The world of Kerren

[MoonHunter]

examples
Wing Creation: I can not think of a way to create an "instant" wing, just roll dice on the chart. Each Dragon Wing of seven ryders will need to be defined groups of NPCs. Since I created the concept of Tournaments, wings from various wards will be interacting with each other, so you will need some generic/ examples to have on hand for your player's wing to compete against. I am thinking of about seven examples. I will do 3 or so Wards, 2 clusters, and one Outland village.

Example Wings:

Blue Flame Wing:
Wing Leader: Onterio
Edge: Carver
Others: "Gip", Toronto, Drake, Tera (F), and Marsh

Blue Flame Wing is the reigning Southern Tournament Grand Champion and has won several of the last Great Tournaments.

Onterio is an oddity, he is an edge that accepted a wing leader position. He uses this position to drill and push his wing to excell no matter what the cost. They are ruthless and competitive in tournaments and out. If the Ryders knew what a drill sargent was, they would all agree that Onterio is one of them. He has lost several Ryders to injuries in training accidents.

Carver comes from a highborn family. He has to prove himself, to keep his family in the Warren.

"Gip": A fat ryder of great strength.
Toronto: The Fastest Ryder known. Also known to attack other Ryders during a race.
Drake: A bitter, scared ryder who was burned by another Ryder in a Zhan Storm. He has been bumped from Warren/ Wing to Warren/Wing and has found a home here.
Tera: She is perhaps the nastiest of the bunch. Has been suspected to sabotaging saddles and parachutes, and giving drugs to opponents. Never proven.
Marsh: This laid back Ryder is a master of the Knife and has killed several people in duels.


Storms (Black/ Yellow/ and Ward Color)
Wing Leader: Drake
Edge: Columbus

The Storms are an "average" wing. They compete well in tournaments, never losing badly, but never winning often. Their Ward is quite large, almost too large for the meger two wings found in their ward. The Storms don't train for tournaments, they are too busy patroling for Zhan to worry about such things.

Drake is a young, inexperienced Ryder who was given the wing by the Warden. Drake's family have always been in charge of the wing. His father had died unexpectedly and Drake was shoved into the job.

Columbus: The oldest Ryder currently flying. He has outlived three mounts. He should of retired ages ago, he has served the last three leaders of this wing and is determined that Drake will make it.

You begin to get the idea. You can use these as opponent wings or as the other wings in your Warren (as well as inspirations for the wings and warrens you will create.

[Strolen]

Closest I have come to playing Science Fiction was Gamma world so I will stay away from the alien part of things and concentrate on the world.

My main focus is the Zhan, as the way I see it they are the major antagonists in this world (exception being the Saurians, but they are just dinosaurs right?). There will be the basic evil I would suppose and some strife, but for the most part I am seeing this world as a man vs. nature type thing with the exception of the incoming aliens.

I see the effects of the Zhan and I love the idea, I am more concerned with the initial danger of them and how it can be prevented. Obviously this would be an important point for all those living since you never know when you will get hit by a Zhan burst.

Is there really any indication that may give warning to the inhabitants besides the dragon's senses?

What does it look like when Zhan, or anything for that matter, enters and leaves the warp?

How quickly do they fall to the ground? If it is rapid then I would have to say most cities would be almost completely covered somehow in case the Zhan were loosed directly above them. If they float or hover or have maneuverability there are even more issues to consider.

Are Zhan in any way telepathic or can anybody actually communicate with them? Looking for an intelligent antagonist that can be an enemy with a motive vs just random monsters roaming. If they can be communicated with then perhaps there are a couple dangerous places that you just don't go to where they hang? If they can be controlled, can somebody weaken the barrier and 'summon' the Zhan or cause a storm to make them more apt to break the barrier? If evil can control them, they will want more.

Is there any cure for being infected with the Zhan at all? Maybe something they have to take daily to keep from being changed. Perhaps something that can stop the process but not reverse anything that already happened? If not, is there like concentration camps or something to put the infected people or are they just outright killed?

I like Ria Hawk's idea about beneficial mutations from the Zhan that may have taken hold creating oracles or maybe some elite warriors or something.

Maybe there are some that believe being infected by the Zhan is a gift from God. I would imagine there are cults that actually worship Zhan and purposely infect people, or themselves, because they are the chosen ones.

In my world of Aros, I had the Sand Mages that were too weak or not granted permission by their chosen element to begin a mutation phase. Along with the mutation they were basically filled with a need to protect the source of the magic for a bunch of reasons, but could maybe the Zhan infecting people and animals have a higher purpose then just mutating them? What is the could the Zhan be up to in this world. Do they all seem to try and do the same thing? go to the same place? have distinct mutation that they all seem to get? I think there should be some higher motivation, whether intelligent or instinctive, that the Zhan are pulled to. Maybe the search for a power source that will destroy the barriers? Something.

------
It was mentioned that the Jumpers could use the warp to hide and ambush. What kind of view do they have from the warp? Are they able to see two worlds? just the warp paths? only Kerren? When first mentioned I pictured them as something that you entered and almost sucked through. Could steer, albeit limitedly, but basically I saw it as a process that was irreversible. If they can stay in there and survive, I think the warp would be a very dangerous sort of place too. There would have to be some kind of creatures that make it their home, living off those that warp perhaps or just the energy of the warp and killing creatures going through the warp is an accident or a treat. Perhaps that is why warping isn't as pervasive as I would have expected. They only warp when they *have* to because the dangers in the warp are often times greater then those met in Kerren.

(Not proofreading the above. Was going to post tomorrow but had to get out of bed and post immediately after finally reading the thread -printed it-)

[MoonHunter]

Zhan are basically globs of very firm greenish grey jelly, with a several meter long, ribbon. This ribbon acts like a parachute or air drag. It is a controlled fall.  Once on the ground they are a 2 liter mass that slowly oozes about (sometime drops from tree branches or rocky outcropings).  They loose their tail soon after they hit the ground.  When they make contact with an organic, the infect it.. giving it some of its mass.  Eventually the thing dies because it has infected a number of organic things and has little to nothing left.

They are basically mindless.  They operate on instinct.  However, the things they infect become quite cunning.  

(I like the idea of them being a bioweapon that went off in the reality next over... but who knows.. They mystery allows GMs to choose their own solution.. if they want one).  

A given storm can release any number of Zhan... it just depends on the intensity of the storm.  Figure a small one 1-6, a normal one 3-18, a huge one 5-30.  Hmmmm another thing to document.  Officially, the number of zhan is supposed to be based on the challange you want to give your Ryders (and if you want one to land)

Note: They are technically man vs nature conflict, as they are not intelligent.  The conflicts in this world are man vs nature (Zhan, Saurians, Zhani) and man vs man (soap opera intrigue).  In Pern the threads are a threat, but such a minor one once you learn about them, they are ignorable. Thus it becomes man vs man and man vs self in Pern.  Zhan and the Saurians native to the world were created to allow for more external, non human threats to keep roleplayers engaged and provide a backdrop and break from additional man vs man conflicts.  

They can not be prevented.  Only vigilance (in the form of patrols) is the best way to stop them. Zhan storms can happen at any time, but there is a Zhan storm season, coinciding with the summer rainy season. Dragons (or humans properly equipped) can burn them before they get to the ground.  Once there, they can burn the zhan before it gets to infects anything except the grass or tree it landed upon.  (If you are lucky, it landed on a rock).  

Landing in a cluster (city) could be awful. The terrible chance of a zhan infecting a human or pet animal, plus cities, even pueblo like ones, will still have cracks and spaces where they can land where no one can see them.  If they get inside a building, they may be impossible to locate.  However, since the Warrens are right there where most clusters are.. the threat is somewhat negated.  Storms over villages or free clusters (city without a warren and out of a ward) are very dangerous, because the Ryders are not right there.  They may not have radios to send out for help.  

Zhan storms look pretty much like normal storms, except they have odd electrical discharges: cloud to cloud, rather than cloud to land.  They are dark and rolling. In times of the year when storms/ weather are not common, any storm would obviously be a zhan storm.  

Dragons can sense Zhan and the existance of Zhan storms in a moderate range.  It is because of their ability to warp.  

****What does it look like when Zhan, or anything for that matter, enters and leaves the warp?

Hmmmmm.  I am thinking of a predator wave effect, from invisible to visable.  Warp itself "looks" like a burst of rainbow grey/ smoke crystal.

Is there any cure for being infected with the Zhan at all?
Officially, nope. You kill all the monsters, which makes human zhan so tragic.   However, since mosquito's don't seem to be infectable and are carriers, perhaps there might be a treatment to repress the zhan DNA. I think this would be an option as a "campaign development", like the star people showing up.  

I like Ria Hawk's idea about beneficial mutations from the Zhan that may have taken hold creating oracles or maybe some elite warriors or something.

It could happen... unlikely since Dragons will hunt them anything infected.. but they eat cats/ dogs/ and raptors (pet animals) that people keep in the warrens too, so maybe you can keep someone infected alive and around them.  

Maybe there are some that believe being infected by the Zhan is a gift from God. I would imagine there are cults that actually worship Zhan and purposely infect people, or themselves, because they are the chosen ones.
   Another option in the campaign development section...

Zhan might have a purpose, but that is for the GM to maybe determine... if they want that kind of campaign development.

[MoonHunter]

Jumpers, our slightly smaller than mansized dragonoids.  They are our velociraptors. They are land based dragonoids that hunt in packs of 7.  Like all larger dragonoids, they are fairly intelligent, though still animals.  They have the quasi telepathic communication of all dragons. These critters can glide, like a squirrel, if they get a good enough start.  They have powerful legs that let them get going fairly well.  If they can be airborn, they could technically warp. I am unsure if I should let them warp for migration or not.    

While stationary, they can fade out of the world... being invisible and immaterial in out world.  They reappear with a predator ripple effect.  They can sense things in our world, but very little.. requiring perception rolls to sense things that would be automatically notable in our world.  Since they can strike from no where and they are  pack animal, they are the most dangerous ground creature on the planet.  

These dragonoids don't imprint for mates, like Dragons and others. (Humans short circuit this imprinting by presenting humans at the right time, rather than an other gender dragon.  It does not prevent the dragon from breeding, it just does not make them married to the other dragon.)   So Jumpers just go at it when ever.  If they were not food for other larger saurians, they would multiply.  

Dragon Ryders players are going to get cocky.  These things were designed to take them down a peg or two.  

Note: Some Dragon/Ryders can learn this fade trick (feat/ skill/ gift).  It is something that some little dragons can do as well. They can take their imprinted partner with them as well (feat/ skill/ gift).  


***I think the warp would be a very dangerous sort of place too. There would have to be some kind of creatures that make it their home, living off those that warp perhaps or just the energy of the warp and killing creatures going through the warp is an accident or a treat.

"Don't go off the beacon."  I had not thought about including monsters in the warp. Hmmmmm. Things to contemplate...  Warp was supposed to be instant or nearly instant not a lot of time to get attacked... but it could happen.

[manfred]

Doesn't this warping remind me of something? Yes, Star Trek and beaming. Thus you can insert any number of possible incidents, or at least horrible stories that are whispered about...  (from loosing parts of your body, to getting an evil twin... Evil twins rule!)

Hmmm... Remember one when a character actually met something while beaming. So yes, there could BE something living.


Or, what if someone dies in the warp? Not sure about the local spirit-world, may be a chance for a ghost or something. Or at least for a nice spooky story...

[CaptainPenguin]

The Star Trek episode where the guy encountered the worm-thing in the teleporter? You mean the episode Teleporter Psychosis? That episode was trippy.

Can Zhan-possessed creatures mate? If so, would that make something even stranger?

[MoonHunter]

Transporters take things apart, record their energy patterns, and reassemble that energy at another site.  This is what allows the protien resequencers and replicators to do things.  

Warp is teleporting, simply moving the object to another place by first moving into the warp and popping out a microsecond later somewhere else.  

For a transporter, screwing up the re-intergration, seems possible.  Being beamed into an alternate universe, very possible.  Evil twins, created by adding twice the energy to a pattern beam, kind of cool, but really a bad physics plot contrivance. Things alive in the subspace field, plausable.  It is even worse than normal star trek rubber physics that allow you to be alive and awake in the beam.

For warp/ teleporting. No intergration because nothing is taken apart.  You can't exit warp (teleport) into a space occupied by something else, so no merging into things.  Warping to an alternate universe... yep it is definitely in the campaign directions list. (Can you say Mirror Mirror? Can you? I thought you could.) Evil Twins, maybe someone from the alternate universe warped here by accident.  Since you are only in warp for a nanosecond, something might tag along. Of course, the rules of physics are different here and it should just cease to exist, but who knows...  Gamers like rubber physics.  

Transporter, errrr Warp Psychosis.... hmmm. That has possibilities.

[MoonHunter]

They are analogous virus. They infect other things. Those things replicate the Zhan DNA which create all those funky features the life form takes on. It would take a really long time for the Zhan DNA in a Zhani to finally take over the host... where the zhani would turn to goo creating zhans equal to its mass.  In most cases, the zhani (zhan monster) would die first, just like an animal dies at some point instead of systemically replicating a virus.  Thus stopping the creation of new Zhan on this planet.  

The place where zhan are... must have some odd biological properties.  

Zhani (Zhan infected lifeforms) normally do not breed. They normally do not live long enough (due to dragons and other predators) and the zhan DNA/ infection should kill it all.  If you have two animals of the same species, with the same zhan mutations, they could breed, if the animal lives long enough.  The odds are long, but it could happen.  It is the thing of sagas.  

Hmmm. Do zhan warp by themselves or do they simply take advantage of the weakness in the continuum to zip across in a storm?  They aren't intelligent, so it is probably the latter.  However, these things must have a large number of nerve functions, just like dragons.. so they could sense warp.  

I need to create a list of zhan options and possiblities. The GM would then choose what is correct for their campaign.

[MoonHunter]

Should I generate a meta-campaign or should I lay out a few large plot lines that the GM can pick and choose what they want to do.

Hmmmm.  I think the latter, unless someone has a convincing response.

[manfred]

What is a meta-campaign?

[MoonHunter]

A meta campaign is the overarching story arc that a given GM's campaign is set within. They are conflicts innate to the setting that is shipped with the game. They are sometimes called meta-plots.  


For Example:
Vampire tM: has two: the whole Sabbat Camarilla conflict and the lesser known Characters are just pawns of the Elders.  Your campaign, if it uses the standard setting elements, has these two story lines surrounding it.  

A world war II game would have The conflict of WWII occuring around your campaign. No matter what your

Legend of the Five Rings has the Shadowland's corruption against the Empire and the interclan conflicts

Brave New World (Pinnacle's superhero game) has the conflict between Deltas and The Government.

Star Trek has the conflict between the Federation and the Klingons/ Romulans/ Changelings/ Borg.

These are things you can't escape if you use the setting. You can downplay them, but you have to deal with them because they are part of the setting.

In Kerren, the reason behind Zhan impacts how the campaign can develop in the future.  If Zhan are bioweapons gone amok, or they are part of a plan to soften Kerren up for invasion and eventual terraforming determines what could happen in the future of the campaign.  If Warp allows access to other dimensions besides just ours and where Zhan come from, it opens up new possibilities and new dangers.  These are meta campaign decisions that need to be made, either by me as the designer or by the GM.

[MoonHunter]

Storms (Black/ Yellow/ and Ward Color)
Wing Leader: Drake
Edge: Columbus

The Storms are an "average" wing. They compete well in tournaments, never losing badly, but never winning often. Their Ward is quite large, almost too large for the meger two wings found in their ward. The Storms don't train for tournaments, they are too busy patroling for Zhan to worry about such things.

Drake is a young, inexperienced Ryder who was given the wing by the Warden. Drake's family have always been in charge of the wing. His father had died unexpectedly and Drake was shoved into the job.

Columbus: The oldest Ryder currently flying. He has outlived three mounts. He should of retired ages ago, he has served the last three leaders of this wing and is determined that Drake will make it.

Sky is a new ryder, though older than Drake.  He took Drake's place on the wing, when he was promoted to Wing Leader.  He talks a good talk, but he is really the wing Scooby.  

Davis is a man with great vision. He can spot things his pet bonded Hawk can. He is also the wing Gulliver.  

Little Rock is a basic ryder. His dragon has a penchant for digging and has expanded the warren greatly since it has hatched.  Little Rock's Dragon is the brother of Big Rock's Dragon. (It is rare that there is more than one egg in a birthing.)

Big Rock is a huge saurian of a man.  His dragon is larger than most as well.  The two are quite strong and can fly for longer than any partners in the Ward. There ability to patrol makes up for their slow flight speed and poor turning radius.  Big Rock's Dragon is the brother of Little Rock's Dragon. (It is rare that there is more than one egg in a birthing.)

Chicago is a good ryder, one of the best on the wing. He is a proud man. He dislikes highbloods and any who don't earn their place.  He was passed over for Wing Leader when Drake was promoted.  He is waiting for just the right moment to strike to deal with this little upstart.  

Swans
Wing Leader: Cheyanne
Edge: Bay

The Swans are an all female wing from the prime ward. They have been all female since their inception.  They adopt female ryders from other wards, if they are not assigned to a wing immediately.  

Cheyanne is a woman of sagas, beautiful, smart, spirited, and an acomplished Ryder. No man has yet to catch her interest because he would have to be her equal.

Bay: Bay is a very competent Ryder and Cheyanne's best friend, but not truly good enough to be an Edge.  She achieved the position when Cheyanne took over the wing.  She would die for Cheyanne on a moments notice.  

Sky: This souther ryder is said to be one of the most beautiful woman in the world.  Even the scar she received from a Zhan along her face seems to enhance her appearance.  

WindSong: This ryder has a mini-dragon pet that gets along with its larger cousin.  She is also a gifted singer and musician, like both her mother and father.  

Tacoma: An expert at tournament games, she is not nearly as profficient in the real combat with Zhan.  

Crystal: Crystal has lived a hard and tragic life.  She has lost her family to Zhan. She has lost a loved one to a duel. She has lost two mounts. She herself has been viciously and personally assaulted.  She is introverted and nearly silent now.  One more loss in her life and she will take the Vow.  


FireRock Wing  (Red/Yellow with the Ward color of Black)
Leader: Fyre (a common name in their ward)
Edge: Snow

The FireRock's Ward is near the Wall of Fire, a series of semi-active volcanos on the western continent.  It is a hard land to live in. There always seems to be a new Zhani threatening their lands. Their ward has few resources except dragons and dragonrock (the sodium rich rock that dragons eat to help them breath fire and fly), so the FireRocks are frequently ferrying passangers, goods, or messanges, around the world.  To a man, the FireRocks are wild things.  They also all go by Rydernames (nicknames) rather than their real name.  To them it is a badge of honor. To most people, it is just their way of avoiding owning up to their excesses.

Fyre is a fifth generation Wing Leader. His highborn line has been well recognized in its service to the people of Kerren.  

Snow: Snow is a nickname given to this partial albino female.  Being a "sport" and a female, she has had to work twice as hard to be accepted.  She worked well enough that Fyre's father made her Edge. No one remembers her real name.  

Wing, Thermal, Goggles (who wears glasses when not wearing his special goggles), Dancer, and Boing rounds out the wing.

[MoonHunter]

WingWarden: Clay
Clay came to the ward as a crafter's child. She had the potential of being imprinted.  Her parents gladly apprenticed her to the Wing Warden as a Scale, until such time she became a Ryder.  That was 50 years ago and she has never bonded with a dragon.  She has never regretted the decision of her parents, nor regretting not being choosen.  She has a childless marriage to a wing leader. Once he died, she never remarried.  (Rumor has it that she was once the prettiest girl in the Warren).  Since then every Ryder and Scale became her child. She mothers them all, scolding them when they need it. (It is quite admusing to watch grown men turn into little boys when she wags her fingers at them.)  She is constantly matchmaking her charges to make sure everyone is happy.  

Scale: Joy  
This southern beauty does not live up to her name. She has a haunted look that actually adds to her beauty.  Joy is a highblood from a free cluster and was the child of the Prime.  Hers was a happy and privliged childhood. Unfortunately one hot summer day changed that. One summer thunderstorm rained Zhan on the cluster and the area about it. The Ryders arrived, but a bit late and the number of Zhan was almost unheard of.  As the Huge Zhani Saurian ripped through the cluster wall, human zhani began to take to the streets.   Between the monsters and the Dragon flames there was no cluster and no cluster folk left... except for Joy.  The Ryders took her to the Ward and she has stayed there ever since.  

Scale: Shell
Shell is a warren born young woman.  Her father was a Ryder, her mother the crafter he married.  Both are still alive and active in warren. She is happy, helpful, and painfully cheerful. Not the most pretty scale, she is the nicest.  When she was young, she wanted to be helpful, and after the doctor made it clear that she did not want her help, she began helping the scales and wing warden with their work.  She has been a scale ever since.  She is the next in line to be a wing warden.

Scale: "Wiggles"
Wiggles is a young warren born child, who is growing into an awkward teen.  She has been a scale, like her mother before her, since she was old enough to carry a dragon feed bucket.  Being so bouncy and happy, the dragons named her wiggles and it has stuck ever since.  She may need to move to a new warren to escape her childhood nickname.  

Wing Warden: Seattle
Seattle was a young warren girl who became a scale to get close to a Ryder.  Quite unexpectedly, she found she had a talent for caring for Dragons. She did find her Ryder husband a few years later.  He was skilled and quite dashing.  While he never became wing leader, a few years later she became the wing's warden.  That was twenty happy years ago. Still in love, the two of them look to being happily retired from active duty.

Scale: Zori
Zori is an outlander girl with a unique talent, the ability to "hear" dragons.  With her three Chirper (mini-dragons) pets (imprinted not bonded), she was whisked to the Ward.  While excellent at her job, she constantly struggles with insider and warren ways and the odd way people look at her.  

Scale: Potter
Potter was a crafter teen with the strong potential of being imprinted upon a dragon when he first came to the Ward.  Since there was a shortage of canidates that year, he was brought to the warren.  When he did not bond, he had the choice to return home or stay and try again. He decided to be a scale and try again.  That was five years ago. Potter is now a young man with serious problems. He has had no luck with the ladies, since he is a male scale. If he does not imprint soon, he will be asked to leave the warren.  He is a crafter without a craft or an apprenticeship. He is almost too old to be apprenticed now.  All of these issues have been building up inside of him. Eating away at him more accurately. He is currently curt, sullen, and occasionally rude.  

Scale: Hawk (Her father wanted a boy)
Hawk is a firey and intelligent young woman who is ill suited to the calming demeanor of a scale.  She is a warren born girl who, like many, is looking for a Ryder mate. However, she is more shrew than hawk.

Healer: Pierre
Pierre inherited his healer training from his mother.  He had a great aptitude for healing both body and mind, so his mother encouraged him. (His father had died under a Zhan's fang years before.)  When she died, he stepped into her place.  Despite the occasional snide comments, he has been accepted as the Healer of the Ward and the Cluster below.  Only recently he has begun a friendship with a younger lady.  She is not only a Ryder, she has been promoted to Wing Leader.

[MoonHunter]

I am hoping to read any comments or suggestions about the characters listed above.

I am thinking about creating the world map (on one of the 20 sided/ hex paper maps).  From there, I am planning on only marking two places...Prime Ward and FirstDown.   From there, the GM makes their own map.  

The reason for this is that I think each GM should create their own wards to fit their story.  If I "fill up the world" with the boundries and people, where will the player's Ward be?  

I think I will have a system to define Wards through.  Wards will come in three levels related to their importance to the story: Extras, Minor, and Major.  Each will also have a "size" rating from 1-5(possibly more).  The size times the importance multiplier (x1, x3, x5) determines the number of features the ward will have.  

Extras are just those that are mentioned that might be expanded.  They have one feature per size and the GM can expand them as they are needed.

Minor wards, play a supporting part in the campaign saga.  They can be neighbors, minor competitors, or places that the players will frequently visit.

Majors are important to the saga.  They are The Places involved in the campaign.  


Most features are positive, desribing something notable or important in the Ward.  Others are negative.  These generate extra features for the ward.  

Dragon Wing  Each wing is one trait.  
    A given dragon wing can have a reputation or history +/-

Cluster: Each walled city is one trait. There are possibly Wards and Warrens without a Cluster supporting them, but I would think that is rare.

Villages: A number of Outlander villages.

Farms: The ward has notable farms, productive beyond those normally found around a cluster or village.

Crafter Community: Each community specializes in one craft. So The Ward may be known for its Rice Wine or its Pottery or its Leather work.  These communities are found in a given ward or village.  

Large Warren: A larger Warren allows for more NPCs and Ward support staff than the listed levels

FreeCluster (+/-): There is a free cluster in the Ward.  This can either be a source of extra goods and income (+) OR it can be an independent political pain in the butt who barter meager amounts for the protection of a wing (-)

Population (The ward has a large number of people)

Mine The ward has good metal resources

Territory: The ward has a great deal of land available to it.  This requires more patrols, but is good for additional resources.  

Forrest: Wood resources

Rich Lands

Craggy Lands: The lands in the Ward are less productive than normal lands.  

Large Saurian Population (-1): Lots of Saurians frequent the Ward.  

River: Increases level of food, plus transportation.

Ocean the same as river.  

Swamp

'
Your average Minor Size 2 ward will have

Dragon Wing
Dragon Wing
Dragon Wing
Cluster
Villages
Crafter Community or Farms


Thoughts?

[MoonHunter]

I am creating a listing of adventure/ plot ideas for a Kerren campaign.  With some creative application, it becomes a chart.  The raw types of plot lines are....

Plot Inspiration Summary   
patrolling for storms
Patrolling for Zhan
Call for Zhan Storm
Patrolling for Saurians
Helping another Ward
Hunting Zhan
Hunting Zhani
Hunting Saurian
Transporting people
Transporting goods
Messanger duty
Patrolling the Cluster/ Guards duty
Investigating a crime
Holding Low Justice
Collecting goods for central stores
Distrubing goods from central store
Watching Central Store
Escorting Trader
Tournament- Wing
Tournament- Ward
Tournament- Region
Practice for Tournament
Challenge-
Romantic Interest
Challenge Honor
Challenge- Bet
Gift: needing to get one/
Loss of Romantic
Gain a friend

Conflict between friends
Conflict between Allies
Conflict between opponenets
Conflict between two other groups
    Personal, Economic, Political, Social.

Event: Celebration/ Party
Event: Festival
Event: Festival with tournament

Conflict with a Cluster
Conflict with a village
Conflict with a free Ward
Conflict with another Ward
    Conflict types: Trade, Personal between leaders, Pride (because of crews), or other.  

Defend a location from.. Zhani…
Defending a location from Saurians

Discovery of OldThing (tech or items from colonists)
Hunting for wild dragons
Warren Duty, Clean, Dig, etc
Revenge upon someone because of
Duel-honor
Duel-justice
Duel-romance
Birth in a Warren/ Cluster/ Village
Death in a Warren/ Cluster/ Village
Bonding season
Hatching of a dragon egg

I am creating the over categories now.. it should become a list in the next day or two...

[MoonHunter]

The Colonists must of been part of a movement towards a "simpler life" without the excessive high technology of Terra.  Figure they are a backlash from some technological disaster.  

The colonists come to Kerren with a work together, cooperative, vaugely socialist attitude, rather than a we come, we conquer, we loot, we leave attitude of many colonies (in the 17t-19th century),  This could be related to the political ideas and climate of their times, or could be part of the simpler life movement.

It could of been a religion, a latter day mennanites. All it would take is for the priest to die off early, and the doctor to take over the psuedo religious duties... (or the priest could of been the colonial doctor).  Of course the religion could of been a diffused religion like Buddhism or Confuscionism.  If that was the case, it would explain a bit more.

The original population decided to do without money, so they created a central distribution system with record keeping, like the Feudal Japanese system. It is very efficient. It also allows for external bartering for credit.  

I also see the colonial landrush coinciding with two things... invention of a cheaper star drive, so companies rather than just governments could make them and a crisis of somekind that would make moving off world seem like such a good idea.  Perhaps the cheaper star drive is a one way shot or the fuel is expensive so colonial companies buy just enough... like the wagon trainers bought "just enough" supplies.  

Remember the the survey company was selling data. They sold the data they wanted to sell.  The survey team did a slip shod job, but the survey company sold these people a bill of goods.  

By the way, Dragons can be used as ground mounts.  Since flying with a Ryder is somewhat tiring, only if they are sprinting on the ground, do they get really tired.  Warping takes some fatigue as well, so you have the d20/X number of turns flying plus the fatigue for warping... makes for tired dragons.

Hmmm. If this is the case there are probably "watch towers", waystation that the Ryders have set up to land and rest.  The watchtowers make for convenient jump points, one warp apart (figure 300 miles), and all you need to do is learn the jump points on the route to where you are going... rather than having to memorize dozens of locations.  Towers make for regular routes as well. (That is a strike against them... but we will see).  

So these way stations might build up little colonies... like the restraunts/ gas stations/ tourist traps you find along a long strech of boring highway.  They might be used by ground traders as well.  However, given the large and carnivorous nature of the local fauna, maybe not.  


The River/ sea boats they are using are larger bi and quad hulls with superior sail systems.  These boats are now being developed and are going to be used for the boat racing circuit soon.  

=D  =D
HHHH
=D  =D


Several people has stated a dislike for the name warp.  Shall I just call them Ley or Dragon lines that the dragons move throught?  However, this metaphor does not work well for the fading ability, nor some odd warp abilities of zhan and jumpers.  I am taking suggestions if you have them...

[manfred]

Give it several names.

1. Do they call it the same name if it is not entirely the same thing? Say dragons warp or jump, some monsters fade, Zhan... just pop up during storms.
2. DO they actually know it is the same kind of special effect? If they know, they may have different names for it, just to differ (a proud Ryder would not do the same thing as some dirty zhan, right?). What if they do not know, or are not sure? For all it seems, zhan are somehow created during storms.

[MoonHunter]

I used the term "warp" for three reasons
1) because of the sci fi feel I had for the world.  
2) I wanted it to interact with warp drives when the star people arrived..
3) Warp was the power in my game system that all these effects occur under.

I have been working under the assumption that all this "warping" was possible because of some unique aspects of the Kerren star and planet.  I wanted that to keep the Dragons from leaving the system after the star people get there (if they do). However, This assumption is completely tossable.  

You make a good point. They may all be the same thing, but people would use different terms for different aspects.  (a proud Ryder would not do the same thing as some dirty zhan, right?). So there could be multiple terms for the same exact effect, just for the psychological comfort.  

Actually we could make it a plot line, like the "maybe there is a cure or innoculation" plotline, that would be an investigation finding out that Dragon and Zhan do exactly the same thing.  Maybe the Ryders could warp back to the hell that is the Zhan homeworld.  (Thus the concept of space suits will be revivied from the old records...  

oh oh oh! Then if the star people show up... and in space you have a really far line of site, the dragons rule the spaceways.  [/i]

[manfred]

Dragon's in Space. That would be a name!  
or
Space Dragons!  

[MoonHunter]

That would make it Dragon Star.   No I want Star People to be a suggestion option... A direction to take the campaign after you have established it as a Kerren Science Fantasy Campaign.  You could go fantasy and have dragonoids from a fantasy gate arrive. Apply a plauge. Have a deluge. Do what you want to keep the campaign dramatic.  

You see drama is what it is all about.  The setting is dramatic.  The monsters create a setting of constant physical danger.  The real danger and drama in the world comes from the human conflicts. First the personal ones, between people at the ward. Then you will get into larger conflicts.. intra ward, intrawarden, political... you get the idea.  However, if the conflict gets stale, you can inject a new source of drama.. star people, dragonoids, aliens from under the sea, a new plague, a plague that strikes only dragons, or any number of disasters.  If the game does not have tension, if the gamet does not have the potential for change, if it has no inherent drama, then it become less interesting... potentially boring.  We all know what happens to boring campaigns?  That is right, They end, either mercifully (by the GM) or players begin to vote with their feet.  So every campaign suppliment should always have a section on how to help build and maintain the drama of the campaign setting.  

A few things I need to type about...

a) Greetings should be an arm clasp (if you are familiar with the person) or a bow, (if you don't or they are significantly your social superior).  

b) A wave is always the good bye or get attention.

c) Food has an Asian Feel to it, given rice being the dominant grain.  However, meat seems to be a popular food source for humans as well as dragons.  We should generate some regional cuisines.

d) The funnerary customs are to burn the bodies on a high standing prye.  The local scavangers would to taught the Colonists the futility of burying people.  

e) Marriage is the handfasting I listed before. While it is a contract that lasts X length. If you renew once, it is assumed you will renew forever, there being a bit of shame attached to not renewing.

f) Remember that Kerren Clusters are small towns in very many ways, with large ones being 5000 people.  So think small town... small airforce towns.. with new pilots flying in frequently.

g) In many ways, Feudal Japan is a good way to think of Kerren.  There co-op economic systems, their elite fighters, a lord that rules over most aspects of life in their domain/ ward, and an honor system (more chivalric than bushido), all have echos to Feudal Nippon . However, the change of honor code and the loyalty projected to the Ward, rather than the Lord/ Warden, make all the difference.

h) Clothing:
Male: Breeches and shirts.  An over jacket for nicer occasions.
Most of the men's shirts are of the Cavalry or Russian cut, so the buttons go up the side and across the top of the chest.  

Female: working- Breeches and a variety of tops
          : less active working or off work, skirts, with a variety of tops.
Single piece or nice dresses for nicer occasions.  Souther women tend to wear them all the time.  
     
Boots are the normal wear. They range from low to thigh high, cuffed and non cuffed.  The bugs in Kerren make flats/ slippers for anything other than inside very impractical. (heck even then...) .  Short people wear higher heels, male or female both.

Ryders wear breeches and shirts.  Sometime the pants are leather.  They almost always wear a leather jacket, again with the Cavalry cut.  Many of their jackets and some of their pants are hard leather or with hard leather patches.  This allows it to function as Armor against Zhan.  Some people wear an aviator's cap, of soft leather or hard.  They will frequently have goggles and their wing scarves.  They wear heeled boots as well, to help with their stirrups.   When not on duty, they will wear more normal clothing, but often throw parts of their Ryding uniform in to show off their status.  

The rain gear of choice is a duster, perferably of oiled cloth or soft leather.  Herders tend to wear a distinctive hat (cowboy).
Umbrellas are seen in fair and foul weather, for shade and protection.  
Fans are common for women and men in the South, but only for women in other areas.

[MoonHunter]

I am looking for acceptable ideas for new names.

[MoonHunter]

It is the presence of the honor code that makes Kerren such an interpersonal drama (soap opera).  Everyone follows it, to some degree. Only Ryders are held to it.  

Honesty:
  To self: Since you have to be honest with your self, you find yourself doing and acting on feelings, that other societies would normally suppress (by lying to yourself about their importance)
  To everyone: You are supposed to be honest with everyone, yet we we all know how too much honesty can be a problem.  This rule is often in conflict with Duty and Cooperation

Co-Operation:  Kerren society is built upon the foundation of cooperation.  You are bound to help people in need, to do what you can for the wing/ ward/ cluster/ society as a whole.  You may hate someone's guts, but when the Zhan are falling, you work with them as a full part of your team.   Sometimes people repress honesty to make cooperation possible.  Sometimes your need to do what is best for the group, you have to toss personal loyalty out the window.  

Duty: Every person has a job to do and they should do it, no matter what.  Kerren's cooperative society, everyone does there part. If you have been given a duty, you have to do it... everyone is counting upon you.   Some people see this as a need for excellence, however.. the code implies you just need to do the job well... not better.  

Loyalty: Loyalty to ones's crew, one's "captain", and one's friends  is a very important ideal.  However, it creates the conflict when dealing with duty, cooperation, and honest.  

"Word": This is not technically part of the "code". It is a bi-product.  It is one's reputation.  In a society and as stratified and small as Kerrens, your reputation is how people see you.  Since many of the laws and rules are subjective to the Warden (head of the ward), the ward's opinion of you becomes very important.  that is why when someone is a bit too honest, duels will often errupt to defend one's word.  

Cool little honor system.  In theory, a perfect one.  Like all honor systems, when you take them a bit farther than they were designed, they can create some strange results.


You know. I sort of miss Penguin's meltdown on this thread.  Oh well.  It is probably for the best

[/i]

[MoonHunter]

The entire article is located at   http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/pern/amcc/article.html

The key quotes are I do have to be ruthless with those who want to write--or play in--Pern. Although I allow a fair amount of latitude (there are plenty of directions that don't violate my sense of what is possible, or permissible, on Pern), sometimes the imagination of those fascinated by Pern exceeds the bounds of the common sense that dictates what may, and may not, happen to the Weyrs, Holds, Halls...and, of course, the dragons. so I've occasionally had to police online games, and turn down ideas for MOOs, MUSHes, and IPGs. I have also had to staunchly turn down offers of ideas for stories. My works must be original to me, and I've no lack of ideas of my own to explore.

In short. Pern is hers.  Even if I applied for a license, it still has to be hers.  I totally respect that.  If I had the Pern license, I think I could stay within the spirit, but I would be loathe to think I might stray beyond it.  

Yet, Pern, as a roleplay environment, has some issues that need to be addressed.  If I addressed those issues, I would stray beyond cannon.  Thus, Kerren... a world that has similarities to Pern, yet is very, very different.  That is why not Pern.

[MoonHunter]

Thoughts on it.  

There is no organized religion on Kerren.  Either there were no priests, or the priest died early on and the doctor/ healers took over as the spiritual leaders of the people.  Since they were doing the educating, it was easy.  

The religion is analogous to Confusionism, a self of general beliefs and vauge spirtuality. It is taught as part of their culture, rather than a subject to study unto itself.

All Kerrens have a general beliefs

1) The Honor Code is part of the religion tennents

2) People have to live with harmony in nature, you must respect it.  They had this idea before they colonized here and learned greater respect for nature when they found out "nature" would casually walk through their city walls and rip people apart. (The first Guliver quote: "See, I told you so.")Kerrens do not build damms or change the environment on any scale.  They don't build in flood planes or places where they would be in danger.  After all, the world is dangerous enough... why add more danger to it.  

3) There is a generalized belief in a blance and flow in the universe.  If you are in harmony with the universe, the universe will be in harmony with you.  The universe has a plan that you can't see in the chaos of the details, yet each piece of the plan is important to the whole plan.

4) A Karmic ideal is there.. action have consequences both in this life and the next.

5) Afterlife is returning to the spiritual whole.  You heal and learn from your experience and then come back some day.  

6) Technology is not bad, but it needs to be responsive and appropriate to the world.  

Okay... this is sounding like the Force from StarWars... Maybe they rerleased the first trillogy in 2090...

We know the colonists wanted a simplier life, after some technical disaster on Terra (Some nano-tech probably turned a city in grey goop before contained). there was a "lets live simplier and with less technology" movement.  I am sure there was some charismatic public figure leading this movements.   He did not come along on their ship.  

They arrived with this pioneer idealism... and some basic social ideas (though some of these ideas come from their society in the last 21st century).  These were the foundation of their cultures.

[MoonHunter]

If these people have electricity and radios, why aren't they using them?

Some of it has to do with the excessive nervous structures found in all Kerren animals, but especially in the Dracos (Dragons, Chirpers, Jumpers, Swimmers, etc).  It makes them sensitive to electromagnetic fields.  Longer radio broadcasts and electrical fences would attract animals.. large animals... flying animals...

So. While there can be electric lights, radios, TV, and electric fences, they actually caused more harm and trouble than their advantage.  Now, only Warrens have radios and they are used for short messages. Since Dragons can send a message in a few minutes anywhere in the world (a few dozen jumps) and not attract large critters, radios are used for emergencies or very short messages.