of the effect. For instance, a ritual taking 1 minute would add an Effect of 2.

Universal Nexuses
The magician can use a Universal Nexus to boost their power without recourse to using their own life force. A Nexus is a conjunction of time and space where the links between worlds are stronger and the barriers between dimensions are thinner. A Nexus will commonly be a reputedly haunted or sacred space and the veneration of these spaces contributes to their power. At a physical Nexus, the magician has an extra 2 points of Effect. At a temporal Nexus, the magician has an extra 2 points. These are cumulative. Calling on dimensional energies at Stonehenge on an Equinox will be pretty effective.

Famous nexuses include Stonehenge (or indeed, any of a thousand other stone circles in the British Isles and Western Europe), It includes places of worship, temples and burial places across the world where the emotional and spiritual outpourings of humanity have charged the fabric of reality.