Date & Time (ET): 2023-12-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

Agenda

• Review the campaign tone and pitch
• Review group expectations (mic etiquette, attendance, ...)
• Review scheduling
• Establish lines and veils
• Play worldbuilding session
• Time permitting, choose fellowship
• Time permitting, review character creation
• Discuss options for next session (if not already decided)
• Homework 😇

Summary

As the Fellowship makes landfall after a taxing journey at sea, our story picks up next time in Port Kesh...

Notes

• There are at least two major historical events that have shaped the condition of the present world.
  • The Apotheosis of the Second Suns was a continental-scale rebellion against the exploitation and suppression of deva. Both the rebellion itself and the stories that are told of it were warped, gradually becoming a tale of a true faith triumphing over false gods.
    • The current calendar reflects the influence of the Apotheosis - in addition to the six months named after the Celestial Bodies, a seventh month was added to honor the most prominent new god, Apahida/Preservation, whose ongoing worship is organized by The Gilded.
  • The Collapse is a little-understood apocalyptic event. Evidence from architecture and language suggests that there was once a global culture that was fragmented by internal or external events, destroying knowledge and splintering the world into more isolated communities.
    • The calendar is not exact, but is divided generally into pre- and post-Collapse periods.
• There are local spirits that represent and influence concepts of Aa'an. These spirits are called deva. They were an integral part of their ecosystems. Their presence in the world declined on average in connection with the Apotheosis, but a few deva gained great prominence, even to the point of becoming something else (gods?) entirely, while others were destroyed or forced into hiding.
  • Following the Apotheosis, surviving deva have become more reclusive and secretive, though this varies by region and personality.
• There are ancient ruins scattered across the land, incorporating strange and lost materials like starmetal. These sites are contested - some consider them sites of religious or historical importance, some live in them, some believe them to be haunted or dangerous.
• Formal pre-Collapse language was primarily ideographic, with phonetic language used only by merchants and bards, from whom most surviving (translatable) records descend.
  • Modern language descends from these older tongues, but cross-cultural communication suffers from increasing linguistic drift.
• There are havens along the paths between places where travelers rest, recover, and socialize. This is one of the few elements of the pre-Collapse culture that persists. In these havens, all are considered equal.
• Travel and communication are difficult and dangerous, especially over long distances.
  • Biomes are varied and end abruptly between the physical demesnes of different deva. Geoglyphs and mystical transportation devices remain across the land as ruins of the pre-Collapse culture.
  • Overland caravans are primarily driven by dragon oxen, a more mild-mannered but still hardy descendant of wyrms.
  • The messenger drakes that pre-Collapse civilization relied upon have mostly died out, and only the wealthy or powerful have access to them.
• There are many types of magic.
  • The Triumvirate is the most centralized magical authority in Aa'an. They take away children born under the three full moons of the new year and induct them into the ways of "true magic". Others aren’t offered training, regardless of social standing. This is generally viewed as a great honor, but is not voluntary - some hide their children.
  • Druids and hedge mages draw their power from the deva or the land itself. Their particular abilities are influenced heavily by their current environment and the spirits therein.
  • Petty mages depend primarily on practical experience and empiricism; they learn magic through practice and tend to zealously guard their secrets, passing them on only to worthy apprentices.
  • Weavers have a natural magical gift expressed through other arts, tending toward interpersonal magics that bolster or depress the emotions or even the bodies of others.
  • Almost anyone can perform junk magic with the help of rare reagents like starbark, but such actions have a reputation for being karmically cursed (think monkey's paw) - though this is probably just the result of inexperienced practitioners overreaching.
  • Of course, these distinctions are more social than anything, and there are countless sub-categories and internecine conflicts between practitioners...
• The world used to push back against destructive uses of magic, but more and more, this is a disregarded taboo.
• There are at least three major ongoing changes facing the world right now.
  • All magic is in decline. This is known to practitioners, but perhaps not the average person. Spells are less potent or require more effort; natural magical effects are faded. Many practitioners who are aware of this feel the need to hide it from the general public.
  • The world is expanding and shifting, not incrementally but in fits and starts at different places and different times. Old maps are less and less accurate. Travel times are unpredictable.
  • The geography of civilization is shifting, as a result of a sharp decline in natural food production and the need to invent agriculture. These changes are asymmetrical; some regions fared better than others, and wealthier cities were able to buy what they needed without committing to any large-scale changes for a long time.

Homework

For up to 6XP total before the game begins, any combination of items on these lists (as a blanket rule, no AI-generated stuff please).

Don't go overboard here - there's a reason I'm capping the XP. You want a good foundation for your character, but at the same time you should leave room for them to develop through play. Just because you don't define your PC's favorite food or archrival now doesn't mean they don't have one, just that it's something we'll find out in play.

1XP each:

• Read the rules. Honor system. This should be a freebie for everyone! (🙏)
  • Chapters 1 and 2 in full.
  • Parts of Chapter 3 (Protagonist Creation, 106-119) and 5 (Universal Moves, 182-203; skim the remainder until you find a class you like and read that in full).
  • 4 & 6 are optional. I don't think you'll gain a lot from reading them, but you're free to.
  • For your own pacing purposes: 19 pages from Chapter 1 + 57 pages from Chapter 2 + 13 pages from Chapter 3 + 22 pages from beginning of Chapter 5 + about 8 pages of a class playbook from Chapter 5 = 119 pages. Easy enough to do in one sitting, but don't try to cram it in an hour before the session. The rules aren't complicated, but at the same time this is not a game that works well with "winging it" from a scant understanding of the book.
• Make a character portrait. Character builders are fun, but if you're more artistic than I am, please show off for us. Add it to your character sheet, and add a verbal description as well in the cell notes.
• Tell a short story (paragraph or two) about how your character joined the Fellowship or another formative event (perhaps related to their Issue or Doubt) in their lives. Any format you like. Do they remember this event warmly, or is it a source of shame, embarrassment, or bitterness?
• Tell about (paragraph or two) or sketch something important to your character's culture - a myth, a belief, a place, a unique food... How does your character feel about it? Do they share these elements of their culture freely, or hold them close?
• Find and share a theme song for your character (and/or make a short playlist). Why this (/these) song(s)? Is it reflective of how your character sees themselves or how the camera frames them?
• Based on our shared palette, send me a download of an ambient or instrumental album or two that would make good background music for the campaign. Which paints from our palette does this evoke?

2XP each:

• Complete a 3x3. Name, Blood, Kin, and 2-3 sentences max about each NPC (personality, job, social position, relation to PC, appearance, something else - whatever you think is most relevant about them to your PC). Here's a template you can copy.
  • It's a fair bit of work, but these really shine when multiple players do them and NPCs can be combined. Nothing like having a rival who's a close friend of another PC...
• Describe a city in the world (or a piece of a city) that your character has lived in or visited; tell us where it is and what makes it special. This can be visual (drawing, mapping tool, a procedural city generator like this, or a game like Bottled Cities) or verbal (freeform, or play through Alone in the Ancient City, Tavern at the End of the World, or something similar).
  • What perspective are you writing from? Is this a merchant's guide? A traveler's journal? A report given to a ruler or steward? A disinterested observer's thoughts? Or just your character's memories?
• Make an organization (outside the Fellowship) with some importance or existing relationship to your character. Is this a positive or negative relationship? Why? What does the organization do? Where does it operate? What are its goals? Who are its members?
  • Where did your character get this information? A leader? A member? An enemy? A gossip passing along rumors? Or direct experience?
• Make a mythical or important NPC, and tell us what rumors your character has heard of them. This can be a drawing with a brief description, or totally verbal (play through The Magus, Anamnesis, Hedge Witch, As My Body Crumbles, or something similar).
  • Are they renowned? Notorious? Both? Are they alive today, or is this a myth passed down over the ages? Why does your character consider them important?

Share whatever you do in the creations channel!