Fantasy Hero Ideas
General Notes
So this is what went through my head when creating the world. There are many typos as these are just my notes for myself.
Creation History - How the world and gods came to be.
Things to consider: Technology Level – This represents general tech. Such as building techniques, metal forging, basically anything non-magical. Need to establish wide spread and specific techs. Travel tech is very important.
Techs and Sciences sure to be included: Up to iron or steel weapons and armor, advanced stone working (such as castles and cathedrals), siege weapons, crossbows, repeating crossbows (might be specific tech), sea fairing.
Steam Tech is out for the most part, with one branch of Dwarfs starting to experiment in it.
Flying ships will be in, but not due to steam power. Instead these will be magical creations. This will be a primary form of travel for cities that can afford it. Of course most commoners can not afford such a thing and these vessels are often targeted by flying creatures such as dragons, wyvrns, and ariel bandits.
Air ships will work due to something called a Wind Stone. These stones, when properly charged, float on air. Once the controls get down, it is possible for them to move entire structures, thus air ships. This being said, air ships cost a lot to make, but have been utilized in some of the most recent wars.
Magic – How common is magic? Is it as common and practical as D&D? I’m thinking to make it slightly rarer and in some ways more powerful. However, spells are not everywhere and in every facet of society. Thinking of using the elemental system, these would be; Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Demonic, Celestial, Decay & Growth. All magic would revolve around these schools with most mages learning two types of magic from a certain school. These would also be the basis of the building blocks of everything in the world. These elements are referred to by those who wield them most of the time as Mana. Many common folk also use this term for it. Mana seems to be limitless which is why many alchemists are interested in harnessing it.
Classes – What “classes” are in the game? So far, it should be pretty basic, with each basic class branching off into other more specific fields. Basics are; wizards, fighters, rogues, priests/clerics. However these really aren’t set in stone. Many warriors for example can learn “fighting techniques” that will allow them some more abilities then just swing and kill. Not sure if I want to do the elemental weapon schools, as this would decrease the usefulness and power of magical elemental weapons. The ability to learn powers from two “classes” should be available and can be very beneficial. However, the character will loose specialization if they opt for this.
Races – What intelligent life is there? Who are the major powers in the world? Is everything typical fantasy? Dwarfs, Halflings, Elves, Humans, Half-Elves, Gnomes, Orcs, Lizard People, Drow, etc. All of these need to be considered.
Governments – What kind are there? What is the most common?
Powers – Who rules? Are there any empires? City States? Kingdoms? What race has the larges empire?
Dragons – Dragons are very powerful and should have something to do with how governments work in the land. But only if dragons are common. If rare, why are they rare? One of the first races? Creation of ancient magic? I defiantly want them to be intelligent and powerful. Will be different types of dragons for sure.
Religion – What are the gods like? Do they interact with people like in Forgotten Realms? How many pantheons are there? What is the nature of these divine beings? Also the rules of demonic and celestial creatures needs to be addressed. Holidays and such.
Planes – What about all those funky planes? Do we want to keep these? If I do, I’d want to make them very, very, very hard to reach.
History – How old is the world? For sure there are empires in the past that use to be very great but have long since then fell to ruin. Need to come up with a name for them, such as First Race, or The Orginanators, but better… Also need a name for the world in general.
Geography – How much of the world is known, or traveled? A forgotten realms sized world seems good. Have several places unexplored or very difficult to reach. Most defiantly have Asian themed culture/cultures. Is the world even “normal” shaped?
Types of Spell Casters
For this I’m thinking of using several different types.
Mages – Run of the mil magic users. They need to study their spells and carry around tomes of magic. Some things like staffs or wands are needed to cast certain higher level spells, and the material of such objects would be a factor. Some of the most powerful magic users. Can manufacture certain magic items.
Gem Masters – Primarily a Dwarfin magic(?). It focuses on the elements in gems to hold and cast spells. While they do not require wands and staffs, the gems must be recharged. Also the cutting of the gems is very important, and eventually runes can be scribed on them for additional affects. Goes well with warriors types due to their ability to augment weapons. Spells are different then most mage spells.
Alchemy – More of a magic tech then anything else. Alchemy allows for a lot of very useful, though often unstable inventions. Is based off an older lost technology. Things such as bombs, augmentation of metals, acids, and experimental engines fall into this category. Is based upon chemical/magic reactions between pure sources of the 8 elements.
Shamans – Basically like mages except they wield primal forms of the same spells. Usually found in more “primitive” cultures. They are masters of transformation spells and can produce fetishes.
Clerics – Holy spell users. They are granted their spells through their gods, and so are unable to learn certain spells, such as anything outside their god’s domain. However, as they level up they are cable of gaining divine powers. Each sect of followers usually has some kind of special ability to choose from, or just one to take.
Notes: I realize that it seems like a lot of magic is being left out. Such as enchanters, divination, necromancy, summoners, druids, and such. However, these will still be in the game, but all spells just have a property coming from one of the eight elements. In this way magic is some what more unified. Instead of being totally different magic, the above spell caster types would be certain schools, whose spells tend to come from one to three elements. Clerics are listed differently due to the divine nature of their way of casting. For example they do not need staffs or wands to casts spells, but can not enchant like mages can. Instead items they use for a long period of time have the ability to become holy. Also they have prayer powers (maybe, not sure yet).
Also I do want golems to be in, and think it might be neat if these serve as work horses of the world. If steam tech was included though, there would be gear like automatons as well as magical ones. This would be a hard mix. The Eberron campaign setting should have some good ideas for this. If magical golems are in the game, from the very start wizards would specialize in this role. I’m thinking that at first they can only create simple things, such as a glove that is actually a golem. However, runes would be important. This might have some cross-over with gem magic. Golem Master would seem like they might be a good class to combine with fighter classes. However they could also be maybe another mage class, allowing them to hurl spells at opponents while the golems fight for them.
Summoning – Summoning is one of the harder magic to do, due to the lost of most teleportation magic. Teleportation magic is very rare, and only a few spells exist that can even mimic it, but are no where near as powerful as the old ones. Teleportation devices are impossible to make, and any attempts have always met in failure, or much worse, summoning in monsters/demons/etc. To teleport one must basically pass through another realm. The old magic was able to navigate the user through the other planes without interacting with anything in that realm save the space in it. Now, this is impossible to do, and results in things coming out, people falling into realms unable to get out, and other such events. That being said, people can get to other realms, although still difficult, and if you want a certain realm it is even harder. Still have to make up realms… When working teleportation circles/doors are found, they are considered to be great treasure.
Types of Magic Items
The most common would be alchemy. Followed most likely by basic magic items. This would be followed by gem magic.
Basically magic items would be summarized something like this:
Enchants (AKA: Magi Items, Enchans, etc.) – These are items made my mages. They work on the idea of imbuing a normal item with magic properties. However to make truly powerful enchants, the mage would have to specialize in it as it requires many skills and certain spells.
Common Enchants include; Amulets, all variety of hand held weapons, armors, clothing, wands, staffs, potions.
Gem Tech – The art of using gems as a channel or focus for magic energies to get certain results. These are not items per say, but the gems are usually installed into normal items. However, not all gems can work with all materials, some can not work together. Magic Gems can be used with Enchants, but it requires a bit of work, and sometimes failure can mean large explosions. There are a few people in the world who are able to work both magic.
Common Gem Tech include; gems that can give armor, gems that give weapons elemental properties (such as a flaming sword, a spear that fires ice shards, arrows that decay organic material, gauntlets that give the strength of stone), the cut of the gem is very important. At higher levels ruins can also be used to channel the natural energies. The stones must be recharged however. Recharge points can be found in many cities, and some alchemists are also able to recharge those (Mana Foci). These are mostly commonly combined with alchemy items, although some Magic Gem techs resent this and find it “impure”.
Alchemy – This is a blend of science and magic. While the concepts and techniques are primarily scientific, it still has to do with magic energies and Mana. It sees a lot more wide spread use though, due to its many practical applications. However, most cities do not like having alchemy labs in their city limits… due to the large explosions and accidents that can result from a failed experiment. So while it can yield great results, trying to do anything new, or in some cases processes already known, can be very time consuming and or dangerous. Many alchemists have a little bit of either mage training or gem tech training. Still unsure of just how alchemy will work though. Most defiantly not like FMA. Am leaning more towards the Iron Kingdoms way. In this way alchemy powered devices are becoming more common in bigger cities. And of course have made their way into warfare as well. NOTE: If steam power is put in the game alchemy will play a role in devices using steam tech. Battle Chasers might be a good reference to use, although a bit too futuristic.
Some Alchemy Item Ideas: Acid bombs, acid arrows, fire arrows, lightening rod arrows, stronger metals, knock out grenades, bombs, ice pellet, floating flames, water mask, etc. Many of the items tend to be for buildings, or so it seems for now anyway.
Shamans – A very primal sort of magic. These would be more along the lines of druids, or wild mages. Perhaps evil ones would be chaos masters. Unsure of that for now though. Spells wouldn’t be as numerous per type (such as fire, water, etc), but would have access to more elements overall. Defiantly want to give them shape changing properties, but maybe not as ridicules as D&D druids. Also thinking of separating them into certain types, such as druids, spirit mediums, & shamans… Not sure about that either. They will also have the ability to create fetishes, which are magical items but more attuned to nature. Fetishes will provide many animal/nature like powers. But there are other types.
Possible Fetishes: Healing Type – Such as salves and potions, War Type – Usually wooden, stone or bone weapons. Infused with the power of a certain animals. Examples might be Wolf Tooth Dagger, Stag Hammer, Crying Eagle Bow, etc. Defense Type – Bark Armor, magic tattoos(?), and enchanted animals skins. Meditation Type – Aid in working with spirits, or at summoning them. Not quite necromancy. Sight Type – One that aid in sight, usually trap like in nature.
Cleric Magic – Is similar to mage type magic but differs in how they control the Mana. Clerics use their faith in their god/gods in order to control the elements of Mana. In this way, they do not need staffs and wands. However, they do need a holy symbol of their god, and must dedicate time to aiding their god’s cause. Treasure hunting 24/7 usually doesn’t qualify. Clerics will be similar to D&D ones in that they eventually get special powers from their gods. They also have the turn un-dead ability. Evil priest will work the same way having the ability instead to raise and control dead. They can not manufacture items like mages, but they can go on quests or ordeals in order to infuse items with the powers of their faith. This can happen in a few ways. The first and most common is the cleric uses an item for a long time, prays with it, and takes care of it, etc, so that it might become an instrument of their god. Eventually, usually after several years, the item will gain some magic power.
Another way is for the cleric to go on a quest. Usually this is only undertaken by higher level clerics. It involves asking their god for guidance, and consulting with elder councils with-in their faith. All beginning ceremonies are slightly different but all at least have the following aspects: Fasting for 3 days, praying for 5 days straight in a row, and marking one’s body with the symbol of their god. The fasting and praying occur together, and the mark is given at the end of the praying. Beyond this, each faith has its own methods. Once the cleric is given the mission he must go out and seek certain items, or perform certain deeds. Chart to come on how to do this.
Potions – Potions are usually made by alchemists. Some of the more basic ones do not require actual spells to make, just certain rare ingredients. However for potions that do require spells to be cast, magic ability is necessary. In this way the following classes can usually make potions; mages, alchemists, & shamans. Clerics can make holy water, but not potions. Gem Mages usually are not able to make potions without some mage training.
Lost Magic – This will be dealt with more in the history section. Basically there are a few types of magic, now around only in the forms of items and tomes of magic beyond understanding. The most commonly known lost relics are; Arms, Paopei, Gear Constructs, Teleport Circles, and of course Artifacts.
Arms - Magical Accessories. These little guys look like forms of jewelry at first, such as chains, rings, necklaces, masks, crowns, etc. However, once put on and activated they will do one of 3 things. Turn into a magic weapon of sorts, summon a monster to fight for the wielder, or give the user some kind of power such as the ability to throw fireballs or in very rare cases teleport.
It is impossible to make Arms anymore, although many keep trying. They are very sought after and almost never sold on an open market. Even the simplest of ones can fetch over 1000 gold.
Paopei - These magic items are from the East, but many have found their ways into the Western lands. They are very powerful magical objects. Some are cable of taking out large numbers of soldiers. They date back from the Sunti Dynasty. All their creation methods however were lost. These are never sold, and are very rare. Many armies use them as an ace in the hole during battles. The most powerful ones make even gods become edgy.
Teleport Circles - These are left over from the lost civilization that mastered magic long ago. They allow teleportation among a network of other circles. They are very useful and sought after even though they can not be moved and sometimes teleport to undesired locations(such as into a dragon’s lair).
Artifacts - Items of extreme power. Many are holy, but not all are. These items are very similar to ones in D&D. As in only one exists and is a help, but can bring about much blight as well. Again, very rare.
Religion
Races
Intelligent Humanoid Races: Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Halflings (hobbits), Kreekl (lizard people), Gnomes, Goblins (not quite as stupid as warhammer or D&D ones, but more along the lines of Warcraft), Orcs, Tengu, Fezti (cat people), Lunwas (aquatic race somewhat similar to elves, but much shorter)
More primitive races but still posses intellect: Trolls, Ogres, Vozgo (lizard people), giants, Keenits (sea dwellers), Uanwos (gorilla like race).
Non-Humanoid high races: Snake People, Dragons, Numna (quartrapid intelligent life form, somewhat resembling a dog/yeti).
Other races: Shalldans (crab people, very aggressive)
New Races: Tengu, Fezti, Lunwas, Kreekl, Vozgo, Keenits, Uanwos, Numnas, Shalldans.
Monsters to put in the universe: This is a hard thing to choose, because I want to avoid too much high fantasy. I don’t want there to be 800 billion types of monsters to slay with no interaction between the life forms. However, I do want the wild uncharted areas to be quite dangerous. But why are there so many monsters? Where did they come from? Some of this has to do with the lost magic of teleportation. That being said, the following monsters will be included for sure.
