Tracing the Wheel Kingdoms: Setting Wishlist

In my past posts on the Kingdom of the Wheel & other Wheel Kingdoms, I mentioned how different cities were included in these kingdoms, sometimes with different Saeculum governing the abilities and magic of theses places.

This was really meant to give me a kind of way to tie together some of my favorite D&D settings (and other fantasy settings) in my very own kitchen sink setting.

But what settings would I include? Off the top of my head:

• Mystara -- of course, as a classic inspiration to many of the worlds and arguably one of the major players in the War for the Wheel Kingdoms.
• The City from Weird Adventures -- although, perhaps, the true connection to the Wheel Kingdoms would be one of the older cities in the world.
• Red Tide -- a nice, tightly contained setting that is also a threat that might infect the rest of the realms of the Wheel Kingdoms.
• Poryphyry: World of the Burn -- a setting that I must convert from its current system eventually, but is very rich with potential for fantasy post-apocalyptic adventuring, and different types of magic.
• Carcosa -- a walled-off segment of one of the Broken Wheels, but still accessible by occasional intersections of the Grand Orrery.
• Enigmundia -- a cobbled together setting of my own, based on a fantasy Philippines being colonized by fantasy equivalent of Spain.
• All the Blackmoors -- each Blackmoor would house a greater key of the Wheel Kingdoms.
• Megadungeons -- rationale needed for them as ruins or fallen or secret points on the Wheel Kingdoms.

Well, that's it for now. Time to read and think.

RPG Blog Carnival: A Quick Look at Kitchen Sink Settings

Well, look at that. End of the month already, and I've missed out on many posting opportunities.

So, for a last stab at Campaigns I'd like to run, I'll just quickly mention my series of posts on Kitchen Sink Settings, which is a term I use for RPGs and RPG settings that have been crafted in such a way as to allow the easy integration of many elements from books, TV shows, comics and movies in the same genre, and sometimes even across multiple genres.

The reason I want to run them? It's so easy to come up with adventure ideas!

Here are the three kitchen sink settings I've already done:

Lightspeed

Lightspeed was a Fuzion-powered RPG whose major setting elements seemed to be taken from a universe that held Star Trek, Star Wars, Aliens, Blade Runner, Cosmo Police Justy, Space Precinct and other science fiction properties in its core (with the numbers filed off, of course).

Rebel pilots, space police, exploration vessels, ultra-powered psychics, ship-to-ship battles and space marines all in the same universe! Plus a system that I could easily tweak or convert to D20 or Hero, depending on my mood. What's not to like?

Lightspeed Post List:

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part I (Background & Broad Strokes)
Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part II (Federation, Empire, & Old Earth)
Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part III (Espers, Races, & Ships)
Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part IV (Default Campaigns & Strange Brews)

Code: Black

This is a horror genre RPG that calls to mind X-files, Call of Cthulhu, Silent Hill, Kolchak the Nightstalker, Supernatural, and perhaps even Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The genius of the setting -- the interlocking extradimensional prisons that make up our Earth reality -- allows for multiple horror sub-genres to be tackled within the same consistent setting. Think Delta Green meets Esoterrorists meets Chill meets Kult meets The Laundry meets Wonderland, and you have a good starting point. The game system is EABA, but there's no reason you can't use the core source material and then finally crib from all the other Horror RPGs you've been meaning to play!

Code Black Post List:

Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part I (Overview & Inspirations)
Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part II (Good, Evil, The Brotherhood, & the Flawed Prison)
Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part IIIa (Inspirations, Adventure Spine, & Name that Movie)
Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part IIIb (Monster Hunters, Mythos, & True Reality)

The Hero System Universe

Did you know that the Hero System has / had its own universe setting? And we're not just talking superheroics and pulp heroes here.

There was a time & place for pirates and consulting detectives, for sword-swinging barbarians and blaster-shooting space mercenaries, and everything around and between -- starting from the dawn of time, all the way to the distant future and beyond! And there was an overarching meta-history (very much reminiscent of the DC / Marvel Universe histories mixed in with some good Wold Newton, and a mish-mash of Future SF timelines) that you may want to pick and choose from -- or just have ready when your players want to jaunt across time & space!

It was the grand vision of Steve Long, who actually came out with a multi-page document outlining this grand span of history, which I used, updated, and added to with my own ideas for campaigns and little slices of fictional gaming opportunities.

Hero System Universe Post List:

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part I -- Pre-Cataclysm
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part II -- Post-Cataclysm to the Medieval Era
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part III -- Musketeers, Pirates, and Revolutions
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part IV -- Cowboys and Victorians
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part V -- Mystery Men and Super-heroes
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part VI -- The Future

I'm a little bit sad to see this RPG Blog Carnival go -- but then again, it turns out that I've been posting about campaigns I'd like to run for a long while!

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part VI -- The Future

At last, we're in the future eras of the Hero Universe. The past five installments can be found here...

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part I -- Pre-Cataclysm
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part II -- Post-Cataclysm to the Medieval Era
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part III -- Musketeers, Pirates, and Revolutions
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part IV -- Cowboys and Victorians 
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part V -- Mystery Men and Super-heroes

The future itself is open ended; plenty of space to insert your own side timeline or slap something beyond the last era. Like a Fading Suns-ish setting, for example.

Anyway, here we go:

Cyber Hero (2020 to 2080)

The rise of pervasive computer technology, genetic engineering, and increasing political factionalism and splintering (including terrorism) lead to constant struggles for power over this new world order. Techno-anarchists, vigilantes, eco-terrorists, rogue capitalists, and others fight against the domination of the major forces in society, governments and mega-corporations.

During this period, mankind builds its first tentative manned orbital and lunar colonies, and sends explorers to Mars. But for the most part the eyes of men are not cast up toward the stars, but downward into the squalid urban settings where the vast majority of them live, or “outward” into the glittering neon pseudoworld of the CyberNet. Superheroes and superpowers no longer play any role, having died off or faded away.

Cyberpunk style, but with a heroic bent, as vigilante-style heroes with attitude fight back against the forces that threaten to plunge the world into darkness.

Notes: It's really easy to mine almost all the cyberpunk and lower-level transhumanist materials out there for this genre. In fact, for the more Akira and Ghost in the Shell-inspired dystopian future, there's an excellent sourcebook from Blackwyrm Games: Kazei 5 by Michael Surbrook.

Solar Hero (2080 to 2200)

Humans make their first true journeys away from their birthplace. They explore their solar system, establishing colonies and exploiting the heavens for commercial gain. Relatively cheap space travel has a huge impact on society. Cut off from the mainstream of human civilization, colonies and outposts sometimes become lawless places, with reports of slave labor in the asteroid belts. Countries and corporations wage an undeclared war over the resources of the system, and many new political entities appear. An alien invasion in 2153 throws all of this into even deeper turmoil.

By this point Earth has saved itself from the potential societal collapse hinted at in Cyber Hero. Solar Hero is a hard SF/low SF setting limited to our solar system, with perhaps tentative, slower-than light (sleeper ships, generation ships, and the like) journeys to nearby systems, (e.g., Alpha Centauri). Who knows what mysteries may lurk, hidden on the planets so close to us, and yet so far away?


Notes: Folks unfamiliar with this genre of SF might think that the solar system is a small place to adventure in. Not so! A great example of such a (surprisingly Hard SF) setting from another publisher is Jovian Chronicles by DreamPod 9. Yes, it does feature giant mechs warring against one another -- more Gundam than Mechwarrior though.

Interstellar Era (2200 to 2300)

Human existence is revolutionized by the discovery of FTL travel (or perhaps enterprising humans swipe it from the defeated alien invaders of Solar Hero). At first FTL drives aren’t much faster than 1 light-year per year, but they improve slowly and steadily. Military and commercial vessels tasked with exploration spread out through the stars within 200 light-years of Earth.

Independent traders seek to bring back the wealth of the stars as adventurous colonists try to establish new homes on strange worlds. Humanity encounters many alien species.

Notes: The default FTL travel used seems far removed from the Jumpgate-based SF like Babylon 5, and more like Star Trek: Enterprise. Or even Firefly. Just sayin'.

Alien Wars (2300 to 2400)

Mankind engages in its first interstellar war with an implacably hostile species, the insectoid/reptiloid Xenovores. Powered armor, starship battles, and bizarre alien tactics and technology take center stage as the vicious Xenovores try to exterminate humanity. The war rages for a century throughout human and Xenovore space, throwing mankind into turmoil and shattering his sphere of control into many individual worlds (or small confederations of worlds) that have little or no contact with Earth -- and soon don’t feel beholden to it anymore.

Note: think Starship Troopers meets Aliens. But with other alien races around as well.

The Terran Empire (2400 to 2700)

Nope, this isn't available anymore.

In the wake of the costly defeat (but not utter destruction) of the Xenovores, militarists struggle for control over Humanspace after Earth’s attempt to re-assert its control fails in the face of determined independence movements in many Human worlds and systems. After decades of struggle, Admiral Marissa DeValiere establishes the Terran Empire, which the House of DeValiere rules for the next 250 years. Forged from the bits and pieces of Humanspace, and soon including various conquered or allied alien races, the Empire is a political juggernaut, wielding influence throughout the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Terran Empire setting features a multitude of adventuring possibilities: political intrigue, rebellions against the Empire’s authority, military action against alien enemies or targets of conquest, galactic power struggles with alien empires, expanding the boundaries of Human knowledge via exploration and trade, and many more.

Note: this has a feel of Traveller, with a touch of the Star Wars Old Republic. It is an Empire that will fragment, but has a good run.

The Galactic Federation (2700 to at least 3000, perhaps beyond)

After decades of worsening political unrest beginning about 2660, the Empire falls in 2702, leading to thirty years of instability, warlordism, and troubles. Eventually, led by charismatic diplomats and scientists, most of humanity (and some alien species) comes together to form the Galactic Federation of Free Worlds. Based on free trade, democracy, and federalism, it rebuilds, then blossoms and expands for centuries.

Note: this is more like the Federation of Star Trek, and perhaps a bit more of the Old Republic of Star Wars. The instability era could be likened to Farscape in feel.

Galactic Champions (3000)

As magic once again subtly waxes, superhumans (and super-beings from other species) arise throughout the galaxy. Superheroes and starships fight planet-shattering battles to preserve the future of sapient life in the galaxy against a myriad of terrifying threats. Civilization breaks down in a few places where magic becomes so strong that technology becomes unreliable.

Note: this so Legion of Super-Heroes, honestly. I love it. Especially because the default setting brings back its equivalent of Ultron into the high-tech far future. And all this talk of magic bring to mind the Magic Wars that erupted at the end of the original LSH series. No, they never really fought Magneto, but mutants would rationalize why so many humans suddenly developed powers to deal with the difficulties of their respective planets.

Beyond 3000

The possibilities are endless!

Note: Yep, Fading Suns and probably something Transhumanist like Eclipse Phase.

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part V -- Superheroes

This two-part graphic novel, along with
the Wold Newton work, helped me
understand the allure of an all-in-one
universe setting.

Here we at the true origins of Hero Universe -- the super-heroic era! After all, the Hero System got its start in a super-hero RPG: Champions. The past four installments can be found here...

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part I -- Pre-Cataclysm
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part II -- Post-Cataclysm to the Medieval Era
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part III -- Musketeers, Pirates, and Revolutions
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part IV -- Cowboys and Victorians 

... and when you look at it now, you can see how much of those prior eras were approached with a view toward being able to present them in a pastiche-y, superhero comic universe. It is very much like the ground breaking History of the DC Universe book by Wolfman & Perez. In terms of presentation, it solidified the entire universe visually for me, as it was all done by Perez, and in terms of breaking down the times and places for all the heroes in their universe, it gave me a solid handle on the time periods and the heroes and villains in each without overwhelming me with too much detail.

And now, as Super-Grover once said: "Yes, on to our story!"

THE MODERN ERA (1910-2020)

Pulp Hero (1920-1940)

The era of the great pulp adventure stories (and the gangster fighting Prohibition era). Masked adventurers, more commonly known as “mystery men,” abound, and the first true "superhumans” manifest toward the end of this period. However, talented humans and driven adventurers constantly embroiled in mysteries and adventures are a staple of this era as well.

Notes: Mystery, adventure, crime fighting, the occult, science fiction, and more. For influence and inspiration, think Indiana Jones, the Shadow, Doc Savage, the Spider, the Avenger, H. P. Lovecraft, and the other great heroes and stories of the pulp magazines. One can also look at the many pulp era RPGs for inspiration, as well as Justice Inc., the original Hero Games pulp era RPG.

Golden Age Champions (1939 to 1945)

One of the two settings that takes place during WWII, this one focuses on the “Golden Age” superheroes helping to fight World War II and stop Hitler.

Notes: This era is brightly-colored, (mostly) lower powered heroes, or normally powered with some crippling weaknesses to common items -- the original Green Lantern had a weakness to wood, for example. They are highly patriotic and noticeably non-politically correct at times, but their hearts are usually in the right place.

For the comics-savvy, this is the place to throw your All Star Squadron, your Invaders, your Liberty Legion, your Justice Society of America. This is the place to create reasons as to why Superman and Captain America and Dr. Fate and the Spectre don't just walk over to the enemies of the Allies and end the gosh-darned war.

War Hero (1939 to 1945)

The second WWII setting, this one focuses on military and espionage action set against the romantic/horrific backdrop of World War II.

Notes: Think Rat Patrol, Kelly’s Heroes, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List. Think Band of Brothers and Sgt. Rock, the Dirty Dozen and the Howling Commandos. You can even toss in things like the Creature Commandos and G.I. Robot for a real Weird War feel.

Danger International (1950 to 1990)

A classic line.

This is the setting for the turbulent, intrigue- and action-filled post-World War II era. Espionage set in the era of the Cold War, the rise of international terrorism, industrial espionage, conspiracies, drug lords, police action adventure, mercenary activities, detectives, and so on.

Note: Think Dangerman and James Bond and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and I Spy and Mission: Impossible and even The Prisoner. Think Challengers of the Unknown and Task Force X. Think of Mack Bolan and The Destroyer.

One could even make a case for Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu as being part of this genre (considering he rubbed elbows with Clive Reston), and perhaps even Richard Dragon.

Pulling from other media, you can look at a lot of the martial arts flicks set not in the past, but in the modern era.

Silver Age Champions (1965 to 1980)

Superheroes at the dawn of the modern age of comics -- optimistic and bright in general, but with social awareness and responsibility creeping into the tales.

There's an explosion of ideas here, stretching beyond the initial pulp roots and early mystery men roots, and fully embracing and integrating sources from science fiction, fantasy, horror, and everything in between. The full flowering of the potential of superhero comics starts here.

Notes: There are many arguments over the definition of Golden Age & Silver Age in comics. You can certainly think of the style of early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, and the like. Many comic book history articles and books have been written tackling this era, and many RPG sourcebooks have been done here as well. This is when the concept of a shared, consistent universe began to take shape and solidify, with continuity cops making sure that few contradictions across universes would emerge. For DC, the multiple earths solution arose here, to distinguish between Golden Age heroes and Silver Age heroes with the same secret identities (Superman/Clark Kent, Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, Batman/Bruce Wayne).

Dark Champions (1985 to 2020)

Modern-day cities as an urban battleground between ruthless, heavily-armed criminals who prey upon the innocent and the equally heavily-armed vigilantes determined to stop them. It features no “true” superhumans such as seen in Champions, but some low-powered quasi-superhumans with various powers and abilities that contribute to the feel and flavor of the setting.

Notes: one can think of this as a street-level sort of heroic setting. Martial arts, guns, and gadgets abound. The Punisher, Wild Dog, and The Butcher would be at home here.

Champions (1980 to 2020)

This setting tackles superheroes in the modern-day world. You can include the modern incarnations of all superheroes during this time period, including all the crazy status quo altering / revising / resetting crossovers. You can tackle the grim-and-gritty explosion of WildDarkBloodClawBladeShot named heroes in this era, straddling the line between vigilantism and outright criminal activity, as well as the call for more relevant heroism to return to comics.

At the end of this period, superhumans fade from the scene for centuries due to the concomitant fading of magic (meaning that accidents and discoveries which once created superhumans now have purely mundane outcomes).

Note: A huge volume of material to cover in such short span of time in human history, but with a wealth material to draw from. This is meant to be the modern day superheroic setting, and as such demands a superheroic universe that is relevant to modern technology, socio-political concerns and cultural mores, as well as to the source material itself. For time-traveling heroes, this is often the default time period that they travel from.

Next: the Future

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part IV -- Cowboys and Victorians

So, here we are just about to hit the modern era of the Hero Universe. The past three installments can be found here...

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part I -- Pre-Cataclysm
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part II -- Post-Cataclysm to the Medieval Era
Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part III -- Musketeers, Pirates, and Revolutions

... and we still have quite a ways to go. No time to dawdle then! On to Leagues of Extraordinary Gentlepersons and Blazing Saddles!

Victorian Hero (1837 to 1910)

A page from Bernie Wrightson's awe-inspiring masterwork: Frankenstein.
His linework and visual interpretation of the novel goes a long way to
evoking the feel of the era and the story. The resoluteness of Frankenstein
and the power and savage strength of his monster are so vivid here.

A fine time for adventures, beginning with Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne and the invention of the cartridge. Encompasses great explorations, gold rushes, frontiers, the American Civil War, lost lands, darkest Africa, strange forbidden magics, Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula, Fu Manchu, Sherlock Holmes, Captain Nemo, and more. Hudson City is a hustling, bustling center of commerce and culture, second only to New York City in the Americas.

As yet, no “superheroes” exist, but there are “masked adventurers” from time to time, and many more who are not masked. Toward the end of this period some people begin to verge, albeit slightly, toward true “superpowers”; this is best seen in Hawley Griffith, the so-called “Invisible Man,” and Dr. Jekyll. The presence of “steampunk” weird science is also possible.

For influence and ideas, see the works of Haggard, Doyle, Verne, Stoker, and Wells.


Note: This era has blossomed into many different types of genre variants and pastiches for gaming. In addition to Steampunk and Faeriepunk (Castle Falkenstein, I'm looking at you), Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels really opened the eyes of many people to the wonders of adventuring in a world where elements of fiction set in the era are/were true. Of course, fans of the work of Jules Verne were sold on the idea long before.

Western Hero (1866 to 1890)

The Wild West, an era of gunfighters, Indians, lawmen, outlaws, gamblers, saloon gals, and trains. Some magical or strange elements — shamanic magic, steampunk science, vampires — could also exist.

I was never able to collect all the graphic novels of Lucky Luke, unlike my Tintin and Asterix collections.
But the man who shoots faster than his own shadow has a certain charm that I wish I'd been able to complete.

Note: well, heck. This is a genre that also has tons of source material for it in various media. My fascination for it on this blog has tackled Western RPGs, an ongoing weird west comic known as The Sixth Gun, and my strangely popular post on a seminal Filipino Western movie. Like many of the eras in the timeline, this era deserves a sourcebook on its own -- and this is the strength of the Hero Universe: the ability to provide a broad canvas for nearly of all the heroic eras in a single timeline.

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part III -- Musketeers, Pirates, and Revolutions

Carrying on my journey through the mega-setting of the Hero Universe, here's the next segment!

Termed the Early Modern Period, this era ranges from 1500 to 1800, an age familiar to heroic literature fans -- a time of swordplay, gunpowder, and dazzling heroics to gritty life-and-death showdowns.

Swashbuckling Hero (1500 to 1650)

Also known as “Age of Reason Hero” this is the era of the Three Musketeers, and of exploration of the rest of the world by Europeans. By this time magic has largely faded away, especially in “civilized” areas, and is rarely encountered by anyone.

Try the Captain Alatriste novels for a gritty and textured world
of Spanish swashbuckling adventure!

Note: One of the axioms mentioned early on in the document, which I've skipped over, is the rationalization of the ebb and rise of magic and superheroics as a sort of rise and fall of 'the background magic level in the universe'. As word choice and objective correlatives go, it is not my own preference, but I understood the rationale's essence. I myself would posit a different approach, will retaining the core premise.

Pirate Hero (1650 to 1750)

Not DC's Captain Blood, nor the movie,
nor the novel. A newer comic series.

The era of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Treasure Island, and maritime deviltry on the Spanish Main. Pirates and privateers aplenty can be set in this era, and -- despite the loss of magic in 'civilized eras' much of that magic can be place in the mysterious seas of the world and certainly in mystical and mythical places in pirate lore -- ala Pirates of the Carribean.


Note: There's a lot of pirate source material to draw on for adventures here, particularly given the popularity of recent film franchises mentioned above.

In addition, DC Comics itself had a fair amount of pirate action in its older incarnations (like Captain Blood and Jon Valor, the Black Pirate), and recently had a pirate Batman when he was a timelost mythic figure in one of Grant Morrison's storytelling escapades.

Revolutionary Hero (1770 to 1799)

The time of America in the era of the Revolutionary War. Unlike a lot of other settings and comic book universes, the Hero Universe establishes this as the era of the very earliest “masked adventurers” ever seen in America. It is also the era of the Exploration of the Americas, the French Revolution and, later, Napoleon.

Black Mask, the Hero Universe's first
masked adventurer in the Americas, and
founder of a long heroic dynasty.

Note: this is also an era that is rich with mysticism, natural philosophy, secret societies, and encounters with the various Native American tribes and their own myths and views of the world. Again, DC Comics had a number of comics characters set in this era, and regularly have modern heroes thrown back in time to encounter them.

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part II -- Post-Cataclysm to the Medieval Era

As I mentioned in Part I, the Hero Universe meta-setting is one of the most kitchen sinky of kitchen sink settings, spanning pre-historic past to the far future, and all the spaces in between. Again, most of this text comes from the PDF found in the link above, and is available for free from their site. Just a bit of editing and rewriting was done on my part.

Part I tackled all the Pre-Cataclysm eras and ages. Part II tackles the setting from the Cataclysm through the Medieval Era.

The Cataclysm (~30,000 B.C.)

In this extinction-level event, the lands of the Atlantean Age are shattered, or sink beneath the waves, destroying virtually all traces of the pre-Cataclysm civilization. Due to one last heroic act by Emperor Vondarian, the few survivors of the Cataclysm gain the ability to breathe underwater and found the underwater realm of Atlantis.

Several other hidden kingdoms manage to survive somehow up until the modern era.

Note: In addition to ending the existence of most of the fantasy races and creatures that existed in the prior era, this even also manages to re-arrange the world into a more recognizable map. However, I do find the extinction of races interesting -- this is where ridiculously powerful and advanced races that could have given humanity a run for dominance of the planet get caught off-guard and are weakened or wiped out. It also helps establish the scope of humanity's capacity for destruction.

The World of Tuala Morn (28,000 BC TO 20,000 BC)

When the waves recede, new landmasses and new civilizations -- mostly predecessors of those to come -- arise, such as the quasi-Irish Celtic land of Tuala Morn, the quasi-Arthurian land of Logres, the quasi-Meosamerican Taloctec lands, and so forth. But the lands are unstable, and after eight thousand years collapse back beneath the waves.

The Age of Legends (20,000 BC TO 11,000 BC)

Once again, new continents arise in the forms known to us in the modern age (although most of North Africa is forest and savannah rather than desert). After a few thousand years of Stone Age level technology, some civilizations -- whose influence is later seen during historic times -- arise in this period.

Note: Great cities are built in South America, Africa, and Asia, as well as in Europe and Australia, with each culture or civilization a sort of “fantasized” version of what appears later. Toward the end of this period these civilizations all collapse, leaving the stage empty for later ones. See Philip Jose Farmer’s “Hadon of Ancient Opar” for a good example of what this could be like, or Wilbur Smith’s “The Sunbird,” or Charles Saunders’s “Imaro” series.

The Classical Age (10,000 BC TO 400 AD)

This age is broken up into two major segments.

The Age of Heroes spans from 10,000 BC to 200 BC. In this era of civilization, Ancient Egypt arises along with Mycenae, Crete, and Sumeria -- but Greece is the dominant culture near the end of the
era. Many believe in magic, but it is rarely seen in action (at least, not by everyday folk!). The era of Greek, Norse, etc. mythology, when gods, demigods, and mortals mingle on Earth. The decline of Greece and the rise of the Roman empire marks the end of this age.

The Roman Empire ranges from 200 BC to 400 AD. In this era,  the Roman Empire conquers much of the known world during this period; great civilizations also flourish in China and the Americas. For the most part, the pragmatic Romans disbelieve in magic, as the gradual decline of mystical forces makes true spellcasters increasingly uncommon (though magic remains stronger in some corners of the world far from Rome).

Note: A lot of the classical elements that have found their way into the modern fantasy genres (and in fact the foundations of western theater and storytelling) come from this age. Sword and sandal adventures abound here, and the full flowering of some of the most well-known mythologies are ready for use in this age.

The Medieval Age (400 AD TO 1500)

This is also broken up into two major sub-ages -- Arthurian Hero and Fantasy Europe.

Arthurian Hero takes place from 400 AD to 900 AD, and is a time of Merlin-esque magics,
the faerie folk, and adventure around the world. It focuses on a Fantasy Europe, a dark/low sort of fantasy set in the Celtic/Arthurian Age (with, of course, anachronisms like plate armor as necessary for fl avor). Europe is a wilderness with pockets of civilization here and there. The wilds are dangerous, home to dragons, trolls, and fierce beasts.

Notes: The “Bard” series by Keith Taylor, Celtic myths, Arthurian legends, and Norse sagas are excellent resources for this sub-age.

Fantasy Europe takes place from 900 to 1500 AD, and is the classic period of medieval adventure when magic briefly surges upward in power again before continuing its swift decline during the
Renaissance. Knights in shining armor, powerful yet fairly rare sorcery. High adventure in a “fantasy medieval Europe” where magic exists, knights in shining armor slay dragons, and only the power of
the Church keeps demonic minions at bay.

Notes: Adventures in fantastic realms (such as Lyonesse, Hybrasil, and Antillia) are possible during this time, but they eventually sink or pass into the Land of Legends as magic diminishes or magical disasters occur. This is also the time that many mystical creatures and races like the Fair Folk begin their transitions into other realms, whose doors become increasingly more difficult to open. Furthermore, there is a spate of monster slaying in this era, which eradicates many creatures of magic.


Next Up: The Modern Eras of the Hero Universe

Setting Expeditions: The Hero Universe, Part I -- Pre-Cataclysm

In one of the most kitchen sinky of kitchen sink settings, the Hero Universe meta-setting lays claim to a single setting from the pre-historic past to the far future, and all the spaces in between. The link above is to a free six-page PDF that was released around the time of the 5th Edition ruleset, so it's been around a while.

Naturally, it's not going to give you anything other than the broad strokes of the meta-setting, and in fact some of the settings were fleshed out in separate (not-free) setting books from HERO Games.

Overall, it reminds me of three things: The History of the DC Universe which was published after the seminal Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series, the Planetary comics series by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday, and the Wold Newton Universe which grew out of Philip Jose Farmer's ingenious attempts to tie all manner of pulp heroes (and villains) into a single history and set of families.

The reasons it does this include: to create a massive backdrop against which Heroic and Super-heroic adventures may be played; to allow spaces in the timeline in which the various genres and sub-genres that super-heroic fiction might be played; to create rationale for bringing various NPCs and organizations backwards and forwards in the timeline.

Before I talk about the pros and cons of the approach, let me give you a taste of the various time periods (and descriptions + inspirations of each) tackled in the document. Much of it is taken from the PDF itself, though trimmed, edited and annotated by yours truly.

But let's start off with the era that seems most friendly to the type of settings found in OSR adventures -- the fantasy genre-friendly era:

The Pre-Cataclysm Period

The Pre-Cataclysm Period is an age of civilization prior to the recorded history of mankind. For flavor, think Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Vance, Lord Dunsany, Michael Moorcock, Lin Carter, and the like.

Fantasy Primeval (100,000 TO 75,000 BC)

The first civilizations of men other sentient races -- such as Dwarves and Elves -- arise. Initially, many of the dreaded Elder Races control much of the planet, and dominate most of the races of men either directly or through fear, but are in decline, gradually leaving Earth after warring with each other for millennia.

The gods evolve, and many walk the Earth, using humans as pawns in their interminable wars with each other. At long last, the wars of the gods come to a head, and in a tremendous clash they break the world. Realizing they could destroy themselves by destroying their worshipers, the gods depart Earth for other dimensions, leaving the planet to settle down and the few surviving humans to rebuild their shattered civilizations.

Note: One might consider this very similar to the Runequest setting, where magics constantly shape the world, physics are just as valid in terms of world rules as arcana, and where battles of gods ensnare the lives of mortals.

Turakian Age (73,000 to 65,000 BC)

An age defined by the rise and fall of Kal-Turak, Ravager of Men, from whom this period takes its name. It ends with the overthrow of Kal-Turak at the hands of all the free peoples of the world, in a magical cataclysm that once again re-shapes the world.

Note: Kal-Turak acts much like a campaign's uber-baddie, kind of a Vecna meets Invincible Overlord meets Darkseid, and gets to return in various forms and guises in future ages of the timeline.

Valdorian Age (50,000 BC TO 33,000 BC)

The Valdorian Age -- named after a Hero Universe fantasy empire founded by its hero-king Valdor -- is a classic sword-and-sorcery style fantasy setting in the mode of Howard or Moorcock. Mankind remains the dominant race on the planet; other races go into decline (many apparently vanish). Fantastic creatures of all descriptions are found on the Earth (some remnants of the Primeval age, others newly arisen). The gods still exert a strong influence on the Earth through gateways, priests, and avatars.

Note: This age seems friendliest to a Conan-like campaign, or an Elric-like campaign, or a Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser campaign depending on where you adventure and how you arrange your nations and states.

Atlantean Age (32,000 TO ~30,000 BC)

Toward the end of the Valdorian Age, a new empire, the Dominion of Atlantis, arose. Based on an ancient island (of the same name) of great mystical power, Atlantis soon came to dominate most of the world. Around 30,500 BC, Dalsith, son of the rebellious warrior-king and sorcerer Cormar the Mighty, sacrificed his soul to the Kings of Edom for great mystical power and became Sharna-Gorak the Destroyer, Vondarien’s greatest enemy. The clash between Sharna-Gorak and the forces of Atlantis shook the earth, eventually sinking continents, toppling mountain ranges, and creating a great flood -- the Cataclysm.

Note: The Atlantean Age is a overpowered high fantasy campaign setting, where magic can push the power ratings to super-heroic levels. It has an eclectic cultural mix that is reminiscent of Barsoom or Jack Vance’s Dying Earth or perhaps even the Final Fantasy series of video games.

The Cataclysm

This takes place around ~30,000 B.C. and it changes the world yet again. It destroyed almost all traces of civilization prior to this time. The survivors were thrown back to Stone Age technology and magic.

Note: the function of the Cataclysm is meant to handwave all this hoo-hah about no evidence existing concerning pretty much everything that happened prior. There will be stories and accounts that might survive to the present day, but since terrible physical and magical energies laid waste to everything, what puny evidence might be found is inconclusive and certainly insufficient to draw any inference about the majestic histories that were wiped from memory.

A Return to Kitchen Sinks

In the past, I've done explorations of what I call kitchen sink settings. I've done two proper expeditions before:

Code: Black [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Lightspeed [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

My next one should've been Fading Suns, but I realized that I have a lot to say about that one (and I've posted a lot on it in the past), so I'll hold off in favor of another that I should be able to finish in a shorter number of posts: the Champions Universe!

Past...

Present...

Future!

Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part IIIb

So to wrap up Code: Black, the setting can easily incorporate source material from a variety of horror RPGs.

Fabulous Monster Hunters

For your standard monster hunting thrills, you can use the source material already in the book and add in things from Supernatural by Margaret Weis Productions or the Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel RPGs by Eden Studios. Look no further than White Wolf's World of Darkness and New World of Darkness for different spins on classic monsters.

Keep in mind, however, that the primary approach toward monsters in Code: Black is that -- at their core -- all these monsters are also former inmates on Prison: Earth. They're evil, and because they're not human, they tend to be more touch by Evil than humans. Of course, some humans could probably give them a run for their money; and maybe one or two are 'redeemable' by human standards. But those are few and far between. Most monsters are for killing, pure and simple. It's just that there are enough numbers of them that all out war between the monsters and humans would make things very messy, especially for those born without The Sight -- the ability to truly see things for what they are. So there's an uneasy truce, and killings are only countenanced in set rules of engagement.

Stalking the Mythos

For modern Cthulhu-inspired horrors, look to the newish The Laundry RPG, the semi-newish Trail of Cthulhu, and the older Delta Green for different takes on organizations taking on the mythos in modern society.

The Laundry contributes an interesting take on the nature of the Deep Ones and the greater powers of a mythos-choked Earth, and the tenuous detente with the various occult organizations of the world. It also posits a math-based basis for magic and summoning of creatures that was explained more fully in the novels of Charles Stross. Furthermore, it gives source material on the possible structure of anti-mythos government agencies not only in the U.K., but also around the world.

Trail of Cthulhu has a plethora of adventures set in modern times that will challenge the agents of Code: Black's Brotherhood of Gilgamesh; Delta Green will give an example of a cell-structure based conspiracy of mythos-fighters in the American idiom that can be easily tweaked to avoid contradictions with the material from The Laundry.

Exploring True Reality

For strange invaders from alternate dimensions that may or may not be heaven or hell, try to find a copy of Kult and pick up JAGS Wonderland and JAGS Book of Knots. Esoterrorists is another must-read for this type of horror exploration.

Kult's main proposition -- that the true reality is the city known as Metropolis, and our reality is a prison meant to keep humanity from awakening to their true nature -- is very in sync with the cosmology of Code: Black. Furthermore, the creatures and monstrosities that fill the RPG are more inspired by the Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm Street movies and books -- and perhaps the Silent Hill series of games, which can make for a different change of pace adventure as well.

JAGS Wonderland & Book of Knots are very similar, though realized through a wonderfully dark and consistent use of the Alice novels as both inspiration and metaphor for humans dealing with the dangers of different levels of reality.

Esoterrorists tackles agents struggling to stop the breakdown of our reality, and covering up the attempts of Esoterrorists to release imprisoned intellects and entities and extradimensional realities into our own.


All in all, Code: Black is a lovely kitchen sink setting that allows GMs and players to make use of almost any horror RPG material.

Armchair Reviews: NeoExodus -- A House Divided Campaign Setting

Here's my review for this surprising document from LPJ Design: NeoExodus -- A House Divided Campaign Setting.

You should pick up NeoExodus. It should matter to me that it's written for Pathfinder -- a game system I don't follow. But in the modern RPG era of D&D retroclones, neoclones, alterclones and the multiplicity of game systems that evolved from the D20 explosion, it shouldn't really matter. It's a setting that is both packed with history and detail in almost every corner of its universe, but has been constructed to allow minor additions and major game changers to its setting.

Quite possibly the first thing that should be read is not the history, but Page 24: Unique Elements of NeoExodus. It gives the broadstrokes approach that was taken for the creation of the setting, and it feels like they kept referring to it as they lovingly created every bit of it. Here they are in condensed form:

NeoExodus is...

... a world full of magic.
... a world built on epic adventures, heroic quests, and valiant expeditions into the unknown.
... is a setting of unique empires and nations with their own sovereign rights, powers, and issues.
... is a world that is rarely a peace for long.
... mixes traditional fantasy, horror, magic, modern politics, and science fiction.
... is full of all new unique races.
... is a world built on conspiracies, deception, and intrigue.

Everything has a place in NeoExodus.

In terms of production values, I compare it favorably to the Forgotten Realms 3E setting book and the Forgotten Realms supplement Lords of Darkness combined, but infused with the subversive fantasy settings like Talislanta, the over-the-top high magic terror of Arduin, the epic feel of the early Exalted line, and the anything-can-show-up vibe of Rifts.

The art is fantastic and yet labors to give a real sense of an alternative fantasy world without straying too much from what you look for in the genre. The stat blocks and data tables for character classes, races, nations, and other information necessary for making this setting your own are nicely laid out and are very readable.

This isn't something you skim over. This is a book you read from cover to cover -- though I obviously have opinions as to the best sequence to read the chapters -- to identify the things you want to emphasize, and craft your campaign around those elements, leaving the rest of extraneous campaign flavor.

I want to go on longer about specific races that I find cool, about the nations that really speak to me in terms of campaign potential, about historical elements that would have a wealth of plot devices to kick off any number of adventures -- but I think I'd go on too long.

This is one of my favorite type of kitchen sink settings (a term I tend to in my blog -- armchairgamer.blogspot.com -- to refer to settings that have been crafted to allow almost any type of element into it from its genre, or even from other genres). It is a kitchen sink setting that can manage to retain its own identity when other non-native elements are shoved in; any number of rationales -- from the Gates to the high magic running through the setting -- can be brought to bear.

And even if the setting isn't for you, you can mine it for monsters, races, and campaign ideas for years.

I do love the art, despite the tendency to become too cartoony anime-ish at times (I prefer the anime styles in fantasy that approach, but don't necessarily hit, photorealistic), because of the way it drives home the cross-genre, pseudo-gonzo feel of the setting. I like the stat blocks for the political entities, I like Cyneans (crystalline scholars), Dalreans (sentient, mobile plants that can apparently use bows and arrows -- sort of like humans attacking with primate bones, I guess), I like the succinct 5-level progression prestige classes in general. I'm not a fan of too many feats in a D20 / 3E game, but I did like the spells and the monsters in this book.

Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part IIIa

Just because I'm in a stressed mood and have a lot of work ahead of me, I decided to do a little quiz (not that hard really) based on the various movies that you can technically run in the Code: Black setting with some minor tweaks to the rationale, and in some cases not at all.

And for fun, I've arranged the pics into a safe for work (I think) arrangement of pics that seems to follow the traditional sequence of horror plots in these kinds of adventures. Hope you enjoy, and let me know if you recognize all the films.

Signs & Portents	Due Diligence	Inciting Artifact
Legwork	Strange Discovery	Fatal Encounter
Regroup and Rally	The Gang	The Gear
The Garb	Into the Belly of the Beast	Not In Kansas Anymore
Confrontation	Enough Talk	Oh, it's on now!

Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part II

To my mind, there are three major elements of the Code: Black setting. They are (a) Good and Evil; (b) The Brotherhood; and (c) Earth is a flawed prison.

Good and Evil

Potentially the most difficult or most understandable element is the existence of absolute good (hereafter referred to as Good) in the universe, as well as absolute evil (hereafter referred to as Evil). The setting states that the forces of Good and the forces of Evil, and all the races and intelligences and being that were a mixture of both were caught up in a war. Yes, the classic eternal struggle of Good vs. Evil.

Except that it ended a long time ago, and Good won. And after Good won, it disappeared from the universe utterly, leaving behind Evil and its allies imprisoned in this universe.

Humanity, long an ally of Evil (some were coerced, some joined willingly), for reasons only guessed at, were released from their imprisonment on Earth and inherited the empty universe.

Of course, other creatures of greater Evil escaped as well and fought against humanity and sometimes enslaved it. And there are even more powerful creature of Evil that rage against their imprisonment in the jail that Earth has become, and struggle to weaken the nature of their respective prisons by craft and cunning and power.

The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood of Gilgamesh fights these Evil monsters in all their forms, but must do so with the understanding that there are battles that can be deferred and that there are limited resources to use. The most precious resource is that of personnel with The Sight.

The Sight is the ability to perceive reality as it is. Unlike the mindbending Metropolis of the Kult RPG, reality is pretty much as it is now -- the mundane reality we know is a prison to the more fantastic monsters and worlds that lurk inside it -- except that there may be a werewolf here, a vampire there, a zombie outbreak nearby, and a growing gateway to a nether realm beneath your bed.

People with The Sight can join The Brotherhood and fight monsters, and become part of an organization that tends to lose members in many nasty ways. As a result, there are protocols and secrets in the organization mixed in with the necessary openness to get new hires up to speed. And then it's sink of swim time.

The Brotherhood isn't all about holding hands and expecting everyone to fall in line against Evil. They know that we were once allied with Evil and all its factions -- the pull may be too strong for some. There are protocols about that too.

Earth is a Flawed Prison

As stated earlier, the mundane reality we know is a prison to the more fantastic monsters and worlds that lurk inside it. Some terrible creatures exist in our reality -- vampires, lycanthropes, and so on -- but it's suggested that for all their power they are still bound in certain ways by reality and can thus be slain with the appropriate tools and spells. One wonders how much more powerful they might be in an altered reality.

Altered realities can take place in specific locales: perhaps a place where an elder god is attempting to weaken the prison and burrow out, perhaps minions of a long-dead deity have made sacrifices and performed rituals to allow it to bestow its blessings on its followers, perhaps a great cataclysm has weakened the integrity of the prison in this particular area. And that's why you get strange things happening in places that it shouldn't.

How many cells to this prison? How many realities exist, folded and twisted into the mundane world we call home? How many creatures have escaped?

That's where you come in -- welcome to the Brotherhood.

Setting Expeditions: Code Black -- Part I

Code: Black is an RPG that acts as a Kitchen Sink Setting for your supernatural / preternatural / weird sh*t campaigns.

That's a very broad amount of genre ground to cover, but the overall premise of the setting allows for a campaign that can tackle

• straightforward "monster showdowns" ala From Dusk Till Dawn and Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight;
• spooky atmospheric hauntings ala The Eye, The Grudge and The Ring;
• professionals taking on the weird ala X-Files, Supernatural, Dog Soldiers, and the little known film Double Vision (starring Tony Leung and David Morse);
• reality-bending, "the world you know is wrong" extravaganzas like Hellraiser and Silent Hill;
• science-gone-wrong outbreaks like Resident Evil and almost any zombie apocalypse movie;
• humans tampering with the natural order of things as in the cult film Cube and the riffs on The Island of Dr. Moreau;
• old standbys like cthulhoid elder gods, demons and devils, and trapped ancient evils.

RPG-wise, the setting feels like a mashup between Stalking the Night Fantastic & Chill, marinated in the juices of Kult, lightly seasoned with some Call of Cthulhu. The flexibility of the setting's recipe allows for the infusion of the ridiculously complex political structures of White Wolf's World of Darkness, the down-the-rabbit-hole weirdness of Over The Edge (especially the mystic sh*t crew), and the fantastic work Pelgrane Press has put into releases like Esoterrorists and Trail of Cthulhu.

System isn't really much of a concern here; it's statted out for BTRC's entry into the Univeral RPG System arena (EABA), but you can make use of whatever gear and creatures you already have in your system of choice and just add the elements you need.

Up Next: Key Elements of the Setting

Kitchen Sink Expeditions: Lightspeed -- Part IV

In this brief exploration of the Lightspeed RPG, I've taken a look at the broad strokes of the setting, picked at the major elements, and showed some of the little cameos and campaign options available to players and GMs.

So to wrap things up, I decided to list some campaign premises (a.k.a. the more popular term now, campaign frameworks) that can be run in the setting.

Default Campaigns

The three major default campaigns come from the major powers / political factions of the galaxy.

The most straightforward of the three is the Pan-Solar Empire. This is essentially a no-Jedi Rebel Alliance campaign just waiting to be run. The fact that it isn't Star Wars means that you don't have to deal with fans waving books of Star Wars canon in your face every time you bring out a different kind of stormtrooper that wasn't in the movies or books. Plus, you get to do a lot of "wahoo" type adventuring on seedy planets on the fringes of Imperial power, and some tense infiltration work against well-funded, jackbooted military types on fully armed and operations battlestations -- because the RPG does have vehicle and space combat rules taken from Fuzion.

Almost as straightforward is the Interstellar Federation. While it is essentially Star Trek, there is some variance in terms of power levels here. You can ratchet them up to Next Generation levels, or bring them down to Original Series levels, but the implication is that the might and technology of the Empire should be capable of giving them a run for their money.

Federation campaigns can either be the classic ship-based Star Trek set-up, with a crew and semi-disposable away teams sent to explore the frontier of the Federation (or perform diplomatic missions of import for the Federation even while under this exploratory edict, go figure), or can be patterned after the excellent StarFleet Universe product Prime Directive, which posits an away team based campaign (renamed Prime Teams) with specific protocols on how to deal with hostile targets, first contact, etc.

However, with the existence of the various arms of the AstroPol, a Federation-empowered law enforcement organizations, you can also run planet-, system-, or Federation-wide campaigns that deal with crimes committed against Federation citizenry. As AstroPol Agents you can hunt down high-level criminals in the riches systems in the Galaxy, while as AstroPol Rangers you can keep the peace on the frontier.

Now it's not explicitly stated, but based on the original source material both these settings are fairly optimistic -- there's a prevailing belief that despite difficulties (and insurmountable obstacles) good will eventually triumph over evil.

That's not necessarily true in the Old Earth Empire, which has a dystopian feel tinged with cyberpunk ethos. Blade Runner could have happened here, alongside Alien and Aliens, and Predator. Campaigns with cynical heroes struggling to survive in systems dominated by mega-corporations.

Strange Brews

Those aren't the only possible campaigns, of course. You can have mixes between the mini-settings -- with Interstellar Federation spies going deep into the Pan-Solar Empire to aid the Rebellion with new technology -- cutting edge mecha. You can have Old Earth Empire mercenaries squaring off against criminals with slightly more superior technology from the Interstellar Federation. You can even have a Pan-Solar Empire battlegroup fall through a wormhole into the mysterious Centaurus Quadrant and have to battle their way past strange aliens and mysterious megastructures back to their home sector to suspicious superiors.

Lightspeed has a good mix of SF-inspired settings kluged together without necessarily losing the cores of each, allowing riffs and homages in a holistic setting. You may occasionally wonder how the entire socio-economic-political structure holds together, but there's enough space -- lacuna -- for the GM to come up with whatever rationale he can and the just run his campaign in whatever sandbox he's built for himself in the overall setting.

Here's hoping that Lightspeed eventually finds new life with another system that's more well-supported than Fuzion.