This was a fun one. I loved the Indiana Jonesish investigation of the city. Halfway through I was trying to figure out why nobody else knew about it or even moved in to use the already made structures as their own. Well, it was clear somebody had and was not at all what I expected.
Love the idea of a massive, hidden city that nobody will ever really want to go to...and if they do, they probably won't survive the sight. Fun! Go to Comment
I agree with Val, drop the bold for regular script.
Otherwise, kudos sir! I love the cyclopean Giant city, and it's timelessness and the war between the dragons and the giants, and the second war that turned them into barbarians. I would like it to be longer, as it reminds me of Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness. Go to Comment
I like this - I also have a massive city created by Giants here. A battleground between Giants and Dragons is a cool idea.
The use of italics and bold are used for emphasis. Using both without plain text is a bit excessive to me. I would remove the bold, but leave the italics. Go to Comment
To quote: "Naturally, there are forms of etiquette and protocol to be observed even in a magical society of nobles. Although it happens in the odd generation here and there, nobles would never resort to such crude measures as actual magical combat between each other or rain demons upon rival houses and the like. Subtlety and finesse are considered great virtues of magical mastery. Battle magic is as crude as warfare. Of course, it can be necessary at times, but to muddy one's own hands in such toil is hardly refined.
And besides, what could be more delightfully humiliating than for an enemy noble than to be assassinated by entirely mundane, albeit well executed, means?"
So yes, they are very well used to combat other spellcasters, with very definite and tricky means to deal with them. The overly aggressive combat mage would be probably manipulated into a duel with some noble... and die. Go to Comment
Seven Seas is the first one that comes to mind, as does Providence. Lace and Steel had magical nobility in cool fantasy setting.
Zodani in Traveller Universe comes to mind, but are not a specific game. Third Imperium is a classic setting though, dating since 1975. Crimson empire does have magical nobility as well.
Just needed to point them out. http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/ if you want to check them out. Go to Comment
An excellent idea, too bad I am too late to add a good comment, those were all taken above. LoL.
It does bring up one point, the fact that a person can work magic doesnt automatically mean that they are good, intelligent, competent or capable. Picking a person to be a noble by their magical ability is akin to picking someone to be a noble by the color of their eyes, their height, or any other innate attribute rather than merit and competence. Go to Comment
I think this really is an original idea - at least I don't recall it presented in quite this manner in any games system or fantasy novel I've come across
But, when you come to think of it, it's quite logical really. After all, the ability to perform magic is bound to be a really big advantage, so those who can do so will inevitably rise to the upper echelons of society. From there, it's only a very small step to rule by right of magical ability.
They do say that the best ideas are blatently obvious ... after somebody has pointed them out.
On that basis B9anders - I salute you for the genius your clearly are.
Simple, logical, well explained and easy to impliment - it doesn't get much better than this
4.5/5
plus my personal Wish I'd thought of that award
Keep up the good work
And please do flesh out the world - I'd love to see it Go to Comment
True Scras, but since when was merit or competence a criteria for political power?
Let's look at some of the more usual methods:
--> Monarchy - the son (or occasionally daughter) of the last king/emperor/tsar/whatever
--> Theocracy - someone who worships the "one true god"
--> One party state - someone with the "correct" political beliefs
--> Military dictatorship - the person with biggest army
--> Democracy - the most popular or charismatic candidate
Hmmm ... competence, intelligence and merit just don't get a look in
While all of these systems occasionally produce good and competent leaders, they are just as likely put someone stupid, incompetent, weak, despotic or just plain cruel in the top job.
Granted, some are better than others, but they can all produce bad leaders.
So ... selection by the ability to lobb spells around - why not?
It might not be the best system, but it's no worse than any other and possibly better than some. Go to Comment
Awesome. A simple approach, but fantastic execution! Very well described. I'd like to rp in this world.
Battle-magic and other ostentatious shows of arcane force being perceived as gauche and ignoble is sublime.
Great world! Very easy to use, easily explained to PCs (not a lot of prep time is needed to play), and stimulating from an rp and magic-use perspective.
One question. Not sure if I missed this but, can the heir be found by using magic? or? Go to Comment
I agree. That is what gives this system its verisimilitude actually. A perfectly acceptable, predictable, and realistic way for nobility to be selected in a fantasy world. Again, Kudos. Go to Comment
designer notes: I conceived this idea for a setting when creating a GURPS character and thought 'what if Status and Magery was a joint package?' - I am liking it so much I think I will have to flesh out a world on this. Go to Comment
The idea is not until an heir is actually born with the glow. Dormant means no glow, only the strain to pass on. That means if the line is to be found before that, it would have to be through old fashioned detective work (and there might be some people secretly making that difficult). Go to Comment
Locations (Ruins) (Mountains)
Love the idea of a massive, hidden city that nobody will ever really want to go to...and if they do, they probably won't survive the sight. Fun! Go to Comment