>>52746652
From the last thread; WISE (Warrens Initiative for Scientific Enlightenment) is the Cartography Guild's name

Wow, its neat to see several of my submissions get lucky. Rerolling for House Clarion, since that was my first submission for factions.

>>52746652
Some kind of artisan/smith guild maybe? If my head everyone uses mostly stone tools and weapons, so maybe they work in stone instead of metal. Stonesmiths?

>>52746670
I think WISE was a separate thing from the Cartographers. The poster just did his suggestion and the reroll at the same time.

Rerolling for the Medical Corps

>>52746714
Ah. Any confirmation by the poster? And if so we still got a potentially nameless Cartography Guild

How about the Court of Vagrants. A conglomerate of downtrodden, drifters and outcasts who have banded together in the dark.

>>52746714
I think its because WISE missed the the get by one like 4 times. Semmed with that many close ones that it was only fair to include em. We still have 5 factions to get if we make WISE seperate from the cartography guild. Guess we will have to wait on that anon to decide on wether they are the same or seperate. Also, reroll for the court of vagrants. Its like a king of thieves situation i think, whxih im down for.

>>52746726
I was reading and I thought warrens folly was the name of the city maze thing and Wise was ther surface dwellers i could be wrong but it would make sense him leading the expedition down as the leader of the company

>>52746722

>The 731st Combat Medic Regiment
A faction of dark doctors. They use horrendously twisted and painful methods to heal people, which does keep them alive but often deforms them. They possess the ability to cure normally permanent conditions such as the Dreamcrawlers and can even turn Wisps back into people (provided they haven't been a Wisp for too long), but their methods are tremendously painful, boast a high failure rate, and usually leaves the "cured" ugly of face and resembling the guy that the Count tortured from Berserk. They often ruthlessly experiment on regular people to try and figure out new methods.

This one?

>>52746652
So this is the thread maker and guy who has been telling you all what to roll for. Gonna go to sleep but I'll keep this thread on over night along with the other one. If you want to add something to the setting, you know what to roll. Night yall, I'll try to make a thread tomorrow

>>52746726
I posted the cartography guild and I only said it should be called WISE is because somebody replied asking if it could be called WISE. So yeah, ask the WISE poster if he's ok with it.

>>52746769
Im the one who made the acronym for it, and im down for it being the name of the guild.

So... the magic is based around items and rituals more than spells, if I'm getting it correct.

>>52746652
> 3 more factions to go. As usual 8's decides who's in
Underworld Express (placeholder name): Originally a premium courier organization that made its name by employing the best and brightest and providing its agents with the best equipment money could buy, UE has grown into its own corporate state; the area that once served as its headquarters is now fully controlled by UE, as are several lesser areas. UE has funded many expeditions into unknown areas, and they are often at odds with the Cartographers Guild, as UE tries to keep all of its expedition material secret, partially to maintain a monopoly on the best routes through the underground, and partially to keep any powerful artifacts or arcana hidden from public view. Rumor has it the upper management is controlled by some sort of powerful malevolent entity, although none can agree on what it is or what it is planning.

>>52746783
Seems to be that way, I imagine that diffrent magic users would be using diffremt ranges of items.
(Reroll for the Bell Company of last thead)

>>52746769
Origional WISE concept guy here. I didn't come up with the name, though, so I'll leave that up to a vote. I think it would probably be a good fit for the guild name, but I'd hate to lose my faction.

I was originally thinking of a more exclusionary sect of researchers (stealing inspiration from Brotherhood of Steel), but if it lives on as the cartography guild, I'd be okay with that.

>>52746798
We got a winner, and a neat one at that. Corprate intrigue in the depths.

>>52746652
>Faction: Keepers of the Kilns

An outwardly benevolent faction of craftsmen, the Kilnsmen maintain the art of crafting stones - and the rare metals - into usable forms. They have gained their name from the inexplicable stone kilns with which they artifice. While nobody has a working record of where the first kiln(s?) came from, the Keepers have discovered how to craft new ones. No kiln is the same - some take the form of gigantic stone hammers; some are shields; some are simply large furnace-like structures. Each kiln has its own keeper, an individual drawn to it by some unknown force.

Kilnsmen sometimes find individuals which they will apprentice. These individuals sometimes inherit the kiln of the master and sometimes craft their own; whatever variable decides this is unknown.

Kilnsmen will dedicate their services to others for charity or for pay, depending on the individual. People may gather around a kilnsman who has an immobile kiln and form a settlement or hamlet, or the kilnsman may be a homeless nomad who takes his only possessions with him wherever he goes. One thing is certain: the kilnsmen all know each other upon first sight, and the kilnsmen must continue to craft - everything else varies from Keeper to Keeper.

>>52746805
Acronym here, I place my vote for a seperate faction. Perhaps the R&D were the first down here with Warren himself and the guild followed quickly after, either a competitior that got beaten to the punch, a splinter group that made it big or some other thing.

>>52746805
Same guy here.
The Underworld Courier's do my idea better. I vote WISE as the cartography guild.

>>52746805
Fuck no dude. Your idea is way better than mine, and it is actually your idea, most importantly. Keep WISE as what you intended it to be, I think the Cartographers Guild should be a seperate entity maybe funded by WISE

>>52746809
Awesome! Glad my faction got in. I'm going to be gone for a few hours so you guys all feel free to do whatever you want with the idea in the meantime.

The UER or underground exploration Regiment works closly with the cartogrophy faction in search of mineral deposits and new caverns but they arent to be messed with they have muscle to deal with any creatures or people who mess with their miners

>>52746652
>human and slugman, and that's it
That one fucking anon who said only humans ruined all the other choices for everyone else.

>>52746862
There should also be some kind of conflict. Like the new tunnels don't have buildings in them, only barren dirt and minerals. The population is running out of living space, and WISE has offered a large sum to any Cartographer who can find a new section of the cave with buildings in it.

>>52746887
Semi-mutated subspecies of humans would be a good compromise.

Maybe slug people, lizard people, rat people [etc.] with normal humans being either new or 'pure'.

>>52746888
And with the 8 get it looks like we have a potential plot hook and ongoing world conflict.

>>52746815
Darn, what's the policy on rerolls? Not allowed?

>>52746943
Rerolls are almost encouraged. I like them, it means the more resolve something gets, the more support or votes it gets.

>>52746888
Just spitballing here:

WISE is the futher development of Warren's origional expidition, and is a large central system of research and development. The Underworld Express is a quickly rising faction which threatens WISE, and the Cartography Guild is their response to it, which acts as a separate subgroup.

Rerolling for last threads Whisp worshiping commune

>>52746977
Seconding

>>52746815
Well, with that in mind, I'll do one self-reroll again!

Rolling for dubs
Monster:
Grim Hunter
Grim Hunters are predominantly evil individuals who got lost in the labyrinths.
To avoid madness, as a last act of will they made a pact with the dark gods to hunt every living creature they come across and tribute it for their glory in exchange with the magical heightening of the senses and life draining powers.
To successfully become a grim hunter, an individual has to cleanly cut off his own head as a rite of passage to darkness. If the rite is successfull, he will keep being sentient and the head will act as a catalyst for his soul.
Grim hunters are terrible opponents as they are monsters completely void of compassion that need to have their head destroyed to be completely removed from existence.

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>>52746909
How about this as an idea?

Fat Men, people who eat too much unpurified meat become corpulent and massive. They have a constant hunger. The hunger is not so great that they would consume another man, but Fat Men have an irrational fear of starvation and consume things greedily. Stat wise they'd have increased strength and durability, but their duress rapidly gets worse if they haven't eaten recently and are slower than normal.

Just a summary of suggestions that have not been picked up yet:

Medical regiment - twisted old army medics
Fallen Noble House of misterious wealth
Ravagers - basic insane tribal humans
Radiant March - religious crusaders
Cabal Institute - university research conglomerate
WISE - surface R&D gone rogue
Bell Merchant guild
Blight fungus worshippers
Shadowy crime family
Kiln-Keepers
Kangaroo Court exterminators
Whisp-worshipping sacrificial cult

And probably some others that I missed

>>52746977
>>52747044
Dubs confirmed. Does that count for anything?
Are retroactive edits a thing? Human variants sounds like a good idea.

>>52747048
I dig it, and it's solidly rooted in our existing lore.

>>52747050
Reroll for the Noble house, Bell and Radiant March

>>52746909
Lets try for more than just scalies and furries
We already have mushroom worshipers. What about Fungus people?

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>>52747093
Thanks dude. Here's another suggestion for a faction:

The Numerators

An order of mathematicians who meticulously calculate taxes, food reserves, population, and all other important statistics of the people and record it. They keep the Warrens operating at very high efficiency due to their skill with numbers preventing much waste, though they don't record much data from the outer regions (as they reside in the better-off areas) and usually do not realize the plight of many people.

>>52747132
If literally Fat People can be a race, why not Fungi?

>>52747146
So, for suggested 'races' we have:
>Pure humans
>Slug people
>Fat-Men
>Beast-traits
>Mushroom men

I'll pick this up in the morning and see if it has any support.

Last reroll of the night for
Radiant March
Noble House
Whisp Ville

>>52747200
Ill give it my support.

Reroll for Radiant March

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>>52747200
Gonna keep dumping faction ideas

The Cave Runners

A group of people who serve as couriers, using enchanted boots to make them run rapidly. They have very dangerous lives, as they often have to run through dangerous areas infested with enemies to deliver messages between settlements. Even the ones who aren't squashed or killed don't stay normal for long as the enchanted boots steadily drain them into skeletons. They have an incredible fear of Wisps as the running leaves them exhausted, and are known to viciously attack any Wisps they see, regardless of how exhausted they are.

Reroll for Nobles and Medics, we need to move ontp other topics. Perhaps we should incorperate a policy where if we go long enough without a selection of something, an idea with several near misses can take the spot. Yay or nay?

>>52747332
Yes, I think WISE and the medics and nobles should just be accepted.
>>52747234
I think there's already a similar faction

>>52747348
Yeah, so far from what ive seen of the last thread and this one, the Medics and the Nobles we're the runners up with 4 or so near gets each. I say we mark them down as the included factions and move onto some locations around the city and in the maze. 8s get.

>>52747410
Wow, people liked my shameless insert of Unit 731 into the setting?

I'm surprised.

Rolling for The Dead Brigade. In my mind it's a sort of nihilistic mercenary corps, maybe with a religious undertone. Sort of an edgelord version of the Doomguard from Forgotten Realms. Dunno if undead are in or not, but it wouldn't be a poor fit for their puppetmasters or whatever to be undead or similar.

>>52747146
Re-rolling my Numerator idea.

>>52747439
I was more partial to the Radiant March(reroll) myself but yours is a workable idea. Some old army regiment sets up shop for whatever reasons, probably locking horns with the established powers and poses itself as a force for healing and good while really just being a front for understanding the many maladies and afflictions down in the maze. Its workable and creates tension between the Cartography Guild, WISE, The Ministry and now the Regiment and House Clarion i believe they were called. Other factions can probably be picked for minor factions and roles but so far we have the primary players down here.

>>52747533

Nice get, but also, need to branch out on the math angle. A bunch of statisticians will be one-dimensional (see Num3ers). Now, turn that into a power struggle between the forces of the Grand High Algebraist and the Analysts, and that's some high adventure.

I think the classes announced so far were a bet advanced and probably shouldn't be basic level classes. The warlocks who use rituals to grant powers with some side effects and possible musketeers are more basic.

>>52747625
I think it's trying to imply basic level classes don't last long out in the caves.

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>>52746652
rolling for a race thats just the thumbs from spy kids

>>52747663
they became that way for being too greedy and stealing?

>>52747663

Once a race of men, they were cursed when their High Priest fumbled a ceremonial chalice, releasing the divine-tainted liquid which would spawn the mushroom men, dooming the Folley. To this day, being called "all thumbs" is a dire insult.

Alright, well im going to bed. Hopefully some good suggestions for locations crop pu over night. See you guys later.

>>52747642
A skilled shot adept with a blade could be just as effective as an enchanted juggernaut

>>52746652
>Blind Barony

>A vicious and depraved noble of old descended into bloodlust and sacrifice. Some claim the Blind Baron is a vampire, some claim he is a ghoul, and others claim that it is simply the title that each generation of rulers takes to instill fear in others. The truth? Some combination thereof - the first Blind Baron was naught but a man, twisted beyond recognition by blood rituals and cruelty. The current Blind Baron, whether it is the same man or not, is rarely seen.

>The Blind Baron, and his Barony, are called as such because the Baron mandates that no light not naturally occurring within the caverns be lit. Those whom serve the Blind Baron are gifted with preternatural senses in the dark; many think that the Baron himself can see in the dark better than a man could in bright light. Those found guilty of breaking this law have their eyes gouged out.

>Emissaries or agents of the Barony go out into the world with their eyes covered by leather or cloth strips. They trade strange artefacts and rare parts of creatures for necessities forged in flame. Despite being ominous and oppressive in their own lands, the Barony's people are not overtly hostile.

>>52747625
>>52747642
I agree that they did seem a little specific, which could be annoying. Say, what if you wanted to be a wizard or warrior who didn't draw their power from the Blight or Enchantments, respectively? It feels a little limiting

Here's an idea for a faction.

Cult of the Feast.

Cultists who believe that the Hunger is in fact a god imprisoned in the city. Mercifully, they don't feed people to the Hunger. Instead, they study ways to free what they believe is a god from its hunger, freeing not just a god but also the countless souls trapped in the Hunger. Possibly the inventors of the spell that can temporarily halt the Hunger.

>>52748962

> The Feast sates the Hunger.
> The Fires keep the Feast.
> The Family tends the Fires.
> The Hunger will be free.
> The Feast is eternal.

>>52748870
What if instead of hard classes, our current three were more like perks/feat. A close quarters fighter might take Wandering Warrior for some powerful buffs, but doesn't have to. A mage could dabble with the Blight, but doesn't have to. If we had a few big feats like this, plus a bunch of smaller ones, you could probably just make a class from two or three feats.

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The further you go into the cave, the more nonsensical the environment gets. Eventually it becomes an M.C. Escher reality defying thing. This is because in the distant past, a cosmic beyond from beyond reality tried to enter this reality but got stuck in the subspace hole. The inhabitants of the city either fled or were driven insane and died. It is said that the half of the Eldritch being that came into our world is still stuck there in the center of the city although no one has really gotten there yet and made it out sane (or alive).

Also I'll add that many great magicians buried the city underground to stop the unspeakable horrors from escaping and over time people forgot about the Buried City. That is until the king of the realm sent you and the other unlucky death row prisoners to map it out.

>>52749041
The world outside the Buried City is very much like your average fantasy world with demons and a hero and all that generic stuff, but no one knows about the terrible secret buried beneath their feet and that the player characters are the ones fighting the true horrors.

>>52748962
Rerolling.

>>52749041
While I like the idea that the caves get progressively more fucked the farther you get from Warren's Gate, I don't think it should ever completely break with reality.

>>52746652
Can someone give a quick recap of the horrors?

>>52749041
>>52749051
Reroll these two

>>52747480

Reroll.

>>52749075
I like the idea of spooky eldritch shit, but I think it has to be, in some way, mappable for our cartographers. Sections that constantly shift is a novelty, if the entire maze constantly changes our setting is boring and makes no sense.

>>52749831

Maybe that's how the Cartographers select their members. Maybe they're born with a very limited sort of precognition or "wayfinding" or whatever, like a baby version of a navigator in Dune.

>>52749051
The outside world is probably more mundane. We only have humans (and their cave-changed decendants), and magic only exists as rituals from deep within the Folly. The fact that people are compelled to explore this place implies that the surface is somewhat boring by comparison.

>>52749831
The caves/maze gets more twisted (in more than one way) the further you go, but the main issue is the insanity that exploration of the Folly brings, not the geography itself. Cartographers are brave (or desperate) explorers who hope themselves able to resist falling into madness or being consumed by the horrors within.

>>52749852
Either that, or the surface is a shithole so awful that it makes a life in the Folly seem worth it in relation.

Horror idea. The Servitors. Autonomous and seemingly without a will of their own, these enigmatic automatons tend to Warren's Folley and takes good and gentle care of the buildings. Unlike all of the other horrors, the Servitors are docile and will not attack unless you provoke them by attacking them or purposefully harming the structure. If there's sufficient damage inflicted to the city in a short span of time, all Servitors within proximity will fly into a berserker rage and begin attacking everyone and everything within range in an effort to stop the vandalization, calming down only when they're certain that all threats to the city are taken care of. Corpse Giant duels are certain to incite Servitor Berserk.

Rolling for combining the Medics with the Radiant march.
This would leave us with:
>Underworld Express
>WISE
>The cartographers guild
>Radiant March (which functions more like the Medical Corps after a while)
>House Clarion

I think the guild should be a subgroup under WISE, and that we should add one more faction which embraces the weird shit of the underground.

>>52749053
>>52750063

Rerolling Dead Brigade for the weird one.

>>52750015
Rerolling.

>>52749852
Why should there BE a surface at all?

>>52749852
I thought we agreed that the PCs are death row criminals being forced to map the Buried City in exchange for a pardon should they survive.

Let's get some locations, cities, villages, and unique areas. We'll try for 6 places, confirmed by 8's.

How about a horror with blood that, if it gets in contact with someone's skin, digs through the skin and makes their flesh incubate tiny "fleshlings" that will viciously dig out after one minute?

If it's a few drops of blood, the pain from the spawning is bad but no worse than being stabbed with a dagger. If it's a rain of blood, it will make the victim want to die if they don't receive treatment against the incubation immediately.

>>52751406
A library that keeps track (or at least attempts to) of the weird supernatural bullshit and abominations that lurk the Buried City. It also keeps a stash of books recovered from the Buried City, but it's generally a terrible idea to read these books.

>>52751479
Damn, off by one. Rerolling.

>>52751509
Are you serious. Rerolling.

>>52751406
Gloomfungus Village, an underground village that produce and harvest edible glowing fungi for cave wanderers, especially Cartographers. The fungi has an unusual property that helps regenerate people from wounds. Eating too much of the fungi in one day will cause physical mutations however, with local Old Man Conrad (also known as "Shroom Addict") being proof ot hat.

The Shanties
A massive sprawl of shoddy, twisted wooden structures. Signs are abound of former inhabitants but no one could possibly actually live this far from Warrens Gate, could they?

The Stygian Lake and Its Forsaken Fleet. One of the layers of the maze is occupiednby a huge, dark lake. As one looks into the water they could swwar that their reflections is just a little bit slow. The lake is filled with the remains of other vessels but how they got down here is anyones guess. They all seem to belong to some kingom that no on has ever heard of before.

>>52746652

Sounds badass, does anyone have a link to the last thread? This sounds worthy of archival.

>>52751406
The Titan's Demesne. It is nothing more than a massive wasteland of ruined buildings scattered across it, heavy chunks littering the streets and roof tops. It wasn't always like this, and only became a wasteland when four Corpse Giants engaged in combat with each other.

>>52752219
Here you go >>52742826

The Tower of the Grey symphomy
One of the first few permenant landmarks outside the settled region of Warrens Folly. A large, building of between 50-80 stories. This tower has seen a great deal of history involving the Cartogriphers and bears the scars of the battles between our damned adventurers and the Horrors below. As one enters the building they can hear the distant sound of music above, they feel compelled to go up the tower to find the origin. No one has yet ever gotten to the top, both due to mounting resistance from the towers denizens and from the fact that the tower seems to gain and lose floors at random. Thia obviously makes exploration difficult.

>>52747663

Neat, reroll.

>>52752249
Rerolling with some extra flavor.

>The victorious Corpse Giant has, as a result of the assimilation, become a super giant
>It's thus named the Corpse Titan, master of its Demesne

>>52752105
Reroll for Shanty town.

>>52748962
>>52749007

Reroll for interesting cult.

>>52752298
>>52752308
Looks like we have our first 2 locations.

>>52749955

I like this, fits the horror theme like a glove.

>>52752161
Reroll for spooky lake fun.

>>52752348
And thats our 3rd location. We are jut blowing through these.

>>52750707
I think the surface should be mundane, so people are compelled to explore this new magical realm, but the Folly is so dangerous that they only send criminals and those foolish enough to volunteer.

>>52752316
Reroll

>>52748962
>>52749007
Let's add more to this idea.

The feast is a special project that the cult hopes will be so grand and delicious that the Hunger will be sated by it. To accomplish this, they task Cartographers with securing certain specimen from the city to add to the feast as ingredients.

They doubt that special ingredients will be enough however, so they wish to find rituals and more to improve the feast, even if it would render them insane. They also, through unknown means, keep several master chefs prisoner in their dungeons in the event they need them.

They don't want to use human resources as ingredient if they can help it. They won't hesitate to do it if it turns out that human sacrifices are needed however.

And of course, rolling for cult.

The Cloth Garden
Located outside of a ruined manor lies a truly extensive Garden, full to the brim of terrifyingly beautiful sculptures and a great many flower beds. The most obvious feature of the garden are the lines of cloth throughout. despite efforts to clear it, the cloth always returns. No sound travels far through the garden yet a gentle breeze is alqays blowing. Be careful, Map-Maker, twisted things flit between those damnedly pure white sheets.

>>52752596
Reroll, and reroll for dead brigade.

>>52752298
>>52752308
>>52752348
>>52752668
Our four locations so far.

Is something on my browser broken? Am I retarded? I'm not seeing any of these rolls we're making.

>>52752938
We arent rolling, we are going off the last number of the post

>>52752938
>>52752957

I'm not sure what the currently winning digit is, but I think it's 8, so yeah, you're retarded in the context of the Folley.

So far we need one more location. I guess ill throw my hat into the ring.
The curio shop, a strange store located on the very edge of the inhabited city. It caters mainly to the Cartogrophers and sells artifacts to thw various factions recovered from down below. It also in connected to a seemingly endless warehouse below it. Many have entered that warehouse to recover some reinket but few have ever returned. The owner is an enigma himself. Wrapped head to toe in bandages, none have seen his face. His apparent affliction has not diminished is enthusiastic, if eerie demanor.

The House of Whispers
There are rumors of a massive mansion that seems to disappear or reappear at random. It's pristine condition and aesthetic so mundane compared to everything else in the city it fills most with an uncomfortable feeling. The large building lies completely devoid of furniture, doors and windows, holes in the wall taking their place. The only thing that can be found is fireplace, always burning, as if tended to by some unseen hand. No creatures seem to enter this building other than humans, and those who do supposedly are filled with dread and a desire to leave as soon as they enter. The closest someone was able to come to explaining where this sensation came from was simply "There were whispers."

>>52752847

The Unplottable Zone

> Whispers among the other Cartographers have brought to your ear a rumor of a paradox which makes your head hazy just to imagine.
> The location (or, perhaps more accurately unlocation) is apparently of great interest to the Elder Scribes.
> It is unclear where it is, or even if "where" is a place it can be, or how it might be distinguished from any other one of the shifting and unknowable passages in the Folley.
> Where the Cartographers' sight has failed, perhaps you will triumph.

>>52753307

So close, ugh. Reroll with hope.

>>52753049
rerooll

>>52751406
The Crossroads
Places where the boundaries between the realm of the cosmic horrors and our reality are weakened and our worlds overlap. They happen randomly throughout the Buried City and move around. Incredibly dangerous because of the creatures and horrors that live in The Crossroads.

>>52753216
re-rolling

>>52753366
Reroll

Also rerolling these
>>52749041
>>52749051
>>52749852
>>52750707

>>52753440
Reroll

>>52753471
reroll

The Slaughterhouse

A sentient building with two sections.

The first section, the serving room, is a room where it serves plates of food to visitors. There is no telling what the food is and or will do, as it's random. It could be edible, it could be disgusting, it could be lethal or it could make you go mad. The Slaughterhouse refuses to let you go until you finish eating. Good news is that it will remember your preferences if you visit often enough.

The other section, the butchery, is multiples of rooms designed for, well, slaughtering people and horrors alike and processing their remains into food and ingredients to be turned into dinner in the Slaughterhouse kitchen. The Slaughterhouse does not discriminate when it comes to food, and will turn anything that walks inside this part of the building into food.

Normally the butchery would be easy to avoid. However, when the Slaughterhouse starts running out of meat, it will transform nearby doorways into portals into the butchery, where unwitting cartographers and hapless horrors will accidentally enter the butchery's halls.

>>52753555
I like this, rerolling

Also trips

>>52753555
Can trips serve as a substitute for 8s?

>>52753555
Rerolling.

>>52753307

Rerolling.

>>52753691
Id say so. Trips and dubs seems tl be acceptable in place of an 8

>>52753723
If truw that means we have our locations and we can move ontp the nect topic, I say we begin deciding on items, quests or NPCs.
Also Reroll for Curio Shop

Is there a record of the elements that have been decided thus far, somewhere? Or are we just passing this down in threadlore so far?

>>52753780
What do you mean by elements? Just what we've decided as canon? I think OP is updating a doc with all the official stuff someplace

>>52753955
Yeah, like canon. Here's what I've been able to piece together from this thread.

Factions:
>Underworld Express >>52746798
>WISE (Warrens Initiative for Scientific Enlightenment) encompassing the Cartography Guild >>52746778
>Radiant March (which functions more like the Medical Corps after a while) >>52747348
>House Clarion >>52747348
> The Dead Brigade >>52752668
Races: (>>52747200)
>Pure humans
>Slug people
>Fat-Men >>52747048
>Beast-traits
>Mushroom men

Locations:
> Titan's Demesne >>52752298
> Shanty Town >>52752308
> The Stygian Lake and Its Forsaken Fleet >>52752348
> The Cloth Garden >>52752668


Other:
> This guy's retarded >>52752938
> Dubs confirm that guy's retarded >>52752988

(Shamelessly) Rerolling for whisp commune village as location

>>52754073

Sorry, I missed the Slaughterhouse, confirmed with Glorious Trips.
>>52753555

>>52754073
OP is asleep I think, so we don't have his list, but he made one at the end of last thread, which someone linked

I am getting Bloodborne vibes from this.

Not a bad thing, mind you.

>>52754585
Yeah, the main feels im getting from this is Bloodborne, Darkest Dungeon and Sunless Sea.

I was away for Easter, and this is great. The vibe I'm getting from this is basically the same as my longtime recurring dream where there's a huge underground city that I explore, going deeper and deeper and the locations progressively getting weirder and more nonsensical. Unfortunately there's not a lot of plot in those dreams, but the atmosphere is superb.

And I guess I'm rolling for >>52749041

File: WarrensFolley.pdf (478 KB, PDF)

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OP here. Can't participate, have work to go to. I did make a pdf consisting of every canon post as of >>52754073

Spitting out some ideas for locales

Archive of voices

An amphitheater turned nest for a flock of mimicry creatures. They acquire and share sounds from around the underground, from whispered secrets to cries of agony. Many powerful secrets and stories can be heard from them, assuming that the cacophony doesn't first lead to madness.

Hall of scupltures

A massive warehouse complex filled with an pervading silence as well as a massive myriad of statues. The various denizens of the Folley are depicted in gruesome poses, which seem to shift at the edge of one's vision. They are immovable by force, but when unobserved will silently rearrange themselves to create a shifting labyrinth of figures. Many explorers have become lost or simply vanished seeking refuge within this sprawling gallery

Twisting tunnels.

The end points are the only fixed things about these passage ways. Everything from the size, shape and length of the tunnels, to their materials and orientations is constantly in flux as one progresses. They often seem to contort and span distances in impossible ways which are never the same way twice. Even time seems to distort when inside the tunnels, and a traveler can reach his destination hours, or even days out of sinc with his passage.
Spanning the underground, these tunnels can serve as useful, if slightly risky, shortcuts to those wishing to quickly traverse the Folley.

>>52755509
Rerolling

The Deaths Library
Sometimes the corpses great scholars or adventurers are simply too precious to burry or cremate. Instead they are given their own room in a building that has come to be referred to as "the library". The function is the same, people come to learn from public documents , the main difference being that instead of books, they speak with the corpses of great persons throughout history.

>>52755731

Rerolling, with the following addition: Libraries aren't all high-minded literature and secrets of the past. Just as our libraries are full in equal measure with great works and trashy paperbacks, so is Death's Library. Those who don't know their way around are just as likely to speak to the fallen Duke they sought as they are to have their ear talked off by Chaddick Horseapple, who gives new meaning to "mindless undead".

>>52748962
>>52749007
>>52752472
Rerolling for cultists.

>>52755690
Rollin

>>52755509
Rollan

Gloaming Grotto

A secluded garden of various flora of the underground (mostly mushrooms), creating a vast, glowing garden. Many resources are available here, but hallucinogenic and infectious spores make it a potentially dangerous area, unless you want to embrace that sort of thing, as the resident hippies (cultists) have.

>>52752015
>>52756005
Didn't see this one, sorry. Probably worth combining. Consider it a reroll

>>52755731
>>52755829

Rolling

Not sure if this is the proper time to roll for it, but a good wild life critter would be large, mutated spiders that naturally generate ink instead of silk. They do however eat paper so they are a cartographers best friend and worst enemy.

>>52755731
>>52755829
I like this idea, I'll throw him a re-roll

>>52756163
I don't think it's ever too late to roll for more enemies.

Is it Folley with an 'e' or Folly? I've seen it both ways in the thread

>>52756178

We have a winrar.

Locations:
> Titan's Demesne >>52752298
> Shanty Town >>52752308
> The Stygian Lake and Its Forsaken Fleet >>52752348
> The Cloth Garden >>52752668
> Death's Library >>52756178

>>52756163
Pretty sure the "currently looking for" posts are more like guidelines than anything. Seems like any post with an 8 gets accepted, whether or not its on the same topic of world building that were focusing on

also I like the idea of spider buddies so reroll

Haunted hotel (tower of terror)

Appearing as a typical decrepit square tower, entering the building though the doors reveals an inconsistent modern hotel atrium, complete with bored looking, bearly responsive staff and omnipresent smooth easy music. This area is completely separate from the outside world, and connects to an entire pristine, if basic hotel freely accessible (buying a room is polite, but unnecesary). Falling asleep in the hotel, or remaining for more than 24 hours will eject the occupants back into the real world building, or a nightmarish version of the hotel. Once the enchantment is broken, leaving the building returns it to a normal structure, and the (interior) hotel attaches itself elsewhere.

>>52756195
Folly, I think, as in mistake.

If we were to shorten the name (colloquially), is it better to refer to it as "The Warens" or "The Folly"?

>>52756195

I thought it was Folley, to sound like folly, but maybe mean something else in-universe.

>>52756252
Okay, I guess it is supposed to be Folly then. And I think "the Folly" to refer to it is better, since Warren is a name.

Location: Citadel of Shackles

A decorated citadel of impossible heights, this haunted citadel is rumored to be the home of 'The Shackled King'. Little is known of The Shackled King, but recovered accounts of the Buried City's history imply that he may have been a ruthless tyrant. The city's residents, fed up with the tyranny, started an uprising and, after successfully stripping The Shackled King of both his power and his true name, shackled him deep within the darkest depths of the Citadel's dungeons, cursed to see the city he ruled over prosper without him for all eternity.

After numerous incidents since The Shackled King's banishment, the citadel was declared cursed and thus abandoned by the Buried City. Regardless of its true story, it's since become breeding grounds for horrors. Curiously, horrors originating from there seems to be far stronger than their peers and appears to be clad in shackles. The citadel itself has also been decorated with massive shackles, likely influenced by The Shackled King. Some has reported that if you listen closely, you can hear screams, laughter and yells of rage from somewhere deep within the Citadel, but few has dared to investigate the condemned castle.

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>>52756268
8 confirms ?

>>52756268
>>52756324
Original post for clarity
>Warren's Folly, named for the famous Duke Warren who first rediscovered how to travel below. And how great a folly it was.

>>52756324
Maybe it was originally "Warren's Folly," but the people living below have long since forgotten it was a name, and have taken to calling it the Warrens, the Folly, etc.

>>52756343
Maybe it is Folly, but the sign leading into the City says Follry and a quick way to tell a new arrival from a local is if they ask why its mispelled. The most common answer is "You dont wanna know"

>>52756327
Gonna try a reroll, with additional ideas.

>the Shackled Horrors also act radically differently. Not only do the Shackled Horrors turn on their own kin if they're unshackled, but they will even work together with Shackled Horrors of different kinds. Are they somehow dominated by The Shackled King?

So far we have
>Setting
>Monsters (8)
>Race(s) (1-5)
>Classes (3)
>Magic system (loose)
>Factions (5-6)
>Locations (5)

What else can we add?

>>52756484
Are we looking for more fluff or more crunch?

>>52756484
What about religion of the setting? The only thing I've seen so far are the faithful and some cults, unless I missed something we should probably figure out exactly what the faithful are faithful to.

>>52756508
Maybe we can try to refine a few ideas and get to the actual crunch in thread 3

>>52756327
>>52756429
Will try a reroll one last time, with some one more idea

>The Citadel of Shackles, should any cartographers dare enter its halls, will likely try to turn them into Shackled Servants in service to The Shackled King. Should they be shackled for too long, their minds will be completely wiped, replaced solely with a single minded desire to SERVE THE KING, ASSIST OTHER SERVANTS, SLAY ALL ELSE
>Little, if anything, can cure anyone who's shackled into the king's servitude. If there's a cure, it comes with a grave price.

>>52756671
Sure thing. What sort of god do they worship? From the class desxription it says that they are drawn to a god below, further into the maze. What is this god? Why are they down there? What ties to the Faithful have to it?

>>52756715
Ill reroll for you as well, i like the idea

>>52756744
4 + 4 = 8

>>52756752
Works for me. Enough people seem to be interested. I say its canon.

I'd like some clarification as far a surface-undergound interaction. Are they compleately separate? Is there travel/trade between the two? Is the underground largely self sufficient, or are resources and people constantly sent down?

>>52756849
I think trade between them would make sense. After all, there's valuable and/or exotic items down in the underground that simply isn't available in the surface world, even if a number of these items can be severely dangerous.

>>52756849
I imagine somewhat seperate, like a colony. One of the major factions is the Maze Ministry which is connected to the surface. I assume that they use some system to transport artifacts and unique goods from below in exchange for supplies and other things that one simply cant find in The Folley.

>>52756849
Warren's discovery was first hailed as a new world, and droves of colonists and settlers rushed to take advantage of the new opportunities. Over time, as populations spread and explorations expanded, the horrible nature of the underground was revealed. To make matter ls worse, residents found themselves changed, and were unable to survive leaving the caverns. Now, contact between surface and the "Folly" are limited to necesities, carefully controlled trades, and the exiling of criminals.

Basically Grimdark australia.

>>52757052
>>52757049
>>52757042
So it seems wr are all within the same ballpark. Its a Colony that passes artifacts up and supplies and prisoners back down.

>>52757071
Sounds good.
OP said that people are unwilling/unable to leave. Maybe we could take a book from the greek underworld (and Dune) and say that once you eat the food, you are unable to leave.
Surviving on the surface afterwards requires large amounts of expensive food from the underground, so only the very rich/powerful can manage it.

>>52757131
I think the thought behind "unable to leave" was that most of the people down here were criminals, and this was their punishment, but there was some discussion of magical reasons for being unable to leave. I like this one.

>>52756688
Thread seems to be slowing down. Should we take a break from the lore and try to write some crunch to generate activity?

>>52753307

Reroll

>>52757625
Yeah, i was notcong it too. Weve got a good fluffy base, so lets move o to the Crunch. We need to elaborate more in the Duress system, the way magic works, stats, how dice are rolled and calculated and so on so forth.

>>52757625

It'd be cool to work out the mechanics of the Warren Wisps.

From the PDF:

> Gently glowing spirits of fire and light, which can provide comfort, but eventually reduce weakened people
from relaxed, to comatose, to incorporeal until they are absorbed and a new wisp is born. Perhaps like
dark souls sunlight maggots, but more gradual and subtle.

> The beasts are made uncomfortable by them (as they can eventually consume/recycle them) but the
Hunger can absoarb them.

> Essentially a mutualistic wandering parasite for humanity, one which can be potentially dangerous if
someone gives in to the relaxing lure.

>>52757658
I think an anon in the last thread suggested that Duress is a value between 1 and 100, with Duress checks requiring a d100 roll, spells requiring a roll lower than duress and sanity checks requiring a roll higher. Does that sound like a good base for Duress?

>>52757670

Alternatively, fleshing out some playable classes would be useful for balancing enemies against, since we've got a fair few monsters but fairly little as far as playable stuff goes.

>>52757692

Why are spells easier under Duress?

>>52757625
>>52757658
>>52757670
>>52757692
>>52757697
I'm tempted to suggest we use d8's since that's the roll we've been going for, but if that's hard to work around a d100 could work.

>>52757713
I think the idea was that spells are easier with the more chaotic state of mind and vulnerability to eldritch magic that comes while under high Duress.

>>52757713
>>52757734
To add to this, I think it was also suggested that some spells feed off of the duress of the caster (or their companions, or even their target)

>>52757734

I like it. It has a sort of "ecstatic magic" feel to it. Like a Sufi dance or speaking in tongues or something to fold the chaos of the Maze.

>>52757692
I like that suggestion.

>>52757697
Speaking of monsters, I feel like that the Hunger should be statless and just be given special rules such as "If it touches you, you're dead". Give it the Caine/Lady of Pain treatment.

>>52757752

I like the idea that Duress is both environmental, and personal to the character. A dank, oppressive dungeon has higher environmental Duress, artificially increasing player Duress, and then additional stressors particular to the characters increase base Duress.

One last setting note that I think is needed:
>Main cavern entrance in closely guarded/ready to be sealed if needed.
>Both sides of the gate (vault style door) are fully staffed by Ministry run guards in forts.
> The Folly's fort expands into the main underground city, which is relatively similar to a surface city.
>The way down is a gigantic cargo elevator controlled from the top
>The Ministry's influence is absolute in the city, but decreases the farther you go.
>Other entrances and exits exist, but they are small, distant and difficult. Only used by smugglers, as the Ministry would seal them up.

>>52757752
>>52757757
Should casters be forcefully keeping their own duress high using self torture? I kinda like the idea of really small things to keep them on edge, like purposefully putting rocks in their shoes and purposefully covering themselves in bug bites or rashes.

I feel like that could easily take a turn for the weird, with them all wearing gimp suits and shit though.

>>52757879

Suppose a human Faithful has a relatively low base Duress of 20. Terrible at spells, but able to keep a cool head in the face of Horrors.

The Faithful's party descends into the bowels of the Maze, into the Bones of the Dread God. As they go deeper, the Faithful hears the whispers of their horrid patron.

Environmental Duress: +5 in the early levels, up to a punishing +20 in the bowels.

Personal Duress: As the Faithful approaches the godhead, the whispers begin to seep into their mind. In the early levels, the whispers are barely there, +1d8 duress. As they approach the sanctum, we add dice, up to a maximum of (some arbitrary god power statistic)d8.

By the time we reach the core, the Faithful is looking at 50-70 Duress, if not more. No longer the anchor for the party, they begin to discern unknown, even unknowable secrets. The sacrifice they make in stability is paid in part with increased knowledge of the Maze, and how to bend it to the Faithful's will.

>>52757879
How difficult is it to lower Duress? That's an important factor to balance against the cost/effect of spells.

>>52758050

To clarify, the environmental Duress is experienced by the whole party, while the personal Duress is just the Faithful

Would there be monsters that causes increased Duress simply by being present? Some kind of a Duress aura.

>>52758070

Based on what's in the PDF, it sounds like a Faithful will be a necessary part of any magic-using party, if only to keep the mage from melting into a gibbering mess.

I could imagine something like Lay On Hands, but with a much simpler, less magical effect. The Faithful puts their hand on your shoulder and calms you down.

Maybe there are drugs that temporarily reduce environmental Duress (like a magical benzo).

>>52758108

Based on the sort of CoCish nature of the Horrors, I would imagine almost every creature would have some sort of Duress associated with engaging or even encountering it.

A save would probably be useful, unless this is a TPK kind of game.

>>52758048

I've been picturing it more as a sort of mental duress than a physical one, but maybe the Wandering Warriors thrive on pain to get hyped up.

> Soldiers who foolishly trusted enchanted armour and weapons. The armour drains their lifeforce and renders their bodies merely a walking skeleton, but the warrior's life force is now tied to the armour. They can survive horrendous wounds that would kill normal men and the enchanted armour and weapons they have are extremely strong and can grow stronger by finding more enchantments. Most Wandering Warriors however lose their minds over all that they lost, but a few retain their human minds.

>>52758199

This actually gives an angle for multiple builds for Wandering Warriors based on the Duress sweet spot. Berserkers want high Duress so they'll be ready to flip shit at a moment's notice, while your swashbuckler types would focus on Duress reduction to keep their finesse.

>>52758137

All told, I think it'd be reasonable to have a long rest in a "safe" area reduce Personal Duress by either a die roll or some other number, to a minimum of your base Duress.

>>52748962

Rerolling for this because it's really cool.

In response to the idea of necesity*duress occasionally resulting in mutations, I suggest another resource: Desperation.
Desperation can be used to [add benefit to roll/give advantage on a roll/allow a reroll/save a failed roll]. It's a limited use resource which should play against duress.
Thoughts for mechanics?
>Using "Desperation" allows for [benefit]. Make a duress roll [with some modifier for Con/sanity or something].
>Rolling under your duress score earns you a Mutation or a Madness, with the severity depending upon how badly you fail the throw.

>>52758363

We should probably codify what the actual resources a character needs to manage are in order to avoid pool overload.

I would assume HP in some fashion, and Duress.

Desperation could be interesting as a level reward, or even a quest reward. In Desperation, you call out to the fabric of the Maze itself to do something incredible.

Unless severe mutation is a desired mechanic, these points should probably be fairly limited (though a class which gets one or more points per level could be interesting to explore the heavy mutation angle) and should do really crazy stuff when they rolls succeed. When they fail the Maze slaps you back, hard.

Alternatively, it could be treated like action points, though that doesn't seem to fit the feel that "Desperation" implies.

I guess it also depends on the density of encounters. Are parties fighting Horrors all the time, or is it like CoC where an encounter with one of the denizens of the Maze is an unfortunate (and likely fatal) event?

>>52758513
I loke to think that encounters are uncommon yet not completly fatal. The main antahonist seems to be the maze utself, with the denizens of it simply being another layer to the madness.

Also, i like the desperation thing we have going now.
>The Wandering Warrior falls to one knee, reeling from the wound he has. The panicked shouts of his team fade away. In desperation, he gives into the will of his accursed armor. He stands tall again, the armor seeing fit to protect its host
>the Faithful clasps his hand together, clutching an icon of faith. His companions gibbering and maniacil, he closes his eyes. He does the only he can evwn think of, he prays to the one below, begging for aid.

Even if only mages can use spells regularly, anyone should be able to use rituals: very high cost -> low effect.

>>52758667
Holy hell is typing on mobile hard. Also, a few more classes wouldnt hurt. Maybe like 2 more or so.

>>52758691
Agreed. Unless we wanna go for subclasses or something. 3 seems very limiting.

I love the idea that >>52758226 had, where different "builds" use Duress differently

>>52758681
I like to think that anyone can use magic, but certain things make it easier. Mages have just spent some time doing necessary rituals and exercises to hone their body towards magic. From the sound of things, this mostly means snorting magic mushroom spores.

>>52758691
>>52758725
We have a nice leader/support role in the Faithful,

a good melee fighter (who can be either quick or more brute-force) in the Wandering Warrior

the Blightmage seems like a good baseline for the caster angle, which is probably more utility but could be a damage role.

What are we missing? A skill monkey?

>>52758691
>>52758725
I think an agility-focused class could be added without taking away from the three classes we got. An acrobat of sorts?

>>52758691
>>52758725
I like the idea of a class which mutates itself on purpose, maybe even accepting parasites to change it's own form.
Could work as an aberrant ravager, or as a weird blood-mage.

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>>52758757

I always liked the drug mechanics in BVD, but it's impossible to use that book without becoming pic related.

Being that this is a prison colony, it's likely there's a lively drug trade, and this could give some fertile ground for class concepts.

Mages and unholy warriors getting meffed up and going ham on the battlefield, alchemist types dusting the field in paralytics and deliriants to turn friend against friend.

>>52758801
>>52758725

Subclassing and variant classes seems like something that could be drawn along Duress lines like in >>52758226 with some interesting consequences.

>>52758796
> tfw literally Maze Runner

>>52758796
>>52758801
Mutant semi-literal skill monkey sounds fun.
You want to pick a lock? Good thing you have that weird tentacle hand.
Need to sneak around? Those extra leg joints will probably help.
Scouting ahead? Take some extra eyes, they'll help.
They probably shouldn't act as the face of the party though.

>>52758691
How about a Survivalist? Tribesmen who somehow held knowledge of the Buried City and its horrors long before Warren discovered the cave. Knowing the day has come, the Tribesmen migrated to the underground because they hold a strong belief that unless they do something, the horrors will eventually wipe out all life on the surface.

This class focuses on survival, whether it's surviving the attacks of horrors or surviving horrors by killing them before they kill them first. They might also be able to resist Duress to a greater extent than the other classes, though they might have perks available if they let their Duress get high enough.

>>52758879
Something like...

>Faithful - Low Duress
Has general supporting skills, focusing on instilling confidence, providing boosts and lowering Duress
>Faithful - High Duress
Keeps Duress high to use otherworldly magics and prayers, such as healing and manipulating the Maze.

>Wandering Warrior - Low Duress
Focuses on using finesse, form, and unique enchantments to deal damage.
>Wandering Warrior - High Duress
Uses the rage and resistance-to-pain offered by High Duress and magic, uses simpler, more brutal enchantments.

>Blightmage - Low Duress
Focuses on foraging and supportive alchemy, as well as lore about the maze.
>Blightmage - High Duress
Damage spells and potent magic effects

So, the big four we need are
>Physical Power
Wandering Warriors
>Magical Power
Blightmages
>Mental Survivors
Faithful
>Environmental Survivors
????

We need some kind of ranger or rogue with survival and utility skills.

>>52759015
I believe this is in line with what you're looking for.:>>52758957

>>52758992
I like this. Low Duress characters seem like hardy, rugged survivors, while High Duress characters are explosively powerful but more vulnerable.

>>52759015
A native Tribesman, or maybe a skilled Cartographer? (I think someone suggested Surveyor as a name)

>>52759051
>>52759073
Tribesman could be a fitting class. That native tribesmen would know the ins and outs of the Buried City and its residents makes sense to me.

>>52758957
>>52759073
Tribalist/Survivalist is good, and Surveyer is a nice neutral name.

Can we add a bit more fluff? Every other class has an aspect tying them to the caves, and giving them room for growth. Warrior has his enchantments, blightmage has his spells...

What does the Tribalist do? Get more tribal-y?

>Low Duress Tribesman
Acrobatics, can sense traps, horrors and artifacts
>High Duress Tribesman
Becomes a killing machine, can scare the horrors

Does that seem correct?

>>52758992
Solid ideas. So how about something like this:

Tentative Class Info by Role:

Martial:
The Wandering Warrior
- Variants: Scourge (high Duress), Fallen Knight (low Duress)

Support:
The Faithful
- Variants: Mazecaller (high Duress), Anchor (low Duress)

Magic:
The Blightmage
- Variants: Corruptor (high Duress), Savant (low Duress)

Skill:
The First
- Variants: Mazeborn (high Duress), Hearthborn (low Duress)

Names a way fluid, and flavor definitely needs filling in.

I'm imagining the First as being the first settlers of the Maze. The Hearthborn are born in the cities and know their way around the well-trodden paths (ranger-rogue type), while the Mazeborn are highly mutable explorers of the depths (skill monkey type).

>>52759138
Spiritualism? They could commune with ancient spirits for aid. The spirits might help them at a price.

>>52758957
>>52759138
Sorry, I didn't mean to sound dismissive. Tribals are a good idea. I'd just like a bit more to like Survivalists to the cave than "we were here first".

>>52759175

I laid it out like this because rogue-types fill a notably different role in a party, so rather than Duress being the most important aspect of determining the build, it's how they utilize Desperation and its effects (for good or ill), and how that affects their interaction with the Maze.

>>52759175
I love your names for the classes except the low-duress mage, it doesn't seem as fitting.

>>52759207

That's honestly the one I hate the most, I just couldn't think of a good name. :v

>>52759219
What about Scholar? Too simple?

>>52759219
I want to say something like Alchemist because I could see them interacting with plant life/making medicines, but I don't want to downplay their magically abilities.

>>52759234
Arcanist?

>>52759224
>>52759234

I was trying to come up with something that encapsulates their role as knowledgeable in both lore and medicine and drugs. Alchemist seemed limiting, and Scholar doesn't quite get the alchemy angle. I was leaning toward Hedge Wizard, but it seemed like a bad fit for the setting.

>>52759175
>Martial:
>The Wandering Warrior

>Support:
>The Faithful

Just to clearify, I believe the intention with the faithful is that they were intended to be martial as well, just with a focus on leading and keeping everyone feeling calm. Labeling them as support is accurate, but at the same time it gives a sort of sense of a "divine caster" rather than emotionally supportive leader.

>>52759275

Right, I'm definitely putting them in the Cleric/Paladin sort of slot. I don't want to downplay the martial aspect, just working with archetypes.

>>52759204
Like I said, spiritualism. They communicate with spirits, and they can receive a boon from the spirits.

We could even work Duress into this. Low Duress Tribals will only communicate with "holy spirits", while High Duress Tribals will feel like that the situation has gotten to the point where their only chance at survival is to communicate with "unholy spirits" and receive boons from them instead.

>>52759275
Change the role name to 'Leader'? Although I'm sure you could build a Faithful as a support caster.

>>52759284
Alright, you're doing good, just making sure we weren't losing the initial concept

>>52759275
Original Faithful anon here. I actually like the direction they have taken it. Perhaps the role the faithful takes changes with the duress build they use? Both builds are support oriented, but how they accomplish that changes and what effects transpire change.

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>>52759295
Was under the impression that they were not casters at all, though I imagine that with high enough duress and knowledge, anyone could be a caster.

>>52759175

How about chirurgeon? I've always been partial to that title for old-style field medics, and it would fit the low-arcane magic they'd be doing (mainly drugs and alchemy and such) and it would imply the sort of education that would bring lore with it. It also gives another way to manage Duress without putting it all on the Faithful.

>>52759312

Glad you like it. :)

This is a bit of a step, but what about 6 classes? Martial, Magic and Skill divided into more humanity focus and more corrupt focus.
>Warriors/Faithful
One focuses more on raw power, the other on leadership
>Blightmage/[Scholar?]
One uses the magic of the environment, the other uses 'scientific' discoveries. Druid/Wizard
>Mutant/Tribalist
One changes his physical form for abilities, while the other seeks guidance from experience and spirits

>>52759360
I really like the sound of a chirurgeon, partly due to the fact every time I try to play a field medic my job is essentially "touch someone and they become better." I've always wanted to play a healer in a way more brutal, and dirtier setting, needing to treat the wound and also trying to keep pain to a minimum

>>52759337
I sort of imagined they'd have some spell-like abilities, like reciting a prayer or a peaceful poem which would reduce the party's Duress. Of course, saying the poem or prayer over and over would make it get stale and it would greatly lose effect.

>>52759403
I imagine real wound treatment is going to be prominent for healers, but there's always the temptation to use the magical healing spells of the March that can lead to mutation, madness, or worse.

>>52759175
>High Duress Faithful
Fanatic?

>>52759360

> Martial:
> The Wandering Warrior
> - Variants: Scourge (high Duress), Fallen Knight (low Duress)

The Scourge fills the role of the berserk warrior, their armor adorned with spikes and chains to rend and tear what flesh remains, driving their bloodlust.

The Fallen Knight is a warrior cast down to the Maze for a crime which may still haunt them. Trained in the deft use of their weapon of choice, they specialize in fortitude and exploiting the weaknesses of their enemies.

> Support:
> The Faithful
> - Variants: Mazecaller (high Duress), Anchor (low Duress)

The Mazecaller hears the whispers of the Ones Down Deep, using the chaos of the Maze to their advantage, remaking the flesh and opening paths that otherwise might not exist at all.

The Anchor is a bastion of calm in the vortex that is the Maze. So sure of themselves are they that they can pass this sense of the moment onto others with only a touch. Their very presence can turn the tide of battle.

> Magic:
> The Blightmage
> - Variants: Corruptor (high Duress), Chirurgeon (low Duress)

Corruptors wield the raw fabric of the Maze to awesome effect, tearing flesh from bone and sending Horrors back to the dark corners of the Maze.

Chirurgeons were cast into the Maze for reaching too far in their research (or at least getting caught). Their knowledge of alchemy can be turned to medicines, poisons, and even a brisk trade in certain substances otherwise unavailable on the Surface.

> Skill:
> The First
> - Variants: Mazeborn (high Duress), Hearthborn (low Duress)

The Mazeborn are the mutant descendants of the First. No other person (if they can even be called such, anymore) can pass so gracefully through the tricks and traps of the Maze, the chaos changing their very forms throughout their lives.

The Hearthborn are the stewards of the First Settlements. They know the ways of the Horrors and the wiles of the Maze, communing with their ancestors for ever greater knowledge and skill.

WORD LIMIT WHAT UP

>>52759360
Churgeon sounds great. While the setting isn't nescesarily low on magic, magic is incredibly dangerous so it makes sense to have non magic healers be very prominent. After all, who'd focus their lives on helping people but then rely entirely on something as likely to harm as it is to heal? I mean, some people obviously would, but in general I feel like more would go with the safe bet, relying on magic in extreme circumstances only

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Can we get a recap/update of what has been set in stone and what we are still rolling for?

I have my ideas in regards to the Tribalist's spiritualism gimmick.
>Each spirit has their own unique boons that they can grant to Tribalists. Boons might effects like a last hit point chance similar to Darkest Dungeon's "Death's Door" effect, resistance against Duress increases, and the ability to shield an ally from attacks with their own lives, regardless of distance.

>They can only be communicated to at certain Duress thresholds. If a spirit would require 0-30 Duress, the Tribalist cannot communicate with them if they're at 31 Duress or higher. If the Tribalist were granted a boon from a spirit but their Duress increased above the threshold or vice versa, they will lose the boon instantly (perhaps with a nasty side effect as a result of the boon being suddenly forced out of them?)

>Tribalists can have up to two boons at a time. Maybe they can extend the limit with special perks?

>The higher the Duress, the more aggressive spirits the Tribalist will be able to receive boons from, which includes appropriately aggressively focused boons

>Examples of High Duress boons would be effects like bonus damage against Horrors, the ability to terrify Horrors, and the power to summon spirit allies to assault the party's enemies

>>52754073
As far as I know, the current canonical material is

>>52759637
>>52753555
>>52755301

The crunch stuff in the last couple of hours isn't set in stone, AFAIK.

>>52759656

I meant >>52759637

>>52759656
Yeah, until OP comes along and updates the pdf, this is all just speculation. But everyone seems to like where it's going, so this will probably end up canon

>>52759751
Yup, im a big fan of the duress builds. Adds a lot more variety and flavor to our unfortunate Map-makers.

>>52759655

Has there been any fluff built up around spirits in general? Are the spirits they deal with a part of the Maze, part of the tribe?

What sort of role do you see this class filling? I kinda like the idea of like a prestige class or something with this heavy spiritual bonding angle, where the endgame for that is being suffused with spiritual entities, your own soul (or whatever) totally subsumed in the whirlwind of other spirits.

From a flavor perspective, I dunno about scaring Horrors, if only because I'm picturing their mental workings in the Lovecraftian way where their motives and experience of the world is unknown and unknowable for the sane.

>>52759769
I think 'scaring' is the wrong word. It sort of makes them sound underwhelming. Maybe 'drive back' horrors is more fitting?

>>52759769
>Has there been any fluff built up around spirits in general? Are the spirits they deal with a part of the Maze, part of the tribe?
Part of the tribe so far. There's also the possibility that the spirits aren't real in the first place, but there's something in the Maze that causes Tribalists to edit reality to some extent thanks to their spiritual beliefs. The Tribalists, being superstitious, believes that their spirits perform these miracles.
>What sort of role do you see this class filling? I kinda like the idea of like a prestige class or something with this heavy spiritual bonding angle, where the endgame for that is being suffused with spiritual entities, your own soul (or whatever) totally subsumed in the whirlwind of other spirits.
The Tribalist is made with the idea of an environmental survival class. Alongside what skills they might have to help with survival, I think the spirit system would fit well into the survival role. You have to adapt to survive, and the adaptation is made easier with spirit boons.
>From a flavor perspective, I dunno about scaring Horrors, if only because I'm picturing their mental workings in the Lovecraftian way where their motives and experience of the world is unknown and unknowable for the sane.
Well, it's just a quick example of a potential high Duress spirit boon. It don't have to be a real boon.

>>52759857

I lean more toward the mutation style of adaptation for the setting, but only because of the active hostile nature of anything passing itself off as a spirit implied by the Maze. I'm down to hear some more flavor, though.

Are there guns in our setting? Do surface guns work in the Folly? I sort of had it in my head that the surface was like ~18th century England.

>>52759964
Is that the distinction between low and high Duress? Low is tribal ancestors, who are benevolent (or at least not so malevolent as the High Duress spirits), and High is straight up weird Horror spirits and mutations a'plenty

>>52759990

That is a neat take, and it's sort of vaguely implied in the Hearthborn description. I'd be curious to know more about how boons work, both mechanically and from a flavor perspective. The Hearthborn definitely fit the ranger archetype more strongly, so I could see that fitting in there, somehow, but I'd be interested to see how it would play with the Mazeborn/rogue playstyle, if you have any thoughts.

>>52759990
I like this idea.

>>52760047
Maybe Mazeborn is more like a druid, with more spirits and boons to commune with, and mutations acting almost like a permanent Wild Shape, with powerful physical boosts like claws, armor, or dexterous tentacles, but with drawbacks like poor diplomacy.

>>52756163
Rerolling but the spiders have to look like rocks.

>>52759857
Guy who created/pushed Abberant Mutants as a class.
I really like how Spirit Tribalists are developing.
Do you want to keep Tribalists spirit focused, or have them mutate as a high duress feature (as suggested by >>52759990
)?
I'm gonna push for a mutant class either way, but I'll leave it up to you.

>>52759967
Yeah i had the same thought. 1800s or 1700s just seems like a natural fit for the setting. Guns are around but not too advanced. Plus, a gun can only do so much down in the maze.

I feel like its only appropriate that we fit a refrence to our 8 gets tradition into the setting somehow.

>>52760312
I can accept mutation as a high duress feature for Tribalists, especially since that makes sense in the context of the setting.

It seems like we're moving towards a Boon/skill tree design for classes, with certain features having Duress requirements and costs.
Let's start brainstorming specifics (even just as rough concepts) to play around with.

>The walls have eyes
Tribalist ability
Requires 0-30 Duress
>Tribalist can take an action to commune with a local area, and determine if there are any creatures within 100 feet along a surface of his choosing, and up to 10 feet away from the surface.

Not sure if factions are still up for grabs but one idea I like is the children of the great worm, a cult that believes that the underground was carved by a giant worm that continues to dig to this day. The worm may or may not exist it depends on interest.

Alright, let's get some crunch for races going.We have
>Pure human
>Slug people
>Gluttons
>Mushroom Folk
>Beast-traits

I suggest each subrace have a boon and a penalty, with pure humans having nothing.

Suggested so far:
All have a charisma penalty against other subraces.
Fat men are slower and have a higher resource demand, but are stronger and hardier. More susceptible to starvation penalties.
Beast people gain a lesser mutation as a permanent boon, with it's corresponding penalty. They are more susceptibile to physical mutations.

The boon stuff seems sufficiently different from the First that I think it's a separate class. Based on the discussion, it seems to fit the druid/summoner/beastmaster archetype, which is definitely missing from the current class speculation. That actually fits the flavor of boons being able to effect Horrors later on rather nicely, so I’m into adding it as the druid standin.

Also, new thread soon? Weve made a lot of ground tbis thread and are hatching up some very good ideas. If a kinda anon can gather up the pdf or recaps and some of the current progress and make thread 3, that would be grand.

>>52760566

Gluttons would be a good fit for >>52748962 (rerolling again because it's dope). Higher personal Duress when hungry (Gluttons have to eat at least X lb. of flesh [or maybe just any food] per hour). Each missed feeding provokes a sanity check.

>>52760422
>>52760566
For pure humans, beginning boons/feats based on their life above, like

>Murderer
Gain +5 (maybe 10?) base Duress, but a boost to physical combat skills
>Thief
Gain a small boost to thievery skill/(whatever we decide to use for this). Alternatively, gain a large boost but lose a hand, left or right.
>Traitor
Boost to Charisma/talking skills

>>52760422

To fit the theme of high Duress/low Duress, how about something like Soulbinder for high Duress builds, with the notion that you'll be harnessing more spirits and even Horrors with this type of build and Spirittalker (or something like that) where the role of the class is more like a Diviner and tamer of minor spirits?

>>52760566

Mushroom folk are naturally attuned to the deep places, giving them greater resistance to environmental Duress (maybe -5 at low levels, rising to -20 at higher levels?). Probably a bonus to create any chirurgic skill involving fungi. Likely vulnerable to fire.

>>52760566

Slug people are naturally resistant to poisons, and heal more readily than the other races. Wildly vulnerable to salt, though how likely is that to come up?

>>52760363
8 should be a holy number and/or symbol (even if a minor one) in every religion in the setting. The consensus among scholars is that it definitely does have some sort of significance, but none can agree on what or how.

>>52760832
So, up to 5 classes now right?

>>52761211

Yeah. We've got Fighter/Barbarian, Paladin/Cleric, Alchemist/Wizard, Ranger/Rogue, and Shaman/Druid, which seems like a reasonable fit for a variety of playstyles and party compositions. Anything obvious missing?

>>52760888
>>52761088
C H E C K E D
H
E
C
K
E
D

>>52761273

Hahaha, holy shit, they're both me. I'm on a fuckin' roll.

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>52761202
>>52761273
>>52761281

Praise the Eight!

>>52753307

Rerolling for this because my luck is good and I like it.

>>52761411
Praise the eight! It's confirmed!

>>52761411
>>52761455
Witness the holy Dubs! Truly eight is with us today!

does this make us gain or lose Duress

It's time to talk stats. HP is a thing, Duress is a thing, Desperation might be a thing? What other stats do our cartographers have? STR/DEX/ETC, or something else?

>>52748962

Last Try Reroll

>>52761617

Follow-up thread while we wait for OP, with as much canon and fairly established fanon as I could gather. If I missed anything, post it.

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Proposing ancient underground ruins, half collapsed cities in their own right. Though by the look of the massive halls and lack of support system, these structures carved from the stone should be impossible.

The civilization that left these behind supported their structure purely with magic as opposed to any physical means. Though, because of the passing of ages, the enchantments on the stone have greatly decayed, making some of their ruins incredibly unstable.

One set up ruins might have an enchantment so thin that there's risk of a cave in with a just a loud noise to trigger it. Another's enchantment might have actually strengthened through the centuries, reinforcing the place, but causing magic to behave unpredictably.

>>52764704
Woops. Posted in the wrong thread.